#adoption whump

[pinkrangerv]

Power Rangers Whump: Ryan and Dana time!

Author's note: takes place when Ryan stole the morpher, during the first fight.

The Rangers were pathetic fighters.

Ryan wasn't incredibly surprised by this. His research had found that most of the Rangers were recruited from civilian backgrounds, with a bare handful of applicable skills. They hadn't gone through the human's warrior apprenticeship—Ryan had found the name 'boot camp' but that didn't make any sense as a term in English, it had to be a nickname—and they barely knew enough about their weapons to use them.

Except one Ranger.

Dana wore Pink. It was not the color or rank of a leader, in Lightspeed's team structure, despite her having not just a medical degree and license, but having completed a true apprenticeship. She was the most qualified of them, the strongest fighter, the best trained...

And he was fighting her, alone, while the other Rangers were on the ground half-unconcious.

"Why aren't you Red, my sister?" Ryan asked, catching her arm as she struck.

"What?" Dana twisted free of his grip, striking again; Ryan countered and grasped her upper arm, twisting her. Dana twisted free, then spoke again. "What kind of demon are you? They never ask that."

...What?

Ryan's mind raced, and very suddenly there was something he remembered from his research:

Family members weren't allowed to serve on the same assignment, in the American military.

Well. Clearly alternate tactics were needed.

Ryan reached out, but this time he shifted his center of gravity, triggering a teleport as he did. Dana fell with him, and they both rolled out of the teleport together. Ryan had always been skilled with those.

Dana leapt up, only to realize she was demorphed. She glanced around and saw the open, empty space he'd built, a vast plain of grass and the odd tree, and discarded the information as useless, then set herself to attack Ryan anyway.

Ryan waited.

It only took a second, and then Dana's features shifted. She remembered him. Ryan smiled and offered a hand, palm-up. "I don't know how you forgot me, Dana." He said. "You were old enough to remember."

Dana looked oddly...blank, Ryan realized. She was looking at him as if she didn't want to remember.

Ryan felt his disgust and anger growing. He went to his sister, carefully—slowly--wrapping his arms around her. She didn't reject him or push him away; Dana rested her head against Ryan's shoulder instead, and then she clung to him.

"Didn't you ever wonder why he picked civilians over you?" Ryan asked gently. "Why you were allowed to serve under him? You're all such good weapons...but you're the only one who knows what he's not allowed to do."

Dana said nothing, but Ryan knew she heard him.

"No one in America's government even believes demons are real, do they?" Ryan said, stroking Dana's hair. His sister was shivering now, and he kept hold of her. "Our father built a Ranger team just to take his revenge on us."

"Us?" Dana whispered.

Ryan winced. Of course their father hadn't said... "Our mother. Vypra. And us."

Dana burst into tears.

Ryan held her, pressing his face into her hair. He had his sister now. His sister, his mother, his purpose. He let the illusion he'd built fade into the quiet caves adjacent to Hell, where the demons nearest Earth lived.

They were a family now. And they would take their revenge.

[sp0o0kylights]

Adopt a Jock Part 1 

Part 2 

Part 4

Shoutout to @bloomingconflagration for the title!!! And a HUGE thank you to everyone who left comments or gave suggestions!! I love you all you amazing, silly humans <3 <3 

There comes a time during a long work shift were your average overworked and underpaid employee starts to think they’re hallucinating. 

In Gareth’s case, it was when Steve Harrington walked through the doors of Palace Arcade, making a beeline right for him. 

“Gareth?” Steve asked, like he was the one out of place. “What are you doing here?” 

As if people just randomly stood behind the counter of retail and entertainment spaces with a nametag on. 

You know, for fun.

With a great deal of restraint, Gareth managed to hold the sass back, instead opting for a far more polite; ‘I work here, Harrington. What are you doing here?” 

Because no matter how much Hellfire had adopted Steve into its fold, Gareth could just not see the guy choosing to spend his free time at the local arcade. 

Not of his own free will, anyway. 

“Pick up duty.” Steve said, proving him right not even a second later. 

“Of what?” Gareth asked, puzzled, right before Steve’s name was shouted in stereo.

A miniature stampede took place as several children proceeded to swarm him like oversized puppies, most of them trying to talk at once. 

“One at a time, we talked about this!” Steve barked, loud enough to be heard over the commotion. “You’re giving me and Gareth here a headache!” 

He waved his hands in a “calm down” gesture, shaking his head and looking at Gareth in exasperation. “Probably giving the people in the video store next door one too, lord.”  

“Wait.” A curly-haired kid said, looking between the two older teens like he was watching the laws of the universe rewrite themselves in front of him. “You know Gary? How?”

“We are not close enough for you to call me Gary.” Gareth said dryly, for what felt like the fifteenth time that day. 

This was a regular battle between him and the kids who haunted the arcade.

(One had overheard Grant call him Gary the last time he was in, and ever since, every single child that graced this fine establishment with Cheeto-dusted fingers and candy-induced sugar rushes had decided to replace his actual name with his nickname.

The fact it clearly frustrated him only egged them on. )

“We go to school together Dustin,” Steve said, as if he were talking to someone particularly dense. 

“Yeah? You go to school with lots of people. You bitch about most of them.” Dustin fired back.”Plus Gary’s a total nerd. I bet you call him names.” 

"Hey, language!" 

Gareth’s eyes narrowed as he glared down at the little fucker. He was definitely going to remember Dustin (and equally going to watch and see what arcade games the younger teen played-- and top the score chart of every single fucking one.

He might be a nerd but he wasn’t gonna take that shit from a middle schooler.) 

“Hate to break it to you brats, but your babysitter here just joined our D&D club.” Gareth replied, if only to finally one-up the little bastards. “Our DM is building him a character as we speak.” 

(Which wasn't even a lie. Eddie was building a character for Steve. The guy just refused to give any input on grounds that he "wasn't going to play anyways." )

Abrupt and sudden silence, as several stunned faces stared at him. 

“Oh goddammit.” Harrington cursed, as the entire herd of children turned on him in unison like some kind of hivemind horror monster. 

“You joined the D&D club,” Dustin said slowly, outraged. “And you let them make you a character sheet, but you won’t play with us!?” 

“What the hell Steve!” The sporty-looking one whined, clearly hurt. “You won’t sit in on our games! You said they were lame!” 

“They are lame.” Steve defended immediately, pushing at sporty-kids head. It was fond though, the kind of gentle shove an elder brother gave to a younger one. It caused the kid's camo banana to fall into his eyes, which he adjusted quickly with a grumble. “Turns out the high school version’s cooler.” 

“He’s lying.” That from the bitchy one, whose arms were crossed over his chest, a glare on his face. “Steve probably paid Gary to say that” 

Gareth had seen that exact same stance on Steve at lunch that day, and wondered if the little asshole knew who he was copying when he did it. 

“Who cares about D&D?” This from the redhead, standing with another girl giggling in her ear. “I’m just amazed Steve has friends.” 

“Really Mayfield?” Steve said, looking almost betrayed. As if he thought she was going to be the one to defend him in this weird little showdown.

The girl leaning on her giggled harder, making Mayfield grin (even if she tried to hide it.)  She whispered something, which the redhead outright laughed at before repeating; “Adult friends even!” 

“Okay.” Steve said, clearly cutting the kids off before they could embarrass him further. “Thank you, unwanted peanut gallery, for all of that lovely commentary. Now go back to playing the games you little shits robbed me of all my quarters for, or we’re leaving.” 

Henderson’s eyes narrowed. “I thought you were here to pick us up?” 

“Oh I’m sorry, did Jonathan magically appear behind me in the last five seconds?” Steve turned around pretending to search the parking lot through the windows. “No? Then I guess we’re still waiting. Unless you, Lucas and Max want to leave first.” 

“You’re such an ass.” Dustin huffed, rolling his eyes. “Why aren’t you waiting in the car anyway?” 

“It’s raining, it’s cold, and I thought I’d come in to say hi to my friend.” Steve replied, so quickly it took Gareth a moment to realize what Steve referred to him as. 

He'd gotten the friend title before Eddie. 

His best friend was going to fucking freak. 

“Are you done drilling me or are you going to let Max kick your ass at DigDug again?” 

“Shit!” Henderson cursed, spinning to intercept the redhead as she bent to put a coin in said arcade machine. “Max, you said you’d let me keep my leaderboard score today! Max!” 

“I know you said you watched kids, but this wasn’t exactly what I was imagining.” Gareth said, slumping against the counter.  

(He'd been thinking of Steve watching much younger kids for one, and two, he was starting to get the idea the babysitter thing was used as an insult. 

Gareth knew a big brother vibe when he saw it.) 

Steve gave him a tired look. “Me neither man. Me neither.”

 Then; “You fucking owe me for that D&D comment, they’re never going to shut up about it now.”

Gareth winced. “Sorry. I was trying to help.” 

Steve blew out a breath. “I know. I appreciate the attempt.” 

Which was better than Steve bitching at him for it, not that he’d really ever done that to Gareth. 

The two of them hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to be playful like that with each other, though they had occasionally jumped in on opposing sides to arguments Eddie caused. Gareth figured they’d get there in time, but even with all the progress Steve made, he still had more off days than on. 

It was a fragile line to walk with him. Especially when there wasn’t a single member of Hellfire who wanted to ruin the progress they made. 

(Even if half of them would never admit to it.) 

“Steve?” A voice interrupted, quiet in a way that contrasted directly with how loud the rest of the brat pack was. 

Steve closed his eyes for a moment, pinching the bridge of his nose with his hand as if to starve off a headache. 

“Yes, Baby Byers?” He asked after a long, painful pause, turning to look at the saddest looking kid in the bunch. 

“Is there actually a D&D club at the high school?” 

The kid looked at Steve like he wasn’t entirely certain he wanted to hear the answer, but was hopeful for the outcome he wanted anyway. 

It was the kind of thing that pulled even on Gareth’s heartstrings, and he was almost immune to anything involving giant, sad eyes after a solid year of working at the arcade. 

(Never mind Eddie’s own puppy dog looks.)

Steve’s voice gentled, in a way Gareth had never quite heard him use before. “There is. You’d love it, it’s called Hellfire. I’m sure it’ll still be there next year when you come in as a freshman.” 

He nudged him with his shoulder playfully, smiling when the younger boy perked up. “If you’re nice, Garebear here might even put in a good word for you.” 

“Garebear?” Max repeated with a burst of laughter, appearing behind Steve like a fucking ghost. “Oh my god.” 

“No.” Gareth said, bolting upright from his slouch as he stared at her in horror. “Do not call me that.” 

“Sure thing, Garebear.” She outright cackled, as Steve sent him a wide-eyed, apologetic face. 

“What did you just call Gary?” The sporty one--Lucas, asked, a wide grin overtaking his face. 

“I swear to God.” Gareth threatened, as Steve took another dramatic look over his shoulder. 

“Hey look Jonathan’s here!” He yelled, jerking a thumb over his shoulder as he started quickly walking backwards. “Come on, dipshits, we're leaving!” 

“Bye Garebear!” Lucas and Max sang together, following after him. 

“Harrington!” Gareth howled, as Steve mouthed ‘Sorry’ over his shoulder, all but bolting out the door. 

“I like Garebear a lot better than Gary.” Another, random child informed him with a grin as he sauntered past, arcade tickets in hand. 

Steve Harrington, Gareth decided, was a dead man. 

Not even Eddie’s fucking crush on the guy could save him now. 

xXx

“Did you know Harrington has a literal pack of kids he watches?” Gareth asked a few hours later, messing with his drum kit as he set up for band practice. "He even drives them around." 

More than that though--he’d seemed almost normal around them. That was the most Gareth had seen the guy banter or act relaxed since Eddie had dragged him over. 

“He’s mentioned it multiple times.” Grant replied, tuning his bass. “You have ears Gareth, use them.” 

“Gareth? Listen?” Jeff teased as he dragged an amp into the garage. “I don’t think I’ll live to see the day.” 

"Oh screw you guys.” Gareth growled, winging a drumstick toward his friends for the insult.

Grant, long used to Gareth's tantrums (and Eddie's dramatics)  didn't look up from his bass.

Not even when the drumstick hit the wall with a bang!-- allll the way near the opposite end of the couch, entirely opposite of either him or Jeff. 

"As usual, your aim is dead on." Jeff appraised sarcastically. 

"Like I'd ever actually hit you." Gareth grumbled with a pout. "I was gonna say the kids are older than I expected."

He reached down, blindly fishing for another drumstick from the bucket of them next to his kit. 

He came up empty. 

"Hey Grantman." Gareth asked, tone changing to something mildly embarrassed. "Could I uh, could I get the drumstick back?" 

He got a flat stare back. "No." 

"What did I do to get stuck with such dramatic friends?" Jeff joked as he began moving all the amps he’d pulled in back into their usual places. 

They hadn't had time to unload anything other than the drums after their last show and the regret was real. 

"Eddie’s been standing on tables since seventh grade, you knew what you were getting into." Gareth fired back, making grabby hands for his drumstick. 

"And you never grew out of being that dorky middle schooler who snuck into Hellfire games and screamed we were all going to die every time anyone made a bad play." Jeff shot back. "Yet here I am, once again wondering if I should just permanently confiscate Eddie's snacks, your drumsticks, and now Harrington's fricken spatula." 

"One year. I am one year younger than you and you act like it's an entire century!" Gareth muttered, as Grant relented and leaned over to fetch said drumstick. 

"We all know Eddie chucks food at people, but what'd Steve do with a spatula?"  Grant asked as he tossed it back to Gareth.

He missed and nearly took out a cymbal in the process. 

"He had a snit while we were making chocolate roulade cause it wouldn’t roll right. Flung the spatula around so much it splattered whip cream on his ceiling." Jeff shook his head as he finished hooking an amp up to his guitar. "I had to rescue it from him." 

"His ceiling?" Gareth said in disbelief. "Wait, you were in Harrington’s kitchen?" 

"Yeah?" Jeff looked up to find his friends staring at him. 

Grant blinked. "The fuck?" 

“Can we just play?” Jeff complained, just as embarrassed as Gareth had been.

“No.” Gareth said, retrieved drumstick nearly falling from his hands in shock. “You don’t get to casually drop that you went to Harrington’s house to help him bake and then try to get us to play right after!” 

Jeff, who had done exactly that, blushed, skin darkening as he fiddled with his guitar.

“It wasn’t a big deal.” He said finally with a shrug, as if this was something he did all the time and not the groundbreaking revelation that it was.

“Did you meet his parents?” Grant said, sitting up from the couch. “What did his house look like?”

Jeff finally gave up the pretense of playing his instrument.

“I didn't, and it was kinda sad, actually.” He said, as if he didn’t live for this kind of shit. 

Gareth knew better than anyone how much of a fricken gossip Jeff could be. 

“His house was enormous. I only saw the first floor, and his kitchen is huge.” He set his hands apart at a good distance, showcasing just how large “huge” was, before continuing. 

“But it was weird. It was like a model home. No pictures on the walls, no art, no personality to the place at all.” 

“What are we talking about?” Eddie asked, finally returning to Gareth’s garage from where he’d been gathering up all the wires they’d thrown haphazardly into his van. 

“Jeff went to Harrington’s house.” Grant and Gareth tattled as one. 

“To help bake stuff for this Friday!” Jeff defended, the blush creeping back onto his face. “I was curious about his chocolate roulade recipe and he invited me over!” 

“When was this?” Eddie asked, staring at Jeff like he’d grown a second head. 

Or more likely, Gareth knew, in jealousy. But he wasn’t going to call Eddie out on that just yet. 

“Yesterday. We got to talking about it in the parking lot after school.” Jeff said with an embarrassed shrug. “He said he wasn’t the best at explaining how to do things and that he’d rather show me instead.” 

“Kinky.” Grant deadpanned, making Jeff sputter. 

“You sure you didn’t see his bedroom, Jeff? It’s okay if you fell for the ‘wanna see my music collection’ line. We won’t judge you.” Gareth waggled his eyebrows, ducking with a laugh when Jeff went to whack him. 

“Shut up, we just made the chocolate roulade!” Jeff’s ears were red now, and huh, maybe Eddie wasn’t the only person with a crush.  

“Guys.” Eddie reprimanded, tone warning. 

“Sorry Eds, you know we don’t mean it.” Gareth soothed. Of course, his best friend's anger was less about the gay comments or Steve’s reputation as Hawkin’s man whore than it was about Steve fucking Jeff (and not Eddie) but he had a feeling it wouldn’t be appreciated if he pointed that out either. 

Eddie didn’t respond, eyes already back on Jeff. "Details, Jeffery, give us the details!"  

He dropped onto the couch, flapping his hands at Jeff in his version of a "sit down" gesture. 

Jeff sighed, but repeated what he'd just said for Eddie as he took a seat on the edge of an amp, placing his guitar down gently. 

 "I think Wayne was right. I don't think anyone else lives there but Steve. Not full-time anyway." He finished. 

Which sounded like the best fucking thing ever until Gareth thought about it for more than two seconds. 

Tried to imagine what his life would be like if his parents and siblings were gone. Not for a day, or even a weekend, but always. 

How silent his normally loud house would be. 

Thought instantly that he'd be inviting Eddie, his friends, and hell, l even Wayne, over as often as they could handle. 

"The way he looked when I showed up, and how quiet he got when I left I just…" Jeff fiddled with his guitar’s strap. "I think he's lonely." 

The four of them sat in silence for a long moment as they digested that. 

“Hargrove kicked his ass right? And Byers?” Grant said finally, breaking the silence ad he stared up at the ceiling. 

“Old news.” Eddie replied absently, jiggling his leg.

“You think his parents were around for that?” Grant continued, slowly.

No one answered outside of Eddie's leg loudly jiggling faster. 

 "Did you see the kids hug him or anything?"

"They're like thirteen. I seriously doubt they're pestering Steve for hugs." Gareth answered flatly.  

 "So he got his ass kicked, his parents are gone, he was supposed involved in that whole has leak thing…" Grant trailed off with an air of someone who expected the end of his sentence to be obvious. 

“You’re doing that thing again where you think what you’re saying is obvious and its fucking not.” Eddie grumped. "Just spit it out." 

His friend's head finally tipped back down from the ceiling, to face the rest of them. “Maybe the flinching is because no one ever touches him anymore unless it’s to kick his ass.” 

“Oh.” Eddie blinked, body going rigid. “Oh shit.” 

“That…would make sense. A lot of sense.” Jeff said slowly. 

Grant put on a face that read “Duh” loud and clear. 

“So what do we do about it?" Gareth asked after a moment. 

"Touch him, obviously." Grant replied, like he couldn't believe the drummer was even asking.

Gareth and Eddie shared a look while Eddie rolled his eyes.  

"The guy almost fell down the stairs last time I tried that." Gareth pointed out. 

Never mind any other time Steve got weird over the lightest of touches. Eddie couldn't even clap the guy on the shoulder without getting major side-eye. 

"No."  Eddie cut in, sitting up suddenly. His eyes had gone bright, "We're going to trick him into it." 

"We're going to trick Harrington into being okay with, what? Shoulder pats?"  Gareth echoed, like Eddie might hear himself if his words were repeated back to him. “You realize how stupid that sounds right?" 

"Shut up, listen. It's like getting a stray to trust you. You just gotta be calm and so obvious about it that they get confused and let it happen." Eddie had begun practically vibrating, causing his friends to trade uneasy glances. 

They knew that look. Eddie only got it when he thought up a plan that was going to cause problems. 

"Eddie, that makes zero sense." Jeff told him.

Gareth just shook his head, because only Eddie Munson could compare Hawkins golden boy with a fucking stray animal. 

Even if the guy kinda acted like one sometimes. 

"I just need an opening." Eddie continued, the little hamster wheel spinning in his head so fast the rest of the band could almost hear it. 

If Gareth had been told two months ago he was going to be sitting in his garage, discussing the best way to acclimate Steve Harrington to casual touch, he’d have actually smacked whatever idiot dared spew such nonsense with his drumsticks. 

"I did tell tell the kids today you were making him a D&D character." He said, before his best friend could truly go off on some half cocked plot. 

Eddie lit up like a kid on Christmas. "Gary, I could kiss you."

Gareth made a face. "Please don't."

He clapped hard before springing to his feet. "Huddle up boys, I've got a plan." 

"God help us all." Jeff muttered. 

(He huddled up anyway, any thoughts of playing guitar that night fully forgotten.) 

Bonus: 

"Why don't you just get high and watch a movie with Steve? You're a fucking cling-on when you're high." Gareth complained the next morning, when Eddie swung by to pick him up for school. 

Mostly because the plan Eddie had come up with was ridiculous.

 Eddie took both hands off the wheel, pressing them against his chest in mock offense while he stared at Gareth and not at the street. “That would be taking advantage of him and I, as a gentleman, would never." He gasped, dramatically. 

In his normal voice, he added: "Plus it doesn't count." 

“Eyes on the road!” Gareth yelped, swatting an arm. “And you know I didn’t mean it like that. People relax more when they're high and maybe Steve needs something like that as an excuse to allow it. Hell he doesn’t even need to be high, just you.”

Which Gareth personally thought was a very insightful thing to say, so of course he had to ruin it with; “or whatever.” 

"Do you recall how you kissed Jeff on the cheek when you were high and then spent the entire next month swearing up and down that you weren't attracted to men last summer?" 

"That was different. I was discovering myself." 

Eddie outright cackled. "Discovering yourself? What self help book did you pick that gem out of?"

"I was quoting you, you moron!" Gareth sputtered. 

"If I said anything like that then I was definitely high and it just proves my point. Steve would just be uncomfortable."Eddie stuck his tongue out. "So there." 

"Fine." Gareth sighed. "If we ever get high with Harrington, I'll sit in his lap."

Eddie's eye twitched. "No you will not."

Thrilled to have something to tease the elder metalhead about, a smile graced Gareth's face. "In fact, I'm calling dibs." 

"You can't call dibs on a lap! And besides, you don't even like him like that!" 

"So?" Gareth retorted. "It's a nice lap, looks comfortable. You don't want it, so I'll take it."

Eddie grit his teeth, grasping the steering wheel so hard his knuckles went white. 

"I know what you're doing Gary. This is some bullshit reverse psychology shit and I will not be falling for it." 

"Oh contraire, this is sibling bullshit, Munson. You want it, so I want it." Gareth crossed his arms and looked at Eddie smugly. "And unless you do something about it, I'm getting it." 

"I hate you." 

Gareth grinned, delighted. "I know." 

[kittykatninja321]

Not to rehash this discourse so close to his birthday but genuinely what other mysterious unnamed trauma of Jason’s is Bruce referring to in bftc if not csa? We know that:

It’s something that happened to him

It’s something that happened to him pre-Bruce, so it presumably could’ve happened while he was an extremely vulnerable unsupervised homeless child

It’s something associated with secrecy and shame: Jason only told Bruce about it and freaks out about Dick playing his hologram talking about it

It’s something that affected him profoundly, Bruce says it left him “broken” (ugh side note: hate this language) and he seems to get retriggered by it being brought up again

What other trauma is coded like this besides sexual assault? Like genuinely I have yet to hear an answer that fits as well or better

[uptondixon]

Upstead Foster Daughter

Did you ever wonder how Upstead would be as foster parents for a teenage girl? Like Hank and Erin, Hailey and Jay welcomed Olivia to their home when she was 16. Olivia holds a lot of grudges and is full of mischief, but she is also incredibly sweet and has a tremendous need to feel like she belongs. To her surprise, Hailey and Jay will give her exactly that.

Masterlist

[Chapter I] "If I was dying on my knees you would be the one to rescue me"

Jay is shot and help comes from an unexpected source.

Blood was no stranger to Jay Halstead. Nor is being in the aim of a gun. But actually being shot, bleeding out? This is something you never get used to. 

Jay had been lying on the cold concrete floor for about two minutes now, unaware that minutes had passed. Everything happened so fast. The bullet missed his bulletproof vest and hit his side, invading him with pain and knocking him to the ground.

Jay made an effort but failed to reach for his radio that he dropped when he fell. Being alone, bleeding out from a hole in your belly, is enough to send anyone into a panic. But not him, because Jay knew that was not how he would die, chasing a stupid drug dealer who shot him down an alley in the middle of the day. He wasn't even supposed to be there alone in the first place. 

His team would find him. Hailey would find him.

Half a minute later, Jay hears footsteps coming from the other side of the alley. His hands loosened the hold on his side where he was stanching the bleeding with a piece of his plaid shirt. They got to him, he could relax now. 

The footsteps were soft, they were probably from Hailey or Kim, even Hank coming-

“Jesus Christ! Sir, what happened?” Jay's head moved in the direction of the voice so fast that he felt pain shooting through his entire body. 

His vision was getting blurry, be he could make out a teenage girl who could not be older than fifteen. She was staring at him from 10 steps away and the strain his neck was doing to look at her was making him even more uncomfortable. He resumed his previous position with a loud groan, pressing the piece of fabric tighter against his side again. 

The action calls the girl's attention to the wound, the amount of blood making her gasp and kneel on the ground beside the man. Although she had never seen a gunshot wound before, she knew it was one. She noticed his vest, his gun, and his radio on the ground. He was a cop and he was bleeding out on the pavement right in front of her. She had to do something.

Her hands flew to the wound, joining his bigger ones in stopping the bleeding. She took out her coat, pressing it to the wound. 

“My belt” Jay said, reaching out to it. He had attempted to remove it earlier, but his hands were shaking excessively and he lacked the strength to do so. Just like he couldn't reach for his radio to call for help.

She got the message and took his belt. His badge and gunholder coming off in the process. The girl knew she had to do a tourniquet, so she wrapped the belt around his side, finding some difficulty in doing so, but still managed to succeed. More grunts of pain left Jay as she tightened the belt. 

Her hands and clothes were covered in blood, and her face had some splashes from when she tried to get her hair out of the way.

What to do now? She couldn't carry him, she couldn't leave him here alone to die either. 

“The radio, take my radio” Jay's voice was weaker now, he was using all his strength to not pass out. 

She looked back and stood up to retrieve the radio. She came back and kneeled beside him again, waiting for more instructions. It was crazy how he could still think rationally in these conditions. She felt so powerless because he was the one dying, but he was still managing to tell her what to do. She knew, however, that he was probably trained for moments like this.

“What's your name?” Jay said after a moment trying to catch his breath.

“Olivia” She answered, her voice shaking.

The girl glanced down at the name carved on his vest “Halstead, Intelligence” she read out loud. 

“Yeah, yeah, you-” he coughed. “You pull this switch and press this button” his blood-soaked hand showed her how to do it.

“Call for help, tell them the address” were Jay’s last words before he started to feel his consciousness fading away.

He turned his head to the side, feeling the cold on his cheek. His vision went completely black but he could still hear Olivia's voice in the background.

Jay could not make out what she was saying but the last thing he heard before passing out was Hank's voice through the radio “Who the hell are you?!”

You all recognize the lyrics from the title, right? Thank you for reading and let me know what you think! It's my first time attempting to write a story with multiple chapters so any form of encouragement is much appreciated ♡

[creative-caramel-coffee]

Late night’s studying

Summary: reader pushes herself too far for university and work. Scarlett and Lizzie look after her.

Tw: fainting, overworking, stress, assignments

Words: 3.2K

A/n I might be projecting … once again lol

Lately you hadn’t had time to do much other than work and study. Being the youngest on set was great sometimes but it also really sucked.

Lately you had been swamped with assignments, you had been extremely stressed trying to get it all done before the university deadlines. You had already applied for one extension, but it didn’t seem like enough.

You spent long hours filming scenes over and over, but your mind was anywhere but where it was meant to be.

Being the youngest you didn’t want the others to know you were still getting some form of higher education. It’s not that you weren’t proud of it, no not at all, it was more you didn’t want them to see you as anymore of the child they all treated you like. You were legally an adult but being the youngest made you the baby of the marvel set.

On screen your character spent a lot of time with the scarlet witch and black widow meaning you shot lots of scenes with Elizabeth and Scarlett. They had been very nice and invited you to join them at the cast parties and dinners that various actors on set hosted, but you had always politely declined much to their dismay.

On set and off set Elizabeth and Scarlett had practically adopted you. Yet whenever you were done filming for the day you disappeared to your trailer.

As the weeks wore on your work was piling up with unfinished tasks you simply hadn’t had time to get to. You were almost three weeks behind in your deadlines now and it was majorly stressing you out.

You had been pulling ultra late nights in an effort to meet due dates where you could. Settling for half effort when you really just wanted to sleep. You had barely managed four hours each night for the past week being awake well into the early hours of the morning.

You knew you weren’t the only one staying in your trailer overnight, so you had to be careful not to arouse suspicions towards your sleeping habits. The amount of coffee you had been ingesting was somewhere between ungodly and criminal. Makeup covered your racoon eyes and as like the night goblins that roamed the neighbourhoods you felt like trash.

You rubbed a fist at your eyes looking up from your laptop to glance at the time. 3am, sighing you saved and closed your work. It was time for bed. You had to be up soon anyway for early morning filming.

Setting your alarm and collapsing into bed you snuggled up praying the coffee you had wouldn’t keep you awake and rob you of the precious hours of sleep your hectic schedule allowed.

You woke up to a fist banging on the door.

“Y/n, get your butt out here filming starts in thirty minutes and you’re keeping hair and makeup waiting.” Alyssa your manager yelled.

“I’m up.” You called back springing out of bed and almost falling over as your tired body protested.

“You better be.” You heard her grumble before she moved away from your trailer.

You found your costume hung where you had left it over the back of a chair and slipped it on. Inspecting the damage of the previous late night under your eyes and slapping on some concealer. The lady who did your makeup never commented that you were always already wearing some, you appreciated that she never mentioned it in front of Scarlett and Lizzie.

After throwing a hoodie over the costume you slipped out the trailer shivering in the cold. You headed for hair and makeup and stifled a yawn as you stepped into the slightly bigger trailer.

Scarlett and Lizzie were already there and halfway done with their costumes as you flopped into a seat next to Scarlett.

“Tired already Y/n/n?” Scarlett laughed.

You shot her a smile which came as more of grimace. “Yeah, I guess.” You said with a hum and a dejected chuckle. You were too exhausted to see the worried looks Scarlett and Lizzie exchanged beside you.

“You know if you ever need to talk about stuff, we’re here for you?” Lizzie said recognising your anxiety as you fiddled with your rings.

“We’ll always listen honey.” Scarlett said placing her hand on top of yours and looking into your almost half hooded eyes.

“Um… Thanks, but I’m ok.” You said looking away as your tongue darted out to wet your dry lips.

Scarlett seemed to deflate as you rejected her help, and she patted your hand twice before returning hers to her lap.

You didn’t say much throughout the hair and makeup process. Once more the kind women didn’t mention your copious amount of concealer that was hiding your secret honorary racoon status as a member of the sleepless night club.

Scarlett and Lizzie kept an eye on you but eventually had to leave to shoot some scenes together before they needed you on set as well.

The two women had noticed you pulling away more than usual and your quieter than normal behaviour. You had stopped having lunch with them and after a while of you rejected their offers, they were close to giving up on asking.

“Do you think somethings going on at home?” Lizzie asked Scarlett as they finished a scene.

“No. I’m not sure what it is but i don’t think it’s that.” Scarlett said watching you out of the corner of her eye as you shuffled onto set and sat down in a chair, zoning out staring at a stain on the wall.

“I’m worried about her.” Lizzie said.

“Me too Liz, but we’ll just have to wait for her to come to us. We just need to not let her push us away.” Scarlett said as the director called for the scene to start.

Feeling a hand on your shoulder you jumped slightly turning to see your manger standing there with a slightly worried look in her eye.

“Y/n they’re waiting for you.” She said nodding to the set where Scarlett and Lizzie stood talking to the director.

“Oh.” You said dragging yourself upright.

As you stood your head swum, your vision went fuzzy, and you were too focused on staying upright than trying to listen to what your manager was saying.

You tried your best to downplay it and as your vision returned you nodded at what she had said, hoping it was something you were meant to agree to. Based on the small downturn of her lips you may have been wrong. You gave her a small smile to compensate, and she eyed you closely before nudging you towards the others.

you stumbled for a second despite the nudge being lighter than air. You regained your footing and went over to join the others to shoot the scene.

The filming was going well until you were up to filming a certain scene.

The scene was nothing awful, after a cut from a fight scene where your character gets knocked down Scarlett or the black widow had to help you to your feet and keep fighting. Because the scene uses your face you at least needed to be pulled up off the ground before the stunt double could take over.

Normally this would be easy but with how tired you were any sudden movements like standing too quickly made your head spin and you knew it wouldn’t just be one take.

You got into position on the ground with Scarlett above you and Lizzie watching from the side as she wasn’t needed in this scene but was in the next.

Taking a deep breath the director called for them to start rolling and Scarlett offered you a hand. Taking it she pulled you to your feet. Immediately your head felt like it was in a washing machine. The world spun and you tripped over your feet as you over balanced. Scarlett was quick to grab you before you ended up on the floor again. Setting you back on your feet you didn’t hear the director call cut and to reset. Your vision was hazy as you waited for it to come back.

A soft hand landed on your shoulder making you jump as Scarlett’s words finally reached your ears.

“-u ok y/n/n?” Scarlett asked and you swallowed nervously and nodded your vision clear.

“Let’s go again from the top.” The director called and you gingerly lowered yourself back to the ground mentally preparing to do it again.

Scarlett looked at you worriedly but ultimately knew there wasn’t much she could do.

As they began the scene again this time you didn’t stay upright for long. As soon as Scarlett pulled you up your body had had enough. Still holding your hand and with the momentum of being pulled up your body collided with Scarlett’s. Your grip going limp as you passed out. Luckily Scarlett regained her footing and wrapped her arms around you before you went down yourself.

Lizzie ran over as Scarlett laid you down on your side.

“Oh god.” Lizzie said when she realised you were out cold. “Medic!” She yelled as Scarlett crouched down beside you, one hand holding your hand and the other tapping your face as she softly called your name. “We need a medic!” Lizzie yelled as she looked around.

A moment later a medic came over and begun looking you over.

“Is there anything i should know? Have either of you noticed anything different about her in the past few days or prior to filming this morning?” The young man asked as he took your pulse with two fingers on your neck and eyes trained on his watch to count the beats.

“She seemed a little out of it this morning and she stumbled a lot during the first take.” Scarlett said.

“She’s been more anxious as well and withdrawn more than usual also.” Lizzie chipped in.

“It sounds like sleep deprivation, do either of you know if she’s been sleeping enough?” He asked.

“I’m not sure, she’s been staying in her trailer on set most nights.” Lizzie said turned to Scarlett who also shook her head.

“I don’t know either sorry.” The blonde said.

“Ok, well there’s one way to know but we need to take all this makeup off.” He said turned to look at the director stood a few feet away watching. He nodded his assent.

“She’s not going to be working for the rest of the day now anyway.” He said. “Not after passing out on set.” He added under her breath.

The medic nodded and took a wipe and begun to remove your makeup. Lizzie held in a gasp as how pale you were and how it contrasted with the dark purple smudges under your eyes.

Just as Scarlett took the cloth from his hand and finished removing your makeup with steady and tender hands you screwed your nose up, eyes fluttering as they stayed closed.

“Y/n/n?” Lizzie called taking your hand as she knelt beside you. You let out a small groan as you came back to life and exhaustion pummelled your weak body.

You smacked your lips and frowned eyes still closed. “My mouth tastes bad.” You mumbled and Lizzie laughed despite looking like she was about to start crying. Scarlett smirked and your very in character response to just passing out on set despite her mounting worries for you.

“God, Y/n don’t ever do that again.” Lizzie said brushing a curl from your eyes. “I think you just took five years off my life.” She said and you opened your eyes blinking up at her and frowning.

“Sorry.” You said going to sit up when Scarlett placed a hand on your chest to keep you down. You frowned at her looking for an explanation.

“Absolutely not.” She scolded. “You are not sitting up, yet you just passed out for gods sakes. From sleep deprivation no less, Y/n you HAVE to look after yourself.” Scarlett said and you sighed.

“Sorry.” You said again just looking up at them.

“And stop apologising.” Lizzie said with a small smile.

“So, what now?” You asked licking your dry lips. Three sets of eyes turned to the brunette medic.

“Bed rest.” He said. And there it was your two lest favourite words. You had always hated staying still and unless you were injured or dying you hated bed rest it was too boring.

You opened your mouth to protest but Lizzie and Scarlett turned to glare at you.

“So, help me Y/n, if the words about to come out of your mouth are anything but ‘yes sir’ I will personally make sure you sleep myself.” Lizzie said and Scarlett scoffed.

“I think we are already past that. Y/n your coming home with me.” Scarlett said and you wanted to protest but she continued seeing the look on your face. “Y/n, you haven’t been sleeping.” She said in a stern voice. “You need to sleep. Lizzie is staying with me as well because i’m closer to set and we are not letting you leave until you have had at least ten hours of sleep. And before you say you don’t want to impose, I’m not offering, I’m instructing. Understood?” She said and you bit your lip staying silent for a second before sighing softly and nodding.

“Right let's go then.” Scarlett said leaning down and scooping you up. A small squeak escaped your lips as you blushed furiously.

“I can walk.” You said indignantly.

“Not after that stunt you're not.” She said. “Plus, the doctor said bed rest.” She winked playfully as she carried you off set with Lizzie trailing behind.

“He’s a medic not a doctor.” You grumbled under your breath and Scarlett smirked.

“What did you say?” She asked pretending to not have heard your sarcastic quip.

“Nothing.” You huffed.

“Your glad your cute. If rose pulled a stunt like that she would be in time out for a week.” Scarlett said and you groaned.

“Rose is a child. I am an adult.” You huffed.

“An adult who acts like a child and has the self preservation of a toddler.” Lizzie teased and you glared daggers at her making her chuckle as you moved on to pouting petulantly in Scarlett’s arms to the amusement of both older actresses. As you arrived at the car and Scarlett put you in the backseat with Lizzie you begun to regret not putting up more of a fight.

“Come on Y/n/n, it’ll be fun. We’ll have a movie night.” Lizzie said switching her approach to a softer one.

“Is rose attending this movie night?” You asked and Scarlett nodded as she adjusted the rear-view mirror.

“Probably.” She said and you groaned loudly.

“I am NOT watching frozen again.” You said sliding your hands down your face in defeat.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, you love it.” Lizzie teased elbowing you in the ribs.

“Not when it’s the millionth time watching it.” You shot back.

“Sure, thing L/n.” Lizzie said sarcastically. You rolled your eyes and leant against the window closing your eyes.

You were out like a light before Scarlett could park the car. Leading to you once more being carried around in Scarlett’s arms as they decided not to wake you up just yet.

Rose was still at school and Colin was in the studio with the writers today meaning for now it was just you three.

Scarlett laid you down between the two of them in the day room as she tucked a blanket around you and switched on the TV flicking through to find something was watch.

You stirred slightly as the two of them got comfy next to you. Scarlett had an arm around you protectively while Lizzie’s shoulders were pressed gently against your right chest as she had burrowed into your side.

Your eyes fluttered as you yawned, opting to not move from the warmth and comfort of the two women.

The events of the day slammed into you as you realised you still had three essays due soon and countless homework tasks.

You must have subconsciously tensed as both actresses turned to look as you. The sound of some rom com playing in the background.

“Hello sweetie.” Scarlett said with a smile. “Feeling any better, you must be exhausted.” She said and you nodded staying silent.

Lizzie eyed you closely taking note of your quiet demeanour. Reaching out and taking your hand in hers she gave it a soft squeeze.

“Talk to us sweetheart.” Lizzie said softly. “I can see somethings bothering you. Tell us what’s on your mind, it may help you feel better.” She said and you drew a slow shaky breath as the dam broke. You let out a choked sob as you curled into Scarlett’s side, Lizzie curling against your back and rubbing a hand up and down your arm as you trembled with silent sobs.

“I have so much work to do. I didn’t want the cast to treat me as a child, so I didn’t tell them I’m still at university.” You said as Scarlett gently ran her hands through your hair.

“So, you’ve been juggling acting and uni full time and none of us knew?” Lizzie said and you sniffled nodding as you turned to look at her with your teary gaze.

“Honey you must be so stressed. Is this why you have been sleeping? Too much to do and not enough time?” Scarlett asked and you nodded again biting your lip to stop it trembling.

Lizzie softly reached out to remove your lip from your teeth with her thumb. “None of that honey.” She reprimanded softly.

“Well now we know, you won’t be doing it alone we’ll help you. You can stay here with us and as well as making sure you sleep; we can help with any work you have.” Scarlett said.

“I did graduate from NYU after all, I’m not just a pretty face.” Lizzie joked and your lips curved into a small smile.

“There’s that gorgeous smile.” Scarlett said as she rubbed your arm. “Now it’s time to rest, your exhausted and you are doing nothing other than rest for the foreseeable future okay?” She asked.

“But … but my assignments.” You said looking up as her.

“Shhh leave it to us, and everything will be sorted.” Scarlett said as she guided your head to her chest. “Rest honey. Go to sleep you need it.” She said and you curled into her. She was warm and cozy and at some point, Lizzie and Scarlett had changed as you were also in comfier clothes than your costume. Not that you minded.

You let out a small sigh sandwiched between the two. Your head resting on Scarlett’s chest as she played with your hair, your body half in her lap. Lizzie was spooning you from behind with her head resting on your shoulder to watch the movie you had all been ignoring.

You finally felt relaxed for the first time in what must have been months thanks to them.

Maybe you weren’t sleeping well on your own, but when Scarlett and Lizzie were there, you felt protected and safe enough to sleep, no long worrying about your studies which as they had said, could always wait for you to be healthy again.

[hippielittlemetalhead]

So I've seen a lot of 'Hop actively dislikes and distrusts Steve', 'Hop tolerates Steve because he's useful during UD shenanigans but doesn't like him', and the big swing to 'Hop has adopted Steve as his own and treats him the same/almost the same as he does El'

BUT, I present:

Hop pseudo adopts Steve because when he and Owens were trying to get the Harringtons to make any decisions about their teenager who saw some sketchy shit and may need government testing they legally gave Hop the rights to act in loco parentis and he takes that seriously because he doesn't want another Will Byers and he's pretty sure the Harrington kid has a concussion.

Hop who stays involved just enough in Steve's life season 1-3 that we the audience see Steve is getting attached. But Hop just sees an annoying kid who won't leave him alone when he's trying to deal with a rebellious psychic and her insane little friends and keeps asking stupid questions about highschool romance and teenage rivalry drama. Knows Joyce Byers doesn't like the kid but won't give a lot of reason why but he's mostly learned to trust that woman's judgement about people. Still gets him the job at Scoops when the kid's dad makes a stink about college and tells him if he survives a few months there he'll consider bringing him on the force, makes sense to keep him close and in a position to help should shit hit the fan again.

Hop who doesn't get it when Steve is one of the most relieved when he 'comes back to life' after Joyce and Murray bring him back from Russia. When Steve introduces him as "My Hop," (something he'd taken to calling him just before season 2 shenanigans) to his sarcastic, fidgety little friend like it means something. The girl, Robin, looks between the two of them and gets this sad look on her face for a second before smiling and shaking his hand and saying something about "Dingus has told me all about you".

Hop who complains to Murray one of the times The Party and assorted teens and adults are over at his renovated and expanded cabin (courtesy of Owens and shady government organizations recognizing these people are worth investing in, heavily if omens are to be believed) when the bald annoyance asks about what's up on there. Complains about having annoying teenagers who have nothing better to do but pester him legally put under his supervision cause their parents can't be assed to care and are spoiled little shits who are slightly more bearable versions of said parents cause he can stand toe to toe with one of those monsters they faced and the kids kind of listen to him. Complains about barely being able to breathe cause of regular visits and check-ins like Hop was still responsible for him. Says at least the extra hands are useful around the cabin what with the still healing up and El pacing herself after the showdown with Creel and still trying to find Max and the Byers not quite moved back to Hawkins yet.

Hop who doesn't realize that Steve hears every word cause he had gone looking for the older man when he disappeared for more than a few minutes, when he couldn't see him to make sure he was here and safe and alive. Steve who thought Hop actually had come to care for him in his own gruff way and had confessed to Robin that in a lot of ways the way Hop has taken care of him makes him the closest thing to the father figure he's always wanted but never thought he'd get to have. Steve who hears Murray hum and recollect a visit from Nancy and Jonathan where their romance officially started (he vaguely knows about the visit, didn't realize that's what happened, didn't realize she couldn't be bothered to even do the decent/considerate thing before moving on to something better) because it seemed it was a pattern he was seeing 'people liked Steve, but people didn't love Steve'.

Hop who hears a choked sound like someone taking a claw to the gut and turns to see Harrington. Steve Harrington his bandages just peeking out from the collar of his shirt and the opening of his sleeves. (He never did get the stories behind those, too busy being fussed over and being told about the kids and how they were doing as Harrington played babysitter) Steve Harrington a kid who went through hell and still managed to smile and laugh and stand tall and unyielding looking at him with a blank face his eyes misty and his shoulders starting to curl in on himself before he clears his throat, chokes out that he just wanted to make sure Hop was alright but looks like Murray had everything under control. He'd go now, get out of his hair, let him rest, let him breathe. Steve Harrington who walks away with purpose like a man on a mission and doesn't acknowledge the kids calling out asking if he's alright, make sure he has his walkie talkie on him.

Hop, who realizes maybe he left behind two kids who missed (needed) him. Who wonders who took care of Harrington's paperwork when he was concussed and sedated because he was bleeding out and feverish from infection and Hop was busy at the cabin reveling in the comfort and warmth of his daughter and the woman he loved and her two sons who were fast becoming like his own. Hop, who realizes too late that maybe if he'd given the kid half a chance he could have had 3 sons to sit with him and his daughter and the woman he loved as they basked in surviving another end-of-the-world. Hop who has spent years barely giving a damn about Steve Harrington and realizes that he's no better than the kid's own parents.

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4.1

Part 4.2

Part 5

[whump-galaxy]

The Villain finds the Hero’s secret identity and civilian home. They break in, not expecting to find much of use. Instead, they find the Hero’s best kept secret.

The Hero’s child, fast asleep in their bed.

[whump-place]

Adopted Masterlist.

A Pet Whumpee that's finally adopted, they are grateful, until they realize their new family isn't normal.

Content: Pet Whump, multiple Whumpees, multiple Whumpers, Caretaker New Master, forced to Whump, reluctant Whumper.

1-Welcome home.

2-New Family.

3-A nice thought.

4-Good enough.

5-And the last one.

6-Tea time.

7-Name.

8-Guar dog.

9-Training.

EXTRA: Characters Introduction

10-Guilt.

11-Collar.

12-Collar 2.

13-Shopping.

EXTRA: Leo

14-Laundry day.

15-Get well soon.

16-Things change.

[bloodybloody]

When whumpee gets mad at the caretaker, they snap using the same speech pattern as whumper used against whumpee.

[jordanstrophe]

The Only Survivor

[A continuation here]

Whumpee’s the only one who survived whumper’s invasion. Instead of killing them off, Whumper decides it would be fun to keep the sole survivor as a trophy. 

But what they think is just some fun show-off prize, they quickly realize whumpee requires a lot of attention. They’re wounded and traumatized; they wake screaming from pain and nightmares, keeping the whole place from getting sleep. 

Whumper soon finds themselves being their caregiver, soothing them back to sleep and cooling their fever down...

This was not in the job description.

[spicywhumper]

caretaker x whumpee dynamic that is like: "it's like the cat distribution system chose me to pick this pathetic little shit, I've know whumpee for two hours by I'll destroy you if you put a hand on them".

[whump-on-a-string]

Based on that Ask about if it's Parish who usually patches up my blorbos. The answer is Yes.

Parish has been dealing with Dallan's tendency to run into unfortunate shenanigans for the past 10 or so years. Dallan would probably have died a long time ago if he weren't pals with/working for a very good elven doctor. Poor dude's got Chronic Whumpee Disease.

ANYWAYS. What really started it was a dinner party Dr. Parish and a half-elf friend attended at Mr. Richard's greathouse. Dallan was just the lil resident servant boy cinnamon roll who took their coats & stuff. The head maid wasn't a fan of how the half-elf friend was critiquing her methods of keeping her staff busy so she tried to play a bit of a prank on him by messing with his food that backfired horrendously and nearly killed Wolf (and littol babby Dallan by proxy because Wolf was sharing his snacks because look at him. He was just so smol and helpful and looked like he needed a lil treat 🥺)

Doctor Parish was furious.

[goldenavenger02]

you'll be alright (no one can hurt you now)

For @badthingshappenbingo Prompt: Hiding An Injury

Hakoda wasn't going to bring it up to any of the teens, but he had a sinking feeling that the week would not be as fun-filled as Aang was hoping.

If Hakoda was being honest with himself, he wasn't completely sure when he started seeing the former prince, now Fire Lord, not as an adversary but as one of the kids.

It would make sense if it had started after he accompanied his own son to save him, as well as Suki, from the Boiling Rock; Hakoda, who had to fight the urge to reprimand the then sixteen year old for putting himself in danger after finding out about the cooler.

But to him, he was more confident that it had been around the time of the coronation; when he saw just how broken Sokka's leg was and heard the tale of how the young Fire Lord had nearly died in order to save Katara's life.

Hakoda knew that he could not stay in the Fire Nation forever, nor did he want to when he finally had the chance to be with his children after the long, miserable years without them.

But he would have been lying if he had said that the reason he had postponed his return to the South Pole wasn't so he could be confident that the teenager wouldn't reinjure himself within a few days of that crown being nestled into his hair.

He should have known that he would be promoted to Head Chieftain upon his return to Wolf Cove, which ended up taking away more time from Katara and Sokka then he would have liked; it didn't make him feel any less guilty that they were simultaneously being pulled across the nations and into more danger then he ever wanted them in again despite the war being over, all with Aang by their side.

Hakoda liked Aang, it was hard not to get along with someone so happy, kind and understanding as the Avatar himself who also made time to play with the other kids in between all of the stuffy meetings that the teenager was subjected to, but he just wished that he would stay put.

And so, maybe that was why he bit the bullet and sent the letter to the new Fire Lord, extending his invitation to the South Pole; while the rest of the higher ups would want to extensively question the teenager about his priorities, he knew he was being mildly selfish in hoping that the response he received about the visit being confirmed and scheduled would be enough to get his children to stay put for more than a few days.

"Do you think Zuko has ever been penguin sledding?" Aang asked one night at the dinner table while sneaking some of the pieces of his bread to Momo, who had refused to be kicked out and curled up next to Aang's ankles at every meal.

"Do I think Zuko, former prince of the Fire Nation who had a stick so far up his as-" a nudge to Sokka's ribs from Katara, seemingly keeping him from swearing. Sokka skipped over the profanity as if it had never left his mouth, "who spent three years of his life hunting you down and is now so busy as the Fire Lord that I'm lucky if he talks to me for more than five minutes whenever I'm there, has been penguin sledding? Yeah, that's gonna be a hard pass, buddy."

"Gonna put it on the list, then."

"Aang, he's coming for work. Like Sokka said, he's been really busy."

"I know," Aang muttered, seeming more like the thirteen year old that he really was rather than the all-powerful Avatar whose very name made grown men tremble in fear, "but he's going to be here for an entire week. He has to have some free time, right?"

Hakoda could tell by Katara's nod, followed by a quick peck on Aang's cheek, that it was more of a hope than genuine confirmation.

They wouldn't end up waiting a long time for Zuko's arrival, however, when the single airship arrived in the South Pole just a few days later and out walked the Fire Lord along with two guards following behind.

"Fire Lord Zuko, welcome to the South Pole."

"Chief Hakoda," the teenager greeted with perfect posture and a professional smile, "thank you for the invitatio-ooff."

It had been going well until the Avatar himself wrapped the Fire Lord into a bone-crushing hug, followed closely behind by Katara while Sokka went around behind him and dumped the fresh snow down the back of his shirt.

To Hakoda's surprise, however, the guards didn't move despite the onslaught of "Fire Lord Hotman" from Aang, belly laughs from Katara and the snowball fight that broke out between Sokka and Zuko.

"I'm not going to tell you two how to do your job," he started, gaining the older guard's attention before pointing at the group of teenagers, "that being said…"

"I'm just glad it's snow and not leaves this time, Chief Hakoda."

"The autumn equinox in Ba Sing Se was a nightmare for the royal stylist." The younger guard added, still firmly in his post.

He had been a parent for sixteen years, and he knew that sometimes, it was not worth asking for more context.

After a few more minutes, however, the group of four seemingly remembered just why Zuko had arrived and helped him off the ground while he brushed off the excess snow from his clothes.

"My apologies, Chief Hakoda." Zuko bowed in his direction with a bright flush on his cheeks; whether it was from impromptu snowball fight or embarrassment, he couldn't tell.

"Well, that is the most I have seen my daughter laugh in a long time, so consider yourself forgiven." Hakoda was smiling as he wrapped his arm around a still giggling Katara while the Fire Lord stood up, but he could feel it morph into a frown as he noticed just how pale he seemed to be, "anyway, why don't we get some lunch?"

"Yes, I'm starving! You are going to love seal jerky, Zuko!" His son insisted as he wrapped his arm around his friend's shoulder, nearly knocking his knees out from under him due to the lack of tread on the Fire Lord's boots.

Hakoda made a mental note to review how the ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe was supposed to behave in the presence of royalty with Sokka later.

"You don't have to eat it if you don't want to," Katara added which resulted in a disgruntled sound from her brother, "where's Toph?"

"Oh, she wanted to be here, but then she found out about the climate and I told her that we needed her to keep all of her body parts, and she said, um…" He trailed off, but Hakoda had only needed to speak to the earthbender one time to have a guess what her direct quote was, "well, let's just say she made some very creative threats towards me if I dared to make her wear shoes."

Yeah, Hakoda definitely had an idea about the profanities that had escaped Toph's mouth in response to needing shoes.

"So, I know you have work to do while you're here. But, I've been working on some firebending techniques that I want to get your feedback on, and I've been making a list of activities to do in our free time!"

"Sounds like a plan." Despite the nod and Aang's whoop of excitement, Hakoda winced at just how exhausted Zuko sounded as he spoke.

He had always been more moody and reserved than the others, but now his voice had none of its usual bite now that the adrenaline from the snowball fight had ebbed away. Hakoda wasn't going to bring it up to any of the teens, but he had a sinking feeling that the week would not be as fun-filled as Aang was hoping.

…

Hakoda didn't want to be right.

The meetings had gone better than expected, with Zuko promising that he was doing his best to return all of his military personnel to the Fire Nation as soon as he could without draining the already dwindling economy, as well as helping build up the beginnings of the new trade routes.

In fact, aside from the brief moments of him rubbing at his eyes, Hakoda thought he looked as though he had been able to get some sleep the night before, which ended up being the reason why he allowed Sokka and Katara to postpone their meeting with him and the rest of the council about their specific duties to the tribe.

It wasn't like all of them had been given enough of a chance to relish in their teenage years just like he had done with Bato and Kya at their age. If they wanted to take Zuko penguin sledding that badly, then Hakoda was going to let them.

It even gave him a chance to get to know the guards of the Fire Lord better as they gave him advice about how to better security while he tried, and failed, to pry into any misadventures that his kids had pulled Zuko into.

All in all, as the sun was starting to set over the peaks, Hakoda was about to pat himself on the back for handling this head chieftain promotion pretty damn well, at least until he heard the chatter approaching the house.

"For the last time, let go of me."

"You're still bleeding, Fire Lord Hotman."

"And would you quit it with that? I'm fine, it's just a scratch."

"We don't even need Toph here to know you're lying," Katara's grumble was the loudest as the door to Hakoda's hut swung open to reveal the disastrous consequences of penguin sledding, "hey, dad? A little help?"

Katara, Sokka and Aang had snow on their shoulders and boots and flushed cheeks, but what was more concerning was the Fire Lord sandwiched in between the three of them, with snow caked on his clothes and the red-tinted snow that covered his forehead.

The guards were up before he was, the older one pushing Zuko's snow-covered hair out of the way to get a closer look at the gash on the right side of his head and the younger one asking him various questions to rule out a concussion.

"Qiang, Tao, I'm fine! Seriously, I've gotten worse than this from the turtle ducks."

Hakoda held back a snicker at the whine that interspersed itself with the Fire Lord's voice while he tried to fight off the attention of his guards.

He busied himself with grabbing a clean rag and running it under the warm water from the sink, listening in as the group of three wrangled their friend to sit down in one of the dining chairs.

"The turtle ducks made you smack your head into a tree limb?"

"Sokka, for the last time, it was a branch and all it did was take some of the skin."

"That's still a lot of blood, Zuko."

"It's a head wound, they bleed a lot more. Hold still."

"Katara, don't pull at it!"

"Okay," Hakoda finally spoke up while turning around, getting all six sets of eyes on him despite the fact that his daughter was still trying to get Zuko's hair out of the bloody gash where it had stuck, "unless you are currently in charge of part of one of the four nations, step outside," Hakoda commanded, cutting off his son's question before his hand was even fully in the air, "no, ambassador does not count."

"Damn." Sokka muttered under his breath as he, along with Aang and Katara walked out.

He really needed to review the behavior expected of someone with Sokka's position sooner rather than later.

"Your majesty?" The older guard, Tao, asked, "would you like us to stand guard outside?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Zuko agreed, waiting until his guards were out of the building to practically slump onto the dining room table in exhaustion.

"Are you alright, Fire Lord?" Hakoda asked as he finished wringing out the rag before bringing it and the first aid kit to the dining room table.

"Please just call me Zuko."

"Alright then, but the same goes for you. I wasn't exactly pleased to find out I had been promoted without my knowledge," Hakoda explained before using one hand to tilt his chin upwards and using the other to gently press the cloth against the sticky hair, "sorry if that stings, I just want to get any hair out before it's disinfected."

"It's fine."

"I take it that the penguin sledding didn't go as intended?" Hakoda asked after a few moments.

"What gave it away?"

Hakoda couldn't help but smile at the sarcasm as he deposited the dirty rag onto the table, "well, between the blood and my children along with the Avatar himself holding onto your arms as they brought you in here, just a hunch."

As he spoke, he soaked one of the gauze pads with the disinfectant and pressed it to the gash, unsurprised to see the teenager's knuckles turning white from the strength that he was clenching his fist, "you doing alright?"

He nodded, and stayed silent as Hakoda pulled the gauze away to replace it with a fresh, dry pad that he taped in place; he'd mention something to Katara later, but for now, he knew that he just needed to get Zuko dry now that the snow was melting off of him.

"I'll be right back," he insisted, shutting the first aid kit and picking up the dirty rag, "just gonna get you some dry clothes."

"Thank you, for all of this. If there's anything I can do to repay-"

"None of that," Hakoda insisted, cutting him off with a raised hand, "you are in my territory and you are a friend of Katara and Sokka's. More importantly, their shenanigans put you in this position in the first place. If anything, this is an apology for their actions. No need to repay me."

He quickly went into Sokka's room and grabbed a spare set of clothes before bringing them back to the dining room table only to see Zuko resting his head on his arms.

"Zuko," he called out, setting the folded outfit on the table, "I've got dry clothes for you."

No response.

This had happened with Aang too, the first night he came to the South Pole after the war had ended, only Zuko hadn't fallen asleep face first into a bowl of seaweed stew. Hakoda tried again, his voice a little louder.

"Zuko, you really need to change before you fall asleep for the night. Also, it might be best for your neck not to sleep at the table."

No response again. Hakoda sighed and laid a gentle hand on his left shoulder, "Zuko-"

He didn't expect him to sit up quickly and pull his hand away in sheer determination with golden eyes glowering right at him and fire shining bright in his right palm.

But Hakoda was unable to speak before his wrist was let go and the flames dissipated, the anger turning into deep regret as he stood up and backed away with his hands raised in surrender.

"I am so sorry-"

"Zuko-"

"I've been unprofessional. You have been nothing but welcoming and kind and I nearly-"

"Zuko, it's okay-"

"I nearly killed you."

And Hakoda wasn't going to deny that yes, he could have hurt him, but the seventeen year old had tears in his eyes as he backed himself into the corner over being woken up unexpectedly.

"Zuko, take a deep breath," Hakoda instructed, managing to lock eyes with the teenager while taking a step forward, "It's okay. No one got hurt."

"I almost-"

"Almost, not did. I'm fine, you are fine and everyone else was sent out. We're all okay," he wasn't surprised by Zuko slumping to his knees on the floor with a nod while he extended his hand towards the teenager, "you need to change and get some real sleep. Can you manage that on your own?"

He nodded again and wrapped his left hand around Hakoda's right, giving him the chance to pull him to his feet only to frown yet again when he saw the sharp wince that crossed Zuko's face.

"What happened to your shoulder?"

"I just need to get some rest."

And Hakoda so badly wanted to push further, the parental side of him desperately wanting to pull the teenager into a tight hug.

But Zuko wasn't one of his kids and, with what he had heard about Ozai over the years, he had a sinking feeling that touch would only result in the young Fire Lord spiraling further.

So he used his best judgment and let go of Zuko's hand before passing him the clothes, "there is an empty bedroom on the right. I'll let your guards know where you are and I suggest having Katara look at your head tomorrow."

"Thank you, Chief Hakoda."

Having been a parent for sixteen years, Hakoda had also learned when to hold his tongue, especially around someone who was easily startled and just nodded in response while saying, "Sleep well, Zuko."

He went outside as soon as he heard the door shut behind the young Fire Lord to be met with three sets of frantic eyes and two sets of raised eyebrows.

"The Fire Lord is getting some sleep," he started, his eyes locked on the two guards, "he's in the third room on the right." He waited until the two guards walked in, a nod given by Tao, before he turned to the three teenagers, "his injuries aren't severe, I don't even think he's going to bruise."

Aang's sigh of relief wasn't lost on Hakoda, but he continued to press on.

"Sokka, you and I will be having a very long discussion in the morning about how the ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe should act around royalty, even if they are one of your friend's. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Sokka nodded, the tone being known by his son that it was time for him to turn in before he had a chance to do something else that would be frowned upon, "come on, Aang. It's late."

The young Avatar followed with Momo settled firmly on his shoulder, leaving Hakoda with just his daughter in the snowy wind.

"You said injuries."

And in that snowy wind, when Katara looked into his eyes, he could only see Kya for a few moments as she seemingly looked right into his soul.

"I advised Zuko to come to you in the morning, so you could heal his head wound which is why I'm also going to ask you a question," Hakoda stopped to take in a deep breath, because even if he wasn't one of his, the fact that someone may do this to a child who hadn't even reached eighteen yet…"has he mentioned anything about assassination attempts?"

"For Tui's sake," his daughter cursed as she pinched his nose before a shout tinged with sadness escaped her lips, "he promised to tell me if it happened again! That no-good, jerkbending-"

"Katara," Hakoda scolded, his hands on her shoulders, "regardless of what he said, it would be best not to insult him while he is in our territory."

"He's lucky I don't go in there and ask him what-"

"Katara, that is enough. He had his reasoning, no matter what it was. More importantly, he needs to rest," he stopped to push a strand of hair out of her face, not surprised that it was wet with tears, "and so do you, my child. It has been a very long day, for all of us."

"Y-you're right," she said, wiping her arm on her sleeve before pulling him into a tight hug which Hakoda instantly returned, "goodnight, dad."

"Gp get some sleep."

She let go and made her way to the campsite she had made with Sokka and Aang when they had arrived in Wolf Cove which left Hakoda standing outside of the chieftain building in the snow and his swirling thoughts about how to speak to the Fire Lord in the morning.

…

"So, what do you think, Sifu Hotman?"

"I think your posture needs more work than your use of outdated Fire Nation slang. Straighten out your back and extend your arms, you'll get more force in it."

Hakoda couldn't help but observe the three of them from where he had exited his meeting with Sokka. It had gone well, but he couldn't help but think it would be the first of many.

Aang was eager to continue firebending, showing off the different ways he could bend the flames, waiting for Zuko's advice as he sat next to the fire pit while Katara healed the gash on his forehead.

He was confident that she had already taken care of his shoulder and probably yelled at him a great deal as well while he had been talking to his son.

It didn't take long for Sokka to join the group with Momo on his heels as he carried their breakfast to them on one of the trays and soon enough the entire group was laughing about something that Appa had done the day before.

Hakoda wasn't sure when his parental instincts had spread from just Katara and Sokka to now involving Aang and Zuko as well, but what he did know was that the biggest thing they needed right now was to be kids.

And he was going to do his best to make sure that it happened.

(Want to read the Gaang penguin sledding? Part 2 below)

[uptondixon]

Upstead Foster Daughter

Did you ever wonder how Upstead would be as foster parents for a teenage girl? Like Hank and Erin, Hailey and Jay welcomed Olivia to their home when she was 16. Olivia holds a lot of grudges and is full of mischief, but she is also incredibly sweet and has a tremendous need to feel like she belongs. To her surprise, Hailey and Jay will give her exactly that.

Masterlist

[Chapter II] “You’re on your own, kid, you always have been”

No one expected to hear a stranger's voice through their radio, let alone saying that Jay was bleeding out on the pavement.

“Who the hell are you?” Voight’s surprised voice came through the radio.

“My name is Olivia Rivera, I'm with your officer Halstead and he's been shot! I'm sorry I couldn't call an ambulance but I don't have my phone with me,” Olivia said everything so fast they almost couldn't understand it.

“Shot? What the hell?” said Hailey in exasperation. She was driving with Voight after Jay left by himself.

The whole team was checking the crime scene from their current case when Jay got a call from a CI. Hailey was busy interrogating a witness when he got the call. She told him to wait for her but he was so eager for whatever information his CI had to give that he decided to go by himself. Turns out it was a trap. Hailey did not know the details yet, but she couldn’t help but think that this would have not happened if she had been with him.

“Wh-where are you?” Hailey asked, already feeling her heart start to beat out of her chest.

Olivia told her the address as slowly as possible in her state; after that, Hailey started bombarding her with questions she did not know how to answer.

While they talked, Voight rushed in passing the address to dispatch requesting an ambulance and some patrol cars. The rest of the team followed behind.

“Is he conscious?” Hailey asked.

Silence followed her question, leaving them both tense.

“Olivia! Is he conscious?” Hailey repeated.

“I- He- He was until now when I called you.”

“Does he still have a pulse, Olivia?” Hailey guided her to check.

“Yes, he does!”

“Okay, okay, keep putting pressure on the wound.”

“What's the ambulance ETA?” Voight's rough voice questioned dispatch.

“We're close, hang tight Olivia,” Hailey said, trying to calm the girl and herself down. He would make it, he always made it. This was not his first time being shot, but she surely hoped it was his last. She couldn't do this last time and she especially can't do it now.

“He'll be fine, Hailey,” Voight's voice invaded her thoughts. “Halstead’s strong, he'll get through this.”

Olivia didn't like hospitals. She felt trapped, unsafe, and overwhelmed. Probably because of the amount of people coming and going, the voices overlapping each other. There was too much going on and she shouldn't even be there in the first place.

After Jay's co-workers got to them everything happened in a blur. The ambulance got there seconds later, along with the other members of the team.

When Hailey and Voight arrived, Hailey came running in Jay and Olivia’s direction. She stared at the teenager with a mix of desperation and gratitude. Olivia stepped away as Hailey took her place. As others approached, Olivia stepped more and more away from the scene, ending up a little far away from it all.

She watched the scene unfold before her eyes in a trance. Jay was put into an ambulance and taken to the hospital, with several police cars following behind. Should she leave? She wants to know if he is going to be alright, of course. On the other hand, she feels like she was not supposed to be there.

“Hey! Olivia, isn't it?” a tall man appeared in her field of vision, his eyes were gentle and his voice calm.

“Yes,” Olivia answered.

“Name’s Kevin, Kevin Atwater. This is my friend, Kim Burgess,” he pointed to the woman beside him, and she smiled softly. Both officers looked shaken but they masked well, Olivia thought. Of course, this was not easy for them. Seeing a colleague hurt like that, almost lifeless.

“There's someone we can call for you? Your mom or dad?” Kim asked.

The girl didn’t answer. Kevin and Kim exchanged a look.

“Well, just come to the hospital with us then, okay?”

Voight watched them from afar, getting ready to enter the car and head to Med. Jay was the priority now, but they all were grateful for the girl, she saved Jay’s life after all. He made a mental note to thank her personally later.

Olivia debated for a moment. She decided it was better if she went with them and found a way to leave later without them noticing.

She nodded and followed them to the car.

“You can get cleaned up there,” Kim said after getting in the car.

Kevin started the drive to Med. Olivia didn’t answer the officer, suddenly feeling hyper-aware of all the blood on her. The adrenaline was wearing down.

“Are you okay, Olivia?” Kim asked softly.

“Yeah, sorry… I'm fine.”

“It’s okay, we will get to the hospital soon.”

Sitting in the doctors' room in Chicago Med a couple of hours later, Olivia was clean and waiting for a chance to leave. The really nice nurse called April who helped her clean up and gave her some food came by minutes ago and told her Jay would be alright. She left again when another nurse called for her so now was the perfect time for Olivia to leave.

She did not need to be discharged since she was neither a patient nor a suspect, right? Olivia got up and left the room, bringing some of the snacks the nurse gave her.

“Don’t worry Hails, we’re getting the bastard who shot Jay,” Kevin said firmly, looking at a very distressed-looking Hailey. Olivia got to the hospital’s lounge and saw Jay’s team reunited talking. They had their backs to the door she entered and could not see her.

They started to talk about the man who shot Jay and what they were doing to find him, most of which Olivia did not understand or did not care to try to understand. She stopped paying attention and started to plan how she would get out of there. There was only one way out and she could not leave without them seeing her.

Olivia was scared. She knew she wasn’t in trouble or anything but they were still police so she might as well be in trouble if they got to know more about her. Hell, they might as well already know.

“Stay with your husband Hailey, we’ll get him,” Voight's words drew Olivia's attention. Husband? That explained why Hailey was the most distressed of them all. The look on her face when she saw him lying on the pavement.

“Oh! Olivia, there you are,” said April, the nurse who helped Olivia earlier. Olivia's name caught the group's attention and five heads turned to look in her direction.

“Olivia!” Voight said, approaching the girl. “How are you? I need to properly thank you for helping my detective, I don’t know what could have happened if you weren’t there.”

“I… well, he was…” Olivia did not know what to say, so she came with a simple “You’re welcome” and a shy smile. She didn't expect to talk with anyone, let alone have all the attention on her.

“Well, I’m Sergeant Hank Voight and this is my team,” he went on introducing each of them. “You met Officer Kim Burgess and Officer Kevin Atwater. Detective Hailey Upton was the one you spoke with on the radio. And that is Officer Adam Ruzek.” he pointed to each one and they gave her a nod or a small smile.

After the introduction, he turned to look at her again. He spoke in a more serious tone, “We’re going to need your statement.”

Shit. That is exactly what she was trying to avoid. “I can’t!” was the first thing that came out of her mouth.

“It’s okay Olivia, we checked your file and we’re going to call your foster family on the way to the station,” Hank said.

So they know about her foster family, but they did not know she had run away yet. That was why she was in that alley, in that part of town, by herself.

Olivia thought about running but she could never get far with this many cops around. On their way to the district, she thought about jumping from the moving car but that was too stupid even for her. She laughed at the thought. Sitting in the car with Kim and Kevin again, she accepted her fate.

All her effort running away was for nothing. She was back to square one.

Slow, I know, but this is me trying guys. I love this OC so I hope I can keep writing her story even though I'm slow af. Thank you so much for the likes and reblogs on chapter one! ♡

[creative-caramel-coffee]

Stressed and Sick on Set

Summary: Reader has a migraine and gets sick on set. Luckily Scarlett, Lizzie and her twin sisters are there to help you out.

TWs: migraine, vomiting, hiding illness, stress, mentions of family issues, mentions / implied themes of death

Words: 2.9k

A/n Idk where this came from but here it is … enjoy x

With the chaos that was currently your life it was no surprise or at least it shouldn’t have been when you were hit with the mother of all migraines.

To say people had been asking a lot of you lately was a gross understatement. Aside from filming your family had been a mess as of late. The whole family was expected back home for Christmas as your grandmother was sick and so the plan was for everyone to get together one last time.

However, between acting and uni work you were already stretched pretty thin. Your parents had been breathing down your neck to book a flight and despite wanting to see some of your cousins you knew family gatherings were a recipe for disaster. And with a sombre reason for the get together it would most likely be a mess of alcohol and tears which wasn’t something you were sure you could even deal with at this point.

Luckily the migraine hadn’t hit until you were finished in hair and makeup because the idea of anyone touching your face and hair with the amount of pain you were in right now might just push you over the edge.

The light blinded you as you stepped out of the hair and makeup trailer. Shielding your eyes you fumbled with clumsy fingers to put on your sunglasses.

Sighing softy as the sunlight was reduced you continued you way to set. You nodded as you passed a few stagehands and crew members. Finally, you made it to set. Lizzie and Scarlett were stood near their chairs talking with two blondes who you couldn’t quite see with the other two stood in front of them.

Joining the small group Scarlett wrapped a hand around your shoulders and pulled you into her side making your head spin.

“Speak of the devil.” Lizzie said. “Y/n, you’ve met my sisters before but if you can't tell them apart this one is Mary-Kate and that ones Ashley.” Lizzie said poking her sister's side.

“Hi Y/n.” Mary-Kate said with a smile and Ashley mimicked her statement.

“Hi.” You said softly. The noise of the set was getting to you and despite your sunglasses the fluorescent lights overhead seemed worse than the sun had been.

“Whats with the shades Y/n/n?” Scarlett asked.

“‘M just too cool for you.” You said burying your face into her neck in an attempt to hide from the lights. The adults laughed and your cheeks heated up with the tips of your ears turning pink also.

The four of them stood and chatted while you stayed relatively quiet only really speaking when spoken to. Your head was pounding, and the lights seemed to be out to get you. The hum of electricity and buzz of the stage crew flitting around setting up for the next scene was starting to make you nauseous.

Lizzie and Scarlett took note of your quiet demeanour and exchanged a look over your head. Your head was still resting in the crook of Scarlett’s neck as you tried your best to look and act normally.

A small part of you craved their motherly attention but you knew if you admitted to being sick, they would have you out of commission for a few days at least as per the contract. And if you were down with some sickness even if it was a migraine Lizzie and Scarlett would be by your side the whole time and as much as you loved them, you didn’t want to put everyone behind schedule due to your inability to handle your day to day life coupled with the demands of work.

However, as you heard the director call for places to be taken you wanted to reconsider.

Scarlett and Lizzie had already been shooting scenes this morning and now you were to join them they seemed happier.

Mary-Kate and Ashley sat down in Scarlett and Lizzie’s chairs to watch. Both twins had taken note of your sullen and quiet temperament also and were tasked by Lizzie with keeping an eye on you.

As you took your place you had forgotten your sunglasses which were still over your eyes. The director finished organising everything and before he called action he took notice of your unusual attire.

“L/n as much as I love the look, the sunglasses need to go kiddo.” He called and you buried a wince under your façade as you knew removing them would make everything ten times worse. But you had to if you wanted to keep up the pretence of wellness.

Taking a deep breath, you eased the sunglasses off your face and blinked in the harsh light. Your nausea increased and you swallowed down the thick feeling in your mouth, wishing you had some water to help.

A stagehand took your sunglasses and handed them to Ashley who has stood to get them for you before she returned to her seat.

Scarlett and Lizzie were observing you closely as they begun to cotton on to your less than perfect act of being ok.

Your eyes were still adjusting to the blaring lights, and you were trying to keep the nausea at bay. You truly felt awful. Your head pounded and there was a slight dizziness that came with each step you took. Your mouth was dry, and your stomach turned with each breath you took.

Doing your best to remain upright and keep your breakfast where it was you took slow measured breaths until you felt at least one percent better.

Schooling your features you did your best to get into character despite your condition.

The director called for quiet, and the set fell dead silent. The cameras began rolling and Scarlett and Lizzie delivered their lines perfectly. Doing your best to stay mentally present you did your best to give your lines. You nailed the first few scenes and you were beginning to think maybe you could get away with it all.

As you were internally celebrating your small victory you watched from the sidelines as Lizzie and Scarlett performed another of their scenes without your character.

Your stomach was still turning and the feeling of nausea which had begun to ebb hit you hard.

Feeling quite sick and dizzy you glanced around to see if anyone was paying attention to you. The stage crew was busy running the scene and it seemed you were in the clear.

As the scene progressed the director was shooting a particular scene with harsh lighting. Still unsure where your sunglasses were, you felt the sick feeling in your stomach get ten times worse as they began amping up the lighting. They had background noise playing and coupled with the lighting you recognised your body’s signals to having enough.

Checking once more that nobody was paying any attention to you, you slipped away to the bathrooms. Know you were going to be sick was a terrible feeling and despite your best to keep it all down you knew you wouldn’t be able to much longer.

You hurried down the halls to the girl's bathroom and slipped inside. Forgetting to lock the door to the stall you sat next to the toilet and leant against the wall taking slow deep breaths in a last-ditch attempt to keep your breakfast.

As you sat on the floor still in costume and breathing slowly you heard the door to the bathroom open again. You recognised the voice of Mary-Kate echo around the stalls.

“Y/n? Are you in here?“ she asked, and you made a small noise before your stomach turned again and you leant over the bowl. As the first wave of sickness hit and you vomited you felt someone take your hair up and off your shoulders.

A soft hand rubbed circles on your back as you finished, spitting the gross taste out. Your head was pounding, and you felt truly gross.

“Shh your ok.” Mary-Kate said as you let out a small whine the pain in your head making everything worse as you clutched your temples. “Is it your head?” She asked softly and you managed a small nod.

You felt her slip something onto your face and you let out a small sigh as you recognised your sunglasses being put in their rightful place.

After a second you leant back against the wall.

“Done?” She asked kindly and you seesawed your hand back and forth to tell her you truly had no idea. Mary-Kate nodded and took a seat beside you on the floor. Luckily, they kept the bathrooms on set rather clean.

Mary-Kate hesitated for a second before gently pulling you into her side where you melted into her. Your head resting on her shoulder she gently played with your hair, and it felt nice despite the pounding in your skull.

“Your ok.” She said softly as she slipped her phone from her pocket. You let your eyes drift shut as you tired to remove yourself from it all.

You distantly heard Mary-Kate talking to someone and you couldn’t find it in your sick-self to pay any attention to her words.

You began to drift off the exhaustion of it all making you feel beyond tired.

Meanwhile Mary-Kate had dialled her twin to let her know what was going on. The twins had taken note of your absence as soon as you left and while Ashley went to check your trailer Mary-Kate had come to check the bathroom. They knew something was going on and they took their promise to Lizzie to look after you quite seriously.

Mary-Kate kept her voice down as she informed her sister of your status.

“Did you find her?” Ashley asked into the phone.

“Yeah, she’s not doing too good.” Mary-Kate replied.

“How so?” Her twin asked.

“I found her throwing up in the bathroom, I think she has a migraine.”

“Poor thing.” Ashley replied.

Mary-Kate hummed her agreement, her nails still gently massaging your scalp as you dozed lightly in her lap. “Can you get Lizzie in here when she’s done with her scene. And tell the director y/n’s sick and won’t be back for filming for a few days.”

“Sure thing. Which bathroom are you guys in?” Ashley responded.

“Main one on set. I don’t think she could have made it much further to be honest she not doing too good.” Mary-Kate whispered well aware you were pretty out of it.

“Alright. I’ll do that and Lizzie will be there soon, no doubt with Scarlett in tow.” Ashley said.

“Thanks Ash I’m gonna stay here with this one.” Mary-Kate said.

“You think she can move somewhere more comfortable?” Ashley asked.

Mary-Kate glanced down at your pale face despite the makeup. “I don’t think so just yet.” She said.

“Alright, love you sis. Keep her safe and we’ll be there soon.” Ashley said.

“Love you too.” Mary-Kate said, and they bid each other goodbye before hanging up.

As Mary-Kate shifted slightly to try and get more comfortable on the hard floor you let out a small whine as your head spun. Mary-Kate shushed you gently as she adjusted you to be better situated in her lap. You curled into her, your face now smushed into her chest as you clung to her like a small child.

“Your ok. It’s alright.” She assured you as you whined softly. The pain making it hard to think straight also made you act much more childish. “Lizzie will be here soon honey.” Mary-Kate said as she ran her nails up and down your back lightly as you were lulled back to a soft sleep.

It couldn’t have been even ten minutes later that the door to the bathroom burst open and a worried looking Lizzie appeared trailed closely behind by Scarlett who looked slighter calmer but still worried.

Unfortunately, the bang of the door made you jump and only made your head hurt more. As the spike of pain stabbed through your temples your stomach revolted once more.

Feeling hazy from the pain you gagged, still half laid in Mary-Kate’s lap. She was quick to sit you upright and position you in front of the toilet. You whimpered as you tried to fight it off.

You heard shuffling and low voices behind you as the person behind you switched places. A soft hand rubbed between your shoulder blades as another scooped the hair off the back of your neck and out of the way. It was Lizzie’s soft voice in your ear whispering reassurances as you heaved.

Nothing but bile came up and you had tears burning in your eyes from the effort. Your head was swimming. Distantly you heard Mary-Kate and Scarlett talking softly outside the stall. There was also a third voice in their conversation, and you assumed Ashley had followed the other two in.

Feeling exhausted you flopped back into Lizzie who was crouched behind you. Not expected you to put all your weight on her she fell on her butt and pulled you into her lap.

“Shhh honey, we’re here baby.” Lizzie whispered feeling your forehead with her cold hand. It brought you unexpected relief and you nuzzled into her palm, head resting on her chest behind you.

Your eyes fluttered shut feeling exhausted, sick and in pain.

After a moment you felt Lizzie readjust behind you as she pulled you into her lap properly, her body now leant against the wall behind her.

Scarlett looked into the stall and frowned slightly at the sight of you half asleep on the bathroom floor.

“How is she?” Scarlett asked softly.

“I think she’s done for now but she’s beyond tired.” Lizzie whispered back. “Where are the twins?”

“They went to set up our trailer for her. She’s not staying alone in her trailer when she’s this sick.” Scarlett said.

“‘M not sick.” You mumbled half listening and lifting your head slightly from Lizzie’s chest.

“Shh go to sleep silly girl, we’re here sweetie.” Scarlett shushed you gently and you rested you head back down once more prompting Lizzie to stroke her hands through your hair with a featherlight touch so as not to cause you any pain. You hummed exhaustedly as you drifted off again to state halfway between sleep and wakefulness.

Scarlett took a seat on the floor beside Lizzie as the two of them sat talking quietly while you dozed.

After another ten minutes the door to the bathroom opened softly to reveal Ashley.

“We set up Lizzie’s trailer for her. Mary-Kate went to try and find some Panadol for y/n/n. Is she good to relocate?” Ashley asked softly.

“I think so.” Lizzie said while Scarlett gently scooped you out of Lizzie’s lap and into her arms as she stood. Ashley came over and gently adjusted the sunglasses on your face.

“I got a sick bag from a medic incase she gets sick on the way back to your trailer and there’s a few extras in your trailer waiting for her.” Ashley said.

“Thank you so much.” Lizzie said as the four of you left the bathroom. Luckily you stayed asleep still throughly exhausted from the effort of being sick and in pain.

It was a short trip back and even despite having sunglasses on scarlet used a hand to shield your eyes from the sun. You were being held across Scarlett’s front with your head resting in the crook of her elbow. At some point Ashley had slid a pair of noise cancelling headphones over your ears to help block out the noise as they passed through the bustling set.

The director had given them all a few days off knowing that Scarlett and Lizzie wouldn’t be willing to act if you were sick and left alone, them much rather being by your side looking after you.

When they made it to your trailer Lizzie opened the door for Scarlett and they all headed inside with you still in Scarlett’s arms.

The trailer had been set up perfectly. Blackout curtains blocked out most of the light but there was enough to see after letting their eyes adjust for a second. There were three sick bags on the bedside table along with a pack of Panadol rapid and a glass of water. The bed had been set up with blankets and pillows, looking perfect for a long day of cuddles.

Scarlett gently set you down on the bed and Lizzie laid down next to you as you immediately sought her out. Curling into her side and returning to a still and restful sleep Scarlett exchanged a few short words with Ashley, thanking her for everything before the twin left to find her other half.

Scarlett joined Lizzie on the bed, and you curled up between them.

“She’s so precious.” Lizzie said softly running her hands through your hair lightly so as not to wake you.

“Well always protect her.” Scarlett said.

“Of course. She’s, our kid.” Lizzie said.

“Do you think she’d ever want to make it official?” Scarlett asked.

“Like adoption?” Lizzie said looking excited at the idea.

“Yeah. I know her parents are … not what she needs.” Scarlett said.

“I think I’d love that. When she’s better we’ll have to ask her what she thinks.” Lizzie said looking down at you with nothing but love in her eyes. She pressed a soft kiss to your temple and traced a finger down your cheek. “I love you my babygirl.”

“We both do.” Scarlett echoed.

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[whumpypepsigal]

watched the little mermaid last night and it’s everything i imagined it to be and more. im cheesing smiling kicking my feet up beaming with joy. halle is ARIEL and jonah is PRINCE ERIC aassddffgghgkllllll what a perfect cast. HALLE’s VOICE IS PERFECTION. eric’s love-gaze-pinning eyes got me weak af. my man was in LOVE LOVE with ariel. CHEMISTRY WAS CHEMISTRY-ING. and grimsby was me tbh… he made it his full mission to get eric and ariel together and i love him for that.

look at them! just two beautiful nerds in love. yeah, im going back to the cinema tonight to watch it again idc if i just get three hours of sleep it will be time well-spent 😭🧡