#X-ray tube housing

[willow-scorp]

Timkon clone baby au with the grandparents fighting is my favorite thing

Because imagine that Lex Luthor, after finding out he had a grandson, that he didn't know about. And then finding out that the other father is Tim drake. Bruce's son. He now has to fight Bruce for his grandchilds love. And not just Bruce but his test tube baby daddy Clark.

And once Bruce's catches on that Lex knows? He DOUBLES DOWN. he's spoiling that kid so bad Tim has to physically beg him to stop becusse it's making a mess of their house. Lex of course does that same but he also throws in the added bonus of giving that kid the power of Lex Luthor a grand child. You want a new toy? Sure x-ray goggles? Of course. High-tech transportation technology hooked up to your kids jeep car? Anything for you kiddo 🥰. Kon has to physically show up to Lex corp to tell return it because they don't want their child to be travelling across the universe and of course Lex is like "Konner it has a parental control system of course. It'll only transport the kid as far as your back yard"

"they why the hell did it end up in your office yesterday?!?"

"it may have the exception of my office but it can't go anywhere else!"

"THATS STILL NOT OKAY??"

"Well what am I supposed to do Konner! You never bring them to visit! I have feelings too!"

Now Clark may not be able to compete money wise, but experiences? He's got you. He teaches the kid so much about the farm and the animals with Damian of course because uncle Damian is very protective. The kid loves the homemade pies from Martha and the fun they have with uncle Jon! It's not surprise going to the Kent's is one of the kids favorite things!!

Th war continues with the three fighting over best Grandparent only to find out that the kid has already chosen a secret 4th option in the form of one Selina Kyle. Also, imagine timkon kid choosing not to be a bat or a super as to not make their family fight and instead chooses to be a stray with Grandma Selina!

[loganlermanstanaccount]

Rigor Mortis (part 10)

College roommate!Miguel O'Hara x reader

(AO3 Mirror) (Wattpad) Series Masterlist, Main Masterlist,

Part 9, Part 11

summary: In the morning, Miguel reminisces.

warnings: smut! grinding, humping, alcohol, PIV, switch-y behaviour (what's new), aftercare, mentions of depression. 18+ Minors DNI

a/n: soft melty mig >>>

Thank you to my beta readers, @tianyhi and @urgonnaneedabiggership (they also write Miguel fics, I highly recommend! my favourite is this series), I couldn't have done it without you guys <3

Join my taglists here

wc: 4.5k

Oh! and I finally made the series' playlists (very open to requests) <3

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

between your bodies;

You wake up with a headache and a lump in your throat.

Bleary eyes; and you rub away sleep, rosy and warm around the edges. Everything smells like him, is your very first thought. It's the kind of thing that has you reeling, tossing and turning in unfamiliar sheets before looking up at a mottled ceiling. Light creeps in from curtains cracked open, rays spreading like wildfire on everything it touches. Miguel's bed is by the window, and you can't help but curl up what little light spills in with your hands; palm upwards, slowly balled into fists. It's warm, and your hand feels a little different.

Oh.

Like a bolt of lightning, memories of the night before run up your spine; dancing up and down between the sheets. Miguel's hand in yours, his skin pressed up against you, a room spinning in the kind of way that seems romantic. Seems romantic; you note. It could've been the alcohol, but you had felt something between you two, yesterday. Something… different . Your cheeks grow warm at the thought of last night; drunken revelations and so much light, it burns.

I like the way your eyes scrunch up when you smile. I like the way you look in the morning, squinting at labels and cereal packets. You've got the prettiest lips I've ever seen, Miguel.

You burrow under the covers as you recall it; the memory of Miguel between your thighs, his head in the crook of your shoulder. The way he had half-laughed, heady and heavy and thick with want, low groans pooling by the shell of your ear. You're not too sure if you meant it; really, really meant it; and you're scared of what that means. Casual sex was the agreement, and you didn't think you had the capacity for much else.

Sighing, you stretch your leg out from under the covers, dipping a tentative toe on the rug. Bare, except for a T-shirt whose hem kisses your thighs. Mig's t-shirt, of course, and you tug it down as you slip out of his bed. The aftermath, things tossed off shelves and awards that had clattered to the ground, lies in last night's wake. Guiltily, you root around to pick up his things.

They're more personal than the things around the house. You notice a plaque or two from undergrad, his diploma  - biomechanics and chemical engineering with honours - and even a certificate from a middle school science fair. The image makes you smile: little Mig with braces and a distinct frown, handed a plastic trophy in front of a spotty crowd. 'First Place' it says, and knowing him his entry was less baking soda volcano and more miniature Hadron Collider . If he's anything like he is now; he was probably a mouthy little pain-in-the-ass, too.

You take a watch off of the floor, half hidden under his bed. A knee brushes past a clear box; that jostles and rattles around like nails in a metal can. From vague outlines, you can see a box of junk , in every sense of the word: scrap metal, wires, plastic tubing. A whole scrapyard under his bed, and you reach for it, curious.  Something knicks at your hand in the process. Glass, from a broken pane of a frame slipped under the bed. Softly, you hiss, sucking at the cut that draws blood.

More careful, now, you push the frame towards you, sweeping up the glass as best you can. In the lowlight, you can't make out much. Carefully, you hold it by a corner - an intricate thing, all twisted metal and brushed bronze. From out under the bed, you see it, or rather, him: Miguel, a little younger, surrounded by a couple of unfamiliar faces. A taller man, a much older woman - and they both smile in the way he does, crows feet and with the kind of warmth that reaches their eyes. In his arms (Miguel's, but not your Miguel) is a little girl. She is small; wide-eyed, gap-toothed; looking up at him, as if the camera wasn't there. The adoration in her face makes you smile. His sister, maybe? His brother, Gabi, and his dear mama ? 

Gently, you place it on the side table. You sweep up the glass into your hand, ignoring the sting that spreads to your palms. It's not a deep cut, but you head to the kitchen anyway, in search of warm soapy water and something to mop it up. 

Slipping past the doorway, it is deathly quiet. Morning spills in through a window, illuminating a lone figure - broad shoulders, tan and bare save for pyjama pants, hunched over the dining table. 

Miguel doesn't seem to notice as you get closer, finally able to hear slight noise and chatter from a tinny phone. Cup of coffee in hand, you watch as he scrolls, replaying the same video over and over. From over his shoulder, you can just about make it out: music that had deafened you at the time, loops with a pathetic whine. A video from last night, it seems, and you recognise the icon of Lyla's story. Bright lights, your dress sparkling and a pretty little laugh drowned out by Lyla's - he seems to replay the same couple of seconds over, and over, and–

“Mig?” He jumps, leaping almost 3 feet into the air, it seems. His phone shuts off with a clatter, slammed onto the table. Turning, he seems guilty, before flattening his face into something more socially acceptable.

“H-Hi. Morning.” He clears his throat, giving you an awkward nod.

“Morning,” Softening, you slink down to take a seat. He knows, of course: he knows that you know, that you saw exactly what he's been doing. But you're both going to ignore it, let it settle in the gaps between you - a gap that quickly shrinks, he notes. 

The chair drags across the floor, almost catching at a rug on the wooden slats. When you seat yourself by him; closer, closer, oh-so close; you can't help but brush your legs to his, addicted to the way it makes him shiver. Payback, you think, grabbing at his mug and stealing a sip before he can say anything. For all the times he's fucked with your head.

Miguel knows better than to protest, crossing his arms resolutely. He sighs - not maliciously, but with a tinge of defeat. You're too pretty, and too close for him to think properly; to even muster up the energy to argue. And so he doesn't, opting to chew at the inside of his cheek. 

“ Hey .” You say, hand coming up to cheekbone, stroking at it with your thumb. Miguel tries not to lean into it, to melt into the touch. “ Careful. Where'd you go?”

It makes him laugh, bitterly, ruefully - whatever you want to call it. Where'd you go? And you say it like you've got an inkling of all the shit that goes on in his head. He goes to the same place he always seems to be, these days. Somewhere that reminds him of you , of your nights together, of your nights apart–

“Did you sleep well?” You're asking, and it takes him a second to process it.

“Sure.” Shrugging, he lies, and you pretend to believe him. “Long night, I suppose.”

When he picks that moment to look at you, to bore into your soul, you take your hand away; feeling naked , feeling bare . 

“What about you? Did you sleep well?” 

And you hum, non-committal, in response.

“Can’t remember much.” It’s a bold-faced lie, and he knows it.

He chews at his lips, eyes dragged down to your figure. He’s shameless, lashes fluttering before he sighs - with the kind of tiredness that rattles at his chest - scratching at a 5 o’clock shadow.

He’s pinching at the bridge of his nose like he’s battling a headache - and losing miserably. Miguel; your Miguel, this time; looks so pathetic, with the countenance of a wet mop. It’s not a grimace, nor a frown, like always. It looks like melancholy - thinly veiled, bone-deep - and it makes your heart splinter.

You just… you just want to comfort him. To hold him in your arms and stroke his hair, to press kisses into the crinkles at the side of his mouth, his forehead: to be warm and soft and somewhere safe , for him.

It’s a compulsion you can’t fight, clambering over him to sit on his lap. His gaze flickers, pointedly trying to ignore you, but his hand rests comfortably on plush thigh. It sends a shiver down your spine; how tender his touch is, even when like this. 

“I…” You start, tracing a hand to his scratchy jaw and gently tilting him towards you. “I remember enough.”

 He can’t help it, hand travelling a little further up and eyes flitting to your lips. 

“... Yeah ?” And it comes with an unceremonious squeeze at your ass, wetting his lips with pink tongue.

That gap between you shrinks even more as you press your chest to his, with a hand at his shoulder. God, his skin is hot to the touch; lean muscle that tenses under your palm. He gets closer.

“What are you doing today?” He’s trying so hard, forcing himself to look you in the eye - betrayed only by a pounding heart and a lingering look to your lips. 

Coupled with the way he looks at you; kneading at your thighs, leaning into your gentle palm; it makes your throat close up. 

“...U-Umm, I think–”

“It’s Friday, right?” He hums, head cocked as if deep in thought. “You’ve got… stats and lab prep, today.”

You frown. “Yeah, actually. How did you–”

“You’re always complaining about Fridays.”

“I didn’t yesterday.”

“I’ve barely seen you all week, sweetheart.” 

“ And who’s fault is that? ” Muttering, you roll your eyes, trying not to show him the way it makes you melt.

“I listen.” He says, soft. 

“...sometimes.” You finish, but it’s half-hearted. You know, he knows; he listens . He always has. 

“I think…” You clear your throat. “T-Think m’gonna take the day off. I’m pretty–”

Tired. Exhausted. Ready to kiss your roommate if it meant he would look at you like that for a little longer.

“ – hungover .” He whispers, thumb stroking your hip as you snort; ready to bat him away. 

Wriggling, his grip tightens, slotting you closer as if in a trance. You’re laughing, a sharp retort at the tip of your tongue, but his wry smile seems tinged with something else. It’s a something that makes your heart skip a beat – but it’s his next words that have you reeling.

“I’ve got the day off, too.”

You’re taken aback. “Don’t you…? I-I mean I thought you’re taking extra hours at Alchemax…”

“Nope.” Resolute, he shakes his head. “We’ve got appraisals or something, today. Upper management only. I thought I told you.”

Brows kneaded, you give him a look he’s well accustomed to. And Miguel; because he’s Miguel, of course; counters it almost immediately.

“Don't give me that … You didn’t even know I wore glasses until yesterday.”

“That’s not fair , Mig.”

“You don’t want to spend the day with me? Dios mio, hermosa.”

“Mig–”

Dramatic, he tips his head back, clutching at his chest. “Am I that bad? You can’t spend a couple hours with me–”

“Mig –”

“Just a couple, sweetheart, and then I’m out of your hair, and you can complain about me to–”

“ Mig! ” You exclaim, giggling whilst you nudge his head forward to meet your gaze.

“You called?” He flutters his eyelashes playfully, with a hint of a smile. 

It looks good on him, you think; glad that he feels comfortable enough to finally let go.

There’s a gentle lull and he places hot palms at your thighs to hike you up even closer. You adjust yourself on his lap, watching the way he groans with his head in your hands. It makes you bold: the way he moves to clutch at your hand and dart under the lip of your shirt to press you closer. 

A roll of your hips makes him purr , eyes fluttering as he rocks up in thin pants. Quickly hardening, he’s wearing a dopey smile - one you return as you press your forehead to his. He angles his hips just right, causing little moans to spill out from pretty lips. The hand at his jaw travels to the nape of his neck, tugging in that way you know that he likes. You know him, and that makes your chest warm: the way he purrs and rumbles as you touch him in a way only you can.

Roughly, he swallows, head tilted up to catch at your cheek. 

“Do you remember what you said last night?” It’s whispered into skin, soft and barely-there. “What you asked me to do?”

Kiss me. Why won’t you kiss me?

Like something sharp and intense through your veins, the memory makes you shiver, leaning into Miguel so his clothed cock catches at your clit. Like this , you don’t want to look at him - you can’t. 

Ask me tomorrow.

And so you shake your head, nuzzling into his side with a weak whimper.

There’s a pause so imperceptible you might have imagined it. If Miguel is disappointed - or relieved, or frustrated - you can’t quite tell. Unceremoniously, he latches on, taking large handfuls of your ass and sucking ugly hickies into pretty skin.

“You asked me–” He says it between wet kisses, sloppy and hungry and quickly deepening. “You asked me to fuck you .”

You gulp, hips rolling as you close your eyes. 

“ Just the tip, you said.” He lifts you up slightly, rolling back plaid pants. He nips at your neck, all tongue and teeth and claws. “Do you remember now?”

He’s not even inside, teasing your bare folds with the wide head of his cock. Your head tilts to give him more access to that juncture of your jaw. A dry chuckle leaves your lips at his tone and countenance; asking if you remember as he does his best to make you forget even the simplest of things. And that’s the thing about Miguel O’Hara, saccharine-sweet, gorgeous -in-the-low-light O’Hara: he makes you feel so good, everything else falls away.

“ Fuck.” He heaves. “”J-Just the–”

Impatient, you shift your hips, slipping him inside with one delicious movement. You can taste it: pleasure , white-hot and building up just below your gut. Miguel separates with a wet pop, hands trailing up to rid you of your shirt – his shirt, you realise with a moan. Exposed, he eyes your pretty stomach and then the peak of your breast. He keeps you flush to his hips, right at the sharp cut of his v-line, tufts of hair leading to where you both meet. With the way his eyes flutter, you can tell: he wants to kiss you, slathering up your chest to collarbone, and then from collarbone to jaw. He gets close, pressing shaky kisses to the corner of your lips – threatening to break the promise you made to each other long ago. And God , with the way he pistons up into your cunt, you… you just might let him.

Then his hips shift, pubic bone at your clit in a way that brings pleasure to the burn. You’re stretched out, filled to the brim and then leaning back to press your forearms onto the grain of the dining table. Like this, his hands stay squeezing the flesh at the tops of your thighs; only able to watch as you take over. You use a bit of leverage to tilt your hips this way and that - eyes low, not leaving his.

“Feels good , Mig.” You’re whining, eyes locked onto his because you want to watch him fall apart - to watch as all his troubles melt away. “So good. Uhh –Always does. I remember… shit … remember this. ” 

And you take his hand, wrapping your lips around his index and middle finger - thick and large - with the memories of how they felt inside you only making you wetter. Gushing praise as best you can, you slobber and slather over his fingers, studying every twitch and gorgeous groan that he gives. He pulls his hand away from you; gentle, but cursing nevertheless; alternating from slapping your ass to tugging at the stiff peak of your nipple. It’s your turn to stutter, hips jumping as you cum - an orgasm so hard he bites the inside of his cheek to stop himself from spilling into you. There’s blood in his mouth, he notes as he studies the way you look: beautiful, always beautiful; framed in the gentle pink and purple from a rising sun.

Miguel slips out of you, painfully hard. Still heaving from your orgasm, you lean forward to press his cock between your bodies: bare and gorgeously framed in morning sun. Writhing, you kiss his neck, trailing up to the shell of his ear, whispering sweet nothings.

“Want you to cum, Mig.” And you do… oh God , you do. “You close?”

All he does is groan, nodding fervently into the crook of your neck. Diligently, you wrap him up in your arms, crooning and sweet, carefully rocking into him so his cock slides up and down your soft skin. For once, he doesn’t complain, holding you just as tight. 

“M’gonna… o–ohh ffuck …”

“Cum, Mig. For me.”

You’re firm but gentle, pressing your tits up against him and making sure his cock gets that well needed friction. As such, you can feel it almost immediately; hot cum slathered over your tits and body - leaving so much glistening on your skin. 

With a rough gulp, he heaves, eyes screwed tightly shut. You can’t help it, brushing away stray hairs from his face, leaving soft kisses in your wake. And maybe, just maybe, you hear him sob - muffled whimpering and whining with every slight shift of your body against his. And oh . It makes your heart melt when you realise, still carding your fingers through the nape of his neck.

He’s overstimulated. It’s too much.

Limp, he stays wrapped around you for a while, muttering nonsense into your skin.

“ Sorry. ” Shakily, he says – like he even has anything to be sorry about. “M’really— fuck. I just need a moment.”

You hum. It makes your heart heavy that he thinks he needs to be ready now , that he thinks he doesn’t deserve more than a moment to process his pleasure. You want Miguel to feel good, you always have. But with the realisation that you want him to be happy ; to feel safe, to feel loved; well…

…it scares you more than anything.

~~~

Aftercare .

Miguel admits, he’s not too familiar with the term.

It’s not something he’s proud of. With many a one night stand under his belt - even, occasionally seeing a girl more than once - he’s never been too good at it. He’s tried, definitely. Tried so very hard to stick around a little longer, to stay curled up in bed and guide his partner through their comedown. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite come naturally to him - oft susceptible to a glass of water by the bedside and a gentle nudge to an Uber. That physicality: the cuddling , and kissing, the sappy, wholesome, relationship-adjacent thing? He’s never had that desire after sex, much too stuck in his own head for that.

So why does this feel… so good?

You’re taking care of him. He’s not stupid; knowing that your bedside manner is much better than his. You’re merely doing the right thing and helping him past such an intense orgasm: and that seems to come in the form of his head on your chest, limbs tangled up together on your beat up old couch. This doesn’t count , he’s convinced himself: all those rules and boundaries you’ve both come so close to breaking - a little cuddling doesn't even scratch that surface. And if it feels so good to have your hand playing with his hair, to ground himself with the steady thump-thump of your heart, then who is he to complain?

He’s just a man, he decides. A mere mortal, unable to resist that taste of heaven he’s been given - unable to say no . Absentmindedly, you’re humming some stupid song you’ve had stuck in your head for at least a week, now, eyes trained towards a cheesy soap on the TV. There’s a mug of coffee on the table - it tastes like shit, but Miguel is more than happy to gulp it down if  it makes you feel better - hot and steaming as you tug the blanket so it covers him a little better. 

Unknowingly, you’re lulling him to sleep - the very same sleep he’s been chasing for the past couple of hours. Tossing and turning at night, but barely 10 minutes in your arms and his body only seems to listen to you , for some reason. Traitorous bastard, he thinks, fighting to keep his eyes open. 

You’ve cleaned the both of you up - even though he had insisted otherwise. Let me take care of you , he had slurred, and you just laughed ; that pretty, infuriating laugh, with that pretty, infuriating smile – the very same one he’s wanted to kiss off of you since the beginning. Weakly, he protested, following you into the kitchen only to make a nuisance of himself. 

It’s like you're drunk, Mig.  

In some ways, maybe he is. You had steered him away, and onto couch cushions. Which must have been quite the feat, he notes, able to control all 6”5 of his sleep-deprived, hefty limbs. But he supposes, yet again, his body doesn’t quite listen to him anymore. Only you.

Was it that good? Did I fuck the fine motor skills out of you?

He remembers groaning. He remembers trying not to be drawn in by that lilting giggle, covering his ears with a rough blanket. Most of all, though, he remembers the feeling of your body on his, slipping on top of him to dig him out of that heap.

Miguel? Baby, it’s a joke! I’m kidding, I promise.

He had poked his head out. Baby. He likes that, likes the way his name sounds out of your mouth. It anchors him to this mortal plane like a sharp hook, cutting through the brain fog and burying itself into his chest. You had clasped your hands around his face, steadfast despite his wriggling.

…Oh God, even worse. I think I fucked the common sense out of you instead.

He remembers wanting to kiss you. Your lips curled up into that stupid smile, clearly so pleased at a shitty joke. It makes him warm, thinking about it now. Or maybe, it’s just the blanket you’ve tried to suffocate him in. 

“When did you sleep?” You ask, and he has to blink up at you to collect his thoughts.

“Late.” He says it simply. 

That answer doesn’t satisfy you, and you’re poking and prodding at his face, gently pulling at slowly deepening eyebags.

“ No fucking wonder .” You mutter. “You’re turning into me. No more late nights, Mig.”

When he frowns, you stick your tongue out, gleefully watching as his grimace deepens. 

“Or what?” 

“Or we stop having sex.”

That makes him rocket u pwards, indignant. “ You can’t just– ”

“I can do what I want.” Slowly, your face morphs into what must be worry. At least, he thinks it does, not too familiar with someone worrying about him like this. “No more late nights, please”

You say it so softly his heart might break. He clears his throat of its cobwebs.

“That's not really up to me, sweetheart.” Thesis deadlines. Tutoring. Taking on more hours at Alchemax in preparation for a big event. Slowly, his plate mounts, and it takes everything in him to keep going.

“I know,” You settle his head onto your lap, now. Absent-mindedly, you wrap one of his curls around your finger, hand in his hair in a way that feels more intimate than the past hour, days, weeks spent together. “I just wish you'd take care of yourself better.”

It's not said to chastise him, and you don't sound disappointed ; not tinged with the same flavour of guilt that his mama has over the phone, or that Gabi has when he hits him with that deep sigh. It's pure, selfless, plain-and-simple worry. He doesn't deserve it, he thinks.

He looks up at you. Beautifully oblivious, your gaze is still pinned to the TV. It’s domestic, comfortable in the afterglow of sex. That’s what it must be: contentment and bliss settling over him like a warm blanket. The aftermath of being in your arms, of your body on his; purely physical , that follows the kind of euphoria that he imagines can only be found in a needle. Honestly, he’s still expecting a sharp decline, a rough comedown that tastes like regret, or despair, or deep, deep empty. It doesn’t come.

Always the pessimist, but Miguel can’t help it, really; he’s been chasing something just out of reach for too long. 

“You’re gone again.” You say it so quietly he almost misses it. You give him a weary smile, hand clutching at the fabric that pools around him. He watches as you rearrange it by his shoulders, pinching the folds with a kneaded brow. Finally satisfied, you look him in the eye. “Like Ophelia. ”

He doesn’t sigh. He doesn’t scoff, or roll his eyes, or any of the half dozen ways he’s learnt to repress difficult emotions. Slipping under the water - the makeshift waves made of a ratty blanket - passive to his own suffering. You don’t say it, and he hasn’t even told you the half of it; but somehow, you see it . You see him.

He remembers the first time he met you. Thundering and clattering through his space; bulldozing every carefully placed wall he’s spent years putting up. And then he remembers the first time he actually met you; behind the sharp tongue and quick retorts, finding you watery and forlorn on the floor of your shared apartment. Beautiful, of course – always, always beautiful. But that time, the kind of beauty only found in a painting: tragedy captured in oils, careful brushstrokes muddied by time, by loss, by hurt. You’ve been hurting for a while, he thinks, well before any mention of shitty ex-boyfriends and missed lectures.

Miguel recalls late nights spent trying to still his heart, fixated on a sudden, betraying question that rattles around in his head. Are you like him? Do you understand ? Born with something missing, a tick-tick-tick of the count, radioactive and broken and–

Your hand drapes lazily across his chest, tapping and pointing at something on the screen. He hums, non-committal, the words out of your mouth barely registering. It feels familiar. It feels warm. It feels like nights spent on the couch trying not to laugh at your frustratingly witty remarks. He remembers holding his breath when your leg brushed against his; stealing careful glances to his side; trying not to stare at the way the gloom of the TV looks ethereal against you, snug to the slope of your features, cut this way and that.  

But more than anything, he remembers wanting to kiss you. God. Maybe he always has. 

_

_

_

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[ridreamir]

May I request a Wolverine x Clingy!Reader fic/HCs/anything,,?

Preferably male or GN!Reader,,, also,,, tysm for awnsering my ask ^-^,

[I always write Gender Neutrally! Not a problem friend!]

It was inevitable that they'd keep and monitor you. Some excuse about it being for your health. You understand their scrutiny to some extent.

You are not a mutant. You just so happen to have an entirely unique human genome unrelated to any living person on this planet. One that may or may not give you near supernatural advantages against the mutated people of this planet. Yeah, not a mutant. Definitely not a mutant. Your 'house arrest' has been fine, for the most part. Lots of labs. Tests. CT Scans. X-rays. If there's a foreign chemical in your body, you're sure they already know about it.

You should have had nothing to do with him, then. Two strangers in the same vicinity. A passing face behind the glass of your test-tube home.

It was when he stopped, sniffed the air, and his eyes caught yours that you knew something was bound to be amiss. How he smelled anything behind sterile nothing was beyond you.

Behind that side glare was something. His face scrunched, but it wasn't anything you did. Misplaced anger. A hint of curiosity.

He would come around in the guise of passing out of obligation. Stalk past the long hall, slow his steps, watching you through his peripheral.

No one here would talk to you. Nothing more than a quick pleasantry as they examined your physical condition. No substantial conversation nor stimulation. An obvious outsider. Someone not to get too close to. You started hanging on to each and every second of his sporadic visits, which sometimes went even weeks between each other. You know he must be busy. Must be some kind of important.

Not you. Never you. They called it monitoring, but you knew. This was just a fancy jail cell. Not for anything you did. Just for something you hadn't done, but could do.

He was watching you. Probably waiting to tear you down under their orders if you attempted anything. Not that you would, for you were normal. Nothing. Could not stand against them.

Even still, as he stalked, and stalked, and never spoke a word to you, you grew, unfortunately, attached.

You shouldn't be here, Logan.

Just wait until it figures out what it is.

You can't just keep someone locked up for something they never did!

I knew you wouldn't understand, Logan. Ever the bleeding heart.

This is for the safety of all mutant-kind.

He passed the glass, reinforced and strong enough to block several tons of pressure being thrown at it. A bit overkill for one small normal human being.

You clung onto every hidden glance and clench of his fist.

You knew they had cameras, that they'd stow you away if you tried anything.

Still, you stood up, matching his pace. He paused, and you stalked. Closer, ever closer.

You stood before him. Separated by nothing but a thick, near-invisible sheet of glass.

There was a fire in his eyes, a burning rage. Good. He could feel angry for you.

They shouldn't have kept you here. They should have left you to your civilian life. As you stared at him, a flicker of instability amidst resigned sadness, he knew.

It was all over, before it had even begun.

[iminlovewithwomen]

Protective

Kid Danger X Superhero!Reader

Warnings: Assault, kidnapping, bruises, fighting, but it's fine bc they get a happy ending 😘

Summary: Kid Danger, also known as Henry Hart, also known as your boyfriend, has been kidnapped by Dr. Minyak. It's your and Captain Man's job to go save him.

"Schwoz, are you going to sit there and mope about how he's been kidnapped or are you going to find him?!" You screamed at him.

"Look, Y/n, just because you're mad doesn't mean you get to scream at us." Schwoz says, making you even more mad. You stared at him blankly before reaching out to hit him, but Ray stopped you. "Okay, well, do you have his location or not?" Ray questioned for you.

It takes him a little bit to answer, but after 5 seconds of him mashing buttons, he finally turned, nodded his head, and smiled. We all jumped out of our seats and cheered.

"He's at the abandoned factory near 6th street." Ray and I walked over to the center of the room and took a gumball out of our tubes, ready to save Henry.

Henry had been missing for 2 days now, and you missed him so much. You barely had talked to Schwoz, Charlotte, or Ray. Not even Jasper, either. And Jasper has been your absolute bestfriend since the 2nd grade. You told everything to him. But nobody could replace Henry, he was like your second half. He was the reason you loved to wake up in the morning. He was the reason you fell asleep. He was the reason for everything you did.

And that thought is what made you so determined to find your bestfriend and love of your life.

You both quickly blew a bubble and you watched as your casual outfits transform into your uniform. You rushed to the tubes and nodded at the same time to eachother.

"Up the tubes!"

♡♡♡♡♡♡

As you and Captain Man ran to the factory, you could hear screams that awfully sounded like your boyfriend. You felt a tear drip down your cheek hearing that he's in pain.

You couldn't take it anymore, you went over to the door and kicked it open with Ray following you. You could see Henry look up, his face immediately brightening seeing that you found him.

"Well, well, well. Look what we have here. Girl Danger and Captain man, here to save their precious friend." Dr. Minyak spoke. You weren't even focusing on him, you were just looking at your boyfriend. You could see a bruise on his eye, his hair messed up, and a few cuts on his lip. You tore yourself up inside, blaming yourself for letting him get injured.

"I've had enough of you, Minyak. Give me Kid Danger, and you don't have to wake up unconscious here with absolutely no memory." You boasted, explaining how badly you would hurt him if he didn't give him back.

"You're going to have to try harder, Girl Danger. I won't let you take him that easily." Minyak whistled, and a few men walked out of the doors on the side. Looks like he had backup beforehand.

You cracked your knuckles and tied your hair up into a ponytail. You raised your fists and replied, "Try. Me."

You ran over to the first man and tried to punch him, but he blocked your hand and then twisted it. You whimpered in pain, but quickly kicked him in the stomach. He fell backwards and let go of your fist, letting you round-house kick him in the face.

You could see the next man walking over to you, but you planned ahead and kicked him where the sun don't shine. You turned your head and saw the rest of the men down on the ground, having Captain Man kicking their asses.

While Captain Man fought Minyak, you sneakily ran over to your boyfriend and untied him. As soon as his arms and legs were free, he immediately fell onto the floor, kneeling onto you. You could feel water on your shoulder from his eyes, you felt so bad leaving him for two days in this hellhole.

You massaged his back while whispering sweet nothings into his ear, consisting of, "Sh, it's okay, you're safe now."

You lifted up his head and pressed your forehead against his. You looked deep into his teary, beautiful eyes and promised him,

"I will always rescue you."

♡♡♡♡♡♡

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Michael Moore's Substack:

Right now, if you know how to really read the polls, or if you have access to the various private and internal polling being conducted by and shared only amongst the elites, Wall Street, and Members of Congress, then you already know that this election was over weeks ago. Trump simply refused to believe that “Sleepy Joe” was no longer his opponent and that there was instead “some woman” claiming she was “Black” who was now going to pummel him on Election Day. He soon became unhinged, ranted for hours about Hannibal Lecter, Haitians cannibalizing your pets, and a nonstop drone of oral diarrhea spewing misogyny, racism and essentially claiming that if he loses “it will be the Jews’ fault.” 

The vast majority of the country, the normal people, have seen enough and want the clown car to disappear into the MAGA vortex somewhere between reality and Orlando. The swift and explosive momentum for Kamala Harris is unlike anything that’s been seen in decades. Which is why maybe at this point in my rant I just need to say out loud that which is being said to me in private by people I respect — and not just in whispers, but in excited tones of exuberance: That a new era is being born, one where caucasian is just one of the options but no longer the bossy pants of the world. Where it’s OK if you’re missing the lower right quadrant of the second X chromosome thus making it a “y” which means you’re never going to have your own fallopian tubes so just deal with it and keep your hands off the gender who has them. Simple.  An aggregate of top polls as of today shows that Harris will defeat Trump in the Electoral College count by 270 to 268. But I think we need more. We need to ensure that Trump loses in a landslide, with numbers so massive, the likes of which haven’t been seen since the entire country tuned in to watch Geraldo open up Al Capone’s vault. Because that’s the only way to guarantee his permanent removal from the public eye. We should settle for nothing less. 

[...] Since losing the debate to Harris, Trump’s momentum has come to a screeching halt. Even with Vance “winning” the debate on Tuesday night with his “charm,” “civility,” “politeness” and “the“ “Satanic” “laser rays” “shooting” “out” “from” “his” “eyes” “into” “our” “brains,” it did not help change anyone’s mind. Harris continues on her rocket ship, never slowing down and only increasing her popularity each day. Trump’s voting base is now severely depressed and more and more they have that sinking feeling as they realize there is no way now for Trump or the Astros to win. BUT… You and I know that there are always ways for him to win. We just don’t know what they are because we don’t have “666” inscribed on our foreheads in invisible ink. We do know that Trump has a stellar streak of pulling off the impossible — and those who have written him off have more than once lived to see the day where they must eat humble pie. It is never wise to do a victory dance on the two-yard line when Trump is your opponent.  So, each of us must still do our work to get out the vote and, most importantly, make sure Harris has a Democratic House and Senate elected next month to pass her/our legislation next year.

Michael Moore has some astute analysis on who is favored in the 2024 Presidential Elections. Moore is predicting a Kamala Harris victory.

He predicted Biden to win 2020 and Trump to win in 2016.

[who-knew-a-sheep-can-write]

Don't Deserve Love: Reaper x Reader

The light hit your eyes before the headaches did. You didn’t dare open your eyes at first, but the looming sense of sorrow in your stomach only buddied up with the rumbling of hunger had forced you to open your eyes.  The pale, crusty yellow sun filtered through the window panes in thick rays, showing off the dust that had gathered in your house for some time now, the rays not hitting your face but at the foot of the bed. Your fingers wrapped around the quilt, thin and old, the cotton stuffed inside now flat and barely padding comfort to you anymore, but… you kept it on the bed like how you kept the left side of the bed empty for the past ten years.

Slowly, you started to feel the emptiness in the room, how cold it truly was to lay on the old mattress in the same old house on the same old road. The cold shot right through you, shocking your nerves into sitting up, allowing the quilt to fall off your person, bunching up at your stomach and thighs. Your arms crossed over each other, as you looked out the window, your legs never leaving the bed to hang off of the side.

Snow bunched up on the bottom of the window, frost curled on the edges of each pane as wind rattled them in their slots. They were yellowed from age, needing to be changed, some were even starting to crack from the last hail storm. The large glass-paned doors before you only gave you glimpses to the large clay pots still stuffed with good soil and fertilizer now overflowing with dead weeds and snow packed on top, reminding you of better times when they were full of beautiful golden marigolds and bright purple tulips so long ago. You longed to smell those flowers once more, you longed to see him bent over the pots, digging around in the soil and plucking out weeds while whispering sweet nothings to the flowers like he did to you. You would remember how he would always pluck one flower and lace it over the shell of your ear, smiling warmly.

But now, you felt as dead as the flowers ten years long gone.

You looked away from the doors to the end table, your eyes spotting a large glass lamp that was unplugged from the wall socket, your phone turned over so you wouldn’t see the lock screen, the turned over empty bottles of alcohol and thick orange tubes, some pills spilled around the surface of the end table. Your eyes closed, you winced as your temples pounded, the back of your head feeling as though you were being stabbed repeatedly. You whimpered, opening your eyes as a single tear dragged down the curved surface of your cheek, only to soak into the old, dingy thin pillow.

You turned your body towards the locked doors (to which you don’t even remember where the keys were as you had locked it upon hearing about him), your legs dragged the quilt over to spill at your dangling feet, your back hunching, elbows digging into your knees as you stared off into the far distance, past the doors.

Little did you know about what lurked in your closet, nor the small wisps of black smoke murmuring and moving around the flanks of the wooden closet doors.

He watched you carefully between the hangers stuffed with clothes that mainly belonged to him. Suits, jackets, boxes of boots and sneakers that went unused even though he promised he would wear them (and yet he only stuck to the usual work boots he wore even if they were falling apart as he walked), and a few tuxedos and a spare Blackwatch uniform complete with armor. He had snuck in not too long ago, but just before the sun had peaked out over the horizon, locating the old key under the fake rock in the back garden (that was a complete disaster, rambled with dead flowers and overgrown tree roots), and sneaking inside with the intent to finally give you peace and to finally say goodbye forever…

You didn’t need him. He didn’t deserve you.

You didn’t need a monster in your life…

He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t be crammed into the closet, he shouldn’t be hunched over to look through the wooden flanks just to see you sitting hunched over, looking out the window. He could smell the alcohol, he could see the pills spilled everywhere, he could feel the aches your body was being put through. He hated that you were suffering, he hated himself for putting you through such a thing. He was mad at you for still waiting for him to come home as if it were just another day.

The air was choking him, tension thick and heavy, weighing down his shoulders and making his knees wobble and making his stomach twist in knots.

It was a big punch in the gut to see that the left side of the bed was empty. The pillows undisturbed, and sheets underneath the quilt pulled tight over the corners of the mattress. You kept everything the same, everything that he did, you kept it the same.

His mask silencing his heavy breathing, his clawed gloves making gentle scratches on the closet door as his fingers twitched, wanting to so desperately to rub your shoulders and hold your hands and… love you.

Oh, how the golden marigold in his pocket felt like a ton of bricks, the paper envelope feeling as though it was poison simply slapped onto his skin, eating away at his insides.

He watched you sit there, doing nothing but stare out the window as if it were the answer to all of life’s questions, as if it were a complex math equation you were trying to figure out without writing down anything. You didn’t move, didn’t flinch, sniffle, whimper, murmur, speak, hum… You did nothing.

You didn’t even flinch when your phone started to blare out the loudest alarm he had ever heard, you most likely picked it to wake you up from your drunken, drug-induced sleep from last night. It seemed like you weren’t even inhabiting your own body, it took you so long to even snap out of your trance to look at your phone blaring on the end table.

He watched as you slowly extended an arm, shaking fingers lifting your phone up and quickly turning the alarm off before just tossing it onto the bed carelessly and standing up. He heard the series of pops and cracks from your back, wincing as you only stumbled away from the bed and caught yourself on the wall when you nearly fell. He heard you heave, watched as tears fell from your cheeks and hit the dusty hardwood floors as you stayed stuck to the wall, shaking as if you were a leaf in a hurricane.

He did this to you… He ruined you… He turned the light of his life, his beautiful marigold in a field of boring daisies, to a drunken mess that couldn’t walk five steps without breaking down.

Eventually, you hauled yourself up to stand up straight and slowly started to walk across the room and into the hallway, the floors creaking with every step you took. He waited until he heard the stairs to start to crack and settle like they always have done to slowly open the closet door and sneak out. He chuckled emotionlessly as he remembered he always would promise you he would rip up the flooring and fix the creaking problems after he woke you up too many times in the middle of the night by trying to sneak into bed.

He followed behind you, being careful to duck away from any corner, moving around in the shadows of your home until he heard the bathroom door shut and the shower turn off.

He carefully pulled out the paper envelope and walked up to the kitchen table, noting all of the bills stacked up in large piles (some were really checks on his death to you), some papers opened, addressing you for certain items like a recall on your car, a letter of warning that construction would be happening soon down the road, amongst other items. But what really tore at his insides was the photograph frame sitting where you normally sat at the table. Ornate brass coils framing a thick brass oval, encircling a black and white photo of the two of you before everything happened. He was actually wearing something other than his Blackwatch uniform which a rarity of its own, instead, a tight black sweater now, but his beanie still sat on his shaven head. His smile haunted him, the warm in his eyes genuine, his love for you showing as you were pressed to his side, smiling brightly at the camera.

“Oh, (Y/n),” he grumbled.

He placed the envelope down on the table only for his clawed gloves to gently pick up the picture frame, the tips of the metal claws rolling over the ornate curls and coils as he now stared at your face.

He wished he could see you smile like this one more time before he truly said goodbye.

He placed the photo down and reached into his pocket to slide out the marigold, all of its golden petals still in place as he gently laid the flower down in front of the envelope, his eyes tracing over your name he carefully wrote down. You always loved it when he wrote your name in calligraphy, the curls of the black ink dancing on the papers always caught your attention.

The shower hadn’t stopped, he could still hear the water running away, pattering on the bathtub’s porcelain floor. You wouldn’t hear him leave through the back door, walk out forever over the shower…

But something kept him from leaving, tethering him to the insides of the house he too once called home. He looked away from the back door, back into the kitchen and to the living room not too far away, through the archway.

The kitchen looked the same. Same tiles below his feet, same stains neither of you could scrub out between the grooves, same appliances surprisingly (you may have just replaced them with the same things). The paint on the walls was still the same shade, but now it was chipping away, needing a new coat. Dishes were piled up in the sink, waiting to be cleaned. The walls were littered with photos of the two of you still together. Most of them when you two were on vacation, or really just him taking you places that required undercover surveillance, you acting as the perfect coverup.

He took long strides into the living room, his boots scuffing against the hardwood planks, squeaking a bit. His eyes scanned the walls, following the new wallpaper you must have had put up as the walls were no longer painted a pretty ashen gray, now covered in flowery paper. The photos were still hung up in the same places, small statues still sat on top of the same fireplace mantle. The same sofa sitting in front of the same flatscreen tv, his recliner sitting next to your overstuffed armchair, overlooking the large windows that had the white curtains drawn shut. His recliner looked to have not been sat in for so long, your armchair acting the same way as the cotton inside both had puffed up from not being used.

Something caught his eye, something on the large table that certainly was not there when he still lived here. Pictures thrown about on the wooden surface of his face, lists of contact information as stickers, maps of where the old Overwatch base used to be, amongst other things. They were missing posters, you still never gave up on him.

You still thought he was alive, out there somewhere.

You still cared about him.

“How could you care about a monster?” he found himself murmuring, his dark eyes leaning over to catch a glimpse of your bright smile and warm eyes. “I don’t deserve you.”

Gabriel wandered over to his recliner and slowly sat down, not caring for the dust staining the leather of his trenchcoat. A soft groan left his lips as his body was quickly encased in the overstuffed recliner as he leaned back into the comfortable fabric. His clawed gloves scratched at the armrests of the recliner, his fingers twitching, wanting to reach down and pull the lever to recline back like he used to always do with you by his side. He always loved how you two would always sit here late at night, watch the village not too far down the hill slowly die out and the sunrise and watch the same village come back to life.

He loved doing this with you.

He was deep in thought, so deep he didn’t hear the shower stop nor the door opening or your soft gasp.

“Who are you?” your voice shot right through him.

He stood up quickly, the recliner rocking back and forth behind him as he quickly turned to you. He watched you recoil, take a step back only to have tears stream down your cheeks, your eyes widening and jaw unhinging. 

You were dressed in a towel, your hair clinging to your neck in wet strands, matting to your face. Your eyes were red and puffy, lips were swollen, the dark bags under your eyes seemed darker than when he saw you still in bed.

“Gabriel?” you whimpered. He stayed silent, not knowing what to do. What could he do? Walk out? Not come back? “Gabriel, is that you?”

“(Y/n),” he murmured.

“Oh, Gabriel,” you sobbed, rushing forward and lunging for him, encapturing him in your arms.

You sobbed into his chest, and all he did was stand there and stroke your shaking back, stuck in his thoughts of how you could simply sob into this monster’s chest, holding him just as tightly as you did ten years ago.

He didn’t deserve you.

He didn’t deserve love.

[starset21]

When to Let Go

Standard disclaimer: I do not consent to the posting, translating, or publishing of my work to any 3rd party site, the only place it may currently be found is on tumblr and Wattpad under the name @.itswildflower

A/N: Here's pt. 2 to Going to War!

Looking for more? Chicago Fire Collection Masterlist 

Word count: 2.4k

Warnings: cannon typical depictions of fires/accidents and injuries, medical inaccuracies?

“Pop tried to play the hero. He forgot he was in his 60s with a bum ticker,” Jay huffs. “Yeah, well. This is your fault to begin with. Stick me in that fire trap,” Pat Halstead coughed. “Pop, stop talking,” Will tells him. “You said you liked the place,” Jay reminded him as he pushed Will and the Nurse away, insisting he didn’t need this. “Paramedics said you were complaining of chest pain. Did you forget you had a quadruple bypass a few weeks ago? Come on, stay still,” Will huffs. “Hey, if it isn't my favorite patient. How you doing, Mr. Halstead?,” Connor greets. “Fine,” the older man grumbles. “So you felt some tightness in your chest, huh?” Conner asks. “It's nothing.” Jay gives him a look. “Well, you might be right. I don't see any ST elevation or depression. No left access deviation. Looks like a strong and healthy heart to me.” Pat sighs. “Oh good. Are we done?” he asks. “Nope, not yet. You still have a pretty nasty inhalation injury. Can I get a CBC, CMP, and a carboxyhemoglobin? And add a full cardiac workup,” Rhodes tells the nurse. “Dr. Rhodes, you’re needed for a consultation,” Maggie pops in and tells him. “Yeah. Mr. Halstead, a pleasure as always,” Rhodes tells him before leaving. Will stops him for a moment, “Thank you, Connor.” Connor nods before heading to his consult. “I don't need all this,” Pat huffs again. “Calm down, you're getting yourself worked up,” Jay tells him. “What do you know? You're no doctor,” Pat grumbles. “Pop,” Will warns. “Forget it,” Jay tells him, turning away for a moment. “You had no right to sell my house,” he shouts. “You want to talk about this again? It was a wreck. You couldn't take care of the place,” Jay tells him. “You just wanted my money,” Pat throws at him. “Hey,” Will tries to intervene. “You don't have any money, you thankless old prick,” Jay says before walking out. 

“Hey, how are you guys doing?” Maggie asks the 4 firefighters standing just outside Dani’s room. “Choi kicked us out,” Kelly tells her. “Yeah, he needs room to work, Kelly. Try to be patient,” Maggie sighs before moving on. Kelly watches as Choi and the nurses move around Dani, tears lined his eyes again but he didn’t allow them to fall. “Get her on the vent and make sure she's 100% oxygenated,” Choi tells April. “Right,” she responds, beginning to prep things when Dani starts sputtering and coughing, trying to sit up. “She's waking up. Push 4 milligrams of midazolam,” Choi orders. “Whoa, easy, easy. Easy, easy. All right. - Easy, Dani,” the nurses and Choi try to soothe her. “BP and heart rate are stable. She's settling down,” April tells him. “Draw a blood gas with carboxyhemoglobin,” Choi tells them before stepping back and discarding his gloves. “Hey... what's happening?” Kelly asks as Choi steps out into the hallway. “Her vitals are holding, but she's in pretty bad shape. We're running some tests and should know more soon,” Choi tells those gathered outside her room. An alarm begins going off in her room. “Blood pressure and sats are dropping,” April calls out and Choi rushes back in, accessing her. “All right, she's bleeding in her airway. Hang a unit on the rapid transfuser, suction her ET tube, and get a chest X-ray,” Choi orders.  “Blood's coming too fast. Every time I suction the tube, it fills back up again,” April sighs. “Hang another unit and just do your best to keep up,” Choi tells April. “Where’s the X-Ray?” Rhodes asks, walking in. “Here you go,” A nurse told him as soon as they had taken the image. “She's got a massive hemorrhage in her right lung. It's impossible to say where it's coming from. All right, call the blood bank, trigger the MTP,” Rhodes orders. “Can you find it?” Kelly asks, looking from Dani to Dr. Rhodes. “First I've gotta find it. Let's set up for a bronchoscopy, someone fill in the Halstead brothers please.”

“Jay!” Matt calls out when he finds the detective. “Casey?” Jay asks, turning around. “Is Dani ok?” Matt shakes his head, walking up to him as Jay furrows his brow. “What’s happened?” he asks. “She ran out of air, she had a pulse but wasn't breathing, they had to intubate her, she’s down in the ER with Choi and Rhodes,” Matt tells him. Jay’s breath hitched. “Does Will know?” Jay asks. “Someone should be telling him as we speak,” Matt reassures him. “What are we standing around here for? Let’s go,” Jay tells him and the two of them take off for the emergency room.  

“She's lost a significant amount of blood. Unfortunately, the only way we can be sure to completely stop her bleeding is to remove her entire lung,” Rhodes tells him. “What?” Kelly asks. “Kelly, it's the best chance we have of saving Dani's life,” Choi tells him. “She can't be a firefighter if she only has one lung. There's gotta be something else you can do. April?” Kelly asks his friend. “What if we tried Ekmo? It would rest her lung so we have enough time to locate the bleed…” April trailed off. “No. We'd have to give her anticoagulants to keep the lines open,” Rhodes tells her. “Isn’t it worth the shot?” April asks. “It would make her bleed even worse. She's too unstable,” Choi tells them. “Believe me, Kelly, this is the best course of action,” Rhodes tells him. “Sounds to me like you've thrown in the towel before you even tried to save her lung. Being a firefighter is the only thing Dani cares about. I'm not gonna let you do it,” Kelly shakes his head. “I'm sorry. But it's not up to you,” Choi tells him. Will and Jay come quickly around the corner with Matt and Stella. “What’s going on?” Will asks. “She’s losing blood from a massive hemorrhage in her right lung. The only way we can be sure to completely stop her bleeding is to remove her entire lung, but of course the ultimate decision is yielded to the family,” Rhodes tells him. Will looks at Jay who looks lost and unsure. “She can't be a firefighter if she only has one lung,” Kelly tells them, practically pleading with them to tell them to do it some other way. Will looks at Dani laying on the bed, intubated with machines hooked up in the trauma bay. “Do whatever you have to to save her life, but if you can, save the lung,” Will tells him. “Get her upstairs,” Rhodes tells them quickly before starting to walk away. 

Kelly sent Will a grateful look before walking off with the other firefighters. “Dr. Halstead, Mr. Halstead, there was a problem with your father,” a nurse comes up to them. As if the day couldn’t get any worse for the Halstead family. “How long before sinus rhythm was restored?” Will asked. “He was down for around five minutes,” the nurse who had helped with the code tells him. “Well, that's consistent with what I'm seeing. Almost no EEG waveforms,” Dr. Abrams speaks up. “Are we not seeing some brain activity?” Jay asks, wiping a hand down his face. “Artifacts. Distortion, interference. Dust on the window,” Abrams tells him. “Okay, I am... I'm not following,” Jay tells him. “Your father's brain-dead,” Abrams tells him simply. “So he's just not coming back? Like, you... you're saying that there's... there's no chance?” Jay asks. “If I had to calculate the odds, I'd say 1,000 to 1 against. This vent could be put to better use,” Abrams says, turning to Will. “Are you serious?” Jay asks. “Jay-” Will tries to calm him. “The hell is wrong with you, man? Are you kidding me?” Jay asks. “We'll talk about it. Thanks, Sam,” Will says with a firm nod. Abrams narrows his eyes and nods before leaving. 

“I don't like that guy, man. I want a second opinion,” Jay tells Will when they were out in a hallway. “He's our top neurosurgeon,” Will counters. “So all your degrees, all that money, all those years in school, this is the best you can do?” Jay nearly shouts. “Jay, Dad almost died two years ago. He's been living on borrowed time,” Will tries to reason with him. “Abrams didn't say Dad had no chance,” Jay huffs. “1,000 to 1 is no chance. I'm trying to be realistic. I've seen a lot of patients in his condition,” Will tells him. “There goes that doctor's voice,” Jay says sarcastically, throwing his hands up in surrender. “I'm sorry, but I am a doctor,” Will tells him, crossing his arms. “Yeah, don't worry, we got that message,” Jay scoffed. “And Dad knew you thought you were better than us. We always came in second, you weren't there, and now you want to decide what happens?” Will runs a hand through his hair. “That is not true, Jay, you know-” he starts to tell him. “There you are,” a woman comes up to them. Will sighs and turns to her. “Ms. Garrett, this is my brother, Jay,” Will introduces. “Yes. I'm the hospital's COO. I heard about your father. I'm very sorry,” she tells them. “I want you both to know that there's no hurry in making any decisions about Mr. Halstead. You have the full support of this hospital. And we will provide your father with any and all resources,” she tells them. “I appreciate that,” Will tells her. “We take care of our own. This... is my cell phone. You call me if you need anything,” she tells Jay, handing him her card before walking away. “It's decided. We're not giving up. I’m going to go see if there’s any news on Dani,” Jay stated with a finality before walking away.

“Dani’s still in surgery last I checked,” Jay says as Will first walks into the room, not even looking up from their father’s face. He had come straight back after he hadn't been told of any updates to Dani's condition. Will decided to file that information away for now, focusing on this and the information he had just learned. “Hey, Jay. We gotta take Dad off the vent.” This causes Jay to look at him. “No, no, no. He… I've been sitting with him, and he blinks his eyes. And I grabbed his hand, and he squeezed my hand. He squeezed my hand.” Will looked at his younger brother with sympathy. “Those are just reflexes. They don't mean anything,” Will tells him softly. “I'm telling you, man, he knows that I'm here,” Jay insists looking back at their dad. “He doesn't. He can't,” Will places a hand on his shoulder. “We can't. He's… He's gotta come back, man, 'cause... that can't be the last conversation I ever have with him,” Jay tells him, wiping his eyes. “Look, whatever regrets you have, you're not gonna resolve them here. You just gotta accept that.” Jay glares at Will. “Don't tell me what I got to accept.” Will was trying his best to keep it together. “Jay, the reason Gwen encouraged us to take our time with Dad? His bypass was 29 days ago. If he dies before 30 days are up, regardless of why, it's a fatality for the hospital. So Gwen's just trying to keep Dad alive for one more day so the hospital doesn't take the hit,” he explains. “I get it. You feel betrayed but I don't care. I care about Dad,” Jay tells him. “And you think he'd want to be kept alive to buff some numbers?” Will asks. “You need to get out. You gotta get out, man,” Jay shouts. “They're using him,” Will tells him calmly as he steps back towards the door. “That's your problem,” Jay seethes with anger. “Jay, he's gone,” Will finishes before leaving. 

“You guys put me in a terrible position. But... we were able to isolate the bleed, and we only had to take out a portion of her lung. It was a thoracoscopic procedure, minimally invasive. That's all to say that... she should be back to work in no time,” Rhodes tells the firefighters from Truck 81 gathered in one of the waiting rooms. “Oh, thank God. Dr. Rhodes... you're the man,” Herrmann tells him, shaking his hand. “Yeah, you guys are okay too,” he chuckles before turning to April, “Go find Kelly, let him know, I’m heading for Will and Jay.” April nods before walking off. Matt shakes Connor’s hand with a firm nod before heading down the hallway with Sylvie, Stella and Herrmann to go tell Boden and the others.

“Kelly. She's awake. Wants to see you,” April calls into one of the various waiting rooms. Kelly let out a sigh of relief, thanking whatever higher power that she made it through ok. April nodded her head to the door, silently telling him ‘let’s go’ and he stands, following after her. He stops for a moment in the doorway, simply taking her in. Dani turned her head and looked at him, she was a little groggy but she smiled. Kelly smiled too, moving to her bedside and leaning over to press a kiss to her forehead. He pulled a chair closer and sat down, taking her hand in his and squeezing it. “I’m so glad you made it,” he tells her. “Of course, I’m always going to come back to you,” she tells him quietly, her throat still a little bit sore. “Come here,” she tells him, and he leans over, laying his head in the crook of her arm to which she wraps around his head and plays with the short ends of his hair, pressing a kiss of her own to his head. Kelly shudders a little and Dani knows he’s probably crying again so she continues playing with his hair and holding him the best she could.

[sonosvegliato]

To an Athlete Dying Young: Deleted Scenes Pt 1

The original draft of Tim and Kon in the Hall of Justice in my fic And hold to the low lintel up/The still-defended challenge-cup. Featuring a McCrispy. 

Completely unedited.

“This is going to turn out so bad,” Superboy says.

“No, it’s not,” Tim says. “Either this works, and I’m a genius, or it doesn’t, and I find another way out. There are one hundred and forty seven listed in the blueprints I got from Batman’s computer, and thirty six more he’s detailed that are unmarked. But I’m not really supposed to know about those.”

“This is going to turn out so bad,” Superboy repeats. 

“Shut up, no it’s not,” Tim repeats back. 

“They’re going to know we’ve left,” Superboy hisses. “This is a horrible plan!”

“I want them to know we’ve left.” Tim’s sitting on Superboy’s shoulders and kicks him in the chest. “Now get in the tube.”

Superboy steps onto the Zeta platform. “I just want you know, if we end up on Mars, I’m not taking you back.”

Under New York Avenue is the closest Zeta tube, and Tim makes sure to shout it very clearly. Sewers, but. He can’t exactly pop out on the White House lawn. 

“B-20,” the tube accepts. Tim’s arms tighten on Superboy’s shoulders. “Robin.”

“This is so bad,” Superboy repeats as they’re reduced to photons through space. “This is so bad this is so bad this is—”

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

“Incredibly demeaning,” Superboy says.

“Sorry, my car is talking,” Tim says to the McDonalds employee taking their drive-through order. “He wants the Number 1 with…”

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

“Why were all the machines broken?” Superboy grumbles.

“It’s part of the experience,” Tim explains patiently. They’d had to scout out four McDonalds before finding one with a working soft serve machine. “Crushing disappointment, or eight hundred calories of delight? It’s fast food roulette.”

“And I just don’t get the spoons,” Superboy continues. They’ve been sharing a large fry, and he glares into the empty carton like it’s a multidimensional portal that ate his fries instead of Tim. He throws the carton aside.“Why are they square?”

“I used to think they were straws?” Tim supplies, licking an Oreo off his spoon. “If I had my phone, I’d look it up, but Batman has a fear of location-sharing. He made me duct-tape my front camera.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.” 

They eat in companionable silence. Tim feels Bruce in the doorway before he hears him, a dark blot in the corner of his vision. Tim scrapes Oreo crumbs from the inside of his cup before meeting Bruce’s eyes, domino to cowl.

“Oh, hey, Batman.”

“You went out?” Bruce replies, voice rough. “Into the city?”

“Maybe,” Tim says. He frowns, searching for one last bit of Oreo in his McFlurry’s vanilla bottom. “We wanted McDonalds.”

He kicks Superboy’s ankle.

“I’m only three weeks old,” Superboy blurts. “I’ve never had McDonalds.”

“And he can’t be a proper all-American boy without McDonalds,” Tim says. “Maybe that’s why he doesn’t have heat vision. Maybe pink slime alters Kryptonian genes and that’s what gave Superman his ocular powers.”

“McDonalds did not give me X-ray vision,” Superman says, though he squints at his hamburger for a second before taking another bite. 

Bruce tears a hand through the air at him. “You let this happen?”

Superman stiffens. 

“They got me a Big Mac,” he was smally. “I thought you’d sent them.”

“Relax, Batman, I got you the Spicy McCrispy,” Tim says. He reaches in the last brown bag and tosses the sandwich to Bruce. Bruce catches it in one hand and then points outside. 

“Out.”

Superboy leans into Tim. “Still think this was a good idea?” he whispers.

“Sit down, Superman, not you,” Bruce growls. “Robin.”

“Going perfectly to plan,” Tim whispers back, rising. Louder, he orders, “Don’t eat my chicken nuggets.”

“I’ll eat whoever’s nuggets I want,” Superboy mutters as Tim follows Bruce out into the hall. They walk a long time before Bruce stops and turns, a looming shadow that towers over Tim. 

“Do you not like the Spicy McCrispy?” Tim asks, speaking first.

“Do you think this is a joke?” Bruce bites back. He doesn’t shout, but the timbre of his voice reverberates in Tim’s chest, cracks his courage like an egg. He’s very aware of the pressure in his jaw, and fights to keep his expression open and passive. He’s glad for his domino and what little emotional protection it provides. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he says measuredly.

Bruce’s shoulders stiffen, and he seems to grow inches taller. Tim doesn’t know how. Is it a Batman thing? Will Tim learn how to do that? 

Bruce’s voice is Gotham winter cold as he counts off his fingers. 

“You left the Hall without my permission,” Bruce begins. “You take a dangerous, unknown entity with you. You go into the city by yourself. Then you expose yourself to the American public riding Superman’s clone through a McDonald’s drive-though.” He pushes the wrapped chicken sandwich in Tim’s face, voice dropping further. “Are you sure you don’t know what I’m talking about?”

“I’m sorry,” Tim says.

“Do you know how many people saw you today?” Bruce barrels on.

“I don’t know. We had to go through more than one drive-through—”

“How many pictures were taken of you?” Bruce asks over him. “How many are currently being shared over every social media and news site? Robin’s been gone for over a year, and you’ve just announced his return to every rogue in Gotham.”

“Have I,” Tim says. 

Bruce’s mouth tightens. 

“I’m sorry,” he repeats quickly, giving ground. “But. If it’s 11 o’clock at night in Gotham or 11 o’clock in the morning at a McDonalds, the media was eventually going to see me. Robin’s been gone too long. Isn’t it good he comes back?”

“No!” Bruce snaps, arms flaring out. At Tim’s expression, his instantly cools. “Not right now. You just got the suit. You’re not ready for the streets.”

“But I will be, soon,” Tim says earnestly. “Right?”

“Tim—”

“I’m getting good. You have to let me out of the nest sometime. At least let me start shadowing you. I won’t let anyone see me; I’m really good at hiding in the dark—”

“No,” Bruce says fiercely. He shakes his head. “We’re not discussing this. You—” his expression closes. Tim can see him struggling with his emotions before shoving them down like leftovers in Alfred’s good tupperware. He takes Tim’s hand and puts the sandwich in it. The paper crinkles in Tim’s palm. “You’ve disappointed me.”

Tim stands there, a McCrispy in his hand, and watches Bruce walk away. His heart is beating so hard he feels sick. His grin is shaky, but by the time he returns to Superboy, he’s convinced himself that the stone in his stomach is victory. 

[rathologic]

it’s me again! thank you so much for your response on my first ask!

so, my next question is this: what does the Town do for more, like, advanced medical stuff? because you don’t need high tech for some ailments, such as stitching wounds and setting bones, and a few illnesses can be made out just through visible symptoms.

but what about things like stomach pumping? X-rays? stuff like that? would the Town have it, or would that be too “modern”?

i know the Town has IVs (at least, i think those were IVs in P2), and Rubin seems to have a bit of a more “modern” look to his lab, but i’m not sure how far that “modernness” extends.

I generally go by "if the doctors in Town aren't using it under the critical circumstances in-game, it doesn't exist" - the bachelor points out that he doesn't have adequate instrumentation, and the haruspex was sent out of the town to study modern techniques in the first place. the Town is also pre-electric so that's not a point in favor of complex equipment... here's my review of stuff that we Can find

the Haruspex has an alembic, which is used for distillation, and another thing - a brewing tank in 2, but its patho1 equivalent looks more like another kind of separatory device (note the spouts at differing heights) and its tooltip is just [Mixture]. I would guess this is rockable along the support rod, used 2 mix or separate fluids

isidor's house doesn't have much of any equipment but this second thing, which I can't quite place - it also looks like a separatory device but is hand-cranked. (alembic pic also inserted so it's not huge)

medical equipment provided in 2's theatre is overwhelmingly "tins of unknown substance" which are likely to reflect the prevalence of herbal medicines. & yeah, these are IVs formed from what looks like a waterskin and needle (of absurd gauge! mamma mia! I hope it's just that large so it shows up on the game screen)

I was surprised while checking locations for this that rubin's crappy p2 hideout has literally no instrumentation, he has a bonesaw and a water pump and a couple of cans/packages laying around. afaik he doesn't even make the vaccine in p2 which tracks with that :-( but in p1, he has visible a microscope, scale, sealable fluid tanks, and a variety of glassware: test tubes with racks, and stoppered Erlenmeyer and cylindrical flasks of multiple sizes. which is a lot more than dankovsky has (only a microscope + tubes). speaking of microscopes, the way their UI works in-game confirms that blood samples are not centrifuged so a lot of modern techniques aren't going to be applicable.

anyway for advanced stuff I think people just died unfortunately.

[helluva-world-innit]

Late to the party but finally making an entrance is Envy Ring!

I'm sure you can see similarities between it and Greed which Levi is less than pleased about. Mammon swears he's just trying to give Hell's denizens a lively, entertaining place to spend their Souls/jewels and exploit their Sinners, not copying Envy's bright and alluring aesthetic. To be fair to him, Envy's light is largely bioluminescence whereas Greed must rely on the soul energy that flows into and around Hell from Sloth Ring (we'll get to that house of horrors when we get there). As such, Envy and Wrath Rings are the only ones to have natural light (biolum and lava). Go figure. Green is the main color here though it's not allowing me to photograph it properly. The windows in the palace are actually light green, not white. My gel pens did not want to cooperate and I think I gave up at that point too. Anyhoo, coral reefs were defs an inspiration for this place. As well as the deep sea and fish just being fish.

As is the case in the open Earth ocean...everything in Envy can and will fucking kill you (yes, that is a giant crab). From the flora to the fauna to the fucking ROCKS to the crushing pressure and scathing shade thrown by the Ringmaster or their Overseers, Delta and Ray, everything is designed to leave you bleeding for the sharks here. Even the few landmasses that dot the massive Ring aren't safe. Above the waves live horse-sized creatures that look like pelicans under an x-ray machine. The bone skimmers, as they are known, are notorious for attacking and eating any demons that come too far up to the surface. The rare tourist spot or transport station above the water have to have hounds patrolling around the clock to keep the hellish birds at bay. Naturally, everything is more expensive in Envy proper, where only those who can breathe the sulfuric water of Hell may dwell for any length of time. It is a place of privilege, beauty, and attitude. All of which has been cultivated by its Ringmaster, Leviathan (that big ol' tentacled thing by the palace? that's him playing peekaboo; like an iceberg, we just see the tip).

There is a natural current of soul energy that courses through Envy (crevice, bottom left-ish). Here is where many of the higher echelon of Envy live and work since it's a well-spring of power and very bright here. Named the Ring of Influence, it runs around the entire Ring like a smaller separate ring of Hell itself. The Ars Goetia who live here may as well be gods the lower hellborn are always vying for the attention of and Sinners know no peace if they happen to become entangled in the tendrils of this privileged and isolated kingdom. They form an entirely unique enslaved underclass here and Envy is the biggest generator of Broken Sinners in Hell as a result (we'll get to the Broken later too). The housing and such you can see in the background up there are where the middle-class worker bees live mostly. Also the occasional poor Hellborn or Sinner that would rather die (again?) than fall into the Ring of Influence where life could very well be worse for them depending who gobbles them up. It's like whalefall, I guess.

Now, the tubes. So Hell's got these elevators, right? Hell-evators, if you will. Well, most Rings hide or blend them in to the environment. Not Envy Ring. Demons can see exactly what part of Envy Ring they're traveling to or through thanks to the reinforced glass of the Hell-evators here. Naughty demons even break them sometimes as illustrated above. They have the tech to build a new one and do so, no problem. The general mindset here is 'yeah, we know you want what we have but you could never pull it off like us so die mad' even if every Envy citizen is a literal fish out of water in any other Ring they might travel to. Sure, they're someone that matters there, but would anyone in Gluttony give a shit? Or Pride? Hard to say.

Leviathan is cold, calculating and about the only being stronger than Lucifer in Hell. What stops these two from coming to blows like how Satan and Luci did all those millennia ago to decide who would rule Hell is Levi likes being behind the scenes. Anything that keeps God's attention off them and the prophecy to kill them and serve them up like sashimi to humanity is *chef's kiss*. While they question the decisions their king makes, they still have a frightful amount of respect and love for Lucifer and Satan...just not really anyone else. Including Charlie. Especially not Asmodeus, who is the youngest of the Sins by far.

Notable characters from this Ring are Nifty, Chaz and his family, Verosika, Alessio/the majority of Crimson's gang still, and Baxter. The Overseers of this Ring are the aforementioned eel twins, Delta and Ray. Also planning on doing a map view of this Ring later so I can paint a better picture of where everything is in relation to each other.

Up Next (though who knows when): Sloth Ring!

[rottmntsimp]

EVERYONE SAY HELLO TO TEDDY <33

(design still under construction lmao)

(He/him)

"DOB": June 09, 2030 (About 7 years after the apocalypse)

For reference, when he's born: Donnie is 23; April, Cass and Sunita are 25; CJ is 15 (did I just make CJ so young that he time travels when he's 9....yes, yes I did >:] ohohoh the angst potential~ ) [Also yeah I'm going by the ages from the movie]

ENFJ

Test-tube baby (curtesy of Donnie <3)

Tboy swag fr (I was gonna make him AMAB, but I realized that since he's made from 2 females' DNA, he lacks Y chromosomes, so I just trans-ified him <3)

Made with April and Sunita's DNA, Casey's alr got CJ to deal with lmao

The child of Caprisun [April x Sunita x Cass]

Cloaking brooch is a ring [not visible in picture]

EEEY SIBLING CASEY MOMENT FRRR

Very empathetic

Can and will burn your house down

The true definition of chaotic good

Fav color: incarnadine red (#AA0022)

Fav uncle: Tie between Raph and Mikey

--

Taglist!!! (ask if you wanna be added)

@sleepytime-fics @lemme-be-cringe-damnit @hamthepan @ray-of-midnight-storm

[queen-of-writing-bad-things]

Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 4

Episode 5: Danger Games Part 2

~A few hours later, in the Man Cave~

Eventually, (y/n) had dragged Ray home from Henry's house after the boy had begged her to remove him and his ragging from his ears so he and the Game Shakers could get to bed and forget about the stupid game for a few hours. She had agreed, probably quicker than she should have, but his babbling was getting to her too and with a few smiley apologies to the teens, she'd shoved him through the door so they could begin the walk back to the Man Cave, his arm wrapped around her waist as they blew more bubbles to return to normality. 

Upon coming back down the elevator, they had discovered Schwoz and Bork testing out some magic tricks and seeing as though the woman had firmly told her boyfriend he was gonna have to wait to get her alone that night after his comment, they had decided to sit back and watch as Schwoz attempted to saw himself in half. 

It was a cool trick to be fair, fascinating to watch, difficult to explain and hilariously funny to watch when the two men pulled a very mean trick on the poor guy and pulled the two halves further apart so he could be put back together. Now, Ray was sat on a chair, a root beer in his hand, his girl trying to hide her giggles as she perched on his knee and Bork chuckling next to them as he complained about having his torso on one side of the room and his legs a few metres away.

"Come on, you guys, put me back together!" Schwoz whined as he felt his toes wriggling, but not where he'd normally expect them to be and the strange sensation was bugging him. It was a mean prank, but no one could be assed to help him, not when it seemed oddly humorous to see him struggle, one half here and another half there.

"No, no, Schwoz, you wanted to show us a magic trick, now, you gotta finish it, right, sweet girl?" Ray exclaimed, laughing with his girl as she struggled to not smile, preferring to drown his chuckles in her drink. It wasn't her typical idea of humour but something about it was funny and seeing Ray looking so damn hot in his chair just made her want to sit with him and never move. Complaining would spoil the mood and she didn't want that, not when he looked so good and his hand was casually resting on her inner thigh.

"Yeah, just keep wiggling, Schwoz, you never know, you might get back together on your own." She teased, doing a little wiggling of her own in Ray's lap since she was feeling the effects of the porch kiss coming back and whilst she loved seeing that goofy grin on his face, she was being to regret not letting him drag her off to the bedroom the minute the elevator opened. And speaking of the elevator, Henry and Charlotte had come down to the Man Cave...with a very big problem in tow. He may or may not have brought the unconscious Game Shakers into the Man Cave because they may or may not have discovered his secret identity when they were getting ready for bed. Oops...

"Aw, but I forgot how to reattach myself! Henry! Help me!" Schwoz cried upon seeing the boy and girl wheeling in a massive tube of teens, but he was way too stressed out to help anyone but himself and the sight of the kids/strangers in the Man Cave, (y/n)'s mouth drop open in pure shock, but luckily, Ray hadn't noticed yet, which was good, as Henry started panicking. "No, no, I can't, man! I got something going on right now!"

"Uh, Bork, can you take the talking part of Schwoz out of here, please?" The young woman asked the strongman politely as her hand grew clammy at the glimpse of Hudson wearing Henry's mask that caught her eye and Henry quickly covered his face with a tissue before Ray completely lost it. He was gonna, he was gonna lose all of his shit and scream and shout, but he hadn't noticed yet and that gave them time to prepare and panicked as Schwoz's head was wheeled away. 

"No, no, wait, wait, you have to take my feet, no! Stay alive, I will find you! He cried as Bork dragged him off to the hidden rooms behind the supercomputer and (y/n) had about five seconds of pointing and eyebrow gestures to silently interrogate the teens about why the fuck were there a bunch of unknown kids in the hideout and why was wearing a superhero's mask and costume. The worried, panicked, terrified, nervous, crazed hand gestures and pained expressions she got in return weren't telling a good story.

"Hey, Henry, who's in the... Hey, aren't those the Game Shaker kids?" Ray's head tilted in confusion as he finally saw the snoozing group and recognised who they were. He wasn't shouting yet, but that was because he hadn't heard the worst of it, so (y/n) latched herself onto one of his arms, preparing him and herself to hear what must've been terrible, terrible news.

"Okay, now, don't get mad, hug (y/n). Go on, hug (y/n), she keeps you calm 'cause she's your girlfriend and you love her so, hug her, please." Henry started, pointing to the woman on Ray's arm and the man frowned at his weirdly calm voice and his instructions. He followed them regardless of the strangeness of their nature, he'd never turn down an opportunity to hug his girl, but something was still bugging him. (y/n) did keep him calm when he overreacted and the way Henry spoke, it was like he was trying to tame a wild animal before it bolted.

"Henry, they're waking up!" Charlotte hissed as she noticed the Game Shakers mumbling and twitching, the side effects of the green lasers Henry had used on them wearing off. He'd panicked, knocked them and his sister out and called the girl, who he thought would know what to do, but unfortunately, Charlotte was just as out of her depth as he was. More so when she saw Ray's confusion slowly hardening into anger, even with his sweet girl running her hands up and down his chest in an effort to keep him from losing it.

"What? Oh, shhhh—Charlotte, open the elevator door. Come on, go, go!" He told her, thinking on his feet since he really didn't want to laser them all again. He could just lock them up, it was fine. She did as she was told and once the door was open he shoved the recycling tub inside before running to the control panel and flipping the power level, effectively using the elevator as a prison. All the while, Ray's hold on his girlfriend was getting incredibly tight, so much that she was worried for herself a bit (super-healing always helped her panic) and him since she had no idea how he was going to react to what had so obviously happened. 

"Uh, what's going on? Why do I have to hug my girlfriend?" The man asked, his face showing that he wanted a straight answer and that for once, he was in no mood for games. Henry was sweating, Charlotte was buzzing, he could practically taste their anxiety, and it was rubbing off on him, which, in turn, rubbed off on (y/n). It really wasn't a good situation for anyone.

"Hey, why don't we all go and have some hot chocolate?"  "Could we?" Charlotte and Henry suggested, hoping that they could use their boss's love of food to help them get away from this, but not even they could distract Ray right now, not even (y/n) as she squeezed her eyes shut and dropped her forehead on the man's chest, bracing herself for a shitstorm. The adorable, goofy personality was gone and instead, there was a fuming, seriously strong superhero standing in front of them, demanding their honesty and loyalty as they kept their secret from him.

"Henry!" Ray snapped, his heart pounding as he saw them both gulp and felt his girl shiver. His blood ran cold at the thought of intimidating her, she felt so small and he forgot how huge and terrifying he could be when angry, so he cursed himself for losing control in front of her and raised a gentle hand to pet her hair, just as the Game Shakers started crying and banging for help. Their cries made him tense again, but he bit back his sharp tongue, fearing that he'd say or do something he'd regret that would make her whimper more and just the thought of that made him hurt so bad, he kept it all in, just for her.

"The—the Hudson kid, he found my gum and blew a bubble," Henry confessed, walking past his boss with his hand raking through his hair as he felt his terror rising. He was worried for himself, for Ray, for his new friends, for everything and the way Ray's face seemed to crumble with fear, disappointment and anger made it worse.

"Oh, shit, Henry..." (y/n) mumbled, ripping herself away from Ray as the panic infected her too, making her lose sight of what she really needed; his arms around her, his comforting words in her ear, telling her it would be okay. She just started pacing, her eyes screwed shut and a hand on her mouth to stop any pained noises escaping her. Ray's eyes followed her like she'd ripped out his heart and his brain automatically jumped to conclusions, assuming that she was scared of him at that moment and felt like...his arms weren't home, they were dangerous and that broke him when Henry kept going.

"And then he turned into...you know like me." He admitted, seeing how his big plan of keeping Ray with (y/n) was going to shit as the woman wrapped her arms around herself and not him, thinking that if she made herself small, then the pain would hurt less. She didn't want Ray to be mad, she didn't want Henry to lose his job, she didn't want those kids to pay the price for an accident, she didn't want any of it.

"And everyone saw?!" Ray interrogated his sidekick, his face growing red and the veins on his neck popping out as he struggled to cope with two crushing blows at once. Henry had screwed up his secret identity and possibly put his entire life's work in jeopardy and even more heartbreakingly, he had screwed up with his girl, again. How could he keep her safe if she didn't feel that with him? He'd vowed to protect her from everything she was scared of, he had never thought that he'd be on that list or that she'd be standing a few metres away from him and he'd feel like they were worlds apart. Maybe he'd judged it wrong, maybe it wasn't the right time for the ring, maybe it was but not with him...

"Yes! Yes! They all saw, man, they all saw! And the—then that—that Kenzie girl, she figured out that I'm Kid Danger!" Henry shrieked, everything just pouring out of him like he couldn't stop it, he just wanted to tell the truth even if it could make things worse for him. He was in too deep and had gone too far to lie now. "Oh my god..."

"And then—and then, I freaked out, I freaked out, man, I freaked out and then, I just...I just..." Henry panted his fingers grazing over his whiz watch as every moment replayed in his mind and he felt like he could breathe like the walls were closing in on him as Ray got closer, demanding an answer, which only made it worse. "You just what?!"

"Raymond!" (y/n) snapped, her eyes burning into him with a fury that made him back off like he'd been wounded, his heart bleeding once again as her anger was directed at him again. Now, she was scared and mad, this couldn't be good, this could only mean that she wouldn't be in his bed tonight and the next and the next, what if he'd finally done it? What if this disaster was what drove them apart? Not seeing his inner turmoil, (y/n) put her hands on Henry's shoulders and turned the kid's face in her direction, even though he couldn't meet her eyes. "Henry, I want you to take some deep breaths and tell me what happened..."

"And then, I just started zapping, (y/n/n). And I—I—I just couldn't stop, I zapped everyone...and then I zapped my sister! I zapped my sister, man!" Henry sobbed, finally letting his tears escape as he broke down and curled into Ray's chest to cry, squishing (y/n) in between the two of them as she hugged him back. Charlotte watched awkwardly as Ray tried to comfort his sidekick, not knowing if he was doing the right thing since the last time he'd tried to comfort someone, she'd pulled herself away. Oh god, was being pressed against him making her uncomfortable right now? Why was she crying too?

"Henry...hey, Henry, yeah, look at me, you're not in trouble, but we gotta fix this. And you need to stop crying because seeing you cry makes me cry! So come on, dry your eyes and get out your gum, 'cause Captain Man needs both his sidekicks right now." She pulled away from the kid, both of their eyes red and puffy from all the emotion washing over them, but once it melted away, they were left with a sense of calm and level heads. Ray's heart skipped a beat at her mention of him needing them and it couldn't have been truer; he wanted to reach out and touch her, kiss her, tell her he was sorry for being...monstrous, but he thought she'd heard enough from him for one night and chose to just silently dig around for his tube.

"Okay, yeah, you're right. We can fix this, right Ray?" Henry asked his boss, looking hopeful that he wasn't about to fire him or say that the consequences of his fuck-up were irreparable. Ray clenched his jaw and shoved a gumball in his mouth, his movements mirroring his sidekicks' albeit with much more ferocity behind them, which made the air freeze as they waited for his reply. Jeez, he definitely looked furious, tense, like if they said one more thing he'd started throwing fists.

"Yeah, we'll use the memory-wiper. They won't remember a thing." Ray grumbled, standing in a wide space so he could snap into his suit, although he'd also factored in how she needed space from his temper and he needed space to calm down. It wasn't the best method out there and certainly not the kindest, but they didn't really have any other choice, not that (y/n) could hold her tongue. Ray normally took her advice on board, factored it into his equation and listened to her when no one else wanted to, but he wasn't in a good place right now.

"We could try something differe—" She argued, knowing that they should at least talk to the kids first and see what they had to say before they removed every memory in their heads, but the way his head snapped to meet her gaze, a cold, hard sternness in his eyes, it made her words run dry and his harshness plugged the silence.

"It's not up for discussion." He told her coldly, in the harshest voice he'd ever used with her and it was like time stopped. Henry and Charlotte looked at him with shocked, almost angry expressions at the tone he decided to use and blowing the bubbles felt numb for (y/n) like she was in a goldfish bowl looking out at the muffled world around her. Her super suit materialised around her, not that she felt it, she could just feel her heart breaking as she wondered what she'd done wrong and if there was anything she could do to make it better.

With their suits on, Ray went to grab the memory wiper and Henry stumbled over to the elevator's controls, with (y/n) hovering somewhere in the middle. The tension was thick in the air and the screams and shouts in the elevator were getting louder, but even still, Ray was determined to do this, he saw no other way.

"All right, kid, time to clean up your mess." The superhero grumbled, turning up the power on the device in his hand. He didn't want to do it, it's not like he enjoyed wiping the brains of kids, far from it, neither did he like how it divided his Man Cave into different opinions and disrupted the playful harmony in there. The sooner they did this, the sooner things could get back to normal, whatever normal was.

"You don't have to say it like that." (y/n) muttered, getting out of the way so she wouldn't get blasted accidentally and she hated the way her feet took her back to Ray's side like they knew it was safest there. It was, it was always gonna be safe with him, she just didn't know if he was okay with her being there.

"Come on, man. Do we really have to erase their memories?" Henry asked Ray, praying that by some miracle, or maybe by having (y/n) back in close proximity, he'd change his mind and suddenly say that they could be left alone, but it was wishful thinking.

"Yes! And turn the elevator power back on and open the door. Sweet girl, get back, I don't want you forgetting too." The man ordered, his tone softening slightly at the end as one arm pushed his girlfriend behind his shoulder. Okay, that made her heart flutter and she swallowed to keep her emotions under control. It was just his temper, she shouldn't take it to heart and knowing that he wanted her next to him was a good start for calming things down.

Henry flipped the lever again as Ray entered the settings on the memory wiper, his muscles tense under (y/n)'s fingertips when she tested to see if he'd left her touch his back. He did, of course, he welcomed her touch, thankful that she wasn't so scared that she couldn't be with him anymore and some of his frustration melted away when her cheek rested on his shoulder blade. Maybe it was a misunderstanding...

"Arghhhh, that's bright!" "Are we in heaven?" Kenzie and Hudson gasp as the Game Shaker kids were finally freed from the elevator, all of them blinded by the bright, flashing lights as they stumbled around in their pyjamas. The Man Cave had that effect on a lot of people and they blinked in awe as they saw Captain Man, Kid Danger, Miss Danger and some other girl stood there looking awkward and nervous.

"Hey, kids..." Ray smiled tightly whilst (y/n) poked out from behind him, properly revealing herself to the teens. It broke her heart to know that in a few minutes, they wouldn't remember any of this or any one, but she daren't say anything, not when Ray was still quite mad.

"Hello, everyone," "Good evening..." Henry and (y/n) greeted away warmly, standing next to Ray so the group was isolated and Babe blinked at Charlotte. She knew who the heroes were, but this girl was a complete stranger and she was fairly certain that this was all a dream. Or maybe this was all very real and her life had just gotten a bit crazier.

"Oh, uh, my name is Daenerys Targaryen...and pretend I'm not here," Charlotte told the kids, ignoring how crazy it seemed to be named after a fantasy character, but honestly, the teens weren't that interested in her, they just wanted to know how and why they were in this whacky place. 

"What happened to us?" "What is this place?" Kenzie and Trip asked, still blinking under the lights and seeing as though he was about to ruin their lives, Ray figured that a calm, soothing tone would be the best approach as he replied to them. He didn't want to scare them, that would be so annoying, having to chase down the kids as they tried to run away from the memory wiper's beams. It was just easier this way.

"Hi, everyone. Welcome to the Man Cave. Now, if you kids will just look this way, please. Look towards me, I'm just gonna use this to take a pic of you guys!" He lied, trying to seem honest, even though the device in his hands looked nothing like a camera, but at least it rolled Hudson, but then again, nearly everything fooled that kid.

"Oh, yeah. That's a great idea. Come on, everyone, let's get in close." The blond boy smiled and wrapped his arms around his friends so they could all huddle in. The girls and Trip were a little weirded out, but said nothing as Hudson squished them all together, their lips twitching into confused smiles as Ray aimed the wiper at them, powering it up to fire, but...

"All right, stop it! If you're gonna wipe their memories, you should at least have the guts to tell 'em." Henry stopped Ray at the last moment, making Charlotte and (y/n) peek out from behind their fingers as the Game Shakers gasped in horror. He was planning on doing what to them?! Pic, their asses, Captain Man was a born liar and hearing about his devious plan made them splutter. "What? Wipe our memories?!"

"Ahhh, it's fine, it's fine. It's just a camera...with a trigger. Okay, everyone, smile and say amnesia." Ray brushed off their worrying, taking aim as the teens panicked, Henry holding (y/n) back as she itched to help them or stop her dumb boyfriend or something, but he couldn't bear the thought of the man snapping at her again. His boss had a tendency to be a little destructive and so God help him, he was not gonna let him ruin the best thing in his life just because he was having a bad day. No way, Jose.

"WAIT! Wait, um, if—if you wipe our memories, we won't be able to make the cool game about you!" Babe stopped, thinking on her feet as Ray's pointer finger licked the trigger, freezing when she mentioned his video game. Smart girl, using Ray's ego was a sure-fire way to get what they wanted, mainly to retain the memories, and it made Ray pause for a moment as Kenzie took her best friend's idea and ran with it. "Yeah, and we had all those amazing ideas."

"I know, too bad, right?" Babe sighed, Trip hurriedly agreeing with them as Ray seriously considered what they were saying. He really wanted that damn game, but he had his rules and authority to think about, would he just throw all that away.

"Wait, wait like what ideas?" Yes, yes, he would do that. He was technically just testing the waters, trying to see if the kids were bluffing or not, but the idea had caught his attention and honestly, he was swaying. If they played their cards right, they were in with a chance here.

"Just stuff, like you, Captain Man, and Kid Danger and Miss Danger, travelling through time, fighting—fighting moon robots!" Babe answered, making most of it up on the spot, but she had long honed her bluffing skills and the details piqued Ray and Henry's interests. (y/n) wasn't particularly bothered about being in the game, but she saw the way her boyfriend's muscles loosened and how the memory wiper was slowly being put down, so she was willing to back it all the way. She could fight moon robots, she'd fight anything if it meant things went back to normal. "Yeah, moon robots!"

"And other villains from history." "And from the future!" Trip added, knowing that the more detail they added, the more it seemed like they'd actually thought this through and when Captain Man stroked his chin, looking all thoughtful, they held their breath. Please, no memory-wiping, please, no memory-wiping...

"Hmmm, so like a time travel angle." He pondered, loving the idea of him, plus his two sidekicks, kicking ass throughout history. That did sound awesome and just knowing that his name and face would be out there even more for people to recognise and adore, that just won him over pretty much.

"Yeah, yeah and we'll call it..." Kenzie trailed off, trying to think of something clever as Hudson wandered around the room, finally stopping when he found Schwoz's feet. He poked them, prodded them, tickled the soles so his toes wriggled and just knowing that there were someone's legs left unattended was fascinating to him. 

"Crime Warp!" "Yes, Crime Warp! That's definitely the name!" Babe and Kenzie shouted, coming up with a reasonably cool name from the top of their heads and by the look of the mystified glaze in Ray's eyes, he loved it. It was mysterious, edgy and all about him (and (y/n) and Henry, but that's just semantics), what's not to love? "Crime Warp..."

"This game sounds pretty sick, dude!" Henry whispered in his ear, tapping (y/n)'s arm so she'd get close to him and encourage him too. It wasn't a lie, he loved the idea too, but the woman's voice in his ear always twisted his arm because he was wrapped around her little finger, even if his moodiness did sour things sometimes.

"And it's all about you, sweetheart..." She purred to him, carefully hugging his arm and smiling, trying to see if he would warm up just a little and it worked. It worked a lot. Ray removed his arm from her hold, making her smile drop for just a second before it went around her shoulders, bringing her body to his slightly so he could plant a kiss on her hairline, making her release a breathy laugh. It was like things were settled between them again, not in a verbal way, they'd talk it straight later, but for now, they felt...okay and that was good.

"I know, I know, sweet girl. I know." He whispered, back, standing straighter to act like nothing was happening, their hushed voices were just them having a brief pow-wow, but on the inside, his heart was fluttering. She wasn't scared, she was smiling, she didn't shun his touch, she curled into him more and when he pulled back, her hand stayed in his, keeping them connected through anything.

"But, we can't make games without our memories." "It's simple biology." Trip and Kenzie argued, making Ray consider what they were saying for a moment. He couldn't have his cake and eat it, he couldn't wipe their memories and keep the promise of a cool game about him, so he was left with a decision, do it or don't do it.

"Hey, whose feet are these?" Hudson asked, tickling Schwoz's feet with delight as they wriggled, making (y/n) look over for a moment as she heard the small man giggle in the hidden corridor. Right, she couldn't explain that phenomenon, so she just had to get the kid away from Schwoz before he peed himself from the laughter. "Hey, leave those alone, you don't know who they belong to or where they've been."

Hudson immediately ran back to Trip's side, hiding behind his back as he got a strange, unnatural feeling from the feet and he deemed it best to keep well away. Going back to the important matter at hand, Babe, Kenzie and Trip looked at Captain Man with hopeful eyes, hoping he'd spare them because they certainly hold up their side of the bargain if he did. However, when Ray went to open his mouth, the answer ready on the tip of his tongue, the computer alarm sounded, drawing the superheroes' attention away abruptly. 

"Uh, what's that?" Babe asked, wondering what the invasive racket was and why the screens were flashing red. Charlotte ran over immediately, reading the monitor since that was kinda her job. "Breaking news."

"Go check it out," Ray told her, earning himself a stern glare since that was her plan the entire time. Why did he think she was walking if not to see what all the fuss was about? And, he was a tad rude; just because he was the boss didn't mean he couldn't use his manners, something his girlfriend always encouraged when he was getting a bit above himself. "What's that magic word we talked about for when you want someone to do you a favour?"

"Please," Ray added, squeezing her fingers in a silent apology as Charlotte accepted his answer. Was that so hard? Jeez, thank god (y/n) was around, he'd have them doing all sorts of laborious shit (something they'd witnessed with that whole parallel universe crap, Ray going off the rails without his soulmate).

"There was trouble tonight in New York City." Trent Overrunder started the report, grabbing everyone's attention as the news flashed up on the monitors. Upon hearing the native city's name, the Game Shakers ran over, Ray, (y/n) and Henry close behind them so they could listen for their job. Technically, it was out of their jurisdiction, New York being on the opposite side of the States, but if the need was dire, then they'd go anywhere; Captain Man would always help anyone if they asked for it.

"Also known as the Big Pear," Mary added, not realising that she'd mixed up her fruits, but the sentiment was there, not that Trent was any less forgiving, as usual.

"That's wrong, Mary." He told her, not caring how his colleague's face fell at how she'd messed up again, on national TV of all things. His face remained emotionless like he was just gonna brush over her sadness and not make her feel better, something which rubbed (y/n) the wrong way.

"I hate that guy. Why's he always gotta be so mean to her?" She whined, feeling Ray's arms snake around her waist and pull her back into his chest where he could keep all of her worries away. He knew how much she wanted to give Mary a hug for all the shit she went through and it just made him smile at how naturally caring she was. Yeah, something was up and he probably should've given it his full attention, but he couldn't, not when she looked over her shoulder and brushed her lips over his, the gentlest kiss they'd ever shared, but one they needed more than they realised. 

"Anyway, tonight, a brutal attack was attempted on famous rapper, Double G Griffin when he was in his office, grilling a steak." Trent carried on, sending the Game Shakers into a deep shock and panic. Their friend, boss and dad was attacked? What the fuck? They had so many questions concerning his safety, why, how, when and who, but none had more than Trip, who felt faint at the news. He couldn't lose his dad...

"My dad was attacked?!... Okay, that's disgusting." He cried but was quickly shushed as the anchors started talking again, making him wipe away the saliva that covered his cheeks. They listened eagerly, their ears straining for every word so that they would know every detail, even if the story got worse the more it went on.

"And according to New York Police, the attackers claim to have been hired by a criminal from right here in Swellview, Doctor Minyak." The man went on, the superheroes' hair standing on end when they heard the name. That bastard, he couldn't keep it local, he just had to move out of their patch, but if he thought that they wouldn't chase after him, then he had another thing coming. He was a Swellview criminal, which meant he was still their problem. 

"Minyak..." Ray growled, his arms tightening around his girl as his anger picked up again, but this time, it was well-justified. The doctor had crossed a serious line, bringing violence to the table and hurting innocents just to get under his skin and it took every ounce of restraint in his body and the feeling of (y/n) conjoining their hands to stop him from losing it again. He was glad she was there and glad that she seemed as ready to kick Minyak's ass as he was, Henry too. They didn't have much love for brutality either.

"That's the guy that was trying to stop my dad from doing the revenge charity concert." Trip exclaimed, shaking Babe's arm with every word, something he didn't realise he was doing until his grip got too tight and she yanked it away from him. She didn't need a bruise, not when they were gonna come up with a plan to save/protect Dub. "Yeah, I'm following along."

"Luckily, Double G was unharmed, but thanks to a box of fireworks, two of his main bodyguards, Bunford Simmons and Rutherford. P Ainsworth were very harmed." Trent reported, making the kids whine in sympathy as they heard the terrible, terrible news. They loved the bodyguards and would hate if anything bad happened to them and it had, so their day/night wasn't going so good.

"They'll be resting painfully in the hospital for a while, but the two bodyguards are expected to make a full recovery." Well, that was some good news, at least. No permanent damage, but it still meant Dub was unprotected and that Minyak was probably swanning around thinking his plan was gonna work for once. Like they'd ever let him contemplate that notion, he needed to know he was a loser, a cowardly, smug loser who didn't stand a chance against three superheroes and a bunch of disgruntled kids.

"I guess they forgot to guard their own bodies." Mary smiled, proud of her little wordplay even if the timing was a little awkward and morbid. Trent though, was repulsed by her humour and rather than just grin and bear it like most polite people would do, he simply stood up and walked off set, leaving the poor, blonde lady to wilt in disappointment. What an asshole.

"This is a disaster!" Trip cried, walking away from the supercomputer in a frantic fashion as he thought about the very real danger his father was in right now. No one knew how eccentric he could be, not like Ruthless and Bunny, no one knew how to keep him safe from nutters like Minyak as they did, what were they gonna do if there was another attack at the concert?

"No, no, come on. They said Bunny and Ruthless are gonna be all right." Babe followed him, her voice calm as she tried to stop his worrying, but it didn't help all that much. They still had a huge problem; who was gonna protect Double G now? They needed someone who would actually stand a chance against Minyak, someone who knew how he worked and how he thought, someone who had an excellent track record against him.

"But they're in the hospital! Resting painfully!" He snapped a reply, not meaning to be spiteful, but his emotions were running high until his eyes landed on Ray, (y/n) and Henry, wait a second... "Captain Man, Miss Danger, Kid Danger, you guys gotta come back to New York with us to protect my dad. Please!" 

They thought about it for a minute, debating whether it was their problem if it was in an entirely different city, but this was Minyak, he was their problem, they angered him. It was technically, kinda their fault, not that they'd ever admit it and when Ray looked at his sidekicks, they gave him subtle nods. They were all in, willing to do what was right, but he wanted to bargain, just a little. "You guys swear you're gonna make a super cool game about me, Miss Danger and Kid Danger?" 

"Yes!" "Totally!" Their enthusiastic replies were instantaneous, (y/n) and Henry giving Ray the side-eye of mild disgust at how he didn't agree unreservedly as they did. Seriously, the stupid game again? That's what he was bidding a man's life against? Another thing to be added to the pile for stern words about with his girlfriend later and more grovelling for him. He never learned. The moment was drawn out for a few seconds, Ray walking over to the magic box containing Schwoz's feet just so he could add a touch of drama, his mind already made up.

"Well, kid, sweet girl...looks like we're going to New York!" Ray broke the news with a smile, (y/n) tackling him in a flying hug as the teens breathed a sigh of relief at him accepting their request for help. He couldn't say no, it wasn't in his nature and it went against every moral fibre of his that screamed for justice, not to mention how his sweet girl would never forgive him, he could never have said no. Henry and Charlotte shared a grin too, ecstatic that they got to go on a trip they'd always wanted to go on (of course, it was about their duty too) and they also smiled at how the lovey-dovey couple were as much in love with each other as they had always been, if not more so.

"Thank you." (y/n) mumbled into Ray's ear, feeling like she should say it just to show him how she appreciated, no, admired his kindness, how he was willing to help a bunch of kids in a city that he had nothing to do with, merely because it was the right thing to. His arms tightened around her, taking most of her weight as she stood on her tiptoes and his cheek fell against the crown of her head, him feeling like she shouldn't be thanking him, he should be thanking her for sticking around when he was an asshole. No girl could leave Captain Man, they sought the fame, his good looks, his endless charm, but none stayed when all that fell, leaving him as a normal guy with normal feelings, a temper and fame that stretched to his working life and nothing else. (y/n) stayed and he was thankful for that, she loved everything, the good and the bad.

"S'okay. I'm sorry for shouting earlier, I shouldn't have taken my anger out on you, not when you were just trying to help." He replied, one hand stroking her face tenderly, his thumb running over her cheekbone as he tried to convey every ounce of remorse he felt in a twenty-three-word sentence. She was so sweet and he was so bitter at times, he wondered what did make her stay, why she didn't leave for someone who didn't have the baggage he did, the stress, the constant possibility that one emergency call might be their last if something went horribly wrong. 

"It's all right. You're human, you're allowed to feel angry. Captain Man isn't indestructible on the inside and that's okay." She said softly, her hand resting on his cheek too so she could show him the same tenderness. It was just about him keeping her safe, it worked the other way too and by no means did she expect him to be perfect, he wasn't a robot, he screamed, he shouted, he did dumb shit sometimes and whilst it hurt when he was prickly with her, she always brushed it off because she knew him and knew that him at his worst was miles apart from him at his best. She stayed because she loved him, all of him.

"I love you, sweet girl. Always, even when I'm stupid and I don't show it, I love you." He mumbled, unaware of how Charlotte and Henry were still smirking, the Game Shaker kids whispering giddily amongst themselves about flying home with three superheroes. He didn't care, not when she snuggled closer and pressed a short but very sweet kiss to his lips, pulling back to lean their foreheads together.

"And I love you. Always, whether you're Captain Man or Ray Manchester, I love all of you." She replied, feeling like the Man Cave was quiet for just a moment, even with all the chattering and thrumming machines. It was peaceful between them and that meant their home was peaceful too...until Schwoz opened his big, fat mouth.

"Are we really going to New York?!" The small man shouted excitedly from the other room, assuming that the announcement extended to him too. he just had to put himself back together and he'd be with them, after all, he'd always wanted to go to the Big Apple (not pear, sorry, Mary).

"Yeah, but not you, Schwoz!" Ray shouted back, feeling a little awkward at how he'd misunderstood the situation. This was a protect and kick-ass kinda mission, two things Schwoz wasn't particularly good at. No, he needed to stay here and watch the Man Cave, both pieces of him.

"Oh, come on! Just take my upper half!" He whined, trying to convince them like he could fit into an overhead storage locker or something. Yeah, like they could get half a man past the border, just hearing his voice sent the New York kids into a perplexed horror. 

"No thanks, Schwoz, that is both weird and disgusting!" (y/n) replied flatly, wishing he'd just shut it about going on the damn trip so she could get back to kissing her boyfriend, who smiled awkwardly at the teens as he kept screaming about his halves. There was never a normal day in the Man Cave...

~The next day, Double G's concert, backstage~

Well, they'd made it, the Big Apple! Broadway, Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, bagels, yellow cabs, angry people, Time Square, Central Park, the Empire State Building, everything was just pure NYC. Dub's concert was a few minutes from going live and everyone was getting into position. 

Charlotte and Trip were in the broadcasting room, having used his fame and status as Double G's son to get past the security and questions people threw at them, and now, they were Ray's eyes in the sky, watching everything from every angle. Hudson, Babe and Kenzie were hanging out in different areas backstage, casually strolling around to see if they could spot Minyak, with Ray and (y/n) having stressed a "no engagement policy". They just said what they saw, they'd do all the hard work. The heroes' had to get close to Dub if they were gonna guard his body as bodyguards so they'd come up with a brilliant if embarrassing, plan. Backup Dancers, oh yeah. 

The boys got to look like two adorable pharaohs, blending in with the stage's Egyptian theme and (y/n) wasn't much different. She managed to swipe a spare costume from some unsuspecting dancer and surprisingly, it fit pretty damn well. They'd have to ignore her minimal makeup, she had no time to go full Egyptian Goddess, but with the accessories, shimmery halter top and skirt, plus her gold sneakers, she looked the part and Ray was more than appreciative of the way her ass and hips were accentuated in the outfit.

(Sorry about the quality, this was the best screenshot I could grab <3)

"Henry, Ray, (y/n), you copy? Henry? Ray? (y/n)?" Charlotte's concerned voice came through on their earpieces, distracting them from getting their costumes straight. Jeez, they only needed a minute, they couldn't look like a mess of international TV, people would be scrutinising them, well, it would reflect on Double G if his dancers looked weird. "Where are you guys?"

"Okay, hey, Char. We're on stage, no sign of Doctor Minyak yet." Henry reported into his watch, (y/n) biting her lip when her hand slid up Ray's arm, the muscles that rippled under her fingers completely exposed in his pharaoh tunic. Yeah, maybe she should've been concentrating a bit more, but she couldn't help give his bicep a quick squeeze, not when he deliberately flexed to make her swoon even harder. He was loving her attention, her outfit, her everything way too much to say it was supposed to be a stealth mission.

"Copy that," Charlotte replied, ending their connection for the time being so they could concentrate on their spying and she and Trip could work on the monitors. He had to be somewhere, there was no way he'd call them, swear revenge and attack the rapper for nothing, he was just being sneaky, like usual.

"Babe, Kenzie, it's (y/n), can you hear me?" The woman moved onto the next pair after she'd finished ogling her boyfriend, promising herself that she could worship his god-like chest and arms later when they'd wrapped this up. The girls picked up immediately, recognising her voice despite the name drop. They knew where the Man Cave was, they knew about Henry, it only made sense that they knew her and Ray's identities, after swearing never to tell, of course, them being way too honoured by the privilege to even think of betrayal.

"We do." "Go for Kenzie." They replied softly, trying to not seem suspicious to anyone around them by talking into their borrowed whiz watches. The last thing they wanted to do was tip-off Minyak, who no doubt had brought some goons with him, meaning there could be eyes and ears everywhere. That was why Ray was being so careful, he needed to stay one step ahead of Minyak if he was gonna spoil his plan.

"Yeah, uh, for the Captain Man, Miss Danger, Kid Danger game..." Ray butted in, thinking that since he couldn't see anything, for the time being, they could negotiate and plan a little more, despite his girlfriend making the call to ask some proper questions, not chat about the dumb game. Henry groaned, she smacked her forehead, but Ray either didn't hear or didn't care 'cause he wasn't bothered, he just turned and admired his girlfriend's figure.

"I mean, I was gonna ask if they've seen anything but okay." She muttered, noting the way his gaze trailed up her thighs and you'd think her having her hands on her hips would tell him to focus, but his pupils dilated and he just smirked, pretty pleased with the view he was getting. Soft thighs for days...

"Yeah, I just think I should have really big muscles, like even bigger than the ones I actually have." He told the girls, having been prompted by his girl feeling up his arms and it was like instant inspiration. He wasn't ignorant of the fact that she had a thing for his arms and how insanely huge they always seemed to be compared to her smaller figure and because of the way his biceps made her quiver, he just thought that they should stress that it was the game, give her something to blush about every time she played it. Almost like a subtle reminder of what/who was waiting for her at the end of the day; his muscles would always find a way to drag her onto his chest where she always slept best before finally settling around her waist for the night. Yeah, his muscles were great.

"Now is not the time for that and stop staring at your girlfriend!" Henry hissed into his watch, watching as (y/n) flushed and Ray winced from the loud feedback. He definitely got the message, the young woman even more so when she remembered who else was in on the frequency, namely a load of kids who didn't need to know how she and her boyfriend constantly drilled over each other. Henry and Charlotte were used to it, but that didn't mean the Game Shakers had to be.

"Will you guys just keep an eye on my dad?" Trip asked impatiently, feeling like everyone, mainly the superheroes AKA their main line of defence, were getting distracted. If his dad hurt then they will have failed and he wasn't gonna let that happen. 

"Yeah, it's all good, Triple G. We got eyes on Double G right now." Henry soothed him, the three of them watching as Dub did some...butt exercises? His instructor was really working his hips, loosening them up for the concert, but never mind the weirdness, at least he was in their line of sight and he was out of trouble. If the guy needed to wiggled his butt, then that was fine by them.

"What are you two doing?" (y/n) asked the boys in confusion when her head snapped to her left and right and she saw that they were taking the instructors orders as their own and copying Dub's acting by shaking their butts and thrusting their hips. Lord have mercy on her filthy, sinful soul, just watching Ray move like that, it dragged her mind to the gutter, her cheeks darkening ever so slightly as they scrambled for an answer.

"Hmmm? What was that, sweet girl?" "Huh? Hmmm?" They stuttered, stopping as she knitted her eyebrows together and gave them both a judgemental look. Okay, weird but she could move on, she had to if she had any hope of not dragging her boyfriend off in search of a spare janitor's closet. 

"Whatever, let's just go." She told them, taking Ray's hand and dragging him off the stage so they could keep looking for Minyak or any of his lowlife minions. It was nearly time for the show, just fifteen minutes or so and Minyak was already in the building, over the stage, in fact, plotting Double G's demise with Nurse Cohort by his side. This was gonna be the one, the one where he succeeded and regained his notoriety for finally foiling those who tried to stop him. His device, something of his own invention, was gonna turn Dub into a howling, raving idiot and embarrass him in front of millions, how intrinsically evil was that?

~Ten minutes later~

"Double G!...Double G!...Double G!" The crowd chanted, pumped for their hero's appearance on stage as the lights dimmed. This was it, the big moment, the cameras were rolling, the stage was set, everything and everyone was in place, including Minyak, all anyone had to do now, was wait for the man himself to appear on his podium and the music to start. 

Dub's ass lit up on stage, two, luminescent G's on his pants so his logo would be the first thing people saw and now it made sense that he was doing butt exercises a short while beforehand. The beat picked up and so did the sway of his hips, his butt moving from side to side just like his coach had instructed him and it was a pretty funny yet incredible way to start the show, definitely a Dub special. The G logo stopped shaking as the beat reached a crescendo, the gold glitter sparkling under the lights when he fell to the sound of "drop that", illuminating the stage in a pyrotechnic explosion as sparks flew and the crowd roared.

There he was, Double G, stood in the darkness like he was blinded by the lights, but he owned the stage, commanded it and this was all part of his act. The lights turned on, smoke spreading across the room as he stepped forward on a golden platform, flanked by two more G's on the left and right as the screams deafened him.

"MIC!! SHADES!!" He yelled, both items appearing in his hands as if by magic, a trick that wowed both the people in-house and those around the world, watching from their homes. He slid the shades over his eyes like he was donning his Double G persona with that mere gesture and with the order for the audience, both in the arena and elsewhere, to scream, the show officially began as he ran up some stairs to a higher level. 

"I go by the name! Double! G!" He screamed, prompting the dancers backstage to rush to their places, ready to rush on as soon as he started rapping. Ray, (y/n) and Henry, being in costume, were ushered with them, their heart rates increasing as they realised that they'd have to go one with no practice, no rhythm and no clue what they were doing. This was gonna be fun.

"I'm livin' ma life, you wishin' you could, I do ma own thing, I do it so good. No key on ma payday, it's right, high key, I'm the gold on the mic. You pay for the show, well I'm in it..." Dub rapped, his dancers knowing the moves, the beat and the superheroes stumbled awkwardly onto the stage and tried to blend in.

"Uh, what are we doing?" Henry asked the couple, (y/n) getting a vague idea of what the dance was since it was the same one from the music video, so she wasn't completely clueless, unlike Henry and Ray who had no idea what was going on. They just needed to look normal.

"Just keep an eye out for Doctor Minyak," Ray told him, more worried about the doctor and whatever he was planning than dancing. He was a superhero, not an entertainer and whilst he would like to feel (y/n)'s hips grinding up against him to the music, they had much bigger things to worry about.

"Hey, we're supposed to be dancers. Don't you know the moves from the music video?" (y/n) hissed at them, roughly copying what her fellow female dancers were doing, feeling a bit heavy-footed with the first few steps, but she was doing better than the boys, who just swung their arms and stamped their feet awkwardly, the young woman getting into it as they built up to the chorus.

"I just do what I do, so you do you! Yeah, and I never fall long! Just do what I do, so you do you! Top dog, I'm a boss! I'm in it to win it, we on! Ma squad is so Gucci, we gone! You talk 'bout my back, but you smile in my face, between ma semmies, we throwin' the shade! I'm drawin' a line in the sand! So, we keep it all in the fam, I know that I make it look easy, livin' so hot, I make you feel crazy!" The music went on, (y/n) really showing her natural rhythm as she copied the female dancers with only a few mistakes in between and she looked like one of them, her mind casting back to the music video she'd seen a million times. Ray and Henry were still awful, but all of them were looking for Minyak, who was ready to pounce. 

"Nurse Cohort! It's time!" He exclaimed his special device that made people sound like Wookies still on his wrist. His assistant encouraged him to do it, wanting this whole thing to be over so she could file her nails in peace and Minyak didn't need telling twice. "I shall!" 

The doctor climb up to the rigging, supporting his weight on one arm precariously as (y/n) and her newfound squad steamed forward with Dub, her hand on his shoulder like she really had been hired. She was trying to freak out at touching the Double G, telling herself that he was just a person like her and just because he was a gazillionaire didn't mean she should lose it, not when she had one eye showering the crowds and the stage for Minyak. "No! They can't do it like me!"

Being the utter idiot he was, it didn't take long to find Minyak, who slipped as he tried to cling to the rigging and landed face-first on the stage, where the sight of numerous, confused dancers diving out of the way caught the attention of those watching. Double G boogied on as the doctor groaned and got to his feet, Kenzie and Babe rushing to their stage entrance once they'd seen Minyak from their screen.

"You guys! Minyak's on stage!" Babe exclaimed into her watch, instantly piquing the attention of Ray, Henry and (y/n), the latter of whom toned down her danced and slowly moved the back of the troupe once she realised that something was going down. It's fine, she could party with Dub some other time. 

"Where?!" Ray asked, his eyes frantically looking for his enemy as his girl grooved back to his side, trying to appear like she was fading out slowly, but with all the action, no one on stage could see what was happing. Minyak was just another body in the sea of people to them.

"He's stage right, next to the big G," Charlotte replied, she and Trip seeing everything from the broadcasting room, meaning that they saw the villain falling down and everything. Great, that meant they'd have to get across to the other side without looking weird or alerting Minyak, two things which were easier said than done.

"There!" Henry pointed and the couple's eyes followed his direction until they saw the man trying to avoid the dancers and all the fun going on around him. He stuck out like a sore thumb and whatever he was up to, it wasn't to wish Dub his congratulations on holding a damn good concert. 

"Ugh, Minyak! He's ruining the show!" (y/n) growled, watching as the criminal limped around the stage, dragging the leg he'd injured in his fall and he was clearly causing a disruption that was hellishly confusing for anyone watching on TV. Dub hadn't noticed, or maybe he had and just carried on like a professional, but either way, the supers had to do something before he did something evil.

"Let's go back there," Ray told his sidekicks, seeing the perfect spot behind a big G for them to safely pop some gumballs. Babe and Kenzie had their own little plan of attack whilst they were transforming or whatever, following Minyak to the other side of the stage as he danced and Dub kept singing.

"Okay, guys, let's blow a bubble..." Ray started, throwing some gum into his mouth as his sidekicks stood on either side of him, mirroring his movements. He'd be sad to see (y/n) change out of her cute little dancing clothes, but he loved her in anything, preferred her in nothing, so either way, he was happy.

"And save a Double..." She smirked, turning to Henry so he could finish the rhyme they'd come up with on the flight over to New York and damn, it felt epic to say as they prepared to don their hero attire. "G!" Their bubbles popped, the Egyptian costumes disappeared and in their place stood Captain Man, Kid Danger and Miss Danger, ready to kick some doctor butt.

"Let's go attack Minyak." Henry smirked, informing how (y/n) quickly gave Ray's arm a squeeze just because they were now hidden by the suit, but by no means any smaller. They were still rock-solid, full of power and completely hers to fondle and admire; yeah, she liked his arms.

Circling back from around the G, the heroes walked onto the stage, looking to see where Minyak had scurried off to and spotted him pretty much where he had been moments prior, only this time, their striking uniforms stood out amongst the dancers and he immediately knew that they were there to spoil his plan.

"No! Captain Man, Miss Danger and Kid Danger! Quick, stop them!" He yelled, his fear spiking when he realised that he wasn't free from justice in New York and that no matter where he ran off to, they were following behind him to protect the innocent citizens of wherever. Ray, (y/n) and Henry rolled their eyes, stepping forward at his empty threats, only to recoil slightly when three masked Jackal dancers blocked their path and revealed themselves to be Billie, Jean and King from the cargo plane. They obviously hadn't learnt their lesson; never deal with Minyak unless you want trouble and face full of fist.

"I think those three dancers are Minyak's goons!" Charlotte told her watch, watching the way they acted in front of the heroes and she thought it was best to warn them, even though they could already sense the danger they were in. Well, danger for the goons, they could take these idiots any day.

"Yeah, we figured that. Don't worry, we'll sort 'em." (y/n) replied quickly, seeing Ray clench his fists in the corner of her eye and once she'd ended her reply, her fists did the same, coming up protectively over her abdomen and chest.

"Sorry, boys, girl, doctor's busy right now." One of the thugs spat, looking up and down at the heroes as if they hadn't received a pasting for crossing them last time. All they needed to do was keep them occupied whilst Minyak lined up his shot for ruining Dub's voice, but it was just Captain Man and his team fighting this battle.

"Oh, gee, that's too bad, 'cause, uh, I got this thing on my hand..." Ray grumbled, flexing his hand like it was cramping up and he stepped forward to the guy who spoke like he was in pain and definitely not like he was about to slug him. The man tilted his head, not having realised that Captain Man wasn't one for boring, he liked to add a bit of spice to his fighting. "What thing?"

"Your face!" The large man exclaimed and punched the goon across the jaw, starting a brawl between the superheroes and Minyak's heavies as they tried to punch their way across the stage, something that drew the doctor's attention. Henry ducked out of the way of Jean's punches, his hyper-motility making him seem like a blur as he jabbed at his gut, making the guy groan in agony as (y/n) took on King.

"Nope, gonna have to hit harder than that, asshole!" She smirked as he tried to punch her across the face like Ray had done to his associate, but no matter how much he tried to break her jaw, her nose, her arms, her legs, rupture her spleen or her kidneys, she just bounced back instantly, fighting through the small bursts of pain before healing back up and getting on with it. She kneed King in the groin, practically purring in victory as he doubled over in pain, allowing her to kick him in the face too. That gotta hurt, but Minyak was taking his final shot and they were all busy scrapping, so desperate times called for desperate measures...

"That's a rap, Double G! No! Hold still!" He growled, trying to get a fix on the man as he danced to his music, meaning he couldn't get a clear shot. That was good, Dub was unknowingly protecting himself from lifelong embarrassment and Charlotte was quick to notice Minyak's shenanigans.

"You guys! Minyak's aiming something at Dub!" The girl told the heroes, not knowing what the something was, but it couldn't be friendly, not when he was scowling like that. Seeing that they needed to get over there and fast, Ray and (y/n) gave their opponents the hardest punches they could, rendering them dazed and confused for a few moments as Henry pummelled his guy's stomach with lightning speed, knocking him to the ground too. Meanwhile backstage, Babe and Kenzie were on a mission of their own, sneaking to the lights guy and with a little distraction, they were able to mess with his controls so the bright stage lights blinded Minyak from his task, buying their friends some time.

"Say goodbye to your voice, Double—Argh!" Minyak groaned as he tried to say another quirky line before he went down in history and he did go down, right after he was kicked in the face back a dancer twirling around the stage. He fell to the floor, dropping his device as he stumbled and clutched his cheek before looking around for the thing that was gonna bring him fame and glory. "My thing! Where did it go?!"

"Captain Man! Miss Danger! Kid Danger! Minyak's weapon is right behind you!" Charlotte's voice came through on their earpieces, she and Trip were still able to see anything and everything. They knew where the thing was, they could see it on the monitor, but they couldn't grab it and it was so frustrating to see it lying there as Minyak struggled for clarity.

"Wait. Where'd you say the weapon is again?" Henry asked, (y/n) and Ray were a little preoccupied with two guys double-teaming them to listen properly. They heard something about the weapon but were a little busy working together to fend the men off, Ray lifting his girl up so she could kick a guy in the face when he came running towards them, him slamming his elbow back into a man's nose when he came running from behind. That kinda thing.

"On the floor!" Charlotte stressed, wishing she could run ad tell them or do it herself, but she wasn't close enough to to the stage and a small break in their brawl allowed (y/n) to search the stage floor as Ray gave her a bit of cover, beating any guy who dared to come near her into a pulp.

"There! Kid, it's on the floor, there!" She yelled, pointing at the wrist thing momentarily before Billie or Jean or King or whoever grabbed her arm, twisting it harshly so she had to give up and fight back, kicking his shin with her steel-toe boot. Seeing where she was gesturing to, Henry made a split-second judgement call and dived for the device thing, sliding along the floor to grab it when a thug grabbed his ankle and yanked him back, leaving the weapon where it laid.

Henry was back into the fray, kicking the guy who grabbed him as the music continued, the dancers danced, Dub rapped and Minyak howled in frustration, scouring the ground for his thingamjiggy. He stormed past Captain Man, who was too busy smacking a guy who'd briefly bruised (y/n) to stop him and made his way up the stairs, going for Dub with or without his invention. He could still ruin the show with his bare hands.

"Man, who the butt are you?!" Dub screamed as he turned and saw some crazy, heavily breathing weirdo claw for him, disrupting the show as he was forced to quit rapping to keep himself safe. 

"Doctor Horacio. T Minyak!" He bellowed in response, ready to end this charade once and for all. Meanwhile, the backstage crew were going insane, panicking about what the hell was going on and wondering who the party-crashed was arguing with their star, but no one had an answer and Dub was too much of a professional to let some sick loner ruin his revenge concert for some poor kids.

"If you wanna stop me, this is the wrong time!" Dub screamed, still moving with the music so the crowd wouldn't worry or stampede, but he was very confused and slightly fearful as to what this psycho was doing on his stage. Seriously, where was his security?

"What do you want?!" He screeched again when Minyak lunged for him, the weapon being kicked around on the floor as everyone struggled for control, apart from Kenzie, who poked her head out from the curtains to see what was happening.

"Kenzie! You gotta grab this!" (y/n) shouted after she noticed the girl and shoved the thug trying to restrain her backwards so she could kick it in her direction. The weapon skidded across the stage, landing next to the teen who quickly picked it up, unsure of what to do now that she had it.

"Sweet! What do I do with this?!" She yelled, hoping they could give her some guidance since they were the superheroes, not her. She was just a nerd who made video games with her friends, she wasn't a fighter, she was a Games Shaker.

"Blast Minyak!" Ray replied back with a shout, punching a goon again as he struggled to keep them down. These men were relentless and even though they were nowhere near tired yet, all this crap was getting pretty repetitive. Their advice boggled the brainiac, who had no idea how to "blast Minyak", but she didn't have much time to think about it as a henchman strode towards her, intent on ripping his boss's thing from her hands. The girl screamed and ducked back behind the curtains, seeing Hudson checking out the buffet.

"Hudson! Catch! Blast Minyak!" She screamed, making the boy roar (Minyak had tested his weapon out on him, what a dick) as he received the invention and Billie came into the backstage area, making Kenzie scream again. He ran for Hudson, only to be stopped by two stagehands wheeling a huge G across the room and the boys hopped around it like they were playing tag, only with much more dire consequences. Babe came running when she heard the commotion and seeing his chance to lose the psycho chasing him, he chucked the device in her direction, allowing her to catch it just as Billie grabbed him. He put up a fight, a producer joining him, buying Babe enough time to run back on stage where Minyak had taken Dub to the floor where he'd strangle him or something. 

"Babe! Blast Minyak!" Henry instructed her when he saw how she had no clue what to do, and her floundering tuned to a calm smile when she saw how cute he was when fighting. Aw, (y/n) saw the look between them, something that didn't distract her from twisting a thug's arm behind his back, but definitely warmed her heart even in the moment of peril. 

"Anything for you, Kid Danger!" She replied sweetly, feeling her heart flutter as Dub pinned Minyak down for ruining his concert. They needed to get this show back to normal and there was no telling was the mad doctor would do next, so there was no time for romance.

"Babe, blast him now!" (y/n) shouted, struggling to watch for any men that might charge at her as the one she was facing grew more and more relentless. Seeing that she had no other options, the girl looked to her left and decided to climb the stage's support structure for a better shot, one where she'd be high enough to get the doctor and not her boss/friend. Billie broke free from backstage, rushing to tackle her from the rigging, which made her freeze in terror, only for Kenzie and Hudson to hold him back with all their strength. Seeing that she was the only one who could do this, she aimed the blaster at Minyak, but Dub was still in the way and she couldn't risk hitting him.

"Dad! Jump! Hurry, dad! Jump!" Trip's voice came over the intercom, reverberating all around the arena as Dub recognised his son's voice. Dub wasn't going to stick around with Minyak for much longer and trusting his son who could see that he'd have the perfect landing, he made the leap of faith, landing perfectly in Ray's arms. Well, it wasn't every day he got to carry a famous rapper bridal style, this was an honour.

"Hello, Double G! Glad I could catch your show." He smirked, so proud of himself for coming up with that quip on the spot and as (y/n) stumbled over to see if they were all right, the couple was shocked to discover that Dub knew who they were. Okay, pinch them, this had to be a dream...

"Captain Man! I love you and Miss Danger! Your girl is hot!" He screamed, making (y/n) blush and squeal to herself at the kind compliment and Ray blushed as he furiously nodded in agreement. His girl was hot and he was also kinda fangirling on the inside at how he'd touched Double G, holy shit. Everyone but Minyak was happy and he just so happened to pick up the leftover mic from when Dub had dropped to safety.

"Stop! Everyone halt your gyrations!" The villain screamed, silencing the festivities as the heroes looked at each other to see what he'd do next. He was unpredictable, anything could come out of his mouth, anything to ruin the concert. "People of the world! Look at me! I am the greatest supervillain of all time!" He screamed into the mic, just as Babe took her shot, free from other people or weirdos trying to attack her, it hit dead centre, making Minyak's head go all fuzzy for a second. 

He looked dazed for a few seconds, everyone watching with bated breath for him to say or do something but he just shook his head and stared at the crowd blindly. 

"ARGHHHHGHHGGRGHH!" Was the only thing that came out of his mouth. He really did sound like a Wookie and the audience began to laugh at how ridiculous he sounded, because the angrier he got, the more his garbled voice became hilarious. Ray and (y/n) giggled with each other as Henry and Dub snorted and Minyak fell to his knees in despair, finally admitting defeat as the world laughed at him. Another plan failed, oh well.

"All right, let's bring it home!" Dub yelled, picking up his mic so they could continue from where they'd left off and the music soon came back on, the crowd getting back into it as Henry and Ray did their little hand clap thing for a job well done and went to walk off the stage, but Dub wasn't gonna have that. They'd saved him, this was their moment as much as his. "Hey, hey, hey! Come on, guys, yeah, yeah!"

"Just do what I want so you do you! And I never fall long!" The man sang again, dragging the heroes to centre stage where they just accepted the fact that they were part of the show now and just accepted it as the dancers came back on. They moved to the rhythm unashamedly, Ray and (y/n) laughing along together as he held onto her hips and she followed the actual routine. She'd have to teach him later.

Hearing Babe, Kenzie and Hudson cheering at the side of the stage, they beckoned them over, knowing that they'd saved the day just as much as they had and they deserved to party too, rub it in Minyak's face a little as he sulked and watched. Charlotte and Trip were quick to join too, the former being a little shy so she just stuck to the back, but Trip tackled his dad in a warm hug, so relieved to see him okay. The dancing continued, the group of the Man Cave team and the Game Shakers entertaining the crowd of thousands.

"Hey, Hen?" (y/n) yelled in the boy's ear, knowing the music would cover up what they were talking about. Plus, everyone's focus was mainly on Dub or maybe Trip, the real celebrities, so she was free to do a little digging as she swayed her hips with Ray, enjoying the feeling of his hands casually running up and down her waist.

"Yeah, what?" The boy asked casually, too focused on his moves to notice the lilt in her voice or the small smirk on her face. He just wanted to keep dancing to Drop That Wat, it was only when she spoke again that he started paying attention.

"So, uh, that Babe girl, over there? She likes you, a lot, I think." She smirked, watching as the kid froze for a second before moving again, although this time he was noticeably less energetic and his eyes quickly darted across the golden GG platform to see the brunette laughing with her friends. Wait, he knew that they'd been a little weird in his house, maybe a little smiley, but really? A crush on him? A Game Shaker? He didn't know how to react to that, but Babe was really pretty and he'd found himself smiling back, laughing when she said something funny...oh, god, did he like her too? 

"You really think so?" He asked, the woman laughing at how his eyes were as wide as saucers and how his skin went pale before he blushed. Wow, he was really easy to read when it came to romance and just by the way he bit his lip, she already knew that there were two new lovebirds in her life. She'd watched way too many romcoms to be wrong, she knew cute love stories inside out, apart from when it came to spotting how her best friend was in love with her and had thought she was the most beautiful, intelligent, unattainable woman for ten years before they confessed, but that was neither here nor there.

"Yeah, she obviously has a crush on you. And I mean you, not Kid Danger. Would I be correct in assuming that you like her a bit too?" (y/n) smiled widely, her cheeks aching a bit as Ray twirled her a bit, completely oblivious to their conversation since it was about love and he wasn't very good at noticing that either unless it was pointed or forced out of him. Henry gulped, glancing at Babe again and his breath hitched and that was an answer. He didn't need to say anymore, she just knew when his dancing died down to barely a jig and his face grew into a smile without him even noticing it. Yeah, there it was, the lovesick smile, the one that she, that Ray, that anyone who had ever been in love had given to their crush and Henry Hart was giving it to Babe Carano. 

"Maybe. Just a bit, she's really pretty and funny and cool and—" Henry stopped himself realising that he rambling and gushing about the girl he'd only known for a couple of days, but to (y/n), it was cute and she knew that people who waited rarely found happiness, they were just left with regret.

"Take it from me, kid. I waited ten years to tell the man I love that I felt the same way and I wish that we had said it sooner, 'cause it would've meant less pain and confusion on both sides. Just stay honest with her and see how it goes. I'd hate to see you regret not doing anything." She put a hand on his shoulder, not caring if it seemed weird that they were having some touching moment in front of thousands, if not millions, of people, but it felt like it was just them, a sister advising her brother on what to do.

"Thanks, (y/n/n). Ray...doesn't know how lucky he is." He returned her soft smile, seeing her eyes wrinkle in happiness at her words before the man in question saw that she wasn't dancing and pulled her back into his chest, inspiring a fit of giggles and more movement from her as Henry watched with a sigh.

Maybe he would stay in touch with Babe, maybe he would tell her that he was interested in being more than friends and maybe if his friend was right, they could be something more. All he knew was that Ray better get down on one knee soon, 'cause girls like (y/n), they're one in a million.

[livelysonletour]

If you guys know Cat, you know she LOVES an unavoidable disruption to her meticulously planned itinerary! But I suppose there are worse places to be stuck than London.

After deciding to book a hotel as close to the epicenter of London tourism as possible, we minded the gap and took the tube to Hyde Park. The weather was exactly as you'd imagine London in the winter, but we ventured through rain and crowded streets of Carnaby over to a very popular and busy Indian restaurant, Dishoom. Undiscouraged by the hour long queue, we waited outside in the drizzle and made friends with the doorman.

We were finally seated inside around 4pm, so we delved into what would be our lunch and dinner. We had some delicious and bottomless house chai, fried okra, black Daal, ruby chicken and whatever the chef's special was. Even for combining the two meals, our eyes were bigger than our stomach could handle, and whatever we were able to finish up was ultimately the dagger that ruined any plans of us making it past 7:30 awake.

It was dark by the time we left the restaurant and the rain had picked up, but we took the long way back to the hotel making detours to the Green Park, Buckingham Palace, and the Victoria Memorial.

We made it back to the hotel and jetlag and the Indian food caught up to us. We were both snoring seconds after hitting the pillow with plans dashed to read a new book and watch the Chelsea game.

We're currently back at London Heathrow hoping for an on time departure to get into Lisbon a day late and more than a few euros short. Security knocked us both for a loop... An unsuspecting security agent forced us to check our bags. We obliged him with the ignorant American tourist schtick. My TSA pre-check conditioning had me holding up the line as literally every single item was taken out of my bag and resent through the X-ray machine. And Cat, still cursing my namesake for the chain reaction that led to her bag being checked, forgot to pull her film out before sending it through the X-ray. ☹️

Stay tuned to see if the conspicuously named Storm Gerrit further wreaks havoc on our American privilege!

Dog check:

(Charlie pictured with his daycare bestie, Hank.)

[jennysmaroon]

How I try healing and coping through @taylorswift ‘s music after loosing a child part 3

His birthday is the day after tomorrow and this year he would have turned 14. He managed to get through the night and the next day around 11 am the helicopter finally was cleared to fly. Immediately they got him in there and flew him to the other side of the country. We jumped in our car and started driving the 7 hours to be with him in Gothenburg. When we arrived at the hospital we got a room at the Ronald McDonald house. A house where family’s can live close to the hospital. We where told that if everything went well we probably would have to stay here for up to a year this first time around. From the house to the hospital room it was like 100 meters and it felt good to be able to be so close to him. We had ended up at queen Silvia children’s hospital at the heart specialist centre for kids. They explained to us that his body had some problems since his heart stoped the first time and that he needed a couple of days to recover before being strong enough for surgery. We spent all ours awake by his hospital bed. Helping caring for him, holding his hand, singing to him and writing a journal so that we could tell him when he got older what we all had been through. Everyday the staff noticed small improvements and his vitals steadily got better. We could see that he reacted to our voice and when the staff told us the machines showed he was stressed we sang the song we sang for him when he still was inside. This always helped and almost immediately his vitals got better and his heart rate improved. On day 7 he finally was so strong that we got to hold him skin to skin again. So scary to hold him with all tubes connected the every part of him. We sat there scared to move and it was an amazing feeling to finally being able to hold him again. Next there was a final X-ray planned to check that everything looked ok before the surgery.

To be continued……….

Writing this listening to Ronan by @taylorswift

This song has helped me so much and I can’t even understand how she manages to sing it without breaking down. It’s a incredible beautiful song that helps me out words to my grief. Thank you Taylor for this one❤️

[hyperfixation-floodgate]

Time lapse of my mini jarrarium with creatures and plants from the local lake :)

Flatworm - little red zoomy guy

Bladder snail - the biggest thing and only snail, which you can see eating in X-ray vision apparently

Scuds (Amphipods) - the little shrimpy guys

Ostracods - the little round things darting between plants

Round worms/detritus worms - the white wiggly things that like to make tubes houses from sticks and sand

[Video ID: A slightly sped-up video of a small jar aquarium. A snail is lit from behind as it eats, showing the internal movement of its mouthparts. Tiny shrimp-like creatures scramble between plants and a red worm gracefully sides over the white sand.]