#Sorry that you found out that Iron Man wasn't a good guy. Don't make this Batman's problem

[thescarehoe]

The worst thing about being a DC fan is all the people who moved here after they found out the MCU wasn't good and just applied the same concepts to fundamentally different characters.

[empresskylo]

Oooo could u write about ghost taking his mask of infront of the boys and the reader burst into the room late and is like who tf are you 😭😭😭

A slew of identical masks lay on the table before the circle of men. Ghost reached up and nonchalantly removed his current face covering, exposing his face like it was nothing. Price was the only one who didn't seem surprised to see Ghost's exposed face. "Nice to see you again, Simon."

At his words, you burst in through the door, stumbling over to the table, pulling your utility vest around your body, and tightening it. "Sorry I'm late," you mumbled as you approached. The men gave you a quick nod before turning back to listen to Price. "If you're in, take a mask... If you're not... Don't."

You looked around and spotted a dirty blonde across the table from you, staring you down. Your eyes widened, not recognizing the figure, You leaned into Soap. "Who the fuck is that?" you asked, gesturing your shoulder towards the mysterious man who clearly heard you--you weren't exactly talking quietly.

A big grin formed on Soap's face. He ignored you, reaching for one of the masks and sliding it on over his head. You heard a few men beside you chuckle, clearly thinking whatever you said was funny.

You rolled your eyes before grabbing your own mask. Before you raised it, you froze, watching the man grab one himself and slide it on. Wait. That can't be... "Ghost?" You must have looked awestruck.

Ghost adjusted his mask and looked directly at you, his eyebrows raising. Ironically, with the mask covering most of the man's face, only then could you tell it was Ghost. The blonde hair and attractive face threw you off; the idea that the man across from you could be Ghost didn't even cross your mind. Now with his mask back on, his looming stance and expressive eyes were a dead giveaway.

"Shit, Ghost. I didn't know you were hot." You hadn't even fully realized you said that out loud until Soap and Gaz snickered beside you. You quickly pulled the mask on to hide your embarrassment.

"I tried to tell ya," Ghost grumbled, referring back to the time he insisted he was good-looking to both you and Soap. You were thankful your face was now covered because you were sure you were sweating.

"Let's keep it together," Price said to the table, looking between you and Ghost, a small smirk on his lips. Apparently, everyone found amusement in your humiliation.

As the group moved to head out, you felt Ghost and Soap match your stride. "If it makes you feel any better, I couldn't believe Ghost wasn't ugly as shit under there either," Soap said down to you.

"Thanks, guys," Ghost said, a hint of teasing in his voice.

"What can we say? We expected the face to match the personality." You stifled a laugh at Soap's words, Ghost shoving him hard in the shoulder, making him stumble.

Your eyes flicked back to Ghost, still amazing at how ethereal he looked in a much thinner and exposing mask. You could see his blonde eyelashes against the black of his face paint. "Gonna be hard to take orders from you now, Lt. Knowing you look like that n' all," you stuttered, half-jokingly.

You could hear the pained sigh in Ghost's breath, clearly losing his patience as you and Soap giggled like school girls.

[fenrysmoonbeamswife]

Okay okay okay I don't know if this will even make sense or just sound dramatic or like rambling so bare with me I guess

I keep seeing people saying "oh you don't think reading should be made political but you read books like ACOTAR and xyz?" and while I totally get the point and agree with it, let's just look at this particular example for a second because it's completely unsurprising.

Let's be real, the majority of the people who read ACOTAR praise the "inner circle". They see them as the good guys, the best of the best, "goals", whatever. It has gotten to the point that it's almost cult-like, I mean I've seen people who haven't even read the books already in love with the inner circle just because fans basically convince them to be.

Anyway, even just their name is already starting off bad, the inner circle? By actual definition an inner circle is a curated group who move in the same circle. AKA the elite few chosen out of complete bias by the leader (not for any particular care for their people or political savvy because we know they have none of that) just because they're "besties"

This particular inner circle consists of

1. A man who has committed sexual assault, abuse, war crimes, murder and more. Has quite literally segregated his own people and abandoned 2/3s of his court. Knows about and allows the unrelenting physical, mental and sexual abuse of the women and children he is responsible for. Locked up survivors of sexual abuse and uses them for free labour and pretended it was some sort of charity.

2. A man who obliterated a village because of his own rage. Committed physical and emotional abuse and sexual harassment. Takes some sort of pleasure out of seeing women in pain.

3. A literal torturer (granted he doesn't seem to actually enjoy his job but he still does it)

4. A woman who abandoned all of the other women who are abused the way she was even though she's quite literally in charge of the place. Who also said that a woman at her worst mentally after severe trauma should be punished by being put with her abusers.

5. And literally a 1000+ year old ex-inmate of the Prison. Baring in mind we don't know why she was in the Prison, she wasn't pardoned or anything similar she escaped so she is still a criminal as far as we know and she is the nastiest skank ass bitch ever so I can only assume she did something horrific based on everything she's ever said. Ever. (this is mostly a Mean Girls joke because Rhysand is literally a Regina George wannabe but also Amren is the nastiest skank ass bitch)

These are the same people who are pretty racist towards Illyrians, make borderline vicious animals out of Illyrian men and allow them to do as they please so that they have disposable pawns to fight their wars and have left the Illyrian women and children to be abused by them. The same people who have decided that the entirety of Hewn city are abusive, not that there could possibly be any other women or children in similar situations to Mor. The same people who, while they build their *checks notes* fifth mansion, tear down buildings for funsies because they can't abuse whoever they want to use their powers. The same people who got pissed off about someone *double checks notes* saving another world and their own.

I'm sorry (not) but the same people who support and adore and worship these characters are typically the ones who "don't want to bring politics into reading" and say things like "it's just fiction". It isn't just fiction. There is no such thing as just fiction.

Reading will always be political. And I'm using ACOTAR as an example because I'm seeing it used and found it ironic in a way but christ nearly every fantasy book if not literally every fantasy book out there has politics that can be directly correlated to our own. I mean I always say that if someone told me that different people wrote ACOTAR and Throne of Glass I would believe them but at the same time that's mostly a joke because of how drastically different they are. I found Throne of Glass so deep, so much more focused on the underdog, the seemingly smaller stories that add up the the bigger picture, the end result of everyone not just the select few (the inner circle). Don't get me wrong, there are problems with it but a lot of them are called out in the writing and you can see that for the most part it's the writing of a young dreamer. And then you have ACOTAR and it's just so privileged and biased and trying so hard to tell you that the elite are at some sort of disadvantage and like basically you could convince me it was written by a straight white man with 0 effort.

Moral of the story is, when someone like SJM uses Breonna Taylors death to hype up her own book, it's not just fiction. When SJM who very clearly self inserts into ACOTAR and puts her own beliefs that she's taken from the real world into these stories that she writes, it's not just fiction. When she takes real world examples of abuse and privilege and segregation and misogyny and whatever fucking else and puts them into her stories, it's not just fiction. When what you're reading directly correlates to or effects your own political beliefs, it's not just fiction. When what you're reading can be translated to the real world in a scarily realistic way, it's not just fiction. When we could wake up tomorrow and be in the exact same situations we read about, it's not just fiction. Fiction is fiction sure, but it will always be based on real life. There is only so much the imagination can do, it needs a base point and that is the real world. So it is never just fiction

[gingiesworld]

Can you do Natasha with Male reader?

Where male reader it's normal agent who love giving natasha lunch just to be good work friend but natasha end up falling for him and she hate that she trusting new people so she try to avoid reader. But it's fail so she start insulting reader in front other agent's and that make reader stop bothering her.

You can choose how this end (sad or happy ending)... Thank you :)

You're Pathetic

Natasha Romanoff x Male Reader

Warnings: Angst. Death.

18+ MINORS DNI

Agent Y/L/N was just an average SHIELD Agent, working as hard as he could to keep the civilians safe from unknown threats. On the off chance he came across on of the higher agents, he made sure that his uniform was ironed and crease free. Always wanting to make a first impression. Even after the missions he had spent with her, he became smitten.

Natasha would never admit it but she was moved by the lunches and the drinks he would bring her. Leaving her office with a have a good day and his charming smile. Although Natasha was wired different, she was trained that love is for children.

"So, who is the guy?" Maria asked as she smirked at the pacing red head before her. Natasha had found refuge in one of her best friend's offices.

"Agent Y/L/N." Natasha sighed as she stopped to face Maria. "Don't look at me like that." She scolded as Maria took a deep breath.

"All I am seeing is Y/L/N getting you lunch and drinks. Making small conversations and asking how you are." Maria summed up as Natasha smirked. "He is being the man every woman has ever dreamed of."

"I know." Nat finally took a seat. "I just hate this feeling."

"You're falling for him." Maria stated as Nat held her face in her hands.

"I have fallen for him." Nat whispered, her eyes glistening. "But what if he wants a family?"

"There's always adoption." Maria stated.

"A biological family?" Natasha corrected as Maria have her a gentle smile.

"If he really cares for you, he wouldn't care about how you have children. He would only care about spending his life with you." She told her honestly. Nat just sighed, knowing she was right. Deciding to head to her own office and taking a seat, only to hear a knock on her door, just like clock work.

"You need your strength Romanoff." He smiled as he place the peanut butter and jelly down with a soda before leaving her be.

He was right, she had her training this afternoon. Teaching the new recruits. Which as she was in the middle of observing the recruits as they trained. Observing their forms during combat and making note as Y/N walked in the door with a smile on his face and a water in his hand.

"This has to stop Y/L/N!" She told him as his smile fell.

"I just wanted to make sure you're hydrated." He told her honestly as he looked at the bottle.

"You are pathetic. A pathetic excuse for an agent." Natasha tried to stop as she watched his eyes go from full of happiness to void of any emotion. "I'm surprised you haven't been killed yet with how pathetic you are."

"Goodbye Romanoff." He spoke emotionless, the other agents watched as he walked out of the training room. Natasha's heart broke as he walked out with slumped shoulders.

For days, her outburst was talk among the agents. A lot of them talking about the pathetic agent. It wasn't until a few weeks later she had noticed is absence. Of course she knew Maria also had a mission but it wasn't until she overheard a conversation among a small group of agents.

"That pathetic agent tried to be a hero." One of them snickered. "He thought by jumping on the grenade he would save everyone. I think everyone would have rather died than be wearing that pathetic loser."

Natasha ran straight for Maria, wanting to know that what she heard isn't true. That was when she walked in on Maria sniffling, looking up as she heard Nat close the door.

"Is Y/N?" Nat tried. She couldn't even bring herself to say it.

"I'm so sorry." Maria whispered as she let her tears fall. "No one knew he was going to do it. I guess he's not so pathetic now is he?" Her words soon laced with venom, cutting Nat off as she tried to speak. "He was far from pathetic Natasha and you know it. You let those recruits hear your harsh words to him when all he wanted was to be there for you. Do you know what his last words were?" Nat just shook her head as she took every word. "He told me, hopefully this mission might just prove his worth." Nat wiped her eyes as Maria berated her. "Truth is, he never needed to prove his worth. We already knew what kind of agent he was. No, we knew what kind of man he was. He was kind, gentle, sweet and caring, but he only had eyes for you. He was in love with you and you ripped his heart out. You set him up for his death because he thought in that moment, sacrificing his life was worth saving other agents who also questioned his worth on the team. Do you know I had to take an hour long shower to wash all of the blood and dust from my body, the blood wasn't even my own. I just washed him away like he was nothing. Just like you did."

"Maria." Nat tried as Maria shook her head.

"Get out." She ordered as she turned back to her report. Writing about the moment Y/N had sacrificed himself. Nat walked through the halls hearing how people still called him pathetic.

"He was a hero. Y/L/N was far from pathetic so I suggest you all shut the fuck up and get back to your designated stations." She yelled before she slammed her office door. Collapsing to the floor as her world imploded. Tears falling from her eyes and she didn't even bother to try and hide them or wipe them away. Wishing she could have done something different. Told him how she really felt and not let her head get in the way. Now she was just too late and she hated herself for what she had done.

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Slow and eternal - Occultus x fem!reader

warning : slowburn (as good as it can be in a One-shot), the dark circle being the dark circle, friends to lovers kinda

Summary : A poser or a true demon in the end, the group didn't know yet. But no matter what they knew, Occultust and Faust couldn't get her out of their heads.

Info : So a request for @sweetest-catha I hope you like it and sorry for the longer wait I really had not the most time. But again have fun reading ;)

masterlist

Disclaimer : I don't want to glorify anything, it's about the actors who play a role, not the real events.

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

Helvete. She had heard about the infamous store in the scene. Had been shown photos by her friends and the press. Had heard her fans talking about it on her own tours and concerts. The new band that had emerged was "Mayhem".

But she didn't see it as a threat to her music, she saw it as a way to make the best out of all the shit in the world. There needed to be more darkness in this overly wholesome world if you asked her.

But wasn't that the answer any satanist would give? But when she finally stood in front of it, it was something she hadn't expected. Although there were a few customers in the store, it seemed like everything.

Actually, even if she had wanted to come here, she had to admit that it was more her orientation, she wanted to go to the city recording studio for a new song and not here. But what did that mean, maybe it was fate and in the end she would find her destination. A dark satanic world of her own.

Where she liked to be herself. Still wondering if they would have that one thing. That one particular cover. But as soon as she entered, the smell of cigarettes and beer hit her, not unfamiliar but almost too much on a morning when she had enough oxygen and wasn't about to pass out.

Looking around, she had to admit that she felt a certain comfort but with a naive charm. She knew that she wasn't necessarily significantly older than Euronymous and yet the group seemed so much more bursting with energy it impressed her a little. Because she herself knew that the world had turned against her from the beginning, and not just because of her choice of musician and genre.

With a small grin on her lips, she began to go through the shelves. She saw one or two familiar albums before stopping at the one that made her smile. ,,What are you smiling about, sweetie?" she heard an almost cheerful voice and looked next to her.

A young man no older than her was standing next to her, a wide grin on his lips and broad sunglasses hanging from his black sweater. ,,Hi, I was just looking at the plates, you've got some good ones," she replied, pointing to a few of them and hearing the long-haired man giggle, which he found more than amusing. ,,What do you mean, darling? Euronymous the owner" another one came up to her, stood next to the guy and put a hand on his hip.

She looked into his blue eyes and saw that he was sizing her up, judging whether she was good enough for your store or just a poser. ,,Sweetheart or poser girl?" asked another and she recognized the tall one as Faust had seen his picture from the police station after being questioned about the murder of a man.

But no one could really ask if it was true, at least not yet. ,,I like poser girls," the shorter one commented, introducing himself as Occultus and simply grabbing her hand and shaking it, but the grin didn't leave his lips.

Something that also made her smile slightly the energy of the group was so different individually that it was almost ironic how they all belonged together. ,,If you have no idea, get out!" she heard Varg shout from behind the cash register. She knew the album he had made well but it wasn't necessarily her favorite.

Looking back at Euronymous, he had folded his arms and was pointing to the door, ,,Get out or something will happen," he threatened, but something told her he wouldn't dare. It seemed to be either the over-interest of his two friends or the slight flicker of uncertainty in his eyes.

He was bluffing. ,,Well then, the poser girl is leaving now...but I'd have a look at one of the records, maybe you'll find something nice," she countered with a smile, turning on her heel and disappearing from the store with a wave. She left the boys slightly puzzled, but it was mainly Occultus and Faust whose grins only widened.

Because what at least she couldn't know was that when she gave the next concert, Occultus and Faust would be there as well as the whole circle. Everything about her was impressive, even if she wasn't the main singer, the boys recognized her despite the demonic masks.

The masks, which seemed to come from hell itself, covered the faces of the band and yet they recognized the young woman behind the mask. ,,She's epic," Faust heard his friend say as they both took another sip of beer and watched the demonic guitar solo they were about to witness. It was impressive how she could use her fingers to create such a beat for the band, it was as if Satan himself had taken over.

Even if she didn't notice the group in her frenzy, she put a lot of effort into this concert and it was well worth it. Because only a year later the band's new album was released and she wanted to see how well it was received. Or whether the boys had done their homework and now knew who they were or perhaps had a little more respect.

They had developed into decent Satanists and not thirteen-year-olds. When the door opened again and her arrival was announced, a small smile stole onto her lips. ,,That's right it's her" she heard the band founder murmur and the others scrambled out from behind the curtain. Not letting on, she went to the same shelf as a year ago, looked at the album and couldn't help but smile.

,,You...you...you were incredible," stammered the two friends who had dared to come to her, seeing Occultus trying to hide behind Faust and the other one the other way around. The two of them seemed too dazzled by her power on the guitar, at least from the outside.

,,Yes... really incredible," the two mumbled again and she couldn't help but giggle - the two of them were kind of cute and even if she didn't want to admit it at first, they were somehow adorable. ,,Thank you both," she began and held out her hands to them, which they shook and pulled into her arms with a surprised noise.

,,Tell me...would you like to be invited for a pizza?" she asked, gesturing with her head in the direction of the pizzeria opposite. Shabby and old and yet the best pizzas in town, as they all knew. Their hearts beat faster, it almost seemed like a date.

But even she couldn't deny the beating of her heart, they were already somehow in love. ,,You bet!" they exclaimed and she suddenly felt the two of them stand next to her, put their hands around her and the three of them smiled as they left the store. Feeling the fast but sweet kiss on her cheeks as the two kissed her as a thank you.

Not knowing that after the pizza date there would only be more opportunities to find out that their hearts beat for her and her heart beat for them. But above all, the black-haired Occultus would never forget this satanic goddess.

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

[egrets-not-regrets]

A Chance (Meeting)

This is about how Lenora (OC) and Erriox (Iron Warrior OC) first met.

She wasn't sure how it happened or what happened. Whether it was by fate, by chance, or by some strange magic warpery, it definitely felt like it was luck that she found him when she did. This strange hulking man lying there with his own blood soaking into the dirt, armor seemingly broken beyond repair, with wounds that would be a guaranteed death sentence for any lesser being.

This was an astartes warrior, a space marine. Lenora knew what he was from having met her neighbor's space marine companion, Mithras, one of the Thousand Sons. But what was this one doing with such serious injuries? She did not hear any sort of conflicts between any warbands recently and there were no drag marks, no footprints; it's as if he just teleported to this place.

Regardless, this space marine would die if he didn't receive medical help soon. How much time does he still have? There was nothing that any normal human first aid can do for him. Her hands shook as she frantically looked up the number for local Astartes emergency medical and rescue services.

"Please work, please work, please work,..." Lenora muttered as she dialed the number.

A voice on the other line responded, "Hello? Astartes Emergency medical services."

The tension in her shoulders relaxed slightly as Lenora explained her situation, "I found a space marine on my property. He's injured really bad." She glanced at the prone body lying at her feet nervously, "His armor is all broken and it looks like he's been shot and beaten. I'm not sure what to do. I don't know how much time he has left."

"Ma'am, thank you for calling. We will get a team ready to retrieve him. Can you tell me which company or legion the marine is part of?"

"I don't know." She didn't delve too deeply into know what legions are in existence, "Parts of his armor have what looks like yellow and black hazard stripes? And the rest is grey? Sorry, that's the best I could do."

"Yellow and black hazard stripes... Hm... You may have an Iron Warrior there. Do you see any strange growths, like horns, claws, extra mouths, etc...?" Lenora's brows raised at that. Horns? Extra mouths? What in the world? She did another once-over at the comatose space marine. "No, he looks pretty normal to me."

The voice hummed in acknowledgement then asked for her address, which she gave, with added detail of where she was located on her property, "Okay, thanks. A team is on their way."

"Thank you. Please hurry."

Lenora settled on the ground beside the space marine and sighed, looking at him worriedly, "They're coming big guy. Hope they come in time."

As she waited, a small beetle started to climb onto the marine's face. She reached over to brush it off, but hesitated. Lenora knew it was dangerous to touch him, she's read and heard stories of their toughness and tenacity, and also how they could still fight like none other and react lightning-fast despite near-death injuries. Curiosity won out though, and she gently brushed the bug off his face before flicking it into the grass. Gaining no reaction, Lenora caressed his cheek gently again, as the distant rumble of the emergency vehicles neared. She murmured,

"You’ve come so far already, just hang on only a little while longer. Survive, and if you do, I hope you can make the most of your second chance. Good luck."

************************

Erriox slowly came to. He raised a hand, recognizing he was in a bed, connected to a multitude of tubes. Where was he? How did he get here? He could hear voices, some speaking in strange tongues, others in his familiar language. The scent of anti-septic, blood, and other chemicals invaded his nostrils. There were no clashing sounds of bolter fire and destruction, no people screaming and crying, no city structures crashing down, none of the heat from the blazing fires. There was no more of that acrid stench coming from the corpses piled in the streets or the overwhelming smell of carnage and blood, except perhaps for his own. It was almost too quiet, too strange. 

The last thing he remembered was getting shot and beaten by his own brothers, and a building crashing down onto him. He had disagreed with his genesire's decision to either have Olympia enact decimation upon its own people, or face extermination and enslavement. In the end, he failed; he failed to convince his brothers, failed to preserve his homeworld and its people.

Then something happened, knocking him out in the process. Erriox had a faint recollection of a gentle touch, a warm hand, and murmured words that felt like a gentle balm to his anguished soul. He was not sure who it was or what was said, but he hung onto the voice desperately, anchoring himself from being swept away into dark thoughts and despair. Erriox vowed to find this voice once he gets out of here. Wherever this place was. 

[thegeminisage]

STAR TREK UPDATE TIME. we have finally watched the voyager pilot! short verdict: nothing will ever be as good as ds9 but i enjoyed it!!

longer verdict: i will go through it character by character, in order of appearance, saving the maquis crew for when they have more than .5 seconds of screentime in the little opening. this feels like a REALLY big cast, by the way?? am i counting right? 11 recurring characters and we don't even have seven yet? tos has 7 with chapel and rand appearing sometimes, tng had 8 with o'brien and guinan sometimes, ds9 has seven with...man, jake nog rom garak AND keiko as recurring extras, and we don't even have worf yet. so i guess ds9's is technically bigger! anyway.

JANEWAY: i was surprised at how janeway sounded...her voice is different than i expected even though i've heard her be flemeth in dragon age. i was also kind of surprised to see her in the bun and her head looked So Big. like dax's in season 1-2 of ds9. i'm used to seeing her with it down in gifs which looks better but personally i also think she could have rocked the kira cut. that said, i like her so SO much. she has a couple of speeches that remind me VERY strongly of kirk - when she's lamenting harry left his clarinet behind and not getting to know him, when she decided she couldn't sacrifice an entire people to get one ship home. she's got the kind of compassion kirk did - when she pulled up a stool to listen to the caretaker's troubles, when she held his horrible little corpse, she was genuinely filled with real sadness for what had happened there. (as a side note, speaking of tos, the ship voyager also reminds me of the original enterprise WAY more than the tng enterprise was - especially their little cafeteria.) i was really surprised she had a boyfriend, because i feel like i've heard she gets with chakotay! sorry to her bf, she is gonna cheat on you (and i support women's wrongs), but the worst part is the dog. if they pull some odyssey shit with the dog i'm gonna be so upset. ALSO, i love that she insists on "ma'am" instead of sir (that always bugged me) and even that will only do in a pinch. YOU WILL ADDRESS HER AS CAPTAIN. even when her hair fell down she fixed it on her way down the hallway. she's such a badass. when she says she's gonna get them home I BELIEVE HER. she's got an iron fucking nerve and balls made of titanium.

TOM PARIS: i hate this man so much it's insane. i googled to see whether he died and found out he was played by one of those cadets wesley got in trouble with...girl, he was in prison, why not just make him the same guy?? anyway, he was kind of shitty to both harry and chakotay (oh boy we are already being racist to chakotay) and i cannot believe THIS is the man janeway is gonna have salamander babies with. he's extremely obnoxious all the time (him harassing that betazoid lady...fuck off lol) and i just KNOW people are writing paris/chakotay slash because of their whole deal which makes him more annoying. the "your life is mine now" thing is racist as hell. i'm not prepared to sympathetically see this man's hidden depths bc i know that as a snarky white man he already has half of whatever voyager fandom happens to exist doing that for him already. sadly, we will have to put up with him for all seven seasons. LUCKILY, aside from the racism, half of which came from this guy anyway, he was my only real sour note.

HARRY KIM: love this dude. i like how he managed to talk sense into b'elanna when she was wigging out and despite my wishing he didn't have to be friends with tom paris him going "i can pick my own friends" was a great way to show that he's not afraid to stand up for himself. i wish i wasn't feeling so anti-quark lately bc otherwise his scene in the bar with quark (and why is it always quark doing these surprise cameos!!) would've been pretty funny. i think it was a nice touch that harry, on his first EVER mission, got to be the one to deliver the news about how far from home they were. i absolutely love his whole deal of being completely green and meeting everything head-on anyway, he is so brave. as i said before, the way he is just charging through despite being out of his depth reminds me a little of chekov, if chekov had brain cells. he's very charming. i think he and b'elanna could get it also.

HOLOGRAM DOCTOR: he is so funny, i love him. like, i don't really know how he works? is all of medbay a holodeck? but it's kind of hilarious that he's sentient enough to get annoyed when people are randomly beamed away and when people forget to shut him off (he needs a nap!)

CHAKOTAY: oh i am already feeling how rough this is going to be. that "can't you use some magic to turn into a bird and fly away" and also the "your life is mine now" were rrrracist. (that said, "you're too heavy" was a really good comeback.) can we please be normal. that aside: i really like him. i like how quickly he came to grips with the situation and i like how much he hates tom paris (NOT SEXUAL!!! NO!!!!!! i just agree with him) and i especially like that he has a set of titanium balls to match janeway's like did we SEE that doomsday machine-esque suicide run he almost went on? he cut it even closer than kirk did and kirk cut it that close ON ACCIDENT chakotay was yelling at them not to beam his ass back until his ship was already on fucking fire. also, he's very handsome. ALSO, when tom paris asked him "you'd rather die than let me rescue you?" i had to laugh because quite literally 10 seconds prior out of mine own mouth was "if it was death or tom paris i might let go." i really hope there's more to chakotay than "tom paris's antagonistic buddy" because 1. a fate worse than death 2. this is not humans and vulcans this is real life racism you cannot spock and bones this. STOP THAT.

TUVOK: ALSO VERY HANDSOME. very like. he reminds me of spock so much because he's extremely bitchy but also very dialed down about it. i like that leonard nimoy was like yeah im gonna go stupid crazy and all vulcan will be like this from now on, including my funny little eyebrow thing, in which girlies will still see spock long after i'm dead. like what misha collins tried to do with cas but it actually worked. tuvok strikes that perfect balance of dignified and kind of above everyone else without feeling stuck up or prissy (though his scene where he tries so hard not to look at neelix's junk was great, he was justifiably a little prissy there), and with that undercurrent of wryness that nevertheless doesn't truly betray any emotion - you don't get the same sense of repression/unease with the self from him (at least in the pilot, who knows what will happen later) that you do from spock so it doesn't feel like voyager is copying tos's homework, and it feels nice to get to know another vulcan who's gonna be a main character instead of a one-off. i hope they are more normal about a black vulcan than they have been about chakotay so far bc we have got to get out from under all of that. i am a little worried janeway might kill him. i feel like i see people on reddit criticizing her all the time for killing some dude who i am pretty sure is tuvok and like. can someone tell me if he dies if he dies i will be SO mad

B'ELANNA TORRES: she is stupid hot. i'm a little "lol" when she's like yeah my klingon half is HARD TO CONTROL!!! (super saiyan scream of rage) bc like worf does fine (most of the time...) but i will never turn down a chance to watch a beautiful woman be insane with rage. i like how she calls harry kim "starfleet" derisively and then goes out of her way to give him breaks when he needs them and help him up the stairs when he can't make it. big tsundere energy. also like that she was questioning janeway's decisions. not that i disagree with janeway's decisions necessarily i just like that janeway will have to earn her respect from some people the way any male captain would. equality. also, potentially, girlfights.

NEELIX: i forgot to add him to "the things i know about voyager" post because i had only heard him mentioned a couple of times and got the idea he was just a horrible little gremlin there for comic relief. a rygel, if you will. a quark, if you won't. was pleasantly surprised to like him better than rygel and quark combined, though that's a pretty low bar. not only is he clever enough to outsmart the slavers, he was brave and caring enough to go back and rescue his girl. HE RESPECTS WOMEN. also, his water indulgence was pretty hilarious, as was, again, his scene with tuvok. i feel like those two could do straight man funny guy all day long. a dynamic duo. i hope they wind up having screentime together. i don't mind horrible little gremlins so much when they're charming and when they aren't trying to take holosuite videos of kira.

KES: i feel like kes hasn't done much yet except lecture her people on the dangers of having a cult-like mentality. but i like her! she's sweet and compassionate and pretty brave. she does a lot to humanize neelix, at least! maybe it's just me but i feel like she was barely in this. for now i am trusting that they do more with her later. or, idk, maybe they don't. we DO have janeway AND b'elanna AND seven eventually so i can't be too mad about it as long as they're not turning her into a holodeck sex toy like poor deanna

other things of note:

BANJOS? i counted three different southern accents in this section. it would have been offensive if it wasn't so funny. the people holding hands and jumping around in a circle like animated robin hood characters was a great touch. so was the corn on the cob. the emotional whiplash from an otherwise very serious episode was. certainly something.

the empty barn reminded me of this side of paradise <3 i love, in general, how voyager just FEELS a little bit like tos. certainly more than tng did, even more than ds9 does. like this FEELS like it's set in the same universe, it kind of bridges a mental gap between ds9/tng and tos for me, worldbuilding wise.

water thing reminded me of mad max. really good.

slaver aliens.......are these guys really our antagonists?? i thought our antagonists were the borg but maybe we don't do that until seven gets here. i feel like possibly a bunch of semi-primitive people in the desert who enslaved and beat (potentially raped, depending on how you want to interpret that dialogue) a pretty blonde girl is maybe um. not the best idea. maybe they'll get written down into side villains and eventually just guys. like the ferengi. siiigh, the ferengi.

that said, i kind of loved the story of the caretaker and the ocampa, enough that i almost forgot the caretaker was choosing to appear as a banjo-playing hillbilly. i like to think him and his wife were from andromeda like those guys from tos...and it's very nuanced that even after he fucked their planet forever he still didn't really learn to value life because he's kidnapping people and letting them die or stay stranded in order to attempt to procreate. NONETHELESS he is filled with remorse, and janeway's scene with him, comforting him that children could learn to grow on their own, was really sweet. i also like that when he died his little horrible goop body shrank down until it looked like a hunk of dried snot. do not take that to the ocampa.

i just like the PREMISE of voyager. a 75-year journey that they have to cut down by any means possible...it's like the odyssey, but it space. in tos and tng they wandered from place to place but always over the same stomping grounds in general. we have the same old players, like klingons and romulans and vulcans and andorians etc etc. in ds9 we stay in one single place and it's to our benefit because we get deep character work. but voyager is going in a straight line back to earth, and we've never been out here before, so whether or not it lives up to the potential right now it feels like anything truly could happen. we don't be running into the neutral zone and we can't call the klingons for help or stop by quark's for another cameo. we are just out here. it's VERY neat.

major concerns so far include of course tom paris and potentially him being handcuffed to chakotay as banter buddies. racism in general but also with chakotay in particular. and perhaps a lack of interesting points re: kes. rip girl.

stuff i'm looking forward to is janeway getting to be a person instead of A Woman, seven eventually, getting to know chakotay and tuvok better, and the salamander episode, someday.

okay. this concludes my voyager pilot write-up. TONIGHT: "parallax" and "time and again."

[captain-mj]

I love the Alex/Gaz stuff, anyway could get a short and angsty hurt/comfort where someone has Gaz to get to the 141 (this is when no one know where tf Alex even is but him and Gaz r already together) and like somehow he hears about it and just goes full protective/vengeful boyfriend to get Gaz back?

Maybe some hurt Gaz at the end and guilty Alex? Ofc happy ending plz ?

Smut or no smut whatevr is fine with me your writing is so good :)) <3

Love hurt/comfort! I never have an excuse to write it so thank you so much for the ask!

Also, this is a loose version Alex’s perspective to this post by my wife. 

~~~~

Alex heard about it from the strangest of places. He was sitting in on someone being tortured, waiting to see if they gave them any information on his mission.

The person turned towards him and sneered. "Surprised you're not asking about him."

"Who?" Alex tilted his head. "Makarov?"

"Oh, you don't know?"

"Know what?" Alex knew the man was baiting him, but maybe he'd slip something more important in.

"Your little boyfriend. The posh british one. I know his team is looking for him. Surprised you aren't." He sounded so unbearably smug.

Alex heard a harsh ringing sound before he stood up. "I need to make a call."

He contacted Laswell with his radio. The mission required radio silence, so she was surprised to hear from him.

"Everything okay?"

"Where is Gaz."

"I'm assuming with Price. Why?"

"I have someone in the other room claiming he's missing. Call Price now." Alex sat next to his radio and waited. And waited. Before her voice came back on.

"I'm so sorry Alex. They’ve been looking for him but I wasn't told an-"

"Kate. You understand. Send someone else to finish this up."

"Good luck, Alex."

"Yes, ma'am."

Two hours. All it took. He beat the guy to a pulp before he finally admitted a location.

He doubted he could really account the next few hours of his life. The plane ride was too long. Talking with Price was too irritating. He wanted to yell at them. Then there was the utterly silent drive because Alex was holding his gun just a little too tightly for anyone to want to joke. Even fighting his way into the building was overshadowed by the sheer anxiety. Revenge was fun and all, but he wanted Gaz first. 

He hadn’t called. Yes, he was on a mission and wasn’t supposed to but that hadn’t stopped them before. He should’ve called Gaz. He would’ve found out sooner. Could’ve helped. 

Then, he found his sweetheart hanging by his hands from the ceiling. He had an iv in and his body swayed just slightly. 

Alex went to check his pulse, but he jerked slightly. “He’s breathing. Thank God.” He heard them having a conversation around him, but he ignored it, getting Gaz down. He cradled him.

“I’ve got you.” Gaz looked so tiny. He barely felt like anything in his arms. 

“I’ve got you.” Rage bubbling in his chest as he looked at them.  "Why didn't you fucking call me earlier?!" He held Gaz, wanting to protect him from everything. 

"God, he's so fucking light. Get out of my way. You fucking idiots. You should’ve gotten us!" Gotten me. He could’ve helped. 

"We thought we could find him." Soap started, unable to look at Gaz.

"Clearly fucking not!"

"Stop fucking yelling at us! This isn't helping the situation!" Price snapped. Alex wanted to keep screaming. Wanted to yell and fight and go back and beat the corpses of all the people they had shot to get into the place. 

"Gaz, I've got you. Please hold on." Alex held him close, carrying him. He held him tight, worried he’d bruise him. Once he sat down, he buried his face in Gaz’s neck and held him, not wanting to look at anyone else. All he could feel was Gaz, pressing into him. He smelled like concrete and iron and Alex hated it. 

Logically, he knew he had to let go of him so the medics could help. It didn’t make it easier. Ghost had to pry his hands off of Gaz and hold his wrists.

“He’s a tough kid. He’s going to be fine.”

“No thanks to you.” Alex spat at him.

Ghost stared at him and just shook his head. He kept the hold on him though, not wanting him to interrupt the medics. 

“Why him?”

“I don’t know. I guess he’d hurt us the most.” Ghost answered honestly. 

Alex wouldn’t cry. Refused. Gaz needed him to be tough for both of them. 

The medics gave him the okay and Ghost let go of him. He grabbed Gaz’s hand and set his head on the hospital bed. 

He heard the click of the door, indicating Ghost had left, but he didn’t look up. 

“Gaz. Come on, sweetheart. Wake up for me.”

“Come on...” He mumbled. They were pumping him full of fluids. Trying to fight off the dehydration he thought one of them said. 

Alex kissed his hand gently. They looked normal. Like his hands always did. He waited. He didn’t know how long. 

Vaguely, judging by the passage of time, he was pretty sure he fell asleep a few times, though he couldn’t remember doing so. 

Gaz made a weak sound and Alex straightened. “Gaz??”

He whimpered, trying to pull away.

“hey, hey, sweetheart, its me. Just me. Alex.” He gently cupped his face, trying to get him to look at him.

“Hurts.”

“I know. I know. They didn’t want to give you anything in case you’d been drugged.”

Gaz nodded, grimacing and looking up at him. “You came.”

“Of course I did.”

“I didn’t think anyone was looking.” Alex felt like he had been stabbed.

No, this was worse than that. Maybe eviscerated. 

“Gaz. I started looking as soon as I found out. I would’ve scoured the entire earth to find you.” Alex kissed each of his knuckles, looking at him adoringly. “Everyone else was looking too. I just... happened to get lucky.” He decided to stick with that. He could tell Gaz later about them not contacting him. Right now, Gaz needed reassurance more than anything else. 

Gaz looked at him, something scarily blank missing from those eyes. “Promise?”

“I promise.” Alex answered desperately. He wanted Gaz to believe him more than anything. Besides maybe him being okay. Not being in this stupid hospital bed.

He should’ve called. Should’ve messaged Price to ask how Gaz was doing. Should’ve never taken a mission that required him to go radio silent at all. 

He kissed him gently, holding him.

“I love you. I love you so much, Kyle Garrick. I promise I’m never letting you out of my sight again.” Alex did cry this time. Stupid. Gaz didn’t need to be dealing with him right now.

Gaz kissed him lightly. “Just stay for now.” 

“Anything for you.”

[sardonic-the-writer]

how do you think your sonas would fare after being dropped into the hunger games universe? :] just for fun question, no pressure lol

this is all just if they got dropped into the games, even though that'd never happen considering they're all much too old to be reaped. just bear with me. i misread this ask at first and don't want to go back and fix it all

tracker—

winner. easy. with his knowledge of traps, how to set them, make them out of nearly anything, and just plain utilize them, he'd get a bunch of kills in like that. along with his knowledge of every terrain there is out there, he could live off the land fairly long too. tracker is a bad ass, and he's not afraid to slaughter people. he's been doing mercenary work for a few decades, and survived being a trans man in new mexico during the sixties. he can take a little bit of murderous competition. that's practically his day job on the regular

shrimp—

he, along with tracker, are some of my sonas that are more likey to win based on pure skill alone. while trackers win would be thanks to battle knowledge, shrimp would probably pull some katniss evergreen shit and worm his way out of sticky situations. utilizes his smart mouth more than anything else. probably would struggle with actually murdering people. likes to make others turn on each other instead so he doesn't actually have to do the killing: which i should mention he's pretty good at. you don't spend so much time around serial killers and vigilantes without picking up a few tricks

puck—

probably dies a couple nights in. he's just some guy that only got off of drugs a few years ago, bro is not surviving a situation like this. maybe he skirts by for longer than expected by making friends with some strong players, but even in his original universe he's generally a very behind the scenes person, so sponsors and things are few and far inbetween. sorry my guy

cru—

he has no plot armor in this universe, so he would be one of the first ones to die. and not even to another person either. in fact, i see him dying after immediately being found by a career pack or something, only to run into a tree and crack his head open. he can kill, sure, but ironically he probably doesn't because he'd be really awkward about it. like uh please hold still iim trying to. ah nevermind. there you go.

quinn—

he literally almost wins, or just flat out does. he'd just stay invisible for most of the time, and if there wasn't a tracker in his arm, then the game makers would be entirely powerless to stop him from just fucking off in some tree until it all ends. one of my more battle adept sonas, but i don't think he'd even be involved in the games in the first place considering he's almost a hundred years old. bonus; if he ever met katniss he'd make a comment about how similar she looked to a certain mutant he knew back home

ezra—

if he found a weapon, he'd be fine, man. after spending so long hunting down monsters, he'd fair against humans pretty well. he still probably wouldn't win without at least some effort, just because he still makes plenty of mistakes, but i see him in the top five easily no matter what

[danses-with-dogmeat]

☠️🦖 with “You only care about yourself.” For Benny?????

Dayum, yeah, this is a good one. Benny deserves some shit. I love the guy, but... yeah, he still deserves some angst.

I hope you like it! 😁

And sorry about the cliff hanger, but... I thought it was more fun that way 😈

"W-what?"

"Take care of The Tops for me," He repeated, more slowly this time, "And tell Swank no hard feelings, 'kay?"

Six's face was contorted with confusion, their head shaking mutely as Benny sheathed Maria in it's holster and wiped the dust from his iconic checkered suit jacket.

"Where are you going?"

"Well, sweet cheeks," He adjusted a cuff link as he spoke, "You made it transpicuous as a wedding rock that House is the big man on top at the strip, and that he's got more than a fat cat's share of robot goons to do his dirty, so, I'm turning tail. No other options, really, not when he knows how, ah, fond of him I am."

"But I saved you Benny, I... Even after you left me, after you refused to trust me, after we..." Six bit their lip, a heat rushing to their cheeks involuntarily as the memories of their shared night washed over them.

"Look honey, that wasn't on you." He smiled at them, almost patronizingly, "That night... it lives fond as an old friend in my cranium... and in my 'hey hey', if you know what I mean." He winked at them, an action leaps and bounds more charming than the words leaving his curled lips.

"But it just can't be done. You seen what those tin cans are capable of, and now he's got oodles of the damn things. That's not a game we can win, cherry pie."

"Not if we don't try, but... I just took down half the Legion for you." Six gestured behind them, to the plumes of smoke rising from the rubble of Caesar's tent, their eyes pleading as they tried to keep their voice firm. "It can be done, if we do it together, if you let me--"

"Toots, we're in over our heads on this one. I know you believe in us, and that's a sweet sentimentality, but it ain't ammunition, it ain't enough, baby."

His hand felt like an affront as it grazed over their cheek, the roughness of his knuckles a stark contrast to their smooth cheekbone. Six's own hand moved slowly upwards, an ache traveling from their chest up their left arm as they reached out to grasp his wrist and pull it away.

"It's not enough for you, you mean." They stared ahead, almost blankly, numbly as his words, at the memory of his actions set in and took firm hold of their conscience. "I'm not enough. Nothing is, or ever will be enough for you. You've only ever cared about yourself. All this time, I thought..."

Their hands tightened into fists by their sides, and Benny's eyes flashed down to them, fear shining there for a brief moment as he took a step back.

"You know what?" They continued, still refusing to look directly at him, "It doesn't matter what I thought. About you. About us. Because it doesn't matter to you. Nothing I say or do will change the fact that..."

Their chest pounded, another cruel ache making them flinch, making their teeth grit as they spoke.

"That you're just another asshole who thinks the world owes him something. Even after all the shitty things you've done."

"Baby..." He started, his voice more uncertain than they'd ever heard it, "You can't mean that, I... Let's not end it this way, huh? We had a good run, you an' me."

"Yeah?" Finally, the courier's gaze snapped to him, searing through his false sense of security like an iron brand. "A 'good run?' You tried to kill me, Benny, and I forgave you. I found you, slept with you, and you left me before the sun rose." Benny shrunk away as they stepped closer, feeling caged in, even among the vast bleakness of the Mojave.

"I just saved your fucking life, something you would never do in return, offered to help you take down House, offered to forgive you again for all the bullshit you've put me through, and again you try to leave me. Now you have the fucking gall to say that 'we had it good?' Are you serious?"

He swallowed hard as they glared at him, their nose less than a breath away from his as their scowl ruled his vision.

"I could kill you now." They whispered lowly, their tone frigid as cutting winter winds, icy enough to send a chill down the chairman's spine. "Return the favor, you know."

His eyes darted briefly to the prominent scar above their brow, and Maria's holster felt like solid lead upon his hip.

"Y-you don't mean that, Six." He tried, his voice shaking, "All this trouble you gone to, just to scatter me to dust. What was all this worth, then, huh?"

"Nothing." Six's furrowed glare was unyielding. "It was worth nothing at all."

[msookyspooky]

@bitchyhorror

Hooker Clan is Forced to Share a Bed

(Shenanigans ensue + Caleb's Dad Never Found Him and This One Shot is close to the Movies Timeline. No word count. Not Proofread.)

They all waited around outside the run down motel, anxiously eyeing the sky.

"What's takin' Jesse so long?" Diamondback mumbled under her breath as she sat on a nearby trashbin.

Severen leaned against the wall, cigarette hanging out of his mouth as Homer bummed one off of him. He glared at Caleb as Severen lit it for him. "We wouldn't be so rushed if it wasn't for him."

Caleb sat on the curb next to Mae, turning to speak to them with a huff. "I didn't mean to, Homer." As Mae protectively wrapped an arm around his back.

Severen pocketed his lighter and threw his cigarette on the ground; grinding it with his bootheel. "I didn't mean to! I didn't mean to be such a pussy. I didn't mean to almost get us arrested so close to sunrise. I DiDn'T mEaN To!" Severen mocked in a whiny voice before pointing at him with narrowed eyes. "Because of yer damn hesitatin' bullshit; we had to forfeit our fuckin' wheels and probably have a man hunt on our heads ALL a half an hour before sunrise."

Caleb scoffed. "That happened hours ago!"

Severen acted like he was going to go over and DB grabbed his jacket sleeve and yanked him back. "Don't you fuckin' sass me, boy! We had to WALK all these hours too, now didn't we?!"

"I think my shoes have a hole in them now from walkin' MILES tonight. All because he's too much of a wuss to make kills!" Homer grumbled.

"I'm sorry, alright?! I didn't think I had the right time to kill em! I didn't want to get us caught!"

Severen released an outraged, sarcastic laugh as Homer practically growled at Caleb for the comment.

DB shook her head. "Well now, isn't that ironic? It's always the right time. You make the kill and you make it fast. Because you hesitated tonight; someone called the law on us quicker than we could spit."

"Guys, just leave him alone." Mae mumbled, holding onto him as she spoke. "He's killed before he's just learning! We got our stuff, we got away. That's what's important."

"What's important is the sun comin' up!" Homer spat.

"Well, how about instead of fear mongerin' ya'll relax? Stressing out and pointing fingers ain't gonna make the sun come up any slower." She rubbed Caleb's arm. "Besides, we've went through worse."

A huff sounded behind her as she stared at Severen. "Twenty bullet holes later and a new bounty on our heads in this State. First time in decades after everyone died out or forgot the last one. Having t' escape out the back of that shithole bar. Camper surrounded by pig wagons." Severen grumbled, spitting on the ground and pushing his hair away from his face. "Had to break in a window just to grab our shit."

Mae rolled her eyes. "I thought you of all people here liked danger, Severen."

"That ain't the problem, Mae." Severen retorted. "Okay, it ain't the fact I had to dodge some fatass cops. It ain't walkin all this way. It ain't even missing some junk I had to leave behind." He walked over and leaned over to glare at Caleb specifically. "It's the fact this walkin' talkin' shitstain keeps being nothin' but dead weight draggin' us all down." He kicked Caleb with his boot as he walked away to pace, eyeing the sky looking a lighter dark blue now.

DB added. "Severen's right, Mae. It ain't what we had to do tonight but why we had to do it...Now, the sun's comin' up and you better hope not a single cop got a good enough look at Severen to track us down. Not while we're at a disadvantage...Again." She gave, a tense expression to Caleb then towards the sky as the slightest light blue color just got lighter on the horizon.

Homer furiously shook his head with a whimper, rushing over to DB as she brushed his hair from his face. Holding him close and shushing him.

Severen suddenly marched over and pluck Caleb from the ground by his jacket. Hissing as he shoved Caleb against a pillar.

"Severen, don't!" Mae begged, standing up and grabbing Severen's arm.

"Should just leave you out in the sun to bake whether we get a room or not! We've gave you chance after chance boy and the only thing you did worth a damn was the van incident over a week ago...I'm thinkin' I need to take my spur back and shove it down yer damn throat!" He barred his teeth as Mae grabbed his arm and yanked it off her boyfriend.

"He's tryin', okay!" Mae exclaimed. "He drank the blood he just fumbled this one kill!"

He turned to grab Caleb again before Jesse's voice ran out to them. "Enough of that, Severen. Don't get too riled up and lose the time."

Everyone looked to see Jesse near the door with a displeased expression on his face. DB hopped off the trash bin and led Homer with her. Severen dropped Caleb on the ground like a sack of potatoes as Caleb groaned and jerked his jacket back in place, Mae instantly rushing to help him up.

"Took you long enough, Jess." Severen griped as he walked to the door.

"Yeah well...It's gonna be a long day. I'd rather not have Mae cryin' through it. As much as it'd be deserved who she's cryin' for." He muttered, eyeing Caleb as the sky behind them turned a light pink.

Homer shoved into the building while Severen hauled their bags and followed. DB stood outside a moment as Jesse opened the door for her. "What's the matter?" She asked.

He sighed. "Damn motels are gettin harder to get. Ran out of rooms so...We had to compromise."

"Compromise?" He just put a hand on her shoulder and led her in before calling out to Caleb and Mae.

"If you don't wanna burst into flames; I'd say you got 5 minutes or less to get yer asses in here."

Caleb frowned but nodded as he and Mae walked their way to the door. Jesse gave Caleb a glare as he walked in behind them and Caleb just kept his head down.

They made it to the room and Severen sat all their stuff down with a perplexed look. Homer was already in the bathroom and yelling about something when everyone else walked in.

"...Jess?"

"Yeah, Severen?"

Severen rubbed the back of his neck with a disbelieving smirk. Clearly close to losing his shit after tonight. "Uh, there's one bed. Why the fuck is there one damn bed?? And no chairs? Where the Hell is the furniture???"

"THERE'S NO TUB!!" Homer yelled from the bathroom before rushing out, demanding an explanation. "There's no tub just a floor and a drain! Why, Old Man?!"

"Compromise." Jesse sighed out. "Only room left was half the price. It's being renovated into a honeymoon suite with only one King. They haven't installed the big tub yet."

"Oh well, half price!" Severen sarcastically laughed out as he sat on it, slumping as the hours passing by instantly started zaping their energy.

Mae's eyes darted to everyone. "W-Well. We're tired, we gotta sleep."

DB gave Severen a raised brow and Severen groaned and flopped on the end of the bed.

Caleb huffed as he got closer. "We gotta share a bed?...All of us?"

Severen kicked him away. "You can sleep on the floor like a dog for all the shit you put us through tonight."

Mae held onto Caleb's arm and glared at Severen. "Then we'll sleep on the floor together."

"Of course you will...Move over." Homer griped before making a running leap and flopping next to Severen laying horizontal on the bed.

Caleb looked at them with a frown as Mae led him to sleep on the ground with her near the bed. Using one of the bags as a pillow and Caleb's Jacket as a blanket.

DB and Jesse took the head of the bed, Jesse at the headboard and DB in-between him and Homer. Everyone tried settling in as the sun was probably visible in the sky by now if anyone had checked.

Time passed before Homer shoved at Severen. "Move your arm off my space, Clydesdale!"

Severen jerked, elbowing Homer in the side. "Aw sorry there, lil buddy. I thought pocket sized meant you didn't need all that space?"

Homer jerked up and aggressively fluffed his pillow before he tossed himself back down to face DB instead.

DB got comfortable next to Jesse but Jesse moved his arm and accidentally hit Homer right in the face with the back of his hand. Homer shoved it away.

Just when everything seemed fine about an hour passed and all hell broke lose waking everyone up when Homer smacked Severen right on the forehead. Severen's snoring was cut off as he jerked awake and sat up to glare daggers at Homer.

"Wha...Hey! Why the fuck did ya do that for, ya lil boner?!"

"You're BREATHING your hot ass breath in my face while snoring like a timber saw! I can't sleep!"

"Hommeerrrr." Jesse growled out in a warning, half asleep and groggy.

Severen didn't even hesitate to rip the pillow out from under Homer's head. "Maybe I'd snore less if I was elevated; why are you the one with a pillow, Precious?" He mocked with a sneer.

Severen laid down with it, fluffing it and reclining with a smirk. "Now THAT is better."

Homer's eye twitched before he grabbed that pillow out from under Severen's head and tried shoving it across his face. Holding it down with his weight and superhuman strength as Severen's body tensed up and he tried reaching for Homer's neck.

"Stop it, stop it, stop it." DB scolded, grabbing Homer by the shoulder and jerking him off before shoving Severen back down when he went to retaliate. "Now, we're all gonna sleep. Alright?"

Homer and Severen glared at each other as they laid back down but Homer yanked his pillow back from Severen and slept the opposite way; his legs near Severen's head and his head near Severen's legs.

It wasn't long before Homer shoved at Severen's legs in irritation and Severen kneed him in the head as the bed rocked and they both shoved each other away.

Jesse shot up. "Severen! If you don't stop yer goddamn shit-"

Severen sat up and motioned to Homer. "It ain't me! Jess, yer not plum up against Homer while trying not to fall off the end of the bed!"

"....Oh for godsakes- FINE. Me and Diamondback will take the middle of the bed and Homer takes the end."

Homer scoffed loudly. "Why do I get the end?!"

Jesse gave Homer a tired glare and Homer relented. Grumbling the entire time as Severen got up and he slid into Severen's spot. Everyone moved down as Severen got the headboard.

"What's all that racket?" Mae tiredly asked from the floor as DB answered. "Nothin'. Everyone go back to sleep."

Time went on of everyone laying there, trying to get comfortable. It seemed like they finally found something that worked until a huge thud was sounded throughout the room followed by curses.

"What in the goddamn hell?-" Jesse grumbled as everyone got woken up by Homer cursing.

Homer shot up from the floor with a loud, irritated groan. "This is stupid!"

"No ones fault but yer own, Homer." Severen mumbled with his eyes still closed. "As usual."

Caleb and Mae woke up to see Homer march over to Severen and try to shove him off. "Move! I'm not sleeping on the end!"

"Well I'm not either, kid!"

"ENOUGH!" Jesse yelled, slamming his first on the bed as he got up to stand. "Since you two wanna act like a bunch of ingrates; I'll take the end with Severen. Diamondback will sleep vertical with Homer at the headboard. Got it?!"

Caleb watched something snap in Homer as he grabbed Severen to hit him as Severen tossed him off onto the floor. "I told you never call me that!"

Everyone silently glared at each other but relented, Severen being the first to roll his eyes with a sigh and get up. Everyone got into their position, Homer going to sleep above Jesse as he and DB dangled their shorter legs to either side of the bed while Jesse and Severen laid horizontally across the bottom opposite each other.

It was a restless day as everyone seemed to wake up early, groaning and uncomfortable. Homer woke up half off the bed, Jesse woke up with Homer's leg over his chest and Severen woke up with DB knees on his shoulder and DB half off the bed herself.

Jesse gave a tired look and shoved Homer's legs off while DB stretched and got off Severen. "Sorry." She mouthed to Severen as he sighed and sat up, rubbing his eye with a groan. "Don't matter none. I think we all slept like shit...Still beats being woken up by the feds at yer door."

Homer groaned with a stretch and nodded.

They all sat up to see Caleb and Mae already up and chipper. Mae smiled at Caleb. "Who knew the floor could be so comfortable?"

Caleb laughed and kissed her forehead. "Better with you."

All while everyone gave them tired glares.

[sassenashsworld]

This shit guides us

Nora and I have been ambushed for several hours and if I can say without any hesitation if everything is going well on my side, it is obvious then on her side, something is wrong.

In fact, seeing her huffing like an ox, clenching her knuckles and jaws every split second, I'm sure if I blink, she'll jump at someone's throat, rip their stomach open and while 'one wonders how much color a human face can take before having that of death, she will be finishing strangling it with its own intestines just.

I should have asked what we were working on, absolutely.

But here we are, under a cold drizzle at the end of the evening, with a wind to wonder if the climate would not finally come back to hang around in this month of January. We are silently suspended between heaven and earth under a billboard at listen to the chattering teeth of my partner while observing an alley below without really knowing what to expect.

Ok, she knows, I don't.

And it's a bit frustrating.

For less than that, I should have already found. I'm a detective, right? Well here, with it, I dry.

Seeing her stare unblinkingly at a rusty iron door for a full rotation of the dial, she seemed rather calm. Quite badly too calm.

Oh shit.

Yeah, I confirm now that story stank. I should have seen it coming.

"It's to skip a cargo of shit we're waiting for, right? Are you planning a little party in Goodneighbor?"

"Man of little faith."

"Synth."

"For chems shipments, I ask Handcock. When it's good cam, I ask MacCready. Why would I take the living room pain in the ass who frowns every time I get a little pleasure? "

"Oh please! I don't want to know what's going on between your legs."

"Oh please!" she imitates me sardonically "you know perfectly well what passes between my legs, you perch on the workshop to be sure not to miss anything."

To breathe. Breathing is the key. Completely unnecessary to live, but important enough to let her live.

"It's a nice place to relax. Not my fault if anything going on in your stake causes uproar."

"You're still quite a pervert, when you think about it."

"I must, to keep hanging out with you” I smirk. Then continue “At least you know the institute didn't build me with..."

"Breeding protocol? Yeah, you repeat it enough times for me to know it pisses you off."

A breath. Two breaths. Three breaths.

"Okay, I'm off the hook. Sorry Nick. I'm the one pissed off."

"Great, we're making progress. Can I knock you down a bit with this iron bar while you explain?"

"We don't touch the bar."

"She really wasn't tall, admit it."

"It was a low blow, yes, I admit it. Now you shut up?"

I can continue to make her angry a little for what she has just dared to insinuate, can't I? I detail her a bit. Yeah, bloodshot eyes, dry mouth, white knuckles. She's on the sideboard. I let go.

"Good mother hen, give the beak."

"These motherfucker’s trying to bring the kids down."

And nothing. What motherfucker, what kids, down why? I can wipe myself.

"Nora, we've discussed this often."

"No service."

"Silver! Could you have some decency tonight? Tell me what...”

She leaps to the ground.

“Well no..."

A fellow has opened the door. After having cleanly impressed on his face the lines of the composite material of the butt of her .308, she prevents the door from closing by putting a foot in it. The guy's foot, of course. For now, it's still attached to the guy's leg, so I drop to the ground in my turn to join her.

"We have a doorman."

"He shouldn't end up as a door stopper."

"Why not?"

"Because...”

I don’t have time to explain.

“You just shot him..."

I hate but really, I HATE when she cuts me off in the middle of a sentence to plant a leak in the forehead of a suspect. What am I cooking now? Her? Pffft. I have better luck with the corpse.

"It’s open."

"Like his skull."

"Follow me. In silence."

Hmm. Sure. As silently as the weight of my metal structure can move forward on a metal catwalk. Metal mass and metal floor, isn't it the pre-war kids' thing to get on their mums' nerves? Well mum here has an easy nerve because in three steps, she swings me against a wall.

"You're done, yes?"

"I didn't ride on tissue paper axles."

"Get down!"

She points to the factory floor, low below. The ground ten meters below. With no stairs around. I raise a wary look but to her look, if I don't find a solution, she'll just throw me into the void.

"Yeah, no worries, I'll do it that way."

I let her get lost in the dark before I dare to move. We're not in Corvega here, there's no access. How do I do my account? Wait, we're not in Corvega. I didn't think to question what kind of factory we were in.

We are in an old neighborhood which Nora, will know how, seems to know out better than her pocket. For my part, I haven't often had to hang out in the area especially under the yoke of looters, very few innocent passersby coming there unless they are looking for a good cam. Well, I admit they are not so innocent then. Anyway, I was never sent to work in the place.

I slowly slide my feet on the floor. It will be ok. I'm glad no one's here to see me, but it'll do. So, I move even more slowly than if I was trying to be discreet towards what seems to be a service staircase. It's almost won. I hit the ground to find it in dirt. Who puts a dirt floor in a factory? Don’t have time to question because I heard a shout.

"What the... SHIT, IT'S HER!"

Ah, I got screwed with her story again. She didn't want discretion, she just wanted to have a lot of fun before I arrived as reinforcements. Precisely, I join her in a production room where she is already happily using her weapon of choice. Between two shots, I hear voices screaming in pain.

They scream in pain...

How does a split skull scream in pain?

She throws one of those assholes in my face while I aim for a thug who is desperately trying to get away. A bullet in the back stops him in his tracks but my weapon suddenly finds himself below the guy who has just fallen into my arms.

"Make it spit the piece."

"I should already know what piece we're looking for."

The guy keeps screaming louder as he agonizes us pretty names of long-gone flowers when I drop everything in front of me.

"I want to know where the last shipment went."

I crouch down in front of the still intact face of the man.

"Did you hear the lady? Balance, otherwise, I'll turn my back and let her do what she wants."

"DIAMOND CITY!!! RIFF SEND THE CAM TO DIAMOND CITY!"

"Madam is served."

She lodges a 10mm bullet in the raider's head. Thus. Rarely passed an interrogation so expeditiously.

"Otherwise, you can keep quiet, we have a court-appointed lawyer on your right to help you” I say to the corpse then turn my attention to my partner. “Can the lawyer drop her gun and explain to me?"

She lodges a bullet in the head of everything that still scream in the place.

"Why didn't you start with that?"

"If he hadn't spoken, there had to be another one."

"So now we're in private, either you tell me what's going on, or I'm going back to my office."

"He said Diamond City, right?"

"If I answer, are you going to give me two keys in return?"

"Nat..."

She spins without (of course) answering me where we came from.

Can you legally kill your partner and hope not to suffer the judgment of ... the whole Commonwealth? Unfortunately, I know the answer. Therefore, I'm on the train and not let myself left behind. Nora is heading straight for... Goodneighbor.

"Here, you've decided to change your partner. It's okay, I can go straight home, no need to drag myself to Handcock to put under my nose without a shadow of a doubt he's better than me."

She rolls her eyes and stops.

"They produced a new drug, the Happy Holiday, or double H."

She throws a small object and in the dark, I think it can be called a miracle I manage to catch it. I lift what I'm holding between my fingers in front of my eyes, appreciating the LEDs can provide minimal radiance.

"Is it a duck?"

"A pretty little yellow duck. The few children the Commonwealth has within its shattered walls will soon be fully exposed to this new candy which will guarantee raiders the only customer base they haven't yet reach."

"The childrens..."

"So."

"How did you know?"

Of course, why answer me when she can look at me like if I'm a moron. I growl in annoyance.

"I may have fallen asleep in some ruins yesterday, not far from the warehouse we just blew up. I didn't know what I'd come across, that's why I went to get you. But I was able to learn three things. One, they were producing the DH in this lab we just cleaned. Two, they were planning to spread it into homes through the childs. Three, whoever has to approach them is waiting for a delivery for tonight at the Third Rail."

"Handcock knows?"

"Not yet. Do you think you wouldn't have been the first to know about it?"

I rub my chin thinking.

"Chems, Handcock. Even I can understand."

"Justice, Valentine. We're not talking about chems here... Well, yes, we're talking about chems. But no. Here, we're talking about childs who will find themselves on the front lines of a vicious business."

She's not denying if it was just about chems, I could jerk off.

"Besides, I really like Handcock, he's a good guy, but sometimes he's easily taken in."

"Especially if it's about chem."

"Especially if it's about... chem."

It seems hers has just let it go because she’s catching herself on a wall to control a stun that seems badass. I take her jaw between the fingers of my good hand and carefully scrutinize her pupils.

"What did you take?"

"None of your business, dad."

"It's not buffout."

"Well done, detective. Are you letting me go?"

She just might make me quit... oh shit! I catch her just in time as she dives, also skillfully preventing Silver from falling into a butt puddle. I imagine if I had to choose between her face and her gun, she would want me to save the gun. I lean her against the brick wall behind us and pat her cheeks a little.

"Hey, doll, is anyone home?"

Honestly, I'm amazed I didn't bring her back already. Yet she said she was taking a nap when she heard... ah! We don't hear when we sleep. So, in her coded language, I must consider when she says nap, she means stoned.

Note.

"Nora!"

Nothing.

I rummage through her bag and find a few interesting things that would help me get her back on her feet. But while she's playing Sleeping Beauty, I'm doing what I know best; investigate.

She has three bottles of buffout. The first has a rather common label. I check the content. Buffout. Ok. A good twenty. Here, I'll have to take her for a check-up with a cardiologist. I open the second bottle who has been slightly paint in green. Now, they have a different smell. The little pills rolling around in my hands ARE NOT buffout. No need to open the third yellow painted one to understand Nora likes variety.

Precisely, the damsel shakes herself, a little bewildered.

I put my metal hand on her shoulder, I admit pushing the tips of my fingers a little under her collarbone, to make sure she doesn't move. I show her the pretty wonders which are in the hollow of my other palm.

"You piss me off."

"I return the compliment. Can you explain to me?"

"And chemistry."

"And what?"

"Law, biology, science and chemistry. Chemistry comes pretty much all along with science. It doesn't take a genius to concoct new recipes."

"Tell the one who can't cook a steak."

"OF DOG!"

"Whatever. For all I know, you could burn water. As far as burning your brains, you seem on the right track too."

She growls and tries to get up but then, my vicious little appendages sink into her skin through the Kevlar. She sits down immediately. Who said I didn't have the knack with her? Well, let's be honest, I'm sure it's just because she considered keeping me alive was more valuable than a little twist on her pride.

"Nonetheless, you said to yourself; there are already plenty of things that freeze me, why didn’t accelerate my decadence?"

"I thought to myself, these things are already going to kill me, as much as they're worth it."

You also find, huh, she is hopeless.

"And just give up on that stuff, have you thought about that?"

“Ah! But of course, Nick. Don't tell you what the lawyer weighs up against super-mutants. It's my fault if I'm taken for a kind of superhuman capable of doing everything?”

"Social pressure. Typical."

I throw the bottle as far as my mechanical arm can. And it is far. Nora's gaze follows the flight of her precious treasures then immediately descends on the second pot I take in my hand.

"No, do not do that."

I swing it the same.

"Not to do what?"

I often stop her from drinking, and she hasn't killed me for it yet. I'm counting on my luck, so she won't kill me for...

"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Alcohol, ok, drugs, don't touch.

A real fury (which by the way doesn't care about stabbing herself with my hand so I retract for its own good) falls on me with all claws out. I manage without difficulty to shift and take both wrists in one hand, making her eat the dust. Or stagnant water. Radioactive stagnant water. Sorry Nora. Basically, I believe it's for your own good. She continues to belch and spit (for that, we understand) while I take my handcuffs out of my trench pocket.

"You will thank me one day. Or you will hunt me down mercilessly. But you will be alive to do it."

I put handcuffs on her wrist as she rears up like a wild horse which is gently leaded to the slaughterhouse.

Once the subject is more or less done (I drag her by the wrists in the streets of Boston without mercy for her rear end), I join our objective; Goodneighbor.

It would seem even in this asylum of all what is not liked in the corner, a human who struggles like a devil in holy water screaming like a possessed dragged by a synth attracts a little attention. Then I have the mayor in sight before I have taken ten steps.

"What is it this time? She doesn't seem droopy, at least."

"She's going to be soon. I don't even know where she gets the energy to resist me."

The ghoul chuckles a little as I drop my make-up on her feet. The burden leaps up (despite its restraints) and spits in my face.

"NICK VALENTINE! I SWEAR I'LL GET YOUR SKIN!"

"You'll have yours beforehand if we don't wean you. Handcock, clean her up. I have a little investigation to do in the area. I'll be back tomorrow to check in on you."

"Can't I come with you, instead? What you're asking me, I don't think even a Deathclaw could do."

"Nora. Weaned."

He rolls his eyes and rummages through his frock to find a squirt tube he puts on immediately.

"Well, mate!"

Weaned Nora by consuming Jet... am I right to entrust him? Not really other choices. He grabs Nora by the handcuffs and drags her to his old building. While he leaves to have fun, I sink into the alleys of Goodneighbor.

If I want to stand in front of Nora again AND stay alive, I'll have to find the juiciest bit of this story.

[snaggletoothedbastard]

rating insults my best friend has given me

because this was fun last time

you look like a five-year-old gremlin

in response to me telling him he looks like a 35-year-old man

i was not being serious, he looks more like he's in his mid twenties

but still, it was not much of an insult from me and then he comes out with this shit

i'm more offended by the idea that i look five years old than the idea that i look like a gremlin

i already know i look like a gremlin

6/10, it's probably the most creative height joke i've ever heard but not the most creative insult i've heard from this guy, i know he can do better

you walk like a drunk ape

now this is not one i've heard before

very true

the full sentence was "for someone who walks like a drunk ape you've got surprisingly good balance when you're kicking my punchbag"

so it's actually part of a compliment?

7/10, still not the most impressive but i like it

your arm is the size of an anorexic snake

in response to me showing him my bicep and asking how it looked

i then instantly pretended to punch him

he's not wrong though

he proceeded to flex his muscles and ask me how they looked so i said "like a fat snake"

4/10, it was amusing but the image of an anorexic snake makes me sad. i'm just imagining a literal noodle with a face

it really completes the tiny tim look

in response to me showing him my first cane like ten minutes after i bought it (i say first because last week i got a new one! and it's adjustable so i can make it exactly the right size!)

i was literally the james acaster meme (see one of my previous posts)

i was wearing a newsboy cap at the time which didn't help

i do happen to look like a sickly victorian child so i get it

9/10, probably the most creative out of these

i refuse to believe that you could win a game of pool without cheating

sir?? sir??? excuse me???

he once "won" a pool game against me by cheating

and by cheating i mean he got up on the table and used the cue like a fucking golf club

he was drunk

last week i actually won a pool game without cheating

and when i told him he said this

2/10, outrageous

and now...

rating compliments my best friend has given me

or just generally nice things he's said to me because i don't want the conclusion of this post to be that he's an asshole

you've got the voice of an angel

in response to me singing in front of him for the first time

a month or so later he told my crush that i had "an insane singing voice"

shoutout to him for being the best wingman

8/10, it's a little cheesy but i like it

numerous variations of "don't be sorry for being ill, we all love you anyway and we're happy to take care of you"

has been said several times throughout the summer because i got sick with vitamin d deficiency and have been getting the Symptoms(TM) a lot and feeling bad about it because it makes spending time together difficult

last time he said this to me i'd been drinking apple cider, which i found out the hard way is stronger than pear cider, and halfway through him saying this to me i felt extremely sick. kind of ironic

also i said it to him a few weeks ago because we'd planned to hang out at my house the morning after a night out but he messaged me saying he'd accidentally eaten gluten and was having a reaction so he had to go home, and he said he felt like a dick so i basically gave him the same advice he always gives me

9/10, wonderful advice and a good reminder, it's just a shame he had to say it so much

you're so sweet :)

nice and simple

he always says it after i give him anything that vaguely resembles advice

10/10, no notes, perfection

this poem's only mediocre because you wrote it, if it had been written by anyone else it would be amazing

now this one confused me for a second because it doesn't sound like a compliment

i'd just shown him a poem i'd written which wasn't bad but it wasn't as good as my other poems

basically he meant the poem was only mediocre by my standards because my poetry is good

but by anyone else's standards it would be really good

7/10 because it was confusing but once i understood it was very sweet

i didn't think anyone could love me until i met you

i can't

i can't handle this

so lovely but so sad, mate are you okay??

every time i feel insecure i remember that he said this and i just

10/10 i have no words

and bonus

apparently after i left a party early he drunkenly asked me if i was ok. twice. and had to be reminded by the others that i wasn't there.

in between bouts of violently throwing up <3

and that, my friends, is true love

10/10

[kissorkill16]

Regrets: A Hello Neighbor Fanfic

By JJ

Summary: Enzo has time to reflect on his life choices in Mr. Peterson's basement.

Enzo was sitting in front of an iron door. The door was locked with a key code, which was even worse. Because while Enzo did have a key card, it wasn't the right one.

With the key card, he also had 2 coins, and a red key. He was just about to unlock the basement door of Mr. Peterson's house, when the old man grabbed him by the collar and put him in this room.

Now here he was. All alone, leaning against the door, and waiting for the others to finally find the other keys. But not only that, but also reflecting on his life.

He couldn't help but think that Nicky was right.

Aaron was once his friend, but he turned on him after Lucy Yi died on the Rotten Core roller coaster, believing that he was some bad omen. He bad-mouthed him and Mya.

And what's worse is that he didn't even seem to care when they went missing.

In fact, he thought it was probably a good thing that they were gone. That way, he wouldn't have to deal with Aaron's bad luck.

Nicky was another friend of his, and he treated him just as bad. He used his insecurity of not having any friends against him, and abandoned him when he tried to justify himself about all of the missing posters under his bed. Along with Trinity and Maritza.

Just thinking about all of these things brought tears to his eyes. He was such a horrible person, a terrible friend, and he failed both him and Aaron trying to save them both. Enzo wanted nothing more than to get down on his knees and beg both of them for forgiveness.

"Enzo?"

Enzo's head jerked up. He knew that voice. He recognized that voice all too well. His eyes landed on Nicky, whose hair was a hot mess, and his left arm was wrapped in bandages. "Nicky? ...NICKY!", Enzo got up, ran to Nicky and wrapped his arms tightly around his shoulders.

"Woah! How long was I gone?", Nicky joked.

Enzo didn't answer, instead, he started crying uncontrollably.

"You were right, Nicky! Mr. Peterson is a monster, and he put me in here! He's probably looking for the others right now!", said Enzo.

"Others? There's more of you guys?"

"Yes.", Enzo pulled away and wiped his tears. "Me, Trinity, Maritza, Ivan, Finch, and Delroy. We came here to save you and Aaron."

Nicky crossed his arms, looking incredulous. "Really? I thought you guys abandoned me. You guys thought I was some kind of monster."

"I WAS ANGRY AT YOU BACK THEN! I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THE EVIDENCE FOUND AGAINST YOU ANYMORE! I JUST WANT TO GET OUT OF HERE!", Enzo screamed. His eyes started to well up again, and he buried his crying face into Nicky's shoulder.

"I'm so sorry! I was a terrible friend to you and Aaron! I wish I could take it all back! I'll do anything to make you forgive me, Nicky!"

Nicky grabbed Enzo's face, and looked at him straight in the eye. "Listen to me, Enzo. I'm well aware that you weren't a very good friend, but all of that's in the past now. Right now, I just want to get everyone out of here. And you know what else?"

Enzo shook his head.

"You're not a terrible friend if you came all this way just to save a couple of missing kids. None of you are.", said Nicky.

Enzo smiled at that. He was relieved to know that Nicky forgave him, but he wasn't so sure about Aaron.

"Now come on, I'll help you find a way out."

P.S., this picture is very nice. It kinda looks like it was colored with colored pencils. Both pictures.

Secret Neighbor: After you've gotten caught...and all you've got is a Tier 1 key card, a couple coins and an extra key...

[cherrycheridarling]

tic-tac-toe | mcu

marvel cast x actress!reader

warnings: one swear, fluff, no plot

summary: you play aphrodite in the MCU and it's time for the press conference for infinity war. based off of this press conference

wc: 2.7k

"Tom Hiddleston!" Jeff Goldblum introduced the man who was sitting on your right.

Everyone applauded before Jeff moved onto you, "Y/N Y/L/N!" more applause rang through the room.

"Sebastian Stan!" you looked to your left where Sebastian waved to the crowd as you clapped with everyone else.

"Anthony Mackie!"

After Jeff finished with the introductions, he explained how the panel would work. He would pull a ping pong ball out of a container and it would either have a name or category. The audience would be able to ask a question to that person or a person in that category after Jeff called on them.

As he pulled RDJ's name out of the container, Tom leaned over towards you.

"Does your water taste funny, too?" he whispered making you stifle a laugh.

You nodded, "Kind of like lemon, right?"

He shook his head, "Mine tastes like mint. Can I taste yours?" he held his hand out as you passed him your water bottle. He took a sip and spent a moment analyzing the taste, "Yours does taste like lemon! Why does mine taste different? Here." he passed you his water.

You took a sip and were hit with a strong mint flavour, "Woah. I think they're trying to drug you." you joked making him laugh.

"As I am answering this question, Tom Hiddleston and Y/N Y/L/N are discussing the flavours of the water behind me." Robert exposed you and Tom to the audience making the room burst out into laughter.

"They have fancy water. Mint and lemon." Tom spoke into a mic drawing more laughs. "Sorry. Carry on!"

As Jeff pulled the next name, you adjusted your dress. A white, long sleeve, blazer dress with gold buttons down the middle, the dress ended mid-thigh. The v-neck cut showcased your subtle gold necklace. Black stiletto heels covered your feet.

You unconsciously began bouncing your leg up and down in a fast motion. Sebastian placed a hand on your thigh, stopping your movements, "You're gonna drill a hole through the floor, Y/L/N." he chuckled.

"Sorry." you laughed quietly.

Sebastian pulled out a notepad and pen, "You need a distraction. Tic-tac-toe?" he offered.

You smiled with a nod before making your move.

"You absolutely suck at this." you chuckled as you won the third game in a row.

Sebastian scoffed, "You can't suck at tic-tac-toe."

"And yet, you do." you smirked.

He rolled his eyes playfully before you continued playing.

After two more rounds, your attention was back on Jeff as he pulled a new ping pong ball. "Ooh! You can ask a God or Goddess." Jeff announced, "So, Tom Hiddleston, Chris Hemsworth or Y/N Y/L/N." he reminded the crowd, "Okay, yes, you!" he picked a woman in the front row.

"Hi, I'm Alexis with Forbes. My question is for Y/N." the room applauded as Jeff tossed the ping pong ball at you and you caught it with one hand.

"See, Robert! It's not that hard!" Jeff exclaimed making everyone laugh.

"Screw off, Goldblum! You chucked that shit at my head." Robert joked back. "Sorry, Alexis, go ahead."

"Um, I wanted to ask about Aphrodite's powers. We all know that she is the Goddess of Love and can seduce anyone with her beauty. We see in the trailer a small clip of her seducing men. How many people did you seduce in the film and were there any funny moments filming those scenes that you can share?"

Her question drew a mix of reactions from the cast. Some laughed, some furrowed their eyebrows and others were just confused. You took in the question before opening your mouth to reply, until you remembered that you weren't wearing a body mic. The cast laughed again before Sebastian passed you a mic.

"Sorry. Um, how many people did I seduce in the film? None." you stated drawing more laughs, "How many people did Aphrodite seduce? All of them." you chuckled, "I'm kidding. Although, I'm not sure what I can share because I don't know what's in the trailer." you confessed, "Kevin, Joe, Anthony, what's in the trailer?" you asked them making everyone laugh again.

Kevin picked up a mic, "I believe it's you seducing Spider-Man, Starlord, Drax and Iron Man."

You nodded, "I do have a funny moment that I'm sure Mister Holland will kill me for sharing, but it's too good to not tell." you smiled thinking of the memory.

Tom immediately grabbed a mic, "You wouldn't!" he exclaimed making the audience and cast laugh.

"I would," you retorted, "We were shooting that scene and, as you know, they have to act like they are falling in love with me. Like I'm putting them in a trance. Well, Tom took that a bit too seriously." you paused at the laughter that your sentence caused, "They're all on their knees in front of me, looking at me as if I'm their queen, because I am." you joked, "And then Anthony calls 'cut' and Dave, Chris and RDJ all get up and start chatting, but as I'm turning away, Tom doesn't move. Still on his knees, looking at me as if I hold the world in my hands." the room filled with amused laughs and chuckles as Tom covered his face with his hands.

"No, it was so bad because I just looked like a creep that couldn't stop staring at her!" Tom laughed at himself.

Robert grabbed a mic, "Very true. I was watching and it honestly had me convinced that Y/N had real powers."

"I have to say, I understand the kid's reaction. Y/N's costume for Aphrodite and the way they transform her only enhances how gorgeous she already is." Anthony Mackie spoke up causing the crowd to gush and clap, "I'm pretty sure we all had the same reaction when we first saw her while filming Civil War." he looked around as the cast nodded.

Scarlett picked up a mic, "Yeah. I remember her walking on set in this stunning white dress which made me extremely jealous," she confessed, "Because, one, it's so gorgeous and she looks absolutely amazing in it," the crowd and cast applauded again, "And two, it's made of the softest silk while my suit is leather and spandex!" everyone laughed at her comment.

Benedict picked up his mic, "Although, it wasn't Tom's first time seeing Y/N as Aphrodite. He was in Civil War and still could not contain himself." he teased making the audience and cast laugh again.

Robert spoke again, "Yeah, he did that during the filming of Civil War, too." the room hollered with laughs.

Tom's face was bright red, "I'm just a very committed actor. I really give all of myself to my work." his comment drew more laughs.

"That's why Sebastian despises Tom. It all started when Tom couldn't take his eyes off of Y/N." Chris Hemsworth added making everyone double over in laughter.

"I feel so loved," you held a hand to your heart as the room chuckled, "These are genuinely the best people in the world and I guess you could say I seduced one person during filming." you joked as the crowd continued to laugh, "Sorry, Tom. I'll buy you some juice, don't be mad." Anthony and Benedict laughed loudly. "Thank you for your question!" you thanked the lady as the cast clapped before Jeff picked out the next ping pong ball.

Next was Scarlett. You sat back and silently judged the man who asked about fashion. Scoffing with Sebastian at his question and laughing at Scarlett's sarcastic and witty responses.

Sebastian leaned over again, "I have to piss."

You stifled a laugh at his abrupt confession, "Go to the washroom, then." you nodded your head towards the exit.

"We're not allowed to leave." he frowned.

You chuckled and reached over, patting his thigh with your hand, "Don't piss yourself."

He rolled his eyes playfully before Jeff called out the next name.

"Anthony Mackie!"

"Hi, I'm Tiffany with Times Magazine. With such a star studded cast, do you find it difficult or any obstacles in developing your character with all theses amazing stories being told and struggling for screen time? Like, are there any obstacles or special difficulties or is it all just amazing?"

Before Anthony could answer, Joe Russo picked up his mic, "Are you asking Anthony Mackie if he has a hard time getting attention?" his comment caused the whole room to erupt in laughs.

Anthony nodded slowly as the laughter died down, "Touché, touché. Uh, well, Tiffany, a wise man once said that some men need an hour to make their presence felt and some need thirty seconds." there was an uproar of laughter and hollering at his comment as he dramatically dropped the mic on the table.

"Who are we asking next?" Jeff squinted at the ping pong ball, "Ooh! Back to the Goddess of Love herself, Y/N Y/L/N!" the room applauded for you as Jeff threw the ball to you.

Sebastian intercepted the toss and caught the ball himself with a smug smirk. You rolled your eyes, but smiled as Jeff picked a lady out of the dozens who had raised their hand.

"Hi, I'm Amy with Esquire and I wanted to ask about the relationship between Bucky and Aphrodite. We see in the previous films their awkward tension from their past history. They have a very special romance and their love story is a fan favourite in the Marvel fandom. What was it like building that bond and relationship on screen? And what do you think of the choice to match the two characters together, how did you react when you found out? Did the pairing of the two help build your bond off screen?"

Jeff spoke again, "I said 'one question', that was at least twenty." he teased the lady drawing laughs from the room.

You chuckled and nodded slowly as the laughter died down, "Excellent questions. Umm, I honestly really like the pairing of the two. I think it gives a great dynamic to both characters and reveals sides of them that we never would've seen without their relationship. It's a very 'good girl falling for the bad guy' trope. And if I'm being honest, I've always wanted that." you confessed causing the room to chuckle, "Their relationship is, without a doubt, one of the most complicated ones in the MCU, but I think that's what makes it so loved by the fans since there's not a dull moment between the two. It's nice to see Bucky have a sentimental side, in his own awkward way of course. And you get to see Aphrodite fall for someone who's not a God or a Titan." you turned to Sebastian, "What do you think?"

You offered him the mic, but he didn't take it, letting you hold it up for him, "Yeah, I agree. I never thought Bucky would have a love interest, if I'm being honest. But I'm glad he does because Aphrodite brings out the soft side in him and he brings out the fighter in her. They really balance each other out and Y/N portrays the character in such a unique way, it really brings a whole new fresh persona to Aphrodite and it's amazing having her as a partner on screen." the audience applauded at his words, "When I first found out about Bucky having her as his love interest—"

"—He called me screaming about how hyped he was." Anthony Mackie cut him off making the room laugh. "Anthony! Anthony! Bucky is gonna be with Aphrodite! That's gonna be sick!" Anthony mocked his voice as you were hunched over with laughter.

Sebastian nodded with a smile, "I did. Won't lie, I did. It's a really refreshing relationship and I'm glad that the fans love it as much as I love playing it. Back to you, you haven't talked about the development and our bond." he gave you a lopsided grin.

You chuckled, "I feel like I'm rambling, but yeah. Their development is definitely," you paused, trying to find the right words, "A development?" you settled on drawing more laughter. "Well, as I said, it's very complicated, but awkwardly adorable at times. Since Seb complimented me, I feel obligated to say something nice about him," you joked making them laugh again, "Kidding. He really does play Bucky with such passion and commitment, it's truly inspiring. And working with someone who loves what they do as much as Seb, it definitely motivates you tremendously and yeah. Um, I won't lie, I honestly was dreading working with Seb," you confessed drawing laughs and a gasp from Sebastian.

"Why?!" he exclaimed making you laugh.

You sighed, "Not because I think you're a bad person or anything, but you come off as very intimidating to people who don't know you very well. And I knew nothing about you before filming other than the films you'd already done, so you scared me." your confession caused everyone to laugh loudly.

Sebastian smirked jokingly, "I am extremely frightening. I understand." he shrugged.

You scoffed with a laugh, "I caught you sleeping with a stuffed turtle and whale noises playing." the room roared with laughter again, "That's when I knew you were a big softy."

Sebastian rolled his eyes playfully, "She's joking. I am the toughest man alive." he deepened his voice.

You shook your head with a chuckle, "Sure. Thank you for your questions." the room clapped for you as you set the mic down and relaxed back into your seat.

"Nailed it." Sebastian held a hand out for a high five and you chuckled before hitting your hand against his.

For the rest of the press conference, you sat back and listened to your friends answer questions. Laughed at jokes made and clapped when appropriate. Small tic-tac-toe games went on between you and Sebastian. Your attention was fully on your nails when Tom Hiddleston got called on.

"Hi, I'm Samantha with Daily Mail and I was wondering, since Loki is a very closed off and mysterious character, we never explore the aspect of him having a love interest. So, if you could choose anyone from the MCU for Loki to end up with, who would it be and why?"

You turned to look at Tom as he pondered on the question, crossing his arms and rubbing his chin, "Very good question. Umm, who would I choose for Loki? Let's see," he paused again and looked around the room until his eyes landed on you, "Ah, I'd steal Aphrodite from Bucky." he answered making the room laugh and Sebastian chuckled with a nod.

"Why Aphrodite?" Jeff asked.

Tom chuckled again, "Well, it's Aphrodite." he simply answered drawing more laughs, "They are so different yet similar in so many ways. Loki is never fully evil nor fully good, but I think Aphrodite has the best chance of turning him good. And who wouldn't want to end up with the Goddess of Love?"

The cast nodded understandingly before Chris Pratt grabbed a mic, "If you were to ask any person on this stage that same question, I guarantee the answer would be Aphrodite." the whole cast nodded.

"They're all trying to steal Sebastian's woman." Jeff teased.

Sebastian scoffed jokingly, "They're all jealous." he wrapped an arm around your shoulder.

You chuckled with a shake of your head before Robert spoke up, "Adding onto the conversation. Miss Y/L/N, who would you want Aphrodite to end up with?" his question drew excited reactions from the crowd.

You let out a bark of laughter before looking from Tom to Sebastian, "Hmm, excellent question, Mister Downey." you rubbed your chin, "Stop doing that, Holland." you chuckled as you saw Tom point at himself in the corner of your eye.

He raised his hands in surrender before Anthony Mackie spoke up, "Spidey is five years old, kid." everyone laughed at that.

"I'd have to stick with Bucky. He is her true love." you shrugged as the crowd cheered.

Sebastian smirked from beside you as the men of the cast faked disappointment.

As the panel came to a close, you looked around at the family you were surrounded by. Friends you love more than anything. Hundreds of memories with the most amazing people you'd ever met. Your home.

[rendevousz]

freak

avengers x teen!fem!reader

summary: you get captured during a mission and the team saves you.

warnings: language, violence, brief misogyny, torture, **NO sexual assault (because as i was proofreading, i only implied most of the torture scenes because i didn't want to write it in graphic detail and i realised the vague wordings might be misinterpreted as sexual assault which IT IS NOT, just clearing it up), and also again, my inability to write good endings

word count: 4589

notes: i just rewatched iron man 2 so that explains justin hammer LMAO also ooc justin hammer because even tho mans evil, he gets extremely um.. cruel here but anyways i hope you enjoy this!!

you were 13 when you first met the avengers and 16 when you officially joined. you grew up as one of HYDRA's experimented children and the team had found you when they raided the base that you were in.

a small, sickly-looking kid you were, sat against your cell wall, hugging your knees. 13 but you could probably pass off as a 10 year old due to how malnourished and miserable you were. burying your head in between your knees, you covered your ears as the loud gunshot noises filled the whole place. the metal door of your cell slamming open against the wall had you whimpering, hands above your head in fear.

every time the door slammed open, guards would come drag you out for more experiments so it was an instinct for you to cower in fear at the sound.

"last room in the west hall, i found a little girl."

you heard nothing because you were covering your ears, preparing yourself to be forcefully dragged by the guards to the experiment room. but it never came.

"hey," a soft voice called. you were violently shaking at this point, breathing heavily as you tried to calm down. "hey, it's okay." the voice called out again and you felt them touch your shoulders.

your head immediately jolted up, flinching away from the stranger's touch. your eyes met a blue pair as you backed away into the corner in fear. "i'm sorry! i'm sorry, i didn't mean to." the man apologised. you slowly looked up at him, observing him. he had on a full black outfit, a quiver of arrows slinging on his shoulder and he was holding onto a bow.

"don't be scared. i'm here to help," he states with his hands out, as if to calm you down. "that's what they all say." you hissed through gritted teeth and a tear-stained face, glaring at him even though that could've been a very wrong move had it been with an actual HYDRA guard.

despite the strange feeling of being safe around this man, you didn't let your guard down. that's exactly what those scientists said seven years ago. trusting kind-looking men got you into this hell you never thought you would ever escape from and you weren't going to make the same mistake again.

"clint," a red-headed female, also in all black, entered through the open door of your cell with her pistol up. at the sight of the weapon, you broke your glare towards the man. your breathing quickened and you went back to your original position before the archer came; body pressed up against your knees and covering your ears with your palms.

"i'm sorry! i'm sorry! i'll come! please don't use that on me again," you whimpered, voice muffled as your face was hidden against your knees. the woman freezes mid-walk, looking at her friend with a bewildered expression.

"nat! put that away!" clint whispered harshly, eyes glaring at the pistol in nat's hands. nat's jaw dropped in realisation, a small gasp leaving her lips as she immediately put away her weapon.

she slowly makes her way to you and clint puts his arm out before she could get closer. he looks at her with a worried expression as he shook his head, as if telling her that she can't get too close to you. nat nods understandingly, crouching down a distance from you.

"hey," she spoke softly. "i promise you that we're not here to hurt you." you kept your face hidden from her, still hugging your legs tightly. nat sighs before sitting down.

"here, let's introduce ourselves. i'm nat and this right here is clint." you hear her speak and when you slowly lifted up your head, you saw the both of them sitting down in front of you, seeming to have made themselves at home in your pathetic cell. "what's your name?"

name? you had never been able to use your name before. you always kept your own name deep in your heart despite no one ever using it, afraid you would forget it if you stopped thinking of it. the only name they ever called you here was 'number five'.

"y/n," you whispered, still doubtful about these people's intentions. you almost burst out crying when you said your name out loud. that was the first time you introduced yourself with your actual name and not the number you were given ever since you were captured.

nat must have noticed this because she immediately spoke up, trying to distract you from your consuming thoughts. "y/n...that's a pretty name for a pretty girl like you. how old are you, y/n?" she asks again.

you contemplated once more but decided it was fine. you knew you were probably going to regret trusting these two strangers but what could be worse than what HYDRA has been doing to you for years?

"13," you muttered, looking down at your lap. you were now timidly seated cross-legged, playing with the tattered hem of your shorts. you heard a small gasp from one of them and looked up to see clint with his jaw dropped.

the two adults were both thinking of the same thing. how could you be 13? you were so small and sickly-looking, they didn't even think you were older than ten, let alone an early teen.

"i know you're scared and you have all the reasons in the world to be, but i promise you, we're here to help. we'll get you out of here, only if you trust us. will you trust us?" nat says. your mind was conflicted. you were either going to finally get out of this hellhole or you were going to be taken somewhere even worse than here. but could anywhere really be worse than here?

you decided to take a leap of faith and trust these two strangers. that decision had to have been the best decision you've ever made in your life.

you were now 18, an official avenger and you had the most amazing family you could've ever asked for. they were a bit on the crazier side but could you really have a normal family when said family consisted of superheroes? but you weren't complaining. you loved these people.

they were the ones who took care of you when you thought you had no one. having been a HYDRA experiment, you had abilities the normal human didn't. said ability being shapeshifting and healing. that's why you became an avenger. your shapeshifting ability was essential during missions where you had to sneak in and you being able to heal others was crucial when medic wasn't able to be there on time.

you pretty much came along to every mission despite the adults saying you don't have to. you knew they were only doing that to protect you from dangers of all those missions but how could you not when you had such abilities? they'd be much better with you helping.

that was why you were here, in bulgaria, fighting alongside the team. well, just steve, nat, clint, bucky and tony.

justin hammer had managed to get his hands on a type of out-of-this-planet weapon that tony was also trying to retrieve, and he had big plans with it. hence why the avengers had to come where hammer had wrecked havoc in; sofia, bulgaria. he had upgraded his robots with the tech used for the stolen weapon.

with evil robots attacking the whole city, it felt like you were living the story that wanda told you of what happened in sokovia before you met the avengers.

an hour passed before all of the robots had finally been taken down and you all knew you had to get to hammer before he activates more robots to distract you guys and uses the weapon for bad things.

"tony, have you located hammer?" steve's voice sounded in your ear through the comms. you had just finished healing the nasty gash on clint's side, nat's cut on her forehead and the bruises all over bucky. you were feeling significantly weaker now, from the amount of healing you did. you stumbled slightly when you walked and bucky immediately held onto your arm. "doll, are you okay?"

"i'm fine, buck. nothing i haven't dealt with before," you told him, gently removing his grip on your arm, walking back to the quinjet.

-

"no, absolutely not. we are not sending y/n right into a death trap. she's not even strong enough right now, she just finished healing us."

you were all back at the compound now and planning a second attack on justin hammer.

"it's not a death trap, buck. and i know you're worried but she's the only choice we got. y/n, all you gotta do is sneak in as one of his henchmen and provide entrance for us. once we get in, we'll take all his guards down and get that weapon from hammer and we won't have to worry about his world domination plans anymore. it'll be over as soon as it starts and she'll be back safe with us. sound good, y/n/n?"

"yeah, sure." you agreed, already having a person in mind that you were going to change yourself to.

-

the plan had gone just as steve wanted and they managed to raid justin hammer's building, tony stealing the very item that could've aided in the massacre of millions. justin and his henchmen managed to escape the building before the avengers could catch them.

"well, that was anticlimactic," tony scoffs, already making his way to the quinjet. "but good job, y/n. you saved the day once again."

he expected to hear a laugh from you, like you usually did, being the only one who ever responds to him after missions. but instead he was met with silence. "kid?" still no answer.

"y/n, where are you?" steve panicked, finally realising that you were the only one who hasn't responded in a hot minute. "y/n/n, this isn't funny." he breathed out.

"she's...she's gone."

-

"well, well, well," a voice spoke right as you woke up from your slumber. you squinted, noticing that you were in some sort of dark room with only one light bulb right above you. "what do we have here?"

a figure walks right in the light and you could barely make out justin hammer's ugly face with how dizzy you felt. "if it isn't the little freak." he states condescendingly, smirking down at your helpless position, both wrists and ankles cuffed onto the metal chair you were sat on. you struggled against the restraints, trying to get free but to no avail.

your breathing quickened, your current vulnerable state reminding you of your later years in HYDRA. they had started off experimenting on you on a metal gurney but as you grew older, you realised that what they were doing to you was bad so you started fighting back. that ended you up on a metal restraint chair instead of the gurney, strapped to the chair with cuffs on your wrists and ankles.

this felt like deja vu. the same panic you felt, the same breathing difficulties, the same amount of effort put into trying to get out of the restraints. "you should know, princess, that that doesn't work." hammer chuckled, a fake pout on his lips as he crouched in front of you, a rough hand on your cheek. you instinctively jerked away from his touch, to which he paid no mind to because he had expected that. he then grabbed your chin harshly, turning your head up towards him. you glared at him.

"you think i didn't know what you did? snuck in as one of my men using your freaky powers? not to mention useless. imagine having powers but not being able to use them to even escape from mere humans," he laughs in your face, harshly letting go of your chin, throwing your head backwards. "you tell me where stark planned to bring the weapon and i'll let you pretty little thing go."

"no."

before you could even comprehend, his fist came flying at your face and your head dropped to the side at the impact. your left cheekbone was throbbing and you could already tell you were gonna have a black eye. despite the pain, it wasn't something you weren't used to. you were an avenger, after all. getting decked in the face was practically in the contract.

he grabbed your chin once again, pulling your head upwards to face him. "you're gonna tell me where it is or i'm gonna make you regret it."

you looked up at him with a bored look. he punched you again. and again. and again. until you could taste the blood on your tongue. "think you wanna tell me now, sweetheart?"

"never. not to someone like you."

the man seemed to get a kick out of beating you up because he punched you again in the face. your whole face was pretty much numb now and the metallic taste in your mouth intensified. you smirked at the man before you, chuckling darkly.

"sure, beat up the helpless girl. that's the only way you can beat me, right? when i'm all tied up? what a man,"

his hand was around your throat within a second and he forced you to look him in the eyes again. "sweetheart, you're a girl. tied or not, you're still weak. not even with that useless power of yours."

taking advantage of how close his face was to yours, you gathered as much bloody saliva in your mouth before spitting it in his face.

it was very much the wrong thing to do because after he wiped off his face, he left the room and two men came in, various tools in hand for their fun with you.

-

"stark! my buddy! how's it going?" justin hammer's face appeared on the screen in the conference room, where the avengers were having a meeting about your possible whereabouts.

"where is she?!" wanda growled, standing up abruptly.

"what ever do you mean?" hammer smirked, feigning innocence. "you know what we mean. where is she?" steve spoke authoritatively, trying to control his anger at the sight of the man's face.

"i'll tell you where your thing is if you tell me where my thing is." he smiled wickedly. this caused wanda to get angrier. "y/n is not a thing! and the weapon was never yours in the first place!" vision held onto her to calm her down and it worked because she sat back down, though still glaring at the screen.

"oh she's not a thing? seems like it to me, though." he smirked and the team frowned, not understanding what he meant until they heard screams and justin's smirk widening at the sound. what a sick bastard. "what are you doing to her?!" bucky screamed, knocking his chair back as he stood up.

"i don't know, you tell me." he chuckles, and the screen changes to the live footage of you in the restraint chair with the two men in the room.

you were no longer fighting back now, just sat limply with your head dropped to the side. the first hour with them, you had been fighting back like you did with justin, despite the restraints, but now entering the second hour, you were too exhausted for anything.

your left eye had been swollen shut, you could barely breathe through your nose, your cheeks were throbbing like hell and your bottom lip was busted. your head was the only thing that moved freely when hit so the men seemed to find satisfaction the most when they punched you in the face. though that didn't stop them from inflicting pain on other parts of you.

"let her go, she's just a kid!" sam exclaimed, his grip on the edge of the table tightening to control his anger. peter and wanda were crying looking at the awful state you were in, clint, tony and bruce were silent in shock, steve and bucky were getting increasingly angry as the abuse continued.

"are you going to tell us where stark is keeping the weapon or have you not gotten enough?" one of the two men was heard asking, pulling your hair back to make you look up at him. you look at with your half-opened right eye, breathing heavily. "my answer's never gonna change no matter how many times you ask."

he scoffs, stepping back before the other man swings a bat right at your stomach. the air was immediately knocked out of your lung. the men laughed as you coughed up blood profusely. this caused wanda to get more hysterical.

"well, looks like she wants more. i'll call back when she's had enough. toodles," he waves his fingers at the camera with a sinister smirk before abruptly ending the call.

the room went silent after the call, save for bucky and sam breathing heavily from the anger they felt. bucky then turned to steve, pain could be seen on his face. "you said she would be safe."

"i–i'm sorry, buck. i didn't know he was gonna take her with him." steve was still frozen in shock, the image of you on the chair now permanently ingrained in his brain. in everyone's brains actually.

"guys, gear up, he's in colorado."

all heads turned towards natasha and she looked back at them with a 'what?' expression. "you were tracking him down the whole time?"

"um, duh? now come on, gotta save our girl."

-

you awoke to a stinging sensation on your inner forearm. after your bloody coughing fit, they proceeded to beat you up again and you were knocked out then. now you were slowly regaining consciousness but you were starting to prefer being passed out. your whole body was in pain and the fact that you couldn't even move made it even worse.

"oh, lookie here. sleeping beauty is up." you were met once again with justin hammer's ugly face. he was sitting on a chair perpendicular to your left side. you couldn't wait to get out of here so you didn't have to keep seeing his face every time you woke up. your inner forearm was stinging even more now so you looked down at it. you gasped at the sight.

"how'd you like my artwork?" he chuckled at your reaction. there on your arm, obviously carved out with the bloody knife that the asshole was so proudly holding on to, was 'FREAK'. carved out big and bold. on your skin. "pretty fitting, eh? freak? because, you know, that's what you are."

the blood was seeping out through the cuts and it stung even more now that it had been exposed to the air. the asshole moved his chair to your other side. "what should i write on this arm?" he feigns a thinking expression, looking up thoughtfully with his thumb and pointer finger on his chin.

"please, i–i don't know where tony put it. i really don't." you cried, tears now flowing freely down your face without a shame.

he looks at you with amusement. "what is this? are you...are you giving up already? can't take anymore?" he smirks and you sigh, closing your eyes. you just awoke but you were exhausted. so, so exhausted.

he takes out his phone, the smirk now permanent on his ugly face. "stark! kid's finally had enough. wanna tell me where the weapon is now or do you want to find her body at the bottom of the ocean?"

you couldn't even be bothered to react to his statement. the pain all finally registered and you were tired. tired and in excruciating pain.

"kinda busy right now, can you call back later?" you could hear tony's voice sound from justin's phone and the man beside you laughed. "i see you don't care for the girl. what could possibly be more important than saving her?"

"i don't know, you tell me." a voice said from behind you two and before you knew it, hammer was knocked off the chair he was on. you weakly turned your head just in time to see a metal arm force hammer up onto his feet before wrapping around his neck. "don't you fucking touch her again."

"y/n!" you heard wanda's voice as she entered the room with peter. more tears flowed down your face at the sight of them, stinging when they rolled past the cuts on your face but that didn't matter. your family was finally here to save you.

you saw the red mist of wanda's powers surround your cuffs before they clicked open. "oh, bubs, i'm so sorry." she cried, both hands hovering around your face, hesitating to touch you in fear of hurting you. her eyes fell onto the words carved out onto your skin and her mouth fell open before covering it with her hand. "i'm so sorry we couldn't get to you sooner." peter's voice cracked and you could tell he was emotional.

"it's okay," you told them, giving them a small smile, the biggest one you could give in your current state.

tony, sam and steve entered the room to see bucky relentlessly beating up your captor and wanda and peter standing by you as you cried.

"cupcake, we're here now. don't cry, you're safe now." tony came closer and despite knowing that you were because your family was finally here, you couldn't help but let out all the pent up emotions you've kept throughout your time of captivity.

sam had a go at justin once bucky was done and steve had to physically pry them both off of the sick bastard so that nat could cuff him and bring him back to the jet.

"y/n/n, i'm so sorry. if i hadn't–"

"it's okay, stevie." you cut him off. truthfully, you only did so because you knew he was going to giving a long-winded explanation justifying his actions and your headache couldn't bear to hear lengthy sentences. but you also didn't think it was in any way his fault so he didn't deserve to be beating himself up for this. shit happens, anyway.

"let's get you out of here, doll." bucky says, cringing when he sees the blood on the floor of your chair, as well as on your clothes. he quickly reaches to lift you off the chair but stops when you let out an ear-piercing scream of pain. "doll, i'm so sorry! did i hurt you?!" bucky questions in panic.

"y–you didn't, they did. it...it hurts everywhere," you cried, feeling hopeless that you couldn't even bear being carried by someone, let alone get up by yourself. their hearts broke when you said that. you never really cried much in front of them and you were known to withstand pain well because of how much shit HYDRA put you in as well as your powers being healing, meaning you had a higher pain tolerance than most people.

"it's okay, bubs. i got you. let's get you home, alright?" wanda's calming voice broke you out of your breakdown and red mist surrounded your whole body, wanda moving you with her powers. you were thankful of that because it didn't cause any more pain to your body.

maybe hammer was right. maybe you are just a freak with useless powers. wanda floated you into the jet and she set you down on the bed. "y/n, oh my god!" clint cried out once he sees you. you looked much worse than you did on hammer's camera footage during the call an hour ago. "kid, i'm so sorry."

"clint, take the wheel. bruce doesn't have all the resources needed. she needs to be treated ASAP." nat tells her best friend and he nods, taking the wheel and immediately taking off once everyone had boarded.

you were laid on the bed, right eye slightly open as bruce examined you. exhaustion hit you like a truck and before you knew it, you blacked out.

-

"how is she, doc?"

"pretty banged up but y/n, as i already knew, is a strong girl. lots of internal bleeding, broken bones, bruises and scars but she'll be fine. you can check her file later if you want," doctor cho tells tony outside of your room. "it's fine, can we see her?" he asks on behalf of the whole team standing behind him.

"yeah, of course! she woke up five minutes ago. i'll be off now, call me or my team if you need anything." she bids goodbye and left the group of superheroes.

steve slowly opens the door and there you were in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "hey, y/n/n," he greets sheepishly, feeling as though he had interrupted your alone time of blankly staring at the ceiling. the team trailed in behind him and soon your bed was surrounded by the avengers.

"hi, cupcake."

you looked away from the ceiling and turned your head towards tony. "oh, hey tones." you smile as sam helps you sit up while the rest sat on chairs all around you. "how you feeling, bub?" nat asks, eyes flickering down to the bold scarring of letters on your forearm.

"as okay as i can be." you answered truthfully, pressing your inner forearm closer to your body so the team doesn't see the letters carved onto your skin. you already know what you are, you didn't need the rest thinking so too.

"you're not a freak, bubs."

you look up at wanda. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to read your mind. but they were awfully loud. you're not a freak, y/n. and you're not useless too. that bastard may have carved out that word onto your skin but the scar will fade. it's not permanent. you know why? because that's not what you are." she tells you, taking off her jacket to wrap it around you because you felt self conscious of the scars all over your arms where the team could see.

"yeah, doll. you're an amazing person and your powers help us so much. i mean, you saved millions just helping us get the weapon back from justin hammer. if you hadn't, well, who knows what could've been happening right now?" he places a gentle hand at the side of your head, stroking your hair.

"yeah and who heals us when we get really hurt during missions, huh? i mean, if you hadn't healed that stab wound i got during that mission in new mexico, i probably wouldn't even be here at this moment." clint tells you and you roll your eyes at him. "you're exaggerating."

"i am not!" he laughed and you playfully rolled your eyes once again.

"y/n/n, i'm really sorry for—"

"i don't wanna hear it, stevie."

"but–"

"no. it's not your fault. shit happens." you brush him off. "lang–"

"you say language to me, i'll blame this shit on you even when it's not your fault. try me, rogers." you glare at the blond super soldier. he raises his arms in surrender, leaning back on his chair as the team laughs.

the team continue to entertain you and you couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of you. these were the people who would drop anything for you and were willing to dropkick any asshole in the face for hurting you. justin hammer never had a chance against your family to begin with.

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