#Why do ALL the aircraft go anywhere close to the ground???

[thetruearchmagos]

Currently watching Godzilla vs Kong, and for reasons anyone who knows this blog might guess at I fucking hate it.

[xbadgerbearx]

your people will have our help

word count: 2.1k

Can’t Sleep: [1] … [3]

Of course you had to jump out of the aircraft into the cold water. What a perfect way to start the mission. Your team swam for a bit before wading through the shore as you approached the beach.

"Congratulations, Bloodsport."

"How'd you do it, Waller? There's no soldiers out here on patrol at all."

The beach was completely empty. There were no disturbances and more importantly, no enemies anywhere to be found. It was... peaceful.

"Let's just say they were distracted."

You only walked on the sand a couple feet before a large explosion erupted.

"Control, we have a disturbance south of here," Bloodsport reported after you jumped in surprise.

"It's just a diversion, Bloodsport."

Bloodsport seemed to weigh his options before speaking, "All right, we cut through the jungle to get to Valle Del Mar."

"Don't they have blockades at the city limits?" Peacemaker interjected.

"That's the word."

"How we getting in? Especially with Charlie the Tuna here," Peacemaker said while looking back at King Shark.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?"

"You're the leader. You're supposed to be decisive."

"And I've decided you should eat a big bag of dicks, how's that?"

"You're being facetious, but if this whole beach was completely covered in dicks and somebody said I had to eat every dick until the beach was clean for liberty, I would say no problemo."

"Why would someone put penises all over the beach?" Ratcatcher II asked.

"Who knows why madmen do what they do."

"Chris, this is the second time you've made a comment like this today. Is there something you want to tell us?" You joked.

"Well, you know what I think?" Bloodsport started. "I think liberty is just your excuse to do whatever you want. Whether that's to eat a beach full of dicks or killin' folk."

"Oh, yeah? At least I don't kill men for money like you."

"Oh, here we go," Bloodsport sighed as he turned to face Peacemaker.

"There's something wrong with your skin," Ratcatcher II called out as she pointed to Polka Dot Man. You turned to see his face covered in bulging colorful... polka dots.

"It's just a rash."

"Oh, my- Abner, are you okay? You don't look so good," you said worriedly as you reached your hand out to touch him. You were interrupted by another loud explosion off in the distance.

"Never mind that, we need to continue forward."

You made it quite the distance before Bloodsport dropped his bag onto the ground. The entire time walking you watched Abner with both curiosity and worry.

"Alright, we'll camp here, and tomorrow we'll go straight through the city to get to La Gatita Amable by nightfall."

Everyone was laying out their sleeping equipment, in this case sleeping bags, as you figured out where you should lay yours.

"Why don't you lay over here, (L/n)? I could keep you warm," Chris offered with a laugh.

"Fuck no," you replied with the same humorous energy. "I'd rather you not roll over on me like you did last time."

"Last time?" Abner piped up timidly.

"It's nothing like that," you assured while rolling your eyes. "Me, Chris, and some of our other teammates at the time had to huddle up for warmth after Waller sent us on a mission somewhere in Siberia."

"Oh," Abner said, kind of relieved.

"I'll just put mine here," you placed your bag next to Abner's and DuBois. "It's near the fire."

You changed into your sleep clothes. Well, to be honest you just took off your shirt and slept in your tank top, but it was close enough. It wasn't long before you drifted off, however, you awoke some time later to some shuffling sounds and a quiet groan. Peeking under your lashes, you find yourself facing toward DuBois who was resting on his elbow, alert. You quietly sat up and turned to see what DuBois was looking at. A colorful light show was dancing on the leaves and tall grass. Almost as quickly as it happened, Abner appeared. He looked a little out of it, but quickly dawned a look of shock as he was caught doing... what exactly?

You got up to make sure your favorite awkward man was doing okay before you were cut off by a loud bang! Instinctively, you disappeared. Literally. DuBois kept shooting Nanaue until he was backed up against a tree.

"How deep of a sleeper are you?" DuBois asked Cleo, to which she responded sleepily, "I was having the most wonderful dream."

"If it was you about to be eaten by King Shark, then you're psychic," Chris said.

"I don't believe he would do that. He has very kind eyes."

Sebastian was saying what you could only guess was that Nanaue was, in fact, going to eat her.

"Hungry," Nanaue whined.

"You bastard!"

Rats from every direction emerged from the darkness as Cleo held up her glowing device. DuBois was looking rather uncomfortable.

"All right, calm down with the rats!" he yelled.

"What?"

"I have a thing with rats."

"You have a thing with rats?"

"Yes."

"And you're on a team with someone who controls them?" your disembodied voice asked.

He whipped around trying to find you before yelling, "What the fuck?"

As if suddenly remembering that you cannot be seen, you revealed yourself behind Abner whom you were using as a shield. As cute as he thought it was that you were using him as protection, it did startle him that you just appeared randomly behind him.

"Partnering up with someone with rats is not something I asked for!"

Peacemaker started laughing.

"What are you laughing at me for, man? Why the fuck are you in your underwear?"

You looked over and sure enough, Chris was in nothing but his underwear.

"Woah!" you yelled while burying your face into Abner's back. "Chris, put on some pants for fucks sake!"

"Tighty-whities? Really?"

"Now that's just racist."

"No, it's not racist! They're tighty-whities!"

"You didn't tell me you had a fear of rats, DuBois," Waller said over the comms.

"I'm an assassin! Why would I share my liabilities?" This was promptly followed by an uncharacteristicly girly scream.

"Aww, he's offering you a pretty leaf to show you he means no harm," Cleo cooed.

"Why the fuck would I want a leaf?"

DuBois was getting increasingly more freaked out while Chris started laughing again.

"Just get the rats out of here!"

Cleo turned off her device and all the rats scurried back into the jungle.

Peacemaker turned to DuBois and asked, "Hey, we gonna kill Megalodouche now, or what?"

"Nanaue's the strongest member of your team. You need him to get into Jotunheim."

"Yeah, well we can't function as a team if we gotta watch our back from one of our own eatin' our bollocks," Bloodsport replied.

"Nanaue," Cleo started as she kneeled down to his height. "Would you eat your friends?"

"I no friends."

"You have no friends? Well, if you did, would you eat them?"

Chris answered with a "yes" before he was shot a look from Ratcatcher II.

"No?"

"Then can we be your friends?"

Chris scoffed, "Come on, he's obviously lying."

"If I die 'cause I gambled on love, it will be a worthy death."

DuBois shook his head, "You are a little idiot."

So much for a full rest. It was nearly morning by the time the shark incident was resolved, so you decided to just pack up and dress yourself.

"Task Force X, you have an additional mission directive. We've located Colonel Rick Flag. He's been taken by the enemy."

"Rick Flag?" DuBois asked while your team made your way through the jungle.

"I know, you both served on special forces in Qurac that took down Avral Kaddam. Flag was the one who initially recommended you."

"You had other operatives in Corto Maltese and didn't tell us?"

"There was no tactical advantage, now there is. I've uploaded the location on your MTS. Terminate his captors with extreme prejudice. Kill anyone you see. These are dangerous people. Recover Flag before moving on to the city."

You eventually made it to a decent sized camp before DuBois MTS started beeping.

"That's where they're holding Flag."

"Nothing like a bloodbath to start the day."

"I thought they called you Peacemaker," Ratcatcher II questioned.

"I cherish peace with all my heart. I don't care how many men, women, and children I need to kill to get it."

Ratcatcher II turned to Polka Dot Man before whispering, "I thought you were the crazy one," which was swiftly answered by you lightly shoving her shoulder.

"I am."

"All right," Bloodsport said, getting everyone's attention. "Let's get it."

You and Nanaue crept behind a man who gave his cup to his buddy.

"Gracias," you heard the man say. Soon after, King Shark picked the man up and ate him as he started screaming. He dropped what looked to be a communication device. Nanaue smacked his mouth as the comms device went off.

"Cualquier cosa?"

As your nearby teammates looked in somewhat fear as to what to do, you picked up the dead soldier's comms and said "Nada, Señora" while perfectly mimicking his voice. Your team carried on.

You hastily turned yourself invisible as you scouted for Rick Flag. It took a couple of minutes but you managed to find the only white guy there. You assumed he was Rick since he was injured, but were they... laughing?

"Bloodsport," you whispered into your comms. "I found Rick Flag. He was laughing?" You sounded unsure.

"Most likely drugged," Peacemaker said. "Where's he located?"

"Northmost tent, past the watchtower." Right after you said that you saw a bunch of colorful polka dots disintegrate the watchtower.

"On our way."

You could hear some of your team's conversation as they approached your location. You made yourself visible again.

"I'm sorry it's so... flamboyant."

"It looks cool," you heard Cleo say.

"I don't like to kill people, but if I pretend it's my mom, it's easy."

"TMI, mate," said DuBois.

More laughter could be heard inside the tent as Bloodsport ripped open the tent curtain. An uncomfortable silence settled.

"DuBois?"

"Hey, Flag."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Bloodsport looked around confused. "Waller told us that you were... uh... are you drinking tea?"

Flag gestured to his female companion sitting across the table from him, "This is Sol Soria, she's the leader of the freedom fighters, the resistance trying to take down the current government. They-they saved my life."

"Oh. Wow."

Everyone put down their weapons.

"Why did my people not alert me of your arrival?"

You awkwardly hide yourself behind Abner again.

"We didn't see any people," Bloodsport swiftly lied.

"Yeah, I didn't see anybody on the way..." Peacemaker continued.

"There's no one out there."

"They were gone when we got here."

"I turned them into my mother in my head and killed them."

Everyone turned to look at Polka Dot Man. You just sighed and smacked his shoulder. To make matters worse, King Shark hacked up... was that a finger with a wedding ring? Sebastian squeaked out an audible "Uh oh."

Soria promptly lunged off the table and made her way outside. You and your team awkwardly stood amongst the destruction you caused while Flag and Soria looked in pain.

"Typical Americans. Just run in, guns blazing."

"I know, this is messed up. These guys, they're..."

Rick looked behind him to see Peacemaker and Bloodsport getting into a stupid cat fight, while Ratcatcher II was rubbing her face ashamed, and you and Polka Dot Man were looking off into the jungle having your own conversation and not even paying attention.

"They're fucking idiots, but right now our objectives aligh with yours. If Jotunheim contains the technology our intelligence says it does, then it could be used on the people of Corto Maltese as well as Americans. That's why we need your help to get into the city so we can stop 'em."

Soria just stared past Flag and asked, "Is that rat waving at me?"

Sure enough, Rick turned back around to see Sebastian waving at them. Cleo was messing with her hands, Chris and DuBois were looking around while tapping their feet, and you were admiring Abner's polka dots on his costume as he was awkwardly trying to accept your compliments.

"It appears it is."

"Why?"

"I'm gonna guess because it's friendly."

Soria thought for a moment, weighing her options, before speaking again.

"Luna and Suarez murdered my entire family. I'd make a deal with the devil to stop them." As if it physically pained her to say, she continued. "Your people will have our help getting to Vall Del Mar to apprehend this Gaius Grieves."

[crumbledcastle28]

Chapter 16: An Understanding

Warnings: this one really isn’t bad, just a droid death and sappiness.

Author’s Note: Thank you to anyone who has supported this. We are almost there!

(If this is your gif please lmk!)

The sweet moment between the three of you was quickly ruined by a distant explosion, so the Mandalorian woman quickly rushed you all out after she quickly gave Mando a gift.

A Mandalorian jet-pack.

You had seen other Mandalorians use them in the past, and Mando seemed incredibly honored to have one, so if Mando was happy, you were happy.

The team followed the tunnel towards the smell of sulfur, trying your best to track the lava flats. You didn’t have much of choice. That was the only way out.

As you walked down the tunnels, you held the sleeping child in your arms, keeping him close to you. Mando walked next to you, stealing glances at you as you walked. You would glance back, but he would always face forward once more, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t starring. You would always smile at him when he would turn away, obviously embarrassed.

Who knew you could make a beskar covered warrior like that be embarrassed?

You felt at peace. At home. For once you actually had one. You didn’t even know how to describe the feeling. It’s like your anxious brain and beating heart finally subsided. Like your body relaxed, and you had nothing to fear. Sure, the team was still stuck in these tunnels and the exit would be swarming with stormtroopers, but you had backup. A team. A clan.

It felt like a new start.

Once you finally made it to the river’s edge, a boat was leaned up against the land. It had obviously seen better days and the droid inside hadn’t been used in a long time.

Great.

Mando and Karga tried pushing the boat, but that did no use, so Cara raised her rifle and shot the boat free from the hardened lava.

You smiled at her and chuckled, thinking about the fact she had outsmarted a Mandalorian and a well known Guild member. You were not surprised in the slightest.

You could’ve sworn she laughed back.

Everyone climbed into the boat, and by some miracle, the droid inside sputtered to life. It stood up, raising its paddle and dropping it into the orange liquid beside it. It then said some droid gibberish, which IG-11 presumed was a request.

“I believe he is asking where we would like to go,” IG said.

“Downriver. To the lava flats,” Karga said, and the droid set to paddling.

Mando was to your left, while Cara was at your right. The child had woken up once more, using his energy to chew on your thumb. Mando brought his hand up to his helmet, activating the thermal scanners.

“That’s it,” Karga yelled, pointing to the growing light coming from the end of the tunnel.

“We’re free!”

It had been a long time since you had heard something like that.

“No,” Mando said, squashing your elated mood.

“Stormtroopers. They’re flanking the mouth of the tunnel. They must know we are coming.”

“Stop the boat,” you said sternly to the ferry droid. The droid, however, gave no sign that he actually heard you.

“Hey,” Cara said firmly, walking up to the droid.

“She said stop the boat,” she said before shooting the droid’s head off.

You appreciated Cara’s act of defense for you, you really did, but it didn’t do any good. The boat kept moving.

There was no other way. You had to stand and fight.

You pulled your longspear from your back and tucked the child deeper into your arms. You had fought stormtroopers before, why would this time be any different?

“They will not be satisfied with anything less than the child,” IG said, and you turned your head to look back at him. Your confused expression accurately represented the feelings of the rest of the group as well.

“This is unacceptable. I will eliminate the enemy, and you will escape.”

“You don’t have that kind of firepower pal,” Mando said in reply.

“You wouldn’t even get to daylight.”

“That is not my objective,” said the droid. “I still have the security protocols from my manufacturer. If my designs are compromised, I must self-destruct.”

“What?” you asked the droid.

“I am not permitted to be captured. I must be destroyed.”

The droid looked at Mando and said, “Sadly, there is no scenario where the child is saved in which I survive.”

“No,” Mando said, moving closer to the droid.

“You’re not going anywhere. We need you.”

“Please tell me the child will be safe in your care,” the droid said, now looking at both you and Mando.

“But you will be destroyed-” you began to say.

“And you will live,” IG said. “I will have served my purpose.”

He looked to Mando and said, “There is nothing to be sad about.”

“I’m not…. sad,” Mando said, but you were no where near convinced. His voice was the only way for you to humanize him, and emotions were very easily traced on the voice. When you can’t see someone’s face, the voice is all they have. You had gotten good at that.

It seemed IG had gotten good at it too.

“Yes, you are. I’m a nurse droid. I have analyzed your voice,” IG said before coming to the child and brushing his hand along his forehead.

No matter how little Mando wanted to deny it, the droid was your saving grace.

The droid then stepped into the boiling lava, and started making its way down towards the exit.

You watched the droid with wide and curious eyes. You had never seen a droid be so… selfless. You had always seen droids as mindless robots who only acted out of survival, but this one gave its life for you.

You wished you could repay him somehow.

When the detonator on the droid finally exploded, the child in your arms lifted his ears and watched. Even though the droid had been there for a small time, he was still the reason you and the child were alive. It seemed like the kid was loosing a friend.

You could see the pain in his eyes, and you wished you could take it all away from him and put it into your own.

Once the boat finally drifted into the tunnel, you saw the bodies of the stormtroopers on either side of the bank.

Maybe this actually… worked?

But, like many… many… times before, the scream of a tie fighter ruined all chances of an easy departure.

“Moff Gideon!” Cara shouted before raising her blaster and shooting at the aircraft. Mando and Karga immediately joined her, while you used your longspear to shield you and the child from any blaster fire.

The ship’s canons rained fire on the group for a couple seconds before the ship went roaring completely over your heads.

“He missed,” Karga said in relief.

“He won’t next time,” Mando said. The ship was already starting to turn back around.

“He mentioned he knew you,” Mando said to you, referring to when he was trapped in the town not even an hour before this.

“Yeah….” you said.

“I’ve pissed him off,” you chuckled out, and Mando looked at you with a breathy laugh as well.

“Hey,” Karga said suddenly. “Let’s have the kid do the magic hand thing.”

Oh great, you thought to yourself.

“Come on baby! Do the magic hand thing,” Karga said to the kid while wiggling his fingers.

The child only giggled in your arms and waved back, and you let a light chuckle come out of your nose.

“I’m out of ideas,” Karga said.

“I’m not,” Mando said, turning around to get the jet-pack from the boat.

You watched him walk away with a slight smirk on your face. You believed in Mando more than anyone, and you prayed he had enough training to know how to use that thing.

You saw the tie fighter making its way back to you through the corner of your eye, but you continued to watch Mando. He attached the pack to his back and then locked eyes with you before shooting into the sky like a rocket.

You watched him with a beating heart as he flew right in front of the tie fighter, allowing it to go under his feet. He then hooked his grappling cable onto the wing and used the jet pack to propel himself onto the cockpit window.

Even though you were scared out of your mind, you still managed to smile at the sight above you.

Your Mandalorian was incredible.

Mando’s blaster did almost no damage to the cockpit door before Moff Gideon jerked the ship to the left. The ship was starting to spiral, and your awe quickly turned into worry.

Mando was holding on with everything he had.

He all of a sudden let go and went soaring through the air. The left side of the ship completely exploded, which sent the ship careening to the ground. It burst into smoke on impact.

Barely a second later, your Mandalorian landed before you in a slight crouch, before standing to his full height.

The smile on your face said it all.

He chuckled slightly at your shocked and happy expression before taking the child from you and holding him in his arms. You walked to stand beside him and stare up to his face, proud and joyful.

You got a Mandalorian.

Karga and Cara stood before you two with equally shocked expressions

“That was impressive Mando,” Karga said. “It looks like your Guild rates have just gone up.”

You grinned at Karga, enjoying his little tease.

“Any more stormtroopers?” Mando asked.

“I think we cleared the town,” Cara said with a laugh. “I’m thinking of staying around just to be sure.”

“You’re staying here?” Mando asked, equally confused as you were.

“Well, why not?” Karga asked. “Nevarro is a very fine planet, and now that the scum and villainy have been washed away, it’s very respectable again.”

“As a bounty hunter hive?” Mando asked, and you once again giggled at his bluntness.

“Some of my favorite people are bounty hunters,” Karga said with a bit of a chuckle.

“And perhaps”- he said while placing a hand on Cara’s shoulder- “this specimen of a soldier might consider joining our ranks.”

“And you, my friend”- he said while turning his attention back to Mando -“will be welcomed back into the Guild with open arms.”

Mando looked to the child in his arms, beaming up at him with utter adoration. He then looked to you at his side, and you gave him a smile that said I’m with you. With whatever you choose.

“I’m afraid I have more pressing mattors at hand,” he said, turning his head back to the child.

“Well you better keep watch of this one,” Karga said to Mando while gesturing to you.

“She could take your place at the Guild in a second,” he says, while snapping his fingers for emphasis.

“And she would do a damn good job,” he says, and you laugh in reply.

Mando gives a slight nod in agreement which only makes you laugh harder.

You can’t recall ever laughing this hard.

“Y/n,” Cara says, and you divert your attention back to her.

She is trying to look at you, but she just can’t meet your gaze.

“Listen… I… I’m really sorry. The Empire hurt me a lot and I just couldn’t…” she chokes out.

You could tell she was trying to apologize to you. For when your identity got revealed, for doubting your loyalty, or anything in between. She was obviously struggling, so you decided to help her along.

“Cara,” you said, and her eyes met yours.

“Your reaction was perfectly understandable. Truly. There is nothing to be sorry for,” you say, and a flash of relief skates over her eyes.

“I just saw how you were with Mando and the kid today and I…. I owed you an apology,” she said, and you smiled at her.

“Thank you, Cara. I’m glad we could come to an understanding,” you respond, and she smiles back at you. A genuine, relieved smile.

“As am I,” she says while leaning forward to caress the child’s ear.

“Take care of this little one,” Cara said to you and Mando. You gave her a respectful nod, acting as a promise that you would.

“Or maybe,” Karga added, “it will take care of you.”

You looked to Mando with a light smile, and you could tell he was grinning too.

The weight of guilt and shame had been lifted off of you. The people you cared for most forgave you. They looked at what you did right in the eyes, but looked past it, and saw you. You were sure it would take some time for them to completely trust you, but they were willing to try.

You couldn’t ask for anything more.

Tag list:

@leahkenobi @pinkninja200 @farfromjustordinary @440mxs-wife @bookloverfilmoholic @impala1967666

[bravo-four-seal-team]

Where the Sea meets the Sky (and Land connects the Hearts)

Summary:

Eric Blackburn and Pete 'Maverick' Mitchell used to date in the academy, it was kept a secret by their friends Goose and Adam, until one tragic day. Goose was killed in a training accident. Maverick ended things on a sour note, blaming the other man for being a distraction. Now Bravo team being led by Eric Blackburn has been called in to help located a Top Gun captain who was taken hostage after his plane went down and he bailed out.

How will everyone cope with seeing each other again?

CHAPTER TWO

If there was one thing Eric Blackburn hated, it was rainy Monday mornings. He'd grown accustomed to the calm weather in Virginia Beach, but dreary grey clouds and constant rain weren’t his idea of a good start into the week. He took a sip of his coffee and looked up when someone knocked on the door.

“Enter!”

"Commander Blackburn? Admiral Simmons is here to see you", the admin clerk told him.

An admiral? Why? “Thank you, Thompson.”

As the admiral entered, Eric dutifully saluted him and stood at attention. He didn’t miss the wings pinned to the man’s uniform lapel or the signs of stress and fatigue in the lines of his face. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach.

“At ease, Commander”, Admiral Simmons said with a nod. “I’ve been told your SEAL team is the best there is. We have an emergency.”

This was not how Eric expected his Monday to begin. As the Admiral handed over a file, he sighed softly, pressing the shortcut on his phone to send a mass text to Bravo with the simple message: Briefing asap .

“Your intelligence officer has already been briefed”, Simmons told him as they headed to the briefing room. “The mission has been approved, but it is top secret.”

While waiting for Bravo to join them, Eric opened the file. His heart dropped.

Oh God.

The door opened and Bravo filed into the room, chatting quietly amongst themselves. They must have read something in Eric’s expression because they sobered up and quickly sat down.

"Alright, listen up”, Eric said as soon as the door closed, “this mission is an urgent one. Agent Ellis?"

He was glad to let Mandy take point on this briefing, and not just because it was nice to have her back. He could have sworn his heart missed a few beats when the picture of their objective came on screen. From his vantage point off to the side, he could see Clay do a double take, blue eyes going wide.

"A naval aviator, Captain Pete Mitchell, was shot down 48 hours ago over enemy territory”, Mandy began. “His canopy was spotted by members of his squadron and primary rescue was launched. However, the rescue crew was intercepted by enemy aircraft and had to retreat. Tangos on the ground were seen dragging Mitchell off, but we are still waiting on satellite and aerial images of the area."

Admiral Simmons stepped forward to address the team. "Gentlemen, this is one of the best Top Gun graduates and one of, if not the best pilot the Navy has. Alive or dead, we want him back."

"Pararescue is out of the question, they can’t get anywhere near, that's why we are called in”, Blackburn spoke up, noting the silent question on some of his men’s faces. “Wheels up in an hour, boys. We're going sailing."

"This is bullshit!" Struggling out of his gear, Rooster scowled. "Mav needs us!"

Phoenix looked at him, her brows furrowed. "I only saw his chute deploy, Roos…", she said softly. "There’s no telling if he even survived the bail out.”

Bob, her backseater, had his eyes closed and his head down. "They probably wouldn't have kept him alive for long either.”

“You don’t know that”, Rooster argued.

Glances were exchanged across the room, but nobody knew what to say or how to handle this situation.

"I agree with Bradshaw”, Hangman said with a sigh.

Rooster’s head jerked up, confusion flickering over the worry and pain in his expression.

Hangman continued: “Maverick is still out there and he needs us. We need to get back out there and do something ."

Coyote nodded. Fanboy muttered an agreement.

They all jumped when the door opened and Warlock entered. He looked at them. “NAVSOC has green-lit a rescue mission for Maverick”, he told them solemnly. “DEVGRU assets have been briefed.”

“We’ll be part of the rescue, right?” Rooster’s hands were clenched tight around his parachute pack.

Warlock gave him a sympathetic look. “That’s out of our hands.”

"Blackburn, you good?", Jason asked as the helo dipped slightly, the thump-thump of the rotor blades slicing through the air getting louder for a moment as the pilot adjusted their course.

The commander snapped out of his thoughts. "Fine." The closer they were getting to the carrier, the more his stomach churned. It had been ages since he’d last seen Maverick. More than 30 years. A lifetime.

Ray leaned forward. "How do you know him?”

I don’t. I thought I did, once upon a time. Blackburn sighed. "Old friends”, he offered and briefly considered leaving it at that. He didn’t. “The picture beside Adam’s in the Bulkhead. The aviator?"

"What about it?", came the question from Sonny.

Blackburn really didn’t want to have this conversation, not here, not now, not anytime soon if he could have his way. But there was no taking it back now, so he explained: “That’s Lieutenant Nick Bradshaw, callsign Goose. Adam and I met him when we were in the Academy. He flew with Maverick, was his RIO and best friend. He was killed in a training accident, Adam and I put his image up since he lived out in VA Beach at times… Maverick cut us off after Goose’s death. Never heard from him again."

As the helo descended on final approach to the carrier, Eric heard Clay murmur “I had no idea”.

Climbing out of the helo, Bravo quickly made their way off the landing pad. Following Admiral Simmons inside, they pretend not to notice that people are staring at them.

“They’re looking at us like we’re the most interesting thing on this ship”, Sonny muttered.

“We probably are”, Trent joked drily.

“Shame Metal isn’t here”, Brock chimed in, adjusting his hold on Pepper’s leash as she excitedly sniffed around. “That would’ve made things more interesting.”

A beat passed as they all thought of their lost brother. It had been a year, but they still missed him.

“You mean he’d be having a staring contest with every single one of those people”, Clay said with a lopsided grin, making them all chuckle.

Dagger Squadron was on its way to the cafeteria after debrief when they saw the group of newcomers, led by Cyclone himself.

Bob interrupted himself mid-sentence to tell Phoenix: “Look at that dog, isn’t it cute?”, to which Coyote responded: “Cute? Bob, have you seen those teeth?”

Phoenix snorted and backed up her WSO. The dog really was cute.

They heard snatches of conversation over the ambient noise of the carrier, the rustle of tactical gear and the clattering of dog paws. Cyclone and the commander appeared to be talking about logistics and responsibilities, the two men behind them were holding a conversation with telling glances alone. The other four men lagged a few paces behind and while the man with the dog and the guy next to him didn’t say much either, they seemed highly amused by the other two: One of the men – a Texan, from the sound of it – was passionately griping about being on a ship, about hating the ocean and something about jellyfish and Elle Woods. The other was egging him on with a gleeful smirk.

“At least there’s no GOPLATs for you to swan-dive off of, Peter Pan”, the Texan commented.

The aviators blinked, traded puzzled looks.

The blond just laughed.

Rooster nearly tripped over a knee-knocker and bumped into Hangman. He was vaguely aware of his teammate saying something, but he didn’t understand a word of it, his ears still ringing with the sound of that laughter. He’d recognise that laugh anywhere.

Bradley is laughing as he watches his mother dance in the kitchen with Clay, the 3-year-old boy giggling and laughing.

The young boy could easily pass as his biological brother, or even as Uncle Ice’s son. He waves to Clay, who has the biggest smile on his face, before his blue eyes snap to the door and he starts shouting “Uncle Mav, Uncle Mav!”.

Uncle Mav is followed by Uncle Adam, who looks exhausted and promptly collapses on the couch, muttering things about idiots and the teams.

“Rooster!”

He jerked, coming back to himself.

“The hell is the matter with you?”, Hangman snapped.

“Sorry, thought I saw someone.”

[sirthisisa-wendys]

The Enforcers: Part 10 (Geto Suguru x Fem!Reader)

synopsis: reveal, don't conceal.

wc: 1.4k

tw: none

masterlist

"Come out one at a time with your hands up."

You stand idly by as the militia pulls people out of the SUVs; lingering behind Suguru as he watches the former members of the CSB kneel on the ground and be restrained with zip ties. When you see the familiar pink hair of Yuji Itadori, you start a little, eyes widening as he lays on the ground and is zip tied before being brought to his feet and made to kneel beside another comrade of his.

Of yours.

You can't see all of the faces, but the fact that Yuji made it out alive meant that he would try his best to get the others out alive. And that's enough for you.

A sea of about eighty people are kneeling on the cold floor of the aircraft hangar beside the main building, and every single one of them is restrained.

"Your entire organization has been burnt to the ground," Suguru begins. "And you come to me to get answers?" No one speaks. The implications of his words are enough to make everyone in the area gulp hard. "Why not ask your Grand Council?" Suguru wonders and chuckles from the guards echo around the room.

"We did," a voice - Nobara Kugisaki - calls out, and you raise onto the tips of your toes to try and see her. "but they sent us away without an answer."

"What about your leaders?"

Another silence.

"One of you tell me what truly happened. And be quick about it, my patience does not extend far."

"They sent..." Choso. "They sent in people we did not know to gun us down. We were all gathered in the Grand Hall, where we originally thought we would be informed about the next steps to take since we filed our grievances."

"And?"

"They told us to go to our barracks and wait for further instruction. The massacre started as soon as lights went out."

"It was so dark," someone cries out, sniffling. "They shot my partner before... before--" Various people begin to sob, and you grab Suguru's arm, looking over at the group sadly. Every single one of them had escaped from hell, and now they're here, looking to the both of you for help. Suguru peers over his shoulder at you, face set in a grim expression.

"Maybe we should give them some time before we ask them about everything," you whisper.

"The sooner we know as much as we can, the safer we'll be," he replies, turning back to the crowd in front of him. "All of those who work for us will be brought to the conference room. The rest of you will be given a good meal and put in temporary residences. You will be heavily guarded and watched. You will not be permitted to leave the Fallen Sun District until we have determined that everything is safe. Communication with your families that reside outside of the district will be cut off, and communication with the media will be punished. Guard set A, take those who are our agents. Guard set B, take the others away."

_____________________________________________________________

You sit beside Suguru in the conference room, arms crossed. You all look at the agents filing in, and Choso comes in as the last one - which isn't really a surprise - capping off the small crowd of ten double agents.

"I need details," Suguru states, and looks back at the person at the door, who nods and switches off the lights. A projector switches on, and an aerial map of the CSB headquarters comes on the whiteboard wall. "Where did the chaos begin? Where was Toji? Yuki? Gojo? And where are they now?"

"From the South Wing down to the Cafeteria, then the killers split up and took the East, North, and West Wing," someone mentions, and Suguru draws lines in accordance with the account.

"And the leaders of each faction?"

"Gojo disappeared long before the massacre began, but I know Toji orchestrated the attack," Choso answers.

"How?" you wonder, squinting your eyes. "And don't tell me you caught him talking about it in the open and said nothing."

"That's how it happened," Choso states grimly. "I'm the one who sent the email. I thought you would come and help us, Suguru." Suguru doesn't reply, staring at the aerial map and biting the inside of his cheek. "Those people died because you didn't come to help us. Do you know how many bodies I had to crawl over just to get to freedom? How many people had been shot down in their beds?"

"You know I know what that's like," Suguru replies tersely. "You know I know what it's like to have no fucking help."

"Then why? Why did you let us be slaughtered like animals, Suguru? Why couldn't you just do the right thing and come and help us? You put us in that mess! And you left us to die!" Choso stands up suddenly and produces a revolver from the inside of his coat, and points it at you. Guards instantly unholster their weapons and aim them at Choso, red lights pointed at his entire body.

"Don't shoot!" you cry out, hands up. "Don't shoot him!"

"Is it because of her?" Choso wonders, eyes empty and devoid of compassion. "Did she tell you to stay put?"

"Don't shoot!" you repeat, bullets of sweat running down your body inside of the vest. "Don't shoot."

"She told me to go and get you." Suguru finally answers, his own weapon pointed at Choso. "She wanted to save everyone's life."

"And why didn't you?" Choso whispers, gun still aimed at you.

"Because I didn't have time. And I didn't have the resources. You, out of everyone here, should know I would put my life on the line for my people when I can." Choso chokes out a sob, dropping the gun and collapsing onto the floor in a fit of tears. His piercing cries echo in the small room, and you rush to his side, holding him close to you. He sobs into your shoulder, whispering apologies and shaking furiously.

"Don't apologize," you whisper, rubbing his back slowly and methodically. "It's okay. You've been through a lot, and just need to rest."

_____________________________________________________________

"I'm going to the media to break the story," you mention, facing Suguru as he brushes his teeth.

"What?" he cries out, mouth full of white foam. "No. You're not going anywhere. Too risky."

"Send a guard with me, then."

"No." He spits into the sink, and you cross your arms, frowning. "I'm not giving you permission to do that. If Toji pops up, you're fucked. I'm not taking that chance."

"So you can't leak an interview with me? Like the ones we recovered from the Archives?" Suguru braces himself on the sink, hair falling down his face and shielding his expression from view.

"Babe," Suguru breathes, sighing and shaking his head. "It's possible."

"I'll tell my story. I'll leave you out of it."

"You can't tell your story without me," Suguru whispers, tying his hair back with the rubber band around his wrist. "Do you think we should get other stories corroborating ours?"

"Yes," you answer immediately. "A thousand times, yes." Suguru's onyx eyes drop to the sink, and you come up behind him, wrapping your arms around his large frame. "Do you trust me?"

He places his hands on yours and nods slowly.

"I trust you," he murmurs. "And I love you."

"I love you, too."

Four hours later, you're sitting in front of a camera, eyes staring into the lens with the intensity of your mother and father's expressions in their own videos.

"Ready?" Suguru wonders, leaning over and touching your hand from behind the camera.

"Ready." He clicks the record button, and a red light begins to flash.

"My name is Y/n, and I am a former Kitsune. Over seven months ago, I began my career with the CSB, and since my time there, I have learned so much about their inner workings, their scandal coverups, and how they tried to end my life not too long ago." You swallow hard, tears coming to your eyes. But you inhale deeply, pushing the emotion down as far as it will go. "You may have heard that I was kidnapped by those who run the Fallen Sun district. But that is simply not true," you assert, shaking your head once. "Everything you know about the CSB is a lie."

_____________________________________________________________

TAGLIST: @missbonekitty @wack0-genius @thankuary @jsqeeut @r-i-m-f-009 @sunfloweroranges @leanne-tamashi @girlruby23 @rein-icu @brownskinnedgirll @chanelmalandro @savantsoulfinder @jibe-gajima @chilledlucifer @amnxsia @kontentious @fuyuko26 @everybodylovescayrayray @flare-on @sammytamaki @meena-in-a-nutshell @falling-through-pages @naoyasdarling @vabybizzle

[mel-the-fangirl]

Wildest Dreams

Henry Cavill x Reader (inspired by the Taylor Swift song and music video)

Part Two: The Grand Illusion

Words: 2,418

Hey Cavillry! Sorry this took so long, I just have so many ideas and it’s not exactly the best idea to start them all at the same time, huh? Anyway, I hope you all enjoy this part, don’t forget to read part one! Also, side note, I finished Night Hunter and I reaaaaally enjoyed it, I think I’ll be writing a Walter fic in the near future??

fic taglist: @andromedasstarship​, @januarystears​, @inlovewithhisblueeyes​, @legendarywizarddetective, @summersong69​

-------------------------------------------------------

"Cut! Beautiful work!" your director, John, rose from his seat and turned to you, "Miss Producer, what do you say? Can we pack up and finally see our families?" 

"You know what, Johnny?" you surveyed the tired faces of the crew and smiled at them, "Let's go home." 

Hats were thrown into the air and cheers erupted throughout your crew. Months of ungodly call times and extremely close encounters with the savanna’s more untamed residents have finally come to an end.

“Before we go,” you stepped on top of a crate to address everyone, “I’d like to say a few words. Thank you to everyone who has been present throughout the past months…”

Henry watched you from afar, leaning on one of the transport vehicles with his arms crossed. It wasn’t a secret that the two of you had formed a relationship during your time there. Nights spent in each other’s rooms, hands in your hair, clothes strewn on the floor, whispered conversations about dreams unrealised.

It was dangerous, how much he felt for you. Just seeing you now, commanding the room with the kind of charisma and charm only you had, a pang settled in his heart. But he couldn’t dwell on it for long.

You squealed giddily and propelled yourself into Henry's strong arms. Never have you seen anyone look so ruggedly handsome in just a t-shirt and safari pants.

Your thumb caressed his stubbled cheek and pressed a tender kiss onto his lips, one that wasn't for the cameras.

They could write pages and pages of love songs based on the way he looked at you and that alone. You flourished underneath his loving gaze, feeling like you were walking on air.

"Go on and get dressed, darling. I've got one last surprise before we go home." he kissed you once more, winked, then returned to his trailer

Your cheeks were sufficiently flushed. Before we go home he said. 

Did he mean it that way? Surely he didn’t. It hadn’t even crossed your mind how things would be like when you returned to America, was it so terrible that you were imagining houses with white picket fences?

Goodness, this was nothing like you. You straightened your blouse and marched over to your own trailer, trying to shake it off.

A few outfit deliberations later, you settled on a lovely pale blue palazzo jumpsuit, a matching headscarf, your signature white oval-framed sunglasses which you made popular, as far as you were concerned, and vibrant red lipstick.

You met Henry in a clearing not too far away from where you were staying. 

"Well, well!" you marveled at the imposing aircraft in the middle of the field and you marveled even more intently at your handsome pilot,

"Just how did you manage this?"

He scooped you up in his arms and you decided that from then on, your favourite scent and view would be Henry in his leather aviator jacket. 

"Darling, I figure I can manage just about anything just as long as it's for you."

“You flatter me, Mr. Cavill.”

Henry stepped away from you, propped a foot up on the little lift and held a hand out for you to take, “Shall we, gorgeous?”

“We shall.” you took his hand and let him help you into your seat

“Ready?” Henry asked from his seat behind you, rubbing your shoulder with a gloved hand

You placed your hand on his and shot a thumbs up in the air, enthusiastic as ever.

“That’s my girl.” he chuckled, guiding the plane down the makeshift runway

Once safely in the air, you reveled in its warmth caressing your cheeks, the deafening roar of the engines downsized to a somewhat pleasant hum. Would it be inappropriate to shut your eyes for a bit? In an open plane a few hundred feet above ground?

“Y/N, down there! How marvelous!”

The sound of Henry’s voice snapped you back to the present and when you opened your eyes, your breath hitched in your throat.

You supposed flying was something you would never get used to. The clear sky was a shade of blue you couldn’t even begin to comprehend, the clouds were white and wispy and you longed to reach out your hand and feel them.

"Down there, Y/N!" Henry urged you again

Once you did as he said, you realised why.

Below you, racing across the vast, sun-drenched grass was a pack of lions. The joy you felt was indescribable, seeing these powerful creatures roaming free, untouched and undisturbed by human intervention.

"Incredible.” you breathed, looking back at Henry 

Once Henry had landed the plane, rather flawlessly, you'd say, a car was already waiting to bring you to the lodge where he had arranged for you to stay.

“I do admire an organised man.” you complimented breathily, batting your eyelashes at him for theatrics

“Alright, alright.”

His tone was dismissive but you were sure you could see the blush spreading on his cheeks. Henry bent down and swept you off your feet, carrying you bridal-style towards your ride.

"This is just glorious!" you took off your headscarf and shook your hair out as you waltzed around your suite

It was a stark contrast to the suites you usually took up residence in. Gone were the stuffy imitation French furniture and tacky wallpaper, in its place was rich, dark wood you were positive you wouldn't find anywhere else and a clean white canopy bed with cozy earthy neutral toned cushions, you thought everything was simply ethereal, but the cherry on top was undoubtedly the view from your balcony.

You stepped on, the gentle sunlight soaking into your bare feet and filling you with a kind of vigour and appetite for life completely different from the one you felt when you were doing your job. You surveyed the scenery ahead, rays of afternoon sunshine peeking through the tall branches of trees that resembled something from another world.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Henry’s deep voice materialised in your ear, his hands resting on your hips

“Absolutely.” you replied, twirling around to place your lips on his

Heat rose to your cheeks and further down south as your tongues met, quick and electric and delicious, then firmer, more determined. You broke away for a fraction of a second, taking it all in.

If there was anything your life has taught you thus far, it was the heavy handed importance of hard work and resilience, nothing else would get you very far. You didn’t believe in luck.

But as you stood there surrounded by all the beauty nature had to offer, Henry cradling your face with nothing short of devotion and admiration in his eyes, it was hard not to change your mind.

“Henry?”

“Yes?”

“I think I may be falling in love with you.”

He looked absolutely stunned and to be honest, you were as well. This was uncharted territory for you. The number of flirtations and affairs you’ve had throughout your time in Tinseltown was much more than the tabloids could even guess but they were just that and nothing more.

But with Henry?

Before you could even anxiously retract what you had just said in fear of rejection, Henry pulled you towards him and pressed his lips firmly to yours. Somehow, everything he had failed to say was imbued in each searing kiss, each squeeze on your hips.

Nothing much was said for the rest of the day and well into the night.

The morning after, you found yourselves on a nature hike. Having heard from locals of a magnificent waterfall nearby. The pair of you trekked your way through the rocky crest of the waterfall, your finish line was a series of boulders, each one stacked by increasing height. You wanted to get to the biggest one, you were positive the view was spectacular from up there. 

“Darling, are you sure you’d want to-”

“Oh, don’t be such a killjoy, Henry!” you yelled, slipping away from his grasp and vaulting over a rock

“Be careful, Y/N, Jesus!” he yelped, nearly losing his balance

Your laughter cascaded down with the rushing water. You ignored how your muscles were beginning to strain with the effort of climbing each boulder as carefully as you could but you got the job done, overlooking the glittering water below and the surrounding wildlife.

“God, this place is beautiful.” you marveled just as Henry finally joined you at the top

“How in God’s name did you get up here so fast?” Henry panted, placing his hands on his knees in an effort to catch his breath

“Well, maybe all of those muscles are purely for decoration.” you commented, unashamedly appreciating his physique as he glistened with sweat

He arched his brow at you, seemingly perfecting your trademark move. “Oh, is that so?”

You squealed as he hoisted you into his arms, then in a display of strength, lifted you over his shoulder.

“Purely for decoration, eh?” he laughed, descending from the boulder with you still draped over his shoulder

"Put me down this instant!" you chortled, all arms and legs as he waded deeper into the warm water

"Sorry, what was that? I can't hear you." 

"I said, put me down!" you firmly clamped your teeth down on a portion of his back

"Ow! Okay, okay. Hold on."

Henry set you down in the water gently, keeping his hand on your hips, looking at you mirthfully.

"Madame Y/L/N," he tutted, shaking his head, "Did you just bite me? Not very ladylike one would say." 

"Oh, boo hoo." you stuck your tongue out at him

“Getting cheeky are we?” Henry lunged at you, causing water to splash everywhere

You dodged just in time, appearing behind him and lifting yourself onto his back. He secured your legs and began to run as fast as the water would let him.

“Ride, my noble steed! Ride!” you yelled into the wind

There was nothing on the face of this earth that could ever make you feel as you did in that moment ever again, you were sure of it. At that moment, you were the happiest you have ever been in your entire life. That feeling would never be replicated.

You swam and horsed around for as long as your muscles would let you, when they finally ached too much, you found yourselves on the tallest boulder again. The sun had just begun to dip into the horizon, setting the sky ablaze in a million different colours.

No words could even begin to do justice to the miracle before you. Henry held you tighter in his arms and pressed an earnest kiss to your temple, you felt his shoulders fall as he let out a heavy sigh.

“What’s going on in that head of yours?” you asked, turning around to face him

The perfect happiness you felt just seconds before evaporated as you set eyes on his crestfallen expression. You lifted his chin up with a finger and offered him an encouraging smile, “What’s the matter, my love?”

He had no answer for you at first, turning away to gaze pensively at the sunset. All you could do was admire the way the shadows highlighted his strong jawline, you traced over it with your finger.

“Y/N,” Henry began, “Our time here together, it’s been the greatest of my life,”

Oh, thank God. You thought it was going to be something horrible!

“I feel the exact same way, Henry. It’s been heaven.” you reached forward and hugged him with all you had

You expected him to hug you back as he always does, but this time, he detached your arms from him, That’s when you had the sinking feeling that your relief may have been a bit premature.

“Please. I must tell you something. And as I say this, I beg of you to remember how happy we were here, how much we understand each other and enjoy one another’s company.”

Despite the fact that this was the most serious you have ever seen him, you still didn’t catch on to the fact that something was about to go very wrong.

"Now, come on, darling!” you chirped, “It can't be that bad! We can manage anything as long as we're together, can't we?" you stared into his eyes for any hint of reciprocation

When you found none, your heart began to pound against your chest. The silence that followed was unbearable, it was like waiting for your turn at the gallows but when he finally said what he wanted to say, you might have actually preferred the silence.

"I'm engaged to be married. And she is pregnant. With my child."

His words felt like a bucket of ice poured over your bare skin. You shot up and stared at him in utter disbelief. 

“If this is your idea of a joke…” your feeble attempt at denial was met with a shake of his head

He had the audacity to look ashamed. Ashamed! The nerve.

This certainly was not your first brush with a situation like this. It was foolish of you to have thought of this dalliance as different from all the other ones. Men were all the same. It didn’t matter how longingly they looked at you or how many godforsaken times they brushed your hair tenderly from your face, they all wanted the same thing.

Jesus, was it always so damn cold here?

You wrapped your arms tightly around yourself, feeling much too exposed in your bathing suit. Henry stood up and made a move to put his arms around you.

“I’m alright, thank you.” you said curtly, stepping away from him

His arms fell to his sides in an instant and he looked to you pleadingly, “Y/N, please. I never meant to hurt you, it is the last thing I wanted. It isn’t what you think.”

“I think!” you interjected, your voice becoming shrill as the usual string of overused lines flowed from his heavenly mouth. “I think you are quite the actor, Mr. Cavill and it has been a pleasure to see your methods up close.”

With that, you climbed down the rocks as fast as you could without hurting yourself and took off in the direction of your lodge. You ignored Henry calling out your name, you ignored the rough tree branches leaving scratches on your arms, and most of all, you ignored how the illusion of you and Henry shattered into a million pieces.

[shittypaperwork]

Hii could you make a various AOT x fem reader with eren x reader or Jean x reader for the aircraft scene in which SPOILER the reader takes the bullet for Sasha and everyone is fretting but specially eren or Jean and they confess? thank youuu I’m sorry if it’s too specific 🥺

Yes that's fine!

------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler warning!

Pairing : Jean x f!y/n/Reader

Genre: Angst

Warnings : Angst, Death

Assassin's Bullet

-------------------------------

You were standing next to Floch, waiting for Eren to get dragged in by and Armin at the entrance before you. You were really happy to see him again, after all those years.

He got dragged up by Armin and the other followed. You were especially happy as you saw Jean getting into the airship with help from Connie and Sasha, having no wounds. One by one came back, the most unwounded.

"Glad to see that you're alright, Jean.", You said as you hugged him, wich he did as well.

"Yeah, me too. So, are we complete?", He asked into the group.

"Just 6 deaths.", Connie answered."

"What a victory!", Floch exclaimed, holding his hand up as a sign for victory. Connie hugged me and Jean, knowing that Horse-face had a little crush on me. We were all in a good mood, even with the deaths.

Suddenly, we heard another solider at the entrance, or we thought. It was a little girl, followed by a boy in her age, maybe 12 or so, kneeling down with a riffle in her hand, shooting straight in Sasha's direction.

Before she shot, I could see the bullet would go right into Sasha's direction, so I moved myself in front of her, getting shot under my right breast.

I felt everything slow down, my nerves and senses not working anymore. I could feel that I was falling on the ground, closing my eyes in the process.

I heard voices above me, but one voice was especially clear to hear. It was Jeans.

"Come on, don't die on me!!... You can make it y/n!? I know it!! You are always so strong, you gonna get through that too dumbass!!".

His voice was so clear that he must have been screeming above me, and I heard the pain out of it. I felt so dizzy and tired..

"Y/n please... Don't do that to me... Don't let me alone in this cruel world....!!! I can't live without you... Stop it... Just stop it... I don't want to be left alone again...", He said as his voice got quieter with every word.

"Why... Why is this happening... I don't deserve that... I loved you so much... Why...", You could hear him say, but than your ears gave up.

Everything went black. Just this one sentence remained roaming through your mind. 'I loved you so much' Did he really meant that? When I die now, I'm not gonna be able to say that ever back to him and comfort him...

------------------------------------------------------------

You woke up in a room you believed was your room. You slowly felt you senses working again, feeling a stinging pain under your breast. You almost didn't how to breath anymore.

You slowly opened your eyes, looking around. Jean was sitting there on the ground in front of the bed, crying. He was shaking.

"J-jean.. what hap-happened?", you asked in a quiet tone, looking at him.

"H-huh?", He reacted, slowly looking at you. You could see that he must have been crying for hours. He stood up, running up to you and kissing you intensely. You tasted the salt on his lips due to the tears. He then let go of you.

"You scared me so much... Please don't ever do that again... Dumbass.. you nearly died... I'm so sorry..", he said as tears began to run down his cheeks again.

You reached out to his wet cheek with your palm, softly carresing it with your thumb.

"If you died I... I... I could never have told you...-"

"That y-you love me? I heard you saying that as I went black..", you said as you smiled softly. He looked up to you, a blush dusting his cheeks.

"Yes, that's true.... I loved you since you comforted me about Marco back than... You were so kind to me and helped me with dealing with his death... I don't wanna know what would've happened of you didn't... You are everything to me.. please... Don't go...", he said while crying.

"Jean..", you didn't know how to respond to his confession.

"I love you too... I won't go anywhere without you, ever."

At least, that's what he dreamed about that night you died from bloodloss. He never was the same again.

------------------------------------------

> Masterlist

[tonymystarks]

The Bleak Midwinter

this was inspired by @betheflame flame fic ‘No More Flights, Sir’ but I made it fluffy because I am incapable of writing anything other than fluff unfortunately. When I say fluffy, I mean it. Like bordering hallmark fluff levels. Anyway, enjoy!

*

Bucky watched the snow whip passed the window.

He knew that it could get this bad, but he was hoping that it didn’t. He was hoping that it would hold out long enough for him to get out of here. 

He just wanted to go home, and the flight wasn’t even that long. Flying from Chicago to New York was only 2 hours. He was supposed to be home already, but instead, he had been stuck in the airport for going on 6 hours now. He really wanted to be home.

The snowstorm continued to rage outside, despite Bucky’s wishes. It was one of the worst ones the city had seen in years, and the airport wasn’t expecting them to be able to go anywhere anytime soon. 

He sighed and moved to sit down, unsure of what his next move should be. Logically he knew that he should go get a hotel before they were all full within a 20-mile radius, but that meant giving up hope, and that was something that he sorely did not want to do.

He was supposed to be home, it was so important that he got home, but he thought that must be how everyone in the airport felt right now. They all had somewhere to be, and they were all stuck here together.

He got up to walk over to the service desk. The line was thankfully not too long, first-class having its perks. While he was standing in line, his phone buzzed in his pocket.

Any updates? The text read. 

Not any good ones. I think I might be here for a while, Bucky texted back, frowning at the message he wished he didn’t have to send.

That’s ok was all that he got back, and that wasn’t good. That was a bad reaction because they both knew that it wasn’t ok.

Bucky tucked his phone back into his pocket as he got to the front of the line, and the woman working asked how she could help him.

“Yes, hi, I was wondering if you would be able to help me book a hotel room. Any hotel room around here will do.” Buck spoke, silently hoping that one thing would go right for him today. 

“I’m so sorry, Sir, but with the storm, all the hotels close by booked up very quickly. I can see about putting you done on a notification list to let you know if something comes available.” 

Bucky was just about to agree when he heard a voice behind him speak-

“Hi there, I’m sure you have something ready, don’t you. Price is no object.” Bucky turned towards the voice that he knew so well, the voice that he had just been texting, and felt his breath catch in his throat. 

“Oh- Mr. Stark. Right, do you know this gentleman?” The woman stuttered, obviously quite flustered by the sudden appearance of the famous Tony Stark. 

“Well, of course. This is my husband.” Tony said, moving up to slot himself next to Bucky, who felt so much relief at seeing the man and just as much confusion as to why he was here. 

“Right, of course. Well, it looks as if the presidential suite at the Waldorf is available.” 

“Perfect! We will take it. Reserve it for us and let their reception know we are on our way,” Tony spilled a hundred dollar bill towards the women as he spoke. 

“Right away, Mr. Stark!” and she began rapidly type away as Tony grabbed Bucky’s hand and pulled him out.

Bucky made sure to grab his suitcase with his other hand as he was dragged through the crowded terminal. Once Bucky saw an empty nook, he used his strength to his advantage to redirect Tony towards it and corner him. Busy pushed him up against the wall and ran his hands over his face, just to confirm that he was real, that he was there.

“Not that I’m not thrilled to see you, Doll, but what are ya’ doing here.” Bucky pulled Tony into a hug, trying to breathe in his scent that hadn’t been tainted by airport air; the smell of coffee, metal, and something sweet. 

“Well, like I have told you before, one of the perks of being married to a billionaire is access to his collection of private aircrafts. Any one of which you could have used, and we wouldn’t be stuck in this debacle, and we are stuck. I was able to make it out of New York, but the storm is so much worse now, and we won’t be able to get off the ground now.” Tony said as he let himself be held by Bucky, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“And like I’ve told you before, I like the sense of normalcy that flying commercial me. I wasn’t always married to a billionaire.” Bucky laughed as Tony looked slightly upset.

“I know, and that is a tragedy. Good thing we remedy that situation.” Tony sounded so stern as he spoke, but Bucky could see the mirth behind his eyes. 

“Me too, sweetheart. Me too,” and Bucky leaned in to give Tony a quick kiss, ignoring the whine that Tony produces when he pulls away. “None of that, Babydoll, we ain’t making out in the airport. Not when we got a nice hotel room waiting for us, and we got a long trek ahead of us to get there.” 

“I know, but I just missed you so much,” the whine is Tony’s voice still present.

“It has only been, what, 6 days?” Bucky laughed.

“Yes! And that is 5 days too many.” Tony moved them back into the ever-crowded walkway and began walking to the main doors.

“I know, Baby,  I missed ya’ too, so much,” Bucky said as sincerely as he could. 

He smiled as he watched a light blush dust Tony’s cheeks. They had been together for 3 years and married for almost a year of that, and he knew he would never get tired of saying things to make Tony blush.

They made it to the doors to wait for the driver that Tony had contacted. The snow was coming down in what looked like heavy sheets, so they knew that they would have to wait for a break in the storm before any cars would be allowed to come and get them. They didn’t mind too much; they found a couch tucked away in the corner, facing some windows and curled up together, just waiting. 

“You know, you didn’t have to come,” Bucky said loud enough to be heard over the ambient noises of the airport but quiet enough that it was just for Tony.

“I know, but there was no way I was going to let my husband spend Christmas eve alone. What kind of person would I be? I couldn’t live with myself. The guilt would drive me wild,” Tony curled into him closer, tucking his feet under himself and wrapping his arm around Bucky’s mid-section.

“I’m sure that you would’ve been fine. Now we both have to suffer in this airport,” but Bucky didn’t really feel bad, happy to have the person he wanted most in the world there with him.

“I’d rather suffer here with you than be apart. We might not be able to be with the rest of the rag-tag group of misfits we call a family, but I wasn’t going to spend our first married Christmas apart. We will be together and in love, even if it is in an airport.” Bucky felt his face grow hot and his eyes well up. 

They had both been through so much in their lives, so much that should have left them beyond broken, but they worked so well together. Tony brought him back from the edge; they kept each other level in a way that one else was able to. They saw each other's scars and broken pieces and loved those pieces, just like any other part of each other. 

“Thank you,” Bucky whispered, pulling Tony impossibly closer.

“Anytime, anywhere,” and Bucky knew that was true.

With Tony tucked in next to him, the snow didn’t seem that bad. He didn’t get home, not when it came to him.

[duhragonball]

Hellsing Liveblog Ch 28-34

“Alucard, you’re the laziest vampire on Mars.”

So, I’ll be wrapping up the “D” arc in this post.   Previously, we saw a squad of Millennium goons commandeer a British carrier.  Their leader, Lt. Rip Van Winkle, has a musket that shoots magic bullets that can change direction in mid-air.    Also, Integra cut her own finger and made Seras lick the blood off.    As for Alucard, he’s been binging medical blood and taking a nap.

This is all to set up a one-off gag where Alucard has a dream similar to the one Seras had back in Brazil, where she was visited by the spirit of her cannon, which looked a lot like the guy who played Lord Harkonnen in the Dune movie.   Not the new one, the one with Sting in it.    Not the wrestler Sting, the musician.  

I don’t know why, but the spirit of Al’s gun, the Jackal, is Bruce Willis, but then Bruce gets killed by another guy who looks like Muldoon from Jurassic Park?  Maybe?   I just googled Muldoon and he doesn’t quite look like I remembered, but there’s no point to any of this, so let’s just move on.  

Aboard the H.M.S. Eagle, now renamed the Alder by Milennium, Lt. Winkle has painted a swastika on the deck and she’s taking a nap in the middle of it.  Her team is all holed up inside, and they talk about how they’ll never be able to venture out in the sun again.   This seemed like a continuity gaffe to me, but then this one dude points out that unlike them, Winkle is a werewolf.   So that’s why she can go out in the sun and they can’t.  

Maybe the Hellsing Ultimate anime covered this, and I just missed it, but when I watched that series in 2016, I found it strange how there only seemed to be two werewolves in Millennium: The Captain, and Warrant Officer Schrodinger.   And yet, Schrodinger speaks of his fellow werewolves with some pride, as if there were more than just two of them, and it turns out that this was what he meant.    Rip Van Winkle’s a werewolf, and I’m starting to think Zorin Blitz must be a werewolf too.   

And that explains a few things, because the real inner circle of Millennium is those four characters, the Doctor, and the Major.   Their 1,000 soldiers are vampires, but their leaders are not.   Like the guy in this scene observes, Millennium’s vampire corps are “mere rookies” compared to the werewolves, and that’s why they’re the ones the Major put in charge.   

This also puts the Dandyman in context.   The Doctor seemed to have high hopes for the Dandyman, but he failed to put a dent in Alucard.   I never understood his confidence, seeing as Winkle and Blitz were stronger, but now it makes sense.   The Doctor’s been trying to perfect artificial vampirism for the last fifty-odd years.   Dandyman represented the most powerful vampire he could produce, and he paled in comparison to the real thing.    Millennium’s werewolves are far more capable, but I don’t know if the Doctor had anything to do with them.    Even if he did, his success with them is unrelated to his vampire research.   

Also, Rip just looks... different somehow.   Maybe I’m grasping at straws, but her design might be intended to evoke wolf-like features, as opposed to vampiric features.   Well, I’ll worry about that later.

In England, Sir Integra barges in on the British Navy HQ and all the officers there take offense. They seem to find the idea of vampires ludicrous, even though Hellsing is an official government agency and has been for over 100 years.   Their commander, Vice-Admiral Shelby Penwood, asks her to stay, but it’s like his subordinates don’t even notice this.   He’s a pretty weak leader, is my point.

The Navy insists on handling the Eagle crisis without Integra, so she lights up a cigar and observes them in action.   They send some helicopters to check out the carrier, but Winkle shoots them down with her magic bullet.   It quickly becomes apparent that nothing can get close enough to the Eagle without getting destroyed, and since the Navy won’t listen to Integra, she withdraws to her own HQ to consider a proper strategy.   

The fundamental problem for Hellsing is that they need to get Alucard or Seras aboard the Eagle in order to neutralize the threat, but vampires can’t cross running water.   A boat is out of the question because it’s too slow, and an aircraft would be shot down by the magic bullet.    But there is one aircraft that can get the job done...

So Integra arranges to launch a modified SR-71 Blackbird.     Comics fans will recognize this as the plan the X-Men used in the comics.   I don’t know if they still use it.    At some point it probably stopped being cool, but in 1999 it was cool enough for Hellsing.   Strictly speaking, the Blackbird in this comic was heavily modified by the RAF’s research and development teams, so it’s practically a whole other aircraft.   The main point, though, is that it’s a reconnaissance plane, capable of flying at speeds of Mach 3 and at altitudes of 16 miles.  Unlike Sir Penwood’s aircraft, this one can approach the Eagle high enough in the air to avoid enemy fire.

Below, Rip Van Winkle appears to sense Alucard’s approach and seems to have a panic attack over it.   Me, I’m just wondering why Hellsing wasted precious time having their cutesy logo painted on the tailfin of this plane.  

So how the hell does Alucard plan to get the plane down without getting shot at?   SImple, he doesn’t.    He just nosedives straight down onto the carrier, and what does he care if the plane gets shot to hell on the way down?   

A lot of this arc is just badass shots of this crash landing, and the ensuing carnage.   I’m skipping a lot of beautiful artwork, but there’s really nothing going on beyond “Alucard crashes his plane onto an aircraft carrier.”

Once he hits the ground, Al releases his restraints to Level 1, the same level he used against Luke Valentine, and he goes to town on Milennium’s soldiers.    Rip Van Winkle keeps whimpering about Zamiel, which is a reference to Der Freischütz , a German opera about a huntsman with a musket that fires seven magic bullets.   The first six will hit whatever the huntsman aims for, but the seventh belongs to the Evil One, Zamiel, who can guide it wherever he pleases.   

Winkle flashes back to a coversation she had years ago with the Major, who recognizes her musket as a reference to Der Freischütz, and he warned her to remember how the opera ends: With Zamiel coming to claim the soul of Kaspar.   Rip is terrified because it doesn’t take a genius to see how Alucard’s attack might resemble this moment.   

After her men are all destroyed, Rip gathers enough composure to put up a fight, but her magic bullet can only hit Alucard, not kill him.   Eventually, he just catches the thing in his mouth, neutralizing her power entirely.   

Then we proceed with what I consider the most gruesome scene in the whole story.   Alucard starts by impaling Rip through the heart with the barrel of her own musket.

Then he sprouts all these extra hands and grabs hold of her like some horrible nightmare-spider or something.   

Then he starts licking up the blood from her wound, really taking his time with it.    He’s stuck on this boat, after all, and there’s no one else alive to distract him.   

And finally he goes for the jugular, as it were.   

Aboard his zeppelin, the Major is watching all of this.   I guess Schrodinger’s power to be anywhere makes it possible for them to keep tabs on what’s happening.   All he has to do is bring a video camera along.   The Doctor prepares to activate Winkle’s self-destruct chip, but the Major forbids this.   They used this device on Jan Valentine and the Dandyman, but only because they failed in their missions.   As for Rip Van Winkle, the Major declares her mission a complete success.    He orders his men to salute as they watch her die slowly at the hands of Alucard.    A twisted honor, to be sure.

And with Winkle finally dead, Alucard just laughs up a storm.  

Here’s the problem, he’s stuck on that boat now.  And Hellsing knew it would go like this when they sent him, but they didn’t have a choice.   Early into the crisis, Integra and Walter recognized the Eagle as a mere decoy, one that would distract them from the real threat, but they couldn’t ignore it, and now Alucard’s on the Eagle while Millennium’s true forces are heading for Great Britain.

So yeah, take a good look at Alucard, because we won’t be seeing him again for a while...

[kyber-crystal]

Three Times

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Words: ~2.2k

Summary: In which three occasions happen that further prove how the two heroes were meant from the start to fall for each other. 

Warnings: loads of fluff hehe, minimal angst

A/N: I find myself often using Adelaide Kane or Danielle Campbell for Y/N’s faceclaim, but feel free to use whoever you wish lol also THIS REALLY SUCKED LOL

After a long two hours getting roped into an intense Wii Tennis deathmatch with Bucky and Pietro, your legs are ready to give out underneath you and you simply just want to collapse, feeling as you could fall asleep practically anywhere as soon as your head hits the ground. You honestly don't know what you're doing right now. Normally you'd try to maintain a good sleeping schedule.

You trudged down the hallway in a pair of running shorts and one of Steve’s shirts you stole after a team bonding day at the beach, pushing open the door to your room.

Several hours passed as you peacefully sat reading another one of your books when you heard loud, obnoxious pounding on the door. Upon looking at the digital clock on your nightstand, you saw it was past midnight, meaning one of two things: Steve was here to a) annoy you or b) sleep.

"Y/N?" you heard Steve's voice ask from behind your door.

"Hm?" You set your book down and went over to open the door, revealing an exhausted-looking Steve with dark circles lining his bloodshot eyes. "What...what happened to you? Are you alright?'

He stumbled past you, tiredly flopping onto your bed and crawling in, pulling the blankets up to his chin. "I'm sleeping in here," he announced.

"O-kay..." you looked at him quizzically, closing the door behind you. This wasn't the first time that your best friend had barged into your room late at night because he wanted to bug you or just pass out cold on the floor or in your bed, so you didn't question it.

You returned to your spot on the bed and clicked on your phone, making sure that it was on low brightness, scrolling through your camera roll and social media for a bit until you felt your eyelids droop heavily from fatigue.

"You're tired," Steve mumbled, moving his head so it was resting on your lap, his legs now entangled with yours. "You should get some sleep, too."

"Mhm," you hummed, absentmindedly playing with his hair as you cleaned out your camera roll. "Just a sec."

"It's getting late, get some sleep," he begged, looking up at you innocently.

"It's not that late..." you looked back at the clock and your eyes widened when you saw the blinking red numbers read 1:30 a.m.

"...oh."

You reached up to turn the light off and laid back in bed, pulling the covers up past your arms and snuggling into the pillows.

He leaned over to check the time and as he did so, you could feel his breath falling against your neck and a blush spread across your face as a result. You tried to cover it up but failed, as the blush had now spread to your ears.

"You're blushing," he smirked before sliding back under the covers. “Are you nervous? I didn’t know you got nervous around me.”

"Nope. And even if I was, you wouldn't be able to see, because it's pitch black in here."

"In case you're forgetting, the super serum gave me enhanced vision," he wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "Wow, the great Y/N is nervous.”

"Shut up," you smacked him lightly on the shoulder, turning away from him so that you faced the other side of your room. 

He pulled you against his back and his arms snaked their way around your waist as he rested his chin on top of your head, causing your heart to skip a beat.

"Steve."

"Hmm?"

"Shouldn't you be back in your own room and sleeping in your own bed instead of invading my space like this?"

"No."

"Why?"

"I'm leaving for a mission tomorrow  afternoon and I need some rest. Let me liiiive."

"Okay, okay," you chuckled.

On the inside, though, you were panicking. Mission? He hadn't told you about this. Was this another impromptu surprise mission that Fury decided to spring up on several of you all of a sudden? And why hadn't you been informed of it?

"...And also, your bed is more comfortable. Tony spent more time choosing out your bedsheets than mine," he replied sleepily. "because he favors you over me."

"I thought we had the same beds?"

"Nope," he nuzzled his cheek into your hair, his grip around you tightening. "Now go to sleep."

"Goodnight," he murmured once you'd fallen asleep, softly pressing his lips to your forehead. "Sleep tight."

The next morning, Steve wakes up to see your legs tangled together and your head buried in his chest as one of his arms is draped across your torso. He admires the peaceful sight of you for a moment before getting up to go get breakfast.

When you wake up, he isn't there, and you try to ignore the flood of disappointment that comes over you. No wonder you'd slept so well last night; it was the first in months that you'd slept more than 6 hours without any interruptions.

You creep down the hall to Steve’s room and see his suit hanging over his desk's chair and smirk to yourself. He's probably in the middle of eating right now, you thought, so you decide to try his suit on.

"Hi, I'm Captain America," you puffed up your chest and struck your most patriotic pose, holding his shield up in front of your body, "I’m America’s golden boy and the nation’s symbol of freedom. I kick bad guys' butts and I'm super smart! Too bad I'm not as good as Y/N at Mario Kart, though. I don't know how she does it!"

Right at that moment, Steve walks in, leaning against the doorframe, and smirks. Your amused expression quickly changes into that of a mortified one and you immediately take his mask off, wide-eyed as you met his gaze.

"Hey look, Rogers, I'm you!" you spread your arms out wide, doing jazz hands.

"God, I love you," he says under his breath all of a sudden.

"What the hell did you just say?" your brows furrowed together in confusion.

"Nothing."

"Okay...I'm gonna change out of this thing and then I'm going to the kitchen to steal Wanda’s French toast. Spandex is not kind to me," you joked.

He just laughed in response.

You went to the bathroom with your regular clothing and came out about a minute later, wearing a simple black T-shirt and dark jeans.

...

You're standing in the middle of the vast, open space of the hangar bay later that afternoon, hearing the hum of the nearby jets and familiar chatter around you. You know that you only have a matter of minutes before Steve is expected to board the Quinjet and leave, for a trip that's over 4,000 miles away with no other way to communicate other than via comms.

And even then, the signal isn't strong enough to sustain a conversation longer than 10 minutes at a time, since you're supposed to be as discreet as possible while undercover.

Folding your arms over your chest, you glance around the space, looking for his familiar figure. When you don't catch sight of him after a few seconds you begin to wonder if he's even out here yet but then, you see him in the distance towards the opening gates talking to Bucky.

Before you can think about what you're doing, you start jogging towards him and call out his name. The blonde-haired man turns around to face you, a mix of surprise and relief on his face. He shakes his head and gives you a look that's trying to reassure you he's going to be okay, that he'll be fine and he'll return safely.

You don't know why you're not being let on the mission. The mere thought of him being sent off without you, the mere thought of you not being with him for an extended period of time makes you sick to your stomach. What if he got seriously injured or even worse, didn't come back at all?

You quickly pick up your pace and sprint as fast as your legs can possibly carry you towards him, closing the space between you two and pressing your lips against his without even a millisecond of hesitation.

When you imagined kissing Steve Rogers for the first time, you didn't think it would be rushed, but it was, and it didn't turn out how you'd initially expected it to. It doesn't play out like the way you've been thinking about it for months and months on a loop. Even though you're the one to kiss him first, you're shocked at your own sudden actions.

The fact that you're the one to initiate this doesn't stop you from feeling the dizzying effects his warm lips on your own have on you. Steve doesn't have time to reply or react, only being able to steady you before either one of you lost your balance, as Sam is pulling him away to follow Tony and Bucky onto the aircraft, and you whisper "Stay safe" before he's gone.

Before you can make your way back inside, you sink to the cold, concrete floors of the hangar bay on your knees and break down into heaving sobs.

The second time it happens, you're sitting on the couch wrapped up in blankets as you stare with a broken expression towards the main elevator, waiting for him to return from yet another trio mission.

You're left speechless when the doors slide open and his familiar figure steps through. His face is streaked with dirt and debris and blood and possibly the remnants of tear tracks, his shoulders slumped forward in exhaustion and a tired look in his eyes, but you think he looks perfect nonetheless.

Steve doesn't have time to even get out a short greeting before you break down right then and there. Hesitant at first, he doesn't know what he's supposed to do. But then he steps forward and collects you into his arms into a comforting embrace. Heaving sobs rip through your body and tears stream down your cheeks like a seemingly never-ending flood, and he feels his heart shatter into a million pieces because he knows that he's the reason behind it.

He doesn't know what he can possibly say at this point anymore. He doesn't know what he's supposed to say in defense because he promised you he'd return within the allotted two-week time frame, but over five weeks have passed since he was sent off.

You close the gap between the two of you and press your lips to his. It doesn't taste like fireworks, nor something sweet or something that makes you feel so euphoric and as if your head's up in the clouds. It tastes of your salty tears and his heartache and you could've chosen a better moment to kiss him than right now but you were too broken to care, simply in need of someone to comfort you.

When he pulls away, neither of you say anything. That's it.

The following days and weeks are spent by you avoiding him as much as you can because you know that if you make eye contact with Steve again, it won't do your heart much good. And it hurts, because he doesn't know what exactly he did to deserve his treatment and realizes that maybe, just maybe, he's falling a little bit more in love with you each day.

The tables turn four months later and instead of him almost losing his life trying to save others, it's you this time, narrowly escaping your awaiting death. You see Steve waiting outside the helicarrier and you sprint towards him just like you'd done in the past, throwing yourself into his arms and your lips connect. He's warm and intoxicating but you're crying again and he's also crying and there's just too much that you want to say but can't.

But this time, he has enough time to react. His arms wrap around your waist to hold you steady as yours slid up around his neck to pull him closer, and he holds you with such a gentleness that makes you wonder if what you're feeling is even real or not. 

"You know," he said as you broke apart, "that confirms you definitely have feelings, right."

"Yeah," you swallowed the lump in your throat and smiled sadly, and he gently wiped your cheek with the tip of his thumb. "So what are we gonna do now?"

"I’m going to ask you out on a date," he says as he brings you in for another kiss, smiling when your arms around him tighten. "Be my girlfriend, Y/N."

"Okay," you choked out, a small sob escaping your lips, "I love you, Captain."

"I love you too, Y/N."

"ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ZERO ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ONE ONE ONE ZERO ONE ZERO ZERO ONE ONE ZERO ONE ZERO!"

"Vis!" Wanda sighed and rolled her eyes, "we've talked about this. Drop the binary code."

"I was just commenting on how lovely Captain Rogers and Miss Y/N look together as a couple," he explained calmly.

[ijustwant2write]

Never Alone-Peter Parker x Male!Reader

(GIF credit to @starkissedtom​)

Tags: @amirahiddleston​​ @bloodorangemoonlight​​ @slowkib​

Requested by @slowkib : ‘Hi! Can I request peter Parker x male!reader in zombie apocalypse au? Like from the last of us?’

Characters: Peter Parker x Male!Reader, Avengers x Male!Reader

Meanings: (Y/N)=Your name

Warnings: Dystopian zombie future, guns, violence, mention of death, fighting, swearing, fluff

(A/N: I’ve never played ‘The Last of Us’, so I did my own thing with this)

                                        *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My fingers traced over the empty shelves as I walked down the aisles in the grocery store. It was covered in dust after being bare for the past year. There was literally nothing left, not even any rotting food. A bang broke me out of my trance, making me clutch onto my gun and duck behind another shelf. No other noise came, and I knew that if any zombies were around, I would be able to hear something; I was too used to the dragging of their bodies, a low groaning sound, even heavy breathing. Taking a risk, I peeked around the corner of the shelf, into the main aisle, not seeing anything, not even a shadow.

“Hey!” Peter whispered beside me.

I jumped, but made no sound.“Peter! Why would you do that?!”

He was perched on top of the shelf, having obviously climbed down from the ceiling.“Sorry, but at least I was quiet!”

“Yeah, I guess.” I sighed, relaxing slightly.

“What’s up?”

“Nothing. Just living in the apocalypse, you know?” 

He silently jumped down beside me, joining me to sit on the floor.“We’ll get through this, we’ve got each other.”

I smiled as he held my hand.“But...I really don’t mean to be negative today, but I’m running out of positivity all together. This is never ending. I thought....I thought that maybe S.H.I.E.L.D or even the Avengers would be able to help with this. And I know you all did at first but once our resources ran out, and technology became vast, it just seems like the end is inevitable. Maybe the world is supposed to end like this, after everything we’ve done to it, or it’s supposed to start over again-”

“Stop thinking like that! We’ve got through this last year, right?”

My head fell back as I scoffed.“That’s the thing. It’s only been a year but it feels like forever! I’m tired all the time. We’re constantly on the run, we’re never able to settle anywhere because zombies somehow come crawling along. We’ve had to kill so many of them. We have to take turns taking watch, but even if I’m able to sleep, my body won’t let me. I’m too tense all the time. I have plaguing nightmares that I’ll wake up and you won’t be there, you’ll be laying there dead. And we’ve been trying to find the Avengers all this time, but we’re not even close!”

I hunched up into a ball, hiding my face in my knees as I wrapped my arms around them, my shoulders shaking as I started to cry. Peter instantly hugged me, holding on tightly.

“I’m always going to be here. I’m going to protect you. Even if I wasn’t Spider-Man, because that has been a big bonus, I would still protect you from the zombies. I know this is nothing like The Walking Dead, or any comic we’ve read. But it’s amazing that we’ve survived, just the two of us. We can’t focus on the loss, we have to keep moving and think about the future. They’ve got to be alive, they’re the Avengers!”

“I know. I hate that we’re by ourselves, we’re not even adults! I don’t want to live like this. I want to be back in school. I want to be stuck in a maths class again. I want to be a normal teenager.”

“Well,” Peter tilted my face up to look at him, he was smiling,“it wasn’t exactly normal to begin with. You’re dating Spider-Man.”

I chuckled, wiping the tears off my cheeks.“Yeah, besides that, I want to go back to the way things were.”

He kissed my forehead.“I know. But if we keep thinking like that, we won’t get very far, will we? Yeah, the world has turned to shit, but I wouldn’t want to be stuck with anyone else.”

“You’re so cringey.”

“No, I’m just truthful. Come on, the area is clear, we can keep moving.”

Luckily, as we continued to walk to the next city, we didn’t encounter anymore zombies. We would sometimes goes days without seeing them, maybe the odd stray, but these were the times we tried to keep ourselves calm and reserved. Obviously our guard was always up, they could be around any corner, mostly when we got into towns or big cities. Our objective was to track down the Avengers, or anyone who was part of S.H.I.E.L.D. Our family and friends were gone, they were our last hope. It was impossible to think of a future with just the two of us like this. Although being with Peter was perfect, I had imagined a more cosy lifestyle together (as cosy as you could get being with a superhero), not battling zombies like I had seen on the TV. Oh, I missed TV.

Peter gasped, pushing me back into a tree. He had spotted something up ahead, and it was a big problem for us. He kept close to me, keeping an eye on the zombies.

“How many?” I whispered.

“Uh, th-there’s a group of them. Maybe...twenty I think.”

“OK, that’s not too bad. Usual tactic?”

“Wait, there’s more of them. I don’t know where they’re coming from, or why they’re here. There’s no one here to eat.”

“Except us.”

“Yeah, but something must have dragged them out here.”

“So what do we do?” 

“We’ll do what we usually do, we can’t wait them out or get around them.”

“Alright, let’s do this. I love you.”

“I love you too.” 

We quickly kissed before he climbed up the tree, preparing the swing and distract them, before I would go in and shoot them. It wasn’t the best idea, but it’s all we had. At first, Peter’s suit was able to use all it’s gadgets, until it was so battered and it had gone ages without an upgrade, that it was useless. It was just Peter’s webbing now. I waited for him to get the group webbed together, making them stuck as they struggled in the trap. I was about to start shooting at them when I saw more approaching. Peter was about to do the same thing when a zombie grabbed his leg as he swung past. He was thrown off, sending him tumbling onto the ground, landing at the feet of the new group. Was was drawing them near here?!

“Peter!” I yelled out.

Leaving the webbed zombies, I saved my ammunition to shoot at the ones near Peter. He scrambled away from them as I took my shots, trying to web them up as well. But more and more kept coming. We were in the middle of the woods, what had attracted them?

“(Y/N), we need to get out of here!” Peter shouted as the zombies started to close in.

“How?!”

“I could swing up and-”

“They’ll grab at us before we could get away!”

“Well what do you suggest?”

Before I could answer, the sound of some sort of aircraft echoed out. There hadn’t been any noise like that since...well, since the start of all of this. It also caught the attention of the zombies, giving us a chance to shoot our way out. Once out of the crowd, Peter scooped me up in his arms, swinging into a tree to ensure they couldn’t get to us. However, we found ourselves clinging onto the branches as the plane started descending, the engines making a lot of wind and shaking the entire forest.

“The quinjet! They’re here!” I barely heard Peter say.

“The what?!”

Because the tree was shielding us, it meant we couldn’t see what was going on before us. The trees stopped and calmed their rustling as the plane landed, before mechanical noises echoed out. But we heard people, they were all shouting at each other, going over the plan, grunts sounding out as they fought. Something flew past us, I saw flashes of red and yellow, and I knew exactly who it was.

“I’m going to help, stay here!” Peter said, not giving me a chance to stop him as he jumped out of the tree.

I shakily moved my position in the tree, trying to get to a better angle to see what was going on. A huge smile spread across my face, even a gasp came out of me as I saw the Avengers fighting off the swarms. They had found us! They had found Peter and were here to get us out of this mess! Shocked by the whole idea of escaping, I was suddenly brought back to reality as I heard a groan from someone close by. My eyes darted around, trying to find the person who may be struggling. It was Captain America, who found himself surrounded. He was trying not to get bit, but needed to fight his way out. Taking a deep breath to calm my shakes, I aimed my gun at one of the zombies. I wasn’t an amazing shooter, but I had improved over the year, and had faith I could help kill some of these monsters. 

I shot at two of them, managing to hit their heads. The super soldier’s head whipped up to where the bullets could have come from, nodding at me once he saw me hidden in the tree. I continued shooting, trying my best to help. I wasn’t going to be the damsel hidden away. It as amazing to see them fighting up close, they were so strong, so brave. I was always petrified whenever we had to face zombies.

It was over in minutes, zombies were an easy enemy for them to defeat. Everyone was catching their breaths, exchanging hugs with Peter. We’d been lost for over a year, but we were finally saved. This didn’t mean our happy ending was here, the world was still a shit hole, but it was one step closer. Once Peter had been embraced by everyone, he looked up to me, quickly climbing up the tree to help me down. I was suddenly nervous, it was like meeting his family all over again...although he had always called them that anyway, so it was.

“Guys,” Peter breathed, still tired from fighting,“this is my boyfriend, (Y/N).”

“H-hi.” I nervously stuttered.

“It’s been just you two? For how long?” Tony Stark (!) asked.

We nodded as Peter spoke.“For about a year. We tried saving everyone but...but we couldn’t.”

“You two did everything you could, I just know it.” Black Widow reassured us.“And it’s amazing that you’ve been smart enough to last this long. Not a lot of people out there.”

“Where have you guys been?” 

“S.H.I.E.L.D had a plan all along. As soon as they found out about the people stupidly experimenting with all of this, they made a backup. We were called in, tried to save as many people as we could. But, as you probably know, technology has been scarce, even for them. We’ve had a few cut backs, hence why it’s taken us so long to find you.” Captain America explained.

“You’re here now.” I piped up.“That’s all that matters. We’ve also been trying to find you.”

“Is everyone there? Dr Strange? Wanda? Ant-Man?” Peter asked.

They nodded. Mr Stark placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder.“They’re all there. We’re going to rebuild this world, because we’re the Avengers.”

Peter grinned.“We’ll avenge it.”

Tony rolled his eyes.“Yeah, that’s, that’s what I was getting at kid. Come on you two, you look like you’re in need of a good meal...or three.”

We followed them onto the quinjet eagerly, holding each others hands the whole time. As we put on our seat belts, we glanced at each other, a sudden overwhelming feeling hitting both of us. We were no longer alone. We were with the safest people we could be. Peter was reunited with his family, we were going somewhere where we wouldn’t have to lose sleep over our safety, and we could eat properly. And we were still alive, and still together.

“We did it. We found them.” I chuckled, my heart racing rapidly.

He squeezed my hand.“Yeah, we did. I’m so happy that I’ve still got you.”

“I love you so much.”

“I love you too. Everyone is going to love you.”

“I forgot that there’s more to meet.”

“Don’t worry, I have a good feeling about all of this.”

[lesbian-dp]

To Infinity And Beyond

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Words: 2,389

Warnings: Plane sex, packing, strap-on, oral on a sex toy, changes from third to second person... it just worked out that way lol. Sex against a wall... and I think that’s it.

Request: Yes. Thanks for requesting this anon!

Summary: Blame Tony Stark

A/N: And as always, I don’t know how good this is. But I hope you guys enjoy it anyway.

18+ ONLY.

Fuck you, Tony Stark.

Just... fuck you.

Of course, Natasha loved the man, like the annoying older brother that she always never wanted, and just could not get rid of.

But sometimes, just sometimes, Natasha wished she could throttle him.

She didn’t need a break.

She didn’t want a break.

The Black Widow didn’t take breaks.

But once Tony Stark got an idea into his head, there was no stopping him. No matter how much of a deadly trained assassin some may be.

No one, and I mean no one, can handle that amount of bugging.

That’s why Natasha was here. Sat in a private jet. Her bags packed, a glass of champagne in hand, and on her way to Paris for a week.

‘At least’ Tony has said. If it was entirely up to him, Natasha would be taking four to five months off, travelling the globe. Sightseeing and having fun. Not working.

But it wasn't.

So, suck on that, Tony Stark!

The offer of travelling the globe still stood, however. The last thing the billionaire said, before wishing the red-head goodbye, being that ‘the jet was always there and at the ready, for anywhere she could wish to go’.

Natasha had tried to argue with him on that. Her main defence being, that she didn't want to put the pilot out of their way, by forcing them to stay and go where she says. Even if that was their job.

The pilot.

The very same pilot that was sat in the cockpit, the door cracked open just enough for Natasha to peer through. Watching as the good looking pilot flicked switches-

‘There’s better things she could flick.’ Natasha thought. Before shaking her head, throwing those thoughts out of the jet's window. Counting the seconds before they inevitably come back again. Like that had many times before.

What it was, Natasha really didn’t know.

Maybe it was the uniform.

Maybe it was the fact that they were so fucking attractive.

Or.

It could be that Natasha could, plainly see, from the second that Tony had introduced the two. That she was packing. The outline of the thick strap showing through her black pants, as clear as day.

To Natasha at least.

Anyone, but a heavily trained assassin, going none the wiser to the pilot’s hidden toy. Natasha however? There’s not a chance in hell that, that, would slip her knowledge.

She couldn't stop thinking about it. Wanting nothing more than to be used by the pilot, on her knees with her lips wrapped around the strap. Spread open and ready to be ploughed into the jet’s bed. Hell! Even the floor- Or riding her in the pilot's seat would do... it would do very nicely...

As long as her pulsing cunt was getting the attention it so craved.

Natasha conveying the way she felt via eye-fucking the pilot, as they worked.

***

You could feel her starring at you. All the while your first meeting with the gorgeous red-head replayed in your mind, over and over again. The way her eyes glanced down to your crotch, before starring lustfully into your eyes.

It was almost like the world was working it’s magic, just to get the both of you laid.

You and Natasha knew what was going to happen.

It was only a matter of time.

Natasha gripped the white leather of her seat’s armrests, watching as you walked over, with a smirk upon your perfect face.

“Hello, Miss Romanoff. Is there anything I can get you? A refill maybe?”

Oh, yeah! That was another thing.

You were the only ones upon the aircraft.

No other staff.

Only you.

And Natasha.

Alone.

Waving off your question. Natasha decided to answer with one of her own.

“Shouldn’t you be flying the plane?”

You chuckled then, and Natasha thought she had never heard a more perfect sound. But she was still yet to hear your moans.

“Don’t worry.” You pulled Natasha from her filthy imagination. “We’re on autopilot.”

“But still. It seems unsafe.”

“Mr Stark designed and built this jet himself.”

Mr Stark. It had been a long while since she had heard someone call him that. She didn’t like it. It was all too formal. She wanted you to open up. Just to be yourself. No formalities. All in due time.

“Of course he did.” Natasha took a sip of her expensive champagne, waiting for you to continue your explanation.

“Technically, I’m not needed here. Anything a pilot can do, this jet can. I’m just a formality.”

“Oh.” Natasha placed her flute glass down, switching her crossed legs. “You’re so much more than that.”

“Am I?”

Natasha nodded. Your eyes drawing down to where her hands played with the hem of her tight dress upon, her mid-thigh.

“Care to give me a ‘such as’?” you prompted.

“You’re good company,” she spoke sultry.

You laughed, not quite catching her meaning. “We’ve hardly had a full conversation.”

“I’m a good judge of character.”

“Hmm, I’ll take your word for it.”

“How about you take something else, too?” Natasha asked, her voice loving to a more seductive drawl.

Taking a step closer, moving to grip the headrest of her seat, you looked down at her with dark lust-filled eyes, asking, “What do you have in min Miss Romanoff.”

“Natasha. Call me Natasha.”

“Okay... Natasha,” you corrected, “What do  you have in mind?”

“You know exactly what I have in mind,” she told you pointedly, as she fists one of her hands into your shirt and tie.

That was all you needed before crashing your lips together.

The kiss was hot and rough. Open-mouthed with teeth betting and tugging at kiss-swollen lips. Pure lust animated.

“I’ve been wanting this since I first saw you,” Natasha spoke into your hot, panting mouth.

You pulled away slightly. Partly to breath some cold air into your suffocating lungs, but mostly to peer down at the red-heads beautiful face better.

“Then why didn’t you do anything sooner?”

Never once did Natasha stop starring into your eyes. Not when she was unbuckling your leather belt, or unzipping your pants. Her eyes closing for only a second when she pecked you on your lips. Distracting you, as she pushed her hand into your pants, to grasp at your strap.

“I was waiting for the right time.” Natasha shrugged.

You hummed at her words, moving to brush a strand of her hair, that had fallen into her face, back behind her pierced ear. Continuing to rub the soft flesh of her ear, between your thumb and forefinger.

Natasha seemed to keen at the soft touch. Shaking her head slightly when she reminded herself of what was happening.

Bod, did you make her feel things.

Things, other than horny.

She needed this to continue. Or else she knew she’d practically keel over, into your arms, and bask in the warmth there.

Natasha needed you to fuck her.

All of the soft stuff could wait until later.

“Do you always wear this when you work?”

It was your turn to shrug. Enjoying the slight pull of Natasha tugging at the strap attached to your hips, not to mention the way that her eyes dilated more than they already were after you had licked your lips.

“Sometimes. It depends on the day.”

“Lucky me then,” Natasha whispered.

Pushing your shirt up, Natasha began leaving red lipstick marks all across your revealed skin. Her tongue coming out to taste your now tingling skin.

Every kiss Natasha delivered to your heated body, travelled down to your core. You were groaning under your breath by the time she started pushing down your pants. Continuing her way down your body, towards the toy still rocking in Natasha’s hand.

In no time at all, you were sat on the small table watching while Natasha sucked on your strap, getting it wet and ready for herself. As you sipped at the champagne from her glass.

Natasha looked up at you, with the only thing that could be described as ‘fuck-me-now!’.

“Ya ready to be on cloud nine?””What?” Natasha asked confused, still basking in the fog that came from her previous activities.

You answered Natasha by making her let out a yelp. Then an ‘oof’ as her back connected to the jets partition wall.

“I see you’re already there,” you whispered against her lips.

“Well, how could I not be?”

You smirked at her, pressing a kiss onto her lips, one that was way too short for Natasha’s liking.

Your hands ran up her legs, from where they were wrapped around your waist, venturing up her tight, ridden-up dress. Pressing your fingers against the wet fabric, resting against her core, causing Natasha to let out a strangled moan.

“Baby if you’re like this, and I’ve only just touched you,” you paused, rubbing your thumb lightly against her stolen clit, “I’m worried I might destroy you.”“

Wrapping her arms around your neck, Natasha brushed her nose against yours, before whispering, “Then fucking do it.”

In the next few seconds, Natasha’s panties were pushed to the side, and your fingers were stuffed deep inside of her.

You smirked cockily, as the red-head panted and moaned above you. Peppering kisses all across her neck, sucking and biting marks onto the milky skin there.

Natasha whimpered once you pulled your fingers out of her warm depths, making you smirk against her neck. She tugged your shirt collar closer to her body, as she ground her hips against your waist to get some form of stimulation, considering you took it away from her.

Lips brushed against yours, in a teasing way. You knew she was trying to edge you back into fucking her.

Part of you wanted to hold out on her. Make her wait. Have the dangerous Black Widow begging for you to fuck her into oblivion. But the part of you that wanted to just take her, right then and there, won out.

You pushed your slick coated fingers, into Natasha’s panting mouth. Loving the sound of her moans, all because of the taste of herself.

“Yeah you like that, baby girl?” you asked, with a devious smile, “You like how you taste?”

Natasha moaned at your words, nodding her head in confirmation as she kept sucking your fingers.

Pulling your fingers from her mouth, to mutter against her plump lips, all the while your hand travelled down her body.

“I can’t wait to get a taste for myself.” Your hand finally reached its destination, gripping around your strap. “But first, I’ve got something else I wanna do.”

“And what’s tha-” Natasha’s sentence was interrupted by her scream.

With your arms wrapped around Natasha’s waist, you steadily pushed further into the red-head, until you were fully sheathed in her.

“How does that feel, baby?”

“Fucking amazing,” she told you, before pressing her lips roughly against yours, “I may just have you keep you around,” she finished playfully.

“No restraints here.”

The wall creaked as you pounded into Natasha, against it. It bowing with every one of your thrusts.

“Fuck! Do you have any super-strength, that you didn’t tell me about?” You laughed at her words, from where you were peppering soft kisses against her neck, a stark contrast to what you were doing between her legs. Loving the sounds of her moans for you.

Leaning back slightly, you moved one of your arms up to grab at the zip of Natasha’s dress. Letting it pool down around her waist, before helping her tug it off over her head.

“No bra, huh?” you asked, with a raised eyebrow, while you walked towards the jets comfortable bed.

Natasha hummed in response, it breaking off into a full moan when you mouth clasped around one of her pert, pink nipples, tonguing at it perfectly.

Her back landed on the soft sheets, gasping out when you ripped her black lace thong from her body.

“That was very expensive you know,” she jokingly chastened.

“Well, I’m sure I can reimburse you.”

Humming again, Natasha said, “No need. Tony loaned me one of his many black cards.” She smirked, bringing her slick covered fingers up to her lips, letting them go with a small pop.

You hadn't even noticed Natasha toying with herself, but the thought of it alone made it feel like a white-hot heat had washed through you.

She tapped at her puckered lips with her wet fingers, acting as if she was deep in thought.

“But there is a way you can ake it up to me.”

Smirking at her words, you knew exactly what she was about to say.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Natasha nodded. “Fuck me, Y/N. Please.”

With one smooth motion, your strap was buried inside of Natasha once again. Her cunt clenching tightly around the toy, with every one of your heavy movements.

You were fully clothed against Natasha’s naked body. The cotton felt rough against her tingly skin. It rubbing over her nipples in just the right way. The white shirt clasped between Natasha’s fingers upon your back.

It wasn’t long before Natasha was letting out streams of obscenities, it was harder to move the strap, the closer she got to orgasm. And it was downright, near impossible when she came with a scream of your name.

You panted as you laid beside her, Natasha panting just as hard.

“God,” she heaved, “I’m definitely keeping you around.”

“Well, lucky me, that Mr Stark hired me to be here for your whole trip. However long it may be.”

“Hm. Maybe I will take him up on his offer for me to travel the world for a few months.” You kissed her softly, sucking on her lower lip, grazing it lightly with your teeth, before releasing it. “So, how do you feel about a trip around the world?”

“As long as I get to rock your world...”

She laughed, you joining in not long after.

“You’re so cheesy.”

Pressing kisses into her soft cheeks, you mumbled against them, “Yeah. You like it though.” Before moving to her lips, working your tongue easily into her mouth, kissing her with vigour.

“Up for round two?” you whispered, with your eyebrows twitching up in question.

Natasha nodded and you smirked, getting back to work.

And at that moment, Natasha could think only one thing.

Thank you, Tony Stark.

[imhereforbvcky]

The Long Way Home

Summary: Stranded on a mission, you and Bucky are none too pleased with the alternative transport, so you take the long way home.

Warnings: none!

Word Count: 1492

Author’s Note: This is absolute nonsense. I don’t even know in what world this team would come together, but it fell out of my head and here it is.

“Well this thing isn’t taking us anywhere.” Tony let the panel on the Quinjet fall with a clang that ripped through the stillness of the meadow like a shot. Startled birds fluttered out of the trees at the edge of the forest. You felt Bucky tense and knew him well enough to guess he was scanning the perimeter of the clearing.

“Aren’t you the wonder-kid with this stuff?’ Sam complained. He’d been sitting in the dirt leaning on the jet for what felt like ages. Playing tic-tac-toe against himself had grown old twenty minutes ago. “Didn’t you fix Barton’s tractor in like five minutes? It’s been an hour.”

“I think you’ll find this machinery is a little more complex,” Tony defended, wiping grease from his hands. “You know what? You’re the one experienced with military flight equipment, why don’t you fix it?”

“Enouuugh!!” you shouted. Always a little grumpy after a mission, this situation only shaved the fraying rope of your nerves precariously thinner. The last few strands of patience strained under the pressure, threatening to snap under the least provocation.

Missions were work. Hard work. Who doesn’t come home from work sometimes a little sore, a little frustrated, and a little quick-tempered? At times, the solace of crawling into a dark corner of the jet and stuffing in earbuds stood as your sole motivation to get your ass out of a battle.

To have arrived back after a longer-than-expected mission to find the jet damaged by the enemy was an unpleasant surprise. They had hoped to pin you here with an ambush, take out as many Avengers as possible. It hadn’t worked. But the Quinjet lay inoperable as was one of the repulsors on Tony’s suit.

The team was stranded.

“Relax,” Bucky murmured, smirking down at you. The little shit. He always found it funny when you got cranky. It worked for the both of you: he was impervious to your barbs and your frustration cooled as you threw them.

You shoved him lightly with your knee and he chuckled. You’d stretched out on the grass and he’d been rubbing your sore, probably sprained ankle. You might have had a slight tantrum when you spotted the wrecked jet and kicked a rock. Okay, a boulder. Hopping away you’d tripped and rolled your ankle. Honestly, you wondered why they ever let you out on missions. Or out in public, generally. Humiliating.

“We’ll get home one way or another,” he soothed.

Bucky didn’t worry about much.  When you’d seen as much shit as he had, well any other hellish mess seemed like small potatoes. This hiccup, was manageable. No one was hurt, there was no lingering threat, and no urgency to vacate.

“This century?” you pouted. “Because the rest of us haven’t mastered that agelessness party trick.”

He laughed again and shook his head, focusing his hands on a muscle that stretched up your calf.

“And I have a date with Hulu.”

“Well you’ll have to rain check that one,” Sam teased. “Put your shoes back on, we’re hoofin’ it to the next town.”

You groaned, but complied. Bucky leaned back on his palms, taking in the last of the rest while you tied your laces, foot still propped over his lap.

“So what’s the plan?” you asked, rolling to your feet and extending a hand to help haul Bucky from the ground. It was a token effort. The man weighed as much as a mountain lion and was just as agile.

A few painful paces and you braced your hands on Bucky’s broad shoulders. He glanced down at you over his shoulder and chuckled quietly.

“Please?”

He shook his head but stopped. His shoulders shifted and coiled beneath hot skin and a sweat-dampened t-shirt as he leaned forward and readied his arms at his sides. You jumped, drawing your knees high and squeezing them tight at his waist. Your broad goofy grin matched his as he clamped his hands around your knees, holding you tight.

“Piggy-back? Really?” Sam rolled his eyes “How old are you two?”

“Old enough to be your granddad and I can still carry my girl home,” he grinned at Sam.

“My knight in shining armor,” you hummed, placing a quick kiss to his gleaming metal shoulder before burying your face in his neck. He shivered at the cold tip of your nose on his hot skin. He smelled of sweat and grass and gunpowder.

It was a two mile hike to the nearest village. But even the town rose small and sparse and visited only by a few suspicious locals, none of which were interested in offering four armed and bruised city-folk a lift. The four of you had trudged on another three miles to find public transport. Any kind would do.

Tony raced ahead with a curse of gratitude when he saw the station.

“Oh hell no,” you’d muttered at the same sight.

Bucky squeezed your hand and did not release it. Not for one single second.

Sam sighed, glancing at the two of you.

“Alright!” Tony was practically giddy when he returned, holding a stack of paper. “Four tickets the hell out of here! Train leaves at—“

“I don’t do trains.”

“Excuse me?” he blinked rapidly.

“I said, ‘I don’t do trains,’” you repeated, face blank, posture high and resolute under his confused scrutiny.

Bucky remained beside you, still griping your hand, still rigid as a marble statue. As sharp grey eyes scanned the station, he was a picture of stony calm, but you could sense the increased sweeps he’d been making: the sign of an unsettled mind. His breaths had also grown deeper and more concentrated against your arm. They were too intentional, like he was reminding himself to breathe fully.

Willful stillness is not the same as true calm. Stand long enough beside Bucky Banres, you learn to tell the difference.

“What do you mean you don’t do trains?” Tony asked, dumbfounded. “There’s a train, you get on it, and it takes you where you need to go. We’re doing it.”

You frowned and shook your head. “They freak me out. Not doing it.”

Bucky chuckled beside you, soft and heavy. A hint of relief.

“Oh my god,” Sam grumbled.

“That… That makes no sense. You know that, right?” Tony continued to stare, frustration rising to meet the confusion in his tone. “It’s perfectly safe. You are way more likely to be killed by car than by train. FRIDAY back me up.”

“It’s not—“ you tried to interrupt.

“Fourty-six point two-five times more likely,” he repeated what the AI had reported. You parachuted out of a plane this morning! How is sitting in a luxury seat on a guided rail so hard?”

“Tone, you’re trying to reason with fear, and it’s just not rational. It’s a phobia. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Well, I need it to work with me, here.”

You leaned into Bucky and he slung an arm around your shoulder. “You’ll have to sedate me. And how’s that gonna look? Three hulking dudes lugging a drugged lady onto a train?”

Tony looked to Sam who shrugged, then to Bucky beside you, his best chance to convince you to just please be reasonable. The only person who could ever persuade you to do anything you weren’t interested in doing.

“C’mon, help me out here! We all want to get home. Preferably before this time next year,” he pled.

Sam scoffed. “You’re barking up the wrong tree, there.”

“Sorry, I’m with her on this one.” Bucky tipped his head in your direction.

“Fine. But tickets to this tiny commuter airport are going to be astronomical,” Tony complained. “You’re gonna owe me a swimming pool’s worth of Jamba Juice runs.”

Sam laughed. “You really think we’re making it onto a plane? He has a hunk of indestructible metal attached to his body,” he gestured toward Bucky, “And you’ve got a nuclear reactor fused to your chest!”

“Hey! This is clean energy, thank you very much.” Tony tapped the glowing triangle gently, careful not to activate the nanotech within.

“It’s a TSA nightmare, is what it is.”

Tony looked blankly at you and Bucky, conspicuously silent, for a long moment before throwing his hands in the air. “I give up. You figure out how to get us home.”

And you did.

And Tony scowled the entire ride back to New York.

You, however, had curled up against Bucky’s shoulder. He’d finally relaxed, eased into the soft worn seat and slumped in for the long ride. In no time the steady sway of traffic had lulled you into the soothing dark of near-sleep. His cheek rested on the top of your head, heavy and comforting. Comfortable.

“Thanks,” he mumbled before kissing your hair. “For covering for me.”

“Always,” you hummed, nuzzling deeper with eyes still closed. Content. “Besides, what’s funnier than a genius, billionaire with a personal aircraft stuck on a Greyhound bus?”

[olliepig]

Centre Stage chapter 6

It feels like a long time since I posted the last chapter, thanks to Christmas, lockdown and the joys of homeschooling. Massive thanks to the wonderful @willow-salix for her cheerleading abilities and for betaing this thing. 

As always, it’s available on AO3 here.

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

“Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking - ”

“Who are you talking to, you big idiot?” Cat laughed, reaching over the control console to smack Scott playfully in the arm. “Have you got a brother or two stashed back there or something?”

“Shut up and humour me, OK?” he pleaded with a grin from the pilot's seat, thoroughly enjoying himself. “I’ve always wanted to do the proper announcement and nobody else would let me.”

“Fine, on you go, then,” Cat rolled her eyes as she shook her head in mock defeat, willing to let him get away with pretty much anything as a thank you for letting her sit in the cockpit with him.

“Welcome on board this Tracy Airlines flight from London Farnborough to Richmond, Virginia.”

“Wait, you’re taking us back to Richmond?” Cat interrupted in excitement, having been completely in the dark about Scott’s plans for the weekend until the day before. Even then, all she had been told was to make sure she had her passport and an overnight bag ready for a chauffeur to pick her up and take her to the airport.

“Sure am,” Scott grinned, looking thoroughly pleased with himself. “I thought it might be fun to go back to where it all began.”

“Aww, that’s such a lovely idea,” Cat smiled, reaching over the console again and giving his hand an appreciative squeeze, losing herself for a moment in the blue of his eyes as the radio crackled to life.  

“Taxi to runway two-four left via bravo three, cross charlie.”

“Roger that, control.” Scott’s attention immediately snapped back to the task at hand, his professional mask slipping perfectly into place as he took control of the plane, throttling up the engines to start their short journey to the runway.

Cat watched in rapt attention. He’d only flown her once before but that had been in Thunderbird One which was a very, very different experience, and not just because it had been the day that they had finally got together. Being in the world-famous rocket plane was a dream come true, but it was also completely alien to her. This was much more normal, or at least, a normal that she was more able to comprehend.

“That’s the first one of those messages that I kinda understood,” she commented as they moved away, watching as they followed the markings on the taxiway. “Bravo means B doesn’t it? So we’ve to follow the signs that say B and they’ll take us to the runway?”

“We’ll make a pilot out of you yet,” joked Scott, a twinkle appearing in his eye as he glanced over at her before turning the jet onto the runway. “It won’t be long before you’re flying me places.”

“Not a chance,” Cat squeaked. “Even my sat nav is too complicated for me. I think I’ll stick to things with less buttons and switches, and that stay on the ground, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Tracy zero-one, cleared for takeoff runway two-four.”

“Cleared for take off runway two-four, Tracy zero-one,” Scott repeated back to the control tower, confirming their readiness to depart before turning back to Cat, a massive grin plastered on his face. “Ready to go then?”

Cat took a deep breath, taking in the long expanse of runway ahead of them, the bright lights trailing far into the distance. It was a view that always spoke to her of freedom and escape, and whenever she flew she always craned her neck to see that very view out of her little window in the cabin before the aircraft turned and it was lost to her. Never in a million years did she expect to be sitting in a cockpit with a perfect, uninterrupted view of it, about to take off in a private jet piloted by her boyfriend.

“Let’s do it,” she agreed with a grin, her heart rate accelerating in anticipation.

With a small nod, Scott pushed the throttle lever forward and the engines roared to life, pushing them back into their seats as the nose of the plane lifted and they took to the skies.

As the jet climbed toward the clouds, Cat sat back, allowing her mind to wander as she watched Scott speak with air traffic control and deal with the myriad of buttons and switches that seemed to require his attention. This chance to watch him as he worked was something that she hadn’t expected and she marvelled at the sheer professionalism he gave off as he concentrated, having only ever been privy to media footage of this side of him before now. Aside from her thrilling trip in Thunderbird One, she’d always seen the much more relaxed, casual side to him and it made her smile to be one of the few who knew both his private and public personas.

Seeing the small frown crossing his face as the plane was buffeted by crosswinds as they speared through the clouds, her smile widened as she remembered her first sight of him that day, leaning casually against a wall outside the airport, looking effortlessly cool as her car had pulled up. The knowledge that he could be anywhere in the world, yet had chosen to be there waiting for her, having planned a secret weekend escape for them both, had sent a thrill of excitement through her that she hadn’t yet fully gotten over.

The whole experience of the day so far was something she knew she’d not forget in a hurry. She flew a lot thanks to her work taking her all over the globe but, at best, she occasionally got to fly first class, still having to go through all the usual controls and checks at the airport before boarding the plane. Breezing through all of that and simply walking out onto the tarmac to a private jet that sat waiting to take her to an unknown destination was an indulgence that she wasn’t sure she would ever get used to.

The more she thought about it, the more Cat realised that it had just confirmed to her that she really had no idea how she had been so lucky to find someone as incredible as Scott. She knew that she’d be lying if she didn’t admit that she found the private island and jet amazing, but the reality was that it was him that she was completely in love with, more than she had thought it possible to be in love with anyone. She had fallen for him long ago, before the island or the jet were even a pipe dream, and her experiences during the time they had spent apart had only served to solidify in her mind how amazing he was.

The best part of it was that she absolutely knew that he felt the same. Even though they weren’t able to spend a lot of time together, the time they did have was so special that there was not a shred of doubt in her mind about his affections. It made a nice change from other relationships that she had been in, where she had been left guessing and scrambling to try and read mixed signals for a hint of what was going on. Smiling to herself, she realised that this was actually the second relationship she had been in where she had felt completely secure and cherished. And the best part was that the last one had been with Scott too.

Feeling her eyes on him, Scott flicked the autopilot on, a small smile playing on the corners of his lips as he looked up to meet them, enjoying the now familiar flutter in his heart as he did so. “What?”

“Nothing,” Cat smiled lazily, making his breathing quicken in anticipation. “Just thinking about how damn sexy you are when you’re flying.”

“Oh, is that so?” Scott grinned, very happy with the turn the conversation had taken. “In that case, I’d better fly you places more often then.”

“Be my guest,” laughed Cat. “I could definitely get used to having the world’s most eligible bachelor as my personal pilot, even if he is off the market now.”

Scott’s stomach lurched at her words. Even though Cat had been incredibly understanding about the sensationalist newspaper story that had been published a few days previously about him dating Selene, he was still not allowing himself to believe that she was completely OK with it.

“Yeah, I'm sorry again about that,” he apologised, his troubled eyes betraying the forced brightness of his tone. “You know what these papers are like. They’ll print anything.”

“You don’t need to apologise,” Cat exclaimed, taking in the change in his demeanour, amazed that he could possibly think that he had done anything wrong. “I know it’s a frustrating thing to have to deal with, but as far as I’m concerned the papers can publish whatever they like. I know nothing would ever happen between you two and when I actually looked at the story, their only evidence seemed to be a picture of you hugging your best friend before a press conference, which is pretty flimsy if you ask me. Selene and John are clearly perfect for each other so it never even crossed my mind that there could be any truth to it.”

“My heart just sank when I read it and I was so worried that you’d be angry, but then I wasn’t sure whether to be relieved or offended when all you did was laugh when I called to tell you,” he joked, as a wave of calm washed over him, lightning his mood.

“Yeah, sorry about that, but I don’t know what else I could have done to be honest,” Cat smiled, glad to see the familiar twinkle returning to his eyes. “I guess cos I know Selene, I know she’s not a threat, but I can’t see why anyone would get worked up about a press report like that without talking to their partner first. It makes no sense to me at all.”

“That’s how I’ve always seen it too,” Scott smiled, beyond relieved that they seemed to have the same opinion on it, “but you never really know how someone’s going to react until it happens.”

“That sounds like it’s come from experience,” Cat observed, hitting a little too close to home for Scott’s comfort as he turned away to check a dial beside him, trying to keep his expression neutral. “But it’s a fair point. Aside from the fact that he was a fuckwit, one of the main causes of stress in my last relationship were press reports trying to link Mark and I together so I totally understand how it can cause problems.”

“See, I knew that,” Scott recalled, unsure of how he hadn’t remembered Cat telling him about her jealous and insecure ex until now. “I don’t know why I got so worried.”

“I think it’s probably natural,” Cat reassured him, meeting his eyes, losing herself in their blue depths and smiling as her heart skipped a beat. “But seeing as I’ve had experience of it from both sides now, I think I can honestly say that you’ll never need to worry about that sort of thing OK? I trust you.”

“See, this is why you’re so amazing,” Scott replied sincerely, holding her gaze and wishing there was a way he could get closer to her, their hotel room suddenly seeming a very long way away.

Reaching over the console between them, he took her hand, lifting it to his lips and pressing a soft kiss onto it.

“Thank you,” he murmured, barely audible over the noise in the cockpit.

“You’re very welcome,” Cat grinned. “I’m glad we’ve cleared that up. Now, are there any laws about me getting up and exploring back there?” she added, turning to gesture to the rear of the plane. “I’ve never been on a private jet before and I’m very nosey.”

“Be my guest,” Scott laughed at her honesty. “I need to stay here, I’m afraid, but feel free to explore to your heart's content. You’ve got just under an hour before we land so have fun.”

Left alone in the cockpit, Scott sat back in his seat, dropping his face into his hands with a sigh before looking over all his instruments once more. Content that everything was as it should be, he closed his eyes and allowed the relief that their conversation had brought wash over him, his mind calmer than it had been in weeks. He couldn’t help but feel that her easy acceptance that things reported in the press should not be believed without question shouldn’t have affected him as much as it did but the reassurance that it had brought him was tangible. Being in a position as one of the most recognised men on the planet could have its advantages, but he had also found that it came with costs too. Costs that he did not wish to repeat.

I trust you. Those three little words reverberated in his head, equal in importance to the other three little words she had said to him for the first time only a few weeks before. He commanded trust every day from those he was helping, but to have it given freely from someone who’s life was not literally in his hands was something he had learned the hard way was not always guaranteed. He had never questioned it with Cat before now, but the publication of the story about his supposed relationship with Selene had thrown him, bringing back memories that he had spent years trying very hard to lock away.

Feeling hands on his shoulders, he was jolted back to the present, looking up to find Cat standing over him. Held captive by her gaze, happiness washed over him as he took her in, her eyes sparkling in the sunlight streaming through the window, turning her hair to strands of fire as she flicked it over her shoulder. Leaning down, she placed a soft kiss on his forehead before wordlessly turning and wandering back to the main cabin of the plane, leaving him breathless.

The rest of the day couldn’t come soon enough.

*****

“Scott, I think this suite is bigger than my entire flat,” Cat gasped, dropping her bag on one of the sofas as she looked around, taking in the elegant decor and multiple doors leading off the main living space. “I can’t believe you brought me here.”

“Well, we always used to wonder what this place was like, so I thought it might be fun to find out,” Scott grinned as he surveyed the room, delighted at her reaction to his choice of hotel for their time away.

They used to frequently walk past the Jefferson Hotel in downtown Richmond on their way to their favourite restaurant and, as they passed the imposing building, their conversation inevitably used to turn to what it must be like inside and how fun it would be to stay there one day. Funds had prevented them from finding out at the time but since they'd gotten back together, Scott had been determined that they would finally tick off something that had been on their bucket list for over a decade.

“Well, on first impressions, it’s definitely fancier than I thought,” Cat mused as she peeked into the lavish bathroom before following Scott into what looked like a dining room. “Did you see the chandelier when we were coming up the stairs?”

“It was hard not to with you elbowing me in the ribs and pointing,” Scott laughed, grabbing her around the waist and pulling her in for a quick kiss, enjoying the warmth of her as she pressed into him, making him think of all the possibilities they had with so much uninterrupted time together.

“You might have got me there, sorry about that,” Cat conceded with a grin as she wriggled out of his arms, leaving him bereft as she wandered over to the windows and peered out, her nose almost touching the glass. “Oh my God, we’ve got a full on balcony out there, complete with furniture and I think there’s actually flags on the flagpoles!”

“And a dining table in here, let's not forget about that,” Scott added from somewhere behind her, attracting her attention back to the interior of their room.

“That thing wouldn’t even fit in my kitchen,” Cat exclaimed, her eyes wide. “This place is insane. Do you think people have full on banquets in here or something?”

“Seems like they might,” Scott agreed, investigating the small bar that stood in the corner as Cat made her way back through to the lounge. “I don’t know why else they’d need such a big table for one bedroom.”

“Oooh, come and look at this,” Cat called, making Scott hurry after her, finding her sitting at a baby grand piano that they had somehow overlooked on their first investigation of the room.  “We can take turns serenading each other. Although I have to admit I only know how to play chopsticks.”

“It’s a deal, but only if you agree to lounge on top of it looking sultry while I’m playing,” Scott grinned, running his fingers over the top of the instrument, his eyes glinting dangerously.

“Only if you return the favour,” Cat giggled, as an image of Scott balanced on the lid of the instrument, clad in one of the fluffy robes she had spotted in the bathroom earlier popped into her head.

“Not fair. I’d probably break it,” he objected with a pout that even Alan would be proud of.

“Well if you’re not willing to return the favour, there’ll be no sultry lounging for you, I’m afraid,” she smiled with a small shrug, closing the keylid and standing, feeling his eyes tracking her every move.

“Spoilsport,” Scott grinned, pulling her into him and gently brushing her hair away from her face before pressing a soft kiss on her full lips.

“So, what’s the plan for the rest of the day?” Cat asked as she wound her arms around his waist and snuggled into his embrace.

“It’s really up to you,” Scott smiled, enjoying the scent of her hair as it tickled his nose. “I thought we could maybe chill out here for the afternoon, then I booked us a table at Tarrant’s for tonight.”

“Really?” Cat squealed in excitement, pulling back to look at him. “That’s amazing! I wasn’t sure it would even still be there after all this time.”

“Well, luckily for us, it is, and from what I can see, it’s not changed much since we were last there,” Scott grinned, pleased to have been able to surprise her with a trip to their favourite restaurant. “But we’ve got a few hours before we need to go so it’s up to you what we do. There’s a pool in the hotel somewhere, or we could just relax here for a bit. It’s up to you.”

Cat fixed him with a gaze that made his heart rate quicken. “I think here sounds good to me. We could always have a swim tomorrow, but I feel like we’ve not really investigated the bedroom yet,” she smiled, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Scott didn’t need to be asked twice. He’d been dying to get his hands on her since he had first seen her climbing out of the car, but the downside of piloting his own plane meant that there was very little time for relaxation on the flight.

“Well then,” he smiled, dipping down to kiss her again. “I think that’s something we’d better remedy now isn’t it?”

“I think so,” Cat grinned as she pulled away from him, sliding her hand down his arm from where it had been resting on his shoulder.

Held captive by her gaze, Scott felt her fingers intertwine with his own as she turned and led him towards the bedroom. His breath quickening, he obediently followed behind, absolutely lost to the woman who had stolen his heart.

*****

“Do you think this’ll do?” Cat asked, giving a little twirl that sent the hem of her dress swinging out around her knees.

“It’s perfect,” Scott replied as he slid the knot in his tie up around his throat. “You look stunning, as always.”

“Why thank you,” she grinned, doing a little curtsey that made Scott chuckle. “You’re not looking too bad yourself,” she added with a wink before sashaying around the bed and grabbing her evening bag.

Shaking his head at her slightly backhanded compliment, Scott watched in the mirror as she made her way around the room, transferring belongings into the smaller bag before disappearing into the lounge of their suite to wait for him. Left alone, he put the finishing touches to his hair as his mind wandered back over their time together, allowing himself the time to make sure it was styled exactly how he liked it.

It was almost intimidating how polished she was now, he mused. She had already taken his breath away when she stepped out of the car at the airport and, when he thought back, he couldn’t think of a time when she looked anything less than flawless. He remembered her always being stylish, but while they had been apart, that style had clearly been honed and now, even when she was just relaxing in her flat in what she would describe as her comfy clothes, she never looked like she had a hair out of place.

With a smile, he realised that perhaps the same could be said in reverse. He got no end of teasing from his brothers about always looking his best, but making sure he was well put together had been a habit he had picked up when he realised that the girls tended to like boys who took care of their appearance and he had never quite shaken it since. Sure, he liked wearing clothes that were designed purely for comfort sometimes, but he was always careful to make sure that they suited him and were, at the very least, clean, unlike Gordon and Alan’s total disregard for what anyone else thought about their outfits. Sometimes, he found himself wishing he was a little less fastidious about how he looked but it was a part of him now and it didn’t seem like that was going to change.

He was almost glad that Cat seemed to feel the same about always looking good, but the little voice niggled at the back of his head, continuing to remind him that she had not always been like that. Perhaps their time apart had revealed a different side to her, making him wonder what else might have changed, and whether she dressed the way she did in the expectation of more than he was giving.

Sudden doubt flooded his mind as to his choice of restaurant for the night; it had seemed like a good idea when he had come up with it and she had reacted exactly the way he had expected when he had told her his plan, but it was not a place that could be described as high class. It held sentimental value, sure, and that’s why he had chosen it, but a seed of doubt had been planted as to whether it was truly where she would choose to go if given the opportunity..

Trying to distract himself from his thoughts, he grabbed their coats from the wardrobe, laying them carefully on the bed for when they were needed later. Turning back to close the doors, a flash of colour caught his eye and he reached in to stroke the emerald material, wondering what it was and how he had missed it earlier. Intrigue took over, and he pulled out a beautiful, floor length evening gown. It took his breath away and, even with his limited knowledge of ladies' fashion, he could tell that it would cling to Cat in all the right places.

His mind started to race once more as he stood, staring at the dress as if it had committed some horrible crime before stuffing it back into the wardrobe and slamming the door, unhelpful voices suggesting that if she had brought it with her, then clearly she was expecting to wear it, and he hadn’t organised anything that would require such a fancy dress. Breathing deeply, he tried to calm his thoughts as he stood motionless, unsure of what to think or how to feel.

Giving his hair one final smooth over, he shook his head to clear his uncertainty, choosing to trust her actions over his own insecurities. Yes, she had brought an evening gown with her, but she had given no hint that she was anything less than delighted with his decision on their venue for dinner so he vowed to think no more of his doubts and concentrate on enjoying their time together without overthinking everything.

Turning on his heel, he strode out of the bedroom, ready to scoop her up in his arms and start their evening on a positive note, but, as he entered the lounge, her whole demeanour stopped him in his tracks. His well developed instinct for trouble, honed by years of dealing with teenage brothers, screamed caution at him as he took her in, hunched over her phone, her body language radiating hostility.

“Are you OK?” Scott asked tentatively, taking in the set of her jaw and the way her eyebrows were practically knitted together as she typed furiously, her phone screen taking the brunt of her anger.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she huffed, finishing her message with a flourish and dropping her phone onto the sofa dramatically.

“You don’t look fine,” Scott pressed, cautiously crossing the room and sitting next to her, his earlier worries resurfacing at her refusal to tell him the cause of her anger. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” Cat snapped, sighing as she picked up her phone again, a loud chime alerting her to another message. “I was just messaging Penny that's all.”

Scott watched her closely as she typed, knowing that no matter what she might have told him, something was most definitely going on. Something that he intended to get to the bottom of if it was making her this angry.

“Is Penny OK?” he asked cautiously as she dropped the phone onto the seat between them once more, trying to eliminate the various options for her anger that did not involve something he had done.

“She’s fine,” Cat snarled, her eyes glittering dangerously. “Just leave it, Scott. I don’t want to talk about it.”

“OK, OK,” Scott agreed, holding his hands up in defeat. “If you don’t want to talk that’s fine. I was just trying to help.”

“I know you were,” she assured him, taking a deep breath as she stood up, shooting him what she hoped would be a reassuring smile. “Just give me five minutes on the balcony to cool down and I’ll be OK.”

“No problem,” Scott agreed, having learned the hard way that giving Cat space when she was angry was essential. “I’ll be here when you’re feeling better, and then we can go for dinner, OK?”

“Perfect,” Cat agreed, flashing him a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as her phone chimed again.

Watching her typing furiously again as she stalked out of the room, Scott flopped back onto the soft cushions and ran a hand through his hair, remembering as he did so that he’d only just finished styling it and it wasn’t yet set in place. Cursing, he hauled himself back up, trying very hard not to put his hand down anywhere as he headed back to the bedroom to sort out the damage.

Taking a deep breath, Scott did his best to calm his nerves as he fixed the damage he had done to his hairstyle. It was just a coincidence, he told himself. Just because she was angrily messaging her best friend while they were away for the weekend didn’t mean that it was because of anything he had done.

Sighing, he sat heavily down on the bed, causing the springs to creak under him. He didn’t know who he was trying to kid. Penny was perfect and not likely to be the cause of any anger, especially not when she knew that they were away on a break. That only left one option that he could see: she was angry because of him. Given her unwillingness to talk, he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do to fix it, but her anger plus the beautiful dress in her wardrobe combined to make him think that she had been expecting something more than he had arranged for that night and was upset that he hadn’t known her well enough to anticipate it. Pulling out his phone, he started the task of finding an alternative place to eat that might be more to her taste.

*****

Finally having taken care of everything she needed to, Cat left her bolt hole on the balcony and wandered back into the lounge, surprised to find it empty. She felt terrible at how she’d talked to Scott and the fact that the room was empty didn’t bode well for how he was feeling now. Her first instinct was to seek him out but, knowing that she was not alone in needing some time to herself to cool off when angry, she decided to wait it out for five minutes, then go and find him if he’d not reappeared by then.

Crossing to the window, she rested her head on the cool glass, watching the traffic go past on the street below as her thoughts continued to swirl. Sighing, she wished her friend hadn’t put her in the position that she was now in. She had always known that Penny could be difficult in a relationship and her behaviour had been the source of many disagreements between them in the past, but she had hoped that this time it would be different, especially as she clearly liked Gordon so much. Unfortunately, based on the messages she had just received, it seemed like that hope was misplaced and there had been an argument that was entirely Penny’s doing.

Now she found herself stuck in the middle, having clearly worried and upset Scott by her reaction to the messages but not being able to tell him why as it was not their place to meddle. She had already taken care of ensuring Gordon was OK, having sent a message to Selene to alert her to the situation and making sure that he wouldn’t be alone to deal with the fallout, but she couldn’t help feeling bad. Keeping anything from Scot didn’t sit well with her, but she knew how protective he was over his brothers and she desperately didn’t want to ruin their weekend away by bringing in someone else's relationship drama.  

Hearing movement behind her, she spun around, taking the time to enjoy the sight of the man walking towards her, their coats draped over his arm. He didn’t seem angry, she thought, relief flooding through her. A little anxious, perhaps, but she hoped that could be alleviated easily enough and allow them to enjoy the meal that she had been so looking forward to.

“I was wondering where you had got to,” Cat smiled, crossing over to meet him in the middle of the room and sliding her arms around his waist, reaching up to give him a gentle kiss as he pulled her into him in an awkward one armed hug. “I’m sorry about all that.”

“That’s OK,” Scott smiled, trying to cover up his discomfort as he disentangled himself, laying his coat over the arm of the sofa. “Shall we go and get some dinner?”

“Are you alright?” Cat pressed, the reversal of roles from 15 minutes previously not lost on her as he helped her into her coat, the tightness of his jaw and the fact that he wasn’t meeting her eyes telling her that something was bothering him.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Scott assured, slipping his coat on and checking to make sure he had the room key before holding the door open for her.

Walking down the hallway, Scott’s mind whirled with indecision, genuinely unsure whether he should broach the subject of where they were going or not. Cursing himself, he realised that it would have been better to talk in the room when they would have a chance to change instead of waiting until they were already out, but he hadn’t taken the chance and now it was too late for that. Choosing his words carefully, he took a deep breath.

“Are you sure you’re happy going to Tarrant's tonight? I found another place that’s a bit fancier that we could try instead if you’d rather? Or we could always eat in the hotel?”

“Scott?” Cat asked, confusion written across her face. “What’s going on? I thought you booked us a table?”

“I did, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be changed if you’d rather go somewhere else,” he countered, not wanting her to think that they had to go there just because he’d been pushy enough to book a table for them without even consulting her.

“Well, I think going there is a great idea and so that’s what we should do,” Cat decided, reaching up to place a small kiss on his cheek as they waited for the elevator.

“Really? Are you sure you’d not rather go somewhere a bit nicer?” Scott pressed, not yet convinced that she was truly happy with his choice. “There's a couple of nice looking places that are just around the corner too.”

“Would you rather go somewhere else?” she turned his question back on him, bewildered as to why he might think she’d not want to go somewhere that held so many happy memories for them.

“Not at all, I just thought you’d rather go something a bit posher than Tarrant’s, that’s all,” Scott shrugged, he hoped in a way that seemed nonchalant and not betray the tension that was holding him rigid.

“No, thank you,” Cat declined firmly, irritation creeping into her tone as she wondered what on Earth had caused this sudden change of heart and why he kept pressing her on it when she had already made her preference known.  “I don’t know where this has come from, but please don’t try to decide what I want. Going to our favourite restaurant is a lovely idea and you’ve already booked a table there so it’s precisely where we should go.”

“Well, if you’re sure,” Scott replied doubtfully, the anger in her voice warning him that if he kept pushing, it would end in an argument that would see them going nowhere at all for dinner.

“For the thousandth time yes, I’m sure,” Cat sighed as a flash of exasperation surged through her. “Now, can we please go and eat? I’m bloody starving.”

Not waiting for an answer, she slipped her arm into his, practically dragging him out of the hotel and up the road towards the restaurant. It was by no means the first time that she had witnessed Scott worrying about a decision, and she strongly suspected that it wouldn’t be the last. Her only hope was that he would be able to relax and enjoy the rest of their night together now that he had gotten whatever it was that was bothering him out of his system.

[winfredkipling]

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[huntsman-ash]

RWBY V8E5 LiveThoughts

And now for the last episode before the HUGE break they’re taking. Seriously, February? Damn, whats going on at RT?

It matters not. Lets see what this weeks episode has for us.

And here we see Aminety Colloseum, the place that Atlas SHOULD have weaponized the moment it rolled its way back here. Seriously look at it; floating free away from everything else...you could mount missile launchers and laser batteries and CIWS batteries on it, launch fighters from it, let dropships deploy through its base...a floating aircraft carrier of unprecidented size.

Or maybe turn it into a weapon...use its drive system to focus Dust energy into some kind of gravitational force...thats just me though.

Missed oppertunites...ah well.

You CAN see its been adjusted though, it looks less like the sports arena from its last apperance and more like a floating coms hub, with those dishes on the outside and the huge spire.

Intersetingly if you look in the upper right corner the moon is there but almost completely covered by the storm Salem summoned. Interesting.

Wait why is PEITRO out there? With like...no supports? Seems kinda dangerous to send the weak old dude out there...

...thats a bomb. A Dust bomb in pipe bomb style form but thats very much a bomb.  Yes, Penny, danger indeed.

Atmospheric orbit. Ahhh that must be the low-level orbit path that they need to ensure it doesnt loose power. The part where you coast along with almost no drag.  Like what the X-15 hit in our world, and punched through at least once.

WAIT WHAT THE HELL IS THAT. Thats some kind of loader mech. THATS A FUCKING UTILITY TITAN. WHEN DID ATLAS GET ONE OF THOSE?!

Also thats a jet engine.

And Maria’s piloting it. To quote Daimon Baird; I know wha thappens when you let an angry chick loose with a power loader.

Multiple bombs...wait. Thats the mine that RWBY fought in with the Aces, the one that almost blew the fuck up. They’re... Oh. I get it now. They’re gonna use the blast to fling Amneity into upper orbit and stabalize it. Clever. Not exactly SAFE, but clever. Just hope the mine doesnt go anywhere important. Those tunnels are going to turn into firestorms.

Cute, she thinks she can stay and help. Trust me, Penny. You’re better off running.

MARIA CASUALLY DOING THE MEXICAN GRANDMOTHER THING WITH HER MECH...THE HIP HAND. MY GOD.

Oh, and his chair has gravity restraints too. They...gonna handle the impact of the launch? I mean thats literally a fuel/air bomb under them. Dust/air...

Well Maria seems alright with it.

OH GOD DAMMIT. Its Cinder isnt it? Fucking bitch...

On the positive side if she DOES hitch a ride then they get a chance to give her the ol’ “Long fall special”.  Lets see your maiden powers save you from a fall from near orbit.

Well then, she burned right through the floor. Interesting. Maiden powers or her own, who knows...I do admit seeing her ride the ship in like that is kinda cool.

The eagerness in Cinders remaining eye interest me. Also, even when using maiden powers, her dead eye emits nothing. So that whole parts just gone. 

Secondary note, I think they’re standing on the...Shade emblem? Shade is the swords I think. Vale is the axes, Atlas is the staff, Havens the lamp. Doubt it means anything.

Ahhh, okay I was gonna say, that launch was...kinda lackluster. But the blast is being used as a BOOST on top of the four existing external thrusters. Like the yellow emergency turbines on the outside of the Pillar of Autumn in the end cutscene of Halo Reach

Dust explodes in its own individual colors. The blast under them looks like a Pride festival.

Also Penny just going WHAP like that amuses me, whereas Cinder just crouches. Guess she knew what was coming.

I dont see how the blast is helping through...maybe its the pressure wave and we cant see it right.

Now THAT is a command and control table!

Based on the image I can see, the map is showing “Atlas Mantle” in the middle in green, Aminety in red to the north, and the whale as its own red marker just off to the west a bit of Atlas/Mantle. So now we know where everything is stationed.

The scales all kindsa weird tho

Ah THERES the G-force. Emeralds literally stuck to the floor.

And because Cinders an unoriginal bitch, fire swords. Im not impressed ot say the least.  On a side note that DOES mean that radiobandit was right about her powers, so theres that. I’d wager this is a combination of her semblance and the maiden abilities.

For those who follow me, Cinder’s blades here are similar in look to what Ash Vulcan can summon, minus the fire. His are more of a cooled obsidian look.  They are, however, as sharp as these are, but much less sturdy. Ex; the one that pins itself to the wall by Penny’s head would have shattered on impact, which Ash uses as a secondary ability. Because no one likes a hundred glass shards in their eyes...

OH HELL YES. Maria with the mech. Now, Cinder...TASTE METAL FIST.

RT...I salute you. Angry mother figure piloting a giant robot screaming “get away from her you bitch”. ALMOST had it. Almost.

What smacked into her though. Neo?

Yes, Neo piloting their escape craft. Interseting.

Emerald looks completely useless and confused and Neo is suddenly very much in a realization shes inside a tin can and MARIA IS OPERATING A GIANT TIN CAN OPENER

Emeralds semblance works on Maria. Interseting, so it must bypass eyes. Effect the brain specifically. Note to self for Chrys on that...

WHY did Neo take Ruby’s form when shes fighting Maria? On that Maria seems very happy to brawl on the ground now. Old habits die hard, I guess.

Additional math note; “broadcasting range” is, by this numerical, 543.523 of...whatever Remnant uses as units. On Earth, the edge of outerspace is almost exactly 100 km, or 62 miles, straight up. So going by that measurement... (Doing the math here hang on)...1 km is equal to 5.43 of Remnants distance units. Lets just say 5.5. Assuming Remnants edge is the same (but everything we’ve seen so far hints that it is, or at least very close)

Alternatively, since we heard klicks used in V4, but miles used in After The Fall, we can assume this is one of those, meaning that either broadcast altitude on Remnant is ABSURDLY HIGH, because 500km is literally 5 times the edge of space on earth, and 540 miles is ALMOST 9 TIMES AS HIGH. Either way Im pretty sure this is the first measurement of Remnants units we’ve seen.

Alternatively alternatively, judging by the arrows we see, these might be required velocity to maintain orbit, which MAY make a bit more sense but it doesnt really fit. Low orbital velocity on earth for example is 17,000 KPH. Even with the math above, theres still a TITANIC difference.

And now we see the numvers going down again because CINDER BURNED A HOLE IN THROUGH ONE OF THE STABALIZERS. Bitch.

Again on th e weaponizing the colleseum; look at all this empty space. They didnt even remove it from when it was a consorse for the festival. You could put SO MANY weapon emplacements...the landing pads are still there!

Oh so now Cinders a Dawnblade from RWBY is she.

And exploding arrows too. Alright then, sure, why not.

Not sure what the point of this little bit was, aside from Penny trying to draw Cinder off and Cinder going back because...evil? Bait for Penny? Who knows. 

Oh yeah, Marias having a GOOD time. Also, Neos face when she gets kicked in it; “NO, NOT THE SANDEL!”

Also the disrespect from Maria. Yes. Suck it, Neo.

Also theres some timeskippage, as there is NOT a 2 minute gap between when we see the clock the first time and when we see it now. I dont think, anyway. Im sure theres math to be done but it serves the purpose its suppose to, for tension.

Uhhhh...Cinder, please. Your Salem’s most bottom of bitches right now. She favors Hazel and Tyrian over you.

Did Cinder really just try for a does not compute moment. Or is she just out of ideas.

Cinder stealing the maiden powers reminds me of the Grip of the Devourer perk from the Necromatic Grips in Destiny 2. Mainly the green energy flowing. I know thats Pennys aura stuff but it does remind me.

Ahhh they got a plan with Emerald then. Interesting. Also Neo taking advantage of a distraction sounds like her. 

And Penny ONESHOTS Neo. Lets be real here, without aura? She’d be LIQUID. Or maybe ash. Not sure how Penny’s funnels (THEYRE STILL FUCKING FUNNELS DAMMIT) works.

Annnnddd you forgot shes a robot and sees aura didn’t you.  Again, without aura, she’d be dead. Actually, she might legit be dead considering that scream. That sounds like the noise someone makes as their organs are fried by high intensity radiation. Not too mention the MASSIVE BURN MARK on the back wall there.

Either way; GET FUCKED BITCH.

Very dramatic, Emerald, but really, come on. Penny has lasers. You would get maybe one more shot (from a weapon that has, at best from my viewpoint) a caliber equal to MAYBE a 9mm pistol. That stuff doesnt have the penetration power required.

If Penny wasn’t nice and more interested in saving Peitro...you’d be dead. Ripped asunder and Cinder made even worse. 

A pity, really, Penny has a heart. But...hey. Real girl.

I feed upon Emeralds tears though. Mmm. Simpy.

What the HELL is hitting them. Grimm?

Oh boy here we go, more of this. Like...bruh. Just set down for a bit. Always gotta be dramatic dont ya

Aww. Touching. But pointless in the grand scheme of things.

Interesting note but she puts her gloved hand on his cheek, not the one with the glove burned off. For what thats worth again.

Holy shit, that map wasnt lying. That whale’s almost as big as Atlas is from this angle. Mind you, might just be a trick of the location but it would make sense if they were afraid of a Grimm THAT GOD DAMN BIG. I was just seeing it as like, about the size of a normal sperm whale, maybe as big as the Leviathan from the series of the same name, but even that was barely 150 feet long. This things HUGE.

Nope. Pretty sure its about the same size as Atlas is long.

Also the Moon seems smaller from this angle oddly enough.

Wait is she gonna superman this fucking thing?

Okay yes, the numbers were based on distance not velocity, as Penny is pushing the stadium UP, rather than accelerating it in proper stance.

The noises she makes...huh. Glad my sister didnt walk in on those. Sounds...not like someone straining.

Hey look, its clumsy shitface McGee. HES NOT DEAD!

Note about the message; whos the chick with the eye patch next to the faunus in the back left of Ruby.

Im going to assume the first place we see the message played is the Mistral Black Market. Seems fitting for how it is, and the design matches Havens ascetic. 

OH MY GOD THE LITTLE EARED FAUNUS GIRL IN THE HOLE. OH NO. SHES TOO CUTE.

Also in that same shot we see the old Karen from two episodes ago, a mouse girl, Fiona’s mole uncle, and someone new I think. Plus the huge eared girls mom who has a fox tail. And also one of the thirsty moms and her kid maybe?

Hey, Sun and Neptune! Out in the middle of nowhere in Vacuo. So this is the first time we’ve seen it in the show. 

And Ilia’s still alive too!

Hey and Goodwytch too. No voice, of course...she got fired ages ago.

Also hey, so this is where Ironwoods been. I love how Hare turns it off before Ruby finishes. 

I will note that technically Ruby’s not wrong. Ironwood cant be trusted. But then, he couldnt before because (gestures to Atlas’s pathetic, scraggy SOFT “military” instead of THE CHAD FORCES OF...uh...) (Rapid sounds of shuffling papers and files labeled “UNSC” “Coalition of Ordered Governments” “SRPA” “GAR” and “Yukon Confederacy” fly off the table)

Several others. Yes. Lets go with that. (Accidentally bumps paper labeled “Vanguard” off the desk)

Watts is back out I see too. 

Wait wait wait. Penny’s blades operate via chips...part of her, sure. So WHY does she need wires on them? AGAIN. WHY ARE THEY WIRE FUNNELS AND NOT SEPERATE ONES.

Interestingly the inside of the one Watts has resembles a Scroll...did Peitro commender that technology?

No focusing system for the laser. No chamber for acceleration or direction. Odd.

Salem looks oddly glad for this. Probably cause she thinks this is going to spread more fear. 

And Ruby gets to the heart of the deal. You dont beat something that cant be killed. You capture it. Hurt it. BREAK IT. A sentient being can only take so much punishment before it shatters into madness and controllable fragments. You just. Need. To. Hit. It. HARD. ENOUGH. 

Additionally Ruby’s got a point there too. Salem played the shadows until this moment when everything was going her way. So...whats she afraid of.

Annnnddd thats all it takes to hijack Penny? Seriously.

Fuckin god damn useless Atlas bullshit fucking...(LONG SUFFERING SIGH OF A TECH NERD)

Hey theres Taiyang. Where’s Raven?

Wait hold on a second. She catches fire literally two seconds after she falls? You gotta fall a bit more than that for shit to start happening. WHAT THE FUCK IS REMNANTS ATMOSPHERE?! Or is it just dramatic...

Also as a small note the way the coms between her and Peitro cut off like that is accurate to reentry; during the hottest part of a splashdown, a space craft creates such a huge trail of energy behind it, rattling and burning its way down, it creates a blackout with its own passage. So based on the massive Apollo style reentry fire cone shes already putting out shes most likely going to be out of coms until she slows down orrrrrr craters into Remnants surface with the force of a meteor. 

And no. I dont think shes dead. The fact that, DESPITE being surrounded by the kind of fireball that worked its way into the fueltank of the space shuttle Discovery and blew it and its crew to bits on reentry, she was still intact...shes probably going to be fine.

Hacked, certainly, but fine. It takes more than that to finish her. Besides now that shes hacked, she has to fight Ruby. We all want that right?

Ahh good to see Winter in full armor now. Or...close to it. Im sure some of its a support rig for her injuries but I like to think this is the start of Atlas’s Specialist Weaponization Program.

Ironwood makes a good call here. Same thought process as mine.

Salutes in this world are the same as ours. Interesting. Must change that for the HKs

Annnndd of course Watts steals the busted Scroll because IRONWOOD IS A FUCKING DUMBASS

...um.

Im...not even going to COMMENT on what the FUCK this thing is that Jaunes detachment found. 

Also why is there A TREE in the tundra?

Oh, caustic. Interesting.

Mmmm. (Pause. Fingers to lips)

Thats your plan, Salem? To literally leak liquid Grimm into Mantle.

More silence.

Ladies and gentlemen...Salem is, officially, THE WORST VILLAN. OF ALL TIME.

The level of incompetence and stupidity I have seen here today completely obliterates the LAST person to hold that title, President Snow from the Hunger Games.

The amount of unnececary back door work and seecret plotting here astounds me. Shes doing this because she can, Im SURE of it. Theres no other reason.

Unless...she kows in a straight out fight, she’d have Ironwoods metal arm up to her colon in seconds. Which I wouldnt be surprised about.

Either way uh...thats it. Thats the end of the episode. 

Nice fight, at least.

See you all in Febuary!

EDIT: NOT FEBUARY, the break is a few more episodes after this