#Stay safe and protect each other Ohio friends

[rainandandy]

Szabadság tér 16 (Yelena Belova x reader)

Words: 1,117

Pairing: Yelena Belova x reader, Yelena Belova x you

Summary: While in the safe house, you and Yelena go on a grocery run, but she gets distracted by the flower stall.

Budapest is a very warm city in the summer. It was not enough that you wanted to throw yourself out of the window of the seven storey building, but enough that you annoyed Yelena enough that she fanned you with some papers. You were both holed up in a safe house in Budapest together at the time. She had freed almost all of the black widows left behind after Dreykov's demise, but her last mission had gone awry and now she was being hunted by a few different state police forces.

Even though staying inside during this weather was almost unbearable, the bath served as a mini swimming pool and the small refrigerator served as an a/c unit. On the nights when the city would quieten down, she would push the mattress to the window, so you could count the stars with a cool breeze blowing over you.

She had been given a safe house by Mason and he had stocked it with medicine, supplies and food to last her a few weeks. When Yelena's wounds became infected and she asked for you to be the only person to take care of her, he personally flew you out. Now, it had been a few weeks, and the supplies were getting low. Even though you both knew it was the right thing to do, leaving was as dangerous as it could possibly be.

You brought Yelena some stuff to disguise her with. In order to conceal her blonde hair, she wore a black wig, a hoodie, sunglasses. Who am I, exactly? Clark Kent? As you brushed the wig into place, Yelena moaned, "This won't work.". She looked fine, but you liked her blonde better because she was more fun. As you handed her the sunglasses, you complimented her, "I think you look cute.".

We'll have to get black hair dye then, I guess."

"Nono!She smirked, knowing you loved her blonde hair. She surveyed her reflection and fixed a few bits of her hair. Picking up the concealer, you made your way to the girl to fix her yellowing bruise. I always have to take care of my poor baby girl".

"You should see the other guy." She laughed and pecked your nose and lips. At her affection, your smile grew. She would be the death of you. Her hand was in yours as you grabbed your bag and walked out of the room.

“We need a safe word,” Yelena started to explain. “For what? It’s not sex, just shopping” You laughed but her sudden serious tone made you listen. “No, just in case we see something that could be potentially dangerous and it is not safe for you”

“For me? You are still recovering, you are not strong enough to fight at this point"

“No, but I can fight them off and keep you safe until you get to the safe house” She kissed the knuckles on your hand as you descended the winding staircase together. It was your instinct to roll your eyes at the idea of her becoming your white knight. The last thing you would expect is for her to put herself in danger for you, though you would do it in a heartbeat for her. "Squash! Yes, squash!"", she nearly shouted as she reached the bottom step of the staircase.

"Pardon me?" you asked, her big smile beaming at you. Our safe word will be squash. When we hear squash, we leave. You can count on her to do anything to protect you.

You and Yelena could get all the necessities you needed at the nearby penny mart, which was only around the corner from the safe house. Yelena went straight for the junk food aisle when you were inside the grocery store, even though you had made a little list on a scrap of paper of all the things you needed. Her non-hurt arm was holding a small red basket containing chocolates and gummies that was filled with candy. "Yelena no, no, no!" You growled at the spy as she rolled her eyes and stumbled over to the fresh fruit and vegetables. Foods from the list were added and ticked off as you placed them in the cart. As you saw the pale yellow vegetable, you asked Yelena, "Do we need that today, sweetie?" pointing at it.

Yelena’s eyes, who were scanning each customer in the shop, snapped to the vegetable and then rolled far too dramatically for your liking. “Not yet, but if you’re not careful, I will make you scream it later”.

After smirking back at the moany assassin, you walked over to the frozen aisle to pick up a few chicken nuggets to satisfy her. As you were close to finishing, you noticed that Yelena was nowhere to be seen. In the aisles you walked back and forth without spotting any sign of your girlfriend and your mind started to race with all the thoughts of what could have happened. It is possible that someone could have seen her and taken her just like that. There would be no way for you to track her down. She was just gone. While the panic set in, you were quickly repeating the word squash over and over to yourself.

Then you heard giggling coming from the front of the store. Walking up, it was evident Yelena was chatting with a child at the flower stand. There are roses, tulips, sunflowers, lilies, and all other kinds of beautiful flowers you can't possibly name. She took the sunflower and ran the petals on the young girl's nose, and as she giggled, Yelena's smile grew bigger and bigger.

Since she has lost so much of her childhood and she is frantically trying to cling to the memories she has of Ohio, she is only capable of showing kindness to children. She complimented the blond child, "This one smells just like you", she picked up the rose and held it out so the little one could smell it as well. As you watched Yelena interact with someone she was genuinely happy to talk to, you felt your heart melt. You didn't have to worry for a second that they were going to hurt her in any way. It was really amazing to see how open she became around children, and you hoped that she would be like that when you had kids, if you two were to have children of our own.

She smiled at you as she went over to pick up a bouquet of flowers and made her way to meet you at the cashier desk, where you were waiting. Her eyes twinkled and she winked at you, "I have a new friend.". There was a moment in which you joked to her, "I see. Maybe I'll leave the safe house and you two can play together", you responded. It seems to me like I can only play with you tonight," she said smirking, and you can bet you would have a lot of fun in bed with her.

[artsy-moonwalker]

Would you go into more details about your OC’s backstories?? They all look so cool 😆

I would love to! Thank you so much for this question :)

I'm going to focus distinctly on their childhood for these descriptions.

(mentions of drug addiciton, war, and violence)

Before I get into their backstories, it is important to address their environmental situation for context.

In their childhood, there was a civil war going on within America. This is a fictional war, of course, taking place in the early 2000s. Lenis, Everest, Flint, and Darryon all have their parts to play, and the war affects the four in different ways. While Lenis, Everest, and Flint are trying to escape war from their hometown and cross the country, Darryon and his siblings are attending shelters and risk their lives trying to help in any way they can.

So now that we have some context of their biggest childhood dilemma, let's get into the four individually. I won't go into complete detail to avoid any spoilers I'd like to share later on, but I will dive into their personalities and importance. I don't know how long this post will be, but I'll try to keep it as short as I can.

Lenis, 13 years old - tall, blond, a bit tan, a distinct scar on his left jaw, brown eyes

Lenis lives in a small town in Ohio. It's a bit run down, and his house is in bad shape. Considering his family is lower class, he doesn't have much money to spend, and he gets by with what he has. He lives with his two strict parents, him being an only child. But he takes care of a stray cat that lives in a forest behind his home that he calls "Otter." Whenever he tries to get the cat to stay in the house, his parents don't allow it. They can't exactly afford to take care of an animal, especially when they have to pay for his monthly medication and doctor visits.

He has a bone condition where his bones are incredibly fragile. He can't walk for very long, and running is even worse on him. It doesn't take a lot of force to break a bone either, and he's had to visit the doctor numerous times for fractures and snaps. So he has a medication that helps him not feel the aching as much, and allows him to walk or run for a time. He is in no way a strong person. His physical strength is constantly challenged and he feels like a burden to those he loves whenever they have to make sacrifices to just to help him. Especially when it comes to his best friend, Everest.

He is always being protected by Everest. He's taken multiple punches for him, he has to carry him sometimes, he can't do a lot of outdoor activities with him due to how easy it is to get injured. Lenis hates this. He hates being held back and he hates that his best friend has to be held back too because of it. He often tells Everest that he can do things himself, but that ends with him getting hurt more than not.

Lenis really is a grateful and humble soul. He tries to find the good in every situation no matter how painful it can be. This is especially apparent for his friends. If anything is troubling them, he will do what he can to get them through it. His optimism was a lot more prominent when he was a child, though. After escaping war, he finds it difficult to find the good in bad situations. But that doesn't mean he won't try to. It's safe to say the light in his eyes are faded as he grew older.

Everest, 13 years old - short, red head, blue eyes

This is Lenis' best friend, that's how everyone at his school titles him. Because he is constantly by his side more than he is alone. He knew Lenis since he was a toddler due to their mothers being friends, and ever since then, Lenis would nickname him "Evvy." Everest was always like a brother to him. He was incredibly protective and would often put Lenis before him.

Emotions and Everest don't exactly work well together. He tends to be reserved. Cold and bitter, even. If he's showing any extreme emotion, it tends to be anger or frustration. But he has a soft spot for Lenis. He's really one of the only people around him that can make him smile. Other than his mom, of course, who he lives with down the street from Lenis. His mother was pregnant before he left home; his father having left after a short and abrupt divorce. Little information was given to him about why that occurred. But his mom was happier, and that's what he wanted. He was never close with his father anyway.

Everest knows that his protectiveness over his friends, especially Lenis, can be a fault at times. He's gotten hurt many times due to it, both mentally and physically. And it isn't even because his friends are defenseless. He knows they can protect themselves if they need to, but he cannot help himself. He can't let them get hurt if he can stop it. He speaks bluntly, and his words may go over a few lines, or he may be prone to starting arguments, but he is incredibly selfless. He means well in every action he takes despite all of that.

Flint, 12 years old - short, black buzz cut, large dark eyes

Flint is a troubled child to say the least. He's callous towards others, he seems to only care about himself, and he isn't afraid to use force and threaten violence. He was Lenis' biggest bully after ending his friendship with him in a desperate fit to steal his pain medicine. Yes, Lenis and him were friends before that. And Flint truly wanted to continue the friendship, but he needed those pills. Lenis wasn't going to just give them to him. So he had to resort to violence, thus harming Lenis, and regretting it later.

It's easy to think that maybe Flint had a drug addiction, and stole Lenis' pills because of that. But that isn't the case at all. It wasn't because of an addiction, it was for a much deeper reason.

His younger sister, Penny, was facing a horrible sickness that was going to kill her if she didn't get the right treatments. His mother, being constantly intoxicated with alcohol, spent all of her money on things she didn't need. So she couldn't afford Penny to have any treatment at all. Flint, who has been basically raising his little sister, decided to take matters into his own hands, and find any possible way to make her feel better. Even if it meant harming Lenis for some pills.

Flint loves his sister more than anyone. Or loved, at least. She unfortunately didn't make it long after the pain medicine incident.

He wants to be good, he really does. But Flint is difficult to get along with. Especially with Everest. Much like the red head, Flint has a short temper, and they always fight with each other. But also like Everest, he has a soft spot for Lenis (he is sort of like the peacemaker of the group). Flint is incredibly emotional, and he always says what's on his mind, even if they're not so nice things. He feels regretful for a lot of things, though. He's trying to be a better person, and befriending Lenis again is something he is determined to do.

Darryon, 12 years old - Average height, black curly hair, dark eyes, has an intense burn scar along his face

Darryon lives in California with his siblings, and only his siblings. His parents died in a car crash while they were on their way home from a relative's house. The war was breaking out, and they were caught up in it at the worst possible time. Darryon's oldest brother was a soldier in the war, and his oldest sister was her younger siblings' guardian while he was gone. He has five siblings, not counting himself. Three girls and two boys. And he is very close with each of them, especially his oldest sister, Carlitha. She followed shelters, and he did the same. For a long time, she was concerned for his wellbeing considering just how dangerous a job like this was. They were always venturing in war zones and had to face many hardships. But even at a young age, Darryon wanted to be part of something bigger than himself. His parents' death were a big motivator in his efforts, and he found that helping others get through the war was an effective coping mechanism.

He didn't go through these hardships without consequences, though. On one occasion, a shelter he was attending got bombed, and he was caught in the flames, leaving the brutal burn marks you see on him now. These marks filled the mouths of the other kids at his school when he tried going back. But how can anyone go back to a normal life after that? Luckily he had a good group of friends to back him up during his good and hard nights.

He has a very distinct sense of humor, and finds it easy to entertain himself when no one is around. Some of the kids at his school think he's weird because of his behavior at times. He talks to himself out loud, he has a funny laugh, he has a few imaginary friends (one stays with him even in his adulthood), etc. But he embraces those things more than anything, and his friends don't care, so why should he?

When he isn't helping at a shelter, he finds time for himself or his family. For example, he's very fascinated with nature, and enjoys drawing what he sees around him in a sketchbook. He's pretty good at it too. What started as drawings of birds or gardens soon turned into drawings of burnt landscapes and debris of towns. He liked to draw the people he would meet in shelters as well, and he kept every drawing, not knowing if that person survived after they parted ways or not.

Darryon's story does collide with the others at some point. He and his sister go to great lengths around the country, of course they're going to befriend Lenis, Everest, and Flint at some point, and it will certainly stay that way.

If you read this far, thank you! I really hope this little introduction to them has intrigued you, and if not, that's okay too :) I want to share more about them later on, and I plan to write out chapters to get the full story soon as well. I've been working on this story for more than a year now in private, and I'm really having fun, so I'm excited to share it with you. Thank you again!

[just-dreaming-marvel]

Out Of Time ~ 1

MAIN MASTERLIST

Out Of Time MASTERLIST

Word Count: 1,750ish

Summary: World War Two weighs on the lives of the Rogers Twins and Bucky Barnes.

Warnings: none

She was running late for the movie. She was suppose to meet Steve and Bucky there after work, but her shift hadn’t gone as planned and she was needed longer. Figures. The girls after her could never get their crap together. She had almost reached the theater when she heard familiar voices in the alleyway. She turned into the alleyway to see her small twin brother, Steven Grant Rogers, and his taller best friend, James Buchanan Barnes. More popularly known as Bucky.

“I had him on the ropes,” Steve stated, clearly catching his breath. 

She figured Bucky had stopped Steve in the middle of a fight. Her brother was always getting into fights, trying to do what he thought was best. Protecting people. She noticed Bucky was in a military uniform as he reached down and picked up some forms off the ground. He hadn’t told her that he had gotten his orders. She wondered when he’d be shipping out. Her heart splintered at thought of Bucky going to war. It broke at the thought that he may never come back. She loved him. But she’s never been able to tell him that, he’s too much of a ladies man to settle down with her.

“How many times is this?” Bucky asked as he picked up and read what seemed to be an enlistment form. “Oh, you’re from Paramus now? You know it’s illegal to lie on the enlistment form. And seriously, Jersey?”

“You get your orders?” Steve quickly changed the subject once he realized what Bucky was wearing.

“The one-o-seventh. Sergeant James Barnes. Shipping out for England first thing tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?” She gasped. The men quickly turned around to notice Y/N Rogers, standing there, trying to hold back tears. “You’re shipping out tomorrow? And you’re only telling us that today?”

“Y/N, doll,” Bucky took a step towards her. 

She took a step back, shaking her head. “And you,” Y/N moved her focus to her brother, pointing a shaking finger at him. “Stop trying to get yourself killed.”

“I should be going,” Steve stated firmly. “It’s only right.”

“No. You should be staying here, with me. I’ve already lost mom and dad, Bucky’s shipping off tomorrow, I’m not about to lose you too.”

“Y/N/N,” Bucky stepped forward again, “You have to understand, I wanted to tell you but I didn’t want to hurt you.”

“And telling me the night before you shipped off was going to be any better?”

“Can we not spend my last night fighting?” Bucky reached for her hands. “Let’s get Steve cleaned up and then we’re going to have some fun.”

“Where are we going?” Steve asked.

Bucky handed Steve the newspaper he had under his arm. “The future.”

The three of them went back to the Rogers apartment, allowing Y/N and Steve to get cleaned up. After they made their way to the Stark Expo. 

“I don’t see what the problem is,” Bucky shook his head as he spoke. “You’re about to be the last eligible man in New York. You know, there’s three and a half million women here.”

“Well, I’d settle for just one,” Steve stated.

“Good thing I took care of that.” Bucky waved to a woman who wasn’t standing too far off.

“Hey, Bucky!” The woman called.

“What did you tell her about me?” Steve asked.

“Only the good stuff,” Bucky answered.

“Where’s your date, Buck?” Y/N asked. She was used to be the fifth wheel.

“I figured that you could be, doll,” Bucky smiled, putting an arm around Y/N’s waist, pulling her into him. “It is my last night and I wanted to spend it with my best girl.”

Y/N looked down, intensely blushing. He always knew how to make her get flustered. Though, she figured he never realized what he was doing to her. Y/N was wrong though. Bucky loved her too, but was just too afraid to say anything. Especially now, since he was being shipped off to war. 

The four walked towards the stage just in time for the famous Howard Stark to waltz out.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Howard Stark called the audiences attention, “what if I told you that in just a few short years, your automobile won’t even have to touch the ground at all.” The ladies that were helping him, took off the wheels of the car that was on stage. “Yes. Thanks, Mandy… With Stark robotic reversion technology you’ll be able to do just that.” Howard then turned a few nobs and flipped a switch, causing the car to begin hovering off the ground. 

“Holy cow,” Bucky said in awe.

But almost as soon as it began hovering, the car suddenly started malfunctioning causing the car to fall back on stage. Y/N jumped back into Bucky, cause him to hold her closer than he was before. While this was happening, Steve noticed a recruitment center and snuck off there. His date wasn’t paying him any mind anyway. The girls Bucky chose never did. They were always too interested in his best friend.

“I did say a few years, didn’t I?” Howard tried to laugh the malfunction off, causing the audience to laugh as they applauded.

“Hey, Steve,” Bucky called, turning to look at him, “what do you say we treat these girls—“ He stopped when he noticed Steve wasn’t there anymore. 

“Where’d he go?” Y/N asked.

The recruitment center caught Bucky’s eye. “I have a feeling I know where.”

Y/N followed his line of sight, letting out a sigh when the center came into view. She just couldn’t understand why her brother wanted to join the war efforts so bad. He’s never been in the best of health and leaving would be leaving her alone.

“Let’s go get him,” Bucky urged Y/N forward, Steve’s date following. 

As they reached the recruitment center, Steve’s date stopped aways outside of it, allowing Bucky and Y/N to go in together. They found Steve Looking into a mirror that turned the person looking into it into a soldier. He was too small to even line up to it.

“Steve,” Y/N called her brother to attention. He turned around to see her sad eyes.

“Come on,” Bucky said. “You’re kind of missing the point of a double date. We’re taking the girls dancing.”

“You go ahead,” Steve said, “I’ll catch up with you.”

“You’re really gonna do this again?”

“Well, its only fair. I’m gonna try my luck.

“As who? Steve from Ohio?”

“They’ll catch you, Steve,” Y/N said. “Or worse, they’ll actually take you.”

“Look, I know you two don’t think I can do this—”

“This isn’t a back alley, Steve,” Bucky was getting frustrated. “It’s war!”

“I know it’s war. You don’t have to tell me.”

“Why are you so keen to fight? There are so many important jobs.”

“What am I gonna do? Collect scrap metal—“

“Yes!”

“—in my little red wagon?”

“Why not?”

“I’m not gonna sit in a factory.”

“I don’t—“

“Come on, guys! There are men laying down their lives. I got no right to do any less than them. That’s what you don’t understand.. this isn’t about me.”

“Yeah? But what about me?” Y/N’s small voice stopped the two men. “Taking care of your sister isn’t enough?” There were tears in her eyes, tears both of the men immediately regretted putting there. 

“Y/N—“

“No. I’m done hearing your excuses. Your reasonings… If you want to go off to war to get killed and leave me alone, then so be it. You want it so damn much, it shows what you really care about.”

Y/N walked away, towards Steve’s date, before she could hear the men say anything else. They watched with sad eyes as she walked away. They both knew what they were doing to her. But they didn’t know how they could really make it right.

“You’ve got nothing to prove, Steve,” Bucky stated as he turned back to him. Bucky sighed, realizing he wasn’t going to win with this Rogers tonight. But if he hurried, he could fix it with another before he left. “Don’t do anything stupid until I get back.”

“How can I?” Steve responded. “You’re taking all the stupid with you.”

“You’re a punk.” They two embraced.

“Jerk. Be careful” They let go and Bucky began walking back to the girls. “Don’t win the war till I get there!”

Bucky sent Steve a salute before turning around and reaching the girls. He noticed Y/N was still emotional and that Steve’s date, Bonnie, clearly wanted to be spending time with him.

“Hey, Bonnie,” Bucky started, “do you mind if it’s just Y/N and I tonight?”

“Oh,” she was clearly taken back. “Sure.” She reached up and kissed Bucky’s cheek. “Be safe out there soldier. And make sure to find me with you return.” 

Once Bonnie was out of sight, Bucky wrapped an arm around Y/N’s waist. “Lets go dancing,” he smiled down at her.

“I don’t feel like dancing tonight, Buck,” she sadly said, looking down. “I just want to go home.”

“Come on, doll.” Buck moved to stand in front of her. “It’s my last night.”

“Yes, it’s your last night before you get shipped off to war… I really don’t need another reminder…”

“Y/N. Look at me.” He tried to meet her eyes. “Please.” When she still refused, he put his hand under her chin and gently guided her head to look up at him. “How about we do whatever you want tonight? I just want to spend my last night with you, doll. My favorite Rogers.”

Bucky’s eyes showed nothing but sincerity. All Y/N wanted was to hold onto her boys and never let them go. But she was coming to the realization that that wasn’t an option. She wrapped her arms around Bucky, holding herself close to him. He reciprocated the action, breathing her scent in. Every moment with Y/N tonight, Bucky at been trying to memorize every detail of the girl. He never wanted to forget anything about her. They stood there, for a moment, holding onto each other like they were the only two people in the world. 

“Come on,” Bucky whispered, letting her go and grabbing her hand. “I know some place we can go.”

next chapter >

[avengerscompound]

The Tower: Family - 20

The Tower: Family An Avengers Fanfic

Series Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Pairing:  Avengers x OFC, Bruce Banner x Bucky Barnes x Clint Barton x Wanda Maximoff x Steve Rogers x Natasha Romanoff x Tony Stark x Thor x Sam Wilson x OFC (Elly Cooper)

Word Count: 1857

Warnings:  Pregnancy, mentions of past child abuse

Synopsis: With new powers, Thor now living on Earth full time, a wedding to plan, and Natasha and Wanda expecting, a lot is changing for Elly and her large and rather unconventional family.  When Elise’s parents try to reestablish connections, Elly questions what being a family actually means.

Chapter 20: The Road to Forgiveness

I organized to meet my mother for lunch a week later.  Natasha, Wanda, and Thor came with me.   There had been a very long discussion full of a lot of debate about who should come with me.  If I’d let them they all would have, but I didn’t want the whole thing to be overwhelmed by them.  Part of me had wanted to go alone, but then when it came down to it, I was still scared to be left alone with either of my parents.  Besides, we were trying to keep the pregnancies out of the tabloids and if I was going to go out in public, I needed to take Natasha with me so they couldn’t see me.

Wanda came so that she could read my mother’s mind, to see if she was genuine in her attempts to shake off my father and start a new life and relationship with me.  While, Thor was coming because he had that ability to both be a calming and relaxing influence, but also intimidating if need be.

We thought we’d grab lunch somewhere with a private dining room that we could just be free to talk without too many prying eyes.  Then afterward we’d go shopping for baby clothes and maybe something for ourselves.

We were all well and truly showing now, and I did worry about how mom would take the news that all three of us were pregnant.  Natasha wore a short, black maternity dress with knee-length black leggings underneath and a chain belt that sat above the baby bump that’s chain hung down her side.  Wanda was in a long, flowing, off-the-shoulder, lace dress in cream with red flowers embroidered on the bust and around the hems.  I was in a short black dress with a blue tartan skirt and a pair of black lace tights under it.  Thor was in black jeans, a gray v-neck t-shirt, and his favorite red velvet jacket over it.  When we suddenly appeared in front of the staff of the restaurant they almost jumped in shock.  That shock was quickly replaced with a look of slight awe and definitely attraction as they looked Thor up and down.

Mom was already waiting for us when we were led into the private room.  She was with my brother Ian and a small, slight woman around his age that I didn’t recognize but I assumed must be his wife because there were two kids there too - a girl who looked around eight years old and a boy around five.

Mom got to her feet and seemed to move forward like she was going to come and greet me with a hug, before stopping dead and looking me up and down.  “Elise! You’re pregnant!”

“I am?” I said, looking down at myself.  “Oh wow.  I guess I am.”

She gave me that look moms are so good at.  The ones that tell you that you’re not as funny as you think you are.  To her credit, she didn’t press the issue.

“Congratulations,” she said. “And both of you too?”

Natasha gave a terse nod, while Wanda smiled.  “That’s right,” she said.

“Mom, you met Wanda,” I say.  “And this is Natasha and Thor.”

Thor offered her his hand.  She seemed grateful to take it.  “It’s nice to meet you,” you said.

Ian moved forward.  “Hey, El,” he said.  “This is my wife Rachel.”  Despite not having touched either of the people that were related to me, I offered my hand to Rachel.   She shook it and trembled a little as she did.

“So nice to meet you.  Ian said you were his sister and I didn’t believe him,” she said.

“Well, we’ve not had a lot of contact over the last fifteen or so years,” I said.

“Oh, this is Josh and Hannah,” she said.

“Hello,” I said, though their attention was completely drawn to Thor.  They stared up at him with their mouths open.

He crouched down and smiled warmly at them.  “Hello, children,” he said.  “How are you?”

“I hope you don’t mind us coming along too,” Ian said.  “We came to visit mom and then your people set up the lunch…”

“It’s fine,” I assured him.  “It’s good to see you.  Let’s sit.  I’d really like to get off my feet.”

We all sat down, the kids both choosing chairs on either side of Thor.  A waiter took our drink orders and left us to decide what we would order.

“How are your kids?  You have two right?  I read that somewhere,” Rachel asked.

“Yes, we have twins.  A boy and a girl.  They’re in preschool right now,” I answered.  While everyone else seemed to be relaxing a little more, Natasha seemed to be getting more wound up and I was wondering if it was a good idea to bring her.  “They’re good.”

Wanda looked at Natasha and Natasha pursed her lips.  I was pretty certain that Wanda was telling her off because as the rest of us looked over the menu and Thor spoke with the kids about what they wanted to order Natasha’s face got tenser and tenser until she sagged and let out a huff of breath.

The waiter brought our drinks out and took our orders.  I ordered four cheese gnocchi but as soon as the waiter left I regretted it.  I wasn’t sure how well I was going to be able to stomach such a heavy dish considering the circumstances.  Thankfully Thor ordered four different entrees and three starters, and among them was a salad and bruschetta so if I needed to, I knew I’d be able to swap with him.

“How have things been going, mom?” I asked.  “They told me you’ve settled here.”

“Yes,” Mom said.  “It’s a big change.  Originally I was just going to stay in Ohio with Amanda but then part of me worried that if I did that I’d end up just going back to him.  And I wanted to show you I was serious and make it up to you.  I missed so much and I know ... I know how I treated you - all of you really - was terrible.  Making you think it was okay for him to treat us like that.  Making you think that was the only way to have a life.  I don’t want to make excuses but it was all I knew either.  And now here you are… with this other way.  Are you happy?”

I smiled a little and my eyes felt a slight prickle from tears forming.  “Yeah, mom.  I’m really happy.  This is different, you’re right.  And sometimes it’s not easy.  But while most people see the difference as us all being together as a group rather than just paired off, what’s different to me is I feel safe, loved, and supported.  Even during our worst time, I had people who loved and supported me there helping me get through it.  I just… never felt that growing up.  I was scared all the time and I couldn’t see any way that would ever end, because you kept telling me all the ways I had to act to get a good husband, but a good husband wasn’t a good man, it was a rich one.”

“I know.  I’m sorry.  I want to try and make it up to you,” mom said.  “But I know I can’t.  I just hope you’ll let us start from scratch.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for too,” I said.

“Is it true that you’re all married to each other?”  Hannah asked.

“That’s right, young one,” Thor said. “In fact for a while, your Aunt was the Queen of Asgard.”

“Woah,” Hannah gasped. “Really?  Why not anymore?”

“After we wed I gave up the throne to my sister.  She is taking care of things now so I have time to be a husband and father,” Thor explained.

“Are you really all married?  I mean… officially?” Mom asked, looking between the three of us.

“As you know, on Earth Elise is legally married to Tony,” Wanda explained.  “We did that for a sense of security and to protect the children’s inheritance.  But prior to that, we all participated in a ceremony known as bonding on Asgard.”

“Asgard is more forward-thinking than here,” Thor added. “They are all legally my spouses and count as Asgard royalty.  They are all princes and princesses there.  It is much deeper too.  We are connected.”

The starter came out and I pinched one of Thor’s stuffed mushrooms and began to eat it with a piece of warm rye bread that was provided for the table.  I definitely wasn’t as tense as I had been when I arrived but even still, the rich buttery stuffing on the mushroom sat like a brick inside me when I swallowed it.

“Can I ask something?”  Mom said.  “I don’t know if this is offensive or rude but… do you know who the fathers of the children are?”

I sighed and took a sip of my drink, wishing the sweet and acidic juice had the deep burn of alcohol to go with it.  “They’re everyone’s mom.  Just like I’m going to be mommy to the babies that Wanda and Nat are carrying.”

“No,” she said, a little flustered.  “I know, but…”

I shook my head, interrupting her. “Look, I know it’s different, and maybe even hard for you to grasp because you did play favorites.  But we don’t.  Not with these kids.  We do happen to know biology.  Part of that was because of medical issues that might have arisen depending on whose biology was involved.  But as far as how we act and how we treat the kids, they are loved equally by everyone as their own.  Because they are.  That is no one’s business but ours.  And I want to make it clear, they could biologically have been anyone’s. We aren’t confused friends, mom.  They’re my husbands and wives in every sense of the word.”

“Right,” she said.  “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said.  “I do want you to feel okay around us.  But… not if we have to fit some ideal you still have set in your head about how my life should be.  It is how it is and if you want to meet the others and even the kids then you just have to be open to that difference.”

“Can we meet the other avengers?”  Hannah asked.

“Perhaps someday,” Thor said.  “I am sure your cousins would love to meet you too.”

“Thor,” Natasha warned, giving her head a tiny shake.

“Does that mean you’re our uncle?”  Hannah asked.

A large smile broke out on Thor’s face.  “Why yes it does,” he said.

“I’ve got a safer topic of discussion, and one Rachel and I can reciprocate,” Ian said.  “How did you all meet and start seeing each other in the first place?”

“Oh, yes please,” Rachel added.  “I would love to hear that.”

I smiled and looked at Natasha.  “That we can do,” I said.  “But it depends on how far back you want to go.  Because it really starts way back in 1929…”

// NEXT

[ms-rampage]

Eden’s Gate: Aftermath Chapter 5 - The Growing Family of Hunters

Warnings: Swearing.

Word count: 2.9k

This is a short follow up series to Kidnapped leading up to the nuclear holcaust, and the beginning of New Dawn. 

Summary: Kate recovers from her Bliss hallucination after being forced out by her Archangel, Paige gets a new lead on Joseph, and the guys' families come by.

Guest OCs: Too many at this point. FML. 

Guest Characters: Gabriel [mentioned], God/Chuck [mentioned], Sam and Dean Winchester [in flashback]. Too many FML. 

**********

Flashback 

One year earlier

Toledo, Ohio 

"So you sure you're not mad at her anymore?" Dean asks Paige. 

She sighs, "Yes Dean, I'm no longer mad at Kate". 

Sam, Dean, Paige and Kate are tracking down a nest of vampires in the Ohio woods. 

"Okay but from what Brent told me. You were very upset because she wanted out of this life" he tells her. 

She sighs again, "Yeah, yeah I know I was, but I got over it". 

10 feet behind them, Sam and Kate have their conversation on the whole "leaving the hunter life behind". 

"You know I wanted to stop hunting as well" Sam tells Kate. 

She looks up at her tall cousin, "Really?". 

He nods, "Yeah I went off to college at Stanford. Studying to be a lawyer". 

"What happened?!" she asks. 

"Our dad went missing, and Dean went by my dorm. I helped him out on one hunt then that night I went back to my room" he takes a deep breath, "Then the demon that killed our mom killed my girlfriend Jess". 

She looks up at him once more with sad eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry to hear that" she tells him. 

He exhales, "It's fine. We were able to kill him". 

"What demon?" she asks. 

"Azazel. Yellow eyes" he tells her. 

She looks up at him again, "Azazel?. He killed our dad". 

Dean and Paige look back at them. 

"What happened?" Dean asks. 

"Paige the demon that killed dad, what was his name?!" she asks.

"Azazel" she responds. 

Kate scoffs, "What is up with that bastard killing our parents?!?"

"We're Winchesters" Dean replies, "That's what happens to us". 

*******

Trying to recover from her hallucination trip. Fucking Gabriel pushed her out. Forcing her ass to wake up. Dealing with the withdrawals of the Bliss.

The sun shining in her face, making her go blind for a brief moment. 

“It’s morning already?!” Kate thinks to herself. 

She stares off into space, staring up at the ceiling. “What the hell Gabe?!”. She gets startled by a knock at her bedroom door, followed by the knob jiggling.

“Kate!!” Paige calls out, “We got a lead on Joseph come down and we’ll talk about it”.

She gets out of bed, and looks in the mirror.

Her eyes aren’t as white as she thought they would be.

Unlocking her door, and going downstairs with the others.

Everyone including Rachel are sitting at the kitchen table.

“Okay so now that we’re all here” Paige says, “I finally got the lead on Joseph’s whereabouts”.

“So where could he be hiding out?!?” Cody asks.

“It could be anywhere in Hope County” Marty says.

“True!!” Paige says, pointing a pointer at them like she were a teacher, “But I got an exact location, and its pretty fucking obvious”. 

Waiting and already knowing of his whereabouts. They all just want to see Paige look like an idiot, or more like an idjit.

“Where is he hiding?!” Kenny asks in a smartass kind of way.

“His fucking church” she mutters angrily, “Please fucking kill me!!”.

Everyone stares at her as if she were a fucking dumbass.

“I could’ve fucking guess he was there!!!” Adrian yells.

“Well he wasn’t there before” Paige says in her defense, “He wasn’t anywhere near the statue. Or Teller Ranch which is a real location in a different part of Hope County that I didn’t even know existed!!”.

“So now what?!?” Mandy asks.

“Well we go there, we get him, and we fucking kill him” Paige answers as if it were a dumb question. 

“Is killing Joseph Seed really a necessary thing?!?” she asks.

Paige glares at her mother with furrowed eyebrows, “Is that a real, serious question?!. Of fucking course killing him is necessary”. 

“I mean we don’t have to kill him though. Maybe have him arrested? Maybe?” she says. 

Paige scoffs, “Mom I get you were the “Mother of Eden’s Gate” for a few months, but come fucking on. This man fucking tortures, and manipulates people. Rachel is a good fucking example of that”.

“You’re not going soft for this man are you Mandy?!” Kenny asks in a calm voice. 

“I feel like he needs to be protected” Mandy says, shrugging.

“Protected?!?! What the fuck?!?” Paige blurs out, “He doesn't need to be protected. If God, or Chuck wants Joseph to be protected he would’ve shown himself to him. Like he has with us in the past. Like he has with Sam and Dean”. 

Barbara steps in and defends Mandy, “Paige you shouldn’t talk to your mother like that. If she says Joseph needs to be protected then he needs to be protected”.

Paige sighs, and says “Barb I know you and my mom are close. But this man, he doesn’t deserve to be protected. Not by my mom, not by my family, not by his followers, and definitely not by Chuck”.

Barbara and Paige stare at each other for a moment, then Rachel clears her throat and speaks up. Everyone looks over at her. 

“Joseph, he may seem like a good person to his followers. But he’s a monster. I was afraid of him, and so was John. Jacob not so much. I’m still afraid of him. Joseph, he drugged, manipulated, and threatened me. I was only 17, he took advantage of me. He helped me find my purpose but I was still scared of him.”

Mandy speaks up, “Is that why you were always around me when I was The Mother?”

Rachel nods, “Yes because I felt safe around you. Joseph wouldn’t hurt you because you were The Mother. He wanted to keep you safe, protected and to guide us to New Eden”. 

“Mom did Joseph ever try to do anything harmful to you?” Kate asks, still recovering from the Bliss trip.

“No, he didn’t try to do anything that’ll cause me harm” she says, shaking her head.

Mark clears his throat, and awkwardly says “Very bad timing, but our families are coming over to live with us. They’ll be over around 1pm”. 

“Alright good, but where are they gonna stay?!?” Kate asks.

“Well my wife and kids can sleep in my room” Nate says, “Since the extra houses are still being put up”.

“My family can do the same” Mark says.

“My wife Brandi is gonna live with us as well” Cody adds.

“So is my wife” Adrian says as well.

“And my fiance as well” Martin says.

“Okay!!” Paige says loudly, “So we’re gonna have Nate, Ellen and your guys 3 kids, Mark, Dana and your guys 2 kids, Cody and Brandi, Martin and Megan, Adrian and Amanda. As well as Kenny, myself, Cristina and baby number 2. Rachel, Kate and the Seed spawn, mom, and Barb”. 

She lets out an exaggerated exhale after saying the names of all the people that are gonna live with them in the one huge soon to be 3 house.

“Are we gonna ignore the fact that we’re gonna have more people living here with small children. When we have a bunch of crazy Cultist fuckers running around and trying to kill us?!?” Kenny asking the real questions. 

They all exchange looks for a bit, and Paige speaks up.

“I mean Kenneth. We all hunt demons, ghosts and monsters for a living. We all have died at least 3-6 times at some point, and came back. Who wins? A bunch of human cultists? Or a bunch of demon boys with powers?”.

They all once again exchange looks. “She has a point, Kenny” Mark tells him. 

They all agree with Paige’s analogy. They’ve all died several times in their lives, were brought back and continued their lives as hunters. Them being hunters is how they all met. It’s how Paige and Kenneth met. It’s quite a romantic story. How they met. 

“Well, thank Chuck we’re putting up 2 more houses” Kenny chuckles. 

“Speaking of that!” Adrian speaks out, “We should get going with that”.

“Agree” Cody says, getting up from his seat. 

The guys all go upstairs and change into their construction gear. They spent the next several hours putting up the houses with the help of 8 Holland Valley locals.

******

1pm arrives, and the guys families, and significant others arrive.

They hug and greet each other. Catch up on life.

Introduce each other to their families. 

The children go, and explore the huge 11 bedroom house.

All of them sitting at the kitchen table. 

“How was the drive?” Paige asks Cody’s wife Brandi.

She groans, “Hell. Complete Hell”.

Paige laughs softly, “Sounds about right”.

“This house is huge!!!” Dana says, looking around.

“Yep, when Kenneth and I bought it last year after we got married. It had 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, the living room was 450 square feet I think. The kitchen was 450 as well, but with the dining room it’s 780 square feet. The backyard was 2 acres. After a few months we remodel the entire house. It took 7-9 months, we finished back in April of this year. We added 6 more bedrooms, 6 more bathrooms, the living room is now 690 square feet, we purchased 2 more acres of land, so we now have 4 acres of land. We have a bunker that I didn’t had until we’re half way through remodeling the house.”

“It’s huge!” Kate says, “The bunker. It has a full kitchen, a library, a medical room, I think like 10-12 rooms, 6 bathrooms. I think it was a hidden military bunker because we found a lot of Army paraphernalia, old weapons and shit. There’s beds, it’s all stocked up with canned foods, pasta, water, toilet paper and all that shit”.

“I really like the garage that leads down to the bunker” Mandy adds.

Paige says, “Oh yeah the garage we have has a secret entrance inside. That’s why we park our cars in the driveway because we often go down there. The floor lifts up and leads underground. Very Batman-like. My cousin Dean would be very jealous”. 

*****

Later that evening they all sit outside, and have dinner.

Mandy, Paige and Kenny made some burgers, fries and a bunch of other meats for them, and their guests. Celebrating the freedom from 2 of the 3 Seeds. Since Faith/Rachel has a change of heart and she’s proving everyday that she has. 

Kate invited Wheaty because she’s dating him, as well as all her friends Morgan, Alissa, Sarah, Ryan, Dylan, Kevin the twins Ivan and Isaiah. She really needed to get John off her damn mind and having all her friends around will help with that. 

Hoping they’ll give her some comfort. Paige also invited the Rye’s, Mary May, Pastor Jerome, Grace, Sharky, Hurk Jr, Eli, Tammy, and Jess Black. Amongst others.

Kate hugs Wheaty tightly, sinking into his arms, forgetting all about John, and actually listening to Gabriel’s advice. 

“I missed you” she says into his shoulder.

He chuckles, “I missed you too”, and kisses the side of her head. 

Everyone has a great time, eating, talking and either getting to know each other, or catching up. Paige and Jess finally caught and set up a day for them to go hunting. Seeing her goddaughter Cristina for the first time in several months.

Kate goes the rest of the evening not thinking about John, or even having any memories of him, or his existence in her life. Doing what her Guardian Archangel told her to do and forget about him. Thinking about the good things happening in life. 

The tiny human that's growing inside her, she’s with someone that makes her happy. She has her family, and friends. 

"So what do you wanna do on Halloween?" Wheaty asks her. 

Paige gives Kate a narrow eyed look, "Tell him" she nudges her sister's arm. 

She stumbles and tells him, "To, to uh. To be 100% honest Wheat, I don't like Halloween". 

He raises his eyebrows at her, "Really? I figured you would love Halloween!". 

Paige looks over at her little sister, "Kate tell him why you don't like Halloween!". 

She shakes her head, "Uhh no I don't want to". 

"I'll tell him if you don't" she playfully threatens. 

She groans, rolling her eyes, giving in to tell them "Okay fine!. One time when I was 11-12 before we were taken away from our mom. We were living in Louisiana at the time, and I was invited by one of my classmates to go to her Halloween party. She invited one of our classmates that I had a huge crush on". 

"It gets better!!" Paige interrupts, telling Sharky, Jess, Eli and Wheaty. 

Kate rolls her eyes, "Anyway. She had a bobbing for apples game thing, and I for some fucking reason wanted to impress that boy in my class. So I bobbed for the apples, but when I’m around someone I like, I tend to get a little queasy. When it was my turn, I went to grab an apple and I threw up in the water”. 

Paige bursts into laughter, while everyone at the table looks over at Kate either trying to hold back laughter, or gasping dramatically. Wheaty puts his arm around Kate as a sign of comfort, kissing the side of her head. 

“But wait!. It gets better!!’ she tells them, “Everyone saw that I threw up in the apple bucket. Some laughed, some gasp in shock. The boy that I liked saw everything, I went to run away, but I slipped, I stupidly grabbed the bucket and the water along with my vomit and the apples spilled all over me”. 

Paige continues to laugh hysterically. “What happened afterwards?!?” Sharky asks. 

“I ran out the house and hid in the woods behind her house until my mom came to pick me up”.  

Wheaty kisses the side of her head again, comforting her. 

“Ya know the same thing happened to me when I was a kid” Sharky tells her. 

“Really? What did you do?” she asks. 

“I don’t know. I don’t remember much from that” he tells her, and walks away to the other guests. 

“Anyway, we can still do something for Halloween. It doesn’t have to be Halloween related” Wheaty tells her. 

She’s hesitant about answering him. “C’mon Kate that was 10 years ago. Get over it!” Paige tells her. 

“Paige that was humiliating” she tells her, “It all happened in front of a guy I liked”.

“Well what if I told you we can hang out and it won’t involve bobbing for apples or any Halloween related games” he tells his girlfriend. 

“Come on Kate spend some time with your boyfriend” Morgan tells her, “Who cares if it's on Halloween”. 

“Just pretend it’s another day” Sarah tells her. 

She finally gives in after all her friends and sister convince her after 10 minutes “Okay we can do something for October 31st” she finally gives in and gives him an answer. 

“Don’t dress as a clown” Morgan tells them, “Kate hates clowns”.

“More like is afraid of clowns” Alissa adds. 

They all laugh and have a great night together. Celebrating their freedom from the Seeds with only 1 more to go. With the Winchesters around they’ll all be gone before Halloween. 

Joseph’s days are numbered. 

******

Later that night when all the guests leave and everyone goes to sleep, Paige and Kate are down stairs putting leftovers away. Once they're done, Paige goes upstairs to her bedroom.

“Welp I’m gonna get some shut eye” she tells her, “You coming up?”.

Kate who is distracted by her thoughts, snaps her head up to look at her sister, “Uhh yeah, yeah I’ll be up in a bit. I just need to do something first”. 

Once she leaves upstairs, Kate goes to the backdoor and steps outside into the backyard out into the cool Montana night. 

She walks 20 feet away from the house, far enough where the others won’t be able to hear her. Looks up into the sky, looking at the stars, moon, thick clouds covering the moon, the visible galaxies from Earth and prays. 

Taking a deep breath, “Hey Gabriel” she starts, “It’s me. Ya girl”. She lets out a short laugh before continuing. 

“I just. I just wanted to say” trying to keep her breath steady, “I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for getting me over John. For getting me out of Hell, protecting me from Lilith. Everything. I don’t. I don't think I ever thanked you for all that". 

The night goes completely silent, the crickets go silent, “If you can show me a sign that you heard me that would be great”.

She looks around the property to see if anything changed, she looks up at the moon and sees the clouds surrounding it disperse. Moving away from the glowing rock in the sky.

She chuckles softly to herself, looking up “Is that you?”. A shooting star flies past the moon confirming that her Archangel heard her and is giving her a sign that he heard everything she said. Followed by a cool gust of wind, making her hair dance in the breeze.

Smiling up at the sky, “You heard” she mutters and goes back inside the house. 

[myinconnelly1]

A Life Unlived: Life Goes On Pt 4

Masterlist / Previous

Word Count: 1708

A/N: Season 4 - 5 good luck don’t murder me  Emily.... don’t fucking murder me; this is the end of Life Goes on

Warnings: smut, themes of cheating, canon gore, angst- oh so much angst, implied character death (canon), misuse of god/goddess from other religions (canon)

June 2009

“Dean?  Where’s Sam?”  Myin asked as she opened the motel room door to see the beaten down hunter.  “Did you find him?  Are you okay?”

“I’m fine,”  Dean said, not moving from the doorway.  I found him, but I was too late.  Myin I failed.  I didn’t stop him.”

“The Devil?”  Myin whispered before pulling Dean in the motel room and hugging him tightly.  “I don’t think you were ever supposed to succeed.

“Fuck destiny!”  Dean shouted causing Myin to let go and take a step back.  “Sorry.  There is more,”  He said quieter.  “The horsemen of the apocalypse came with the devil from Hell.”

“Wait,”  Myin said looking around.  She seemed unphased by the news of the horsemen.  “Where’s Sam?  Is he…”

“He’s alive,”  Dean said realizing the Myin had started crying.  He pulled her against his chest and held her there.  “After killing Lilith I don’t think he thought the other hunters would let him live.  He left, he’s hiding.  Oh,”  Dean pulled a letter from his pocket.  “He gave me this for you,”

“So what now?  Are you going to hide too?”  Myin asked as she put the letter in a drawer by the bed.

“No, I’m going to keep hunting.  I can’t stop now that Lucifer is out in the world free to raise hell,”  Dean flopped unceremoniously onto the motel bed.  “Can I stay here with you?”  He asked quietly as the bed dipped and he rolled next to Myin.

“For as long as you want,”  She replied and kissed his hand before holding it tight to her breast.

Dean would come and go often for hunts, but Myin was flexible with her life.  She had always planned everything out in the past with Jay, and then with Sam.  But now, she wasn’t going to hurt herself by doing things the way she always had before.  She often wondered why Castiel freed her from her agreement with him, and if it had anything to do with her and Dean getting together, but regardless their relationship had been a byproduct of the situation.

Dean would stay with her at the motel when she was working at the hospital and he would come and stay with her and her kids when she was off from work.  They both new that the relationship had been rushed, but neither of them really cared, and both found it very comfortable.  Dean had a way with Dani and Penny that put her mother in law at ease, and their relationship seemed to flourish despite Sam’s non-arrival after his disappearance.

August 25, 2009

“Myin?”  Dean called from the motel room.

“I’m in the bathroom,”  She responded quietly.

“Listen, I know things have been going pretty well for us,”  Dean said sighing and leaning his head against the wall of the bathroom door.  “But I had a dream- Zachariah zapped me to the end of the world, well after the end really.  I have to go… Myin I can’t stay here.  I have to find Sam.  I have to stop him.  I can’t let the Devil win.”

“I understand,”  Myin said, without leaving the bathroom.

“I’ll come back when it’s over.  Please keep the girls safe?”  Dean said before walking out the motel door.

“I’ll keep everyone safe,”  Myin said staring at the two pink lines on the pregnancy test in her hands.  “Well, kiddo, I don’t know what we’re going to do right now, but we will get through this.”

November 2009

“Myin, have you heard from Dean or Sam?”  Castiel asked as his wings fluttered into her office at the hospital.

“Christ, Castiel, you scared me!”  Myin exclaimed from behind her computer.  “Dean or Sam, no I haven’t heard from them in months.  Why?  Are they okay?”

“They went to Ohio, but I haven’t heard from them in a few days and I was hoping they had called you or something.  You and Dean were close last time I saw you,”  the angel said looking at her with a knowing look.

“No, I haven’t talked with them, since Dean’s encounter with Zachariah.  He was supposed to call me when they were safe,”  Myin said looking at a picture of her daughters on her desk.

“Sorry to bother you,”  Castiel said before disappearing.  Myin looked around her office before sitting down to type a letter for her boss.

“I have to leave, you can send me on an extended sabatical or I can resign,”  Myin said as she handed her letter to her supervisor.  “I’m sorry to say that I won’t be able to give you two weeks notice, but everything is in order that this location can run itself for almost a month with very little maintenance from me, and you already knew I was going to be leaving in a few months.”

“I will accept your resignation under the stipulation that you will come back to work for me when you have your affairs in order,”  Her boss said.  “I’ve never had someone that fit in as well as you did.”

“Thank you, I hope to see you soon,”  Myin said exhaling.

It weeks for Myin to track the brothers.  She started in Ohio, after settling things with her mother in law and her daughters, and finally caught up with them in Massachusetts after Christmas.

“Sam?”  Myin asked as she caught him at a bar in a small town called Housatonic.  He was drinking a frozen fruit drink with a look of astonishment and playing with his hair in the mirror behind the bar.  “Sam?” She had to walk over to him and put a hand on his arm to get his attention.

“Oh hey, sorry.  I was uh… distracted,”  He said looking down at her awkwardly.

“Are you and Dean okay?  Castiel was trying to find you, and we were all worried,”  Myin asked trying to get him to look her in the eye.

“Oh yeah we’re fine, totally and completely fine.  No need to worry about anything,”  He said nonchalantly.

“Uh huh, so you and Dean worked things out then?  You’re okay with me and him.  He told you about the baby?”  Myin questioned, finally seeing his eyes.  She knew they weren’t Sam’s.

“Oh yeah, pfftt,”  He threw his hand out to brush off her statement physically.  “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it.  You guys were made for each other,”

“Right,”  Myin said.  “Where’s Sam?”

“What?”  The fake Sam said eyes going wide.  Myin’s phone rang, distracting her from her interrogation.

“I’ll be right back,”  She told fake Sam firmly.  “Don’t leave.”  She walked out of the bar to answer the phone call from Bobby.

“Would you like to do the sex with me?”  Gary asked the beautiful blonde sitting at the bar near him, and was able to convince her to leave with him.

“Shit, Bobby.  I just found Sam what’s up?  What do you mean I need to get out of here?”  Myin said looking around before realizing the uncomfortable feeling she’s had since she got to this town was the same one she would get when her father would cast magic.  “Alright old man, I’m out of here, don’t be so cranky.”

March 2010

~I don’t know what, something just isn’t right.  It was pouring rain as Myin sat in front of her computer messaging an international friend.

~remember how I told you that you worry too much?  Myin scoffed at way that Emily dismissed Myin’s danger.  She couldn’t blame the woman.  She live in a different world, and it wasn’t like Myin could tell her it was all true.  She rubbed her baby bump wondering for the millionth time if Dean was going to call her that night.  But as the hours crept on, she was starting to feel like it wasn’t likely.

~you know that feeling when someone is there but can’t be real?  Myin typed and sent before feeling power unlike she had ever felt.

“I’m taking pity on you mortal.  Normally, I wouldn’t care what happened to someone like you.  But your friend is very dedicated in her prayers,”  A stunning woman of Indian decent stood in Myin motel room.

“Who are you?”  Myin asked as she stood and dropped her laptop on the floor in favor of a pistol.

“Kali, now put that down before you make a mistake,”  The goddess gestured to her firearm.  “The Winchesters are going to face off against the Devil.  Their plan is foolhardy but it’s the only chance they have.”

“Why are you telling me this?”  Myin asked, holding her belly to soothe the squirming child.

“Let’s just say I owed someone a favor, and I didn’t want it to linger.  You need to protect yourself and your children.  Stop looking for the brothers.  And don’t trust any angels.”  She handed Myin a piece of paper with a weird symbol on it.  “Put this up in ever corner of your home and stay there.  Nothing will come inside that isn’t invited.”  Kali glanced at Myin’s computer.  “She’s wrong.  You don’t worry too much.  You should be thankful to have someone like her in your life.”

“Wait what about-”  Myin looked around as the goddess disappeared from her home.  Then flopped onto her couch and pulled the laptop back on to her lap.

~What the correct way to thank a goddess for saving your life?  Myin asked her Hindu specialist.  She needed to give Emily a hug, the woman couldn’t possible know how much she had just saved her neck.

May 2010

Myin stared at the message on her phone as Jody sat and cooed at the new born baby girl.

~We won, I lost.  I won’t be back.  Dean

Myin wasn’t sure how she was going to get back on her feet now that Sam was dead and Dean was gone.  Jody brought the baby over to her to nurse, and Myin cuddled her daughter knowing in her heart this was the safest thing for her child.  If no one knew that her father was a Winchester that was better.

“What are you gonna name her?”  Jody asked sitting down near her.

“Jenny,”  Myin said, keeping her obscure Disney name trend going to keep suspicions low.  “Jenny Connelly.”

@waywardbaby​ @destielhoneybee​ @snffbeebee​ @deangirl7695​ @spnbaby-67​ @maddiepants​ @ladywinchester1967​ @woodworthti666​ @miraclesoflove​ @tumbler-tidbits​​ @emilyshurley​​ @akshi8278​​ @mannls​​ @wendibird​​ @bobasheebaby​​​ @theoneandonlymelol​ @chelsea072498​​ @donnaintx​​ @justsomedreaming​​ @supernaturalenchanted​​ @kalesrebellion​​ @prettydeaneyes​​ @emoryhemsworth​ @laphirablack @dontshootmespence​ @its-a-spn-thing​ @vicmc624​ @idreamofplaid​​ @anaelsbrunette​@winchesterxfamilybusiness​ @kickingitwithkirk​​ @wayward-mikaelson​ @electraphyng @mariekoukie6661​ @ @deanwinchesterinthedarktower @katelynw93​

[bylerboyfriends]

Can you write something with Will like being out somewhere and he runs into his dad whose just a big, dumb jerk and so he calls Mike to ask him to pick him up. And Mike's just super comforting and protective because I live for that obviously.

When Will Byers looked outside his bedroom window, a smile was immediately brought to his face. It was a wonderfully sunny day. He rushes out of his bedroom and down the stairs; nearly each step causing a creak in the boards. Their house in Ohio is nicer and bigger than their Indiana home even though it’s very old and in great need of a new paint job.

When he reaches the kitchen he is greeted by his mother. A small smile on her face as she stands at the counter with a mug of coffee in her hand. “Hi honey,” she says, opening her arms for a hug, “I knew you’d be down early on such a pretty day.”

Will smiles widely as he leans into her embrace, “Hi mom.”

They exchange a few words before Will takes the short grocery list and a twenty dollar bill then heads out the door. Their house was very conveniently placed, only a moderate walk from town. It’s an enjoyable walk: large trees that provide shade from the sun, sweet sounding birds, and the nicest neighbors ever.

As Will is strolling down the street he gets several smiles from cute elderly members of the block, sometimes being stopped for an exchange of small talk. He soon makes it to town, where he enters a family owned shop and is greeted by an enthusiastic hello from the owner. “Byers! I was just wondering when you would stop by again!”

“Hi, Mr. DeMarco! Just need a few things.”

“Of course, son. Oh, there’s a sale on Pillsbury products.” He winks and moseys away.

Will only took 4 steps down an aisle before he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see none other than his father.

“Hey there, boy.” Lonnie ruffled his son’s hair and half grinned down at him.

“D-dad?” Will didn’t even know if it was appropriate to call him that. He sure as hell hasn’t been much of a dad since.... well he never really had been one. “What do you want?”

Lonnie chuckled. A wet, sarcastic laugh. He’s been drinking. “What, a man can’t visit his son?”

“How’d you find me?”

Lonnie paused a moment before responding, looking Will up and down. “Ways.”

Will began to freak out. How in the hell did Lonnie find him? Does he know someone here, in Ohio? He takes a few steps backwards. This resulted in another chuckle from his father.

“You always were a fuckin’ pussy. Never wanting to face what’s in front of you.”

“What do you want? Why are you here?”

“I have a right to see my family.”

“We are NOT family.”

“Now, son,” Lonnie puts a hand on Will’s shoulder. When he pulled back from his touch, Lonnie got angry and grabbed both of Will’s arms, then got uncomfortably close to his face. “No matter how much you want to deny it, I’ll always be a part of you. You’ve got half my DNA kid, that’s not something you can run away from.”

“What exactly have I run from, dad? Because I can bet that I’m braver than you’ll ever even dream to be.”

Lonnie shoved his shoulder.

“You don’t know a thing about me. You don’t even want to! All you care about is making sure I know that we’re the biggest regret of your life.”

Another shove.

“Is this what happens when I don’t run? You push me away instead? Because it’s YOU that’s afraid to face what’s in front of you. Not me.”

Lonnie pushes Will so hard he slides down the floor of the aisle. “SHUT UP. SHUT THE HELL UP. You’ve got a lot of nerve talking to me like that, son.”

“I WILL NEVER BE YOUR SON.”

Lonnie rears his fist back. Will shuts his eyes tight and braces himself, but the punch never comes. Instead, there were sirens.

Will opened his eyes to see his dad running to the back exit of the store. He looks up from his position on the floor to see Mr. DeMarco at the end of the aisle, a concerned look on his face.

“Hey kid,” he says shyly, “you alright?”

“Uhm...” Will turns to avoid the sweet store manager seeing the tear slide down his cheek. “Yea, I’m fine. Thank you, Mr. DeMarco. C-can I borrow your phone?”                                        *** Mike got there frighteningly quick. When Will called him, he was ironically already on his way to visit the Byers as a surprise. But as soon as Mike heard the panic in his best friend’s voice, he pushed twice as hard on the gas pedal. He was honestly surprised he didn’t get pulled over, but it wouldn’t matter anyway. Will was hurting.

Mike swerves into a parking space and rushes to Will, who was sitting on the sidewalk outside of a small store. “Will, are you okay? What happened?”

“My dad,” he responds. “He found me, somehow. I- I don’t know how but he did and as soon as he saw me he just started... started berating me. Treating me like shit when he hasn’t even seen me since... since....”

Mike realized then that the last time Will’s father came around was when everyone thought he was dead. Even then, Lonnie only cared because he saw profit in the misery.

“Will, it’s okay now.” Mike looks around to see cops talking to a short and chubby man who seemed to be the store manager. “The cops will take care of it. They’ll find him and put his ass in jail.”

His best friend sighed exasperatedly, as if Mike’s words had no truth to them. “On what charges? All he did was shove me.”

“HE SHOVED YOU? WHO THE HELL DOES HE THINK HE IS?” Mike only thought Lonnie had come to... well Mike didn’t really know what he had come to do. All he knew was that Will sounded scared and Mike needed to be there for him immediately. But now that he knows that asshole pushed Will? Anger was bubbling in the pit of his stomach. The knowledge that he couldn’t do anything, wasn’t there to protect Will... what if Will didn’t get away? What if no one called the cops?

“Mike?”

Will’s voice snapped him out of his thoughts. When he looked over at his friend, the mixed emotions in his eyes broke his heart. Confusion, concern, frustration... fear. Mike sat next to his friend, “I’m sorry, Will. I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

Tears fall onto Will’s cheeks. The exhaustion in his eyes broke something in Mike. He knew the pain his friend has been through. He couldn’t help but want to take Will into his arms and tell him everything will be okay.

He decides that might be too forward, though. Instead he helps Will stand up and they go to Mike’s car. When they were situated in the driver and passenger seat, Mike took Will’s hand. “You don’t have to go home, Will. I’ll stay here with you all night.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I want to! I’m not letting you go home when you feel unsafe. And this is the perfect opportunity,” Mike turns and puts his arm in between the seat and the car door. Suddenly, the chair pops backward, “To show off my reclining seats.” He wiggles his eyebrows; this was his weak attempt at cheering Will up.

He did end up smiling and wiping the tears off his red and puffy cheeks, eyes bloodshot. He hates seeing Will like this, it’s a side of Will that Mike is all too familiar with.

“Hey. You’re not alone.” He squeezes Will’s hand. “I’m here. I’ll stay as long as you need me to. You can come stay with me for a little while, even. The piece of shit already knows where I live so he wouldn’t be getting any new information.... Just tell me what you want, Will. I’ll do anything.”

….And this is when Will finally breaks down. He leans over the armrest that separates the two boys and leans into Mike’s chest, crying harshly. “What does he want, Mike? What does he want!”

A solid rock of anger, stress, and longing seemed to plant itself in his lungs. All he could do was wrap his arms around his friend and assure him that it will be okay. He lets him cry into his chest while rubbing circles on his back, not making a sound as tears stream down Mike’s own face.

Mike had planned to surprise Will that day. To use the courage he’s forced himself to work up and finally confess his feelings for Will. Of course he didn’t know what would come of it and he was scared as hell but… this was supposed to be a good day. No matter what would have happened Mike would at least be relieved of the secret he’s been killing himself with for years now.

But maybe his plans didn’t play out for a reason. Obviously it’s inappropriate to confess now, when the boy he’s in love with is crying, scared and shaking in his arms.

Maybe it’s a sign. Maybe Mike just isn’t meant to tell Will just yet… or ever. Maybe he should just be grateful that he’s friends with the boy of his dreams. He shouldn’t ruin what he already has.

Eventually, Will ended up completely in the driver's seat. Both boys cuddled close together. Mike continued to rub Will’s back as he was asleep, his face snuggled into Mike’s chest. He had never felt so uncomfortable yet completely secure in his life. He knew there would be several kinks in his neck and back tomorrow but he refused to move. Will was safe in his arms, peacefully asleep. And if this was the best Mike could get, he’ll take it. He’ll hold Will tight and bask in the closeness.

For now, this is good. For now, Mike is content. 

[klaineccfanficlibrary]

I had to drive cross country and now I have to quarantine for 12 more days. To keep from going nuts I’m reading a TON. What are you favorite really long stories or verses? I just re-read Crowded House and it took me just over 2 days. I just would like to immerse myself in one universe a day rather than several. I keep getting characters and situations mixed up if I read several shorter fics in a day. :)

You must be do some serious reading if you read Crowded House in two days! Under the cut are 12 fic recs for your 12 days of quarantine. Let us know how you got on. Stay safe.  - HKVoyage

In Every Lifetime by @jayhawk-writes and @teddyshoney

A series of connected AUs inspired by this line from Blaine's proposal:

"It's always felt like I was remembering you from something. As if, in every lifetime you and I have ever lived, we've chosen to come back and find each other and fall in love all over again. Over and over for all of eternity."

~~~~~

There From The Start series by BlurglesmurfKlaine (@blaineanderdumbass)

What if Blaine had been the 12th member of the New Directions instead of Matt? (bc lbr he had like two lines the whole season and had zero storylines) Set in Season One canon, same(ish?) storyline, but with Blaine and Klaine. Not too sure what I’ll change yet ;) Football Player!Blaine

~~~~~

Beautiful Mess by WildHurricane

What do you say when your very straight friend tells you he wants to know what it's like to kiss a guy and all you want to say is "kiss me".

Kurt is secretly in love with his best friend Blaine. He's recently figured out he's gay, but hasn't told anyone. Especially not Blaine. Or his girlfriend.

Blaine is confused and in denial about why he wants to kiss Kurt. He's not gay. He has a long line of girlfriends to prove that.

Both are scared what it will do to their friendship if the other finds out.

~~~~~

Keep My Heart Captive, Set Me Free by @keepmyheartcaptive / The Queen of Rose

D/s AU - Kurt Hummel had always dreamed of a fairy-tale bond, a perfect, kind and caring Dom. Blaine Anderson had always dreamed of someone who stands out from the boring crowd, someone real, and pure. When their worlds collide, will either of them get what they had dreamed of?

~~~~~

Ride by @nellie12

Blaine is pretty popular in his city of Long Beach, CA. Summer is here and he’s ready to spend it with friends- BMX bike riding in the skate park and surfing when the waves are perfect. Flirting with girls is a definite. But when a new kid from Ohio shows up, Blaine finds himself wanting to share all these things with him, too. But Kurt’s just his friend, right?

~~~~~

Lessons In Being a Man by Whatsername Lambert [PDF]

Kurt is a beloved music teacher and, along with partner Dave Karofsky, proud father to 6-year-old Ellie. Blaine, his best friend, is a young Chicago lawyer who unwillingly becomes the leader of a statewide gay rights movement. When Kurt and Ellie’s home life turns violent as a result of Dave’s alcoholism, Blaine opens up his home to them. Brief Kurtofsky, Klaine later. Future fic.

My Note: There is very very little Kurtofsky is this story.

~~~~~

Until Further Notice Series by lostinfictionalworlds

Money can’t buy happiness. Businessman Kurt is still trying to figure that one out, and performer Blaine thought he knew what he wanted, until he came across a Personal Assistant Ad. A story of acceptance and love, from one’s self and that of others, more specifically, one other.

~~~~~

Wake Me Up Inside Trilogy by MrsCriss2012

Kurt Hummel is a shy, insecure fifteen year old. Blaine Anderson is a thirty one year old musician. When their worlds collide, Blaine discovers he’s powerless to resist the lure of Kurt’s eyes and his exquisite voice, and Kurt begins a journey of awakening. *There is a large passage of time in this story meaning no illegal happenings!

~~~~~

Sideways by CrissColferL0ve  

Blaine is the most popular kid at school, he’s also a bully. Kurt is the new kid and the victim of the football team, but bullying somebody doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t end up liking them, even if you try your best not to.

Sequel: Anywhere But Here

~~~~~

Glory Verse by Amberlovesocean

Kurt is assaulted after singing at a school dance and is left for dead, thrown aboard an empty train car at the railroad freight yard to hide the crime.

He wakes up to find he's been tossed off the car somewhere in an Oregon logging camp, 2500 miles from home. A curly-haired kid named Blaine finds Kurt and protects him by hiding him in his cabin and teaching him how to survive.

~~~~~

Express Yourself by @esperantoauthor

When he was 4, he didn’t notice it. When he was 6, he hoped he could outgrow it. When he was 14 he thought he could ignore it. When he was 16, he tried hide it.

When Blaine is attacked for being different, he transfers to a new school where he meets a cadre of misfits called The New Directions, who seem very impressed with his singing and very curious about his past. Blaine just wanted to fit in but maybe he will find something better: his voice.

[A canon-divergent story in which Blaine transferred to McKinley rather than Dalton after being attacked at his old school.]

~~~~~

Westerville Abbey Verse by @hkvoyage

Blaine is the second son of the earl of Westerville, and is considered the spare heir. After his 18th birthday, he attends the London Season to fulfill his duty of finding a wife. He soon realizes he is more attracted to the new footman. Kurt, who has just arrived at Westerville Abbey to work alongside his father, becomes equally as smitten with the earl’s youngest son. Will Blaine and Kurt be able to overcome their class differences in 1910s England? Will their forbidden love survive WW1? A Downton Abbey inspired historical Klaine AU.

[frappsundies]

DUMP OF ALL THREE (3) AUs

A whole lot of nonsense blease disregard

Bad Dolphin AU

Premise

After losing his ability to find humor in things and being forced to work for Professor Poopypants, Harold slowly drifts away from George. He believes that it’s better for the two of them to stop being friends, as they generally get in each other’s way. George, after an accident involving time-travel and dinosaurs, has somehow been turned into a reptilian hybrid, which usually does him more bad than good.

Differences in Attributes / Appearance

Harold: Missing an eye and has a scar on the right side of his face

George: Everything pertaining to his skin is green, and he has scales all over his body. He has pointed ears, and two particularly large canines on the left side of his mouth. He also has a tail that (sometimes) seems to have a mind of its own. Can become animalistic, whatever that means, since he’s never awake when that happens.

Melvin: Acquired superpowers similar to Captain Underpants’, with both additional powers and less strength. Unlike Krupp, he doesn’t get his powers from the sound of a snap, but instead from hearing a safe word. After a set period of time the powers go away, and the cooldown time varies. He can also see without his glasses when his powers are active, but he still prefers to keep his glasses on.

Captain Underpants/Krupp: Separate

Relationships

Harold/George:  

Both Harold and George have conflicting feelings about the other. Harold doesn’t want to stay friends with George, but he also tends to get a little jealous when George does things with other people. On the other hand, George wants to be friends with Harold, but is afraid that he’ll hurt him again, which is part of the reason Harold doesn’t like him in the first place.

Harold/Melvin:

Melvin had wanted to befriend Harold ever since kindergarten, but when he finally worked up the courage to ask, George had moved to Ohio and quickly became friends with Harold. This led him to dislike both of them. However, after he gets the opportunity to work alongside Harold, he uses it as a chance to both become friends with Harold and make George jealous. Harold likes Melvin, but he doesn’t consider him as a replacement for George, contrary to the other boys’ belief. Harold also tends to get upset with Melvin, since he thinks that because they’re friends, he has a green card to do whatever he wants.

Harold/Poopypants:

Despite the fact that initially they were in a villain-lackey relationship, Poopypants and Harold kind of develop a borderline father-son relationship. Poopypants hates Harold and Melvin less than most other kids since they don’t laugh at him, most likely because they can’t rather than them not wanting to. Harold warms up to the evil professor after a while, even agreeing with some of the things that he says. After Poopypants learns what happened to Harold’s biological father, he does become more lenient. Harold has a softening effect on Poopypant’s personality, while Harold becomes more and more annoyed with all the things the Professor hates.

Harold/Heidi Hutchins:

Harold loves his sister, but because of constant stress and being around her and their mother less often, he has a tendency to keep things hidden. He blames himself for her getting hospitalized.

Harold/Porkbelly:

Porkbelly is the most similar to a father figure for Harold. As uncommon as it is for Porkbelly to be around, he still treats Harold as if he were his own kid.

George/Melvin:

George doesn’t like Melvin, but he tolerates him. If forced to, they will work with each other. They argue a lot, and since they have the same class, they interact quite a bit as well.

George/Krupp:

At first, Mr. Krupp only gets along with George because he and Harold help him get a date with Edith. In spite of that, due to not being able to hang out with Harold, he turns to Captain Underpants instead. George tends to lounge around in Krupp’s office whenever he gets detention, and will stay over at Krupp’s place sometimes, with the permission of his parents. Similar to how Harold and Poopypants have opposite effects on each other, Krupp becomes slightly nicer and George is meaner and a bit more selfish.

George/Underpants:

George thinks Captain Underpants is annoying, but he has to deal with him because he’s a hero. Captain Underpants is very caring, even when George doesn’t want to be cared for.  

George/Kipper:

Kipper and George are friends, along with Kipper’s friends: Loogie, Finkstein, and Bugg. Kipper still doesn’t like Harold, and vice versa. Kipper and George hang out whenever time permits, and Kipper is willing to protect George if necessary. He was also one of the first to learn about George’s “freak-outs,” and he knows the specific things that make him uncomfortable.

George/Edith:

Edith is very motherly toward George, and lets him eat behind the counter in the cafeteria, since no one wants to sit next to him anyway.

Fancypants AU

Premise

When George and Harold were around 3 or 4, Professor Poopypants made a machine that malfunctioned and launched large masses of debris off in different directions. Two pieces hit each of the unsuspecting boys’ houses. By some miracle, they survived, though the parents did not. George is found by two lovely Spanish parents (who are planning to move to Ohio), and Harold is taken in by the professor who caused the whole event.

Differences in Attributes / Appearance

Harold: His hair is usually covering his right eye, and is often seen wearing a crown (no one knows if it is authentic or not, he won’t tell anyone.) Harold has cuts and burns from almost getting fried by the explosion. He writes things in his notebooks, both in class and when he’s alone. Rarely seen as discontent.

George: Speaks Spanish, as he grew up with a Hispanic adoptive family. He, like Harold, has burn marks and scratches, from the explosion he was caught in, on his arms and legs. George also has a mark on his face from the same incident. He tends to try to cover them up, while Harold makes no real effort to do so. He draws and paints when he’s by himself. Generally, he is either scowling or frowning.

Captain Underpants (Señor/Herr Fancypants): Has a sombrero and a royal cape in the comic, but will grab anything to use as a cape as long as it’s purple. George carries around a sombrero on his back, since Fancy seems to like wearing it.

Relationships

Harold/George:  

Harold doesn’t really like George, and is, in fact, upset that George doesn’t do whatever he tells him to do. He’s the butt of George’s jokes and pranks when it isn’t one of the teachers or Mr. Krupp. Harold constantly tries to make George be his ‘friend,’ which in reality equates to being a flunky, like Melvin. George doesn’t like anyone at the school, and Harold and Melvin are his least favorites besides the adults.

Harold/Melvin:

Melvin receives some form of validation and praise from Harold whenever he makes an invention, whatever the purpose of it is. Melvin was Harold’s first attempt at making a friend, so Melvin considers himself as Harold’s friend. That being the case, he doesn’t like George because Harold keeps trying to befriend him. With how Harold essentially rules the school, Melvin thinks he’s also above the rest of the students, despite being treated very similarly by Harold. In exchange for helping with his homework and doing mostly whatever he demands, Harold feigns friendship. Occasionally, Harold will actually be nice to Melvin.

Harold/Poopypants:

Poopypants more or less adopts Harold after accidentally almost killing him. He feels guilty about it, but he still hates kids and doesn’t know how to deal with them. Anytime Harold would complain or ask for something, Poopypants would get it for him just so he would stop bothering him, resulting in Harold becoming a spoiled brat. Harold doesn’t like for people to make fun of Poopypants’ name.

George/Harold/Fancypants:

Both George and Harold think Fancypants is extremely annoying. He also pushes them to work together, which neither of them are particularly willing to do.

George/Romero

When they were younger, the only people George would have to turn to were his parents because Romero made his life nearly unbearable. Romero didn’t like all the attention George would get, being the newest addition to the family of four, so he would do his best to bully George and make him feel like he didn’t belong there. Subsequently, George avoided other students because he thought they didn’t like him, and other students tend to avoid him, since he looks unwelcoming. Romero is nicer to George now, but George still doesn’t trust him, or anybody else.

Mythos AU

Premise

A vampire, a merman, and a shapeshifter are the three closest friends at Jerome Horrorwitz Elementary. They also experience some of the weirder parts of the community, like a werewolf who transforms in the day time, a dwarf who wants to take over the world, and various out-of-control monsters.  

Differences in Attributes / Appearance

Harold: All merfolk have sparkles on their face that match the color of their tails; Harold’s tail is blue. In his more human-like form, his feet are blue instead. All of his teeth are sharp, and he has a shell necklace that lets him stay on land for prolonged periods of time.

George: His eyes are red and his skin is lighter. He’s got four sharp teeth used for sucking the red out of things.

Melvin: Has pointed ears and a missing tooth (cause unknown). Does have a sense of humor, but it spans a smaller range than George and Harold’s.

Krupp/Underpants: A giant werewolf, that for some reason, changes in the day time rather than at night.

Relationships

Harold/George/Melvin:  

Harold, Melvin, and George are all friends. Melvin is known, however, to betray them for his own benefit at times. George and Melvin like to hang out with Harold, but they can’t get too close if he’s wet, as both of them get burned by sea-water. George is only able to be outside with them sometimes, due to the sun being extremely harmful.

George/Underpants/Harold/Melvin:

Underpants often carries the boys around since he’s so much bigger than them. None of them exactly know how he succeeds at anything, him being a mixture of clumsy and too big not to cause collateral damage (in regards to buildings). They understand his flaws and love him anyway.

Krupp/Edith:

They have a crush on each other, but their height difference is a bit restrictive on their relationship.

[spn-safeandsound]

09. Hurt Feelings

Safe and Sound

Dean Winchester x Original Character

Episode: 1x13; Route 666

Word Count: 10,028

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence and gore, arguing

Author’s Note: New chapter alert! Sam and Julia finally talk about her feelings for Dean? Hope you enjoy! Reblog and like!

Masterlist in Profile Description!

Julia paced up and down the candy aisle at some gas station that she hadn't bothered to learn the name of. Her sweet tooth was out of control so she wanted to stock up on sweets before they continued on their journey to Pennsylvania. She already had some chocolate bars, goldfish crackers, and a couple of mini pies for Dean in the basket she was carrying around but now she needed fruity candies.

She reached forward, picking out a bag of Air Heads and then hesitated, eyeing the Skittles and Starbursts. After a couple of seconds, she grabbed a bag of each and threw them in the basket with the other snacks. As she moved on to the drink coolers, she grabbed a bag of jerky for Sam.

Sam found her by the Gatorade, searching for her favorite blue flavor.

"Are you almost ready?" he asked as he searched the basket, clicking his tongue in disapproval when he saw all the sweets. "Dean wants to get going."

"Well, Dean can wait," Julia stated. "I need a drink."

Sam sighed and opened the cooler door, reaching above her head to grab the lighter of the blue Gatorades. "There you go, Glacier Freeze."

"Thanks!"

"You should get some water, too," Sam advised as he grabbed a couple water bottles from the cooler. "You're gonna need it if you're eating all that sugar."

"Sam, hasn't anyone told you never to comment on a girl's eating habits?" Julia pursed her lips at him; Sam sent her an apologetic smile. "Okay, so, did you find a way around that construction?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," they walked through the aisles and to the counter. "We're not going to Pennsylvania anymore."

She smiled at the worker as they put their things on the counter so they could pay. "What? Why not?"

"An old friend of Dean's called. Her name's Cassie," Sam informed her as she slid her card through the machine. "I guess she needs our help."

Julia wrinkled her nose, trying to figure out Cassie was familiar to her. "Wait, Cassie Robinson?"

"I guess so. Why?"

Julia took the plastic bag from the worker. "Thanks so much," she said before she and Sam started walking out of the gas station. "Dean called me, like, two years ago drunk out of his mind and—"

"What?" Sam interrupted her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"That was after you two stopped talking, Sam," she reminded him; he nodded in realization. "Anyway, he was drunk and for some reason he called me."

"About Cassie," Sam assumed.

"Yep," Julia slowed down as they exited the building, her eyes on the Impala where Dean was waiting for them. "Did he say anything about her to you?"

Sam shook his head. "Not much. Just her name and that her father was killed in a car accident."

Julia hummed. When Dean had called her about Cassie, he was upset that she had dumped him. He had given her the ghosts-are-real-and-I-hunt-them speech and she had bolted, breaking up with him and calling him crazy. He had been in love with the girl, too. It was one of the only times that Dean had ever been truly honest with Julia about how he was feeling—though she was pretty sure it was because he was wasted.

Julia never mentioned it again and she didn't even know if Dean remembered calling her. She was just a little apprehensive about them going to see Cassie; she was protective of her boys and she didn't like when anyone hurt them.

"There you are," Dean sighed in aggravation as Julia and Sam slid into their respective seats, shutting their doors in unison. "What'd you need? A stockpile?"

"Well, I guess I can go return the pie I got..."

Dean eagerly turned around, an enthusiastic smile on my face. "Apple?"

"And cherry."

"Ooh, baby, you're so good to me," Dean playfully winked at her as she passed up two of the pies. Her cheeks flushed a dark pink as he turned back around and, when Sam gave her a small smirk, she practically threw his bag of jerky at him.

As Dean pulled out onto the road, a bite of pie already in his mouth, Julia spoke up, "Sam told me about Cassie," Dean paused mid-chew but he eventually he nodded. "Where does she live?"

"Cape Girardeau, Missouri."

Julia nodded and tore open the Almond Joy bar, ripping the almond off the top and throwing it into the garbage bag they kept so the Impala wouldn't get dirty. She stuffed the coconut and milk chocolate in her mouth, enjoying the sweetness on her tongue.

"So, this Cassie..." Sam looked over at his brother with a curious smile. "By old friend, do you mean...?"

"A friend that's not new."

"Wow, thanks for that," Sam rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Dean."

"Fine," Dean grunted in annoyance. "we went out."

"You mean you dated someone?" Sam seemed surprised. "For more than one night?"

"Am I speaking a language you're not getting here?" Dean snipped. "Dad and I were working a job in Athens, Ohio, she was finishing up college. We went out for a couple of weeks."

And fell in love, Julia supplied mentally, and then broke up because she thought you were crazy.

"And...?"

Dean shrugged in avoidance.

"Okay," Julia sighed and rested her chin on the back of their seat. "not to be negative here, because it's really sad that she lost her dad, but it sounds like a normal car wreck. I'm not seeing a connection to what we do."

"Which, by the way, how does she know what we do?" Sam added, both of them looking at the oldest Winchester for answers.

Dean licked his lips, like he was about to say something, but then pressed his mouth shut, thinking better of it. He avoided their eyes by keeping his right on the road, which was unusual for him. Julia was pretty sure that Dean was one of the most distracted drivers she had ever seen in her life but somehow he was still one of the best drivers.

Sam could connect the dots about Dean's awkward behavior. "You told her. You told her the secret," he proclaimed, voice completely shocked but a little angry, too. "Our big family rule number one: we do what we do and we shut up about it."

Dean sighed but Sam wasn't finished.

"For a year and a half, I do nothing but lie to Jessica and you go out with this chick in Ohio for a couple of weeks and you tell her everything?" he asked in disbelief. When Dean didn't answer, he raised his voice. "Dean!"

"Yeah," Dean finally spoke. "Looks like."

Sam gave his brother a bitch face but Dean pointedly ignored it.

"I know this isn't the best time but...Sam, why did you sound more upset about the fact they were Ohio than anything else?"

Sam gave Julia the bitch face, too.

-

The newspaper that Cassie worked for was squished into a small brick building in downtown Cape Girardeau. It was actually kind of cute, with small clusters of desks put together so that all of the workers were grouped with their own—the reporters with the reporters, the photographers with the photographers, the editors with the editors.

Julia, Sam, and Dean had been pointed in the direction of where Cassie would be by the receptionist. They made their way over to a gathering of three people conversing in the back corner of the office. Two of them were men and the woman had to be Cassie.

Cassie was beautiful with light brown skin and dark curls that seemed to lay perfectly. And, despite losing her father only days before, she looked well put together. It took Julia two weeks to even leave the house after Naomi died, so she knew Cassie had to be a strong woman. Dean wouldn't have fallen for her if she wasn't.

The man on Cassie's left was confronting the other man when the three of them walked over. "Two black people were killed on the same stretch of road in the same way in two weeks."

"Jimmy, you're too close for this. Those guys were friends of yours," the man tried to placate him before turning to Cassie. "Again, Cassie, I'm very sorry for your loss."

The second man turned and walked away and after a few seconds, so did Jimmy. Cassie was left alone but her eyes quickly fell upon Dean who was watching her with a small, if not awkward smile.

He nodded at her when her eyes widened.

"Dean," she sighed in relief, walking toward them. Her eyes were only for Dean, though. She hadn't even noticed Julia or Sam.

"Hey, Cassie."

Sam and Julia exchanged a small but amused smile when Dean and Cassie continued to silently stare at each other for around twenty seconds.

Finally, Dean cleared his throat. "This is my brother, Sam," he nodded at Sam and then at Julia. "and his friend, Julia."

Julia gave Cassie a quick smile in greeting but then it promptly fell. Why had he introduced her like that? First of all, she was Sam's best friend—as in, he was her brother and she was a sister to him. Second of all, she considered Dean to be her friend so did he not consider her as one?

"Sorry about your dad," Dean continued.

"Yeah," Cassie agreed sadly. "Me, too."

A half-hour later, Julia, Sam, and Dean were squished into a small couch with each other at Cassie's house. Cassie had made Julia and Sam some tea, with Dean declining the offer, and then sat on the seat across from them.

"My mother's in pretty bad shape," Cassie told them sadly. "I've been staying with her. I wish she wouldn't go off by herself, she's been so nervous and frightened. She was worried about Dad."

"Why?" Dean wondered as Julia and Sam sipped at their tea.

"He was scared," Cassie answered. "He was seeing things."

"Like what?"

"He swore he saw an awful-looking black truck following him. "

"A truck," Sam repeated, setting his teacup back on its saucer. "Who was the driver?"

"He didn't talk about a driver, just the truck," Cassie told him. "He said it would appear and disappear. In the accident, Dad's car was dented, like it had been slammed into by something big."

"Now, are you sure that this dent wasn't there before?"

Cassie shook her head. "He sold cars. Always drove a new one. There wasn't a scratch on that thing," she stated. "It was raining that night, there was mud everywhere. There was a distinct set of muddy tracks leading from Dad's car leading right..." her voice broke; Julia could feel her sadness and grief. "leading right to the edge, where he went over. One set of tracks—his."

"And the first victim was a friend of your father's?" Julia asked, taking another sip of her tea.

"Best friend. Clayton Soames," Cassie confirmed; at least she knew the difference between a friend and a best friend. "They owned the car dealership together."

Julia pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "The same thing?"

Cassie nodded. "Dent, no tracks, and the cops said exactly what they said about Dad. He lost control of his car."

Dean gave Sam a pointed look and then asked her, "Can you think of any reason why your father and his partner might be targets?"

"No."

"And you think this vanishing truck ran them off the road?"

Cassie laughed slightly at Sam's question, though it sounded bitter. "When you say it aloud like that..." she shook her head. "Listen, I'm a little skeptical about this...ghost stuff or whatever it is you guys are into."

Dean scoffed. "Skeptical," he repeated angrily. "If I remember, I think you said I was nuts."

Cassie pursed her lips. "That was then," Dean hummed sarcastically. "I just know that I can't explain what happened up there so I called you."

The front door opened and a woman walked in—well, stumbled in. Cassie jumped to her feet to rush over to her, while Julia, Sam, and Dean stood politely.

"Mom, where have you been?" Cassie steadied Mrs. Robinson. "I was so worried about you."

Mrs. Robinson waved her off, eyeing Julia, Dean, and Sam. "I had no idea you'd invited friends over."

"Mom, this is Dean, a..." Cassie hesitated before continuing. "friend of mine from college. This is his brother, Sam, and his friend, Julia."

Julia waved slightly, hiding her bitterness with a sympathetic smile.

She didn't even know why she was so bitter that Dean didn't consider her a friend. If he didn't, that was fine. They had only known each other for twenty years and spent almost everyday of the last seven months together in close corridors.

"Well, I, uh, I won't interrupt you," Mrs. Robinson went to walk out of the room but stopped when Dean spoke.

"Mrs. Robinson, we're sorry for your loss," he apologized. "We'd like to talk to you for a minute, if you don't mind?"

Mrs. Robinson looked at him wide, angry eyes. "I'm really not up for that right now."

As she walked out of the room, Cassie turned to them apologetically. "Sorry, she's having a rough time."

"It's no problem," Julia assured her. Grief effected everyone differently; Julia was rather avoidant and distant, herself, when she grieved. "It's late, we should get going..."

Dean nodded and stared at Cassie for a few seconds; she stared back, neither of them saying anything. It was incredibly awkward—for Julia, at least; Sam looked very amused at the situation Dean was in.

-

Julia was angry about something. Sam knew it from the moment he woke up to her shoving clothes back into her bag with quiet huffs that seemed to boom across the room. Dean was still dead to the world when she went to get ready for the day but now Sam was fully awake. He quickly got dressed and was pulling his toothbrush from the toiletry bag they shared when she came back out in spandex leggings and her Stanford crewneck, her hair pulled up into a high ponytail.

"I'm gonna go for a run," she informed him and it was only the second or third time in their life-long friendship that he heard her grumpy first thing in the morning. "Then I'm stopping at the diner for breakfast. Do you want me to bring you something?"

Sam shrugged. "I could eat."

"Then you will," Julia grabbed her debit card and license from her wallet and zipped them into the small pocket on her thigh. "See you in a bit."

"Be careful."

As Sam brushed his teeth and made sure his hair was neat, he wondered what Julia was angry about. The only thing he could think of is the fact that they were here on a case for Cassie. He wasn't sure if she knew about her feelings for Dean but he sure did.

His brother and Julia were both oblivious, though. It was concerning for both sides because Dean usually knew when women were attracted to him and Julia was pretty smart. How they couldn't see the feelings they had for each other was so frustrating, especially since Sam actually wanted it to happen so bad.

Dean was awake when Sam left the bathroom, his hair pointing in all directions like a hedgehog.

"Morning," he greeted his brother as he sat at the table to log into his laptop.

"Morning," Dean grumbled back, his eyes scanning the room. "Where's Jules?"

Sam hid his smile behind his laptop. "She went for a run. She's bringing back breakfast."

"Oh, good, I'm starving."

Twenty minutes later, Julia showed back up with breakfast. Sam watched his brother check her out—just like he knew he would because she was wearing those spandex leggings Dean loved—as she set the plastic bag and two coffees on the table.

"I got you a cheese and ham omelet," Julia said as she pulled a styrofoam container from the bag. "and toast with no butter."

Sam grinned as he took the coffee and food from her. "Thanks, J."

"No problem, Sam, that's what friends do."

"What'd you get me?" Dean bounded over to the table with a look of anticipation.

"Oh," she said flatly. "I didn't know you wanted anything."

Okay, this wasn't good. There were three different channels Julia would take when she was angry. There were the tears—which was her most usual one—the silent treatment—when she was so angry she didn't want to say anything to make it worse—and when she was petty, it meant that she was hurt and angry.

Not getting Dean food in the morning and then claiming she didn't know he wanted some was petty. Julia knew full well that Dean was hungry from the second he got up, sometimes even sooner. There had been numerous occasions the past few months the three of them spent together that Julia would pick up food early just so Dean could eat as soon as he got up.

So, she's hurt, too, Sam assumed to himself.

Dean gave her a horrified look. "You got Sam food."

"We're best friends."

"We're friends!" Dean exclaimed.

"Are we?" Julia's voice was dead calm and a lightbulb went off above Sam's head. "I hadn't known."

Julia was mad that Dean introduced her to Cassie as only Sam's friend and not their friend. Her friendships were important to her—Sam was pretty sure it stemmed from the fact that she didn't have many friends while growing up because she was from a prestigious family and she skipped a couple of grades, which freaked her classmates out. She was possessive and protective of her friendships and when Dean hadn't called her a friend, her feelings had been hurt.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Dean raised his eyebrows at her. "Of course we are. I've known you your whole life!"

Julia pressed her lips together in an even line and hummed before walking over to her bag and pulling out normal day clothes. She told them she was taking a shower before walking out of the room and slamming the door shut behind her.

Dean waited until he heard the water start before he looked over at Sam for answers.

"I think you hurt her feelings," Sam said quietly as he opened up his food container; Dean eyed it enviously.

"What'd I do?"

"You introduced her to Cassie as my friend."

"She is your friend."

"No, you made it sound like she was only my friend and not yours, too," Sam explained patiently; Dean wasn't the best with emotions.

Dean raised his eyebrows incredulously. "I didn't mean it like that," he defended himself. "That's really what she's hurt about?"

Sam nodded. "Well, and angry."

Dean huffed, pressing his lips together. "How'd you know that?"

"She didn't bring you breakfast," Sam pointed out and Dean frowned at the reminder. "She's being petty."

"Petty?"

"Yep," Sam confirmed and went on to explain as if he was a Julia-whisperer. "See, Dean, there are three channels of anger Julia takes. Tears, silent treatment, and pettiness. You've seen the first two before and now you're seeing the pettiness."

"So, when she's petty, she's angry and hurt?" Dean's voice was flat, like he couldn't believe that Julia could react that way. It was surprising to Sam since Dean could be pretty petty himself.

"Yeah."

"Well, she's a grown ass woman, it's not my fault her feelings were hurt," Dean huffed and reached for the second coffee Julia brought. His eyes softened when he saw his own name on it. "Damn it."

Sam's lips quirked at the look of regret on Dean's face.

It was quiet until Julia came out of the bathroom dressed in skinny jeans, a gray sleeveless blouse, and a black cardigan. "I need to do laundry tonight," she informed them, shoving her running clothes into her laundry bag. "What about you, Sam?"

"Yeah," Sam said thoughtfully. "I could."

"Good, I saw a laundry mat a block or so from the diner," Julia slipped on her gray ankle boots. "We'll hit it after dinner."

Sam nodded and Dean took the chance to try to get her attention. "Shortcake—"

"I also need more shampoo and conditioner," Julia interrupted like she hadn't heard him say her name. "I saw a Target in town, so maybe we can go there."

"Okay," Sam agreed.

"We can get you guys some more undershirts and things while we're there, too," Julia went on. "And I'm pretty sure you guys need shaving cream."

"Yeah, I think we're out."

Julia nodded and grabbed the notepad that the motel provided from the nightstand. She sat at the table and wrote down a list of things they needed; Sam smiled when he saw her include cooling and windshield wiper fluid for the Impala.

Dean finally had enough of her ignoring him. Maybe he realized just how much the two of them usually interacted compared to the silence she was giving him now.

"Julia, I'm sorry for telling Cassie you were only Sam's friend," he apologized quickly.

Both Sam and Dean looked at her expectantly. Julia just waved a hand at him. "It's fine."

Dean looked to Sam, perplexed, but Sam just shook his head. It wasn't fine.

And now Dean was getting mad. Sam could see the stormy look growing in his eyes. He knew he was in for a day of tense silence and angry looks. He was just grateful it wasn't as bad as their last argument; Dean probably wouldn't let their anger get that far again, though, since he still felt guilty about her getting injured while he was supposed to be her backup.

Two hours later, after getting a call from Cassie to tell them about her another death, they headed to the scene of the accident. Her boss, Jimmy, had crashed on the same stretch of road that Mr. Robinson and his business partner had died on.

When they arrived, Cassie was already talking with the man they saw her and Jimmy with the day before.

"Jimmy meant something to this town," the man said solemnly. "He was one of our best. We won't be the same without him."

"Our best seem to be dropping like flies," Cassie retorted angrily. "Clayton, my father, Jimmy..."

The man gave her an exasperated look. "What is it exactly you want me to do?"

"How about closing this section of road, for starters?"

"Close the main road," the man scoffed. "The only road in and out of town? Accidents do happen, Cassie, and that's what they are—accidents."

Dean stepped in then, probably sensing that Cassie was about to blow a gasket. "Did the cops check for additional denting on Jimmy's car to see if it was pushed?"

The man looked to Cassie. "Who is this?"

"I'm Dean Potter, private investigator," Dean informed him before Cassie could answer. "This is my partner, Sam Granger—" he gestured to Sam and then Julia. "and our assistant, Julia Weasley."

"They're family friends," Cassie added to the man, before introducing him. "This is Mayor Harold Todd."

"There was one set of tire tracks," Mayor Todd said matter-of-factly. "One. That doesn't point to foul play."

"Mayor, the police and town officials take their cues from you. If you're indifferent about—"

Mayor Todd cut her off indignantly. "Indifferent!"

"Would you close the road if the victims were white?" Cassie demanded.

Julia, Sam, and Dean's eyes all went to the mayor, waiting for an answer.

The mayor looked at her in shock. "You're suggesting I'm racist, Cassie?" he asked her and went on without an answer. "I'm the last person you should talk to like that."

Cassie pursed her lips. "And why is that?"

"Why don't you ask your mother?"

The mayor walked away without a word, leaving Cassie severely frustrated and confused.

"Uh, Jules and I are gonna go talk to some people, see if we can find out some more information," Dean said awkwardly; Julia pursed her lips, unhappy that she was paired up with the brother she was fighting with. "Sam, you stay with Cassie."

Sam nodded and stepped closer to Cassie as Dean and Julia walked away to question some of the police.

"So," Cassie started; Sam turned to her to see that she was looking over at Dean and Julia, who seemed to be arguing more than trying to find a person they could talk to. "How'd you and Dean meet Julia?"

"She's family friend, my best friend," Sam told her. "We've known her almost all our lives."

Cassie hummed and crossed her arms over her chest. Her gaze was still on the pair and he looked to see that Julia was playfully pushing Dean, a suddenly amused look on her face. He must have told her a corny joke or something because Dean was laughing too.

That was how a lot of their arguments ended. Dean would tell a joke that wasn't really funny—Julia was a huge fan of dad jokes—and she would get distracted. They laughed together and then they'd get over whatever they were squabbling about. Sam much preferred those arguments than the ones that ended with Dean storming out of the room to cool off or Julia bursting into tears and hiding in the bathroom only for Dean to lure her out with a candy bar or cookies a half-hour later.

"He looks happy with her," Cassie commented softly. Her tone wasn't jealous or even bitter. It was simple and to the point like she was stating a universal truth.

Sam smiled softly as he continued watching his brother and best friend. Julia had gestured over to one of the coroner's employees and, when Dean nodded, she started toward the woman. Dean's eyes followed her for a few seconds before walking after her.

"Yeah, he does."

-

Sam walked out of the bathroom, shrugging on his suit jacket as he went. Julia was already dressed in a casual work-dress and black heels as she stood in front of Dean, reaching up to straighten his tie for him.

"Well," he spoke up, earning a brief glance from Julia. "Cassie sure is fearless."

"Mmhm," Dean hummed, keeping his eyes on Julia's face.

"I bet she kicked your ass a couple of times."

Dean finally turned away from Julia as she finished with his tie and gave Sam an annoyed look.

"What I think is interesting is the fact that you two never look at each other at the same time," Julia spoke up as she went to sit at the foot of Dean's bed, crossing her leg over the over; Dean's eyes followed the movement. "You look at her when she's not looking and she looks at you when you look away."

"That's true," Sam agreed. He had noticed that as well but he also noticed that the same thing applied to Adrian and Julia, too.

Dean gave them both annoyed looks now. "You think we might have more pressing issues here?"

"Ooh, Sam, I think we hit a nerve," Julia cooed teasingly.

Dean pressed his lips together. "Oh," he complained, turning away from them to leave the room. "Let's go."

Julia smiled and raised her eyebrows at Sam, earning an amused grin in return.

The three of them went down to the docks by the river, looking for friends of Jimmy's that were both his next of kin. They were posing as insurance agents who needed to investigate the matter of Jimmy's death. Sam and a reluctant Dean let Julia take the lead on the questioning since she had a better track of getting old men to answer her questions.

"Excuse me," Julia walked over to a table where two men who matched the description of who they were looking for sat. "Are you Ron Stubbins and Clarence Thomas?"

Both men nodded.

"And you were friends with Jimmy Anderson?"

"Yeah," Ron confirmed when Julia smiled charmingly. "Whatcha need, girly?"

"Me and my partners, here, are from Mr. Anderson's insurance company, All National Mutual," Julia informed the men. "We just need to ask you a few questions to make sure our report is correct. Is that okay?"

"Sure thing, sweetheart."

Sam saw Julia flinch only slightly—a left over response from her run-in with the shapeshifter—and then cover it up with a smile. "We were just wondering, had Mr. Anderson mentioned any unusual recent experiences?"

Ron furrowed his eyebrows. "What do you mean, unusual?"

"Well, visions, hallucinations," Sam listed helpfully.

Ron and Clarence gave him a weird look.

"It's part of the medical report, Mr. Stubbins and Mr. Thomas," Julia assured them kindly. "It's just standard questioning with car accidents."

"Right," Ron nodded. "Well, no, he wasn't."

"Had he mentioned seeing a big black truck?" she continued to dazzle them. "We've got some local reports so wewant to make sure there's no correlation to Mr. Anderson's accident."

"He didn't say anything to me," Ron denied.

"Was this truck a big scary monster-looking thing?" Clarence asked.

"Yes, sir."

Dean and Sam gave each other impressed looks. Julia was crushing this.

"I've heard of a truck like that," Clarence said. "but it's been years."

Julia raised her eyebrows curiously. "Years?"

Clarence nodded. "Back in the sixties, there was a string of deaths—black men," he informed them. "Story goes, they'd disappeared in a big, nasty, black truck."

"Did they ever catch the person who did it?"

"Never found him," Clarence shook his head and scoffed. "Hell, I'm not sure they even really looked. See, there was a time this town wasn't too friendly too all of its citizens."

Julia gave him a sympathetic smile and reached out to shake both of their hands. "Well, thank you for answering our questions, gentlemen," she said sweetly. "You two enjoy the rest of your day."

"You too, honey," Clarence grinned at her while Ron smiled gratefully.

Sam and Dean each shook Ron and Clarence's hands before they left the dock.

"The truck," Dean spoke up when they were far enough away from the dock so they weren't overheard.

Sam nodded. "Keeps coming up, doesn't it?"

Dean hummed. "You know, I was thinking...you ever heard of the Flying Dutchman?"

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "a ghost ship infused with the captain's evil spirit. It was basically a part of him."

"Yeah, so, what if we're dealing with the same thing?" Dean theorized. "You know, a phantom truck, an extension of some bastard's ghost, reenacting past crimes."

"The victims have all been black men," Julia said thoughtfully. "but they're also connected to Cassie's family in some way."

"I was thinking the same thing," Dean agreed with her.

"All right," Sam nodded. "Dean, you work the Cassie angle and go talk to her."

"Yeah, I will."

"Oh, and you might also want to mention that other thing," Sam suggested.

Dean gave him a confused look as they approached the Impala. "What other thing?"

"The serious unfinished business," Sam reminded him. "Dean, what is going on between you two?"

"All right, so maybe we were a little bit more involved than I said," Dean admitted.

Sam nodded skeptically. "Oh, okay."

"Okay, a lot more, maybe," Dean sighed. "And I told her our secret, about what we do, and I shouldn't have."

"Look, man, everybody's gotta open up to someone sometime," Sam told his brother, his eyes darting to behind Dean, where Julia was leaning against the Impala and staring at the river with an impassive glare.

"Yeah, I don't," Dean stated as if he didn't already know that. "It was stupid to get that close. I mean, look how it ended."

Sam smiled at him.

"Would you stop?" Dean gave him an uncomfortable look. "Blink or something!"

"Dean," it was Julia who spoke this time, getting both brothers' attention. "you loved her."

"Oh, God," Dean groaned in disgust.

Sam raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You loved her but you dumped her?"

"No, she dumped him," Julia corrected him absentmindedly.

"She dumped you?"

Dean shot her an annoyed look. "Julia, what the hell?"

Julia gave him an innocent smile but it didn't seem to work.

Dean huffed and opened his door. "Get in the car," he ordered, sliding into his seat. When neither Sam nor Julia moved, he repeated himself, "Get in the fucking car!"

Julia and Sam exchanged another amused look before getting in their respective seats.

-

"Got any fours?"

"Nope," Sam replied. Julia sighed and leaned forward, picking a new card up out of the deck.

The twenty-four-hour laundry mat was empty except for them, though it was because it was close to midnight. The air was cold and Sam was chilled but Julia sat on the counter in just pajama shorts and a tank-top, unbothered by the temperature. The girl had fire in her veins, she was never cold.

They broke out the deck of cards as they washed all the dirty clothes they had, taking up four of the washers and dryers. Luckily, they were almost done. They had one last load of Julia's clothes in the dryer that had to finish and then be folded, but other than that, they were pretty much finished.

They'd gone through two games of rummy, one game of war, and one game of slapjack by the time they settled on go-fish. It was child's play but it was better than doing nothing. Julia's iPod was turned on and they were able to listen to music that didn't have an insane drumbeat.

"Do you have any nines?" Sam asked as Yellow by Coldplay started playing.

Look at the stars, look how they shine for you...

Julia pouted and pulled a nine from her hand, passing it over to him. "Why are you so good at this?"

Sam chuckled. "It's just luck, J."

In truth, it was because he could see her cards. She wasn't the best at hiding them but he didn't say anything because it amused him. It was like with Dean when he only picked scissors when they did rock-paper-scissors.

And everything you do. Yeah, they were all yellow...

Julia hummed doubtfully. "Okay, go again."

"Um, two?"

Julia's face lit up. "Ha! Go fish!"

Sam made a show of rolling his eyes while he grabbed a new card.

"Do you have an eight?"

Sam silently handed over the card to her, making her pump her fist excitedly as the chorus of the song played.

"Okay, what about a five?"

"Go fish."

"No!" Julia sighed dramatically, picking up a card. "Your turn, S."

"Ones?"

"Go fish."

"Tens?"

"Go fish."

"Fives?"

Julia gaped at him in disbelief. "You said you didn't have any fives, Samuel!"

"And then I picked one up," Sam defended himself with a slight smirk. "So, do you have a five?"

"I hate you!" Julia threw the card at him.

"No, you don't," Sam put down his pair. "Okay, ones?"

"Go fish."

I swam across, I jumped across for you. Oh, what a thing to have done and it was all yellow...

"This is a good song," Sam commented as he grabbed a card from the deck.

Julia nodded. "Yeah, it reminds me of someone."

Oh, really? He thought to himself. Someone, whose name rhymes with Wean Dinchester?

He decided to just bite the bullet. "Someone like Dean?"

Julia's eyes immediately darted up to his. "What?" she shook her head in denial. "No, of course not."

"Right," he nodded in agreement. "Of course, not."

And you know, for you I'd bleed myself dry...

As the guitar solo started, Julia blurted, "Yes, it's someone like Dean."

"I knew it!" Sam grinned. "I knew you liked him."

Julia rolled her eyes. "God, I never thought I'd be having girl-talk with you, S."

"Yeah, well, how many times did you listen to me yearn over Jess?"

Julia chuckled. "For about a year," she grinned fondly. "and then, when I got back to the dorm, she'd talk about you."

Sam changed the subject before the grief could start in. "You should tell Dean."

Julia raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "You're kidding, right?"

"...No."

"Sam, Dean isn't the love type of guy," she reminded him. "He doesn't do relationships."

"He loved Cassie and he dated her a couple of weeks."

"Yeah, well, obviously, that's different."

"Yeah, you have more history and chemistry with him," Sam pointed out. "You've known him your whole life."

"Exactly!" she pointed at him. "He still sees me as a kid—do you have a two?"

"Go fish," Sam answered. "and trust me, J, he doesn't see you as a kid."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean that he'd be in jail if he looked at a kid like he looked at you."

Julia scoffed and reached forward, slapping his thigh. "Samuel William!"

"What, it's true!" Sam rubbed the spot where she hit him. "You should see the looks he gives you. You look at him like that, too."

"I don't leer at him!"

"I didn't say anything about leering, you said that on your own. Do you have a one?"

"I don't have any ones, Sam, God!"

"It's the only card I have left."

"Well, now you have another one."

Sam reached for a card from the deck. It was a one. He chuckled and set down his last pair, grinning triumphantly at Julia's disappointed pout.

"Why do you have to win every game?"

"Because I'm awesome," Sam said quickly. "Now, back to Dean..."

"Okay, first of all, you're way too excited about this," Julia jumped off the counter as Sam started picking up the deck. "Secondly, Dean and I aren't gonna happen."

Sam closed the deck and slipped it back into Julia's purse. "You don't know that."

"Why hasn't he called us yet?" Julia asked pointedly. "He never goes over an hour to check in if we're by ourselves. It's been six hours since he went to Cassie's and there's been no word."

"So?"

"So, obviously something is going on over there and I don't think it's because he's in danger."

"Okay," Sam had to admit that she was probably right. "but that doesn't mean they're together. Dean's had one-night-stands before."

"Not with someone he loved."

Sam sighed. "Look, Dean may have had feelings for Cassie but I doubt it was love."

"Oh?"

"When Dean loves someone he fights for them," Sam declared and Julia's lips twisted thoughtfully. "He fought to find our dad. He's fought for me so many damn times that I've lost count. So, if he really loved Cassie as much as you think he did, he would have stayed and changed her mind."

The Coldplay song ended and one by Britney Spears started up. The last dryer beeped, signaling that Julia's clothes were done.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore, Sam," Julia sighed as she brought the laundry cart over to the dryer to take out her clothes. "It just gets my hopes up and I don't want to deal with the fallout when Dean inevitably rejects me."

"Julia..."

"Seriously, Sam."

"Okay, fine," Sam gave in and walked over to the table where the rest of their clothes were, already folded. He picked up one of her t-shirts and folded it, putting it in her pile. "You know, we should go see a movie soon."

"Yeah?" Julia raised an eyebrow at him, approving of the subject change. "Which one?"

"I saw that Stick It is getting good reviews."

"We'll go for your birthday," Julia promised. "The lucky twenty-three. God, you're so old."

"Shut up."

-

Julia acted like the conversation she and Sam had the night before hadn't happened. Sam didn't bring it up, either, especially since Dean never came back to the motel room. She seemed okay, though, she didn't seem jealous or bitter like other twenty-year-old women might have been when the guy they had feelings for met up with an old flame and spent the night with them. There were moments where Julia could be a little brat—like most younger sisters—but the older she got the more mature she was getting.

And, when they got a call about the mayor's death, she was the one to call Dean to tell him about it.

It was way too cold for mid-April, so Sam and Julia were bundled up in their warmest jackets—which, really, was just Sam's usual canvas jacket and one of Julia's crewnecks—as they went to see what had happened to the mayor. They questioned the police, using the same private investigator alias that Dean brought up the day before, and waited for Dean to meet up with them.

Just as they were finishing up with one of the police officers, the man's eyes flickered behind them. Julia and Sam turned slightly and noticed that Dean was approaching them.

"He's with us," Sam informed the police officer. The man walked away and Sam expectantly turned to Dean. "Where were you last night? You didn't make it back to the hotel."

Dean turned away from Sam and Julia, watching the mayor's body bag being carted by. "Nope."

"I'm guessing you guys worked things out?"

"We'll be working things out while we're ninety," Dean grumbled. "So, what happened?"

"Every bone in the mayor's body was crushed," Julia spoke up, curling her hand into the sleeves of her sweatshirt. "Internal bleeding all over the place...none of the cops know what happened."

"It was like something ran him over," Sam finished.

"Something like a truck?"

"Yep."

"Tracks?"

"What was the mayor doing here, anyway?" Dean wondered.

"He owned the property," Julia informed him. "Bought it a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, but he's white," Dean pointed out. "He doesn't fit the pattern."

"And the killing didn't happen up on the road, so that doesn't fit, either," Sam stated.

"Okay," Dean sighed, running a hand down his face. "I'll go see if Cassie can help me get access to whatever happened in the sixties. You two go to the courthouse to see what you can find out about the mayor and why the truck came to this place."

The three of them split up again, Julia and Sam teaming up once more to form their dynamic duo. With two of them being able to research without Dean distracting Julia—who was already prone to being distracted—they easily found the property records that the mayor just purchased.

They called Dean when they got back to the motel with lunch.

"Yeah?" Dean answered.

"Okay, the courthouse records show that Mr. and Mrs. Mayor bought an abandoned property," Sam informed his brother while Julia munched on her lunch of grilled cheese and fries. "The previous owner was the Dorian family, for, like a hundred and fifty years."

"Dorian?"

"Yeah."

"Didn't you say that Dorian family used to own this paper?" they heard Dean ask Cassie.

"Yeah," Cassie confirmed. "Along with everything else around here. Real pillars of the town."

"Right, right," Dean hummed; Julia and Sam heard the light clicks of a computer mouse. "That's interesting."

"What?" Julia wondered, popping a fry in her mouth.

"This Cyrus Dorian, he vanished in April of sixty-three," Dean told them. "The case was investigated but never solved. It was right around the time the string of murders going on back then."

"Well, we pulled a bunch of papers up on the Dorian place," Julia sighed. "It must have been in bad shape when the mayor bought it."

"Why's that?"

"The first thing he did was bulldoze the house."

"Mayor Todd knocked down the Dorian place?" Dean asked Cassie.

"It was a big deal," Cassie told him. "One of the oldest houses left. He made the front page."

Dean clicked his tongue. "You got a date, shortcake?"

"The third of last month."

There was more clicking on the other line. "Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the third," Dean declared. "The first killing was the very next day."

-

Julia passed the cup of tea to Cassie with a small smile, making sure she wouldn't burn herself.

Cassie sighed heavily. "Maybe you could throw a couple of shots in that."

Julia just gave her another smile and sat down on the couch next to her. Cassie had called Dean an hour after they had eaten dinner, frantically telling him that she had seen the scary black truck that had been killing people. The three of them rushed over to her house to keep her safe and comfort her.

"You didn't see who was driving the truck?" Dean asked from Cassie's other side.

Cassie shook her head. "It seemed to be no one. Everything was moving so fast and then it was just gone," she gave him a frightened look. "Why didn't it kill us?"

"Whoever was controlling the truck wants you afraid first," Dean told her.

Sam, who was sitting in one of the chairs across from the couch, turned to Mrs. Robinson, who was sitting next to him. "Mrs. Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died."

Mrs. Robinson stared at him, the teacup in her hands shaking.

"Mom?" Cassie prompted.

"Oh, Martin was under a lot of stress," Mrs. Robinson said. "You can't be sure about what he was seeing."

"Well, after tonight, I think we can be reasonably sure he was seeing a truck," Dean bristled, his voice growing firm. "What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked, okay? Your daughter could die so if you know something, now would be a really good time to tell us about it."

Cassie gave him a warning look. "Dean."

Dean didn't back down, staring at Mrs. Robinson expectantly.

"Yes," Mrs. Robinson answered. "Yes, he said he saw a truck."

"Did he know who it belonged to?" Julia asked.

"He thought he did."

"Who was that?"

"Cyrus," Mrs. Robinson answered Dean, her lips pressed together emotionally. "A man named Cyrus."

Julia turned to Dean and Sam with raised eyebrows, getting similar looks back from both of them. She pulled the newspaper article that Dean had printed about Cyrus Dorian from her purse and showed it to Mrs. Robinson.

"Is this Cyrus?"

Tears filled Mrs. Robinson's eyes. "Cyrus Dorian died more than forty years ago."

"How do you know he died, Mrs. Robinson? The paper said he went missing," Dean asked, his face falling in realization. "How do you know he died?"

"We were all very young," Mrs. Robinson started to explain, her voice trembling. "I dated Cyrus for a while and I was also seeing Martin—in secret, of course. Inter-racial couples didn't go over too well back then. When I broke it off with Cyrus and he found out about Martin..." she paused and shook her head before quietly continuing. "I don't know, he changed. His hatred—his hatred was frightening."

"The string of murders," Sam assumed.

"There were rumors, people of color disappearing into some kind of truck," Mrs. Robinson confirmed. "Nothing was ever done."

Julia frowned, angry that the people who were killed by Cyrus didn't get justice for what happened to them.

"Martin and...Martin and I, we were gonna be married in that little church near here but last minute we decided to elope because we didn't want the attention," Mrs. Robinson went on, sniffing back tears.

"And Cyrus?"

Mrs. Robinson's face contorted as a sob escaped her throat. "The day we set for the wedding was the day someone set fire to the church," she cried; Julia inhaled sharply, her own tears filling her eyes. "There was a children's choir practicing in there. They all died."

"Did the attacks stop after that?" Julia whispered shakily.

"No, there was one more," Mrs. Robinson told them through her sobs. "One night that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible but Martin, you see, Martin got loose...and he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him and hitting him."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Why didn't you call the cops?"

Julia gave Dean a pointed look; he knew damn well why they didn't call the cops. She didn't blame them; Cyrus deserved what he got.

"This was forty years ago," Mrs. Robinson cried. "He called on his friend, Clayton Soames and Jimmy Anderson, and they put Cyrus' body in the truck and they rolled it into the swamp at the end of his land. All three of them kept that secret all of these years."

"And now all three are gone," Sam said quietly. "and so is Mayor Todd."

"He said that you, of all people, would know he is not a racist," Dean looked to Mrs. Robinson. "Why would he say that?"

"He was a good man," Mrs. Robinson's cries calmed as she placed her hands on her neck. "He was a young deputy back then, investigating Cyrus' disappearance. Once he figured out what Martin and the other had done, he...he did nothing...because he also knew what Cyrus had done."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cassie asked her mother, her voice breaking.

"I thought I was protecting them," Mrs. Robinson's sobs started up again. "and now there's no one to protect."

That's not true, Julia thought to herself. She has Cassie.

Dean had the same idea. "Yes, there is," he told her before looking over at Cassie. Mrs. Robinson did, too, her face falling in realization.

Julia, Sam, and Dean reconvened out by the Impala to discuss what they found out.

"Ah, my life was so simple," Sam sighed playfully as he and Julia leaned against the car and Dean paced back and forth in front of them. "Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms..."

"Translating old Hebrew proverbs, comparing and contrasting Islam and Christianity, trying to tell the difference between classical Latin and archaic Latin..." Julia added wistfully.

"Well, I guess I saved you two from a boring existence," Dean stopped pacing to lean against the car, too.

"Ah, occasionally I miss boring," Sam sighed heavily.

"So, this killer truck—"

"I miss conversations that didn't start with this killer truck," Sam added, more playfully.

Dean chuckled a little. "Well, this Cyrus guy. Evil on a level that infected even his truck," he stated. "When he died, the swamp became his tomb and his spirit was dormant for forty years."

"So what woke it up?" Julia asked,

"The construction on his house," Dean told her. "or the destruction."

"Right," Sam nodded. "Demolition or re-modeling can awaken spirits, make them restless. Like that theatre in Illinois, you know?"

"And the guy that tore down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus' murder quiet and unsolved."

"So, now his spirit is awakened and out for blood."

"Yeah, I guess," Dean shrugged. "Who knows what ghosts are thinking, anyway?"

"You know we're going to have to dredge that body up from the swamp, right?" Sam pointed out.

Dean smirked at him, causing Sam to let out a groan. "What?" Dean asked innocently. "You said it."

"Yeah."

Dean shook his head and looked toward the house, straightening up when he saw Cassie walking toward them. "Hey."

"Hey," Cassie smiled at him. "She's asleep. Now what?"

"Well, you should stay put and look after her," Dean told her. "and we'll be back. Don't leave the house."

"Don't go getting all authoritative on me," Cassie shook her head with a small smile. "I hate it."

Julia wrinkled her nose as they flirted, looking over at Sam to see that he was already smiling at her. She smoothed out her face and tried not to react as Dean apologized to Cassie and they started making out right in of them.

This is so incredibly awkward, she mused.

Sam cleared his throat and Dean reached behind his back to give him the finger.

When Dean pulled away from the kiss, he told Cassie, "Julia's gonna stay with you, all right?"

"What?" Julia spoke up, unpleased. "I'm going with you and Sam."

"No, you're staying with Cassie," Dean's tone was authoritative and it made her bristle. "I don't need to babysit you while this is going on."

"Dean."

Sam winced as Julia's eyes started to water. "Babysit me?" she scoffed. "How many times have I saved your ass since I started hunting with you?"

"Don't change the subject," Dean almost barked. "Do what I said and stay by Cassie's side."

Julia angrily pressed her lips together and grabbed her laptop from the backseat of the Impala. "You're a dick," she spat at Dean as she stormed past him, Sam, and Cassie back up to the house. "Don't come crying to me when you need my help!"

It was awkward and quiet when Cassie came back into the house and sat with her in the living room. Julia had already booted up her computer to work on an upcoming essay in her Hebrew class when Cassie spoke up.

"I'm sorry you had to stay with me," she apologized.

"It's not that I have to stay with you," Julia assured her with an apologetic smile. "It's that Dean treats me like I'm a kid and I can't make my own choices."

Cassie hummed knowingly. "I know what that feels like," she shared. "If it makes you feel any better, though, I think he's doing it to look out for you."

No, Julia thought, he wanted me to look after you.

She just gave Cassie a small smile, deciding that if Dean wanted her to be with Cassie, it was because he trusted her. Either way, she was still irritated. She didn't like being bossed around; if he just asked her to stay instead of commanding it like she was his assistant, it would have been fine.

It was another hour later that Sam called Julia, asking for information about the church so they could get rid of the spirit truck which was now following Dean around the back roads. Cassie gave Julia the information and she called Dean right away.

"What?" Dean snapped, the engine revving in the background. "This better be good."

"Where are you?" Julia asked as she looked down at the map Cassie had pulled out for her.

"In the middle of fucking nowhere with a killer truck on my ass!" he shouted, causing her to wince from the volume. "It's like it knows I put the torch to Cyrus."

"Listen to me, this is important so I have to know exactly where you are."

"Decatur Road, about two miles off the highway."

Julia scanned the map, easily finding the road. "Okay. Are you headed east?"

"Yes!" there was a loud crash of metal and then, "You son of a fucking bitch!"

"Okay, turn right," Julia said hurriedly. "Up ahead, turn right."

The squeal of tires met Julia's ears. "Did you turn?"

"Yeah, I made the turn!" Dean shouted. "You're gonna need to move this thing along a little faster."

"Do you see a road up ahead?" Julia consulted the map, biting her lib anxiously.

"No—wait, yes, I see it."

"Okay, turn left."

"Okay, now what?"

"You need to go exactly seven-tenths of a mile and then stop," she advised him.

"Stop?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Exactly seven-tenths, Dean."

"Seven-tenths, seven-tenths..."

More tire squealing and then just the engine of the Impala as it idled.

"Dean, are you still there?"

"Yeah."

"What's going on?"

"It's just staring at me," Dean reported. "What do I do?"

"Just keep doing what you're doing. Stay still and bring it to you."

"Wha—?" Dean stammered. "Come on, come on, come on..."

There was a loud roar of an engine, much different than the Impala's, and then it disappeared. Julia looked up at Cassie, who was looking at the phone with an anxious expression.

"Dean, are you okay?" Julia called, knowing that he was probably okay. There would have been a loud crash, otherwise.

"Where'd it go?"

"Dean, you're where the church was."

"What church?"

"The place that Cyrus burned down and killed all those kids," Julia informed him. "Even if it's not still standing, it's hallowed ground. Evil spirits cross over hallowed ground and sometimes they get destroyed. Sam figured it out and I had to find the location."

"Well, what if it hadn't of worked?" Dean almost yelled.

Julia frowned. Even when she and Sam saved his ass, he was still a dick. "Hey, I was just following orders," she snapped at him. "I guess that's all I'm good for."

She snapped the phone shut and threw it in her laptop case. "The spirit's gone," she told Cassie, a little snippily. "If you want to talk to Dean, you'll have to call him from your phone."

"Yeah, no problem," Cassie nodded. "Thanks for your help, Julia."

"I didn't do much of anything," Julia sighed and gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry about your dad, Cassie."

Cassie smiled sadly. "Me too."

-

It was silent in the motel room that night. Dean had gone to town as soon as he dropped Julia and Sam off at the room and, an hour and a half later, he still wasn't back. Sam had started reading a book that Julia told him about and she watched America's Next Top Model re-runs next to him on the bed.

Sam looked away from his book every so often, seeing that Julia's nose was still wrinkled in displeasure. From what Sam understood, it was because Dean had yelled at her on the phone after the two of them saved his ass

"You okay?" he asked her, slipping his bookmark into the book where he left off.

Julia turned her head away from the television. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"I dunno," he shrugged. "You just seem sad."

"Oh..."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Julia's eyes stung as she practically lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Sam, you are the bestest friend ever. I don't deserve you. Seriously, I love you so much. You know that, right?"

"Yeah," Sam chuckled into her hair. "You tell me every day, J."

"You deserve to hear it every day, S," Julia declared as tears leaked from her eyes. "You're a good man."

Sam felt her body shake with her cries. "Why are you crying?"

"Cause I'm just happy to have you in my life."

"I'm happy to have you in my life, too," Sam forcefully unwrapped her arms from him and gave her an amused smile as she pulled back. "but you were choking me."

Julia frowned and gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry."

"It's okay."

The motel door opened and Dean walked into the room, carrying a couple of plastic bags. One of them was from a local Chinese restaurant, while the other two were from stores in the mall.

"Hey," Sam greeted him as he got off the bed. "Where'd you go."

"I got a peace offering," Dean proclaimed, walking over to Julia's side of the bed. "Junior, I'm sorry for everything, okay? You are my friend and you did save my ass tonight. I'm sorry I wasn't more appreciative."

Julia's lips quirked a hint.

"So," Dean pulled a Converse box from the larger of the bags in his hand. "I got you these to replace the ones that were ruined at Roy's place."

"Thanks, Dean," Julia whispered, opening the box to see the low-top white Converse. They were the exact ones she had been looking at recently. "These are great."

"And," Dean gave her the other bag, which was smaller. "This is because you've been kicking ass lately."

Julia gave him a curious look as she pulled out a small rectangle box. She gasped when she opened it to reveal her own switchblade with a design on the handle and 'Shortcake' engraved on the blade.

"Dean!" she squeaked, tears coming to her eyes again. "Thank you so much, oh my God!"

Sam grinned as Julia jumped up and pulled Dean into a tight hug, crying into his shoulder. It was already a cute situation but damn it if Sam's heart didn't melt when Dean kissed her on the forehead in return.

(Gif is not mine)

[devil-in-the-d3tails]

It’s the End of the World as We Know It - Chapter 3

summary: During the international quarantine in your first-ever pandemic, the people around you slowly begin to disappear. As the world grows quieter and quieter, you find yourself all alone-- no power, no friends, and only one goal: to find whoever of your friends might be left and reunite with them.You're naive to think anything can be that simple. As you're faced with ever-increasing loneliness, you run into some boys who apparently went to the same high school as you. Will you join forces with them to figure out your strange circumstances together, or will you brave loneliness in a world that is slowly crumbling apart?

Link on AO3!

words: 3,653

rating: M - Mature

genre: angst/humor, romance, adventure, apocalypse AU, reader-insert

warnings: sort of depressing content, a smidge of violence, cursing

a/n: thank you for reading!

- Decisions, Decisions... - 

You’ve been picking at your nails for quite some time. They’re a powdery blue-- or they used to be, at least. They were supposed to match your prom dress, though you never did get to go to prom this year. The blue gown is still in your closet, covered by the plastic from the dry cleaners. You frown at the patches of missing polish, having been slowly chipped away for some time since you painted them-- was it two weeks ago? A month? You weren’t sure what time was anymore.

“...But yeah, other than what we brought back, there wasn’t much stuff left over.” Kuroo shrugs as he picks at some granola straight from the bag. You and the group of guys have gathered in a little circle on each other’s mattresses, and have since introduced each other. Aside from Kuroo, Akaashi, and Bokuto, the new boys you’ve met are Oikawa, Iwaizumi, and Kenma. The entire group seems to be weighed down with contented hopelessness-- they all appear to be very aware of their dire situation, but they’re quite alright with it at the moment.

The boy named Iwaizumi sighs-- he’s straightforward and somewhat level-headed, as far as you can tell.

“We’re gonna have to drive further to the next grocery store, then.” Iwaizumi decides, and rubs his neck.

“What’s the matter? Sleep on the wrong side of the bed?” Oikawa, the absurdly pretty one, teases.

“No, I just feel weird since it seems like none of us are gonna talk about our newest addition.” Iwaizumi says pointedly, and finally looks at you. You bite your lip and look away, not quite sure how to explain yourself, either. Why should you expect all of them to just be chill with some stranger suddenly showing up in the middle of the night, sobbing and with a potentially dangerous dog at her side?

“She just introduced herself-- did you forget her name already?” Bokuto says with a laugh. You seriously admire his optimism-- or his cluelessness, you’re not sure which.

“I think Iwaizumi is just suspicious of her.” Akaashi says with a level tone, and he and Iwaizumi exchange a glance.

“Makes sense.” Oikawa shrugs.

“Wha-- How?!” Bokuto exclaims.

“She’s a stranger. She’s got a dog with her-- a dog that could easily hurt us.” Oikawa answers, and Indie perks up when he glances at her with a smile. “But she’s so cute! I don’t think we have to worry about her.”

Akaashi glances at you, and you remember how you told him that Indie did, in fact, attack a boy last night. To be fair, he was an intruder!

“I’m not gonna be here long, if that’s what you’re worried about.” You finally pipe up, and all eyes once again fall on you.

“Huh? Why?!” Both Kuroo and Bokuto say, and you could almost swear they were whining. You laugh a little-- how could they possibly be so attached to you so quickly?

“Well, I’m trying to go to L.A. and find my friend Sami. Then, I’m gonna go to Ohio to live with my friend Callie.” You say evenly, and the entire group looks at you like you’re insane.

“L.A. is… far.” Kenma says quietly, and you’re surprised he’s spoken at all.

“How do you even know your friend is still out there?” Kuroo asks.

“I don’t,” You say, “but I have to at least look. It’s what she’d do for me-- or, it’s what I’d hope she’d do for me. I can’t just… accept that everyone I know and love is gone without looking first.” You become quieter at the last part, and the group seems to understand a bit better.

“Okay,” Bokuto says, “so we just make a trip of it. We pack supplies or whatever, wake up early, and go to L.A. and look around for a couple days. We can camp out in fancy hotels!”

“I’m sorry, we?” You say.

“We’re not gonna let you go alone! Look what happened the last time we left you alone.” Bokuto says as if it’s the most obvious thing. You frown, but he is right. You’re a little scared of being left alone, too, if you’re being honest. Sleeping next to Akaashi made you feel safe, even if you were a bit flustered. Plus, these guys seem to be pretty decent-- none of them have made you uncomfortable so far.

You eat your poptart thoughtfully.

“Why Ohio?” Akaashi asks.

“Well… Callie said, last time we spoke, that her parents were still around.” You respond. “Plus, she lives on a farm. That’ll be way more sustainable than scavenging around grocery stores for the rest of my life.”

“Damn. We should do that.” Bokuto says with a sigh.

“I don’t know how to farm,” Oikawa sighs, then turns to you with a grin. “Maybe we should just come with you to Ohio!”

“That’s… not happening.” You say decisively.

“Aw, why not?” Kuroo croons. “Aren’t we pretty great so far? I feel like Callie would love us. Plus, I’m famous for getting people’s parents to like me.”

“It’s true.” Bokuto says solemnly. You wonder for a moment what kind of story lies behind that exchange, but decide to leave it alone for now.

“It’s gonna take weeks to get to Ohio-- plus, I’m probably gonna have to hop from car to car, since there aren’t any working gas stations anymore, or I’ll just have to suck it up and walk. I’m not about to go on a roadtrip with some dudes I just met-- especially not during the apocalypse.” You say, crossing your arms. Damn, it seems like everything you say makes you seem like a huge bitch-- why were you so against them coming with you, anyway? Maybe you just didn’t want to be responsible for anyone else-- or, maybe you didn’t want to invest your care into one more person, only for them to disappear without a trace, leaving you, once again, alone.

You push that thought away-- that’s too deep for 8 a.m.

“I wouldn’t go on a roadtrip with these guys, either.” Iwaizumi says, and you’re weirdly charmed with how pessimistic he is. His little quip dissolves some of the tension, too, and you’re glad for that.

“I think you’re scared.” Kuroo calls your bluff. You just scoff.

“I’m not scared.”

“You were pretty scared last night, though.” Bokuto adds, unhelpfully. “But, I mean, it’s understandable-- some guys literally broke into your house!”

“Travelling in a group is safer, anyways.” Akaashi says, and you hate that a part of you agrees with him.

You huff out a sigh, and finish off your poptart. “None of you are responsible for me.” You counter.

“True-- but we’re not doing anything else.” Oikawa chimes in, and you’re a bit surprised. “I think it’ll be fun. We can at least go to L.A. together, and that can determine whether you wanna ‘roadtrip’ with us, or not.”

“I like the sound of that.” Kuroo grins. “An experiment.”

“You guys have fun with that-- I’ll stay here.” Kenma mumbles, and Kuroo barks out a laugh.

“No way-- we’re all going.”

“I don’t wanna go, either.” Iwaizumi says, crossing his arms. “Kenma and I should stay behind and protect the gym. Clearly, it’s a little dangerous out there.”

“Good idea!” Bokuto praises, already excited at the prospect of a roadtrip. “This is gonna be fun-- and going to L.A. will be so fast ‘cause there’s no traffic!”

“That’s assuming we find a car with a full tank-- our poor van is barely on half a tank.” Kuroo says.

“Right, that much gas would get us there in the van, but we’d just barely be able to make it back. Plus, we aren’t accounting for how much we’ll have to drive around the city to find Sami…” Akaashi says, his train of thought travelling to the logistics of the operation.

You’re… a little stunned, to say the least. You suppose you can chalk their enthusiasm to go to L.A. with you up to the fact that there really is nothing better for them to do, but… you never expected anyone to be this willing to stick by your side. You’d never had a large circle of friends, especially not in your relatively small town. After your closest friends had moved away, you mostly kept to yourself, perfectly content to have your only friends be the ones you’d known since forever, rather than go through the arduous task of making new ones so close to graduation.

“You guys... don’t have to do this.” You say quietly, having reluctantly accepted that it seems like they’re going to stick by your side, regardless of what you say.

There’s a pause that settles over the group, and Iwaizumi scoffs.

“Like Oikawa said, we’re not doing anything else.” He says, and you smile a little at him.

Another pause settles around the group, but it’s comfortable-- you’re starting to warm up to them, as they’ve clearly warmed up to you. You suppose you’ve given them a change of pace, at least.

“Well, all that aside, we still need to find more food.” Kenma says. “And a mattress for you-- or at least a sleeping bag.” He looks to you, then down at Indie. He offers her his hand, which she licks and nuzzles into happily.

“Don’t you have a mattress back at your house? We can just go get that.” Bokuto says, sitting back against his bed, propping himself up with his elbows.

“I don’t really wanna go back there.” You say quickly. What if those guys were still there? What if more of them flocked to your house because they discovered all of your groceries--?

Oh, shit.

“Oh, shit.” You groan, burying your face into your palms. “My groceries.”

“Your groceries?” Bokuto echos.

“They’re all at my house. All that stuff I got from the grocery store where we met-- Indie’s food, everything.” You say as dread settles over your whole body. “What if those guys are still there?”

Everyone pauses as they consider the situation. They would all benefit from your added supplies-- plus, the trip would allow you to retrieve your bed rather than wander the floors of some abandoned Ikea or Macy’s looking for a replacement. Still, the risk was high. Those guys seemed dangerous, at least to you, and there might be more. Clearly, it wasn’t that outlandish to assume that whoever remained had grouped themselves into survival packs, and that they were willing to do anything to stay alive and fed.

“Okay.” Kuroo stands. “So, we’ll go to your house.”

“Who’s ‘we’?” You ask.

“Me and Bokuto. Just tell us where you live, we’ll go there and get your stuff. Easy peasy.” Kuroo nods, and Bokuto is, of course, up for the challenge.

“...I don’t want you guys to go alone.” You say.

“Relax, it’ll be a quick in and out, you won’t even notice we’re gone.” Kuroo holds his hand out, expecting you to hand him your keys.

You stand and pull your keys out of your pocket, but hold them close to your chest as you build up the courage for what you’re about to say.

“I’m coming with you. I’ll drive, and I’ll get my stuff.” You assert. “You guys have done way too much for me already.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay?” Bokuto asks, worry plastered all over his face.

You nod, even though your gut is screaming at you not to go back. But, you really don’t have any choice.

“If you’re sure, I think you guys will make it okay.” Akaashi says, ever the voice of reason. It warms your heart to know that Akaashi believes in you. “You guys take her car, and Iwaizumi and I will take the van and look for another grocery store.”

“Aw, you’re gonna leave me and Kenma all alone?” Oikawa whines.

“I’m not excited about it, either.” Kenma mumbles, and you’re starting to love his unexpected sassiness.

“My house is only like fifteen minutes away from here. We’ll be back in an hour, tops.” You assure Oikawa, who only looks at you skeptically. Finally, he shrugs.

“Sure, do what you want.” Oikawa says, then gets up and stretches. “I’ll just practice by myself…” He mutters, and you’re not sure what he’s referring to-- maybe volleyball, like Kuroo had mentioned when you first met.

At the moment, you don’t really care. You turn to Kuroo and Bokuto with a feigned grin of confidence.

“Okay, let’s do this.”

[-]

“No shit.” Kuroo smiles in recognition as you turn the final corner onto your street. “Bokuto, Asahi’s place is right over there.”

“Oh, no way!” Bokuto grins as he follows the pointed finger of Kuroo, in the direction of a house that looks very similar to yours, except with a brown roof instead of a red one.

“One of your friends?” You ask, trying to ignore how much you’re fidgeting. You’re so nervous, and you hate it. This is your home, after all-- you shouldn’t be so terrified of returning. You glance out the window and take note of how overcast the sky has become. In the early morning, the sun was peaking through the clouds, but it has since been covered up in a thick layer of gray. Everything seems to be lacking in color.

“Yeah, he was a kickass player.” Kuroo says as you drive by the house in question. “Can we stop by there on our way back?”

“Sure.” You say tightly. Will you even make it back? What if you die??

“Hey, relax.” Kuroo says, and you glance over to him, sitting like a damn king in your passenger seat. He had to push the chair back quite a ways to account for his leg space, much to the complaint of Bokuto in the back seat.

“I am relaxed.” You lie, and resume biting the inside of your cheek. You’re sure that your mouth is raw by now, and you’re not surprised when you taste the beginnings of the metallic tang of blood from your worrying. You puff out your cheeks to try and stop yourself from biting any further.

Kuroo laughs at the display, and you smile back, a bit embarrassed.

In no time at all, you park by the curb in front of your house. You don’t turn the engine off just yet, opting to observe the now threatening building for a moment in case someone suddenly jumps from your door with a gun or something. A flash of red hair recalls itself from your memories, and you grip the steering wheel tighter with a big sigh. Nothing’s there-- you’re freaking out for no reason, you remind yourself.

You turn off the car and pick up your hammer that’s been resting in the cup holder.

“You ready?” Kuroo asks, and you’ve been aware of his gaze on you this whole time. You’re glad he’s at least receptive to your hesitance, and you’re also glad that he and Bokuto are with you. They’re both pretty strong and athletic, and with your hammer combined, you three make a pretty strong team.

That’s what you have to tell yourself, anyway.

“Yeah. Yeah, let’s go.” You give a curt nod, and the three of you exit the car quickly, walk across your lawn, and soon you’re met with your front door. It looks like it was kicked in, with splinters of painted wood littering your porch and the hardwood floors just inside. Kuroo kicks a piece of wood aside absently, and enters first.

“Hello?” He calls with a booming voice.

“What are you doing?” You hiss, grabbing onto his jacket sleeve with ferocity.

“Just seeing if we have the place to ourselves.” He replies coolly, and looks around, surveying the rest of your home. It’s definitely been ransacked-- your mother’s favorite vase is shattered, papers litter the floor, and every single drawer and cabinet has either been ripped from its hinges, or lays hanging open.

“Seems we are.” Kuroo muses quietly after several moments of silence as the three of you take in your sad surroundings.

You can’t believe the home you grew up in has been violated like this-- you can’t believe that a person can be so heartless as to destroy something to this degree. You can’t believe the world is actually like this now. Gripping Kuroo’s sleeve tighter, you suppose that’s just what the world has come to.

“Um… so, where did you leave your groceries?” Bokuto asks, and it’s the first time you’ve heard him being so gentle. You blink up at him only to realize how watery your eyes are, and you quickly blink away any tears that might threaten to fall. You release Kuroo’s sleeve, quickly wipe at your nose, and nod to your kitchen, just beyond the living room you stand in.

The stairs are to your right, and you want to go upstairs to try and salvage anything else you might need, but you’re not sure if you’re ready to brave whatever situation lies above yet.

Bokuto walks towards the kitchen. You and Kuroo follow, and your heart sinks as the three of you are met with an empty table.

The dog food is still there, though.

“Damn it. They took everything.” Your shoulders slump, and you feel really disappointed. You’ve effectively wasted their time and valuable gas in your car just to get supplies that weren’t there. “Sorry.”

“Huh? Don’t apologize.” Kuroo says, and picks up the dog food with a grunt. “We can still get your bed and check around to see if there’s anything else. I’m gonna put this in the car.”

You three spend about an hour there in total, the sky darkening in a bizarre way-- you’d never seen the weather change this much before. In no time at all, and right when you three were ready to move your mattress to the van, it begins pouring rain. Bokuto groans, and runs his fingers through his spiked hair in frustration.

“Maybe if we run fast enough--” You try, but Kuroo shakes his head.

“Your bed’ll get soaked. I don’t really wanna risk it, anyways.” He leans your bed on the wall beside the stairs, and flops down on your couch. “We can just wait it out.”

The rain thunders above you, and you’re almost worried your roof won’t be able to weather the storm, judging by how severely the trees are bent in the wind. You cross your arms, the chill really starting to get to you on account of your busted front door.

“Man, do you have any blankets around here?” Bokuto whines, and you laugh. Your once cosy home offers no insulation at all, so you get up and go to the linen closet. Worried you might find empty shelves, you’re relieved to find it’s been untouched. You suppose blankets were last on those guys’ list-- but it makes you satisfied thinking they might be freezing their asses off somewhere in this unexpected weather.

You return to the couch, and the three of you huddle under the fuzzy blankets. Kuroo invites you to scoot closer to him, but you hesitate. A gust of wind thunders through your front door, and that’s all it takes to convince you to huddle closer. His arm drapes over your shoulders, reminding you once again how small you are compared to them. Bokuto joins you on your opposite side, extremely comfortable with such close contact. Your heart’s racing, because you’ve never been sandwiched between two incredibly hot guys before. You take a deep breath, and you’re glad you left Indie back at the gym, because at least she can stay somewhere that’s dry.

It’s a few hours before the storm lets up, but as soon as the rain just barely begins to lessen, Kuroo shakes you and Bokuto from your naps. Your head was resting on his shoulder, and his head was resting on top of yours-- and as you bashfully scoot away from him, you realize just how warm he is from the sudden absence of heat.

The three of you haul your bed into the van, and decide to pile into the car and officially give up on what little else your home could offer you. After snagging a good deal of your clothes, all the soap you could find, some hair brushes and toothbrushes, you’ve got to accept that your ransacked house isn’t useful anymore.

You park in Asahi’s driveway, and ask Kuroo why exactly he wanted to stop here, to which Kuroo laughs, a little embarrassed.

“Well… before this all went down, I left my whole stash with Asahi because my parents were getting suspicious, and I didn’t think I could get away with hiding it in my house for a bit.”

“Stash?” You furrow your brow, and Kuroo and Bokuto exchange a mischievous glance. It takes you a second, but since you’ve gone to public school your whole life, you understand pretty quickly. “Ohhh,” You laugh, bashful that you didn’t get it at first.

The two boys tell you to wait in the car, so you keep the engine running while they go inside as if they owned the place. You guess they must’ve been pretty close to Asahi, considering how familiar they are with his home.

Maybe ten or fifteen minutes pass before you’re startled by Kuroo and Bokuto booking it out of the house to tumble into your car. Kuroo whisper-yells at you to “Gogogogogo!” and you’re zooming down the flooded road once again.

Your heart hammers in your chest, and you demand what the hell just happened. Kuroo and Bokuto laugh in that way a person does after they can’t believe they just escaped certain death, and the dark-haired boy holds up a sizeable baggie stuffed with weed with an apologetic smile.

“Don’t freak out, but… I think we ran into your boys back there.”

[norequestimagines]

Safeguard [Pt. 1]

TW: attempted rape, violence

“Please come! I promise you he won’t show up tonight! Seth said he’s been sick for a week!”

Lie. 

I appreciated Boone trying to get me out of the house. I hadn’t been doing much since the breakup other than studying and making up excuses to not go anywhere. As reluctant as I was, the idea of dressing up and being around friends was starting to sound nice. And, with the promise that my ex wouldn’t be there? I couldn’t find it in me to argue any further. 

But of course, there he sat, across the apartment, on Seth’s couch. I was talking with Boone when I saw him. I knew he wouldn't lie to me on purpose. He genuinely thought he wouldn’t be here. I knew that. But I was tipsy and tired, and I instantly felt like this was all his fault. How dare he accidentally invite me somewhere Josh would be? And how dare he be here?! How dare he be around our friends (who were all his friends first) smiling and laughing and having a good time? Alright, I may have also still been bitter. 

He looked good, but tired. His hair was shorter, still pushed back but not as “teen wolf” as it was two months ago. Tired eyes crinkled while he laughed halfheartedly at something Seth said. His masculine hands were wrapped loosely around a plastic red cup, resting between his knees. I hated that he looked good. I hated his soft hair and his big veiny hands and his stupid laugh. 

“Hello?? Anyone home?!” Boone waved his hand in front of my face, snapping me out of my trance. 

“Shit, sorry, B. Got a little distracted. I thought he was sick.” I muttered just loud enough for him to hear, nodding in Josh’s direction while turning my eyes away. 

He turned to look before facing me again. “Aw, man, yeah, he was. I guess he’s feeling better. I can take you home if you want?”

“No, no! Don’t even worry about it. It’s been two months. We can coexist.” 

I was determined not to let Josh’s being here ruin my night. Boone, being my best friend in Ohio, knew that Josh’s being here already did ruin my night, but knew that if he called me out on it, I’d burst into tears. Instead, he just gave me an uncomfortable smile, which was almost worse.

“I need more booze.” I said abruptly before hurrying into the kitchen. I managed to blink away the few tears that had gathered in my eyes and sniffled once before taking a shot of tequila. 

“Tequila’s no fun alone. Bad night?” An unfamiliar voice sounded behind me. 

I turned to meet a leather jacket, being worn by a pair of dark eyes and a killer smile. I was drunk and truthfully couldn’t make out much more than that. “Just got a lot better. Do you want to dance?” 

Leather Jacket and I made it to the dance floor and started off holding hands and moving relatively innocently to the beat of the music, but it didn’t take long before we’d grown closer, my backside against his front, his lips brushing my ear and the side of my neck. I turned slowly, swaying my hips and running my hands up his torso. His hands slip to my hips and around my body, dipping low beneath my back. When our lips touched, I could taste cigarette smoke but I was so drunk I didn’t even flinch.

I was also so drunk I didn’t flinch when he led me away from the living room and up the stairs. 

So drunk I didn’t realize he’d taken me into a bedroom and locked the door. 

So drunk I let him keep kissing me and lay me down on the bed. 

Someone was knocking but we ignored it. At first, at least. They kept knocking and saying something about no fucking in their house. 

Their house? Seth!

“Wait, wait,” I gasped out between kisses. “That’s Seth, he’s my friend!” I tried pushing Leather Jacket off of me but he didn’t budge. “Come on!” I giggled. “Let me go say hi to Seth!”

“Would you just let me kiss you, baby?” He grunted, suddenly grasping me tighter and shoving his tongue back in my mouth. 

Seth kept knocking and I kept trying to push the man on top of me away. I was starting to panic. He wouldn’t stop and soon grabbed both of my hands in one of his, holding them above my head and running his other hand along my body. 

He detached his lips from mine and I screamed the first thing that came to mind.

“JOSH!”

The man on top of me slapped me across the face. “Shut up and stay still, Jesus Christ.”

But I knew better than that. I wasn’t about to just let him have his way with me without putting up a fight. 

He released my hands and pulled on one of the straps on my shirt, snapping it in half. “JOSH, HELP!” He slapped me again and covered my mouth. Tears began to run down my face and I began to hyperventilate.

The pounding on the door grew louder and faster. I could hear Seth yelling for Josh and Boone yelling my name.

“KARA!” Bang. Bang. 

I was able to wiggle a leg free and used it to knee the man, but he saw it coming and moved before I could make decent enough contact. In doing that, his grip on my mouth loosened enough for me to bite his hand. I tasted blood as he yelped and pulled it away.

“Oh, you little-”

The door flew open, pieces of it splintering off. The man on top of me whipped his head to the left, looking at who just busted through the door. Josh. He came. 

Josh took everything in in about a half second, making long strides over to the bed before ripping the nameless man off of me and throwing him into a wall. 

“Josh!” 

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing, huh” Josh landed his first punch and blood began to pour from the other man’s nose. “Think you can just-” punch “fuck drunk girls?!” The man shoved Josh, wiping his nose of the back of his hand before punching back. They tackled each other and began fighting violently. 

I was so wrapped up in watching and worrying about Josh I hadn’t even noticed Boone wrapping a throw blanket around my shoulders until he lifted me to stand. I tried to get out of his grasp, to get to Josh and stop him before he killed the guy, but Boone wouldn't let me go. I gripped onto him and begged for Josh to stop, but he as so full of rage, I don’t think he even heard me. Seth raced forward and grabbed Josh’s shoulders but Josh just shook him off like it was nothing. Two more guys from the team ran in as Boone guided me away. I could still hear everything from down the hallway. 

“Josh, stop!”

“You’re going to kill him!”

“You’re scaring Kar!”

The commotion stopped at that. 

“Where is she?” 

I broke loose from Boone’s grip and ran into the hall bathroom, locking the door behind me. I didn’t want to face him. Not now. Not like this. I opened the window for some fresh air and sank to the floor, beginning to hyperventilate again.

There was a gentle knock and soft words followed. “Kar, it’s uh… it’s me. Look I… I know you’re terrified right now and I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you, baby. I just wanted to protect you and I snapped. Can I come in? I just want to make sure you’re okay. Can you unlock this door for me, sweetheart?”

“I-I c-c-can’t.” I sobbed.

“Yes, you can, baby. Just turn the lock for me, yeah? I just want to help you, okay? Let me fix this, Kara, please. Please just let me in so I can-”

I managed to reach up and unlock to door, desperate to feel the security of him around me. It took seconds for him to enter and lock the door behind himself. 

“Oh, baby.” He whispered, more to himself than to me. He walked over to where I’d crawled back to; a crumpled mess on the floor under the window. Sitting next to me, he pulled me into his lap and began rubbing large circles on my back with one hand and cradling my head with the other. “Shh, I’m here now. It’s okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you, sweetheart.”

He continued to murmur affirmations in my ear as I rode out my panic attack. I don’t know if I was there for ten minutes or two hours. All I knew was that I was half-shirtless and wrapped in Josh’s arms and I didn’t ever want to leave. 

My sobs and gasps turned into sniffles and hiccups, and I looked at him for the first time since the fight. He was a wreck. One black eye, a split lip, a split eyebrow, and a bloody nose. I could only imagine what his knuckles looked like. I ran my right hand down his face, careful to avoid his wounds. “I’m so sorry, Josh.”

“Don’t be. I’m glad I was here.” He took my hand in his, kissing my knuckles. “Let’s get you home, yeah?” 

He stood first, then held out a hand for me to grab. I felt so ridiculous. He was the one who just all but went to war for me and I was the one weak on my feet. The throw blanket Boone had wrapped around me got lost when I ran to the bathroom, so Josh took off his flannel and helped my shaking hands button it up. Pulling me into his side, he led me out of Seth’s nearly empty and very quiet apartment and to his truck. 

“Wait, what about-” 

“Seth and Boone are taking care of everything else. Let’s just worry about taking care of you.”

[dailyaudiobible]

11/07/2020 DAB Transcript

Ezekiel 16:42-17:24, Hebrew 8:1-13, Psalms 106:13-31, Proverbs 27:7-9

Today is the 7th day of November welcome to the Daily Audio Bible I am Brian and I guess this…well…it’s the 7th day of November, so I guess it’s our first full week that we’re about to complete in this 11th month of the year. So, let's dive in. We’re reading from the Evangelical Heritage Version this week, which is today. Ezekiel chapter 16 verse 42 through 17 verse 24.

Prayer:

Father, we thank You for Your word, we thank You for this first week of this new month that we’re in as we continue our journey with You. And what a journey it has been. We began a journey thinking that we were going to go through the Bible and then we found each other, and we were going to the Bible in community. And then we…we learned things that You were speaking to us as a community and as individuals, only to find out You have been with us the whole time. You have been guiding and directing and protecting us the whole time. Even when we were Your enemies You still loved us. And, so, it's been a year of discovery and this year, this disruptive year has forced to us to reconsider the old ways, and to reconsider where we’re going. And we can consider all we want but what we deeply want to consider is where You’re going because that's where we want to go. That's where we want to be. We want to be a part of what You are doing. And we thank You for Your word because it leads us on that path, it teaches us, it makes us aware of Your presence in our lives. And, so, we continue to be aware. Come Holy Spirit, well up from within as we become aware that You are within us, leading and directing and guiding us. May we see it clearly. We ask this in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is home base, it’s the website, indeed where you find out what's happening around here. So, stay connected.

And as we say often, the Community section is a place to go to get connected. It’s is where the Prayer Wall is and lives. You can also check out the Shop. The Daily Audio Bible Shop is full of resources that…yeah…they are made to accompany our journey here. So, check that out as well.

If you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible, you can do that dailyaudiobible.com also. There is a link on the homepage. If you're using the Daily Audio Bible app you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner, or the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174. And I thank you humbly and with all of the gratitude that I can use out of my vocabulary. Thank you for your partnership. We wouldn't be here if we weren't in this together. Thank you.

And, of course, as always, if you have a prayer request or encouragement, you can hit the Hotline button in the app, which is the little red button at the top, that looks remarkably or at least hopefully like a Hotline button. So, you can hit that no matter where you are the world, or you can dial 877-942-4253.

And that's it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I'll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hey DAB it’s __ J calling from Cleveland Ohio just saying hello to everybody wishing everybody well today. I know it’s been so many things going on. __ I’m praying for you all. It’s been a minute since I’ve called in. Been a heavy, heavy year. I shared with you guys some time ago that I had lost my mom __earlier this year in April. So, it’s been a tough, tough year but at the same time it’s been a wonderful year filled with joy. So, I’m reaching out to just pray for everybody today. A lot of polarization going on across our country our faith is polarized our passions are polarized the politics are polarizing the pandemic is polarizing but I…I…I chose today to turn that polarization into praise. Praise God for life for health for strength that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Thank God we don’t have to die on the cross when we have a cross to bear. God bless you all and stay safe and keep Jesus lifted up for He said he would draw all men unto him. Bye.

Hi Daily Audio Bible family this is Kimberly calling. We…guys I’ve been listening to this podcast since I began teaching…well…since…I’ve been teaching for a long time…but since I’ve been…started teaching first grade back in 2012. It has just been the mainstay of my morning. It has been the meat of my morning to help guide my day and my week successfully through my teaching career and being able to prioritize the Lord. It’s just been a great…it’s just been a godsend. I listen to it while I…when I get up in the morning and when I’m getting ready and then on my way to work. So, anyway, I guess I’ll get to the point. The point is it’s that I’m very, very grateful for this program and we are supposed to be going back to a hybrid plan…we’re going to a hybrid plan on Monday. So, I just really covet your prayers. Of course, I teach little first-graders so it’s gonna be really interesting to see how we do with our masks and how we do with just being safe and respectful and being able to create a classroom community when we can’t be really close. And how in the world am I going to teach first-graders from a distance? So, please pray for me. I’m sure there’s just a lot of creative teachers out there who have that handled but doing first grade from a distance is not the most effective teaching strategy and it’s not best practices. I love, love, love, my job. I love teaching. I feel like that’s what the Lord put me on this earth to do. So, I pray that that shines through and I pray that we can come together as families and teachers to be able to best meet all of the needs of the whole child during this upcoming season. I covet your prayers over our…

Hi, this message is for Danny from Southern Oregon. It is November 3rd and I just heard your call about your grandson playing hooky from school with his friends and his best friend killed the boy. Oh…it just really broke me down and I was just so compelled call in. I wanted to let you know that I’m gonna be praying for you. Danny I’m praying for your grandson Christopher. I’m praying for the young man who was murdered and his family. I’m praying for Tony who was next to the young man who got shot. I’m praying for Dustin who’s also the accused murderer. Oh my, Danny…I’m…I’m thankful that you’re a woman of God and I know that your prayers have helped to keep your grandson covered. I’m praying for all the family members and all the friends. I couldn’t imagine being a parent to any of the kids involved. It’s so heavy and I’m just praying that our Lord Jesus Christ bless these kids and bless the families. In Jesus name. If you all pray with me. So, Danny I wish you the best in your family. Keep your son…keep your grandson Christopher…keep him in prayer, keep him covered. And again, I’m just praying for all the kids involved. DAB family thank you so much for praying for everybody. I don’t call in. I’ve been a listener for year but this call…just hearing this call today just really got to me and I was just compelled to call him. So, I wanted to let you know Danny that I’ll be praying for you and everyone involved. Take care and God bless.

Hi this is Dorothy out in California October was pastor clergy appreciation month. I just wanted to thank Pastor Brian and his team for all their sacrifices they have made for them to make this possible for the world community. You are saving lives and I know you saved mine when I was…felt alone, I was lonely. When I felt like I couldn’t go another day I would turn on DAB and I felt I had community. So, I just want to thank you and…and this family. Okay. May God bless you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you peace. I __ that up but anyway. Thank you. Bye.

Good morning Daily Audio Bible this is Denise. I’m calling for my friend Amy. I heard you on November 4th about your heartbreak and your pain that you’re having in your marriage. I called a few weeks ago about the loneliness that I was experiencing in mine and I know the heartbreak and the pain and the suffering of being in a relationship that’s just not seemed to be panning out and the loneliness that you feel. And again, Covid doesn’t help at all now that it’s the holidays. So, Amy I’m letting you know that I know how you feel, and I relate to you and just as I called in and asked for prayer many people at Daily Audio Bible prayed for me. I want to do the same for you. So, God is greater than this situation and He’s gonna renew, restore and even multiply the blessings. Dear heavenly Father I pray for my sister Amy Lord where she is right now. Comfort her heart like you comfort mine. Give her peace like you gave mine. Wrap your arms around her like you wrap your arms around me and let us both know that we were not alone. Lord I pray for her marriage and I pray for restoration. I pray for complete and total peace in that relationship God. I rebuke turmoil and I rebuke loneliness and heartache and I speak life on that relationship. I speak life at Amy. Lord let her fall totally and completely in love you with You as I’m trying to do God and watch over us both as we go forward in Your name. Amen. You’re gonna be all right sister. And I’m gonna be alright too. God bless.

[uzumaki-rebellion]

“Black Boys Bloom Thorns First: Volume 2, Chp. 23″

Summary: Erik makes a discovery that changes the course of his family forever...

NSFW. Mature Audience. Smut.

"Every once and awhile

I find myself going through a transition

Packing up, flying away again

Never knowing how or which way is up

Turning, Spinning high

Welcome to changes

No time to spare

Might as well get used to it

Welcome to changes

Blow with the air…"

Carleen Anderson – "Welcome to Changes"

Califia had known Dr. Barbara Davis since she was a child.

Therapy was something her grandmother insisted on after her father was arrested and sent to prison. Nana Jean understood that her granddaughter was traumatized and needed the professional help her mother couldn't give her.

Califia was grateful for the intervention and grateful to have used Dr. Davis services when she had a brutal fight with N'Jobu when they were in their twenties. It was the only time in their relationship where N'Jobu had laid hands on her. He was defending himself from her attack after he accused her of being a cheating slut. He claimed much later that he had been holding back, but she remembers him using ulwa on her without hesitation. Perhaps it was ingrained in him to protect himself with full force no matter who it was who attacked him.

Califia allowed the fingers of her left hand to fuss with the leather button on the couch she sat on in Dr. Davis's comfortable and welcoming office. Soft browns and mauves surrounded them with splashes of pink. Soothing colors in all the décor. Hanging plants with long green tendrils giving the space a safe feel.

Erik sat beside her, quiet, his hands in his lap as he waited for their session to begin.

N'Jobu had been home for months and their family had maintained a stable home life since his return. Califia had returned to work but she made sure she and Erik saw Dr. Davis twice a week.

"How are things going for you at school, Erik?"

Dr. Davis's kind eyes peered at him from her horn-rimmed glasses, a sweet smile on her lips as she looked at the boy. Erik's body shifted in his seat.

"Good," he said, "…better actually."

"How so?"

"I sleep better at home, so I'm…calmer…um, yeah…calmer at school. No more nightmares."

"That's good to hear. And you, Califia?"

Califia's eyes left Erik's face as she gazed at the therapist.

"I still get bad dreams…sometimes. Not of the attack, but just weird stuff that I can't remember when I wake up."

Dr. Davis scribbled some things down on a yellow notepad.

"What about N'Jobu? How has he been?"

"Good. He and Erik are going camping this weekend with Erik's friend Walter."

"We went to Disneyland a few weeks ago," Erik said. His face lit up at the memory.

Dr. Davis went over some new breathing techniques with them and showed them how to quickly assess their anxiety levels with each other. It hurt Califia so much that Erik suffered from some of the same problems that she grappled with as a child. Intergenerational trauma was no joke, and she worried that she had passed down so much of her pain to her son. Erik had always been a joy to raise, a sensitive little one who felt deeply, but Lia's assassination had opened a wound that accelerated anxiety in him. He was also showing signs of obsessive-compulsive behavior. She could see the stress in him as he tried in his own way to still process and live with what he witnessed.

Their fifty-minute session went by quickly and while Dr. Davis put away her notes, Califia felt her heart- rate go up.

"Erik, do me a favor, could you wait out in the next room. I want to schedule some things with your mother real quick," Dr. Davis said.

Erik nodded, hopped off the couch, and disappeared into the waiting room.

"Califia…what is it?"

Califia finally allowed her tears to flow freely. She kept them in so Erik wouldn't see them, struggling to look normal for him as he left the space.

"I'm messing him up," she said, her voice shuddering from suppressing her emotions from Erik.

"What makes you say that?"

Dr. Davis handed Califia a tissue to wipe her eyes.

"My entire life has been nothing but pain and struggle and mental health issues. I see what it's doing to him. I'm setting my baby up for failure. He's become so rigid about things and he treats me like I'm the child sometimes. He always checks to make sure I'm okay. I'm supposed to be doing that for him!"

She threw her hands over her face unable to stop herself from weeping. "I've fucked up my son—"

"No…you haven't done that—"

"You see how he is—"

Dr. Davis pulled Califia's hands from her face.

"Let me tell you about your son. Erik witnessed a horrific event. But he is resilient. He has an absolute innate sense of justice. He believes strongly in fairness. He has a protective nature about him. His heart is so big and loving that he wants to make sure his Mommy is okay too."

Califia sat back on the couch still clutching the tissue in her hand.

"Parents can pass down anxiety—"

"That can happen. Erik has been displaying symptoms of an overactive brain, but it's nothing we can't work to improve. He's a brilliant child with big thoughts and ideas going on. He's learning to focus in much calmer ways so don't get yourself so worked up. Your coming here with him is the best thing you are doing to help him and yourself. His coping behaviors are simply coping behaviors. He could outgrow them over time—"

"What if he doesn't?"

"Let's focus on right now. Stressing over the future or the past is what keeps you stuck Califia. We work on that with you, and Erik will be fine. The fact that he sees you here doing your best to get well mentally only encourages him to do the same. You have to stay focused on the present with him now. Be mindful of the progress you both have made. Think of all the support you have from your family. Especially N'Jobu."

"Erik…he's my best thing, y'know?"

"I know."

"I worry so much about him. Parents are supposed to protect their children—"

"We live in the real world, Califia. You can't shield Erik from everything that happens, but you can be a pillar of strength and unconditional love for him. He can face anything when you and N'Jobu give him that."

Dr. Davis handed her another tissue and Califia tried to fix her face before going out to Erik.

Her son's eyes sought out hers the moment she walked out and he saw that they were pink from crying.

"You okay, Mom?"

"I am. Ready to go?"

"Yes."

She was mentally drained from the session and drove herself and Erik to visit N'Jobu at the shop. He was managing two new locations and they caught him as he returned to the original Drizzy's Kuts.

N'Jobu's eyes always lit up when he saw them and the moment they stepped into the shop, his arms were around her waist in greeting and he was touching Erik's hair.

"Hey, wasn't expecting you two to pop in," he said.

Califia sat in an open booth chair as Erik greeted three of the other barbers working on customers.

"Can I leave Erik here with you while I run over to see Rolita?"

"Sure. Is everything okay?"

"I got a text from her about meeting at her place with some of the women from Rise Up. Shouldn't take that long. An hour or two."

"Dinner at Nana's still?"

"Yeah."

She kissed his cheek and waved to Erik as she left. Needing Erik to be with the stronger parent right at the moment was important. She needed time with Rolita to lift herself up away from Erik. It was almost like he had extrasensory empath powers, able to read emotions and feelings from people just by looking in their eyes and taking on their weight. It was scary sometimes.

Rolita greeted her at her home with four other women from Rise Up and two men from a local Black activist group. There were snacks laid out in the living room and Califia ate chips from a paper plate with salsa. The mood in the room was solemn.

One of the men pulled out a laptop and showed the women a web page with a list of photos and names. Rolita sat next to Califia and took a deep breath.

"Activists are being murdered," Rolita said.

Califia felt the tension in the room rise.

"Misha Browning was found two hours ago," Rolita said and there was a gasp in the room from everyone.

Califia closed her eyes and steeled her nerves. Misha was a woman Califia had only known and interacted with online in cyber activist spaces. They had coordinated national action plans on police brutality and domestic terrorist attacks on immigrants and mutant humans. She had gone missing a few days previous and word spread by the police was that she had a domestic dispute with a boyfriend and disappeared soon after. But her boyfriend, a man Califia had met in person at a climate change conference in Fresno after she graduated university, was staying on a Scottish Island for a fellowship prior to Misha's disappearance.

There was a pattern.

Up until that moment, ten activists that Califia interacted with personally or knew of through online spaces nationally were dead. Seven of the dead were reported to have committed suicide. Four Black men and two Black women, and two Native women from the Pine Ridge Nation active with pipeline and environmental protests and civil disobedience. Three of them were said to have been murdered under suspicious circumstances. Their mental health was scrutinized and most of the newsfeed on them was swept away. Prominent and vocal activists. Killing themselves?

And now Misha. Found face down under Ohio river debris fifty miles away from her home.

Califia could only think of Lia and then her own self. Rolita too. They were mothers with young children. They were mothers trying to make the world safe for their babies. Could they be targeted next? Could they show up dead and the world told that they committed suicide? It wasn't unthinkable that an activist could kill themselves. Mental health was something they all grappled with and sometimes the world beat them down until killing oneself seemed like a good option. But ten people? Now eleven? Within two years?

Califia sat back in her seat. The rest of her time there long. And painful.

###

N'Jobu sat with Erik at his great-grandmother's kitchen table as he watched his son disassemble yet another one of his robotic toys. Erik had figured out a way to hack into the software of the original robotic programming and rebuild a new larger robot combining four different toys and the pieces of scrap metal his grandfather found for him. He placed the final pieces of the disassembled robot onto the final product.

Erik routed power to his new creation with a handheld and tried to get the strange-looking franken-robot to pick up a mug filled with tea and raise it up to N'Jobu's mouth. A set of spoons and a fork sat on the dining table waiting to be used by the robot to lift up a scoop of fruit loops and pick up sliced mango pieces.

"Be still, Baba." Erik said moving the levers in his hand.

N'Jobu sat still, but the tea mug didn't seem secure in the robot hand as small drops of the liquid spilled from the cup.

"I'm still, Son," he said trying not to laugh as the robot hand grew more unsteady.

"Stop laughing at it, you'll hurt the Daka 3000's feelings," Erik said.

"Oh, you changed its name again. Won't your mother be upset? The Cali 3000 was a nice-sounding name."

"Inventors name things after themselves."

"Why not JaJa 3000?"

"Too soft-sounding. The Daka in my middle name sounds hardcore…Baba, c'mon, be still!"

N'Jobu was leaning back in his seat, his hands up to catch the mug if it dropped.

"I have to perfect this by next week to be ready."

"Is Walter entering the science fair?"

"Yeah, he's working on something."

"You're not going to tell me about it?"

"It's boring."

"Don't say that about your friend."

"It is!"

"Tell me about it."

The robotic arm made it up to the front of N'Jobu's face with the mug. Erik did his best to ease it closer, but it was too jerky. He took a pause and stared at N'Jobu.

"He's making a display of fabrics that can be used to make flak jackets. Bulletproof—"

"So military science—"

"No, clothes for kids. So they won't be shot dead in school."

Whoa.

N'Jobu stared at Erik.

"He's really doing that?"

"Yeah. Lame."

"I don't think it's lame…just…that's pretty hardcore, Son."

"Compared to this? I'm creating a robot that can help the elderly in their homes. Open their pill bottles when they can't, feed them, and help put things away…but Walter's anti-kill clothes is hardcore. Serious Baba?"

"You both have created hardcore things."

"Kids shouldn't have to make clothes like that."

"I agree—"

"Like, make clothes that can let you fly or something…"

Frustrated, Erik snatched the mug from the robot's hand.

"I can't get this to move smoother. I'll have to take it apart. Wish I could get some nanobots for this…"

"Do you want to try the spoon or fork again? That did really well."

"Nah. Thanks for being my experimental human."

"Glad to be of help. Do me a favor though."

"Yeah?"

"Be supportive of Walter. He's trying to make something to help other children. Grown-ups are the blame for that, and it's a shame that a child his age wants to make something like that because we suck, but he is doing something he thinks is a good thing. Support that."

Erik stared at him and nodded his head.

"Who knows, maybe you both will make it to the Stark Expo. That would be exciting."

Erik grinned.

He was so determined to make his robot work. Not just for the Expo.

For Nana Jean.

His son's great-grandmother was ailing. Today she was having a good day and strong enough to make a Friday night fish fry. Relatives were coming over, and everyone was determined to make it a joyous evening of good food and family fun.

N'Jobu could see that the older woman was having a hard time with her health. Her once vibrant face was appearing a bit dull the last few months, and her already thin frame was looking gaunter. She was experiencing bouts of anger when she couldn't do a lot of things by herself like she used to. Like driving. She was having trouble with her hands, periodic shakiness and pain making it difficult for her on some days. But not today. Today she was cooking with the assistance of Erik and N'Jobu.

Erik picked up the tools he used to tweak the wires on his robot when he suddenly reached out and tapped on N'Jobu's kimoyo beads.

"It's lighting up, Baba!"

N'Jobu saw the emergency silver lighting on his beads. They warmed up his wrist.

"I've never seen that color before," Erik said, his eyes glued to his wrist.

The past three years he had told his son his beads were like mood rings and could change colors at will. But he was right. Silver was a new color. Silver was a signal from his fellow rogue War Dogs. Something was wrong.

"Clean this up, and we'll start making the batter for the fish and shrimp," he said.

Pushing back from the table, N'Jobu headed to a guest bedroom, Junie's old room, and locked the door.

"D'Beke," N'Jobu said, watching the man's shape hover over his wrist.

"We have found Klaue. He is ready to move into Wakanda. The time has come your Highness."

N'Jobu shut his eyes and sat on the guest bed.

"Send out a code three, and make sure all cells are on code. No more communications until you all hear from me. Understand? Send me Klaue's contact. We have to be…we have to be…D'Beke if anyone acts suspicious…end them."

"Yes, Prince N'Jobu."

D'Beke winked out and N'Jobu felt his body tremble with excitement and nervous energy.

The time had come to act. No more planning. Action.

"Wakanda Forever," he whispered.

###

Califia felt beyond stuffed. She rubbed her belly from all the shrimp she consumed. Hot, juicy, greasy, salty-sweet delicious shellfish fresh from the skillet. N'Jobu rubbed his belly and Califia watched Erik help Nana Jean fry up more shrimp in cornmeal batter this round.

"Nana. I can't eat anymore," she said.

Nana dropped shrimp into a fry strainer and Erik lowered it and stood back when the grease popped. Nana dropped more shrimp into the bowl filled with the batter.

"Someone will," Nana said, her frame so much smaller from how Califia always saw her as a little girl. She felt it deep down. No one else in the family wanted to say it outright, and Nana Jean was not forthcoming with her health, but Califia knew. Her great-grandmother was battling something and trying so hard to stay on the earth for Erik. That was her child. He may have come out of Califia's body, but Erik was her baby

Erik's mind was set on going to the Stark Expo in New York. He had come so close last year, making it to a semi-final status and receiving a signed certificate from Tony Stark himself. She and N'Jobu had to nurse him through a mini-temper tantrum when he didn't get to be a finalist. He pouted for weeks and wouldn't even hang up his certificate in his room that Nana Jean had framed for him. N'Jobu had to have a sit down with him and remind him of how many people, children, and adults had submitted projects and didn't even make it to the quarter-finals. She remembered the title of his abstract too, "Novel Subtle Acoustic Communication: Successful Elucidation of the Cryptic Ecology of Runner Plant Bugs with Emphasis on Their Stridulatory Mechanisms". He spent three months capturing the faint sound of bugs. Bugs that he had crawling all over his bedroom when a few escaped by accident. She shivered at the memory.

Califia had to chime in and show him the certificate.

"Tony Stark really signed this. A busy man like him took the time to sign something acknowledging your hard work. You should be proud of yourself."

It wasn't until Erik went online to see how many people had entered projects did his own parent's words kick in. There were only twenty-five semi-finalists for his category and his face beamed when he announced, "Just over half a million people entered globally."

For the new year, he switched from acoustics to robotics hoping to be a finalist. And he focused on something more personal, and close to home: Nana Jean.

That big ole heart of his wanted to make his Nana as self-sufficient for as long as possible with a personal elder care robot.

N'Jobu watched her closely after she rubbed her belly and caught his eye. Her mood hadn't been the best when she arrived at the house. The meeting at Rolita's was tough on her psyche and she almost opted to go home and sleep until her grandmother called Rolita reminding her to bring her daughter Neveah.

Erik's cousins and Neveah ran around the front room while Erik cooked at the stove.

"JaJa, go be with the other kids, I'll help Nana."

Erik nodded and she watched her grandmother pat his head.

"Nana, for reals, I don't think anyone else can eat more. Take a break and spend time out front too."

"Dayclean is still eating," she said.

"I am done, Nana. Go relax, we'll take care of all of this."

N'Jobu stood up and cleared the dishes left on the table as a few of Califia's Uncles cleaned up after themselves before heading to the den to watch TV.

"You good?" N'Jobu asked.

"Better."

"Erik told me you looked upset leaving your session today. Want to talk about it?"

"It was nothing serious…really. I was just feeling a way. Venting."

"Did it help?"

"I think so."

He rinsed dishes and stacked them in the new dishwasher they bought for Nana three years ago once they saw she had trouble with her hands.

She finished putting leftovers in the fridge and when she looked at N'Jobu again, his gentle eyes broke her down.

"Let's go in the back," he said when he saw her eyes well up with water.

The house was busy and no one paid them any mind going to the back guestroom. It was quiet back there. N'Jobu locked the door and they both sat on the bed.

Califia wiped her eyes.

"He is too much like me. And I am afraid for him."

"Califia—"

She touched his hand.

"His quick temper. His anxiety. His need to be in control…this compulsion to make things perfect…it's not healthy…and living here, and seeing Lia…I have damaged him."

N'Jobu stayed quiet and she was grateful. Over the years he had to learn how to let her talk things out and not try to offer immediate solutions as he was want to do all the time. She just needed to be heard. Just wanted to let her words linger openly so she could work through her pain.

"I worry about how he will deal with the trauma later in life. Kids bounce back. I know this. Better than adults. But he…you know this about him…he feels too deeply. This world will break his heart N'Jobu. People like that suffer more than most."

N'Jobu continued to listen as he held her hand.

"I worry about him. I told Dr. Davis this. I worry that he has inherited my pain. I pray and pray that he can be more like you, like…if I could take the worst aspects of myself and remove that from his DNA—"

"Stop."

N'Jobu's eyes were watery. He stroked her face.

"I don't want you thinking like this. I don't want you to carry this in your heart. Take parts of you out of him? He wouldn't be who he is without those parts of you. I know I'm supposed to let you feel what you feel, but my son…our son? He is perfect. He is his own person. That is an Udaku Prince out there and you make him perfect. Understand?"

"I want to believe you, I might believe you if…."

"If what?"

"If you would take us to Wakanda. It has to be safer and better there. You heard what Rolita told you at dinner. It's bad out here. You heard about Walter's science project. Fuck is that? Fuck kind of world are we living in. How can we protect Erik? What if something happens to him? What if something happens to us? Who would take care of him? Who would be capable of caring for a child like ours? Huh? Tell me."

"Babe—"

"Why won't you take us away from here? My baby is a Prince. He deserves to live in a world without fear, or where his best friend doesn't make bulletproof t-shirts for his peers. Don't you want him to have the life you had growing up?"

N'Jobu pulled her in with a tight hug when the tears really started flowing down her face. She was so tired.

"My love, don't cry, please…don't cry…"

It was the same quiet fight they had over the years. His refusal to take them home.

They weren't welcome. She knew this. Deep down they were not wanted in his world, and yet it was the only one that could save them. And she didn't understand why he prevented them from contact. Not even a visit. Their son was learning Wakandan. Memorized their alphabet. Practiced writing his name, even practiced a little speech he wanted to give in front of his royal grandparents when they would meet. Even had a gift he made for his cousin Prince T'Challa, a little necklace that would hold secret-coded messages between them.

And yet…

Here they sat with her crying about it once more.

They left the bedroom and joined the rest of the family to eat pound cake and watch Wheel of Fortune, everyone shouting at the tv their guess's at the puzzles. Neveah and Erik giggled like crazy whenever her father Dante guessed words that clearly were made up to make them laugh.

Once they returned home, Erik put away his robot, and she and N'Jobu dressed for bed. They allowed Erik to lounge in bed with them until it became way past his bedtime. She caught that mood from N'Jobu that he wanted to make love, but Erik kept prolonging his stay in their bed by negotiating for extra time with them. They allowed him to watch another half hour of the SyFy channel until he was knocked out and snoring with his head resting on Califia's stomach.

"Hey, buddy, time to wake up," N'Jobu said nudging Eric gently on the shoulder.

"Thirty more minutes," Erik whispered, his eyes wide as if he hadn't been snoring a minute ago.

"So you can sleep again? Go to sleep in your room. I need some Mommy time," N'Jobu said. He started pushing Erik away from Califia.

"Mom!" Erik whined pushing N'Jobu's hands away and trying to stay on her stomach.

"It's two in the morning, JaJa," Califia said stroking his braids.

"Then I should be able to stay since the sun will be up in five hours."

"If you don't get," N'Jobu said pulling on one of Erik's braids.

"Ow, Baba! I know why you really want me gone…you wanna kiss Mom and do the nasty!"

"Boy!" Califia said, a shocked expression on her face as she play slapped his arm.

"Yes, now get," N'Jobu said.

"I can't believe that came out of your mouth," Califia said.

"Why are you being embarrassed?" Erik teased.

"Time for you to get out of grown folks business," Califia said lifting him off of her stomach.

Erik finally rolled over and stood from their bed.

"Y'all some haters, man, for real," he said.

His dimples melted her.

"Who is this child? Where is my sweet JaJa?" she said.

Erik leaned back over the bed and kissed her cheek.

"Night Mom," he said.

"Night, Baby. Sleep well," she answered.

Erik gave his father a sly look as he sauntered out of their room backward.

"I'll just close this so I can get some rest," he said as he grabbed their doorknob and shut it behind him.

"Okay, maybe we should take some of your DNA out of him," N'Jobu said as he wiggled out of his pajama bottoms.

"That was all you, nigga," she said staring as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

He tugged on her nightgown and she brushed his hands away.

"We can't do it now," she said glancing at the bedroom door.

"Why not?'

"Because he knows that's what we're doing—"

"I don't care, just put the pillow over your mouth," he said pulling the bed covers back and raising up her gown to her hips. She widened her legs and allowed him to lick her vulva slowly, but then she felt self-conscious. Kept glancing at their bedroom door making her stomach tense.

"I can't, not yet," she whispered.

"Babe, stop being silly. I want to make you feel good after a tough day…shit…pussy wet already."

His tongue rested just under her clit as her ring poked out from the engorgement of the slick bud. He gave light pulses there and her legs shot up, her thighs falling open.

"Get the lube," he said stroking his dick.

Reaching into her drawer she pulled out cherry flavored lube. She coated her vulva and opened her wet inner lips for him.

Tongue darting in and out and smearing his lips with her arousal, Califia held N'Jobu's head.

"Let's just do a quickie," she said.

"Quickie, longie, I just need to be in my pussy," he said shifting his body to line up with hers. He inserted his erection and she gasped out loud.

"I'm about to fuck you real good," he hissed in her ear.

Califia stuffed her left hand over her mouth as her right arm held his shoulder in a death grip.

"God, baybee—"

"Mmmmm—"

"Wait, not so hard, the headboard is banging against the wall—"

"Fuck that wall—"

"The noise—"

N'Jobu lifted up and watched his dick slide into her.

They had been working and caring for Nana Jean and Erik so much that it had been a couple of weeks since they had last had sex. And this quickie was just what they needed. If N'Jobu didn't waste any time kissing her, she knew he was desperate to get in her stuff. He couldn't go very long without some sexual contact with her.

"Look at your dick, Jobu," she encouraged, his face so intent on watching her pussy grip his length. His dick was shiny, his dark coloring magnificent. She felt sorry for people who couldn't have Black dick like this filling them up. He was ready to split her in two. She needed this. Needed him. Needed to get her mind off of her troubles.

He pulled out and positioned himself on his side behind her. His hands gripped her breasts but her gown kept slipping down.

"Take it off," he said and she removed it over her head and tossed it on the side.

White light under the door.

Erik was still up.

Califia dropped her head to one of her pillows and bit into it. She could hear how gushy her pussy was, could hear N'Jobu trying his best to keep his voice down but to no avail.

"Damn…damn…," N'Jobu grunted, his hands tightening around her breasts.

"Yes, baby."

"I missed this pussy, girl. We gotta stop playing and make time for us…oh shit…"

"Jobu—"

"Where you want it, baby? I'm ready to cum…oh…Califia…where you want this nut?"

"In my mouth," she said.

"Okay…okay….," he panted.

He kept stroking his dick in her pussy, hitting the side of her walls hard.

His pace picked up, and for a second she thought he would cum inside her because he didn't seem willing to leave her hot folds.

"Turn around!" he shouted.

Yanking out of her, he stroked his thickness as she turned around and lowered her face to his cock.

"Open your mouth…oh shit…baby open your mouth!"

Mouth Open. Tongue out.

N'Jobu slapped his dick on her tongue, his eyes swimming with an all-consuming carnality. Her own fingers plucked at her clit and when his release splashed all in her mouth, she gulped his cum down as her sugar walls clenched from an intense orgasm.

She swallowed everything he gave her, and he spent some time licking between her legs again and giving her another orgasm.

She was about to enjoy the third orgasm from his mouth when a brilliant blue light spilled under their bedroom door.

"N'Jobu!" she cried out.

He turned his head and saw the brilliant fluorescent blue. His eyes shifted in a way she had never seen before.

He leaped up and put on his pajama bottoms. She threw her gown back on and followed him out of their bedroom.

Erik's bedroom door was open, the dazzling blue array coming from there.

"Erik!" N'Jobu shouted.

Their son stood in the middle of his bedroom. N'Jobu's Wakandan beads were on his wrist, the blue light bleeding out from it.

"Baba!"

Erik tried pressing down on a bead.

"Don't do anything else!" N'Jobu said.

But it was too late.

Erik twisted one of the beads and the brilliant blue light filled the entire room and a large holographic image floated above Erik's wrist.

A street scene.

People walking on elevated sidewalks.

Space ships flying in the air.

Black people dressed in ways they had never seen before.

"N'Jobu, what is this? What is that?" she whispered with awe in her voice.

Erik's eyes studied the images and he took his free hand and stuck it inside the field of blue light. It expanded and different color-rich scenes played like a series of split screens spinning in a circle.

A cityscape.

And a futuristic structure that looked like a double palace…

"It's Wakanda," Erik said.

His fingers flicked an image up over his head. It looked like a billboard advertising a car they had never seen before in the world. The lettering was all Wakandan.

Erik's bright eyes stared at her.

"It's Baba's home!"

###

Chapter 24 

Tag List”

@fd-writes​ @soufcakmistress  @cherrystainedlipsbaby @tclaybon  @thadelightfulone @allhailqueennel @bartierbakarimobisson @cpwtwot @shookmcgookqueen @yoyolovesbucky @raysunshine78 @the-illllest @terrablaze514  @l-auteuse @amirra88 @jimizwidow @janelledarling @chaneajoyyy @sweetestdream92 @purple-apricots @blackpinup22 @hennessystevens-udaku @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @bugngiz @stariamrry  @honeytoffee

[politicaltheatre]

Kill The Messengers, pt.3

This week played out like some kind of twisted symphony, the end of American representative democracy as we’ve known it in four movements.

You have the first movement, establishing the world about to be threatened, perhaps even destroyed.

You have the second, when all hope seems lost.

You have the third, chaotic, confirmation of all that has come before, of the doom and gloom we have bare escaped, and yet showing a glimmer of light, a chance at hope renewed.

The fourth movement continues from the third, an explosion of energy, of promise for a better future.

This was the week that was.

The first movement, clearly - or not considering how it played out - was the Iowa Caucus coupled with a motif of war between the Democrats and Republicans in Washington in the impeachment trial’s closing arguments. The expectations set by the caucus and the pantomime on the Senate floor seemed crystal clear at the time. And then arrogance overwhelmed everything.

The arguments weren’t much of anything, really. The House managers laid out a thorough, well reasoned, and, aside from Adam Schiff, incredibly dull closing. Yes, Trump is corrupt. Yes, Trump violated United States laws and the Constitution itself. Yes, acquittal would mean violating any standard of the rule of law and make corruption the new standard of the republic.

Trump’s lawyers turned abruptly from that to complete farce. Richard Nixon, in his shameful, post-pardon exile, infamously said, “when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal”. On Monday, Alan Dershowitz attempted to make the case that Nixon’s personal defense should be the law of the land. That’s how far we’ve come as a nation in forty years, how low our standards of behavior have been brought.

The Iowa Caucus has been around so long that its functioning has long been taken for granted. People go in a room, give their first choice, and then persuade, bully, and cajole their friends and neighbors to join them until some candidate comes out the winner. They do this all over the state in small groups and it takes time. Reporting it should take time.

And yet, in our impatient, smart phone driven new world, the idea that people should be allowed to take time with something is a thing of the past, like the rule of law. The corruption coursing through our culture at the moment has only exacerbated this, by making the chaos of reporting accurate information about a competition fodder for conspiracy theories and accusations of cheating. Everybody does it, right?

With a crisis like this comes an opportunity, and as in so many crises before that opportunity was seen as a money making one. Some geniuses who worked on Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign offered to bring Iowa’s ancient caucus system into the 21st century, and the result, predictably, went sideways.

HBO famously allowed untold millions of Americans steal its HBO GO streaming service through the use of borrowed passwords and other, less scrupulous methods. They did this for a year or so, until they knew that their highly anticipated stand alone streaming service, one not requiring cable TV, could handle the bandwidth. It cost them more money than we will ever know, but once HBO NOW launched, it never went down due to lack of bandwidth.

No one at Iowa’s Democratic Party and the Clinton veterans’ company, Shadow, Inc., thought to test their caucus app, either for bandwidth requirements or for bugs in the code. Oops.

Fortunately for the Democrats, Iowa is no more representative of them as a national party than it is representative of the nation as a whole. This embarrassment will only really last as long as it takes to count the results of the primary in New Hampshire.

The second movement, filling those of us who can feel it with sorrow and shame, encompassed a State of the Union address that had almost nothing to do with the state of this actual union and the vote less than a day later to acquit Trump.

Our expectations of State of the Union addresses is justifiably low. Rarely has anything ever been said or done that was not wholly calculated and lacking in any sense of authenticity. By that standard, Trump didn’t disappoint.

That, of course, is the only standard by which he did not, unless you count yourself among his base. Even more than any president before him, Trump has used presidential addresses as campaign opportunities, and he did so here. The low point - again, unless you just love Trump - was the pantomime award of the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Rush Limbaugh, a man who has made a fortune cultivating hatred and pitting Americans against each other.

In a way, Limbaugh is the perfect recipient of an award from Trump. He is openly racist, has bullied women, foreigners, and those with disabilities, and has lied shamelessly, all in the service of enriching himself. He is Trump.

Nancy Pelosi’s own pantomime of tearing up Trump’s speech at the end was no less calculated. It may well backfire, offering up justification to Trump’s base for every lie he’s told about Democrats, but she had to have thought about what she could possibly do knowing what was coming the next day to show that the Democrats weren’t just going to sit there and take it. She has her own base to worry about, and that of the eventual Democratic nominee in November.

What came the next day was no more surprising than hearing that “the state of the union is strong”. The only surprise, if it was even surprising, was that Utah Republican Mitt Romney voted to convict on abuse of power. He didn’t have to worry about Trump actually being convicted, and he did have to worry about his own reelection, and yet showing the courage to vote “Yes” on that one charge has cleared the low bar for courage we now hold.

His fellow Republican senators spent the day taking several, heavily scripted lines to justify voting “No”. The most laughable, offered up by a few including Maine’s possibly outgoing senator, Susan Collins, was that Trump must have learned his lesson. The most insidious, offered Ohio’s Rob Portman in an op-ed, was that he voted “No” because the time has come for America to put partisanship behind it and come together.

That’s a bit like punching someone in the mouth and insisting that he learn to turn the other cheek. While you’re punching him again in that other cheek. And picking his pocket. And laughing at him.

When Republican senators trotted out words and phrases such as “coming together”, “bipartisanship”, and “unity”, it was all coded language. What they meant, and have meant in their long journey further and further into political corruption, is “stop resisting”, “just go along”, and “consent”. They don’t want us to stop fighting, they want us to stop fighting back.

Barack Obama repeatedly tried to meet them half way, only to see Mitch McConnell and his House colleagues repeatedly move what they called “half way” further and further to the political right. There is no negotiating your way out of that trap, and there will be no campaigning against it if you give it the weight all of those senators voting “No” have been trying to give it.

So, there we were, a country watching corruption win and boast of its victory over the rule of law. It was enough to make a decent human being think that maybe those Republicans in Washington were right, that there isn’t any point fighting back, that we should just give in and take it.

The third movement is all about that feeling.

The lawsuit against Trump for violating the emoluments clause in the Constitution was dismissed because the Democrats filing it did not hold a majority in the House when they filed it. The same day, it came out that Trump has been charging the Secret Service thousands of dollars each night its agents stay at one of his hotels, which they must do when they guard him.

Trump gave a speech at a national prayer breakfast that was filled with nothing but hate. Well, almost nothing; he does love how he stuck it to those Democrats.

And then Trump began his campaign of vengeance against those who testified against him, firing Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman, Vindman’s twin brother, and Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland. They violated the rule of omertà.

And yet, a glimmer of light breaks through.

The largest newspaper in Mitt Romney’s home state praised his courage. He may be as safe as a senator can be, a beloved Morman representing Utah, but he knew the point he was making to Republicans across the country and knew all too well how history would remember him.

There were also three Democratic senators in “red” states, Wisconsin’s Tammy Baldwin, Arizona’s Kirsten Cinema, and Alabama’s Doug Jones, who all voted to convict. Doug Jones is running for reelection. He may have nothing to lose, running in a state expected to vote heavily for Trump, but he showed courage nonetheless. He’ll campaign on this, and Sinema will campaign for whomever the Democratic nominee for Senate will be in Arizona.

Baldwin may have made the toughest choice among them, knowing that she will have to run point for whomever the Democratic presidential nominee is in an attempt to swing her state back in November.

This is why this impeachment will not be so easily put behind us. It is not because Trump will be campaigning on his acquittal but because the Democrats want Americans looking at how the Republicans in Congress protected him.

Corey Gardener voted to acquit Trump and his chance at reelection in Colorado may now be lower than Doug Jones in Alabama. It was a vote for corruption. It was a vote for a double standard, a set of rules for the rich and another for everyone else. And it will be a yoke Democrats hang around his neck and those of every Republican running in the Senate and the House.

Will they succeed? Well, let’s talk about the fourth movement.

Tonight in New Hampshire, seven Democrats are answering questions on a stage and very likely offering actual answers about how they will be better than Trump. Again, that’s a mighty low bar.

What should make you feel good, unless you are a fan of Donald Trump, are those results from Iowa. Young voters, notorious generation after generation for being all talk, showed up in droves. If they show up next week in New Hampshire and keep showing up, they are likely to tip the scales in the so-called “battleground” states.

They stayed home in 2016. The Democratic presidential candidate, who for some reason keeps on trying to insert herself into every conversation and who never seems able to accept accountability for her own failures, made that campaign all about her and failed. Based on the current field of Democrats - even Bloomberg - that won’t be the case.

Turnout is everything in an election, and what the Democrats - not the DNC, but the ones campaigning to be president right now - seem to understand is that they can’t rely on converting many who voted for Trump. They need to bring out their own voters and they need to give Trump’s 2016 voters a reason to stay home.

Impeachment may not seem like a sexy campaign issue, certainly not when you failed to convict, but it doesn’t have to be the central issue in the election. It will be there, always present, always a reminder of corruption and, most importantly, those who stood to support it.

Trump is emboldened now, yes, and taking his revenge while taking a bigger piece of the pie all for himself, and that will weigh on him and on every Republican running for Congress, not just in 2020 but in 2022 and 2024. The advantage Democrats have now is one that they only just started to have in 2018, one that they could not have had in 2016.

They now have evidence, a track record of corruption and greed and racism and abuse of power that has been so pervasive and so present that ignoring it has become more and more difficult.

Memory is powerful. It’s like the body developing anti-bodies in reaction to an illness. We know now what we’re fighting. We can recognize it. We can focus our energies against it. With enough anti-bodies, we build a defense and we defeat what would destroy us.

The right wing has long spoken in these terms, of invasion, of infestation, of outsiders threatening who we are and those things we love. The threat they want us to see is the “other”, always the “other”.

What we must ask, and what Democrats at long last seem to be heard asking, is why. The right wing wants us looking away, wants us looking at others, because they don’t want us looking at ourselves.

The greatest threat we face is from ourselves. We have an economy that rewards selfishness above accountability because we allow it. We have rising temperatures and weather systems increasingly out of balance because we allow it.

We have corruption because we allow it. We have abuse because we allow it. Donald Trump has carte blanche to be corrupt and to abuse power because we, the American people, have allowed it.

And we have the power to end it, if we so choose.

You impeach a corrupt president because corruption destroys us like a cancer. You fight bullies because you are not afraid. You stand up for the least powerful among us because that is what makes us all stronger. You share what you have because someday those people might be in a position to share with you.

Isn’t that America? Isn’t that the version we tell ourselves we want to be?

That was the lesson for this week. That was the point of impeachment. That is the core issue not only of this upcoming election but of the next one and the one after that.

Big finish.

- Daniel Ward

[kgunt12]

The Drummer’s Best Friend// Nikki Sixx (Part One)

I’ve known Tommy Lee since I was 12 years old. We met in our math class in 7th grade. I was new around town and had absolutely no friends. I moved from Ohio to California and people thought I was some kind of alien, but Tommy was different. He was interested in becoming my friend because I wasn’t from around here and because I was different. His words, not mine. That kid’s a sap.

We’ve been inseparable ever since. I would come watch him in the marching band and when he was in Suite 19. In return he would be there for me whenever I needed him, which was quite often. We helped each other through break ups and through all our ups and downs. He was my best friend, to say the least.

“Oh, come on, (Y/n)!” He pleaded, giving me his puppy dog eyes.

“Tommy, I love you, I really do, but my parents would never let me go,” I said.

He rolled his eyes, “You haven’t even asked yet!”

“Yeah and that’s because my dad will most likely be drunk! I’m not in the mood to get yelled at, or worse. My mom will probably be fucked up on coke, so there goes that idea,” I said, giving him a tight lipped smile.

“Okay, fine, but I just really want my best friend to be there,”

“I guess I could just sneak out.” After those words left my mouth, Tommy had the biggest smile on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back at him.

Tommy decided to pick my outfit for me. He picked out ripped jean shorts, a black and red crop top, and my black booties. I made my hair big and poofy while making my makeup simple, besides my bold red lip. I had to admit, Tommy had amazing taste because I looked good!

I had just watched Mötley Crüe perform at their first show and I was already obsessed. Tommy was amazing behind his drums, the guitarist killed it, the lead singer had me almost drooling, and don’t even get me started on their bassist. He was by far the hottest man I have ever seen. The way he played his bass and the way he looked up there blew me away.

“(Y/n)! Did you like it?” Tommy asked as he picked me up, spinning me around their dressing room. I couldn’t help but giggle.

I smiled, “You guys fucking killed it! It was so amazing!”

“Besides those assholes at the beginning,” a new voice said.

Tommy let go of me, setting me on the ground. I turned around to see the lead singer standing there, smirking at me. Wait a second! Blonde hair, stunning eyes, and a killer body?

“Oh my God! Vince Neil!” I said and smiled at the blonde.

“(Y/n) (L/n)? Is that you?” he asked. I walked over to him and gave him a hug, glancing at Tommy. I use to have the biggest crush on Vince when we were in school. Tommy would always tease me about it, but he was also super protective of me and never let Vince touch me.

I pulled away, “It’s good to see you, Vinnie!,”

“You look incredible, (Y/n),” he said, his eyes undressing me.

“Alright, that’s enough,” Tommy spoke and pulled me back to him.

An older looking man walked into their dressing room and grabbed a bottle of vodka. He sat down on the couch, taking a big swig from the bottle.

“(Y/n), this is Mick Mars!” Tommy said, smiling down at me.

“Nice to meet you!” I said. Mick gave a little wave back and took another swig of vodka.

“Nikki, man!”

I looked to my right, the wind almost got knocked out of me. The bassist was standing there with a bottle of Jack Daniels in his hand. Pieces of his black hair stuck to his forehand and his shirt clung to his chest. He looked stunning.

Tommy placed a hand on my shoulder, “This is Nikki Sixx,”

“Hey, (Y/N), is it?” he asked.

“Yep, that’s me,” I answered, flashing him a smile. He returned it and offered me his bottle. I glanced down at it, deciding to take it. I held it up to my lips and chugged it, feeling it burn the back of

my throat.

“Yo, (Y/N), you might wanna slow down!” Vince said.

I handed the bottle back to Nikki, “Oh, come on Vinnie! I can out drink you in a minute!”

“There’s no way!” Vince retorted back.

“Remember junior year? I out drank you, Tommy, and that one kid in 30 seconds!” I said and giggled at the face Vince was making.

“You coming to the after party?” Nikki asked.

I looked up at him, “I wish, but I really need to head home,”

“C’mom (Y/n)! You gotta stay! It’s gonna be so much fun!” Vince yelled as a blond girl entered the dressing room.

“I really to need to get going. You guys were amazing, by the way! I can’t wait to come to another show and see you guys kill it!” I said and gave everyone a small smile.

Tommy walked over to me and placed his hand on my back, “I’ll walk you home,”

“It’s-“

“I’ll walk her home,” Nikki interrupted me and replaced Tommy’s hand with his, sending chills down my spine.

“Make sure she gets there safe, alright? And no funny business!” Tommy warned Nikki. I smiled at Tommy and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Nikki and I made our way out of the dressing room, heading towards the front of the bar. As soon as we got outside chills erupted onto my skin. The cool California breeze was no match for my bare arms. I tried to rub some heat back back into them, but I failed, miserably.

I looked over at Nikki and watched as he walked silently, stealing glances at people walking by. It was kinda cute, actually. He seemed so absorbed in his own little world.

“So, why did you offer to take me home?” I asked, rubbing my arms.

He looked at me, “I didn’t want Tommy to miss out on anything,”

“I didn’t want him to either. Before you interrupted me back there, I was gonna tell him that I was fine on my own. Which I am,” I said.

“Tommy would’ve never let you walk alone,”

I smirked, “He doesn’t own me, so he would’ve had to deal with it,”

“You’re a feisty one, aren’t you?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.

“You could say that,” I answered.

“Good. I like feisty,”

Butterflies erupted in my stomach as a blush formed on my cheeks. I looked away from Nikki and smiled the biggest smile. This guy was caring, cute, talented, and sexy as fuck. I think I’m in love. Oh lord. I sound like Tommy!

We walked up to my house and I could hear my parents arguing. My dad was shouting and my mom was throwing shit around the house. I could hear glass shatter and it made me cringe. I really wish I would’ve walked alone.

Nikki grabbed my wrist, “You want me to come in with you?”

“No, I’ll be okay,” I said and snatched my wrist from his hold.

“(Y/n)...”

“There’s no need to worry, Nikki. I’ll be fine,”

“Are you sure? Cause, I can come in for a bit. I don’t have anything else going on,” he said as he tried to follow me up my porch steps.

I gave him a tight lipped smile, “I’ll be fine. Just don’t tell Tommy about this, okay?” I asked.

“Why shouldn’t I-“

“Thanks, rockstar,”

With that being said, I ran inside my house and tried to steer clear of my parents. I knew that Nikki was going to tell Tommy, but a small part of me really hoped he wouldn’t. I didn’t want Tommy to know just how bad things were at home. He was so happy right now.

As I laid in bed that night, Nikki was the one thing on my mind. The way his hair stuck to his forehead, the way he drank Jack Daniels, the way he played his bass, and the way he made me feel inside. I knew that Tommy would never let Nikki date me, but, that was one of the last things on my mind as I drifted off to sleep.