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levi-4uckerman · 23 days ago

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satoru gojo x reader // like ghosts in the snow // chapter three

Words: 4.7k ♥ the one where u kiss a lil bit ♥ no TWs, just cute Satoru n some light angst/comfort action Previous chapter :33 Next chapper >:33

╰┈➤This is a Flashback Chapter, but i promise i kept it relevant! no world building or unnecessary characters, just good old fashioned bonding :))

✎ reminder that reader has been given the default name 'shiori myoji'!. you have a clairvoyance technique and a two-year old gojo >;3 enjoy!!

...

Tokyo, Japan / January 2015 (see timeline here)

You saw more of Satoru after the ceremony. He’d find you when you were visiting campus grounds, sometimes bump into you on your way into meetings with the Jujutsu council. It made you a little nervous, knowing that he likely wasn’t finding you by accident, but it wasn’t until he’d somehow gotten ahold of your phone number that you started getting really annoyed.

“You’d better be dying,” you rasped, your voice heavy with sleep. It was nearly midnight, and Satoru had called you three times. You only picked up on the third because you were certain it was an emergency— which it was not.

“Nah,” he replied coolly. “Just lonely. Whatcha doin’?”

“Gojo, it’s nearly midnight. I’m sleeping.”

“It’s Satoru off-the-clock, babe,” you could practically hear the smirk in his voice, cringing as you listened to him go on. “Besides, it’s Friday night. Why are you going to bed at old man hours?”

“I have a migraine,” you grumbled. “Don’t you know about those?”

“Of course, I know about migraines,” he replied, his tone shifting slightly as if offended. “I just don’t let them stop me from living my life.”

You groaned, rubbing your temple. “Living your life? You’re calling me at midnight to bother me. How’s that for living?”

“Aw, come on, Shi-chan,” he teased, and you could almost see him leaning back with that stupid grin on his face. “You can’t tell me you don’t secretly look forward to my calls.”

“Gojo—”

“Satoru,” he corrected smoothly.

“Satoru,” you seethed through gritted teeth, “if you don’t give me a real reason for why you’re calling, I’m hanging up.”

There was a pause on the other end of the line, just long enough for you to wonder if he took you seriously, but then he exhaled dramatically.

“Alright, alright,” he relented. “You caught me. I wanted to see if you’d come out for food.”

You stared at the ceiling, dumbfounded. “You called me three times in the middle of the night for food?”

“Well, yeah,” he said, as if it were obvious. “You’ve barely eaten today! Don’t think I didn’t notice.”

Your silence must have given you away because he chuckled softly. “You’re predictable, Shi-chan. Always working yourself to death, skipping meals like they’re optional. I’m just doing my civic duty as a fellow sorcerer to keep you alive.”

You rolled your eyes, even though you knew he couldn’t see the gesture. “You’re unbelievable.”

“Unbelievably thoughtful,” he corrected. “So? What do you say? Midnight ramen? My treat.”

“It had better be,” you shot back. “You’re loaded.”

“Okay, fine,” he replied casually. “I’ll throw in dessert. Come on, it’ll help with the headache. Trust me.”

You sighed, debating whether you had the energy to argue. Honestly, the thought of food was tempting, especially since you had skipped dinner.

“Fine,” you relented, tossing your blanket aside. “But only if you promise not to talk the entire time.”

“No can do,” he said, and you could hear the grin in his voice. “But I’ll promise to be entertaining.”

“Debatable,” you muttered.

Thirty minutes later, you found yourself sitting across from Satoru in a nearly empty ramen shop, wondering how you had allowed yourself to be dragged out of bed for this.

“So,” he grinned at you, twirling his chopsticks expertly. “How’s the migraine?”

You shot him a flat look. “Still there. You’re not helping.”

He laughed, leaning forward on his elbows. “You’ll thank me later when you’re full of delicious ramen and no longer grumpy.”

You huffed but took a sip of broth anyway, the warmth soothing your headache more than you wanted to admit. “This doesn’t mean I’m going to make a habit of this, you know.”

“Of course not,” he asserted, though the mischievous glint in his eyes told you he didn’t believe you. “But you’ll answer my calls next time, right?”

“Only if you’re dying,” you replied, slurping your noodles.

He smirked. “Guess I’ll have to get creative.”

You groaned, but deep down, you knew that you would answer.

And so it began. Your evening outings with Satoru became more frequent, to the point that he’d started to skip the courtesy call. Satoru would knock, and you’d already be dressed, ready to partake in whatever late-night cravings he had in mind. You told yourself it was just for the free meal, a convenient distraction, but that excuse felt thinner every time you walked out the door with him.

You found yourself lingering on the way he leaned back in his seat, one arm slung casually over the backrest as he told an outrageous story about his students. Or the way his face lit up whenever he convinced you to try something new, his grin infectious enough to make you laugh even when you weren’t planning to.

You liked him. Just a little. Enough that you didn’t mind his teasing quite so much anymore, or the way he always made it a point to walk you back home, even when you insisted that you didn’t need an escort.

One evening, Satoru had something different in mind when he showed up unannounced. His bandages were pushed up into his hair, leaving his eyes bare, and he looked… excited. More so than usual.

“What is it?” you asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“Put your shoes on, Shi-chan,” he instructed, waving a hand like he was summoning you. “We’re going out.”

You groaned, crossing your arms. “What are you dragging me into now?”

“Dessert,” he said simply, as if that explained everything.

“Dessert?”

“Not just any dessert,” he clarified, his grin widening. “The best parfaits in the city. Trust me, you’re gonna love it.”

You raised an eyebrow, skeptical. “Is this just an excuse to feed your sugar addiction?”

“Maybe,” he admitted with a shrug. “But I’m not going alone, so get moving.”

With a sigh, you grabbed your coat and followed him out the door, trying to ignore the way your stomach turned when he held the door open for you, smiling expectantly.

The parfait shop was small and tucked away into a quiet alley, lit by warm, glowing lanterns. The moment you stepped inside, the air was filled with the sweet aroma of fresh fruit, whipped cream, and caramel. You couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped you.

Satoru led the way to a booth in the corner, practically bouncing in his seat as he opened the menu. “Look at this,” he enthused, pointing to an elaborate parfait topped with layers of strawberries, matcha ice cream, and tiny macarons. “This one’s calling out to me.”

“That’s enough sugar for three of you,” you muttered, scanning the menu.

“What are you getting?” he asked, leaning over the table. “Ooh, you should try the mango one. Or the chocolate banana. Or the—”

“I can read, Satoru,” you said, cutting him off with a small, reluctant smile. “And I can decide for myself.”

When the parfaits arrived, they were too pretty to eat— almost. Satoru wasted no time digging into his strawberry concoction, humming in satisfaction after the first bite.

“This is the one,” he outright moaned, pointing his spoon at you. “You don’t know what you’re missing.”

You rolled your eyes, but you couldn’t deny how good the sweetness in front of you looked. You took a tentative bite of the chocolate banana parfait, and the immediate burst of flavor was enough to make you pause.

“See?” Satoru smirked as he watched your reaction. “Told you.”

On the walk back to your apartment, Satoru insisted on a detour to a nearby taiyaki stand—because, as he so eloquently put it, his daily sugar quota hadn’t been met, parfait notwithstanding. He carried the box of warm, fish-shaped pastries under his arm as you strolled through the quiet streets of suburban Tokyo. His voice filled the air, rambling about something inconsequential, his excitement infectious in the way that only Satoru Gojo could manage.

The gears in your mind turned over as you listened. This felt so familiar, like something you’d watched from a distance long ago. Him, lighting up at the simplest joys. The image of Satoru as a budding adult, walking alongside Suguru Geto, slipped into your mind unbidden. You’d seen him like this before—his shoulders relaxed, his grin easy, his words tumbling out with the same unguarded enthusiasm. Back then, it had been Suguru who tempered his boundless energy, who grounded him just enough to remind him that he was human.

The thought sent an ache through your chest. This wasn’t just nostalgia; it was Satoru searching for something, someone, to make him feel anchored again. Someone to remind him that he wasn’t untouchable. That he wasn’t just the Six Eyes, the strongest sorcerer, but Satoru—flawed, messy, and still yearning for the companionship that had once made him whole. But could that really be you?

And did you want it to be?

When you looked up again, your building was quickly approaching.

“Thanks for coming out,” he said casually, glancing over at you.

“Didn’t have much of a choice,” you replied, but your tone lacked its usual bite.

He smirked. “You say that, but I think you’ve been enjoying our little outings.”

You didn’t respond right away, your eyes focused on the ground again. The truth was, he wasn’t really wrong. You were starting to look forward to these moments—more than you wanted to admit.

“Maybe,” you said softly, and your honesty caught even you by surprise.

Satoru’s smirk faltered for a split second, replaced by something warmer. “I knew it,” he said, his voice quieter than usual.

When you reached your door, he handed you the box of taiyaki. “Here,” he said. “In case you get hungry later.”

“Thanks,” you muttered, taking the box from him. He opened his mouth, and you just knew he was going to say goodbye, so you beat him to it.

“Satoru,” you declared suddenly, a sour feeling gnawing at you from inside. There was something… something you needed to ask. Something you needed clarity on.

He closed his mouth for once, his gaze meeting yours. His eyes were uncovered. Expectant. Like he was waiting on something, too.

“What are we doing?” You spit out, the words tasting bitter on your tongue. “I’m not… do you want something from me?”

“What do you mean, Shi-chan?” He asked, his words light but careful. His eyes were scrutinizing. “I wanted dessert. You came with me. Easy enough, right?”

Not convinced, you shook your head. You stepped closer to him, the sour feeling inside you intensifying. “No, it’s not just that. It’s the phone calls, the showing up unannounced, the--,” you gestured around vaguely with your hand. “This. All of this. What is it?”

He blinked, clearly caught off guard. For once, he didn’t seem to have a quip ready. His silence was as unnerving as it was unexpected, but you pressed on.

“I’m not dumb, Satoru,” You continued. “You don’t just... call people for no reason. You don’t go out of your way--,” you shook the taiyaki box for emphasis, “--for just anyone. So, what is it? Why me?”

Satoru’s jaw ticked almost imperceptibly. The weight of your words hung heavy in the air between you. Satoru ran a hand through is hair, letting out a breath that sounded far too serious for someone like him.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. His voice was uncharacteristically soft. “I think I just... like being around you. Reminds me of simpler times.”

Those words stuck out to you. Simpler times. Because nothing was ever simple with Satoru Gojo.

And yet, as much as you wanted to laugh, to not believe him, you couldn’t. Your breath hitched, and you didn’t respond. Your thoughts flashed back to high school, seeing him and Suguru slinking around campus late at night. How sometimes they’d pass by your dorms, voices hushed but still loud enough to wake you from sleep. Laughing, like they’d just come back from a party and not a first-grade mission.

“I guess that’s allowed,” you finally muttered after a beat, averting your gaze to the ground. You were blushing fiercely, embarrassed with the assumptions you’d made about an old friend. Maybe he really is just... lonely.

You felt a hand on your shoulder and looked up to see him a few paces closer than he was before. His lazy grin was back, but there was still sincerity written across his features. “Goodnight, Shi-chan. I’ll see you around?”

“Night, Satoru,” You replied with a nod, hating the disappointment you felt when he withdrew. You watched him turn and walk away.

When the door closed behind him, you stood in place. Staring at the polished wood. Chewing your bottom lip.

“What the fuck?” you breathed, wondering if this was becoming something dangerous. For both of you.

You saw less of your six-eyed friend after that conversation. In a cruel twist of fate, the steady rhythm of a budding friendship started to falter as work piled up, missions became more frequent, life happened. The late-night knocks at your door stopped, his texts became sporadic, and a familiar hollowness began to take the place of Satoru’s easygoing, persistent presence.

You told yourself that it didn’t matter, that it was for the best. Sorcerers shouldn’t have distractions, right? Especially ones of your respective statures. Alas, it was hard to ignore the ache of his absence… like a thread constantly pulling at the edges of your thoughts. As much as you wanted to banish it from your mind, it always felt like… something was missing. Something with white hair and blue eyes.

Council meetings kept you busy, the higher ups’ usage of your technique was at an all-time high. Your headaches were constant, the need for a break starting to get desperate. One afternoon after one such meeting, you were merely passing through the Tokyo campus when you started hearing things.

The rumors started small, whispered between both staff and students. Murmured in passing, not even bothering to lower their voices when you approached—because why would they? No one knew about your friendship with Gojo, and the way it fizzled out into nothing. All the same, your chest ached to hear that he wasn’t just busy with work, he was… dating someone. Courting with the intention to marry, even, according to several sources on campus.

Not that you had asked them directly.

You knew that the clan was always pushing him to marry, to find a powerful sorceress from a prestigious line of her own, to produce an heir. The idea of him bending to their will—especially when it came to something as archaic as choosing a wife—was laughable. At first.

Eventually, the whispers changed.

You heard about a woman that he was seeing. A young, beautiful sorceress who had been sighted spending time with him. Casual strolls in the city, dinners at fancy restaurants—all of the things you’d expect of a young clan-head seeking out a potential spouse. You heard that she was from a respected lineage, someone that the greater Gojo clan approved of. Someone they saw as worthy of his name.

You heard that she kind of looked like you.

And again, you told yourself that it didn’t matter. You didn’t care.

But it wouldn’t hurt so bad if that were the truth, would it?

Their words lingered in your mind long after you overheard them.

The image of a woman who looked a little too much like you, walking beside him, laughing at his jokes. A part of you wondered if it was intentional, or if it was some cruel trick of the universe.

So when you heard the knock on your door one unassuming evening, your stomach twisted into a knot. You weren’t expecting anyone, but somehow you already knew by the way goosebumps sprouted against your flesh, and the beating of your heart sped up.

And when you opened the door, there he was.

Satoru Gojo stood on your doorstep, a lopsided grin on his face, his white hair falling messily over his forehead. He leaned casually against the doorframe, looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

You felt a little naked before him, standing there in your cozy pajama top and bottoms, clearly not expecting visitors. Satoru’s eyes raked over your body shamelessly, but he didn’t comment on your attire. Thankfully.

“Hey,” he said easily, as if he’d just seen you yesterday. “Thought I’d stop by. You know, see if you missed me.”

Your chest tightened, and you fought to keep your voice steady. “What are you doing here?”

He blinked, tilting his head like your question didn’t make sense. “What? I can’t visit anymore?” He stepped inside without waiting for an invitation, his hands shoved casually into his pockets. “Besides, you’ve been avoiding me, haven’t you? What’s up with that?”

You stared blankly at him, stunned by the accusation. “Avoiding you?”

“Yeah.” He gave you a pointed look, still grinning. “No texts, no calls. You ghosted me, Shi-chan. Should I be hurt?”

Your frustration boiled over. How could he stand there, acting so normal, like he hadn’t done anything wrong? Like he didn’t even realize—

“I thought you were avoiding me,” you snapped, crossing your arms.

That made him pause, his grin faltering for just a second. “Huh? Why would I do that?”

You shook your head, your emotions threatening to spill over. “Forget it.”

“No, no, wait.” He frowned now, stepping closer. “Seriously, what’s going on? Did I miss something?”

You swallowed hard, refusing to meet his gaze. “I heard things, Satoru.”

He raised an eyebrow, confused. “Things?”

“About you.” Your voice cracked despite your best effort to keep it steady. You turned your face away from them as you added, “And her.”

For a moment, he just stared at you, his confusion plain on his face. Then, he let out a soft laugh, shaking his head.

“Oh, that?” he said, still chuckling. “That’s what this is about?”

Your stomach dropped at how easily he dismissed it. “What do you mean, ‘that?’”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You seriously thought I was avoiding you because of her? Come on, Shi-chan. Don’t be ridiculous.”

You clenched your fists at your sides. “Maybe it’s not ridiculous to me.”

“Shi-chan,” he insisted, his tone laced with exasperation. “She’s not my girlfriend. She’s not even someone I’d consider dating.”

“Then what—”

“She’s a pawn,” he interrupted in a serious voice. “A face to keep the clan off my back. They’ve been hounding me about marriage again, and she’s just… convenient.”

You stared at him, the weight of his words sinking in. “Convenient,” you repeated, your voice hollow.

“It’s not like that,” he said quickly, taking another step closer. “She knows the deal. And trust me, she is being well compensated for her time.”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me that?” you asked, your frustration bubbling over.

“Because I didn’t think it mattered,” he replied with a frown. “I didn’t think you’d care.”

His words hit you like a punch to the gut, and for a moment, you couldn’t breathe.

“I don’t care,” you scowled, though the ache in your chest betrayed you. “But you can’t just show up here like this, expecting me to—”

“Clearly you do,” he said, his voice soft but firm. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be so pissed off right now.”

You snapped your gaze upwards, glaring at him. “I’m not pissed off!”

“Oh, you definitely are,” he mused, a hint of his usual teasing slipping through.

“Satoru,” you hissed, your fists clenched at your sides. “Do you know how humiliating it is to hear something like that secondhand? To have people whispering about you and some perfect sorceress, and I—”

You stopped yourself, biting your tongue before you could say too much.

“And you what?” he questioned, his voice quieter now and his expression unreadable. “Go on, Shi-chan. Say it.”

You shook your head, looking away. “Forget it.”

“Not a chance,” he declared, inching into your space, his voice dropping even lower. “You’ve got something to say? Say it.”

Your chest heaved, the words clawing at your throat, but you couldn’t bring yourself to say them. Instead, you looked up at him, your anger dissolving into something more vulnerable, rawer.

“Why are you here, Satoru?” you asked finally, barely above a whisper

His gaze softened, and for a moment, he didn’t say anything. Then, he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

“I’m here because I wanted to see you,” he said simply. “And I’m not dating anyone. If I was, you’d be the first to know.”

You blinked, caught off guard by the sincerity in his words. “What are you talking about?”

“I mean,” he said, his lips quirking into a small, almost hesitant smile, “that if there’s anyone I’d want to spend time with, it’s you.”

Your breath caught in your throat, and for a moment, the weight of his words hung heavy in the air.

Satoru shifted, scratching the back of his neck. “So, are you going to invite me in, or do I have to keep defending my non-existent girlfriend on your doorstep?”

But your mind was stuck on those words. If there’s anyone I’d want to spend time with, it’s you.

“Satoru,” you said, wishing you could wash the taste of his name out of your mouth. “You can’t say things like that to a woman. It’s… dangerous.”

Satoru blinked at you, clearly caught off guard by your response. Then, in true Gojo fashion, he tilted his head and smirked, his expression equal parts teasing and curious.

“Dangerous?” he repeated, his tone lighter now but edged with something more serious. “Why’s that?”

You swallowed hard, avoiding his gaze. “Because,” you muttered, your voice just above a whisper, “they might start thinking you mean it.”

“And what if I do?”

Your head snapped up, your eyes meeting his, wide with disbelief. “You’re not serious.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” he shot back. His gaze was steady and searching.

You let out a sharp laugh, shaking your head as you stepped back. “Because you’re Satoru Gojo. You flirt with everyone. You don’t mean half the things you say.”

He frowned, his hands sliding into his pockets as he tilted his head again. “You really think that?”

You crossed your arms, trying to hold onto the wall you were so desperately trying to keep between you. “It’s not like you’ve ever given me a reason to think otherwise.”

He sighed, the weight of your words settling between you like a stone.

“Why does it bother you?” He said quietly, a pointed look on his face. “Whether I’m dating someone or not?”

You froze, the question throwing you off guard.

“I… It doesn’t,” you stammered, your heart racing. “I just don’t think it’s appropriate for you to—”

“To what?” he pressed, stepping closer. “Spend time with you? Talk to you? Care about you?”

Your breath caught in your throat, and you took a step back, your legs hitting the edge of the couch. “Satoru, don’t.” You said, your voice low. Quiet. Nervous.

“Don’t what?” he asked, his gaze fixed on you. “Don’t ask why you’ve been avoiding me? Don’t ask why it bothers you so much that someone said I might be with someone else?”

“I’m not avoiding you." Your voice was weak, your hands gripping the back of the couch for support.

He laughed then, but it was humorless, sharp. “You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying!” you snapped, your frustration bubbling over. “I just—”

“Just what?” he interrupted. “Just don’t care? Just don’t want to admit that maybe you feel something for me?”

Your cheeks burned, your chest heaving as you struggled to find the words to refute him.

“That’s what I thought,” he retorted, his voice almost gentle now.

“You’re insufferable,” you muttered, looking away.

“Maybe,” he said, his voice softening further. “But I’m not wrong.”

You felt his presence closer now, his warmth radiating in the small space between you. When you finally looked up, his blue eyes were piercing, unguarded in a way you’d rarely seen. His face had changed since high school. Still full of boyish charm, but… older now. Handsome. Matured. Not the teenage heartthrob of the Gojo clan that girls were clabbering over each other to flirt with.

And now, his attention was all on you.

“Satoru,” you said, your voice trembling. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted, his hand reaching up to brush a strand of hair from your face. His touch was featherlight, his fingers lingering for just a moment too long.

You swallowed hard, your heart thundering in your chest as his gaze dropped to your lips. “This is a bad idea,” you whispered, though your words lacked conviction.

“Probably,” he said, his lips quirking into a small, rueful smile. “But I’m full of bad ideas.”

And then he kissed you.

It was tentative at first, as though he was giving you the chance to pull away. But when you didn’t, when your fingers curled into the fabric of his shirt, his hand slid to your waist, pulling you closer.

The kiss deepened, the world around you fading until all you could feel was him—his warmth, his intensity, the way he seemed to pour everything he couldn’t say into the way his lips moved against yours.

When you finally broke apart, your breaths mingling in the quiet room, he rested his forehead against yours, his hand still cradling your waist.

“Shi-chan,” he murmured, his voice low and hoarse. “Tell me to stop, and I will. Just… tell me.”

You hesitated, your heart screaming one thing while your mind warned you of another. But as you looked up at him, his eyes filled with something you couldn’t quite name, you found that you couldn’t say the words.

Instead, you leaned into him again, sighing in relief when he didn’t pull away.

His lips met yours again, this time with more certainty, and your world tilted on its axis. Every warning your mind screamed at you—this is wrong, it will only end in heartbreak—was drowned out by the rush of blood in your ears and the sensation of his hands gripping your waist like you were the only thing tethering him to this earth.

You gasped softly against him, and the sound broke something loose in him. His grip tightened, pulling you impossibly closer, his other hand sliding to cradle the back of your neck. You felt his tongue against yours, tasted his spit as his fingers tangled in your hair. It sent a shiver down your spine that burnt away whatever resolve you had left.

You shouldn’t be doing this. You shouldn’t want this. But as his kiss deepened, slow and deliberate, as if savoring every second, all logic crumbled. There was only the searing heat of him, the way he smelled faintly of something sweet and familiar, and the feeling of his thumb brushing softly against your jaw, grounding you even as everything else spun out of control.

Every nerve in your body was alight, every ounce of restraint you thought you had vanished, replaced by the overwhelming need to stay in this moment, in this feeling, for as long as you could.

You pulled away just enough to catch your breath, your heart pounding like a drum in your ears. His eyes searched yours, wide and unguarded, a storm of emotions swirling in their depths. His lips were red and slightly swollen, his chest rising and falling as if he’d just run a marathon.

“This isn’t—” you started in a breathless whisper, but the words caught in your throat when he cupped your face with both hands, his thumbs brushing against your cheekbones with a tenderness that sent another shiver through you.

“I know,” he murmured, his voice low and raw. “But… does it matter?”

Your throat tightened, the weight of his words settling over you like a blanket, heavy and warm. You didn’t know how to answer him, and maybe he didn’t expect you to.

Instead, he leaned in again, his breath ghosting over your lips, his hands steady and sure against your skin. “Tell me this isn’t right,” he whispered, almost pleading now, his voice breaking just slightly.

But you couldn’t. You didn’t.

And so you kissed him again. Because in that moment, it felt right enough.

This is Chapter 3 of a multi-chapter fic to be crossposted to AO3. Taglist below as requested. @starlightglimmersworld @mccookiemonster @leilakaro @certainduckanchor @itsbellablue-blog @shokosbunny @megumisthirdog @thegh0stwife @54fangirl @misslovingpearl @idkuluka @bitchycloudstrawberry @pinkpunkdynamite @theclassbookworm @okaywitheverything

#gojo x reader #jjk x reader #jjk #jjk gojo #jujutsu kaisen #smut #satoru gojo #jjk smut #comfort #light angst #fluff #domestic gojo #kinda #!!suguru mentioned!!#rb if u would get midnight ramen w gojo

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malum-forev · 2 years ago

Note

Hi, can I request ex husband!bucky x reader with the prompt “what makes you think you can…” from the bingo card??

Hi hiii thank you sooo much for your ask! Sooo, I kind of blacked out and ended up writing something that's over 3k words long. Hope you like it! It's kind of a part 2 to this story I wrote! I thought this prompt fit perfectly! get ready for ANGST CENTRAAALLLL

“Please don’t pick up, please don’t pick up, please don’t pick up.” (Y/n) begged, hearing the third ring on her side of the phone.

She didn’t know what to say. Hell, she didn’t know it was happening until this week! It would have gone completely unnoticed if it hadn’t been for an especially excited teacher. (Y/n)’s stomach just about dropped onto the floor as she heard her daughter’s teacher say how generous and kind Bucky was.

Another ring, one more and I can hang up. She thought but no, nothing with Bucky was ever simple. He couldn’t not answer the phone when (Y/n) wanted. Was that too much to ask? For Bucky to read her mind?

“Hey, do-“ Bucky stopped himself, trying to mask it with a cough. He couldn’t call you that anymore, he had to remember that. “What’s up?”

“Hi, I just wanted to ask you about something but I guess you’re busy so I’ll just-“

Bucky laughed. “I’m never too busy for you.”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, talk about nothing being simple. He couldn’t even make the divorce that he wanted easy!

“So, I didn’t know this happened or better yet how it happened but,” She took a deep breath. “Peanut’s school is having a gala, a fund raiser and somehow P put your name down.”

The line went silent for a couple of seconds.

“I tried to explain to the school that you would be busy and that you don’t even go to your work galas.” She tried to joke, gnawing on her bottom lip nervously.

Bucky broke the silence with a noise. “Mhm.”

“But they said that when the parents saw the school was auctioning a day with an Avenger, ticket sales went up like 200 percent.”

“Oh Peanut.” Bucky groaned.

“I know you’re probably going to be busy,” (Y/n) said. “I just had to ask. P threatened to paint her hair blue if I didn’t give you a call.”

“She gets that from you.” Bucky’s low chuckle sent tingles through her body.

(Y/n) leaned on the wall behind her with a deep breath, she could always count on Bucky to calm her nerves. “Sure, we can say P gets her determination and ability to blackmail from me and not her father, James ‘Bucky’ Buchanan Barnes.”

Bucky’s belly laugh warmed (Y/n)’s heart, it had been a long time since she’d heard it.

“When’s the thing?”

“It’s next Friday but don’t worry, we can auction off something from that old box I have in the attic. Maybe that old leather jacket-“

“Don’t you dare.” Bucky playfully growled. “Never get rid of my lucky jacket! If I remember correctly that thing is the reason I got a second date out of you.”

Her mind went to that moment in time, all those years ago. It was Bucky’s favorite but he said it looked better on her.

“Is P going to the gala?” Bucky interrupted (Y/n)’s thoughts.

“Yeah, kids can go too.” She continued. “How about you ask Sam to submit a signed shield. The prototypes that no one uses-“

“I’ll be there.”

“What?” Her eyes just about bulged out of their sockets.

“I’ll be there.” Bucky repeated casually, like it wasn’t the first time ever he wanted to go to any of Peanut’s school events. Let alone a gala!

“You do know you’ll have to wear a tux, right?” She noted.

“You’ll be there, right?” Bucky asked.

“Mhm.” (Y/n) brought her bottom lip in between her teeth.

“Then I’m sure I can find one or two in the back of my closet.” Bucky smiled thinking about his options. She won’t be happy, but it’ll be worth it. He thought.

“Oh-okay. So I guess I’ll see you next week.”

(Y/n) smoothed the fabric of her dress nervously. Did Bucky forget he was supposed to be here? Was he sent on a mission at the last moment? She looked over at Peanut at the kids table, so excited that her dad was finally going to something at her school.

When she first started, some of her classmates and teachers didn’t believe she was Bucky’s daughter. (Y/n) and Bucky had chosen an extremely protected private school for the same reason, they didn’t want someone else telling P about the Winter Soldier, not before she was old enough to understand.

After the first tear dropped from Peanut’s eyes, when she told her dad no one at school believed her, you best believe Bucky picked her up every single day. He would often take off his jacket as soon as he got to her school just so everyone would shut their mouths. No one was to make his little girl cry, ever.

(Y/n) turned to the bar behind her and ordered a glass of champagne.

“Do you think he’s actually going to come?” One of the women next to (Y/n) asked her friends.

“Honey, if he does, you gals better take out a loan because that man is going home with me.” An older woman laughed into her drink.

“A recently divorced hunk? Sign me up. I don’t need the full day, just a couple of hours with him and it’ll be enough.” Another one said.

(Y/n) cringed at their words. She obviously has eyes, she knew what her ex-husband looked like but did people have to talk about him like he was just a piece of meat?

The whole room suddenly got quiet. (Y/n) looked left and right to see what had happened and it wasn’t long until she found out. Bucky strolled into the room.

He did not. (Y/n) thought.

Bucky was wearing the tuxedo he wore at their wedding. The black-on-black combination made him look even more mysterious than he already was. But every ounce of his dark persona disappeared once he heard the two magic words.

“Hi Daddy!” Peanut came running towards Bucky at full speed. With a small umph Bucky picked up his daughter and twirled her around.

“Hello princess.” Bucky smiled, melting for his sweet little girl. “Why don’t you tell me where mommy is?”

Peanut pointed a chubby finger towards (Y/n) and she held up her champagne glass, the murmurs and gasps of the women next to her didn’t go unnoticed.

Bucky placed Peanut back on the floor and set his eyes on (Y/n), it was like everything and everyone around him became blurry. He could only see her.

“You’re late.” (Y/n) looked up at him.

“I’m the talent, I am never late.” Bucky smiled at her, the kind of smile that made women all over the world want to drop to their knees, for various reasons.

(Y/n) laughed, pushing Bucky away with her left hand. Bucky took her hand in his and brought it to his lips, kissing the spot on her third finger where her ring used to sit.

“You look radiant.” Bucky came closer to (Y/n) placing a kiss on the corner of her mouth.

She took in his intoxicating smell, it had been forever since she’d been this close to him. (Y/n) took a deep breath, the memories coming to life again. But before she could get lost in the past, the present came into view.

(Y/n) cleared her throat and took a step back before turning to the women gawking next to them. “Ladies, may I introduced you to my ex-husband, James?”

Bucky rolled his eyes and turned to them, a forced smile playing on his lips.

(Y/n) slipped from the group with a light laugh and sat down at her table, the auction about to start.

It wasn’t long before Bucky’s category came up, women desperate to cheat on their husbands without actually doing it. (Y/n) smiled cheekily as she saw Bucky fidget on the stage, the bright lights made him feel like he was a show horse.

“Mr. Barnes was kind enough to auction a day with an Avenger, the winner of this would spend the day at the Avengers Compound and meet some of the people responsible for our safety!” Peanut’s principal spoke into the microphone.

“I can’t assure a tour of the compound.” Bucky’s raspy voice said through the speakers.

“We’ll see the details later.” The principal waved him off. “How about we start the bidding at four hundred dollars?”

“Five hundred.” A woman way too old to be with Bucky, and that’s taking into consideration that he’s over a hundred years old, raised her bid card.

“Six hundred.” Another woman said.

“Seven hundred.” A third spoke.

Bucky’s eyes kept getting bigger and bigger, he hadn’t considered the fact that women would actually bid to be with him. He turned to (Y/n) with pleading eyes.

“Mommy, aren’t you gonna bid on daddy?” P asked her.

“Honey-“ (Y/n) was about to explain how for some people spending a day with her Dad would be the experience of a lifetime, when one of the women she heard speaking so vulgarly about Bucky raised her card.

“One thousand dollars.” The woman had a smug look on her face.

“Going once-“ The principal said.

“Mommy do something.” Peanut whispered.

“Going twice.” Bucky threw his head back. Fuuck. He thought.

“Go-“

“Two thousand dollars.” (Y/n) raised her card.

Bucky’s head snapped forward at the sound of her voice. His scowl turned into a smile.

“Sold, to the lady in the back.” The principal’s eyes just about turned into dollar signs.

“I didn’t get the chance to thank you.” Bucky whispered, hiking Peanut’s body up. At some point in the night she had fallen asleep and now her father was carrying her to (Y/n)’s car.

(Y/n) waved her hand. “It was nothing. I couldn’t let you spend a day with that hornets’ nest. She would’ve eaten you alive.

“Still- thank you.” Bucky’s kind eyes were one of the first things that drew (Y/n) to him, the same shade he now shared with his daughter.

(Y/n) unlocked her car so he could strap Peanut in.

“So, when should I pick you up?” Bucky opened (Y/n)’s door so she could get in.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Oh, about the auction thing. You don’t have to do that, I’m sure you’re going to be busy.”

“How’s next Thursday at 8 sound? We can take P to school and I’ll give you an extremely memorable ‘Day with an Avenger’.” Bucky’s smooth words coated her heart.

“I’ve already had a couple of ‘Days with an Avenger’ and they haven’t been that memorable.” She teased.

“I can think of a couple of memorable days where you would beg-“

(Y/n) clamped her hand over Bucky’s mouth. “You can’t say that!”

“Would I be lying?” Bucky’s muffled voice said proudly.

“I’ll see you next Thursday.” (Y/n) rolled her eyes with a smile. “Please don’t be late.”

“Promise.”

The doorbell rang at 7:50 am on Thursday.

“Be careful Peanut!” (Y/n) yelled as she opened the door. “Don’t fall from the stool! I don’t really feel like visiting the hospital right now.”

She huffed as she opened the door. Mornings were always chaotic but now, without another pair of helping hands it felt impossible. But here he was.

Bucky stood at the other side of the door, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. A bouquet of her favorite flowers on one hand and balancing two coffees on the other.

“Good morning.” Bucky placed a soft kiss on her cheek. “Need help with anything?”

(Y/n) stepped aside with her jaw on the floor, letting Bucky come inside.

“Hiya Daddy!” Peanut beamed, shoving another forkful of French toast in her mouth.

“How’s my number one girl doing this morning?” Bucky asked, placing a kiss on the top of her head.

(Y/n) stepped into the kitchen, feeling like she’d walked into another dimension.

“Sorry doll, you’ve been bumped down to the number two spot.” Bucky winked at (Y/n) and her eyebrows shot up. “You still keep the vases on the top cupboard?”

(Y/n) slowly nodded, the shocked expression never left her.

Definitely an alternate dimension, it’s the only explanation. She thought.

Drop off was perfect and the ride to the compound was actually pleasant.

“You got a new car.” (Y/n) hummed, looking around Bucky’s new SUV.

He nodded proudly. “I can’t ride around on a bike forever. Plus, you asked me to get a car.”

“I asked you to get a car over a year ago.” She snorted.

Bucky shrugged, the relaxed smile on his lips never faltered. “Took me a while but I got it.”

(Y/n) eyed her ex-husband curiously. Fresh haircut, cologne, pressed t-shirt. New car, more present. Something changed. “Okay, who is she?”

“Who’s who?” Bucky’s forehead creased.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes. “I’m not a child, you can tell me who she is.”

“If you’re trying to say I’m dating someone, I’m not.” Bucky looked a little offended.

“I never said anything about dating.” (Y/n) laughed. “You can get some without making it official.”

“I’m not doing that either.” Bucky grumbled, his grip on the steering wheel made his knuckles white.

“I’m sorry for asking. I didn’t know you not getting any was a sore subject.” She held her hands up in surrender and laughed. “You do know you can do that right? I’m pretty sure the papers we signed mean that we’re no longer together, meaning you can have se-“

Bucky’s groan interrupted her, he ran his palm through his face. “Can we not talk about my sex life please? I actually have a nice day planned, and it doesn’t include this topic of conversation.”

“You. Have a day planned.” She emphasized the words.

“Please feel free make me sound more like an asshole.” Bucky chuckled.

And what a day did he have planned.

It started by taking her to the newly renovated Avengers Museum on the compound. Bucky showed (Y/n) a few never before seen pictures of himself from the 40’s.

“The investigators dug these up.” He smiled.

“You were a baby!” She laughed, posing for a picture next to the blown-up print of him.

“You think Peanut will look like me when she’s a little bit older?” Bucky came up behind her, resting his head on hers and tossing his arms over her shoulders.

(Y/n) relaxed into his body. “You want her to look more like you? She’s basically your twin.”

His laugh made her whole body vibrate. “What can I say? We should have tried to get a boy after P, maybe he would look like you.”

Afterwards came a late lunch by the lake followed by a tour of the new wing dedicated to Steve Rogers. Bucky had thought of everything. He asked Sam to pick up Peanut from school and make sure she did her homework, took a bath and brushed her teeth before going to bed.

The sun was setting as Bucky drove (Y/n) home, he rested his hand on the center console hoping she would take it. It wasn’t long until she intertwined their fingers.

Bucky opened her side of the door and helped her down. (Y/n) leaned on his car.

“Thank you for a lovely day.” She smiled. “Don’t know if it was worth 2k but, I had an amazing time.”

Bucky fake gasped, clutching the left side of his chest. “You don’t think I’m worth two thousand measly dollars?”

“Some of us actually have to work to get two thousand dollars, not just pose around and look cute.” She bit the inside of her cheek to stop a smile from forming.

Bucky stepped closer to her. “Well I would pay you way more than that to pose around for me. You already have the cute thing down to a T.”

He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, dragging his knuckles against her cheek and stopping at her lips. Bucky pulled her closer to him and placed his lips on hers. At first it was soft but once his brain registered what was happening, it turned dark and hungry. It was like he was running out of oxygen and the only thing that could breathe life into him was her kiss.

With a gasp, she pushed him away.

“What are you doing?” (Y/n) asked breathlessly, bringing her fingers to her throbbing lips.

“(Y/n), please.” Bucky sighed. “I want you, I need you. And I’m not talking about stupid sex, I’m talking about you. Talking to you every day, telling me off for things I do or don’t do, I want us. Together.”

Her eyebrows creased, she felt her body heat up with rage. “What makes you think you can kiss me like that? Like nothing’s ever happened. Like you’ve forgotten we’re not together anymore.”

“Please.” Bucky’s crystal blue eyes reddened. “Do you want me to get on my knees? Because I’ll do it. I’m begging you, please take me back. I want to be with you, forever.”

(Y/n) sniffled, tears of her own threatening to fall. “I’m not falling for this, not again. I’m about to finish mending my broken heart, I’ve just finished putting the pieces back together and for you to come here and-“

“I’m trying-“ Bucky cried. “I’m really trying to show you that I’ve changed.”

(Y/n) let out a dry laugh. “Does going to one gala and buying a car mean you’ve changed? I asked you to buy that thing for a whole year and you never even thought about it.”

“But I’m doing it now, does that mean anything?” Bucky asked with saddened eyes.

“Yes, it means that you only want me because you can’t have me.”

“That’s not-“ He tried to argue but she turned towards her door.

“Thank you for the nice day James but, I have to go to my real life. The one in which we’re still divorced and you have to leave for some undisclosed amount of time to a classified location. Do you remember? Your reallife.” (Y/n) opened her front door, thanking Sam for taking care of Peanut.

Bucky was left on the driveway with tears running down his cheek.

Part 3 here!

Hi hii! I've tagged everyone who commented Pt2 on my first fic and reblogged! <3 Hope you guys like it, if you do remember to like reblog and comment! I'll love you forever if you do <3

tagged: @kpopgirlbtssvt @shara-ne @namelesssaviour @aimeekatee @learisa @deadspeed @happinessinthebeing @multitargaryen @ajordan2020 @almosttoopizza @empollito @jbbarnesgirl. @uniquecroissant @mavrellover91 @angstysebfan @buckswhore-com @coffeebooksandfandom @azenpal @stanofmanythingslol @msknb-blog @intrepidacious @ladyloki3 @buck-fics @honeyglee @vileepponine @sebstanwhore @helium-queen @lokislady82 @crazygirlinthisworld @superforgottensoul @bibbidibobbidibucky @mdc-203081

Hi hiiii This is part of my 1k Celebration, if you like this please be sure to look at the Bingo Card and ask for a prompt! Love y'all <33

And you can find the Bingo master list and what prompts are still available here!

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theother-victoria · 6 months ago

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LOVE IS CONCOCTED FROM ESTERS AND KETONES- CH. 00: PROLOGUE

NOTES: I hope this chapter gives you an idea of the setting and what's to come!

TAGLIST: @tragedy-of-commons, @mitsvriii, @harque, @nariism, @vxnuslogy, @akutasoda , @flowery-jazz , @gabile18 , @khoncore

Somewhere within the heart of the universe lies a perfumery on an unremarkable planet, its simplicity belittling its fame. From its exterior, it looks like any other shop on the street. Simple, with a cute sign and clean exterior. They’re closed on Mondays but for the rest of the week, they open at ten am on the weekdays and close at six pm with extended hours on the weekends.

The inside, however, tells a different story. It’s far more spacious than the outside would lead one to believe. The poor, overworked air purifiers can be heard running 24/7 to prevent the air from becoming suffocating. The shelves go as far back as the eye can see and are stocked with bottles of different colors, sizes, and designs- each of them hefty and works of art in their own right. Each of them have different scent profiles and all of them are handcrafted by the enigmatic owner who formulates and tests each scent in the lab located behind the shop.

… The test subjects just happen to be the two shop assistants who are more than happy to be their boss’ guinea pigs.

The shop itself is split into three sections- male, female, and unisex. Perfumes are arranged based on the fragrance family- fresh, floral, woodsy- before being further arranged by notes- green, fruity, gourmand- since people often walk in wanting to smell like a specific note, which the owner and shop assistants are happy to work with. However, there’s a rumor that you’ll get the best results when you come in with an idea, a concept, in mind.

“I want to smell like worn, old, musty jewelry that’s probably tangled.” There’s a scent for that.

“Do you have anything that smells like a day at the fair as a kid?” Yes, there is.

“How about a warm rock?” Second display case in the unisex section, fifth shelf down, third bottle from the left, the green one.

There’s also the option to get a custom-made fragrance, although it’ll carry a heftier price tag than the already-pricy wares. But for many, it’s a small price to pay for something that’s uniquely personal to them.

All of this has led to celebrities, politicians, and other rich and famous people from across the galaxy to flock to this store, which has been the biggest reason for the store’s meteoric rise to fame. It started off as the name being shared among circles and it gradually rippled out from there until it reached the level of renown it has today. Celebrities often quote a bottle from the store as their signature and/or favorite scent in interviews and the paparazzi always snap a bunch of photos whenever a particularly high-profile person leaves the store with a bag in hand.

Rumor has it that the advertising benefits for the shop are top-tier too, which is why they practically jump at the chance to promote the newest scents.

But while the shop’s fame is undeniable, there isn’t much known about the owner. They’ve dodged the media’s questions ever since the shop’s popularity exploded and even the two assistants don’t know much besides what’s publicly available. It seems as if they intend for things to stay that way as well.

Not only do you want to keep your secrets close, but you also want to preserve that sense of monotony that comes with running a business for as long you have. Wake up, get ready, open the store for business, and handle the various customers that come into the shop until closing.

But unbeknownst to you, there’s a wave of new customers coming, each with their peculiarities that you’ve never quite had to deal with before, and they’re interested in more than just your wares.

Keeping your inventory stocked and your heart guarded is your modus operandi for running your business. But between running your business, staying on top of orders, and dealing with these new customers… this may be a difficult task to follow for the foreseeable future.

the taglist is open for this series and the rest of my works!

@ theother-victoria, do not copy, repost, modify, translate, or feed to ai

#—stellaronhvnters.#victoria.writes #hsr x reader #hsr x y/n #hsr x you #hsr x gender neutral reader #honkai star rail x reader #honkai star rail x you #honkai star rail x gender neutral reader #hsr fluff #hsr fanfic #hsr imagines #series. love is concocted from esters and ketones

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the-100-days-of-junkan · 2 months ago

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Day 52

What the hell happened when i was coloring this one- Oh hi there! Looks like today we’ve got ourself more of Junko showering Mikan in affection!~

I don’t know why it looks like I had a live sturgeon slammed into my spinal cord while I colored it but that’s neither here nor there.

I’m writing this post on Day 31, so here’s a time traveling HAPPY HALLOWEEN! I also want to take this opportunity again to say thank you all so much for the kind words you leave on these posts, it all really adds up to help me stay in fighting shape to keep working on art and really balances out on the amount of energy I burned up during the 9 months making this project.

I’ve probably yapped about this before, but I’m not fuckin crosschecking 51 previous days to double check, but if I have any goals with this project it’s this.

A!. Give back to the small community of people who’ve kept me fed with either their fanart or fanfic for this highly niche version of the ship. I think you all have a pretty good idea of who you are in specific but I can’t emphasize enough that this project wouldn’t be happening without ya’ll making my brain deep fry in my skull from the levels of obsession I had for these two getting to be happy. This is my thanks to ya’ll!

And

B!. I do this in the hopes that it’ll inspire people to make more art of these two, whether drawn or in a literary sense. My hope would be soft given what I’ve been doing for this project, but even if it ends up laying a bit outside my lane it’ll do my heart good to know I inspired anything at all with what I’ve been doing here. And hey, is this partially influenced by the fact that I’m really desperate for more junkan art because there’s only so much my hands can do before they break?

. . . maybe! But while I may be a greedy woman, I’m an artist first and foremost!~ It is my primary goal and desire to bring joy to the masses and inspire the artistic hearts of people everywhere, whether it be people who’ve been in this game longer than I, or people who were like me and hid away in the shadows taking in the current amount of Junkan in the world and eternally spinning it in their mind!

And the funnier third option, the people who randomly came across this and accidentally found out that they’re really into this, y’know like me. But that’s a story for another day!~ . . . and by that i mean like day 98 yeah you’re not getting the proper origin story for awhile.

As always, Reblogs, Comments, and Little Notes in the Tags are appreciated!~ They always make my day!~

#danganronpa #junkan #junko enoshima #mikan tsumiki #tsumiki mikan #shipping #enoshima junko #junko x mikan #junkomikan #enomiki

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just-the-mage · 6 months ago

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Something I think about often when it comes to the current election and the mentality of ‘vote them out to punish them’ or ‘it’s worth another Trump term to send a message’ or even ‘it’s worth it to tear it all down’ is the question of who suffers. Who will suffer as a result of this? Who actually gets hurt if this ‘message’ is sent? Because it sure isn’t top level Democrats. The people at the DNC making decisions, the socially liberal big business owners, even Biden himself-none of them will suffer from this. The message means nothing to them. It won’t change their opinion on Palestine, and it won’t change the way they handled protests or how they’ll handle protests in the future.

You know who it’ll hurt? The people who are already marginalized. The people who are already struggling, and suffering. Queer people, POC, disabled people, illegal immigrants, hell, even legal immigrants would be unquestionably endangered by another Trump term. I’m amazed that people seem to have forgotten how frightening it was to have possibly the most unstable man ever to be in politics controlling the fucking nukes. The man who is barely intelligible, lies constantly, and can easily be swayed by any extremist who manages to bend his ear for even a second. If you think for one second that putting a white supremacist racist bigoted unstable terrifying man like that in the highest position of authority in this country will help anyone aside from a chosen few, then I don’t know what to tell you. Stop watching Fox News.

I strongly believe that anyone who is pushing to teach the democrats a lesson is either a republican spreading propaganda, or perhaps a neoliberal sitting in a place where they believe that another Trump presidency won’t affect them. Unfortunately, it will affect all of us-but it’s the marginalized who will be truly hurt by this. If you care at all about minorities, or queer people, or anyone listed above, please, please vote democrat in the upcoming election. I wish we had the luxury of choice, I really do. I wish we had the option to try and elect someone more progressive than Biden. But we don’t. And abstaining, or voting third party, even…is contributing to a Trump win.

Stay safe out there everyone.

#politics #us politics #election 2024 #vote blue #please vote

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isalisewrites · 12 days ago

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TERRIBLE, BUT GREAT - CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

SUMMARY:

“Harry Potter.”

The cold burrowed into his flesh, the scent of cloying death and molding earth clogged his senses.

“The Boy Who Lived.”

A strange sense of loss and disappointment rose within him. That brilliant, yet cruel boy could’ve been so much more if he’d not stepped down this bloodied path.

Terrible, but great. He pitied this creature.

“Come to die.”

Harry Potter faced the flash of green light with the bravery of a Gryffindor and the broken heart of a Hufflepuff.

—

When Death gives Harry a third option, one that can save everyone he ever cared about, he takes it unflinchingly. Even when that means doing the impossible: falling in love with the enemy, Tom Riddle.

—

FIFTY-TWO EXCERPT:

“Tom,” breathed Harry, the tears relentlessly falling. “Tom, please, don’t—don’t do it.”

He swayed on his feet.

“What’re you doing out of bed?” demanded Tom. “You shouldn’t be out of the hospital wing.”

Harry’s knees buckled. With a curse, Tom rushed to him, barely managing to catch Harry beneath his arms before his knees met the tiles of the bathroom floor. Nagini slithered forward and lifted her head. Harry clung to him, gasping for breath. A hand brushed through the hot, sweaty hair at Harry’s temple. It rested against his forehead.

“Did you run here?” whispered Tom.

Harry nodded. He broke into a coughing fit, his lungs seizing up with the immense agony of sharp shooting pain. Tiny flecks of blood splattered the wrinkled white dress shirt.

“Shit,” muttered Tom. “We need to get you back to the hospital wing. Nagini, check the corridor, please, and keep an eye out for any adults. If you see anyone, alert me. I have to help Harry back to bed.”

“All right, Nestling,” said Nagini, slithering past. She pushed the bathroom door open with her head and disappeared.

Harry grabbed his shirt and tugged. “You can’t open it.”

Tom went still. His dark eyes pierced him. He carded a hand through Harry’s hair once more. “Open… what?” Tom’s eyes narrowed and his hand gripped a clump of hair at the back of Harry’s head. “Harry, darling, how is it… you knew exactly where I was?” he asked quietly, with a rising note of warning. “Like you always do…”

“You can’t open it,” cried Harry, knuckles growing white. “You can’t—promise me you won’t—swear it—”

He dissolved into more coughing; it burned his throat and his lungs. Harry gasped out, more tears flooding his eyes. He could barely hold himself up anymore. Half cradled in Tom’s arms, Harry endured the waves of pain, waiting for them to subside.

“Tom, you know I don’t beg,” said Harry softly. “You know I don’t bend the knee.”

“I know,” whispered Tom.

“So, please,” begged Harry. “Please don’t do this.”

Tom inhaled audibly. “Do what?”

“I know what you’re doing here and it’ll ruin you—”

“You have no idea what I’m doing here,” hissed Tom. He jerked Harry’s head back by the hair, glaring down at him. Harry twisted, but couldn’t pull himself out of his grip. It made his scalp sting. “You have no idea what I mean to do—you have no idea why.”

“I know more than you think—”

“You know nothing!” snapped Tom. He released Harry and pushed him away. Harry slammed against the wall for support. “You have no idea the breadth and magnitude of this moment.”

“Then, tell me! But don’t do this, please.”

Tom blew out a harsh breath. “Do you see yourself there, Harry?” he said in a low voice. He gestured to him. “Do you see how you struggle to stand? How weak you are?”

“I’m not weak!”

Tom grabbed him by the upper arms, lips curled, teeth bared. “I don’t mean it like that!” he shouted, punctuated with a light shake. “Your body is fragile, but you—you’re the least weak person I know. It’s your failing strength. Look at how fragile you are. You were blind—you were almost permanently blind!”

“I remember,” said Harry, gritting his teeth. “I was there and you—” He shoved at Tom’s chest, tears welling back up in his eyes. “—youweren’t. You left me all alone. You knew I was asking for you, didn’t you? And you were off doing fuck knows what. How could you?”

“I’m sorry,” said Tom, his tone heavy with grief. “I didn’t want to leave you alone, but I had something important to do—and you’ll understand why later.” Those hands tightened on his upper arms; Tom’s chest expanded. “But right now I’m taking you back.”

“The hell you are—don’t you fucking dare!”

The white yew wand pressed lightly against Harry’s chest. “Forgive me,” Tom whispered, expression crinkled. “But you’re going back to bed. It’s for your own good.”

No!

“Don’t open the Chamber of Secrets and, please, don’t make a horcrux.”

#harry potter #tom riddle #tomarry #soulseeker #hp #fanfiction #fanfic #hp fanfic #hp fanfiction #harry potter/tom riddle #mywriting #isa's writing #terrible but great

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maximoffcarter · 1 year ago

Text

Messy.

Pairings: Peggy Carter x Natasha Romanoff, Peggy Carter x Steve Rogers.

Summary: Peggy lost so much when she decided to sacrifice herself to save the people she cared about, years later and living a new life, she finds what she has lost; but she was not sure if she truly wanted it back or if she wanted a certain redhead that always stood by her side.

A/n: Well, well, well…here we are again, after a whole year of not posting anything, I’ve made my comeback. Will I continue posting? We don’t know, but this is a first step🫡 Happy new year everyone!✨I decided to write what the writers didn’t give us in the episode. I was really hoping for them to give us peggynat but they were too cowards to give us that, hopefully in the third season🥲 So this is a ‘What if…Peggy’s episode turned out a bit better?’ but…written by me🤪 Haven’t written anything in so long so give me a chance. Hope you guys enjoy and…request will be open🫡✍🏻 Also, I added some scenes from the episode but it’s also sort of changed, enjoy!

Natasha moaned the moment her back hit the coldness of the wall, feeling a rush of excitement as she looked at Peggy taking off her shirt and showing part of her stunning figure. Peggy lost no time in going back to her lips, her hands gripping her sides to pull the redhead closer once again, not wanting to be any inch away from her. Both women moaned as the kiss became more heated, both trying to undress one another to get rid of the heat they both have been feeling all day. But just as they worked on each other's clothes, both phones went off. They both pulled away and groaned loudly.

“Is this gonna keep happening every time we try to have some alone time?” Natasha asked with a very annoyed tone and throwing her head back against the wall.

Peggy looked at her and chuckled. “Desperate much, my darling?”

“Eh. Just a bit. Not like I’ve been waiting all day for this.” Natasha smirked as she looked at Peggy, shocking her head and reaching to the floor to grab her shirt. “We better get going before Fury sends someone to find us.”

Peggy nodded. “Right.” She went on to find her shirt but stopped her movements when she heard Natasha chuckling. “What’s so funny?” She turned to look at her with a confused look.

“You might wanna get some makeup on that neck of yours. Wouldn’t want the team to ask what happened.” Natasha smirked as she grabbed her bag and kissed Peggy’s cheek before she left the room.

Peggy moved to the nearest mirror she could find and sighed. “Bloody hell, Nat…”

____________________

“You know she’ll be pissed, right?” Natasha asked as she looked again through the small window the new discovery.

“We don’t have any other option. She’ll find out one way or another, either way, she’ll get mad at us.” Fury said on the other line, hearing silence before a big sigh from Natasha. “We can’t hide it, not when we now know this is not a myth anymore.”

“I know.” Natasha shook her head as she thought about it for a second. “Okay, I’ll go find her.”

“Good luck.”

Natasha hung up the phone and went to find Peggy. She knew the moment Peggy saw what was inside, it’ll be the end of whatever they had. After all this time of knowing each other, Nat and Peggy became closer than anyone else, not that they didn’t get along with the rest of the team of course, even Hope was a good friend to them, but what Natasha and Peggy had was different, unlike any other thing. The moment they met each other, they had their backs no matter what, Natasha was not one to get close to just anyone, she had her story and had her doubts, but Peggy was so easy to get along with, they understood each other in a way that made them be closer.

That closeness of course became something more, but not enough for both women to conclude what they had going on. No one knew about their encounters at night, about the sleepless nights on their apartments, the secret going outs or anything about their relationship outside work. They didn’t know what they were doing either, but Natasha knew a thing for sure; whatever was going on between them, she couldn’t get enough of Peggy.

____________________

Peggy felt a rush of anger and confusion as they went back to the quarters. How could he still be alive? How come she never found out about this? Did they know about this the whole time and that’s why they sent them to this mission? Everything was confusing, so many thoughts were running through her head, her legs bouncing with anxiety and nervousness and her hands gripping into each other. Natasha noticed the state Peggy was in, still wet from the ocean and the towel laying just beside her. Natasha went on and grabbed the towel, wrapping it around Peggy, making her come back to the reality she was avoiding to be in.

“You alright, Peg?”

“What do you think?” Peggy looked at her and sighed. “Sorry, Widow. I know it’s not your fault.”

Natasha’s heart sank as she heard those words. Of course, it was partly her fault. She knew about this, but how could she make her go through that again?

“I need to speak to Fury as soon as we get there.”

“Peggy, you need some rest, we’ll go to him in the morning.”

“This can’t wait. All this time I’ve been here and he’s…he’s been here too. For way longer. For me it was just a second, for him…I’m not sure what happened.” Peggy shook her head. “I should’ve known.”

“How could you, Peg? It’s 2014, you came from the 40’s. How would you know?” Natasha placed her hand on top of Peggy’s, knowing everyone else were either distracted or asleep. “Don’t do this to yourself.”

Peggy nodded as she looked down at their hands, feeling a sudden warmth. “You’re right. I’m just exhausted. So much happened today.”

“I mean, other than Fury interrupting us and then your fight with that mustache guy, not sure what else happened unless you got something to tell me.” Natasha smirked as she saw a little smile coming from Peggy.

“Right. I’m just tired.”

“You’ll get some sleep, you can go straight to your apartment.” Natasha paused for a moment as she looked down at their hands. “Or you could come to mine.”

Peggy looked up at Natasha, questioning what was better for her to do at the moment. She wanted to go so badly but she knew what would come down if she did, but going back to her place would be torture, she knew her mind wouldn’t be able to rest one second.

“You know I don’t mean that, right? Just saying you can come back to my place, so we sleep. I know you.” Natasha grinned.

Peggy smiled and nodded. “That sounds good.”

Natasha smiled. “Good.”

____________________

“Peg, think about this. We’re not sure what we’re gonna fight with, this is not the Steve you knew.” Natasha said as she followed Peggy through the hallway.

“You didn’t tell me anything about this. You hid it from me, knowing perfectly how I felt.” Peggy felt upset, confused, the one person she trusted the most had hidden this information from her.

“I told you; I didn’t want you to overthink this and blame yourself for not doing something.”

Peggy stopped and turned to look at Nat, making Nat suddenly stop right in front of her. “And how do you think I feel? Happy? I could’ve done something; I could’ve found him sooner.”

“I don’t want to keep arguing with you, you perfectly know why we did what we did.” Natasha said with a serious look on her face.

Peggy sighed. “You can either follow me or stay here, your choice.”

Natasha rolled her eyes as she saw Peggy walking away. She would literally do anything for her, but she had her doubts about this. Of course she wanted to see Peggy happy, but not exactly with Steve. She knew why Peggy was doing this, she could finally have what she lost, which was still doubtful as to how he had survived for so long, but Peggy wouldn’t give up on this, she’d do anything to get him back.

As in with Peggy, she was still very confused about the whole situation, she was not sure what she was supposed to do or how she’d react when she came face to face with Steve. She didn’t mean to be upset at Nat, she didn’t want that, but how else was she supposed to feel? Everything happened so suddenly, the fight with that Ultron robot, meeting another Nat and new people from different universes, to coming to find that Steve Rogers was still alive and inside the Hydra Stomper. How else was she supposed to feel?

It even felt wrong, unreal, like this was not supposed to happen, but slowly learning now about new universes made her realize that things happened for a reason. If she was destined to meet with Steve again, there was a reason. She was just confused as if she felt happy or scared or sad, so many feelings mixed that she could not comprehend, she couldn’t figure out she felt, but one thing she knew, is that she felt guilty for not looking for him sooner. Both Bucky and Peggy thought he was definitely gone, she was making her new life, even if that new life was having mission after mission, no social life other than hanging out with Natasha, which…if she was honest…she truly didn’t mind at all.

____________________

“Are you with me or not, Widow?” Peggy asked as she walked to her.

Nat drank from her cup and looked back at Peggy. “Before I joined SHIELD, I spent five days in a Hungarian sewer tracking down and killing the head of the Red Room.”

Peggy raised her brow. “Are you certain that you killed him?”

“I mean…” Natasha shrugged. “I stabbed him in the carotid artery with a corkscrew. So, yeah, I think I did.” She grinned.

“You should write a memoir.” Peggy grinned.

Natasha grinned. “At the end of the day…it meant nothing. The Red Room is still there, somewhere. No one could find the location.”

Peggy sighed. “We have to try, Nat. We need to figure out what to do with Steve.”

“How are you so sure that it’s really him and not someone who is controlled by the Red Room? I don’t wanna tear you down with this, but Peg, you need to be conscious that this might not be right to do.”

“I know. I’m aware of the consequences, but you know me, I need to find a solution to all this.”

Natasha looked down at the floor. “This is blinding you, Carter. But you know I’ll do anything to help.”

Peggy smiled. “I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t.”

“And leave you here alone? You kidding? You need me.” Natasha winked as Peggy laughed softly. “So, what’s the plan? Where should we start?”

“I can take you there.”

Both Peggy and Natasha turned to look at Steve. He looked so tired, his face looked different, they were right…Steve looked so different, but Peggy still felt some kind of comfort to hear his voice. Peggy walked to him as she smiled.

“Peggy.” Steve smiled as he looked down at her. “It’s so nice to see you.”

“Likewise.” Peggy smiled.

Natasha only looked at the scene in front of her, feeling her heart sank as she wished she had Peggy’s heart and not him…

____________________

“So, this place…”

“It was built to look like an American town straight out of a John Mellencamp song.” Natasha grinned at Peggy. “He’s a rock ‘n’ roll musician.”

“Oh, I know. Barton introduced me to dad rock.” Peggy chucked.

As the three of them walked into the small town, Peggy looked in horror as it seemed out of a horror movie. It was completely silent and empty, aside from having the company of robots and American look alike houses. Nat decided to check the place for a moment, make sure that no one was there, leaving Steve and Peggy alone for a moment.

“So…it’s a whole new and modern world. Howard really did see the future.” Steve smiled.

“I suppose so.” Peggy smiled as she looked at the town. “Technology took over and music is a bit better. It’s not so bad.”

“Good music to dance?”

Peggy looked at Steve and felt a bit sad about the thought of them losing the chance to dance. “Perhaps.” She smiled. “Why didn’t you continue your life? Like Bucky and Howard.”

Steve shrugged as he looked at the beautiful sunset. “It wasn’t for me. I was looking for a purpose.”

“Did you find it?”

“Not yet.” Steve smiled as he turned to look at her again. “But at least I found you again.”

Peggy smiled. “You did.”

“What about you?” Steve noticed Natasha going back from checking the place. “New partner?”

“What?” Peggy looked at Natasha and smiled. “Oh, uh…yes. She’s a good friend.”

“I can tell.” Steve smiled. “I’m sorry you had to go through all of this.”

“I should be sorry. I didn’t know you were out there.” Peggy looked down at her hands as her fingers played with each other.

“It wasn’t your fault. It just happened. I did some terrible things.”

“Haven’t we all?” Peggy shrugged. “This world is full of evil and as much as we fight, there’ll always be another.”

“And you’ll never stop fighting.”

Peggy shook her head. “Not really.” She chuckled. “That’s my specialty.”

“You could have a new life. Another chance.” Steve looked at her and smiled. “Doesn’t hurt anyone.”

Peggy smiled and as she was about to say something, they heard Natasha calling for them. Suddenly the robots started gathering around them and started shooting at them, the three of them tried to destroy all of them but at some point, it became too many to fight. Peggy fell to the floor and looked at Steve who was still fighting and then she turned to Nat, who was also on the floor and trying to protect herself. She was about to move to Natasha when she suddenly felt a strong wind, and looking up the sky, there it was; the Red Room.

“Home sweet home.” Natasha walked to Peggy as she looked up the sky. And then her heart stopped for a moment as she heard a familiar voice.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Natasha.” Melina smirked and then turned to Steve. “Mission report, soldier.”

“What?” Peggy turned to Steve, who was already pointing at both Natasha and Peggy, ready to fire.

From there it all came down when Melina started talking, it had all been a trap, one where they had easily fallen into, all thanks to Peggy. She felt guilty knowing this was not easy for Natasha either, coming face to face with a past that she had avoided before and had never talked about, but here they were now. No going back even if she tried to. Peggy stared at Natasha for so long that she didn’t notice Melina walking to her, almost running, prepared to hit Peggy since she was concentrated on making sure Natasha was okay. But before that could happen, Natasha stopped Melina’s hand, making Peggy come back to reality and turning to look at Melina.

“Ah, so your job is to protect Captain Carter. You’ve become someone else’s dog, I see…again.” Melina laughed.

“I can defend myself and Natasha is very capable of doing anything she’s willing to.” Peggy said as she looked at her with anger.

“Right, right. Cause she’s a…what is it called? Guardian? Security? Slave?”

“She’s an avenger.” Peggy felt her blood boiling the more Melina talked.

Melina laughed. “Right! So…Natalia. My sweet girl.” She turned to look at Natasha with a defiant smile. “I thought you would be the greatest assassin. You were one of the best. No…” Melina shook her head. “YOU were the best…but you left the moment you had a chance…how pathetic that was. A big mistake.”

“That was not what I was meant to do.” Natasha tried to keep a straight face, but she never imagined she would have to face the women she grew up with for so long.

“You were not meant to have a life!” Melina screamed. “What? You wanted to fucking run around the streets? To be a stupid simple girl who fell in love and had a happily ever after? We owned you the moment we saved you on the street. No one wants you, Natalia. You were nothing and we gave you a purpose. “

“That was not a life.” Natasha shook her head, taking a step back as Melina continued talking.

“A life? We gave you one. I gave you one! I raised you! I trained you! You were meant to be the best and we worked day and night for you to become the best. To serve Dreykov. But now…” Melina smirked. “Your purpose is to serve me. You could lead by my side, Natalia.”

“To what? Take more innocent people? Take away the chance of a life that those little girls could have? Yeah. No, thanks. I’m good where I am.” Natasha grinned a bit.

Melina’s blood boiled as she heard Natasha, at this point she knew nothing would make her come back to her. “Turning against your family for what? Protecting our enemies as a fucking mutt.” Melina took a deep breath. “You betrayed us. To go be a slave of someone else. That…is a shame, Natalia. You know how disappointing that is? You’re nothing but a waste of time. A waste of space in this world. I raised you better than this. I cuddled you too much, and now you’ve become a softie.”

Peggy knew that those words could mean nothing to Natasha, or they could mean everything…but to her ears, they were nothing but pure lies and manipulation to weaken Natasha. She was done with it. The more she talked, the more she felt anger taking over her body, looking at Natasha trying to stand still but noticing how she kept taking a step back, she couldn’t hear more of this nonsense. She put her shield back and threw herself against Melina, punching her face hard enough for her to fall to the ground and whine in pain. Peggy kept hitting her but before she knew it, Steve grabbed her and the fight began, both Steve and Peggy fought each other while Natasha was faced with the Widows and Melina stood up, cleaning the blood from her face. Peggy tried to go back to Natasha but Steve never let her, she knew she had to go over Steve to get back to her. The sudden denial rushed over her again, what was she supposed to do now? How was she supposed to end this? She didn’t know what was best for her, lose Steve again or lose Natasha, she knew she couldn’t have both.

“Steve, listen to me. This is not you. You can’t do this.” Peggy pleaded. “You know better than do this.” She breathed heavily as she kept fighting. “Steve, I know you’re in there. The sweet guy I met, the guy that wanted to find a purpose, this is not it. And you know better.”

Steve stopped for a moment as he looked at her. “No.”

“Steve. Please, do it for me. I need you.”

Steve opened his mask and looked at Peggy, guilt washing over his face. “Peggy.”

Peggy looked at Natasha through the dust, Melina was now fighting with her. She then looked up at the Red Room and sighed as she was coming with a plan.

“I need something to destroy the Red Room.”

“Peggy, you can’t do that.”

Peggy let her shield fall to the ground.”I’m done fighting. I need to do this.”

“No. This is not your end; this is not where it ends.”

“Steve…” Peggy sighed. “I have to fight for this. I have to get this over. I can’t let them keep going.”

“But this doesn’t have to be your fight. I can do this for you. For her.”

“What you mean?” Peggy looked at Steve confused.

Steve sighed. “Peggy…you know I have to do this.”

Peggy shook her head in denial, this couldn’t be happening again. “I can’t. Not again.”

“This happened for a reason. You belong here, you made a new life, you need to continue doing that, you were given a second chance and you cannot waste it.”

Peggy felt tears in her eyes as she looked down at the floor. “I don’t know what I want.”

Steve shrugged and smiled. “I do.”

Peggy looked up at him with a confused look. “What you mean?”

“Peggy, we had our moment that sadly didn’t last long. I never stopped looking for you, and you always had that place in my heart. But I can tell you have someone else in that place.”

“I don’t know what you mean. I’m-“

“Peg.” Steve chuckled. “You’re too stubborn to accept it. But even with the little time we had together, I know you.” Steve smiled. “I’m happy I got to see you again, but we both know this is not what you want.”

Peggy finally let the tears roll down her cheeks, feeling heavy pressure on her chest. “For so long…I’ve been grieving for what I lost. I didn’t know what to do with myself when I appeared here, so many years later. I thought I wouldn’t get back my life, that I’d suffer in here.” She smiled sadly. “But I found my people. They made me feel like home.”

“She made you feel like home.” Steve whispered.

Peggy smiled. “Yes.” She sighed. “And for so long I’ve been denying it because I thought my purpose was to fight to get over my past, but I didn’t notice that I was already finding a new purpose to live.”

“Oh Peg.” Steve smiled.

“Steve…I love you…”

“But not the way you love her.”

Peggy nodded. “Perhaps…in another universe…we got to be together.”

“But in this one you belong to her.” Steve nodded. “I get it.”

“But you don’t have to do this.” Peggy tilted her head. “I can’t bear the thought of you sacrificing yourself.”

“You did it once, I don’t want to live like this. So let me accomplish my purpose.”

Peggy heard an agonizing scream and her heart stopped when she recognized it. “Natasha…”

“Go. She needs you.”

Peggy looked back at Steve. “Steve…”

“Enjoy your life, Peg. Don’t waste another second.” Steve smiled. “I’m glad I got to see you one last time.”

Peggy smiled as more tears rolled down her face. “Likewise.”

Steve nodded and flew away directly to the red room. Peggy grabbed her shield and ran to find Natasha, scared that it was too late already, but just when she saw Natasha, she saw how Melina flew away, screaming Natasha’s name before disappearing into the sky along with Steve. She looked back at Natasha who laid in the floor in pain, running to her and dropping to her knees. She then heard a loud explosion and pieces started to fall on them, Peggy rapidly helped Natasha and covered both of them with her shield, running to a safe place. Once she found a safe spot, she helped Natasha sit on the floor and checked on her.

“Nat…are you alright?”

“Pegs.” Natasha smiled. “Where’s-“

“He’s gone.”

“Oh…right. I’m sorry.” Natasha groaned as she laid her head back.

Peggy wrapped her arms around her carefully, helping her to lean on her so she wouldn’t lay on the cold floor again. “I think you have a concussion.”

“Maybe so. Cause I see some tears in that pretty face.” Natasha chuckled softly.

Peggy rolled her eyes as she tried to hide her smile. “Let’s get out of here.” Peggy picked her up carefully and walked away.

____________________

“Captain, I’m very sorry about this.” Fury walked to her as she walked out of her checkup.

Peggy nodded. “I know. It’s alright. Things happen for a reason.”

Fury nodded. “Natasha is out of her checkup too; she was asking for you.” He grinned. “I’ll see you at work tomorrow?”

Peggy smiled as she looked at him and shook her head. “No, I’m taking tomorrow off.”

Fury chuckled. “Very well. Natasha also took the day off.” He said with a playful grin before he left.

Peggy blushed slightly but turned rapidly so he wouldn’t notice the redness on her face. She proceeded to walk to Nat’s room, hoping she was still there and to her surprise, she was. She smiled softly when Natasha looked at her, a small smile on her face.

“Are you alright?” Peggy asked as she walked inside.

“Yeah, just some bruises and a hurt knee. Melina told them about me hurting it when I was a kid so.” Natasha shrugged. “But I’m okay.” She looked up at Peggy. “Are you okay?”

Peggy nodded. “Yes.”

“You sure, Pegs? I-“

“I know what happened…” Peggy sighed as she tried to find the right words to say. “I know that- that was the last thing I wanted. I didn’t think I could live with losing Steve again, I was glad I got to see him again but truth is…you were right. It’s not him anymore. For a slight moment, he was back, but he didn’t want to live like that.”

Natasha nodded. “I’m sorry you had to go through that again.”

“Well…he did say something that made me realize that all this time I was stopping myself from.”

Natasha got up from the bed and raised her brows as she looked at Peggy. “Which is?”

“I was given a second chance. I could’ve died back then, but I didn’t. I was presented this chance to live, and all this time I’ve been trying to avoid it and try to make up for the time I lost. What I didn’t know was that…I was given a second chance, and I wanted to to live that second chance…with you.”

Natasha’s heart stopped for a moment as she stared at Peggy. That beautiful and sweet smile of hers, always wearing that beautiful red lipstick that captivated Natasha every single day. “What?”

Peggy laughed. “You…really didn’t get what I just said?”

Natasha shook her head. “No, I just- I mean I did. I just…didn’t expect that.”

“I know it took me a while. It’s always been there, but I was too scared and a coward to accept that I want you. I can’t bring back what I lost, but I can move on and live my future.”

“Well…gotta say I need to thank Steve for that. You wouldn’t have come to that conclusion yourself.” Natasha smirked.

“Oh for God sakes. Is that all you have to say?”

Natasha chuckled. “No. I have a lot to say.” She walked over to Peggy and wrapped her arms around Peggy’s neck, bringing their lips closer. “But I’d rather show it than talk.”

Peggy smiled as she let Natasha pull her closer for a passionate kiss. They both knew all the times they have kissed before meant more than what they thought, but this time they were sure that kiss sealed whatever doubts they both had. Of course, they still had to talk about what they were, if they’d keep it private or not, though she knew one or two people already knew what was going on with them, but at this point, they really didn’t mind. Peggy pulled Natasha closer by wrapping her arms around her waist, Natasha smiled against her lips and caused the kiss to break, but it didn’t matter, because there would be more of those kisses from now on.

Peggy smiled as she looked at Nat. “So…yours or mine?”

“How about yours for tonight?” Natasha grinned.

“Sounds about right.” Peggy smiled as she grabbed her bag and Natasha’s, not being able to contain herself as she held Natasha’s hand softly.

“So…is this enough for a long day?” Natasha asked as they walked together.

“Well, I actually gotta tell you something that you possibly won’t believe.” Peggy chuckled.

“I’m sure I will, let’s but some pizza and a bottle of tequila.” Natasha looked at her with a smile.

“Yes, my darling.” Peggy smiled as she looked at Natasha. Life started to make sense again.

#peggy carter #natasha romanoff #captain carter #black widow #peggy carter x natasha romanoff #captain carter x black widow #peggynat #peggy x natasha #marvel #marvel fic #what if

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beauty-and-passion · 10 months ago

Text

Tackling The Magnus Archives

I hope you’re satisfied, TMA fandom.

For a lot of time, I’ve seen this fandom everywhere: posts, fanarts, even more fanarts, people mentioning scary stuff and an overall positive reaction about this series.

At first, I didn’t pay it any attention. It seemed just like any other series, with nothing exceptional about it. But the more time passed, the more fanarts I saw, the more they got my interest. I still had no idea what the series was about, but it looked interesting. Maybe there was something I didn’t notice before.

So… why not give it a try?

Cool, what’s the plan?

From the moment I decided to give this series a try, I ran away from all spoilers. That means I am currently facing a series I have no idea what will be about. I know nothing about the plot, nor the characters.

Well, nothing except for a few things I accidentally learned before:

Jonathan Sims is the protagonist. I think?

There is a Michael somewhere

Also, a Martin doing stuff

There are a lot of names

And a library

I’ve also seen a spider lady

Someone explores a dungeon? Is there a dungeon in this story?

There is a homoerotic story too

I also recently found out there is a season 2 - or a related series? No idea what the plot is about, but we will find out along the road.

How?

I had two choices: to analyze every single episode (and die of old age because it would take an eternity) or listen to the whole series first, then write one/several posts analyzing it. But it would still take a lot of time and I will inevitably forget a lot of stuff or don’t cover things as well as they deserve.

So, I chose a third option: to tackle the series ten episodes at a time and write a post with my impressions about all of them. (a bit like I do for Eurovision, only for TMA). This way:

I’ll cover every episode

I will remember more stuff

I will post constantly, so you won’t have to wait forever for me to finish the whole thing first

It will be funnier and more entertaining

Is there something we should/shouldn’t do?

I want my impressions and comments to be as genuine as possible, but in order to do that, I shouldn’t know anything about what I will read.

That means I will actively avoid every little information about the series. It doesn’t matter if it’s about harmless or well-known info: I won’t read it, period.

So please, do not write me anything about this series. I will not read any ask regarding TMA. You can still ask me stuff and write comments, sure. And you can put spoilers if you want, but please: be kind and put a big warning before them. Do not spoil the fun.

What’s the timeline?

Asap: I will write a new post and add it to the main masterlist. This new post will seve as masterlist for TMA and include this introductory post, as well as all other reactions. So If you ever miss one of them, you will read all of them there.

In the next couple days: it will come out the first post with my reactions about chapters 1-10. I’m already working on it, so it should come out very soon.

I will try to keep up a consistent schedule, but can’t promise you anything. I am preparing two exams and my final thesis too, so it might take me some time to post. But I will end this series. By now, you know that when I start something, I finish it.

In conclusion

Thank you in advance to all the people who will follow me in this adventure. If you already know about TMA, you can have fun, by mocking me for my ignorance or wait for the moment I will face the real shit. If you don’t know about TMA, maybe you will find the inspiration to start it - or to do it with me. It’ll be fun! And even if the series ends up being bad, at least we can laugh together at how terrible it is.

See you very soon with the first post about chapters 1-10.

(How about a coffee? ☕)

_______________________________

TAGLIST:

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#the magnus archives #tma #jonathan sims

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2nd2ndalto · 2 months ago

Text

what if there were two (side by side in orbit)

***NB there are two parts to this chapter since it was too big for one Tumblr post!!*** (first half of chapter 6 here)

Chapter 6 (part 2 of 2)

Nico returns to where his partner is peering into the microfiche. “No luck?” he asks. Will’s hunched over, nose inches from the screen, looking like he’s ready to become one with the bulky machine.

Will pulls his glasses off, leaning back and rubbing at his eyes. “Nope. Nothing in 1909.”

“Nothing in 1939 either,” Nico says. It’s a bit of a disappointment, but this is the way historical research goes sometimes. There’s a lot of nothing to dig through before you get to the good stuff.

“You know, I was thinking about that article I found at the office,” Will says, extracting the microfilm and flicking off the screen. “What do you think about doing an internet search for animal attacks – not just for the two years in question, but for the entire century?”

Nico nods, quickly on board. “That’s a great idea. Why didn’t I think of that?”

Will grins, rising. “The student has become the master,” he intones.

Nico huffs. He’s pretty sure that’s a line from one of the Star Wars movies Will’s been making him watch. “Cocky,” he says.

“They don’t have all the newspapers in the online database yet, but it’s still worth a look,” Will’s saying as they clatter down the stairs to the lower level.

“It’ll still be faster than wading through miles of microfiche,” Nico agrees. Besides, he’s queasy enough already.

Even with limited newspaper options, there are still a lot of articles on animal attacks to scan through before something finally catches Nico’s eye. He reads the little article again, then a third time, a prickle of recognition flashing over his skin, pieces falling into place. “Hey, look at this,” he murmurs.

Will scootches his chair over, a screech on the floor in the near-silent room. “Oops,” he mutters. He blinks at the screen, then leans closer, his shoulder bumping Nico’s and staying there, the lightest brush of warmth.

“Timothy Ly, age seventeen, found dead on the edge of his campsite, near Dumfries, VA,” Will reads under his breath, “localized trauma to his abdomen… Yeah.” Will sits back, taking his warm shoulder with him. “That definitely sounds like something. What year is that?”

Nico’s already forgotten. All the years are starting to blur together, honestly, numbers beginning to make less and less sense the longer they look. He scans back up to the top of the page. “1969.”

They’re both silent for a moment, then Will turns to Nico, wide-eyed, at the same moment that it dawns on Nico, too.

“That’s –” Will begins.

“Thirty years,” Nico breathes. “The murders are occurring every thirty years.”

Will’s blue eyes are bright with realization. “Maybe – maybe even to the month. Right?”

“Yes!” Nico says, too loud in the quiet room, eliciting a few dirty looks from patrons around them.

“It’s April now,” Will says, quieter.

“Yeah, and the – I’m sure the other murders took place around the same time,” Nico says, wracking his brain.

Will’s already nodding. “Yeah. That one report you showed me, it was from early May.”

It’s a breakthrough. Nico’s sure it is. They spend another two hours feverishly searching the newspaper archives, finally coming up with two other mentions of animal attacks in the same area, around the same time, the last article implying that forest rangers were on the lookout for whatever animal was responsible. And then from June 1969 onwards – nothing.

Nico’s riding the high of their discoveries as they walk back to the Bureau, positive they’re on the brink of solving this thing completely. It’s several blocks before he registers that he hasn’t actually stopped talking long enough for Will to do anything other than nod in agreement.

He gives his partner a once-over. Will’s not looking unhappy, exactly, but a little distant. Certainly not possessed of the same excitement that Nico is. It gives Nico pause.

“You okay?”

Will turns and smiles like he’s coming back to himself. “Yeah. Yeah, I’m fine. Just kinda tired. And hungry.”

“We’ll grab lunch, then see what else we can come up with,” Nico tells him

Will nods, seemingly satisfied with this, but he’s still quiet the rest of the way back to the Bureau. It tugs at something in Nico that he can’t quite put his finger on. But what else can he say, really? Will’s entitled to be hungry and tired. He already admitted to not sleeping well last night.

Lunch is fine, and Will seems to be in better spirits, teasing Nico about the lack of vegetables on his lunch tray and filling him in on Dawson’s Creek.

“I know we just came from the library,” Nico says as they head down the stairwell.

“But you want to go right back?” Will smiles.

“Yeah,” Nico admits. “I just have the feeling there’s something else there. A few more pieces and all of this is going to fall into place.”

“Yeah, I hope so,” Will says, only a little vague. “You know, I had a good talk with Annabeth yesterday – and she mentioned wanting to see our print evidence. How about if I go fill her in on what we’ve got so far, you go back to the library, and we’ll meet back here later?”

Will takes a moment to organize the case file before heading upstairs. He’s feeling slow and clumsy, distracted. He’s sure Nico’s halfway back to the library already, in his characteristic high-energy that comes with piecing a mystery together.

As much as that energy is usually contagious, inspiring – Will just can’t manage to get there this time. He misses it. He feels guilty that all he really wants right now is for this case to be over. But Luke’s threats cling to him like the sticky cobwebs in the coal cellar on Exeter.

Luke’s sneering dismissal is weighing on him, his immediate refusal to even consider the fingerprint evidence. In his heart, Will’s sure Luke is wrong. But whose side will Octavian take? And what could that mean for Nico, and for the job that Will gets up excited to go to every day?

Will closes his eyes for a moment. For now, he just has to get through this. He’s already told Annabeth about the print evidence. She was sincerely interested. And Will’s already told Nico that’s what he’ll be doing. He definitely can’t lock the door and hide in the basement all afternoon.

Will collects his things and heads upstairs.

He’s relieved, once again, to find Annabeth on her own. She’s fascinated by the fingerprints, and her expression fades to one of horror as Will describes the nest they found at the building on Exeter Street.

“And there’s more, actually,” Will says, finding he’s having trouble getting the words out. “It’s – I’m sure Luke would just write it off but –”

Annabeth frowns. “Don’t worry about Luke. He’s not being rational at the moment.”

“Well,” Will sighs, “I wouldn’t even blame him in this case.”

He tells Annabeth what they’ve found so far – evidence of fourteen similar deaths, spanning nearly a century. Matching prints over the decades. A collection of trophies, at least some of them lining up with items victims were wearing at the time of their demise.

Annabeth doesn’t speak immediately when Will’s finished talking, her brow furrowed, thoughtful. She’s got her heels kicked off, one leg tucked under her in her chair.

“That’s some really incredible evidence,” she says, finally. “I spoke to Luke about the elongated prints, after you and I talked yesterday. He wouldn’t even entertain the idea. I think he’s got – he’s being very proprietary about this case.” She grimaces.

“I know it’s not our case –” Will begins.

“Yeah, but this evidence is hard to ignore. I know Luke thinks the polygraph cleared Tooms beyond a shadow of a doubt…” Annabeth trails off, gazing for a moment at the notes Will’s laid on her desk. Then her gray eyes flick up to Will, focused, and Will recognizes the same intensity he sees across the office from him every single day. Something stirs in his chest.

“You said you found evidence of animal attacks when you were looking through the newspaper archives this morning,” Annabeth says.

“Yeah,” Will nods. “It was –” he flips through his notes. “One outside of Dumfries, VA… and the other two in a national park. Prince William Forest Park?”

“Give me one second,” Annabeth says, and she’s gone, not even bothering to put her shoes back on. Will blinks, turning to watch her dark head disappear down the aisle between the cubicles. He sits back with a sigh. He’s not sure he could follow her at that speed if he wanted to. His headache is creeping back in again, and he’s found his gaze repeatedly flicking over to Luke’s desk, hoping he can get this meeting over with before the other man reappears.

Annabeth’s back just minutes later, eyes bright, brandishing a pair of files. “I thought I remembered these,” she says, breathless. She drops back into her chair. “When you said Dumfries, that reminded me – there were these two murders, in Woodlea.”

“Is that nearby?”

Annabeth nods, scanning through a file. “Yes, only a couple of miles away. Look.” She turns the file towards Will. “April 1969. A husband and wife, found dead in a room locked from the inside. The medical examiner’s report even says that they appeared to be animal attacks, because there was no obvious use of cutting tools – but they couldn’t see any way for an animal to have entered the dwelling. The victims were found on the upper floor of a house. This makes sense. It fits.”

“And the livers?”

Annabeth passes the second file to Will. “I’m willing to bet the livers were gone. Check the autopsy report.”

Will flips through the file until he finds it. “Yeah – it says, ‘notable was absence of liver’... and ‘victim died from abdominal hemorrhage’.”

“Same here,” Annabeth says. She gazes at the file in her hands before flipping it shut. “This is incredible, Will.”

Will laughs. “Yeah, I agree. And it doesn’t make sense, I know –”

Annabeth shrugs. “But sometimes things don’t make sense. That doesn’t mean we disregard them, though. It means we keep exploring them until they do make sense.”

Will nods, feeling some of the tension melt from his shoulders. “That’s my take, yeah.”

Annabeth flips the file shut, placing it on her desk. “I know we cleared Tooms, but I don’t see how we can ignore this. I’ll –” She glances over her shoulder at the mostly empty office floor. “I’ll talk to Luke about it when he gets back.”

Will gives her a half-smile. “Good luck with that.”

The discussion with Annabeth is heartening. But Will has a nagging feeling Luke will disregard any evidence that originates with the X-Files, no matter how intractable. And where does that leave Will and Nico? To continue to pursue a suspect who’s been acquitted? To disregard protocol, put their department in jeopardy? And now, maybe take Annabeth down with them? Will’s heart feels heavier with each step he takes back down to the basement.

An hour later, Nico still not back from the library, Will leans back in his chair, closing his eyes. His head is spinning with case details, yet all he really wants to do is go home to bed. Rolling his chair across the linoleum, he reaches across Nico’s desk to flick off the radio, returning to his own desk and laying his head in his arms. Maybe he can catch a cat nap before Nico gets back.

Will’s just starting to drift when he hears the door open. He glances up, expecting Nico. It takes his tired mind a second to make sense of the taller man.

“Luke. Hey.” Will sits up straighter, steeling himself for whatever is coming.

“Hey,” Luke smiles. His eyes scan the office before he approaches Will’s desk, leaning back against it. Will automatically moves an inch or two away, trying for some space, and offers a polite smile.

“What’s up? Did Annabeth fill you in on our investigation?”

“Yeah, she did.” Luke grimaces. “It’s… definitely interesting information. Maybe something for you and di Angelo to check out later.” Will suppresses an eye roll as Luke continues, predictable. “I just don’t see how we can justify the resources, taking this in a completely different direction. We’re really close to catching the suspect, I’m sure of it. This Exeter site is just a red herring. And murders from sixty years ago? Come on, Will. You know that’s bullshit.”

Will frowns. “I really think you should check it out before you dismiss it entirely. I’ve got the write-up here if –”

Luke laughs. The throbbing in Will’s forehead intensifies. “Will, it’s me. You can drop the act. Are you seriously following this line of inquiry? This all hinges on a guy we’ve already cleared, not to mention the suspect being, what, immortal?”

“Luke, we’ve got matching prints from multiple crime scenes. Clusters of almost identical murders –”

“Will.” Luke hops up so he’s sitting on Will’s desk, facing him. Will rolls his chair back. Unfortunately, there’s not far to go. He glances towards the door, hoping Nico’s on his way back.

“You’re a good agent,” Luke says. “I heard you did amazing work on that case in Fairbrook – everyone’s been talking about it. Just think what you could do if you weren’t stuck in the fucking basement. You have to think about your future. How long do you think this department is going to be operational, anyway?”

Will huffs out a breath, frustrated, feeling more than a little trapped by the other man’s intense gaze, his unwelcome proximity. Over the months they’ve been partnered, Will has become very comfortable with Nico in his space, the two of them side by side in cars and police stations, climbing over each other in the cluttered office. Nico’s proximity has become a comfort. Will’s almost visceral response to Luke’s looming presence makes the stark difference between the two relationships blindingly obvious, if it wasn’t already.

The door opens and both men glance over. Nico looks up as he enters, taking them both in, his expression clouding with something raw for just a second before he looks away, features schooled back into careful nonchalance.

“Castellan. Solace,” he says, crossing to his desk. Will bristles at the use of his surname.

“Anyway. Think about it,” Luke says, sliding off the desk and stepping closer to squeeze Will’s shoulder, his hand lingering. “And hey – a bunch of us are going out to the Pint & Pitcher later.” Luke studies Will’s face. “You should join us. You know. If you’re not too busy down here with the vampires.”

“Oh. And you too, di Angelo,” he throws over his shoulder on his way out the door.

Will frowns to himself, rolling his shoulders and turning back to his desk.

There's a loaded silence after the door shuts. Nico hears the sound of Luke’s retreating footsteps in the hall, going then gone.

Will’s quiet, eyes on the papers in front of him. He shifts a moment later, wheels of his chair scraping the linoleum.

Nico wants to let it go. It doesn't matter. He should focus on the case. There’s work to be done, after all. Or he could just leave. Take a walk, cool down. That's nothing out of the ordinary. He could go grab them both coffee.

Instead, because he's an idiot, he leans into the burning in his chest, some cloying emotion he doesn't want to examine, and he asks, light, "you said you and Luke know each other from the academy?"

There's a pause, fizzing. "Yeah. We – you know. We had courses together."

Nico hums in assent. He already knows it’s something more. Even without the benefit of his background, his training – he knows. He watches Will too closely, reads him too readily, greedy with it.

Nico waits. Because he knows Will, and he knows how to get him to say more. He feels small. It feels wrong, manipulative. He does it anyway.

Will clears his throat. "We, um. We dated. Sort of. Briefly."

There it is.

And Nico hates the way those words make him feel. Angry. Hurt. It's so stupid. He has absolutely no right to it. Will is his partner. His friend. Nico knows better than to jeopardize that by being a dick.

He should stop. He should leave. But the thing is, he's just so good at making things worse.

"It's ancient history," Will says, after a long silence. "It's – it really was nothing. That's why I didn't say anything. It's not going to affect the case in any way.”

“Huh,” says Nico. It’s just a single syllable, breathed out knowing very well the effect it will have.

Will turns fully from his desk. “What?” he says, flat.

Nico shrugs. “Nothing.”

There’s a long pause, buzzing with tension. Will finally turns back to his desk, a shake of his head. “Yeah. Nothing,” he mutters.

Nico doesn’t want to fight. There have been plenty of disagreements in the months they’ve worked together, sure, but they’ve worked through it. They may not always agree, but there’s a respect there, an automatic consideration of the other’s point of view. It’s been better than Nico could ever have hoped. And that means it can’t last, right?

“It just seems that Luke doesn’t think it’s ancient history,” Nico says, light but loaded.

Will huffs out a breath, tense. “Luke can think whatever he wants. It doesn’t change anything.”

“Sure. Whatever.”

There’s a sharp shifting from across the room, Will tossing his papers to the desk and standing, his chair banging against the desk. Nico feels a stupid surge of satisfaction.

“What the fuck, Nico?”

Nico turns. Will’s face is screwed up, and he doesn’t just look angry, he looks as if he’s on the verge of tears. Nico’s breath catches in his chest.

“Why are you fixating on this? We’re trying to solve a case. My personal history with Luke has absolutely no impact on that. If I thought it did, I would have fucking mentioned it, okay?”

But instead of apologizing, instead of backing down, Nico just shrugs. “Yeah. Okay.” He turns back to his desk. There’s long silence – and Nico’s shoulders finally slump when he hears the door slam.

Nico’s not sure if he’s waiting or not, but the fact remains that he doesn’t leave at the end of the day, lingering longer than he normally would. He’s not even really working now, just stewing in his own misery.

The door to the office finally opens at quarter to six.

There’s the barest flicker of Will’s gaze to Nico’s before Will looks away. “You’re still here,” he says. He begins collecting his things, readying himself to leave for the day.

“Hey – I’m sorry,” Nico says. He wishes he felt it more than he does. But it’s the best he can do, and he knows he has to do something. “I was out of line.”

Will pauses like he’s considering his next words. “Okay,” he says, finally, pulling his coat on. He hesitates again, not quite meeting Nico’s eyes. Then, “see you tomorrow,” Will says, quiet.

With that, he’s gone. Nico, left in the silence, drops his head into his hands.

“Hey,” Nico says as the office door closes behind him the next morning.

Will glances up, almost surprised. “Hi.”

There’s silence for a beat as they gaze at each other, tentative and off-balance, the usual ease of their morning greetings marred by the sour memory of yesterday’s interaction. Will glances away, his attention returning back to the file on his desk, none of his usual evident pleasure at Nico’s appearance.

Nico’s heart sinks. He hangs his coat, then retrieves the cardboard tray from where he’d balanced it carefully on the shelf by the door. He approaches Will, nervous.

“Here. I – brought coffee.” He sets it at Will’s elbow, quickly turning back to his own desk, finding he’s not brave enough to take in whatever he might see on Will’s face.

“Oh – thanks, Nico.” Will’s voice softens a little. Then he turns back to his work, and there’s quiet except for the occasional flip of a page, a soft exhale.

“How was your evening?” Nico asks after what feels like a long, throbbing silence, growing thicker with every passing second. Nico is not going to ask Will if he accepted Luke’s invitation to go out for drinks last night. Will didn’t seem at all interested when Luke proposed the idea. But who’s to say? Will’s an adorable, giggly drunk. Maybe he likes Luke a lot more once he’s had a few beers. And if Nico was awake all night plagued by images of adorable, giggly Will falling into Luke’s bed, well. Nico’s definitely keeping that to himself.

“Oh.” Will glances up. “It was um – fine, I guess. Kayla and I watched SVU. Or – Kayla watched it, and I passed out on the couch.” Will gives Nico an almost-half-smile and the wave of relief that crashes over Nico pushes all the breath from his lungs.

“Sounds like fun.”

Will rolls his eyes, almost looking like his regular self. “Yeah. Another thrilling night in the life of Will. How about you?”

“Oh, you know.” Nico shrugs. For a moment he can’t actually recall what he did, aside from catastrophize, berate himself. Rinse and repeat. “I picked up my dry cleaning.”

Will nods, solemn. “Living the dream.”

They gaze at each other for a beat before Will turns back to his desk, and Nico to his.

Then there’s quiet, each of them focused on their work, the occasional brief exchange of conversation. Will seems tired. Nico would misinterpret it for simply still being angry about yesterday, but he knows Will well enough to tell that it’s more than that.

Will’s accent sneaks out more when he hasn’t had enough sleep. It’s stupid, the way Nico’s come to think of it as something private, something just for them. For movie nights and early morning drives. He associates Will’s almost-Southern-drawl with sleepy half-smiles, messy curls, Will’s eyes slowly falling closed no matter how much he swears to Nico that this time, he’ll stay awake for an entire movie. It makes Nico feel warm and a little protective. Sleepy Will is a little slower to respond, a little more forgetful. Soft in a way that makes Nico’s heart ache.

God, Will deserves better. He deserves a proper apology. He deserves a partner who’ll have his back unconditionally, one who isn’t an unbalanced, jealous mess. He deserves better than Nico.

Nico fucked up, there’s no question. For now, though, maybe he can just… smooth it over. Besides, hopefully this case will be solved soon and they can go back to it being just the two of them, the way Nico likes. Nico can go back to ignoring his feelings, pretending he’s not pining for the man across the office from him, that he’s not memorizing every little point of contact between them, warming at every touch.

“Any word from forensics on the evidence from Exeter?” Will thinks to ask some time later.

Nico shakes his head. “Not yet. I called earlier. They’re backed up.”

Will’s almost relieved to hear this. As much as they’re both sure that the Exeter evidence will point to Tooms, Nico seems amenable to not returning there before they have more solid proof.

The morning drags on, the mood in the office subdued. For his part, Will’s reluctant to say anything at all that might incite further conflict, everything feeling rather contentious at this point.

“You going for lunch?” Nico asks, quiet and hesitant some time later.

“Um. I’m not really hungry. You go ahead.” Will doesn’t turn, and there’s silence for a moment, but then he hears the door close softly.

Will keeps busy with mindless tasks for almost another hour before he feels his brain grind to a halt. He shoves aside a pile of autopsy reports he’s supposed to be reviewing, dropping his head into his hands and lingering there until he’s dangerously close to dozing off. He gets like this sometimes, bouts of relentless insomnia. He hates the way he feels bleary and slow in the daylight, the way time seems to drag until he can drop into bed again – and then the way sleep won’t come when he finally gets there.

The door to the office opens and Will quickly attempts to look as though he’s been hard at work. Normally it wouldn’t bother him, being so obviously slow and vulnerable, but there’s a tension in the basement office that less-than-heartfelt apologies haven’t quite shaken.

“Hey.” Nico sounds more restrained than usual, more cautious. It exhausts Will even further. “Violent Crimes wants to meet with us at two.”

Will checks his watch. It’s 1:30. “What for?”

“Not sure.” Nico drops a stack of files on his desk and moves to a cabinet in the corner, digging in the bottom shelf, his voice getting lost a bit. “Maybe they want to kick us off the case. Or me, anyway.”

Will sighs. “Could be. Do they really need a meeting for that, though?”

“Well, you know. Bureaucracy.”

There’s not much more conversation in the next half hour aside from “did you see –” and “can you pass me –”. Certainly less than they usually talk. No teasing, no jokes. Will’s nerves are stretched thin, cotton in his head.

They make their way upstairs just before two, taking seats at a conference room table with several other agents Will recognizes. They nod to each other, polite. Luke and Annabeth are the last to enter. Annabeth shoots Will and Nico a smile. Luke ignores them both entirely.

More stakeouts, is what the meeting is about, two agents at each of the previous murder scenes. Will and Nico are assigned to the park where a maintenance worker’s body was found in a shed. Will sees Nico roll his eyes, but he doesn’t offer any commentary until they’re in the stairwell.

“This is bullshit,” Nico mutters as they reach the basement. “I don’t even understand why we’re being seconded into their stakeouts. I thought Luke didn’t want us anywhere near his precious investigation.”

Will grimaces. “I know. I guess they need the extra bodies. But we can just… play along for now. We do the stakeout tonight and then –”

But Nico’s not listening, picking up his pace down the hall. Will sees why in an instant – there’s a yellow envelope sticking out of the mail slot on the office door. Will has an immediate sinking feeling, certain that things are about to get even more complicated. His own pace slows.

“Forensics,” Nico says, holding up the envelope, looking brighter now. Will just nods, honestly wishing he could drum up some excitement about it. He just feels dull, heavy enough to sink into the floor.

Nico tears the envelope open right there in the hallway, stepping back so Will can unlock the door.

“Yes,” Nico says, scanning over the report as they enter the office. “Yes. The prints from Exeter match Tooms’.” Nico looks up, triumphant.

Will nods. “That’s great. Amazing.”

There’s a beat, something flickering across Nico’s face like he’s only just realized they’re not entirely in the same headspace. “You don’t sound very happy about it.”

Will doesn’t respond right away, crossing the room to drop into his chair. God, he doesn’t want to argue about this. He wants to go home and curl up under a blanket and not emerge until this case is over.

“Will, this is the proof we need,” Nico says, certain, like he’s sure Will just hasn’t realized it yet. “This is all connected to Tooms. We’ve definitely got enough evidence to bring him in for questioning now.”

Will hesitates, trying to force his tired brain to parse the words properly. “Look, I just – I think we should toe the party line for now.”

This is followed by a long silence. Will finally looks up, stomach in knots. Nico’s expression is some combination of sour and disbelieving. It makes Will’s heart ache to see it directed at him.

“You think we should do what Luke wants?”

“It’s not just Luke,” Will says, halting. “It’s… I don’t think it would hurt. To stake out the other sites. That’s how we found Tooms last time, right?”

“It wouldn’t hurt?” Nico’s voice rises. “Will, we know he’s still on the hunt for more livers. This isn’t just about following protocol, it’s about preventing more deaths! It’s a complete fucking waste of time for any of us to be staking out other locations when we already know where this guy is!”

Will scrubs a hand over his face. “Nico – I know. But if we go rogue, we risk not being able to pursue this case at all.” Will’s stomach aches. He’s avoided the topic so far, reluctant to create even more animosity between Nico and Luke but – “Luke – he said something the other day. About reporting back to Octavian, if he didn’t think we were following protocol –”

Nico scoffs. “Luke’s just blowing hot air. Throwing out threats because he’s trying to get under your skin.”

Will lets out a breath. He’s so tired. “What do we do, then?”

“We blow off the stakeout and go back to Exeter,” Nico says, sure.

They regard each other for a long moment. Then something hardens in Nico’s expression at whatever he reads on Will’s face. “You know what? Fine. You go up to Violent Crimes. I’m sure Luke would appreciate the company.” Nico turns away to dig in his desk.

Will blinks, stung. “What? No, Nico, I want to go with you.”

“Well, I’m not going to Maple Gardens.” Nico is still turned away. “And you shouldn’t either.”

“So what, you’re going to stake out Exeter by yourself?”

Nico comes up with whatever he was looking for. “Not if you come with me.”

“I – don’t think I can.” Will stands, taking a few steps towards his partner and then stalling at the fierce expression on Nico’s face. This all feels stupid and impossible, and if he can just make Nico understand –

“Nico,” he says, half-pleadingly. “What if something goes wrong? What if we get in trouble and they decide to shut down this office for good?”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’d be really crushed if you had to go work upstairs instead.” Nico’s words come out bitter and raw in a way that leaves Will unsure whether he wants to burst into tears or pull Nico into his arms.

“Nico –”

“Enjoy your stakeout.”

With that, Nico’s gone, his bag and hastily gathered papers stuffed under his arm. Will feels tears prick at his eyes.

He pushes past it, glances through his notes from the meeting. Maple Gardens. It’s a park - a few treed acres, a pond, a playground. He’s been in the neighborhood before.

Will scrubs his hands over his face. He’s already been feeling off-balance all day. Now, with Nico’s sudden absence, he feels as if the ground’s been snatched right out from under him. One of the best parts about this job is that all their decisions are made together. And without that…

Okay, no. Will can do this on his own. It’ll be fine. He reaches for the phone. He’ll call Luke, or Annabeth, make some sort of excuse for Nico and request to be assigned with a different agent for tonight’s stakeout.

But Will’s only punched the first few numbers into the phone before he drops the handset back into the receiver. Will’s a terrible liar. What would he even say? And besides, it’ll just be more ammunition for Luke to use against Nico and the X-Files. If Nico gets in trouble over this…

Besides, the thought of spending hours with anyone right now, especially someone he doesn’t know, feels unbearable.

Will stands from his desk, grabbing his coat and turning out the lights before he locks the door.

It’s not a long drive to Exeter Street, but with every passing block, Nico feels more regret, thick in his chest. By the time he’s parked up the street from the derelict building, he’s formulating apologies in his head.

Fuck, what a mess.

Nico drops his head to the steering wheel, trying to twist his brain in a direction that fixes this. He’ll talk to Will first thing tomorrow, he decides. A real apology, sincere this time. And they can figure out where to take this investigation next. Together.

Nico tries to push all other thoughts aside as he makes his way towards the crumbling building in the twilight. He flicks on his flashlight, quickly scanning through the first floor for any signs of life, listening. There’s nothing but the occasional soft rustling inside the walls.

At the end of the hallway, there’s a staircase leading to the upper floors. A few steps up, though, and it’s clear that it’s crumbing even worse than the rest of the building. Nico gives it up as a bad job.

He carefully scans unit 103 before descending the ladder into the coal cellar. It’s quiet, rank. Empty. He floods each corner and crevice with light, just in case. Finally, he approaches the nest at the end of the cellar. It looks unchanged, as far as he’s able to tell, sticky and oozing with vile green gunk, but nothing new to see.

Sighing, Nico selects one of the more solid-looking walls to lean against, closing his eyes for a moment. But all he can think of is the flash of hurt on Will’s face as he left the office, the knowledge that he caused that. Will, who’s just trying to do his fucking job, trying to keep Nico out of hot water. And Nico has to go and make things difficult, make things personal. It’s unforgivable.

Nico pushes himself off the wall, frustrated. Should he abandon his stakeout entirely? Head to Maple Gardens and talk to Will right now? But the Bureau will have assigned Will another partner for the evening; he won’t be alone. No, Nico decides. He’ll focus on this tonight, then fix things tomorrow. Nico’s well aware that he’s terrible at fixing things. He’s so much better at burning bridges. But he’ll never be able to forgive himself if he does that this time.

He forces his mind back to the here and now. How often does Tooms come back here? He must, at least occasionally. The pocket watch matches the description of the one missing from the most recent victim.

Nico crouches down to survey the display of trinkets along the wall. It looks undisturbed since he and Will cataloged them yesterday. He casts the flashlight beam along the bottom of the wall, counting. Are the artifacts lined up in the order the victims were murdered? The pocket watch is furthest to the right. But now Nico notices a glint of metal, even further along the wall.

Damn it. Did they miss something? Nico shuffles closer, trying to get a better look. The little object is half-tilted into a crack in the floor, and he angles the flashlight to illuminate the spot.

It’s a cufflink. Silver, with a stylized sun. The same one he saw on Will’s wrist two days ago.

Nio’s stomach lurches. No. No, surely not. Will was here, after all. The cufflink must have fallen off while they were processing the scene. He plucks up the little piece of metal, bringing it closer to his face as if it will somehow morph into something else if he looks closer. It doesn’t.

It’s ridiculous. He’s being ridiculous. It’s just his guilt getting to him, offering up the most gruesome possibilities.

He shoves the cufflink into his pocket, pulls out his phone with shaking fingers. Fuck. No service. In less than a minute, Nico’s back out on the street outside, pacing as Will’s line rings and rings, finally transferring him to voicemail.

“Will, it’s me.” Nico’s voice is shaky. “Look, I – I need you to call me as soon as you can. It’s important. And – I’m really sorry for being such an ass earlier. I understand if you don’t want to talk to me right now, but I found something of yours. At the Exeter site. And I need to know that you’re okay.”

He snaps the phone shut, pocketing it. That should do it. No matter how furious Will might be, he won’t leave him hanging if he knows Nico’s worried about his well-being.

Nico hesitates on the sidewalk. The night air is cool, the street silent. Nico feels as if he’s about to crawl out of his skin.

Will could be busy. He’s on a stakeout, after all. Or he could have seen Nico’s name on the caller ID and been too angry to answer. Nico wouldn’t blame him in the least. He paces the few yards in front of the building, heart in his throat. What if Will doesn’t check the voicemail?

Or what if there’s something far worse going on?

He dials Will again, a reflex. No answer. Fuck. Now what? He’ll just… he’ll –

Nico sprints back to his car, fumbling for Annabeth’s number before he’s even really registered what he’s doing. He starts the car, peeling on to the road. It should be a ten-minute drive to Maple Gardens. Nico plans to make it in five.

The phone rings once. “Agent Chase,” Annabeth says, low.

“Annabeth, it’s Nico di Angelo. Do you know who Will was partnered with tonight?” Nico feels as if he can’t get the words out fast enough.

There’s a pause. When Annabeth speaks again, confusion seeps into her voice. “Are you not with Will at Maple Gardens?”

“No, we – I had a lead to follow up on elsewhere. Will would have requested reassignment for the evening.”

Wouldn’t he? Surely he wouldn’t have gone alone? Nico barely breathes, straining for the sound of Annabeth’s voice, low, then Luke’s.

Finally, Annabeth’s voice, back on the line: “Will didn’t request reassignment for this evening.”

Nico’s head spins, no air in his lungs. “Are you sure?”

Another pause, Luke’s voice in the background, irritated now, but Nico doesn’t have time to worry about that.

“Yes,” Annabeth says. “Luke was in charge of staffing for tonight. Will would have had to speak with him.”

Nico speeds right through a four-way stop, brakes squealing and a horn blaring behind him as a car veers out of his way. “Okay. I – I’m having trouble reaching Will. Do you mind trying him on the radio?”

There’s a brief pause, but then Annabeth says, “Of course.” Nico can hear her in the background of the call, paging position four. Nico’s whole chest aches to hear the sound of Will’s voice in response. There’s a long moment of silence. Annabeth tries again.

“I’m not getting a response,” Annabeth says finally. Nico can hear Luke’s voice and then Annabeth’s in quiet agreement. “Luke says we spoke to Will about twenty minutes ago and it was quiet at his location. Is everything okay?”

“I’m at Maple Gardens now,” Nico says, trying to keep his voice steady, a tiny trickle of relief at the sign outside the park. “Just arrived. I’m going to find out. I’ll call you right back.”

He ends the call without waiting for an answer, taking the dark drive through the park with his hands clenched on the wheel. There. There’s a vehicle parked in the trees at the location he and Will were assigned, and Nico’s out and across the grass faster than blinking.

But as he nears the car, he can see the driver’s side door hanging open, no one inside. The scanner buzzes intermittently on the dash. The radio crackles again, another page from Annabeth.

Fuck. Nico scrubs a hand over his face, trying to force himself to focus. It’s not going to help anyone to panic right now. He briefly scans the area around the car, seeing nothing amiss.

“Will?” Nico takes a few steps into the woods. He calls Will’s name again. He jogs further into the forest scanning the trees and god, the forest floor, praying he doesn’t trip over a body. He tries to force his brain to make sense of this, look at it logically, trying to ignore the way his heart’s trying to beat out of his chest. What other explanation could there be for this scenario? Did Will see something and leave the car to walk into the woods? But then surely he would have relayed that information to Luke. And why would he leave the car door open?

Nico has a horrible, crushing feeling that he’s hurtling towards something worse the longer he stands here, no turn-offs, no brakes. He pulls his phone out again, shaking so badly he misdials on the first try. “Annabeth? I’m at Maple Gardens, he’s not here. His car’s empty. I don’t see any sign of him. I – I have reason to believe he’s in danger.”

Annabeth’s tone barely changes, but she’s on the radio, fast, calling for backup. Nico feels ready to shatter into a million shards, sharp.

“We’re on the road,” Annabeth reports a moment later. “We’ll be there in ten minutes.”

“Yeah. Okay. I’m gonna – I’ll be nearby.”

Nico heads back into the woods again, a bit more structure to his search this time. It feels cruelly slow, his eyes fighting against the dark, the flashlight beam only illuminating meager sections at a time.

Without really thinking about it, his phone is out of his pocket again, fingers automatically dialing Will’s number. Nico jumps, startled, as he hears an answering ring somewhere nearby. Then he’s desperately stumbling through the trees, stomach in knots, pulse pounding in his throat. He can hardly stand to look, now fully expecting to find Will’s body, torn open.

A crunch underfoot and Nico’s heart clenches. He immediately takes a step back, casting his flashlight beam to the ground.

A pair of glasses.

Will’s glasses. The same glasses Nico placed on Will’s face just two days ago. Freckled cheeks just a breath away from Nico’s careful fingers, the way Will’s smile softened when he realized what Nico was doing.

Fuck.

He’s inches from scooping them up when he remembers these aren’t just Will’s glasses now, they’re evidence. Something breaks inside him, and Nico feels his eyes burn with tears.

Fuck. Fuck. He feels completely helpless, unable to do anything but stand there using his own body to mark the spot where the evidence has been found.

Annabeth gets to him first.

“I found his phone,” Nico tells her, hoarse, pointing to the little silver clamshell, just barely visible in the tall grass. It’s all he’s been able to focus on since he spotted it a few minutes ago, that and the crushed glasses at his feet, the only signs of Will that he has right now. Nico’s breath hitches and he sees Annabeth’s brow crease in sympathy. She opens her mouth to speak, but then Luke is approaching, a beeline through the trees

“What the fuck is going on?” Luke sounds livid. “Where the fuck is Solace?”

Nico’s got to keep it together for this part, because he’s the only one who knows. “He was doing the stakeout here on his own,” Nico says, ignoring Luke when it seems like he’s going to interrupt. He’s got to get the words out before he completely disintegrates, every little bit of him dispersed on the cool breeze, broken and useless. “I went back to the Exeter site.You remember the trophies we found there? From Tooms’ previous victims?”

“It’s not fucking Tooms!” Luke bursts out.

“Luke,” Annabeth says firmly, “let him finish.”

Nico continues doggedly, throat tight. “It is Tooms. We found your third victim’s pocket watch there with Tooms’ prints on it. And there was another trophy when I looked this evening. Something of – Will’s.” Nico has to pause for a couple of deep breaths now, just barely managing to stay upright, to stop from bursting into tears. Instead he digs in his pocket for the cufflink, holding it out in demonstration. With his own fingerprints all over it now, because he’s a fucking idiot.

Luke looks like he’s getting ready to argue again, but Nico pushes onward, because this is way too fucking important. This is everything. “We have to find him,” Nico says. “We have to find Will, and we have to find Tooms. We’ve got to move all our resources into searching, immediately. As far as we know, Tooms has never moved a victim to a second location before murdering them, if there’s any chance that Will is still alive –”

Nico’s voice cracks, but Luke barely seems to be listening.

“You know, I don’t know what the fuck I was thinking, asking for Will’s input on this case. You’ve clearly fed him the Kool-Aid. He could have been a good agent, di Angelo. A great one. But six months in the basement with you and he’s fucking spouting conspiracy theories, believing shit about vampires and immortal dog-catchers. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the two of you barely have your shit together! We leave you alone for a single evening and you go and disobey direct orders, fucking mishandle evidence, you lose your partner –”

“Okay, yeah, I might have fucked up,” Nico says, tight, a little anger seeping into his panic. It’s almost a relief. “But Tooms is our guy. You’re so fucking fixated on whatever trajectory you think this case is supposed to take that you can’t take off your blinders for five minutes to look at the evidence staring you in the face. But right now we have to find Will and –”

Luke throws his hands up. “We don’t even know that he’s missing! The way you two handle yourselves, he probably decided to go for a walk in the woods looking for Bigfoot, or – or take a piss. You fucking interrupt our stakeout for this shit –”

“With the car door hanging open?” Nico says, his voice going thin. “With his fucking – his phone and glasses abandoned in the woods – not to mention the cufflink –” All this argument is doing is wasting precious time. If Will is somehow still alive –

“What the fuck is that?” Luke asks, suddenly turning his attention back to the road. There’s a flash of headlights, then the slam of car doors.

“I called in the rest of the team. And the AD,” Annabeth says, quiet but determined.

“What?” Luke whirls back around. “What the fuck, Annabeth? I told you we didn’t need any more backup! I can handle this myself!”

Annabeth’s mouth is pressed into a thin line. “I’m not seeing a lot of evidence of that at the moment. And this is our case, Luke, not yours.”

Luke scowls at her before stalking towards the road.

Nico raises a shaking hand to his mouth, willing himself not to vomit. At least, not in front of Annabeth. The bleak reality of Will’s phone and glasses, still on the ground between them, is a painful reminder that they’re fucking doing nothing.

“Do – do you have an evidence bag?” Nico asks, barely able to get the words out. Annabeth, who’d been following Luke’s retreat with her brow furrowed, turns back to Nico.

“Oh –” she realizes in an instant. “Yes, of course. Can you give me a little light?”

And Nico casts his flashlight on Annabeth’s bag so she can find what she needs.

“I didn’t have anything with me,” Nico begins. His stomach convulses, and he can’t tell if he’s going to sob or vomit. “And I – I didn’t want to move in case we couldn’t find the site again –”

Annabeth’s gaze shoots back to Nico, serious. “We’re going to find him,” she says. “I know it looks bad, but we’re going to find him.”

“This is all my fault,” Nico whispers. It’s burning a hole in his chest and he feels like he has to say it to someone.”

“Of course it’s not your fault,” Annabeth says, immediate. “Why would you think that?”

Nico glances around, not especially wanting to be overheard by Luke. “After the meeting this afternoon Will and I had a – a difference of opinion. About the stakeout,” he admits, quiet. “That’s why he came on his own.”

Annabeth nods in understanding. “Those things happen. Case in point.” She nods in the direction Luke disappeared. “That doesn’t make this your fault. Will should have requested partner reassignment.”

Nico doesn’t trust his voice to answer, instead handing his flashlight to Annabeth so he can bag the phone and glasses. The glasses are crushed, broken beyond repair, and he collects as many bits as he’s able to under Annabeth’s steady flashlight beam, ignoring the tear that drips onto the bag as he seals it.

“Here, let me,” Annabeth says kindly. She crouches next to Nico, accepting the evidence bags from his shaking hands to label them. Nico takes a second to attempt to get some air into his lungs.

They both stand, and Annabeth drops her voice a bit. “Look, I’m pretty sure Ramirez-Arellano is about to take charge of this entire situation, but it’s still my call at this point. You know they’re going to want to go straight to Will’s residence –”

“Oh, fuck.” Nico presses a trembling hand to his face. This is all happening too fast. Except for everything that’s not happening fast enough.

“He lives with his sister, right? Kayla?” comes Annabeth’s voice.

“Yeah.” God. Nico’s hit with the memory of Kayla’s voice on the phone every time Nico calls Will at home, bright and teasing like her brother’s. He thinks of Naomi Solace, a grainy photo on a CD.

“Do you know Kayla?” Annabeth’s asking.

“Um.” Nico swallows. “We’ve spoken on the phone. A bunch of times. But no, we haven’t – met.”

“Do you want to go to her first, give her the heads-up before the cavalry shows up at her door?”

“Yeah. I – Yeah.” Nico glances at his watch. It’s just before eleven. Kayla might even still be up. When he looks back to Annabeth, her face is deadly serious, but kind.

“Go ahead,” Annabeth says. “I’ll make the report to the AD.”

“Yeah. Okay. Thank you,” Nico tells her, his voice rough. “Annabeth – someone needs to search the Exeter site. I was there, but I rushed over here the second I found the cufflink –”

Annabeth nods. “Of course. I’ll make sure someone’s sent someone over there immediately. We’ll keep you updated, okay? Stay safe.”

Nico’s dropped Will off at home quite a few times, but once he parks in front of the apartment building, he realizes he has no idea which unit Will actually lives in. He quickly dials the landline as he walks up the sidewalk.

Kayla answers on the second ring. “Hey, Nico. Will’s not home yet – wait, isn’t he with you?”

Nico clears his throat. “I’m here to talk to you, actually. Can I come up?”

There’s a pause and then, “Shit.” Kayla sounds a bit breathless. “Yeah. It’s 305. I’ll buzz you in.”

Kayla’s already got the door open when Nico steps off the elevator, and he immediately thinks he would have recognized her even if he hadn’t known she was Will’s sister. Red hair, round-faced, but that same clear gaze Nico’s so accustomed to seeing across the office, familiar freckles scattered over her nose and cheeks. She’s in pajamas but looks wide awake, lights on in the apartment and the sound of the TV carrying out into the hallway.

“What’s going on?” Kayla says without preamble. “Is Will okay?”

There’s no point in anything but the truth. “Will went missing during a stakeout earlier tonight.”

Kayla sways, holding onto the doorway. Nico reaches out a hand.

“I’m okay,” she breathes, waving him off. “Fuck. What happened?”

“Um –” Nico begins.

Kayla shakes her head. “Here. Come in.”

He stays for nearly an hour, tells Kayla everything he can. Which admittedly isn’t much. Other agents arrive to search the apartment just as Nico’s getting ready to leave.

Kayla watches the agents disappear into Will’s bedroom, arms wrapped around herself. The TV is still on in the background, a burst of canned laughter, painfully out of place.

“I can stay if you want,” Nico says. The guilt is heavy in his chest and he feels he barely has the right to suggest it. But it feels wrong to just leave.

Kayla lets out a long breath. “No. No, that’s okay. You want to get back to the search, right? That’s where you should be.”

Nico nods. He’s having trouble thinking of anything else, honestly, waiting on tenterhooks for his phone to ring with the news that a body has been found. Waiting for the ground to disappear from under him.

“Can I call someone for you?” Nico asks.

“I’ll – I think I’ll call my girlfriend,” Kayla says. “See if I can go over there for the night, if they’re done with me here.”

Nico nods. “That’s a good idea. Do you want a lift?”

Kayla smiles, tired. “No. I’ll be fine. Thanks, Nico.” She steps forward, pulling him into a hug. Nico feels a wash of guilt for taking comfort in the gesture, pries himself away before he starts to cling.

The search is in full swing when Nico gets back to Maple Gardens. Reyna is reportedly on site, but Nico doesn’t catch sight of her before he’s assigned a search area. The agents work in careful grids through the woods, the operation dragging on until the sky begins to lighten. Though Nico’s grateful for the light of dawn making the search somewhat easier, his stomach is in knots with the certain knowledge that if there is a body, and it’s been hidden under cover of darkness, well. It’s likely to be found soon.

There’s nothing, though. Exhausted, heart and body aching, Nico stumbles back to the checkpoint to report on his search. Reyna catches his eye as he walks back to his car and she follows, letting herself into the passenger side when Nico unlocks it.

Nico’s fully prepared for Reyna to tear a strip off him the second they’re alone. It’s so hard to even care right now. He feels numb, hollow.

“They found Tooms’ prints on Agent Solace’s car,” Reyna says without preamble.

“Fuck,” Nico says weakly, dropping his head into his hands. His eyes burn with exhaustion and unshed tears. Vaguely, he’s grateful that Reyna allowed him some privacy for the sharing of this information.

“Agreed,” Reyna says, her voice softening a bit. “But it means we’ve got enough evidence to hold Tooms once we find him.”

“Yeah. Great,” Nico says.

“We’re expanding the perimeter of the search,” Reyna’s saying. “If you plan to continue aiding with the search effort –”

“Yeah. Of course I do.” Nico’s voice is rough.

“Then we’ll be reconvening at the south entrance to the park in about twenty minutes.”

Nico nods. “Sure. Okay.”

There’s silence for a moment, and then Reyna reaches for the door handle. “This isn’t over yet, Nico,” she says. “There’s no body. We have to believe he’s still alive.”

They spend hours more searching, each one taking Nico further from the moment he last laid eyes on his partner. It’s just more nothing. No clues, no leads. Nothing. Like Will was plucked off the face of the earth. Word comes from Exteter – no sign of him there, either.

Back in his car, Nico pulls around the corner out of sight of his colleagues, makes sure the doors are locked, then presses his head into the top of the steering wheel.

He takes a moment to truly spiral, pulling himself back just before he falls completely to pieces. He’s gasping for air, outside of his body. True, heart-stopping panic. If he lets himself properly cry, though, he doesn’t think he’ll be able to stop.

Then, a buzz on the radio and his attention snaps to the transmission. They’ve found Tooms.

Half an hour later, Nico’s being shown into an observation room, Tooms sitting on the other side of the glass.

The young man looks the same as he did a few nights ago; placid, bland. But now, the sight of him makes Nico’s blood boil, an overwhelming wave of hatred and grief. He’s sitting right fucking there, six feet and a pane of glass between them, and Nico wants to murder him with his bare hands, right after Tooms tells him where Will is.

Deep breaths, Nico tries to remind himself. He doesn’t even know how to do this without Will. He keeps looking over his shoulder, expecting to see that familiar grin, the flash of blond curls. Only to be reminded again and again that he’s the reason Will isn’t here.

The doorknob behind him turns and Nico automatically thinks, Will before his heart contracts painfully yet again. But it’s the exact opposite.

The feeling seems fully mutual, Luke merely giving Nico a sour look before sinking into the other plastic chair, pointedly moving it a few inches further from Nico.

Nico rolls his eyes.

“Surprised they let you stay on this case,” Luke mutters after a moment. “If it was up to me, that would have been one fuck-up too many, losing your fucking partner.”

Anger bubbles, molten in Nico’s chest. He clenches his jaw, hard enough that it aches. If he punches Luke, he’ll definitely be pulled off the case.

A long silence, ringing.

“Why the fuck are you here anyway?” Nico asks when he thinks he can control his voice. “Tooms didn’t do it, right? Go find the guy who did.”

Quiet again, except for the blood pounding in his ears. Nico’s half-expecting to get decked himself. He thinks he’d almost welcome it right now. A sidelong glance tells Nico he’s probably right. Luke is tense like he’s ready to spring, a muscle jumping in his jaw.

“Wait, why aren’t you conducting the interrogation?” Nico says, realization seeping in. “AD didn’t think you could handle it? Isn’t this your case?”

For a second Nico’s positive Luke’s about to rise from his chair, pull back his fist. He’s actually bracing for the impact. But then the door to the interrogation room enters and Annabeth enters. For better or worse, both men turn their attention to the window.

They’ve all been up for at least twenty-four hours now, but Annabeth looks alert, immaculate. Her questioning is just as immaculate, pointed and probing, but it goes nowhere. Like every fucking other thing today. Nico can feel himself getting more and more frustrated the longer the interrogation goes on. Tooms is responding much the same way he did the last time; slow, monotone. No useful information at all.

“What can you tell me about this?” Annabeth asks. She places an evidence bag on the table between them; Will’s silver cufflink. Nico’s throat goes tight.

Nico’s gaze flicks to Tooms’ face and he’s sure he sees a spark of recognition there, a flicker of hunger. It’s gone just as quickly. It leaves Nico burning, every nerve alight, distilled desperation.

“I don’t know what that is,” Tooms says, slow and flat.

Nico’s drawn like it’s some other force propelling him, out of his seat and into the interrogation room.

Annabeth half-rises. “Agent di Angelo –”

“You know,” Nico bites out. “You know what this is.” He snatches the evidence bag off the table, shakes it in Tooms’ face. Tooms barely seems to register Nico’s presence, his gaze vague and faraway.

Then Nico’s hands are at Tooms’ collar, pulling him roughly out of his chair, shaking him. “Where the fuck is he? Where the fuck is Will?” His voice comes out hoarse and desperate, too loud in the little room.

But there’s still no answer, Tooms only blinking benignly at him, and in the next second Nico’s being restrained himself, pulled bodily from the room. He hasn’t even registered that it’s Annabeth until they’re out in the hallway. Annabeth shuts the door behind them, hard. Her face is uncharacteristically fierce.

“Di Angelo, you have got to keep it together,” she hisses. “They will pull you from the case and from the search.” She releases her hold on him and Nico sags against the wall, pressing shaking hands to his face.

“I know. I’m sorry.” Nico’s dizzy with anger and panic.

After a moment, Annabeth sighs, leaning against the wall beside Nico. Then she says, quieter, “The AD’s going to find out about this eventually. I’m willing to… not call her right now. But Nico, you have to promise me you can get a hold of yourself.”

He’s nodding before she’s done speaking. “Of course. I’m – thank you,” he manages.

“Okay. Okay.” Annabeth lets out a breath. “I’d tell you to go home for a few hours and rest, but –”

Nico shakes his head. “I can’t.” He finally lets himself meet Annabeth’s eyes. Her expression softens.

“I know,” she says.

Nico can’t bear to return to the observation room, to Luke. He leaves the building instead, lets himself into his car. He decides to stay there at least until he can catch his breath, until the sour spike of adrenaline starts to fade.

When his phone rings, he scrambles for it, heart rate ratcheting right back up again.

“Di Angelo.”

“It’s Annabeth.”

Nico presses the phone closer to his ear, desperate for anything.

“I’m sorry,” Annabeth’s saying. “I didn’t have any more luck after you left.”

“Okay.” A tiny spark of hope, extinguished. Not that there was much to begin with.

Annabeth sighs. “I know. I was really hoping for something more.”

Nico nods, throat suddenly too tight for speech.

“They’re holding him, anyway,” Annabeth says. She sounds tired.

“Thank god.” If there’s any possibility Will is still somewhere out there, alive… at least Tooms can’t get to him.

“We’re all over our hours quota,” Annabeth says, sounding apologetic now. “The AD wants us all to go home and get some rest. We’ll be allowed back in for the evening shift.”

“Okay,” Nico says. There’s no fucking way he’s going home. Not until Will is found, one way or another. Just the thought of returning to his apartment, of doing nothing... it makes his stomach turn, utterly repellent.

“Thanks for the update,” Nico tells Annabeth.

Nico spends the afternoon searching, anywhere he can think of, staying just outside the radar of the official search. He walks until his legs ache and his feet blister, an ever-widening perimeter outside Maple Gardens, then back to Exeter. Riverbanks and wooded areas and back alleys. He’s on auto-pilot now, running on fumes and overwhelming, gut-wrenching guilt. In the early evening he finally accepts that he needs to stop and take in some calories before he passes out. He drops onto a park bench, forces himself to choke down a sandwich and a pop in the sunset before dragging himself back to his car and returning to the Bureau for the evening shift. The minutes keep ticking by, relentless.

That evening, Reyna’s sitting at the head of a conference table full of somber-looking agents, the almost-24-hour mark palpable in the air. Several of his colleagues give Nico sympathetic looks. He does his best not to meet anyone’s eye. The sky outside the windows is fully dark, a painful reminder of the day’s passage. Nico’s only too aware of the implications of that, crushed under the weight of it.

Reyna looks tired, her face tight. “We unfortunately haven’t managed to extract any information from Mr. Tooms. We’ll continue to expand the search perimeter this evening. Agents will return to Exeter Street as well as Maple Gardens. The suspect has a history of returning to past crime scenes.”

An agent across the table from Nico clears her throat, a blonde woman he doesn’t recognize. “Ma’am may I ask how long this will remain a rescue operation? Agent Solace has been missing for nearly 24 hours.”

“At the present time, the intent is still to find Agent Solace alive,” Reyna says. “We’ll reconvene at the end of this shift if there’s a need to reevaluate.”

There’s a pause in which Nico feels too many gazes directed his way. His fault.

“Agents Chase and Castellan will provide you with your search assignments,” Reyna says, rising from the table.

The agents begin to gather their things, soft conversation as they gather around Annabeth and Luke. Nico rises.

“And you, di Angelo – you’re going home,” comes Reyna’s voice at his shoulder.

Nico turns, eyes wide in disbelief. “What? No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. You’ve been working this search for almost twenty four hours. At this point, you’re a danger to yourself and your colleagues.”

“I’m not going home.”

“Yes, you–”

“Reyna–”

“Agent di Angelo,” Reyna keeps her voice low, clearly aware of the others nearby, several of whom have turned their heads in Nico’s direction. “You assaulted a suspect. You’re lucky I haven’t put you on probation. I am ordering you to go home.”

Nico swallows. He’s exhausted, aching, a toxic swirl of emotions simmering right at the surface. He has to hold it together long enough to convince Reyna to let him stay.

“Reyna, please,” his voice comes out far more broken than he’d planned, but at least he has her attention. “I can’t go home. I can’t – please let me stay.”

Reyna sighs, deflating. “Nico –”

“It’s – it’s my fault he was out there in the first place.” It’s all Nico’s been thinking, the words playing on repeat in his head as the hours slip by. It didn’t help when he said them out loud to Annabeth. He’s not sure what he thinks he’s going to accomplish by confessing this to Reyna, too.

Reyna’s brow furrows, “Agent Solace was acting on his own reconnaissance. Your partner may have picked up a few bad habits from you, but that’s on him.”

Nico shakes his head, throat tight. “We were – we were arguing, and I –”

“This isn’t the time or the place for that conversation,” Reyna interrupts, low, a flick of her gaze towards the others in the room.

“I can’t go home until we find him,” Nico whispers. He can’t even look Reyna in the eye.

Reyna’s voice comes after a long pause, tired. “Fine.”

Nico looks up. Reyna’s expression is uncertain, but he’ll take it. Then something resolves in her eyes.

“Fine,” she says again. “There’s a couch in my office. Get a couple of hours of sleep –” her eyebrows rise as Nico opens his mouth, ready to argue.

“No. I will not compromise on this, di Angelo. You need rest. Go.” She points in the direction of her office. “Two hours. I’ll come and wake you. And then we’ll go together.”

Nico goes as far as forcing himself to lie down and close his eyes – and then he lets his mind spin and spiral for two excruciating hours.

Reyna arrives back at her office two hours later, down to the minute, a quick knock at the door before she enters. “No news,” she says immediately when Nico looks up.

Nico takes a breath, nods. He’d expected that Reyna would have alerted him sooner if anything had happened.

Nico follows Reyna to the parking garage. He thinks his body is aching a little less now, but he’s not sure he can feel anything at all, so who’s to say. Everything is beginning to feel floaty and strange, time passing in weird, unreliable chunks.

“We had a group trying to search the upper floors on Exeter Street,” Reyna’s saying. She sounds nearly as exhausted as Nico feels. “The entire structure is crumbling, though. We’re going to send a new crew in tomorrow. There are several other abandoned buildings nearby – we’re beginning to concentrate our efforts there.”

Nico nods dully.

“Have you already searched in the area around Exeter?” Reyna asks as they approach her vehicle.

“No. Yes,” Nico says. He shakes his head, trying to clear it. “I – did a ground search. This afternoon. I checked alleys and – dumpsters.” A deep breath. He manages to keep his voice from breaking. Sheer force of will, or what’s left of it. “There are a few condemned buildings on the same block, though. I didn’t go inside.”

Reyna’s quiet for a moment. “We’ll start there, then.”

Nico nods, leaning back in his seat and pressing a hand over his eyes.

A second later there’s a jab in his shoulder. Reyna, watching him in the dark of the parking garage. “Seatbelt, di Angelo,” she reminds him.

Right. Nico pulls it over his shoulder. It takes several tries before he’s able to connect it properly.

He feels Reyna’s attention on him intermittently as she pulls out her parking spot and then out onto the street.

Several blocks from the Bureau, Reyna eases the car to a stop for a red light. She takes a deep breath. “Nico,” she begins. All of her usual sternness is suddenly gone, her voice soft and human and sad.

Nico bites the inside of his cheek, hard. “No,” he says. He doesn’t want Reyna to be speaking to him in that tone of voice. He doesn’t want her to need to.

A moment of silence as the light turns green and the car moves forward. “I was just going to say, I can drop you off at home,” Reyna says. “There are two dozen other agents out on the streets tonight –”

“No.” Nico shakes his head. “I need to be here.”

Reyna nods, no further comment.

It was kind of Reyna to offer to go with him, for her to offer her couch and her sympathy. And Nico hadn’t thought much beyond that, but now, sitting here in the quiet car in the dark with one of the only people who’s ever taken care of him, tried to mother him, in her way, when there was no one else left to do it… it’s starting to feel like too much. Or maybe it’s just been too long. Too long awake, too long without Will, too many miles logged in his car and on his feet.

Nico closes his eyes, focuses everything he has on breathing, jaw clenched against all the fear and emotion that’s trying to claw its way out of his chest, all his defenses failing –

There’s a sudden burst of static on the radio and Nico jumps.

“Agent Solace has been located at 50th Street NE at Thompson Road,” says Annabeth’s voice, no-nonsense and staticky. “Now awaiting ambulance transport to Providence Hospital.”

Nico’s body flashes hot and then cold. Ambulance. Hospital. Could that possibly mean –

Reyna’s quick to reach for the call button. “This is unit 301,” she says. “What’s the status of Agent Solace?”

“Unit 301, Agent Solace is unconscious but appears otherwise unharmed,” comes the immediate reply.

A wave of relief, so powerful Nico thinks it might drown him. Reyna’s posture softens. She lets out a long breath.

There are some muted, crackly cheers on the radio, and Reyna’s face twitches into a relieved smile. “That’s excellent news. Thank you, Agent Chase. Well done, everyone.”

When Nico sobs into his hands for the duration of the drive to the hospital, Reyna kindly doesn’t mention it.

Nico’s nearly asleep on his feet in the hospital hallway when Kayla comes rushing in, looking panicked. Her eyes fix on Nico immediately. “He’s okay?”

Nico nods. “He’s okay.”

“Oh, thank god.” A moment later Nico finds himself with an armful of Solace, Kayla holding him tight around the waist. He squeezes back. It’s a bit of a relief to have someone else to help support his weight for a moment.

Kayla pulls away, wiping at her eyes. “Fuck. I was just thinking I really needed to call our mom when I got your message.”

“He’s fine,” Nico reassures her. “He’s still unconscious, but the doctors checked him out and he’s not hurt aside from a couple of bumps and bruises.”

Nico’s having trouble believing it himself. He’s only managed a brief glimpse of his partner so far, but aside from the bandage on his forehead, Will had looked very much the way he does after falling asleep on Nico’s couch; peaceful, pink-cheeked. Very much alive.

Nico’s been trying very hard not to think of the unknown sedative, though the doctors don��t seem concerned. Because what if Will doesn’t wake? Or what if there’s some kind of permanent damage no one knows about yet? Each time Nico’s mind veers in this direction he wrenches it back to the most important thing – Will is alive. Against all odds, he’s alive.

Annabeth approaches a moment later, Luke following. Annabeth is still managing to look alert, if a little worn. Nico’s pretty sure he looks like he’s been deceased for several days. He thinks he’s starting to smell that way, too.

“Hi, I’m Annabeth Chase,” Annabeth says to Kayla, “I don’t know if you remember me. We were working the case with Will –”

“Oh Annabeth, of course I remember you!” Kayla steps forward to wrap Annabeth in a hug, too. Annabeth looks surprised, but returns the embrace.

Luke, hovering a step behind, nods when Kayla glances at him. Kayla doesn’t offer him the same warm welcome, her eyes narrowing.

“Kayla,” Luke says in greeting. “It’s been a while.”

“Luke,” she says, curt.

The four make idle, somewhat tense conversation for a few minutes, all of them weary, the day stumbling towards midnight now. Most of Nico’s higher cognitive functions have abandoned him at this point, but he’s pretty sure he’s not imagining some simmering resentment from Kayla, aimed in Luke’s direction. Nico thinks he’s probably not doing a great job of hiding his own distaste for the other man. Annabeth must notice too, because after a minute, she suggests that she and Luke take a walk to the cafeteria.

“We’ll bring you something back,” Annabeth tells Nico, her gray eyes flitting over his face, concerned. “You look dead on your feet.”

It’s not like he can deny it. Nico nods in thanks.

Luke waits for Annabeth to take a few steps away, then turns back to Nico. “He’s not gonna suck your dick, di Angelo,” he sneers, his voice low.

For a second, Nico’s too shocked to react. Then there’s a surge of anger, white hot, all the grief and despair and helplessness of the last twenty four hours spilling over. Nico’s in motion, ready to swing at the other man, when Kayla steps neatly between them and slaps Luke, hard enough that he staggers.

“You fucking son of a bitch,” Kayla hisses, taking a step closer, her arm raised for another strike. “You asshole –”

Nico’s speechless, but he fumbles for Kayla’s arm, hauling her back as Luke stares at her, appalled, one hand to his reddening cheek.

Annabeth blinks, stunned, before grabbing Luke firmly by the elbow and dragging him off. “Cafeteria, Castellan.” she says, stern. She shoots Nico a look over her shoulder, wide-eyed. They’re both gone in a second, leaving Nico and Kayla alone.

“That motherfucker, I’m gonna –” Kayla seethes.

“Okay, it’s okay,” Nico murmurs, loosening his grip on her arm.

“He was a dick two years ago, and he’s a dick now. He can’t act like a human being for ten minutes, not even when Will almost died. I’m going to fucking kill him –”

Kayla’s eyes are blazing and the rage is radiating off her in waves. Nonetheless, Kayla’s even smaller than Nico is, and it’s almost a little funny. Or maybe that’s just the sleep deprivation warping his perspective.

“You probably shouldn’t kill him. Though he kind of deserves it. And I’d probably help you hide the body,” Nico says.

Kayla laughs, loud, then presses a hand to her mouth as a passing nurse gives her a disapproving look.

“Oh fuck, I just decked an FBI agent,” Kayla says suddenly, eyes wide. “Am I gonna be arrested?”

Nico snorts. “I think you might get a pass this time.” He’s still dizzy with adrenaline himself, heart pounding. Surely Luke wouldn’t try to press charges? At the very least Annabeth should be able to smooth the situation over. “But I wouldn’t make a habit of it.”

Two hours later, Nico and Kayla are side by side watching over a still-unconscious Will, both of them seated in flimsy, barely-padded plastic chairs. They’ve drifted in and out of conversation, but both are exhausted and mostly it’s just comforting to have Kayla’s company.

Nurses have been in and out of the room, friendly and efficient, then the doctor, all assuring Nico and Kayla that Will doesn’t seem to be in any danger – he’s simply still sleeping off whatever sedative Tooms must have used. There’s a knot of worry still twisting in Nico’s gut, but god it’s so good just to see Will at all, miraculously whole and alive. He can’t stop looking.

Will sighs in his sleep and both Nico and Kayla tense for a second, watching him, but he doesn’t wake, and they both sink back into their chairs.

Kayla glances over, something soft in her expression. “Will talks about you all the time, you know,” she says, quiet.

“Well.” Nico clears his throat. “We do spend all day together.” He knows Kayla means her words to be kind. They would have warmed him, even a little over a day ago. Now, it just presses the guilt further into his chest, a tangible weight on his sternum.

There’s a long pause broken only by the hum of machines, muted voices in the hallway.

“I’m gonna pass out and fall right out of this chair,” Kayla announces rather suddenly, pushing herself to stand and tilting her head from side to side. “I think I’ll go find a vending machine. I need caffeine. Or sugar. Maybe both.” She touches Nico’s shoulder, light. “Do you want anything?”

“No. Thanks.”

“Okay. Well, I might hang out in the waiting room for a while,” Kayla adds, beginning to dig in her purse, strands of red hair falling over her freckled face. “The chairs are a little more comfortable out there. You’ll come get me if he wakes up?”

Nico nods. “Yeah. Of course.” His voice comes out raspy, and he clears his throat.

Kayla gazes at him for a moment, too searching. “He’s okay, Nico,” she adds, softer.

Nico gives only a short nod, his eyes settling on his partner’s body once more. Behind him, he hears Kayla linger a moment longer, then sigh before the door shuts behind her.

Will surfaces slowly, his fuzzy brain trying to make sense of the sensations around him, slowly seeping into his consciousness. He’s lying on his back. That, in itself, is weird.

There’s beeping. Rhythmic and regular.

The pain registers more slowly, a dull ache in his head, a sharper pain in his side. His eyelids feel heavy, itchy. He takes in a deep breath, attempts a slow shift of arms and legs. Everything seems to be moving, at least. He opens his eyes.

A hospital room. The overhead lights are off, a soft light shining from somewhere behind him. There’s a glow from the city lights outside the window, from the digital displays on the machines beside the bed. He’s in a bed. That can’t be good. He turns his head, still processing, trying to collect enough information to make a judgment about what’s going on.

And Nico’s there, within arm’s reach, wide-eyed and anxious. The top couple of buttons of his shirt are open, the shirt itself smudged with dirt, a small rip at his shoulder.

Nico swallows. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Will manages, not sure if he’s capable of anything fancier than single syllables. His throat feels raw.

Nico’s voice comes out as a whisper. “How are you feeling?”

Will blinks at him for a long moment. Then, “oh. Shit.”

Nico’s brow creases and he leans forward, “are you okay? I mean - I know you’re not okay-okay, but are you – I can grab a nurse –” Nico makes to rise from his chair just as Will manages to find his voice.

“No, no, wait. I’m – I’m okay. What happened?”

Nico sinks back down, slow, something like pain flickering across his face. He looks beyond exhausted, Will realizes, more tired than Will’s ever seen him. “What do you remember?”

“I was…” Will begins, gazing into the middle distance. “Shit. I went to our stakeout assignment – Maple Gardens. Tooms was there and he…” Will’s eyes go wide. “Fuck.” He presses a hand to his midsection which feels, mercifully, exactly as it usually does. “I still have my liver,” he says with no small amount of relief, and he thinks it must be a testament to the seriousness of the situation that Nico doesn’t crack a smile. He just nods, jaw tight.

Will shakes his head, grasping for pieces that aren’t there. “I don’t – I can’t remember anything else.”

“We think he knocked you out,” Nico says, barely more than a whisper. “Some kind of sedative. Remember, the organic compound they found in the third victim?”

Will nods, slow. “Shit.”

“Yeah,” Nico breathes. “We um. We had the whole Bureau looking for you.” He closes his eyes for a second, then takes in a shaky breath. “We started searching at Maple Gardens, and at the Exeter site. We just kept expanding the perimeter. And then a couple of hours ago Annabeth and Luke found you in an alleyway halfway between the two sites. We believe Tooms was… transporting you. Our best guess is that he got spooked at some point and… dumped you. Before he could…” Nico presses his lips together, shakes his head.

“Jesus,” Will murmurs. His gaze blurs, drifting to the edge of the hospital room door. “How – how long?” He looks back to his partner’s face.

Nico’s expression is pained, pinched. “Just over twenty six hours.”

“Until they found me?”

Nico nods.

“Fuck.” Will lifts his hands to scrub them over his face. Mercifully, his face – and his hands – feel mostly unscathed. There’s a bandage on his forehead, a tender spot, and the IV taped to the back of his hand. His ribs feel bruised.

“You told me not to go,” Will says suddenly, the memories making their slow way back into his brain, drifting together like puzzle pieces. “You – you said I should –”

Nico is shaking his head. “No, Will, I should have –”

“I’m sorry,” Will cuts in. “I never should have gone on my own, I don’t – I don’t know what I was thinking. I was frustrated and I was angry with you. And then you – then everyone had to run all over town trying to find me before I – shit, I’m so sorry, Nico. You must be so mad at me.”

Nico’s face crumples, his eyes welling. “Furious,” he whispers.

Will feels tears spring to his own eyes, the reality of the whole situation crashing down around him.

“Hey. Come here,” he croaks, holding out his arms. Nico hesitates for just a second before folding himself into Will’s embrace. Will can feel every ounce of tension in Nico’s body, the way his breathing goes uneven.

Only a little hesitant, Will slides a hand up to cradle the back of Nico’s head, fingers winding in soft hair, and Nico lets out a quiet sob against Will’s neck, like he’s just barely managing to hold it in.

“It’s okay,” Will whispers, turning his face to the other man’s head.

Nico gulps, trying to steady his breathing. “I was such an ass,” he whispers. “Fuck. I’m so sorry Will. I’m so sorry. I don’t know how you can – you don’t deserve – I was awful. I was stupid and I put your life at risk and I was sure you were dead –” Nico’s voice breaks, fingers tightening in the fabric of Will’s hospital gown.

“Hey. No,” Will breathes, stroking the other man’s hair. “This was my fault too, okay? It’s okay. We’re both fine.”

Then he stills for a moment and pulls back as much as he’s able, his hands on Nico’s face, not wanting to allow him to move too far away just yet.

“I am okay, right?” Will asks. “There’s nothing – is there something I don’t know about?” Nico’s clear distress makes him need to ask, a sudden chill running through him.

Nico shakes his head immediately, as much as he can while it’s being cradled in Will’s hands. His eyes are red-rimmed, puffy. “No, you’re fine. You’re –” his gaze flicks over Will’s face, pained. “You’re a bit banged up, but you’re fine.”

“Okay,” Will breathes. A tear tracks down Nico’s cheek and he blinks against it. Will brushes it away with a thumb.

“And everyone else – Annabeth? Luke? You?”

Nico nods. “Fine, everyone’s okay.”

“Thank god.” Will traces his thumb across Nico’s cheek again, slower. He looks as if he hasn’t shaved or slept since the last time Will laid eyes on him.

He lets his gaze linger on Nico’s face, slow, savoring. The sharp, delicate line of his nose, the swell of his bottom lip. They’re so close now, sharing breath, and there’s a soft sort of heat that coils in Will’s stomach with the proximity. Will feels himself shift just a fraction closer, drawn like a tide. Nico’s lips part, his gaze dropping to Will’s mouth.

Losing his nerve at the last second, Will suddenly shifts closer, pressing a kiss to the corner of the other man’s mouth, his nose bumping Nico’s cheekbone. Nico’s face relaxes into a soft smile and he sags forward to bump their foreheads together. They breathe.

Nico swallows. Will can feel it, as close as they are. “I was sure I’d lost you,” Nico whispers, then stops, lips pressed together to keep the words in.

Will shakes his head, slight, the movement jostling them both. “You didn’t. You won’t.”

Nico’s eyes fall shut. “I’m so sorry,” he says again.

“Me too,” Will whispers, pulling him back in by the shoulders, this time no hesitation in pressing his nose to Nico’s hair, breathing him in.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for,” Nico whispers.

“Doesn’t matter. I still am,” Will murmurs against Nico’s hair. “I don’t like arguing with you.”

“Me either. Let’s not do it again.”

There’s a soft knock at the doorframe and then, “oh, you’re awake!” Will looks up to see Annabeth at the door, looking tired, but pleased. Nico draws back slowly. There’s the smallest shift in Annabeth’s expression as she seems to take them both in. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt –”

“No, no,” Will smiles. “You’re not interrupting. I hear thanks are in order. And an apology.”

Annabeth comes in for a hug, perfunctory, but her smile is warm. “No need for apologies, Solace. Happens to the best of us.”

Will huffs, a roll of his eyes. Then – “Kayla!” he says, pleased, looking over Annabeth’s shoulder to see her entering the room. Nico and Annabeth retreat a bit so Kayla can approach the bed. She squeezes Will, tight. “Glad you’re okay.”

“I’m sorry I made you worry,” Will says into her shoulder.

And then Reyna arrives, and then a nurse comes in to check Will’s vitals, and the next thing Will knows, the room is full of people and conversation. Will doesn’t think he’s quite made sense of all this yet, head still spinning with possibilities, with the weirdness of having completely missed a 24-hour period. For the moment, though, he’s very happy to be alive. It’s good to be reminded every so often.

“Hey.” A hand on Will’s shoulder, and he looks up to see Nico, looking calmer now. Nico’s hand lingers, a stroke of his thumb against bare skin where the neck of the hospital gown has shifted.

“I’m –” Will begins.

Nico frowns. “Don’t you dare apologize again.”

Will frowns back. “Fine.”

A twitch of a smile. “I just wanted to tell you – I’m gonna head home.”

Will nods. He reaches up to squeeze the hand still resting on his shoulder. “Good. Get some sleep.”

Nico clears his throat, his gaze dropping. “I’m really you’re alive,” he says, so soft that for a second Will’s not sure if he misheard.

Will’s throat goes tight. “Nico –”

“Call me if you need anything,” Nico says, his voice rough. He drops his hand to his side, takes a step back.

Will nods. And then Nico’s gone.

One week later

Will glances up to a sharp knock on the door.

“Yeah?” Nico calls from where he’s shuffling through papers across the room.

The door creaks open, Annabeth’s face appearing around the frame.

“Hey,” Will smiles.

“How are you feeling?” Annabeth asks.

“Much better,” Will assures her. “The AD made me take a couple of days off after they let me out of the hospital, but honestly I didn’t need them.”

Nico surfaces, a stack of files in his arms. He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, what kind of a loser would need time off to recover from being drugged and kidnapped?”

Will quirks an eyebrow at him. “Pot, meet kettle.”

Nico snorts. Will turns back to Annabeth, who’s regarding them both rather fondly.

“How are things above ground?” Will asks.

Annabeth sighs, her smile fading a bit. “I do have some news, actually.”

“Uh oh.” Nico crosses the room, dropping into his chair. “We heard the judge was reviewing Tooms’ case this morning.” Nico’s gaze flicks to Will, tight.

Will’s only been back at work for three days, but Nico’s been different. Quieter, closer. More careful with Will, more likely to offer to accompany him over to Dunkin’ or even upstairs to the cafeteria. He’s driven Will home three days in a row, first insisting that he was heading that way anyway, but abandoning all pretense by yesterday and simply telling Will he was going to give him a ride. It’s not that Will minds the company. And it doesn’t feel like an unreasonable shift in Nico’s behavior, considering all that’s happened. But Nico’s looked tired and tense, thousand-yard-staring across the office more often than usual, and Will’s found himself wishing he could just have his Nico back. That everything would just go back to normal.

Will had been required to meet with a counselor when he returned to work. She’d suggested that Will talk to Nico about the case, that the two of them spend some time debriefing. But Will honestly doesn’t know where to start. And if it’s at all possible, he thinks he’d prefer to forget the last week ever happened.

“They’re putting him on a psych hold, but they didn’t charge him with anything,” Annabeth sighs. “He’ll be at Druid Hill Sanitarium for the foreseeable future.”

“Fuck,” Nico says, shoulders slumping.

Annabeth nods. “I know. It’s disappointing. Not entirely surprising, though, considering Will doesn’t remember much aside from Tooms entering the car – not to mention the fact that they couldn’t identify the substance used to sedate him.” She shoots Will a sympathetic look.

“And they’re not going to try and charge him with any of the murders?” Nico asks. He doesn’t seem surprised, though. He and Will have already discussed the matter in detail, and neither was optimistic that Tooms would be held in jail.

Annabeth grimaces. “Not enough evidence.”

“Well,” Will says, “thanks for the update, anyway. We’ll just carry on, I guess.” He attempts a half-smile.

There’s silence in the office for a moment.

“So what’s next for you, after all this?” Nico asks Annabeth. “Anything interesting happening in Violent Crimes?”

Annabeth glances towards the door, quick about it. “Actually,” she says, lowering her voice a bit. “I haven’t told Luke yet - but I’m requesting reassignment.”

“Can’t imagine why you’d do that,” Nico says, dry. “He’s such a sweetheart.”

“He’s a good agent,” Annabeth says. “Or he has been, anyway. Just not one I want to trust with my life. Not anymore.”

Nico nods. “Wise choice, I’d say. And I’m sure he’ll take the news well.”

Annabeth sighs. “I’m about to go tell him now, actually. Wish me luck.”

She walks to the door, heels clicking on the linoleum. She turns, pausing with her hand on the doorknob. “You two make a good team, you know. You do good work.” Annabeth shoots a small smile at Will who returns it, his cheeks warming. “If the Bureau ever wants to fund a third agent down here, you know how to reach me.”

Just as Annabeth’s about to walk out the door, Nico stands, abrupt. “Annabeth – thank you,” he says. Nico’s voice is earnest and a little rough, and Will can’t help the thought that those few words mean a lot more than Nico’s putting voice to.

Annabeth nods like she understands. “Of course. Any time.” The door closes softly behind her.

There’s a stretching silence in the office. Until the last few days, Will’s never felt awkward in silence with Nico. Surely that will get better though. Right? Surely they both just need some time.

Will clears his throat. “I guess that’s that, then.”

“Yeah. Almost,” Nico says.

“Almost?”

A sigh, tired. “We um. We have to meet with Reyna. And Octavian.”

“Oh.” Will’s stomach twists unpleasantly.

“Yeah, it’s – tomorrow. At three.”

Will frowns. “When – when did you find out about that?”

“Reyna cornered me yesterday morning.” Nico’s not quite making eye contact, doesn’t seem to be doing anything purposeful with the papers in front of him, though they’re keeping his hands busy. “I – was going to tell you. Soon. I didn’t want to – I don’t know. I didn’t want to give you one more thing to worry about.”

When Will doesn’t immediately answer, Nico finally glances up, guilty.

“You don’t – Nico, you don’t have to try to protect me,” Will says slowly.

Nico turns back to his desk. “Yeah. Okay.”

Just over twenty-four hours later, they’re making their way back down the stairs, Nico seemingly lost in thought and lingering a few yards behind. Will reaches the basement door first, holding it open behind him.

“I think that went about as well as we could have expected,” Will says as he unlocks the office door. Octavian had seemed to enjoy telling them off for their multiple failures to follow protocol. But from what Will gathered, they would have been in more trouble if this had been an official X-Files case, rather than one on which they were acting as consultants. Will doesn’t think he imagined the fact that Octavian seemed rather disappointed by this.

“Yeah,” Nico agrees. “I’ve had worse meetings.”

There’s a pause. In his periphery, Will notices Nico glance toward him, then away again.

“What’s up?” Will says. Nico was quiet in the meeting. Subdued. Professional. Several times Will’s quite sure Octavian was hoping to get a reaction out of him – Will read it in the antagonism in Octavian’s gaze, the slight tightening of Reyna’s mouth. Nico didn’t rise, though. Maybe he’s about to. The basement office is a safe space for that sort of thing, after all.

“You lied to Reyna,” Nico says.

“I did?” It’s not at all what Will thought was weighing on Nico’s mind, and he takes a moment to make sense of it. “Oh – about us agreeing that you should stake out the Exeter site? I just figured it was simpler.” He’s not sure the AD believed him – he’s heard Nico refer to Reyna as a human lie detector. But Nico didn’t contradict Will, and the matter didn’t go any further.

Nico’s brow furrows. “No, I – I appreciate that. You were – covering for my bad behavior, and I –”

“It’s not a big deal. You’d do the same for me.”

Nico swallows. “Yeah. That’s not actually what I meant, though.”

Will blinks. “What else did I lie about?”

“When she asked you why you didn’t request partner reassignment, the night you were — kidnapped,” Nico says haltingly. “You said something like – you were tired, and stressed out. That the situation hadn’t arisen before and you – forgot what the protocol was.”

Oh.

“That’s what happened, Nico,” Will says, sincere enough that he almost believes it himself. Because there’s no reason for Nico to harbor any doubt. “It’d been a rough couple of days. I was tired and scattered, and I just didn’t think things through.”

Nico gestures in Will’s direction. “That, just now? That was a much better attempt than what you tried upstairs.” Nico’s voice is hushed in the quiet of the office. “But that’s not the truth. Or it’s not the whole truth.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Will says, gentle. “What matters is that we’re both safe. We’re alive, and we have our jobs, and now we can… we can move on to whatever’s next.”

The color seems to drain from Nico’s face in an instant. “You – you were trying to cover for me,” he whispers in sudden realization. “That’s why you went to the stakeout on your own.”

“Nico –”

“You thought I’d be in trouble. If you – if you had to explain to Luke why we weren’t going to Maple Gardens together. You covered for me, put yourself at risk, and then – then –”

Nico suddenly stands, shaky, and Will rises along with him. “Nico –”

“I – I just need a second.” And then Nico’s out the door. There’s the slam of the office door, quick footsteps receding, and then the slam of the bathroom door at the end of the hall.

Will scrubs a hand over his face. Hovering in the middle of the office for a good few minutes before finally dropping into his chair to wait. He almost rises to follow several times, then changes his mind.

It’s probably only fifteen minutes later when Nico returns, looking pale and clammy. It seems like much longer. Will watches him return to his desk, aching. Everything between them feels broken right now. How do they fix this? Part of Will desperately wishes they could return to that evening in the hospital, both of them relieved to be alive, together. They comforted each other. It almost felt like the beginning of something new. And now –

“I’m sorry,” Will says, leaning forward in his chair. His voice is rough. “I’m sorry I made a stupid decision. And that I didn’t tell you.”

Nico shakes his head, gaze on his lap. “No. No, you’re good, Will. It’s my fault –”

“I don’t want you to think that,” Will says, almost desperate.

Nico looks bleak, exhausted. “Even if I somehow spin it like it’s not entirely my fault, I still contributed way too much to a situation that almost got you killed.” Nico’s voice cracks on the last word and he shakes his head, scrubbing at his face.

“I did, too,” Will says. He so badly wants to go to Nico, touch him, comfort him. But it feels impossible right now, like there’s some gaping chasm in the few yards between them.

“Nico, what if you hadn’t gone to Exeter? If no one had known about the cufflink –”

Nico shakes his head, still not meeting Will’s eye. “If I hadn’t been at Exeter, I would have been with you. And none of this would have happened.”

“He had the cufflink before that night, though,” Will says. “He was going to come for me either way. If you’d been with me at Maple Gardens, he just would have waited until he could get me alone.”

“I don’t think I can –” Nico’s voice goes weak again and he shakes his head. “I don’t want to talk about all the ways you might have died,” he says. “Okay?” he adds, finally looking up when Will doesn’t answer. Nico looks wrecked, almost as bad as he did when Will woke at the hospital.

“Okay,” Will says quietly.

There’s a long pause in which Will desperately wishes he knew what to say to fix this. His whole chest aches with it.

“Okay,” Nico says, finally. “Come on. I’ll drive you home.”

Notes:

1. This chapter has been a LOT of work. I thought it was in pretty good shape, but when I read it over, it felt really bare bones to me. I’d written it so long ago that it didn’t match up with all the character/relationship development in the previous chapters. I enjoyed fixing it up and I’m much happier with it now, but just in case anyone else is worrying about being a terribly slow writer - it took me many, many hours to beat this thing into shape. Like, I've been working on it daily since whenever I posted the last chapter. I just checked, out of curiosity - the original draft was 18k words, and this one is 31k :) One change I made was to the ending - the original version ended on a far more upbeat note. In the actual X-Files, the characters go through this kind of trauma - and worse - ALL the time, and then they just move on. But as I started writing Will & Nico in these roles, I came to realize that it wasn't actually true to character for them to bounce back so quickly. Other changes included Will being more invested and taking more initiative, and giving Annabeth a bigger role (yay!) 2. This chapter is based somewhat on an episode of X-Files called Squeeze which I found TERRIFYING the first time I watched it. But I am a chicken. 3. I definitely got a bit hand-wavey with toxicology reports. Such is life. Don’t try this at home, etc. 4. I realized on the millionth read-through that Nolan Campbell (the 1939 victim whose family Will called) could not actually have been drafted because there was no draft yet in the spring of 1939. Oops. 5. The murder math in this chapter was SO hard for me to keep track of - how many murders/which decade/who discovered which murder when. I will never be a mystery writer. 6. Thank you SO much to everyone who's read and commented and thought about this fic enough that they asked when the next chapter would be posted. I appreciate all of you so much. I was so worried no one would read this thing. 7. Thanks so much to @rosyredlipstick for beta-ing and rebeta-ing. Thanks to my discord peeps for knowing exactly what kind of crier Nico would be when I asked :) 8. Chapter 7 is really only outlined, but chapters 8 & 9 are mostly finished. So. Send me good November writing vibes! Thanks for reading <3

#nico di angelo #will solace #solangelo #x-files au #my writing #fluff and angst #tw: kidnapping #annabeth chase #luke castellan #rated teen #reyna ramirez arellano #casefic

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mamawasatesttube · 1 year ago

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happy wip wednesday thursday!!!

tagged by @deadchannelradio ty monty ily :D i'll tag... who do i know that writes. @misspickman @loisinherlane umm... im definitely forgetting some friends sorry for not having a brain but est quod est and all that. if you wanna pretend i tagged you feel free tho wahoo!

“What’s the prognosis, doc?”

Kon rests his arms atop the back of the pilot’s chair, leaning forward to peer at the yoke in Tim’s hands. The ship is flying steady for now, but the several red, flashing alerts on the screens make it pretty clear that’s not gonna hold forever, not with the damage they sustained getting the hell outta Dodge.

Kon rests his chin atop Tim’s head. “Think we’re gonna make it?”

Tim grunts. “Mn. We’re steady for now, but we don’t have more than maybe… two hours, before that last fuel pump gives out in engine three.”

Well, damn. Those Denebian space pirates just had to hit the engines, huh?

He can feel the struggling fuel pump, shuddering on the fringes of his TTK aura. Unfortunately, there’s not a lot he can do for it, even with his telekinesis; sure, he could pump the fuel through to the converter himself, but without the rotating component from the back of the pumps that completes the circuits, power won’t go through the engine, and the thrusters won’t actually ignite. So he can’t just try to pump the fuel himself to give the overworked last pump a break, and the other two that are supposed to help it are already toast.

“Well, worse comes to worst, I can always get out and push,” Kon offers, only half-joking.

Tim quirks a tiny half-smile at the front window. “I don’t think it’ll come to that, but good to know it’s an option.”

Cassie, leaning in the doorway, sighs and rakes a hand through her hair. “So then, what’s the plan? Did you find somewhere we can stop and hopefully get some spare parts to do repairs?”

“Yeah.” Tim points at the navigation screen to his left. Kon peers at it, then out at the stars. “Planet in the Goldilocks zone in orbit around Albireo.”

“Oh, Erysimon.” Kon nods in recognition. “Yeah, cool.”

“You’ve been?” Tim quirks an eyebrow.

Kon shakes his head. “Nah, not me. Heard a lil about it from Kal. He fought off Brainiac out in the Albireo system a few years back—apparently there was some time travel bullshit, you know how it is—and the Erysimians were real grateful to him for it. He said they’re a nice bunch.”

Cassie snorts. “I mean, not to doubt you, but I think he’d say that about most people. Even ones I’d wanna punt.”

Bart suddenly appears at Kon’s side, shoving past him to plop onto the armrest of Tim’s chair. Tim makes a mildly disgruntled noise but makes no true effort to dislodge him, and Bart rests his elbow on Tim’s shoulder, peering at the navi-com. “Who are we punting?”

“Nobody, Bart.” Kon lightly flicks the back of his head. “We’re talking about landing on Erysimon so we can get some scrap and fix up the third engine.”

“Oh.” Bart hums. “Yeah, we should do that. No point in me having a space-chauffeur if my spaceship is broken and won’t fly.”

“Space-chauffeur?” Tim repeats dryly.

“That’s what I said,” Bart agrees.

“You don’t even pay me.” Tim taps something on the navigation screen, then sits back in the chair, folding his arms over his chest. “How am I in your employ?”

“Classic Tim, being a space capitalist. I should’ve expected this, but it’s still disappointing.” Bart shakes his head. “Obviously I pay you in love, friendship, and taking extra fries off your hands so you don’t have to worry about them. Duh.”

Kon can feel Tim’s shoulders shaking ever-so-slightly with repressed laughter. “Oh, right. my bad. Obviously.”

#rimi writes #its core four space adventures time babey!!!!!#core four #itll be a While til i publish any of this one but. there they go

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alexmeeksmartin · 2 years ago

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chosen family - pt i

pairing(s): wes hicks x male reader, slight chad meeks-martin x male reader

synopsis: the one where y/n roberts, survivor of the 2011 woodsboro massacre and brother of ghostface killer, jill roberts, is roped into another string of murders when his friend, tara carpenter, is attacked by someone taking on the moniker

a/n: new series! not sure if i’ll end up finishing this, but i would like to at least do a couple parts! hope u enjoy <3

wc: 1.9k

it was more than enough to struggle with the fact that your sister, jill roberts, had decided to stab you alongside your mother when you were only eight years old. ironically enough, your fame-hungry sister’s sickening plot to become a sole survivor is what thrust you into the limelight. for years, the media hounded you about the ghostface killings of 2011. it took you forever to get a group of friends who wouldn’t try abuse your connections. you were finally in a stable position…

…but now some fucker had decided to put on that damned mask and go stabbing again.

“that was sam.” your boyfriend, wes, let everyone know. you were all together, minus tara, obviously. you, wes, chad, mindy, amber, and liv. and nobody was taking this seriously, not even you at this stage. none of you had really processed it all properly yet.

you watched as amber’s interest was immediately piqued. “she’s coming?”

“yeah.”

“watch everything get worse.” amber says with a sigh, clearly unhappy about sam’s upcoming return to woodsboro.

“listen, all i’m saying is, with everything going on right now, i think it’s time we take our relationship to the next, most intimate level!” chad pleads with liv, doing his best to convince her.

“yuck.” you add across from the happy couple.

“it’s fine, y/n. he only wants me to accept his ‘find my fam’ request.” liv explains to you, removing the expression of disgust from of your face.

“it’s the smartest option with a would-be killer on the loose. you know exactly where i am and i know exactly where you are.” chad continues, building up his case.

“aw, you can stalk me like a jealous boyfriend.” liv giggles.

“and you can stalk me like a jealous boyfriend.” chad jokes as you and mindy make eye contact, signalling to each other your repulsion towards chad and liv at that moment in time with just one look of your eyes. it’s funny how much two best friends can say in just a glance.

“is this because you two aren’t having sex yet?” amber bluntly asks, looking between the two of them.

“you actually bring up a very good point! not that i want to sound like a stereotypical jock, trying to get into his girlfriend’s pants-“

“great!” liv says, stopping chad.

“come on, wes, you get what i mean?” chad asks, trying unsuccessfully to get some back up, but you shoot wes a death stare, making him think carefully about his next words.

“absolutely not. i wouldn’t dare.” wes begins, clarifying that he doesn’t agree with chad to you before moving onto liv, “don’t do it, liv, there’s some pyscho out there. you make yourself harder to find. delete social media, tape over your phone camera, disable gps-“

“yes, thank you very much, edward snowden.” chad says, cutting wes off. “actually, your mother just interrogated me about tara’s attempted murder.”

“i’m sure she’s asking everybody, i mean, ghostface is back.” wes responds. a chill goes down your spine at the very mention of the masked murderer.

“she hasn’t asked me.” you chuck into conversation, noticing how the sheriff hadn’t even seemed to have looked your way yet.

“yeah, because you’re like sheriff riley’s adoptive son. plus, you and her went through the same thing.” liv says.

“ex sheriff riley.” mindy adds, “also, the press still isn’t saying ghostface.” and another chill.

“my mom doesn’t want to cause a panic.” wes explains.

“it’ll get out by the second or third killing.” mindy says, nonchalantly.

“mindy, come on.” you say. you loved her, but her insensitivity could be an issue on occasion.

“jesus, mindy, there wasn’t a first killing. tara’s still alive.” amber says, slightly angry.

“that means she could still die.”

“what the fuck?” amber is progressively getting more and more agitated at this conversation, you note.

“or the killer could come back for her.”

“fuck, mindy!” chad says as you screw your face up, “come on.”

“i’m just telling you, arm up, okay? pepper spray, check, taser, check-“ wes lists off his weapons.

“y/n in the bedroom repellent, check.” amber cuts in, laughing at him.

“again, ew.” you say, turning away from amber to wes, “i’m glad you’re keeping yourself safe.” you smile at your boyfriend.

“keeping us safe.” he says, pulling you into his arms.

“oh, shit, is that… vince?” liv asks.

“wait. that creep you hooked up with last summer?” chad asks liv, concern immediately showing on his face.

“yeah, he worked with me and tara.”

“he worked with tara?” amber asks inquisitively.

“he’s been stalking my instagram the last couple weeks, posting the creepiest shit.” liv adds.

“probably time to introduce him to hobbs and shaw.” chad says, flexing his biceps.

liv puts his arm down to his side. “maybe not the best idea to incite violence right in front of the sheriff. looks like he’s leaving.”

“plus, i don’t think ‘hobbs and shaw’ are scaring anyone with names like that.” you say, laughing at chad.

“oh, please. you’d love to take hobbs and shaw for a spin.” chad retorts, smiling back at you.

“tara says she fought back hard. you’ve got bruises.” amber states, observing chad’s somewhat battered and blue arms.

“from football practice.” he says, defending himself.

“oh, sure-“

“tara’s awake! she just texted.” wes says, his face lighting up. “i’m going to the hospital, you guys coming?”

mutters of ‘yes’ and ‘sure’ are said by your friends, but what stands out is liv saying: “i can’t, but i’ll meet you guys later.” another thing to take mental note of.

“alright, i’ll see you later.” chad says, kissing liv on the cheek goodbye. you wait up for chad as wes, mindy, and amber walk on ahead and descend into playful conversation him.

you were all gathered in tara’s room at the hospital, with wes’ arm draped around your neck as you sit on the chair right beside tara’s bed. amber stands over you with a very concerned look on her face as the twins make small talk on the other side of the room.

the door opens, and everyone looks to it. sam. sam and- who?

“you came.” tara says with a small smile.

“of course i came.” sam says, giving her sister a very gentle and light hug. “this is my boyfriend, richie.”

that explains who the random guy is.

“it’s so nice to meet you, i’m so sorry if i’m intruding.” richie says to tara.

“nice to meet you too.”

“hi. thank you for calling.” sam says, giving wes a hug.

“of course.”

“look at your hair! i like it.” sam compliments, ruffling your boyfriend’s hair like she’s his mother.

you get up and embrace sam. god, you’d missed her. even though she had her own shit going on, she never failed to be the big sister you wish you had - a loving, protective figure. not jill.

“these are chad and mindy, the twins, wes, and y/n. i used to babysit them all.”

“which is always how i like to be introduced.” wes says, to which you let out a slight laugh.

“and amber.” sam finishes her introductions, locking eyes with the dark haired girl. “hey.”

“hi.” you can feel the tension radiating between them. they do not like each other at all. “nice to see you.”

“hi, um, i’m richie.” richie says, amber looking him up and down. you weren’t too sure if you liked the guy either, seemed a bit fidgety. maybe just nerves, with ghostface going around and all.

“hi.” amber says.

“where’s mom?” sam asks tara, a worried expression crossing her face.

“she’s stuck in a conference in london. she called me earlier.”

“yeah, for all of ten minutes.” amber adds with a judgemental tone to her words.

you look over at tara, who looks tired out of her mind, probably from the painkillers. as someone who had been in a similar position, you knew that it’d be best to make an exit right about now. not only that, the reality of the situation was starting to kick in now. how were you all going to navigate this and stay safe?

“guys, maybe we should give tara a little space. getting a bit crowded in here.” you say, concerned for tara.

your friends respond with a chorus of ‘yeah’s, and you all begin to head for the door.

“not you, sam. i want you to stay.”

“okay.” sam says, sweetly smiling at her sister before sitting herself back down.

“but the rest-“ chad says, looking back to you, mindy, and wes affirming that you guys should go.

you all walk outside of the hospital, and it’s really starting to hit you now. this couldn’t be happening again. you couldn’t lose anyone else to some stupid fucking legacy. to ghostface. you lost your mother, your aunt, and even your sister - all because a pair of stupid, deranged, psychopathic men picked up some halloween mask in 1996. it wasn’t fair.

you start to walk slightly ahead of the group, with none of their conversation registering in your mind. tears start to form in your eyes as you hear them calling out your name. this isn’t fair. you don’t deserve this. tara doesn’t deserve this. nobody deserves this.

you’re brought out of your trance when you feel mindy’s hand touch your shoulder as she walks in front of you.

“hey, you good?” she asks, but sees the tears in your eyes. you shake your head, and she turns to the boys and amber. “we’ll just see you guys at the bar later, okay?”

“you sure? i can stay.” wes says, but you turn around to speak to them.

“no, it’s fine. i’m fine. i’ll see you guys later.” you say, putting on your bravest face and best smile for them. you can tell they’re not quite buying it, but they know mindy’s got you so they keep walking. you see chad turn back multiple times to check on you again, and can tell amber and wes are already bickering again by the time they get in the car.

when they’re gone, it’s just you and mindy sitting against a tree.

“mindy, i don’t think i can do this again.” you say, sighing.

“it’s fine. we’ve got you. me, wes, chad, amber, and i guess liv have got your’s and tara’s backs. we’re here for whatever you need. especially me. you’re my best friend, y/n. nothing is more important to me than your well-being. got it?”

“i love you, minds. you’re the best.”

“i love you too, y/n. and remember, we understand if you need space, support, anything right now. sam’s got tara, and we’ve got you. okay?”

“thanks.” you say, a real smile making its way onto your face.

“anyways, i need to go show chad that i still am the king of eight ball. you coming?” mindy says, getting up and sticking her hand out to you.

“i wouldn’t dare to miss chad getting his ass handed to him.” you laugh, letting mindy pull you up as you head to the car.

maybe it wasn’t so bad. it was cheesy, but maybe with your friends by your side you’d get through this again. maybe.

a/n: hope you all enjoyed! have a couple parts already in the drafts for this so shouldn’t be too long till the next is posted !! thanks for reading 🫶

#chad meeks martin #mindy meeks martin #scream #scream x reader #tara carpenter #spotify #scream x male reader #scream 5 #scream 2022 #sam carpenter #amber freeman #liv mckenzie #wes hicks #judy hicks #dewey riley #richie kirsch

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cyten0 · 4 months ago

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A Symphony In Crimson

Act 1: A Movement in Black

Chapter 5

You're on the third floor again, just about to pick up the keyknife again. You found that book in the secret library for that craft to shield you all.

You think that will be enough, but you don’t know. You have no idea what other tricks the king has. Still, your all-sadness diet is starting to kick in, and the smell of your party is starting to get a touch distracting.

It should be fine though.

You enter the room with the change god statue, and as the party prays, you do too. You don’t know for sure if they’ll give you the dagger a second time, but you hope they’ll open the path in some form again at least. You still don’t have a better option...

In a flash of light, the Keyknife re-appears in your hands! As you all are hurtled back to the entrance, you watch the rest of your party confused. You're still surprised as well!

✦ “Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

As you prepare to cut open the door, a thought occurs to you. If this dagger’s power can cut through the kings hair, maybe it can also hurt the king better? But...

◉ “Something up Siffrin?”

✦ “Just noticed the blade is dull. It can cut us through, but it’ll break doing so.”

▲ “Maybe you could sharpen it? You did grab that sharpening stone on the first floor.”

You did! You were planning to sharpen your normal dagger to hurt a little more, but this seems a much better use!

✦ “Right! That just leaves some water to dampen the stone.”

You could do so without it, but it could degrade the dagger, and you wouldn’t want that. Just in case!

◆ “We have some crafted water. A bit costly, but given it’s clearly not a normal blade, might be worth it.”

✿ “No problem! Here you go!”

As Bonnie hands you the bottle, you carefully coat the stone and begin sharpening… Ok, that’s odd.

▲ “Huh, not doing much. Maybe it’s cause of it’s blessing?”

◆ “Hm… The water has also been drained of craft energy. We’ll likely need something with more craft energy in it to work. But, I don’t think we have anything like that.”

Hm… You do have one idea. It’s not pleasant, but it just might work.

✦ “I think I have something for this, actually.”

The others look rather surprised, as you quietly tuck the empty bottle of craft water under your cloak. Out of sight, you use your claws to cut open one of your tendrils, letting out your inhuman blood, and refilling the vial before closing up the wound.

Pulling out the dark substance, you pour it over the stone and begin sharpening it again. Everyone is surprised to find it sharpens with absolute ease! As you suspected, eating so many sadnesses has saturated your blood with craft energy!

✿ “Woah! What is that stuff!”

Well you can’t tell them, but you have something both close and believable enough to work.

✦ “Sadness blood. Filled with craft energy! Hard to get though.”

They all recoil in shock!

✿ “WHAT”

◉ “W-WHY?!?”

◆ “Why do you even have that?!?”

▲ “HOW do you even have that?!?”

Oh stars, you did not think this through! Quick, come up with something!

✦ “I-I just wanted to see if I could?”

▲ “...I guess? Still, sharpening a gift from the change god with blood, especially from a sadness.…”

...Oh STARS! That IS kinda messed up! Oh no! You really shouldn't be tainting a blessing like this, not with your Monster nature! You REALLY hope the change god isn’t too offended!

✦ “S-Sorry Change God! Oh stars, I really hope it was worth it...”

You take the newly sharpened blade, and slash it across the hair with your full might. And sure enough, it stays intact…

And uh. Kinda breaks the wall a little?!? Wow, that sharpening was effective!

✿ “Holy CRAB! That’s AWESOME!!!”

◆ “I daresay worth the heresy.”

You nod in agreement, still embarrassed, and continue on. The king will fall!

>>>

You stand in front of the king. You play your part the same as last time, and just as before, the king snaps to you, and with a voice dripping with ice, he speaks.

♔ “You….. Bright one…. Do you remember?”

...You have to know...

✦ "Do you?”

♔ “Oh….. Hah..... That is almost fair, I suppose…….."

You guess not then. Neither your loops, nor their home.

♔ ".........In this battle between eternity and the end…… We shall fight…..”

As he lifts himself from the ground, is voice becomes booming, filling the room.

♔ “AND WE SHALL SEE WHICH SIDE THE UNIVERSE FAVORS”

You all pull out your weapons, and the Knifekey hums with power in your gasp. The king prepares their attack, but you have a plan right now. You bet the king doesn’t know that, so maybe you can leverage that to get some information? He basically thinks you’re all already dead.

♔ “… For the sake of the rest of you, I shall be merciful, and give you time to come to terms with the end.”

✦ “Then one question. How did you know?”

The flow of energy towards his hand pauses, as he turns towards you.

♔ “Ohh….. Surprised I recognized you?…… I may only have the endless nightmares….. But after a while…… I noticed details…..”

◆ “(What are they talking about)”

✦ “Like what?”

♔ “Ohhhh….. The others would not be able to notice…. But…..Your voice….. There is always something…… underneath it when you speak, regardless of what form you take….. “

◉ “Huh?”

▲ “Wait, what does that mean??”

Uh oh! You need to distract them now, before they think on it!

Wait, the king’s been charging the attack secretly this whole time!

✦ “Mira, Shield now!”

Mira is surprised, but quickly crafted the shield just before the wave of energy crashes into you all!! It still knocks the wind out of you, but it’s manageable now... The others pick themselves up from the blow.

▲ “Was... that a distraction?”

♔ “Oh…...Oooooohhhhhh………. You're still here…. Good. To the death then.”

You don’t hesitate, charging forwards, tearing a hole through his armor like butter. You smell his blood from the wound, and feel him recoil. That blood smells delicious, you want to- No, focus.

Before he can focus on you, Odile fires off a craft directly into the opening you made. The king strikes back, landing a painful blow onto her! ODILE! Oh, thank goodness, Mirabelle got her back up, Ok. You take the moment to shift your body towards papercraft, mimicking some sadnesses you’ve eaten, and start fighting on instinct while you all have the king off balance.

...Your voice. Of course your voice is a tell! You already struggled with talking, and don’t talk often on the worry you’ll say something wrong and upset people. So of COURSE it’s the one blinding thing that’s still not human! Now that it’s been pointed out, you can’t stop worrying about it...

It’s fine, focus on the battle, and if someone else talks, you’ll just pay attention, see if you can’t figure out how to fix it.

You refocus. The king is looking somewhat injured. And you didn't deviate notably from human while fighting like that! You’re all chipping away at him rather well, and the others are holding out alright. The king begins crying, and tears begin to fill the air.

♔ “Why….. Why must you all still fight?….. You don’t understand!!!!”

▲ “Crying still, huh?”

You hear Bonnie mumble under their breath, before shouting in anger.

✿ “STOP CRYING!!! YOU CAN’T!!! You hurt so many people!!! People who won’t come back unless we beat you!!! My village, my sister, EVERYONE!!! They're all trapped because of YOU!!! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO CRY!!!!”

...You know why he’s crying. But still, Bonnie’s right. And it’s time he stopped! You take the dagger, and try and get rid of the tears protecting him. But they keep coming!

▲ “Sif! Stop him!”

You nod and Isa uses a defense debuffing craft, making the king unsteady enough for an opening. You go in, dodging through the tears, and leap into his face.

You need to make him lose focus on maintaining those tears! This is less for damage and more show, so it’s time to leverage a little fear factor! You plunge the knife into his shoulder, but have a small piece of you split off and worm it’s way into his body through the gash. It can’t do much with how weak you are, but…

Sure enough, he noticed it and instantly loses it! His hand crashes into the spot your standing, and while you avoid being crushed, the impact still knocks you pretty hard. You fall to the ground, somewhat injured, but watch as he claws at the opening desperately. The tears fall into inanimate water instantly as his concentration drops.

Success! Cheap trick, took some energy, but after that first attack, it’s fair play!

Bonnie tosses you a sour tonic, and you drink it to heal yourself back up. An herbal scent fills the air as Mira and Odile ready paper crafts, and Isa uses his gloves to add paper craft to his strike. You’re still a little weak from that last attack, and can’t muster up anything big, but you still join in, at least to let the Knifekey do some work.

As the king stumbles from the combined blow, he picks himself back up and begins to speak.

♔ “Ohhhhhh…….Why… Why do you all fight against me?”

◉ “What do you mean WHY? After EVERYTHING?”

♔ “Yes…. You all wish to live…. You fight for those you care for…. Do you want to see them die?”

Everyone is taken aback.

✿ “W-What does that mean?”

♔ “Ooohhhhh….. Time kills everything, sooner or later….. They fall apart…. They are forgotten….."

◆ "I suppose, but what does-"

♔ "If time does not move, they will survive…... The Universe itself has given us this chance, to save them all. Are you all willing to let them all die?”

...You don't have a response to that. The others are silent as well. They probably don't believe that but...

Odile suddenly notices the King was secretly charging that devastating attack again! She signals to Mira to craft the shield!

Just in time, the wave hits you all, knocking the wind out of you but leaving you standing. You get up to retaliate, but notice you're moving sluggishly!

The king used a slowing craft on you all in the commotion. You try and use a speed craft to get you all back, but the King instantly freezes you before you can. The others, still slowed, struggle to maneuver so slowed, and the King swipes the battlefield, hurting everyone! No! You have to MOVE!

Mira gets herself back up, and unfreezes you, and you snap your fingers, getting you all back up to speed. You then channel extra craft into a flick of your wrist towards Odile, and her awareness quickly perks up! You're running low, but it's worth it as she throws out a potent paper craft.

Bonnie throws out a Pepper juice, and as you all feel the strength flow through you, Isa leaps up and slams his fist directly into the King's face, knocking him down.

♔ “Ah……!!!…. No….. This can’t……”

Mira walks forward, with a determination in her stance that feels palpable.

◉ “King… I don’t know how much you know about our belief. But I believe in Change. Without a future, things may not be able to get get worse."

She swings out her rapier and points it directly at him!

◉ “But they’ll never get better either! There is no Change in your world! They’ll never grow, never change, never be a part of this world! They might never die, but they’ll never get to live! And I want everyone to Live! I will NEVER let you have your half dead world! I want Change!”

You sit there, somewhat shaken. Life. That’s always been what matters. Saving people. To give people. A chance to Live.

▲ “Nice try there, but this isn’t the end of our story! Not by a long shot!”

◆ “How very foolish of you to invent a new form of death and pretend it’s to save people.”

✿ “Saying all those things to convince us… Your the worst King! Your just a dumb idiot baby who froze everyone for dumb idiot baby reasons!!!!!!”

...Heh...The verdict has passed, and it’s time to end the song of this monster of a man.

✦ “Sounds like there’s nothing for me to add, huh? So all you need to do now is disappear.”

You channel nearly all the remaining craft energy you still have into the palm of your hand, ready to share it with the others. They begin to follow suit.

✿◆▲ “Disappear!”

Mirabelle raises her hands, gathering the craft energy and channeling it into a single powerful point.

◉ “Disappear!!!”

♔ “NO!!!!”

As the ball of craft slams into the king, he crashes to the ground, and starts to fade.

♔ “No, I can’t….. Not yet… No t w h e n…. I s t i l l c a n’ t….”

The king.

Dissolves.

...The world around you begins to fade back to normal, the curse unraveling. You all sit there, flabbergasted.

▲ “… Did… Did we win?”

✿ “… The king is… gone!”

◆ “… I think... we won!”

You all pause… And then burst into laughter and excitement!

You did it! You actually did it! You're a little off right now, having spent so much energy, but you give Mira some congratulations on the final blow. Bonnie talks about how scary it was, Odile remarks how close it got, and Isa is jumping around like crazy. It's over!

Stars, you... You don't know if you have much left after all you spent there... You think your body is gonna fall apart any second now...

◉ “Oh! Wait! People are unfreezing, s-so that means the Head Housemaiden-!!!!”

She breaks into a sprint further down the hallway.

▲ “And there she goes…”

✿ “Let’s follow!”

You start to follow along…. Oh right! You remember to listen to them talk among themselves a little. Need to get that last little bit of monster out of your voice! Can't have them noticing now!

Right now they're chatting about the fight, as expected, and you think you noticed what’s wrong. Remove a tiny bit of tissue from your improvised voice box and…

◆ “On a side note, Siffrin, you managed to scare the king quite a bit there. What was up with that?”

Perfect timing, time to test the new voice out!

✦ “Oh, I just mimicked the voice of an old horror monster. Surprised he caught on, so I played it up!”

▲ “Huh! He acted like he’d actually met it... That’s kinda scary.”

✿ “Nah, monsters aren’t real. Bet he just got scared of a nightmare like the crabbing baby he was.”

◆ “Hm. Must have been subtle, I didn’t even notice.”

NOW you can demonstrate! You quickly change your voice box back, and go a little over for effect!

✦ “Weľ̶͎̙͚̃̉l, It’s p̴̙͔͑͂robably easier, if yo̸̜̜̰̿̄u know tȍ̵̧̠̍̔ look f̸̣̗́̈́̽or it.”

◆ “GEMS!!!”

▲ “CRAB!!!!”

✿ “HOLY CRAB!!!!”

You do a little bow as you adjust your voice back to normal.

▲ “… Yeah never-mind if I heard even a hint of that, I’d freak out too.”

They might figure it out later, but that'll keep them off the trail for now... But... That might be all that's needed.

You continue onwards, until you exit out into a corridor. Oh stars! You're really high up! You block the view from Odile quickly!

◆ “T-thank you Siffrin.”

▲ “Oh! Don't worry, Ma'dame. Look at the ground and take my hand! I won’t let you fall.”

Mirabelle calls out from up ahead.

◉ “Are you all Ok?”

✿ “You gotta slow down for Dile, Belle!”

◆ “G-Give us a bit. You can... go on ahead.”

◉ “Oh change, right! Um… Ok, take your time.”

You lead Odile across the room slowly. Fear of heights is no joke! Would not want her fainting right after beating the king! You can hear her heartbeat race, even now. Like a scared animal ready to-

Nope. Ok, you might have used TOO much energy there. You're practically starving. You can hold on but...

You make it to the other side, and hear Mira talking with the Head Housemaiden. She towers over Mira, yet has a gentle grace to her stance.

◉ “Oh, there they are!"

◎ “Ah, Welcome! You are Mirabelle’s companions? I am so thankful to you all for getting her this far. You have my thanks, and all of Vaugarde’s!”

✿ “hehehe…”

▲ “No problem at all, m’dame Head Housemaiden! It was an honor!”

◆ “Truly, it was nothing”

You nod, a little bashful. You guess this mean’s Siffrin’s a hero now! That’s a very good addition to their story!...

Stars, you can't stop thinking about their scents.

◎ “Hohoho!…. Soon, you’ll be able to go back to your normal lives, away from battle and strife. Finally, you’ll be able to go home! If there’s anything Dormont can do to thank you, please do not hesitate to ask. But for now, take your rest, it must have been very difficult!”

Everyone nods, and goes to different corners to relax a little.

...So… You’ve beaten the king, saved Vaugarde, and made Siffrin a hero… You guess that means it’s time for you all to go your separate ways…

Probably for the best, your hunger has finally caught up in full... It’s… a little hard to think...

...This will probably be the end of Siffrin’s journey… You're too hungry to maintain being them for long... This body will fall apart, and it'll be much harder to remake from scratch...

You should make sure to talk to all of them before that happens…

You walk over to Bonnie. Maybe they have a spare snack they can give you? No, it’s fine, best not think about eating right now.

✿ “...It’s over, right? Like, really REALLY over?”

✦ “Yep. King’s gone, your sister will be back, and I bet she’ll be very excited to see you again!”

✿ “… You sure?”

✦ “I’m sure. If she’s not, you can punch me as many times as you want.”

✿ “Deal… Wait, that’s such a long journey though, how am I gonna find you if your crabbing wrong?!? That’s dumb!”

✦ “Almost as dumb as your sister not being OK after we won.”

✿ “oh. OH!!! Ok, I’ll believe you, but if she’s not I’m gonna punch you so much!”

You chuckle. You doubt it’ll be needed, but as soon as you can get yourself back to human, whatever form it is, you’ll make sure they can keep that promise, even if they don't know it. You just hope they're OK waiting.

You decide Odile is next. Her sweat from her exhaustion catches your attention. You try to ignore it and clear your head.

◆ “… Ah, yes, woop woop, we did it, we won, ect… Urgh…. This has been quite the workout. My body is screaming at me”

Same! Though for very different reasons. Stars, why do they have to be so- NOPE, push those thoughts back.

◆ “Savior of Vougarde is quite a nice addition to my list of accomplishments, but I’m looking forwards to traveling again. I’d be interested to hear more from Vaugardian cities after an event like this. Though, I’m not sure I’ll be used to traveling alone again. Or I could head back to Ka Bue?”

Now or never to find this out…

✦ “To do your research?”

◆ “Are you hoping I’ll tell you now the journey is over? Heh. Keep dreaming.”

✦ “Boo.”

◆ “Ha! Ha… I’ll miss you Siffrin. You’re a little strange, but your a good kid. Maybe try letting down your walls sometime? And come to Ka Bue anytime, maybe we’ll meet again.”

She smiles at you gently, and you smile back… If Siffrin will be missed, you guess you did your job right! They made an impact, even after…

You decide to go talk to Mira next. She smells sweet as ever, so entice- No, focus.

◉ “… I’m not dreaming, right? It’s over? It’s really, actually over?”

✦ “It’s over!”

◉ “Oh change, I’m having a hard time believing it. I- It’s just- It’s been such a long journey, and I can’t believe it’s finally over and that we won and-

Oh no, she’s crying! You have to do something!!

✦ “Breathe with me?”

◉ “o-Okay…”

You both breathe slowly in, and out.

◉ “hah…. Hehe, you can be so nice Siffrin!”

!!! Oh, you can feel your cheeks burn!

◉ “Oh you're blushing!!!…"

◉ “Ahem. I know we haven't known each other for all that long. B-But I hope you know I really treasure your company! I do! I really really do! And so… Thank you! Thank you for accompanying me on this journey!”

You feel really happy! You’ve done so well!

◉ “… I’m sure you’re excited to get back to traveling on your own… But don’t forget me, Ok? Come see me at Dormont anytime! I’d love to hang out! Promise?”

…. You know you can’t promise that. You can’t keep being Siffrin for much longer. You're too hungry. It’ll be months before you can put together a human guise again, and you wouldn’t be able to get it exactly the same. They’d notice the differences... Or worse, figure out the truth...

She noticed your hesitation, and is looking at you strangely.

✦ “I would love that. I’ll try.”

◉ “… Ok. I’ll see you when you do!”

You wave them goodbye…

Finally, you decide to talk to Isa. You can’t help but listen to his heartbeat, hear his breaths, take in his scent... NO. Focus.

▲”Sif! We did it! We stopped the King! We can finally go back to our normal lives! Isn’t it great?”

✦ “It is!”

▲ “Yeah!…... I uh. I said. Do you remember what I said? At the Clocktower?”

Yes! You do! He says something each time at the clocktower, that he would tell you something after you beat the king! You really want to know!

✦ “I remember! What did you want to tell me?”

▲ “Yes. Um… Yes. Okay. Phew…… Sif. Siffarooni…. Siffrin….”

▲ “...I… I… I lo-”

✿ “ARE YOU GUYS DONE TALKING ALREADY??? CRAB!!! I wanna go so I can eat dinner!!! I’m super duper hungry!!”

Isabeau makes a bunch of incoherent noises of frustration, face in his hands.

▲ “………. It’s fine. It wasn’t that important.”

But…. But there might not be a later! This might be the last time you get to see him as Siffrin!

✦ “A-Are you sure?”

▲ “… Yeah. Besides I have some thinking to do. Gonna be heading back to Jouvente after this!… Just, make sure to say hi if you ever drop by, alright?”

...You can’t tell him. And you don’t have a reason to press him on it. So...

✦ “Sure.”

You wave him goodbye, even as your heart stings. You’re… Going to miss all of them. You don’t want to say goodbye, but you don’t have much choice.

'Siffrin' is about to die, the moment you leave this house.

You head over to the Head Housemaiden. You're barely holding it together, your body is starting to burn from the strain of holding it's shape.

But you can handle one more conversation. Close out the last dangling thread. Finish the last notes of Siffrin's song. Before you have to leave.

You guess it’s time for the journey to end.

◎ “Traveling one! I’d like to thank you for accompanying Mirabelle this far. I’m very grateful.”

You nod thankfully.

◎ “Siffrin, yes? If there’s anything I can do to thank you, please don’t hesitate to ask. I know you will be going back to your travels soon, but I do hope you’ll keep in touch, if only for dear Mirabelle… But no matter what, know that Dormont will always be welcome to you! Please come back.. any… time…”

She gives you an odd look, and then her face shifts to that of shock! Oh no! What did you do?!?

◎ “Oh… Oh no. Oh no, no, no, no, no…”

✦ “W-what?”

◎ “I-I’m so sorry! There’s no way we can stop it now…!”

You suddenly notice it. The room has been slowly smelling sweeter, something is shifting, twisting!

✦ “What’s happening? What do you mean?!?”

◎ “Your going back! Back to when it all started!”

No! No! No, not with how you are now, you can’t-!

◎ “I know you thought your quest is over, but it can’t be! Something is broken, failing, rotting!!! I can’t fix it on my own, not before it all ends… If I had noticed it sooner!!! I should have seen it, prevented it!!!”

You feel a tug on your heart. You want to flee, but you can’t move!

◎ “It’s my fault you have to suffer like this. I just hope that one day, you might lea《rn to f《or《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《《

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… You're… Back...

#in stars and time #isat #isat au #carrion!sif au #SymphonyInCrimson!au #And so the king is defeated!#And the melody begins to rise... :3 #Bit of a longer one then usual this time #but felt it was worth it!#And after this things will start deviating from the normal game far more often.

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