#Vigilantes think they stopped him just in time because his bag's empty... nope it's just a decoy >:)

[cxpperhead]

When stealing things for his employers, it's not unknown for Copperhead to simply swallow them, especially if they are valuables like gemstones. It's easier and more convenient to carry them this way than waste time stuffing them into a bag that's likely to get snagged on something or get snatched away by a pesky vigilante.

[shoutaaizawas]

↳  ❝burn❞ dabi x fem!reader → part III

summary: touya todoroki, your childhood friend was dead or so you thought. trying to dig deep you find dabi at a local bar known for being a villain hangout. word count: 1.8k tags/warnings: flashback, bar setting a/n: now we’re getting somewhere, hope you guys enjoy!

masterlist

part II part III part IV

It didn’t take long for you to realize that things weren’t okay at home for Touya. You were a smart kid, observant. You didn’t miss how tired he looked, the bags under his eyes. The bruises that covered his skin, the burns. Whenever you asked him he would just brush it off and say he fell or hurt himself with his quirk again.

There were only so many times you could believe that. Eventually, he opened up about it. He trusted you more than anyone but he carried an amount of shame at the truth of what happened at home. His father trained him, harder than a child should ever have to train. Even when Fuyumi and Natsuo were born and got their quirks he continued to train Touya because he was still the best bet at becoming a hero out of all of them despite his quirks drawbacks.

There were many nights Touya would go to your house, climbing in your window. You would play video games, watch movies, or sometimes fall asleep beside each other. Anything that you could do to distract or give him shelter from what he faced at home.

It was only when Shoto got his quirk that Enji Todoroki gave up on Touya. It was the first year of UA. You remember him tapping at your window, tears in his eyes. He never cried, it hurt to see him cry more than you could ever describe.

It was complicated, in a way he was free from his father’s torment but at the same time, he felt so abandoned. The training and suffering he went through all for nothing. His own father didn’t believe he could be a good hero.

That night you found Touya at your window. Letting him in he explained what had happened before breaking down.

You took him in your arms and held him close as he let out all of the emotions he had stored up for years. The music you had playing softly a background to his quiet sobs. You pressed a kiss against the crown of his red hair, holding back the blooming feelings you had for him.

As he eventually calmed down, he finally spoke.

“I’m sorry.” His voice was low and raspy from crying.

“You have nothing to be sorry about, you know I’m always here for you.” You said, brushing your hands through his hair.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you.” He whispered.

“Me neither.” You said giving him a soft smile before hugging him closer.

There was nothing harder than watching Touya and what he went through during all the years you knew him and not being able to do anything about it.

Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to look into something that the hero commission seemed to want to look the other way on but you were always one to get into things you shouldn’t. It wasn’t like you had a high rank you’d be at risk of losing, the worst they could do was take away your hero license and they were dumb if they thought you wouldn’t become a vigilante.

It was a dangerous game. You had two options, tail Hawks, and see what he was up to on a normal day. Hawks was far faster than you which would leave you struggling to keep up not to mention he had keen senses that would probably pick up on you quickly. The other option was to follow Dabi from the League of Villains, finding him wouldn’t be easy and the likelihood of him trying to kill you if he caught on was high.

Neither option was good but if you didn’t do something it would bother you. You had to get to the bottom of this.

Villains could be predictable, they had spots they liked to hang out in or make deals at. You dressed in civilian clothes, put a wig on, and did what you could to look different from your usual appearance. Waiting till night time you went to a bar that was a hot spot for villains. It was hard but you could repress the rain that followed you these days. It would take a lot of energy but it was possible and would help your cover.

Entering the bar you were hit by a cloud of smoke and the sound of music playing, the bass rumbling through the floor. This was the last place anyone wanted to be if they weren’t looking to get in trouble. Walking in you recognized a few villains right away. You carefully scanned the room as you made your way to the bar.

Ordering a whiskey neat you made your way to an empty corner of the bar, making sure to keep you back to the wall and your eyes on the entrance. You made note of the exits of the building.

Time passed and you waited, sipping your drink slowly and watching your surroundings. Some people glanced over at you but didn’t bother you. If you acted like you belonged somewhere people usually didn’t question that confidence.

The door opened and finally, you caught sight of the man you were looking for. Dabi walked in, you watched as other villains looked nervous at the sight of him. From what you had heard he was dangerous and quick to act if he felt the need to. No doubt people had learned not to mess with him here.

For a moment his gaze scanned the room pausing at the sight of you in the corner. He looked you up and down before walking to the bar, sitting down there. You watched him carefully as he ordered a drink and started sipping on it. You weren’t sure what exactly you were looking for, you doubted Hawks would show his face here and you didn’t think talking to him was the best idea.

At the same time if you missed your chance to get information from him now you might not get another chance. You could tail him home but if he caught on it would be bad, worse if you ended up at the league’s hideout.

After mulling it over you decided you should take the chance. If worse came to worse you knew you could escape if things got violent here. Standing up you made your way to the bar, placing your empty glass down before waving the bartender over for another one.

Dabi was next to you but you didn’t look over hoping to get his interest by seeming indifferent. You could feel his gaze on you.

“What brings someone like you to a dark place like this?” His raspy voice cut through the music of the bar. You looked over slowly smirking at him.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” You teased.

Seeing him this close up it was odd. You took in the dark patches of skin that covered his face, the staples connecting them to his unmarred skin. His eyes, the striking blue eyes felt familiar.

“Dabi, you bastard.” A man stepped up to his other side grabbing his shoulder roughly. The drunk man looked angry.

“Shove off.” He growled at the man before standing up pushing him back.

“Take it outside!” The bartender shouted at them.

“Gladly,” Dabi said with a dangerous glint in his eyes. He grabbed onto the man by the back of his shirt. “Sorry, doll. Another time.”

You stood there shocked by what happened. You had been so close to having a conversation with him before that man had interrupted. You let out a huff finishing off your drink. You waited a moment before following them out. You wanted to see what was going on.

Turning around the corner into the alley you could hear the commotion of Dabi and the man fighting. What you didn’t expect was the gas that had filled the small area. It must have been from the man’s quirk. You stopped breathing, hoping to stop whatever effects it might have but you were too late. You already felt woozy, your vision fading.

Blue flames filled the alley, the heat intense against your skin but not hurting you. You collapsed to the ground, falling onto your hands and knees. As everything faded to black you saw one last thing. The figure of Dabi approached you slowly, intimidating as he drew closer.

“You never could stay out of trouble, huh?” His voice sounded fuzzy, you could barely make out his words before your head hit the ground.

The breeze was soft a cool, moving through the petals of the cherry blossom tree above you. You laid across the soft grass, Touya next to you. You looked overtaking in his features as he watched the tree sway above the two of you. You smiled at how peaceful he looked.

“What are you smiling at, raindrop?” He said looking over with a teasing look.

“Trying to figure it out.” You teased. Touya let out a short laugh.

“Very creative.” He said. In one quick moment, he was over you, leaning down, his nose almost against yours. “If I didn’t know better I would say you were admiring me.”

“Hmm, I don’t know what you're talking about.” You said cheekily.

“Really?” He said leaning in closer, pressing his forehead against yours, almost brushing his lips against yours. “Then I guess you don’t want a kiss.” He said before laying back down at your side.

“Wait,” You said in a huff, pouting as you rolled to your side, leaning over him. You leaned down for a kiss but he turned his head.

“Nope.” He said as you tried again only to be dodged once again.

“Touya.” You whined. “Fine, I was admiring your handsome looks. Are you happy.”

“Yes.” He said with a smirk, his arms wrapping around you and pulling you on top of him. His lips finally met yours, softly. You smiled against him, content.

Sighing, you rest your cheek against his chest, listening to his heartbeat and taking in his comforting scent. Your eyes drifted closed, sleepy from how relaxed you were.

“Go to sleep, raindrop. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to go.” He said, his hand brushing up and down your back helping you fall to sleep even more.

You woke with a gasp, your lungs burning. Looking around you expected to be in the alley or somewhere worse but you were in your home. In your bed.

Had there been a hero nearby? Or perhaps one undercover at the bar that saw you hurt? Why hadn’t they left a note or taken you to the hospital?

You laid back down, exhausted still. Too tired to wonder what happened. You could figure that out later.

Your mind drifted back to your dream. It made your heartache it was so real. You could feel his arms around you, his lips against yours. Tears welled in your eyes. You never had the chance to kiss Touya, never had the chance to tell him how you felt and that would haunt you till the end of your days.

taglist(message to be added or taken out):  @flowersgirl02 @wesparklebitch @moon-write @strangely-charmed @ibookishqueen @tomomoni @why-so-red

[onebatch2batch]

24 or 43 for kastle from the 50 prompts thingy??

43. “Are you drunk?” [ao3]

I got a little carried away....not sorry. Thank you for the prompt!!

--

The sun has long since set by the time Karen manages to shoulder her way into her apartment building, annoyed. It’s been a long and difficult week, and she had been so excited to get home to her pajamas, wine, and fuzzy socks. In fact she’d been almost out of her office before realizing that her cabinets at home are completely empty. She’s been so busy at work that grocery shopping has been on the back burner, and she knew that if she’d just gone straight home after work she would have ordered in food all weekend. Her budget would never allow for that--and so she’d stopped at the little bodega on the way home and bought what she needed. All in all it had amounted to about four bags and a bottle of wine tucked safely away in her purse. She’d walked the five blocks home with aching hands and aching feet, dreaming of her quiet apartment. Maybe I’ll take a bath, she thinks as she shoots the broken elevator a sour look, or maybe I’ll just lay in bed and watch Netflix. Or try to work through one of my cold cases. Or read. Oh, maybe I’ll read in the bath.

She does none of those things. Karen reaches her floor, turns the corner, and her heart stutters.

There’s someone at her door. He’s got his back to her, so she can’t make out much, but he’s in dark clothes and his hood is up. He’s got his forehead pressed to her door. Part of her hopes he’s just drunk and thinks he’s somewhere else. The more logical part says that she definitely recognizes those combat boots even from behind.

“Frank?”

He jerks, then turns to give her a wide, loose smile. “Hey, Kar’n.”

She stares. Blinks. Stares some more. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh.” He shifts, nearly trips on a frayed part of the hallway carpet, catches himself last minute. “Can we talk inside?”

There goes my quiet evening.

As happy as she is to see Frank Castle alive and well, she knows not to expect more than a friendly social call. Karen passes him a handful of groceries and digs out her keys, letting them both into her warm apartment. Frank slides the lock in place behind her as she moves towards the kitchen, kicking off her heels with an embarrassingly happy groan. “Is this a coffee conversation, or something strong?” she asks over her shoulder.

Frank carefully maneuvers the handful of bags onto her counter and focuses on removing everything for her to put away. “You worried ‘bout me bein’ here?”

That’s a loaded question. She raises a brow. “Frank, you never visit recreationally. What’s going on? Are you on the run again? Need some info on someone?” If they have to have this conversation, she’d rather get the niceties out of the way and get back to her weekend.

“Nope. None of that.”  He smiles again, nearly drops an apple, and then something clicks.

“Wait a minute,” she gasps, amazed. “Are you drunk?”

His answering grin is enough. Karen laughs incredulously, some of the tension knotted in her spine loosening. As soon as she’d seen him she had assumed that he needed something, or needed her help. Not that he was paying a visit on the way home from a bar.

“I didn’t even think you drank,” she huffs, amused. She quickly puts away her groceries and then pours a glass of wine for herself.

“I don’t usually,” he admits, leaning against the counter. Now that she knows what she’s looking for, there’s a warm flush on his cheeks and a looseness to his limbs that’s different from his normal, tense posture. “It’s Curt’s birthday, we had a couple after group.”

She’s glad to hear he’s still going to that group. They settle on the couch and exchange small talk about how it’s going and how Curtis is until curiosity gets the better of her. “So why are you actually here, Frank?”

He looks caught. She’s interested to see that his usually expressive face is much more so when inebriated. Every flicker of his eye and clench of his jaw gives away what he’s thinking. It’s like reading a book on how dodgy a vigilante can look. “Well, I wanted to see you.”

It's such a line, and coming from anyone form him she would have rolled her eyes. As it stands, the idea of The Punisher making a booty call because he’s had a bit too much to drink makes her laugh. She catches the hurt look on his face before he can hide it.

“What?”

“Oh no, Frank, I’m sorry. I’m not laughing at you. I’m glad you’re here.” She reaches over to squeeze his arm reassuringly, which seems to mollify him slightly.

“What’s funny, then?”

“Just the thought of The Punisher making a booty call.” Karen laughs again, unable to help herself. Frank is the most intense person she’s ever met, and she would certainly know if that was his plan. She doesn’t think he would be able to hide it if it were. She looks at him, inviting him to share in the hilarity of the idea, but he’s not laughing. Not even a little. In fact, his face flashes red and he clears his throat, looking away.

“Hang on,” Karen says slowly, laugh dying in her throat. “Is that what this is?”

“No,” Frank says quickly. “No, of course not.”

He’s lying. It’s the first time he’s ever lied to her. Karen’s mouth drops open. She stares at him, waiting for him to crack a smile or announce that he’s messing with her, but he just stares out the window and clenches his jaw. When she realizes he’s not planning on explaining, she takes two large gulps of wine and sets down her glass.

“Really? Because it kind of seems like I hit the nail on the head there.”

He’s already shaking his head emphatically. “No, Karen, Christ, I just, I--I wanted to see you, that’s all--”

This could go so many different ways, she’s not sure which option to explore first. She could let him off the hook and feign ignorance, maybe talk for another hour and then send him on his way. Or she could demand he tell her what he wants. Or she could mercilessly tease him--who can say they’re able to tease The Punisher and get away with it? And anyways, he’s gotten her into plenty of life-threatening situations (even if he usually saves her from them later) so joking around to get back at him is too good to pass up.

“Is there something off putting about me, then?” She raises a brow, having only a hair too much fun. “Because now you’re being a little too defensive for my tastes.”

“Oh Jesus, Karen--”

She shrugs. “I’m just saying, we’re both single and know each other and if that’s what this is, then you just have to say it--”

He’s starting to look panicked. “No it’s--”

“Come on, Frank, just admit it. You came here for a booty call--”

“Hey, no--”

“Because you’re drunk and have some excess energy--”

“It’s not because I’m drunk.”

The game is over. Frank is looking at her with a particularly focused expression that steals the air from her lungs. He leans forward, in her space, stopping just short of her lips. “If you think,” he rasps, and now it’s Karen’s turn to flush at his proximity, “for a second that I would come here just to sleep with you like it’s not something I’ve thought about constantly for two years, like I would just ruin this for one night--along with you and your fucking stubbornness and your smile and how you look in those fucking--...skirts--...” he takes a deep breath in, closes his eyes briefly, and then snaps them open to give her a loaded look, “--then you’re fuckin’ crazy, Karen.”

And then he sits back, and looks away.

She’s sure she looks like a complete idiot, but Karen can’t wipe the shock off her face. After a few moments where it feels like her heart literally stops beating, it reanimates with a pounding she can feel between her legs. Her throat is suddenly too dry, and she swallows hard. Her mind races to get them back on solid footing, but her mouth has other ideas. “So you’ve thought about us having sex?” is the first astonished thing to escape her lips.

“No,” Frank sighs patiently, but like she’s deliberately being obtuse. It’s such a funny, cute little sound that she’s never heard from him before, and it’s doing nothing for the desire that’s coursing through her. “I think about us in every way. Having sex, sure. But watchin’ tv together. Gettin’ a dog. Goin’ grocery shopping. Shit, just gettin’ up and having coffee in the morning. Just...I just think about us.”

It’s such a momentous confession that Karen feels inadequate to handle. Ever since she pleaded with him in the hospital, begging for him to leave the fight behind for her, she has filed away her feelings. After such a staunch dismissal of her feelings, she was sure he wasn’t interested in her other than as an informant and maybe, just sometimes, a friend. Now with his (albeit drunk)  confession, she knows otherwise. She still doesn’t know what self-sacrificing, self-deprecating bullshit caused him to turn her down before, but that’s a discussion for another time. Right now, she wants to drag him towards her and kiss him senseless. She wants to smack him for waiting so long to say something. She wants to cry with relief. She wants to make him feel validated and loved. She wants to prove to the world that Frank Castle is a good man who has been dealt a shitty hand, even if she has to scream it from theEmpire State Building. “Frank,” she chokes out, “you should have said.”

He tenses, looking at her wearily. “Am I too late?”

She doesn’t answer with words. She’s too busy closing the gap between him and burying her face in his neck. He smells familiar, like sandalwood and vanilla, reminding her of a different day in her apartment. She’d hugged him for much longer than appropriate and he hadn’t pulled away. She thought maybe it had been a sorry and thank you all at once. And then he’d left again, and it had nearly broken her in two. “Never,” she vows into his skin, painting a promise with her lips.

She hears his ragged exhale, and then he’s drawing her up towards him. His kiss is soft, just a brush of lips against hers before he presses another to her cheek, her forehead, her chin. When he returns once more to capture her lips, Karen lets her hands wander the wide expanse of his chest, lets herself revel in the firmness of his body against her. Touching him like this is such a foreign feeling, but like she’s finally found the missing piece to a long started puzzle. His hands are just as eager, running along her spine and then resting on her hips before his strong fingers sink into her hair, the others pressing firmly on her lower back so that he can grind up against her. Karen gasps and Frank takes advantage of her parted lips, deepening the kiss, his tongue curling against her teeth. As Karen loses herself in the feeling of his heat and hands and kisses, she daydreams about what could happen next. She could slide off his lap to kneel between his legs. She could take the very strong evidence of his arousal and pepper it with kisses until he begs her to take him in her mouth. She could get him just close enough, and then crawl up the hard line of his body to take him in every way possible. She could make him believe that he’s been worth waiting for.

Instead, she pushed lightly on his chest until he pulls away with what she can only call a pout. He looks the definition of dishevelled with his soft curls askew and pupils blown wide. Her chest heaves, and she bites back a small noise of disappointment when his hips cease their wonderful friction against hers. “What’s wrong?”

“You’re drunk,” she reminds him unsteadily.  

Frank lets his head fall back against the couch. His hands tighten on her waist briefly, reminding her of their precarious position--as if she could forget. She hasn’t been so turned on in eons. “Yeah,” he mumbles. “I know.”

“We should stop.”

His head lifts, eyes meeting hers, hopeful. “For now?”

Karen smiles, allowing one more brief kiss. It takes every bit of self-control in her to keep it chaste. “Until you’re sober. Then we’ll talk. But we can check one thing off your list, if you like.”

His mind struggles to switch gears. “Which one?”

Karen kisses his nose before clamoring off the couch (and his lap) on wobbly legs. “I’m going to preset the coffee machine for the morning. Now, which side of the bed do you sleep on?”

When he gives her a tentative, wonderful, bashful smile, Karen has to force herself to walk into the kitchen. Frank Castle has never been so dangerous as he is now, she thinks, sitting on that couch with mussed hair and swollen lips. Every instinct begs for her to return to his lap and continue what they started, but she measures the coffee out and stays strong. They can finish tomorrow, but they have things to talk about.

Over coffee. She smiles and sets the timer.

[ragingbookdragon]

Red & Silver In A Romance Not So Unfamiliar PT. 1

Tim Drake x Speedster!Reader Story!

A/N: This was actually an...impulse story (pun intended)...and I’m still happy with it because I actually like it. Enjoy! -Thorne <3

“How is it that you are the one who managed to get all the brain cells in the womb?” She sighed at his question, watching her twin nurse a bruise in the center of his face.

           “Honestly, that has baffled me since I became sentient.” She glanced at him, a grin on her lips. “If it makes you feel any better, I’m like ninety percent of Bart’s impulse control,” She held a hand up, silencing his groan, “No pun intended, so when I’m around he tends to be kept on a short leash.” She turned and stuck her tongue to her teeth, letting out a sharp whistle. The boys across the cave turned to her and she looked at he brother. “Bart, stop trying to phase the barrier.” Her brother threw his arms up.

           “But I can do it (Y/N)!” She sighed, rubbing her temples.

           “Bart, the barrier is built to withstand speedsters.” (Y/N) looked at him, emphasizing, “It’s made to stop speedsters from phasing into it.”

           “But what if I just had to go faster?” She threw her hands in the air, tone becoming exasperated.

           “Oh my god Bart.” Her hands dropped and she waved him off. “You know what, go nuts. Try and phase the barrier again.” An ear-splitting grin appeared on her twins face and he ran back a distance; the man beside her grunted,

           “Why are you-” She held up a hand.

           “You’ve got the barrier connected to the generators in the cave, right?” (Y/N) glanced at him and he nodded; she tipped her head to his gauntlet. “Redirect the power into the conduits on the side he’s gonna try and phase through.” The man nodded knowingly, fingers tapping on the screen at his wrist.

           “And when he hits the barrier, he gets zapped.” He clicked a button then looked at her. “Shouldn’t you be against harming your brother?” (Y/N) shrugged.

           “We heal fast. He’ll be alright.” She nodded at the barrier. “Just make sure the electricity is a higher voltage than what runs through our bodies or the only thing it’s gonna do is power him up not power him down.” The man laughed and they faced the barrier, watching Bart speed towards it only to stop once he hit it. He dropped, spazzing as the electricity surged through his body. The two boys standing apart from him dropped to his side, worry on their faces; (Y/N) called out to them. “He’s fine. He just looks like he got in a tangle with Godspeed.” She turned to the man beside her. “If we can put him in a bed Mr. Wayne, he’ll sleep it off for a few hours.” Bruce nodded, turning to walk up the steps. “Oh, can Tim, Conner, and I go to the carnival in town?” He raised a hand as he walked off.

           “Take Dick and Jason.” (Y/N) groaned, tossing her head back.

           “But we’re all eighteen…why do they have to come?” He gave her a laugh in response, and she sighed, watching Conner heft an unconscious Bart over his shoulders. Tim and Conner made their way to her and she tipped her head to the stairs. “Let’s go put thing two in Tim’s bed.” Conner snorted at her words, and Tim stared at her, a look of disgust on his face.

           “Why do we have to put him in my bed?” He pointed at Bart. “He drools! He’s drooling on Conner right now!” Conner twisted his head, trying to see Bart’s face on his shoulder.

           “What?!” (Y/N) rolled her eyes, climbing the steps.

           “The sooner we put him in bed the sooner we can get to the carnival.”

           “Don’t we have to take Dick and Jason with us?” She glanced at Tim, a smirk on her lips.

           “We do…but I’m sure the lot of us can figure out a way to give them the slip and then we can go run around the city.” The two boys grinned, breaking into a conversation about the trap they were going to set.

Later That Night:

           “See, this is fun, isn’t it?” The three of them glared at the man sitting in the driver’s seat.

           “Yeah, if fun is three eighteen-year-old vigilantes who need two chaperones with a combined intelligence of my right foot. But sure Dick, it’s fun.” The two boys on either side snorted at her words, and Dick looked at her from the rear-view mirror.

           “It’s not so bad (Y/N). Jaybird and I are just here to make sure that you three don’t get in trouble.”

           “Does Bruce expect us to get into a fight with somebody?” Jason spun around in the passenger’s seat, glaring at Conner.

           “The last time you three were in Gotham, you got into a fight with Joker, Penguin, and Two-Face’s gangs. At the same time.” He glared at Tim and (Y/N). “So yes, he does expect you to get into a fight.”

           “Technically they started a fight with us, we only defended ourselves.”

           “(Y/N), you and Bart broke someone’s spine by running into them.” She raised her hands in nonchalance at Dick’s words.

           “I mean if they aren’t built to withstand the slamming weight of two speedsters, that’s their problem and not ours.” Dick glanced at Jason, his voice lowering as he asked,

           “Does she ever scare you when she does that?” Jason shrugged, eying the carnival coming into view.

           “She’s got her head on straight. I won’t be sad about gangbangers.”

           “Yeah, we can still hear you, you know that right?” Dick chuckled, turning into the parking lot.

           “We’re aware.” Dick parked the car and looked back at them. “Let’s go have fun, eh?” The three groaned, climbing out of the backseat.

           “Ow Conner, that’s my foot!”

           “Well that’s my hand you’re kneeling on (Y/N)!”

           “Will you two just get out of the backseat so I can get out?” The two turned, glaring at Tim.

           “How ‘bout you shut-up or we’ll sit here all night?” Tim shrugged at her words, pulling his tablet from his backpack.

           “I mean, I like doing nothing anyways so…” (Y/N) reached over, plucking the tablet from his hands. He reached for it, but she pressed a hand to his chest, keeping it from his reach.

           “You told me you wouldn’t bring this with you.” Tim rolled his eyes.

           “I brought it in case we had an emergency.” (Y/N) glanced at the tablet, scanning the screen.

           “And is that emergency the state of your Pokémon go team?”

           “There might be legendaries around.” The two climbed out of the car, and (Y/N) passed his tablet back.

           “You’re such a nerd Tim.” He leaned beside her, nudging her arm.

           “Takes one to know one.”

           “Fair point.” As Tim shoved his tablet back in his bag, Dick and Jason walked back over, handing them their wristbands.

           “Alright, neon pink means you can go on as many rides as you want, so long as you flash them the band. What do you guys want to do first?” The three wound the bands around their wrists, and Tim looked at his brothers.

           “Don’t you guys have something better to do?” The two crossed their arms.

           “Nope.” Tim eyed his oldest brother.

           “Really? No date to go on?” Dick shook his head and Tim looked at Jason. “No Outlaws to hang out with?”

           “Kori’s with Damian and the Teen Titans, and Roy’s hanging with Wally in Central.”

           “Damn, all your friends are busy, aren’t they?” They glanced at (Y/N) who wore an unamused look. “You know we can handle ourselves.”

           “We already talked about this (Y/N).” She rolled her eyes as she started walking towards the gates.

           “Yeah well, I didn’t finish arguing about it, so no we didn’t.” Tim and Conner laughed as they followed her.

           For a solid hour, the three friends spent their time being followed by Tim’s brothers. The three climbed into the hollowed figure, closing the gate before Dick and Jason could climb in with them. (Y/N) smiled sweetly at the two quipping, “Sorry boys…this one’s full.” She tipped her head to the empty one across the platform. “Maybe try the other one?” The two glared, but conceded, and once they were in, the ride started. Immediately, the three started spinning the wheel in the center, but also started their plan; Tim spoke first.

           “Alright, Dick and Jason are two of the best trackers alive, and if we’re gonna get away, we need a solid plan of escape.”

           “We could always run once the ride ends?” (Y/N) shook her head at Conner’s suggestion.

           “No, we need to lose them in the carnival then make a run for it.” She glanced at Tim. “They’re your brothers…what are their strengths and weaknesses in terms of carnival rides?” Tim sat back against the seat, thinking, and (Y/N) added, “This ride’s gonna last for another minute Tim. Hurry up the gray matter.” He nodded, sitting back up.

           “Dick can escape mirror mazes faster than Wally, so we can’t put him in there, but Jason might be able to spend enough time searching for a way out that we can get away.” He looked at (Y/N). “You’d be the best person to do that job.” She nodded, and he looked at Conner. “You stay with (Y/N) and I’ll go with Dick to the Shock Drop.”

           “How are you gonna get out of that Tim?” He glanced at (Y/N) who wore a concerned expression. “The bars lock once they lower. You won’t be able to get out.” Tim flashed a smile and shimmied his shoulders.

           “I can wriggle out of anything.”

           “And you don’t think Dick couldn’t do it either? Your brother’s practically a contortionist.” Tim waved off Conner’s objections.

           “I used to think me being small and lanky was a bad thing, but in the sense of a bar that locks a few good inches from your chest, it’s actually a great thing. Dick’s shoulders are too broad for him to maneuver out of the bar in time to catch me.”

           “I mean, in a sense it’s a good plan, but if you can’t get out fast enough, you’ll be in serious danger.” (Y/N) turned to Conner. “I can phase through the mirror maze with no trouble. Stay with Tim and if anything happens, get him out.” Conner nodded, and the ride began to slow. She looked at them, a sharp look in her eyes. “Everybody know the plan?” They nodded. “Suits ready to change into?” They nodded once more, and she grinned. “Alright then. Let’s get this show on the road.”

Ten Minutes Later:

           The two stepped into the mirror maze, getting into the line; Jason glanced at (Y/N). “I’m surprised you want to do a maze (Y/N). I thought you didn’t like enclosed spaces?” She shrugged, eyeing the neon lights.

           “I don’t like spaces that have no exits.” She looked at him. “If I know there’s an exit, I can deal.” Jason nodded, and the line moved forward, putting them closer to the front.

           “I’m sorry you’re stuck with Dickhead and I.” (Y/N) laughed at his apology, and she waved him off.

           “It’s cool. I understand Mr. Wayne’s concerns about us.” Jason eyed her, his tone in slight disbelief.

           “You do?” She nodded.

           “We can get into a lot of trouble when we aren’t supervised, so I can get behind the chaperone.” She glanced at Jason. “But two is a little excessive.” The line moved forward again, and it was their turn to go in. They wandered through the maze, and (Y/N) glanced at her wristwatch. She had about a minute until she needed to set out; she watched Jason wander into another dead in and turn around, brushing past her.

           “This is a dead end.” (Y/N) waited until he turned the corner, then changed into her suit. Drawn back by the noise and the flash of silver lightning, he turned the corner to see her smirking at him; he pointed at her. “Don’t you dare.” (Y/N) flipped him a peace sign and turned, speeding into the mirrors and out the other side. She could hear him yelling as she exited the maze, and as she turned, she saw Conner and Tim running towards her, already in suits. Conner waved a hand.

           “Start running! The shock drop just went down! Dick will be out in a few seconds!” (Y/N) nodded, running forward and leaning down in front of Tim.

           “Climb on and hang on! We have to go now!” He climbed on her back, wrapping his legs and arms securely around her, and she spun, speeding off. (Y/N) was certain Conner was following her and when she stopped, he landed on the rooftop beside them. She lowered Tim to the ground, laughing as he sprawled on the roof and groaned. “You good Timmy?” He waved weakly.

           “I have vertigo right now.” Conner and she laughed at their friend, laying on either side of him. They stared up at the stars, and after a moment, Tim quipped, “Dick and Jay are gonna be so mad when they find us.”

           “It’ll be worth it though.” (Y/N) glanced at him. “I couldn’t stand another minute being followed by those two.” Before anyone could say anything, a grumble sounded from Tim’s other side, and they looked over at Conner, who wore a faint blush.

           “Uh…sorry…I haven’t eaten anything since this morning.” Tim and (Y/N) laughed, and Tim reached into his belt, pulling out a fifty.

           “Go get a pizza and bring it back.” Conner scoffed, but took the bill anyway.

           “What am I? Your maid?” (Y/N) smiled at him.

           “No, you’re our best friend who enjoys feeding us with Tim’s money.” Conner rolled his eyes and rose from the building.

           “There’s a pizza joint like a block from here. I’ll be right back.” The two nodded, watching him fly off before returning their gaze to the sky. After a moment, (Y/N) felt fingers brush her palm, and she looked down, seeing Tim lace his fingers through hers; she grinned at the sight.

           “Why Timmy…are you making a move on me?” Tim laughed, looking at her.

           “I think I’ve already made a move on you (Y/N).”

           “Mmm…you have.” (Y/N) rolled over, looping her arm over his waist and resting her head on his shoulder. His arm curled around her waist, pulling her closer to him, and they laid in silence until she said, “I wonder if your dad is gonna shit a brick when he realizes we’re dating.” This time, Tim snorted, and he raised a hand to muffle his laughter.

           “Can you imagine the family dinners when we have to invite Bart over?”

           “You mean more than you already do?”

           “Yes.” (Y/N) nodded.

           “Yeah…your dad is gonna shit a brick.” The two of them giggled at that, and (Y/N) gazed at him. “I love you Red Robin.” She poked the end of his pointed mask. “Pointy beak and all.” Tim rolled his eyes.

           “The mask isn’t that pointy.”

           “True…but it was really pointy when you looked like Doc Midnight.” Tim sighed in exasperation.

           “Oh my god, no one is gonna let that go, are they?” (Y/N) grinned.

           “Nope…now tell me you love me, so I don’t look like a fool for telling you.” Tim glanced down at her, hand raising to caress her cheek.

           “I love you Silver Streak.” (Y/N) turned her face to the side, kissing his palm.

           “Prove it.”

           “Escaping a carnival with a master plan so we could be alone isn’t proof enough?” He let out a breath. “Woo Ms. Allen, you are a tough woman to please.”

           “And you Mr. Drake are most certainly not trying your hardest.” Tim’s lips curled into a smirk and he leaned down murmuring,

           “Then let me fix that.” As their lips brushed together, they heard a grunt from behind them.

           “If you guys are gonna do that, please do it when I’m not coming back with food. That kinda defeats the purpose of me bringing food.” The two looked up to see Conner walking towards them, pizza boxes in one hand, a soda pack in the other. They pulled apart, sitting away from each other and Conner waved them off. “You guys don’t have to get all antsy about it. I know you’ve been seeing each other for a few months.” (Y/N) raised an eyebrow, taking the boxes from him.

           “You do?” Conner nodded, deadpanning,

           “I think you guys are forgetting that I have super hearing.” He stared at them. “You two aren’t exactly quiet in the tower.” The two looked down, cheeks warming at the truth coming out. Conner gestured to the pizza. “Are you gonna open that? Because I’m still hungry.” (Y/N) passed him the box, and he flipped it open, setting it down in front of them. They each took a piece, and after a moment Conner asked, “Have you told anyone yet?” Tim and (Y/N) shook their heads.

           “No…we were gonna do it at the gala next month.” Conner nodded.

           “Cool.” He went back to eating, and Tim stared at him questioning,

           “You don’t have any objections? No complaints?”

           “Nope.” He glanced at (Y/N). “Not my sister you’re dating.” She rolled her eyes at that.

           “Bart’s not gonna be upset about it. Just that we didn’t tell him earlier.” Conner hummed, and they went back to eating. When they’d finished, they sat on the ledge overlooking the city. (Y/N) glanced at the cars passing in the street. “Do you think Dick and Jason have figured out where we’ve gone yet?”

           “No, they probably called Bruce and told…actually, no they wouldn’t call Bruce and admit that they got duped by three eighteen-year-olds.” He glanced at another rooftop. “They’re probably looking for us.” (Y/N) rested her chin on her hand.

           “Do you think Bart’s awake yet?” Tim shook his head.

           “Nah…the voltage was pretty high on the barrier…he’s still out cold.” Before she could ask another question, Conner stood up, pointing to the west side of Gotham.

           “There’s a bank robbery in process over in that direction.” The other two stood up, and (Y/N) nodded at him.

           “Go, we’ll be right behind you.” Conner took off, making his way across the city, and (Y/N) turned to Tim. “Well Red Robin…ready for a night of patrol?” Tim grinned, pulling out his grapple.

           “Ready and waiting Silver Streak.”

[deniigi]

Do you have any soft Mike and Matt moments by chance? I know Mike is such a little shit, but ugh I always think of him as super over protective of Matt bc he is the ‘nice’ one. To me honestly I’ll take anything lol

Yes, anon.

I do indeed :)

---

It was always a treat coming back to New York. Bumming around Chicago and New Jersey and Minneapolis was never quite the same, no matter how similar the clothes or the drapes or the atmosphere of the city’s underbelly.

New York was just something right. Always exciting. Always pulsing with tension right underneath the surface. People were always checking over their shoulders. Tucking their bags tighter under their arms. Moving their wallets and phones out of back pockets and into front ones and breast ones.

Folks knew from the start that the city would take what it wanted when it wanted it if you weren’t vigilant.

And speaking of vigilant, New York City had the added benefit of being home to Mike’s dear, dear, violent, vigilante baby brother.

Well, baby was relative.

Eleven minutes of separation wasn’t quite enough to be throwing around words like ‘baby’ and ‘elder’, but you know what?

Matt had always been the baby.

Soft-hearted. Soft-spoken. Shy. Blind.

He’d needed more help. Always had needed more help. He didn’t want it. Never wanted it.

But New York City didn’t care about what Matty wanted or needed. It dragged him down into its gushing, oily depths, and left him suspended there.

Always drowning. Always fighting to get his head above water.

Matt was too soft for this world, still, no matter how hard he’d gotten.

He acted like he was someone else, someone different, someone unrecognizable when Mike came to visit him now and again.

And like, yeah.

Boy was more angry than Mike was used to seeing him. But the simpering and cowering had vanished in recent years for something that Mike was deeply proud of.

His baby brother.

The devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

Look at baby go.

  --

Matt was used to Mike opening his window every few months for a quick place to crash. Mike thought he purposefully left it unlocked. These days, when Mike dropped by the city for a whirlwind adventure and a taste of roiling, boiling freedom, he usually found the apartment empty.

Matty was out with the best of them. Roiling and boiling.

Bless him.

Mike opened the window this time and stepped carefully over the sill and into the kitchen sink and immediately noticed a set of keys on the counter with no less than three different paper bags set in a line around them.

They looked greasy, but there wasn’t a strong smell.

He stepped out of the sink onto the tile and touched one of the bags.

Cold.

Well, shit.

  --

Matty always got the short end of the stick. It was how things were. It was one of the rules of the universe that twins never shared anything all the way through.

So Mike got the good luck and Matty got the bad luck.

Easy as that.

He was sleeping when Mike stuck his head into his room.

Not in a nice way. Not in a good way.

He was just sleeping.

Mike stepped in closer and slowly sat down on the end of the mattress.

Matt’s lip was scabbed and he had red and blue and purple all down the side of his face. He had stitches covered with sheer gauze on his neck.

The rest of him was swamped by his massive, heavy duvet.

“Rough times, Matty?” Mike asked his sleeping body.

Matt didn’t respond.

Mike patted the duvet over his shoulder.

“I gotchu, little brother,” he said. “I gotchu.”

  ---

The bags on the table were days cold. The fridge was nearly empty but for a few beer bottles. The whole place smelled of disuse. And Matt didn’t come out of his room in the morning.

Mike sat up from the uncomfortable couch, tossed the throw back over it, and went to hunt through the linen closet for a towel.

  ---

By noon, the place was aired and bright. It was early spring so it was a bit cold to have all the windows flung open, but hey.

Needs must sometimes.

Mike wiped out the inside of the fridge. Took Matty’s keys off the counter and borrowed a pair of sneakers—of course, the same size.

He went around the block to the bodega that he knew Matt favored above all the others in the area. Fresh produce. Local milk and butter. Matty was friends with the owner’s daughter; had stuck his neck out for her and her kids and her daddy.

He was soft like that.

The daughter thought Mike was him when he brought his garden of a shopping basket up to her register.

She asked him what had happened to his cane and if he needed help getting home.

Mike tapped down his glasses and smiled and told her it was mighty nice to know that folks in the neighborhood were looking after his younger twin brother.

She was shocked. Then worried because ‘Mr. Murdock’ always did his own shopping and was always asking her about these berries and those greens.

She swapped out half of Mike’s basket for better choices of fruit and veg for one of the place’s most valued customers. And then she impressed a load of health-nut-lookin’ snacks onto Mike and normally, he’d chuck ‘em and say that the two of them were brought up on PB&J and goldfish crackers like everyone else, ma’am, but they were already prepped and didn’t seem overwhelmingly portioned, so he decided that this time he’d spend his dime on that cute little brother.

Just this once, though. Don’t go getting any ideas, Matty.

  ---

He got back and dumped everything onto the counter.

So much green, Christ. It was as if he’d bought out the stock of the florist three blocks over.

Whatever.

Healthy body, healthy mind and all that.

He started twisting the greens off carrots and pulling off the outer leaves of cabbage. He found Matt’s Tupperware collection and the biggest bowl he had and set to rinsing and soaking and peeling and chopping.

It took some hunting to find the braille label maker and soon enough, the fridge was crammed with boxes and boxes of bright colors with labels all facing out.

‘Carrot rounds.’

‘Cabbage pieces.’

‘Minced Onion.’

And so on and so on.

Matt still didn’t come out of his room and that was too bad for him because Mike was working his way through the house’s linens now.

All of the towels went into the wash first.

As they went into the drier, the throws went into the wash.

The ballgame played while the towels were folded. Then the throws were replaced with all the pillow cases and a load of socks and clothes Matt didn’t notice Mike stealing from his still-darkened room.

Eventually Mike ran out of things to batter in the machine and so he had to bite the bullet.

He put hands on his hips and stood over Matty, still curled up in that damn duvet, facing away from the door this time.

When they were little, Matt had had a bunny which was kind of like his security blanket. God help them all if they left home without bunny. Dad used to swear Mike to secrecy when he caught him stealing bunny from his and Matt’s bedroom.

Mike had crossed his heart every time, and Dad had always swept him up and let him ride on his shoulders while he did the laundry and Matty napped in the other room.

Dad wasn’t here anymore though, so it fell to Mike as the oldest to do things while Matty slept.

Unfortunately, laundry waits for no man, sleeping, depressed, or otherwise.

“Heya bud,” he said cheerfully to Matt’s duvet. “I got good news and bad news for you.”

Matt mumbled something incoherent into the mattress.

Mike took the opportunity to start prying him out of it. He didn’t love it.

“Ge’ off,” Matt huffed, burrowing.

Mike lifted an eyebrow and balled his fists in the sheets.

“The good news is that its time for a bath, the bad news is that you gotta take it,” he announced.

“Mike, no. Just—go away,” Matt huffed.

Nope.

“Sorry not sorry,” Mike said brightly.

Then he yanked.

  ---

Depression ran in their family like a river. Matty got the worst of it from their mama. Mike got the anxiety from their daddy. It was only fair.

It meant that Mike knew that making Matt take a shower and washing all his bedding against his will would result in tears and bitterness in the short term, but a happier and less apathetic Matt in the long term.

Matt came out of the shower and wanted to go back to bed.

Mike made him curl up on the couch in the sun and the fresh air instead. His room wasn’t done airing.

Matt hated that. He told Mike to fuck off at least twenty times before falling back to sleep, but it was no matter. Mike was used to him being like this.

He kept the game on and sat on the couch arm and ran a few fingers through Matty’s hair when he was good and asleep.

  ----

Bed made.

Room aired.

Brother fed (somewhat).

Wounds examined and redressed.

“Why are you here this time?” Matt asked him as he guided him back to the newly made bed.

“Love,” Mike crooned. “I heard your distress and came running.”

Matt scoffed.

“Money,” he said.

“That too,” Mike beamed. “But the deals will wait.”

“I’m fine, just go,” Matt sighed. He pulled his legs back up onto the bed and set about burying himself in covers once more.

“Okay, I’ll go,” Mike said. “But I’ll be back in a few hours, yeah?”

Matt mumbled under the blankets.

“What’d you say, there friend? Some of us don’t got superhearing, remember?” Mike reminded him.

“I said be careful,” Matt spat.

Oh, right.

That was.

Right.

“I will be,” Mike said, maybe a touch softer than intended.

“Don’t stay out too long,” Matty huffed into his pillow.

“Will do,” Mike said, heading back towards the living room. He stopped with his hand on the doorframe.

Matt made a grumpy questioning sound under the covers.

Mike swallowed.

“You know I love you, right?” he said. “And you’re not alone right now.”

There was a long pause.

“I know,” Matt sighed. “I love you, too. Don’t bet on any horses.”

Mike laughed.

“Stallions only, got it,” he said. “Be back soon!”

He kept the sneakers for the time being.

An eye for an eye.

 ---

[chatsanova]

Pierce My Soul: Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Think Only of the Past As It’s Remembrance Gives You Pleasure

AO3

Prince Adrien Agreste had started his morning both pleasantly and unpleasantly, as he did most days. His life was a constant battle between loving and despising his life and all that he stood for. He started by taking some goods to the market. Then greeted some villagers. Maybe one villager caught his eye for longer than he had anticipated.

“Adrien, you’re the most foolish man I’ve ever met,” Nino chastised him just last week for his continuing encounters with a certain black-haired villager from a certain bakery while wearing a certain disguise.

He’d made his way back from the bakery, a combination of dismal and beaming. Dismal because they’d fought. Beaming because he knew she cared about him. It seemed like she wouldn’t stay mad at him, but he knew the process would start all over the next time he saw her.

Their encounters began in the streets at night. She was walking, because she was normal, he was prowling because he was not. Not only was he a criminal but he was also the prince. Being caught would lead to bad outcomes. He’d hope not to hang, but bad outcomes nonetheless. She regarded him with fear at first; he looked up to no good. This was before Cat Noir was a notorious outlaw before the villagers knew who he was. Marinette stood in the street, eyes narrowed. He stopped his prowl.

“You look as though you don’t want to be seen,” she said.

He shrugged, “And yet you are seeing me.”

“You are bad at this.”

“Not bad, just new.”

“I think those things can exist at the same time,” there was an amused glint in her eye. He smirked, embarrassed yet charmed. The moonlight fell on her shoulders, highlighting her nose and the shine in her hair, which was pulled back into a tight bun. She began to walk past him, giving him a comfortable berth, as he stood in the middle of her path. “Next time I see you, I better not see you,” she said.  If it didn’t make sense to them, neither of them acknowledged it. He followed her with his shoulders.

“Hopefully I could see you, m’lady.” He bowed dramatically. If he were to be seen tonight, might as well be a show. She twirled her fingers as she walked away.

“Have fun in the shadows, Alley Cat.”

“How did you know my name?” he called after her. She laughed in the distance.

Since then, he went out as Cat Noir more often, hoping to stumble across her again. It didn’t take long. He was a simple man and the smell of bread drew him in like a moth to flame, like a dire need. He didn’t expect her there, covered in flour, so different from the night they met. She looked equally shocked to see him again. Her eyes narrowed as if to say, “you broke your promise”. He was a tad surprised at her resistance, considering how coy she’d been that night, but he soon learned that she cared about image more than anything. Not in the vain sense, but in the respectable sense. She stayed far from trouble, and well, Cat Noir reeked of it. If one was determined to remain honorable and without scandal, then avoiding a roguish vigilante was simple arithmetic. The village had entrusted her with their clothing, their food, and their children. She wouldn’t give that up.

He placed a bag coin on their kitchen table, as he had done to every house in the village, and her eyes widened. Imploring without a word where he could have possibly gotten that from and why it was appearing on this particular table. They didn’t speak, but her parents made their gratitudes before Cat Noir disappeared into the night.

Only a few nights later, she had decided to interrogate him behind her house. Before she spoke, he held out his hand and bowed.

“I didn’t catch your name that night.” She obliged and put her hand in his. He kissed it politely. Despite the fact that this was a standard, traditional, practice, he thought he saw her blush. When they were out of sight she calmed and slid down into the grass.

“I didn’t throw it,” she blew air upwards, shifting her hair gracefully, “I assume you don’t have one, Alley Cat. Being half shadow and all that.”

“Cat Noir.”

“I was close. I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“You have two last names.”

“Yes,” she hesitated, focusing her eyes on her hands.

“Why?”

“Dupain is my father. Cheng is my mother,” she said, simply. For as traditional as she was this was hardly custom. He recognized it, then, as her one small act of rebellion. Everyone had one, even someone as sensible as Marinette. His was a little more...ostentatious, but for Marinette, this name was a big thing. Her mother was a part of her.

“Where do you get the money?” she asked. It was nearly the same question as his. They meant the same thing. What is your rebellion? What allows you to feel free?

“Oh, you know, the ol’ 9-10.” He slid into the grass next to her, sitting.His back pressed into the jagged brick of Marinette’s house, one leg against his chest, the other fell into the grass, knee nearly brushing against her thigh.

“No. Really.”

He sighed. This could be the end of him before he even began, “You will not like the answer, Mademoiselle.” He let his head fall onto his leg, face turned towards Marinette. He’d seen a lot of pretty girls, it was nearly his job--aside from this, but none struck him quite so much as Marinette. Maybe it was her eyes, deep, imploring, full of expression, or her nose that crinkled when he said something distasteful. Or maybe every girl he’d met had these qualities, but Marinette was the first he noticed or at least truly paid attention to. Why was that? Why was he, right now, about to tell her his most prized and recent secret? He barely knew her, but he was this close to revealing everything. His life in her calloused, hard-working hands. For some reason, he trusted her. He imagined at some point he might even let her in on his biggest secret. Maybe that was too much for her, to be sitting behind your house in the middle of the night with a thief who was also the prince . The very prince he stole from. He would save it for another day.

“You steal from the castle.”

He looked up, surprised, “How did you know?”

“There is no reliable source of money, not in that quantity, unless it is stolen.”

“Are you angry with me?”

“Well, I certainly don’t like it.” She brought her knees to her chest, “But I’m not running to the king’s guard either.”

He smiled at her. This was another of Marinette’s small rebellions.

And thus was the beginning of their friendship. A rogue and a tailor. She would playfully swat him away, and it was true, she didn’t agree with his methods, but together the village thrived on hope and stolen money. She was his first advocate and his first critic. She fixed his shirts and didn’t ask why there were blade cuts, or why his worn clothes were of the finest fabrics. She probably thought he stole them. He let her. He pushed her hair out of her face as she worked. She let him.

Adrien snuck out frequently. It was how he kept up his ruse, and the problem with having a person escorting you from place to place all day long was that it was a lot harder to go somewhere unnoticed. It was why he had convinced every girl hired for the position of lady-in-waiting that this job wasn’t for them and they would quietly quit. Some held on longer than others, but really, he was the prince and very persuasive. In the time in between when a girl was fired and a girl was hired, Adrien had complete freedom. Or, at least, an opportunity for it.

~~~~~~~~~

He sat on a throne, smaller than his fathers, and the empty one that stood next to him. He felt small up there when the throne room was empty, but far too large when people stood below him. He had been called to the throne room, ripped from his free hour in between lessons and anticipated another scolding. It is not what he received, but he was bitter anyway. The large doors creaked open, and two women walked inside. His father’s advisor, Natalie, and...

“Your Royal Highnesses, this is Mademoiselle Marinette Dupain.”

Adrien’s heart stopped. Marinette in all her poise and sensibility walked gracefully behind Natalie. For a second he thought he’d never breathe again. Here? Now? Could he survive with her just below his fingertips?

Dupain. She had dropped her mother’s name. His teeth grit, and his hands gripped the sides of his throne. Coming here she would lose her bit of rebellion. It wasn’t her fault, he knew why she had done it, but he was ready to spit blood on the very chair he sat.

“I have considered her for the replacement of Ariana,” Natalie spoke as if the sentence wouldn’t force all the air out of Adrien’s lungs. Nope he was never breathing again, ever. This jacket was too tight. Everything in him held.

“Interesting,” Gabriel regarded her, “Step forward, Mademoiselle Dupain.” She did. She curtsied.

“Your Royal Highness.”

“Mademoiselle Dupain, allow me to make very plainly what your intended position will be. You will be in service directly to the prince, make sure he is comfortable, make sure he is presentable for various functions, and possibly most importantly, teach the young man some manners.”

Adrien flushed ferociously but bit his tongue. Marinette looked equally as shocked. This is the first she’s heard of this position. She didn’t come in for this. She was probably here to replace the retired woman from the kitchens. This was a much better position, much higher pay, but Adrien himself had given it a bad reputation. Everyone in the castle thought he was so rude to them they had scurried away, and he let them believe it.

“Y-yes, Your Highness.” She didn’t look at Adrien, gaze held on the king, even then she didn’t meet his eye. She was well mannered, but Adrien had long thought low of this custom in particular. To think his father was too good for Marinette to look in the eye? It was ridiculous. At the least, they were equals, and at the most, it should be Gabriel avoiding her gaze.

“And you would be living in the castle.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

“Do you accept?”

She hesitated, and for the first time glanced at the prince. He knew her eyes well, but she stared into him like a stranger. Both sets were full of shock and adrenaline. “Yes, Your Highness.”

“Fantastic! Welcome to Castle Agreste.”

Every possible outcome ran through Adrien’s mind. If Marinette were here, that means she wouldn’t be in the village. Sneaking out would be to walk away from her, in a literal sense, but it also meant to completely rebuild a friendship he’d worked so hard on. The dynamic was different now. Marinette would never be caught dead acting so cavalier with the prince, so there would be no late-night talks in the moonlight. If he told her…maybe having someone on the inside to help Cat Noir would be a good thing, he’d had a few close calls lately. Marinette would probably be frustratingly good at this job, and therefore it would be harder to sneak out with her around unless he told her that he was Cat Noir. The thought of that conversation made his heart curl and not in a good way. He was her employer, directly responsible for the well-being of her family, he was also the BLOODY PRINCE. There were a million possibilities that ran through his mind about how Marinette would react to the news that the wanted thief and the prince were one in the same. None of them were great.

Marinette was escorted away for instruction and Adrien was left alone with his father. They stared forward at the empty throne room. Adrien didn’t dare turn his head.

“Adrien.”

“Father.”

“You will treat this girl with the utmost respect, if I find out she wishes to quit like any of the other girls we’ve hired, you will be watched over by Natalie personally. You will be under lockdown. It’s clear I have given you too much freedom in this regard.”

“Yes, Father.”

“You will have to find a wife soon, and that will require a certain demeanor, one that I have yet to see displayed by you, son.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Dismissed.”

“Yes, Father.”

The downside of pretending to be a cold asshole is having a worse cold asshole think he’s better than you. A “certain demeanor”, Adrien almost scoffed. That demeanor drove his mother away, a woman his father claimed to love. Adrien stood, and flipped his coattail.

“ADRIEN!”

“Sorry father, only an accident.” It wasn’t.

Prince Adrien had stumbled through his fencing lesson, mind clouded with thoughts. How he would escape the castle under close watch if he had Marinette quit. If he should even attempt his ploy again. Could he win over Marinette without his mask? If so, why would he want for anything else?

“So have you found a new lady-in-waiting, Your Highness?” Nino sat in the grass next to the courtyard Adrien sparred in. Cross-legged, knees apart and feet together, a book perching on his ankles, like a young boy.

“Uhhh, yes.” He was distracted that he didn’t even glare at the title like he normally did. To be fair, he did have D’Argencourt’s blade to think about.

“You don’t sound sure.”

“No, I’m sure we found one, but…” he parried.

“What’s her name?”

“Uhm, Mar...y. Mary,” Adrien dodged. D’Argencourt was not, shall we say, going easy on him, in spite of the prying conversation.

“Does it seem like she’ll be good?”

“Well, she’s got...a good… resume?”

“She’s got a good resume?” Nino asked in disbelief. Not at the statement but the fact that Adrien had said it. Adrien had gone through 5 handmaidens “with good resumes”. All had left within the month. It had surprised Nino, possibly most of all. Adrien was polite and rational to everyone else, and yet somehow drove away every lady-in-waiting hired by his father. They’d attempted pages and squires, but often they just got into trouble with each other. Adrien was not the best influence on the youth. He was hopeless. And he fumbled. And now he lost his match.

“Thanks, Nino.”

“You’re welcome, Your Highness,” Nino laughed as D’Argencourt smirked with his blade against Adrien’s chest. He popped up from his spot in the grass, book in hand. “Well, I better prepare the boys for your riding lesson. But this conversation isn’t over.” Adrien only glared at Nino as he walked away. Adrien brushed his lengthening hair out of his face, and turned back to D’Argencourt, already waiting with his blade at the ready.

Nino knew the castle well. He’d pretty much grown up there, at Adrien’s side. His mother worked there before retiring, but Nino had been brought up knowing the palace stables better than anybody, and well, the prince too for that matter. Natalie decided to let Nino stay. He served a purpose to the only child of the king, he was a friend and a brother. The castle had nearly always been his home, his mother didn’t live too far away, it was a good way to live. He walked down an open corridor, the courtyard visible through open archways, the

“Hello, Nino!” Alya cried as they walked down the hallway.

“Alya! And friends. You must be the new lady-in-waiting.” Nino politely kissed her hand, “The prince mentioned you.”

“Marinette, pleasure.”

“Strange, he said your name was Mary. Marinette?” Nino seemed to recognize the name and pondered where he had heard it.

“Well, I mean, I wouldn’t suppose he’d learn my name just yet. I’ve only just met him, and he is the prin--”

Nino looked like he’d been slapped, suddenly. His face fell into his hand and he began laughing. Marinette and Alya looked at each other in surprise, and then Marinette squinted at the insolence. Then he started talking really fast and looked about ready to take off. “I hate to be rude, but I really must go chase down a prince. It was nice to meet you, Marinette.” Then he slowed for a moment and took Alya’s hand and kissed it much more intensely than he had kissed Marinette’s, “Alya.” He winked at her before taking off down the hallway.

“That blasted stable boy,” Alya blushed before they continued down the hallway.

“Well, that was bizarre.”

“Quite.”

Marinette cleared her throat and turned to Alya, her eyes knowing, “Curious, how Nino treats you, as well.” Alya blushed more, and Marinette smirked.

“Yes, well, I’m more curious about why he went to chase down the prince after hearing your name, personally.” Changing the subject. Typical. Marinette didn’t push her new friend.

“Possibly to impose on him a lesson to be more careful reciting the names of people he just met. It’s just manners, after all. I suppose I have my work cut out for me.”

Alya didn’t seem convinced but shrugged.

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

In the courtyard, the prince stood in the flower garden, well-trimmed hedges lined the red brick paths as flowers of every color and shape and size filled the space in between. He came out there to contemplate the consequences of his actions when one of them came running towards him.

“ADRIEN AGRESTE”

“Nino! My dearest friend! How are you? How’re Plagg and Tikki? Lively as ev-- uh oh” His face turned panicked as his friend didn’t seem to slow as he grew closer. He was about to be tackled. Adrien began his retreat, first stumbling backward, “Nino, please, I’m not sure what I’ve done but I can explain” He didn’t sound serious, and Nino didn’t slow. So he turned and booked it. He ran along the brick path towards the exit on the other side, a stone arch, so if we were tackled he could fall in the grass and not brick. Nino would catch up to him. He was taller and faster. They had, of course, been determining this every week since they were seven. For a few years in between, when Adrien had peaked first, he’d had an advantage, but had lost it when Nino shot up 8 inches practically overnight. Only now did he realize his serious disadvantage. It was also unfortunate in this moment that Nino had been given certain liberties around the prince, for example, tackling him whenever necessary. No one would save him, this was a normal Tuesday. Adrien had just stepped in the grass when Nino tackled him.

“Get off me!” he couldn’t control his laughter, “I am your prince!”

“Marinette, huh?” Nino was laughing too.

“Oh...yes… crazy coincidence is it not?”

“You’re crazy, more like it.” Nino got off of him and sat on the ground, panting.

“Hey, for once, this wasn’t me. She told me she was getting a job. I didn’t know where, and I certainly didn’t think as my personal handmaiden. To be honest, I’m kind of losing my mind over here.” Adrien ruffled his hands into his bright hair, already messy from running.

“You can’t lose what you never had.”

“Haha.”

“You’re still unbelievably foolish.”

“I learned from the best.”

“Haha. What are you going to do?”

“Nothing! Nothing different anyway.”

“You’re going to get her to quit?”

“Well, ok, I’m doing that differently.” He rubbed a finger to his eye, "Look, I really like Marinette, but she's incredibly good at whatever she does. She will figure out my secret eventually."

"Right, when you tell her to her face because you're WEAK. The first DAY that you went out you were halfway convinced to tell her. You'll do it eventually."

"She'd keep the secret."

"You don't know that for certain."

"Nino! She's already been keeping it!"

"All I'm suggesting is to test out the waters first. See how she is. Figure out what her actual thoughts about Cat Noir are."

"Yeah she's not exactly going to divulge that information to me, her employer, THE PEOPLE THAT CAT NOIR IS STEALING FROM."

"Hm. Well, just, be careful."

"Always."

[breakingsomething]

an average night out on the town

basic summary: no one knows the real identity of vigilante "jbm". at least, not until now.

trigger warnings: stabbing, blood, mentions of drugs

tagging @its-ethan-bro cause hey it's your fave side character! here he is, at long last!

it was starting to fucking rain.

of course it was. why wouldn't it? everything else was going wrong in jackie's life. all he needed was a bit of rain to put a damper on his evening.

he considered just going home. he was barely even patrolling anyway; just wandering the city with his MAAS bot on his shoulder, not bothering to keep to the alleys because no one was fucking around. he wasn't even in uniform. he'd given up on that months ago. all he needed was his thick red hoodie, his bag, his goggles, his mask, and his cuffs, along with a few assorted weapons scattered about his person. might as well. as the saying goes, you never know when your brainwashed brother might pop out of the shadows and try to kill you. or something like that.

no one around. jackie stopped under a streetlamp, glancing around the empty streets. nope, not a single soul. that was odd, but really, he wasn't in a state to question it. he was just gonna recharge his bots and go home. he couldn't be fucked dealing with anything else. nothing else mattered. not anymore.

he kept walking. his boots splashed through the rising puddles, soaking the bottoms of his cargo pants and making him shudder with the cold. he hadn't even brought a coat with him, like a goddamn idiot. henrik was going to kill him.

jackie had long ago memorized the locations of each of his bots, having programmed them to stick to dark, secluded areas where he could easily get to them. and there was only so many of them in the city. for instance, jackie could see one glinting in the piping of an alleyway next to a convenience store. he casually made his way over, waiting for the bot to float down and land on his hand. it did so. this bot was smaller than his main one- painted a dark green, a camera with a glowing red light built into the centre, a thick tail trailing behind. jackie's face twitched into a smile as his hand lit up with a magic yellow glow, causing the bot to chirp as its light turned blue. after it was charged, it darted back up to its previous position. jackie shook the light from his hands and kept going.

there were exactly one hundred bots hidden around the city, not including the larger one he kept on him at all times. he didn't technically have to charge each of them individually, but it was good for them to receive extra attention, wasn't it? get a special checkup, make sure they were ok? jackie almost laughed at himself. god, what a load of bullshit.

he just didn't want to go back home.

eventually, ninety nine bots were checked. the last one was also in an alley, this time next to a busier street- there were a few people walking around here, though what they were doing out at two am in the pouring rain was beyond jackie. it didn't matter, anyway. once he'd checked this last bot he could go home and face henrik's worry and disappointment. once he'd checked this last bot.

there was a man lying in the alley.

jackie slowly made his way over to him, his breaths quickening. the man was wheezing, clutching his chest- drunk? hurt? his hood was up so his face was hidden, so jackie couldn't make out his expression. "um, sir?" he croaked, his voice cracking from hours of disuse. he took another step, his boots splashing in the water. "are you alright?"

the man jerked his head round, revealing narrowed green eyes and clenched teeth, but his expression changed upon seeing who he was. "ah, jbm," he murmured. "th'fantastic hero, here to save…" his eyes closed and his arms slipped from his chest, revealing, to jackie's absolute horror, a thin knife wedged between his ribs.

"fuck, fuck," jackie hissed, immediately swinging his bag down and falling to his knees. "shit, lie down, i'll help you."

jackie gently pulled the man down, ignoring his whines of protest as his hood fell and his back came into contact with the puddles of water. he wasn't bleeding a lot, but maybe the bleeding was more internal, that would be harder to see and could kill him in minutes- jackie flapped his hands, only allowing himself a moment of panic before regrouping. he'd dealt with worse than this. he'd dealt with worse. he just hadn't been expecting to deal with it tonight. "i'll call the hospital."

"no!" cried the man, suddenly trying to sit up, clawing at jackie's arm. jackie pushed him back down, fearing he'd quicken the blood loss. "no, no, can't go to- not like this- no hospital, no, no hospital-"

"shit, fuck, ok!" jackie cried, his stress level rising. god, he hadn't wanted to go home before, but he'd rather sit in deafening silence with henrik two rooms away than do this right now. "i'll call my friend, ok? i'm gonna call him, i'll keep pressure on the wound and when my friend gets here he'll help you, ok? he's a doctor, kind of, you'll be ok, it's ok."

the man ignored his ramblings and moaned in pain, still babbling under his breath about hospitals. ok, ok, this was fine. jackie tapped the back of his gauges five times in quick succession and waited for the dinging noise that signified he was starting a call. "curro," he demanded.

there was a moment of pained silence while it just rang, and jackie pressed both hands on the man's chest, listening to his agonized cries. to take his mind off the pain, jackie decided to ask the man questions. "what's your name?" he asked.

the man said nothing, just whimpered and held onto jackie's hands. ok. never mind.

"jb?" came the deep, reassuring voice, and jackie nearly burst into tears.

"curro!" he exclaimed, relieved. "radreaoch ave, the alleyway. there's a guy here, stab wound to the chest, not super deep, and yes, i'm putting pressure on it. knife's still in. how soon can you get here?"

"ten minutes," curro said, and the call ended. simple as that. jackie liked that about curro- he didn't ask questions. unlike a certain other doctor he could mention. actually, jackie doubted henrik would have picked up the phone at all if jackie had called him.

curro drove up ten minutes later, right on time. jackie sobbed the second he threw his car doors open and raced over, his blue jacket bright in the darkness. "c, i don't-" he started, not taking his hands off the man's chest, but curro stopped him.

"we need to get him into the car, take him back to mine. you drive, i deal with him in the backseat. there's no police around as far as i can see, we should be fine." he said all this with such authority that jackie immediately found himself nodding frantically, and then they were lifting the man carefully between them and laying him across the seats, and jackie was driving to the place he always drove to when he was feeling this sense of urgency and panic, and then they were at curro's place again. he lived in a very small area so there were barely any people around, so it was easy to get the guy inside without being noticed; less easy to get him inside without hurting him. it took about five minutes to get him past curro's kitchen and living room to the room under the stairs where he kept all his supplies. five cabinets chock full of anesthetics and pills and bandages, and a padded table where jackie laid the man as curro sped round, gathering stuff into his arms and dumping it onto another small table next to him.

"can i help?" jackie offered, feeling rather useless.

"no, you're ok, this should be fine." curro waved his hand away.

jackie took that as a sign that he should go elsewhere. he left the room and took off his mask and goggles, brushing his hair with his hands. he was sure the man would be fine - curro was a great doctor. he'd only had his license revoked because he'd been possessed one too many times while working - surprisingly unrelated to anti, actually. there had been a ghost had been haunting curro for a couple years, although jackie was yet to see them. still, he trusted curro. trusted him with his life. yes, the man would be fine. he would definitely be fine.

jackie had spent enough time in curro's house to feel comfortable, especially as of late. he shrugged off his heavy red hoodie and sauntered into the kitchen, drinking several glasses of water before sinking into the couch in the living room, exhausted. he considered calling henrik and telling him where he was, but he doubted he'd even noticed he was gone. henrik had been so distant lately, leaving the room whenever jackie came in and avoiding talking to him whenever he could. it kind of hurt, really. it made jackie feel as though he was alone again, back in the days before he knew any of his brothers and anti had no name or face to him, when he was just a human shaped static cloud that tried to kill him every day. he hadn't felt like that in so long.

eventually, curro came out with a tired smile on his face. "he's alright," he said, shaking out his hands. "should be fine in a little while. why couldn't he go to hospital?"

"dunno," jackie said, shifting over to make room on the couch. curro's house was very small, although it was decorated very nicely, especially his kitchen. while curro was a learned doctor, he was also an extremely good cook. "i don't even know the guy, just found him. i'm glad he's ok." he hesitated. "can i… stay the night?"

curro crossed his arms. "why?"

jackie looked away and didn't respond.

curro sighed and leaned back against the couch. "jb, you can't just hide from your brother here."

"why not? he hides from me, too. he didn't come home a few nights ago, said he was staying with a girl named ellie." jackie scoffed. "load of bullshit, i think. like henrik's social enough these days to be getting any action."

curro laughed. "so rude."

"well, it's true. i don't want to talk to him right now anyway. he's been avoiding me. missing chase, i guess, which is fair. i miss marvin." jackie bit his nails anxiously and kept his eyes fixated on the wall.

there was an awkward pause.

"how long have you been wearing your binder?" curro asked as a way of breaking the silence.

"only a couple hours, man." jackie replied truthfully. "don't worry about me. is that guy gonna stay here overnight?"

curro nodded, obviously sensing jackie's need for a subject change. "i would suppose. he'll probably be unconscious til tomorrow, but who knows when he'll wake up." he poked jackie's side. "precisely why you can't stay tonight, unless you're planning to stay in costume all night."

"i could."

"you could not. that stuff looks uncomfortable."

"watch me, dick. just cause you have a low pain tolerance doesn't mean i do."

"yeah, i think your pain tolerance is a bit too high, jb. don't you remember when you sprained your wrist and didn't realize until i x'rayed you?"

"hey, shut up!"

they were so busy bickering and laughing that they didn't hear the door opening and the unsteady footsteps down the hall until -

"hello? i - oh!"

jackie and curro's heads snapped up to see the blonde man standing in the doorway, bandages wrapped around his bare chest. he was staring at jackie with wide eyes, clinging to the doorway to keep himself upright. "holy shit, are you jbm?" he grinned, his words slurring slightly.

jackie yelled and covered his face with his arms, unfortunately a bit too late. curro immediately jumped to his feet. "man, go lie back down, you just got stabbed!" he hollered. "the hell are you doing, walking around - fuck!"

"is that jbm?" the man said loudly as curro pulled him back down the hall. "he's hot, tell him he's hot."

jackie felt his face burning, for multiple reasons. he kept his face covered until the man was gone, then grabbed his mask, goggles, and hoodie, putting them back on despite it being a bit too late. well, maybe the man was so off it on pain meds he wouldn't remember jackie's face the next day? he hoped so. he wrote a quick note for curro and then left. he was sure he'd understand.

it was dark when he got home. dark, and quiet. his heart pounded, as it had the whole way there while he thought about what had just happened. he hoped the guy would be ok. fuck, he couldn't believe he'd allowed himself to be seen like that.

jackie had never intended to become a vigilante. he supposed he had been, once, in the time before his memory loss; his very first memory was standing on top of a building in his first stupid red jumpsuit, right before fighting anti for the first time. but the thing was… he hated confrontation. he hated fighting. he did like saving people, and he did a lot of that, and eventually had come to the realization that he didn't have to always "stop crime," he could help clean up the aftermath. and there always was an aftermath, and he was always there for it. he was a good medic. he hadn't intended to be a vigilante.

but man, did the cops hate him. why, he didn't know, but they did seem to dislike how he did their jobs better than they did. which was partially the reason for the mask and goggles, along with his immense social anxiety. and now, the fact that someone knew who he was - he shivered.

be reasonable, he thought. what's he gonna do, go to the police and say "here, i know what jbm looks like?" no, no, he doesn't know your name. you're fine. as long as he doesn't know your name, you're fine.

henrik was waiting for him.

"jackie," he said as he came into the dark kitchen, lit only by the city light coming through the window. jackie jumped.

"fuck, hen, you scared me," he laughed nervously, trying to make this situation seem normal. maybe henrik wouldn't notice what he was wearing in the darkness. "i didn't, uh, expect you to be up."

well, if he hadn't sounded suspicious before, he did now. both of them knew how bad henrik's insomnia got; there was no reason for jackie not to expect him to be up. henrik raised an eyebrow and stood from his place at the table he'd been sitting at. "that's a lie. where were you?" he walked over and stood in front of him. "drinking again!"

"henrik!" jackie protested, stepping back. "that was one time!"

it wasn't one time. jackie had been going out and getting drunk for weeks, just because it numbed his mind for a little while. but henrik didn't need to know that. "i was charging the bots, ok? that was literally it." it wasn't that far from the truth, really.

"you're covered in blood." henrik said flatly, crossing his arms. jackie's heart skipped.

"it's not mine!" he hurried to say, waving his arms in front of him. "i met a guy, he got stabbed, he was already like - i didn't see who it was -"

henrik suddenly let out a small, bitter laugh, startling jackie. "whatever," he muttered, marching towards the door and leaving the room. "you do you, jackieboy man."

the door didn't slam behind him, and that's what hurt the most.

he hadn't even asked if he needed medical attention. not that he would have said yes even if he did. he did that himself these days, when curro didn't.

they didn't speak the next day. barely spoke the next.

they were missing their brothers. that was understandable. but fuck, if jackie didn't a hug and someone to talk to.

he missed marvin more than he could even put into words.

three days later, he was back out on patrol.

just watching his bots. just keeping a lookout. just walking around, just avoiding henrik, just hating himself and wanting to die. just vibing, really. just the usual. just the usual.

"jbm!"

no fucking way.

he didn't turn. he was too afraid to look. no way the guy had recovered that quickly and somehow found him. no way, no way, no -

"hey! hey, jbm, wait, i want to -"

jackie broke into a run. he was not dealing with this, not tonight, not today, not ever. he raced down the street, legs pumping, the wind rushing past his ears and filling up his hood beneath his goggles.

he turned and darted down an alleyway, not even pausing to catch his breath until he was three streets down and everything was silent. he stopped to lean against an alley wall, sinking to a crouch for a brief second and wheezing. he fumbled in his bag for his inhaler and shook it, taking three puffs of the medicine and trembling slightly. fuck, that was nerve wracking. he was suddenly excited to go home and sit in awkward, grieving silence with henrik.

"hey down there."

a pair of legs in front of him. please, no.

he looked up. the man flashed him a crooked grin, light green eyes glowing like a cats in the streetlight. he was wearing a black tracksuit with red linings, looking like he was just out for a one am run. jackie couldn't breathe. fuck's sake, it was bad enough that this guy already knew what he looked like, did he have to see him on the ground taking his asthma inhaler too?

the man stretched out a hand to help jackie up. he just stared at him before slowing pushing himself up without help. just to prove he was still in charge of this situation. he was not blushing under his mask at this pretty blonde bastard smiling confidently at him, nope, he was not. he was definitely not.

the man tilted his head, his grin ever widening. "wow, you're a hell of a lot shorter than i thought you were."

jackie didn't give him the satisfaction of a response. instead, his eyes darted to the end of the alley, already calculating an escape route that'd get him as far away from this guy as he could.

the man saw him looking. "ah, ah, ah, not today, red," he sing songed, stepping even closer to jackie. he pressed him up right against the wall, leaning an arm against it and blocking jackie's path. "i legit do just want to talk. to say thank you, for saving my life. and apologize, for calling you hot in my delirium. that's not me saying i wouldn't still find you hot in my normal state, by the way. but i'm sorry if i made you uncomfortable."

jackie felt his cheeks burn. "you're making me uncomfortable now," he snapped before he could stop himself.

the man took two quick steps back, raising his hands besides his face. "ah shit, sorry. didn't mean to - ok, yeah, sorry. i get carried away."

jackie stood up straight, crossing his arms henrik style. "tell me this. why couldn't i take you to hospital?"

the man hesitated, both hands still at the sides of his head. "ah, well. the thing is, you're like a hero type guy, and i really don't know if i should be telling you."

a sudden rush of rage and irritation rushed through jackie, and he felt his eyes warning up with burning light. he made a noise that was practically a growl and stepped towards the man until he was pressed against the opposite wall. "fucking tell me, or i will burn your goddamn face off."

the man whistled nervously. "ok, ok, let's not get testy." he exhaled, lowering his hands slightly. "i may or may not have had a few illegal drugs on me - woah, woah, careful!"

jackie grabbed the front of the man's shirt, suddenly furious. "you - you had illegal drugs - and you got stabbed - what did you do, what did you drag me into?"

the man swatted jackie's hands off of him. "nothing, man, seriously!" he protested. "i swear, you'll not be involved at all, i swear! it was just some guy i pissed off, he's a bit of a rival, but it's cool! he doesn't have to know you were ever there, ok? come on, man -"

jackie shoved the man away, disgusted. "you didn't think to fucking - you couldn't have mentioned?"

"well, first of all, if i had, would you have just not saved me?" the man said, and jackie deflated. he was right. "and second, i was very delirious -"

"you were coherent enough to call me hot!"

a smirk crept back onto the man's face. "well, you must be pretty enough that i could see it even after having been stabbed and on painkillers, huh?"

jackie scoffed, heat rising. "fuck you."

the other man laughed, evidently more comfortable now that jackie had backed off. "you're absolutely welcome to if that's what -"

jackie took off before the other man could finish his sentence. he didn't follow him.

what an asshole. what an asshole. what would happen if jackie ended up involved in this - what was it? a fight over drugs or something that was apparently worth attempting to kill a man over? that was the last fucking thing he needed. what a douchebag. what an arrogant, pretty douchebag. no, not pretty. jackie wasn't lowering his standards that far down.

although, when he got home and leaned against the door, catching his breath before he was forced to go inside and face henrik again, he found something in his hoodie pocket. a scrap piece of paper. the man must have slipped it inside when he has him pinned against the wall. the memory made jackie blush and scowl, and he quickly read it.

"dearest jbm. i don't know your name, so i'm gonna call you red. unless your name is jbm, in which case -" the line "what were your parents on and can i get some?" was scribbled out and replaced with simply "what the fuck?" it continued. "unless those are initials or something. i'm still calling you red. anyway, thank you, and i'm sorry. here's my number, in case you should ever need it. very sincerely, aaron."

there was a string of numbers underneath the message.

jackie crumpled up the paper and threw it down angrily. why would he need to call him, for fuck's sake? hadn't he gotten the hint? adrenaline still rushing through his veins from running, jackie unlocked the door and headed inside the house.

it was a moment before he stopped, doubled back, and picked up the piece of paper. wouldn't want to litter. also, maybe he did want to keep the number. just in case he felt like yelling at the guy again once angry criminals inevitably started hunting jackie down for helping out their "rival." just in case.

it was difficult to get to sleep that night.

[inyourwildestdreamslove]

Fearless Chapter 5

Fearless

You deal in fear…

So who else to help Klaus master his powers? Who is quite determined to set you up with his brother…

“I didn’t ask for this.”

“No one ever does darling…”

Diego x Reader

Chapter 5: Oh Baby, Let Me In

“Come on Klaus! You aren’t going to support your brother?”

“No.”

“Really?”

“I have plans tonight! It’s not my fault that you assumed that I didn’t. By the way! You should wear this!” he says excitedly as he grabs a form fitting low cut dress out of your closet and holds it up.

“To a boxing match? Really?”

“You look Ah-Mazing in this!”

“No… That’s… not what I’m wearing…”

“We both know that Diego is the one you had a crush on and you still do…”

“Oh? WE both know that? Do WE?” you ask as you give him The Look.

“Yes,” he sniffs as he holds the dress out to you.

“I’m not wearing that to a boxing match Klaus.”

“But it will make your...girls look… perky!”

“Perky?”

“Yes! Perky! And Diego loves perky!”

“Ok… Well that’s what push up bras are for...but we are not discussing the state of my boobs and their relation to how to get your brother… I’m wearing this,” you say with finality and pick up a pair of skinny jeans and nice top. You grab your favorite pair of booties off of the floor and walk into the bathroom.

“I’m only trying to help! You really need to get laid!” he yells after you, “She has been a little stressed out lately… Yeah… with the new movie…”

You roll your eyes as you walk into the bathroom and get changed. You fix your hair and freshen up your makeup. When you are done you give yourself a once over in the mirror and walk out of the bathroom and grab your earrings off the counter.

“Don’t you need to get ready?” you ask pointedly as you look at Klaus lying on the couch.

“Umm… I’m not leaving until later…”

“Right…” you say giving him a look and heading off down the hallway.

“You look enough to fu- OUCH! What was that for!”

You laugh lightly as you grab your bag and head out the door.

It doesn’t take long for you to make it to the gym.

When you get there Diego comes jogging up to you in a pair of sweatpants and matching sweatshirt.

“Hey!” he exclaims as he runs up to you, “I’m glad you made it! Where’s Klaus?”

He looks around as if expecting his over excitable brother to pop up out of nowhere, but that, of course, doesn’t happen.

“He had plans tonight that he neglected to mention…”

“Should we be worried?”

“I don’t think so… He’s done really well lately and we have to trust him with himself at some point.”

“True… Well I’m glad you made you it,” he mutters with a soft smile. He shifts on his feet a little and look down at his shoes before he looks back up at you.

You smile sweetly back at him, “Of course! I wouldn’t miss tonight for all the pizza in the city!”

“Really? I would,” he says with a smirk as he pulls you along behind him. You notice a chair up front and he guides you to it.

“We should go for pizza after the fight,” he says as he glances back at you.

“Sounds delicious, count me in!”

He chuckles at your enthusiasm and the two of you talk for a moment before he has to go get ready. You hate being by yourself at events like this, but you have to remember you aren’t by yourself, Diego is here. A few fights in Diego is up. You watch with bated breath as he squares up against his opponent. Your eyes dance over his toned chest and arms, you can’t help but stare up at the handsome man. Maybe Klaus was right, you did have a crush on Diego when you were younger, and just maybe you still do. Not in the fangirl teen heart throb way that you did when you were younger, but in the he’s boyfriend material way. Plus having a conversation with the man helped the situation.

It isn’t long until the fight is over, and when his opponent hits the ground and the referee holds his arm up in victory, he may have sent you a wink with that devilishly handsome smirk. You know his skill level far outweighs most of the boxers here, and you wonder why he hasn’t attempted a boxing career.

He heads off to the locker room and comes back a few minutes later, his hair damp from his shower and his toned chest straining against his black tee shirt. Do you even have a chance tonight?

“You want to stay and a watch the fights or are you ready to eat?” he asks as he approaches you.

“Don’t you need to stay?”

“Nope, I’ve already qualified for next week’s round, so I’m free to head out whenever.”

“Oh… well… I could eat,” you say with a soft smile.

“Let’s go then! I know this great place right around the corner,” he says with a smirk.

It’s a few minutes walk to the pizza place around the corner. The two of you laugh and joke the entire way there.

“So… How did you meet Klaus anyway?” Diego asks around a mouthful of pizza.

You pause for a moment, “I thought he was homeless when I first saw him. He’d been on this all night bing, maybe a few day bing, and I dropped a cliff bar or something trying to avoid him. He called after me to give me the bar back...  Here I was on my way back to my place after working a job all night, and this homeless guy wanted to give me the food I dropped back. Well when I touched him I felt and saw everything…”

“Everything?”

“Yeah… everything… He’s had a hard life. There is lots of fear and trauma surrounding him. I wanted to help him because I saw what the world and his powers have done to him. Plus, my power runs on fear and negative emotions, I knew what he had gone through…”

“Fear huh?” he asks regarding you with understanding eyes.

“Sometimes I have a hard time being around certain people because of the influence of my power. I don’t like who I am when that happens.”

“That night…”

“Let’s just say there was a time I could give you a run for your money Mr. Vigilante.”

“Ha… Really?”

“Oh yeah… I used to very much enjoy looking for trouble. I fed off of it actually.”

“I find that hard to believe…. You seem so...sweet.”

“Not if I have a dark alley and a bad idea,” you say with a smirk.

“So….What do you do exactly? To them I mean...”

“Well… I…”

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he interrupts quickly at seeing the look on your face.

“No, it’s okay… I know what everyone fears with a simple look.”

“Really?” he asks with raised eyebrows.

“Oh yes…”

“Even me?”

“Even you.”

“There’s no way…”

“Throwing knives aren’t your only power…”

He stops, his drink midway to his lips, you see him swallow, “Yeah…”

“It is very sexy though,” you say with a wink and a smirk.

He lets out a laugh and looks down, before looking back up at you from under his lashes.

“You know… I could always teach you how to throw them if you want to?”

“And how many times,” you ask leaning forward on your elbows, your chin coming to rest innocently on your laced fingers, “have you used that to your advantage?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about…” he says as he leans back in his seat, he puffs his chest out and rests his arms behind his head.

“Of course not…”

“So is that a ‘no?’” he asks innocently.

“Not necessarily…”

“Good. Let’s get out of here then.”

Diego pays for the pizza despite your protests and leads you to a park not too far away. It’s not in the best neighborhood, but neither of you are too worried about that. There are several trees and due to the full moon you can see the outline of a large trunk a few feet away. You aren’t surprised when Diego pulls a knife out of nowhere and hands it to you.

“Where do you even keep those things?” you ask in amazement.

He just shrugs, “You can never be too prepared.”

He stands behind you and instructs you on how to properly hold the knife and your stance. When it’s time for you to give it a shot, he stands directly behind you and presses his chest against your back. His hand comes to grip your hand loosley, adjusting your grip on the handle.

“Are you ready?” he asks huskily in your ear.

“Yes,” you mutter breathlessly.

His arm wraps around your waist to keep you still and he gently guides you through the steps of throwing the knife in your hands.

“And release,” he commands and you let go a moment later.

The knife flies through the air and lands in the tree about 15 feet away.

You smile and turn in his grip before you throw your arms around his neck.

“I did it!” you squeal.

“You did!” he exclaims as he pulls you closer to him.

When you pull back you gaze up into his eyes and after a moment he leans in…

“Oh how cute…” you hear a mocking voice behind you.

You and Diego jerk away from one another and turn around to see about 5 men standing behind you. You feel their bad intentions radiating off of them. You can hear screams of terror and pain painting their mind. Images tomented women and beaten men flash before your eyes and anger runs rampant in your veins.

You feel Diego tense next to you and pull another knife from seemingly nowhere.

“Serious though… Where do you keep them?!” you ask turning to him in confusion.

“I’ll show you later,” he says with a wink and a smirk as he gets into a defensive stance.

“Now guys… we don’t want any trouble….” Diego says holding up his empty hand in a peaceful gesture.

“Well… too bad…” says another guy as he takes a menacing step forward.

You roll your eyes and cross your arms across your chest, you’re already annoyed these assholes ruined your moment and now they are trying to threaten you.

“(Y/N), get behind me!” says Diego as he goes to take a step in front of you.

“That’s sweet…” you purr as you eye the men attempted to intimidate you, “but I don’t take kindly to them interrupting my night.”

“Oh… Did we interrupt your fun?” laughs one, “Maybe we just want to be in on it…”

With a snap of your fingers Cerberus appears behind you.

“Oh no, darling… It’s just getting started...Who wants to go first?” you ask with a wicked grin as their eyes widen in fear and disbelief.

“Tell me… Joey is it?” you watch as they jerk back out of fear as you take a step forward, “How’s your mom? Does she know where you are right now? Wouldn’t she be...disappointed…”

Flashes of a woman in a hospital bed races through your mind. You can see the tubes running down her nose and the wires connected to her. She looks weak and frail and he fears her death. You feel his red hot anger and the joy he gets from watching others suffer like he is suffering. He loves stealing power because he feels he has none.

“You leave my mom out of this you bitch!” yells one of the guys.

‘That’s no excuse,’ echoes in your mind, ‘you don’t get to hurt others because you are hurting.’

You watch as another pulls a switchblade from the pocket of his pants, and a moment later a knife flies through the air and slices his hand open making him drop the blade. Diego has another knife in his hand before the man he grazed even has time to double over in pain.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you…” Diego mutters dangerously.

“You’re crazy!” yells another guy as he looks at you both with terror.

“Leave innocent people alone and you won’t invite ‘crazy’ into your life.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

“Oh nothing… Just don’t expect to sleep peacefully tonight… I know what nightmares keep you all awake in the dark and I haven't let Cerberus out to play for a while…He’s hungry...”

With a snap of your fingers Cerberus begins to bark and rush towards the men. They all turn and run out of the park with your beloved dog directly behind them.

“How long until he comes back?”

“However long it takes for them to learn their lesson… They had dark intentions for us and I would rather no one else suffer at their hands again.”

“Again?” he asks looking over at you.

“Yes…”You mutter sadly, flashes of a young woman sprawled out beneath them attack your mind. You can hear the pain filled cries of her lover and hear her desperate cries. You feel tears prick the corners of your eyes and you turn away from him.

“Hey… you okay?” he asks with a gentle hand on your shoulder. Still lost in the images you saw in their heads you jerk away from his touch.

“I’m sorry…” you say softly, “you shouldn’t touch me now.”

“Why not?” he asks taking a step toward you again.

“Because while Cerberus feasts on their fears I am at my most powerful and I don’t know if I’ll be able to control my powers right now.’

“What will that do to them?” he asks looking off down the street they had fled down.

“They will relive their fears constantly, until I have decided they have had enough.”

“I see…”

“You think it’s too harsh?” you ask your voice emotionless.

“Do they deserve it?” he asks as he stops you and looks you dead in the eyes.

“Yes,” you say with a finality he can’t argue with.

“Then I trust you.”

You just nod in acknowledgement and continue on down the street. When you get home Diego walks you to your door.

“So I still can’t touch you?” he asks with an innocent face.

“Why?” you ask in confusion.

“Well those idiots from before did interrupt us…”

You look down in embarrassment before you look up at him with a shy smile.

“You’re sad we were interrupted?” you ask sweetly.

“Very sad. So sad that I really wish we could pick up where we left off…”

“I don’t want to hurt you again…”

“It’s a chance I’m willing to take…”

“Diego I-”

The door flies open and standing in the doorway is Klaus, “Where have you been young lady! It’s almost…” he stops and stares up into the sky for a moment lost in thought and you know something is wrong.

“Klaus… What did you do while I was gone?” you feel the heartbreak in your own voice.

He sends you a strange smile, before he holds up a glass with amber liquid in it.

“Nothing…” he says innocently.

He stumbles back into your apartment and hits the floor.

“He’s drunk.”

Diego sighs beside of you, “I’ll put him to bed…”

“Thanks…” you murmur as you follow him into your apartment and shut the door behind him.

“Damnit Klaus…” you groan as you look around your apartment, the place is trashed and over to the right you start when you see a man passed out on your couch.

You huff out of anger and stomp towards the man, you can feel sorrow radiating off of him, but also a numbness.

“Oh… we’re so having a talk in the morning….” you ground out before you stomp into Klaus’s bedroom and almost run directly into Diego.

“There is a man on my couch…”

“What?”

“He’s passed out… a man. A random man on my couch… He’s practically naked...An almost naked man….is passed out. On. My. Couch.”

“Okay… how about… I stay here tonight and we will sort this out in the morning?” he asks as he glances over at the man.

“You think he will give us any problems?” Diego asks eyeing him in annoyance, but also apprehension.

“No,” you say with annoyance before a pair of small green eyes appear in the darkness. A black cat slides out of the shadows and look up at you.

“Can you just… make animals appear from nowhere?”

“I have lots of friends Diego… we’ve only scratched the surface. This is Cleo, by the way, she’s going to keep an eye on our friend here…”

“Great...Umm…”

“Come on… you can sleep in my room…”

“Where?” he asks with the barest hint of excitement.

“The floor, Diego, if you touch me before Cerberus is done you won’t like the results…”

“If I ever see those assholes again I’m punching them…they just keep ruining my night…” he grumbles under his breath as he follows you into the bedroom.  

You try to hide your smile, but you just can’t seem to. Even when everything is going wrong Diego seems to know how to make you feel wanted, and you haven’t felt that in a very long time…”

Ugh... It’s finally here! I’ve decided to open a taglist for this bad boy... Do your worst loves! And comment below!

[essoreese]

Silence Ritual Chapter 1 - A Deal With the Devil

(AN/ Heyo guys, Esso here and this is my first story; Silence Ritual. Now firt thing's first, although I already mentioned this in the description, this is a spinoff of Take A Stand: The Broken Mirror by Garouge Faux / @crewefox. It's also a direct sequel to that story so if you haven't read it, please do before reading this. This fic will be around 20 chapters and while it doesn't have a strict update schedule, I will try to update it at least twice a month. So without any further ado, let's begin the Silence Ritual.)

special thanks to @helthehatter for letting me use her OC, Kodi Jones. 

here’s a link to the fic: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13396893/1/Silence-Ritual

and here’s a link to The Broken Mirror, in case you haven’t read it: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12973009/1/Take-A-Stand-The-Broken-Mirror

Chapter 1: A Deal With The Devil

It was almost 9:30am in Zootopia. Despite being late summer the weather was surprisingly cool. And while most mammals were out, enjoying the weather, a brown-furred bunny running like her life depended on it certainly did not fit in with the surrounding atmosphere. "Shit! I'm so damn late." she cursed under her breath as she made her way to the bank. She had just arrived at the front door of Zootopia first national bank but before she could enter, she was knocked back by three figures. By the time she got herself off the ground, the trio was already speeding away in a white van.

In said van a female hyena took off her mask, looked at duffle bags full of cash her and her partners were holding and cheered "Hell yeah! Hahahaha, that was awesome!"

"Shut up!" a male ram shouted at her. "How 'bout we lose the cops, then we can celebrate all we want." He then turned his attention to the driver. "They still followin' us?"

"Nope." The zebra behind the wheel returned. "Should be smooth sailing from he-"

***CRASH***

The van had somehow swerved off the road and hit a lamp post. The group of robbers got out with ease, none of them were injured.

"What the shit, dude?!" shouted the hyena before pushing the zebra driver "You could've killed us!"

"I didn't do shit! The van just swerved!" the zebra retaliated, clearly rattled by the crash.

"Screw that noise! The hell do you mean it just swerved?" the ram said while trying his best not to kick his accomplice's teeth in.

The trio kept arguing for a few more seconds until another mammal, a buff female leopard, stepped out of the vehicle.

"ENOUGH!" she screamed before adding "We got the money. Let's get out of here before the pigs arrive, and then you can beat up this idiot."

"I keep telling you, I didn't do this! I didn't crash the fu-" the zebra tried to explain, but was stopped mid-sentence when a small piece of metal hit him in the temple, knocking him out cold.

Before any of the other crooks could react, a dozen more metal plates began flying around them. First, two of them enveloped the ram's hands and effortlessly magnetized him onto the crashed van. Then one wrapped itself around the hyena's foot and dragged her across the street until it latched onto a lamppost, leaving her hanging upside down. The rest of the plates began spinning around the leopard. One by one, they began binding her hands, eventually sending her flying towards a sewer grate. Now that all of them were immobilized, an ocelot in his late teens came out from a nearby alley. He was dressed rather plainly, with a black hoodie and torn jeans and would seem completely normal if he didn't have several small pieces of metal levitating around his arms.

"C'mon, cut him some slack, I didn't even give him a chance to control the van" he taunted the leopard.

"Who the hell are you?" she spat while trying to remove her arms from the sewer grate they were stuck to.

"Look, I'ma make it real simple for you dum-dums," he snickered "you did crime, so I glued your asses for the cops to handle."

"What the hell?!" the hyena barked in rage "what did you do to me you freak!"

"You aren't very bright, are you?" the ocelot said condescendingly "let me give you the TLDR, name's Steelswarm, I control metal, I got a tip that you were robbing a bank so I decided to have some fun with you all."

"Like hell you got a tip, you're too young to be a cop! Cut the crap!" yelled the ram.

"I didn't say i was a cop, moron" Steelswarm sighed as he pulled a small star shaped badge from one of his pockets "I'm with Ceartais and you are sooooo fu-" he tried to taunt but was cut off by a thud to the back of his head. The zebra had woken up and had taken the opportunity to knock the gloating vigilante out.

When Steelswarm came to the four robbers we're standing over him, when he was knocked out he lost control of all the metal plates that were holding the crooks.

"Ya dun goofed, kid and now you're gonna pay for screwing around!" the hyena snickered before putting a paw to her face, which began to transform into that of a wolf with golden fur. She fished a pair of glasses out of her pocked and put them on before saying;

"OK, first of all you didn't call for backup once you got the tip."

"Sorry, Clara." the ocelot murmured, still in pain.

"You didn't even try to restrain me after knocking me out!" complained the zebra, as it's face morphed to that of a red fox.

"Sorry, Luna." Steelswarm groaned .

"And what's with all the gloating?" said the "ram" as his body transformed to that of a wolf with black and white fur. "Those restraints were weak, I could've knocked you out myself if you had come any closer."

"Sorry, Kodi" Steelswarm added, sinking further into the ground.

"Overall, that was pretty sloppy" said the fox/bunny hybrid that now stood in the leopard's place "but I'll give you points for the van crash. Also Steelswarm? Dope name."

"Sorr- I mean thanks Robyn." the ocelot stuttered out.

"OK, Bella, simulation over." said Kodi as the city around them began to dematerialize and they were left in a blank room.

Kodi helped the ocelot to his feet before saying, "OK, you have good control over your powers but your communication still needs work. Also you need to pay more attention during combat..."

"Yeah, figures..." groaned Steelswarm "so... same time next week?"

"Yup!" said Clara while looking at her tablet "Oh, but you'll be training with Regina and Hannah then."

"Sweet! See ya then, guys!" yipped the ocelot as he walked towards the elevator.

000

In the six months since Doom's defeat, the entire base had been revamped. The training area was now bigger and had simulations about dealing with situations regarding mammals with powers. A lot of them still had trouble controlling their new abilities and that was causing some issues around the city. Some of the mammals who had a better grasp on their powers chose to use them for crime, since neither the ZPD nor the MCB were properly prepared for dealing with them. A few others either wanted to join Ceartais or start their own vigilante teams. And while Ceartais usually wouldn't entertain the idea of letting anyone join in, but Olivia and Kion had left and Alice was on maternity leave, so the team was missing it's powerhouses. And despite Regina, Harper and Clara all joining the team, they were still rookies and needed supervision. So Kodi felt like had no choice but to start a training program for any empowered mammal willing to join them.

The four mammals sat in the main area of the bunker, almost ready to discuss their patrol positions for the night. They were soon joined by another hybrid, this one more closely resembling an arctic fox, bar the black stripes on her ears and tail.

"Hi, Hannah!" Robyn waved enthusiastically.

"Hi!" the hybrid responded as she made her way to the empty seat next to Clara.

"So we're waiting for Regina and Harper?" Kodi asked just as the elevator to the bunker opened.

Out of it walked a horse and a deer, holding hands. The mare was wearing a black summer dress while the buck wore a green polo shirt and torn jeans.

"Hey, sorry were late. Got held up at home." the deer, Harper, spoke.

"It's OK." Kodi said nonchalantly, before scanning the room.

"Everyone's here so," Kodi started, ready to give out the night's assignments "Me, Hannah and Regina will take Savannah Central and Downtown, there has been a string of robberies and witnesses claim that they were done by empowered mammals. "

"Robyn, you and Clara take Tundra Town. Harper and Luna you have the Rainforest District covered and Bella has Spitfire bots patrolling Sahara Square. Everyone OK with the positions?" the wolf asked.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Despite that, Clara seemed to be bothered by something and as soon as everyone went to gear up, she pulled Kodi aside.

"Hey, you got a sec?" the she-wolf asked quietly.

"Oh, I got more than a "sec"." Kodi said teasingly, as he pulled Clara closer.

"What?! No, not THAT kind of sec! Not at work!" Clara exclaimed "Also, Luna will find us... again."

"Awww... OK." Kodi pouted, feigning disappointment. "What is this about then?"

"Kodi, it's been six months. Why aren't you putting Robyn and Hannah on patrol together?" Clara asked.

"Well... because with you, Regina and Harper being new recruits I want an ori-" the wolf started talking but was interrupted by his girlfriend.

"Don't lie to me, Kodi. You suck at it." Clara huffed "What's really going on?"

"OK look..." Kodi sighed "the city's gone to shit again, there's empowered mammals everywhere, running the training program is stressful and honestly, Robbie and Hannah have been doing OK on their own."

"Who are you trying to fool?" the she-wolf said, somewhat agitated "They're growing apart. I haven't heard Hannah call Robyn "princess" in two weeks. They need to get through this Ronin thing."

"Yes I know... but I just don't want to bring it up. Robyn is still pissed at me for helping with the plan, and I don't think she could ever trust me or Hannah completely again. I can't risk another serious fight between the team. Not while the city needs us." Kodi tried defending himself.

"...You know that's gonna come back and bite you in the ass, right? Like, you're aware that if they find out you're keeping them apart intentionally they're gonna kill you?" Clara asked, knowing that she didn't have the time to argue with her mate.

"Probably..." Kodi returned, looking sullen.

"Look, I know this isn't easy. But you promised that you would mend the team's wounds and you aren't doing yourself any favours right now. It's way too late to change positions now but please at least consider giving them a few assignments together." Clara said before hugging her boyfriend.

"I will. I just don't wanna screw this up..." Kodi answered.

000

The Wave was without a doubt one of the biggest tragedies to hit Zootopia. Even six years later, a lot of the damage was still present. There were still parts of Sahara Square and Tundra Town that were uninhabitable, and there was barely anyone left to even live in Little Rodentia. There was one part of Zootopia that was largely unaffected by The Wave, however; Outback Island. Despite being relatively small, it still housed over 50,000 mammals and was home of the first functioning prison for empowered mammals. The facility could hold up to 500 inmates, and for the last six months, it was Esso Reese's home.

The lynx thought that The Cauldron was a hellhole, but this was worse. She could not use her powers, thanks to the modified shock collar that had been on her neck ever since she arrived there. Any of the activities that helped her deal with The Cauldron were useless here. She couldn't listen to music, her snarky attitude had put her in solitary more than once, and while she could still technically take bets on the other inmates... it was highly discouraged unless she wanted to find herself on the receiving end of a shank. The worst part, however, was the loneliness. None of the mammals she met on the Cauldron could visit her as they were witnesses in her case. And none of the imprisoned mammals wanted anything to do with her. She was laying in bed, just hoping for the sentencing piece to come as soon as possible so she could finally know how much longer did she have to endure this for, when one of the guards approached her cell.

"Reese, your lawyer is here." the rhino said in a stern tone.

The two headed to a small area, similar to an interrogation room. Her lawyer was a pig in a beige suit and he was already waiting for them. As soon as they entered, the rhino locked the door, in case the lynx wanted to try something stupid.

"Hello, Sabrina" the pig started, in his usual dull tone "how are you holding up?"

"Well other than the food and coffee being shit, the guards being abusive, everyone hating me and the crushing loneliness... ten outta ten. Also call me Esso." the lynx replied with what she wanted to be sarcasm but in the end it just came out flat and broken.

"Please, please, please tell me you got good news." she continued.

"Well, given the circumstances, I don't think the jury is in your favour." the pig returned.

"Sweet. Awesome. Love to hear it... how much am I looking at?" Esso barely managed to get out as she put her hear in her arms.

"Twenty five years minimum."

"Lovely..."

At this point Esso could not sink any lower. She just huddled in her chair and tried her best to hide her tears. "Just... absolutely lovely."

"There is another option. You could plead insanity." the lawyer tried to calm her down.

"What for? So they'll throw me in an mental asylum for the rest of my life instead of a prison?" the lynx snapped.

"Please, Sabrina, calm down." the pig tried to reason.

"Screw that!" Esso shouted, gaining the guard's attention. "I was kidnapped, almost killed several times and thrown in here for some bullshit that I didn't even know I did!"

"They have body cam footage, I can't jus-" her lawyer cut in.

"Now I'm either gonna be stuck here or in the looney bin until I croak, because I was forced into a cult six years ago! Also for the umpteenth time, call me Ess-" the lynx ranted until her shcok collar delivered a painful sting to her neck, which brought her to her knees.

"You know what?" Esso said through sobs "Just... do whatever... I don't give a shit. Guard, I'm done here."

The rhino guard guided Esso back to her cell. As soon as the door locked behind her, she collapsed into her bed started crying. She had no options left. It felt like hours before the same guard unlocked her cell.

"Reese, someone wants to see you." he said in his usual monotone.

"...what?" the lynx murmured as she got out of bed.

Esso walked the same path she just took. She was wondering who could possibly be visiting her. Her parents were dead, the other mammals from the Cauldron couldn't see her and she barely had any friends in Zootopia.

When she entered the small room, she was greeted by two mammals. One she already knew and hated. It was Skye Savage, the director of the MCB. The arctic fox sat uncomfortably in a one of the chairs and looked at Esso with disdain. The other was a maned wolf she had never seen before. He was wearing a burgundy suit with a matching tie.

"Skye..." Esso sneered at the fox "came to see your favourite little psycho?"

"Shut up and sit down!" Skye barked failing to contain her anger.

"Who's your boyfriend there?" Esso continued to prod. "You want an audience while you scream at me?"

"Now listen here you-" Skye said in a low growl before she was interrupted by the maned wolf clearing his throat.

"Please control yourself Mrs. Savage." the other mammal spoke calmly. "Now, Ms. Reese, or do you prefer Esso?"

"Esso is fine." the lynx replied, puzzled by the current situation.

"Noted." the maned wolf said as he pulled out a tablet from within his suit and started typing. "I have a proposition that you might be interested in."

"Ooooh, let me guess" Esso mocked "you wanna transfer me to an underground super prison, or some off the grid looney bin to lobotomize me?"

"Heh heh, I love your sense of humour." the maned wolf feigned a laugh. "No, I'm a representative of Ashe Incorporated, or Ashecorp. for short. We are an elite company that specializes in research into mammals with extraordinary abilities."

"Oh, so you don't wanna lobotomize me, just experiment on me. Dandy." Esso said sarcastically.

"Not the case at all Ms. Esso. We were made aware of your "outburst" six months ago." the wolf returned as calm as ever, "We want to harness your powers not only to better understand these new abilities mammals have gotten, but to also better the city of Zootopia and, potentially, the world."

"OK cut the crap, what kind of cult is this?" Esso snickered.

"We're not a cult Ms. Esso." the maned wolf answered "I understand why you would be wary of us, but given your current situation I don't think you have a better option. Especially since you haven't heard the benefits of joining us."

Esso looked at the maned wolf, now much more attentive.

"What benefits?"

The maned wolf had a small smile on his face now.

"Well for starters, you'll get full immunity."

"Bullshit." Esso said under her breath. "As if Resting Bitchface McGee over there would allow it."

"Oh, but she already did." the maned wolf produced a piece of paper and a ballpoint pen from his suit and gave it to the lynx. It appeared to be some sort of contract and while Esso couldn't recognize any of the signatures, the fact that Skye wasn't objecting to this made her believe that whoever that maned wolf was, he was being serious.

"You'll also get combat and self-defense training, paid accommodation in any hotel throughout Zootopia and access to any empowered mammal's data. All you have to do is sign the contract." the maned wolf continued, still calm but clearly more excited than usual.

"I... what's the catch?" Esso stammered.

"Well, in return, you'll have to help Ashecorp collect more data on empowered mammals." the maned wolf replied with his usual calmness. "Or you can choose not to sign and none of this would have happened and you would be back awaiting trial. So... what's it gonna be?"

Esso didn't know what to think. It was obvious to her that this offer was too good to be true, but what other choice did she have? The lynx knew that she had no chance of walking out innocent from the trial, and all of her other options involved some type of imprisonment. Maybe this one did to but right now it seemed like her only way out of this Hell.

Esso cursed under her breath as she grabbed the pen and signed her name on the contract, on what she thought was her deal with the Devil. "I want in."

(AN/ DUN DUN DUUUUUUN! (always wanted to do this) Ceartais has started a training program. Kodi is trying his best as team leader. And Esso accepts an... interesting deal. Did you like it, did you not? Either way, please review. If you have any suggestions on how I can improve the fic, please put them in the reviews as well. Next time on Silence Ritual; Esso learns what her deal is all about, Olivia tries to balance professional and personal life and Robyn and Hannah go on their first joint mission in months. See u soon folks.)

[advocaado]

Day 12: Masked Ball

@thirtydaysofzutara​

(Continuation of Day 1: Vigilantes)

You’ve all been waiting patiently for this. I’m gonna warn you right off the bat that it’s not my best work. I maybe kinda had to rush it a bit to get it out on time. Just pretend that it’s super good and was totally worth the wait.

Find the whole collection on fanfiction.net User: Advocaat

Katara mentally cursed as she entered the grand ballroom of the Earth Palace. Everywhere she looked, colorfully dressed, wealthy partygoers stood in groups chatting and sipping fine spirits. All wore exquisite dresses and robes and all, to her great frustration, had faces hidden behind ornate animal masks. Sighing at the work ahead of her, Katara stepped into the room and joined the flock of bedazzled nobles.

It was just her luck, she lamented, that the Earth King’s usual gala had been replaced this time around by a masked ball. The plan had been for her to meet up with Zuko and for the two of them to hunt down the Earth Kingdom merchant selling her tribe’s ivory together, but when she found the mask lying on her bed and realized what sort of party this was going to be, it had become clear to her in an instant that her job had just become a whole lot harder. Now, not only did she have to somehow identify the man she and Zuko were looking for, she first had to find Zuko.

And, to make matters worse, she’d been warned by Sokka just before leaving the South Pole after returning the “borrowed” jewelry to her father’s treasury that Aang had figured out what she’d done. He knew that he’d been tricked and he wasn’t happy about it. Katara was confident that he’d already figured out where she was. All he’d needed to do was ask the Earth King about the guest list for the ball and he’d know right where to find her. That added yet another element of uncertainty to tonight. She had to somehow find Zuko and find their target all while dodging a furious Aang.

It was going to be a long night.

Well, she reasoned, first things first, she needed to get started on locating her partner in crime.

She pushed through the crowd, carefully assessing the heights and body types of the people she passed. It was all she really had to go on given she had no idea what Zuko was wearing and the only flesh visible to her were hands. Being from the Water Tribes, she herself would be more recognizable from a just small show of skin, but that was a double-edged sword because while that would make it easier for Zuko to spot her, it would do the same for Aang.

She cursed again and pulled the shimmering, gold-trimmed sleeves of her silk stateswoman dress as far as they would go over her hands. Why did Aang have to catch up with her now when they were so close to bagging their target? The time it would take her to catch him up on the situation would probably cause her to miss her window to identify the man before he retired to whatever backroom he’d no doubt commandeered to do his dealing. She only hoped she managed to find him before Aang found her.

Actually, she decided after giving the matter some thought, forget looking for Zuko. They’d cover more ground if they searched independently. Sure, there was safety in numbers, but she and Zuko were both master benders who could hold their own if it came down to a fight. She just had to hope that Zuko would be on the same wavelength and focus on sniffing out their target rather than wasting his time searching for her.  

Katara’s eyes narrowed as she scanned the enormous ballroom with a critical eye. There had to be some kind of tell—some way for the merchant to signal the nobles looking to buy from him. He would likely be acting in some predetermined peculiar manner in order to attract the attention of the right people. He would also probably have something on his person, perhaps a piece of jewelry, that was distinctive enough to confirm his identity. Her first thought was a necklace. There were plenty of unique pendant designs that were suitably eye-catching. Or perhaps a broach…

As she worked the matter out in her head, a waiter glided by and offered her a glass from a tray. She took it thoughtlessly and lifted her mask just enough to throw it back, appreciating the refreshing coolness of the beverage after many minutes of power-walking through throngs of party-goers. Discarding the glass on a nearby table, she resumed her hunt, keeping her eyes peeled for striking jewelry.

That man over there chatting with a group of young women? No, he was wearing only a string of beads.

How about those three older-looking men discussing politics? Nope, not a single piece of jewelry between them.

Perhaps someone in that large ring of people talking by the buffet table? No, their jewelry was all generic gemstones.

Katara found herself quickly growing frustrated. This was like trying to find a pebble in a badger-mole’s den. She’d be here all night if she tried to inspect the front of every man at the party.

Her frustration made her hungry and she retreated to the snack table to grab a few bites. She hadn’t eaten since lunch and she always got a little grouchy on an empty stomach. She nabbed a few small eatables and another glass of whatever that waiter had been passing out and quickly pounded them down before returning to her search.

Feeling much better now that she had some food in her, she resumed her perusal of male jewelry fashions. Her target had to be here somewhere, she reasoned. Hanook had been certain that the merchant was selling the ivory at this function. If he wasn’t here, then she couldn’t think of any other—there!

At once, Katara’s gaze zeroed in on a male figure wearing a necklace that didn’t match that of anyone else she’d seen so far. It was a rusty red color with a thick silk cord and at the center of it hung a round, polished piece of wood with a distinctive pattern etched into its surface. Bingo, she thought smugly.

Making her way over to the man, she straightened her dress and puffed out her chest alluringly. “Hey, there,” she said when she got to him, lowering her voice just as she’d done with the pirates in Linfen. “Nice necklace, you got there.” She raised a hand to lift the wooden pendant with a single finger and pretended to examine it. “Any special meaning behind it?”

The man seemed flustered by her bold action. “Well, actually it’s a—” All at once he stopped and she saw the eyes of his mask look straight at the hand that was touching his necklace. “Wait…Katara?”

Katara froze. Hold on a minute. That voice. She looked up quickly and realized for the first time that behind his red monkey mask the man she’d approached had a clean-shaven head.

“Katara!” he said her name with more confidence this time. “It is you. I knew you’d be here!” He made a lunge for her wrist but Katara was fast and retracted it just in time.

Prattling off every curse she knew in her head, she turned on her heel and fled into the crowd.

Shit! Shit! Shit! she swore as she ran. Of all the people for her to accidently mistake for her target, she had to find Aang. Oh, this was not good.

Thinking fast, she ripped off her mask and ducked into a large group of people. Cries of outrage and indignation followed as she snatched the mask off a random woman and shoved it onto her face, pausing only to thrust her own mask into the bewildered woman’s hands. Before Aang could catch up to her and realize what she’d done, she burst out of the crowd and dove into another.

She continued to maneuver in and out of crowds until she was confident that she’d at last lost Aang. Only then did she stop and take a moment to catch her breath. Nearby was another tray of drinks and she took two, gulping them down with gusto.

Perhaps looking for the merchant on her own had been a bad idea after all. She was no closer to finding him than she’d been thirty minutes ago and all she’d achieved was confirming for Aang that she was here at the king’s party.

She should’ve just looked for Zuko—worked together with him to come up with a plan of attack. They always worked best together. It was why she’d dragged him along on this mission in the first place.

Shaking those thoughts from her head, she abandoned her glasses and tentatively peeked around the wall of people she’d positioned herself behind and scanned the crowd. She didn’t see any red monkey masks and the people she’d disturbed seemed to have settled back into their conversations. The coast looked clear enough, so she stepped out from her hiding spot.

…And promptly stumbled into a marble pillar. Frowning in confusion, she used the pillar to help right herself and passed a hand over her eyes. Suddenly, she had a feeling almost like the room was swimming. She focused on the people nearby and after a moment her vision righted itself. She blinked a few times and when the problem didn’t persist she decided to write it off as the heat getting to her and continued on.

She shoved past Earth Kingdom nobles and foreign dignitaries keeping a watchful eye out both for her target and the telltale red of Aang’s mask and necklace. She knew better than to think he’d given up his hunt for her. As she trekked back across the ballroom, her eyes darting this wat and that, the vibrant clothes of the party-goers began to blend together in a whirl of color. There were just too many people to search through. Too much jewelry. Too many colors. She was starting to feel overwhelmed. A waiter offered her another drink and this time she sipped it slowly as she continued to walk. The flavor was syrupy and reminded her of peaches.

Was it just her or did the room seem louder than it had been before? It was like someone had gone around and given each person a rolled-up piece of paper to shout through. Katara winced at the noise and cast her gaze around for an exit. She needed some fresh air and a break from the crowded ballroom. She found what she was looking for: the large double doors leading back into the palace proper and she changed her trajectory to head for them.

She’d nearly made it when a hand alighted on her shoulder, halting her.

Startled, Katara turned her head and found herself staring at a red monkey face. Uh oh.

“Why’d you run from me, Katara?” Aang’s voice came from behind the mask. He sounded hurt.

Katara struggled to find words to answer him. “Listen, Aang,” she appealed to him. “You don’t understand—”

“Talk to me outside,” he cut her off, guiding her to the doors with a hand on her back. “It’s way too noisy in here.”

Katara found herself being steered out the door and at once she felt relief as the cool air of the connecting hallway struck her. The hallway’s open-air design allowed the chilly night breeze to chase away the muggy heat of the ballroom. She heard the door close behind her with a resounding click and her relief abruptly fled when she realized that she and Aang were now alone.

“Alright, Katara. Explain,” Aang commanded. He’d removed his mask and Katara could see the unhappy arch of his eyebrows as he stared at her impatiently. “Sokka told me your plan. He said that you went to the Earth Kingdom to apprehend the poachers yourself. I went to Linfen and confirmed his story with the authorities there. Why didn’t you tell me what you were doing?”

Katara removed her own mask with a sigh. It looked like they were doing this after all. “Aang, I’m sorry. I just… the mission required a certain amount of discreetness, and well…”

She trailed off when she caught a glimpse of movement behind Aang. Far down the hall, a group of people were exiting the ballroom from a second, smaller set of doors.

“Well, what?” Aang pressed, his frown deepening.

Katara ignored him. Her attention was fixed on the group now walking away from them down the hall. Her eyes narrowed.

“Katara?”

Katara held up a hand to silence him and affixed her mask back over her face. “Listen, I’ll talk to you later, Aang. I really need to follow that group of people.”

Not waiting for Aang to reply, she brushed past him and began jogging after the group.

Perhaps if she’d been in a clearer state of mind, she would’ve predicted that Aang wouldn’t be satisfied to be brushed off in such a manner.

As she hurried down the corridor, her mind focused on sneakily joining the group of people who had left the ballroom so suspiciously, she wasn’t at all prepared for Aang to run after her, feet slapping on the polished stone, and yell, “Katara! Where are you going? I wasn’t done talking to you!”

At once, every member of the group stopped and their masked faces turned to see who had yelled. When they saw Aang, unmasked and furious, running down the hall directly toward them, Katara heard a voice cry out, “It’s the Avatar!” The group burst into a flurry of panicked motion and a man in a lemur mask yelled, “Run!”

The group hurriedly split, their members taking off at a sprint down the hall. Katara cursed and shouted, “Hey! Stop right there!” before promptly giving chase. She mentally berated Aang for alerting her targets. Why oh why did he have to confront her now? He was ruining everything! She cursed again as her long dress tangled with her feet, threatening to trip her. Dammit, she wasn’t dressed for a chase!

Luckily, Aang seemed to at last realize what was going on and he sped past her, overtaking the group in no time. Using his airbending, he sent a great gust through the corridor, knocking the fleeing criminals off their feet. Cries of surprise followed as butts landed on the hard floor and masks came loose and fell clattering to the ground. Katara wasted no time pulling water from the large vases that lined the hallway and freezing the would-be escapees in place.

Katara was ready to celebrate, thinking their mission was over, when she realized that there were two men still standing. One was tall and wore long robes of emerald and the other was stockier and wore a shorter-trimmed outfit of burnished gold. The man in green had his legs planted in an uncertain stance and appeared to be looking back and forth between her and Aang through the eye-holes of his leopard-fox mask. The gold-garbed man was not nearly so uncertain. He was already running again, leaving his partners in crime behind to save himself.

Aang frowned after him, disapproval written all over his face. “I don’t think so!” he called after the man, and this time he used earthbending to send a ripple through the floor directly toward the two men. Katara watched with satisfaction as the gold-clad man was tossed onto his face and promptly encased in stone so that he couldn’t run again. However, the green-robed man still didn’t fall. He hopped deftly up onto a window ledge as the wave rippled through the place where he’d been standing and Katara could only watch dumbly as, without missing a beat, he jumped back down and lunged into a sprint.

Straight for her.

Normally, Katara would’ve reacted quicker, but her thoughts felt like they were swimming through a swamp as her brain attempted to send the signal to her limbs to move. She could only blink in surprise as the masked man barreled into her, catching her under the ribs with an arm and hoisting her easily up onto his shoulder. Before she could process what was happening, she and the green man were jumping up onto another window ledge and disappearing into the darkness.

oOo

The next thing Katara knew, she was being deposited onto a hard, cool surface. The starry sky was spread out above her and her nose was filled with the smell of plants. A quick glance around told her she was in the Earth Palace gardens. The man who had kidnapped her retreated a few steps, his soft slippers noiseless on the dry earth. Katara opened her mouth to yell at him for manhandling her, but before she could get a word out he pulled the mask from his face in one smooth motion and tossed it onto a patch of grass nearby.

Katara’s angry tirade died on her tongue. “…Zuko?”

Zuko’s eyes landed on hers. He looked non-too-happy. “Katara, what’s going on?” he demanded. “Why is Aang here?”

Katara took off her own mask and shook her head in an attempt to clear it. Why was it so difficult to gather her thoughts? The world looked like it was spinning around Zuko as if he’d become the center of a merry-go-round. She tried her best to focus on him and not the tilt-a-whirl that was the rest of the garden. “He caught up to us,” she answered, the statement taking more effort than it should’ve.

Zuko sighed and pushed a hand up into his hair, his eyes lifting to the heavens. “I knew he would,” he muttered, now sounding resigned more than irritated. Looking back at her, he said, “I did tell you. You don’t give him enough credit.”

Katara huffed and rolled her eyes. “Relax. He doesn’t know that you’re involved in this.” Her nose scrunched up in thought and she added, “I think.” Aang had only said that Sokka told him she went to Linfen. He never mentioned anything about Zuko. “Besides, the situation’s been taken care of. We caught the crooks.”

Zuko sighed again and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’d been hoping to glean some more information from them before having them arrested.” With a huff, he sank down onto the stone seat beside her. “Who knows what kinds of other shady business that merchant’s been involved in. It’s going to be hard to make him talk behind bars.”

Katara was only half listening now. She was captivated by the sharp ridge of Zuko’s jaw and the handsome slope of his neck enhanced by the stiff, elegant collar of his robes. He looked fetching in party clothes. He’d looked fetching in his pirate attire as well. “Mm,” she hummed to show that she was paying attention. Dragging her mind out of the swamp, she said, “Let King Kuei deal with that. At least now the world will know that the Fire Nation weren’t the ones poaching our whales.”

That was the most important thing, as far as Katara was concerned. The last thing she wanted was for this misunderstanding to sour the relationship between their nations.

After all, that would make things very difficult for Katara, who had decided some time ago that one way or another she was going to jump Zuko’s bones.

This wasn’t something she’d talked to anyone about, of course. When she’d realized for the first time that she was in love with Zuko she’d been sixteen and in a relationship with Aang. It had been a long and tricky road since that day.

With effort, Katara stood from her seat. “We should probably—”

She’d been about to suggest that they don their masks and slip back inside before Aang discovered the two of them out here and put two and two together, but before the words could finish leaving her mouth, she and Zuko were surprised by a shout splitting the air.

“Spread out and search the grounds! The fiend couldn’t have gotten far!”

Katara and Zuko shared a panicked look. An order like that could only mean one thing: Aang had alerted the palace guard to her kidnapping.

Following the command, thundering footfalls could be heard encroaching on the spot where she and Zuko stood. Katara looked around for a spot to hide but there was nowhere enclosed enough to conceal themselves. With no time to run, Katara acted on instinct. She grabbed Zuko by the front of his robes and yanked him against her, backing up until her back was pressed against a tree. Before he could protest or ask what she thought she was doing, she hooked her arms around her neck and pulled him into a searing kiss.

Not a second later, a team of guards appeared from around a hedge.

“You there!” the one in front called out to them, his voice commanding. “Have you seen a…”

The guard faltered and the men behind him stopped in their tracks. “Oh, um, pardon me,” he said weakly. Katara watched the man tip his helmet and gesture to his fellow guards. Wearing embarrassed looks, they retreated back the way they’d come, giving the intimately engaged couple their privacy.

When the guards were gone, Zuko attempted to pull away.

Katara didn’t let him. She held fast, sliding a hand up into his hair and pressing her body flush against his. The haze in her mind helped her shut out all sources of stimuli outside of him. Zuko didn’t fight her for long. Rather, he took a small step forward, smooshing her harder against the tree, and she felt the backs of his fingernails brush her cheeks with the tenderness of a lover. They broke apart briefly for air and Katara felt her whole body shiver when Zuko’s warm breath ghosted over her neck. His body was warm and hard against hers and his touch was causing her hormones to go crazy. With abandon, she ground her hips into his and pulled his head back so she could access his throat. She placed her mouth against his skin, and probed the area with her tongue, causing him to make a noise that sent heat straight to her core.

Spirits, she’d never felt so turned on. Zuko wound his arms around her and grabbed her bottom with one hand to pull her pelvis against his again. She could feel his desire for her and it excited her. She rocked her hips against his again and made to draw him into another molten kiss when he abruptly pulled away, grabbing her shoulders to put distance between them.

“Katara,” he said her name in a husky baritone. “Stop.”

Katara almost didn’t register his command through the haze of her desire. Stopping was the last thing she wanted to do, but she somehow managed to pull the break on her hormones to hear what he had to say.

Zuko bent his head to look into her eyes seriously. “We can’t do this. You’re in a relationship with Aang and—”

Katara didn’t let him finish. “I’m not.”

Zuko’s eyes widened. “…what?” he said dumbly.

She nodded. “Aang and I are taking a break right now.”

Zuko gave her a baffled look. “Huh? But back in Linfen you said that things were, and I quote, just peachy between the two of you.”

Katara fought the urge to roll her eyes. Goodness, Zuko could be awfully slow for someone who was expected to be wise enough to lead a country. “Did you really expect me to open that can of worms right there in the middle of the street while dressed like a tavern floozy?”

“Well, then, are you going to talk about it now?”

This time Katara did roll her eyes. She was too far gone for this conversation to be happening right now. “No. I’m going to keep kissing you and you’re going to save your questions for a more appropriate time.”

Her bit said, she pulled his face down to hers again and picked up right where they left off. If Zuko had any further protests he clearly decided that they were non-pressing enough to wait because he didn’t try to stop her again.

Later, they would need to sit down and have a proper talk about this. Katara would make certain Zuko understood that she desired far more from him than a one-night-stand. She would explain to him exactly why she always went to him before Aang when she needed help with something. She would tell him unabashedly of the feelings she’d been suppressing for over a year.

But before that, she was probably going to puke out her guts, because the haze in her brain right now definitely wasn’t just from hormones.

“Katara,” Zuko murmured into her mouth. “We should take this inside.”

And that too, she mentally tacked on. Even if she and Aang were taking a break, it really wouldn’t do for him to find her sucking face with Zuko in the yard.

She broke away to nod in agreement and the two took off silent as panther-sharks in the direction of the palace.

fin

oO0Oo

Abrupt ending is abrupt! Sorry, this was just getting WAY too long and let’s be real, we were all just waiting for the juicy make-out anyway. Nobody cares what happens after that.

This actually wasn’t originally how I was going to continue Vigilantes. I was pretty constrained by the prompt selection so I ended up modifying my plan heavily. Thanks to that, this conclusion isn’t quite as satisfying as I would’ve liked. It also wasn’t very cohesive in my opinion. I really struggled to write something that made sense but I found myself falling short at every turn. The result is that this story isn’t nearly as strong as the first part. Unfortunately, I just didn’t have enough time to work it into something better. I already sank way more time into it than I should’ve and that’s put me on a very tight schedule for the rest of the prompts. But that’s just part of doing these kinds of challenges. You can’t expect it to be all smooth sailing.

[jaybeartodd]

The Darkest of Times Pt 1. -- Jason Todd x fem. reader

Summary: Scarecrow has reigned his terror over Gotham causing a citywide evacuation. Unfortunately, not everyone had the privilege of being evacuated. The Reader and her friend are managing in a bunker until he goes missing. During one of her searches she meets a certain Knight. 

Parts: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

Permanent Tags: @vividmjs @alohabucky

Warnings: cursing, violence

A/N: So this is a little story I have a few ideas for that I might progress with. It takes place during the Arkham Knight storyline but I am changing some of the events to fit the reader being there. Enjoy :)

“I’ll be right back, Pete.” After giving your cat a reassuring pet, you sling your empty bag over your shoulder and with a large huff, you open the sealed door to your hideout. This ‘hideout’ consists of an old bomb shelter from some doomsday nut. All that it took was a net of branches and leaves to cover the door. Its proximity to virtually nothing and camoflauged appearance, it certaintly made itself ideal for escaping the attention of the evildoers currently have the time of their lives in Gotham’s new situation. A ‘new situation’ created out of terror-inducing gas courtesy of Scarecrow or at least you assumed this was his MO. Suffice to say, you have not been able to check the news.

Your eyes rake over the empty field, figures being made out of shadows by the paranoia that settled itself within you that awful night. Not everyone had the courtesy of being picked up by the buses hauling citizens out of the city and not everyone had the courtesy of having somewhere to escape to. Luckily your friend, Anthony, knew about this shelter and your life has been since spent with you two huddled underground as chaos ensued above ground. A rich man’s fortune in comparison to the many who met a much different and agonizing fate. A shudder rolls through you at the memories full of screams and nightmares.

When you had first arrived, you spent about a week down there with the scarce supplies already in the bunker. The supplies depleted fast and left the two of you without any other choice than to brave the outside mayhem. Deciding that risking both of your lives at once was ludicrous, you and Anthony took turns finding new grocery stores and convenience stores to break into that weren’t completely ransacked. It was always a dangerous game but you became more relaxed as weeks went by without incident.

It was routine. It was safe. That is, until Anthony went out by himself and hadn’t returned.

Weeks flew by and worry buried itself deep in your stomach. Your failing hope aligned nicely with your scarce supplies.  This has led you here; a knife strapped securely to your thigh and determination that hardly dissipates with each trip that turns up empty.

The plan you have stuck to has you scouting the closest convenience stores and work your way out in hopes he is hiding out somewhere of which you are both familiar. This is fueled by the hopeful mentality that he is simply in hiding because it has not been safe to return to the bunker yet. This would be more convincing if it hasn’t been so long since he disappeared.

Your boot crunches over broken bottles and you wince at the noise echoing in the emptiness. You know this store has been cleaned out of any food, courtesy of you and Anthony, but a small part of you hoped Anthony would poke his head out from one of these aisles and joke about you taking too long.

But with each empty aisle, you feel your stomach plummet further.

“Looking for something, sweetheart?” a gravelly voice startles you from behind. You turn your head to expose a stout man with a menacing grin aimed at you. His outfit consists of heavy armor and plenty of weaponry to intimidate you. You swallow and give a nervous smile as you stumble back.

“Nope, I’m good,” you reply shakily and reach for your knife. He eyes your hand with a look of disdain. In a hopeful deterrent, you whip out the knife to hold it menacingly in front of you.

“Not one step closer buddy,” you say retreating towards the exit. Once you feel at a safe distance from him, you spin on your heel and sprint towards the door. Your reach for the doorknob is cut off with a loud bang and a sharp pain in your leg. The shot does its job and you crumple to the ground with a cry. Your thigh oozes blood underneath your shaking fingers from the fresh gunshot wound.

“Shouldn’t have brought a knife to a gun fight,” he chuckles and saunters towards you. You fight against the pain and start to drag yourself backwards.

“Shouldn’t have assumed you were the only one with a gun,” a robotic voice taunts. A spray of bullets immediately follows and you cover your face as they ricochet through the room. The dust settles and you slowly open your eyes to see a man place heated guns back into his holsters. He wears a strange blue helmet with glowing eyes and ears that strangely resemble a certain Bat vigilante. His towering figure is clad with heavy armor that has a display of red across the chest. The emotionless mask turns towards you as he begins walking closer. You hold up your knife with one hand while trying to scoot away with your other one.

“Back off, er, whatever the hell you are,” you mentally slap yourself for not sounding as brave as you had hoped. He stops and tilts his head curiously.

“I believe I am the man that just saved you.”

Your teeth grind heavily as you conjure up the most venomous scowl.

“I don’t need saving especially from guys who look like Optimus Prime.” A grunt escapes your lips and you stop scooting backwards when you bump into a door. Your leg hurts like a bitch and the blood trail following your movement makes your stomach do flips. The masked man chuckles an unnerving robotic laugh.

“Even if Optimus Prime can suture up a bullet wound?” His hands come up to cross against his chest, leaving the decision to you.

You let out a sigh of frustration knowing fully well that you won’t be able to make it back to the bunker like this.

He seems to take that as a go ahead and pulls out supplies from one of his pockets. His gloved fingers grasp your pant leg and rip it along where the wound is. The pain, matched with the realization of you now being officially down to one pair of pants, elicits a groan.

His hand brushes harshly against the wound as he starts wiping the blood from it. A hiss makes its way through your clamped teeth in response.

“It helps if you talk about something else,” he advises, sounding strangely sincere.

“Okay, did you really kill that guy?” you question. He raises his head and looks at you.

“And what do you think?” he challenges. Without any response from you, he returns to the task at hand.

“I think that killing is wrong.” His laugh further frustrates you into believing him to be condescending.

“You sound like someone else I know. That guy with the loose trigger finger was a criminal with horrible intentions towards you and now he is somewhere where he can’t hurt anyone.” His tone is mostly masked by the modulator but you can still detect a hint of annoyance in it.

“Oh, so you are the designated good guy that decides who deserves to li-” a scream rips through your sentence as he digs into your wound.

“Sorry, gotta get the bullet out,” he informs without an ounce of remorse. Your nostrils flare and you breathe through the pain by focusing your attention on him.

“And to answer your question, no I am not. But I am the current best option.” He pulls out the bullet and tosses it aside before pulling out a flask from another one of his million pockets.

“Best option for whom?” you ask through grimaces as he pours what you assume is alcohol to sterilize the wound. His head shakes in laughter.

“Do you always interrogate your saviors?” The dripping sarcasm seeps through the robotic voice. Your only response is to scoff as he finishes up suturing your wound.

“Hey!” you protest as he grabs ahold of your shirt and rips it. He tears off a piece and wraps it around your leg.

“Well I am certainly not ripping my favorite shirt for someone who has been chastising me since I met her.”

Without a proper retort, you stay silent and he pulls the makeshift bandage tightly to make it secure.

In a rather abrupt move, he stands up and clears his throat.

“I know people driven to crime because it is their only way out. I don’t think you can see that far from your high horse,” you speak softly. The thought driven by the painful memory of your own father falling into that exact trap and being punished for it.

“Oh trust me, I know better than anyone. Now, do you have a hole you crawl back into or something that I can take you to?” he inquires. The Arkham Knight prides himself in hiding any and all semblance of emotions. And this is no exception as he doesn’t let on to the fact that this conversation has stirred something in him that he had not felt in a long time; remorse.

“Yes, I have a place. No, you can’t take me to it,” you respond and stand up shakily. Sweat drips down your forehead and you swipe away the tearstains on your cheeks.

“You still don’t trust me?” he surmises incredulously. 

“No, because anyone still left in this hell hole of a city is usually a criminal,” you state and he takes a step towards you.

“And so does that make you one?”

“I don’t know. Do you feel the ‘good guy’ urge to shoot me and send me ‘somewhere I can’t hurt anyone’?” you shoot back while staring at him defiantly. He growls at this and turns backs around.

“Fine, good luck using your snarky ungrateful attitude and bum leg to make your way home.” he spits and strides away. With the utmost maturity, you make a face at his retreating figure. 

The weight of the situation final settles in. You hadn’t even made it two stores in before getting shot and not finding any trace of Anthony nor any supplies you are in desperate need of.

Now isn’t the time for panic or self-loathing...

Shaking yourself from a downward spiral, you search around for something to stable yourself on. Luckily the bullet didn’t hit any bone but damn did it still hurt to put weight on it. Your eye catches a metal barred piece of a shelf on the ground. In the world’s biggest stroke of luck It is just big enough for you to put your shoulder over and use as a crutch. After what feels like an exhausting eternity of never-ending pain, you manage to grab a hold of it and use it to support yourself.

“Ah-ha! Take that Optimus Prime!” you whisper victoriously. You hobble out the door but immediately stop when you hear talking.

“Where is he, Knight?” a gruff voice demands. 

“The big city,” the familiar robot responds. You peek around the corner of the building and have to take a break from exerting yourself. There is no way you are going to make it back to the bunker like this. As the men continue arguing, you search for something helpful. Your search zeroes in on a car parked on the side of the building closest to you. Bingo.

You take a deep breath and limp as fast as you can towards the vehicle. It looks like a modified tank and you have a hunch it belongs to your robotic friend. They are too distracted by their fighting that they don’t notice you slip into the car. 

“Don’t leave your car unlocked in Gotham,” you whisper while closing the door as quietly as you can. You search through the thousands of controls looking for a way to turn the stupid thing on. With a victorious exclamation, your fingers brush against the rather obvious Engine button

“That looks promising,” you laugh and punch it. The engine roars alive underneath you and the men jerk their heads towards the noise.

“Oh shit,” you exclaim and grab onto the steering wheel while slamming a foot down on the gas. All you see through the blurred objects around you is a very angry man sprinting after you shouting probably the most delicate of phrases. 

With only a few dumpsters as collateral damage, you make it to the main road. Your eyes remain pressed wide as the car pushes over a hundred miles an hour. This is definitely a far cry from your little Camry you drove in high school.

Hell, with this speed you can easily make it to a store with supplies. So that’s exactly what you do. The adrenaline of the drive numbs your pain for the moment so you carefully make your way into the grocery store and start shoving things into your bag. Once it is full, you limp back into the car and make your way towards the bunker. 

If you weren’t afraid of a certain someone using their guns on you, you would use the car to track down Anthony. But you know that will have to wait until you are healed. And who knows, your optimist side proposes, he might have returned while you were gone.

You park the car a little ways away from the bunker so that he can’t use it to find you. Your hand freezes on the bunker door when you realize it isn’t sealed. Anthony?

You carefully make your way down bubbling with relieved excitement.

“Anthony, I am so friggin’ relieved you are back. You’ll never believe what I-” Your entire body comes to a complete halt as you stare at a far cry from your familiar friend.

“Who is Anthony?” Optimus Prime himself asks while holding Pete in his hands. At a different time you might have laughed at how absurd he looked in his uniform with a small cat in his arms. An obscenely different time, maybe.

“Give me my cat back,” you demand, staring him down icily.

“Give me my car back,” he retorts while holding the cat closer.

“Are you seriously holding my cat hostage?” you fume but he remains stoic.

“Fine! Your car is parked about a half mile that way,” you point, “I never planned on keeping it! I just needed a way to get home/ get supplies. How did you find me anyways?”

He sets the cat down and Pete immediately gravitates towards the cat food you have stuffed into your bag. You set it down, keeping an eye on the large presence occupying your living space. Secretly, you crave human contact you have been deprived of for weeks. But did it have to be this guy?

“I know where most of the shelters are and don’t remember seeing you in any so then I did a quick scan of nearby bunkers and voila. You know, grass is a pretty shitty cover,” he responds smugly. You take an angry step towards him but immediately regret it and resort to sitting on one of the beds instead, dragging your bag with you. This is all done with the deduction that if he wanted to shoot you, he would have done so already.

You begin taking the contents out and dish out some of the cat food onto the floor. Pete walks up and starts ravenously licking it.

“What are you still doing here?” you ask, looking up at his still figure annoyed. 

“Why don’t you stay in one of the shelters? They have resources so you don’t have to go out and get yourself shot,” he says softly. You scoff with a roll of your eyes.

“Yeah and be a burden to them. I can take care of myself.”

“Yeah, clearly.”

“Plus,” you continue, ignoring his comment, “Where do you think the first place Scarecrow is going to attack?”

“He won’t attack the shelters,” he responds coldly.

“And how would you know that?” You stop sifting through your bag and stare inquisitively at him. He clears his throat.

“I just do.” He remains tight-lipped causing you to sigh in frustration.

“Well, great conversation. Thank you for patching me up but don’t you think you should get back to shooting criminals with your self-righteous pistols?”

His helmet swivels around as you can only guess means he is looking around until they land on the empty bed next to yours.

“Who is Anthony?” he questions. pacing through the small space. An idea suddenly occurs to you.

“He is a friend of mine. You haven’t happened to see him have you? He is my age, a couple of inches taller than me, brown curly hair, a bit scrawny?” He stares at you for a few seconds before shaking his head.

“No, can’t say I have seen him.” Your face falls into a frown and he feels the sudden urge to turn your mood.

“But I can keep an eye out for him,” he suggests, immediately lifting your features.

“Seriously? Thank you so much. I would owe you a lot,” you gush and he snorts.

“So I save you from being assaulted and then stop you from bleeding out and you steal my car. I offer to keep an eye out for some guy and you ‘owe me’. I feel like we passed owing me awhile back, Doll.” Your nose scrunches at the nickname. 

“Yeah well I am not forgetting that you kill people.” you bite back.

“I don’t expect you to,” he says so softly it sounds like a thought. And with that, he turns on his heel and starts climbing out of the bunker.

“Wait!” he freezes. “What do I call you? You know, besides Optimus Prime.”

“Jay.” The name is spoken so quickly and so clipped, you barely register it. You sit there completely dumbfounded and a little whoozy from the day’s turmoil. A feeling stirs within you that seems to say he didn’t really mean to tell you his real name. 

[vapidink]

Vigilante: Harry Potter AU

"You look cold, want to use me as a blanket?"

Matthew watched in fascination as Eli's freckled cheeks turned almost as red as his hair. Then he wondered if Eli would push him off his seat because the redhead was looking pretty annoyed. Still, Matthew couldn't help but grin.

Apparently that was the wrong thing to do, because Eli's brown eyes narrowed dangerously. Thankfully, they were in herbology class, so Matthew didn't think Eli would hex him. Hopefully.

"Can you stop?" Eli asked in an angry whisper. And honestly, Matthew thought it was impressive how attractive he managed to look even when irritated.

"Fine. I guess I'll leaf you alone."

Everyone in the greenhouse looked back at Eli and Matthew as a loud crash sounded. Slowly, Matthew stood up, a sheepish grin on his face as he dusted off his robes.

"Sorry about that," he said, taking his seat. Beside him, Eli looked like the very picture of innocence. The lesson went on a moment later, though hushed whispers and giggles could be heard. For the most part, no one was really surprised.

Matthew was on his best behavior for the rest of the lesson. Meaning, he didn't bother Eli with any more puns. Mostly because he didn't want the redhead to shove him off his seat again. He still grinned at Eli every time their eyes met, but apparently, as long as he didn't say anything Eli would just ignore him.

Still, Matthew wished Eli wouldn't practically run away from him at the end of class.

"Oh look, you scared him away again," said Michael, one of Matthew's friends and a fellow Gryffindor as they watched the redheaded Ravenclaw hurry back to the castle.

"I did not." Matthew tried not to sound too offended, but then again, his friend wouldn't really care.

"He's practically running away."

"No, he's not!" Matthew glanced over at Eli and then turned back to Michael. "He's just walking. Briskly. Away from me." Michael snorted.

"Well he sure does walk briskly away from you an awful lot."

Matthew chose to ignore that. Mostly because he didn't have an answer that wouldn't prove the other fifth year boy right.

"I don't know why you bother with this class, you've already put a charm on me." Eli seemed to think that was worthy of a groan, and okay, maybe it wasn't Matthew's best. Still, it wasn't that bad.

Maybe the grin and eyebrow waggling was a bit much.

"Wanna practice your charms on me after class?" Let it never be said that Matthew was one to give up.

"No, but you can help me practice hexing idiots," Eli shot back. By the look on his face, he probably already had a few spells in mind.

"As long as you heal me with your magic touch."

For a moment Matthew thought Eli would shove him off his seat again, but apparently he was resigned to dealing with Matthew and his attempts to win the redhead over. Eli rolled his eyes, his attention quickly regained by the professor. Matthew was amused at how interested the other boy was in the boring lesson. He supposed he really was a Ravenclaw.

Still, it would have been nice if Eli could turn just a fraction of that interest towards Matthew.

Behind them, Michael was struggling not to laugh at his friend's cringe worthy attempts at gaining Eli's affections. Matthew could still hear him snickering even if he tried to pass the sound off as a cough. He waited until the end of the class—and until Eli had rushed away from him—to glare at Michael.

"What?" the boy asked innocently.  

"You're the worst friend ever."

"Then you should really pick better friends," Michael said without a moment of hesitation. "So how did it go with Eli today?" The look he got from Matthew was enough to answer that question.

"I think he hates me," Matthew said with an absolutely dejected look. It almost made Michael feel bad. Almost.

"Don't worry, he hates everyone," he said, attempting to cheer up his friend. "Actually, I think he hates you a little less than most people."

"Really? You really think so?" It was almost sad how happy Matthew was to hear that.

"Sure buddy." Michael patted his shoulder and led the way to the Great Hall.

Matthew sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time since they'd woken up. It was breakfast time. Clearly, he was still upset about Eli not giving him so much as a second look.

"You know, maybe if you didn't stare at him with that stupid face he would like you more."

Matthew turned to glare at Wendy, but he didn't look very menacing with a mouthful of toast and a smear of jam on his cheek. The dark haired girl didn't look impressed, but Matthew didn't expect her to be.

"You're supposed to be the nice one," he muttered, after washing down the toast with some juice.

"Wow, rude," Michael said, looking up from his meal for the first time.

"I am nice," Wendy said. "But you really need to stop making those faces. It's freaking me out and I'm not the one you're staring at." And okay, maybe she had a point. Still, Matthew was fairly offended.

"Hey, don't you two have practice today?" Michael asked, pushing away the empty plate in front of him.

"Yeah," Matthew said with a small frown, before perking up at a sudden thought. "Hey, do you think Eli would want to come along?"

"Nope," Michael said immediately, while Wendy just rolled her brown eyes. "He's scared of flying, remember?"

Now that Michael mentioned it, he did. Back in their first year they'd had flying classes with the Ravenclaws. Eli had refused to do much more than hover a few feet off the ground while maintaining a death grip on the broom he was using. That was how Matthew found out Eli had never flown on a broom. Coincidentally, that was also how he found out Eli was muggle born.

"Well it's not like I'll make him fly around the Quidditch pitch," Matthew said.

"Why not just ask him to cheer you on at the match?" Wendy said. "We're playing Hufflepuff anyway. It's not like he'll really care who wins so he can't say no."

"Oh, he can definitely say no," Michael added. It was too late though, Matthew was looking at Wendy like she was the most wonderful person he'd ever met—after Eli, of course.  

He certainly looked a hell of a lot more cheerful as he got up from his seat. Michael and Wendy watched with open curiosity as Matthew paused by Eli, who was picking at the scrambled eggs on his plate as he read the open book next to said plate.

"Hey Eli, hope you have an egg-cellent day," Matthew said with a bright smile.

At the Gryffindor table, Michael facepalmed while Wendy just groaned and shook her head. Before Eli could really react to that terrible pun, Matthew was already on his way out.

The grin on Matthew's face was, quite frankly, alarming. At least, that was probably what Eli thought, judging by the look he was giving Matthew. The redhead nearly jumped back when something was offered to him rather suddenly and only registered a moment later that said object was a little Gryffindor pennant flag.

"Er, what?" was Eli's eloquent response.

"Take it," Matthew said, still holding out the ridiculous little flag.

"Okay, why?" Eli asked. "You do know I'm a Ravenclaw, right?"

"Of course I do." Matthew laughed a bit, as if Eli were the one being silly. "I was just thinking that maybe you could go to the match this weekend. You know, show some support for your favorite Gryffindor."

Eli just stared. It wasn't a glare like usual either, just a blank stare that made Matthew wonder if he'd said something wrong. Again.

"Yeah, I think I'll pass," Eli said after a moment.

"Aw, why?" Matthew told himself he wasn't whining and followed Eli across the courtyard.

"I don't even like Quidditch," Eli pointed out.

"Well you're not going for the game," Matthew said. "You're going there to cheer me on!"

"Uh no, I'm not." Eli picked up the pace in an attempt to leave Matthew behind. Not that it worked, given how much shorter he was.

"Please?" Matthew tried again.

"Don't you have friends going anyway?"

"Well yeah, but it's not the same." Matthew grinned at Eli. "For starters, you're a lot cuter."

It was still impressive how brightly Eli managed to blush. Half the time, Matthew only said the things he did just to see the other boy's face turn a brilliant shade of red. He snorted and Eli turned away from him with a huff.

Matthew hurried after him, amusement shining in his eyes. Before Eli could stop him, Matthew slipped the little flag into Eli's bag.

"See you at the game," Matthew called, already making a quick escape down the hall. Eli stared after him, any complaints he may have had dying on his lips as he let out an exasperated sigh instead.

The day of the match arrived a lot quicker than Matthew had expected. Granted he'd been so busy with school work and last minute practice sessions that time had seemed to just fly by.

As was usual for him before a match, he felt a mix of excitement and nerves. Both feelings settled in the pit of his stomach, waiting to surge up the moment he walked out onto the field. Matthew was all too used to this—sometimes he used it to fuel his drive to do well. This time though, he was so excited to go outside he didn't listen to much of what the team captain was saying.

Still, it wasn't like Matthew could help it. Not when there was the possibility that Eli would be out there, watching Matthew play.

"You'll scare away the other team if you look at them like that."

Matthew was getting real tired of everyone being so mean to him. Granted, Adam was just as rude to his own brother. It kind of made Matthew feel better. Kinda.

"Good. Maybe that'll make up for one of our beaters being horrible," Matthew shot back at the tall sixth year, grinning.

"You're worse than Evan." Adam rolled his eyes, but he seemed amused.

"Where is your brother?" Matthew looked around and couldn't spot the younger blond.

"Moping somewhere about betraying his boyfriend by beating his house team." Adam said it in a deadpan voice, but Matthew could still tell he was cackling on the inside.

"They're finally dating?"

"Nope, and it makes it even funnier," Adam sounded downright gleeful. He walked off, presumably to look for his brother, and Matthew was left to finish preparing for the match.

He was all too glad to finally step out into the wide field. The wind smelled of rain and grass and the cheers of the crowd were like a comforting welcome. When he kicked off and took to the air, the wind rustling his dark hair, Matthew almost felt at home.

He could feel the grin on his face as all the players took off, bludgers whizzing by as he maneuvered past a Hufflepuff girl and caught a pass from Evan. He tossed it to Wendy who caught it with ease and threw it straight through the center hoop. The crowd roared, cheers deafening amongst the sea of red and gold on one side of the field.

Wendy flew by with a grin that rivaled Matthew's and the nerves he'd felt for the last few hours vanished leaving only an unrepressed excitement. The rush of wind as he swerved and dodged bludgers and players alike was refreshing, even with the crisp feel of it stinging his cheeks. He didn't think things could get much better.

And then he saw him.

It was fairly impressive how Matthew was able to even spot the short little Ravenclaw. Then again,   he always had been drawn to Eli.

He only saw him for a moment, his pale face flushed from the cold and his red curls a mess thanks to the wind, but there he was. Matthew was almost sure he even had the silly little flag he'd given him. It was enough to make Matthew feel like his heart would burst.

So of course that was when he got hit by a bludger.

In his last seconds of consciousness, Matthew thought of how much Michael would laugh at him when he woke up.

Thankfully, Michael was nowhere in sight when Matthew opened his eyes. There was, however, a very familiar redhead sitting at his bedside. For a second, Matthew wondered if he'd been hit and was hallucinating. Either that or he was dead because Eli was just sitting there, reading a book at Matthew's side.

He looked deceptively harmless, his gaze focused on his reading material and the slightest frown on his lips. Matthew almost felt bad for disturbing him.

"Hey," he said, his voice sounding rough. Eli jumped a bit, startled, and then turned his gaze onto Matthew. "You come here often?"

If he hadn't just woken up, he would have come up with something better. Either way, Eli didn't look impressed. He closed his book with a sharp snapping sound and glared at Matthew.

"You're a real idiot," he said. Not the most romantic line, but Matthew figured he had it coming. "What were you doing, just hovering in the middle of the field?"

"I was just taking in the view." Matthew did his best not to laugh at how true that was.

"Well maybe next time you can do that when there aren't any bludgers nearby." Matthew thought that was a very reasonable idea.

"I'll  keep that in mind," Matthew said. "how did the game end?" Eli huffed, seemingly frustrated by the other boy's uncaring attitude.

"You won, happy?"

"Very." It wasn't like Matthew expected a detailed description of the match. At least, not from Eli.

"Your teammates stopped by," Eli added. "They got kicked out after like five minutes for being noisy idiots."

"Sounds like them," Matthew said with a laugh. "But at least I have you to look after me." He watched as Eli's cheeks turned red, his freckles standing out more than usual, and his mouth forming a scowl.

"It's okay Eli, I know how much you care for me.  I can't imagine how worried you must have been."

"I was not worried!" Eli snapped. "I just wanted to let you know how stupid you were today. Not that you aren't always stupid."

"Well, I'm still happy you came to see me." Matthew smiled brightly even as Eli glared at him, his grip on the book in his lap tightening. For a moment, Matthew thought Eli would throw the book at him, instead he just lifted it up so that the cover was visible to Matthew.

It was Matthew's turn to blush as he saw the title of the book.

"Interesting reading material," Eli said with a flat look on his face. The title 1001 Puns and Pick-up Lines seemed to mock Matthew. "You know, some of these sound awfully familiar."

"Where did you get that?"  Matthew asked, shrinking back into the bed.

"It fell out of your bag when they brought your things over." Eli almost sounded smug now. Matthew supposed that was better than him being angry. "Where did you even get a muggle book?"

"Michael gave it to me," Matthew confessed, picking at the bed sheets. "He said that was what muggles said to the people they liked."

"And you believed Michael?" Matthew supposed Eli had a point. He made a note to himself to hex Michael later. "I know I say this pretty often, but you're an idiot."

"Well what else was I supposed to do?"

"Maybe talk to me like a normal person instead of using these?" Eli waved the book in his hand to emphasize his point. Matthew perked up at that.

"If I do will you go out with me?" he was quick to ask.

"No," Eli responded just as quickly. He sighed as Matthew's face crumpled into an expression of sheer disappointment. "But maybe I'll think about it," Eli added reluctantly.

Instantly, Matthew was back to smiling brightly and looking at Eli like he'd just told him he'd won a million galleons. His smile only widened when the redhead's cheeks reddened.

"Does this mean you'll go to the next match?"

"As long as you don't get hit with by any more bludgers," Eli said in a deadpan tone.

"I'm not planning on letting anything hit me unless it's your lips on mine."

Matthew wasn't even surprised when he ended up getting hit with a book. He still laughed as he watched Eli stomp out while Madam Pomfrey complained about rowdy visitors bothering her patients.