#alex was the butterfly who flapped its wings

[il-predestinato]

The things that Alex Albon’s appendix did to this sport…

[gamergirl929]

Baby Horse (Alex Morgan x Reader)

It’s a routine sunny morning in Florida when you meet Alex Morgan. Alex Morgan who you���re currently writing a parking ticket for, for forgetting to feed the meter... 

Little did either of you know that this chance meeting would change both your lives forever. 

“Shit.” Alex grimaces when she sees a police officer standing beside her car, a notepad in hand, a notepad which is, OF COURSE, full of tickets.  

“Wait! I’m here!” Alex grimaces as she jogs up to the car, having been an hour late to feed the coin machine that she’d parked beside.  

Your brow arches as you turn to her, taking off the sunglasses covering your eyes.  

“You didn’t think that would work, did you?” You shake your head, turning back to your notepad.  

Alex is taken aback, not because of your bluntness, but because you’re absolutely stunning. She swallows hard, tracing your jawline with her blue orbs, the woman smiling when she sees your tongue poking out of the corner of your mouth as you write her, unfortunately, a ticket.  

Her eyes run down your uniform, her mouth drying slightly, her eyes running along the name plate on your chest reading Y/L/N.  

“Is there anything I can do?” Alex frowns and you sigh.  

“Sorry miss, you know how it is here, most of Florida’s funding comes from these meters.” You tease with a tiny smile, something that, despite the situation, makes Alex chuckle.  

The woman sighs, unlocking her car before leaning against it.  

“Do you write tickets a lot?” She asks and you chuckle.  

“More than you know, no one seems to feed the meter.” You glance up at her, your eyes widening.  

“Y-Y-You're...” You clear your throat, glancing around, realizing a number of pedestrians are standing nearby.  

“Keep it moving guys or I’ll ticket you for loitering.” You nod your head in the opposite direction, those around you begrudgingly slinking off.  

“I imagine you deal with that a lot Ms. Morgan.” You frown, the USWNT player shrugging.  

“I’ve gotten used to it really.”  

You clear your throat, taking a step towards her, tearing the piece of paper from your notepad before folding it in half.  

“Well Ms. Morgan, I hope your day gets a little better, it was a pleasure meeting you.” You smile, handing her the slip of paper.  

Alex pouts, opening the slip of paper, her brows furrowed when she only sees the word, WARNING scrawled across it.  

She picks her head up, her lips splitting into a grin that you can’t help but mirror. 

“Try and keep the meter fed next time, yeah?”

Alex surprises you by resting a hand on your forearm, goosebumps sprouting beneath her fingertips as she gives it a squeeze.  

You completely miss the fact that her cheeks flushes, the woman keenly aware of the firmness of your forearm’s muscle.  

“Thank you for this, really.” She gives it another squeeze and you nod.  

“Just don’t make it a habit.”  

The woman’s hand slides from your arm as you take a step back.  

“Enjoy the rest of your day Ms. Morgan.” You turn on your heels, ready to take your leave but her voice stops you.  

“Please, call me Alex.”  

Your lips split in a grin.  

“Alright, enjoy the rest of your day, Alex.”  

Alex watches you go with a smile, her cheeks flushed bright red as she glances down at her ticket before lifting her gaze, catching you just as your rounding the corner and out of sight.  

Alex’s heart skips a beat in her chest, the woman grinning.  

“Oh, I will Officer Y/L/N.”  

                                                           ***

The only thing Alex really regretted about that day was not asking for your number, which she was sure would’ve been unprofessional, but for some reason, you’d made her feel something she hadn’t felt before, with ANYONE.  

That feeling is what leads her to the Precinct whose number was stamped across the top of the ticket.

Alex warily wanders into the police station, a number of the officers looking her way with wide eyes.  

“Hello, how can I help you?” The man at the front desk asks and Alex clears her throat.  

“I was looking for Officer Y/L/N. I wasn’t sure if she’d be here or not.”  

The man hums.  

“She actually just left for her beat.” He frowns and Alex nods, knowing exactly where she could find you.  

“Thanks for your help.” She smiles, turning on her heels and heading for the exit, an extra pep in her step.  

With luck, she’d find you where she met you weeks ago.  

                                                           ***

Nearly an hour after searching, Alex is about to give up, that is until she rounds the corner heading to her car, the woman running, literally straight into you.  

“Whoa, pardon me.” You frown, your hands moving to her waist to keep her from falling.  

Your eyes double in size when you realize who it is standing before you.  

“Ms. Mor-  

You stop midsentence, clearing your throat.  

“Alex... I hope you fed the meter.” You tease, a grin stretching across your face, a grin that Alex mirrors.  

“I did, even if I WAS looking for a certain officer who gave me a warning a few weeks ago.” She shrugs and your brows arch, your head tilted to one side.  

“You were looking for me?” You ask in confusion and Alex nods.  

“I forgot to ask you for something a few weeks ago.”  

You hum, eyes widening when you realize you’re still holding her waist, retracting your hands with a blush.  

“W-w-w-well um, what was it that you needed?” You ask, stuttering slightly.  

Alex giggles, the sound making your cheeks flush.  

“Your number.”  

Your eyes widen, nearly bulging from your skull.  

“M-M-My number?” You ask, doing your best to bite back a smile.  

“Yeah, your number.”  

You shuffle from foot to foot nervously, Alex’s heart skipping a beat as you glance away shyly.  

You shrug.  

“I guess I could give you that.”  

                                                           ***

After that day the two of you texted nonstop, at least of course, when you were both able to.  

Every time you got off of work the first thing you do is message Alex, the USWNT player the first thing on your mind when you wake up and the last thing on your mind when you fall asleep.  

Your favorite sound had become that of your chiming phone, dinging with the specific chime you’d assigned specifically to Alex’s number.  

It wasn’t long before you realized what you’d felt for her was more than friendship, you only hoped what she felt for you was the same.  

                                                           ***

Nearly two weeks later Alex is pacing the length of her living room, her heart racing in her chest, her phone against her ear.  

“Jan, seriously, just ask her, I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time.” Kelley says through the phone’s receiver and Alex sighs.  

“What if I’m looking into it too much, what if she doesn’t like me.” Alex pauses. “Th-That way.”  

Kelley snorts loudly into the phone, so loud in fact that Alex has to pull the phone away from her ear.  

“Dude, she likes you, ANYONE can see that.” She snickers and Alex rolls her eyes.  

“So, I should...?”  

Kelley barks out a laugh.  

“INVITE HER OVER TO DINNER TOMORROW!” She yells and Alex sighs, the butterflies in her stomach flapping their wings.  

“T-T-Tomorrow?” She stutters and Kelley chuckles.  

“Yes Jan, tomorrow.”

Alex clears her throat, nodding.  

“Alright... T-Tomorrow.”  

                                                           ***

You couldn’t believe you were currently making your way to Alex Morgan’s house, a house that wasn’t at all hard to find considering its was massive in size. 

You clear your throat, killing your car’s engine before wiping your hands down the front of your old academy shirt.

You nod to yourself.  

You were incredibly nervous, so nervous in fact that your clammy hands had slipped on your steering wheel multiple times on the way here.  

Alex Morgan had invited you over for dinner, ALEX MORGAN, a woman who over a month ago you’d been about to ticket nonetheless.  

You clear your throat, scanning your face in the rear-view mirror.  

You nod.  

“I got this.”  

                                                           ***

It takes every ounce of strength Alex has to not look out the window at the sound of a coming car, but that strength ebbs away when she hears a car door slam shut.  

She bounces on her heels.  

You were here, you were here at her house and about to come inside.  

Alex glances around nervously.  

What if you thought the house was messy?  

What if you weren’t satisfied with what she was making for dinner?

Considering her thoughts are so loud, she misses the fact that you’d finally gained the courage to knock on the door, your brows furrowing when she doesn’t answer.  

You knock, uncertainly the next time, pulling Alex out of her trance, the defender stumbling as she rushes to the door, jerking it open.  

“Oh my god I’m so sorry, I didn’t hear you the first time.” Alex smiles, the woman’s blue orbs widening as her eyes rake down your front.  

You’d forgone the uniform, which of course, Alex loved, and instead went with what Alex suspected was a shirt from your time in the academy and a pair of ironed jeans.  

Your eyes widen when Alex moves closer, her arms slipping boldly around your neck.  

“Good to see you” She whispers in your ear and you smile, wrapping your arms around her, giving her a squeeze.  

“Yeah, you too.”  

Alex sighs, the feel of your arms around her bringing her a comfort like something she’d never felt, the woman giving you a tight squeeze before she reluctantly pulls away.  

“Come on in, I have dinner going, it should be almost done.”  

You follow her inside, mouth agape as you glance around the large living room.

“Damn, you have a nice house.” You mumble and Alex smiles.  

“Sometimes it’s too big for one person, you know?” She shrugs, eyes widening when she realizes what the connotation of that could possibly mean.  

You follow Alex into an equally large kitchen, your eyes wide and mouth still agape as you take in the expansive kitchen.  

“I made pasta, I hope that’s alright.” Alex moves towards the stove, with her back to you, you get a chance to take the woman’s outfit in.  

The woman dressed simply, as you had, wearing a faded Berkley shirt and a pair of jeans.  

Boldly you make your way towards Alex, your hands moving to rest on her hips as you stand behind her, looking down at the meal she’d prepared.

You turn towards her, swallowing hard when you realize how close you are to her.  

“It looks great.” You smile, the forward’s cheeks flushing.  

“Th-Thanks.” She swallows hard and you grin.  

“Anyway I can help?” You ask as you take a step back and Alex shakes her head.  

“No, I got it, go sit down. I invited you over, remember?” She teases and you shrug.  

“Doesn’t mean I can’t help.”  

Alex sighs, nodding to a nearby cabinet.  

“Alright then, get the plates down. “

“You got it.”  

                                                           ***

The two of you eventually end up at the dinner table, Alex’s blue orbs darting to you as you take the first bite, humming loudly.  

“You like it?” She asks nervously and you inhale loudly.  

“I love it, it’s fantastic.”  

Alex wiggles in her chair happily a grin stretching across her face, as she takes her first bite.  

“Write a lot of tickets lately?” Alex asks and you chuckle.  

“A LOT of tickets, it looks like you’re not the only one who doesn’t feed the meter.” You wink, taking another forkful of food into your mouth.  

“That was one time.” She pouts and you smirk.  

“Be careful Morgan, I’ve got my eyes on you.”  

Alex rolls her eyes.  

“Ohh we’ll see.”  

You shake your head with a laugh.  

The two of you make small talk until plates go empty, the forward’s eyes narrowing when you insist on cleaning the empty plates.  

“Al, you made dinner, least I can do is clean the plates.”  

You abruptly turn away, cheeks blood red when you realize you’d called her Al instead of Alex.  

Alex is unable to bite back a grin as you clean the plates off and place them in the dishwasher.  

You turn around, giving the woman a charming grin.  

“I have movies we could watch in the other room, if you want...” Alex shuffles nervously from foot to foot, the woman’s boldness disappearing before your eyes.  

You take a step towards her, your hand resting on her forearm.  

“I’d love to.”  

                                                           ***

It’s not long after that you’re perusing the massive living room, smiling when you see a number of pictures of Alex with the remainder of the USWNT.  

“I have a confession.” You say as you glance over your shoulder at Alex, the woman turning your way with a furrowed brow.  

“What’s that?”  

“I’ve never watched a USWNT game.”  

Your eyes widen when Alex jumps to her feet.  

“Are you serious?” She asks and you shrug.  

“M-Maybe...”  

Alex scoops her iPad up off the coffee table and waves you towards the couch.  

“Get over here, I’m introducing you to the world of professional soccer.”  

You laugh, making your way towards the couch, your eyes widening when Alex literally pulls you down beside her.  

It’s in that moment that you realize how close the two of you are, Alex’s thigh pressed against yours.  

You swallow hard, your cheeks flushing.  

It’s only seconds later that Alex pulls her feet up to the couch, tucking her legs behind her.  

The TV blares to life and you jump, making Alex giggle.  

“Sorry, was a little loud.” She laughs and you pout.  

“Just a little.”

Your focus turns to the TV, missing Alex’s excited little flail at the proximity between the two of you.  

“You might have to walk me through some of the rules.” You grimace and Alex gives you a nudge.  

“Don’t worry, I got you.”  

You grin.  

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.”  

                                                           ***

The look on your face is downright comical when you see your first corner kick take place.  

“Wait, what... Is that because it went out of bounds like...” You wave a hand in the air. “Passed the goal?”  

Alex nods.  

“That’s right.”

Alex smiles as you lean towards the TV, watching intently as Megan Rapinoe takes the corner kick.  

It leaves her foot and you stiffen, the ball flying through the air towards goal, hitting the back of the net seconds later, courtesy of Alex’s foot.  

“YEAH!” You yell, jumping from your seat, throwing your fists in the air and Alex giggles.  

“THAT WAS SICK.” You say as you flop down beside her on the couch.  

“You’re so talented.” You smile excitedly and Alex blushes, shrugging.  

Your lips split in a grin.  

“You are!”  

You turn back to the TV, taking a deep breath.  

If you were going to make your move, a move that would tell the woman beside you that you wanted more, now was the time.  

Alex nods to herself.  

This was the moment she was going to make her move.  

“Wait...” You mumble, leaning towards the TV with narrowed eyes.  

“What?”  

You point at the screen.  

“That’s you, right?” You ask and Alex nods.  

You snicker.  

“Hey! What!?” Alex gives you a shove and you snort.  

“Your run.”  

Alex’s cheeks flush, the woman HOPING you wouldn’t notice what others had.  

“What about it?” She asks and you grin.  

“It’s adorable!” Your grin impossibly widening.  

“It is not!” She pouts and you throw your head back with a laugh.  

“It isss! It’s like, like...” You snap your fingers, trying to think of what it is that Alex looks like when running.  

“Don’t say it.” Alex covers her face with her hands and you clap your hands.  

“A foal!” You yell, turning to Alex with a grin.  

“A baby horse...” She mumbles and you nod.  

“Yeah!”  

Alex gives you a playful shove and you snicker.  

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re adorable.”  

Alex throws her head back with a lengthy whine and you shake your head.  

“Okay, okay, I’m done.”  

Alex’s eyes narrow, the woman staring at you for a moment, watching as you try and fail to bite back a smile.  

She rolls her eyes, surprising you when she wiggles closer.  

Your eyes double in size, your laughter caught in your throat when Alex rests her head on your chest.  

“Come on, let’s watch the rest.” Alex says, voice unwavering even though her heart is literally about to burst from its ribbed cage.  

She can’t help but smile when she feels you moving, your arm slipping around her, pulling her closer.  

“Okay.” You whisper, nervously and Alex grins.  

Boldly, she reaches across your lap, her hand resting on top of yours.  

You nibble on your bottom lip as you turn your hand over, your fingers spreading, an invitation, an invitation that Alex accepts, her fingers slipping between your own.  

“Okay?” She asks turning to you and you chuckle, your cheeks dusted pink as you turn her way.  

“More than okay.”  

                                                           ***

Neither of you move after that, unless in fact it’s to move closer, which currently is impossible considering you’re as close as humanly possible.  

Eventually you’re unable to resist and rest your head on top of hers, your eyes fluttering shut.  

This solidified it for you, what was going on between the two of you was more than friendship, something much more, something that frightened you in all honesty, but seeing her, the woman curled into your side, her blue orbs fluttering shut, the woman fighting off sleep, all that fright went away.  

If there was someone that you wanted to be with, it was Alex Morgan.  

Alex yawns again and you smile, glancing at the watch on your wrist.  

“Damn, I didn’t realize it was so late.” You grimace, the woman beside you frowning when she realizes it’s passed midnight.  

You frown, glancing down at the woman on your chest.  

“I guess I better get going.” Your frown deepens as Alex moves off of your chest and moves to her feet.  

“Come on, I’ll walk you out.” She holds a hand out and you smile, taking it with no reluctance.  

The two of you walk begrudgingly to the door, Alex’s fingers intertwined with yours.  

The front door swings open and you sigh, turning to Alex with a tiny smile.  

“I really uhh, enjoyed tonight.” You say shyly, giving Alex’s hand a squeeze.  

Reluctantly, your fingers untangle from hers, though you don’t go far, Alex’s eyes widening when you take a step towards her, ducking down to press a kiss to her forehead.  

“I hope we do it again soon.” You whisper against her skin, the woman wrapping her arms around you, pulling you into a tight hug.  

“Oh, we will.” She turns her head, pressing a lingering kiss to your cheek.  

Again, but with much more reluctance, the two of you part, both smiling shyly at one another.  

“Drive home safe Officer Y/L/N.” You shake your head with a grin, throwing her a wave before turning on your heels and heading to your car.  

The second you slip into your car you throw a fist in the air, meanwhile, Alex has made her way inside, the woman doing a happy dance in her living room.

The prospect of meeting again, of furthering the relationship between the two of you was thrilling and neither of you could wait to see where it went.  

[allegra-writes]

"TKN"

Peter Parker x Anti-hero!Reader

General audiences

Warnings: None

Part XIII of the "Mercy" Series

SERIES MASTERLIST | MY MASTERLIST

"Secrets only to those you can trust.

You better not break the Omerta..."

TKN - Rosalia f. Travis Scott

72 hours. That's how long you and Peter had been on the run. And in those 72 hours, Peter had gone through more new experiences than in a whole year as an avenger: He had joined the mile high club, only to five minutes later jump from said plane at cruise speed. He had illegally entered a country, broke into a department store and even shaved his whole head to completely change his appearance. He had celebrated his and yours new freedom with sangria, and more lovemaking at the beach under the stars... 

But this? Being held at gunpoint by a tiny girl with murder in her eyes and superhuman reflexes? That was, sadly, nothing new. 

It was like watching a dance, the way your high kick sent the gun in her left hand flying, as the blonde rolled out of your reach too fast for you to get a hold of the other gun on her right. You avoided a punch to your midriff, as she jumped away from your knife. And your boyfriend saw, helpless, as it was shot out of your hand by a bullet fired with millimetric precision to its blade. But he had been instructed under no uncertain terms to stay out of the confrontation, and by now he knew better than to disobey you. 

"Don't you know what they say about bringing a knife to a gunfight?" The girl quipped, heavy ucranian accent lacing her words.

You smirked,

"They only say that cause a knife is only as good as the one who wields it, тетя Lena… Are you sure you're better with a gun than I am with a knife?"

She rolled her eyes at your cockiness, knowing full well you had several more sharp weapons hidden in your body. 

"Ты менг раздржаешь... So," Lena inquired, eyeing Peter up and down, "Who's the boy toy?"

Your smirk intensified, a barely there twitch, an almost imperceptible movement of your fingers, was all the signal your boyfriend needed,

"His name is Peter," A web shooter went off, and Lena found herself suddenly unarmed "and he's not a boy toy" 

"No, he's an avenger" She spat the word like an insult, "You know the rules, Likho. We don't fuck with strangers"

"And we only share secrets with those we can trust" You finished for her, "I trust him, Lena" 

She huffed, still sizing him up, but you could see a new glint of curiosity, if not respect, in her emerald eyes. 

After a minute, she finally relaxed, dropping her defensive stance. Without another word, she turned away from you, opening a cabinet, taking out three glasses and a bottle of vodka. 

"What's the story, then?" She began pouring the drinks, "I assume there is a story there, last time I saw you, you wanted to kill the avengers. Now here you are, with one as a pet…"

"I'm not- I'm not a…" Peter stammered his protest, "I'm not a pet" 

"Then why are you trailing after her like a lost puppy?" 

"Lena," Your tone was warning, as you grabbed your glass "play nice"

She rolled her eyes again,

"You sound just like your mother. The blonde widow made a face, downing her drink in one gulp, only to immediately refill it, "I miss her"

"Yeah" you sighed, "me too…" 

Peter fidgeted uncomfortably next to you.

"Everything ok, Peter?"

Your boyfriend hesitated: His spider sense was still on high alert, but he couldn't really tell if it was because of the assassin, or another threat you were unaware of.

He decided to play it down for the moment.

"Yeah just… don't want to be rude or anything but I'm not really the vodka type"

"I guessed that already, Spider-Boy. Is why I didn't pour you one…"

"Then who's that one for?" He questioned pointing at the third one.

"That would be for me" 

You looked up, your face breaking into the biggest grin Peter had ever seen on you at the sound of the new voice.

"Alex!" 

A pang of jealousy hit him, as he watched you throw yourself into the arms of the tall, handsome stranger.

Because this Alex guy was handsome, there was no denying that: Bright hazel eyes on top of the sharpest cheekbones Peter had ever seen, pale face framed by dark, shiny long tresses almost to his shoulders.

"Nice hair" You teased, running your fingers through his luscious locks and Peter had the sudden impulse to stick bubble gum to them like Flash had done to him once, back in junior year. He self consciously rubbed his own head, too aware of his buzzcut.

"Nice bangs," the Alex guy shot back, messing your hair like one would to a little child, "you look like a schoolgirl" 

That earned him a rather painful looking punch to his shoulder.

"Punch like a girl too"

"Train a little harder and you will too" You winked. Peter cleared his throat. "Right, of course. Alex, this is Peter. Peter, this is Alex" 

They shook hands, Peter impulsively squeezing a little too hard for a human. But the skinnier boy simply smiled a wolfish grin, all sharp white teeth, returning the grip with just as much strength. 

"Welcome to the spiders' den, Peter"

…

An hour later found the four of you satiated and relaxed, amongst empty pizza boxes and beer bottles. 

"... So, there we were, completely surrounded by both Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, that were actually also Hydra agents, outnumbered and without any exit points in sight" Lena was retelling, Alex nodding enthusiastically beside her as he chew yet another slice of pepperoni, "So I reach inside my boot for my hidden glock, smirky hydra son of a bitch goes 'You looking for this, blondie?' Shaking my knife in front of my face…"

You fidget uncomfortably next to Peter, his eyes going from your beet red face to an Alex that seemed to be choking.

"And that little brat" she pointed at you, "Barbie pajamas, ice cream cone in one hand, my fucking gun in the other goes 'No, fart knocker, she was looking for this'" 

Alex finally snorted, little crumbs escaping his mouth and hitting you in the face as he started coughing. You wiped your face with as much dignity as you could muster.

"You're just salty because a nine year old saved your ass" 

"A sick nine year old" Alex managed to get out between barks, "With pink eye, she could only see with one eye. And using just one hand. Is why we call her Likho ever since" 

"Wait, you still had your ice cream?" 

"She never let go of that ice cream" Lena replied to the question Peter had directed at you, and you felt the temperature of your cheeks rise even more. 

"Literally single handedly took out 7 agents" Alex added, "and then demanded another scoop" 

All three of your companions dissolved in laughter, as you felt your stomach churn. Alex wouldn't look back on that particular memory with such fond eyes if he knew what that little incident had initiated, how it had snowballed until the consequences had reached a girl on the other side of the world, another red room experiment, just like you. 

They said a butterfly flapping its wings here can cause a typhoon in China. Well, your hurricane had levelled Ava Orlova's life.

You weren't one for guilt. Guilt had no place in survival. You did what had to be done in order to preserve yourself and your freedom. Just like your mother had taught you. Just like she had done. But being with Peter, loving Peter… well, that was having unforeseen consequences too, as you were coming to realize. 

Because now you understood. Now you understood Alex and Ava's bond, because Alex had felt for Ava the same way you did for Peter. Probably still did, since it was with trepidation that you realized his death probably wouldn't change your feelings for peter. 

After all, your own hadn't. 

"What about you, spider-boy? Any embarrassing stories to share?"

Peter smiled, for a minute forgetting where he was or why he was there,

"Actually, I do. It involves a barn, an overly friendly goat and hay in places hay should never…" He trailed off, his smile falling when he saw the look on your face.

"No! Why did you stop? That sounds like a great story!"

"Yeah, you got me at 'overly friendly goat'!"

Peter simply interlocked his fingers with yours, silently offering his support. It was time. You took a deep breath

"Because it wouldn't be fair to tell you a story that I don't remember" 

Silence fell over the small kitchen, as Lena and Alex processed your words, the later being the first to break it,

"S.H.I.E.L.D?"

"The T.A.H.I.T.I. protocol" you confirmed. He leaned back on his chair, chuckling, but there was no humor behind it.

"Well, well, well… ain't karma a bitch" 

"Alexei," Lena's tone was warning, "that was the Blank Slate project. You can't blame Likho for what Natasha did"

"Can't I? Really? Cause in over twenty years, our sister never cared about my 'trauma', but we find out about her" He pointed, accusingly, "and suddenly she is all about giving us a normal life. As if we could ever be normal. As if new memories could erase the Red Room from our bones"

"Alex…" You tried, weakly, but you didn't know what to say. Not when everything he was saying was true. 

"And now what? You want me to help you break through it? Now you need us to get back the memories they took from you, just like your mother stole memories from us?" 

"Alexei!"

"NO, YELENA!" Three figures automatically jumped into a fighting stance when his fist met the table. Alex closed his eyes, attempting to get his breathing, and his emotions, back under control. 

"If you want to help these Avengers, go ahead" He finally said, eyes fixed on his sister's, "but don't expect me to be a part of this." 

Without another word, he got up and left the room, leaving Yelena to pick the pieces of the broken bottle that had rolled off the table. And you, to pick up the pieces of your broken heart. 

"Shhh, it's ok, y/n" Peter, sweet, loyal Peter, tried to envelope you in his arms when he heard the first sob leave your throat, even if he didn't quite understand why it had hurt you so much to be called an Avenger. But Lena was there in a heartbeat, throwing him a dirty look, and taking your face in her hands to force you to look at her instead. 

"Don't listen to him, Likho. You're not an Avenger, you are a widow. You will always be a widow, and always will be a part of this family. Just like your mother."

You nodded, buring your face on your aunt's shoulder. 

"I'll help you, both of you" Yelena declared, eyes meeting Peter's, "Us spiders ought to take care of each other" 

To be continued… 

[tvandenneagram]

hello! i was wondering if you could do a quick typing for the 13rw characters?

Hi Anon,

I’ve only seen the first season of 13 Reasons Why, but I’ll try and give it a go based on what I remember. So any comments are more than welcome :)

Clay Jensen - 9w1 

“I cost a girl her life because I was afraid to love her.”

Hannah Baker - 4w3

“You've heard of the Butterfly Effect, right? That if a butterfly flaps its wings, at just the right time, in just the right place, it can cause a hurricane thousands of miles away. It's chaos theory. But, see, chaos theory isn't exactly about chaos, it's about how a tiny change in a big system can effect everything. Chaos theory. Sounds dramatic, but it's not. Ask a mathematician. Or better yet, ask someone who's been in a hurricane.”

Zach Dempsey - 9w8

“I keep to myself mostly. I don't always tell people things. I'm not good with... like, drama. I learned pretty early on not to rock the boat. To stay in my lane. I try not to be a bully. I try not to be a victim. It's a tough line to walk.”

Jessica Davis - cp6w7

“We weren't friends. Friends tell the truth, friends don't turn on each other. Hannah's a user and a liar. You can't believe anything that she says. Not a thing. I mean, what she said, on the tapes, about us and Monet's, she's the one who stopped coming, not me. She's the one who ended our friendship, and she knew it. She's a liar—was a liar.”

Tony Padilla - 6w5

“I think, sometimes, we aren’t keeping secrets to hide from other people. I think, sometimes, we’re keeping them to protect those people.”

Bryce Walker - 8w7 or 3w2

“I got your back, always. Whatever you did, if you even f***ing did anything. We can take care of it. I mean, anything. You know my one rule. Keep me clean.”

Alex Standall - 9w8

“I'm a f***ing weak, pathetic loser who ruined the one good thing that I ever had because I wanted a f***ing rapist to think I was just like him.”

Justin Foley - cp6w7 or 8w7 or 3w2

This was the one that I had the most trouble with because I think he changes the most as the show progresses. So if you have any different thoughts on his typings I would love to hear them 

“I really didn’t grow with much positivity in my life and if I had the influence around me, they were definitely bad. My mother was a drug addict. Her revolving door of boyfriends, mostly drug addicts too. I had a best friend I used to look up to, but then he hurt people close to me and now he’s dead. There was a time in my life I truly had nothing but the clothes on my back and the regret of the people I’d hurt.”

[queenofbaws]

UD/MoM: Of Mummy Men & Bathtub Soup - 6

Chapter: 6/? Chapter title: Friends without benefit Fic rating: T - Language, blood, light comedic body horror Chapter summary: Conrad experiences the sunk cost fallacy in real-time. Author’s note: Reminder - this is also on AO3, where the texting actually looks like, uh…texting! Previous | Next ---

It was funny, really, how the smallest, most insignificant little choices could change everything. That was the whole idea behind that Butterfly Effect theory his freshman Philosophy prof had been so obsessed with, wasn’t it? A butterfly flapping its wings might cause a hurricane halfway across the globe, or you making yourself a cup of tea might lead to a bus crash in the middle of nowhere, or a photographer snapping a picture might lead to a catastrophic house fire decades later…

Or, in his case, one conversation with Josh could completely kill any desire he’d had to be a better person.

Funny how that shit happened. Real funny.  

His intentions coming into this shit had been pure, maybe even triple-fucking-distilled: After his little tête-à-tête with Fliss before break, he’d promised himself that his douchebag days were behind him. No more jackassery, no more assholery, none of it—from that day forward, he’d be walking into life with a fresh attitude and a newfound appreciation for the other people in his life!

And then this fucking conversation with Washington went and ruined everything!

He’d been doing so fucking well, too! For one, he’d actually lifted his own weight on that sociology project! Now, yes, okay, all right, the argument could be made that every time he settled in to get work done on it was an excuse to talk to Fliss, and that was fair, but he’d still done it. And—and!—he’d returned the bracelet he’d pilfered from Jules. …sort of, anyway. And sure, he’d laughed when he got that particular text…

Conrad: hey you ever find that thing you lost btw? JJ: what thing Conrad: you know Conrad: the thing Conrad: the one you accused me of stealing JJ: that could be so many things I really need you to be more specific JJ: OH JJ: my bracelet!!! Yeah Conrad: oh good where was it JJ: … Conrad: ? Conrad: oh my god was it under your bed Conrad: like I SAID IT WOULD BE!!!!! JJ: I don’t need to take this from you JJ: my accusation still stands JJ: you sir are a sneak thief Conrad: sounds like something someone embarrassed she lost her own shit in her own fuckin dust bunnies might say

…but he hadn’t laughed in her face the next time he’d stopped by to visit. He’d stolen her (upsettingly battered) copy of Fifty Shades of Grey when she hadn’t been looking, yes, but he hadn’t laughed. Say what you wanted, but that was an improvement!

He’d even extended this hand of benevolence towards the CREEPs; he hadn’t bugged them over winter break even once. Not even once! They’d told him they’d prank Alex after break, and he took them at their word. He hadn’t pried. Hadn’t wheedled. Hadn’t whined. Hadn’t even left any passive aggressive Facebook comments. All he’d done was wait. And wait.

And wait.

And wait some more.

And now. He was having. This fucking. Conversation. With Josh.

“Hey, you can pull those puppy dog eyes all you want, doesn’t mean my answer’s changing.” Overhead the sky rumbled with the threat of thunder, only adding to the general air of misery hanging around the psych building. Wash looked perfectly in his element leaning there against the building, the hood of his stupid ghost sweatshirt pulled up and his messenger bag slung across his chest, the thin wisp of smoke from his cigarette blurring into the awful grey fog of the evening. Stormy days like these were when he was at the height of his power, Conrad knew…and there was no doubt in his mind the creep was only moments away from delivering some kind of pitch-perfect Joker monologue, à la Heath Ledger.

A kinder person, one who wasn’t a pigheaded idiot, would’ve taken a step back and washed their hands of the whole business then. Really, they likely would’ve realized (mid-back-stepping) that ‘the whole business’ was…kind of stupid. They would’ve sat down and thought to themselves ‘Huh, you know what? I can see now that my obsessive commitment to this goof doesn’t serve much of a purpose besides embarrassing two otherwise happy people just because I’m feeling self-conscious and uncomfortable about their relationship.’ Someone who wasn’t an asshole probably would’ve thought all those things and more, and, upon coming to that ultimate realization, would’ve just walked away from Josh’s 90’s-sitcom-cool-guy lean without wasting another second wheezing in his secondhand smoke.

Conrad did not do any of those things.

So much for pure intentions.

“You promised me—” he began, cutting himself off as a gaggle of students filed out of the psych building’s main door. More than a couple of them ignored the unspoken laws of man to walk directly between where the two of them were standing, if only to cut a couple steps from their commute, further proving his own personal theory that psych kids were just constantly doing everything in their power to be the most insufferable population on campus. It was just as well, though…he’d been getting embarrassingly close to shouting by that point, and experience had taught him screaming rarely worked with the Washington family. They just sort of took it as an excuse to shout back. And those people had pipes on them.

“It’s nothing personal. Look, we had every intention of doing your dumbass little spookfest, but…something came up, and, like I’ve been trying to explain, we dropped the whole ghost hunting shtick. Now we have a podcast. Sort of an improvement, if you ask me—”

Before he could run it through his (nonexistent) internal filter, Conrad snapped, “No one listens to your shitty podcast.”

His shoulders rose and fell in a disinterested shrug. “No one watched the videos. What’s your point? I don’t know why you think, like, you need to stumble upon the right activation phrase or something, man.” He took a drag from his cigarette, raised his eyebrows, and shot him one of those infuriating non-looks he specialized in. “Not happening.”

“You—”

“I keep telling you, Bishop, we’re out of the ghost game.” Something eerily close to an actual human emotion flickered across his face then, but it was gone long before Conrad could place it. “Too bad, so sad.” Josh brought the cigarette to his mouth again and Conrad took his shot—he grabbed it out of his hand and threw it to the concrete before grinding it into a puddle with his shoe. Maybe that would get his attention. Maybe now he could get a goddamn word in edgewise.

“I need you to do this! You promised! What happened to all that bullshit about being a man of your word?!”

Washington let out one last smoky breath before fixing him with a familiar stare—equal parts impatient kid waiting for his mom to finish having a chat at the grocery store and frustrated businessman dealing with someone trying to find the best bargain. “I mean, you just said it yourself. Bullshit. All of it. Every syllable.”

Never in his life had the desire to haul off and punch someone been so tantalizing. His fingers itched. “Look.” Leaning in closer, Conrad turned their conversation into a clandestine meeting of conspirators, the two of them hunched against the drizzle under the eaves of the psychology building. “I wasn’t gonna get into this…mostly because…” he paused, again tormented by that coffee shop conversation with Fliss; much as he was loath to admit it out loud where any ol’ Tom, Dick, or Harry could hear him say it, he and Josh were—ugh—friends. And sometimes friends had to trust each other, right? They had to be…vulnerable.

No matter how absolutely repellent the idea was.

Oblivious to the inner monologue raging inside of his head, Josh loudly cleared his throat to hurry him along…in doing so, making Conrad’s mind up for him. “Mostly because you’re a fucking douchebag…”

Josh shrugged. “Fair.”

“But look, man…Alex is planning on proposing to JJ, okay? Proposing!”

Other than blinking and shoving his hands into the pockets of his sweatshirt, there was no reaction.

Did he let that dissuade him?

Of course not.

“He’s PROPOSING, you asshole! As in marriage! Holy, shining, glorious matrimony!”

“Well congrats. I’m sure that’ll be one hell of a party, and you have my solemn oath that I’ll put a good word in with my parents so they actually get something worthwhile off the registry. Say…an immersion blender. Or a lifetime supply of contracep—”

That time he did lash out, smacking Washington square in the center of his chest. He made a choked sound and cringed inward, his carefully crafted expression of aloofness replaced with the wide-eyed surprise befitting a nerd of his scrawny stature. “I know it goes against every atom of your fucked up genetic code, but will you be a goddamn human being for two seconds here?!”

“…I mean, I can try.”

“JJ is…” Blech. Eugh, bluergh, guh, pffflbt, insert other onomatopoeia here. Getting this deep into the weeds of his very soul outside of the psych building felt ooky-spooky in a handful of ways, but…he was already in too deep. These idiots were his only shot at pulling this stunt off, as pointless as it (admittedly) was. “She’s my little sister.”

“Oh man, is she? Guess that’s one I hadn’t picked up on. Any other Earth-shattering revelations you want to pile on top of that? Maybe something about your mom being related to you in some way?”

“Josh. Come the fuck on.” And…holy shit. That actually worked!

Washington watched him for a long moment before rolling his eyes and simply nodding, wordlessly telling him to continue.

“She’s my little sister and all of this is…it’s really, really weird, okay? I’m the one who’s supposed to do all these major life event things first, y’know? I’m supposed to graduate and get married and have kids and let myself go and launch into my inevitable divorce that’ll bankrupt me and thrust me headfirst into the shittiest coping mechanisms I can find. Me! But…” He threw his hands up into the air and let them drop. “But she’s doing them instead and it’s just…shitty. And weird. And I want it to be less shitty and less weird, and…I don’t fucking know, I feel like if I can pull this joke off on them in a big, bad way, then I’ll just feel better about it, somehow. Make sense?”

He glanced Josh’s way, more than a bit taken aback that he hadn’t interrupted him during that pathetic monologue. There he was, just standing there with his back to the building, hands in his pockets and one of his feet planted on the wall behind him in the most classic of edgelord stances, just waiting.

And goddamn it, he must’ve been sleep-deprived or still drunk from last night or something, because…well, he kept going. “I’m lucky if I get a third date on Tinder, know what I mean? Sparkling personality, hot bod and all. Then there’s Jules, about to marry a fucking doctor, and…and they love each other. It’s disgusting, the amount of sap and cheese you gotta swallow down around them, honestly. And they’re going to move in together after they flip that stupid house they’re holed up in right now, and they’re going to get married, and she’s gonna change her name, and…I’m just gonna…be…here.” Conrad spread his arms wide and the universe saw fit to choose that very moment for a roil of thunder to crash down from the clouds, the sky opening to turn the drizzle into rain. “…doing this. Forever.”

Washington let out a breath. “Poetic.”

He dropped his arms to his sides. “Thanks. Been taking a speech class this semester.”

The curve of his eyebrows told him it hadn’t been a surprise. “Yeah, you don’t say.” With a grunt, he heaved himself up from the wall, brushing the back of his sweatshirt off. “I feel you, man—I do—and I’ll even let it slide that you’re clearly trying to appeal to my wounded sense of familial obligation, what with the dead little sisters and all…”

Though he was known far and wide for his poker face, he literally felt the color drain out of him at that. Winter break hadn’t been nearly long enough to erase the memory of that strange, dizzying conversation with Sam from his mind. “Oh get over yourself, I wasn’t doing th—”

“But.” Washington cut him off with one raised finger. “Sob story or not, my story’s not changing. We don’t do the ghost thing anymore.” He shrugged, and to his credit, he did look at least kind of apologetic. “Find some other tree to bark up. Try calling the Maury show, maybe…find a better way to work through all that…” he waved his fingers dismissively, “…touching emotional crap you’re so obviously struggling with.”

“I’m not strugg…well, fine, okay, maybe I am, but—” Across from him, Josh scoffed. “—please? I’m running out of time here! If I’m gonna pull this off, it’s gotta be soon. If I do it after he proposes, then it looks like revenge! Or retribution! Or something similarly Old Testamenty.”

“Oh man, that sounds like a personal problem.”

Every passing second was reminding him why the two of them didn’t hang out more often. “I hate you so much.”

“I get that a lot.”

“I hate you so fucking much, Wash.”

“Let that shit out. It’s healing. Liberating, really.”

Conrad advanced on him, a scathing comeback halfway formed on his lips…and then he dropped it. There was no point. He’d done all he could—he’d tried to make it a business deal, he’d tried to make it personal, and none of it had worked. Why keep beating this dead horse?

Maybe this whole thing was a stupid idea. Maybe it was just a childish, pointless joke that would make him laugh for five minutes and piss Julia off forever. Really, now that he was digging deep into his heart of hearts and giving it the consideration it deserved, relying on the CREEPs should’ve been his last resort. Yeah, he could see that now, hindsight being what it was. Of course they were never going to hold up their side of the deal, he was the idiot who’d trusted them. Maybe this was what he got for that lapse in judgment. Maybe it was karma; something he deserved for being such a self-absorbed dickhead.

So he held Washington’s gaze for another second before he too shrugged, shaking his head in defeat. “Fine. Forget it. This was a dumbass idea from the start.” He flipped his hood up in preparation to make a run for his car. “Enjoy your class about wanting to fuck your mom or whatever.”

He got all of two steps towards the parking lot before the back of his jacket was grabbed.

“Don’t be such a fucking emo, you drama queen. Look…” Josh heaved a sigh that sounded slightly too genuine for his comfort. “You’re gonna think I’m being a wiseass here, but since you went and just spilled your guts at my feet like the protagonist of a Regency-era romance novel and all, I figure maybe I can pony up and reciprocate a little.”

Considering he couldn’t reach any of his softer bits, Conrad thought this was probably the best opportunity he’d get to finally clear his conscience. “…is this because I sort of told Sam abo—”

“This is not because you told Sam about the twins. Don’t you fret, Conman, I’m gonna get you back for that one eventually, and you won’t know when or how but you’ll certainly know why.”

“Fair.” He waited until Josh let go of his jacket to turn around again, and when he did, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen an expression like that on his face before, not in all the years he’d known the guy. “Then…?”

“The ghost hunting shit broke bad, all right? Real bad. However bad you’re imagining it? Double it. Triple, even. There were hospital bills involved. Remodeling costs factored in. Do you know how much good hardwood flooring costs in today’s day and age?”

“What, you guys run into Casper and his uncles up there? Whatshisface from A Christmas Carol rattling his chains?”

Something was, uh, wrong. Something was very wrong. Because he laughed and Josh…did not. No, humor was the farthest thing from Josh’s face. In fact, he thought something in his eyes almost suggested…

“Oh you’ve got to be shitting me. Fuck off.”

“I told you you’d think I was being a wiseass.”

“You want me to believe that you saw a ghost.”

Outside of reaching up to scratch at his cheek, Wash didn’t really react to his disbelief, and that should’ve set off warning bells in his head, just like his parents’ weird behavior at the steakhouse all those months back should’ve. But he hadn’t been able to read the room then so it only made sense he wouldn’t be able to read it now. Instead of puffing himself up and digging his heels into the dirt, Wash changed the topic. “Obviously this shit’s important to you, and while normally I don’t care about that at all, I do like the idea of you being somehow indebted to me. So. If you can convince the other three—on your own—to go along with it…” Another sigh, that one sounding mystifyingly more agitated than the last, “…then fine. We’ll do your stupid prank.”

He blinked, not sure he’d heard him right. The thunder was really going for it, after all. “Seriously?!”

“But you gotta be the one to talk them into it,” he repeated, waving that finger of his. “I’m not helping with that.” Working with Washington always came with stipulations, but this was definitely one of the weirder ones he’d been given.

“You idiots all pretty much live together. Why can’t you just have one of your little huddles and—wait, you guys break up or something?” It was out of his mouth before he could control it. A falling out between socially stunted nerds made a hell of a lot more sense than a reenactment of Paranormal Activity in front of a live studio audience, after all. Maybe that was why he was being so weird about it. “What, the mountaintop relationship retreat not work out the way you were hoping?”

All Washington did was raise his eyebrows. “You want our help, Bish? Prove it.”

The curiosity he’d been entertaining about what had gone down in the Pines was wiped clean by the tone of Josh’s voice. The urge to punch, however? Well that fucker was tip-tapping its way back to center stage. “You’re all just gonna sit around and talk about it behind my back anyway.”

“Yeah, probably. Guess you better bring your A-game, huh? Here, know what? All this brotherly bonding with you has me feeling like a new man. So as I begin my journey walking down a righteous path in the eyes of the Lord or whatever…I think I will help you out. Just a smidge.” Wash didn’t exactly sneer at him…but it wasn’t an especially sweet smile he found himself on the other end of, leave it at that.

“Well this doesn’t pass my smell test at all.”

Pulling his phone from his pocket, Josh checked the time, bobbling his head back and forth for a sec as though debating something with himself. “Question is…how easy do I want to make it for you…”

If he got pneumonia from standing out there in the rain while this son of a bitch monologued, Washington Pictures, Inc. would be footing his medical bills. But the boy king must’ve been feeling magnanimous just then, because he slid his phone back into his pocket without devolving into any sort of prepared speech. (There was, he had to figure, a first time for everything.)

“Sammy tends to hit the gym after dinner, so you’re probably still a little too early to catch her there. If I were you, I’d go bug the happy couple first. They should be in the library by now, doing their…” he waved with clear disinterest, “…thing. Fourteenth floor.”

This felt like a trap.

He wasn’t sure how, but it felt like a fucking tr—wait a second. It had taken a second for what Washington had said to catch up to him, but when it did…

“‘The happy couple?’ Okay. See. Now I know you’re fucking with me.” There was not a world that existed where Chris Hartley of all people had been able to scrounge up the nerve to talk to a girl—much less Ashley Brown—not when he’d been witness to just how awkward those two got when they were in the same zipcode.

“Hey, what can I say? Seeing is believing.” Josh offered him another one of those maddeningly knowing looks, then laughed under his breath. “One last thing and I’ll let you go: Do me a solid and tell Edgar hi for me when you get there.”

Was this code? Was he speaking to him in code? Was this some kind of ‘the crow flies at midnight and sours the milk’ bullshit? “Uh…and who’s Edgar?”

Josh’s grin wouldn’t have been out of place on a great white shark. “Eh, trust me. You’ll know him when you see him.” He hitched the strap of his bag further up his shoulder, then flipped him a halfhearted middle finger by way of signing off. He headed for the door to the psych building, and then, like a rotten fart on a windy day, he was gone, leaving Conrad alone in the rain.

God. He needed cooler friends…or at least friends who didn’t make a habit of saying weird-ass, cryptic bullshit like that before making dramatic exits.

He rolled his eyes and made the dash for his car, trying to recall the last time he’d willingly stepped foot in the library, much less gone poking through the upper floors. Desperate times, desperate measures…but he wasn’t too worried. Nah, Hartley and Ash were pushovers. He could (and would) get them to help him out, of that much he was sure.

And maybe—just maybe—he could get them to squeal about what had actually happened in Blackwood.

Not that he was interested or anything. Not that he cared.

[nancywheelxr]

consider. supergirl twilight au

Anon. Your brain-- galaxy. Exploding galaxies. This is god-tier concepts.

BUT, I have to say, I cannot see the melodramatic yearning aesthetic translating very well, so my ideas are pretty much:

Okay, so, we have J’onn as Carlisle, but like, he’s a PI instead of a doctor. He’s ever the pacifist and refuses to carry a gun. His gift is, of course, telepathy. I’m thinking very old vampire, early 1700.

He’s turned Alex in the 50s when her fiancee had tried to kill her after she ended their engagement a couple days before the wedding. Alex doesn’t exactly like this new existence, resents how the possibility of children and a family had yet again been ripped away from her even now that society is less shitty about it, has spent a few years wandering alone before coming back, but what she’s always admired and agreed with in J’onn was his decision to go vegetarian. She’s very protective of their little family, doing her best to keep her siblings safe, especially Kara.

Kara more often than not presents as Alex younger sister-- this time they’re both using the Danvers surname, to make it less weird that J’onn is out here adopting a flock of teenagers. She was turned in the 60s-- she had heard a woman screaming in an alley and hadn’t hesitated before dashing to help. J’onn had nearly been too late to save her. Unlike the others, she sees this as a new lease on life, an opportunity to live again, even if she kind of wishes she could help people? What’s the point of having all this stuff if she can’t use them for good? Like Jasper in Twilight, she’s an empath, but unlike him, her bubbly personality means she’s always somewhat leaking this general joyful feeling around her.

Brainy can see the future. Or the most likely outcome based on the current decisions they have chosen. It causes him great distress. Out of them all, he’s perhaps one of the oldest vampires there, maybe late 1800s, and sometimes he feels like he can’t quite catch up with the times. Adjusting to this century is a work in progress, but he does love the new technology-- with centuries of unoccupied time, he found himself diving into science and other scholar pursuits.

Nia is the newest addition to the family. Her own home had been attacked by vampires J’onn had been tracking but he had been too late to stop them. Nia had been the only one he could save. She’s grappling with her powers, slowly expanding the limits of her gifts, and there’s an understanding between her and Brainy, a kinship shared over coping with the nature of their powers. More often than not, she’s with Kara, too, allowing her to help ease her anxieties and unfailingly lift her mood.

I’m thinking maybe James is part of Clark’s clan? Like, I doubt he’d leave Clark in this scenario.

Okay, look, I was gonna put Lena as like, the human in this story, but let’s face it, it’s so much funnier if it’s Winn.

I mean, we get this dork nerdy human who instantly takes a shining to the literal ball of sunshine in his biology class. And Kara, who’s been feeling awfully lonely in this cloudy little town, sees this kid that no one really wants to talk with because his dad is crazy or something, this kid who’s flustered in the beginning but make dumb jokes over sharing a microscope, this kid who’s bleeding nervousness all over, yes, he’s anxious as shit, with this deep sadness and loneliness underneath, but here he is, grinning and braving the world with determination-- look, how could she not immediately adopt him???

So Kara is like, we are best friends now and we’re adopting you, J’onn is your dad now, and no, I’m not taking criticisms.

And Alex is just facepalming so hard because what the hell??? this is a terrible idea???? this teenager is a disaster??? he’s going to get himself killed and it’s not even going to have anything to do with vampires, that’s just the kind of person he is where did Kara even find him??? She does not need another reckless sibling????

But Brainy can see the future, right, and right now he’s not seeing this ending badly, in fact, all he sees is laughter and late night movie marathons and building and rebuilding computers in the garage. He, of course, discloses none of this because the future is a fragile thing that can be broken by a butterfly flapping its wings. He reassures Alex and J’onn that nothing bad will come of it, but that’s it.

Nia, of course, saw Winn coming too. She dreams of him two days before Kara announces she made a friend, and she smiles, knowing this is the start of something beautiful, that their little family has just grown.

J’onn is not thrilled at the start, but once he actually meets Winn, his Dad Instinct just goes the fuck off, he can’t not adopt this traumatized teenager.

and just, Winn finds out about them and freaks out for like, three days straight before shrugging and going back to being the chaos twin to Kara’s increasingly dangerous ideas. This new information, after all, opens a whole new world of ideas.

[avengerscompound]

At a Cellular Level - Part 3

At a Cellular Level: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Steve Rogers x OFC (Alex Swann)

Word Count:  4598

Warnings:  Angst, mentions of torture, violence, major character death, virgin reader, smut (M|F oral sex, vaginal fingering, vaginal sex, loss of virginity (Steve and Readers))

Synopsis:  Steve no longer trusts Alex, and Alex continues to hold back the truth from him. When she finally comes clean they think of a way she can start using her powers for good.

Part Three

Alex sat in the sun outside the small, wood cabin she and Steve had made their home for the past two months.  Steve had gone for a run as was his usual ritual.  He always invited her, but she hated running and she couldn’t keep up with him anyway, so she didn’t bother.  

They had been hurt.  Mostly by other people.  The events surrounding the Sokovia Accords had destroyed Steve.  He was not the same person she had known when they’d met all those years ago when he’d rescued her from SHIELD.  Back then he had thought he’d lost everything.  He had since learned he had no idea back then what losing everything actually felt like.  He had now lost his friends, his freedom, the people he loved, his connection to the past, his home.  All he had now was Alex, and he still didn’t trust Alex.  Not since she’d run off on him breaking his heart.

Alex had lost a lot of things too.  She had lost her childhood.  Her chance of normalcy. Her stepfather had used her as a scientific guinea pig and made her a weapon.  He had then tortured her and made her a monster.  When she left Steve, she had gone to wreak vengeance on all those who had done her wrong and only come out more damaged than before.  She had so much blood on her hands there was no way she could ever get clean. She had returned to Steve to make things right.  She loved him.  He loved her too, but the trust, that might never return.

So she practiced using her abilities.  She would create life, restore it, fix others who were broken.  She held a flower in her hand and watched a butterfly land on a nearby blade of grass.  She studied it, looking at the differences in its cells, what made it a butterfly and not a bee, or the blade of grass it sat on.  She looked down at the flower and compared them, and her powers engaged.  She cupped the flower in her hands and focused on changing it, rearranging it’s DNA.   Sparks flew from her eyes as she burned energy rewriting the genetic structure of the plant that was already dying in her hand.  When she stopped she opened her hands, and a butterfly identical to the one she’d just been studying flapped it’s wings and flew off.

She collapsed back into the grass staring into the sky.  She felt a little dizzy. Changing a plant into something with a complex nervous system required a lot of energy.  She closed her eyes, just considering taking a nap in the morning sun when she heard the sound of tires on the gravel out the front.

Alex got to her feet, her powers engaged, ready for a fight, and ran to the front of the house.  There was a black car out the front.  A Tesla, which explained why she hadn’t heard it before.  A man started getting out of the car.  

“Get back in that car!”  Alex screamed.  Her skin was crackling with static electricity.  Her powers wanted to unleash themselves on this man who had invaded her home.

“Who are you? Where’s Cap?”  The man asked.  He looked defensive but hadn’t taken on any kind of fighting stance.

“If you think for one second, I will let you get to him …”

The man laughed. It was a loud pleasant bark of a laugh.  “Chill woman, I’m a friend.  Get Steve.”

There was a cry from across the field.  “Alex!”  Steve yelled.  “Power down!”

Alex glanced around in a panic.  “Tell me who you are.  I won’t let you take him.” She growled.

“I’m not here to take anyone, sparky.  Listen to Steve.”

Steve had finally reached them.  He reached a hand out towards Alex like he was trying to soothe a frightened animal.  “Alexandra, power down.  He’s a friend.  You’re safe.  I’m safe.”

“Steve?” She said the fear obvious in her voice.  

“Alex. You’re safe.  This is Sam.  You’re safe.  Power down.”  Steve reassured her.  

“This is Sam?”

“That’s right.  Now power down.”

She took a deep breath and shut her powers down.  She felt light headed and staggered forward.  Steve caught her, holding her against him, soothing her.

“Cap,” Sam said, nodding to his friend.

“Hi, Sam,”  Steve said smiling and shaking his head.  “Come inside.”

Steve helped Alex into the house and sat her at the kitchen table.  He went to the pantry and pulled out some protein bars, piling them in front of Alex.  She tore one open and shoved it in her mouth.  He turned to Sam and embraced him.  They thudded each other on the back.

“It’s good to see you.  What are you doing here though?  Has there been trouble?”  Steve asked.

“No more than usual.  Just thought I’d stop in.  See how you were doing.” Sam shrugged trying to play it off as nonchalant.  He’d been worried about his friend being trapped out her alone.  He hadn’t counted on the lightning chick though.  “What’s with the bottomless pit here?”  Alex was already on her forth energy bar.  

“Sam, this is Alex,”  Steve said.  He went to the fridge and pulled out a beer and handed it to Sam, he then poured a glass of milk for Alex. She took it and started drinking as soon as it was within reach. “She’s … well, we …”

Sam started laughing and sat down on the chair opposite Alex. “Oh I see.  What about you and …”  He made a strange hand gesture that didn’t really mean anything except that Steve knew exactly what he meant.  Steve shook his head, and Sam dropped it.

“And the eye shit?”  Sam asked wiggling his fingers next to his eyes.

“I’m enhanced,”  Alex answered through a mouth full of food.  She was getting sick of them talking about her like she wasn’t there.

“Like witchy?”  Sam asked.

“Sort of.  They’d give each other a run for their money.”  Steve said putting his hand on Alex’s shoulder.  “She alters DNA.  I’m glad I made it to you when I did.  You don’t back down easy, do you?”

Alex shook her head.   She felt embarrassed.  She didn’t want to be the violent person she was, but the first sense of threat and she’d gone into destruction mode.  She could have killed Steve’s friend.  She got up.  “I’m going to go lie down.  I made a butterfly before he got here.  I’m a bit tired now.”

Alex left the room and went and lay in her bed, listening.

“She made a butterfly?” Sam said shaking his head after she left the room.

Steve sat down in the chair that Alex was so recently occupying.  “Yeah. She’s pretty powerful.  If she has organic matter available to her she could potentially do anything with it.  Takes a lot of energy though.  Thus …”  He indicated to the pile of energy bar wrappers.

“Now, tell me really, Cap.  What’s the deal with you two.  What about Sharon?”

Steve shook his head.  “Sharon and I didn't work out.  Too much distance, not enough time.  Anyway, Alex happened before … ugh, it’s complicated.”  He dragged his hand down his face.

“Oh, an old flame then?  How did she find you?”  Sam laughed.

“SHIELD dropped her off.  Which is concerning for a few reasons.  The first being, SHIELD shouldn’t even exist right now.”  Steve answered his mood darkening.

“You trust her?  Maybe she’s a spy?”

Steve shook his head.  “She’s not a spy.  As to trusting her …”

Alex started to cry.  The tears silently running down her cheeks.  Things hadn’t been the same since she came back.  How could they be?  She had abandoned him, and he still didn’t know why, or what she’d done.

She listened to them talk but the conversation turned to things about the friends they shared who were still on the run, and something about Thor and Bruce Banner’s whereabouts.  She wanted to leave the room, and go outside again, but then they’d know she was listening in and not resting like she’d said.

She closed her eyes, and the next thing she was aware of is the bed shifting as Steve climbed in next to her.  

“Alex, you’ve been asleep all day.”  He whispered rubbing his hand up and down her arm.

She rubbed her eyes and rolled over to face him.  “I’m sorry.”  She breathed.

“It’s okay, I was just worried that you wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.” He kissed her on the temple.  

“That’s not what I’m sorry about.”

“What is it?”  Steve asked, panicked.  What had she done now?  Or was it something she was planning on doing?

“Where’s your friend?”  

“He’s sleeping in the spare room.  Don’t deflect.”  Steve had adopted his leadership voice.  He hated using it on her.  

She pressed her face into his chest.  “When I left, I thought you didn’t love me.  I thought you had just used me.  I wanted to go away and make myself someone you would love.  Instead, I’ve made it so you don’t trust me.”  She swallowed.  “And you shouldn’t.  I killed people Steve.  I would have killed your friend.”

“Alex.” Steve shook his head.  He wasn’t sure what he should say.  “You’ve been hurt.  Badly.  By a lot of people.  I should have been aware of that on that day.  You’re always on high alert for people to continue to hurt you.  I’m sure whatever you did while you were on your own …”

Alex silenced him with a kiss.  All she wanted to right now was to make love with him.  He wouldn’t want to after she came clean, she was sure of it.  He might not hate her, or ask her to leave, but they wouldn’t be together anymore.  

The kiss was urgent and he yielded to her, letting her take control.  Her lips crashed against his, her tongue invaded his mouth.  She tugged at his shirt and he helped her remove it, and she straddled him, trailing kisses down his smooth, muscular chest.  

He moved his hands up under her shirt and just as he reached the clasp of her bra she burst into tears.  She couldn’t do this to him.  He needed to know who she had been.  Who she still was despite how hard she was trying not to be.

He sat up and held her, stroking her hair.  “What is it, Alex?  You need to talk to me.”

“I’m not good enough for you.  I’m not.  I’ll take you down with me.” She sobbed, her hand balling into a fist against his chest.

“I think I can decide that for myself, Alex.”  

“I didn’t kill people in self-defense, Steve.  I murdered them.  I murdered some random guy for information, and then I murdered my stepdad.  It wasn’t quick either.  I tortured them.  I made them feel everything they put me through.  Everything.  I need to be locked up.  I can never make up for this.  I’d have let Phil take me to the raft, but I’m afraid someone will try an use me again. I’d kill myself but I can’t die.  How do I fix this, Steve? I don’t know how to fix this.”

Steve held her.  He knew she was damaged, but he hadn’t expected this. Phil was dead, and she was talking about him like he was alive. She’d tortured people.  “You’re right, Alex.  You will never be able to fix it.  Those deaths, what you did to those people, it will be on you forever.”  He sighed and pushed her away from him. “You’re right though.  Being locked up is not the answer for you. It’s too dangerous, and it will only make things worse.  It won’t fix you.  I need to think.”

Alex went to kiss him, but he pushed her away.

“I love you, Steve.”  She sobbed, her tears causing her whole body to shake.

“I love you too, Alex.   I don’t want to lose you.  I don’t think I can take losing anyone, but I need some space.  I’m going to go sleep on the couch.”  

Alex grabbed his arm as he went to stand.  “I’ll sleep on the couch. You won’t be comfortable.  This is my fault.”

Steve nodded.  As she went to leave he took her hand and squeezed it. “Please don’t run.  Not again.”  

Alex went out to the living room and fell onto the couch.  She fell asleep crying.

Steve woke up the following morning to find the house empty.  His first thought was to panic.  She’d done it again.  He ran out on the porch and saw her in the field with Sam.  They were doubled over laughing.  Sam was wearing his flight suit and there were feathers everywhere.

He approached them both smiling.  This was the most normal and at ease, he had felt for months now.

“What’s going on here?”  He asked.

“Damn, Steve you should have seen it!”  Sam laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.  “I got up this morning and your girl was sitting there all morose, so I asked her if she wanted to see Redwing.”

“I was more interested in the wings.  I’d heard about the wings. I wanted to see them.”  Alex squeaked.  He couldn’t remember a time she ever looked so happy.

“So I got the suit out and start showing off.”

“I watched him and started thinking maybe I could make my own wings and fly.  Like I think I should be able to do it.”

“I look down at her and she’s sparking, you know the way she does. So I land to see what’s up, and these feathers just explode out of her.”

“I guess I need to really look at what real wings are like better because all I made was a ton of feathers.  They went everywhere.”

Steve looked at her and felt real warmth.  A potential for actual happiness.  He laughed and hugged her.  “You made them out of nothing?”  

She was still giggling. “No.  No.  I made them out of me.  They’re my feathers.”  She picked one off her shirt and blew it into his face.  “I probably should go eat.  I feel a little light headed.”

“That’s because you’re all feathers, woman.”  Sam laughed.  

Alex kissed Steve on the cheek and went inside.  

“She’s a weird kid, but I like her.”  Sam laughed.  “Did you two fight last night?”

Steve shook his head.  “No.  She finally came clean to me about some stuff.  It’s not pretty.”   Sam put his hand on Steve’s shoulder.  “You can talk to me you know.”

So Steve emptied out all the information onto his friend.  When he was done, Sam shook his head.  “Sounds to me like those dudes had it coming.”

“It doesn’t excuse it though.”  Steve sighed.

“You forgave Bucky.”

“Buck didn’t know what he was doing.”

Sam laughed.  “You think she was all there when she did those things?  At least she’s trying to make up for what she did instead of just hiding.”

That hurt.  Steve turned away from his friend.  

“Do you think she could help the green guy out?  Fix his anger management issues?”  Sam asked.

“Banner?  Hey, that’s not a bad idea.”

It took a little while to track down Banner.  Steve didn’t have the resources they used to have, and Banner didn’t want to be found.  It was actually Alex that was able to find him.  A call to SHIELD and within two days she had exact coordinates for him.  

They piled out of the car when they arrived at the abandoned warehouse he was supposed to be inhabiting.  Alex was terrified.  The whole trip had taxed her emotionally.  Steve knew it was hard on her, but he also knew she needed to do it.  She had to prove to herself she wasn’t a danger to the rest of the world.

Sam took her hand as they approached the building.  “You’re gonna be okay, Feathers.”  He said giving it a squeeze.  She looked at him and smiled.  

They entered the building.  Steve couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing.  The Quinjet was in the hanger, but it had been altered.  It was beginning to look more like a spacecraft.

“Captain?”  

They turned to the voice.  Bruce Banner came walking out of an office to the left of them.  He was wiping his glasses on his grubby singlet.

“Doctor Banner,”  Steve said nodding to his old friend.  “It’s been a long time.”

“What are you doing here, Steve?  Come to arrest me?”  

Sam barked out a laugh.  

“I would have hoped you knew me better than that, Bruce.  Besides, all of us here are fugitives.  Haven’t you heard.”

Alex frowned, wanting to correct him, but deciding against it.  She may not be a fugitive, but she should be.

“I had heard there had been a little trouble.  So what is it then? Come to recruit me to your new cause?  I’m not interested.”

Steve shook his head.   “No.  We’ve come to help.”

Bruce sat surveying Alex.  She was standing at the window staring out through the filth that had accumulated on it.  She kept drawing shapes in the dirt.  Love hearts, and snowflakes.  He wasn’t convinced.  

“Do you know how many dead ends I’ve chased trying to cure myself?”  He sighed.  “I can’t get my hopes up again.”  

“She is very powerful, Bruce.  You can test her first. Draw some blood.  She can do this.”  Steve implored.

“Banner!”  A loud booming voice yelled, and Thor burst through the door.  Alex jumped out of her skin.  Her eyes sparked and she threw her hands out in front of her in a defensive stance.

“Steve!  My friend!  What brings you here?”  Thor exclaimed, approaching Steve his arms held out.  Steve stood and embraced him.  

“They think they can cure me,”  Bruce said and laughed.  It was a hollow laugh, with no joy in it at all.

“But this is good news!  How have you come across this cure?”  

Alex had relaxed her powers.  She had heard of Thor.  Seen him on the television.  She knew he wasn’t a risk to her.   “That would be me.”  

Thor looked at her and approached her a scowl on his face.  “You look familiar, child.  Who are your parents?”

Alex stumbled back from him.  He may not be a threat to her, but his size still made him intimidating.   “I don’t know.”  She stammered.  “My mom is – is just no one.  I don’t know my dad.  I look like my dad.”

Thor frowned and turned back to the others.  “Well, what are we waiting for?  If she has your cure, you should be using it.”

Bruce sighed and led them into his lab.  He drew some blood and poured it into a Petri dish.   It bubbled and grew in volume, it’s contents overflowing the dish.  Alex took Bruce’s face in her hand and stared into him, examining his cells, looking for the thing that had been changed in him that was doing this to him.  When she was sure she had the cause of the problem and could see the solution she turned to the dish and hovered her hand over it.  Her eyes sparked and the blood in the dish settled returning to its original volume.

“Is that it?”  Steve asked when her eyes had returned to normal.

“Yeah.  It was easy.”  She smiled.  Steve tucked a lock of her pitch black hair behind her ear.  She snuggled into his chest.

Bruce wasn’t convinced.  He thudded on the table beside the dish. The tray jumped, and blood spilled over the edge, but it remained the same volume as before.  Bruce took the dish and put it under a microscope.  Prodding it.  Trying to make it angry.  

“I don’t believe it.  You actually did it.”

There weren’t a lot of places to sleep in the old hanger.  Sam stayed behind and slept in the Quinjet, but Steve and Alex went and checked in to a dingy motel up the road.  Alex checked in under a fake name and paid cash.  The guy who ran it didn’t bother checking any of her details.  She rewarded him by curing his arthritis while his back was turned on her.  

Alex stepped through the door of their room.  It smelled of mold and cigarettes and she wrinkled her nose.  Steve placed a hand on the middle of her back.  She turned to face him.

“I am really proud of you, Alex.”  He said, pulling her into his arms.  “I’m sorry I’ve been so distant with you since you got back. I’ve been having trouble seeing the girl I fell in love with.”

Alex wrapped her arms around his waist.  “You can see her now?”

Steve nodded and placed a light kiss on her temple.  

“Steve.”  Alex breathed.  “I need you.”

The words awoke something in him.  He wanted to make love to her like they hadn’t since the first time.  Really connect with her again.  He cupped her chin in his large hand and kissed her, guiding her back towards the bed.  Her fingers fumbled at the buttons on his shirt as their lips caressed each other.  The first time they had made love Alex had been the confident one.  She knew what she wanted, and she wasn’t afraid of it.  Steve was shy, uncertain, afraid of making a mistake.  It was like their roles had been reversed.  Alex was scared that if she made one wrong move it would be over again. She would lose him for good.  Steve just wanted her.

He pulled his shirt off, throwing it in the corner of the room, and then grabbed her's and yanked it off over her head.  She unhooked her bra, and let it fall from her arms.  There was a brief pause as they admired each other’s physique.  They had both been made thanks to the super soldier serum.  Steve’s muscular body a direct result of the serum, giving him height and muscle mass.  Her body, however, was crafted by her to be exactly what she wanted.  It was like it was airbrushed and straight from the pages of a magazine.  

He fell on her, kissing her, exploring her mouth, grazing his teeth over her lips.  He moved along her jaw, nipping at her earlobe, causing her to moan and her head to roll back.  He kissed down her neck, sucking on the skin, biting at it, knowing he couldn’t mark her, but trying anyway.  He ran the point of his tongue along her collar bone, and as he did he lifted her up and moved her back onto the bed, so she was lying in the middle of it.  He moved to her breasts.  He sucked one nipple into his mouth and bit at the hard peak.  She gasped and arched against him.  He loved how her body responded to him.  He needed it.  Craved it.

He moved further down, trailing his lips along her skin.  He reached the top of her shorts and he yanked them from her.  He bit the inside of her thigh and sucked on the skin.  

“Please, Steve.”  Alex murmured.  It felt like she was a bundle of tightly wound, exposed nerves, waiting for release.  Her whole body screamed out for him.  She wanted him.  Needed him to take her.

His tongue entered her folds.  She whined and squirmed under him. He lapped at her.  When his tongue hit her clit it sent a shock wave through her and she made this guttural primal sound.  He pushed two fingers inside of her moist entrance.  She cried out bucking against him.

“Steve, please.  I need you.”  She moaned as he worked his fingers inside of her, rolling them inside, as she clenched her walls around him.  

He sat up and unfastened his fly, pushing his trousers down.  He moved so he was positioned above her.  His cock pressed against her mound.  

“I love you, Steve,”  Alex whispered, reaching her hands to his face, tracing them along his lips, and down his jaw.

He kissed her, it was deep and tender and full of all the desire he had for her.  For them together.  He entered her.  

They were as one again, moving, clenching, thrusting together, bringing each other closer and closer to climax.  The began to moan, and grunt against each other.  Alex ran her hands through Steve’s hair, tugging at it.  When they came, they came together, holding each other.  Moaning each other’s name.

Alex stood in the clearing of the forest facing Bruce.  She felt calm and in control.  The others had taken them to a place far from anywhere, where no one could be hurt if something went wrong.  They were on comms, listening but out of reach if they Hulk came to defend his place on this world.  Alex was not worried though.  The Hulk couldn’t hurt her, and she could do this.

“Are you ready?”  Alex asked smiling at Bruce.  

“I’m not sure.  I feel like this is too good to be true.”  He said.  He was jittery, rubbing his hands up and down his arms.

“You need to be calm.  He’s going to fight back.”

Bruce sighed.  “I know, which is exactly why I’m not calm.”

Alex put her hands on Bruce’s chest and slid them outwards.   “I can do this.”

Bruce took a deep breath and nodded.

She looked into him again, assessed his cells and her powers engaged.  She started changing him, repairing the cells, sending the repaired cells out to replace the damaged ones.  It was going well, not rapidly, but smoothly.  He was changing, returning to the person he was supposed to be.

The Hulk fought back.  His body started changing, the damaged cells fighting for control.  Alex doubled down, fighting him, changing them back.  Bruce tried to control it, tried to hold the Hulk back, keep him buried.   He fell to the ground, panting, his body convulsing. She knelt down beside him, holding him as she focused on fixing this.

She had this.  She did.  She was winning.  

And then she wasn’t.  Her energy dropped.  She couldn’t keep it up. He was wrestling control from her.

Bruce looked up at her, his face contorted in pain.  “Run!”  He yelled.

She powered down and ran.  She didn’t get far.  The Hulk had her. He held her in one hand, crushing her.  She tried to use her powers to protect herself, they engaged, her skin became a hard shell.  The Hulk smashed her onto the ground and the shell shattered.  Her energy was waning.  

“Steve!”  She screamed.  “Steve!  Can you hear me!”

“What is it, Alex?  What’s happened!”

The Hulk was crushing her, she could feel her bones crack and break under the pressure he exerted on her.  As they broke they repaired, draining her of more energy only to have them break again.  “The Hulk.  He won.  I couldn’t do it.”  

The world started to swim, he was crushing the life from her.  

“We’re coming, Alex.  We’ll get you.”  

“It’s too late, Steve.  I love you.”  She said.  It was barely a whisper.  This was right.  She needed to die.  She didn’t belong in this world.  Steve would be sad, but he’d move on.  She would be at peace knowing for one night she had been good enough for him.  “I love you, okay.”

“Alex, stay with me.  I love you, please hold on.  We’re coming.”

That was the last thing she heard.  The world went black.

~ END ~

[lydiastlinsks]

Tape 2, Side A

“You've heard of the butterfly effect, right? That if a butterfly flaps its wings at just the right time in just the right place it can cause a hurricane thousands of miles away. The butterfly effect. It started with Justin, then on to you, Alex. And the rest of you. Maybe these tapes will start a new butterfly effect. Who knows? Everything affects everything.” 

[perksofbeingafanboy]

You’ve heard of the butterfly effect, right? That if a butterfly flaps its wings at just the right time in just the right place, it can cause a hurricane thousands of miles away... The butterfly effect. It started with Justin, then on to you, Alex. And the rest of you. Maybe these tapes will start a new butterfly effect. Who knows? Everything affects everything.

[alphalewolf]

You’ve heard of the butterfly effect, right? That if a butterfly flaps its wings at just the right time in just the right place…it can cause a hurricane thousands of miles away. It’s chaos theory. But, see, chaos theory isn’t exactly about chaos. It’s about how a tiny change in a big system can affect everything. It sounds dramatic, but it’s not. Ask a mathematician. Or better yet, ask someone who’s been in a hurricane. Alex Standall. You caused the hurricane.

[culpible]

YOU’VE  HEARD  OF  THE  BUTTERFLY  EFFECT,     RIGHT?       that  if  a  butterfly  flaps  its  wings  at  just  the  right  time  in  just  the  right  place,     it  can  cause  a  hurricane  thousands  of  miles  away.        IT’S  CHAOS  THEORY.     but,    see,     chaos  theory  isn’t  exactly  about  chaos.       it’s  about  how  a  tiny  change  in  a  big  system  can  affect  everything.      CHAOS  THEORY,    sounds  dramatic,     but  it’s  not.     ask  a  mathematician,    or  better  yet,     ask  someone  who’s  been  in  a  hurricane.      ALEX  STANDALL,     you  caused  the  hurricane.     it’s  your  turn.                           ind. alex standall from netflix’s 13 reasons why.   written by cj. 

[robertmcangusgroup]

The Daily Thistle

The Daily Thistle – News From Scotland

Tuesday 12th September 2017

"Madainn Mhath” …Fellow Scot, I hope the day brings joy to you…. Blustery this morning, the weather man and Bill Padly on TRE didn’t say anything about these winds, must be hundreds of butterflys flapping their wings this morning… we tend to take the weather forecast as gospel, when in fact we all live in “Micro-Climates” and it’s impossible for the weather folk to give an exact forecast specifically for you, the streets create wind, the black top, gives of collected heat at night, it stored it during the day, and living on the coast as I do, we have to suffer the vagaries of the ocean and in my case, the Straights of Gibraltar, where to winds can get over 100 kph .. Irma is affecting us even though the Hurricane is 1000 of kilometers away from us, she is the butterfly, that affects the world her action can be felt around the world… just like Donald Trump, but that’s another story altogether…..

SCOTTISH STUDENT SPARKS ROW AFTER STRAYING INTO NORTH KOREA…. A student travelling on a Scottish Government scheme nearly sparked a diplomatic incident after crossing into North Korea without permission. Reece Kidd strayed into the pariah state by accident while on a boat trip in China, despite Foreign Office advice to stay clear. Tensions between North Korea and the West over its nuclear programme have pushed the region to a heightened state of alarm. Foreigners crossing the border have run into trouble in the past but the 22-year-old later joked that the country was “pretty chill” after border guards allowed his boat to depart without detaining them. Kidd, from Northern Ireland, was in China as part of the Saltire Scholar programme, which gives talented young people subsidised work placements overseas. He said he wanted to visit North Korea, saying it seemed to be a “hip place” to visit. He said he took a speedboat trip with a Chinese family on the Yalu river, with the boat eventually approaching a guard tower on the other side. A spokesman for Entrepreneurial Scotland said Mr Kidd’s actions had been “naive”, and did not reflect the standards of the programme. He added the student had apologised, and now understood the danger his lack of judgement may have placed him in. The Foreign Office advises against all but essential travel to North Korea.

WEE WALK WEEK IN CAIRNGORMS ENCOURAGES PEOPLE TO GET ACTIVE…. WEE Walks Week is returning to the Cairngorms National Park this month with the hope that even more miles will be clocked up following last year’s inaugral launch. The Park will be celebrating the best short local walks from next Saturday with the aim being to encourage many people to pledge to get out and enjoy a walk with friends, colleagues or neighbours. Initiated by the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) through its Active Cairngorms campaign, the idea behind Wee Walks Week is to help people discover the health benefits of being active daily. Wee Walks Week isn’t a walking festival with organised, ‘led walks’ – it’s much more informal than that and the CNPA hopes that people who take part will feel the better for it and make it a regular part of their daily or weekly routine. Adam Streeter-Smith, one of the CNPA’s Outdoor Access Officers said: “Wee walks are a great way to get outdoors – they are fun, free and help you to feel great. A wee walk can be as short as you like, but usually under four miles on good paths and gentle slopes. “You don’t need special equipment so it’s easy to head out on your own or with others.” Peter Argyle, CNPA Convener, said: “The Cairngorms National Park is the UK’s biggest and has the best wee walks by a mile! Wee Walks Week is all about helping people discover the health benefits of being active daily.

£1M TICKET GIVEAWAY ON TOP SCOTTISH RAIL DESTINATIONS…. THE ScotRail Alliance is giving away £1 million worth of free off-peak tickets to some of Scotland’s top destinations. The giveaway is both a thanks to customers and an opportunity to showcase the huge variety of places that the rail network covers. These free Off-Peak Day Return rail tickets are available to claim online, on a first-come-first-served basis, from 10am on 6 September until the offer closes on 15 September. Those who get free tickets must use them between 18 September and 30 November. This leisure ticket giveaway follows a season ticket ‘thank you’ offer earlier this year, when the ScotRail Alliance and Transport Scotland jointly funded a week’s free travel for monthly and annual season ticket holders. The ScotRail Alliance’s Managing Director Alex Hynes said: “We’re in the middle of building the best railway Scotland has ever had and this leisure travel offer is part of getting customers involved. Scotland’s rail network offers some spectacular scenery and we’d love as many customers as possible to get out there and enjoy it. “These tickets are a way of giving some of our customers a free means to do so. We expect high demand, so my advice is claim your tickets early and enjoy the journey!” Humza Yousaf, Minister for Transport and the Islands said: “I am delighted to see the ScotRail Alliance deliver this leisure ticket giveaway as part of our ongoing efforts to recognise and reward passengers for their custom and patience while we invest £5 billion to help transform Scotland’s railways. “This builds on the free week for regular travellers earlier this year following the essential works at Queen Street Tunnel and Winchburgh, which was a testing experience. “Our ambitious programme will bring enhanced station facilities and services with new, longer, faster, greener electric trains, alongside intercity trains connecting our cities. “This should encourage more people out of their cars, bringing with that environmental and health benefits.”

CORPORAL’S 100 MARATHON EFFORT FOR RAF WELFARE CHARITY…. AN air force corporal aiming to do 100 marathons to raise cash for the RAF’s leading welfare charity has now completed number 80 in Perth. Jon Ward, who is based at RAF Lossiemouth, got the running bug after completing his first marathon in 2007. He’s now aiming to become part of the exclusive 100 Marathon Club while paying homage to his career in the RAF. Jon’s last marathon falls on April 1 next year, the 100th birthday of the service. He completed the Perth Marathon on Sunday in 3hrs 18min 42sec. His next race will be on 29 October in Frankfurt when he hopes to beat his PB and go under three hours. He has to take a few weeks’ break due to work commitments. Following on from that will be 10 in 10 at the end of November when he will tackle 10 marathons in 10 days. He’s also planning a 40-mile ultra marathon the same month. Jon said: “I have been fortunate that I have never needed support from the RAF Benevolent Fund. “But being a serving member of the RAF, I see first hand how the charity supports the entire RAF family, so it seemed like a natural fit for me to raise funds for them. “And who knows, after I’ve completed this challenge my legs may give up so I may need their help after all.”

WILLIAM WALLACE HAS A WARRANT FOR HIS ARREST - IN AUSTRALIA…. Have you seen William Wallace? Police in Australia want to talk to you. No, not THAT William Wallace. Australian fugitive Wallace, 50, is currently being sought by police in the southern state of Victoria in relation to a string of assault charges. Described as tall, medium build, blue eyes and blonde hair, officers are appealing for information to trace his whereabouts. A report by Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper knowingly states that Wallace “has his freedom for the moment”, and that cops will “hope his heart is brave enough to call in at a police station”. One commenter quipped that the fugitive should be “obvious wandering around in a kilt” in the cold weather of the Australian winter. It is understood Mr Wallace is still at large.

On that note I will say that I hope you have enjoyed the news from Scotland today,

Our look at Scotland today is of the night sky.....

A Sincere Thank You for your company and Thank You for your likes and comments I love them and always try to reply, so please keep them coming, it's always good fun, As is my custom, I will go and get myself another mug of "Colombian" Coffee and wish you a safe Tuesday 12th September 2017 from my home on the southern coast of Spain, where the blue waters of the Alboran Sea washes the coast of Africa and Europe and the smell of the night blooming Jasmine and Honeysuckle fills the air…and a crazy old guy and his dog Bella go out for a walk at 4:00 am…on the streets of Estepona…

All good stuff....But remember it’s a dangerous world we live in

Be safe out there…

Robert McAngus