#This is closer to lost hero leo I guess

[cas-theghostking]

I haven't read the heros of Olympus books in a long time but Leo Valdez was one of my favorites. Here's my desgin of him.

[midnightcreator12]

Well, only one person replied to my post..... but that person was @antimattercontainment​ Who is awesome soooooo....

Fr tho, just wanna talk about this cus I drew a thing, anyway!

My one main issue with the 2012 Mutant Apocalypse was this guy here VVV

Maximus Kong, aka Leo, aka the Shredder stand in for this arc. And I don’t dislike him because of the design, but because he’s Leo.

You’re telling me Leo, who is routinely shown to be a very empathetic person with a strong sense of justice throughout the show, became a ruthless, tyrannical overlord who's only goal is to take over the world after losing his memories?

And yeah, we could make the argument that he was alone and probably got picked up by a bad crowd, or he got like this to survive, but I personally wouldn’t have gone in this direction.

So, I guess this is kinda an AU? Does it count as an AU if I’m not really gonna do much with it?

idk, anyway!

So, the arc goes down like normal, the only change is Kong is not Leo and he’s brought up from episode one as this kinda boogeyman that everyone tries to stay as far away from as possible and his Beast. The story goes that Kong has this powerful, unstoppable mutant that no one can kill. No one really know what kind of mutant it is, anyone whos gotten close enough to see it is swiftly killed by it.

Throughout the arc Kong shows up just behind our heros, starting pretty far away but getting closer with each appearance. And whenever he appears, the audience sees flashes of a hulking beast with mutagen glowing spikes and murdious glowing eyes. No one gets a good look at it, not even Donnie can get a good read on what that thing is, but where ever Kong is, his monster is right at his side.

Then we get to the final fight, Raph is on Kong’s rig and is actually winning the fight. But then Kong whistles and Raph is tackled to the ground by the Beast. It towers over Raph, wild eyes and snapping teeth inches from his face, claws ripping at his armor.

And at first Raph fights back, ready to give his all against this monster. But then he looks, really looks, the monster in the eye, in an attempt at intimidation maybe, or ready to face his death head on.

But he knows those eyes. The scalaria has gone green and bloodshot but he knows that shade of dark blue almost as well as his own neon green.

(look this is as close to scary as I can get, just pretend he looks scary)

“Leo?”

And at first, the name doesn’t seem to do anything but make Leo more mad, doubling his efforts to try and take Raph down. But Raph has switched tactics, now going on the defensive and begging Leo to recognize him, to remember him.

Leo doesn’t seem to hear him, he does hesitate a few times but Kong commands him to “Take that worm down for your master!” And goes right back to attacking Raph.

Eventually he slams Raph to the ground hard enough to daze him. Kong laughs as Raph hoarsely keeps calling for Leo, saying, “Whoever that freak used to be is long gone. You waste what little breath you still have.”

Kong grabs Raph, intent on beating him to death. Raph cries out when something in his shoulder snaps. He turns to look at Leo standing to the side, staring at the scene unfolding.

And, thinking he’s going to die here, Raph wants Leo to know one thing, “Leo....I love you brother.”

And something shifts. It’s still fuzzy but something deep in Leo’s mind stirs, remembers a much smaller, younger Raphael.

His brother...that’s his brother.

Kong was not expecting his loyal attack dog to suddenly pounce, he barely had time to react before powerful jaws closed around his neck with a wet crunch.

Leo then goes to Raph, his voice is all but gone from years of not using it, but he nudges his brother, wheezing out a weak, “Raph.”

Then the tank lurches. It had been heavily damaged in the fight and was veering through the canyons out of control. Leo doesn’t even hesitate to curl himself over Raph, tucking his long lost brother close as the rig is ripped to pieces around them.

When the rest of the gang catch up, they find Leo, curled up in a ball. At first they freak out when they see Leo’s maw is coated in blood but Leo slowly rises, revealing a very alive Raph under him.

Leo stares at his family, voice still rasping painful as he calls for them, “Donnie....Mikey....”

And then it clicks for everyone and they all surge forward to hug their big brother.

They’re reunited, brothers against the world. As it should be.

So, yeah, that was the one bit in MA that I didn’t like and how’d I fix it. Have a good day y’all! 

[the-bear-deers-fwff]

Heyyo again, doing this again because it's fun and I want to.

TLDR because I talk too much.

There is never a-simple conversation between the two. It's either building up to an argument or a make out session.

We get some concerning hints that Leo might not be stable, which is quickly followed up with a cute scene to make us forget. First the porn on Leo's computer which is followed by the tickle fight. Then the violence at the diner which was followed by the convenience store run and Leo's plea-asking Chase to stay in Echo.

Also Kudzu is here. Not the greatest first impression, but we get a contrast between him and Leo very early on, comparing their lawns and their physical builds/descriptions. Although, while I have theories, I want to know why Kudzu starts out rather-stand off ish at the start of the interaction. I know his history, how he lost his first love in the city and all that. But do you think that's the only reason?

And now a quick questions:

Do you think Leo would have eventually gotten over Chase if he never returned to Echo?

If Leo agreed to leave Echo with Chase, would it have worked out between the two of them?

Top 3 reasons why Kudzu is the perfect romantic interest?

All right, enough of that-time for a much too long rant.

We follow Leo and Jenna as they look for TJ, and find Leo sitting next to a rock.

One of the first things to happen is you find Leo leaning on a big boulder, and memories flood back to Chase’s brain.

“It’s weird like that. Every memory I have of this place is dreamy and gold-tinged, but always has a hint of sadness about it, no matter what the situation was.”

Now apply this to every scene with Leo and you're done.

…

Jenna comes up to you, and tells you to talk to Leo, but…doesn’t say what about. So you two just shoot the breeze. Find out that Leo started smoking soon after you left, and enjoying old rock carving drawings Carl did. Leo saying that the Movie wasn’t even that good, while Chase adding that ‘he loved it, though’. 

“Yeah, and I guess that’s all that really mattered.” Leo-

Which, we learn from the rest of this route, isn’t true. Not the superhero thing, the whole-symbolism behind that, and that ‘love is all that matters’ and stuff. That’s false.

Chase tries to playfully take the cigarette out of Leo’s mouth, but then the conversation goes serious when Leo reveals that he’s still upset about Chase leaving.

“‘Course I’m still mad, Chase! Talking doesn’t just fix three years.” -LEO

The conversation goes around Leo asking if the town’s downsides overshadow his benefits. Chase shoots back that Flynn was probably right that Leo was just obsessing over him.

The conversation continues, with them getting closer physically…Chase realizing that they might have to set boundaries (spoiler alert, they don’t) since they aren’t a couple-but it feels right…

TUESDAY

We arrive at the mall to shop for Carl, and we see a stark difference with Jenna from Carl’s route. Saying that Carl doesn’t need to branch out.

“He knows what he likes. It’s fine.” -Jenna

In the store, Leo casually suggests that they should just get some porn for Carl…

I’ll be honest, I don’t hang out with a lot of people. Maybe in the here and now it’s cool to suggest buying porn for your friends in public. Maybe I’m just too asexual to get that it’s fine. Maybe I’m the weird one. Maybe not.

Speaking of. T.J with the novelty water gun…

Anyways-

We meet up with Leo, who is looking at a poster of a muscular super hero. He starts flirting with Chase, and Chase plays along, saying he enjoys muscular guys.

Like Kudzu

Anyways, they all grab their gifts and head out. Chase makes a comment about how in a zombie apocalypse, TJ would probably die first.

“Well, maybe not. You are pretty fast. I just kind of imagine you just curling up in a ball, hehe.” -CHASE

…it was funny then-not so much later when-

A quick drop off for Jenna and TJ to go on their hike, and we find ourselves at Leo’s house.

And then we meet Kudzu. And the first thing he does is shouts/asks “Hey! Who are you?” Which, sounds rude till you realize he’s the most perfect man in the world.

That being said, the contrast between the two at the start is…notable.

Leo is tall, ex-football player, and generally show off ish and generally nice enough to Chase.

Kudzu starts out with, what some might call, a hostile start. And we see he’s short and not as bulky as Leo (yet still beautiful) and looking angry. But what’s more is he’s perfect and he keeps his bushes trimmed and yard clean while Leo does not.

When Leo introduces the two, Kudzu softens, and asks “This is him, then?” And again, it doesn't leave the best first impression, and Chase doesn't make it better by making fun of Kudzu’s name.

Once inside, Chase realize the apartment is different, more empty. Then Leo drops a kind of bombshell and says-

“I tell him what a great guy you are for the past two years and that’s his first impression of you!”

Can you imagine having a neighbor just, rant about an ex for two years…

The conversation continues and soon they end up in Leo’s room-in a non-sexy way.

A few things to note in this scene.

Leo, despite having the whole house to himself, keeps his own smaller room to himself. Because he’s use to being there and he doesn’t need the space. Kind of says a lot about someone. Mainly that they feel that they don't need to change at all.

Leo admits that his main hobbies are sleeping and “You know…porn.” Which he admits while looking at Chase and grinning.

Seriously, is this what you non-asexuals talk about all the time? 

We see the computer and…what holds Chase’s attention are the three holes punched right through the drywall, along with several other dents clearly from punching the wall.

Leo says he did it when playing a game (Take your pick, CS:GO, League of Legends, or Overwatch) and it was a few years ago and he doesn’t play that any more.

So either he’s lying, or has had holes in his wall he hasn’t bothered fixing for years…Which can say a lot about someone’s personality. Chase makes light of the situation, saying “I know, I know. Sorry it’s just funny how angry you get sometimes.”

…

Soon after Chase gets some alone time on Leo’s computer and decides to ignore Leo’s privacy and look through his history.

Gay Otter Porn…

That’s all there is.

However, right after this scene, we are met with more lighthearted music and a tickle fight.. A sort of-no no, it’s all good. Nothing wrong here. A very healthy relationship is blooming here-kind of thing.

After that is over we are met with a literal Chekhov’s gun, laying out in the open on a desk…

At least get a gun safe Leo.

Leo, turns out, dislikes guns. But his Dad left one for protection, to which Leo agreed-

LEO: “Well, my dad has a bunch and when he left he gave me one for protection.”

CHASE: “Wow, do you really need it?”

LEO: “A few people in this town, well, you know…”

Leo avoids answering when Chase asks if he’s used it, and soon the conversation goes back to benign stuff, before Leo admits to seeing Chase earlier that week…

But, as he says that, calming romantic music is playing, almost like it’s wanting us to say “Aw, he’s missing him so much he’s hallucinating about him.” and not 'a ‘'this is some Spooky Sh*t going down’.

And then Tuesday ends with a nightmare/sleep paralysis.

I didn’t get much out of the nightmare, other than the fact that Leo was still there with us in sleep paralysis/nightmare, unlike with Carl's route where he was gone. 

We start Wednesday off with a car ride. A flash of memories and how things have changed in town for the worse before characters start talking. Flynn making a comment-

“Sure, but making it about Carl is just…weird.” Which, we know from his playthrough, is accurate.

The Janice thing happens and then we are at Carl’s house where he isn’t answering.

One questionable break in later and they find Carl missing and decide to search for him.

Flynn confronts Chase about him and Leo getting close together. Saying it’s stupid and-well he’s logical. But then he turns it to talking about Sydney, his lost friend. But after that rant gives a final warning.

“Well he’s not exactly a stable guy, is he?” (Referring to Leo)

The gang separates, and Chase and Leo end up in the diner, having a decent talk till we are met with the new character.

Clint.

Clint is described and shown as ugly. Missing patches of fur along with a few teeth. He’s shown to be aggressive and disliking Chase's and Leo’s PDA. 

Things escalate, insults are traded with Clint throwing the first punch and Leo retaliating harshly.

No de-escalation, even with Chase there Leo stands his ground knowing a fight will happen if it continues. Probably because he knows he will win. He’s a big ex-football player and Clint is a drug addict.

They even say that Leo predicted that Clint would throw a punch.

They get asked to leave the diner and end up buying beer.

After 10 beers and a request for Chase to return to Echo, which he gives a maybe (It’s always maybe, never a yes or no it seems-which just hurts Leo in the long run) they head back to his place. But are hit with round 2 from Clint.

This time, with Leo drunk and Clint wielding a crowbar, Clint gets the upper hand and is only stopped by Kudzu who is able to help Leo.

Leo knocks Clint out and then-realizing he hurt Chase-gives the unconscious drug addict another hit, to which Kudzu says

“Hey! That’s enough Leo.”

“I thought we had this shit figured out! Why the hell are you fighting again!?”

Which, again, is why I love Kudzu. He is new to town and is trying to just keep everyone from fighting. He can throw a punch, but-again-will try and talk things out.

Chase and Leo head back to Leo’s place where a passionate embrace occurs, interrupted by something spooking Leo in the mirror, and they fall asleep, with Leo keeping a bit of distance.

Also funny video. Spoilers.

Furry Visual Novel Book Club: Echo Week 10 SPOILERS:

Hi everyone, here is the SPOILER discussion post for “Echo - Leo’s Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday”

Links: Previous - Next - Original - Spoiler Free Version

Keep reading

[turtle-go-brrrr]

4 times Leonardo was a dork and the time he wasn’t

Heya! I adore the "strong stoic character does something embarrassing or dumb" trope, and Leo has been left behing from that one. Also, my fervent Leo Simp Friend said these were all good ideas and I trust his judgment completely, so it's also for him. Enjoy, you Dork-ass Looser (affectionate) @weird-flex-but-ok

I have one of these "4 times ______ and 1 time ______" stories for each of them, I just got really inspired by him all of a sudden. But they're coming!

There might be a few typos here and there, but I really don't wanna wait any longer to post it :3

Requested: No

Pairing: None, platonic

Word count: 2500 +

Triggers: cursing, injuries, blood, intrusion

Summary: You were always sort of intimidated by the leader in blue, but a series of events shows you he might not be as serious as he wants you to think.

__________________________________________

First time

It took you a while to get along with all of them.

Not because you didn't trust them, or because they made it difficult, and certainly not because they're mutants. You're just not that good with new people, and you tend to shy away. Especially when you have New York's heroes in front of you.

So yeah. It took a while. But soon enough, you warmed up to your new friends, and you had a great time. Mikey was the first who made you feel welcomed, always asking questions about you and insisting you came to the lair in the first place. Donnie followed soon, after you started asking about what he was working on. It took a bit more work to get closer to Raph, but it turns out sarcasm was the way to go.

If only their leader was as approachable.

He never made you feel unsafe or unwelcomed, don’t get me wrong, he just kept a professional distance with you, which started to become quite painful as time went on. You tried not to take it personally, thinking he maybe was as shy as you were.

You had time anyway.

It was early in the evening when you made your way to the lair. For the first time since you met the turtles, you went there alone. You were a little nervous, thinking you might get lost in the maze of tunnels under the city, but figured you could just call someone if anything happened. Lucky for you, you found your way to your friend’s place, but not without hustle.

As you entered, you realized it was uncharacteristically quiet. The only sounds you could here were the faint music and the not so faint curses from Donatello’s lab. The smart decision seemed to be leave him alone, which is exactly what you did.

You haven’t been here long enough to know where to find the others, and as you didn’t exactly felt like staying alone in the living space, you tried finding your way to the dojo, as it was one of the other places you knew well.

Of course, now you got lost. Venturing into the sewers was fine, but walking into your friend's home wasn't, apparently.

You found something else, however. This particular tunnel led to a room you could identify as someone's room. You could see the large bed in the middle of the room, a small table with a bottle of water, a book, and a makeshift alarm. A set of twin swords were hanging on the right wall, just above a small bookshelf.

On your left was another table with a (healthy, you noted) bonsai tree, and next to that was Leonardo, facing a mirror. He had his right arm lifted up to his head, and was looking right to you through the mirror.

He looked absolutely horrified.

What the fuck.

He slowly rubbed his face in his hands, let out a long sigh, and turned to you, more tense than you've ever seen him. He cleared his throat as you pince your lips in a thin line to hold back a smile.

"Hello, Y/N. I... didnt think you'd come in so early."

Despite the badly lit room, you can see him bite the inside of his cheek.

"Yeah, uh, I didnt mean to... interrupt you," you say. Your voice is slightly shaking as it takes all of your willpower not to burst out laughing. And he definitely notices.

"You didn't! I uh, wasn't doing anything anyway. So, tell me- what brings you to the lair?" He asks, avoiding your eyes.

"Oh, Mikey invited me, he said I wasnt allowed to skip on movie night. You know how strong willed he is," you smirks, unable to handle it much longer.

Stiff as a board, you see the corner of his mouth twitching and hear him whisper, "... I wasn't flexing."

Silence.

You snort laugh hard enough to choke on it as you quickly turn around to hold yourself against the wall, the insanity of the situation crashing on you. Leo sat at the foot of his bed, head in his hands, and you could see him shake in repressed laughter once you wiped your tears away.

You sit next to him after finally calming down from the hysteria. He sighs, straightens his back and gives you a side glance.

"I'm not judging."

"You're still laughing, though."

"Yeah, but like, I guess I just wasn't expecting that. Still not judging."

He nods, still smiling. His voice is at least 3 octaves higher when he asks, "Please, don't tell the others."

"And what, give them the privilege of knowing about your little... ritual? Nah, don't worry about it."

_______________________

Second time

The second time your assumptions about the leader were subverted happended only two weeks after the... incident.

You had invited the whole crew to your place for the very first time, and they were all excited to come. You made a copious dinner: a few veggie cakes, chicken wings and a bowl of roasted potatoes. They were supposed to bring the drinks and movies, and April and Casey were in charge of the desert.

A perfect night, it seemed.

And it would have been if they could decide what to watch first without jumping at each other's throats.

"You guys need to grow up."

"Leave me out of thi-"

"Donnie's suggesting Velocipastor of all things and you think we need to grow up? Come on, Y/N, I thought you were better than that."

"Okay, first of all, how dare you. And second, this movie's a masterpie-"

"Yeah, because everyone knows that his supremior intellect means he's the only one who gets to choose a dumb movie. Why won't you guys watch Sharknado?"

"Supremior isn't a word. And it's because unlike you, peasants, I have taste." A devilish smile creeps up Donnie's face. The bastard is doing it on purpose.

"Peasants?!"

"You ugly-ass son of a-"

"Hey! Leave Dad out of this!"

"We could watch Shrek instead?"

You decided to go get some glasses in the kitchen, leaving the children to their stupid fight. Searching through your cupboard, you hear a crashing sound, quickly followed by utter and complete silence.

Oh no.

In insight, leaving them alone was maybe not the best idea. You were reconsidering bringing glasses into the mess as you made your way to the origin of the sound. And what a mess it was.

Your friends were all expressing shock in some way, Casey (surprisingly) being the most dramatic of them all with his hands right in front of his face and his jaw hanging open. They were all looking back and forth between you and another direction near the table.

The really cool bowl that held the delicious potatoes you made was broken on the floor. There was glass and potatoes everywhere, but the biggest shards were in a neat pile, right behind Leonardo, who looked like a deer in headlights.

"... nothing happended."

"I'm... starting to think it's a habit of yours," you say as you watch him not so discretely try to hide the broken pieces behind his foot.

"Look, if you keep putting your foot in there you're gonna hurt yourself. Just, step away a bit, will you?"

"I'm sorry I broke it. Let me help you clean up, I don't want you to cut yourself."

"It's okay! Don't touch it, I'll get a bag," you say as he starts to gather the biggest shards.

Won't even listen for one second, will he?

Raph was already picking up the untouched potatoes to put them in the plates on the table, and April went to the kitchen with you to retrieve the bag and cleaning supplies.

"Ew, Mikey don't eat that."

"Thirty seconds rule, baby."

"It's five seconds, you moron. And it's way over thirty anyway. Spit it out."

The rest of the night went on without further issues, but Leo still looked apologetic during the movie. Which is probably why he was standing before you as his brothers were leaving.

"Thank you for the evening. And I'm... sorry again for the bowl."

"Hey it's okay, man. Don't worry about it. As long as no one gets hurt it's not that big of a deal."

"I'll get you a new one." He doesn't wait for your answer and ruffles your hair before taking off.

"Text me when you guys get home!" You scream into the night, hoping one of them heard you.

______________________

Third time

It's surprisingly easy to mess with Fearless.

You were in the living room, getting your ass beat on Mario Kart by Mikey, when you decided to take a break for your stomach (and ego)’s sake. You made your way to the kitchen, where Leo and Raph were in a heated discussion. Raph looked

“I’m telling you, 4 inches is too small. What do you get from 4 inches ? Nothing. But 10 inches ? It really makes you feel something.”

…

What?

You looked down on the table and saw multiple ingredients lined up on the table, with a long piece of bread on the side.

Oh, sandwiches. Got it.

Leo’s back was facing you, but Raph gave you a knowing glance, one that said ‘do it’. So, you did. Not without a smirk, first.

“Oh, wow, Leo ! I didn’t think you’d be so open about that kind of conversations.” You open the fridge, hoping you can hide your smile behind the door.

“What ? What do you m-” His face falls. Raph starts chuckling next to you and it looks like Leo’s brain is rebooting. 

“I mean, I’m not judging. You do you, buddy, I’m happy for you. Just surprised you choose lunch time to talk about it.” And in other circumstances, you’d mean every word. But right now, messing with your friend is too good to pass on.

“No, hold on- I didnt mean- It’s not what you think ! I’m talking about sandwiches !” He tries to show you the ingredients currently on the table, but Raph decides it’s time to join the fun.

“Lying isn’t vey Bushido of you, Honor Boy,” he winks at you and you can’t repress a giggle.

He puts his face in his hands, knowing very well that the both of you ganged up on him but unable to save face. He just smiles, goes back on his chair and hides his head in his arms, hoping you won’t see how embarassed you made him.

“Hey, you like what you like. Have fun with your sandwiches.” You give him an innocent smile, pat him twice on the shoulder, and join Mikey back on the couch with a plate of grapes.

You could hear Raph’s light chuckle from the kitchen.

______________________

Fourth time

Mornings are hard.

And they’re even worse when you spent the whole night sewing an arm back together after a sword gave it a nasty cut. And getting glass shards off of your friend’s shell. And putting a bone back in it’s rightful place after a particularly bad fall.

Yeah. Long night. And a tense one, too.

Because with the physical pain came the chock and residual fears, the anger and blaming. Everyone was stil on guard, and all that tension was exhausting. You barely slept, too worried that one of your friend’s state would degrade if you didn’t keep an eye on them at all times. Which didn’t really help you get the rest you needed.

If you were hoping the morning would be kinder on all of you, you quickly realized that it was a mistake. While, luckily for the turles, the mutagen was already healing their physical wounds, the emotional exhaustion of the previous night was still heavy. Of all of your conscious friends, not one dared break the eerie silence.

It was weird, seeing them like this. But you couldn’t force yourself to say anything, strangely scared of what could happen. You resumed to making breakfast for everyone and bringing clean towels to the still sleeping feverish turtle in the medbay. Splinter and Mikey were at the kitchen table, quietly accepting your offering, when Leo came into the room from the medbay.

He was still half asleep, and in his drowsiness didn’t see the wall he accidentally ran into.

“Oh, sorry. Didn’t see you there.”

Everyone turned to Leo, who it took a solid minute of staring blindly at the wall to realize what just happened.

Donnie was the first to laugh. It didn’t take long for april and Mikey to join, soon followed by Splinter affectionately patting his son’s arm. Leo smiled and shook his head, as their lighthearted laugh was contagious.

The leader in blue was more of a goofball than what you first expected, and you were grateful for it in the fading tensions of the morning.

______________________

One time he wasn't

When someone intrudes your home, especially at 4 am when you were sleeping in the next room, a lot of things go through your head.

Did they take anything?

Yes. Your bag with your wallet, some cash, your credit card, your ID, and a few fidelity cards from various stores. Your laptop. A set of keys. That one blanket Raph made you (probably to carry everything without making too much noise).

Why you?

Why not? Your apartment isn't isolated, but it's not exactly on a main street either. It was probably practical for them.

Were they armed?

Who knows. Maybe. Maybe not. Probably. Statistically, most likely.

What could have happened if you had tried to confront them?

A lot of things. Maybe, if you let them know you were awake and knew what was going on, without necessarily confronting them, it would have been enough to make them run away. Or maybe there were multiple armed people, and they wouldn't hesitate to use force if necessary.

Who knows.

Can the police find this person?

Statistically? No. At least, that's what Casey told you when you asked him. Unless they got really lucky, they won't find anything.

Or at least the stuff they stole?

Again, unlikely. Unless they can trace your laptop back to the guy, or someone can give a physical description and a direction, there's not a lot they can do.

What can you do now?

Call your bank. And your insurance. And your landlord. Let them know what happened and follow their directive, they'll guide you through their procedure and help you soften the blow.

Casey was the first person you called when you woke up this night, and he was at your place within minutes with two other colleagues (the closest he could find). He spent the rest of the night reassuring you, helping you with the phone calls, asking around for witnesses, but nothing.

It's weird, feeling unsafe for the first time in a place you had called Home for years. It's disturbing. You can feel the nausea your anxiety is giving you, and a headache starts to grow at the back of your skull.

You don't really like this feeling.

So when your turtle friends dropped by the next evening without telling you and you welcomed them with a swing of your favorite pan, let's just say reactions were split.

"I can hack into your computer to find its location if you want. Wouldn't be the first time."

"What?"

"What? I mean, I didn't do it for your location last time. I know all about your search history, though."

"We're gonna have a talk about boundaries and privacy once we're done dealing with that," you sigh. You crash down on the couch next to your friend and mindlessly watch him work.

Leo comes up to you and gently nudges your shoulder. "Hey, do you have a toolbox somewhere? We brought locks to put on your door and windows. You know, just in case."

You nod, quiet, and lead him to your room where you keep most of the most useful stuff you own, including but not limited to a toolbox and a first aid kit.

Your movements were almost mechanical as you retrieved the box and handed it to him, and you decided to help him put up the locks to keep your mind occupied.

He was concerned. You looked like you were still in choc, which he could completely understand. Getting robbed is awful in itself, but getting robbed while you're sleeping in the next room? Horrific, in his mind.

He was also furious. He couldn't be there for you. This person had the nerves to go after his friend, and what if you got hurt? He wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.

He noticed he was staring when your eyes met his.

"Hey. We're gonna do whatever we can to find them. We're also gonna focus our patrols in your neighborhood for at least a few weeks, until you feel better," he puts a hand on your shoulder. "It's gonna be okay Y/N. Trust me."

You look up to him, and when you look into his eyes, you know he means it. You let your head fall against his plastron as he holds you against him, a silent promise for safety.

"Hey shorty," Raph pulls his head into the crack of the door to address you. "Wanna learn how to fight? I can turn you into a death machine."

You heard the faint "Raph, what the fuck" coming from Mikey who was still in the living room.

You gave a small laugh as you got up, Leo following you closely to the living room.

"Hey! Fighting isn't for everyone. But I could make you a really cool taser, if you want."

"What's with you and tasers?"

"They're efficient."

The bell ringed and April came in holding 4 boxes of pizza, that Mikey assisted her with as soon as she set a foot inside.

You looked around at your friends as April brandished the pizzas like a trophy while Raph and Donnie went back and forth trying to decide who, between man power and electricity, would win in a fight.

And you realized that yes, Leo was right.

It's gonna be okay.

[lady-amethyst18]

(The four kids look around inside the theater. Haoyu drags his finger across the table that was coated with dust.) Haoyu: Man. When was the last time you cleaned this place? Balan: Forever, I guess. I tried to keep it tidy by myself, but then one thing became another, and soon I lost my touch. I don't have the funds to patch up the cracks or make repairs. And I haven't figured out how to do it myself. Cass: And what about those little guys? (points at the little bird creatures) What are those? Balan: I'm... Not sure. They just showed up one day after my theater closed. I don't know what they are, so I've decided to call them tims. They stuck by me when no one else would. Emma: (picks one up and pets it with two fingers) Well, they sure are cute. At least you have some form of company. Balan: Yeah...

(Balan smiles sadly when suddenly everyone hears a loud growl.)

Yuri: (startled) What was that? Balan: (holds his hand over his belly) Sorry, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten anything today. (looks at the tims) These little guys usually try to help me find some form of food. If any at all. Leo: (he thinks for a bit before heading towards the door) Balan: (worried) L-Leo? Where are you going? Leo: I'm going to get you something to eat. I promise I'll be back. You guys stay here with him. I shouldn't be gone long. Balan: ... Ok... Cass: (holds Balan's hand) Don't worry, Mr. Balan. We'll keep you company.

(Balan smiles at the girl while clasping his hand around hers. Almost tighter. Leo exits the alley until he turns to the donut shop. Luckily it was still open. Not the healthiest idea, but it would be some sort of food for the maestro. He walks inside and finds that the line is long.)

Leo: Ugh! Great... I'm going to be here forever.

(He stands there for a few minutes until he peers at two men sitting at a table playing chess. One had thick purple hair and was wearing what looked to be a business coat, while the other was sitting in a wheelchair. Curious and seeing that the line would take forever, he decided to take a closer look.) Leo: Hey guys, sorry to intrude, but would it be alright if I watch you play. The line's going to take its sweet time anyway. Cal: Sure thing, kiddo. You ever play chess? Leo: Not really. I mean, I know the basics, but I never really played it myself. Eis: Care to learn how to play? Leo: I would like to, but I'm kind of in a hurry. I have to gather food for my friends. Cal: (nods, but there's a hint of disappointment in his eyes) Alright, suit yourself.

(Leo watches the two play for a while. He notices Eis' face.)

Leo: Sorry, but... Have we met somewhere before? Eis: Uh... I don't believe so. What's your name, boy? Leo: Leo. Eis: (shrugs) Not a name I'm familiar with. But I'm Eis, and this is my buddy, Cal. We play chess here every now and then. Leo: (thinks) Eis... Oh! I remember now! You were on the news a couple weeks ago! Eis: Oh. So you've heard about that fire at that apartment building. Leo: Yeah! Man, what a rush! I heard you were a hero when you saved that kid. Eis: (looks sad) Yeah, well... I was a hero. Until the accident happened. Leo: What do you mean? Eis: It's true I saved that kid and the fire was put out. But it was at the cost of my legs. A piece of debris landed on me and crushed me from the bottom down. I couldn't walk, so now I'm bound to this wheelchair and I had to resign from my job. Leo: (shocked) Oh... Cal: I've been keeping in touch with him. Trying to keep his spirits up. Leo: Well... I'm sorry if it was a touchy subject. Eis: Naw, you're ok, Leo. I'll be fine.

(Leo sees that the line has finally passed. So he goes up to order his food. He askes for a dozen donuts, several kolaches, and bottles of water. When he paid for the food, Cal and Eis notice him struggling to carry it all.)

Cal: Um... Need some help, kiddo? Leo: (carries one of the bags in his teeth) No thanks. I got it. (drops one of the bottles) Cal: (picks it up) I think you do need some help, Leo. Where are you and your friends eating? Leo: Uh... Behind the alley. We like to picnic there sometimes. Eis: Why don't you set the box on my lap, Leo? I can carry it easily. Cal: And I'll be happy to hold one of the bags or water bottles for you. Leo: (sighs) Well... Ok. But don't question why we like to eat in the alley.

(The two nodded. Cal gathered his chess set and helped Eis out the door while carrying the bags and a bottle of water.)

So here's the context

Haoyu, Yuri, and Cass were getting to know Balan until he got hungry. Seeing as how he didn't eat anything today, Leo goes to the donut shop to get some food for him and the others. Though the place was busy, and Leo had to wait in line. Until he met Cal and Eis playing chess together in the dining room of the shop. Seeing as how the line was going to take forever, he decided to watch them play. Cal is actually a champion at chess, but it's a dying game. People were more interested in playing video games more than family games. Which breaks his heart a bit. As for Eis, he's a "retired" fireman after getting injured. The man was put on home health and is bound to a wheelchair. Can't walk worth squat. When the line shortened, he got his food, realizing it was a little too much to carry. So Cal and Eis help him bring his items back to the alley. Unknowing of who they were going to meet. This is my Lonesome Maestro AU. When Balan's first show was a disaster, and everyone left him. He's become very lonely and sad due to no one being around. Until Leo and Emma showed up and try to change his life for the better.

[percabethfeelsfandom]

Writing Prompt: Nico Visiting Elysium

SPOILERS FOR THE BURNING MAZE AND THE TOWER OF NERO

The walk to Elysium was one that Nico was familiar with. Some days his feet would bring him there subconsciously, hoping to one day find his sister among the souls that resided there. 

That day hadn’t come yet. But the heroes that were there were familiar with his presence, they weren’t bothered by the shadows beneath his feet, the tendrils that clung to his wrists, and winded themselves around his sword handle, ready to shoot out at his command. They didn’t blink an eye at the bags under his eyes, no matter how much sleep he got. When you’re a spirit constantly surrounded by death, you forget what life looks like. The same went for Nico. 

It had been a while since he’d been to the Underworld to see his father and step mother, but the way the rubble crunched beneath his feet was almost comforting. He knew where the dips in the hill were, where to avoid the holes and minor chasms. 

The environment and atmosphere of the Underworld began to shift the closer he got to Elysium. 

Nico’s eyes adjusted to the brightness of Elysium, and the glittering blue lake where The Isles of the Blest resided. He shouldn’t have been able to enter through the gates, but being a child of the Underworld had its perks. The gates opened at Nico’s touch and Nico was greeted with the beautiful view of Elysium. For a home made for the dead, the place exuded a significant amount of life and light, yet it lacked the warmth real life did. It was beautiful in the way jewels were beautiful, sparkly and well-cared for, but not the way flowers were, in their life and their aliveness. 

The trek to the pavilion where he usually met with spirits was hard, it didn’t get easier to see the spirits of heroes Nico had watched or felt die in battles he had also fought in. Every time he saw the familiar gleam of Hunter-silver he had to hold back a flinch. The flowers of Elysium were of gold and silver and Nico had come to the realisation that they were the only plants that didn’t wilt in his presence, it left him feeling an odd sense of pride as he picked one from the ground and placed it in his pocket for later. There was no breeze down here, yet the grass rippled in colours of the rainbow as spirits passed through, wanting to see why the child of Hades was present. Small voices called out to him beyond the gates, wanting to feed on his light, and his life but he pulled up a barrier in his mind, imagining a fortress to protect himself. 

He stood in the middle of the pavilion and held out his hand. He wouldn’t need food to summon who he needed to speak to, he knew that they’d come. 

“Jason Grace.” 

His voice came out stronger than he thought it would. But he still wasn’t mentally prepared enough for the shape of Jason to appear so easily. He knew that Jason had died in his school uniform, but someone had taken the liberty to put him in a purple Camp Jupiter shirt, despite this, the colour was pale, as if all the colour had been bleached out.

Nico caught himself against a pillar as Jason’s form materialised by Nico’s feet. Jason was kneeling as if he was praying, head bowed and arms out trying to hold himself up. 

“Jason?” Nico repeated. 

The silvery outline of Jason seemed to grow brighter, before he rose to his full height. Nico tried not to stare, but it was difficult not to notice the gaping holes in his chest that glowed with silver through the purple shirt. 

“Nico?” 

When he was little, Nico had been taught by his mother and by Bianca that eye contact was important, it was rude if you didn’t meet people’s eyes when you were speaking to them. But over the years he had also learnt that in order to meet people’s eyes constantly, he needed to be prepared for other people to look into his eyes, allow them to see that vulnerability that he knew he showed. 

Nico forced himself not to avert his eyes as Jason looked at him astounded, his wire framed glasses still sat atop his nose but Nico could no longer see his reflection in them. Everything about him looked the same, his voice too. 

“Hi Jason,” Nico breathed, blinking hard. It was getting significantly harder to remain standing as Jason watched him. It had only been a couple of months since- but Nico hadn’t been able to bring himself to come down and search for him. It was a pain that reminded him all too much of the time when he'd just found out he was a demigod and his world had turned upside down. 

“You’re angry with me,” Jason said, a small smile growing on his mouth. Nico let out a choked laugh and shook his head. 

“I’m learning that grudges do me no good, especially against...especially against the dead,” Nico admitted. He waited for Jason’s form to blur into a corporeal version, but he remained in a hazy silvery state, like Nico was in the middle of an Iris message with him and Nico guessed perhaps they were; except instead of being miles apart and trying to communicate, it was the absence of Jason’s life and the existence of Nico’s that enabled them to talk despite Jason’s body being buried at Camp Jupiter. 

“I always thought I wasn’t scared of death…when you’re a demigod of a prophecy you learn to be, and then Leo died, and I knew. I knew that whatever happened I had nothing to be scared of because he’d be here for me…”

“And then he wasn’t,” Nico filled in. Jason nodded, looking beyond the pavilion at the Isles of the Blest. 

“I knew that he wouldn’t be here...yet, I don’t know, maybe it’s selfish to wish that I wasn’t alone-”

“It’s not,” Nico said firmly, standing up straighter to meet Jason’s gaze. With a sharp intake of breath he realised that he had slightly grown since he’d last seen Jason, and now he’d be immortalised at this height. 

Jason seemed to notice at the same time, losing his train of thought as he looked down at Nico. 

“You’ve grown taller,” he said fondly. Jason reached out almost as if he went to pet Nico’s head, but his hand passed through Nico, leaving him with a brain freeze. Jason noticeably winced and muttered an apology. The pain in Nico’s stomach was second to the odd feeling of familiarity. It had been many years since Nico had had an older sibling, and only recently had he become one again, yet Jason, in their small time period of knowing each other had grown closer than Nico would have thought. It was a nice thought, to think he had someone else watching over him, even if it was beyond the life he was currently living. Nico found himself thinking about Bianca again, the way he always did when he felt lost. 

“I saw your plans for the temples,” Nico managed. He gripped the hilt of his sword, using it to ground him as his emotions began to unfurl, curling around him like a dark cloud. 

“Apollo kept his promise?” 

“He was adamant in doing so.”

Jason smiled, and it made him look younger, bringing a light to his face that should’ve been hard to achieve in the Underworld but he made it look easy. 

“Will you try for the Isles?” Nico asked, and though he tried not to, fear laced his words as he watched Jason look at the island in question, a wistful look upon his features. 

“Maybe…” Fear, as hot as lightning struck Nico in the chest, and he thought he was about to say goodbye to another demigod he had looked up to. 

“But not yet. There are heroes here. Heroes that I fought with during the titan war, one’s I didn’t know the name of, same with the giant war. I think it’s time that I learned them.”

"Jason?" 

"Yeah?"

"Are you still scared?" Absentmindedly Nico placed his hand in his pocket where he kept a small token of luck, the familiar groove in the old mythomagic toy bringing him a bittersweet comfort. 

Jason tilted his head to the side for a moment, thinking before he shook his head.

"Not anymore, no."

As he spoke, his light began to flicker, becoming more of a mirage than anything. Nico poured his power into him, praying to his father for more time. He had so much more to say, messages to pass on, and- he just wanted more time. 

“Piper she-”

“Is she happy?” Jason asked, interrupting. Nico thought of Piper with her girlfriend, and the life she was building outside of Camp Half Blood and nodded slowly. 

“And Leo?” He continued. This time Nico thought about Leo’s easy laugh and his constant energy, bouncing off the walls, and his smiles around Calypso. 

“Yeah he’s happy but-”

“And Reyna? Percy and Annabeth? Frank? Hazel? Are they all happy? Right at this moment?” The question almost took Nico by surprise but he wasn’t lying when he said his answer. 

“Yes.” Images of the other demigods, speaking via Iris message, and on visits to each other's camps flashed in Nico’s head. Reyna and her pledge to the Hunters echoed in his head, an almost mirror to Bianca and Thalias. The pictures Annabeth and Percy had sent to Chiron when they had arrived at college, pinned on the board in The Big House. Then of his little sister with her purple cape, matching Franks. 

“They’re happy,” he repeated, more sure of himself when he said it. Jason seemed to relax. 

“And Thalia?” he asked softly. 

“She’ll be okay,” he replied honestly. 

“I never wanted to leave her.”

“She knows.”

“What about you, Nico? Are you happy?” 

The question jarred Nico and he hesitated to answer, thinking hard about it. He thought about the haze he had been in right after Jason’s death. The nightmares that had resurfaced, the voices that called to him from beneath the ground. 

“I want to be.” It was the closest to the truth he could get. Will’s face flashed behind Nico’s closed eyelids, and unconsciously Nico smiled and nodded with more certainty. 

Jason smiled again. 

“Then I’ll be okay.” 

[alj4890]

Angst Prompt

Dawn’s Early Light

(Part Three to One Fateful Night)

As requested by many of you.

(Liam x OC) in a one shot continuation of the angsty One Fateful Night.

A/N Here's some happiness to the angst so many sent messages about. I know it is still bittersweet in a way, with Riley being dead and all, but I think it gives our favorite prince a chance to find true love after all. On another note, I had at one time considered Liam meeting someone in Washington D.C. in another story where Riley died the night of the Homecoming Ball in Book 2. I guess this makes up for deleting it and never posting, LOL.

Part 2 The Dark Before the Dawn

 @kingliam2019 @texaskitten30 @yourmajesty09   @gkittylove99 @krsnlove   @mom2000aggie @twinkleallnight @lodberg @sweatyrysconnoisseur ​ @motorcitymademadame ​

Masterlist

Dawn’s Early Light

Somewhere in Maryland...

"Sir?"

Liam grimaced at the voice coming through loud and clear from his cell phone. The one time he convinced Bastien that he could travel on his own and the man still made certain to call every hour.

"Yes?" He huffed.

"Your current location?"

"That at the moment is a little difficult to pinpoint." Liam squinted through the pouring rain. "One of the roads was flooded and the numerous detours have sent me further east of D.C."

He could hear frantic mutterings in the background, papers shifting and clicks from computers.

"Pull over and we will try to locate you." Bastien ordered.

Liam looked about at the flour lane highway, barely able to see five feet ahead of him. "There isn't a spot to do so. I'll call once I find a safe place."

"Your majesty," he could hear the frustration in his Head of the King's Guards' voice, "this is why I insisted we fly down together."

"And I knew this was my last chance to take a road trip of sorts." Liam countered. "You worry too much, Bastien."

"And you don't worry enough." Bastien muttered. "If you haven't found a place within the next hour, I am coming to find you."

"Make sure to bring a rowboat." Liam teased. "That's probably the best way to travel here."

His jest was met with silence.

"Bastien?" Liam glanced down at his phone and saw the call had dropped. Tossing it back in the passenger seat, he continued on down the road.

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

Outside of Annapolis...

"No!" Autumn pleaded when her tire burst. "You've got to be kidding me!"

Pulling over onto the shoulder of the highway, she tried to call her parents.

"Gee, thanks for no bars." She grumbled, chucking her phone back into her purse.

Reaching for her coat she prepared herself mentally to change her own tire.

Why did Dad have to make it so boring? He knew I wouldn't pay attention!

It had been ten years since she had sat through that lesson, day dreaming of the cute guy who sat next to her in chemistry class.

And just like her lack of luck with Mr. Chemistry, she was about to fail miserably with her tire.

She pulled the flashlight and tools out her father insisted she keep in her vehicle at all times and stepped out into the rainstorm.

"Any creepy serial killers out there," she yelled towards the darkened woods that lined the highway, "now is NOT the time to mess with me!"

She paused in removing the jack from her trunk. "That goes for any wild animals unless you're the helpful kind from fairy tales."

She snorted at her own joke as she set reflectors along the road. "And if you know of any princes, do send them my way."

"Alright car, you and I have been through it." She patted it's side. "All the snow storms in Pennsylvania. New jobs. New apartments. Ex boyfriends." She knelt by the flat tire. "Let's get through this and I'll treat you to a tank of premium gas."

She removed the hubcap and blinked when a pair of bright headlights pulled up behind her.

"Didn't I specifically demand no serial killers?" She muttered to herself as she saw the silhouette of a man start walking her way.

"Pardon me?" A cultured voice called out. "Are you in need of any assistance?"

She lifted her hand to shield her eyes from the light. "I wouldn't say no to some help."

Her mystery person stopped a couple of feet away from her and studied her tire.

"Where's the jack?"

She handed it to him and watched as he expertly began to raise the back end up.

"Here's the tool kit." She handed it over, discreetly keeping a screwdriver in her hand in case he was a psycho.

"I hate to keep you out in the rain, but could you shine your flashlight here so I can remove the lug nuts?"

"Right. Of course." She dutifully lifted it where he directed.

"Perfect." He turned to smile at her. "Thank you."

She blinked at how handsome he was. "I, no problem. I should be thanking you."

"My pleasure." He looked around. "I don't suppose you know where we are, do you?"

Oh no. A hot psycho. Just my luck.

"Um, don't you know?" She took a cautious step back.

"I've never been in this part of America before." He explained, unaware of her trepidation. "I lost GPS about two hours ago."

"Oh." She relaxed and stepped closer. "We're about forty-five minutes from Annapolis.

"How far is that from D.C.?" He asked.

"About forty minutes or so depending on traffic." She tilted her head. "Let me guess. You're a politician or aide of some sort."

He chuckled. "Not really."

"You certainly don't sound like the men in Washington."

"Oh? And how do they sound?"

"Arrogant jerks. Every last one of them. Even the mailroom guys act like they rule the world." Her nose wrinkled.

"Ah." Her handsome stranger removed her flat tire and placed the spare on. "Not fond of men in power, I take it."

"Not really." She squatted next to him, hoping she would remember his actions in case she had another flat tire some time in the future. "I guess there's bound to be one man out there who actually wants to serve the people instead of having them serve him."

"I see." He glanced over at her. "I like to think there are honest rulers out there."

Her brow furrowed. "Rulers?" She studied his profile. "You're not American, are you?"

He shook his head. "No."

"Where are you from?" Her eyes narrowed in thought. "Your accent is hard to place."

"Cordonia" he grunted as he tightened the lug nuts. "Have you heard of it?"

"It sounds familiar." She muttered.

"It is a tiny but beautiful country in Europe." He explained.

"Isn’t every European nation?” She teased. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of of one that I would turn down a vacation to.”

He began to lower her car back down with the jack. "All done."

"I don't know how to thank you." She pushed her wet hair back, wondering how horrible she must look as she picked up the safety reflectors

"No need." He smiled warmly. "Have a good evening, my lady." With an instinctive bow, he turned and walked back to his own car.

"My lady?" Her lips quirked with humor. Perhaps the fairy tale animals had sent her a prince. "Hey! Wait!"

He paused with his car door open. "Yes?"

"There's an all night diner a few miles ahead." She took a deep breath. "Would you like to follow me there? We could dry off and I could buy you a piece of pie as a thank you."

Her hero's smile grew brighter. "I'd like that. Lead the way."

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

"I'm Autumn." She held her hand out as they waited to be seated.

"A pleasure to meet you. My name is Liam." He took her hand and bowed over it.

"Is that how people greet one another in Cordonia?" She asked.

"It is the norm from where I grew up." He responded with a sheepish grin.

He shook her hand. "Is that better?"

"Your way was fine." She glanced down at their clasped hands. "I just feel a little under dressed for such a proper greeting."

"Nonsense." Liam continued to hold her hand. "A little water logged perhaps, but lovely nonetheless."

Her lips parted in surprise.

"Just the two of you?"

The pair turned toward a waitress.

"Yes." Autumn replied. "Just us."

"Follow me." She sat them at a table and handed over some menus. "What can I get you to drink?"

"Coffee, please." Autumn replied.

"I'll have the same." Liam added.

"Coming right up."

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

"Autumn?" Liam tested her name. "Were you given that name due to being born in the fall?"

She shook her head. "My parents have a warped sense of humor. I was born in April."

He laughed causing her to smile once more.

She thought his laughter had such a warm encompassing sound that made her want to hear it often as she could.

"They also wanted to have their kids' initials for Pennsylvania." She rolled her eyes. "My older brother, Patrick, took care of the P while I completed it with an A." Her own laughter bubbled out. "Then my unplanned younger brother was born and threw those initials out the door."

"What did they name him?" Liam asked.

"August, since he was born in January. Being that he was a surprise, they went with another A name to have an, aaahhh, moment at the end of P.A.."

Liam shook with his laughter over her parents. "They sound delightful."

"They sound that way," she teased, "but when you live with them..." Her smile softened. "They really are great parents and my brothers aren't too bad either."

"I have an older brother." He told her. "Leo and I were never as close as I wished we could have been. He spends so much time traveling and exploring the world that I don't have the heart to pressure him into coming home more often." A sadness came over him. "I've never seen him so happy as when he sends me pictures from his latest adventure."

"He's a wandering soul." She added.

"Precisely." Liam refocused on her. "And a wanderer withers and dies if tied down."

"What about your parents?" She asked.

"My mother died when I was very young and my father passed away about five years ago." He explained. "I'm close to my stepmother, Regina. She and Leo are all I have left for family."

"I'm sorry." Autumn mumbled. "I didn't mean to dredge up painful--"

Her breath caught when he laid his hand over hers. She thought she could actually feel herself getting lost in his blue eyes...which was something she teased her friends over every time they mentioned something like that. Yet here she was, finding herself falling for a man who changed her tire in the rain.

He gently squeezed her fingers. "Nothing to apologize for. I miss them but I am done grieving."

As their waitress brought them a fresh pot of coffee, Liam realized how true that statement was. He was done grieving for all of his lost loved ones.

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

"Now then." Liam looked up from his menu. "Do you work in Washington?"

"I do." She replied. "Not in a political aspect though."

"What do you do?" He asked.

"I'm an archivist at the National Air and Space Museum."

His expression brightened with interest. "I've always wanted to visit the Smithsonian. To work and preserve the very fabric of your nation's history must be fascinating."

"It is!" She leaned forward as she became more animated about her work.

Deciding to prolong this conversation, the two ordered a meal before indulging in pie.

Liam listened, asking questions that only made her more excited in sharing this piece of her life.

It was rare for Autumn to find anyone interested in what she did.

"Right now, my team is working on digitizing everything we have on rocket tests during the 1950's." She explained. "Reading through the vast paperwork, various film and photographs, all audio recordings; I get to sift through every bit of it for our records."

"I once assisted an archivist at the palace library." Liam told her. "I discovered long ago manuscripts and journals in a hidden nook." His smile softened at the memory. "It was all by accident. My best friend and I were playing in one of the ballrooms when the soccer ball we were kicking around struck a piece of the baseboards, causing a hidden door to open."

Autumn's eyes widened. "It's a wonder you didn't get in trouble with the palace curators. They do not appreciate anyone playing around the exhibits."

Liam chuckled. "I was lucky the curators were fond of me."

"You knew them?" She asked. "Were they family members?"

"They aren't family, but I did know them." He replied, being deliberately mysterious about who he was.

He hadn't had a normal conversation in years. When she didn't recognize him, he felt a lightness he had felt on that long ago night in New York. He had forgotten how it was, how it made him feel. So often, people said the things they thought he wanted to hear. He missed the back and forth of sharing personal tidbits.

Autumn grimaced when she realized she had basically dominated the conversation for nearly an hour.

"Enough about my work," she smiled at him, "what do you do? Did you come here for business or to finally see the Smithsonian?"

He chuckled before taking a sip of his coffee. "As much as I would prefer spending my days wandering through museums, I am here to meet with government officials."

Her nose wrinkled. "I’m sorry. I do not envy you for that." Her eyebrow lifted. "What's the government like in Cordonia? Do you have a prime minister or something similar to our president?"

"We are a constitutional monarchy with the king as the Head of State." He explained.

"I see. Then you work in some capacity for him?" She continued. "You must to be here for meetings."

Liam lowered his eyes. "I suppose you could say that."

"So what's your job title?" She persisted. "Are you a member of the house of lords or whatever you have? Aide to the king?"

"I have a higher position than anything like that." He hedged. "Which is why I'm the only one to attend these meeting the next couple of weeks."

Her brow furrowed. "The king doesn't handle stuff like that?"

"He does which is why I'm here." He focused on her eyes. "The king is the only one to handle the approval for trade agreements and maintaining friendly relations with other countries."

"Then why isn’t he..." She burst into laughter. "You really had me going there for a moment." She shook her head at him. "Nice try, but no king travels alone on highways in a Nissan Altima."

"I do when I want to appear a regular man." He explained.

"Because isn't that royalty is all about?" She giggled some more. "Living life as a middle class man."

"I'm sincere." He argued. "I really am the King of Cordonia."

Her laughter died. "And just when I thought you weren't mentally unhinged." She sighed while picking at her piece of blueberry pie. "I knew you were too good to be true. No man can be both selfless and handsome without a few screws loose."

Liam's elation she found him attractive caught him by surprise. It wasn't that other women had not said similar to him at various functions. It was that he actually felt attracted to her too.

"I can prove I'm the king."

"How long have you believed you were king?" She asked. "Any chance you've thought you were someone else at one time? Napoleon Bonaparte? King Tut?"

He snorted on his laughter. "I've been king for over six years now. The rest of my life was spent as a prince."

"Uh huh." She poured them each another cup of coffee. "Guess that explains why you weren't banned from the palace for playing soccer."

"It is my home." He pointed out.

"Sure it is." She patted his hand. "And I'm sure you're the best king out there who knows how to change a tire."

"I only know because my best friend taught me." Liam explained. "He was one of the few people in my life who did not allow me to become a spoiled prince."

"Right." She smiled at him. "It's been great and all." She reached into her purse for her wallet. "And I do thank you so much for your help with the flat tire, but I should go."

"You don't believe me?" He asked.

"I believe you believe it." She said cautiously.

Liam quickly pulled his phone out and handed it to her. "Look up Cordonia."

"Just because you think you're a king doesn't mean you can order me around." Her eyes narrowed in warning. "Besides, I wouldn't use your phone. You'd probably have me looking at some doctored photos of yourself."

"Forgive me I didn’t mean to make it sound like a command." Liam ran a hand through his hair. "I've never met anyone who didn't believe I am who I say."

"First time for e everything, huh?" She hesitated when she saw his disappointment. "Fine." She searched for her phone. "I'll play along if you find our waitress. I'm going to need more pie as I research you."

He grinned while doing as she asked.

Autumn wandered of it was because it was the middle of the night that made her sit here with some guy claiming to be--

"No!" Her eyes darted from the images of King Liam of Cordonia to the Liam sitting at her table. "You're really a king?!"

"Would you care for another slice of blueberry or a different type of pie?" He asked with a bright smile.

"Blueberry." Her jaw was still dropped.

"Another slice of blueberry please for the lady and I'll have a slice of apple."

"Why on earth are you traveling lone highways in Maryland?" She asked when their waitress left.

"I flew in to New York for a few meetings with U.N. representatives. Our representative is new to her job and I wanted to encourage her." He explained. "Then I suppose I caught a bit of wanderlust from my brother and wanted to drive down to D.C." He took a bite of his new slice of pie. "It's rare I am able to convince my security team to let me out of their sight, but there are times when I like to be alone with my thoughts."

"I guess you have a lot of people demanding your time." She conceded.

"I do, which is why I make time for the people and activities that are important to me." He looked up at her. "Experience has taught me how fleeting time can be and we should make the most of every moment we are given."

"I like that." She cut into her slice with her fork while scrolling through images of Cordonia. "A lot of people get so easily wrapped up in their work and don't realize that they are missing out on so much more."

"Are you one of those people?"

Autumn paused chewing to consider his question. "Sometimes. I can get so wrapped up in a project and shut out the world going on around me." She shrugged. "Then something happens to shake me back to reality."

Liam grinned when it hit him that his being confirmed king had not changed the way she spoke to him.

As if reading his thoughts, her fork clattered on her plate. "I can't believe you really are a king." Her head tilted as she studied him. "You really don't act like how I imagine one would."

Liam folded his arms on the table and leaned forward. His bright blue eyes held her gray ones. "How should I act?"

She snorted. "For one thing you wouldn't have stood out in the pouring rain to change a tire."

"Aren't fairy tales filled with princes rescuing damsel in distress?" He countered.

She rolled her eyes playfully. "It isn't like you slayed a dragon."

"According to your imagination, what should I have done in that situation?" He countered, delighted with her not putting him on a pedestal.

"First off, if you were on a," she made quotation marks with her fingers, "road trip, you'd probably be in a limo since your private jet is tucked away in a hangar somewhere."

"But then I would have a driver and thus not able to be alone." He reminded her.

"True." She propped her chin on her hand and smiled. "We'll forget the car then since you are chivalrous and in need of a break." She gestured with her free hand around the diner. "A king wouldn't come her, happily order food, nor be willing to sit here for hours listening to some girl talk about museums."

"Why not?" Liam asked. "He could have been hungry since he had been lost for a while."

"I guess that's a reasonable possibility." Autumn muttered.

"And if he wanted to know more about the damsel he rescued, then shouldn't he be at least willing to remain here with her?"

"Maybe." She forced herself to look away from him. "Then again, maybe this is a night for things out to the ordinary to happen." She asked their waitress for their check.

Autumn shushed his arguments, insisting on paying for his meal.

At that moment, Bastien and some guards walked in.

Liam's eyes widened. "Bastien? How did you find me?"

"We have a tracker on your phone, your majesty." He explained. "We really need to get you to Washington. You have an early morning of..."

Liam tuned him out and focused once more on the lady he had met tonight.

"It's my fault." Autumn spoke up. "I wanted to thank Liam with some pie for his help earlier."

She stood up and held her hand out. “Thank you again for helping me.”

Liam pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Autumn."

"I..." She could feel her entire body blush with that simple touch. "I'm happy to have met you too, Liam." She grimaced. "I mean, your majesty. Should I curtsy?"

He chuckled. "Just Liam with no curtsey is fine."

"Liam no curtsey." She winked at him. "Nice name for a king." Nodding farewell toward his guards, she slipped out of the restaurant.

Liam watched her drive off from one of the windows.

He wondered if he had just met the one.

[awanderingdeal]

Never too late - 6 - 7

A continuation of Leo and Regulus’ attempts (antics) to give Regulus the childhood he never had.

CW: Food talk

Please message me if you feel I need to add any content warnings

Rating: T

Previous and future chapters can be found on my masterlist

Credit for the sweater universe and the characters within it go to @lumosinlove. What a hero.

[This is currently unedited, and I'm not that happy with it, but also my writing mojo has decided it is vacay time so it is what is it]

6. Go to camp! You’ll make friends for life.

“Le! Did you order something?” Finn called, appearing in the doorway of the kitchen carrying a large box.

“Yeah, it’s the t-shirts,” Leo nodded, scraping the onions he’d just chopped into the pot. “Put it on the island for me please, babe.”

Finn looked down at the box, making a show of testing its weight before he looked back at Leo with wide eyes, “This seems like...a lot.”

After adjusting the temperature on the stovetop slightly, Leo washed his hands and made to inspect the delivery. “Err, yeah. Potts got wind of the plan and got all excited. Half the team are coming now,” he smiled sheepishly.

“Of course that happened,” Finn threw his head back with a laugh. “You might as well make it a thing.”

“A thing?” Leo repeated, throwing Finn a bemused look.

“Uhh huh,” Finn nodded.

“I’m gonna need more, babe,” Leo said, lifting one of the shirts out of the box and running the material through his fingers, humming a note of approval.

“More shirts? There’s like 50 here,” Finn frowned.

“No, love,” Leo laughed, shaking his head “More on what a ‘thing’ is.”

“Ohh, got you,” Finn chuckled, leaning against the counter. “I just meant, if half the team is coming anyway, you might as well invite the other half. Get the kids involved. You know, a thing.”

“That’s not a bad idea, actually,” Leo cocked his head.

“Well, I did go to Harvard,” Finn shrugged, rooting around in the fruit bowl to find a suitable pear. One that wasn't too big because Finn got bored of flavours quickly and could never finish them. One that wasn't too soft, because he hated the sticky mess on his hands. In the early days of their relationship, Leo had been excited for the adventures that were going to come with his boyfriends, but he hadn't been prepared for how much the little nuggets of information he would discover about them would mean to him. The satisfied smile that appeared on his Finn’s face as he procured the perfect one was infectious.

“Such big brain energy and yet he still can’t load a dishwasher,” Leo retorted, motioning to the stack of crockery that had been abandoned on the counter.

***

“I have no idea why I put up with you,” Regulus scowled, covering his eyes with his hands. “Okay, I promise I can’t see.”

“Because I’m your best friend, obviously,” Leo replied, making a stupid face to ensure that Regulus was, in fact, telling the truth, and began to lead him towards the back door.

“Obviously,” Regulus drawled. “Do I get a choice in this best friend business?”

“Well, you can try and resist it if you want, but I am incredibly loveable and inevitably you will have to succumb to my charm so you might as well just deal with it,” Leo said.

Regulus gave a resigned sigh, “I suppose as best friends go you aren’t too bad.”

Leo laughed, punching Regulus lightly in the shoulder before telling him to watch out for the step up into the back yard.

“I hope you know that if I break my neck, you will be paying for -” Regulus started.

“Wegggie!!” Harry shouted through a mouthful of graham crackers that James had been trying to buy his silence with.

“Is that?” Regulus pulled his hands from his face, his eyes going wide at the scene in front of him. Leo had to admit he may have gone a little overboard with the execution of the summer camp. What had started off as a few classic summer camp activities had turned into a carefully planned extravaganza. There was a climbing wall and he’d hired an events team that taught archery. Between the games of dodgeball and capture the flag, there would be time for tye-dying, friendship bracelet making, water balloons, tug of war and much more. Of course he hadn’t skimped on the food either: burgers, pizza, vegetable sticks, taco salad and hot dogs; there was a long buffet table laden with an endless supply.

Regulus pulled Leo back inside, tugging him further into the kitchen so that the crowd of Lion’s players and their families couldn’t see them. “Leo, this is too much.”

Leo looked at Regulus trying to read his friend, but the other boy was infuriatingly closed off. “Look, if you really don’t want this, I’ll go and tell everybody to enjoy themselves and we can get out of here.”

Regulus huffed out a breath, “It’s not that I don’t want to...it’s...it’s weird everybody being here. They are obviously just here because you asked them and I feel like an add on.”

“Okay, let me stop you right there,” Leo held up a hand. “You practically live at Kris’ house the amount of time you spend there with Avie. Celeste loves you like a seventh? eighth? child...honestly, I’ve lost track of how many children they’ve adopted at this point. You and Olli…”

“Alright, alright,” Regulus interrupted, “I get your point.” He cocked his head slightly, “Huh, I guess I didn’t realise how much I’ve settled here.”

“You need a second to process that or are you ready to go have some fun, because I think Harry might eat all the s’more supplies if we wait much longer.”

***

Leo leaned into Logan’s shoulder, smiling as he watched his boyfriend show Katie how to toast her s’more in the bonfire that crackled in front of them. He was admiring the softness of the French leaving Logan’s mouth, when Regulus plopped himself onto the large log they were sitting on, a sleeping Aveline clinging to him.

“Hey, Reggie,” Leo greeted, turning his soft smile to his friend. “You alright?”

“I’m good. I just wanted to say thank you,” Regulus nodded, shifting Aveline into a more comfortable position. Leo noticed that Regulus had added another 3 new friendship bracelets to his haul since he had last got a moment to catch up with him. “For all this. This day has been amazing. All of it. I’m not sure if summer camp would have been my thing really, but I never really got to do fun family garden parties either and this has been incredible. ”

Any reply that Leo was about to make was disturbed, by Aleandra dumping a water balloon over Marc’s head right in front of them, their loud screams causing Aveline to wake with a cry.

7.Decorate your room! Paint the walls, buy new bedding and pick some new accessories! Make it your space.

"Well," Leo set a pile of magazines on the bed with a soft thud. It was a little old-school, but he was adamant that it was easier to come up with a complete picture this way. "What do you like? You don't have to know exactly, but we can't go to Ikea without any idea." He let out a soft snort at the unintentional rhyme.

Regulus looked up at him, wide eyed, as if he'd just asked him to supply the solution for world peace. "I don't know," he shrugged, toying with the sleeve of his shirt.

"You must have some thoughts."

"I don't know," Regulus snapped. "I've never had to make these decisions before. There was no point liking anything, because our parents would do what they wanted either way." He spat the words, and despite how it made Leo feel he knew the anger was a sign of some sort of progress. Not even a few months ago, his friend had spoken about his childhood like it was just a different form of normal.

"I'm sorry," Leo apologised, climbing onto the bed next to Regulus.

"It's not your fault, is it," Regulus shrugged, tucking his knees to his chest.

"I shouldn't have pushed you for an answer," Leo clarified, moving the magazines out the way and dragging his laptop from the bedside table. “Look, how about we go through Pinterest and you can pick some pins you vibe with. I’m sure we’ll find a trend.”

“Yeah,” Regulus breathed, shuffling closer to Leo. “Yeah, okay.”

***

“What the hell, there’s more,” Regulus said in awe as they rounded another corner to be confronted by rows of rattan baskets.

“I think we’re nearly at the end.” Leo looked up from the map he was trying to follow, almost stumbling over the cart when Regulus came to a sudden halt.

“These are nice,” Regulus mused, picking up a walnut coloured weaved basket. “My towels will look nice in these.”

“I’m sure they would,” Leo chuckled. He shouldn’t have been so surprised by how quickly Regulus had gained an affinity for interior design considering how he had taken to honing his clothing style with such ease.

“Oh! But these are nice too.” Regulus turned to show Leo another basket, that was identical in every way except for being perhaps a shade lighter.

Leo groaned. They had been in the store for over 3 hours and the cart was overflowing. His friend was adamant he was going to pay his own way and considering the short amount of time he had played for Slytherin along with the legal fees to end his contract early, the man was having to learn to budget to be able to afford college. Leo had suggested that doing a couple of interviews would leave him with a fair buffer, but Regulus had wanted to put as much space between hockey and his new life as possible. Leo was supportive, but Regulus seemed to be having trouble getting out the habit of buying everything he wanted.

“Right, pick one and then close your eyes. We need to get out of here.”

***

“Up a little on the left,” Leo instructed, shaking his head as Regulus lifted the left side of the photo frame considerably. “No, not that much.”

“That’ll do.”

“It’s not straight!”

“Neither are you and you don’t see us complaining,” Regulus huffed as he adjusted the frame again.

“You’re just jealous,” Leo threw one of Regulus’ new cushions across the room, hitting him squarely in the back of the head.

“Eww,” Regulus deadpanned. “And please do not throw my things,” he glared, hugging the cushion to his chest.

Leo was about to make a comment back, but he was interrupted by Sirius clearing his throat in the doorway.

“Got you a present,” Sirius said, holding out a large bag.

“Sirius.” Regulus crossed his arms over his chest, his face set into a disapproving stare. “I told you -”

“Think of it as an early birthday present,” Sirius interrupted.

“My birthday is not for another 4 months.”

“Just take it. I promise I’ll let you do this the way you want, but you’ve got to let me buy you things every now and then too. That’s what big brothers do.”

Regulus sighed, crossing the room to take the bag from Sirius. “Thanks,” he muttered, the corners of his mouth lifting despite his best efforts. The smile spread further as he laid the mustard coloured herringbone throw he’d been salivating over in the small boutique they’d visited a few days prior.

“You’re welcome,” Sirius nodded. “Looks good in here, by the way. We’ll have to find you an apartment in New York that will be big enough to fit it all in.” he commented, walking away as he finished his sentence.

“I’m paying for the apartment!” Regulus called after him. Leo barked a laugh as Regulus ranted about stubborn humans on NHL wages. Regulus poked a finger at him. “You can be quiet. I know this was your doing.”

[cherienymphe]

Daddy Dearest (Steve Rogers x Reader)

This is my entry for @kellyn1604 5K Writing Challenge. I chose quote #3: “You complete me” (Jerry Maguire, 1996).

WARNINGS: NON-CON! {IF THIS OFFENDS YOU PLEASE DNI! YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED}

Summary: You’re a single mother who’s new to town. Steve Rogers has convinced himself that he’s exactly what you and your son need.

~

You set the heavy plant down with a groan, doing your best not to crack the ceramic pot it was in. You straightened, brushing your fingers along your hairline, frowning when they came back damp. You glanced up at the sky and noticed that the sun was beginning to make its way over your head. You were thankful that you’d gotten up as early as you did, relieved that you would beat the heat after all.

It was always so hot here, and while your last place of residence was definitely no Alaska or anything, the heat you’d endured before was at least bearable. You sighed, brushing your hands along your white sundress just as a soft gurgle sounded from beside you. You glanced at your son, familiar eyes staring back at you as he watched you attempt to organize something akin to a greenhouse together.

“Mommy’s almost done,” you assured him.

He beat his tiny hands against the stroller with a smile, and you returned it. You turned to grab the last potted plant when you heard voices near the front of your house. You frowned, briefly squinting over your shoulder before continuing your task. Your son cooed again, beating his hands against the stroller with a laugh, but you brushed it off. However, when you straightened, plant in hand, you were met with the sight of a tall broad figure standing before you.

With a shriek, your hands lost their grip, but before the pot could fall and break, the stranger exhibited some impressive reflexes and caught it. You stumbled away in fear, closer to your son, when you paused. Your eyes met his and you tilted your head in confusion. Awe filled you as you realized that you knew that face. Practically everyone in America did.

“Ma’am,” he greeted, as polite as his reputation preceded.

“C-Captain,” you responded, immediately cursing yourself. “Captain America.”

He cracked a small, almost bashful, smile at your correction.

“You can just call me Steve,” he replied, and you nodded.

There was a brief awkward silence in which you just stared at him, unsure of what to say or even how to act. He was taller than you’d thought he’d be, and it took you by surprise as you found yourself struggling hold his gaze. Why was he here?

“You want this here?” he asked, gesturing to the table you were trying to lift the plant onto.

“Please,” you breathed, and he paused for the briefest of moments at your response before placing it down.

When he turned back around you were standing closer to your son, a hand placed on his stroller. The blond Avenger’s smile widened as his eyes landed on him, and it blinded you. He took a step forward.

“…and who’s this little man?”

“This is my son, Leo. He just turned 1,” you replied, in disbelief that you were introducing Steve Rogers to your son.

“He’s beautiful,” he said and the sincerity there took you by surprise.

He tore his eyes away from him only to rest them on you as he placed his hands on his hips.

“I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m here…”

You nodded, squinting up at him.

“A few members of our team and I are doing some reconnaissance in the next city over. We’re laying low here in the meantime,” he explained.

That made sense. The next city over was big and lively, full of people attracted to that kind of lifestyle, and you were sure every single person there would learn of the presence of Captain America in no time. It would make their job a lot harder, no doubt. The town you lived in was small, only about 1,000 people residing in it, but everyone kind of kept to themselves. It was a town people came to when they wanted to hide.

“I’m here with you because of an incident that took place some weeks ago.”

You frowned, fingers clenching around the handle of your son’s stroller as you processed his words. His eyebrows were furrowed, eyes apologetic as if the last thing he wanted to do was discuss this with you. You cleared your throat, a chill passing through you.

“Is it…is it related? To what you’re doing,” you clarified.

He nodded.

“We think it is, ma’am.”

You swallowed, pushing your son along as you glanced over your shoulder at your visitor.

“Why don’t you come inside?”

 ~

“Do you want anything to drink?”

“No, thank you,” he answered with a shake of his head.

You closed the fridge, leaning against your counter with your son on your hip. Steve Rogers was sitting at your little kitchen table, his large frame making it, and your kitchen, look so much smaller. You could hardly believe it. You glanced around with a grimace.

“I’m sorry the place is such a mess,” you apologized.

“No need to be sorry. Your neighbor told me that you just moved here,” Steve said, arms folded over his chest.

“We’ve been here for a few weeks. That’s more than enough time to get this place together. I just…”

He sighed when you trailed off, straightening in the chair as he rested his hands in his lap.

“You were kidnapped when you first got to the area, about fifteen minutes away from here,” he gently began.

You nodded, clutching Leo to you. It was the scariest day of your life, and the entire time all you could think about was Leo.

“One of my tires blew, and I had gotten out to change it when it happened. Leo was in the car, and they…they left him. The police found my car and him on the side of the road not too long after. They told me that aside from some mild thirst, Leo was fine. It took two days for them to find me, and I guess my kidnappers had gotten a tip or something, because they cleared out in a hurry only minutes before the police broke into wherever they were keeping me,” you explained, talking about the incident for the first time in weeks.

Steve looked at you sadly, leaning forward now.

“…and you didn’t see a face? Recognize a voice?”

“Nothing,” you shook your head. “I wasn’t of much help to the police either when they asked these questions.”

He stood, nearing you as you looked up at him.

“Don’t be sorry about that. It isn’t your fault. I just wanted to compare your story to some others.”

Horror struck you.

“Others? There are other girls who…?”

“There are. I can’t disclose any details, but I just wanted to hear your experience from you,” he confirmed, keeping his voice low.

Leo was dozing now, and you placed your hand on the back of his head, trembling.

“Do you think I should leave?”

Steve shook his head.

“No. You’re perfectly safe with us here. We won’t leave without taking care of this. I promise,” he assured.

You sighed in relief, smiling at him as he gazed at you.

“Thank you. I feel like I can finally start resting easy, now. I haven’t gotten much sleep since it happened, and raising a 1 year old doesn’t exactly help,” you confessed, walking him to the door.

“You’ll have nothing to worry about from now on. It was nice meeting you…”

You chuckled and resisted the urge to roll your eyes.

“I’m positive you already know my name.”

Steve smiled.

“I do, but it wasn’t given with your permission.”

You felt your face get hot at not only how gentlemanly he was being, but at the way he looked at you. He was giving you his undivided attention, and you hadn’t been looked at like that in a while.

“(Y/N),” you introduced yourself.

“(Y/N),” he repeated, with a nod. “Nice to meet you.”

 ~

There was a knock on your door, and your heart skipped a beat as you almost dropped the picture frame you were holding. You glanced at Leo, sleeping peacefully in his playpen before standing and making your way to the door. You were hesitant as you unlocked the door. Since you came to town the only visitors you had had been the police, and that was only twice.

You cracked it open, blinking in surprise before smiling.

“Steve,” you greeted, opening the door and unlocking the screen. “What are you doing here?”

He looked around, almost worriedly, as he stepped past you. His blue eyes were cold.

“I just wanted to check in on you.”

You frowned, not liking the way he said that.

“Is something happening?”

You always thought it was irrational, but you could never help but to fear that your kidnappers would come back for you. You knew that sex trafficking was becoming more and more common, and you were an easy target. A single mother with no relatives in a small town. It was why you hardly left the house.

He looked at you, taking in your stricken expression before briefly rubbing his hand along your arm, face softening.

“No. I told you, you won’t have anything to worry about anymore,” he replied, taking in the mess.

You chuckled, stepping over some toys.

“I finally decided to start putting all of this stuff away. Sorry-.”

“Stop apologizing,” he gently replied. “Let me help you…”

Your eyes widened.

“No, I can’t ask that of you. I should’ve had all of this done weeks ago and…,” you trailed off when he brushed his hand along your shoulder.

You watched him sit down on the floor beside an unopened box.

“You’re going to keep apologizing,” he said with a chuckle. “Besides, I want to help.”

You hesitated, before dropping to your knees with a small sigh.

“Okay,” you relented, and he smirked, because you both knew that you didn’t have much choice in the matter anyway.

You should have found it odd that Steve Rogers was on your living room floor, helping you unpack and tidy up your house, but you didn’t. He was a good man, a hero. It was quiet but not uncomfortable, and you were sure it was because of who he was. After all, he was still a stranger, Captain America or not, but he didn’t feel like a stranger.

“What is it?” you asked, catching him glancing at you once in a while.

He pursed his lips, a thoughtful expression on his face that you’d seen on the news plenty of times.

“It was just you and your son during the incident, and it was just you and your son the other day…,” he trailed off, and you looked down.

You knew what he was getting at, and he probably didn’t want to be rude and come out and ask. You set down the dishes you’d just unwrapped before sighing.

“I don’t know where his father is,” you confessed.

Steve frowned, rearing back a bit before you continued.

“We were happy. At least…I thought that we were,” you began with a shrug. “When I told him about the pregnancy, he was ecstatic to be a father and then when I was four months along, I woke up one morning and he was gone. All of his stuff was gone, and his phone kept going straight to voicemail. I never saw him again.”

Steve’s face was taught, jaw clenched as he stared at you with wide eyes. He didn’t respond at first, turning his head away as he heaved a heavy sigh.

“That’s horrible,” he eventually said, and you noticed the way his hands clenched into fists.

“Hey,” you said, placing your hand on his arm, drawing his attention back to you. “I know that things were very different in your day, but it happens.”

“Is that supposed to make it okay?” he thundered, and you were taken aback by his anger.

You heard Leo stir a bit before going back to sleep.

“No, it doesn’t,” you sighed. “…but I made my peace with it a long time ago.”

“You had to have been terrified…,” he wondered, his hand coming up to graze your own.

“I was,” you confirmed. “Especially since I had burned so many bridges to be with him. My family didn’t exactly approve, and in the end, I guess they saw something I was blinded to.”

“Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself,” he angrily replied, shaking his head. “You’re…wonderful.”

“You don’t even know me,” you nervously chuckled. “I could be the world’s worst mother-.”

“You raised him all on your own, (Y/N). He’s beautiful and healthy and you did that by yourself for a year. You shouldn’t have had to.”

You didn’t know what to say, especially with how he was looking at you. It had just been you and Leo for so long, and while you knew you always did the best you could, it felt nice to have someone acknowledge it. It had been hard, harder than it should have been due to your ex’s abrupt absence.

“Thank you,” you whispered, surprised at how hoarse you sounded.

Steve reached out to brush his hand along your cheek, and you were embarrassed. You hadn’t realized you’d started crying.

“God, I’m sorry,” you sniffed. “I shouldn’t have dumped all of that on you.”

You stood with a chuckle just as Leo began to stir again, and this time you knew he was awake for good. You crossed the room, leaning over to pick him up just as he began to cry. You shushed him as you turned back to Steve, finding his intense gaze already on you.

“He’s probably hungry. That’s the only time he ever wakes up in a bad mood,” you explained.

You approached him, eyebrows raised.

“Do you want to hold him while I fix his food?”

You held in a laugh as Steve blanched.

“Are you sure?”

“You’re Captain America. I’d probably trust him more in your hands than I do my own,” you joked, handing him over.

You sharply inhaled as you watched him cradle Leo, your son looking so small in his big arms.

“He looks…so much like you,” he murmured, distracted.

“Yeah, that is one thing I’m grateful for. I can’t see his father in him, at all, and if I didn’t know any better, I’d think I conceived him all by myself.”

You walked past him, hearing his light steps behind you as he followed you into the kitchen. His presence was calming as you moved about, and you looked over your shoulder to see him looking around with a frown.

“What is it?” you asked, pausing in your task, tilting your head at him.

He shook his head.

“Nothing,” he murmured, turning back to your son.

You furrowed your brows but brushed it off before turning back around. It wasn’t long before you heard a low humming sound, the familiar coos of your son reaching your ears soon after.

 ~

“Steve…I can’t take this,” you refused, shaking your head.

He rolled his eyes, brushing past you and into your home, and you sighed.

“Steve,” you protested, but to no avail.

You watched as he began emptying the grocery bags, filling your cabinets and refrigerator with food. You opted to choose your battles, and simply set about helping him. You glanced at him with a small frown.

For the past week or so he’d stopped by almost every day. The two of you would talk as he helped you unpack, and you were grateful because you only had a couple of more boxes left. He’d always play with Leo, occupying him while you made his food, and then you’d talk some more.

It was only recently when he started…broadening his help. He’d bring groceries by and work on things around the house that needed fixing. Hell, thanks to him your greenhouse was actually a functioning greenhouse, now. You were grateful, so grateful, but sometimes…

He turned to look at you as he out the last of the groceries away, and you swallowed.

Sometimes he looked at you in a way that confused you. It was a look that was so intense, you didn’t know how to feel about it. Your ex hadn’t even looked at you that way before.

“Steve, you…you’re doing more than enough for me. Really…”

You’d had this conversation before, and every time it was the same thing.

“I want to help you,” was his simple response every time.

You frowned, crossing your arms over your chest with a huff.

“Do you…do you pity me?”

It was a thought that constantly plagued you, and you hated it. He blinked, and you would have found his reaction adorable if you weren’t under the impression that you were just a charity case.

“No,” he said, sounding almost offended.

“Leo and I have been doing fine, and I don’t want your help if it’s just-.”

You cut yourself off as he took your hands in his, staring down at you with a small sad smile.

“I see a young woman who was left in a difficult situation, and I want to help her. Not because I pity her, but because she’s a wonderful mother who I think deserves the world,” he explained.

There was so much conviction there, and while anyone else probably would have swooned, it just made you slightly uncomfortable. You slowly tore your hands away, glancing away as he frowned.

“Steve…you aren’t Leo’s father, and you don’t have to try and make up for what he did. We’re fine,” you assured him. “Besides, Leo is…he adores you, and what’s going to happen a few weeks from now when you have to leave?”

He exhaled, crossing his arms over his chest, almost like a child.

“I could stick around for a while,” he offered.

You gave him a reproachful look.

“Steve…”

“I might be here longer than you think. Don’t think about that, right now,” he said with a small smile.

You didn’t return it, instead watching him as he began checking your windows and doors.

“I have to leave for a few days, maybe four at the most,” he told you.

“Oh,” you said, hoping the relief in your voice wasn’t too obvious.

“I might send someone to look out for you, so don’t be alarmed if you see an Avenger in your front lawn at night.”

You opened your mouth to protest but decided against it. You simply nodded, watching him grab a pan before turning on your stove. You bit your lip, swallowing a complaint.

 ~

He was right. During the days that he was gone, you would look out of your window at night to find an unfamiliar figure standing in front of your house. There were no lights near your house, and it was always too dark to see who it could be. You pursed your lips, shaking your head as you let the curtain fall back into place before taking Leo upstairs.

Steve Rogers was just being Steve Rogers. That was what you told yourself. He was Captain America, the poster boy for good Samaritans and every parents’ wet dream everywhere. He was only trying to help, and you just weren’t used to help. You weren’t used to people like him, and because of that, you were just acting like a bitch. That had to be it.

What sane person would be annoyed by all that he was doing for you?

It was the third day without him when your cell phone rang. You answered it without thinking, only for your mouth to fall open in shock as the other person on the line began to speak. They confirmed your name and you responded that it was indeed you. Thus, began the explanation for the call.

Your ex, Leo’s father, had been found dead. He had never told you much about his family, and the woman on the phone confirmed they weren’t able to get in touch with any relatives. It seemed that he hadn’t updated his emergency contact after leaving you, and so you were who they had to call. You swallowed as you hung up the phone, unsure of how to feel.

That was how Steve found you when he knocked on your door two hours later. You answered it in a daze, barely acknowledging him as you let him in.

“(Y/N),” he called in a firm voice that startled you from your trance.

You blinked at him, realizing that he’d probably been calling you for a minute. His face was wrought with confusion and worry as he gazed at you.

“My ex is…dead. Nathan. That was his name,” you mumbled, slowing sinking onto your couch.

Steve crossed the room to lift Leo into his arms, the infant placing a hand on the man’s cheek.

“How do you know?” he asked, almost demanded.

You look up at him.

“Apparently I was still listed as his emergency contact. They weren’t able to get in touch with any relatives either.”

He studied you with a frown, eyes roaming over your frozen form.

“You seem upset by the news,” he observed.

Was it just you…or did he sound almost disapproving?

“Well, we had been together for nearly two years before… No matter how things ended between us, when we were together, he wasn’t just my boyfriend. He was also my friend.”

“Friends don’t do what he did to you.”

You huffed, getting a bit irritated by his callous tone.

“I know that, but I never got closure. I was forced to move on and make peace with everything, because I was given no other choice, and now I’ll never get it. I’ll never know why he just up and left-.”

“Why do you want to? He was a coward. He didn’t want to take responsibility for his actions,” he argued.

“I know that, but-.”

“If you know that then why are you bothered by this news?”

“Steve, I loved him…for years. Can I not grieve over this?” you asked him, genuinely confused and taken aback by his behavior.

He simply looked away from you, rocking Leo as he smiled at him.

“So, who’s going to deal with arrangements?”

“I…I don’t know. I suppose that would fall to me, but the phone call came all the way from California. I don’t know what to do,” you murmured. “They didn’t even say how he died.”

Steve ignored you, walking into the kitchen. You frowned as you heard him fiddling around in there, and you surmised that he was going to start cooking. There was that feeling again, that feeling that made you feel like a bitch. This wasn’t his house…

 ~

You slammed the door shut behind you with an irritated sigh. Leo was quiet, simply resting on your hip as you locked the door. You had just set him down, barely getting your jacket off when a knock sounded on your door. You swallowed another sigh, resisting the urge to groan, because you already knew who was on the other side.

Since he’d been back, a day hadn’t gone by when Steve didn’t show up to help around the house and play with your son. The conversations that followed after the one about your ex were filled with…tension. Maybe that wasn’t the right word for it. You couldn’t put your finger on it, but you just felt like you’d disappointed Steve in some way. He’d been borderline short with you, only genuinely smiling when he interacted with Leo.

Steve knocked again, and this time you did sigh.

You weren’t in the mood to deal with him. Far from it, in fact.

You’d finally decided to see what you could do about the arrangements for your ex. You’d been prepared to drive to the next city over and see if you could get a plane ticket or something. You had money saved up, and with Steve helping out around the house as of late, there was no need to dip into your savings. However, your car wouldn’t start. You turned the key until your fingers ached, but nothing would give. You always took care of your car if you didn’t take care of anything else. Now, you would have to spend money to get it looked at.

You were brought out of your reverie by the sound of your door opening. You frowned, realizing that while you hadn’t locked the screen, you’d most definitely locked the other door. Your mouth parted as Steve let himself in, a key in hand as he shut the door behind him. He looked worried as he approached you.

“Why didn’t you answer the door?” he asked, reaching for your face.

You swallowed and took a step back, eyeing him.

“Where did you get that?” you asked, gesturing to the key in his hand as you ignored his question.

His mouth fell into a straight line as he walked over to Leo.

“I had one made,” was his simple response.

Your frown deepened, and you strode over to him, taking Leo from him. You looked him up and down before taking a step back. You briefly closed your eyes, realizing that you were indeed about to be the ungrateful bitch who was about to tell Captain America to stop helping her.

“Steve...we need to talk…”

He straightened, looking down his nose at you as he waited for you to continue.

“First of all, I want you to know that I do appreciate all of your help. You have been an absolute saint, you have no idea, but…”

You looked away, unable to hold his intense gaze as you kept going.

“You’re suffocating me. I know that you’ve taken a liking to Leo and you feel like I deserve everything you’ve been doing for me and more, but it’s starting to make me uncomfortable. Steve, you had a key made without my permission,” you said, gesturing to it. “You’re temporary. You’ve been here for nearly a month and I’m sure whatever you and your team are working on has to be ending sooner rather than later.”

Steve said nothing, simply watching you as you ranted.

“Leo is going to start expecting your company. Hell, even I might start expecting you to be around all the time and that’s not something I want to get used to, because it isn’t true. You’re sweet, really you are, but Leo and I are fine. You don’t need to come around all the time.”

He didn’t immediately respond, simply staring at you with an unreadable expression. His eyebrows suddenly furrowed before nodding.

“I see,” was all he said.

“I know I’m coming off as ungrateful-.”

“No, no,” he said, placing his hand on your shoulder. “If I’m making you uncomfortable, then maybe I am overstepping.”

He placed the key in your hand, almost reluctantly.

“You’re right. We won’t be here much longer, and I guess I never thought about the affect it would have on the two of you when I’m no longer around. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you murmured.

He reached up, brushing his fingers along your cheek. You flinched, involuntarily, but he noticed, and his eyes hardened for the briefest of moments before sighing. He stepped away.

“I’ll go.”

Your heart sank, and part of you felt like maybe you were being too harsh. You followed him to the door, Leo cooing in your ear.

“Steve, I… I really am thankful for everything. I promise I am,” you assured him.

He looked at you with a small smile, halfway out of the door.

“I know you are.”

You pressed your hand to the door as it shut behind him, staring at it for a moment before taking Leo upstairs for a bath.

 ~

It was sometime in the night when you were woken up by a procession of knocks on your front door. You stumbled down the stairs, half asleep, realizing too late that you weren’t exactly dressed to answer the door. However, considering how late it was, you were sure it was either a case of mistaken identity so to speak or someone needing to use a phone. It was a small town, after all.

You opened the door, surprised to discover who was on the other side. Although, maybe you shouldn’t have been. You’d seen more of him than you had anyone else since you first moved to town. You grimaced, half of your frame hidden behind the door as you pressed your chest against it, hand clutching the side of it.

“Steve,” you breathed. “What are you doing here? It’s late.”

You would be lying if you said you weren’t a bit nervous.

Steve Rogers may have been America’s golden boy, holding true to that the past month or so, but his suffocating presence had been starting to wear on you. It was what had sparked the conversation you’d had with him hours earlier. The conversation where you had to find a gentle way to convey to him that you needed him to back off.

You knew that he meant well, and it was why you were so reluctant to have that talk with him, but… Part of you believed that Steve was getting a bit too attached. That maybe he thought there was something going on here, more than what really was.

“I know. I was in the area, doing some recon when I thought about our talk. Can I come in?”

The question was innocent enough, especially coming from Captain America of all people, but you didn’t feel right about letting him in. You didn’t know why.

“Steve, it’s late. I’ve already put Leo to bed and-.”

“I didn’t want to leave here without talking this out. I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable, that was never my intentions,” he softly replied.

You pursed your lips, studying him.

You believed him.

After all, you’d only known him to always try and do the right thing, and while you never wanted to say it aloud, you and your son did need help. Steve had been nothing but a saint to you. Maybe it was your own issues and trauma that made you hesitant. Maybe you were reading too much into things and Steve just genuinely wanted to help you in any way he could. He was from a different time, and maybe he didn’t view his behavior the way you did. Maybe you were just being a bitch.

You gazed at him and sighed. His eyebrows were furrowed, blue eyes focused on you with a look of concern that was oh so familiar. Why oh why were you always pushing people away?

“Okay,” you relented.

The corners of his mouth lifted into a small smile as you reached over and unlocked the screen door. You moved out of the way as he came inside, shutting the door behind him with a resounding click. You pulled on your t-shirt, the end of it brushing the top of your knees as you turned to face him.

“I only ever wanted to look out for you…”

You sighed, sitting down.

“I know that,” you quietly replied.

He sat down beside you, facing you as he continued.

“You were right. I was trying to make up for what Leo’s father did to you. It…it tormented me, (Y/N).”

He scooted closer to you, his clothed knees brushing your bare ones.

“I know that I woke up in a completely different world than the one I left when I went into the ice. I know that, but sometimes I still come across things that disgust me. That make me angry enough to kill, and hearing how he just up and left you and your son like that…”

He looked away with a sigh.

“I understand, Steve. It made me angry too, and I get how you got a little carried away, but you don’t need to make up for anything.”

He shook his head.

“I was raised to take care of my girl. That’s how it was… If you were blessed enough to get a beautiful girl you’d do anything for, you looked out for her.”

You chuckled with a shake of your head, brushing his words off.

“That’s really sweet, Steve, but I’m not your girl and you aren’t Leo’s father. You don’t owe us anything…”

He suddenly took your hands into his own, and you frowned. He leaned in, tightening his grip as he smiled at you.

“…but you could be. You could be my girl, and I could be Leo’s father,” he proposed.

Your eyes widened and you reared back.

“Steve…”

“You need me. You said it yourself that you were so thankful for all of my help…”

“Yes, but-!”

“I could be around all the time. You need a man around the house to take care of you and Leo,” he continued, bringing one hand up to rest on your neck, thumb brushing along your jaw.

You heart felt like it was going to burst from your chest. You felt sick.

“No, I-. Steve. You barely even know me, and I hardly know you. Besides, I don’t think I’ll be ready for another relationship for a long time. I just want to focus on Leo, right now.”

“I do know you, (Y/N). You’re so sweet…and polite…and beautiful. You’re a wonderful mother to him, a perfect mother. You’re perfect for me,” he pressed, scooting closer as you moved back.

“No-.”

“You are. You are,” he murmured, leaning in and pressing his lips against yours.

You turned your head away with a frown, pushing against him.

“From the first moment I saw you, I thought to myself that you looked like an angel in that white dress, feet bare and dirt on your forehead. You were so adorable, and Leo was right there with you. He laughed when he first saw me, you know. He loved me,” he whispered, turning you to face him.

You beat your fists against his chest, but you might as well had been hitting a brick wall for all the good it did you.

“When I came out of the ice, I thought I’d never find a girl who was so right for me in this day and age. A sweet girl who wanted a family… I thought I’d spend so much of my time on this earth alone. I was wrong. You complete me,” he said in between fierce kisses.

You finally pulled away with a gasp, slipping from in between him before sprinting to the other side of the room. He frowned up at you, and you frantically looked around the room.

“(Y/N), you can focus on Leo. I can take care of everything, and you and Leo can spend all day with each other. You can devote all of your time to him just like you do now,” he said, standing.

Your legs were shaking as you backed away from him, hand sliding along the wall as you eyed him with tears in your eyes. You’d always noticed how big he was, but it was never more glaring than it was in this moment. He could do anything to you, and you’d be powerless to stop him.

“Steve, p-please. You’re scaring me,” you whispered.

“I can love you the way Nathan never did. I will never abandon you like he did,” he whispered, approaching you like a lion would prey.

“Steve…Steve, I thought you were my friend,” you pleaded, stumbling back towards the kitchen.

His frown deepened.

“I am. I am your friend…and I’m in love with you…”

“No,” you denied, shaking your head as the room began to spin.

“I am. I will always protect you and Leo. You’ll want for nothing. I’ll protect you both from anyone who wants to harm you. You’ll be completely safe with me.”

“Steve…stop,” you begged. “Please.”

“We finished our mission a week ago. We found those men who took you, and I made it so they’d never harm you again,” he confessed.

Your eyes widened at that.

“What?”

“I took care of Nathan too. He got what he deserved for abandoning you like that…”

You halted all movement, staring at him as your stomach twisted into knots. A chill passed down your spine, and you were certain that you were going to throw up.

“Do you know that he was married? He abandoned you so easily and moved on like it was nothing only to give someone else what he should have given you,” he spat, eyes hardening.

A few tears skipped down your cheeks, and then you turned. You ran into the kitchen, almost tripping over the chair as you sprinted past the table. You faced him, hand reaching for a knife as he walked into the kitchen. There was only a table between you, and you released a shaky breath as you raised your arm.

“Please don’t make me do this,” you cried.

Steve looked at you with pity, as if you needed help.

“Just leave. I won’t tell anyone about what you did, I swear,” you promised.

Steve huffed, arms flexing, and you looked between him and the kitchen doorway.

“(Y/N),” he warned.

You ran around the other side of the table, shoving it against his legs before turning the corner. You slid and landed on your side, immediately pushing yourself to your knees as you climbed the stairs. You’d only made it halfway up when his hand closed around your ankle. You shrieked as your chin harshly met one of the steps, kicking out at him as he began to pull you down.

You slammed the knife into the wood, hanging on with an iron grip as one of his hands dug into your waist.

“Steve, please,” you shrieked, screaming when he successfully pulled you down.

The two of you landed at the bottom in a heap, and he wasted no time in pinning you beneath him.

Just then the two of you heard a faint noise, and you knew the commotion had stirred Leo. You struggled beneath Steve, fighting to get to your son, but he wouldn’t let up. A few more moments passed by before it was quiet again, and you knew Leo had fallen back asleep. Steve turned his head to face you, and the tears spilled over all over again.

His chest was heaving against yours, jaw clenched as he ran his eyes over you. You flinched as he reached up to brush his fingers down the side of your face, blue eyes drinking you in.

“We need to be quiet,” he softly said, one of his hands trailing down your body.

You started to buck against him, so much fear coursing through you it made your head spin. His fingers danced along your exposed thigh.

“No, no, no,” you murmured.

He pressed his face into your neck, shushing you.

“We have to be quiet. We don’t want to wake him up, do we?”

You let your head fall back to the floor with a soft thud, defeated. How did you not see it? How did things escalate so far without you noticing? Where did you go wrong?

A loud tearing sound pulled you back to reality, and you cried when the cool air hit your naked core. His fingers were suddenly there, working against you and spreading heat through your stomach.

“Steve,” you begged, reaching down to grip his wrist.

“Let me take care of you,” he said just before sliding down your shaking frame.

Your mouth opened in a silent scream when his mouth descended over the most sensitive part of you. Your hand gripped his head for leverage, digging into his scalp in an attempt to get him off. He simply grabbed your hands and intertwined his fingers with your own. You bit your lip at the pleasure that coursed through you, unsurprised when you tasted blood.

You hadn’t been touched like this in two years, and the abruptness of it all was messing with your mind. You squeezed Steve’s hand, vision blurring as you were positive you were crushing his head with your thighs. Your back arched off of the floor, chest heaving and feet flailing as he thrust his tongue inside of you with vigor. You were almost there, breath hitching as you climbed, but right before you hit the peak, he pulled away.

You fell back to the floor with a groan, turning to get away from him just as his hands lowered to his pants. You crawled across the floor on shaky legs as you reached out to your phone on the couch. Your fingers just barely brushed against it when his hands were on your hips, pushing them to the floor. You gasped as his chest pressed against your back, pinning you between him and the hard floor.

“Steve…Steve, please,” you panted.

You twisted beneath him, legs kicking as he forced himself between your legs. One of his hands pressed into the side of your head, preventing you from moving while the other dragged the tip of his cock along your entrance.

“Let me take care of you, (Y/N),” he almost begged. “Let me take care of you.”

You squeaked when he slid inside of you, hands reaching out to claw against the floor. You sobbed as he thrust inside of you, hand fisted into your hair as soft grunts escaped his lips. You tried to push yourself up onto your elbows, but he was there, leaning down and pushing you back down in the process.

“You’re going to be so happy with me,” he whispered, lips brushing along your ear. “I’m going to be so good to Leo, and when you’re ready, we’ll have another. We’ll give him someone to play with.”

“No,” you moaned, reaching up to dig your nails into his arm.

“Yes,” he hissed, one of his hands coming around to grip your throat, holding you in place as he fucked you. “Can’t you see it?”

You frantically shook your head.

“You’ll be so beautiful, big and round, outside in your bare feet. I’ll build you the biggest greenhouse you want, ten times the size of the one you have, now. I’m going to give you everything you want,” he murmured, dragging his cock in and out of your slick walls.

You gasped, realizing that spots were appearing in your vision. You hit his hand, but he paid you no mind.

“You need me. You need me to take care of you…”

His voice was fading, and you squeaked, attempting to speak his name, but nothing came out. You clenched around him, the sounds of his grunts getting louder reached your ears just as you lost consciousness.

 ~

When you came to, Leo was crying. The familiar sound cracked through your subconscious, and you woke with a start. You were still on the living room floor, prone in front of the couch, but there was a thick quilt thrown over you. You blinked, taking note of your sore throat as you realized that Steve was nowhere to be found.

Leo quieted, and you struggled to sit up, bringing the quilt with you as you clutched it to your chest. You heard footsteps on the stairs and looked up to gaze at Steve as he descended them, Leo in his arms as Steve crooned at him. Your fingers tightened on the cover, staring at the Avenger in fear.

“It’s okay,” he shushed, pressing his lips to your son’s forehead. “Daddy’s got you.”

Tags: @naee-twice @captainchrisstan @xoxabs88xox @mcudarklibrary

[doodles-arts]

Request: turtles reacting to crush

pairing?: All 2003 turtles x reader

Rating?: Pg

Warings?: loads of fluff

Request: 2003 turtles reaction to their crush, the turtles did the sweetest thing ever for them, talking loads of nice stuff about their crush, protecting crush or showing their nice/happy sides and crush waits until they are alone and crush says, crush has been good friends with the individual turtle, so they’ve never spoken like this before, “You know you’re really beautiful”? 

Summary: The boys all react a little differently to a super hawt crush! some boast, others turn hate into love

A/N: I did get carried away with my baby Donnie a little, if your interested in a one shot of a biker reader with a sarcastic Donnie, please reblog! I’d love to write it, but am working on other things for you guys, so if you’d like it let me know to make some time! @donatello-writes thought you might like the donatello part. Give it a heart if it were any good and read this lil note, love your work!

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

Leonardo:

Met you because you were being jumped.

Classic hero saving damsel in distress

Doesn’t trust you at first for the sake of his family

But he grows on you

2 sizes...

You're absolutely the sweetest!

You bake him things for free as a thank you for saving your life

He can’t help but eAT it AlL

Master splinter actually makes him run laps around the sewers because of how lagged he is.

He asks Donnie for a diet plan and is h e a r t b r o k e n when he’s told NO SUGARS

You make him keto and protein cookies for his weekly cheat meal

You apologized when you were told he couldn’t eat anymore because he had gotten bigger.

The boys tease him about his weight when you're around.

Even after he lost all the extra weight.

His calm demeanor eases all your anxieties

He loves the way you're just so kind to all his brothers and everyone you meet.  

One day when you were baking a cake for  Mikeys birthday and all other kinds of party favors for all the boys, Leonardo kept you company. You both talked and about things you were planning, you both were very close. And Leo was very obsessed with you and your baking apron. He probably followed your back end with googly eyes all afternoon.

You didn’t mind having him keep your company and hand you any ingredients you needed but you couldn’t help but notice how much more his muscles were showing off. He was RIPPED. You blushed and looked away when he caught your wandering eyes. He didn’t seem to mind, keeping the conversation going about your next hangout.  He watched you with adoration and when you couldn’t reach for something on a high shelf he chuckled and offered to get it for you. You didn’t want to seem helpless but he was willing.

“That would be great actually!” You smiled and stepped back, “coming to my rescue as per usual~”, he blushed but you couldn’t see it as he reached up to grab the barely used baking soda. As he stretched, time slowed. His usual strap that held his katana was resting as you both cooked. Without it, it brought much more focus on the flesh on his side that wasn’t covered by his plastron or shell. It was insane how his muscles on his sides stretched and rolled. You could have drooled right there. But there was more to your private show, the little potbelly he used to harbor thanks to your baking, was long gone! His arms were round and plump. The muscles warned anyone who tried to mess with the leader. A clear reminder that you were in love with a god. A GOD. He was magnificent, his body chiseled from stone by Donatello or Michelangelo, the sculptors. You sucked in a breath, trying to make the second longer, but all good things come with an end…

You couldn’t help how your cheeks flushed as your thoughts wandered and traveled. As did your eyes, embarrassing yourself even more as he turned sharply, his glutes flexing as he took a step forward, you just couldn’t believe it-

“-You know you’re beautiful, right?” Leonardo almost dropped the bottle of baking soda that slipped from his three-fingered hands when you had commented on this. Quickly catching it and trying to grab his cool back from slipping in between his fingers as well. You giggled, laughing at your own embarrassment to lessen it. You might have been a bit flustered, but you meant it. “Uh.. thanks?” Still flustered and taken aback, Leo handed you the bottle and sat back down.

The air was thick with an awkward feeling, it might have been you, but you did mean it, you could have meant it platonically or romantically, so you weren’t that worried if he didn’t feel that way. He was clearly the source of the feeling. Refusing to talk afterward. Growing with anticipation, you put too much baking soda in the bowl and groaned in annoyance, scooping the part of the batch that had too much and throwing it out. After it was fixed you took a spoonful and handed it to Leo, “I’m sorry if I said anything out of line, peace offering?”

You had been making an eggless cookie dough batch so that you could give Mikey some cookie dough to eat without getting sick. And as Leo looked at you with that tiny sweet smile, he knew he was cracking. He wasn’t offended, not at all! He was flattered! Honored! But how could he reveal his true feelings if you might not feel the same? He took the spoon with a smile, “accepted!”

When he was finished with the spoon and set it down, you jumped into his arms for a hug, “good! Now stop being so quiet! You're my favorite person, so be my taste tester!” He felt his control falling and before you could pull away he hugged you tighter, you giggled and hugged back. But it was when he wouldn’t let go that you felt something was off. And there was, Leo was freaking out about how to approach you about this. “I’m sorry, but let’s stay like this, I have something to tell you”, he whispered into your ear huskily. You couldn’t help the goosebumps on your arm that stood when his warm breath hit the side of your neck.

“Okay-yeah, okay”, you replied shakily, you weren’t scared, not in the slightest, you could feel a spring in the bottom of your stomach start to tighten. His close proximity had your head swimming. You breathed in his scent and swooned inwardly to the smell of metal oil, peppermint body wash, and the scent of his natural skin.

“I… I know how strange it might seem, but I like ya’. Something about you has me pulling towards you. You always make me happier. I don’t know how else to tell ya, but I want-” before he could answer, your breathless voice did,

“Yes, I like you too, silly.” He hugged you closer as he silently fist pumped the air behind you, “shell yes!”

“I can feel that Leo” You giggled.

Donatello:

Your Casey’s sister

He hates you once he gets to know you

Your blunt, straightforward and RUDE

You’re really smart tho

And slim thicc…

Every time you come he leaves to his lab

He can’t stand you Casey, and Raph roughhousing

He can’t stand watching you on some days either tho…

He hates the way you make him feel

He’ll never admit it but he’s in la-la-la-la-loveeee

The way your arms are beefed up

You’re not picky

You don’t complain

You confront him once, asking, ”what’s your problem!” and he lashes out that your blunt, straight forward and provocative

He didn’t mean that last part

You bluntly tell him you don’t care about what he thinks, you never did anything directly to him for him to always give you attitude

You ask for a truce, instead of being problematic and resorting to violence

From that moment Donnie feels different about you

guess you weren’t so problematic and dumb as he thought

You agreed to help out with his experiments as a peace offering. They’re boring and you hate them but you try for Donnie. Lately, he has been asking many experiments from you, asking to help him with tools and taking notes. He said your handwriting was ‘prettier, surprisingly’. You told him his face was surprising. You both threw jabs at each other constantly. But you grew to like it, he was quick on his feet and always knew what to say back or when to stop. Most people were too sissy to take your comebacks or too sensitive to throw jabs. As you got to know Donnie you noticed how much fun he actually could be. You certainly didn’t have to prove your strength around him or get bruises by the end of the day. With him, it was playful and calm, sure you still liked a bit of wrestling here or there, it had been hotwired into your system by then.

Donnie respected that and you respected that he didn't enjoy the roughhousing around his equipment or in his lab. The mutual respect was a different tune than the constant hating glares you'd send each other. As you sat on the table next to the bike he was fixing up you were humming a tune to yourself, waiting for Donatello to ask for another tool. It kinda reminded you about your dad…

You blew a raspberry and laid you back on the clear table, “I’m bored”, you huffed out. You were tired of just sitting around, looking at the wall, “Well, lucky you, I just finished” he responded dryly. You rolled your eyes and hopped off the table to help him off his shell, “for the tallest slimmest turtle of the bunch, you sure are heavy.” you snickered as he faked a laugh and rolled the bike through the back entrance. “Yea, now shut up and follow me.”

You huffed and walked alongside him, “Soooo, who’s the bike for. Do I get to ride it first? Only fair since I helped!” You mused, trying to convince him to let you ride the bike. You used to own a bike, and you loved that thing to death since it was the one your dad had made for you until Casey broke it.

~~~

You were furious, it was the last thing you had of your dads, and he totally wrecked it during the night with Raph. You tried your hardest to fix it, but you didn’t have the cash for the spare parts, so you ended up scrapping the beat-up engine and the seat, hoping to still find the memory of your dad in them. You kept it in your room. Inside your closet.

After that, it took Casey months to get back on your good side, you only held out that long because he refused to tell you how he broke it. After another month of torture and burnt eggs in the morning, Casey begged the turtles to tell you the truth. And he did, promising to explain what happened to the bike, but he had to show you something first. And that’s how you met the turtles and Donnie’s stuffy ass.

~~~

“It’s yours. So you can ride it wherever you want, genius.” Donnie had to look away, feeling flustered that he was doing this. But you stopped dead in your tracks. When Donnie noticed that you had stopped, and turned to look at you. You had this dumb look on your face as you starred at the bike. Taking small steps towards the seat and opening it, “what’s wrong with you?” He asked, hoping for you to say something back. Kinda creeped out by your silence and wide eyes. As you lifted the seat, ignoring his remark and noticed the little engraved signature of you and your dad. Your heart broke into tiny pieces and fell in the pit of your stomach, you fell to your knees, feeling yourself shaking. Looking at the familiar engine.

“Where did you get this-” he felt a little nervous at the tone of your voice. Deeply unwavering, you sounded half dead. Pissed.

“I thought you’d-”

“WHERE!” He gulped, you hadn’t even looked at him. He walked around the bike to your side, “I’m sorry, but I and Casey took the liberty to rebuild a junk bike with your seat, I fixed the engine and put it in too. If I knew it would bother you so much, I wouldn’t have invaded your privacy.” He still felt your cold demeanor and didn’t dare touch you. Your silence only fueled his anxiousness. Your shoulders were slumped and you tried your best not to break, but the pieces were all falling down. Remembering the night as a little girl that you both worked on the bike and engraved your names on the underside of the seat and rode it for a test drive.

The tears flowed down your cheeks before you could stop them, it was unusual for you to cry, but your bike. His bike, our bike. It was back and fixed, you had something to feel like he was still there, waiting for you to come home after riding. Donnie’s warmth was wafting towards you and you gave him a tight hug. He still stayed after you yelled and didn’t make fun of you when you cry. he really was sweet... huh.

“Thank you, Donnie. I never knew you were so soft.” You pulled away and gave him a soft punch on the arm. He chuckled, trying not to stare at your tear-stained face, it was strange to see you that way. “Nothing wrong with being a little soft, now get outta here and tell me how well the bike does,” he smiled.

You smirked, rising and pulling the turtle behind you, swinging a leg over the bike like second nature. Pulling him on too, “you’re coming with, nerd. We’re gonna have the ride of our lives.” You rev the bike and speed out the sewers, and he yelps. He quickly holds on to your waist for dear life as you ride about the sewer. A raise in the concrete sends you in the air a few feet and you laugh as you feel him hold on tighter, the drop back down sending your sunglasses down, covering your eyes from the wind as you drive faster. His buff arms were warm on your waist. They felt good, and it almost distracted you while you were driving, what would it be like to have them wrapped around you on different circumstances?

You made swift and tight turns that made it feel like your bike would fall on its side. But you were a better driver than Casey could ever dream to be! Donnie was in good hands. As you drove back to the lair, your hair wind-whipped, and all over the place, Donnie couldn’t help but feel both scared out of his mind and adrenaline rush!

As you both hopped off you smiled at the slacked jaw turtle, “she rides good, I’ll probably change her tires though. Maybe loosening the steering gear, makes the tight turns feel less death-defying.” You refered to the bike and giggled as you helped him off, having a new feeling of adoration for Don, even with that dumb look on his face. After he wiped the surprise of his face and laughed you noticed something about Donnie, he had a tendency to stare. That much you already knew, but with you, it was like he couldn’t look away or keep staring all at the same time.

‘Hmm… Oh.. OHHH… How could I have never noticed before?’ You smiled at him and grabbed him by the sides of the plastron and forced him to look at you. “He-Hey, what’s the big idea!” You kept smirking, watching his cues, of getting angry, huffing, and pushing you off as he did with his brothers. It never came. That’s all you needed to know, you tapped him softly on the snout and smirked. “Nothing, I’ll come back for my baby tomorrow, you just make sure to be in disguise, we're going for a joy ride tomorrow night.” Waving goodbye as you walked out you felt proud. You were gonna put this boy through a ride, “By the way, Don, your really cute, ya’ know that?” His jaw slacked as you walked out, he never thought you’d ever say that to him.

He kinda liked it tho...

Raphael:

Met you through April

Is infatuated with you from the startttt

You are a gymnast

100% a smart ass

100% has a great ass

Casey asks, “can I ask a stupid question?” and you’d respond before you can keep quiet, “better than anyone here”

He finds your flexibility hawt

The boys hate how much he tries to show off when your around

You don’t notice, you think it’s just Raph being Raph

He’s ALWAYS inviting you to workout

LEG DAY every day

You like working on them and Raph doesn’t mind teaching you

You put his flexibility to the test every time

You tried to get along with him

The boys are shook to how well behaved he is with you

April notices how well you take his flirting, if you even notice it

You like how dorky Raph is when you’re alone

That’s when you start having feelings for him

Your gymnasium was closed by the company it was under and you had nowhere to practice

You confessed this to Raph and he noticed you were sad about it

He finished hanging up the last high bar. He knew you were missing the gym you used to practice in. He hoped his brothers wouldn’t notice how much effort it really took him to put it all up, so they wouldn’t accuse him of going soft. He wasn’t going soft, he was just trying to impress you is all. There was no shame in that, right? You were cool and sexy, you didn’t even have to try to look beautiful, you just were. Something April and Raph agreed on multiple occasions.

As you walked into the sewers with a pair of leggings and a form-fitting sweater. Perfect. You walked over to hug your friend and held on tightly to his warm, and he was glad to return it. He led you deeper into the lair and showed you, “well, I know that you miss your old gym, and you can’t find any good ones around here. So I thought you could kick it here until then!”

He pointed towards the hanging bars and gym mats on a far corner of the lair. An old mirror hung a few inches off the ground. You could tell he did his best with what he had. He had even taken the liberty to make a walking bar, the current thing you were struggling on. He listened. He cared. You walked closer to the corner that held the mini gymnasium he had created for you. No one had ever done anything like this for you, how was it possible… that you hadn’t seen it before?

“Oh, Raph… I’m at a loss of words. I can’t believe it!” You basically jumped in his arms when you had turned around. You were unusually giddy at the moment and decided to use it to your advantage. Hugging him tightly, knocking the wind out of him, pulling back in a flash and zooming back in.

…

His eyes were wide open as your cute face and scrunched up nose, and kissed him! He couldn’t believe it! You were kissing him right now! On the exact second that he started kissing back, you pulled away bashfully. Smiling and looking back towards your own personal little gymnasium, “thanks again, Raph.”

He nodded and replied, sorta out of it, “yeah, that was one hell of a thank you for a weird looking fella like me-”

You whipped and around and gasped offendedly, “-don’t you say that Raph, you know you’re beautiful, right?” the last part of the question was asked softly. He shrugged and you laid a hand on his cheek to force him to look at you. “You are Raph, I like you, I have for some time now, don’t turn me away, please.” He looked back up at you incredibly and starred as you smiled at his wild look.

“Alright, I won’t, on one condition. I get another kiss?”, pulling him closer with a hand on his cheek, you pulled him in for another kiss. One that he was actually prepared for, this time.

Michelangelo:

You meet him at a skatepark

He thinks your hawt in biker shorts and retro t-shirts

He obsessed with showing off his moves, just like his older brother

He has a different approach tho

You end up impressing him more tho

He makes jokes and invites you to skating contests

You win a few, but it’s obvious that he knew a lot too

You actually enjoy his company

You find it strange you only see each other at night

You don’t mind it tho because you own a skate-shop

You too love having late-night snacks

He never sits too close to you

The first time he’s afraid of taking a chance at you being afraid of how he looks

You guys take turns bringing snacks

You always buy pizza

You know there’s something weird about his body, but you don’t judge because he’s the absolute sweetest

*SmaCK* Your falling for him

One day, Mikey can’t help but want to be closer, so he has to take that chance

“Awesome, Mikey! Check this out!” You rode towards a staircase hand bar, sliding down and as you jumped off, you flipped your board, landing perfectly on the ground and riding your way back over to him. As you stomped your board back up it snapped. Mikey gasped in pity, “oh no dudette, I’m so sorry.” You shrugged and smiled, “It was a prototype anyway, I’ve got more in my shop.”

You walked towards your beat-up car as you felt Mikey’s face drop, “wicked cool! You make boards?” You chuckled as you turned around and pointed to his board, “you do too, honey.” There was that nickname that drove Mikey through the moon, had him sighing like a lovesick puppy. He followed you to the car with goo-goo eyes.

“Wanna come see my shop?” He practically jumped in excitement, “Would I!” He hopped into the car without a second thought, too sweet to take into consideration that you could see his green skin in the closer proximity. The hunch under his trench coat, the strange shape of his feet, or that his chest and stomach were irregularly flat for a guy with such buffed up arms. As you drove, you turned on the music to make up for the lack of conversation. Not trying to seem awkward, just trying to wrap your head around the fact that Mikey wasn’t human.

He never hurt you before, or ever overstepped his boundaries, he wasn’t a creep, he was funny and cared about you. He cherished the time you spent together, he sent a text every night you were together when you got home to ensure you were safe. It was safe to say that you felt something for Michelangelo but was afraid to fall for a stranger. But was he really a stranger? It wasn’t like you met him yesterday! You had been hanging out for a few months.

You had nothing to fear and so when you walked out of the car you confidently invited him and turned the lights to let him gawk at your boards. “I custom make them, all ya gotta do is put in an order, I fix ‘em up too.” You leaned over your cashier post, admiring the obvious turtle in the light of your store. He was a big sweetheart, he’d never hurt you!

“Dollface, this is amazing! I didn’t know you could make surfboards, and the designs on them are wicked cool!” You agreed, very proud of your work as you walked over. Pressing a hand to his arm, “wanna make one together?” He nodded rapidly like a kid high off of candy. And you knew that his heart was too pure for this world, you laughed and pointed at his jacket.

“Maybe you should take this off and get comfortable!” For a split second, he almost agreed and shed off the oversized coat, but he didn’t want to lose you. You were so cool… “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, dollface.” You rolled your eyes and blew a raspberry, which surprised him. “Mikey, I don’t care what you look like, not like I couldn’t tell under the store lights anyway! You’re beautiful to me, you should know that!” You placed your hand on his chest pushing the coat off his shoulders softly with a smile.

Stunned but flattered he allowed it and leaned forward, feeling a moment creeping on, the coat fell on the floor. A few inches from your face and he was already closing his eyes and puckering out his lips at you, You felt the same energy, but…

You placed a finger on his lips, “You didn’t think it was going to be that easy did you?” He shrugged and grinned, “a guy’s gotta try don’t cha’ think?” You giggled and pecked his cheek. Leading him to the backroom to work on the new board together. Mikey wasn’t going to let you focus too much for too long though. He would get that kiss!

~~~~~~~~~

remember! if you really enjoed the donatello scenario, reblog for a oneshot!

[whumpkitty]

Day 1 Anchor Pt 2

for the MerMay whump challenge, hosted by @amonthofwhump continuation of part 1 Fandom: Percy Jackson and the Olympians/Heroes of Olympus TW: Impalement

Annabeth nervously paced on the deck of the Argo 2. It had been two hours since Percy went down into the lake, and so far no one had heard anything. Piper was watching Katoptris, Leo was doing repairs on the ship, and Hazel, Frank and Jason were helping him. Annabeth knew that, yes, rationally speaking, this wasn’t the most dangerous thing Percy had ever done. But the feeling of unease that first started when Piper told them about her vision had just grown when Percy disappeared in the water, which also was decidedly not behaving like lake water, and excuse Annabeth for worrying about her boyfriend who seemed to attract trouble wherever he went.

She paused in her pacing for a moment, chewing on her lip anxiously. Annabeth glanced towards the water once, before storming towards the mast where Leo was perched hammering something.

The sudden boom that ripped through the air shook the ship and Annabeth nearly fell over. Leo yelped from above her and she heard startled cries from the other demigods. Annabeth whirled around, almost tripping over herself as she ran back to the railing.

The water, a once shining green, relatively undisturbed, had turned into a swirling mess. The water sloshed angrily against the cliffs, tearing chunks out of the stone and turning the water cloudy and dark. A trail of deep black blossomed out from the far side of the lake, trailing farther and farther out into the middle of the lake.

Another boom made Annabeth jump and cling to the railing of the ship.

“What the Hades is happening?” Leo’s indignant yelling drew next to the daughter of Athena, just as the other demigods appeared on deck.

“What’s going on?” Jason had his sword out, ready to fight. “Are we under attack?”

Annabeth shook her head, unable to tear her eyes away from the black stain spreading across the water. Piper gasped as she saw the lake.

“Oh my gods, is-? What’s -?”

“Percy’s in trouble,” Annabeth gasped out, feeling lightheaded. “Percy’s in trouble, we have to go get him,” she started moving towards the ladder that still hung from the side of the ship when a hand grabbed her around the wrist. She looked back to see Jason, a worried look on his face.

“Annabeth, you can’t go underwater. Frank and I will go,” the blonde looked back at Frank, who nodded. The two boys raced over toward the ledge of the ship. They leapt off, Frank gliding down as some kind of bird while Jason did his Superman thing. Annabeth watched as they hit the surface of the now black water.

Please be okay, Seaweed Brain.

-----------------------

Percy groaned. Oh gods, everything hurt. He cracked his eyes open to see complete blackness. He squinted, trying to make out anything that could explain why everything hurt so damn much. His eyes slowly adjusted and he was able to see jagged bits of rusted metal and rotten wood surrounding him. He groaned again as he remembered how he got in this position. The shipwreck. The screaming.

The ship must have folded around him when it hit the bottom for him to have survived. Percy glared around himself, trying to make out more of his surroundings. He moved to sit up when a searing pain in his leg made him cry out and sink back. The ship’s anchor had somehow gotten tangled up in the wreckage of the bow. It was laying over him, and by some miracle had not fallen flat and crushed him. However, one of the flukes was stabbed straight through his thigh. As soon as he noticed the pain, Percy was overwhelmed with the smell and taste of iron in the water and he gagged.

Eyes squeezed shut, Percy slowly sat up, grimacing as every movement pulled at the torn flesh. He still couldn’t see very well through the murky water. The demigod reached into his pocket and was overwhelmed with relief when his fingers curled around Riptide. He uncapped it and the sword sent a faint glow over his surroundings. The anchor was fairly small, and thank the gods for that, or else it might have sheared his leg off entirely. The metal was completely rusted apart, but despite Percy’s best efforts, it wouldn’t shift. He choked back a sob.

The others must have heard the ship cracking, right? Percy shuddered and looked up towards the surface. He cried out as the movement jostled his leg. Whimpering slightly, Percy clung to the anchor. He could still taste his blood in the water. Maybe it was the cold, but Percy felt sluggish. He shuddered, eyes trying to focus on the wreckage as black spots crept into his vision. His head bobbed in the current and he thought he heard a voice laughing. Percy vaguely noted that it looked like he had been wrong about there being no fish, since there was something yellow and purple coming towards him. He took a moment to wonder whether he should be worried about that, but gods he was… really tired. If the fish wanted to eat him it would just have to wake him up later.

-----------------------

Jason waved his sword through the water in a wide arc, trying to orient himself in the murk. Frank had transformed into a giant goldfish when they entered the water, which at the time did not seem particularly useful, but Jason realized now was pretty smart, considering his scales had a pale glow to them. Frank swam through the water a little ways away from Jason, avoiding the miniature tornado the son of Jupiter had formed around himself.

The two had landed about where the black streak started out from and they had found a torn up lakebed with a good amount of debris from what looked to be a sailing ship. The only problem was, there was no ship. Jason felt the unease rising in him as the two followed the trail of destruction along the bottom of the lake. Whatever had made it was big, and Jason did not want to think about what that could mean.

Frank suddenly came to a stop in front of him. The goldfish made an odd burbling noise before heading straight down. Jason swallowed and followed him. He gasped when the wreckage of a ship emerged from the darkness. It was crushed to pieces, spread across a large expanse of the lakebed.

Well, guess we know what made that boom.

The pair approached the ship. Frank morphed into a shark to fit better, leaving Jason to hold his sword out in front of him as a rudimentary light.

“Come on Jackson, you better be down here…” the blonde muttered under his breath. As they swam closer towards the front of the ship, Jason noticed a faint glow. He motioned to Frank, who nodded as best he could. Jason pulled his sword back and crept out from behind a splintered segment of wall.

Percy was clinging to an anchor like his life depended on it, Riptide unsheathed and lying next to him in the wreckage. Jason sighed with relief and moved towards the other demigod. Percy lifted his head and Jason noticed the glazed over look in his eyes a moment before the son of the sea god shivered and his eyes rolled back in his head.

Jason dove forward, registering the anchor embedded in Percy’s leg and the red tint to the water around them as Frank came into view. Jason nodded towards the anchor and together, he and Frank managed to drag it out of and off of Percy.

The blonde grabbed Percy under the shoulders. As the air pocket moved around him, the teen groaned. Jason and Frank powered through the water, breaking through the surface of the lake two hundred meters or so from where the Argo 2 was hovering. Frank morphed back into a bird while Jason adjusted his grip on Percy, flying up towards the ship.

The others had gathered on the deck and the moment they landed Annabeth pulled Percy away from the blonde.

“What happened?” Hazel watched, eyes wide, as Annabeth started cleaning the wound with nectar while Piper ran below deck to get bandages.

“There was a shipwreck down there, and he got pinned under the anchor somehow,” Jason explained.

“He’s lost some blood, but you’ll be fine, Seaweed Brain,” Annabeth muttered, almost to herself, as she finished cleaning the wound. Piper reappeared and thrust a roll of bandages at Annabeth, who promptly wrapped them around the hole in Percy’s leg. The son of Poseidon stirred, groaning slightly as his eyes blinked open. They found their way over to Annabeth and he grinned at her.

“Told you… it’d be fine.”

She choked back a sob, half relief and half exasperation and threw her arms around his neck. She released him after a moment and he blearily looked around at the demigods standing around him, before finally settling on Piper.

“Piper… I think your dagger is trying to kill us…” he slurred as the others laughed around him.

[toponemuffin]

Lovers Do This Right?

Just a short little thing i wrote the other day, i hope you enjoy it. once it hits 5 likes, chapter two will be out a week later!

Its just a cute little thing i wrote of Ryukyu in a Fake Relationship which slowly will turn into a real one.

Words: 1,473

The sounds of heavy traffic and the sirens of emergency vehicles filled the city of Musutafu, one bright midsummer day. Businessmen were walking around heading to their jobs, carrying briefcases and suits.

A young man with spiky brown hair was seen standing in front of a station. He had sharp orange eyes which can be seen when he looked away from his phone. He was wearing grey slacks, a black sweater over a white dress shirt and a navy blue tie. His outfit was just exuding wealth and a ‘well off’ air.

“E-Elio-kun?” a short woman with chin-length blonde hair, appeared behind him. She had razor sharp teeth and a smile to match. It was Ryuko Tatsuma or by her hero name: Ryukyu.

“Ah…i mean…darling.” She nervously added.

“Ah Lay-Lady Ryuko!” the young man exclaimed, caught off guard from her sudden appearance. Then Ryuko reached out and grabbed his sleeve softly.

“H-hey, we’re a ‘couple’ now right? So maybe a nickname will do me better?” She looked up but kept from making direct eye contact with him.

“…” he couldn’t muster up a reply and instead looked away trying to hide his nervous face from Ryuko.

“Y-you’re right, my bad, i’m sorry lady- i mean…Ryu-chan.” He apologized not noticing the nickname flustered Ryuko a little as her face got flushed.

“How about we get going?” Ryuko requested as she walked forward, not answering his apologies. She threw her hood over her head, a pair of sunglasses and surgical mask to help hide her face.

“Even though she has all that over her, lady Ryuko is super cute!” Leo thought as he observed Ryuko.

“Is everything okay Elio-kun?” Ryuko looked up and asked.

“Ah ye-yeah Ryu-chan. Didn’t you say you wanted to go to some hero dinner tonight?”

“I was thinking about it, but today is our first day of being in a fake relationship in public. Felt like maybe we should have some practice before we go around my friends.”

“Oh, yeah that makes sense.�� Elio replied before their walk turned awkwardly silent.

“So darling are you ready for your first date here in Japan?” Ryuko asked, breaking the silence. Her soft words couldn’t reach her beloved’s ear.

The two make their way passing through a huge crowd of businessmen. They kept getting bumped into and were slowly being separated.

“Elio-kun…” Ryuko thought when two tall men in blue suits pushed her back even further.

“C-can’t you just… I know we’re only pretending and all but, hold my hand.”

She could feel her tremble the more she thought of holding hands with him. Ryuko unknowingly ran into a Leo. He slowly reached down and held her right hand with his left.

“This way we can’t get lost, right? Ryu-chan,” Leo asked, smiling and tugging Ryuko along. “Plus couples do these types of things right?”

“Yeah…right.” Ryuko smiled sweetly and enjoyed the moment.

The two made it to a big, lush and green park. Kids were running around,playing, giggling while their parents watched on from the benches. There was a small crepe stand and Leo pulled Ryuko over to it.

“Two chocolate syrup crepes please!” Leo orders, letting Ryuko’s hand go and pulls out his wallet.

“Ahh! Look!” A group of girls wearing nearby high school uniforms screamed and quickly approached Elio and Ryuko.

“You were on the news the other day right!? You’re the hero working with Ryuko, you two took out a villain and saved everyone in a burning building! So cool!’ The girls were blown away and kept screaming, admiring Leo.

“Well sort of hehehe i’m still in U.A. so i’m not a full time hero yet.” Leo skittishly laughed a bit until two of the girls suddenly wrapped themselves around his arms and another girl stood in front of him and rested her back on his chest.

“Can we have a picture please?”

“Uhh well i actually am on a uhh…” Elio nervously looked over at Ryuko who had a smile on her face.

“We’re actually on our way to a dinner to get to at the moment girls. So we kind of have to get going.” Ryuko politely stated before reaching over for Elio’s hand and gently pulling him away.”

“He- Hey what about your crepes!” The stand owner called out with no reply as the two ept walking away.

“Well i guess we won’t need those crepes after all, but i thought you said you didn’t think it would be good for us to go to the party.”

“I guess i changed my mind. Plus we’re doing this to let everyone think i’m not single anymore remember?”

“Yeah you’re right. Heh, i’m sorry Ryu-chan. I guess i should have said something sooner huh?” Elio chuckled and asked looking down at Ryuko who simply looked forward.

“Does he even want to do this? I mean I know I asked him to do this and we’re just pretending. But he’s supposed to be mine at the moment, not anyone else’s or some big dummy being hit on by high school girls.” Ryuko’s inner voice was annoyed and she even had a small twitch in her free hand.

“Well i’m excited to meet everyone!” His cheerful tone was the only happy thing going on during the walk as Ryuko avoided talking to and kept looking forward.

A few hours later the two made it to the dinner party. The room was filled with numerous heroes with almost all of the top ten heroes making an appearance. They all had formal attire with extravagant suits and dresses everywhere.

Ryuko stepped out wearing a red cocktail dress with sheer lace panel under the bust and at the hem reveals skin and shows a little more leg, making this dress anything but innocent! Crisscross straps create an open back.

“I guess I should’ve known better than to ask Nemuri to pick out my dress. Note to self, “Don’t let the X-Rated Hero pick out my clothes” Haaa” Her face was flushed and matched shades with her dress.

“Ry-Ryu-chan?” Elio walked out of his dressing room. He had on a slim and well fitting black pinstripe suit with a white undershirt underneath, and black tie.

When the two looked at one another their hearts almost simultaneously paused and a strong “Ba-Thump” was pounded against their chest.

“Elio-kun you look…” Ryuko tried to get her thoughts out but was unable to speak.

“You, you look. Just…wow. Like you just…” Like a bad copier Elio’s speech was jammed and stuck on stutter.

“Wow look at the both of you!” Yu Takeyama or known by her hero name Mt.Lady appeared and exclaimed.

“Elio you fill out your suit rather nicely! But be careful because i don’t think any of the heroes around here has ever seen our lovely Dragoon hero here in such a dress.” Yu then handed the couple a pair of champagne glasses.

“Make sure you two drink up and enjoy!” Yu picked up her own glasses from a table next to her. “Come on, let’s toast to the night!”

The three then clinked their glasses together before each of them drank their entire glasses.

“Hah! So good! I Love the bubbles in champagne!” Yu took off as she followed a waiter carrying a tray full of filled glasses. “I’ll be back guys!”

“Just two drinks, that’s my limit!” Ryuko thought to herself. Her face was red from slamming her drink and her blood warmed up.

“Ryu-chan?” Elio said as he took a step closer to Ryuko.

“Before Yu-san came over. I was just trying to say that you look really beautiful tonight. Heh so much so i guess i got a little too nervous.”

“Ner-nervous? Why?”

“Well I guess I just haven’t seen this side of you. We’ve gone from being a fan of yours, to a student and teacher, then I became your intern. Now we’re pretending to be lovers. I guess what i’m trying to say is that i always thought of you as a great and inspiring hero but now, i see you’re more than just an incredible hero and are an amazing woman. I can see why you have so many suitors and needed me to pretend…”

Suddenly Ryuko wrapped her arms around Elio cutting him off. She placed her head on his chest and closed her eyes.

“Uh? Is everything okay Ryu-chan?”

“Yeah… Couples do this too right? They uhh hug and show one another affection. You don’t mind it do you? Darling?”

Slowly she could feel a set of strong arms gently wrap themselves around her and pulled her in closer. The sensation was an unreal ecstasy for the both of them. Their heart beats instead of racing was at peace, running in a synced beat.

“Yeah couples do this too Ryu-chan…“

[hollenka99]

The Doctor

Summary: Henrik finds himself the doctor of a household full of people who look a lot like him.

Warnings: Death mention, gore, possession, kidnapping, medical procedures

Well, it’s only been 7 months since I posted The Magician. I think it’s high time I updated this au, don’t you?

@egopocalypse

Peter's death consumes Dr Schneeplestein's mind as he cycles home. He'll have to look his wife in the eye and explain to her that their accountant was gone. She'll probably be mad. He doesn't want her to be mad. He wants her to be empathetic. Peter was more than his accountant, he was his friend as well. And their children, he's sure they have children, they are likely to bother him with trivial things like homework. Who cares about what they did at school today? He is going to lock himself in the spare bedroom for the rest of the evening. He needs the time alone. Distracted by these thoughts, he takes the wrong path which inevitably directs him to a house he knows is not his own. Well, that's just great. He's gotten himself lost. This is the last thing he needs right now. Best to ask the residents if they could send him back on his way. God knows he doesn't want to be aimlessly pedalling around for ages. A man immediately speaks over his shoulder upon taking one look at him. "Jack, I think Sean's posted the video." The one he guesses is Jack emerges. "Fantastic. Hey, buddy, I'm Jack. And this is Marvin. Come on inside." "I just wanted to go home." The smile falters. "Oh, sure. Didn't realise you lived somewhere else. How about you stay here for a minute first? We can sort everything out." He needed their help so... fine. If they insisted. "Please do not be long." It is brief, as the two strangers had promised. The three of them discuss the situation. Jack maintained a YouTube channel with his friend Sean. The videos from the channel enabled Sean's ability to bring the characters he played to life. The community surrounding the channel played their part in all of it too, yet it was Sean who usually lay the foundation. That sounded reasonable. Marvin, it appeared, was capable of performing magic. Quite fond of plants as well. While as welcoming as Jack, there was an off-putting air about the magician. Not judgemental as such but... well, Schneeplestein couldn't quite work it out. It didn't matter. Marvin was friendly enough. The young superhero is inappropriately loud as he enters. They were having a conversation and this kid just bursts in. Jackie, which was apparently the hero's name, comes across as friendly once he realises his mistake. Schneeplestein interrupts him as he rambles about a recent sighting. Yes, there is a house not too far from here. The doctor should know, it is his. Jackie is tasked with directing him home. As they walk, Jackie proves to be talkative. He makes up for Schneeplestein's lack of contribution by filling the silence. It would seem the doctor was made in response to Jackie nearly dying from exsanguination. That was... interesting. When asked more about his family, he realises he doesn't know. He can't even tell him what his children's names are. He can't remember. Why can't he remember their names?! They are his children! His wife! This must have been reported back as Jack asks to meet up the next morning. The doctor happily accepts. The talk leads to working out what his name was. He had to be more than Dr Schneeplestein. One of Jack's suggestions is Leo. It triggers a reaction within him. With some thought, the doctor comes to the name of Leonie. Memories of meeting a French woman with bushy curls flood in. The way she smiled as she accepted the offer for coffee. Her pleasant shock as he presented her with a ring. The beautiful elegance of the dress that had exceeded his expectations. Completely missing her hints until she swore in her native language before slamming a positive test into his hands. Seeing her face light up as she dragged him towards their son so he could witness clumsy steps. Coming into the living room on Mother's Day, only to find two of them sleepily snuggling on the sofa with her while she was pregnant with the third. Jack is delighted with this burst of recollection. It means it's working. They carry on with the list of male names. Hugo, Gunter, Patrik… even Reinhold. Nothing. No reaction from deep within himself is mustered. He's not Siegfried von Schneeplestein either. Eventually, Heinrich is brought up. Heinrich. Yes, that sounded right. Yet not. But they were on the right path. Heinz? No, which is good because he doesn't want to share his name with a tinned food company. The 'rich' part certainly resonated with him. Rick, Richard? Well, even if he was a Rick, who wants to share his name with the man his wife was potentially seeing behind his back? No, it was a variant of Heinrich for sure. After so many years of being taught to analyse, it seems to have backfired. He was thinking too much into this. Just drop the 'i' and switch the 'ch' with a 'k'. Henrik, his name was Henrik. Of course it was. How on earth could he have forgotten that? In response to Henrik revealing this to Jack, his soon-to-be friend bursts into a grin and offers his hand. As they shake hands, Jack declares it is nice to meet him. This was the second successful breakthrough for them. Both he and his wife had more solid identities. Now all that was left were his children. He later checks the same website Jack had used. From there, he can scan names and possibly ease the confusion. He feels like German names were the best starting point. He'd check out French names if he still had an identity missing. Things soon slot into place. First, there was Elias. He was nine now. An avid reader, he had an inexplicable interest for birds. He was in his element whenever he was exploring the great outdoors. Oh yes, that had certainly caused issues when he was younger and still yet to grasp the concept of not bringing nature inside with him. After him came Heidi, his five year old sister. It would seem she was beginning to show signs of a budding artist. He remembers the birthday where crayons were treated as if they were lottery winnings. In the sense it was a life changing possession. It wasn't long before that pack had been eroded by paper. And little Alina, the youngest at four years old. She was somehow was in possession of as much energy as the sun could produce. If she wasn't playing tag with her siblings, she was rifling through a dress up box or singing as loudly as she was able. Then there was her habit of tugging desperately at the hand holding hers in order to race across the street and greet the dog she'd spotted. Now that they are becoming closer, Jack asks for a favour. He understands Henrik is a busy man, what with being a doctor and all, but if he could spare a few minutes to check on a friend, Jack would greatly appreciate it. They've never had a medical professional they could send this ego to. Sure, Henrik nods, he'll do his best to fit him in. Angus astounds him. Nothing really seems to fit a diagnosis. While his symptoms may partially match certain ailments, there were always other symptoms related to those conditions that disproved Angus was suffering from said condition. His initial hypothesis had been chronic fatigue syndrome when he'd first heard about the daily lack of energy. However, symptoms of CFS included enlarged lymph nodes (Angus' were fine), joint pain without swelling (no such pain, swelling or not) and headaches (nope). He wasn't about to force a diagnosis on someone whose symptoms half fit. Angus was a medical enigma. Angus' condition was simply Angus' condition, it seemed. Henrik hates to disappoint Jack, as well as the others, but nothing particularly made sense. October proceeds fairly calmly. There are patients to care for at work and children to keep an eye on at home. On top of all that, Jackie and Marvin's burgeoning friendship caused them to train together. With Marvin's developing magic and Jackie's newfound superpowers, those training sessions added up to a few safety risks. Henrik supervised them in case of injuries whenever he had the time. Most of October is calm. It kind of falls at the last hurdle. Marvin pounds at his front door minutes after he returns from trick-or-treating. He is immediately rushed to the egos' home. Marvin hasn't been communicating the issue clearly. That is why he is shocked to learn of what had happened that evening. Jack had been recording a video where he carved a pumpkin. Simple enough. Until he slit his own throat. Okay, he had this. It was just a simple case of reconnecting any blood vessels and muscles needed before suturing the wound. Saving a man who had already bled out was so simple. So easy. At least it was only Jack's veins that were damaged. Internal jugular and interior thyroid, if he's not mistaken. Henrik works diligently. If anything, Jack deserves to be fixed before they- No, he is not losing another one. He'll pull a miracle out of his ass if he has to. Somehow, he does. Jack stabilises. He appears to recover faster than expected. Henrik can relax slightly and stop stressing about his friend's health. He would much rather focus on mundane things like whether Heidi would prefer her birthday cake to look like a hedgehog or caterpillar. If Henrik can put this whole ordeal behind him, that would be great. The situation complicates. He is home when Sean visits Jack, triggering an argument between the two. This in turn seems to have caused Jackie to wander off in an attempt to get away from it. And now the sixteen year old boy was missing. He can alert the police if they want. Otherwise, he's not sure how much help he can be. However, if they did find Jackie, please don't hesitate to tell him. He would need to check if he suffered any injuries while outside the safety of their home. The day marking 10 years since he married Leonie came around. He gets paged, meaning their celebratory meal out will have to be cancelled. Yes, he knows they've been planning this for months. 10 years, yep, there's no need to remind him. What did she expect him to do, not go to-? Oh, there she goes pulling the work card. She had a degree so why was he to blame for her not putting it to good use? It wasn't like he told her to go into a unpredictable field like interpreting. Maybe they would be happier if weren't living together? Ha! If they separated, she'd struggle to support herself and three children. They both knew that. Whatever, he had to go. Happy anniversary. He finds some reprieve in early December. A child's excitement to find St Nicholas has left chocolate coins in their shoes will never get old. Another added benefit to St Nicholas' Day is how diligently the girls clean their rooms in preparation. Elias is beginning to get to an age where the existence of Santa is being doubted. Nevertheless, he goes along with the tradition with as much anticipation as his sisters. It also causes him to take lead of the cleaning campaign which, again, saves Henrik or Leonie from further encouragement to get the house ready for the nightly visitor. Marvin brings home a cat in February. On a day where Leonie's schedule is packed but his is not, he takes the children to visit his friends. At times he has to encourage them to be gentle and approach Bastet carefully. She was a former stray after all and not entirely used to having a permanent home. Either way, the three of them adore the new addition. And Henrik himself had to admit she was a pretty girl. Things change in April when a young man arrives on his table. The patient had been brought in after sustaining a gun shot wound to the head, an apparent suicide attempt. The surgery is long and tough. There had to be a great deal of delicate precision to ensure minimal damage. Yet, in the end, it proves successful. He couldn't be more relieved. Henrik checks up on the patient after he regains consciousness. It doesn't escape his notice that Mr Brody bares resemblance to him and the rest of the egos. While conversing with him, he learns Brody has nowhere to go once he's released. Henrik leaves him an address which may help him. Breaking as little patient confidentiality as he can, he lets Jack know a visitor may arrive in the near future. It's surprises Brody when Henrik sees to him in his private clinic. Well, what can Henrik say? He's somewhat of the egos' personal doctor. Chase is a part of the group as much as the rest of them. Hence, Henrik was now in charge of overseeing Chase's wellbeing as well. The left arm worries him. While the rest of the brain seems unaffected by the incident, the site of the injury certainly wasn't left unscathed. With part of his premotor cortex damaged, it would appear the function in his left arm had become impaired. Physical therapy is recommended. The two men speak more often with the conversations turning less formal. He discovers the two of them have some things in common. They were both fathers with daughters the same age. In fact, Alina tells him all about her new friend Willow who'd recently joined her year group. Chase was going through a divorce and Henrik can certainly relate to being part of an imperfect marriage. They'd even become fathers and husbands at similar ages. Henrik's really starting to like Chase. He doesn't approve of the way he conducts himself at times but he's generally a good guy. He would say he's someone to grab a beer with. However, Chase's forming issues with alcohol were not something Henrik wished to endorse. Jack approaches him in June. Oh, he's returned to learning to German while the rest of the house slept? Jack didn't have to do that for him. Honestly, he is flattered. No, not flattered. Something stronger than flattered like... like moved. Jack secretly putting the effort in to surprise him had been moving. Still, there is some more practice required in terms of becoming fluent in the language. He and Jack aid each other in improving their linguistic skills in the others' native tongue. Jacques' arrival allows Henrik to strengthen his multilingualism even more. Now he could converse with Jack in German and Jacques in French. Everyone else, of course, spoke English around him, whether at work or in public. He wasn't complaining. Henrik did live in an English speaking country, after all. Once the artist settled in a little, perhaps he should invite him for dinner. Leonie would probably enjoy having someone else who was native to her own home country. He's quietly working in his own lab when Jack stumbles through the door. His friend barely gets a syllable out before gagging. Immediately, Henrik begins gathering observational evidence in an effort to diagnose. Gagging, especially when pairing with covering the mouth, indicated nausea. So that's already one symptom he can work with. Yes, he can work this out. He can help. For Jack, for his dear friend. He can't work it out. None of the symptoms seem to tell him anything. Deep vein thrombosis, blood clots and pulmonary embolism shared a connection. Chronic stress and nervous breakdown were closely linked to each other. The same went for Parkinson's disease and Dementia. But all of them together? No! It made no sense. What made it more difficult was the knowledge of Anti's presence. He lurks in the shadows. It began with his eye being itchy. Henrik hates the supposedly random sensation of pin and needles across his body. He keeps having lapses in attention. They likely only last a second but he can't afford to lose the time. Especially with it feeling warmer than it should in here. His arm plays up but he blames it on mood swings. He changes tactics, treating Jack as if he were in an emergency room. The momentary losses in focus occur more frequently now. But he won't give up. He almost lost Jack before, he refuses to lose him again. Even as his system begin to fail. No no no. Once one goes down, they all go down. He has to succeed. The buzz of staticky air grows. The demon is circling closer but he's not completely here yet. Henrik still has a chance. That is the hope, at least. It doesn't fully register when he giggles over the soon-to-be corpse. Over the patient. Over Jack. He is weak as he begs like the sad little puppet he is. No, he needs to buy himself more time. Where are the A̸͟ń͜t̡͞į-depressants? Antidepressants. He needs to depress Anti somehow. And why the hell was he wrapping a cord around his throat? He should n't try that again. He needs to find the an͠ti̡͘̕c̷͝ǫ͏͢a͡gu͡l҉á͡n̷ts̵. Anticoagulants. Stop it. Please. No. Nothing he does is helping. In the distance, he is given the privilege of hearing the magical assault on the door. Yes, please, for the love of god, help him. Help Jack too. ...Jack? No! No, Jack was his friend. He can't be dead. Open the door already. Come in and help save Jack. Come in and see the Bad Doctor who failed all his friends. But you'd better hurry up. The patient has no pulse and the doctor... Well, the doctor has places to be. Henrik's head spins upon being released. He thinks he cries that first night. Not because he's found himself with Anti indefinitely. Henrik has far more than a few choice words he'd like to direct to that demon. It's not that. It's the thought of his family, his friends, all those he loved. The egos will know what happened. They know full well he's with Anti now. Who else could have kidnapped him in a haze of static? But somebody's going to have to tell Leonie he's not coming home. And, in turn, she's going to have to tell the children. Henrik can't imagine how horrible that will be. Oh, and it's August, isn't it? No, no, no. Alina's birthday is just around the corner. He was going to head into town and buy her that cuddly tiger she kept going on about recently. He'd been so looking forward to seeing her face light up as she tore the paper and realised what it was. And now he- now he wasn't going to. Now he wouldn't see his loved ones for a long time. If ever. Please don't let it come to that. Anti has only ever had one known prisoner before. Said prisoner was taken 9 months ago. Well, at least Henrik knows he'll probably be here for a minimum of 9 months. He wonders if Jackie is still here. He hopes not. God forbid that boy is still suffering by Anti's hand. The most prominent way Anti welcomes him to imprisonment is confiscating his glasses. "Well, you won't need them.", he states. Hence why they were promptly destroyed into deformed plastic and glass shards. He tries not to fret about it. He's left in the darkness more often than not. Time blurs. The light is off. The light is on. Anti is there. Anti is somewhere else. He's aware of how long a human can typically go without food and water. So, it would seem, does his captor. When he least expects it, a figure stands in the hallway. The lights are flicked on to reveal an ego. As Henrik's eyes adjust, he takes in more of the visitor's details. Unhealthily thin, grinning in an unnatural manner and holding a hand firmly against his stomach. He is too young to be past his teen years. Without a doubt, this is Jackie. "Happy birthday, doctor. I thought it would be fun to redeem yourself. You do want to redeem yourself, don't you? You couldn't save Jack. Maybe you can save this one." A beat hasn't passed when the hand evacuated its present position, exposing the damage done. The inner contents are left subject to gravity. Anti laughs at Henrik's horror. With Anti relinquishing control, the emptied body returns to the state of a cadaver. Jackie just collapses on the spot. Henrik has no choice but to get to work immediately. During the procedure, Anti periodically uses Jackie as a receptacle. He giggles and taunts him as soon as the doctor is able to focus on what he is doing. Henrik struggles to ignore him. Tears threaten occasionally. He blinks them away. He has no time for them. He has a patient in front of him. He has to focus on that. Allowing his thoughts to stray from that will distract him too much. He can't spend a single second reflecting on how the patient may have gotten into this condition. He desperately hopes Jackie was dead before the first incision was made. It would too sickening to imagine enduring that while awake. Probably without anything to reduce the pain. But no, this is a cadaver. It may have been Jackie once. Not anymore. All he can do is restore the body to a more respectful condition. If he ever sees the others again, he doesn't know how he will be able to answer their questions about Jackie. God knows what Anti will do to the body after he is done operating. If Anti was in a solid form right now, Henrik might turn his instruments on him. Still, he eventually succeeds in replacing the organs. The heart does not beat. Nor do the lungs expand with breath. At least Jackie is whole again. Given the chance, Henrik would provide him with a respectful burial. Knowing Anti, he will likely discard the body with as much consideration as he would a crisp packet. Alone once more, Henrik is helpless to prevent the tide. The only blessing is Anti taking his frustrations out on him soon after. Apparently, Jackie had escaped. Henrik cannot conceive of a way someone who was dead yesterday could achieve that feat. Either way, the miracle gives him hope. He smiles to himself once his captor leaves him. If he is the single target of the glitch's aggression, he'll happily fulfil that role. So long as it keeps him from hunting for fresh blood. Especially Jackie. That boy has suffered enough. He deserves to keep his freedom. Anti comes to his room with a syringe. He claims he is only looking out for Henrik's immune system. Bullshit. If he really cared, he'd provide, at the very least, a decent diet. God knows what the syringe contained. Henrik isn't even sure how much managed to get through in the end. It was a flurry of limbs before the needle inevitably found its way to his arm. It is practically forgotten about by the time he has reason to remember. With the weariness and fever, he's convinced it's the flu. Lights irritate him now too. However, once the rash appears, he knows it's not so simple. He updates his diagnosis. Measles. Why on earth did Anti feel compelled to infect him with that disease? To prove he can? Well, congratulations, he's sick. He hopes Anti is proud of his achievement. Anti delivers a patient for him to work on. It is likely someone off the street. And despite Henrik's own poor health, he was expected to operate on them. An experiment, Anti says. Henrik's life's work was based on science. Well, who said Anti couldn't conduct some science of his own? Every now and again, Anti would bring some poor soul to 'repair'. Almost always it would be Anti who had caused the damage. It would also be during the times the doctor had artificially been made sick. He thinks Anti revelled in watching him struggle to fight his own symptoms to be professional. Not to mention the possible hope he'd unintentionally cause infected wounds. Anti loved to 'ensure it wouldn't happen again'. Like the demon cared about those people's health. He simply wanted an excuse to physically punish him for misdemeanours. Another time, he burns as he shivers. His muscles wish to give up on him due to the pain and fatigue. He is unable to pin a specific diagnosis. He knows better than to wonder if it is influenza. Anti wouldn't bother with something so trivial. Henrik is unsure what his current illness is until mosquitos are mentioned. Oh, okay. So it's like that, huh. He suffers several repercussions thanks to the malaria. Surprisingly, being severely ill takes a lot out of you. Trust Anti to bastardize Christmas. With December approaching, it is once again time for Saint Nicholas to pay his children a visit. Anti promises to leave them his own type of gift. Henrik is half aware as he trespasses on his own property. In the living room, he is caught while leaving his message. The second Henrik recognises Alina, his heart yearns to have control long enough to touch her. What he would give to cuddle her and promise he'll be home again, as himself, one day. Hopefully soon. However, that was impossible with Anti's presence. The demon delights in her discovery. He dirties her shoes to encourage tears. She is too enthralled by the sight of her Papa to react the way he wants. Despite not having horns, Anti claims to be Krampus. Their family didn't even incorporate that figure into their celebrations. Henrik could never recall which companion St Nicholas travelled with when he was younger so their home did without the extension of the tradition. He and Leonie usually just based how much chocolate they gave the children on how much effort they put into the preparations. If you're going to ruin the holiday for the fun of it, at least show the culture enough respect to ruin it properly. Anti feels the height of winter is the perfect time to conduct another test. He abandons Henrik in the room naturally closest to freezing. His shivers gradually shift to confusion and reduced motor skills. He has a delayed reaction to his captor approaching. He claims to be here to warm him, directing to a bath. There is a high probability that the water is a decent temperature by regular standards. That does not stop him from having to silence himself and not cry out. He attempts to avoid the water. His lack of control when it came to his limbs causes him to struggle with that. The process is repeated with varying alterations to the conditions. Anti is happy when he observes him remove his shirt without full awareness of the consequences. Also, was it him or was the water getting more scalding with every trip? Anti unexpectedly drags him to his feet one day. He's being taken somewhere. Where, he has no clue. Anti wouldn't tell him and he's aware it's best if he doesn't ask questions. In front of a house, he is dumped to the ground. The one who has made his life a misery for the past several months shrugs. "I've got a better deal. Why would I waste my time you anymore?" With that, Anti leaves, granting Henrik the chance to get a better look at the house he's been abandoned outside of. Wasn't this the egos' home? Yes, it was! This was his last known location before being kidnapped. Through that door were all his friends. Some 10 minutes walk from here was his family. He'll be able to see them all again. He's... free. At least, he hopes he is. This could all be some cruel trick. However, he'll fall for it if there is even a chance of briefly see his loved ones. A man in a blue vest answers the door. Looks like Sean has been creating again. Marvin and Chase both startle at the sight of him. They are eager to assure him they tried to save him back in August. He's aware and thanks them for their efforts. Jackie instead descends into hysterics. It's understandable. The last time they'd seen each other, Jackie had been dead. When things calm down a little, he is introduced to Robbie, Shawn and Jameson. He learns of Dr Jacksepticeye's existence but honestly, that is the least of his concerns. He needs to see how Jack is doing. He's seen plenty of people unconscious in hospital beds. This is different. This is a friend. When Henrik asks how the others have been caring for him, they explain they've been doing their best to keep him stable. That had been where Dr Jacksepticeye came in. He learns it is early May, meaning he's been gone for 9 dreadful months. Chase offers to go with him as he returns home. It's comforting to have a familiar presence accompanying him. Chase won't say much about Elias or his sisters. 'They can tell you in person', he assures the father who can't get home fast enough. Once the two of them reach the house, the most Chase does is ring the doorbell. When Leonie answers, the younger man smiles. "Guess who I found." Leonie can't hug Henrik hard enough. He can't muster the courage to loosen his hold on her either. Even if the force she's exerting isn't gentle, he's grateful he's simply able to have her arms around him in the first place. She tells him to wait for her to pick their children up from school. Before she sets out from the door, she hands him a top and tracksuit bottoms. It's what he wore when he'd had an impossibly long shift. It's normality. Moreover, it's not the scrubs he's been stuck with for nine months. Elias hangs back, refusing to believe it. Leonie makes an unnecessary comment about Henrik returning in time for their son's birthday. Oh yes, he deliberately came home for Elias' birthday. The one furthest from August. Did she think he wanted to miss either of Heidi or Alina's birthdays? Still, he went missing shortly before one birthday and returned shortly before another's. That was something. His son eventually is released from his stupor when he sees his sisters embracing their father. Heidi is unsure how to react either. She approaches him slowly, as if she's unsure he's truly there. Alina racing past her encourages her to trust reality. It's a good thing he has two arms. Alina doesn't waste a second gawping. She sprints at full speed in her school uniform. The entire weekend is spent being dragged away to read. She's five now. She's able to read simple sentences. He'd been looking forward to reading books with her, the same as he had with her siblings, but this... this was so much more special than he could have imagined it would be a year ago. Ten days following his return, he stands in the kitchen of the egos' home. He sips coffee as he watches the others go about their day. He's been monitoring Marvin after a visit to his Grandmom resulted in stomach issues. Chase heads out the door, off to bring his children home for the weekend. It's only later that they realise they never should have let the vlogging father leave.

[thu-nonsense]

Descendants AU- Chapter 1

Trajan slipped on the jacket, turning around to check himself out in the broken, full length mirror.

“Well?” Winter asked. “What do you think?”

He caught his own black eyes in the mirror and nodded slowly. “It’s a good fit. But a bit… plain.”

Winter looked up from the knife they were sharpening. “What?”

“I said what I said.”

Winter glanced over at Cam up on the balcony. “Do you have any issues with the design?”

Cam only shrugged. “Just take it to Ny. She’ll find something.”

“You’re distant again,” Winter commented.

He shrugged.

“Come on,” Trajan tugged on his own collar then slipped his arm around Cam. “What’re you thinking about?”

“I don’t want to be stuck here forever.”

Winter and Trajan traded confused glances.

“Where’d you rather be?” Winter laughed. “Over there with the heroes? What’ve they got that we don’t? Other than no sense of fun.”

Trajan snorted.

“Proper education. Enough food. Strong buildings and usable fabrics.” He kept his gaze firm on the shambles they called a town below. “You take your pick.”

Winter snorted. “Don’t tell me you’re going soft.”

“Yeah,” Trajan chimed in. “What’d your mother say.”

Cam sighed. “Don’t remind me.”

Winter shrugged at Trajan then picked up their own jacket and threw it on, rings glittering in the broken lamp light.

“I’m meeting the other’s down at Jafar’s. Trajan, if you want in, you better be there in half an hour. As for you Cam. Come join in the fun or run home to your mummy. Your choice. But I know which I would take.”

They gave a quick, mocking bow, then pushed their way out through the heavy torn curtains.

Trajan watched them leave then turned back to Cam.

“You serious about wanting to leave?”

Cam shrugged again. “It’s gotta be better than here.”

Trajan ran cards through his fingers. “Is this still Cam I’m talking to? You know. Dark fairy. Trouble maker. The absolute bane of anyone responsible.”

“Yes. But-”

Trajan clicked the cards away and shushed him. “No buts. We’re stuck here. We might as well have some fun.”

Cam didn’t say anything.

Groaning internally, Trajan spun him around by the shoulders. “You gonna mope for the rest of the night? Or are you gonna come and have some fun?”

“I guess I’ll join in,” he said.

Trajan grinned. “You think anyone will mind if I stick to the tailcoat rather than the jacket?”

“Probably not.”

Trajan pulled his long tailcoat back on and dragged Cam back in off the balcony. Together they walked out of the room covered in broken but still usable objects and fabrics, and down the twisted metal stairs that led onto the street.

The street itself was cracked, cobbled and muddied. Torn fabric stretched from broken down building to broken down building, providing some cover from the harsh daytime sun. But now all that could be seen through the tears in the fabric was a dark sky and a few scattered stars, the street badly lit by lamps lining it.

Cam was silent almost silent, glancing around, pulling the cloak tighter around himself, wondering when someone would jump them. He knew he’d be able to hold his own. Probably. But he wasn’t really in the mood.

Trajan, on the other hand, seemed to almost want the attention. His boots sent loud echoes as he half marched through the winding streets.

It was almost surprising they made it outside Jafar’s without any trouble.

The shop was probably one of the best kept buildings, meaning it had only a few noticeable cracks and the windows and door were still intact. And the large banners and shiny objects in the windows made it easy to identify from all the other broken colourless buildings.

The only issue was Jafar was known to get grumpy.

But, at least presumably, he was in bed now. 

Wherever he was, he hadn’t come out yet to take care of the growing numbers gathered outside his shop.

Greenie was whistling some sailing tune, brandishing her hook in time, sitting cross legged on the dusty ground right next to the door.

Elyktra and Nyla were bickering. Something about fabrics, probably. Though no one was quite sure.

Coco was silent, leaning back against the wall near the faded door. It looked like he was glaring at Greenie, but it was too dark to really see.

After all, the only real light came from the rusted oil lamp in the window and Jay’s flaming hair.

Helios and Leo were laughing about something, with Winter, leaning against the wall just behind them, looked even more smug than usual.

Greenie was the one to wave Cam and Trajan down.

As they walked closer, Cam brushed against Nyla, pocketing one of the trinkets she had clasped onto her belt. It was pretty and shiny- a small brass seashell- and Cam had been eyeing it for almost a week now.

“Nice of you to finally join us,” Elyktra almost drawled.

Trajan shrugged. “Better late than never.”

“And who are you exactly?”

“Trajan,” he said. “Prince of darkness.”

Helios barely managed to muffle his snort. Elyktra didn’t have as much luck, doubling over in fits of cackles.

“Alright sweetie,” Nyla said through giggles. “Sure.”

Trajan clenched his jaw in annoyance, and Cam reached his hand out to rest on his shoulder. A warning touch.

So Trajan took a step back, settling just to glare and shuffle cards menacingly.

“Well?” Nyla asked. “Are we going to do something? I have other uses of my time, you know.”

“Oh yeah?” Helios scoffed. “Like what?”

“That cute girl in our chem class.”

“As if she would even look at you with me in the class,” he grinned.

Nyla smirked back and flicked her skirt. “Which is why she was in my bed last night and not yours.”

Helios only shrugged.

“So?” She said, more smug than before. “Are we going to do something?”

“I’m getting bored, too,” Leo chimed in.

Voice after voice joined the chorus, sharing their boredom.

Winter held up their hand for silence, rings glittering, face blank and shaded in the bad lighting. “The heroes are giving us their scraps again. Surprised they’re willing to be here after dark.”

That earned a snide laugh from someone.

“Who’s up to decorate their trucks a little bit?” Winter continued. “Just a little thing for them to remember us by.”

It was Elkyktra that sneered. “And how do you plan to get in? Those locks are charmed, I swear.”

Winter gestured over to Trajan, cloaked in the darkness and an old tailcoat, fringe pulled low over his eyes.

Elyktra looked him over, then turned back to Winter. “He better be good.”

“I’ve heard he’s the best,” they shrugged.

It was Leo who finally pushed himself up and started walking down the street.

Winter shrugged, and followed him, ring covered hand beckoning the others forwards.

None of them bothered with being quiet. They let their footsteps echo down the streets, talked as loud as they wanted. They were a large group, after all. And almost all of them had a bad reputation. There was no risk of getting jumped. Not with Elyktra’s cackling, or Greenie’s whistling. Jay’s flickering blue hair, Nyla’s smug saunter, or the glint of Winter’s crown. For the time being, they were safe from any harm.

Cam wasn’t worried about that.

Walking home alone was always a different issue.

Cam swore they’d managed to walk right through the broken slum they’d called a town before someone eventually stopped them.

“Do you even know where you’re going?” Coco asked.

Winter spun round sharply. “Are you doubting me?”

“Yes. We’ve been here three times already.”

“No we haven’t. We haven’t been here before now.”

Nyla broke off a little bit from where the group was huddled. She stood in front of one of the grimy windows, supposedly checking herself. She fluffed her hair a little bit, and re-applied the blood red lipstick before turning back towards the group. “This is Annie’s place.”

“And?” Elyktra asked.

“And so we haven’t been here. I’d know Annie’s anywhere.”

“Doesn’t mean it’s not taking too long,” Coco muttered.

Winter snarled. “Do you want to leave?”

“No.”

“Then mouth. Shut.”

Nyla was the one to saunter in between them. Though instead of saying anything, she reached her hand out towards Leo.

“Mirror,” she demanded.

He looked at her in confusion.

“Didn’t you hear me? Mirror.”

“I heard you fine,” he held his hand protectively over his trouser pocket. “Why do you want it?”

“Shop window’s all icky. I want a proper mirror.”

Leo drew back slightly. “It’s mine. You’re not having it.”

“Yes I am. Give it here. Now.”

“Nyla leave it.”

Cam was backed against one of the walls, eyes fixed on the floor, his hand clutched around one of his many necklaces.

“Don’t tell me what to do.” Nyla turned on him.

“Just back off a little, Ny. Please? You look fine.”

She pouted. “I’m not sure what’s gotten into you today. But fine. I’ll leave it for now.”

“Well?” Coco glared. “Are we going?”

Winter shrugged easily, and continued down the broken street.

By the time they got to the large hall where the leftovers were sorted through, Cam was starting to get slightly worried about how he was going to find his way home.

“Well Trajan?” Winter gestured towards the lock with both hands. “It’s all yours.”

It took well over ten minutes for him to pick it open. By that time, Nyla and Leo were arguing over the mirror again, but Cam didn’t have the energy to stop them.

He wasn’t quite sure where the truck driver’s were. It seemed doubtful they felt comfortable enough on the Lost Isle to sleep, but they were nowhere in sight; the half unpacked trucks left completely unattended.

Greenie was the one to pass out the spray cans. She always was.

Winter was the first, painting a large black crown on the side of the truck, and the others followed.

But Cam hung back a bit. Tossing the yellow paint from hand to hand, staring at it intently.

Jay finished off his drawing, then stepped back to allow Cam better access to the truck.

Cam shook his head slightly.

“There’s still space,” Jay said.

“I’m good.”

Helios beckoned him over. “Come on. Might get you out of whatever mood you’re in.”

“I’m not in a mood,” Cam protested.

Helios raises his eyebrows, leaning back against the truck. “You’re not in a mood? Come on and make your mark, then.”

Cam pulled a face at him, before stepping close to the truck and drawing a small smiley face.

“That all you got?” Nyla laughed. “It’s so small!”

“There’s not much room.”

“Never stopped you before,” she muttered.

“Look I’m kinda tired-”

“Save it. You’re either in it, or you’re gone,” Elyktra didn’t even bother to turn around.

Cam hesitated. “I’m in.”

Nyla twisted her hair up into a loose bun and looked Cam down. “Draw something bigger then.”

“I just think this isn’t a good idea. This is big. This is going back to the hero’s island. What if they cut our resources further. Or. I don’t know. Enforce the laws stricter, introduce worse punishments.”

Finally the argument caught Winter’s attention. “What can they do that’s any worse? This is our only chance of proving they haven’t worn us down. That we’re still strong and proud and bad. And I don’t plan on letting anyone mess it up. Am I clear?”

The aimless bubble of chatter and laughter died down instantly.

“I asked you. Am I clear?”

A chorus of nods and murmed agreement filled the hall.

“Good.”

Cam sprayed a quick lightning strike down one side of the truck then placed the can back in Greenie’s bag.

“I think I’m going to leave now.”

Nyla shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

He half-ran through the rusted, broken hall, silencing his footsteps as best he could until he reached the street.

He stepped out onto the broken path and let the rain fall onto him, wondering how he was going to manage to get home.

- Winter Maverick

[meggie-stardust]

I saw some of your Jason/Percy writing on ao3 and i really liked it, so if your doing prompts could you write a Merman AU where Percy is a merman and Jason is a mortal?

Thank you for the prompt! I’m sorry it took ages for me to get it done. It kinda got out of hand... oops. 

Title: Lake OlympusFandom: Percy Jackson and The Olympians/Heroes of OlympusParing: Jason Grace/Percy JacksonNotes: Merman Percy, Camp AURead on AO3

“You’re not from Camp Jupiter, are you?” Jason asked. Then his eyes narrowed as another thought occurred to him. “Camp Half-Blood campers aren’t supposed to cross the cove,” Jason said.

The boy shrugged and then gestured to the diving platform. “You should join me.”

“Uh, thanks, dude, but I should get back,” Jason said, nodding back towards the west shore. “And you probably should, too.”

The boy just shrugged again but didn’t show any sign of leaving the platform.

Of all the activities at Camp Jupiter, Jason hated lifeguard duty the most.

When he was refereeing capture the flag or leading a hike he was an engaged participant in the activity. Hell, even the time he had to take over arts and crafts for a week because Hazel had gotten poison oak all over her arms when she took a wrong turn sneaking back from Frank’s cabin in the middle of the night… Even then he was able to convince Leo to teach the campers how to build tiny robots out of springs and other scraps of metal.

But lifeguard duty?

During lifeguard duty, though he sat in a designated chair on the dock, there was no rest. He couldn’t read, he couldn’t enjoy the water himself. All he was able to do was make sure the little shits on his watch didn’t drown themselves or each other. And there was always one camper who was determined to do both.

After pulling one of the Stoll twins off the other one for the fifth time, Jason finally declared that free swim was over, and that all the campers were to head back to their cabins. It was as he was pulling in the lane lines that were supposed to prevent the campers from swimming too far away from shore that he noticed something in the water.

At first he thought it was a weird glint of light. Then a second later he thought it might be a floaty that had gotten loose. But as he pulled his sunglasses on, and squinted out over the mostly still lake and there it was again: movement in the water, and way further out than the campers or any of their gear could have gotten under his watch.

Jason knew that it was probably just a fish, or a piece of trash that had floated out into Lake Olympus, but for some reason he was compelled to investigate. Perhaps it was from the hours of just sitting there staring at the younger campers having fun, but for whatever reason, Jason found himself pushing away from the dock in the canoe that had been tethered nearby.

It look him about 10 minutes to reach the center of the lake, where an old diving platform was buoyed. Once he was out there, he felt dumb. He looked back at the flurry of activity back at camp for a moment, wondering if anyone had seen him paddle out.

He sighed and started to turn the canoe back towards the camp. That’s when he heard the splash.

Jason spun around back towards the platform and watched someone pulling themselves up out of the water.

Jason sat stunned for a moment as the boy emerged from the water and then flipped around so he was sitting on the edge, face tilted up towards the sun, feet still dangling in the lake.

“Hey!” Jason called.

The boy looked around and smiled. “Hey,” he called back.

“What are you doing out here?” Jason asked in full counselor voice.

“Just enjoying the sunshine,” he replied.

Jason paddled closer pulled up right next to the other boy. He didn’t recognize him and it was dawning on Jason that he was likely not from Camp Jupiter.

“You’re not from Camp Jupiter, are you?” Jason asked. Then his eyes narrowed as another thought occurred to him. “Camp Half-Blood campers aren’t supposed to cross the cove,” Jason said.

The boy shrugged and then gestured to the diving platform. “You should join me.”

“Uh, thanks, dude, but I should get back,” Jason said, nodding back towards the west shore. “And you probably should, too.”

The boy just shrugged again but didn’t show any sign of leaving the platform.

Jason shook his head, turned the canoe around yet again, and started to paddle back to camp. About half way there he turned back to look at the platform, but the other boy was gone.

*

A few days later Jason was once again on lifeguard duty, and while he was ostensibly reffing a chaotic version of a water polo match, his eyes kept drifting towards the greenish smudge in the center of the lake that marked the old platform. He couldn’t stop thinking about how weird it was to find someone way out in the middle of the lake, way past the bounds of either of the camps that were nestled on the east and west shores of the town of Lake Olympus.

And on top of that, the guy out there had been so carefree, and so unconcerned about Jason. And yet Jason couldn’t stop thinking about the whole encounter. It was so bizarre, he was beginning to doubt that it had even happened.  

When the camp bell signaled that it was the end of activities for the day, and the campers now had an hour of free time before dinner, Jason lingered at the dock. Usually Jason took this time for himself, rushing off as soon as the last camper was out of the water. But today he took his time making sure everything was put away, and finally when he couldn’t stop himself, he slipped into the canoe.

Now that he knew where he was headed, the trip to the center of the lake was much quicker. As he approached, it felt like his heart was thumping in anticipation with every stroke of the paddle. He wasn’t sure what he was expecting to find; the odds that the other boy would be here were pretty slim, but then again, he also wanted to reassure himself that he wasn’t crazy and that he hadn’t imagined the whole thing.

It happened in the blink of an eye as he approached: one moment the diving platform was empty, and the next the sun flashed in his eyes, and when he could see again, there was the boy. Jason flailed and nearly capsized before he was able to steady himself with the paddle.

“Oh, you’re back,” the boy said, looking over his shoulder at Jason. “Are you going to actually stay this time?”

“I shouldn’t,” Jason said automatically, still in disbelief that he actually found the other boy out there again. “Besides, I wouldn’t want to disturb you.”

The boy tipped his head back and laughed. “I would’ve believed that the first time.”

Jason felt his cheeks heat up slightly. “I’m just gonna––”

“No, no,” the boy said, still laughing. “Come on, join me. Please.”

Jason looked back at Camp Jupiter one more time before pulling the canoe up to the platform and carefully climbing out, tethering the canoe to a hook on the side. He kicked his sandals off into the canoe and then crossed the platform and sat down next to the boy, letting his bare feet dip into the water.

“I’m Jason.”

“You’re from that camp?” the boy asked, looking over his shoulder back towards the shore.

“Yeah, one of the counselors at Camp Jupiter,” Jason said. “And you?”

“Percy,” he said. “Hey, why do you keep coming out here if you’re so worried about being out here?”

Jason blinked, somewhat taken aback by Percy’s straight forward question. “Why do you keep coming out here?” he asked instead of answering.

Percy shrugged and tipped his head back to look up at the sky. “I like it out here,” he said finally.

“Ok, dude,” Jason said with a slight laugh.

They sat in silence for a few moments, and Jason was surprised at how much he enjoyed just sitting there with another person, even if that other person seemed to be a little odd.

“So, where are you from originally?” Jason asked eventually.

“Hmmm? Oh, here I guess,” Percy said, brow furrowed like he was confused about the question.

“You’re a townie?” Jason asked in surprise. “I would not have pegged you for a townie. I’m from near San Francisco, so being out here is a nice change of pace, but I can’t imagine living here full time.”

Percy seemed to perk up at this. “By the coast?”

“Yeah, I’m sort of between the ocean and the bay,” Jason confirmed. “It’s nice. Different than here.”

“I’ve always wanted to visit,” Percy said, “but I’ve never left Lake Olympus.”

“Hey, look, I didn’t mean it about the townie thing,” Jason insisted. “I was just surprised. But, obviously, I come back to Lake Olympus every summer, so it can’t be that bad, can it?”

“Yeah, well, you can make it up to me by telling me about where your from,” Percy suggested.

“Sure, I can do that,” Jason said with a smile, and launched into an explanation of his life in and around the San Francisco bay area.

Percy asked a lot of questions, mostly about Jason’s time spent on the coast, and Jason found himself getting lost in the easy flow of conversation once it started. In fact, he was so absorbed, he was startled when he could hear the faint sound of the Camp Jupiter bell announcing dinner time.

“Oh shit, I gotta go,” Jason said, scrambling to his feet.

“Really?” Percy asked.

“They’ll notice if I’m not with my campers at dinner.” He pulled his sandals on and started untying his canoe. “Don’t you have to make it back for dinner as well?” Jason asked, and for the first time realized that there wasn’t another canoe or boat around.

“Maybe I’ll see you later,” Percy said instead of answering.

“Yeah, dude. Maybe,” Jason agreed, and pushed off the platform, paddling as fast as he could back towards Camp Jupiter.

When he finally reached the shore, secured the canoe, and sprinted to the dining hall, dinner had already started. Octavian, the head counselor, glared at him has he dashed past, taking his seat with the rest of his and Leo’s campers.

“Where have you been?” Leo whispered, elbowing Jason.

“There was an issue down at the lake,” Jason said carefully.

“Octavian his hella pissed, dude,” Leo said.

“Whatever,” Jason said, and grabbed a role off Leo’s plate, shoving it in his mouth and ending the conversation.

He could deal with Octavian. The owners of Camp Jupiter loved him, so who cared if the head counselor hated his guts. The worst that would happen was that Octavian would schedule him for more lifeguard duty, knowing it was Jason’s least favorite activity.

Jason smiled to himself. Maybe more lifeguard wasn’t such a bad thing.

*

Over the next few weeks, as the end of summer approached, Jason found himself returning to the old platform more and more frequently, and every time he found Percy there waiting for him.

Jason wasn’t sure why he kept returning, and why paddling out to the center of the lake at the end of the day was something he started looking forward to. Sure, Lake Olympus was beautiful, and in the summer evenings it felt fantastic to take in some quieter moments in the middle of the serine lake. But it was was beginning to dawn on Jason that it was Percy that was drawing him out to the lake.

The first few times he was out there, Jason could have rationalized it as just curiosity. The next few, he could maybe argue that he enjoyed the company and friendship––though he still considered Leo to be his best friend, the other boy was caught up in his own camp projects and his new girlfriend. Eventually, as he paddled out to the platform for the fourth time in one week, Jason realized he was attracted Percy.

This thought struck him out of nowhere, mid stroke, and he nearly dropped the paddle. Jason had never really thought about another guy like that before. He had had a few girlfriends in the past, and he and Piper had and on again, currently off again summer romance every year at camp. But when he thought about his behavior of the past few weeks, and when he realized that his heart speed up in anticipation as he approached the platform each day, the only explanation was that Jason was into Percy.

Of course, now that he had realized that about himself, he didn’t quite know how to act around the other boy. He tripped getting out of the canoe and nearly face planted into the platform, he fumbled tying up the canoe, and when he finally did sit down next to Percy, like he had been doing for the past few weeks, he had no idea what to say.

“Are you ok?” Percy asked after a few moments of silence.

Jason was staring down at his feet dangling in the water, and sitting stiff and awkward.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” Jason said, keeping his eyes on the water.

Percy wasn’t wearing a shirt. Percy had never once worn a shirt during their encounters, but now Jason was incredibly aware of Percy’s chest.

Percy frowned. “Sorry. You just seem like somethings on your mind,” he said, reaching out a hand to place on Jason’s shoulder.

Jason immediately jumped up, as if he was shocked.

“You know what? I actually have something back at camp that I have to get to,” he said, scrambling back to the canoe. “I’m sorry, Percy, I just––”

And that’s when Jason’s foot missed the canoe, and he tipped backwards, arms flailing wildly, and hit his head on the side of the platform.

*

Jason’s eyes flew open and his body went into panic mode. He tried to gasp for air, but received only a mouthful of water. Bright bursts of light started to flash in his eyes before his vision started to tunnel. And right when he thought he would pass out again, Percy’s face floated into view.

Percy’s face came closer and closer, until he was the only thing Jason could see, and then he was sealing his mouth over Jason’s and exhaling deeply, pushing air into Jason’s lungs.

As Jason’s lungs filled with the air they were so desperate for, a mix of profound relief and confusion kicked in.

He wasn’t dying.

He wasn’t dying.

Percy had saved him.

He wasn’t dying.

He wasn’t dying.

Percy was breathing into his lungs again, bringing more sweet relief.

He wasn’t dying.

He wasn’t dying.

They were still underwater and Percy was still breathing for him.

He wasn’t dying.

He wasn’t dying.

Why wasn’t he dying?

Pulling away finally, Percy grabbed Jason’s from under his arms, and began swimming towards the service of the lake, pulling Jason with him. When they broke the surface, Jason gasped, and scrambled to grab on to the edge of the diving platform.

“Jason, are you ok?” Percy asked, treading water next to where Jason was clinging to the platform.

“How?” Jason said in between gulps of air. “How did you…”

“Why don’t we get you out of the water, and make sure you’re ok first.” Percy said.

“Yeah, ok,” Jason replied automatically.

“Here, let me,” Percy said, helping Jason pull himself on to the platform.

Jason flopped down on the platform, laying back and staring up into the twilight, taking deep breaths. After a few moments, he lifted his hand and gingerly touched the back of his head, wincing as his fingers brushed the welt that was already forming.

“Seriously, are you ok?” Percy asked, leaning over Jason, and once again filling all of Jason’s vision with his own face.

“You saved me,” Jason whispered. “You gave me air.”

Percy’s cheeks tinted slightly pink. “Of course I saved you. I couldn’t just let you drown.”

“How were you––” Jason began, but trailed off as he felt something solid and wet flop on to his legs. “Uhh…”

Jason struggled to sit up.

“Hey, hey, slowly,” Percy said, easing Jason into a sitting position.

“Either I hit my head harder than I thought, or you have fins,” Jason said, staring down at the place Percy’s feet should have been.

“Jason,” Percy said, slowly reaching out to hold Jason’s hand, “you know that I’m a merman, right? Like, you know I live in the lake.”

“I’m sorry, you’re a what?”

“I thought I was pretty obvious about that point,” Percy said, furrowing his brow.

“How the hell could you have been obvious about that?”

“We always met on the platform, and I was either in the water, or at least had my feet always submerged. That’s where my fins are, as you can see,” Percy said, flipping one of his long greenish fins. “I mean, you asked me where I was from, and I literally said the lake.”

“I thought you meant the town of Lake Olympus!” Jason countered. “You know, like most people mean when they say they’re from here.”

Percy shrugged and Jason laughed a bit hysterically.

“OK, I am obviously suffering from a massive head injury here,” Jason said.

“Well, if that’s the case, then how was I able to help you breath underwater?” Percy asked with a smirk.

In the shock of seeing fins, Jason seemed to have forgotten that point, because suddenly the memory of Percy’s mouth on his flashed in his mind, and his face flushed red.

“I… You…” Jason spluttered.

“You seem a little short of breath again,” Percy joked.

Their eyes locked, the air felt charged, and suddenly it wasn’t a joke anymore.

Jason swallowed and nodded, and then Percy was leaning in again, and brushing his lips against Jason’s. Jason reacted immediately and wrapped his hand behind Percy’s head, and pulled him closer, kissing the other boy as if he really was breathing through him again. It was desperate and raw and Jason tried to put all of his feelings for Percy into the kiss.

Jason began to shake slightly and Percy pulled back and leaned his forehead against Jason’s.

“You scared me,” Percy said, “The sound your head made when it hit the side… I didn’t think I would get to you in time.”

Jason surged forward again. “I’m sorry,” he said against Percy’s mouth. “I’m sorry.”

And then he proceeded to show Percy just how sorry he was, without having to say anything more.

*

Later, when they were both naked and sweaty, and wrapped around each other, staring at the stars that had risen over the lake, and the urgency of the past few hours had faded away, Jason was beginning to realize that he had no idea what would happen next. He let out a sigh, and scrubbed his hand over his face.

“What’s wrong?” Percy asked, propping himself up on one elbow to look down at Jason’s face.

“I’m just gonna be in deep shit when I get back to camp,” he said. “I’m out way past curfew at this point.”

“I thought you were a counselor-thingie at that camp?” Percy asked.

Jason laughed. “That doesn’t mean much, dude.”

Percy considered this. “I’m sorry you’ll get in trouble.”

“It won’t be that bad. They really can’t do much, since summer’s almost over…” Jason trailed off.

“What?” Percy asked.

“Summer is almost over,” Jason repeated slowly. “That’s when I have to leave.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“What if you don’t?”

“Don’t what?”

“Leave,” Percy clarified. “What if you stayed here.”

“Like at camp?”

Percy rolled his eyes. “No, I mean here. With me.”

Jason blinked. “I can’t.”

“Why not? What happens after camp?” Percy asked.

“Well, I go back to San Francisco.”

“And then what?”

Jason frowned. “I don’t really know,” he answered after a long moment. “I…uh… Well, I turned eighteen in July, so don’t technically have a home to go back to,” he continued awkwardly.

Percy looked confused so Jason pushed forward before Percy could ask any questions. “I come to camp here every summer because I don’t really have parents,” he confessed. “My foster parents send me here to get a break, but I aged out when I turned eighteen and I guess I was gonna try to get a job or start at city college, or…” he shrugged. “I guess I really don’t have much go back to.”

“Then stay,” Percy insisted. “I don’t want you to leave.”

“I mean, I do have to go back to camp,” Jason said. “Obviously, I have to go back. My cabin and my friends are there. I’d have to finish out the summer,” he finished with a laugh, surprising himself that he was actually considering staying.

“Right, but after that,” Percy persisted, “you can come here.”

Jason blinked up at the other man, taken aback with how simplistic he was making it all seem.

“You don’t really have anything to back to, I don’t want you to leave, so just stay,” Percy said again.

Jason laughed nervously. “I can’t live in the lake like you do,” he said.

Percy flopped back down on his back next to Jason and burst out laughing so hard and for so long that Jason eventually propped himself up and looked down at Percy.

“What?”

“That’s what’s holding you back?” Percy asked between fits of laughter. “I know you’re human!  But clearly I can keep you safe underwater––”

“Yeah, but––”

“But,” Percy continued ignoring the interruption, “I can also go on land,” he finished, fluttering his legs. His fins shrunk down to normal feet size, and the greenish tinge faded into the tanned skin that covered the rest of Percy’s body.

“Oh,” said Jason.

“Yeah.”

“So, you’ll stay?” Percy asked.

Jason leaned down and kissed Percy deeply before pulling back. “Yeah,” he agreed. “Yeah, I’ll stay.”

--

send me a prompt

[dotshiiki]

more angst fic

I am not done reacting. 

Spoilers, naturally. 

A Demigod’s Life | another thousand + words of angst and percabeth

(This is actually a pared down version of the initial percabeth reaction fic I wrote in the last two days, which is on Ao3 but I’m not comfortable putting adult content on places without an age filter, so, clean version here.)

Annabeth's hands shook as she hung up the phone. The cheer she'd tried to inject for her cousin's sake slid away like oil on water. As soon as she looked back at Percy's red-rimmed eyes and scrunched up face, she lost even the faint flicker of optimism Magnus's good news had brought. It was great that the world wasn't going to go up in Norse flames, but …

Maybe Magnus had saved the world, but it still felt like theirs had come grinding to a halt.

She went to Percy and put her head against his shoulder. His arms came around her automatically.

'He says your advice helped. He said to tell you he kept his …' Her voice died on the words butt clenched all the way.The joke fell flat as the memory of their first flight to New Rome on the Argo II crept up on her. Jason had been trying to explain legion formations to them, and Leo, ever the joker, had asked if they all had to walk like they had sticks up their butts, too.

'I do not walk like I have a stick up my butt,' Jason had protested.

Piper had laughed and kissed his cheek. 'Well, you do sort of clench when you're being all proper and stuff …'

Annabeth choked down a sob. Percy pulled her closer and buried his face in her hair. He might have been trying to comfort her, but from the way his arms trembled, she knew she was as much his lifeline as he was hers. When something like this happened, when the grief and guilt threatened to swallow you whole …

'It's my fault.' Percy's voice cracked on the last word.

'No,' she whispered. 'You know it isn't.'

'I—' He gave a harsh, humourless laugh. 'I'm supposed to be the one whose fatal flaw is loyalty. And I wasn't there. I didn't go.'

It wasn't so much loyalty, she thought, as it was his need to save everyone. His inability to step away had always been a struggle for him. And now that he'd finally started to conquer it, Jason had made the ultimate sacrifice … and Percy couldn't forgive himself for falling short.

'You can't always be the hero, Percy.'

'Too many times,' he said in a ragged voice. 'Too many times, someone else's taken the fall. First there was Bob and Damasen … and then we let Leo … and now …' He took a deep breath. 'Apollo came to me, Annabeth. He asked for myhelp. And I told him no quests. No saving the world.'

'You took him to camp. You did what you could.'

'I said no. But Jason didn't. And now he's …' He closed his eyes. 'I should have gone. I should have been the one to—if anyone had to die …'

'Don't say that!' Shards of ice pierced her skin, spilling cold fear into her veins. 'Don't ever say that.'

It was a fear that had always lain dormant in her mind. That this would be exactly how she would lose Percy one day—one heroic sacrifice. After all, he'd come so close so many times. In the Labyrinth. In Tartarus.

Annabeth had wanted so badly to move past that fear. In her hubris, she'd believed they'd done their part. They could go off to college in New Rome and be safe, normal. How could she have forgotten, even for a second, that a demigod's life was cursed a thousand times over by the Fates?

'Maybe if I'd been there …'

She cupped his face. 'I know you, Percy. If you had been there, it wouldn't be Jason in that coffin. It'd be you, and I couldn't … I can't even …' Her voice cracked. 'Maybe I'm selfish, and awful, because I can't help being so damn grateful that it wasn't you.'

She was shaking uncontrollably now, a tsunami of guilt and terror threatening to sweep her away. She couldn't deny that as devastating as it had been when Apollo had told them the story, a small part of her had thanked every god in the pantheon that of all the tragedies that could have happened … it wasn't Grover. It wasn't Piper.

It wasn't Percy.

What sort of person did that make her?

'You're not awful.' Percy pressed his nose to hers. His tears were falling fast again, mingling with hers on their cheeks. 'I couldn't lose you either.'

She wasn't sure if his mouth found hers, or if it was the other way round. Whichever it was, she breathed him in hungrily, needing absolution, needing succour, needing him. Their kiss was rough and desperate, almost violent as they searched for relief—a relief that wouldn't come, but they would try and extort from each other anyway. It was a shared outpouring of guilt and fear and grief, a maelstrom of emotions that would have eaten her alive if she tried to endure them alone.

Being with Percy was a single stitch holding together the ragged fabric of her heart.

And she could not forget that but for a twist of Fates' needles, she could be in Piper's position: broken and alone, holding the pieces of a shattered heart that would never fit back together.

They were demigods, after all. Life was fragile and temporary and you could not plan for it. You could not plan for loss. You could not plan for heartbreak.

You can't control every contingency, Piper had once told her. You have to accept that. Let it scare you. Trust that it'll be okay anyway.

Annabeth wondered if Piper still believed that after this.

Afterwards, as they held each other close, Percy traced a series of tally marks across her shoulder blades. She knew without asking that they were a running count of the friends they had lost over the years. Deaths they had moved on from, but which came back to haunt her now that another friend had joined the list, as if to remind her that there was no statue of limitations on grief.

'He saved my life, you know,' Percy said softly. 'At the bottom of the ocean, no less.'

'The thing with Kymopoleia?'

Percy's laugh was brittle, but less broken now. 'And I told him to keep the details to himself. Wish I'd let him make as much fun of me as he wanted.'

'He wouldn't have.' She sniffled. 'He was always so honourable.'

'So serious,' Percy agreed.

Her mind gave a crystal clear image of Jason with his glasses on, earnestly trying to explain Roman history to the Argo crew. He taught so much better than she did, with infinite patience and none of her exasperation.

'Professor Grace.' Her lips formed a trembling smile.

'The blond Superman.'

'Pontifex Maximus.' She thought of the rough sketches Meg McCaffrey had pressed into her hands. Jason's final legacy, entrusted to her.

Her eyes met Percy's and a terrifying but inescapable truth passed between them. 'We have to finish it. Everything he—everything he died for.'

Percy's jaw clenched. 'The emperors.'

It was time they joined the fight.

They weren't done saving the world. Maybe they never would be. But that was what being a demigod meant. Monsters—human or otherwise—never went away. All they could do was keep the evil at bay, the way Jason had, and Bob and Damasen, and Luke, and Beckendorf, and Silena, and so many others who had gone before them. Until their time was up, and they had no choice but to hand the sword over to someone else to carry on the fight.

All she could do was live with the fear and the pain and the heartbreak, and keep fighting anyway. Trust that it'll be okay.

And if it wasn't …

Then Annabeth just prayed to every god there was out there—Greek, Norse, Egyptian, she didn't care which—that if the time ever came for Percy to be the hero, she would fall with him.

As long as they were together.

A/N: Jason's death in The Burning Maze raised quite a bit of guilt in that I actually felt relief about it before sadness that we'd lost this good, heroic character. I needed to express this somehow, and I guess my girl Annabeth gets to be the one helping me give voice to those feelings. And it ended up being this fic. So that being what it is, I don't know if this is all that great a piece of writing. But perhaps some of you can relate.