#YELLS SCREAMS SHRIEKS OH MY GOD SO MUCH IN ONE CHAPTER SCREECHES

[squish--squash]

pov: me reading chapter 169

[freckledmountain]

Lulling comfort

By @freckledmountain for @romeoandjulietyouwish

Rating: Gen

Relationships: Peter Parker & Tony Stark

Characters: Peter Parker, Tony Stark

Summary:

"Music had gotten an entirely new meaning after that, from Disney songs to musicals to classic rock, and everything else in between. … He´d do anything to listen to Peter sing to them again."

Or, an AU where you hear whatever your platonic soulmate sings or hums! :D

For the @friendly-neighborhood-exchange

Read on Ao3

Chapter 1: Change

Some-

BODY ONCE TOLD ME

the WORLD IS GONNA ROLL ME

I AIN´T THE SHARPEST TOOL IN THE sHE-ED

Peter´s endearing screech and dramatics at the starting notes startles a fond laugh out of Tony, making DUM-E beep in curious surprise.

The bot has a screwdriver in his grasp and usually Tony´d chastise him for grabbing tools without permission (he has not forgotten the last lab incident, thank you) but right now he´s much too preoccupied resisting the urge to join in the kid´s slumber party via his own singing.

God bless karaoke.

Peter had looked sheepish when he´d mentioned it to him, the little get-together his scary girlfriend and Ned had planned this weekend at the latter´s place after a ridiculously long week of exams. Tony had absolutely no problem listening to his kid´s voice in his head, but it was still sweet of Peter to ask beforehand.

“You know I work best with music anyway.” He´d said, remembering all the times he´d listened to Peter perform dramatically to songs on the radio.

Peter´d hunched his shoulders a bit, smiling. “Yeah, okay, okay, I just wanted to make sure because Ned might ask me to duet to Take on me again, and last time I sang it you were on a meeting and FRIDAY sent me that video of you mouthing the words and Ms. Potts looked like the disappointed dad from that Shawn Mendes vine- “

…even if he had no idea what the kid was talking about sometimes.

He´d gasped and placed a hand to his chest, feigning offence. “Have you forgotten the time you had Call me maybe on loopin my head for an entire day?”

“…It was a dare?”

“Hmm” he´d said, raising an eyebrow playfully as Peter dissolved into laughter. “whatever you say, bud.”

His smile softens unconsciously at the memory as he methodically tweaks a few things in his nanotech suit, still listening to Peter belt out lyrics in his head. Truth be told, he misses the kid working alongside him like usual, but he knows how important spending time with his friends is to Peter.

(The parenting books say it´s imperative too, although of course he hasn´t ever read, purchased five on a whim or fret over anything of the sort. Obviously.)

He hopes Ned and Michelle´s respective other halves don´t mind the kids crooning 80´s rock on a Friday evening, but he guesses if they´re anything like them, they probably won´t complain. Soulmates are cool like that.

He remembers all the times Rhodey had told him about his soulmate´s voice inside his own head, how he´d suddenly perk up and grin at whatever melody he could hear, how he´d start humming randomly to join in.

Tony had grown up hearing nothing but his own treacherous thoughts for the longest time, almost losing hope completely at the possibility of having a soulmate right up until adulthood. Heavy metal music blasted over his speakers constantly whenever he was busy in his workshop, but he never joined in. There were moments when he´d thought his love for singing would be soured forever, since apparently the universe or whoever was in charge didn´t have a problem leaving him without someone out there to share it with him in his head.

Thankfully, he always did have Rhodey, and boycould he kick-start the fun in singing again with his flawless Mariah Carey impressions. He´d loved the few times he´d heard Pepper sing too, and there´d even been one memorable instance where he´d surprised Happy vocalizing in an unexpectedly pleasant lilt.

Hearing Peter sing though...simply put, there was nothing else like it.

-and we could aLL use a little changeeeeeeeEEE

…Yes, nothing was quite like it.

Tony shakes his head, smiling, and grabs his phone to text May about the kid´s shenanigans. She´d been more than a little concerned when Peter and him had figured out who the other was, (that was one heck of a superhero fundraiser) but now they´ve become much closer, and Tony can genuinely say they´re friends. He´s glad to have her on his side, because May Parker is, in Peter terms, a very kind powerhouse, and not someone he´d like to mess with.

He´s about to press send when the lights in the room flash red.

Tony´s up and summoning his gauntlet attentively in a second, right as FRIDAY pulls up screens around him, showing footage of the emergency.

“What am I looking at, FRI?”

“Around 30 heavily armed machines have emerged in Midtown Manhattan, boss.” She responds, as the room fills with projections. The robots on screen are huge and ugly as heck, about the width and height of three school buses together. They´re making their way through the streets surprisingly quickly for how heavy they look. People run away, steering clear of their illuminated blasts. “They appear to be releasing high frequency blasts approximately every ten seconds. Local police have just arrived at the scene and are requesting backup, since the blasts are causing structural damage to the surrounding buildings. The source of these machines is unknown.”

“Tell the team to suit up and meet me there.”

“They have already been alerted, boss, but I´ll relay your message as well.”

The rest of his suit materializes around him, and he makes haste to get to the nearest window, half worried and half downright annoyed at whoever was behind this.

“Another one for the robot bingo card on means of world domination.” He says to himself, unimpressed. Just one week without this crap…

He soars above the sky nonetheless, blasting his way towards the fight.

Please stay put kid, he wishes, even as the singing stops.

---

Three blocks.

He´s three blocks away from where Peter is making his way back when it happens.

As big and fast as the robots are, Tony can tell they weren´t exactly made by the finest of the loons who regularly try to take over New York. Not to mention they´re absolutely appalling to look at, whoever designed these things had absolutely no taste, Tony thinks, crushing his twenty-second bot with the suit´s repulsors. It hasn´t exactly been easy, since the wretched machines have no real apparent motive but to blow up everything in their path, but within an hour it seems they´re done with the worst of it.

He can see Nat and Wanda dealing with the remains of one of the last ones below, while a little way away Cap´s talking with a few cops, scoping out the damage. Even though the air is permeated with smoke and there´s rubble in some places, there are no casualties, and they´ve thankfully emptied out the buildings that got wrecked. SHIELD will take care of the rest.

He flies over the skyscrapers, keeping an eye out for any other bots, but it seems like FRIDAY´s finished identifying all of them. He activates a private line on the comms to talk to Peter.

“Done securing the area from whatever that disastrous colour scheme was?”

He can hear Peter´s good-natured groan as his location pops up on Tony´s screen, six blocks away.

“I know, right? I can wear mismatched socks for a week and rock them no problem, but blue with like, eye-melting neon? Yikes.”

“Exactamundo. Couldn´t agree with you more, kid. But hey, it looks like you might actually be able to get back to your sleepover after all. Can´t wait to hear what alarming chorus is going to keep me up until midnight.”

“Oh you just wait, we´re doing ABBA next and it´s gonna be so-“

FRIDAY tears through the conversation with an alarm, but it´s precious seconds too late.

A gasp. An abrupt thud resounding through the comms. A scream. Peter´s.

Tony´s blood freezes in his veins.

“Peter? Peter!?”

He gets there in less than a minute and sees one of the bots with its blaster pointed at Peter, still smoking from the shot.

He obliterates it without a second thought, his mind swirling with fear and rejection at FRIDAY´s next words as he runs towards Spiderman´s crumbled figure.

“No heartbeat detected, boss”.

Chapter 2

The first time he´d ever heard Peter´s voice, he´d been running on three hours of sleep, a frankly heart-attack inducing dose of caffeine, and no motivation whatsoever to sit down with stuffy board members for five hours.

It didn´t exactly come as a surprise that for the first few milliseconds of the “Itsy bitsy spider” chant in his head he´d thought, confusingly, that it might just have been his mind finally resorting to the resurface of old nursery rhymes as a way to tell him to go the frick to sleep.

His heart however, was another matter.

As ridiculous and improbable as it sounded, a new something in his chest rose even before he knew what was happening. He might not have been a machine, but something slowly and irrevocably clicked into place the more he heard that gentle voice go on about water spouts and suns.

He´d stopped short in realization. Blinked.

And then smiled wide enough to lose himself in the mirth of it.

He´d run back to his workshop right after that, laughing like mad with the absolute mayhem of emotions coursing through his whole being, almost crashing into Pepper in the process. She´d looked back at him in concern, questions already forming in her lips, before Tony had frantically mimed at her to keep quiet, wanting to listen to the soft voice´s final notes.

Once the song finished, Tony may or may not have let out a loud shriek of sheer joy and told an increasingly delighted Pepper all about it, practically bursting with excitement.

“Pep! Wait, what do I do now!? Do I- Do I sing it back to him? Do I sing another- crap I don´t even know any children´s songs, JARVIS, JARVIS!”

In the end he´d had to phone Rhodey to yell the news ecstatically to him, because he´d just found maybe the universe hadn´t wanted to screw him over after all, and he felt like screaming it from the rooftops. The little voice was sweet and shy and boyish and happy, and about the best thing Tony had heard in his damn life. He couldn´t have contained himself if he´d tried, and heck if he was going to any time soon.

(“Tones, what- “

“Rhodey!”

“…was that you or a screech owl.”

“It happened! There´s- a little kid! Somewhere! Spiders! My soulmate!”

“The- wait what-? “)

Music had gotten an entirely new meaning after that, from Disney songs to musicals to classic rock, and everything else in between.

…

He´d do anything to listen to Peter sing to them again.

Burning.

He´s burning all over.

Screaming in pain, he tries to escape from the scorching heat, but it´s everywhere, it´s everything, he´s the pain, he´s the fire, everything hurts-

And then as soon as it appears, the pain is gone.

He opens his eyes, blinking woozily.

“Oh, thank God.”

His vision blurs all over for a minute. There´s dampness in the corners, left over from tears.

Tears?

He makes an attempt to sit up, but there´s a hand holding his shoulder gently. He blinks again.

Tries to decipher his surroundings.

He´s laying down in a mostly deserted, grubby looking street. A figure kneels close to him, some sort of red and gold robot type thing. He narrows his eyes at it, trying to figure out why it feels so familiar…but finds, to a detached kind of surprise, that he can´t.

He has no idea what happened.

The robot seems to be very relieved for some reason, just staring up at the sky for a couple of seconds, taking a deep, wheezy breath.

Even with his head feeling like wet cotton, he looks at him with concern. The robot sounds seconds away from fainting. Is he…alright?

When the robot´s face opens and a man´s head peeps out (cool!), he almost jumps back in surprise.

And then…

Well. He still doesn´t have a clue who this person is, but as soon as he sees the man´s expression of utter joy and relief, something inside him settles. Safe.

He blinks in confusion at the feeling. He knows this person. He does.

But who is he?

“Pete? You´re back bud. Do you feel okay?” The man´s (man? robot? man-robot? cyborg? figment of his imagination?) smile fades slightly, looking at him in worry. “FRIDAY” Friday? Who on earth is he talking to? “didn´t you say the CPR made his vitals-“

“I´m- I´m fine” he says, because enormous confusion aside, he is. Maybe his head is scrambled, and he feels exhausted, but he has a feeling he´s been in worse shape before.

A feeling.

The man (he´s decided on man) starts going on about robots, and getting him to a tower with someone called Dr. Cho, but all he can do is blink back, his confusion increasing.

“I´m really sorry” he interrupts, knowing he´s probably going to disappoint the man, but needing to push forward even so, “who- who are you? Are you-? “

He tries to put a word on the feeling seeing the man´s face had evoked in him before, tries to remember who he is or what he has to do with the man or why he feels so…safe. So safe. With him there, even with all the questions going round and round inside his head.

“Are you my dad?”

The man´s face stills. For a second, it looks like his brain short-circuits.

Mood, a thought rings out in his head, unbidden.

That´s when he hears it.

A huge metallic…thing coming through the street towards them, and he doesn´t know why but it makes his heart thump like a rabbit´s in a cage, and suddenly he gets a flash of remembering pain, and he knows these machines, these machines are dangerous, and what if the man gets hurt too-

He pushes the man behind him as he desperately tries to look for somewhere they can hide-

-but the man grabs his hand first and hurries them both towards the sturdiest-looking car on the street, crouching so they´re out of sight.

“Uh, alright. I- this must be really weird for you, but it´ll be okay. Just stay here for now, ´kay? I´ll- We´ll figure this out. You with me?” The man holds his gaze for a second, and it´s so sincere, he finds himself nodding.

The man smiles. “Okay. Give me a sec.” And then he gets up and turns towards the robot.

What the-what´s he doing!?

He reaches out clumsily to drag him back, but the man´s face gets obscured by his robot mask once more and he…

Flies?

The frick? He thinks in bewilderment, as he sees the man lift off and attack the robot with blasts coming from his hands. My maybe-dad can fly!?

Either he lives in a sci-fi novel, or he´s going absolutely nuts.

Could be both at this point, frankly.

The whiz of gold and red fighting the robot is almost quicker than his sight can keep up with, but he persists, looking out anxiously for any opening the robot might have to take the man down so he can try to warn him about it. There is none though, the robot might be exceedingly fast, but the man remains unyielding. He takes another look at the giant machine and sees it´s blaster-

And then it´s like someone takes his brain and shakes it around everywhere, and the throbbing is so sudden he kneels and clutches his head tightly to keep it from falling apart. His thoughts feel shattered and tampered with, and the pain-

He cries out in agony, and tears fill his eyes again.

The man! I have to look out for him!

He tries to listen to the fight again, but just as he tries to focus in on it it´s like a tsunami of yells and police sirens and voices washes over him, and noise, why is there so much noise-

Overwhelmed, he kneels until his forehead touches the grainy concrete, and wishes he would just pass out.

He doesn´t, though.

Among the oversaturated ocean of noise, one adds to the mix.

Except this one isn´t grating. This one doesn´t make everything seem like too much.

Because it feels like it´s coming from within himself.

He´s at a loss for what´s happening, but the voice slowly and lightly blocks out all the other noise, grounding him in a gentle tune. In a flash, he recognizes the song. He knows where he heard it last.

Mr Stark.

And he remembers.

“Kid? What are you doing up?”

He shrugs, sinking deeper into the couch cushions. Baby Tarzan laughs onscreen.

He half expects Mr Stark to push him for more details, but he seems to understand Peter´s not in a talking mood and walks up to him solemnly.

“Scoot.”

He does, and Mr Stark plops down next to him, wordlessly extending his arms out in invitation. Peter falls into the hug gratefully and sighs. Exhaustion pulls down on his bones, but he´d rather not get back to the nightmare he woke up from. Mr Stark snorts softly at something in the movie, and then they both jump a bit at the sudden loud gorilla roar. They keep watching the movie, and Peter´s curls are brushed back gently in a soothing motion.

He wants to sleep. But he can´t.

But he´s safe here, isn´t he?

His chest grows heavier as he thinks of the dream, and when he blinks, his eyelids dampen. He hasn´t shed a tear yet, but Mr Stark must sense something again because his hand at Peter´s hair stills.

And then he starts singing.

It´s a lulling comfort, and Peter melts into the embrace, allowing his tired eyes some rest.

He´s safe.

Come stop your crying

It will be alright

Just take my hand

Hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

He´s safe.

With a final shot from Iron man´s repulsors, the robot powers down, and Peter runs out to meet Mr Stark, almost crushing his ribs in a hug.

“Woah, woah!” The helmet´s visor pulls up, revealing a grinning Tony. “Did that actually work? FRIDAY told me you were freaking out and I thought it might help calm you down.” He says, hugging him back. “But it did more than that, didn´t it?”

Peter´s too relieved to do anything but nod happily into his shoulder, but he gets the point across.

They stay there for a full minute, just holding on to each other. Until Tony grumbles out a “and I can´t believe you remembered Phil Collins before Iron man, seriously.” and Peter bursts out laughing, lightening the mood.

“The man didn´t sing that soundtrack in five languages for nothing, Mr Stark. It slaps.”

Tony hides his smile in Peter´s curls, and hugs him close.

[strawbunniiee]

A Girl and a Ghost Ch. 2: Wandering the Trails

YAAYYYY I FINALLY GOT MY LAZY BUTT TO POST THIS

anyways, as promised i finally wrote a second chapter! i hope you enjoy it :)

@salamifuposey @monsterbride99 just lettin y’all know this exists sjjddkfkd srry for taggin yall so much hope u dont mind aa

It had been a few weeks after Jawaii had met Phantom, and she began to see him regularly. After her meeting with him, Phantom had secretly slipped a note in her pocket that had the lyrics of a special song. If she were to sing said song, he would arrive.

Some mornings, Jawaii would wake up feeling as if befriending Phantom was all a dream. Like it never even happened, it was all in her own mind. But alas it was not, luckily for her. They would explore the town and forests and just generally have fun with eachother.

Jawaii was discovering so many new feelings... feelings she had never really felt before finally having a best friend. Each one was just as wonderful than the last.

One morning, Jawaii ran to the forest, summoned Phantom and they began to talk about what they wanted to do for the day.

"So what do you wanna do today?" Jawaii asked eagerly.

"Hmm, I'm not entirely sure... but perhaps I could show you my homeland?" Phantom suggested.

"Ooh! What's your homeland like? I bet it's cool!"

"It's quite creepy, I'll admit, but it does have a nice atmosphere."

"AWESOME! Can you take me? Pleaaaase?" begged Jawaii.

Phantom chuckled. "Of course! Now stay close, I don't want you getting lost."

And so, they were on their way to Spooky Trails, Phantom's home. Jawaii kept constantly pestering Phantom on the way, asking if they were there yet. When they arrived, it was indeed quite a creepy place, but of course Jawaii didn't mind.

"Wow... so this is your home? You like, actually live here?" asked Jawaii.

"Indeed it is! Hopefully it doesn't creep you out too much though..." replied Phantom.

"Dude, are you kidding? This is the most amazing place EVER!" she yelled.

Phantom was a bit startled by Jawaii suddenly yelling. "Quiet down, you'll disturb the spirits. They don't like being disturbed." the ghost gently reminded.

"Oh. Sorry spirit people. You guys are super cool though!" Jawaii began to skip ahead, with Phantom catching his breath trying to catch up to her.

"You're quite a brave young girl, I'll say. Not scared of Spooky Trails, ghosts in general... it's quite a surprise! I never knew there was a human who enjoyed our company and wanted to befriend us... let alone a child!"

"Duh, of course I'm not scared of you. You're amazing! And I bet all the other ghosts are just as wonderful as you are." said Jawaii.

"Aww, why thank you! However... it's quite rare that humans actually want us around, you see. They're either terrified of us, see us as an annoyance, or want us gone."

Jawaii began to realize how much she had in common with Phantom. She knew he had told her something similar the day they had met, but she never knew that he too was hunted down and wanted dead.

"...Me, my siblings and my dad are all wanted dead. Just because we're "evil". We barely even hurt anybody... I know my dad destroys planets for a living, and I guess that can be seen as bad, bu-"

"Jawaii, dear, apologies for interrupting of course, and I don't see you any different or anything, don't worry, but your father does what now?" Phantom had never heard of such a thing. Annihilating planets for a job! Who would do something like that?

"He destroys planets for a living. Besides, Dad tells me it's an important job, because if there's too many planets the galaxy could get overpopulated and it would be bad." explained Jawaii.

"Ah... fair point actually."

Eventually they made it to a large gate. It had bars shaped like musical notes and a dial shaped like a full moon.

"This is the Moon Gate, beyond it lies my stage, where I reside." said Phantom.

"You live on a stage? That's really cool!"

Phantom smiled. "It's sort of the only "house" I have. I'm glad you enjoy the concept though!"

Jawaii ran up to the gate and pushed it, pressing her entire mass against it trying to open it.

"Why won't it open?!" Jawaii growled, frustrated.

Phantom effortlessly pushed the gate open with his hand. "There you go!"

"...WHAT?!" Jawaii stood there, staring at him with her jaw dropped. "How strong even ARE you?"

The ghost rabbit laughed quite a bit. "I'm the only one who can open the Moon Gate when it isn't a full moon, I'm not THAT strong, of course."

"Ohhhh. That makes sense." replied Jawaii.

They walked up the pathway that lead to the stage. It was an absolutely massive stage, but also looked quite old. The curtains were a torn and tattered, and the wooden floor looked very scratched up. There were strange blocks scattered everywhere, with seemingly no purpose. The place definitely looked like it had seen better days.

However, Jawaii adored it and stared in awe and wonder at it.

"Your house is awesome, Phantom!" said Jawaii, running off to explore the place.

"Thank you, my dear friend! It certainly isn't much, but make yourself at home."

Jawaii climbed up and down the pipes, examined all of the spotlights, and she even poked around in the wires despite Phantom begging her not to. Needless to say, she would have nearly electrocuted herself if it wasn't for Phantom.

He introduced her to many of the Peek-a-Boos and Spooky Trails Rabbids who also resided here. She enjoyed talking to them, and yet again, it felt so nice to have people treating her as if she wasn't a threat, just a normal child. She could never get enough of that feeling. It was so wonderful to her.

About an hour later, Jawaii sat down in boredom.

"I'm bored now." Jawaii mumbled.

"Well, we have been here for quite some time, so I could see why. Would you perhaps like to go somewhere else in Spooky Trails?" asked Phantom.

Jawaii's eyes lit up. "There's more of this place? Heck yeah I wanna go!"

Her eagerness made Phantom smile. "Well then, let's head off shall we?"

They crossed a bridge over a rushing river (which Jawaii threw a stick into), passed by a few giant jack-o-lanterns and fed some hungry crows a bit of (probably very stale) bread that they found. Then they came to an enormous manor, which looked abandoned and loomed over the forest.

But Phantom was very uneasy about this mansion.

"J-Jawaii, let's explore this mansion a for just a minute and then we'll turn back, all right?" said Phantom, his voice shaking.

"Wait, what's up? Are you all right?" asked Jawaii, with concern.

"I'm fine. Just... look around for a bit and we REALLY must go back. Besides, y-you must be hungry after all of this, we should get a snack!"

"...All right, if you say so."

Jawaii wandered around the front yard of the mansion. She picked some flowers, examined some mushrooms (she tried to eat one), and threw stones against the wall of the mansion.

Phantom floated up to her as she was throwing the stones against the wall. "...We really need to get going,"

"But wh-" Just as Jawaii was about ask why, she accidentally threw a stone straight into a window in the mansion. There was a loud shatter and a horrifying shriek. Phantom immediately jumped in front of her, hiding her behind his large, round body. A big, spherical ghost with a crown emerged from the wall of the manor. He had piercing, glowing purple eyes with a cruel, furious stare. He had sharp teeth, which were bared in fury.

His crown's jewel had a massive crack in it.

Oh my God. thought Jawaii, immediately realizing how reckless she had been.

"FIRST YOU TURN MY TROOPS AGAINST ME, AND NOW YOU DESTROY MY CROWN?!" the ghost with the crown shrieked. "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THIS, YOU CRUEL, DISGUSTING FOOL. YOU'RE GOING TO REGRET EVERYTHING YOU HAVE DONE TO ME."

Phantom quivered in terror, not knowing what to do other than to hide Jawaii behind him.

He gained the courage to speak. "I never turned them against you. I made them realize how horrible you treated them. If anything, YOU'RE the cruel one."

Jawaii knew she had to do something too. She couldn't just stand here and let the only friend she had possibly be harmed, or far, far worse.

She went out from behind Phantom. "I destroyed your crown." Jawaii said, staring the crowned ghost in the eye.

"J-Jawaii, no...!"

"WHO IS THIS LITTLE BRAT?! AND WHO DOES SHE THINK SHE IS, GOING AND DOING THIS TO I, KING BOO, THE RULER OF THE UNDEAD?" King Boo screamed.

"If you must know, she is my friend. And she is not a brat, you demonic marshmallow." said Phantom, still quaking, but trying to be brave.

Phantom's insult just made the king even more angry.

"ANGRY MARSHMALLOW? LOOK WHO'S TALKING, YOU OVERINFLATED BLIMP OF A RABBIT!" he screeched.

Jawaii came a bit closer to King Boo. "HEY! Nobody insults my best friend like that, you ugly hag!"

"...What did you just call me, you little DIRT GOBLIN?"

"You heard me loud and clear."

Unable to come up with any witty comebacks or clever responses, King Boo angrily sputtered out, "ALL RIGHT YOU TWO PESTS, GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE YOU BOTH REGRET IT."

Without hesitation, Phantom picked Jawaii up off the ground and flew off with her.

King Boo angrily cursed under his breath and went back inside his mansion, plotting his revenge on the ghost Rabbid and the young alien.

[threeletterslife]

01 | Illegirl

→ next chapter

→ summary: Excelling in every school subject, acing every math test and conquering the academic world is something you do as easily as breathing. As your residential social outcast nerd, you live rather as a recluse, talking to almost no one except for your dear ol’ cousin and that sweet boy in a few of your classes—Jungkook? was that his name? Befriending your ʰᵒᵗ AP stats teacher was the last thing on your high school senior agenda…

→ genre: 90% fluff, 8% crack, 2% angst | teacher!au & f2l!au

→ warnings: profanity (like y/n really needs to tone it down lmao) & kissing/making out

→ wordcount: 6.2k

With your head tucked under the pages of a textbook that's literally heavier than twice your weight, your hand furiously flies across the surface of your messy, but meticulous notes. At this point, you've been writing for so long that you don't feel the pain of hand cramps anymore.

Curse your fucking philosophy teacher for not succumbing to technology. Your notes would've taken you thirty minutes to complete instead of three hours had you been able to type them out.

But it's not like you're complaining about the workload. You lowkey like learning, therefore you like school. Besides, you're a diligent person. Once you start studying, there's really no turning back until you finish. In fact, nothing can distract you from your studies. Well maybe except—

"Hey, Y/N!" Seokjin screams from the kitchen.

Your head jerks up so fast hearing your cousin's voice that you wince from the neck strain. Cursing profanities under your breath, you shout back, "What?!"

"It's about dinner!" Seokjin yells.

You perk up. God, you weren't really the sporty type but Jin told you using your brain burns more calories than running a mile. But what can you expect from a theatre major? Still, you would use any excuse to eat as much as you do.

"I've invited a friend over to eat with us!" your cousin hollers.

Slightly frowning, you wonder since when Jin had friends that had come over. Your frown wavers away. Maybe you should be happy your cousin was socializing for once and not worry about the idea of some stranger coming to your house to eat.

You sigh as you push away from your desk, standing up to make your way to the kitchen for a more elaborate explanation.

"Who's the friend?" you ask, casually. "I mean, more importantly, what are you cooking?"

Jin's back was turned from you, his arms moving swiftly across the stove in a graceful manner you know you can never master. But you hear him chuckle at your priorities.

"Today's menu is steak," Jin says heartily.

Ah, steak. Why hadn't I been able to guess? The tender and cordial aroma should've pointed all fingers to your favorite meal.

"And the friend? Park Jimin," Jin answers dreamily and you can tell your cousin's just falling in love with his steak sizzling on the pan. He's always like that (dramatic and passionate).

"Park Jimin?" you repeat, sliding into a chair next to the kitchen island. "Doesn't ring a bell. So where'd you meet him?"

"Well, he's my co-worker." Jin shrugs nonchalantly as he places the sizzling steak on a platter, seasoning it passionately.

"Huh? Co-worker?" You frown. "Wait he's a teacher too?"

Jin was your school's arts and drama teacher, always staying out late for theater practice and unfortunately dragging you out with him because "you can't survive on your own."

"Yeah. Maybe Mr. Park might ring a bell?" Jin suggests.

Your eyes enlarge at the familiar name and the realization hits you like a big, fat freight train. "Mr. Park?!" you screech like a barn owl. "My math teacher?!"

Your cousin's head snaps up from smelling his precious steak. "Oh? He's your teacher?"

"Um, yes!" you yell, throwing your hands aggressively in the air. "Oh my GOD. This is gonna be so awkward! Jin! Just because you live a Hollywood life, doesn't mean you can drag me into that crazy shit too! Really? A student eating with her fucking teacher? What kind of fucked up fuckery is that?!"

"Language!" Jin warns. "You're just over-dramatizing things, baby cousin," he laughs. "I told you, you should pursue acting."

"I'm not joking!" you seethe, your face turning red as you imagine the future awkwardness that would ensue between you and Mr. Park. Not that you have anything against him.

Jin just rolls his eyes. "Then just stay in your room," he says. "Besides, you better get used to him being around. Jimin's a chill dude, I'll be hanging out with him a lot more. I'm sure he won't mind you."

You sigh. "Yeah, but I'd rather not take the chances... I mean, not when this man can change my grades with one button."

Jin chuckles. "And why would he do that? You're probably his best student. Isn't math that class you have over a hundred in, right now?"

"Well, yeah, but you never know," you protest.

"Wow, what a nerd."

"Um, not a nerd," you reply. "Just smarter than you."

Jin scoffs, placing a delicate hand to his chest as he mocks offense. "Excuse me, baby cousin, I happen to be almost a decade older than you."

You laugh out loud. "A decade doesn't seem like it helped you much," you tease, never losing an argument, no matter how small and pathetic. "But anyways. Are you sure Mr. Park will be chill?  I'm that weird kid in his class that never socializes but sets the curve for every test, you know? I'm that nerd..."

Jin chuckles. "You worry too much. Don't you know teachers love students that excel in their class? Besides, Jimin knows you're my cousin. It'll be okay," Jin chirps as he grins at his piping hot steak. "It'll be fine..."

"It'll be okay, he said, it'll be fine, he said!" you grumble. "Fucking idiot!"

Normally, Jin would've yelled at you for your profanities, but at the moment, he was too wasted to give a fuck. "Maybe I shouldn't have drunk my stress," he giggles. "Jimin, your beer is delicious."

"Yee, boi," Jimin answers, waving his arms around drunkenly.

You can't believe your eyes, or ears for that matter. Your usually formal, sharp, calm and collected math teacher had first shown up wearing severely ripped jeans, a loose, black t-shirt and jewelry. And now he was drunk.

Originally, you had been stuck in your room, quietly and innocently, you might add, eating a piece of steak. Honestly, you were pretending like you didn't even exist. It was only when you heard the loud clinkings of those beer cans when you knew you would have to take action sometime. Your cousin was not a good drinker.

Your teacher, who usually looks like a Mr. Park for god's sake, with his ties and button-up collar shirts now looks like a Jimin with his choice of stylish garments and a pair of dangly earrings. Jimin runs his fingers through his messy black hair that's usually so well-combed and gelled. Then, his alluring chocolate eyes fixate on you.

"Baby girl, why don't you have a drink?" he asks you, waving his (empty) beer can at you.

You have a wordless reaction, staring at your teacher in absolute horror. You're 110% sure he doesn't remember you're his student.

Goddamn, he's so wasted.

"Jin, my man, she's hot. Who is she?" Jimin asks as he flashes a charming smile at you, throwing in a wink as well.

You have no idea why your stomach flips. But you're pretty sure it has something to do with the seductive way your teacher is looking at you. You would've never thought Jimin could have this sort of side to him.

"No touchy, touchy, my dude," Jin slurs. "She's my baby cousin."

Jimin winks at you again.

And of course, you feel at least a hundred butterflies fluttering around in your stomach. Had you known Jimin was this attractive? No. But did you know now? Hell yeah.

Still, he's your teacher... "I'm your student," you sigh, staring at the drunken man in pity.

"Ooh," Jimin grins flirtatiously. "Kinky."

Now it's your turn to run your fingers through your hair. "T-That..." you sigh. "That's borderline perverted," you murmur.

Jin giggles. "Y/N, you have no—" your cousin pauses his sentence, suddenly holding his stomach and frowning. "Ooh, I don't feel too good," he announces. Then, he curls up and with such obnoxious noise, wretches out the steak he'd consumed.

You instantly jerk your head away, afraid you'll vomit if you catch the sight of Jin's half-digested food. Yes, you like food, but not when it's in that kind of state.

"Oh my god, Jin!" you whine, annoyance and some form of anger coursing through your veins. "I told you not to drink, goddammit!"

Your cousin only grins, swaying his body back and forth to a song that's not even playing. Sighing, you hurriedly grab a wet rag, cursing profanities and saying 'ew' every three seconds as you attempt to clean up the vomit. You're literally forcing your stomach to stay calm at the disturbing sight and stench.

You're even more ticked off that your cousin is just smiling like a total buffoon right next to you. "I'M A FUCKING DECADE YOUNGER THAN YOU SO WHY AM I ACTING LIKE A FUCKING MOTHER RIGHT NOW?" you shriek as you throw the rag to the side to glare at Jin.

Except, he was passed out. You scoff. "Unbelievable!" You push Jin over with your hand. "Jin! Wake the fuck up!"

"Ooh, baby girl, I didn't know you had such a dirty mouth," Jimin purrs, taking hold of his can of beer and Jin's, clinking them together and laughing as if it were the funniest sight in the world.

You glare at your so-called teacher. "If you weren't in charge of my grades you'd be dead," you seethe.

"What's that, baby girl?" Jimin asks. "I think you might have to be closer for me to hear you." And with that, he grabs ahold of your hand and pulls you down into his lap.

Momentarily, you're too shocked to have any sort of reaction. It takes a while for you to even realize you're sitting on your teacher's lap. "Ji—I mean, Mr. Park!" you shriek, trying to scramble up.

But Jimin holds you firm, staring deeply into your eyes as if he could see your soul. And something about that stops your squirming. You are still.

"Beautiful," Jimin mumbles as he softly touches the side of your cheek.

Your heart is beating fast and you can feel your cheeks starting to heat up. Why was this making you feel so... weird?

"Beauty is from the outside," Jimin states, moving his head closer to yours. That surely ruined the moment.

You frown. "I think you mean beauty is from the inside," you correct.

"Whatever," Jimin mumbles, continuing to admire your face. "Who are you?" he asks. "Such a beauty..."

"Your fucking student," you reply smartly, scrunching your nose. You? A beauty? I don't fucking think so.

"Kinky," Jimin says again. He slowly intertwines his fingers with yours. "I like you."

What. The. Fuck.

Now you're just internally screaming. Yes, you admit your math teacher is rather... hot. Yes, you admit that he has some sort of magnetic field that attracts you. And yes, you admit you don't feel too bad sitting in his lap (oh boy). But you know, in the back of your head, this is somewhat illegal. After all, some internet research (a.k.a stalking) showed that Jimin was 24. You're 17. It just isn't going to happen.

"Cool," you respond. "Glad that I'm liked. Um... Imma get going now..." you try to smoothly escape from Jimin's lap. But it's just not your day.

Jimin tugs you back, his hand wrapped around your wrist tightly. "No." He grins. "You." His hand holds yours. "Will." His other hand cups your warm, flushed cheeks. "Stay." His lips meet yours.

He does it so quickly that you have little to no time to stop him. And once in the kiss, there was no turning back.

Your teacher tastes like beer as his tongue explores your lips, sucking and even biting softly. And as the love-deprived person as you are, you don't stop him. Instead, you respond by wrapping your arms around Jimin's neck. Then before you realize it, or even stop yourself, you're kissing him back. The heat of the moment thing, you guess.

Jimin pulls you closer to his face, the hand that had been holding yours is set on your waist, securing you.

That's when you realize this is not some random dude named Jimin. This is Park Jimin, your mathematics teacher.

"Fuck!" you shriek as you aggressively break the kiss—or more like make out session—your lips leaving your teacher's with a little 'pop.'

Jimin stares at you in confusion, his eyebrows scrunching over his wide, curious eyes. "Fuck already?"

You bury your face in your hands, then realize you're still sitting in your teacher's lap. "Fuck!" you repeat as you scramble away a good two feet.

"Already?" he asks once again.

"You... you.. pervert!" you scream, flapping your arms faster than a hummingbird. "I'm 17!"

Jimin cocks his head. "How old am I again?" He grins foolishly. But cutely. His black hair is messed up even more and his soft, plump lips are slightly wet. Oh boy. You don't even want to get started on his alluring eyes.

Fuck! You shake your head, panic taking over your whole body. Not the time, Y/N!

"You don't know my age either?" Jimin asks, staring at you with puppy dog eyes. You think you're going to faint.

Get it together Y/N!

"24," you grit out. "You're 24."

At that, Jimin frowns. "Shit. You weren't lying when you said you were my student," he slurs, squinting at you as if he were looking at the sun.

"You thought I was fucking lying?!" you shriek. "Snap out of it!"

"Shit," Jimin deadpans, his dark eyes flickering. "You're Yoon Y/N," he realizes. "I'm actually fucked."

Then, his eyes roll to the back of his head and he passes out on the floor, right next to your dumbass cousin.

You can't move. You just kissed your fucking teacher. No, you made out with him. But the worst part—you think you had enjoyed it.

You wake up in your bed with the biggest migraine you've had in a month. It's almost as if you were the one that had passed out drunk yesterday.

The morning rays are shining through your thin curtains and you sigh out, looking at the bright sight. Thank fucking god it's a Saturday. If only this migraine would go away.

Then, you realize something that makes the pain in your head amplify by ten-folds. Yesterday, you'd made out with your math teacher—in the same room as your overprotective cousin, mind you.

"Well fuck," you whisper, placing a cool finger to your lips. The very same lips that had kissed your teacher. "Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!" you mutter aggressively.

You remember it all as if your brain had shot a movie on the spot—your teacher tugging you into his warm lap, making sexual comments, kissing you... Your face burns red. Not to mention you feel like some annoying garden gnome is hammering his huge mallet right in your head.

Fuck my migraine.

But your migraine wasn't the worst of your problems at this point. In fact, it seemed to be dwelling in your poor head because of your problems.

"How the fuck am I supposed to face him in school? Oh god, will he remember? Holy fuck—how will I cope if he doesn't recall?" you talk to yourself frantically, habitually flapping your arms around in panic.

You try to take a deep breath to calm yourself down but that doesn't work. Instead, you end up burying your face in your hands, crashing back down on your bed. "I actually don't want to go to school anymore," you say. But maybe a bit too loudly.

"Y/N, DID I HEAR YOU RIGHT?" a voice practically screams from the kitchen. "You LOVE learning!" Jin screeches. "Did something happen? Are you getting bullied?"

"What? No!" you yell, exasperated. It was always up to your cousin to make a mountain out of a molehill.

"THEN WHAT HAPPENED?" Jin shouts.

You sigh. From all the yelling going back and forth, it looked like by the end of the day, your throat would hurt as much as your head. Sitting up from your bed, you make your way to the kitchen to explain yourself without having to scream your lungs out.

"Y/N, honey, you look sick," Jin says as soon as turns around from the stove, catching sight of your messy hair and dead eyes.

"Migraine," you sigh.

"I've gotchu," your cousin declares dutifully as he places an orange pill and steaming hot rice porridge in front of you. He sits down in front of you, watching with his warm eyes as you dry swallow the pill and dig in to your breakfast. "So... what happened?" he asks as you finally pause from your eating to take a breath.

"Huh?"

"Why don't you want to go to school?" Jin repeats, taking a napkin and wiping your wet chin.

You shrug. "I dunno," you lie. "It's just one of those moods."

Jin lets out a sigh of relief. "Oh, just that? I thought it was something serious, Y/N! You had me worrying!"

You roll your eyes but smile. The warm and toasty porridge paired with the painkiller was really working miracles. You felt much better already.

"You always worry, Jin," you chuckle. "Shouldn't I be worried about you? You literally threw up last night."

"Yes, I know. You did a pretty bad job cleaning it up," Jin laughs. "Thanks for the attempt, though."

"Well, I was..." you attempt to explain yourself. "...Distracted."

Jin laughs, getting up to fetch your favorite dish of kimchi, placing it right in front of you. Once he sits down he watches you eat again.

"Sorry, Y/N," he apologizes suddenly, just as you shove a huge spoonful of rice and kimchi in your mouth.

"For what?" you sputter, bits of half-chewed food dribbling down your mouth. "Oops," you mutter, clumsily reaching for a napkin. But Jin was already ahead of you, dabbing at your chin once again.

"I don't know... I threw up, you tried to clean it up... You were probably annoyed that we were being so loud. Oh right, and we were both drunk..." Jin sighs.

You shake your head. "I'm not mad. You don't have to feel bad," you say.

If anything, I'm mad at myself for kissing my teacher.

Speaking of your teacher...

"So, where's Jimin?" you ask, blood immediately rushing to your cheeks just saying his name.

Oh god, why did I even ask? Now I'm going to sound suspicious.

"I'm the worst person to ask that. I don't remember much—everything's so hazy. I really shouldn't have drunk so much last night..." Jin sighs. "But why do you ask?"

"Oh, it's nothing," you respond quickly.

If Jin had no recollection of his drunk night, then that would mean your teacher wouldn't remember... right??

"Y/N, you responded too quickly, something's up," Jin laughs, stretching back in his seat. "What happened? Spill the tea."

Well, shit. Channel your inner actress, Y/N. You've got this.

"Oh, I don't know, it was nothing, really. It was just funny to see my math teacher get wasted and faint then disappear without a trace the next day, you know?" you say casually.

"Jimin probably ditched 'cause he got embarrassed," Jin chuckles, shaking his head.

Ohohoho, you have no idea.

"Yeah, well, thanks for the breakfast, Jin," you say, getting up from your seat. "I've got a quiz in his class on Monday. Gotta study."

"Wow, how diligent," your cousin teases lightly. "Have fun," he sarcastically calls as you walk towards your room.

You roll your eyes but smile. As dumb and dramatic and drunk he could get, you can't deny that you love your cousin.

As somewhat of a nerd, you had always passed school with flying colors—especially being gifted in mathematics. On the day of Jimin's math quiz, you finish thirty minutes early and take the leisure to stretch a bit and play around with your lucky pencil.

Normally, you'd look up to see if your teacher was grading quizzes from the previous period, but today, you were doing everything possible to avoid his eye contact. Maybe you were overreacting... but that kiss, er, make out was something you couldn't just forget so easily.

Are we just going to forget that shit even happened? Then, you realize, probably yeah. Jin didn't remember what happened when he got drunk—maybe Jimin would too.

Well, shit. That's just better for me. I made out with my fucking teacher and he doesn't even remember. God, I feel like I'm in a high school romance drama.

You cringe at your inner thoughts then force yourself to focus back on your quiz.

Time to check answers.

Thirty minutes later, as soon as the bell rings, you zip right up, about to bolt from the classroom when Jimin just:

"Everyone who hasn't finished the quiz, please turn it in now! Y/N, I'll see you after class."

Your blood runs cold and you freeze. Why? WHY? WHY?

"Probably for some nerdy math geek thing," students whisper. You pray that they're right.

God forbid he remembers what happened Saturday night.

Students file quickly out of the classroom—a little too quickly. All too soon, you and Jimin were the only ones in the room. You gulp.

Jimin stands up from his desk, his fingers racing up to habitually loosen his tight, black tie. He looks so different in his school clothes and when he's sober. Your teacher coughs lightly as he walks over to your desk awkwardly.

Or maybe the awkwardness was just your stupid imagination.

"Hey, Y/N," Jimin says. "How was the quiz?"

"Uh, good," you quickly respond, turning red just facing your teacher. Please don't come any closer.

You curse inside your head as Jimin literally crouches down to your eye-level, leaning in as you automatically lean back. Your heart beats in your head as you realize your hands are sweating. Yeah, no, you didn't want confrontation. Not today, at least.

"Um... Mr. Park, I have to get to lunch," you lie, abruptly pushing back your chair and springing up from your seat. "Er... Mr. Jung, my literature teacher wanted to talk to me."

Jimin looks at you with suspicion. "Hm... I was hoping to discuss something with you," he sighs.

Goosebumps blossom on your skin. "It's urgent," you fib. "He'll get really mad at me if I don't get there in the next minute."

Jimin frowns while glancing at the class clock and sighs again. "Well then, I guess our talk can wait."

You almost cheer out loud at your victory, but calmly start to walk away from your teacher. "Thank you, Mr. Park!" you call behind you as you practically bolt out of the classroom.

Your teacher stares at the door and cocks his head. "I've never seen Jung Hoseok get mad at his students in my entire life," he mutters under his breath while shaking his head.

You're at home, stretched out on your bed, your homework finished and your tests taken. But you're still worried.

"Goddammit," you cuss.

"Woah there," Jin calls from the kitchen, his second bedroom. "Did Y/N get her first B?"

You roll your eyes. "Not possible," you call back.

"Then do you have an excuse for your profanity?!"

"Nope, not really," you sigh. "Sorry, I'll watch my language!" you shout before Jin can remind you again. Then you groan as you bury your face into your plushy pillow.

You were dreading the next day. Although you weren't sure what Jimin wanted to discuss with you, you weren't going to take any chances.

It was Tuesday.

"Y/N, I have to talk to you," Jimin says as the math class is dismissed.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Park!" you say quickly. "Girl problems, I gotta get to the bathroom!" you lie.

It was Wednesday.

"Y/N, may I talk to you?" Jimin calls as soon as class is finished.

"Sorry, Mr. Park!" you say as you're already halfway out the door. "I have to see the nurse. Cramps, you know!"

"You don't seem like you're in pain!" Jimin calls as you run out.

It was Thursday.

"Y/N, we really need to talk," Jimin says as he blocks your way of the classroom.

You sigh. "I wish I could, but I need to turn in a philosophy project for Mr. Kim," you fib.

"During lunch?" Jimin sighs. You nod convincingly. "Alright, then," Jimin says. "We'll talk tomorrow."

"We'll see about that," you mumble under your breath.

It was Friday.

"Y/N. No excuses. You've been avoiding me for almost a week," Jimin says as he squats in front of your desk, literally compelling you to stay frozen in your seat.

"But Mr. Park, I kinda have to go... My cousin's taking me on a trip for this weekend and I have to leave right now."

You pat yourself on your back for this lie. Nice one, Y/N! Jin always pulls you out of school to take mini weekend trips so this was totally plausible.

Jimin laughs. "Oh, Y/N. I'm very close to Jin, you know," he says. "He can't be taking you on a trip now if I'm supposed to be going with you guys."

"What." You shake your head in disbelief, jaw practically dropping open. "No!" you deadpan.

"Yes," Jimin answers. "I've been trying to tell you this whole week, you know. Jin wasn't going to tell you until last minute because he knew you'd make some excuse not to go."

It was official. Jin had definitely lost his marbles. Trip and teacher did not go well together and you'd think someone as capable as Jin would know this. Besides, the last time you and Jimin had been together outside of school... You shudder. Nope!

"I'm going to kill my cousin!" you shriek, exasperated out of your mind.

"I mean, now it's a bit too late, don't you think?" Jimin chuckles. "We're leaving right after school."

The words hit you like a freight train. Why? Why the fuck? What the fuck? How? But most importantly, where? You swear to god if Jin had so very conveniently planned a beach trip you were actually going to murder him. Bikini and teacher are two words you don't want to see in the same sentence.

You take a deep breath, tilting your head back to pinch the bridge of your nose in an attempt to calm yourself down. When you feel like you're not going to drop f-bombs in a classroom setting anymore, you face your teacher: "So, uh, where are we going for the trip? I swear to god if it's at the beach—"

"Camping," Jimin answers quickly.

"Oh, whew!" you exclaim, placing a hand to your heart in all gladness. But apparently, you had been glad way too soon.

"Oh right, Y/N, I still need to talk to you about another thing," your teacher says, scratching his head rather awkwardly.

You freeze, your heart beating in your ears as suddenly your stomach feels like it shrunk twice its original size.

Jimin coughs awkwardly. "But, um... I think it can wait for later," he sighs. "It's not very... classroom appropriate," he whispers lowly.

Well fuck, he remembers. Fuck my life. At this point, you wonder if things can even end up worse than this. Sighing, you do the only thing that you do best: leaving.

"If it's not classroom appropriate, it's probably never appropriate," you quickly mutter as you swing your backpack over your shoulder. "Thanks for the heads up about the trip," you say. "Now, excuse me so I can go yell at my cousin."

Jimin chuckles. "Yeah, see you, Y/N. Best of luck with that."

You almost scoff. This was going to be one long weekend.

The moment you barge into familiar territory, otherwise known as Seokjin's drama classroom, you finally let your rage loose. "THE FUCKING HELL! JIN, I HATE YOU!"

Your raucous outburst startles your cousin who nearly drops a golden crown prop. You don't even give him time to react before you're ranting. "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WERE KEEPING THIS FUCKING CAMPING TRIP FROM ME!"

"Woah, there, Y/N. Slow down," Jin says in a soothing tone as if he were trying to calm a wild horse. "The camping trip?" he questions, cocking his head.

"YEAH! THE ONE WHERE YOU SO CONVENIENTLY INVITED JIMIN!"

Jin's confused face flashes with recognition as he nods. "Oh yeah, the camping trip. Sorry."

"Sorry won't fucking cut it!" you shriek. "And really? With Jimin too?!"

Jin sighs. "Well I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier but I just wanted some bonding time with my best friend. You know that I've haven't had friends in years. And I would've just left you home, but you also know that I care too much about your meals to do that. You'd literally starve to death Y/N, you really can't cook!"

His words make you feel bad for your outburst. In a way, he's right. Jin literally doesn't have a social life because of you. When you're stuck studying your ass off every day, he's the one who makes sure you get your meals. When you're in a particularly bad mood due to fluctuating hormone levels (curse puberty), he's the one who can calm you down with a good joke and a bowl of ice cream. When you had thought no one in the whole world cared for you, he's the one who swooped in and gave you the love and reassurance you needed.

In other words, you owe Jin. Big time. You know full-heartedly that your cousin decided to take you on this trip so you wouldn't be crouched in your room 25/8, skipping meals and being dangerously alone. So the least you can do is to go on the trip without complaining like a little bitch.

It'll be awkward, yes, considering it's with your teacher that you've potentially done such illegal things with. But you do have a heart, and your heart tells you it's about time to owe up to all the good Jin has done for you. It's also telling you to bite down your pride and apologize to your dear cousin—but apologizing has never really been your thing.

You sigh, scratching your head awkwardly. "Um, I guess I'm... I'm... sorry then," you mutter, looking down at your feet. God, you really don't like to admit things when you're wrong.

Jin chuckles. "You should be. Your yelling made me age a decade!" he teasingly claims. "And besides, I'm pretty sure you woke up the dead with all that cussing," he says disapprovingly. "No profanity, Y/N! At least, not in school."

"Okay, okay, sorry," you say quickly, looking down with slight shame.

You feel Jin's warm hands pinching your cheek, making you look up at him. "Thanks for understanding so quickly, you're the best Y/N." He literally giggles as he pats your cheek.

Rolling your eyes, you lightly swat your cousin's hand away. "I guess I'm just happy you're finally attempting to be social," you respond.

Jin chuckles. "Yeah, I'm trying to be a role model for you, Y/N. But anyway, now that you're here, wanna eat lunch with me?"

You give him a weird look. "Why though?"

Your cousin raises his eyebrows. "I know you eat lunch alone all the time."

Now it's your turn to raise your eyebrows. "And what if I like to eat alone?" you say defiantly.

Jin shakes his head. "Y/N, you don't like to eat alone."

You sigh in defeat. Curse Jin for knowing me better than myself! "Fine. But just this once."

"Good," Jin smiles. "I'll just tell Jimin to eat with Hoseok or something."

"Hoseok? Mr. Jung? My literature teacher?"

"Yeah, he and Jimin are close too," Jin tells you. "Jimin's so close to everyone. I wish I were like him."

You laugh. "You're amazing just the way you are," you say as you sit down on a desk and pull out the lunch Jin had made you. "I still can't believe you're choosing to eat lunch with me and literally canceling on Jimin."

Jin shrugs. "You're my baby cousin."

You smile. "And you're like the good family I never had."

As soon as you get home, you try to find your suitcase to last minutely pack for a trip you'd just been told about. But you can't find your suitcase.

"Don't bother packing! I've done it for you!" Jin calls from the kitchen. You follow his voice out and watch him as he shoves in hoards of food into fifty different bags.

"Wow. You packed for me?" you ask. "So exactly how long were you planning on keeping this trip from me?"

"As long as I could," Jin replies as he starts to cut watermelon. "Get in the car, Y/N. Jimin's probably waiting already."

"Fine," you sigh as you drag your feet to the car. You really don't want to face your math teacher. The last time you two met outside of school... it had ended quite illegally.

"Hey, Y/N," Jimin says, tugging down his dark sunglasses to give you some cute eye smile.

"That should be fucking illegal," you murmur as you slide into the back seats, seeing that Jimin had taken shotgun. You can't dare to look at your teacher without remembering that hot night.

"What should be illegal?" Jin asks as he slides into the driver's seat. "School? Wait. You're a nerd. You love school."

You roll your eyes. "Drive, asshole."

"Yes ma'am!" Jin salutes, grinning at you foolishly.

"You two are hilarious," Jimin chuckles as he leans his chair back. "I can't believe I can actually witness this for three whole days."

"Yeah, lucky you," you mumble sarcastically. "Wait—Jin. Isn't the camping place over there?" you point to the spot that Jin had passed by.

"Uh..." Jin laughs. "Silly. We're trying a different camping spot this time."

"Okay," you chirp, stretching out in the backseat. "Wake me up when we're there then."

"Sure thing," Jin says. "Sleep well, baby cousin."

You roll your eyes but smile, then you fall into a deep, peaceful slumber.

You were supposed to wake up to see a cold, damp environment with towering trees surrounding the area. You know, the kind of environment you're supposed to see when you go camping. Instead, you get the bright, hot sun beating down on you. Oh, and also, sand.

"What the f—"

"Rise n' shine, sunshine," Jin sings. "Welcome to paradise."

You laugh, attempting to straighten out your disheveled hair and discreetly as possible wipe away the bit of dried drool on your face. "Ha. Haha. Very funny, Jin. Why are we stopping by the beach to have lunch? That's so fu—freaking extra."

"Stopping by?" Jimin says from the driver's seat. Oh, what the heck they must've switched seats when you were clonked out.

You see Jin and Jimin exchange some nervous looks.

"Wait a minute... No. No... NO!" you shout, hands grasping bits of your hair, almost as if you'd pull it out any second. "This is bad. This is so, so bad."

"We didn't even say anything yet!" Jin laughs at your reaction.

"I know what you're going to say! I know where this is going!" you shriek. "We're not going camping! We're going to stay at the beach! Motherfu—"

"Now, now, Y/N. Calm down. It's the beach. It's beautiful! You can swim, we'll have a barbecue, go to nice restaurants with nice views!"

"I can't do that!" you hiss angrily.

"Why is that?" Jin asks innocently.

You kinda wanna punch his innocent-looking face at the moment.

"Because," you say, pinching the bridge of your nose, "my fucking teacher will be here," you say slowly, enunciating every word to get through your cousin's thick head. "I can't wear some bathing suit in front of my teacher!" You point accusingly at Jimin, who raises up both hands innocently.

"BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL!" you shriek which sends Jin snorting in laughter.

"Y/N! Honey! For real, calm down! It doesn't matter. Just don't think of Jimin as your teacher, then you'll be fine," Jin says in his soothing voice.

"Yes, it does matter," you argue. "What if someone sees? What if someone reports?"

Jin rolls his eyes. "Relax, Y/N. We're at least six hours away from home. I highly doubt anyone we know will see us and report."

"Agreed," Jimin says. You feel slightly better that he has both of his hands on the wheel. "I promise, we won't even get drunk like last time. I didn't bring any alcohol."

"Oops," Jin giggles. "I did."

"Jin!!" you and Jimin both cry in unison.

"Your alcohol tolerance is actual shit!" you yell. "I swear to god if you get drunk again I'm gonna run you over with this car!"

"No, not my car!" Jimin shrieks, gripping his steering wheel harder.

Jin throws his head back and lets loose the largest laugh yet. "Bro, you're worried about your car but not me?"

Jimin shrugs. "Well, priorities."

You can't help but laugh as well.

So what if these two bimbleheads lied to you about this weekend vacation? You honestly hate to admit it, but having company was fun. Especially bickering company. Maybe, just maybe you'll enjoy the trip. (If you can survive the awkwardness that is.)

And maybe, just maybe, you'll be able to avoid your teacher's confrontation.

Maybe.

—next chapter

—masterlist

[olivyh]

Into Wonderland Chapter 3: Octavinelle Part One-

Does anyone know how to do a dropdown thing? I feel bad about these posts filling up a chunk of the tag ;;;; Also sorry for the spam! I’m trying to publish what I already have done so I can finish it quickly!

They choke on sand that fills their mouth, sputtering and coughing as they gag. Seagulls screech ahead, diving into the water that crashes just a few feet short of their feet. Mc groans, rubbing their head as they look around. They seem to be at the bottom of a rocky cliff, at a beach.

About as far from the Savanah they'd been since they got there. They stand and look around frantically. Dread filling their gut as tears prick at their eyes.

"Nonono-" They mutter, pulling at the tunic they were gifted by Leona just hours ago. "Leona!" They yell, choking on their tears. This can't be happening again- They think hopelessly. "Jack!" They scream, running along the shoreline, hoping to find a way to get on top of the cliff, hopefully they'd see all the beastmen standing there and scolding them for doing something stupid again and- I'm never going to see them again. It's just like what happened in Wonderland. "Ruggie!" They choke out with a harsh sob.

"Ten years!" They yell to nobody in particular, hoping that whatever deity that keeps doing this to them will hear and start counting their days. "Ten fucking years! I was only in Wonderland for a day and a half! But ten years?!" They groan, doubling over and letting all their emotions out via screaming at seagulls, the ocean, and an unfortunate crab that might crawl by.

"Hey-" They gasp hearing a teenage boy's voice behind them. They jolt, Savanah instincts kicking in and making them accidentally bitch slap the blue haired boy.

"Oh my gosh I'm so so sorry-" They run over to the boy, who nurses his red cheek with his hand, wincing. "I'm just lost and something happened and I woke up here- Deuce?"

Laughing sounds from the top of the shore bank, and the two of them look up to see a redhead boy laughing to the point of tears and pointing at the blue haired boy. "Ace?"

That makes both of them stop in their tracks. "How do you know my name?" Right, world switching logic.

"Uhh- I knew someone back where I'm from with the same name and you look alike-" They decided to leave out the part where they both had rabbit ears.

"Right..." Deuce interjects. "Anyways. I'm Prince Deuce Spade and this is my advisor, Ace Trappola-"

"Oh my god I just slapped a prince-" They gasped, hands flying to their mouth. Ace laughs.

"Eh kinda helped me out there. You have no idea how many times I want to hit this guy but I can't-" Barking interrupts him from going on any longer. They turn their attention to a white wolf standing on the bank. Is that-

"Oh! And that's Jack!" Deuce introduces them. "Normally we're not allowed to have pets at the castle but I found him when he was a pup and took him in-"

"Thats because you don't have to clean up after him-" Ace mutters.

"Jack..." They smile, glad to at least see a form of their companion of the Savanah. Thinking of the beastmen feels like a knife to their chest and they gasp, tears trickling down their face.

"Hey! Hey!" Deuce is at their side in an instant as they apologize and wipe at their eyes with the backs of their hands. "What's the matter? Did- Did we say something?"

They shake their head. "It's not- it's not that. I just- I'm from really far away and I- I might never see my friends again, at least not for a long while," Jack walks up to them and nudges against their leg, allowing them to pet behind his fluffy ears. They laugh weakly, more tears streaming down their face at the familiarity.

"Jack reminds me a lot of one of my friends so I guess that got me-"

Ace and Deuce stare in shock, Deuce being knocked out of his trance before the former. "I-I'm so sorry-" He stammers before pausing for a moment.

"Hey, why don't you come with us on a trip?"

"What?!" Ace shouts.

"They're clearly upset about being away from their friends!" He defends the stranger. "Besides, we're going to see the neighboring islands and they might know something about where they're from-"

"But it's a stranger! They could try to kill you!" Ace groans.

"Jack trusts them-" He points to the dog, who still happily accepts Mc's head pats, bushy tail wagging behind him.

"He's a dog!" Ace groans as Deuce leads them across the beach. They walk for what feels like forever with the two bickering next to them, until they hit a dock with a giant ship floating at the end.

"This thing is huge..." They gasp in awe, almost tripping over their own two feet as they ascend on to the ship.

"Of course. It's a royal vessel-" Jack runs ahead of them. They talk for a bit, finally setting sail and going on their long awaited journey.

What happens if I do find them? Mc asks themselves, doubting their own hope. I hope they're okay, I mean- Leona almost died! They go on with their worried about their friends, replaying those last moments over and over in their head until it spins.

Until they hear a wet smack and a pained groan from the side of the ship.

"Ow!" A boys voice yelps from the side. Mc rushes over, leaning over the railing and making eye contact with the redheaded boy who clings to the side of the ship, his sea green tail flopping uselessly against the harsh winds of the ocean.

"You're-" They gape.

He lets out another yelp, slowly turning. His worried sky blue eyes crinkle as he offers a nervous smile. "I'm- I'm sorry! I shouldn't be here y'know maybe I shouldn't be talking at all I should be gone by now-" He rambles until Mc cuts him off, sitting with their back to him.

"Don't worry I won't rat you out-" They try to joke. "I'm just curious."

"Oh! I'm curious too!" As the boy says that his eyes trail over to the navy haired boy, who laughs and dances with the other teens on board. Jack sits across the deck, ever watchful eyes keeping track of anyone who might look suspicious.

"Of... Deuce?"

"Is that his name?" The boy sighs. Mc nods, looking between the two. "Name... Oh! I'm Rielle!" The boy extends a cold hand towards Mc, who hesitantly shakes it, careful of the soft webbing between each finger.

"Mc." They nod, looking at the boy.

"Hey uh.. quick question-" Mc starts. The boy turns his attention to them once more, tiktong his head. "Are there... eel... uhh..."

"Eel mers?" Rielle finishes.

They nod vigorously. "Yes!"

"Well... there's mers of every kind I guess. It's hard to find a strictly eel mer... or a mer of just one species for one!"

"What do you mean?"

"Most mer, like myself, are mixed so much that our tails rarely match up with one species of fish. Though, if you live in an area with a lot of sharkmer you'll probably find a pureblooded sharkmer, a place with a lot of cecaelia you'll find a lot of octomer-" The boy pauses, beaming. "I'm glad I remembered all that from those boring lessons-"

"Oh-" Mc starts, unsure of what to do with all the information they just received.

"Why do you ask?"

"J-just curious-" If they could avoid it, they'd like to stay out of the way of the twins they'd met back in Wonderland.

"Oh okay!" The boy chirps, going back to watching the humans dance on the wooden deck. "Can I ask you a question?" He whispers, voice soft.

"Yeah?"

"What's it like to dance? Or to walk or to-" The boy stammers a bit before sighing.

"Well it's-" They're cut off by a sharp jolt of the ship. On instinct they reach down and hold on to Rielle's forearm, the little bit of slime and small scales making it hard to grasp.

"I'll be fine!" He yells up after the ship screams and threatens to crack. Thunder booms overhead as it rocks and Mc slams against the railing, falling with the mer into the icy water. They let out a scream at the shock of the cold, choking on the water. Rielle grabs their arm and pulls them to a piece of driftwood. They can see the ship on fire out of the corner of their eyes, hazy with smoke and probably the concussion they had from hitting the water at that height. They can hear Deuce yelling, followed by Jack's pained yelps from the burning ship.

The last thing they see before they black out is Deuce throwing Jack off the ship into a lifeboat before plummeting to the sea, to where Rielle's fiery red hair waited just under the surface.

They wake up to a claw poking their cheek. "Hey-!" The claw pokes harder. "Ne- Jade- I think they croaked-"

"Nonsense. They're alive. Look, their tail is moving."

"Hey!" They get a firm smack to the forehead. They gasp and jolt awake, their forehead smacking the one hovering over theirs. The boy yelps and swims back. "Hey! What did ya do that for?!"

"I'm sorr-" They rub their own forehead and look over to see the same pairs of mismatched eyes that haunted their dreams of Wonderland. Really, universe?

"Oh, I'm glad to see your awake-" The softer twin steps forward. "How are you feeling?"

"Good I think-" The go to swing their legs over the ledge of the rock they were laying on, only to find it difficult to separate them. A tail swishes to the side where their legs should be and look down in horror to see that it had replaced them.

"What?!" They shriek, patting at the tail with their hands. Their hands also look discolored, now set with claws and thin webs between their fingers. They gasp and feel water rush in from the sides of their neck.

The twins watch in amusement, with Floyd laughing hysterically and Jade grinning behind his hand. "I hope you don't mind but we took the liberty of testing out a new potion on you. It's rare to get a human specimen around here. I do hope you understand-"

"I- a- po- Specimen!?" They yelp, hitting their head against the roof of the cave as they try to swim with their new tail. They try to stand upright but end up smacking both twins, making them both laugh again.

The human- well, used to be human- hides their face in the hands, humiliation kicking in. "Please stop-"

"Nope~!" Floyd laughs, circling Mc until his tail was tightly wrapped around theirs. His arms wrap around their throat, covering their gills. They try to shimmy out of his grip but end up making him squeeze them tighter instead.

"Can't-" They choke out. "Breathe-"

"Floyd." Jade warns. The other boy pouts but lets them go, not before giving them another rib crushing hug.

"I can't help it! They're so squishy in their new form! They look like a little minnow ready for me to sink my teeth into-" He lets out a high pitched giggle and chills run down their spine.

"We won't eat you, right, Floyd?" The calmer twin swims towards Mc, who still struggles to swim upright to look him in the eyes.

The other twin lets out a long, pained groan and rolls his eyes dramatically. "Riiiight-" He grunts as he flops into a bed of seaweed. "'Zul's orders-"

"Zul?" Mc asks.

"Azul Ashengrotto. The man who made your potion and now, your new boss."

"Boss?!" They yelp. "I never agreed to anything of that sort!"

"Hm? I thought it was fair." Jade hums, grabbing their arms and making them stand upright, moving their tail manually until they can swim straight.

"I mean, ya get to live after that shipwreck, and you get a free potion too-" Floyd begins.

"So it's only fair that you work with us." Jade finishes his twins sentence. Mc sputters and follows them as they leave the cave, swimming haphazardly through the open waters and ducking between large rocks and fish. Floyd practically crushes Mc with how tightly he holds them so they won't run off or swim into something else.

"B-but Rielle was going to save me! He told me to-"

"Rielle?" Floyd interrupts them, making them grumble and wriggle a bit in the eels hold. "Hey, Jade, why does that sound familiar?"

The other twin merely chuckles. "Thats the boy Azul was helping earlier-"

"Helping?" Mc asks. "What happened? Is he okay?"

"Oh he's just great~!" Floyd giggles. "Came into 'Zul's office all lovey dovey and traded his tail and voice for legs!"

"Oh..." Mc sighs. "He did ask me before what it was like to dance-"

"Before?" Jade asks. "This is interesting."

"Mhm!" Floyd laughs as they approach the shoreline. The surface of the water is clearly visible now, and they can see something floating above them. They can see other fish twirling around the boat as if dancing, and soft humming coming from the boat above.

"Floyd." Jade instructs.

[finnyboywolfhard]

Song That The Morning Brings (Chapter Twenty Three)

Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader 

catch up here

summary: the groups converge and try to make a plan to stop the monster 

warnings: cursing, violence, angst, spoilers ig 

word count: 4.4k

They all began to find their way out from behind the counter and over to where the other group was standing. Mike was practically carrying EL.

“Ha! You flung that thing like a hot wheel!” Dustin cheered while rushing to give them all hugs! Smiles took over everyone’s face.

“Lucas?” Erica shouted to her brother that was walking closer.

“What are you doing here?” He pleaded out in response.

“Ask them, it’s their fault.”

“True, yeah. Totally true. It’s absolutely our fault.” Steve agreed with Erica’s statement.

“Yeah, it may be our fault but the little nerd helped us a lot.” Y/N said with a joking laugh, only just realizing her hand was still in Steve’s. She let go of his hand and started rocking back and forth on her heels. Snapping up to make direct eye contact with Nancy, who only smirked and winked at her in response.

“I don’t understand what happened to that car.” Robin confusedly said.

“El has superpowers.” Dustin replied.

“I’m sorry?”

“Superpowers, she threw it with her mind. Come on, catch up.” Steve said, sounding done with the situation.

“That’s El?” Erica spit out after realizing what was just said.

“Who’s El?” Robin asked before being interrupted by Nancy’s slightly condescending question.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“I’m Robin, I work with Steve and Y/N.”

“She cracked the top secret code.” Dustin said after the introduction.  

“Yeah, which is how we found out about the Russians.” Y/N said, following her brother.

“Russians? Wait, what Russians?” Jonathan asked. Both groups were both so confused of one another. Two polar opposite things happened to them both.

“The Russians!” Steve shouted out.

“Those were Russians?” Max asked looking at the men who were down on the floor.

“Some of them.” Erica pointed out.

“What are you talking about?” Lucas spoke, looking directly to his little sister.

“Didn’t you hear our code red?”

“Yeah, we couldn’t understand what you were saying.” Mike angrily said to Dustin.

“God damn low battery!” Dustin yelled.

“How many times do I have to tell you with the low battery?” Steve also yelled back towards Dustin smacking his hands together to show how truly upset he was.

“Stevie, calm down, it’s okay.”

“Well, everything worked out, didn’t it?” Dustin declared.

“Worked out? We almost died!” Erica said to him.

“Yeah, but we didn’t did we.”

“There’s still time.” Y/N whispered to herself. She had more hope than before in regards to living, but she wasn’t entirely hopeful. The rest of the group kept bickering but also explaining what happened over the course of a few days. Y/N kinda blocked them out. Thousands of thoughts were rushing through her mind at once. Some good, some bad, some really good and some really bad. The sound of Eleven collapsing onto the floor a few feet away snapped everyone away from the conversation.

“Whoa whoa whoa” Steve started to mutter beside Y/N.

“El! El!” Mike said, rolling her onto her back to look at her. His voice was filled with fear. Y/N could tell by looking at the two they were in love. But that was beside the point.

“What’s wrong with her?” Erica said.

“El, what’s wrong?” Y/N said in a much calmer, gentler tone than everyone else.

“My leg…my leg.” She whimpered out in response. She was seething in pain.

“Her leg, her leg, okay.” Jonathan said as he slowly lifted the bandages from the wound sitting on her calf. As soon as it was off her skin, everyone groaned at the sight of it. There was a massive gash, filled with blood and other oozes, but there was also something moving around in her leg. As it sharply moved, her pain grew increasingly obvious. Eleven let out screeches and grunts. It was the weakest any of them had ever seen her. Mike leaned over to look her in the eyes.

“El! El! El!El! El! El, are you okay?” He said, begging for her to answer him. He kept repeating her name, to no avail. The only response that he got was her screaming in agonizing pain. It was harsh and cut the cold, stale air around them. She was wailing and crying in pain, whatever was in her leg needed to come out and it needed to come out now. Her flesh was beginning to sizzle. Either from her body heat or from the creature inside her leg.

“What is that?”

“There’s something in there.”

“Jesus Christ.” Dustin exclaimed in response to her leg.

“Keep her talking. Keep her awake, okay?” Jonathan said to the group before standing up and rushing over to one of the food counters nearby. The group continued talking to her. Some of them trying to distract her from the pain, others just talking to her to keep her awake.

“Hey, hey, hey. Stay awake, stay awake. Let’s get her on this side, on this side.” Mike commanded the group, taking charge of the situation at hand. Steve helped Mike roll her over to her side.

“Easy, easy, easy, easy.” Steve said, making sure that Mike was being gentle with the already pained girl in front of them.

“It’s uh…you know it’s not actually that bad. There was a…the goalie on my soccer team, Beth Wildfire, this other girl slid into her leg.” At this point everyone was looking at Robin, who wasn’t helping the problem. “And the bone came out of her knee like six inches or something, it was insane.” She was about to keep rambling before she was cut off.

“Robin.” Steve stopped her.

“Yeah?”

“You’re not helping.” Y/N and Steve said in time with one another.

“I’m sorry.” At this point, Robin sounded like she was panting for breath. Her fear was evident. Fight or Flight was an interesting body response, because for the past few days Robin has seemingly been a fighter, but now she was being flighty. Jonathan came running back from wherever he went. He got right down onto the floor and began speaking at a quiet, calming volume.

“Okay, Alright El? This is gonna hurt like hell, okay?”

“Okay…” was all El could croak out through the pain.

“I need you to stay real still. Here,” he lifted a wooden spoon and gave it to her, “you’re gonna want to bite down on this, okay?”

“Jesus Christ.” Dustin exhaled out. Eleven clamped the wooden spoon between her teeth. She was propped up against Mike and Max, her eyes fluttering closed every few seconds. Jonathan pulls out a knife and holds it to her leg. He looks around to check that everyone is okay, the knife hovering centimeters away from her skin.

“Do it.” Mike demanded him. Jonathan ran the blade along the wound, breaking open the bubble that was forming on her leg. Blood, pus and other mysterious liquids seeped out of the wound as the blade made contact. Eleven’s scream of pain were flooding the room, unable to hear anything else but that. Y/N began to feel queasy and leaned her forehead onto Steve’s shoulder, so she wasn’t looking at the wound too intensely.

After a few more seconds, the clink of the knife hitting the floor sounded through the screams. The entire group was set on edge by the wound. Jonathan took his hand and stuck it through the opened gash, attempting to pull out whatever was inside her leg. Her screams had somehow gotten louder, signaling how much pain this was truly causing her.

“Jonathan!” Nancy yelled to him as he continued to dig through the cut.

“Stop talking!” He yelled back to her. He became slightly more aggressive, and her screams became more and more pained. “God damn it!”

“No! Stop it!” El shrieked out amidst the pain. “Stop! Stop!”

Jonathan pulled his hand out and way, and looked down at Eleven.

“I can do it.” El said, trying to choke back some of her tears. She tried to push herself up, eventually getting help from Max and Mike. “I can do it.” She lifted her hand, close to where the wound was. Her hands were flexing as hard as they could, and her anguished grunts showed how awful this was for her. The movement in her leg became slightly more prominent as she continued wailing in pain. The glass behind them shattered from her screams and the energy she had built up from her powers. As the group shielded itself from the glass pouring around them, the small creature was yanked from her leg, being held in the air by her powers. Her screams had not stopped once. She lifted her arm and threw it across the mall. It landed a bit farther away, and began to slink off only to be squashed by a black boot. Y/N’s eyes went from the boot up, terrified that it was another Russian. Her fear was released when she saw Hopper standing there.

They all stood near the fountain recounting all of the information the two groups had gained over the past few days.

“The mind flayer, it built this monster in Hawkins to stop El, to kill her and pave a way into our world.” Mike told Hopper.

“And it almost did, that was just a tiny piece of it.” Nancy spoke out.

“How big is this thing?” Hopper said in his usual disheveled tone.

“It’s big. Thirty feet at least.” Jonathan responded.

“Yeah, it sorta destroyed your cabin.” Lucas said, being the bearer of bad news. Hopper looked upset, but he also looked tired. He looked like he was ready to tap out of this and just accept defeat. But that wasn’t like him, and he wasn’t going to forfeit a fight.

“Okay, so just to be clear, this…this big fleshy spider thing that hurt El, it’s some kind of gigantic…weapon?” Steve asked. His confusion was based, especially considering that it wasn’t something that he had witnessed yet.

“Yes.” Nancy affirmatively said.

“But instead of, like, screws and metal, the mind flayer made its weapon with melted people.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“Oh great.” Y/N muttered out before allowing Steve to voice his response.

“Yeah, okay. Yeah, just making sure.” After Steve spoke, Joyce began to ask questions just the same.

“Are we sure this thing is still out there, still alive?”

“El beat the shit out of it, but, yeah, it’s still alive.” Max gave Joyce her answer.

“But if we close the gate again-“ Will said before being interrupted by Max.

“We cut the brain off from the body.”

“And kill it.” Lucas finished her statement. “Theoretically.” They all looked around at one another, reaching a point that they didn’t know what to do.

“YooHoo!” Murray exclaimed flailing his arms that held papers, breaking the group away from one another and towards him. “YooHoo!” He made his way over to the group, and over to where he could set his things down. He placed down papers that had drawn on maps.

“Okay, this is what Alexei called, ‘the hub’. Now the hub takes us to the vault room.” He said while pointing out different sections of the map.

“Okay, where’s the gate?”

“Right here.” Murray said, smacking his finger down on a space on the paper. “I don’t know the scale on this, but I think it’s fairly close to the vault room, maybe fifty feet or so.”

“More like 500. What, you’re just gonna waltz in there like it’s commie Disneyland or something?” Y/N and Hopper made the exact same shocked expression at Erica’s remark.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Erica Sinclair, who are you?”

“Murray Bauman.” He said, seeming almost timid for once. It was two strong energies combating one another.

“Listen, Mr. Bunman. I’m not trying to tell you how to do things, but I’ve been down in that shithole for 24 hours. And with all due respect, you do what this man tells you, you’re all gonna die.”

“Erica-“ Y/N was about to cut her off before Murray took control once again.

“I’m sorry, why is this four year old speaking to me?”

“Um, I’m ten you bald bastard!”

“Erica!” Lucas reprimanded his little sister.

“Just the facts!”

“She’s right. You are all gonna die, but you don’t have to.” Dustin explained. Y/N decided to take authority, stealing the spotlight from Dustin.

“Excuse me, Sorry, may I?” Y/N said asking Murray if she could point something out on the map.

“Please.” Murray let her have it.

“Okay, so you see this room right here? This is a storage facility. There’s a hatch in here that feeds into their underground ventilation system, that will lead you to the base of the weapon. The fans have been stopped, so it will take significantly less time. It’s a bit of a maze down there, but between Me, Dustin and Erica, we can show you the way.”

“You can show us the way?” Hopper said, voice dripping with condescension.

“Hop, you can do all of the fighting and all of the dangerous heroic feats, but we can be your navigators.” She responded, looking at him.

“No.” He stated blankly toward the girl. “Nope.”

“Hop, come on.”

“No, absolutely not.” The girl groaned at his response. “it’s too dangerous and I can’t and won’t let you do it. You need to stay safe.”

“Hop! I have been down there, you could die.” Hopper began walking over to a bag of guns left by the Russians, loading and checking them. At this point, Erica and Dustin left Y/N to try convincing him.

“I don’t care Y/N. You are not going down there. If one of us is going to die, I’d rather it be me than you. And I won’t die, I haven’t kicked the bucket yet. I will be okay. But you need to stay here and stay safe, I won’t let you do it.”

“Hopper, please.” Y/N pleaded once more, sadness and fear evident in her voice.

“Y/N, I love you like a daughter, I won’t let you risk it. Now please, I need to prepare myself.”

“Fine. I love you too, stay safe.” Y/N said admitting her defeat and walking over to where Steve was sitting on a counter. She jumped up beside him and huffed out a breath. He knew these moods, and knew that she needed a moment to sit with her thoughts before he could ask her how she was doing. She leaned against the wall and stretched her legs across the counter, tapping Steve’s hip with her foot. She gave him a small smile.

“So you gonna tell me what the hell happened to your face or am I just supposed to ignore it?” Y/N let out, causing Steve to laugh to himself for a little bit.

“Oh you know, typical hero stuff.”

“Oh yeah? Heroes often get drugged and beat up by Russians?”

“All the time.” He said with a smile, watching how Y/N’s eyes crinkled in the corner as she laughed. How pretty her smile was when it was a genuine in the moment smile. He adored every part of her. “Essentially, they would hit me whenever they assumed I was lying, but I’ll be okay. Not anything I haven’t experienced before.”

“How do you always end up injured? Every time we’ve dealt with this shit now, you’ve ended up with a fucked up face.”

“Wow, thanks Y/N, I feel so good about how I look now. Thank you.” He responded sarcastically. “I don’t know, I pick fights I can’t win I guess.”

“Hey, that’s not entirely true. You won the fight against that one Russian dude.”

“I did, didn’t I?” She smiled at him once again, and they just looked at each other for a few seconds. It wasn’t awkward or weird or anything. It was somewhat peaceful. She couldn’t help but admire him for a few moments. She loved him, and it hadn’t hit her yet that he loved her back.

“Oh, Stevie?”

“Hey! Heads up! You can navigate, just from someplace safe.” Hopper yelled to Dustin, tossing him a walkie. Y/N was thankful that Hopper was giving Dustin some control. His shouts led the others to start paying attention once more, drawing them away from their conversations.

“It’s not that simple.”

“The signal won’t reach.”

“Not with this, you need something with a high enough frequency band to relay with the Russians’ radio tower. But for that to work, you need someone who has both seen their comms room and has access to a super-powered handcrafter radio tower, one preferably already situated at the highest point in Hawkins. Oh wait.” Dustin took a beat, “That’s me.” Dustin looked at Hopper with a cocky smirk as Hopper inched closer to the young boy. “If you want us to navigate, you got us. But we need a head start.” At this point, the groups were all converging. Dustin had a point, he couldn’t just stay here and be able to contact Hop. “And a car.” Dustin said after getting a whisper from Erica.

“Fine. Get your sister and anyone else who was with you.” Hopper fished a set of keys from his pocket and tossed them at Y/N who finally was in Hop’s line of sight. The “Scoops Troop” ,as they had been so graciously been named,  gathered up and walked out of the mall.

“Y/N/N can I drive?” Steve asked the girl who was holding the keys.

“Is that the best idea?”

“Come on, maybe not but it would be an adventure.” He looked at her, “Please.” The girl eventually gave in and tossed him the keys just as they were making their final exit through the doors. The air felt nice, it was slightly warm but not overwhelmingly hot. And it was nice to have some fresh air.

“Oh, man, now this…this is what I’m talking about.” Steve said as soon as he saw the car he was about to drive. His voice sounding the most happy it had in days.

“Toddfather?” Robin said reading off the specialty license plate.

“Oh, screw Todd! Steve’s her daddy now.” Y/N choked out nervously as soon as Steve said that sentence. She quickly became flustered as she was finding her way to sit shotgun.

“Did you just refer to yourself in the third person, Stevie?” Y/N asked, regaining at least a little composure.

“Did he just call himself daddy?” Erica asked while Y/N could feel her cheeks getting slightly more red.

“Alright, where are we going?” Steve asked, unsure of where Cerebro was.

“Weathertop.” Dustin answered his question for him.

“Weather-what?” Steve asked with a confused tone.

“Just drive!” Dustin yelled at him.

“Okay! Jesus!” Steve revved the engine and began to drive away.

“It’s okay Stevie, I can tell you how to get there. I went once with Jeremy Powell.”

“What? You did? When? Why didn’t I know that?”

“I went on a few dates with him the end of summer before junior year. You didn’t know for reasons we’re not gonna talk about.”

“Did you like…ya know?”

“Steve!! I’m not gonna answer that with my brother and a child in the car. We can talk about this later or never talk about it again. The point is, I know where to go and so does Dustin.” Y/N snapped at Steve. His jealousy was one of the worst things about him sometimes. It was almost two years ago and it never went anywhere, yet for some reason he was still envious of the kid. The drive was silent for the most part, aside from the directions being given to Steve by both Henderson siblings.

“Jesus, how far is this place?” Steve said, yelling over the wind that was rushing through the convertible car.

“Relax, we’re almost there.” Dustin yelled back.

“Suzie must be pretty special, huh?” Robin yelled back. “I mean if you built this thing and lugged it all the way to the middle of nowhere just to talk to her?”

“I mean, nobody’s scientifically perfect, but Suzie’s about as close as to being perfect as any human could possibly be.” Dustin said, a smile spreading over his face.

“She sound made up to me. She sound made up to you?” Erica shouted up to the front seat. Steve and Y/N both glanced at one another. Steve trying so hard not to make eye contact through the rearview with Dustin. They both stayed silent after the question, not wanting to make Dustin upset.

“Why are you hesitating, Steve?” Dustin yelled to the driver.

“I’m-I’m not! I’m not! I think she sounds real. You know, totally, absolutely real.” Steve said allowing his voice to trail off till the end.

“What about you? Why are you hesitating?” Y/N now under the same heat as Steve.

“I don’t necessarily think she’s fake! I don’t know! I just haven’t met her.” She became flustered, not sure how to answer her little brother. They let the conversation end as Y/N turned back around to the road.

“Turn left!”

“What?”

“Turn left! Turn left!” Y/N once again shouted.

“There’s not a road here.” Steve yelled back to her.

“Turn left now!”

“Jesus! Hang on!” Steve screamed out as he yanked his steering wheel to the left. The car spun slightly before breaking through a fence and zooming about a third of the way up the giant hill. Steve was almost screaming but not quite. “Where are we going?”

“Up!” Dustin yelled from the back seat.

“Jesus!”

“We’re not gonna make it!” Robin yelled from the back seat!

“Yes we are. Come on baby! Come on baby!” The engine strained slightly as it rose higher up the hill. “Come on! Come on!” He kept shouting at the car while pressing his foot on the gas.

“Guess the Toddfather has some limitations.” Y/N joked when they were sputtering in their stopped position. Steve removed his foot from the pedal and let out a sigh. He pulled the car into park and removed the keys from the ignition. They all got out and began the hike up the hill to Cerebro.

“Hey, I’m sorry about in the car. I shouldn’t have been worried about it. I just- I shouldn’t have given you shit for it. I’m sorry Y/N/N.”

“Stevie, it really isn’t a big deal. I don’t care, and I mean that genuinely.” Y/N said reaching out her pinky to pinky promise she was telling the truth. He gracefully took her pinky into his, locking the swear in. They were nearing the top of the hill when Dustin rushed over to Cerebro.

“Bald Eagle, do you copy? This is Scoops Troop, bald eagle do you copy?” Dustin yelled into the talkie. They waited a moment before static cut through the silence.

“Yes, I copy.” Murray said hoarsely into his end. The entire group let out sounds of relief.

“Call sign?” Dustin asked excitedly.

“Bald eagle.” Murray said.

“Please repeat.” Dustin egged him on.

“Bald eagle! This is Bald Eagle!” Murray yelled, his rage starting to shine through.

“Copy that! Good to hear your voice, Bald Eagle. What’s your 20?”

“We reached the vent. I’ll contact you when I need you. Until then, silence.” Murray said with an angry ease.

“Roger that, Bald Eagle. This is Scoops Troop, going radio silent. 10-10, over.” Dustin announced to those on the receiving end. Steve gave Dustin a few taps on the shoulder once he went silent. Dustin took his place beside Cerebro and Erica sat beside him. Robin and Y/N started to pace together, walking in around in circles. Steve just kinda stood and looked out upon the landscape.

“So, uh. I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that your Steve’s Suzie.” Robin whispered to Y/N.

“Oh, you think?” Y/N said sarcastically.

“All I’m saying is that the feeling is mutual, and the tension between y’all could snap at any moment.”

“Shut up.” Y/N said with a laugh and gentle shove to Robin’s shoulder. The two kept light conversation for awhile, Steve eventually joining it. It was mainly Robin talking about school and what she was taking for senior year. As Murray navigated through the tunnels, he would occasionally ask the Scoops Troop for their assistance.

“Scoops Troop, this is—Mmm---Bald Eagle. I’ve reached another junction.” His voice echoed out into the open air.

“This is what?” Dustin clarifying the junction.

“The fourth junction.” Erica answering rather than Murray.

“Alright, so if memory serves, this is right after the My Little Pony thesis.”

“We went left so he would have to go-“ Y/N began to answer, only to have her sentence completed alongside Dustin and Erica. “-Right.”

“Fly right Bald Eagle. Fly right.” Dustin spoke into the walkie.

“Roger that, flying right.”

“What’s the My Little Pony thesis?” Robin asked looking around the group.

“Don’t get him started.” Erica blankly stated.

“Get him started? Just tell me—“ Robin began to say before being interrupted by Steve.

“Hey, guys?” his voice sounded scared. The group all rushed to their feet and over to where Steve was standing. As they looked out across the landscape, they could see the lights of Starcourt flashing and glitching like crazy. It looked like everything was going haywire. As soon as they saw what was happening, they ran back to Cerebro to get in contact with the Griswold Family.

“Griswold family, this is Scoops Troop! Do you copy? Over!” Dustin shouted into the walkie talkie. He repeated it over and over again, only to be cut completely off from them by the creature snagging the walkie. He shouted their call sign a few more times. The group was on edge, all of them were staring, scared at Cerebro. The roar of the monster into the walkie startled the receiving group. They no longer heard any static, but yet Dustin was continuing to call out for them and the confirmation of their safety. Never once did they answer past the shriek. It was terrifying, they could be dead for all they knew. Y/N began to feel an urge, an urge to go back and help them.

“Steve keys.”

“What?”

“Steve, give me the keys.”

“No, if you’re going, I’m going too.” The two stood up and began running back to where Toddfather had been stuck in place.

“Where are you going?” Erica yelled out.

“To get them the hell outta there!” Steve yelled back in response.

“Stay here! Contact the others!” Y/N yelled to her brother as well. A little bit farther down the hill, Y/N noticed that Robin was coming with them as well. They needed to help the others, and Dusty and Erica would be safe here together.

 taglist: @mochminnie @queen1054 @prettysbliss @voidnarnia

[demigodlunar]

Scars - Chapter 3

Wow, people have already read this sooo fast! Thanks so much, I appreciate it :D

_____________________________________________________________

Chapter 3 - Take Over With Grace

“Mr. Grace?”

Jason was jerked out of his fantasies of being a normal child- for about the millionth time- when he heard his last name being tossed out carelessly in the large crowd.

He shielded his eyes from the camera’s flash setting and the just the sight of the showy clothes of the countless paparazzi and media that were here for the interview.

“Mr. Grace, what do you have to say about the shares in the stock market for Olympic Inc. going down last week?”, one of the nameless news reporters asked, arousing another round of nods and agreement.

And once again, Jason sighed in relief that the question wasn’t directed towards him. He was Mr. Grace, yes.

But not to the public. To the public, Jason was just a secretary or student intern that happened to be at the interview. No one important. His father, Zeus Grace, was the one that was being bombarded by questions.

Jason could hear his father's loud and commanding voice over the racket of the others, answering the question with a calm, precise tone and reassuring words. He gulped, being reminded once again that this could- would- be him soon.

The annoying little voice in the back of his head whispered again, you’re almost 18. Almost time to take over the company.

Jason tried to keep the headache at bay. He hated the fact that soon, he wouldn’t be a normal 18-year-old boy without a care in the world. After he graduated from high school next year, Jason’s father wouldn’t even bother sending him to college. He would take over Olympic Inc. the moment he threw his square graduation cap in the air.

Jason could remember a distinct memory from when his parents were still talking to each other.

~~~~~~~~~~

8-year-old Jason Grace peeked out from behind the door to stare into the living room, where his parents were yelling at full volume, not even caring to lock the door or try to reduce their voices to not scare the children.

“He’s just 8 years old,” his mother, Beryl Grace, screamed, “A child! You can’t bring him into all your business and politics, I won’t allow it!”

“He’s my child, so I will decide whether I start teaching him how to take over the company when he’s older, and introduce him to the press.”, Zeus yelled back with just as much vigor.

“Your child! YOUR CHILD!” Beryl screeched, “He’s my child too! You already told the world about Thalia and now she can’t even leave the house without the media asking her if she’s going to take over the company!”

Jason winced at his mother’s voice, not even understanding what they were so upset about. If they could just talk it out, maybe they could come to an understanding.

“Thalia will not be taking over the company,” Zeus argued, taking on a defensive tone, “I vowed only my first-born son would be the head. Besides, Thalia wouldn’t want to take over. Once I tell the media that Jason will be the new CEO, they will get off her case.”

“And then what about Jason? Then they start stalking him? AT 8?” Beryl yelled, screaming a string of words that almost made Jason’s ears bleed afterward.

“Fine,” Zeus said, deadly calm, “Until Jason is legally an adult, we will keep him hidden from the public. I will still teach him what he needs to know, but he can be seen as a normal boy at least until then. Then, he will take over the company.”

Jason stood there, trying to figure out what “take over the company” and “new CEO” meant. Now, Jason was a smart boy, but this seemed to stump him. Would he become like Daddy? Working all the time and wearing those tight looking suits and ties?

Ew.

Jason didn’t want to do that, that seemed boring.

He turned his attention back to his parents in the living room, and they had calmed down excessively. He tuned into the conversation to hear what they were saying.

“... you take Thalia and I will take Jason,” Zeus said, holding his hand out to Beryl.

She stared at it for a couple of seconds before grabbing it and shaking it briskly, “Deal, but they have to be able to meet. They love each other, you know.”

Zeus sighed, “Of course, every Saturday and Sunday?”

Beryl nodded and she started walking to the door that Jason was hiding behind. Jason jumped back as she pushed it open and walked up to Thalia’s room.

The next hour was a blur and all he remembered was Thalia crying and yelling that she didn’t want to go, and that made Jason cry too. He didn’t like to see his sister cry, she was really good to him. After they both calmed down, Jason learned a new word.

Divorce. It rolled off his tongue but in a bad way. When your parents left and lived in different houses.

Well, Jason thought, At least I will get to see them still.

But living with his dad was something that Jason never got used to.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jason was startled out of the memory when a finger snapped under his nose three times in quick succession. He looked up bewildered at the snapper. Thalia grinned down at him and put her arm around him.

“Hey, little bro! Spacing out again I see.”

Jason rolled his eyes but smiled fondly, “You're only one year older. Besides, I was just thinking of when I have to take over the company.”

Thalia’s easy smile disappeared, and she frowned, “I still can’t believe that dad is giving you no choice at all. I mean, you're wasting your life on something that will never make you happy.”

Jason sighed, every time that this topic was brought up Thalia made the same argument. He tugged at his tie, feeling uncomfortable all of a sudden.

“Just let it go, Thals.”

Thalia huffed but didn’t add any more fuel to the conversation. Then, she smiled widely. Jason almost tripped from the sudden change of attitude.

“I just remembered! I gotta go, little bro, Piper is having brunch at her place today,” she said while wiggling her eyebrows in a weird way.

Jason felt heat rush to his cheeks when his sister mentioned Piper Mclean. He could remember the first time he saw her.

It was in the hallway during their freshman year. He saw her stand up to Drew Tanaka when she was bullying some poor boy who looked at her wrong or something. When she yelled at Drew and embarrassed her in front of the whole hallway, Jason felt like he’d been shot.

If it wasn’t enough that Piper was a kind-hearted, brave person, she was also painfully beautiful. Even when she cut her hair, and wore baggy clothes, she was still extremely gorgeous. She also never noticed him.

It was safe to say that he had a very big crush on her.

“R-really?” he stammered, blushing, and wishing he never told Thalia about his crush in the first place because she found a reason to make fun of him for it all the time.

Thalia smirked and whipped out her phone and went to her messaging app, bringing up Piper’s contact.

Thalia wanted to introduce Jason to Piper to help him with his hopeless crush, but he’d voted against it. As painful as it was, he couldn’t be introduced as Thalia’s brother, because that would mean explaining their complicated family tree, including Percy (who Jason hasn’t heard from in years) and the fact that he would be a CEO of a famous company in a little over two years.

Jason brought his attention back to Thalia’s phone, where she was texting Piper. Their conversation was pretty casual.

(AN: Thalia, Piper)

Today - 11:34 AM

hey Pipes

hey Thals

wassup

nothing much, you?

i’m here with my brother at one of my dad’s interview things

Jason almost shrieked, but that wouldn’t be very manly of him. Instead, he shook Thalia’s shoulder forcefully.

“THALIA!” he winced as his voice squeaked.

“What?” Thalia frowned at him.

He stared at her, and sudden realization dawned on her as Piper’s reply came.

you have a brother?

“Oh shoot, oh shoot, oh shoot!” Thalia yelped, juggling her phone like it was on fire, “Oh my gods, what do I say? Should I say I was lying?”

“Yeah, because she’ll definitely believe it if you say ‘oh I was just kidding, sometimes I imagine I have a brother!’ She would think you’re crazy!” Jason deadpanned.

Thalia glared at him, and then she sighed resignedly, “Well, she knows now, and she’s one of my good friends, so I may as well just tell her the truth.”

Jason didn’t like that idea, but Thalia was already texting Piper again. He looked at the screen to see the conversation again.

yeah

EXCUSE ME, but how come you’ve never told me about him?

never came up

fine, you win, for now. show me a pic?

And in the next second, Thalia found a picture of Jason laughing at a joke that Hazel made, and sent it.

Jason made a mad grab for her phone, but it was too late. Oh no, he looked so dorky in that picture.

“Chill it bro, you look fine,” Thalia said, her eyes still on the screen.

Then, her face looked like she’d hit a gold mine, and she pushed the screen in front of Jason’s face.

oh, that cute boy you sit with at lunch sometimes? He’s really good looking.

Jason almost dropped the phone, and stood there rooted to the ground as Thalia cackled in the background.

Piper. Piper Mclean. Thought he, Jason Grace, was good looking?!?!? Jason felt like he might die.

Thalia wheezed as her laughing fits started subsiding, “Oh-oh my gods. Th-that was amazing!”

Then she typed a reply to Piper.

yes, he is, and he’s also here looking at our conversation.

Thalia erupted into another bout of laughter, and Jason waited for Piper to respond. But she didn’t.

He didn’t know how to feel about that.

Jason’s watch beeped, and he remembered that he was supposed to be heading to Hazel and Nico’s apartment to hang out. He waved goodbye to Thalia (who was still laughing like a lunatic) and made his way back to the apartments where his cousins lived.

Gods, he needed to clear his head before he went brain dead, and spending time with family, other than his dad, helped with that.

My, oh my, this was gonna be an eventful year. _____________________________________________________________

Hehe, there's some Jiper for ya. Poor Jason, being stifled like that... I can relate :(

-Blossom ;)

[a-solitary-marshmallow]

Do No Harm Take No Shit Chapter 7: Fox Trap

Adrien cursed and grabbed Marinette’s wrist, ready to yank her away. They had to transform, to catch Lila before she did too much damage. The akuma fluttered through the agape classroom window in a flurry of black wings. It swooped down towards the still spitting Chloe, onto to be blown away as Sabrina swung her folder at it in panic. Ms. Bustier cried out, “Students, please, stay calm! Everyone needs to leave the classroom immediately!”

Way ahead of you. Adrien and Marinette were already darting for the door. Adrien glanced over his shoulder just in time to see the akuma dart towards a grinning Lila, then flutter past her to land in Alya’s phone.

He froze. Lila let out a squawk of indignation.

A magenta haze lit up Alya’s face and sent students spilling away from her with frightened yelps. Alya’s eyebrows furrowed. She glared at something that wasn’t there.

“Yes, of course I wanna kill her. But I won’t hurt Marinette more by becoming a – hey, don’t take that tone with me, old man – get out of my head!” Alya clutched at her phone with white fingers. “Fuck off!”

She threw her phone to the ground and stomped on it, cracking it in half and sending the akuma fluttering free. It darted around the crowd of confused students before being snatched up in an all too familiar hand. Marinette cursed and now she was dragging Adrien into the hallway as Lila was engulfed by black smoke.

“Well.” Adrien panted as they dashed down the stairs, hand in hand. “I didn’t see that coming.”

They bolted into an empty classroom and slammed the door shut. Plagg wriggled out of Adrien’s pocket with a snicker.

“Oh, is it time to beat up the liar already?”

“We just have to de-akumatise her, Plagg.” Marinette said crossly. “Did anyone see where the akuma went?”

“No, I didn’t.” Adrien shot Plagg a considering look that he hoped communicated, ‘maybe a cataclysm to the face will help de-akumatise her’. Plagg grinned back at him with wicked fangs.

Marinette nodded determinedly. “We don’t know what she could be doing to everyone! Tikki, spots-”

The door exploded inwards with a percussive boom.

  Adrien went tumbling, banging his elbows on the hard floor as he rolled to a stop. He groaned and picked himself up on his throbbing elbows, hearing Marinette sitting up somewhere behind him.

“Ow.” Adrien mumbled.

“There you are~” A saccharine voice sounded. Adrien looked up in irritation to see an akuma in the doorway. She might have resembled Volpina, once. If not for the extra bulk in her suit, and the fur rippling down her back and arms like that of a demented werewolf. Her hair bristled bright red and was bunched up with black ribbons that matched the black claw marks streaking her suit. Her mouth was a wide red slit as she cooed, “Oh, poor baby, did you hurt yourself? Well, you’ll be hurting a lot more when Vulpine’s done with you!”

“Oh for fuck’s sake-”

Vulpine snatched Adrien’s wrist in a deathly tight grip, claws pricking through his sleeve. She leered at him. “Language. Wouldn’t want to upset our fans, would we? I’ll have time to punish Maribrat later, for now we can have some fun together!”

Adrien yelped as Vulpine wrenched him to his feet. Marinette shouted but the akuma had already dragged him down the halls. She was strong. Did Volpina get bitten by a radioactive fox and become fox villain squared? Adrien’s feet dragged on the ground as he uselessly tried to regain his footing.

“Let me go!”

Vulpine tittered. She was heading for the front gates. Where was she planning on taking him? The students they passed shrieked and darted back into their classrooms. Adrien yelped as Vulpine cheerily hopped down the stairway and strode out into the busy Parisian street. A bystander screamed, “Akuma!”

“What do you say we go somewhere more public?” Vulpine cooed. Adrien tried and failed to wrench his arm away from her. Where was Plagg? Adrien had lost him in the explosion. “Hmm, I’m thinking the Eiffel tower? Everyone will have a good view of us there! Come one, come all, to Paris’s first of many public executions!”

Vulpine sprang into the sky, dragging Adrien along with her, only to be knocked out of the air. Adrien screeched as Vulpine lost her grip on his arm, but he was only in free-fall for a few moments. He slammed into a pair of familiar red arms. Ladybug landed lightly on the school roof.

“Are you okay?” She demanded. Adrien nodded mutely. God, was Marinette always this beautiful? She placed him down with a quick call of, “Get to safety,” and then she sprang forward towards the cursing Vulpine.

He had to go and help her. But first things first, find his kwami. Adrien bolted down the stairwell and followed the trail of destruction back to the half-crumbling room. His shoes crunched in rubble as he skidded through the empty doorframe.

“Plagg! Where are you?”

No answer. Adrien spun in a wide circle. Where could Plagg have gone? Where would he be? Maybe he would follow after Ladybug, or go off to try and find Adrien himself, or-

“Adrien!”

Adrien spun to catch the flying kwami and cuddle him close. Plagg purred against his chest.

“I was so worried.” Adrien confessed. “Plagg, I’m so sorry I lost you. I promise I’ll make it up to you but right now we have to help Ladybug.”

“Fine.” Plagg grumbled, but his rumbling purrs betrayed him.

“Plagg, claws out!”

  When Chat Noir bounded into the school courtyard, there was no sign of Ladybug or Vulpine. A boy huddled near the gate pointed, and Chat Noir nodded in thanks before leaping to the next building in that direction – headed straight towards the Eiffel tower. Vulpine was a fox on a mission, and she had said ‘the first of many public executions’. Ladybug would probably be just as good as Adrien Agreste in her eyes. Which meant he had to hurry.

It didn’t take an expert eye to spot them (hehe, spot) next to the Eiffel tower. Vulpine wasn’t the subtlest of akumas – she’d seemed to have given up on nuance and stealth in favour of possessing the brute strength to fling cars. Chat Noir dodged a grey Sedan mid-air and slammed his baton down on Vulpine’s head from behind. She roared and spun on him only to have Ladybug’s yo-yo wrap around her neck. Vulpine grabbed at the wire and pulled. Chat Noir’s eyes widened.

Ladybug was yanked forward with a cry and slammed into him, sending them tumbling. Pain flashed through his midsection. Aaaaaaand she’d landed knee-first on his stomach. Great.

“Ow!”

Ladybug was all elbows and knees, but she jumped up quickly. Chat Noir wheezed on the ground. Her eyes widened. “Chat, are you okay?”

“My pancreas has seen better days,” he muttered, “But I’m good.”

A cackle drew their attention. Vulpine had already scaled the Eiffel tower, and she hung tauntingly from its top platform. She shouted something but she was too far away for Chat Noir to hear. He sat up, wincing, and shouted back.

“WHAT?”

Vulpine’s yelled reply was too quiet to him to understand. Ladybug pulled Chat Noir to his feet.

“She knows we can’t hear her, right?”

“Let her have her moment.” Ladybug shrugged. “Look at it this way – we don’t have to hear her monologue.”

“Excellent point. Shall we?”

“After you.” Ladybug smiled and spun her yo-yo menacingly. “Let’s go catch us a fox.”

  For someone who was supposedly working with Hawkmoth, Vulpine was surprisingly easy to defeat.

Her power as Volpina had come from her illusions and craftiness. This new form might have been physically stronger, but it didn’t nearly compare to the might of Stoneheart or Gorizilla, and right now she had the battle strategy of a drunk lizard. Too caught up in her raging to care about anything else, she screeched and swung at the heroes wildly. It was all too easy for Chat Noir to trip her over the side of the tower; for Ladybug to lash her yo-yo around the villain’s ankle and stop her mid-fall; for them to reel her up and restrain her. Not even a lucky charm or cataclysm needed. Chat Noir grunted as the furious akuma thrashed in his grip.

“Where’s her akuma?” He shouted. Ladybug dodged a swinging claw.

“I don’t know!” Ladybug darted forward to yank Vulpine’s orange bracelet from her wrist. It cracked, but nothing came out of it. “Damn.”

“YOU’LL NEVER FIND IT!” Vulpine yowled. “I’ll destroy you and then I’ll destroy those idiots in my class and I’ll deliver your Miraculouses to Hawkmoth-” Vulpine tore free of Chat’s grip and lunged towards Ladybug. He yelped. Ladybug was faster in her reaction.

“Oh my god shut up!”

She decked the liar across the face.

Vulpine shrieked in shock and clapped a hand to her bleeding nose, giving Ladybug enough time to snatch the ribbons from her hair and tear them in two. The akuma fluttered free.

“No!” Vulpine lunged at it. Ladybug’s yo-yo snatched the akuma from her fingertips and snapped back into the heroine’s hand. Vulpine screamed in frustration. “No! Give that back! I will DESTROY you, you lemon-faced mother fucking insect-” The smoke engulfed her, leaving Lila Rossi to continue her threats and stamp her foot. “-two-faced goody-two-shoes bitch!”

Ladybug released the purified akuma. Lila grabbed for it with frustrated tears in her eyes, but Ladybug caught her wrist in an iron grip. Lila cursed her out again.

“Miss Rossi, I am putting you in police custody.” Ladybug said coolly. Lila shrieked and tried to tear free but Ladybug’s grip was immovable. “If you resist, I will incapacitate you. Do you understand? Today you have knowingly abetted a terrorist-”

“Oh FUCK YOU!”                                        

Ladybug hummed and twisted Lila’s arm, spinning the girl to lock her wrists behind her back. “I did warn you. Chat?”

“My pleasure, Milady.” Chat Noir stepped forward to take hold of Lila’s wrists while Ladybug cast her miraculous cure. He took malicious pleasure in holding her tighter than necessary, ignoring her furious shouts. A few claw marks weren’t such a big deal. Not compared to the complete and utter shitshow she was about to face.

Chat Noir probably shouldn’t have taken so much pleasure from Lila’s suffering. Well – maybe Marinette was just a better person than him. She was gracious and forgiving enough for the both of them, even if she had earned more than her fair share of wrath and revenge.

Speaking of revenge and payback and what have you, a company had gathered at the bottom of the Eiffel tower. Chat Noir’s keen vision picked out a few police officers, Chloe – was that Sabrina nearby, talking to her father? – and an unfamiliar woman who was radiating bad vibes even from here. Chat Noir hadn’t had a mum for a while now, but he could vividly remember the horror that was a mother’s scorn. Probably Lila’s mother, the diplomat, from the official suit she was wearing and the cropped-short brown hair.

They took the elevator down. Chat Noir would have preferred just dropping down to ground level (and catching Lila once he’d landed, of course, Plagg may have whispered the opposite in her ear but he wasn’t totally heartless) but Ladybug thought it best to take the slower way. Which made sense – Lila could twist a quick descent into stories of superhero brutality. Chat Noir did not need more legal trouble after that debacle with Copycat. So the elevator it was. Lila had finally run out of insults and stood glowering the whole time.

When they stepped out onto solid land, the brown-haired woman was there to meet them. Lila let out a gasp and her face instantly crumpled into a teary expression of fear. Chat Noir was impressed by how quickly she’d adapted.

“Mama! I promise it’s not what it looks like-”

“Is it true?” Ms. Rossi demanded at the heroes, ignoring her daughter’s cry. “The stealing and tripping a girl down the stairs and lying about schools being closed?”

“I’m afraid so, Ma’am.” Ladybug replied evenly. It was only through years of knowing her that Chat Noir noticed the twitching of her lips and realized she was carefully hiding a smirk. Ms. Rossi ran a hand through her hair.

“And – the akuma attacks, how long do they last for? I thought – it’s barely been half an hour, I just got here, and she’s already…”

“A couple hours at most.” Chat Noir slid in smoothly. He glanced over the diplomat’s shoulder to where Officer Raincomprix was hurriedly approaching. “Like always. Has someone told you differently?”

“You could say that.” Ms. Rossi said faintly. Lila tried again.

“Mama, you have to help me, Ladybug is lying about me and-”

“Hush.” Ms. Rossi silenced her with a lifted hand and a quickly-recovering glare. “I’ve had enough of your tales, young lady. There are policemen here to talk to you. My job is in question. So you can hold your tongue!”

Lila’s face flushed red with indignation. “Mama-”

“I don’t want to hear it!” Ms. Rossi yelled. At that moment Officer Raincomprix arrived and Chat Noir happily handed Lila over to police custody. She howled the whole time, of course, while Ms. Rossi looked on tiredly. Chat Noir wasn’t very well versed in law but he did recognise words like ‘truancy’ and ‘assault’ and ‘defamation of character’. Damn, Marinette had even got Jagged in on this, and boy did the rockstar have a bone to pick with Lila – at least, judging from the length of the list of charges. Maybe claiming a forty-year-old man had written songs about a fourteen-year-old girl wasn’t the best idea Miss Rossi had come up with.

He and Ladybug watched, mostly out of spite but also a little bit to make sure there were no issues, as Lila was arrested. Ladybug slipped her hand into his and he squeezed back. After another moment Chat Noir leaned in to whisper, “We should probably get back. Everyone will be worried.”

Ladybug nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” She turned to the small assembly and sent a cursory wave before flinging out her yoyo and zinging away. Chat Noir sent a two-fingered salute and followed.

[yurtletheturtlehenderson]

S.T. REWRITE - S2:E8; Chapter Eight, The Mind Flayer - [Pt. 1]

A Will Byers x Reader Series

An unlikely hero steps forward when a deadly development puts the Hawkins Lab on lockdown, trapping Will and several others inside.

A/n: This series has blown up so much, I don’t know how to thank you guys! I love you all!!

Warnings: Domestic violence, and a homophobic slur. Ugh, just Billy's dad in general. jc, this guy sucks. If you feel you need to skip this scene altogether, I completely understand. I will place the usual marker [●●●] at the beginning and end so you can scroll quickly. Safe reading, loves!

||3rd Person POV||

As Hopper gazes into the inky darkness, a great unending bellow erupts from within the pit. The elevator cables are struck by something below, indicated by their sudden whip that fell into a dull vibrating blur and soft twang. Immediately, a slender grey claw erupts from the shadows digging into the concrete edge. Emerging after it, was the figure attached, the beasts they could barely make out on the live feed. The same monster from the previous year, that thing this damn lab unleashed unto El and her poor friends. Hopper couldn't believe his eyes or his piss poor luck. Seemingly, neither could Dr. Owens who had numbly stepped closer to the window, next to Hop.

"Mother of God."

With stilled silence, everyone watches, eyes trained on the creature not knowing what to expect. And upon first glance, neither does the mutant. It stalks forward. It's eyeless bud-shaped head inspecting the glass before it rises to its hind legs, placing it's front claws on the glass. On the opposite side, Hopper leans closer to the pane, brows furrowed and ears perked as he takes advantage of seeing this unknown species up close.

The advantage doesn't last long, however, when the mutant takes one glance at Hopper and Owens individually - as if sizing them up, frighteningly enough - and it lets out a foggy huff before ramming its now open head into the glass. The two men jump back alarmed as it continues this, each strike against the glass is with more and more force and aggression.

"It's... It's polycarbonate. It can't get through." Dr. Owens utters, shuffling back despite his words.

On cue, the four-legged Demogorgan split it's head, and a bone-chilling shriek pierced the air. The shrill cry carried through the air, bouncing off the walls and deep within the caverns, continuously feeding into itself. The echo was enough to worry everyone, that was until they saw the elevator cables begin to move once more. It was then they realized, it had not been an echo, but the voices of dozens of its siblings. And they were all scrambling up the walls, out of the pit, and to its aid.

"Mother Mary and Joseph," murmured the man at the coms.

Another screech and they all fell in line taking orders. Not a single creature hesitated, and it was only a matter of moments before the pristine, spotless glass was near shattering. Hundreds of webbing cracks painted the glass to a point the creatures became harder to see.

"You sure about that glass?" Hopper piped.

His face flushed, Owens steps back to the panel, knowing what has to be done.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

The shrill alarm has reached the rest of the lab, bouncing off the cold white walls and alerting Bob and Mike.

"What the hell?" Bob asks, his protective grip on Mike feigning.

"We're too late," Mike realizes, voice grave.

"What?"

"We're too late!"

Mike escapes Bob's grip with ease, sprinting for Will's room where Joyce rises from her seat beside Will.

"What's going on?"

"We're under attack." Mike pants, face flushed.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹

"What's going on down there? Does anybody copy?"

The officer's voice echoes out of the speakers in the control room, though stifled by their panicked cries and the scuffle of their shoes on the floor as they run. Hopper is the last to exit, assuring everyone has made it out safely. The steel door slams shut just in the nick of time, no sooner does the splintered glass windows shatter into a thousand pieces, and the swarm floods in.

In the hall, Hopper and Owens flee with the other workers. That is until Owens finds a shortcut.

"Stairs, stairs!" He pants, shoving Hopper for the door. "Come on,"

The two men are able to safely retreat to the next floor, returning to the main floor. The same could not be said for the remainder of the team, who found themselves cornered in the elevator as the army broke free.

In Will's room, Mike spots the bottle of anesthesia and quickly snatches it up in his hands, turning to Joyce.

"We need to make Will sleep," He orders.

"What?"

"He's a spy! If he knows where we are, so does the Mind Flayer!"

Will sits up, his actions are suddenly frightened and hasty. He's furious. His once hazel eyes are almost completely black now. He quickly turns to Joyce and cries out.

"He's lying!"

"He killed those soldiers and he'll kill us, too!" Mike warned.

This only angered Will more, he shot up in his bed now fighting against Joyce's efforts to hold him down. He is screeching now, utterly infuriated and desperate as he fights against Joyce.

"He's lying! He's lying! HE'S LYING! HE'S LYING! HE'S LYING!"

The elevator has arrived on their floor, and when the designated guards arrive, the doors open revealing the several torn up bodies of the extraction team. The army of Demogorgan mutants don't hesitate on their newest targets, they stalk forward, their speed quickly climbing. In a flurry they scramble for their guns, shooting the evermoving targets as they pounce.

The gunfire echoes throughout the entire floor, including Will's room. Bob is at Will's bedside, aiding Joyce in restraining him, and he is the first to hear them.

"Those are gunshots!"

Everyone looks to the door, but their attention is quickly pulled back to Will who is still fighting.

"He's lying! HE'S LYING!"

Frightened, and short-fused, Joyce grips Will's arms.

"Okay, Will, Will, listen, listen. Do you know who I am?"

Will only looks dumbstruck, he looks at the woman before him, his body still half attempting to escape. At that moment, she knows Will is in there, but he has to fight for control.

"Do you know who I am?" She yells.

"You're..."

He falters, sending another crack through her heart as he searches his mind for her identity. And every moment seems to last an eternity, but when he finally spoke, she knew Will was losing his battle.

"You're... You're Mom."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looks to Bob with a determination in her eyes. Her pain is turning to anger.

"Hold him down."

Bob complies as she retrieves the needle and vial from Mike. Will comes alive, his anger - the mind flayer's anger - erupts from his frame and he is kicking and screaming with every ounce of energy he can muster.

"No! NO! LET GO! NO! NO! LET ME GO! LET GO!"

She steps forward, needle in hand, and quickly pins his arm down. She knows it is the mind flayer's doing, but she can't help but see the look of terror in Will's eyes and feels a wave of guilt. But she does not stop.

"LET ME GO! LET ME GO-!"

"I'm sorry," she cooed, fighting to keep his arm down. "I'm so sorry."

"LET ME GO!"

Mike tries to cover his ears, Will's frightful and all-too frightening shrieks pierce his skull and heart. And he can't help but think, he knew now more than ever it was the Mind Flayer, not his best friend. The only other time he had seen him this angry - this threatened - was with Y/n.

The needle breaks his skin and not a moment sooner does his cries begin to die down, and from there, it is only seconds before he is completely subdued by unconsciousness. At that same moment, Hopper and Owens burst through to the door, to find an unconscious Will, and Joyce, needle in hand. They manage to put the pieces together when without warning, a thunderous crash and inhuman howl grab everyone's attention. Everyone turns to see the pair of oak doors at the end of the hall begin to crack and splinter, piece by piece falls to the floor with each forceful strike. The creatures have reached the main floor.

Hopper pales. "We gotta go. We gotta go,"

He spins on his heel, racing for Will's bed and he swiftly sweeps the boy's small frame up with ease. Joyce, Bob, and Mike follow, not without making off with more morphine before their haste escape. The new group makes it to the outer rim before they witness a pack of these creatures take down several lab employees just up ahead. Before they can flee from where they came, the sound of rapid gunfire comes first. They are forced to pilot away and out of the hall through a narrow doorway where they find themselves in one of the labs' surveillance rooms.

Owens is the last to enter, closing the door behind him and Bob is the first to take note of the chaos unfolding on the many screens.

"Oh, my god," he gasps, drawing everyone's attention to the screens.

Everyone stops to gape at the many images of scattered bodies sprinkled throughout the labs' otherwise empty halls. Every monitor displays the contorted figures of the otherworldly creatures stalking the halls, prowling. Hunting. The lab is overrun.

The fluorescence lights above their heads begin to flicker, and just as quickly, all power has been lost, the monitors first to go. Amidst the pitch back, the group huddles close as the strident battle cry of the swarm echoes through the darkness making one simple fact abundantly clear;

Hawkins Lab has officially become the hunting ground for the army of the Upside Down.

[●●●]

On the other side of town, Neil and Susan Hargrove pull into their driveway in a rusty '71 pickup. Stepping inside, placing her shopping bags onto the dining room, Susan calls out to her daughter and step-son.

"Hey, guys, we're home." Receiving no reply, she wanders down the hall in search of any sign of life. "Guys? Hello? Max?"

She reaches Max's room first, opening the door to find the room empty, save for the abandoned taped up skateboard, and the open window. The drapes dance in the wind, reflecting the soft yellow light from the girl's bedside lamp, and it was clear to her that the room had not been touched all evening. Attempting to stifle her growing concern, she steps forward and closes the sliding window shut disregarding the chill the autumn night brought.

Inside his room, heavy rock music blaring from his stereo, Billy takes a long and deep breath, letting the smoke of his third cigarette of the day fills his lungs. He bounces on the balls of his heels to the rhythm of the beat before his mirror as he preps himself for his night out. The moment is almost perfect had it not been for the persistent knocking on his door and the sound of his stepmother.

"Billy?"

"Yeah, I'm a little busy in here, Susan," He calls.

"Open the door," Bellows his father. "Right now."

Now his night was completely ruined.

Stuffing down his fear and anger, Billy marches across his room and throws open his door. As it always seemed to go, he found his father looking down on him, seething, and a troubled and anxious Susan at his side.

"What's wrong?"

"Why don't you tell us?" His father spits.

Billy shrugs, perturbed. "Because I don't know."

"We can't find Maxine," Susan says.

"And her window's open."

Billy looks away, hiding his inward sigh. Getting on his father's bad side was never a good thing. It was rare to come out on the other side without a welt or bruise or two. And Billy was always his favorite target. That is after his mother left the picture. Whatever hell Max had just cooked up, was more shit he'd have to pay.

"Where is she?"

Biting the bullet, Billy shrugs.

"I don't know,"

"You don't know?" Neil scoffs, rage quickly rising to the surface.

All Billy can do now is throw water on the fire, but he knows he's only buying moments.

"Look, I'm sure she just, I don't know, went to the arcade or something." He says, retreating into his room. "I'm sure she's fine."

Neil follows, swiping at his mouth, a habit of anger as he follows his son to his closet.

"You were supposed to watch her," He growls.

"I know, Dad. I was," Billy sighs, throwing on his coat. "It's just you guys were three hours late, and, well, I have a date."

Pulling his mullet out from under his coat, straightening out he shrugs. "I'm sorry, okay?"

His father crosses his arms, glaring at him as he gestures to his mirror. "So that's why you've been staring at yourself in the mirror-like some faggot instead of watching your sister?"

"I have been looking after her all week, Dad." Billy snaps. "Okay? She wants to run off, then that's her problem all right? She's thirteen years old. She shouldn't need a full-time babysitter. And she's not my sister!"

Billy steps forward, slamming the off button on his stereo. The music stops just as he feels the force of his father shoving him into the wall. Neil steps closer, his grip on Billy's jacket tightening.

"What did we talk about?" He growls.

His son does not answer, and his fist swings up to meet Billy's cheek. Susan looks away fearfully, unable to witness his beatings yet neglects to step in. Neil brings his hand near Billy's throat in an act to threaten him, his sign of warning.

"What did we... talk about?"

Billy swallows the urge to fight back, no matter how demanding and he has to spit out the words his father wants to hear.

"Respect and responsibility," He repeats, hating himself for the waver in his voice that his father always seemed to bring out in him.

His father nods. "That is right,"

He shoves Billy further into the bookshelf, the boy fights a wince as his spine digs further against the wood.

"Now, apologize to Susan,"

Billy takes a deep, shaky breath. The only thing keeping him from any act - any sign - of defiance is the fiery, hostile glare he is held under.

"I'm sorry, Susan," He says.

The woman shifts uncomfortably in the doorway. Fearful of anything she says, less it inflict more pain on Billy, or herself.

"It's okay, Neil," she eases. "really, I-"

"No," he roars, jostling his son once more. "it's not okay. Nothing about his behavior is okay."

He waves a stubby finger in Billy's face, reluctantly letting him go and stepping back once he felt assured the lesson had been instilled.

"But he's going to make up for it," He turns around to look in her frightened eyes. "He's gonna call whatever whore he's seeing tonight and cancel their date. And then he's gonna go find his sister. Like the good, kind, respecting brother that he is."

He returns his attention to his son, who stands frozen, tears misting his eyes.

"Isn't that right, Billy?" He steps forward at the boy once more, voice rising when he receives no reply. "ISN'T THAT RIGHT?!"

To the best of his ability, Billy swallows the lump in his throat, his voice hoarse. "Yes, sir."

The man sighs heavily, inching closer, head turned. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you."

"Yes, sir."

Somewhat satisfied with Billy's response, his dark eyes return to Billy's, drilling holes with his threatening glare.

"Find Max." He orders.

Finally, he falls back, marching past his wife - who quickly steps out of his way - leaving a vulnerable and broken Billy behind. The door closes and only then does he let his tears fall in heavy streaks down his cheek. Expressing his emotions the only way he knows how, he chucks the nearest object - in this case, a cologne bottle - and it shatters at his feet. Another broken mess.

[●●●]

Max kicks yet another chunk of gravel in her path as she walks, trying as best as she can to keep up with Y/n's tale. How Max found herself in the middle of this confusing shitstorm, she would never know.

Steve, on the other hand, having known only half the story from the previous year, was gaining new information himself. About Eleven, Y/n, the experiments, everything. Just when he thought he knew everything about his hometown.

"You mean, he actually, like, yelled at you?" Lucas gaped. "Will?"

Y/n nods, eyes trained on the tracks below her feet. After a confusing roundup, the group found themselves walking the path the swarm had disappeared on. Having no choice but to answer their many questions, Y/n was recounting to them - without mentioning El or her trip to Chicago to the best of her ability - the events in the past 48 hours. It was proving a very difficult feat.

"'Get the hell out of my house', does not sound like Will. Like, at all."

"Exactly," Y/n insists. "I'm telling you, he's not himself."

"Clearly," scoffed Dustin.

"So I left. He didn't want me there, he made that clear enough."

"That still doesn't explain why you're dressed like that, or the fact that you came in, hands blazing, and fought off an army of Demogorgons,"

"It's complicated, alright?" She snapped defensively, rubbing a hand over her eyes. "I..."

The words died on her tongue, not even knowing what they were. She had no idea how or where to even begin. All she could do was choose her words carefully.

"I had to clear my head," she paused briefly when she saw the worried look in her brother's eyes, and sighed. "I had to get away, so...I did. Long story short-"

"Too late," Steve quipped.

"-I ran into some trouble. My clothes got trashed, so I got my hands on some spares, and I made my way home."

Satisfied with her careful recount of the events, she continued.

"And on my way, I-" she sighed once more. "Well, I figured out how to use my... powers."

The word still felt foreign on her tongue, still felt silly to say.

"Turns out, facing your shit helps."

"Wait, what does that mean exactly?" Max asked.

Y/n shrugged. "I was hurt, and angry, and confused. Apparently, that helps me control it."

An uneasy quiet falls over the group and she looks around to see her friends staring at her with intrigue. Even Steve stole a few glances at her hands, but she merely stuffed them in her oversized pockets.

"No," she scoffs, hiding a small smile. "You were all there at the junkyard, you already got a glimpse. Besides, I need to save my energy for those things."

Confusion flashes across her face and she looks between the four. "What about you guys? Why the hell are we fighting these things?"

Lucas looked past Y/n, gesturing to Dustin who had grown awfully quiet. "It's all thanks to Dustin, and his little 'pet'."

Y/n frowned. "You're sure that thing was Dart?"

"Yes," Dustin nods. "He had the exact same yellow pattern on his butt."

"He was tiny two days ago," Max pointed out.

"Well, he's molted three times already."

"Wait, m-malted?" Steve asks.

"Molted," Dustin corrects. "Shed his skin to make room for growth like hornworms."

"Well, when's he gonna molt again?" Max asks.

"It's gotta be soon. When he does, he'll be fully grown, or close to it. So will his friends."

Y/n grows more and more concerned by the moment. "Like, actual Demogorgan size?"

"Possibly."

"Yeah," Steve cuts in, scoffing. "and he's gonna eat a lot more than just cats."

Everyone halted immediately, Y/n's eyes grew wide and Lucas throws a hand out at Dustin.

"Wait, a cat?"

Dustin freezes, his eyes as wide as saucers they flick nervously in Y/n's direction and Lucas gives him a firm push.

"Dart ate a cat?"

Y/n steps forward, advancing slowly. "Dustin, what is he talking about?"

He scoffs nervously, shaking his head.

"No, what? No,"

"Dustin-"

"What are you talking about?" Steve asks, clearly confused. "He ate Mews."

"WHAT?"

Max looks feverishly between everyone, once more completely lost. "Mews? Who's Mews?"

"You let that thing eat our cat?!" Y/n shrieked, now stomping closer to her brother.

Max gapes, having gotten her answer.

"I knew it!" Exclaims Lucas, joining Y/n's side. "I knew it! You kept him!"

He jabs an angry finger in Dustin's chest

"No!" Dustin shot back, albeit a bit weakly. "No. No, I... No, I... He missed me. He wanted to come home."

"Bullshit!" Lucas spits.

Dustin sees at the pointed looks of his friends, more importantly, the hurt in his sister's eyes and it is hit with a wave of guilt.

"I- I didn't know he was a Demogorgan, okay?" He looks to Y/n, reaching out for her. "Y/n-,"

He only manages to graze her shoulder, and he notes she is hot to the touch, proof that her powers were bubbling to the surface. She flinches, shoving his hand away and he winces at her scalding hands.

"Don't touch me," she huffs, avoiding his gaze. "You knew! You knew this whole time, and you kept him! We talked about this, Dustin! As a group. We agreed he was from the upside down-"

"He was my responsibility-"

"and you kept him and it murdered out cat! And, to top it all off you sent mom on a wild goose chase-"

Steve groans, knowing the fight will only intensify.

But the siblings did not hear, the fight-turned-screaming match.

"Like you're one to talk, you went off on some idiot side quest playing dress-up while the rest of us-"

"Excuse me?!" She turned on him, her fist bunch up at her sides and several waves of heat radiated off them. "That's some sexist hunk of bullshit! While the rest of you what, Dustin-?"

She gestures wildly around her.

"Yeah, 'the rest of you' are cleaning up your mess-!"

"Guys," Max tried. "It doesn't matter. Who cares, let's just-"

"It does matter!" Lucas retorts. "It does! You put the party in jeopardy! You broke the rule of law!"

"So did you!" Dustin shot back, pointing his flashlight at Max, gesturing to her. "You told a stranger the truth!"

Max guffawed, now just as invested and just as furious. "Stranger?!"

By now, Steve contemplates whether or not to leave the herd of bickering children and continuing on the path, seeing if they'd follow or even notice. But something in the distance catches his ear.

"Real nice, Dustin. Don't try and blame anyone else-"

He creeps forward, flashlight in hand, and aimed into the darkness of the trees. All the while, the screaming match continuing uninterrupted behind him.

"You wanted to tell her too!"

"But I didn't, Lucas, okay?" Dustin shrieks. "I didn't tell her!"

Steve hears the sound once more, the sound of distant cries - the same cries he heard at the junkyard. The swarm was close.

"We both broke the rule of law, okay? So we're even we're even!"

"-No, no! We're not even. Don't even try that!"

"You're so not even Dustin!" Y/n fires back. "At least when he broke the rules, it didn't end with a dead cat!"

"Oh, you're never gonna let that go, are you?"

"Let it go? Let it go? I just found out!"

"Jesus, is that what really matters right now?" Max shouts.

The broken party was now at war with one another, no one individual member speaking at once. They all continue to shout at one another, besides Steve, who is now completely on edge, wary of their surroundings.

"Hey, guys?" Steve calls.

"You're dumb pet could have eaten us for dinner!"

"He wasn't gonna eat us!"

"Oh, so he was just coming to say hello?"

"GUYS!"

The children stop finally, looking up at Steve and his angered - and frightened expression. They have only seconds to question his worry until another screech echoes through the trees. Everyone pales, and Steve's spiked bat comes to rest over his shoulder as he marches off into the woods, the founding members of the party following. Leaving an exasperated new member behind; Max.

She is suddenly filled with dread, and she shakes her head along after them.

"No, no, no. Hey, guys, why are you headed towards the sound?" She asks, getting no answer. "Hello?"

She watches dumbstruck as they disappear over the small dirt hill, and into the trees.

"Hello?!"

She huffs, her head practically rolling off her shoulders and cursing herself for what she is about to do.

"Shit,"

She breaks out into a light jog, begrudgingly joining the rest of the group.

They follow the unending calls to the top of a hill, overlooking a small portion of Hawkins. Fog covers the lands, and the only other noise filling their ears are the croaks and ribbits of the marshy lands nearby.

"I don't see him," Dustin says, defeated.

A small click brings everyone's attention to Lucas as he takes out his binoculars, unfolding them. The lenses scan the town below until they stop on a darkened building Lucas recognizes all too well.

"It's the lab,"

His voice is grave, and it infects the others who all quickly dawn a similar, horrified expression.

"They were going back home."

+++

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[thinking-outside-the-giftbox18]

A Pill In Time - Giftbox Studios

Summary: An alternate universe where ‘A Hat In Time’ [by Gears For Breakfast] is set in a psychic ward, and anyone non-human in the game are human now.

Notes: The writer has done research of the mental disorders yet has trouble understanding and memorizing them, please don’t harass or insult them as they have tried to be empathetic and avoid spreading misinformation.Perspective of the main character changes to the next character to show what the main character is really doing.

TW: Mental disorders [Autism/Autism Spectrum, PTSD, OCD, Anxiety, Schizophrenia, etc.], the perspective of a child can be dark too, self-loathing, mentions of physical abuse [not kids fighting each other, we were kids who fought our own siblings before, unless it was physical abuse on your perspective…nevermind…], mild swearing, might be boring depending on how I write this story, some important characters from in-game are OOC.

Come at me, @doodledrawsthings!!!

JK, Love your work, you’re the reason I made this fanfic! 

The art’s done by me! ^^

Chapter 3: The High-Risk Floor

I remained patient in the elevator as it took me to the final floor, the doors opened to the perfect horror movie setting: a long corridor with doors, dimmed lights with a few of them flickering because of the stormy weather outside the hospital, add lightning and thunder into the setting; I didn’t notice my legs shaking but I woman-ed up and marched forward into the almost dark corridors. I scanned each passing door as I strolled, keeping a close eye on anything peculiar, just as I reached to the second last door, I found my no.1 favorite toy: My Music-Hat, a music box in the shape of a purple hat, with the yellow band having a small turnkey!

But when I finally got my hands on it, I heard a loud banging from the door in front of me, I froze in my tracks and watched the formally locked door to break at any moment, I take a few steps backwards with my toy close to my chest, the shaking came back and I was truly scared. Suddenly, a velociraptor screech boomed across the floor, followed by the door breaking open loudly that it could’ve flew off from the hinges, behind the door was a long haired lady, because of the dark, her hair color was not clear, but I definitely saw her cold red eyes glare at me when she turned her head, like she’s some kind of beast in a fairy tale.

I trapped my gasp before it could escape from my mouth and bolted to the opposite direction, in hopes of reaching the elevator before that…thing can catch me. She screamed louder and ran faster than any other lady her age, whatever her age was. Her screeches and my screams deafened my ears. I clutched my toy and bagpack tight, everything flashed around me and then I tripped on my knee when I was so close to the elevator, I hissed in pain and looked back at the lady. She was getting closer and my heart raced in panic, this is too much!!!

I have never screamed so loud in my life, nor cried so hard that I failed to notice what was going on in my surroundings, time slowed down as the lady got closer and I curled myself into a ball and cried like a baby.

A few minutes earlier

The sound of thunder woke me up. I slowly opened my eyes to see rain droplets hitting the window and a calm sigh was my only reply as I got up, stretched my back with a moan and rubbed my eyes awake. I brushed off my long brown hair away from my face, I could’ve got a haircut but…no. No need for that, I stood up and felt the chill in my room, or cell. I head to my small cupboard and picked up my favorite sweater- a deep plum colored wool- and wore it above my white cotton t-shirt. I yawned while fixing my sweater sleeves and made sure that the sweater didn’t show my skinny frame when suddenly, two loud shrieks were heard from outside my room. I jumped and my heart started to race uncontrollably, I didn’t have time to calm down. I recognized one of the shrieks, but the other sounded… younger and shrill. I reached for the door handle- I’ve never opened it myself, unless Dr. Timothy tells me to, yet I knew that something was wrong and I have to see what had happened.

I opened the door enough to peep through. I heard two set of footsteps rushing to the direction of the elevator, I looked to the other side and saw a small girl wearing a purple-yellow hoodie and carrying some kind of gadget and a bagpack, probably 8 or 9 years old, with tears streaming down her terror-filled eyes and I can see why she was running to the elevator. HER. I felt my heart stop when the little girl tripped and fell to the ground, making her scream more loud, God knows what she’ll do to that girl, I ignored my mind that was screaming to hide or my deafening heartbeats as I dashed and grabbed the girl. It was like as if the time froze when I turned to face those red soul-piercing eyes…again, I hoped that hag didn’t recognize me as I ran back to my room and shut the door, clutching the small girl tight. She definitely didn’t like what I did as she started to bang on my door. My heartbeats got louder and faster which made my breath short and fast. I hyperventilated and begged for her to leave me…and the girl alone. The chill became worse as fear overpowered me and made me shiver with the girl, who was curled up in my lap and clutching my waist tight.

The security and staff finally arrived and took her away to be pacified. As silence returned aside from the occasional thunder, I didn’t stop shaking but it lessened. I looked up at the door which thankfully didn’t fly off its hinges and then looked down at the girl…Poor thing was still shivering and weeping as she buried her face on my sweater. I was about to pat her back when I noticed her bagpack which looked like a big blue marshmallow if it wasn’t for her badges on it, one of which had the infinity symbol in rainbow colo- Oh… I stared down at the girl for a while, thinking of ways to calm her down when I noticed that she dropped her gadget on the thankfully carpeted floor. I picked it up and observed it, and twisted the turnkey more than thrice. What ensued was an odd yet peaceful moment…

The top-hat shaped gadget produced a music-box sound, the top part opened like a flower blooming in spring time and small dots of light reflected from the top created a kaleidoscope effect that covered my sweater and the wall in front of me with more than dozens of stars in a galaxy, changing colors from white, purple, blue, yellow, green and back to white. This isn’t an ordinary toy, isn’t it…? I didn’t notice that my heartbeats had calmed down as the girl’s head peeped up to look at the toy and the small stars. She uncurled and leaned on my sweater as she stared blankly at them, eyes red and puffy from the tears. I listened to the music and recognized the song…It was a lullaby from a movie I watched a long time ago before being in this cell. I sighed and sang with it, my voice being a bit rusty and off-key as I began to sing, but it went smoothly along with the notes. I gently rocked the girl with my body as I continue to sing and wiped off her tears instinctively. I watched her eyes slowly close as she drifted into a deep sleep and her calm breaths indicated that she’ll be alright. I kept singing just in case till the song finished and picked her up and put her on my bed, covering her with a weighted blanket from her bagpack and tucked her in, she smiles calmly, feeling safe and secured. I can only smile as I watched her sleep before I quietly walked to my desk drawer to retrieve some emergency anti-depressants. As much as the moment calmed me down, my heart still panicked after dealing with the b!@#$ that had ruined my life…

Hana’s P. O. V.

I opened my eyes slowly and got up, stretched my back and looked around the place. I was sleeping on a bed in a small room, my blanket and toy beside me and my bagpack below the bed. I looked up and saw a man sleeping on a rolling chair, a big book covers his face and muffled his snores. I didn’t know what had happened but I do know that I’m not supposed to be here. So as quietly as I can, I stuffed both my blanket and toy back into the bagpack and crept towards the door, my tiny hand almost reaching for the handle…

“No ‘thank you’? That’s kind of rude if you ask me, kid…”

I froze, how did he know I was about to leave…? I turned slowly, just to see one golden eye peeking out of the book, looking directly at me. I was flustered and scared, what’s with this guy…?? He sat up straight and crossed his arms, “Now, would you kindly explain to me why a little girl like you was waltzing around in a psych ward…? And in the ‘high-risk’ floor where the deranged are kept against their will for society’s sake?” He asked me like I should know the answer to the last question, and I just remained silent. He’s a stranger, and Grandpa taught me to never to talk to one…But I don’t remember what had happened before I arrived here. “Well?” He spoke again, patiently waiting for an answer, I looked at my shoes, “What happened…?”I shyly asked.

“I don’t know, you tell me? You came to this floor.” He replied sarcastically, I looked at him a bit annoyed. “I was looking for my toys…” I mumbled, but he heard it as he let out a short deep chuckle. “Your toys? What kind of kid carries twenty-eight toys in her marshmallow bag?” He replied smartly, as a cat-like smirk crept through his lips. I pouted and blushed with annoyance. “An Autistic one, that’s who!!” I yelled and his smirk disappeared…Too far, I guess…I looked away from him and stood there in silence, he did the same, scratching his head that has long brown hair that reached below his back…He kinda looks like a girl…He cleared his throat, “I found you running away from…Vanessa. You were experiencing sensory overload, so I used that Top-Hat toy you were carrying around…” he said in an awkward yet polite tone, still looking away. I tilted my head, “Who is Vanessa…?” I asked, was it that lady’s name?? He frowned more and scrunched his face, he seemed to not want to answer that question…Did she chase him down and make him scream too…? I thought of the scenario, it would’ve been funny if it didn’t happen to me, so…I reached to my bagpack to retrieve my top-hat toy. “…I am looking for the rest of my toys, they don’t seem important but to me they are, and many others tried to take them away…This toy…was made by my dad…before he and mom left me with Grandpa…”

Robin’s P. O. V.

When she mentioned her parents, I can tell that she blames herself or her disorder…either way, I know how she felt as I used to blame my disorder whenever she would get mad at me. I looked at the toy, it looked like no other child toy I can think of, so maybe her dad did make it himself and it showed how skillful he was…But it doesn’t explain how and why the kid was basically an orphan, aside from her Grandfather as her guardian… ”So…How many toys do you think are left…?” I see her blink after being lost in her thoughts, “Hm? Oh! I think twelve of them.” Her answer surprised me and my tone showed, “Oh? Did you search everywhere for them? That’s really impressive, kiddo!” I gave a calm smile at her and chuckled when she blushed but she smiled back a bit. I saw the confidence coming back to her and she tied her boots properly before she turned to the door.

Yet she paused…I don’t have to guess, “Want me to help?” She turned and had an embarrassed frown, she nodded her head. “But you don’t have to…um…” I realized that I forgot to tell my name, “I am Robin, I did help you escape from a lunatic.” I introduce myself and offer my help, she looked around for a while, humming to herself as she thinks, “Okay, but only for being by my side in this floor and till I reach to the ground level.” I looked at her and smiled, “You’re quite the contractor…aren’t you, kid? ~”, admittedly, she does have a good deal, yet I just fear for her coming back… “Alright, it’s a deal!” I clapped my hands once and got up, which startled the kid as she stepped back, she never saw a tall person before? I cracked my back and ruffled my hair more to hide my eyes, she was still looking at me in awe and she walked closer to me. I looked at her curiously, what’s in her head now?

“C-Can I…Um…?” She nervously asked, while hesitantly reaching a hand for my hair, I thought for a minute and nod, she carefully grabbed a tuft and used her thumb to stroke it, her sky-blue eyes gleamed in amazement, finding some unseen wonder in my mane. “Are you a boy?” she asked with uncertainty and such innocence, I did a double take and laughed heartily at her question. It has been a while since I laughed like that and this kid had just made my day. I controlled my laughter and wiped off an imaginary tear from my non-hidden eye, “Now is not the time to debate whether my long hair makes me look like a girl, kid! We have an objective to accomplish!!” I watched her face change from embarrassment to realization as she secures the bands of her bagpack. Then I realized that I agreed to leave my room…for a kid I barely knew…My heart started to beat faster again and I stared blankly at the door. I breathe quietly yet quickly as the thoughts of the unexpected events that are yet to happen raced in my mind, then a small hand held mine and I looked at the small girl, “Ready to go, Mr. Robin?” She asked with an innocent smile, oblivious about how I am feeling. I inhaled and exhaled heavily, gave a fake smile and held her hand. I reached for the door, fingers on the handle, ‘Try to not think of dying of a heart attack on the spot, alright?’ I thought to myself and opened the door. I looked around to see if the coast was clear, and stepped out of my room in my socks as I lead the girl to the corridors of the floor. “What’s your name, kid?” I asked, I don’t mind calling her “kid” or “kiddo”, but that would be rude to not call her by name, she smiled and said that her name is Hana…That’s a really nice name.

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End of the Dadtcher chapter of ‘A Pill In Time’. This is a testing chapter to see if I can continue on writing this fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed as much as I enjoyed typing it; if you have any thoughts or suggestions, please let me know as I would want to make this chapter friendly and well-researched with no misinformation. Terms and Conditions apply.

[human-trash-fire]

Shot Through The Heart Ch. 2

Aelin:

Aelin reclined deeper into the massage chair currently working the knots in her upper back, as the water continued to fill at her feet. Mimosa in hand she sighed and closed her eyes, she was at peace for a brief moment before Lysandra shrieked. 

“OH. MY. GODS. A, why didn’t you tell me?!” She practically screamed, much to the chagrin of every patron in the upscale salon. 

“Tell you what…?” Aelin replied, rolling her head dramatically to the right to look at her friend.

“You’re trending on twitter again” she shoved her phone in Aelin’s face, “and you’ll never believe why!”

Aelin looked at the Twitter homepage and there at the top, with 1 million retweets and counting was #AelinCallHimMaybe. “What the hell? Hang on,” she put down her drink and pulled out her own phone. Flipping apps she went to Twitter to find the hashtag. There was a video linked, by someone with the handle “@moonmoon69”right at the top.

“WAIT! I wanna see this” Lysandra said at the same time Elide, on her left leaned in and said “Click it!” All three girls, heads together and mimosas abandoned, crammed in to look at Aelin’s phone.

She clicked play and immediately one of the most beautiful men she had ever seen appeared on the screen. His sepia toned skin was glowing in the sun, and he had long blonde hair pulled into a bun atop his head. He was wearing a Terrasen Army uniform, though the jacket was completely forgotten, and the t-shirt he wore instead clung to every dip and curve of muscle. He was standing in what was clearly a military post somewhere in the desert and smiling with perfect charm. “Aelin Ashryver Galathynius, you are my Queen. I, Sergeant First Class Fenrys Moonbeam, would like to humbly ask you to accompany me to the Army Ball this year. Please, call me maybe?”

Aelin’s jaw hit the floor as the scene before her cut to boots walking on the ground, and the music began. Suddenly Fenrys was back on the screen lip-syncing the lyrics to possibly the cheesiest pop song ever written, and all three women began laughing. Aelin couldn’t help it when her heart skipped a beat as Fenrys turned to the camera and winked at the end of his verse. The scene changed again and this time Fenrys, and four other men, all equally muscular and attractive, were laying on chaise lounges in nothing but short-shorts and combat boots. 

“You have to say yes, look at them!” Lysandra squealed, while Elide nodded vigorously on her other side.

The men continued to lip sync from different places on the base, always shirtless and shining with sweat. Aelin at this point had began to laugh hysterically, and all three girls crooned over the men dancing on screen. They had absolutely no talent, but seemed not to care how ridiculous they looked as they popped up from the dirt and lit off colored smoke in the background. Each of the six men had a turn to solo into the camera. Aelin’s breath caught again when, towards the end, the silver haired man with tattoos seductively danced around in what looked to be a makeshift kiddy-pool.

The last frame was all of them looking over the camera from above and smirking, before they walked away. The twitter handle @moonmoon69 popped up once more with the hashtag #AelinCallHimMaybe below it. All three girls were still giggling as she closed the link out, and looked up from her phone.

“Sweet gods,” she breathed, trying to calm herself down a bit. “Did you know the Army made men that look like that?”

“Did you see the one with long dark hair and black eyes? He looks like an angry sex God, and I think I need him in my life,” Elide replied.

“You’re saying ‘yes’ right? Do it for me, us.. Do it for Terrasen. It’s your civic duty,” Lysandra pleaded.

“For Terrasen?” Aelin replied with a conspiratorial grin, “Fuck it, i’m in. But you two are helping me figure out how to respond to this and, you’re coming with me. But first-” she chugged her previously forgotten mimosa, “Pedicures.”

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

“How do I even go about doing this?” Aelin asked over brunch a few hours later. The three women hadn’t stopped swooning over the men in the video, and if Aelin was being honest they had watched it three more times before ever arriving at their table.

“Well you obviously need to DM him” Elide replied, ever the voice of reason.

“Buuuuuut,” Lys dragged out the word with a smirk, “I think you should make a video of your own. It’s good press and he’s clearly in need of some feminine attention. You’ll blow his mind, and then hopefully other things,” she finished with an outrageous wink.

“LYS!” both Aelin and Elide screeched before the three erupted into a fit of laughter.

When they finally recovered, Aelin agreed that the first step should be making a video of her own. The publicity would do wonders for her, and she could reach out and worry about the logistics later. After a long debate they decided that the best way to respond would be something flirty but not embarrassing. “Let’s give the men overseas something to daydream about,” Aelin finished with a smirk.

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

Rowan:

Half awake and entirely pissed, Rowan was sitting at the table eating breakfast with most of his Cadre when Fenrys burst in yelling “I TOLD YOUUUUU!”

“Its 0400. Why the fuck are you yelling?” He practically growled over his coffee.

“Because,” Fenrys smiled as he sat down, “She responded, you’ll never believe this… Hang on.” Fen pulled his laptop out and set it so that they could all see, then directed their attention to a video he had already pulled up. There she was, smiling at the camera with practiced ease, flanked by not one but two equally beautiful and famous women: Lysandra Ennar and Elide Lochan. Rowan’s eyebrows kissed his hairline.

“There is no way-” He began, but was quickly shushed by Gavriel, Connall, Vaughn, and surprisingly even Lorcan. Fenrys pressed play.

The three women were dressed in what could only be described as the “slutty Halloween” version of the uniform Rowan currently had on. Paired with black heeled combat boots and red lipstick, her long tan legs were on full display. Rowan hated to admit it, even to himself, but she was the literal embodiment of his “questionable” teenage dreams.

“Hello gorgeous,” Aelin practically purred. “First and foremost I’d like to thank you and your delicious Cadre for that lovely video.” Rowan choked on his coffee at the name she used for them, the name they used for themselves.

“I’d be honored to be your date to this year’s Ball, but I have a few small requests. My friends here,” she motioned to the women beside her, “would like to accompany us so that we can have a chance to properly thank you for your dedication to Terrasen. We’d like to take you Fenrys, and the men in your video on a night out in Orynth after the ball… If you’re interested.” She grinned at the camera, and the look made Rowan’s heart beat a little too fast.

“If you’ll have us,” Lysandra spoke now, “We’d like to show you around in style. A limo for the event, the penthouse suite at The Palace hotel, and a private after party for your friends and a few more of ours.”

“In the meantime,” Elide continued, “Enjoy the care packages we’ll be sending to each of you just as soon as we get your information. If you have any special requests, don’t hesitate to ask!”

“A little something to help the days go by faster on your long, and hard deployment,” Aelin winked. “We can’t wait to meet you.” 

The last shot was all three women blowing a kiss to the camera. Rowan couldn’t believe it. The Princess of Orynth had responded to Fen. It took them nearly an entire day off to make that stupid video, more than one bottle of whiskey, and it had worked. 

“Holy shit,” he breathed, the 6 men were still staring with their jaws on the floor at the frozen image of the women on screen, lips still puckered.

“I KNOW!” Fenrys laughed, “I told you it would work, and when we get home we’ll have the most insane night of our lives. You can thank me anytime.”

“Thank you,” the entire cadre chimed in unison while still staring at the screen. The next 2 months were going to drag along knowing what was waiting for them when they returned home.

Rowan cleared his throat, “But, you’re still on laundry duty boyo.” 

__________________________________

Here’s a link to the video that inspired this fic! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PKiUjRSKI8

____________________________________

FIRST AND FOREMOST: MAAAAAAAAD thanks to @highqueenofelfhame​ for editing this work, your writing is an inspiration and I’m so thankful to have you there to read my nonsense before it’s published!

Secondly: Thank you all so much for the positive responses/ reblogs on Chapter 1! I’m so excited to share this chapter with you and I assure you I have many more to come <3 Feel free to follow along on ao3 glam_reaper2 <3

Tag List:

@http-itsrebecca​ @highqueenofelfhame​ @feyrethedarklady​ @someonemagical​ @thebitchupstairs​ @over300books​

[riverboundao3ff]

Riverbound, Chapter 21

Your name is KARKAT VANTAS and you can’t stop thinking of that video John showed you that one time with the human gamer yelling “CAPTAIN! LOOOOOK!” even though this is very much real life and there is a fucking enormous pirate ship barrelling right at you.

You barely have your sickles out before Vriska comes barging out of her cabin in full pirate ensemble, sword strapped to her waist and fangs bared. “Eridan, take the lead with me! Aradia, Terezi, and Karkat follow. Try not to get yourselves killed. Micah, up to the crow’s nest and see what the enemy is doing. Feferi, keep us at full clip in a circle.”

“I’m not a very good captain!” Feferi yelps as she almost snaps the wheel in half.

“Don’t worry about it, the 8rigantine’s been through some serious shit. She can take a rookie at the wheel!”

Micah zaps up to the crow’s nest with the eyepiece and trains it on the enemy ship. Despite your bloodpusher hammering away in your chest cavity, your feet carry you over to Aradia and Terezi, both grinning ear-to-ear like the maniacs they are. Both are amazing fighters, and you are… very small. Small, and not very strong.

If Crabdad could see you right now you know the old guy would shit himself on the spot.

“Why am I here,” you mutter, gripping your sickles for all they’re worth. “Fuck, fuck, fuck--”

“Shouldn’t Feferi be giving the orders?” Eridan mutters to Vriska, scowling.

Vriska sneers back at him. “My ship, my rules. If you don’t like it you can swim back to shore.”

“I’ll throw you overboard first, bitch.”

“Good to see some things never change,” Aradia snickers, but you can’t bring yourself to rib Eridan for his black crush as you watch the other ship pull right up against the 8rigantine.

“What’s it look like?” Terezi asks.

“Big. Probably one-and-a-half times the size of the 8rigantine…” You trail off as you see the hostages on board and do a quick count. “There’s about fifteen lowbloods on board. Most of them are rusts and bronzes. I see one gold.”

“A psionic?”

“Yep.”

“Dibs,” Aradia calls.

“He’s all yours,” you mumble, beginning to regret being hatched.

Well, it’s too late to back out now. Aradia lays out the plank with her telekinesis and sends a massive shockwave across to the other ship before the terrified hostages can so much as try to rally together.

“Aradia! Don’t hurt them!” Micah wails in protest.

“Sorry!”

She doesn’t look very sorry, but Vriska and Eridan are already charging across the plank together with fearsome battle cries, Terezi right behind them with swords drawn and Aradia bringing up the rear. From the crow’s nest, Micah yells something about the violetblood captain being in his cabin.

“Oh, I am so getting grounded for this,” you tell nobody in particular, and then you bound across the plank in four quick strides, ignoring the dark, churning waters below, and fling yourself into the fray.

Some bronzeblood takes a swing at you the second your feet hit the deck, but you can tell her bloodpusher really isn’t in it when she scrambles back as you knick her cheek with one of your blades. You dodge around a pair of unarmed rustbloods, sweep the feet out from underneath another bronze, and end up back-to-back with Terezi.

Not too long ago you would have been losing your mind at the thought of fighting alongside the girl you crushed on for a pretty sizable amount of your miserable existence, but at the moment you kind of want to smack her upside the head for letting Vriska drag you guys into this. “Where’s your crazy-ass moirail?”

“Looking for our target! Micah said he’s in his cabin,” she yells over a rustblood girl’s furious screeches as Terezi is able to deflect every blow.

You swipe at a boy who tries to lunge for your arm. “Well I wish she’d hurry--”

A shockwave knocks your flat on your ass before you can finish that sentence. Your ears ring, and you roll over with a groan to see Aradia and the goldblood psionic circling each other, both crackling with invisible energy.

“Back off! Back!” the psionic shrieks, blasting yellow sparks at Aradia. “He’ll kill us all if we lose the session!”

“Nobody’s dying today,” Aradia tells him calmly.

“What?!”

“Just keep fighting. We’re here to help.”

Some of the other hostages obviously overheard the whole thing, because you see several stop circling a hissing Eridan to turn and stare at her. None of them have even tried to attack him. He uses the opportunity to break free and roundhouse the psionic into the mast, knocking him out cold and sending cracks up the wood.

A nearby zap alerts you to the cavalry’s arrival. “Eridan!”

“He was attacking Aradia-!”

“Micahlookout!”

The mast splinters apart at the base and comes down through the deck, before toppling over towards your alien friend. They teleport out of the way just in time, reappearing to grab the unconscious goldblood and disappearing again.

The bronzeblood boy you’ve been swatting at scrubs furiously at his ganderbulbs. “What the-- did I just-?”

“Yeah, they do that,” you explain.

“I wanna go home.”

“Same.”

The sound of glass breaking has everybody jumping back as Vriska and the violetblood dude come tumbling out of the cabin window, screaming and clawing each other up with no mercy whatsoever. Serket’s metal arm is making progress in tearing a gash in the violetblood’s side, but he’s still way stronger than her and just as angry.

“You fucking bitch! This isn’t how you play the game!” he snarls, kneeing her in the gut so hard you hear something snap.

She spits blue blood into his face. “This isn’t a game anymore.”

He kicks her off him and springs to his feet, only for a blast of energy to carve a perfect hole through the center of his chest before he can so much as cuss her out again. There’s no blood, no bits of flesh dangling down into the gap. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Eridan lower his rifle, brows drawn together in concentration.

You stare in shock as Vriska kicks the still-standing corpse overboard.

The following splash is the only sound to be heard for the next couple of moments. You and Micah make eye contact and stare at each other for a little bit. Eridan and Vriska high-five and start ushering the hostages across the plank to the 8rigantine. Aradia just shrugs and helps a bronze girl with a bad knee to her feet so they can go, guiding Terezi along with her other hand.

“Well, that was quick,” you mumble, making your way over to Micah.

They don’t show any outward signs of distress, but the way their gaze doesn’t focus on anything in particular once you both make it to the other side tells you everything you need to know. You want to throw Serket overboard as well; for fuck’s sake, she knows humans are fragile about these sort of things!

They look over at you. “Guess that’s one way to do it.”

“Yeah.” You look out at the horizon, where a pod of skywhales are surfacing to breathe. “I’ll be honest. This rebellion stuff is way less fun than I thought it was gonna be.”

“Me too. Wanna get out of here once we get the hostages back to shore?”

Oh, fuck yes. “Sure. Can we get some of your weird human food?”

“Ask Dave, my guy. I’m broke as hell.”

“Fine.”

You wait impatiently as Micah helps the others down to the beach once the 8rigantine makes it to shore, but you can’t help but feel a surge of warmth when you see the dawning realization on the former prisoners’ faces when they realize that they’ll be going home. You’re smiling as a few of the younger kids grow brave enough to give Micah hugs, which is understandable given that the alien is very soft and huggable. It’s no surprise to you that they’ve managed to land in somebody’s diamond.

“Nothing like trauma to help bring people together,” they say as you watch the group walk off together towards town. “One of them said that they’re gonna make a group chat and call it ‘Hostage Gang’.”

Everybody gets a good chuckle out of that, and most of the tension leaves as you guys head back to Vriska’s hive. Terezi and Aradia start arguing about what blood caste has the thickest skull bone, with Terezi in favor of seadwellers and Aradia insisting it’s the indigos.

Micah bumps your arm. “Ready to go?”

“Yep.”

“Cool. Lemme grab my backpack.”

They zap away and are back in the span of two seconds, backpack slung over their shoulder. You have to tell yourself not to stare, even if you’re still definitely not used to your weird alien friend’s wacky spacetime powers.

Vriska’s face falls. “You’re leaving?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna bring Karkat to Earth to hang out. I’ll be back soon,” Micah tells her.

“... Promise?”

“Promise.”

“Aw, missing your lusus already?” Eridan taunts, before hightailing it back up the path to Vriska’s hive with a furious pirate girl on his heels. Terezi takes off after them with a shriek of delight, with Feferi begging them not to start a fight and Aradia waving back at you as she pelts sand at the back of Eridan’s head.

“Good god,” you mutter.

“Love those assholes,” Micah says, every word laced with affection. They hold out their hand, and with a lot less caution than you used to, you take it.

In the blink of an eye, the both of you are outside Dave’s apartment building with the sun going down behind the skyscrapers in the west. It’s hot as fuck, even for you, and teleporting never fails to make you a little dizzy.

You look up and down the alleyway. Cool, no other humans around.

Taking a running start, you kick off the dumpster underneath the fire escape and grab on to the last rung of the rusty ladder. You pull yourself up with a grunt and start hiking on up to the top floor, concentrating on the horizon to calm down your tilting vision. A bang of boot against metal lets you know Micah is right behind you.

“Why don’t you just teleport up?” you ask.

“Do you want me to take you up?”

“No. It makes me dizzy.”

“Sorry, dude.” They yank off their hoodie with a huff. “I need the exercise.”

“Don’t let Equius hear you say anything like that. For my wriggling day last sweep he gave me an exercise regime and video-called me to personally ensure that I was doing it. It was fucking terrible. Every time I see a stretching mat my ass clenches up so hard I taste shit.”

“... Do you think he’ll come around?” they ask.

You snort. “Who knows. I like the guy, don’t get me wrong, but… he’s pretty set in his ways about the authority of the Empire and the hemospectrum. If Nepeta can’t get through to him, nobody can.”

“Eridan decided he wants to change. So did Vriska.”

You bite your tongue before you can tell Micah that they unwittingly became the lusus-figure of those two jackasses the second they waltzed into their lives. “Yeah, well. Equius is a whole other hoofbeast, pun intended.”

By the time you reach the top level, your thighs are burning, you’re out of breath, and Micah has to brace themselves on their knees while sucking in air like an upright mechanical cleaning device. The usually pale skin is flushed red, and they’re making absolutely no attempt to cover themselves.

All humans have red blood, dumbass. Get over yourself. “How come you can go for three hours straight on Just Dance but get winded going up a few flights of stairs?”

“Man, shut up. You’re breathing heavy, too,” they wheeze.

“Barely.” You pull out your palmhusk and shoot a quick text to Dave, telling him to check the fire escape. Your palmhusk is barely back inside your sweatpants pocket before the window you and Micah are under slides open.

A messy head of blonde hair pokes out, and your gastric tract does a flip when a smirk lifts up the corners of Dave’s mouth. “Two aliens, chillin’ on my fire escape, five feet apart ‘cause they’re not gay.”

“I regret ever letting you in on the incredible gift that awaits this world that is Vine,” Micah sighs. “All those iconic seven-second videos, all those memes that have yet to define Gen Z as a culture… and some greasy millennial Texas kid gets the first crack at it?”

“Micah. Mickey. Mickaroonie. Gen Z was born at the start of 1995. I was born in 1996. I barely made it, but I made it. Slipped right in there like the intruder through Annie’s window, RIP Michael Jackson. Vine is my birthright, same as yours.”

“It will be your birthright.”

“What the fuck is a Vine?” you demand. Stupid humans and their stupid human culture. You still have difficulty believing that their planet is divided up into thousands of different sectors, each with their own laws and languages and governments. How come they just can’t pick one thing and go with it?

“Hush up and get inside, Karkles, both of you are letting all the cold air out,” Dave drawls, backing away from the window so you and Micah can hop in.

You do so and almost immediately eat shit when you land on a pile of comic books that slip out from underneath your feet. “Fuck!”

“Keep it down, bro, the walls are thin.” Dave chucks an empty juice bottle into the trash can across the room. “Thin as a rin-tin-tin, gotta keep on silencin’, can’t let the haters in from the world that keeps on burnin’--”

“If you shut up we’ll tell you about the rebellion that’s happening on Alternia. Past Alternia, that is,” you offer.

That gets his attention. He turns to you, brows drawing tightly together. “A revolution? On your hellhole of a planet? Isn’t that, I dunno, really frickin’ risky? You’re not in danger, are you?”

“Not in my time period, dummy,” you say, crossing your arms to block out the surge of warmth inside of you that has nothing to do with the Texas heat. He cares about your safety. “It’s like, ten sweeps ago? Fifteen? I dunno, Micah’s the one who’s actually in it.”

“Yeah… I don’t know, either. Alternian measurements of time are confusing. But yeah. Me and a bunch of my friends are gonna overthrow the government,” Micah explains.

“Hell yeah, stick it to the man. But, like, be careful.”

“I will. Time shenanigans are kind of my thing.”

“Can we get food now?” you demand.

“Hell yeah we can.” Dave glances behind him, but there’s nobody there. “Yeah… let’s see, Bro’s not gonna be back until Saturday, so we’re good.”

Micah glances over at the calendar on the wall and frowns. It’s Tuesday. You’re not sure what Tuesday is in relation to Saturday, but they don’t seem happy about it.

The three of you end up sneaking around downtown Houston until you locate a McDonald’s. It’s weird, how much safer you feel on Earth in comparison to Alternia. These aren’t your people, and this isn’t your planet, and yet when a group of teenagers pass under the tree you and Micah hide in while Dave goes inside to order you don’t even flinch. It helps that the sun has gone down and you know that humans can’t see in the dark.

“So…” they say, eyeing you thoughtfully. “Do you want me to leave you guys alone? You know, city lights, fast food, two teenagers sitting together under the stars…”

FUCK. You slap at them with a furious hiss. “No! I-- what, no! Who told you? Was it Sollux? It was fucking Sollux.”

“It wasn’t Sollux. You’re pretty obvious, dude,” they remark.

You scrub your face with your hands. “I… he’s just so great, which is stupid because he pisses me off, and he’s an alien, and it’s just impossible. A-And he’s human-heterosexual!”

“Hey. Look at me.”

You look at them.

They smile at you, and your racing bloodpusher calms as you remember that this person is one of the few you can trust with your life. “No relationship is ever easy. You know this. But what you don’t know is that people always find ways to come together. My moirail is an oliveblood assassin, and she’s easily one of the top three things that’s ever happened to me.”

You can’t help it: you smile a little. “What are the other two things?”

“Rice bowls at Chipotle. Meeting you guys.”

“You’re a sappy fuck,” you tell them, even as you snort into the crook of your elbow.

“I sure am, hotshot. Oh, hey, here’s Dave--”

“--eeeeeEEEEEE here it is! Help me up,” a familiar voice announces. You look over the branch you’re stretched out on and reach down to help Dave up while Micah grabs the bags of food from him. His palm is just as warm and sweaty as yours, and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

Once everybody is settled in and munching away on shitty, delicious human food you break out the big guns. “Micah has a moirail.”

“Which one is that?”

“They have a girlfriend. Ew, can’t believe I’m resorting to highblood slang.”

That gets his attention. “Oh, real shit? Is she hot?”

“Yes, Dave. She is hot.”

“What’s she like?”

“Kind. Shredded as all hell. Loves sappy romance novels. Lowkey murders people for a living. Gets embarrassed easily. Like, I’ll say something like ‘I’m gonna shooshpap the anxiety right out of your soul, honey-bunches’ and she absolutely loses her goddamn mind--”

You shriek and slam your hands over your ears, trying to not blush and give yourself away. “No, no, noooooooooo, Micah I’m under nine sweeps old please-!”

“I don’t get it! Why is talking about feelings so sexy?” they yell, throwing their hands up while Dave loses his mind. “Damn! I touched my friend’s cheek the other night ‘cause he was messed up about my ribs being broken and he just about exploded.”

“Slut,” you wheeze.

“Your ribs are broken?” Dave stops laughing and starts poking at the other human. “What? Are you okay? How did you even climb this tree?”

“I’m fine now, buddy, Alternian medical tech is pretty great,” they assure him, ruffling his hair as he swats at them.

“Wack. One time I was in the ER ‘cause I needed stitches and the nurse didn’t even numb me up, she just frickin’ went for it. Big-ass needle, big-ass thread, screaming six-year-old, I think I scared the whole McFrickin’ clinic half to death--”

You want to hear everything about Dave’s bravery in the face of a mediculler, but before you can ask for more details a beam of bright light hits Micah right in the face, making them reel back with an arm thrown over their face.

“What are you kids doing up there, huh?” a deep voice calls.

You look down and almost shit yourself.

Underneath the tree are four fully-grown adult males, all big and with guns strapped to their belts (seriously, why the fuck do humans run around with so many weapons on them when they’re so stupid?) and wearing blue uniforms.

Oh, shit. Dave told you to never trust the ones with the blue uniforms.

“We’re eating McDonald’s in a tree, officer,” Micah explains cheerfully.

“Can I ask why?” The one in the front glares up at you. You shrink back into the foliage as much as you can. Dave grabs your hand, squeezing tightly, and you squeeze back.

“Why not?”

“Can I see some I.D?”

“No. We’re not breaking any laws. This is public property.”

You stare in disbelief as Micah pulls out a fry and munches on it without a care in the world. Were they really not afraid? Did humans just… not fear their authority figures?

They can teleport. Of course they’re not afraid, you remind yourself.

“How many of you are up there?” another one asks.

“Three.”

“Are any of you armed?”

“No, sir.”

“Can you come down, please?”

“No, thanks. We’re fine where we are.”

“You guys want a cheeseburger? The lady who took our order gave me an extra,” Dave offers. “It’s got onions, though. Onions are nasty.”

The one farthest to the left says something into his walkie-talkie. Micah grins.

You know that grin. “What are you--”

“Hey, officers! Wanna see something cool?” they yell. “Watch this!”

They push off the branch they’re leaning on and lunge towards you and Dave. You barely have time to yelp before they’re grabbing your arm and zapping you guys out of there.

Delighted peals of laughter fills the whole apartment as you land face-first into Dave’s bed. You spit out a dirty sock that somehow ended up in your mouth and shove them off the end of the mattress, but you’re laughing too. You’ve never seen anything like that.

Dave looks over at you, gorgeous red eyes twinkling behind his shades and a big smile lighting up his respiteblock, and just for a moment, everything is perfect.

[patchwork-panda]

If A Moment Is All We Are (7/?) (Dazai x OC fic)

AO3 format: HERE

(Early publish for Dazai’s Bday)

For funsies: I recommend finding the asterisk (*) at the end of the chapter and playing the 1st ED from Bungo Stray Dogs (link) when you get to it so the ED plays as you finish reading the scene. :)

                                                               ---

Dazai got to his feet.

The girl pointed wordlessly to the window and the apparition behind her charged. I had a split second to duck behind the desk for cover but for some reason, my left arm wasn’t coming with me. Panicking, I pulled as hard as I could, completely forgetting Dazai and I were still handcuffed together. I heard a strangled yell and looked to my left just in time to see Dazai crashing into me.

We fell behind the desk in a tangled heap as the wall before us was sliced to pieces and the apparition burst into the room in a shower of shattered glass and rubble. Swearing, I shoved Dazai off of me and pushed myself to a crouching position behind the desk as Dazai groaned and did the same. As we hid behind the desk together, I heard the little girl’s quiet voice call out into the empty office.

“I know you’re here.”

I peeked through the tiny gap between the desk and the floor and saw a pair of small, sandal-clad feet touch down on the broken green tiles.

“Come out,” the girl called again, her voice as cold as ice. “Detective Dazai.”

I shot Dazai a look and he immediately flinched.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” he whispered.

“Why does she know your name?” I shot back.

“There! Yasha Shirayuki!”

Out the corner of my eye, I saw a flash of blue and looked up to see the apparition, “Shirayuki,” looming over us, her sword raised high in the air, the fine edge of its blade glinting in the sun.

“Shit.”

Before I could react, I felt Dazai grab the back of my shirt, half-choking me as he hauled me away by the scruff of my neck, mere milliseconds before the demon’s katana sliced down and split the desk in two. Binders and office supplies flew everywhere as the desk collapsed and through the blizzard-like storm of loose paper and pens, I saw the creature rise and turn those yellow eyes on me. I stood.

“This way!” Dazai and I shouted in unison.

Forgetting once again that we were handcuffed together, I ran left while Dazai went right; we were pulled back together in an instant. This time, no one fell, but once again, Dazai had to yank me out of the way of Shirayuki’s sword as it rushed towards us. Thinking fast, I grabbed the thick, cushy chair I’d sat on during my test and shoved it at Shirayuki as it struck. The katana plunged deep into the chair, where I’d just been standing, with a horrible ripping noise and as I watched it struggle to pull the sword back out, I realized Shirayuki was stuck. At once, I turned to Dazai and pulled him towards the door.

“Now’s our chance! Let’s get out of here!”

As we ran down the aisle between the desks, I heard the unmistakable sound of steel scratching against thick fabric and plastic; Shirayuki was slowly getting free. Instead of looking back, I ran faster.

“Dazai-san, why is she after you?” I gasped, struggling to keep up with the man’s long strides. “What the hell did you do?”

Dazai thought for a moment.

“I may or may not have put her in jail last month,” he answered, sounding rather nonplussed. “Her name is Izumi Kyouka, by the way. She was an assassin for the Port Mafia.”

“How did she escape?!” I yelped.

Dazai shrugged and I groaned.

So that’s what the morning phone call had been about. Dazai was rushing me through the end of my exam so he could get us out of here before the assassin, Kyouka, arrived. Unfortunately, it hadn’t worked and now I was handcuffed to him and running for my life for the second time in a week. Just when I thought things couldn’t get any worse, an enormous mahogany desk went sailing over our heads and crashed into the far wall, blocking off our exit and sealing us inside the room.

“Shit!”

My sneakers screeched against the tiles as I struggled to go from a full sprint to a full stop and I stumbled awkwardly over my own two feet, almost crashing into a nearby desk. I felt the tug on my wrist as Dazai was pulled back to me and I planted my feet firmly on the ground to avoid being yanked towards him. I felt a sudden rush of wind behind me and I whirled just in time to see Shirayuki preparing to strike.

“Kusunoki-san!”

Seizing my handcuffed wrist, Dazai suddenly turned on his heel and pivoted, swinging me around and instantly trading places with me so that Shirayuki missed. I looked back to see Shirayuki bearing down on Dazai, who was just standing there with his free hand extended towards her.

“What are you doing?!” I screamed.

Shirayuki swung.

There was a flash of blue light and a strong blast of wind and I threw up my hand to shield my eyes. Through my splayed fingers, I saw Shirayuki being held at bay—by some kind of invisible barrier just beyond Dazai’s outstretched fingers. As she struggled to pierce through that barrier, her sword slowly sank, bloodlessly and quietly, into Dazai’s open palm, into nothing, disappearing as smoothly as a body into water. I blinked and she was gone.

He nullified it?! Was Yasha Shirayuki actually this girl’s Ability...?

But before I could figure out what had happened, Kyouka rushed in, a kodachi short sword clutched in both hands. She swung.

“Dazai-san!!”

Without thinking, I grabbed Dazai’s shackled wrist with both hands and pulled as hard as I could, yanking him backwards and out of the way of Kyouka’s attack. I watched her blade slice through the air, missing Dazai’s nose by mere millimeters, clipping the ends of his bangs as he fell backwards—and into a chair.

He smacked his head against the arm rest and promptly passed out.

I winced.

“Oops...”

As Dazai slid off the chair and onto the floor, I felt his weight suddenly drag me down and I staggered. I barely managed to catch myself on the desktop in time to avoid being pulled down as well but as I did, I banged the end of my elbow—my funny bone—into something dense and metallic. At once, a horrible tingling sensation spread down my forearm and into the tips of my fingers and as I hissed in pain and turned back to see what I’d hit, I saw the shiny metal and plastic surface of a fancy-looking coffee machine.

The red light on the side was flashing and it looked like the water in the steam chamber was full and piping hot. This gave me an idea.

I stood up as much as I could with Dazai’s weight still pulling painfully on my thin, handcuffed wrist and faced forward as Kyouka ran towards me, making no attempt to move out of the way of her attack. Propped up unsteadily with my one sweaty, free hand, I stood there, waiting until Kyouka was right in front of me, kodachi pulled back, ready to strike. At the last moment, I let go, smashing down on the big red switch attached to the steam chamber as I fell to the floor. It broke off completely as Kyouka’s blade thrust into the machine, releasing a cloud of blinding white steam; she let out a high-pitched shriek as she let go of her weapon and threw out a crimson sleeve to protect her face.

With Kyouka temporarily distracted, I dragged Dazai behind the hedges and propped him up to a sitting position against the cement block. He still looked a little dazed but at least now he was conscious.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Dazai grinned weakly.

“Not nearly enough. Could you do me a favor and finish me off?”

I rolled my eyes and sat down heavily next to him, my shackled wrist rattling in its metal prison as I brought my hands to my face.

“If you’re well enough to joke, help me think of a way to escape. First we gotta get out of these handcuffs. Do you still have the key?”

Dazai shook his head.

“It actually fell out of my pocket the first time you knocked me to the floor,” he said with a sheepish grin.

I thought I was going to cry. As I contemplated throwing myself out of the enormous hole in the office wall, Dazai thought to himself and suddenly snapped his fingers.

“Wait! Kunikida-kun should have a spare key! The President gave him one in case something happened to the first key and I couldn’t unlock you when your exam ended.”

Kunikida was supposed to come by? A flicker of hope burst to life in my chest.

“What if you called him or any of the other detectives for backup?” I asked. “We can’t deal with Kyouka on our own but maybe—!”

“Yeah, about that...”

Dazai jabbed a thumb behind us at the wrecked office space.

“My phone also fell out of my pocket when you pulled me out of there earlier.”

“Oh my God, you’re useless!”

I took one look at the enormous desk blocking the main doorway and shook my head. It was completely broken down to the point where it was actually sagging in the middle, with drawers hanging out every which way and a considerable debris field around it to boot. There was no way Dazai and I could get that thing out of the way and escape before Kyouka recovered her weapon or her Ability. Dazai’s phone may still be in the room but from where we were sitting, it might as well have been on the moon.

I was about to consider breaking down one of the unknown doors in the room when I spotted something glittering on the floor next to me: a single, gold bobby pin. I had never picked a lock in my life but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Quick as a flash, I snatched up the bobby pin and was about to insert it into the lock, when Dazai’s fingers suddenly wrapped around mine.

“Kusunoki-san.”

Dazai’s voice was low, his brown eyes serious.

“What are you doing?”

I blinked at him.

“Saving our lives. We’re never going to escape handcuffed together like this—”

“Didn’t you hear what I said earlier?” Dazai asked. “Your exam ends the moment someone takes off those handcuffs. If you do unlock these on your own right now, you will fail the exam and lose your chance to become a member of the Agency.”

His fingers tightened around mine.

“If you do this, you’ll never learn the secret to controlling your Ability. Do you understand?”

I felt a chill creep into my blood as his tone sank in. My hand shook in his grip.

“Are you serious?”

“Completely serious,” Dazai replied. “You can’t become a member if you—”

“Our lives are in danger and you’re still talking about the exam?” I snapped, furious. “You know what? Screw you. And screw this exam, too! If the Armed Detective Agency is going to prioritize rules over the lives of its detectives, it’s not worth getting into! Now let go of me so I can save your stupid life!”

I tore my hand out of his grip.

But before I could jam the gold hairpin into the lock, I saw a tell-tale flash of blue light out of the corner of my eye. Shirayuki was back and in seconds, a shadow appeared above our heads. We threw ourselves out of the way just in time as a massive swivel chair came crashing down over the hedge.

The hairpin flew out of my hands.

As we landed heavily just before the large, broken desk that was blocking the main door, I spotted a large pair of scissors on the ground. Its metal blades were open and exposed, and it was lying just two centimeters away from my free hand.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Shirayuki flying towards us, her sword shining like lightning in her hands and I grabbed the scissors. If I couldn’t unlock the handcuffs myself, then I’d need someone else to cut them off for me...!

“Dazai-san! Lift up your arm and pull the chain tight! Hurry!”

Snapping the scissors closed, I wrapped my cuffed hand around the blades and the free one around the handles, gripping the scissors tightly in my fists. As I raised my hands up high, Dazai’s bandaged arm lifted into the air with mine and I saw him nod slightly as he pulled his imprisoned wrist away from mine.

The metal chain between us went taut and I gritted my teeth and braced myself. If this went wrong, then not even Yosano would be able to patch us up afterwards. My heart pounding in my chest, I stared into Shirayuki’s soulless yellow eyes as she brought her sword down.

The resounding screech of metal-against-metal rang out throughout the wreckage of the office as Shirayuki’s sword clashed against my scissors. Sparks flew and I felt my body sink into the tiles as the sheer weight of Shirayuki’s attack forced my arms down—but this was exactly what I’d hoped for.

I yanked my left hand down. Shirayuki’s sword slid down the side of the scissor blades and into the handcuff chain—which snapped.

Wind rushed past my ear as the sword crashed to the ground and I let out a soft cry of pain as I felt the blade graze the side of my forearm on its way down. There was blood dripping down my forearm but the chain was broken.

I was free.

Taking advantage of the lightness in my arm, I quickly changed my grip around the scissors, trying to wield it the way I’d seen Kyouka handle her kodachi.

But Shirayuki had vanished—nullified, no doubt, by Dazai’s Ability, just like before. Which could only mean Kyouka and her kodachi were on their way...

“Get out of here, Dazai-san! She’s after you, not me.”

I shoved him towards the door closest to us—the door to the infirmary—as Kyouka dashed out between the break in the hedges and ran towards us.

Looks like I was never going to learn the secret to controlling my Ability.

“Run!”

I turned around just in time to raise my scissors to parry, but Kyouka was too fast for me. She swung and my scissors went flying through the air.

The next thing I knew, I was on my back.

Kyouka’s sandal-clad foot was planted squarely on my sternum, pinning me to the floor. The edge of her kodachi was lined up perfectly with the major arteries in my neck and I knew instinctively that if I took a single breath, she’d slice open my neck and leave me to bleed out all over the floor.

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited—for the flash of pain, the instant death that I’d seen played out so many times for so many others...

My only regret was not getting a chance to pay Kunikida back for saving my life that day.

At least Dazai had managed to get away...

“Beautiful! Excellent!”

My eyes snapped open.

“Dazai-san?!”

He was standing in front of the door to the infirmary, the door I thought he’d escaped out of—and he was clapping.

“Good job, Kyouka-chan! That’s a wrap,” he called out, as if he was the director of a movie and we had just finished filming the climactic finale.

Confused, I looked from him to Kyouka and to my surprise, she carefully removed her sword and got off of me.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, sheathing her kodachi and tucking it into the folds of her kimono.

“What’s going on?” I asked, as Kyouka extended her tiny hand toward me to help me up. “You’re not going to kill me?”

Kyouka shook her head.

As I took her hand and let her haul me to my feet, Dazai approached, still clapping enthusiastically.

“Ohh, that was great. Seriously, what a way to end your Entrance Exam, Kusunoki-san. I have goosebumps, I tell you—goosebumps! See, look!”

He hiked up the sleeve of his coat over the rest of his arm... only to reveal that the entire thing was wrapped up in bandages. Clicking his tongue in disappointment, he pulled his sleeve back down and tucked his hands into his pockets.

“Exam?” I stuttered. “Wait, it’s actually over? But I didn’t finish the...”

Dazai let out a dramatic, disappointed sigh.

“Oh my goodness, Kusunoki-san. You didn’t really think that worthless packet I gave you at the beginning was your Entrance Exam, did you?”

My jaw hit the ground.

“WHAT?! But you acted so serious about it—! You said it wasn’t over until—!”

“Oh, that?” Dazai quipped. “That was just to throw you off. Kyouka-chan here was your real test. We wanted to see how you would act in a crisis! And you gave us such a beautiful performance! Really, I was moved—”

“Wait, hold on! Hold on!”

I threw my hands in the air to make a giant “time-out” sign.

“Who’s ‘we?!’”

Dazai grinned triumphantly. He walked up to one of the closed office doors, the one closest to the hole in the wall that Kyouka had opened up and put his hand on the doorknob.

“Allow me to bring out our panel of judges!”

He turned the knob. The door opened and out walked two men, one of whom I recognized immediately as Kunikida, who had already pulled out that little green notebook from inside his pocket and was scribbling furiously into it. The other...

“Well done, Kusunoki Kyou-san. I’d expect no less from one who seeks to join the Armed Detective Agency.”

He was much older than both Dazai and Kunikida, with long, shoulder length white hair and was dressed in a moss-colored yukata, with a black haori jacket trimmed in gold draped elegantly over his shoulders. He kept his hands tucked neatly into his sleeves, a katana hanging loosely at his side, and as he crossed the room, Kunikida followed at a respectable distance. I didn’t know who this man was but his very presence commanded respect and I could feel an air of nobility and quiet strength radiating from him from all the way across the room.

“Let’s give a big hand to our leading lady for a spectacular performance!” Dazai exclaimed, gesturing to me like an overly excitable hype man.

He stole Kunikida’s pen and held it to the unknown man’s face, as if this person were a celebrity he was interviewing for a magazine.

“What did you think, President? Was it to your liking?”

I felt the air evaporate out of my lungs.

“President?” I choked. “As in the President of the Armed Detective Agency?”

“The one and only Fukuzawa Yukichi!” Dazai affirmed, turning to me with a grin just before Kunikida took back his pen and punched Dazai in the face.

“Dazai...!”

In his rage, Kunikida could barely get the words out from between his gritted teeth. His hands shook as he gripped his fountain pen and my vindictive amusement at seeing Dazai punched turned into alarm as the pen snapped in half in Kunikida’s closed fist, showering his beige clothes in a spray of black ink.

“I know we wanted to test her courage but this is too much, even for you!”

Throwing out an arm, he gestured wildly to the destroyed office.

“Just look at this place! At our new coffee machine! I know we haven’t been raided in over three months but that’s no excuse for damage of this scale. With this, our budget surplus has turned into a deficit! And you!”

He rounded on Kyouka, who bowed gracefully.

“What do you have to say for yourself?”

“I apologize for the damage, Kunikida-san,” she said quietly, the ends of her long black pigtails nearly sweeping the floor as she inclined her head. “Dazai-san told me I should, quote: ‘go wild, we want to scare her half to death—’”

“So this is your fault? Why am I not surprised?!” Kunikida spat, grabbing Dazai by the collar. He pulled the bandaged man off the floor where he had landed and shook him like a ragdoll, yelling the entire time.

“Excuse me, Kusunoki-san?”

I jumped as Kyouka suddenly appeared at my side. She sounded timid, even apologetic as she hesitantly reached for my injured arm, where the blood had only just begun to clot and without meaning to, I covered it with my other hand, the chain rattling noisily as I moved.

“I’m sorry for hurting you,” she whispered guiltily, lowering her eyes. “May I take you to the infirmary?”

If she had seemed small before, she was even tinier up close; the top of her head barely reached my eyes. With her head bowed and her lip tucked between her teeth, it was hard to believe this little girl, barely old enough to enter high school, had pointed a blade at my throat and spent the last several minutes trying to kill me—pretending to try to kill me (I hoped)...

“I’ll be okay,” I assured her, trying to put a smile on my face although to be honest, I was still pretty wary of her, “It’s just a cut. It’ll heal.”

Pink flooded her cheeks as she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Thank goodness,” she sighed, bringing a hand to her chest and gripping the tiny cell phone that hung around her neck. “I really didn’t want to hurt you, Kusunoki-san. You just surprised me...”

“I think she surprised everyone,” Fukuzawa said, approaching me. “Kusunoki-kun...”

His eyes sharpened.

“Did you say my Agency was not worth getting into?”

My blood ran cold. At once, I threw myself on the ground, slapping my forehead down on the crushed tiles so hard that I probably gave myself another cut.

“Kusunoki-san?!” Kunikida squawked in surprise.

“I can explain!” I shouted, squeezing my eyes shut, sweat pouring down my forehead. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to insult the Agency, it’s just—in the heat of the moment—!”

“Don’t worry about it,” Fukuzawa rumbled. “You passed, after all.”

I lifted my head off the ground. I could still feel some of the rubble sticking to my forehead as Kunikida ran over to help me up. I waved him away and gawped at Fukuzawa.

“Eh?”

“And I agree with you. If the Armed Detective Agency really was the type of organization to prioritize rules over the lives of its detectives, it truly wouldn’t be worth joining” Fukuzawa declared, “In fact, we would be no better than the Port Mafia.”

He stopped before me as I regained my footing and considered me, his expression thoughtful.

“It’s not often that we get a potential recruit who has not one, but two recommendations from top detectives. I’ll admit, when your real test started, I had trouble understanding why both Dazai-kun and Kunikida-kun vouched for you.”

I glanced up at Dazai and Kunikida, the former lying on the ground, seemingly still in stitches, and the latter now standing over my desk with exam in hand, looking increasingly irritated.

“The Exam was indeed designed to draw out your response to fear,” Fukuzawa continued, “but you spent a considerable amount of time running away...”

I felt shame color my cheeks as he continued.

“However, when Dazai-kun appeared to be injured, you didn’t allow your fear to paralyze you. Instead, you demonstrated a level of resourcefulness and courage befitting a member of the Agency and you did everything you could to save Dazai-kun, at the risk of your own life.”

His expression softened.

“There are certain qualities we value at the Agency and you’ve proven today that you can overcome your own shortcomings and rise to the challenge. We don’t always take in those who have been targeted by the Port Mafia...”

Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Kyouka twitch.

“But we will make exceptions for the right people.”

He turned on his heel and walked back into his own office.

“You officially start tomorrow and you’ll be assigned a desk after my subordinates have finished cleaning the place up. I expect you to become a fine member of the Agency in due time, Kusunoki-kun.”

Dazai, Kunikida, Kyouka and I bowed in unison as Fukuzawa took his leave and he had almost completely disappeared into the confines of his office when I suddenly remembered what I needed to ask.

“Wait! President Fukuzawa!”

He turned to look over his shoulder at me, his silver eyes piercing. I swallowed nervously and pushed the words out of my mouth.

“I was told that I could learn to control my Ability once I joined the Agency. How does that work?”

Fukuzawa folded his hands back into his sleeves and studied me.

“You already have it,” he said simply, surprising me. “My Ability, ‘All Men Are Created Equal,’ grants my subordinates control of their Gifts. Control was granted to you the moment you passed the exam.”

I thought for a moment.

“Wait, so there’s no secret? But Dazai-san suggested...”

There was a pause. Then all eyes in the room turned to the bandaged detective, who wouldn’t meet my gaze. Something clicked.

“You were just messing with me, weren’t you?”

“Kusunoki-kun,” Fukuzawa called, stopping me before I could run over and punch Dazai myself. “I’ll be entrusting your care to the two detectives who recommended you until you get used to things around here. You can stay and help clean up if you wish but given your circumstances, I will ask Kunikida-kun to walk you home at the end of today. Then, please excuse me.”

The door closed at last. Kunikida turned to me and adjusted his glasses.

“I had ‘buying supplies’ on my schedule for today and could use an extra pair of hands. Did you want to come?”

I nodded and was about to follow when I felt my wrist snag on something.

“Oh, hang on, Kunikida-san?”

I lifted up my left arm, the silver handcuff still encircling my wrist.

“Do you think you could unlock me first?”

Kunikida raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t have the key,” he said bluntly.

I heard a click and as one, we turned to Dazai, who had unlocked his own handcuffs and was coming towards me to unlock mine. The moment I saw the small, silver key pinched delicately between his fingers, I lost it.

“You had the key all along?!” I roared as Kunikida took a step back from me and covered his ears. “We could have gone through the second half of the test without being handcuffed together and you—you just—!”

“Now, now, Kusunoki-kun,” Dazai drawled as he deftly inserted the key and began to twist it back and forth. The lock clicked sharply and the cuffs fell open.

“I did tell you that the handcuffs were a very important part of your exam. I needed some way to make sure you didn’t get too far away from me. After all, if your Ability had randomly manifested during the exam, you would have passed out and then...”

His lips twisted into a sadistic grin.

“Kyouka-chan might’ve actually killed you.”

I could hear Kyouka moving about the room, cleaning up the debris that had been created with Shirayuki at her side and I glared up at Dazai as I rubbed my aching wrist. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. He had done his best to keep me safe during the test... even though I’d undermined him the whole way through by panicking, running off and even knocking him out once...

And I’d just repaid him by yelling at him in front of his coworkers. Taking advantage of (and compounding) my guilt, Dazai slowly reached for my injured arm and deftly wrapped a bandage around my cut.

I couldn’t look him in the eye.

“Hey... Dazai?”

I felt my face grow hot.

“Thanks for looking after me. And... I’m sorry about your head.”

The room grew quiet. And then, Dazai chuckled. *

* “It was my pleasure, Kyou-chan,” he replied smoothly, his brown eyes glittering as he gave my hand a squeeze.

“Spending an entire morning with you was thanks enough. Perhaps now you’ll think better of me and one day consider joining me in a—”

“That’s enough, Dazai,” Kunikida interrupted irritably. “You’re going to stay here and clean up this mess—and don’t you dare leave Kyouka-chan to do it on her own when this entire thing was your fault!”

He guided me towards the door, his glasses flashing.

“And Kusunoki-kun, we really need to talk about your written exam. I know it wasn’t your real test but you missed every math question I wrote—those were at high school level—”

“You wrote those?!”

“Bye, Kyou-chan!” Dazai called after me as I was pushed out into the hall. His smile was wide and oddly infectious and I could see Kyouka waving quietly from behind him.

“See you later! Welcome to the Armed Detective Agency!!”

[dopescotlandwarrior]

Unforgotten- Chapter 3

Previous chapters on AO3       A special thanks to @statell​ for all your help

Chapter Three

Jamie dragged through his rounds at the hospital bleary-eyed and stumbling to his office, where he was scrutinized by his office manager. If he had been coherent he would have noticed this look as a first warning, he was out of control. Instead, he locked himself into the office and sat back in his chair to doze until called for his first patient.

He knew it was time to pull back, get more sleep, stop acting like a teenager with a new dose of testosterone short-circuiting his brain. He remembered his call to an old buddy, John Grey, with an offer to get re-acquainted. It was an attempt to strangle his broken heart by finding something, anything, to make Claire Beauchamp fade away so he could be happy again.

“John! I havna seen ye in a long time, wanted to call and catch up with you. Are ye free for a drink on Friday night?”

“Give me an hour, and I will be.”

An hour later Jamie read a message from John, “see you Friday night at Mickey’s, can’t wait.”

It was too easy to slip into a new existence, a comfortable camaraderie with an old friend who knew all the hot spots and fun places to be on the weekend. The two friends were deadly together. Both strikingly handsome in different ways, both hungry, and both drew women where ever they went. Life was going by so fast for Jamie there wasn’t time to check in with the toothless twin in his head, so he ignored him.

He had begged off Jenny’s invitation for dinner so many times she was getting huffy about it. She left a scathing text message that drove Jamie to cancel with John next weekend. Either that or his sister would come into town and drag him home.

Driving to Lallybroch with a great bottle of whisky made him happy he was going home for the evening. It was late July and he saw groups of children playing as he turned down his street, bringing memories back of doing the same with his faithful friends. The estate looked great with all the fields growing full and healthy, almost ready for the harvest.

Jenny came out of the kitchen door, arms wide for her brother, smiling brightly. Jamie hugged her and handed over the bottle of whisky, noticing her approval. It was a wonderful evening, Jamie played touch football with Jenny’s boys and Ian, his childhood best friend. The rules of no tackle were ignored with the first pass and the men laughed and fell down, while Jenny dissolved in laughter. Jamie had introduced Lallybroch to American football after returning from his year at Columbia. It was great fun for the whole family and Jamie was in his happy place. Hearing the hum of a car and wheels crushing the stones on the driveway, he looked up to see a gorgeous Jaguar, top down, with an auburn head of hair behind the wheel. The neighborhood friends had joined the game and eleven kids hit him at once, crashing him to the ground.

Geneva stepped out of her magnificent car and laughed at the pile of kids that were rolling off as a big man pushed to his feet. She hugged Jenny and laughed at the funny kids. When her eyes landed on Jamie she smiled and waved at him. Jenny yelled dinner was ready and made the introductions when the men were coming in.

“Jamie, this is a friend of yours from grade school, Geneva Dunsany.”

Jamie looked at the Irish beauty with the crystal blue eyes and dark hair and felt his world tilt. He remembered her, a snooty little brat who lorded over the other kids because her teeth came in early and her family was rich. Now that she was grown up, demure and blushing, Jamie took a new inventory and his interest grew through dinner. They took a long walk after supper that was interrupted by his ringing cell phone.

“I’m sorry lass, one of my patients is in labor and close to delivering. I must go. I promise to send Ian to get ya because I have to run.”

“I know how to run Jamie.” She removed her heels, “let’s go.” Geneva took off while he was still contemplating what she said. He smiled his approval and caught up with her. When they approached the kitchen, she said goodbye and ran directly into the house, shoes in hand.

He stared after her and then peeled out of the driveway to deliver a precious baby that was already deeply loved with a promised life of affluence and support to be its guide in this new world. As Jamie checked in on his patient, he heard her husband coach her expertly and gave him a thumbs up. The labor and birth were textbook perfect, and he handed a very blessed son to the waiting father.

When he dropped into bed he thought about Geneva, happy she had grown up refined and tolerant. He called her the next day and got more excited as the weekend grew near. She was impressive to look at and her conversation was both stimulating and warm. He was hooked, and with Jenny’s encouragement, soon Geneva was all over his life. Her family loved him. A doctor was a very good catch indeed, so they welcomed him and paved the way for their daughter to solidify the union.

Claire woke up with an aching shoulder and gently pulled her hand out of the bassinet next to the Lazy Boy. The baby seemed less distressed at night when she felt a warm hand on her skin, so Claire obliged any night she wasn’t pulled into surgery by Cutter. She yawned and stretched before preparing a bottle of formula and thought her heart might explode seeing the tiny girl smile at her.

“Oh my God, a gift for me, sweetheart.” Little arms moved a bit in the air but laid still from exhaustion after a few minutes. Claire held her and looked into the sweetest eyes as she offered the bottle. The mother was released two months ago and had not been back to check on her daughter. Claire’s heart broke to know she was abandoned, but it didn’t stop her from giving constant attention to the baby.

“I think it’s time to name you princess. Luna is perfect for a miracle baby. Do you like it?”

The baby was sound asleep. She didn’t have the energy to drink the amount most babies do at four months and a full belly was like knock-out drops. Claire put her in the bassinet and wandered outside to the picnic tables to relax. The trees and high foliage had been cut back to lower fire damage to the hospital so she could see the sky and the brilliant full moon. She gazed at it and thought about Jamie looking at the same moon. It was a momentary connected to him. The pictures were pulled out of her lab coat pocket and she looked through them by the light of the moon. Everyone looked so happy and dressed up, having a fabulous time at her going away party. She looked at Jamie’s smiling face and her heart hurt. “Be well handsome,” she whispered into the night. Leaning back she sighed and closed her eyes, just before a screeching animal dropped on her face.

Claire screamed and batted at the thing, feeling it jump behind her head and pull her hair. She was terrified, running around trying to knock it off when she felt the thing jerk away from her. She spun to see Cutter wrestle with the animal and shout when it bit him. The monkey shrieked and tried again to bite but was knocked to the ground and ran away.

“Jesus Cutter, how bad is it?”

“It’s nothing, but I could use some treatment, do you mind.”

“For my hero, anything.”

Claire looked at the bite and steered Cutter back into the building and into a treatment room. She washed the bite with Betadine and giggled at Cutter’s face grimacing with the sting. She handed him a sterilized gauze so he could assess the damage from the little monster while Claire ran for Penicillin.

“Drop the drawers handsome and lean forward.”

She stabbed him in the ass delivering a five CC payload of antibiotics that would bring Hercules to his knees. She kept an arm on his back while she massaged the stinging medicine in his butt. She could hear him suck his breath and growl.

“Don’t be such a baby, Cutter. Do you want me to blow on it?”

“Well yes actually, that would make it much better,” he choked out between giggles.

“Sorry, I only blow the patients now, so on your way soldier.”

Cutter turned around and kissed her on the lips, ducking quickly to avoid her fist and laughing at how easy she was to assault. They had been glued at the hip for the last four months, forging a bond professionally and personally. Both knew they would walk through fire to protect and save each other.

A month after arriving, Claire came onto Cutter. He pulled her into his lap and looked at her like she was a fine treasure. He ran his hand down her leg and told her he was honored and excited she had chosen him. Then he explained that his estranged wife had made contact with him, and he couldn’t touch another woman if he was to share his life with her again. Claire didn’t feel disappointed, but she was curious about his fidelity.

“Tell me about it, please”

“About what?”

“Why did she leave? Did you want to control her and change her views on life? You couldn’t stop so she would stay?”

He looked at her for a long minute. “Is that what happened to you, Claire?”

“It always happens, that is how relationships are, and I rebel.”

“Not a shocker, sweet-pea, and you’re wrong about relationships. You aren’t old enough to have had more than one or two. You should never feel oppressed or held down by your partner, just the opposite. He should encourage you to fly and succeed. Men who want to change you are insecure or narcissistic and they aren’t worth your time. Don’t settle. You are in the upper five percent in gorgeousness, spirit, and skill. You just wait until the perfect man comes along and be open to him. My best advice.”

Claire touched his cheek before going to bed. “Thank you, Cutter.”

She walked back to her room to clean up for dinner and thought about that conversation with Cutter. Since that night, her melancholy was permanently parked in her head. She needed to talk to someone on the outside and on a whim, she called Laoghaire who was overjoyed to hear her voice. They talked for a long time before Claire asked how Jamie was.

Laoghaire assumed it was an old friend asking about another and happily explained her cousin was in a serious relationship and she expected them to marry someday. She described the beautiful and graceful Geneva as the perfect woman and Claire was finding it hard to breathe. When Laoghaire continued with details of Jamie’s relationship Claire clicked off and ran for Joe.

“Joe! Give me your phone.”

“What do you say, dearest?”

“Please.” Claire finally looked up and Joe saw the tears and pain in her face.

“Anything for you love.”

Claire sent a text to Laoghaire that her phone went dead, and she will catch up another time. When she handed the phone back Joe pulled her outside, where she gave him the sad story about leaving Jamie after two amazing days. Her confusion that started right after their time together, and her struggle to forget him. She cried so hard people were coming outside to check on her, only to see Joe’s warning to stay away.

He felt so sorry for Claire. She had arrived a different person and Joe could not get her to share anything with him. This was a bomb going off in her life, making her talk because the pain was overwhelming. He held her against him and told her she would not expire from this, but she would grow and find another love. He kissed her cheek with compassionate eyes when she pulled away to feed Luna.

When Luna was back in the bassinet sleeping peacefully, Claire could not stop her tears. She cried in the dark until the door opened letting the bright lights of the hallway flood into the room.

She hid her face while Cutter examined Luna and then he picked Claire up and stretched out on the Lazy Boy, pulling her into his side and pressing her head to his chest.

“Do you want to talk about it, Claire?”

He felt her head shake no and her sobbing continued so he just held her to him and they both finally slept.

For the next three days, Joe, Kevin, and Cutter took turns staying close to Claire. Her tears finally stopped but she walked around lifelessly and hardly ate anything. Cutter worried because she didn’t have any weight to lose so he pushed Ensure milkshakes at her and pestered her to drink up. On the fourth day of her sadness, Joe suggested she text or call Jamie and then kissed her goodnight.

Claire laid in the dark Lazy Boy and stared at her phone. Before she could stop herself, she typed… wishing you the best, would love to share a phone call, CB… Send.

Jamie struggled through another night of insomnia staring into the dark, listening to Geneva breathe next to him. She had been testy all week and refused to answer his persistent questions about her mood. He felt trapped in a cage when she got like this. Like she wanted to torture him by not letting him leave and not acknowledging his presence. He might find out in a few days and he might never know what set her off. He only knew he felt miserable and wanted some space.

Jamie picked up his vibrating phone and squinted in the dark. He got out of bed as quietly as possible and heard Geneva swear under her breath and sigh loudly. He read the text and was calling the number in less than a minute.

Claire tried to slow the ramming in her chest and sound normal when she said hello. The first few minutes were awkward as Claire was running to her room so she wouldn’t disturb Luna. When her door closed it was just her, Jamie, and five thousand miles between them.

“You don’t have a sleepy voice, were you still up?”

“Aye, sheet boxing with my insomnia. Are ye well Sassenach?”

Jamie’s head was whirling at this surprise and he had a moment’s thought to control the conversation and end it quickly, which he was helpless to do. Instead, he walked around his living room, kitchen, and outside where he walked the streets with the phone pressed to his ear. They filled each other in on the events since they last spoke. Jamie was amazed at the conditions she lived in and his story made no mention of Geneva. Was he sparing her feelings, or did he not want to open up to her?

“Well, it was great talking to you, Jamie. I am due to feed a baby, so I have to go.”

“Sassenach, why did you call me tonight?”

Claire was uncomfortable with her answer but remembered standing in the stadium parking lot and Jamie’s request for honesty.

“Sassenach?”

“Because I am still crushing, after all this time. I spoke to Laoghaire and she said you’re getting married and I fell apart. I’ve been crying for four days and I just wanted to hear your voice and tell you I’m sorry for leaving the way I did.”

“Sassenach,” his voice was barely over a whisper. She felt his voice wrap around her just as the tears were coming.

“How can I help ye?”

“Will you Skype with me, next week?”

“Aye, I will.”

“Thank you, Jamie. Goodnight.”

Jamie stared down at his phone for a full minute. He wasn’t confused or conflicted, and he didn’t believe this was more than a young girl feeling lonesome tonight. It changed nothing for him because she was never coming back here. Maybe this was the first night without a date for her, making her feel insecure and alone. Whatever it was, he wasn’t biting and doubted there would be any Skype next week.

Laying back on the couch, Jamie felt tired, of everything. He remembered the first time he touched Geneva and the excitement of pulling each piece of clothing off her. She was modest and kept him skin to skin, pulling his shoulders up when he tried to taste her. To date, she was still receptive, only in the dark and allowed only conservative positions, pulling Jamie into an orgasm by the shortest means possible. Sex was part of his benefits package. Something she gave, under the right circumstances, but seemed not to take. It was easy in the beginning because he liked her intelligence and the way she looked. Time will reveal all if you’re willing to wait and after four months, her true nature was clear, she was still that mean little girl.

This was the task before him, putting Geneva back in her box without causing a scene that would reverberate through Edinburgh and land on his patients. He was ready to spend another weekend in the woods and suddenly felt better. Another doctor would take his calls for the weekend and he could disappear tomorrow afternoon after his last patient. He slipped into his exhausted sleep and his last thought was kissing Claire on this couch, a long time ago.

Claire was thriving on the adrenalin and happiness that Jamie did not hate her. She blew through the weekend with renewed energy that was noticed by everyone. Luna responded better, her coworkers were happy with her banter, and the patients were more cooperative. Cutter and Joe did not like the change in her. It was a quick fix of some kind. She had not put the work into this miraculous recovery which meant it was fake and she would crash again.

Cutter called to Claire, it was time to go and watched her practically skip to the jeep. He exhaled and rolled his eyes declaring open season on Claire’s secrets and intentions. After a long day visiting the outlying counties to administer shots and general well exams they piled back into the jeep and headed back to the hospital. Claire was tired but undaunted as her personality emerged, happy and strong as she stood in her seat and danced with the wind her hair to a favorite song on the radio. She was so alive, uninhibited and free. Cutter laughed, wondering if this was the real Claire or her bipolar opposite.

“Stop!! Please stop. Is that a pool through there? Back up, pretty please?”

Cutter threw the jeep in reverse and looked where she pointed. It was a pool indeed, attached to a resort that looked abandoned. Claire jumped out of the jeep and ran into the bush, getting closer to the iron fence. Cutter looked around warily and called her back just before he heard a splash.

Running to the gate he saw it was open. On the inside, graffiti covered almost every wall and structure. His heart started to pound as he walked quickly toward the pool, looking for Claire. He started waving her toward him, but Claire had mischief on her mind, he could see it in her face. He said nothing until she swam to him, naked except for her underwear. He reached in and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her up as he started running back to the jeep. His grip was brutal around her waist and he ignored her protest and request for her clothes, left where she shed them. She was practically thrown into the jeep with Cutter’s eyes giving a directive she could not ignore. He spun the jeep in a circle and a death-defying race back to the hospital was underway.

Claire barely got her seat belt on before she was launched from the jeep. Cutter was unbuttoning his field jacket and pulling his arms out of it as they were bounced and jarred from the speeding vehicle. He held it toward her, and she was buttoned into the garment as the jeep came to a screaming halt at the hospital. Claire jumped out and ran for her room before anyone saw her in Cutter’s jacket.

She pushed against her bedroom door, panting for breath. The knock made her jump and she saw the doorknob twisting from someone outside.

“Just a minute!”

“Claire! Let me in.”

She opened the door to see Joe, looking angry, and the doom crept into her.

“Why did you do it, Claire? Do you care so little for his happiness?”

Claire looked at him wide-eyed and shook her head.

“What are you talking about, Joe?”

Cutter is only waiting for his commitment to be up. He’s going home to start fresh with his wife. Now you’re half-naked and so is he. Did you seduce him? Was it worth it?”

“Jesus Joe. No, nothing happened, and your boy is unmolested. I spotted a swimming pool on the way back at some spa or something. It was vacant so I jumped in. Cutter came at me like a crazy person and hauled me back the jeep, almost killing us both on the way back. What the fuck was that place Joe?”

Jamie sat at the kitchen table drinking coffee and reading the paper. It was seven o’clock and he was back from doing his rounds to wait for Geneva to wake up. He was calm and excited to get out of town later today.

“Jamie! I didn’t expect to see you this morning. What is going on?”

“I wanted to tell you that I’ll be leavin this afternoon for the weekend. I’m sorry it’s such short notice but I haveta go.”

“We have dinner with my parents tomorrow night, any chance you’ll be back for that?”

“No lass, sorry.”

“So, what the hell do I tell my parents?”

“That I left for the weekend. It’s time for work, maybe we can have dinner on Monday.”

When the front door closed Geneva tried to calm down. This was ridiculous and she was living in constant frustration. Jamie held her at arm's length from the beginning. She couldn’t talk him into any more than three days a week and she didn’t even have a pair of shoes in his closet. It was time for her to let Jamie know she wanted more. A ring on her finger was a good start, or she was walking.

[tunasama13]

*Chapter 63 spoilers!* Vigilantes analysis, guessing whats going to happen in Chap. 64

😭

😧

AAAAAAAA

As we all know, Oboro got crushed by a bunch of rubble in the last chapter (AND IIIIIIEIIIIII HOLY SHIT- WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUUUU), but what’s going to happen in the next chapter???

Analysis:

- We know that Shirakumo sacrificed himself for a bunch of INNOCENT LIL’ KIDDOS, and after he got crushed, Shouta immediately starts screaming and crying out, “AAA NO! HOLY SHIT! SHIRAKUMO!” But the ending consists of him flying at the villain.

- I noticed that Shouta didn’t even tear up, he immediately looked around to wallow in himself for a moment before that... thing? Rolls up and says, “You can do it!” Then he takes a moment to yeet himself at discount All for One and... oh boy.... my guess is that maybe in the next chapter, Shouta has to say goodbye to Shirakumo in a way (it could go three ways, either in a ‘We did it Mr. Stark’ way, a ‘I’m so sorry’ way, or a ‘No! You can’t do this!” Way)

Guesses!:

- One of my guesses is that Shouta will end up getting knocked down to the ground by the villain after a hit, but then back up arrives to help take the villain out, so Shouta and the pros work together, and after that, the current pro heroes and police capture the villain, and in the meantime, Shouta immediately runs over to where Oboro is buried under the concrete. But he can’t lift it by himself, but surprisingly, Yamada, Sensoji (yes, even that bastard), Nemuri, and the pros help lift it up. When it’s finally lifted up, we get a glimpse of Nemuri tearing up and saying, “Oh my god...”, Yamada gasps, and Sensoji goes off to the side to throw up then looking back to say, “Oh no... oh shit.... Oboro (and I’m so sorry for this) is bleeding everywhere, his head has blood running down everywhere, but the worst part is that his lower body has blood soaking the front. His eyes have no life in them, he is deathly pale. Shouta stumbles forward a bit, the falls to his knees right next to where Oboro lies lifeless. “Buddy... w-we did it... their safe...” Shouta says before he breaks down sobbing. Nemuri and Yamada join the crying, and Sensoji looks down in shame. After a few minutes, the pros have finally taken His Purple Highness into an ambulance, and are starting to advance towards the three children sobbing over their dead friend. Sensoji walks away with a pro and tears up, the pros have a harder time with the three crying little ones, Nemuri is demanding they let go of her, she is sniffling and sobbing and another female pro hugs her as she screams that they let her go, it takes three pros to pull Yamada away, who is clawing at them and screaming for his friend, Yamada’s mother has arrived and quickly takes her son into her arms, and Shouta is by far the hardest to take away. They touch him and he’s immediately screaming and crying that they don’t take him away, he’s struggling with all his strength, his face is a mess, he’s actually super easy to handle when not flailing around, so they have a hard time managing to get their arms around him. They notice that Shouta is clinging on to Oboro’s bloodied arm. They manage to pry his hand off of Oboro’s arm and when they do, Shouta immediately screeches (more like that scream Izuku did at the sky in that one episode) a pro hero has to put on earmuffs because he’s screaming so goddamn loud. They manage to drag him away and console him when he collapses on the pavement like a sack of potatoes, having to be held back as paramedics lift his friend up. They have to call his mother to fully calm him down, I call this, the MY POOR BABIES ENDING ;0;. (Bonus: Chapter 65 has Shouta finally come back to school after locking himself in his room for 2 weeks after Oboro’s funeral, and everyone is super sympathetic and gentle to him, even the normally a-huge-dick Sensoji. Then Yamada and Shouta see a rose on Oboro’s desk and break down sobbing again).

Guess 2: On a much calmer note, Shouta spends like 6 pages of the chapter stalling/attacking the villain until back-up arrives. The battle plays out, and then the Villain retreats, letting itself be arrested. When it does, the first thing Shouta does is run to where Oboro is buried in rubble, he manages to lift off the chunk where cloudy boi’s head is and it turns out that Oboro is still alive but just barely, “y...you...did...s...s...so....well....out....t....there.....” are the words the Oboro whispers out while Shouta starts panicking, “Oh my god! I’m so sorry... if you would have gotten out of the way in time... maybe you wouldn’t be dying today! I’m so so sorry!”. “...at least those kids... are safe, huh?...” Oboro says, chuckling weakly while wiping a tear off of Shouta’s face. The paramedics arrive but before they can get to Oboro, Oboro says one last thing to Shouta before he dies, “hey... if... i die.... p....promise...me...you won’t...ever think you...caused it....you have great potential.... Eraserhead....”. “Oboro? Oboro? SHIRAKUMO!!!”. Yamada arrives and when Shouta tells him the news, tearfully, Yamada has a mental breakdown. The chapter ends at the funeral 4 weeks later, with Shouta looking off into the sunset, tears running down his face and wearing his goggles, looking at the sunset, with “I won’t let you down” as an ending note.

Ending #3: (this one made me question if I even had a heart anymore :/) So, just like the last two, fight commences, villain gets oofed for trying to hurt innocent citizens, oofed again for hurting His Purple Highness, and oofed AGAIN for possibly killing Shirakumo, back-up arrives, but here’s the twist, Shouta was so caught up fighting he didn’t notice when paramedics took away his dying friend, and when he notices, he runs to the hospital where Oboro lays in a cot. He’s horribly injured, he needs a mask to breathe, and the Shirakumo family is sitting in there crying. Then, ALL OF THE SUDDEN, Shouta rushes in, and I headcanon Papa Shirakumo is super overprotective and immediately asked who the hell his broody kid was, Mama Shirakumo notices the boy looks desperate, almost in tears and she explains tearfully to him that it must be a friend of his. The doctor pulls the family to the side and tells them that there’s nothing they can do and they have to take him off of life support. Papa Shirakumo immediately vows to kill every villain thats out there, the mom breaks down into shrieking sobs, and Shouta (who apparently has very good hearing) immediately starts screaming that Oboro can’t do this and how he had influenced him so much to be a better hero, the doctors come in to take him off the life support until Shouta screams that they won’t touch him as long as he’s in the way. At one point, one of the doctors has to put him to sleep because he won’t budge, his last words to Oboro were, “...i’m so sorry...”. He wakes up later in his bedroom, his mother asks him if he’s alright, and Shouta (not remembering what happened) asks if he can go back on patrol with Shirakumo and Purple Highness. He notices that theres a doctor in the place talking with two people, one of them Yamada and the other Nemuri, they’re both sobbing. Shouta looks at his mother (who, btw is a spitting image of him), and she steps foward a few inches and collapses face first on Shouta’s bed, right next to him and says, “I’m so sorry!”. Shouta notices that Nemuri has just yelled, “THAT DAMN VILLAIN, I’LL CRUSH HIM JUST LIKE HE DID WITH... with...”. Shouta looks again at his mother, this time shaking, “w-what... happened?”. She looks right up at him again and says, “He’s gone... i’m so sorry...”. The third to last panel is Shouta getting those NOOOO tears in his eyes, then the second to last panel is Shouta falling into his mother’s arms, and it goes to where Yamada and Nemuri stand and they swivel their heads around when they hear, “OBOROOOO!”. Cut to 2 weeks later, and Shouta has declined to go on missions, Class 2-A has sent a “Come back soon/We’re so sorry for your loss” card, he threw it out, and he just finds his father’s (who in my headcanon abandoned the family and became a villain) old sleeping bag and instead of sleeping in his bed, he takes the bag and goes to sleep in front of the cemetary Oboro was buried at, some pros walk up and find him and when one of them asks if they should check if he’s alright, the other one just says, “He’s fine, he’s only a kid and someone in his life has already left for the afterlife, we should probably get him home though”.

Let’s all flop on the ground like little fish and roll around while sobbing our eyes out! \(‘v’)/

[thedyingmoon]

🖤 I See My Future Before Me 🖤

~ A V X Reader set in an Alternate Universe wherein you and Griffon take the center stage! 👍👍👌

~ Now tagging my Sweet Peas, @heaven-on-a-landslide , @lessy86 , @gxthghoulfriend , @simmy-ships , @ehrzeth , @diabeticsugarush , @ceruleanworld , and @boundbysoul . 🖤

~ This chapter is for you, @krazy06 ! Thanks for giving me endless Griffon ideas ( albeit unintentional 😂😂😂 )! 🖤

~ Alright? LET'S DO THIS !

***

XV

***

A few hours prior.

***

"I' am the villain of your story,... "

"Useless,... "

"Imbecile,... "

"Please, find him and save him before it's too late!"

"VERGIL! WHERE ARE YOU?! VERGIL!"

"I' am so sorry, my dear,... "

"Fulfill my wish, I beg you,... "

"SWEET PEA!"

You jolted wide awake as you felt a weak electric current run through every nerve of your body.

"Oh, I'm glad you're still alive!" You heard the Demonic bird as you opened your eyes, letting your sight adjust to your surroundings.

The last time you were awake, you remembered yourself being a bit tired due to your dancing and a bit sleepy due to the cold weather. You remembered V offering you a shoulder to lean on so you could take a nap, and he even offered to read for you to help you relax. You also remembered Griffon settling himself on your left side, squeezing himself closer to you, feeling warm and cozy, and you also saw how Shadow materialized and laid down next to your feet, purring shamelessly loud like the huge, Demonic cat that she was.

Not only that, you could also remember how V wrapped his arms around you as he pulled you closer. You felt the warmth of his flesh, smelled his lulling scent, heard his soft and gentle voice as he read to you,...

... you also remembered how he kissed your forehead as he told you to rest well,...

And now, you stared around the place, feeling as if something was really off in the atmosphere. The air was heavier, and you felt a shortness of breath.

"What happened?" You asked Griffon, your voice sounding strangely hoarse and emotional.

"I dunno!" The bird answered. "I woke up to ya sayin' some stuff while ya sleep. Then, I saw V,... "

At the mention of his name, you suddenly felt chills run down your spine. You glanced to your right and saw the man, himself. He was still asleep, leaning onto his cane for support.

But, what really startled you was his hair, which had turned snowy - white, and the absence of all his contract markings.

And most of all, there was a strange aura about him, a very dark and evil one. And it seemed to be the force that kept him unconscious.

"Oh, my God, V!" You worriedly muttered as you shook the man, trying to wake him up. "What happened to him?! What's wrong with him?!"

"I - i,... tried to wake him up, believe me!" Griffon shrieked, panic taking over. "I even tried calling Shadow and Nightmare! They're not here! They're gone!"

"What's happening here?" You muttered, your head still unable to process the gravity of the current situation.

"I already told ya that I dunno! What else do ya want, a fight?!"

You stood up, and went towards the window. It really was dark, but you knew full well that it can't be night already. You were only asleep for a while!

And then, right outside the studio, was the answer to your question.

With narrow and cautious eyes, you hustled to where your boots were, hastily wore them, picked up your parka and your violin case on the table, and began to leave. You turned back to Griffon and spoke.

"Stay here with V. I'll go outside and check what's going on."

"Heh! Ya don't need to tell me that! I'm stayin' here, bitch."

"Okay."

"And what do ya need that violin for? A fuckin' concert?!"

"Wha - ?!" You stuttered, looking at the violin case. "Who told you I can play the violin? I'm tone deaf!"

"Oh, alright." Griffon simply replied, then realized that the thing you're holding onto since the early hours of the day was not a freaking instrument in the first place. "WHAT IN THE ACTUAL - ?!"

But, you were already outside the room and didn't get to hear the Demonic bird's curses.

The moment you stepped outside the building, you noticed how the sky was pitch black that not even the stars, the moon, and the clouds could be seen. There was a distinct heaviness in the atmosphere, same as what you felt in V, and it was honestly making you sick.

Not sick physically but, sick in the soul.

It's as if the air itself could make you feel utterly hopeless.

You looked around the deserted road as you walked, trying to search for the root of this phenomenon, when some strange rocks protruding on the ground came into view. And you were very positive that they weren't there before.

What is this? You thought as you looked at the strange circle - like runes that were carved on the rocks.

"Sweet pea!" You heard the Demonic bird from a distance as he called after you. You turned around, almost mistaking him for the enemy.

"Griffon?! I thought I told you to stay with V?!"

"Not gonna leave ya alone!" The bird answered you matter - of - factly. "He'll be fine. Don't worry too much about Shakespeare."

"YOU'RE TELLING ME NOT TO WORRY ABOUT V?! ARE YOU CRAZY?!"

"I TOLD YA! HE'S FINE - !"

All of a sudden, you felt a dark and heavy presence looming in the area. The strange rocks lit up a sickly - looking violet, its very essence crawling its way towards your feet.

"What's that?" The bird, being a few feet above the ground and that strange light, questioned.

You didn't answer. Instead, you opened the case and took out your weapons.

"Sweet pea, that thing's not gonna do anythin' - "

"WATCH OUT!" You practically yelled as you positioned yourself in front of the bird and managed to slice through the very sudden incoming projectile of light using your bow.

However, the attacker seemed to have a lot more in store for you as you noticed a huge, violet light kind of wave that was coming rapidly towards you.

With much resolve to fight, you positioned the metallic violin in front of you like a shield, channeling the entity's power within you. The metallic instrument glowed, a sign that it has received the power it needed from you.

"Stay behind me!"

"Don't need to tell me!" The bird screeched in panic as he did what you told him.

The metallic violin emanated a strange form of light that instantly morphed into a shield, protecting you from the crashing wave of the sinister violet light that disintegrated the ground it touched.

"Ihh! What the fuck is that?!"

"There's no time to find out. Let's go!"

And so, using the special violin you had as a shield, you ran forward, making sure to not let even a small part of your skin touch the wave of light.

"Incoming projectile!" Griffon screamed behind you as he spotted a speeding blade of light going down rapidly towards the two of you.

As soon as you noticed this, you raised the bow, waited for the light to come closer, and succesfully sliced through it just like what you did with the first projectile. Then, you went on, warily watching out for more of those hostile things.

"What are those weapons?"

"Sword and shield." You simply answered, not letting your focus waver for even a second. "Well, rapier, actually. The bow is more like a rapier than a sword."

At the mention of your weapon choice, you could suddenly hear Nico in your head as she made the offer to design a weapon for you for the first time, which was eight years ago.

"Behold my genius! A shield and a rapier in the form of a violin and a bow! You could use this violin to channel the entity's power from within you. It could absorb energy and turn it into whatever form you desire! A shield, projectiles, anything! And this rapier can cut through Demon flesh as clean as possible. You won't have to worry about anything if you have these two."

"That's great!"

"One question, though: why violin? If you simply asked, I could have made somethin' more badass for you."

"That's because,... "

You smiled at the memory. You knew very well the reason behind it, and it was to remind yourself of your life - long mission to search for that white - haired man from your visions who could play the violin.

And now that you've found him, you don't intend on ever letting him get hurt.

"There!" Griffon shrieked as two glowing orbs came into view. "That's Shadow and Nightmare!"

"Let's get them!"

As you were about to reach the orbs, something sharp and spiky rose from the ground, startling the two of you and wounding your right leg. Your eyes widened in pain as you almost collapsed to the ground. The enemy gave you no time to recover as another spike rose and made a huge slash on your other leg, making you howl in unbelievable pain.

"(Y/N)! You - !" Griffon was about to electrocute the spikes when another wave of violet light appeared out of nowhere and engulfed him.

You watched helplessly as the light possessed the Demonic bird. It happened so fast that you were not able to retaliate in time to save him.

"Griffon!"

"Wait, wait, I'm fine!"

"Are you sure?!"

"Sweet pea, another spike! Let me!" The bird offered as it tried to channel his power for an attack. He folded his wings and unfurled them,...

... but nothing happened!

"Wha - ?! My powers are gone!"

You stood up, trying to ignore the pain in your legs and the blood gushing out from your wounds, when another batch of spikes rose from the round, almost killing you had you not dodged in time.

"Stay close behind me!" You ordered, waiting for the bird to do so. "I'll protect you."

With no time left to waste, you made a quick run towards V's imprisoned familiars, dodging spikes and slicing light projectiles along the way.

Twenty feet, seventeen feet, fifteen feet. You were so close to reaching them,...

... until a strange kind of portal appeared before you. And what came out of it was a creature so diabolical, the Demons you faced before could never compare.

"Malphas!" Griffon uttered in fear as the half female half avian Demon blocked your way.

"What a curious little creature!" The Demon called Malphas drawled seductively as she stalked towards you. "These creatures before you failed before my power! And soon," she lifted a skeletal finger and pointed it at you. "... your powers shall be mine!"

"HEY, YOU STINKIN' EXHIBITIONIST!" The powerless Griffon, who was still cowering behind you, yelled. "GIVE MY COMRADES AND MY POWERS BACK!"

"Take them if you can." The enemy exclaimed. "And if you fail, I will feast on your soul!"

"Not good! Not good! Let's run away before - !"

But, the bird did not have time to finish his sentence as he saw you charging forward towards the Demon.

Despite your wounds, you managed to evade the spikes and the light projectiles that the Demon sent your way. However, as your wound worsened, your movements became sluggish, giving Malphas her needed signal to finally move against you. She conjured another portal and used it to escape. And seconds later, she reappeared, almost killing you with one slash of her talon. You thankfully escaped, thanks to Griffon who grabbed your parka and lifted you off the ground, sending you a safe distance away from the Demon.

"We can't do this, sweet pea! W - we d - don't have the strength!"

You smiled despite your predicament. Your head was getting lighter and your sight was getting more and more blurry. You tried to stand up but, your wounds were really awful that you screamed once more in pain and collapsed to the ground.

"Stop that! You, we, can't fight! Let's call the pimple kid and ask for help!

"It would be too late, by then!" You exclaimed, refusing to get knocked out by your wounds and rapid bloodloss.

"And how do you propose we beat that thing, huh? Drive that skinny sword of yours through her heart? YA CAN'T EVEN FUCKIN' STAND! I CAN'T EVEN USE MY POWER! LET'S RUN AWAY AND ASK FOR HELP!"

"NO! I PROMISED TO PROTECT YOU!" You yelled at the bird, your blind convictions surely sending you to your deathbed. "And even if we run, she'll only go after us. What's the difference?"

"We'll live for a bit longer!"

You glanced up at Griffon, giving him a look of bravery despite your pitiful form. "Living for a bit longer? I can't have that. That's,..." you stood up and winced. "... unacceptable."

"And what? Ya really want a fight do ya? YA WANT IT THAT BADLY, HUH?!"

"No." You finally managed to stand up straight, fully decided and unhesitant for your next move. "But, I have no other choice."

You removed your parka and tossed it towards the bird.

"Hey! Just what do ya think you're - ?!"

Once again, the bird did not have enough time to finish as he saw you stripping the rest of your clothes, including the offensively seductive lace underwear that Nico gave you that morning.

"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR FUCKIN' MIND?! YES, MALPHAS IS BUTT NAKED, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN YA HAVE TO - !"

"Maybe." You only answered as you took a step forward. "But, we're way out of our safe zones now."

"What do ya mean by that? Start getting clear with me, woman!"

You faced him once more, but this time, with a weird smile on your face. "You're right. I can't beat Malphas. I'm weak, as you just saw. I can't kill her but, she can."

"Ah, who?!"

Nico's voice went back to your head as you recalled her words once more.

"Now, as much as possible, you have to rely on those weapons I gave you. You would only let her take over as a last resort!"

"What if there's no other choice, then?"

"Then, you're gonna have to say byebye to your clothes! Or, at least, strip them before she comes. You can't afford to buy that many set of clothes every after mission! You'll go hungry!"

"Hunger? Clothes? Whatever." You uttered to yourself as you made your way towards Malphas.

"SWEET PEA!" Griffon pleaded as he tried once more to attack, only to fail yet again. "YOU WILL FUCKIN' DIE! STOP!"

But you only looked back at him, winked, and held up a slender finger to your bloody lips.

"Sshh,..."

The Demon noticed you as you reappeared before her, vulnerable, wounded, and exposed.

"Finally accepting your fate, mortal?"

"I don't think so."

"You! What are you - ?"

A warm kind of light suddenly engulfed your whole body, lifting you off the ground and blinding Malphas at the same time. Griffon, who was safely away from the fight, saw how your body morphed into a being of pure light that stood much taller than you were.

"Sweet Shirley! What a secret to hide!" Griffon exclaimed as he saw you come closer towards Malphas. "GO BEAT THAT EXHIBITIONIST, SWEET PEA!"

As the Diabolical Amalgam used her powers in the form of her portals, spikes, and projectiles, you only stayed where you were, receiving all the relentless attacks from her. And when the Demon realized that you have become somewhat invulnerable, she tried her best to escape, only to find herself suddenly slashed in different parts of her body. The rays of light that emanated from your very being extended out and went after Malphas in the form of hot blades, slashing her and wounding her, giving her no time to even move a finger. With a swift movement of your arms, you brought down judgment on the Demon, exuding a very bright light that melted Malphas' grotesque avian form, leaving her true form behind.

"Mercy! Mercy!" Malphas pleaded as she saw you hovering towards her.

"Ooh, this I gotta watch!" Griffon said to himself as he flew down to witness the winning fight.

"Malphas of the Underworld, you stand before the Protector of The Present." Griffon heard you proclaim in a very different voice. "I command you: speak and reveal who sent you to this Universe!"

"I do not know! I do not - AHH!" Malphas screamed as she felt another slash of hot light wound her already bloody and unrecognizable torso.

"By the name of the One Mistress who commands me, speak the truth!"

But, despite the deadly wounds she just received, Malphas only laughed.

"You know who sent me. It is she! The most powerful of all. Blood of her blood! Flesh of her flesh! Spirit of her spirit! Arisen from the Dead in pursuit of power! It is,... "

But, before she could even finish her words, Malphas slowly disintegrated, her flesh turning into ash and her dark aura vanishing.

"We won! We fuckin' won!" Griffon sang as he also felt his powers returning to him. "You did it, sweet pea! You - "

"AT THE FINAL HOURS OF THE EVENING AND THE LAST RADIANCE OF THE WOUNDED MOON, THE PAST WILL WEEP, THE PRESENT WILL KNEEL, AND THE FUTURE WILL DIE!"

"What in the - ?!"

Griffon witnessed in shock how you uttered those cryptic words in a, yet, different tone than the first one you used on Malphas. He also saw how the light slowly vanished from your body, turning you back into your old self. Your body hovered for a moment, and finally went back to the ground, leaving you with no trace, whatsoever, of your battle against the Demons.

No wounds, no blood, no injuries.

It's as if you were whole once more.

"Hey, hey, (Y/N)! Wake up!"

As you opened your eyes, you noticed how the darkness vanished from the sky, revealing its soft, afternoon glow. You also noticed how the orbs slowly disintegrate, already making their way back towards their Master.

Aside from one.

Still feeling a bit weak, you went towards that one orb glowing red and blue at the same time, like the two colors were in conflict with each other.

"Who is this?" You asked Griffon.

"Uhh, that would be the cat." The bird answered.

"Shadow? Why is she - ?" You mumbled, reaching out a hand to the orb.

At the first signs of contact, the orb's colors became even more chaotic as each of them fought for dominance.

Griffon, on the other hand, knew what's really going on.

The Yamato was taking over Shadow, it's very essence beating the familiar's consciousness,...

... just like that one time at Delphi.

But, why now, of all times?!

"Ah, Griffon? What do we do with Shadow?" You frantically asked as the orb became bluer and bluer by the second.

"Ah! Ah! V! We need V!"

At the mention of its master's name, the orb suddenly settled down and hastily disintegrated, its dark particles quickly crawling past you and back to the dance studio.

"Oh, there's no need." The bird breathed a sigh of relief. "I can tell that V is wide awake and is now running to get here."

"Oh, I see." You muttered, then suddenly, the two of you realized,...

"C L O T H E S!" You and Griffon simultaneously shrieked in panic.

A few minutes later, V arrived, looking for you and Griffon.

"Hoo, I'm glad you're wide awake, V!" Griffon shrieked obnoxiously, suddenly blocking his vision.

"As tempted as I' am to ask what occurred during my,... absence,... I would like to know: where is she?"

"I! That! She! Err!" Griffon hysterically stuttered, making the man even more suspicious.

"Hello, V."

Griffon stopped mumbling at once when he heard you speak. "Oh, there is the chick! Hahaha!"

V practically shoved his avian familiar aside as he came to meet you.

Fully clothed and with no trace of combat, you smiled at him and said, "Are you alright?"

V sighed. He knew something happened while he was knocked out. But, he dared not ask that, for you were here with him, safe and sound.

"I' am doing wonderful." The man replied with a smile.

***

"Nothing really matters, anyone can see!"

"Nothing really matters!"

"Nothing really matters,... to me!"

"Anywhere the wind,... blows!"

"BANG!"

Nico and Nero looked up as the two saw you, V, and Griffon making your way back towards the van after your first night patrol.

Nero ended his duet with Nico and his air guitar performance and ran to meet you halfway.

"Welcome back!" The boy cheerfully uttered, bringing his huge hand down on V's shoulder and squeezing it. Lightly.

"How did your first night patrol go?" Nico asked with a knowing smile.

"Fetching." V answered with a knowing smile of his, emphasizing on the word, giving Nico some false, and filthy, thoughts about how your night patrol with him went.

And, of course, you, being totally dense when it comes to those things, only shook your head helplessly.

"Normal. A few Demons here and there. Nothing special." You answered, dedicated to keep your confrontation with Malphas a secret from them.

"Can we have breakfast now? I'm starving!" Nero announced as he took a seat on one of the abandoned chairs, waiting to be served like a guest in a restaurant. "And stop hiding that apple pie, Nico! Give it to me now!"

"What are you talking about, psycho?! I'm not hiding any food from you!"

"Oh, yeah? Then, what's that strong apple pie aroma I'm smelling right now, huh?" Nero questioned, then turned to V. "You can smell it too, right?"

V, who could only smell the fresh flowers in your presence, shook his head.

"Seriously?! What? I'm the only one who can smell it?!"

Griffon was about to join in the apple pie banter when he heard someone calling him. He turned and saw you as you were about to enter the van, drowsily looking at him with one finger held up on your lips.

"Sshh,..."

***

The moment Trish entered her favorite department store, she knew something was really off.

She warily made her way towards the back of the shop, knowing the target would be there. She cautiously crouched towards the next aisle, expecting some Demon to come out, when,...

"Ooff!"

Somehow, Trish bumped into you, making you drop your items on the floor.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" You apologized as you picked up your items.

"No, I should be the one to apologize,..." Trish uttered, trying to help you pick up your things, when she suddenly stopped as she looked down at you. She knew there was something off about you but, then, she knew you were not evil.

But, what could it be?

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, I' am." You answered, giving her a sweet smile before leaving.

She waited for you to pay for your things and leave, and when you finally did, she approached one of the Sales Associates and interrogated.

"Was this her first visit here?"

"Oh, the girl? Yes, it is. Cute, isn't she?" The girl answered.

It was the first of the many occasions when Trish just had to spy on you, trying to find out that particular something in you that gave her uneasiness and sleepless nights. And in the space of two days, she found out that you worked for Dante as his assistant. You would sometimes go out and do some errands for him, like going to the grocery store, and such. Aside from that, everything about you seemed normal.

It was when she bumped into you again in that same department store did she finally realized what's off about you. It should be considered as normal but, Trish knew it in her bones that she was the only one who could sense that elusive something from you.

Everywhere you went, you leave a distinct sign about you that was very hard to ignore, especially for a Demon like her. And it was only proven further with her latest observations of Dante as she saw him frantically searching for expensive vintages whenever he had the budget and never getting satisfied, not even once.

It was your scent,...

To Trish, you smelled like chocolates.

The kind that gave her an unhealthy addiction.

***

🖤🖤🖤

Note: In case you have been wondering, yes. The song from Nero and Nico's duet is Bohemian Rhapsody from Queen.

P.S.: I have the entire last week of June filed for my vacation leave starting from the 25th to the 30th. So, yes! More chappies of this fic!

🖤🖤🖤

***