#Jason lee fanfiction

[tsarisfanfiction]

Ghostly Reinforcements

Fandom: Trials of Apollo Rating: Teen Genre: Family/Hurt/Comfort Characters: Lee, Apollo, Diana Tarquin was mutilating and disrespecting Hades' domain. Hades decided he wasn't going to stand for it. TOApril day 13 - Curse of Eternal Youth. Twisting this prompt dramatically here until it basically means "Apollo's Dead Kids". Vague what-if scenario I've toyed with in my mind for a while, where Hades/Pluto decides he's had enough of all the undead hanging around in TTT and does something about it.

There was something about being back in the Overworld that felt wrong, for all that he had used to live there.  Once upon a time, the Overworld was home, was normal, was where his soul felt settled and comfortable.  Now, it wasn’t.  Now his soul fidgeted, uncomfortable with the large expanse of sky above him, the sensation of the wind brushing past him, with earth below his feet.  Everything felt weird and displaced.

But it made sense.

After all, he was dead, and the dead didn’t visit the Overworld.  Eurydice had tried, with the help of Orpheus, but he’d failed and she’d been sent straight back to her forever home in the Underworld.  No-one else had even come that close, until now.

Hades was furious about something.  He didn’t know what, wasn’t privy to exactly what his god and king had been so provoked by, but he knew enough.

Lee knew that his dad needed help, and that was all he needed to know.

There was an army of them, familiar faces to him.  Some of them he’d known while he was alive, several were his siblings, or his friends, people that had died both before and after him during the titan war, and whatever had gone on after that.  Some of them he’d only met in Elysium, others considered heroes by the standards of the Underworld.

He was directly flanked by his siblings – Michael was almost his age, having almost closed the gap between them and dying only two months younger than the age Lee had been when he’d found himself on the bank of the Styx with the heart-wrenching knowledge that he wasn’t going to make it to adulthood after all, that his dreams had been crushed underneath a giant’s club.  There were Hunters he recognised, too.

Lee had never known for certain that the red-headed girl, Phoebe, had been his sister.  Not while they were still alive.  She’d admitted it when he’d met her in Elysium, and it had made so much sense.  She and Michael still didn’t get on – but here they were, both in the army Hades had raised.

It was a huge army, but still barely a fraction of the residents of Elysium, and it hadn’t escaped Lee’s notice that so many of them were somehow connected to Apollo.  Children, lovers, other descendants – legacies, they called themselves.

Over the millennium, Apollo had made more mortal bonds than Lee would ever have been able to comprehend while he was still alive.  Now that he was dead, it was one of those things that settled in the back of his mind with a quiet of course and no need to think about it further.  It was simply a fact.

And now, they’d been unleashed.

It was temporary, Hades had stressed.  There was a matter that required his intervention at Camp Jupiter – another of those quiet of courses that would have sent living!Lee into a headspin but now sat simply as a fact of existence – and for that intervention to occur, he was sending warriors to deal with it.

Their march was a mishmash of styles.  Romans settled into cohorts, Greeks scattered into whatever groups and arrangements made sense to them.  People who were neither found their own thing, too, as they all adjusted to the bizarreness that was being back in the Overworld.  For some of them, it had been millennia.

Time didn’t mean anything in the Underworld, not to the dead, but Lee knew it hadn’t been too long since he’d died.  The young, most-recently dead of all of them had had enough time to confirm that before he took his place near the head of the army, with the other Romans.

Camp Jupiter was burning, but that didn’t matter to the dead.  They didn’t have lungs that cared about smoke, or hearts to pump oxygen around their bodies.  They didn’t have bodies the way that the living did, something that instead seemed translucent under the light of the sun, even though they could interact with the Overworld, a little bit.

It took effort, but the dead didn’t know exhaustion so that didn’t matter as they advanced, falling upon the army trying to raise the Roman camp to the ground and charging through them.

They could interact enough to kill.

The living couldn’t touch them.

Defeated monsters faded to Tartarus before they could lash out, and the souls of the defeated mortals, well.  Clearly Hades was keeping a close eye on things, because the souls of the slain Romans joined their ranks and threw themselves back into battle with a vengeance when death didn’t stop them.

Thanatos was whisking away the dead mortals of the Triumvirate before they had a chance to try and keep their own war going.

The reinforcements of Artemis – Diana – and her Hunters simply sealed the deal.  The goddess herself disappeared deep into the heart of the city, and Thalia barely blinked as her dead sisters of silver rejoined her ranks, fitting seamlessly back into the Hunt as though they’d never left.  Romans gradually slipped back into their own cohorts, and Hades’ army of the dead gradually dispersed throughout the battle until it was over.

It was the first time Lee had made it all the way through a battle, he realised with some bemusement, but being near-untouchable and already-dead was rather a cheat.  The dead pulled their weight as the fighting faded to be replaced with clean-up, pulling bodies to where they needed to be and searching for cowering survivors from both sides (there were children, in the city, children that the Triumvirate had been willing to slaughter alongside the warriors).

Lee wanted to say it was an accident when he stumbled into a bookshop, but while it hadn’t been his intent he didn’t think it was a coincidence, either.  The silver-gold eyes of the twelve-year-old goddess that showed nothing but expectation when he accidently met them all but confirmed that something had pushed him there.

Some things didn’t need to be thought about.

“Lee?”

His name was a broken gasp, coming from a scruffy-looking teenager that Lee had never seen before in his life and who certainly looked like he’d seen better days.  Actually, the only one in the room he did recognise was Diana herself; the other girls were also strangers, to him, but at least they were also eyeing him like he was a stranger.

The younger girl was eyeing him like an enemy, and Lee distinctly hoped she wasn’t about to try and kill him for a second time.

He was more interested in the teenage boy staring at him like he’d seen, well, a ghost, and the face was unfamiliar but there was something his eyes that wasn’t.

When the boy’s knees buckled, Lee surged forwards, and caught his elbows.  It took all of his focus to not drop him, and the sudden movement from the other girls – excluding Diana, who seemed content to simply watch – implied he’d startled them.

Their weapons went straight through him, and he ignored them.

“Hi, Dad,” he said, because there wasn’t anyone else the teenager could be, even if he was all wrong for Apollo.

Lee was all wrong, now, too.

“What- How-?”

“Pluto took exception to Tarquin’s encroaching upon his domain,” Diana said.  “My Hunters were not your only reinforcements.”

The black girl’s shoulders slumped in relief, and Lee realised there was something familiar about her, too.  Not her face – he had never met the girl before, in either his life or his afterlife – but her soul.

“Father couldn’t have given me a warning?” she wondered, clicking the familiarity into place, because she felt like Underworld.  Not the same way the dead did, but like their Lord did.

Lee fell to his knees, too, lowering his father the rest of the way down in the process.  “My Lady,” fell out from his mouth without his control, because she was still living but her father was his Lord, and it was ingrained.

She looked flustered, and he felt a little bad about that.

“So what, you’re another zombie but on Apollo’s side?” the other girl, the one that looked a similar age to Diana but was probably actually that age asked.  She sounded like she was trying to be dismissive, but Lee had spent years with Michael and still had eternity to go with his prickly younger brother.  If she genuinely didn’t care, he would eat his arrows.

“I’m dead, not undead,” he corrected, and hated how Apollo flinched when he said it.  “But yes.  I was on Dad’s side when I was living, and I’ll stay on his side now.”

“Unless that’s overridden by Pluto,” Diana reminded him, and it was Lee’s turn to flinch, because it was true – Hades was his god, now, and obeying him was in his being just the same kneeling for his daughter was.

Being dead was a freedom that only lasted as long as his god decreed, even for souls in Elysium.

Apollo burst into tears.

Lee had to concentrate hard, as his father wrapped him up in a solid embrace, to make sure they didn’t slip through each other.  The dead and the living were not meant to interact, not like this, and Apollo wasn’t quite a god.

The glimmer was there, deep inside him – so deep that Lee couldn’t see it, only knew it was there because if it wasn’t then no amount of Lee’s concentrating would have let the hug work – but he was overwhelmingly human and that made it hard to touch.

But not even the gods came into Elysium, so this was still more than Lee had had since he’d died.

Diana permitted the reunion for a few moments, before heading for the door.  “This place still smells of burnt Cyclops,” she said, and swept out, her wolves – which Lee had barely noticed until they brushed past him – following.

“C’mon,” the younger girl said.  “Let’s go, dummy.”

Lee didn’t like anyone calling his dad dummy, but Apollo’s next sob almost sounded like a chuckle, and Lee knew he didn’t know enough about any of this to judge.

“How long are you here?” his dad asked as he pulled himself to his feet – somewhat aided by the impatient tugging of the girl.

Lee shrugged.  “Until Hades recalls us,” he assumed, and Apollo’s head snapped around as fast as a giant’s club falling into a skull.

“Us?”

Lee gave him a gentle smile.  “Yeah,” he said.  “Us.”

He wasn’t surprised when Apollo bolted for the door, although he was surprised enough at the teenage body trying to grab him in the process that he didn’t manage to let the contact stick.  Fresh tears welled up in Apollo’s eyes as his arm passed straight through him, and Lee immediately lurched forwards to grab his wrist.

“Sorry,” he said as they walked out, the two girls following closely behind them.  Ahead, Diana was waiting in the street, arms crossed.  “I have to focus.”

“It- it’s okay,” Apollo replied, his voice shaking in a way that said it wasn’t okay at all, but there was nothing Lee could do about it.

All he could do was stick close to Apollo as they headed for where the survivors – and the dead – were cleaning up – and savour the unexpected chance to interact with his dad one more time.

[fantasies-fairytales-n-fics]

Code Blue Ch. 33- Theater of Pain

Summary: Jason Morgan is back! He and Craig bicker. Josie gets the shock of her life. Both men get their just deserves during an emotionally long and dramatic showdown. Orlando is sought out. Some bar fun is short lived. Josie saves Orlando once again and keeps him from making a huge mistake.

*Warnings* language, dark and super angsty, mob depictions, alcohol use, mentions of abuse and molestation, violent tendencies, weapon use

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

Chapter characters: Jason, Craig, Josie, Orlando, Luke Sr.

Salem, Massachusetts

March 7, 2023

Twenty minutes after you left Craig's apartment, he received a knock on his door. Thinking it was you, he rushed over and swung it open.

"Hey, Josie, you forgot your box of....Woah. What the hell are you doing?! Get in here before someone sees you!" Craig commanded to none other than your dead and buried brother, Jason Morgan, and then slammed the door shut behind him. "Where the hell have you been??!!"

"Sonny's. Where else?" the blue-eyed muscle man dressed in black retorted.

"Oh well, THAT would have been nice to know after you just snuck out of here like I told you NOT to do! I should have kept you drugged. Did you know my father is out?? He was just here an hour ago! Wanting to know what I've been up to while he was away!"

"I know he was, and my sister too. I have been watching and waiting for them both to leave. Does Cyrus know I'm alive?"

"I have no idea, but I'm sure he suspects it. Why else would he come here?? It sure wasn't to catch up with his beloved son over a cup of tea! Being his son does not protect me from his wrath. He's ruthless in case you haven't gotten a clue yet. If he, or the Zacchara's know you're alive and that I aided with it, all hell is going to break loose. And heeeere you are, literally a dead man walking, coming to my home! You could have at least wore a damn hoodie. Are you trying to get yourself killed for real this time??? I'm not so sure I can heal a fucking gun shot!"

Jason wasn't one for being scolded or told what to do, which triggered him to blow up at Craig's reprimand.

"I would have survived! Just like I survived every gun shot!"

Craig was just like Jason, fearless and blunt, so he continued on with his rant to his best friend.

"Yeah and every explosion??? You only survived that because I fucking drug your ass out of there, otherwise, you would have been an unrecognizable corpse like the one in your grave!! A little thank you would be nice for following you around and knowing what's up and handling all of the dirty work!"

"Right and let me thank you for handling me by holding me against my will and shooting me up with horse tranquilizers!"

"Exactly what were you gonna do?? You're in over your head! I had to do that so you wouldn't go after them too soon and half cocked and ruin the entire plan! YOUR plan remember??? To make them believe you're dead so they wouldn't see you coming and here you are, walking around in broad fucking daylight. My father is clearly watching me so it looks like you've already shot your plan to shit because you have no damn patience. Not to mention, your sister lives right down the damn hall and I have to lie to that sweet girl!! Oh, and my father met her today!! He asked her last name to prove to me that he knows who she is!"

"Who's fault is that??! Why the hell did you let her move in here??? And why was she even here with you?? Wasn't screwing and marrying my ex not enough for you, that you gotta go after my sister too??"

"Ohhh hell no. You didn't just say that to me. Beth pursued me after you dumped her and went after that woman doctor, with very good reason I might add though, but that's beside the point. She followed me to New Zealand. Although I guess I got my karma for it huh? Can't even see my kid, who I'm one hundred percent certain is not even my kid. I'd bet my life on it that Blaise belongs to that punk Ethan. Countless times I had seen them together before she wound up pregnant, in which I think she already was when she found me because the timing just never added up. Blaise was born early and she wasn't a preemie."

"Well at least your kid is alive and knows you as her father. Jake only knew Lee as his dad, which I was alright with. He's a good man from what I know and he truly loved my son as his own even after he found out the truth that he wasn't. I thought Jake would have been better off not being a part of my life, you know, safe and having a normal family. That sure bit me in the ass."

"You're right man. I am truly sorry about your loss and what Beth did to you and that boy. I wish you could prove what she did, then maybe I'd be able to take Blaise from her psychotic demented ass. She has no business being a mother."

"No need for that. Liz will get hers, all in due time and then Blaise will be all yours. So...tell me you didn't tell Jo any of this? I mean, Jake was her nephew that she never knew existed and now she's dating his dad. I would rather her hear it from me at some point."

"No...of course I haven't...and I hate it, with every bit of my soul, lying to her about everything." Craig remorsefully said until a light bulb turned on in his head, causing him to panic.

"Wait....did you just say, oh no no no....Beth's ex Lee is Josie's Lee??"

"Youuuu seriously didn't know that??"

"NO I didn't know they were one and the same! Fuck me...I can't believe I didn't figure that out. She did say....she knew someone going through what I was with Blaise not being mine but never said who...All she had ever said about her boyfriend was his first name which is all I had ever known about Beth's ex...I had never seen the guy and I wasn't going to ask either of them to see photos so I...I didn't place it....and I...I figured when Josie told me about Ethan, that she only knew him because of you...oh Jesus... she is going to hate me when this all comes out! I think I know what a panic attack feels like now."

Craig aggressively ran his hand over his face and then he began pacing, snatching up the wine bottle and drinking straight from it as he did so.

"Yeah Craig, they're the same entity and again, who's fault is it if she hates you? You wouldn't even know her on a personal level if you hadn't let her rent here. My sister was never supposed to be involved in any of this. Why Craig? Why did you do that when you knew I was right downstairs at the time???"

"Honestly, I thought it would be best, for you, ya know, to have her close. Keep an eye on her, help keep her safe. I mean, she was a victim of the Floating Rib's explosion too and that damn dog sniffing cop was her ex....and it's probably a good thing she's here because she told me Ethan is becoming a problem in her life. I guess he recently put his own brother in the hospital, attacked him or some shit and is harassing Josie and LEE. But trust me, I'm going to put a stop to that REAL quick."

"First of all, just stay out of all this and away from my sister. I will handle Ethan and Johnny both. They're the ones who had that bomb planted and I also know Liz was in on it too."

"Yeah well, I can't stay out of it, nor hardly stay away from my own tenant, NOR do I want to. Especially now and besides, you know as well as I do that there's no getting out of the mob because I tried when I left to go home....and don't forget my father. He was the mastermind of it all. You know he's allies with the Zacchara's and he wants you dead for sending him to prison, and then there's Sonny, the real target, who he despises more than anything. Your Sonny's right hand man, the deadly weapon of the Corinthos family and taking you out was the perfect way to weaken him, hitting him where it hurt the most."

"I'll handle Cyrus too, once and for all, like I should have before. Sonny knows he's free and has his eyes and ears everywhere....and Sonny is far from weak without me. You of all people should know that since you work for him too."

"Just as my father has eyes and ears all around, which is how he planned your entire hit from prison. So, I'm still in one piece so I assume you talked Sonny out of busting my knee caps for assisting you in your warped plan??"

"He's grateful that you had my back and saved me, so consider this your lucky day. I'm grateful too. I'm just frustrated, like you are. You're not the only one my sister is going to hate and then there's my mom man. She'll probably disown me, which would be for the best anyways. All I have ever done was try to keep her and Jo safe...but my sister, she's stubborn as hell and extremely fucking smart. She saw right through me and all my dealings. Jo knows me better than I know myself...and I will most likely lose her over this just like you. But with that said, she can't know. Not yet. Not until all the threats are eliminated. I don't want her hurt again because of me."

"Yeah well, I certainly am not going to tell her. Oh and by the way, she also said that Ethan is hanging around your other sister now. He was there today, at your mom's picking her up."

"One way or another, he's going down. Traitorous piece of garbage. I don't give a crap about my sister Megan. He's just her type and they deserve each other, but messing with my mom and Jo, he will soon regret. I'm gonna head back to Sonny's before Jo gets back. Just so you know, I didn't just walk here in broad daylight. I used the old underground tunnels and then I came up the back stairwell exit."

"Ahhh, the old smuggling catacombs. Bet that's an interesting sight."

"Trust me, you don't want to know. I feel like some sewer rat."

"Is that what that smell is?" Craig grinned as Jason rolled his eyes.

"I'll be in touch soon. Look for my code in a text so you know it's me."

"Got it. Watch your back man. Let me go out first to check the hall."

Up the stairs you came, fuming. Not so much over Lee, but over the phone call you had with your mom on the way back from seeing him. It was true. She was selling the Haunted Star and to make matters worse, it was who she was selling it to. You had called Lee right after, needing to talk to him about it and even Orlando too but now both seemed to be ghosting you.

All your thoughts were soon ceased as you headed to Craig's to get the box you forgot, for as you turned the corner, you got another surprise like earlier, only this one was enough to rock your world.

There stood your deceased brother, very much alive, beside a mortified Craig, who like you, forgot to breathe.

"You...you're alive?? How...." was all that came out of your gaping mouth as you stared with wide eyes at a very stunned Jason before everything went black.

As you began to faint, Craig charged past Jason to catch you, then he swooped you up and quickly carried you inside his apartment with Jason swiftly in tow.

"FUCK!" Jason shouted as he slammed the door and stared at you, cradled like a child in Craig's arms.

All Craig could do was gaze down at you, knowing that very soon, you would never want to see his face again and for some reason that he did not understand, it sent a pain through his heart that he had never felt before.

"Craig. Snap out of it. Put my sister down." Jason flatly and firmly ordered.

The addled artist blinked and then whipped his head up. "It's an art studio. I'm not laying her on the hard, cold and filthy ground. My apartment's through the back. Lock that door."

Jason bolted up the steel door, then rushed around the corner to see Craig gently laying you down on his bed.

"What are you doing??"

"She's warm. Open the patio door to let the cool breeze in from the bay and bring me a damp wash cloth from the restroom." Craig rambled off while concentrating on making you comfortable and watching your breathing.

The miffed mob man went to do as his obviously smitten friend asked, knowing you would come to at any moment and he would have some serious explaining to do, which he also knew you would never understand. Could Jason really blame you? He put you and his mom through the hell of believing he was dead. What possible justification for that could there be?

Jason rang out the rag and promptly brought it to Craig who was now sitting beside you, stroking your hair.

"What am I missing here Craig?"

"Huh?" he muttered as he tenderly patted the cloth over your forehead.

"That. This. The way you are with her. The way you look at her."

"You're reaching Jason. I...I just care for her, that's all."

"Yeah, maybe a little too much. Don't forget, she loves someone else and also don't forget who you are."

"Speak for yourself about who I am....and who said anything about love?"

"I did. I know you better than anyone and I see it. You're getting caught up in her. You're the last thing she needs. Look at all she has been through just because of me and my life."

"First of all, I don't need your approval or permission to do a damn thing in my life and second of all, you won't need to even worry about that once she wakes up and tells me to fuck off. Like she'd ever be interested in someone like me anyways, especially now....and quite frankly, it's the last thing I even want in my life after Beth and every other girl who I was never good enough for. Like you said, she loves someone else so drop it Jason."

"You're the one going on and on about it. Who you trying to convince? Me or you?"

"ENOUGH!" Craig barked, causing you to stir. "Heyyy there princess, can you hear me?" he softly said as he took your hand.

Your eyelids began to flutter open and all you saw was Craig's worried face coming into focus, for Jason stood far back, hands on his hips and head down, slightly peering up at you under his arched brow, calmly waiting for the heat he was about to take.

"Craig? Wh...what happened? Where am I?" you asked, squinting a few times at the unfamiliar bed you laid upon and your hand inside of Craig's.

"You...you fainted sweetheart. You're in my apartment....well, my...bedroom."

Craig lightly gulped as your confused eyes then fixated on his. "My panic attack...I...did I...dream of going to seeing Lee? Did I never leave?"

"No, princess, you left and....came back for your things that you forgot and...."

"JASON!" you shouted and flung up with bulging eyes that quickly spotted the icy blue eyes you thought you'd never see again.

The moment was intense and so surreal for both of you. Jason knew that when you found out, it would be a shock any way that he revealed himself, but it wasn't supposed to be like this and not now.

You yanked your hand free from Craig's and abruptly pushed past him to stand up and face the man the who you were told had severe head trauma and was burned beyond recognition. All you could do was gawk at him, studying every detail of his face to make sure you weren't hallucinating or even dreaming....and of course to make sure it was really him because...then who's body did Lee work on?? Who was in the casket and buried six feet under with a tombstone naming Jason Steven March on it???

"I ummm, I'm gonna go in the other room and give you both some privacy." Craig quietly said, attempting to escape and headed to the door.

"Hold it!!" you snapped, holding your arm out, pointing at him as your eyes remained trapped on Jason.

Craig pursed his lips as he froze, then slowly turned back around.

"H...how??? How are you here???!! I...I...I was there....I...the explosion...Lee...he...he saw your...body??? We...we fucking buried you...oh my god, I have got to be having some break from reality right now...this...this is just not possible! I...I want to hug you so bad and at the same time, I want to rip your head off! Someone start talking!!!"

"Craig, you're right. leave us...please. I need to talk to my sister alone." Jason said as he finally worked up the nerve to speak. The six foot assassin feared no one, except for four people. His mother, Sonny, Britt and ...you....and all for very different reasons.

Craig couldn't move fast enough because he was sure his head would be the next target and he was right.

"Don't go far....you and I have our own conversation to have....friend!" you warned with a glare at the man who clearly knew your brother, the man you told only hours ago that you trusted him, the man who now made sense that he was one of the family. When would you ever learn?

Craig's baby blues were remorse ridden, much like Jason's, as he nodded and quietly walked out, closing the door behind him. He began to finish off his bottle of wine from earlier while not being able to help overhearing the crying, shouting and either a slap or a punch, all coming from you....and he knew he would be next.

Almost an hour went by while Craig fretted and drank another bottle. Your voice had become softer at times, then loud again as Jason's could be heard explaining everything and then...the door flung open and you came storming out in a rage.

"YOU! You were a part of ALL this???!!! You KNEW my brother was alive this entire time??? You helped him orchestrate it all because YOU are one of them. My god how blind and stupid could I be...once more?? I trusted you! I actually believed you were a good guy when you're no better than any man I ever believed in because they all let me down. But you knew all about that. You knew everything about me before I ever even met you. You lying son of a bitch. I recant ever calling you my friend."

Craig lowered his head in shame, releasing a soft sigh as he had stood there motionless the entire time, holding his wine glass in one hand and fidgeting with his other while taking the verbal beating he knew he deserved as Jason also stood quietly with a lingering welt of a hand print across his cheek.

"You're not stupid...and you're right...Josie. I am a son of a bitch and a liar, but I swear...I swear on my daughter, please believe me when I say I cannot express how sorry I am for hurting you. I hated every minute of it but I...I had no choice. Please...please tell me you at least believe that. I care about you..a lot. We connected and I know you felt it too. Can I please tell you my side of things? Just you and me?" Craig softly pleaded as he took a step towards you. One he shouldn't have taken, for he also then earned his awaited slap.

He took it with a flinch and then slowly brought his humiliated eyes to yours as you began to cry. The one thing you had told him you never did in front of people if you could help it... and you couldn't help it. He hurt you deeply and he was going to know it and feel it. And he did too. It tore him to pieces seeing you cry.

"Why, so you can manipulate me some more? I know all I need to know. Any connection there may have been, you killed it. You had a damn choice Craig and it certainly wasn't caring about me. The only thing I actually even believe about you now is that you truly love your daughter...and I really hope she's not Ethan's, mostly for her sake, you know, the guy I told you about that you actually knew way more better than you let on?? Like umm, Elizabitch, I mean BETH is your baby mama of all lying cheating whores. Apparently I AM stupid for not realizing that when Britt flat out argued with her about you once, defending you, even said your name...and considering you even knew who Ethan was...a con just like you, that should have been a red flag...and YOU should have known who Lee was too. Guess you were just as stupid as me because YES I WAS STUPID!" you argued to his denial of it, throwing your hands in the air and then continued berating him.

"God how it all makes sense now and then there's your creepy ass dad, another mob man, who clearly had you all in some way after his not so random visit... but you said nothing, you wouldn't talk about him. Guess I can see why now. I mean shit, he just got out of PRISON for the typical not so legal shipments on the docks. I could go on all day here about what I have learned. I mean, what could you possibly say that I don't already know? Just more...'pretty words' huh Craig??...Oh...and then there's the fact that I had a nephew I didn't even know about or ever meet! A nephew who happens to be the dead son of my boyfriend who's life has been turned upside down over it all, but yet he's not his son now is he? He's my brother's son which you both knew. How do I even tell Lee something like this? Like, oh by the way Lee, that sweet little boy you've been grieving over for 4 years now, well guess what, I know who his bio daddy is...it's my not so dead brother and that makes me his aunt. And believe me, I will tell him. Unlike you both, I don't keep fucking secrets. Well, except for mom. Jason can fix his own damn mess with that. ALL I know is you both deserve each other and can go to hell!...OH...and Craig...I am NOT a fucking princess. What I am is a damn fool who was made to feel like one by those pretty words. But hey, thanks for trying to cheer me up."

Your words were getting colder and colder, mocking things Craig had said to you, and you hated it. You hated this side of you, stemmed from always being fucked over, and you needed to get out of there, so you went to walk out , but Jason quickly blocked the door.

"Jo, no. You can't go off like this and you definitely can't tell Lee about me."

"The last time I checked, I could do anything I damn well please, now get the hell out of my way Jay. As elated as I am that you're alive, I can't deal with this right now. It's too damn much. I need to go and let it all soak in... and even then, I don't know if I can ever forgive you... and I'll tell you right now, mom won't."

"Look, I know you're angry and you have every damn right to be, but take a little advice that I was given. Don't go out there all half cocked and do something stupid. That's what has kept me alive. Craig... he kept me alive Jo. Don't put Lee in danger by telling him things he don't need to know. Sometimes you have to do it Jo, to protect those you love. Just like I did. Let me handle this."

"Right, because you done such a stand up job so far at handling things. How is making me and mom suffer and have to bury you, protecting us??? Silly me, what was I thinking? And just how does telling Lee about Jacob put him in danger???"

"Because I never told anyone but Sonny and Craig about him being my son and you know Lee will go straight to Liz about it in anger and she'll figure out I'm alive because she knows they would never tell anyone and then she could easily shoot her mouth off to Ethan and then he'll go to Johnny... do you see now??"

"That sounds to me like it only puts YOU in danger. Story of your life. I can't even believe this... how everyone knows everyone and is involved somehow. It's not like Salem is a small town. All the signs I get in my life, how the fuck did I miss all this??? How do I keep this from him when we are having problems for the same damn reasons???? You can't do this shit to me Jason!!! Not after everything. I won't lie to him. He won't say anything if ask him not to."

"I can't stop you Jo, but I really hope you think about it long and hard before you do. You're already having trust issues with him and..."

"Are you really playing that card with me right now???!!! You may have been spying on me all this time but you know NOTHING about my relationship with Lee. Nothing! I DO trust him. He's obviously not the only one with skeletons in his closet so just back off of him! Go worry about your damn boat that mom sold to Ethan's dad!! And why?? To get rid of everything that reminded her of your criminal life. That was dad's boat Jason, and he trusted you with it! And you went and changed your will, leaving it to mom. Why didn't you leave it to me?? I wanted it Jay. I wanted to make something good out of it and now... now it will continue to be a craft of crime. Better go get your bike before she pawns that off too! Maybe Ethan would like it since the one he rides is a piece of shit like he is! What is wrong with you Jason??? Look what you have done to our family!! Why didn't you just stay dead!!!"

"That's enough Jo!! I get it that you're hurt and angry and with every right to be, but you need to calm down!!"

"Don't yell at her man. She hasn't done anything wrong." Craig firmly stated as he stepped out of his corner.

"Stay out of it Craig and stop trying to suck up to my sister because you have some thing for her." Jason retorted.

"Stay out of it?? You keep saying that and yet here I am, in this shit clear up to my damn neck, and why?? ALL to help you. Why did you even have to come here when you knew the risks???? You could have called!!"

"Yeah, I'm sorry I ruined whatever delusions you had going on here but this was all going to blow up in your face eventually and it was better sooner than later from what I can see."

"Delusional? This is fucking reality. A reality that YOU created Jason and me...her, your mom, Lee, Britt... are just collateral damage in your mob war."

The two bickering men had become within a foot of each other's faces and you had had enough.....although you were inclined to agree with Craig on what he had just said.

"Oh stop it! Both of you! This isn't a damn soap opera, but Craig is right about that Jay. You're like a fucking tornado, destroying everything in it's path and I...I am just done here. I need to go find someone to talk to that I actually DO trust. Someone that worked his ass off to earn it because he genuinely cares for me and I have neglected him because of all my bullshit."

"Josie...wait...please." Craig calmly pleaded, although extreme desperation was written all over his face. "Please, just don't hate me. I'll do whatever it takes to make this right. I'll work my ass off too to earn your trust back. I can't stand this. I never wanted to hurt you."

There was that sincere side of him again and it slightly softened you, but not to the point of oblivion.

"But you did hurt me. What this other person did was something petty, like a high school kid would do. What you BOTH have done is indescribable to me, completely beyond measure to that and I don't see what you could ever possibly do to make that right. I do...I do know it was not intentional. I don't hate you Craig....I feel sorry for you. You're actually a lot like me. You have a good heart in there...I've seen it and I've even heard it, but you let my brother and the shit you been through take you to the dark side and you took me down with you. You can't fix this. As they say, you never get a second chance at a first impression."

You glanced at Jason who held his head low and back at Craig's attentive and somber eyes as tears streamed down your cheeks, in which he then bravely marched forward and gently took your face in his hands. It happened so quickly that you just caved and let him touch you. Maybe you subconsciously wanted him too?

"But this is not the first impression, now is it? You've already seen that in me long ago. You know that and you know me. The real me that I don't let anyone else see. And you even just said you know I have a good heart so you contradict yourself, just Josie. That connection I mentioned. It's there... right now." Craig softly said, bearing the bluest of eyes and kindest smile. The real him that that carried that connection to you. The real him that you secretly didn't want to lose.

Nope. You weren't going to let him work his ridiculous magic on you that you could feel starting to work. You shoved his hands down and then walked out as fast as you could, completely ignoring your resurrected brother and forgetting your box of stuff that caused this entire revelation and situation to unfold.

You headed straight to your car and called Orlando...but as usual, he didn't answer. You needed to warn him about his dad buying the boat because that meant his father had every intention of sticking around Salem. You also missed the good doctor Bloom.

Off you went as dusk was setting in, to see if he was home, for you knew he was still on medical leave from the hospital according to Britt. You didn't have to go that far though, for on your way through town, you happened to see Orlando getting out of a cab and heading into the Brady pub, your family's bar and eatery. It was like you were meant to find him. Signs again?

You circled back around and parked, then headed inside. It was almost as if Orlando sensed your presence as he turned around and immediately locked his chocolate eyes on you. He then slowly approached you with furrowed brows as those now shocked eyes looked you up and down.

"Hey..." you quietly said, coming to a stop only a few feet away from him.

"What are you doing here?" he simply asked with no expression. You just wanted to hug him, needing comforting arms around you but he seemed less than pleased to see you, so you refrained.

"I...I tried to call you. I really needed to talk to you so I..."

"Since when do you need me? I haven't heard from you or seen you since I was in the hospital. Guess you had better things to do."

'You're...angry with me...I'm...I'm sorry...you're right, I've been so wrapped up in things and..so much has happened and...it's no excuse but I...you're the only one I wanted to talk to right now...and I just need..." you stammered as you began to choke up.

Orlando's flat expression instantly became that of concern and he took your hands into his.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he asked with such compassion, which triggered your tears paired with a pathetic frown.

"Everything." you squeaked as you squeezed his hands in response to the once again tightening of your throat. Thank god there was no one working that you knew and thank god Orlando pulled you into his arms. His scent was refreshing and natural, like Gain laundry soap, reminding you of the other time he had held you in your mom's kitchen during your inebriated mourning of Jason's death.

Orlando rested his cheek against your head as he gently caressed your back with his fingers entwining in the ends of your hair. Orlando was shorter than Lee and Craig, so this time yo couldn't hear his heartbeat but you could feel it against yours as your face was burrowed into his neck. Instead of a slow steady pace like Craig's, Orlando's was racing and as the hot breaths from his nose pulsed over your ear. Strangely though, it was still soothing.

"Feeling better now?" he whispered and slowly pulled back to look down at you.

"Yeah.." you answered in embarrassment for imploding into him in public and quickly released the comfort zone of his body.

"I was just about to get a beer. Join me? I'm buying." he asked with that cute ass smile of his where the corners of his lips slightly curled up.

"Yes, please!" you anxiously agreed and sat down at a secluded table.

Orlando then brought two large glasses of tap and before he could even sit down, you began chugging it. He then plopped down with gaping eyes, watching the last drop enter your mouth.

"Thirsty??" he asked with a slight chuckle.

"You have no idea. Can I get another??" you called to the bartender.

She quickly brought it over and left, then you lifted it up in a tilt to Orlando.

"Cheers!" you cheered.

"I'll drink to that. Cheers." Orlando replied with a silly smirk and toasted back to you.

"So I see your hand is healing up nicely. I'm sorry Lando...that I haven't been around."

"Yeah it is, although I've gotten quite accustomed to using my left hand now. Don't apologize. I'm the one who's sorry for sounding cross."

"Well you kind of had a right to be, but thanks...for being so great, just like you always are. So, where's your mom and Luke?"

"Around somewhere I guess. Luke's off being my brother Luke, always disappearing so who knows what the hell he's up to. Mum's got a place at the Salem Inn for now. I don't stay home much to know anything. Can't stand the silence. Glad I'm going back to work next week. Ironically the same day as Lee's conference. You'll be there right?"

Your eyes fell from his and you continued to drink.

"Josie? What's going on? And don't tell me nothing. This great guy here can see right through you."

"I...umm...I think Lee and I...are over. Story of my life." you told him as you shrugged and fought the sting in your eyes.

"You may not believe this...but...I really am sorry to hear that. I don't ever want to see you hurt Josie. Do you...want to talk about it?"

"Not much to talk about really. It's pretty simple. It's all over Ethan as usual and I think that Lee has some feelings for him to face that he will not be honest with me about or even to himself. I hope Ethan has been leaving you alone because he sure hasn't stayed out of mine or Lee's life and Lee won't make him stay away which speaks volumes. Fucking menace. Ethan's fucking my sister now, did you know that? Came to my own mother's house this afternoon to pick her up. I'm just so disgusted with everything right now."

"Jesus...Josie, no I didn't know. Ethan is always with someone knew all the time and no, he hasn't bothered me. I think Luke did something to cause that."

There was so much you wanted to tell Orlando, about Jason, about Ethan and Liz and Craig, but you couldn't. As mad as you were at your brother, you were so grateful he was alive and you still had to protect him. The question was, were you going to tell Lee?

Speaking of...Luke, the other one...your uh...dad....have you seen him at all?"

"No...and I better not. I want my hand to stay healed."

You saw it in his darkened eyes, the instant rage when he spoke of him....and now, you were fretting over having to tell him what you knew. You let out a deep sigh and forced yourself to do it.

"Landy...he umm...my mom sold him Jason's boat, the Haunted Star."

If someone had dropped a pin, it would have been heard through the entire bar.

"Wwwwwhat???" he snapped as he sat straight up, staring you down.

"Yeah, that was my reaction as well. I..don't have an explanation other than my mom was trying to rid of Jason's things that reminded her of his life of crime and...I think your dad intentionally bought it to bring back that life that once existed on that yacht, which means...he plans on staying around here... I'm so sorry...I dreaded having to tell you but you deserved to know."

"That son of a bitch." he growled and chugged down his beer, then motioned for more. "And I can guarantee you, Ethan will be right at his side through it all. After everything Ethan knows that piece of shit did to me...to him even that he won't admit. Just proves how sick in the head Ethan really is. Like father like son."

"Well, if it's any consolation, I may not have known your dad, but I can tell you're nothing like him. You're a healer and a good person Landy."

He gazed at you for a moment and then chugged down the new glass and motioned for more. "Just keep em coming, please and thank you!"

"So...what's up with you calling me Landy now?" he then asked with a soft smile.

"Hell I don't know. I guess it just rubbed off on me from hearing Lee and Luke call you that. I...I hope it's ok?? I will stop if you don't want me to."

"Nah...I don't mind. I kinda like the way you say it. It has a different kind of ring to it." he grinned.

You forced a smile and then fondled your glass as you stared at it. You just couldn't get Lee out of your head and all the shit with Jason. Orlando then reached across the table and took your hand.

"Hey...you ok?"

"I'm just trying to wrap my head around it all."

"Well, how about for one night, you stop trying and let loose a bit. I'm supposed to meet Jimmy and some guys here in a bit. Stay and have some fun with me. I've missed you."

"You want ME to hang out with you and a bunch of dudes?" you chuckled.

"Yep...I sure do. Come on. Jimmy likes you....and well...so do I. It would make my night if you'd stay with me."

All you could hear in that moment was Lee's voice telling you that Orlando was in love with you, and you never wanted to believe it...but now...you did. The way his eyes lit up when he looked at you told on him and you now wondered if it was a good idea to stay....but then, why not??? you thought. It was better than going home and crying yourself to sleep in the apartment across from Craig.

"Fiiiine. You twisted my arm. Bring on the drinks!"

About fifteen minutes later, Jimmy and two guys came in and you all moved to a larger table and then everything became somewhat normal with conversations and loud laughter, music and drinking. This went on for about two hours and for once, your mind was free of pain....and so was Orlando's. It was good to see him smile again.

As the music played, a song came on that resonated with you big time and you were feeling damn good too, so you got up and began dancing and singing without a care in the world, even if it the song made you think of Lee.

"I didn't wanna leave babe, I didn't wanna fight, started to cry but then I remembered I can buy myself flowers!! Write my name in the sand!! Talk to myself for hours, say things you don't understand. I can take myself dancing!! i can hold my own hand...yeah I can love me better than you can!!"

"Wanna bet!!" Orlando shouted and pulled you on his lap, wrapping his arms around you and laughing while Jimmy bellowed in laughter, clapping like a seal.

Everything was good. You didn't mind his arms around you. It felt nice. You didn't have a shadow of a doubt in your mind that Orlando was into someone else and that's what you craved. To be someone's one and only and not just because they said and showed you that you were, but because you KNEW you were....and with Lee, you didn't know that like you once believed you did.

Annnd, no matter what you did, it still hurt like hell and Lee plagued your mind. Damn him, you thought and got up.

"I need to use the lady's room."

"Ahh, yes. Me too. Oh...no no..I mean the boy's room." Orlando said as he stumbled up in laughter.

Orlando was still laughing as he relieved himself. He hadn't had this much fun since he could remember and it was all because of you. But he felt terribly guilty for feeling even the slightest bit happy that you and Lee may be at the end of the road. Did he really have a chance with you if that were the case? The doubts were there, for he knew deep down inside, it would always be Lee that your heart desired, even if you couldn't be with him.

As he washed his hands, his thoughts were intruded by a familiar face that walked in and didn't see Orlando. The man he stared at in the mirror was none other than his father....Luke Sr.

In his stunned state, Orlando held his head down as his dad did his business and left without even washing his hands. That was a perfect example of the dirty ass man he was.

Orlando quickly walked out to see where he was. Had he been in the bar the whole time, stalking him from a dark corner and decided to follow him into the bathroom to taunt him?? His thoughts ran wild and he couldn't focus as he watched Luke drink the last of his beer, then put on his coat and leave. In his frazzled state, Orlando spun around and accidentally ran into some woman, knocking her drink all over her.

"Are you fucking blind???!" she barked.

That did it. That was enough. Orlando was seeing red. He had to get the hell out of there and follow him. He had waited a long time for this moment and there was no better time in his eyes to unleash his fury on the man who abused him as a child in the most sinful of ways.

He grabbed his coat and stormed out the door with you running after him. As he got outside, he caught a glimpse of his dad heading to another bar down the road.

"Orlando!! Wait! Where are you going???"

"Nowhere...I just need some air." he flatly said, looking like he was going to hyperventilate.

"Hey, what's wrong?? What happened?? You're sweating. Talk to me."

"Nothing Josie. Just go home. I gotta go." he anxiously said as he shook his head and then marched off down the sidewalk.

"What??? Like hell I will. Wait up!!" you shouted and ran back to get your coat and purse, then after him.

Orlando rounded the corner, wanting to get it over with because he knew you were coming after him and he didn't want you to witness it or also try to stop him like he knew you would do.

There stood his father, smoking a cigarette on the sidewalk as he snuck up on him.

"Hello...dad." he said with extreme sarcastic emphasis.

"Ahhh. Landy. I was wondering when you would seek me out."

"Shut the fuck up. I would rather eat broken glass than be anywhere near you. It is you that has come here to find me, is it not?? To torture me some more because years of rape and battering wasn't enough for you???"

You just came around the corner and froze when you saw Orlando and heard what he said to the man who was obviously his dad. Now you understood what happened, that Orlando had seen him back in the bar.

You decided to stay back and give Orlando some privacy to let him have his long awaited say, but you got your pepper spray and phone out, ready to call 911 in case something bad happened. if that man even attempted to hurt Orlando, you would make sure the poor excuse of a father had no eyeballs left.

"Always were a drama queen, weren't you Lando. A real piece of theater, lost in your fantasy world of make believe."

"Fantasy??!! What you did to me was no fucking fantasy!!! Nor was it make believe!!"

Actually, you wanted to go over there right now and rip his other balls off for what he had done to him and for basically calling Orlando a liar when you knew it was true.

"So, what are you going to do? Kick my ass? Is that why you followed me boy?? I saw you back there at the bar. If you think you got what it takes to take me down, give it your best shot you pussy ass little girl. You can't even fucking swim. Why don't you do yourself a favor and go take a dive in the ocean."

Why did Luke's last words instantly send a flash through your mind of the two dreams you had of Orlando and you both drowning??? You prayed to god it wasn't another sign of some sort.

What you saw next, you couldn't quite conceive. Orlando pulled something out of his pocket that appeared to be a small sledgehammer and then he immediately began walking towards Luke.

"Orlando NO!!" you shouted as you came running up, which caused him to back away.

"Give it to me Landy...Now!!" you commanded as you tugged at the weapon which he refused to let go of.

"Damn it josie, I told you to go home! Get out of here!"

"I am NOT leaving you here with him! He's not worth spending your life in prison! Please...please give me the hammer and let's leave together Ok???"

"Would you look at that? Why Lando, you actually got yourself a girlfriend and she has bigger balls than you do! Where'd you find this one? On some porn site? Are you sure she's even a girl? I mean, I know how you enjoy dick."

Orlando charged him and pinned him against the wall by his throat, holding the hammer up and ready to swing it.

"You shut your filthy mouth!! Don't you ever talk about her like that!!!"

You don't know how you did it, adrenaline maybe? But you rushed up behind him and yanked the hammer out of his hand as hard as you could and then held your pepper spray out.

"Get the hell out of here before I call the police, you piece of trash."

Luke belted out a laugh. "Call them. He's the one who attacked me. I know who you are little girl. Your Morgan's sister. Hey, you'll have to stop by the boat sometime and let me know what you think of the new look it's going to get. You're more than welcome to....COME aboard. Hope to see you soon."

Off he strolled while you turned to hold Orlando back. He then glared at you.

"Are you insane?? That was my chance to end him!"

"Stop it! You're drunk and not thinking straight and I know you'll thank me later for saving your ass yet once again! Now come on. I'm taking you home! Let's go!"

@redeemer46

[lesbian4fionapple]

welcome to my blog !

hello, hello! you can call me nina. i used to be pretty popular on here last year but i made a new account :C but this is my new account!

REQUESTS ARE CURRENTLY OPEN !!!

on this account i’ll be posting about rockstar blurbs/fics so please feel free to send in some reqs :3

please read more for what i will and will not write.

who i write for:

dave mustaine!!!, david ellefson, nick menza!!!, marty friedman, kiko louriero!!!, james hetfield!!!, kirk hammett!!!, cliff burton!!!, jason newsted!!!, slash!!!, steven adler!!!, duff mckagan!!!, tommy lee!!!, nikki sixx!!!, zack de la rocha!!!

+ others that you request if i know them well enough !

what i will NOT write:

scat, pedophilia (age gap is ok), cnc, public sex (no not teasing under the table that’s fine), water sports, incest, actual abuse anything to do with bodily fluids… just no.

p.s. i DO write for male readers but not member x member!

that is all!! thank you for reading this ahead of time!

[shewritesinblackink]

Barney's daughter - The Expendables fanfiction

Wanted to try something new so decided to write for the Expendables fabase. I find it rather hard to find fanfictions in this universe so i decided to do it myself but here are a few that i really liked:

links: read this on ao3

Resume: For twenty-seven years, Barney had lived without knowing he had a kid. Until the day she came to him, being her only family left alive. With just a duffle bag and a crumpled letter from her mother. 

The night sky hung heavy, the dark clouds hiding the moon from the city. She had payed and exited the taxi a few streets over, not wanting to arrive too soon. Not wanting to draw attention. If she was being honest to herself, she was giving herself an out, grasping for a few more minutes to change her mind and walk back in the other direction. Finding him had been easy, but deciding whether or not she was ready to meet him took her months.

She had read the letter her mother had written before she left her alone in that big scary world. The paper tingled against her skin in her pocket. She didn’t know if she was supposed to, but she figured whatever she had to tell him via the letter was as much her business as it was his. She was his daughter after all, and she had never met him. Her mother had told her they didn’t need him. But the little girl in her had wanted to scream that she needed a father. She always had. She had wanted to tell her so many things and in the end she did not. Keeping her mouth shut and her thoughts to herself was something she had grown used to. Something about it was even written in the damn letter. It made her roll her eyes.

The letter had felt so pathetically written, as if asking him not to reject her, or judge her. Painting her as a freak, a weird girl who used silence as her way of dealing with the world. And violence as her coping mechanism, but that her mother hadn’t been fully aware of how far it went. She never saw the big bruises on her skin, she only saw what her daughter was willing to show her. A few split lips and bruised cheeks. A nasty scar on her jaw. Violence was in her blood, she couldn’t escape it but she could hide it.

She moved slowly in the dark streets, her scribbled on Converse silent on the asphalt. The duffle bag slung over her shoulder, heavy from all the CDs and books. More entertainment content than actual clothes. A rusty beaten-up metal box hidden between her t-shirts and her service gun. Her hand in her pocket unintentionally closed on the letter, ruffling the paper, marking it with crippling lines like old fragile skin. It was dirty from the dust of the journey. One plane, two buses, one train and one taxi. A few fast food to eat on the go, because she couldn’t be bothered with eating real meals. She hated to eat. Had always been like that. And it got worse when she joined the army. Crossed two states and had to sleep in a train station once because a hotel would have been a waste of money. She could’ve landed directly in New Orlean from the base she had been deployed to, but she had some paperworks to sign and the apartment to sell, where she used to live. When her mom was still alive. She realized it wasn’t that far from where he was. With a painful throb of her heart, a cold iron fist gripped her insides– she wanted to throw up. She realized she could’ve come to visit him earlier. At least get a quick look at the myth he had been in her child’s mind.

All her life her mother had insisted none of them needed a man or his money. And it was partially true; her mother’s job had been enough to pay the bills and put food on the table, but they couldn’t afford a new car, nor could they go on vacation or buy a new tv without reducing other expanses. As soon as she had been old enough to get a job, she did. Half the money she made was used to help around at home. The other half was saved and spent on tattoos. That too, was a coping mechanism. Like a drug.

She had worked in a bunch of different places, mostly grocery stores, car wash or gas stations. Once she had turned eighteen it all changed. She left for the army. Spent years away in dusty and dry foreign countries with strangers that ended up being as close as family can get. Found family they say, but it didn’t quite feel like it to her. She had always, even before the army, felt different. Not like others. She could feel it so deeply sometimes it hurt. It made her feel lonely, because no one else seemed to be like her– to feel like her. She knew she was fucked up from the love she didn’t receive growing up. From her “bad friends” as her mom used to say. She even wrote a few words about it in the letter, asking him to keep an eye on her and her whereabouts. Pathetic. She wasn't a kid anymore. 

The bright neon sign was the first thing she saw against the black sky. The yellow and red glow blinking in a small puddle of rain at her feet. Laughter escaped the open door, some shadows dancing in the orange light coming from inside. Her steps faltered, coming to a slower pace and then to a halt. A weird feeling made its way inside her, gnawing at her stomach like a dog gnawing on a chew toy. She wasn't so sure this was a good idea anymore. She had spent the whole journey to New Orlean wondering what his reaction was going to be. She had first gone to a bar her mother had told her she would surely find him at. But she didn’t. She didn’t have to search long though, one simple question to the man owning the place, some doe-eye and a nice smile and she had her next destination delivered on a silver plate. Thoughts of living alone crossed her mind. No relatives, no friends, no family. She could live like that, it was quite peaceful. And peace she seeked. But something pushed her forward, her feets moving on their own toward the light. Like a ghost crossing to the afterlife.

She had hoped to find him alone, but her hopes were soon crushed to the ground as more laughter escaped the room. She took a few more steps, hesitation written all over her body. One hand clutching the crumpled paper in her pocket. That damn letter was burning her skin like acid. She didn’t want to give it to him. She thought what her mother had written was humiliating. She wasn’t excited about how he would react. Maybe he would throw the thing away and tell her to fuck off. She was twenty-seven for fuck’s sake, who was she to expect a warm welcome from a complete stranger? And if that was his reaction, honestly she wouldn’t fight it. She’d leave the state entirely and would never come back.

Once she walked closer to the glowing sign reading “Tool’s” she had a peek inside the room. Motorcycles were parked in front, and some more shiny-colored and brand-new ones were parked inside far from the door. It smelled of gasoline and beers. And something else she couldn’t quite tell. She spotted a few men inside, seated or pacing around the room. Green bottles of beers and empty pizza boxes were sprawled on the small makeshift table, surrounded by a few seats.

Two of the men went silent when they turned and saw the young woman entering the shop. The white floor shone under her muddy-dirty shoes. Her breathing was even and silent as the music filled her ears but she could feel her lungs starting to close up. She tried to focus on the song. It was an old rock blues. She recognized it easily because one of her brothers in arms had a small MP3 player constantly blaring his rock songs when they would be in their tents cleaning their gear and weapons. And this one was almost always on repeat.

The ongoing conversation stopped when everyone noticed her standing in the middle of the shop. A man with long dark and white hair, probably in his fifties, was the first to talk to her. His voice was warm and gentle when he said, “Sorry miss, the shop is closed. But come back tomorrow.” He threw her a charming, wide smile. Y/n didn’t move, only scanning the room with her eyes until they landed on one man in particular. She didn’t have any recent picture but she could swear it was him. She would’ve recognized it anywhere. For good measures she took the old faded photo from her back pocket. While she glanced between him and the pic, the other men in the shop moved to stand closer to the two eldest. Like would a pack of wolves, ready to protect their own.

She dropped her bag on the tiled white floor and took a deep breath before asking, “Barney Ross?”

The man could’ve been the brother or cousin of the first who had spoken, except he had shorter hair and a less friendly face. He nodded slightly, wondering why this young woman was looking for him. It wasn’t for a job, that much he was sure of. Except if she was rich and needed the service of mercenaries.

“Who’s asking?” Deep grave voice, not letting out a single emotion. Almost like a robot. As a response she clenched her fist around the letter before taking it out of her pocket and handing it to him silently. She didn’t know if she was supposed to walk over to him but she didn’t get the chance to, for one of the other men still standing in the room took it from her and gave it to Barney.

Looking around the shop, she could now spot some pictures on the far wall, a dart target with darts and blades still in it and a few posters of vintage cars. If the music wasn’t still playing, she would’ve felt even more uncomfortable than she already did. They were staring at her like preys eyeing their dinner. She was a deer in the middle of the road. But she knew to stand her ground. She just patiently waited for his reaction, watching his every move. 

Barney opened the envelope, noticing with a raised eyebrow that it was not sealed. Shoving her hands in her pants pockets, she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, waiting. Everything was silent outside the shop. So silent that for one second she wondered if she wasn’t dreaming all this. Maybe she’ll wake up all tangled in her bedsheets in her hot apartment two states over. Or on base somewhere on the globe. Maybe she would go on with her day as usual, her mind wondering what it would be like to come to New Orlean and meet the legend, her father. But soft thunder echoed in the night outside, and the lights in the shops winked in fear– or delight. The scent of rain made its way to her nostrils, helping her to relax a little. This wasn’t a life or death situation, she was fine. She focused on her breathing.

She closed her eyes tightly, slightly frowning to shake the thoughts trying to crawl in her mind away. She wasn’t in some too-realistic dream induced by drugs or the lack of sleep of the nights before. She tapped lightly her foot on the floor, closed her hands in tight fists as if measuring the degree of realness of everything around her. The soft hum of the neon sign above the door, the music being turned down slightly to allow conversation to happen more calmly. Verifying even if she was real in all of this madness. Pinching herself. And she was. She didn’t know if she felt disappointed that she had finally stopped chewing over the idea of paying him a visit and the fact that she actually acted on it. Or if it was just too damn hot and humid in this foreign city, and she was so exhausted her brain only half-registered what was going on around her. She needed to sleep.

The seconds ticked by on the clock on the wall and he was still reading the buttery-yellow letter. His fingers crumpling the paper again, his eyes scanning the page line after line without emitting a single sound. He didn’t even glance up to her to check if she was still here. He knew she was. A frown appeared on his forehead and she cursed herself, her mind double talking, saying she shouldn’t have come but also yes! you did the right thing! She wanted to sit down but no one moved, no one offered her a chair. She looked at the floor quickly, realizing she was putting dirty footprints on the white shiny tiles. Half-apologies almost left her lips but she kept them sealed in time. She wasn’t good at interactions. 

Her palms started to become sweaty, hidden away in her cargo pants pockets. Hiding the nervousness-induced fidgeting. Picking at the skin around her nails, even though she swore to herself she would stop. She failed miserably every time she was nervous. And the meds didn’t help.

The air was suffocating her and she wanted to take off her sweater jacket but she remembered she might not smell of roses after multiple days traveling in buses and trains. A blink of the light above and her mind played a trick on her. What if he thinks I came only to get money and leave ? It could happen if his reaction was not what she had imagined. The air seemed to buzz around them when he exhaled loudly and ran a hand down his face. Okay, he’s not happy. This isn’t going to be a warm welcome. More like a cold Goodbye. Chewing on her bottom lip like she was seventeen again, she lifted her head up and looked him in the eyes.

“So you’re Marlene’s kid?”

She noded. He sighted.

“And so you’re… Is she certain?”

Again, a nod.

The hand that held the letter faltered to his side, limp as if he was suddenly empty of all energy. He exchanged a look with the other eldest, the one with the long hair and the cowboy hat. “What is it?” A man with a pleasant British accent asked, twirling a silvery blade between his fingers. She admired the dexterity with which he toyed the thing. The explanations had taken longer than what she had imagined. Mainly because she had to explain everything three times for the guys who were overprotective and wanted more details. She didn’t know how strong their bond was, but she had a vague idea that they shared almost everything. If I put my life in your hands, and you put yours in mine, we got no secrets for each other. The words echoed in her mind, dazzling and dangerous at the border of her sanity and ptsd.

She fought hard to block the flashes of memories flooding her mind. She couldn’t afford to appear like a crazy woman, it was too soon to reveal how the world had damaged her. But maybe they could guess, have a glimpse through the cracks on her body, the scars littering her skin. If only she was not wearing long sleeves and a pair of pants.

They all sat on the chairs around the two little makeshift tables. Slices of pizza long forgotten, now cold, half-drunk beers now warm enough to be disgusting. Barney had been silent for the most part, only asking a few questions. She would've preferred to meet him in a one-on-one setting. It was one of the most awkward experiences she had had the pleasure to live, to meet a father she had never met, in front of his close friends she had also never met. And she could only imagine how he was feeling. How were his colleagues going to react to the fact that their boss had a one night stand more than twenty years ago, and that that memorable night had gifted him with a child he had no idea existed until an hour ago. Apparently they were all as shocked as the not-so-new father.

The night promised to be long.

[flower1622]

The rangers were fighting the vampires sent by Rita and Zedd. They destroy all of them and cheer among themselves, but they didn't expect that two of them were bitten and turned into monsters.

- Wow, guys! This was amazing! - Zack says animated.

- Yeah! - Trini says and laughs.

- At least we defeated them. That's all that really matters to me - Kim says a little disgusted.

- I think we shouldn't celebrate this early. Who knows what those two evil beings are planning for next time... - Billy says.

The four look at Jason and Tommy who were quiet, only staring hard at Kimberly.

- Why are you guys looking at me like that? Is there something wrong with my face? Please tell there isn't. I don't want to imagine all the humilation I could have passed this entire time at school - Kimberly says while she touches her face and hair.

- No, you are beautiful as usual, beautiful! - Tommy says

- Yeah, Kim! - Jason says

- Oh, thanks guys! - Kim says a little shy.

- You guys are acting strange. Is everything alright? - Billy asks

- Of course, Billy! - Jason says smiling.

- Why wouldn't it be? - Tommy says.

- For nothing...I guess... - Billy says and looks at his watch. He gets a little scared.

- I think we should return to school to not cause suspicious. We can't lose classes - Billy says and everyone nods.

Trini, Kimberly, Billy and Zack walk back to the school direction. Jason and Tommy look at each other. Their eyes flah red and green for a moment. They look at Kimberly walking away and they turn to look at each other again with dark smiles on their faces. Each one thinking:

"KIM WILL BE OURS FOREVER"

[estel-eruantien]

😴- your muse is trying to lull mine to sleep using hypnotism. - either Jason/Billy, Sky/Bridge, or Jason/Billy/Tommy (Cause Jason and Billy both stay up too late and work themselves to exhaustion)

I'm so FREAKING excited for this one!!!!!!!

---

"Bill, would you just hold still?" Jason hissed at his boyfriend who sat next to him, wiggling in discomfort on the bed. The two had decided that, after this latest battle from the Machine Empire that ended with Billy getting no sleep in over 24 hours, he needed to learn how to relax. Tommy thought that Jason could learn a thing or two about that as well, so here they were.

"I'm trying, Jase," Billy insisted, hooking his arm around Jason's and laying his head on the gold ranger's shoulder. He had dark circles under his eyes and looked as though he could pass out.

Jason sighed, looking equally as tired. The rangers' hadn't had a break in weeks. He'd barely even seen his boyfriends except in the command chamber or out on the battlefield. After the third time of Billy not showing up to the youth center to meet them, he and Tommy had decided to intervene.

Now, here they were, in Billy's room, trying to relax with Tommy sitting across from them, a pocket watch dangling from his hands.

"I don't see how this is supposed to work." Billy grumbled, barely looking up at Tommy.

"It's supposed to put you to sleep!" Tommy insisted, letting out a sigh. "I need you guys to pay attention and watch me!"

"I do enjoy watching you." Jason flirted, earning a kick to the foot from the red ranger. "Ouch!"

Tommy glared at them, then held up the watch again. Using a stern voice, he ordered the two, "Watch the watch."

Jason pulled Billy closer to him and shifted so that he was comfortable, then proceeded to give the watch his attention. He watched for what felt like several minutes as the watch went back and forth.

"Listen to my voice carefully." Tommy said softly and slowly. He seemed just as focused on the watch as Jason. "You're starting to feel heavy-eyed. Your body is settling into the bed. When you slip into sleep, you will stay asleep all through the night." His voice got deeper and more sluggish as he spoke, as though he himself was succumbing to sleep. The leader looked to be just as tired as the other two.

"Tommy?" Jason asked, interrupting his boyfriend. His voice was a whisper as he continued, "It's not gonna work. Just come to bed."

With another heavy sigh, Tommy set the watch down and crawled up started to climb onto the mattress when he stopped. "Jase?" He asked, matching the other's whisper. "Look at Billy."

The former blue ranger's head had was buried in between Jason's arm and body. The smaller man fallen asleep at some point during the whole ordeal.

"I'll be damned," Jason muttered, rubbing Billy's back. "I guess it did work. Now get over here and join us." He opened his other arm, inviting Tommy, who slid next to Jason, just as Billy had been before he fell asleep. "This is gonna be the best sleep I've had in awhile, I can feel it.

---

I don't know what I was going for, but I like where it went!! I hope you like it! <3 I love these boys so much!

[nightfang22]

Masterlists of All My Work

Updated 08/02/2024

Requests are OPEN!

Hazbin Hotel:

Alastor (NO SMUT)

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Angel Dust

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Lucifer

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Daddy,I'm A Zombie:

Gonner

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

One of Us Is Lying:

Simon Kelleher

Blurbs

Smut

-Kinktober Day 1:"Let me see those eyes."

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Wayne:

Wayne McCullough

Blurbs

Smut

-Virgin Lovers

Imagines

Series

Misc.

IT:

Patrick Hockstetter

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

-Patrick's Princess Part One

-Patrick's Princess Part Two

-Patrick's Princess Part Three

Misc.

John Doe+:

John Doe

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Homestuck:

Dave Strider

Blurbs

-DJ Dave

-Dave x Male!Reader HCs

Smut

Imagines

-Simple Paradise

Series

Misc.

Sollux Captor

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Mituna Captor

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Karkat Vantas

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Kankri Vantas

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Stranger Things:

Eddie Munson

Blurbs

-Blurb One

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Gareth Emerson

Blurbs

-Blurb One

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Honor Society:

Michael Dipnicky

Blurbs

-Blurb One

-Blurb Two

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Creepypasta:

Jeff The Killer

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Ben Drowned

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Eyeless Jack

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Ticci Toby

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Adventure Time:

Marshall Lee

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

The Good Doctor:

Shaun Murphy

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Heathers:

Jason Dean

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Your Boyfriend:

Peter

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Eddsworld:

Tord

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

-The Norski and the Themby Chapter One

-The Norski and the Themby Chapter Two

-The Norski and the Themby Chapter Three

-The Norski and the Themby Chapter Four

-The Norski and the Themby Chapter Five

Misc.

Tom

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

SallyFace:

Sal

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Larry

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

South Park:

Kenny McCormick

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

-Get Angry

We Need To Talk About Kevin:

Kevin Khatchadourian

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

American Horror Story:

Tate Langdon

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Kit Walker

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Kyle Spencer

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Jimmy Darling

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Kai Anderson

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Criminal Minds:

Spencer Reid

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

My Hero Academia:

Katsuki Bakugo

Blurbs

-Blurb One

Smut

Imagines

-Revenge Porn

Series

Misc.

Izuku Midoriya

Blurbs

-Tattoo Artist Izuku

Smut

Imagines

-Bite Of Fate

-Sweat and Lace

Series

Misc.

Shoto Todoroki

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Eijiro Kirishima

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Hitoshi Shinsou

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Denki Kaminari

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Hanta Sero

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Dabi

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

Series

Misc.

Shouta Aizawa

Blurbs

Smut

Imagines

-Can't Erase Heartbreak

-Can't Erase Heartbreak Part 2

Series

Misc.

[r0syr3a]

A rosy introduction

Hello everyone! I figured that now I'm writing and being more active on my blog, I'd give a formal introduction <3

My name is Rea or Ryder (Rea pronounced Rye-Uh). I am an '05 babe and a Gemini.

I write fanfics and poetry and will be sharing others (Artists support Artists!)

Who I write: OG lineup of Guns N Roses, All Metallica members (yes, including Dave), and Motley Crue. I may write for TV shows/movies in the future.

What I write: I will mainly be writing fluff and angst, I can try smut if requested, but it is not my normal. Some pieces may be suggestive but that's about it and it will always be in the warnings. I currently only do "x reader". It can be romantic, platonic, or even family.

All my works will be under the rosywrites tag so you can find them easy! (Or you can use my masterlist!)

Requests are currently open! Don't be afraid to ask, if I'm uncomfortable with something, I will say so.

Thank you for reading <3

[at1nys-blog]

Masterlist

【The Campers】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ Hungry and exhausted kids (Camp Half-Blood)

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ more to come

【The Gods】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ Thunders leaving hints

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ more to come

. *. ⋆⋆.*.

【Percy Jackson】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Annabeth Chase】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Luke Castellan】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Grover Underwood】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Clarisse La Rue】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Charles Beckendorf】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Chris Rodriquez】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Silena Beauregard】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Connor Stoll】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Travis Stoll】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Thalia Grace】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Bianca Di Angelo】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Nico Di Angelo】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Lee Fletcher】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Malcom Pace】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Michael Yew】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Alice Miyazawa】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Julia Feingold】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Ethan Nakamura】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Austin Lake】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Katie Garnder】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Kayla Knowles】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Will Solace】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Frank Zhang】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hazel Levesque】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Jason Grace】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Leo Valdez】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Piper McLean】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Reyna Ramirez-Arellano】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Drew Tanaka】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Laurel Victor】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Holly Victor】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Cecil Markowitz】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Chiara Benvenuti】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Miranda Gardiner】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Zeus/Jupiter】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Poseidon/Neptune】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hades/Pluto】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Persephone/Proserpina】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Demeter/Ceres】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hestia/Vesta】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hera/Juno】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Athena/Minerva】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Aphrodite/Venus】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Ares/Mars】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hephaestus/Vulcan】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Apollo】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Artemis/Diana】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【The Hunters of Artemis】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Zoë Nightshade】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hermes/Mercury】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Dionysus/Bacchus】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Hecate】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

【Sally Jackson】

.·:*¨༺ ༻¨*:·.➳ nothing yet

[wingsyouburn]

Fic: Last Year's Wishes (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers)

Title:Last Year's Wishes Fandoms: Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Characters: Jason Lee Scott, Trini Kwan Pairing: Jason Lee Scott/Trini Kwan Rating: Gen AO3 Tags: peace conference, Mid-Canon, Established Relationship, Yuletide Treat Summary: Away at the Peace Conference, Trini checks in on Jason. Notes: Written for Griddlebone as part of Yuletide! I'm a sucker for both Jason and Trini, and how a Ranger adapts to losing/giving up their abilities. Your prompt re: Rangers living a normal life inspired this.

“We should be there,” he finally said. “In Angel Grove. With the team.” “The semester’s almost over,” Trini reminded him. “We’ve talked about going home on break, remember?” “That’s not what I’m talking about.” Frustrated, Jason rose from his seat, pacing. “They’re fighting without us, Trini. They need us.” From the tone of the team’s letters, it sounded like they were figuring it out on their own, but she didn’t voice that. “Or do you need them?” Trini asked, gently.

Read the fic at AO3!

[sunflowerpirateart]

I was so caught up in the joy of orca!Bulk that I was so close to forgetting to sketch out Jason

Inspired by “breaking sea foam” by CampionSayn on ao3

[earthpodd]

Now We Seem to Be Just Mates, Or Do You Want to Be More Than Friends?

Fandom: Power Rangers (2017)

Pairing: Zason, Trimberly

Word count: 10K

Summary: No matter how old you are, life always seems to find a way to get messy. If Zack had known how much headache it would bring, he would not have agreed to Kimberly's proposal. In the end, bringing the whole gang back together could only mean disaster, and if one were not careful, it could open up old wounds.

Read on AO3.

“Can you tell me again why you thought this was a good idea?” Not that Zack wasn’t on board with whole fake dating thing, but he figured that out of everyone from their former crew he was the last person Kim would choose as her pretend boyfriend. He was flattered, really. He had always loved a good ego stroking.

 “I haven’t seen Trini in ten years, and I bumped into you by chance, so why not?”

 Zack couldn’t really argue with that logic. Back on their senior year they had thought that they would be friends forever, that nothing would break them apart, but hey, life happened, as it always did. First Kimberly and Trini broke up, then everyone gradually started growing distant. They had other things to worry about after school, like college, work, or in Zack’s case, taking care of his mom.

 Now, after ten years, they were finally having their high school reunion. He was super excited to see his former friends again, and maybe, just maybe, he just jumped at any opportunity to party. Though, Zack did wonder if all of them were going to show up, it was not like he could ask them. They didn’t exactly keep in touch anymore.

 “You gotta give me more than that, Princess,” he requested, using the old nickname the gang had for Kim. He was sure it had probably been a long time since anyone called her that, but he wanted to take this opportunity to reminisce about their good old days. Life had taken everything away from him after that…

 Okay, better not go there.

 Zack could practically hear the gears grinding inside Kimberly’s brain when he raised his eyebrow at her. It looked like she was trying too hard to come up with a reason why she was so set on not showing up alone to their reunion. Or maybe, she was trying to hide the real reason, even though he already knew what this was all about. Trini. Was it really that hard for her to admit it?

 It looked like he was gonna find out soon enough, seeing as Kim had just sighed and braced herself as if in danger. “Okay, fine! I just don’t want to show up alone in case Trini is there with someone,” she admitted at last.

 “Don’t you think she’s gonna see right through it?” He asked, making the most dumbfounded expression he could muster at that moment. Zack was pretty sure Trini would be able to tell they were lying as soon as she saw them together, but he was not gonna say that to Kimberly. She seemed stressed enough.

 “It doesn’t matter,” she said, and he decided to leave it at that.

 -x-

 “I guess old habits really do die hard,” Zack commented casually when he showed up at Kim’s flat to pick her up the following evening. Kimberly had dressed up in a tight fitting, yet still very high class, pink dress, and just like her, he was also dressed all in his formerly assigned colour, a three-piece black suit with a black shirt under it.

 They ended up both laughing at that, yet the air still seemed heavy with tension. Zack was worried their former friends wouldn’t show up and Kim was scared Trini would be with someone else. That made him wonder why they even broke up in the first place if Kimberly was still so obviously in love with Trini. Neither girl had ever told him what happened, and he gave up asking after being repeatedly shot down.

 Kimberly and Trini were that disgustingly sweet couple. Everyone always thought Kim would end up with Jason, but Zack knew better. He had seen, multiple times, the way Kimberly looked at Trini before they got together, when she thought no one was paying attention. Plus, there was also the matter of the unresolved sexual tension whenever they were in the same room together.

 After they finally stopped dancing around each other, it was like they turned a switch, and no one could tell where one began and the other ended. It got to the point where it was almost unbearable to witness and they kept finding reasons to leave the two of them alone, but the truth was, they were happier then, than ever before, so they all supported their relationship.

 “You know, you never told me why you two broke up. What happened?” He decided to ask after a while, breaking the silence. He figured that since it had happened so long ago, she would finally be ready to talk about it. They were both still in Kim’s bedroom since she was not ready yet when he got there to pick her up. She was currently fiddling with her earrings and trying to decide which one fit better with her dress.

 Zack saw her visibly tense, and when she didn’t turn away from the mirror to look at him, he almost regretted having asked in the first place, but now it was too late to take back his words, and he did want to know.

 “My parents,” she said, simply, and Zack frowned. That, it seemed, did the trick and Kimberly turned to face him at last, continuing from where she had stopped. “I was too scared to tell them.”

 The admission only made him feel even more confused. As far as Zack knew, Kim’s parents were okay with her liking girls as well as boys, unless they were like those who only accepted queer people if it wasn’t in their family. He had met too many people like that. “But didn’t they already know? I mean, you two were not exactly subtly.”

 He heard her sigh at that, and then she was nodding, but her expression seemed sour. “They probably did, but I was still too much of a coward to come clean.”

 Zack regretted it for sure now. Sure, he had his curiosity satisfied, but Kimberly looked like she was on the verge of tears, and it made him feel like an asshole for being the one to put her through that.

 Kicking up from where he was sitting on her bed, Zack rushed towards Kim and pulled her into his arms, trying to ensue at least a little bit of comfort to make up for the pain he had caused by reopening old wounds. It was the least he could do.

 “You’re gonna crumple my dress,” she complained, light-heartedly as she pushed against Zack’s chest, and he knew the moment was over. He let her go, mumbling a cheeky apology and stepping back with his hands raised.

 “Let me just put on these earrings and then we’re good to go.”

 -x-

 The car drive to Angel Grove High School was mostly spent in companionable silence. They had the radio on low volume as background noise, but they were too immersed in their own heads to pay any attention to it. The closer they got to their former school, the more nervous they got.

 “Here!” Kimberly said, folding a pink handkerchief that matched her dress perfectly and putting it in the pocket of Zack’s suit. “I forgot to give it to you when picked me up.”

 Zack just looked down at the handkerchief and nodded, just now remembering that they weren’t going as friends, but rather he was pretending to be Kim’s boyfriend for the evening.

 “Milady!” He exclaimed, and offered Kimberly his elbow, so she could attach herself to it before they walked inside the school.

 “Ready?”

 -x-

 Zack was honestly underwhelmed. The decoration, the music, the people… nothing was up to his expectations. He didn’t know most of his former classmates, that was a fact, but right now he felt like he didn’t know anyone aside from Kimberly. It didn’t help that he felt his hopes being shattered when he didn’t see anyone from their old gang there.

 “Isn’t that one of your cheerleader friends?” He asked as he spotted a blond girl with two kids on her arms and a middle-aged bald man standing beside her. He knew friend was not exactly the right word to refer to any of the cheerleaders since they all turned on Kim when she quit the squad, but for lack of a better word, he went with that.

 Kimberly frowned, squinting her eyes as she followed Zack’s gaze, and then he saw it, and as soon as she did, her eyes shone with recognition. Zack took the opportunity to be a little shit, for old times’ sake. “Wanna go say hi?”

 Kim seemed reluctant, but Zack took her hand in his and tugged her towards the woman whose name he had already forgotten anyway. He was dying to see the look on her face when she saw Kimberly.

 “Heeeeey, Heather Kristina Pamela Kendall Jackson-Johnson!” Zack greeted and he saw Kim roll her eyes beside him, meaning she had gotten his reference, but despite the silent reprimand, he could tell she was also amused by it, especially when her former squad mate looked at them with widened eyes.

 “Hi, Kelly!” Kimberly’s greeting was almost shy in comparison to Zack’s, but he supposed it was probably because she was still on edge even though Trini was not there.

 Kelly, as Kim had called her, still took a little while to recover from her initial shock, and then she was putting her kids down, avoiding both of their gazes. That was exactly the reaction Zack had expected, and he was very pleased with himself.

 “Kimberly… what a surprise…” Zack tuned out the conversation after that. He had already had his fun, and even though back then he would had given anything to witness Kelly’s discomfort after what she did to Kim, he was more worried about taking a look around in hopes that he could spot any more familiar faces. He saw some of the guys from the football team, and if Jason was there, Zack would drag him there as well to make fun of those losers.

 Man, he missed Jason!

 “…I have my own clothing brand now…” Kim and Kelly’s awkward conversation was interrupted by a collective gasp.

 Someone had just walked into the room and Zack recognised her right away, despite how different she looked. Long gone were the beanies and the slightly butch style. Trini’s hair was now much shorter, chin length and straightened. Her lips were tinted with a nude coloured lipstick and she was dressed in a white corset with yellow stylish khaki pants to complement the look.

 Zack would honestly have wolf-whistled if he didn’t think Trini was still fully capable of kicking his ass. Beside him, Kimberly was having probably the same reaction. Her mouth was slightly open, and never had the term jaw-dropping fit a moment so well.

 “Clean the drool. You’re supposed to be my fake girlfriend, remember?” He teased in a low tone, making sure to lean towards Kim’s ear as soon as Trini’s gaze fell on them. He saw her jaw clenching from the corner of his eyes and smirked. Good.

 Completely forgetting about Kelly, they walked towards Trini. Zack was slightly in the front, trying to shield Kimberly’s disarray of emotions from vision. It wouldn’t work out if Trini saw any of that.

 Before they could make it to Trini, though, two more figures emerged from the double doors of the gymnasium. Jason and Billy walked in together, and just like that, the whole gang was at the same place again.

 Momentarily forgetting about Kim, Zack rushed towards the new arrivals, stopping short of hugging Jason with all his might, even though he knew that probably made things even more awkward. “Long time no see, Boss Man!”

 Zack was grinning from ear to ear as he looked Jason up and down, and then he turned his smile towards Billy, greeting him as well, as if nothing had changed in the past ten years.

 In the matter of a few seconds, before Billy or Jason could even respond, Zack felt a hand slipping against his and came back to his senses.

 Right, he was Kimberly’s fake boyfriend.

 Squeezing Kim’s hand, Zack spotted Trini behind her, eyeing him strangely.

 Billy was the one to break the silence. “Are you two together?”

 Zack hadn’t expected Billy of all people to blurt out the question like that, but still, he grinned, leaning his head towards Kimberly’s and pressing a gentle kiss to the side of her head.

 “Yeah!”

 “When did that happen?” This time Jason was the one to pose the question and Zack didn’t fail to notice the tone of accusation in his former friend’s voice. Maybe he was mistaken, but he thought he saw a flicker of hurt in Jason’s eyes when their gazes met again.

 “This is obviously a ruse. Can’t you see it?” Trini asked, pushing past Zack and Kimberly and standing beside Jason. Zack couldn’t help but turn his face to smirk at her.

 “What? Butthurt you lost the girl to me?”

 Zack knew he shouldn’t aggravate the situation, but if he wanted Trini to get jealous for real and admit she was still into Kim as well he would have to do his job right. And if that meant being an asshole, hey, at least it was the most entertaining thing to happen at this reunion so far.

 Instead of replying to him, Trini crossed her arms in front of her chest. Zack took that as a victory. He almost felt sorry for how exasperated Billy looked as his gaze went from Zack to Trini and occasionally to Kimberly. He had always been the most compassionate of them and the one to try to fix things when they were fighting.

 “Well, this has been fun, but I need a smoke,” Zack announced as he started pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and moving towards the double doors. “You coming, Kim?” When she just shook her head, he turned his gaze on Jason. “Jase?”

 Jason seemed to be waking up from his stupor after the question, but he nodded hastily, and then they walked outside side by side.

 Zack leaned against the wall to the side of the gymnasium, placing a cigarette between his lips before he fished for the lighter. The first drag was the longest, desperate even, and when he finally breathed the smoke out, his shoulders slumped, visibly relaxing.

 “So, how is your mom?” Jason asked, and Zack flinched, turning his attention on him again. His eyes raked through Jason’s features, trying to find any trace of a joke there, but he found none. Somehow that disappointed him even more, as fucked up as it sounded. He had hoped Jason would have at least kept track of him. They used to so close after all.

 “She died eight years ago,” he said, after another drag from the cigarette. Shoulders rolling in a shrug that was supposed to pass as nonchalant, but the action was too stiff for it to seem believable.

 The truth was that Zack hadn’t gotten over his mother’s death yet. When it happened, all those years ago, no one showed up to the funeral. It was only Zack and the priest. Not that he blamed them, they no longer had any contact with each other, but he had hoped against hope that at least one of them would be there. In the end it was all for nothing.

 “I-I’m sorry…”

 Zack chose not to acknowledge Jason’s words, he just shrugged again, this time more genuinely and continued smoking his cigarette, letting them fall into an engulfing silence. It was not exactly comfortable.

 “I saw you coming out of a Starbucks a couple years ago when I got back to California,” Jason started, seemingly having opted to change the subject. “I was surprised to see you, of all people, wearing a police uniform. I tried to get your attention, but you ignored me and got into your car. I still can’t believe you’re a cop!”

 That got Zack’s attention. His features scrunched up in thought, but he honestly had no recollection of seeing Jason.

 “I probably didn’t see you,” he said at last, dropping his cigarette on the ground and stepping on it to extinguish the fire.

 “How long are you staying in Angel Grove for?” Jason asked, and Zack had to commend his determination not to let the conversation die.

 “I don’t know yet. I gotta ask Kim since we’re going back to L.A. together.”

 The words were not even fully out of Zack’s mouth before he saw Jason’s expression souring up. Before he could ask what was wrong, Billy showed up at the gymnasium’s door, looking quite distraught. “Uhm, guys?”

 “What’s wrong?” Zack asked as he and Jason started walking towards Billy, but as soon as they reached the door, he could hear all the commotion and the raised voices.

 “You could have picked literally anyone, but you picked Zack? Seriously? I didn’t think you could drop so low.” Trini’s voice was full of anger and accusations, and Zack honestly had no idea what was happening. “You know how Jason…”

 She didn’t get to finish that sentence because as soon as Zack took a good look at Kim and saw the state she was in, he stomped into the room and wrapped an arm around Kimberly, bringing her to him protectively. “I think we better go now, Kim.” As insulted as he was over what Trini had said, this was not the time for him to worry about a bruised ego. Trini’s hostility was to be expected. He was dating her ex now, after all, and on top of that, he was supposed to be one of her former best friends.

 Zack only waited for Kimberly to nod in agreement before he started walking towards the exit, ignoring Billy’s protests behind them and Jason calling his name. He had been too stupid to think that everything would work out after all these years and that they would all somehow go back to being friends. Really stupid indeed.

 “Are you okay?” He asked, as soon as they got inside the car. It was almost funny to think how he was taking Kim’s side in this when Trini was the one whom he used to be closest to back in their school days. Things changed over time, and Kimberly was the only one he even ever saw in those ten years since their gang broke apart.

 “I’m fine!” Kim assured him, wiping the corners of eyes with a tissue. The tears had completely ruined her make up and seeing that only made Zack’s blood boil all over again with anger.

 “What was that all about?” He asked, his tone a bit more serious and colder than usual. A few years back he wouldn’t even be able to act so serious, but he did a lot of maturing after his mom passed.

 Kimberly took her time with the question, opening and closing her mouth, looking out of the window, breathing shallowly and slumping her shoulders. Zack was patient with her and just waited though. “Trini is mad at me for dating you. Not exactly because of the dating part, though I don’t think it bothered her, but for a different reason.”

 “Does it have something to do with Jason?” Zack asked, as soon as Kim was finished talking. His forehead was scrunched up in a frown, being out of the loop was not exactly something he appreciated.

 Zack saw Kimberly swallow in dry. Somehow that was answer enough.

 “I can’t tell you about it, though.”

 Zack had already expected that response, so he was not surprised.

 -x-

 “Are you sure you’re gonna be fine by yourself? It looks like your parents aren’t back yet,” which felt odd because it was already way past ten pm. Did corporate dinners really last all that long?

 Kimberly seemed to think so, because she laughed and then opened the door of the car, turning back to look at Zack before getting out. “I’ll be fine, don’t worry! I’ll text you if anything happens.”

 “Okay,” Zack conceded and waved her out with a smile, returning to his normal self at last.

 “See you tomorrow!” Kim called as she closed the door. Zack just nodded and revved the engine to drive back to his hotel room.

 -x-

 Some food and a shower later, Zack felt more like himself again. He was just coming out of the shower, towel still wrapped around his waist and using another to dry his hair, when he heard his phone’s notification tone.

 Thinking that it was Kimberly texting him, he rushed to the bedside table where his phone was plugged to the charger and sat down on his bed to read the text he just received.

 [ TEXT | Unknown Number ]

 – are you doing anything tomorrow?

– my dad keeps asking about you

– you should come over

– it’s jason, btw

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – how did u get my number?

 [ TEXT | Boss Man ]

 – billy

 “That little hacker,” Zack cursed out loud, even though there was no one there to hear him. He plopped down properly against the bed, ignoring the fact that he was still not fully dry, and kept on texting. That was a problem for future Zack, right now he couldn’t care less about wet sheets.

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – kim & I are going out 2morrow

– wanna come with us?

 [ TEXT | Boss Man ]

 – kim won’t mind?

 Zack had to laugh out loud at that. If only Jason knew…

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – u won’t believe who just txtd me

– jason !!!!!!!

 [ TEXT | Princess ]

 – why did he text you?

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – he wants 2 meet 2morrow

– I said I was going out with u

– but that he could come with us

 [ TEXT | Princess ]

 – no problem

 Zack quickly switched back to Jason’s chat.

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – she said it’s fine

 Since Jason didn’t read the text right away, Zack got up from the bed and went about his business. He stopped in front of his suitcase and took a pair of fresh underwear and put them on, moving to the bathroom next so he could drop out the wet towels.

 When he got back in bed, there was a text from Jason waiting for him.

 [ TEXT | Boss Man ]

 – see you tomorrow then

– goodnight, zack

– <3

– Sorry, force of habit

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – d’awwwn

– who would’ve thought u’re such a softie

– night, jase <3

 [ TEXT | Boss Man ]

 – shut up

 ---

 “Did you text Jason the address?” Kim asked for what seemed the hundredth time since they arrived at Krispy Kreme. She seemed even more nervous than the day before.

 “I’m pretty sure he didn’t forget where Krispy Kreme is, Princess,” the use of the old nickname as well as Zack’s laughter was supposed to lighten the mood a little. Sure, Jason was half an hour late, but Zack was pretty sure he wouldn’t stand them up.

 Taking Kimberly’s hand in his, he squeezed it softly, still playing the role of her boyfriend. “Why don’t we order first and then when he gets here he can order for himself? There is no reason to starve ourselves while we wait.”

 When Kim nodded, he just ensued their orders and waited for them to be delivered.

 Jason arrived before their order was delivered, and if possible, Zack saw Kimberly tense even more beside him. He wondered why she was so worked up. He was sure it had something to do with what Trini had insinuated at the class reunion, but he couldn’t possibly ask about it in front of Jason. Plus, she had already told him she couldn’t talk about it, so…

 “Sorry, I was helping my dad fix the truck and lost track of time,” Jason apologised, looking mostly at Zack, though he did smile at Kim. “Thanks for letting me crash your date.”

 Zack laughed to bring attention to himself so Jason wouldn’t see how Kimberly visibly tensed and started chewing on her lower lip as if she felt guilty about something. He stored that little information into a drawer in his brain so he could ask her about it later.

 “It’s all good, Boss Man. We all need to catch up, though you should’ve brought Billy with you, so you don’t feel like a third wheel.” Zack was obviously joking, but when both Jason and Kim looked anywhere else but at him or even each other he started feeling awkward. He hated being left in the dark.

 The destiny worked in funny ways, and Zack would be forever grateful to the waitress who arrived at their table to deliver the doughnuts and drinks they had ordered.

 “Oh my god! Are you Jason Scott, the actor? I saw you on TV last night. Wait until I tell my sister you were here today. She is gonna flip.”

 Okay, maybe he spoke too soon.

 “Uh, I think you got my drink mixed up,” he said, just to break the tension and to save Jason from the waitress’ attention. He looked extremely uncomfortable.

 That seemed to do the trick and soon she turned to look at him with a frown on her face. “I ordered a blueberry smoothie.” As if on cue, he lightly shook the plastic cup in front of her, like a pendulum, to show her what he meant.

 “I’ll keep the strawberry milkshake, just bring him the smoothie,” Jason said, before she could collect the drink and ordered some fruit cakes along with it.

 Most of the tension seemed to vanish after that.

 “You’re such a cop,” Jason teased him as Zack picked up a doughnut and took a bite of it.

 “Excuse me? I’ve been eating these since way before I became a cop.”

 Zack looked completely offended, but it was just for show. He did fall under a few of the stereotypes people had about policemen, and he didn’t mind getting called out on them. It was funny, most of the time.

 To his side Kimberly chuckled, a muffled sound. That was all the indication he needed to know that she was fine now, and that the initial nervousness she was feeling was at least mostly gone.

 They talked for hours after that. Asking questions about each other’s lives, laughing and joking. It all felt almost like the good old days when they would go there after detention and just hang out until it was time for Jason to go home before his curfew, since he was still under house arrest back then.

 “We should do this again sometime,” Jason said after they had paid the bill and walked outside towards the parking spots. “And you really should come over, so my dad stops asking about you.”

 Jason chuckled, but Zack could tell it was forced. He seemed nervous all of a sudden, as if he feared being rejected. Weird.

 “I’ll make sure to visit him before we go back to LA,” he agreed with a grin and was happy to see Jason visibly relax after that, though he could still notice some tension between him and Kimberly.

 Moving to stand in front of Kimberly, Zack pressed a quick peck to her lips for the sake of keeping appearances and stepped back with a smile. “Text me when you get home, okay?”

 Kim nodded promptly, but perhaps a little shaken by the kiss. Zack couldn’t blame her, he had spouted that out of the blue, just remembering that they were still pretending to be a couple. He kept forgetting it, and for some reason, it was always when Jason was around.

 The gentleman code stated that he had to take her home after a date, but since they were only fake dating and no one would really expect that much chivalry from him, he figured he was safe from reprimand.

 “Okay, I’m gonna leave first. The game starts in ten minutes, and I don’t wanna miss it,” he announced, waving at both Jason and Kimberly. In fact, there was no game, but Zack was in a hurry to leave so maybe Jase and Kim could work out whatever it was that was causing tension between them.

 “You’re not staying at the Hart’s?”

 Shit! Zack should have thought it would sound suspicious that they weren’t staying together.

 “I didn’t want to impose,” he hoped that was a good enough save, but even if it wasn’t, he wasn’t gonna stick around to find out.

 “Bye!”

 -x-

 “Mrs Cranston!” Zack greeted, enveloping her into a bone crushing hug and lifting Billy’s mom off the ground. It had been so long since he had last seen her, and she had always treated him so well whenever the gang came over. She was honestly the one person he missed the most outside of the gang.

 That morning he had woken up to a text from Billy inviting him to come over for lunch, and since Zack had nothing planned for the day, he agreed. What he didn’t expect was to see the whole gang there once he put Mrs Cranston back down on the ground.

 “Hey, guys!”

 The greeting felt a little stiff, but just because he had been caught by surprise. Specially by Trini’s accusing glare. Oh well, he should better prepare for a day full of awkwardness.

 Walking fully into the living room, Zack claimed the spot beside Kimberly on the arm of the sofa and kissed the top of her head, and when she fixed him with a look, he just grinned. She was probably worried about him antagonising Trini.

 “Why don’t we watch a movie?” Billy suggested, probably trying to appease everyone and make things light-hearted again. Zack was sure he would rather avoid a repeat of the class reunion.

 Whenever they would come over to Billy’s house back in their high school days, they would all lay down, all over each other and pick something on Netflix to watch. They never paid much attention to the plot, more interested in talking to each other and making jokes.

 Right now, things were not quite like that, mostly because of the whole thing that happened in the class reunion.

 “I’m gonna go see if your mom needs help in the kitchen,” Kim announced a few minutes after Billy had put on some random comedy film to play. They had been sitting there, stiff and awkward, and Zack figured she probably just wanted to get away from that. He’d do the same if he could.

 “So, Billy, what have you been up to?”

 The answer came from Jason, rather than Billy himself. “He’s always busy with his girlfriend.”

 “Girlfriend, huh?” Zack smirked, wiggling his brows at Billy and moving closer to him so he could nudge his side in camaraderie. “Who’s the lucky girl?”

 Billy, for the most part just blushed and stuttered, trying to answer the question but stumbling over his words because of how embarrassed he was. It drew a chuckle from Zack, though there was no malice in it. He had actually kind of missed making Billy all flustered.

 “He’s dating Tommy Oliver,” Jason came to the rescue again, and Zack’s eyes all but bulged out of their sockets.

 “Tommy Oliver as in the same Tommy Oliver that Kim dated after Trini? Holy shit!”

 Trini chose that moment to groan out loud and glare at Zack again. Apparently, she was way more butthurt than he had previously thought. That kind of made him feel bad for making jabs at her at every given opportunity.

 “Oh, come on! Don’t get mad, Crazy Girl,” this time Zack aimed his nudges at Trini, trying to make up for being kind of an asshole to her, even if she was kind of an asshole to Kimberly at the class reunion. “You know she only dated Tommy to make you jealous.”

 “Like she is doing now? With you?”

 Zack visibly flinched with Trini’s tone. It was harsher than he had ever heard being directed at him. Even when he had fucked up, multiple times, back at school, she had never spoken to him like that. But before he could say anything back, she continued. “That’s not why I’m mad, y’know?”

 There it was again. The secret they were keeping from him. As much as Trini seemed to be dying to share, she still didn’t give in. It should be something huge then. It only made Zack want to know even more, because it definitely had something to do with him.

 “Why is that then?” He asked, his tone now more sombre and serious. All of his playfulness had been cast aside and he was genuinely angry, jaw clenched and all that.

 “Ask your girlfriend.”

 Zack scoffed. He wanted to point out that he already had, but that Kimberly wouldn’t tell him, but then he noticed how Trini wasn’t even looking at him. She was looking at Jason, that same fierce look she had been giving him just a minute prior, but differently from him, Jase had just paled under it.

 “I heard shouting, is everything alright?” Mrs Cranston asked, showing up at the door that led to the kitchen, Kim right behind her.

 “Y’know what, whatever.”

 And with that Trini left the house in a rush, not even bothering to say goodbye to anyone. Unexpectedly, Kimberly was ready to run after her. “Trini, wait!”

 Kim shot him a significant look and then she was bolting out of the door. Zack just sighed and sat back down with his face on his hands. He was wondering if it was worth it to keep this ruse just for the sake of getting Trini and Kimberly back together. Things were getting out of hand.

 A moment later he felt the sofa dipping by his side and a hand brushing against his shoulder blades comfortingly. He could tell it was Jason by the pressure of the touch and the warmth of his skin. It had a nostalgic sense of intimacy.

 “I should go,” he announced after a little while. The last thing he had wanted was to cause a scene at Billy’s house. He couldn’t even face Mrs Cranston properly right now, though he had to say goodbye to her and apologise.

 “I’m sorry for the trouble, Mrs Cranston. Thanks for inviting me for lunch!”

 She tried to argue with him to stay and at least eat something before leaving, but honestly, Zack didn’t even have much of an appetite at the moment. All he wanted to do was go to his hotel room and become one with the bed.

 “What if Kim comes back?” Billy asked, as Zack was leaving, and after only a second’s consideration, he shook his head. There was no need to worry about that. Kimberly was definitely not coming back.

 “I’ll text her on the way.”

 And then he left.

 -x-

 Back in his hotel room, Zack flopped onto his bed, fishing his phone and wallet from his pockets so he would be more comfortable. He had texted Kimberly as soon as he got into his car, telling her that they should talk, but so far, he didn’t get anything back. He wondered if she was still with Trini.

 A few minutes later, when he was just about to doze off, he finally got a text from Kim.

 [ TEXT | Princess ]

 – I’m coming over

– see you in 5

 [ TEXT | Crazy Boy ]

 – ok

– just txt me when u get here

 It didn’t take long for Kimberly to arrive, and Zack opened the door stoically. This whole thing had taken its toll on him, even though it had only been three days since he started pretending to be Kim’s boyfriend.

 Keeping up the lie was harder than he had thought. Maybe if they weren’t lying to their friends, things could have been different, easier. He could even be enjoying himself. He knew it was not her fault, but fuck, he really wanted to put the blame on someone other than himself. It would be much easier than trying to figure out this mess. The spiderweb of lies only kept growing and he was not even the spider at the forefront. He was just another insect that got entangled due to his own dumb decisions.

 “What are you hiding from me?”

 “I told Trini we’re not together.”

 They said at the same time and Zack gestured for Kimberly to talk first. He was actually curious to know what had happened when she went after Trini. So much so he could set aside his own worries and feelings for now.

 “She already knew we were lying,” Kim confessed, and Zack resisted the urge to say I told you so, because he had been sure they wouldn’t be able to fool Trini, but if she already knew they weren’t together, then why had she gotten so mad?

 As if reading his mind, he saw Kimberly sigh and press her fingers against the bridge of her nose right before she launched into an explanation. “She’s mad because we’re lying to Jason.”

 That confused Zack even more. He had kinda figured it was because of Jason, but there were pieces missing in that puzzle that just made it impossible for him to understand what was going on.

 “Yeah, what’s up with that?”

 Zack folded his arms across his chest and supported all his weight on the right side of his body, a clear sign that he was feeling defensive, or generally worried about something.

 Despite the clear conflict on Kimberly’s face, this time he didn’t budge. This was already the second time this same topic had caused a scene and he felt entitled to know what was going on so he could decide whether to jump train.

 “It’s not my place to tell you,” Kim said at last, and Zack huffed out in disappointment and even a little bit of anger and frustration. He really thought he would get a straight answer this time. He wanted to press, but before he could, she continued. “You should ask Jason.”

 Those words kept rolling around in his head long after Kimberly had left his hotel room and gone home. Why hadn’t he thought of doing that before? It was clear that he wasn’t going to get anything out of Kim, much less from Trini, so why had he neglected the third possible source, the one that was actually most relevant to the topic and directly involved in it?

 Still musing around the thought, Zack decided to pick up his phone, intent on shooting a text to Jason, but then talked himself out of doing it. This was not the type of conversation he could have through text.

 Picking up his car keys, he dashed out of the hotel.

 -x-

 The Scott’s residency still looked the same as it did when Zack was younger, except maybe for the paint job it got, and one detail or other. He didn’t use to come over there much in the beginning, the relationship between Jason and his father was already bad enough without the added presence of teenage guests, but as thing got better between them, the place started feeling almost like a second home to Zack.

 He wondered if it would still feel the same now. He was, admittedly, a little scared it wouldn’t.

 Making his way to the front porch with a pack of beer in his hand, Zack knocked on the door, softly, twice, as if to mask the nervousness he was feeling and not appear as overly desperate. Most feelings probably only detectable in his own head.

 “Zack?!”

 Jason seemed surprised to see him, and for his part, Zack just grinned and showed him the pack of beer he brought with himself. “Didn’t you say your dad wanted to see me?”

 He didn’t know if it was a good time for Jason, and he knew that showing up out of the blue was not really right on his part, but Zack had been driven by his need of answers. If needed, he would just have to ignore the awkwardness.

 “Yeah… come in!” Jason said, moving out of the way so Zack could actually step into the house.

 Zack looked around the place in awe. It was the first time he set foot inside the Scott’s residency in ten years. “I love what your mom did with the décor.”

 The casual comment earned him a small smile from Jason and then they were walking further inside the house. They stopped to greet Mrs Scott in the kitchen and then moved to the backyard where Jason’s dad was.

 “Look who came to see us,” Jason announced, and Zack just mustered up his best grin to stay in character despite adversity. It wasn’t so hard. He was genuinely as excited to see Mr Scott, as he had been to see Mrs Cranston. He just hoped that there would be no other scene to ruin his visit this time. He was tired of bringing trouble to the people he cared about but hadn’t seen in forever. They didn’t deserve that.

 Jason’s dad, as it seemed, had really been looking forward to seeing Zack, because as soon as he saw him, Zack felt himself being engulfed in a hug, a genuine one, none of those awkward half hugs men usually shared between themselves, which was why he felt comfortable enough to pat Mr Scott on the back.

 Jason, Zack observed, was watching them with a strange look, almost like fondness. He didn’t know what to make of it.

 “Look at you, kid, all grown up!” Mr Scott said as they pulled away from the hug, but not quite letting Zack go yet as he held him by his arms, just squeezing them as if he couldn’t contain himself.

 Zack chuckled but accepted the compliment despite that. He was really proud of what he had accomplished considering not many people had much faith in him.

 “Jason here told me you’re a cop now?” Mr Scott’s words were filled with amusement, like they were sharing an inside joke. Zack had been quite the rebel in his teenage years so he couldn’t say he didn’t understand.

 “I bet you didn’t expect that,” he teased jokingly, still holding up that look of overconfidence that was characteristic to him.

 “And you’re dating Kimberly?”

 Zack visibly deflated when that question arose. So much for trying to keep an upbeat attitude.

 “You know, I always thought you and Jason would be the ones to end up together.”

 That made Zack stare at Jason’s dad in a little bit of a shock. He wondered if Mr Scott knew how big of a crush Zack had on his son back then. Not that he didn’t find Jason attractive now, but he had come to terms with the fact they didn’t have any chance of ever being together.

 Mr Scott continued without even being prompted. “You two were always holed up together in the bedroom, and then there was that time I caught you two spooning when I went to wake Jason up to go to school…”

 “Okay, dad! Enough with the embarrassing stories.” Zack looked at Jason only to find him completely flustered. The embarrassment was actually kind of funny, but also cute. He could perfectly remember that day. He shot out of bed so fast and then scrambled to find his clothes carelessly thrown around. Mr Scott had given him quite the scare.

 Zack knew what it had looked like back then, but the truth was that he and Jason hadn’t had sex that day, or ever, to be honest. Zack had just shown up there when Jason was already ready for bed and since it was a hot summer night, he had stripped out of his clothes for the sake of being comfortable. They played video games late into the night, and at some point, eventually fell asleep.

 Still to this day, he doesn’t know how they ended up spooning, but the fear he felt that day was off the charts. Zack had always been known for being careless and ruining things, for himself and for others, but his relationship with Jason and his family had been something he had never wanted to ruin.

 He spent days without setting foot in Jason’s house after that, days avoiding his friend, thinking that everything had gone to shit. That was, until Mr Scott decided he had had enough of it and showed up at school to assure Zack that everything was fine.

 Zack almost had a stroke that day.

 Now, looking at Mr Scott, he wondered if that had been his way of showing his support.

 “Come on! Let’s go up to my room,” the hand on his shoulder almost startled Zack out of his reverie, but still he nodded at Jason, shortly, before turning in a grin, a little less bright than before, at Mr Scott.

 “I better not find the two of you spooning when I call you for dinner,” he warned, but Zack knew he was joking, so he found it in himself to laugh before following Jason inside of the house.

 -x-

 Being in Jason’s room felt different. Zack was thrown across the bed staring up at the ceiling while he waited for Jason to come back from the restroom. They hadn’t talked about anything important yet, both probably avoiding the subject, but he was fine with that, at least for now.

 Taking a look around the room, Zack noticed a photo glued to Jason’s mirror. The sight of it was enough to get him up from the bed and stalking towards the piece of furniture. His fingers reached to rub across the surface of the printed picture. There he was with Jason, smiling, hugging each other. Things were easier back then.

 “Remember that day?”

 Zack was startled out of his thoughts by the question. He hadn’t heard Jason come back inside of the room at all. What would his cop friends think if they saw him being caught off guard like this? “Yeah… it was right before your dad’s birthday, when we went to the waterfall.”

 His hand dropped from the photo and retracted back to his side. Zack didn’t dare to turn around yet. He knew his face would show a little betrayal if he did so. That had been the last time he and Jason went anywhere together before everything fell apart, so it brought both good and bitter memories.

 A few seconds later Zack felt the pressure of a forehead being pressed against his back, right between his shoulder blades. It was another thing that brought back memories.

 “Do you really love Kimberly?”

 Zack didn’t answer the question, he couldn’t and didn’t want to. It crossed his mind to tell Jason that he did love her, which was true, just not in the way he was asking, but deflecting it seemed like the better idea. He wanted to get Jason to talk. “What are you hiding from me?”

 Silence ensued after that, and only faint breathing could be heard in the room.

 When Zack was starting to think that he would not get a response out of Jason, he heard him sigh against his back, and then the pressure was off his shoulder blades, causing him to turn around and come face to face with the one who withhold the information he needed.

 “Let’s sit for a little bit, I need to tell you something.”

 Zack didn’t waste a second before joining Jason on the bed. They sat across from each other, but close enough so that their knees were pressed together softly. They used to sit like that all the time back in high school.

 His expression held all of the signs of anticipation, and as time dragged on and Jason still didn’t say anything, Zack wanted to enquire him, get him to just spill everything, but at the same time, he didn’t want to pressure Jason. It would do no good.

 He could tell that Jason was struggling with something. He looked like a mix of nervous, anxious, scared and excited. Those were far too many emotions for a single person to handle all at once.

 Since there was nothing he could really do until he knew what the fuck was actually going on, Zack simply reached out to take Jason’s hand in his and held it. He massaged the space between Jason’s fingers, trying to offer him some comfort, and also to get out with whatever it was that he wanted to say.

 “Do you remember how we used to stay up together and fall asleep at pretty much any place?” Zack was confused by the question, but he still nodded anyway. They had even slept on top of an abandoned car once, just looking up at the stars and talking about how much of a pain in the ass their teachers were.

 It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say Jason was his safe haven back then.

 “When we slept on the hood of that car after the bonfire. You didn’t see it. I know you were asleep, but I still can’t stop thinking that maybe that was the reason why we drifted apart.”

 Zack tried hard to make sense of what Jason was saying. That night was the same one he had been thinking of, but he couldn’t remember anything special about, anything that would make them drift apart. Had he maybe said something bad in his sleep?

 His head was slumped down as he gave it some thought. No, but that didn’t make any sense. Jason had said it was something he hadn’t seen, and even if he were of the habit of talking in his sleep, he couldn’t think of anything he could have said that would..

 WAIT.

 “Did I… Did I actually sleep talk and tell you I had a crush on you? Oh my… Fuck!” Zack was full on panicking now. He got up from Jason’s bed and started rethinking everything that happened after that day.

 He could faintly hear Jason calling out to him, but he was so lost in his own mind that he wasn’t woken up from the current stupor by it.

 After that day Jason had started hanging out with him less and less, and things kept escalating badly. First, they stopped sitting together in the classes they had together, then they stopped having lunch together, and eventually they wouldn’t even greet each other in the hallways anymore.

 Fuck! Had that really been all his fault?

 Before he could spiral even further down this bolt of self-despair, Zack felt hands on his shoulders, gently shaking him. His eyes were slightly unfocused, but his head had cleared enough for him to recognise that the blurry figure in front of him was actually Jason.

 Eventually his hearing came back as well and he heard Jason calling out his name softly, as if soothing a scared animal. Zack shook his head, trying to rid himself from those clouded thoughts, even if it felt impossible right now. “Zack! Hey… breath.”

 Zack pushed Jason away gently and took a step back. He didn’t have the courage to look Jason in the eyes, actually, he was not sure he could even stay around right now. His eyes were burning, and he felt like he could cry at any moment now.

 It still didn’t make sense why Trini was so mad at him over it.

 Maybe it was because their gang drifted apart after that. Had Jason actually told the others about that? Was that why everyone suddenly wanted nothing to do with him anymore? Did they think he was a traitor for ruining their group? Was that the real reason behind Trini’s hostility and why they kept mentioning Jason, but without telling him what it was about?

 They were all older now, so it would make sense for them to not want to put him into the spotlight when the reason would be so humiliating.

 Did they feel sorry for him now, so they put one last effort to tolerate him for old time’s sake before they went back to their own lives never to see each other again?

 Whatever it was, Trini didn’t seem like she wanted to play along. Maybe she hasn’t been able to forgive him for making her lose her friends. He knew she had a hard time making friends back then, so maybe it hurt her deeper than it did others.

 Jason’s discomfort when his dad mentioned them ending up together and spooning made sense now. He probably didn’t want to be reminded of the thing that made them stop being friends back in high school. He was probably trying to turn a new leaf and…

 Zack choked up. He was feeling a little short of breath.

 Jason moved closer to him once again, but Zack didn’t have any strength to fight his touch anymore. He felt as his cheeks being cupped in a firm hold, but even with how close they were, his eyes were still glossy, so he couldn’t actually see Jason properly. It was hard for him to catch his breath, and every moment felt like desperation was growing more and more inside of him, to the point he could basically pass out without it being surprising in the slightest.

 “Look at me!” Zack tried, he really did try to listen to Jason’s demand, but it was hard to do so when he could barely see an inch in front of him. He heard Jason start muttering something, and along with those whispered words came the pressure of fingers massaging the sides of his head. He could hear Jason’s breath. He tried to focus on both of those things.

 Despite Jason’s best efforts, it didn’t seem like he would get better any time soon. It was kind of humiliating for him to show this side of himself in front of his former crush whom he still actually had feelings for.

 Zack tried to push Jason away again and escape, but Jason was seemingly prepared for it because he held him tighter. Zack wanted to struggle and to tell him to let him go, but again he couldn’t find his voice. There was a ton of pressure upon his shoulders, and this feeling of guilt was crushing him.

 In the blink of an eye, things took a turn to the unexpected.

 Soft lips pressed against his own. It couldn’t even be described as a kiss, but it did the trick. Zack froze, unable to grasp what was going on. He even went as far as thinking that it was all in his imagination and that maybe he was trapped in a dream… or nightmare.

 Jason didn’t let go of him. Zack felt himself being pulled closer, securely held in a warm embrace. Jason kissed the top of his head and started whispering again. Or maybe he was talking in a normal tone and it was just the buzzing in Zack’s ears that was making it seem like Jason was whispering.

 Zack took a deep breath, then he held his breath, and let it out again, in a little choked up gasp. He closed his eyes, again trying to focus on something that could help him even his breath, something that could help him calm down.

 Jason’s words against his ear seemed to be it.

 “I’m here, Zack. It’s not your fault. Everything is okay…” Zack decided to focus on that. Jason was repeating those same three sentences over and over until finally, Zack’s breathing normalised and all that tension that could be felt on his back muscles started dissipating.

 Zack felt Jason holding his face again, and this time he could actually focus his vision enough to be able to see Jason’s smiling face. “Sorry! You shouldn’t have had to see that.” He pushed out a heavy sigh and tried to pull back from Jason’s embrace again. Zack wanted nothing more than to leave that place and go back to L.A. so he could pretend none of this had ever happened.

 He felt so ashamed that he didn’t even remember that Jason had kind of kissed him until he looked at him again, eyes full of worry. Why had Jason kissed him? It didn’t seem to make any sense.

 “You know, I’d think after all these years you would have gotten smarter.” Those words made Zack cringe internally. Fuck! Had he actually being talking aloud all this time and thinking it was all in thought?

 Jason reached for his hands and Zack immediately looked down at them. One of his eyebrows shot up in confusion, but before he could dwell too much on that, Jason tugged on him and Zack was forced to look him in the eyes again.

 His gaze was welcomed with a warm smile. A smile so beautiful that it made Zack feel short of breath again. “I like you, too, dummy. I’ve liked you all along.” Zack scrunched his face up at those words. What was this, some campy TV show with a dog blood¹ plot? Things like this didn’t happen in real life.

 Jason, as if sensing the doubt in his eyes, leaned closer once again, pressing their lips together in a brief touch. Zack didn’t know if that was supposed to be reassuring or what, but he found the selfish part of his brain wanting to take advantage of this moment.

 Before Jason could pull away from the kiss, Zack quickly slid his palm to the back of his neck, refusing to let him go. Zack closed his eyes and went all in. He parted his lips, almost shyly, and in a swift movement, he deepened the kiss, or rather, turned the touch in a real kiss.

 This time he was the one to bring Jason closer, wrapping an arm around his waist and parting Jason’s lips with his tongue. People said that when you got a taste of heaven, it was hard to let go of it, and that was exactly how Zack felt right now. He wasn’t going to say Jason’s lips were sweet, make up some fruity taste for it, or any shit like that, but he could say that nothing in the world had ever felt better.

 “Ahem!”

 Comically enough, Zack jumped back and high up in the sky when he heard the not so subtle throat clearing that couldn’t have come from anyone other from Mr Scott. As if he was a teenager again, his cheeks immediately heated up, and he could tell his ears must be bright red. Oh, how he wished he could bury his face right now.

 “I take it that Zack is staying for lunch?” Jason, that betrayer, all but laughed at Zack’s reaction. He seemed to be very amused by how Zack looked as pale as if he had seen a ghost. Just you wait, Jason. I’m gonna make you pay for this. Zack thought, his eyes already settling on that spark of vengeance.

 “He is.”

 Zack shot daggers at Jason with his eyes. He was fully capable of answering for himself, thank you very much. But before he could protest, Mr Scott turned around and left the room. Zack could hear him walking down the stairs, probably to add another plate to the table.

 “You’re gonna pay for this.” Jason just laughed at his threat and moved closer again to steal a peck from his lips. When had the little shit gotten so cheeky and daring? Zack huffed but resigned to his fate. “You better be ready to explain yourself very soon, Boss Man.”

 With that, Zack left the room, going down the stairs to have lunch with Jason’s father, and despite his words, there was a silly smile on his face.

 Who would have thought they would get together like this?

 Before he could even reach the kitchen, Zack felt a weight clinging to his back and Jason’s face rubbing against his shoulder. “Hey! That’s no way to treat your boyfriend.” Zack’s only response was to flick him on the forehead. Stupid Boss Man with his stupid contagious smile.

 The End.

[fantasies-fairytales-n-fics]

Code Blue Ch. 42- Duck Duck Goose

Summary: The trip to the train bridge commences. Jo is overly annoyed with Lee and makes sure he knows it. An intense rush is shared. Lee meets Jake's bio daddy. Jason and Jo make up for the most part. He and Lee send her reeling. A shocking moment is witnessed. Lee confesses something already suspected by Jo. Liz goes to Ethan.

*Warnings* DARK!! language, angst, alcohol use, murder plots, depictive mentions of child death

Stories Stories Stories Masterlist

Chapter characters: Lee, Josie, Jason, Liz, Ethan,

Salem, Massachusetts

March 16, 2023

10:30 p.m.

The car ride to the train bridge was silent as Lee drove and you stared out your window, unable to stop seeing his lips on Angel's and her disrobing before him half naked. Sure he beat feet out of there but it didn't make your anger any less that he chose to even go in the first place. Still, you were curious as to what she told him although in that moment, you didn't even want to speak to him or even look at him for that matter.

Lee parked the car at the place you took him on your bike, then turned it off. A few minutes went by as you both sat there in the dark before Lee broke the deafening silence.

"Are you going to talk to me about this?"

"You mean like you talk to me about things?" you snipped and got out. As much as you wanted to slam his door to make him cringe, you quietly shut it in caution of your dark surroundings.

Lee sighed heavily, reached in the back to grab the flashlights and then got out too, handing you one.

The night air was crisp and the moon half full as you began to walk towards the sound of the horn to the train that now ran on the newly rerouted track under another bridge close by. It was a good fifteen minute walk, so you picked up the pace.

"Jo...could you slow down? It's still early and the path is not level. You're going to trip."

"Just keeping my distance. I can smell the rank of her cheap ass dollar store perfume all over you."

You no more than finished your snarky comment and down you went, tripping over a large tree root.

"Owww, fuck. Damn it."

"Jo, babe...are you alright?" Lee asked as he tried to help you up.

"I got it! I'm fine." you snapped, pulling away from him and continuing on with a slight limp.

Lee shook his head and chuckled. "Of course you are. Tough as nails. One of the many things I love about you."

"Can you just shut up?"

"Yes ma'am." he said and smirked, loving how damn sexy he thought you were when you were mad.

When you both arrived at the bridge, there was no sign of Jason yet. He was always punctual so you had at least an hour to sit there with Lee.

Lee looked around at the unfamiliar territory as he stood atop the bridge constructed of stone that overlooked the train tracks beneath. It had an old dirt road that crossed it and there were actually street lights and an old functional payphone nearby.

"So, you mean to tell me I could have drove here?"

"Well sure, if you don't mind driving your precious classic over two foot pot holes the entire way here." you retorted as you climbed up on the ledge and sat down.

"Yeaaaah, that would be a big fat no. Sooo, now what? It's only 11."

"A train will be though soon. It's pretty surreal to sit up here when it goes under. The entire bridge shakes and the wind will make your eyes water. I like to dangle my feet over the edge and swing them. It's like I'm running over top of the train."

"Interesting. The girl who's afraid of heights likes to be so daring."

"I'm not afraid of heights. I'm afraid of falling." you told him and finally looked into his eyes. Lee understood the look and your words that reminded him of previous conversations with you.

"I won't let you fall." he softly said and at down beside you and gazed down below. "That's still a hefty drop. If it didn't kill you, it would definitely break a lot of bones."

"Probably, but this ledge is nice and wide. I just hold onto the back when I let my legs hang over."

"You can always hold onto me."

You looked away and stared out into the darkness, feeling the softness towards him coming on...damn it.

"You want a drink?"

"A...drink?" you asked with a raised brow.

"Yep. Brought this little friend with me."

Lee pulled out a small pint of whiskey from inside of his coat pocket, then removed his coat and opened it up, handing it to you.

"100 proof. It'll warm you up and take the edge off." he said with a smile.

You half smiled and took it, then knocked back a swig, cringing instantly at the burn as the highly flammable liquid seared down your throat.

"It'll take more than the edge off. Like possibly the lining of my throat and stomach, holy hell." you stammered with a cough.

Lee chuckled. "You alright?"

"Yep." you grunted and handed it back to him. "Tough as nails, remember?"

Lee took a large gulp of the potent fire, completely tolerant of it's stinging burn, then hopped off the ledge and walked around the corner of the bridge.

"Cool, there's steps over here to go down to the tracks." he raved with a grin and headed down to look around. "You comin?"

"Nah...I'm good."

You then carefully turned and let your legs hang freely so you could view him.

"Yep, you're pretty far up there." Lee said and laughed as he peered up at you.

"This is nothing compared to the old unused trestle way up there just behind the trees that runs over the river wild. That's the one I'm afraid of. The fall and the water. Nope."

"You're not afraid of the water either. You're afraid of drowning...right?"

"You gonna save me from drowning too?"

"Always." Lee said. "But maybe you'll trust me enough someday to let me teach you how to swim first."

You became silent again so Lee put his hands in his pockets and began walking around, kicking rocks with his head lowered, and then he stopped and looked back up at you with a story telling smile.

"Do you know I was afraid of trains as a kid? They were so big and I was so small. They were so loud, much like the storms that I also feared as you do."

"Not Jacob though. He was fearless for his size. In his mind, he was six feet tall and bullet proof. I guess we know who and where he got that from."

In that moment you realized how frightened he was to meet Jason, the man who was biologically Jacob's father, yet Lee was the one who who fathered Jacob for his entire short years and he was the only one Jacob knew as his dad....and now that reveal was going to become reality for Lee. Also in that moment, you forgave him about Angel, for Jacob was the only reason he did it. You saw Lee shove her away instead of continuing on and even if you hadn't been watching, you knew he still would have done the same thing. Lee was just a desperate father wanting to know what happened to his son.

"I...I remember your stories about your dad easing all those fears and how you ended up loving trains...and how Gordon helped you deal with the storms too. Parents are great when you have the right kind and you...you Lee, were the right kind for Jacob...and Jason knew and believed that. That's why he stayed away, to protect Jake physically from his life of crime and also mentally from being ripped away from the only father he had ever known. Now Liz...well, she wasn't nor is the right kind of parent and if Jason had knew that earlier, well...he would have handled her....in fact, he was going to and she knew it, which is why she aided in taking him out first. Lee....it's going to be ok. You and Jason, you're both victims in Liz's lies and manipulations. He's on your side, although he may not be too happy that I brought you here. I know your worried to see him but...Lee, his presence, it changes nothing. You...are Jake's daddy...always and Jake knows that."

"You really are so beautiful, you know that? Your heart, they just don't make em like you anymore." he chuckled. "I guess that's why it took me so long to find you. After everything I have done and everything I have put you through, you're still in my corner and I couldn't love you more than I do right now...ok well yes I could but you know what I mean. Jo Jo....about Angel...I..."

"I know baby."

The train horn blared from the darkness behind Lee and then a dim light came into view.

"Lee, the train, it's coming. Come on! You gotta sit up here and experience this!!"

Lee came jogging up the stairs, sat beside you and whipped his legs over the ledge. You both stared at each other with adrenalized expressions as a light breeze began to creep up, being carried by the speeding bullet.

You gasped at the echoing horn blaring one last time as the beast came straight for you and Lee, inching closer by the second. Lee laid his palm out as he gazed at your glowing face. You slapped your hand down onto his, fingers weaving tightly together in unison as the repetitive clanking of the rails grew closer. Your chests were tightening, but in a good way as you both stared the oncoming monster in it's glowing eyes.

Lee's arm went over your lap like a seatbelt, his other hand still clasping yours as your bodies became engulfed in a blinding bubble of the whitest white. You gazed at Lee who was in a relaxed trance like state as he faced his past fears head on. His eyes then closed and he tilted his head back, taking in the rush as the light took over him.

The train then rushed and roared beneath your swinging feet as it's violent wind of fury burst through your hair.

"WoooooOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!" you screeched into the night as Lee released the breath he was holding in a hard puff and he then turned with gaping eyes to watch the train disappear into the darkness followed by the fainting sound of the thumping tracks. All was dark and quiet once more except for the pounding of your hearts.

Lee's eyes quickly met back with yours, both of you panting with slowly forming smiles and then his hands came firmly to your face, his fingers gripping the back of your head. His gaze was intense and your eyes screamed with desire, both of you high on dopamine. Your trembling fingers grasped his wrists and then his lips swiftly made their way to yours, forcing a soft mewl to squeak out of you. The wind lightly lingered, swirling about as you both shared a deeply passionate kiss filled with urgency for one another. If it weren't for the fact you would be meeting Jason very soon, you would have knocked Lee to the ground and took him right then and there.

But then, the faint rumble of a motorcycle broke the heated moment and then it went silent. Gasping, you jumped to your feet.

"Jason's here!" you loudly whispered, grabbling Lee's wrist to look at his watch. Midnight on the dot.

As you gawked down the path with anticipation, Lee stood right at your side with his arm around your waist. Jason was quite stealthy, so you knew he would appear without a sound and then...there he was.

Jason halted briefly when he saw Lee and then he continued on his way to you, his face full of emotion that most would say he didn't possess but the truth was, only those he loved could keep stone cold at bay.

He then slowly approached you, one hand in his pocket as he reached for you with his other arm and hugged you, one thing he wasn't big on doing.

"I'm so sorry for everything." he whispered into your ear.

One thing though, when Jason was wrong, he admitted it.

"I know. I'm just so glad you're alive and that you're here."

Jason released you and smiled, then looked at Lee, making your heart sink as you expected stone cold to surface, but once again, your brother shocked you.

"Lee. It's good to finally meet you." Jason softly said and extended his hand out.

Lee reached back and shook his hand. "You too Jason."

Flabbergasted, you gazed at Lee, then at Jason. "You...you're not mad that I brought him?"

"I knew you would. I know you better than you know yourself Jo. I get it. I've already put you in an unfair predicament in keeping my secret. I never expected you to keep it from the one you love."

"Well umm so...let me cut right to the chase about my code red text. It's not so secret anymore Jay. Liz knows...accidentally by me, at the hospital. The witch was hiding and listening to a conversation I had with Lee. I'm SO sorry...I didn't mean to..."

"It's ok. Is she the only one?"

"As far as I know, she told Lee's neighbor, Angel, who's her friend and a nurse at the hospital....but...I don't know. Lee saw her with Ethan yesterday at the hospital and then there's Cyrus who...."

"I know all about Cyrus's new position. I also know you were admitted. Are you ok? You have to know I would have been there if I were able."

"Yeah, I..I know you would have and yeah, I'm ok now. Just stress basically. Lee...he...he got me there right away and..."

"I know that too. Thank you..Lee...for saving my sister."

"No thanks necessary. I would lay down my life for her if needed."

You smiled and rubbed Lee's arm.

"Ok, how do you know all of this?" you then asked Jason.

"I was eavesdropping on Mom's phone call to Livvie at the house before I took my bike."

"WHAT??? Jason! She's going to notice that it's gone, are you nuts?? How the hell did you get the keys, which she'll also know is missing??"

"Extra set I kept at Sonny's. Mom don't go in the garage often and as long as she sees my keys, she'll have no reason to look. If she does, I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

"Ummm, she was just in there and saw my car, asking me all about that."

"Yeah, why is your car there?"

"That's a story for another time. God Jason, this is all going to blow up in our faces. I mean, you're out riding your damn bike for fuck's sake. You couldn't have had Max or Milo take you??"

"Ok, so you know? I am wearing my helmet for once in my life. Many guys have similar bikes and dress like me when they ride...hell, Lee's dressed like me right now AND it's not like I'm joy riding through town Jo. And you know Sonny's guys are being watched by Cyrus's men and most likely the Zacchara's too, so no Jo. I didn't find it feasible to taxi around in Sonny's cars."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, if mom calls me about your missing bike, you know I'm going to have to tell her. I'm not going to lie to her like I've been doing now for all this time. When Jason, when is this going to end???"

"I'm working on that Jo."

"So you keep saying Jason and yet, here we still are. If I hadn't seen you, would I still be in the dark??"

"You were going to be the first person to know, I swear it. It just wasn't supposed to be so soon."

"Oh really? Sonny knew before me. Sonny and Carly always come first."

"Jo..don't do this. Not now. I didn't come here to fight. I missed you and needed to see you after knowing you were in the hospital."

You began to cry. "This is bullshit Jay. Having to meet in a desolate dark place because we can't just normally call each other or text without stupid fucking codes, or go to lunch together like we used to or...."

Jason pulled you into another hug, this time with both arms.

"I know. I'm so sorry. Soon Jo...soon. I promise you it will all be over and we can do those things again."

Lee watched in envy as you cried in the comfort of Jason's arms, for he wanted to be the one to hold you, but he knew you needed your brother in that moment, so he stayed silent and gave you both space.

"So, you're not going to tell me what you're planning?" you asked as you pulled back and wiped your tears as you sniffled.

"No Jo. It's better that way. You know that. The less you know, the less danger you're in which is why I couldn't tell you I was alive."

"I knew something was wrong Jay. That day you asked me over to Sonny's restaurant. You knew you you had a target on your back and told me you changed your will, but what you failed to tell me was that you left the boat to Mom and now look. She fucking sold it....and to Ethan's piece of shit dad of all people. Why Jason?? Why didn't you leave it to me???"

"Because I knew you'd keep it and Mom wouldn't. Jo...I wanted her to sell it. The Haunted Star has been a thorn in our family's side with all that I let go on there."

"Well a lot of good THAT did, because now it's just going to continue and get worse with dirty daddy Bloom running the show. I could have turned it into something good, like it once was!"

"Jo...just let it go."

"And why do I feel like you're not talking about the boat?? Oh, that's right, you can't or won't I should say, tell me. OK...so now what? What about Liz? What if she goes shooting her mouth off to make sure you really are dead?? How easy it would be for Cyrus or Johnny or even Ethan to do it since you're already legally dead."

"I told you I would handle her and I will."

"Yeah well...did you know she's dumped Craig's kid off with Angel?? Or should I say, Ethan's kid?"

"Craig will get Blaise back, mark my words. There's no way Ethan will ever get his hands on her. Craig will kill him before I do if that happens."

"Honestly? It should have already been done! God, I can't believe I'm saying things like that."

You turned to Lee and laid your head on his shoulder. "You...ok? You're so quiet."

"Yeah baby. I'm just letting the two of you talk."

"You can too...if...you want. About, you know."

"Phew...yeah. So uh...Jason. Jo...she told me about Jacob."

"I knew she would tell you that too. How could she not? I'm sorry for what Liz did to you. For the record, you're Jake's father. You always have been and always will be. I didn't know you but I knew who you were and knew Jake loved you. It's how I wanted it. He was better off with you." Jason told Lee with sincere eyes.

"Thank you, truly, for saying that but it turns out he wasn't though."

"That wasn't your fault Lee. I was going to remove her from the equation so you could raise Jake but then things got twisted around as you know."

"Jason...I was driving the car that night. It was dark and raining and I...I didn't check his buckle because she told me she did and I...I stupidly believed her....and I...crashed. How is that not my fault?"

"Because we all know it was hers." Jason immediately answered.

"And she will swear her innocence until she's blue in the face, which I wouldn't mind at this point. There's no proof. She'll never admit to it."

"She already did. That's why I was going to finish her. That's why she wanted me dead." Jason revealed, his blue eyes burning with tears.

You and Lee looked at each other, both stunned, then back at Jason.

"Wait...what?" you asked. "What do you mean she already did? You told me at Craig's you only suspected it. Jason, Lee deserved to know this! My god, he has blamed himself for so long!"

"I didn't know how to, I still don't but you're right, he deserves to know and it's time I tell you. So...here it goes. A few weeks before the accident, she let me see him one time in hopes it would make me change my mind and want to be with her. It was at the hospital when he went for a routine doctor's check up. He had just turned 5 and his hair was super blonde then...like mine was when I was that age and his eyes....I saw mine. She told him my name and he looked at me and said "Hi". While we waited, I sat and played with him. He had this toy train, the locomotive part. I guess I wasn't doing it right, moving the train about, so he showed me how to do it and when I did it to his satisfactory, he looked up at me with the biggest smile. And he said to me very proudly, "My daddy made this for me for my birthday"."

Lee's hand went to his mouth and he turned around to hide his welled up eyes. You immediately went to him and hugged him, unable to even imagine what he must be feeling.

"Lee, I'm sorry...I...I just thought you would like to know how much he adored you and that train, but I'm sure you already did. I..I should have left this part out, it was...really selfish of me. It's just that...it's the only moment I ever had with him after finding out he was mine...well, my blood anyways." Jason regretfully said.

"No...no...it's alright. I remember that day. I was upstairs working." Lee replied, his voice a bit choked up. "Please....just go on about Liz."

"Ok. Well.....about a week after Jake's funeral and I was out on some business one night. I came across a highly inebriated Liz and she was with Ethan, walking on the pier. It was the first time I had seen him in awhile and found out he had come back for the funeral after we talked for a bit. Then Liz asked Ethan to leave her and I alone for a minute and as soon as he walked away, she started in on me, blasting me about choosing Britt. She was belligerent and slapped me, more than once but I took it with a grain of salt, believing that she was just grieving and clearly three sheets to the wind, just like she was the night she told me I was Jacob's father."

The grain of salt comment had you and Lee briefly glancing at each other.

"She then began to belittle me with excessively added vulgarity and then she said...."

Jason had to stop for a moment, for it was very hard for him to relay what he was told.

"Whew man...umm...ok...she said....."You should have chosen me, then your son would still be alive." Her eyes were so sinister and I...I think for the first time in my life I was speechless. I just remember blankly staring at her as she rambled on how she purposely started a fight with Lee, striking him and grabbing the wheel and also how she.......how she intentionally left the buckle to Jake's car seat undone and lied to Lee, saying it was latched. She screamed at me, saying this is what you get for choosing that slut and in that moment, I...I thought, no, she's drunk and lying to hurt me but her cold eyes told me she was telling the truth. I wanted to strangle her but Ethan came out and then a few civilians came down the steps. He got her to leave with him and that's when I vowed revenge. She knew I would come, so that's when she took off to New Zealand. She conveniently came back two months later with Craig and knocked up, claiming the kid was his so I had no choice but to back off. She had used him and her pregnancy and he wouldn't listen to me that I believed her to be pregnant before she left. Of course he learned the hard way a year later when they split up and she took off with Ethan and Blaise. I stupidly let her go because I was having problems with Britt over my guilt and deemed Liz to be Craig's problem as I felt he deserved and then she resurfaced with Ethan, hanging around with Johnny and then a year after that, all that shit went down with Cyrus and he went to prison for two years, but shortly before he was released....I learned of the target on my back and then....I died."

Lee's lips were bound tightly together as he visibly shook. You took his hand and tried to calm him.

"Lee...hey...look at me. Breathe baby."

"I'll breathe when she breathes no more." he said in a cold dark tone. "She stood over my hospital bed after the accident, not a fucking mark on her as I laid there all cut up and told me Jacob was dead before I even knew what happened and then she told me it was all my fault and her eyes....they were the same as you just described them. Jesus...I...can't right now."

"I remember you telling me about that. God Lee, I'm so sorry and for you too Jason. She belongs locked away for life."

"She deserves much worse than that." Lee reeled. "You've said you're going to handle her Jason...so...when?? I'll gladly assist."

'What?? Lee, don't say things like that, please." you said in panic.

"Why not?? She killed my son! She planned the whole sick fucking thing and I now I know the truth, finally."

"Ok, Lee, this is another reason I didn't want to tell you. Trust me, I know what you're feeling and I myself had to literally be tied down so I didn't run out there half cocked and do something stupid. You don't need the back blow. Let me handle this. You have a lot to lose if you get involved. Your career and my sister. Is Liz worth all that???"

You anxiously stared at Lee, your eyes full of tears as he hesitated to look away from you and give his answer.

"I think I'm way past involved. You have a lot to lose as well. Britt for one. Don't you want to be with her eventually? You can't do that if you wind up in prison or really dead because you know you'll get back blow too."

"Lee, respectfully, I didn't do all this to just go lay down. They all tried to kill me and could have killed Jo in that explosion."

"I get it man. I've done things to get results, such as earlier tonight but it was flat out stupid. I wasn't thinking straight. Why not just kill two birds with one stone and then go from there?"

"I'm sorry?" Jason asked, confused.

"You need a fall guy and there's no one better than Ethan. He set you up for a fall now do the same for him. He was seen arguing with Liz today and it's all over her kid. I want him out of our lives as badly as you do."

"So you're saying to set him up for her death?" Jason asked, seemingly interested in the idea.

"Ok, whoa!! Lee, are you really standing here right now, plotting a hit with my brother???? Do I really have to ask you WHO you are again??? You've all lost your damn minds! You just said you did something stupid because you weren't thinking straight and then you do a 180 right into a pre-meditated murder scheme. This cannot be happening right now. I'm dreaming. I'm fucking dreaming. You're a doctor! You chose to save lives Lee. You took that oath. You're not a fucking assassin like Jason with a death warrant! I never should have brought you." you raged as you began to pace. "And you Jay, you're actually considering this??"

"Jo...you've known my plan all along so why is this so shocking to you?? You know how this ends Jo whether you like it or not."

"Oh I don't know, maybe because it involves my fucking boyfriend who I don't want to be like you! You do what you gotta do Jason, but you leave Lee out of this. This ENDS here. This conversation NEVER happened. I'm done and I'm going the fuck home."

You stormed off, climbing over the metal guard rail and marched down the path to get back to the car.

"Jo! Hold up." Lee shouted. "I gotta go man."

"Yeah, of course, go. I'm sorry about all this."

"No worries. Just do what Jo said. Do what you gotta do. There's no judgement on my end, so you know." Lee assured and then ran off after you. "Jo, wait up!"

It was another silent ride home, for it was always one step forward and two steps back when it came to happiness anymore. You and Lee had shared such a wonderful moment together at the bridge and then just like that, it all went to shit in a matter of minutes. Sure, you wished Liz would disappear, the same as Jason and Lee wished she would, but to plot her demise was utterly insane.

Your thoughts were soon distracted as Lee neared his house.

"Lee, stop!!"

"What??!"

"Stop the car, stop the car!"

He quickly pulled off to the side and parked behind another car.

"Turn your lights off!"

"Jo, what is going on???"

"LOOK!"

Lee turned to see Mr. Carpenter speeding out to his car from Angel's house, looking quite pissed off while tucking his shirt in and adjusting his jewels.

"You've got to be kidding me. Gross!" you reeled.

Lee felt even more humiliated now and disgusted that he allowed that woman's lips to touch him and your reaction made him feel ten times worse.

Angel then came running out behind him and they stood at his car loudly arguing but not enough to hear what they were saying and then....he grabbed her by the throat and began screaming at her. You gasped as your hands flew to cover your mouth and Lee sat frozen, not sure if he should intervene. Angel wasn't the greatest human being but she didn't even compare to what Liz was and also, she was Dash's mother. Then there was the fact she had been really good to Lee's father.

Just as he had made the decision to get out and had his hand on the door handle, Mr. Carpenter freed Angel, then got in his car and sped off.

Lee waited until Angel went inside and then he backed up, keeping his lights off and turned down the alley that led around the back to his garage. Once inside the house, he went straight to the kitchen, turned on the light, then the music and grabbed a beer.

"Jesus...well if THAT didn't prove he was violent with his family and probably caused Henrietta's tumor. He's clearly dangerous." you anxiously puffed out and sat down across the table from Lee.

"If I see him put his hands on another woman, or even Angel again, I'm going to finish what I started with him....unless it's Liz." Lee expressed quite seriously as he calmly drank his beer.

There was that side of him again, angry and vengeful words paired with a relaxed nature and that truly frightened you.

"Tell me you weren't serious about Liz earlier tonight. Just tell me that, please." you quietly said.

"How do you want me to feel Jo? Because I can't feel a certain way just because you want me to. I want her to suffer like she made Jacob suffer and if that makes me a bad person, then so fucking be it." he quickly and flatly stated.

"But you're not a bad person Lee. You're not."

Lee was silent for a moment as he stared at and fondled the label on his bottle, then he gulped down the entirety of his malt beverage.

"It was me Jo. I did it."

"Umm, w...what...was you?"

"I cut her seatbelt." he bluntly answered, then got up and slowly trekked up the stairs.

You closed your eyes and sighed. Deep down you already knew that but you weren't going to make a big deal out of it, for you knew at the time, he only did it to taunt her like she had done to him for so long. But now, he was talking of harming her and conspiring with your brother to do so and that, you would definitely make a big deal out of. This is the kind of thing Jason did. There was nothing you could ever say or do to make him stop and his influence had already rubbed off on Lee in a matter of only thirty minutes. That severely worried you because that's how Jason got sucked into Sonny's world and you were not going to let that happen to the man you loved more than life itself and the way Lee spoke tonight and the look in his eyes while doing so, scared the living hell out of you, for it seemed to come so natural to him.

You decided to let Lee have some space and whipped up some leftovers from the dinner he made, then took a plate full in the living room and ate on the couch as you listened to the music he had turned on. Behind blue eyes came on and all you could do was listen to another sign being thrown in your face, because the song was a lyrical elucidation of Lee.

"No one knows what it's like to be the bad man, to be the sad man behind blue eyes."

"Ahhh, to what do I owe this displeasure after 1 a.m. when I'm drunk and cranky? I've been looking for you all day Lizzy." Ethan snarked as he played a game of solitary in the party lounge aboard the Haunted Star.

"Well, here I am, unfortunately. I debated coming here, you know, to have to listen to more of your ludicrous accusations about Blaise?"

"Then why did you come? Because that's my story and I'm sticking to it. She's my kid."

"Because you owe me."

"Excuse me?? How do I owe YOU anything??"

"Remember when you called me over to Johnny's after you got your ass kicked by Luke and needed help?"

"Oh...that. Yeah so?"

"Well now you can repay the favor and give me a place to stay. There's plenty of cabins here."

"Why the hell do you want to stay here? and where's my daughter??"

"Stop it Ethan." Liz snapped as she sat down at the table with him. "Stop believing everything your twisted butt buddy Johnny feeds you."

"Ok, he is NOT my butt buddy. He prefers women so you know."

"So do you but that never stopped you from swaying in the opposite direction. Anyways, speaking of your brother Luke. What's his deal? I saw him tonight at the bar and the dude was creeping me out. He kept staring at me, but it was more like a leer. You haven't been telling him shit about me have you?"

"Nobody has to tell him anything. He just knows stuff. That's what's creepy. As far as his look, it just got stuck that way. He's pissed off at the world and takes it out on everybody else. But fair warning. Steer clear of him. Lee's his friend. I'll bet my right nut he don't like you and that look he served, it was personal. Like Jason, he has no feelings of remorse. I'm his own brother and look what he did to me."

"Oh, you mean like what you don't and like what did to your own brother too?"

"Are you of all people judging me Lizzy B?? Paint it black why don't ya. Of all the years I've known you....it seems I don't really know you at all. Even Johnny said that the night you came to his penthouse. And he's not twisted you know, he's smart. He sure has your number."

"Whatever and you always fall for his line of BS, because that's what it is. Speaking of Zacchara, I also ran into him tonight, literally as I walked out of the bar and as usual, he was full of his rude wit, joking about me being a dead woman walking and pointing his finger at me like a gun and firing it, which he made no secret of at his place that same night you speak of that he wanted to off me. Luckily you talked him out of it."

Liz recalled that night. How could she ever forget how Johnny revealed all of her darkest dirty deeds, secrets and motives, hitting the nail right on the head about every single bit of it when she never even told a soul. Well, except for Jason in her drunken stupor...who was now alive and would eventually come for her.

"Oh right, when he toyed with you by holding a gun on you and made you go wee wee." Ethan jested with a hearty smile and now wished he hadn't talked Johnny down, for Johnny told him the truth about Liz and he had refused to believe it then.

"Ugh...that's not funny! Enough about him. Can I stay here or not Ethan? He creeped me out but honestly, it's Cyrus that I'm the most worried about." she said, wondering if she should even tell Ethan Jason was alive, for she believed it would highly distract him when she needed him to be focused on her. But at the same time, she also felt Ethan should be aware and ready, because Jason would come for him too. When was the question. Jason was strategic and stealthy. A thief in the night.

Ethan laughed. "Let me get this straight. You want to stay here to be protected from a notorious mob boss who hates your guts about as much as he hates Corinthos? I already got his hulk of a son on my ass with blackmail which he will soon pay for so I don't need Cyrus after me as well. And once again...where is Blaise??"

"Not that it's any of your business, but she is tucked away from Craig and his whack job creator. That's all you need to know. And if you fuck with Craig, you can bet your ass that Cyrus will be after you like flies on shit, that's if Craig don't get to you first."

"And keeping Blaise from Craig is your answer? That's why Cyrus despises you if you haven't noticed. Come on Lizzy, you don't have connections and resources like I do to keep you both under the radar. Renault has plenty of those as well. If he wants to find her and end you, which I would bet my left nut that he does, then he will. I mean, he actually gave you a head start by firing you. He likes to hunt and you're now the hunted. If you want to stay here, you need to tell me where she is so I can keep her safe from him and Craig if something were to say....happen...to you.... or no deal. You see...I am your only hope it seems, not that I want to be. It's simple really. I'm capable of keeping you both safe. Isn't that what you want and why you're really here? You gotta throw me a bone. I don't do shit for free."

"You'll really do that? Take care of her?"

"You know I will Liz. We can go get her right now and bring her here and then we can get out of dodge....go to the other side of the pond back where you won't be a sitting duck waiting for the goose and we will live happily ever after. Just you, me and our daughter. No way in hell Craig is going to have her. I'll put both my nuts on that."

"You're going to take us to England? Umm, what about Lee??"

"What about him?"

"Oh come on Ethan. Like you're just going to walk away from him."

"Well, right now, I kind of have to, but I'll be back for him and no one, not even that little tramp of his will stop me. I don't want to talk about him. These damn blue balls are killing me as it is cuz I'm growing bored of fucking Josie's sister. Now, are we going to do this or what? I'm getting a bit antsy here and you know how I get when I'm antsy."

"Yeah, antsy rearranges into nasty. Fine. She's with Angel. I'll text her and tell her I'm coming and to have her ready."

Ethan gazed at Liz, his dark eyes holding a look that could kill, like a lion locked on it's prey and he formed an even darker grin that quickly faded into an emotionless expression as she texted away. He also had her number and he had orders to carry out.

They then both got up and walked out with Ethan briefly stopping to turn the lights out as he smiled once more, followed by a dastardly chuckle and whisper under his breath.

"Lights out Lizzy."

@redeemer46

[ceeceeforeigngeek0927]

Power Rangers Dino Thunder: A New Storm Preview

(I am currently working on a AU retelling of Dino Thunder fanfiction with some altered details and some events switched around and some original ideas spread in. The biggest of which being having Jason returning as the mentor and black ranger instead of Tommy. As well as, the identity of Zeltrax which I will not spoil here. If you have any questions, please let me know in a comment or reblog and I'll let you all know when the first chapter will be finished and uploaded to my ao3 page. P.S; I'm gonna try posting more about my fanfics and series I'm into.)

Summary: After years retired from his duties as a ranger, Jason Lee Scott and Anton Mercer's research team had attempted to study genetics to move humanity to the next stage. But things went wrong and their research and lab were destroyed. Now, he finds himself in Reefside High School as a science professor. One day, he is entrusted with three students in detention; popular soccer player Conner McKnight, computer geek Ethan James, and aspiring musician Kira Ford. Mysterious circumstances lead to them finding powerful stones known as the dino gems and together, the three are chosen to defeat a mutant monster known as Mesogog and his minions who wants to eradicate all life on Earth. Together, they are the Power Dino Thunder.

[ninjiniz]

A little drawing to celebrate the arrival of my first fanfic! Pls enjoy <3

[royallyprincesslilly]

Just made it to chapter 17 of Best Friend and I wanted to take a moment to let you know I think you are an amazing author. Very seldom do I get so into the plot of a fanfic that I forget that THAT'S what I'm reading. 1/2 way through this particular story, I caught myself thinking it was "just some dude named Jason" as opposed to superimposing Jason Momoa onto this character.

I can hardly wait to look through the rest of your masterlist❤

Wow. I'm so sorry I missed this. The strangest thing, I don't see this on the mobile app. I can only see this on my laptop. I'm sorry for the late(I'm assuming) reply.

Thank you for checking out "Best Friends". I appreciate it! Also, think you so much for your sweet words. I'm so flattered! I'm sitting here with such a wide smile. Lol.

I hope you found other things you enjoyed on my masterlist or somewhere on my page(there is plenty not on that list because it is so out of date)

Thank you again!