#I tried so hard to stay away from the neon but i CAN'T

[ghostcupdraws]

And I did not care for it

[cute-sucker]

Hi! I wanna request a story of like kook reader having a crush on Rafe and her friends always warns her about his behaviors but she doesn’t care at all and continues to admire him and he definitely notices it but he’s so nonchalant and cold about it😭😭

rafe cameron was your world. 

if it was up to you, the sun set on him, and the moon awakened when his face came into view. it was cheesy you knew, after all, you had been his neighbour forever, but you couldn't help but find yourself drawn to his behaviour. when either it was his looks or the cocky smile that he had. whatever it was, it was not okay. 

well, you didn't see a problem with it. it was just a crush. just something to smile about sometimes, or think about. that's what you had promised some of your friends. but sometimes your friend mindy would tap your shoulder as she mouthed a soft "no," "no." 

at a certain point, you had become wheezie's babysitter in hopes of getting closer to rafe. it was pathetic you knew, but wheezie was such a sweet girl that you loved it even more. days at tanyhill were filled with finger paintings and fairy tales. sometimes you would go all out and let wheezie cook, although that did entail both of you getting completely covered in flour. and that was how you met him. formally. 

you had been smiling up at wheezie, as she told you the gingerbread cookies looked more crooked than usual. you had batted it off telling her that the two of you just had different styles. still you were covered in flour as rafe walked in. while you did have a small crush on him, you tried to ignore him as much as possible. if he was in a room, you walked out choking, blushing so hard. you were just so shy, you could barely say a word. 

yet here you were on the floor as you giggled with wheezie. the two of you were tired. until a voice rang out. 

"what the hell is going on? the place is a mess. shit." 

you felt your heart race as you got up, while wheezie continued to roll on the floor telling you how this perspective of the world was wicked. finally, rafe came into view, eyes squinted as his eyebrows were furrowed. "who the hell are you?" 

wheezie rolled her eyes, "oh my god, rafe can you be more embarrassing. she's my babysitter?" his expression stayed confused before he shrugged it off walking to the fridge, wheezie scoffed, "damn rafe do you even pay attention-" 

"hey!" he snapped, swinging the fridge open to take out a carton of milk, a warning finger in the air, "don't swear." 

at this wheezie scoffed, putting her hands on her hips, "you do it all the time, i don't know why i can't-"

"wheezie, i'm older than you," he interjected, and then he held the milk carton up to his lips. wheezie winced, making a disgusted face, as she pushed him away from the fridge. rafe stumbled away a satisfied grin on his face, ruffling wheezie's hair.  

"ugh, boys you know," wheezie huffed, closing the fridge door with a bang.  

finally wheezie looked up at you, almost as if she was realising you had said nothing and arched an eyebrow at your expression, placing a comforting pink manicured hand on your shoulder. it was humorous how the 13 year old was trying to make you feel better. her nails were still a shocking neon pink with sparkles. 

"don't feel too bad. rafe is weird." the two of you left it at that before going back to making cookies. 

˚❀༉‧₊˚.˚❀༉

"and then he came in, like all khakis, and that hot polo shirt," you giggled into your phone, kicking your feet. your friend mindy made a hurrupted sound on the phone, "i met him, like actually met him. why aren't you as excited about this?" 

suddenly the phone went silent, and you could hear her soft breathing, "i dunno, i mean lets think about this rationally," she sighed out, and you groaned, turning over in bed. this meant that hard truths were going to be told. 

"-okay i know you hate this, but you've babysitting for the camerons for what, two years?" 

"three years," you corrected, before realising your error. 

"yeah, three years and he hasn't noticed you at all? hasn't thought to ask, 'hey who's that rando girl staying in our home dad?' at all? they invited you to the midsommers, and to all of their parties. and he doesn't know you?" 

you winced at that, before you pouted turning back on your back, "listen, i know it sounds bad, but i don't know. it'll happen."  

you didn't think about it too hard, but there was a noticeable shift. you were putting a lot of care into changing into a cute dress, or painting your nails with extra care, or making sure you asked wheezie where he was. you didn't think it was obvious, but one time wheezie brought it up. 

"do you have a crush on rafe?" she asked, stuffing her face with the burger you had made her. 

you were taking a gulp out of your lemonade and almost spat it out, "wheezie! don't ask me things like that." 

she blinked at you innocently, "i don't know what you're talking about. it's a valid question," and then she pouted, "i thought you'd tell me everything about yourself." 

"well, no, i don't have a c-crush on your brother," you sputtered out, glaring at wheezie who gave you a sly grin. she quickly let go of the conversation, and the two of you were arguing over jenga and who had won. 

quickly enough the days passed at the tanyhill, you had settled down into the belief that rafe would not notice you. who cared? you had a nice job, wheezie was a sweetheart and mr. cameron loved having you around. it was perfect all of it, until rafe approached it. 

it was for a frat part you could tell. with his backward cap on, a fitted tee, he looked like a dream. the babysitting shift was over, and you were slowly walking outside only to see rafe revving up his motorcycle. 

you found yourself flushing at the whole scene and murmured out a soft 'bye.' as usual, you were ignored, or maybe you were too quiet, goddamn it you were so stupid-

"hey!" 

you turned around to see rafe cupping his face to yell at you. he had pulled off his helmet to talk to you. 

"hey," you stuttered out, grasping at your tote bag. you looked like a total grandma, with your cardigan, and written-on sneakers, "what's up?" 

"just heading off to a party, and uh," he scratched his head, squinting his eyes before tearing his eyes off his motorcycle to look back at you, "wanna come? it's at like nine." 

"sure! of course. yeah, sure," you blurted out, flushing even more. he regarded you again, a well-natured smile flittering across his face. 

"yea, i'll see you then." 

so there it was. an invitation. rafe cameron had invited you to a party. 

maybe this was a start of something.

[icycoldninja]

Promised (Sephiroth x Reader angst)

You, a youthful, yet extraordinarily sad teenager, were perched atop a cliff, feeling lonlier than ever. Your boyfriend, the young SOLDIER prodigy, Sephiroth, had been sent away to war and you had no idea when he would be back. If he would be back. Every day you traveled up to this precipice, where you two often met in the past. You found yourself curled up on the grass under the tree where you and he had carved your names into the bark.

Sephiroth x Y/N, forever.

Bringing your knees up to your chest and burying you face into them, you began to sob, worry and fear overwhelming you again, as it tended to do so every day.

"Y/N! Hey!" You turned and peered at the source of the voice with teary eyes, surprised to see a familiar, short teenage boy running towards you.

"Seph?" You sprung to your feet, dashing towards him and wrapping him in a tight hug. "You're back! I...I missed you so much." The young boy pulled away from you, standing on his tiptoes so he could plant a kiss on your forehead, all while smiling that sweet, calm smile he always did. You chuckled, remembering how you always teased him for being shorter than you.

"I'm back, you giant," He chuckled, gazing up at you fondly. Hope rising in your chest, you asked if he would be staying long, as there were so many new developments in your hometown; so many things you wanted to show and talk to him about. The look he gave you in response was answer enough; the way his eyes temporarily lost their shine and his mouth curved into the tiniest of frowns told you that the answer was negative.

"I'm...sorry, Y/N," He mumbled, fidgeting with his fingers. "I must go back next week. They're sending me to Rhadoran next." You nodded, crestfallen, though you tried to keep up a cheerful front.

Unfortunately, there was no fooling Sephiroth. His watchful, neon green eyes saw everything.

"I know it's tough," He whispered, taking you by the shoulders and pulling you close. "But you have to hang in there. I promise, when I get back, everything will be different. Just trust me."

You nodded, knowing that this wasn't easy for him either. You had to stay strong, like he was, and take comfort in the fact that soon, the war will be over, and then you could spend more time with your beloved.

"Don't worry," Sephiroth assured you, wrapping his arms around you and resting his head against your chest. "I'll never forget you." You nodded, biting down hard on your lip to keep yourself from bursting into tears. Sephiroth rubbed circles into your lower back; his touch cold because of the leather gloves he was wearing.

"I love you, Seph." You murmured, tightening your hold around him. "I always will. Forever." A faint smile tugged at the corners of Sephiroth's mouth. He pulled away again before fishing in his pocket, soon producing a tiny black case.

"I know we can't officially get married cause we're both still legally children, but..." He opened the case, revealing two simple, yet beautiful silver rings. "I got these from a jeweler who lived in a town we happened to pass through. They're promise rings, kinda like engagement rings, but for kids."

"They're beautiful," You whispered, causing a light dusting of pink to appear on the boy's pale cheeks.

"Really? You really like them?" He sounded uncertain and neverous, yet giddy at the same time. You nodded excitedly as he took one of the rings from the box and slipped it onto your finger.

"I love them, Seph--I love anything you give me." Sephiroth smiled, handing you the box so you could slide the other ring onto his finger.

"We're officially engaged now," He stated, once you were finished. You couldn't help but giggle at how matter-of-factly he'd said it.

"We are!" You cheered, hugging him tightly. Sephiroth let out a quiet sigh as he stood there, trapped in your hold, and silently wished that this moment could last forever.

Unfortunately, nothing ever did. After just one day of relaxing with you, he was once again shipped off to Rhadoran to fight in the front lines. Watching him leave was painful; the joy that had recently filled your heart quickly evaporated into despairing emptiness. He'd only just left and you missed him already. When would he be back?

You asked every soldier that came to your town, "When will Sephiroth be back?" Every time, they never gave you a straight answer. It seemed that they didn't know either.

You soon gave up inquiring and simply observed the passengers of each truck that arrived. Every time one arrived, Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen, and you lost more and more hope; the only thing you had to remind you of him was the promise ring he'd given you, which you wore every day without fail. You would treasure that ring; it was a symbol of your love and dedication, one of the few things that comforted you during these depressing times.

Several years later, you were perched atop that very same cliff once again, curled up under that tree where you and Sephiroth had carved your names, though the words had long since faded from view as bark, moss and flowers had grown over them. The only thing you had left of Sephiroth now was the ring, which still resided on your finger. Just looking at that simple silver band filled you with despair; you were soon sobbing into your arms, the many years of loneliness, worry, and sadness finally taking it's toll.

"Y/N?" A deep voice unfamiliar to you called, followed by the sound of jingling metal and heavy footsteps.

"Go away!" You shouted, thinking it was one of the village folks come to comfort you or persuade you to give up on Sephiroth and date someone else, as they frequently attenpted to do nowadays. The person sat down next to you; a sudden fruity scent filling your nostrils. A cold, gloved hand made its way down to yours, raising it up so that your ring shone in the sunlight.

"I see you still wear my ring." Your head snapped up; eyes widening in shock.

Beside you sat a familiar young man with silver hair and neon green eyes, though he was no longer the short, cute little boy you once knew. He was a tall wall of muscle, with a waterfall of gleaming silver hair; an imposing, threatening aura surrounding him unlike anything you'd ever seen. Was this really the boy you'd exchanged promise rings with all those years ago?

"Miss me?" He inquired, smiling that familiar, quiet smile. He chuckled after you failed to respond, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Do you not recognize me? I'll admit, I have grown," He pulled off one of his gloves to reveal a silver ring identical to yours sitting neatly on his finger. "But I have never forgotten."

Something clicked inside you, prompting you to throw yourself into his arms and pepper his face with kisses, all while tears of joy and relief streamed down your face

"I missed you so, so, so much!" You declared, squeezing him with all your strength. Sephiroth chuckled, pulling you into his lap and kissing your cheek.

"I know, I missed you too. But now, I am home, and now, we can get married. Just as I promised."

[loremaster]

all right, let's talk about some rejected* ideas from boba au's chapter 4. (big spoilers ofc)

yakou, as we know, is a very sad man. secretly plotting to unalive himself for revenge.

but in this au, pucci catches him, right?

she can't wrap her head around his selfish motivations. sure, his wife was important to him when she was alive, but now she's not, so why is she still important? pucci doesn't think the revenge would be worth the suicide. but yakou is a firm believer in the Core Tenets Of Marriage (and considers seppuku to be one of them)

*this is for not what will end up happening in the actual boba au ch4. but from here on out... i will probably still use some of the ideas below, so if you want to be totally surprised when i post the whole thing this summer, turn back now.

...but if you want a little treat, then keep reading ;)

after the gang reunites, yuma interrogates yakou, who confesses everything, even the extent of his murderous rage.

mystery labyrinth happens in which yuma uses whatever leftover evidence he can to prove dl6 dr huesca was responsible for yakou's wife's death. yuma reaps huesca's soul... and when he leaves the labyrinth, yakou is still alive!

AND AFTER ALL THAT HARD WORK THEY PUT INTO SAVING HIM HE DIES ANYWAY

(he tries it one more time and gets that finger bitten clean off.)

if anyone out there knows what the scorpion reference is from, you have earned my undying love. (if you don't...... well, then stay tuned for the neon downpour zine to find out B))

anyway. vivia is understandably struggling with this. he appoints himself as the guard to the kitchen/bathroom door, behind which zombie yakou is... uh, well, there.

melami gets straight to the point.

"did you love him?"

i thought vivia's feelings could have grown into something more, but never got the chance before it was ripped away.

this was pre-dlc. i was a fool.

he was madly in love the whole time.

[jinx-on-mars-19xx]

I Can't Breathe

(Kill Somebody Like You Part Two Chapter Eighteen)

🔪Previous Parts Here🔪

Dom x Colson (Yungblud x Machine Gun Kelly)

Warnings: ABO dynamics (knots, slick, heats, mpreg), alpha serial killer/hitman Dom, omega mob boss Kells, cursing, past abuse, past SA, top Dom, bottom Cols, mating cycle, Dom in rut, dirty talk, deep throating a Gatorade bottle, trying to ignore a mate for toast, grinding, teasing, slight voyeurism, kitchen sex, rough sex, bruises, anal play, spitting, blow jobs, cum sharing, stumbling make outs, planning, enemies to lovers ❤️‍🔥 Rating: explicit AF

All ideas helped by @iamnotanearthlingmotherfucker 🩷

The couple had gotten their older son calmed down as best they could before Colson slipped away to find Gatorade and toast. His body was exhausted and his stomach empty but he could feel himself still dripping wet between his thighs for no other reason besides his mate being in rut. At least he assumed that was why. It drained him of water and made him ravenously thirsty but of course he wanted to take care of his family first. He thought he was leaving his fiancé to care for their boys but as he was standing in front of the open fridge he felt something behind him. He didn't feel like stopping his deep drink of the neon fluid but he turned his head enough to see.

“Good boy, keeping ya stamina up. Need to stay ‘ydrated so you can squirt for me.” Whatever he was expecting his killer to say it certainly wasn't that. He wasn't used to dominant horny Dom but he was scared he'd come to love this side of him too much and he'd miss it when the rut hormones had passed. Instead of showing any of that he rolled his eyes visibly and turned back to the cool air. Everything felt stuffy and too much and more than anything he wanted to go back to bed and get naked. Maybe have a cool shower at some point. He felt like a mermaid out of water for fucks sake.

He stepped back enough to close the door as he finished his drink. Of course that pressed him back against Dom but he tried to ignore the rush of heat and electricity that flashed when their skin touched. He took a shaking breath and walked away, stopping at the counter to retrieve his toast and when he turned to the island to prepare his simple breakfast he felt tracked and trapped like prey. He wouldn't look directly at his partner, it felt like a challenge, but he could see him watching from the corner of his eye and felt the weight of his gaze like a touch on his skin. “If you're hungry I'll make you some toast.” He offered but his voice felt thready. Dom just chuckled and went for a glass of water at the sink.

Col felt as if he could take a breath when his mate was distracted and it gave him a moment to butter his bread. The first bite tasted like heaven and just proved how many calories he'd burned. He was starving but it felt like a pit he'd never fill. He was famished for so much more than food. “Actually I am about ready to eat.” He didn't even hear the Alpha move until he was whispering in his ear and he full body shivered as the shorter man pressed himself against his back. He tried to ignore him, he fought to focus on his food. It was a small meal and he knew he only needed a few moments but with his lover kissing his neck it was hard to focus on anything.

Dominic growled when he realized he was being disregarded. He didn't like it on a good day because it felt too much like when he was young but now his instincts were roaring that his omega wasn't allowed to do that. His cock ached in his shorts where it was pressed against the other's ass but it wasn't enough. It couldn't be. His hands ghosted down Col’s sides until he gripped the sides of his sweats and he tugged them down to his knees. Colson scoffed but didn't show any other response to his play and just continued eating. It drove him mad that he could act like that. “Ignore me all ya want princess but I can smell ‘ow wet you are. Pussy a mess for me. Ya sweats already stained. Ya mind may be able to ignore me but ya body is begging me wiv ya scent to bend ya over and make you cum. Breed you. I bet if I jus’ wait like ‘is you'll make a puddle on the floor.”

Dom was right about that at least and Colson knew it. If his partner just stood there long enough, his energy and scent and touch all over him, he'd drip and drip until the floor underneath them was drenched. He was also correct in his assessment that his body was begging for his Alpha's knot but he didn't want to show it. He was already so hard it hurt and his core felt swollen with need. His heartbeat was throbbing in his cunt and if he didn't get filled soon he might actually cry. It was a strange juxtaposition since he was mentally fighting all of it and trying to remain bored. “This has got to be some kind of health hazard. Biological- um… bio- shit.” He couldn't make his language function properly, his mind felt too cloudy already as Dom all but made out with his throat.

“Should I put it…” Dom trailed off, his voice already shot. His palms groped at Col’s ass and he spread him open, one thumb hooking teasingly in his hole. He was still just slightly open from the toy fuck the day before and the sight of his pretty pink insides was almost too much for the boy. It was barely a glimpse, his mate was always so tight but he wanted to open him up and play with his guts. Wait- He wasn't sure if he meant that sexually or otherwise but with the older man it was always a mix of both and he'd never hurt him. He tugged a little more before shoving his thumb deeper. He let it stay a moment to enjoy the overwhelming heat but he pulled free and moved his hand further down. With his other he pushed Kells to lean over and he stepped back, his gaze dropping to stare at even pinker skin. Wetter. Beautiful.

“You're growling again.” Col tried to tease but it felt like a whimper. It was an odd position he was in and he had no idea what his mate was planning, his stomach was flipping at the prospect of taking a foot of cock in his ass. He was trembling but he tried to finish his meal. He was sure there were more crumbs on the counter than he had bread in his belly but there wasn't much he could do about it. His Alpha was boss for the time being.

“You're talking again when ya should be…” Dom trailed off and elbowed Colson's legs wider. He slipped a finger through his lover's folds and spit on his already wet skin. When Kells couldn't hold back a soft moan he grinned. “Tha’ yeah. Do more of it.”

“Make me.” The omega shrugged and he knew it was throwing down a gauntlet to challenge a beast. Every touch made him shiver and every sound was almost too much. He felt almost overstimulated which didn't make any sense but Dom was the only thing calming him. He was the only thing that didn't feel maddening.

A dark chuckle danced over his skin as his lover stepped closer again and he felt his cockhead teasing from one hole to the other and back again. “You lucky I'm in rut or I might be quite a pain in ya arse right now.” He joked. “But… I don't fink tha's wha' either of us need. Is it?”

Col's palms slapped down on the marble but he kept himself from speaking out loud. His body spoke for him even though he fought it, his ass canting back when he felt Dom close to his cunt again. Dom growled low and pressed forward, their thrust matching and sliding them together. His dick hit home and his hands searched out the cold counter so he could lock his prey- his partner in place. He wanted to grab the man's hips but he worried he'd already bruised him so instead he held on tight and hoped his didn't break the marble.

“Careful. Don't- it's expensive.” Colson groaned when he worried he heard something snap. When he felt fabric falling against the skin of his legs he realized it was just his sweats. His mate had him far too spread out and he'd broken them. Of course in his eagerness he had to destroy something, the omega was just glad it wasn't himself. Yet.

“Ain't ‘eard tha' in a bit.” Dom laughed but it quickly faded to a groan. The squeeze of his lover's inner walls was too much for glee, it pushed him straight to nirvana. His hips rocked forward and back in a brutal pace, sweat breaking out over every inch of them both. Their skin was trying to stick together wherever they touched which for once wasn't near as much as it normally was. He was well and truly making his omega present for him, the man was bent over like a bitch in heat. The only place they fully touched was where they were joined, where they fucked rough and quick and dirty. “Fink we'll get caught?” He rasped but he knew they could be heard easily if anyone got close enough to the doors. It was oddly exhilarating to risk being seen. Funny since they'd purposely been watched the day before.

It felt filthy to be bent over and fucked where they ate but somehow that just pushed Col even closer. That golden edge was rushing to him no matter how little he gave into the pleasure. He was being used like a fuck doll and he loved every second. He felt worshiped even though he was barely touched. He felt desperate for more and cast adrift. His cock was aching where it was grinding between his belly and the counter top but it was distant to the rapture in his core. He was being bounced like a fucking pin ball between Dom and the island and he couldn't wait for the neon explosion showing they won.

Dom's feet started to slip on the floor, he was pounding his lover so hard and his omega was truly that soaked already. He gripped the top harder and tried to keep his balance, he was too far gone to stop and get his footing safer. The slap of his balls against Colson's skin echoed louder off the walls than it ever did in their bedroom. It would make him blush if he ever felt much shame.

“Can't- can't knot me. Not here.” The boss panted out but his voice broke off in a moan. The thought almost broke him but they both knew they couldn't be locked together that long in a room everyone used. They already weren't being fair. His thighs burned as he matched his mate thrust for thrust. He realized as he stared down at himself in the black marble that he definitely hadn't had enough to drink. His hands were slippery on the counter and he was pretty sure he'd already spilled it back out in his sweat and slick.

“Fine. You better bloody- fuckme- cum for me ‘en.” The Alpha growled as he sped up his moves and angled his dick just right. It wasn't hard for him, it already hit everything that brought his lover pleasure. Hell, half of it would do. His chest heaved for breath but he kept rolling, his palms dropping to finally grope Colson's thighs. He couldn't stop himself anymore. He knew he was leaving marks and he swore mentally to kiss them better later but his inner monster loved the idea of marking up his mate's beautiful inked skin. He felt the squeeze of the omega's pussy get tighter, that telltale clenching that promised he was about to gush. He didn't move an inch or change a thing, he knew damn well better than that by now.

“Al- Alphaaa!” Col’s voice went high pitched as that coil in his belly snapped and he felt himself shatter. Slick painted his thighs and Dom's as his cock jerked pearly white on the dark marble. His palms slapped down again, he didn't know what the fuck to do with his hands. His body felt alive like nothing else could make him feel but he wouldn't be satisfied until Dom- “Fuck!”

Kells cried out as the killer pulled his dick free and his hands made quick work of turning him around. Once they were face to face the Alpha started pushing him to his knees before stroking himself fast and hard. It took the older man a moment to catch up, his body was still wracked with pleasure. When he finally realized what his Alpha was demanding of him his jaw went slack from surprise. Of course the boy took that as permission and he supposed it was. He wouldn't deny his fiancé, not when he'd just cum like that.

Dom’s cockhead barely fit inside his lover's mouth, he was almost too wide for Kells to blow him and he normally wouldn't ask. He had to spill in some part of Colson and while he'd prefer knotting his cunt, his lips would have to do. He couldn't stop himself long enough to make their way to bed. The sight of Col's lips straining to stretch around his dick had him trembling and he fought himself not to thrust. One hand made a fist around his knot and the other stroked himself off. The squeeze wasn't perfect but it was enough. His mate was always perfect even if his instincts were raging for him to breed.

Colson felt even more a sex doll on his knees in the middle of his kitchen with his mouth stuffed full of his lover's cock. He suckled as best he could and stared up at the man he knew he'd be fucking again before long. Would they make it back to bed for the next round? The first spurt of cum painted his tongue and tickled the back of his throat. He couldn't help but moan at the taste and he saw what the vibrations did to his Alpha. Dom's red gaze never left his as he jacked himself off inside his omega's waiting mouth. Their taste were combined on the soft skin of his shaft and he tried to lick it clean but he was just drooling a mess. He was quickly distracted by the look of rapture on the killer's face as his orgasm hit in earnest.

Dom normally went quiet in his pleasure but he was sure he was growling through it now. He stripped himself rough and watched his lover try to swallow every drop that emptied down his throat. His knees felt weak but he held himself up and with their eyes still locked he knew something. He wouldn't be able to wait long before dragging his mate somewhere they could join the right way. He needed more. He needed everything.

Colson choked when his partner spilled too fast but he tried to catch as much as he could. It felt like too much of a waste to let it land anywhere else, his hormones were screaming that it should all be buried in his womb. He was sure he looked like a mess, he could feel his eyes and sinuses burn but his fiancé watched him as if he was the most beautiful thing and it made him wet all over again. Maybe he was still cumming too, he honestly wasn't sure.

“Fuck ‘is.” Dom huffed before he gently pushed Col off his cock and he pulled his shorts back up to tuck himself away.

“What? What's wrong?” Kells mumbled, his lips felt numb as hell and his emotions too sensitive.

“Nuffin. You perfect. Too fucking perfect.” Dominic grumbled as if he were annoyed by the fact. He just pulled his partner up and got him covered too. The moment he was presentable enough the Alpha pulled him up and into his arms. “We going to bed. You need me in ya guts but not like tha'.”

“I… need you?” He whimpered back. He wasn't doubting but it felt an odd way to phrase it since he wasn't the one in his cycle. He assumed it was just his inner beast needing to be in control and prideful.

“Don't yas?” Dom stopped walking and looked down at him. For once he didn't look scared or shaken, just playful and sure of himself. It made Col’s pussy tingle and his heart flutter.

“More than anything. Breed me?” The plea made Dom crave him too much and instead of carrying him off he leaned down and pressed their lips together. These weren't come down kisses, they were raw and desperate, wet and messy. Their teeth clinked and their tongues twined, their spit mingling between them until they both tasted like their sex. Kells fed him their combined flavor and he savored every bit. The omega groaned when he felt himself pressed against a wall and somehow Dom managed to turn him in his hold until he could wrap his legs around the Alpha's waist and his arms around his neck. “Breed me?” He begged again.

They fell against every surface possible until they reached their bedroom door and fell through it until eventually Colson found himself sitting on top of his dresser. Dom was wedged so tight between his thighs that the killer could barely get a hand between them but once he did he ripped the fabric of Col’s sweatpants. He pushed his own shorts down only enough to free his cock before he was easing himself back inside where he belonged. Their moans echoed together and their lips tried to stay locked, mostly they just panted each other's air and clung together.

They didn't thrust, they couldn't handle being that far apart. Dom just kept his dick deep and grinded. Their touches wandered the drenched skin of the other as they writhed out their rapture again. It took no time at all for his knot to pop, it had barely had time to go down. Nails clawed at pale skin when Col hit that peak and pulled Dom over that edge with him. The omega pushed against the furniture and knocked his mate off kilter until the psycho stumbled back and fell against the mattress. Their bodies kept rocking until every drop could be spilled, their bodies soaked and shaking.

“Better?” Kells teased, though his voice was barely above a breath.

“Perfect.” Dom sighed happily and spent. He was sure it wasn't over yet but at least the need was quenched for the moment. “I love you.” He tried to fix the roughness he'd shown with gentle words and a soft kiss but he knew his lover found him just as sweet no matter what he did.

“I know. I love you too, you corny bitch.” He grinned and Dom smiled back. He wasn't sure if they were done with the other's cycle but it was the quiet moments they shared that made their bond even stronger. He just hoped they had enough time between rounds now to fit in time for him to feed their son.

“You was so fucking sexy talking out ya plan and being a good mum. I fink a night out at the club would be good. Love to see ya dance for me.” Dom purred, gently caressing his partner's cheek with his knuckles.

“Woah there cowboy, I don't fucking dance and you're not allowed to watch the girls either.”

“I don't want ‘em girls. Jus' you.”

“Fine, but if we're making a show of my strength and the omega's he fucking with, maybe you should be the one dancing for me.” The boss teased back before sighing. “It's gonna be fucking weird leaving the apartment but I think it's the best we got right now. Either he'll be scared off or he'll be dumb enough to make a damn move and then we can off his ass in self defense. Maybe it'll be nice to get out and feel like myself again but we need to be careful with Blain. I'm worried he still loves this bastard.”

“We'll figure it out. Ain't like we can go out yet anyways.” The killer hummed, pulling his mate in for another kiss. They would deal with the trouble when they had to, for now they were too wrapped up in each other and part of him, as exhausted as he was already, never wanted his rut to end. It was the first one he actually found himself enjoying any part of.

Author's Note/Tags: @iamnotanearthlingmotherfucker @hollywoodxwhore @jaxbreaker @fenoy7 @cole-way-iero28 if anyone wants tagged let me know 💛

They can never stay apart too long but this one might be the record 🤭 I don't think Dom is the only one in his cycle but I suppose we'll see. Their plan might be interesting but let's hope James isn't listening and will hopefully be willing to back down. If only for Blain. I just feel bad for whoever has to clean the kitchen 😂 I hope you're still enjoying their story, the plot will return soon ❤️‍🔥🖤

[ewwwabug]

So, we know Ethan can't leave the Rival Biker Boys because he knows too much, but what would happen if someone tried to leave the Loveless Biker Boys? Could someone ever leave the LBB?

I never thought about whether the loveless ones could leave their gang… probably they didn't think about it either except Jatay... but he doesn't need to leave he already was in a kind of friendship with Willam and Neon and they could "cooperate" by telling each other information about other bikers from their gangs. Jeff takes the opposite gang too seriously, he hates any bikers from this and other gangs, he even has a negative attitude towards Ethan and does not trust him, despite the fact that he actually saved Varai's life to some extent

Dice could most likely kick someone out of the gang himself if he wanted to and if he finds out that someone is cooperating with rivals. he won't do that to Jatay because he doesn't know about his friendship with Will and Neon.

in any case, their gang will not live long, it will fall apart because of Dice himself and his strong changes in character (when Dice becomes "pink")

but if you just tell him "I want to leave" you can't. just like that, no one will let you go lol. you have to try hard to get out of the gang. unless you run away from them yourself (what happened to Ethan in his gang)

Varai has told Dice many times that he wants to leave, but he will have nowhere to stay and live. the gang literally gives him some conditions for life, even if not the most favorable. will you leave when you don't have a home? I don't think so

either stay or run away from them. Dice does not promise that he will spare if he sees a fugitive

sorry i dunno how to end this post heres funny doodl TRANSLATION: d- gimme the dose i have fucking withdrawal; y- fuck off

[elithemiar-blog]

KimChay reconciliation and a bit of Porsche & Chay

Let me know what ya think. First time writing for this fandom, Kim may be a bit OOC, but I tried.

--

The garden had darken under the fall of the sun, stars climbing over the horizon as the moon stays hidden. The gorgeous bright almost neon colors in a sea of pastel that is normally seen at all times in this new life of violence and retribution, revenge and agony, of the mystery if a puzzle will finally provide the details hidden in the message when the puzzle will be solved.

Only to find that the puzzle solved is only a piece of a much larger scale.

The green foliage of the shrubs that surround the compound is a vivid reminder that even though the ones he loves are alive doesn't mean that they are safe. Drops, much like his own tears at one time, fall from the leaves and absorb into the soil to fuel growth, and even help the seedlings that have yet to sprout.

He can't help but think of himself, falling for so long and hard after a brief time of warmth in a struggle of fending off the cold, and seeing the small things to get through until the next day.

Now, even the white posts that hold the small gazebo, he can only see as gray.

And the ceiling that he would normally see as maybe a dark brown, is as black as the sky is right now.

His head hangs back, neck burning at the angle as he tries to reach the railing to rest on but unable to, instead he feels chill of water droplets hitting his forehead.

Flinching at first, as the uncomfortable feeling of dry to wet, of warm to cold shocks his skin, he calms, the different spectrums becoming soothing.

"If you want to get wet, I'll sneak you over to the pool."

His eyes open to see the border between the sky and the wood of the shelter ceiling, not remembering when he shut them in the first place. Raising his head until meeting the almost guilt wrecked gaze of his brother, but he doesn't speak, just turns his head back down, hands already twisting in his lap and brushing his own calluses on his finger tips.

Rough but gentle hands brushing over his shoulders, skin barely touching skin that sent goosebumps down his arms and ricocheting back into his heart that gave him the courage to speak up, and release the bound feelings inside.

"Chay."

His brother calls again, and still doesn't answer. He shifts until is back is against one of the corners, but his front still staying facing the entrance. Something that he has felt the need to do as of recent, startled several times already with the guards coming up behind him. He feels safer seeing the way in, and exactly who is standing there.

He tucks is legs up on the bench, one leg bending to lean against the railing while the other stays tucked under, hands gripping that leg in an act of self comfort.

"Chay."

He swallows, knowing that this is a conversation has to happen, no matter how much he wants to avoid the nerves, "What?" Where is his courage to battle through those nerves like last time.

Porsche sits next to him, and with his brother being for more proficient at keeping them safe he turns his gaze to his hands, feeling the weird soft material that the oldest brother of the mafia sons had procured for him.

He heard his brother sigh, and the near choking feeling climbs and builds in his throat, but he's so tired of crying, of seeming weak. Another hand hovers over his, then pulls away.

"I know we haven't talked in a while, with everything going on, I just thought that you need time to…let everything settle."

He nods, that was one way of putting it.

"You've changed, Chay. These spontaneous decisions aren't you."

"And what if they are?" he challenges back, softly, barely a whisper between them.

A small smile appears unbidden on his brother's face, "Because I know you. I've seen you angry, happy, sad, nervous, and even petty. I've practically raised you, but you're acting like -- " he sucked in a breath, "Who hurt you, Chay?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes, tell me their name and I'll go take care of them."

He could, but there was only two, and for once he's tired of holding back the hurt. "You can't take care of yourself."

Porsche flinches back.

"I understand why, I really do, but you couldn't tell me the truth? At least hinted that what you were involved with wasn't legal?" he quickly wipes away the single tear that had escaped, sniffling.

"I didn't think you'd approved."

"Obviously, I didn't matter -- " snapping his mouth shut, the frustration voicing his darker thoughts.

Porsche's voice pitched as he spoke, "You are the reason I took this, our money problems are no more and even if I declined on my death bed, I'm pretty sure we would've been here anyway."

He chokes out a laugh, barely making it past the lump in his throat that still remains there.

Porsche observes him for a moment before nodding along, though concern still evident. "At least you're feeling something."

The corner of his lips tucked up slightly, at least one of them can still see the bright side.

"Who else?"

If there is one thing Chay knows of himself, he can't lie, not to Porsche, no matter how much he really wants to. "Nothing worth your time."

"You're worth everything." he replies. "When everything started to go down before the coup, I thought of taking you and running, escaping while there was still a chance. Then just like that, answers started come, secrets being revealed, and the amount of a hassle there had been of someone trying to keep everything hidden."

"I don't think Kinn," and Kim, he wants to believe, "wouldn't try to follow if we tried."

"And about a dozen bodyguards." Porsche agreed. "I just want you safe, that's all."

He rolls his eyes, "I know."

Porsche opens his arms, inviting the younger for a hug, and this time Chay doesn't deny the embrace hiding his face into his brother's shoulder. "I haven't forgotten that you hadn't revealed a name, but…I'll wait until you're ready."

Nodding back, and seeing the garden around them makes him feel a little lighter.

"Come back to the party when you're ready. I'll keep them distracted for as long as I can."

With one final look, Chay turned his back, refusing to witness Porsche leaving.

His heart felt a little lighter, being able to get through that without the yelling he fearfully expected, for a moment thinking that his brother found out about his outings, and how he'd been followed home, and by who.

The feeling of being watched, eyes penetrating into his back, and he could only think of one single person who would genuinely be watching over him, and that person just left. His heart thumps thinking that it could be the other person, the same person that keeps an eye on him for some reason other than a duty.

"I don't know why you continue to follow me when you've never cared!" he shouts, the accusation on his tongue tingling, taking a breath to release another statement.

"I never said I didn't care." a mellow-toned voice whispers.

Chay whips around, "Then what was with the apology?" the anger that had surfaced immediately dropped back down at seeing the cold, frigid eyes that gazed back. "Kim?"

"Chay, I -- " his gaze turned away, jaw clenching, his hands though hidden in the pockets of that leather jacket, could still be seen forming into fists. He leaned back on his heel, already twisting to walk away.

"Why should I stay, when you won't?"

Kim is forced to pause at that question, his body a quarter of the way twisted back to exit the structure, slowly he met Chay's gaze over his shoulder. "Would you have? If you knew?"

"I don't know." incredulous at the question, but hopeful, "Not like you gave me a choice!" He suddenly stood, finding more strength than he had all week, and nearly stood toe to toe in front of Kim. "I can see why you wouldn't answer any question in the vicinity of this place, from what very little I could figure out, but why hurt me?"

Kim didn't move, just stated straight into the doe-eyes that had haunted him, but at the very least no tears were shedding.

"Did you enjoy playing me like a fiddle? Enjoy that I had been so easy to get information out of? Enjoy--"

"Enjoy our time as if breathing sunlight?"

Chay blinked, "Then why hurt me?"

"Safer --"

"For who?!" he snapped, those frustrated tears threatening to re-run their course down his cheeks.

Kim barely stopped himself from reaching out, shifting so minutely that no-one could've noticed.

"For me? Or for yourself?"

Frustration and anxiety with a brush of hope shifted through Kim's veins, and he couldn't stop his next words, "I can't let my own father know of any weaknesses!"

The sheer vulnerability that reflected in his eyes, of regret, fear, and so much more made Chay's own emotions freeze, his hands rose scrubbing over his eyes, and he turned away, moving back toward the bench he'd been on to curl up as if he's a defenseless child.

Kim reached out, hand missing the fabric of his shirt to hold him there. Tamping down the panic that pierced his heart, as he witnesses Chay turn his back on him, to look out into the garden. A part of him knows that he should leave, and he realized that he's a coward, the beauty in front of him having so much courage for the both of them.

And maybe it could be enough.

Chay lets the tears roll into his sleeve, hearing the footsteps, so light as he's sure Kim is walking away.

"For both of us."

Stunned, the younger turns to give him his full attention, but stays silent.

"If my father knew about our connection he'd use that to tie me into this family again, he'd put your life in danger to get me to cooperate." He sits, turning his head to the garden, being unable to meet the inquisitive gaze just yet. "I knew early on that you didn't know anything, and even after trying to cut contact, you persisted."

"Alright, so attracted to stubbornness?"

"No." Kim glances back to see Chay, insecurities showing through as the younger's shoulders dropped. Panic of a different kind squeezed his heart as he struggled to say something. Than an idea came through the fog, "What do you see in the garden?"

Chay shrugs, "Bushes, foliage, might be some rose bushes." he sees colors, various ones, "What's that got to do with anything?"

"Humor me. What did you think initially?"

"It's calm, quiet, even without the sunlight or the moon, it's beautiful."

Kim, missed the exaggerated hand movements, that showed there was nothing that could be hurt him in those hands. "I see where cameras can be placed, I see places to hide, I see an open area with very few places to use as a barrier in case of another fight. I see things that could be used as a weapon, and even though we are a bit further from the main building, there are cameras that point in this direction."

"I -- "

"This is my world."

"Okay, I can see your point." he nodded, once, "How would keeping me in the dark protect me, if I don't know what I'm being protected from? If I'm in danger, I have a right to know that, so I can protect myself, so I know what to look for."

"I was hoping Porsche would take you and run." he mutters out, "I didn't know about your mother."

"But you knew something." Chay shakes his head, getting his thoughts back on the reason they're here, "What do you want?"

"Whatever you'll give me." his answer rushes out as he exhales.

Chay wants to go back to whatever they had on the base of lies, to go back to that comfort, but he knows that he needs to know Kim without the pretentions of an investigation. To know all sides of him, even the ones he tries to keep hidden. Memories flashed back to Hum's Bar floor, he's not exactly happy about the killing, but at the same time he's grateful, satisfied in a weird way of Kim's ability to protect him.

Kim, will deny to anyone else that he did not perk up at watching Chay unblock his number, a thrumming in his veins that gives in the urge to be able to reach him again.

"I'll let you know."

[imagine-knb]

Hiiii! I’m the anon that requested the skin allergy reactions. I was wondering if I could add a few more characters? The way you did them all the first time was very endearing 💕

If you would for Kasamatsu, Mayuzumi, Himuro, Hyuga, Takao, Hanamiya, Kotaro, Nash, and Riko (if you can 😅)

I think the post you're talking about is this one, right anon? If not, let me know which one you are actually talking about and I will rewrite this ask! Admin Neon

Hyuuga: There's a moment where he's on court and he doesn't seem to believe what he's seeing. Is your skin going a bit redder than normal? Removing his glasses, he tries to wipe away whatever might be on the lenses before he takes a better look at you, but the splotchy complexion is still there on your skin.

"Hey," he calls out to you, beckoning you toward him with a wave of his hand. When you get closer and he sees the hives beginning to spread across your arms and legs, his frown deepens and he takes on a more scolding tone. "You don't have to push yourself so hard. Go take a breather on the bench and I'll join you in a second."

Hyuuga gently shoves you in the direction of the sidelines, giving you no room to argue. While you go sit, he goes to find a cool water bottle, thinking that maybe dowsing you in something cold could help sooth your aching skin.

Riko: The shrill sound of her whistle cuts through the air and everyone on the court comes to a complete standstill, knowing that meant she wanted everyone to stop. The second the sound of squeaking sneakers cease, Riko is stomping on court in your direction, her eyes burning you with a glare.

"I told you to tell me when you start getting tired! Did you think I wouldn't notice?!" Her tone may sound angry, but you can see the worried furrow of her brows and distressed teardrops prickling at her eyes.

Riko doesn't give you time to respond as she drags you off the court herself, taking you to where she usually stood on the sidelines. The second you two pass over the court lines, she blows that shrill whistle once more and practice starts right back up without you. You're benched until further notice.

Kasamatsu: "Hey, you need to go take a break." Kasamatsu's voice sounds flat and even as he says this to you, loud enough for it to sound like a command, but quiet enough that the rest of the team can't hear.

While you go to follow his orders, he barks out a few more toward the remaining people on court before following after you. It was a captain's job to make sure his team stayed healthy, after all. And most importantly, he felt it was his job to make sure you stayed healthy too.

He's not much of a fusser, so the most he does is hand you a water bottle and keep an eye on your out of his peripherals. But if you so much as try to step back onto court before your allergies have calmed down, he will attempt to kick you right back onto the benches. Literally.

Takao: You're jogging around on court when Takao suddenly comes up beside you and throws an arm around your shoulder. At first, you think it's just supposed to be a friendly gesture, but he won't let go. Soon, he starts steering you away from the action and toward the bleachers.

"You know, I notice everything on court, right?" he asks, and there's a slight laugh at the end of his sentence. "Like you trying to pull your sleeves down to hide your allergies?"

There's a grin on his face that tells you you're caught. He won't let you get back to the game, even if you had wanted to. Instead, Takao makes sure to sit with you on the sidelines, handing you cold bottle of water after cold bottle of water, until the redness of your skin has subsided.

Himuro: He had been a little too into the game to be paying much attention to you, so by the time Himuro notices that you're struggling, you're already a bit out of breath and itchy. You were already standing on the sidelines on your own when he jogs up to you, expression downturned with worry.

"Allergies?" he asks, reaching a cold hand out to press against your burning cheek. "You should have said something sooner. We could have stopped, I could have helped."

Both you and Himuro know that there actually wasn't much he could do once your allergies flared up however. He tries not to let the guilt eat at him as he stands with you, waiting for your symptoms to calm down. He might even insist that the two of you are done for the day, even if he feels like he could still play for hours more.

Hayama: He's so into the game that somebody else actually has to stop him and point out that you've retired to the bleachers, breathing hard and scratching. Hayama instantly runs off to your side, feeling guilty for not noticing sooner. When you tell him you hadn't wanted to spoil his fun by interrupting, he seems to pout with both annoyance and worry.

"I'd rather you bother me than be sitting here alone!" Then, thinking about his words, he changes his wording. "No, it's not bothering me! I just want to make sure you're okay."

Despite Hayama saying he wants to sit with you until you get better, you can still see his leg bouncing as if he were itching himself to get back onto court. It really is a show of genuine caring from him that he would hold back to really ensure you were safe and healthy.

Mayuzumi: You were already sitting on the sidelines yourself, rubbing at your itching skin, when Mayuzumi came up and sat down on the bleachers with you. You gave him a questioning look before looking back out toward the courts where all the other players were still deep in practice.

"They won't notice me missing for a few minutes," he explained quietly. "And if they do, screw them. I'm taking care of you first before I head back out there."

He's handing you a towel dowsed in cold water, hoping it would be enough to soon your skin. There's a tense moment where someone does notice him missing, but you merely see Mayuzumi give a soft smirk in the team's direction before he looks back over to you.

Hanamiya: "Hey." That's the only warning you get as you look up just in time for Hanamiya to throw a basketball in your direction. It catches you off guard and you miss catching it, the ball hitting you in the side before rolling away. The bump against you has your skin burning and you palm at it to try relieve the itch.

You can hear Hanamiya click his tongue in annoyance as he picks up the basketball. "Go take a break if you need one," he says. His tone sounds harsh, but you know if it had been anyone else, he would have told them to simply suck it up.

Hanamiya joins you on the sidelines a few minutes later and, though he doesn't say much — in fact, he doesn't seem to look at you at all — he always makes sure there's a cold bottle of water nearby at all times.

Nash: You had paused in the middle of a run to scratch at your arm, the sensation had been too strong to ignore. It didn't go unnoticed by anyone on court however and you soon found yourself being directed over to the sidelines.

"You're not gunna be of any use during this practice if you're pausing every ten steps to scratch." Despite the harshness of the words, the fact that Nash wasn't just barking them out proved that he had more care for your wellbeing than initially thought. "Just sit by and relax for a minute, will ya?"

He's not one for babysitting, so he doesn't stick around to actually make sure your allergies go away, but ever so often as he plays you can see his gaze travel back over toward you, always making sure you weren't getting worse at least.

[rogueshadeaux]

Chapter Thirty-Seven — Consequences

We were there for what felt like forever. Long enough for Archie to try and take a drink of my hot chocolate, and Aunt Sia to grab both rats and return them to their cage in the living room. Long enough for Zeke to become restless and start pacing the five steps it took to span the entirety of the kitchen. Long enough for my hands to start shaking as I thought about everything.

9k words | 45min - 1 hour reading time | TRIGGER WARNINGS: Death mention, experimentation mention, illness, mass casualty, rats (?), fighting, threats, bullying.

⚠️AUTHOR'S NOTE: I cannot take credit for all of this chapter. My lovely @lobotomizedlemon wrote the beautiful speech in the end, like they knew what Jean needed to hear. Everyone needs an Aunt Sia in their life. Things move on from lore-heavy here, but Chi—thank you for trusting me with Sia. Thank you for letting me use her for something so deeply important to Erosion, and letting me hand her to Jean. She's exactly what was needed. I can't imagine this tale without her now.

Aunt Sia stood at the other end of the room, arms crossed, that cupboard full of mugs still hanging open. Brent and I were frozen mid-signage, both hands at the ready to argue further and yet absolutely no wind in our sails—mine especially. What did she mean she knew sign language? How long had she known that?!

Her arms stayed crossed as she stared at us like she caught us red-handed, Dad looking between her and us before asking, “What’s going on?”

Aunt Sia kept her gaze on us, unblinking even as I tried to shrink under her stare. “Brent,” she started, “What are you two talking about?”

Of course she’d go for Brent first. Take the weakest in the pack by the jugular, right? The man couldn’t lie, evident as Brent stumbled on his words for a moment before coming up with the best deflection ever:

“What do you mean?”

Dad suddenly became way more interested as Brent’s cheeks went red, his own eyebrows furrowed as he looked between the two of us. “Kids. What’s going on?”

Brent suddenly became very interested in the wood grain as my voice caught in my throat, eyes flitting between everyone as they all turned their attention towards me. God, why here? Why now? This was supposed to stay between me and Brent! I didn’t wanna explain everything to everyone. 

I took too long to respond. That’s what was the problem. I faltered, unable to find my voice, and prompted Aunt Sia to ask more pointedly, “What did Brent mean, ‘Tell Dad about Mom?’” she asked me directly. 

That got Dad going; his eyebrows shot up from their furrowed position, now zeroed in on me and cocking his head slightly, like a cat trying to get a reading on how far I was before it pounced. “Jean,” he said, warned, and I knew he expected nothing but the truth after saying my name. 

I swallowed thickly, trying to convince myself not to evaporate on the spot and run away while they all were confused. “I, uhm…” I drew off, voice crackling slightly. Jerry came over towards me and I grabbed the rat and held him close, using the little guy as a reason to not look up and meet anyone’s eyes. “When…before I woke up in the hospital, I…there was this thing wi-with Mom...”

And I was forced to recount it all to an audience. 

I couldn’t look up as I described it all; the long field of barley, the forest, the mines. How I followed wisps of neon thinking I was trying to find Dad. How I knew none of it made sense, but it wasn’t like a dream—I couldn’t escape no matter how hard I tried. The lack of a sun. My voice faltered when I came to the grove and I froze for so long that Jerry began biting holes in my jacket’s sleeve before I spoke of Mom. 

I could see Dad’s hand clench into a fist on the tabletop the moment I did. 

That was the reason I didn’t bring it up to him in the first place; not only did I not wanna sound like I was insane, but I wanted to keep from bringing up those memories that would turn his face ashen with pain. I couldn’t look at him as I described her. How we hugged, how she felt so real. If I did, I was sure we’d both have the same pained expression on our faces. 

When I ended my story with her using beams of neon to essentially throw me back into the real world, the room stayed tersely quiet for a moment. I hazarded a glance up; Dr. Sims was writing something down furiously on the back of one of Aunt Sia’s COLE papers, Aunt Sia was watching him as he wrote. Zeke stayed positioned by the wall, head down, not surprised but still avoiding my gaze, and Dad—

He was pissed. “And why didn’t you tell me this?” he demanded. “I thought we said no more keeping things from each other!”

“I know—” I started to defend, voice weak against his anger. That weak squeak that would have put Jerry’s noises to shame died off, though, when someone interrupted. 

“It’s my fault.”

Dad turned in his chair so he could glare at Zeke instead. “What?”

“I told Jean not to worry about the whole…deal so much,” Zeke continued, meeting Dad’s eyes without a flinch. Was he…covering for me? “When she came to me to ask if the same thing had happened to Cole and told me a bit about the…vision, I told her not to worry about it if it was the only time it’s happened. That Cole would get them if he touched tar too, and with her getting it in her bloodstream, well—’course she was in for a bad time.”

Dad seemed to have trouble processing this. “She told—” he spun his head around to look at me. “You told Zeke? But not me?”

“I didn’t want to upset you—” I started, Dad cutting me off. 

“Well, you didn’t do well, Regina.” he snapped. I flinched at how he growled my name and looked back down, throat tight. Of course he was mad! We promised each other we’d be truthful and honest and I lied to him within the same sentence. 

God, I messed up. Again. 

“You should have told us right away,” Dr. Sims chastised—not as passionately as Dad, but still disappointed. I could hear him turn slightly and he added, “You too, Zeke. If I’m going to make sure Jean’s okay, I need to know everything.”

I could hear Dad sigh hard, and my eyes followed his hands as they came up from the table and pressed against his eyes. “Okay, so what could this mean?” Dad demanded after a moment, blinking hard as he looked at Dr. Sims. “If Jean was seeing Abbs, could that have been a hallucination?”

“I’m not sure,” Dr. Sims muttered, looking down at the notes on his paper. “If Jean and Cole had hallucinations when interacting with the tar, I’d simply chalk it up to that and move on. But with the Vermaak’s history too, I’m not…not sure what to make of it.”  

“She’s not a forced conduit,” Aunt Sia interjected, finishing with the mugs she was messing with. She walked over, moving to lean between Dad and Dr. Sims and hand Brent and I cups of hot chocolate. It was funny—you could always find her in the kitchen when she was trying to think through something. A part of me was sure that’s why I loved sugary things so much. “The Vermaak went insane because their power was eating their neuroelectricity.”

“Yeah, but if she was injected with tar, could that have done something like the CRB solution the First Sons were using on the Vermaak?” Dad asked. 

“Retroviral integrase?” Dr. Sims asked before shaking his head. “No, can’t be. That would only work if she wasn’t activated.” 

Dad groaned slightly, the noise interrupted as Aunt Sia asked, “What about the power transfer device Cole MacGrath used? How was that different from the Vermaak?” 

“I couldn’t recover the files fully on that,” Dr. Sims admitted, clicking away, “But from what I can guess, the original power transfer device was used on a one-on-one basis, with a core of raythium to fuse properties of the donor’s protein to the other Conduit. It looks like some sort of process involving mutagenesis and particle acceleration? I can’t really make sense of it. Basically the original device damaged the part of the DNA that hosted the Conduit gene and then rewrote it with the second power integrated, so those abilities were a part of their normal powers.” He turned to look at Aunt Sia fully. “It doesn't use the same system the Vermaak’s does, and the DUP used CRISPR and gene editing. They’re all different.”

Aunt Sia crossed her arms, the hand of one going to town on the forearm of another, scratching away. “So there’s no correlation,” she hummed, glaring at the computer screens like it was their fault. “What about the DUP?” She asked. “Don’t you have files on their experimentation?”

Dr. Sims shook his head. “I have one, that only talks about injuries, heavily redacted with no info about what sort of experiments they were performing.”

Aunt Sia shook her head, Dad’s hand reaching out to stop her stretching and holding the hand in place. “Okay, w–what about tar?” He asked. “Or that woman that could use tar, what was her name—”

“Sasha,” Zeke cut in. 

The moment Zeke spoke, Dad’s jaw tensed, and he looked like he was 30 seconds away from picking up the man and throwing him out of the front door himself. He glanced at me with that same anger, and I just knew it was because I told Zeke about the hallucination but not him. “Right.” Dad said flatly. “Sasha.”

Dr. Sims got to searching, declaring—much to Dad’s absolute frustration—that there was nothing on tar. “But Sasha is mentioned in Wolfe’s notebook,” he hummed, scrolling through scans of the journal’s pages. 

“What for?” Aunt Sia asked, looking over Dr. Sims’ shoulder. 

“Apparently she was on Wolfe’s team when they were testing on Warner,” he hummed, scrolling just a tad to pull up more text. “She’s the one that determined all the properties of the…Warner’s Threshold…”

“That’s the evolution-to-mutation thing, right?” Brent asked. 

Aunt Sia nodded. “Absorbing RFE through a blast core, yeah.”

The way Dr. Sims drew off peeked Dad’s interest. “What’s up?” He asked, apprehensive. “Is…could the RFE be doing this to Jean?”

Dr. Sims didn’t answer immediately; whatever he was reading grabbed Aunt Sia’s interest, her hand pulling away from Dad’s hold to settle on Dr. Sims’ shoulder, squeezing once to get the man to look at her. They shared one of those looks, one of the ones Dad would reserve for talks within earshot of us when he felt there was some information that someone either didn’t know, or didn’t need to. 

But it didn’t stop Dr. Sims from speaking. “No, no, just…Can I ask you something?” He gave Dad his full attention, who just seemed absolutely confused on why his friends suddenly looked worried. “How many Core Relays do you think you’ve absorbed over the years?”

Dad blinked before chuckling, the sound a bit incredulous. “I don’t know? It’s been a while, Eugene.” After a moment, though—when Dr. Sims’ stare didn’t let up, he asked, “Wh–why does it matter?”

“I’ll spare you the math,” Dr. Sims said, turning back to the computer to begin to read from yet another section of the journal. “‘Absorbing the raw power from Blast Cores, a conduit's ability to harness energy reaches a precarious tipping point after accumulating between seven to nine cores. Beyond this threshold, the conduit's physiology undergoes a tumultuous shift. Initially marked by heightened abilities, this excessive energy absorption eventually sparks deleterious manifestations.’”

“Cole had to absorb seven to use the RFI,” Zeke threw in. 

My brow furrowed as I silently counted something off in my head, piecing thoughts together bit by bit. Seven to nine cores. Dad was scared the one he used on us was enough to mess me up, but he’d had far more than one, right? 

I glanced at Brent, who seemed to be coming to the same conclusion I did; Dad’s used way, way more than seven—probably just in this year alone.

“You’ve…it’s definitely more than nine, isn’t it Del?” Dr. Sims asked. “I gave you eight just for the twins and that’s not counting the five we found in Spokane after you were cornered by the Akurans, when you had Jean’s power.”

“You used six of those generator things at the construction site.” Brent realized, “When you got mine.”

“That’s eleven alone,” I murmured. 

“How many do you think you’ve used overall?” Aunt Sia interrupted. “If you had to guess, because this…it’s concerning, Delsin.”

“Didn’t I give you three or four when you were fighting Augustine in Seattle?” Dr. Sims added, looking off to the side as he tried to recount a memory I’m sure they all wanted to forget.

Dad nodded absentmindedly. “Yeah there…there were four when that happened. I think Abbs and I found four after I got her power too,” Hit brows knit so close that the lines on his forehead looked like waves. “And I know there were a lot after I got Hank’s power. Yours too.” Dad leaned back in the chair, eyes turning to look at the popcorn ceiling. “If I had to say, I think…I think I’m close to twenty? Maybe even over it.”

Everyone fell silent, looking between each other with the same tense silence like we all expected Dad to explode right in front of us or something. Even the warmth of the mug of hot chocolate wasn’t enough to warm my hands as I asked, “If you’ve absorbed…that many, then why aren’t you…”

Dead? A walking corpse? Some sort of monster? I wasn’t even sure what to say.

Dad’s head came down when I asked my question, eyes falling to the polaroid of Warner on the table. He picked it up tentatively, bringing it closer and looking at it with a mix of intrigue and pity. “I don’t know,” he said softly. “Maybe Wolfe was wrong. Or maybe there’s something different with the Ray Sphere and that’s why Warner looks like…that.” He set the polaroid face down, looking back at Dr. Sims. “Maybe the Core Relays are different. They aren’t exactly exploding bombs.”

“No, but they are miniature fission reactors,” Dr. Sims said, turning to his laptop to begin clicking away on it yet again, muttering to himself, “Fission, fission…” as he typed what I had to assume was that same word into the search database.

“Do we really need to worry about this right now?” Dad asked, exasperated. “I mean, we’ve always known I’ve been a bit weird when it came to Core Relays, really, it’s not—”

“We just wanna make sure there’s nothing wrong,” Aunt Sia cut Dad off, her other hand going to his shoulder. “There could be some sort of…radiation radius or something if you’ve absorbed that many Core Relays.” She smirked playfully, looking down at Dad. “Maybe you’re a biohazard.”

Dad rolled his eyes. “I’m being serious, Alessia. This is about Jean, not me—”

“It may have just became about Jean,” Dr. Sims interrupted. “Sasha LaRue was a part of the Ray Sphere project.”

Dad immediately snapped forward, leaning his elbows against the table like getting close to the computer was gonna help him read the words better. “I thought she was just some crazy lady in Empire City?” Aunt Sia asked, glancing back at Zeke. 

“We…she had ties in the First Sons, but Cole and I never figured out what sort.” Zeke said. “Just knew she and Kessler were a ‘late night booty call’ sorta couple.” 

I cringed. Oh god, I could have lived without that trivia fact. 

Dr. Sims stared at Zeke, processing that information for a moment before trying to etch-n-sketch the idea from his mind with a shake of his head, saying, “Anyways—yeah, she’s mentioned a few times in regards to the Ray Sphere. Turns out she was the lead engineer of the First Sons’ Empire City branch.”

“So she knew exactly how the Ray Sphere worked,” Dad hummed, glancing at Aunt Sia. “Probably knew all about Ray Field Energy too.”

Aunt Sia didn’t look convinced. “But…Ray Field Energy can’t be what’s making Jean sick…right?” She asked, unsure. “Every Conduit needs RFE. Could it be something genetic? Like an intolerance?”

Dad shook his head. “We checked already.”

Zeke clicked his tongue in thought. “Y’know, the gene ain’t the savior y’all make it out to be. People with the gene could still get the Plague.”

Dad rolled his eyes, not bothering to look at Zeke as he said, “Yeah, but people with the gene don’t just stop working.”

“They do if you mess with RFE. Why do you think most of ‘em died in 2011?” Zeke shot back. “We used the RFI.”

Dad chewed on the inside of his cheek as Zeke called, annoyance slowly dissipating as he thought through his logic. “Eugene,” he said, raising his head to look at the man. “See if you can pull up anything about Ray Field Energy being weird. Adverse reactions, whatever was wrong with Bertrand—the whole deal.”

“That’s not a lot to go by,” Dr. Sims muttered, bringing his hands to the keyboard anyways. 

“We need to know,” Dad said, glancing up at me.

We were there for what felt like forever. Long enough for Archie to try and take a drink of my hot chocolate, and Aunt Sia to grab both rats and return them to their cage in the living room. Long enough for Zeke to become restless and start pacing the five steps it took to span the entirety of the kitchen. Long enough for my hands to start shaking as I thought about everything. The hot chocolate was frothless and cold now, bringing nothing more than a chilly distaste to my mouth that could also be felt in the room. 

Eventually, Dr. Sims shook his head. “I’ve got nothing on RFE and Conduits,” he told Dad. “RFE and humans, sure, but not Conduits.”

Dad’s brow furrowed. “RFE and humans? Like the Plague?”

Dr. Sims shook his head. “No, that’s what’s weird—it’s about the Ray Sphere.”

Dr. Sims began scrolling back up as Zeke paused to listen, reminding him, “The Ray Sphere caused the Plague. ‘Course it’s mentioned.”

Dr. Sims, though, disagreed. “It’s talking about how they prevented the Plague.”

Everyone snapped to attention at that. 

“You can prevent the Plague?” Dad asked. A thousand emotions passed through his face—shock, confusion, doubt, anger. “So Kessler managed to fuck that up too? Great.”

Dad’s hand clenched until the knuckles of his fist turned stark white, barely acknowledging Aunt Sia’s reassuring hand on his shoulder. I couldn’t blame him for his anger; if I had found out that my parent’s deaths could have been prevented, but years after the fact?

I’d be fuming too. 

Dr. Sims, oblivious to the fact that Dad looked like he was a huff away from breathing fire, asked over his shoulder, “Hey, Zeke—the Ray Sphere only detonated once, right?”

Zeke, who was frozen dumbstruck in the middle of the kitchen, took a moment to nod. “Y-yeah, it only went off the one time.”

“And Cole was holding it?” Dr. Sims asked, the word holding stressed. 

Zeke blinked. “Yeah? At least I think so. I wasn’t there. He…he would talk about how it burned his hands when he was holding it, though.”

Aunt Sia, with one final squeeze on Dad’s shoulder before letting go, asking, “What did you find?”

“It’s—it’s sorta hard to understand,” Dr. Sims admitted, finally settling his scrolling to a segment of the journal, “But it reads like they had a lot of issues in the beginning of testing with illness, just like the Plague, but then figured out how to keep the fallout from its detonation from happening.”

The Plague was something I really didn’t understand. To be fair, I don’t think anyone really understood it fully; it ripped through victims way too fast for any solid science on it, and with it being completely eradicated from the world with the RFI, no one ever really tried replicating it. Most people didn’t even know how it happened—the Ray Sphere wasn’t public knowledge. Far as I knew, it was nothing more than an illness you’d occasionally see mocked up in conspiracy forums regarding chemical agents and aliens. 

What we did know about it was…weird. Contagious radiation poisoning. Contagious. No one really understood how that was even possible. 

Until now. 

Dr. Sims turned back towards his computer and began reading. “‘In the initial phases of our research, I harbored profound reservations regarding the implications of detonating the Ray Sphere—a device harnessing the raw power of nuclear fission. The prospect of manipulating such potent energy was both exhilarating and unnerving. I grappled with the uncertainty of its consequences, the unknown variables that could spiral out of control. It was already proving a terrible beast to control; those without the gene, when exposed to the energy output from the device, fell to an illness not unlike Acute Radiation Poisoning—only it battled with their neuroelectrical energy. Whatever it didn’t take to power the Ray Sphere, it sought to destroy. What was more alarming was how it seemed to spread to those outside of the vicinity of the detonation, as if the energy from the Ray Sphere jumped from person to person, seeking a genetically-positive person to attach to.’”

“Jeez,” Dad breathed when Dr. Sims paused. “So the fallout, what, seeks out the gene?”

“Seems like it,” Dr. Sims confirmed. I could see him highlight the section in the reflection of his glasses, and throw a copy of it into a note in the background, storing it away for himself later. This was probably a gold mine to him. He cleared his throat before continuing, “‘Despite my concerns, Kessler continuously reassured me, promising that as long as we found a suitable core, there would be no repercussions beyond the unfortunate souls sacrificed to the Ray Sphere for its initial phase. At first, I didn’t trust him. What if our actions unleashed catastrophic repercussions beyond our comprehension? But now, I see how wrong I was, and why Miss LaRue calls him her little oracle. After three failed attempts, Kessler insisted that I place someone with the gene directly beside the Ray Sphere, perhaps even holding it, for better results.

“‘Kessler was right. The Ray Sphere needs approximately eight hundred to a thousand microvolts from neuroelectrical energy to fully charge the Blast Core—about ten to twelve people. They all fall victim to sudden exposure to Ray Field Energy—including the genetic carrier in question. Who wouldn’t, when face to face with a miniature nuke with twice the concentrated energy? But where they fell, the carrier rose. Eleven test subjects turned to ash in an explosion greater than anything I’d seen before when activating the Ray Sphere, only for one to be birthed from the ashes. When the dust settled and we turned to our monitors for information on the fallout of the detonation, we found there was none. The scintillation counters were the only proof the Ray Sphere even detonated—well, that and the smell of burnt leather in the room when we deemed it safe to enter with hazmat. The test subject himself was in disarray and needed to be temporarily placed on a ventilator due to distress from direct exposure to radiation, but within the week, he was healed, no longer exhibiting symptoms of radiation poisoning and with the ability to manipulate flames. He had become a conduit for the raw, ionized energy, and came out of its blast anew, his proteins absorbing the radiation in full and preventing any fallout from occurring.’”

My mind was reeling. So the…the Conduit they used in their experiment basically sucked up all of the radiation? I glanced around the room to see Zeke’s back turned towards us all, nodding slowly. When we were out on the roof of that train car by his house, Zeke had said Cole went into a coma. “Took him a while to brush off what happened to him after the Blast,” he had said. 

Not because it was explosive, but because he was fighting radiation poisoning. 

“‘With no risk of radioactive fallout upon the use of the Ray Sphere, we’ve essentially secured funding from DARPA for any experimentation in the near future. As long as a gene carrier, a conduit for the Ray Field Energy, activates the Ray Sphere, the only damage to come to the world will be from the Conduit’s power as it becomes overloaded from so much RFE, and the poor souls that sacrifice themselves for the greater good.’” Dr. Sims finished before leaning back in his chair, closing out the translation pop-up. 

Dad looked furious. “So they knew.” He said. Not asked. “They knew it could go wrong, and they still set up everything to happen the way it did.”

“I don’t understand,” Aunt Sia murmured, moving to lean against the end of the table on my right. “Kessler didn’t care about the risk? Or did he want that to happen?”

Dr. Sims shook his head. “No. No, I don’t think Kessler would have wanted there to be a Plague. Wolfe said for the greater good. They were still working towards fighting the Beast and keeping humanity safe. Something happened.”

“Like what?” Dad demanded. “If the Ray Sphere detonated once, then how did it cause the Plague?”

Dr. Sims inhaled deeply, trying to brush off Dad’s anger. “There’s something here about proximity related to residual RFE post-activation,” he hummed, like it meant something. “They took everything into account.”

Wait—post what? I held up a hand half-heartedly like a student in class, not bothering to say anything until Aunt Sia hummed, “What is it, Jean?”

“Dr. Sims said post activation, right?” I said, looking between him and Dad. “And th–the notes said something about the Conduit’s power overloading. So did the Ray Sphere have to explode for the radiation to occur, or did it have to just be turned on?”

Dad and Dr. Sims stared at me for so long that I began to try to defend myself with, “Sorry, I don’t really get how this works—” before Dad held up a hand to silence me, staring at the wood grain as he worked something out. 

“It…It wouldn’t need to explode, would it?” He asked. “It’d just need to begin the fission process. That’d be enough.”

Dr. Sims slowly nodded, rubbing a hand against his chin in thought. “It would need to output that energy with or without the Conduit,” he hummed, “and Wolfe said something about the ‘overloading RFE’ and uh…an explosion bigger than what had happened before. That’s gotta mean there’s a version of the Ray Sphere being activated that doesn’t cause as big of a detonation.”

Dad nodded, his own more pronounced. “That means something could’ve happened when it was in someone else’s hands. Hey, Zeke, didn’t you say the Ray Sphere was taken by some gang back in—”

Dad faltered as he looked back to where Zeke had been standing only to see he was no longer there. Instead Zeke was by the sink, leaned over it like he was ill, gripping the edge of the counter with a grip usually saved for squeezing the life out of something. “Zeke?” Aunt Sia asked softly.

“A Conduit has to activate the Sphere?” Zeke asked, voice lower than I've ever heard it.

Dr. Sims glanced over at Dad, who looked just as bewildered. “I, uh...yes,” he confirmed hesitantly. “A Conduit has to be within…thirty-five centimeters of the Ray Sphere and holding it to act as a...well, a conduit for the RFE.“ He glanced back at the screen. ”Seems that's where Kessler got the name, in fact.”

Zeke's head shook as it fell, like he was refusing to believe what he was hearing. What was going on with him? He was acting like he was just diagnosed with the Plague himself. Brent looked over at me bewildered and all I could do was shrug.

Dad, though, didn't have as much tact. “What happened, Zeke?” he asked, eyes narrow as they bore through Zeke's back. “Do you know how the Plague started?”

Zeke breathed shakily, giving himself a few seconds to keep his head hung low as he collected himself. He reached up and pulled off his polarized glasses, running a hand across his face hard like he was trying to wipe away dirt. It's when he turned that I realized he was crying.

“I think I started it,” he whispered, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. “What did you just say?” Dad asked flatly, the hold on the back of his chair tightening.

Zeke kept his head low, eyes pointed at the ground but seeming to look far past it to some long-forgotten memory. “There was this...game of hot potato after the Blast as everyone fought to get ahold of the Ray Sphere. First John White pulled it from Cole's body after the Blast. Then the Dustmen got ahold'a it.”

“Dustmen?” I asked before I could stop myself. What kind of name was that?

“They were the old heir to the First Sons' gang.” Zeke informed me, only just glancing up. He saw how intensely everyone was looking at him, though, and his eyes fell once more. “He wanted the Ray Sphere back to eventually reclaim the throne from Kessler. He stuck it at the top of this huge tower he made with his powers, in some sorta charging cradle and had his men guarding it.

“We...Cole and I fought our way to the top of this tower and—you've gotta understand. There were Dustmen, there were First Sons, we were a good three hundred feet in the air and I had nothing but my pistol on me.” Zeke shook his head as he relived the memory. “And with everything else going on in Empire City...I was scared outta my mind. So when Cole was fighting Alden's men and I managed to get to the Ray Sphere and pull it outta that charging thing...”

His fist came down softly against the counter’s edge behind him, a beat far steadier than my own as I listened to his story. “I turned it on.” He admitted simply. 

It was almost instantaneous; Dad’s grip on the chair grew so strong that the wood backing splintered under his fingers, Aunt Sia’s protests unheard over Dad as he growled, “You what?”

“I was terrified,” he said, the admittance not really an excuse, but an explanation. He definitely didn’t seem to be defending his choice at all. “The world was going to hell in a handbasket and I barely had enough 9 millimeters to keep fighting against it. There were people who could suddenly make spiders outta scrap metal and tar that’d turn you into some zombie. My best friend was shooting lightning outta his hands and the most I could do to help him was hand him rubber gloves.” Zeke sighed hard, closing his eyes. “Kessler told me he…he knew why it didn’t work when it fizzled out. Why I didn’t get powers. And that he would show me what needed to be done if I just gave him the Ray Sphere. So…I did it. I gave him the damn thing. I was scared and thought that by getting myself some powers I’d live to see the next day. 'Cause then? That wasn't guaranteed.”

Guaranteed. 

“How long are you willing to fight for these Humans when they’re guaranteed to turn on you in the end?” Augustine’s voice rang in my ear. “Even the great Cole MacGrath was betrayed by his closest companion.” 

“You’re the one that turned on Cole,” I whispered, not realizing my eyes had fallen until I looked back up at Zeke, whose own were solemn. 

“You knew?” Brent demanded accusingly. 

“Kids.” Aunt Sia interjected sharply. 

“So you just set off the Ray Sphere because you were jealous?” Dad asked Zeke. 

“I was scared. Hell, we all were—”

“There was no one else close to the Ray Sphere?” Dr. Sims demanded, trying to click through some translation notes at rapid speed. 

Zeke shook his head. “Just me.” He began to pace back and forth in the three steps it took to get from the counter on one side of the kitchen to the oven on the other.

“There would have been no one gene-positive close enough to absorb the latent RFE. At least not in a way that mattered before the scattering of radioactive dust,” Dr. Sims informed the room.

Zeke stopped pacing, head falling into his hands. “Christ, did I cause the Plague?” he whispered aghast.

It was almost instantaneous; for a moment, Zeke looked like he was about to fall to his knees with how hard they were shaking, and then a second later he was flying back into the pantry door, Dad nothing but a plume of dust and concrete as he moved to beat on Zeke.

Whatever happened next was hell, and I was barely able to keep track of it all. There was a dogpile of limbs in the kitchen I was shoved away from. Brent emerged from it fully steel, holding Dad back and pushing him against the cracked pantry door as he fought to get out of Brent’s grip. Aunt Sia helped Zeke stand, trying to wipe away at his bloody nose with a random rag she pulled from the oven’s handle. Dr. Sims moved to intercept Dad's concrete-laden arm as it raised and aimed indiscriminately at Zeke, his face more furious than I've ever personally seen him.

“You killed them!” he screamed, loud enough that his voice echoed through the room. Brent pushed Dad against the wall and was trying to talk him down and I'm pretty sure the only thing that kept him from catching a right hook was the fact that he was Dad's son. “My parents died because of you!”

“I didn't know,” Zeke insisted, holding the white rag to his face that was steadily turning red. “I just...I was trying to protect myself—”

“You nearly killed the world because you were jealous,” Dad spat, face contorted in rage. “You gave Kessler back the Ray Sphere to get powers! You were a coward—”

“Delsin—” Dr. Sims tried to talk Dad down, though it was no use.

“I was.” Zeke agreed without hesitation. “You think I haven't regretted it every day of my life since? I’ve been trying to make up for my mistake ever since—”

“Regret isn't gonna bring back everyone you killed,“ Dad snarled.

“I know.” Zeke said solemnly. “One of those people that died was my best friend—”

Dad scoffed. “Save me the fucking sob story—you're the one that betrayed him! I'm supposed to give a shit about how sorry you feel when you turned on him willingly?” He shook his head, glancing at Dr. Sims, who was still holding his dominant hand. “Did you know about this?” he demanded.

Dr. Sims shook his head and opened his mouth to say something when Aunt Sia said, “I did.”

Dad's head snapped her way and he glowered, the stare enough to make my own spine chill despite being to the left and behind her. “You what?” he growled.

Aunt Sia didn't even flinch. “I knew what happened. Zeke told me years ago when we first started working on this together,” She motioned to the papers on the table.

“And you didn't think to tell me?” He looked beyond pissed. Betrayed, like Aunt Sia was the one to activate the Ray Sphere.

Aunt Sia raised an eyebrow. “Would you have understood?”

Dad blinked, his scowl just barely slipping off of his face. “What?”

“You're not human, Delsin. Not like Zeke, not like Reggie, and not like me.” Aunt Sia pointed to her own chest as Dad’s nostrils flared the moment she brought up his brother. “You don't get how...how scary and inadequate it can feel to be the person who can't do anything and to watch people you love put their lives on the line. You can—you can make a nonprofit to help or go undercover or sneak people out of the country but it's never enough.” Her hand fell. “I spent five years trying to help the Conduits and you were able to fix their issues in a week. Do you know how hard it is to feel like you're never doing enough when people you care about are in trouble? To be pushed aside and practically be told to let the Big Boys handle it?”

My eyes fell from looking at Aunt Sia to staring at the tile, her words settling on top of that weight in my chest that I couldn't seem to shake off anymore. Do you know how hard it is to feel like you're never doing enough when people you care about are in trouble? I could guess. I felt it in the pristine white of that First Sons base, watching Dad and Brent fight and having to run away like a coward. Helping Dad bandage chemical burns on his flesh that made the entire room smell like weirdly sweet bacon whenever the wrappings would come off. And I couldn't do anything to prevent that, even as a Conduit—or whatever I was now. Told to run away, asked to hide on the floorboard of a car, told that I 'didn't need to worry about it' when wanting to know more about everything.

And I guess that, even though I didn't really approve of handing over a miniature nuke to a crazy cult leader, I could understand why Zeke did what he did.

Dad, though, didn't. “That's different,” he insisted.

“Is it?” 

“You didn’t sell out Eugene to Augustine,” Dad said, before his eyes returned to Zeke and they immediately became darker. “He fucked over MacGrath.”

“And I’ve done everything I could to honor Cole and his sacrifice,” Zeke, surprisingly, snapped back. “You think I’m not haunted by what he had to do every goddamn day of my life?”

Dad shrugged off Dr. Sims’ hold. “He wouldn’t have had to sacrifice shit if it wasn’t for you.”

Aunt Sia sighed, exasperated. “Delsin, don’t act like you’ve never made a selfish mistake before.”

“I didn’t hand a goddamn bomb to Kessler!” Dad defended. 

“No, but you’ve done stupid shit plenty of times before.” Aunt Sia chastised. “Don’t act like you’ve never been blinded by your emotions.”

Dad glowered long after Brent let him go, not moving from his spot. He seemed to be debating on where to place his anger, and I saw his right hand twitch once without raising as his eyes shifted between Aunt Sia to Zeke and back again. The tight fist relaxed, but he still had enough anger in him to let them settle on Zeke and growl, “I’m only saying this once, Dunbar: You do anything to risk my family while we’re trying to figure out what’s wrong with my girl? I’ll kill you. You’re here because you’ve got good information, and nothing else.” 

The air itself felt thick as Dad stared down Zeke, waiting for some form of acknowledgement. “Alright,” Zeke relented, the first to break eye contact. 

Aunt Sia held up a hand, trying to force Dad and his cold glare to stand down. “We should stop there for today,” she said, voice suggesting she was leaving no room for arguments. “We’re getting nowhere like this, and I think everyone could do with a break right now, okay? So let’s stop.” 

Dad glowered our way a moment longer before storming off, making sure to give Zeke a shoulder check on his way past before he threw open the back door and disappeared into the backyard. 

It was hard to pretend like everything was normal for the rest of the day. 

The journal didn’t really get us anywhere, and when Dr. Sims declared he wanted to take me to a hospital tomorrow and run tests? I became nervous. “There’s a specialist there that can see her that might be able to help,” he told Aunt Sia. “And the endocrine unit and palliative care are on the same floor. That’s where the other prime Conduit experiencing strange symptoms is.”

Zeke disappeared soon after Dad retreated to the backyard, mumbling something about ‘giving space’ that he didn’t even let Aunt Sia try to retort to. She sighed hard as he closed the front door before turning to Brent and I, leaving Dr. Sims to mess around on his computer as she steered us to the living room, trying to use the allure of a movie to help us pretend like none of that just happened. 

She tried to make the resulting day fun. Tried being the keyword. Trips down memory lane where she reminded us of every young-age blunder she saw over the five years she watched us, equally embarrassing moments from Dad’s past before we were born.

“Met her soon after I met Eugene,” Dad said when he had returned from outside, anger somewhere dissipated. “She would locate the suspected conduits he was picking up, and Project Sanctuary would sneak them outta Seattle. Eventually had me doing the same thing.”

It was hard work, tearing suspected gene carriers out of jail cells and getting them out of the country, but they did it together with the network Aunt Sia had built over the years. “I started Project Sanctuary soon after I began volunteering at the Conduit Rights League,” she told us, “About a year after Eugene was taken from me.”

Dad and Aunt Sia really got to know each other in the after, though; those few months after Augustine’s crimes were shared but before the government was strong-armed into doing anything about them, Aunt Sia was there trying to help the Conduits that were trickle-released from Curdun before its doors closed. She was there to protest when they were opened again. “With the pandemic, and your mother’s condition, I didn’t visit her as much as I wanted for fear of getting her sick,” Aunt Sia admitted when we asked her why, since she knew Dad since we were born, there was no evidence of her existence. “And besides, you know me—addicted to my work. I had a lot cut out for me then,”

But everything she said, all she meant to be some sort of melancholic sharing of truth, was nothing more but another straw on the back of this burden that kept feeling like it was crushing my chest in. I knew so little. I was the cause of so much. I couldn’t stop thinking about everything that had happened in the last few weeks; the lies and the pain and the truths and the fights. 

I even made the mistake of going online at some point and was bombarded with new notifications; someone found my art blog online, and it spread, fast. There were so many messages, so many death threats, that I had to go hide in the bathroom and cry as I deactivated every source of me online. Not before seeing news updates about COLE, since my name was tied to them now. 

Protests, riots. More bomb threats than should have been allowed. COLE was officially defunded in 8 states, and forced to close by government order in 3 of those. CRON, the conduit registration bill, suddenly had enough signatures to pass the House, and was set to be voted on in the Senate. 

And this was all because of me, and what I did to Seattle.

I tucked my phone into the couch after that, ignoring every missed email and social media notification because I was so sure what they would be about that I figured it would be better to not even look at them. But I couldn’t stop thinking about them. God, I couldn’t—not during the movie Aunt Sia put on, not during dinner, and not even when she tossed me a pair of soft pajamas that I almost immediately dropped, declaring a girls night. “You all find a place to sleep,” she said, waving off Dr. Sims, Brent and Dad in a jokingly dismissive way. “Jean and I will be in my room.”

She ushered me into her bedroom and, after a brief moment where she helped Dr. Sims find comfort on her couch, returned, closing the door fully behind her and locking it for good measure before turning to face me, holding up my phone. “You forgot something,” she said, moving to the big king sized bed and handing it to me before crawling in. 

“Oh,” I smiled, trying my best to look grateful as I set down my hair brush and reached out to grab the phone, “Thanks.” I immediately put it on the nightstand beside the bed, face down. 

Aunt Sia sighed, “Alright, hon.” She raised an eyebrow when I looked at her. “You father isn’t in the room anymore. Out with it.”

I blinked, brow furrowing. “What do you mean?”

“I’m not blind, Jean.” Aunt Sia said softly, concern laden in her voice. “You’ve barely smiled since you’ve been here. I can hardly get any interaction out of you. What’s wrong?”

I looked away from her, shrugging and grabbing the hair brush again. “Just tired. I could barely sleep in that van.” 

Aunt Sia gently took the hair brush from me and began to go through my hair herself, working out the knots. “I don’t believe you,” she hummed. Non-accusingly but still all the worried. 

I sighed hard, and admittedly said a bit snappily, “I’m just tired,” trying to reinforce the lie to her. To myself. All it did was make me sound more guilty. 

“Jean.” 

I could feel her eyes boring into me from behind as she set the brush down and began to braid my hair, small hands moving expertly to make a french braid tighter and neater than anything I could ever do. I looked up at my reflection in the vanity mirror in front of her bed and sighed, hating how deep the eyebags looked. “I’m…I’m sorry.” I began. 

“It’s alright, I shouldn’t have pushed—”

“No not that—well, actually, yeah. That too.” My eyes traveled down to my cast, the same deep blue as those waves that devastated Seattle covering the ashen and yellowed bruises, the same shades as the remains of COLE in Portland. “I…a bunch of people found my blog and…they weren’t nice about it.”

Aunt Sia’s brow furrowed slightly. “How so?”

I didn’t answer, pushing Aunt Sia to pull her own phone out and go straight to the blog. Shit. Right. I gave her the link to that. She scrolled for a moment, seeing nothing innocuous until she got to the comments—and that’s where her anger flared. “Wh–” she cut off, scrolling further. Switching to reblogs. Her nostrils flared, gray eyes almost steeling like Brent’s and the hand holding my braid in place tightened. “Those assholes,” she hissed, dropping her phone and looking up and meeting my eyes in the reflection of the mirror. “Jean, how long have you known about this? We need to tell your father—”

“No!” I cut her off, a bit too loud. I screwed my eyes shut and inhaled deeply, forcing myself to be quieter. Involving Dad was the last thing I wanted to do, especially after everything today. “No, no–not Dad. Not now. Please.”

Aunt Sia, fury still in her eyes, let her face soften slightly. “Why not?”

It took me far too long to answer, instead glancing at the screen of her phone; she was on a picture I’d done of a beach. Pastels. That one had so many comments—not just of people saying how the art sucked, but saying I had planned this the whole time. That I wanted to flood Seattle, that I wanted to kill everyone I did, and this romanticizing of the tall waves was proof. “It…” I drew off, unsure of what to say. “He doesn’t need to worry about it right now.”

I could hear Aunt Sia sigh gently. “That’s not for you to decide.” 

A warmth of upset, of anger, lit in my chest. “I’ve already caused him enough issues, he doesn’t need to keep worrying about me—”

“Hey,” Aunt Sia cut me off, hushing me like one would some spooked animal. Her eyes met my reflection. “Now, Jeanie, listen to me. Everything that’s happened wasn't your fault. You hear me? It doesn't matter what anyone says, it wasn't your fault.”

I shook my head. “I killed one hundred and thirty seven people, Aunt Sia. People keep attacking COLE because of it. Dad’s cover was blown! All the people that were hurt and th-the politicians…” my voice cracked and I clammed up immediately, barely able to choke out after, “If I was more careful in the alley or the fight with Augustine—”

“Don’t you dare blame yourself for that, Jean,” Aunt Sia interrupted. “You’re a child.”

“Does that matter?” 

“Of course it matters.” The hairbrush came down, and she moved to look at me intensely through the mirror from over my shoulder. “You were dealt a bad hand and you did what you did out of desperation. Who could blame you?”

“Everyone,” I said softly, looking down at the printed quilt at the end of the bed. “Everyone does.” 

Aunt Sia sighed, silence hanging in the air for a few moments before she started. “I think…I think what matters most is knowing—and accepting—that, sometimes…you won’t be able to help.” The way she said it so matter-of-factly made me raise my head to look at her in the mirror. She wasn’t staring at my reflection anymore; her eyes were down, staring at the dresser the mirror was posted on and yet far past it, eyes traveled somewhere foreign. The look was familiar; that's how Dad would look when thinking about his past. About everything that still threatened to drag him down. “Sometimes all there really is is guilt and shame, and the feeling of your entire life being a burden to those around you. But what I learned throughout the years is that people will only start to treat you like an inconvenience if you present yourself as one.”

“I already am.” I interjected. “I know I had the healing thing for only, like, a week, but—”

The glaze in Aunt Sia’s mind seeped away and they snapped up to meet mine in the mirror. “You're a person who needs help, and you have so many people in your life who are willing to go above and beyond to provide you with that help. Not because they pity you, not because it gets you off their back, but because they love you.” After a moment Aunt Sia seemed to know the thoughts forming in my mind before the sentence was finished being built, adding, “Even if it might not always look like it—hell, I've known your Dad long enough to be aware of just how harsh he can be sometimes. But he does love you. We all do.”

I looked down at my hands, disagreement rising in the back of my throat like bile. “I just…I feel so useless right now,” I admitted. Why was that one sentence so hard to choke out? “I’m either not helping or when I do try to help I…drown half of Seattle. I couldn’t even protect them when we were in New Marais.”

“It's hard to come to terms with the fact that sometimes all we can do is rely on the kindness of others, and it's frustrating to feel like you're unable to ever return just a tiny bit of everything they did for you.” Aunt Sia sympathized. I’d never understand how it came to her so easily. “But there is one thing you're missing: You surviving, you making it through hard times with their help, you being able to smile again? That's the best way to give back to the loved ones that want nothing more but to be there for you.”

My brow furrowed as I processed her words. Was that really it? Was it that easy? It didn’t feel that easy. It definitely didn’t feel like someone else’s love would absolve me of my sins. “Those people in Seattle had loved ones.” I said simply, eyes glancing over to look at Aunt Sia’s knees. “That mom that lost her kid in the COLE bombing? There’s so many innocent people that’ve been hurt, and it’s because of me in some way.” I could feel the frustration and anger and self loathing bubble up in my chest. “I—Dad can’t even go back to work, Brent can’t see his girlfriend, you’re stuck watching COLE explode after everything you’ve done for it—”

I hadn’t noticed I began to tear up until Aunt Sia took my face in her hands, squishing my cheeks slightly as she forced me to look at her. “None of that is your fault,” She insisted, eyes searching mine. “None of that was intentional. You didn’t mean to hurt anyone, and that’s enough—even if you may have. You were trying, and that’s a lot more than anyone else can say. You think those politicians have ever done a thing in their life that benefited anyone but themselves?” She shook her head, answering her own question. Her hands fell from my face, but she stayed close. “The only thing I want you to worry about right now is your health. Everything else is for us to worry about, I don’t want you to feel guilty for us caring about you. You’re worth all of this stress. No one—no government, no human, and no conduit will ever be able to convince me of the opposite.” Her shoulders squared a bit. “And I'll beat the shit out of everyone that even dares to try and tell me that what happened was something you should be blamed for."

God, there she was—the Aunt Sia I knew. She managed to pull an amused huff outta me, my halfhearted smile bringing a brighter one on her own face. “Now stop this moping, I can’t handle it. Let’s have one night where we pretend nothing’s happening, okay? You need a night off, especially since tomorrow’s gonna be busy.”

With a swallow and a nod I agreed, trying to shove away the pain for now. I knew she was right; Dad had told me Dr. Sims was able to order some tests for tomorrow. “There’s a specialist there that can see you that might be able to help, and they work in the same hospital where the other prime Conduit experiencing strange symptoms is,” he said. We’d be leaving in the morning. 

I couldn’t see it from her point of view, I couldn’t understand how I deserved her understanding—but maybe it was easier to lie to myself anyways. And as Aunt Sia went to a folder titled ‘Jeanie’ Favs’ in her pirated movies, I figured maybe she was right about one thing; I could use a reason to forget about everything right now.

[ru-fiction]

Playground Rivals: Ken x Fem Reader

Chapter 4

"I stay up too late. Got nothing in my brain."

Raquelle taps her fingers against the wheel in rhythm with the song.

"That's what people say. That's what people say."

"Mmm Mmm."

"That's what people say."

"Mmm Mmm."

Ken starts shimming in the back seat doing his silly faces again.

"But I keep cruising, Can't"

"Stop."

"Won't"

"Stop."

"Moving. It's like I got this music, In my mind saying it's gonna be alright."

Raquelle motions for everyone to join her and Barbie in the song.

"Cause the players gonna..."

"Play."

"Play."

"Play."

"Play."

Raquelle smiles, eyes still on the road as they drive further and further away from Barbieland.

"And the haters gonna..."

"Hate."

"Hate."

"Hate."

"Hate?"

Ryan nods along with the song and Y/n starts rocking along with Ken and the beat.

And so Barbie, Ken, the twins and Y/n set off on their adventure to the real world.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The five tried their best to fit in Barbie's tiny pink boat. They had all wore a matching set, Ken and Barbie had on a pink and white shirt, white pants and matching hats and the trio wore the same outfit but in black and purple, Raquelle wore her shades while the other two wore hats.

Barbie smiled happy to be the one at the wheel this time, Ken and Y/n sat as close to each other as possible not minding the situation really, and Raquelle rubbed Ryan's back as he mimics hurling in the water, the sea sickness getting to him. The plastic ocean faded into real life waters.

"Ugh. How much longer?"

"Just a few more steps to go."

"Ugh."

He leans into his twin sister.

"Just don't hurl on my shoes."

A dolphin dives in front of the boat and Ken gets scared by a pigeon cowering in the other doll's arms.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Suddenly the group was in space, the girls sat on the ship. Everyone was in a space suit.

Ken and Ryan were flying off, The other two girls tried to grab on to the boys that were trying desperately not to float away, Barbie remained unaware of what was happening behind her.

"Hold me Y/n."

"I'm trying..."

"Don't let me go."

"I'm not."

Y/n holds onto Ken's hand as best as she could for how long the ride would be.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Somehow they found a group bike with five seats on it. The trio wore some biking gear along with outfits to match Barbie and Ken.

Barbie was in the front again, Ryan behind her, Raquelle behind him, Y/n behind her and Ken at the end.

They all paddled as hard as they could, Ken started to lose breath but smiled when everyone turned to check on him, giving a thumbs up. Y/n smiles at him, making a kissy face before turning back to face the front.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

They were all outside of Barbie's camping van. Barbie wore a white dress shirt and red pants, Ken wore an inverse of the outfit. The trio wore black hoodies with red sweat pants, the girls' hoodies were cropped.

"Hi."

Barbie waved at Ken and Y/n who were hanging up clothes to dry as she walked to sit in one of the lawn chairs next to the twins, who were miming eating s'mores. Ken just chuckles at her before turning to the doll next to him and kissing her cheek when the others weren't looking.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Raquelle found two snow vehicles, she made Barbie and Ryan share one with her, Barbie asked to share one with Y/n but Raquelle was adamant on her sharing one with Ken.

"I'm driving this time."

"No fair you drove the car."

"Awe."

Ken snuggled into Y/n. The two smiled at each other as the others bickered.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Finally the ice melts away and the group skate onto a beach. Y/n holds onto Ken since she couldn't skate.

Barbie and Ken wore matching neon outfits that were a mix of blue, pink, and yellow. Raquelle wore a blue cropped shirt with a lilac cropped sweater on top with blue denim shorts; her red shades on top of her head, Ryan and Y/n wore deep purple sweaters and blue jeans.

Everyone looked around in wonder, the sand wasn't pink, the water was fully real, the sun was hot on their skin, it was so different...

"Guys..."

"Wow!!"

"Yes!!"

"Not too fast Ken."

Y/n wobbled a little and started pulling the other doll closer.

"Sorry."

"It's okay."

The waves were coming in strong, people walked towards them with surf boards, there were a few guys playing basketball, and people dancing around in the street.

"Wow this is the real world."

Y/n smiled as a girl looked at her up and down.

"Barbie, I told you there'd be beach."

Ken smiles proudly, happy to be right about something. Barbie smiles and nods at him.

"Yeah."

Suddenly it got a little tense in the air. Y/n started fidgeting a little, there was a lot of guys watching her in the same way the girl before was but this time it wasn't just directed towards her. She could see that Barbie and Raquelle also looked affected by it.

Raquelle started to glare at the guys, not wanting to show fear, Barbie was the opposite.

"Anyone else feeling this weird tension in the air."

Ken looks at her worried then pulls the doll beside him and wraps his arms around her. Barbie looks confused about the display, Ryan steps in front of his twin sister, giving Ken an nod of approval.

People start whistling and catcalling at the dolls, others laugh about their outfits.

Ken frowns at them not liking how they were looking at the woman he liked or his friends. Ryan looked like he wanted to punch someone.

But then some guys started giving Ken approving looks and thumbs ups and he started to feel conflicted.

He starts to smile a little but stops when Ryan turns in his direction looking at his other sister.

"What's going on?"

"Give us a smile, Blondie."

"Oh, don't hog all the ladies."

"I would like to take a bit of that."

Y/n cringes knowing it was directed at her.

"Why are these men looking at us?"

"They're also staring at us."

He motions to him and Ryan. The (h/c) haired doll didn't like how happy he sounded saying that.

But then some other guys started to look at Ken differently and that same feeling she felt at Weird Barbie's house came back and it made Y/n more upset.

"Ohh, love that."

Y/n pulls Ken into her tighter as if they weren't super close already. Ken smiles down at the doll liking the attention from her.

"Wow."

"I feel kind of ill at ease. Like... I don't know the word for it but I'm conscious, but it's myself I'm conscious of."

The other four dolls knew what she meant, they felt it everyday.

"I'm not getting any of that here, I feel what could only be described as admired, but not ogled and there's no undertone of violence."

"Mine very much has an undertone of violence."

"If anyone comes too close there might be some violence."

Ryan glares as another guy checks out his sisters.

"Oh look an construction site. We need that good feminine energy."

She tries to skate towards it but Raquelle holds her back.

"Wait before we leave."

Raquelle points towards the snow cone machine she's been eyeing the whole time.

"I want one of those snow ball things."

She grabs her sister's and Ken's arm and pulls them over to it leaving Ryan and Barbie to stare awkwardly at each other.

"So...the human world?"

Barbie nods.

"It... different."

Barbie nods again.

The other three dolls stop by the snow cone machine. Behind the machine was an older man and a guy that they looked to be the same age as. He was tan, he had curly brown hair and brown eyes to match, the guy next to him seemed like a carbon copy but older and with a beard. Raquelle paused slightly admiring the guy in front of her.

Y/n and Ken look at each other, The (h/c) haired doll smirks and Ken's eyebrows raise slightly a amused smile on his lips as the two check the other out.

"Don't worry dad, I can take them. Go rest up."

The older man pats the younger one on the back then heads off in search for water. The remaining guy smiles at the brunette girl in front of him.

"What can I do ya for?"

"I was wanting one of your snow balls."

The guy cringes with a smile still on his face.

"Excuse me."

"Your snow balls."

She points to the picture of the different snow cone colors on the stand.

"I wanted to try one, I've never had it before."

The guy chuckles when the brunette girl's eyes light up as he scoops some ice into a paper cone.

"What flavor?"

Raquelle squats to get a better look at the picture, tapping her chin as she thinks on it.

"Can I have blue raspberry?"

He pours the syrup on the ice and handing it to the girl before looking up towards the other people.

"Your friends?"

"My sister and her boyfriend."

Ken blushed at that and starts playing with his fingers, the other doll starts rubbing her hands together but looked flustered by the statement.

"Any specific flavors you guys want?"

"Strawberry please."

"Watermelon."

He hands them their snow cones before turning his gaze back on Raquelle.

"It's on the house."

"What house?"

The guy chuckles again, shaking his head.

"It's an expression it means it's free."

He smiles at Raquelle causing a grin to form on her face.

"Guys c'mon!!"

"Well, see ya."

Raquelle nods a dazed look in her eye, Ken picks her up and starts walking back towards the others.

Once they make it to the others Ken puts her down and Y/n hands him his snow cone.

"What, None for us?"

Raquelle takes a long lick from hers, savoring the taste and then hands it to Ryan to share. Barbie looks at Ken's snow cone before making eye contact with him. Ken sighs handing it to her making a smile form on her face, Y/n then shares with Ken not wanting him to be left out of having said treat.

The group started walking to the construction site Barbie pointed out. There were guys sitting down on a lunch break that instantly started sexualizing them as they walked up.

"I don't know exactly what you meant with all of those little quips, but I'm picking up on some sort of entendre, which appears to be double."

The others nod along with her words. Ken squints at the dudes.

"And I would just like to inform you, We do not have a vagina."

She gestures towards all the girls, her statement makes Y/n accidentally drop her snow cone which she pouts about.

"And they don't have a penis."

She points to Ken and Ryan. Ryan looks around embarrassed not trying to make eye contact with anyone and Ken frowns feeling called out.

"We don't have genitals."

"That's okay."

Raquelle looks at the guy in disgust. Barbie smiles as if she told them off and skates away everyone following her one by one. Ken turns to the guys before leaving.

''I have a-all the genitals."

"Geez, you would think a construction site at lunch time would be the perfect place for a little woman power but this one was so...male."

Ken frowns a little he didn't know why he felt offended by the statement but he was.

"Everything is almost like... reversed here."

He smirks a little but stops when everyone turns towards him. Was he wrong for liking this world?

"Oh look! The supreme court."

Barbie points at a pageant board. Raquelle rolls her eyes at the picture, Ryan smirks at his sister and Y/n shakes her head at the reaction.

"They're so smart.''

"Yeah."

Two guys skate up towards them, one smacks Raquelle's butt and the other smacks Barbie's, Barbie quickly turns and punches the one that hit her but looked shocked at what she did however Raquelle throws her cone on the ground before kicking the guy in the balls and punching him in the throat. Y/n cheers her sister on, Ryan stops Ken from trying to stop the fight.

Ken nods as Ryan walks up and also starts beating up the dude, The cops quickly run up to the scene grabbing both dolls and having everyone walk to the police car.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Barbie looks scared as she holds up the sign with her name on it, she blinks rapidly when the light flashes. Ryan steps up with his name card and smiles big.

"Can you take another one? my right side is my best side."

Y/n looks around not really paying attention to the camera. Raquelle flips off the police officer taking the picture, copying what she saw the guy she beat up do.

"If I were you I would stop doing that."

Ken faces the left with a big smile on his face holding up his "and Ken" sign.

The cops scan everyone's finger prints, also sexualizing the girls before letting them go.

"I think we should get some different clothes."

"I agree."

"Second that."

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐

They all go inside the closest convenience store they could find. Looking around at all the different cowboy and cowgirl outfits. Ken's eyes lit up being in a store that had to do with his love of horses.

"Fashion Show!!"

Ken started it off. Switching into different outfits at the speed of light. His first outfit was a denim long sleeve shirt with white pants and a brown hat, everyone but Y/n said no to it. The second was a short sleeve brown shirt with blue jeans and a black hat again everyone but Y/n said no. Then it was a black and white long sleeve shirt with a gold vest and ripped blue jeans and black hat this time everyone agreed it wasn't for him. Then he wore a blue and white striped shirt with khaki shorts and everyone appreciated the outfit but still told him to change. Finally he came out wearing a black and white cowboy outfit with a white hat, it had fringe from the shoulders to the neck and he finished it off with a pink bandana tied around his neck, Everyone said yes, Y/n being the most vocal about it.

Barbie went next, she first wore a pink and white striped shirt, blue jeans and a gray sweater with glitter by the zipper, the others liked the outfit but still told her to change. Next she wore a striped shirt that started black and white then faded to pink and black at the bottom with brown pants and a leather jacket that had fur on it again cute but the others told her to switch again. Then she came out in a glitter gray shirt, light pink pants and a dark pink shirt.

"Where are you finding these clothes?"

Barbie just shrugs and changes for the final time into a dark pink denim cowgirl outfit and a white hat also finishing her look with a pink bandana around her neck. She smiles happy with her outfit and joins the others.

Raquelle and Ryan stand up and go searching for matching outfits. The first was a black and blue denim look, They wore a black shirt with blue denim jeans, Raquelle's was an off the shoulder look. The two do different poses as Y/n pretends like she's taking a picture of them.

"My turn, My turn."

Y/n looks around for a while, she wanted something different from the others. She came back in a blue denim jumper dress, it was in an ombre style dark blue at the top and light blue at the bottom. She spins around showing off the outfit, the others hyping her up.

"Okay!!"

"Queen!!"

"That's my sister!!"

"So hot!!"

She playfully rolls her eyes changing into a black shirt with a denim blue jacket and jean pants. Raquelle and Ryan give her a thumbs up, Barbie claps and Ken just looks at her adoringly.

She changes again into a blue top and a white skirt with a denim jacket and yellow hat. She shrugs it off and changes into another outfit that had a baby blue tank top and denim skirt it had fringe going from one hip to the bottom of the other side, it came with a pink and blue hand bag and some white and pink sneakers.

"Wow!!"

"So which one are you going with?"

Y/n thinks about it for a little before smiling and picking her favorite from the bunch.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Everyone exits the store.

"We look great."

"I love fringe."

"I love denim."

Ken starts shimming shaking the fringe on his shirt. Y/n smiles lovingly at him.

"Hahahaha."

"Alright let's go find whatever it is Barbie's looking for."

Someone comes out of the store looking for them.

"Hey, man. You guys gotta pay for that stuff."

"But it's on the house."

"Says who?"

Barbie taps Raquelle's shoulder and nods her head away in a different direction, Everyone takes off running away from the guy. He gives chase before calling the cops.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Y/n now sat outside of the police station waiting for the others to come out. She was able to slip away before getting caught but the others not so much. She looked up when the others finally came out, Ken quickly ran to her and pulled her in a hug.

"You won't believe it little sis, They gave me and Raquelle our headshots."

"How'd that happen?"

"A lot of begging."

"Weird Barbie said I would know how to find this girl."

Ken nods along listening intently to his blonde friend. Everyone walked farther and farther away from the police station.

"But I have no idea. What would a smart Barbie do?"

That caught Y/n and Raquelle's attention. Barbie didn't think she was smart? Of course she was.

"Don't say that about yourself, of course you're smart."

Barbie smiles a little shaking her head.

"Right, sorry."

"Maybe you just need to think."

"You're right. Just need to clear my mind so I can think."

Barbie sits down on the bench at the bus stop. She closes her eyes trying to clear her head. Ryan sits beside her and starts to fidget. Ken won't sit still, walking around everywhere.

"I hate it when people think. I get so bored."

Barbie looks at both of them annoyed.

"The faster I figure it out, the faster we get to go home."

"C'mon let's go do something..."

"This is boring... Barbie I'm bored."

Barbie sighs sending Y/n a pleading look. Raquelle rolls her eyes before hitting the back of both boys heads.

"Ouch."

"She stays doing that."

Both boys rub the back of their heads, Ken pouts and Ryan glares at his twin. Y/n pats both boys' shoulders trying to soothe them.

Ken moves closer to the other doll allowing himself to be babied by her.

"What am I supposed to do?"

Barbie gives Ken another annoyed look.

"Okay, let's go for a walk or something."

"By ourselves?"

"Yes."

"No."

"You got a better idea?"

"Yes, I'm coming too, I'm bored."

Raquelle rolls her eyes and Barbie sighs. She wanted the boys to go.

"You're embarrassing me right now."

"Where are we even supposed to go?"

"Anywhere."

"Can I go that way?"

"Yes."

The five of them get into an argument about what to do.

"Okay, Okay, Okay."

The four dolls look at her.

"How about this..."

[me-and-my-3lovers]

Forget Me, Please

Misha Collins x GN!Reader Superpower AU

No specific pronouns used

MINORS DNI, 18+ ONLY

Word Count: 693

Warnings: Some angst, some sexual touching, that should be all :)

Masterlist

--

Smoke, and bodies; too much of both to see five feet in front of you. Walking around, you were looking for easy prey, like a shark. 

Through the neon haze of the strip club, there he was, blue eyes locked on you. You could have sworn that he was the telepathic one instead of you. He tracked you down, city after city, face after face, relentless in his pursuit. You had half a mind to sneak out the back, but that would have left you too vulnerable. 

Your coworker Edwardo started towards him. You could hear him trying to offer him a 'discount' for 'services rendered.' You'd prayed that it would work, but it never does. He shoved Ed out of the way on his way over to you. Several others tried to tempt him, sensing money on him like blood in the water. Instead, he kept his pace toward you, devouring you with his eyes, drinking every last drop.

"How much for a private dance?" he licked his lips in anticipation. There was a routine you two fell into, the constant cat and mouse.

You didn't respond; you led him up the stairs towards the curtained rooms. When you found a suitable room away from prying eyes and ears, you sat him down and closed the curtains.

You straddled him. His hands were on you like before, when it was you two against the world. Back before there were powers, back when everything was simple.

"I've been looking for you." He breathed into your ear, stubble scratching against your cheek.

"I know," was all you could breathe out while kissing him, "how do you keep finding me?"

His hands were in your hair now, "You might be able to change your face, your body, but not your heart, never your heart." 

He held you close as if waiting for you to slip between his fingers. It would have crushed a normal person, but it comforted you. You almost hoped he would never let go, but you couldn't allow yourself to stay. Life wasn't kind to people like you; it couldn't be kind to people like you, like him.

"Come home with me." his lips were close; his hot breath fanned your face. "Stay."

It was a simple request, but you couldn't oblige. You turned your head around so you didn't have to look into his eyes, so he couldn't see how much you wanted to.

"I want you, forever." He whispered as you ran your hands up his firm chest. "To have and to hold till the end of time."

"Might as well pull the ring out while you're at it," You half-joked before turning back around. "You already know why we can't."

"I'll be waiting for you. You can't say no forever." He started to massage your hips.

It was a while before either of you talked. The silence conveyed everything you needed it to: the passion, the lust, the desire for more, and the love. You stood up, and he moved his lips down your body, kissing every inch. It felt like heaven; the universe was right when you were together. You ran your fingers through his hair as he started sucking a hickey on your hips. His hand rested on your ass, pulling you closer.

Your hair clung to your face as he started moving back up. 

You wanted to cave and let him take you, stay with him for the rest of your life. You could almost imagine it if you tried hard enough; the white picket fence, movie nights every Friday, and breakfast in bed on Sunday. But that's just not how this life works.

You sat back down on his lap, "I love you," you whispered with tears in your eyes. As you moved your hands up to his temples you could see the heartbreak in his eyes.

"Don't make me forget this, please." He cupped your hands in his, "You don't have to."

"Forgive me." You took away his memory of tonight, and his memory of your heartbeat too. He won't find or forgive you for a while now, but it’s safer this way.

[synthetickitsune]

Hello again 👋 I’m so happy to see your requests are open. I’ve been in such a soft mood lately. I would love to request Fluff #2 #12 and #30 with Zuho when you have time. 🥰 thank you and have a great day

Here you go, have a nice day too~

Zuho (SF9) | Breakfast in bed & Rainy day & “I hoped I’d meet someone like you for a long time.” fluff | 0.9k

The rain pitter-patters against the window and the soft sound creates the perfect ambience for your rare lazy morning. Taking advantage of the peaceful and quiet atmosphere, the television stays turned off. It’s just as well, because neither you nor Juho seem to be able to tear your eyes off each other. But who could blame you, when the morning light makes his features look so ethereal.

“You’re staring,” he mumbles around a bite of his food. The breakfast you’ve prepared together is simple yet delicious. That’s the secret ingredient - love, Juho has joked, and even if you’ve rolled your eyes then, a smile tugs at your lips at the memory.

“So are you,” you counter, voice equally quiet so as to not distract from the sound of rain. The view must be ridiculous - you, sitting inside what could easily be described as a nest made of blankets and pillows, all messy from being awake for less than an hour, and wearing the only piece of one-size-fits-all clothing that actually seems like it could fit anyone. It’s ridiculously warm and fluffy, and it has a hood and it’s long enough for you to curl in it like it’s a short blanket or a long hoodie. And it’s a neon green color that is no less ridiculous than the bright blue one Juho’s wearing. Truly a pair of fools.

“Because I love you,” he says with a self-satisfied grin. He's lucky he's cute.

"Has it ever occurred to you that I love you too?" you tease, reaching out with your fork to steal a bite from his plate. He defends against your half-hearted attack easily, so you let it go with only a hint of a pout on your lips.

"How does take out sound for lunch?" he asks, "Since we've already cooked today."

"Absolutely not," you deadpan. It was only yesterday that you told him you should really eat some hearty, delicious, and most importantly healthy meal. It's not like you feel like cooking, but at least one of you should be the voice of reason. No matter how much the other whines.

"We made the breakfast healthy enough," he tries to sway you. You look at the plate while you chew the bite you've taken. His statement is a little questionable. Unfortunately, not enough that it'd make your logic kick in. The image of a lazy day spent in bed is rather tempting…

"Ramen?" you suggest with a sigh. Maybe you'll feel less guilty if you do at least some cooking.

"Ramen it is!" Juho beams, a ray of sunlight shining through the clouds. You don't get why he's so obsessed with it. Whatever makes him happy, you guess.

"But you're helping me cook tomorrow, for real."

"Sure."

Happy and a only little dismayed by how easy it is to persuade yourself that one more day of unhealthy food is not going to hurt, you keep eating. It's quiet and the gentle ambience of rain reaches your ears once again.

It's not until you finish your food that you notice Juho's still half-full plate. You frown and look up at him only to be met with a fond expression on his face. He must've been staring at you for a while. He speaks up before you can.

“I hoped I’d meet someone like you for a long time," he sighs with a wistful smile. Your mind blanks for a second. You have to look away and watch the raindrops race across the window because you can't hold his loving gaze any longer.

"That came out of nowhere," you mutter, trying hard to calm your erratic heart. He chuckles, shrugging.

"Look at us," his voice is as soft as the look in his eyes, "We're a mess but we keep staring at each other, we made breakfast, we'll stuff ourselves full with ramen later. I don't think we'll get out of bed much today."

"Your point?"

It's not that you don't like it. It's just that you haven't felt the butterflies in your stomach this strongly in a while and you don't know how to cope with that.

"I don't think just anyone can love like that," he says, now turning sheepish himself, "So thank you."

Softening at his shyness, you put a hand on his knee and squeeze. 

"Thank you too," you give Juho a reassuring smile, "I couldn't imagine a better boyfriend."

He gasps, dramatically clutching at his chest as if your words have wounded him terribly.

"Boyfriend?" he scoffs, keeping up the charade. His eyes roll towards the ceiling like he can't believe his ears.

"Is there anything you'd like to tell me, love?" you quirk a brow at him, very much amused and in disbelief.

"Not yet," he grumbles and drops the act. He scoots closer until your knees bump together and he can pull you closer to him. His lips find your forehead. "Boyfriend is alright, for now."

You hum, shifting even closer to him. You lay your head on his shoulder and close your eyes. The rain outside is picking up, and you realize that there's probably not enough food to make anything but ramen for lunch even if you wanted to. Whatever, Juho loves it and nothing can beat warm ramen on a cold day.

[the-starry-seas]

for however many ocs as you wanna answer this for

alone: How does your OC deal with loneliness? Have they ever been completely alone before? How do they act when there's no one around to see them?

oh good I get to talk about clones to you, you will regret this

Nox: That's the neat part, they don't. Memes aside, they've never been completely alone (I mean, you try finding true solitude when you're one of millions of clones, yeesh). Also they're clingy and if they are alone they will change that pronto because they can't stand that shit, they cannot be alone, not physically capable. And the way they act around others, and when it's just themself, is pretty much the same! They're annoying, affectionate, and fond of making random and/or loud noises for no good reason. Just sitting by themself on the floor, quacking like a duck to see if they're good at it, putting some of their neon pink hair dye in Harlow's shampoo.

Tally: He fucking freaks. He's also never been alone (re: millions of clones) and he hates the silence and stillness. He needs background noise, he needs people around, he starts feeling real weird if he's not directly in sight of at least two or three other people, clones or not. He does a lot of nervous pacing when he's alone, because he doesn't like it and when do Nox and Harlow come back, this sucks. But there are times where he likes to chill and read a book while listening to whatever noisy nonsense is going on in the barracks.

Harlow: He stays level-headed because if he doesn't, who will? He's a lieutenant and that means he does not have the luxury of emotional distress (lol. lmao even.) or panicking over things. He doesn't mind being alone, in and of itself, but it does tend to make him a little bit nervous these days because if he's not there to tell Nox to behave, what the fuck are they up to now? Who's gonna protect his shinies if he's not there? But if he has someone to babysit them, he's doing a full spa day with cucumber slices and harp music and everything.

Blue: He likes being alone for short periods of time because it gives him some quiet and peace. He needs something to focus on though so it's like, idle games and crosswords to keep him occupied instead of meditation-style quiet. Loneliness, on the other hand, is different from being alone and he hates that shit. He gets restless and mopey and he just wants his idiot siblings back because they're his anchor even if they also often drive him nuts. I think being in stasis for thirty years counts as being completely alone? He did not care for that shit at all, he would do anything to not have to face that again.

Ember: He tries to make himself very small when he's alone so that nobody notices him. Being alone scares him because he knows that he'll be decommissioned if the GAR ever finds out that he can't hear any more. Even after getting away from them, old habits die hard, and being alone means not being with his family, so he'd really just rather not. So when he is alone, like Tally, he's nervous (but he freezes up instead of pacing). He likes being alone with his husband there are many benefits to being married to a marine biologist because they're adorable and Cam will play with his hair and infodump about their mutual favourite animal, the cownose stingray. (bonus camber picrew from a few years ago when kmerolzzzz's was still around)

Star: Being completely alone makes him shut down. He's a Force-sensitive clone and the Kaminoans were hellbent on reproducing that so he often got pulled out of training for tests and experiments. Being alone, to him, means he's going to be a lab rat again and probably hurt somehow along the way. He prefers being alone with one or two others, also preferably clones. Namely Winter who's the oldest of the squad and also their father figure, they call him buir and everything. He naps a lot when he's alone with a friend, chronic fatigue and all. But when it's just him and his squad, he's also more open with his facial expressions and looks them in the eyes more (GAR Jedi tended to be uh, less than kind when seeing a Force sensitive clone with golden eyes, he doesn't look strangers in the eyes very often).

Silver and Sky: A package deal. If they're not together, the world is ending. They've been inseparable from the moment they were ‘born’ less than a minute apart and everyone calls them the twins, so while most clones have an answer of "never been completely alone due to millions of clones", they've barely ever been out of each others' sight for more than five minutes. Shelter cat bonded, through and through. They're always grinning in cahoots about something, love that for them <3 They stay silly, whether they're on their own, or with the rest of the squad. They're well aware that they're disposable weapons, but they're also twins, and as long as twins have each other, what could go wrong? They stick together even more closely when it's just them because it's all about protecting each other.

[lilyevanstan1325]

🔥 Dangerous Game 🔥

Chapter 10

Amaya POV

I walk with the gun pointed in front of me.

The only light is the red emergency neon that giving the corridors a sinister air.

Here below the screams from the upper floors are barely audible.

Sharon walks beside me, the gun ready for use.

All around us only rubble and smoke.

“The prisons are one floor below.The elevators are all gone, we will have to go up the stairs hoping they have withstood the explosions” Sharon informs me.

Her information is short and concise.

Her sense of duty is greater than any other feeling at the moment.

If I had been in her place, I don't know if I could have been so professional.

Collaborating with the woman who not even 48 hours before stole your man requires a great deal of willpower.

"Great" I sigh.

We continue our descent, check every room to make sure they are all safe.

"And I thought you were just Fury's boring and faithful secretary"

I turn to Sharon lifting a corner of my lips.

She continues with her monologue.

"And instead you are a killer, one of the best.Isn't that true Agent Zero?" she asks me.

I check around the corner and see that the passage is free.

"I see you've done your homework Agent Carter"

"The enemy must be studied"

"I'm not the enemy Sharon"

She looks at me with a skeptical expression.

I roll my eyes.

I know it is not the most suitable time but I am sure that such an opportunity will never happen to me again.

I grab her by the arm and stop her, check the room on my right and once I'm sure it's safe I enter dragging her with me.

"Listen to me Sharon, I know this is not the time and maybe it never will be but I wanted to apologize to you" I tell her in one breath.

“I never meant to take James away from you.I was wrong I know but I want you to know that I tried…I really tried to stay away from him.I tried with all of myself”

Sharon continues to remain silent and I take the opportunity to tell her everything that is wearing out my soul.

“I know you will think that I am doing all this to wash my conscience but I assure you that it is not.I have always respected you as a woman.As an agent.I respect your family.Your family is the reason why today I am a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, your family have always been a role model for my parents and for me.I'm sorry.I'm sorry I hurt you in the worst way a woman could be hurt.I hate myself for it but...but I love James.I really love him more than anything else.And I know you still love him too…and I…I don't…”

I run a hand through my hair trying to collect my thoughts.

“I'm sorry Sharon.I know that with my apologies you will wipe your ass off”

I see her giggle a little but as soon as she becomes aware of her peat immediately serious, her hazel gaze hard and sharp.

“I'm not asking for your forgiveness because I know I don't deserve it but I'm asking you to forgive James.Even if you feel hurt and don't believe him, know that you are one of the most important people in his life.You have always been there for him.And even if he doesn't say it so as not to hurt me, I know that he is suffering a lot from the whole situation.God!If he knew what I'm telling you...but it doesn't matter!I am convinced that you must know.He is bad without you.Please, please talk to him”

Sharon's eyes moisten.

I continue undeterred, the minutes are numbered and I have to tell her everything I think.

“If I could go back I would change a lot of things…but I can't…” I sigh wearily

“I just want him to be happy and I feel like shit telling you but he wasn't happy with you.He was suffering.He suffered and no one noticed.You have never noticed"

The woman in front of me looks at me with an unreadable expression on her face, wipes her eyes with the back of her hand and heads for the door.

"We have to go" are the only words that come out of her lips.

I sigh in resignation and return to focus on the mission.

I tried.

I hope someday she and Bucky can clear up.

We leave the semi-destroyed room and set out again along the dark and dusty corridors.

An imperceptible noise draws my attention by putting all my senses on alert.

I reach out my arm in front of Sharon, stopping her path, she looks at me with a questioning look.

I signal her to be quiet and pointing to my ear, I suggest at her to listen carefully.

We remain motionless for about 20 seconds, carefully scrutinizing everything around us.

That noise again.

It sounds like a moan and seems to come from the room to our left.

I nod to Sharon and walk over to her.

"I go forward.Cover my shoulders.And whatever happens go away, don't wait for me” I whisper barely audibly.

She looks at me with a strange expression that I cannot decipher.

She nods and positions herself behind me.

Ironic.

I am trusting her to the point of putting my life in her hands when she would have every right to put a bullet in my head and leave my corpse in this rubble.

Once we approach the entrance to the room where the faint lament seems to come from, we exchange a glance, the first to enter is me.

The room is half destroyed, there is rubble everywhere and half of the ceiling has collapsed.

A little movement catches my attention.

A hand appears from under the rubble of the collapsed ceiling and that faint lament repeats itself.

“Sharon run!I need you!" I yell at the woman who stayed at the door to make sure no one came.

Sharon rushes to me on her knees like I just did.

I grab the hand that comes out of that debris and squeeze it.

My squeeze is reciprocated.

"Take courage we will free you immediately" I say trying to instill some courage in this poor unfortunate.

Let's start digging with our hands, as fast as we can.

In the meantime, I activate my earpiece and try to communicate with my team.

“Steve can you hear me?Sam?James?Can you hear me?"

No reply.

Just a buzz.

"We are too low, there is no coverage here.If I'm not mistaken we should be two floors below ground” Sharon tells me with shortness of breath as she continues to move large chunks of the ceiling.

"Damn!" I swear.

I manage to take off the biggest piece and two big dark eyes that I know so well are staring at me.

"Amaya" she whispers and soon after she starts coughing.

Sharon and I look into each other's eyes and get back to work faster than before.

“Hold on Maria.Hold on" I whisper with my heart beating madly.

Maria Hill is the first friend I've ever had.

She is the only person besides Fury who knows my true identity.

And what seemed to be a simple working relationship over the years has grown into a solid friendship.

We had talked on the phone a few hours earlier.

And now she was buried alive struggling to stay conscious.

“Maria stay with me, ok?Breath slowly.We're almost there, a little longer and you'll be free” I tell her looking into her eyes.

Her face is dirty and full of dust.

There is a cut on her forehead where her blood has already congealed.

"I'm fine Amaya.Don't worry”

Her upper body is free.

Now only a large sheet of metal blocks her legs.

"Can you move your legs Maria?" Sharon asks about her, running a hand over her forehead to wipe away the sweat.

���No, I can't but they hurt so I don't think I have any injuries.I'm just stuck”

When she replies, I let go of the breath I didn't know I was holding.

Sharon looks me in the eyes and points her instructions.

“I grab from this side and you stand in front of me.I will count to three and at my three we lift with all the strength we have”

I nod.

"Ok...one, two...three"

On three of her we both leverage our legs and try to lift the heavy metal.

A strangled sound due to the effort comes out of my throat.

The plate lifts about two inches."Maria tries to free you" Sharon murmurs, gritting her teeth with the effort.

Maria, helping herself with her arms, slips her from under the trap.

At the same time, Sharon and I let go of the metal plate that falls to the ground with a deafening noise.

I immediately rush to my friend.

"How are you?Do you think you have something broken?" I ask her.

Maria coughs again and tries to answer me.

"I think...I think..." but she stops because another coughing fit is shaking her.

I look at her in alarm.

When she calms down she tries to speak again.

"No, nothing broken but I'm hurt"

So she saying she lifts her jacket and beneath her a large red stain covers her once immaculate blouse.

I grab the garment and lift it, a fragment of glass protrudes from her side.

Ok, don't panic.

I have to think fast.

But Maria's voice interrupts my thoughts.

“What are you two doing down here?I mean you two together”

I roll my eyes.

She is always the same.

I don't answer her but Sharon does it for me.

“We have to find the Wakandian.Why were you here instead?" Carter asks as she looks carefully at Hill's wound.

“I went down with Rumlow and his men.I stopped at an office to sign documents, and at the first explosion I went back to help the agents go upstairs.

While I was inspecting the last room, the roof collapsed on me"

"You'll be fine Maria.We have faced worse.Do you remember Caracas?" I ask, lifting a corner of my lips.

“Oh Christ.We just survived that mission”

We laugh together.

Then I turn to Sharon.

"Take her upstairs.She needs medical attention immediately” I tell her.

"I'm not leaving you alone" she replies back, looking straight into my eyes.

“And I'm not going to let you kill one of my best friends.You take her upstairs.I have to get to the prisons.I will not be alone, surely there will be Rumlow and other agents under there”

I will not accept any reply to my words.

I stand up dragging Maria with me.

Sharon approaches the two of us and puts an arm around Maria's waist.

She entrusts it to her completely.

"Go" I order.

They both look at me worried.

“I can take care of myself.Go” I insist urgently.

The two women walk slowly and limping towards the door.

"Sharon?" I call her but then I freeze.

What the hell was I going to do?

Was I really going to tell her to relay a message to Bucky?

I bite the inside of my cheek and shake my head.

"Be careful" I just tell her.

She looks at me and her words take me completely off guard.

"Don't worry, I'll tell James you're okay and safe"

I look at her with disbelief.

Maria's eyes go back and forth between me and Sharon, her lips curved into a sly smile.

She seems amused by the whole situation.

"Thank you" I murmur about her turning my back and resuming my descent towards the prisons.

I begin to descend the last ladder that will take me to my final destination.

I hit something with my foot and at first I don't understand what it is...then thanks to the red emergency neon lights that flash non-stop I see that it is a corpse.

I observe the weapons he holds in his hands and the black uniform he wears.

He is a member of Rumlow's team.

And he has a bullet in his forehead.

I tighten my grip on my gun and remove the safety.

This is the proof that there are not just friends down there.

I continue slowly, all senses alert.

There is nothing left in my head.

No worries.

In this moment, I am the glacial Agent Zero again.

I continue up the stairs, meeting another dozen corpses on my way.

I arrive in a long corridor, mostly destroyed by the explosions.

I look around.

The cells on my sides are all empty.

On the long floor there are other corpses but this time I don't recognize them.

They wear camouflage and red balaclavas.

They are all dead.

My heart beats furiously in my ears.

Voices come from the last cell on the left.

I sneak up to it.

When I reach the bars of the last cell I barely reach out and what I see makes no sense.

Rumlow is sitting on the floor.

He is clearly wounded in the arm, a large makeshift bandage wraps the injured part.

Standing in front of him is Lucas.

Lucas Scott.

He has his hands turned upwards, as if he were giving up.

From here I can see the strong and firm profile of his jaw.

His blonde hair is covered in dust and blood.

He is more handsome than I remembered.

I watch him carefully and he seems unharmed.

I just need to look a few meters in front of him to see a man, in fact he is just a boy.

He has dark skin and long hair braided behind his neck.

And he's pointing a gun at Lucas.

I have to intervene.

I take two steps, just crawling my feet in order to attract the attention of the Wakandian.

As soon as his gaze lands on me he immediately points the gun at me.

“Don't shoot.Don't shoot.I'm not here to hurt you” I tell him showing him my hands and slowly, very slowly I put my weapon on the floor.

Lucas looks at me with wide eyes.

I approach Rumlow with my hands up.

I kneel beside him and grabbing his wrist I check his pulse.

I sigh of relief.

He is still alive.

His dark eyes slowly open.

"Snow" he croaks at me in a hoarse voice.

"Quiet Brock I'll get you out of here" I whisper.

Only now that I'm close can I see the big gash he has on his thigh.

A belt tightens it to try to slow down the bleeding.

When I'm about to get up he grabs me by the arm.

“I have lost all my men.Everyone…” his words die in his throat.

His red, bloodshot eyes fill with tears.

He may be a jerk but he has always been a good Captain and the loss of his men is always something devastating.

I squeeze his hand which is still resting on my arm.

"It's not your fault" I try to reassure him.

"Now stay down and hold on" I get up and go beside Lucas.

We exchange a quick glance, it's the first time we've seen each other since that night.

Let us turn our attention to the young man in front of us.

His eyes seem haunted, the gun continues to be aimed at us.

"Stay calm.We can help you” I tell him softly.

He laughs, a scary laugh.

He almost seems to be demon-possessed.

“But you already have.Bringing me here.Thanks to your stupidity you have led me where I needed it”

I turn to Lucas without understanding what the boy is saying.

The look of the blonde next to me is as confused as mine.

"What does it mean?" Lucas asks.

“It means that while you are wasting your time here with me other men have managed to get hold of the Vibranium that you had seized from us again.And if we are lucky enough we will also be able to kill T’Challa today"

His eyes light up as if he were a child on Christmas Eve, waiting for his much-desired gifts.

"You still have time" I tell him trying to instill confidence in my words.

“We can really help you.Don't you have a family?Someone waiting for your at home?If you collaborate with us we could make you hug your family again”

A sad smile makes room on the face of the young Wakandian.  "I had a family but you took it away from me"

"Us?" I ask disoriented.

“Lagos.My family was in Lagos to help our less fortunate brothers and the Avengers killed them.And what did our King do?Nothing!He was content with the Sokovia Accords.As if that were enough.As if the signatures of a couple of Avengers could ever be enough to erase the spilled blood”

The pain in his words is tangible.

“I can assure you I know what it's like to lose your family.I know how much it hurts and that seeking revenge seems like the best solution but it isn't!Believe me”

I feel Lucas eyes on me.

He knows what I'm talking about and he knows how hard it is for me to talk about it.

The Wakandian smiles in our direction.

“You will not win.Your world will fall apart as it should be.Only then will our revenge be accomplished” he raves about him and after sticking the barrel of the gun into his mouth he shoots himself.

"No!" I scream out loud.

But it's too late now.

The boy lies on the ground with his skull crushed.

"No!Fuck!" I exclaim angrily, running a hand through my hair.

Lucas approaches me.

“It's not your fault Amaya.You couldn't have stopped him.By now he had made the choice of him for some time” he whispers to me, touching my arm.

We remain for a few seconds to observe ourselves.

A whirlwind of emotions stir in my heart.

I would be lying if I said that I did not miss the man in front of me.

Talking to him was one of my favorite things, in the evening on the phone we wasted hours chatting.

With him I was always able to be myself, for better or for worse.

And he has always listened to me without ever judging me.

Instinctively I take a step closer and my arms are raised as if I wanted to hug him but suddenly a frightening noise takes us by surprise.

I crouch with my arms over my head, Lucas immediately lowers himself on me as if to shield me with his body.

We hear Rumlow cursing.

After a few moments we are hit by a cloud of dust.

We all cough convulsively.

I feel Lucas's arms tighten around my shoulders, his warm voice whispers in my ear "Are you okay Amaya?"

I nod my head against his chest, breathing in his sweet scent.

Honey and citrus fruits, sweat and blood.

When the last echo of the collapse dies out around us, we rise with caution.

Lucas moves away from me and without saying a word approaches Rumlow who, unable to move, was only able to crouch more against the wall and shield his head with his arms.

"Are you okay Brock?" he asks with concern.

"Never been better" Brock replies with his usual arrogant frown.

I roll my eyes.

Asshole.

When the dust in the air disperses, we can see the damage.

The ceiling in front of the cell door collapsed.

We're stuck in here.

Fantastic.

I try to contact my team.

I put a hand to my ear activating the earpiece.

“Guys can you hear me?We need help!Steve?Nat?We have a wounded man.Can you hear me?"

"They can't hear you from below" Rumlow murmurs in a faint voice.

"I know!" I sigh full of frustration starting to circle around the cell.

I feel the panic assault me.

Right now I regret not allowing James to follow me.

I need him now.

I sit cross-legged on the ground leaning my head against the wall.

With an involuntary gesture my hand tightens around his tags.

It's like they are my natural sedative, my lucky charm.

I smile silently with my eyes closed thinking about my panties that are currently in Bucky's pocket.

His lucky charm.

His madness is one of the reasons why I am madly in love with him.

I sigh, squeezing the tags even more tightly in my fingers.

I know how important they are to him, they remind him of who he was and who Sergeant Barnes is.

His meaningful gesture left me speechless.

When he slipped off his neck and gave me a sense of warmth he radiated into my heart.

"I'll come back to you, Sergeant" I murmur softly.

I feel a movement next to me, Lucas sat next to me.

He too leans his head against the wall and closes his eyes.

I look at his profile.

His face is covered in dust, a cut crosses his cheek and another across his forehead.

I touch one wound first and then the other with the tips of my fingers.

"Are you okay Lucas?"

His big blue eyes like the California sky open pointing to mine, he grabs my hand that's still on his face and squeezes it, bringing it to his lips.

"Yes I'm fine"

With a nod of the head I indicate Rumlow.

He has his eyes closed, his face ashen but his chest rises and falls.

Barely.

"And how is he?"

"He has lost a lot of blood" he replies worried.

"I hope they find us as soon as possible"

"They will.I'm sure they are already coming”

I try to reassure him.

My fingers tighten even more around James's tags.

It is now a gesture that I make unconsciously.

Lucas notices this and smiles.

He knows too.

Obviously he knows.

We continue to hold hands each lost in our thoughts.

His thumb continues to caress the back of my hand with small circular movements and I unwittingly relax.

This was one of the reasons I was attracted to him.

Every word or gesture from him calmed me easily.

I turn back to him, slipping my hand out of him, my gesture seems to hurt him but he says nothing.

“Lucas what happened before I arrived.I saw Rumlow's men and who were those men with the red balaclavas?"

I see him sigh.

“We have no idea.Rumlow and I were talking about the Wakandan prisoner when the first explosion occurred and we were surrounded by these men immediately after.There was a very heavy firefight.Brock has lost all of his men.It was horrible but we made it" he stops and his gaze becomes vacant as if he were reliving the horror he had just experienced.

“When you arrived I was trying to get the boy to give up”

Rumlow just moans without opening his eyes.

"I hope the Avengers find us quickly" Lucas murmurs.

I smile thinking of Bucky and Nat giving orders yelling at anyone to move.

"They will come.You can count on this”

Let's remain silent for a few minutes.

"So...it was Sergeant Barnes, huh?"

I lift my legs and hug my knees to my chest.

I know what he is asking me.

He's asking me if I turned him down months ago because of him.

"Yeah" I whisper.

"It was him"

I look down guilty but Lucas crystalline laugh makes me look up quickly at him.

“Everything is fine Amaya.You don't have to feel guilty”

I feel compelled to give him an explanation.

He deserves it.

“Before I joined the Avengers I had a one night stand with James.I never saw him again after that night.But then…then with my arrival in the team everything changed.I tried to let him go but couldn't.He didn't let me"

A corner of my lips lifts up thinking about how despite we tried with all our strength to stay away from each other, in the end our love won just the same.

But my smile dissipates as I think about how many people we have hurt.

“I'm sorry I hurt you Lucas.I should have been honest with you right away”

He watches me silently.

"Right person at the wrong time, remember?"

Lucas uses the words I used for him that night many months ago.

"I still think so, you know?" he says.

We smile at each other.

Lucas is about to tell me something but my attention is captured by something else.

A very faint hum approaches the cell where we got stuck.

I just need to look up and Red Wing is in front of me.

A smile spreads across my face as I turn to Lucas.

“They found us.Hold on Rumlow!" I say addressing the man on the floor who in response barely raises a hand as if to say "Hey I'm here, I'm holding on"

I speak to Sam's precious toy, hoping that he has some sort of audio system.

“Guys if you can hear me we got stuck in the Wakandan's cell.Rumlow is badly injured.Agent Scott and I are fine.But hurry up I don't know how long this place will hold up, half the ceiling has already collapsed and the other half is really unstable"

Red Wing makes a small swinging movement and flies away.

I tightly squeeze the bars of the cell between my fingers.

I raise my face to the crumbling ceiling.

I hope they hurry.

Bucky POV

"Buck there is no one anymore.Now let's let the bomb squad do their job”

Steve is next to me talking to me but I can't pay attention.

My eyes are glued to the spot where Amaya disappeared almost an hour ago.

“Pal I know what you're thinking…you can't go down there.There are unsafe points and the building could collapse"

I look at him with eyes full of desperation.

His hand tightens on my shoulder.

"It will all be fine.Amaya is strong and smart.I'm sure she's fine”

“Captain Rogers we need you” A soldier approaches Steve.

"Go ahead buddy" I tell him continuing to stare into space around me.

I feel him linger with his gaze on my face.

I turn to him with a smile on my face.

"I promise I won't bullshit"

Steve laughs and shakes his head walks away.

I think of Amaya.

What happened to her?

I clench my fists.

I knew I should have gone with her.

Someone approaches me.

“I'm sure she's fine.Do not be afraid”

Of all the people in the world I would never have imagined that she would come to console me.

I turn my face to Sharon.

I observe her delicate features.

Her concern is like a slap in the face.

Despite everything I've done to her, she's here to console me.

I feel like a monster.

"I'm sorry"

I know it sounds pathetic but it's the only thing I can tell her.

She immediately becomes serious.

I think she is about to yell at me a lot of insults and instead she apologizes.

"I'm sorry James"

I look at her open-mouthed unable to formulate any thoughts.

Why is she apologizing?

“Sharon, you have nothing to apologize for.I'm the one who did wrong”

“Not so James.I had understood it.I understood it and I ignored it.I thought that ignoring him the problem would disappear”

I keep looking at her without understanding her words.

“I realized you were unhappy with me James.But I was selfish.I wanted you all to myself”

I see her sigh.

“Instead of understanding why you were unhappy, I pressured you.I forced you to stay with me”

I interrupt her immediately.

“Sharon you didn't force anyone.I was a coward not to tell you about it.I didn't mean to disappoint you, you were one of the first people to believe in me.If today I am a happy man again it is thanks to you”

We smile at each other.

"Can you accept my apologies?" I ask fearfully.

She looks at me intently.

"Only if you accept mine" and so she says she holds out her hand to me.

I accept it and hold it tightly.

Then I draw her towards my body and hold her in a strong hug by wrapping my arms around her neck.

At first she does not reciprocate but then her arms close around my waist, squeezing strongly.

As soon as we part there is a moment of embarrassment and we both turn our gaze in front of us.

“You know I like her.She is strong.She can handle you”

Sharon talks about Amaya looking straight in front of her, her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"I know all too well" I giggle amused.

“She is strong.Stubborn.She is a pain in the ass but..."

"But you love her"

"Yeah...I love her"

I turn to Sharon.

"I'm sor..."

"Oh my God!" she interrupts me.

"I swear to God that if you're going to apologize again I'll kick your ass"

We burst out laughing together.

Meanwhile Natasha approaches us.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but there are news"

The former Russian spy's gaze sharpens.

"As long as you still care"

So saying she turns her back to me and goes away.

I roll my eyes and smile in the direction of Sharon who walks next to me.

I approach a small emergency station where a PC screen is on display.

It is broadcasting the images captured by Red Wing.

Behind the bars of a cell is my beautiful Amaya.

All my senses go on alert, from grainy images I try to understand if she is hurt.

"Can't this stupid thing convey more clearly?" I ask Sam.

"Hey don't insult Red Wing"

Amaya waves in front of the little drone, she looks like she's talking.

"Are the images live?" Steve asks to Sam.

“No, it's a recording from about a minute ago.I'm trying to recover the audio.Give me a minute”

Sam keeps typing letters over letters, numbers over numbers.

"Ok.Done!We have audio" exclaims Sam enthusiastically.

Just before starting the video again, a noise attracts our attention.

Iron Man descends from the sky joining us.

"What are you doing here Stark?" Steve asks surprised.

Tony takes off the helmet of his armor and stroking his goatee with one hand he answers us.

"As soon as I heard about the attack on the Triskelion I immediately flew"

While he speaks he looks around.

"Where the hell is Amaya?"

It is Sharon who answers him.

"She is in the building.We were about to watch this footage recorded by Sam's drone”

“It's called Red Wing” interrupts Sam.

She rolls her eyes in response.

Sam presses the play button and the video starts.

Amaya is seen behind the bars of a cell, behind her sitting on the floor there seem to be two other people.

Then I can finally hear her voice again.

“Guys if you can hear me we got stuck in the Wakandan's cell.Rumlow is badly injured.Agent Scott and I are fine.But hurry up I don't know how long this place will hold up, half the ceiling has already collapsed and the other half is really unstable"

Red Wing makes a small movement and flies away.

Agent Scott?Lucas Scott?

And Rumlow?

Great.

She is trapped together with two men who have a crush on her.

"I'm going" I say without thinking, turning my back on my friends.

“Woah dude!Hold your horses!The building is unsafe.Where do you think you're going?" Sam is talking.

“What do you want me to do, huh?Should I leave her there?Does not exist!I'm going” I repeat with conviction.

I'm not going to leave her there for a minute longer than necessary.

"Buck!" Steve calls me.

I know that he too wants to make me think but I don't care.

"Wait!I'm coming with you”

I'm surprised by his words.

"What?" Sam and Nat exclaim in unison.

Steve turns to his girlfriend.

“Listen baby.I know it could be dangerous but we can't wait for the bomb squad to secure the building.It might be too late”

I nod at his words.

Steve hit the spot exactly.

The longer we wait, the more we risk the worst.

"Count on me"

I turn to the man who spoke.

“Are you sure Tony?It could be dangerous"

"She is only a kid!She needs us now!”

I nod at his words.

Steve, Tony and I look into each other's eyes and with a nod of the head I tell him to follow me.

In front of the entrance we are blocked by some soldiers.

"Captain Rogers it could be dangerous" a man replies after listening to our intentions.

"Son are you wasting our time"

So saying Tony pushes the man aside and makes his way.

"So you want to follow me?" echoes Tony.

We walk inwards and begin to go down the stairs.

Arriving at the last flight of stairs, dozens of corpses are spilled all over the floor.

Men of S.H.I.E.L.D. and other men with covered faces.

As soon as we arrive in the long corridor lined with cells I call her name.

"Amaya?Amaya I'm here!"

“James!James babe!"

At the sound of her voice my heart quickens his beat and I rush towards her.

I climb over lifeless bodies and debris until I reach the cell where she is imprisoned with the others.

The exit is blocked by large pieces of ceiling, stones and sheets to obstruct the passage.

And here it is my little robin.

She is covered in dust.

Her little hands are wrapped around the cell's metal bars.

I rush towards her, grabbing her face in my hands.

“I'm here doll.I will get you out of here don't worry!”

I kiss her not giving a damn about everything and everyone.

Tony and Steve join me.

I reserve my attention to Agent Scott who is now approaching behind Amaya.

"Rumlow has lost too much blood" he informs me, turning his gaze to the man on the ground.

Rumlow is almost lifeless, we have to hurry.

Some rubble falls on our heads.

“Friday just checked the stability of this place.It will collapse shortly.We don't have time to clear the exit" Tony informs us trying to remain calm but without success.

I can feel the panic in his voice.

"Get away" I suggest to Amaya.

She takes a few steps back until she joins Agent Charming.

"What are your intentions, babe?" she asks suspiciously.

"You just stay back" I tell her again.

I grab two bars and shoot with all my strength.

I want to try to create a gap in the bars to get them out.

I pull so hard that my Vibranium arm creaks as if the components are about to come off.

But I do not care.

I keep shooting non-stop.

Steve stands by my side, he grabs the bar in my right hand.

"I pull this one, you keep pulling the other one in the opposite direction"

Tony approaches the cell grabbing Rumlow's arm.

"The pulse is weak we must hurry" he looks at us urgently.

“If I used my repulsors I could cut the bars in an instant” he suggests.

"But you would risk hitting a few pillars and everything would collapse instantly" says Steve with a tight voice from the effort.

"I know" Stark nods disconsolately.

The bars begin to bend.

"Come on man!Here we are...we are almost there” I gasp from the effort.

After a few moments the bars bend and we manage to enter the cell.

Amaya immediately throws herself into my arms pressing her lips to mine.

I hold her so tightly that I could suffocate her but I don't care.

And it doesn't seem to matter to her either.

Steve and Tony approach Rumlow grabbing him by the arms and lifting him off the floor.

Rumlow opens his eyes, they are glassy and bloodshot.

I don't think he realizes what's going on.

"We have to go, quick!" I urge my teammates to get moving.

We walk quickly towards the exit.

Lily follows me keeping her fingers tight around mine, she squeezes as if she is afraid of losing me.

I just turn to her.

"C'mon doll.We are almost there.Are you all right back there?" I ask.

“Yeah!It's all as beautiful as a walk in the park” mumbles Tony as he and Steve drag a half-knowing Rumlow.

Lucas closes the line.

Arriving in the lobby of the Triskelion we all breathe a sigh of relief.

A team of paramedics comes immediately to meet us, they grab Rumlow and after loading him on a stretcher they carry him away at the speed of light.

Natasha runs up to us, literally snatching Amaya from my hands.

"Are you okay sweetheart?" she asks her.

In her voice I can feel an excited tremble.

The two redheads in front of me really love each other, they are more like sisters than friends.

Kind of like me and Steve.

“Yeah bitch!I told you I'm hard to die" Amaya chuckles in response.

Typical of her.

Use sarcasm when she feels overwhelmed by emotions.

And Natasha knows this so she hugs her even tighter and whispers something in her ear.

A moment later Amaya is sobbing in her arms.

I just go over to leave her a kiss on the head.

“You are in good hands my beautiful robin.I'm going to talk to Steve and the others, you take all the time you need" I whisper close to her ear.

She nods without taking her face off Natasha's chest.

I walk away and look at her while Nat continues to whisper something to her ear and pets her hair.

I get closer to others.

Sam is asking Agent Scott something.

“It was a massacre.If it wasn't for Brock I don't know if I would still be alive” Lucas replies.

"Who updates me?" I ask without addressing anyone in particular.

“I'll give you the short version Barnes.We're in shit" Tony replies, then nodding his head to where Amaya is, he asks me "How's the kid?"

"She's a little shaken but she'll be fine" I reply.

Lucas steps in.

“She feels guilty about the death of the prisoner.She saw him shoot himself in the mouth.She believes she could have done more"

I look at him with a raised eyebrow but he doesn't let my gaze intimidate him.

"Problems Barnes?"

"Do you have problems Scott?"

"Look, you're not the only one who knows Amaya..."

I don't let him finish the sentence because I come dangerously close to him.

Our faces are inches apart.

“Choose your next words very carefully Agent Blondie because it's my girlfriend you're talking about”

Scott looks at me with a sly smile and I want to punch him.

Steve walks up to me putting his hand on my chest.

"Easy man" he warns me.

Tony, on the other hand, laughs amused.

"Gentlemen as much as your little theater tempts me at the moment we have bigger problems"

"We need to talk but we need a safe place" Steve murmurs thoughtfully.

"My home.A few miles from here is my apartment.It's a safe place”

Meanwhile, Amaya and Natasha join us.

Tony puts his arm around my girlfriend's shoulders and kisses her head.

"Are you okay kid?"

She nods giving him a sweet smile then her gaze, for a split second, rests on Lucas's.

It is a fleeting glance but full of some feeling that I cannot understand.

Does she still have feelings for him?

I shake my head trying to push these uncomfortable thoughts away.

Twenty minutes later we're all crammed into Sam's small kitchen.

Tony and Steve are one next to the cave, both are leaning against the kitchen counter.

Sam and Lucas are seated at the table while Amaya and Natasha are seated directly across from the two men.

I am standing with my back to the wall and my gaze fixed on Agent Scott.

His gaze falls too often on my little robin.

“To recap” murmurs Iron Man “It was all studied.But why did the prisoner want to come to America?That is, they could destroy the Triskelion and steal the Vibranium even without his presence"

"But his presence served to attract us and T’Challa.A great way to eliminate multiple targets at once” Amaya replies.

"This makes sense" replies Sam.

Steve sighs.

"They've failed at this but they've got all the vibranium again...and that's absolutely no good"

Steve is right.

They failed to kill us but recovered their booty.

“Not forgetting that they had time to plant the explosives.This means that the mole is someone very close to us.Someone who followed the plan step by step” reflect Sam aloud.

Shit.We are in shit.

“We will need all the video surveillance footage from the Triskelion.Tony, could you also send us all the images of the various security cameras around the area?Let's say within 500 meters?" Natasha asks.

Tony nods.

“Well” the redhead resumes looking at Amaya.

“You and I have a long job to do.Are you ready?"

“I was born ready”

The two women smile at each other.

“I'll investigate those men in the red balaclavas.As soon as I have news, I'll get in touch with you” Lucas speaks to Steve.

Great.

We now work in the same team.

"Perfect tomorrow we'll start digging into this whole thing and..." but Tony stop talking because his phone starts ringing.

He answers and after muttering some "ok" and some "good" he ends the call.

"It was Agent Carter.Maria Hill and Rumlow are fine.They are out of danger and will recover.T’Challa is safe, she is on a return flight to Wakanda" Tony updates us.

Amaya sighs in relief.

Then her gaze turns to Tony.

"Is your phone safe?" she asks him.

"Sure" Tony replies almost offended by such a question.

Amaya continues to stare at him.

"What?" Tony asks.

“I would need it”

Tony hands her his phone muttering “A please would be appreciated.These kids today are too rude"

Amaya rolls her eyes as she grabs the phone from Tony's hands, she leaves him a kiss on his cheek as she walks past him and she heads to another room.

Automatically I follow her but I freeze on the threshold of the door when I realize that I don't know if she wants me to know who she is calling.

I start to go back but her sweet voice calls me.

"James?You come in and close the door” she whispers.

I look around.

We are in a bedroom, the walls are covered with photos of two beautiful children.

I observe them rapt.

“They are Sam's grandchildren” Amaya explains to me as she hugs me from behind.

I turn to her and grabbing her hand I go to the bed and sit on top of it making her sit on my lap.

Amaya's hot and sensual lips rest on mine.

At first it is a light kiss, just a touch of lips but then it gradually becomes more and more understood.

My tongue invades her mouth as her arms close around my neck.

We only detach when it's time to catch our breath.

Her forehead rests on mine.

She then kisses the tip of my nose and while sitting in my arms she dials a number on the phone keypad and she holds it to her ear.

After a few moments a male voice answers her.

He's Fury.

Of course she called him.

They just exchange a couple of information and say goodbye quickly.

She snuggles up to my chest and sighs.

I kiss the top of her head and we remain in silence enjoying each other's presence.

"Sharon and I have clarified" I begin.

"I'm really happy babe"

I feel her smile on my chest.

"Why do I get the impression that it is your robin?"

"Me?I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about Sergeant”

We both laugh when a soft knock on the door catches our attention.

"I hope you two aren't having sex in my house" Sam exclaims as he opens the door.

Amaya laughs heartily and Sam enter in the room sitting next to us.

“Tony, Steve and Nat have left.Unfortunately the house is small and they went to sleep in the hotel which is a few blocks away.Agent Scott will sleep on the sofa.You two can stay here if you want”

“Will Mister Perfection really sleep here?Nice friend you are!" I interrupt what I thought was one of my best friends.

Traitor.

Host him as if he wasn't my enemy!

Amaya nudges me in the stomach so hard that my breath hisses out.

“Thanks Sam.Thanks Sam you idiot!” and so saying she gives me a second elbow in my stomach.

“Ouch…yeah…thanks Sam.You are a true friend” I whisper under my breath.

Sam laughs.

"C'mon dude!That man went through hell today, he saw a dozen colleagues die...I didn't feel like sending him away" he explains, turning a look at me in search of understanding.

Right now I would punch him in the face I swear.

“Thanks Sam, you were really kind to host him” Amaya thanks Sam all too kindly for his gesture.

Are she really that excited about spending the night under the same roof as Lucas?

Sam stands up leaving a kiss on my girlfriend's cheek.

"Don't worry Amaya, it's nothing.Goodnight.Night Buck”

“Goodnight” we reply at the same time.

Once we are left alone Amaya gets up and goes to the bathroom we have in the room.

"I need a shower" she tells me stretching her arms upwards making her back bones crack.

"Go ahead.I'll wait here" I reply irritably.

I'm still thinking about the idiot who will sleep on the sofa tonight.

I see her hesitating at the door.

"What?" I ask confused.

"I was thinking...I was thinking if you would like to enjoy me in the shower" she whispers sensually opening the zip of her leather suit sliding it down her shoulders.

She is left topless with only my tags idly falling on it.

She finishes taking it off, remaining only with a pair of plain black panties in front of my eyes.

She undoes her bun and keeps looking at me biting her lip.

"Didn't you say we weren't suitable for sex in confined spaces?" I tease her by quoting the same words as her.

"Maybe the shower here is bigger...but quiet if you don't feel like I can go over there and ask Lucas"

A growl of possession resounds in my chest and getting up like a fury I go towards her.

I grab her by the neck and kiss her almost nastily.

I bite her lips until I hurt her, until I feel the taste of blood on my tongue.

"Don’t mess with me doll" I whisper on her lips, kissing her again forcefully.

I tear off her panties making her jump and taking her in my arms I drag her with me into the shower.

I undress with dry and determined movements continuing to kiss her, our tongues continue to dance together sensually.

Amaya moans eagerly in my mouth as her hand tightens around my erection.

I remove her hands abruptly and grabbing both of her wrists I only whisper a word in her ear.

"Kneel"

She obeys me instantly.

"Yes sir"

Good girl.

I grab her hair and bend her head behind and then I bend down on her and spit in her mouth.

"Swallow my little whore"

She does it while continuing to look at me with adoring eyes.

God how much I love this woman.

I love her so much that I feel my heart hurt.

Her little hands claw my thighs and her face gets closer and closer to my dick.

After a few moments her lips wrap around my tip, teasing it with her tongue.

I throw my head behind, moaning silently, bringing my hands between her silky red hair.

I push a few locks away from her face to be able to observe her in all the magnificence of her while her sinful mouth takes care of me.

“Touch yourself for me my little robin” I urge her with shortness of breath.

She puts her hand on her sex and with her fingertips begins to tease her clit.

She purrs while she continues to please me with her mouth.

"Cum with me doll" I hiss as I push her head faster, my cock moves in and out mercilessly from her mouth.

I cum on her lips, on her breasts.

I open the water which immediately washes my semen away from her body.

She lifts and fastens her arms around my neck.

"I love you James"

"I love you too" I answer her by grabbing her thigh, bringing it to my side and with a single movement I enter her.

I start fucking her mercilessly.

She is mine.

And she will always be mine.

"You're only mine right?" I ask her in an angry voice, looking for confirmation.

"Yes sir" she gasps in my ear between one moan and another.

I grab her other leg and lift her up in my arms, her hands clutching strands of my wet hair.

I place my lips in the curve of her neck, kissing her softly.

"You are only mine right?You only love me right?"

This time in my voice there is no trace of the Dom that is in me, there is only desperation.

A pathetic desperation.

Amaya senses the change of course of my feelings and her sweet gaze lands on mine.

"I'll always be yours James"

"So the man over there...you don't feel anything for him, do you?" I lower my eyes, avoiding her gaze.

I also stop penetrating her.

I simply hold her in my arms while remaining firm inside her body.

"James?James please look at me”

I surrender to her sweet will by looking up at her.

Her hands caress my face with such a sweetness that my soul vibrates.

"You are the only man I want.You are the only one I want.I love you and thanks to your love I feel that I am coming back to life.You saved my life babe”

I hold her tight and start moving again.

But this time I do it slowly.

The urgency and the anger I felt before seem to have disappeared thanks to her words.

Now we are just a man and a woman who sweetly make love.

We cum together tightly in each other's arms.

“I love you Amaya.I love you more than anything in this world"

We get out of the shower and after drying ourselves we lie down on the bed.

Amaya snuggles into my arms, our legs are entwined.

Our breaths mix with each other in a last sweet kiss before abandoning us to sleep.

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@deansapplepie

[erigold13261]

Hi! Do you have HCs for older Yinu? I loved your take on her, as well as her future designs! Questions like: “Will she stay in NSR as an adult?” Or “What does she like doing other than playing the piano?” Thanks and Love Love Sayu Pyunnn to you!

I'm really glad you like my design! I need to make more life designs lol

As for headcanons, I would say that Yinu will probably stay with NSR until late teens to early adulthood, she is definitely not going to spend her whole life working under the same company.

I think the reason she would leave would probably because of Mama, whether it be because she has declining health or... dies. Either way, that would be a kick to Yinu to stop working and actually live, because I can see Yinu spending her whole childhood and teen years playing piano professionally so much that she just doesn't have a real life. No matter how hard Mama tries to make it so that Yinu can have a normal life, it will never be normal as long as she is a megastar.

Once she retires, or at least takes a few years away from NSR, I would think she starts exploring outside of piano. She probably has no real idea who she is or what she likes. She definitely likes plants, so she would travel a bit. A lot actually. She would go and visit all kinds of places, probably with Mama or by herself. Possibly she could go with a friend or partner if she has one later on.

During this time she would still be practicing piano, but not nearly as much as she was when she was a child. Maybe she picks up some other instruments. I can see her playing harp, which Mama would teach her, or violin, which Neon J could teach. She would definitely still be in touch with the other megastars too.

Yinu would find a love of adventure, a passion for cooking, and an eye for fashion. And honestly, I can see her also learning to fight, like karate or judo, kickboxing, something like that.

As she gets older she would start to slow down, maybe date maybe get married. Possibly stay single for a long while. I see Yinu as a lot more independent as she gets older, having had her mother basically around her and protecting her all the time would make Yinu a bit more cautious of getting in a relationship and fearing she would lose some of her independence. But she would still want to one day get married and be as happy as her parents were, but also scared of loving someone so much she might lose them like Mama lost Papa. It would be a big hurdle for her honestly.

Once she is no longer traveling, putting up small performances here and there, I could see her returning to professional piano playing. Probably in her mid 30s. She would have to learn what type of music is popular and how to make it, but I am sure she would be a hit whenever she comes back. If NSR is still around at that time she would be willing to join again, though there would definitely be a whole different set of megastars that she would have to get to know. The only one I can see still being there is Sayu, and even then that is a very low probability. Yinu would also be more willing to go fully solo in her career or join other music industries. Probably more willing to do that than to rejoin NSR if she can't get over the nostalgia.

No matter what, Yinu is going to have a long and fulfilling life. There will be hardships, and trying to figure out who she is later in life. But she will have fun overall and in the end she will retire to where Mama and Papa grew up and live the rest of her life there. Sometimes an ex-megastar will visit her, or she will visit them, or a fan will find her, but she enjoys her life and is happy in the end.

[serenity-bitty]

It is NEVER the fault of the child, and it is NEVER okay to hit a child. End of story. You can empathize to hell and back, nothing ever excuses hitting a child. Ever. A parent is meant to be their child's safety. The one they go to when they're scared. If you hit your child--even just ONE TIME--they will fear you instead. Oh sure, it may be only a little fear. But that small amount of fear is enough for them to not call you when something else has gone wrong. To not rely on you, because they fear you, and attempt to deal with issues they don't have experience/are too young to be dealing with. My mother tried her goddamn best. I feel terrible for the things that happened to her during her upbringing, I feel terrible about her losing her dream home and being forced to move into that shitty trailer. I feel terrible that her mental and physical health declined so much. I tried every day to help her see the brighter side of things, to help her when she needed me to, and be a good daughter.

And hey, she didn't even hit me that often! Or that hard! And she was actually a REALLY good mom when my siblings and I were younger! But you know what? She stopped. Once we were old enough to have opinions, to want independence, she STOPPED. NONE of the things she went through have EVER justified hitting me. Nothing she went through justified the way she took it out on me. She had reasons, yes. But not a single one of them would ever be enough to justify the pain she inflicted on me, both physically and mentally. "But she's your mother!" My ASS. It was HER responsibility as a parent to treat ME like a DAUGHTER. She chose to have me, she chose to keep me and raise me, and by doing so she CHOSE to accept that responsibility.

And instead of sticking by her decision, she CHOSE to abuse me instead. That was a choice. She did not HAVE to hurt me. Your mother didn't HAVE to hurt you either. These were choices that were made, and WE are not at fault for the choices our parents made for themselves.

I used to be like you. I made excuse after excuse, I even went so far as to call her "verbally abrasive" because I could not for the life of me come to terms with the other A-word. Abuse. Because I knew if I let myself truly realize it was abuse, and I actually focused on how many fucked up things she did to me, said to me, and made me believe I was... I wouldn't be able to forgive her.

And there was no way to get away from her, no way to hide how I felt with my autistic face showing off every emotion I felt like neon lights in the dark. I had to lie to myself, so I could lie to her, so I could survive.

She taught me how to lie. She taught me how to stay quiet and out of sight. She taught me to lock the door behind me, so I could hide what was precious to me from her, so she wouldn't know to take it from me. She taught me to lie, lie, lie. To her, to my father, to anyone who spoke to her, and even to myself. She taught me to lie. I absolutely HATE how good of a liar I am. It's just like her.

I can't bring myself to forgive her. I've been forced to put myself first, because if I didn't I would have been in the fucking ground YEARS ago because of the way she chooses to speak to me. Because of the way she chooses to make me feel about myself, to make herself feel better.

Now, I don't know you. I don't know your mother. But I'm gonna ask you: Would you EVER hit a child? For any reason at all? Would you be okay with them feeling the way you feel about this? Would you genuinely expect a child to be understanding of you, the way you are understanding of your mother when she hit you? Even if you don't plan on having kids, think of this hypothetically.

Could you hear a child say the things you have said in this post, look them in the eye and say "Yeah, that's right! Good job being so understanding, kiddo!" And allow that child to think that this is a natural and expected response to being harmed by their parent?

I couldn't.