#I swear to god I will shoot the first motherfucker to treat this like real discourse

[maeamian]

Fascinating that in the hobo paradise that is Big Rock Candy Mountain there aren't *no* railroad cops or jails, but they are blind and you're allowed to leave whenever you want respectively. Really shows the limits of non-abolitionist thinking.

[foggysirens]

What are your favourite blorbos/ships and how did you get into them?

Ps. Hope you feel better soon :D

ohohohoh this was such a great question and ill have you know it made me so happy to walk around work just thinking about my blorbos and getting to share them 😭

im gonna put a read more because fair warning i have a lot to say ajshsjdhks

OKAY SO first off (and a surprise to no one) luke skywalker is my ultimate blorbo. my special guy. and it’s funny cause i grew up knowing of star wars, watching the movies with my older siblings, but i never really cared about it- it wasn’t until years later i even thought about watching the movies again and it was only because my sister pressured me into watching the mandalorian and i fell in love. and then i decided to rewatch the original trilogy and that was it. the movies just found me at such a perfect spot in my life to really dig into my brain and not let go- it was year two of the pandemic, i had no friend whatsoever and a day to day that just left me feeling dull, ya know? and then all of the sudden there were these old movies about hope. about being able to become more than the sum of your parts. there was luke. luke really just embodies that feeling of hope that i was so without. and i think it’s those set of circumstances and then me just being a big science fiction/space nerd in general really made luke my perfect star wars blorbo. and then add dinluke into that!!! i could go on and on about dinluke (and i have) but fundamentally i think it’s the dynamic of these two powerful people who carry these two, seemingly opposing ideals coming together and finding that they have more in common and more to offer each other than either ever thought they’d receive is just *chefs kiss*

MOVING ON TO katniss everdeen! my first and forever blorbo. i know i don’t hunger games post here a lot but thg and katniss were both really big parts of my development. the hunger games introduced me to fandom and fanfic and katniss introduced me to the mindset of never giving up. no matter when you feel like you already have, you never give up. that small acts of bravery are just as important as big ones. she inspired me to stick up for myself and feel courageous, to shoot a bow and wear my hair in a braid far too often. to look out for those i love with all i can give. i love her strength and her wit and how she is smart and so dumb and young all at the same time. and her and peeta as a couple i think just really set the standard of love to me. like after everything, all the fighting and death, they choose to live for each other. they help each other live for themselves. that you don’t have to be someone else when your with the right person. that you can be vulnerable and ask real or not real?

NEXT IN LINE is mickey milkovich from shameless. i am rotating him around in my mind CONSTANTLY. its safe to say that he was my favourite character on the show and his penchant for crime, swearing and anger really struck a chord with me. he’s a character that feels so much but is rarely given the chance to express it. he’s constantly going against the odds and trying to do what’s right. it may not be right, or legal for that matter, but it’s still what he believes. he’s a character that’s gone through so much pain and suffering and is still able to flip off the world. he gives me the confidence to say fuck you to people who are treating me poorly and smile because i know that the parts of me they judge and think are weak are the parts that make me swing back harder. he’s violent, he’s gross, he’s pathetic and he’s one tough motherfucker and shit if getting to see him get a happy ending, get to be out and to get someone who loves him as he is for all those reasons didn’t make me hope id get that one day too. (DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED OF GALLAVICH. REALLY DONT. ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW IS THEY ARE A GOD TEIR OTP AND NOBODY DOES IT LIKE THEM ALL THE OTHER SHIPS OUT THERE DONT EVEN COME CLOSE)

NOW WE HAVE nadja from what we do in the shadows! what can i say about nadja apart from the fact that she is simply, and always will be, the vibe. i am holding her in my hand and she will bite my palm and then maybe kiss me a bit. i am obsessed with her. she deserves it. but more than that!! nadja is just so unapologetically herself and her ambition and humour are unmatched, but she also has such a sweet soft side that i can’t help but just scream and cry and throw things around my room. she is also a vampire and that is so fucking cool. she’s a leader, she’s a dumbass, she’s going to rip people throats out and honestly? she’s everything i want to be when i grow up. and her and lazlo are just goals. like the speech he gives about not caring about what anyone thought about her when he married her because none of that mattered to him like she did?? dead. im dead.

AND LASTLY a newer blorbo entering the ring- jamie tartt from ted lasso! now, i will gleefully admit i hated jamie through season one and much through season two but holy shit did ted lasso pull off a redemption like nothing ive ever seen before. really and truly, i did not expect to connect with jamie as much as i did. the last season but the character growth and storylines they gave him that shed some light onto why he was the way he was and how they connected so many things in with the earlier seasons that just made you see things in an entirely different way??? like he’s still a cocky prick, but he’s a cocky prick you can’t help but love and cheer for. and the scene where he tells roy that he’s just anxious and tired all the time really fucking hit home for me, even when they did end up playing it off as a bit of a joke, i just felt that moment so deep in my bones and funny little manchester-man jamie earned himself a spot in my brain.

OKAY IM DONE NOW thank you so so much for the ask and i apologize for the behemoth that this post became but GAH i just love my blorbos!! and thank you for the well-wishes! im finally home from work and am feeling better:)

[shannygoatgruff]

My Brother’s Keeper - Chapter XX

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Modern Ivar X Modern Hvitserk

Rating: MA+18

Overall Warning:  Dark story told from an emotionally distributed person’s POV with graphic and sadistic material including rape, terror, torture, kidnapping, drug use, slash, implied incest, necrophilia, and insecurity. Heavy trigger warnings.

Chapter Warning: Talks of psychological torture.

A/N: You did it! You made it to the home stretch! Congrats! I hope you like the last chapter. It’s a little long, but hopefully, well worth it.

This story is dedicated to @youbloodymadgenius​s and @ivarthebloodyking. You guys have stuck with me through the beginning with this thing. 

Chapter XX

The unsettling guitar riffs of The Widow by The Mars Volta pour out of my earbuds – it’s like I can hear it, but it’s hard to pay much attention. Maybe if I could get out of my head long enough to concentrate on something else, I might actually enjoy listening to this song again. It’s one of my favorites.

Right now, though, it’s like I’m on sensory overload. There’s so much I want to see, do, and hear all at the same time but, I’m having a hard time focusing on just one thing. Being back here isn’t helping any; that’s for sure. Especially, not this many memories. It’s been years, but everything’s just the way I remember. Seeing as how some of the shit we tucked away here and there is still in tacked, no one’s ever found this place. 

Taking in a deep breath, I cough immediately from the smell of mold and dust. The hole in the roof did nothing to arrogate the building throughout the years. Making my way to the window to force clean air in here, I stop at the memory. The window. Ivar kicked it in for me the day he first brought me here. The broken glass still decorates the windowsill and the outline of his boot is still here. It's like he never left.

God, I miss him.

I swear that it feels like if I were to close my eyes right now and open them again he'd be standing here smiling at me. But I know the truth. The truth is, if I close my eyes and open them, I'll be standing in the middle of a broken-down cabin… alone. 

I knew the memories would come flooding back if I came here, but I couldn't help it. It's just that I miss him so much lately. I guess I just needed to feel close to him again. For so long Ivar was my everything. He was so much more than my baby brother; he was my best friend, my companion…my soul mate.

Now, I just want to know why he left me. He didn't even say goodbye. I waited. God, I waited for so long, hoping, praying…needing him to save me. But, he didn't. It’s a crock of shit that time heals all wounds, because for five years I’ve been broken inside and all I can do is ask the same damn question: Why didn't he ever come back for me? He promised me that it would always be me and him against the world, but he lied. He told me he would never leave me, but he did just that. I don't understand.

I still don't even remember how I ended up there. I know there was a trial - they put me in a tight blue suit and an ugly paisley tie. I sat next to this crackpot public defender wondering when it was going to be over. I think his name was Harrow, or Harald, or something like that. He had big ass, square, donkey-looking teeth, and was always smiling. He never talked to me. I think we sat next to each other a dozen times on those hard-ass chairs and he never once said a word to me.

Hell, even that detective that Judith bitch had interviewed on the news, Torstein, I think his name was, talked to me. He told me they were going get me help. I didn't know what in the hell he was talking about, but at least he said something to me. All I knew was I didn’t need their help, I needed my brother.

Even Dr. Lagertha talked to me and I hate her. Every time they would show pictures, there would be gasps and screams, she would come over to me, rub my shoulders and tell me that everything was going to be fine. She got them to let me stay in a break room when the screaming got to be too loud. I don't like screaming and there was plenty in that place. And as much as I hate Lagertha, she kept them away from me. She was there for me. Well, at least I thought she was. But it was fake. All of it.

She didn't care about me. She lied, too. She told me she would never hurt me, but she sat in front of everyone and she lied. She said that I did all of these horrible things to people. All the shit that Ivar did, she blamed on me. She told everyone in that court that I was a monster and they all believed her. I knew that bitch wasn't to be trusted and she proved me right.

Now, I'm not denying that my hunger was bad, and maybe I did some things that weren't so nice, but I wasn't as monstrous as she made me out to be. She told them I had all these problems and that I couldn't deal with real life. She made it sound like I was crazy. But what sounded craziest to me was that nobody ever asked to hear my side of the story. Nobody said shit one about Ivar and his part in everything. It’s not like I would have given him up or anything, but still….they just took her word as law, and that was that.

I don't remember a lot after that. I know that Harrow, or Harald, or whatever the hell his name was, sat further away from me. Even that detective started to look at me with pity. All those fucking people started watching me like I was a freak show. It was too much to handle. I just wanted to die.

I prayed that they would kill me. I wanted them to strap me down to a table and shoot me up full of all the drugs they could get their hands on. Or put me in the gas chamber and let me choke off of my own vomit. Anything was better than the laughing and the whispering.

Ubbe once told me to be careful what I pray for because I just might get it. Well, he was right. If I died, I would have gone straight to hell. Well, they didn't kill me, but I went there anyway.

After I stopped going to court, I started going to Lagertha's little Drug Store Hell every day for years. Drugs and talking. Headaches and blackouts. Bruises and scars. And of course, her file full of lies and the fucking memories. They should have killed me. But it wasn't all bad. I learned a lot and I used it to buy my ticket back to real life.

See, I learned that people only see what they want to see and they don't care about anything but their version of the truth. They feel accomplished when they scratch the surface. As long as they get enough to prove themselves right, they let up and don't want to dig any deeper. For them, it's all about perception.

For me, it's all about adaptation. Being in hell, I learned how to adapt to my surroundings. For example, I learned that I had extensive knowledge of how drugs alter my behavior. I guess years of recreational drug use paid off for something. I know what it felt like when I was high, so when I finally got the willpower to stop taking that shit, I was still able to keep up appearances. As long as I acted like a zombie nobody fucking cared that I was stuffing that shit in a slit that I made in the mattress by using a loose bedspring. Of course with as many pills as I had stockpiled, I had my run of the fucking place – between trading that shit as currency with the other demons, and making cocktails to get myself in and out of every inch of that place, every day was a new fucking adventure.  

You know, you can drug a guard, get keys to locked doors, and take a few patients that are drugged out of their fucking minds into off-limits rooms, come and go as you please… When you have the right combo of drugs conveniently crushed in coffee or sprinkled in the pudding of the powers that be, the possibilities are endless.

I also learned that if you alter your behavior to reflect that you think you are as bad as your file says you are, it makes you look more favorable to your doctor. They think you’re having a fucking breakthrough or something. They think all that self-loathing is some sort of remorse for all the wrongs you’ve done when you’re just sick of them telling you that you’re a fuck up and you need to do better. Truth is, you’re really just frustrated because you can’t fucking kill them. 

It’s all just bullshit. Just like when you smile, you're not thought to be sad. If you do everything they say, suddenly you're cured. And most importantly, if you stop talking about Ivar, they stop thinking you're crazy and let you join groups and have privileges. They almost treat you like you’re normal as long as you never mention the “I” word.

Ivar.

Five years…five years without that smile or felt those magnetic blue eyes looking at me. For five years, I've been alone in a room, with their drugs, talking, and pain like nobody's business. I’ve let them break me down only to build me up to what they want me to be, but I managed it because I just knew that he was coming back for me. In the beginning he would come to see me, but, then suddenly, he stopped. The day he stopped coming, is the day that the real torture began. But I did it. I survived.

I did it alone.

I'm not gonna lie, being on my own is so hard. It’s gotten a little easier lately, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to it. I finally got into a routine and I make it a point to deal with each moment as it comes. I don’t spend all my time in my head trying to block out the past and run from my future. I’ve even met a nice girl named, Amma. She’s a student up at the college. If things keep progressing with her the way I hope they do, I’m going to ask her to marry me. 

I'm slowly building my life back, one brick at a time. I’m finally getting to a place where I’m hardly having nightmares about being in that place. It seems like I’m on the road to getting that normal life that I’ve always dreamed about. But, lord knows, normal is boring as a motherfucker. Especially without him.

Don't get me wrong, I never stop longing for him. I can't. The same blood that courses through my veins also runs through his. We’re connected for life. But, it’s more than that, for me. It's like denying that the love of your life ever existed. He's never far from my mind, but my thoughts of him don't consume me anymore.

Well, normally they don't. Today is just a really shitty day.

Sitting my iPhone on the window ledge, I absently wipe the tears from my eyes and I look out at the brook behind the cabin. Things were so much simpler the last time I got lost in watching the water flow downstream. I remember standing there with Ivar feeling like I could conquer the world. The world. Yeah right. I haven't been able to do that yet. But at least I've been able to conquer the hunger. It doesn't sound like much, but it feels like the world to me.

It's gone almost completely gone, I think. I hardly feel it at all now. Gert says that it'll never go away completely, but I can learn to manage it with meds and therapy. Well, fuck her because I’m doing it without either. I don’t need her psychobabble bullshit or her fucking pills. I just need the fresh air and the knowledge that the alternative to me fucking up again is going back to that hell on earth. That’s enough to make me keep my shit in order. 

I’m just thankful that the hunger isn’t all-consuming anymore – just a little twinge now and again. I can deal with that. I've learned to ignore it. I mean, I still hear it and see it, but I don't taste it anymore. That's got to count for something, right?

Turning away from the window, I count the steps past the weakened floorboard and walk toward the door. This place feels like it's getting smaller by the minute and apparently, something died in here because it stinks. The smell of death never bothered me before, but right now it's getting to me. I guess without the hunger, I smell it for what it is now. It's comforting, just not that damn appetizing.

Leaning against the door frame, I take a deep breath of the heavily wooded air. That feels good. I almost forgot how good fresh air smells. Lord knows I didn't smell it for years and now I can't seem to get enough of it.

I guess that's why I rented this little house in the country. Ivar left me some money. A lot of it. I don't know where he got it and I don't give a shit. All I know is I’m able to afford a nice place out in the middle of nowhere that I fucking love. There's not another house for miles and I don't have the temptation of a bunch of people around me. It's secluded, like I'm trying to keep society out. Or maybe I'm trying to keep me away from society. Either way, I'm happy there.

I'm surrounded by woods and I’ll be able to smell the grass in the summer and the dying leaves in the fall. Ivar would shit a brick if he found out I became a nature lover. He'd shit golden egg rolls if he knew half of the shit I discovered about myself. I'm not the same Hvitserk as I was before.

It's still hard for me, harder than it is for most people, but I don't seem to cower from the world now. I know they're still watching me. The truth is I don't get scared like I used to, or worry about everything every single second. Yeah, I feel alone sometimes, but I'm not afraid of it now. I guess being in hell taught me how to deal with it. It's not like I had a choice in that place. In there, the loneliness would have eaten me alive if I had let it. But I didn't. I had to prove to myself, and I guess to Ivar, that I could make it. And I did. I made it without him.

There's a breeze whipping the fallen leaves around in the air. It'll be dark soon and it looks like it's going to rain. I don't mind though. Even with a huge hole in the roof, I'd rather stay here and get soaked than to go home and be alone. Amma’s staying on campus tonight because she's got a test in the morning. Not that I mind. It's just that it's fucking lonely in that house all by myself. Besides, it's been so long since I could just be alone with my memories and just feel what it is that I'm feeling that I'm enjoying it here. I'm not ready to give that up yet. After five years of having everything about me questioned, dissected, and analyzed, it's nice to have a minute just to remember without someone reading more into it.

Even now it's like that. I'm sure Amma doesn't mean it, but she likes to talk and every time I get quiet she thinks something's wrong. It's cute actually, how she tries so hard to keep me happy. She's one of those girls that does any and everything to make sure things between us stay good. Even after everything I've been through and all the lies the media told about me, she still loves me. Granted, she was just a kid when all of that shit went down, but she knows. At least she knows what she chooses to believe. If you ask her, I got sent away on some bullshit because I took the rap for Ivar. It's the truth, I did, and she refuses to believe anything other than that.

But still, she knows they're watching me and she sees how much it gets to me. She tries to keep my mind off of it and when that doesn't work, she wants me to open up about it. It doesn't bother me, though. Not like when Gert did it. That shit got on my nerves. I know Amma’s just trying to make me happy. But still, I'd be lying if I said the solitude of this place wasn't nice.

Closing my eyes to fully take in my surroundings, I hear the sound of leaves moving in the distance. With a sigh, I place the filter of the cigarette to my lips and feel my entire body relax as soon as the tip is lit. There's something about a quiet smoke that always seems to put things in perspective for me. With my head against the frame of the door, I watch the world.

The woods are beautiful with their bare trees and the multicolored leaves decorating the ground like a blanket and the brook bubbling happily in the distance. It's alive; everything about these woods is bursting with life even though winter is coming. It's like nature is preparing for it, but this place is resisting. It's ironic actually because that's exactly how I feel.

This is the shit that I missed out on when I was in hell. This is the shit that I missed when I was still taking Lagertha’s pills. Yeah, I loved being high all the time, but they kept me in a state of numbness, preventing me from seeing and enjoying the world around me. They were necessary when I needed to be what they wanted me to be. But, now I have to be who I am, and I don’t need them anymore. I don't want my senses dulled. I don't want to have a medicine haze surrounding me at all times. I want to taste the rain on my lips and feel the cool air on my face. I want to smell fall. I want to live and those damn pills were killing me slowly. Well, fuck that. 

Staring at the large bare oak tree in front of me I feel an overwhelming sense of peace. Tears fill my eyes, but they're not sad tears. They are tears of contentment.

I knew this would happen. I knew I needed to come here. I knew I needed closure.

"Hey, baby." Without words, I watch as he walks with his hands in his pockets. Dressed in blue jeans, a white shirt, and a black leather jacket he looks like just stepped out of a magazine.

Stopping next to the tree, he leans against it and looks at me. He’s cut his hair. His short dark hair has just outgrown a buzz cut, but it still looks stylish on him. It makes his face look darker and his eyes bluer, as if that were possible. 

"Ivar." I thought after all this time I would be happy to see him. But I don't feel anything. For years I practiced the thousands of things I wanted to say to him. But right now, I can't think of one. All I can do is stare at him.

A slow smile slides across his face and he lowers his head as if he is going to laugh. But instead, he raises his eyes to mine and nods. "You look good."

"You, too," and he does. He’s beautiful. He's always been so beautiful.

"Had a feeling I'd find you here. You always did love this place."

Fuck the small talk. We don't have to have some long drawn conversation. "Why?" That's it. That's all I want to know. "You left me. Why?"

Taking a deep breath he pushes off from the tree and starts to walk toward me. There was once a time where I was afraid of the power that Ivar exuded. I was never afraid of him, but of his strength, because it only amplified my weakness. But that time is long gone. I've been through so much shit - felt pain like never before. I don't fear it now. "I didn't leave you, Hvitserk."

"Bullshit. You knew what that bitch was doing to me. You said you would come back for me, but you never did. You just left me there.” I can still see his face outside of that little glass square at the top of my door. He was looking at me, smiling, leading me to believe that he was going to help me. But, he walked away. He blew me a kiss and walked away. "Do you have any idea what it was like for me? Do you? I've had everything short of a fucking lobotomy, Ivar. Electroshock therapy, graphic desensitization…if you can think of it, they did it. And believe me, that bitch Lagertha can give you a run for your money in the torture department. Do know why they did all that shit to me? Because you fucking disappeared. You left and all fingers pointed to me. They ripped my fucking soul apart because of your shit and you have the balls to show up here today as nothing fucking happened."

With a calm only Ivar can possess, he walks up the stairs to the porch and takes a seat on the old splintered rocking chair. Running his fingers over his face, he tilts his head and considers me. He's impressed, I know that look in his eye. He's never seen me stand up for myself without blacking out in the process. Well, guess what? I don't fucking blackout anymore. "Would I do that? I didn't leave you, Hvitserk. I was there. I was there so many fucking times. You wouldn't leave with me."

I'm so sick of people twisting the truth into their form of reality. I waited for him for years and he never came back. But still, there's a calmness in his voice that makes me want to listen to his reasoning. "I wouldn't leave with you? Contrary to popular belief, I'm not fucking crazy Ivar and it's pretty fucking hard to leave with a memory. Every fucking day I waited. But you never showed up. You let me rot there."

"Bullshit, I did. At first, you were so fucking out of it, that you just cried all the damn time and talked about how much you wanted to die." Folding his hands in his lap his eyes narrow slightly in my direction. For a second, I recognized that look. Irritation. But I'm not backing down. Not this time. Not until he tells me the truth. "Then, you flat out refused to come with me.”

"Oh cut the shit, Ivar! I’m not one of these stupid marks we find to party with – it’s me, Brother. You know, all of these years I looked up to you, idolized you…put you on a fucking pedal stool. Turns out, I believed you when you said that we were going to be together forever. Turns out I was my brother’s keeper. I kept you, Ivar! In here…” I pound my fist against my chest.

He looks so cool at my outburst, yet proud that I’m not crying. Calmly, he licks his lips and slowly blinks at me, “When I finally got in to see that fucking quack ass doctor of yours, she gave me this bullshit letter you wrote that told me to fuck off because you needed to do this all on your own. What the fuck, Serk? What the fuck else did you want me to do? You had it all. Your drugs, your little blonde doctor bitch hanging on your every word. You were in your element. Everybody was so worried about my poor baby. Why would you leave with me? You had everything you ever wanted and you didn’t need me anymore."

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean,  I was in my element? I never wanted you to baby me, Ivar. You did that because it made you feel better. I just didn't want to be alone." Why is he trying to guilt me because I finally became my own man? If the roles were reversed, I would have done everything in my power to help him, or at least be proud of the progress he’s made. “I always need you, brother. I would never turn my back on you."

With a shake of his head, his smile drops and the look on his face is replaced with one of pure hurt. "If you didn't want to be alone, why did you keep turning me away? You should ask that bitch Dr. Gert how many times I called or came there to see you. Then ask her how many times she turned me away at your request. You left me, Hvitserk." He came to visit and she turned him away? No. That's not right. That couldn't have been how it happened. She never told me that he came to see me. 

"You want to blame somebody for this? Blame her. She became more important to you than me. All the fucking lies she told you about me, you believed. All those sessions on her little couch, ending up with you crying. She was the one that started taking care of you, holding you, wiping away your tears. She replaced me. You should have seen the satisfied look on her face when she told me that you didn't need me anymore." He raises his brows at my shocked expression. He saw that? I remember that day – it was a particularly grueling therapy session. I would have said anything to make the pain stop.

"Didn’t know I knew that much, did you? Yeah, I saw it all. I saw how you stopped crying after a while. And you didn't black out anymore, either. I notice how after a while you were sitting there all tall and proud, talking and laughing with her. You were happy, Hvitserk. And I finally saw you. I didn't just look at you. I saw you. And that's when I knew it was true. You were strong on your own. You didn't need me in your life anymore, so I stopped coming. You were strong enough without me. And just look at you now…"

"You think you did me a fucking favor?" Stepping back inside the doorway I grab my bag from the floor. It takes a second to locate what I'm looking for but with damning evidence like this, there is no way he can deny it. "Look at this shit. Look at it! You thought I had a good time there? You saw all of the shit she did to me and you thought I fucking enjoyed it? I forgot torture is your thing. It must've looked like a fucking field day to you. Tearing me down…that's your idea of teaching me how to be strong?"

His eyes dance over the red printed letters on the front of the file and instantly I feel a chill at the sight of them. St. Dymphna Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Reluctantly, he opens to the first page and glances over everything. Without interest, he starts to read aloud, "Sociopath…Psychopath...Paranoid Schizophrenia… Histrionic Borderline Personality Disorder…Dissociative Personality Disorder… What the fuck is this?"

"That's your little lesson, Ivar. That's what the fuck I learned on Dr. Lagertha Svensdottir’s fucking couch." In all of the things I've felt for Ivar over the last five years, never once have I felt anger. But right now, I'm so pissed with him it's taking everything I have not to punch him in the face. "I learned that I'm fucking crazy. I was taught that I killed Guthrum, and Ubbe. I probably killed Bjorn and Father…hell, maybe even Rollo, too. But not Sigurd, Ivar. No - you did that one. I’m not taking the blame for him.

“Oh, and get this – did you know that I got sent to a funny farm, instead of leaving Father’s house to try to make it on my own, before that night I ended up sleeping on your floor. You know, right before I told you about my secret?” I can tell by the look on his face he doesn’t believe this shit either. “Yeah. They magically found some trumped-up records of me being committed somewhere. So instead of having an entire fucking life, I was institutionalized. Somehow I got better and they let me go, though. But I didn’t take my medication and got sick again, and that’s why I supposedly fucked up this time.” I angrily pluck my cigarette butt through the wooded area, “Shit, apparently, I fucking made you up. Did you know you were supposed to have died in the accident with Mother?”

"Those motherfuckers." His eyes grow cold for a moment, and then they soften when he looks at me. Ivar doesn't show remorse, but I can tell from that look that he genuinely had no idea it was that bad. "You don't believe this shit, do you? You never went away. You had your own place. I stayed with you a few times when shit got too bad with Father and Rollo. And that shit about me?” He stands from the chair and walks over to where I’m standing. Craning his neck until his face is inches from mine, I have no choice but to look into his eyes, “If you believe that shit, then you are crazy.”

"You know it's funny what pain will make you believe. You'll believe anything if it means that they'll stop hurting you. You of all people should know that."

"You don't believe me? Touch me. I've held you, rocked you in my arms, wiped your tears. I've been there for you more than anybody else has ever been. You know me. Fucking touch me and you'll know that I'm real." That seems to be all he cares about. Not the fact that the guards would beat me when I was strapped to my bed at night. Not the fact that Gert made me lie out loud and say that I killed damn near my entire family.

"I had to admit to everything you did in front of a room full of people and apologize for it. I had to tell them that I was sick and I didn't know what I was doing. They made me jump through fucking hoops and made me feel like a freak just to have the most basic of my needs met – to brush my own fucking teeth, Ivar. Now, I have people looking at me 24 hours a day, wondering if I’m stable; just waiting for the other shoe to drop." Lighting another cigarette, I suck back on the toke hoping it will calm me down. 

"I have to follow all these stupid fucking rules. I don't have any privacy. I'm lying to my girl about what the fuck is going on. Oh, yeah, but I’m stronger than a motherfucker now." The sarcasm drips from my words before I can stop it. 

"'Cause that's all that matters, right? You left me there to die, and just hoped that I was strong enough to survive. But what if I wasn't, Ivar? What if I didn't make it? What then?" As soon as I see the look on his face, I know that he didn't mean to hurt me. More importantly, I know that I can't end it like this. We’re all we have.

Nodding his head in understanding he straightens himself upright and glares out at the woods around us. "It was that fucking headshrinker wasn't it? She pumped you full of drugs and lies. You know she lied to you about all of that other shit. But you think she was telling the truth about me? Well here's the truth Hvitserk. If I thought for one second that you weren't strong enough to make it, I would have killed every last motherfucker in there to take you out of there. You can believe all of that other bullshit if you want, but you know that for a fact."

Staying angry with him is harder than I thought. But it feels so good to lash out after keeping all of this shit in for years. Always pretending to be what they want me to be so they'd let me out, keeping my real feelings bottled away…it's fucking hard. Finally, I get to be myself and it figures it's with the one person who I've always been able to be myself around. I know I should hate him. But I don't. I never did. I feel myself calming down and all I can do is look at him with serious eyes. "You were right about one thing. I don't need you anymore. I'm doing just fine on my own now."

A sly smile pulls at the corners of his lips and instinctively his hand runs over his almost bald head. "You're right. You don't need me…but it wouldn't be fun to have me around again?" His smile grows when I try to keep my face stern but it softens almost as soon as he says it. It's the truth. I miss him. Without him I feel like a part of me is missing. "We had some good times, brother."

Resting my head against the door frame again, I instantly feel the anger and frustration leave me looking into the cerulean pools of his eyes. "Yeah, we did." I look out at the forest and notice that the wind is picking up. The bare trees swing their branches like skeleton fingers waving goodbye to me. Or is it hello? I can't tell anymore.

"You came out on top, baby. You're bigger and better than you were before." Throwing the file on the chair behind him, he turns to me with a warm smile. He touches his hand to my cheek before kissing it gently and I can feel the electricity from it all over my body. God, I miss him. "I just wanted to see you again and to tell you that I'm proud of you." As soon as he steps down from the porch he turns to me and nods. "If you ever get bored, you know how to find me. I miss you." No sooner does he say that, does he turn around and walk down the stairs and away from the cabin. “Burn that fucking file. It’s nothing but a bunch of lies. You’re better than that, Serk. You always have been.”

Watching him leave a second time hurts more than I thought it would. "Ivar?" I steady my voice and force a smile on my face. "I miss you, too." I won't ask him to come back into my life, but I damn sure won't deny him if he does. In the few minutes that we spent together, I didn't feel lonely at all. I felt normal. That's all I've ever wanted.

His smile is illuminating. It lights up everything in this darkened wood like the sun was shining directly on him. It's magical. "I don't know how to apologize, Hvitserk. That's really not my thing. But I don't lie, so believe this. If you let me back in, I promise I will never leave you again."

There's so much to think about. I've been lied to so much by so many people I don't know what the truth is anymore. All I do know is I haven't felt this alive in years. With a shrug of my shoulders, I turn toward the door. "We'll see. I need to talk to my shrink first." With one last glance at him, over my shoulder, I walk into the cabin and leave the front door open behind me.

Pulling the pack of Marlboros out of my pocket, I dust off the chair and take a seat. Lighting the end, I close my eyes and concentrate on the thick smoke filling my lungs. I love the taste of menthol. With everything there is to consider, it's nice not to have to concentrate on anything but my cigarette while my thoughts fall into place. This is more than I can handle right now. I need some direction.

Resting my arms on my thighs, I lean forward and consider the mattress and the blonde woman bound and chained to the fireplace lying upon it. 

"So, Dr. Lagertha, do you think I should give Ivar another chance?"

Fin.

A/N: Well, guys. That’s it! Thanks for sticking with me, and going on this crazy ride with my boys. This has been a fun rewrite. I hope to finishing some of my other stuff soon and posting some things I have just had sitting on the shelf.

As always,

Be easy!

shannygoat

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[zwiezraczek]

Criminal - Chapter 2

Billy (viliain) x Female reader (cop)

Prologue/Chapter 1 - CHAPTER 2:  He is a loser, he's a bum CHAPTER 3

SUMMARY: You always wanted to become a police officer. And you became one of them, brilliantly and they offered you your first case. “The Ghosts” case. The case of fleeting people and one sneaky bastard parkouring around the town to annoy you. You swore to yourself to catch him them.

WORDS: 2 k

NOTE: So here we are with chapter 2! I’ll try to upload a new chapter every Thrusday, wish me luck for this haha! I hope you’ll like this whole series! 💕

TAGLIST: (leave a comment to be a part of it!)

You had a long day, probably the longest day since a very long time. But you were happy. Happy because you had found a flaw in their code, and you exploited it fully. You smirked as you looked at the ceiling of your room while laying on your matters. Your cat purring onto your ear as you scratched his head while thinking about how well your plan went.

They were up to something lately, you noticed an unusual rate of apparitions in illegal servers that you hoped were theirs. And you were absolutely right. Your informatics team was made of geniuses, and if you could you would kiss each and every one of them on their cheek thanks or because of the work they did, geniuses that had helped you a countless number of times. They managed to infiltrate their group chat, without being kicked out, unnoticed. A victory you wanted to celebrate as it should be and you were so thrilled that you began to move from one foot to another while the messages were flashing up on the big screen they settled for this reunion. You couldn't help but smile as you saw them, your Ghosts speaking. It was almost like spying on old friends, looking for them, looking for the smallest error they would make in order to catch them. To have them under control. Finally, after years of work.

You knew them, you knew how they spoke from the times you had managed to get into their conversations, and from the data you had somehow gathered. Seeing them in action, typing live while you were watching them was priceless. You could feel all the emotions overwhelming you at once, a wave of happiness and adrenaline.

One: Four, you managed to find the plans of this building?

Four: Yup found them

Currently working on the outside of the building

This is some shitty building with a shitty architecture

Not made for parkour :(

Two: Whatever, we don't need to know what you properly think about the building. We need to know if you will be able to handle this.

Four: You doubt me? :(

Two: Should I?

Four: Mean :(

Seven: If I can add something, the building next to the one we're “attacking” is perfect for me

One: You can take the inverted commas back because we're attacking this building

Three: Yeah motherfuckers!

Two: If the only thing you have to say here is “motherfuckers” you can just shut up Three.

Three: Ooooh, Two isn't happy :*

Two: If you continue, I swear to God, I'm going to kill you this Sunday.

Five: Can we please focus? ^^'

One: A person that is FINALLY interested in the mission

Three you're sure we have no cop on our back?

Three: Apparently we're safe now

Four: So bad

I love teasing the cute cops :(

Five: You'll have plenty of time to tease them on Sunday ^^

Four: Right

One: You want some coffee? Pastries? Maybe you want to be left alone in this chat?

I mean WE'RE NOT PREPARING ANYTHING BIG ARE WE?

Five: Sorry One... ^^'

Four: Whatever

Let's talk about real shit

Seven: When Four's in that mood I'm always a bit scared because it means that this mission's going to be batshit

Two: Exactly. Batshit as you say.

A giggle almost escaped from your lips as you had access to all the information you needed to gather a unit. You crossed your arms over your chest, trying to look as professional as possible while you were burning inside. This case began to be interesting again. You were about to capture them. All of them. Especially Four. You never truly forgot how he had treated you during your first encounter, a few years ago when you managed – with some luck – to catch a glimpse of who they really were. You saw his grin under his dark hoodie before he began to run away from you as you truly couldn't do anything. You couldn't shoot him, you stood there, your hands holding the gun with your fingers on the trigger. One gunshot. In the air. But he didn't stop. And you wanted so badly to beat him up, this cocky bastard. And you let him go, without doing anything.

But not this time, you thought scratching your cat's head.

~~~~

It was two in the afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, and beads of sweat were running down your temple. You were all suited up for the great occasion, almost in a hazmat suit, wearing a bulletproof jacket weighting almost a ton and a large helmet, in one hand a gun – how much you wanted to shoot to scare them again – and in the other a walkie-talkie to give further instructions to the guys with you.

You were leading this operation, but you couldn't stay out of it as any other head of the operation would: you had to face them. To catch them. To finally beat them. A movement. Somebody informed you about movement on the East side. Seven or Four. Five should be already inside the building, One shouldn't be anywhere near, however Three must have been near in a car, waiting for them in any case – in case you would try to catch them. Two was the wild card, and probably the one that would save their asses if something went wrong: she wasn't ready to face you. Absolutely not. Movement at the entrance, a tall woman entering the building with a fur-coat. Two or Five, you thought. Another movement on the East side. You were sure about it: it was Four. Right when one of your men spotted some agitation inside the building, you launched your troops inside. It was now or never, and having at least one of them would under your wing would help you a lot.

You rushed your troops inside, leaving the lead of a smaller unit to Jake as you took another unit with you to the roof – secretly hoping that you would catch Four, that you would succeed this time. Slowly, without any noise, you walked towards the doors opening them with great caution as the men behind you watched your back. You felt adrenaline rushing through your veins and your heart beat faster and faster with every footstep. And when you opened the door, you saw them. Two faces looking at you, one tall blond and the other small brunette. This was Four, and the woman was either Five or Two.

“Shit,” Four exclaimed before beginning to run in the opposite direction to his partner.

“Split,” you yelled pushing your teammates towards the woman who might have been their weakest point if caught. Without a doctor, they would be screwed. “I'll fucking catch you, Four,” you then muttered under your breath as you began to run after him.

He swiftly began to jump from one platform to another, sometimes looking above his shoulder to make sure that he had lost you. No he didn't. How much you regretted that you couldn't shoot properly while running after him, and stopping would be a waste of some precious time knowing how agile he was. You cursed as he began to hide between the boxes of the backroom – why the hell had they chosen this particular place? You had to properly scan it, now you knew it was an important place. Shit, shit, shit.

As he began to hide, you went up where you last saw him. A bit shaky and unsteady, you began to walk on the platforms, between the various boxes and other things you'd then have plenty of time to look at. You heard some movement on your left, and turned around almost immediately, but before you could actually thing or do anything Four was there. Right next to you. You felt his strong arm pushing you towards the edge of the platform, with a smirk on his face as he looked you right in the eye.

“Have a nice fall, lovebird,” he said and you could only widen your eyes before falling and hitting the ground. You felt dizzy, and slowly you closed your eyes.

~~~~

Fantastic, he thought as he saw you fall. He couldn't yet know if he said that sarcastically or not. This mission had become a lot harder since the cop girl decided to join the fight, he thought before jumping down, right next to you. He had found you funny, since your very first encounter a few years ago, right at the beginning of the case and when he teased you a lot. He still remembered that moment, when you went all red from what he had said and lost all composure, which made you miss him with your bullet.

And then he knew he couldn't let you escape from his teasing.

The whole squad was always annoyed when you tried to infiltrate their conversations, their exchanges and information and Four was the only one to get excited when Three mentioned you. The cute cop. He liked that particular nickname that he had given you, and used it as much as possible to talk about the cop in charge of their case. It made all sound way less dramatic than it was, because deep inside, he knew that you weren't just cute, but also smart and you had proven that on that day. He was impressed, as he circled around you, looking at your face behind the helmet you wore, still unconscious.

He couldn't believe that you had infiltrated their information chatroom, and that you had put on a trap on them. A failed one, but still a surprising one. He crouched down, right next to you before taking your jaw into his palm. Through the glass, he saw your eyes closed and some mist. You were alive, thank God. The last thing he wanted was to add a cop kill on his record – even if, he had to admit it, the way he pushed you was really classy. He sighted while looking at you, you never learned your lesson then, he thought right after.

“You're such a complete disaster,” he groaned before scooping you off the ground almost like a feather. “Like, holly hell, how does anyone let you out their sight! Stop picking fight with people you aren't ready for!” He stated for you, or more to himself he couldn't tell as he pulled you towards one of the entrances of the backroom, hoping that right there one of your colleagues would find you quickly and bring you to the hospital if needed – but clearly he knew you wouldn't be that bad.

You apparently were as stubborn as he was. And seeing you all alone chasing him made Four smile. You looked nothing like a badass cop, he saw you the first time without all of this masquerade clothing, you looked frail and gentle. Nothing hinting that you would be such pain in the ass for the whole squad. You had to be big to be able to go alone chasing one of them, leaving the rest of the troop chasing Five – he hoped that Seven took care of them to protect her. All of that seemed pretty funny to him, a little lady like you being the big boss and the big brain of the operation. That was a nice change from the cops he used to deal with.

Suddenly, he saw that you began to delicately move your head, slowly coming back to the world of the living and he smirked again. He had won, another time. But he knew it wasn't the last time he was about to see you. And he couldn't wait to do what he intended from a very long time, but thinking that you were just an average cute cop who would never find them he thought it would be stupid. But now, he knew you were worthy of his attention.

Absolutely.

[whumpywhumper]

Markus & Clint

So @0idril0 wanted to see how Markus and Clint met, so I wrote this up. It’s pure, cheesy fluff which has been much needed for myself. 

Tagging Markus & Clint’s usual fanbase: @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @imagination1reality0 @insanitywishes @walkingchemicalfire @comfy-whumpee @vickytokio @whumpitywhumpwhump @genesissane @gonna-feel-that-tomorrow @voidwhump @captivity-whump @kungpao-giffy @comfortforthepain

Edit for Masterpost

V***V

Markus threw his head back and laughed at Evan’s description of the pug he’d treated earlier that day. Apparently, “little old man” and “farts like a skunk” were nothing compared to it’s personality. 

“I swear to god, Markus,” Evan laughed, wiping tears from his eyes, “I could barely keep a straight fucking face with this little pug bitching it’s owner out as I examined him. I had to pretend to fucking stick myself with a damn needle when he told her that if she let me stick my finger in his bum one more time that he was going to shit in her mouth while she slept.” He raised his beer bottle to his lips, the glass slick with condensation between his fingers, chortling when he continued. “She called the damn codger a ‘smoopsykins.’ ” 

“Oh my god, oh my god, Evan stop!” He held his stomach as he continued to laugh, “You’re going to fucking kill me.” 

Evan thumped him on the back when he tried to take a drink of his own rum and coke, a huge smile on his face as Markus started hacking to keep the burning liquid from pouring out of his nose. “Don’t die on me, bud! Who would I have to keep Brian from braining himself when he goes after some of your sisters?” 

Chuckling, Markus rubbed at his eye with the heel of his hand. “He needs to stick with pining after Kristy, cause Deanna and Keihl are gonna eat him alive.” 

They looked over the bar where Brian was trying to charm one of Markus’s coven sisters, the dark skinned woman concealing a twinkling smirk at the younger man’s antics. Her partner was practically licking her lips, her black nails tracing them while the siren was completely oblivious to the danger he was in. 

Evan snorted, getting to his feet and shaking his head. “I better go save him.” 

Markus smiled as he watched his friend go and clap Brian on the shoulder, feeling the warmth of several drinks and the company of friends curling in his belly. He’s pretty sure that the only person who actually knew why he’d pulled all of his friends, and their friends, together was Theo, and he’d sworn her to secrecy. 

A heavy thump in Evan’s vacated seat made Markus turn back, eyebrow raised as a large man in a leather jacket made himself comfortable. Green eyes, reddish blond hair, and a white, rakish smile had Markus rolling his eyes and smirking internally before he’d even opened his mouth. “Is this seat taken, Hun?” 

The witch could feel the good natured charm rolling off of the stranger in and waves, and he couldn’t help his own smile as he answered. “It is now.” 

His smile grew slightly larger at Markus’s lack of rebuff, shouldering off his jacket as he motioned their bartender for a Guinness. His eyes caught on the play of muscle below the other’s sweater, the warmth of liquor in his system making him less than subtle. 

Chuckling, his visitor put his elbow on the bar and leaned into Markus’s space, like he was trying to make himself heard over the crowd. Even though it really wasn’t that loud. “Come here often?” 

Markus’s snort at the cheesy pick up line gave way to real laughter when the other’s smile only widened at his reaction, genuine warmth residing in the creases next to the other man’s eyes. Indulging him, he turned completely, letting his feet swing off of the bar stool and one of his long legs stretch in-between the other’s. “Not often enough for my liking, you?” 

He took a long drink of his rum and coke, looking underneath his lashes at tall, bright, and charming, feeling a flicker of satisfaction when he followed the bob of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. “First time actually, was ordered to bring a cake for a surprise party by my friend Theo, but I can’t resist getting to know a pretty thing like you, Sugar.” 

At the mention of Theo, cake, and a surprise party Markus’s expression dropped from flirtatious to horrified. Eyes widening, he rocked back in his seat and his head whipped around in search of that dark haired traitor. “Theo!” he screeched, trying to jump to his feet and nearly toppling himself and the barstool over in his tipsy haste. 

“Woah, Darlin’!” Two hands caught him across the shoulders as he nose dived toward the floor, righting him and the stool with an impressive lack of effort. “I didn’t think you were trying for a date with the floor!” 

“I’m going to strangle that witch with the grahm I made for her!” Markus groaned, thumping his head against the bar and pulling his hair. “I told her! She swore! Fuck!”

Hissing through his teeth, the other man clapped him on the shoulder, “I think I just fucked up. Please tell me you’re not Markus?” 

Scowling, Markus turned to hold out his hand, head still on the bar, “Nice to meet you.” 

“Aw, damnit,” sighing, a calloused hand took his own, “Clint.” 

Markus noticed the warmth coming from Clint, not just his hand but his extra senses as well, taking in his innate goodness and instantly trusting him. It felt like coming home to a good dog, your entire heart opening up and your worries rolling away. But under that, was the distinct predatory undertone, a snarling magic that was simmering under the surface. Definitely a supernatural, probably were, but what kind? 

Other than a base curiosity, it really didn’t matter in the long run. Raising his head, he motioned to the bar tender, “Tequila, please, Jeremiah.” 

“Make that two, on me,” Clint added. 

They clinked glasses before shooting the alcohol, each throwing their head back at the same time. The alcohol burned on the way down, and Markus grimaced, clacking the glass back to the bar and biting into the accompanying lime. 

“What the fuck happened while I was gone to make you shoot tequila?” Evan’s voice made him turn, just as recognition dawned on the beast master’s face. “Well no wonder if this motherfucker’s involved-” a huge smile broke across his face, “-Clint!” 

“Evan!” Laughing, Clint jumped up and grabbed Evan around the waist, spinning him around in a circle. Evan’s feet swung next to someone’s head, and Markus winced. But no harm, no foul. 

“I take it you two know each other?” 

Evan grinned as Clint set him back on his feet, clapping the other man on the arms. “Yeah! Clint’s the one that brought in those [cryptid] a few months ago. I commissioned that salve from you, remember?” 

Markus sat up straighter, very clearly remembering the ordeal. “Yeah, you said he got them from some poachers, right?” 

Nodding, Clint answered, “yeah, motherfuckers had trapped ‘em.” He grins, and suddenly Markus can very clearly see the wolf just under the surface as his eyes flash yellow. “They learned there mistake rather quickly.” 

They lost some tome talking shop, until Markus looked over and saw Brian, and his eyes widened. Deanna was sitting in Brian’s lap, playing with the stick from her martini and sucking on the olive at the end. Keihl was leaning over Brian’s shoulder, showing him something on her phone. He turned to Evan, hissing, “I thought you saved Brian earlier?!”  

Shrugging, Evan sighed, ”Man, I tried, but it’s like a dog with a bone. He knows he’d rather go and talk to Kristy, but his damn young brain can’t pull himself away.” He chuckled, lips quirking in an amused smile, “Plus, Deanna and Keihl are having too much fun to just let him go.” 

Clint motioned for another shot and grinned at them. “Let a predator play with the other predators.” Knocking the tequila back, he headed over, a sauntering roll to his hips that had more than one set of eyes following him. 

Deanna and Keihl didn’t stand a chance. Clint plucked Brian out of the two women’s clutches and sent him off smiling, looking happy for walking away toward Markus and Evan. 

“He does know that now he’s the one that’s trapped right?” Evan murmured to him, motioning to Jeremiah for another beer. 

Markus grinned, watching how Deanna’s eyes had finally lit up and she was actually smiling, how Keihl’s eyes softened and she was looking at Deanna like she was the moon. “I think they’re trapped with him, actually.” 

His grin slid off his face when he saw Theo, and he immediately tried to slide off of the bar stool and to the floor. So he could crawl out the door without anyone seeing him. 

But it was too late. 

Evan caught him by the shoulders as everyone turned to him and started to sing. 

Happy birthday to you, 

Happy birthday to you, 

Happy birthday dear Markus, 

Happy birthday to youuuu!!!!

Theo grinned at him as she set the cake on the bar in front of him, everyone crowding in behind her as she said, “Make a wish, birthday boy!”

The cake said “Happy (Secret) 26th Birthday!” In neon green letters over the black frosted cake. Scowling and pointing a playfully threatening finger at Theo, he turned to the cake and took a deep breath. Blowing out all of the candles at once.

He started cackling, throwing his head back in a full body laugh, when they flickered back to life. Even a real witch loved trick candles. 

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael After Midnight: The Happytime Murders/Meet the Feebles

Puppets are fucking awesome. There’s really no bones about it, puppets really help make every film they’re in a little better by being the coolest practical effects out there. Labyrinth, The Dark Crystal, Little Shop of Horrors… Hell, Yoda is in the best Star Wars movie, and guess what he is? A motherfucking puppet. And don’t even get me started on the Muppets, everything they touch turns to gold. Except The Wizard of Oz. And aliens.

What I’m getting at here is it’s really hard to make a shitty movie with puppets, because there’s so much skill and detail in pulling off puppet work that it’s not something you can really half-ass, so even the dumbest movie with puppets tends to be at least moderately entertaining. Which brings us to the first of tonight’s films: The Happytime Murders. Directed by Jim Henson’s son Brian and stuck in development hell for years, this movie was set to bring the world a hard-R rated movie starring puppets, something that had been done before of course, but not by The Jim Henson Company. Unfortunately, critics and audiences were not impressed, and to really illustrate why, I think it’s time to finally discuss a movie I should have brought up long ago, the movie that can most easily be seen as the spiritual precursor to this one: Meet the Feebles.

In 1989, Peter Jackson (yes, THAT Peter Jackson) set out to make a satire of human behavior… but also parody The Muppet Show. To the world, he delivered one of the most depraved, disgusting, and incredible works of puppet-based mayhem humanity could ever hope to see. Hardly a minute goes by without something gross, excessive, or over-the-top happening, and it’s all surrounding a bunch of drugged-up, sex addicted, crazy-ass puppets. So, yeah, The Happytime Murders was about 30 years late to the party, but was it really so bad? And how does Jackson’s film show the issues with Henson’s?

So let me just state up front here: I think The Happytime Murders is a decent film. It’s not mind-blowing, but there’s a lot of great puppet work done here, it builds up a really interesting world, and Bill Baretta’s Phil Phillips and Melissa McCarthy’s character actually play off of each other fairly well. Basically, whenever the movie is treating its subject matter with some degree of seriousness, even if it dips a little into black comedy, it works. The original concept for the film would have had this movie as a serious crime drama that happened to star puppets, and I think if they went with that it would have been amazing, but after so long in development hell it was retooled into being more comedic. Which would be fine; buddy cop comedies are usually enjoyable, right?

But its comedy has a real problem, and it’s the same problem Sausage Party had: too much of the humor in the film boils down to “Haha, look at this puppet say FUCK! Look at these puppets doing DRUGS! Hahaha, this puppet is CUMMING EVERYWHERE, isn’t that ZAAAAAAAAAANY?!” The entire joke for a lot of the movie is just the mere novelty that these puppets, things not often associated with swearing, shitting, cumming, drugs, incest, and so on, are doing all of those things, much as a lot of Sausage Party’s novelty was “Wow, look at these animated characters say FUCK!” The film ends up being too crass and too lowbrow at points, and it kind of muddles things. Like it wants to be serious but it also wants to appeal to the lowest common denominator in terms of humor, and it just seems tonally inconsistent.

Compare to Meet the Feebles, which practically revels in how depraved it is from the word go. Right off the bat we have a walrus fucking a cat, and the movie refuses to pull any punches from there. We have drug addiction, death, gang wars, puppets eating other puppets, puppets eating shit, puppets having drug-induced Vietnam war flashbacks where they were forced to play Russian Roulette by cringeworthy racist caricature cats, nasty puppet pornos, and all of it culminates in a fox singing a song about sodomy on a family variety show followed by a bloody mass shootout that leaves multiple people dead. The movie does not let up on being as sick and freaky as possible, and there isn’t a single minute that goes by where you won’t be questioning your sanity and Peter Jackson’s sanity.

But that’s the beauty of it; Meet the Feebles is never trying to aspire to be anything more than what it is. It wants to be this trashy, shit-coated look at the human condition, this sort of gory grindhouse trashterpiece. It almost feels like Jackson was deliberately shooting for the cult audience this movie would eventually gain, knowing that even if only a small number of people appreciated the message he was conveying, it would be worth it. And frankly that just makes the film feel far more honest and sincere than The Happytime Murders, and frankly I do not use the phrase “honest and sincere” to describe a film where a paparazzi fly literally eats a pile of shit lightly.

Basically, what this all boils down to is an identity crisis. The Happytime Murders tries to have its cake and eat it too, to be a serious crime drama and a juvenile comedy riding off of the novelty of puppets swearing and fucking. Meet the Feebles, on the other hand, just completely blasts off with the novelty right off the bat and somehow keeps finding ways to go further and further over the top; it knows what it wants to do, and by god it’s gonna do it. Meet the Feebles is proud of itself, and frankly it should be. Not many movies can claim to be so committed and self-sure as a movie that ends with a hippo puppet gunning down her coworkers in a fit of rage.

I definitely think both movies are worth a watch, though Meet the Feebles definitely moreso, especially if you like nasty, grimy, trashy films or just want to see where Jackson got his start, as this was his second film ever and in what I like to call the “Bad Taste Trilogy,” my grouping of his otherwise unconnected first three incredibly gory cult films. The Happytime Murders is definitely worth a watch if you don’t mind more juvenile humor; the earlier comparison to Sausage Party definitely works, because I feel mostly the same about it. It’s got some good, solid moments and a fun character dynamic between the leads, so if you like that sort of thing, love puppets, and don’t mind stupid lowbrow humor now and then, you might get a kick out of it.

Frankly, I think most of the problems The Happytime Murders has could easily be rectified if it got a sequel or even a spinoff set in the same world. There’s a lot of good ideas there, it just needed a little more polish and I think it could have been the greatest R-rated puppet film ever made as opposed to third place behind Peter Jackson fucking around and the South Park guys lampooning America.

[letstalksymphogear]

Symphogear, EP. 5

LAST TIME ON SINGY WINGY

ANGRY GREMLIN BEAT UP GOOD BY SUICIDE MOVE SURVIVE BLUE BIRD YES. BLUE BIRD GO TO HOSPITAL FOR WATER METAPHOR WITH AFTERLIFE GIRLFRIEND. TINY BIRD SAD, BUT THEN NOT GET SAD! JACKIE CHAN TIME AFTER MUCH THINKING. WIFE WORRIED ABOUT THINGS. SOMETHING SOMETHING PUNCH GOOD NOW.

Let us continue.

Miku wakes up to see her wife has run off yet again. This is the part of the Sam Reimi’s Spiderman franchise phase where the Mary Jane (not weed) begins having a rockier relationship with Peter Parker (not slang for penis) due to lack of availability.

It’s contrived.

It’s almost impressive that she left a note and had time to draw a tiny Hibiki saying something in a bubble. Glad to see you have your priorities straight, Hibiki.

“you know she might have had a better time in the local art school that doodle aint half bad”

Hibiki is motherfucking Rocky all up in this.

She’s going to kick some ass and nobody’s getting in the way.

“YOU’RE GONNA EAT LIGHTING AND YOU’RE GONNA CRRRRRAP THUNDER TACHIBANAAAAA”

“THAT’S A DIET I CAN GET BEHIND”

I wasn’t joking when I said she’s not fucking around anymore. Did you think I was joking? I can see how you can get the impression given the first few episodes, but I really can’t emphasize the thoroughness of the ass kicking she is going to be capable of.

“MY FATHERLY ENERGIES ARE WORKING! ADOPTERS ANONYMOUS WAS WRONG AFTER ALL!”

That’s totally not ominous in the slightest.

Meanwhile, in the middle of an unnamed McMansion in the middle of who knows where...

Gratuitously spoken English is heard. To be fair, it’s actually really impressive pronunciation coming from people whose native language are systemically different to ours. Most shows would just settle for “this dude is actually speaking english but everything is said in japanese for better interpretation” but not Symphogear! No siree!

Relic business is afoot.

We have a random blonde lady shooting random Noise from the thing The Gremlin had in her hands.

She’s really trying her best with her accent. She’s also casually shooting Noise because let’s face it, would we not do the same if it were in our hands?

“i do whatever i want with my big stiff rod pal”

Also, she’s a nudist. To also be fair, if you lived in a fuckoff rich McMansion with weapons beyond your comprehension, you likely couldn’t help but walk around naked doing whatever the fuck you want.

The people she’s talking to are the Americans, which we explained before are portrayed strictly in an antagonistic light. They want some relics, and this lady clearly deals them like like some sort of glorified drug dealer.

Suffice it to say, she’s not a very nice person.

Also, the subs don’t match what they’re saying in English in the slightest.

The name of this woman... is Fine (pronounced fi-neh). And she is the main antagonist of this series.

Fucking identical.

And here is the most unpleasant scene in the entire season.

The person we’ve repeatedly alluded to as The Gremlin is called Yukine Chris. She serves Fine in whatever the hell they’re up to right now. In this case, it’s using the Nehushtan armor to run around with Solomon’s Cane to throw Noise around the city.

“shits gonna get real abusive, pal”

Fine is a narcissistic sociopath. She’s manipulated Chris into servitude by believing she is the only one that can pave humanity into salvation.

“i dont like that smile”

Chris thinks Fine can secure her deepest wish. Ironically? It’s world peace.

“yeah! yeah yeah, world peace, yeah, totally. just treat me like jesus and we’re gucci”

Anyway, she proceeds to thoroughly shock Chris.

The lore behind this is that this is helping her resistance with dealing with the physical demands of the Nehushtan armor, as well as deal with the pieces of Nehushtan that may be still inside. Let’s be real, though. Fine’s a sadist, and just likes hurting people willy nilly.

“fuck... that hurt like shit... hey wait... wouldnt some of the electrical arcs hit you and shock you too, given you’re so naked and close to all this...?”

“ya nevermind that food looks real nice and i want a piece of that fuckin turkey”

It’s a real creepy scene, and it cements Fine’s horribleness really well. One of the most pivotal things to take note is that Fine says that people can only communicate with each other universally through pain. Strong, terrible BDSM overtones notwithstanding, this will be a common (though varying in quality) motif of the entire series.

“BITCH YOU THOUGHT WE WAS GUNNA EAT AFTER THAT FUCKIN’ WISECRACK ABOUT GETTING SHOCKED LIKE YOU’RE EVEN FUCKIN’ NIKOLAI TESLA ALL UP IN HERE WE’RE GONNA ELECTRIC SLIDE YOUR ASS TO NEXT WEEK”

“FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK”

“WHERE THE FUUUUUUUCK IS HIBIKI?!”

“i was gonna invite her to the circus with the rest of the class ‘cause i felt bad about how i treated her but i guess she’s not here”

“the only clown im interested in is hibiki, in the carnival tent of my own bedroom”

“isn’t being a part of /fit/ great, hibiki? can you just feel the gains?”

“yeah who needs doting wife based significant others when you have your gym bros, right newly acquired father figure?”

Hibiki, having acquired a new brain cell during her training, asks the million dollar question:

“Why the fuck are we relying on schoolgirls to deal with all this stuff?”

“anime just be that way, hibiki. i’m just the wrong protagonist in the wrong show.”

Japan is super big on keeping the Symphogear a secret because they are strong and the world really, really wants a slice of the Symphogear pie. These people are basically walking super-weapons. Tsubasa literally dropped a sword the size of a skyscraper. It’s like the premise of the series of Iron Man films.

“do i get like a superhero name too or”

Something to wrap your head around. This was released around 2012, and while the setting seems to be slightly more futuristic, the world it was made in at the time had not been through the era of social media/smartphones we have right now. It was on the cusp of doing so, which means the idea of decent (yet vertical) amateur footage of things happening wasn’t something in the mainstream yet. Why do I say this?

Because in Symphogear, the fact that Symphogear exist is the biggest open secret in this unidentified city ever. NDAs are passed like hotcakes to keep people’s mouths shut on seeing monster-fighting singing superheroes. And they sing, too! Symphogears as an entity are the most high-profile fighting agents out there. Bright colors, no masks, constant singing, fighting in broad daylight in populated areas. Everybody knows, but no one says a word.

Which means every politician on the face of Japan hates these idiots, but they’re stuck with them out of sheer necessity.

“i swear to god if you bring up sam reimi’s spiderman one more goddamned time”

“look it’s the truth, all anime comes back to sam reimi’s spiderman. fate zero did it. uhhh, fucking...baccano, probably? now us. face it. its pretty much the bible.”

It’s also pointed out that the very concept of a Symphogear is born from a science that didn’t exist, and it probably contributes to political frustration as well.

“im going to microwave all your sam reimi spiderman dvds. im gonna do it. you try me, motherfucker. i didnt go into acting and get into this position to hear lectures about a decades old film franchise nobody cares about anymore.”

“can we stop fighting about the validity of sam reimi’s spiderman for five seconds and get back to helping me thing of a dope as hell superhero name? now, lemme lay one on you: Mister Fister”

Hibiki asks where Code Ryoko is.

“any answer besides Not Here works”

“oh, she left to talk to the americans, why?”

“huh, shes sorta late, actually”

“WHY A BAD BITCH LIKE ME GOTTA GET STUCK IN TRAFFIC LIKE THIS”

In the mother of all Mom Vans, no less.

MEANWHILE... IN METAPHOR LIMBO...

Tsubasa has reached the sea floor of the water metaphor dimension surrounded by water, which is her feelings, which are very gay. Imagine the Mariana Trench but like, deeper. Way deeper. That’s where Tsubasa is.

Leave it to Kazanari “I am literally a sword” Tsubasa to successfully spin the very act of surviving a suicidal move during combat as a failure. That’s a special kind of self loathing right there.

“the sheer force of my love for big ladies is keeping me alive”

Tsubasa asks about the point of Kanade’s sacrifice. Why’d she do it? Why was she so hungry at the end?

She personally shows up to answer that question, because that’s Kanade for you.

“being badass is cool, but you know whats cooler? caring.”

“sharing the sauce... you... you shared the sauce...”

“thats right, tsubasa. i wanted to protect the sauce, but... ultimately... sharing it was better. it wasn’t my sauce, tsubasa. it was everyone’s...”

“im gonna suck on a ketchup packet in your memory, tsubasa”

Kanade’s spirit pulls her out of the dimension of water metaphors as she is slowly undrowning from her emotions.

Tsubasa, like Kanade, was lost in the sauce. But now, after Kanade’s touching peptalk, Tsubasa is lost no longer.

“will i ever see you again in my dreams, kanade...?”

“where there’s a sauce. i’ll be there.”

“ill eat taco bell every day just to see you again kanade”

“and i dont even like taco bell... im more of a chipotle girl...”

After accepting Taco Bell as her lord and savior, she is immediately pulled out of the metaphor zone.

And wakes the fuck up.

“b..... b..... b............”

“Baja Blast....”

[deluxedolans]

Numbers 93,53, and 149 pleaseeeeee

hi, baby! thank you so much for wanting to see my takes on these prompts💙 I love you and hope you’re having a good weekend!! also sorry this ended up being really long!

A/N: I know absolutely nothing about Fortnite other than Victory Royales, so sorry for any inaccuracies hehe.

I am not currently taking requests for any of the drabble prompts. 💙

Prompts: #93. “You didn’t just wake me up at 2am because you were ‘in the mood’”, #53. “That wasn’t very subtle.” & #149. “I just need ten minutes.”

The sun beamed down on your bikini clad body, as you reclined back in your lounge chair, the cool ocean breeze running through your hair. One hand dangled over the side of the chair, your fingers grazing the sand, while the other held a refreshing piña colada. You threw your head back in bliss, your cheeks facing upwards to soak in the heat of the sun. Suddenly, your hand that hung over the side of the chair was embraced by a larger one. You looked down to see Ethan’s hand enveloping your own, rubbing it back and forth as his lips were saying words that you couldn’t understand.

“What?” You asked him, asking him to clarify his words, or speak up so you could hear him. 

In response to  your expression,  he then began to tap your hand in urgency. “Babe, what are you saying?”

“Y/N, wake up! Wake up!” Wake up? You thought you were already awake. Then you felt two pairs of fingers begin to poke into your side …

“Babe, wake up! I have to show you something!” Ethan’s voice rang out throughout the bedroom, his excitement evident.

“Hmmm? I just need ten minutes.” You still weren’t fully awake yet, and to be honest, you didn’t really want to be. From behind your eyelids you could tell it was still dark out and definitely way too early to be woken up.

“Babe, babe, can I just show you something for one second, open your eyes, please!” Ethan shook you gently, and grabbed at your hands, encouraging you to sit up in bed.

“I swear to God if it’s your dick, Ethan, I’m gonna deck you,” you warned, your voice thick with sleep.

“I’m not naked, but if I were, would that be so bad?” Ethan inquired. “I can take you any place, anywhere, anytime–.”

“The time is not now, Ethan!” Since you had yet to make any movements, Ethan scooped you up in his arms. Your eyes popped open at his actions, annoyed at his persistence.

“Look, baby, I got a victory royale again! I played in advanced mode too, so all the guys I placed against were amazing. It was touch and go for awhile but–.”

“So you didn’t just wake me up at 2am because you were ‘in the mood?” you interrupted, pushing your hair back from your face.

The big grin on Ethan’s face brought warmth to your heart at his happiness, but also disappointment  at the realization that his desperation to wake you up wasn’t because he wanted to fuck you.

“No! See! I won, babe, I won–.” You smiled softly at him, settling back into the pillows. “I’m very happy for you, babe,” you said as you rubbed your eyes, glancing at the TV screen at the front of the room decorated in bright colors indicating Ethan’s victory.

“You gonna come to bed now?” You asked, raising a brow, and patting the space beside you.

Ethan shook his head, reaching back for the controller that was left on his gaming chair, “Nah, I’m probably gonna play for a bit more. I’m sorry for waking you, babe, I just got excited.” Ethan’s smile displayed all of his teeth, his enthusiasm for his PlayStation clear in his facial expression.

“After all that, you’re not coming to bed?” You were incredulous; Ethan literally woke you up in the middle of the night to tell you about him winning a round of Fortnite, (which was not surprising in the slightest), but the fact that he woke you up and wouldn’t come cuddle was a little annoying.

“Nope, I’m gonna play a few more rounds. You can go back to bed, though, baby.” You ran a hand over your face at Ethan’s words; you were wide awake now. You always had a hard time sleeping when Ethan wasn’t right there next to you; when you had laid in bed hours earlier, your head was settled on Ethan’s bare chest, and his arm was wrapped around you tightly, but now the space next to you felt cold and lonely, the need for your boyfriend growing stronger with each passing moment.

You sighed softly, trying to cuddle down under the covers. You slid open your phone, and noticed you’d received a few texts while you were asleep. One was from your mom saying good night and that she missed you, the other was from your best friend, Annie, responding to a meme you had sent, and the other was from an unknown number. Curious, you clicked the contents of the text to see what this mystery person had said:

Unknown (11:32 PM):

Hey Y/N, it’s Mike. I’m drybk rn, and just wanted to say I miss u

You internally rolled your eyes. Mike was a guy from your Intro to World History class that you had to do a year long project with last semester. Mike was very nice at the beginning of the year; always offering for you two to work on the project at his place, and buying supplies for the assignment. However, whenever you and Mike would go to the house you shared with the twins to work on your project, you could feel Ethan attempting to contain his possessiveness from a mile away; constantly interrupting the conversations you two would have regarding any class notes, his eyes narrowing whenever you’d laugh at a joke Mike would make, and continuously walking by you two in the living room, making sure that nothing suspicious was occurring.

In spite of the fact that Ethan trusted you, he always had gotten bad vibes off of Mike; Ethan claimed that he could just tell that Mike had a crush on you. However, you were fully, and completely in love with Ethan and you were deeply convinced that Mike didn’t see you that way; all things that you reiterated to Ethan time and time again, but still, his concerns surrounding your history project partner persisted.

You scrolled on to the next message,

Unknown (11:35PM):

I miss when we’d order pizza and hang out

Hang out? You guys were working on your history project …  you weren’t “hanging out”.

Unknown (11:36PM):

Are u ignoring mw????

Unknown (11:40PM):

Answer me

Your eyes widened at his urgency; maybe Ethan was right about Mike having a crush on you.

“Babe?” You called out, attempting to drag his attention away from the flashing television screen. Ethan ignored you; too engrossed in his game to hear what you were saying.

“Babe, I have to show you something.” You cringed internally, your current words sounding so familiar to what he said only thirty minutes ago.

“Hang on a sec, babe, I’ll be there in a minute,” Ethan murmured, his fingers punching into the controller furiously as he attempted to shoot down the enemy.

Unknown (12:00AM):

I jsut wanna see ur beautiful fsce and then I’ll be good

The messages went on and on all the way up until one ‘o clock when they stopped.

“Babe, I really need to show you something,” you urged, your eyes practically bugging out of your head as you saw the texts escalate.

“Just let me finish this round, and I promise then I’ll snuggle with you, baby.”

You sighed. Then, your phone began to ring, of course, the number popping up unknown. At first, you thought of ignoring it; clearly you had zero interest in Mike. However, maybe this phone call would finally snap Ethan out of his gaming trance.  

“Hello?”

“Y/N? I’m so glad you answered! I misssss you so much. I need to talk to you,” Mike slurred, his voice loud as he attempted to make his voice heard among the wild background noise.

“Listen, you’re drunk, please stop texting me–..”

Upon hearing your command, Mike’s voice immediately dropped several octaves, “No, you listen to me. Eddie is no good for you, I can be so much better for you.”

“His name is Ethan, you jackass, and I don’t like you that way, please stop contacting me,” you pleaded, your voice raising as you yourself became frustrated. He knew you were in a relationship, and still he was being an asshole.

Ethan’s head turned back quickly when he heard his name, and he paused the game as soon as he saw you were on the phone. He took his headset off, now giving you his full attention.

“Who are you talking to?” Ethan mouthed, his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.

You put your phone to your shoulder, blocking the speaker from your mouth, “Just guess.” You responded, hitting a button so the call was on speakerphone.

“He treats you like shit, I bet he can’t even fuck you right with his chode dick. You deserve so much better than him, Y/N, and I can give you that. Come over here and I’ll make you scream just by looking at me–.”

Ethan’s eyes turned dark as soon as he heard Mike’s drunken voice come through the speakers. “You have got to be kidding me right now. I fuckin’ knew it!”

Ethan took the phone out of your hands, his hands shaking with rage, “The only way she’s gonna be screamin’ is when she’s running away from your ugly ass. Don’t you dare call her again. In fact, don’t call my girl, don’t look at my girl, don’t even breathe near my girl. There’s a reason she’s with me and not with you, asshole. I knew you were a fucking prick from the moment I met you–.”

“Y/N, call me when you’re ready for a real man.”

“You motherfucker, you call me when you’re ready to handle this like a real man. Fuck you, you motherfucker, take a hint, she doesn’t want you. We have more fun together in one second than you’ll ever have in your miserable life. If I ever see you even inhale in her direction, I’ll wreck you. Leave her the fuck alone.” And with that, Ethan hung up the phone, his chest heaving, and his free hand balled in a fist.

Ethan’s mouth open and shut several times in both anger and shock.

“I told you so.” Ethan whispered, his eyes narrowed in anger. “Have I mentioned I hate that guy?” EThan growled, pacing around them room.

“Well, no shit. That wasn’t very subtle,” you said flatly, walking after Ethan.

You sighed, “baby, I’m sorry I–.”

Ethan whipped around suddenly, grabbing your hips and pulling you in so your foreheads were touching. “No, you tried to tell me; don’t you dare apologize to me. I’ll be spending the rest of this night making it up to you, and I don’t care if it’s three AM.” Ethan smirked, picking you up by the back of your thighs and walking you back to bed.

[finderskeepersff]

27. Part 2

“Just wait there!” I said to Ethan, this is a mess. Like I have guns in Sofia’ bag, that is wrong and I am in a church “lord forgive me” I said, closing the toilet door “what is it?” they are here, police are here, more than likely swat team because of guns and how long they have taken “you need to wear my bulletproof vest, I can’t dump it here. If I dump it here it will have DNA and link it to me, they will search me and they will know I have one on and question me, you need to wear it” Sofia’ face dropped and walked away from me “how can I get away with that Cassius? Tell me that, this dress is skin tight” clasping my hands together “wear my overcoat, if you don’t then so be it but I would appreciate it if you do because then they will arrest me for something petty as this, they will pin it to me somehow. I drop it here they will DNA that shit” Sofia placed her bag on the side of the sink counter top “fine, but I can’t put it under this dress” I feel bad, just looking at her face I feel bad “it’s fine, don’t do it. I will come up with another thing” dragging open the door “they will be here, you go. Act normal as shit ok?” turning to Sofia “no give it me, Cassius just do it” I wish I could but I can’t, I can’t do it to her. She is already carrying my guns and the holster “it’s fine, I can’t do it to you” Sofia shook her head “I swear to god, just do it now! If they take you how the hell you going to get out of it huh? Do it!” Sofia shouted at me, they will assume I was involved.

Pulling the overcoat over Sofia “it’s heavy and hot in this, I am going to sweat my make-up off now” they shouldn’t search her at all, grabbing Sofia’ bag and holding it out to her “just be calm ok? Follow my lead, keep this on you so nobody sees and the bag keep it close to you” hearing the shouting from the officers, seeing the fear in Sofia’ eyes “just follow my lead” fastening my suit jacket button, opening the door slowly because I ain’t about to get shot by these “hands in the air!” the gun all in my face, putting my hands in the air “I was just hiding away from danger, they was shooting” if this motherfucker don’t move his gun away from my face “walk! Slowly, keeping your hands in the air” I hope to god they don’t see anything Sofia has, I will have to take blame of course but hopefully she ain’t stupid with this. Stepping outside the church “Cassius Warren! We meet again” these two detectives forever on my dick “can’t say I am not shocked, got your little friends over there too” he pointed, seeing Kyle, Myles, Zed, Ethan and the rest of the boys in handcuffs “for what? For having a funeral? You being real right now?” looking behind me at Sofia “go to my mom” I said to Sofia “ok I’ve had enough of you already, handcuff him” I am so confused on why they targeting us when we did nothing “you mad wrong for this, you petty as shit you fucking know! You know!” the detective laughed “he’s resisting arrest, get him down” they didn’t even attempt to do it, feeling myself get pushed forward “you and your little minions” pinning me to the ground as they arrested me “you’re hurting him!” Sofia said “Sofia it’s ok, just go to my mom. Just go!” I said, they ain’t got shit on me.

The only thing that hurt me is seeing Sofia crying as they dragged me away to stand with the rest of them, they are doing this for show because they have nothing “nice little gathering, wait here” stood next to Zed “sit down!” this white motherfucker shouted “now!” he pointed his gun at me, dropping back as I sat down “next time do it quicker!” he used the gun and hit the top of my eye lid “the fuck!” Zed shouted, I have nothing on me, nothing to point it at me “they all alive, fuck these pigs!” Zed said to me “my brother too?” I asked “yeah” I breathed a sigh of relief, nobody dead just injured. Scrunching my face up in a little pain, feeling blood slowly leak down my face “they love this but they have nothing on us” now I have to through motions of getting booked and then interviewed and let go, for nothing “you! You first, he is the one we want, take him” as always that is me, being dragged up on my feet “I don’t need no lawyer” I said as they walked me to the car “of course you don’t, Mr innocent” catching Sofia stood with my mom, she listened. I hope my mother can do right by me, she has too.

They ain’t waste no time, already got me in the room for a interview. I sighed heavily, they just want me. Either people want me dead or locked away, shit is crazy. I am trying to be good, I am trying to be clean but it’s like nobody wants me to be. The door opened and some new people walked in, that means they are watching in the window, pussy asses, I hate those detectives “why you got me chained onto the desk like some murderer? I am the victim here, burying my friend?” the two women sat down “myself Ann and officer Kalia will be interviewing you” nodding my head “but why?” I questioned “just to get your side of the story” I laughed “you see a guy with a criminal record and you take him” Kalia opened the file “not any old criminal, when anything happens, you are always there. It’s not a coincidence is it now? Just like when the shootout happened, you ran from the hospital. We have always wanted to question you here” shaking my head “why don’t you watch the footage from the police car, I know you record everything with the camera in the window. Then come back to me” I ain’t stupid “that is being looked at” I sniggered “my brother, how is he? You know what don’t make sense, you think I would harm my brother? You know this is bullshit” they are fucking trying it.

Cassius words rang through my ears ‘listen to me’ but I just want to go to him. I am sweating in this thing he put on me, he was right though. They didn’t check me at all for anything, they just asked if we was ok but they are treating Cassius like shit, this hurts me so much, that is my baby they are hurting. Monique hasn’t said much, she just said am I ok and guess where I am going. To their house, I didn’t think I would be back at such a place. Monique hates me as much she does my own mother, I’ve not had much good memories here but here I am. Jasmine didn’t say much at all, Josiah is though. I like him, he’s always so neutral about things “come on Sofia” looking to the side of me, I didn’t know he got out of the car. Shuffling across the seats, I am sweating so much in this thing. Holding the overcoat close to me, it smells like Cassius so much “you think Cassius is ok?” I said to Josiah “oh yeah, he can always handle himself, I think he worries more when loved ones are close by. He will be ok, hopefully get himself out” walking up the steps to the home, I came here with Jordan and even then he told me to not speak too much.

Monique and Carnell just looked at me, I feel so out of place here. I am holding the overcoat so close to me, this feels like protection “I have Cassius guns and his vest” I don’t know what to do with him “oh where?” Carnell asked “erm in my bag” placing my bag down on the couch “can I get them out? We can put them away safely?” nodding my head “look it’s not the best of times to be holding grudges, you’re here and safe. While Cassius is there, don’t be scared to use this as your own home” this is not Monique “you need to take off the vest” Monique said, she is right I do. Slowly taking off the overcoat, I hate this thing on me “you want me to do it for you? I will just help you” I don’t know how to take it off “if you could, Cassius seemed to strapped it tight on me” I feel so faint “I need to eat” Cassius would kill me, I don’t have my tablets with me either “I was getting pizza, if you want some?” Jasmine said, Monique yanked the straps off from around me “call it now, please Jasmine” Monique said, I feel sick actually.

Wiping my mouth, I hate being sick I mean that is what you get with pregnancy I guess. I want to cry so badly, Cassius is just only god knows and I am here “do you need water?” I looked up at Monique just there, she is here in front of me and following me I think “yeah but I can get that, thank you. I mean, for allowing me to be here” Monique smiled at me “I know that you’re pregnant, my son is stupid. I can see the change in you myself, you’re having my son’ child so you’re most welcome to be here. I assumed a lot, I though you went with my son to revenge on the fact Jordan did what he did and you was just playing at my sons but it’s not that, things were said and I am sorry. We all kiss a few frogs but in your case it was his brother, I thought wrong and I just want to say sorry. You’re having his child and I take pride in what is mine, but pizza is here” Monique just dropped a bombshell on me and walked off like that, she knows I am pregnant, what the hell. But how does she know, staring at Monique walking down the steps. Who is this woman, I mean I know she would do anything for Cassius. Maybe she did think that, but she said sorry. More than what my own mother can do, I miss my mother.

How weird is this, the very table I sat with Jordan for thanksgiving and here I am “is Jordan ok?” I asked, I have to ask “they won’t say much, all I know is my son is alive. They won’t let anyone see him” Monique is so used to this kind of life that it doesn’t really make her a crying mess that her son is shot, I would be a mess “it’s the same, they never let me speak to my boys. At times I do want to move, I have said it but it’s my home. I can’t leave Brooklyn” I think it’s time I go back to the hotel now “I understand what you mean, it’s hard to leave your home” Carnell’ phone started ringing “is it nice in Atlanta?” Jasmine asked “well I do like it, just currently we are in a hotel because the home is being changed a little” I explained to Jasmine “so are you ok?” Carnell said on the phone “is it ok if someone drops me off in New York?” I asked “yeah she is here, it’s Cassius” Carnell held the phone out to me, my eyes lit up to know it’s him “Cassius” answering the phone “hey, I don’t have long. I called your phone, you didn’t pick up. You know I have one phone call in this place. I was about to fight some niggas here because I had to call my dad, but you good over there?” it’s so heart warming to hear Cassius voice “I am ok, I am going to go back to the hotel now. Well probably get a ride back there. When are they letting you go?” I want him back “probably morning, they ain’t about to do shit now. They have nothing on me, they just being dickheads. Don’t go to the hotel, stay there. Remember what I said to you, listen to me. Don’t leave the house, stay there. I don’t want you to be alone ok? I love you, don’t worry about me I am good, I can handle myself. You are ok right?” he wants me to stay here and I can’t even question it “yeah I am, just get out of there. Love you too” I guess I have to wait on him.

Holding Carnell’ phone out to him “can I stay here?” I have no clothes here “yeah, Cassius room is still here. Josiah, take her to his room” I know where his room is but let me just be nice about this “thank you, it’s been a long day. I know it’s early but I am drained, goodnight” getting up from the seat, I am very much drained. I ate four slices of pizza, god I am a fat bitch right now. The slices weren’t small either but I guess I am eating for two, walking behind Josiah. Making my way up the steps “you know damn well where his room is” Josiah said “I know, I don’t know. Your mom wanted you to walk with me I guess” Josiah pushed open the door “does he have any clothes here? Do you know?” walking into his room, you can tell his mom cleans the room still “erm, I think he do. When he came last time, I know he did” Josiah opened his wardrobe “there we go, clothes. I mean some clothes, you ok though? You need anything? A towel?” shaking my head “no thank you, I should be ok. Goodnight” sitting down on the edge of the bed, I am so tired. Josiah closed the bedroom door, what an eventful day. I did things I wouldn’t have imagined myself doing, it came so natural to protect him but did it work, I hope so.

I should be released, I have no sense of time but I know the sun is rising and I should be getting out of here. They have no evidence, it’s just their bullying antics. I ain’t even going to front, I did enjoy my sleep here. I am so used to sleeping on that shit, I be in and out of this place like it’s nothing. This is why I know I would have never been locked away if it wasn’t for Jordan, he is so fucking stupid and now look at him. Wanting to be Muslim, the dumbass. A religion can’t change his heart but I do hope he is ok, what a headache for the funeral. Honestly, I know Lamar wouldn’t have it any other way. He said there is always drama with us around, they love us really. Hearing the door behind unlocked, seeing Kalia “Mr Warren” getting up from the bed, the other male officer didn’t like me getting up from the bed “we are taking you for more questioning” my face dropped “no, for what?” they are fucking playing me “we believe you was involved” shaking my head “I want my lawyer, fuck you all. I ain’t speaking to you bitch asses, not get the fuck out of my face and get my fucking lawyer!” I shouted “that is fine, we will put you in contact with him” I pay a lot of money for that guy, he better fucking get me out now.

“Lucas” I smiled at my lawyer “Cassius” he got up from his seat “it’s been a while, it’s ok. Me and my client need to speak alone” walking around Lucas to sit down, I will get out of here “so what they saying I did? They ain’t telling me shit, they playing me. I pay you a lot of fucking money Lucas, I believe in you” Lucas sat down “and I didn’t say I wouldn’t Cassius, didn’t expect you to be back so soon. Heard you was in Atlanta, in trouble somewhat” I laughed “that was minor Lucas, they seen my record. They put me on a list, I am innocent but what are these saying, they are trying to get me for something else right?” I know they are “they are, the shootout that happened, they never questioned you at the time of it. They are pinning you to the recent killings before you left, it’s all hear say. Their issue is not the Lamar funeral shooting, so you tell me” I fucking knew it “there is nothing to tell, I left Atlanta to better myself. My girlfriend is pregnant, I am not that guy anymore. The shooting happened, I got targeted. You know how it is, I left the hospital because of my record, I got scared” Lucas nodded his head “best thing to do, in the interview, be quiet. They have nothing on you, speak but the bare minimum” being quiet is hard for me.

Ann and Kalia from yesterday came back into the room “oh and Lucas, one of their officers did this to me. Cut the top of my eye, for nothing too. And their people pushed me to the ground and not holding me here for nothing” Kalia slammed the file down as she sat down “we have applied to keep you for thirty six hours, when you’re linked to various murders happening” I don’t like this bitch “where is the proof my client has been linked to such things? This is defamation on my client, you have no evidence” Lucas said “then why did you run away at the hospital?” clearing my throat “so my client gets targeted by thugs, gets beaten to near death and you want to link him to such things? If we want to go back to the hospital report, my client was unconscious, he woke up scared. Because of his record he knew the law would never be in his side, how can a unconscious man kill the men there, you got the wrong guy here” Lucas will handle their asses, I sat back in my chair and smiled “what is funny Cassius? That trouble follows you” I shrugged “it’s just funny how you jump on me for nothing, I came back to bury my friend and you busy thinking of me? I just want to go back to my pregnant girlfriend and be on my way” I am pissed with these assholes “we still have time Cassius” Kalia got up from her seat, opening the door “take Cassius back to his cell” Lucas looked at me “they just want to push you, you will be out ok?” push me, I am about to snap.

[issabias]

NCT 127 reaction to them saying something hurtful to their s/o during an argument.

~Masterlist~

TAEIL

It was like any other day you guys were out at your favourite cafe drinking the same old drink except one thing was different… Taeil. He wasn’t his usual self and instead of paying attention to you he just kept staring at his phone doing god knows what but leaving your mind to wonder. When you got home you couldn’t help but confront him about it.

“Taeil, are you okay?… it’s just that you keep paying more attention to you phone than me.”

You didn’t mean to come off bitter but that’s how it came out and so Taeil had seem a bit agitated when he replied back. Eventually leading to a fight about something so stupid.

“All I asked is who is so damn important that you keep looking at your phone, like come on you didn’t even look at me one!”

“Maybe if you gave me something to look at I would.”

After he said that you could not stop the the already brimming tears from falling from your eyes. You avoided eye contact with him feeling self hatred rise as you couldn’t help but take what he said to heart. With your voice cracking your replied “I’m sorry you don’t love me anymore.” As you tried to walk away you felt his arms wrap around your waist as he placed his face in the crook of your neck muttering apologise.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean it I swear you are my everything and I couldn’t imagine my life without you, I love you so much I promise you please don’t ever think other wise.”

JOHNNY

It was a casual day at the dorms with the nct boys, you guys were just chilling playing games and eating pizza when shit went down, when the problem began. You were just chilling with the boys when you noticed Johnny had received a text message from his ex saying how they miss him and doesn’t understand why he’s with you. Johnny was in the bathroom and when he came back you pretended not to see the message because you wanted to see how he reacted and if he’d tell you himself.

You waited and waited and waited but nothing he acted as if everything was normal and didn’t bring up the text message he received. You thought that maybe he just didn’t want to worry you over nothing but as the day progressed he started paying attention to his phone a little more and the constant buzzes from notifications keep on distraction you from the movie you guys were currently watching.

Until finally you had enough, you got up from your seat and walked into his room slamming the door behind you. Pacing up and down all you muttered to yourself was “motherfucking asshole.” “How could he do this to me.” Over and over again until he walked into the room.

“What was that about?” He questioned.

“Maybe ask your ex.” You snarled

“What are you-“ He ponders before realising that you had seen the message. “If you saw it why didn’t you bring it up.”

“Because I wanted you to tell me, but you didn’t you continued to text her on your phone and completely neglect the fact that your current girlfriend was right next to you.” By this point he was looking at you confused “Don’t be so fucking stupid all the time, before jumping to conclusions maybe ask me instead, gosh maybe I should go back to her.” The last part he said muttering to himself but you heard.

“Fine then leave!” You said trying to walk past him to get to the door but you are stopped right there and then by him as he cups your face using his thumb to wipe the now falling tears from your eyes.

“I didn’t mean it, I swear. I love you and only you, I didn’t even text her back I blocked her straight away if you don’t believe me you can check. I was texting on my phone a lot but I wasn’t talking to her I swear, she means nothing to me and the only reason I said what I said was because I was hurt that you think I could want to be with a conniving bitch like her… when I have someone as amazing as you.”

TAEYONG

You and Taeyong were out on a date and everything was going great but you had to go to the bathroom quickly and so you do but when you came back you were shocked by the sight in front of you. Some girl more like some bitch was standing there flirting with Taeyong and he seemed like he enjoyed the attention. As you arrived back at the table after observing them a little more you couldn’t help but feel so hurt that he even gave that girl the time of day. When you came back and sat down at the table they were still talking, when he finally realised you had sat back down he introduced you to her “Y/N this is Hyunsoo and Hyunsoo this is my friend Y/N.” You were happy that he was introducing you until you heard the word friend. You looked up at him and couldn’t believe he just did that, you didn’t say anything as you grabbed your stuff and left.

“What the hell was that y/n!” Is all you heard when Taeyong entered to house to find you sitting on the couch with sweats on watching a sad movie stuffing yourself with ice cream, you ignored his question and continued to watch your movie. He was clearly frustrated that you’re ignoring him, he went over to the TV and turned it off. At this point you glare at him and get up to go to the fridge to get a drink.

“Seriously the silent treatment, you’re the one who acted like a little brat earlier yet you’re ignoring me?” He said clearly pissed. You couldn’t help but shoot up from pouring yourself a drink when he called you a little brat.

“Me? Seriously Taeyong what the actually fuck? I can’t believe you don’t know what you did wrong.” You felt your blood boil at his stupidity.

“Are you seriously that fucking childish that you get in a pissy mood over me talking to another girl like seriously stop being so damn childish and grow the fuck up.” He growled at you and you couldn’t help but feel a pang in your chest as he said that.

“Lee Taeyong you’re a real asshole do you know that! I’m upset because of how you introduced me to that girl, who was clearly more prettier than me let me add, you didn’t call me your girlfriend, you called me you’re fucking friend! To you that sounds stupid but to me that hurts you forget you’re so fucking attractive and supermodel looking girls like her can’t help but swoon all over you, and then there’s me I have nothing to offer like those girls do and it’s clear you know that because today you didn’t prove that you loved me, today you showed me how replaceable I am… thanks.” You said tears now falling from your eyes.

You look at Taeyongs expression and he looks like someone just smashed his heart into shreds you can see the guilt written all over his face but you can’t help but still feel worthless. He moves to take a step towards you but you run away, you run to the bathroom and lock yourself in, now you’re there crying on the bathroom floor.

Taeyong knocks on the bathroom door “y/n baby, please open the door… please.” You ignore his requests just wanting to be alone. He can hear your sobs from outside the door and now he really begins to hate himself. “Babygirl I love you so fucking much you have no clue, today I don’t know why but I was acting like a real asshole and when I introduced you as a friend it completely slipped my mind how that might’ve hurt you but please don’t ever think that you’re not good enough for me because I’m the one that’s not good enough for you… you’re my everything and without you I’m nothing, please open the door and talk to me.”

YUTA

Today you woke up to find that the man usually there was nowhere to be found next to you in the bed. Confused you got up and walked to the kitchen assuming he may be there but he wasn’t you had come to the conclusion that he wasn’t home and you couldn’t hide the fact that you were disappointed. It was your birthday and so you were hoping your boyfriend would be there but you understand he was a busy with work and so you tried to be okay with it.

You were expecting at least a morning text wishing you happy birthday or anything but as you checked your phone you found nothing, you looked around the house for a note or something but there was nothing. So you decided to text him and ask him where he went this morning and he said ‘out with some friends why?’ And you felt so mad at that response like work you understand but just a casual get to together on your birthday without so much as a text message really pissed you off. You asked him what time he’d be pack hoping that maybe he’ll be back for you guys to have dinner he replied ‘not till late don’t wait up.’ By that point you were fuming and threw your phone on your bed not wanting to see it anymore.

Even though he said not to wait up, you still did waiting for an explanation when he got home. When he came back you could smell the alcohol from his breath and you by this point were fuming, you got birthday wishes from everyone except your own boyfriend.

“Seriously…” was all you could say.

“Hey baby how was your day” he slurred trying to kiss you which you avoided to his surprise he gave you a confused look before asking “what was that about?”

“Hey Yuta let me ask what day is it today.” You say clearly pissed off.

“DD/MM/YY no big fucking deal why?”

“It’s my birthday.” He looked at you with so much guilt but you couldn’t look at him right now you were so upset, you walked into your shared room and grabbed a pillow and threw it at him. He knew that meant he was sleeping on the couch. In the morning he you woke up to the sound of Yuta walking into your room with breakfast in bed “I’m so sorry baby girl I don’t know how I could have forgotten your birthday like that and on top of that treat you like shit, I love you so much please forgive me.”

DOYOUNG

You two were out shopping together just buying some essential groceries having a great time as he playfully glared at you as you dumped in unnecessary items into your trolly and then taking them out telling you to put them back. Everything was all sunshine and roses until you bumped into your ex.

This was the first time you had seen him since you guys broke up, he was quite the possessive kind of boyfriend and not the good kind if you know what I mean 😏 I mean the type of guy that wouldn’t even let you breathe without his permission it was an unhealthy relationship and Doyoung knew you were happy to be out of it. But that doesn’t mean you weren’t going to be civil when you met him, you two greeted each other and spoke for a little while until Doyoung came back to you with a sour look on his face.

That sour look remained until you guys got home and you couldn’t stand it so you confronted him about it “Yah! Doyoung what’s wrong with you, you’ve had that look since the grocery store.”

He simply eyed you up and down before muttering something you couldn’t quite here. “What was that? Look I can’t stand dealing with your sour mood right not so…” you kind of ended there not sure what to really say.

“If you can’t stand the sight of me maybe you should go back to your ex who couldn’t stand the sight of you.” All you thought was wtf how did this conversation do a 180 spin. “How could you say that to me after all I went through with him?” You were so angry with him that you just left him standing there as you went to the bedroom to get changed cursing at him under your breath.

As soon as you heard him walk through the door you avoided him as best as you could but there was no use as he trapped you in a back hug “My little bunny, your stupid, ungrateful boyfriend is here to apologise for being such a dick earlier and would love it if you could look at him so he can apologise for how stupid he was for getting jealous over and asshole like him.” He said in a cutesy sounding voice.

JAEHYUN

You and Jaehyun with the rest of the nct boys had decided to go to the beach for a nice get away just for the weekend. You were so excited to be going away for a while you were a little stressed because you know…life. Anywho you guys got to the beach and excitement took over all over you and you and the rest of the boys couldn’t wait to go swimming and so you guys went to change into your swimwear.

All the boys had gotten ready before you and were out and about playing around when you walked out you were getting ready to play but couldn’t help feel like everyone was staring at you… oh wait that’s because they were. You were wearing a bikini and for some reason all the guys there couldn’t keep their eyes off you and this drove Jaehyun mad you’re his and nobody should be able to see you like that!

He grabs your hand and drags you back inside “you can’t wear that.” He says when you guys get back inside. Even though you did want to change because the peering eyes on your body did make you unfortable you couldn’t help but get annoyed at his demanding tone “why not?” You replied.

“Because every guy at the beach was staring at you like a piece of meat.” He growled clearly annoyed but you didn’t care and so you pressed his buttons a little more.

“That’s there problem not mine.” You shrugged

“I said change unless you’re one of those girls who likes the attention from guys staring at her half naked body.” He said his tone harsh and aggressive.

“You asshole.” You said about to walk away from him but he stops you “jagi wait, I didn’t mean it to come across like that I’m sorry, it’s just that you drive me so nuts and seeing over guys looking at you like that drives me crazy because only I should be able to look at you like that. Me. Only.”

I’m a slut for possessive Jaehyun

WINWIN

You guys were messing around just chilling, joking eating unhealthy snacks when he got a phone call, immediately after that his mood changed. He got up and didn’t say a word he walked towards the door put on his shoes and simply said “I’m going out don’t wait up.” Without even turning around.

You were just left there thinking what the fuck but none the less you let him being thinking that he’ll call you and tell you about it later… but he didn’t so you took matters into his own hands you called him but there was no reply whatsoever it got to the point where he turned of his phone and wouldn’t return any of your calls. You started getting worried it got to about 10:00pm when you decided your gonna go and find him.

Just as you were about to leave your are greeted with a very tired looking Winwin but instead of asking him what’s wrong you couldn’t help but nag at him for being such a dick and making you worry like that “what the fuck Sicheng how could you leave like that and not even pick up your phone once I was so fucking worried about you.” He simply stared at you with a blank expression before say “don’t start with that constant nagging I swear sometimes your voice is so deafening that I wish you’d just go away forever.” At first it didn’t register in your mind that he had just said something so rude to you and I don’t think it registered in his either. You two were just staring at each other before you realised you were crying, his blank expression from before started to soften as he saw your tears falling down your cheeks.

He immediately grabbed your hands and looked at you so deeply and lovingly guilt starting to take a hold of him “don’t cry please, I didn’t mean what I said I don’t know why I was all of a sudden in such a bad mood and the way I left earlier was unacceptable but please know that I love you and I’m sorry for how I behaved. Please forgive me.”

MARK

When Mark came back from work you clearly saw how his behaviour was a little different from usual instead of a bubbly hello and a kiss on the forehead he simply walked past you flashing you a lazy smile and he went into the kitchen to get something to drink. His behaviour was worrying and so you decided to ask him what’s up.

“Hey baby, are you doing okay? You look a little tired.”

“Wow amazing observation skills you’ve got right there. I mean it’s not like I wouldn’t be tired from working all day in three different units” #givemarkabreak2k18. He said sarcasm highlighted in his voice.

You couldn’t believe how much of a dick he was being like all you are doing is being concerned about his health and he treated you like an idiot. “I was just concerned about you mark no need to be a dick about it.” You said clearly annoyed.

“Stop being so needy and find someone else to bother because I’m getting sick a tired of it.” He said but then immediately regretted it when he saw the look in your eyes.

“B-baby I-“ he started but couldn’t finish before you cut him off by walking out trying to hide your tears from him.

You started putting on your shoes but before you could leave he runs to the front door stopping you from opening it “where are you going?” He asked worry evident in his voice. “Who knows… but I know I’m not wanted here.” You say trying to not break down.

Before you could do anything next Mark had thrown his arms around you “Y/N I’m sorry babe, I know you were just looking out for me and I just snapped at you for no reason I. Please don’t leave I need you more than anything in this world, I love and appreciate you so much.”

HAECHAN

You and Haechan were out with the rest of dream you all decided to go bowling for some reason even though you were really bad at it. You got to the bowling place to see none other than Haechan’s ex Mina and you couldn’t help but feel a little bit upset by the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. Usually when you guys go bowling he helps you like in those cliché movies where the guy tries to guide the girl on how to bowl, it was Mina’s turn before you and he did what he usually does to you but to her instead. You felt your whole body freeze as you looked at the way he was latched on to her. Jisung gave your hand a little squeeze to reassure you that’s everything is okay but you couldn’t help but die a little inside as you watched him get a little too touchy with his ex “Haechan I think she knows now.” Mark scolded causing Haechan to back off a little bit.

When it was your turn you expected your boyfriend to be right by your side like usual to help you out but he wasn’t when you looked behind you, you see him talking to Mina and totally neglecting you before you rolled your ball Jisung came up behind you and helped you out and somehow maknae magic you scored a strike out of excitement you couldn’t help but jump and hug your best friend it was your first strike ever and so you were pretty damn happy. “Jisung Pwark you the man!” You started cheering and laughing until you layed eyes on your boyfriend who stared at you looking displeased before returning to his conversation with Mina.

It was time to go home and to your surprise Haechan offered to walk you home, you thought that he’d obviously want to walk Mina home after the way they were acting tonight. You two walked home in silence unlike usual you guys were not holding hands and were avoiding each others gaze.

As you got to the doorstep you couldn’t keep it inside anymore “Yah! Lee Donghyuk! What the hell was that tonight?” He gave you a confused look before replying with some dumbass response “what do you mean what the hell was I doing? What the hell were you doing?” You couldn’t help but feel your blood boiling like wtf was he talking about “you were the one who was all over Jisung.”

No fucking way did he just say that you thought to yourself “Me?! Jisung is my best friend someone I’d been close to from before we started dating what the fuck is your excuse for the way you acted with your fucking ex?! She’s an ex for a reason but yet you’re acting like she’s you’re girlfriend.”

“Yeah she’s an ex for a reason but at least she wasnt a raging jealous bitch like you!”

You were taken aback by what he said that you couldn’t even reply you were just so hurt and so angry you got out your keys opened your front door and slammed it right in his face. Angry tears started to fall down your face and what hurt even more was that he didn’t even try to talk to you.

An hour had gone by when you hear a knock on your door and to your surprise it was him. You reluctantly open the door “what is it Donghyuk? There couldn’t possibly be more you could say to hurt me.” You say looking at anywhere but him he noticed your puffy red eyes and immediately felt horrible.

“Babygirl I know you hate me right now and if I was you I’d hate me so much too, I can’t believe I did and said so many careless things today, I love you so much and I can’t believe I made the love of my life cry…I’m so sorry.” He walked inside dropping the bag of McDonald’s and other stuff he had brought by his side and he walked up to you and kissed you forehead and wiped away your tears he then pulled you into a hug and whispered sweet nothings into your ear as your cried against his chest.

A/N -> This was so much longer than I actually expected it to be if you actually read through it all wow thanks a lot ☺️ I would really like to know what you guys think😉

REQUESTS: OPEN

[overwatchworks]

A True Man of His Word:

McCree head-canon that has gone too far Chapter 2: Part 1

Jesse had been complaining the entire time he was being walked out of the little interrogation room-mostly because he couldn’t stand the silence and didn’t want to focus on the thoughts going through his head at the moment-and only the butt of a rifle to his jaw shut him up. These people were not by any means going to treat him as one of their own, and he doubted any of them actually knew why he was coming along anyways. Jesse stared at the floor while his cuffs jangled with each step. 

He spat the blood that had been welling up in his mouth after a moment, and he carefully prodded around with his tongue to make sure all his teeth were still intact. Satisfied that he could still charm the socks off of anyone with his grin, Jesse finally dragged his eyes up to see where the agents at either side of him were leading him.

“Woah, wait a minute. Where are we goin’?” He asked upon noticing the sleekest airship he had ever seen.

“Overwatch HQ.” One of the agents told him in a strict, clipped tone.

“The hell is that?”

Jesse didn’t get an answer, and he leaned over into the field of vision of the one agent that had spoke first.

“Helloooo? Anyone?”

“You haven’t heard of Overwatch?” Another asked gruffly, and Jesse immediately went on the defensive.

“Nah, I haven’t. Is that a problem?”

“Jeez kid, have you been living under a rock?”

“What in the hell is Overwatch?!”

“Pft. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Jesse glared at the non-answer, then stopped dead in his tracks right before they tried to load him onto the aircraft.

“Oh nu-uh I ain’t gettin’ on that. No way in hell.”

“You walk on yourself or we knock you out and drag your stupid ass on. I’m inclined towards the latter just to shut you the hell up.” The first agent snapped, and Jesse opened his mouth with a smug grin.

“Aw, yer too nice sweetpea. But yer gonna have ta carry me on ta that thin’, ‘cause I ain’t goin’.” He drawled with a little quirk of his brow, and the agent sighed.

“That’s it.”

Their fist crunched into his already broken nose, and Jesse had to bite back a scream, blood pumping down his face and dripping onto the floor as he doubled over.

“MOTHERFUCKER! WHAT IN THE HELL WAS THAT FER?! IT’S ALREADY FUCKIN’ BROKEN!” Jesse shouted, hands going up to cup his nose gingerly, and a gloved palm shoved him forward unceremoniously.

“Damn, he still talks...”

Jesse blinked back tears from the pain, and he saw the floor beneath him go from the dusty concrete to a smooth black metal, his boots clicking a bit as he stumbled forward, the harsh grips of the agents on his shoulder forcing him to walk. They ended up shoving him into a seat roughly, rifles held in view just in case, and Jesse huffed.

“Y’all ain’t gotta worry. I ain’t gonna try an’ run off...”

“Shut up.”

“Aw, hon, ya wound me! But I’m gonna be askin’ questions, ‘cause I got a lot of ‘em. How long did ya say this ride was?”

“I didn’t.”

“Well, then why don’t we start with that?”

Silence.

“I wanna know how long I’m gonna be on this fuckin’ thin’, an’ I ain’t gonna stop askin’ ‘till I get an answer.”

“Fifteen hours, McCree, so shut your trap or I’ll have to gag you.” A new voice called out, and Jesse watched as Reyes strode onto the ship, making a quick motion with his hand to the pilot.

“Oooh~ kinky.”

“Alright, I’ve already had enough. Lock him down.” The commander sighed, and Jesse glared as a rag was produced by one of the agents. It was shoved into Jesse’s mouth, his lip splitting from the rough treatment and tied around the back of his head. 

The ship doors shut then, and the whole thing shuddered a bit as it lifted off the ground, Jesse’s eyes going wide as he realized that this was actually happening. There had been hundreds of times he wished to be taken away from that place, a thousand times he had wanted to be anywhere but there, and yet now that it was actually happening, Jesse was scared. Santa Fe was all he had ever known, and now he was being taken by a group that he had no idea existed, and he had no idea where they were taking him or why. 

Jesse curled up a bit in his seat, staring at the floor between his boots and instead focusing on his breathing. It was hard enough with the broken nose and gag, but panicking wasn’t going to make it any better. Jesse didn’t realize how much his hands were shaking until he tried to wipe them on his jeans, his whole body feeling just a bit too hot and skin clammy. He needed a smoke, what he wouldn’t give for a smoke and some whiskey to calm his nerves...

Jesse stayed uncharacteristically quiet throughout the flight, partly from the gag, partly from fear. He knew these people would have no problem shooting him if he put even a toe out of line, and he wouldn’t be surprised if those were their orders anyways. He was a criminal, a murderer, a common thief and gangster, and now he had angered a particularly lethal group of people who actually knew what they were doing. 

Jesse watched them during the flight, trying to get a read on them, listening for any bits of information he could, but he soon realized that they were all just people wanting to get back home to their showers and beds, perhaps a significant other. Where this ‘home’ was, Jesse still didn’t have a damn clue, but he figured he’d find out in another couple of hours anyways. 

And those couple of hours passed as slowly as they fucking could, Jesse doing the smallest things for any sort of entertainment, because god was he bored out of his mind. He hated sitting still for any long amounts of time, it just wasn’t in his nature to sit around and do nothing, but this was absolute torture. He couldn’t even talk or hum to fill the overbearing silence around him, and the drone of the aircraft and murmurs of the people around him didn’t do too much to make it better either. There was nothing comforting about them, and Jesse shrank back into his seat, not having to do much to seem small, not compared to these guys. 

Everyone in Deadlock had been a sickly, gangly kind of muscled, either that or built like tanks, not as well fed nor as well kept as the agents surrounding him. These guys were the real deal, and Jesse didn’t have to be told to know he was way out of his league. Even the agent’s eyes were different, they had a more steely hardness to them, whereas Jesse was used to seeing hungry cruelty in those around him. 

He had never felt like more of an outcast before in his life. 

He happened to glance up and catch Reyes’ eye, and Jesse shivered involuntarily under the dark gaze, getting the odd feeling that he couldn’t hide a single thing from that man. Averting his eyes quickly, Jesse scooted his knees up closer to his chest, locking his arms around his shins and carefully setting his cheek against them.

Jesse didn’t realize he had dozed off until his shoulder was shaken roughly by one of the agents that had brought him onto the shuttle, and he stood without a fuss. He didn’t make a sound as he was escorted off the carrier, but that changed as soon as a bitter cold wind hit him right in the face.

“HON OPH A PHIPH FASS AH MEAHM MOPHERFUPHAH!” (Son of a bitch that’s a real motherfucker!) He bit out, everything muffled and a full body shiver shuddering through his form. Jesse had honestly never known anything below desert night temperatures, and while those could get bad, this was brutal. 

He shivered as he took in as much of his surroundings as he could in the short time they were walking from the ship. There was a huge, elaborate looking building they were heading towards, and if he twisted his head to look outside, he saw snow-covered, high hills rolling over to a lake and lots of orange-leaved or bare trees as far as the eye could see. There were similar airships to their own that were flying in and out of the hangar they were in, and Jesse saw that everyone but them were wearing some variation of a blue uniform sporting a symbol that kind of looked like a peace sign. Weird.

“Miff haff meffeh mom fee ah muphiff hiphhy hooph.” (This had better not be a fucking hippie group.) Jesse grumbled to no one in particular, and he was answered with a little shove, everyone filing into the building now. 

He stared in barely contained awe at the inside, which was even more impressive than the outside. He didn’t have time to gawk as they pulled him along, however, and Jesse grunted as they changed direction sharply, heading to a more familiar looking set up. Interrogation rooms. Wonderful.

~~

“Are you kidding me Gabe?!”

“I have my reasons, okay? I always know what I’m doing, and when have I ever been wrong, hm?” Gabe sighed, handing his weapons and extra armour to a waiting agent, then continuing his long stride. Jack followed after him with a glare, and he put a hand on Gabe’s broad shoulder.

“Lots of times! Believe it or not, even you can make mistakes, and this was a really fucking big one!” He hissed, and Gabe snorted.

“Ooooh~ I made him mad enough to curse. What are you gonna do about it Jackie, send the UN in to give me a slap on the wrist and a lecture?”

“Gabe, I swear to god—“

“Yes yes, and I’m listening. But seriously, I need you to hear me out on this, okay?” Gabe murmured, lowering his voice as a group of Overwatch agents jogged past.

“I wasn’t planning on taking any of those fuckers alive. But that kid came out of nowhere and killed all his little gang friends—“

“And that’s why you brought him back?!”

“I told you to hear me out, Jack! He killed all of them and took off, almost got away too. He got past my guys Jack. They don’t miss a thing, and yet the kid said he didn’t even break a sweat getting by. Hell, he was in the same fucking room as I was and I couldn’t even tell. I did a scan of the room not a second before the shots went off and suddenly eight people were dead right in front of me.”

“And his gun, Jack, he’s got a fucking revolver. Six shots in it but eight deaths, all a perfect hole between the eyes. It doesn’t add up. They called him Deadeye, and I don’t have a fucking clue what it means, but he sure as hell knows how to shoot, and the others seemed to think real highly of him.” Gabe told him, brows furrowing as he spoke, and Jack stared at him for a moment. He then stopped, the Blackwatch commander halting as well and turning.

“Gabe...” Jack muttered, giving him The Look, and the other man sighed heavily.

“Shit, Jack, he’s seventeen. The kid hasn’t even been given a chance in life! And there was something different about him too. He’s got a fire, and he’s fearless. Stupid and hasn’t got a fucking clue what he’s doing, but there’s goodness in him. I’m sick and tired of seeing good people who can make a change in this world being taken, I’m sick of ending lives that don’t deserve it, and that kid is one of those who does. He deserves to be given a chance, because I know he will do something great with it.”

Jack pursed his lips, and Gabe stared back, crossing his arms over his chest and waiting for approval he already knew he’d won.

“Fuck...Fine. Fine, but if this goes to shit, it’s all on you.” Jack sighed heavily. Gabe smiled and elbowed the blonde fondly, getting a finger shoved in his face and a cute, angry glare.

“And don’t you dare complain to me about him either. If you want to vent, go pester Ana with it.”

“Fair enough Cariño. And I’ll get you that coffee you like from Brazil too.”

“Oh, god yes.”

Gabe laughed lightly, wrapping an arm around Jack’s shoulder and tugging him to his side, pressing a kiss to his temple.

“Gabe we’re in public...”

“And I say fuck the public, I’ve missed my boyfriend.” Gabe hummed, squeezing Jack’s side lightly and getting a light punch to the ribs back.

“I missed you too.”

“Awwwww Jackie!” Gabe cooed, rocking them both a bit in their little side hug and garnering a few quick glances.

“You know what, never mind, you can go back to Santa Fe.” Jack huffed, shoving his boyfriend half heartedly, though only actually scooting closer to him.

“Mhm~. Not that I’m not having a ton of fun embarrassing you, but I have to be professional and make my new agent official.”

“Woo hoo, more paperwork.” Jack deadpanned, and Gabe ran his hand through the other’s hair with a huff of dry laughter.

“Fun fun, joy of all joys. Anyways, I’ll see you later Cariño. We’ll have to catch up some more later tonight.” Gabe said with a smirk and a slap to Jack’s ass, striding off before the other could react with more than a blush and a middle finger flipped up at him fondly.

~~

Jesse had not been treated well while he was waiting for whoever was going to come in to interrogate him, though he didn’t complain because he knew he deserved it. Karma and all that bullshit coming back to bite him in the ass. Hard. 

Jesse’s breath was coming out raggedly as another hit landed on his already busted side, and he winced. He hadn’t been fighting back-he was smart enough to know that definitely wouldn’t end well for him-and he didn’t say anything either, mostly because his fucking jaw was probably broken. It sure felt broken, and Jesse wasn’t in the mood to test it. 

He had actually been behaving for once, and then suddenly three big guys came in to rough him up. Nothing he wasn’t used to, of course, but then again he normally wasn’t in cuffs and immobile. Normally he could avoid the hits easy, even with three against one, but no such luck was given to him today. 

The guy that had been holding him up suddenly dropped him, and Jesse fell to the floor like a sack of potatoes, hitting it with a grunt and feeling his body scream in protest. He heard heavy, quiet footfalls enter the room, and Jesse looked up with a glare, wiping blood off his lips.

“Oooh, that’s a shiner.”

Jesse smiled thinly at the Blackwatch commander, getting the hint of a grin back before a quick motion had him being thrown back into the seat he had originally been in.

“Alright, Hernandez, Smith, Kellerman, you all can go. Tell the doc I’ll be sending someone in her way pretty soon when you leave.” Reyes ordered, and the three agents nodded then left quickly. 

Jesse watched as the man sat down elegantly-odd for such a big guy and with his personality-and he glared in distrust when Reyes produced a little key from his pocket.

“Gimme your hands kid.”

Jesse eyed the sharp point on the end of the key nervously, his own previously commanded torture sessions coming back to mind with painful detail. He shook his head.

“What, so you just want to sit in chains for the rest of the day?” Reyes asked, then motioned with his free hand.

“Come on. I’m not going to hurt you.”

Jesse had never in his life trusted that particular statement from anyone, having learned from a very young age that it was always a lie, but he slowly held out his hands, careful to keep his fingers balled into tight fists. The commander fit the key into the cuffs and they came off with a little click, clattering to the table between them. Jesse retracted his hands quickly, rubbing his wrists under the table and waiting for whatever the man would do to him next.

“Oh good, you didn’t just bolt. Glad to see you’re not that stupid. So I’m going to talk to you, and you’ll listen very carefully because I won’t be saying it again, got it?” The commander told him sternly, and Jesse nodded, his whole mouth feeling like it was filled with cotton. Barbed, poisoned, painful cotton, but cotton nonetheless.

“Good. Now, the division you’ll be working for in this organization of ours is mine. It’s called Blackwatch, and we specialize in the more covert ops. Basically, we do all the dirty work that Overwatch can’t be seen apart of, but they cover our asses and deal with the politics for us in return. You don’t have a fucking clue what I’m even talking about, do you?” Reyes suddenly sighed, and Jesse hesitated before shaking his head.

“This is just great...Okay, what don’t you get?” Reyes asked, rubbing a hand against his temple in exasperation. Jesse stared for a moment, not realizing that the commander could speak Spanish-finding smug satisfaction that he at least knew what curses he had been spitting earlier-then forced himself to focus. 

That wasn’t important, he had better questions to ask rather than just stating the obvious. Jesse tried to open his mouth to speak, then quickly snapped it back shut, regretting any movement of it in the first place with a choked sound of pain. It was definitely broken.

“Hm, didn’t think they’d go and break your jaw...Okay, well, I’ll just explain from the beginning, and whatever you don’t understand you can ask someone else later.” Reyes compromised with an unaffected wave of his hand, Jesse going back to glaring at the commander’s careless air.

“Everyone knows about the Omnic Crisis, so I won’t say anything about that other than I, along with many of the commanding rank officers here, fought in the war. When the world decided to get its fucking act together to make peace, this organization we’re apart of was created. Overwatch was made as a symbol of peace, a place where people of all kinds and abilities could come in to basically rebuild the world into something that resembled what it used to be. Of course, not all we do can be considered ‘good’ and ‘peaceful’, but that’s Overwatch stands for.”

“Blackwatch is here to do the things that can’t be mentioned, to get the jobs done that Overwatch cannot be seen doing. It’s all politics and dumb shit like that, but we do keep a good hold on the peace we have now that the war is over, we make sure another one doesn’t break out again. We can’t do everything, but it could be a hell of a lot worse without us.” Gabe finished, leaning back in his chair and giving Jesse a look that unsettled him a bit. 

The cowboy then nodded when the silence prevailed, motioning a bit to let the commander know he understood and wanted him to continue.

“Okay. This particular Overwatch base is one of our headquarters, the Swiss base in Zürich. You up to snuff on everything now?”

Jesse looked down at the table as he processed everything, nodding slowly when he felt like he wasn’t about to pass out. He was a long ways from home.

“I know it’s a lot to choke down. You need a minute...?” Reyes asked quietly, fingers tapping on the table as he watched Jesse’s pale face. The cowboy shook his head, swallowing thickly and wrinkling his nose a bit at the taste of blood and bile mixing unpleasantly.

“If you insist...I’m going to be personally training you from now on, and before you get excited, no, it’s not because you’re special. No one else trusts you here yet, and for good reason, but I’m sure if we work together, we’ll change that. Key words there being ‘work together’, got it? I’ve already got you a room and uniform, and you’ll get the tablet containing all your information after you visit the med bay to get patched up.”

“Training begins at seven tomorrow morning, and if you’re late, I’ll be kicking you out. You act up, talk back, put a toe out of line, you’re done here. I’ll send you to jail and you can rot there for all I care, so if you know what’s good for you, stay on my good side. Do you understand?”

Jesse bobbed his head as much as he could with the way it was throbbing, and he stood after Reyes did.

“Alright, get on outta here. Someone’s waiting to take you to the med bay outside, go with them. And kid,” Jesse turned, eyeing the commander warily. His commander.

“Welcome to Blackwatch. It’s gonna be one hell of a ride.”

~~

[lifestones]

Project Eden Chapter 1

Unfortunately, I was unable to finish the one shot I had originally planned in honor of Red’s birthday today. So instead, I will be sharing the first chapter of Eden! Happy birthday Red!

Rated M for swearing. 

Sunday, April 12th, 2015.

Subject: Red Dragon.

There was no better way to start my day than by getting a bullet pulled out of my fractured radius… without anesthesia. Sounds fun, right? It was thrilling. Best thing to happen to me all year. Needless to say, Charlotte was efficient at the job. She was, after all, studying to be a nurse. I was used to pain, but… this hurt like a motherfucker.

I was just sitting on a stool in the infirmary in our base, which was under the nightclub, Euphoria, that we run to bring in funds and disguise our true identity.

Who are we? The Dragon Girls, of fucking course. Only the best girls-only gang in all the boroughs of New York City. And I just so happen to be the boss. But that was why I was getting treated here and not in, say, a hospital. I called us a gang, but it was a loose term. I preferred thinking of us more as a team of vigilantes. Yeah, we were criminals to the cops—for taking out the real criminals they couldn’t touch because of lack of evidence. We did the public a service, even if they didn’t fucking see it.

“You are seriously lucky, Red,” Charlotte muttered as she looked at the bullet she had pulled right out of my bone. “It wasn’t in as deep as I thought it would be.”

Charlotte D’Amore was her name, and she was the same age as me—well, until tomorrow when I turn twenty-one. We went to high school together, until we both dropped out when we were sixteen. She was originally from some hick town in Alabama. Her family moved to the city four years ago, when her father got a big promotion. But her father was an abusive piece of shit who beat both her and her mom, and her younger brother could never do anything about it without ending up in the hospital.

We first met at a hospital before school started. I was there for a physical. She was there due to an "accident"—aka her asshole father beating her so badly, he broke her nose, left arm, and gave her a concussion. We met at school after that, and we sort of became friends. I ended up helping her run away and we pretty much started the Dragon Girls together. She became my new best friend. We tried dating for a bit, but we decided it was better to stay as friends.

I would’ve said something if I didn’t have a washcloth inside my mouth to bite onto while she worked on my arm so I wouldn’t take a chunk out of my tongue. So I just gave a shrug, which I immediately regretted as the movement triggered sharp pain to shoot through my right arm. I could feel the blood dripping down my skin from the open wound, but I didn’t dare look down to see for myself. Seeing my own skeleton was not a life goal of mine.

“All right, I’m going to stitch you up now,” she said, turning to get the-

I stopped that train of thought. I really did not want to think about it.

Instead, I just focused on watching her, as long as I did not look at her hands or arms. Charlotte was absolutely gorgeous. She had thick, wavy golden blonde hair that fell to the small of her back, with fringe bangs, tied back in a half ponytail like usual, and her eyes were a calm shade of blue. Even though it was like three in the morning, she was fully dressed, wearing a black turtleneck that hugged her figure, black leggings, and stiletto boots that added like two inches to her height.

She was my second-in-command, and I relied on her to ensure that our communications were running smoothly while we were out on missions. She stayed behind the scenes more than I did. She was also better at staying behind the scenes than I was. I needed… action. Part of it was having ADHD and needing to be on the move.

I needed to be directly involved, even if it put me in danger—which was how I got shot in the first place. Bullet wounds were nothing new to me, but this time, it had been because I saw one of the ass wipes we were taking care of about to make a death shot on one of my girls, and I pushed her out of the way, taking it in the arm instead. Nobody was going to die on my watch.

But even watching Charlotte wasn’t enough to distract me from her work, so I ended up just closing my eyes and biting down on the cloth to keep quiet from the pain. It seemed to last hours, but it was probably only a few minutes. But it was a relief when I felt her wipe down my arm with a wet cloth to clean off the blood, and then she splinted it, before wrapping it up with bandages. She had set the bone before going in for the bullet, so that was all that needed to be done. A few minutes later, my arm was in a makeshift sling and she yanked the washcloth out of my mouth before I could do it myself.

“Y’know, I normally don’t like bein’ gagged,” I joked.

Charlotte rolled her eyes before smacking me on my shoulder. “Very funny, Red.”

“In all seriousness, thanks,” I said, sliding off the stool. “We’re really lucky you’re studyin’ to be a nurse.”

Out of all the high school dropouts here, Charlotte was the only one to pursue her GED. She was also the only one interested in a normal life. I was dreading the day she graduated, got a job, and moved on from us. I knew it was a life better suited for her, but at the same time… I was tired of being left behind.

“Yes, well, if someone quit being so damn reckless, this wouldn’t keep being a problem,” she stated bitterly, turning her back to me. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to wash up and head to bed. You should do the same.”

Ouch. She was pissed. I didn’t blame her, but damn. Charlotte was rarely hostile to me. But I also knew she really had not liked today’s mission. It was, after all, making trouble with the Battaglia crime family. She hadn’t been particularly vocal about it, but considering that I rarely ever change my mind, there was no point in arguing with me in the first place.

Charlotte had always been the sensible one out of the two of us. I’m not gonna lie—I can be a little crazy. Originally, she had just wanted to get away from her abusive home life. So had I. But I had also fallen into an extremely unhealthy pit of shit at the time, and after I snapped out of it (after nearly dying in the process), I had wanted to do something to fix this shitty as fuck world of ours. So I came up with the idea for the Dragon Girls—a vigilante gang that does what the cops can’t. She had supported me, but not without her own reservations.

Did I have blood on my hands? Yes. But only of monsters worse than me.

Still, there was no point in staying up when it was so late. I left the infirmary, and headed downstairs to the second basement floor under Euphoria, where all the bedrooms were. A lot of the girls had their own places, but some of us lived here. Not everyone was a fighter like me. We took in a lot of runaways as well—mainly girls who had abusive homes.

I knew what it was like to be powerless, and I would do anything I could to make sure these girls stopped feeling that way.

As soon as I stepped into my room, I pulled my holsters off my belt and dumped them on the table near the door where I kept all my guns. It took some effort with only one usable hand, but once that was done, I kicked off my boots and jeans. Actually putting on pajamas was too much effort, especially with one hand, so I climbed into bed as is. And within moments, I was out.

~ * ~ * ~

I ended up sleeping in until like noon, which was fine with me. All we did on days following big missions was celebrate. So I hauled myself out of bed, took a shower—which was a pain in the ass to do with a broken arm—and got dressed. I threw my leather jacket over my shoulders before heading out; I may not be able to wear it properly, but Euphoria could get cold and that’s where I was going to be.

I headed out to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat. When I got there, several others were already chowing down.

“Ey, good mornin’, boss,” Hector Espinosa, the one guy in our group, greeted me. “Glad to see you’re doin’ better.”

Now you’re probably wondering why a guy was doing here when I said that we were females only. Well, Hector originally came to us as a girl. He was one of the runaway cases, and after living with us for a few months and befriending one of the girls who just so happens to be transgender, he finally realized that he’s trans. We’re girls only, but I knew that just kicking him out was against what morals I do have and I knew he would be even worse off. So, I let him stay and gave him a job to be a bouncer for Euphoria so he could have money for medical bills that would come with his transitioning.

Despite being born female, Hector had always been a behemoth; the kid was only nineteen but he stood over six feet tall. He was built on the stocky side, which had to make binding a pain in the ass. He was, as his name suggests, Hispanic. He kept his straight black hair nice and short, his skin was bronze, and his eyes were deep brown.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.” I waved him off as I sauntered over to the stove. I paused, and sniffed the air. Something… had been burning. “God, did Maya burn the eggs again?”

“H-Hey! It was an accident!” the girl in question exclaimed defensively. “Hector distracted me!”

Maya was one of the younger members, a junior in high school. Her family life sucked ass, so she legally removed herself from her mom’s custody when she was sixteen and has been living on her own ever since. She’s also been in and out of Juvie, for drugs and other stupid shit. She joined us about six months ago, so she was relatively new here as well. She was seventeen now, and she had her wavy black hair pulled back into the usual low ponytail, her skin was darkened with tan, and her eyes were brown.

“Give the jailbait a break, Hector,” I scolded jokingly as I walked over to the fridge. “God, what am I, your babysitter?”

That earned laughs from everyone in the room. Everyone knew that Hector and Maya had a thing, but the extent of that thing wasn’t something I knew. It was none of my business, anyways. I was their boss, not their nanny, no matter how much I joked about it. Rummaging around, I found the egg carton and took it out.

“Guess I’ll just have to show you how to properly do eggs,” I said, shutting the fridge door with my shoulder.

“You would know, boss,” Hector snorted.

I laughed. “Good one. Yeah, I would, wouldn’t I?”

I set to work then, deciding that I wanted sunny side up eggs for a change. We usually just scrambled or fried them, since it was easier. But if I wanted to show off—which was the entire point of this exercise—I would have to make something fancy. An omelet was too much work for one arm, so this would suffice.

“Uh, boss? Do you need help?” I heard Maya ask.

“I got it,” I said, setting the pan down on the burner and turning on the stove. “You nerds forget I’m ambidextrous.”

Besides, if I was going to deal with this broken arm for who knows how many months, I needed all the practice I could get with using my left hand. God, this was going to be weird.

~ * ~ * ~

After breakfast was done and the kitchen had been cleaned up, I headed upstairs to Euphoria. We had a secret back entrance in the employee only area that had stairs leading downstairs to our headquarters. Even though it was fairly early in the day for partying, it was also a Sunday, which meant more guests than usual during this hour. Kaylee, one of the girls who worked as bartender, was behind the bar, washing some glasses. I headed over to the bar and plopped down on one of the barstools.

Kaylee turned towards me. “The usual, boss?”

I nodded. “You know me.”

Yeah, I was underage and I drank alcohol. Nobody could stop me. And my birthday was tomorrow, so it wasn’t a big deal anyways.

Kaylee slid a glass of 1994 Taylor Fladgate Vintage Port—my current favorite wine that I had allowed to be opened this year in honor of my approaching twenty-first birthday. It was, after all, made the very same year I was born. I was the only one who could drink it, though. You could say I’m very… possessive about my wine. It was the only booze I really liked. Guess once crème de la crème, always crème de la crème. Growing up filthy rich stuck with me in some ways, I regret to admit.

I lifted the goblet to my lips to take a sip of the wine as someone else sat down on the stool to my left. I didn’t really pay attention to who it was, until they spoke.

“I’ll have a glass of champagne, darling.”

My gaze darted over to my left. Just like I suspected—it was Astrid Glaisyer, an infamous assassin who we had worked with in the past. She was in her mid-twenties, tall and curvaceous, with long, curly mahogany brown hair, fair skin, and striking light green eyes. She was wearing a black lace bralette with a leather jacket over it, jeans, and a pair of black stiletto boots. She could pull off any look she damn pleased, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think she was hot. But I don’t mix work with pleasure.

Kaylee slid a flute of our finest champagne over to Astrid, who continued to completely ignore me to down the entire glass. “Ah. Refreshing.”

“...What are you doin’ here, Astrid?” I asked warily.

She laughed lightly, head turning towards me. “Oh, darling, I thought you would be delighted to see me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m really not in the mood to play your mind games, Astrid.”

Like I said, Astrid was a trained assassin. I didn’t know the full story, as it was none of my business, but there were rumors. It was said that there was this kingpin in Russia who had young girls kidnapped from their homes, all over the world, to be brought to him and trained to be killers. Astrid was supposedly one of these girls, and while I wasn’t one to immediately believe every single thing I heard in the criminal underground, this rumor was so rampant, it was probably true. We ended up working together due to sharing the same target—a corrupt millionaire who was secretly involved in human trafficking.

“Aw, you’re no fun, Red.” She pouted dramatically. “I thought we had something.”

I rolled my eyes, and took a sip of my wine. “Seriously, what’re you doin’ here?”

She sighed disappointedly, reaching up to brush her hair behind her back. “I came here for business, but was hoping for pleasure—that is, if you would care to satiate my curiosity~.”

“Business sounds great,” I deadpanned.

“Well… suit yourself, then.” Astrid reached into her jacket and pulled out a manila envelope. “I thought you would be interested in seeing this. It’s a new hit we received yesterday.”

Frowning, I took the envelope from her and set my wine glass down on the counter. I opened it up carefully, and slid out the contents. I looked over the papers quickly, only for my eyes to widen in shock as I realized who the photograph and information files were about. A sickened feeling sunk deep into my stomach, like I was going to vomit. All I could do was stare at it in shock for a few moments.

It was my little sister, Clarisse.

I almost didn’t recognize her in the picture, but after a moment of studying it, I realized it was definitely her. It had been five years since I had last seen her... I had been sixteen when I ran away, and she had only been eleven. She was fifteen now, a few months shy of her own sixteenth birthday. The photograph was clearly a school portrait, with the blue background and my sister wearing her school uniform. She had long, pin straight naturally platinum blonde hair pulled back into a perfect—and I mean fucking perfect—high ponytail that was angled to the side. Her skin was pale, like she didn’t get outside much, and her eyes were dark brown, like coffee. I noticed that her clothes were hanging loosely from her body, like she was too thin.

“You… got a hit… on my baby sister?” My voice was like ice as I looked up from the picture. “Who the fuck ordered this?”

“If I knew, I’d tell you,” Astrid answered calmly, unfazed by my icy rage. “Our clients are all anonymous to protect their identities. I don’t like killing children, regardless of how high the pay is. So I thought I’d hand this over to you, so you can find the sick bastard who wants your sister dead. Though… you don’t appear to be in the best position for that right now.”

I scowled, my good hand clenching into a fist. “Do I look like I fuckin’ care? I’ll slit the bastard’s throat myself.”

Again, my bloodthirsty comment did not bother her. “I did spend most of yesterday trying to figure out just who sent this order in.”

“And?” I prompted brusquely.

“EDEN, Co.’s enemies are not so desperate they would want a teenage girl to die,” she stated grimly, her green eyes meeting mine. “I’m afraid that this could be an internal attack.”

Ugh… EDEN, Co was part of the Pendragon conglomerate that my family, the Pendragons, owned. Like I mentioned earlier, I came from a filthy rich family. And my family was not only one of the richest in the world, but one of the largest.

We had three “branches” if you will—the European branch in France, the Asian branch in Japan, and the American branch in, well, America. The Pendragons originated in Great Britain, but moved to France sometime before the American Revolution. Then on a business venture, they visited Japan. One of the sons of the CEO—or whatever the hell the equivalent was back then—fell in love with a woman there, and as part of the business venture, married her. We had a place in the east ever since. Our family became divided then, to the point where our bloodlines had become so distant, we were only related through legal means. So my grandfather, Osamu Pendragon, the heir of the Japanese line, married Caroline Pendragon, the heiress of the French line, and they moved to America to create a new branch that would regulate the other two in hopes of reuniting the entire family.

Their dreams did not come true. Hell, relations between both sides were worse now. But still, going to assassins to off the heiress seemed a bit… much. The hatred in our family was not that strong. Or at least, that was what I liked to believe.

“What the hell makes you say that?” I demanded.

“Most businessmen are not murderers, Red,” she stated coolly. “But your uncle? Something about him makes me… uneasy. And it is extremely difficult to unsettle me.”

I bristled at the mention of my uncle. Basile Pendragon was his name, and he was the younger brother of my dad, Xavier Pendragon, who died about eight years ago. I was only thirteen years old at the time—much too young to claim my inheritance and become the new CEO of Eden, Co. So Basile took the position in my place. I lost my position as heiress when I ran away from home, leaving Clarisse as the only American Pendragon left to take over.

It wasn’t something I thought of often anymore. That part of my life was long gone. But if my sister was in danger, I would have to suck it up and dive back into that shitty as fuck world.

“Tell me somethin’ I don’t already know,” I muttered.

My issues with Basile ran deeper than him taking my position away from him. But that was something I really did not want to think about. It was why I was the leader of a gang, and not the youngest multi-billionaire in the world.

“But Basile wantin’ to murder his own niece?” I shook my head. “He may be a bastard, but she might as well his heir. What the hell would he gain from that?”

“You tell me, Red.”

I scowled. “Well, sorry, I don’t have the fuckin’ answer.”

It was… complicated. Dad and Basile had a falling out at some point after my dad returned from a two year old business trip. Then, eight years ago, during the holiday season, for whatever reason, my dad decided to make amends with his brother. He invited Basile to spend Christmas and New Years with us. One day, when I came home from present shopping with my mom and sister, I… found my dad in his study, dead. Everything went to shit after that.

Astrid shrugged. “You know him better than I do. And you’re smarter than you let on. I’m pretty sure everyone who has ever worked with you knows this.”

...Considering that I have an IQ of 150, that was a bit of an understatement.

I scowled, picking up my glass of wine to take a long drink, and then set it back down. Ugh. I needed alcohol just to get me through having to think about this shit.

“The only reason I can think of is total bullshit,” I retorted.

“And that is…?” she prompted.

“Basile would want Clarisse dead if, and only if, he had his own kid somewhere…” I glowered at my glass of wine, before looking over at her again. “He isn’t married, which doesn’t mean shit, but I’m pretty sure the whole world would know if he had a kid. Which doesn’t make sense. Why the hell would he hide it?”

Unfortunately, I could think of a few reasons. All of which I quickly pushed out of my mind.

“Does it really?” she inquired, raising an eyebrow, like she could see right through me. “Your uncle has always displayed a desire to take over your family’s conglomerate. Perhaps he’s hiding something.”

“That’s an understatement.” I fought the urge to down another gulp. “A blind person could see he’s a shady motherfucker.”

“I think it’s still something to keep in mind,” Astrid stated. “Because someone wants your sister dead, and there must be a reason why. I’ll be keeping in touch.” Standing up, she reached into her purse, pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, and slapped it down on the counter. “Keep the change.”

I watched as she slinked off, lithe as a cat. I swore it was like she wasn’t even human sometimes. And honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised. More and more aliens—as in the kind from outer space—were coming to our planet every day.

Looking back down at the papers resting on the manila envelope, with her school picture on top, I picked my glass back up. I was going to at least finish this wine before going to do anything about this. And of course, I had to talk to Charlotte.

But there was no way I was just going to stand back and let my sister die.

~ * ~ * ~

“Red, are you sure this is a good idea?”

We were sitting in Charlotte’s car, parked on the side of the road in front of the Pendragon mansion on Carnegie Hill in the Upper East Side. It was an elaborate French Renaissance style mansion, four stories high, right down to the gargoyles on the roof. My grandparents bought it when they immigrated to America. When I was a kid, I used to be terrified of the gargoyles, thinking they came alive at night and would eat me if I left my bedroom. It was one of the few mansions in the city still used as a home.

“No, but I needta get to the bottom of this.” I turned my head to look at her. “Clarisse could be in some serious trouble.”

Charlotte sighed, glancing down at the steering wheel. “Just be careful, Red.”

I flashed her a bright grin. “Babe, I’m always careful!”

She gave me a flat look. “Every time you say that, you do something reckless and get yourself hurt.”

“...Look, Charlotte, all I’m gonna do is go up, knock on the door, and ask if Clarisse is home. Mamoru always answers the door. Well, he will if he’s still the butler…”

The thought of Mamoru no longer working in the place I once called home made me very sad. A bit pissed too, but mostly sad.

“All right,” she sighed. “Just hurry up.”

I unbuckled my seatbelt, pushed open the door, and heaved myself out of the car. Shutting the door behind me, I walked down the sidewalk and scaled the short set of stairs that led up to the front door. I stopped in front of the door, suddenly unsure if this was really a good idea or not. It had been five years—five long as fuck years. I had no idea what my sister even would be like.

Clarisse has always been Diana’s favorite. Ever since she was born, it was always Clarisse Clarisse Clarisse. She was the perfect one—the daughter Diana had always wanted. Me? I may have the IQ of a genius, but having ADHD made it almost nearly impossible for me to function in a classroom environment. But Clarisse had everything—beauty, intelligence, no mental issues, supportive parents. Yeah, Dad had been hard on her, but he was hard on both of us. It wasn’t like how Diana treated me. I struggled in school, got detention at least once a week, frequented the principal’s office… I could go on and on.

Clarisse had always adored me, despite all the contempt I felt for her initially. I did love my sister—and I still do—but after being treated like complete shit and being told I was doomed for failure, while she got raised on a golden pedestal… It was really hard not to be bitter. But we were still close, and deep down, I was worried how me leaving had changed how she felt about me.

But… I couldn’t stay away forever. She was my sister and I would have to try to make this right eventually. Now was a good a time as any.

So, steeling myself, I lifted my hand and pounded the door knocker.

After what seemed like an eternity, I heard someone begin to unlock the door. Moments later, it opened, revealing a stately older Japanese man who was, without a doubt, Mamoru Nakajima, who had helped run the Pendragon household since before my dad was born. He seemed to have aged considerably since I had last seen him, as his dark hair was now silver, and his face was creased with age lines. He was wearing the usual black suit with a black tie.

His dark eyes widened as he saw me. “Miss Ellie?”

I almost cringed at my old nickname. My full name is Elysia Pendragon, and growing up I went by Ellie. It was a painful reminder of who I used to be—who I would never be ever again. That little girl was long gone.

“Uh, hey, Mamoru.” I let out an awkward laugh, reaching up to rub the back of my head with my good hand. “I know, I know… it’s been forever… but I was wonderin’, is Clarisse home?”

Mamoru grimaced. “Ah… I’m afraid not. She is currently out with… friends.”

“Oh, Aimee and Gigi?” I asked, recalling her childhood friends.

He shook his head. “No. She has made… new friends. I believe it is the very same crowd you ran with before you left us.”

“WHAT?!” My voice cracked up an octave. “God, are you serious? Is she stupid or somethin’?! Ugh, sorry Mamoru, but I’m gonna go haul her ass outta there. We’ll have to catch up some other time.”

~ * ~ * ~

It was an understatement that this was one of my least favorite places in all of New York City. It was in one of the sleazier areas of Hell’s Kitchen, where people only go if they want to get shot up—by a gun or a needle. I used to come here all the time with the new “friends” I made in high school late freshman, early sophomore year. We’d go to this old abandoned townhouse to drink, smoke, do a variety of recreational drugs, and have sex.

I am not proud of what I did that year, and it stuck with me even when Charlotte managed to convince me to run away. It started out simple, like always. First it was just getting drunk and doing stupid shit—like letting one of the guys fuck me without protection. Then they got me into smoking pot. Then I tried out coke. And then I jumped right into heroin. I was so desperate to numb all the internal agony tormenting me, I was willing to do anything. I abandoned my childhood friends for these dipshits. If it wasn’t for Charlotte, I would either still be in this pit or I’d be dead. Probably the latter.

I hated being reminded of my weakness. I couldn’t even remember how I went cold turkey without dying. And yet here I was, about to step back into this hole of dark memories just to drag my sister out of hell. That was going to be a feat with a broken arm.

“Are you going to be okay going in there?” Charlotte asked warily. “Do you want me to go in with you?”

I shook my head. “No, it’s fine. I don’t want you in there anyways.”

Not feeling like discussing it further, I got out of the car. This place was so damn shady, and I was used to shady. Charlotte had her gun on her, and I had mine hidden in my jacket just in case. But if anyone recognized me, they would wisely give me a wide berth. I headed up to the front door of the shoddy townhouse that had definitely seen better days. I could already smell cigarette smoke. I tried not to cough. I hated that shit so much.

I lifted my good hand to pound on the door. When there was no response, I scowled to myself. I really was not in the mood for this shit. I tried the doorknob, and the door opened with ease. God, anyone could walk in here and just murder them. Idiots.

As I stepped inside, I was hit by a mix of cigarette and marijuana smoke that immediately made me cough. I covered my nose with my sleeve for a moment before proceeding further in. This place really hadn’t changed much over the past five years, except for there being more chips in the ugly floral wallpaper and more unidentifiable stains on the walls. The floorboards creaked under my boots as I walked further in, making my way to the main room.

I could hear laughter as I got closer. Once I reached the open doorway that led to the living room, I saw just what was going on. I only recognized a few faces. Two of my old classmates were smoking weed. Two others who I recognized from the grade below me were shooting up something. There were a bunch of high schoolers drinking beer in the far-right corner, laughing and joking amongst themselves. And then there was my dear baby sister, on her back on one of the ratty, flea infested couches, half naked, with only her bra and panties on, while a guy, also half naked with only his boxers on, was on top of her, sucking on her neck.

…’Kay, this was not what I expected when I came looking for her.

“CLARISSE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOIN’?!”

Not gonna lie, the reactions to me screaming were priceless.

Clarisse shoved the guy on top of her away so hard, he fell right on his bare back on the rough wooden floor. Several of the drunk high schoolers fell off the table they were sitting on. The smokers dropped their pipes. And the junkies looked up drowsily.

“ELLIE?! What the hell are you doing here?!”

I scowled darkly, and walked right up to her. The guy hastily scrambled out of my way. At least he wasn’t completely stupid.

“What the hell do you think?” I snapped. “I hear you’re in some kinda trouble, so I stop by to see if you’re at the mansion, but no, Mamoru fuckin’ tells me you’re here in this shithole!”

Clarisse looked exactly like her school portrait, except for a few things. Her ponytail was no longer so perfect, mussed up from the foreplay I had interrupted. And she had some rather bold makeup on—thick black eyeliner, silver eyeshadow, and red lipstick that had left marks all over that guy’s body. Still glowering at me, she hastily grabbed her shirt and pulled it back on. But she wasn’t quick enough to hide the fact that she was almost skin and bones.

“Aren’t you being a little hypocritical, Miss Crimson Dragon,” she retorted icily. “They’re your friends too!”

“Friends? Friends? Really?” I scoffed, crossing my arms over my chest. “That’s bullshit and you know it, Clarisse. There’s a reason why I’m not still here. They’re not your real friends!”

Clarisse stood up, hands clenching into fists, and I realized she was at least two inches taller than me. “Shut up! SHUT UP! Why do you even care?! You left me!”

Her explosion ricocheted across the entire room, making literally everyone freeze. I was so used to being the angry one, I wasn’t sure how to react to… to my sister’s rage. She was trembling, her fists clenched so tight, her knuckles turned white. Tears slowly began to pool in her dark eyes, reminding me of how she tended to cry whenever she got pissed off. All I could really do was, well… stare at her in shock.

“You’re gone for five fucking years without saying a word!” she spat venomously. “And you think you can just waltz back into my life and tell me what to fucking do?! I don’t need you, Ellie! I don’t need anyone! I can do whatever the hell I want, and you can’t stop me! I’m better than you, and you know it!”

Her words were like daggers, piercing right into me, but I deserved all of it. Because she was right—well, about that part. She was still a fifteen-year-old girl spouting probably the same attitude I had at her age. But it was obvious that nothing I said was going to get through to her.

So I just nodded, shoving my good hand into my pocket. “Suit yourself, then. Have fun fuckin’ up your life, Clarisse.”

With that, I turned around and walked away before anyone else could say anything to me.

[3ndoftheline]

Touch

Bucky x OFC

Summary: Can you ground someone who doesn’t do anything?

Warnings: language (as usual LMAO)

Word Count: 8.1k (literally can’t control myself im soRRY)

Author’s Note: here it is!!! (finally) part two of touch for all of you lovely people. i watched beauty and the beast last night and i was just so happy and came home and just banged out the rest of this so i hope you all enjoy. also tag list is at the bottom and if anyone would like to be added just shoot me a message! feedback is appreciated greatly xx

“You’re grounded.”

I blinked in shock. About a million reactions ran through my system before I chose the most professional one. I laughed. “That’s the first thing you say to me?” I snickered as I stared at an amused yet affronted Tony, an annoyed Natasha and a fuming Steve. “I’m not a child, Tony. You can’t…ground me.”

“Well, I can’t fire you, can I?” Tony shot back and I realized very quickly that although his initial response was comical, nothing about their reactions were comical. I was in deep shit and I knew it.

“I mean, you can–”

“–and he should,” Steve growled and I had to refrain from rolling my eyes.

“As much as I’d love to,” Tony shot me a hard look, “we need you.”

“Do we at least get to compromise on my inevitable form of punishment?” I cut in, waving my hand to regain attention.

“Depends on what you’ve got.” Steve folded his arms over his chest but I didn’t miss how his eyes flickered over to Bucky.

I sighed and tapped my fingers against the back of the tablet as I struggled to form my thoughts together. “Carol Raulson – the computer engineer, isn’t real. She doesn’t exist.”

“That’s fantastic,” Natasha mumbled sarcastically and I resisted the urge to throw a few choice words her way. Instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay on track.

“Her real name is Jolene Kaplan. I think so, anyways. It’s the only logical explanation. I don’t know anything about her since I haven’t had time to run an extensive search but I do know that Jolene was Bucky’s target. Whether it was for a hit, a kidnapping, whatever the motive was behind it, she was the target. My guess was Hydra was planning to attack while she left the building or in the transition from her handlers inside the engineering firm to DCGSE. It wasn’t specified fully what the assassin’s purpose was or why they were even running the mission. Bucky doesn’t really remember any specifics from the mission, either. He said he was in the middle of briefing when everything went to hell, or whatever the fuck happened. Kotevsky, the Russian, is also someone he remembers. Not much, but he remembers him from somewhere cold. I’m taking a wild guess that Kotevsky may have been around during Bucky’s time with the Soviets but I don’t know. I won’t know for certain for a while.” All of the words came out in a rush as I attempted to get all of the information out while being as convincing as possible. When I finished, I was panting slightly.

There was a stretch of silence as they glanced at my face, then Bucky’s, then at each other before Tony finally broke the quiet. “How long will you need?”

“Well…” I stalled as I pondered how to broach the touchy subject. While I hesitated, a low and throaty sound pulled my attention away for a second. All four of our heads turned to see Bucky glaring at me with such fervor I was surprised I didn’t melt into a puddle right there. I rolled my eyes at him as I turned back to my audience. “In order for me to really make any sort of headway with this, I need to–”

“No,” Bucky suddenly snarled and I whirled on him with a deadly glare.

“Honestly, this doesn’t concern you. So if you could let me speak without rudely interrupting me, I’d greatly appreciate it.” Bucky glowered at me, his entire body stiff and wound tight. But I didn’t care. If information was wanted, it had to be done.

“What the hell is going on?” Natasha snapped, obviously not pleased to be kept in the dark the way she was. I shot a warning glare to Bucky as I turned back to the three of them, all in varying degrees of confusion and bewilderment.

“I can find information on Kotevsky and Jolene via the regular channels but it might not be enough. I want, no need, to get a hold of the mission files for the Winter Soldier and–”

“No,” Tony interrupted, “absolutely not.”

My jaw dropped. “But, you don’t understand–”

“Are you out of your mind?” Natasha hissed, suddenly catching on too.

“Yes, but I don’t see how that matters–”

“What are you talking about, Tony?” Steve cut in, throwing me a stern look as I began to protest louder.

“In order to get to the Winter Soldier mission files, darling Hannah here needs to infiltrate a Hydra base and–”

“Absolutely not.” Steve wheeled to face me with a heavy scowl etched on his face. I opened my mouth to argue but he didn’t let me. “Hannah if you think for one second I’m going to let you go on a mission all by yourself to a Hydra base you’re out of your mind.”

“I won’t be alone,” I shot back. “I’ll take someone with me. Natasha can go.”

“No I won’t,” Natasha deadpanned and I glared at her. Some friend, I thought to myself.

“You are not sacrificing other people for this…this suicide mission.” I could tell he was trying his absolute hardest not to yell at me but it seemed with each word he was getting closer and closer to failing at that. “Goddammit Hannah, you’re smarter than this.”

“Honest to God, can we please relax,” I interrupted with a sigh. “It was just an idea, okay? Obviously I was going to run it by you first. I’m just laying out my options here.”

“No it’s not,” a voice piped up behind me. When I turned around Bucky’s eyes were on me as he muttered out the words that I was pretty sure would end my life. “She was planning to go on the mission with no mission plan, whether you agreed or not.”

“No mission plan?” Steve all but screeched as my jaw dropped.

“You mother–” I didn’t have a chance to finish my sentence before Steve absolutely unloaded on me.

“What the hell is a matter with you? Do you have no care for your own safety at all? Or the fact that this is Hydra here? This isn’t something you do behind a computer screen, Hannah. This is real, this is real life and you’re treating it like some sort of joke. Do you even understand the repercussions? Do you understand what would happen to you if you were captured?”

“I wasn’t even going to do it!” I protested. Total lie. It was such a bad lie I had trouble executing it. I justified myself but saying that if I didn’t lie, Steve would’ve keeled over from a heart attack. “I swear, I was just throwing ideas around that’s it. Jesus, Steve. A little more trust in me, please? I may be reckless but I’m not stupid.”

“I don’t care,” Steve seethed. “You are not to leave this compound, do you understand me? Not unless one of us are with you and it’s cleared by me first. I’m not kidding around with this, Hannah. Whatever this information is, we will find it some other way.”

“Okay,” I acquiesced with a nod of my head. Steve released a breath as he stared at me with hard eyes. “I swear Steve; I’ll stay inside the compound.”

He seemed to accept that as his shoulders relaxed a bit and he nodded. “Good,” he responded gruffly. “Now, go. Get to work. You said we had twelve hours, right?”

I nodded as Tony stepped up with a light touch to my shoulder. “C’mon, kid. We better get started now.” He flashed me an encouraging smile. He had been on the other end of Steve’s temper tantrums too many times so I knew he would be the safest person to go with. I bit my lip and kept my head down as I passed around Steve and Natasha. As soon as I was behind their backs, I whipped my head up and gave Bucky the most murderous glare I could muster. His eyes were on me and there wasn’t a single shred of remorse or apology in his gaze. In fact, he looked a little smug. I snarled quietly before Tony’s voice broke my stare.

“Your lab or mine?” He grinned. He already knew the answer. Nobody went into my lab except for me. No exception.

“Yours.” I answered stiffly. I tried to control my anger but it was taking everything to not turn around and give Bucky a piece of my mind. He had the audacity to call me untrustworthy? What a fucking hypocrite. God, if I ever saw that two-faced bastard again I’d–

“Hey,” Tony’s voice broke my thoughts as I suddenly realized we were already in the elevator. “You alright?”

“Yeah, of course.” I lied straight through my teeth as I flashed him a smile. “Sorry, just thinking about where to start.”

“How about those phone calls? I want to hear this politician’s voice when he isn’t sniveling like a little kid.”

I snorted as I leaned back against the elevator. But when I shut my eyes, all I saw was Bucky’s smug face.

***

“Motherfucker,” I swore as I stared at my five computer monitors. Series of texts ran through on the screen, all blinking with keywords that made no fucking sense.

I had managed to uncover all of the deleted calls and scrubbed audio files between the politician and Kotevsky. Deciphering them was pretty easy too, but all of a sudden the bastards decided to use their brains and started speaking in code. I was in the process of trying to decipher their secret language and had gotten nowhere. I had four hours left until this supposed drop somewhere and I was about as close as I was eight hours ago.

Wedding.

Gift.

Reception.

Bride.

Groom.

It all would sound like a normal conversation if you were to hear it on the street or in a café. But in the world of espionage and terrorism, this was anything but an innocent conversation.

The wedding, I had deduced so wonderfully, was hopefully the main event with the reception possibly being a rendezvous point afterwards while the gift was perhaps whatever the politician was selling. The bride and groom were what I assumed were codenames for the politician and Kotevsky. Again, there were no facts. Only theory. And that was about as far as I got with that.

I had lasted about ten minutes in Tony’s lab before his horrific need to constantly fill the silence with some sort of irrelevant comment and his horrible messiness forced me out. I tasked him with working on the identity of Kaplan and if there was any connection with Raulson while digging deeper into Kotevsky. I figured that would be more difficult but turns out I was so wrong I embarrassed myself.

Now, I was stuck staring into a sea of code and secret language that looked so goddamn appealing on TV shows but the second it presented itself in real life I questioned every decision that led me to be in my position. I banged my head against the table as I began muttering to myself, sounding certifiably crazy but hey, might as well play the part.

“Wedding…wedding, who the fuck wants to go to a wedding?” Kotevsky and the politician I told myself bitterly and groaned. “Okay, okay,” I muttered to myself with a deep, cleansing breath that sort of sounded like I suffered from whooping cough. “Think. The wedding…what type of wedding?” The politician was fancy and flashy. Even when he was selling secrets, he set the drop at a fancy hotel with all eyes on him and a pretty girl on his arm. He had an expensive taste that was obvious with his financial records. I mean, who spent 500k on a single fucking fountain pen? He used his wealth and riches to show off and intimidate his competition and colleagues – though I wasn’t too sure how intimidating a fountain pen was but hey what the hell did I know. “Someplace fancy, someplace new.”

But I knew Kotevsky wasn’t a pushover. While he had played into the politician’s hand, he still had control. He had the money, he was the payday. And while the politician threw around that he had other buyers lining up, I was sure Kotevsky doubted that. Politicians lie, especially one as slimy as this one. He’s make a compromise, some way that he’d have the advantage. “Home field advantage,” I mumbled. Anyone was more comfortable on their home turf and with a deal like this, I had a feeling that’s exactly what Kotevsky would want.

Tony had managed to figure out that Kotevsky was in fact Russian, but the rest of his files were heavily encrypted. He and FRIDAY were still working on trying to decrypt it. I felt a zip of excitement down my spine. I was close, I could feel it. My fingers typed furiously as I tried to figure out where there was going to be some sort of grand opening of someplace rich and fancy as all hell. I knew the politician – whose name was John Arnold Smith, how much more boring white politician who fucks anything that breathes because his wife is more of a business relationship rather than a bond of true love and chooses to betray his country because apparently his boring, white, rich life isn’t exciting enough – would want something fancy. A statement. Whatever this deal was, it was worth a billion cash. It would establish him; it would make him a well-known figure in the legal and most definitely the illegal world.

A dozen popped up in the Moscow area and I was able to narrow it down to three. An art gala for some stuffy French-Italian artist who swore God spoke to him through the splatters of his paintbrush, a museum grand opening honoring all of the czars of Russia, and a hotel opening owned by some prince from the Middle East, most likely Israel from the look of it. I knew for a fact that the politician travelled to Russia under a pseudonym. I uploaded his picture to TSA and began scanning all of the images from Sheremetyevo for a match to good ol’ John Smith’s face. The second it popped up, I’d get his passport information and I’d nail the smarmy bastard.

Hopefully. Maybe. This was a perfect example of me thinking that I definitely had the answer when in the end, it was obvious, that I most definitely did not.

The moment the search began, a sharp knock rapped against my door. “Yeah?” I called out.

“Room service,” Tony yelled.

“I didn’t order anything,” I retorted as I drummed my fingers against my table.

“Lemme in, Han, we gotta talk.”

“Not a chance, Stark. Whatever you need to say, send it in an email if it’s that important. If it’s not, it can wait.”

“I prefer face to face communication. It’s good for the soul.”

“Has Pepper got you doing those stupid yoga videos again? You’re starting to sound a true yogi.”

Tony was silent for a moment. “Hannah. I need you to talk to Barnes.”

I snorted as my mouth twisted into a scowl. “Forget it. I don’t do interrogations.”

“This isn’t an interrogation. Think of it at as a friendly conversation at a bar. Except you’re not in a bar, you’re in a holding cell. And it’s not really a conversation, you’ve got scripted questions and what not.”

“So basically an interrogation.” I deadpanned.

“Sure, sure, nuances,” Tony admitted nonchalantly and I rolled my eyes. “Hannah, if we want to make any headway we need to get Barnes to talk.”

“Alright, send Steve in. Or Natasha, our resident expert on interrogations.”

“Already done, Han. Even I went in. He won’t say a word. This guy has been around for almost a hundred years, and about seventy of that was spent with Hydra. He doesn’t even flinch anymore.”

“So why the hell do you think I’m going to make a difference?”

“Because he talked to you.”

I swore under my breath. God, fuck Bucky Barnes. “Listen, Tony. I’d love to be the knight in shining armor here but honestly he didn’t even say much. And I’m pretty sure that’s a one-time deal.”

“That’s bullshit Han and you and I both know it,” Tony snapped. “You’re our best shot at this. C’mon kid, show us how versatile you really are.”

“Fuck off,” I muttered. I didn’t want to do this. I shouldn’t do this. Bucky Barnes was none of my business. He helped me once that was it. And of course that backfired because apparently confidentiality meant nothing to him. But Tony was right. I had just barely made some sort of headway after eight hours of nothing; he had only been able to find Kotevsky was from Russia, around Moscow but nothing too serious. Nothing to launch an investigation. We were dry, we were desperate. And unfortunately, we needed Bucky. I sighed heavily and dragged myself out of my chair as I took one last longing glance at my monitors.

When I opened the door Tony jumped to attention and I wasn’t surprised to see Steve loitering at the end of the hallway trying to act nonchalant. “There she is! What’s it like to see actual sunlight?”

I glanced up at the fluorescent lighting. “I wouldn’t know,” I shot back. Tony flashed me a grin as I frowned and snatched the case file from his hand. It was painfully thin and I had to hold back my frustrated sigh. “Alright Flag Pole,” I called out to Steve as I walked down the hall. “Let’s go do an interrogation.”

“I’m going with you?” He glanced at me curiously when I slammed the file into his chest.

“What part of ‘I don’t do interrogations’ did your star-spangled brain not understand?” I shot him a look as I continued down to the elevator. “I’m just going to stand there. I’m not talking to him again.”

“You think it’ll work?” Steve asked his voice incredulous as I jammed the elevator button and willed the elevator doors to never open.

“It’ll have to,” I grumbled as the doors pinged open and a slew of SHIELD agents tumbled out, all moony eyed as they stared at Steve. I rolled my eyes and pushed past them and typed in the code to get us to sub-level.

“Eager?” Steve mused with raised eyebrows but his smile faltered at the poisonous look I threw him.

“Eager to get this over with,” I muttered as I folded my arms. Steve nodded and didn’t say anything else as the door shut. FRIDAY’s pleasant voice spoke about the weather and today’s current events but I didn’t listen. When the doors opened again, Steve stepped out and the floor was just as quiet as it had been when I had first gone down eight hours ago. It was unsettling.

We reached room 12 and Steve punched in the code that swung the vibranium doors open. Once inside, I saw Sam was across the room. He made eye contact with us and walked over, his shoulders stiff.

“He won’t talk, Cap,” Sam muttered, his voice quiet. He sighed heavily and then his eyes met mine, brown irises filled with concern. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

“I’m doing the interrogation,” Steve whispered. Sam seemed shocked as he eyed me curiously. I avoided his gaze as I stared at the cement floor. I moved to the corner of the room as Steve spoke with Sam for a few minutes longer. I kept my eyes on the guards instead of on Bucky, refusing to give him the satisfaction. I didn’t even see Sam walk over to me until his voice was in my ear.

“Why aren’t you running this?” Sam asked. I met his gaze, trying to look confused but he wasn’t having it. I sighed and rested my shoulder against the cold stone wall.

“I don’t want to,” I muttered. “Besides, I’m not adverse in interrogation or any of that shit. This is something you guys do. I’m just a girl with a computer.”

“You’re more than that, and you know it,” Sam frowned as he shot a glance towards Steve. “What’s really going on, baby? You locked Tony, Steve and Nat in here just to speak to Bucky. Now you won’t look at him. What’s going on? If he did something to you, Hannah. We need to know.”

I swallowed thickly as I toed the ground with my sneaker. “He’s just not someone I want to be around. Is that so hard to understand?” I looked at Sam, begging him to drop it. Really, I was just angry at Bucky. He and his big mouth had gotten me ‘grounded’ as Tony said and now the situation was even worse than it had been before. And it pissed me off.

“Okay,” Sam acquiesced and I breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s not hard to understand. What is hard to understand as that you’re actually trying to pretend that you’re not pissed at him for foiling your master plan.”

I whipped my head to face Sam, who wore the smuggest smile on his face. “What are you talking about?” I hissed.

“I know you don’t believe in best friends or relationships, but as your unofficial best friend who knows you like the back of his hand, I know when you’re mad, baby. And you’re furious.”

I rolled my eyes. “You’re not my best friend,” I snapped. “And so what if I’m mad? Doesn’t change anything.”

“No,” Sam mused. “But doesn’t mean you’re not still going to be mad. I also know that this makes you even more motivated to do exactly what you aren’t supposed to do. So, when are you going on this unsanctioned, highly dangerous mission?”

“I’m not,” I shot back and crossed my arms. I didn’t like how Sam was digging into my brain. I knew Wanda was the only one who could actually read brains but I seriously wondered if Sam didn’t possess some ability too. “Besides, I’m grounded, remember? Steve won’t let me out of his sight.”

“Sure he will,” Sam shrugged. “We all know he’ll calm down eventually. And you’ll wait until he does. And that’s when you’ll go. So my only request is, let me know when you go, okay. I’m always down to kick some Hydra ass.”

“Okay, bird-brain,” I rolled my eyes. I turned my attention on Steve as he stood before Bucky. Every muscle in his broad back was stiff, his arms folded in a defensive stance. He was speaking quietly to Bucky, loud enough for the soldier to hear but quiet enough that we couldn’t. I risked a glance at Bucky and saw his eyes were trained on the floor, unblinking and unwavering. I frowned as Steve leaned forward, almost imploring Bucky to look up. The brunette didn’t move a muscle. The only thing that moved was his left hand. There was a slight jerk in his fingers, like an electric shock was going straight through his left hand.

“Have you had any luck with the politician?”

“Smith?” I shook my head. “I’m searching surveillance at Sheremetyevo to see if his face pops up. I alerted TSA too, see if they can get him at departure and had them expand the search to private airfields.”

“Can they do that?” Sam asked.

“Government can track anything.” I muttered. I averted my eyes back to Steve and Bucky. Steve was pacing now and I could see the agitation. From the side profile of his face, his jaw was wired so tight even I could see the muscle tic from where I stood. And my eyesight was shot from staring at a computer screen my whole life. Bucky’s gaze still remained trained on the floor, but his fingers still twitched. It was like he couldn’t look at Steve’s face, even if he wanted to.

“S’kinda weird, y’know?” Sam whispered to me as we both watched Steve and Bucky. “How Bucky won’t look at Steve. It’s like he doesn’t want to believe that’s his best friend.”

Something clicked in my head at Sam’s words. It’s like he doesn’t even want to believe that’s his best friend. “What if he doesn’t?” I murmured.

Sam gave me a disbelieving look. “Han, I saw the two of them in Berlin. Bucky never forgot Steve. I mean hell; in Bucharest he protected the damn guy even with his head all over the place. He pulled him out of the water at Triskelion. You don’t forget someone like that, a best friend. They’re with you for life.”

They’re with you for life. “What if he’s doing that now?” I whispered to myself as the pieces came together.

“What?”

“Sam.” I turned to face him. “What if Bucky is protecting Steve now?”

Sam’s brow furrowed. “Han, baby, what are you talking about?”

“He knows. Bucky knows something. He’s not telling Steve. I know it.”

“Alright, alright,” Sam acquiesced. “Talk to me, what are you thinking?”

I caught my lip between my teeth as my brain hurried to fit all of the pieces together and as it did, an image began to form. A very blurry, very sketchy picture that probably didn’t mean anything but it definitely meant something. Maybe.

“Bucky can’t look Steve in the eye. Why?”

Sam shrugged. “Dunno. I think it’s because he can’t.”

I turned to Sam. “He can’t?”

Sam’s face turned dark. “On one of the…trips Steve and I took, we came across a Hydra facility where they had some, uh, soldiers in training if you will. Very early in the process. But they couldn’t look us in the eye, and they wouldn’t speak. We finally figured out they would only speak when addressed and we had to give them permission. It was engrained within them.”

“They saw you as superiors,” I murmured. “The ultimate control.”

Sam nodded. “I think that’s why he can’t look at him. He sees Steve as superior to him.”

I shook my head. “It’s more than that.” I sighed as I began playing with the tips of my hair, tugging and twirling. “Sam, I don’t think he’s not looking at Steve because he views him as his superior. I think he can’t because it’s Steve.”

“I don’t follow,” Sam frowned.

I turned to face him. My voice became hushed and faster as I got more excited. “You said it yourself, Sam. The type of friendship Steve and Bucky have – it’s for life. Nothing could break it. With that type of closeness, I mean, they know everything. What if Bucky is afraid that Steve will read him like a book? Know exactly what Bucky is hiding without Bucky having to say a single word.”

“So, you think this whole not looking each other in the eye thing is because Bucky is scared? That it has nothing to do with Hydra?”

I shook my head. “I think if Steve were to give Bucky an order, Bucky would follow. He’s been made to follow orders. But he can make decisions. He chose to talk to me. I didn’t tell him to talk to me, I never gave an order. I merely asked. And he responded. So he can make his own decisions, but maybe only to a certain point.”

Sam nodded slowly, as if the puzzle was just beginning to form in his head too. “What if Bucky doesn’t see you as his superior?” I whipped my head to him and narrowed my eyes, a warning for Sam to tread very carefully. “I’m not saying you’re less than him, baby,” Sam defended himself quickly with an assuring smile. “All I’m saying is Steve kind of screams the whole I’m the boss I make the orders aura. You’re much more laid back. Maybe Bucky felt that he didn’t have to answer to you, that you weren’t there to give him orders.”

I relaxed my rigid stance as I thought about what Bucky said. It was interesting theory and I struggled to make sense of it all. I turned to Steve and found him talking to Bucky again, his face closer to the electromagnetic wall.

I stepped away from Sam and moved closer to Steve, careful not to startle Steve. “Steve,” I prompted softly. He looked away and I was floored by the look of pure exhaustion on his face but it melted away into impassiveness as he walked towards me.

“What is it Hannah?”

“Steve,” I swallowed. “You need to order Bucky to look at you.”

There was a beat of silence. “What?” His empty voice made me shift uncomfortably. I felt like I was asking someone to kidnap a child. And essentially, I guess I was. If the child was freewill and the ability to make your own decision.

“You have to,” I murmured.

“Hannah. I am not going to force him to do something.” His voice was fierce as he bent down to my face, his blue eyes chips of pure ice.

“Steve,” I forced myself to meet his chilling stare. “I wouldn’t ask you to do this if I didn’t have to. He knows something. Trust me, please.”

My heart cracked as his face twisted into one of pure anguish. “Hasn’t he been ordered around enough?” He asked his voice tight with pain.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. Steve nodded and I watched as his face turned to stone and his voice became hard as rock, void of emotion.

“Bucky, I need you to look at me.” His voice wavered but Bucky didn’t. I flashed him a sideward glance. His shoulders stiffened and it almost looked like he was bracing himself. “Soldier, look at me. Now.”

Bucky turned his head. But it looked like someone was pulling an iron chain and he was doing everything he could to fight back. But when his eyes met Steve’s, I felt as if I had been sucker punched.

The look of pure hatred that scorched in Bucky’s eyes made my stomach churn. But Steve’s gaze didn’t falter. “I know what you’re doing,” he murmured. “Don’t do this, I need to know.” Bucky didn’t look away, but there was so much more than anger in his eyes. I had never seen a look so loaded before in my life. “What are you trying to hide? Who are you trying to protect? Is it Kotevsky, is it Hydra, who is it?”

There it was. The finger twitch. The moment Kotevsky left Steve’s mouth, Bucky reacted. It was slight, almost invisible. But it was there. I turned my head to look at Sam, whose eyes were narrowed. He saw too.

“You know,” I whispered, my voice shell-shocked. Bucky didn’t look at me, but I know he heard me. Steve snapped his head down as his brow furrowed into a knot of confusion. I ignored him as I stepped forward. “What is it, what is it about Kotevsky that you know?” Bucky’s gaze didn’t waver and I felt that tiny flutter of anger in the pit of my stomach. I swallowed to try and calm myself down as I spoke softly. “Who is Kotevsky, Bucky? What is he going to do, is it the drop tonight?” Bucky turned his face away, but I saw. The slight tremor of fear that skittered across his face. Right before his features turned to marble. I reeled back as it dawned on me. “The drop…you know. You know about the drop.”

He didn’t answer, his face stoic. Like a statue. “Jesus,” Steve whispered behind me.

I ignored him and dropped down to Bucky’s level, tilting my head as I tried to meet his gaze, no matter how hard he tried to avoid mine. “Bucky. Tell me, please. I need to know.” The silence that followed was deafening. “What are you so afraid of?” I prompted softly. He finally met my gaze, and it was pleading. Begging me to drop it, to walk away. My breath stuttered in my chest but I refused to look away. “I will find out,” I told him firmly and willed my voice to remain steady. “You know it’s just a matter of time.”

“I know. I’m just hoping you run out,” he murmured, his voice rough. I frowned heavily as I gripped my hands tightly together. There was that flare of anger again that threatened to lash out. I took a deep breath and willed myself to calm down.

“Why?” I whispered. “What do you know? Bucky, please. Something is happening; something big and we need to stop it.”

“No you don’t,” he gritted his teeth. “Please, drop it. It’s not important.”

“Yes it is,” I argued as my face grew hot. I was getting angrier and angrier by the second. “If it’s worth a billion dollars then it must be pretty damn important.”

Bucky winced. “It isn’t. Let it go.”

I held back a snarl as I stood up suddenly, my glare fixated on Bucky. “He knows,” I muttered to Steve. He nodded as I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room. “Useless,” I muttered to myself the whole way up to Tony’s lab. “Absolutely, utterly, useless.”

I slammed the keypad outside Tony’s lab and jammed in the code. Out of my peripheral I saw the red lines scan my face and a red dot appeared. “Unconfirmed facial scan. Please turn to face the–”

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” I shouted as I turned to bang on Tony’s door as the stupid scanner kept reading my face. “Tony, open this fucking door or so help me–”

The heavy door swung open as Tony stood before me, a shit-eating grin on his face. “You were saying?”

I growled as I stomped past him, throwing a middle finger to the scanner and the disembodied voice. “Kotevsky,” I spit out. “What do you have on him?”

“Jesus, Barnes really got your knickers all in a twist,” Tony snickered but stopped the moment I glared at him. He cleared his throat quickly before he sauntered towards his monitors, ignoring the piles and piles of junk that threatened to suffocate the spacious lab. “Nothing. I ran his face through every government operated security camera in the entirety of Moscow and found nothing. I don’t think he is in Moscow, Han.”

“No, he is,” I muttered. “Smith is way too over the top. Moscow is the capital, it holds the most importance. That’s where he’ll want to be.”

Tony snorted. “God, you sound like my shrink. Watching too much Criminal Minds lately?”

I rolled my eyes. “No, I just hang out with you too much,” I quipped. Tony attempted to look affronted but I could see the smile fighting its way.

“What have you got so far?” He asked as he plopped down on his leather chair.

I sighed and shook my head. “A bunch of coded conversations. I’ve pretty much guessed that the wedding means the main event – maybe a grand opening of some sort. The reception is the actual drop-off. But I’m also pulling this out of my ass so really I have no idea. I have searches running for his face at Sheremetyevo and through TSA. If he’s cocky enough he’d go through the international airports.”

“You don’t think he’d use a private airfield?”

I shrugged. “I’m hoping he doesn’t. Even if he does I have the ones that he frequents under surveillance. I’m really hoping his ego comes in the way of his intelligent thinking and somehow we get a hit.”

“So really, we have nothing.”

“Exactly,” I sighed as I leaned against the table.

“Barnes came up dry?”

A sour look came across my face. “Drier than the Sahara. He didn’t give us jack shit. He just said it wasn’t important or whatever the hell that means.”

Tony scowled as he shook his head. “He’s hiding something,” he muttered into his coffee cup.

“Or protecting something,” I added.

“We just don’t know what or who,” Tony finished and we both shared a grim look. Bucky was the missing puzzle piece. He was just the piece that refused to cooperate. Just as I was sitting and contemplating all of the ways that I could kill someone without getting caught, my phone dinged. I pulled it out of my pocket and when I saw the notification, I jumped up and nearly catapulted myself to the nearest computer.

“I found him,” I explained to Tony before he asked. He perked up instantly and came to stand beside me as I sent the information to Tony’s monitor. When the successful search popped up, I almost laughed.

“Is…is that a fake mustache?” Tony sputtered as he tried to hide his laughter. There was Smith, in all his mediocre glory, wearing the fakest mustache known to man and this god awful fedora that made Patrick Stump look fashionable.

“Jesus, I hate politicians,” I moaned as I minimized his picture. “Alright, he arrived at Sheremetyevo about four hours ago. He then–” I followed CCTV throughout the airport before I found him climbing into a town car, “–gets into a town car which is taking him…somewhere. That I’m going to find out.”

“That’s what I pay you for,” Tony remarked sarcastically but I ignored him. I ran the plates of the town car and found it linked to a private limo company that contracted out limos and cars to very high-end and prissy clientele.

“God, do I love wire transfers,” I grinned as I followed the bank and found an account in Switzerland tied to the name Noah Trilnoj Dohms.

“What kind of name is that?” Tony snorted as I entered that name into the limo company clientele list that I oh so conveniently hacked into. “Who names their kid some plain name like Noah and then give them a middle name like Trilnoj?”

“I mean, your parents named you Anthony so you’re not far behind on the whole plain name list.”

Tony scoffed. “I’ll have you know that Anthony means highly praiseworthy. I’m anything but plain.”

“Yeah, but the Greeks associated Anthony with flower, so like you said,” I turned to him and gave him a mocking smile, “I guess you really are anything but plain, hm?”

Tony’s mouth opened and closed – sort of like a flower in bloom – as he searched for an answer. I smirked as the monitor dinged and the ever so plain Noah Trilnoj blinked at me. “You know,” I mused, “maybe I should make you a flower crown. Those are highly praiseworthy, aren’t they?”

“Shut up,” Tony snarled and I couldn’t help but laugh as I pulled up Noah’s sheet.

“Well,” I hummed. “Looks like Mr. Extravagant is staying at an equally extravagant hotel.”

Tony leaned over my shoulder, seemingly forgetting my quip. “Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel.” He rolled his eyes. “How American.”

“Well, he is American,” I looked over at Tony with a raised eyebrow, “and are we going to forget the little fact that you won’t stay anywhere unless there is a Marriott stationed nearby?”

“Hey, I like the food. Plus they have the softest towels.”

“Do they really?” My voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Oh, definitely. Softer than a baby’s bottom. Especially when they’re snuggled around your–”

“Yep! Okay, moving on,” I yelled, waving my arms in the air. Ignoring Tony’s amused chuckle, I easily moved through the servers at the Hyatt and easily found where Noah was staying. “He’s in the Winter Garden Suite, checked in about…two hours ago.”

“Do you ever wonder if your fingers are going to fall off?” I whipped my head around to stare at Tony, my eyes narrowed as he shrugged nonchalantly. “I mean, you type so fast and practically drill your fingers into my poor, fragile keyboard. I’m just wondering if it’s possible for them to actually just fall off, y’know.”

“God, you’re hopeless,” I rolled my eyes towards the sky and pushed back from his desk. “And your keyboard is a projection onto your desk, jackass. I hardly doubt it’s seeing some damage.”

“The whole table vibrates when you type. The whole table.”

I tutted softly in mock sadness as I patted his cheek. “My apologies, il mio fiore. I’ll make sure to send your desk a thank you basket for putting up with my brutal ways.”

I didn’t give Tony a chance to answer before I sprinted off, snagging a tablet in the process. All I heard was Tony’s voice bouncing through the lab as he yelled: “Did you just call me flower?!”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Sam’s number. He picked up on the first ring. “What’s shakin’ bacon?”

“Smith just checked into the Winter Garden Suite at the Ararat Park Hyatt Hotel about two hours ago. I’m cross checking now but I’m pretty sure there is an art opening about five miles from there tonight.”

“Hey, HP found something,” Sam said away from the receiver. He was back within the moment. “You think this could be him?”

“Oh, I know it’s the slimy bastard. He’s under the alias of Noah Trilnoj Dohms–”

“What kind of name is Noah Trilnoj Dohms?”

“Oh God, not you too,” I sighed heavily as I nearly dropped the tablet in disappointment.

“No, but seriously Han. Think about it. I mean…Noah and then–”

“Moving on, Sam,” I spoke sharply as I reached my cave. “He’s wearing this god awful mustache which is really what you should be focusing on.”

“Mustache? Like Tony’s mustache bad? Or me during the 80s bad?”

“Try Charlie Chaplin bad.” Sam whistled beneath his breath and I had to stop myself from laughing. “I’m sending a photo to you and Steve now. I’m inside the GPS of his town car so if the key even comes near the car I’ll know about it. I’m working on the security system to see if they’ve got cameras inside the suite, I’ll let you know if I find anything.”

“Alright, you’re the best baby,” Sam cooed into the phone and I rolled my eyes as I hung up.

I set down the tablet that was connected to the GPS system of the town car as I brought my monitors back to life. I quickly wrote a code and began hacking into the security system, which took me all of twenty minutes. I soon found myself in the Winter Garden Suite where the lovely Johnny was staying. Nothing was really going on, it seemed like the security detail was completely relaxed, some of them even conversing. They obviously had no worries. I tapped into the audio and began downloading all of the audio while I let it play into my earpiece.

Nothing interesting was happening, just quiet murmuring. Smith was nowhere to be seen. But even then, I could definitely hear him, and whoever he was with. And from the looks of it, so could his unamused body guards.

“On zvuchit kak slon.” One of the guards muttered to the other. After a quick Google Translate into what he said because shockingly, I wasn’t fluent in every language, I nearly choked on my spit. It sounds like an elephant.+

As I scanned over the security tapes, heading back to when they first entered the room, my eyes caught a flutter of white that fell to the ground when Smith opened his briefcase. I quickly froze the image and zoomed in. It turned out to be a piece of card stock with elegant script in what looked like silver cursive.

 ◊              ◊              ◊

THE PLEASURE OF YOUR COMPANY

IS REQUESTED FOR THE EARLY SHOWING OF

Treasure Nukus

Named after IV Savitsky

MONDAY March 16, 2017

FROM 7:00 PM – 11:00 PM

THE PUSHKIN STATE MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS

FORMAL COCKTAIL ATTIRE

◊              ◊              ◊

“The wedding,” I whispered with an exhaling breath. My fingers shook with excitement as I quickly searched Treasure Nukus. It was some set of paintings from the State Museum that apparently was a great representation of Asian culture. Either way, it was big. One quick sweep of the invitation list told me it was extremely secretive and a very expensive list. Big money was going into this showing and it was just an opportunity for people to show off their wealth and importance. It was Smith’s playing field.

I immediately rang Sam. “What’s cookin’ good lookin’?”

“I found it.” I practically panted out like a rabid dog. “I found the wedding. Well, I think so. It’s the closest that I’ve gotten and it makes sense because…well, it just does. It has to. If it doesn’t you have full permission to punch me in the face.”

Sam laughed. “I’ll remember that, baby. Now, tell me. Where is this lovely wedding that I have a feeling me and Steve are invited to?”

I grinned as I relayed what I found to Sam. “So, essentially, I’m shipping you off to sunny Moscow.”

“I’ve always loved how the Kremlin looks in the middle of the night,” Sam shot back unenthusiastically. “So, you’re all packed baby?”

“Packed?” I narrowed my eyes suspiciously as I clicked the monitor and let the video feeds play at real time.

“Well yeah, someone’s gotta go say hi to the good politician.”

I nearly dropped my phone. “I’m sorry…what did you just say?” I nearly screeched. “Are you out of your damn mind? What the hell have you been huffing down there?”

“Baby, we already sent Nat in so he’d recognize her and know we’re onto him. Wanda is too noticeable after Lagos. Hill is too in love with Fury to leave his side for more than ten minutes. So, that leaves you HP.”

I sputtered as I desperately grasped on some way to get myself out of this. “I’ll die out there Sam…I can’t, you can’t do this to me. I do not spy. I’m an awful spy.”

“Baby, you’re the best damn spy the world has ever seen.”

“Yes, behind a computer screen. Away from people.” I pressed my hand to my forehead and I immediately felt it break into a sweat. “God, are you trying to completely botch this mission?”

“Not yet,” his grin could be heard through the phone. I huffed out a breath as I stared at my monitors miserably. I suddenly had a sickening image of Smith’s wrinkly hands running up and down my back as his thin, papery lips pressed against my ear. I was gonna throw up.

“No, nope, absolutely not.” I shook my head and shot up as I began to pace. “I am not, no way. Send someone else. I quit, I resign, and I’m faking my death if I have to.”

“Oh, come on Han…” Sam’s voice faded away as a flicker of movement caught my eye on one of the feeds. It was the one that was trained on the living room, yet the hallway that led to Smith’s room began to show someone walking down it. A man walked out, shirtless with the top button of his pants undone. His dress shirt suddenly appeared as a pair of hands pulled it onto his broad shoulders. The gaunt body of John Arnold Smith emerged; his thin smile caused a shudder to dance down my spine.  But what happened next caused me to shoot up with a shocked gasp.

Smith leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to the lips of the man, his fingers brushing over his face.

“Oh my God,” I breathed out before a smile lit up on my face. “Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God.”

“Hannah, what is going on? Talk to me, what happened?” Sam’s frantic voice suddenly registered in my mind as I grinned widely.

“I think the real question is: are you packed, Sam?”

There was a heartbeat of silence before Sam spoke. “What do you mean?”

“Well,” I tapped my finger to my chin as I watched Smith say goodbye. “It seems to me that Smith doesn’t really like redheads, or brunettes, or girls, for that matter.” I could literally hear the thoughts clicking in Sam’s brain. “And Samuel…it seems to me that you are exactly his type.”

“No,” he immediately said. “Nope, not happening. Nice try Hannah. You’re lying, I know you are.”

“Am I?” I gloated as I sat back. “Besides, would I ever lie about someone’s sexual orientation? I may be a cold-hearted bitch, but I still have a heart.”

There were voices in the background and I heard Sam hiss, “Don’t agree with her. There has to be another way. No way, this isn’t happening.”

I held back my laughter as I watched Smith wave goodbye as the man left the suite. I had to make sure to send Smith a thank you card after all of this.

“So, baby,” I leaned forward in my chair with a wicked grin, “What color suit are you going to wear?”

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