#JESUS CHRIST THE POOR MAN DIDN'T DO ANYTHING STOP | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bookstantrash · 1 year ago

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Of course, eventually, Tomas realised she actually enjoyed the time alone, so it stopped. He couldn't have his wife enjoy her punishment after all. Instead, he decided that the physical punishments were better suited since Nesta enjoyed her own company. - you’re really starting this with the angst at 70%, simrah have you no compassion for my poor nerves?

Her current husband had clearly decided that her punishment for misbehaving was to just continue like nothing happened. Her wrongdoings from the ball had not been mentioned, and he seemed to avoid the subject while simultaneously wanting to speak on it. Nesta was fine with the indecision and continued to spend her days in the library. She would do so happily if she could stay there all night, too, but she didn't want to push her luck. Her husband seemed reasonable, but you could never predict what would make a man snap. Still, she knew that in the library, she was safe. - THERE WERE NO WRONGDOINGS THERE IS NO PUNISHMENT NESTA PLEASE *screaming crying*

Robert was too gentle, and Philip was known for wandering eyes, hands and penis, too, if he could help it. It didn't matter if the recipient of his advances were open to them. - Jesus fucking Christ I hope Philip has the most gruesome painful slow death ever and that he regrets having ever laid a single hand on a woman. Also, kudos for Robert for getting the hell out of there and protecting his wife.

Her husband had also gifted her with so much; she knew other men would dislike her being given such freedom and power. She was sure Tomas was turning in his grave, yet the Duke did not care. - Nesta dear if you think Cassian has already given you a lot just you wait till you get more comfortable with each other and realise you’re deeply in love with each other, you won’t know had to expect. Also, I hope Tomashit is burning in hell i don’t give a damn if he’s turning on his grave

But as soon as the horrific thought popped into her head, she shook it away. She couldn't do that. The burden that would put on her sisters and, worse, the Duke was too much. Feyre was so heavily pregnant, and she didn't want to do anything to put the baby at risk. Elain couldn't stop mentioning her children and wanting them to meet their aunt Nesta. And then, of course, the Duke would be the subject of a lot of scandalous talk if she died. No, she couldn't do that to them. She had a responsibility to them all. Her mother had always said it was her burden to shoulder these responsibilities. Even after her mother's death, she had been unable to move past that feeling. - the fact that even at times like this she thinks about everyone first before of herself I— we don’t deserve someone like you Nesta, you’re too loving and caring

He cleared his throat awkwardly before finally speaking. "My Lady," he said and then paused. Then, he did the stiffest, most awkward bow known to man. - I will die for this boy

Now that the boy mentioned it, she could see their similarities. "Of course, it's nice to meet you, Arthur," Nesta said, putting on her best smile. It had been so long since she had smiled that she felt out of practice. "Is there anything I can help you with?" - you HAD to ruin this sweet moment with the mention of how nesta had probably not smiled in years since she married Tomashit. I hate you

Nesta smiled at him. "I'm glad to hear you're so excited to learn. All I ask for is an eager student, so you don't need to work day and night." - SHE SMILED AGAIN AND IS GOING TO TEACH HIM HOW TO READ I AM SCREAMING OF JOY

Claude had been delighted to see the boy with Nesta when he had come to serve lunch. Nesta had been glad that Arthur was a growing boy because he had eaten with such gusto that it had hidden how little she had eaten. The smell of the delicious food had made Nesta feel nauseous, so she had taken two bites and then left the rest while she listened to the energetic back and forth between Arthur and Claude. - I’m begging you to STOP RUINING THE CRUMBS OF HAPPINESS YOU GIVE US WITH MORE ANGST

Claude had such a brilliant way with children, and his personality was infectious. She couldn't help but smile as she watched Arthur and Claude laugh. Nesta usually felt like an outsider left in the cold; being an outsider while Arthur and Claude talked was like being doused in sunlight. The warmth seeped into her bones, and she felt something inside her thaw as their joy hit her. - I love Claude so much and if Maizie had not called dibs on him I’d be knocking on his door offering myself to him as a wife

Claude had cooked a feast fit for kings, but she couldn't taste anything. Everything tasted like ash, so she kept her face passive. She didn't want anyone noticing, especially not her husband, who sat opposite her, talking about one of his tenants. Nesta never understood why her husband needed to tell her the ins and outs of his tenants; she couldn't imagine he wanted her opinion. Perhaps, like all great men, he wanted to talk about all the important things he did. — I cannot stress how sad it’s to have Nesta don’t understand why Cassian is talking about the tenants because he wants to make her feel included in his life, maybe bring a sense of normality and make sure she knows what happens around their state in comparison to how she lived in the dark back in the Mandray Mansion (this is of course what I gathered from this passage feel free to correct me if I’m wrong)

"Claude told me that Arthur was helping you today," the Duke said. His tone was even; there were no accusations of anything, but she couldn't tell how her husband felt about Arthur spending time with her. Right now, he was just a boy, so there was no danger of him thinking Nesta could stray, but she wondered if that would come eventually as Arthur got older. - I’m two seconds away from getting on a plane to smack you in the face for this

"Well, I offered to teach him," Nesta said quickly, looking down at her hands. She interlocked her hands to try and stop them from trembling so much. She knew she had done something wrong, and now she would have to pay whatever price her husband felt necessary. She just hoped that Arthur wouldn't suffer because of her. - Nesta is close to having a panic attack and all she can think of his Arthur and not about herself and also thinking Cassian will punish her oh dear god I AM GOING TO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE

"If you're happy to allow it, my lord," Nesta admitted. It was risky to say she wanted to do something, especially since she had already gone behind his back. He could see that she wanted to do this and take it away as a punishment. — Fuck you.

Nesta didn't reply; it felt like a trap to say she thought of something he didn't. Even suggesting such a thing would've gotten her the beating of a lifetime from Tomas. Despite knowing this act of the Duke was too good to be true, she wouldn't look the gift horse in the mouth. – SIMRAG THIS HURTS STOP

Nesta had heard whispers that her husband treated the issues of the tenants and people under his general management in such a way, too. He was unaware of all their problems, but if he was made aware of it, he would always try to help. He had apparently once helped a tenant whose ewe was birthing. The Duke had only been passing by, but the man had called out, needing some help, and the Duke had not faltered in rolling his sleeves up. The man had recounted the tale laughing one night, saying he had done little more than take instruction from the actual farmer, but Nesta couldn't help but think that he downplayed things a little. – He’s truly the people’s Prince, we stan

Nesta straightened her back, hoping her posture would help her look better. She didn't want to admit she wasn't feeling well. Any sign of weakness could be used against her; she had learnt that the hard way. Men didn't want to hear that their wives were not well. They didn't care, and it was disgusting to have to hear about anything like sickness. Women were meant to suffer in silence. - istg if the entirety of the male Mandray population (Robert exempt) doesn’t die a horrible death with their horrible manor being burned down I will commit murder

"You look pale, and you've eaten less- I mean, you've not eaten very much," the Duke fumbled over his words. Nesta didn't have the energy to figure out what he really wanted to say; she was too tired, and her head felt full of cotton wool. She wondered how the Duke noticed she wasn't feeling well and why he would pay so much attention to her when he had better things to do. - BECAUSE HE CARES ABOUT YOU *sobs*

Nesta had been to the kitchen only a handful of times since she had married the Duke. She knew she was not well-liked in the household, which was fine. They were very protective of their master, and everyone else kept their distance apart from Claude, who seemed like he could be friendly with a bear. That was fine; the distance meant fewer chances of anyone spying on her to report back to her husband. - NO ONE SPIES ON YOU NESTA PLEASE

"Well, I'm asking you to call me by my name. I would like to think we're friends," Nesta said softly. It was true. Claude was the closest thing she'd had to a friend for a long time. The last friend she'd had was long gone now. - YES YOU HAVE A FRIEND NESTA YOU TRULY HAVE ONE AND SOON YOU WILL HAVE MORE

She took a deep breath, Claude studying her as she opened her mouth to finally voice the truth. "In the Mandray household, the wives were not to eat first. Tomas and his brothers would eat first at the table. Their mother and sister did not sit with them often; they ate in his mother's rooms. The men ate without any abandon and were not the tidiest of eaters. Once they had done and left the room, the wives could eat what was left," Nesta said quietly. She had never admitted it before. She had never had the bravery to say anything, unlike others. - THEY HAD TO MAKE DO WITH SCRAPS AND CRUMBS AND GOD KNOWS WHAT LITTLE TO NOTHING THOSE SCUMBAGS LEFT THEM OH I AM SO FUCKING MAD

Nesta looked up at Claude, only to notice how horrified he looked. Nesta had never seen horror etched so clearly onto someone else's face, but with Claude, it was hard to mistake it for anything else. "Nesta," Claude rasped out, his eyes filled with tears. "Did they starve you?" - I’m so glad Nesta is opening up to someone, she’s taking baby steps that are in fact so huge for her and Claude is the perfect person given that she doesn’t trust Cassian yet

"No, not me, but my friend. She was married to Philip, Tomas' older brother. Her name was Clare, and she was the only person who understood what it was like in that house," Nesta said, her voice breaking as she spoke about her friend. She felt terrible for using Clare's pregnancy to avoid talking about her own, but then again, it was safer that way. She had no idea how the Duke would react if he knew she had been pregnant before, even if she didn't last very long. - if her being starved wasn’t already sad you managed to a) mention Clare b) Nesta having had miscarriage and c) HER THINKING CASSIAN WOULD PUNISH/BE MAD AT HER

Nesta shrugged. "I did what I had to do. It was better when Clare was around; she understood how it was. I got used to things; I got into a routine. I knew how to avoid things." She knew getting used to things wasn't okay, but that was the truth. She didn't want to say that she had wanted to die. Claude seemed concerned enough as it was. – I want to hug her so bad and give her so much love and care and attention I— *cries*

"He can't know Claude. He didn't want to marry me; he just agreed for my sister's sake. I'm grateful to him, but I know he's burdened by my strange behaviour. I'll get better, though; I'll become the wife he wants if he just gives me some time. I just need to learn more about his likes and dislikes. Once I figure him out, I'll be the wife he wants, and then he won't have any problems," Nesta said without even thinking. Her brain felt full of cotton wool; she had no idea what she was saying. She felt like she was speaking too fast and too slow simultaneously. - Nesta you can be true with Cassian you can learn to be yourself again and just live you don’t have to walk on eggshells or mould yourself after what he wants because he just wants you to heal and be happy 😭😭

"Nesta, you know that's not what Cassian wants, right? I agree; I think you do need to get to know him, though, because when you do, I know you'll realise what he wants." Claude said. - Claude is the real mvp, he’s nessian’s first stan and supporter

She wouldn't usually be so glad he was so close to her, but she felt so unsteady that she gripped his hand like it was her lifeline. His hands felt so cool compared to her burning skin, and she fought the temptation to put his hand on her brow. Thankfully, her senses hadn't entirely left her, and she refrained. - if Cassian, who’s a walking furnace, is cold to nesta then something is very very wrong

"I'm not sure, I just feel-" Before she could downplay how ill she felt, she felt the bile rise in her throat as her stomach churned. To her horror, Nesta turned to throw up the contents of her stomach on her husband's shoes. - I just know that when she gets better she’ll have a panic attack over this thinking Cassian will punish her and I already hate you for it

"Nesta? Fuck, are you okay?" the Duke sounded discomposed now, but his voice was starting to sound far away. She felt a hand touch her forehead, and some unsavoury curse words left the Duke's mouth. "Nesta, you're on fire; why didn't you say?" - HE IS SO WORRIED OVER HER PLEASE

Nesta tried to say something, but her head was swimming, and even thinking of words took energy she didn't have. She just wanted to sleep, and she could feel it calling her like a siren calls a sailor. Everything was too much for her, so Nesta simply embraced the darkness. She had just enough time to register strong arms grabbing her as she fell into the darkness lingering in her mind. - oh you devil you played it so well. Gave me anger and anxiety and murderous feelings to then giving me Nesta passing out in Cassian’s arms, with him probably bride carrying her to their room to take care of her while she’s sick. Genius, an evil mastermind because now your death has been postponed

Excellent, absolutely incredible chapter, and I’m so so happy you updated it and I’m so anxious for what you have in store for the next one. But beware that my peace offer will last just for the sick fluff chapter, I shall go back to raging murderous reviewer on the others ✨

Chapter 9 - Nesta

A/N: Hello everyone! Long time no see. I'm gonna keep this short and sweet. Shout out to my beta for encouraging me to work on this!

Trigger warnings for the following in this chapter: mentions of suicidal thoughts, death during childbirth, miscarriage, starvation and physical abuse. As per usual, if there's anything you think I've missed that could be a trigger, please let me know!

Word count: 6119

LMBYH Masterlist | My Masterlist | My Ask Box | Read on AO3

Nesta was at the point where she had reached a steady routine, which rarely deviated. The routine gave her structure, predictability and peace she had never had the comfort of knowing in her previous marriage unless Tomas locked her in their rooms. At first, when he would lock her in their rooms for days, he would beg him to let her out, which only made him angrier. Then, he would deny her food during her punishment. Once she got used to living in that house, she saw him locking her away for what it truly was: a blessing in disguise. She was safely locked away in the rooms, with nobody watching her or worse.

Her husband seemed nervous when he entered the library and rarely seemed to do so. Nesta assumed the years of neglect his family's legacy had seen made him feel uncomfortable, or perhaps it was something else entirely. Still, either way, Nesta did not mind that he rarely entered.

She had thought she understood men very well up until her second marriage. There were men like Tomas, who wanted to show everyone how powerful they were, puffing their chests out like peacocks, just because he wanted to show the world something other than what he was. He seemed unable to move out of his brother's shadow and turned to anger.

Then, there were men like Philip, who would crush anything they could not control. They were as slippery as an eel and sly as a fox and rarely had anyone tell them no. Those types of men were worse because they were much more confident in themselves compared to the kind of man Tomas was. At least with Tomas, Nesta knew she could play to his ego, which would appease him.

Then there was the kind of man Robert Mandray was. He was so gentle he was almost like a woman. His brothers had no respect for him because of it, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't make himself more like his brothers. His wife had once disrespected his brother at the dinner table, so he slapped her across the face. Philip had looked proud, but Robert had looked horrified. He had left the house the following day, taking his wife with him. Nesta understood why; it was unsafe for either of them in a house like that. Robert was too gentle, and Philip was known for wandering eyes, hands and penis, too, if he could help it. It didn't matter if the recipient of his advances were open to them.

Perhaps the Duke was more like Robert, but then she wasn't sure if she believed that. He could command a room, and nobody could say he wasn't powerful. Nesta didn't understand much about the running of estates, but she knew the Duke of Illyria was good at it and had many profitable estates up and down the country. That kind of money came to someone other than someone who would run like Robert. Her husband had also gifted her with so much; she knew other men would dislike her being given such freedom and power. She was sure Tomas was turning in his grave, yet the Duke did not care.

Perhaps this was the freedom someone with his status and power could expect. The Duke did not care that Nesta could run wild with all the freedoms he gave her. He was too rich and powerful to care. Even the talk of society didn't bother the Duke; it seemed not to reach his ears. Important people clearly didn't have the time for such things. The issue was that Nesta had never been around someone with such importance, so she had yet to learn how she should act.

As Nesta steadied herself at the top of a ladder to clean the top of yet another shelf, she thought about how easy it would be for her to fall from this height. She could injure herself pretty badly if she landed on her head in the right way. She could die, and nobody would realise until lunchtime. But as soon as the horrific thought popped into her head, she shook it away. She couldn't do that. The burden that would put on her sisters and, worse, the Duke was too much. Feyre was so heavily pregnant, and she didn't want to do anything to put the baby at risk. Elain couldn't stop mentioning her children and wanting them to meet their aunt Nesta. And then, of course, the Duke would be the subject of a lot of scandalous talk if she died. No, she couldn't do that to them. She had a responsibility to them all. Her mother had always said it was her burden to shoulder these responsibilities. Even after her mother's death, she had been unable to move past that feeling.

There was a knock at the door, one that startled Nesta out of her thoughts. Only Claude and the Duke came here, but neither knocked so timidly as this person did. There was another knock, this time a little louder at the lack of response. Nesta called for them to enter and started climbing down the ladder.

To her surprise, it was a little boy who entered. The awe was evident on his face as he walked in, scanning the floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. The boy was so entranced by all the books he tripped over his own two feet but managed to catch himself before he hit the ground. He quickly straightened himself out, but his face started to colour when he looked over and saw that Nesta had been watching him.

He cleared his throat awkwardly before finally speaking. "My Lady," he said and then paused. Then, he did the stiffest, most awkward bow known to man.

Nesta stifled a laugh at that but decided to put the clearly nervous boy out of his misery. "How can I help you this fine morning, good sir?" She said, matching the boy's formality and curtsying back to him.

The boy's eyes widened in horror. "Please, My Lady, you don't need to bow to me. My name's Arthur and I'm Eleanor's son; my mother said she's your maid?" The boy was clearly unsure if Nesta would even know who his mother was.

"Oh, well, I was wondering if you needed any help, My Lady?" he said awkwardly while shifting around, avoiding eye contact.

Nesta tried to control her facial expression at that. Why would this boy want to help her? Well, her first thought instantly went to her husband. He must've wanted the boy to spy on her. But then, another part of her questioned this logic. Why would the Duke wish to spy on her when nothing else entered the library? It would only make sense if he was worried about Claude, which also didn't make any sense. Claude loved the Duke far too much to risk doing anything that would anger him.

"Why do you want to help me?" Nesta said, trying to keep her suspicions out of it. She didn't want the boy to feel like he was being backed into a corner. "This isn't where a young boy like yourself would want to spend his day. Surely, you'd rather go outside and play instead?" Nesta said, smiling so the boy didn't feel attacked by her words.

"Well, ma'am, I know I'm young, but I want to work to help my mother. We- well, we don't live with our father anymore, so my mother works really hard. I'm the eldest, so I want to help her. Maybe, if I help you, the Duke will see and give me other tasks to do, too," the boy was nervous about telling her his motivations, but Nesta couldn't help but smile at how sweet he was.

She had no idea Eleanor didn't have her husband with her, but her son was clearly nervous about mentioning him, so Nesta didn't delve into that anymore. "Well, as you can see, there's a lot to do around here, so I certainly wouldn't mind the help," Nesta said, gesturing around them.

That put a smile on the boy's face. He rolled his sleeves up, readying himself for some action. "What do you want me to do first, ma'am? Just so you know, I know I look small, but I'm very strong, so if you need me to carry things, I can do that too!"

Nesta wanted to avoid lumbering the poor boy by carrying books around for her, not when they were so heavy. The boy was skinny-looking, and although very eager to prove himself, she didn't know if his little body could take so much manual labour. Instead, Nesta looked for a kinder task that would allow him to help her without injuring him. She didn't know Eleanor very well, and while the woman was taciturn, she knew that there was a possibility that Eleanor could get angry if her son came back exhausted from a day in the library.

"Well, actually, there's a task I've been putting off because I've been finding it too daunting," Nesta said conspiratorially. The boy nodded eagerly, waiting for her to carry on. "You see those piles of books over there?" Nesta said, pointing at the piles of books practically covering the lone table in the room. "Well, I need to figure out an order for them; the shelves I took them off were a mess. If someone could put them alphabetically, we could put them back onto the shelves much tidier. What do you think?" Nesta asked.

The boy bit his lip anxiously before eventually replying to Nesta. "Well, ma'am, I think you could do that, and I could carry on cleaning. Wouldn't that be better?" Nesta was confused; clearly, the boy could see she wouldn't accept that without questioning him. "Ma'am, I can't read, so I can't organise your books. But I can clean for you," the boy said with a smile.

Nesta blushed at that, cursing herself for being so thoughtless. Of course, someone like Arthur couldn't read. Although schools were around, they weren't open to accepting people from a lower class. Some factory owners in the north were known to build schools for the children who worked with them, but this was rare. Nesta wondered how many children on the Duke's estate couldn't read while she spent her day in a library.

"Would you like to learn?" Nesta asked impulsively. It was too late to take the offer back, though, and now it lingered between the woman and child.

"Would you really teach me?" Arthur asked cautiously.

"If you want to learn, then yes. I've never taught anyone how to read before, but if that's alright with you, then-"

Before Nesta could continue, Arthur cut her off. "Yes! Please, I would love to learn how to read. I could get so many other jobs if I learned how to work. Please, ma'am, I'll work day and night if you teach me."

Nesta smiled at him. "I'm glad to hear you're so excited to learn. All I ask for is an eager student, so you don't need to work day and night."

As they both walked towards the table, Nesta finally felt that, for once in her life, she was doing something good.

***

Her day with Arthur had been one of her best days in a long time. Nesta had spent two hours writing out upper- and lower-case versions of the alphabet and saying the phonetic sounds for them. Then she let Arthur try to copy her letters to the best of his ability while he said the sounds. While Arthur repeated the process, Nesta cleaned, staying close in case he needed her help.

When Claude had left, much later than he usually would, Nesta felt like she had been given a new burst of energy. She cleaned with renewed vigour, and Arthur decided to help her, which made the time go faster. Nesta also felt like she had gotten more done today, probably because there were two of them rather than her tackling things independently. Plus, when she was on her own, she tended to get distracted by the books she found, and before she knew it, the sun would be setting, and she had read a chunk of the most bizarre book ever. She wasn't sure which of the Duke's ancestors had been so obsessed with crocodiles, but she had found five copies of the same book.

Nesta assumed that her lack of distraction today was why her body ached so much. Arthur had thrown himself into cleaning the lower shelves, so Nesta had felt like she needed to match that energy, but now she was paying the price since the boy was over ten years younger than her. Sitting at the dinner table across from her husband, struggling to lift her spoon to her mouth, certainly put her in her place. She wasn't feeling hungry. That queasy feeling from earlier hadn't dissipated as she had hoped.

Still, it was better than when he decided to be polite and ask her about her day, which was inevitable.

"I had never met him before today, my Lord. He walked in and asked me for work," Nesta explained, not wanting her husband to think she spent her days talking to strangers.

The Duke just laughed, startling Nesta. "Arthur is ambitious and most likely getting underfoot wherever he had been spending his day before. I think it will do him some good. The boy is responsible; he just needs some guidance. He's a smart boy, and I'm sure he'll do well for himself in the future."

Nesta paused. The talk of Arthur's future made Nesta hesitate. Clearly, the Duke wanted the boy to succeed, but Nesta wasn't sure how he would feel about her teaching the boy how to read. While she had been helping the boy, it had occurred to her that she should've asked her husband for permission before taking something like this on, and of course, she should've asked permission from Eleanor, too. Some people could be peculiar about who their children spend their time with.

"My Lord," Nesta said nervously. She could feel herself getting warm, the sweat gathering on her brow as she took a deep breath to calm her nerves before Nesta told her husband what she had offered without his permission. "Today, while in the library, Arthur mentioned that he could not read."

"Ah, well, I suppose that is to be expected," the Duke said with a sad smile.

"Is that something you want to do with your free time?" the Duke asked Nesta as though her opinion mattered to him.

"Of course, I'm happy for you to teach the boy. He's ambitious, and I didn't know what to do with him. It seems like you've found the perfect solution for him. I'm sorry that I didn't think of something like that sooner," the Duke contemplated.

"There is no school for the lower class in this area. Rhys's mother once campaigned for it, but as far as I'm aware, she was told that unless there was evidence of some interest within the community, the government wouldn't be willing to throw that kind of money at the lower classes. They believed they could build a school, and the lower classes wouldn't send their children because it was easier for them to send them to work. I'm not sure how much truth there is in that, but it's a shame these children can't learn to read and write."

The Duke sounded thoughtful as he spoke, which Nesta had not expected to hear. Nor had she expected to listen to thoughts about supporting the lower classes. The Duke's family was an ancient one which could be traced back to the founding of Prythian. Meanwhile, the Mandray family had only recently been given their current rank. Yet, despite being so new to the money and social standing they currently had, neither Philip nor Tomas had ever looked at the lower classes with anything other than contempt or disgust.

It was strange. Nesta had not expected her current husband to be so progressive. Then again, how he spoke of the issue made her feel like he had not thought about it in much detail before she had mentioned Arthur. But now that he knew it, he took the issue very seriously.

Nesta took a sip of her water as the silence started to linger. Where she'd usually water down her wine, she had bypassed it all together today. Nesta knew it wouldn't sit well in her already queasy stomach. She had hoped the water would help settle her stomach or, at the very least, end the pounding in her head, but it had not helped.

"Are you alright, Nesta?" the Duke asked her, frowning.

"No, no, I'm fine, my Lord," Nesta said, shaking her head and plastering on a fake smile. The Duke didn't seem convinced, but he didn't comment. He still eyed her plate, so Nesta knew he wouldn't stay quiet for long. "The food isn't quite sitting well with me; it's quite strong flavours and stodgy. I'll go to the kitchen to speak to Claude and get something to settle my stomach; it's nothing to worry about."

Nesta was loathed to explain herself further, but she knew the Duke enough to realise she needed to give him some sort of explanation. She didn't wait for him to reply, as she quickly got up and rushed to the kitchen before he could stop her. Perhaps there was something Claude could give her that would help- or at least something she could eat without being sick.

There was chatter in the kitchen, but Nesta was past the point of processing it. The heat hit her as she rounded the corner and was met with various smells and sounds. She couldn't take it in; so much was going on, and her brain couldn't process it all in its overwhelming glory.

"My Lady, are you alright?" a younger man asked her. She didn't even notice when he came over to her. Claude had yet to notice her, but Nesta hadn't announced herself as she walked in. Her head felt so fuzzy that she had just ended up staring off into the distance at nothing.

"I apologise; I know you all must be busy," Nesta said, trying to wade through the treacle in her brain to remember what she had wanted to say.

"It's no problem, ma'am. We're not busy; it's just Claude's chaos," the man smiled. Nesta had been introduced to him but couldn't remember his name for the life of her.

At the sound of his name, Claude whipped around and beamed brightly as he saw Nesta. "Matthew, get back over there. You're not paid to chat with Lady Nesta," he said jovially.

"Of course, Claude," Matthew replied, a grin adorning his face, and mischief sparkling in his eyes. That's you who's paid to talk to the Duchess."

Matthew ran off before Claude could say anything, but Nesta could see the humour dancing on his face. "Now that Matthew is doing his real job, how can I help you, my lady. Is there something wrong with the food?" Claude said, looking anxious.

"No, Claude, definitely not. I just am not feeling too well. Is there anything you have that I can eat that will help?" Nesta said, blushing at her admission.

"Oh, of course. I make some wonderful soups, but some tea might be quicker. What seems to be the issue, my lady? Perhaps Cassian needs to call the doctor instead," Claude said kindly, leading Nesta to a nearby stool.

Nesta shook her head. "It's fine; I just feel a bit queasy," she lied.

Claude didn't look like he believed her but, thankfully, didn't say anything. To keep him from pressing the topic, she quickly spoke up, changing the subject. "Why do you call the Duke Cassian, but you're so formal with me?"

Claude smiled at that. "That idiot doesn't know how to treat a lady. He's the stupidest Duke I've ever seen," he laughed. "I jest. I've known him for a long time, and we've always been friends first, so it was natural to call him by his name. With you, well, I don't know you as well, so I wasn't sure if you would like me to be so forward and familiar with you. I wouldn't want to insult you."

"I'm honoured, Nesta," Claude said, testing out saying her name. Here, let me make you some tea. What about having some pastry with it? Really, you should eat something if you don't feel well; it might help to settle your stomach."

"Thank you, Claude, but the tea will be more than fine. If I can manage something else, I will let you know," Nesta said kindly but firmly. She knew her stomach wouldn't be able to handle all that liquid and then food on top of that.

Claude hesitated for a moment, weighing something up, before speaking. "Nesta, if we are friends, then I just want to say something as a friend. I hope you don't take offence, and I'm sorry if you do; it's just that I need you to know something. If you don't like something about my cooking or something specific you would like to eat, it would bring me great joy if you told me. I know you've said that you like my cooking in the past, but I can't help noticing you don't eat very much." Claude looked guilty like he had said something he shouldn't have.

Nesta was frozen. She didn't know what to do or say. She knew her eating habits hadn't gone unnoticed, but she hoped people would just leave her to it. She should've known that Claude would never leave a food-related matter alone. Food was too important to him, and she knew he had perceived it as an insult because she didn't eat much of it.

She could see no way around it. She had to tell him the truth. If she didn't, he would think she was rude, and in a house where he was one of the only people Nesta enjoyed the company of, she couldn't do that. She knew it was dangerous, becoming so attached to the man, but he was so soft and full of love and joy. Nesta couldn't help but be drawn into the man's orbit. She didn't think she had seen anyone so kind and willing to help others. She didn't even know people like Claude could exist.

Nesta hesitated. She had never really thought about it like that. At first, she thought it was so strange and questioned her husband about it a lot. Tomas had told her it was a long-standing tradition in their family when it came to married women, but it had always been about controlling them.

"I never thought about it, but yes, they did, I suppose. There were times when we got nothing if we angered them. And then there were rules for if one of us was pregnant," Nesta explained, although she had no idea why she was explaining it. As the words came out of her mouth, she knew it all sounded horrific.

"Were you- did you ever become?" Claude asked, clearly unsure how to proceed in that conversation.

"What happened to her?" Claude whispered

"She died in childbirth. The baby didn't survive either," Nesta said, wiping a tear which had escaped. Claude put a cup of tea down in front of her; she hadn't even noticed that he had done anything; she had been so consumed with her thoughts.

"I can't believe how much you've been through, Nesta; how did you bear it?" Claude asked, clutching his own cup of tea.

"That must've been hard, especially after your friend was gone," Claude said quietly.

"She was the only one who understood it, but I knew I had to carry on for her," Nesta said, taking a sip of her tea to give her some time to gather her thoughts. "Claude, I didn't tell you these things because I wanted you to pity me. I just needed you to understand that I'm trying my best. It probably doesn't seem like much, but it's all I can give now."

"No, of course!" Claude exclaimed. "And I'm honoured you felt like you could tell me."

Nesta didn't want to rain on his parade and tell him it was because she felt guilty for not eating his food, but then again, she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she felt some comfort around him. There was something about Claude which made her feel safe. She knew he wouldn't use the information against her like the staff in the Mandray household did. It was a strange sensation for her to actually trust someone. It had been so long she had forgotten how it felt.

"Will you tell Cassian?" Claude asked.

Nesta's eyes widened in horror. "No, absolutely not!"

Claude felt guilty for alarming her, so he held his hands out in surrender. "Sorry, I was just wondering if it would help understand the things you've been through," he said, trying to soothe her.

"Nesta, you know that's not what Cassian wants, right? I agree; I think you do need to get to know him, though, because when you do, I know you'll realise what he wants." Claude said.

Nesta didn't know how to react. Her brain was slowing down, so she raised her mug to take another sip of the tea. She didn't realise how much her hands shook until she spilt her tea down her front. Thankfully, the tea wasn't warm enough to scald her, but the shock of feeling the liquid on her startled her enough to make her drop her mug.

She shot to her feet as Claude got up and grabbed a cloth. The room was spinning, and Nesta eventually concluded that she had not managed to fight the horrific feeling she'd been having all day. Her stomach churned worse than ever.

Of course, her husband walked in on this chaos. "I heard some noise. What's going on?" the Duke asked, looking concerned.

Claude said something, but Nesta didn't register it at all. The Duke clearly understood whatever it was that Claude had said, and took Nesta's hand to guide her away from the broken mug.

"Nesta, you look pale and unsteady. Please, tell me what's wrong?" the Duke said in a frightfully close tone to begging her.

It was over as quickly and suddenly as it had started, and Nesta felt the tiny bit of energy she'd managed to conserve throughout the day had left her body and lay at her husband's feet.

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not-your-fucking-kacchan · 3 years ago

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I NEED IT! I NEED SOME OF IT!!!

vigilante deku and villain reader please pleasee thank youu 👉👈

NAJSKDHBSJD OFC OMGG I HAVE JUST THE THOUGHT :D

Masterlist <3

Warning: mentions of attempted assault...

Vigilante!Izuku x Villain!Reader

The greenette had been all over the news lately. Of course he has. He's always had a flare for the dramatic.

You, on the other hand, were a little different. You liked to keep yourself free of public attention.

The two of you were just so fundamentally different, that it's just genuinely difficult for you to imagine anything going on between you and him, despite how much he likes to tease and follow you around like a lost puppy.

At least your causes weren't that different though.

He had turned away the chance to become a hero because the title no longer meant anything. It no longer held the same wonder and prestige that it did.

The former heroes are powerless against the government, and law by law, their freedom has been stripped away, taking the magic away from what being a hero once was.

He wanted the freedom to actually be a real hero, without the threat of lawsuit, or the government officials breathing down his neck. He wasn't interested in going to dinner parties with rich snobs, or enforcing laws that were made to be weaponised against groups of innocent citizens.

Everywhere he turned, there was inequality and injustice, from women's rights being taken away, to the demonisation of the poor. He was sick of only being a hero to the rich man. So he turned his back on the legality, because the laws were wrong. He even had AllMight's blessing. He had built a fanbase. The people loved him. You love him.

But you weren't doing this for any greater cause. You were just fucking sick of living in poverty and being spat on by the public and the government. You had been labelled a villain.

Although, the main factor that lead to this label was the evidence provided in court after you had murdered two men in an alley while walking home from work in the dark.

You were a little more than just different from Izuku.

He wanted to save lives. You were okay with cutting them short.

Although the circumstances were very much "kill or be killed" at the time, the law still sees you as a murderer first, and a victim second. So you had ran away from everything. You couldn't get a job, thanks to the fact that you were now a fugitive, and so you had taken to robbing banks, and big industry stores.

At least you had an ethical code though. No stealing from charities, small businesses, or the elderly or disabled. You were completely okay with robbing the dick dressed in an ironed and dry cleaned suit who had just verbally assaulted a homeless man, though.

When Izuku saw this, he laughed, and said "Power to you..."

Don't you just love a feminist man.

You and this fluffy haired, skinny boy had hung out after that for a while, and he had fallen head over heels with you. You were obsessed too, but you weren't sure if you were good enough for him. You had continuously been disadvantaged, and you didn't want to be his disadvantage.

You just couldn't take it.

But he just won't stop bugging you!

Jesus Christ, it's honestly like travelling around with a five year old on a sugar high.

"Pleaaase will you date me? What about now?

"No."

"What about now?"

"No."

"Okay... What about... Nnnnnow-"

"Oh for crying out loud!!"

He was really starting to wear you down, and to be honest, it's hard to say no so many times to something you want so bad. Something that's right there...

"Fine! I'll fucking date you okay? Now shut your stupid face, or I'll shoot that stupidly good looking face off your face!"

He shut up alright. It's pretty hard to talk to someone while your smashing your lips against theirs. You're sure not even the great Deku could do that.

It's like the day chooses this perfect moment to brighten, and the sun comes out from the clouds making a previously, dark and lonely looking street brighten up and transform.

Your eyes widen as he grabs both sides of your face, biting your lip and pushing his tongue into your mouth to woo you. What an idiot. How is this working? The tenseness in your shoulders loosens and you relax as you allow yourself to lean into a kiss that's actually... quite good. How does this little nerd kiss so good?

When he pulls away to smirk at you teasingly, only pressing another quick peck to your lips, he winks at you, one of his hands lowering to your waist while you sigh, resting your forehead against his shoulder.

"So... Go team?"

He snorts and buries a hand in your hair, happy that he can finally stop chasing you, and have you as his own now.

#mha x reader #bnha x reader #bnha fanfiction #mha #bnha #bnha fluff #bnha headcanons #mha fluff #izuku midoryia x you #izuku imagine #izuku x reader #izuku headcanons #izuku midoriya x reader #izuku x fem reader #izuku drabble #bnha x fem!reader #vigilante deku #villain reader #mha x villain reader

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bernraccnt · 3 years ago

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Hello! Hope you're doing good, here is an idea of a scenario or a oneshot your pick. What if reader was a famous criminal by their talents in robbing and they met Mr. Wolf or the gang in one of their heists and with the past of time reader joins the bad guys and develops a crush to Mr. Wolf.

lets go oneshot!!!! not my best work i must admit but i popped my god damn pussy for this oneshot damn it

hype + beast (mr wolf x gn! reader)

before u read: 2nd person pov, reader is partially inspired by hype by tokyo machine, webs fangirling moment, guns are mentioned and used but not lethally, swearing, semi enemies to lovers but in a less tense way??? idk how to explain that LMFAO

wolf would say that he didn't really run into people while he and the others were on a heist. well, other people like them, that is. because of the bad guys' reputation in the big city of metropolitan, no one ever dared to rival them on their turf. yeah, the bad guys never actually hurt people, but no one trusted them due to their species anyways.

it was like that until he and shark were attempting to rob some rich man's gala and they both spotted a sneaky figure creeping around in the shadows. wolf had noticed the glint in their hands and recognized it as the super expensive necklace the group of criminals were targeting.

"stay here, wait for my order." wolf patted his aquatic friend on the shoulder, before slipping through the crowd. he kept his eyes on the figure in the shadows, following them out of the main room of the gala and into the empty hallways that led to a less populated section of the mansion.

wolf cupped his mouth, "you know, you got a lot of nerve taking our target!" his voice echoed down the hall, alerting the figure and making them jump a foot in the air.

"jesus christ." they whispered under their breath, looking over their shoulder. still in the shadows, wolf could only make out that they were wearing dark green dress pants and a crisp white button up.

to wolf's shock, they didn't do anything but give him a once over before turning back around and continuing their trek down the hall. now mildly offended, wolf broke into a sprint after them, which prompted the crook to start running as well.

wolf was many things and one of them was an incredibly fast runner, so he had no doubt he'd catch up to their person and be able to take the necklace from their hands. but, the longer the chase had gone, with both parties moving to the far side of the mansion, long gone from the party, it had shown that that wouldn't be the case. this person was just as fast as wolf and they seemed pretty strategic as well, since every hall they turned into never led to a dead end.

wolf had seen a glimpse of them pulling a mask over their face in the darkness, but ignored it for the most part. he gasped when they pulled out a gun and turned around pointing it at him. "whoa, whoa, whoa! hold on now!" he stopped in his tracks instantly, barely seeing the figure in the moonlight.

a third surprise for the night was when they pointed the weapon upwards and that was when wolf noticed that it wasn't a gun, but a grappling hook, that latched up to the sunroof of the room. the glass shattered and the hook caught itself on the window's edge, forcing the thief upwards.

"hey!" now that he wasn't scared of dying via bullet, wolf was angry as he searched himself for his own handy grappling hook. fuck, he must've given it to piranha today. "fuck!"

now on the standing roof, the mask figure let out a few giggles, mocking poor wolf as he sneered up at them. they tilted their head and waved their fingers. in that moment, their head was far enough back that wolf could make out a neon green and sharp grin painted on their mask.

the bandit pulled out goggles from one of their pockets and turned away, putting on the eyewear and sprinting from the sunroof and out of sight.

wolf stood there in the glass covered room before grunting angrily and tuning into his earpiece. "mission's over. someone else took the necklace."

"what?" the enraged cry that came from webs made wolf wince and suck in air through his teeth. "wolf, you made me research this damn necklace for weeks--"

"yeah, i know, but this guy was good. they already had it by the time shark and i were in the ballroom." wolf began to make his wack back down the halls he and the other sprinted down, now looking for an exit. "they were fast and were prepared. i think they knew we were coming."

"eugh. i hate it when people know what our plans are." webs sighed. typing could be heard from her end. "got any descriptors? height, body type, gender? anything?"

"uhhh..." wolf drawled, still walking the maze of a home. "they were shorter than me... couldn't tell many other features, we were in the dark for the most part-- oh! their mask was all black and had a green smile painted on it. they also had goggles--"

"OH MY FUCKING GOD." webs shrieked, blowing out wolf and shark's ear pieces. both men winced and groaned at the spider. "sorry-- but-- it's just that the person you ran into is, like, really fucking famous."

that was news to wolf. "they are?" he had finally found an exit through the gardens and started his stroll towards the car he and the others took to get here.

shark let out a confused hum. "what? like crimson paw famous?"

"nearly!" webs sent messages to their heist group chat and wolf opened it. it was links to articles, all of them having photos of the masked crook he just had a run in with. "their name-- well, alias, is hype and they're one of the best criminals of our time. they're on snake's level of thievery. maybe higher!"

"hm." was all wolf said, staring at the blurry photo. behind the silver goggles, he could pick out shining eyes that crinkled happily at the person taking the photo. "well... i guess that's understandable. we probably wouldn't have gotten the necklace anyways if that's the case."

he then heard webs let out an almost dreamy sigh, something that made him freeze. he never heard a noise like that from the youngest. "god, i wanna meet them so bad. you're so lucky, wolf."

he smirked to himself, a bright idea popping into his mind. "ah, who knows? we might meet them again someday."

waking up to your 7am alarm, you groaned and rolled over. your hand smacked against your bedside table until the music stopped and momentarily, there was peace.

and then your phone began to buzz, a phone call coming in. you let out another groan, picking your head up from your pillows and snatching your phone to your ear. "h'lo?"

"hey, i was just wondering if you could come into the shop today and pick up miranda's shift." your manager, damian, grunted through the phone. you could heard shuffling on his end and some clicking noises. "miranda did some shit and now her parents are flipping out on her. she lost her car privileges, so she can't--"

"save me the sob story." you cut him off, voice scratchy. "what time do i need to be in by?"

"9am on the dot."

"alright, see you then." you hung up before he could finish and let out a long sigh, flopping back against your comfortable bed. fuck, you were so tired of having to work and keep up appearances of being a normal person. once those student loans were gone and your parents didn't have to worry about you, you were going to live as a criminal for the rest of your life.

for now, though, you had a shift at a certain flower shop you had to prepare for.

you took a shower and after dressing in the light green polo and brown khakis that were apart of you uniform, you only had a coffee and a breakfast sandwich before walking out of your comfortable but small apartment. hopefully, life on the run will give you a better home to live in.

the drive to the flower shop was always less than thirty minutes, so you had arrived at the large shop. seeing damian out front and water the plants, you gave him a wave as you parked on the street and shut off your car. "what's good, big d?"

"never call me that." he snarled, glaring at you. "i got flowers that need to be put into pots in the back."

"at least say please, princess." you joked, smiling wider when he gave you a heated stare. you decided then to walk inside the large store and past all the flowers to go clock in.

shifts at the flower shop were normally either extremely busy or extremely boring. today was a busy shift, thank god, as you spent a majority of it giving people bouquets or explaining the significance of every flower when asked. you taught some kids how to properly pot some seeds and let some of them leave the store with pretty pink roses.

once 9pm had hit, you and damian got to work cleaning up the shop as best as you could. you swept the dirt off of the linoleum flooring and mopped afterwards, ignoring how much of the dirt had gotten onto you. damian and you counted up the money from today and split it, with him patting your back.

"i knew i could count on you."

"shut up." you replied, still smiling as you watched him lock up the shop. "when's my next shift?"

"two days from now, same time. i'm not sure when miranda will be back so i'll just put you on her schedule entirely." yay, more money for you.

you both went your separate ways, going to your cars and driving away from your job. you let out a hearty yawn, twelve hours of work finally catching up to you.

working wasn't something you enjoyed, but then again, most people didn't like it either. still, you found more purpose when you were out stealing things as the criminal, hype. when you would successfully break in and out of places, irreplaceable items in your palms. it was so worthwhile to see social media pages and new sites blowing up at your recent successes. you liked the attention you got from how good you were and wouldn't mind having it constantly.

still, the anonymity you got from wearing a mask would be unmatched. it was nice to go out and get essentials still and you knew most other criminals wouldn't get that luxury.

like that wolf you saw last night. god, you almost forgot about him. he was so angry with you, pretty fast runner too. of course, you knew the ever famous bad guy from anywhere. you'd be dumb not to, since they were always robbing the bank around the corner from the flower shop. you had seen them a few times, but never as close as you did last night.

they must've been living the high life. all they needed to do was steal and in style, it was what you wanted. but, alas, here you were. driving home half awake because of your shitty college debt. damn it, you should've never gone to school.

eventually, you reached your apartment complex and sighed in relief, shutting your car off and grabbing your bag before going inside. god, you shouldn't have taken a shower this morning, you were tracking dirt everywhere.

going back up to your apartment, you unlocked the door and stomped inside, being mindful to take off your dusty shoes before moving into the kitchen. you set your bag down on your kitchen counter and began rooting around in it. let out a small "aha!" you found what you were looking for and pulled it out.

cocking back the pistol, you turned and aimed it at the five animals frozen in your living room. "i'll give you ten seconds to get to fuck out of my house."

the wolf spluttered, seeing the deadly glint in your eyes and your finger on the trigger, the gun's sights aimed on him. "woah-- hold on a second!"

"wow, they didn't even hesitate!" piranha gasped, already liking your unpredictable nature.

"look, we don't mean to alarm you--"

you cut wolf off with a scoff and an eyeroll. "yeah, doin' a real good job of that by breaking and entering."

"--okay, that's understandable, but we were just looking into your government file--"

"ah, stalking. great." you sarcastically muttered, expression turning angrier by the second. "i'm going to singlehandedly bury you all in a few seconds. i'm not saying it again. get. the. fuck. out."

this time, webs crawled forward, holding her hands high as to not set you off. "sorry for breaking in, but we had to know whether or not hype lived here. i assume you're hype?" she asked, eyes shining with admiration.

you looked down at her, mouth curling into a frown. "you obviously know the answer to that question. don't you hack government databases daily, little spider?"

wolf shuffled and you returned your gaze back to him, still having the gun trained on him. "well, after running into you last night and doing some of our own research, we realized how good of an asset you'd be." he explained, sweating a little. you were terrifying to him right now and had he known this would've gone like this, he wouldn't have ever considered coming to you.

"ah, sick. you guys need my skill set." you grumbled, looking over the five of them. "why not use your little reptilian pal here? isn't he a modern day houdini or some shit?"

"i'm flattered, sweetheart." snake droned, with a sarcastic smile that you felt compelled to return.

"alright, i like you." you told him, breaking your glare to nod at him. wolf and piranha looked at you like you were crazy while shark muttered something about "seeing double" and webs wilted a little. "no, for real, why?"

"i believe you'll have to ask her that." wolf pointed at webs, who now was pink in the face. she flinched when you fixed your steely gaze on her and stuttered.

"ah-- i mean-- you-- you just have been a super big figure in the crime scene and-- it's kinda cool to see a human criminal. you guys are pretty rare." she was right, most criminals in the past had been animals. "and-- i kinda really admire your work. the whole anonymous thing is really hard to pull off and i'm surprised that you've never been found out."

"that brings up my next question: how'd you figure out it was me?" feeling your will slowly dissolving from the adorably sincere spider, you decided to change the subject. "i've been keeping everything on the down low."

this time, webs perked up again and began to ramble. "well, you had a great track record of keeping out of camera's sights and finding hidden places to make your escape, but i tied together all of your crimes to the camera footages of the places you had been to--" and webs just kept going and going, growing out of breath the more excited she got.

you held up your other hand, silencing her immediately. she muttered an apology but you waved it off. "okay, i can tell that you don't have any shitty intentions, so i'll trust your judgement for now."

"oh, but when i tell the truth, i'm the untrustworthy one." fed up with wolf, you turned and fired three shots at his stomach area. three bb bullets bounced off of him and he let out a yelp, crumpling to the floor in pain.

the other four were terrified for a moment, but you let out a chuckle. "not a real gun, by the way. he'll be fine in a few minutes." you reassured them, setting the gun on the counter. "now, i'm covered in dirt and you all look hungry, so why don't i order in and we can talk this over some pizza?" no longer feeling threatened, you smiled at them.

"pfft, after you just fired three bullets into our boss's kidneys?" shark guffawed, "fuck yeah, i'm down for dinner!"

after wolf had licked his wounds (not literally) and you had gotten a quick shower in, all six of you sat in your tiny little living room and ate dinner together. right off the bat, you and snake were best friends, sharing the same sarcastic humor and same love for thieving. webs was another fast friend, but that was more in like an older sibling younger sibling way.

shark and piranha were alright, they both were a little too excitable for your taste, but they made funny jokes so it was easy for you to ignore that. wolf, on the other hand, pouted the entire dinner, angrily munching on his pizza as he watched you bond with his friends. you knew it was getting on his nerves but you couldn't really care less about how he felt. served him right for being a little bitch.

"i'm super curious," shark said after he finished wiping his mouth clean of pizza sauce, "why haven't you quit your day job?"

you shrugged, debating between telling them the truth or not. despite actually only getting to know them for less than an hour, they already were closer to you than most of the people you interacted with on a daily basis.

you settled for not saying the specifics. "my parents got money troubles, so i gotta stay on the grid until they're fine. it's gonna look suspicious if i become a famous criminal and i'm still shooting money back home."

surprisingly, snake nodded like he understood and wolf gave you an empathetic look from across the room. "well, we can help with that." wolf shrugged like it was nothing, making you freeze. he noticed immediately and smiled, "yeah. what if we help you pay off whatever they need? would you join us then?"

fuck, he was saying all the shit you wanted to hear. you looked away, trying to think about it. i mean, all you needed was the money and you literally could have the life of your dreams that you wanted.

you tapped your fingers against your leg. "if you can get the money to my parents in a way that won't get them in trouble, i'll be a part of this crew." you conceded, raising your eyebrows as shark, webs, and piranha cheered. snake and wolf gave you smiles and shared a look with one another.

it was only four days later that you got a call from a number you hadn't saved. you were chilling in the kitchen, waiting for the water in the pot to boil and decided to pick it up.

"h'lo?"

"your parents are going to call you in a few minutes." wolf's voice echoed on the other end, making you stand up instantly.

"what--?"

"tell them that you've been applying for loans and this one was given by the new governor because she's a friend of a friend." and then he hung up. you had pulled the phone back from your ear and jumped when your mom's contact came up.

when you answered, you heard her sniffling like she was crying. "baby, i don't know what you did, but you did it! we just got a check for your college funds from the government!" your stomach dropped and your jaw popped open as she blubbered. "it's enough to finish it off! where'd you even find something this good?"

"i-- eu-- i had connections." is what you settle with, walking to your couch with shaky legs and sitting down. holy fuck, they actually did it. just like they promised. "who-- uh, who called you?"

"some man who called himself mr. poodleton-- that's not what we're worrying about right now! honey, we're debtless! you can start building your credit like we told you to--" as she began to go and rant and rave about the new steps in your already adult life, you stared down at your floor in awe.

just like that, you were free.

you smiled, the widest smile you had ever had on your face in the last six or so years. finally, you would be living the life of your dreams. and you only had one last thing to do.

"hey, mom." you cut her off, standing up and rushing to your bedroom. you pulled out your suitcase and popped them open. "why don't you and dad use the money that you were saving up and take a vacation this week? maybe hawaii? panama? somewhere beach-y?"

"that's a great idea sweetheart!" she squealed. "i'll tell you when we buy the tickets, let me go tell your father this now!" and she hung up without saying goodbye.

works for you, you're shit at goodbyes anyways. and while your parents were off at some island somewhere in the world, you were severing the last of your ties to regular society. you called damian and told him something had come up that caused you to quit and you gave your landlord the last of your lease's payments, because she was a nice landlord. you sold your major furniture and made sure to cease your phone plan, as webs said she was going to give you a personalized one.

at the end of that week, the five bad guys came and helped you move the last of your things out of your apartment. and since they were going to be driving downtown, you decided to wear your hype gear on your face, the mask and the goggles.

people gawked when they noticed the six of you in one car. it sent the right message, judging by the double takes.

the bad guys got a new member and just like them, this one's just as good at being bad.

piranha and shark were insistent on celebrating the occasion once you were back at their home, so you sat down and let piranha sing feliz navidad to you (because he said it was like an early christmas gift to have you around) while you sliced open an ice cream cake. on the top of the cake was written "welcome to the bad guys, hype <3" in green frosting. shark began passing around champagne and that's when the celebration truly kicked off.

you laughed and talked the most you had in your entire life. criminal activities weren't something you'd ever find yourself bonding with someone over, but here you were, sharing your best heist stories with webs and snake. hell, you even found yourself happily chatting up wolf, who was especially eager to hear all about the tale of how you took the necklace before he and shark could.

the festivities lasted until the early morning hours and by then, everyone else had gone to their bedrooms. this had left you and wolf on the couch, still talking and sipping your drinks.

"so, how'd you get yourself out of that one?" he asked, pouring the last of the champagne into his glass.

you snorted and rolled your eyes. "how else do you think? i beat up the rich piece of shit and hid his body so his staff would panic looking for him more than the ring." you were confident with every word, a smug smile on your face that made wolf's eyes lock onto it.

he went quiet after chuckling and darted his eyes back to your own. "y'know, up until recently, i thought you were a major jackass." he admitted.

"oh, not surprising." you smirked. "most people hate me. i just don't have time for bumfuckery, my canine friend." you had taken off the mask but your goggles hung around your neck. wolf then realized how much he liked seeing you in your gear. "but i also thought you sucked dick until you paid off my debt. seriously, dude, you saved me so much time." you tone had begun to be sincere and wolf found his ears tilting backwards at it.

"eh, it's nothing." he tried to shrug off your thanks but you were determined.

your smile dropped and you glared at him. "maybe not to you but i had tens of thousands i had to account for. shit, i didn't even want the damn degree in the first place, and you saved me from actually having to use it."

he snickered, drinking his alcohol. "well, i think you would've been fine. you were, like, in the fifth of your class. i'm sure anyone in that field of work would've wanted you."

"and i would've wanted myself in a casket after year one." you grumbled, making him bark a laugh. you laughed with him, finding it easy to unwind with him. "i'm serious! you five made me a very happy criminal. i don't know how i could make it up to you."

he smiled mischievously and jokingly stated, "i dunno. maybe a kiss would suffice." he laughed afterwards, turning to you.

you were already crawling over and he had to do a double take. "whoa-- wait, it was a joke!" he spluttered, going pink in the face as you stopped less than a foot away on all fours.

"well, you asked for one!" you defended yourself, giving him the biggest smile he had seen on you. "i did say i wanted to make it up to you."

for once in his life, wolf was lost for words as you continued to move forward. he subconsciously leaned back on the couch as you moved to be on top of him, knees on either side of his hips. a part of him screamed at him to stop this from escalating but the rest of him could only focus on how right it felt for you two to be this close.

you leaned down, just enough so your nose would brush against his gently. "hey, tell me if you don't want this." you whispered, staring him dead in the eyes.

wolf felt like he had swallowed a frog when he croaked out, "please kiss me."

you laughed under your breath before pressing forward and kissing him, starting slowly to make sure he was comfortable with this. wolf's hands came up and wrapped around your back, pulling you closer. you fell to your forearms. holding yourself above wolf's head and continuing to kiss him.

he tilted his head, slipping his tongue past your lips and deepening the kiss with a soft groan. you felt yourself smiling into the kiss, mentally cooing at the man below you. when he wasn't being a little shit, he was pretty cute you had to admit.

and yeah, kissing him is probably going to muddy up your already muddy relationship, but that honestly didn't stop you. for now, all you cared about was getting more groans out of him.

when you ground your hips into his, he let out a louder groan and glared up at you, pulling back. "you're evil." he pouted.

you laughed. "yeah, i know."

#mr wolf x reader #mr. wolf x reader #reader insert #gn! reader #x reader #the bad guys x reader #polaris107 #gender neutral reader

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bellsnuit · 3 years ago

Text

Travel time: The end of the world. Romanogers x daughter!Original character. (1/3)

Summary: Sarah travels back in time: the equation has a problem and changes the universe. Once she sees that she's screwed up, she keeps screwing it up just by being happy for a few more minutes with her parents.

This have only three parts independent of each other. So, let me know if you like it or if you wanna be tagged on the next two parts!

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The blonde walked through the streets of New York, she knew this place so well, but for some reason, there was something that didn't feel right. Something didn't feel right, she felt something wasn't right.

She had broken every rule to return to the streets of New York, just to see two people. She only wanted to see them for a second, and then she'd be gone. She wanted to see them one more time, wanted to feel both of their eyes on her until her stomach burned.

A car honked at her as she stood in the middle of the street, not moving and admiring the color of the buildings. There was something different and she couldn't tell what it was.

"Move!" she startled and wailed, walking towards the sidewalk. His footsteps seemed monotonous compared to the great multi-dom. You began to see children dressed as superheroes, they were fashionable, and they were always going to be fashionable in any universe. You smiled as a boy passed by playing with the Iron-man mask.

You had a strange demeanor for a teenage girl standing in the middle of a New York street, wearing a flowery blue dress in the middle of autumn. Yes, you were totally out of place, but your golden curls seemed to be the only thing that kept the little sunshine company.

You put your hands in your pocket and felt the coins. You had to have fifty dollars, and so you had to get by until you left again.

You stopped at the first newspaper stand, and frowned at that; "After the civil war, the scarlet witch, Captain America, and Black widows made their presence known in a subway station, in Paris, France."

The civil war; she looked at the date, 2018. Her mother must have been pregnant with her on that date; she was going to see her parents with her in the womb. Specifically, it was three months before your birth.

"Hey, are you going to pay for that?" the voice of a grumpy old man made you blink a little scared.

"Yeah, sorry" you deposited the coins in his palm and began to walk by inertia as you turned the pages and tried to think of a way to go towards the avengers compound. There was no way, because of course, Tony had taken care of that. Stupid.

You took the nearest train, and then with the white sneakers you started jogging all around; you used to do those runs with your father, you always did. It was a good thing to have in common, and you wanted to get to him, you wanted to see him.

You stopped your footsteps when you were close. What were you going to say? You couldn't just show up, and you knew you couldn't alter the timeline, you couldn't say anything: maybe you could only pretend to be a poor girl, yes, that's what you were going to do, only because inside you only wanted one thing: and that was to see them.

Your thoughts were only interrupted by the sound of a car, and you ducked out of the way. By the time you saw the Audi, you had no better idea than to take your aunt's stupid ideas: you walked back to the road quickly and felt the bump against your hips. You groaned in pain as you fell to the ground: the pain is only for a little while. Just a few minutes.

The car screeched to a halt and you didn't open your eyes. "Jesus Christ," Steve muttered.

"It's a girl" Nat's voice boomed in your ears, and you felt every part of your body bristle as strands of hair ran from your face: you felt the Dolce & Gabbana perfume that you stole so much of your life from her, that your father always gave her and you used as if it belonged to both of you.

You felt another hand on your neck and you had to make another great effort not to burst into tears at the touch of both adults. Steve touched your neck "I'm going to take her inside" he took you in his arms and you let yourself be carried, the back door opened and you were deposited in the back seats, as they always used to do.

"Who the fuck jump in front of a car like that?" cursed Steve and you couldn't even open your eyes, but you did feel tears streaming down your cheek. You even stirred, and you felt like throwing up.

"I don't know, but she looks hurt" you felt Natasha's vibrating voice, and you could be sure she was turning you to look at you: you just wanted to kneel and clutch yourself in pain.

"Ready" the car again squealed on its tires and the door loudly swung open. Steve opened it again and loaded you in, and you had a feeling Natasha was after Steve. "Hurry up, Steve," Natasha spoke.

"She's in tears, she must be in a lot of pain" Steve muttered and you felt how he start to get faster. He jogged and you began to feel more voices join in: maybe you had gone too far, maybe you had to just wake up and that was it.

You coughed and clung to Steve. "She is waking up" you opened your eyes, but your tears denied you from seeing properly.

"What's your name?" Natasha appeared in front of your eyes, you saw her short blonde hair, and you let out a slight gasp of pain inside you, unsure of what you had done.

"You don't have any wounds?" you felt yourself being checked, and you clutched your hand in Natasha's: you saw her surprise. You turned your head and looked over at Steve, who had his beard and hair somewhat long back.

"She doesn't look hurt" the voice boomed in your ears but you didn't recognize him. You looked back at Natasha who looked really confused and laid her head down, this time you frowned: Natasha wasn't with a baby in her belly.

"Mom" you mumbled as the pressure in your chest won you over, and your body seemed to sink into the bed.

And the screams behind you increased, but nothing was enough to ease the pain in your heart.

...

You were seventeen, the rain was beating against you and mixed with your tears. You were on the ground that had mud on it, you were really there with your knees touching some of the cold ceramics that corresponded to some of the graves on the ground.

You made that smile with so much pain and just rested both hands on each grave.

One carved "Steven Grant Rogers" the other "Natalia Alianovna Romanov" into the stone, and a lot of things that people you didn't even know had left; they didn't even really know your parents.

"I miss them" two months, that alone was how long it had been since you had lost them on a mission. They actually walked away and came back on the shoulder of Bucky, Sam, and Carol.

You leaned your head forward, releasing the pain. You bit the inside of your cheek "Please come back."

For seventeen years you'd had them with you, how were you going to face life without them? They had taught you everything, but not enough to leave you: you still had the puzzle to finish with your father, and he still hadn't finished his drawing of you and your mother that he had insisted so much on recreating that year. You hadn't finished learning that Spanish piano piece your mother was teaching you, you hadn't even finished the French lessons she was teaching you.

"Please, Mom, Dad," you murmured, choked with pain. You wanted more time, just a little more. You wanted just a moment with them again.

Your blonde hair clung to you and you only felt the footsteps "Sarah, let's go home" you tearfully denied without even being able to look at who was behind you. "Hey, come on" Bucky's hands were placed against your shoulder and you only gasped.

"I want them back, uncle please" you begged as if he was capable of doing anything.

You felt another cry behind you and it was clear to you that it was Yelena. You turned, letting your bottom fall against the wet ground and looked at them both; so destroyed, so in pain, with water pouring down your bodies. "I need them."

"I know, but you have to go on" Bucky knelt in front of you, but you saw how Yelena could even look at you because she was just as destroyed even if she tried to hide it. "Your parents would have wanted it that way."

You clung, hugging yourself, only to feel your uncle's arms wrap around you.

...

Your eyes opened, both at once but they were so clouded that all you could feel was the machine making faint beeps in the room. It was white, pale and graceless as if no one usually walked by.

The door opened and you watched the two adults walk through with coffee, who remained serious as they looked at you. Another time you might have worried because you knew they were probably going to grumble at you. Still, there was something wrong: Natasha was clearly not pregnant.

"Are you okay?" you looked at Steve and nodded, swallowing .

Natasha nodded "What were you doing in the woods and why were you running?"

"I-" you stammered, you really were just as spontaneous as your mother and didn't think things through, your father had always reproached you for that. They both kept their distance from you. "I don't know, I don't remember."

"Maybe we can help you," Steve set the coffee aside. "What's your name?"

You swallowed hard "I don't know"

"You don't know or you don't remember?" asked Natasha looking at Steve, both of them not approaching as if you were a threat.

"I- I- I don't know anything" you had only come to see them, you wanted just a moment: anything would alter the timeline, you couldn't afford that. Maybe you'd already altered this one. Oh, shit. Shit. "I have to go," you stood up quickly, and started ripping out the wires.

"Hey, no, no" Steve, or your father, quickly reached over and grabbed you to stop doing that.

"I'll call Bruce" Natasha tapped the button.

"No, I'm going. Please let me go. I can't stay here."

"Do you know where you are?" Natasha's question left you frozen.

"I just know I don't have to be here" you mumbled but Steve had such a hold on you that you just struggled. "Please let me go" you begged and your eyes began to glaze over.

"We can't let you go. How old are you?"

"I don't know, stop it!" you stirred too hard and only caused both adults to look at you stunned: possibly because you'd gotten out of Steve's grip too quickly, as if you knew how to do it: you did, he'd taught you in the future.

Natasha and Steve looked at each other again, as if thinking something. "If you let me go, I swear I'll never come back. You won't see me. But let me go, please," you begged.

"I don't know you already?" you looked at Natasha who was approaching curiously. "Did you come from the red room?"

You frowned and denied it quickly, knowing you were walking into something you couldn't "I- I don't know what that is."

"I'm here" your head jerked up as you saw Tony and Bruce walk in. You bit your inner cheek, reliving those faces that you already knew but were so unfamiliar: "Uncle Bruce" "Uncle Tony".

"I've seen the camera, she was hidden and she threw himself against the car for fun." Shit, Stark. Shit. You cursed without assessing the detail of how controlling he was. Everyone saw you and now, you only saw distrust in the eyes of all the adults.

"Let me go," you demanded.

Bruce picked up his tablet and looked at Steve and Natasha. "She doesn't exist in the database" They all looked at you as if you were a totally threatening being.

Steve pulled a little red notebook out of his pocket, your notebook, that little notebook he had given you, "What are these numbers?" Tony snatched the notebook out of his hands.

"Please be careful," you begged.

"Who are you?" Steve's voice boomed again, and you looked at Natasha: as if it was that one of the many occasions where your father nagged you and you expected your mother to defend you.

"It's equations, lots of quantum science equations even" Tony opened his mouth. "I'm going to take that."

"No!" you shouted and stood up, but Steve's arms grabbed you tightly.

"Her blood... is..." everyone turned back to Burce who was looking at the tablet "Her blood type is different. Her body is... she has serum in her body, but more than one type" you denied quickly, wanting to get out of there.

"Can it be the little bottle that was with her?"

"No!" you cried again, alarmed.

"I'm going to examine him."

"No, no, no, no" was the only token you had to go back, it was the only thing that would bring you back. Tony and Bruce seemed to walk out, not listening to you. "I need it to come back, please!" you blurted out, refusing. Everyone in the room looked at you. You looked at Bruce and Tony "I need it to get back to where I came from, if you guys throw it away, I'm going to ruin everything here!"

Tony brought his eyes back to the equations and then took a step forward "You come from somewhere else with a chemical formula and quantum physics. Are you from space?" all eyes were on you. "Well, if you don't talk we're going to have to do the studies with the samples you brought and -" you interrupted Tony, tugging harder on Steve's grip, "Please, Uncle Tony, no. No!" the pressure in your chest made you open your mouth and feel like you'd embarked on everything. "I was wrong!"

"What did you call me?" Tony approached slowly, and all you did was snatch the notebook from him. Everyone looked at you, but you turned back and checked the equation, the numbers and the line: you'd already done it, but there was something that didn't add up.

"My watch" you muttered.

"This one?" Natasha picked it up and looked at it.

"Please give it back."

The blonde denied, and you looked at her tearfully. "It's got today's date on it, it's not going to help you at all."

You looked around, and it all came down like a bucket of cold water. "Why did you call me uncle Tony?" asked Tony again. "I don't have any brothers, I don't know you" he clarified.

You looked at Natasha, then at Steve. "Are you two living together?" Steve and Natasha looked at each other and frowned. You opened your mouth slightly "No you both aren't. You two aren't together?"

"You guys are together?" asked Tony in confusion.

"No," they both denied. "Who are you?" was the same question, and you just knew you'd muddied it.

You looked again at both of them, who were confused and alerted by your presence. You brought your hands to your face, and again, tears began to flow. "I'm stupid, I'm stupid," you began to mutter. "It was a stupid equation" you stood up and your cold feet touched the ground.

"Where did you come from?" asked Steve again.

"I'm more intrigued as to why he called me uncle, I'm sorry."

"If I tell you, will you let me go?" you were going to alter a timeline, but not your own. Maybe you were only supposed to say one thing, and you hoped you wouldn't ruin what was ahead.

"Depends on what you say," Steve spoke.

You wiped your tears and shook your head, looking at Steve and Natasha "I'm Sarah" you turned your gaze to Steve and nodded "As your mother" they all expected you to follow. You denied. "I come from another universe, I just.. I wanted to move in my timeline but I moved lines and changed universes" you made a wry grimace as you shrugged your shoulders, as if that was funny. It wasn't, not at all. It was desperate.

"You're my daughter" Steve's words echoed throughout the place and you looked at him, eyes glazed over and nodded. He opened his mouth and you put your hands to your chest.

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to... god, it's wrong, what I did is wrong. I need to go back. I need you to understand that the more I talk, the more things will start to go sideways. You all are not from my universe, it's not my universe."

"Wait, wait" Natasha's words begged to interrupt you and you looked at her, nodding and knowing she already knew, "Yes, you're my mother" you watched her as she took a step back, struck by that.

"And that's why I'm your uncle?" asked Tony.

"You are their biological daughter" Bruce spoke walking over as he looked at you. You nodded "That's why the serum in your body."

"Are you saying that in another universe the two of them have you?" asked Tony pointing at both of them.

"A bit complicated" you muttered.

"If I have you, it's because I don't-" you interrupted Natasha: "I can't talk to you. I can't give you the details. But all the questions that arise from the possibility that there is between the two of you are true."

"Like you both kinds of had a lot of sex" Tony added somewhat amused.

"Tony, please the girl!" complained Steve with a grimace and you didn't avoid looking at him wistfully and smiled. That made him uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry" you murmured and denied. You closed your eyes slightly. "I made a big mistake, but I need to get my stuff and go."

"Why did you want to time travel?" asked Steve. "Did I do something wrong?" he broke in: "Was I a good father?" those words hit you.

"Please, I can't."

"You can't leave without talking to us" Nat muttered and you saw her hurt.

"I'm going" Tony spoke but before he did, he saw you. "In your universe... How am I doing?"

You rolled your eyes in amusement. Sure enough, it was Tony Stark. "You're still a billionaire, philanthropist, scientist, and a great person with a life you really want."

This one nodded "So, Sarah Rogers, if things go wrong I'll manage to come to your universe."

"No" you warned seriously. "Things don't go well."

"I'm not going to listen to a teenage girl."

Bruce looked at Steve and Natasha "I'll make sure no one touches his stuff."

"Thanks too, Uncle Bruce" he blinked in astonishment and you shook your head, somewhat obviously.

"Wow, that's... universes, multiverses" he muttered "Nice to meet you, Sarah" spoke this one to leave.

You looked at Natasha and Steve, who were giving each other looks "No, it really can't be possible" Natasha muttered and you sat comfortably, despite the robe you had on.

"I just wanted to cure something I had and I was wrong."

"You traveled back in time!" spoke Steve.

"But I got the wrong universe" you shrugged your shoulders and pointed at them "Maybe in this one, I never exist" you justified yourself "Don't be mad da-" you swallowed the words with great pain: habit and pain together were fucking bullshit.

"God" this one stirred and went to his coffee, and you saw Natasha. You just wanted them to let you touch their face, just wanted a hug, and then you'd leave.

"Then there's a chance I could pregnant," murmured this one. "And it has to do with Steve."

The boy turned around "I mean, you're not pregnant. Aren't you?" Steve asked Natasha and you widened your eyes, watching as they really could be. "She's not pregnant, is she?"

"I don't know, in my universe, she should be. But it's parallel, I can't answer you."

"Steve, wait" Nat's words made silence and she looked deep into your eyes "You're so hurt, always crying. What did we do wrong?"

You painfully denied "Nothing you can fix me or help me".

"We did something wrong" Steve stepped closer, "No, I'm sorry, I have no way of knowing this is true" he looked at Natasha "She could be ambushing us."

"Don't do anything stupid until I get back" you spoke and earned a look from Steve, serious and transfixed "How could I, you're taking all the stupidity with you."

"What's that?" asked Natasha looking at Steve.

The boy walked over to you, looking at you. "Sarah was your mother, she died as a nurse in the war because she contracted tuberculosis."

"That's not on any record" muttered Steve.

"Because you told me" you paused, "My father told me."

"And what made you have to go back in time?"

"Did we miss something?"

You shook your head, looking them both in the eye again and every fiber of your body contracted. "You were the best parents in the world," you lowered your head, breaking down in tears.

"Shit," Natasha muttered.

"We died," Steve whispered.

You shook your head and lifted "I'm sorry, it's not your problem. I just-" a pout left your lips "I wanted five more minutes with both."

No one spoke, Steve and Natasha just watched you wasting away in pain.

"Are you alone?" asked Steve and you sensed his fear, and you knew how much it pained him to think about the idea of you being left the way he was left

You denied "No, but I don't have both anymore and I have a horrible pain in my chest" you confessed.

"I'm so sorry," Natasha murmured.

"No, no, you don't have to. It wasn't your fault, you both didn't choose it. You left me with amazing people" you nodded and looked at them, and for some reason, they seemed to be broken too: maybe, even in different universes, some fibers of the bodies were joined by some imaginary line.

"You're smart, huh" Steve's words made you look at him again "You traveled in time and in the universe."

You grimaced amused, still in tears "But don't tell Uncle Tony that I raided the tower just to steal the formula from him."

"I bet we'd be proud just the same," Natasha muttered.

"I just wanted five minutes where we shared in the same place. I took it too far."

"Yes, yes you have," Steve assured.

"We... We're going to leave you for a moment to change."

You nodded, watching them both leave. Natasha only looked at Steve, and they shared overwhelming and also uncomfortable looks. "This is so weird."

"She looks very broken" Natasha whispered. "And she looks like you, her hair..."

"I know, I know."

"What if it's nothing more than a Hydra experiment?"

Steve opened his mouth and denied "She really sounded convincing, and after everything, I've been through in the last few years... I really believe her."

"How could I have a daughter naturally?"

"Maybe in that universe you didn't go through all that."

"If I hadn't, would I be here too?"

"Apparently so, Nat," Steve opened his mouth and scratched his beard, pointing to the room. "In there, there's a teenage girl who is our daughter. She has a combination of our serum, she traveled in time and universe; she knew what car I used, and she knew she was at least one of us before she threw herself in front of the car. She knew where to come from, she knew the names and she knew things that aren't on file."

Natasha put her fist to her lips and took a breath "But she's not our daughter. Not ours."

"His parents are dead. In another universe, we are no longer alive."

"Steve, her life is not our life."

"I know, I know. But..." this one stirred "I just acted like she's our daughter now."

"She had other parents, maybe even our attitudes were the same. You heard her, by this time we were dating."

"What if that was the story we told her as a mistake?"

...

No idea how it happened, Steve had entered the room again and asked if you wanted to spend a day with him and Nat. You agreed because in the end, you had already done what was wrong and inappropriate.

You noticed the discomfort in them, but also their gaze on you constantly.

"So... Who should you be with now?" asked Natasha stirring in the seats of the vehicle.

"With Yelena and Bucky" they both turned to look at you, only Steve for a short time to turn back to the road.

"And that's safe?"

"Well, sometimes I go with Tony or Wanda."

"How... How did we die?" asked Natasha, turning to look at you.

You shrugged "I'm sorry, I can't tell you."

Natasha cleared her throat "And... We only had one child?"

"Really Natasha? "Steve looked at him incredulously and you just laughed lightly. "You ask the girl anything to do with our sex life in a roundabout way?"

"I'm seventeen" you clarified as the light turned red and they both turned to look at you. "And yes, you only had me because the plan for the second baby was for when I turned eighteen."

"See! We're modern parents who normalize that stuff" Steve raised his eyebrow.

"Yes, you did" you nodded. "You were always my friends too" you looked up remembering the moments.

"Look, Steve, in another universe you're not a living fossil and you're more modern."

"Actually, we helped him. Yes he's a living fossil with us but, having two women made him more current" you made silent and pointed at Natasha "In fact, he learned after the third time he bought me some of those clothes people used to wear before and you made him sleep those three times on the sofa".

Natasha let out a laugh and Steve looked at them both. And he really saw the resemblance, so he frowned, was there anyone who once used to enjoy those scenes every day? He looked at Natasha, he hadn't really considered that theirs could go that far. He didn't even see them that they could have that much in common for that matter. If he was attracted to her, he always had been, it was Natasha: everyone was attracted to Natasha, but he avoided looking at her with that intention for so long that now that he did, he was kind of amazed and overwhelmed.

"Anyway, then he started to modernize" The silence returned and you leaned your body back against the seat, looking out the window at the tall buildings. "We always lived here, well, in Brooklyn."

"In the house where my mother lived?" the question from Steve made you look at him again, colliding the blue eyes they both had.

You wrinkled your nose "You think mom would have liked that?" another silence took over, maybe because of the word, or the overload of confidence. They're not your parents. They aren't. Just people who look alike and share a piece of history. Just that.

It wasn't until you got to the little restaurant. The three of them got out and both adults spread you out as you looked around the place. "Everything okay?" asked Natasha.

"This restaurant was burned down where I live. They had good food" you mumbled and looked at the two of them. You made a faint smile, but inside you still had the pressure of seeing their faces. And you allowed yourself, just for a few hours, to live in a fantasy.

"How do you know they're not looking for you at your house?" asked Steve sitting down at the table, Natasha and Steve sitting across from you.

"Well, I told Aunt Yelena that I would be with Uncle Bucky, and Uncle Bucky that I would be with Aunt Yelena" you both frowned "Don't make that face like you're going to challenge me on that. Please don't do it" you clarified.

The waiter came over and offered the menu, the three of them thanked and you just looked at them both wishing they would release the usual food.

"Sarah" your name boomed in Steve's voice and you looked up at him "Do you know what you're going to order?"

"The usual" you lowered your gaze again and looked up, noticing how both adults looked at each other as if they didn't know what to do. "Sorry, I forget I know you guys and you don't know me. Uh-, the omelet."

"Good" nodded Steve. "I think I'll go for some good past."

"Yes, I'll ask the same."

It was the same menu, so you just lightly played with your fork on the tablecloth. There was a few seconds of silence and you felt Steve order the food, and you with a smile without raising your teeth thanked him.

"Well then" spoke Natasha "How's school going for you?"

You shook your head to the side "I stopped going a while ago" both adults looked at you and you shook your head, obvious "I have to come to terms with the fact that I'm graduating and you guys aren't going to be there" you clarified with some pity and sighed. "But I'm doing fine."

"I'm sure with math and physics you have no problem" Steve spoke referring to time travel equations.

"I don't have a problem with anything. I'm... very active. I do well in classes, I do well in training, in swimming."

"Do you train?" Natasha's question made you nod.

"Yeah, you started teaching me and I joined Shield a few weeks ago."

"You got into Shield?" you nodded, looking at Steve.

"Wow, that's amazing" Natasha spoke, with a smile. "Right Steve?"

"Yes, it must be an achievement," he said.

"Yeah... never let me do it but I didn't have to ask anymore."

"Well, it's a bit dangerous. And maybe you should focus on your studies while you can," Steve commented now, unconvinced.

"Yeah, but it's the only thing that's actually valid. In fact, I won't be you but I have your suit" you pointed to Natasha and then looked at Steve "And your shield."

"Oh, are you our legacy?"

"I guess" you muttered.

And by the time you realized it, you were telling them everything they were supposed to know. The first memories you had, the ones that fell like crazy ideas, the ones that had fallen the last few months just to let them live with you a little longer.

The holidays, the stupid things, the activities.

"We were really happy."

The adults' smiles disappeared, and they looked pitifully "If only there was something that could be done..."

You denied "It's not your problem, really. And I already tried, I couldn't do it just like that."

"But you could have come here."

"Yeah, but it's another universe. Changing things in mine... plus they could kill me for this" you spoke with a grimace.

"What!" they both jumped out of the chair and you looked at them. "And you're still here?"

"Okay, already... they have to catch me, and they have to realize I'm gone. I haven't changed anything from my past, so technically I'm safe."

"I" none of them knew what to say, perhaps because of the teenager's looseness.

All the way back, she kept talking and talking about everything. Steve and Nat were delighted as if they knew that in another time, they had done an amazing job: maybe that's why the connection because it did exist in another place and time.

You still held her stomach in a knot, because she thought she saw the look of pride and disbelief they gave her.

You had spent hours with them again, sitting and walking, while they talked. You told them things of the last two months and played at believing that this was really your place: as if they had only gone on a mission for a long time.

It wasn't like that, and you knew it, that's why you had that ache in your chest that you couldn't get out because you didn't want to waste time crying when you could enjoy that.

By the time they reached the tower, they both hugged you. It was awkward at first, for them not for you, but it stopped when you broke down in tears.

"I'm so sorry, Sarah, I really am," for some reason, they looked hurt too.

You shook, pulling away and bringing your hands to your eyes "I'm sorry, I just... I never saw their death coming. They were supposed to come back, like they always do" you bit your lips and looked up, helpless with grief. "Thank you for giving me this moment, you don't know how nice it feels."

Steve grabbed your shoulders and their blue eyes collided with each other "We may not be able to tell you in that universe, but I assure you we are proud of you" and that only made you break down crying more, but Natasha was the one who held on to you.

"I'm sorry to leave you with this pain in your chest, but I think if we left, it's because we knew you were okay."

"My heart hurts so much. I miss you."

"I'm sorry, Sarah. We're really sorry."

And after a few minutes, Steve was running his hand through your hair while Natasha was comforting you.

"Can we watch a movie before I go?" the question surprised them both, but they nodded.

The three of them sat on the couch, already in the evening. You looked at them, with the light on over their heads. They looked at you, and somehow or other, it was too sad: it was sad for them to know that they would have liked to have had that life that spoke of the girl, but seemed so unreal in their world. Perhaps they were jealous of themselves.

You saw them, you saw how they tried to stay awake but you also saw how they fell asleep. You must have watched them for several minutes, crying silently at their absence. You would give anything to have them back, but you knew you couldn't stay there.

You stood up "I love you" you muttered.

----

Steve stirred sore from his back, and sat up quickly. "Natasha" they both watched as the room seemed to have no presence of anything.

Nat stood up "Sarah!"

They shouted your name, even outside the halls. But you weren't really "If she'd gone, I would have felt it," Natasha's nerves were on edge.

"Nat" Steve's words were swallowed as he looked at the letter on the table. She walked over and they both looked at each other.

"I really hate goodbyes, I know mom does too. Anyway, in part, I've had mine and I thank you. Both are given me the best hours of my life, and you both have healed some of the pain. I feel like I left everything behind.

You are both just as amazing as my parents were, but I know that in this universe you are not my parents - maybe in a distant future, I don't know about, maybe of a girl or a boy.

I want to thank you both, for really helping me to be able to comfort and heal some of my pain. Seeing you again, even if only their figures, reminded me of what they really wanted from me. Leaving made me realize that they wouldn't have wanted this; I don't think you did either, because you didn't even propose the idea, and that's okay. After all, I have a great legacy of amazing people that you both have left me with that will help me to be able to go on and honor them for all that they gave in my universe.

Also, I know I can't do this, but since I've already done enough crap -as Dad would say-, I'll leave you with a list of things you should and should NOT do:

1) Neither of you should go to Vormir, neither when someone offers it, nor on your own. Even if the world is in ruins. (Especially don't go together. DON'T DO IT, OKAY?)

2) Don't let Bruce get so far away from you.

3) Introduce Bucky to Yelena, they are going to get along well (more than you can expect... really).

4) Kill Vision as fast as possible, all are really going to thank me, even if Aunt Wanda doesn't, but she loves me anyway. And DON'T LEAVE HER ALONE (her mental health might not be the best) (but please, kill Vision and crush her stone).

5) Take care of Bucky, but don't leave him with any kids (I was left with him too long and learned to swear before I walked).

7) Mom, don't dye your hair brown because you're going to hate it (you actually tried three times and all three times Dad had to run to the grocery store to buy another dye) (He may not say it, but he loves the way blonde looked on you, but he also loves the strong red hair).

8) Mom, help Dad use the technology because he learned it too late and took all the wrong pictures.

9) Dad, Mom loves your beard even if she doesn't say so.

10) If you two decide to go on a date, I assure you it will work out better than you think. And you'll definitely do well if you know how to handle things. Believe it or not, you were together for almost 18 years. And never seemed to regret it.

11) You should change their ID age, because the serum definitely slows down their aging. And at 50 years old (150 for dad) they are two 35 year olds. And it wasn't fun to get stopped whenever both presented their passport. It wasn't. Always.

12) Dad, don't buy any house in New York if you want to move in with mom, she's going to hate it for the rest of your life and she's going to let you know every time something breaks or there's a street festival (you always asked me to remind you of that in every life, and it used to be fun. Not anymore)

13) This is the one I should do the least, but if one day mom, just for some reason, you decide to get pregnant. In the envelope on the back is how you got pregnant in another future, even so when you went through the red room.

When it was a surprise, it generated a great impact on you and it affected you, Dad was always there. Now I suppose I give you the advantage and the choice, with the possibility: yes, it is possible. Not for any mortal human, but we were always different.

However you decide to change the path, you have to know that you have been amazing people and that all your efforts were worth it. That is my universe you were happy, that your ending is not the way I wanted it to be, doesn't mean that I haven't seen you smile until your last day: you were always the best, and you were the best parents in the world.

Now, I promise I will never come back so as not to run the timeline and future events (though please follow my points for better emotional stability and a better future)."

"She's gone" Natasha muttered taking the envelope from behind her.

"And she made our future easier in return for us helping her" Natasha's eyes reddened and she looked at Steve.

"She was a great girl."

"She was" he nodded and looked at Natasha. Then he read the envelope again "Nat... Do you want to go on a date?" she looked at him in surprise and he shrugged "I don't know, I guess we didn't do so bad in another universe" she laughed and bit her cheek, nodding.

(...)

Your head thumped against the floor, your whole body did so on sudden occasions: "Sarah! Sarah!" you clutched at Bucky's clothes, who was calling out but you were aware that you were convulsing. Peace coursed through your body and you sat up taking a big breath of air, opening your eyes wide and seeing Yelena, Bucky and Tony beside you.

"It's okay" spoke Tony standing up quickly, as if something inside him released.

"What the fuck did you do!" Yelena's desperate voice rang out and you sat up and looked as you were on the floor.

"I saw them again" they all turned to look.

"What?" Tony furrowed every wrinkle on his face.

You smiled slightly "I got confused, I traveled back in time."

"You did what!" asked Bucky in a shout.

"But I changed the universe."

"This girl is going to kill me" Tony muttered and walked over "What do you mean you switched Universes?"

"It was a universe where... they didn't hang out together, where they were... they looked like two people who were a little bit different but the same. Things were different for them."

"What did you do there?" you saw everyone's worried face.

"Nothing" you mumbled as you denied "I didn't do anything."

"Please" Bucky's murmur continued with a hug "Don't you ever scare me like that again, please."

#romanogers #steve x natasha #stevenat #sarah rogers #steve rogers #dad steve rogers #mom natasha #natasha romanov

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papirouge · 2 years ago

Note

That foxmatriarch twitter drama was sad and frustrating all over. I seriously pray she’ll be okay. This sadly reminded me of another woman in a similar situation where her husband was physically abusive and she refused all help from other more strict trad women who told her she had to leave when they would fight for families to stay together a lot. She refused because she didn’t want to be a single mother and deprive her children of their father. He was in prison for abuse but she still wanted to stay with him and saw him as the provider and protector. Being with a man was all she knew. She had no job, no education. She just broke down. Some trad scrotes started to kick her when she was down by blaming her and how she “picked” her husband wrong or how no man would want her as a single mom. I actually hate them.

My friend told me of a friend they had who was also in a similar situation - she wasn’t mean to other women for wanting to work or not have kids either. A very gentle soul. Fortunately for my friend’s old friend things worked out where she was able to find easy work remotely so the kids will be ok. I wish we were all okay in saying that being a mom who stays at home or a working lady who isn’t interested in kids is perfectly fine… because either way, there are low value scrotes trying to tear us all down

I checked on her twitter but unfortunately it's private :/

I checked on the reblogs of the post and it fell into Christian/trad circles and the radfem who dogpilled on this woman are getting shredded into pieces (which is what they deserve idc). Interestingly enough, not a single of them bothered to address the shitstorm so I guess they realized it was messed up..🥴

The story of the first woman is EXACTLY why it's not always a good idea to marry early. Without any education, women get totally reliant on their husband, and when said husband turns out to be a bum, they keep clinging to him because they don't know any better. But the thing is : STICKING WITH AN ABUSIVE MAN IS NOT BIBLICAL. When Paul's friend, Philemon, had his slave (Onesimus) escape, Paul didn't advocate for that slave to come back to his master to remain his slave, but he rather argued with Philemon to accept Onesimus as a fellow brother in Christ (Philemon:15-16). Under God's law, you can't consider someone as inherently inferior based on status (slave, unmarried, single, etc.), gender or race. That's why the Church is also guilty of creating a whole stigma around single mothers because single mothers aren't inherently lesser than married women with children ; shit happens, some men/husband are dangerous and leaving them is the best option. That's precisely because of this stigma that this poor woman would rather stick with an abusive man than leave him. The same trad scrotes shaming single women are the same shaming women who abort btw. They are spawn of the devil and should be actively rebuked

And yes, I wish Christians would stop their sick obsession with marriage and children - especially when this obsession is particularly oriented towards single Christian women which imo betrays their lingering obsession to control women. When Jesus is visiting Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42), and founds Martha harried in tidying up the house, he tells her: "you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better" ....and what Mary was doing? she was simply LISTENING TO HIM....not getting married and having kids. Listening to Jesus is BETTER than anything we could ever do thinking we are being "useful". For Jesus, listening to him >>>> bothering about the things of the world. So single women should rather seek after the "ONE thing that is needed" = listening to JESUS. Not trad scrotes compelling women to get married asap & pump children just because.

#answered #Christian

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toshis-puppycat · 4 years ago

Text

Hello Again Part Six

A/n: So I was gone for a very long time but, hello!! Im very sorry I just wasnt in the right headspace to be writing/posting anything dealing with my actual writing. I'm actually looking for a job now (if anyone has tips pls I will love you forever). But heres Part six of Hello Again.

Summary: All Might wants to talk, too bad youre not gonna be available for quite some time. Eri is just a baby and Overhaul is a moron. What a way to deal with being kidnapped.

Word Count: 5,435 (jesus christ)

It was admittedly difficult for Toshinori to not talk to you. He tried so often to initiate anything with you. He missed you. But he couldn't find any way to talk to you. You were avoiding him. Skillfully avoiding him. And he didn't want to force you to talk! He just… he wanted you to look at him. He wanted you to stop avoiding him. He… he needed to tell you. When young Midoryia was talking to him it was a good time to be able to stop you. To talk. But he remembered the last time he tried stopping you. He remembered how your voice cracked, remembered how you tried so hard not to let him see your face (and succeeded with it). He agreed to help young Midoryia in some way to get to Sir Nighteye. So he called Togata. And he didn't know it, but Togata agreed to take you to Nighteye a while ago already. But well… he wouldn't be able to talk to you anytime soon.

☆☆☆☆☆

It took a while to get to Nighteyes office. About an hour away from UA, they were standing outside.

"Well this is it, Sir Nighteyes agency." Midoryia grunted in shock, honestly a true fan boy. "Easy man. Take a breath. Try to loosen up! But not too loose, ya know. 'Cause uh, Sir's actually a pretty strict guy." Togata said.

"I'm fully aware! He's a hero famous for being demanding, on others as well as himself. His gaze is so harsh that it makes me shiver every time I see him on TV. He looks so severe!" Midoryia exclaimed. You were content with just listening to the two students. But still taking in the information. It was good to know something about the person Aizawa said to talk to. And well, Midoryia was knowledgeable about all heros.

"Y'gotta make him laugh. Then he'll totally approve of you." You heard Togata say as Midoryia stood there in shock. You filed that fact away. You'll figure something out. You entered the building with them. Walking up the stairs behind the two. You were just content letting them talk, and well kind of avoiding talking with Midoryia too. Your thoughts towards him were still positive but you didn't want to blurt out anything to him or ask him if he was Toshinoris kid. That'd be embarrassing for you both. Midoryia looked determined. He was more than ready to do internships. You all walked in, watching a woman be tickled by a machine, laughing and crying. All you could think was how weird that was. But shrugged it off. He liked… jokes? Right? So this must involve that in some way. Poor Midoriya was confused beyond belief seeing this happen though. But you could tell he was about to try and make him laugh. He looked up, giving the same smile as All Might himself. It was too similar and honestly solidified your belief that he was his secret child.

"I'm Izuku Midoryia." He said. He even sounded like him. Are you kidding? Yeah, they were definitely related.

"What is this, boy? Are you ridiculing All Might?" Nighteye asked. He wasn't furious… but he definitely wasn't laughing either. You could tell Togata was internally panicking. But you were going to be confident for Midoryia. You love Toshinori. And since he moved on… you'll support his son and love him from afar. Your heart felt a little heavy and to be completely honest you wanted to cry a little, but holding it in would be more beneficial right now. You watched the scene calmly, watching how Nighteye looked at you with little regard but giving you a nod to tell you he noticed you, you'd probably talk after Midoryia did. "What are you doing with your face? Is this a joke to you?" Nighteye asked and internally you were wishing it was.

"Uh. No, I guess not?"

"You attempted this blasphemous excuse of an impression on All Mights former sidekick?" He reached for Midoryias face, and you almost did a double take. His former what? "All Mights wrinkles aren't like this at all. You fool." You blanked out a little. No one told you this man was Toshinoris former sidekick! You blocked out some of the conversation at that revelation. He might know about you, but he didn't know what you looked like. Overall internally you were wondering what the hell was going to happen, externally you were looking at his office. His office that was completely covered in merch for All Might. You could tell Midoryia was even envious about the room. Was… was this man… a fanboy? Yeah. Yeah he was. The proof of it was all over his office. "I don't care for this one bit. You can see yourself out." You narrowed your eyes at the man. Honestly you hated people who acted like him.

"The vinegar river incident. Are you not aware of it, sir?" Midoryia asked. You glanced over. Was he just not going to register how Nighteye was an ass already or? Was he just challenging him on his knowledge? You held back on reacting fully because to be honest. How on earth were you supposed to react to this? Nighteye was still glaring at him. He knew the rescue, even if it did take place before he was his sidekick. Midoryia responded excitedly when he said that it was briefly mentioned in a show that he watched. "Honestly, I think it was the best part of the whole thing is the witty response he gave after being thanked by the kid he rescued!" You were standing awkwardly by Togata as Nighteye said the response, Midoryia was still smiling. "That's it! It was the perfect one-liner!"

"Now I see. You were just testing me." Nighteye said angrily. You narrowed your eyes at the man. What the hell was his deal. He was the adult in this situation. He should act like it. You thought angrily as Midoryia exclaimed that he wasn't testing Nighteye at all. They talked about the incident a little longer, as Togata released the woman that was bound earlier. Poor woman, she looked exhausted from the impromptu laughing earlier. Eventually they began talking about the work study itself. Midoryia looked so excited. "Once I stamp this document, you'll officially be contracted with my agency for a work study." He said, Midoryia only responded with a 'yes, sir!' "You have to understand that this will be nothing like the week-long internships that you students take on so casually." He continued. Were some students attacked during their week-long internships? Was he just going to disregard that? "You must work here for a minimum of four months and will be paid wages. However, your academic responsibilities will likely suffer fur to absences you'll rack up. Which means your classmates will pull ahead of you." Midoriya said he understood fully, but he wanted to do this. It's the Plus Ultra attitude. Nighteye raised the stamp, then hit the desk with it. Immediately telling Midoriya he wasn't going to be approving of it. Asking what he would bring to benefit his agency. "How can you contribute to society? How can you be useful to others? In order to be acknowledged, you must be able to answer those questions unequivocally." You thought you saw the boy flinch a little at that and as Nighteye continued his speech you noticed little things. You didn't interact with Midoryia often. But you'd listened when Aizawa told you about the class before you actually met them. There were little things. How he struggled when he got his power, how he was anxious, overly apologetic. And this flinch after Nighteye asked what he could do to be useful. You had to talk to Aizawa about this. "I'm still giving you a chance. The three of you, go wait outside." You nodded at him, already walking to the door. You all walked out afterwards. Listening as the woman asked Togata about his own interview. You learned Nighteye requested him specifically, but took a breath.

"So, I never managed to get your name." You said to the woman, they both stopped and she looked at you in shock, then blushed.

"Oh! I'm Bubble Girl! It's nice to meet you…" She said waiting for you to respond.

"Siren." You smiled back. She was alright. Togata smiled at you both.

"This is gonna be great!"

☆☆☆☆☆

You made your way back to the room. You heard Midoryia hitting the walls repeatedly. Nighteye was fully testing him and Midoryia himself was not going to back down. But you heard the smallest tidbit. Unworthy. Who the hell did he think he was. You didn't register much of the conversation of Nighteye telling Midoriya he was accepted. You felt so angry. You registered him essentially telling Midoryia that he was a dim light. "You are not worthy of his power." Bull fucking shit. Midoryia was determined.

"Please do recall I must speak with you as well Nighteye." You said. Everyone remembered you were there in that moment as Nighteye nodded, and he gestured for Midoryia and Togata to leave. "Can Bubble Girl escort them to the train? I'd rather they not be alone for too long. And I feel we have a lot to talk about, Nighteye." You said, he gave the okay and they left the room. "I do hope you understand that the conversation you had with Young Midoryia was completely unacceptable from a hero." You said, fury seeping through your tone. He was unworthy of having Toshinori on his side? That he was unworthy of being a hero, having to piggyback off of All Might. It made you see red. How dare he? Midoryia is selfless, kind, courageous. Everything that Toshinori is. And more so. He's a child. Putting him on a high pedestal would hurt him.

"I understand that you have a certain thought for him young lady, but he certainly isn't worthy of any of it." His tone was condescending, it irritated you. Reminded you of how Endeavor tried lecturing you about his children that he abused, that he was making them better. Like they weren't already going to be amazing. Or your father telling you that you'd never amount to anything because you were a weak and unworthy quirk having bastard child.

"I fear we haven't been properly introduced Sir Nighteye. I'm pro-hero Siren. The water hero who disappeared 20 some years ago. You ground out. Watching his face barely have a flicker of surprise. Before going back to a neutral state.

"You shouldn't stick your head into matters that do not concern you." He simply said, the look in his eyes full of disgust towards you. Like you told a child that he was nothing.

"My apologies Sir Nighteye." He looked pleased. "But it seems like being a hero involves sticking your head into matters like this." You said, eyes narrowed as he looked at you shocked. "You're a teacher towards Young Togata, yes? So I believe you'll understand when I say, yes Midoryia has chosen to work under you for the work study. But I promise you. If I ever hear you say anything like that to him again. I'll make sure no student ever comes here again." You didn't give him a chance to respond. Furiously walking out the door, you were still fuming. Midoryia didn't even flinch at the treatment Nighteye gave him. Just smiled brightly, and thanked him for the opportunity after all was said and done. Like he was used to people hating him. Used to people telling him he couldn't be anything. Used to people telling him he was worthless. And that wasn't good, you'd have to talk to Aizawa about this. You didn't know anything concerning his life before UA. But, at this point Aizawa did. You were outside of the building in no time. Glad you'd sent the students off earlier, asking Bubble Girl so you could discuss things with Nighteye. A few seconds later you heard a crash come from an alley and a small girl ran out, quickly crashing into your legs. Her arms and legs were wrapped up in gauze, looking terrified. You let go of any anger you had felt, you couldn't let this little girl see that. "Hello, sweetheart are you alright?" You said it quietly, crouching down. Her terrified gaze snapped to you and it seemed like it was even worse for her. Tears streaming down her face as she looked at you.

"I'm sorry..." she whispered, closing her eyes. Sorry? Why was she sorry? And then the world went dark.

☆☆☆☆☆

He looked at you with cool yellow eyes as you slumped forward. Eri darted out of the way and into his legs as Chronostasis grabbed and began carrying you. He'd knocked you out and used his quirk on you. You were going to be unresponsive for a while. His gaze shifted back to Eri and her tear filled eyes.

"You did well, Eri." Was all he said. Her gaze went to your prone body in Chronostasis arms. Eri looked up at him sadly, fear in her eyes. But that didn't matter, to be able to get rid of the infection that runs rampant in their society. He's perfectly fine making her miserable. "She'll be a nice addition. Taking care of what's mine."

☆☆☆☆☆

Izuku notices things. He had to, all those years analyzing hero fights came with having to notice things that seemed to be unimportant. It only spaned to the rest of his life. Before the year started, he noticed when All Might would have a far away look in his eyes and it seemed like he remembered something or someone. He doesn't know what or who yet, but it makes him sad. Thats why he asked All Might about love. The way they continued training after that, how he looked so hurt. He almost missed it when he saw All Might after his technical final battle, crying as he was told that he was devoting himself to his training. He remembered sobbing and clutching at his clothing, almost missing that look he had again. That he was thinking of that person (he thinks that All Might is thinking about someone instead of something at least). And all he understood from that look was that he was saying he needed to stay longer. When they began living on campus, it was so much better, brighter. They saved Kachaan, they were going to get their hero licenses! And then they met you. You were... young. Too young to be teaching. But you introduced yourself. Y/n l/n. Extra precaution from Principle Nezu, having another teacher in the classroom for the heroics department. You already met their parents. You were interesting, it was even more interesting seeing you latch on to All Might when they made it to Gym Gamma. But it made everything weird when you abruptly stopped trying to latch onto his mentor. He would see you smile and train, (the water quirk you had would be cool to see on the field!!) but it wasn't reaching your eyes. Whenever you thought no one was paying attention, (which would be relatively true) your face would fall and you'd look anguished until someone called your name. To which you would smile, and any trace of your previous sadness was wiped away. It was concerning, were you... depressed? Did you need help? It felt like you needed help. Then you'd went with Todoroki to see his family, and when he came back well...

"Midoriya she made my father eat the floorboards, I think I'm in love." Todoroki said, he looked startled as he said it and it made him sputter out some response of what. Then he told him about how you had dinner with his father, sister and brother, and then absolutely destroyed Endeavor in a little 'friendly' fight, where you literally used his own body against him. Honestly an amazing idea with your quirk! He completely forgot that the body itself was about 70% water, of course you could use blood! He added you to his Notebook. You were really cool. And he couldn't wait to see more of your quirk. A while later, when Izuku decided to go to Sir Nighteye for his work studies and was told he wasn't worthy of being All Might successor he was hurt yes, but he was more so confused. You'd seemed... furious when he'd last seen you at Nighteyes agency. But you still looked at them with kind eyes and a gentle smile, sending them off and saying you needed to speak with Nighteye. Asking Bubble Girl to please make sure they stayed safe since you needed to talk to him. He wasn't used to that. The whole being kind towards him if you were furious about something. Besides he'd always felt just happiness oozing from you. Wait that was kind of wrong too. You also had a slight melancholy feel. You tried hiding it but well, Izuku was very good at reading people. He had to be. When Kachaan used to bully be rude to him, he had to be able to read him! But it was like you wanted to hide it? From them? From everyone? No one else seemed to notice it. Or maybe they did but didn't want to interfere? He pushed that thought away. He was going to help you. It looked like you needed saving from whatever it was you were feeling. He was going to help you. You needed help too and he would never ignore someone who needs help. Then they got the news. You were missing. And Izuku thought he saw All Mights world fall apart the moment the news was given. He figured that his mentor had needed to talk to you, especially since after you stopped latching you also started avoiding All Might. What were they going to do? Where were you?

☆☆☆☆☆

When you woke up you were in a bedroom, soft silky sheets, a comfy mattress. It almost lulled you back into sleep. But then you remembered. A little girl with white hair and red eyes running into you and apologizing immediately. Then nothing. You were knocked out for God knows how long. Was that little girl okay? You felt sluggish still too, was it a quirk? Or was it just the aftereffects of being hit on the head? This was going to waste time! You had a little girl to find!

"Its good to see you awake." A voice called out. From the corner of the room. You stilled. "I almost believed that Chronostasis went overboard." He continued. "Your power, it involves healing, does it not?" He asked. You registered things more clearly in that moment. He… kidnapped you? Why? Or well you assumed that it was because he thought you were only a healer.

"Yes."

"I want you to heal my property." Was all he said, his unnerving stare was making all the hair on your body stand. "You have quite the collection of scars." You almost gasped. But you'd already noticed how you were in comfortable clothing. Of course this dickwad saw your scars. You weren't in your hero outfit anymore. You turned to face him.

"Your property. Its that little girl, isn't it?" You asked calmly, he nodded at your question. You had to stay calm, if you didn't it could risk that little girl.

"She is." Was all he said. "Your quirk is perfect for healing my property."

☆☆☆☆☆

He left the room. You were quite pretty. Scared, but still somehow clean. He thought. Yes your quirk still made you filthy. But you could keep things sanitary with it. It made you better. He could allow you to fully look over Eri as well. It was useful having her fully healed. Tomorrow he'd be able to do more. He allowed Eri to stay with you, you provided something helpful. Eri would be more controlled because of you. Besides, you were a hero with a weak quirk. It was just healing with water. Useful in only one way. Besides, you would never be able to do anything against him.

☆☆☆☆☆

The next few days were annoying. You didn't sleep much after he allowed that little girl into your room to be healed. You convinced him it would be best to have her stay with you for a day or two. It'd be easier for healing. In reality you learned all you could from her. She cried. She cried so much. Apologizing profusely, at how you were there and how she helped you get captured. You did your best to calm her into a fretful sleep, holding her close and playing with her hair to calm her. She was just a little girl and already she was dealing with so much. You thought. But now. You had a chance. You could think of things quickly to attempt to get the girl out, then worry about yourself later. You told her the plan quickly after learning about her schedule when she woke up. It would take another day or two to actually put the plan in motion but you could get her out. First distract her babysitter. (Or well now your babysitter.) It was easy. Then you would pretend to be distracted, watching from the corner of your eye, and slightly pushing Eri to go further away with your water. She had to get away. It was unfortunate for you both when Overhaul walked by, and noticed Eri wasn't with you. He looked furious. Reaching for you, as you pretend to be terrified. He forced a mask onto you. You were a hero. You had to keep him distracted for a little while longer. But it was for nothing. Overhaul quickly figured out the only path she could've taken. And he dragged you along to catch her.

"You should be more careful." He said. You caught up to her. Was your only thought, Overhaul still had your hand, he was gripping it tightly as a threat. You looked up and hid your surprise seeing Midoryia and Togata in their hero costumes, they did the same thankfully. "We don't wanna cause trouble for the heros." He continued, looking down cooly at Midoryia (or did you have to call him Deku right now?) The look that he gave him told you he knew about Overhaul now. Eri looked terrified seeing you. Overhaul himself wasn't paying attention to you right now. You gave her a nod. It's okay Eri, please don't let go of him. She was clutching Dekus clothing tightly. "I hope you forgive our daughter, hero. We don't know what to do with her." He said, giving a smile behind the mask. "Always playing rough, bumping into things." Togata pulled Dekus mask up, joking about how it fell constantly. You wanted to beg them. Take her. Run away. I can keep him away long enough. "Please don't mind the mask. It keeps out the filth." He said closing his eyes. "I don't believe I've seen you two in the area before."

Togata played it off as them still being pretty new. He was hiding that they were working with Nighteye too. Please Togata. Get her out of here! Eris hands were white with tight how she was gripping him. You knew he'd run with her. And he was quick. Please Deku. Take her. Overhaul narrowed his eyes at the scene.

"Um, excuse me. I'm sorry but your daughter seems scared." Deku said.

"A reaction to being scolded." He said, eyes narrowing further. You could tell. He wanted to run with her. Please I can hold him off Deku, take her and run.

"She's got bandages all over. Those are just from "playing rough"?" He asked. Eris shoulders were shaking. Please.

"Eri is an exceptionally clumsy girl." Overhaul responded. You had to distract them.

"Darling, she's just a little excited. Being out and about, getting fresh air. It's always exciting to be a child you know." You plastered on a smile you knew they couldn't see. The realization of what was going to happen hit you. They weren't going to run. So you had to play a part now. Overhaul relaxed a little at your statement. Assuming so much from you being like this. You knelt down to Eri. "Its alright Eri, I'm sorry we scared you." You said, your eyes were telling Midoryia it was okay. And telling Eri it would be okay. You could handle what he'd throw at you. You'd take whatever punishment he'd throw at you. It'd be okay. No it won't. Eri ran to your arms, letting go of Deku and shaking like a leaf. Overhaul relaxed fully. You picked her up, still smiling and looked at Overhaul. "We should head back home, Eri was even too excited to put on shoes!" Play your part right now.

"Yes we should." He said, turning back to the ally. Midoryia and Togata were looking at you, walking away with a criminal. This was technically safer. Especially since he was well known, but Eri… how much more would she suffer because you couldn't help her better.

"I'm sorry, I should've been paying better attention to Eri." You said, walking slightly behind.

"You're still new to this. So I won't fault you completely." He said. You made your way back inside. You should've done more. To him you were fine carrying Eri, still following behind. As he talked about how disgusting quirks were, it made you feel like you were with your father.

"Krono, prepare the bath."

"Yes, sir."

Someone began profusely apologizing to him, you recognized him as the one who was babysitting you and Eri. Overhaul reached out for him, and blood splattered onto the wall. It made you freeze a little. This was his quirk. Eri flinched in your arms and you held her closer as she cried softly. It made your heart ache. This was becoming a little too relatable. You knew his quirk now. But you needed to play the part of a scared healer. They brought you back to the room you woke up in, and then they left, dragging Eri with them. You wanted to beg to go with them. And you almost did, but the look Eri was giving was telling you it was okay. Even if she was shaking. "I'll be here Eri, it's okay." You told her, she didn't look calmed by it. And to be fair, you wouldn't have felt calm about it either. Overhaul looked at you, and they walked away. And when she was brought back she was predictably shaking even more. They stopped you from healing her, stating that "it wasn't necessary. She wasn't hurt." Then they left after locking you into the room. You cleaned her off of the days grime gently. She sobbed in your arms so quietly.

"I'm sorry…" She said quietly and you held her close, whispering soft reassurance that it was alright.

"Its okay Eri. We ran into people I know. Well get out of here." You said, sitting on the bed with her in your lap. You held her close and laid down, your back was facing the door. You'd be hit first if anything happened. She was still sobbing. You kept reassuring her. "Eri, do you want to hear a song?" You asked. Her sobs slowed a bit, she was taking deep breaths, and nodded. "Sometimes when I feel like this I sing something from one of my favorite films." You whispered, looking at her and wiping the tears from her cheeks.

"I have often dreamed of a far off place Where a hero's welcome would be waiting for me" Your voice was quiet, gentle.

"Where the crowds would cheer, when they see my face

And a voice keeps saying this is where I'm meant to be

I'll be there someday, I can go the distance

I will find my way if I can be strong

I know every mile would be worth my while

When I go the distance, I'll be right where I belong" You took a breath, looking at Eri, and holding her close.

"Down an unknown road to embrace my fate

Though that road may wander, it will lead me to you

And a thousand years would be worth the wait

It might take a lifetime but somehow I'll see it through

And I won't look back, I can go the distance

And I'll stay on track, no I won't accept defeat

It's an uphill slope

But I won't lose hope, 'till I go the distance

And my journey is complete, oh yeah

But to look beyond the glory is the hardest part

For a hero's strength is measured by his heart, oh

Like a shooting star, I will go the distance

I will search the world, I will face its harms

I don't care how far, I can go the distance

'Till I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms

I will search the world, I will face its harms

'Till I find my hero's welcome waiting in your arms." You finished the song, Eri was fretful in your arms but more relaxed, asleep. You kissed her forehead, eyes soft. You were going to keep this little girl safe. You were going to do your absolute best to keep her safe and make her happy. And maybe… just maybe, you could help her smile. You'd only seen her look scared. Children should never feel this way. You knew that too well didn't you?

☆☆☆☆☆

The days after were a blur. You could hear some of Overhauls people complaining about the newest additions. They tried being quiet but well, you had to be good at hearing before you were a hero anyways. You could hear them complaining about how much they disrespected the "boss" and tried saying their League didn't need them when they did. And you froze. The League was here? You'd gotten the basic descriptions of all the members. And regrettably didn't mention you had met them before. But it was an accident. Something you'd thought about after learning all that they've done. You didn't regret it per say but… they looked so young when you'd seen them, save 4 members (although you weren't too sure with that fourth one, he had a mask on). The "leader" was furious but he also looked so young. Especially after seeing you were there, all disoriented. He was being held back. And all you could see was they were hurt. One had terrible burn scars, another looked as if he was crushed. Well looked was a strong word. He felt like he was crushed, and knocked out but that small bit didn't matter. The girl looked like she'd hurt her arm somehow. Another was knocked out. The needed help. So you helped, you healed most of them (you couldn't heal the one that felt like he was crushed or the one with the burn scars, the wounds they had were old). When you found out they were classified as villains, you didn't feel bad you'd healed them. You just wanted to help them, even when you found out that they kidnapped Bakugou. Because they looked more like misfits than villains, they looked like people just trying to find their place in the world. Misfits still needed help too, and it was obvious they had a view of the world that was accurate for those with mutant quirks. Harsh, unless you were useful to them. They might not be blatantly harming them, but they were still… well harming them. Using the laws, making it harder for them to live happily. You moved forward, catching a glimpse of one of the League members, the one with the mask. You almost stopped walking when you saw him. Almost. It was good that you didn't. Overhaul walked up behind you, placing a gloved hand on your lower back to push you forward. It made your skin crawl.

"You will not interact with this one. She is none of your business." He said.

"Okay! Why not ya lunatic?" The masked man replied. Overhaul's eyes narrowed.

"She will not interact with you either. Keep your filth away from her." He stated, pulling you to move with him, his gloved hand gripping your wrist tightly. You nodded your head at them, it seemed like they didn't recognize you? Which was good you assumed. But, didn’t Overhaul hate people who have quirks?

☆☆☆☆☆

Taglist: @saratour, @yukiimaniac, @theygottheircages, @itsallmightbitch, @toobsessedsstuff, @quirkyfandoms, @anxious-cat-with-cheesesticks, @devilkou, @waitwhatsrealityagain, @toxicjayhoo

#bnha #bnha x reader #boku no hero academia #all might x reader #yagi toshinori x reader #uhhh i hope when i put in that info about the league knowing the reader it made sense #bcs it makes sense in my head but that's not always true for yall #and if you think whats going on with overhaul is happening #mayhaps #bcs whats he gonna do #he aint a real person

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