#also killer lightning at my end tomorrow

[emaya-chan-the-potato-headed]

Ugh, just when I'm on the verge of actually CATCHING UP we have to deal with a stupid 90+ degree heatwave....ugh, I HAVE NO TIME FOR THIS CRAP!

[wh6res]

three's a crowd | nomin

synopsis. picking favorites is impossible when you like neither of them.

warning. read at your own risk. abuse, bullying, poly relationship, yandere themes, manipulation, nonconsensual touching, noncon, degradation, smut threesome oop

disclaimer. i do not condone whatever tf i wrote in this nor does it reflect my beliefs or values or morals and such. it is all pure fiction and i also dont think jaemin or jeno would act like this in real life.

note. this was meant to be a new year's gift lmao i obviously got a lil carried away 👀 anyway a late happy new year to you all! we survived 2020, let's start living in 2021, yeah? lmao if covid lets us grr mwah!

the relationship you had with the two of them was a weird one, bordering on taboo, but it wasn't as if you willfully chose to be who they wanted you to be and it took jaemin's unwanted pining and jeno's intimidating demeanor for you to fall right into their arms.

it was a joint effort on their part, you couldn't've possibly stood a chance.

"this many?" the cashier asked. "are you sure?"

stepping back and studying the whole situation, you figured you only had your addiction to caffeine and procrastination to blame. it was a chain reaction you didn't even know will lead up to your inevitable doom.

if you hadn't been slacking off during your first semester of junior year college, you wouldn't be forced to overwork yourself trying to catch up to the looming deadlines, but to be able to 'work yourself to the bone' you need your boost of energy… and that was when you met one of them.

"uhm," you scratch the back of your head sheepishly as you eye the six glass bottles of iced coffee. sure, it looks bad and you kinda appreciate the look of concern the cashier throws your way but it was none of his business.

"yes. now could you, like, you know… hurry up? i'm in a little bit of a time crunch right now."

screw it. although you hardly snap like that with other people on a daily basis, it'll be a whole different conversation if you were under a significant amount of stress and today, unfortunately, is one of those days.

now can he just fucking stop asking questions and give you your six bottles of death drink to keep your fucking brain going so you can pass an eight-page essay tomorrow? thank you very much!

the guy snickered, the beeping sound of a barcode being read sounding a thousand times more annoying than it usually sounds as he keeps his hand busy by punching your items out.

you fail to notice how he studies you through the gaps of his lashes, finding you interesting rather than threatening as you stood before him with your messy hair and oversized hoodie.

"haven't seen you around university grounds 'till today," he tries striking another conversation with you. "you new? i'm jaemin."

this was your first mistake, you shouldn't have been so… downright rude when you met him. if you were granted the miracle of meeting him a 2nd time, you would've acted more nice, throwing yourself at his feet even to blend in with the rest of his fangirls you didn't even know about at the time. you would've done anything to make sure he never gives you a second glance, to never pique his interest.

jaemin is the pep squad captain. flying over colored blue mats and doing tumblings in the air with no ounce of fear. he was the best in his team, that much was evident when your friend dragged you into watching a pep rally practice. his landings were clean, balanced, and executed to the best he can at all times.

no wonder he was popular, his talent is outstanding and his looks are a bonus. his killer combo of a smile and wink after pulling off a tough flip is enough to send them squealing in their seats.

he spotted you that day and since then, he snuck the quickest glances at the bench during practices. recognizing you as the coffee girl he met during his convenience store shift. jaemin tries not to let his disappointment show too much when he doesn't see you, but of course, a pair of cold calculating eyes could see right through him.

"i saw that," his boyfriend said, hand darting forward to hold jaemin's gym bag for him. "you kept looking at the crowd. do you want to see her that much?"

"but she reminds me so much of you, jeno!" he retorts, pouting at the slight grumpy tone the other boy used. "i can't help it. she doesn't seem to give a fuck around me so she's quite interesting. maybe she can even be a great addition to our relationship!"

"well," jeno replies after a beat of silence, plastering a small smirk on his face before slinging an arm around jaemin's shoulder.

"convince me?"

you don't like jaemin's attention. not in the slightest. and it seems that was enough reason for the reign of terror his little fanclub has subjected you too.

it wasn't the petty elementary forms of bullying like pulling at your hair or calling you names. they pale in comparison to the other things they do to you—beating you up, messing with your homework, "accidentally" dumping their food trays on you.

and you weren't stupid.

you knew exactly who was behind it, knew how jaemin spectates the whole thing from afar so that he can swoop in at the end to play your knight in shining armor.

"oh, you poor thing. do you need help?"

the first time you accepted his "help" you ended up in a supply closet near the gym during your free period, cornered and weak as your cries for help drowns under the squeaking of shoes and the booming sounds of rubber balls hitting the floor.

if it weren't for jeno appearing out of thin air and prying the boy off of you, you would've been painted blue and red from the death grip he had on your wrist, neck, and waist.

you can still remember feeling the soreness of your scalp from when he pulled your hair too hard. remembered feeling his teeth gnawing at your lips as if he wanted to tear them off.

that time hadn't been the first time you saw jeno. you've shared a few classes with him and it strikes you how polar opposites they are with one another.

while jaemin likes to bask in his professor and classmates' recognition by confidently reciting his answers, jeno would rather keep to himself. liked sitting at the last row, near the window, so he'd be the first to go once the professor ends their lecture. while jaemin loved the attention of his fangirls, jeno preferred solitude. while jaemin is impulsive and wild, jeno liked to think things through.

it was within these reasons that you decided to do what you did. but your judgement of character has never been more wrong.

you approached jeno one day in the library, tried to make yourself appear as stoic and confident as possible. but your constant slouching and averting eyes was a dead giveaway.

you came to talk to him about what jaemin has been doing, hoping there's one person left in this entire school that isn't under the cheer captain's trance. the one reasonable person that has already saved you once and (hopefully) is willing enough to save you again. the only one that probably has a certain level of control over jaemin, if the supply closet incident is anything to go by.

but you've overestimated lee jeno.

"you should've just given jaemin what he wanted."

"but—but aren't you two lovers? isn't it bothering you?"

you try baiting him, only for an uncomfortable shiver to start crawling down your spine when he chuckled humorlessly, pushing his school materials to the side while pinning you with an unreadable stare.

how can a person make someone feel so small just by a gaze alone? it was nothing like you've felt with jaemin. this is way worse.

"the only thing that's bothering me is why you're not ours yet."

you feel cold fingers creeping their way under your shirt, going higher and higher until it brushes against your bra. and when your eyes meet, the look on his face was unmistakable—what are you going to do about it, huh?

you stood up in lightning speed, the chair you've been sitting on scraping loudly against the floor.

you've never ran out as fast as you did.

and jeno swears it'll be the last.

you tried everything in your power to ignore them for the next following weeks but it soon became useless when the two boys took it upon themselves to give you your space.

although judging by the pinpricks you feel on your back, and the constant weight of a stare you feel on your shoulders, you knew they weren't done with you yet. far from it. and for some reason, you just knew they wanted to lull you into a false sense of security first before striking again.

and while they continued to ogle at you from afar like a hawk circling its prey in a desert, you took it upon yourself to return the favor. not because you were the slightest bit interested in those creeps but maybe, just maybe, if you look hard enough you'll find a way out, a weakness.

but what you realized made your insides churn in great discomfort—although it may seem that jeno holds the reins in the relationship since his reserved nature fits the role, it's actually the other way around.

jaemin might appear too self-centered, too focused on himself to give a fuck about his surroundings but in actuality, he has quite a knack for reading people. even more so than jeno. and it was scary how he used it to his advantage, and paired up with his devoted fangirls? it was hell on earth.

you found it alarming how the two seem to magically appear wherever you are.

although you weren't in the least bit surprised. for some reason, you can't take your eyes away when jaemin's devotees flock around him (and jeno) in a circle.

it almost reminds you of a shoal of piranhas, waiting for their meal to drop into the water before ripping it to shreds with their teeth. only their "meal" isn't actual flesh but the carefully crafted words jaemin says that drive them into a sick frenzy.

one that has them doing everything in their power to satisfy him like the loyal dogs they are.

so this was how he got them to bully you?

"oh, that? don't worry! yangyang just ran into me during cheer rehearsal. no biggie. my cheek stung a little bit, though…" is what he said but really he's telling them "scruff him up a bit for me, why don't ya?"

"of course, i can't be the best all the time. haechan is just too good, maybe even better than me…" is what he said but really he's telling them "can you remind him where his place should be?"

all the while jeno did nothing to hold him back.

no matter how wrong jaemin is, how much of an asshole he is, jeno will stick by his side through and through. so as much as jaemin is a puppeteer that gets a kick for controlling people, jeno is as much at fault for looking the other way.

because in jeno's perspective, why the fuck would he do shit when he can just get off from the entertainment that comes with jaemin's sweet little mind games?

we lost :(

you had been busy sorting through paperwork for one of your professors in the faculty when your friend texted you the results of the intercollegiate cheer dance competition. a frown paints your face, heart feeling heavy at the bad news.

in all honesty, you still supported the pep squad—you just hated the captain and his boyfriend. they've been practicing non-stop for this and prior to the weeks of the competition, jeno looked a lot more tense and jaemin less smiley than usual. you swore you even saw the latter snap at one of his fangirls.

not to mention, they paid less attention to you, too, and it was the best three weeks of your life.

tension starts rising in your shoulders, fingers absentmindedly running through the edge of the papers you had been sorting until you became immersed with your thoughts.

jaemin must be in the worst mood yet.

and jeno too, probably. if anything, that guy gets triggered the most when something bad happens to jaemin or when he catches snippets of people talking shit about his oh so "perfect" boyfriend.

jeno is a lot scarier when jaemin is in one of his mood swings, you noticed. he steps up in the relationship to offer comfort to the other boy and for outsiders? it isn't a great experience to go through—being on the receiving end of jeno's ice cold stare is a position you don't want to find yourself in after that time in the library.

he is still as much a threat to your peaceful life like his lover.

you snap out of it when the blinding headlights of a vehicle seep through the closed blinds. you hear the gentle hum of an engine switching off as the headlights vanished as quick as they had appeared. that must be the cheer squad's bus.

as you look around the empty faculty room, something in your gut tells you to ditch file sorting duty for professor kim tonight and fucking get the hell out of campus grounds as quick as you can.

after haphazardly throwing the unsorted papers back into the cabinet, you groan aloud when the keys to the office drop out of your skirt’s pocket.

the indoor gym where the cheering squad practices is right across the hallway. you sure as hell don't want to bump into jaemin. or jeno, too, if he had decided to ride along the cheer squad's bus on the way home.

you kept looking for the keys underneath the cubicles, cursing aloud when you heard the telltale squeaks of shoes rubbing against linoleum. you almost hit your head against a table when you quickly got back up your feet, darting forward to shut the lights for the faculty room.

they can't know you're here. alone. and if it meant sitting in the dark for a few hours 'till they leave, meant going back home a little later than usual is what you have to do then so be it.

you try not to react so violently when the door you're leaning on jolts when someone from outside slams their back against it.

"it's not like we didn't do our best, right guys? i don't have regrets. it might sound fucking cheesy and although i'm sad myself, atleast we did what we can."

it's jaemin. his voice clear as day.

you try peaking, craning your neck up from your place on the floor. only to see the back of his head leaning against the glass section of the door. someone else joins in on the conversation, followed by coach park himself, and you slowly tune out whatever they're saying as you stealthily start scanning the faculty room.

you curse under your breath. is there no other exit other than this door? jesus christ! even classrooms in this university had two doors—

"what are you doing here?"

the switch flickers on, basking the once dark room with light. only when you hear an echo of your name being called, did you snap out of it and quickly picked yourself up from the floor.

"i said, what are you doing here?"

their coach asks, drilling the question as he looks at you skeptically with his arms crossed. you try not to look at the people behind him.

particularly, not at his cheer captain standing on his right.

particularly, not at jeno, who stands out like a sore thumb with his blue hair, a protective arm snaked around jaemin’s shoulders.

this isn't your lucky day, too, you guess.

"i was…" you cursed yourself for stuttering. "i was, uhm, i was file sorting for prof—professor kim, sir."

coach park looked like he didn't believe you as he narrowed his eyes in scrutiny. your nerves are going haywire and you can feel the sharp pins of their stare with how close they are.

you kept juggling your weight with the balls of your feet, hands fisting and unfisting behind your back. you want to leave. you have to leave.

"file sorting… in the dark?" he asked incredulously.

fuck this.

"uhm, you can ask professor kim himself tomorrow, coach. for now, uh, i'll be going now. i'm sorry you guys lost…"

originally, the exit is on the right side, at the end of the hallway. but no, you are not going to pass by those two while on your way out so you ducked behind a random student standing on the coach's left instead and practically ran away from the scene.

everyone had been too busy. too busy looking at your retreating form to even notice jaemin and jeno exchanging glances, too busy to notice the latter untangling himself from their captain to slip away unnoticed, his hurried steps filled with a burning purpose.

you didn't know why you ran, but you did. your shoes practically booming against the floor as you sped away through darkened hallways. you're sweating profusely, heart hammering in your chest. you can worry about professor kim tomorrow but right now you just had to—

"why are you in such a rush, pet?"

crashing into jeno felt like crashing into a wall. if it hadn't been for his arm quickly wrapping around your waist, then you would've landed on your butt before him.

with the small distance between the two of you, jeno could see as clear as day through your eyes.

jaemin was right.

it was addicting to stare into them.

especially when he can see every single one of your thoughts flying through your pretty little head. but hey, it wasn't their fault you were so easy to read.

jeno barely conceals the wicked smirk on his lips when your hands come up to his chest, trying to push him away but to no avail.

he can see your eyes shifting from shock, to confusion, until it finally settles on fear—to which it's slowly becoming a favorite emotion of his to see on your face.

"you know, jaemin is in a really shitty mood right now. and we were wondering, maybe you can cheer us up?"

no. this can't be happening.

"jeno, please." your dilated eyes and disheveled hair made his blood run south. "let me go. you don't want me. you don't need a third party in your relationship."

you yelp when he lets you go, literally shoving you against a wall—which you found out is actually a door, as it swings open as soon as your body crashes against it.

with jeno looming unforgivingly before you in his full height, the tears stung extra hard but you won't let them fall.

if he wanted to bask in the image of your weakness then it'll be something you'll deprive from him for as long as you can.

"i don't need a stupid bitch like you to tell me what i feel." he scoffs. "don't fucking kid yourself, you little whore—i don't want you. i'm not jaemin."

the echo of the classroom door shutting closed surged through you like a wake up call.

this is really happening.

you've always led a decent life, had done nothing too questionable and you've always thought maybe life will spare you if you lived quietly enough. but the feel of jeno's freezing hands crawling against your skin felt like life itself had spat at you in the eye and left you to rot in a ditch.

"i've always liked how you wore skirts," he comments. playing with the ruffled hem of the soft fabric as he purposely grazed his knuckles against your supple thighs. "gives me easy access, don't you agree?"

you scream when he flips your skirt up to reveal the innocent pink of your cotton panties. it was as if a switch had flipped inside of you and the will to fight started coursing through your veins.

"stop! jeno! i don't want this!"

his brows furrow, grunting as he struggles to push the waistline of your skirt up higher with how much you're thrashing underneath him. you buck your hips, tried curling in on yourself, anything to prolong what he wants to do to you.

with your legs trapped underneath his, you blindly reach forward, relying on your upper body instead to push and scratch whatever your palms and nails reached.

you continue screaming like a banshee until he shoved two fingers into your wet cavern.

"stop fighting me," he sounded strained, as if he's holding himself back. you feel him fisting the fabric of your skirt and you fear he's simply going to rip it apart.

you tried responding to him, only the sound had been muffled, gurgled by the flat of his fingers pushing down against your tongue mercilessly. when you reach forward to push him away, your hands land on the apple of his cheeks, nails digging through skin.

until it slips and—

you lie rigid when red scratch marks in the size of your fingernails slowly appear on jeno's skin, his head turned to the side as he paused. your actions slowly start sinking in to him as he shuts his eyes and bit his lip 'till it looked like it was about to bleed.

oh no.

"jeno—"

the slap he planted on your cheek left your ears ringing. all those hard earned muscles of his put to good use—if the tears hadn't fallen for the last few minutes, then it definitely started falling now.

the hit had been so strong, a few of your hair flew astray, the buzzing feeling of your skin tempting you to reach a hand up to soothe your abused cheek.

until jeno let out a low growl and your hand immediately drops limp against your body, afraid of whatever else he can do to you other than a slap.

"that's more like it," he whispers under his breath. you let out the tiniest of whimpers when his hand darts forward to fist your hair. "do you know what happens to bad girls? they fucking get busted up. do you understand me?"

his patience is nonexistent.

jeno slams your head against the floor when you don't answer because you thought his question had been rhetorical. it felt like your skull had been split in two as you wail in pain.

"are you fucking deaf—i asked you a fucking question!"

the hand that cups your jaw is painful as he squeezed your cheek with his blunt nails. your hand shoots up to wrap around his wrist, silently pleading for him to let up as you sobbed out loud. you started nodding as best as you can despite his firm grip on your face.

your reply was nothing short of pathetic. with lips forcefully pursed and the steady stream of your tears and snot rolling down your face, your response is gargled and hardly incoherent and jeno seemed to thoroughly enjoy your anguish if the condescending curl on his lips is anything to go by.

"look at you," he whispers, his face coming close to yours as he holds you down. there was something in the way jeno stared so intently that it made your skin crawl.

"i think you're prettiest when ruined like this."

with his nose touching yours, he felt too close, bordering on intimate as you felt his hand creep back up your thighs, trailing up with feather-like touches that made goosebumps appear on your skin.

you tried wiggling your legs underneath him but one sharp look from jeno is enough to make you stop.

the hand holding your face moves. coming down from gripping your face to encircling his hand around your neck.

"do you like it when i touch you? freaky bitch."

his hands trail further up, up, up until you felt him slotting a finger underneath your panties.

jeno didn't like how frozen you were underneath him as he pulls at the hem before letting go. the elastic snapping back against your skin.

the action evokes a strong feeling through the young male, promising to have you writhing and screaming and begging because by the end of all this, you'll be so needy and frustrated that you will have no choice but to give in to what your body wanted.

"jeno, didn't i tell you to play nice?"

someone stands by the door, the minimal light from the hallway creating a silhouette with his form but you knew who he was. that deep voice, with the same annoying flippant tone, is a dead giveaway.

you didn't know why you even hoped in the beginning. as if there'll be someone who can save you from these two.

you thought the flash of hurt in your eyes was quick to disappear but jeno noticed it quicker.

in a span of seconds, he pulled you up from your position from the ground and tugged you towards his lap. you haven't even gotten the time to settle on your new position when he already smashed his lips against yours.

it was messy. too much saliva. too much teeth. no tenderness to it at all.

the fabric of his jeans felt rough, not to mention the ice cold belt buckle made you severely uncomfortable as it seeps through the thin fabric of your skirt.

when you attempt to hover over his lap, jeno grunts as he snakes an arm around your waist, pulling you back down without your lips breaking away from each other. you didn't know why he let out a whine, but you understood the moment you fully sat down on his lap and you felt a tent on his jeans hitting your clothed entrance perfectly.

in a normal circumstance, you would've found everything hot and might've actually gotten off from it but not when it's him who’s doing this to you and you didn’t consent to any of this.

you start squirming again. palms lying flat against jeno's chest as you attempt to push him away and jaemin sees this as the opportune moment to slot himself behind you, caging you in between them.

“i want my turn,” he hisses and without an ounce of hesitation, jeno stops to do what he's told.

jaemin doesn't waste any second to grab your face, awkwardly craning your neck up to meet his lips in the same feverish kiss.

while jeno had been all teeth and aggression, practically forcing you to open your mouth and kiss him back, jaemin on the other hand is more soft, more romantic, you daresay. he seemed to like taking his sweet time by clutching your face, kissing you like he actually meant it.

he pulls away slightly, resting his forehead against yours as he murmurs something incoherent under his breath and then he's kissing you again.

you think you heard something along the lines of, "finally."

you've been too distracted by jaemin to notice jeno's nimble fingers quickly fumbling with the buttons of your blouse. it was only when you feel the sensation of his tongue laving against the swell of your breast did you turn away from jaemin, jerking backward in surprise.

"no—!"

your scream is cut off by a hand cupping your mouth. jaemin pulls your back towards his chest, molding your body against his as jeno licked and suckled all he wanted, thankful to have the other boy there to not worry about restraining you and keeping you quiet while he has his fun.

"ah, ah, ah," jaemin teases, going hard over the pleading and teary look you sent his way. it looked pathetic, he wasn't going to lie, but it doesn't mean he didn't love it. "just keep still and appreciate jeno's efforts to take care of you, alright baby?"

you don't like how he talked as if this was all a mutual thing, how he talked slowly like you were some toddler who didn't understand anything.

it's cruel how jaemin giggled and basked in your vulnerable state as he kept his eyes pinned on you while undoing the zipper of your skirt. your muffled cries of his name only serving to egg him on.

the way he stared was similar to jeno, too intently and intrusive, like he wants to burn your image of despair in the back of his head.

you whined involuntarily when jeno got bored of all the licking and thus decided to start biting and nipping at your chest instead. he was hypnotised by how responsive you were, how every little bite and nibble made you shudder.

it was a shame that jaemin had to cover your mouth. he didn't get to hear your pretty mewls but it wasn't as if he'd let the night end without hearing them loud and clear.

jaemin is fast in undressing you, feeling slightly betrayed by how quick your skirt and blouse fell under his hands.

you know what he wants, what he's going to do, and the tears fall harder when you can't dodge away from him. forced to endure and accept whatever they give you.

"you act like you don't like it but look how fucking wet you are," you bit your lip hard when jaemin starts circling the pads of his fingers against your clit, fascinated by how more juices streamed down your thighs.

"jeno, do you see this? fuck."

you can only blink in defeat, staring off to the side as you force down any noise bubbling up your throat, forcing yourself to think of anything else other than what's happening right now.

you try not to think about how they managed to tear all of your clothes off while they're left completely dressed. tried not to think about the fingers lazily drawing up and down your slit to collect your essence.

if they're doing this as a way to further humiliate you, it's working.

"slut," jeno mocked, a wicked curl on his lips when he wraps his fingers around your throat. the moment he dives down to claim your lips again is the same time jaemin pushes two fingers inside you.

"look at how wet you are because of me," jaemin whispers hot against your ear and you feel a sick churn in your stomach when you feel his smile against your skin.

he purposely drives his fingers in and out quicker, settjng a brutal pace, wanting you to hear the lewd squelching sounds. "hear that? do you hear that, darling? that's because of me—"

"don't go talking big now, jaem," jeno retorts, pulling away from your lips to start nibbling on the back of your ear. "i was here first. did you see how she fucking reacted when i sucked on her tits?"

you're quick to catch how jeno particularly loved degrading you. but how he talks about you as if you're literally not in front of him naked made you hit a new all-time low.

you felt… filthy.

his hands find purchase on your butt—only because jaemin has already claimed the front. for now.

you close your eyes tight when he painfully squeezes the flesh of your ass. you swear, his blunt nails will paint your skin black and blue.

"i'm the favorite!"

"i'm the favorite!"

as someone who's part of a varsity team, you already knew a competitive nature runs through jaemin's veins. but never had you thought jeno would share the same sentiment. once again they prove that they're cut from the same cloth.

all of a sudden it wasn't all about claiming you as theirs anymore rather it was all about who can make you moan the loudest, who can make you cum the most, who can make you feel the dirtiest you can be.

you're absolutely terrified for the hours to come.

thankfully, they have yet to ask for your verbal opinion or validation. they let your body do all the talking—every repressed shudder and sharp gasp is enough.

but it's game over once they pop the million dollar question.

"who do you like best?"

you don't want to find out the consequences if you actually answered their question because you didn't know what could be worse.

jaemin's manipulation or jeno's aggression?

but it was all normal. trial and error is inevitable in order to build and mold you into the ideal lover for the both of them.

because adding someone new to the mix has never been easy—after all, three's a crowd.

[lady-divine-writes]

The Hitchhiker - Chapter 1/4

Picking up a hitchhiker isn't exactly the dumbest thing Kurt has ever done, but it's not exactly the smartest either. When he comes across Blaine Anderson caught in a sudden downpour, he can't just leave him on the corner to drown... can he? (1756 words)

Read on AO3.

“Excuse me? Sir? Do you need a ride?”

Kurt flashes as confident and honest a smile as he can to the man standing on the side of the road. But the second those words leave his mouth, he hears his father’s voice in his head yelling: “Kurt Hummel! What the hell are you doing? Picking up a hitchhiker? Are you out of your mind!?”

And Kurt has to admit, the voice is right. 

There is a fifty-fifty chance that this man, standing alone in the dark by the side of the road, is a violent serial killer. His outfit alone perpetuates the stereotype - indigo jeans, white t-shirt, leather jacket. He has an olive-green duffel slung over one shoulder and he's carrying a guitar case, for God’s sake! What are the odds that there’s actually a guitar in there!? If Kurt picks this man up, he has a greater chance of becoming a statistic than of that man being a musician! Kurt should drive away now without an inch of guilt, floor it without looking back.

And he probably would have deferred to his better judgment and stepped on the gas had it not been for a few things. 

It's pitch dark out for a start. Only a handful of street lights line the curb, installed twenty or so feet apart, which creates long expanses of shadow in between. The road they're on is in the middle of nowhere, with trees towering on both sides of them. This doesn’t help Kurt’s argument any since it seems like just the place a killer would lie in wait for a potential victim. But, in that same vein, someone or something could be stalking him, waiting for Kurt to drive away so they can pounce on him from the trees. Then it would be up to the reach of this man's legs and his athletic ability to save him.

This leads directly to reason two: the man is a klutz. In the five minutes Kurt has been stuck at this red light, he’s seen him smack himself in the face with his own bag, drop his sunglasses (pink rimmed Wayfarers, no less), catch them, then fumble them again, and step in the same puddle twice. If this man is a serial killer, he may not be the most competent one on the planet. 

Three, just as Kurt’s light turned green, it started raining. And not the light drizzle he has come to expect during his infrequent forays to San Diego, but an honest-to-God downpour. Kurt saw the man turn his face up to the sky, his shoulders slumped, wholly defeated by this new development. He put the butt of his guitar case on the toes of his shoes to keep it out of the mud, then attempted to wrap his jacket around it.

And Kurt’s heart melted. 

Kurt is a musician himself. Singer more than musician but he has friends who play the guitar. His stepbrother Finn owns a Fender that he sold plasma to afford. Puck's Gibson is the only thing he has never hawked when he needed money. And Sam, in this man's position, would take off every stitch of clothing to protect his Blueridge if it came down to it. Kurt can imagine this man’s whole life wrapped up in that case, which he is now convinced does hold a guitar.

Kurt isn't a gun enthusiast by any means, but he thinks a semi-automatic should be able to withstand some weather. He may want to Google that one later on… provided he’s still alive.

And about that guitar case: it isn’t a plain, generic, black guitar case. The thing is covered in travel stickers and bling. It has a personality all its own. An easily identifiable personality. If this man is a killer, Kurt is pretty certain every human on the West Coast would know about it. He’d be nicknamed the Kitsch Case Killer or something along those lines. That case sticks out like a sore thumb. There’s no way a man carrying a guitar case decorated like an old-school Lisa Frank binder is getting away with swiping a pack of gum, not to mention murder.

To a lesser degree (Kurt tells himself so he doesn't have to admit how idiotic this idea is), this is the most a-dork-able man Kurt has ever seen. He looks more like a puppy than a predator (weak reasoning, he knows). But Kurt has instincts about people that are usually on the money. He has to give himself credit for making it this far in life. Kurt is tougher than he looks. He has taken his fair share of licks, and he’s still ticking. 

Plus, he has bear repellent in the pocket of his jacket the size of a can of Aquanet. He feels he has his bases covered.

The man walks slowly towards Kurt's car, the curls piled atop his head hanging heavily down his cheeks the wetter he gets.

No, Kurt can’t leave him out here.

“Um. Thanks. Thanks a lot,” the man says, cautiously eyeing Kurt up and down as if he may be asking himself Kurt’s same string of questions in his head. “But I… ” The fact that he isn’t jumping at Kurt’s offer, that he’s glancing anxiously down the road, mulling his options even as rain pours down his back, puts Kurt at ease. The man looks like he’s trying to gauge if Kurt might have a weapon hiding somewhere on his person, contemplating if he’ll come out of this alive if he accepts this ride. 

Ironic, but that proves that there are two sides to every situation.

The man looks about to step away and decline until a fork of lightning turns night into day for five seconds, a boom so loud following it shakes Kurt’s rental car. 

“Sure. Okay. Why not?” He pulls open the rear door in a rush but still wary as he puts his belongings into the backseat and joins Kurt in the front. “Thank you so much. I didn’t expect it to rain this hard, or I might have stayed in my hotel room one more night.” He runs a hand through his hair, cringing at the water that sprays the headrest.

“Not a problem.” Kurt reaches behind the seat and grabs the towel he’d fished out of his luggage earlier when he’d done the same thing. But the rain was only a sprinkle then – angel spittle, his mom would have called it. “I couldn’t just drive by and leave you out here to drown.”

The man chuckles. It, much like the rest of him, is too cute for words. “My name’s Blaine.”

“Kurt.” Kurt extends a hand for Blaine to shake. Blaine looks at it, hesitates a second before taking it, still questioning Kurt and his intentions, Kurt assumes. Despite being stuck in the rain, Blaine’s hand is warm, comforting in a way Kurt speculates a serial killer’s hands would not. “Well, Blaine, where you headed?”

“Oh, uh… I’m trying to make my way to L.A. But you can drop me off anywhere between here and there.”

“Ooo. Actor? Producer?”

“Unemployed schlub, unfortunately. Currently riding my brother’s couch. He’s the actor. I’m the… the failure.”

Kurt pulls onto the road again and heads for the highway. “That’s a really unkind thing to say about yourself.”

“It’s what… well, it’s what my father would say.” He wrings his hands uncomfortably. “He’d also say I’m a disappointment, a waste of a Harvard education, a bum… ” He shivers. Kurt raises the temperature of the heater. Blaine glances at Kurt in embarrassment, and Kurt gets the hint that it’s not the cold that has him trembling.

“I know it’s not my place to say, but I’d stop listening to your father if I were you. It doesn’t seem like he has anything worthwhile to say.”

“How can you say that? You don’t even know me,” Blaine says under his breath, with an edge like a growl, the kind wild animals give when you stumble into their territory unaware. It sets the hairs on the back of Kurt’s neck on end, and he starts second-guessing this decision. 

Relax, Kurt. The man’s just beat down. Exhausted. You understand what that’s like.

Blaine sighs, sinking into the passenger seat and leaning his head against the window. "I'm sorry. I know you're trying to be nice. It's been a long day." 

“I understand. And I may not know you, but I know fathers," Kurt continues. "A father’s job is to be supportive of their children, no matter what they do in life. Succeed or fail, win or lose, they should always be in your corner. And if he’s not, screw him! Surround yourself with people who want to lift you up, not tear you down.”

Blaine winds his arms around his torso, hugging himself tight. “I---is that the way your father treats you?”

“Yup,” Kurt answers with a subconscious smile at the mention of his dad. “He supports me in everything, even the stuff he doesn’t entirely agree with. And when things don’t work out, he’s the first person there, helping me to my feet and encouraging me to try again.”

“Sounds like a great guy. You’re lucky.”

“He is," Kurt says proudly. "And I am.”

Blaine fixes his gaze to the road ahead as Kurt merges onto the highway. He chews the inside of his cheek, stares too hard at the rain-slick asphalt, not shifting focus. It's as if he can't bring himself to look at Kurt when he asks, “So, you think you’re a good judge of character?”

Kurt nods. “Yes, I do."

"How do you know?"

"Experience. I have a decent track record.”

"Surround yourself with a lot of questionable people, do you?"

"I guess you can say that," Kurt agrees with a laugh, thinking of the people who have come into his life that he has adopted as his own: Rachel, Dave, Santana, Puck, all of them rivals or bullies. Or both. But now, a cherished part of his found family.

People he hopes will miss him if SDPD finds him by the side of the road tomorrow with his throat cut.

Stop it, Kurt! Relax! You're in no danger! Everything is going to be fine!

Blaine shrugs, examining his wet hands as if he’s reading something etched on his skin. “Someday you’ll be wrong.”

“Probably." Kurt meets Blaine's eyes in the reflection of the windshield, flashes his confident smile again. "But I don’t think that day is today.”

[sixmapleleafs]

Can you do 10 with Freddie?

10. “I hate this so much” “see, the thing is I don’t think you do”

When Steph asked you to water the plants at her place whilst she was out of town for the week, you of course said yes, sure the house she shared with Mitch was a little far from your apartment but you’d do anything to help your best friend. Tonight, the rain was pouring down over Toronto, thunder and lightning clashing every so often making you jump a little every time. You’d managed to leave work a little early to head over to the house, but as you drove the rain showed no signs of stopping in fact it was only getting worse. You pulled into the driveway, entering the code to the gate and pulling up in front of the house. You hurried inside but you still ended up getting completely drenched, once inside you slid off your now soaking wet shoes and switched on the lights so you could see where you were going. Another clash of thunder made you jump and you made sure to lock the door behind you, since this was starting to feel like every serial killer movie you’d ever seen.

The soft sound of your feet hitting the floor was the only sound that could be heard as you followed the routine you’d established over the last few days of watering every plant in the house, which was a lot more than you had originally expected. Eventually, you returned to the kitchen to place the jug back on the counter for tomorrow and as you were drying it you heard the sound of the front door being opened. You froze in your place, eyes widening and mouth going dry. Someone was trying to get in. The sound of the door closing and someone stepping inside had you panicking and trying to think of a plan, you could hear the footsteps getting closer to you and you knew you were running out of time. Failing to come up with another plan you ducked down under the kitchen island, hoping the barstools would cover you enough that the intruder wouldn’t see you, you clamped your hand over your mouth as you heard the person enter the kitchen.

“Y/n?” A deep voice called out. A somewhat familiar deep voice.

“Freddie?” You asked hesitantly poking your head out from under the counter and peering over to see Freddie stood on the other side. He let out a laugh as you emerged fully, straightening your clothes and dusting yourself off.

“Why were you under the counter?” He managed to get out through his laughter, you sent him an unimpressed look and rolled your eyes. He always annoyed you so much and you couldn’t really understand why. For some reason his presence just irritated you.

“I thought you were an intruder or something. What the hell are you even doing here?” You huffed out, mainly embarrassed but also annoyed that you now had to spend time with your least favourite person.

“Mitch asked me to move their patio furniture into the garage so it doesn’t get damaged in the storm. What are you doing here?”

“Well if you must know, I’ve been watering their plants whilst they’re out of town. Luckily I’ve already finished” you didn’t even look at him as you turned and headed towards the front door. As you were slipping your shoes on another clash of thunder shook through the house and you almost jumped right out of your skin, suddenly everything went pitch black and you let out a defeated sigh. Of course the power would go out.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me” Freddie’s voice made you jump and you didn’t miss the grin on his face as he leant against the wall.

“I can still go home, doesn’t matter if the power is out or not” you said rolling your eyes at his cockiness and grabbing your key to open the door.

“Well actually, the gate is electric and no electricity means the gate won’t open, so you are stuck here”

Fuck. Of course this would happen to you. You let out a dramatic sigh, kicking off your shoes and dropping your bag back down by the door. You rolled your eyes as you pushed past Freddie’s large frame, the stupid smirk still on his face.

Not even ten minutes later you’re stood on Mitch and Steph’s back deck with a torch in your hand, rain coming down even stronger now, battering against the hood of your coat which was pulled up over your head. Freddie’s removed his jacket and his hoodie, leaving him in just a black T-shirt which is now completely soaked through, you told him it was a stupid idea but he insisted it was ‘genius’ because he could just take off the wet T-shirt and put on his nice warm, dry hoodie and you were really starting to regret mocking him and not following his plan. Since the power was out and night had fallen over Toronto, Freddie had dragged you outside with him to hold a torch he found in the garage so that he could see what he was doing as he moved the patio furniture out of the rain.

You hated how your eyes were drawn to him as he did so, the black T-shirt now clinging to his muscular figure, particularly his toned back muscles and thick arms. You had to clench your thighs together at the thought of feeling them beneath your palms and running your nails across them, each time he would bend over to pick up a chair your mind would slip down the gutter and each and every time you would scold yourself. Luckily Freddie couldn’t see you staring at him, you knew he didn’t need another ego boost. By the time the two of you were finally making your way inside, you were drenched and shivering and most definitely miserable. Freddie disappeared into the house for a few minutes and you sighed in misery trying to figure out what you were going to do now, you couldn’t go home, you didn’t want to stay here with him but you didn’t really have a choice. You managed to peel your jacket and hoodie from your body leaving you in your soaked through black tank top which was clinging to your skin.

“Here, take this” Freddie’s deep voice scared you once again and you rolled your eyes, you had a habit of getting lost in your thoughts and zoning out from the outside world, and you always literally jumped back to reality. You accepted the towel from his hands, murmuring out a thank you. You desperately tried to divert your eyes when Freddie gripped the bottom of his T-shirt, removing the wet fabric from his body but you couldn’t help but linger a little on the defined muscles of his back and shoulders as he ran his own towel over himself before drying off his hair. His eyes locked with yours for a second and you saw the corners of his lips twitch up into a smirk, but you decided against suffering through whatever he was about to say, a chirp no doubt, and moved towards the living room. You sat on the couch, wrapping the towel around yourself, still slightly shivering. The house was still dark, the only light in the room was coming from your phone, you could hear Fred walking around the kitchen and eventually he joined you in the living room, you glanced up from your phone to see him crouched in front of the fire place, still shirtless, and you realised he was probably trying to figure how to start the fire. You stayed quiet as he messed around with a few things and burned through a few matches until finally there was a small fire going and the light illuminated the room.

“You should take your clothes off” his words had your jaw dropping and your head snapping up to see where he was stood in front of you, towering over you.

“Excuse me?” You tried to make your voice sound as steady as possible but it came out the opposite of what you wanted. He smirked at your response, clearly amused at how flustered you had become.

“You’ll get sick if you sit in wet clothes all night, sweetheart” you rolled your eyes at the nickname and shook your head.

“I don’t have anything to change into, and I’m not going to just sit here in my underwear” you swore you saw Fred smirk for second before he was grabbing the hoodie you hadn’t noticed was on the back of the couch and handing it to you.

“You can have this, just until your clothes dry out a little at least, come on I’m just trying to help you”.

You huffed as you stood up, grabbing the hoodie and heading to the bathroom to change. You had to admit this whole night was very confusing and you were starting to feel very conflicted about your feelings towards Freddie. Sure he was annoying and always laughing at you and smirking when you embarrassed yourself but he was also incredibly good looking and for some reason wasn’t being a total pain the ass right now. In fact he was being nice. The fact that his hoodie was covering your figure didn’t help at all, it was warm and dry and smelt like his cologne and mint.

Freddie took your wet clothes from you when you made your way back into the living room, he hung them up over the fireplace with his own T-shirt and the sweats he must’ve taken off whilst you were in the bathroom. You tried desperately to keep your eyes from wondering over his practically naked figure as he sat on the opposite end of the couch, you felt his eyes on you every so often but tried to focus on your phone and the conversation you were having with Steph about your current situation. She told you not worry and to stay at her house for as long as you need, you could even stay the night in the guest room if needs be but you hoped it wouldn’t come to that. You didn’t think you could handle being stuck in the same house as him all night. The sight of Freddie getting up and leaving the room caught your attention and you couldn’t help but stare as he walked away. A few minutes later he was back, now with two beers in his hands.

“Just saw that they don’t think the power will be back on until tomorrow so we should probably get comfortable here” he offered you a beer and you took it gratefully, offering him a small smile in return, probably the first real smile since you’d met him.

“Steph said we can sleep in their guest rooms, and that we can eat whatever we can find” Fred let out a chuckle and it brought a smile to your face. He sat down then but not back in his original seat, this time he was right next to you. “What are you doing?” You managed to stumble out.

“You’re still shivering, we should probably stay close together, share body heat or whatever” you were about to protest when you felt his arm wrap around your waist pulling you into his side, so you were tucked under his arm. His body was firm and warm beside you and you couldn’t help but lean into him.

“You’re practically naked, how are you so warm?” You mumbled and you felt him chuckle beside you.

“I’ve been messing with the fire all night, this is ok right? I don’t want to make you uncomfortable” his words were almost soft and you knew you should pull away but you couldn’t bring yourself to do.

“I hate this so much, but I guess it’s not the worst thing in the world” Freddie’s laugh was loud and uncontrolled as he took in your words.

“See, the thing is I don’t think you do, I’ve seen you looking at me and I don’t think you hate me as much as you pretend you do, sweetheart” you didn’t really have a response to that and you opened and closed your mouth a few times but no words came out. “I don’t hate you either, you know? You’ve never seemed to want anything to do with me so I didn’t make an effort to get to know you but maybe I should have” you honestly didn’t have any words.

“What do you mean by that, Fred?”

“You’re gorgeous and seeing you in my hoodie and...” he took a deep breath, his gaze shifting over your figure, “...not much else, I guess it just opened my eyes a little” you felt the heat in your cheeks as he stared at you intensely, clearly waiting for you to make the next move. Before you could stop yourself you reached up to press a short kiss to his lips and his hand came up to cradle your cheek, as you pulled apart he smiled, well more like smirked, down at you his thumb still rubbing over your cheek slowly.

“I take it you feel the same way” you nodded at his words before bringing him down into another kiss, this one much more heated than the last and soon you were laying beneath Freddie, tongues still slipping against each other as he grinded his hips into your slowly.

“Fred...” you whimpered out as his lips travelled down your neck, leaving bite marks here and there, “Fred we really can’t have sex on their couch” the only response was Freddie’s smirk and you rolled your eyes once again, Fred might have been one of the most annoying people you have ever met but his teasing was for a very different reason from that night on.

[getmemymicroscope]

I don't think I've seen a Pierce Brosnan movie since his Bond days.

Wait, no. Just did an IMDb check. I've seen: The Long Way Down, The World's End, The Ghost Writer, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. And I think Mamma Mia (both of them) is on my 'to watch' list (as will be Black Adam, once it releases). And I did once consider watching The Foreigner, and even actually tried to watch The Thomas Crown Affair (I got bored), so maybe it hasn't been that long. Of course, I hadn't seen any of him before Bond either - and in fact, I didn't watch his Bond movies until just a couple years back (after I'd seen all the other movies with him, aside from The World's End). Okay, so that was a lot of words to say one simple thing: most of his movies haven't really been memorable to me.

Even Bond: GoldenEye is more memorable for the awesome N64 game, Die Another Day for an invisible car & stupid on-ice chase, The World is Not Enough for Denise RIchards' Dr. Christmas character, and Tomorrow Never Dies because Michelle Yeoh is fucking awesome in it.

And this one... I mean, it is undoubtedly a movie, with actors playing characters, and a plot of sorts, and good guys and bad guys, and action, and what I assume is supposed to be signs of failed romance, and what was written as comedy moments, and ... well, it just sort of happens in front of you without ever really coming together.

There's nothing new here - it's all predictable, because we've seen it all before. Criminals teaming up. Criminals that only steal from the evil. Pickpockets who constantly pick pockets and never get caught. Money-happy bad guy. Bad guy who runs his own prison. The very early twist of it being her daughter, and the almost immediately sequential twist of her being the one that had brought this idea together. Old guy hitting on younger girl. A heist of gold. Gold turned into something else to sneak it out, while something else is going on as a diversion (and the plan isn't told to us, so that we're also unaware of the impending "twist"). A chase scene designed as a diversion. The family member being like "I should've known he would do this" (aka, cheat them and run with the loot), right before *surprise* the person shows up having not cheated them at all. ... None of it, absolutely none of it, is anything new, and our characters aren't interesting enough (there just isn't enough time to get to know them that well) to make this any better than any of the many similar-such movies.

The twists they should've considered: Brosnan does actually cheat them and disappear; Tim Roth is somehow in on it and is a good guy (also not a novel idea, but would've been an interesting twist here, maybe).

I don't know. The entire thing just felt oddly meh, which is unfortunate because to some end I really did want to root for these characters. They just - there isn't much to it. They're also never really in any danger of anything bad happening, from the word go, so that lowers the stakes a bit as well.

It's a bit like Leverage, kinda, but thankfully Leverage is a multi-season show that let us get to know the characters and their quirks, whereas here they're forced to cram everything in together and it's clear the quirks they're using are not to help us learn about the characters but instead are just complete replacements for 'character development.'

Also, Pierce Brosnan's character is a creep and kinda a douche. On the plus side, I was afraid this would be kinda like Killer Anonymous in that they'd say 'hey we have Pierce Brosnan' and then just give him a 10-second cameo, like KA did with Gary Oldman & Jessica Alba, but they didn't do that - so at least that's a win, I guess. But that's about it, really.

[fictitiousfoodie]

It’s A Family Thing

Summary: A boy falls for a girl

Pairing: Reader x Ian Kildner ( fake person)

Word Count: 3847

Okay so here are something to know before you read. The teams are real but all the people fake it was easier for me with this story.

Juliette stood by a high table, wearing a stunning and elegant black dress A-line gown with a respectable but fun slit up the side, talking to a relatively wealthy seeming older gentleman. His tux was custom, hair grey, and thinking, and the date he had brought with him was barely legal to drink, showing almost all her cleavage, and was sipping her cosmo through a straw. But Juliette didn't care about any of that right now. All she cared about was convincing this man that a donation to the team's charity would be a brilliant investment. 

"Mr. Mason donating to the teams' charity is not only a write-off for you with tax breaks, but it allows lots of people to see just how good you and your company are." Manson Construction was responsible for building half of Boston and rebuilding the other half. They had gone through a string of bad publicity when someone leaked rumors of the company cutting corners regarding safety protocols to the local newspapers. The stories had been proven untrue, but they had still caused doubt in the community. Mason Construction was a good company, and Juliette knew that. "Manson Construction on every banner we use when the team works with charities like Habitat for Humanity or does an event with local children's hospitals something like that could change how the community views your company," she said with a passionate and firm promise to her voice. Just as Juliette finished her speech, a loud, sharp crack of noise erupted from behind her. 

Juliette's brother Jack, the youngest of her four brothers, and his girlfriend Ashley had been fighting all night. Juliette had been keeping an eye on it. Ashley was not a great girlfriend. Juliette was pretty sure Ashley was in it for the idea of dating a pro athlete, and Jack was in it cause Ashley was hot. Juliette had noticed more and more that Jack seemed done with Ashley's crap, and from the Way, Ashley was now storming out and the fact Jack wasn't going after her, he had decided to end things tonight in a public place. 

Juliette turned back to Mr.Mason, who was chuckling to himself. "Your brother seems to be quiet, the unlucky fellow tonight in regards to love. But you are better than luck. You're smart, and you've got gumption, Juliette. I like the image you've given the charity, and I think it will provide great support and publicity for my business. I will send you a check tomorrow with the donation. If the team or the charity needs anything, you let me know," he said, smiling and walking away with his old wrinkled hand on his arm candy's ass. 

Jules shivered in disgust as she watched arm candy giggle and kiss him on the cheek, then took a deep breathe she had done it. She had landed another massive donation for the charity. 

Suddenly a large and heavy arm flopped around her shoulder, and her oldest brother Brandon was there by her side. 

"Way to go, Jules. It looks like Mr.Mason was pleased with the idea of being the teams highest paying donor', he said with pride and admiration for his sister. 

"He said he would send over the check tomorrow. I need a drink, and to get these heels off my feet are killing me." She laughed, walking to the bar. 

Brandon was the oldest of the four brothers at the age of 33. He had retired from the league last year due to a knee injury. The team hired him as the skills coach. Brandon was always responsible. He was the boy next door with a killer smile and genuine charm. The next one down was Henry, who was 31 and was the team's new athletic trainer. He was sporty and the smartest. He wanted to be a doctor when he was younger but found a way to combine his love of medicine and learning with his love of hockey and the team he had grown up around. He immediately change to sports medicine. The third one was Eric. He was the middle one, wild and crazy. He was 28, had been on the team as a defender for four years now, and made sure everyone knew his opinion on any given subject.

Jack, the youngest of the brothers, was a sweet kid, but just that, still a kid in many respects. He had the talent and a good heart, but he needed to grow up. He was 25 and still trying to figure out many things about life but was too stubborn to listen to anyone's advice. Finally, there was Juliette, the youngest out of the five children and the only girl. She grew up tough and headstrong, just like her brothers. Her mother made sure she was balanced, though, so she had put her in dance as a little girl, and she had loved it. She still went to classes and taught little ones occasionally. Her brothers were always there in the front row to cheer her on then give her noogies after. She was 24, but most people thought she was older because of how she held herself.   

All 5 of the siblings looked alike, all athletic, tall, and toned the brothers ranging in muscle definition. All five had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. There was no denying they were family. The dark hair came from their dad, and the eyes had come from their mom.  The whole family was here tonight, and Jules loved that. Everyone in the family had found a way to be apart of the team or organization in a job they loved. She loved being around her family and the constant support they gave. Her mom had started the Boston Bruins charity when her dad had been a player. She was still running it and was grooming Juliette to take over soon. Being a Bruin was a family thing. They had been born into it and loved every minute of it. 

She and Brandon were standing by the bar ordering drinks when she saw out of the corner of her eye, Henry and Eric walk up. 

"So, we all saw the slap that Ashley gave Jack, right?" Henry said in a cautious and questioning tone. 

"Yes, the whole room heard it. Did you see where he went?" Brandon asked cautiously. 

"No, but my guess would be the locker room, someone should go check on him?" Eric said, turning towards Jules. 

"Yea yea yea, I'll go. Even though one of you are married and ones engaged," she said over her shoulder, walking away toward the locker room. 

She found Jack sitting in his locker with a cold beer pressed to his face. head drooped down and fidgeting with his phone. "You shouldn't call her, "Jules said, pulling the drink away to check out the handprint on his face. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had sounded probably just stung. Ashley wasn't abusive, just dramatic. 

"Why? Cause she slapped me?" 

"No, because she gave the bartender her number about 15 mins before that happened. You made the right call. She didn't love you; she loved the status."

"I know. I just thought she was the one at the beginning. "He sighed as Jules sat next to him. 

They sat there for a few minutes in silence. Jules knew he would be fine just needed someone to lean on for a bit, and sure enough, after about 10 minutes, he handed Jules his beer and stated with new energy, "There are plenty of fish in the sea. I have to find the right one, right?!" Jack jumped up and started walking to the doors. 

"Yes, just please be safe and smart and maybe go home alone tonight," Jules shouted to him as he strutted out the doors. 

Jules took a sip of the beer and sighed, starting to take her shoes off, enjoying the silence. When she heard the doors slam open and Jimmy Peters and his date for the evening tumbled though not breaking the sloppy kiss and handsy embrace, they were tangled in. They never noticed her as she grabbed her high heels and beer and left the room. She was in the hall on the way back, laughing to herself about the thought of giving Jimmy a hard time the next time she saw him when she heard the classic catcall whistle from behind her. 

She turned to find Ian Kildern, one of the team's defensive players. He was 6'4", muscled more than the average hockey player and curly brown hair with deep green eyes. His tux was well altered; it hung perfectly on him, showing his broad shoulders and narrow waist. Ian was an excellent player, intelligent, lightning-fast, and a great leader. He was 26 and had been in the league since he was 19. The Bruins had picked him up four years ago when his contract had been up with the Tampa Bay Lighting. They were friends, but Jules was closer to other players, and usually only had a small talk with easy, polite jokes. 

"Juliette Calloway, you clean up nice." He said in a semi-serious, mostly mocking tone.

"Shut up, Ian. Don't you have a date to dazzle like the rest of the team?" She said in a cheeky and light-hearted tone. 

"No, actually, Kelly and I broke up last weekend."

"Oh, that's right; her name was Kelly, and I'm so sorry to hear that after a week together, you had to call quits. You must be devastated. She said with a wink. Knowing fully, he had never planned on keeping it serious. Ian didn't sleep around a lot, but he also didn't keep girlfriends long. 

He chuckled, "Yeah, she was allergic to my dog." He changed the subject when he noticed the bottle in her hand, "You drinking alone - drowning your sorrows?"

"No, actually," she said in a matter of fact tone, "I was consoling my brother."

Ian's face squished up, and he sucked in a breath, "Yea, I saw - well heard the slap. Is he okay?"

"He's fine. It's his pride that's hurting more than anything, although he won't admit to it", She explained on a sigh. 

"Well, I'm glad he's okay. It's tough trying to figure everything out—the balance between the game and social life. Suddenly having money and not know if women want you the status or the money. It can be a rough and bumpy ride."He said with an understanding tone. 

"You sound like you have some experience, but you seemed to have figured it all out." 

 "I had my mistakes and issues, but the key difference is I didn't have a last name that's attached to 2 legends. Jack has a whole lot more spotlight from the league because of your dad and oldest brother. I could make my mistakes in private." 

"So, you had a girl slap you in front of your entire team and about 45 VIP guests?" Jules questioned, intrigued to hear his answer. 

"Okay, well, no, I never had that, but I did have a date throw up on me at an event one time. Rachel Madison, I'll always remember that name now. She hadn't eaten all day and then started doing shots of tequila. The smell was horrendous. It was like...

"Ew, I don't want to know! Please stop you win. That's disgusting." She fussed, cutting him off and giggling at the idea. 

"Well, then, Miss. Date Judger where is your perfect event plus one this evening." He asked mockingly, looking around the hallway they were slowly walking down. 

"Oh, I don't ever bring a date to an event that mom and I are running. I did once or twice and always felt bad that I left him standing somewhere while doing things for the event, plus dating in my life is hard. They tend to get offended when I know more about the game or jealous when I spend all my time here at the arena with you guys OR my brothers bully them, and they can't take the heat." 

They had almost reached the doorway to the main lobby, where the fundraising event was when Ian's ear perked up as he heard his favorite song come on. It Had To Be You by Harry Conick Jr. He grabbed her hand put the bottle of beer in her hand on the floor, and stated softly, "It's a great song - I wouldn't want it to go to waste since you don't have someone to dance with."

Surprised by the sudden change in tone, Juliette lost her voice a little and had to clear it before asking, "Ian Kildern, are you asking me to dance?"

He slowly started to pull her into his arms, saying in a volume just barely above a whisper, "I guess I am. Are you saying yes?"

"I guess I am." She said, staring into his eyes and falling into the sway of his body. Still stiff at first, she slowly drifted further into the daze the music mixed with his look and tone of voice had caused, eventually allowing her to melt completely into him. Neither spoke to busy enjoying the moment. It had been years since she had slow danced, and she was enjoying being wrapped in someone's arms. Not just any someone, but someone who had made her laugh and had been having a good conversation with, not to mention he smelled incredible. 

Ian couldn't believe he was dancing again. He had stopped bringing dates to events because it always fell short of what he wanted the evening to be. But with Juilette, he couldn't help but notice her laugh at his story or the way she had softened and molded to him as they danced. Hand in hand, his left hand rested at the small of her back, her head resting on his chest her right on his shoulder. She felt good in his arms. He felt something different for her, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. The music drifted away as the song ended, and they both stopped swaying. She pulled her head back but didn't pull away; she just looked at him, waiting for him to speak first, but Ian didn't want to say anything anymore. The smell of her vanilla perfume. The blush that had risen in her cheeks, the way she was waiting for him. He wanted to kiss her. He wanted to feel those soft pink lips pressed to his. Before he knew it, she was wetting her lips and starting to lean in because she had wanted it too. Never one to miss the opportunity; he leaned in and pressed his hand into her back more, drawing her closer. They were a whisper away from each other when Jimmy and his date exploded from the locker room with laughter, pulling Ian and Jules apart. Jimmy and his date rush by them and unseen to the car in the parking lot. 

"Well, it's late. I should be going," Ian said, trying to hide the disappointment that the moment was gone from his voice. 

"Uh, yea, it's late. I should be finding mom to see if she needs help with anything. Good night Ian and thank you for the dance.", She said, turning and walking away before he could say or do anything. 

It took a split second for him to decide, but he had made his choice he wanted her. He wanted to hold, kiss, love, and keep Juliette Calloway forever. 

Ian couldn't stop thinking about that night. It had been two weeks, and all he could think about was Juliette Calloway. He had been indifferent to her before that night. Ian had had conversations with her but always just regarded her as almost one of the guys. And now he couldn't get her out of his head. The way her eyes sparkled with what he hoped was lust and something more. The way she didn't back away from him and the chemistry in the air. He needed to do something, but what? 

Friday games were always Juliettes favorites. The offices were always more energetic with Friday games as everyone was excited to watch them. Juliette always ran home at lunch for an hour or so to let out Wayne, her Weimaraner, go potty and play, then she would change into her jersey and jeans. She would come back and finish up work, then relax until the game started. Today was no different. She got home and was greeted by Wayne's barks and excited tail. She let him into the backyard and threw her bag and keys on the counter. She loved her home. It was warm and welcoming with leather couches and natural linens. She left the back door open for Wayne to come back in and walked to her bedroom. She was opted for wearing Jack's jersey tonight, paired it with her black jeans and favorite booties. She was excited and happy about tonight's game. Hence, she decided on a smokey eye - if she was honest with herself, she was thinking about her evening with Ian when she had decided on it but pushed it away and assured herself it had nothing to do with him. Wayne had yet to come back in; she went in search of him to find him bathing in the sun and enjoying the day just as much as she was. She called him in, gave him a treat, and headed back to the arena. The game was at 7. The team usually came in about 5. Everyone in the offices had more than likely left for the day; she had a few more things to do when there was a knock at her office door. 

"Come in," she called to the knocker.

"Wow, nice digs," the knocker said with a low and slow whistle. 

Juliette's head snapped up. She had expected it to be a co-worker that was running behind or family. Her brother or mother would sometimes stop by, but she was not expecting him, "Ian...what are you doing here"? 

"Though I'd finally venture up to the offices. Poke around, see what it was like having an office job", he said, waltzing into the office looking around. His eyes settled on the wall of pictures and headlines. The wall was full of pictures of her brothers and father on the ice. It captured each of their timelines, from training to playing to winning championships at all different ages. A particular photo caught Ian's eye, and Juliette got up from her desk to join him. He looked fantastic in a suit more casual than the other night but still just as perfect. It was a solid black suit with a black button-down. He had the first few buttons undone. Juliette was standing next to him when he laughed to himself, saying, " Is this .. Henry?!" 

"Yea, it is. He was like 8 or 9. Mom loves that photo; he hates it", she said with a snicker. The photo was of Henry in full hockey gear. He was standing on the ice for the first game of the season when he slipped and fell. The camera had caught it just right, and all his limbs were up in the air, and his face read of terror and surprise, not know what had just happened.  

"I have to have the team come see this. Look at his bowl hair cut, "He cackled. 

" Don't you dare! He will kill me if he knows anyone from the team has seen it", she said hastily while grabbing his arm to stress the importance and implore him not to tell. 

He felt the electricity of her touch shoot through him. He was no longer focused on the photo but her. The way she smiled and was almost begging him not to spill her secret. He paused and looked at her hand on his arm. She realized what she had done with the casual touch, she could feel his muscle move, and she was immediately turned on and pulsed for him. When she tried to retract her hand, Ian grabbed it, placing a kiss on the top, and looked at her with seductive eyes while asking, "Are you begging me, Juliette?"

Juliette felt the innuendo to her core, and her stomach filled with butterflies. But she was no rose petal. She wanted him and wasn't going to melt for him like all the other women he was used to. She moved just a few inches closer and looked at him with a devilish smile, and asked, "Do you want me to?" Something inside Ian snapped. He couldn't hold himself back any longer. The look in her eyes mixed with her smile and words had him going practically feral. He gave the hand he was holding a tug, and she stumbled into his chest, her other hand landing in between them as she attempted to catch herself. Ian's other hand wrapped around her waist. He dropped her hand and slid his into her hair at the nape of her neck. He paused for a moment, making sure he still saw the same look in her eyes. He was thrilled to see it there but even more intense. He pulled her in and kissed her. 

The kiss was passionate, hard, and needy. Ian pulled ever so slightly on Juliettes hair, causing her to moan softly into his mouth, giving his tongue access to explore. He deepened the kiss, fingers digging into her side, causing more soft moans to escape her. He pulled back ever so slightly to give her air, but Juliette chased him, making him growl and start to grow hard. Juliette's heart was pounding her panties were becoming very wet. She wanted more. They both craved to feel each other skin to skin. When they both broke because they needed air, Juliette saw a softness in Ian's eyes. His thumb stroked her cheek for a split second while he started to ask her out on a date to dinner in a few nights when she cut him off, smirking, "I guess you should be going wouldn't want coach to see you be late to practice." Then with a quick kiss, smirk, and a hoard of giggles, she pushed Ian out of her office and locked the door behind her. Ian was still in shock as he walked from the office to the locker room, both from the kiss and that she had pushed him out without saying anything else. She had a fire and spirit he had certainly never seen before. Juliette slunk down into the couch in her office. She couldn't believe she had just done that. He was incredibly sexy, and she was very turned on. She could feel the blush creep into her cheeks. She knew she wanted him in more than a casual fling way. That's why she was going to play hard to get. Make Ian chase a little bit for once in his life.  

[kill-for-cookies]

Hi! Could I request literally anything Whittaker!Master please?!

Also justt want to say that I love you’re writing and that you’re incredible 💕 have a great day

Aaaaaw, that's so nice of you! Thank you so much. At one point, I thought about stopping writing altogether, but you proved me wrong. Unfortunately, this took me longer than I thought (I was out of writing and fandom), but I hope you enjoy it. This is my present for you on my birthday :)

Dealing with the Devil

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

Another morning of another day. A normal morning. That's an odd word for you, considering you've been traveling with the Doctor, but not anymore. You'll have to get used to this word, to a new lifestyle and daily routine.

You didn't have an argument with a time traveler. You just outgrown these endless adventures. Of course, travel in time and space is wonderful, but it seems you're tired of constant stress, concern, anxiety, waiting for danger. From this point of view, it's not as exciting as it used to be.

Besides, you're tired of helping people all the time, risking your own life. Sometimes people have to overcome difficulties and let them save themselves. Maybe you've become more selfish over the years, but no one is perfect, so you weren't too worried.

The day was clear, almost cloudless, with no bright sun. Peace and tranquility. At such moments, you liked to go to a cafe, take your time, drink coffee with a bun in a pleasant and cozy atmosphere. In addition, it was where you made friends for the first time with a girl who works in cafe and is not associated with traveling in a blue police box. For that, you appreciated this place even more.

When you arrived at the cafe, waiting in line, you met the eyes of Lucy, your friend, who greeted you, but somehow without emotions, which wasn't like herself. Maybe she was just tired. Or was it just the morning? It's only 9 am.

You decided to look around for now. In the farthest corner on the right sat a man with an orange cap, typing something on a computer. And in the middle sat a lady in a big black hat, looking out of the window and holding a cup in both hands.

When your turn finally came, you ordered everything as usual, namely coffee with a croissant. You tried to start a conversation with Lucy while your coffee was being made, but nothing much came of it. Your friend didn't answer much, just smiled.

Everything would have been fine, but something was clearly wrong. Your instincts told you that and one thing you've learned from your adventures with the Doctor is that you can't ignore your instincts.

Your friend were just smiling, nothing suspicious or strange, but for some reason you felt uneasy, your back went all goosebumps. And you couldn't explain why.

'Please, Y/N, stop. Why do you always have to think about the bad things? It just seemed to you, stop looking for a catch' you thought. And it was true. What makes you think you're a trouble magnet and not the Doctor? The answer is obvious, isn't it?

After receiving your order, you sat down at a table and sipped some coffee, which was as always delicious. Well, the robot definitely couldn't make such a divine drink. So all your previous doubts were disappeared, dissolved in a fog of pleasure.

But something inside you said it was worth coming here tomorrow. God knows why. Maybe the coffee was so good or something else...

The next morning. The weather got a little worse, but that didn't spoil your mood. You were lucky to have two days off in a row. You didn't have to get up early and do anything special.

This time you were late - you left the house at 11 am. It was because first you decided to stay in bed and not get up, then you took a long time to get ready, and then you went to the cafe on foot, and not by bus as usual.

Once inside, you took a couple of steps forward and looked at the entire cafe, out of old habit. It was just like yesterday. Nothing changed. Also noisy and cozy, Lucy with a cold face, all the same people at the tables - at the farthest corner man with a computer and an orange cap, and in the middle a lady in a big black hat... Stop! Nothing changed at all! You have a photographic memory for faces.

'Okay, that's weird. Should I leave? Yeah, I think it's a good idea' you couldn't help but agree with your voice of reason and calmly, behaving completely normal, turned around and headed for the door...

But unfortunately, you didn't have time to get out - you ran into some big man. You were hoping you could get off with a quick excuse and sneak out, but he grabbed you by forearms hard, spun you around and pushed you forward a little. Everyone in the cafe looked at you with cold, unfeeling eyes, like robots.

At that moment, you had no doubt that something was wrong. Why do these things happen to you? Maybe it was a new version of Cybermen with invisible armor? Or Daleks masquerading as humans? If only the Doctor would arrive here, as usual, at the right moment...

"Oh, don't worry, I did everything I could to keep him out of our way" oh no, it was even worse than the Daleks and Cybermen put together. You knew exactly who said that. How could you not notice her blonde head and smug grin with red lips? Right now, you were just cursing yourself with every possible word and wanting to sink through the ground.

"Master..." you said it through clenched teeth, almost growling her name, which makes you weak, defenseless and annoyed you. And surely, the blonde grinned even wider, showing snow-white teeth.

"It's nice to know you haven't forgotten me yet, sweetheart" now the Master stood in front of you with all her arrogant majesty. She was watching you closely, waiting for your reaction. Her gaze seemed to look into your soul and ignite something in you, thus adding fuel to the fire.

"Don't call me like you and I are old friends" you barely restrained your anger, not to spoil a difficult situation, from which you still need to somehow get out. At least alive...

"Aren't we?" the Time Lady was feigning surprise. "Didn't you enjoy our moments together?" her lower lip pushed forward, as if offended, though you didn't even need to know the Master to know she was secretly exulting.

Not to say that you didn't stay alone with her, but the Master certainly didn't show any special interest in you. Just as a Doctor's companion, that's all. At least, that was what you thought.

You chose not to answer her question. It wasn't even you didn't want to please her. You just didn't know the answer to it. The blonde just gave you a toothy smile. She was having too much fun. You couldn't even remember when she was like this.

"What do you want from me?" you had enough of this. The sooner you found out what this arrogant Time Lady wanted, the sooner you'd turn her down and maybe be able to return home. Although knowing the Master, the last one was unlikely.

She walked around you like a snake encircling its prey and, standing behind you, whispered in your ear:

"An offer you can't refuse. But before I tell you about it, I suggest you sit down" the blonde pointed to the table with her hand. You didn't have much of choice: anyway, you'd end up at that damned table and listen to her. Voluntarily or by force.

So you reluctantly sat down at the table. A few moments later, the Master was sitting across from you. You tried to read her face to see what she was going to offer, but you couldn't. But you noticed something else.

The Master behaved somehow differently. Well, arrogant as always. Well, Time 'What is personal space?' Lady. But there was something else and it was eluding you, but it was clearly bothering you... Why did it bother you at all?

"What's the deal?" to be honest, you were really curious to know. Of course, your answer would remain unchanged in any case, but what exactly prompted the Time Lady to come to you and not just to annoy the Doctor.

"You can travel with me" she said, perfectly casually and serenely, glancing at her fingernails.

On the opposite, you were like being struck by lightning. Wow! Were we really talking about the same time traveler? Because it didn't really look like a Master.

Usually, she always laughs at the whole thing about companionship. But here we were, Master asking you to travel with her. Well, that was something you definitely couldn't predict. And what should you do in this situation?

"Do you want me to be your companion? Why?" there was a clear surprise in your voice, but you didn't try to hide it (her suggestion affected you so much). You could even feel your eyebrow go up and not down.

"I would say a partner. And to answer your question, why not? Not only the Doctor can have companions. Besides, he doesn't suit you at all" if that was even possible, your eyes widened even more. The second eyebrow rose to the first at the top. "You're more like me..."

Ha! A nervous laugh escaped from your throat. This was already out of the realm of science fiction. If you're impulsive and don't control your emotions well, that doesn't make you a psycho killer.

"That's not true!" you leaned back from the table, arms crossed defensively, and your nose wrinkled in displeasure.

The blonde looked up at you with her hazel eyes which glittered with mischief and pleasure. She got up from her chair, obviously coming up with something. The Time Lady came and stood behind you, her heels clacked on the floor with each step.

"Then tell me, why don't you care about these people?" the Master leaned toward you, her velvety voice sounding in your ear, like the devil was whispering in your ear. "If you did, you'd immediately ask what is wrong with them or beg me to fix them."

You turned your back on the Master and particularly on the people in the cafe. As much as you hate to accept it, she was right. Not to say that you didn't care about them, but now you were trying to get yourself out of this situation. You are not the Doctor, who can save everyone (or many people). You're only human, and of course, if you can save these people, you certainly won't mind.

"I'm still waiting for an answer. I hope you understand that otherwise these people will die, right?" well, of course, how can you do without blackmail? Now you understand very well the Doctor who has to make difficult decisions in such moments. That sucks, actually.

It's strange, but somehow you wanted to say 'no' even more than before. Not only to annoy the Master, but something told you that she wouldn't kill these people. Something has clearly happened to the smug Time Lady, something beyond your comprehension... For now.

And what if... It's very risky and may cost you dearly, but you had to try. What if it works? Actually, two can play this game, can't they?

"No" it's a good thing the blonde was standing right in front of you now, so you could see her really surprised face. It's worth a lot.

There was a grin on your face, which certainly couldn't please the Master. And it wasn't even followed by any weapons pointed at you or anyone nearby and that confirmed your assumption.

"What?"

"No" you repeated, getting up from your chair and slowly making your way back to the exit. "I am not the Doctor, who falls for your provocations. I'm not their savior and certainly not a babysitter," you pointed to the cafe visitors. "It was nice chatting, bye!"

You turned around and walked confidently and quickly to the door. Maybe you could still get home before the Master came to her senses. Although you certainly couldn't anywhere in the universe (and even more on Earth) hide from her...

But by the Murphy's law, things didn't go the way you planned or wanted them to. Just before you raised your hand to the doorhandle, you heard a soft, but definitely unexpected word:

"Please" if you didn't know the Master, you would have said her voice trembled.

You were supposed to keep going to the door, just keep going and get out of here. But your feet betrayed you. They just stopped and refused to go.

'It must be some trick or I just imagined it... Anything, but it can't be true' but that thought didn't stop you from turning around and asking:

"What?"

"Isn't that a word you say when you want something?" even from where you were, you could feel the irritation and... embarrassment? Your surprise was boundless.

"Yes, but I'm just surprised. This is the first time I've heard you say that"

Apparently, your mind was too clouded by emotions, because you really started to consider the offer. Your heart skipped a beat and you felt sorry for the Master. You never thought about it, but she doesn't have anyone. No one deserves such fate, not even the most dangerous person in the Universe.

"Fine..." surprisingly, the word just came out of you as if you had replayed this situation hundred times.

Before you got it, the blonde had already closed the distance, grabbed your arm and led you with quick steps to the TARDIS, which you just noticed. After all, the Master had the chameleon circuit working.

Before you put your foot in the time machine, you pulled your hand away. You had something to say. If the Time Lady wanted to travel with you, it would be on your terms. Well, as far as it was possible.

"But I have two conditions: first, no killing, I hate it" you didn't really believe that the Master would be able to contain it. But at least, in most cases. And that was worth something.

"You ruined all the fun..." the blonde rolled her eyes, but didn't respond further.

"What did you want from the Doctor's companion?" a smug grin appeared on your face, and the Master couldn't but just grin. "Second, bring these people back to normal."

Apparently, the Master assumed you would forget about them, because she snorted with displeasure, disappointed with your request. But she kept her word - after a snap of her fingers, all the people in the cafe seemed to wake up from a dream and began to look around, not understanding what had just happened.

The next thing you got, you were in the Master's TARDIS. And this is where a new chapter in your life begins. It probably won't end well, but who cares? You were willing to take the risk. Maybe this will be the best period in your life...

[takaraphoenix]

Welcome to Earth-304d

A couple days ago, I made a post declaring I want to write more for DC and that I want to dive into the deep end; including the creation of my own Earth. My own continuity. Now that I have ironed out what I want from my Earth, I figured I'd make a bit of an... introductory post to show what you can expect from my continuity.

First of all, its name. Because I feel quite proud of that. My Earth is going to be Earth-340d, because that's my name on its head. Phoe's Earth, Earth-304d.

Now, what you can expect from this Earth. Or rather, what you can't. This is going to be a shared universe where I will write many fics for, but it is not going to only follow one hero, or one team. I really do want to explore the ripple effect of an actual shared universe and how different heroes come into it and come together and how different the team constellations are going to be. So there will be, say, a standalone story about Superman and a standalone story about Laurel Lance and they will be set in the same universe, may even share overlapping elements/characters and both characters will appear together in a crossover teamup story.

Unlike my usual fics, these stories will not be primarily driven by ships; there absolutely will be ships and shipping in it and in some instances, they will be central in the story, but overall this is going to be more character driven and driven by platonic relationships, especially the found family team dynamics. Because it's one thing that always makes me sad about the majority of superhero adaptation (not just DC); we get these teams and they rarely ever get to actually be the found family they could be.

Still, since I am a big shipper, let's open this more concrete part up with a list of the "main" pairings - the ships that involve the main characters of my continuity:

Kate Kane/Kara Danvers

Clark Kent/Diana Prince

Arthur Curry/Laurel Lance & Laurel Lance/Dinah Drake (at first alternating, but ultimately in a polyamorous arrangement; Laurel has two hands; one for her lesbian wife and one for her himbo husband)

Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak & Nyssa al Ghul/Felicity Smoak (Felicity, too, has two hands)

Bruce Wayne/Selina Kyle

Mick Rory/Leonard Snart/Barry Allen

Harley Quinn/Pamela Isley

Killer Frost/Caitlin Snow

Cisco Ramon/Lisa Snart

Roy Harper/Dick Grayson

Koriand'r/Donna Troy

Wally West/Jesse Wells

I am going off the Arrowverse as the main template; for Flash, Green Arrow, Supergirl and Batwoman (season 1), though with major changes within the continuity of those shows too; most prominently that the Justice League will form far before any of those become heroes; a team they will join when hey become heroes, but a team that has already existed by the time those four become heroes.

Which brings me to the next part I wanted to give a preview of; the team line-ups and what teams I will be focusing on in this universe, beyond the above mentioned and listed single heroes.

Justice League of America (founding members):

Bruce Wayne/Batman

Jefferson Pierce/Black Lightning

Clark Kent/Superman

Arthur Curry/Aquaman

Diana Prince/Wonder Woman

J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter

Zatanna Zatara

Which, Oliver, Barry, Kara and Kate are naturally going to join after they became the heroes they are too. Same goes for John Diggle, once he becomes Green Lantern.

Birds of Prey:

Barbara Gordon/Oracle

Sara Lance/White Canary

Laurel Lance/Black Siren

Dinah Drake/Black Canary

Nyssa al Ghul

Selina Kyle/Catwoman

Pamela Isley/Poison Ivy

Harleen Quinzel/Harley Quinn

Killer Frost

Lisa Snart/Golden Glider

One of the major differences between my universe and the Arrowverse (aside from, you know, Wonder Woman and Aquaman) is that there are no Legends of Tomorrow. There just... aren't. Snart and Rory are back in Central City - and Sara Lance meets some interesting people in Gotham City to form the Birds of Prey with. I also am deeply in love with the Dinah-Laurel dynamic, so I am keeping those, but will make Laurel Black Siren from the get-go here; none of that "she dies and we bring in a villain version of her but also we introduce Dinah" nonsense. Let's make the Canary-situation a bit more reasonable. I'm also going with my "Caitlin Snow and Killer Frost get to split bodies" headcanon for this and giving Frost her own thing.

(Basically, the pitch is "Barbara Gordon finds new purpose after quitting Batgirl by gathering and reforming former villains with her Canary friends".)

And, as much fun as I am going to have with the "older" generation, I do very much also want to dive into the "sidekicks", the younger heroes. So there is going to be a Teen Titans and a Young Justice team. Or rather, there are going to be Teen Titans and as that lineup fills with younger new recruits over the course, the older, founding members graduate on to form their own, older team. So, here the founding members (though, as with the Justice League, there are Flash/Arrow/Batwoman characters who will join later on).

Original Teen Titans/Young Justice:

Dick Grayson/Nightwing

Donna Troy/Wonder Girl

Conner Kent/Superboy

Luke Fox/Batwing

Kaldur'ahm/Aqualad

Victor Stone/Cyborg

Koriand'r/Starfire

M'gann M'orzz/Miss Martian

So, that's kind of the skeleton of it all. I want to tell my version of some of the characters' origin stories - which, especially with characters such as Diana, Arthur and Clark, who haven't HAD that in the Arrowverse, is going to be so much fun. There will also be twisted versions for the characters who have shows; versions that fit into this new, bigger universe, a universe where they will not be the first heroes.

And I especially want to explore platonic dynamics - John Diggle is the step-brother of Lynn Stewart; I want to see him be Anissa and Jennifer's favorite uncle, I want to explore the dynamics between Donna and Diana, as well as Clark and Conner, let Kara interact with other alien girls her age like Kory and M'gann, dive into the friendship between Kate Kane and Harley and Ivy that I have made up in my head last year. There's a lot I want to explore.

I hope some of you want to explore it with me; the first story in this universe is going to be published on April 7th - Wonder Woman & Aquaman: Of Two Worlds. The origin story of how Diana first came to man's world and an exploration of Arthur and Diana's relationship, based off a seven year old smartass who concluded that he is a descendant of Poseidon and she is a descendant of Zeus, which absolutely makes them cousins.

[slashingdisneypasta]

Horror Villains / Misc x Reader || Drabbles

Plot: You accidentally summon Beetlejuice because he convinced you that he could help you with your Slasher problem, but he becomes an even worse problem. So, you need your Slasher to help you exterminate him, instead.

Includes: Chucky / Charles Lee Ray and Freddy Krueger

Warnings: It’s got nasty gremlin man in it (Meaning, gross language, dirty jokes and such), and also Slashers (Meaning, gore, swearing, course and suggestive language). Groping (Himself) 

Notes:

Okay, those of you who were with me at MainstreamBaddies; You remember that post I wrote about some rando killer trying to get the reader, so reader goes to the Slasher that’s also trying to kill them for help?

Well this is basically that but with (Movie) Beetlejuice as the rando.

THERE WAS MEANT TO BE MORE CHARACTERS!! But its late and I wanna slep ^^ Hopefully I’ll do Ghostface and Jason tomorrow! 

~~~

THE START / ‘Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice’

“So… “Worrying my bottom lip, I look from the wall where I can think properly to the small, ‘fun size’ version of ‘Beetlejuice’ who’s looking expectantly at me. Excited even. 

Although I guess that’s a given. If I was that small and had the possibility sitting right in front of me, of growing back to full size, and full power again, I’d be jazzed too. But, still, there’s something very off about this guy, and it isn’t just the fact that he’s the size of maybe 2 thumbs snapped off at the knuckle and taped one on top of the other. He’s very enthusiastic.

In a Gollum-Swamp Monster-Chick Hicks kind of way.

“’So’, what? I don’t have all day baaaaaay – well, I do have all day. I got nowhere to be – not many fun joints for a guy to go to at this size, amiright? Yeah, but, that’s not the point! Do you wanna get rida’ your lil’ problem or not? Eh?” Beetlejuice is practically vibrating, like an alarm clock and I have the most impulsive urge to call his name three times just to stop it.

Luckily, I have impulse control.

“Of course, I do. I… “Eyeing him pointedly, I start wringing my hands. “I just don’t want to create a new problem, in its place.”

He rolls his dark, feral racoon-panda eyes, muttering something lightning quick to himself before throwing out his arms and yelling. “BABE! I promise ya, really, sweetheart. Baby-lemon pie-dumpling-doll-dollar-sugar-tea, I’m just gonna fix your problem! All I want in the world right now is t’ cum-plete our deal! Get rida’ your Slasher, and be on my way! Unless theirs somethin’ else you ask of me, eh? When I’m back to my normal size? You know, I’m big in all the right places sugar tit- “

I took a deep, necessary breath in when he started on the ‘something else’ and now have the required breath to drown out the last words. “Oooookay!! I wont need that.” I say quickly, as a statement. He licks his lips. “But, um… Are you sure you can get rid of them?” ‘Them’. The bane of my existence right now. The co-star in the horror movie of my life. That them.

“Trust me, babe-sickle. It’ll be sinch.” For a moment, he looks absolutely calm. No vibrating, no yelling, no talking really fast. And it hits its intended mark – my assurances. Okay.

“Alright.” I wring my hands one last time, then clap them and step back from the town diorama that Beetlejuice is roaming in. I cross my arms, then drop them to my sides and look around, then finally back at the impatient ghost… who’s doing squats. Good grief, how much energy is in this guy? “Beetlejuice.”

He gasps, jumps up to his feet, nearly falling over because his weight landed wrong and then rubs his hands together. “Here we go!”

“Beetlejuice.”

“Oh. You do it right, babe.”

Oh my god, here we go. Hopefully this can’t make my situation any worse- I mean, I am being targeted by a killer. What are the odds that this goofball of a ghost could ruin my life anymore? “Beetlejuice.”

“PRESTO!”

Human! Chucky / Charles Lee Ray – Chucky’s POV:

I figure this is going to be a pain, when a screech tears from the ugly old house before I even get in. Confused, and more then frustrated because this spells out nothing but problems for me for when I get in, instead of the nice peaceful kill I was intending to enjoy, I open the screen door -bitch didn’t even lock the front door, it’s like she wants me to kill her,- and rush up the stairs to where the sound came from. “Hold on, I’m not there yet!!”

What the hell is going on?!

“Look, in my professional experience, the screamin’ doesn’t start til the killer takes out a knife, sometimes even before but not before I even get into the house, lady. The audacity of you, here- “

What am I looking at here?

In front of my eyes, my fucking eyes, stands of course Y/N, my victim. And some kind of zebra - one that’s been dead and left out in the swamp for a fuck-long time. He’s got crazy eyes if I’ve ever seen them, and have you seen mine? That’s saying something. Who is this joker? In my coat, I grip the gun I keep just in case strangulation goes awry, but don’t bring it out just yet. Not until this guy reveals his cards, first.

The guy’s eyes flicker in smug amusement from my face, to my gun pocket -evidently, he realises something’s up. Can’t blame the guy, damnit, -, then whips right around, leaving his back wide open for me and my weapon, to my facepalming victim. I smirk at her. “I take it that’s the guy you want rid of, toots?”

“Uh… yeah… “She looks adorable and awkward. The guy lets go of her waist, which he was holding close to his body as she leaned away before, when I walked in and he literally, and I’ve never seen any person do this before, halted in his tracks. Stopped breathing, stopped shifting, it even seemed like the history around him stopped for that ‘caught’ moment. And I swear I heard the sound of record music abruptly being turned off come from his mouth.

And for some odd reason, I get the feeling he’s not human. Can’t conjure a reason why, though.

I should be saying this shit out loud, I’m wasted on myself.

Figuring this guy’s been hired to get rid of me, I take out my gun. “Okay, you’re gonna have to catch me up on what’s happening... Oh, no? Well, okay.”

BAM!

A bullet flies across the room and sticks into the freak’s chest, and that is the end of things going my way.

Because the force of the bullet somehow sends him slamming across the room and through a wall in the back. His body goes ‘poot’ down two stories outside and theirs a silence that doesn’t last long enough for either Y/N or I to digest what just fucking happened before the bastard’s grotty fucking hand spiders up my spine from behind. I wriggle out of his reach immediately on impact, because it’s like a real fucking spider, and whip around, waiving my gun- which is useless now, of course.

Games are over.

The guy looks over at Y/N and grins, throwing his arms out in a ‘ta da!’ way. She winces and just narrows her eyes in a glare. “What’d you think of that, sweet cheeks? I got a flare for the dramatic, you know? Ssssexy! Eh?” When she sticks her tongue out at him, for lack of any words to respond to that with I guess -I mean, I, can think of some choice words for the guy, but she’s clearly not as creatively gifted in the art of insult as I have been told I am. But, a tongue out works, - he grins the most fucking horny grin I’ve ever seen and clutches his sack. Her jaw drops.

“Where the ever-loving fuck did you pick crazy pants up from??” I ask, looking accusingly at Y/N. She chews on the inside of her cheeks and looks even more awkward then before.

“Truce?” She asks, instead of answering my question. I’m genuinely curious.

I roll my eyes. “Ughh, fine.”

“Oh well that won’t do,” The guy speaks up again, looking between us and letting his Johnson go, thank god. The boys have to breath! “Baby girl, blossom, light of my FUCKING DEATH! You wound me. riGHT IN THE HEART! Let me show you, sweetgums, why that was a bad idea.”

Her eyes widen, and I suddenly feel real unsafe. “How about you don’t- “

“Watch this!”

He turns to me, makes some overdramatic hand gestures, throwing his back out in the process and momentarily acting like he’s out of order.

Then he whips back into action and shoots me with finger guns,

And then suddenly everything around me looks 4 times bigger then before. Oh, well, its that or… I’m closer to the ground.

Because I’m a fucking doll again.

I slowly look up from the little black baby shoes and the edges of the godamn jean jumpsuit, to the infected condom in black and white grease paint. “… You son-of-a-bitch.”

He chuckles and turns to Y/N, and gives her finger guns too, but the only other thing that happens this time is he winks at her. “Now, baby! Time to get hitched!”

“What?!” She shrieks.

Freddy Krueger – Freddy’s POV:

“I’m going to die of boredom before this bitch catches winks. I’m gonna pummel her with the counting sheep she clearly needs when she gets here.” The corners of my mouth lift up from the deep scowl I was wearing before, at the idea. It has merit.  

Behind me the fine folks of Pompeii run for their lives and a red and green striped Vesuvius explodes molten lava over their little town when I remember it’s been 2 days since she’s fallen asleep. Or found some fucking Hypnocil. Or killed herself. Who knows, really. I have a… deadly effect on women.

But damn, it would be a bummer if she killed herself. I was having fun with her. I had plans.

Have, have. I have plans. I won’t give up hope yet.

An hour, or who knows how long later -time is a human construct and doesn’t exist in the dream plain, - , I’m lying on the ground watching Psycho play in the sky when that familiar tingle rushes through me, telling me someone’s entered my world.

I’m just getting up and brushing myself off, taking my damn time like she left me to wait -besides, I can turn back time and make it seem like I appeared instantaneously if I want to. Time’s a construct, remember? And this is my world. I’m just doing this for me, to make me feel better, - when she comes out of fucking nowhere and nearly knocks me over. Im-ee-diate-ly I open my mouth to ask her why she’s so eager, but she beats me to the punch, causing me sadness.

“Wake up, wake up, wake up!”

Hold on, I definitely think there’s something off here. Don’t I make the fucking demands?! “Bitch- ”

“Wake!”

“-I haven’t done anything to you yet.” 

“Up!”

“Goddamn!”

What is going on here!?

“I’ll do anything you want, just please. Wake me up!” Her eyes are deadly serious, and I can’t help the greedy smile I get at her submissive idea. What could have made her this way? I laugh.

“Ohhh, I’ll think it over. Tempting offer, though~” She lets out a growl and let’s go of me in pure frustration, looks around quickly for something and then lays eyes on my glove. She picks it up, and my eyes widen in surprise at what she does next.

The blade slices through the skin in her upper arm before I can take any control of the situation, and a nauseous feeling suddenly rolls me and she whimpers from the pain of slicing herself open, as the world goes blurry around us and she wakes up- of course, still holding my glove, which is attached to me, so I go with her.

“Fucking he- “

Much quicker than you think it will be, we both turn up back in the fucking reality. She hops up immediately and flies across the room to a first aid box.

I’m just assuming, I mean. Because I don’t make any move to leave the bed at all and just close my eyes and groan, and resist the urge to cry.

I hate this placceeeeeeeeee.

“BABES, YOU’RE BACK!”

Now I resist the urge to scream and phase out of existence, because a man just appeared on the bed with me and called me his babes. Instead, I slowly turn my head to him and sinisterly narrow my eyes- and hope he doesn’t notice my distress from a second ago.

I’m starting to understand why Y/N was so intent on getting back here. If this guy, a dung beetle with… oh, god. Clearly, some kind of terrible illness if that smell indicates anything, was hanging around me while I slept, I’d be… slightly bothered too. If only for the stink!

He squints, and while he does, his hair flickers through the various colours in the rainbow, confused. “Sweetbottom, theirs something different about you. Did you get contacts?”

As a knee jerk reaction, I stab him in the gut with my blades. “Stranger danger, bitch!”

My panic dissolves into glee as I jerk the knives upwards… just to turn back into panic when he starts tearing all the way in half from my stab wound up to the top of his head with minimal effort from me. I gulp, and retreat from him to where Y/N is, taping her bandages securely around her arm. I gesture to the freak who’s padded onto the floor and is zipping himself back together in front of my eyeballs. “… the fuck is that?”

“That’s Beetlejuice, he’s a ghost=

“With the most, baby.” ‘Beetlejuice’ stands up straight and rests his hands on his hips, chest puffed out and winks at Y/N. 

“-What do we do?”  She asks, looking with wide eyes at me. 

What does she think I am? The Fairy Godmother of the dead?? I’m no godmoth-

… I could use this. A slow grin spreads across my mouth. “First, you go over there and distract him.” 

For a split second she looks like she’s actually going to go with it, then looks with furrowed, unimpressed eyebrows at me. ‘Beetlejuice’ makes grabby hands at us, and she starts to look more panicked by the second. “And what will you do??”

I yank the bedroom door open. “Run!!”

[nancypullen]

Last Lap

Today is our last day here in Damariscotta.  Tomorrow morning we’ll throw our bags in the car and drive up to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park.  I’m not sure Mickey will sleep tonight, he’s like a kid on Christmas Eve.  He loves Acadia.  I’m a big fan of Bar Harbor, it’s captivating little town.  I will not be tromping through the woods before dawn to see the sunrise over the pines.  I will, however, happily tromp around town and peruse art galleries, book stores, and the occasional chocolate shop.  I am who I am.  I love nature and beautiful vistas, I just don’t need to see ten thousand pine trees per day. The mister will be in paradise and I will not take one minute of that away from him.  I’ll do a bit of hiking with him, but I’ll let him do the sunrises and late night Milky Way shots solo.  Isn’t that generous of me?  I’m a giver. Because today is our final day in this area we used it as a chance for Mickey to revisit places and get shots in better light, weather, etc.  We ended up at one of my favorite spots - Marshall Point Light.  It makes me want to don Victorian garb and drink tea on the porch.

Recognize that lighthouse?  Forrest Gump ran up that cat walk on his long run in the movie.  They couldn’t have found a prettier spot.  Built in 1832,  it’s been updated - that light is “new” from1858.  Then the keeper’s house was struck by lightning and burned in 1895 and rebuilt the same year.  It sits in Port Clyde Harbor and given the chance I’d move right in and live happily ever after.  Looks like a good place for cats to nap in the sun. So we ran around, he snapped away and I sketched and pushed some paint around on paper.  We masked up and popped into another favorite site.

The Port Clyde General Store is fun and has a wonderful lunch counter.  I had a killer lobster roll there once upon a time.  We arrived mid-afternoon and not really hungry so we picked up a couple of snacks for the road. I grabbed a bag of pretzels and Mickey chose a freshly baked whoopie pie as big as his head.  My teeth hurt just looking at it.  We poked around and saw this souvenir tee.  It made me laugh. Any Lionel Ritchie fans in the house?

We made it back to our little apartment around dinner time and had a weird meal trying to finish off the food in the frig.  We’ve got a full kitchen and I insisted that we take advantage of it - mostly because of COVID, but also because I’m cheap  frugal.  It’s also healthier.  Restaurant food is delicious but, geez, even their salads are high in calories.  I liked being able to have a frig full of fruits and veggies.  Packing lunches is a breeze, and a quick dinner of rotisserie chicken and roasted broccoli is no trouble. I feel better when we eat right.  That said, and you knew I was going somewhere with this, now my vacation starts.  I’ve been washing dang dishes since we got here and if I wanted to do that I could have stayed home.  Again, I was the one who insisted we dine in while we have this apartment.  I’m still glad that we did, but mama is ready for maid service and takeout. We’ll depart Damariscotta around 8am and wind our way to Bar Harbor, no doubt stopping for every photo op and scenic overlook along the way.  Any way you slice it I won’t be ending my day with my hands in dishwater.  Can I get an amen? I’ll check in from the hotel tomorrow night. Ta-ta for now! Stay safe, stay well, stay groovy. XOXO, Nancy

[saiilorstars]

Sweet Ambitions

Ch.4: Worlds Apart (Pt.1)

Story Masterlist // Anais’ Masterlist // Masterlist of other OCs

Fandom: Supergirl // Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Summary: Anais meets a strange man who claims to be from another universe. Barry Allen also turns out to be a speedster which is luckily quite needed when Livewire and newcomer Silver Banshee decide to terrorize the city.

A/N: This chapter (and the next) is a crossover with my Flash fic Rise Up 

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother​​ @anotherunreadblog​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​​ @stareyedplanet​​ @perfectlystiles​​

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

Anais sat against her bedhead scrolling back and forth between the pictures she had of that strange man following her earlier in the week. It'd been two days since she'd snapped the pictures and since then Anais couldn't shake the feeling of being followed no matter where she went. It was difficult to start a new life with a stalker but it wasn't going to stop her anytime soon.

The cellphone in her hand went off, flashing the ID of her mother. "Hi, Mom," she greeted in a way that would throw off her mother from any suspicions of a problem.

"Hi sweetheart!" her mother was cheery by default. "I didn't know if it was too early to call but—"

"No, I'm due at work in about thirty minutes," Anais reminded.

"Yes! At your brand new job!" Her mother laughed in excitement despite the news being kind of old now.

Anais still smiled though. Her parents were incredibly proud of her that she'd managed to snag a job at one of the most important media places. "Yes, Mom, I know. Please don't do that when you come by."

Her mother laughed. "I will try my hardest but you know your father. He's even happier than I am!"

"Was there something you needed, Mom? Not to be rude or anything but...I have to get to work in a bit, remember?"

"No, uh, no...well…" her mother took a suspicious pause, "...you do remember that your father and I will be stopping by the day after tomorrow?"

"Believe me I have not forgotten," Anais promised her. Her eyes roamed her pretty desolate bedroom she'd yet to furnish.

"We just want to check up on you, sweetheart," her mother said, knowing well where her daughter's thoughts were. "We just want to make sure you're stable and that you're not over-exerting yourself at the DEO."

"Trust me mother, I'm not," Anais hated to repeat herself but if it was what her parents needed so that they wouldn't be around all the time, so be it.

"Well, take care of yourself, then," her mother said. "And just to let you know, your godparents are already in the city so you be sure to give them a call to get together."

Anais tilted her head back and brought a hand up to her forehead. My God I love you, Mom, but why? She should be used to her parents' over protectiveness, really. "Yes, Mom, I will."

With that, she ended the call.

She got out of bed and set her hands on her hips. "Oh Mom." She quickly sped around the room to make her bed - which was comprised of some of Kara's old sheets and covers - and went into the shower. In less than two minutes she was showered, dressed and hair-dryed. Her breakfast came in the form cereal, a banana, cookies and possibly the entire box of donuts Kara recently bought yesterday.

"You're going to buy more donuts on your way back from work," Kara warned when the two walked out the CatCo. elevator together. "You know I like eating the sprinkle donuts after work."

"Only took me a week but yeah, I learned," Anais chuckled. "Just take a quick cupcake out of that—" she nodded to the white box Kara held in her hands, "—and hold on until tonight."

Kara's snort was rather loud, making her the object of attention in the room. "I may be bulletproof but Cat Grant scares me sometimes."

It was Anais' turn to laugh. While only working for Cat two days, she learned that the woman did have quite an attitude that wasn't good for the faint hearted. Still, it made the working experience all the more interesting.

"Better get these to her right now," Kara went around Anais and headed into Cat's office.

Anais stopped by Winn's desk before going to her own which was closer to James' office. "Hey, what did the DEO say about...you know…?"

Winn put down a pen he'd been mindlessly twirling between his fingers. His face expression was enough to deduce things weren't alright. The DEO had played host to his girlfriend Siobhan Smythe who'd suddenly garnered the ability to scream loud enough to save herself from dying after accidentally falling over a rooftop.

"They said she wasn't alien," Winn started off with, his voice hushed so no one but them would hear. "Her DNA came back 100% human."

"So then how the hell did she get this ability to scream so powerfully?"

"The doctors didn't know," Winn rested his cheek against his hand. "I'm so confused about what's happening."

"I'd be too if my girlfriend suddenly turned into a banshee."

Winn blinked at her. "A what?"

Anais shrugged the term off. "A banshee. C'mon, you've never heard the stories? The Irish mythology says that a banshee is like a spirit with this killer shriek. Sorry Winn," her smirk wasn't really apologetic, Winn noted, "But your girlfriend is a banshee."

"You don't look so apologetic," his frown was a source of amusement for her.

She gave him a mock salute and headed for James' office. She was due for a new assignment and was itching to find out what it was. "Morning," she made a show of knocking as she opened the door.

"Morning," James greeted her with a kind smile. It was charming, which allowed Anais to see what Kara saw in him. Because yeah, after a week, it was also fairly easy to see Kara was in love with him. It was also easy to see James felt the same.

"So, you have an assignment for me?"

"Well, apart from the whole Golden Girl picture—"

"Not Golden Girl," Anais made a wave of her hand. "I'm so not Golden Girl."

James chuckled. "I know, but...Cat is grilling me for a picture. But, since I know that's not going to happen for a while, I thought you would like to snap pictures of a crime scene that led to the admittance of patients into the hospital due to an interesting condition."

"How do you mean interesting?" Anais crossed her arms.

"Well, the story goes these patients were admitted with electrical imbalances in the brain. It was out in the public and the scene is still scratched off as a crime scene, so…"

"Perfect opportunity to snap some pictures," Anais understood the mission, though she was still curious of the reason for the patients' condition. "Is there any leads for the case?"

James gave a shrug of his shoulders. "NCPD hasn't released anything yet. Sure we'll get something as the day goes by."

"Okay," Anais started out the office when James called her again.

"Cameras should be in, by the way."

"Ah, you know I wanted to use the one my parents bought me," Anais smiled at his intentions but there was no way she would ever leave her first camera.

"Just saying in case you wanted to be the same as the other employees…"

"Well, you and I both know that I'm nowhere near the same as the other employees," she winked at him and headed out.

Before she could reach her desk, however, she felt that same tickle in her mind again. She frowned and looked out the window. The stranger hadn't shown up again since the first time, but of course he would return. It was what Anais intended on when she gave Cat the pictures of him.

"Where are you going?" Both Kara and Winn called to her after seeing her rush to the elevator.

"Just need something outside! Be back in a bit!" she flashed them a smile just as the elevator doors slid shut. She was going straight for the rooftop, unfortunately missing the new visitor CatCo. had after the elevator opened up again in the office. She intended on finding the stranger up in the sky somewhere.

She made a quick stride across the rooftop and looked below to find no one. "I know you're out here! Don't make me search for you like I have all the time in the world!" Her calls were in vain, for no one came.

She closed her eyes and allowed a glowing orange energy mask the her face. If she was going to fly then she needed to be covered up in case any civilian caught her. With that, she rose into the air and scanned the other rooftops, as well as the streets below. Suddenly, there was a terrible wail from below - within the building - that made Anais cover her ears. She strained to keep herself in the air but when she heard glass shatter she knew someone would need her help.

Unfortunately, she knew the person who'd crashed through CatCo's wall.

"KARA!" she screamed and moved to catch her. Just as she was about to move down, something orange zipped across the street and up the building. It snatched Kara in her fall and left with her.

Anais remained in the air, now more confused than ever. "What?" she scratched the side of her head. Without hesitating, she pulled out her phone and snapped the best pictures she could of that lightning. She and Winn would definitely be going over them.

~ 0 ~

Kara didn't know what happened. One moment, Siobhan had come raging into the office and screaming that sent Kara out the glass window...and now she was suddenly in the outskirts of the city thanks to an orange blob.

Said orange blob turned out to be red, and in a suit. It was a man in a red suit who stopped her from falling yet had somehow made her catch on fire. Once she was on her feet she did her best to gather herself together. Now that Siobhan had acted out, she would need to be taken in...though by who? The police were no longer equipped to bring her into custody with those powers. It would become a DEO problem no doubt.

"You don't seem that bothered by the fact that you're on fire," the man's voice pulled her back to the present.

She looked down at herself and saw her shirt was still billowing flames. She gave it a careless pat and turned to him, rather confused with his presence. "I didn't need you to save me."

The man chuckled at her words. "You just fell from a skyscraper. So if I hadn't been there, you would have gone splat."

Kara's mind was back at CatCo. where she was sure the others were probably going out of their minds trying to find her body. At the very least, Siobhan was making an escape and it could be very difficult. "I have to get back to the city." She jumped into the air, leaving behind her clothes to become Supergirl. However, she noticed the same orange-gold flicker rushing below on ground, almost to her pace. She came to a stop and started to lower herself down, meeting the man yet again.

"How did you do that?" the man asked after catching up to her. "You're a meta too?"

Kara was completely lost. Was he seriously asking her who she was? She didn't expect to be worldwide recognized but at the very least she would've been mentioned. "I'm Supergirl," she said in a manner that seemed like it should be enough explanation. And it really should be.

It would have been if the man belonged to her world.

"You're who now?" he looked the woman over, still unsure of how she had changed from day clothes to a...costume?

"How did you save me?" Supergirl inquired, suddenly realizing he'd managed to grab her off a building like it was nothing.

"Well I... Y... You fell out a window and I... I caught you and... ran you... all the way out here-" he realized they were practically in the middle of nowhere, "-which I did NOT not mean to do but I've been working on my speed and...guess I'm faster than I thought."

"Clearly," Supergirl admitted. "But who are you?" She'd never seen that suit anywhere and she figured she'd remember it. It was all red except for the white emblem on the chest with s lightning bolt. "Wait a second, are you the one who's been stalking Anais?" her eyes narrowed on at him.

Red alert. This time it was the man's turn to say his name and think it was enough explanation. "I'm The Flash."

Supergirl did not blink. "The who now?"

"Wait, do you not know who I am?"

"Should I?"

"What about the Azalea?"

Supergirl questioned it with a look and shrugged. Wasn't that a flower?

"Green Arrow?"

No winner.

"Black Canary? Black Orchid? The Tempest?" Barry was getting more and more distraught seeing none of those names were familiar. "Firestorm? Atom? Datura? Zoom?"

"Sorry," Supergirl sheepishly smiled.

The man made the conclusion that he was not in the right place. One moment he was telling his friends he would be running even more and now suddenly he was somewhere far, far away. "Oh, boy. Not as sorry as I am." He removed his mask and released a big, weary sigh.

Kara took a moment to study him and see if maybe she knew him from somewhere (without the suit) and perhaps not recognize him too soon. Though his dark brown hair was a bit out of place from his cowl, and his green eyes were looking to the side in thought, Kara was sure she'd never seen him in her life. The red suit was just out of the question as well.

"Hey, I'm Barry Allen. I'm the fastest man alive. Also I think I am on the wrong Earth...and I'm gonna need your help."

~0~

Barry Allen had traveled to another world before, on purpose. It also included a sure way to return home. This time however, he had no idea where he was, nor how he would be returning to his own world. Luckily for Barry, Kara and her friends - who Barry had yet to meet - had a secret, small base in an abandoned office inside the building where Supergirl, known as Kara to the civilians, worked. Barry was quick to start searching for any familiar names he knew from his world who could help get him back home. He didn't even want to think what his friends would be thinking at the moment. Had he been gone for a couple minutes? Days? Years? Barry shook those thoughts out of his head.

He was sure his girlfriend would kill him if he was gone for years.

Kara, on the other hand, was oblivious to those thoughts. She had just learned there were other earths and that Barry was from another Earth. It all sounded too impossible. She paced behind Barry's chair, asking zillions of questions. "So what do you mean, you're from another Earth? What, how many other Earths are there other than this one?" Barry tried to answer her but she kept firing more questions. "You know, we're Earth."

The door of the room burst opened and in came a woman with long, straight blonde hair and clear blue eyes. She could have passed as Kara's sister had it not been for her more yellow hair and paler skin. She stopped her skipping when she saw Barry at the computers.

"Anais!" Kara turned on her alien friend.

Anais's eyes were wide in a comically way. "Kara…?"

Barry turned his chair around to meet the woman's gaze but found he was being scrutinized from head to toe. "Uuh...hi?" Her eyes seemed like they were permanently stuck being that wide. It was actually very concerning.

"Uh, Anais, let me explain," Kara cut in before things went further. She wasn't sure what Anais was thinking other than there was a strange man in their base. "Barry's the one who 'saved'—" she put quotation marks in the air, causing both women to momentarily laugh, "—me after Siobhan."

"I did," Barry made a face, but was not acknowledged.

"Also, he's from another world!"

"Universe," Barry corrected.

"Wait, wait," Anais pointed at him. "You're...you're from another universe? Like...like that multiverse theory thing Winn talked about the other day?" Winn had a lot of things to say and some of those things were not as interesting as he thought.

"Yes!" Kara exclaimed.

Anais took a moment to process this. She'd seen the lightning streak coming back into the city, and since Supergirl followed out of her own accord, Anais figured there was no danger. It allowed her to come back to the offices much more calm and headed up to their base where she presumed Kara would be. She was not expecting that man, nor the news that other worlds existed.

Wait, a second...did he just say he was…?

"And so, from this other world you're...fast?"

"Oh!" Kara made the connection. "He's just like you!"

Anais had doubt on her face. She placed a hand on her hip and looked Barry up and down. "I'm probably faster."

Barry didn't take this so well. "Hey! I don't know who you are but—"

"Thank God you don't," Anais said, just a tad wide-eyed. Oh my God she had to be dreaming but... this was too crazy even for her.

"Obviously," Barry mimicked her for a moment and elicited a small smile from her. "I'm from another universe. Literally. And I'm trying to find my friends from this world…" he trailed off and plopped down in front of the computers again to continue his search.

Anais cleared her throat, getting serious. So, this wasn't a dream. This was happening. "And let me guess? Not going so well?"

"Nope! You guys have Central City but you don't have S.T.A.R. Labs. No Cisco Ramon, no Harrison Wells, no Caitlin Snow. Nobody who's gonna be able to help me get back home," Barry leaned away from the computer, dejectedly. "I don't even see a Belén Palayta anywhere on this thing. That's the real downer here." Having his girlfriend around would make things ten times better...even if she wouldn't know him because this was, after all, a different universe. He was already dealing with angry doppelgangers.

He missed Anais' small smile.

"Hey!" Winn burst into the room along with James. "Kara, are you alright?" they knew she had to have been with her powers but the fact Supergirl hadn't made an appearance right away was what made them worry perhaps not everything was okay.

Kara nodded reassuringly at them. "Yeah, yeah. I'm fine. What happened to Siobhan?"

"Oh, well, after she went all Mariah Carey on you, she just split," Winn made a nod to the side.

"Told you she was a banshee," Anais flashed a smirk his way which didn't help him at all. Winn pointed at her, hoping she wouldn't say more.

"Oh, so we both have Mariah Carey. That's something," they heard Barry say.

James threw him a suspicious look. "Who are you?"

"Hey, sorry, I'm Barry Allen," Barry got up from his chair and went to shake hands with him.

"James Olsen. And this is Winn."

"I'm Anais!" the second blonde introduced herself with a strange excitement in her voice. "I just realized I didn't introduce myself to you. Anais A...Anais Mjorkland," she extended her hand to Barry. Barry shook her hand and missed Anais' friends exchanging mutual confused expressions behind them.

"Uh, you guys…" Kara laughed at the impossible thing she was about to repeat. "I'm not quite sure how to tell you this—well, I do know how to tell you, I just—"

James cleared his throat, hoping to get her to move on. "Kara?" Barry grinned because Kara sounded like she usually talked, or rambled, more than necessary. It reminded him of his girlfriend.

"Yeah, right, sorry," Kara shook herself to get back on track. "Uh, Barry... ...is from another universe."

Winn appeared like he had just heard it was Christmas already. "Cool! So the, the theory of the multiverse, that's true?" Barry gave the confirming nod and flinched when Winn gave a loud "AHA!" at the others. "See!? I told you! Didn't I tell you?"

Anais rolled her eyes at him. "To be fair, half the science things you say sound kind of warped to me."

Winn didn't seem very amused by her comment, much less when James and Kara nodded in agreement. "You guys are bad friends."

Barry couldn't help but think of Cisco right at that moment. "It's true."

"That seems a bit tetchy," Anais crossed her arms but then shot Winn a squinted-eyed glance. "And I just refuse to believe that he gets everything right." Winn returned the favor with his own narrowed-eyed look, though a few seconds later he was smiling smugly.

"I still can't believe it. And I'm from another planet," Kara laughed.

Barry's head whipped in her direction almost instantly. "What?"

"Oh, yeah. She's an alien," Winn pointed at Kara like Barry already was unable to see her. "And so is Anais."

"Thank you for that disclosure, Winn," Anais pursed her lips together and was subjected to a crazed look from Barry too.

"So, do you have, like, other aliens on this Earth?" Barry knew that would be tricky to wrap his head around. Metahumans, easy. But aliens? That was something else...considering both Kara and Anais looked completely human.

"What do you mean by 'this Earth'?" James asked.

"Uh... Ah, hold on," Barry looked around and found a white board with one marker below. He uncapped said marker and began to draw normal circles on the board. "All right, so, imagine there are multiple versions of Earth. Um, one where the Nazis won World War II. One where Kennedy was never assassinated…" he gestured to each circle meant to represent each different scenario.

"Ooo!" Winn once more pointed excitedly. "Oh, yeah. One where all of us are evil!"

Barry turned back, completely scowling. "Been there. Girlfriend was evil, best friends were evil so...it sucks."

"That cannot be fun," Winn scrunched his face.

"You have a girlfriend?" Anais asked with eyebrows raised together like she was suspicious.

Barry wasn't sure what her problem was but he wasn't going to spend time dwelling on it. He continued on with his explanation. "So all of these Earths occupy the same place in space, but they vibrate at a different frequency so they can't see one another.

"So, theoretically speaking, or not so in your case," Anais gestured to him, "If someone were to go...impossibly fast...it's possible to open, like, a breach, and then travel between worlds?"

"Yes."

"Interesting…" Anais pondered on the concept on her own. She'd have to try that in her training sessions. Though she was sure if she traveled through worlds without permission, her parents would kill her. "I'm a speedster too but none of my people - as far as I know since I didn't grow up on my home planet - have ever done that."

"There's alien speedsters too...cool," Barry felt like his head would be spinning soon if they kept dropping more alien facts about themselves.

"What about you, though? You're human," Anais leaned forwards with curiosity, "How did you get your powers? You weren't born with them, right?"

"Um, so, I was struck by lightning the same night a particle accelerator exploded. And I became a superhero," Barry explained and suddenly Anais laughed. Had he said something funny?

She stopped laughing when she noticed his serious face. "Oh, you were serious?"

"Kind of, yeah..."

"Sorry, aren't humans supposed to die if they get struck by lightning?" Anais looked to the others for some help.

"Livewire didn't do that," Winn reminded but Anais had no idea who that was.

"Yeah, but that was different," Kara acted as an intermediate for that," James' explanation didn't help her either.

"Let's just call it a miracle," Barry said before they entered some sort of argument.

"Still weird…" Anais tilted her head at him. "And so, you can just...pop back and forth between universes?"

"Uh, no actually. This happened by accident," Barry released a breath, still confused on how the hell he managed to do that. "I have traveled through time before by accident. I've never jumped parallel dimensions without meaning to. So until I can figure this out, I'm stuck here."

"Well, don't worry. Don't worry at all because we're gonna help you," Kara backtracked to her friends, everyone onboard save a weary James.

"First things first, food. I have to consume about 10,000 calories a day…" Barry began but Anais finished for him.

"Because you burn through your calories incredibly fast, right?"

"Yes…"

"Mhm," Anais smiled her first genuine smile. Now like that, she seemed like a friendly person. "Believe me, Kara and I know places. Well, I know them because Kara knows them. I just moved here."

Kara hummed as ideas started invading her mind. "Mr. Sherbets?"

Anais quickly agreed. "Mr. Sherbets."

Barry looked between them, frankly their 'idea faces' scared him a bit. "What's a Mr—"

"Do you like donuts?" Kara asked.

"Who doesn't like donuts?"

"That settles it!" Anais beamed. "James, I'm taking a personal day!"

"Wait, what—" James didn't get to finish because the woman had already led Barry and Kara out.

~0~

Kara was heading for her desk to pick up her purse when Cat noticed her from her office.

"Ker-rah, you're alive," Cat called from her desk, merely raising her stark blue eyes from her laptop.

Kara had forgotten that everyone in the office had seen her crash through glass because of Siobhan. She hurried into Cat's office to explain. "Ms. Grant, don't worry, I was rescued…"

Anais, Barry, Winn and James followed Kara in just to back her up in case Cat asked too many questions.

"Stop stating the obvious. You're in the middle of breaking news and I want you to act like it," Cat spoke with a sharpness usual to her. "And yes, yes, another one of my ex-employees went all revengey. But... there's a new superhero in National City." She turned over her laptop to reveal a perfectly clear picture of a red blur going down a street. "Miss Allen, you are proving to be quite gifted." Cat was truly dazzled with the work Anais had given her so far.

Kara shot Anais a look but Anais innocently smiled back. There was no way in hell she was going to be fired anytime soon with these pictures.

Barry was staring at Anais in confusion. "Wait, your name…"

"This is huge!" Cat went on with her story. "I thought it would be Golden Girl but the color scheme is off. So it has to be direct competition for Golden Girl and Supergirl" she waved a hand in the air, practically seeing the headlines now.

Though no picture of Golden Girl was present, the city deduced she was a speedster of some sort. And by the city, it was really Cat who was giving out all the answers.

"He doesn't have to be because he's probably not," Anais chimed in. "He's not as fast...trust me."

"Um," Barry tilted his head in her way, offended. "I would think he is."

Anais remained with that innocent, yet tighter, smile. "I would think he's not. But I'm sure they're open to having a sidekick?"

Kara kept looking between the two since she was in the middle of them. Her mouth opened several times to make an interjection and hopefully stop them from actually arguing, however Barry reached his limit before she could so.

"Why a sidekick!?" Barry erupted into a streak of alternatives so that they could both come out looking good in the eyes of this city. Why not an ally? Even a new partner, maybe!?" Cat loudly cleared her throat, making him stop. Her gaze was far too intense for him. "Speaking was the wrong choice, I see that now…"

Cat's eyebrow raised but it was still hard for him to decide what she was. Angry? Upset?

"All five of you standing there doing nothing, you look like the attractive yet non-threatening, racially diverse cast of a CW show," Cat then directed her gaze specifically on Barry. "Who are you?"

"Uh, he's my cousin," Anais quickly supplied and had the support of her friends. "Barry Allen. He's just visiting…"

"Mm," Cat gave the matter no importance. She snapped her fingers specifically at Anais and James. "I'm going to need a better image for this speedster. Preferably one that shows the face. Or is that also un-doable?" her eyes landed on Anais and James since she was still waiting for that picture of her Golden Girl.

"Consider it done," Anais said without a second doubt. James shook his head.

"Couple that with an exclusive on Golden Girl."

Anais faltered. "Consider...almost...done…"

"And Ker-rah, there are a lot of people who wanna know what happened. Speak to no one. You're mine. I will let you know when you should reveal this exclusive information," Cat turned her laptop to continue working. "Now, I have to name this hero. I was thinking about 'The Whoosh' or 'The Red Streak' or 'The Blur.'"

How Barry missed his friend Cisco at the moment. Cat didn't possess his ability to give good names. "What about The Flash?" he decided to help her. "I'm just saying, I think that's a pretty cool superhero name. Right?"

Cat looked to the side and tested the name out. "The Flash? Sounds like someone whose only superpower is jumping out of an alley in a trench coat." Anais and Kara covered their mouths to hide their laughs while Barry resisted the urge to snap back. "No, I want mystery, I want intrigue, I want the Blur. Boys, be gone. Girl-" she pointed a perfectly manicured finger at Kara, "-stay."

"I'm getting donuts for tonight," Anais warned Kara as they left her in the office. "And cookies, and brownies - oh, and cupcakes!"

"Anais, what about that picture Cat wants?" James stopped her on her way to her desk just outside his office. "And you still have that crime scene I told you to check out."

"Um, well," Anais turned around fast that Barry bumped into her, "if Barry's willing then I can snap that easy-peasy no problem."

"Ah, I, uh...I guess?" Barry couldn't find a problem with that. He hoped to be out of the city (and the world) before people actually got to recognizing him.

"There we go!" Anais clapped and glanced at James again. "I should get the hospital thing done in five minutes tops too."

"You just started working here, you can't take personal time," Winn had to point out but then he got to thinking himself and entered a state of doubt. "...can we?"

"Not unless you want Cat to go after you," James' warning was enough to make Winn backtrack for his desk. "Anais," his more stern look made the blonde in question shift. There was something else she wasn't telling him, but he doubted she would spill in the middle of the office.

"Please James, can I just go already?" she asked quieter. "I'll get the pictures, trust me."

In the end, James gave a small nod. He warned her to be careful, and that made Barry wonder if he should take offence or not. As if he could hurt a super-strong alien, or anyone else for that matter.

~0~

Anais kept her word to take Barry to 'Mr. Sherbet's' that afternoon. As soon as she snapped the pictures James wanted from the crime scene, she led Barry into the cafe shop. Though she was still new to the city, the cafe shop had become her daily stop for snacks. The employees were already getting to know her.

She just got an unforeseen call on the way that she couldn't let pass. "Yeah, Mom, no it wasn't me. You read right. But I'll tell you more about it later. Talk to you later," Anais sheepishly hung up and put her phone away. "Sorry, my parents saw the picture Cat already published and they thought it was me."

"She already got that posted?" Barry got to wondering who was the real speedster, them or Cat Grant.

"Oh yeah," Anais took a seat at the counter and waved a hand to get the attention of an employee. "She's fast like that when it comes to superhero claimage."

"So she's done it to you, then?"

"Eh…" Anais swayed her head, "I haven't really let her. It's not quite up to me yet to reveal myself to the city. It's up to the government and I guess my parents…"

"O-okay," Barry wasn't sure how to respond to that, even if he did understand exactly what it meant. He chalked it off as alien related, which then prompted him to ask, "So, wait, when you said your parents, you meant…"

Anais caught on to what he meant and chuckled. "Adoptive parents. They adopted me when I was really young."

Unknowingly, she got Barry to sympathize with her in that one second. "What happened?" he found himself asking before he could think it through. He regretted it when she answered.

"She, um, was murdered...by some humans…"

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

Anais' warm smile only made him feel somewhat less guilty. He knew exactly what it felt like when people asked him what happened to his parents and now here he was doing the same to this girl.

"It's fine, Barry, really," she promised him. Since no employees had come by despite her initial gesture, she called to one of the men instead. "Miles? Can I get a dozen cupcakes? I honestly don't care what flavor they are. Oh, and donuts. Kara's basically gonna kill me if I don't come back with new donuts."

"You ate them already?" Miles blinked. "But she bought those last night. Between you and Kara you'll run us out of our stock!"

"Can you just...?" Anais felt her face warm up with embarrassment. The fact he had said that not so quietly made it worse for her. It didn't help when Miles said something more.

"I gotta give you bravery points for being so open about your big appetite on a date," his glance at Barry sent the two speedsters into stammering states.

"We are not on a date!" Anais practically shouted. "No thank you!"

"Yeah, I have a girlfriend!" Barry added on, loud and clear.

"Honestly, Miles, I'm calling the manager!"

Miles laughed but did ultimately apologize for his assumption and promised them some sweet cinnamon rolls on the house.

Anais shook her head. "Sorry about that," she said after Miles left. "Does your world also have the, uh, 'women and men can't be just friends' thing too?"

"Yeah, unfortunately," Barry nodded. "Hey, about your name...you're not like related to me, right? Not a secret wife or anything? No offence, I mean, you're pretty and, yeah, but, I-I just…" he was stuttering and rambling now. "I have a girlfriend."

"I'm not," Anais reassured. "Total coincidence. And yeah, I get that you have a girlfriend. By now I'm sure the entire shop knows that."

"Sorry," Barry flushed and cleared his throat. "I just...wanted to make that clear...for everyone."

"Mission accomplished," Anais rested her elbows on the counter then put her chin over her palms. "It's not easy being in a world different to your own, huh?"

Barry knew where she was coming from and sheepishly nodded his head. "Yeah. I-I still don't understand how it happened. I mean, I was just running and then-then…" he stopped talking when he noticed Anais' sudden movement out of her chair. Her head snapped to the entrance doors. "Are you alright?"

"He's doing it again," she whispered.

"Doing…" Barry checked the entrance but there was nothing significant about then. "Who's doing—"

Anais ran off, leaving him to call and chase after her (much like Winn had two days ago). She had stopped at the end of the street, but her eyes were scanning the streets, ears keenly tuned in to anything suspicious.

"What's going on?" Barry caught up with her and wondered if there was some sort of attack he wasn't seeing at the moment.

"I-I'm sorry, you should go back into the cafe shop," she said distractedly, taking a step forwards.

"Why? What's happening?"

Anais spotted the same figure running away from her, only this time the man started running. Before she took a step forwards, the man sped past her and Barry, causing a familiar force of wind to push them back. Barry barely had time to process there was another speedster with them when Anais took after this new speedster with her own speed.

"Maybe I haven't left Central City," Barry rubbed the back of his neck as he stared after the two speedsters. With nothing much but to help Anais in whatever he could, he raced after them.

Anais was in tuned to catching this man who, for some reason, thought she was his personal plaything. She could feel his presence in her mind in that form of a tickle. The whispers were faint despite her close to him. She was just behind him and yet nothing about his back seemed special. He was just another civilian by appearance.

The man went up a building, and despite Anais never truly learning how to do that in her time of training, she didn't hesitate to follow. Midway, however, she felt her balance going off. Before she knew it, she lost her way and plummeted down. Thankfully Barry had been right behind her and was able to catch her and continue with the way up to the rooftop.

"Are you alright?" he set her down on her feet but despite their impromptu chase, her gaze was still searching for that mysterious man.

"Yeah, I'm—OW!" she felt an immense pain jab at her head. She fell to her knees, hands clutching her head with her eyes shut.

Barry wasn't sure what was going on but he assumed it was that man making her feel that pain. He looked up and saw the man in the air, but the sun's rays were shadowing the man's appearance.

"He's in-in m-my head!" Anais cried, shaking her head as if it would shake off the pain.

Barry glared at the man and decided to use his own Earth 1 tricks. He raced in a circle, charging up until he could produce enough electricity for lightning. Anais' eyes widened as Barry kept going in circles. The pain in her head had gradually subsided but she knew it was just because the man up in the air was probably coming up with something worse to hit her with.

Barry finally stopped when he had enough power and threw a lightning bolt at the man. He was mighty satisfied when it knocked the man backwards, electrifying him while he spun in the air.

"Oh my God..." Anais' voice made him turn around to see her slowly standing up. Her blonde hair was all over her face but she'd perfectly seen what he'd done. "How...how did you do that!?"

"Uuh..." Barry flushed at her awed face. "I...somebody taught me. Has no one taught you that?"

Anais shook her head fast. "No! I've only just started actually training! But nobody..." A laugh momentarily took her over as she hurried up to him with her gaze in the sky where the man used to be, "Nobody's taught me how to do that!"

"Well, if you'd like," Barry started, intending on offering himself as a brief teacher when suddenly she shot into the air. "Aaaand she can fly...cool..." She's an alien, flying is probably part of the package deal or something, he thought to himself.

Anais didn't waste a second and delivered a second attack at the man. Golden energy swirled around her hands and put together created a mass streak of energy that shot forwards. The man was hit again but when Anais fired heat vision from her eyes, the man did the same.

It was a struggle since it seemed like the two were matched in the heat vision department. Suddenly, the man ducked down, leaving Anais to fall forwards in the air. In that second-span, the man fired a jet of orange energy that threw Anais down to the rooftop. Even if Barry wanted to catch her, the fall had been too fast to process. Anais fell with a harsh thud. The ground cracked with her force.

The man watched her for a second from the air then flew away.

"Anais!" Barry quickly went to Anais' side and hoped she came with a fast healing ability too because that kind of fall would require immense medical attention. Anais landed on her side and despite the bits of cement stuck on her clothes and face, she seemed fine, if not a little groggy.

"I really hate that guy," she swallowed hard then made a face as she tasted cement on her tongue.

"Who was he?" Barry helped her stand up.

"...I have no frikin idea," she glared at the sky, the man no longer being in sight.

~ 0 ~

When Kara called Anais to notify her presence, as well as Barry's, were needed at the DEO, Anais knew there was something new that was wrong in the city. It didn't take much to convince Barry to help them - it was apparently one of his jobs anyways.

The D.E.O. turned out to be even better than STAR Labs. The moment Barry got there he sped all around the rooms he could just to check them out then finally stopped in the main control room to bask in it. "Yo, this place is amazing, all right?" he laughed, still too excited to calm down. Anais, Kara (as Supergirl) and Winn laughed at him.

"Wow, so...you're a dork too," Anais concluded with a shake of her head.

Barry stopped laughing momentarily to point and say, "You know, I get the feeling you and my girlfriend Belén would get along really well."

Anais smirked.

"Okay," Kara raised her hands to get their attention. "So here's the situation. There's a villain I foguht a while ago named Livewire. She escaped from our custody with the help of Siobhan—"

"The banshee that threw Kara out of CatCo.," Anais said for Barry's benefit. She then shot Winn an apologetic glance. He was taking Siobhan's new evil route a little hard.

"Yes," Kara continued on, "And now they're probably both about to have a vendetta against me and Cat. We're going to need a lot of help."

"Which is why I brought Barry over of course," Anais shrugged.

"And, actually, you said this place could help get me home," Barry pointed out and received a big, innocent smile in return.

"Yes, and while we put these two crazies back I can have my godparents look into it, yeah? They're scientists and they really know their stuff about molecular force and all that crap involving speed."

"Supergirl?" a petite, dark-haired woman in black, emerged from the side and was flanked by several employees. Lucy Lane looked far different when she was in DEO uniform. "Anais? Who is this masked man? Alien?"

"Metahuman," Barry waved a hand, a bit nervous of all the 'guards' probably just waiting orders to take aim on him.

"Well, we have protocol for visitors at the DEO, Supergirl," Lucy said, still waiting for an explanation.

"Lucy, it's fine," Kara turned around, making a gesture for the guards to leave them. "He's here to help us find that Livewire woman."

Lucy turned her gaze into an even more authoritative one. "You were supposed to be in two hours ago for your training."

Anais opened her mouth as if to give a proper explanation for her tardiness, but at the end she closed it and smiled. "I was busy."

"I'll remember that next time you press to go out there," Lucy retorted with the same smile. She then looked over her to Barry. "I'm allowing it because we do need all the help we can get. So what do I call you? Speedy?"

Barry pulled his hood off and waved once more. "Barry Allen."

"Lucy Lane. I hope you're bringing more to the table than just quick reflexes."

"As it just so happens, catching criminals is both my night and day job," Barry smiled to himself but quickly added, for reference, "I'm a CSI," for everyone's benefit. "By the way, do you guys have a crime lab here?"

"Yeah. My sister's lab's right over there," Kara nodded and started leading the way.

"Wait, you have a sister?" Barry's voice did a high pitch much like a child would. "Where is she at?"

"I wish I knew," Kara admitted with a small sigh.

~ 0 ~

After getting introduced to the D.E.O's system, Barry got to work on helping Kara find her missing enemy. It turned out Winn was definitely Barry's friend, Cisco Ramon's, counterpart in this new world. God help him if the two men ever met each other.

"Guys," Anais' voice drew Barry, Kara and Winn in. She had just walked in with Lucy and James, the former looking very expectant.

Barry knew that look all too well and decided to present what they had so far. "So I wrote an algorithm to monitor variations in meter usage around the city, and it all leads to that warehouse," he pointed to the blinking dot on the screen behind him. "I see bad guys love their abandoned warehouses on your Earth, too, huh?"

"Isn't that kind of like, universal, for villains?" asked Anais with a faint trace of amusement. Barry nodded, smiling to himself.

"I'll authorize a drop team," Lucy turned to leave but Kara stopped her.

"No. No, no! She's too dangerous!" she stopped and motioned to Barry. "Let's go."

"What? Just like that?" frowned Anais. "You're not meant—"

"Barry!" Kara's voice went over Anais and anyone else who would speak up.

The speedster quickly got up from his chair and got ready to listen. "So, what's the plan?"

Kara had a plan alright. "Catch the bad girl, bring her back here so she can't hurt anyone. 85% chance of punching."

"Okay, that I get," Barry nodded. "But like, what's the plan? Maybe we can overload her somehow."

"Yeah," Winn remembered the last time they fought Livewire, "What about the Industrial Capacitor you were gonna trap her in last time?"

Kara quickly shot the idea down. "No, no. It went busto."

"Well, Dynamic Duo will build you a new one," Anais shrugged and clapped Winn on the shoulder, the man agreeing fairly fast.

Kara still disagreed. "No. If we wait, we lose her. If we lose her, God knows what kind of damage she could do, or who she could hurt! I defeated her once before. I can do it again. With your help…" she turned to Barry with hopeful looks.

"Kara…" Anais stepped forwards but the blonde Kryptonian suddenly pointed a warning finger at her to stay put.

"You're staying here!"

"But—"

"Barry, let's go!" Kara marched right out, leaving Anais with the words in her mouth. Barry awkwardly, and confusedly, followed after Kara.

"Lucy…" Anais turned to the woman in question pleadingly. "I can—"

But Lucy stopped her with a hand in front of Anais's face. "No, you're still in training." And with that, Lucy left her.

From the main control room, they monitored Kara's location and, therefore, Barry's. As it turned out, Livewire had chosen an old warehouse just across the city. And because it was abandoned, there were no security cameras to hack into to better monitor.

"What about the streets?" Anais planted herself on the chair next to Winn. "Can we see better from the streets?"

"Um…" Winn began to try and hack into the nearby camera streets but by that time, Livewire had already introduced her newest partner: Silver Banshee.

"Winn!" Anais went like it was his fault. "That's your psycho girlfriend!"

"It's not like I told her to become...weird...like that…" Winn couldn't even acknowledge the fact his girlfriend, or rather ex-girlfriend now, Siobhan, had turned evil.

"Banshees are evil in mythology," Anais reminded.

"Whatever she is, she needs to be taken in," Lucy's voice drew the two back to business.

It took about one second for the fight to actually begin, and unfortunately it was not going good for their side. Because Kara was unprepared, there was no strategy to use and Barry was out of his element. He had yet to meet a meta with a killer cry and simply didn't know this 'Livewire' could recharge herself with his powers like a battery. He could really use his own team right about now…

"They're getting creamed out there," Winn mumbled and looked to the side only to find Anais staring with wide eyes. Her face was panicked, unusually so, and so suddenly she was gone. "What? Where—"

Lucy had felt the small whip of wind and immediately knew what happened. "Anais!"

Out in the abandoned warehouse, Barry had just been thrown over a wooden box that crumbled with him. That one hurt. Silver Banshee's scream smacked Supergirl against the opposite wall. As the two were getting back, hopefully, on their feet, Livewire began a crazed hum between her lips. Lightning crackled around her hands as she made a round in the middle.

"Which one should I get first…?" she pretended to think about even though she was already turning in Supergirl's direction. But above came a crash and suddenly Livewire was slammed straight first against the ground.

Siobhan, who now went by Silver Banshee, went to use her sonic scream but Anais drew an arm and released a bright blast of golden beam directly at her. Supergirl had finally gotten back on her feet and was awed yet worried for her friend who seemed a bit...out of it. Anais had an odd determination on her face that seemed to want to protect. Funny, she had only worked with Anais for a short while now and had never seen that face.

Livewire rolled on her back and attacked by surprise with a thunder blow that threw Anais away. There was a loud crash as the blonde hit the wall and fell over an already crumbling shelf.

"No!" Supergirl flew over to make sure Anais was fine and gave the perfect escape for Livewire and Silver Banshee.

~ 0 ~

Barry never knew he would meet someone who could outmatch his adoptive father in the 'parenty scolding lecture' thing until he saw Lucy Lane going at it with Anais. After returning to the D.E.O with Anais, the blonde woman was taken to the medbay and subjected to various tests and observations. It reminded Barry of his early days at STAR Labs where basically everything he did was recorded and observed.

"Hey," Kara met with Barry just outside the medbay. "How are you doing?"

"Well, aside from my eardrums ringing like church bells, I'm okay," Barry gave a light shrug of his shoulders. The injuries he'd gotten from hitting the walls and the furniture vanished by the time they returned.

Kara apologetically smiled at him. "I'm sorry I made you rush in on Livewire without a plan. I didn't know she was gonna have a cohort."

"That's the thing about being a superhero. You have to somehow be prepared for the unexpected," Barry said, and couldn't count the many times he had definitely not been prepared for something out in the field.

"Something happened to me a few weeks ago. I was exposed to this substance that made me crazy. I did a lot of horrible things. And when I was helping people as Supergirl, I was... I was so happy. And now that the people don't want me to help them, I feel lost. And I'm in such a hurry to prove myself again, I'm making stupid mistakes. Like today."

"This is gonna sound ironic coming from me but, um, you need to slow down. Just keep doing your good work," Barry advised with a true heart honesty." Don't worry about the rest. The public will forgive you, I promise."

"How can you be so sure?"

"'Cause the same thing happened to me."

Kara blinked. "Really? So what finally fixed things?"

"Time. When you're used to fixing things with brute strength, or in my case, amazing speed, it's hard to accept that there are things out of our control."

Kara took a breath and nodded, hoping the words would stick by her for the next time she felt bad. With the silence between her and Barry, the increasing voices from the medbay started to carry over.

"We must inform them, Miss Lane," one of the examiners was saying while Anais, seemingly more panicked than ever, shouted 'no!'.

Lucy nodded her head, calm despite the mood over them. "Yes, I understand."

"No!" Anais jumped off the bed when the examiners began to leave with Lucy. "You can't do that!"

"I'm sorry Anais, it's out of my hands—" Lucy stumbled back when Anais sped around the room to snatch every clipboard holding her information. "Anais."

"You can't tell them," Anais insisted. "Th-they won't let me work with Supergirl if they know I went out before—"

"You were ready?" Lucy finished for her. "Well, you should have thought of that before you went out. I'm sorry." She gave the nod for the examiners to take back the clipboards and finally leave.

Anais rubbed her face when her arms became empty and stomped back to the bed.

"Anais, what's wrong?" Kara walked in with Barry behind her. "The yelling…?"

"She clearly got told she shouldn't have gone out," Barry said. "I know that. Went through it...still do…"

Anais gave him a small, sideways smile. "Yeah...you would…" Barry, in return, gave a questioning look at the way she had said...like she knew him.

Kara, on the other hand, didn't notice. All she knew was that her friend was in distress. "Anais, you shouldn't have gone out like that…"

"I know!" Anais threw her arms in the air. "And now that I have, my parents are going to be informed about it and...knowing my Dad, he's going to overreact and bring me back home."

"What's the problem if you went out?" asked Barry.

"I'm not technically supposed to go out until I finish training," Anais explained. "It's part of my contract with this place...with the government…"

"Why'd you go then if you knew you could get into this big of a trouble?"

"Because you were in trouble," Anais said, shrugging her shoulders. "You...guys...were hurt, and I had to help."

"This is my fault," Kara sighed and shook her head.

"It's not, I made the decision," Anais promised her and glanced at Barry. "And if I had to do it again I would. No doubt."

"You're such a good friend," Kara reached out and hugged her.

"Yeah I am," Anais smiled in agreement. She smiled specifically at Barry for a second before Winn came in.

"Are you alright?" he'd been barred from talking to her due to the fact she was rushed directly into the medbay. "I looked away for like a second and—"

"I'm sorry," Anais plopped down on the side of the medbed. "I just can't get anything right today."

Both Kara and Winn exchanged confused glances. Of course they still didn't know what Anais went through earlier. Barry cleared his throat behind them, gaining their attention, though he was looking straight at Anais. "You should just tell them." He understood what she was trying to do - keep secrets about the dangerous things that'd happened to her - and he told her before that he'd done the same and it blew up in his face. It was funny, actually, how much Anais reminded Barry of himself when he first started out as the Flash. He felt kind of odd being the teacher now. He definitely felt older.

"Tell us what?" chorused Kara and Winn.

Anais felt her eyes tear up now that she was thinking about both failed attempts to be a hero. "He came back, Kara." Her voice had gone shaky, but it wasn't clear if it was out of fear or weariness. "He made me chase him around the city and then-then he hit me with his powers, and I-I was weak!"

Kara looked back at Barry for some confirmation. Barry gave a silent nod. She hurried to Anais side and set her hands on the woman's shoulders. "Anais, why didn't you say something?"

"I'm confused," Winn raised his index finger in the air. "Say something about what? Who did you chase?"

Anais rubbed some loose tears from her face and sniffed. "Remember that guy I ran after the other day?" he nodded. "He came back today. He's a speedster too and he can fly, he's telepathic, and he his this sort of power like mine…"

"And you went after him on your own!?" Winn exclaimed.

"I wasn't alone," Anais smiled a teary-eyed smile at Barry.

"And you don't have to be alone ever again," Kara reminded her. "Just because you moved here to be independent doesn't mean you have to take things up on your own."

"It's just difficult processing," Anais sniffed again, hoping to calm herself down. "I haven't even exposed myself to the city and I already have an enemy? That's got to be a record."

"Well, you know what, we'll double up on our training," Kara decided then. "If this guy wants to fight then he'll get a fight."

"Yeah, and you know what?" Winn came to Anais' other side on the bed. "Your suit's done," he whispered and proceeded to smile widely. "In case you wanted to take it out for a spin, or…"

Anais laughed as did Kara.

In that moment, watching the trio of friends converse over their course of plan, Barry really missed Belén and their friends. Being a world apart literally hurt his insides. I wonder what Belén is doing right now, he wondered. She'd been waiting to congratulate him at the end of his race and he'd strung himself into another world. His heart ached for his Bells.

[spookyspaghettisundae]

Courtesy Extended to Unexpected Guests

The sun set. It crowned the horizon like a dying fire while heavy clouds encroached, and darkness crept up on the world of Charlie Walker.

The sands of time had started eating away at the old house he lived in. Just like his fence, which storms and sun had weathered over the years. He took pride in maintaining the place that his father and his father’s father had occupied for generations. But living all alone in a big place like this was bound to chip away at its once sterling white coating of paint.

Despite the dying light, Charlie continued to strip and sand down the peeling coat of paint from just one of those fences just outside the big old farmhouse, a building too big for a man of his advanced age to live alone in now. The last of their three kids had moved away, Genevieve passed away a few years ago, and his only company left was the Miniature Schnauzer Ol’ Willie, a sturdy dog who had seen enough years to be getting close to death’s door. A mirror of Charlie’s self.

Winter came early this year. A single stalk of stubborn grain growing on the fields lazily swayed in the breeze. The toil of shipping grain still filled Charlie’s days, and the straggler there reminded him of the work that awaited him tomorrow.

Ol’ Willie sat on the porch and watched Charlie work on the fence. The farmer squinted at the spot on the fence he persistently rubbed away at with sandpaper wrapped around a handy block of wood. The farmer wanted to get as much done for the day as he could before it rained again.

The dog raised his head and his ears perked up, followed by a frightened whine. Charlie paused from scrubbing down the old wood with his sandpaper block. He focused.

He had heard it too.

Something on the wind.

A sound he had never heard before.

He waited. And waited. And waited.

Waiting happened to be something Charlie was rather good at. Over a warm meal at a table, he would tell you he was an impatient man. And although he used to be quite active and rebellious in his younger days, having marched in peaceful protest to demand the end of a war, time and family and military service had taught him wisdom and disciplined him in patience.

So, he listened, standing still. That stalk of grain continued to sway. More violently this time, in a strong gust of wind.

The sound returned, punctuated by Ol’ Willie’s ears twitching in response.

It sounded like the hum of electricity, blending with a sweet musical tone. All so subtle that you had to pay attention.

And it came from the roof of his own house. Charlie squinted again to see if he could spot anything unusual up there, but nothing looked out of the ordinary.

Charlie set his jaw and approached Willie on the porch.

“There’s a saying in England,” he started saying to the dog in his best attempt at a Sean Connery impression. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.”

He smiled at the dog and idly chucked the sandpaper block onto the veranda table where it landed amidst other small tools.

Willie looked around—and more importantly—looked tense. Charlie clapped his hands together and wiped them against each other, causing the wood and paint to explode away in a tiny cloud of dust.

“S'all good, Willie. I’ll go check,” Charlie said.

He hunched over and groaned from the movement and patted and scratched his dog behind the ears.

Willie did not calm down but had gotten old enough that he remained seated on the porch like a watchdog keeping his place as loyal lookout.

The floorboards thumped with a jilted rhythm as Charlie limped his way through his home, hauling himself up the stairs and gripping the railing tight enough to make his knuckles go white.

That strange sound hummed in the air. Stronger than before.

Closer.

On the second story, he approached one of the windows and opened it up.

The humming stopped.

Charlie blinked and poked his head outside to see the other side of his roof.

Something sat on the edge there. Or someone. The clouds had fully overtaken the sky, the sun vanished beyond the horizon. Charlie squinted again, trying to determine more than vague shapes and a silhouette.

Looked like a small woman, or a little girl. Legs dangling off the side of the roof.

Clearing his throat in an abrasive and phlegmy fashion did not draw her attention.

“Excuse me? Ma'am? Could you please not sit on my roof? I'mma willin’ to overlook your trespassin’ if you just come on in inside and get down from there. You might get yourself hurt if you take a fall and I wouldn’t wanna have to deal with that,” Charlie said.

No response. The dangling legs barely moved. What looked like a long, disheveled mop of hair framed a head so densely that Charlie could see no face from this angle. She did not extend him courtesy of showing him her face, just staring out into the distance and ignoring him and igniting a deep-rooted anger that Charlie had learned to control over the years.

He groaned and looked in front of him, seeing if he had enough foothold to securely get onto his roof without taking a potentially lethal tumble himself.

A few seconds, a sharp intake of breath, and a surprisingly adroit motion later; he had hoisted himself onto the rooftop and clutched the edge of the roofing above the window he had climbed out of. In his mind’s eye, he pictured himself falling, but refused to believe that.

“Ma'am,” he said, not asking anymore but automatically falling into the tone he would use to address his kids when they did something bad, or to reprimand subordinates—or to show a woman her place.

But she was gone. Some small and unrecognizable object sat on the edge of the rooftop where she had been sitting mere seconds before.

Charlie’s face contorted in confusion and he looked left. Then he looked right. He risked a glance off the rooftop’s edge and towards the ground.

Nobody.

“What in tarnation?” he muttered.

Whatever she had left on the rooftop, he could not just leave it lying out there. Worst case, it was something that might draw lightning or cause a fire. He would be having none of that. Not after all these years of keeping this place up and running.

Charlie carefully balanced along the roof, making his way to where the mystery woman used to be. Ol’ Willie emitted a short whine from the porch, but Charlie had neither the time nor the nerves to look down, owed to his dizzying fear of heights.

Once he reached the spot, he squinted so hard that his entire face transformed into a roadmap of wrinkles.

“What in tarnation?” he muttered again, this time more labored and forced than before, as it escaped his lips while he carefully hunched down to pick up the object—whatever it was.

Strange sensations tickled his touch before his eyes could catch up. Cold to the touch, abrasive and bristly, sopping wet and spongy. When he pinched it between thumb and index finger to lift it, water dripped down from the clump. First in a thin stream that reminded him of someone urinating, then in desolate little drops.

He was holding what looked like a tangle of copper wire, long black human hair—like hers, not like Genevieve's—and coarse clothing fabric. It vaguely reminded Charlie of hairballs that the old farm cats used to vomit out, but far too big and heavy. Also, mostly because this indecipherable mass was disgusting.

Worse, though, it reminded him of the first war he had served in, the one in which he had turned from a choir boy into a cold-blooded killer. He lacked an explanation as to why it reminded him of that, but it caused a lot of memories and festering trauma to well back up in his gut.

He chucked the clump off the side of the roof, sending it to plummet down to the ground outside the house. A squelching sound indicated its landing. The sound reminded him of something, but he could not figure out what, exactly.

Charlie turned and took care to balance his way back to the window he had emerged from. He kept his eyes on the roofing underneath his shaky shoes, careful not to gaze over the edge of the shingles and behold the drop down.

Only by the time he was climbing back inside through the window did he register how fast and hard his heart had been pounding. Over the last couple of years, his sons had helped clean and maintenance the roof, leaving him to wonder if his sense of vertigo had gotten worse.

On the way down through his home, he flicked the nearest light switch. The corresponding light bulb did not respond. He flicked the switch up and down a few more times but no light went on.

Frustration over yet another thing to do mounted in his chest and exploded out of Charlie in a string of profanities that would have made the young and naive Reverend Huxley blush.

The world inside his house consisted only of vague dark shapes and silhouettes, but Charlie was familiar enough with it to navigate it in pitch-black darkness—he had lived here for most of his life.

The rhythm of his heart began to race again when his sense of touch betrayed that walls and doorways did not line up entirely the way they should. His old man and he had restructured and renovated some parts of the upper floor, subtly changing the layout of the place, but Charlie’s splayed fingers now touched a wall where there should be none and a doorway that had not been there before.

Chalking it up to his fear of heights still making his head spin, locked-up thoughts trying to escape that dark prison in the back of his mind, and not having navigated his own home in the dark for a long time, he pressed on.

Eventually found the stairs.

“Willie?” he called out.

Charlie took one step down at a time, his trembling hand finding purchase on the bannister and gripping it tightly as he descended.

Some part of him could hear Willie’s paws clicking and tapping against the floorboards and the heavy breathing of the old dog, but that was all only memory and imagination.

Empty silence permeated the home, orchestrated by Charlie’s heavy breathing.

At the bottom of the stairs, his fingers caressed another light switch, and he tried that one as well, only to find it was not working, either. He swallowed another outburst of cuss words and made his way to where dim light was emanating—the open front door, for even with the clouds, the darkness outside remained brighter than the tomb-like, lightless indoors of the house.

“Willie,” he repeated, not asking anymore. Demanding. “Where in tarnation are ya?”

Pausing on the porch outside, met by a cool breeze that carried the smell of rain, Charlie squinted again, looking around for Willie.

Instead, he found a pile of—

A puddle of—

It reeked of—

Charlie almost choked.

Where he had last seen Willie sitting on guard, only an indescribable mass remained. Something revolting, like a glob of stew piled up in chunks and viscous, oozing matter. Like his loyal friend had been liquefied. The first smell to hit his nose was musty, then he registered how the pile stank of vomit and feces.

The stench made Charlie recoil, stumbling back a few steps and hitting the back of his head on the doorframe hard enough to see an explosion of stars behind his eyes for a split second, but not hard enough for him to check for bleeding.

In a flash, lights went on inside the house. Every light switch he had flipped only responded now with absurd delay. It shed light upon the horrid mass where Willie used to be.

Charlie refused to believe that was his beloved dog, but the sheer amount of whatever it was resembled the size and dimensions of Willie. A reddish-brown steam rose from the remains.

Covering his mouth and nose, Charlie felt something he had not felt in a long, long time.

His eyes burned and his vision blurred as tears welled up in them, doing nothing to quench that fire and leaving everything to remind him of the hurt. That mass was not just Willie. It was everybody. Everybody he had lost, or forsaken, or betrayed, all in one.

Charlie fled. Not running, but stumbling, bracing himself against walls, fighting the need of his old aching knees to buckle and give out under his own weight. Escaping both from the putrid pile of molten Willie, and away from the memories that threatened to return.

This escape came to an abrupt stop in the brightly lit kitchen, where a figure stood. A woman dressed in one of Genevieve’s dresses that Charlie never had the courage to get rid of. But with long, black hair framing the back of her head, drenched and wet, and reminding her of the tiny woman he slept with in that green hell.

Every fiber of responsibility and curiosity inside of Charlie screamed at him and he imagined grabbing this woman by the shoulder to yank at her and spin her around and look at her face.

But he felt sick to the stomach and his cowardice took overhand. This was worse than being shot at. A growing warm spot in his crotch reminded him of the many times he wet his pants in response to getting shot at. He could practically hear the gunfire deceptively thundering through the air like series of firecrackers, the whizz of deadly projectiles passing him by and ripping other grown men to pieces.

And that figure just stood there, shivering ever so slightly like someone who was freezing from being drenched, awaiting his warm touch.

Even more violently than he recoiled from seeing liquefied Willie and suddenly thinking that he needed to bury him but had no time because he needed to get back to the chopper, Charlie slammed backwards into the cold hard surface of his refrigerator.

Instead of stopping, he stumbled right back out of the kitchen and fled.

Small feet squelched in waterlogged little shoes that slapped against the floorboards as the haunting figure in Genevieve’s dress gave chase. He knew better than to look back, but the front door slammed shut in front of him, long before he could reach it, as if a violent gust of wind did not want him to escape.

Just as abruptly as he stopped, the person behind him followed suit. Without turning, he felt her presence behind him. Both burning with malice and as cold as a fresh grave turning muddy in the rain.

Charlie turned and his stomach churned. He saw not a face, but many faces. The skin sagged and roiled and melted and reshaped itself over and over again, like looking into a thick creamy soup getting stirred. He saw Genevieve, but also the girl he had cheated on her with, and many other faces of death.

The front of her dress was drenched in blood in all the wrong places, adding to his nausea.

The faces said nothing, the mouths opened and closed and flowed into each other, but only gurgling and raspy sounds ever came from them.

Charlie could take this sight no more. He ran to the front door and made it rattle as he desperately twisted and shook it and then pounded his fist against it in futile desperation, knowing fully well that this hell would not let him go anymore, that nobody was here to help him, and that he now had to face all his demons.

Little feet squelched in the shoes behind him again. Slap, squish. Slap, squish. Slap, squish.

Knowing he could only flee upstairs but dreading the thought of jumping out a window or—God forbid—from the roof, he slowly turned, knowing he had a date with destiny.

Only now did he smell sugar; in the same way he did whenever Genevieve made tea and it hit his nostrils when he hovered over a cup of the steaming brown liquid.

He tasted salt, like those velvety soft lips of the black-haired girl with her beautiful, almond-shaped eyes.

And those two noses gave the face definition, becoming one, atop a mouth agape, flopping open and shut, like a fish out of water, or like a person trying to say something but failing continuously.

The eyes were the worst. Eyes of all the dead and even those whom he believed he might outlive. Every last bit of guilt got to him.

He backed up against the door and softly bumped into it and the figure followed, getting close enough that wet, cold hands could reach out and start exploring the shirt on his chest. Start unbuttoning it from the top, paralyzing him with fear.

Charlie had no fight or flight left in him. He felt like this was the end. Like this was a courtesy to his visitor that he was supposed to extend.

A small hand with fine fingers gently grazed his bared chest, never fully pressing down until nails gingerly scraped above where his heart thumped and pounded away, homing in on the powerful pulse.

They entered, painlessly, but cold. Like a cold that spread from there, like Charlie had plunged himself into ice cold water, like he had to hide from napalm fire and a hail of bullets and certain death that could have taken him like it took so many of his compatriots.

Then she pushed. They pushed. All faces in one, all staring at him with accusations flying from those eyes like knives, piercing his flesh and stinging and sinking in slowly and twisting.

The door behind him gave away, just opened, accompanied by no sound. The world spun around him and Charlie could have tried to grab hold of the door frame, but his old weary fingers just let it happen.

A ledge nearby invited itself to be grabbed but grabbing reminded him of so many of his mistakes and misdeeds. Grabbing hands, grabbing hair, skin, grabbing a weapon. He forgot who he was and remembered everything he had done.

And the world flew past him, slowly, but surely.

He fell from that rooftop as the clouds turned the sky dark and bathed the world around him in twilight. Ol’ Willie whined somewhere, close enough for him to hear it but a million miles away. Charlie fell and fell and fell.

He died soon after he landed on the ground outside his house.

Killed by the weight of his memories, slain by the sins he perceived in his decisions, but mostly dead due to falling two stories and landing in a very unfortunate way. The banality of it all now washed over him.

It surprised him how little else he felt as the life escaped him and he coughed up something warm and thick and runny, trickling from the corners of his mouth. Willie neared with the panting sounds you would expect from such an old dog, but not as quickly as the world faded away around Charlie.

The sounds of little feet squelching in waterlogged shoes arrived first.

Charlie stared into the many faces of death as she stood by his side, looming over him like an inescapable tower.

She extended a slender arm and hand, as if in greeting, or as if expecting him to give her something.

His body could not comply, so his soul pulled loose from his arm, meeting her hand there and taking it.

Why now?

He asked, but not with his mouth. Not with his flesh.

A chorus of voices replied, “I am always unexpected, even when you know your time has come.”

She grabbed his hand and yanked.

Took him away, pulling him into a world of mist and darkness. It all happened so quickly.

Death dragged him through the door where the Cruel Ones awaited.

—Submitted by Wratts

[nad-zeta]

Match up! (*^_^*)

Hello! Thank you so much for taking the time to do these. I’d love to get an ikesen match-up please? I’m a 5’8 female (INTJ, scorpio), who’s body type is athletic and curvy. I tend to describe myself as sturdy. I have long brown hair that reaches my tailbone, with several ear piercings. I am currently a Master’s student studying marine biology, but my aspirations go far beyond this. My goal for a career is to be a research and field leader at a research institute studying marine life. I want to spend all my time in the field first hand leading the expeditions. I’m especially drawn to the ocean, coral reefs and killer whales, I most of all want to work in the Antarctic one day. Aside from my love of animals, my interests include learning about science and biology, building and engineering new things, outdoor activities (off-roading, fishing, hiking, camping), sports, and my one creative skill is writing fiction. I’ve been active my whole life and if things had gone a little differently I would have wanted to be a professional athlete. My favorite sports are alpine skiing, scuba diving, ice hockey, running, and underwater hockey. It takes me a long while to open up to people, which means I tend to only have a few close friends. However in the workplace setting I am very confident and I’m not afraid to speak up. I’ve had people tell me that I’m intimidating, and that my presence can have a great influence on the mood of a room/small group. But I’ve also had friends tell me I’m extremely chill, and never make anything a big deal. I see myself as very highly ambitious and the type of person that knows what she wants and how she’s going to get it. I know what I like and dislike, and I’ve grown past the fear of having people dislike me. I’m a pretty independent person. However, when I’m with my friends I am very much a joker, I love to make people laugh, and act silly. With only the closest of friends the chaotic energy comes out lol. My humor can range from immature to pretty dark. But I really need to know the people I’m around first; otherwise I tend to just go back into my shell. I can read people pretty well, which means I’ll usually try to make them feel more comfortable than myself in situations. This has led me to sometimes feel a little put out. I tend to go wherever, whenever I please. If I plan a trip, I’m going for a good time and don’t really need any schedules. I guess to end it all I’d say I’m very much the type of person that sees all the potential the world has, and all the potential I have to make a difference. Yes this can be hard and painstakingly difficult, but I won’t ever stop striving to meet the expectations and standards I place on myself. I will only keep going, learning more skills, going on more adventures, and seeking new horizons. Thanks again for taking the time to do these!! :) Sorry this turned out so long lmaoo - From Admit Terra (The second one running the blog)

Hi, hi, dear! ❤🌻Thank you so much for the request love! 🦊Hehe, you sound like a super cool person, lol master students unite!🙌🌻 Sorry for taking so long with this! Hope you enjoy this, dear, and I hope you have the best day❤😊! @sengoku-revolution​ admin Terra! lol tomorrow i’ll post admin Maru’s matchup!❤🌻

So I match you with…………… Yukimura

You were on campus attending a conference on marine biology that could greatly help you with your masters. The conference was incredibly interesting and ran late, only finishing around 10pm. As you and the other students and professionals in the field of marine biology, exited the giant lecture hall, you looked up at the sky and saw a flash of lightning blazing across the sky. You regretted walking to campus at that the moment, wishing you had rather driven, as you could tell by the heavy sky that soon it was going to rain cats and dogs. You quickly made your way back to the main campus gate, luckily you didn't live to far away. A drop of rain hit your nose and then another. You debated taking shelter from the storm in your department’s computer room, at least then you could chart down all the new knowledge you had gained from the conference. 

That’s when you spotted a fellow post-grad student. You looked up at the sky once more and noticed that the lighting was going to strike the exact spot that the student was standing in. You ran and pushed him out the way. You braced yourself for impact but it never came, instead you started feeling dizzy and disoriented. Reality around you warped in a cloud of smoke. 

When things came back into focus again, you noticed the man in the lab coat was gone, and you were now standing on the balcony of a burning building. You peered through the smoke to see a man peacefully sleeping on the floor. Unaware of the imminent doom of his downfall. You thought you might have been trapped in a dream, but the heat radiating from the flames brought your straight back to reality. Thank goodness for your physical strength, as you easily managed to wake up and carry the man out of the burning building. The man you had saved was incredibly intimidating and had the same look in his eyes that a shark would have right before it attacks, so you decided to bolt. 

You ran and ran and ran through the forest, and soon your feet lost contact with the ground. You looked down and saw that you had almost run yourself off the edge of a cliff. Thanks to Yukimura’s quick reflexes, he managed to grab hold of your waist and save you from running yourself off the mountainside. He still holding onto you, as he took a few steps back to ensure both you were safe before letting go. You stared up at the man in disbelief, just where the hell were you. That’s when a familiar figure caught your attention. The man you had just saved from being hit by lighting! Sasuke took you aside and started to explain the situation to you, you honestly needed to sit down as it was a lot to take in.

Sasuke looked over at a beautiful blond man that reminded you of a snow prince and asked if you could stay with them. The man narrowed his icy eyes at you and gave a quick nod, before climbing on his horse and signaling to the rest of the men that it was time to go. Sasuke helped you up onto the horse, and that is how your new life in Kasugayama started.

You were someone who couldn’t sit still and always need to be doing something, so you opted to help out around the castle to earn your keep. Even though you were a little shy and reserved, you managed to fit right in with the people of Kasugayama. You were a little surprised at the mixed bag of men that you landed up with, as usual, it would take you quite a while to open up and come out of your shell, especially when meeting new people. But for some reason, they seemed to make you feel comfortable, and you found your self coming out of your shell and befriending them pretty quickly. You especially took a liking to Sasuke. 

Sasuke was the one who formally introduced you to his Bff and your rescuer, Yukimura. This boy was definitely rough around the edges and did not have a way with words, unlike his flirty lord.

You were low key thankful for your ability to quickly read and sum up people as you quickly came to realize that Yuki wasn't such a bad guy. Although he seemed to think it funny to call you a wild boar woman. Even though he was slightly awkward with his words, you found yourself strangely attracted to him. He was down to earth and easy to talk to, and you found yourself relaxing around him.

“Hey dummy how many times do I have to tell you I ain’t no wild boar, call me that again and i’ll smack you,” you playfully quipped. Since arriving in the past, you had grown closer and closer to the aloof man. The two of you would banter every time you were together. “Awww common, you are definitely a wild boar, I mean you are just as strong, sturdy and athletic as one.” He would say with that mischievous boyish smile. At that you simply put Yuki in a headlock and started giving him a nuggie. He then started tickling you, which usually ended in a tickling/wrestling match between the two of you. Yuki’s wolf pup would usually get in on these playful fights that the two of you often engage in, and start licking the two of you mercilessly until both, you and Yuki are left laying on the floor breathless from laughter.

You loved that Yuki like you, loved staying active and going on adventures. And TBH Yuki was thrilled that he finally had a friend that he could go on fun adventures with. Sasuke would usually be too busy looking after Kenshin or doing research, to join in on these adventures. Not that either of you minded as you loved hanging out with each other. The second you found out that Yuki would run to stay fit every morning, you were ecstatic and joined him on his morning runs. This boy was shook! He legit has never met a woman that could keep up with him, yet here you were almost outrunning him. After your morning runs the two of you would always get breakfast together before starting your duties for the day! This is something the two of you did and looked forward to, almost every single day.

When the two of you were together, the banter and jokes were real. You loved to be a bit of a joker around Yuki. You honestly adored the way he would laugh with his whole body and go super red all the way to the tips of his ears, whenever you cracked a joke. 

Speaking of laughing, you also had this crazy ability to instantly lift the mood in any room you walked into. Especially when it came to cheering Yuki up. As you see, Yuki has a tendency to take on more responsibility than he can handle and sometimes he gets crushed under the weight of it. But since you arrived, Yuki felt like he could do anything and take on the world cause you were right there by his side making some silly jokes and teaching him not to take things so seriously. You were the one that taught him to take occasional breaks and to relax, and that the world wouldn't fall apart if he wasn't working. 

Lately Yuki had noticed that you were low on energy and not as bright and chaotic as usual. He also noticed that your jokes were a bit more, morbid as of late. He was determined to cheer up his dearest friend, after all, if you were happy then so was he. He stomped his way into your room and saw you sketching something. “Oi, boar woman what’s wrong, and don’t try and lie to me dummy, cause everyone has noticed that you have been down lately.” You looked up at the clumsy man and smiled, telling him it was a long story. He then narrowed his eyes and left it at that, although the picture you were sketching of the ocean certainly didn’t go unnoticed. 

The next morning at the crack of down, Yuki dragged you out of bed to go on an adventure with him. You were super excited, these little adventures weren’t uncommon.  

If the two of you weren’t off hiking up some crazy mountain, or fishing, you were camping with him in enemy territory as he spied on the Oda forces. Of course, it wasn’t all work as the two of you would go wherever the wind took you. Once Yuki was done with his spy work, he would send off his report back to Shingen, leaving the two of you without a strict schedule to follow, with all the time in the world to explore and experience your surroundings.

You noticed that the two of you were heading closer and closer to the ocean. Your eyes glimmered in delight when you realized that the two of you were going to spend the day on the beach. You wasted no time at all, climbing off the horse and running into your beloved ocean. The two of you played in the waves for hours on end. At some point, Yuki even fished out and handed you a pair of makeshift scuba diving gear. After a long day of playing in the waves and observing the ocean life in the crystal clear water, you and Yuki sat on the beach and watched the sunset. “Hey dummy sit in front of me, I’ll dry your hair for you. Can’t have you getting sick,” you wouldn’t usually let someone dry your hair for you. Still, he looked so cute with that blush spreading across his face, that you couldn’t help but comply. As Yuki dried your long beautiful hair, the two of you started talking. 

You thanked Yuki for taking you on this fun breach adventure and told him all about your dream of becoming a field leader at a research institute studying marine life, as well as wanting to be the one leading the field expeditions. To say Yuki didn’t know anything about marine life would be an understatement, but the way you passionately talked about your dreams and ambitions had him straight up inspired. You told him all about how you were drawn to the ocean and coral reefs and that you wanted to work in Antarctica one day. He never told you this, but as you talked about your dreams of travel and research, he couldn’t help but make a silent vow in his heart to do whatever it takes to support and make your dreams come true.

In the weeks to follow you and Yuki spent more and more time together. Yuki was falling deeper and deeper in love with you, every moment the two of you spent together, and he was determined to tell you how he felt. 

The weather started getting colder and colder, and soon it started snowing. He remembered from previous conversations that you loved ice hockey and alpine skiing (not that he knew what any of that meant). Hence, he decided to ask Sasuke for help in gathering everything he needed so that the two of you could play your favourite sports together. He had all his friends dress up and had Sasuke teach them all the rules of ice hockey. When all his friends were in position, he went to your room and said he had a surprise for you. He then put a blindfold over your eyes and led you downstairs. When he removed the blindfold all your Kasugayama friends stood before you, each holding up a letter that combined spelled out, “I Love you.” You were so happy and touched by the gesture that you couldn’t help but grab Yuki and plant a kiss on his lips right in front of all your friends. Cheers erupted as Yuki grabbed your hand, as you parted and led you onto the makeshift ice hockey-field. 

The next day Yuki surprised you with alpine skiing down a mountainside. You honestly loved this goofball so much, and you couldn’t help but smile and shower his face with kisses whenever he would surprise you with your favourite activities.

Yuki honestly loved and adored everything about you from your chilled personality to your ability to brighten any-room you walk in. In between the war and battles, Yuki was always sure to make time to go on fun, crazy adventures with you, to explore new horizons. After he and Shingen finally managed to win back their homeland, ultimately achieving Yuki’s childhood dream. Yuki had one more surprise for you, and that was a trip back to the future so you could pursue your dreams. 

The two of you travelled around the modern world, and you achieved your dream of leading research and travelling to Antarctica. And Yuki was right by your side through it all, supporting you the best he could. 

Often the two of you cuties could be found on some crazy adventure, cuddled in each other’s arms and enjoying making new memories and living through new experiences together.

If the two of you aren’t being active and playing sports, you are spending a quiet evening at home watching tv and resting in each other’s arms. 

Yuki loves holding you tight in his arms as he pulls his finger through those long beautiful locks. He loves to nuzzle his nose into your neck and leave sweet little kisses on your neck and cheeks as you read your newest piece of fiction to him. 

Together the two of you continue to learn and grow while making the world a better place.

Other potential matches……………. Masamune 

I hope you enjoyed this dear and I hope you have the best day! ❤🌻🙌

[ravenforce]

New Dawn

Prompt: "I really loved that story (see you in a minute) and I hope that later you can make the story of Natasha x reader of how their relationship was given until arriving at the battle of Thanos I would love to read it. And I hope you crave your other stories”

Requested by: @ecruzsalaz​

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 8987

Warning/s: Nothing!

A/N: Hey guys! I’m alive! I am so sorry for being AWOL for a while after posting the end of the SYIAM universe. I had a terrible writer's block, I got a new gaming console (Switch), had so many things happening at work before the end of the year, and I’ve been sick. Nothing life-threatening, don’t worry guys but I am back! Thank you for being here.

Also, I proofread this twice but if there are still mistakes that escaped me, I apologize. I hope you guys like it. PLEASE comment and/or message me your reactions. I missed it! xx

PS. I’m not sure if this can be read as stand-alone. If it gets confusing, you might need to read See You In A Minute series first. Please refer to the masterlist on my description. 

*** 

Semi-retirement from fieldwork and mostly working on your lab at the compound is so reminiscent of your days as International Operations Director of STARK Industries. Your time is on your hands to do what matters to you the most and that’s spending time with your family. Anyone who knew you before you joined the Avengers would laugh at the idea of you settling down nicely to family life.

You and Tony were a force of nature, who comes and goes as you both please; leaving satisfied bodies but empty hearts. No one can keep you down long enough to tie you down. You’re always on the move; either galavanting the world using Tony’s private plane or crossing international waters lazily using your own yacht. 

You were brought back to the present when you felt your daughter kick you under the lab table where the two of you are playing chess. You two are the designated people to man the fort while the Starks are in Miami, and your wife went to check up on Laura with Maria, Wanda, and Carol. The old you would have felt bummed to be left behind but spending alone time with your daughter is hands down one of the best use of your time; up there with being in the company of your wife, of course. 

“Where’d you go, mom?” Asya asked as she surveys the chessboard; definitely planning a massacre of your pieces. 

You smiled up at her because even though a lot of people said she looks like you, there are moments where she looks exactly like Natasha. Heaven knows you’re so whipped for both the two. 

“I just thought of how no one from my past would ever tell you married life is where I’m headed.”

“Not even uncle Tony?” she asked as she glances up at you. 

You grinned, “especially not Uncle Tony.”

Asya laughed. She has heard stories from Tony and the others about you, before joining the Avengers and before dating Natasha but she’s never heard your side of the story yet. She moved her King in preparation to make her killer move. 

“Mom, would you mind telling me how you and mom met?” she asked sheepishly. “From your perspective, I mean.”

 You looked at the board for a minute before looking back up at your daughter. “It’s a long story.”

”We have time,” she defended easily. Because you have, Natasha and the others are not gonna be back until tomorrow night. 

You glanced at the clock. “Very well. We should finish this and order some pizza?”

Asya’s eyes twinkled with excitement at the prospect of hearing your story, as well as having greasy delivery pizza for dinner. She immediately hopped off her seat before standing at the side of the table. “Then make your move already mom, we don’t have all night,” she sassed playfully.

Yup, totally just like your wife, Venom said in your head.

You chuckled before moving your piece. “Checkmate,” you said before standing up and walking towards the door of your shared lab.

Asya gaped at the board. She was sure she got you on her hook.

Savage, Venom cheered in your head. You only chuckled to yourself. 

“Coming, love?” you asked innocently. When she looked at you, there was pure adoration in her eyes and maybe a hint of fire. Surely, she’s gonna ask for a rematch in the coming days. After all, she’s yours and Nat’s daughter.

***

Eating at the huge family dining table without the rest of the family home is a tad depressing for both you and Asya. So you two decided to just bring your box of pizza at the front porch.

“Go on mom. I wish to sleep at some point in the night,” Asya sassed as she dabs the pizza with a napkin to rid it of excess oil; a habit she picked up from Nat for sure.

You laughed heartily. “Okay, okay. I met your mother the day I arrived back in Miami,” you started.

Asya knew the basics: how you were basically adopted by the Starks after your parents passed away, how you and Tony are thick as thieves; going to the same university, traveling the world until you two decided to stay in Switzerland for a while. The only time you were basically separated was when Tony needed to run the business in the US and he needed you to stay on top of the business in Europe and Asia.

***

You inhaled deeply as you stood on the pavement in front of Stark Industries Headquarters before squaring your shoulder and strutting inside the massive building. You were immediately met by Dylan an intern who was supposed to escort you to Tony’s office. Dylan blatantly stared at you through the mirrored walls of the elevator. Typical. When the lift stopped at the penthouse, he didn’t step off. 

“Thank you, Dylan,” you said smiling. He looked so surprised that you even bothered to read his nameplate. 

You walked the short distance from the lift to the door and was not surprised to see the most beautiful woman you’ve ever laid your eyes on. Definitely typical since Tony has a knack of choosing the prettiest woman to be by his side. After all, he chose Pepper.

“Hi, I’m here to see Tony,” you greeted politely. You had to reign in the urge to shiver and groan the moment her green eyes met yours. She’s breathtaking that you had to take a moment to compose yourself. You’re Y/N Y/L/N, you reminded yourself. You get girls as pretty as her whenever and wherever you go.

“Name?” she asked confidently, her eyes never wavering. At that moment you knew, this woman, this Natalie Rushman is different from Tony’s previous assistants.

“Y/N Y/L/N,” you answered.

Natalie looked at her computer. “I’m sorry but you’re not on his scheduled meetings today,” Natalie said matter-of-factly. You tried to pout, and talk your way in but Natalie isn’t one to swoon over you. Not typical!

“Come on, Natalie. I know for a fact that he’s having lunch with Pepper right now,” you said as you walk a few steps towards the door but Natalie was lightning fast on her feet and already blocking your path. 

“Take one more step,” she warned you.

You were right, this woman is something else because, at this point when you’re this obnoxious, Tony’s previous assistants would do only two things. One, they will faux put up a fight but let you in any way. Two, they will call security on you. So far, Natalie has done none of that. 

You cocked your head to the side. “Or what?” you challenged her by stepping right into her personal space. 

Natalie looked into your eyes before she shoved you and pin you against her table, which causes some of her things to fall and make a ruckus on the floor. She wasn’t really hurting you but her grip is strong and she’s clearly capable if you pushed her one more time. Any other time someone pushes you, you would have been mad but instead, you just started laughing. Natalie looked at you like you’ve grown another head but she didn’t let you go. 

“First meeting and you’re already tied down,” Tony snickered from the door where he and Pepper are standing to check on the noise. You groaned at the fascinated look of your friends' faces.

Natalie let you go. You stood up and started straightening your navy three-piece suit. 

“Fuck off,” you said before walking towards the pair.

“Not you though,” you said to Pepper before giving her a familial kiss on the cheeks. 

“Welcome home,” Pepper said before shooing you and Tony inside. When the door closed, Pepper walked towards Natalie who was suddenly feeling self-conscious. 

“Who was that?” she asked quietly after picking up all her stuff from the floor.

“That’s Tony’s best friend, his little sister. She has level 10 access to Tony too.”

“Shit,” Natalie cursed under her breath.

“Don’t worry she’s cool. Sometimes, even cooler than Tony,” Pepper said before walking away laughing.

***

“Mama pinned you on your first meeting?” Asya asked before breaking into fits of giggle.

“Stop! It wasn’t that bad,” you said as you throw the pizza box on the bin.

Asya walked back to the house on the reverse so she can look at you. “I’m sure it wasn’t, mom. It’s very romantic,” she said teasingly. 

Very, Venom decided to chime in and gang up on you. 

“I had enough of your sass, missy. You better run,” you mock threatened her. Asya squealed before running off inside the house. You laugh hard before walking leisurely after her. 

***

After checking that all the doors were locked and activating the night security protocol, you walked back to the common living area only to be met by a flying pillow right in your face. You let out a very dramatic fake gasp and caught the pillow in your hand. When you looked at your daughter, already looking comfortable on her very own blanket fort.

“What happened next?” she said while wiggling her toes at you.

You held up a finger before running upstairs and rushing through your nightly routine. After exactly, ten minutes, you came down with your matching silk pajamas.

“Finally,” Asya groaned dramatically but smiling.

***

The second time you met Natalie, you didn’t expect it to be at S.H.I.E.L.D Headquarters where Fury is introducing you to the Avengers as the new recruit. She doesn’t look happy to see you there. She looked like she wanted to protest your credentials but was polite enough not to do so in front of everyone. Tony was so happy when he found out Fury accepted your application at S.H.I.E.L.D. It’s the least you can do since you failed at convincing your best friend not to join a ‘superhero initiative’.

Pepper still wasn’t happy by your “alternative solution”, saying how now she has to worry for two. Fury deemed that two heads like Tony Stark are better than one. Hence, why he accepted you at S.H.I.E.L.D. Afterall, you were the one who helped Tony synthesize the new element to stabilize and upgrade the Iron Suits. Your job at S.H.I.E.L.D is mainly at labs, helping build new weapons for the agents and the Avengers. 

Word travels fast even in a secret organization. People at the labs kept wondering why you’re in there with them when you can be out there with the Avengers. A conversation that came up once when you decided to take a break at the same time as everyone. It was a bright and sunny day, the lab rats decided to eat a snack at the outdoor sitting area when the quinjet landed on the distance. Everybody watched you watch the plane come to a full stop. 

“They said you grew up with Tony Stark. They said you’re as smart as him,” the one named John said. 

You turned to him. “Is there a question in there?”

A younger man, named Carl, smiled. “They said you have a black belt in jiujutsu and mixed martial arts as well.”

"I still don’t hear any question,” you said smiling before taking a sip of your coffee. 

“I guess what they were getting at is why are you in the labs with us?” the only other woman in your lab team, Hailey, asked. “You can be one of them with that credentials,” she continued, nodding towards the direction of the quinjet. 

It’s not a new question; you’ve heard variations of it a lot of times when you were growing up with Tony. And the answer has always been the same. “Someone has to look after his back.”

They all cocked their heads to the side. “You can’t watch someone’s back if you’re too close to them. I’m better at protecting him from here; where I can see clearer.”

Your team was surprised that you’re foregoing the fame that comes with standing side-by-side Tony Stark. Then they all nodded, newfound respect shining in their eyes.

“Besides, I’m really not good at limelights. That’s Anthony’s thing, I’m more of the fly-under-the-radar type,” you continued lightly. 

“You mean you’re the lab rat type,” John joked cautiously but relaxed when you broke out into a belly laugh.

***

The third time you saw Natasha was in the training room. A part of the being a S.H.I.E.L.D agent was to know how to fight. Even though you have a background on different fighting styles, you still pushed yourself to train harder. You found out a long time ago that you liked training in private and that’s how Nat found you punching and kicking at the bag until it broke open. She stole your file from Maria, she knows your credentials but something about you irks her. 

“What did the bag do to you?” Nat asked from the doorway in lieu of a greeting. 

You looked up at the sound of her voice and you smiled at her when you spotted her leaning against the doorway. Nat thought your smile was charming but she wouldn’t be caught dead admitting that. 

"Good morning, Agent Romanoff,” you said before picking up your water bottle and chugging the contents of it.

Nat didn’t mean to but she followed the movement of your throat, down the curve of your neck to your tracksuit covered chest. You coughed to catch her attention. When she looks up she didn’t know whether she wanted to punch or kiss the smug look off your face. So what if you caught her blatantly checking you out?

“Training at this hour?” she asked holding your eyes. She’s Natasha Romanoff, she’s not gonna be intimidated just because you’re super cute. 

“Yes, I woke up early for a conference call in Geneva. I couldn’t go back to sleep. So, I thought I might as well just start early," you explained.

You tried not to vomit the words but failed spectacularly. Nat thought it was adorable as she watches you wrap a protective bandage against your bruising hand.

“You’re still working at Stark Industries?” she asked impressed. 

“Technically, yes. I’m a member of the board and consultant. I mostly only work with Pepper and Tony now,” you answered.

Something about Natasha renders you unable to give simple answers, it annoyed you. When she didn't say anything else, you took it as your queue to leave. You’ve heard how the Black Widow likes her space, keeps to herself and not one who gets chummy with agents. 

“Do you want to train with me?” Nat asked.

Something about her voice gave away her hesitation. You looked at her bewildered at first but you grinned before dropping your bag and joining her in the mat. 

Nat didn’t show it but she was glad you decided to stay. In the few minutes that you were talking, Nat found herself wanting to get to know you better. She did her own research on you because she thought you’re just another billionaire, philanthropist, playgirl but you proved yourself different. You’re modest and don’t brag about your lifestyle. In the weeks that she has observed you, Nat found that you’re also infinitely funnier than Tony. 

***

Time flew by the moment Nat started throwing punches, as well as directions on how to fight better. One cat scratch on your eyebrow and a busted lip later, people started pouring in the training room for their morning exercise including Steve and Clint.

“Get those injuries cleaned and checked out at the infirmary,” Nat said before hopping off the mat and passing both boys on her way out. You didn’t see it but Nat narrowed her eyes at them, which made both of them chuckle before turning to you. Clint came over to you first, introducing himself formally.

“You got a death wish or something?” Clint asked lightly, his eyes alight with mischief.

You cocked your head to the side, not understanding the line of questioning.

“No one asks Natasha to spar or train, ever. She’s the learn-from-your-failure kind of teacher,” Clint continued chuckling.

You shouldered your bag. “I didn’t ask her to train. She did,” you said before smiling and walking back to your room to shower.

Clint blinked once, twice before he caught Steve’s eyes who clearly heard what you said. They both started grinning at each other, the same thought running in their head.

***

It’s like the world tilted off its axis ever since Nat found you in the training room. Since then you’ve been seeing her more like she stopped actively avoiding you. While you made strides befriending Steve, Clint, and Bruce; Natasha still needed a little work but that was okay. You were willing to wait until she’s ready. 

It was enough that she works out with you every morning when she’s not out on a mission. It was enough that she trains you to become a stronger, faster, better agent than you already were. Coupled with your smart weapons inventions and deadly fighting skills, Fury even lets you officially join Agent Hill’s tactical team.

Nat was secretly so proud yet madly worried when you go on missions without the Avengers because she likes having your back and vice versa. You make a deadly efficient team; dare she say better than she is with Clint. She tries not to dwell so much on what it means, or what it means when her heart race when you get injured in battle, or what it means when her breath caught in her throat when you smile at her but Clint won’t let her. Clint takes it upon himself to bug Natasha, in private, to inspect these feelings. 

“If you ask me, I think you may have a crush,” he said one time after you all got back from a joint mission in Sokovia. Fresh off the shower, and lounging on Nat’s bed Clint waited for her to finish drying her hair.

Even over the sound of the dryer on her hand, Nat heard him. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought and begrudgingly, she knows that her best friend was right. After all, he was one of the few people who know her best but he doesn’t need to know that, did he?

“Thankfully, I’m not asking you,” she said after exiting the bathroom and flopping down beside Clint. 

Clint laughed hard and rolled onto his back. Seeing this side of Natasha makes him happy.

***

Steve figured it out next. Thankfully, he isn’t as nosy as Clint but it still annoys Nat when she sees him smiling every time he sees her talking to you.

Bruce found out after Clint not-so-subtly elbowed her when you entered the compound in crisps red three-piece suit and whispering business with Tony. You two were so engrossed with looking at your tablets, you both didn’t notice the rest of the team watching. You only noticed them on your way out. So you waved goodbye, Nat may or may not have stared at your ass as you exit the room. 

“Close your mouth, Natalia. It’s very unbecoming,” Tony whispered on Nat’s ear. Nat groaned before averting her eyes and turning around to face Tony’s very smug face. 

At that moment, she knew she was doomed but she’s not gonna fold to Tony Stark; no matter what. 

“Not a word, Stark,” she warned. 

“What? I haven’t said anything yet,” Tony defended. 

“I know what you’re thinking.”

“What? I think you like my sister?” Tony challenged playfully. Nat only glared at him before opening the magazine she stopped reading the moment you walked in looking like a dream. 

“I mean, how can I blame you? She’s perfection. She’s smart without being annoying like me, she’s beautiful, funny and above all, loyal.” Tony said solemnly

Nat glanced up at him. At least, they can agree on some things. 

“I…” Nat started. Tony held her eye, definitely waiting for her to lie and deny his accusation. “I do but keep your mouth shut or I’ll cut your tongue.”

Tony smiled amidst the definitely real threat as he sees the genuine fondness that’s usually absent in the cool, collected Black Widow’s eyes. He resolved to keep his mouth shut, for the moment, at least. 

***

Nat was so sure one of the boys would rather out the moment they get you alone but a few weeks after the confrontation with Tony, Nat can see no change in your behavior whatsoever to indicate that someone squeaked. She’s secretly grateful because the last thing she wants is for your budding friendship to turn awkward just because of a schoolgirl crush. 

‘It’s just a crush’ has become Natasha’s personal mantra that she recites in her head every time you so much as smile at her while passing the corridor. And while Nat resolved to do absolutely nothing about her feelings, the universe seems to have a different plan. The following weeks, the universe launched into a series of events that helped Nat ease into accepting that she has indeed fallen in love with you

First, Fury sent you and Tony on a tandem mission in an undisclosed location, which launches Nat into a full-blown panic.

“Agent Romanoff,” Fury said first.

Nat didn’t back down on her demand to send Steve or her or anyone as back up. Fury watched his other sort of adoptive daughter quietly and carefully. Nat tried not to squirm under the scrutinizing gaze of the only father figure she has in her life. Fury smiled eerily when he caught up. Maria tried not to chuckle but failed. 

“Agent Y/L/N is more than capable of completing a simple mission,” Fury finished before turning on his heel and walking away. Before he leaves, he looked back at Natasha. “Stand down Agent Romanoff, that’s an order.”

Nat huffed and kicked her boot down on the concrete floor. Steve, Clint, and Maria exchanged worried yet amused looks across each other. “Sit down,” Steve gently dragged her over one of the chairs in the command center. 

“She’ll be fine. Y/N is not only a good fighter but she’s also a genius,” Clint tried to assure Nat but nothing can make her sit still.

She worries about you, she worries that Tony will be too distracted to watch your back properly and she wouldn’t be there to protect you. Nat tried to reason to herself that the burning need to protect you is because you’re a part of their team, and she protects her team. 

***

A few hours passed and Nat couldn’t stay and do nothing. She stood up and walked towards the same exit Fury went through. Steve caught her arm. “Where are you going?”

Nat pulled her arm back, “I can’t stay here Steve! I will find her and make sure she comes home to me.”

Everyone smartly decided not to comment on that one. They all understand that having romantic feelings for someone is really foreign for Natasha. It’ll be suicide to push her. 

“Fury gave you an order,” Steve, ever diplomatic, said. 

“Fuck what Nick said,” Nat nearly yelled before taking a few stomping steps back. 

Back away from the door and completely caught up in her worry and fighting with Steve, Nat didn’t see you and Tony step inside the room. 

“Woah! Language,” Tony said then smiled at everyone before walking directly to where Fury keeps his precious Scotch. 

“Miss me, Agent Romanoff?” you asked cheekily. 

Nat felt all the stress of the past few hours leave her body the moment the sound of your voice entered her ears and registered in her brain. She turned to look at you, and you greeted her with a warm smile. You were surprised when Nat stormed towards you, looking royally pissed. You were prepared for a slap in your arm for whatever it is she’s pissed at you for but it didn’t come. She immediately pulled you into a hug before she can talk herself out of it. 

This isn’t the first time Nat touched you. Ever since you’ve started training together, Nat seems to always find a reason to touch you. May it be holding your hand a little longer after helping you up from the mat or laying her head against your shoulder as you both try to get your breathing back after some intense sparring session or touching the ends of your hair whenever you’re sitting close together on movie nights. All these touches though are done in relative privacy; not like this, not where the Avengers and half of S.H.I.E.L.D are there to watch. 

You smiled before wrapping your arms around her strong frame. If you were being honest, the mission was easy but you’re bone-tired after that ambush at the end of your mission. Clint cleared his throat, and Nat pulled away slightly but only to assess your physical well-being. She frowned when she noted your dirty suit, the small cut on your eyebrow, and your busted lip. 

“I’m okay,” you whispered without breaking eye contact.

She didn’t answer, she just runs the pad of her thumb across your busted lip before kissing you. 

***

“What?” Asya yelled, interrupting your story. The two of you are lying on your back inside her makeshift fort. “She kissed you first?”

“Yes. She did,” you answered. She looked so surprised for a second before she broke into a laughing fit.

“I guess, legends are just that; legends,” Asya said merrily after getting a hold of her sanity back.

You gasped. “Hey! Have you seen your mama?” you asked in mock offense.

Asya smiled at the dreamy look on your face. She secretly loves how much you love Natasha, even after all the time you’ve been together, and apart. It was impressive.

“She’s as breathtaking as the day I met her,” you said softly. “How would I know someone like her can like someone like me?”

Asya rolled to her side and lay her head on your chest. “You’re an idiot, mom.”

“Already? I thought I was just getting to that part,” you said before kissing her forehead.

***

You still haven’t figured out if it’s lucky that Fury officially made you an Avenger after that tandem mission with Tony a week prior or a curse because now, you have to move in on the compound with the rest of the team and deal with the boys’ teasing and being around Nat more often. Speaking of Nat, you hadn’t seen her for a week after she kissed you in the command center where everyone - literally everyone - saw. Maria said Nat asked Fury to send her on a mission. 

‘So, she’s avoiding me,’ you thought.

An ache blooms in your chest when you think of Nat regretting that kiss but the time you spent training with Nat every morning taught you that she’s not good with feelings. Her history, her past, taught her that love is for children. She didn’t become the legendary Black Widow by being soft and loving, she became the Black Widow by being deadly. So you resolved not to push her, as well as not push your feelings towards her. She will come around if she wants to. 

***

You and Nat saw each other exactly thirteen days after the kissing incident. You weren’t planning on counting but you did because you missed being in her company. It just so happened that you’re both busy people; she’s out there saving the world most of the time and you? Well, you’re juggling being an Avenger, a S.H.I.E.L.D lab rat, and a member of the board for Stark Industries. So you don’t exactly have a lot of time either. It took thirteen days before the universe, Fury and your schedules permitted you both to be in the same room for more than just two minutes. 

It was midnight, you were walking the halls of the Avengers compound to your room when you heard groaning and sobbing inside Natasha’s room. Panicked that someone was able to slip inside everyone’s defenses and attack Nat, you opened the door and went inside her room with your gun in your hand. When you step in, Nat’s seating up on her bed alone. You checked her surroundings first. When you were positive you two are alone, you holstered your gun and called out for her. 

“Tasha,” you whispered softly as not to startle her but she didn’t make a move to acknowledge you. 

You walked in front of her. Only then did she blinked and looked at you. It must be a nightmare, you though; based on the beads of sweat on her forehead, the sheets balled up on her fist, quick breathing and unfocused eyes.

“Y/N?” she asked as softly. 

“It’s okay. You’re okay, you’re safe,” you tried to assure her but she only started shivering at your words. You sat beside her and pulled her in a hug. You continued to rock her gently and whisper words of assurance until her breathing slows and her heart rate came back to normal. 

When Nat pulled back, you stood up to let her get back to sleep but she held on the hem of your suit like a little girl. You look at the fingers holding you in place and then back to her face a couple of times before she said something. “Can you sleep here with me?” 

 It took you a couple of seconds to figure that Nat wasn’t joking. You smiled before motioning her to lie down. She watched you peel away the layers of your suit. Had it been a different setting, you would have died from the intensity of the way she looks at you. Stripped down to your polo shirt and trousers, you started to climb her bed, only for a soft fabric to meet your face. 

“Lose the pants and change into that. It’s more comfortable,” she explained. 

“You buy your own Black Widow merch?” you teased her as you change the shirt she gave you. 

Nat groaned playfully, averting your eyes as you start to undress in front of her shamelessly. “Yeah, a drawer full of it. I can’t resist quality,” she said casually. 

 “Well, you’re right. This shirt is really comfortable,” you answered after plopping down next to her. 

“Told you,” she said before rolling on her side and scooting over until her back touches your front. 

You’ve cuddled some in your lifetime, you can take the hint. You figured that taking hints is especially crucial to any kind of relationship with Natasha. So you learned how to read her earlier on, or at least try.

Safe and secured in your arms, Nat couldn’t help but sigh blissfully at the warmth emanating from your body, the feel of your arms around her torso, your chin on her shoulder, and your breathing against her ear. 

“Thank you,” Nat half whispered half moaned. 

Feeling emboldened, you kissed her shoulder. Thankfully Nat didn’t freeze at the contact. “From here onwards, know that you have me; always.”

Nat sighed. “It’s the red room,” she said simply. Something about the moment made it easy for Nat to open up. 

Unconsciously, you tightened your hold against her. You’ve heard third-person accounts of the red room but never from the source. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I do,” Nat sighed out before turning in your arms and resting her head against your chest. She sighed once again before launching in the story of the red room. The sky outside her window was starting to turn purple when Nat finished telling her story and drifted off to peaceful slumber in your arms. 

***

You noticed that after the nightmare fiasco, Nat is a little easier to approach than usual. She’s even more open to hanging out with you since then, which you didn’t mind because you love spending any time with her. May it be going on coffee dates (as Nat loves calling it) or training like a madwoman in the gym or sneaking out of the compound in the middle of the night to drive and get a midnight snack.

You absolutely love spending time together and getting to know each other in the process. You tried your hardest to slow down your descent to imminent heartbreak but you knew at that point that it was useless. You knew that even though you’ll only get heartbroken because Nat couldn’t possibly like a nerd like you, you’ll do it over again. Over and over and over again, if it meant you’ll always be by her side.

Unbeknownst to you, Nat had the same internal struggle about how someone like you can’t like a killer like her. She didn’t try to shove down her feelings they way she always does though. She tried but it was too late; her feelings for you sneaked up at her like an assassin. Of course, she knew she was attracted to you when she kissed you a couple of weeks ago but it was only after the nightmare incident that she allowed herself to want you for more than just carnal reasons. 

You started to become a steady presence in her life, more than just a teammate. While kissing you in front of the whole team and S.H.I.E.L.D was a grand spur of the moment decision, one that she doesn’t regret, she lives for the little moments as well. She loves the way you seem to remember small details like how she takes her coffee, or the way you subtly take care of her by always cleaning her weapons too before going on missions, or the way you always pack a spare jacket just in case you finds yourselves on the eye of climate change. She loves the way you easily make her feel safe and calm. She loves the way you weren’t shy to deviate from the headstrong, broody character everyone knows you are and make a fool out of yourself just to make her laugh.

***

The only problem was, you both suck at talking about your feelings, let alone admitting them. You had the same but lowkey reputation with women like Tony, and she’s the Black Widow; Miss love-is-for-children. Everyone tried to help both of you confess; Tony and Maria tried to help you tell Natasha your feelings while Steve and Clint tried to help Nat ask you out but the world seems to have a crisis every time one or both of you decides to make a move. 

“Maybe the universe is trying to tell me something,” Nat sighed as she walks to the quinjet after being called for a mission with Steve and Clint.

“I never pegged you to believe in signs from the universe,” Clint teased lightly.

Steve narrowed his eyes but Clint was never scared of Nat’s wrath. Besides, Nat was too distracted to be offended.

“Let’s just finish this shit as fast as we can,” Nat replied offhandedly while buckling herself in.

“We haven’t even left yet,” Steve said. Lips tugging upwards subtly. He likes seeing this side of Nat. 

“I know, and I miss her already.”

***

“Wow,” Asya burst out; interrupting your story, again. “You two are,” she paused to search for the right word in her vocabulary.

Saps! Venom supplied.  

Asya giggled. “Correct! You two are saps!”

You don’t know the half of it, child, Venom complained. It’s disgusting.

You laughed so hard, the walls of your makeshift fort shook.

***

The team tried to finish their assignment as fast as they could but it still took them five days. Five days with no communication with you made Nat almost jumped out of the quinjet the moment its tires hit solid ground. Clint and Steve just chuckled as they watch Nat power walk towards the compound. When they caught up with her, Nat’s frowning so hard on her phone. 

“What’s wrong?” Steve asked tentatively. 

“Y/N’s not home,” Nat replied, clearly disappointed.

Before anyone can say anything Nat’s phone alerted her of a new message. Nat’s frown only deepened. 

“I’m gonna guess. Not Y/N?” Clint asked teasingly.

Nat locked her phone before putting it on her back pocket. “No, it’s Maria. She said they’re at Stark Stadium. They need us to fill the Starks team.” 

A couple of S.H.I.E.L.D agents passed by. “Let’s check it out. Agent Johnson said, Agent Y/L/N’s team is hot,” one agent said, not realizing that the three Avengers were on the other side of the room. 

“What do you expect? Agent Y/L/N is hot,” another answered. The other two laughed. 

Nat gritted her teeth before clearing her throat to announce her presence. The agents turned around so fast, the boys wondered if they had whiplash. 

“Don’t you have better things to do, agents?” Nat said sternly.

The three agents gulped, nodded and scuttled away like ants on fire. Natasha watched them until they disappeared in the corner. 

“Calm down, Nat. I’m sure they’re not that hot,” Clint tried to assure her as he stirs her to the direction of the garage.

***

Clint gulped when she saw who you were teammates with. 

“Not hot, huh?” Nat said eerily calm as she watches you with your team.

Out of your S.H.I.E.L.D uniform, and in your black and red number 13 jersey you looked so much younger, more carefree. Nat smiled internally. She realized that as much as leather-clad Y/N is hot, she much prefers you on casual clothing because you look happier. 

“How am I supposed to know Y/N’s friends with a lot of stunners?” Clint defended with a pout.

He knows there’s a flaw in his defense. Of course, you’ll be friends with a lot of beautiful people; you’re basically brothers with Tony Stark. You’re smart, funny, and beautiful too. Naturally, people gravitate toward you. 

Nat put her hand up to silence Clint. Clint and Steve followed her gaze back towards the field where a certain blonde, wearing the same black and red uniform jogged towards you and tackled you in a hug. Nat watched as said blonde didn’t let go, and worst of all casually planted a soft kiss against the side of your face; dangerously close to your mouth. 

“That’s Sara Lance, heiress to Lance Corp in Star City. Y/N’s last real ex-girlfriend,” Maria suddenly spoke beside her. “Also, I’m sure you’d like to know, she declared she came here to win Y/N back.”

Nat balled her fist before walking towards Tony’s side of the pit.

***

“Give me a uniform,” Nat demanded. 

Tony laughed so hard, you heard it from across the field.

“I had a feeling you’ll want to be on my team,” he said before handing Nat a shirt with your last name on it.

Nat quirked an eyebrow. 

“How am I supposed to know you’re coming back in time for the game? This is Y/N’s new uniform but she insisted on wearing her old one. So you can have this one,” Tony explained. 

 Steve face-palmed at the sheer dumb excuse but also the ingenuity of it. Stark has a parent-trapping game, Steve can give him that.

***

The game was supposed to be a ‘friendly’ match between the two tech giants but for some reason that escaped you, it was intense from the start. Sara refused to be subbed by Maria and played head to head against Natasha, which you definitely didn’t know played soccer.

“I didn’t know you play,” you panted out as you run the ball towards the goal with Nat running close beside you. 

“You don’t know a lot of things about me,” Nat said as she tries to run and tackle you.

You scrunch your brow together but didn’t stop running. Before Nat can make try to take you down again, Sara came barrelling towards her; allowing you to run freely to your goal. 

Score for Lance Corp! Amaya, Zari and Gideon crowded towards you. So you were unable to see Nat and Sara glaring at each other as they dust their uniforms off. 

“So, you’re the Natasha Y/N can’t stop talking about,” Sara said candidly. “I’m Sara Lance, Y/N’s girlfriend.”

“Ex-girlfriend,” Natasha said deathly calm but Sara was never known to be easily scared.

Sara smirked. “Maybe but not for long,” she said confidently before running away to join your little group hug. 

Nat frowned deeper as she watches Sara pull your body against her lit form and you seemingly unperturbed about it. 

“Take her word seriously,” Tony said suddenly from behind Natasha. “If Lance is here to take Y/N back, she will do it. She’s smart and tenacious. So, play your cards right.”

“Play your cards right? That’s your advice?” Steve questioned incredulously. “I think you should just ask her out after the game.”

“Trust me, Y/N can’t be wooed by flowers, chocolates, and fancy dinner. People tried,” Tony said after rolling his eyes. 

Maria sighed, which prompted everyone to look at her. “Got unsolicited advice for me, Hill?” Nat asked teasingly. 

“Stop running away,” Maria said as she stood and get ready to get back on the field. “You kissed her and then disappeared for a week. You made her feel like you didn’t want her.”

The three gaped and watched the elusive Deputy Director as she runs back to the field and high-five you. Steve patted Nat’s shoulder before jogging back in too.

“I guess Hill trumps all our advice. Now come on, we have asses to kick,” Tony relented. 

***

The game ended with Stark Industries winning, Nat wanted to gloat but none of the Lance Corp women seem to mind losing at all. 

“Congratulations,” you whispered behind Nat. Nat tried to suppress the shiver but it was too late, she knew you saw it by the smirk on your face. She smiled at you. 

“Thanks. This would have been more fun if you played in our team,” Nat said crossing her arms in front of her chest. 

You shook your head. “You don’t mean that. I know you like that you bested me,” you said smiling. 

Nat glanced at you before grinning. “You’re right. I did,” she admitted. 

Your heart seemed to flutter every time Nat smiles at you like that. You wanted to say something, you wanted to pour your heart out to her at that moment but Sara yelled for you. Nat sighed heavily, and you gave her a sheepish smile. Sara yelled your name again, now louder and closer. Before you turned around you, Nat reached out and held your hand. 

“Lance, stop yelling. I heard you the first time,” you said casually.

Sara ignored you and zeroed in on your joined hand. You tried not to squirm as the two sized up each other. Suddenly the room felt too quiet.

“Did you need anything urgent, Lance?” Nat snapped.

Sara peeled her eyes off your hands in Natasha and smiled sweetly. “Care to show this girl a good time?” 

Nat rolled her eyes as Sara blatantly ignores her and flirts with you. You wanted to say that the city only became fun when you met Natasha. You wanted to tell Sara that fun isn’t about drinking yourself to stupor anymore, or getting high on your boat while you two cross the Atlantic. Instead, fun is making breakfast together with Natasha, training and kicking each other’s butt in the gym, sneaking out in the middle of the day to get a massage with Natasha, napping and cuddling Natasha, going on coffee dates with Natasha. 

You wanted to say all that but your friends from Lance Corp came all the way from Star City to spend time with you and Tony. The least you both can do was show them a good time. You caught Tony’s eyes behind Sara, he smiled at you. The kind of smile that says, ‘I got a plan’. Sara caught the interaction and she knew they’re in for a long night. 

“Get ready to party, Lance,” you said grinning.

***

The Avengers are not new to Stark parties. What they - especially Natasha - wasn’t ready for was you on party mode wearing the skinniest leather pants, tight black backless halter top, and boots. You arrived fashionably late with Maria. 

“Mission accomplishes, agent,” Maria whispered as she watches Nat and Sara practically drooling the moment they laid eyes on you. You ducked your head to hide the faint blush creeping up to your neck and cheeks. Dressing up was Maria’s idea. 

Nat was about to stand and walk towards you but Sara beat her to it.

“Patience, little spider,” Tony sat crossed leg beside Nat the moment Maria joined their table without you.

Nat turned to look for you and she nearly crushed the glass on her hand when she saw you dancing with Sara. It doesn’t help that Sara’s not only standing way too close but she also has her hand secured against your hips. Sara caught Nat’s eyes from across the dimly lit ballroom. It almost took every ounce of her self control not to go there and claim you but she didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. 

 Nat breathed in deep before taking a swig of her drink. Tony’s right, she has to be patient. Unfortunately for Nat, Sara was planned to monopolize you all night. Two hours after you arrived but Nat still hasn’t had the chance to at least talk to you. She had to step out.

***

When Nat opened the door to the back of the club, she was surprised to see you leaning casually on the adjacent wall; a bottle of water in hand. 

“Took you long enough,” you chirped before opening the bottled water in your hand. 

Nat scrunched her eyebrows. “What? How?” she stuttered out. 

You smirked at her over the rim of the water bottle. “You’re not the only stealthy one, Tasha,” you said an octave lower than your speaking voice. 

Nat bristled, “I thought you were with Sara?” She didn’t even try to hide the edge and tightness in her voice. 

“I was then I missed you,” you said earnestly before walking towards her.

You left two feet between you. She didn’t say something for a minute, she just continued to frown at you. 

You studied her for a minute before you decided that Nat’s really not in a bad mood. “Aw, are you jealous?”, you teased lightly. 

Nat frowned deeper. The blatant ‘no’ is at the tip of her tongue but she didn’t want to lie, not to you; never to you. She held your eye before whispering a breathy, “yes.”

You stood toe-to-toe with her. You cupped her face on both of your hands. Nat held her breathe. “There’s nothing to be jealous about, Tasha.”

Nat couldn’t help it any longer. She pulled you by your hands on her face and wrapped you in a hug. You chuckled before wrapping your arms around her steady shoulders. 

“I love you, Y/N,” Nat blurted out.

She expected you to freeze at the mention of the words. After all, you’re both allergic to love but it didn’t come. You stayed relaxed in her arms, and she can feel you smiling over her shoulder. She pulled back a little to look at you. 

“I love you too, Tasha,” you said before planting a soft kiss on her cute nose. Nat chuckled, had it been anyone else, she will be annoyed but can’t with you. “Now, let’s go eat. I’m hungry from all that dancing.”

Nat watched you walk out of the alley and into the street for a minute before jogging up to you. “Wait, does this mean you’re my girlfriend now?” you heard her call after you. 

“Hurry up or this will be the shortest relationship ever,” you joked.

Nat mocked gasped after catching up to you, just in time for a cab to sidled next to both of you. You were about to reach for the cab door when Nat pulled you back and pulled you in for another bruising kiss. 

The cab driver rolled his eyes playfully but waited for both of you nonetheless. 

‘Ah! Love’, he thought to himself and smiled. 

The kissed lasted for a minute. Only breaking away from each other after the need for air persisted. You peered at Nat’s eyes lovingly. At that moment, on the side of the street with a very patient cab waiting for you, you decided Natasha will be the last woman you’ll ever be with. You’ll make sure of it. 

***

Asya let out a soft ‘aww’ and nothing else. You listened to the steady rhythm of her breathing and you knew she has fallen asleep. You smiled down at your little miracle, and just before you could close your eyes your mobile phone vibrated next to you.

Wife: I hope you’re not feeding our daughter junk food. Much. I love you, see you tomorrow.

You: I did not. Much. I miss you, I love you. See you tomorrow. xx

[fictitiousfoodie]

Hockey Is A Family Thing

(Reader x Hockey Player Version)

Summary: A boy falls for a girl 

Warnings: Um there is a slap but that is it. 

Pairing: Reader x Ian Kildner ( fake person but like Jamie Benn but younger) 

Word Count: 2,597

Rating: 18+ for future parts 

Genre: Fluff Flirting 

Okay so here something to know before you read. The teams are real but all the people fake it was easier for me with this story. Yes I know the gif is Jamie Benn not the made up people in the story. This is my first story that I'm putting up please be nice. 

You stood by a high table, wearing a stunning and elegant black dress A-line gown with a respectable but fun slit up the side, talking to a relatively wealthy seeming older gentleman. His tux was custom, hair grey, and thinking, and the date he had brought with him was barely legal to drink, showing almost all her cleavage, and was sipping her cosmo through a straw. But, you didn't care about any of that right now. All you cared about was convincing this man that a donation to the team's charity would be a brilliant investment. 

"Mr. Mason donating to the teams' charity is not only a write off for you with tax breaks, but it allows lots of people to see just how good you and your company are." Manson Construction was responsible for building half of Boston and rebuilding the other half. They had gone through a string of bad publicity when someone leaked rumors of the company cutting corners regarding safety protocols to the local newspapers. The stories had been proven untrue, but it had still caused doubt in the community. Mason Construction was a good company, and you knew that. "Manson Construction on every banner we use when the team works with charities like Habitat for Humanity or does an event with local children's hospitals something like that could change how the community views your company," you said with a passionate and firm promise to her voice. Just as you finished your speech, a loud, sharp crack of noise erupted from behind you. 

Your brother Jack, the youngest of your four brothers, and his girlfriend Ashley had been fighting all night. You had been keeping an eye on it. Ashley was not a great girlfriend. You was pretty sure Ashley was in it for the idea of dating a pro athlete, and Jack was in it cause Ashley was hot. You had noticed more and more that Jack seemed done with Ashley's crap, and from the way Ashley was now storming out and the fact Jack wasn't going after her, he had decided to end things tonight in a public place. 

You turned back to Mr. Mason, who was chuckling to himself. "Your brother seems to be quiet, the unlucky fellow tonight in regards to love. But you are better than luck. You're smart, and you've got gumption, Y/N. I like the image you've given the charity, and I think it will provide great support and publicity for my business. I will send you a check tomorrow with the donation. If the team or the charity needs anything, you let me know," he said, smiling and walking away with his old wrinkled hand on his arm candy's ass. 

You shivered in disgust as you watched arm candy giggle and kiss him on the cheek then took a deep breathe you had done it. You had landed another massive donation for the charity. 

Suddenly a large and heavy arm flopped around your shoulder, and your oldest brother Brandon was there by your side. 

"Way to go, Y/N looks like Mr. Mason was very happy with the idea of being the teams highest paying donor', he said with pride and admiration for his sister. 

"He said he would send over the check tomorrow. I need a drink, and to get these heels off my feet are killing me." You laughed, walking to the bar. 

Brandon was the oldest of the four brothers at the age of 33. He had retired from the league last year due to a knee injury and hired by the team as the skills coach. Brandon was always responsible. He was the boy next door with a killer smile and genuine charm. The next one down was Henry, who was 31 and was the team's new athletic trainer. He was sporty and the smartest. He wanted to be a doctor when he was younger but found a way to combine his love of medicine and learning with his love of hockey and the team he had grown up around he immediately change to sports medicine. The third one was Eric. He was the middle one, wild and crazy. He was 28, had been on the team as a defender for four years now, and made sure everyone knew his opinion on any given subject.

Jack, the youngest of the brothers, was a sweet kid, but just that, still a kid in many respects. He had the talent and a good heart, but he needed to grow up. He was 25 and still trying to figure out many things about life but was too stubborn to listen to anyone's advice. Finally, there was Y/N , the youngest out of the five children and the only girl. You  grew up tough and headstrong, just like your brothers. Your mother made sure you was balanced, though, so she had put you in dance as a little girl, and you had loved it. You still went to classes and taught little ones occasionally. Your brothers were always there in the front row to cheer you on then give noogies after. You are 24, but most people thought you were older because of how you held yourself.   

All 5 of the siblings looked alike, all athletic, tall, and toned the brothers ranging in muscle definition. All five had dark brown hair and deep blue eyes. There was no denying they were family. The dark hair came from your dad, and the eyes had come from your mom.  The whole family was here tonight, and you loved that. Everyone in the family had found a way to be apart of the team or organization in a job they loved. You loved being around your family and the constant support they gave. Your mom had started the Boston Bruins charity when your dad had been a player. She was still running it and was grooming you to take over soon. Being a Bruin was a family thing. You had all been born into it and loved every minute of it. 

You and Brandon were standing by the bar ordering drinks when you saw out of the corner of your eye, Henry and Eric walk up. 

"So, we all saw the slap that Ashley gave Jack, right?" Henry said in a cautious and questioning tone. 

"Yes, the whole room heard it. Did you see where he went?" Brandon asked cautiously. 

"No, but my guess would be the locker room, someone should go check on him?" Eric said, turning towards you. 

"Yea yea yea, I'll go. Even though one of you are married and ones engaged," she said over her shoulder, walking away toward the locker room. 

You found Jack sitting in his locker with a cold beer pressed to his face. head drooped down and fidgeting with his phone. "You shouldn't call her, "you said, pulling the drink away to check out the handprint on his face. It wasn't nearly as bad as it had sounded probably just stung. Ashley wasn't abusive, just dramatic. 

"Why? Cause she slapped me?" 

"No, because she gave the bartender her number about 15 mins before that happened. You made the right call. She didn't love you; she loved the status."

"I know I just thought she was the one at the beginning. "He sighed as you sat next to him. 

You sat there with him for a few minutes in silence. You knew he would be fine just needed someone to lean on for a bit, and sure enough, after about 10 minutes, he handed you his beer and stated with new energy, "There are plenty of fish in the sea. I just have to find the right one, right?!" Jack jumped up and started walking to the doors. 

"Yes, just please be safe and smart and maybe go home alone tonight," you shouted to him as he strutted out the doors. 

Slowly you took a sip of the beer and sighed, starting to take your shoes off, enjoying the silence. You heard the doors slam open and Jimmy Peters and his date for the evening tumbled though not breaking the sloppy kiss and handsy embrace, they were tangled in. They never noticed as you grabbed your high heels and beer and left the room. You were in the hall on the way back, laughing to yourself about the thought of giving Jimmy a hard time the next time you saw him when you heard the classic catcall whistle from behind you. 

You turned to find Ian Kildern, one of the team's defensive players. He was 6'4" muscled more than the average hockey player and curly brown hair with deep green eyes. His tux was well altered; it hung perfectly on him, showing his broad shoulders and narrow waist. Ian was an excellent player, smart, lightning-fast, and a great leader. He was 26 and had been in the league since he was 19. The Bruins had picked him up four years ago when his contract had been up with the Tampa Bay Lighting. You were friends, but you were closer to other players, and usually only had a small talk with easy, polite jokes. 

"Y/N, you clean up nice." He said in a semi-serious, mostly mocking tone.

"Shut up, Ian. Don't you have a date to dazzle like the rest of the team?" you said in a cheeky and light-hearted tone. 

"No, actually Kelly and I broke up last weekend."

"Oh, that's right; her name was Kelly, and I'm so sorry to hear that after a week together, you had to call quits. You must be devastated. You said with a wink. Knowing fully, he had never planned on keeping it serious. Ian didn't sleep around a lot, but he also didn't keep girlfriends long. 

He chuckled, "Yeah, she was allergic to my dog." He changed the subject when he noticed the bottle in your hand, "You drinking alone - drowning your sorrows?"

"No, actually," you said in a matter of fact tone, "I was consoling my brother."

Ian's face squished up, and he sucked in a breath, "Yea, I saw - well heard the slap. Is he okay?"

"He's fine. It's his pride that's hurting more than anything, although he won't admit to it", you explained on a sigh. 

"Well, I'm glad he's okay. It's tough trying to figure everything out—the balance between the game and social life. Suddenly having money and not know if women want you the status or the money. It can be a rough and bumpy ride.” He said with an understanding tone. 

"You sound like you have some experience, but you seemed to have figured it all out." 

 "I had my mistakes and issues, but the key difference is I didn't have a last name that's attached to 2 legends. Jack has a whole lot more spotlight from the league because of your dad and oldest brother. I could make my mistakes in private." 

"So, you had a girl slap you in front of your entire team and about 45 VIP guests?" you questioned, intrigued to hear his answer. 

"Okay, well, no, I never had that, but I did have a date throw up on me at an event one time. Rachel Madison, I'll always remember that name now. She hadn't eaten all day and then started doing shots of tequila. The smell was horrendous. It was like...

"Ew, I don't want to know! Please stop you win. That's disgusting." you fussed, cutting him off and giggling at the idea. 

"Well, then, Miss. Date Judger where is your perfect event plus one this evening." He asked mockingly, looking around the hallway you two were slowly walking down. 

"Oh, I don't ever bring a date to an event that mom and I are running. I did once or twice and always felt bad that I left him standing somewhere while doing things for the event, plus dating in my life is hard. They tend to get offended when I know more about the game or jealous when I spend all my time here at the arena with you guys OR my brothers bully them, and they can't take the heat." 

They had almost reached the doorway to the main lobby, where the fundraising event was when Ian's ear perked up as he heard his favorite song come on. It Had To Be You by Harry Connick Jr. He grabbed your hand put the bottle of beer on the floor, and stated softly, "It's a great song - I wouldn't want it to go to waste since you don't have someone to dance with."

Surprised by the sudden change in tone, you lost your voice a little and had to clear it before asking, "Ian Kildern, are you asking me to dance?"

He slowly started to pull you into his arms, saying in a volume just barely above a whisper, "I guess I am. Are you saying yes?"

"I guess I am." you said, staring into his eyes and falling into the sway of his body. Still stiff at first, you slowly drifted further into the daze the music mixed with his look and tone of voice had caused, eventually allowing yourself to melt completely into him. Neither of you spoke to busy enjoying the moment. It had been years since you had slow danced, and you were enjoying being wrapped in someone's arms. Not just any someone, but someone who had made you laugh and had been having a good conversation with, not to mention he smelled incredible. 

Ian couldn't believe he was dancing again. He had stopped bringing dates to events because it always fell short of what he wanted the evening to be. But with Y/N, he couldn't help but notice you laugh at his story or the way you had softened and molded to him as you danced. Hand in hand, his left hand rested at the small of your back, your head resting on his chest right hand on his shoulder. You felt good in his arms. He felt something different for you, something he hadn't felt in a very long time. The music drifted away as the song ended, and you both stopped swaying. You pulled your head back but didn't pull away; you just looked at him, waiting for him to speak first, but Ian didn't want to say anything anymore. The smell of your vanilla perfume. The blush that had risen in your cheeks, the way you were waiting for him. He wanted to kiss you. He wanted to feel those soft pink lips pressed to his. Before he knew it, you were wetting your lips and starting to lean in because you had wanted it too. Never one to miss the opportunity; he leaned in and pressed his hand into your back more, drawing you closer. He was a whisper away from you when Jimmy and his date exploded from the locker room with laughter, pulling the two of you apart. Jimmy and his date rush by you and unseen to the car in the parking lot. 

"Well, it's late. I should be going," Ian said, trying to hide the disappointment that the moment was gone from his voice. 

"Uh, yea, it's late. I should be finding mom to see if she needs help with anything. Good night Ian and thank you for the dance.", you said, turning and walking away before he could say or do anything. 

It took a split second for him to decide, but he had made his choice he wanted her. He wanted to hold, kiss, love, and keep Y/N forever. 

[afaimsarrowverse]

All Arrowverse Seasons sorted according to my love for them:

Note: Given that I have never seen “Constantine” the show is omitted from this. The Animated Shows are also omitted because they are too different to compete with the other shows. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, this list reflects my personal taste, so please don’t answer or reblog just to tell me how wrong I am:

 28.  Black Lightning Season 2

 I think I will never get used to “Black Lighntings” particular style of storytelling and it’s at its peak in Season 2, where storylines and characters are discarded and ignored after building them up for several episodes pretty much in every second episode.

 27. Arrow Season 7

 This season pressed too much story in 22 episodes and as result most of it did not work terrible well.

 26.  Black Lightning Season 1

 I thought this show was going to be a mixture of “The Incredibles” and “Luke Cage”, instead I got this.

 25.  Arrow Season 6

 Do I really have to tell you all that was wrong with this one? I think we all agree on the obvious problems here.

 24.  Black Lightning Season 3

 The first season where the show is actually really good at times. Sadly the problems are still there especially in the first half of the season.

 23.  Arrow Season 1

 By the end of the season I liked “Arrow” and was eager to see what was to come, but it took it’s time to get me there.

 22.   Legends of Tomorrow Season 1

 I was looking forward to this show after that teaser reel they made so much. And was so disappointed then, because the potential was there, but they rarely dipped into it.

 21.  Supergirl Season 4

Good intentions do not make a good season. While the second half of the season is pretty good at least most of the time, it inherited too much from the first half that was just … ugh.

20.  Supergirl Season 5

While better than the previous season, a particular storyline damaged this show pretty bad, because a main character turned into psycho bitch and Kara did not only not notice for ages, but then also whined about it for ages instead of, you know, actually be a hero or a friend and get that person locked up in psych ward.

19.  Supergirl Season 3

While only the last episodes was bad (but it was very very bad) the season as a whole did fall into pieces when put together at the end, which is not really surprising given what happened behind the scenes during this season.

18.  Arrow Season 4

Season 4 spend way too much time setting up “Legends of Tomorrow” in its first half and was not even very good in removing Sara and Ray from their own current storyline, it also exploded an atomic missile and the central romantic relationship was written pretty badly, but apart from this, I actually liked this season more than the rest of the world it seems.

17.  The Flash Season 2

They essentially just remade the Season 1 plot and did spend a lot of time setting up “Legends of Tomorrow”, however at least they were better in writing the characters out of commission than “Arrow” in that year. Still kind of a lazy season compared to the others.

16.  The Flash Season 4

Again a season that I like much more than the rest of the word. Yes it was kind of weirdly balanced, but given that it was about a serial killer who managed to kill all his victims including a member of Team Flash, we actually needed the over the top-humor to still stay “The Flash” and not become “Arrow”, and I personally enjoyed those episodes very much.

15.  The Flash Season 6

RL did quite a number on that one, but it was quite an emotional season that had many beautiful moments anyway.

14.  Batwoman Season 1

I really liked that show. Too bad it had only one season. Because whatever so called Season 2 is, it’s not “Batwoman”.

13.  Arrow Season 3

I really liked that Season. I don’t understand why so many others don’t.

12.  Supergirl Season 1

The pilot was half half, but Episode 2 made me fall in love with that show, and Season 1 just was a joy to watch.

11.  The Flash Season 3

The second half of the season kind struggeled at times, but I still loved Season 3.

10.  Legends of Tomorrow Season 5

Less points for what they did do Brandon and how they did write Ray and Nora out and ignored their existence for the whole second half of the season and the fact that they had problems to handle the too large cast in this season, but “Legends” still remains the best Arrowverse-Show.

9.      Arrow Season 5

While I personally wasn’t to wild on the first half, the second half did actually turn the whole season around and the scripts were with one notable exception a lot better than in most of the other seasons, it was really a superb season.

8.      The Flash Season 5

Given everything they had to change during that season in the last minute, it’s a miracle it came out as great as it did. I really loved it.

7.      Legends of Tomorrow Season 3

How could they kill Martin?! Apart from that my favorite show at its best.

6.      Arrow Season 8

The Backdoor-Pilot wasn’t too good, but overall that season was “Arrow” like we have never seen it before: Brilliant in almost every minute.

5.      Legends of Tomorrow Season 4

Great show, great season. As simple as that.

4.      Supergirl Season 2

“Supergirl” at its best.

3.      Arrow Season 2

“Arrow” at its best.

2.      Legends of Tomorrow Season 2

I know most people won’t agree with this one me, but Season 2 was when the show found itself and every second of this was a joy and the Season 2 Team is my favorite team, so…..

1.      The Flash Season 1

 Most people will agree with me that Season 1 was not only the best season of “The Flash” but also the best season of the Arrowverse.