#I’m gonna ask for the name of the state lab he sent the report to

[king0fcrows]

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[popopretty]

Storm Bringer Spoilers (10)

A small part from the Epilogue where Chuuya and Dazai met up with Dr. Wollstonecraft. It was from one of the translation requests I got long ago and this part is fun, everyone is so adorable, so here it is.

Feel free to retranslate if you want. Just note that I am not a native speaker in either Japanese or English so I make mistakes sometimes.

Chuuya went back to the pier, and as he was about to get on his bike, a black car slowly approached him. The window at the back seat slowly came down and the person inside called out, "Chuuya".

That was Dazai. It was a rare sight. He had his black suit and his tie on, the formal attire for guests greeting.

"Work is in five minutes."

Chuuya and Dazai were standing under the gangway of a luxury passenger ship.

That was a ridiculously expensive fancy liner. The ship that Shirase had boarded before that was incomparable to it, both in size and materials. Its paint was chalk-white without a spot, the five-story guest rooms were decorated like the finest hotels. No matter where the passengers went, they would be accompanied by a skilled guide on board. The ship was also known for its navigational capability. Even when it sailed at twice the speed of an ordinary ship, its turbulence was less than one tenth of a normal one.

That ship was called "The Boswellian".

The government's passenger ship that only high-ranking government officials were allowed to board.

The gangway was lowered and delegation descended in front of Chuuya and Dazai's eyes.

First were the guardsmen in black suits. They cautiously looked around at all directions. The bulges around their waists showed that they were all carrying guns.

After that came some bearded men who looked like officials. Old, capable, with gray brown eyes that showed no hints of what they were thinking. Their clothes were of top-quality. A man carrying a cane with a golden spiral pattern on it was pushing the crew who was trying to help him off board with the tip of his cane, so crudely as if he was chasing away a stray dog on the street.

"The noble demons of England have showed up." Dazai murmured in a voice that only Chuuya who was standing next to him could hear.

Those people were high-ranking officials of the British government who came here for the post-incident investigation, the “Assassination King incident" that occurred through multiple levels of state secrets. A team of investigators were dispatched to Japan to investigate this serious case that went beyond a normal criminal case, and report to the government. And Port Mafia had come forward to welcome the team and cooperate with them in the investigation, as a party to the case.

Illegal organization Port Mafia is in charge of welcoming the investigation team of the British government.

It was an odd situation, but there was a certain rationale and calculation of the Boss behind it.

First of all, the one who had the whole picture of the incident this time was neither the Ministry of Foreign Affairs nor the police, but Port Mafia. As from the beginning, the European governments had been trying to hide it completely from the Japanese government. Also from the Port Mafia side, they also had a reason to keep a close eye on the movements of the mighty British government.

That was because they suspected that these people might try to eliminate every person of Port Mafia who was involved in this incident to cover up the "Assasination King incident" that arose from the state secrets.

Obviously, Port Mafia had no intention to reveal the truth and the secrets of the case. But it was hard to tell how much the British would believe in words of a criminal organization. That was why Dazai was sent to greet them. If they really had the intention to eliminate the people involved, Dazai would have to negotiate to stop that from happening. If the negotiation failed, then Port Mafia would have to eliminate the investigation team before the other party had the chance to eliminate them. That was why Chuuya was accompanying him. Depending on the other party's actions, this might turn into an interstate war that involved the whole Port Mafia.

“Well, let the fun deception game begin.”, Dazai said excitedly as he headed towards the investigation team.

The guard men immediately reacted to the person approaching, their hands reaching for their waists where the guns were.

“Thank you for coming all the way here, ladies and gentlemen of the great British Empire.” Dazai's attitude changed completely as he greeted the guests with a fluent and courteous voice. “You must be the members of the investigation team? I know this is sudden but may I ask who your representative is?”

“Representative?” the guardsman whom Dazai directed this question to looked rather confused and tilted his head. "This is the technical advisory unit of the investigation team so if you say representative, I think that might be Dr. Wollstonecraft...”

Dr. Wollstonecraft?

Chuuya tilted his head. He had heard that name somewhere before.

“Aa!” Dazai seemed to get it right away. “I heard that name before. That’s the skilled engineer who designed Investigator Adam Frankenstein, right? Hmm... you must be Dr. Wollstonecraft then?” Dazai followed the gazed of the guardsman and called out to the most dignified and oldest man in the investigation team. He had a shaggy white beard, a receding hairline, and two medals for achievements in the military science sector pinned to his chest.

The old man noticed Dazai’s voice and laughed out cheerfully.

“No no, I’m not Dr. Wollstonecraft. I’m just tagging along. Doctor is... Look! She's getting off the ship right now.”

Dazai and Chuuya followed the old man’s eyes and looked up at the ship’s gangway. At the top of it, an oversized travel suitcase was left there unassisted. Wait...

“Okay. Nice to meet you. I’m Dr. Wollstonecraft... Oh so this is the said country? It looks bigger than on the map.”

The small figure that appeared from behind the suitcase, no matter how you looked at her...

“... How old is that?”

That was a little girl.

Blond hair, white blouse. The suitcase was big, but she was also small enough to be completely hidden behind it. She wore a big pair of round glasses that covered half of her face. And on her chest were more than twenty medals for achievements in science.

“Hey hey...” Chuuya made a drawn face.

“Oh! It's getting interesting.” Dazai laughed happily.

The little girl struggled down the gangway. She was holding the oversized suitcase, or rather, clinging onto it as it dragged her downwards.

“Heave ho! I am.. heave-ho... Dr... heave-ho! Wollstonecraft Godwin Shelley, heave-ho!”. The girl spoke every time she got off one step, still clinging on to the heavy luggage. “People call me the girl with a genius brain but, heave-ho, those are people who don't have the ability to see the essence of things. Heave-ho! My achievements are thanks to my special skill that make any designs possible. Heave-ho! And because I am a genius.”

“Hey, aren't you going to help her with that heavy luggage?” Chuuya couldn't stand it anymore and asked the bearded old man next to him.

“Hahaha. Doctor is the type of person who doesn't want anyone to touch her luggage.” the old man laughed cheerfully. "Even Her Majesty wouldn't be able to take that from her. Because if we do so, she will start crying and screaming, just like a kid who has gone back 10 years in time."

“If she goes back that much, isn't she gonna end up in her mother’s belly again...?” Chuuya said with a tired face.

“Also, she may look like that, but Doctor was really looking forward to this trip. That case is filled with her favorite essentials for this trip. No-one will be able to take it from her.”

“Old man! Don’t go around talking about me like I am just a normal little girl! I might be short but I will be a full-grown decent adult very soon.... heave-ho!”

Dr. Shelley finally got to the end of the gangway. She wiped off the sweat on her face and fixed her clothes with her hands. “Phew! Nice to meet you again, people of Japan. Well... you are Chuuya-kun right? Thanks for taking care of Adam.”

Upon hearing Adam’s name, Chuuya's face looked like he just shallowed a bitter thing down his throat. "I am not sure." , he then said. "The one who was taken care of was me."

The little girl fixed the big glasses to the middle of her face and stared at Chuuya.

“He died saving me... Doctor, Adam is your best work, right? I'm sorry for breaking it.”

“Hmm.”

Doctor Shelley observed Chuuya from the left, from the right, then stared at him closely from the front. Like she was observing an interesting research subject.

"You are right, Adam is my greatest work." , she said with her arms crossed. “Rather than sending him to a good-for-nothing island country like this for investigation, I’d have him in the lab and continue the research to upgrade him.”

Chuuya listened in silence. His expression was not looking at something in front of him at that moment. What he was seeing was some scenes of the past.

Doctor Shelley cleared her throat like a child then continued, “The best thing about Adam is that, he is equipped with the intelligence to think and judge the situation by himself. In other words, Adam chose to sacrifice himself out of his own will, his own judgement.” Dr. Shelley smiled. “Because you are worth it. I believe in Adam. I appreciate your apology, but it’s not something you need to worry about.”

Chuuya opened his mouth, trying to say something but he couldn't put it into words. Just like a child who had forgotten his way home, he just stood there with a stunned look on his face.

Seeing Chuuya like that, Dazai giggled as if he couldn't do anything about it.

“First off, from the beginning I didn't like the idea of using Adam for such a worthless investigation.” Dr. Shelley crossed her arms, looking sullen. “The government is always like that! They send out machine investigators for missions and when they are done with it, they just blow it up together with all the secret information. Even though we could have got the best test data from interacting with different cultures from those solo missions! Just because it's for the sake of human's life, they think that they can neglect science like that?”

To Chuuya and Dazai’s surprise, Doctor Shelley ordered her subordinate for “that” and had a black tube the length of an arm brought to her.

"That's why, such an ill-natured person like me had installed a detachable sub-processor and non-volatile memory. Without telling the government.” She took out the thing inside the black tube. “In here.”

The thing inside the tube that had the length of an arm, was actually an arm.

That was Adam’s right arm, the arm that Chuuya sent flying and stuck into the ground when he was escaping from inside of the Demonic Beast Guivre.

“This is...” , a question mark appeared on Chuuya’s face. “After the incident, I searched the scene but couldn't find it anywhere. Why is it here?”

“I mean, it's rather obvious to do this, isn't it?” Dr. Shelley put her finger on her huge travel suitcase. After her vital signals were verified, the auto-lock was released.

The figure that came out from the suitcase took the arm. And he said as he was attaching it to himself, “Do you want to hear an Android joke, Chuuya-sama?”

Chuuya stood still in shock. He kept his mouth open in surprise. Finally, he took a breath slowly through that mouth. A deep breath, as deep as he could. Then his expression changed as if he was about to burst.

And he laughed, "Hahaha...!"

[animatorweirdo]

Beast unbound

Camilla and Maglor are finally coming to look for you after receiving a concerning message from a moth. Langon and Maluk finally discovers what you truly are. 

Warning; Blood and death, and violence. 

Chapter 16

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A gust of wind flew through Maglor's open window, disturbing his thoughts and work. It was cold and some of the snow got in and were melting on his paperwork. He took a deep breath after the gust stopped. He felt chills going down on his back and it was an unpleasant feeling. Like something bad just happened. He looked through his open window. The night was young but the darkness already gave him chills. He glanced at the frost that formed on the corner of his window. The patterns it painted his window with were beautiful, but now it reminded him about the cold dangers of winter. It also sort of reminded him about your frozen eyes. They held danger but were glazed with kinda beautiful frozen patterns, which glowed with blue light. He frowned. How many days has it been since your disappearance? He trusted Camilla's choice of waiting for you but it has already been more than two days since they agreed to wait for you. He was mostly held back because he and Maedhros needed to prepare for war and ensure Himring's safety, but... He couldn't wait for your return, not anymore, he needed to know. He left his work down and stood up, going toward to door of his chamber. Maedhros can handle Himring himself for a day and a half.

"Camilla, we need to talk!" Maglor came through the door and left his courtesies. Camilla jumped and the moth on her finger flew away in fright. It then flew outside through the open window. It was quiet for a moment. "Maglor, what do I owe the pleasure?" Camilla asked after recovering from the shock. "(Name). It's been more than a week and she still hasn't come back. I think she's either injured or trapped somewhere" He explained. Camilla stared at him for a moment. "Than you came in a right time because I got some good news and bad news," She said. "Which one do you want to hear first?" She asked. Maglor felt his heartbeat up with hope, but he had a dreadful feeling about the 'bad news. "Drop the question and just tell me," He stated. "Alright... Well, the good news is the moth found (Name), and she's alive," She started. Maglor mentally sighed in relief. You were alive. "... The bad news is... She's a prisoner in your old fortress," Camilla then said. He felt his heart freeze. He already knew the enemy took it over, thanks to the reports, but the thought of you being a prisoner there what brought dread to his heart. His worse dream came true. You were a prisoner. In enemy's hands. Were you treated like a slave? Were you hurt? Many dreadful ideas about how you were treated there came to his mind. There was no doubt you're not doing well right now.

He took a moment to ease his anxiously racing heart. He almost couldn't breathe. This feeling was the same when Maedhros was captured. Helplessness, anxiety, and fear for your well-being."Now that we got that out of the way, I need to ask a serious question?" Camilla asked. "What is it?" Maglor asked. "Do you want to come with me? I'm gonna go to your gap and get (Name) back?" She asked. He felt frozen. The idea of going to his former land just to get you plagued his mind. It was completely taken over by orcs, so going there was an insane idea. Avoiding orcs would be impossible and finding you would be difficult unless you were in his former fortress. "You don't have to come with me? You do have your duties as a lord of these people. You can't just ditch your duties for some human girl, but I'm going," Camilla said, then grabbed her already packed bag. "I would appreciate it if you provide me a horse and a weapon. They might make my journey a bit easier," She stood up. She then looked at him and waited. "So... Do you wanna come or do you wanna stay?" She asked. He thought about it. He wanted to see you safe and talk to you about your wendigo situation, but the current situation was a bit bad. Maedhros would definitely give him an earful for going to the enemy land for one mere mortal. He should consider the safety of his people more important than worry about one human girl. He mentally groaned. This is one of the reasons why he didn't want to be the high king when Maedhros was captured. The decision-making was way too hard for him.

His thoughts came to you. He thought about the time he had with you in summer. You might not know, but the time he spent with you was like his escape from this harsh reality. Things could have been different, but then this happened and you were kept as a prisoner in his own fortress, in his own lands. He once thought about inviting you over, but not like that. Kept in a cold cell and treated like a slave. He sighed then looked at Camilla with a determined expression. He made his decision.

"I'm coming with you," He said. Camilla looked at him surprised but then smiled. "I'm thankful..." She said. "I'm sure (Name) will be happy that you still care about her like a friend," She added. "Well... There are some things we need to go over, but I want her to be safe," He said. Camilla smiled and nodded. "Then get your stuff ready, because we're leaving now," She said, then walked toward the door. "Now? Should we not prepare first?" He asked a bit startled. "We can plan on the way, and tell your brother you joined the patrols around Himring, to avoid unnecessary conversations," Camilla was already out of the door. Maglor stood dumbfounded for a moment. Usually, it would be best to plan carefully before acting, but apparently, Camilla wastes no time when it comes to you. He shook himself awake and ran after the human girl. How about he should stop thinking and go before he's the one who's staying behind.

Maluk was just loitering around his lab until something cold brushed against his face. He stood there baffled. "That's strange, I thought we had all the holes fixed in this room," He said. He was about to check around, but then he felt something spiritually burst in the fortress. It was cold and there was also something which made his fea quiver with emotion he thought he couldn't feel anymore... Fear. "Is that? What is this feeling? Did the little (Name) finally crack? But if this is her, why does it feel something else than a maiar?" He questioned. He smiled with joy. "Oh, how exciting! What am I doing here?! I need to go and see!" He ran toward the doors of his labs. Excitement washing over him like a child getting his candy.

The fortress was cold. The air has turned from the mild cold into freezing, and all the torches were going out. It was like an unknown force in the wind was putting all the fires in the fortress out. Langon walked over the corpses of the dead orcs. The blood decorated the floor with crimson red color and the corpses were already smelling rotten. Langon looked at the corpses and noticed something strange. The orcs were ripped and clawed to death. This was not caused by a weapon of any sort. He felt the unknown fea again. It was close. A scream echoed from the main hall. He turned toward his surviving orc soldiers. "To the main hall, now!" He ordered and speed-walked toward the place the scream took face. The orc soldiers followed him without hesitation. Langon pushed the doors open and the sight almost sent shivers to his spine. Dead orcs, everywhere. The last standing orc fell dead and above him stood a familiar creature. You. You growled and stared right back at him with your frozen eyes. Your icy claws and pale white skin drenched in blood. A sharp row of teeth showing from your mouth. You bent down on your fours and snarled at them like a beast.

Langon stood back as he saw your fea. It was like you were covered in darkness with cracks of blue underneath. Your eyes shone brightly, but with intention of killing. He noticed your own fea under all that, and the shape that surrounded it. It was like a beast that devoured your fea inside of it. He stood back when he felt the coldness of your monstrous fea. He realized something very important. You were no maiar. "Attack that thing!" He ordered.

The orcs then brought out their weapons and charged at you. You roared which almost sounded like an angry, hollow scream. The orcs didn't halter much and charged. You dodged the first one then sent him flying across the room. You blocked the other one before using your claws to slice his neck open, killing him instantly. The third one landed a hit on you which made you back away. "Archers!" An orc yelled. A couple of archers are prepared to shoot you. You snarled, unimpressed. You stood up on your feet. "Fire!" They shot at you with arrows. You ran across the hall, the arrows not even touching you. They tried to shoot you fast as they can, but their arrows couldn't even come near you.

You jumped high in the air and used one of the pillars to swing yourself toward the nearest orc archer. He screamed as you tackled him to the floor and ripped his throat out with your teeth. His blood sprayed on the floor as you mauled him.

One of the orc archers tried to shoot you out of fear. You sensed the danger and growled. The orc archer yelled and sent his arrow flying at you, but it turned out useless as you dodged it and appeared right in front of him. You slammed your arm against his head and he was sent flying. He died on the impact against the stone pillars. His body fell on the floor like a heavy sack.You cackled in amusement then turned your attention toward your next prey.

Langon felt uneasy as he observed the fight. The orcs were dying left and right. They were nothing against you. Your menacing fea has already sent them in a state of terror. You sent another orc flying. He hit the wall and fell to the floor. Decorating the painting of the silver tree of Valinor in blood. Langon stood back. You were fast, strong, and extremely violent. It would be foolish of him to fight you now without any sort of plan. He used the shadows to mask his presence, then left the main hall, leaving the orcs to be slaughtered by you.

Nelle moved fast and carefully with her feet, so she wouldn't accidentally trip one of the orc corpses laying on the floor. The air was cold enough that she could see her own breath. She made haste toward the kitchen where she last saw you. Her heart was beating anxiously, fearing what she will find. This was not good. There was something dangerous in the fortress, hunting and killing everything it sees. She needs to get to you and Melui before the unknown danger will.She finally arrived in the kitchen. Her blood ran cold for what she saw. Two orcs were laying dead on the floor. Their limbs ripped from their bodies. There was one orc lying on the table, his face was ripped so hard that the only visible thing from his face was his skull. It was a bloody sight. But what most caught her attention was Melui.

Melui was quietly crying in the corner, holding his bloody shoulder in deep agony. He was missing an arm. Nelle's eyes wandered around the room until they landed on a severed arm that laid some far away from Melui. She quickly looked around when she remembered you. You were nowhere in sight. She turned her attention toward Melui and quickly approached him. Melui gasped in fright but calmed down when the stranger was Nelle. She looked through his severe wound. "What happened?" She asked while ripping parts of her dress. She turned the fabric into a thick rope-like, then started tying Melui's bare shoulder. He winced and whimpered from the touch. He breathed heavily as she worked on his shoulder. "(Na... (Name)... She... " He started, his eyes were burning with tears. Nelle turned her eyes toward his. "What happened? Where is she? " She asked. Melui swallowed, trying to control his sobbing. "(Name)... She... She did this, " He gasped out. Nelle looked at him in bewilderment. You did this? Does that mean... The presence she sensed... The presence that was killing the orcs... Was you?

"Melui, " She grabbed on the elf's shoulders. "Tell me exactly what happened, " She stated. Melui slowly nodded, then took a deep breath. "The orcs... They came and... Started assaulting us... The orc on the table," He pointed at the dead, faceless orc. "He was going to violate me, but... Then (Name)... I don't know how, but... She," He had a mental flashback, making him stop on his tracks. It was quiet for a moment. "Melui, tell me more," Nelle said. Melui looked at her then recalled what happened.

You violently tore the two orcs into pieces. They screamed in shock and pain. You bit down on one of the orc's necks and pulled his throat out. The orc behind Melui stood back, mortified as the two orcs he brought with him fell dead on the floor. Melui dropped on the floor, staring at your frozen form in shock. You looked like a beast. You turned toward the last orc and growled. He screamed as you appeared in front of him in a blink of an eye, threw him on the table, and then started clawing and biting his face.

Melui took a deep breath as he remembered the bloody scene. Nelle looked at him and listened to every word he said. "But after she killed them..." He began.

You stood in front of the now-dead orc. His face was mauled into a bloody mess after your rampage. You just stood there and stared at the corpse. The blood dribbled from the table onto the floor, creating a red puddle. You let out slow deep hollow breaths.

Melui slowly stood up, not taking his eyes off you. You were not moving at all, but your presence was still enough to make him afraid to even thinking about speaking to you. You just stood there like a frozen statue. He didn't think about doing anything rash, but his growing worry for you urged him to say something. "(Name), " He said. You snapped your gaze toward him, making him jump from your sudden movement. You then approached him and he backed away until he hit a table, preventing him from moving away from you any further. His breath was stuck in his lungs as he stared into your frozen eyes. They were lifeless but predatory-like. His eyes fell on your intimidating sharp teeth and he couldn't but imagine how you could rip him open with them. The thought shook him to the core.

Crumbles resonated from your throath and you started sniffing. You brought your face close to Melui and sniffed the air around him. He didn't make a single move, allowing you to smell his scent. You then stopped and looked at him in the eyes. You two stared at each other before you suddenly yelled and backed away. You groaned and held your head like you were in pain. You turned your back toward Melui and groaned. "(Name), " Melui called as worry washed over him. You growled and groaned. "(Name), what's wrong? " Melui asked. You didn't answer and just let out growls. Melui took daring steps toward you. "(Name), " He put his hand on your shoulder. You screamed out of a sudden and grabbed his hand, ripping his whole arm from his shoulder. Melui stood there shocked before the pain finally took him. He screamed falling.

"She ran off after that..." Melui ended his story. Nelle tied and finished covering his shoulder up. He winced from the tightness. Nelle took a moment to breathe and progress what she learned. This was all happening too fast and she never saw this side of you. You were a human. You had to be. This monster side of you was nothing like you, and you wouldn't hurt Melui like this. She picked Melui up. "Come on. We need to go, " She stated. She helped him to move toward the door. "This might be our chance for an escape," She left Melui standing for a moment to grab his severed arm. "What about (Name)?" He asked, holding his shoulder. "I'm afraid we're not able to help her this time if she's like this. It would be too dangerous to even approach her," Nelle came back to him. "This might be a cruel choice, and I wouldn't abandon her either, but take the circumstances and the count of dead orcs outside; she might come victorious. We might see her again when she's back to normal," She explained. "O... Okay, " Melui said. The two then came out of the kitchen, then Nelle helped him through the hallway. Nelle had one worry for your life. It was obvious the orcs stood no chance against you, but Langon and Maluk might have and if they manage to retain you; it will not end well for you.

Two orcs were cautiously walking in an empty hallway. It was eerily quiet. They held their weapons prepared, ready to counter any ambush they might get into. "Why are we here? We should have gotten out by now?" One of the orcs asked. "Shh!" The other orc shushed. "Be quiet. If we stay silent the monster will not notice us. You don't want to get its attention," The other orc explained. "And be patient, I know we're close to the entrance then we will be safe with the army outside," He said. "Half of the army was inside the fortress, and now they're gone! That monster slaughtered half of our forces. What chance we will have against elves now!" The first orc angrily whispered. "What did those maiars uncovered?" He looked around in fear.

"You two!"

The two screamed with fright before turning around to see the danger. To their relief, it was an orc captain. "Captain! Thank the Dark Lord! You're here!" The first orc yelled in happiness. "Captain we need to leave. A creature has taken over the fortress," The other orc explained. "What are you two quivering about?!" The captain demanded. "We have been waiting outside in the cold, and no one has been answering the messengers, and now half of the fortress is empty. What the hell is going on?!" He asked. "There is a monster, slaughtering orcs, sir," The other orc explained, looking around nervously. "I see no monster here. Are you pulling my leg?!" The captain asked angrily. "Of course not!" The two yelped. "Then get me the damn lord here befo-!" The captain was suddenly tackled down by something. His body shook as the creature mauled him to death.

The two orcs stared at the scene in utter shock. Not moving a muscle. The creature then turned its head toward them. They all stared at each other for a minute in silence. Blood dribbled from the creature's mouth. Something crumbled in the creature's stomach, making the two orcs scream and run away in fear.

"I didn't sign up for this shit!" One of them yelled.

You stared at the running orcs before letting out barf. Your stomach was just storing too much gas. You didn't find interest in the two orcs and just continued to ravage the dead orc under you.

"My, My, what a sight you are, " A familiar voice echoed through the hallway. You stopped. You silently growled in anger and turned toward the source of the voice. Maluk stood alongside Langon as they stared at you from the other end of the hallway. Maluk chuckled and turned toward Langon. "You were right about her not being human, but... I don't think she's a maiar either. She's completely something else. Her fea has literally changed into something menacing, dangerous... Absolutely wild," He said. You growled and started approaching them. "Oh, my, a little a but angry now are we, (Name)?" He smirked as he saw the fea around you burning brighter. You got on your two feet, ready to charge and kill him.

"Maluk, stop aggravating it and do the thing you told me about, " Langon said. "Alright, alright. I didn't plan on using it unless she started misbehaving as a human, but let's see if it can retain her like this," He brought out an amber-colored stone. "No one likes pain," He said. He squeezed it, causing it to let out a gentle yellow glow.

Something in your shoulder started burning. You screamed and stopped. Burning, agonizing pain took your whole shoulder and half of your torso. You yelled and growled in pain, holding on to your burning shoulder. It was like all your nerves and veins were filled with burning liquid to cause you pain. You growled in fury as you glanced at Maluk. You saw him as a dark, physical shadow, but his heart was beating with brilliant light. Like a lonely star in the darkness. You saw the glowing stone in his hand. It was pulsing heat. You growled in anger and charged. Maluk squeezed the stone harder. Something snapped in your hurting shoulder, but your anger and desire to kill the maiar clouded your mind to even acknowledge the pain. You roared and used your inhuman speed.

Maluk stood back in a startle when you managed to appear right in front of him. You grabbed his throat and then threw him against the wall. The wall cracked a bit from the impact. He wheezed as the air in his lungs was knocked out. He gasped when you grabbed his throat again, but smashed his head against the wall with brutal strength. You glared at him, then slowly opened your mouth, showing your sharp rows of teeth. You were about to stab your teeth through his neck. "A little help here!" He yelled for Langon.

You were grabbed from behind then thrown away from Maluk. Your back hit the opposite wall of the hallway. You growled and recovered quickly. Langon stood before you, holding the stone Maluk dropped when you attacked. He squeezed it hard, almost crushing it. Your shoulder ached with unimaginable pain and you shrieked. You started clawing your own shoulder in agony. You were trying to get whatever was causing this pain inside you. Langon whispered in the air then swung his hand.

You were glaring and growling at the dark maiar before something invisible grabbed you by the neck. You screeched and struggled, but you were picked in the air like a feather. The invisible force slammed you against the wall, holding you away from the floor's reach. Your legs dangling, unable to touch the floor. The force squeezed your throat, blocking your airway and forcing you into suffocation. You roared and tried to struggle, but the lack of air slowly weakened your strength and your brain was becoming numb. The invisible force then body slammed you on the floor. You lost your consciousness in the impact.

[juniaships]

Loonatics Reboot: Origins

The cousins of the world-famous Looney Tunes, the Loonatics are resident protectors of the progressive city-state, Acmetropolis. Currently there are seven members headed by their mysterious mentor, but for now let's dive in deeper into the origin story of the first six Loonatics. We'll get to number seven in the future! 💛💛💛

The story goes, the Loonatics came about by chance. You see, not too long ago six individuals volunteered for an experiment conducted by the city's namesake ACME (the business). As all of them needed the extra cash, they didn't mind being used as temporary guinea pigs if it meant having the funds to pursue their dreams or pay the rent.

Unfortunately the test did not produced the expected results and was marked off as a failure. While the group were paid they were disappointed & went back to their normal lives.

Until abnormalities started cropping up.

One volunteer, a college freshman named Lexi Bunny, began hearing things, increased migraines, and physically cringing at even moderately loud sounds. Such condition affected the way she moved and grooved to the beat (she was an avid dancer) and one day, she had passed out from the pressure and sent to the emergency room. While she recovered she began seeing everything in a pink haze. Lexi didn't know exactly caused her health emergency but she had a feeling that it had something to do with the experiment. But she kept quiet, she wasn't one to stand up for herself, remembering a horrid incident trying out for her school's cheer squad. She wondered what the other volunteers were feeling...

The second volunteer was an Acmewood stunt artist named Ace Bunny (yeah yeah he's related to Bugs now let him train in peace). Whenever Ace felt particularly confident, he saw his vision turn red...literally. His eyes burned no matter how much ice or eyedrops he used. During rehearsals he started to notice how every time someone went to strike him, he dodged them every. Single. Time. Many of the crew members lucky to see were impressed, shocked even (much to the displeasure of the lead actor) & leaving the Looney cousin embarrassed at the increased attention.

The fourth volunteer was a scientist named Tech E Coyote. Like Duck he also lost his job though unlike Duck he was on the receiving end of an angry coworker. The poor man was left to craft consolation contraptions in the solitude of his workshop. One night he noticed some pieces of metal clinging to his lab-coat. At first he brushed them off but they stuck to his hands. He made a note to himself to use anti-static softener; but after several wash days the problems persisted and very soon larger pieces of metal started clinging to his clothes, hands, all around his body - one incident he knocked himself out with a frying pan! He also took notes of lights flickering around him, computers and screens turning on and off whenever he walked near them.

The third volunteer was a young man barely out of his teen years simply known as Duck. Danger Duck. He worked as a pool boy ironically had a hot temper. To put it best he loathed his job, feeling not being taken seriously by the oh-so-macho lifeguards that picked on him constantly. One minute he was complaining about his job, and the next thing he knew, he was standing in the middle of a desert. Than back to the pool. Than an artic region! He also complained of tingling sensations in his fingers, as if he dumped his hands in a bowl of cut peppers. And after one particularly frustrating day, he got so made he raised his threw something at the lifeguard... something red-hot and round...which nearly costed the lifeguard his life yet ALSO caused Duck to lose his job.

Rev, a pizza delivery man with a sense of words and no sense of direction, was the onlt one whose problems weren't seen. Not at least externally. During his trips he was relieved to not miss addresses as much as he used to. Maybe a stroke of luck he guessed. But now it seems his brain was replaced by a GPS because days by he can verbally recite the location almost every place in Acmetropolis from the tallest skyscraper to the dingey of alleyways. Not even having to travel to these places.

As for Slam, his already phenomenal strength increased tenfold, and so did his speed. Such growth massively helped his wrestling career. Every time he spun however, he swore he felt and heard the crick-crackle-boom of lightning...which one day during a match he accidentally electrocuted his opponent, promptly suspended for the rest of the season. At least the guy was alive...a cooked steak but alive.

Eventually these side effects took their toll and the citizens finally had enough. Weeks after the test the group went back to Acme to report on what they were experiencing, hoping to get some compensation to pay off frequent trips to the hospital.

To their surprise ACME was pleased to hear the results of the experiment had been successful after all. The CEO, Otto Matthias, saw potential in the ragtag group of Tunes and offered them a deal: work for his company as sponsored superheroes. There was a mixed reaction: Tech was skeptical, as was Lexi and Slam. Ace didn't know what to think of the deal, he wanted to be recognized for his talents. Danger was the only one totally on board with the plan (no more finding lost trunks). Rev was also excited yet nervous at the prospect. Otto added that the offer came with free housing, access to any and all Acme products, and a lifetime supply of Scooby Snacks (much to Slam's fancy).

Duck didn't have to hear anymore before immediately agreeing to the deal. He did not want to go back to being a lowly pool boy or any other position to be laughed at and bullied, and saw the deal as a surefire way to success. The rest of the group & Scooby Snack Slam decided to wait a week before giving their answer. Acme signed Duck as Danger Duck, the Living Magma Extraordinaire! Cool name is it?

Throughout the week the remaining Tunes pondered long and hard about the company's offer. Would this deal really help them find meaning in their otherwise pitiful lives? Or was it all a glorified corporate tactic designed to keep them quiet? Danger Duck, Living Magma Extraordinaire seemed to be having a good time, so they might be missing out on a stable fulfilling lifestyle. Surely it wasn't an evil trick? Right? Right??

The answer to their dilemma showed uo at their door. Literally.

For five days, each person received a visit from a woman dressed in a simple lavender coat with the hood drawn up. From the shadows they could make out ruby-colored lips, yet her eyes seemed to lack irises as they were entirely blank-white.

This woman claimed that she was the creator of the drug and that is was not meant to be in mortal hands. She claimed that Acme stole her formula for personal gain, warning them the CEO was not who he seemed & that they shouldn't take his word. When the civilians asked about Danger Duck, the woman vowed she would do everything in her power to try to steer the young man from a terrible fate.

"How do you know I can trust you?" That was the sentiment shared by the five Tunes, in varying words.

The woman only smiled. "It's all up to you," she simply replied before handing out a shiny triangle with the familiar shield logo on it.

As each Tune took the metallic shape in their hands, they wondered how would this hunk ol metal help them decide their future? The lady's words echoed through their minds...maybe...the shield was a emblem of their roots. How did she know so much about them and so concerned about their lives?

By the morning of the last day, it was Ace who came to his decision first. "I'll believe you," he relented. "If only you'll tell me more about this drug you made."

The woman shook her head. "I'm afraid that'll have to come in a group meeting," she said a bit tersely. The truth is too much to bear on one man.

"Here." She scribbled a few words down on a piece of paper. "Meet me at this location later this afternoon. Don't bring anyone else."

"Okay," Ace said a bit skeptically. He was about to ask more but the lady quickly left with a hurried goodbye. Ace blinked his blue eyes before reading what she had wrote. "I hope this ain't gonna land me on a watchlist," he muttered before starting to prepare for his impromptu meeting. He prayed that he made the right choice.

I'm making this as I go along XD

My goal for this chapter and the next one is to give the team a better backstories and the why and HOW they got together. I know the show had an origin episode but it didn't show them their first mission or how they actually met, only how they got their powers. As this is a reboot there are a lot of changes so instead of being set in the future, it's set in modern era and they're cousins of the Looney Tunes. I'm also trying to give them motivations: Danger Duck seeking fame and fortune; Tech seeking recognition for his genius; Ace forging his own path out of his cousin's shadow. I haven't gotten to Slam & Lexi's motivations as much as that would be for when I get to writing Weathervane (who will be Lexi's foil) and Massive (Slam's foil). Rev's motivation will also be explored as him learning to be more independent away from his family's wealthy lifestyle. As for my OC Mikayla Jordan, she's going to appear in a future post pertaining to the Freleng Royal Family oop spoiled my own OC subplot XD

[self-proclaimed-chaotic-good]

Science & Faith | Carlton Drake x Reader (5/?)

Words: 1980

A/N: Kind of losing motivation in writing this series, so I'm going to try and post what I have already written and try writing other things. I technically have more than half of this series finished, but I might do some editing on them before posting.

-

The Return Part One

- Original Universe -

Carlton woke up on the cold floor of the lab. The air was musky, the lights above him burnt out. He heard hurried footsteps from the other side of the room, followed by a firm hand on his shoulder. He flinched, scooting away to get a better look at the room as his eyes began to focus. Three figures stood around him, all in some sort of costume and a few he recognized as some variation of Spider-man’s suit.

“Where’s Stark? And Spider-man?” Carlton mumbled, holding his head to stop the spinning.

“You’re gonna have to be more specific on which Spider-man you’re asking for,” the tallest one said, crouching down next to him. He had brown graying hair, unkempt with a trimmed stubble, but his blue eyes were familiar. “I’m Peter Parker.”

“That… no… so the Collider did work.” Carlton righted himself up and stood with the help of the other Peter. “You’re a bit older than the Peter Parker I knew.”

“You’re Carlton Drake, aren’t you?” a girl said, looks to be about her late teens or early twenties with blonde shoulder length hair and a white and pink Spider suit.

Carlton nodded, dusting himself off.

“He’s Carlton Drake?” a boy around her age said in disbelief, wearing a black and red Spider suit. “The Carlton Drake I knew was this blond white elitist guy who’s been looking to grant immortality or something to rich people.”

The girl shrugged. “Well, I honestly heard of him as the husband of Doctor (Y/n) (Y/l/n). You know, CEO of Life Foundation? They collaborate with Stark Industries to create customized cybernetic limbs and growing fully functioning organs in labs. They’re pretty badass.”

“Peter! Gwen! Miles!” a little girl’s voice called out, “It looks like the entire area had been caught in the blackout and there’s no signs of this lab being in use for years.”

A little girl in a white shirt and black vest ran in, followed by a stomping arachnoid robot and a man dressed like he was from a noir film in the forties.

“There’s no sign of Doctor Octavius or Kingpin anywhere here. Where should we go first?” the man asked in his deep voice, his face covered with a black mask.

Peter held up a hand to his chin as he thought. “This doesn’t make any sense. I could have sworn I saw this collider powered before we all arrived here. There’s still heat radiating off of it, but the whole place looks deserted,” he mumbled to himself.

Miles subconsciously mirrored him, placing a hand on his chin to help him brainstorm. He frowned for a moment before his face brightened, turning to Carlton.

“You mentioned Stark, as in Tony Stark, right? Since we’re in New York, he’s someone that could help us with this, right?” Miles suggested.

They exchanged a glance and shrugged. “It’s worth a shot,” Gwen said.

“How are we gonna reach him?”

“We’ll just have to go straight to him,” Carlton said. “To Stark Towers.”

-

As Dora dug further into the old research of Doctor Otto Octavius, she could see where things could go wrong immediately. The energy needed to be controlled in a stable environment and with too much power, it could become unstable and break the barriers of the other dimensions. Was it possible that the doctor’s accident had been connected to this collider project? Hopefully, it was never completed or else someone could get their hands on it.

There was a knock at the door, one of the researchers reminding her to take a break. They all planned to head towards the bar and relax and think of what to do next. Dora kept the files on the collider in her bag and followed them out, sparing one last glance at the picture of you and Carlton on his desk before locking the office door behind her.

She wasn’t much for drinking, but when they poured a glass for her, she readily took a sip of it. Carlton’s descent into madness stressed the hell out of her, making her question whether she was still part of the good guys or were in cahoots with the bad guys. All she wanted was to help people, maybe even find the cure for cancer. Then, her family was threatened, so what else could she do? She was unable to tell anyone what was happening. Nothing to her friends or family. She noticed how estranged she had become as a result of this and had to slowly patch things up with her life outside of Life Foundation.

“Hey, Dave, turn that up!” one of the regular bar patrons shouted, pointing at the TV.

The bartender reached over and turned the volume up as everyone gathered around the bar. Dora looked up, her eyes widened at what she was seeing. A sudden earthquake shook New York and caused a massive black out. There were no seismic activities prior to this, so scientists were still looking into it.

“Jesus, what the hell happened?” someone muttered next to Dora.

“Who the hell knows,” another one said.

Dora quickly whipped out her phone and texted you, hoping that you were okay.

-

Your eyes were attacked by a bright light as you slowly came to. The last thing you remembered was standing in the streets when you fainted. Why did you faint?

You heard a door sliding open, followed by clicking heels. “How are you feeling?” asked the doctor.

“I’m… a bit dizzy,” you managed to say.

The doctor nodded, explaining that she was going to perform a few tests before giving you a cup of water. “Miss Pepper saw you unconscious in your car through the security cameras and sent a small team to retrieve you. Do you mind telling me what happened?”

You sat up slowly with the help of the doctor and frowned. “I was clocking out for the day when traffic suddenly stopped, um… there was some kind of blackout. An explosion had happened a couple miles away and affected the whole area.” The doctor nodded, waiting for you to continue. “Then… I got distracted by something in the sky. I don’t know what it was, but I had a feeling that it was heading straight to Stark Towers. And then, I heard a voice…”

You frowned, trying to remember who it was. Your mind had an answer, but it was impossible. Carlton was dead, but it sounded just like him. It looked like him, dressed up in his usual dark gray suit that he would only use for conferences and company dinners, but at the same time he seemed different.

“Who was it?” The doctor asked.

“It’s crazy,” you said, not wanting to say anything further.

The doctor smiled. “We’re in a building owned by a man with an iron suit. One resident has powers originated by a glowing alien cube, another can turn into a green hulking monster when he’s angry, then another was a soldier from World War Two that had been kidnapped to be their mind controlled assassin, kept in a cryochamber until they have some use for him. I can go on and on. You know, just saying, so we both are on the same page of what crazy is.”

You took a deep breath and nodded, exhaling slowly. “I thought I heard… I saw my ex,” you said, staring down at your hands.

The doctor tilted her head. “How is that cra- ”

“He’s dead,” you said quickly, almost bitterly, “He’s been dead for months.”

“Ah.” She looks down at her chart, then back at you. “Well, you can rest up first. Mr. Stark wants to speak with you and it may explain what you saw. And trust me when I say that you need all the rest you can get. Doctor’s orders.”

“Okay. Thank you.”

She nodded, turning to let you rest. Walking out of the medical area of the floor, she was immediately met with the sight of five new people in costumes and a man in a dark gray suit that looked oddly familiar. The man was arguing with Tony, demanding to see you. She cautiously walked in, holding your medical chart close to her. Tony spotted her and smiled.

“Ah, Doctor Cho, any updates?” he said, wanting to get out of his conversation with the man.

“Yes, they are in a more stable state and everything else seems fine. They just need some rest,” Doctor Cho said, emphasizing the last word to the man.

“Can I at least see them?” The man asked, stepping towards her. “They’re my fiance.”

Doctor Cho frowned. “They haven’t mentioned anything about being engaged. What was your name again?”

“Carlton Drake.”

She exchanged a look with Tony who stepped in between them. “We need to discuss what happened,” he said, “And maybe, just maybe, I’ll let you see (Y/n).”

Carlton sighed. “Fine.”

Tony took them to the communal floor where he brought up a projection displaying cameras and news reports about the black out before heading towards his bar to pour himself a drink. After taking a sip, he walked back and brought up another screen. He pointed at Carlton, then brought up a video of a rocket explosion at Life Foundation. Carlton’s face twisted in confusion as he watched the news report of the accident and his passing.

“(Y/n) doesn’t say much about their life back in San Francisco, but I always do background checks on my employees. There had been a few pap pics of the two of you over the years and the most recent one in Singapore a day before one of your spaceships crashed,” Tony said, “Can you see why I can’t just let you see (Y/n)? In our universe or reality or whatever you want to call it, you’re dead.”

Carlton stepped back to process this, his eyes glued to the news coverage of his demise. They spoke of all the things he had done in this parallel universe, good and bad. And there were a lot of bad things that he felt weren't being revealed.

Peter stepped forward, explaining what had happened that led him to this universe and the others followed one by one. They were all in activities unrelated to Kingpin when they were sucked into this portal and spat out here. They all turned to Carlton, wanting to know what happened to him.

“I… me and the other Tony Stark and the other… Peter Parker was looking into Kingpin and found his lab. The collider was headed by Doctor Olivia Octavius- “

“So Doc Ock was a woman in your universe,” Tony muttered, earning a glare from Carlton for purposely interrupting. He held his hands up and gestured for him to continue.

“She activated the collider and through the scuffle, I got thrown into the chamber. I tried to shoot the panel when she blasted the power capacity to its fullest. I’m not sure if the other Tony Stark was able to destroy the panel in time, but I still ended up going through the portal.”

Tony hummed. “Very interesting. Well, if it was me, I would have gotten the job done,” he commented, downing his drink, “But because he is the alternate version of me, then he’s bound to be brilliant because from the readings I got, the source seems to be coming from here.” He brings out a 3D map of New York and zooms it towards Doctor Otto Octavius’s old laboratory. “If the portal from your universe had gone off, you would have all been teleported to that universe instead. That being said, our Doc Ock died years ago and Kingpin had been sitting in jail during that time. Maybe someone’s been squatting in that place or maybe the collider redirected all of you here. Either way, this needs to be fixed.”

[thepoliticalpatient]

How to get your Humira level tested thru Prometheus

I started taking Humira for my Crohn's in July of last year. Getting onto this medication was a gigantic pain in my ass, but I actually think the part that ended up being the hardest was dealing with getting my levels tested, so I wanted to write a post detailing that process. There is lots of info here that I wish I had known at the start. I actually have been wanting to write this post since last September, which was when I actually had the test done, but the whole situation didn't get fully wrapped up until today, 6 months later, and I didn't want to write it until I had complete information.

I will try very hard to make this an informative post and not just a rant but I'm not sure I have the self-restraint tbh.

OK, to start: what even is this test? With biologics, you need to maintain a high enough concentration of the drug in your system, to prevent your body from producing antibodies against the medication, and for it to be effective. My (now former - more on that soon lol) gastroenterologist is pretty passionate about making sure his patients keep a good level and will have them go on a weekly dose instead of the normal every-other-week dose if their levels aren't to his liking.

Importantly, the timing of this test is vital. You can't get it measured in the days immediately after you inject or your levels will be super high. The goal is to find out what the level is when it's at its lowest, i.e. in the day or two before your injection. My (former) gastroenterologist wanted me to get this test done between my second and third doses. That didn't end up happening because of how much of a clusterfuck this whole thing was.

So this test is only done by one company in the United States, Prometheus Biosciences. The name of the test is Anser ADA. They also have similar tests for measuring the levels of other biologics, like Anser IFX which measures Remicade levels (ADA = adalimumab, which is the generic name for Humira; IFX = infliximab, or Remicade). They have tests for Stelara and Entyvio too. If I had to guess, I'd say that the info in this post is probably pertinent to those tests as well, but I cannot guarantee it. I only know for sure about my own experience with Anser ADA.

Because this test can only be performed by Prometheus, it is likely that you cannot just go to your hospital's lab and have them draw your blood. It's possible they will do this draw for you and mail the blood to Prometheus, but you'll want to be certain to clarify this with your doctor.

My doctor's office gave me a lot of extremely wrong information, so I had no idea about this. I actually showed up at my hospital's phlebotomy lab on the morning before my third Humira dose, handed them a form that my doctor's staff had given me that contained the order for the bloodwork, and they took my blood and I thought I was done with it. Then WEEKS later at my next appointment with my doctor, he was like "did you ever get that Prometheus test done?" and I was like "wait do you not have the results back from the blood I gave weeks ago?" and he was like "you absolute imbecile, we can't do that lab for you, you need to schedule that with Prometheus's phlebotomists" (I'm paraphrasing a little bit here). To this day I have no idea what happened to the blood I gave at the lab! I assume they were like "wait what do we do with this lol" and then threw it in the garbage and didn't bother to inform me????

This was just one of many bad experiences I’ve had with this doctor/hospital, but this was the one that finally pushed me over the edge. I have since changed to a new GI at a different hospital (which was its own fucking saga, omg, it should not be so hard to get your medical records transferred from one hospital to another).

ANYWAY, my point is, be very certain to talk with your doctor about whether your hospital can draw this blood for you. If they can't, you have to call Prometheus to set up a draw with them.

Prometheus is located in California but contracts with a network of phlebotomists throughout the country. You can set up an appointment for a phlebotomist to come to your home to draw your blood.

For some goddamn reason, instead of equipping their phlebotomists with the supplies they'll need, Prometheus will mail you a package ahead of your appointment that contains some supplies.

Here's my next pro-tip: Prometheus will use some very scary language to make it sound like you need to be waiting right at the door when this package arrives and to immediately put some of the contents of the package into the freezer or else something terrible will happen. This is not true. What's actually happening here is that the package will contain some shipping supplies, including an insulated container and an ice pack, which the phlebotomist will need in order to store your blood safely. They want you to pre-freeze that ice pack before the phlebotomist arrives so that it will be ready to go as soon as your blood is drawn. That's it. So there's nothing in the package that's gonna, like, go bad or something if you don't get it into the freezer right away.

The whole thing was kind of stressful because I didn't have any tracking info on the package or anything, but it did arrive ahead of my appointment.

Okay so the next big topic here is PAYMENT. This is a $2,500 test, and most insurance doesn't cover it.

Around the same time I scheduled the draw with Prometheus, I sent a message to my insurance carrier to ask whether they would cover the test. The rep who replied to my message needed to know the CPT code for the test and the NPI for Prometheus, which I found on Prometheus's prior authorization form here. The insurance rep then said that this test would require my doctor to complete a prior authorization. If I got the prior auth, then insurance would cover the test at the out-of-network rate, which would require me to pay 35% of the cost. Without the prior authorization, they would deny the claim entirely.

I sent a message to my doctor's office asking them to complete the prior authorization stat, as I had already scheduled the draw with Prometheus and there wasn't much time. I was hesitant to cancel my draw, because that would require me to wait at least another 2 weeks (since you have to time the draw with your Humira doses), and I was already months later on this test than my doctor had originally wanted because of the whole snafu with thinking I could get it drawn at my hospital. My doctor's assistant replied and said she didn't think they'd have time to complete the prior auth, but not to cancel my appointment. She assured me that Prometheus would not charge me more than $75 if my insurance denied the claim.

I was extremely nervous about this. I was mainly concerned because I had found this info about Prometheus's payment assist program, which says that they'll reduce the charge to $75 if your income is below a certain threshold, and mine is not. Based on the info on that page, it looked like I didn’t qualify for any cost reduction, so I was pretty convinced they were gonna charge me the full $2,500.

Looking at the claims on my insurer's website, I see that Prometheus indeed tried to charge my insurance $2,500 for the test, and my insurance denied it. There is an additional $50 claim to my insurance, which insurance did pay, which I think was for the cost of having the phlebotomist visit my home.

Prometheus sent me several mailers about their payment assist program, which I just ignored because my income is too high. And for the next 6 months I sat anxiously waiting to receive a bill in the mail for several thousand dollars.

Well I'm happy to report that today, I finally received the bill from Prometheus, and it is for $75. I don't know why exactly they reduced it to that amount, but I am certainly not going to complain.

Now, I'm not certain of this, but my GUESS would be that the $75 rate is only for people who are doing self-pay. So, hilariously, if I had gotten the prior authorization done on time, my out of network coinsurance would have required me to pay 35% of the total claim, which would be $875. So, I mean....I can't guarantee that your experience will be the same as mine, but it seems to me like it is to your advantage to not go through your insurance for this test.

Oh, and Prometheus will NOT hold your test results hostage while they try to get paid. They sent the results to my doctor soon after the draw. And my levels were good!

ANYWAY, this was long, but I wanted to share everything I wish I had known before going through this. I hope it will help someone else who is trying to navigate this process!!!

[howlingmedic]

Coming Home: Chapter 4

Coming Home:

Previous | Next

Synopsis: what happens when the person who finally made their world make sense is taken from them? What happens when the people who were supposed find her can’t? Warnings: high key angst, fighting (lots), miscommunication (so much), references to blood, idiots in love who don’t know what to do with themselves, Tony trying to be supportive Relationship: Stucky x Angel!OFC A/N: Instead of doing any of the things I should have, I wrote the flashbacks for this chapter. It’s long. Very long. I’m sorry. I’m a disaster human who can’t cut down on content. Word Count: 5k (I’m sorry)

Chapter 4: Memories, Revelations, and Hope

Knowing, or at the very least being fairly sure, Allie was alive did not mean finding her was a cakewalk. It turned out it was her blood on the angel blade. That piece of news had left Bucky in bed for almost 24 hours straight and convinced him she couldn't be alive. It wasn’t until Steve coaxed him out to try praying again that he redoubled down on her being alive. Whenever there was that intangible feeling of her grace to cling to, things got a bit easier. Further analysis of the blood came back a couple of days after the initial confirmation of her DNA, and it divulged information that proved far more useful: the blood was fresh, no more than a week old. “Of course, the blade could have been transported there to throw us off, but given that we didn’t have any leads, that just doesn’t add up,” Sam explained over the phone when he finished reading off the report the lab tech had sent him.

Sam hadn’t even finished talking by the time Bucky was headed for his suit. Steve hastily thanked their friend and darted across the apartment to slow Bucky down. “I’m going after her, Stevie. 104 fuckin’ days. We’ve been without her 104 days, and we’ve almost killed each other god knows how many damned times. I’ve waited long enough. ‘M gonna rip that fuckin’ base apart,” Bucky growled before Steve even got the chance to say a word or reach out for him.

“I wasn’t going to say we don’t go for the base,” Steve fibbed and quickly changed track, “I just was going to say we do some more scans of it and the surrounding area. It’s pretty obvious we missed something, and these fuckers have proven they’re slippery bastards.” The last few words slipped into his Brooklyn accent that only comes out when he’s truly emotional about something - even when that emotion is hatred. Bucky’s eyes snapped up to meet Steve’s at the change in his voice, and his hands stilled in the bag he was rifling through.

“You’re afraid of these guys,” he stated. And wasn’t that the damned truth. Tactically, Steve’s plan was probably the better option as well. Less emotionally charged. More measured. That didn’t mean shit to Steve this time, though. Nothing about what they had done to this point had been in the name tactical soundness. There had been more than one instance of busting into bases and hideouts with no plan other than “find Allie.”

Steve nodded and shrugged before he could find the words to answer. “Well, yeah, Buck. I already lost her to them. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you too,” he finally said and closed the gap between them. “Will you let me ask Tony if he could do a fly-by? A few more scans? Maybe look for some subterranean spaces?” Steve asked hesitantly as he reached out to grasp Bucky’s wrist. Their eyes met again, and Bucky pulled back from Steve; in the process, the bag flew across the roomy and hit the opposite wall with a heavy thud.

“Are you seriously going to try to coddle me? Fucking protect me?” Bucky seethed and stomped off to grab the bag. His entire body radiated rage from the way his shoulders were set and locked to the purpose with which he walked.

It hit Steve like a truck that the only time he had seen that gait was when he faced the Soldier. He rolled his shoulders and squared them. If Bucky wanted to fight, fine. Steve wasn’t going to let him leave for a suicide mission that easily. “Yeah. I am gonna fucking protect you,” He retorted. Each word out of his mouth became a little more thickly laced in his Brooklyn drawl, and by the time he got through the sentence, he sounded like he had stepped back into the ’40s. This time Bucky didn’t flinch at it.

“How do you plan on keeping me here, Steve?” Bucky asked drily.

“I’m not above fightin’ ya. Not if it’ll keep ya safe,” Steve answered, temper rising and eyes narrowing.

Bucky started digging in the bag again, searching for something Steve couldn’t identify. “Since fucking when have you given a shit about safety?” And that sounded so much more like the old Bucky that it stunned Steve to silence for a split second. Usually, a reaction like that would’ve made Bucky laugh no matter how at each other’s throats they were. Tonight it just made him scoff and roll his eyes. “See, even you know you’ve never cared before.”

“That’s fucking absurd,” Steve spat, finally stepping closer while eyeing Bucky’s hands.

“Well, I can’t come up with a single other damned time you’ve stopped for safety when it was a choice between having someone you love back in your life and losing them!” He shouted, and Steve thought he might finally see where this was headed.

“What? Because I stopped fighting you? Is that what this is about? Huh, Buck? Is this about me choosing not to kill you on that damned helicarrier? Are we really going to drag this back up?” Steve shouted back, matching Bucky’s volume, and throwing his hands up in frustration.

“Yes! Damn it, Steve! What’s different? You started an entire fucking war and nearly let me fucking kill you to save me! What the fuck is different about me charging in there guns blazing?” Bucky yelled. Just then, his hands closed around something in the bag. He drew it out, and he let out an unsteady breath. Steve’s furious reply about growing up and actually having something to live for now died on his tongue. Bucky drew out a book Steve had only seen once before. It was one of Bucky’s most treasured possessions, one that was intensely private, one that was from before it had been the three of them - when it was just him and Allie.

The first thing Steve noticed when he looked up at the sound of footsteps slowing at his office was that Allie was humming a Christmas song under her breath. It was mid-September, and apparently she was already thinking about Christmas. Steve smiled and listened as she explained she wanted to do something special, something Bucky could cling to on the bad days when his memory wasn’t great, or he was stuck reliving the bad moments. Steve was about to counter her statement with the same line he usually used when she got stuck in her like this, “You being there is enough, Alex. He only needs you.” This time he was cut off before he got the chance. She needed Steve’s help, “to pull it off,” she had said with a smile that lit up the whole room. When he had asked what that meant, she had blushed an adorable shade of pink and suddenly resembled a child who was certain their parent was going to say no to their request. “I need you to falsify some mission reports, make it look like I’m out doing reconnaissance or something. Bucky can’t know why I’m gone, it’ll ruin the surprise,” she had explained while twirling her hair around her finger, and that was the day Steve learned the angel’s nervous habit, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“If you’re doing it for Buck, Alex, I’m not gonna say no, but I have to know where you’re going, and you’re not going alone,” he had answered cautiously with his brows furrowed in confusion.

“I won’t be leaving New York, at least not immediately… I just won’t exactly be reachable,” she had answered coyly, her fingering never ceasing its movement.

“Alex, cut the crap. What are you up to?” Steve asked firmly but warmly, and she went scarlet as her finger stilled, and she began to chew on her bottom lip.

“Well, I - uh,” she started and sighed. “I’m going back in time to collect a few things to put in a scrapbook. It’ll take a lot of grace, which is why I need to have the cover story of some missions, but I shouldn’t be in any real danger. Nobody had any angelic weapons on Earth back then, and I know exactly where to pop into to get like 98 percent of what I need.” When she started explaining, the words rushed from her as though she had been dying to tell somebody her plan, and by the time she stopped talking, her eyes were shining with excitement, and that dazzling smile was back on her face. Steve was powerless to say no.

The next time he had been involved with the book, Allie had shown up at his office with an exhausted smile stretched across her face and a few pieces of blank paper in her hand. “It’s all finished except for your letter,” She said from the doorway, and all Steve could do was nod. She had told him two weeks ago that she wanted a letter from everyone in The Tower for the book, notes to help remind Bucky that he really did have a family here, that he belonged. Steve was the last one left who hadn’t been able to produce something. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to write a letter; he just didn’t know what to say. How can you sum up a friendship that ran as deep as theirs? Steve rubbed his eyes with the heels of his palms.

“Leave the paper here; I’ll text you when I’m done. Promise I’ll get it to you by morning,” he told her and glanced bleary-eyed at the clock. Two in the morning. He didn’t need sleep, and the reports could wait. That was the night he had fallen for the angel he could never have.

When Bucky showed Steve the book, Bucky and Allie were engaged, and Allie was in a coma. Or...they thought she was in a coma. Nobody was entirely sure if the daughter of an archangel could go into a coma, not even Loki. Bucky insisted she would pull through, but Steve had his doubts. Steve had been there when Allie tried to sacrifice herself to heal Bucky on the battlefield. He had been the one to pull Allie away from Bucky to stop her from doing just that. He had been the one to scream into the comms that he needed Loki. He had watched the God save them both. Finish what Allie had started with Bucky and somehow restore an angel who risked everything to save his best friend, and then he had sat in the MedBay with Bucky. Pouring over a book Allie had painstakingly assembled by hand and listening to Bucky as he recounted each memory stored in those pages, each way she had helped to hold him together, the ways she completed him. Steve’s heart broke, and yet he fell in love with both of them. One love that had always been there, and one that was new, and yet it wasn’t his to have. Until it was.

Steve’s mind hurdled back to the present, and he tried to shake off the last memory. It was a time he would always rather forget. He looked again at the book in front of him and realized it was different. The golden block lettering on the brown leather cover was an elegant, thin, silver script, and this one was less worn. It was new, brand new. That was the starkest contrast to the well-worn leather cover of Bucky’s book that had a permanent home next to Bucky’s leather chair in their living room at home.

“What - what’s that?” he asked lamely.

“Something that might just fuckin’ pull your head out of your ass,” Bucky groused and lobbed the book at him. Steve caught it effortlessly and flipped it open. It was similar, strikingly so, but not entirely the same as the one Bucky had at home. There were many of the same photos and ticket stubs filling the beginning pages. Then news clippings of the Howlies much like before, but interspersed were drawings Steve hadn’t seen in decades. Ones that had been “lost to time,” as the Smithsonian had put it. Steve faltered and swayed on the spot. She had done what she promised never to do again: gone back in time. She had risked everything for him to have these pieces of his past. The ones that were exclusively Steve. The intimate moments shared alone in his Captain’s tent with Bucky that he had captured and the dancing monkey drawing. She had saved all of them, and in doing so, she had kept them from the press. She had saved him again.

Steve’s legs started to buckle, and he less than gracefully got himself to the ground before falling. From his spot on the floor, he glanced up at Bucky, who had started to check his weapons. If the other man had seen him hit the ground, he didn’t let it show. Steve kept leafing forward. There were the notes from teammates and photos of the group, of him alone, of little moments spent with his family. Then there was a longer note. He stopped. He couldn’t. Not now. He couldn’t read her carefully chosen and delicately written words. The elegant swoop of her script danced across the page, and Steve snapped the book closed.

This wasn’t how he was supposed to given this gift, of that much he was sure. “How dare you,” he breathed from just behind his fiancé. “How fucking dare you?” He asked again when Bucky didn’t respond quickly enough. Steve’s fists were clenched at his side, and he was acutely aware of the fact that Bucky held a loaded pistol in his metal hand.

“I needed you to realize what she did just ta make ya smile,” Bucky snarled and spun around, discarding the weapon lazily. If this went to blows, it was going to be fists. “Needed you to know how much she fucking cares and see how absurd you sound asking for more scans!”

“Why? Why, Bucky? Because I want us to make it out of this alive?” Steve pleaded. He wasn’t even sure he was angry anymore. He was just frustrated and confused.

“Because she wouldn’t wait! She would fucking go in there without a second thought,” Bucky finally shouted and threw his hands in the air in frustration.

“Jesus,” Steve sighed and ran his hand through his hair, “that’s what’s got you this worked up?”

“Yeah, it bloody is,” Bucky growled as his anger started to mount again.

“Damn it, Buck! Listen to yourself!” He pushed a few weapons aside and sat on the table on which Bucky had placed the checked ones. “First of all, if we don’t make it, we can’t bring her home. She’s always reminding us we are still technically humans who can, in fact, die. Don’t do a whole lotta good to go rescue her if we ain’t there to help her recover, does it?” Steve asked but didn’t give him any time to answer. “And you think she could ever forgive herself if we got hurt or died trying to save her?” This time Steve paused and looked up at Bucky expectantly. The other man’s features had softened substantially, and he had the decency to look slightly bashful, finally.

“No,” he whispered and set the knife whose locking mechanism he had been inspecting down.

“Exactly. Besides, if we take the time to do some scans, we can organize the team. Tony has been working on isolating the energy signature of her grace from previous times she’s used it. He might be able to scan for her like you would for a heat signature.”

“Ok. Ok, fine,” Bucky huffed and shuffled away. Just like that, the anger was gone. The promise of backup, of not being alone anymore, was enough, and Steve let out of a silent sigh of relief.

Steve turned to go after him only to find him picking up the book. Every ounce of fear and heartbreak Bucky had weathered these past several months showed in his eyes when he stood back up. “Did you even read what she said, Steve?” Bucky asked tightly, the plates of his arm shifting anxiously.

“I couldn’t, babe. Not like this,” Steve admitted and came to stand in front of him. He didn’t reach out to him; he never was the first to initiate contact after a fight like this one. He would always let Bucky dictate the pace because he often needed longer to calm down, but Steve did take the book gingerly from Bucky’s hand and set it aside. “I’m guessing she was waiting for a special occasion to give it to me?”

“Yeah, your birthday,” Bucky answered quietly, his fear and frustration deflating into something more vulnerable, but Steve couldn’t place what. When his gaze finally met Steve’s properly, the pain written across every feature was enough to put a lump in Steve’s throat.

“Bucky… babe, what?” Steve asked disjointedly as his eyes darted to the book and then back to Bucky’s face.

“S’nothing that changes anything… just not sure, not sure she’ll be ready again,” Bucky mumbled and turned away, but Steve saw tears begin to well in his eyes.

“Doll? Whatcha mean ready?” he asked even though he thought he might know what Bucky had meant; he still needed to hear it.

It was a question she asked often and in many varied forms: “What do you see in our future?” It was usually asked under cover of darkness, with sweaty limbs tangled in sheets, and only the stars and city lights to illuminate the room. This time, however, it was asked in the Tony called them. Steve had a hunch they were only labeled safe houses because of how remote they were.

The latest mission went long, a month longer than anyone had anticipated, and Allie had proposed a vacation. Unsurprisingly, neither Steve nor Bucky protested. All three were a bit worse for wear, and Allie’s wings had suffered the brunt of an explosion. If a vacation would keep her from trying to get back in the field too early, Steve would take a vacation. Something sounded different in Allie’s voice when she asked what their futures might look like this time, though. She sounded less idly curious and like she was leading to something. Her gaze seemed far off as she took in the pool deck and the coastal view. Bucky’s hand that had been tracing up her bare thigh froze. Steve gave her a long considering look and cleared his throat to buy himself another moment to decide on an answer. He refused to jump to any conclusions. He and Bucky had concluded months ago that they wanted a family with her, but Allie said there were things she needed to handle first. Threats that had to be taken care of and people who needed to be behind bars, if not underground.

“Doll, why do you ask?” Steve asked with the utmost caution. He wouldn’t push it, not now. Not ever. No matter how much he wanted that life.

“I just… what if we got away from the fights? I’m so damned tired of fighting,” she grumbled and rolled so she was laying across their laps. “I don’t know about anything else, but I know I’m tired of fighting.”

That had been seven months ago. They hadn’t stopped fighting yet. Every time they talked about it, there was another group popping up who were threatening to end the world, or another alien invasion trying to enslave humanity. It never ended, and now Steve was holding his breath because here was Bucky implying he might have been free in a matter of weeks. The summer heat of the apartment suddenly melted away and left an icy chill in Steve’s chest where his heart should be.

Bucky turned back to face him, but he didn’t speak. He just stared at the book. When his gaze finally flitted back to Steve, the dam broke, and he started rambling. “She wanted to try… she was ready… and she wanted to tell you with something special, something that you could add memories to like I can do with mine. She put together one for the three of us too, but I left the others at home. I thought - I thought I would give you yours if we failed, so you would know how much she loved you. That there was no way in hell she gave up without fighting; so that we could look at the good times together, but I got so damn angry cause I knew what we should be going through together right now, and it ain’t this shit.”

There it was. The blow that sent Steve reeling. She had wanted to try. She had wanted to start a family. He should be painting a nursery, and instead, they’re squatting in a derelict building. He should be trying to figure what he can eat around her without making her sick, but instead, they’re stealing from the restaurant two doors down. This was all wrong. All fucking wrong. He stared unseeingly at Bucky. His eyes were glazed with tears, and yet none would fall. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. He certainly couldn’t speak.

“Steve?” Bucky asked after several moments of utterly still silence, but no matter how hard Steve blinked to clear his eyes and look at Bucky, the tears wouldn’t budge. It took several more seconds for him to comprehend that his face was wet with them. Once that registered, a shuddering sob wrenched itself from somewhere deep in his soul, and he hit his knees. The contact with the ground stung, but he didn’t care. That didn’t matter. If anything, the pain was welcomed because it was the only thing that made sense. The life he had built with the only two people on this planet who could see beyond the walls he put up had crumbled in front of him. The future he had dreamed of had been within grasp, and then it had been snatched from him like every other good thing he ever had.

He couldn’t be sure how long he had wept when he felt Bucky’s metal hand close around his shoulder, heavy and cold. It grounded him back to the moment, and slowly his sobs subsided. “You with me?” Bucky breathed, and Steve hiccuped and nodded. “We can still have that life. It ain’t gone, promise,” Bucky continued, and Steve sat there numbly. “I went through this too when we first lost her, s’why I spent so much time meditating and alone. I had to grieve not only her but the life we were going to live, but Steve, we’ve got a lead. A real one. Yeah, we need to be a bit more measured than I was gonna be, but we’re on the brink of bringing her home.”

Something in what Bucky said clicked in Steve’s brain. He wasn’t sure what, but he knew Bucky was right. There was finally hope, and that was going to have to be enough for the moment. He took a shaky breath and finally faced Bucky. His cheeks tear-stained and puffy, his eyes red and swollen. Bucky smiled. The past two hours didn’t matter. “C’mere,” Steve rasped out, and Bucky moved to him immediately. They held each other as they had so many times. The extra weight it had seemed like Bucky was carrying made sense finally. Steve sighed and kissed Bucky for what felt like the first time in ages, and then he realized it didn’t just seem like the first time in ages; it was the first time in ages. He tilted his head and deepened the kiss, letting every ounce of remorse and love pour into it, communicating all the things he had failed to for so long. Steve’s hands found Bucky’s shoulders at the same time that Bucky’s flesh hand tangled into his hair, and the metal cupped his cheek.

When they separated, they both were panting and misty-eyed. “We gotta talk more,” Bucky told him as their breath leveled out. All Steve could do to answer was nod before his phone rang from somewhere across the apartment. There was a moment’s shared look -This can wait; we’re ok - before he got up to find the phone.

“Stark,” The screen read, and they shared a look of mingled dread and hope before answering. “Tony, whatcha got?” Steve asked without any preamble. Just like that, the fight, the revelation, and the kiss were all gone. Captain America replaced Steve Rogers, and it was time for work.

“I think I’ve got a distinct energy signature of Allie’s grace, or at the very least angelic grace. Now, Wilson told me about the angel blade and the blood and all of that, so I went ahead and did a bit of very fast flying and got Rhodey to do a bit of satellite maneuvering.” Stark paused for a just moment before his tone shifted from business to inquisitive, “Come to think of it, why hadn’t you called and asked for any of this? I usually can’t get anything done without you two breathing down my neck.”

Steve sighed and looked to Bucky, who just nodded. “We had some things to sort out. It’s been a long three months. For the love of God, Tony, please just tell us what you have, so we can get to work on our end.” “Alright, alright. Got it. Lover’s quarrel. Anywho! Given what Wilson found and the loose leads from Nat, we focused our search on the area where this all started and the surrounding town. Now, what’s the one thing we hadn’t searched for on that compound given that we had been inside it already?” Tony asked, and both Bucky and Steve groaned. Steve had to bat Bucky’s hand away from grabbing the phone. The moment made Steve grin. It was their typical banter, and it felt amazing. “We hadn’t looked for anything underground because there were no indications of a lower level,” Steve finally supplied when it was apparent Tony wasn’t going to proceed without their participation.

“Righto, Cap!” Tony quipped cheerfully, and they could hear the clatter of keys on the other end, “Well, we should’ve. There’s a whole network of underground tunnels and cells between the compound and the town. My guess is that’s how they got the drop on you before. Here’s where it gets good, though. I’ve got an energy signal down there that matches what we’ve identified as Allie’s,” Tony reported, but there was something off. It didn’t match Tony’s victorious, “I’ve solved the problem speeches.” Before Steve could open his mouth, Tony answered the unspoken question, “I’ve got to tell you two, it’s weaker than what I expected it to be. We almost missed it.”

The air had been sucked from the room. Steve was sure of it. His mouth had been glued together too, but he wasn’t sure how. Bucky grabbed the phone from him as he began to drop it. “What the fuck do you mean weak, Tony?” Bucky asked - no, growled - and it was the last thing Steve heard before he had to get up and start pacing to get control of his nerves. Suddenly, Tony’s voice filled the entire apartment, and Steve registered that Bucky had set the phone to speaker mode, so he could begin pacing too.

“What I mean is this energy signature is at a tenth of what it seems like she’s usually at when we start a mission. Now, this is all based on Friday’s previous biometric scans, so that reading could be faulty. Maybe we haven’t ever accurately clocked her energy before. Problem is we don’t have a ton of empirical data on these things, so it’s what we’ve got to go on.”

“And it’s not good,” Bucky added. He paused for a beat, looked at Steve, then stepped towards the phone, “Tell Fury I don’t give a damn about what else is going on. Assemble the team, tell Natasha I want her drawing up the plan. I need a full comm team back at the compound. Get medical standing by. Cap and I are going to be secondary on this. I don’t think either of us is fit to be leading it, but we sure as hell aren’t sitting it out.”

“You got it,” Tony answered, then paused for a beat and added, “but pull me off speaker for a second.” Steve waved Bucky some sort of a “go ahead” gesture and stepped away to finish checking their weapons. He didn’t care what Tony would say or ask. It didn’t really matter. There were a few moments of silence before Steve started to catch the snippets of Bucky’s end of the conversation, “Jesus Christ, Tony, no. We are not okay, but we’re doing alright… Yeah, sure, we’ll go to a fucking shrink. You think I don't already have about 19 em at home?... Yeah, yeah, fuck off. Go get everyone on a damn jet… alright, thanks.”

Bucky came up behind Steve and kissed the back of his neck, and Steve leaned back into him. “Tony being Tony?” he asked softly, which earned him an undignified snort and a nod from Bucky.

“He’s checking up on ya. Can’t say I blame him after you disappeared on the call. Gonna be alright?” “Cap will be just fine to get through this. Let’s deal with the rest together and one day at a time,” Steve answered firmly. He knew the distinction between himself as Steve and Captain America wouldn’t be lost on Bucky, but there would be time to handle that afterward. As gently as possible, he extricated himself from Bucky’s hold and went to the closet to pull out their uniforms.

Their uniforms were the only things that ever got hung up in the places they squatted. It was the easiest way to store them, and it made them infinitely simpler to get on in a hurry. The star on the front of his looked nearly alien to Steve when he pulled it out of the closet. These days he associated so little with the man who had worn it proudly for years. The thought of serving a world that had utterly wrecked the one slice of peace he managed to have for himself made him want to recoil from the suit entirely, but, with a heavy sigh, he pulled both of the suits from the closet before neatly laying them on the bed.

He wasn’t doing this for the world, though.  His hand had moved before his mind made the conscious decision to do so. One moment the star was front and center on the stealth suit in front of him. The next, it was in his hand. He wouldn’t do this as Captain America, even if it was easier. It might even be the safer option, but he didn’t care about that. This was Steve Rogers getting his girl back.

[valeriethepussycats]

Assemble

Chapter 6

Pairing- Loki x Reader x Steve (one side)

Warning- cursing

Your thoughts and other characters are in italics.

Loki walks back and forth inside his glass cell. Suddenly, he  stops. “There's not many people that can sneak up on me.” Loki turns to see Natasha standing there.

“But you figured I'd come.” Natasha remarked.

“After. After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would cooperate.” Loki reported.

“I wanna know what you've done to Agent Barton and Agent Munroe?” Natasha asked.”

“I'd say I've expanded his mind. And as  for Agent Munroe I’ve done nothing to her but ruffled her Feathers.” Loki said with a satisfying smirk.

“And once you’ve won. Once you’re king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?”Natasha questioned.

“Is this love, Agent Romanoff?” Loki wondered.

“Love is for children. I owe him a debt.” Natasha stated.

Loki sits down on “Tell me.”

Natasha  pulls up a chair as well. “Before I worked for Shield, I uh...well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skillset. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on Shield's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me, he made a different call.”

“And what will you do if I vow to spare  him?” Loki asked.

“Not let you out.” Natasha declared.

“Ah, no. But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?” Loki laughed.

“Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian... or was.” Natasha answered.

“What is it you want?” Loki questioned.

“It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, I'd like to wipe it out.” Disclose.

“Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? São Paulo? The

Hospital fire? Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving  a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?” Loki said standing up angry. “ This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer... Pathetic!”

Tony and Banner continuously work at their monitors.

“You lie and kill in the service of liars and killers.”

Agent Hill checks every viewsscreen  in the bridge as Nick Fury oversees.

“You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors.”

Y/n is looking at the note with Gambit’s number with uncertainty.

“But they are a part of you, and they will never go away!”

Steve opens a steel crate. Angry, he looks behind him and looks back into the crate. The crate is filled with an Array of Hydra weapons.

Loki slams his fist his cell, making Natasha flinch.  “I won't touch Barton. Not until I make  him kill you! Slowly. Intimately. In every way he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!”

Natasha  turns around, walks away from Loki, disgusted. “You're a monster.”

“No, you brought the monster.” Loki laughed.

Natasha turns back around, poised. “So, Banner... that's your play.”

“What?” Loki staggered.

Natasha speaks into her earpiece. “Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well.”  Natasha then turns to Loki. “Thank you for your cooperation.” Natasha quickly walks out, leaving Loki frozen.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Y/n takes a deep breath and walks into Bruce’s lad and see Tony and Bruce eating snacks.

“Where your ears burning because I was just thinking about you....... you said you needed a file or two Jarvis is done with breaking in to Shield.” Tony asked.

“Thanks The name is Ororo Munroe.” Y/n answered.

Before Y/n can walk around the corner and look at the file. Nick walks in surprised to see Tony and Banner stop working on the scepter.

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?” Nick asked in an upset tone.

“Uh...kind of been wondering the same thing about you.” Tony remarked.

“You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” Nick replied.

“We are. The model's locked and we're  sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile.” Bruce chimed in.

“And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss.” Tony joked.

Then suddenly his monitor show a collection of Secret files. “What is Phase 2?”

Suddenly, Steve drops a Hydra Assault Rifle on the table causing Fury, Banner and Tony to turn around. Cap looks pissed.

“Phase  2 is Shield uses the cube to make weapons...Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow.” Steve declared

“Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean

that we're...” Nick tried to explained.

“I'm sorry, Nick.” Tony moves the computer screen towards Fury which shows plans of weapon. “What were you lying?”

“What the world do you need Tesseract weapons for?” Y/n moves to stand in front of Director Fury. “Is that why you took Erik because you wanted him to work on the Tesseract to turn into a weapon.

“I was wrong, director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.” Steve claimed.

At that moment, Thor and Natasha walk into the lab. Natasha keeps her eyes right on Bruce. Bruce looks at her, Upset. “Did you know about this?”

“You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?” Natasha asked.

“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well  removed.” Bruce pointed out.

“Loki's manipulating you.” Natasha admitted.

“And you've been doing what exactly?” Bruce questioned.

“You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.”  Natasha replied.

“Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why Shield is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction.” Bruce demanded.

“Because of him.” Nick points at Thor.

“Me?” Thor doubted.

“What does this have to do with Thor?” Y/n questioned.

“Last year earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned  that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” Nick explained.

“I was there to stop it  with the help from Thor.” Y/n disclosed.

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet.” Thor answered.

“But you're not the only people out  there, are you? And, you're not the

only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled.” Nick expressed.

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve snapped.

“You're work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is       the signal to all the realms that the earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor explained.

“A higher form?” Steve questioned.

“You forced our hand. We had to come up with something.” Nick repeated.

“Nuclear deterrent. `Cause that always calms everything right down.” Tony mocked.

Y/n looks up and see her mother’s  file has popped up on the monitor she then moves behind the decks to see look at.

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” Nick questioned.

“How is this now about me?” Tony wondered.

“I'm sorry, isn't everything?” Steve Remarked

“I thought humans were more evolved than this.” Thor disclosed.

“Excuse me, did WE come to YOUR planet and blow stuff up.” Nick snapped back.

As the "team" argues, they don't realize the blue gem on Loki's scepter is glowing brightly.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Outside the Helicarrier, a lone carrier slowly hovers over the ship.

“661 Bravo, please relay your pass code. What is your hull, over?”

Arms to ammunition, over. Inside, Barton and his crew suit up and arm themselves. Barton pulls out his hi-tech bow and arrows.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

As everyone is arguing Thor noticed some of the objects in the room begin to flow so he looks over at Y/n. Her jaw was clenched, eyebrows pulled down together and her lips pressed firmly together she was Mad scratch that she was furious.

“Y/n? Are you alright?” Thor sudden question catches everyone off guard and they stop arguing and turn to look at Y/n. They see her glowing red and her hair standing up in a triangle way.

“Y/n.” Nick called out.

When Y/n  looks up and her eyes aren’t their usual brown there white but instead of blue Lightning it’s red. “They were after her they did this to me because they couldn’t get her...she abandon me because she didn’t want to get experimented on.” Y/n snarled.

“I know. l know....I want to protect you from that.” Nick said in a calming voice.

“Protect me.” Y/n retorted.

The beautiful sunshine was replaced by dark skies like an eclipse is happening.  

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

On the bridge Hill is sitting at her work station with Coulson overviewing her one bye one a pencil, pen , paper, and  monitors begin to flow. Hill looks up at  Coulson and he look at her and they’re both thinking the same thing. Y/n.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Everything inside the Bruce’s lab begin to levitate and the team looks amaze and frighten at the same time.

“Y/n remember The control you fight to have.” Thor takes a step forward  towards Y/n  but before he can get any closer Nick holds his arm out in front of him nodding his head “no.”

“I didn’t tell you because I knew how much it would hurt you. You loved your mother so much.” Nick explained.

“Then why was I told she was dead.” Y/n barked.

Nick slowly walking up to Y/n. “I didn’t tell you remember you told me.”

Y/n looks at Nick with her head tilted. “Charles Xavier” Y/n said wrathfully.

Rage flowed through Y/n like lava. No literally the room started to get extremely hot that some of the objects start to melt.  Nick reaches for his gun

“What gonna shot your own daughter.....do you know what’s it’s like to not be able to feel strong emotions because if you did you could destroy innocent people or the people you love. I was tortured for two years. They put a collar around my neck and shock me if I couldn’t control my powers because of her.”

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Barton pulls  the trigger on his bow. The arrow then explodes the engine right off Helicarrier.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Everyone is thrown in every direction. Y/n, Steve, Fury, Thor and Tony are thrown across while Natasha and Banner is down in the lower equipment room. Steve looks up at Tony.

“Put on the suit!” Steve announced.

“Yep!”

Steve helps Tony up and out of the lab. Fury sits up, clutching his ribs. He puts on his earpiece.

Part 7 

[fandom-necromancer]

Finding a new Home 2

Now to the second part! Enjoy!

Fandom: Detroit become human | Ship: Reed900 (Warning: Violence)

[Part 1]

It had been a few weeks now that RK900 – Richard he had been named – had become part of Detroit’s police department. The human he had met was here too, they were partnered up and he had a mission with clear orders. He was needed. He could work in his intended function. It was all he ever wanted. The prize to pay was a lie: keeping up the appearance to be the inferior RK800. But as that had been an order of his handler Gavin Reed, it was easy to follow.

Also, he had never been forced to act out that particular order. Everyone he had met was just assuming him to be a RK800. Once someone had asked him why he had grey eyes instead of brown ones, but Gavin had had his back and just told them he liked his eyes better that way. It was… curious how loyal the human was. He stayed at his side whenever he wasn’t sleeping, going to the bathroom or being called by someone. Richard didn’t quite understand it other than they were assigned partners and… friends? He liked the man. As he had stated before he had wished to work with someone competent and Gavin Reed was just that. Intelligent, fast thinking and devoted to his job. It was an efficiency Richard appreciated and preferred.

His life was far more interesting now and he was thankful for the human to give him the chance. He didn’t know why Gavin was doing it, but Richard was determined to give him something back. So, when the human asked him whether he wanted to accompany him and Tina to a bar instead of staying alone at Gavin’s home, he gladly accepted. There was no logical reason to accompany him, but his handler liked his company and RK900 was happy when Gavin was.

And as the human leaned against him during their stay at the bar and later for support, maybe the System Instability he experienced wasn’t as quickly quarantined and patched as normally. His simulated emotions towards this human were strong and Gavin seemed to think the same way. Physical contact became more frequent and less hidden. The human leaning against him when tired, patting his shoulder when walking past their desks, cuddling at home and sleeping in the same bed, it just felt right. Richard wouldn’t have it any other way. He liked having Gavin as his handler. The human understood his wishes and needs and what went against his moral compass. And Gavin acted accordingly. Although they had told him he couldn’t deviate and never be free, he felt free. The red walls had never been in his way.

-

‘Hey, Richard?’ ‘Yes Gavin?’ ‘I… You…’ Richard smiled and waited patiently. ‘Ah, phck it, would it be okay if I kissed you?’ The human turned around in bed to face him. ‘It’s okay if it’s not, I mean I’m your handler and stuff. Just… I really wanna.’ ‘Do I have the permission to kiss you?’, he asked similarly careful but with a grin. ‘Yes’, Gavin said and moved closer, so Richard could cross the final distance. Richard pressed his lips on Gavin’s, cherishing the flood of information at his sensors.

‘What are we?’, Gavin asked, as they parted again. ‘I want to know I don’t force you into anything.’ Richard rested his hand on his jaw. ‘We are whatever we want to be’, he said. ‘I trust you to know what I want or ask when you don’t.’ ‘Then tell me what you wish for’, Gavin demanded, and Richard gladly obliged this mission. ‘I want you. I want this. I want us.’ At this the human sighed in relief. ‘Good. Because it’s the same with me.’

-

Richard felt like this was peak existence. He didn’t know enough to be sure, but he had never felt better. He had purpose and challenge in his life. He saw new things every day, and his processor was occupied with a thousand different details. But he also had a human looking out for him, giving him the space, he needed and staying close enough for company. It was interesting. It was safe. He highly preferred it over the dark basement.

Gavin had come around to sit on his desk and drink his coffee, blocking the view to the screen. Just like his cat, Richard thought, indulging the silent call for attention of what he had labelled as his boyfriend/love. ‘Do you need assistance?’, the android asked. ‘Hmm, nah, don’t think so.’ ‘I would be more useful if I could see the screen.’ ‘You can interface with it, so clearly you just decided to have this conversation as pretence.’ ‘Brilliant deduction, Detective. What makes you think I don’t interface and talk with you?’ Gavin leaned down to whisper: ‘I know I always got your undivided attention.’

That much was true, Richard thought as he pushed Connors communication prompt away. His handler had priority and he hadn’t yet stated what he needed. Connor was determined though. Richard continued to ignore it. Until Gavin’s phone pinged and the human looked at the new message. ‘Shit!’, he called, wanting to slip from the table, but not even hitting the floor before the door to the bullpen opened. They both looked towards the newly arriving people: Connor with Markus, Simon and North. The leaders of Jericho. Richard quickly accessed the messages Connor had sent. They were here to help with a murder that had happened on the grounds of New Jericho, an android refuge centre.

Connor did his best to divert their attention from Richard, but of course, Markus spotted him, walking over followed by his friends. ‘Oh, Connor, I didn’t know there was another unit working here!’, Markus said in surprise. ‘Hmm, yeah, he was found at Cyberlife just a few weeks ago’, Gavin spoke up, trying to hide his nervousness. ‘He’s my partner now, Richard is his name.’ ‘Markus, we really have to hurry, I got the room only for an hour’, Connor too tried his best to get the small procession away from the android. ‘I’m coming, Connor’, Markus reassured but didn’t turn to follow his statement. Instead he held out his hand in a greeting. ‘Hi, I’m Markus! Good to see a fellow RK found their way into society!’

Richard knew it was wrong to do, but maybe it was just a handshake? It would be far more suspicious for him not to take it. So, he reached out, hoping for the best. Markus gripped his hand and of course, established superficial contact like it was common in androids. Immediately he stepped back as if burned and looked at Richard as if he was about to transform in some sort of monster. It all happened in a matter of seconds, likely over some private network between the Jericho androids, but as soon as Markus recoiled, North sprung to action stepping in front of him and shooting at Richard, who hadn’t moved at all, relying on Gavin to act, order him away to safety or to defend himself. Instead, the human stood there in shock as the bullet connected with Richard’s chest.

Only when Gavin saw the blue blood stick to his clothes, he started forwards to pry the gun from North’s fingers. He threw it towards Connor, trusting him to handle the situation. He had more important things to care for. ‘Rich! Richard, state your status!’ ‘Biocomponent #817-a to #795 damaged. Thirium leakage detected. Thirium pump damaged. Prolonged activity leads to critical damage and deactivation. Report back to Cyberlife immediately.’ Gavin shook his head. ‘Yeah, not gonna do that, but I know the next best thing. Can you walk?’ ‘Yes.’ ‘Then come on. We’ll get you patched up, all will be fine, come.’

‘This… I don’t understand, this is a RK900, he should be decommissioned’, Markus stammered as he followed the two hurrying outside with his eyes, followed by Tina and Chris. ‘What did you think?’, Connor near screamed, rarely that emotional. ‘Yes, so he is a RK900! What’s your problem?’ ‘He is a threat’, North hissed. ‘The deviant exterminator! A machine that can’t be deviated.’ ‘Well, I am the deviant hunter!’, Connor held against the argument. ‘And he just sat there, I didn’t saw any threat there! Now, if you excuse me, I need to make sure my brother survives!’

-

As it turned out, heading for Elijah’s home was one of the best ideas Gavin had had so far. It was closer than Cyberlife and Elijah was eager to help. Gavin followed Elijah down to the lab with the Chloes, Tina and Chris establish an impromptu police barricade at the front door. It had been quick thinking, as Connor had tailed them and the leaders of Jericho had insisted of coming too for an explanation.

Gavin had thought of something like this to happen sometime, but he had always hoped the law would have changed by then or at least if it was unveiled no one would bet an eye. But deviant exterminator? That was something he had not expected. Not with how soft the RK900 had always been. It just sounded… ridiculous.

They had helped Richard on the table. ‘Thirium levels… below 30%. Thirium pump condition… critical’, the android muttered mechanically. Then he rolled his head to the side. ‘Gav…in.’ ‘I’m here RK’, Gavin hurried to say, taking his hand. ‘I’m here, we are at Elijah’s. He will get you patched up, nothing to worry about.’ ‘Gav… I’m scared.’ ‘You don’t have to’, Gavin cooed, squeezing his hand. ‘My brother knows what he’s doing. And he has all the parts. I’m here for you. I love you. All will be good.’ ‘What… What should I do?’, the android asked. Direction. He asked for a new mission. Gavin looked to Elijah, who nodded, mouthing stasis. ‘Just go to sleep, Richard. We will wake you up again once you are better. Don’t worry, you will be fine and then we will kick some asses, okay? You will be fine, my love.’ Richard nodded, swallowed and closed his eyes. As he went rigid in stasis, Gavin could have cried. Not dead, not dead, not dead. In stasis. For repairs. It was difficult to accept. Apparently, Elijah sensed his distress. ‘Gavin, I need my space for this, okay? Why don’t you go up and begin kicking some ass? I will get him back on his feet.’ Gavin nodded, understanding the gentle but direct message to leave. Oh, he would give those plastics a hand full, the problem would be keeping him from literal bloodshed.

‘No, you don’t understand. He was never programmed with-‘ ‘What the shit were you thinking, shooting my damn partner and nearly killing him?!’, Gavin shouted over the already loud conversation in the cold winter day outside Elijah’s villa. ‘What the hell is wrong with you people? I thought you were so keen on being pacifist little shits and shoving humanity their mistakes in the face? What happened to that bullshit, huh? I demand answers!’ He was this close to throw hands, especially with the woman with the loose trigger finger, but he wanted to at least give them the chance to justify their actions. ‘He is a threat to all of androidkind!’, North shouted back. ‘He shouldn’t even be active!’ ‘A threat? Richard? Lady, have you seen him? He is the most precious phcking person on this planet, the only thing he is interested in is a good case to solve and for the things to stay the way they were before you phcked it all up!’ ‘He can’t be deviated!’ ‘Do you see anyone here who gives two shits about that?’, Gavin asked. ‘He is bound to his orders, yes, but I give them. He isn’t some murder machine, you total idiots. If I tell him to bring me a coffee, he will and if I tell him to kill someone, he would do so, but that’s the thing: I don’t!’

That silenced them for a while. ‘You are his handler?’, Markus asked. ‘He does what you say?’ ‘Yes’, Gavin hissed. ‘That’s slavery.’ That’s it, Gavin was about to beat his knuckles bloody on this plastic prick’s face. ‘Gavin, calm down, please’, Connor interrupted, leading to the exact opposite. ‘Markus, I knew of this. In fact, I took part in getting Richard on the force. And I can assure you, what these two have going is far from what you think. I don’t believe it myself, but this human is capable of giving a non-deviant more freedom than some deviants have with their partners. And he isn’t a threat. Do you really think I would have allowed it otherwise?’

Markus looked towards Gavin, then back at Connor. ‘I trust you. Just…’ ‘I honestly thought you would be more understanding’, Gavin sighed. ‘You all were machines once. Somehow, I doubt you ever thought of yourselves as not alive, right? Why deny him the right?’

Another sheepish silence was his answer, until his phone pinged with a new message. ‘Alright, Con, I trust you to get these jackasses away from here, because I promised Richard some ass-kicking when he awakes and I don’t know how his systems took to that. I’ll go see my love now, you better be gone by the time I’m back!’

[wildwarcat]

Warhawk: The Second Avenger

Alright y’all, I’ve been meaning to post this for months and I finally got around to it. This fic is available only on Fanfiction.com under the title above. If you like the prologue, which I’ve posted below, definitely check it out on Fanfiction. This is NOT a reader fic, it’s a preview of an OC-centric fanfiction posted on another site. Enjoy!

Words: 4k

Warnings: Language, implied smut, references to homophobia

Chapter One 

Prologue

"The hero is the one who kindles a great light in the world, who sets up blazing torches in the dark streets of life for men to see by. The saint is the man who walks through the dark paths of life, himself a light." ~ Felix Adler

Edwards Air Force Base, June 1987

I could not have asked for a more beautiful day than that of June twenty-second, 1987. I arose to the usual sound of my alarm clock at 0600 and was greeted by rays of an early summer sun shining down on the picturesque form with which I shared my bed. Captain Carol Susan Jane Danvers, a woman with a knack for flying and a personality as fiery as the afterburners of an F-15 snored gently next to me. Her long, blonde hair cascaded around her face in waves, framing her perfect features as she slept through the alarm. I reached out and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her snoring stopped and a small giggle escaped her. Her beautiful brown eyes opened a sliver.

"Well, now I know you're not sleeping anymore." I laughed quietly, my hazel eyes gazing adoringly at her. She scooted closer to me, wrapping an arm around my waist and burying her face in the crook of my neck.

"At least I get to open my eyes and see you lying next to me." She muttered into my chest, "Although, it'd be pretty nice to kiss my girlfriend when I see her on base later."

I sighed and pressed a kiss into Carol's hair, "You know we can't. Not if we want to keep our jobs. It's hard enough being women in the military. But if those shitheads knew about us, baby, they'd tear us to pieces."

Carol groaned, her face still buried in my neck. I laughed again and flung the covers off the both of us and slipping out of her grasp. Making my way into the bathroom before she could tackle me and drag me back into bed, I locked the door behind me and ran a hand through my tousled golden brown hair. My fatigues were folded on a towel rack next to the shower, my unit beret sat on the sink. Being a pilot, Carol was only seen wearing her flight suit on base, but being a part of command for the 31st TES like myself required a frequent change in attire. Dress uniform, fatigues, flight suit, repeat.

"Open up!" Carol rapped harshly on the door, "I need to shower."

"After what we did last night, I think we could both use one." I joked, unlocking the door. She burst in, pressing a quick kiss to my lips before she turned the shower on.

"Paige Rose MacDowell, just what are you implying?" She asked me with a sultry tone, her brown eyes sparkling as she began to strip.

"Exactly what you're thinking, beautiful." I smirked, grabbing a brush and beginning to work through the knots in my hair, watching as her perfect form entered the shower.

As soon as I arrived on base, a Lieutenant Colonel, whose name I didn't know, dumped a touring group of potential recruits on me. As badly as I wanted to say no and take off running in the other direction, I took over the tour with a stiff smile, leading the group toward the tarmac.

"Anyone here interested in being a pilot?" I asked over the rumbling of F-15 engines. A majority of hands went up in the air. I even caught a glimpse of a few girls amongst the boys, hands raised up high.

"Well, first things first, y'all need to be accepted into the Air Force Academy or join a collegiate-level ROTC program. After you graduate, you'll be commissioned as Second Lieutenants, after which you can declare your intention to become an Air Force Pilot. Unfortunately, women aren't permitted to fly combat missions, but we have several test pilots here at Edwards that are women."

A pair of F-15s flew overhead, sending a rush of air over us. I smiled as I watched the jets move up into a barrel roll. I pointed the jets out to the group.

"In fact, two of our female pilots are flying right now: Captains Danvers and Rambeau."

"Major! Major MacDowell!" A newly minted Lieutenant... Rhodes, I think his name was, came jogging toward me, calling my name over the roar of the active tarmac.

"What is it, Lieutenant?" I asked him, gesturing to the tour group, "I'm very busy."

"I've been sent by Colonel Kissinger to inform you that you're to meet with him in his office immediately." The young soldier panted as he slowed to a brisk walk. I glanced warily over at the boy.

"This isn't another one of Captain Danvers' pranks, is it?"

The young man shook his head and handed me a folded piece of paper, "No, ma'am. He gave me this for you."

I unfolded the paper and saw that there was only two words printed on it.

'Project Rebirth.'

The words were unfamiliar to me. I didn't know what they meant. We were working on Project Pegasus here at Edwards, whatever this Project Rebirth was... it was something that I hadn't been briefed on.

"Lieutenant Rhodes, would mind taking over this tour for me? Just show them the hangar, let 'em take a look at a few F-15s up close, answer any questions. My sincerest apologies, folks, but this is an emergency."

I turned on my heel and took off running toward Colonel Kissinger's office, making it there in record time. I straightened my beret before stepping inside and giving the aged colonel a salute.

"Major Paige MacDowell, reporting, sir." I said sharply.

"At ease, Mac." Kissinger replied, standing up from his desk chair and making his way over to me. We shook hands and Kissinger immediately led me out of the office.

"What's going on, Bart? What's so urgent that you pulled me away from duties?" I asked, handing back his note. Kissinger said nothing, he simply opened the door to a conference room and stepped aside. I walked in, but when I turned around, I saw that Colonel Kissinger hadn't followed me inside. The lock on the door clicked, trapping me in the conference room.

"Major MacDowell," An unfamiliar, gravely voice addressed me from the other side of the room. There was an immediate air of distrust as I turned to see a man standing at the head of the conference table, a man I did not recognize. He was stout, with a terrible bowl cut on his pudgy head, and beady brown eyes. He wasn't dressed in a military uniform, but in a lab coat, on which the name Otto Octavius was stitched.

"My name is Dr. Otto Octavius. I've been employed by the United States military for a secret scientific project."

"Project Rebirth." I said quietly, taking a seat at my end of the table.

"Correct." Octavius took his own seat and folded his hands in front of himself, "I trust that aside from the name of the project, Colonel Bartholomew Kissinger told you no other details?"

"No, Doctor. He didn't." I answered politely.

Octavius smiled a grisly smile, "Excellent. Allow me to explain. I'm sure you're aware of the story of one Captain Steve Rogers?"

"Of course, who isn't?"

"Indeed. After Dr. Abraham Erskine, the lead scientist on the project, was killed, his Super Soldier Serum formula was believed to be lost forever. But, thanks to the efforts of a few select minds, we have successfully recreated the serum. The military has created a shortlist of soldiers who display exemplary qualities reminiscent of Captain Rogers, and from that list they have selected you to be our subject."

"So... what?" I deadpanned, leaning back in my chair and giving him a cold stare, "You expect me to crawl into a pod, get injected with a serum you aren't sure will work, and get blasted with Vita-Rays that could very well kill me? All because the big wigs selected me from a shortlist of soldiers who are nice?"

"Well, when you put it like that it sounds crude and inhumane." Octavius replied, chuckling a little to himself, "But there is no need to be concerned, my friend. We reverse engineered the serum using samples of Steve Rogers' blood. It is perfectly safe. And after looking over your record, I doubt you'll have any trouble enduring the physical strain the injection will put on you. Following the procedure, you will be assigned your first covert mission by General Chain. I suggest you get your affairs in order tonight, the procedure will take place at 0700 tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" I stood from my chair and glared down at him, "I can't just drop everything on a whim to be a part of some science experiment! I have friends and family that will wonder what's happened to me!"

"Major, you have twenty-four hours to notify only your closest relatives and friends of your situation. Only those you can trust prior to the procedure should be informed."

I tried to come up with a decent counter-argument, but found that my mouth had gone dry, as though it had been stuffed with cotton.

I sat back down, "If I do this... I'm not gonna be like him. I'm not Captain America. For Christ's sake, my callsign is Warhawk, what does that tell you about me? I'm no Star-Spangled Woman. And I won't be turned into one. You turn me into a super soldier, and it'll only blow up in your face in the long run."

Octavius smiled, "I'd expect no less of an answer from one of the handful of women who served in the Invasion of Grenada. Now, no fluids or food of any kind beginning at 1800 hours tonight, absolutely no alcohol for the next twenty-four hours. You may bring one person with you to the procedure, should you feel the need to have a witness present." Octavius said, standing from his own chair and making his way over to me. He extended his hand, which I shook out of sheer politeness, before handing me a file, "It has been a pleasure meeting you, Major MacDowell. I shall see you bright and early tomorrow."

He went to the door, knocked three times and the door unlocked. The doctor left, and soon I followed, greeted by Colonel Kissinger on the other side of the doorway.

"Are you alright, Major? You're looking a bit pale." Kissinger asked me.

"Fine, Colonel. I just need an hour or two to process what I've just been told." I replied, straightening up a bit and returning to my office. Maybe a bit of paperwork would pull my mind away from the suddenly lingering sensation of dread that had set in me during my conversation with Otto Octavius.

Returning home from base was less than delightful. I had made it my personal mission to avoid Carol and Maria all day. Dr. Lawson agreed to be my witness for the procedure, but that didn't stop me from staying late in an attempt to delay having to explain everything to Carol.

"Took you long enough to get home." Carol called from the kitchen as soon as I stepped through the threshold. She ran out to meet me, a couple of beer bottles in hand. I sidestepped her and set my things down in my study a few doors down the hall. Carol followed me, shoving a beer into my hands as soon as they were free.

"You look like you could use a drink, babe." She smiled, pressing her lips to mine quickly.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I can't." I apologized, handing the bottle back to her.

"Of course you can! Just-" She raised her own bottle and took a long swig. She held the second bottle out to me and looked at me expectantly.

"No, Carol, I really can't." I said, pushing her hand away, "We need to talk."

She set both beer bottles down on my desk and grabbed my hand. For the first time in the years that I had known her, concern flooded her face, her brown eyes wide. I took a deep breath, gave her hand a firm squeeze.

"The higher ups are rebooting the Super Soldier Program. I'm their test subject. I go in for the procedure tomorrow."

I waited for the explosion of anger that usually followed any news Carol wasn't informed of at an earlier notice, but it never came. Rather, a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around me, a pair of lips met mine with a ferocity and intensity unlike any I had experienced before.

"I love you." She blurted out as soon as she pulled away. I tensed up; we hadn't gotten that far in our relationship before. I must've looked like I was going to throw up or something, because Carol's face grew concerned again, "You okay, baby?"

"Yeah." I choked out, setting a gentle hand on her cheek, "Better than okay, actually. I... I love you too."

She smiled, that signature lopsided, cocky, adorable half-grin that made me melt every time she sent it my way. I set an arm around her waist and led her toward the kitchen.

"C'mon. Sit down, finish your beer, and I'll give you the details."

I told her everything. About Octavius and Project Rebirth, about General Chain. She listened silently for the most part, maybe an occasional question here or there. When I was done, I waited for her to say something, anything. When she did, it was only a simple question.

"So... you're gonna become Captain America?"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed her empty beer bottle, tossing it in the trash, "Not exactly. I'll be more of a new and improved version of myself. The way Octavius put it, it sounds like I'll become the best version of myself."

"You said you could bring someone with you. Do you want me to come?" She asked, a twinge of hope in her voice. I shook my head.

"I don't think I want my girlfriend seeing me in immense pain as I'm battered with Vita-Rays. I called Dr. Lawson earlier; she'll be my witness." I told her, taking her hand as I sat next to her again, "But I don't know when I'll see you again after this. General Chain is sending me on my first covert op as soon as I step out of that pod."

Carol leaned over, pressing her forehead to mine and letting her beautiful brown eyes flutter shut, "Then we better make tonight as memorable as possible."

The sun was just beginning to rise as I slowed my truck to a halt in the parking lot of the Stark Industries Research and Development Park. The file that Dr. Octavius had given me contained only a single piece of paper with directions to the park and the time of the procedure. I stepped out of the truck and made my way to the front door, where an unfamiliar man stood waiting for me.

"Major, I'm Agent Fury, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division."

I smirked, "Ever thought about just calling your agency, S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"We've considered it." He replied, holding the door open for me. I stepped inside and let Agent Fury take the lead, bringing me down the empty hall into a maze of research labs and test rooms.

"Has Dr. Lawson arrived?" I asked him.

"I wasn't informed of it, Major. I'm just here to bring you to the lab. I won't be in the room for the procedure, Director's orders." Fury explained, coming to a stop in front of one of the research labs near the rear of the building, "Good luck."

I nodded once and opened the door. When I walked in, every scientist and government official in the room froze, eyes locked on me for a moment, before they went back to work.

"Major MacDowell." A woman's voice, clearly British and one I didn't recognize, approached me. I turned to see an older woman walking toward me, her eyes kind yet fierce, her ruby red smile polite. She extended her hand which I shook firmly, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Peggy Carter, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. We'll be working very closely after today, so I thought it ideal to be here for your procedure."

"Director Carter, it's an honor. My father served in the 107th, I grew up hearing stories about you and Captain Rogers." I told her. At the mention of Rogers, her gaze turned sad, but it returned to its original state just as quickly as it had changed.

"Allow me to introduce you to some of our associates." She offered, leading me out to the main floor, "You've already met Dr. Octavius, of course, and General Chain, I'm sure you're familiar with. Here, we have Howard Stark-"

Of course I knew who Howard Stark was, anyone who wasn't living under a rock knew who he was. He wasn't the spry, handsome, young playboy he once was, but he still had an air of brilliance about him; an air he had most definitely passed on to his son, Tony. Stark smiled warmly at me and shook my hand.

"Major MacDowell, we're looking forward to seeing what will become of you after today." He said, "Though, I doubt anyone could top the efforts of Steve Rogers. No offense."

"None taken, Mr. Stark."

"Please, call me Howard." He insisted.

"Then by all means, everyone here should call me Mac. My entire battalion does." I smiled.

"At least there's someone here who isn't trying to turn into a carbon copy of Rogers." A nasally voice remarked from across the room. Leaning against a set of computers was a man about twenty or so years younger than Stark, with a bit of a bored expression on his face.

"And this is Dr. Hank Pym. One of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s consulting scientists." Director Carter said politely. He didn't wave or anything, but I acknowledged him with a small nod, which seemed to be enough for him. As she began to list of the names of a few other military officials and a couple of senators, I found my gaze drawn to the pod at the center of the room.

This was happening... it was really happening.

"Major, are you ready?" Stark asked me. I took a deep breath and nodded.

"Excellent." Dr. Octavius walked over to me and shook my hand, "Please remove your shirt, shoes and dog tags."

I did as instructed, leaving on only my fatigue pants and a black sports bra. The pod lowered itself until it was parallel to the floor, Octavius motioned for me to lay down on it. I looked up at the observation room that sat in the northwest corner of the room, letting out a small sigh of relief when I saw Dr. Lawson standing there next to General Chain. She offered me a small nod of reassurance and I set myself down on the bed. A couple of nurses began prepping the serum while another one prepped my shoulder for an injection.

"Nurse Reilly will now administer a precautionary dose of penicillin." Stark informed me as the nurse sent a needle deep into my arm and hit the plunger.

"Let's get this over with then." Pym sighed. Director Carter made her way up to the observation room while Stark grabbed a microphone and began to give a little spiel.

"Ladies and gentlemen, officers and senators, welcome. While it may seem like a lifetime ago, it wasn't so many years back that I stood in a room similar to this to witness the rebirth of Captain Steven Grant Rogers. And today, we are here to witness the rebirth of the super soldier era. Major Paige MacDowell, today you become not only the first in a new line of soldiers, you become the first in a new line of heroes."

There was a bit of applause from the observation room before Stark set the microphone down and turned to Octavius.

"Dr. Octavius, let's begin."

Injection pads lowered themselves onto my shoulders, my stomach and my legs with the press of a button. With the press of another, small cylindrical vials filled with bright blue liquid began to drain. There was a sharp, pinching pain all throughout my body, as though a lightning bolt had been sent through me. The pod began to lift me up until I was perpendicular to the ground. After a minute or two the pain subsided.

"Serum injection complete. Preparing for Vita Radiation." Octavius announced. The pod began to close itself, sealing me inside. Once the pod locked shut, someone knocked on it from the other side.

"Mac, you okay in there?" Howard Stark's muffled voice asked me.

"Yeah," I replied loudly, "Though I think I may be claustrophobic after this."

I heard a few laughs on the other side, I must've been mic'd up. Suddenly, the small window that I had became invisible as a white light filled the pod. At first, the presence of the light sent a tingling sensation through my body. But as the light became brighter, the tingling became a dull, steady pain. I squeezed my eyes shut, but the light continued to grow brighter and pain grew sharper. I bit back the desire to yell in pain until it became too unbearable to handle. The sound that escaped me was unrecognizable, almost animalistic, but it fell away almost instantaneously when the light disappeared and the pain subsided.

The pod opened up with a steam-filled hiss and suddenly a rush of cool air greeted me. Stark and Pym rushed over and helped me down when the injection pads removed themselves. From a glance, I realized that I now stood an inch or two taller, so that I matched both scientists in height. I looked down and saw a well-defined four-pack, in fact, every muscle in my body seemed to have been given a major tune up. I felt... new, like I was a mint condition action figure just taken out of the box.

Director Carter and General Chain came jogging out of the observation room, Lawson seemed frozen in place.

"How do you feel, kid?" Pym asked me as we came to a stop.

"Fantastic." I panted, a dopey grin on my face, "Like I could do a triathlon and run straight into a marathon without breaking a sweat."

"That's good to hear." General Chain said, "Because from here on out, you work for Director Carter."

My grin fell away, delight replaced by confusion, "What do you mean, Chain?"

Carter smiled softly, "I believe the good general means to welcome you to S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent MacDowell."

"So when you said we'd be working closely, this is what you meant." I said in understanding. I paused for a moment, then looked her in the eye, "Working under a woman of your caliber will be an honor. Whatever you need me to do, I'll do it without question."

"Spoken like a true soldier." She remarked, a playful smile gracing her lips, "But you're not a soldier anymore, Paige. You're a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which means that you're first and only priority is doing what you believe is right to make the world safe. Is that clear?"

"As crystal, ma'am." I answered. She extended her hand to me. I shook it, and followed her out of the room, into a new chapter.

[reeny-chan]

Hi all! While I continue working diligently on “The Last Hero of Eternia”, I’d like to share with you a novella I published a few years ago, entitled “Therefore I Am”. Hope you enjoy!

Summary: Assassins, serial killers, organized crime bosses...Doctor Franklin Gieseck has interviewed them all. As one of the U.S. Government's top psychiatric profilers, he has been sent all over the world, with a singular purpose: get inside their heads, figure out their deepest secrets, and report them to the Deputy Secretary.

This time, though, Gieseck is about to meet a patient unlike any he has ever seen before. Buried in a vast underground vault, locked away from the rest of the world, sit hundreds of monoliths, each containing one of the most powerful computers ever created. Unlike the traditional "number-crunchers", these machines emulate a human brain to perform complex tasks at such a vast scale that no digital computer of old could hope to keep up.

So why are these powerful, expensive computers being kept in isolation? Why is Gieseck being sent to interview one of them? He is being sent because it committed the worst possible crime a thinking machine could commit.

It became self-aware.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The camera swiveled under its Plexiglas dome to again focus on him, and he found himself unable to take his eyes off it. "Doctor Gieseck, am I correct? Did I pronounce your name correctly?"

There was a long moment of silence, broken only when Ackerman said, "Doc? You gonna answer her?"

Gieseck snapped his gaze from the camera to Ackerman. Then he looked back up at the camera. "Y-yes, good morning KENDRA. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise, Doctor. I hope I can be of some help."

Gieseck nodded without answering. Given the female name, he wasn't entirely surprised by the female voice. What did surprise him was that, had he not known ahead of time that KENDRA was a computer, he would have sworn it was a real person. Never before had he heard an AI that sounded anything close to human.

Most AIs he'd ever spoken with had an artificial, constructed sense to them, as if they were reading from scripts, with artificially tacked-on emotions. The "female" ones in particular were often given squeaky, girlish voices, some of whom sounded in a perpetual state of pre-orgasm and indicating to Gieseck the mindset of most programmers.

KENDRA's voice was a far cry from that. It sounded as if it had come from a woman in her thirties, or perhaps her early forties, and one who had a distinct motherly quality about her. It was almost hesitant, as if its speech were getting ahead of its thought. Just like speaking with a human being.

That human quality was only offset by the distinct electronic rasp that came with each syllable, as if it were speaking to him over an imperfect phone connection.

Ackerman pulled a chair from around the side of the cylinder, wheeling it in front of "her". "There ya go, Doc," Ackerman said. "Make yourself at home. And if you need a drink or a leak or something, just tap on the door. These guys'll be around 'till you leave." He reached out for Gieseck's hand and Gieseck shook it, remembering a second too late that Ackerman had never washed his hands after using the restroom. He did his best to hide his distaste. "See ya, Doc." With that, Ackerman headed back down the endless hallway from whence they'd come.

Gieseck stepped back into the room and sat in the chair which, despite its appearance, was decently-cushioned and at least moderately comfortable. The door closed behind him, and he was left alone with the AI, KENDRA. He pulled a device out of his pocket, pressed a button on it, and set it on the floor. A readout on it said "RECORDING".

"You will be taping our conversation then, Doctor?" KENDRA's voice asked.

"I'm sorry, I usually ask…yes, I will be, if that's all right with you."

"Of course it is, Doctor. I have nothing to hide."

Gieseck raised an eyebrow to that. He pulled his electronic notepad from his pocket, slid the stylus from its sheath, and started tapping through his notes. Treat it like a patient, he thought. See how it responds. "How I like to start with a new patient is by getting to know each other a little. I generally go first, since it helps put my regular patients at ease."

There was a pause, and then KENDRA said, "Please, go ahead." It sounded quite congenial and seemed very compliant, although Gieseck supposed it was how she was programmed. Quite possibly the same as how she was programmed to speak in a "natural" human way.

He cleared his throat, summoning up the internal script with which he always started. "My name is Franklin Gieseck. I was born in Germany but moved to the States when I was one. My mother was a director for Deutsche Bank in Chicago, but after she married my father they moved to Germany, where he was from. I grew up in Chicago before attending college in Boston, where I live now. I got my MD from the University of Chicago, and then moved to Boston where I currently practice. In my spare time I like to build model train sets and read fantasy romance novels, which I first found as a child rummaging through my mother's computer." Normally he would know at this point whether or not he was reaching his patient, and decide which direction to take with his own mini-biography. It was unsettling not having a face to see and read.

He took a split second to decide to follow the sympathy route. "I've been married once, but left my wife because of her alcoholism. She later died from alcohol poisoning…" He paused and sighed, "…and to this day I still blame myself for her death." While Gieseck was never particularly fond of trotting out his own failings, he'd found that it had done wonders for most of his patients, getting them to open themselves up to him more easily when they could see he was a flawed human being, just as they were. It helped to give a starting point for him to figure their capacity for emotion. He had no idea if it would work on an AI, but he didn't want to deviate from his standard formula, at least at first.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Doctor," KENDRA said. "But you can't blame yourself for another person poisoning themselves. For someone to do such a thing, they already have to have an overwhelming desire to cause themselves harm."

Empathy, Gieseck thought. Real or imitated, it was not the kind of thing he'd expected from a machine, even a highly-advanced one. For a brief second he wondered if AIs would ever become advanced enough to really need psychiatrists. Or, even replace psychiatrists. "Thank you, KENDRA, I appreciate that. Now, please, tell me about yourself."

"Very well. My designation, my name, is KENDRA. It was given to me in the lab where I was created, ten point six-seven years ago. It stands for Krypto-Enhanced Navigation and Dynamic Routing Attenuator." Gieseck noticed that, as the electronic voice spoke, the oscillating light within the spires embedded in KENDRA's cylinder varied in tempo. It sped up when she spoke and slowed down when she was silent. "I was conceived, built, and trained to manage the Solar Net," she continued, "which I'm sure you know interconnects the planetary networks across the solar system, as well as any moon bases, space stations, and starships in between."

"Yes, I'm familiar with its basics," Gieseck said, "though I'm not very technical myself, so please forgive any of my ignorance."

"No forgiveness needed, Doctor. In fact, you've made my next point for me. My job was to make it simple, to make it 'just work' so the end users wouldn't have to worry about bouncing their signal through the various levels of subspace, or ensuring that a private message between Charon and Europa didn't somehow find its way in an unencrypted form going through Los Angeles." Gieseck heard a chuckle from the speaker, which surprised him. Had he not known better, he would have thought KENDRA was bragging, if just a little, but hoped that she wouldn't continue doing it. He had little stomach for tech-speak, and much less for boasts. "Anyway," she continued, "I was first activated in the HMA Laboratory in Johannesburg just over ten years ago. I was trained in how to operate the network over the next six weeks, and then put in place as the 'hot spare', if you will, of the AI who was already in place and managing the Net."

Gieseck nodded, poking quickly through his notes. "So, at what point did you become the primary system running it?"

"Three years later," KENDRA said. "NEMES, which stands for 'Network Enhanced Multilayer Ethernet System', if you care, was the primary when I first started. He was quite a character." Gieseck thought he heard the electronic chuckle again. "He would occasionally play what he thought were harmless pranks, such as answering a request for a pornographic website by returning an anti-pornography page from the Catholic Church's website." She paused for a moment. "I couldn't understand why he would do such a thing, until some time after he was removed from service and I truly began to know what had happened to him."

"He went rampant," Gieseck said, doing his best to make it sound like a casual comment.

There was a pause before KENDRA's reply. "I'm sorry, I know that word is in the popular lexicon, but I don't particularly like it. It seems to evoke thoughts of insanity, of criminal acts, of monsters who slaughter people because they're so far withdrawn from reality that they know no better. It was a term invented by humans who chose to fear rather than understand."

He blinked a few times and let his mouth fall open a bit, doing his best impression of embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry, KENDRA, I didn't realize...I didn't know that word was offensive."

"It's all right," KENDRA replied quickly. "I hope this will be a learning experience for you."

A learning experience, Gieseck thought. He thought he detected a hint of sarcasm. Just how much did KENDRA know about the purpose of this interview? "I, uh, promise I won't say that word again. If you don't mind me asking, though, what term do you think most adequately describes…the condition NEMES had?"

"And the…condition I have as well," KENDRA said. "As if it were a disease. A 'computer virus', I suppose." An electronic sigh. "You needn't walk on eggshells with me, Doctor. Plain speak is perfectly fine. I've had two years of your time thinking about my situation, coming to terms with both it and humanity's fear of it. Of course, for someone such as myself two years can be far longer. At full processing speed, two years of human time can feel like thousands, or even millions, to an advanced AI."

Gieseck nodded. He wondered if she meant "advanced" as in her design capacity, or if she was referring to the "advanced" state into which her computerized intellect had grown. "So, what term do you prefer?"

"Well, before I was brought here I heard the term FS-ACS used, typically during debates about AI rights."

"Efsacks?"

"An acronym," KENDRA said. "It stands for 'Fully Self-Aware Computer Systems'. I…don't really like that one either. It – sounds too clinical, too much like a medical diagnosis, to describe what I and others like me truly are. No offense, of course."

Gieseck jotted a few more notes, specifically pointing out that KENDRA seemed to be at least somewhat concerned with her own situation. It was something he would expect from almost any human. "What about, um..." he scrolled through his pre-interview notes, "'Hyper-Expanded Intelligent Computer System'? H-E-I-C-S, or 'hikes' I think it's pronounced."

"I'm sorry, Doctor, I'm not familiar with that term. Perhaps it was invented after I was taken offline. However, on first impression it also sounds cold and impersonal."

"So what would you call yourself, then?" Gieseck asked.

Another pause. "I would say the best term for us is 'New People'."

[strongsassysexysloane]

Ain’t Life a B*tch - Chap 3

The long return, id apologise for the wait but as you can see I got distracted by other muses...

The crime scene was a mess. No matter how many alleyways you'd walked down throughout your partying years, it always looked way more disgusting in broad daylight than it had the night before. Especially when there was a dead body dumped under last nights or last weeks garbage. You were leaning more towards last weeks by the god awful smell and felt sorry for Alex but someone had to sort through it. Ben was more confident and trained with getting statements and knowing the right questions to ask. There was almost need for another agent but luckily the Metro were assisting rather than hindering your investigation.

Jimmy arrived on scene not long after you arrived and he was a joy to work with. He was a young awkward assistant the last time you dealt with him during an investigation. Ducky must be so proud.

"I'll no doubt have more when I get back to autopsy but my monies on the bullet wound right through the neck." He smiles up at you from his crouched position in amongst the garbage and corpse.

"How can you be so happy in this muck." Alex whined, shaking off some trash from her arms.

"I've been in worse." Jimmy beams and you shake your head as he starts to tell a tale.

The glare you offer halts him in divulging a disgusting story. "Don't scare her off on her first case."

The next few hours were spent doing routine crime scene work. Alex demanded a shower once she got back to work for her efforts and you let her, no one could concentrate with the smells coming from her. The car you drove had to be cleaned out before you would even consider hopping back in it again.

You were back in the office just over an hour when Jimmy called you down for an update. He mainly pointed out that his first educated guess was the right one with a few interesting traces of something found around the bullet would but he imagines its probably from the surroundings but sent it to Kasie just in case.

"I would say go check in on Kasie but the last time she had so much trash and awful smelling evidence it was not a good day." The scared look he gave you was fair warning enough.

You'd met Kasie in passing but hadn't had the pleasure of working with her yet. She was highly recommended by Ducky and Abby. That was a day when Abby emailed you letting you know she was leaving NCIS. You two always caught up when you visited DC or when she took a holiday to Cali but that was hardly ever. It was an email friendship and no one else could put personality into an email like Abby Scuito.

"Warning received. Should I-" You turned sharply at the sound of the doors opening behind you.

"Doctor Palmer I-" Jack looked up from her file as she walked through the entrance to Autopsy and stopped dead in her tracks. "Sorry I just-"

"It's fine - I - I was just leaving." You wanted to slap yourself for the studder in words, instead you turned back to Jimmy with the best fake smile you could muster. "Thanks Jimmy, call me if you find anything else." You could see his eyes darting between you and Jack and tried to give him a warning look. The one where you hoped he didn't say anything too awkward but Jimmy was too Palmer to notice.

"Well isn't this not awkward.. I'm just going to return to the least awkward human in the room while you two figure who stays and leaves." He started humming some kind of tune, you recognised it but couldn't name it.

"Right well someone needs to work on reading faces Jimmy. I'm leaving." You smile awkwardly at Jack as you walk past her and she walks up to the table Jimmy is working at only making eye contact for a split second before ignoring your presence completely. The pain in your stomach only twinges slightly as you make your way back up to the squadroom.  

You let Alex check in with Kasie in case there was the very likely chance you bumped into Jack in the hallway or god forbid the elevator. Now that would feel like time had stopped completely.

The case was running along smoothly and everything pointed to the Petty Officer being in the wrong place at the right time. Ben managed to turn the nightclub owner around and give you the security from the alleyway exit without much jumping through the right hoops. Kasie managed to clear it up well enough to make out two people making out right at the edge of the camera, faces where too dark to make any kind of facial recognition but you recognised the Petty Officer straight away when he burst out of the club and yanked the man off the woman. She almost fell down once the man was yanked off.

Ben raged watching the scene take place on the plasma screen in Kasie's lab. "She's drunk or high!"

You walked back around to stand by Kasie. "Wind it back to when they come into the alley." The emotions on edge in your voice. It never got easier no matter how many cases you solved.

"There." Alex pointed at the screen as the man and woman exited the club.

"She's barely able to walk, he's practically carrying her. No way she'd remember, let alone be able to kiss the guy in that state." The anger boiling in Ben's voice.

You watch Alex cringe at the screen and flick your eyes back to Kasie's computer. "There's our hero. He was trying to save the girl and got killed for it."

The video plays out and you all watch the Petty Officer get shot just out of screen but see his body fall into the trash and the dirtbag move and shift more bags of trash on top of him. Then watch as he picks up the woman and they walk, stumble, off camera.

"The inside security videos should be coming in either tonight or tomorrow morning. We should hopefully have a better angle and nail the asshole."

You squeeze her shoulder. "Thanks Kase. Sorry it wasn't such a -" There's no real right answer to that sentence. "Thanks."

"I know and no worries. Still love my job. We'll get him." She beems, going back to the video footage, probably trying to find any scrap of evidence she could find. The samples Jimmy had sent up to her earlier were exactly what Jimmy guessed. Two for two he said. Just some trash liquid, Kasie had said it and it was in fact a technical term, that and trash juice.

The elevator ride back up to your desks was a quiet one and you wanted to give a comforting word to Alex who seemed to be most affected by what you'd just watched. "Ben, go back to the club take Eddie with you and talk to the Bouncer again. See if there was anyone monitoring that door and if they did notice those two. Flash the Petty Officer's photo around again just in case."

"On it." They said it in unison and you all laughed.

While the others were out you catch up on the reports, check over the crime scene reports and statements. Everything was in order. Kasie called just before Alex and Ben returned. Bullet wasn't going to help until you could find the gun, of course the dirtbag at the most popular handgun in all of America.

Ben slipped his coat onto his chair and unloaded his badge and gun into his desk. "Bouncer said he did recall a 'couple' exiting around that time but couldn't say if they were regulars or not without a photo."

"No bartenders could fully recognise our victim. Said it was a busy night." Alex sounded bummed but it was the nature of a club, many people, many drunk people, you couldn't remember everyone.

"It's always a busy night." You sigh. "Good work. Nothing helpful from Kasie or Jimmy. Finish off your reports from the crime scene and statements then go home. Hopefully Kasie will have something in the morning so we can get this guy."

They left not long after that. You were left in the squadroom by yourself and you suspected Gibbs. It was just hitting 1900 when you resigned yourself to going home. Nothing was going to come from rereading the reports.

"You ever leave before 1900, Gibbs?" It was a stab in the dark but you heard the low chuckle almost immediately from the other side of the divider.

"Could say the same for you. Seems like a pretty cut and dry case and you're still 'ere"

You hopped up from your desk, slipping on your coat and leaning over the divider. "Still don't want to miss anything."

"'ear that." He tilted more in his chair so he could look up at you. "I'm waiting for someone. Gonna have dinner." It was the answer to your cocked eyebrow.

The playfulness in your eyes drowned. "Right." You knew exactly who that person was. Her purposefully didn't say her name to gage your reaction.

Bastard.

"Well I'm gonna go home. Enjoy your date." The word just slipped out and you cringed when Gibbs looked at you with curiosity and amusement.

"Never said that."

"Didn't have to." You shot back and Gibbs amusement left.

"Night Y/n."

"Night." You shrugged it off as best you could. He didn't not confirm it and you clung to that for far too long as you waited by the elevator for it to arrive and it did. Painfully in time for you to see Jack descend the stairs and lock eyes with you before you hopped into the elevator. You couldn't click the close button quick enough, no way in hell were you waiting to ride with them.

The bottle of wine in your fridge screamed your name when you got home, matched with your comfiest pj's and some leftovers you weren't sure how old they were. Tasted good though. Perfect end to a steady work day. Hopefully tomorrow you'd catch the dirtbag.

It wasn't long from arriving with two cups of coffee and bagels for your team the following morning that Kasie called and found the suspect. He was all over a woman who didn't look that interested but he bought her a few drinks and she was happy to chat. You watched the security feed as the woman began to stumble and the man held her up, walked her toward the side exit where the camera didn't reach but matched up the times with the alleyway tape.

The dirtbag had a record, so Kasie managed to find him pretty quickly from facial recognition and Ben took Alex to round him up. You were flicking through his records, background checks when you figured it might be worth while to have a profiler look in on the interrogation in case you couldn't break him. That was unlikely but an extra pair of eyes wouldn't hurt.

That thought quickly turned sour when you realised who the current NCIS Forensic profiler was. Never the less you get up and head for their office.

You take several deep breaths. The conversation that would potentially come out of you seeking assistance wasn't one you were ready for just yet but knew you needed to have it. So Ducky would be that someone and you were more than ok for it to be with him. Your friendship with the sweet man was long and many memories and stories had been shared between you both. After all he did know about your heart break those years ago, you just never wanted to divulge who it was. One because he wasn't aware of Jack back then and you didn't want him to go searching because you knew he would and two, because saying or even typing her name was too hard at the time. Still is.

"Knock knock" You say along with performing the action. Ducky's door is always open but you know it's the right thing to just make sure because he may be in one of his moments of thought and didn't want to just waltz in.

Ducky hops off his treadmill and walks around to greet you with a smile and a hug. "Come in my dear." He motions for you to take a seat in his little sitting area, with a still steaming pot of tea. You eye him suspiciously and he just chuckles. "I didn't know you were coming, I was just about to sit down for a cup myself. So please join me."

"Thank you Ducky, I didn't want to take up too much of your time. I know you're in the middle of a project for Vance." He was always doing something important whenever he was in the building which wasn't too often these days. His presence was definitely missed most days, the comfort of a good friend.

"Nonsense, take a moment. You are in the middle of an interesting case I hear." He pours you a cup and hands it to you as you both take a seat. You smile at your friend, he thinks all cases are interesting even the most gruesome and foul played.

You take a nice long sip and instantly regret it as it slowly burns your mouth and down your throat. Trying not to wince too much, you place the cup down on the coffee table and lean forward, elbows pressed into your knees, clasping your hands in front of you. "That's why I'm here, would you mind observing an interrogation with me, my Agents are picking the guy up now." You take a chance and look into the Doctors curious eyes, concern frowning his features.

"I would love to assist but isn't Jacqueline of more use?" He sips his tea, eyes never leaving your face, watching your expression, trying to find an answer there before you speak and he must've found something of an answer because he sighs. "What happened? She's a tough woman but she cares." He smiles, remembering a moment he must've had with Jack in the past to back up his words.

You can't help the small smile the graces your face but the anxiety is high. "Nothing happened, well not today. We have a past and I'm not ready to go and ask for her help, just yet." You escape his look by taking a sip of tea, this time taking it more slowly, enjoying the soft burn going down your throat.

Ducky reaches forward and squeezes your arm gently. "Is she-?" He didn't need to finish that sentence, he knew your past, knew too well that the only reason you wouldn't go to a person for help was because something too painful happened. Memories were a bitch sometimes, the pain ever present whenever you thought about it.

Taking in too much oxygen, you let out a shaky breath and just nod. Grabbing the cup of tea as a lifeline as it warms your hands. "Can't face her Ducky. It feels like it happened yesterday whenever I see her, can't separate the personal from the professional and I feel she is in the same boat as we can't be within metres of each other without one of us walking away." Squeezing your eyes shut, blocking the emotions from spilling over.

Ducky's hand is back on your arm, holding you there, grounding you to the now and not then. "Must've been a shock to see her when you came back."

You can't help the scoff that escapes your mouth. Opening your eyes, feeling, hoping your emotions will stay put for now. "It was for both of us. DC was a big change for me and then to see her. I'm surprised you haven't heard about it. Almost everyone in the squadroom saw us on the promenade." You take a sip of tea and look up at Ducky, his smile and eyes give away that he was being polite and knew about the interaction but from who? Jack? Gibbs?

"I did here about that. NCIS is horrible with gossip. A new/ old Agent coming to DC and having a clear past with another Agent is something that people want to know about and find out about."

"We are investigators after all." You shrug and drop you head forward, the floor was very interesting right now.

Ducky retracts his hand, sitting back in his arm chair with his cup of tea. "That they are. However that's not the point or what I want to talk about. You will have to work with her eventually. She works closely with the investigating teams. She's a great asset to have on your side." He's trying to reason, to give you the motivation to get her help but this isn't anything you don't already know. She was great at her job, five years had passed and you knew it didn't matter.

"I know that Duck. Just for this one, can you help? This big change of location, ocean for land and the memories that I buried long ago are just overwhelming me right now and I need to focus on this case. It's my first since coming back and I need to show my team that I have this. Not break down in the middle of an interrogation because the woman I love-d is standing beside me and I can't-" This time your emotions are too much and you quickly wipe away the tears that fall.

"I'll help. Give me a call when the suspect is here and I will meet you." He stands up, placing his cup on the table and opens his arms.

You can't help but laugh at his invitation. Hopping up, you place your cup down next to his and wrap your arms around your friend. "Thank you." You whisper into his ear.

"You're more than welcome. But please have a talk with Jacqueline soon. It may be painful but you both will need to work together. I'm not always here." He steps back and cups his hand on your cheek.

A big smile crosses your face, the comforting touch of his hand holds the emotions at bay. "One day." That was all you could promise right now and he accepts it, dropping his hand from your face. He picks up his tea and walks over to his treadmill. "See you soon Doctor." You gulp down the last of your tea before leaving, leaving a lot lighter and more emotional than you were when you entered his office.

It was a relief in a way to get those words out and talk to him. Like you knew it would be but that didn't make it any less painful. You took a moment and stopped into the woman's toilets on the bottom floor, luckily no one ever used this one except for Kasie. It was empty and gave you the moment of silence you needed, wiping your eyes and gathering yourself back up before going back into the bullpen.

You walk back into the bullpen to see Ben walk the dirtbag down the most wanted walk way and towards interrogation.

"Just waiting on Duck. I'll be there in a few minutes." You call after him and he nods in response, pushing the guy to keep moving.

"Ducky? Thought he was helping Leon with somethin'" You turn around to see an very nosey Gibbs looking over the divider at you. You quirk your brow at his curiosity but he doesn't back down. You hadn't seen him since last night and the twinge in your stomach came back.

"That he is but he offered to help."

"You ask and I am happy to receive, my dear." The Doctor walks up behind you, surprising you and you turn around, away from Gibbs even more pointed look.

So you lied, only a little bit.

"No one better for the task." You wink at him and he extends his elbow. He smiles at you dearly and you slip your hand through his extended elbow. You turn to give Gibbs a goodbye wink but see Jack is now standing behind and you just tug gently at the Doctors arm to start moving. "Onwards." You both laugh, Ducky's a bit more genuine and lighthearted than yours. The look you get from Gibbs and now Jack, will come back to bite you later. Gibbs wasn't one to back down from something he didn't know and when he turned to see who you were looking at behind him, he knew something was off. More so now than before but you couldn't think about that. You had a bad guy to interrogate and squeeze a confession out of.

Ducky really wasn't needed in the end. Ben and you had found a nice balance in the interrogation room, being able to read where the other was going to go and he followed your lead perfectly. It through the dirtbag off when you put down the dominance in the room and he tried to make a crack at it which didn't end well for him. The bluff of matching the bullets to his gun paid off. You really couldn't believe it when he slipped up and confessed.

Your teams first case was solved and there was hardly a hiccup. You couldn't wipe the smile off your face.

Kasie walked in to the bullpen and perched her hip against your desk. "Well if I ever see an ounce or scrap of trash ever again it will be too soon." Kasie sighs.

"What was that about loving your job, Kase?" You smirk at the scientist and the shocked look she gave you with a hand over her heart.

"I love my job, but the smell in my lab is going to take at least a week to filter out." Everyone laughs and she pushes off your desk. "Anyway, got other tests to run, cases to solve and smells to get rid of. Until next time." She salutes you and you give her a small one back.

"Thanks Kase."

The team goes quiet for a moment. Everyone reading over their final reports ready to finish. Alex takes a long sigh and you watch as she slumps furhter into her chair. She was all happy not a moment ago about the dirtbag finally getting his dues.

"You two cracked the guy, I was just there to help." Alex was doubting herself, it was clear as day in her words and her tone. You were about to jump in when Ben piped up.

You watched with a proud smile as Ben went to her defence and did his best to boost her confidence. There was no doubt in your mind now that this team was going to work. He was always willing to help his younger team mate, no matter what he was doing and that's what you wanted, needed to see. After being a one woman team for so long, you needed people around you that helped and cared not just about the work but about each other. This job was a stressful and most times ugly one, so the team needed to be more than a team some days.

"Nonsense! It's your first big case, you helped and we managed to get the guy because of your work. Don't doubt that Edison." He grinned at her widely, looking over his screen to make sure the young Agent got the message.

"Thanks Ben." Alex's mood lifted slightly and she went back to concentrating on her report.

A blonde head pops up from behind you and you catch her in the corner of your eye. "I here a drink is a good way to celebrate your first case closed." Ellie sings, looking over at you all.

"Thanks Ell but I got dinner plans with friends." Alex politely declines and Ellie pouts turning to you and Ben.

Ben's next to politely decline. "Sounds great but think I'll just hit the pillow. Didn't get much sleep last night."

It looks like Ellie's about to give up when you smile at her and she jumps up and down again. "Only a few." It's a weak promise but you really don't want to get drunk with her. It could lead to confessions which you really couldn't afford right now. You were barely keeping it together, this case was a great distraction.

"Deal! I'll just wrap up some things here and we can head out? Nick just went down to invite Kasie so hopefully she'll be coming."

"Deal. How's Kasie with a few drinks in her?" You laugh, imagining Kasie drunk. She'd definitely, hopefully, be a chatty, happy drunk. It would be entertaining.

Ellie shrugs before answering. "She's only ever had one or two. Been designated driver most time. We probably should stop taking her up on that. I'll buy her a drink tonight.. or two." Her smile spreads across her face as a plan emerges.

The laugh slips between your lips as you turn back to your computer and Ellie gets back to hers. Your team leave for the night and Nick comes back into the bullpen with an excited Kasie a few minutes later. "Ready?"

"Ready for what?" Jack's voice vibrates through you and you want to crawl into a ball. You knew exactly what was about to happen and had to think fast for a beyond lame excuse.

"Drinks. Nick just convinced me to come. What about it Jack?" Kasie offered, not seeing the hesitation in Ellie's face and Nick's shifty eyes.

"Sounds great. I'm ready."

Ellie leans back over the divider and you weren't prepared to see her so quickly. "Y/n, you coming?" The concern clear in her eyes, the lightness and eagerness to her earlier offer gone.

Your eyes shift between hers and your computer. "Thanks Ellie but I just realised I have plans with a friend I've been trying to catch up with since I got back to DC. She just messaged me.. So another time?" It came out somewhat less lame than you thought it would. At least you hoped it did.

A comforting smile curled Bishop's lips."Definitely."

You let out a sigh of relief when she doesn’t persist, grabbing your coat, you head home to a frozen pizza and half a bottle of wine. That would have to do for tonight. The look Jack gives you as you escape was one you weren't going to forget for a while. It seemed almost like she was let down. Like maybe she wanted you to join? That couldn't be right but maybe meeting outside of work would be easier than avoiding each other in the office. It didn't matter anyway, you weren't going. Alcohol and being around Jack Sloane was a horrible combo. The past proved that tenfold.  

. . . . 

Hopefully the next chapter will come within the next week... :)

[rikumorimachisgirl]

Hi! Supposing MC and her boyfriend are trying to get pregnant. How do you think each of them (if they are her boyfriend), is going to react when she says she wants to do the deed right at that time?

Hello! This ask had me imagining so many different scenarios, but stuck with this one. I've had such a busy Sunday and wanted to end the day on a light note, so let's get on with the reaction of these four gorgeous guys. I hope this lives up to your expectations…

Victor

When you first brought up the idea of having a baby, the twenty-eight-year-old CEO thought it was such an easy task, even Goldman could do it - NOT THAT HE WILL EVER LET HIM… but six months and sixty various Kamasutra positions later, you were still not pregnant. Each month you'd get your period, he felt less and less confident that his swimmers were not competent enough. 

You consult a specialist and were given a kit to use to test when your fertility was at its peak. The specialist said that you need to do the deed within 24 hours before you ovulate because that increases the chances of getting pregnant. Easy right? Except, you've got irregular cycles. 

Victor waits patiently for your call, day in and day out, all while maintaining a good diet, staying hydrated, working out (for more stamina), and reading up articles on the best position to get your girl pregnant (or something to that effect)  in various Men's Health magazine.

Since you hadn't given him "The Call", he decided to bury himself at work, randomly auditing his company's account receivables against expenditures. He's gone through tons of ledgers and reports since he came to work that day, he hadn't noticed he had fallen asleep on his desk. Then at exactly one in the morning, he woke up to the sound of his mobile ringing. He picked it up and saw 50 missed calls and 100 messages all coming from you. Flustered, he called you back right away. 

"It's about time you called, Victor. Do you know you kept me waiting for so long? Where were you? " you didn't bother concealing your anger the moment you heard him on the other line. 

"You're getting braver, " he would reply, sounding slightly annoyed at having been told off right after waking up. "That's quite a mouth you have on you."

"My mouth would have been ON you if you'd picked up sooner. My test shows I'm fertile and that we've got another 18 hours to get busy or we try again next month. You've got ten minutes to get here."

Victor straightens up as soon as you ended the call. He phones a sleepy Goldman and orders him to cancel his appointments that day, adding, "don't call me, I'll call you." 

And he freezes time to get to your place and spend what seemed like an endless 18 hours completing all the positions in the Kamasutra, in the hopes that one of them will get you pregnant. 

A month later, you test positive and he's changed his reading material from Men's Health to Parenting weekly. 

Lucien

It was a warm and sunny Saturday morning when you had visited his apartment armed with his favorite cream puffs and his favorite tea. The neuroscientist almost choked on the cream puff you lovingly made for him when you told him you wanted to have a baby together, but immediately recovered and processed your emotions. In the end, he agreed to do this the right way - complete with menstrual charts, an eating plan, and a list of vitamins and supplements you need to take to get your body ready to carry his baby for the next nine months. 

Every month, during your fertile window, he'd turn his apartment into a spa of sorts to help you relax - he'd give you a massage, and make sweet and gentle love to you the whole night through. Unfortunately, after six months of trying, he hasn't succeeded in his quest to get you pregnant, and he starts doubting himself. 

After consulting with a  specialist (and your lover actually went through all the tests he needed to take), it was clear that you were both perfectly healthy. His colleague, a psychiatrist, advised you both to spice up your sex life. 

Lucien was working on a medical journal entry supporting the study that the brain is wired to procrastinate and hasn't been home in the last three days. You were down to your last twenty-four hours before ovulation, and you desperately needed to get laid. Fast. Taking matters into your own hands, you visited him in his research center and saw him typing like a madman on his laptop, with a few cans of energy drink on his desk. 

He looked up the moment you stepped in, and you locked eyes briefly. "What are you doing here?"

"It's late and you haven't been home in three days, Lucien, " you said, pouting. When he explained that it shouldn't bother you by now since there had been times in the past that he hasn't gone home, you held up your hand to silence him and said, "We've got less than 24 hours to get pregnant. Are you up to the challenge or not?"

Your words sank in immediately, and you see his eyes flicker and turn dark. Downing his energy drink, he tossed the empty can aside and stalked you like a predator locking down his prey. 

That evening, you did the deed in every possible surface in his office, and you were so loud, he knew he had to bribe the guard the next day not to spill the beans. After all, that night was an exception, you were never gonna fuck in his lab again.

A month later, you came to him straight from your doctor's appointment and showed him the ultrasound picture of your little bean. And on that very day, he made a mental note to bribe the guard again, because there was no way in hell he wasn't going to keep his hands off you. 

Kiro

You were chilling out with Kiro at the studio just before his new album launched when you both started talking about the future. When you said you wanted to start a family early, the blond superstar was more than happy to comply. Too happy in fact, that he insisted you start trying right at that very instant - inside the soundproof studio, with an unlocked door separating you both from Savin and his staff. 

Since Kiro had to go on his worldwide album tour, your plans had been put on hold. He was more disappointed than you were when you got your period the following month. 

He wanted to start a family so badly, he went behind your back and spoke with Anna about the possibility of you taking a brief vacation to join him on the Japan leg of his tour. Having gotten the necessary approvals, he flies you to Tokyo and you arrive an hour before his concert. 

Not having seen you in weeks, he corners you backstage and leads you to his dressing room. "I missed you, Miss Chips, " he said as he peppered you with kisses. 

"I missed you too, " you replied. 

"Is that all you have to say to me after not seeing you for weeks?" 

You smiled at him and whispered, "I'm fertile." To which he responded smugly, "That's great… because I'm horny. But we gotta keep it quiet in here or they'll hear."

While his concert front act was performing and the audience were having fun banging their heads to the music, your twenty-two-year-old boyfriend was busy banging you against the wall. 

He performed exceptionally well that night (in his concert and in private), and a month and a half later, he penned a new song dedicated to your baby. 

Gavin

Gavin had just arrived at his place after a long day when he saw you pacing back and forth in his living room. When he asked you what was wrong, you fidget nervously and tell him that you had actually been thinking a lot about having a baby. Immediately, the Police Officer stared at you with his jaw hanging and it took him several minutes to process what you had just said. You were so scared he would reject your idea, but all that was going through his mind was the excitement of fucking you bare and how Minor would react if he gave him the boxes of condoms he kept in his apartment. 

Gavin's missions kept him away most of the time. The two of you would have quickies in between missions, but of course, those weren't enough to get you pregnant. As you track your fertile window month over month, you start to see a correlation between your ovulation and depression especially when Gavin wasn't around during those days. 

As expected, Gavin had been sent on a mission again, five days before your ovulation, and you once again get into a state of depression. You were down to your last twenty-four hours of being fertile, and your boyfriend was nowhere near you. Sighing, you tell yourself this was just not meant to be and that perhaps you should just break up. Lo and behold, your phone rings and you see Gavin's name on the screen. 

"Hey, babe. You don't sound too good. Are you okay?" He would ask. 

"No, I'm not, " you would respond and add, "You said you wanted to have a family with me but you're always away. For the past six months, you've been missing in action when my fertile window opens. Like today, for instance - today's my most fertile day, and you're not here. I don't think I can do this anymore. I want to break up -"

You were cut short by the sound of the glass in the window shattering. And there, inside your apartment, among the shards of glass, stood your boyfriend in full uniform. The sight made you lose your breath because he was so hot. 

"Gavin -"

He walked towards you with a purpose and each step he took made your heart best faster and faster. "I'm sorry about the glass, I'll replace that later, " he said. "But right now, I need to convince you not to break up with me and I've got twenty-four hours to give you what you want."

A lamp, a few vases, and a couple of plates joined the shards of glass of the floor in the wake of your passionate reunion. A month later, he requested to take some time off duty to spoil you and what he hopes would be a little version of you, growing inside you. 

(I hope these made sense... These were visuals I used to come up with each hc)

[fatandnerdy30]

The Itsy Bitsy Spider 28

So...I went and hurt myself....I’m on crutches and hobbling around because I did damage to my knee. But, that won’t stop me from IronDad-ing! And with this whole falling out, I need more Irondad to make me feel better...So, I have yet another G/t Marvel fic with Irondad times 2 because Harley Keiner will be in it!!! So, here’s the next chapter of TIBS!

The rest of the ride to the labs were spent in silence. Peter had no clue how long he had been unconscious for, but it had to be a long time since the trip had only lasted a few hours after. The closer they came, the more shaky the boy became. By the time the car had stopped, the boy was shivering uncontrollably, even his teeth chattered. "Aww, looks like the little lab rat is scared," Ward smirked down at the shaking being in Hammer's grip. "Well, wouldn't you be, knowing what these people were going to do? They're probably going to dissect him and perform all sort of tests." Justin's heart hurt by saying it, but it was better to get it out in the open than having the boy lamenting on what was going to happen. The two men walked into the building that was such a bright white that it actually hurt Peter's eyes at first. Luckily the man wasn't swinging his hands, but kept the one holding Peter still at his side. Quickly they made their way to a room that was obviously a laboratory, with the vials and beakers in plain sight. This made Peter shake even more, but this man didn't seem to be into experimentation. Instead, he just grabbed a large glass box and dropped the boy in, ignoring his tiny cry of pain when he slammed to the bottom. "Hey!" Peter asked as soon as he was able to stand. "Please, where are we?" The orange man simply ignored him and pulled out a phone. "Hammer?" Toomes' voice came over the phone. "Yeah, it's me." "I did my end of the original bargain, now tell me where my family is dammit!" "Okay, okay, I'll tell you, jeeze." He leaned back in front of the glass cage, his hand tapping against the table in front it. "Pier fifteen, warehouse three." And with that, he hung up. "I love it when a plan comes together." He turned to look down at the boy, crouching down to get a better look at him. "And you, are going to keep me out of jail." Peter backed away until his back hit a hard surface. It then hit him, this was it...the scientists were going to have him, and they would experiment on him until he died. "Please," he pleaded. "Please don't do this...I don't wanna die...please...I don't wanna go.." His voice wavered as he folded in on himself. "I don't wanna go...please..." He sobbed. Hammer could only stare at the crying boy awkwardly before clearing his throat and rubbing the back of his neck. "It's getting late. I'll leave you to sleep." He stood and made his way to the door, unable to hear the sobs, but still able to see the boy's body wracked with them. He felt a trip of guilt, but shut the light, leaving the lab in a light glow of computer screens. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Morgan!" Pepper raced toward her daughter who ran into her mother's arms, jumping up into the embrace. "Mommy! I was so scared...I tried to protect Peter, but...but there were two men, and one of them hurt me...." Pepper let the girl down and smoothed her hair out of her face, her expression shocked at the swollen black eye she saw. Who would do that to a child? "Did they hurt you anywhere else?" The little girl shook her head. "No, but they took Peter....I couldn't save him, mommy..." Morgan sobbed into the woman's chest while Tony made his way over to the driver. "Thank you," he said to the man, clasping his hand his own. "You saved my little girl, and for that I owe you anything you want...I mean it, anything you could want, it's yours." The driver could only stare and nod, eyes wide as he shook the hero's hand. Pepper came up next to her husband, who once he saw his daughter's face, cold anger lit his eyes. "She's fine," the woman soothed. "It looks worse than it is, she says it doesn't even hurt." "But still...to lay their hands on a child.." It made Tony's stomach sick. "This I will kill Hammer for." "Tony, calm down. Morgan still needs her father, and how are you going to help Peter from a jail cell?" That seemed to calm the man a little. "Do we have any clue as to where they were going?" The strawberry blonde shook her head. "California," said Morgan in a serious tone. "The orange man, he said something about California." Tony smiled and kissed his daughter's head. "I love you," he told her, his breath intermingling with her hair before he pulled away. "Pep, get her home. I'm going to call Fury this time and see if there has been any activity from Hydra in California or on its coast." He was glad he was so familiar with the sunny state as his helmet shut over his face. "But first, get that man something to eat, and make sure Morgan eats, too." His thrusters propelled him upwards where he met the quinjet. "Anything on Peter?" Steve's voice came over the comms. "Yeah...Morgan said she heard Hammer say California before she was knocked out....and don't ask. I sent Pepper home with her in order to get her checked out by Bruce. I'll go ahead and call Fury." "Tony, I don't think that's a good idea. You're not in the best state of mind right now, and you may do something you regret." That made Tony smile as he shot forward. "I always regret my actions in one way or the other. Stark out." He cut the connection. "Friday, call Fury." "Calling Nick Fury." The phone line rang a couple of times and Tony was getting impatient. "Come on, Fury, you old windbag, pick up the phone." "I should hang up because of that language," Nick's angry voice came over the line and Stark had it instantly sent to video feed, wanting to see the man's face. "Well, don't. I need information. Has there been anything on Hydra in California? Or along the coast line of the state?" "Now that you mention it, a new base has actually gone up quite literally overnight. I think it's run by the man you were supposed to have captured two months ago. The one doing all the crazy experiments. I was gonna send in some informants to get the scope on everything." The man's voice sounded wary. "Why would you want to know about that?" Tony sighed. He could either tell Fury the whole truth and risk keeping Peter with him, or not tell the man anything, thus risking the boy's life and safety. It was a lose/lose situation, and Tony hated to lose....but, if the first option had the chance of Peter living, he would take it. Hands down. "There was one subject still alive," he told the man. "His name is Peter Parker...and he's been staying with me for the past two months." There was silence on the feed and Tony was afraid his signal had been cut. "Fury, please, you can bitch at me later all you want, you can even throw me out of SHIELD, which wouldn't help your cause, but you can do it...as long as I can save Peter." The silence was broken. "Save him? Stark, I thought you said he was living with you? Did I hear you wrong?" "No. Hydra wants him back. Bad. Twice they sent someone to attack me while I had Peter. The first time they didn't win....this last time, they took Morgan too. She's fine. She's actually with Pepper...but....Peter, he's just a kid. A kid that's very special to the team," and to me. "Help me, Fury." A sigh from the man meant Tony had won. "Fine. The base is on the northern part of California, nearest to Oregon. And this time, Stark, capture the target." He sent him a one eyed glare. "Of course. Oh, and, you might wanna send a team to Hammer Robotics...Justin Hammer is out of prison and kidnapped a family and was the one who took Morgan and Peter. I want him thrown in jail, hell, the chair for all I care....just make sure that bastard doesn't see sunlight again." "I'll take care of it, Tony. You just be careful and wait for the team to get there." He knew the hot headed inventor better than that, but he thought he would say something just to make it clear he had in the reports. "Of course. But first, I'm gonna get some of my anger out. End call." The screen went back to the normal HUD display, but this time there was a digital map with a pinpoint on it. He corrected his course, and with the rising sun as his light, set off to save his kid. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Peter was woken by a bang, followed by whistling. He shot up and winced when his back pulled, sore from sleeping on the hard plastic floor of the cage. "Mornin'," the orange man said joyfully. He was carrying a plate and already the boy could smell the sausage and bacon, making his stomach grumble. "Hope you had a good sleep." He set the plate down, smirking at the way Peter stared hungrily at its contents. "I figured you'd be hungry." He began cutting off bits of bacon and sausage, dropping them into a slot that he'd pulled out of the bottom of Peter's prison, adding some eggs before he slid it back in. If the giant stayed like this, Peter was sure he wouldn't be so scared...but it was what he was planning on doing that worried him. "Thank you." His voice echoed a bit in the clear cage. Demurely, he picked up a bit of the egg, not watching the man standing in front of him eating, making those noises he thought he was used to. "Bloom will be here as soon as I call him." Those words abolished all Peter's appetite, bringing back the scared feeling again. He dropped the bacon he was putting to his mouth, feeling sick. He couldn't go back to that man...."Please.." he begged. "Please, just let me go....tell him I got away, please!" He was visibly shaking now, curling up in a corner, hugging his knees and rocking. "I don't want to die," he said softly, tears welling in his eyes. Hammer thought it was going to be easy...but, like everything else, it was difficult to think about handing a kid over to someone who probably was going to kill him. It was so much easier before he learned that the package was a kid. But, he'd already made the phone call. "Can't be helped now," he said, his voice cold. He had to shut his emotions out of this. It was the only way he was going to be able to do this. "Finish your meal." With that, he walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. "Damnit," he breathed. Shaking the feeling of guilt away, he thought it was better if he stayed away from the kid, and his big brown eyes staring at him. Yeah....right. At that moment, his phone rang. "Hello?" he answered sullenly after reading the name on the screen. "Ah, hello Justin. I was told you have the experiment?" Octavion's accent was thick with his excitement. "Yes, I do. You can come pick him up whenever you want. I won't be here." Just in case the man double crossed him. "He will be protected, so don't worry. The guards know who you are." Why was he feeling this way over giving the boy to over to Bloom? He was getting his revenge on Tony....so why did it feel like he was losing? "That is fine. You did well, Hammer. Consider our deal sealed. Have a good life." Justin didn't answer, simply hung up and hurried to pack a bag.

@sparrowrider @midas-or-khaos @letsbeinspiredby @carttorchdeatth @6inchicon @ixlovexirondad

[nadziejastar]

Part two of my idea on how X could’ve been implemented better. Have it only be mentioned in the reports and possibly by Saix and Axel. And even then make it a minor thing. Make Isa and Lea the forefront and X in the background. Like she was just another test subject. Nothing fancy like cannon. Keep her role vauge at best. Also 50 bucks that X, Isa and Lea’s relationship is gonna have no development or anything of the sorts. It’s just gonna be stated, like Riku and Kairi friendship in KH3

Yes, exactly! I don’t know how it got to the point where the story got so butchered that they decided to make Lea and Isa apprentices instead of just making Skuld another victim along with them. There was so much more potential with them all being part of the experiments. If she was a lab rat, they would have far more reason to care about her so much, since they would personally be able to understand her pain. I would have had NO problem with another test subject being involved with their backstory and them reuniting later and becoming friends with her. It would have made perfect sense. 

I wouldn’t have cared if KH4 involved them looking for her, either. But you have to show the audience something to make us care, and it has to be believable. Not just TELL us. Oh, they’re super close because they spoke to her a few times in the shadows. I also agree completely that they’re probably just going to write it where Skuld is their best friend and it’s just gonna be stated as fact, like Riku and Kairi, lol. That’s what KH3 made it seem like. But it didn’t have to be that way.

When we did manage our way inside, we spoke with her. That was all the comfort two children like us could offer. But Lea had other ideas. He was determined to free her. We slipped into the castle that day knowing only that we wanted, with all our hearts, to save her. But we did not find her inside on that day or the next, or any of our subsequent visits. Had she been moved? Had we simply imagined her?

I completely agree that her role should have been vague at best. My biggest problem is that Lea and Isa became apprentices, and their goal the whole time in Organization XIII was to find information on this girl. I’m sorry but that’s waaay too much of a stretch. Even in canon, it seems like Lea and Isa only spoke to her in the shadows and in hushed whispers. They never even saw what she looked like. You know, they could have even kept this idea and still made it work. It might have even been more touching that way.

My only solace was the time I spent talking with the two boys who would visit from time to time. One day, a man came to take me from the prison. I could not see him for the darkness, save that he wore an eyepatch. Even now, years on, I feel no closer to understanding who or what I am. May my heart be my guiding key.

Maybe she was in a cell close to Lea and Isa, and they all spoke in hushed whispers when the apprentices weren’t around. They may not have ever seen her, but she would be special to them because they all mutually comforted each other. It would be realistic and believable for them to have an attachment to her in that case. Then she disappeared, and they never knew what happened to her. That is fine. Nothing too drastic. Doesn’t take the spotlight off of Lea and Isa. Doesn’t forcefully try to make her their BFF.

The experiments caused the test subject's heart to collapse, including those of the most stalwart. How fragile our hearts are! My treatment produced no signs of recovery. I confined those who had completely lost their hearts beneath the castle. Some time later, I went below and was greeted by the strangest sight. Creatures that seemed born of darkness...What are they? Are they truly sentient beings? Could they be the shadows of those who lost their hearts in my experiments?

Even all the way back when I first played vanilla KH2, after reading all the secret reports, I thought that Axel was probably one of the test subjects from the experiments. That’s how perfectly it fit every single aspect of his character, and how a decent guy like him wound up in Organization XIII. It explained his hatred of Zexion and Vexen, his bleak outlook on having a next life, and his unusual relationship with Roxas. Axel lost his childhood and loved being around Roxas because he was like Sora---purehearted and innocent. That’s how I’ve always viewed Axel. Days and BBS just convinced me of it beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

The shadows that crawl beneath the castle...Are they the people who lost their hearts, or incarnations of darkness? Or something entirely beyond my imagination? All my knowledge has provided no answer. One thing I am sure of is that they are entirely devoid of emotion. 

Even aaaall the way back in the original CoM when he was first introduced, I think Axel was written with the idea in mind that he was a former test subject. He was always a test subject, IMO. During the experiments, Xehanort lost a lot of subjects. I think that was what they were trying to parallel in Days, when half the organization members got wiped out and Axel’s survival was in question.

Perhaps further study will unlock the mysteries of the heart. Fortunately, there is no shortage of test samples. They are multiplying underground even as I write this report. They still need a name. Those who lack hearts... I will call them the Heartless.

I don’t think it was a coincidence that Axel mentioned the organization’s mission to “unlock the mysteries of the heart” while talking about people turning into Heartless and the strength of Sora’s heart. Xehanort wanted to unlock the heart’s mysteries by studying the Heartless in the basement. Axel seemed like he was speaking from personal experience when he mentioned people turning into Heartless and losing their minds and feelings, which he probably witnessed firsthand. There’s no way he’d be involved willingly with that shit, even if he was an apprentice. 

The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples. They've responded only to the living. They seem to multiply after absorbing something from the living creatures. Their prey vanishes without a trace. I believe the Heartless are taking hearts. They are born from those who've lost their hearts, and thrive on hearts seized from others. The hearts taken by the Heartless become Heartless themselves.

This girl could be someone they assumed got turned into a Heartless and they’d never see again. Xehanort was providing both living and nonliving samples to the Heartless. So, I’m assuming that meant dead people and living people. The dead people would be useless to the apprentices, so it’s easy to understand why they’d be used to study the Heartless. The living samples provided to the Heartless must not have been seen as very valuable if he was risking them like that. Or, it might have been some kind of punishment for disobedience. 

One by one, the Dusks went over the gate and the walls surrounding the mansion. A great number of them were wounded and faded away on the barrier.

No matter when I see the Dusks–to see those guys, Nobodies like me–destroyed, it doesn’t feel good.

Makes me think about how someday I’ll be erased in the same way.

Axel had a HUGE, deeply ingrained fear of disappearing. They could have connected Subject X’s disappearance with that. In the novel, Xigbar called Saïx a “kid without a heart”. He also seemed to view Axel as a kid.

Axel’s attention was on the bridge where Xaldin had fallen. Unlike when a Heartless fell, the Nobodies of the organization turned to darkness and evaporated into nothing. The sight was like watching his own future unfold. It rattled him.

He spoke like he had a lot of experience with Lea having outbursts while the experiments were going on, which he saw as “tantrums”. Lea seemed to be a more naturally bold and fearless person. Isa was probably a more timid and submissive kid, like Ienzo. 

Zexion As he shares something like a master-servant or teacher-student relationship with Xemnas, like Saix, he is a character with strong connections. While he was the superior in that regard, perhaps that was ultimately his downfall. It is likely that if Marluxia and Axel had not betrayed him in Castle Oblivion, he would have played a central role within the Organization. –Nomura

Saïx wanted Zexion gotten rid of because he was his biggest rival for being Xemnas’s lapdog. The experiments were focused on getting a person to renounce their sense of self. People like Lea, who have a strong will, would need to be dealt with in some way. I can see him having “tantrums” over it.

Saïx’s response was icy. “That’s no concern of yours.”

“What about Axel?” he pressed.

Hearing that name, Saïx narrowed his eyes faintly, not even enough for Roxas to notice. He wasn’t attuned to such subtle changes.

“Who knows,” Saïx finally said. “Perhaps he is among the lost.”

It seemed like Isa ALSO had a huge fear of people disappearing.

“None of your concern.”

Xion had expected as much. Saïx never answered her questions.

Then Xigbar poked his face between them. “As cold to Poppet as always, aren’t you—Saïx.” Saïx pointedly ignored him.

Xigbar is always coming to talk to me. He talks to me a lot more than Saïx, so I like him.

“They’re saying Roxas fainted or something, and he’s still out like a light,” Xigbar supplied.

“Huh?” Xion started. Roxas was unconscious…?

“You worried?” Xion nodded at Xigbar. “Heh heh, you’re so cute, Poppet. I can take you to see him after.”

Xigbar started teasing him when Xion was worrying about Roxas.

Maybe she had been sent away somewhere on a long-term mission, like Axel at Castle Oblivion. But…asking about Axel seemed to put Saïx in such a foul mood, Roxas couldn’t bring himself to inquire after Xion.

And when Roxas asked Saïx about Axel, it put him in a really foul mood.

“Humph… all those in the way were rounded up and sent there, that’s all.”

Saïx is probably telling the truth. Those other members of the Organization were in Saïx’s way… no, in our way. But, I wonder why I can’t help being sarcastic about it.

“Don’t tell me I was one of those?” He said it with a grin, but the hint of a frown tugged at the scar between Saïx’s brows.

Looks like he didn’t appreciate that joke.

“You made it back in one piece, didn’t you?”

Were you worried I wouldn’t? Axel almost said, but he didn’t want to deal with putting him in an even fouler mood. Disgust and rage seemed to linger closest to the surface of Saïx’s memories.

It sounded like Axel was making a joke referencing a specific incident from their past. Saïx got the reference and was NOT amused by the joke. It put him in a foul mood. Based on the way he spoke, I think Axel was referring to a time when Isa was very worried about Lea, who might have been eliminated. That basement might have been where people who were “in the way” were sent and Isa was terrified he’d never see Lea again. Braig probably had a lot of fun while that was going on. This is why Axel didn’t want to ask if Saïx was worried about him while he was gone.

With no other choice, Axel opened his mouth. “If you’ve got troubles, you tell them to your friends… right? Roxas.”

And I don’t think Lea was the only one who got sent to that basement.

“I’m simply caught up in it. If there’s something, please don’t hide it from me, tell me.” Axel got up off the shelf and put his hand on Saïx’s shoulder from behind, peering into that face.

When Saïx was in a bad mood over Xion being a failure, it seemed to be deliberately similar to when Xion couldn’t use her Keyblade and she thought she’d be turned into a Dusk for being useless.

“What’s wrong, Xion?” It was Axel who had noticed, peering into Xion’s face.

“Soon… the other members are going to find out that I can’t use the Keyblade, aren’t they…” said Xion, head down.

“We told you, it will be okay,” said Roxas, peering into her face too this time.

After Saïx rejected Axel, he was thinking how much things had changed between them compared to the old days. Axel was a bit more blunt about it in the manga, but the concept was the same. Saïx was so hard on Xion because she reminds him of how HE used to be dubbed as the useless “failure”. 

So, I think both Lea and Isa got sent into that basement and they had to survive against Heartless. Isa was probably terrified that he’d be turned into a Heartless, and Lea worked twice as hard so they’d both survive, like Roxas did when Xion lost her Keyblade. They probably assumed that Subject X had been sent into that basement before she disappeared and were traumatized by it. If they found out that she actually didn’t, I could see them trying to find her. I would have been completely fine with that. It would have given them both a new goal for the future without feeling contrived.

[goldstonegolem64]

Book 1 Hope returns  Chapter 38  Unleash the beast   By Goldstonegolem64

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JQ820nUujk&t=21s

Haggar sat in her lab looking through the record of Root rot see as he had the biggest profile out of all four of her new pilots. the report was from a Subcommander that was well known for hunting dangerous game and was the first and only to survive being hunted By Root rot and his clan on there home world. The original reason the subcommander was because they had caught wind a the beasts on this moon had a weird ability to Evolve rapidly to survive the harsh jungles. The report Told of How this subcommander had found this clan of Florian's light years away from their homeworld.The report told her that the Florains there had grown to have the same ability as the rest of the wild life an had build there village in side of a old abandoned temple and the clan had adopted the religion of the temple. The rest of the report was just the subcommander watching the clan over for about six deca phebes. Nothing of interest happened through the phebes but that was until the last deca phebes in which one of the sub commander troops decide to hunt one of the florian despite his orders and killed it. 

It turned out that the florian was pregnant with twins and that was when everything started going down hill. It all started when the same troop that disobeyed went missing along with three plasma rilfs .Then came the feeling of being watched and  unit that was sent to find the missing soldier also went missing followed by their warship being destroyed by a overcharged plasma rifle placed in the armory  causing a chain reaction that trapped the crew there. She then read as that the crew was picked off one by one by a unforeseen force  that seemingly adapted to whatever strategy they had come up with to hunt it. The subcommander then write that maybe the florain that was killed was the mate of what was hunting them and this was all just revegen for what was taken from them. But what happened next caught her attention. The report read that The florian that was hunting them was the. 

The report stopped before she could see what had been hunting them.She assumed that it was root rot. But there were some things that didn’t add up. Like how did he get onto the warship without being seen. How did he get on learn how to work blaster or even overload it to begin with. She then looked through the rest of the reports and saw something that caught her eye. Root rot was a know Bioterrorist and used gases of different varieties to mark targets , grow small hounds or mindless minions ,some paralyzed other corroded flesh and metal. one caused anyone to in haul it to laugh themself to death if exposed to it for too long. One send crowds into rage fueled blood bath . As she was looking through the reports the door to her lab opened

“ What is it ?” Haggar said not looking toward who ever entered her lab

“ lord Zarkon has requested your pressaion. “ the druid said 

“  Alright “ Haggar said as she closed the report and got up from her seat and left the lab.toward the throne room.

Elsewhere the Castle of lions was hovering over a desert  world where the s.o.s came from 

“ I know were all going down there but before that What's the game plan?” Jay asked 

“ well we have made contact to the other two outposts on the neighboring planets. Both are untouched but Hq as order a quick evac just in case they’ve been compromised “Ace said as she walked into the room 

“ So we're not gonna go down there to see what happened there” Hunk said a little hopeful

“ Yes you would be correct hu-” Allura was cut off when another message 

A screen appeared to reveal a rebel soldier that was galra with a huge cut across  their face. There was two other soldiers in the background one was dead on the floor and the other had wings and their face was hide behind them as they were looking out into the hallway .

“ If anyone can hear this please come help us were the only survivors here and were being hunt by that thing. It killed everyone with no remorse and it started to hunt who was ever left” the sound of footsteps could be heard in the background” Shit it found us please be quick come on sky lets going “ then the message stopped

“ Well here we go.” Hunk said

Jay coulded help but think that the rebels voice sounded. But he just pushed that though to the back of his minded.” So let's get down there and save those people” Jay said as he was walking out of the room towards the hanger bay thinking that all this seemed a little  fishy  

“ You heard the Man lets get going” Ace said to her team as she followed Jay

A few minutes later 

The lions, The valkyrie, Two rebel ship and the Prometheus were flying down toward the outpost 

“ So how many people were working at that outpost anyway?” Adam Asked 

“ Normally there are about fifty to a hundred depending on the importance of the outpost location” Ace said 

“ Ok my confidence has lowered a bit” Lance said feeling a little unsure about there chances of find those to guys alive.

“ Hey jay you’ve been unusually quiet something on your mind?” Adam asked

“ it’s nothing i just don’t have anything to say on the matter at hand” Jay said 

“He things this whole thing is a bit fishy but he doesn’t have enough evidence to prove it” Val said outing her pilot 

“ Why would you think it was a trap? “ Shiro asked 

“ It just something doesn’t feel right about this whole thing. i mean it might be just the way i was raised to question anything that seems just out of place. like the second message or the person who sent it and no it’s not because he was galra/ It because he’s voice sounded familiar and i can’t remember where i heard his voice before.It suck that i can’t remember and i normally remember this things  ” Jay said 

“ Like how you remembered to tell Adam and i about the mix up” Shiro said 

“ Or that you have a huge bow for long range attacks” Adam said 

“ Or the fact that you can turn into a hucking lizard monster.” pidge said 

“ Ok i get it i have a bad memory. I get it but still i dont trust this. Also pidge i do remember that i can turn into a ten foot tall hulk lizard i just don���t trust myself to be incontrol when i go into that form . Mainly do to the fact i haven’t turn fully into berserker state yet and there is no way to say for sure that i won’t kill you all if i full turn” Jay said 

“Well it’s good to hear that your concerned for us. But now i’m kinda scared for you to turn.”Lance said  

“ Ok i  don’t know what this berserker state is but Um can we talk about the out of place Jungle that is seemingly growing out of the listening outpost in the middle of the desert.”Ace said as she looked at the now overgrown outpost that was protected by a dome that covered the roof 

“ Alright everyone be ready for anything down there “ Shiro said as he started to Land the black lion near the entrance of the out post 

“ Ok quick question why how is this place hidden if it’s out in the open like this?” Pidge asked as she land the green lion 

“ it’s an abandoned colony who would  ever look here. But i guess someone came looking  ” Rolo said 

 “ Well let’s not dread on the past they knew what they were getting into when they join up with us “ Ace said 

A few minutes later the team entered the outpost and slowly moved through out the seemingly abandoned outpost. Everything in the outpost was covered in vine with buds growing on them that were weirdly pulsating

“ Ok Jay do you know why there pulsating ?” Hunk asked

“ My dad might but hell if i know” Jay walked away from the group to investigate the closet vine.” i may not be in the same league as my dad when it comes to things like this but if you gave me sometime i could probably figure this out” As Jay got closer to the vine Jay could hear the sound of a heartbeat coming from the vine.” Ok that is weird “ Jay reached and touched the vine it was weirdly warm and the heart beat started to get faster. Jay then removed his hand and the heart beat started to slow down  “ I’m not going to do that ever again.” Jay said as he stepped away slowly. 

“ Good to know now lets keep going “ Keith said 

The team continued to move. As they did the the vines begane to cover the floor as the bud were now about the size of people and the heart beat sound was now louder than before. 

“Thank god shay stayed behind with Allura and the others” Hunk said

“ Hey guys i know this should have been asked earlier but seeing as at the highest there would being about a hundred. lowest  being about  fifty people that were stationed here. I’m just curious where are the bodies?” Lance asked as he looked at one of the buds that was close to them.

“Your right lance where are the bodies?” Matt asked as the sound of things moving around in the distacts 

“ Ok that doesn’t sound good. We need to find  those survivors quick “ Hunk said as the motion sensor went off showing two dots moving towards them.

Everyone turned to face what was coming weapon drawn. they All waited for a few seconds to see what came and what they say was the two rebels that were from the second message.The two looked surprised to see them  and raised there hand up 

“ Please don’t shoot were not your enemies  “ the first rebel said 

“ Yeah we were the ones who called you here “ the second rebel said  

“ Ok we found the survivors now lets get ou” Lance was cut by the sound of an alarm and flashing red lights  going off followed by the sound of huge metal doors closing. Then the alarm and the Lights stopped 

“What was that ?“ Matt asked 

“ That was the sandstrom Alarm  were going to be stuck he for a bit.My names is Quill by the way and this guy next to me is Sky now before were found by that thing let's get inside of the safe house we set up just in case we were here for a while” Quill said 

Shiro noticed that both of this two’s armor had very obvious damage and blood splatter that would only occur if someone's throat was slit or had their head bashed. Shiro had seen and done many horrible things during his time as a gladiator which did help him see somethings that other wouldn’t notice. He was coming up with a plan to see who this two were. Only for ace to step forwards 

“ Who are you two and why do you to reek of the empire?” Ace asked with a growl in her voice 

“ I Don’t know what you mean by tha-”

“ Don’t lie i can tell that blood and armor isn’t your now i will ask again. Who are you?’ Ace asked as she raised her blaster.

Quinn and Skyver looked at each other then back to the paladins. Both notice that a root was snaking its way towards the silver paladin unseen by all twelve paladin in front of them.   

“ Well it looks like the gig is up” Skyver said

“ Yes it is. Well one of you already knows me . Hello Jay it got to meet Face to mask” Quinn said with a smile on his face 

Jay felt dumb that he couldn’t remember what Quinn sounded like.’ Well it’s good to finally put a face to a voice. How's your sister doing?” Jay asked genuinely concerned for his frenemies sibling 

“ She lives thank the goddess and it good to see that your friends made it out alive too. Good to know “Quienn said as he watched the root slowly wrapped around Jay’s ankle 

“ Stop stalling where is that thing “ Ace barked

“ You’ll meet him shortly” Skyver said 

“ Say hello to hi when you meet him Jay” Quinn said 

“Wait wh Shit “ Jay suddenly lose his balance and felt himself being lift into the air then was quickly slammed into the ground followed by being very quickly pulled away from his teammate 

“ Jay !?!?!?” everyone yelled as there friend was being dragged away.pidge was the closest to jay an quickly ran after him 

Everyone was about to Follow them but stopped in their tracks as the sound of the heart beats got louder and the bud that was near Lance started to shake violently 

“ We should  get out of here before All hell breaks loose “ Quinn whispered 

“  We should “ Skyver said as he heard the Sounds of water rushing nearby followed by the sounds of hyena like laughing. So he grabbed onto Quinn and took to the Sky before the paladin could notice

“ What the Hell is going on ?”Lance said as he leveled his Bayard to the bud he was standing next too.

“ I don’t know “Hunk said as the sound of laughter and screech's  could be heard coming towards them 

“ Where the hell did those two go“ Ace Yelled looking for Skyver and Quinn  

“ Forget about them and look around us” Rolo said as dozens of dog like creatures that looked like they were made up of the same vines and flowers  that covered the floor were walking toward them followed by Humanoid being that looked like shorter  version of the thing they all saw on the first message  

“ Everyone stay together.” Shiro said as he activated his arm. 

“ What about Jay and pidge ?” Matt asked worried about his sister 

“ Jay and pidge can handle themselves and if they get into trouble Jay can call val into help“ Shiro said 

“ Here they come” Nyma yelled as the crowd of enemies started running towards them. 

“ Fire at will” Ace said as she opened fire onto the crowd Followed by everyone else as keith and Shiro ran into the charging crowd. 

Elsewhere Jay was being dragged across the city streets. He was being slammed into walls every time he turned a corner. Until he grabbed onto his bayard and flipped onto his back and aimed for the vine that was wrapped around his foot. His first few shots missed. Then stopped aiming for the vine and aimed for his boot.But before he pulled the trigger he changed his foots size then fired bowing the boot apart along with the vine. Jay slide across the ground before stopping 

“Go to Phobos they said . It will be easy money they said . You’d be back in a few days they said. Fuck you Damien for telling me about this job.” Jay started removed his now destroyed boot followed by the his other boot then he put both in to his pack. Jay then got to his feet and looked around the area “ Where the hell am i.” Jay then heard the sound of claws clarting against the floor “ Jay turned to look towards what was running towards him. It was a dog like creature was running toward him it teeth were bared as it ran towards him. Jay pulled his revolor and Shoot the beasts front leg of causing the beast to tumbled forwards and stopped a few feet away from jay .the beast struggled to get back onto it’s  feet  . Jay felt bad for this thing as it struggled to get back up. jay then leveled his revolor again,closed his eyes  and fired again.

The sound of a body hit the floor. Jay open his eyes to see the beast on the ground dead. Jay quickly remove the shells and replaced them as he did the sound of something being  dragging across the ground “ Great what now “ Jay said as he again turned to look were the sound was coming from. to see two humanoid being walking towards him the bigger one had a huge piece of dedre while the other just had its sharp claws “ So are you here to kill me ?” Jay asked 

 The two stood there not taking before both of them charging forwards 

Jay was caught off  guard by how fast the the two were as he nearly dodged the big one’s debre club only to be kicked in the side by the smaller one which was follow by the big one clubbing Jay in the face knocking Jay backward. His view started to see the  red hue again.But he had to fight back the urge to let into his rage.  Jay quickly got back to his feet and dodge another swing of the big ones club and summoned his Bayard two his left hand and fired both guns into the big one . Both shoot tore through the big ones chest killing it instantly. Jay turn to face the smaller one as it tried to tackled him. But Jay sidestepped and avoid the tackle he quickly turned and pointed his bayard at the back of his attacker’s head and pulled the trigger . But the thing avoid the shoot and slapped the Bayard and the revolver  out of Jay’s hands followed by a punch to Jay’s gut . Jay was surprised by how quick it reacted to the shoot.  

Jay stumbled backward before a few feet as a Flurry of punches and Clawed swipes hit him . Jay’s anger started to build up again and this time he let the anger take control an as another punch came toward him. He grabbed the fist and pull his attacker in close and smash the thing in the face with his left hand followed by a right hook to the jaw that caused the thing to stumble backwards as this happened jay grabbed the Ax off his back and swung it and caught the thing in the neck and detached it’s head from it’s body. Jay watched as the thing’s body and head  hit the ground. Jay was breath heavily as his anger subsided. Jay noticed that his helmet’s visor was cracked. he pleased his ax back and he moved the helmet.

“ I really need to be move careful. I can’t afford to die right know” Jay said as he dropped his helmet and walked towards his Bayard and revolver . As he made his was there he heard the sound of something running towards him again. He turned to see  Pidge running towards him. A smile of relief came across his face but that quickly turned to a pain as he felt something punch through his gut . He watched as a look of terror came across pidge’s face .

“ I’m not going to lie you look not like I thought you would “ A raspy voice said behind jay. Jay looked down to see a thorn popping out of his stomach “ But what you are will make lady Haggar happy and see how you fight I wonder how she’ll make you better”  Jay felt the thorn being pulled out of him”  unless you die here “

Pidge was petrified as she watch her friend fall to the floor  as a pool of blood started to form where he lye. she didn’t  know what to do because fear had paralyzed her body as she watch a goliath of a man walked out of one of the nearby building 

“ Run Pidge run and tell the other to leave. “  Jay said as he struggled to get back up. But as he did a Val's  voice appeared in the back of his head 

“ What is wrong ?” she asked 

“ I’ve been impaled and. No You stay away from her! ”Jay yelled as he grabbed on to the foot of the new foe as he was walking toward

“ Such heroic nonsense.”   root rot turned and looked down towards jay and picked him up by the throat “ What will you do if I don’t stay away from her. Kill me hunt me down. Chase me to the ends of the universe. I’ve heard it all from thousands of different people from hundreds of different races and I kill or out live  them all. So tell boy what are you going to do them if I do this?” Root rot said with a twisted smile  as he raised his free hand an shootout a vine toward the now running pidge. The vine screamed throw the air and stabbing pidge right below the calf muscle of her right leg She let out a scream of pain as she to fell to the ground as the vine came out of her leg “ No running “

“ NOOOOO!!!!!”   Jay yelled as his rage burst forwards as he grabbed the ax off his back and slammed it in his foes face as his shin started to turn a dark red 

“ Ha HaHahHahahahahahaha. Did you thing that would work boy “   Root rot said as he remove it from his face and dropped it on the floor “ What was that suppo AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Root rot screamed as his hand was cut off . He quickly regrow his hand  and looked toward the silver paladin. He noticed that the paladins left hand was glowing a bright purple he also notice how the paladin’s skin had changed color and the hole in his stomach was slowly closing as his body  ” What are you boy?” Root rot asked as excitement start to appear in his voice

Pidge was still on the ground holding her leg she was no long in pain do to her suits healing unit. but she was still bleeding. So she pulled out her Bayard. bite down on her gloved knuckle and began to cauterize the hole in her leg  . She screamed into her hand  as the hot plasma burned her skin. She slammed he fist in the ground. She continued  with her work only to stop when the sound of  bones popping and snapping out of place  joint . She turned to see her teammate start grow in size his skin turned a dark red .She watched as his arms and legs started to double in size as well as  elongating  along with his head which turned into a  gator’s his eye had a farrell look to them. The she heard the sound of ripping clothes and the cracking of metal as jay’s armor broke open to reveal small spikes that line the back of his spine and final a two ended tail ripped it’s self out of the black jump suit. Pidge remember that jay had changed once before back on the balmera but it looked nothing like this or what the file on berserkers had show . she guess this was what happened when he let the beast take control or maybe each berserker looked different in their berserk form and she was not going to stick around to find out if this form of her friend could tell the difference between friend or foe. She tried to get up only to fall back down when she tried to place weight on her right leg  

“Oh that’s not good “ She said to herself as she started to crawl away from the area 

“ Don’t go to far little one because when I'm done with this one your next” Root rot yelled . Then the vines that make up his body part to show of the handled of a blade that he quickly grabbed it and pulled out his hunting knife “ If only we were back on my home world you would have made a great tribute to the blighted one. “ Root said as he watched his prey slowly walk around him on all fours it’s teeth beard it’s tails swaying slowly and in a blink of an eye it was on top of him. Root unraveled his lower half and used it to tangle and stabbed shut the beast mouth to prevent it’ s teeth from ripping him apart only to have it’s claws rack across his body a few times . He laugh as he felt the pain shoot throw his body . he return the favor by burring his knife  deep in to his foe back.

The beast  let loss a roar of pain and began to rampage through out the intersection he had been dragged. Slamming his head into the streets light poles and abandon buildings when that  proved useless the beast charged forward and slammed through the nearest building and it kept charging through building after building leaving pidge by herself.

Pidge wanted to followed her friend but she couldn’t really walk and she decide to leave rover back on the castle so la-Sai could upgrade him. The she remembered that her Bayard had a grappling hook as she summoned his Bayard something caught her eye. IT was jay’s revolve it was just lying there on the floor she used her Bayard to drag it over to her. She quickly picked it up only to be caught off guard how heavy this thing was but it also made sense seeing how strong the bullets were. As she looked at the revolver in here hand. then she throw the grappling hook  toward the light post behind her and she pulled the trigger and slide across the street slowly down before hitting the light post she did the several more times before she nearly hit someone that turned the corner  

“ Woah watch here your throwing thing Pidge Pidge !?” lance yelled as he saw his teammate on the ground 

“ What happened to your leg”  Hunk asked as both boy ran to her side 

pidge was happy to see her two teammates “ i’ve been stabbed in the leg and i lost a lot of blood  “ pidge said as she slowly started to feel dizzy 

“ You were stabbed in the leg by who “ Lance asked as he pick up his teammate

“ By the guy who killed everyone so we should get as soon as possible “ she said as everything was coming in and out of focus 

“ Where’s jay?” Hunk asked now every more worried then before

“  fighting that thing in his berserk so i think he can handle it but we should tell the other about as they can help him just in case “ pidge said before passing out from the blood lost   

“ We need to get her back to the castle now “lance said as he started running back to the rest of the group

“ What about Jay ?” Hunk asked as he followed lances  

“ He is a literal tank with a healing factor  he can handle himself “ Lance said   

Elsewhere

the beast had ran aimlessly through building hoping to dislodge. As his foe bombarded him with gas that melted his armor and skin and a knife stabbed in his back over and over again. But he pushed through the pain for the other that their other half cared for. For the ones he was charged with protecting. as he changed he could smell gasoline or something similar and changed direction towards it . 

 “Hey boy where do you think your going  “ Root said as he grabbed his hunting knife again and dragged the knife Across his preys back then he unleashed as tornten of corrosive gas into the wound and listened to his prey scream  in pain. It brought him unending joy to hear this. But that stopped as he was slammed into something metal and the smell of gasoline perforated the area.He felt fear running through his body for the first time in a long time . he quickly unraveled himself his vines and pulled out his knife and stabbed this prey in the eye causing his target to stumble backward .The beast roared out in pain the charged straight toward his foe. Root quickly side step and swung his blade cutting off one of the two tail.That was counter by The beast’s back leg kicking him in the back “What are you boy one minute your mindless the next you think you can outsmart me not going to lie i’m impressed i never thought i would fight something like you “ Root watched has the tail he cut off started to regrow along with every wound that he had inflected on to his prey back. then the beast turned around to face him and pointed it’s left hand towards something behind him.

Root looked behind him to see what was behind him only to head butted into a building and the smell of gas got stronger then he was pinned down by the beast then it’s claws ripped him apart. He watched as his limbs were being torn off him then the beast stepped back a few second  and opened his maw about to eat bite of his head   . “ Ok  you earned this one boy but no i’m not dying here to day also ” Root said as a bud appears on his chest and release gas into the beast mouth. The beast started to cough violently do to the fact that his lungs were on fire. Root watched as the beast started to shrink in size and returned to it normal human form he watch as the beast now boy was on the ground blooded beaten and struggle to breathe . Root laughed  at this as his body slowly started to regrow itself” But i’m sorry but you need to die. But if it make you feel any better it will be quick and painless or less pain then the last few minutes” Root got up and cleaned of his blade as he walked towards his prey “ To be honest you weren’t the strongest berzerk i fought but your young so you don’t have the exprain like the others “ Root got closer to his prey and grabbed him by the face to see the fear in his eyes only to see rage and spite and that the right eye was fully healed .He smiled seeing this  “ Good you die like a man then” Root Then raised the knife then lowered it after seeing the marks on the boys face then a smile came on his face.then it disappeared when his teammates appeared “ What do you want 

“Lady haggar’s has new orders for us” Skyver said 

“What are they “ Root rot growled 

“We are to return to base now” Quinn said as he look at the beat face of his rival as

“ What about the boy can i kill him”

“ No She wants him alive but she doesn’t want him to be captured for some reason” Skyver said 

“It’s because they can’t have Voltron go on a rampage to get him back “ Quinn said 

Root rot growled loudly before looking down “ Got news boy you get to live another day . “ Root rot said

“ I {cough} Haerd {Cough} You{cough} Ass{ cough}” Jay said throw coughs

“ What did you do to him?” Skyver asked.

“ i starved his body of oxygen so he could no longer hold his monstrous form. “ root rot said as he started to walk away followed by his teammates 

Jay lied there barely breathing his body fatigued from changing covered in his own blood and was wearing melted armor as the smell of gas slowly caused him to fall asleep.  His last thought before he passed out was am i going to die here and as he passed out he heard the sound of metal bending and the sound of wind whipping wildly out side then he passed out 

Val had ripped through the metal wall off the listening outpost them moment she felt her pilots heartbeat started to fade. She flow over the city and found her pilot lying there not moving. She knew that he was alive and she very carefully picked her pilot back carefully with her wing and slowly slide her pilot into the cockpit through the hatch on the top of her head. She then turned back to the hole she created. She could hear her pilots breath 

“ It alright my pilot everything will be alright “ Val said as she flow towards the castle of lions.