#although to be fair that last point where his legs go weak is grand finale and literally the apocalypse | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

taramikealson · 3 years ago

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Just a sort of canon-ish Drabble that I got a little carried away with.

Set after the events in TVD excluding the “Hell” storyline in Season 8, the miracle babies, Caroline dating Alaric, Marcel taking the serum, and a few minor changes that are hopefully recognizable.

He could feel the irritation crawl along his skin like a serpent slithering itself up and around a tree. With the irritation, came anger.

Sometimes he enjoyed the challenge that came with others riffling with his plans. He has theories as to why he does but deep down he knows the true reason. His wolf. The thrill and excitement that came with the thought of the hunt. Predators such as wolves are born hunters who thrive on such games.

But, he is not only a wolf. No, he is a strategist- a remarkable one at that. There had been no plan, no despicable machination of his that hasn’t had a fail-safe.

Except for this one.

He had gotten himself into a situation where he finally became comfortable again after nearly ten centuries of running. And when he got comfortable, he began to lose his edge.

After successfully re-stabilizing the Quarter and allowing his brother to take a leading role in the peace treaty between the factions, New Orleans fell quiet. Of course, every so often there’d be a dispute between a couple of the factions that rose a concern within his elder brother, but that was always unavoidable. Werewolves, witches, and vampires alike have fought for centuries, that type of violence and warfare doesn’t automatically stop with a peace treaty. His brother may hope for that positive outcome but Klaus had always been a realist. And, unfortunately as he predicted, the peace was temporary.

“Niklaus, this is not a situation that we should ignore.” His brother’s voice sounded through the phone that he had pressed against his right ear.

No, this isn’t something we should ignore. He thinks, tentatively keeping his lips pressed together to keep himself from speaking of something that perhaps his brother shouldn’t know.

“Should Marcel make a regretful move, this treaty we’ve formed could very well be null and void.”

If Marcel were to make a move, it may start a gruesome war between the vampires and werewolves. If Klaus knew Marcel well enough, his former right-hand man is most likely planning something rather ill-conceived. He hasn’t theorized whether the harsh consequences will weigh the heaviest on either the vampires or werewolves, or even the whole Quarter all together. No matter what they may be, he’s most certain his brother won’t be quite pleased with what he has planned.

Although Klaus once held a tight hold over the vampires, it came to his attention that Marcel continued to be respected amongst both the day and nightwalker community. Thus, why in the time of tension, they clamber to him in search of a leader to choose the decisions that will benefit them. Which is why Klaus has chosen to keep the werewolves as an ally. The werewolves have proven to be loyal to Hayley and his daughter because they both are seen as part of the pack, which unnerves Klaus but gives him the relief that those wolves will protect his daughter. The connection that Hayley holds with those werewolves is bound to be manipulated, might as well be him to do so in a beneficial way. For both the stability of New Orleans and the safety of his daughter.

“Brother, do you understand me?”

His shoes crunch against the small layer of gravel underneath his feet.

“Yes.” Klaus tries his best to keep the irritation out of his voice but his answer still sounds short.

The hybrid immediately ends the call, noting that the conversion was to be continued in person. While pocketing his phone, he takes a few steps further along the rooftop and then steps up onto the ledge, giving him a grand view of the Quarter from a few buildings away.

A rough shuffle and a few voices could be heard from a little farther down the alley below him, but he didn’t much care about the happenings within the alley. From what he could hear, there were two men speaking in hushed tones, their heartbeats slower and more quiet indicating their undead nature. The fast and erratic heartbeat that was a few paces in front of them was a clear indication to Klaus of what the vampires below were planning to do.

His lips turned up slightly. He, himself, was feeling a bit peckish, perhaps he’ll grab a quick bite before he returns home to his disapproving older brother.

The vampires eventually closed the woman in, murmuring to her about where she was going and why she was out at such a time. He found it interesting that she stayed quiet. Ninety-nine percent of the time, the women would say something whether it be a plea to let them go or an angry curse.

Wanting to stay out of the house- more like away from his brother- for as long as he can, he turned his head to look down the alleyway. If this ends to be unentertaining, he’ll most likely grab a drink at Rousseau’s.

There, he could see both the vampires crowd into the blonde woman’s space. She has her back pushed up against the rough brick.

“I don’t think it’s very safe for a lady like yourself to be out here.” The vampire states before his eyes transform and fangs replace his blunt teeth. Usually, this is when the victims begin to scream or mutter that modern saying, oh my, God. But the woman doesn’t seem as scared as a normal human would be.

“You’re making a mistake.” She murmurs and Klaus’ eyes widen a hair, recognizing the voice. But before he can think of anything else, the woman is thrusting a wooden stake into the vampire’s stomach.

The vampire doubles over and the other vampire goes to attack the human but he’s no match for Klaus’ speed. Without a second thought, Klaus appears before the vampire, shoving him back before he could get to the woman. The other vampire has now pulled the stake from his torso and was looking to kill but Klaus turned toward him.

“Enough.”

The vampire pauses but scowls at him, a look of disgust and anger apparent in his eyes. His hand rises and points to the human. “She stabbed me! She’s a tourist! Tourists are fair game-,”

“And you would be in the right if it weren’t for her being under my protection.”

The vampire looks a little surprised at Klaus’ declaration and is about to protest once more but Klaus beats him to it.

“Now, I suggest you scamper off to Marcel before I’m tempted to rid you both of your hands.”

Both vampires share a glance and Klaus continues to stand his ground confidently. Eventually, the vampires figure out that it’s probably best for them to avoid any conflict with an Original, the Original Hybrid no less. Thus, they both give the human one last threatening look before flashing away into the night.

With the vampires disappearance, Klaus had began to turn around and quip something sarcastic but his whole expression changes when Caroline’s knees give out. His hands come out at vampiric speed as he catches her by her upper arms and kneels down as he slowly lowers with her.

It’s then that he sees her clearly. Her hair isn’t as perfect as she normally used to keep it, almost like she hasn’t had access to the proper equipment. Her clothes were a little wrinkled and two small dark red dots bled through her white shirt indicating that a bandaged wound was leaking. Concern now flooded through him as his eyes connected with her face. It was as beautiful as ever but there was a deep exhaustion and a line of stress etched into her forehead. Oh how his heart now aches. He thinks that he hasn’t felt as worried for someone as he is with Hope, but yet here he is, holding her just enough so she doesn’t slump over.

He now realizes that she hadn’t just lost most of her strength, but had been keeping herself from showing any weakness towards those vampires. If he wasn’t so concerned with her health, he’d be praising her for her stubborn strength.

“Caroline, look at me, love.” He aides her by tilting her head up gently by her chin. Her eyes are tired and look so vulnerable.

She looks as if she’s about to say something but Klaus shakes his head. “Conserve your strength. You’re alright, I’ve got you.” If those words were spoken to anyone else, they’d have a right mind to be worried but she seemed to feel relieved. He takes that as permission to pick her up, holding her from underneath her legs and shoulders.

His thoughts of what his brother will think of him are completely wiped away when he races to his home. It’s quiet but he knows his brother is lurking somewhere. He’s not quite concerned about Freya, Rebekah, and Hayley’s absences. Ever since the incident between the werewolves and vampires, Hayley has taken it upon herself to help with the remaining pack. Freya is most likely working on another miracle to save this city’s peace and it’s no surprise that Rebekah is with Marcel.

Klaus contemplates taking Caroline to a guest bedroom but the closest one to his is farther than he’d like so he figures that taking her to his bedroom won’t be the worst idea. At least he’d be able to keep a close eye on her for the time being.

He sets her down gently to the dark grey covers and takes a sharp turn into the bathroom. Klaus comes back out a few moments later with a wet washcloth and a couple different sizes of bandages. Caroline shifts a little and grazes her hand against the side of her torso where the wound was which seems to instantly sober her up. She lets out a small gasp and grimaces in pain. Her hand hovers over it as if it’d take the pain away. Klaus walks back over to her and sits on the edge of the bed, a few inches separating himself from her.

Extending his hand, his eyes travel up to her face seeking silently for any sign of rejection before pulling the edge of her shirt up to reveal a blood-soaked bandage. His hands slowly peel away the bandage and Klaus didn’t know what to expect but he hadn’t expect something quite as brutal as this. No, this was not a wound from an accident, this was intentional and by someone who was trying to harm Caroline. In fact, he was quite knowledgeable about this particular wound, or had been when he was human. By the sharp angles of the shape of the wound, he could tell it had been an arrow tip that pierced her skin. When he was human, Kol had been recklessly playing with his father’s bow and accidentally shot Finn in the shoulder. He had kept that arrow shaped scar for as long as he could remember. But just because Finn had survived, it only made Klaus more concerned.

By the tear of the wound, it seems to have been reopened due to stress. Although, he imagines that it’s good news that it’s not infected. Klaus is as gentle as he possibly can be when he pays the wet washcloth along her wound. She bites her lip hard and grasps his arm in a painful grip but he allows her to do so, hoping that if a fraction of his pain can dull hers, then so be it.

After a few moments, she slowly takes her hand away and he begins to clean around the wound.

“Klaus-,”

“Don’t.” He begins, “not now.”

His words come out a tad harsher than intended but she knows he’s just concerned and doesn’t know how to healthily deal with it like a normal human.

“I need you to listen just for once.”

“Caroline, let yourself rest before we speak of anything.”

She appreciated the notion that he valued her safety and well-being more than an explanation of why she showed up in his city as a human. But this couldn’t wait, for her safety and his own.

To truly get his attention, she places her hand on top of the one that was still cleaning the blood off her skin. It pauses its movements and he looks up to her.

“I- I didn’t want to do this. I didn’t want to use you for your contacts but I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” She hesitates to continue because after she asks, his involvement becomes concrete. Because she knows that he’ll help her. “I need a witch, someone powerful. Someone who can do a cloaking spell that can’t be broken by another witch.”

His face doesn’t express as much emotion as she thought it would but she doesn’t think that it’s a bad thing. He obviously seems to be contemplating something as his eyes bore into hers.

Setting aside the washcloth, he straightens out and takes a sleek black phone out of his jacket pocket. Without hesitation, he clicks a few times on the screen and places the phone against his ear.

“Freya, I need you at the Compound immediately.” With that, he puts his phone away and reaches for a bandage. Taking the plastic off, he softly places it over her wound, pressing along the outside, securing it to her skin without causing her pain.

His eyes refocus onto hers and she spots the anger that has now manifested within those blue orbs. “Who did this?” He asks and Caroline Knew she should have known better than to think the wound wouldn’t show any foul play.

“Silas.” Klaus’ lips part in confusion. For all he knows, Silas had been put in a safe and thrown down the quarry. God, things got complicated since he’d left. Much more complicated than she would have liked.

“For a while he pretended to be Stefan. We didn’t know because we thought he could only mess with a couple people’s perspectives but turns out he’s a doppelgänger.” She mentally cringes when remembering how Silas continuously terrorized her and her friends. She also remembers how Silas had made everyone think he was dead when Stefan killed him but had used it as an out to chalk up another plan that revolved solely around revenge. Against her.

Caroline begins to pull herself up into a sitting position so she’s resting against the headboard and is thankful when Klaus helps her. “Before you came back, we thought Stefan killed Silas but he’d used some last resort spell and it gave him the perfect out to recollect himself.”

“I guess he waited for a few years for things to settle down and for us to be off our guard.Damon was as happy as he could be considering Elena, Bonnie was back, and Stefan and I were getting back on good terms. Silas approached me on the last day of my Senior year.” Klaus notices as she bites her lip and looks down at her hands that have begun to twiddle in slight nervousness. “Silas made me think we were making some kind of deal. I leave my friends behind and never go back to Mystic Falls, or he kills me and everyone I care about. I chose to leave.”

Swallowing, her eyes darted from her hands to Klaus’ face to gauge what he might have been thinking but he wasn’t showing any sign other than that he was just listening to her, allowing her to pour whatever worries she had onto him.

“I don’t know if he thought that I would just settle down in some other place to get the opportunity to know my whereabouts while he tried to kill my friends but he called negotiations off when I skipped the third town I went to. So, he went after me.” When the single tear fell from her eye, she was a little surprised at how vulnerable she was allowing herself to be. “I told everyone that I was taking off for a little bit to go travel since I had finished college. I didn’t want them to try to find me and end up as one of Silas’ next victims.”

She pauses and wipes the stray tear away, trying to recollect herself. She must look like hell, crying would only make it worse. Caroline needed to man-up. There was no doubt that what Klaus had gone through with his father, or step-father, was worse.

Klaus leans forward and takes her hand into his, letting him drop a feather-light kiss along her knuckles. “You are safe. If I ever promise you anything, I will certainly promise you that.”

Caroline can’t help the small smile that forms on her face, knowing that he is being truly genuine. His lips turn up as well.

A small knock on the door interrupts them and Klaus rises from the bed. A taller dirty blonde woman stands in the doorway, analyzing both of them. Klaus crosses the room and pulls the woman further into the hallway, speaking to her in a hushed tone.

After a moment of back and forth conversation, they both advance into the room. Klaus pauses for a minute, watching as the woman approaches the side of the bed. She offers Caroline a reassuring smile that tells her she’s most likely a friend of Klaus’ or at least someone in his good graces.

“Caroline, right? I’m the older and wiser Mikealson sibling, Freya.” Caroline blinks for a moment and looks to Klaus in confusion. Although, she assumes what the woman, Freya, is saying must be somewhat true because all Klaus does is slightly roll his eyes in such a brotherly manner before turning towards the liquor tray.

“Niklaus tells me you need a little bit of a complex cloaking spell.” Caroline nods. Being that Freya must be a Mikealson, it is always safe to walk on eggshells around the ones she’s not very familiar with, no doubt the ones that she never knew about.

Freya turns towards the hybrid who was sipping his drink. “Will you fetch my grimoire and my herb bowl from the study, brother?” Klaus doesn’t seem all too eager to be ordered around but he does as asked and walks out of the room. Freya turns back towards Caroline and motions to the space when Klaus had sat before.

“May I?”

Caroline gives her a short nod and Freya smiles.

“Why are you being so nice to me? I thought all Mikealsons were kinda bordering on the ‘I don’t help anyone but my family’ ideology.” Caroline was going to be more subtle about it but she’s injured and doesn’t feel well, might as well rip off the band-aid.

Funnily enough, Freya laughs. “I’d agree with you but I’m quite aware of who you are.”

Now, that was surprising. Did Klaus say anything about her to his siblings? It didn’t seem like something he’d do. Her mouth opened to say something but she couldn’t find her words. It seems like Freya had an idea of what she was thinking and thought to correct her.

“I saw you when I entered my brother’s mind. If it weren’t under life and death circumstances I wouldn’t have done so. Trust me, I’ve already heard a mouthful from Niklaus.”

That made Caroline even a bit more nervous. Did this woman know everything about her and Klaus then? Had she watched some of their interactions? “How much do you know?” She asks.

“Just enough to know how important you are to my brother.”

That’s not cryptic at all. Caroline isn’t sure if that means Freya knows a little too much than she should or not but she imagines that she can’t push the woman any further than she’s willing so she shuts her mouth. And she also really doubts that Klaus is out of earshot, he can probably hear almost anything from the other side of the house so it’s best not to speak out of turn. Or maybe just not too much about him.

Speak of the devil, because he then walks through the door not even a few moments afterwards, carrying a grimoire and a small bowl with a few items in it that looked close to medical supplies.

He comes up behind his sister and sets her grimoire down on the bed and intentionally hands her the bowl, making her notice the extra supplies within. A sterile needle with surgical string and a couple other medical supplies. As he hands the bowl over to her, he murmurs, “perhaps you should also take a look at her wound, sister.”

By the look in his eye, she could tell he was a bit more concerned about the girl’s physical wound than the cloaking spell being down. Then again, both siblings knew that with all of the magic surrounding the Compound, it would take a highly skilled witch at least a couple hours to work through a location spell for anyone who was there.

Freya nods and takes the bowl from him. Klaus steps back and takes a seat directly across the room from the bed in one of the leather chairs, still allowing Caroline to see him.

The witch silently asks for permission to have a closer look at Caroline’s wound before pulling the new bandage away. Caroline watches Freya’s eyebrows furrow as she inspects the wound. Freya’s eyes look back up to her.

“Have you had this looked at before?”

Caroline shakes her head lightly. “But I tried to keep it closed.” Her lips turn up into a ghost of a smile. “You only learn so much in high school and college level health classes.” Freya understands the lightheartedness within the statement and offers her a smile.

“Well, it seems like you at least kept it clean.” Freya begins. “But I’ll need to stitch it up a little and possibly do a proper cleaning just in case. It’ll probably be easy to put you to sleep for that.”

Caroline’s eyebrows furrow at the lack of a surgical syringe. “Like a witchy anesthesia?”

Freya seems to enjoy her lack of magical knowledge and find amusement in it. “Something along those lines.”

“You’ve done it before, right?”

The witch lets out a small laugh. “Yes, but I can certainly do a demonstration.” Her head turns over her shoulder towards her younger brother but Klaus seems unimpressed.

It was a little reassuring seeing him naturally take up his brotherly role. She hadn’t ever really seen that side of him and never saw him actually interact with his siblings before. It was nice to know that even the Original Hybrid could act like a typical brother once in a great while.

“I promise it’s safe and when you wake, your wound will be patched right up.” Freya reassures and Caroline nods. She knows that Klaus will go just about as far as he possibly can to keep her safe which tells her that Freya is trustworthy. So, she doesn’t think about it too long before she murmurs, “okay.”

———————————————-

Upon breaking the fog of sleep, she doesn’t feel as weak as she had before Freya had put her to sleep which was a good sign. She begins to lift her head off the pillow and suddenly feels a warm hand help her sit up.

Looking over, she sees Klaus hovering beside her. “Easy, love. No need to tear your new sutures.”

His words remind her and she looks down, pulling her shirt up and the bandage aside to see her wound stitched up neatly with a strange light paste spread on top.

“My sister assured me that her little remedy,” he nods towards the paste on her wound, “should have healed you just enough to allow you to shower, if you wish to do so.”

The thought of a steaming hot shower is so appealing to her right now. “God, yes.” She sighs. It’s been so long since she’d been in any type of shower that wasn’t in a hotel or had some sort of modern day technology.

It seems Klaus enjoys her enthusiasm and takes it as a good sign for her health. “Would you like me to fetch my sister to help you?”

Caroline shakes her head. “No, it’s okay. I’m okay.” She silently thinks that should anything happen, he’ll most likely be listening in on her. It was a little creepy to think about but also made her feel a tad safer knowing that he’d always make sure she was safe.

He respects her choice and helps her stand. Waiting a moment to make sure she gets her bearings, he keeps a hand on the small of her back and leads her towards the entrance of the bathroom. She silently thanks him before he closes the door to a crack after her.

Looking around the bathroom, she’s not surprised about how lavish it is and how neat it’s kept. She never really took Klaus as the person who kept his personal space in disarray. As clean as it was, it still held the feeling of being used daily. One of the medicine cabinets was left cracked open a little, a small tin and classic shaving knife was left on top of a white cloth, and a bottle of cologne sat on the counter. If Caroline had possibly thought of a bathroom Klaus would ever call his, this is probably as close to it as she’d get.

Caroline decides that if she takes too long, Klaus may think something is wrong so she strips quickly and turns the water on. She’s pleased when it takes a whole couple seconds for the water to warm. Stepping into the shower, she sighs at how good it feels. The water runs down her, rinsing away all of the dirt and grime from the past couple days.

After getting her hair wet, she reads the minimalist labels on the three bottles that sat on the shower shelf. Thank God they weren’t the typical soaps that guys used nowadays. She shivers at the thought of two-in-one products. These were just simply packaged products that were obviously a little more on the manlier side of things but it’ll have to do.

Rubbing the shampoo and conditioner in her curls, she almost felt a weight lift off of her. Once she finished up basking in the warmth of the shower, she turned the dial off and stepped out. Grabbing the white towel, she wraps it around herself and tries to dry up as much as she can.

Upon walking back over to the bathroom counter she notices that she can’t exactly wear her old clothes but she does choose to wear her bra and underwear again. Hopefully she can ask Klaus to rile her up something for her to wear.

When she exits the bathroom, she immediately notices that the French doors that had led to the balcony outside were now closed with the drapes shut and the sliding door to the bedroom was almost shut all the way. She could hear a little movement in the next room over and assumed it was Klaus.

Stepping further into the bedroom, she sees that she doesn’t even need to ask Klaus for clothes because there’s a pair of yoga pants and t-shirt folded neatly on the bed. It was also accompanied with a hairbrush. Her heart warms at the thoughtfulness but then again, Klaus had always put thought behind a lot of things that involved her.

She’s quick to take the precious privacy that he allowed her and got dressed.

He finally emerged when she was finishing up brushing her hair. He held a plate of food and a glass of water. Caroline places the hairbrush down and into the drawer of the nightstand before scooting herself further back on the bed to give him enough space. Klaus sits down on the edge of the bed and places the glass of water on the nightstand, then handing Caroline the plate. At the sight of the scrambled eggs, bacon, and assortment of fruit on the plate, she was almost worried her stomach would growl. She doesn’t even remember when she last had a proper meal.

“Thank you.” She murmurs when he hands her a clean fork.

His smile is genuine and tells her that he doesn’t find helping her to be a chore. When he watches her carefully as she began to eat, she knew that if he’d done so a few years back she’d find it extremely creepy, but now she’s come to find out that it’s his way of communicating his reassurance. He’s silently telling her that he’s here, he’s going to protect her.

“I’ll leave you to eat. Perhaps get a few more hours of sleep, it’s only a quarter after six.” He states as he rises from the bed. His eyes drift for a moment down to her torso where her wound is covered by her shirt. Something in his eyes changes and he leans down close to her head. She pauses as his lips softly connect with her forehead. He pulls back a little and looks deep into her eyes.

“So long as I have a say in the matter, Silas will never get close enough to touch you again.” He then rises to his full length and exits the room.

——————————————

After eating and getting a couple more hours of sleep she’d ventured out of Klaus bedroom to find him again. When she did he was insistent about getting her at least a week’s worth of clothing for herself. She didn’t make a second objection, knowing that either way Klaus will get her clothing, it was just a matter of if she’d pick it out or have some compelled vampire do it. Thus he’d taken her to a few local shops. In typical guy fashion, Klaus hadn’t been too animated about watching her pick clothing out. In most of the stores, they’d parted ways- her towards anything that caught her eye and him to any empty seat he could find.

Caroline tried to be as time efficient as possible knowing that even a man who has waited a thousand years to break his curse, he still had his limits of patience. As much as she thought he dreaded chaperoning her, because he refused to have a possibility of another vampire thinking they could harm her, he still offered her considerate smiles. There were a few instances where she could feel the heat of his gaze as she walked out of the dressing room. She didn’t know what to make of it and brushed it aside.

This is hopefully the first and last time Caroline thinks this, but she is thankful that Klaus has the ability to compel vampires. He had a vampire, she forgot her name, retrieved Caroline’s brand new clothes and took them to the Compound so they could continue to stroll down a few of the streets.

If Caroline hadn’t spent the last couple years skipping from city to city, she thinks she may have been a little more amazed at the New Orleans architecture. But still, it was truly stunning. She liked that Klaus didn’t directly guide her but just allowed her to wander. Soon, they’d found themselves in a bar. The bartender that approached them seemed very familiar with Klaus and when he’d introduced her to Camille, the woman was welcoming.

It didn’t escape her notice how Camille had laid eyes on Klaus for a few seconds too long before walking off to let her and Klaus enjoy their drinks.

Caroline smiles a little at the situation. “You know, she likes you.”

His lips turn up and he sips his whiskey.

“You may not be aware of this, Caroline, but you are on the exceedingly short list of women who have rejected me.” His head turns towards her with a smug smirk. “You should feel lucky, most of those women are dead.”

Caroline rolls her eyes lightheartedly. “So lucky.” She breathes and looks away from him. His chuckle is rich and deep, making her crack a small smile.

“Quite a number of women find me charming, you surely had at one time.”

The statement brings out an instinct in her to say something snarky or quip something a little harsh but she chooses not to. Instead, her teeth catch her bottom lip as she lowers her gaze to the vodka soda. She doesn’t exactly know what to do. All she’s ever done with him was constantly impolitely reject him with statements about who he killed or what bad things he’s done.

Her eyes go up to see the bartender come out from the kitchen in the back. The girl gives them a small glance and Caroline offers her a friendly smile. Camille seems a little surprised by Caroline’s friendliness, almost as if she was expected to be ignored or brushed off. Caroline has no doubt that the crowd that Klaus would spend time with would be most certainly supernatural, thus their lack of interest in simple human servers. Although, Klaus seemed a little keen of her. Truthfully, she didn’t know what to think about it. If it was a few years ago, she would have rather drowned before admitting that she was a tad jealous when it came to Klaus, but she was older and more mature. So, yeah. Maybe she felt a little jealous that the girl’s feelings towards Klaus could be mutual. But she also wasn’t going to be spiteful of it.

Stirring the small straw that floated in her untouched drink, she murmurs, “If you want to go talk to her, there’s nothing stopping you.” Her voice is as neutral as she can make it.

Even now without her vampire senses, she could still feel his fiery gaze in the side of her head. He lets out a low chuckle.

“Camille is a close friend of my family. She’s sacrificed quite a bit to aid my family’s survival and I’ve repaid her loyalty with protection.” He begins. “Our relationship may have developed into somewhat of a complicated friendship since she’s known me, but that is simply it.”

Caroline turns her head towards him and his eyes are as clear blue as ever. “But by no means do I wish to be in anyone else’s company other than yours.”

There’s a brief moment between them where both of their solid barriers were dissolved and their eyes just simply met. They said nothing but their eyes communicated plenty. But, that moment was only brief.

The bell over the door to the bar chimes when it opens, the noise from the street could be heard for a moment before the door closes again. Both Klaus and Caroline are shaken out of their moment when a voice chimes.

“Now, this is interesting.”

Caroline is a little taken aback even though she should have expected to come across another Original. Hell, she wouldn’t doubt that the whole Mikealson clan was crawling around New Orleans at this point. It seemed to be almost like a hub for them.

Klaus is the first to turn in his seat and greet his sister. “Sister, a bit of a surprise to see you on this side of the river. Has Marcel finally bored you enough?” His tone has dramatically changed from the genuine one before to something more smartass-y.

When Caroline scoots on her stool a little to look more properly at the female Original, she notices how annoyed Rebekah gets because of Klaus’ comment.

“No, I came to visit my niece. Whom, in which, has noticed your lack of presence.” Rebekah then gives Caroline a disapproving glare. “But I think I know why.”

Klaus sighs quietly and Rebekah is about to say something but pauses. Her eyes scan Caroline carefully. After a moment, her eyes widen and she flashes towards Caroline, aggressively yelling, “who the bloody hell gave you the cure!?”

Caroline stumbles out of her stool as fast as she can and takes a few steps back. Rebekah is about to get into her face again but Klaus zips in front of her, blocking her way to Caroline.

“I-,” Caroline doesn’t know what to say or how to even start to calm down the Original. She’s not as strong as she once was. One little neck snap and she’ll be done.

“Rebekah.” Klaus growls in warning, earning a glare from his sister before her gaze goes back to the blonde.

“Why do you get the choice? You, of all people?”

Caroline is beyond grateful that no one else was in the bar because she’s sure that there could have been a bloodbath if there were.

Klaus is about to say something but Rebekah beats him to it.

“How is it that you get to have a normal life?”

Those words seemed to trigger something in Caroline. Something emotional.

“You think I want this? Do you think I chose to have a normal life where I’d meet some regular guy, marry him, have a few kids, and work for the rest of my life?” Rebekah frowns and Klaus turns his head just enough to look at her. “I didn’t. I don’t want that life and I didn’t choose to become human again. So, blame me all you want for being a bitch to you or whatever, but don’t blame me because you didn’t get the human life you’ve always wanted.”

It seems like Caroline’s words have an effect on Rebekah because she shrugs her brother’s hand away from her and takes a step back. Caroline can’t exactly know for sure but she thinks that maybe Rebekah can somewhat relate to her. Rebekah had always wanted to be human but was stuck as a vampire. Now, Caroline wants to be a vampire but is stuck as a human.

When Rebekah takes that step back and Klaus is sure she’s not going to try to attack Caroline again, he fully turns his body towards the blonde human. She can’t gauge exactly what he’s thinking but it could have been a cross between surprise and sympathy.

The younger Original looks almost a little guilty when she casts a glance towards Caroline but instead doesn’t say anything before flashing away. As the light breeze wafts over them from Rebekah’s exit, Klaus takes a step forward towards her.

“Caroline.”

She shakes her head. “I-,” her eyes shut for a moment. “Please don’t make me talk about it.”

She fully expects Klaus to struggle with her request but he quickly proves her wrong and gives her a short nod in understanding.

————————

Caroline’s fingers drum silently against the cold metal of the railing she’s stood behind. The city has now been cascaded in darkness but people still mull about on the street beneath her. The very idea of the liveliness of this city brings a smile to her face. The neon lights of shops and street lamps were now lit up to shine down on the passerbyers below, their drunken ramblings slightly muffled due to her human hearing.

She finds that Klaus was right. There was something about this city that not only attracted the party-seeking humans, but also the darker creatures who lurked in the shadows. She may not be a vampire any longer but that doesn’t mean the connection she holds with the darkness was shaken. There is not just history in this city, it is the home of the supernatural. Caroline bets that if she were still a vampire, she could have spotted a couple dozen supernaturals that had walked by in the past thirty minutes she's been up on Klaus’ balcony.

She only hopes it doesn’t attract a different kind of supernatural.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can sense movement just as a figure joins her. Their hand grasps the railing casually and when they sigh, a white cloud escapes their lips from the continuing dropping temperature of the night. He doesn’t attempt to make a move to slide closer to her and she appreciates the space he’s giving her, along with the time of silence.

As they stood in silence, listening to the noises of the city before them, she could recall how nervous she used to get during long periods of silence. She had always tried to fill them up with mindless chatter or something to that nature. But now? She finds that she sort of enjoys it. His presence may be a little nerve-wracking at times of tension but, as of late, Caroline seems to feel at ease knowing he’s just right there- not totally offering her comfort but the reassurance of his presence.

“You’re cold.” His voice murmurs smoothly through the air. It’s only then that she notices the goosebumps that trek along her arms. The light breeze flows around them once more, reminding Caroline that she doesn’t have as much tolerance to the weather as she once had when she was a vampire.

Her eyes lifted towards him to watch as he slid the casual high-collared blazer off just to then gently place it over her shoulders. Caroline’s arms cross and grasp the sides of the coat, pulling it closer to her body before offering him a smile in thanks. Although his eyes seemed to be light, there was a hint of concern to be seen.

“Caroline, what aren’t you telling me?”

The words surprise her, not because he’s asking them, but because he’s asking them now. She should have felt lucky that he hadn’t asked her earlier or even within the first ten minutes she was in New Orleans.

A lot. She thinks.

When she doesn’t speak, he sighs and shifts closer to her.

“You should be aware that I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, but I can’t very well do it if I don’t know any of the details.” He pauses for a moment before continuing. “I understand that these past few years haven’t been as undemanding as you’ve hoped, but you need to tell me something- anything- so that I can help you.”

Caroline contemplates just shrugging it off and telling him there’s nothing to talk about but that would be a lie. A big lie. She came to him for help, slept in his bed, and ate his food. It would have been foolish of her to think that she could take full advantage of his protection and not have to give him a detailed explanation. But, she doesn’t know exactly how to start and how to proceed. There are specifics that he doesn’t want him to know about, but if she were to leave them out, she’s sure that he is intelligent enough to put a few pieces together, or at least tell that she’s leaving a few key details out. She had two options. Either she tells the truth or she omits, telling him that she doesn’t have the courage to give him an explanation. The last option would be the easier route, but one that would most likely drive a wedge between them, thus possibly compromising their safety.

If she were younger, she would have grappled for a third option. But she was older and more mature now. Even though the prospect of what Klaus may think of her afterwards held a sizable weight over her head, she knew that she couldn’t avoid telling Klaus the truth.

“Silas isn’t just chasing me because I helped in the plan to kill him.” She breathes.

Klaus’ eyes blink in surprise, as if he’s shocked that she’s actually opening up to him. But he allows her to continue.

“When you came back to Mystic Falls, I didn’t tell you the whole truth about what happened with Silas. When Stefan lured Silas outside, I was left alone on the far side of the boarding house. Someone had grabbed me and I acted on instinct because I knew Damon, Elena, and Qetsiyah were in the parlor, so I assumed it was Silas.” Caroline looks away from the Original and out towards the night sky. “It turned out to be Amara.” Her eyes slowly drifted back over to him to gauge his reaction. He stood still, eyes just taking her in and processing the information that she was offering him.

“Silas’ one true love.” Her eyes hold guilt and a sadness within them as she remembers the events that occurred nearly five years ago. “She was innocent and I killed her.”

A stray tear begins to form in her eye and bubbles over, making a thin wet trail down her cheek. Klaus’ hand doesn’t move as fast as it normally does when he gently wipes the tear from her face, making sure not to make any moves that she wouldn’t be able to reject. The heat of his palm against her jaw and the pressure it holds gives her an odd sense of comfort that she wouldn’t have expected.

“I don’t know how he found out after he faked his death, but he-,” she begins to struggle to speak, the emotions beginning to take advantage of her. “He approached me in my dorm one day and I’m not sure if he planned it or not, but Tyler happened to walk in.”

Caroline lets out a small exhale to try to keep her emotions slightly underwraps but she can’t help the couple tears that escape her eyes. Turning her head away, she feels a shade of guilt run through her. “He- he killed Tyler right in front of me.” She also tried to explain how after Silas left her with his ultimatum, she had to find a place to bury Tyler and come up with a story for his absence, but she thinks she would have totally broken down if she spoke another word. It didn’t take much longer than a couple seconds before his arms had brought her closer to him and she didn’t shy away from pushing her head into his shoulder and wrapping her arms around his torso.

The heat radiating off of him almost felt like it began to wrap around her, comforting her in her grief. Klaus kept one arm around her back and another in the hair on the back of her head. His head craned down and he gently pressed his lips to her temple. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t have to. She feels the most safe she has ever felt in the past two years in his arms. The sandalwood cologne fills her lungs when her nose digs deeply into his shirt, surely ruining it with her tears but she's not too worried about that right now.

After a few long moments of being wrapped up in his body, he halts the slow brushing of her hair that she had just noticed he was doing. Klaus’ head pulls away to get a better look at her and she tilts her head up to do the same.

“Come. Let’s get you inside.”

Caroline nods and lets Klaus guide her back into his bedroom. He shuts the French doors behind him and closes the cream drapes, the sounds of the city now greatly muffled by the extra barrier. Caroline walks over to the bed. Once she’s sat down, Klaus is already over by the fireplace and starting the fire. She tries to catch her breath. Although she wasn’t sobbing, she still finds it hard to regain herself. A crackle comes from the fireplace and when Klaus stands from his crouched position, she can see the small flames of the fire begin to lick at the wood inside. In no time, Klaus is right there, taking the coat from her shoulders and silently encouraging her to lay down on the bed. She pulls the soft covers over herself as Klaus’ eyes rove over her.

“Will you stay?” The words escape her lips before she can understand what she had said.

Klaus studies her for a moment but his attention is pulled towards the sliding doors that are cracked open just enough for him to see his brother. His brother’s presence now reminds him of the factions meeting they were supposed to attend tonight in light of the recent events between the witches, werewolves, and vampires, but Caroline is in a sensitive emotional position. Although he finds it surprising for her to feel comforted by him, he doesn’t feel as inadequate for the job as he would with anyone else. He decides then what he will do. New Orleans can wait. If anything, his brother is more than equipped with handling tonight’s meeting without him.

His head turns back towards Caroline. The deep blue of his eyes already indicate his answer to her and she slides to the other side of the bed to give him room. Klaus toes off his boots and just before he lays down, his eyes glance up to see the sliding door closing all the way and his brother’s footsteps retreating away.

When he’s settled onto his back, Caroline quickly tucks into his side. The move isn’t unexpected with her trying to seek a source of comfort. He slowly pulls his arm out from under her and instead wraps it around her body, placing his hand just above her hip as she buries herself into his ribcage.

Klaus lays there for a while, listening to the changes in her heart beat and studying the way it slows when she falls asleep. He only allows himself to shut his eyes when he hears his brother return an hour later, feeling more comfortable being asleep when at least one other Original is awake. He won’t take any chances with Caroline. He won’t risk losing her.

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

When Caroline wakes up that next morning, she isn’t shocked that she’s alone and the place where he had once been was vacant of his body heat. She never assumed Klaus to be the type of man to sleep in by any means being as paranoid as he usually was but it had seemed like he’d been gone for quite a while. As much as she wants to think that maybe he had some weird bout of inspiration to paint or do whatever artistic thing he prided himself with, she has the better judgement to know it was business related.

From what she could tell, he and his brother were the main one’s calling the shots in the French Quarter. Not unexpected, considering Klaus is, well, Klaus. But he has subtly mentioned from time to time whilst they were out yesterday that there was some tension between a few of the supernatural factions. Caroline imagines that it's more of a regular occurrence and something that comes with ‘ruling’ (Klaus’ words, not her’s) over the supernatural community within New Orleans. Thus, it doesn’t take a genius to understand Klaus must have a decent amount of business to conduct most of the time. She wouldn’t be all too surprised if he was out handing threats out like flyers first thing in the morning.

The mere idea that Klaus has probably been awake for at least a couple hours now prompted her to get motivated for the day. Although she didn’t directly have any plans other than possibly not getting her throat ripped out by Rebekah, she still needed to eat.

It didn’t take her long to get dressed and make her way out of Klaus’ bedroom. But when she made it to the hallway outside of Klaus’ study, she was a little torn on what she should do next. Klaus hadn’t exactly shown her around the Compound so she really only knows the way in and out of the Compound from his living quarters.

There were a few doors on each side of the hallway. She chose the route she was more familiar with and decided to start there. Fearing that she might be interfering in his family’s privacy, she only ventured into the rooms that were already open. She first found a parlor room with dark red couches and a small wet bar, next she found a very extensive library where she read a few of the titles of the books. Some were familiar and some were totally unknown to her, but she imagined that she wouldn’t know any books that were written in other languages like the French one she decided to flip open. After finding a few first editions, she thought it best to move on and keep her human, clumsy hands away from books that could be worth more than a couple thousand dollars. When exiting the library and finding the courtyard, she climbed down the stairs and got lucky when she found the kitchen.

Walking over to the fridge, she crosses her fingers that she doesn’t just see blood bags. Upon opening the fridge, she’s satisfied to find a tray of eggs, milk carton, a drawer dedicated to fruits and vegetables, a couple bottles of water, some condiments in the door slots, and a couple other assorted food items that were relatively healthy. She would do just about anything right now to satisfy her sweet tooth that she woke up with but she’s also grateful that the Mikealson’s even have food in general, so she’ll take what she can get. So, Caroline takes the grape jelly out of the door slot and then goes to search for bread. Surely if they had food in the fridge, they had to have some non-refrigerated items too, right?

Looking through a couple of the cabinets, she mentally notes which cabinet held the plates, glassware, coffee grounds, and such. She finally finds the bread and limits herself to two slices. She may be hungry but she’s also human.

Grabbing a plate and spotting the toaster conveniently placed on the counter next to the coffee machine, she places the slices of bread inside.

In that moment, she thinks of the simple weekday mornings just before school. Those so easy and simple times where she had convinced herself could be the worst for her. How wrong she was. Now, she misses those mornings where all she had to worry about was boys and if she was going to pass that week’s pop quiz. In fact, she can even say she misses the times where the worst that could happen was an unexpected visit from a particularly moody Original hybrid in which had a 50/50 percent chance of ending with a pair of toxic hybrid teeth in someone’s throat.

Now, Caroline realizes that Klaus must have either grown to enjoy watching her and her friend’s failed attempts to end his life or preferred to use ‘kid-gloves’ because if he were to kill any of her friends, he knew better than to think she’d ever forgive him. Either way, she feels somewhat lucky in an odd way that he hadn’t reacted as badly as she now knew he could have. Unlike Klaus, Silas had no attraction or reason to extend any amount of mercy towards her, which was extremely terrifying. Silas may be mortal now but he is also a very powerful witch. One that was able to keep up with her when she was still a vampire.

The ding of the toaster brings her out of her reverie. Caroline reaches into the toaster to carefully pull the slice of bread out. The front of her finger grazes the hot metal inside and she pulls it out as quickly as she can on instinct. “Damnit!” She whispers heatedly, knowing there were other vampires within the house. In the process of taking a step back as the pain still sizzles underneath her skin, she could see something in her peripheral vision. Turning her head quickly, she yelps.

“Shit!” She curses, jumping slightly in her own skin when she finds an unexpected figure in the entranceway of the kitchen.

A smirk graces his features and a deep chuckle escapes his lips.

“God, you can’t do that. I can’t exactly sense when you’re creepily stalking me anymore.”

He doesn’t respond but she thinks he gets the point. Klaus walks over to her and easily deposits both slices of toast onto the plate she had out. Fishing out a butter knife from one of the drawers and opening the lid to the jam.

“I’d like to take you somewhere.” His eyes glance over to her as she watches him spread the jam over the slices of toast before placing the used knife into the stainless steel sink. He then slides the plate closer to her and walks back over to the fridge to put the jar of jam away.

Caroline takes the plate and takes a couple steps over to the island counter where a couple stools sat. She sits and takes a bite out of her toast. “Now?”

“As soon as you are ready.” He then grins at her, clearly hiding something from her. “Although, I recommend you wear something you don’t mind getting dirty.”

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

They’ve been in the car maybe five minutes before Caroline began to question him on where he was taking her.

“Seriously?”

His eyebrow rises and he glances towards her with lighthearted eyes that tell her he was certainly enjoying her irritation. Caroline just resorts to glaring at him but it doesn't hold nearly the same weight that it had a few years ago when she’d glare at him then and he clearly knows it. Klaus’ eyes return to the road and Caroline sighs, settling further into the leather seat of his luxury SUV.

“If you can’t tell me where we’re going, can you at least tell me something?” She asks, thinking that maybe he would want to play the ‘hint game.’

A sly smirk puts the edge of his lips up. Instead of giving into her, he decides to veer off into a different topic altogether.

“Do you recall the period of time when Alaric helped train the doppelganger in the ridiculous hope that it would somehow keep her safe from my siblings and myself?”

Caroline is a little taken aback by his question. Obviously, she remembers. Elena had once tried to get her to join her and Alaric. What surprised her about it though was that he even knew about it in the first place because Elena had thought they’d kept it all ‘hush hush’ specifically so he wouldn’t find out. Although, Caroline now thinks that he would most likely know from pulling the information out of Tyler or having a hybrid tail them once in a while. Both scenarios are equally as realistic.

The Land Rover slows and turns down a dirt path that is cascaded with tall trees. Clearly, he was taking her somewhere in the countryside.

“Yeah, but I don’t see how that’s relevant unless you plan to drag me out into the middle of the woods and kill me.” She turns her head to look at him. “Because I will put up one hell of a fight.”

His chuckle is low but not in a dark way. The blue in his eyes gets a little brighter when he parks the car at the edge of a large clearing. There’s a few fallen logs and if Caroline squints just enough, she can make out the shape of a couple makeshift tents a couple hundred yards away. She feels the Original turn towards her after shutting the car off and she looks his way.

“Trust me, sweetheart, if I were to make you my victim, I wouldn’t need to take you to the Bayou.” The tone in his voice is as casual as if he were talking about dinner plans and the smile he dotes is edging on the side of diabolical.

She raises a brow and turns away from him as she opens the passenger side door. “Because that makes me feel reassured.” Caroline knows his lips tug higher up into his cheeks, enjoying her slight sarcasm and their back-and-forth banter. Sometimes she thinks he likes making her angry, she can’t really think of a reason why, but he seems to always draw that emotion out of her at times when he doesn’t really have to.

Upon getting out, she notices he rounds the back of the car and opens the tailgate. Klaus pulls two objects out and closes the tailgate before meeting her a few paces away from the black vehicle. Her eyes widen a hair and her eyebrows rise dramatically when she sees what he took out for the back of his SUV.

He holds two long medieval looking swords, one in each hand. Stepping up to her, he readjusts his grip on one of the swords and holds it by the blade, offering it to her by the leather wrapped handle. She physically hesitates, clearly confused about what his end goal was.

Klaus seems amused by her reaction and tips his head to the side.

“Go on, it won’t bite you.”

Her eyes shift from the sword in his hands and his eyes. Slowly, she grasps the handle of the sword and Klaus lets go. Caroline struggles for a moment, the sword being heavier than she had anticipated. Not knowing what to do with it, she lets the end of it sit on the ground.

On the other hand, Klaus holds his sword by the handle and holds it out diagonally in the air.

“Strike it.” He orders.

Caroline does nothing except look at him strangely before rolling her eyes. “Seriously? You brought me out here for your own amusement? Newsflash, I’m not exactly some minion you can drag out to weird places and play ‘swords’ with.”

Klaus sighs and lowers the sword down, expertly thrusting the point into the grassy ground.

“This is no game, love. As much as I’d like to be showing you my city, I have a vested interest in your safety and to keep you protected. From what I have come to realize within the past years in residing in New Orleans, I can’t be in multiple places at once. Thus, why we are here.” His empty hand motions along as he speaks and his eyes glance around the clearing at it’s mention. “I’d like to be able to say that I will be by your side at all times, but that would simply be false. Which is why I think it is pertinent and rather of astronomically great import that you have some ability to defend yourself.”

Caroline glances down at the sword in his hand. “With a sword?” She asks with a stifled laugh, almost amused by the thought of using a sword in an actual realistic fight.

“No, but it gives you a starting place and the ability to learn how to use spare objects as weapons.”

Klaus then raises the sword again and nods. “Now, strike it.”

#klausmikealson #klaroline #drabble #klaroline drabbles #the originals #klaus mikaelson #the vampire diaries #klaus x caroline #caroline forbes #elijah mikaelson #freya mikaelson #rebekah mikaelson

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ugly-crying-over-bucky-barnes · 5 years ago

Text

Burned Part 17

Summary: Alfie Solomons is in need of a secretary. Tommy Shelby mentions a young woman in need of employment. From there the two step into a dangerous dance together.

Part 17: The honeymooners are hit with a startling realization. Louise celebrates a birthday.

//Happy holidays! Here’s an extra long chapter filled with angst and fluff.

The summer Parisian morning filtered into the room the next day. Alfie was fast asleep on his stomach, his arm thrown over Louise’s bare stomach. She smiled tiredly and stroked her husband’s back. Her fingernails grazed lightly over the planes of his muscles and each vertebra of his spine. She traced up to his shoulder blades and paused when she came across an unfamiliar mark.

On first glance, it appeared to be an abrasion but she realized it was something wrong with the skin and not an external wound.

Alfie began to stir underneath her touches. “’Mornin’ Mrs. Solomons.” He murmured in a gravely voice.

“Alfie, what is this on your shoulder?” She asked, too concerned to reply to the greeting.

He seemed to know exactly what she was talking about because he didn’t become alarmed. He merely shut his eyes again. “S’nothing.”

“Alfie…” She warned him before he tried to sweep it under the rug.

“Just psoriasis.” He muttered, kissing her shoulder to try and distract her.

“You saw a doctor?” His wife didn’t give the subject up.

“Yes.”

“Really?” She raised an eyebrow. Alfie would never go to a doctor unless she’d force him. She wasn’t even sure he would go if he had a bullet in his chest. “When? Who did you see?”

It was clear Alfie wasn’t going to win this battle. He couldn’t lie to her because she’d see right through him, or worse, she’d go to fact check his claims. “No, I didn’t. But that’s probably what it is, can’t imagine it’s anything else.” He turned over onto his back, blocking her view of the mark.

“What if it’s cancer?” She asked with worry heavy in her hazel eyes.

He never liked seeing her so concerned over him. “It ain’t cancer.”

“Alfie, you don’t know that unless you go to a doctor.” She urged. “Please, we can go home early…”

“Lou, m’not cutting our fucking honeymoon short because of a little welt.” He interrupted her. “I promise, s’nothing serious. Now c’mon, I think we should pick up where we left off last night.” His arms wrapped around her waist to bring her close again.

Louise didn’t look to be in the mood. She chewed on her lower lip, not brushing aside her concern like her husband did.

He grazed his lips over her neck but she turned away from him to refuse the advance. “Lou…”

She swallowed and forced a smile. “I just have to go to the bathroom.” She replied and pecked him on the cheek before standing up. “I’d like to go to the Louvre today. Will you take me after breakfast?”

Alfie propped himself up on his elbow to watch her slip on a dressing gown. “Yeah, ‘course love.” He agreed quietly. There was no ignoring the worry in her eyes. He’d been so sure he could hide it from her despite being on their honeymoon. It was most likely cancer, he knew that. Lots of men from the war came back with it because of the gas. The gangster was not afraid of death, even a painfully slow one like skin cancer. But he was terrified of the effects it might have on his wife. Cancer wasn’t like the other dangers in his life. He could disarm the disease or just walk away from it. But he’d hold on as long as possible to give Louise the life she deserved.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Louise wouldn’t let go of Alfie. She made sure his arm never slipped from hers as they walked slowly through the grand museum. If he moved one way, she followed.

He could sense her growing dread. She spent less time at each painting the longer they remained at the museum. She appeared preoccupied, her eyes only focused on one part of the paintings, not studying it as she might have done before.

Alfie tried to engage her in conversation about the art to distract her. But she merely nodded or gave a nearly silent, one-worded response.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Seen this one in a postcard ‘fore.” They stood among other museumgoers in front of the Venus de Milo statue. “Not sure why she’s so famous without any fucking arms.” He smiled and gave a weak laugh.

Louise didn’t even try to smile. She finally let go of his arm, slipping away from him and walking away without a word.

Alfie’s shoulders slumped and he followed her. “Lou.” He trailed after her as she walked into another room. It was pretty empty, only a few people filtering in and out. “Louise.”

She stopped and turned to him. Her eyes were filling up with tears. “How could you keep this from me?” She whispered.

“I didn’t…” Alfie ran a hand through his hair and took a breath. “I didn’t lie to you, I don’t know what it fucking is, okay?”

“You seem to have a hunch.” She crossed her arms over her chest and pursed her lips together. The last thing she wanted to do was argue on her honeymoon, especially in a place like the Louvre. But she was scared.

“Even if that’s what it is, yeah, there ain’t anything we can do ‘bout it, love.” He replied honestly. “I didn’t exactly ask to get it, now did I?”

“I wasn’t blaming you I…” Her throat tightened and the room around her felt like it was caving in.

Alfie heard her breathing getting shallower. He gently guided her to sit on a nearby bench in the middle of the exhibit. He touched her arms and hushed her softly. “You don’t need to cry over it, Lou. Everyone fucking dies eventually, don’t they?”

That didn’t help and she hiccupped, her shoulders hunched and eyes down. “I don’t want to lose you.”

“Louise, love, look at me.” He coaxed.

She shook her head adamantly. “I’m not-I can’t lose you. You’re my life…I love you too much and I-”

“Sh…” He touched her cheek to stop her rapid-fire, panic. “Just look at me, aye?”

Her hazel eyes finally met his. Tears slipped down her cheeks. “It’s not fair.”

“Life ain’t fair.” He wiped her tears away with his thumb. “Don’t mean we can’t make the most of it. We can have the time of our fucking lives, Lou, do everything you want and still have enough time left to rest and do it all again. I ain’t dying today.”

She pressed her face into his shoulder and cried freely. “Promise me. Promise me you won’t leave me.”

Alfie would wrestle with fate for as long as he could. He wouldn’t let Death take him away from her until he was absolutely sure it was time. “I promise.” He rubbed her back comfortingly. “Let’s make the best of our life, yeah? We’re in Paris for fuck’s sake.”

He finally drew a tearful laugh out of his wife.

“Yeah?” He smiled and kissed her hair. “We’ve got a lovely little place on the beach, we’ve got the bakery in Camden, and we’ve got a fucking mansion in Surrey. We need to have a kid to fill up all that space, don’t we?” He murmured adoringly.

She nodded. “Yeah…”

“Well, then, can’t have a kid if we’re all worried ‘bout the future.” He soothed. “Come what may, love, yeah?”

“Come what may.” She whispered back to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Alfie took Louise out dancing that night to further pull her mind away from the unknown diagnosis. He couldn’t hold a candle to the French youth who lived to dance to the upbeat jazz music in the thriving club scene. But he held her close and swayed with her as she talked in his ear over the loud band. They talked about everything that wasn't the mark on Alfie's shoulder. He did everything he could to keep her mind off of it and direct her attention back to the honeymoon that she deserved.

~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Alfie took her to Luxembourg Gardens. A large fountain had toy sailboats that floated along, young children along the edges using long sticks to push them along. It was a beautiful summer day and no clouds inhibited the sun.

Louise sat down on the ledge of the fountain, watching the little boats. Her mind was still occupied with Alfie’s potential cancer. Although they had spoken about it in the Louvre, she couldn’t stop worrying.

“Alright?” Alfie stood in front of her, leaning on his cane.

She nodded. “It’s too lovely of a day not to be.” She shrugged and smiled slightly. “I’ll be okay.”

“I’m sorry, Lou, I wish I could make it easier but…”

“Pardon Monsieur, can I use this? My sailboat’s stuck” A young boy came up and tugged on Alfie’s sleeve. He pointed to Alfie’s cane.

“Uh…” He looked to his wife.

“He wants to use your cane.” Louise saw a lonely little sailboat that was static in the still water.

“Oh.” Alfie picked up his cane and knelt down to try and steer the ship back to the edge. “Here it comes, back to shore.”

The boy smiled and picked the boat out of the water. “Merci!” He said before running off to find his parents.

“It would so nice to have a little boy, don’t you think?” Louise wondered out loud.

“Well, figure any child of yours would be polite.” Alfie shrugged and sat down beside her. He stretched out his legs and set his cane to the side.

She smiled and took his hand. “I mean having a girl would be lovely. Either way, I would be happy. I just could see a little boy that looks like you. Blue eyes and all.”

He chuckled and shook his head. He lifted his face to soak up a bit of the warm rays. “Wouldn’t want him to end up like me though. World don’t need another Alfie Solomons.”

“No one could replace you, not even your own son.” She laughed softly and cuddled close to him.

He kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her waist. “Tommy Shelby’s always talking ‘bout transitioning into a legitimate business.”

“Could he?”

Alfie shrugged. A light breeze blew through the park, the sailboats picking up speed. “S’pose it’s possible.”

Louise grazed her fingers over his thigh and knee. “Maybe you could too.”

He grumbled and tilted his head to the side. His hand came to rest over hers. His gold wedding band glinted in the sunlight. “Maybe. Maybe, love.”

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

Alfie didn’t want to return to London and he had several reasons why. He knew the second they got back to Camden Town, Louise would be pushing him into a doctor’s office. The prospect of definitively finding out he had cancer was not on the top of his to-do list. He wasn’t sure when Luca Changretta was planning on appearing, but it had to be soon and Alfie didn’t want Louise in London when he did show up.

But they had to return sometime. Alfie was sure the men at the bakery had a long enough vacation. He needed to make sure he was still an authority figure.

Louise woke up a little later than usual. Alfie hadn’t woken her up because he wanted to grant her the luxury of sleeping in. He’d left a note on his pillow.

Mrs. Solomons,

Thought you might want to sleep in a bit. It’s a lovely day out so I thought you might want to walk. If not, have Evelyn call Ishmael to bring the car around.

Love, Alfie

Louise smiled and tucked the letter away to keep. She usually kept most of his letters because of her sentimental heart. After getting dressed, Louise began to walk to the bakery with Cyril. The bullmastiff was thrilled she and Alfie were back. He trotted alongside her, his ears perked up and listening to the sounds of the city around him.

“Mornin’ Mrs. Solomons.”

Louise glanced over to see two gentlemen she’d never met before in her life. Yet they had greeted her by name and tipped their caps in respect. “Oh, good morning.” She smiled but was confused. Despite the odd interaction, she kept walking. As she did, a few more unfamiliar people greeted her by her married name and a few mothers made sure their children didn’t run into her path. It was peculiar. Never before had she been treated that way in Camden or anywhere to be precise.

~~~~~~~~~~

“Mornin’ Louise.” Ollie greeted her at the door. He took Cyril’s lead from her.

“Ollie, has my husband been threatening the town to be nice to me?” Louise asked.

“Threatening…well, I don’t know ‘bout that.” Ollie walked with her on her way to her desk. “Think people are glad Alfie’s married now. Takes the edge off him a bit, doesn’t it?”

“I suppose. But I don’t want people treating me differently.”

The young man shrugged. “I wouldn’t question it. He’s happier now and wants the world to know he’s married. It’s better than grumbling about the hot weather.”

Louise smiled. “It sure is.”

~~~~~~~~~~~

“Right, let’s see,” Alfie grunted as he climbed the stairs of the elegant building, his hips stiff as a board. His protection followed as they approached the railing that overlooked the viewing ring below. The man scoured the crowd until he saw a familiar face among the elite members of British society.

“Tommy Shelby.” He clapped the man on the back.

The Blinder was with the majority of his entourage. Johnny, Michael, Curly, John, Michael, and Arthur. They all visibly flinched as the gangster descended on them without warning. The other two eldest Shelbys instinctually reached for their handguns tucked away inside their coats.

“Easy lads, easy.” Alfie held up his hands to symbolize peace. “This is a posh event, this is. Not looking to get blood on the walls of this fine place now, am I?”

Arthur and John grimaced but withdrew their hands from inside their coats when their brother waved them off.

“Alfie, this isn’t your usual haunt.” Tommy leaned up against the railing, a cigarette hanging from his lips per usual.

“Yeah, well, the missus has a birthday next week.” Alfie rested on his cane to try and ease the pressure off his hips.

“Heard you got married Alfie, how’d you manage to pull that one off?” John asked a smirk crossed his face as he did his best to goad on the unpredictable man.

Michael chuckled and shook his head. “Probably kidnapped her.” He added.

“You’re, a funny one, ain’t you?” He wasn’t in the mood to be played with because he was focused on Louise’s present. But he wouldn’t let the Shelby boys get the last word. “Nah, mate, your brother sent her my way, right?” He placed a hand over his heart. “And she’s fucking perfect in every way, innit she, Tommy?”

A hint of a smile crossed Tommy’s face but he didn’t comment.

“’Course she fucking is. And I tell ya what.” Alfie stepped closer to Michael and John. “When you’ve got your own firm and you’ve got a right gorgeous woman bent over your desk with a diamond the size of your pea-sized brain on her finger, you call ol’ Alfie, and I’ll laugh at your jokes all fucking day.” Normally, he wouldn’t be so crass when talking about his wife. But it was the Shelbys and Louise wasn’t there to scold him.

Michael and John stared at him, mildly thrown off by the raunchy description but didn’t say anything in return.

“Yeah?” He nodded curtly and gave them a smug look. “Good lads.”

Tommy rolled his eyes but smiled. “Right, you lot, fuck off.” He said and shooed them away.

“Tom…” Arthur was hesitant as he eyed Alfie suspiciously.

“S’alright, go on.” He insisted. The group obliged but stayed on the second floor just in case. “We were happy to hear the wedding went smoothly.”

“Yeah, well, we’re very happy too. Bought the estate that’s been in Louise’s family for-fucking-ever. This place, s’got beautiful pastures and a stable. So, figure it could use some animals.” Alfie shrugged. “My Lou grew up riding, grew up in a right wealthy family, she did. Now she’s got me and I still think she deserves those bits of luxury. And if there’s one man who knows best ‘bout horses, it’s Thomas Shelby. 'Cause I don't know a thing about these fucking beasts.” He poked the man in the shoulder.

He smiled and nodded. It was refreshing to see Alfie gushing over spoiling his wife instead of threatening to shoot him. “What did you have in mind for her?”

“She likes them thoroughbreds but those fuckers have hot blood, don’t they? Want to get her something safe, even-tempered, sound. Don't want her getting thrown.”

“So, you want a horse with a personality opposite of yours.” The blue-eyed man teased deadpan and flicked a bit of ash off his cigarette.

“Well, she’s got me already, don’t think she needs two of me.” Alfie was a little more willing to Tommy make jabs at him. He’d probably earned the right a while back after all the times Alfie held a gun to his head.

“Right, I’ll help you.”

Feeling at ease despite the unfamiliar setting, Alfie set his cane to the side and rested his forearms on the railing in front of them. “Buying another racehorse?”

“Looking to, yeah.” Tommy’s eyes followed the horse in the ring but didn’t seem interested because he didn’t join in on the bidding.

“How’s your boy? How’s Charlie?” He’d gotten a bit better at small talk, mostly because of Louise and moving out to the countryside. The elderly neighbors down the road decided to introduce themselves and Louise had to stop Alfie from bringing his gun to the door. Now Mr. and Mrs. Wilson treated Louise like she was their daughter and thought Alfie was just a gem. It was probably the first time anyone had, aside from his wife, and it made him feel uncomfortably strange. He had to chalk it up to Louise painting him in a holy light.

“He’s good,” Tommy answered, his eyes lighting up as they usually did at the mention of his son. “Turning three next month. He's getting to be so tall for his age.”

“Fucking hell, those little things grow like weeds. ‘Fore you know it he’ll be out being a Peaky Blinder, fucking up Birmingham.”

Tom smiled and shook his head. “Promised Grace he’d be kept away from all that. We’ll be a legitimate business by then anyway. Won’t grow up the way I did.”

Alfie nodded but didn’t believe anything of the sorts would become a reality. Their world was just a cycle. He’d mulled over the idea after his discussion in Paris with Louise. But he wasn’t sure it was ever possible. Of course, he would do anything for his wife but sometimes the lifestyle just didn’t mesh with hopes and dreams.

“How about you and Louise? Setting up to have kids, eh? Bet it’s a fucking big house for just the two of you.”

He scratched at his beard. “Well, we discussed it, yeah? I guess we’ll cross that fucking bridge when it comes. Still, in that honeymoon time, it really mucks up your brain, don’t it?”

“Can’t have Alfie Solomons off guard, now.”

“Yeah, well.” He waved a dismissive hand. “Now, what ‘bout that one?” He asked when the next horse was led out. “Beautiful, innit?” Alfie wanted something gorgeous for his new wife and he thought the eye-catching black mare would do just the trick.

“Looks like a Friesian.” Tommy watched the horse. “Seems quiet enough. You’ll want to get it properly trained either way.”

But Alfie had already decided and began bidding.

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

“Again?” Louise had sighed but smiled when her husband wrapped a tie around her eyes to blindfold her.

“We’re not going far.” He promised. “S’your birthday, Lou, you need at least one surprise.”

The July morning was warm but not unbearable like it had been all week. There was a light breeze traveling through Surrey and it kept Inglewood a bit cooler. It was barely nine in the morning and Alfie had already showered his wife with gifts. But he made her wait until after breakfast for the biggest surprise.

“It’s outside?” Louise asked when she heard him open the back door. The summer sun kissed her face and arms. The sound of the bees buzzing in the garden gave her an idea of where they were.

“Well, couldn’t have it in the house, could I? Would be too big and make a mess of everything.” He chuckled and led her down the path to the stables. He kept one arm steady on her shoulder and held her other hand to guide her.

“Hm…too big to have in the house? Is it a car?” She guessed.

He laughed and shook his head. “F'you want a car, love, you’ll have to wait for the holidays. It’s not a car.”

“Well, then what on earth wouldn’t fit in the house?”

He squeezed her hand. “I s’pose that’s the thing ‘bout surprises, you’ve got to wait to find out, silly girl.”

Louise stuck her tongue out at him and pouted. “Really, Captain Solomons? You’re teasing me on my birthday? I don't think that's very kind of you at all.”

“I think this’ll make up for it.” They arrived at the stables and Alfie waved for the newly hired stable hand to bring out Louise’s present.

“Can I see now?” She asked and reached for the blindfold.

“Sure.” He slowly untied it, letting her wait a few more moments.

Louise heard a soft nicker and the familiar sound of hooves on the gravel drive. Her heart skipped a beat as she figured out what the present was. She gasped softly when the blindfold was finally removed. “Alfie!”

The stunning Friesian stood a few feet in front of her. The mare tossed her head, shaking out her long mane. She was proud in stature with a well-defined form and a glossy coat. It reminded Louise her favorite book as a young girl, Black Beauty. A gorgeous horse as black as night with an alluring quality about it.

“Tommy Shelby helped me pick her out,” Alfie explained. “D’you like her?” He asked hopefully.

“Oh, Alfie, she’s gorgeous.” Louise approached the mare, letting her sniff her hand. The young horse eagerly searched her for any treats, her muzzle grazing over the waist of her skirt. “Sorry, love, I don’t have anything to give you right now.” Louise stroked her hand over the mare’s silky black coat.

Alfie kept his distance. He was not familiar with horses in the slightest and a little unnerved at how big the mare’s hooves were. He thought it was remarkable that Louise was so comfortable around her. “She’s five-years-old, already broken in. But I figured we could hire someone to train her. Tommy’s got a woman he trusts. Said she could come here to help.”

Louise nodded. “It’s been a while since I’ve ridden.” She admitted. The Friesian let her stroke her cheek and fuss over the tiny white patch in the shape of a crescent moon under her forelock. “What’s her name?”

“May Carleton, she doesn’t live too far from here. Trains Tommy’s horses for Epsom.”

“No, no, the horse’s name.”

“Oh, well.” Alfie dug through his pocket to pull out the certificate for the mare. “Midnight in Surrey. But I figured you could give her a proper name and not that fucking mouthful.”

Louise thought to herself for a moment as she affectionately stroked the horse’s neck. Several names flitted through her head all with deep meaning to her life, but she came up with one that was very special to her. “I want to name her Paris.” She decided.

“Paris?” He nodded and smiled. “Seems like a good fit to me.”

Louise drew away from the mare. She hugged her husband tightly and kissed his cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you too, love, happy birthday.” He murmured. If only they could stay in that moment. A warm summer day in July. London was far away and there was no use worrying about it. But once the sharp chill of winter arrived, everything would change.

Permanent Tag List: @papa-geralt-of-cirilla @giftofdreams

Tag List: @vehement-care @kimmietea @eleventhdoctorsangel @fire-treasure-iii

Masterpost

PB Masterlist

#alfie solomons #alfie solomonsxoc #alfie solomons x oc #alfie solomons imagine #peaky blinders #peaky blinder imagine #peaky fookin blinders #peaky blinders fanfiction #fanfiction #paris #fluff #angst #horses

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clockworkrosea · 4 years ago

Text

911, what’s your emergency? (3)

→ summary: they were dangerous. she knew that, and yet, she continues to hunt them. and this? this is her retribution.

→ pairings: jeon jungkook/fem!reader, kim namjoon/oc

→ warnings: graphic depiction of torture, mentions of torture, a lot of mentions of blood, mentions of death, mentions of the mafia, mentions of arson, mentions of fire. graphic description of what the shankill butchers did at the end a/n.

→ wc: 1.5k

→ a/n: alright sorry this took so long, i first was worried with the depiction of the police then i realized corrupt is not that inaccurate, and then i was trying to get a decent wc. please give me feedback! also if anyone wants to be tagged send me a message, comment or ask or smth. aLso i ended the chapter there bc i didn’t want to reveal who was who yet. y’all can guess tho 👀👀. enjoy the chapter! also i made exo bts’s enemies in the story just for convenience they aren’t actually enemies

→ disclaimer: this is not an accurate depiction of bts and anyone else mentioned in this fic. this is also not an accurate depiction of seoul’s police department, government, and any other institutions mentioned in this fic.

series masterlist

When Y/N woke up, hours later, she quickly figured out what had happened. They'd laid a trap, and she had walked right into it. She tugged at her restraints, cringing as they chafed her skin roughly. Her head was pounding, and she felt exhausted, but she looked around and analyzed her situation.

The room was bloodied and dirtied. The blood pooled Y/N scrunched up her nose in disgust as the smell finally hit her. The coppery scent did nothing to help with her headache. Carefully, she kept her eyes off the ground, the grisly sight of dried and fresh blood enough to make anyone retch.

It felt like hours before someone walked into the room. Y/N groaned, tilting her head up slowly to glance at who it was. Hannah was in front of her, looking down with what seemed to be interest. Despite the gore around the room, she seemed to be calm, albeit slightly disgusted.

“Well, well, well. I won’t lie, I expected better of you.” Hannah said, looking her up and down.

"Getting kidnapped by the mafia isn't very high up on my list of dangers, unfortunately. Sorry to disappoint, though." Y/N snorted, staring at her kidnapper. Well, technically the orchestrator. Hannah didn’t look strong enough to drag her all the way to their car. Y/N waited for the pain that was surely to pay her back for her sassiness.

Surprisingly, Hannah snickered.

“I like you. Sassy. Unfortunately no one else that lives here would’ve taken that too kindly, so I’d be a little more careful.” She warned, although the effect was lost as a result of the smirk on her face. Hannah left the room, daintily stepping around the blood stains.

“You’ll need to convince Namjoon to let you out. Although, I’m not totally sure you’d enjoy it out here.” Hannah said cheerily, shutting the heavy metal door. Y/N blinked in surprise, not actually expecting to get help. She nods slowly, careful to keep her head as stable as possible.

It felt like hours had passed when another person finally entered. This was the other man that had been standing by Hannah during the ill-fated conversation. Ill-fated for Y/N, of course. She observed the man, assuming this was Namjoon.

He was...different from what she'd expected. Realistically, neither of the leaders were what she’d expected. Both exuded power, yet they had none of the sadism she’d come to expect from mafia leaders. They were relaxed, yet they had the traditional personality type of a strong mob boss.

Y/N had also talked to them for a grand total of 5 minutes. Namjoon stared at her, seemingly contemplating something. Y/N shifted nervously, running her tongue over her lips. Finally, he smirked and spoke.

"I think we'll let you go. No point in keeping you here." She nearly tipped the weak wooden chair over in her shock, barely managing to tip it back in time. When she looked back at Namjoon, he was smirking as he watched her struggle.

“You’re smarter than Jungkook gives you credit for. I’d thank him, if I were you. Had he not been so annoying you’d be stuck in here, and, well, it's not exactly a great place to be." Namjoon motioned to the blood-covered walls. He stepped over to her seat carefully and slashed through the ties binding her legs and feet.

Y/N stood up hesitantly, taking a couple steps forward. Namjoon followed behind her, with practiced grace, and he watched as she slipped. She looked at her hands, sticky with drying blood. It slowly dripped off of her hands as she carefully got up. Namjoon stepped past her, opening the door.

She left the room hesitantly, slightly intimidated at the thought of staying in a house with 8 mafia members. Despite the bloodiness of the room, it had become familiar, and Y/N wasn’t particularly eager to leave it.

“Down the hall, on the right.” Namjoon’s voice broke her out of her thoughts. When she looked at him, slight confusion evident, he motioned to her hands. She nodded, before making her way down the carpeted hallway.

It was modest, yet subtly extravagant. They didn’t have many decorations, but it’d clearly been strategic. She could see there was thought behind the placement of plants, desks, and chairs in the hallway. Even while she’d been living in her home, her paranoia, similarly to many other members of the police force, had been through the roof. It was probably much worse for them, considering the design of one hallway reflected clear defenses against intruders. Feeling Namjoon’s eyes on her, she quickly stepped into the bathroom.

It didn’t take long to wash the blood off. Once she’d stepped back out, Namjoon was waiting for her, face still impassive. He nodded to her, motioning for her to follow him. Y/N stumbled slightly as she rushed to catch up with his brisk pace.

“Where are we going?” She couldn’t help but ask him. He shot her a sharp glare, quickly shutting her up. It also surprised her, considering what she asked was an innocent question. To be fair, he’d also seemed significantly more tense after she’d finished washing her hands. Something probably happened in the five minutes, and she was on the receiving end of his annoyance.

It took a couple minutes, winding through halls and rooms, to find wherever Namjoon's destination was. When Y/N looked inside, all she does is sigh. This had been coming, she knew, but that didn’t make her any more eager to meet them.

Namjoon cleared his throat, bringing the attention to the two standing in the archway.

Y/N didn’t recognize anyone, as expected, but she matches faces to positions and positions to crimes. As with everyone else in the room, she was well aware she was at a major disadvantage. Namjoon guided her over to an empty couch, and Y/N sat down carefully.

First, she looked for the doctor. Y/N first figured out his existence in the early stages of her assignment, when the previous detective had quit. It was well known that there were 8 members of Bangtan, yet Y/N had only been able to find seven distinct signatures among the crimes. Originally, she’d assumed that the final member had been a drug dealer or enforcer, rather than participating in the murders. It’d taken a month and a small gang war for her to conclude that the last one had to be a doctor. There had been no increase in hospital admissions within Seoul, yet Y/N knew they’d been injured.

The doctor takes the shape of a smiling man with sharp almond eyes.

Next, she scanned for the arsonist. The previous detective, Suho, had tracked the string of fires supposedly in connection to BTS. 4 months later, Y/N had confirmed the Arson to be among the inner circle. EXO, a then-recent enemy of Bangtan, had had their temporary headquarters burned down. It was well known that Bangtan had orchestrated the attack, allowing them to uncover another member of the group.

The arsonist takes the shape of a glaring man with twitching hands.

The interrogator, a terrifying force of death. He’d been the easiest to uncover, and Y/N’s team had tried to track most of his movements. Suho had told her about the first time they’d found one of his bodies. It’d been mutilated beyond recognition. The final cause of death had been a deep slash to the jugular, like the Shankill Butchers. Electrical burns decorated the poor man’s skin, and shallow slashes covered his entire body. The coroner’s report had specified that none of the cuts had been deep enough to kill. Y/N got through about half of the report before she’d had to put it down.

The interrogator takes the shape of a man with doe eyes and scarred hands.

Finally, the leaders. Some of their smaller, less experienced teams had tracked the movements of the kingpin early on. Suho’s team had been the one to uncover the other mob boss: a well-hidden daughter of a dead businessman. It hadn’t been a surprise no one had discovered her, considering the lack of information on the whole network. According to Suho’s informant, no one in the lower ranks had ever seen the other boss. Shortly after, they’d found his body, tortured and broken.

The leaders are a man and a woman with angry eyes and bloodied hands.

“So,” Hannah spoke, looking at her with hidden amusement. “I suppose we should introduce ourselves. After all, we already know so much about you.”

“You know me. Kind of. I’m Hannah Zhang. Bangtan’s godmother, donna, leader, etc. If you hurt any of us, I will kill you.” She continued cheerfully. Then, Hannah motioned for another man to talk. Even before he began, Y/N identified him as their doctor. He seemed kind, she thought. Then again, he also was in the inner circles of a top mafia well-known for their ability to kill.

→ tagged: @btstxtgenre

→ a/n: again i get this could be a little confusing, so feel free to send me any questions you have and i’ll answer them :) the shankill butchers were a group of loyalists who operated out of the shankill area in belfast, ireland. they were responsible for many violent sectarian attacks, in which they would slash their victims’ throats nearly through to their spines. basically they were violent and almost beheaded people but not quite

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loveforpreserumsteve · 5 years ago

Text

Begin Again (Mortician!Steve and Baker!Bucky Modern “Moving On” AU)

Eleven:

Taking another drink of his coffee, Steve tried to busy himself. Straightening chairs here. Fluffing pillows there. Adding more funeral programs to the already large pile on the side table. Making sure that the large, beautiful bouquets on either side of the twin sets of double doors looked as full as they were. Keeping the candy dishes on the table next to the exits full with assorted candies. All the while with Vinnie following close behind.

Scratching the dog between his floppy ears, the doorbell rang. Brows furrowing, Steve glanced up at the clock. The service wasn't for another half hour, but Steve assumed that some people would be early. It wasn't that out of the ordinary. Steve, himself, was the type of person who was early to everything. Most of it was because Joe hated when people were late, but a lot of it was just having everyone look at him.

Heading over towards the door, Steve felt Vinnie comfortingly brush against his leg. Always excited to meet someone new. Especially if it involved head scratches and possible belly rubs.

As Steve opened the door, he made sure that Vinnie sat off to the side, like he was trained to do. Even though Vinnie was trained for emotional support, that didn't mean that everyone was going to be welcome of said support. So, Vinnie sat as calmly as he could; behind Steve and slightly to the left.

Before Steve could fully open the door, a blonde woman whisked inside. Swiftly, she started shrugging out of her black peacoat and nervously explained, "I know I'm early, but I came straight from the airport -- I hope that's okay. I talked to someone on the phone and they said that it was, but I just want to --"

Gaze finally landing on Steve, the woman abruptly stopped talking. Perfectly sculpted eyebrows lifted in surprise on her pale forehead while her mouth pursed into an oval shape. Her eyes glued to his face, but only momentarily. Once she took in his face long enough to make Steve blush, her gaze traveled down over his tall, muscular frame.

It was clear that she was checking Steve out, and Steve's blush darkened. Averting his gaze, Steve took the last drink of his coffee. Gathering his wits Steve prompted, "You mentioned something about talking to someone…"

"Oh!" The blonde answered, shaking off her leering and holding her hand out as she introduced herself, "I’m Sharon."

"Steve," he shook her hand. Briefly, before taking it from her grip and placing it on Vinnie's head. Self-conscious about how his palms were already starting to sweat and just how rapidly they were growing clammy.

Sharon correctly assumed, "I didn't talk to you on the phone."

"No, you didn't," Steve confirmed with a small grin even though his cheeks still felt hot from his earlier blush.

"Is it still okay for me to be here?" Sharon questioned, her brows furrowing as she leaned closer to clarify, "I'm here for my Great Aunt Peggy."

"Yeah, it's fine," Steve reassured, transforming leaning away from her into leading her towards the parlor that was set up for the funeral. "We usually let family members in before the service, so they can have some alone time to mourn."

"That's very generous of you," Sharon grinned, blushing a bit, herself. Linking her arm through his, she looked up at Steve, "Very sweet."

Remembering that some people acted strangely when they were in mourning, Steve forced a placating smile on his face, "It's the least we can do."

Stopping a few feet away from the open casket, Sharon took in a shaky breath. Suddenly dropping the seduction act, her gaze locked on the casket. Her smile slipping off her face and her fingers twitching on Steve's bicep. Vinnie, who had been following the pair brushed against Sharon's leg as he joined her on her side. Nosing at her free hand, Vinnie brought Sharon back to her surroundings.

Clearing her throat, Sharon softly questioned, "Can I have a moment to myself?"

"Of course," Steve assured, removing his arm from her grasp. Leaving the room, Steve turned back around and let her know, "If you need us, you can find us in the --" office? Dining room? Hanging out by the grand staircase? "--back…?"

Not turning to watch Steve exit through the open double doors across from the grand staircase and closest to the family side of the house, Sharon simply nodded and took a step towards the casket. For a moment, Steve wondered if he should stay close, just in case she needed someone there. But Steve was never good at this part of the business. Preparing a dead body for the service in a basement that most would consider creepy? No issue at all. Steve could probably do it blindfolded, in the dark, at three in the morning while a séance went on in the corner of the room. Being there for a mourner who needed support? Scared the ever living shit out of him to the point where he had had countless nightmares of that exact situation.

Seeing Joe exiting the dining room, Steve rushed over to him, "Dad!"

Startled by Steve's obvious call for help, Joe's eyes widened and he asked, "What? Everything okay?"

"There's a, uh, Sharon," Steve threw his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction that Sharon was, "Came early to see her aunt."

Quirking a brow, "Is she okay?"

"A bit shaken," Steve answered.

"You or her?" Joe teased, earning a weak eye roll from Steve. Knowing how introverted Steve was, Joe didn't pester him for long. Instead, he patted his son's shoulder and reassured, "I'll go check on her."

"Thanks," Steve sighed in relief, knowing that if he had run into Cliff, there would've been more teasing.

Worrying his lower lip with his teeth, he watched as Joe entered the parlor where Steve had left Sharon. Letting out a deep breath of relief, Steve entered the dining room to find Sam setting up. Although the reception wouldn't start until eleven, at the earliest, Sam knew that setting up early helped soothe those around. Namely, Steve and Sarah who hated waiting until the last minute for things to be prepared.

Needing to ease his own discomfort at the encounter, Steve decided to tease Sam, "Ya gonna wear that to our wedding? Geez, thought I was special."

"Stevie, you are the most special person in my life," Sam smirked, straightening the stacks of white ceramic plates. Squaring his shoulders, Sam questioned, "Besides, it shouldn't matter what I wear to the wedding. It's about what I wear during the honeymoon."

Blushing, Steve shook his head and softly chuckled. Remembering how he had nearly said the same thing to Brock all those years ago, Steve swore that his blood ran cold for a moment. Practically hearing it aloud again. The way he had handed Brock the empty gift bag while seductively suggesting that he would be only wearing that on their honeymoon. His stomach churning as he remembered how unamused Brock had been. Hindsight is 20/20.

Before his mind could take him down that hurtful road again, Steve looked around for something to do. Spotting the containers of silverware and the stack of napkins, Steve headed into the prep pantry and quickly washed his hand before he grabbed the supplies and headed over to one of the tables set up.

Having done this many times in the restaurants that he worked in while in college, and having done this for the funerals here, Steve started rolling the silverware. Laying out the white paper napkin, Steve gathered a fork, spoon, and knife. Placing the utensils diagonally in the napkin, Steve folded the bottom corner up over the ends of the silverware. Bringing the furthest corner towards himself, Steve tucked it and started rolling. Finishing, Steve kept it from unravelling by placing a white napkin band on it.

By the time that he had a stack of twenty rolled in front of him, Sam came to sit beside him. Grabbing some of the materials for himself, Sam glanced over at Steve while nonchalantly asking, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah," Steve answered too quickly, which was his first mistake. Clearing his throat and ducking his head because his blush was sure to give him away, he asked, "Why wouldn't it be?"

"You don't usually roll silverware," Sam shrugged and gestured towards the Weimaraner, "Plus, Vinnie hasn't left your side since you sat down."

"That's because Vinnie is codependent," Steve playfully waved off, rolling another silverware.

Sam gave Steve a pointed look, but didn't comment on it. The pair had been friends for a couple of years now, and Steve knew that Sam knew that if he waited long enough, Steve would spill the beans. Natasha had informed Sam as much, in the start of their relationship because she knew that pushing Steve was counterproductive. Instead of making him want to confess, it made him shutdown and hold on tighter. Ever since that chat though, Sam changed his tactics all while using a meat analogy where the longer a meat cooked the less tough it would be. Steve wasn't sure how he felt about being compared to a slab of meat, but knew that his contact name in Sam's phone happened to, "Beef Cake."

Luckily, Steve seemed to want to talk about it as he caved, "She -- Sharon -- seemed kind of, um… interested…? In… me…?"

"You sound surprised," Sam's brows furrowed as he started rolling more silverware.

"I am," Steve admitted easily. Brows furrowing, he paused in his current task to look over at Sam. Sometimes, Steve forgot that Sam wasn't there during his awkward phase. Sure, he had seen the photos that Sarah just loved bringing out at every opportunity. But seeing the pictures and experiencing the bullying were two different things. And as much as Steve spouted about body positivity to Eddie and Natasha, he was still just as insecure now as he had been back then.

"Well, you shouldn't be. You're hot," Sam shrugged again. Playfully, Steve quirked his brow and Sam rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face as he reminded, "I'm comfortable in my sexuality to admit when another man is attractive."

"Fair enough," Steve conceded, grabbing another napkin to roll more silverware. Focusing his attention fully on his current task, Steve asked, "So, what should I do?"

"Ask her out," Sam jokingly suggested.

Pausing again with only one side of the napkin tucked, Steve deadpanned, "Sam, she's mourning."

"See," Sam waved a finished silverware accusingly at Steve as he teased, "If she heard that, she'd only want you more."

"Sam, I'm gay," Steve reminded just as unenthused as before.

That time, Sam paused too. Brows furrowing as he feigned confusion, "I thought you dated Nattie?"

Chuckling, Steve balled up one of the napkins and tossed it at Sam as he corrected, "In the fifth grade!"

"Huh," Sam good-naturedly scoffed. A slow grin stretching his lips as he teased, "So, I guess I don't have anything to worry about with you running away with the love of my life and my future wife?"

Playfully rolling his eyes, Steve balled up another napkin and threw it at him for good measure. Recognizing the way his shoulders relaxed and just how thankful he was that Sam was there. Thankful that Sam was his friend. Thankful that Sam was marrying his best friend. Thankful that Sam knew how to calm him down like no one other than Natasha did. Even if he did purposely make himself look like an ass for Steve's benefit.

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caveadministration · 6 years ago

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Gladius

Chapter 7: Bread and Circuses

Shikamaru sighed in boredom and disappointment as his friend cheered along with the roaring crowd. Down below, two minor gladiators started off the show. They had skill, all of the fighters did, but they didn't have any talent. There was no strategy, just the equivalent of two boys whacking sticks together, except these sticks were pointed and busy causing significant injury. Not so deep down, Shikamaru knew that he enjoyed the fights, especially if there was strategy. It was fun to predict the outcome and thrilling if he was wrong.

Shikamaru also knew that it was all a distraction; a way to appease the crowds and draw their attention away from the crumbling social and economic structure that the Emperor had built. He had thought about talking to his friends about it but had stopped himself before he could. It was slightly treasonous, and he was intelligent enough not to take the risk and, if he was being honest, they would probably disagree with him as most families in Rome were brainwashed to agree with The Emperor’s ideals.

Ino hadn't shown up today which was odd for her blatant love of violence, and Choji, Shino, and Hinata had joined their families in their boxes. Considering their status, it was a wonder that they ever joined Shikamaru in the stands. Yes, all of Shikamaru’s friends were clan children, but the Akimichi, Aburame, and Hyuuga were noble clans and they didn't, under principle, frequently consort with the lesser patricians. It was only the clan names that kept their parents from driving them apart. Shikamaru turned to look at the noble clans’ boxes. If he squinted just right, he could see Hinata next to her cousin and her sister, her father behind them.

Next to the Hyuuga box, the Akimichi and Aburame flanked it either side. Shino sat stoically next to his father while Shikamaru could see Choji laughing with his parents. Out of the bunch, the Akimichi were the least stuck up. Above them, the Emperor’s throne was surrounded by Uchihas. As the opening match staggered to an end, his esteemed holiness entered the box and reclined on the throne. Ah, so that was why the royal families kept their children close. They wanted to please the Emperor.

The announcer boomed from his place in the stand, his voice magnified to be heard over the crowd. “All rise for His Imperial Majesty, Emperor of Rome, and Lord of the known World: Madara Uchiha, the first of his name.” The people in the stands rose to their feet and roared their approval. Shikamaru did the same but with much less enthusiasm; it was best to keep up appearances.

It wasn’t unheard of for the Emperor to visit the arena and its gladiators, in fact he came quite often, but not to a small-scale event such as this. The roster did not hold much appeal with none of the heavy-hitters present, only fodder until the main event later in the afternoon. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes. Either it was a random appearance - unlikely - or there was an announcement to come, one important or personal enough for him to appear in public himself rather than simply send out a missive.

“People of Rome.” The Emperor’s voice echoed throughout the stadium. “I have grand news for the arena. Soon we will house another champion, the likes of which has never been seen in a gladiator fight before. Next week, the tournament will host Rome's first gladiatrix, a female gladiator!”

Once again, noise exploded from the spectators, but this time confusion and disapproval dominated the applause. Shikamaru could hear people talking around him about how a female gladiator in the arena was a disgrace to the sport, that a woman wouldn't last long in such a violent environment.

But between the outrage, Shikamaru could hear whispers of intrigue. He did have to agree, it was a new element - and therefore more interesting - but it could also be unpredictable. For this idea to succeed… this gladiatrix would not only have to defeat her competitors, but also make a spectacle, otherwise she would never be recognised.

And if she did fail, it certainly wouldn’t make the Emperor any more popular.

Beside him, Kiba nudged him in the ribs. “A chick, huh? Well I can’t wait to tell Ino, I’m sure she’ll be a fan.”

Shikamaru nodded in agreement and threw a quick glance up at the royal families. “Ino might be a fan, but I can’t say the same for the Hyuugas.”

Hiashi Hyuuga, Hinata’s father, wasn’t sneering, but he certainly looked displeased. Hinata was sharing excited words with her sister, but one look from her father sealed their lips. The Hyuuga had a history of misogyny, and it was delightfully ironic that both the heirs were female, but clearly that wasn’t enough to convince Hiashi on how proficient a woman would be in the arena.

“Yeah, but they’re stuck up,” said Kiba. “Besides, Choji, Shino, and their families seem plenty excited.” Or as excited as the Aburame could get considering their covered faces, but the Akimichi family were just as enthusiastic about the news as they were about everything else.

Shikamaru nudged him back. “And we don’t even have to wait until next week to know more.”

Kiba grinned. “We just have to ask Lee and Tenten.”

Sakura did not sleep well that night. A hay mattress on a stone slab might not be the most uncomfortable surface, but it was every noise that startled her awake, and each shadow that passed between her cell bars that sent her heart racing. She may have won the fight, but it was clear that some gladiators were more… vexed by her than impressed, and she couldn't rule out Hidan. If he decided to take revenge, then being in the same barracks wouldn't exactly be in her favour. Secure walls and doors lay between them, but Sakura had lived through enough to know those wouldn’t stop revenge.

Her injuries didn’t help either. Between those still healing since the attack on Suna, the brand smarting on her hand, and the stab wound in her leg, every movement was wrought with pain. Yes, Moegi had once again bandaged her up, but that wasn’t enough to dull the… discomfort of being impaled.

She was happy to have missed dinner. She was too tired to deal with the other gladiators and the meal she had with Moegi was sufficient enough, but would they see this as a sign of weakness?

Yet, there was nothing to be afraid of. No spectre came in the night to assassinate her and the most she heard of other people were the midnight murmurings of her cell-mates. When morning drew close and the witching hour had long since passed, Sakura finally closed her eyes and stole a little sleep before a bell clanged throughout the compound. A guard strolled into the barracks, rapping on the cell doors, others following him in.

“Rise and shine. You don’t get paid to laze around in bed all day.”

Wincing slightly as she rose from her bed, Sakura quickly pulled on a clean tunic and her sandals. She stood near the door and stretched her joints before the guard came into view.

“Out you get,” he said, opening the door. Sakura walked out to join the other gladiators who had been released from their cells. Her leg still throbbed in pain, but she wouldn’t give anyone the satisfaction of seeing her limp.

She passed Itachi and Kisame, eyeing the blindfolded Uchiha. Sakura still couldn't quite comprehend how he could be such a dangerous opponent, but even as the thought crossed her mind, Itachi’s face turned in her direction. Sakura felt a chill crawl up her spine and quickly looked the other way; it was almost as if he knew exactly where her eyes were.

The other two gladiators from Kiri stood silently near Kisame, and Sakura joined them with the other guards. Kisame gave her a wide, toothy grin, but otherwise she was completely ignored. Fair enough. She could understand wanting to keep to yourself.

Kakuzu followed her as he was let out of his cell, but the calm morning was disturbed as Hidan joined them.

“God fucking dammit. My neck hurt like a bitch last night and now I get this shit ass wake up call. What a great start to a great fucking day!”

“Shut up, Hidan. Nobody wants to listen to your whining,” Kakuzu growled.

“Fuck you, Kaku-fucker. You're not my fucking boss. And you!” At this Hidan turned towards Sakura and she tensed at his tone. Another fight was not what she was looking forward to towards before breakfast.

“You've got some big ass balls if you think I've forgotten about yesterday. And,” at this Hidan’s gaze turned less vengeful and more sleazy. “If you wanna go again, I'm not saying no, but the outcome is gonna be a lot different.”

Was he serious? Sakura still couldn’t comprehend how he could still be so horny, especially after she cut off his actual gods-damned head.

Sure, there were some in the world who took pleasure from pain, but there was a difference between a sharp, searing tug of the hair and decapitation. And although it was rare to see a man understanding of a loss handed to him by a woman, this wasn’t exactly the outcome she had anticipated.

“Yeah?” Said the guard. “Well I think it's time for you to shut your traps and head off to breakfast. And if you don’t, then it's only fair for you to go hungry. That clear?”

Hidan grumbled in discontent but it was obvious that he knew when to shut up when it counted.

Finally, Deidara and Sasori joined them, arguing quietly amongst themselves, and the guards escorted them towards the dining hall.

The hall was mostly empty when they arrived, only a few other barracks had woken up earlier and although she drew a few stares, Sakura was ignored in favour of enjoying breakfast. Perhaps her addition was not as much of an upset as she had previously thought?

She joined the rest of her barrack at their table, sitting as far away as possible from Hidan who took the opportunity of their guards leaving to once again run his mouth.

Sakura listened half-heartedly as he droned on and on about how unfair life was before she tuned out completely. Slowly chewing her breakfast, Sakura could hear more men enter the hall; gladiators claiming tables and guards taking their places along the wall, light murmuring following them.

She tensed a little every time someone walked behind her but slowly began to relax. That was until a group of men talking loudly at another table got up and strode towards her. Or to be more precise, Hidan.

“Well Hidan, who knew you’re such a shitty fighter. I mean I knew you were bad, but not enough to get absolutely fucked up by a girl.”

Slowly, the entire table turned to face the speaker.

Two men now stood in front of the table, followed by others behind them. They were similar enough in features that they were most likely brothers. Both with wild black hair, sharp eyes, and strange masks covering their mouths.

“Or was it all a show to get Pinky here a bit of a rep. What’d she pay you for it? Something worthwhile I hope.”

Sakura grimaced. As if the innuendo was bad enough, he couldn’t even think of an original nickname. From the corner of her eye she could see Hidan’s face as a grin started to stretch across it. Ah, this might not end peacefully.

“Now, now,” said Kisame. “You don’t have to start a fight, Meizu. In fact, why don’t you and your brother just turn around and finish breakfast.”

Hidan stood up. “Oh no no no, if they wanna fight, I’m more than happy to give it to them. Let’s see if the so-called ‘Demon Brothers’ hold up to their name.”

Meizu laughed. “But Hidan, you don’t understand. Gozu and I don’t want to fight you. We want to fight her.”

“Ohhhhhhhh, rejected.”

“Shut up Deidara,” Hidan sneered. “What? Too pussy-footed to fight me?” He began to step over the bench. “Well why don’t we just-”

Sakura stood up. Hidan stopped talking. She walked around the table and faced the two men. Gozu opened his mouth to speak. Before he could, Sakura punched him in the face.

Yes, a slap would have been more effective, but a punch sent through a bit more of a message, and a broken nose. Gozu doubled over in pain while his brother - Meizu was it? - snarled and rose his own fist, ready to swing.

Quickly, Sakura dropped into a crouch and whipped her leg around to catch his at it moved forward. She winced as her thigh smarted at the sudden movement, but now was not the time to stop moving.

“You fucking bitch!”

As Meizu tripped and fell, crashing into a nearby table, Gozu retaliated, blood streaming down his face and she used the moment of her sweep to rise into a high-kick and smack her foot into the side of his face. He went down again. Sakura took the opportunity to slam her heel into the small of his back and then spun back around to face Meizu who was coming at her with what seemed like a knife.

Sakura raised her elbow and blocked his attack before thrusting her fist into his stomach. He let out a gasping breath and fell to the ground. By now, the rest of their lackeys were cheering them on, but to her surprise not engaging in the fight. A previously arranged agreement? Or maybe not confident enough. As her attention drifted, she almost missed the blade moving to stab her leg. It nicked her calf as she moved to stomp down on Meizu’s face and he motionless, passed out.

Movement behind her and she ducked under Gozu’s arm and landed a cupped hand on his ear. He screeched and collapsed in front of her and suddenly everything was still. Sakura dusted off her hands and wiped a streak of blood off her cheek before walking back to her table to finish her breakfast. Nobody spoke as she sat down until Hidan let out a crowing cheer.

“How was that fuckers? And if you want round two I’m available to kick your asses too!”

As Sakura spooned more grain into her mouth, Deidara nudged her with his shoulder.

“Nice one, yeah. Maybe later we can go one-on-one.”

“Unfortunately, you won’t be training with the others today,” Genma said as he stood before the table. “You have appointments for your weapons and armour. And good work by the way, it was a good show to watch. Very clean and efficient and it’s nice to see those two get put in their place.”

“What a pity,” said Kisame, still grinning despite the early hour. “I was looking forward to crossing swords with you this afternoon. Maybe we can give that a shot tomorrow.”

Sakura looked at the men around the table, more interest in their eyes than yesterday, and by the sounds of the rest of the gladiators in the hall with their cheers for her and jeers for the brothers, more respect.

“Yes, maybe later.”

Sakura washed her breakfast down with a gulp of water and walked behind Genma out the building with faint calls of praise following her. She might have a better chance here than she thought.

“You know, Lee, I thought that you’d have better things to do than hang around in the forge all day.”

“But Tenten! It is the springtime of our youths! And! You have not left here to experience it!”

A hammer fell onto the blade, hot and malleable as each strike shaped a dangerous edge. Tenten set down the hammer and lifted the blade eyeing it before placing it back down and continuing with her strikes. “But I have a very important order to finish and as much as I’d like to leave I can’t. Also, I just don’t want to.”

Lee’s eyes trembled as they filled up with tears and Tenten braced herself for the onslaught.

“Tenten! You cannot mean what you say! You must be passionate about y\Youth and embrace it!” Lee sobbed it all out, as water and snot poured down.

Tenten sighed. This time as she lifted up the blade, she plunged it into water; it hissed as the water evaporated into the air. This time she was satisfied with its shape. “Maybe later Lee, but not now.” She walked towards the grinder and set to work sharpening the would-be sword as Lee remained blubbering on the floor. “And I have an appointment soon, so either you should leave or make yourself useful. There’s a cloth on the bench, hand it to me if you could, and there’s another one there for you to blow your nose.”

Lee did as she asked and soon the blade was sharp and polished, almost ready for the rest of the engravings, handle, and pommel. But first, she glanced at the clock, her appointment. As she put away her tools a knock sounded at the entrance and a guard poked his head around the frame. It was Genma.

“Ah, Tenten. I’ve brought you your new fitting.”

He walked in and behind him followed a girl, no a woman. Tenten had heard the news but it was still strange to see. However, it was clear that Lee hadn’t heard anything for as soon as he set eyes on her he froze. If Tenten didn’t know any better, she’d think he was petrified, perhaps in fear, but no. It was simply the calm before the… Lee.

Lee jumped into motion. “To see such a beautiful blossom in such a place is a miracle! I declare my love for you!” He ran towards her, but just before contact the woman dodged and Lee went straight into the wall.

There was silence as they all stared at Lee, at one with the stone.

“Apologies,” said the woman. “He startled me.”

Tenten smiled. “No worries, he’s like that. Why don’t you tell me what armour you prefer and then I can get to work.”

Not really anything to add at the end of this one, it was mostly just a bit of a fun filler chapter. There is the fact that gladiators generally slept on a stone slab and a straw mattress and as they fought in the Colosseum, they could buy better decorations/furniture for their rooms.

Hmu if I’ve missed something, and maybe, if we’re lucky, there’ll be a new chapter out in the near future.

I have edited all the chapters up to this one as of 2/2/19. Nothing major to the plot but it might be worth re-reading.

#gladius #sakura haruno #naruto #Kiba Inuzuka #shikamaru nara #meizu #gozu #rock lee #tenten #hidan #kisame hoshigaki #genma shiranui #chapter 7 #bread and circuses #my writing #fanfiction

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