#and because she had no one to lean on kate just filled in that blank

[marigoidz]

Kate having to provide emotional support to her young struggling mother at a very early age 👍

[kitmoas]

To Break You

Summary: The first year of your time with the Avengers is definitely not as amazing as you thought, but your best friends are your foundation.

Pairing: Kate Bishop x Yelena Belova x Reader x Peter Parker (platonic best friends), Wanda Maximoff x Reader (romantic)

Genre: Angst? With some fluff?

Word Count: 2559

Warnings: Some hurtful words spoken to the young recruits by the older Avengers.

A/N: This is sorta based off an Anon asking for a training montage and very loosely inspired by Long Live by Taylor Swift. I really love this drabble…well its really long but it isn’t technically part of the main story line, just background story to fill in blanks.

Drabble part of Devil AU

You look over as Peter goes flying through the air, slamming into the wall after Thor threw some lightning at him. Bracing as Scott kicks you square in the chest, you’re able to stop yourself from flying through the air. The victorious look on your face is quickly squashed when Sam swoops in, feet first, forcing your body into the wall. Yelena was slapping aggressively at the mat as Bucky held her in a chokehold. Kate was dangling out the window as Wanda held her there, mockingly asked if she needed help.

The first training session with the young Avengers was not going well. Your mentors weren’t allowing the four of you to use their powers or weapons because they thought you shouldn’t rely on them. They were going on and on about losing your go to things, but honestly right now it feels like it’s just an excuse to beat us up.

The entire thing was being watched over by the four mentors, who ended up dismissing the training a few hours later. The young recruits could see the utter disappointment on their faces, and it dragged their mood down a lot. They were having a press conference later that day where the world would be given the chance to meet their new heroes. With the older Avengers proving how untrained the recruits were really didn’t help the positivity of the group.

The four friends were all in various states in their shared room. They had all thought they would hate the lack of privacy, but the temporary community room became the best safe house they could have ever thought of having.

Peter is the first one to speak up, “H-How do they expect the stupid neighborhood spider kid to be an Avenger?” His eyes are closed and his fists are tight as he hangs upside from a web. The three girls can see the anxiety building and Kate walks over, sitting below him. He leans his forehead on hers, and she sighs slowly.

“Petes…you are so amazing.” Kate’s voice is shaky but sure. Her entire body trembles with a choked back sob.

You looked over at the two, and you felt anger surging. Spinning around quickly, you grabbed one of Yelena’s knives and threw it at the wall. The Russian lowly chuckles, the sound not as bright as usual, as she steps over to you pulling one of her favorite knives from a pocket. “Солнце, if you must throw my knives do it correctly.” She gently guides your arm, showing you the motions a few times, before aggressively moving your arm and forcing you to throw the knife perfectly. She leans in, resting her head on your shoulder. She’s tense and stiff, reminding you of when you first met. The pressure of her head increases as she leans more aggressively into you, looking for some sort of grounding. The three of you have come to realize that she still struggles understanding her own thoughts when her emotions run wild, and she uses the three of you mostly as a way to ground herself.

“My darkness is gonna destroy the Avengers.” Your whisper is broken, barely audible but you know the other three heard. Kate’s sob escapes roughly, and she’s immediately overwhelmed. Peter fell from his web, before holding Kate. You could see a few tears leaking down his cheek. Yelena’s arms wrap around you, almost painfully, and she’s shaking. You don’t understand what she's mumbling but she’s panicked and you know she’s fighting the invasive thoughts in her mind. You stand there, holding onto the blonde’s arms, sobbing quietly.

——

Kate was screaming and trying to fight off the seventy agents in her room as they all had weapons, and all she had was a metal pipe. Yelena could be heard grunting out Russian slurs as new agents arrived in her room as soon as the previous ones were taken care of. Peter couldn’t be heard, but he was on his back trying his hardest to not hurt anyone as he struggled to learn without his powers. You sighed as you could feel your friends struggling. The room you were in was insanely bright and it caused you to become disoriented, and you only had 5 people to take down and zero senses.

The lecture you had just received from Cap was enough for Kate to have shut down completely. Yelena was mumbling dejectedly and dragging her down the hall by her foot. Peter was carrying you on his back, silent but you knew he wanted to cry. The boy led his fellow spider into Kate’s room and laid you down on the bed. The separate rooms had been done for months now but you all still felt better being together. He urged Yelena onto the bed as well, who promptly slid up behind you. Kate was laid next to you as Peter rolled the two of them onto the bed.

No one spoke but you all had the words Cap was borderline yelling bouncing in your heads. “You’ll never be Avengers if you can’t handle basic training. I never thought we would bring in such a pathetic bunch. You guys are gonna get so many people killed and it will completely be your faults” You knew he wanted to stay more but Natasha had stopped him.

The hold Yelena had on you was getting extremely painful at this point, but you hadn’t noticed until Kate was watching you with a concerned look. You wanted to ask what was wrong when you finally realized you were making pained noises and Yelena’s mumbling was loud. The blonde was shaking and you could feel her tears soaking your shirt rapidly.

Peter urgently jumps up, and pries Yelena off of you. The widow is shaking and hitting her head. She’s talking so quickly and no one can understand her. Peter wraps his arms around her, whispering in her ear. Kate slides off the bed after giving you a quick kiss on the cheek. You watch as she leans forward, the two girls’ foreheads meeting. The archer holds Yelena’s face in her hands and starts talking to her. Peter’s hands are adding pressure to her sides, and both the archer and the boy are giving more pressure with their heads. It takes hours for Yelena to clear her mind.

——

The older Avengers had all left you alone this past week, needing to go on a very important mission. They had left you in the hands of Agents Hill and Coulson. The two were brutal on the recruits and left all four of you in worse shape than the Avengers usually do. All four of you were in the med bay by the time your mentors came looking for you. The disappointment was evident and you watched Kate flinch at the look Clint had on his face. “You guys really couldn’t handle a simulation? I- I have no words. I really don’t even know what to say. None of us know. A bunch of kids you guys really are. At this point we may need to reevaluate the young Avengers being launched so soon.” Clint’s voice was calmer than Steve’s ever was, but it was so much worse. He looked exhausted and simply done with the four of you.

The four of you watched as your mentors all walked out, none uttering another word. A loud beeping caused your eyes to snap over to see Kate, staring wide eyed at the ceiling. Her breathing was crazy and her heart rate was high, alerting nurses who came rushing. You were faster though and used shadows to create a barrier. A web unplugged the machine and Yelena was already sitting Kate up. Her eyes were glazed over but her breathing was normal. She didn’t say anything but laid heavily onto the blonde behind her. Holding Peter’s hand, she stared at you. Using the darkness outside the windows you created a small black hole for the four of you, floating gently. You laid your head on the archer’s chest as she hugged you close, listening as her heart rate calmed.

“He didn’t mean it Katie. He loves you. You’re such an amazing hero. He..No..Your dad..Katie he loved you so much. He loves you so much. He’s so proud of you. Our archer.” Peter is mumbling to Kate as he traces patterns on her palm.

——

It was the first training session that you were allowed to use powers or weapons. The four of you were extremely excited. It had been a long and really rough year but this was going to be the best training session ever.

The session is over before you even know it. T'challa ripped apart all of Peter’s webs and Cap buried him in a metal pile. Natasha snapped Kate’s bow and Dr. Strange trapped her in the mirror dimension, arrows nowhere to be found. Thor and Wanda had Yelena screaming, begging for mercy filling her body with their powers. Tony and Bruce had you down within seconds after releasing a chemical that blinded you, effectively exploding light into your body.

The four of you refused medical attention and made your way to Yelena’s room. Peter was last, closing the door and leaning against it. You had made your way to the couch and Kate was curled up with her head in your lap. You felt sick as the light was still leaking out of your body. Thanking Yelena who handed you a bottle of dark soda, still not having the heart to tell her that consuming dark liquids doesn’t help the light poisoning you get.

Punches against the brick wall startle you all as you watch Peter break down, “C’mon Spider-Man. COME ON. Get up. Get UP. You’re earth’s greatest. COME ON!” His hand is completely ripped apart, and parts of the brick are crumbling. Yelena and Kate get up, making sure you can still sit up straight. The two pull him away from the wall and begin patching him up.

They’re whispering to him but you can’t quite tell what they are saying. You’re watching the three of them and you know you have to protect them.

—

The fighting outside was worsening as the clock on the wall clicked loudly, the four recruits were put into a small room with a protective border set in place by Tony. They were ordered by their mentors to not move, stating that they were not ready to deal with the ambush. The single couch in the room forced the quad to mesh together. Kate was laying on the couch, arm dangling off barely holding onto her bow and quiver. Yelena sat close to the archer, holding her free hand, trying to ground herself while staying vigilant. Peter was sitting on the back of the couch, with you sitting in between them leaning your head on his knee. The two of you had the least amount of equipment, just your suits.

You sat there as the night continued, the fighting getting worse and worse. With the darkness of twilight setting in, you could feel your power starting to get antsy. Looking around your friends weren’t much better, all of them in different states of disarray. You were at a loss for words when an explosion went off so loudly that it shook the entire compound.

The fear that is emanating from your friends causes your powers to surge aggressively, and you can feel your control over it slip. The lights in the room shatter, and it causes another wave of fear to give you another surge of power. You feel in control for the first time since beginning training, and you stand abruptly.

“I’m done. We know how to use our powers. We know how to use our gear. I’m breaking us out of here and we’re going to go save the adults.” You had walked slightly away from the group, shadows following quickly. “We can fight. I don’t care what the press says and frankly I don’t care what our mentors say right now. We joined this team and changed our lives. We can be heroes too. Let’s show them the new generation is here to stay.” The darkness chased you down, growing upon itself. The shadows continued to grow and flew up the walls, engulfing the entire room in a shadow.

That was the last thing the other recruits saw before they were in the middle of the battlefield. The four of you pause, looking around. All of your childhood heroes were around you, bloody and battered, fighting to the death. You felt the fear of your mentors, the fear of the aliens that invaded, the fear of your best friends who have never been in a fight before, and what hurt worse was the bright red fear coming off of the person who was always the strongest. It was all too overwhelming, and that’s when you felt your own fear. Maybe the mentors were right, maybe you weren’t hero material?

You don’t remember too much of the fight. You spent most of it protecting your best friends, trying to take as much of the pain off of them. You didn’t trust your powers yet to let go completely, you couldn’t go on the offensive.

It ended suddenly, and the aftermath was a whirlwind. You felt as though everyone else bounced back easily, but you couldn’t. The feeling of so much fear was drowning your mind and you felt like you were going to break at any point. You were sitting in one of the protected training rooms, built to withstand most magical powers, when the doors opened.

A gentle hand settles on your trembling body making you flinch aggressively, cowering away from the crouched figure. “Shh маленький.” The Sokovian settles next to you, leaning on the wall. She doesn’t make a move to touch you, besides resting her hand out towards you. “Come let me take care of you, detka.”

She watches you with soft eyes, but you can’t decide what to do. You feel overwhelmed and you can’t focus. The fear that’s bouncing through your body is taking over and you can’t control it. You're panicking now, wanting nothing but the touch of Wanda but you know it isn’t something that you normally get. The room is starting to fill with black fog as the little of control you did have slips, a broken sobs escaping your throat.

A gentle touch on your chin gets your attention, and your eyes meet Wanda’s low crimson ones. “Your thoughts are loud, little one. Come.” You feel her powers wrap you in a devil’s grip. Moving you to be sitting in her lap, heavily leaning into her. The pressure of her magic prompts you to hide your face in her neck, and her smell floods your senses. “Let me take care of you.” Your mind goes empty and you aren’t entirely sure if it’s because of how her hand is running through your hair or because of her magic swimming into your brain.

You fall asleep there in her lap, wrapped up in the safety of her arms. Her magic holds you as the blackness drains from the room. The only sounds when Natasha finds the two of you hours later are your soft snores and Wanda humming a sweet song.

Tagged as requested: @tastetherambeau and @8bitscarlet for the dare

Other Parts: One , Two, Three , Four, ? , Drabble 1

[reuinx]

Red Lights (Yelena Belova x Reader)

Summary: You've been having a tough time lately. It's Yelena's goal to brighten up your day. The day takes the form of an afternoon spent in Yelena's car teasing, laughing, and singing. It looked like the day couldn't possibly get any better until tragedy struck.

Prompt by Anon ask: “Kissing your lover’s forehead as they’re dying in your arms but reader is dying please and thank you “​

Word Count: 2,047

Paring: Yelena Belova x Reader

Warnings: Brief mention of blood (Gore kept extremely minimal), tragic accident resulting in death.

Translations:  Malishka (Baby),  Dorogoy (Love)

Masterlist

Have you ever had those days when nothing goes right? You miss the bus, you say the wrong thing, you lose your temper, and you spend the rest of the day wondering what you could have done differently? It was one of those days. Using this logic, you are faced with a dilemma - you don't want to stay at home, but you don't want to stay alone either. You tentatively texted Yelena to see if she was free; she was. Summer heat caressed your exposed arms, leaving you with sun-kissed skin. 

Despite the heat of the summer, you kicked pebbles across the ground like a child. The sound of her approaching car preceded your sight. The noise of her exhaust was followed by the blaring of Babooshka by the brilliant Kate Bush on her radio. Typical Yelena. She was driving her obnoxious yellow Ford Mustang; it was convertible. She made sure she knew that. It was her pride and joy, and she loved nothing more than it; well, she did love something more than that car, you.

Parking along the footpath, she had the roof down, and her blonde hair was flowing. While one hand was on the steering wheel, the other was hanging outside her window. In a pure white shirt, she exposed the muscles tense in her arm. Her sunglasses slowly slipped down the bridge of her nose as she peered over at you. She was undressing you with her eyes. She was chewing gum; she moved her lips slowly to match her motion.

“Still moody are we, Malishka?” Yelena called out from her car. The smile on her face was always devilish. Even though today didn't go as planned, you felt like it would be heaven on earth with Yelena.

“No”, You replied flatly as Yelena pushed her sunglasses back up to hide her eyes; she turned to face straight ahead of her as you made your way towards the car.

“I’m going to keep doing it until you admit you’re moody.”

“Keep doing wha-“ Before you could finish, She shoved her hand down on the horn as the already noisy auto began honking. Those who passed by started looking at the car with wonder. Redness flushed your face as you raced to the car.

“Yelena! Stop!”

“Mhm?”

“I’m not-“ You swiftly shook your head as the horn continued its outcry. She was stubborn, but so were you. She always won; there was no fighting with Yelena.

“I’m moody!” The moment you admitted it, she took her hand off the horn, resting her head back against the headrest as she stared up at you with a toothy grin.

“God, I hate you. You know that right?”

“Nah, you love me actually.” She was right about that. Yelena leaned across to open the door for you as you made your way to the passenger side. After entering, you shut the door behind you and automatically turned down the radio.

“Trying to go deaf are you?”

“Mhm?”

“I said are you trying to go deaf?”

“What?”

“I said- Oh forget it! Stop teasing me. I’m just looking after you!”

“What are you, my mother?”

“Feels like it sometimes, El.”

“Ha,” Yelena grumbled. Your laughter today was finally made possible because of Yelena's reaction. You were comforted by her. Talking to your person always made your worries go away. Yelena tutted and pulled your seatbelt into the latch plate as she leaned over your body, grasping your belt to make sure it was secure. Yelena put the car into gear as it began to move, the engine rumbling to life as she drove at the appropriate speed. She would never dream of speeding with you in the car.

“Do you want to talk about today?”

“No no, it was just one of those days.”

“Good, I don’t have to kill anyone...”

“No killing anyone.”

“Unless…”

“No”, You shushed her as you glanced at her with the corner of your eye; Yelena was smiling. She looked genuinely happy, which was a relief to you. She radiated happiness onto you; it was impossible to escape.

“It’s a beach day today.” The comment came from Yelena.

“Are you going to throw me in?”

“Actually… I’m still debating it.”

“What’s the pros and cons?”

“Con is that you’re pissed.”

“What’s the pro?”

“It will make you laugh.” You hadn't encountered anyone with the same kind of personality as her. Selflessness characterized her. Her heart was pure gold. Although she was tough, when her walls were broken, she became the softest person you'd ever met. It was easy to love her. She reached over for your hand; she took it in her hand before placing your hand on the clutch. To change gears, she held her hand yours, moving your hand in the desired direction. She was reluctant to let go but eventually cleared her throat to ask. Freeing your hand.

“Will you change the CD, Dorogoy?”

With ease, you opened the glovebox and located the CD binder. The 2000s saw a lot of popularity with these. Not now. Yelena's argument "It can fit so many CD's in it!" She wasn't wrong. It did. There was tons of CD's from all different genres in it. She bought CDs of the songs you played on your phone, not just the ones she liked. Even though she hid it from you, you started to notice when her binder began to fill up. You flicked through the CD’s until one caught your attention. As you saw a blank CD with writing on it, you paused. "For You" is spelled in Yelena's impeccable handwriting. While her eyes rested on the road, you turned to look at her, returning your focus to the CD. Yelena was smiling softly at you while you were busy changing CDs.

“You made this for me?”

“I did. I wanted to make you a playlist and well, there’s no Bluetooth so I did the best I can.”

“You’re too sweet. But… You do know downloading music and burning it on a CD is pretty illegal.”

“If your worrying over me downloading music, you should see what else I do” Yelena released a chuckle as the music played from the radio. You leaned over as you adjusted the volume up as the song The Chain by Fleetwood Mac came through.

“I know you like them wood people”, Yelena murmured under her breath. Suddenly, you felt the excitement in your stomach rise. What else was on this CD? We get so caught up in the big things when we fall in love with someone. The little things are always the most important. You weren't just going to sing; you were going to perform as well. As you sang at the top of your lungs, you began to sway in your chair.

“And if you don't love me now -“ Your hand clenched as if it was holding an invisible microphone as you held it to Yelena’s lips. She smiled, licking her lips as she finished the lyric.

“You will never love me again.” She sang without hesitation, and while her voice is usually harsh, it was smooth and soft this time. When you heard her singing, you burst into laughter and clapped your hands in glee. The music picked up, and your hands moved with the lyrics. You didn't miss a word. Yelena was beginning to tap with the beat of the song on the steering wheel, laughing at how passionate you had gotten.

“I could listen to you forever.”

“Unlucky for you, you have forever with me”, You chirped out as Yelena frowned, turning her head quickly to glance at you.

“Why would that make me unlucky?”

“I’m a pain in the ass.”

“True but you’re my pain in the ass” She sounded more and more sincere with every word she said. Your singing continued unabated. As soon as the next red light came on, Yelena slowed her car down to a stop. It was now possible to see the beach. You were too busy performing for nobody to notice that Yelena was watching you. When she saw you happy, her eyes glowed with childhood excitement. All she wanted was for you to be satisfied. Because you were focused on the big things like the beach, you missed the little things like how Yelena looked at you. Anyone would kill for the kind of look she gave you. Yelena’s expression suddenly changed when you looked at her, her face filled with horror. She wasn’t making a face at you but something behind you.

“What’s wrong?” Suddenly, everything went black. You lost all sense of time and purpose of self. Feeling an overwhelming sense of emptiness, you thought it overtake you. You felt alone. Yelena? Where was Yelena? Was Yelena okay? Had you fallen asleep? There was a noticeable pressure in your chest, almost as if it was being squeezed. You felt your lips tingle, and your lungs fill with air.

"Hey!" A distorted voice echoed inside your head, and you couldn't understand what was being said or even who it was?

"Wake up! Please wake up!" It was beginning to become more legible until a voice broke through the silence.

"Malishika!" Yelena, it was Yelena.

The world was blurry as your eyes snapped open. As you blinked rapidly, flashing lights obscured your view of the figure above you.

"Stay with me, stay with me please." You now knew what the pressure on your chest was; Yelena had been pressing hard and fast on the center of your chest. It was her rescue breaths that tingled your lips. The haze in your vision was clearing as you could see Yelena. It was evident from her face that she had been crying. Spikes of blood could be seen on her face as sweat ran down her forehead. It wasn't her blood. It was yours. 

In your disorientation, you did not know where you were. You were lying on the road when you suddenly remembered being in the car. Your eyes focused on Yelena's car as you tilted your head to look past her. Now you know what Yelena saw behind you. As you were sitting on the passenger side, a car ploughed straight into you through the red light. Yelena must have rescued you from the wreck. With growing dizziness and fatigue, your eyes began to flicker shut. The feeling of Yelena grasping your cheeks caused your eyes to dart open.

"Don't you dare close your eyes on me. I've lost everyone, I can't lose you too. I just can't. Please. Please don't go anywhere.. Just stay. Please just stay. I need you, god I need you. Please." She was begging you, pleading with you. The moment you tried to move, your body refused to react; you were powerless. With one hand on your stomach, she firmly grasped it. It was now clear that her previously pristine white t-shirt was heavily stained red. You felt queasy thinking that was yours.

"Hey, I'm okay. I'm okay baby. It's okay." You managed to whisper out as your voice was weak.

"It's not okay, it's really not okay. I don't know what to do! I can't stop the bleeding" Yelena's voice was firm, her jaw extending with the words she spoke as she tried to contain herself. She sobbed, her eyes flicking upward.

"It's okay, El. You can stop. Just stop."

"Don't fucking say that, don't ever fucking say that. You aren't going anywhere, you aren't. This is not a goodbye! Don't give me that bullshit. The paramedics will be here soon, they will! " She snapped.

"Baby, it's okay. It's going to be okay. Yelena? Do you hear me? "I love you. I love you so much. You know that, right?"

"I love you. God, I love you. Don't forget that, you hear me?" Yelena dipped her head down as she slowly pressed her lips against your forehead. She placed her free hand into your locks of hair as she slowly began to run her fingers through the strands of your hair.

"Baby?" She called out one last time. Your eyes locked onto her green eyes, admiring them one last time. The world around you faded to grey; the last thing you heard was Yelena's scream.

[garbagevanfleet]

Brightest Blue (series)

PART ELEVEN

Pairing: Josh x reader Warnings: talk of sex and such, feelings Summary:  Things are changing. New state. New school. New roommate. You just pray things are going to click into place.

Notes: alright, this is terribly late again because im a depressed snail at heart, but its longer than usual, so i hope that makes up for it. If you read my fic at all, i love you. If you interact with this fic in anyway, i want to wed you. 

taglist: @valleyd0ll @satingrass-maidensfair @guitarfingers @thebohemianpenguin @peaceisouranthem @oblvions @hansonobsessed @myownparadise96 @anditsmywholeheart @kill-fear-the-power-of-lies @bigblack-catattack

MASTERPOST

You woke up in a daze of fuzzy but pleasant memories. You were trying to blink the sleep from your eyes when Josh entered your line of sight. He had emerged from the hallway, completely naked save for the necklace he’d been in the night before, little water droplets slipping from his curls to his shoulders. 

You shot up in bed, and as you did, the comforter fell away from your body. It took you a moment for you to realize that it was the air hitting your bare skin that was making you feel chilled, but it didn’t last long. Your face turned beet red as you quickly picked the sheet back up to cover yourself. 

He was giving you an odd look - somewhere between amused and concerned. “Are you alright?” he tried cautiously, still standing there stark naked. 

“Josh! You can’t just walk around naked,” you complained, stuttering on your words as they came out. 

He snorted a laugh. “What? First of all, this is my room. Second of all, it’s a little late to try and protect your modesty.”

You rolled your eyes at him until you realized what he was talking about. “Oh my god, we had sex last night,” you whispered to him like it was a secret, a tiny smile on your lips. 

He nodded, breathing a laugh. “Yeah.”

You experimentally shifted in your seat before grimacing up at him. “That would explain why I’m sitting in a damp spot.”

You could only describe the laugh that escaped him as a cackle, honest and unabashed. “Gross.”

You had to say you agreed with him. 

There was a cautious moment, where you stared at each other, both unsure of what to say. 

“Are we good?” he tried quietly like he was a little scared of what you were going to say.

You patted the spot next to you and he clambered in as he was told. You leaned against him as he wrapped his arm around your shoulder. 

“Of course, we are,” you assured, nuzzling your head into the crook of his neck. 

“If it’s going to make you feel better to pretend it didn’t happen, I wouldn’t be mad.”

You pulled away and looked up at him with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

He shrugged, sporting a nervous smile. “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”

You heaved a big sigh, shifting to look into his eyes. “Josh, I want you to listen to me really carefully, okay?”

He nodded.

You slowly reached up to cup one side of his face in your hand. “I don’t regret it - actually, I had a really nice night. I just think that it would be best for everyone involved if it didn’t happen again. We probably shouldn’t be romantic...or naked around each other.”

The expression he wore seemed like an understanding one, at least to you.

“You want me to make pancakes? Maybe chocolate chip banana?” you offered, giving him a cheeky smile. 

He couldn’t help but match it. “Yes. You’re probably going to want to put your tits away first though.”

“You first,” you quipped, smacking the back of your hand against his peck. 

+++

The rest of the weekend, the two of you spent watching Christmas movies on the couch (even though the holiday was more than a month away) while you worked on sewing the costumes. Josh had offered to ask the theater department if you could borrow a sewing machine, but you had been way too afraid of it to try and use it, so it sat in your room alone. That did, however, leave you to sew 26 costumes by hand. Well, more like 24, since Rachel had two of them mostly done. 

You were finding it oddly fun though, even though your fingers hurt by the fifth stitch or so. The hardest part was making sure you worked on the basics of every costume first - your instinct was to work on one at a time until it was perfect, but you knew you had to be smart about time management. Luckily, even though it was only near mid-November, Michigan’s weather was lovably unpredictable. The weather station had called for snow only through the weekend, but, in reality, it was Monday evening by the time it was done dumping snow - giving you a full three day weekend. 

Kate had been sending you pictures of the pieces of the set she had taken home with her to work on, and you couldn’t hide how impressed you were with her work. You would almost be offended at how good it looked if you hadn’t known she was an Art History major with a heavy side of sculpture work. 

In the last two weeks before the production, you barely got to see Josh. He would walk you to school, but then you usually wouldn’t see him for the entire rest of the day. You tried to wait up for him on Thursday night, but you ended up falling asleep on the couch, and woke at 1 am to him gently patting your shoulder. 

“Hey, you should get up and go to your bed.”

You blinked up at him, sitting up and brushing your sleep-mussed hair from your eyes. 

“You’re home so late,” you scolded half-heartedly, pulling your borrowed sweatshirt closer to your face. 

“I know, sorry. There’s still a lot to do, especially after we got snowed in last weekend,” he replied, sitting gingerly on the armrest. 

“I told you that I’m happy to help however I can.”

He smiled at you, but you had to admit that he looked over-tired. You’d been watching him burn the candle at both ends for three days straight. “It’s a lot of stuff that only I can do. Like going over the music and making the final set diagrams.”

You hummed in understanding as a response. 

“Want me to carry you to bed? You can come sleep in mine if you want,” he offered through a crinkly-nosed smile. 

You grinned back at him, genuine at first, but it quickly turned melancholy. “Josh,” you said under your breath. “I’d love that, but I don’t think it’s good for us to share a bed anymore.”

His expression fell, face turning blank. He nodded at you, standing and giving you a disappointed smile. “Sleep well,” he wished, patting your shoulder again once before retreating to his room. 

You stayed on the couch for a while, your knees tucked up to your chest, as you sat in your guilt. You had known it was stupid of you to have ever let things turn anything other than platonic with him - it had been undeniably fun, but he was your roommate, for fuck’s sake. You had to see him every day, eat your meals with him. Had you not selfishly let yourself go there in the first place, you’d be cuddled up beside him tonight. 

It had been so lovely having any kind of affection - platonic or otherwise - that you let yourself get carried away. 

When you finally got up and went to bed, Josh’s light was still on, his door shut for one of the first times since you moved in. 

+++

Kate took you out for breakfast on Saturday morning to a local hole-in-the-wall that she swore had the very best pancakes she’d ever eaten. She had shown up in a puffer jacket that looked so warm, it made you jealous. 

You’d been chatting easily about your classes and the play, but when you had finished your first cup of coffee, there was a lull in the conversation. 

You hadn’t meant to say it, it just bubbled out. “I slept with Josh.”

She glanced up at you through her jet black lashes, stony-faced. “Yeah,” she replied, way too calm, sounding like she was wondering why you were even telling her.

You blinked at her for a moment. “Did you hear me? I had sex with Josh.”

She nodded. “Do you want me to pretend like I’m shocked?”

You grimaced at her, and in a whiny tone, responded, “Yes, please.”

A nervous laugh escaped her as she fixed her features to display a surprised expression. “You did what?!” she asked - purely for your benefit. 

You groaned at her. “Okay, I get it. I feel so bad about it, Kate.”

Her cherry lips shaped into a puzzled frown.  “Why?”

A deep sigh filled your ribcage - you had been hoping it would clear your head, but no luck. 

“Because I desperately miss being able to be platonically intimate with him and it not being awkward. Before this, I was sleeping in his bed from time to time when I got too cold and we would cuddle.”

“Why can’t you go back to that?” 

“Are you listening? I slept with him,” you groaned. “All I can think about is him on top of me now.”

She scoffed, her chipped nails tapping against her glass of diet Coke. “Imagine how he feels - Josh had real, honest to god feelings for you, I think. Like for a while.”

“You said that, but I don’t know. How do you know that he didn’t just want to sleep with me? Like not in a conscious way, but what if he just wanted affection? What then, Kate?”

She had one dark eyebrow raised at you as she sipped at her straw. “Because I know that’s not true.”

“How would you be able to know that? Because you see him sometimes at school-” 

She cut you off with a confident smile. “I know because I talked to Jake about it.”

You almost blew past it - that is until you realized what she had said. The two of you shared a long, silent moment as you stared at each other. 

“You’ve been talking to Jake?” you asked, trying to keep your tone even so she didn’t know how excited that made you. 

“I have talked to him in the past, yes. He said that he already knew, but he was able to pry it out of Josh when he was drunk once.” 

You stared at her. “Okay, there’s a lot to unpack here right now, I think we can both agree with that. But can we start with you and Jake?” 

She huffed a disbelieving laugh as she set her hand on yours on the table comfortingly like she was trying to cushion the news. “Josh has some feelings for you - the real kind.”

In an effort to prolong the moment that it was time for you to speak again, you picked up a bite of your breakfast and popped it in your mouth. The moment always comes though, no matter how long you try to put it off. 

“I can’t,” you said quietly, shaking your head in disappointment. Then when she prompted you with a confused look, you finished. “I can’t risk it. I mean, maybe there could be something there, but he’s my roommate. And my best friend - there’s no way I’d ever get lucky enough again to find someone I connected with like that if things went sour and I had to move out.”

She licked her lips absently. “My advice would be to think about it - for literally as long as you need to. I’m confident that you’ll figure out what you want.”

You nodded, not entirely convinced one way or another. “It’s hard because he’s so fucking cute,” you said in faux disgust. 

“And sweet,” she added. “Don’t forget that.”

You shot her an accusatory look. 

After a long pause, a smile found its way to your lips. “How cool would it be though if we were both dating one of them?” 

She laughed, picking a syrup-covered strawberry off her plate and chewing it with care. “Not me, I can’t be tamed. Jake is really hot and everything, but I got shit to do, you know?”

You scoffed at her. 

“I’m definitely keeping him in my contacts though,” she said with mischievous eyes. 

+++

 You didn’t directly see Josh for the rest of the weekend, though he left evidence of his presence scattered through the apartment. He had left his hair mousse out on the sink and the toothpaste cap off of its tube in the bathroom, some crumbs of a sandwich he packed for lunch in the kitchen, and a note on his bedroom door. 

Can you please feed Penny a couple of flakes for dinner? If you have any time today, I’d appreciate it if you could spend some of it with her. See you sometime soon! - J

You plucked the paper off the door where it was barely hanging by a thin strip of green floral tape and smiled as you read it again. 

His bedroom was dim, hid away from the sun by his closed blinds. The desk by his door was covered in books - textbooks, music books, books for his English lit class, and one you’d seen him reading for fun on more than one occasion. On the hardwood floor next to his bed was a stack of papers, and even though you knew you shouldn’t you crouched to peek through them. 

They appeared to be rough drafts of plans for the play - nothing too exciting, but they were charmingly eccentric. He had done little doodles of his ideas for sets and props, even a whole sheet of costume ideas that caught your eye. You pulled it from the messy stack and folded it into your pocket. 

Careful not to spill any water, you moved Penny in her globe to your bedside table, but as you stared at her through the glass you frowned. 

You pulled your phone out and snapped a picture of her, trying to make sure you got an accurate portrayal of her size. She looked at you, sticking her lips out of the water in search of food. You remembered Josh’s warning about overfeeding her the first day you’d met him and it brought a genuine smile to your lips. You promised her you’d be back, holding your finger just above the water and letting her press her mouth to it. 

On the ride over to Petsmart, you had called your mom, asking if it would be okay if you borrowed some cash, to which she agreed to after her usual line of questioning. When you pulled into the parking lot, you checked your bank account just to make sure it transferred okay, always nervous that you’d get to the register and your card would decline.

You spent longer than you should have reading articles online as you studied the tanks, all set up in rows for purchase. They weren’t as expensive as you’d expect a water-sealed glass box to be, and after you were confident you had picked the right one, you still had plenty left in your budget for the dressings. 

You picked a couple of fun decorations - a fake log for her to hide in if she wanted to and one that looked like part of a broken Greecian statue. The part that took you the longest was picking out the healthiest-looking plants. You had read that goldfish often like to eat live plants, but you couldn’t bring yourself to buy fake ones - the plant lover in you knew it was a cardinal sin. 

A very kind cashier agreed to help you carry your haul to your car, even helping you shift it all correctly so you could make it fit. You left him a secret tip, even though he denied at first, and thanked him profusely.

Getting the tank into the apartment was the hardest part. You realized just how lucky you were that you didn’t live above the first floor. 

By the time you got the tank situated back on his dresser, your muscles - especially in your legs - were protesting, but you weren’t done yet. You grabbed an empty ice cream pail and started to fill the tank, one trip at a time until it was about 3/4’s full of water. 

The decorations had to be shifted multiple times before you liked their position enough to start pouring in the gravel around them. A Youtube tutorial taught you exactly how much of each chemical to add and how to put together the filter, and then you left it to cycle as you returned to your room.

Perched on your bed, you pulled the sheet of costumes from your pocket and studied it. You pinned it to your corkboard. Undeniably, the cutest design he had come up with was for the door mouse - grey fabric, huge ears, and a rope tail. 

The rest of the unfinished costumes were in a cardboard box by the side of your bed - you hadn’t moved it anywhere because you knew you’d be back at it before too long at any given time. You bent down off the side of your bed and rummaged through the different fabrics until you found the one you were looking for - a grey-blue faux suede deal. You were pretty sure you had enough to make it work. 

You fished your phone out from where you had buried it under the covers when you shifted and called the one person that could help. 

“Hello?” Kate mumbled, sounding like you’d just woken her up despite it being noon. 

You giggled at her. “Hi, I’m playing my best friend card. I know you’ve helped so much, but can you please please come work on these costumes with me?”

She hummed and then went silent for a good, long moment. “Give me ten to wake up and get dressed.”

A beaming smile spread across your face. “Kate, I love you so much. I’m going to Venmo you money to get coffee and donuts, okay?”

“Hmm, I do like donuts.” She sounded pleased.

“Good! Bring Jake too.”

+++

The knock on your door came a half-hour later. You jumped from your bed, racing to let them in. Jake was dressed in the softest-looking flannel shirt you’d ever seen, a drink carrier in his hands that housed three drink cups. 

“Okay, so there are three jobs that need to be done. Measuring and marking, cutting, and sewing. If we each take one of those jobs, I’m confident we can finish a couple of the costumes today. I’ll let you guys pick first,” you informed as you lead them into your room. 

“I’ll take cutting,” Kate said, prompting Jake to reply that he’d like measuring. 

You handed Jake the notebook of measurements with a grin. “Rachel,” you started with a sneer. “Did a lot of the calculations for us, thank god. All you have to do is measure out the fabric. The tricky part is making sure you do it in a way that will leave enough fabric for the rest of the costumes.”

“Not a problem,” Jake responded with a smirk. “And I think her name is just ‘Rachel’, not ‘Rachel’.”

Kate shot him a look on your behalf. “I think she was just making a referencing the fact that Rachel left your brother with a huge ass list of things to do completely alone, not that she was jealous.”

“Jealous of what?” you asked accusatorily, a scowl painted on your face. 

Jake put both of his hands up in defense., but he didn’t appear apologetic in the slightest. Smugly, he said, “I’m just saying-”

Kate reached out and smacked his chest. “Jake, shut up. Okay, what one should we start on?”

“I’m going to have Jake start with this one.” You turned to the page in the notebook that showed the measurements for the door mouse, laying it out by him. “This is the main fabric. Kate, I have a lot of the Queen of Heart’s fabric measured and marked already, so I’ll have you start cutting that. There’s a lot of little pieces to that one.”

Kate looked at the six different fabrics you’d laid out for her, one eyebrow cocked at you. “Have you been getting any of your own homework done at all?”

Your cheeks flushed as you nervously rubbed at the back of your neck. “Let’s stay on track, shall we?” you replied, pretty much answering her question. “We’ve got one week until the production, and I know the costumes have to be done at least a day ahead of time.”

They both just stared at you in varying stages of disbelief. 

“Don’t look at me like that. We can do this,” you assured, sounding a hell of a lot more confident than you actually were. “Now let’s get to work.”

+++

When Josh got home, you were nearly sleeping on the couch, the remains of your current project in your lap. You peeked at the clock.

10:54 pm. 

“You’re home so late,” you whispered, for no particular reason. 

“I know,” he agreed, wiping his hand over his face after he took his jacket off. 

“Come sit with me a minute,” you requested, shifting so he would have space. He gave you a grateful smile, immediately crossing the room to do as he was told. 

After a moment, he cautiously wrapped an arm around your shoulders. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly. 

You gave him a smile. “Yeah, it’s perfect.”

You knew he must have been tired because he wasn’t talking a mile a minute like you were used to after not seeing him for long. 

“Are you hungry?” you asked.

He hummed, sounding like he was close to passing out. “I am, but I can make myself something.”

You scoffed, “Absolutely not. You got get into bed and I’ll bring something to you in a second.”

He reluctantly got up off the couch and clambered into his room. You waited patiently for him to notice the surprise, grinning to yourself when you heard him gasp. 

You listened as you made him a sandwich, and you couldn’t hear exactly what he was saying, but you knew he was talking to Penny just by the tone of his voice.

As you rounded the corner into his room, he turned and gave you a smile as bright as the sun. 

“Did you do this, or did Fish Santa come early?” he asked, his finger pressed against the glass of the tank. 

“Well, kind of both,” you responded through a laugh as you sat next to him on the bed and delivered his sandwich to his lap. “You can consider it your early Christmas present.”

He stared at you for a long beat, looking like he might cry. You knew you’d never be able to handle that, so you pulled him in for a hug, tightening your arms around him when he hugged you back. 

“You’ve been working so hard,” you whispered. “I miss my best friend.”

He turned his face, pressing his nose into your cheek in a move that felt a step or two farther than friends.

“I’ve put everything I have into this,” he admitted, and you were too scared to ask if he meant the play or something else. You sat like that with him for a long moment before he pulled away, giving you a thankful smile. 

“I’m sure you need time to decompress, so I’ll leave you be. Eat and then get some sleep, okay?” You stood and headed for the door, turning when he called your name. 

“Thank you,” he said.

[invisibleinorange]

Swelter Weather  | 7/?

Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Bridgerton Rating: M Warnings: None at this point. Relationships: Colin Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington,  Eloise Bridgerton/Penelope Featherington(besties),  Bridgerton Family Dynamics, Marina Thompson/Phillip Crane, Eloise Bridgerton/Phillip Crane, Kate Sheffield/Anthony Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton/Simon Hastings Characters: Colin Bridgerton,  Penelope Featherington, Eloise Bridgerton, Phillip Crane, Benedict Bridgerton, Daphne Bridgerton, Additional Tags:  Bridgerton, Polin

Summary: Colin Bridgerton is weary from travel and decides to spend the summer at the Aubrey Hall. While his initial plans were to avoid his perfect family, he ends up sharing the house with Eloise and Penelope. This is a Modern AU!

If it weren’t for the fact it would have disturbed the warm, soft body curled into to him, Colin wouldn’t have hesitated to get up and shut the curtains to stop the sun from filling his room.  He had zero interest in leaving his room or her though.

It was the strangest thing.  He’d never really craved someone’s company as much as hers. There had been people who had inspired less than gentlemanly thoughts in him.  There were many times he’d considered giving into those desires but not once had he wanted more than those things with those other women.

He wanted everything with Penelope and that was why he’d forced himself to take a step back, to make sure that he was doing things the right way with her.  He couldn’t possibly be happier than he was to hold her tight or listen to the little sounds she made in her sleep.

He’d always thought she was beautiful but seeing her at peace, lost in dreams only made him think her more beautiful. He dare say she was the most beautiful person in the world and she was his.  The novelty of the thought of it hadn’t worn off nor did he think that it ever would.

He was admittedly a little nervous about how Eloise might react to the news that they were together but he knew things would be okay. Eloise would come around. She always did.

He pushed all thoughts of his sister from his mind as he buried his face into Penelope’s messy red curls, closing his eyes as if to push away the morning and extend this bliss a little longer.

He smiled when he saw her eyes flicker open and her own tired smile form across her face.  Penelope wasn’t shy about snuggling into him all the more.  It was funny how intimate they could be despite the fact he hadn’t let them complete intimacy.

“Do you think Eloise would buy me still feeling ill and us needing to stay in here all day?” she murmured quietly.

“Not a chance,” he told her with a laugh.  Eloise definitely wouldn’t just leave them be unless she was explicitly told to.

Neither of them were any particular hurry to get up.  Colin knew his stomach would eventually betray him and demand breakfast would strike but for now, he just wanted to savor the moment.

In fact, he was pretty sure he could smell bacon permeating from the kitchen. Normally that would have sent him wandering down to try and get first dibs but times were changing.  His desire to keep cuddling Penelope trumped any food craving.

“I can’t believe she’s already up,” Penelope murmured, apparently smelling the bacon too. She sighed at the thought they were probably going to have to get up and show their face downstairs. “She’s not even a morning person.”

“I could always go down and make a big plate,” Colin said after a moment.  “Breakfast in bed?... All day in bed with me.”

“I’d be crazy to say no to that,”  she murmured leaning to steal a kiss before he could get up, which honestly made him not want to get up. He pushed himself up and out from under the comforter with a sigh.

Eloise was going to have to deal with him coming down in pajama bottoms and no shirt.  This was as dressed as he was going to get.

“You just stay right there,” he said with a grin. “I’ll deal with Eloise.”

--

Colin fully intended to grab a plate of food and tell Eloise to find something else to do today.  He had the whole thing prepared in his head, carefully crafted to deal and then escape back to his blissful little bubble.

His mind went blank when he made it down the kitchen and didn’t just fine his sister.  His eyes widened slightly at the sight of Phillip helping her make breakfast.

He watched for a long moment, trying to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating things. Phillip was a little bit too comfortable for his liking and the protective older brother in him debated whether he ought to punch his friend or start asking questions.

He cleared his throat loudly, an act he hoped to split up whatever was happening.  Eloise didn’t even have the modesty to look embarrassed by this whole thing though.

“How’s Pen?” she asked a little too casually. “Still feeling under the weather?”

The mention of Penelope did bring his mission back to mind. He was supposed to be grabbing plates and heading back up stairs.  His mind was flailing trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to be doing at this point.

“- I was coming to get her a plate,”  Colin said, eyeing Eloise and Phillip suspiciously.  “Clearly it was too late last night and you offered Phillip one of the other guest rooms.”

“Not exactly,”  Eloise said sheepishly.

Colin knew that look. He’d seen it on their older brothers plenty of times after they’d brought random girls back in the past.  He clenched his fist. He was going to murder Phillip Crane.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked despite the fact he had zero business doing it.

“Well, you could say that he was ill and I took care of him,” Eloise said crossing her arms. She definitely knew that Penelope hadn’t been ill and she definitely knew Penelope was in his bed at the moment.

“I didn’t -  we literally slept,” Colin said defensive over his own actions.

“I really should get going,” Phillip said clearly not wanting to get in the middle of family drama.  “It seems like you two have things to talk about.”

Both Bridgerton heads turned and said ‘no’ in unison. This really did have to stop becoming a thing.  They didn’t wait to see that he was staying though as they were busy squaring off.

“You invited him to distract me so you could fuck my best friend,” Eloise said in an accusatory voice.

“I’m still here,” Phillip felt a need to interject.

“Oh dear,” a fourth voice said from the doorway. Penelope had apparently heard the voices and decided to come mediate. She raised an eyebrow at the presence of Phillip.  That was a turn.

She moved closer to Phillip and shook her head, giving a consolatory smile.  “There is really no getting in the middle of these things. You just have to let them fight it out. You’ll learn.”

“I didn’t fuck her,” Colin argued. “We are together though, no thanks to you and your constant need to get in the middle.”

“You’re a liar and a hypocrite,” Eloise said right back.

“I’m neither. But you have no business sleeping with people that you don’t even know, especially not when you’re –“

“I wasn’t,”  Eloise said shaking her head. “I’m not a child.  I have just as much right as you do to invite whoever I want here. I like Phillip.”

“He’s literally years older than you and he has kids,” Colin argued.

Phillip wasn’t sure whether he should be offended or not but Penelope gave him a sympathetic glance,  reached to grab a filled plate handing him one so they could at least eat breakfast while watching and making sure blood wasn’t drawn in this fight.

“You’re a few years older than Penelope,” Eloise argued.

“That’s different.”

“How is it different?”

“Because I love her,” he said talking with his hands. “I’ve literally been in denial for years and you’re really going to falsely equate hooking up with some guy you’ve known all of two seconds to me wanting to be with Penelope.”

“You what?” Penelope interjected, nearly choking on her bacon. Phillip had to give her a pat on the back to stop the coughing.

“I thought you said we weren’t to interject,” Phillip murmured.

“Well when people say they love you get to interject,” Penelope murmured.

Eloise shook her head, narrowed her eyes.  “I don’t need to travel the world to figure out what I want,” she said pointedly.  “Don’t try to get in the middle of it with this big brother nonsense and I’ll get out of your way.”

“Really?” Colin asked after a long moment, slightly unsure whether he’d won this argument or not, especially since Eloise was going to let him be with Penelope without trying to stop it, if he got out of her way.

“I mean, she’s still my best friend and I will hurt you if you hurt her but she’s also an adult and clearly she is a willing victim.”

“I wouldn’t really go with victim,” Colin said after a moment, remembering there was food now that things were at least semi-decided. His gaze finally moved over to where Penelope and Phillip had been standing, eating and watching.  He offered a small smile. “Girlfriend is the term we’re going with these days. Speaking of which, we’re going back upstairs.”

Eloise made a face at that.

“At least me and Phillip will be able to keep our breakfast down,” she said to their retreating backs as they disappeared just as easily as they’d interrupted her morning.

[perriewinklenerdie]

Gave into the fire (Ethan Ramsey x MC)

Open Heart, Ethan Ramsey x MC

A/N:  Hello, hello, hello! Guess who's alive :D Exams are officially over, thank god for that, so that means that writing can be back in session. We also are kinda sorta more or less about a month (and no, I couldn't fit in more 'maybe' words into that sentence) away from OH coming back (I said maybe, because it's an enigma at this point). So yeah, I finally am able to fuel all my brain power into writing (and playing Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled because it's the best game ever and you can't change my mind). I hope you're all okay and taking care of yourselves

AO3 link:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25362976

Tag list: @paleweasels, @kittykatchoices, @valiantlychaoticbarbarian, @radlovedreamer , @usuallyamazinglyaverage, @strawberrwess @palestazure, @cordoniaqueensworld, @universallypizzataco, @princess-geek, @faithhasnowords, @mightyfangirlofthefandoms, @drakewalkerfantasy, @timmagicktoad, @laceandlula, @greywitchyshots, @llamasgrl, @gingerjane15, @bucket-harrington , @marywrites-things , @ethanplaysfavorites , @mfackenthal , @betelgeusebee , @simsvetements,  @i-only-signed-up-for-fanfiction, @buzz-bee-buzz, @owleyes374, @cora-nova, @aworldoffandoms, @l822, @cream-ray, @ughhhxjazzy, @silverlitskies, @justendlesssummerfeels, @togetherwearerapture, @desmaranj, @edgiestwinter, @friedherringclodthing, @daisy-ashton, @waytooattuned, @choicesgremlin , @lapisreviewsstuff, @the-soot-sprite, @writerapprentice, @chasingrobbie, @choicesobsessedd, @x-kyne-x, @thisperfectmemory, @drakewalker04, @rookie-ramsey, @jlynn12273, @thepinknymph @dr-brianna-casey-valentine, @a-i-n-a-a-s-h @justanotherrookie 

  Enjoy! <3

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

Even though it’s been hours since their fate had been decided by a bunch of rich people that were willing to spend their money on their cause, their nerves eased only when they finally sat down in the booth at the bar, Reggie serving them drink after drink. The unsettling feeling that followed them since the day the news of Edenbrook losing its funding has reached them, finally gave way to a wave of relief and unrestricted happiness. At least for one night, all their worries faded away, overshadowed by a glowing victory.

The regular circle of residents has been joined by one more person. Sitting right between Bryce and Sienna was Alex Morrow. Claire and Alex have known each other since they were kids, there was probably no one else that knew her as well as he did. Jackie called him ‘a walking Claire’s diary” and then tried to bribe him into spilling all her secrets, which Claire did not appreciate.

Since he lived in England, they didn’t see each other often. For that reason, her friends have never seen him outside of the computer screen before. Now, there he was, sandwiched between Bryce and Sienna, telling yet another story from their childhood, completely ignoring the kicks he’s consistently been getting from a sitting across from him Claire.

“That’s not how it went down and you know it!” she exclaimed, slamming her palm against the table. “You were the one who set the tree house on fire, I wasn’t even near that thing!”

“You did what?” Jackie choked on her drink, throwing herself into a coughing fit interlaced with a string of laughter.

“It was an accident, most of which was my fault, I admit. But it wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Claire who decided to announce that my aunt was taking us out for ‘real food’ as she used to say, by which she meant the most gross concoction ever known to human kind. ” Alex admitted, shrugging his shoulders like it was the most logical thing in the world.

“Dude, I was only delivering the news. How is that my fault?”

“We didn’t go out with her and didn’t die eating that abomination, so I say it’s a win in my books. I was seven, my view of the world was different back then”

“So, you’re saying you wouldn’t set that tree house on fire again, just to spite aunt Kate?” grinning widely, Claire took a sip of her drink, her eyes sparkling playfully.

“Oh, hell yes I would, that woman is nasty.” He answered in a heartbeat, nodding his head just a bit too enthusiastically, causing the whole group to laugh. Alex’s eyes scanned the room, coming to a stop at something by the bar. “Someone’s staring. Is that him?”

Claire looked over, not knowing what to expect and at the same time knowing exactly who he was talking about. Right next to Reggie was Ethan, nursing a drink, looking over his shoulder from time to time. Their eyes met and she expected him to look away, but that didn’t happen. Instead, he insistently held her gaze, an unreadable spark causing a shiver to run down her spine.

“You should go talk to him.” Sienna muttered softly, her eyes sympathetic. “It’s been almost two months since you really talked to one another, and I don’t want to push you into doing something you don’t want to do but maybe you guys need… closure.”

“I agree with Sienna.” Alex joined in, looking at her with a smile. “You’ll feel better afterwards.”

Claire looked between the two of them. The whole purpose of staying away from Ethan was so that she wouldn’t have to talk to him. It’s been two months of trying and somewhat succeeding at keeping their relationship professional while trying to not be short with each other when they did have to talk. No one knew what exactly went down between the two doctors, and they wanted to keep it that way.

A war was waging in her head, both sides screaming loudly, pulling her in the opposite directions until one of them won. “Ugh, I hate you all.”

“We love you too!” Sienna called out after her, sharing a tense smile with Alex.

She stood up, squaring her shoulders as she mentally prepared for what was to come. It was easy, right? She just had to… walk up to him and start a conversation. Pretty easy.

Except it wasn’t. Because with Ethan, nothing was ever as easy as it seemed. It filled her with dread almost as much as it excited her, most of the time at least. Talking to him was thrilling, his intelligence challenging her and drawing her in the more she tried to resist.

Being near him was exhilarating. Every last one of her nerve endings was sparking with electricity, her body tuned to his presence. If his behavior towards her was any indication, he was tuned to her too. She moved, he felt the tug to follow. He stepped closer, she felt the invisible force, pulling her to him.

Her walk came to a stop, right by his side. She felt his eyes on her before she saw them, hot and intense trail, enveloping her whole body. When their gazes finally met, there was that spark again, thinly veiled by indifference.

“Hi.” She decided to be the brave one and start the conversation. Though brave didn’t exactly describe the way she spoke the word. Slowly, quietly and shyly, like she was afraid of shattering the fragile balance they managed to achieve in the past two months.

“Hi.” He responded, just as quietly and uncertainly, his shoulders tensing slightly. A long moment of silence followed, their eyes locked onto one another securely, refusing to look away. Finally, after what seemed like eternity, he asked. “How are you?”

“I’m good. So relieved that we’re out of the troubled water. It feels like a heavy weight has been taken off my shoulders. I can breathe again.” she let out a nervous breath, laughing slightly. He smiled at that, his eyes softening just a bit, tension in his body lessening.

“Don’t suffocate on me, Rookie, we can’t afford to lose you.” Ethan’s voice sounded like he tried to be nonchalant, but ultimately failed. It carried so many emotions and had so much depth to it that he himself could drown in it, searching for salvation that was out of his reach. He couldn’t get out of this feeling if he tried. To an outsider, it seemed as though the longer they were so close to one another, the softer Ethan was becoming, the closer to each other they were leaning. Like they were unable to resist it, like they didn’t want to resist it.

“Don’t worry, Dr. Ramsey, you’re stuck with me for a long time.” She muttered, shifting from one foot to the other. Her gaze fell to the ground, the floor suddenly more interesting that the conversation they were trying to have. Finally, she looked up, biting the inside of her cheek for a quick moment. “Anyway, I just wanted to check in on you. Enjoy the rest of your night… Ethan.”

“Claire?” he called out after her, making her turn back towards him. Her eyebrow shot up in question. “Let your hair down. It brings your eyes out.”

A blush spread across her cheeks, accompanied by a soft smile, but not another word was spoken. She felt his eyes on her, walking her back to her friends, and then the warmth was gone once again. He turned back to his drink, trying to refocus and shake off the feeling of her effect on him.

Sienna and Alex waited until Claire sat down, watching with surprise as she took apart the braid that her hair had been in, and only then did they bombard her with questions.

“What did he say?”

“What happened?”

She held her breath before letting it out, shrugging her shoulders with a blank expression. “We… talked. That’s it, actually.”

In the corner of her eye, Claire noticed Ethan getting up and going towards the garden in the back. She tried not to let it distract her too much, tuning back into the conversation her friends were having, but the temptation to follow him has became too strong to ignore. “I’ll be right back.”

Her feet carried her towards him on her own, like she was being pulled by a magnet. Once she was sure that she’s out of her friends’ sight, her pace had picked up, but as she stepped outside, she saw it empty. No sight of Ethan, or anyone else for that matter. Just the soft tune, flowing in the background, blending flawlessly with the wind that moved the leaves on the trees.

Slight movement of the door leading inside the smaller building in the back caught her attention, and suddenly she knew exactly where she was supposed to go. Her hand pushed the handle, closing the door as she stepped into the dimly lit room, her breath shallow and fast, uncertain of what was about to happen.

Pretty much as soon as the door closed, his warmth surrounded her like a thick blanket. His arms went around her and pulled her back towards him, embracing her gently. “I was worried you wouldn’t come.”

“I think you’re lying” she whispered, her hands sliding down his arms until they reached his palms, fingers tangling gently. “You have a hard time staying away from me, and so do I.”

“Are you suggesting I don’t have any self-control, Claire?”

“When it comes to us? No, you don’t.” she responded lightly, leaning back against him. “But then again, neither do I. Prime example is us being here, Ethan.”

He took her hand, bringing it up to his lips for a lingering kiss as soon as he spun her around to face him. She took a step towards him, her other hand resting on the side of his neck comfortably while his other arm slipped around her waist, pulling her as close to him as he could. Eye to eye, nose to nose, body to body, they fell into the comforting motion of swaying, back and forth. Her eyes fell shut, his scent calming her senses, her breathing in sync with his.

“I’m not sure I can let you go.” Claire’s voice broke the tender silence that fell upon them after what felt like forever. His embrace got tighter, his lips pressing against her forehead.

“I’m not sure I can either.”

----------

Rain rang against the windows of his apartment, creating a soft contrast to the discussion they were having. Seated on the couch were two doctors, sitting under a blanket, two cups of now cold tea on the table near them. He raised his eyebrow at her idea.

“That’s it! That’s the one!” Claire’s voice rang out, laced with a delighted laugh. Ethan looked at her in confusion. Mostly because the whole discussion of the ‘code’ seemed ridiculous to him at the time, but he would find out later on that having a silent way to say ‘I care about you’ would come in handy more times than he would be able to count.

“But I do that all the time. How will you know what I mean by that?”

“That’s the added bonus. No one will be able to tell if you’re professing your feelings to me or being annoyed. As for me…” she leaned towards him, her lips brushing against his as she spoke. “I already know that you can’t get angry at me, really, so there’s no conflict there.”

“But-“

“Find some other way to express you being annoyed at me, then, because this one is sticking.” She kissed him, for real this time, climbing into his lap and tangling her fingers into his hair.

“How about you?” he panted after they separated a few moments later, his hands running up and down her back. She combed her fingers through his strands for a bit as she thought her answer through.

“What would you say about…” she tapped her cheek three times, right in the place that he’s always chosen to kiss in the past. “… this.”

His lips followed right where her finger was just a split second ago, pressing a lingering kiss to her skin. “Perfect.”

---------

Somehow, neither of them was sure how, they ended up by the wall, Claire’s back pressed against it as Ethan’s lips assaulted her neck. Her soft moans got lost under the music, flowing from the outside. He tangled his hand into her hair, pulling on it slightly. “I’m glad you followed my advice.”

“I had a feeling you would get your way somehow, so I decided to make it easy for you.”

Their lips met in a hungry kiss, no holding back, no reservations. It’s been a couple of days since they could just let go and not stress about the outside world, and every time they got the chance to do so was a small victory they got to celebrate.

That’s how it’s been for quite some time now. Ethan got fed up with his own stubbornness and decided to give himself a chance to be happy. That meant that he finally got the chance to see where his feelings for Claire would lead him. Very soon, pretty much the moment he kissed her with the purpose of never letting her go, he realized that he has been, in fact, an idiot for trying to suppress this feeling. Naveen has told him, time and time again, that he should stop trying to be correct all the time, and instead go for what was right.

Because what they had was right. It felt right. There weren’t a lot of times in which Ethan could say he experienced ‘right’, but here it was. Claire just… was. And that was enough. It was enough to pull him away from unhealthy work habits. It was enough to pull a smile onto his face. It was enough to pull that heavy weight off his chest. It was everything.

The kiss slowed down, until they just stood there, lips pressed against each other, breathing the same air. When her eyes opened, she found his already on her, filled to the brim with warmth and softness that she didn’t see in there that often.

Her arms went around his neck, pulling him closer to her, taking a deep breath to remember his scent, even though she’s had it memorized by now. “We should tell Naveen.”

“I think he knows” Ethan muttered against the skin of her neck, the motion tickling her a bit.

“We should tell him regardless. Maybe he’ll have an idea as to what we should do. I’m not sure if I can keep you hidden for much longer.”

“I’m that tempting, huh?” he snickered, earning himself a pinch on the side of his ribcage, followed by a shriek as he tickled her back.

“Irresistible.” She breathed out, pulling him into a short kiss, trying and failing to not fall into him again. Neither of them was sure how much time has passed before they came up for air again, but judging by the change in music, it must have been a while.

“Where are you going after the night is over?” he asked, pulling her hair back over her shoulder, smoothing it out to his best ability. She shrugged, her face spelling out innocence.

“My apartment of course.” Her response was met with a low hum, his finger following the line of her cheekbone.

“I think you meant mine.”

“Why? Are you implying something, Dr. Ramsey?”

“Only that I will miss you dearly if you leave me alone, Dr. Herondale.” He admitted with a boyish smile that lit up his features, making him even more handsome in her eyes than he usually is.

“You’re asking so nicely…“ Claire muttered, her lips kissing his chin tenderly. “… how could I possibly refuse?”

They had a hard time letting each other go, pulling the other back in as soon as they got too far, but at last, their embrace broke and she went back to her friends, praying that her appearance didn’t give her away. They’ve gotten good at pretending, but if there was to be any indication of what was happening between them, her friends would pick up on it instantly.

Luckily for her, no one seemed to notice anything, and as soon as she sat down next to Sienna, she was brought into the conversation. If Alex had noticed her being flushed, like she always was when even so much as talking about Ethan, he didn’t say a thing.

About five minutes later, Ethan walked back into the main building with a purpose of going home, where he would wait for her to join him. As he passed them by, he raised his eyebrow at her, and she tapped her cheek three times.

[radbeetle]

|Call to Arms|

wow these screenshots are so old. do you know why i’ve been sitting on them for so long? because i wanted to finish the writing about this mission before I posted them

AND I DID. Check it out on AO3 or under the readmore.

“These robots were assaulted by institute synths.”

Katherine scrunched up her face and shielded her eyes as she looked up at Danse , who insisted on keeping his headlamp on.

“Um, sorry, I - I gotta ask… what are… synths?” and what’s the institute, for that matter, she thought to herself, but one question at a time.

“Technological abominations created by the institute, and let loose to run rampant throughout the commonwealth.” Danse’s voice was heavy with disgust, even through the buzzy modulation of his power armor.

“Danse. That’s… I get that you don’t like them, but what are they?” Katherine pleaded. “Just… in simple terms? Please?”

He scoffed. “I would have thought you familiar with them. Most in the Commonwealth seem to be.”

Katherine deflated, shoulders sinking. “Well… just… I’m out of the loop. Let’s leave it at that.”

The blank stare of the T-60’s helmet concealed Danse’s puzzlement. Regardless, he provided explanation. “Robots, built in the shape of man. A mannequin brought to life by machinery. They’re a mockery of humankind at best, and a blight upon this world at worst.”

Katherine bit her tongue, and suppressed her curiosity. As much as she wanted to know more, it was obvious Danse was biased. “I guess things have come a long way from the Mr. Handy, huh.” There was still a little bit of awe in her voice - she very much wanted to see these synths. Truly humanoid robots had always been a lofty goal of the industry… she had heard of RobCo’s Assaultrons, but they were still miles away.

Danse scoffed. “Unfortunately. Keep your eyes open as we move deeper into the facility. It’s highly likely that the Institute’s forces still have a presence here.” The paladin was already moving on, and Katherine was quick to follow.

“Mmm-hmm.” She wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Part of her was brimming with curiosity about these synths… and part of her knew that if they could take down those protectrons, they could take down her.

“This place has really been trashed, huh? What do you think it was like back in the day?”

“Filled with men making poor decisions, I’m certain.”

Katherine pressed her lips. So much for small talk. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before the hallways opened up into another room. Two dust coated windows framed a sliding door, which Danse was quick to investigate.

“This is the way forwards, but it seems to be locked tight. There’s no apparent way to open it from here.”

Katherine straightened up, and holstered her 10mm. “Oh, if there’s no visible controls on the door, they’re likely wired into a local terminal. It’s technically required for them have a way to bypass the lock through the hardware, in case of emergency, but they never make it easy. Security stuff. Uh…” she trailed off for a moment, glancing around the room. There were a few desks still standing on the opposite wall, terminals still intact. “Um, give me a moment.” She kicked a toppled chair away from the desk, and bent over the keyboard. “Mmm, this one’s still logged in. I guess there’s not really time to properly disconnect from your workstation when they’re bombing the city.” she muttered as she scrolled through the inbox.

“Any luck over there?” Danse inquired.

“I’ve got access to the internal mail system, uh, lots of reminders about security protocols and - ah-heh. Automated password change reminder. Looks like it’s for the lab access?” Katherine had a gnawing feeling in her gut that she was over-explaining things. Surely the paladin didn’t care about the specifics.

“That’s where we’re headed.”

“Great, yeah, uh.” She scanned the room again and scampered to the other still functional terminal. “Let’s hope…” she trailed off.

Danse took a few steps away from the laboratory door, turning to watch Katherine with mild curiosity, hidden behind the power armor helmet. She seemed quite at home amongst the terminals and technology. An unusual trait, compared to most of the wastelanders he met. Though he was initially skeptical of her claim to being a Vault Dweller - the Brotherhood had no record of a Vault 111, after all - he wondered if perhaps there was some truth to her statement.

“Hey!” Kate’s head popped up over the top of the terminal. “Got it.”

“Excellent. Let’s not waste any more time. If you could open the door?”

“Oh! Yeah, yeah.” A swift keystroke and the door opened with the whnk-hsss of pneumatics.

Paladin Danse formed around, set once again to lead the way onward, through the facility - but the incandescent blue laser bolt that buzzed his power armor brought those plans to a standstill.

“Hostile detected.” The matter-of-fact statement and computerized voice carried no overt aggression, a sharp contrast to the flurry of laser fire passing through the now opened doorway.

“Synths! Take cover!”

Katherine didn’t need to be told - she dove for cover behind a fallen file cabinet the instant she caught sight of the laser’s flash. Her grip tightened around her pistol as she heard Danse shout - a cautious glimpse revealed that the synths - that’s what he said they were? - were prioritizing the Paladin as a target, paying no attention to her. She wasn’t sure if they had even noticed her.

A dozen thoughts all raced through her head, tangling together as she stared at the machines. Mannequins was the comparison Danse had drawn. He wasn’t too far off. They were battered, damaged, rubber skin torn to reveal steel skeletons and plastic components. Only a moment had passed before one of them turned its gaze to Kate. The faint yellow glow of its eyes and the exposed grimace of its metal skull was an eerie sight - and one that quickly exploded in a shower of sparks and shrapnel.

Danse had taken it out with a single headshot.

The moment was enough to jolt her back into action, and she followed up by returning fire. Her 10mm pistol wasn’t nearly as effective as the AER-9 laser rifle Danse carried, but it did the job.

“Hmph. Sent them to the scrap heap.” He noted the laser weaponry carried by the synths, and had a realization. He glanced at the pistol carried by his current associate, and offered her the backup laser rifle he had brought. “Take this. I’m certain there’ll be more of them, and they’ll be carrying microfusion cells. Energy will be more effective than a weapon of a ballistic nature.” The Paladin tossed the rifle towards Katherine, who caught it with a startled yelp. She turned the weapon over in her hands. She had a passing familiarity with the AER-9 - though she had never personally handled one, she understood the basic mechanisms, and microfusion cells were something she was well acquainted with.

She fastened her 10mm pistol to her belt and kept the laser in hand. Danse had already stepped over the smoldering wrecks of the synths, but her curiosity was too strong. She stopped in the middle of the room, and crouched down over one of the robots.

They had been shooting at me only minutes ago, she thought, and there was still part of her that was worried they might spring back to life. Yet despite that lurking fear, she had to get a closer look.

The situation struck her as a little morbid, perhaps. Moreso than examining a broken-down Mr. Handy, at least.

It was the faces, she thought. The eyes.

The Institute. That’s where Danse said they had come from. Katherine had seen how the world was torn apart, still ruined from the bombs dropped so long ago. But it seemed that somewhere out there, something had not just survived, but thrived. Moved on past the limits of the world she knew, developed things that General Atomics could only have dreamed of.

A weight settled somewhere deep in her chest as she turned one over. An aching sort of sadness.

She didn’t have a chance to process those feelings, to figure out the why behind them.

“What are you doing? Hurry up. We can’t waste any more time.” Danse snapped, irritated by what he saw as Kate’s dawdling.

“Oh.” Katherine’s response was quiet. She got to her feet, gaze lingering on the remains of the synths, before turning away to follow Danse once again, through the ruins of ArcJet.

Katherine was worn down by the repeated encounters with the institute synths - after the first firefight she stuck closer than ever to the paladin - and stayed behind him, too. The power armor could take a laser much better than she could.

She was sure Danse was scowling at her cowardice, under his helmet.

“This way leads to the engine core. We’ll have to pass through here to reach the location where they’ve likely stored the transmitter.”

Danse looked back to find Kate dragging her fingers through the dust on a long abandoned desk, staring at a box of long faded files and folders.

“Everything here stopped so suddenly… how many people do you think made it out?”

He hesitated. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“When… the bombs dropped.” Katherine clarified, her voice tinged with sadness.

Danse cocked his head. “I couldn’t tell you, and I doubt anyone in the commonwealth has that information, given how many years have passed since those events.” He scoffed. “Regardless, I would suggest against concerning yourself with the people of the past. Their actions brought the war upon themselves.”

Her only response to Danse’s declaration was to go very quiet.

The elevator ride that took them to the engine core was awkward; Katherine pressed herself into the back corner of the car and wondered how much a suit of T-60 power armor weighed. Every time the elevator creaked, or groaned, she flinched. The thought that it had gone two centuries without maintenance scared her.

Kate’s knuckles went white as she clutched the pitted railing, just leaning barely enough over to stare down to the depths of the room. Her eyes followed the length of the rocket booster back up, and turned to look back at Danse, whose attention was drawn upwards, assessing the staircase - and the massive gap where it had broken away over the past two centuries.

It wasn’t filling Katherine with confidence, that was for sure.

–

It was only a short few flights to the floor of the test chamber, thankfully. The ash crunched under Katherine’s feet, and she walked a line around the edge of the room, idly looking over the footprints she left.

Danse placed an armored hand on the cowl of the engine, which had laid dormant for over two centuries. He wondered briefly if the brotherhood would have a use for it.

Maybe if it were smaller. As it stood, there was no way to transport the thing.

“See if you can find a way to turn the power back on. Perhaps redirect it from other parts of the facility.”

“Yeah - yeah sure.” There were only two ways out of the room, aside from the stairs. An elevator, unpowered and unusable, and a set of heavy steel double doors, halfway open and leading to what looked like a maintenance hall, judging by the wires and pipes running along the concrete. Seemed promising - or so she hoped.

There was a… she supposed it was some sort of control room, judging by all the consoles and buttons present, but she didn’t pay much attention to it - another doorway at the rear of the room exposed a fusion generator, and that was much more promising when it came to potential power systems.

Not just one fusion generator, but two - and a terminal at the back of the room. She nudged the chair away from the desk, wheels leaving a trail in the dust. As she settled in, Kate’s fingers ran across the terminal keys. There was no elaborate security down here in the depths. It didn’t surprise her. But it did make her current task easier - and she was glad. She tapped her way through various options, scanning every choice and setting .

Ah. There we go. Auxiliary power. A few confirmations and…

She could hear the power systems coming to life in the walls around her, the faint buzz of electricity through wires, and the hum of mechanical systems powering up. That should have done it, if everything was still connected.

The fusion generators she had passed has turned quiet, and her gaze lingered on the fusion core left inside. Well… if that was no longer connected, no longer needed.

Push, turn, and a click as it disconnected, slipped into her pocket on the way out.

It was the sound of gunfire that made Katherine snap to attention once again. Or, more accurately, laser fire. Flashes of blue and red through the reinforced glass window of the control room.

The paladin’s shouts confirmed her assumption.

“Synths!”

She froze up, eyes darting across the room, tracking the barrage of blue bolts in front of her.

It felt like hours before Danse called out again, directed at her. “Do something, Vance! Don’t just - urgh - stand there!”

It was enough to jolt her into action.

She slammed her open palm down on the big red button on the console in front of her.

The sounds of laser fire weren’t enough to obscure the pre-recorded countdown that initiated.

“Command accepted. Test fire commencing in five… four…”

Katherine’s heart was doing backflips in her chest. “Test fi- oh god oh no job on that’s not -” She pounded on the window. “Danse!”

“Three… two…”

Danse didn’t have time to muster a response, under the onslaught of synths.“

"One. Engine firing.”

The roar of the engine was deafening, and Katherine’s immediate reaction was to cover her ears. The sound was matched in intensity by the engine’s output - even here behind the safety of the blast shield, she still felt the wave of heat.

Danse dropped to one knee, arm raised to shield his face. The steel of his power armor picked up a faint red glow around the edges under the engine’s flames.

The synths weren’t nearly as durable. Any of them immediately under the test engine were swiftly reduced to ash, and those with a little more distance crumpled to the floor within moments.

“Test firing completed with an efficiency rating of ninety-six point seven percent.”

Katherine was already at the blast doors by the time they swung open. Her footsteps crackled in the ash as she ran to Danse.

He hadn’t moved since going down, and that made her fearful.

But as she approached, he groaned, reaching for the laser rifle he had dropped.

“Danse? Oh my god I’m - shit, shit I’m sorry I didn’t know - I didn’t think - *are you okay?!” She was on the verge of panic.

“I’m fine.” Danse grunted, getting to his feet with a little more effort than usual.“Thanks to my power armor. Without it I would have fared no better than those damn synths.”

Katherine reached a hand out, a gesture of support, but as she placed it on his arm…

“Ouch!” She yelped, flinching backwards. The metal still held quite a bit of heat. She shook her hand - that was gonna leave a mark.

“I’m… I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. Maybe it wasn’t the wisest decision, but the results are acceptable enough.” The paladin gestured toward the elevator, where the call buttons were now lit up. “I strongly suggest we keep moving on. I don’t know how many more synths are in this building, or if they’re on their way to us again, and I’d rather not stand around to learn the answer.”

Perhaps it was more of a command than a suggestion, as he didn’t wait for a reply before heading towards the elevator.

“Um…” Kate hurried after him, still worried, though now for a different reason. “How much does that power armor weigh…? Is that going to be within the weight limit? I don’t - that elevator is two hundred years old and I know it hasn’t had regular maintenance, what if it -”

Danse turned around to look at Katherine. Even with his helmet obscuring his expression, she could sense his disapproval.

“Sorry.” She offered lamely, before going quiet and squeezing into the elevator car beside him.

It was a tight fit.

“All the information I’ve gathered indicates that the deep range transmitter is most likely stored in this control room,” Danse explained, “and there’s almost no evidence of scavenger activity in these parts of the facility.”

“What about the synths?”

“They arrived not long before we did, from the looks of things. If the deep range transmitter isn’t in the control room, one of the synths may have taken it. If that’s the case, we should hope they haven’t yet left the facility - if they’re still here, recovering the transmitter will be a simple task.”

“… more gunfights?”

“Very likely.”

Katherine clutched her laser rifle just a little tighter as they made their way towards the control room.

She was very conscious of her choice to keep behind Danse. The power armor protected him - and anyone behind him.

The tinny statement of “Hostile detected.” was the first sign of synths ahead, followed by the pchew of laser fire overhead.

“Contact!” Danse was the superior marksman between them and was quick to take out a trio of synths. They crumpled to the ground in rapid succession, and the third found its plastic skin burnt to ash as it fell.

Katherine was quick to offer fire against the last two synths as Danse reloaded - though none of her shots missed, she was far less accurate. It took more than twice as many shots for her to take them down.

“Well done.”

“Oh - um. Thank- thank you.” She never was great at handling praise, and was quick to scamper off in search of the transmitter, investigating the destroyed synths while Danse searched the room.

A few recovered microfusion cells found their way into her pockets, before a larger item caught her eye. She nudged the synth aside with her boot, uncovering… well, she wasn’t certain it was the deep range transmitter but it did have the look of a very complicated and very expensive piece of technology.

Katherine made her way back to Danse with the device slung under her arm. “Hey - I found this and um. Is this what you’re after?”

“That would be it, yes. Excellent! And it doesn’t appear to have sustained any damage.”

“Yeah, that’s good news.”

“There should be a way to exit the facility from here, so there won’t be any need to backtrack. Follow me.”

Danse wasn’t one to loiter - Katherine found it hard to keep up with him.

“… oh, another elevator.”

The service elevator led to an exit behind the ArcJet building, up a hill, sheltered inside a concrete structure. The commonwealth was quiet - there were no signs of any synths lingering outside. They were both equally relieved by this.

Danse took a few steps past the aged, rusting fence, and turned back to face Katherine. With his rifle holstered he reached up to remove his helmet, tucking it under one arm as he spoke. “well, I’m certain that could have gone smoother, but mission accomplished.”

Kate winced. She really had no frame of reference here. “I’m - I’m sorry. I didn’t…” She trailed off, deflating.

“While the operation was flawed, your contributions were still invaluable. Without your assistance I would certainly have been overwhelmed on multiple occasions. I’m not certain I could have retrieved the transmitter on my own.”

“Oh…!” There was surprise in Kate’s exclamation. She shuffled her feet a bit, awkward. “I’m… glad to hear that. I think.”

The paladin continued onward. “With that said, I believe we have two important matters to discuss. First and foremost is the deep range transmitter. If you’ll hand it to me, I’d like to compensate you for your assistance during this operation.”

“Yeah, yeah okay, here, this is, um. This is yours.” Kate offered Danse the device, which was swiftly packed away and secured.

He unholstered the rifle at his side, presenting it to Katherine. “Here. You clearly have an aptitude with technology - and with energy weapons. I think you’ll benefit from this; It’s my own personal modification to the standard issue AER9 laser rifle.”

“…really? Don’t you need this?” Katherine gingerly accepted the weapon, scanning it. She could see evidence of tinkering - and, of course, the brotherhood’s symbol stencilled along the barrel. She ran a thumb across the paint.

“It’s not the only weapon at my disposal. Besides, I believe in paying my debts.”

“Well then… thank you.”

“You’re welcome, civilian. Now, onto the second matter.”

Kate bit her tongue, unsure of what to expect.

“I wanted to make you a proposal. We had a lot thrown at us back there, and for the most part, you handled yourself exceptionally.”

She found herself wanting to disagree, but said nothing.

“Our op could have ended in disaster, but your determination kept that from happening. I believe that with a bit of training, you could be a valuable asset to the Brotherhood.”

“Erm.” Was she being recruited? She would have flunked out of the pre-war military almost instantly.

“The way I see it, you’ve got a choice. You could spend the rest of your life wandering the commonwealth, scrounging for supplies and trading your skills for a meager reward. Or, you could join the Brotherhood of Steel and make your mark on the world.” Danse shifted his weight, grip tightening on the helmet he still held.

“So, what do you say?”

Kate bit her lip. “The Brotherhood of Steel, huh? You guys are… aren’t you military?”

“Essentially, yes.”

Her hesitation was obvious. “Is this something I can think about? I don’t think I know enough here to, uh. to make a decision so quickly.”

“Of course. It’s a big decision. The offer still stands, and when you’ve made up your mind, you know where to find me.” Danse took a moment to put his helmet on once again, and his voice crackled out from within. “With all that said, I need to return to the police station. The deep range transmitter ought to be installed sooner, rather than later, so we can get in contact with the rest of the Brotherhood. Thank you again for your assistance, Vance. I wish you the best.”

Katherine found herself staring after Danse as he turned and left, heavy footsteps echoing off the hills around them. She shook her head as if to clear it. This whole thing had taken her off track, and she sighed. She had always been praised for her willingness to help, but so often that kept her away from her own tasks.

She certainly wasn’t going to make it to Diamond City today, she realized - the sky was still light, but she knew that wasn’t going to last much longer.

There weren’t enough hours in the day. That had been true two hundred years ago, and it was still true now.

She wasn’t looking forward to setting up camp for the night.

[iwhumpyou]

Dizziness?

*gasps* What’s that?  Original whumpfic?

Hope this fills what you were looking for!

Masterlist.  Raider.

Taglist: @smileevenwhenyoudontfeellikeit, @whumps-the-word, @whumpy-daydreams.

Exhaustion.

~#~

She could sit upright now. Well, slump upright, curled up in the corner, head pressed against the wall as she fought to keep her eyes open. Her surroundings faded in and out, the crowd of people blurring to splotches of color and the conversations fading to murmurs.

She knew they were looking at her – she could feel the weight of their glares.  She knew they were talking about her – she could catch snatches of furious hisses and snarled insults.  She just didn’t have the energy to care about it.

She didn’t have the energy to do anything.

It surprised her.  She had always been driven – top of her class, ambitious, proud, head raider by the age of twenty-six, a voice on the Council.

And she had crippled every one of her ambitions for a shot in the dark.  One chance to do the right thing.  Slight, small, probably entirely worthless in the long run, but she had been so tired of stepping aside and letting the Council follow a dark path.

So she’d spoken out. Cast her vote.  Made sure that particular law wouldn’t be passed.  And in doing so, destroyed her relationship with her family, ruined any chance of keeping her position or her job, and lost every safe harbor she’d ever had.

Her family.  The raiders.  Her friends – she wasn’t very good at making friends, and any casual acquaintance would balk at sheltering her, especially when she had such powerful enemies hunting for her head.

The Council. Killian.  Every single enemy she’d made over the years in her tenure as raider. Laila may have sheltered her out of some fading sense of obligation for the relationship they’d once had, but she had a position to regain.  Tanner and Kate had only helped her out of duty to Laila. 

Riya was resourceful. She could start her whole life from scratch – she certainly had the skills to do so.  But the old poison had wrecked her endurance, the building had crushed her, the Council’s thugs had crippled her, and Killian’s torture had finished the job.  She couldn’t even sit upright, much less stand, much less fight.  Someone could walk up to her and put a knife under her chin and all she’d be able to do was fall on the blade.

She was in a lawless den of outlaws and fugitives, with no friends, resources, or shelter, and she didn’t have the energy to try and escape.

She just prayed that Killian wouldn’t be the one to get his hands on her.  Her family would execute her, the Council would jail her, anyone else would just slit her throat, but Killian would torture her and Riya was so close to breaking.

“Riya.  Riya.”

She blinked, and was vaguely surprised when a familiar face resolved itself in front of her, a tone halfway between worried and annoyed.  She wondered how long they’d been calling her name.

“Riya –”

“Yes?” Riya managed, blinking slowly.  Freya was scowling.  It wasn’t a meal time, and she wasn’t carrying food anyway.  What did she want?

“We’re having a discussion about what to do with you,” Freya informed her, “And I thought you might like to join.”

Riya stared blankly at her. What was the point?  She didn’t need to hear a list of reasons of why Sherwood hated raiders, or maybe hated her specifically, or all the gruesome imaginings of what they wanted to do to her.

“Get up,” Freya said. So she wasn’t getting a choice.

Riya made an attempt at getting to her feet.  Unsurprisingly, it failed.

There was an annoyed huff above her, and hands closed around her arms, pulling her upright.  The world spun around her, her head pounding as her legs trembled, the world washing out to sickening spirals of colors.

“Wait,” Riya tried to say, her tongue heavy in her mouth as her stomach twisted, pins and needles jittering down her limbs.  Jolts ran through her muscles, too fast, too close, and her head was already spinning, she’d crumple entirely if they forced her to walk.

The colors slowly receded to their original places, gravity resumed its normal position, and Riya blinked to see Freya staring at her, her hands vices around Riya’s upper arms.

“Good?” Freya asked slowly, her expression carefully neutral.

Riya nodded in lieu of unsticking her tongue to answer.

Their progress was slow as Riya had to pause every few steps to let the world reassert itself, exhaustion dragging at her as she was forced to move fatigued, trembling limbs.  It was sixty-three steps to the meeting hall, and Riya knew that because every single one was a painful hurdle.

She gratefully collapsed into the chair Freya nudged her into, eyes sliding shut, and let the world go fuzzy.  She was forced to attend, no one said anything about participation, and Riya only attempted to pry open her eyelids when someone said her name five times, in increasing order of annoyance.

“So glad the head raider finally deigns to grace us with her attention,” a man Riya recognized as Nigel Bryce made a cold, thin-lipped smile as he flicked a knife in one hand.

“Not the head raider,” Riya managed, because Bryce had been on their wanted list for years, and now the violently murderous psychopath was sitting five seats down from her.

“Really?” Bryce said, leaning forward, “How did you manage that?”

“Decided to have an original thought,” Riya said, voice sharp, and something inside of her shivered at the slow smile.

“You’re lying,” the woman next to Freya responded, face blank.

“Excuse me?”

“You’re lying,” she repeated, “You’re still head raider.”

“You’re operating with outdated information –”

“As of two days ago, Riya Faris is still listed as head raider of the Seawirk division,” the woman recited calmly.

Riya stared at her. That wasn’t true.  That couldn’t be true.  The Council had gone after her.  She’d been missing for at least two weeks, and there wasn’t a hint of an increased raider presence on the streets.

It didn’t make any sense –

“Do you know how many people in this city want your head, Riya?”

Unless they trying to start a fight.  Unless they were attempting to uproot the peace treaty that had been finalized years ago, that had stabilized only recently – under threat of Killian – and that Riya had thrown her career away to safeguard.

Riya made a low, choked sound and slumped further in the chair, squeezing her eyes shut.  Plots upon plans upon tricks, and she had only ever discovered the first layer.

Set her up for the fall. But not a public disownment, not yet, not until the head raider was found murdered on the streets and the city could descend into exactly the anarchy the Council needed to swoop in and reassert order.

The exact anarchy Killian needed to swoop in and take control.

Riya felt like she was holding half a puzzle, and she didn’t like the picture it was forming.

“Riya!  Riya!”

Riya blinked her eyes open again, and hissed when the world spun.  There were fingers digging into her shoulder and she tried to twist away from them, but merely slid further into her chair as her muscles spasmed and gave out.

“Riya,” Freya’s face was hovering above hers, expression tight and eyes narrowed, “You should’ve long since healed, what happened to you?”

“Poison,” Riya rasped, “A building collapsed.  An attack. Killian’s particular brand of torture. Take your pick.”  Freya’s face wavered, and drew back.  “If you’re going to kill me, could you please get on with it? I’m not sure how much longer I can stay awake.”

She was already beginning to feel floaty, her arms and legs curiously detached and numb – she was practically curled in her chair, staring out at a gathering of some of the most dangerous outlaws in the world, and all she could think was how badly she wanted a nap.

“Generally,” Bryce said dryly, “We give our acquisitions a chance to make a case for why they should be left alive.”

Riya laughed.  Or chuckled anyway, unamused giggles trickling out because the world was spinning and she couldn’t suppress the jolt of hysteria. “You’re joking, right?” she said between hiccups, “Someone is going to slit my throat two steps from your front door. There is no case for leaving me alive.”

A series of glances were exchanged up and down the table, but Riya could only think about her dry mouth and aching head and how the lights were too bright and her vision was swimming.  She tried to swallow, and it stuck in her throat.

“As it’s apparent that Riya is still considered the head raider,” Freya’s voice said from far away, “I move we hold an auction.”

“I second that vote,” Bryce added, and the darkness wrapped around her in tune to murmured agreements.

~#~

TBC.

[baby-grayson]

Kind Stranger|GBD|Part 9

Parts 1-8

Words: 3.6k

tw: fluff and angst? Tags: @dolanpornhub​ @styles-dolan​ @evergreendolan​ @someonetogray​ @vintagedolan​ @prettyboydolan​ @dolansficsandpics​ @graysavant​ @baby-turtles​ 

Grayson leaned back on a patch of grass, his body falling beneath him as he slumped on the ground. Ethan sat beside him, one arm draped over a bent knee and the other fidgeting with blades of grass. Ethan could swear Grayson hadn’t been this quiet since their father passed. Ethan struggled to comfort his brother, growing increasingly tired of dead ended conversations. Grayson had tried to call Kate at least once a day for the past five days: she never picked up. Ethan shepherded his brother between Zoom meetings, phone calls, and their various responsibilities while the shell of Grayson wallowed in heart break.

Grayson’s usually glimmering eyes were duller, like a light inside of his face had been put out. He had lost sleep, beginning the accumulation of heavy, dark bags under his eyes. The calluses on his hands were picked over and ripped up, his pass time during meetings. He and Ethan were preparing for Wakeheart’s candle launch, being persecuted on twitter for their podcast, and trying to maintain momentum for their Youtube channel. Grayson struggled to find focus, much less creative energy, since his fight with Kate.

This afternoon, Ethan invited Grayson longboarding in an attempt to get him out of their rental house, and hopefully out of his head. A few wipe outs later, the twins founded refuge on a patch of grass. The silence was deafening. Negative clouds ruled Grayson’s mind while Ethan tried to navigate around them to soothe his brother. “What did you do last time things weren’t so great?” Ethan probed, hoping to find the answer to Grayson’s dilemma. Grayson shrugged from where he laid on the ground. His eyes followed a cloud moving across the open sky above him. “We kinda---just …” Grayson exhaled, thinking about the happy times felt like a treacherous tap dance on his heart. “I went over. We kissed. I spent the night and it just went away..” Ethan’s jaw dropped softly as he cocked his head to the side. Grayson stayed focused on his favorite cloud and did not notice Ethan’s eyebrow raised. “Are you telling me you fucked it out of her?” Ethan could not veil the cutting tone in his voice. Grayson groaned. Her soft skin, her plumps lips, her whispy hair, her sweet, citrus scent..it all flooded back to him. Fuck. Fuck Ethan for making him think about this..about her..”No, we just got busy and happy and didn’t really think about it again.” Grayson’s eyes darted around, no longer able to locate his cloud. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to focus on the feeling of the ground beneath him when he added, “We haven’t had sex yet.”

Ethan’s head pushed back, his brother was always full of surprises. It both made all sense and no sense to him. Grayson usually practiced certain activities on a regular basis, soon after meeting women. Of course Grayson would have waited for the girl who actually meant something to him. Ethan exhaled, realizing the gravity of the situation. “You do know you can’t be a virgin until marriage if you’re not a virgin when you meet her, right? Do I need to explain that idea to you?” Grayson’s arms went limp against the grass. He exhaled through his nose, striking a twinge of pain in his sinuses. He did not try to mask the annoyance in his voice, “No, but you can explain what I need to do to get her back.” Grayson’s head throbbed in pain, his lack of sleep not serving him well. His eyes felt heavy. His body felt heavy. His soul felt heavy. He questioned where he went wrong. His heart twisted and turned between being hurt and wanting to hear an apologize but feeling the obligation to apologize himself. He ran a hand through his hair, exhaling and asking himself if this was a preventable problem. He barely heard Ethan’s words of encouragement, telling him not to give up on her if she really meant something to him.

******* Kate opened her freezer to pull out one of many pints of ice cream. She dug a spoon out of the bottom of a kitchen drawer, not wanting to think about the pile of dishes sitting in her sink. She plopped down on her bed, opened her third pint of the day and continued playing the youtube video lighting up her laptop. Getting over a break up was hard—Was this a break up?—but it was made even harder when the object of your affection was plastered all over the internet. 

Over the past five days, Kate had consumed enough Dolan Twins content for a lifetime. She watched Grayson perform as a goofy teenager on TRL. She mused over him in the image of a Greek God at Paris Fashion Week. She cried over a scoop of chocolate ice cream while watching his tribute to his father. She laughed at the antics of a younger Grayson and Ethan. She admired the way his hair fell in front of his face. His wheezy laugh sounded like a song to her. His smile beamed through her heart and lit her soul on fire.

And suddenly, she remembered that she kicked Grayson out of her apartment and her heart. Occasionally, she would hold her phone when he called. She would let it ring, internally debating whether she knew what to say. Did she miss him in a deep place? Yes. Was she willing to forgive him for his double standard? For holding her to different rules? For trying to control the way she processed and celebrated their relationship? No. His phone calls extenuated the moot point.

She cursed his beautiful face when it appeared on her screen. She cursed the glittered gems embedded in his teeth. She cursed the watercolor tattoos on his legs. She cursed every ridge and curve of his bronzed, muscular body. Somehow, having a virtual Grayson in her company only made her feel more alone.

LA was a lonely place, especially when you moved during a pandemic. Kate missed Philly, the familiar sound of the subway and bustle of people in City Center. She missed walking through the universities, looking for food trucks in the afternoon. She missed not wondering if everyone she walked by on the street was an internet celebrity, post-career actor, or wanna-be sugar daddy. LA wasn’t home: LA was a lonely, abysmal place that separated Grayson Dolan from Kathleen Walker.

A hollow knock rapped across the front door. Kate sat straight up, not trusting her own ears. No one in LA knew where she lived…except—Kate shot up when the knock came again. She looked down at her bare thighs, the very tops of which were covered by an oversized t-shirt. A third knock jolted her off of her bed. She tossed her ice cream to the side and hurried to open the front door.

She turned the lock to expose a tall, muscular figure towering over her. His familiar hazel eyes seemed completely strange to her in that moment. He trimmed his hair since the last time she saw him, keeping it out of his face. His sharp jaw line nearly reflected the sun’s rays from outside her apartment. “What are you doing here Ethan?”

Ethan removed his hands from his pockets and bit his lip softly, “Can I come in? I was hoping we could talk.”

Kate opened the door further, letting Ethan stroll through the door. Ethan looked around, eyeing her sparsely filled apartment, decorated in IKEA furniture. Ethan stood awkwardly in the entryway, his eyes landing on Kate. “Do you want water? Or um—a snack maybe?” She hoped he wanted ice cream, because the only other thing she could offer was a slightly moldy head of lettuce. “No I’m fine,” Ethan hedged, burying his hands in his pockets. He looked at the floor and then back up at Kate, “I was hoping we could sit and maybe talk?” She lead him to an arm chair and sat across from him.

The air in the room was heavy. It’s not every day you are stuck in a room with your ex-boyfriend’s identical twin. Seeing Ethan’s face panged in Kate’s heart, she wanted desperately to see Grayson’s again. Ethan cleared his throat and leaned forward in the armchair. He exhaled softly before starting, “I wanted to talk to you about the Grayson thing. I don’t know how you’ve been dealing, but Grayson is a mess.” Ethan revealed, wondering where the line was drawn between being honest and depicting his twin as a pathetic, lovesick sack. “I don’t know how you’re feeling about him or what happened, but if you can – could you call him? Or talk to him? Give him maybe a little more closure than he has now?” Ethan’s voice was soft, and his eyes curved downward at the sides. His reverence and care for his brother filled the room in a gentle air.

Kate struggled to find words. She struggled to maintain eye contact with Ethan; looking at a creature so much like Grayson made her heart lurch whenever she focused on Ethan for too long. Her pupils bounced to the pile of dishes behind Ethan, to the traffic on the other side of the window, to her own feet, and then back to Ethan. Her mind went blank at the first time to talk about what happened out loud. Faithful to Grayson’s request, she hadn’t told her mom, her friends, or anyone really. For the past week, she had no one to comfort her. And now, Grayson’s brother sat in front of her, assuming she had already processed her emotions.

“I don’t know Ethan,” her voice stayed just above a whisper. “I don’t know what I can offer him.” She let out a breathy chuckle as she continued, “I almost feel like he should be giving me closure—if it’s ..ya know…case closed.” She shook her head, slumping her shoulders and letting her head fall between her knees. “I really like him Ethan,” she confessed, “I just don’t know if this whole…” she waved her hands in the air, waiting for a word to come to her, “—celebrity thing” she spoke it as if it was a curse word “is a world I want to be a part of.” She sat back against the armchair, holding her stare on the ground, “At least not the way he was handling it.”

“Grayson’s my partner: in everything we do. I would have never gotten this far without him, he’s the energy when we come together.” Ethan sat back against his own chair, his mind opening the flood gates for his words. “Our ideas, our projects, our pushes—those are all him. He constantly asks for us to be better, for me to be better. I owe so much of what we have to him, because I would have never been able to do it without him.” Kate’s heart lurched, remembering a similar conversation with Grayson about Ethan.

Ethan continued, “I was the one who was nervous about you in the beginning.” Kate’s head shot up from its slumped position, finally meeting Ethan’s gaze. Ethan swallowed and weighed his head before continuing, “I was concerned that you were maybe..I don’t know a gold digger? Or something like that and you were going to use him.” Kate’s eyebrows raised, staring at Ethan as if he had seven heads. “That was before I met you,” Ethan hedged “But I think I was the one who put the thought in Gray’s head to be extra careful about you two.”

“I didn’t know that,” Kate’s voice was just above a whisper. She wanted to melt into her armchair, disappearing from this scene. Her mind felt torn between blaming Ethan for Grayson’s behavior and decided that this was no excuse, Grayson was a grown man who made his own decisions. Kate’s eyes narrowed, trying to decipher her own thoughts. Ethan started again, “I just can’t stand thinking that I’m the reason for what Gray is feeling right now and—” Kate shook her quickly, “You’re not Ethan.” She leaned forward in her chair, resting her elbows on her knees and exhaling heavily. “I’m the reason for what your brother is feeling.” She opened her mouth, but feelings of confusion, guilt, and loneliness competed for the next word. Ethan beat her to it, “If you give him a chance, he won’t disappoint.” Ethan played with his fingers in his lap, looking up to meet her gaze, “My brother is a hopeless romantic who gets off on making the people he loves feel special.” Ethan shrugged and let go of his fingers.

A few moments later, Ethan stood from his armchair and thanked Kate for at least listening to him. She gave him a thin smile and nodded as he stepped toward the door. She closed the dead bolt behind him and stood there for a while. Her mind felt like a thousand horses were trying to pull her in different directions: toward Grayson, away from Grayson, into friendship with Grayson, back to Ethan with more questions. Her mind was a mess. She stepped back into her bedroom, finding that a dollop of melted ice cream has stained her sheets. She exhaled and threw her head back, cleaning her space begrudgingly.

She sat on the end of her stripped bed, phone in hand. Her hand felt heavy as her phone rang. Her heart beat throbbed into her temples. Her good leg shook softly against the edge of the bed. Her tongue went dry. “Hello?” His voice was so familiar. Her mind set off a fireworks show of internal curse words, her teeth nearly chattered in rhythm to the shiver down her spine. “Hey Gray,” she started without knowing where she wanted to finish, “I was hoping we could talk-but not like this—maybe we could pick a time or a place?” Her tongue felt like a brick, heavy and stiff against her lips that tried to remember to pass air through her lungs. “Y-yeah” Grayson’s tone wavered, trying to mask excitement and anxiety with something that sounded stable, “I’d like that.”

*******

“Thank you,” Kate smiled at her Uber driver as he pulled up the edge of the beach parking lot. She had considered walking to meet Grayson, but eventually decided that walking across LA, by herself, at 7PM was not a good idea. She left the car and started to fidget with the hem of her skirt, which was blowing in the ocean winds. The ocean breeze usually calmed her, but today it only ignited her flaming nerves even further. Her hair would not sit still, blowing in nearly every direction as she walked forward. She cursed to herself, not wanting to look like a mess to have this conversation with Grayson.

She stopped when she spotted him. He was waiting in his usual spot from when they met—his spot. He looked so elegant, his grand figure a silhouette against the sunset. Even in the shadows, his megawatt smile beamed at Kate. She bit her lip from across the beach, the hand on her purse clenched down. Every thought about the ocean breeze escaped her mind. Her knees shook slightly. How is it that one human being could elicit that kind of response out of another?

Kate’s hands cupped her face while her heart exploded, looking past Grayson for a moment. A few beach towels acted as a picnic blanket for a home made meal and a couple of Wakeheart candles. A stray napkin floated through the wind away from the setting. Two place settings were laying on the ground, ready for the two of them to sit together. Grayson grinned watching her face, hoping that maybe he could show her how serious he was about making her happy. Silently, he wished she would take her hands away from her face. Grayson desperately wanted to see her smile; his heart needed the confirmation that he was able to make her happy again.

The hands on her face were only one part of this scene teasing Grayson’s heart. The dark tendrils flying around her face called out to the day they met: making Grayson’s heart swell. The air around her was angelic, Grayson could make out the gold flecks in her brown eyes from where he stood. The sound of her voice as she approached him was like a song to him.

“Grayson—” hearing his name in her voice sent Grayson’s emotions into a romantic frenzy “—this is amazing.” She removed her hands from her mouth, revealing her kind smile and pink mouth. Grayson’s cheeks burned from grinning so hard, his happiness overtook any anxieties that had been clouding his mind. A deep part of his mind wondered if he had done enough practicing earlier, now that he was struggling for words. His elation took over any cerebral duties his mind would usually oversee, “I wanted to do something special for you, because you’re special to me.”

Grayson took her small, dainty, smooth hands in his large, rough, calloused ones. He squeezed her palms and looked down into her big, brown eyes. Kate bit her lip subtly, wondering how one man could be so many things at one time. Grayson took a breath before starting his semi-rehearsed speech. “I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry for hurting you, doing something to you that made you feel like I wasn’t proud of you. If anything, it’s the opposite. I’m so proud of you, the things you have preserved through in your life before you ever met me--..I don’t think I could do it.” Grayson gaped down at her, he swallowed while holding back sentences about her disability, career, and drive. “I just..I did something wrong. I should have been more open about who I am and what my life is like from the start. In truth, I didn’t think I had to me. I thought I was just a normal guy, who could meet a normal girl and have a great relationship.” He squeezed her palms warmly. “But I see now that maybe that’s not what this situation is. And to be honest, I don’t really know what that means. But I do know that you make my life better. You make my life so much better,” a stray tear sat on Grayson’s bottom lashes. His voice choked slightly, making Kate’s eyes widen as her entire expression softened. The sight of her garnered a stray tear on Grayson’s other lash line. “You make everything so much better. You make me think about what’s important, because so much of my life isn’t.” He made a noise that sounded like a sad chuckle, “I spend so much of my day worried about branding and images and posting schedules and comments—things that I barely have control over sometimes. But when I’m with you,” he squeezed her hands and pulled her in closer, “my life isn’t that. With you I’m happy, and I get to share simple things with you. I feel like someone is seeing me, for the first time in a long time, as just a guy.” One lone tear danced its way to his cheek while he finished, “I hate what I put you through, I hate how that other part of my life could have poisoned us…But I think we can make if you’re willing to talk things through with me because I want to keep you around for such a long time…I love you.”

Grayson’s heart felt like it was tiptoeing across a high wire above a pit of sharks. He felt like one word could change her answer. He gulped hard. Grayson Dolan had done many daring things in his life: blind folded sky diving, swimming with sharks,cliff jumping in foreign countries. And yet, no deed felt more daring than this. He admitted that his own life confused him, that the reality he thought existed was just his attempt at gripping onto normalcy: saying it out loud felt like a vice grip on his emotions.

Kate thumbed one of his hands gently in hers. She let go of one of his hands, causing Grayson’s mouth to gape slightly in fear. Grayson’s lips fell into a relaxed smile when she moved to cup his face in her hand, softly wiping at the ghostly trail left by the tear. She tried to find words, any words, but they weren’t coming. Her tongue was tied in a knot around her heart. Grayson instinctually moved his freehand around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He looked from her deep, bright eyes to her lips and back to her gorgeous gaze. Kate bit her lip, licking it softly before exhaling. Grayson drank in her sweet, citrus scent—only realizing now how comforting and soothing that scent had become for him.

The sound of the waves crashing against the shore boomed around them. Kate memorized his face in this moment, cherishing how the warm, sunset rays only illuminated his bronzed skin. The gold flecks in his eyes danced for her, begging for closure. His few freckles gave his face a boyish charm, decorating high cheek bones and a striking jawline.

A few grains of sand infiltrated Kate’s sandals, catalyzing a series of rough and jagged attacks on her soft skin. Kate’s mind raced in finding her next words, knowing that she could choose to give Grayson her whole heart or walk away from a future navigating the hurdles of his life. If it wasn’t for the pit growing in her heart, she would have chuckled at the irony of the moment. Here they were, almost embracing each other, almost crying for each other, almost surrendering themselves to each other: when just a few weeks earlier, they stood in that same spot as only a pair of kind strangers.

[pollylynn]

Title: Both/And WC: 2000

“Why do you think you have to choose?” — Jim Beckett, Watershed (5 x 24) 

The world is made up of landmines. The world is made up of lifelines. Both these things are true. One is easier to remember than the other. One is easier to see. 

She has buried the landmines herself. She has sown them all around her like bloodthirsty seeds, beginning with the trip. Beginning before that—with Stack. Before that—with Vaughn. Before that. Before . . . 

She heard somewhere, she read somewhere, he told her in some idle moment that it’s common to use goats where mines are thick on the ground. It’s common to let them pick their delicate way across unfamiliar terrain until the violence rears its head, until the goat is no long picking its delicate way anywhere. 

She’s thinking of that as she stares out the floor-to-ceiling window over a city that she thinks of through the eyes of her eighth grade self on an overnight field trip. She is rendering the memory in his voice, whether or not he is, in fact, the one who told her of the tragedy of goats, of the Hitchcockian suspense of landmines. His voice fills her head entirely before she turns and follows Freedman into his office. His voice. It’s a landmine. 

It throws her off her game—his voice talking about goats, about Princess Diana, about the Queen’s anti-goat, pro-landmine agenda. The eternal experience of him making her laugh, of him taking her mind off something,  of him tugging her kicking and screaming away from work because she’d been at it too long for no real reason than old habits. The sudden, pervasive presence of him where he has no place throws her utterly off her game, and she has almost tanked the whole interview before it even begins. But she does not, somehow, tank the interview. She doesn’t think she has. She doesn’t think. All the way back to the airport. All the way home. She does not think. 

Home is a conceptual landmine, and that breaks her fucking heart. She leans her head against the thick window of the plane and imagines herself a tourist—a visitor who’ll only see this sight from time to time and through the eyes of an outsider, through the eyes of someone who is constantly shocked but the changes—this building going up, this one coming down. This place closing, and this cute thing? It’s been open for months and she is shocked. 

In her mind, she has already moved on. She has crossed unfamiliar terrain, and in the either–or of her merciless psyche, there is no going back. 

Home is a literal landmine, too. Her clothing is a disaster out of context. Her sober suit and a crisp, absolutely boring blouse blouse buttoned all the way up to her chin are an ill-timed confession in navy blue. Her hair, sprayed into a neat, immovable bun at the nape of her neck with its one million precisely placed pins is a confession there is no point in making now. The goat has left the building. The goat has picked its delicate way well out into no man’s land, and there is no point. 

She has a text about a body the very second the plane is on the ground. She has three, four, five voice mails with his name beside them, with chipper recordings that she can’t bear to listen to, because in her either–or mind, she’s already left him. It's already done, and yet here she is in a tell-all suit. Her either–or mind is getting ahead of itself. 

There is a random assortment of clothing in the back of her car. A dark t-shirt, a blazer with a cracked button and a tear in the lining she’s meant to take to the tailor forever. There’s a pair of jeans jumbled into her gym bag for some reason that her inner goat finds fortunate in the moment. She wrestles her body into everything in the driver’s seat of her car, in the shadows of short-term parking. She excavates hairpins, and she is savage with the brush in freeing her hair. 

It’s no use. The quick change is no help at all. She, herself, is a landmine. She has had nothing but opportunities to confess, to teleport her off this unfamiliar terrain, rather than pick her delicate way across it until she’s not picking her way anywhere anymore. 

She could have confessed when he asked—You never did tell me what Stack wanted to talk to you about.

 She could have confessed right after she’d closed herself in her bedroom, door shut tight, lights off, blinds drawn, and in the gloom, squinted to make out the number on Stack’s card, and dialed. 

She could have confessed during the days of phone tag, the days of overtures, the days of noise about getting her down there for a face-to-face. She could have confessed at any moment during that raw, tempest-tossed period when she wanted it, didn’t want it, wanted it again, believed she’d get it, believed the very idea of her getting it was a delusion, believed they would string her along indefinitely and then nothing would come of it after all. 

She could have confessed, rather than let the lies of omission pile up. She could have confessed, but she has not. Instead, she has sowed landmines. She sows them even now with evasions, blank looks, homeopathic truths, and merciless tugs on the conversational steering wheel when he strays too close to unfamiliar terrain. 

***********************

There are lifelines, too, if she’ll only grab hold of any one of them. 

There is, unexpectedly, Captain Gates. She is shocked—an almost literal electric jolt—by the direct summons, by the revelation that Freedman has called the Captain. She is shocked, because she is apparently some kind of idiot who doesn’t know how resumes or jobs work. She is some kind of idiot standing there, shocked, as one of hundred landmines detonates and she  is discovered. 

But there is, unexpectedly, Captain Gates saying all the things she has not said to herself—that she has not allowed herself to say. She has drowned out this narrative with the lies she has been telling herself for weeks—commission sitting cozily alongside omission. No chance, Probably not, Just a long shot. These lies have been the mantras of her neither–nor mind, her darkest corners where the agents of self-sabotage lie in wait, because she cannot have—she does not deserve—anything good until she gets justice for her mother. Until, until.  

And now here is, unexpectedly, Captain Gates having already packed her bags for the land of something good and carried them to the metaphorical curb. 

Kate, this is the kind of work you were meant to be doing.

From what I hear, you’re on a short list

With any luck, this could be your last case. 

There is, unexpectedly, validation she has not allowed herself all this time. There are tears pricking behind her eyes because she has buried everything about this and the choices she has made—the necessary choices she has refused to make—have been bubbling, festering, eating away at her. And here, unexpectedly, is Captain Gates saying out loud one of the many things she has needed to hear—Work you were meant to be doing.

There is, predictably, Lanie. Her kind, stalwart, impatient, ass-kicking friend who is gracious enough not to roll her eyes at how exactly this is a re-run of a conversation from just a year ago, this time without even benefit of wine. Maybe that’s not such a bad thing—Yeah, but what if it is. There is Lanie who she could have been—should have been—talking to all the while. She should have been holding on with clenched teeth and white knuckles to this line to sanity, because at every point she has sown a land mine, and at every point, this has been true—Maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Even now, this is true—Maybe that’s not such a bad thing.

But the phone rings and she is silent. The phone rings and the lifeline slips through her fingers, taking with it raw flesh and the possibility of survival. 

*********************

She is discovered. There is a piece of paper fluttering to kiss the ground. There is a chain reaction.

What’s wrong with it is that you hid it from me . . .

It’s a simple statement, a stripped-to-the-bone statement, a true statement. In her either–or mind, in her neither–nor mind, she has cast him as a villain. She has imagined him a landmine. Everything self-destructive thing in her has whispered this, is still whispering this as she stands, fixed in place, and watches him go. Every self-destructive thing in her whispers that she can, should, will have nothing good. 

**********************

Her dad is not as kind as Lanie. He is nowhere near as patient. He is not as unambiguously affirming as Captain Gates, and she is sullen about it. She is transported back in time to the summer she was seventeen, when they were barely speaking and each of them tugged at her mother—each of them ran Johanna Beckett ragged as they insisted she play referee. 

She hunches into herself as he tells her truths. She is trampled beneath the weight of her own history—the weight of his cruelty in offering it up her, offering it up now: You know, right around here you always end them. Now why is that? 

She would like to hate him for it. She would like to show him the way she did the summer she was seventeen—the summer she bought her bike. She would like to pack a bag with a change of clothes and the meager contents of her secret savings account and sling one leg over the bike he hates. She would like to run away. 

She is running away. She isn’t running away. 

Her dad is a lifeline, too. I just want to be sure whatever decision you make, it’s because it’s what you want. Not because you’re afraid.  

She is not afraid. She I not simply afraid, though she has good reason to be now. She has good reason to be, in this minefield of her own making, but even now, she wants this. She wants him. She wants to be expansive and greedy. She wants to sow one last landmine right beneath her either–or mind, her neither–nor mind. 

She wants to have unambiguously asked him, like a fucking grown-up—Castle, where are we going? Where is this going? 

She wants to have picked up the phone the second she walked out of that bizarre conversation with Stack. She wants to have stepped right into his arms and wondered out loud, What the hell was that? She wants have tucked her bare feet beneath her on the couch and leaned into his side late into the night as they talked and talked and talked about it—what it could mean, how they could do this, how this might work, because it is not either–or, it is not neither–nor. It is not some fucking written-in-stone prophecy. 

She wants. She belatedly fucking wants. 

But he is a lifeline. He is, always has been, always will be her sturdiest, most steadfast lifeline. He shows her the rawness of his anger—all the places in his soul where the light has been snuffed out. He calls her out as unkind, ungrateful, oblivious to the work he has always done to lift her up, to still the sinister flicking tongue of her self-destructive impulses—I have had to scratch and claw for every inch. Even then, even through every agonizing second of his recitation of her sins, she knows he is a lifeline, if she will only grab hold. 

So whatever happens, and whatever you decide . . . 

A/N: Late, long, lousy, and Tumblr lost this post three times. A sign from the universe. This is always the worst stretch of the series. 

images via homeofthenutty

[allforhader]

Dream a Little Dream of Me

Bill Hader x (F) Reader

Requested By: @designersophisticate

Warnings: Langauge

[ e/c : eye color]

Having those second thoughts after years of a commitment you thought was going to last until you’re buried six feet under...yeah. As much as that is dark. I never thought I’d feel this way about someone again.

“Hey, Y/N did you see that TMZ article?”

“Kristen the fact that you’re saying TMZ, I’m already disinterested”

“Well yeah. But if it’s about you, shouldn’t you read it?”

“What’s so interesting about my life that’s got TMZ all over it?” Y/N laughs at the thought because besides being a married successful actor, what interesting thing can they get?

“As much as TMZ isn’t the best source the fans should look at, this stuff can still hurt actors” Kristen states showing Y/N the article off her phone.

Y/F/N Y/L/N seen with Bill Hader without their significant others—Is there something there?

Y/N gave it a neutral look before handing Kristen her phone back. “Textbook rumor, hell. It was probably a teen that wrote that”

“Are you going to tell Bill or have him find out himself?”

“Knowing him and media, I’m gonna have to tell him” Y/N laughs before pulling up the article on her phone and sending it to Bill.

Bill: Wow. Haha, that’s a textbook rumor

Y/N: Thats what I told Kristen lol

Bill: So...You’re already in New York for SNL Saturday right?

Y/N: Right?

Bill: You want to grab drinks? Night before of course

Before Y/N can say anything more she stops herself from replying when her husband texted her. A smile formed on her face loving that he did but there’s so much more to it...

Evan: Hey baby!

Evan: Hope New York ain’t that humid like it is here. Honestly if it weren’t for our careers, we would totally be in a colder state. Can’t stand the heat

Evan: but yknow. LA is home lol

Evan: Speaking of LA, TMZ made a ridiculous article lmao. If I didn’t know already that you and Bill are just friends, I’d be worried. But again...It’s TMZ

Evan: Anyway! I love you

Y/N: I love you too

Bill frowns seeing she hasn’t responded and feels like he’s come on a little strong when...it’s just drinks.

“Hey, you gotta get going or you’ll miss your flight” Maggie smiles handing Bill his coat before he left.

He of course kisses his wife goodbye, but the lingering feeling in his chest grew.

When Bill was in the air he decided to shoot a text to Y/N indicating that he invited their friends but Y/N didn’t receive it. Reception and everything. But—

Y/N: I’d love to

was sent before Bill’s when his plane landed and he didn’t realize until it sent.

Bill: I invited Kate, Kenan, Fred, and Kristen...John is a maybe and Seth isn’t going to be in town.

“Shit. Should’ve—-fuck” Bill frowns waiting in baggage claim when Fred scared the man out of the blue. Even if Bill did know he was his ride.

Y/N sat in her hotel room staring at the text for a minute before checking the time and suddenly getting a semi crazy idea.

Y/N: You told me the other day you got a late flight...wondering if you want to order in some room service at my hotel room. If you’re not tired

Bill: Fred picked me up from the airport if you don’t mind him tagging along

Y/N: More the merrier :)

More the merrier...

After arrival and ordering in, Fred and Bill had already started to argued with each other about true crimes as Y/N sat back watching the two go back and forth. She laughs as she drinks her wine.

“So does it always end with her snapping?”

“No but when she snaps-“

“She snaps”

“Okay” Y/N laughs setting down her glass as Bill couldn’t help but smile enjoying her laugh.

“Well. I’m gonna get some sleep. I’ll see you two tomorrow” Fred got up giving Bill a look before leaving the two alone.

“Damn and I was just starting to enjoy your talk about true crime. I’m more into medical dramas”

“Like Grey’s?”

“Oh definitely Grey’s” Y/N smiles laughing as Bill moves himself beside her on the bed leaning against the headboard. “Did you even start it when I recommended it to you?”

“Okay I got up to season...eight and that is a shitton of Drama for me to handle”

“And yet you watch Snapped like it’s something you can’t live without”

“Ok ok...Snapped. Is the greatest show that I don’t even have a valid reason to explain why I like it so much.” Bill states looking over at Y/N as he...found himself lost in a thought.

Can’t really say the thought hasn’t crossed my mind. What if my life would’ve been different if I met Y/N before I got married? It clearly would’ve been different but would life have gone the same route as it is now...I’m lucky. Fuck. Lucky she’s in my life as it is...just

Friday rehearsals went by fast, Bill got a kick out of watching Y/N take off the liquid latex off her eyebrows. He laughs as he hands her the makeup wipes to get off the residue. Y/N rolls her eyes flicking Bill in the forehead for laughing at her.

“Y/N, John is looking for you. Wants to run lines again” Fred smiles watching Y/N clean up a bit before going to find John.

“Didn’t John leave before the rest of us?”

“Yeah but I wanted a minute to ask you”

“Ask me what?”

“I don’t know. Guess I’m stalling” Fred wasn’t stalling, he honestly wanted to be nosey asking if anything more happened when he was gone. He didn’t think exactly that. But the thought did cross his mind. “Uh. So about drinks tonight. That’s still down?”

“You really has to ask without Y/N present? Yeah it’s still down” Bill laughs patting Fred’s back before grabbing his things.

Soon the gang was hitting the bar late and really just enjoying each other’s time. Fred handed Kristen and Y/N their drinks as Kenan handed Kate and Bill theirs.

“You owe new a game of darts Fred”

“You are so on” Fred laughs at Kenan as he immediately got up from the booth.

“So Y/N, how’s your life in LA?” Kate smiles. “I have a role down there and wanted to know if there’s anything worth it”

“Well if you’ve in LA as long as I have, it’s pretty much worth seeing everything. When you have the time of course” Y/N smiles taking a sip of her wine catching Bill’s gaze on her which instantly made him look away.

“None of us have been in LA as long as you have. Literally. The phrase that “no one is from LA” is true when it comes to you” Kristen smiles watching Y/N shrug. “What’s stopping you from leaving?”

“Yeah, and don’t say career. Because you can easily live here and become a full on regular for SNL. Also get a few gigs here” Kate states as Y/N rolls her eyes smiling.

“I would do anything to get out of LA...but yknow. My husband is the reason.”

“God I hate that” Bill says out of the blue catching all three of them staring at him as he quickly downs his scotch. “Um. Y’know. If they really love and support you. You can do anything. But if they don’t...”

“They aren’t the one for yeah” John cuts in sliding into the booth beside Y/N. “Sorry for coming late. Had to get a few last minute ideas run by Lorne”

“You’re all good. But Kenan and Fred have beat you to the dart board”

“Shit. I call winner, re-fills?” John asks catching a nod from everyone but Y/N. “Want a new drink or?”

“Or...I’m gonna walk back to my hotel. Not feeling that great”

“Already? Damn...well at least get drinks with me when I’m in LA?”

“Of course Kate, see you guys tomorrow” Y/N smiles grabbing her coat and leaving the booth.

Bill watches her go giving John a look as he shrugs pointing with his eyes. He immediately got up going to catch up with her. She wasn’t far...but he hesitated for a second.

“They aren’t the one for yeah” Thanks John. I’ll be thinking about that for the rest of my life. Or well...the rest of my marriage.

Y/N froze when she heard fast movement behind her indicating the short run Bill made. She looks at him confused as he gave her a concerned look.

“We...are in the same hotel. Want to walk with me?”

“Yeah..I do” Bill states catching a very light tint of pink growing on Y/N’s cheeks as she quickly looked away. “Um. Are you only leaving because of what I said?” he asks as they started walking side by side.

Yes. Because...well what am I supposed to say to you? I can’t live to you. You’re one of my best friends. Someone I can be honest with. But you...make my mind go blank for a good minute. Forgetting that I’m married. Married to someone I’m just trying to make it work with at this point...I love Evan don’t get me wrong...but god what would I do—

“Uh. Can I lie saying it didn’t bug me?”

“So it bugged you”

“Little bit”

“I’m sorry” Bill frowns wishing he didn’t say it at all or let his emotions be a factor in it all.

“Be honest with me?”

“Always”

“Are you and Maggie okay? Because there....um. Must’ve been more to it personally than the obvious” But what’s the obvious? That I’m in love with you? Shit.

“Well, she loves me. I love her. But...the feeling is mutual. We haven’t talked about it entirely but when...the spark dies. It dies” Bill said bluntly making Y/N think too hard about what he just said. She didn’t want to feel bad, a part of her felt differently. “We really just yknow what to get everything in order before officially”

“Yeah no...I get it. Well. Yeah I do. I get it” Y/N frowns before flinching to the sudden boom.

Bill looks at Y/N freak a tad to the boom which was the sound of thunder. It’s not New York without one day of rain. Let alone lightening. He instantly wraps his arm around her out of instinct directing her under an awning.

“Should’ve...taken a cab”

“Mm. We can make it. If you trust me out in the rain”

“If we get electrocuted. It’s God hating me” Fuck.

I trust him.

I know she trusts me.

He wouldn’t have said that...if there wasn’t something.

She doesn’t like talking about Evan. Could there...

There’s something else

Fuck. Be true.

I’m...Ive been....

After all these years...I can’t just call her a friend.

“Fuck. Even in a jacket I’m soaking....fuck” Y/N was shaking but not because of the rain. Being afraid of thunder is a completely different story that she didn’t have the time to explain, when her mind is wondering.

“Come on...you should get out of the wet clothes” Bill says as he rests his hand on her cheek catching her gaze. Her beautiful e/c eyes looking up at him catching a whole other feeling.

After getting out of her wet clothes, Y/N opens her hotel room door looking up at a very distressed Bill. She frowns letting him in and once the door closed, he turned back to her taking her face into his hands kissing her.

I shouldn’t have done that.

...mutual

Fuck

Y/N shortly after pushed Bill off giving him a worried look before suddenly laughing and breaking down into tears. I’m sorry.

“Y/N—“

“I-...God. You have no idea Bill Hader. No fucking idea”

“What do you mean?” Bill frowns trying to comfort her but Y/N retracted herself.

“I feel so out of place here. Like. God. You drive me insane! And I don’t mean in a negative way. It’s never in a negative way. I’m just—-terrified!” Y/N laughs as she choked up on her tears. “I’m...I’ve been in love with you ever since we got close. But I’m married—you’re married—-and adultery is a fucking....sin? Hell I’m not religious but it is! Like Bill don’t get me wrong” She states resting her hands on his chest looking up at him as he continued to have a worried look. “I...I want to be with you. But I can’t...can’t do that to Evan.”

Bill watches her continue to cry as he takes in a deep breath before exhaling and resting his hands on her cheeks making her look at her. “It’s terrifying...falling in love again...especially to someone who has already locked that down. You’re...not alone in that boat. And I....I don’t want to give you an ultimatum or whatever the right word is called but...”

But?

“I’m willing to wait until the end of my lifetime to be with you. I know the next chapter in my life and my wife is on the same page. But the one after that...I’m willing to wait forever if I have to. If it means being with you. I’m not going to force you Y/N. You mean the world to me, but I don’t want to hurt you for eternity by forcing you”

And that’s that. He said that and Y/N took it to heart. Knowing exactly the next thing she does.

Is her choice.

The two haven’t seen each other in six months the after that SNL night, let alone talk to each other. Bill got a divorce, and he has set time for himself until he got a role at the end of that six month period heading straight for New York. Pretty common place for movies to be shot but he didn’t want to go anywhere crazy at that moment. Stepping onto set first day meeting the people you’ll be working with for months wasn’t a hard thing to do, but being handed a physical script that has the character list within it. Bill took his seat at the table read opening the script and reading-

“Hey Hader” Y/N smiles sitting beside him setting down her copy of the script and her tea. “It’s been a while”

“It has...you cut your hair” Bill smiles admiring the new look of hers. Y/N shot him a smile before elbowing him.

“Working out for Barry still Huh?” Y/N smiles catching a laugh as Bill nods crossing his arms. “You’re perfect no matter what. Y’know that right?”

“I do, do you?”

“Of course” Y/N smiles as the two straighten up when it got time for the actual read.

Afterward...

“You have a ride?”

“Rental”

“Oh shit. Hold on. Did you pay for a hotel room yet?” Y/N asks confusing the fuck out of Bill as she laughs at the confused look. “Just answer it Bill”

“Not yet. I just got in to be honest”

“Stay with me then” Y/N smiles. “I live in a loft on 408 Greenwich Street...it’s not that far and I have plenty of room”

“Lead the way?” Bill tosses her his keys as Y/N smiles nodding.

She’s...still the same happy girl when he first met her. Even if they both been through a lot the past six months. A lot has changed but the one thing Bill worried about...hasn’t changed. Because she doesn’t want their relationship to change until...then

Bill looks out into the street from her loft’s window. It’s not that bad of a neighborhood. Makes him wonder if it’s ever crazy loud at night or if it’s safe. He wants her to be safe.

“So, how long have you been here?”

“Uh. A month. But I put a down payment two months ago. It’s nice right? Not too big. Not too small. Just right...” Y/N smiles walking over standing beside him. “How are you? How’s everything in LA?”

“I’m good. Everything is good” Bill smiles. “And you? Evan?”

“Well, the decision wasn’t mutual. But it brought more things to light. So...Yknow. It was a matter of time” Y/N shrugs. “But hey. We are finalizing it. He’s still in LA and I’m here. Kinda...starting over. Turning a new leaf” she laughs at how that can sound but he understood. He understood completely.

“So, I know...the wound is still fresh. But baby steps huh?”

“Yeah” Y/N smiles taking his hand into hers feeling him gently squeeze. “Baby steps”

[singledarkshade]

Meeting The Doctor

Summary: Now that Jonas is settled, Amy and Rory decide it's time for him to meet the Doctor and to let the Doctor know about their new circumstances. Sequel to Foster Parents, Settling In And New Grandpa and Big Sister. Author’s Note: Hope you enjoy. Rory Williams sighed in relief as he reached his house, it had been a long, long day at work. Dropping his bag and jacket in the hall he headed into the living room finding Amy and Jonas both lying on the floor pretending to be unconscious.

“Okay, I’m a little late,” Rory rolled his eyes as Jonas began to giggle, “I will make dinner.”

Amy bounced to her feet and kissed him, “We called for pizza.”

“Good,” Rory sighed, “I was not looking forward to cooking tonight.”

“Why are you so late?” Amy asked, as she checked the app for their pizza.

Rory dropped onto the couch, “Just before I left an old woman was brought in who had fallen, she thought I was her neighbour’s son and kept asking me to check things. But it kept her calm.”

Amy squeezed his hand, “Pizza should be here in five minutes. I will make you some tea while Jonas tells you about our day.”

Sighing, Rory said, “That’s sounds perfect.”

 After dinner, they watched a movie and Jonas had his bath before going to bed. Rory joined Amy in the kitchen while she put away the few dishes they’d used, smiling as she gave him a quick kiss.

“So,” he started, “I got a call today by Kate Stewart.”

Amy frowned, “What did she want?”

“She wanted to talk about Jonas’ education,” Rory shrugged, “We need to send him to school, and she had a few ideas for schools that can cater to his high IQ.”

Amy nodded, “I suppose so. The good thing is we don’t have to worry about money so we could afford to send him, but you went to a normal school and did okay.”

“I was bullied until you became my best friend and threatened to beat up anyone who came near me,” Rory reminded her wryly.

Amy wrapped her arms around him, “You’re mine. I don’t like people touching my stuff.”

He laughed before steering them back to the conversation again, “She’s sent me a few links for some of the schools she’s suggesting. I thought we could go through them tomorrow when my dad takes him to the park. And possibly discuss it with Gideon for her input on what he’s used to.”

“Okay,” she nodded before chuckling, “Who knew a few months ago we’d be looking for schools? And asking an AI for advice?”

Rory kissed her, “Well, our lives have never really been normal since the Doctor came into them.”

  “The schools you have suggested all have good reviews,” Gideon told them, “And using the information I gleaned from their computer systems, I have narrowed them to a few choices.”

“What was his old school like?” Amy asked her.

Gideon gave a slight smile, “Mrs Hunter ensured he had a normal education and supplemented it with home-schooling. Both she and Captain Hunter wanted Jonas to grow up as normal as possible, considering their own childhood.”

Amy nodded and squeezed Rory’s hand, “We’ll look at the schools you’ve suggested and speak with you before we make a decision.”

“Thank you, Mrs Williams,” Gideon replied, “I appreciate that you have asked for my help in this situation.”

Rory smiled at her, “You knew his parents, we want to make sure that Jonas always feels connected to them.”

“If you need anything more,” Gideon said, “Then please contact me.”

“We will,” Rory promised, “Thank you for everything, Gideon. We appreciate your help more than you can know.”

Gideon smiled, “I am merely analysing data.”

“No,” Amy told her, “Jonas loves you and you are a connection to his parents we could never give him.”

Nodding Gideon blinked out and the screen became blank once more.

“Okay,” Amy leaned into Rory, “I suggest we check the schools Gideon has suggested and see what we think.”

Rory nodded.

“And it’s been a few months since we were originally dropped off,” Amy continued, “He’s going to come back soon, either for a visit or expecting us to travel. We have to tell him about Jonas.”

Rory grimaced, “Do you think River told him for us?”

“Since you asked her not to,” Amy shrugged, “She won’t.”

“Why do you think that?” Rory asked bemused.

Laughing she kissed his cheek, “Because she’s daddy’s girl,” at his frown of confusion she chuckled, “You’ve never noticed this?”

Shaking his head Rory whispered, “No.”

“Even when she was Mels, if you asked her to do something then she would,” Amy reminded him, “She hates disappointing you.”

Rory sighed, “Then I guess we’d better call the Doctor.”

                                 *********************************************

 Jonas lay on his stomach on his bed reading the book his grandpa had bought for him while they were out. He rolled over onto his back when someone knocked on the door.

“Hey,” Amy smiled at him, “We are having a guest for dinner.”

“Is it River?” Jonas asked, “Because she’s funny.”

Amy laughed softly, “No, it’s not. It’s a friend of ours we used to travel with, he took us to different places in time and space.”

“Is he a Time Master too?” Jonas frowned slightly, “Mummy and Daddy said they couldn’t know about me. They might take me away.”

Amy moved to sit with him, “No. He’s not a Time Master, he’s what’s called a Time Lord and he’s nice. He would never take you away. He’s our best friend.”

Jonas chewed his lip as he thought over what she said, “I’ve never heard of a Time Lord.”

“He is the only one left,” Amy explained, “He’s funny, silly and loves me and Rory as his family.”

Thinking this over a little more, Jonas asked, “He won’t try to take me away from here?”

“No one,” Amy hugged the little boy close, “Will ever take you away from us. Trust me,” she kissed the top of his head, “I can be pretty frightening when I want to be and Rory, well he has some special gifts too. We’ll never let anyone take you from us, I promise.”

Leaning into her, Jonas nodded, “As long as you say it’s okay.”

  The Doctor landed the TARDIS across from the house he was here to visit wondering why he’d been asked to come to dinner and not materialise the TARDIS inside the house or garden. It was an odd request but was sure if they were in trouble his Ponds would have come up with a better message to let him know. Reaching the blue door, he knocked and waited, hearing his dear Amelia’s voice from inside calling that she’d get the door. The moment she opened the door the Doctor’s smile widened, she looked happy and he knew instantly there was nothing to worry about.

“Hi,” she hugged him, “Come on in, dinner is ready.”

Entering the house, the Doctor could feel something was different but couldn’t quite place his finger on what it was. The smell from the kitchen assured him that Rory was making dinner. As much as he loved his Amelia, she was not the greatest of cooks. Rory on the other hand somehow had found time during his guarding of the Pandorica, despite being plastic, to study with a top chef and become a very decent one himself.

Walking into the living room, the Doctor stalled as he found a little boy sitting on the couch watching him with wide wary filled eyes.

“Who de-aged Rory?” the Doctor demanded instantly as the resemblance was impossible to ignore.

“Nobody,” Rory stated as he walked into the room, “Doctor, this is Jonas Hunter. Jonas, this is our friend the Doctor.”

The little boy looked confused, “That’s a strange name.”

Amy laughed, “We know but it’s what he calls himself.”

“Like my daddy chose his name to be a Time Master?” Jonas noted.

Confused the Doctor demanded, “Time Master? Why have you been messing around with Time Masters? They are not people you should be going near.”

“Jonas,” Rory said, “Can you help me set the table while Amy and the Doctor catch up?”

The little boy grimaced slightly before he slid off the couch and went with Rory into the other room.

“Amy?” he demanded.

“This why we asked you to come tonight,” Amy said, “To tell you about Jonas.”

The Doctor listened as Amy explained where the little boy came from, frowning in thought.

“What’s the name of his father?” he asked once Amy finished.

“Rip Hunter,” Amy replied, seeing the stunned expression on the Doctor’s face she asked, “Do you know him?”

The Doctor shook his head, “No but I am aware of his reputation. Rip Hunter was one of the best the Time Masters ever trained which, considering what they did to him, is quite horrifying.” He paused and thought for a moment, “And Rory is related to him?”

Amy nodded, “The DNA results proved it,” she sighed, “Doctor, we can’t travel with you anymore. Jonas needs a family, and he’s ours now. We can’t go running around time and space with you, because we can’t let him lose another family.”

“Do you know what happened for his father?” the Doctor asked, “Specifically?”

Sighing sadly Amy said, “From what we were told, he used the core of his ship against a time demon and was disintegrated.”

The Doctor winced, “That is not a nice…” he trailed off and squeezed her hand, “I understand, Amelia. What about River? Does she know about Jonas?”

Amy nodded, “They’ve met.”

“So, one final meal together,” the Doctor said sadly, smiling as Amy hugged him tightly, “It’s okay, Pond, I understand. And I am glad Jonas found you two. There is no one better suited to be parents to him, than you and Rory.”

Amy sighed, “I’m going to miss you.”

The Doctor stroked her hair, “You’ll be too busy to miss silly old me.”

  Dinner was good.

The Doctor told stories and made Jonas laugh a lot, as Amy added details every so often. Rory watched them all with a smile, happy to see how relaxed Jonas was with the Doctor.

It made him slightly sad that they would no longer be going on crazy adventures with the mad man in the box, but he knew Jonas had to come first. Which was why the next question made him wince.

“Can I see your ship?” Jonas asked suddenly.

The Doctor grinned, his smile fading as he saw the frown cover Rory’s face.

“Please,” Jonas pleaded turning those big eyes on his foster parents, “I used to go on the Waverider all the time.”

Rory caught Amy’s amused smile at how Jonas looked at them hopefully before he nodded.

“Okay but,” Rory held up his finger to stop Jonas getting too excited, “When we tell you it’s time to leave then we leave.”

“And you stay with one of us at all times,” Amy added.

Jonas grinned, nodding in agreement to the rules.

“Excellent,” the Doctor bounced to his feet, “Come on.”

Rory took Jonas by the hand and they followed the Doctor out to the TARDIS.

Jonas frowned in confusion, “It’s just a box.”

The Doctor smiled at him, “Is it,” opening the door he stepped back to let Jonas look inside.

The little boy’s eyes widened in delight, “It’s so big,” he breathed before taking a few steps inside with Rory holding his hand.

As they moved to the control console, the Doctor showed Jonas what everything did and smiled at every question the boy had for him.

Rory took a seat on the steps leading out of the control room with Amy at his side watching them.

Amy dropped her head onto Rory’s shoulder, “I’m going to miss this.”

“Me too,” he breathed, “But we have a new adventure.”

“Listen to all those questions,” Amy laughed, “We may be well out of our depth.”

Rory noted, “We have been since day one.”

“Good point,” she sighed, “We’re so lucky you found him.”

Rory nodded before adding, “We’re even luckier he’s smart enough that he knew how to contact Gideon to help us out.”

Chuckling she hugged his arm.

“Can we go somewhere?” Jonas asked.

Rory was instantly on his feet before the Doctor could start the TARDIS, “No.”

Jonas turned to him, “But…”

“If I called Gideon,” Rory stopped him, “Would she tell me your parents would have allowed you to go on an adventure that potentially could be dangerous,” he turned to the Time Lord, “Don’t even try to pretend it wouldn’t be, I know you.”

A grimace touched the small boy’s face before he said, “They wouldn’t let me.”

Rory crouched down and stroked Jonas’ cheek with his thumb, “When you’re older I’m sure the Doctor will take you for a trip but not just now.”

“Okay,” Jonas gave a long-suffering sigh.

Rory ruffled his hair, “How about we all head back to the house for some ice cream?”

“Oh,” the Doctor bounced, “You have chocolate, don’t you?”

As he and Amy headed out back to the house Rory hugged the little boy to him, “Are you coming?”

Jonas looked up at him, “You’re not going to have any more adventure now I’m here, are you?”

Rory smiled, “No. But that’s our choice, Jonas. We want you to be our family.”

“Are you sure?”

“Very, very, very sure,” Rory told him.

Jonas hugged him tightly and Rory lifted the little boy into his arms, carrying him out of the TARDIS to get his ice cream.

                                 *********************************************

 Rory rested Jonas who was fast asleep, his toy dog held tightly in his arms onto his bed, Amy covered him with the quilt making sure he was tucked in before they both pressed a kiss to his hair and left him to sleep.

Reaching the living room, they found the Doctor sitting waiting for them, he stood and looked at them.

“My Ponds,” he smiled, “You were only children yourself when I met you.”

“I was an adult,” Rory protested.

The Doctor shook his head, “In Leadworth maybe but everywhere else just a baby.”

Rory rolled his eyes as Amy laughed.

“I understand why you can’t come with me anymore,” the Doctor continued, “He is an amazing child who needs a stable home. I can think of no two people better to do that for him than you both.”

Amy sighed, “We’re going to miss you.”

Reaching out the Doctor wrapped Amy in a tight hug before he reached out and pulled Rory to join the embrace.

“If you need me,” the Doctor whispered, “Call and I will be here in a minute.”

Amy nodded against his shoulder, “Look after yourself,” she whispered, “And look after River.”

“When she’s not looking after me,” he promised.

Letting them go, the Doctor smiled as Rory wrapped his arm around Amy. He shook his head, “Prisoner Zero doesn’t seem that long ago but look at you both, so much has happened since then and you’re together. Jonas is a lucky boy to have found new parents in you two.”

He smiled at them proudly before giving them one more hug and leaving the house. As he walked to his ship, he turned back to see Rory and Amy standing together in the doorway.

Raising his hand, the Doctor smiled at them before he stepped into the TARDIS.

  Rory held Amy tightly as they watched the TARDIS disappear, knowing that they very likely would never see it or the occupant again.

“We made the right decision,” Amy said softly, “But…”

“Yeah, I’m going to miss him too,” Rory whispered.

Turning to her husband, Amy pressed a soft kiss to his lips before taking his hand and leading him back indoors.

That part of their life was over, and they had a new one.

With a little boy who needed them.

[darlinvandijk]

What about me?

Concept: request where ruel becomes a jealous lil bean because you’re spending all your time with Kate Sylvie, and Coco instead of him and it gets all cute. As usual hit my line for requests and I’ll be happy to comply!(Sorry if this is really fucking long lmao) Hope you enjoy :)

I sit in the Van Dijk living room, laughing along with my favorite girls as we have yet another girls night filled with junk food and endless conversation, one of many held over the past two weeks. I lean my head against sylvie as I listen to Kate tell another story about what it was like for her growing up, truly intrigued by some of the things that she’s seen and gone through. I heard shuffling coming from the staircase, causing me to turn my head and see my beautiful boy make his way towards me. He slowly drags himself to me, wrapping his arms around my neck and shoulders from the back of the couch. I lean into him and tilt my head up to see his face, watching as he looks down at me with a little frown.

“When’re you coming to bed? It’s already 12:30 love” he mumbles out, a little bit of a whine to his voice. I let out a small laugh before reaching up to caress his cheek, smiling at the way he adorably leans into my hand, knowing he’s been a little off lately.

“I know but we’re just talking and watching some movies, why don’t you head to bed without me and I’ll join you in a little bit?” I question, watching him roll his eyes a little before nodding his head and planting a kiss on my forehead. The girls watch him silently, all trying to not laugh at how clingy and grumpy he gets when he’s tired.

“Goodnight baby, goodnight mom, and goodnight fuckers” Ruel mutters out, causing Coco and Sylvie to let out matching scoffs all while holding smirks on their faces, loving when their brother doesn’t get his way. He glares at them before making his way back upstairs and into his bedroom. I turn back to them and restart the conversations we were having with each other.

Time passed with more shared laughs and snacks, before we all slowly started to get tired from our night of bonding since it was already nearing 2. We all hugged and said our goodnight before heading to our respective rooms, mine being Ruels. I softly open the door and step in, trying not to wake him, only to see him laying there with his phone screen lighting up the dark space. I shuffle my way to his closet and slip off my clothes, trading them for one of his shirts, slowly making my way back to his bed.

I climb into the bed and turn to face him, laying on my side as he lays flat on his back scrolling through Instagram. He stays silent as he scrolls through his phone, making no moves to cuddle me like he usually would. I reach my hand out and place it against his cheek, waiting to see if I’ll get a reaction from him. He lets out a quiet hum, lightly turning his head to press a kiss to the center of my palm before leaning his face back into it.

Feeling sleepy I softly rub my eyes before scooting a little down on the bed, pushing my head underneath his arm that was resting over his chest as he held his phone with the other arm. I can see him look down at me, as I let the arm rest on top of me, curling my body into his as much as I can. He rests his hand in my hair, softly coming through it before pressing a small kiss to the crown of my head, still scrolling through his socials. I fall asleep to the quiet whisper of “I love you” from him, feeling the way his arms tighten around me as he finally puts his phone away and holds me.

I wake up to sunlight beaming in through the curtains, watching as it lights up Ruels bare skin, making him glow gold. I let out a sigh of pure content, running my fingers through his hair, feeling him grip me tighter as he slowly woke up. He squints his eyes open, watching me for a few seconds before fully shifting onto his back and pulling me on top of him. I let out a laugh as he does so, resting my hands against his shoulders, my face above his. He leans up and presses a light kiss on my lips before laying back down and giving me a lazy grin.

“You look really pretty right now, you always look stunning, but for some reason this light is making you absolutely breathtaking darlin” he sleepily states, giving me the boyish grin that he knows makes my heart stop. I feel my face heat up at his compliment before pressing a kiss to his nose, having not had a soft moment like this with him in the last two weeks. He just watches me for a few more seconds with nothing but love in his eyes, which I know is completely reciprocated in mine. Our peaceful silence is broken when his door gets thrown open, Coco standing in the threshold with a giant grin on her face.

“Hey beauty and the beast, don’t forget about our plans today babes, so ready for this spa day! We’re taking off in 30 since it’s already 10:30” she all but shrieks out, skipping out of the room and closing the door behind her. I feel Ruel tense up underneath me when he hears her statement. I sit up and straddle his abdomen, looking down at him with a frown, wondering why he looks so upset. He avoids eye contact and instead just shifts his hands to rest softly on my thighs, completely shifting back into the touchy and distant attitude he’s held with me the past few days.

“What’s wrong bubs? You seem to be a little moody lately” I softly question, knowing he struggles a bit when getting put on the spot. He frowns even more, slightly gripping my things and rubbing his thumbs across them. I wait with a soft look on my face, giving him time to open up so that he can do so while not feeling rushed.

“You’re going out with my sisters and mom again?” He mutters, the frown still placed onto his face, slightly deepening as he questions me. Feeling perplexed I tilt my head to the side, wondering what that has to do with anything.

“Yeah, we wanted to have a girls spa day, just to relax and have fun together” I state, watching as his frown deepens. He lets out a slight scoff, setting me next to him on the bed so that I’m no longer on him, before getting up and heading to the closet, completely ignoring the hand that I reach out to grab his. I watch him with a now matching frown, hurt by his passive aggression with me. I sit there silently as he changes, waiting for him to say something. He turns back to me and walks over, filling me with hope, before going straight past me to his phone to disconnect it from the charger. He proceeds to walk to the door before I call out to him, completely freezing him in his tracks.

“What’s going on with you?” I softly mumble, watching as he turns back to me and makes his way over. He leans down and presses a soft but barely there kiss to my head before walking back to the door, pausing and turning to tell me something.

“Nothing’s going on, have fun with the girls. Love you.” He states in a blank tone, shutting the door before I can even reply to him. I sit there in silence with watery eyes, wondering what’s made him so distant with me. I shrug it off, deciding I’m not going to let his attitude ruin my day, and change into my comfy spa outfit. I head downstairs seeing the girls waiting for me, completely walking past Ruel, who’s sitting at the counter eating. They watch the way his eyes follow my every move and the way I ignore him with confused glances, causing me to shrug at them.

“Ready to go ladies? It’s time to partyyy” I sing out throwing my hands up as they all get over what just happened and cheer with me. We double check to make sure we all have our phones and stuff on us, before deciding to leave. As we’re leaving, we call out to Ralph so he knows we’re taking off, and then the atmosphere shifts once the attention is put on Ruel. He stands there eating, looking up when he feels their gazes on him, he gives a small wave as they tell him bye. They watch silently as I say nothing to him, giving him the choice to either say something or keep being a dick.

“Love you, be safe.” He mutters in a clipped tone, heading towards the living room where Ralph is, not giving me the usual kiss and hug he always does when I leave. I roll my eyes at his snotty behavior before turning to the door, completely disregarding what he said, watching as the girls and Ruel, who hasn’t entered the living room yet, stare at me in slight shock. Having never seen me not reply to his “i love you” before. I make it partially out the door, stopping to turn around for one second, not being able to do it.

“I love you too.” I quietly state, watching him nod his head before joining his dad. We all walk out to the car and get in, sitting in a slightly tense atmosphere. Them being confused but not wanting to question it in fear of ruining the mood, and me just being hurt by the attitude of the boy I love.

“Is everything okay? What was that about?” Coco softly questions as we start to head to the spa, with music softly playing on the radio. I sit there silently for a second, trying to think of what to say about the situation.

“I honestly don’t know. He’s been weird the past like week but today he’s just been an ass to me. He’s being super clipped and passive with me, when I’ve done nothing” I rant out, completely frustrated that I can’t figure out what’s going on in his mind. They all sit there pondering what could be going on with him, but all come up blank, having never seen him act this way with me.

“Honestly fuck that, today we are going to enjoy ourselves, no boy is going to ruin our day” Coco shouts with a fist in the air, causing all of us to laugh at her wild attitude. We get to the spa, check in, and head to the changing rooms, and putting on what they tell us to. We all go into the sauna, just relaxing and letting all of the stress leave our bodies, before rinsing off and heading to the rooms we have assigned. Coco and I head into a room, while Kate and Sylvie head into another, getting ready for the massages we have scheduled.

As we lay down and get massaged, Coco turns her head to face me with the same perplexed look she had earlier. She asks me about the situation and I tell her everything I can think of that’s happened the last two weeks that have been off, more so the last couple days that have been really off. She nods and listens, adding things every now and then as we try to brainstorm a solution or reason for everything. We head out of the room once we’re done and go straight to the mani/pedi area, showing the workers what we’d like, before sitting in the seats adjacent to Sylvie and Kate. We talk as we get our nails done, laughing and completely relaxing. As time goes by and they finish our nails, they lead us into the final area which makes Coco shout with glee.

“Free food!” She shouts, walking over to the trays set up for us, turning to us with stars practically filling her eyes. We all sit down and enjoy the complimentary food and champagne, before finally heading back to change and leave. As we take off, we decide to make a pit stop at some of the local shops, since Kate said she saw the absolute prettiest dress that she wanted me to try on. We hang around for a bit before deciding to head back to their house, seeing as it was already getting a little dark outside. I check my phone as we near the house, seeing it flash 5:15 at me, filling me with hope that he’s gotten his attitude together since we’ve been apart the whole day.

We walk in and head to the living room, watching as Ruel looks up and decides to depart and head up into his room. The rest of the family watches me in silence, as I turn and give them a soft sad smile, before telling them I’m going to head up after him. They all nod and let me leave, watching as I walk upstairs with my head turned down. I enter the room to see the bathroom door shut and the sound of light humming fill the air. I close the door and sit at the edge of the bed, waiting for him to come out.

He finally comes out of the bathroom and freezes upon seeing me, giving me a blank stare before turning to head back out the door. I let out a scoff, completely pissed that he’s being so childish, watching as his body tenses up at the sound. He slowly spins around and watches me with slightly guarded eyes.

“Do you have something to say” he questions in a low tone, staring me straight in the eyes with a look I couldn’t quite decipher. I stare at him incredulously, not believing that those are the words he chooses to say.

“Are you fucking with me right now?” I snap out, crossing my arms over my chest to stop my hands from shaking, not wanting him to know how bothered I am. He rolls his eyes and opens the door to leave, causing my eyes to well up at the fact that he’s not even going to try and talk to me, and at the fact that we’ve never fought before.

“Ruel why are you mad at me... if I did something wrong you can tell me.” I mumble out to him insecurely, playing with the promise ring on my finger, feeling unsure on if he’ll reply or just leave. I hear him sigh before he makes his way over to stand in front of me, standing in between my legs. He tilts my head up with two of his fingers, looking sad as he sees the tears that fill my eyes, knowing they were put there by his actions. He gives me a soft look before leaning down to lift me up, causing my to bury my head in the crook of his neck, and wrap my legs around his waist. He moves to put us on the bed, with him leaning against the headboard, while I lay against him, still wrapped around him.

“I’m not mad at you, I’m just hurt. I feel like all you’ve done the past couple weeks is hangout with them and then only spend time with me real late at night, which doesn’t count since we’re asleep. I just feel sad that you’ve rejected all the times I’ve hinted at spending time together to just continuously be with them. I don’t want to be clingy, but I’m tired and just need you, especially since tour just ended and it took a lot out of me to be on the road for so long and give as much of myself as I could to make my fans happy night after night. Like you give everyone else so much attention... but what about me?” He rants out with his voice cracking, rubbing his hands tiredly down his face, as I sit up on his lap, giving him a heartbroken look.

“No, Ruel I love you so much, I didn’t mean to make you feel that way. I just got caught up in all the plans they were making, that I didn’t even think about how you felt. You needed me and I wasn’t there for you. I didn’t see any of your hints and advances, I made you feel alone.” I softly cry out, now seeing how it all made sense, how it actually was all me. He gives me a soft smile before leaning in to give me a kiss, pulling away to wipe to tears off my face.

“No crying baby, it’s not your fault. I should have been straight up with you and told you what I wanted, not just have expected you to know, and I definitely shouldn’t have been such a dick to you. You’re perfect and deserve all the love and respect in the world, I’m sorry for hurting your feelings bubba” he whisper into my ear and he hugs me, I squeeze him against me, letting him lay me down against the bed, situating himself on top of me so that his head rests against my chest. I softly comb my fingers through his hair, smiling as he grabs my other hand and presses a kiss to it, trying to communicate the mutual love we have for one another.

“I love you.” He whispers, looking up at me in complete adoration. I cup his face with my palm before giving him a little grin. Watching the way he leans into my palm and stares at me as if he was seeing the sun for the first time, in complete and utter awe. Leaving me breathless for a few seconds before I can reply to him.

“I love you too bubs, I’m happy we got over this and we’re able to be back on track, I hated fighting with you” I say watching him nod his head in complete agreement before laying back down, leaving us in a peaceful silence, filled with mutual love and understanding. I start to think about how I can avoid this problem in the future, before I let out a laugh realizing that Coco is the main reason I was busy lately since she made all the plans, then seeing Ruel lift his head to stare at me with a questioning look. I laugh even more as I look at his face, knowing how mad he’s going to be when I tell him why I can’t stop laughing.

“I can’t believe your headass got jealous of your own mom and sisters, like you got jealous over Coco fucking loser” I all but choke out, finally thinking about it fully, watching him glare at me. He grabs my waist and pulls my body down the bed, hovering over the top of me as tears stream down my face.

“Are you fucking done yet?” He groans out, watching as I literally roll side to side, not able to breathe from laughing at him. He pins my arms above me head and stares into my eyes, watching as I sober up, before staring at him for a second too long and getting set off again.

“That’s it babygirl. sorry not sorry asshole” he grumbles out as he lets go of my hands to place them on my waist, relentlessly tickling me as I cry out and yell for him to stop or I’ll pee on him and the bed. Downstairs the rest of the Van Dijks sit around on the couches, all smiling and chuckling at the sounds of laughter and shouting coming from us, glad we were able to move on from the bump in the road we had faced.

He finally stops tickling me, laying flat on the bed with me against him, head on his chest and hands entwined, listening to his steady heartbeat and slow breathing. I smile softly as I think about how only his dumbass would get so jealous of his family and start a fight, rather than just talk to me about it. Feeling the smile against his chest he looks down at me, causing me to tilt my head up with puckered lips, wanting a kiss after all the torture he put me through. He laughs and gives me a light peck before pulling away, causing me to let out a whine. He smirks before leaning down and connecting our lips fully, in a slow but love filled kiss. Before the mini makeout session can last too long, I pull away from him, watching a smile form on his swollen red lips, before laying back down against him. Completely letting him cage me in his arms against his chest, bringing me the most peace I’ve felt all day, in the arms of my love.

He might be an idiot, but there’s no other tall jealous boy that I’d want to spend my life with.

[ms-rampage]

Eden's Gate: Left Behind Chapter 3 - First Encounter

Warnings: Does sorta cutesy stuff count?

Word count: 2k

Once again John is out of character 😂😂, a certain Pepper girl is introduced, Kate has a few minor Sam Winchester moments and talks with a K9. Like I said in the other chapters, I added the University, and the Diner/Cafe for this series because #HeacanonShit.

Alissa (FC: Rhea Ripley)

Morgan (FC: Kathryn Newton)

****************************

For the past few days John watched over Kate, and got very little to no information about her.

She must be a very private person. 

"Where is she from?".

"What's her first name? Middle name?" 

"What's her birthday?" 

"What are her hobbies?" 

"Does she like planes?".

He was basically driving himself insane trying to get anything on her. 

He knows Joseph is right, but what if he isn’t?. What if she doesn’t like him?.

What if she doesn’t like men? Is she a sinner? A nonbeliever?. 

He didn’t even have the damn courage to approach her, and when he did, he kept getting interrupted by his men. They always called for him at a bad time, that's all they’re good for, bad timing. 

Tapping the keys on his keyboard, he finds more information about her.

"There you are" he says, sighing in relief. Clicking on the link with a photo of her.

Katella Evyanna Winchester 

Born in Phoenix, Arizona 

Lived in Jackson, Wyoming 

DOB: August 5 1998 age 19 

Father: Deceased

Mother: Unknown

Sibling: Jackson, Wyoming.

School: Hope County University, former Jackson University

Works: University Cafè & Diner.

"Interesting bio Katella" he says with a smile on his face. 

He has her full name, where she works, goes to school, her home address and a little bit of information about her family.

He wants to meet her face to face, and hopefully no one interrupts him.

He doesn't understand why, but he wants to be with her. 

She has potential to be, if it ever came to that point his wife, and maybe the mother to his future children. When they march to Eden's Gate.

He wants to know more about her "What does she like?". 

She has a dog, so he knows she likes dogs, and she has a classic car so she probably likes older cars than newer cars. 

"She works at the diner at the University. Maybe I can go see her?" he says to himself, unsure. 

He gets up, goes to his car and drives to the cafè diner.

******************************************  

Kate’s working, it's her first day on the job. 

She has an hour and 10 minutes until she’s off. 

The rush is not bad, it's pretty steady especially for a Thursday. 

It's her, her friends Morgan, and Alissa, and their supervisor Holly working. 

Morgan and Kate are clearing off the tables, collecting their tips, Alissa is taking a customer's order, Holly is working the counter, cleaning, and making coffee even though it's after 3:30pm. Kate was suppose to start at 4pm until 10pm but she was able to start her training early, and get off early, 11am until 5pm.

About 10 minutes later, John pulls into the parking lot outside the diner. He sees the black Monte Carlo. 

"Alright so she's working today" he says to himself. 

He parks his car, gets out and walks towards the building. 

He takes a glance into the window, and sees Kate cleaning up tables, his stomach starts to feel weird, and he might feel a little too excited to see her. 

As he's about to open the door, he sees Holly at the counter, "Shit" he mutters to himself. The feeling in his stomach goes away the second he sees Holly. 

The last person he never wants to see is her, they had a few nights together in the past, and that was several months ago. 

"Maybe she won't recognize me" he whispers to himself. Walking inside.

Oh boy was he wrong. John felt like the stupidest person in the county. Holly looks up, and immediately recognizes him. He tries to play off cool, and he ends up awkwardly walking to a table towards the back of the diner.

"I'll be right with you sir" Kate says to him, as she takes a bin of dishes into the kitchen. 

A smile forms on his face just by hearing the sound of her voice. It's very soft, and calming, almost like lavender. The feeling in his stomach comes back.

She comes back out from the kitchen a minute later, and walks towards John's table with a notepad and pencil in hand. 

But she unfortunately gets cut off by Holly, pushing her back a little. 

"It's okay sweetheart I got this" she says to Kate in a bitchy tone. Kate gives Holly, her classic (Sam Winchester) bitch face, and walks back to the counter towards Morgan. 

"So get this, Holly took my customer" Kate whispers to her. She snickers "Typical Holly" Morgan whispers back. 

"Thought I never see you again John'' Holly says to him in a sarcastic tone.

He shrugs, trying to play it cool, and says "Well I just stopped by to see someone". 

She gives him a hopeful but flirty look, and asks "Anyone in particular?". 

He smirks, crossing his arms and says. 

"Someone new, and slightly younger". 

Her expression changes from hopeful to annoyed. 

"What can I get you?" she asks. 

"A large coffee with 2 shots of scotch" he says jokingly.

"And maybe the cute brunette waitress in the flannel" he adds, looking over at her.  

Kate almost drops a plate with a customer's food onto their lap. She can feel her face turning red after he says this. She looks back at him, and he winks at her. 

Holly rolls her eyes in annoyance, and gives him a dirty look.

Morgan and Alissa overhear him, and they both let out a soft laugh. Holly looks back at them, while they walk towards the kitchen trying to hold back their laughter. John stares at Kate as she walks behind the counter. 

"Same ol' John Seed" she says, her hands on her hips.

Nodding his head "Yep, same ol' me" with a smirk. 

"Just a coffee" he adds. 

"Alright then" she says, walking to the counter. 

Kate comes out from behind the counter, and gives a customer their check. 

John looks up, and down at her, "she's got a cute ass" he thinks to himself. 

He can feel himself starting to get hard. He wishes he didn’t feel this way, but he’ll take her over Holly anyday. If only she moved to Hope County a lot sooner, so he wouldn’t have to deal with Holly.

She comes back with his order, and sees him eyeballing Kate. 

She scoffs "Someone new and younger huh? You haven't changed a bit have you?". 

He just shrugs while opening a pack of coffee cream. 

"Not really" he answers, with a cocky smug smile. 

Annoyed, Holly walks into the kitchen. 

He pours the cream, and sugar into his coffee, not realizing Kate is looking at him. 

His heart particularly skips a beat when she speaks to him.

"I like your tattoos" she says motioning to the tattoos on his hands, and arms. 

He looks up at her and smiles "Thanks". 

She sees the small lawyer scale tattoo he has on his hand, and asks. 

"Are you a lawyer?". 

"Yeah I am" he answers, looking down at it. 

"Never seen a lawyer with a lot of tattoos before” she jokes. That puts a smile on his face. 

“Where did you go to school?" she adds. 

His mind goes blank for a moment, and says. 

"I went to Emory Law in Atlanta". 

Kate stares at him for a few seconds, but to him it felt like hours, and he loves it. 

He loves to have her attention. He could’ve really used it growing up.

"You look very familiar. Normally, I'm terrible at remembering faces but yours just looks really familiar" she tells him. 

He half smirks, and says "I saw you the other day. You walked past the church". 

They say "walked past the church"  at the same time. 

They both smile at each other. 

Holly clears her throat in annoyance. 

Putting an end to their conversation, she tells her. 

"Kate, can you go get some more ground coffee from the walk in". 

"Yeah sure" she says, already detecting the jealousy in her voice. 

Walking into the kitchen. 

Holly approaches him, placing her hand flat on the table. 

"I know what you're doing" she tells him, in a slightly threatening tone. 

"Do you though?" he asks, tilting his head. 

"Yeah I do. You're flirting with the younger waitress to make me jealous". 

He scoffs with a hint of laughter, and says "Oh Holly, you haven't changed, have you?". 

She gives him an angry look, and says with attitude. 

"Don't waste your time on her. She's a bookworm. Only cares about her school work, grades and all that shit. She probably doesn't have anything interesting to do in her life". 

And Holly is very far from being right, like several thousand miles from being right. Kate’s life is a lot more interesting then she thought it would be.

He looks at her, lets out a short laugh, and says. 

"She sounds like she's my type. I mean have you seen her car?."

He leans forward, and whispers “She’s wife material”.  

Kate comes back out with the coffee, and fills up the machine. 

Alissa comes out from the kitchen, and walks over to her, asks. 

"What time are you off?" 

She looks at the clock on her phone, and says. 

"In 25 minutes". John overhears this, he finishes off his coffee. Pays the check, and says sarcastically.

"Great seeing you again Hol". 

He winks at Kate one last time before he leaves, causing her to smile again. 

Alissa whispers to Kate. "I think he likes yooouu". 

Morgan comes out from the kitchen, and whispers in her other ear. "I'm sure he wants to fuck yooouu" while hitting her ass.  

The 3 of them laugh about it, and Kate finishes the last 25 minutes of her shift. 

When the next waitress clocks in. 

She clocks out, gathers all her stuff, and leaves to her car. 

As she’s putting her stuff in the passenger side.

She hears a familiar voice say, 

"That's a nice car you got there". She turns around, and sees John. 

"Thanks" she says smiling. 

"Is it yours?" he asks. 

"Sorta. It was my grandfathers, then he gave it to my uncle, and he gave it to me" she answers. 

He nods his head. "I have my car, and my plane" he says, trying not to brag but he’s actually bragging. 

Kate, who is actually impressed, asks "You fly?". 

"Yeah, I love my plane. Do you like planes?". 

Not knowing what to say, she was honest.

"I’ve never been on a plane before. But I’m pretty sure I would enjoy it" she says. 

"I can take you out for a fly someday" he offers, hoping she says “Yes”.

She smiles, seeing his little game, and asks “Is this your way of asking me out?". 

He smiles, asks “Is it working?”. His eyebrows cocked.

She looks away, smiling and looks back at him, saying “It is actually”.

“Well I guess, we have a date then. How’s Saturday?” a charming smile. Those baby blue eyes piercing through her. Making her insides shake, bursting with butterflies. She’s surprised a handsome man like him is showing signs of affection towards her. She’s not letting this opportunity slip pass her. 

“That sounds great, I’m off at 5 on Saturday” she replies, with a smile. “Well I gotta get going, it was nice meeting you. John, right?”

He nods his head, says with a hint of lust in his voice. 

"It was a pleasure meeting you too Kate". 

She detects the lust in his voice, but ignores it, she’s way too excited that someone showed that kind of attention towards her. 

They go their vehicles, and drive their separate ways.

********************************************************

That night Kate is working on her Psychology homework, trying her best to stay focused. 

Even though it's still the first week of that semester, she can’t fall behind.

John keeps coming to mind, throwing her off her work. Distracting her.

She sighs loudly, leaning back in her seat, yawning out loud and stretching her arms out.

“Oh boy” she says, sighing.

Haley looks up at her owner with a head tilt. 

“I got asked out today Hale. Ain’t that a bitch” she says to her dog, as if she were human.

She lets out a bark, “Yeah, I know it's crazy huh?. The dude is a lawyer!!”.

She continues “So get this, he wants to take me for a ride in his plane”.

A pitchy whine comes from her along with another head tilt. She lets out a yelp, and sits on the floor next to her. 

She scratches behind her ear. 

“Yeah, I know. I told him that I’ve never been on a plane before, I panicked. I wasn’t gonna tell him that my sister and I exorcised a demon from one of the pilots. But I’m sure it’ll be fine, Paige won’t she’d have a heart attack and probably shit herself” she laughs at the last part.

[fandomrewrites]

Season 1; Episode 9: Wolf’s Bane

Hi everyone! I hope you all like this chapter and are enjoying the story so far. As always constructive criticism is appreciated!

Season 1; Episode 9: Wolf’s Bane

Pairings: Scott McCall x Twin Sister, Lydia Martin x Best Friend, Nate Wilson (OC) x Reader

Warnings: Mild violence, swearing

Word Count: 3,919

Season 1 Masterlist

I gripped the wheel of Derek’s black Camaro as I was speeding through side streets of Beacon Hills. Scott was beside me in the passenger seat and Stiles was in the back. Kate Argent and another hunter were in a black SUV behind us, thinking that we were Derek. Scott and Stiles keep glancing out the rear windshield.

“Faster?” I ask.

“Much faster,” the two boys say in unison.

I step on the gas to speed up. Finger still tightly wrapped around the steering wheel.

Stiles blurts out from the back seat, “I don’t think you’re grasping the concept of car chase.”

“If I go faster I’ll kill us.”

Scott then speaks, “If you don’t go faster-”

Stiles interrupts, “A lot faster.”

Scott continues, “They’ll kill us.”

I sigh but step harder on the gas, glancing in the rear view mirror to check how close the other car is.

I turn a corner and Stiles looks behind him once more then says, “They’re gone.” He looks down at the police scanner in his lap and raises the volume. “All units, suspect is on foot headed north, last seen on Hancock.”

I quickly change direction, making my way towards the area Derek was last seen. I speed the car into an alley, where Derek is trying to get away from Mr. Argent.

The car screeches to a stop. Scott throws the passenger door open and screams at the werewolf, “Get in!” He then climbs into the backseat beside Stiles as Derek pushes off the ground and throws his body into the car.

As soon as he is inside I slam my foot back onto the gas and speed away from Argent.

From the backseat Scott immediately starts scolding Derek, “What part of laying low don’t you understand?”

Derek ignores him and lightly hits the door with his fist, “I had him.”

“Who? The Alpha?” Stiles sticks his head between the front seats.

“He was right in front of me. And then the police showed up.”

“Hey, hey, hey, they’re just doing their jobs.” Stiles defends.

“Thanks to someone who decided to make me the most wanted fugitive in the state.”

Derek and I simultaneously glare at Scott as he finishes talking. Scott then gets annoyed, “Can we seriously get past that? Yes, I made a dumb ass mistake. I get it.”

“I told you it was stupid to blame him, it’s why I told Sheriff I never saw him.”

Stiles ignores our argument and asks Derek, “How’d you find him?”

The werewolf falls silent at the question. Scott sighs, “Can you try to trust us for half a second?”

“All three of us.” Stiles says, once again sticking his head between the seats. Derek glares and Stiles shrinks back allowing Scott to take his place.

Derek takes a breath before answering, “The last time I talked to my sister, she was close to figuring something out. She found two things. The first was a guy named Harris.”

“Our chemistry teacher?” Stiles asks as I knit my eyebrows together and frown.

Scott then asks, “Why him?”

“I don’t know.”

“What’s the second?” I prompt.

“Some king of symbol,” Derek then reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls our a folded piece of paper. When he opens it I glance over to see a simple photocopy. I hear Scott sigh as I suck in a breath.

Derek glances between us, “What? You know what this is?”

I nodded as my twin answers, “I’ve seen it. On a necklace.”

“Allison’s necklace,” I whisper as I slow the Camaro.

*_*_*_*_*_*

The next day Scott, Stiles and I arrive at school together. As we make our way through the double doors Scott speaks up, “This is going to be impossible, you know? Why can’t you just do it, (Y/N)?”

“Because I like seeing you sweat,” I smirk.

Stiles interrupts before Scott can start arguing, “Just ask her if you can borrow it.”

“How?”

“Simple. You ask. Hey Allison, can I borrow your necklace to see if there’s something on it or in it that will lead me to an Alpha werewolf I need to kill in order to get back together with you.”

I burst out laughing as Scott glares at us, “You’re not helping.”

“Just talk to her.” I answer when I stop laughing. “It’s about time you have a conversation anyway.”

“She won’t talk to me. And what if she only takes it off when she’s like in the shower?”

“That’s why you ease your way into it. Get back on her good side. Remind her of the good times. Then you ask for the necklace.” Stiles advises his best friend.

There’s a pause in conversation as we both turn to look at Scott, who has a dazed look on his face, “You’re thinking about her in the shower, aren’t you?”

I start shaking my head as Scott says yes. Stiles then snaps in his face, “Stay focused. Get the necklace, get the Alpha, get cured, get Allison back.”

“In that order.” I add on.

Scott nods, “Get the necklace.” We then separate as we make our way to class but before I make it to history I spot Lydia down the hall. I quickly make my way over to her and gently pull her into an empty room.

“Why did you kiss Scott?” I ask before she can speak.

She looks slightly taken back, “I never-”

“Don’t try that Lyds. You and I both know I’m great at telling when people are lying.”

She sighs and her shoulder’s slump, “I guess just knowing how well he’s been doing in lacrosse and knowing that you were right about him trying to protect us the other night...” She trails off.

“You just couldn’t help yourself?” I raise my eyebrow waiting for her to continue.

“I know that sounds horrible and I’m a total bitch.”

“You know I love you and that will never change, but for someone as smart as you, sometimes you’re really dumb.”

She purses her lips then links her arm with mine as we head out the room. Only separating when I get to my class.

*_*_*_*_*_*

After first period I stopped by my locker then went to find Nate. As I walked towards his locker I spotted Danny, “Hey, Danny.” I smiled, “Have you seen Nate?”

“Yeah, he was headed to the stairs about a minute ago.” He pointed in the direction he was talking about.

“Thanks,” I quickly made my way to where Danny pointed.

As I turned the corner something caught my eye in an empty classroom. I paused for a minute peering in. Inside the class were two people, a boy and a girl. I couldn't make out either of their faces but they were standing very close and had their arms wrapped around each other.

As I took the two teens in, I noticed a red backpack on the table beside them. It was then that I realized who the guy in the room was. I jumped when the warning bell rang, the two teens springing apart and fixing their clothes.

I stumble away from the door, my fingers wrapped tightly around the strap of my backpack. I abruptly turned and walked away before either person noticed I was there.

I walk into class a minute late and sit in the last available seat, the one right near Stiles. I mumble a quick apology to the teacher and she continues class.

Stiles leans over noticing my dazed look, “Are you alright?”

I stiffly nod keeping my eyes locked on the notebook in front of me.

*_*_*_*_*_*

As soon as class ends I quickly stand up and head out the door. Stiles chases after me and unfortunately catches up. He grabs my hand yanking me to a stop, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Can you please let me go?” I answer emotionlessly.

“Something clearly happened. You look like you’re about to cry.”

I gulp then shake my arm loose. I run a hand through my hair and take a deep breath, “I don’t want to talk about it. At least not right now.”

Stiles nodded, face full of concern as I turned and walked away.

I opened my locker and shoved my books inside and quickly slammed the door shut. I headed to the cafeteria but when I see my friends sitting together, I couldn’t bring myself to sit with them. So instead I looked for Scott.

The minute I saw Scott I made my way to his table and sat down.

“Why aren’t you sitting with your friends?”

“You and Stiles are my friends too.”

Scott raised his eyebrows and opened his mouth to speak but before he could, Stiles dropped his tray on the table sitting beside me.

He quickly glanced at me but then turned to Scott, “Did you get her to give you the necklace?”

“Not exactly.”

“So no.” I deadpan.

At the same time Stiles asks, “What happened?”

“She told me not to talk to her. At all.”

“Great job.” I roll my eyes, both boys look at me, clearly wondering why I’m being so bitchy.

Instead of acknowledging me Stiles brings his attention back to Scott, “Did you find anything else?”

“Just that I know nothing about girls and they’re totally psychotic.”

I glare at Scott as he mumbles, “Sorry.”

Stiles sighs, stopping us from an argument he knew was bound to happen, “Okay. I came up with a Plan B in case something like this happened.”

“What’s Plan B?” Scott asks as his eyes fill with hope.

“Just steal the stupid thing.”

Before Scott can react his eyes drift behind us. I turn my head to see what he’s staring at to meet the gaze of Jackson.

“He’s watching us.” Stiles then turns his head to follow our eyes.

“Why is he watching is?” I question, clearly left out of the loop.

“He found out that Scott’s a werewolf.”

My eyes widen, “What? How?”

“We don’t know.”

“Just act normal,” Scott speaks up for the first time since catching Jackson’s eye.

Scott looks panicked as Stiles and I watch him, “What’s wrong?”

“Jackson’s talking to me. He knows I can hear him.” Stiles starts to turn around as I lightly slap his arm and Scott continues to talk, “Look at me. Talk to me. Pretend like nothing’s happening.”

Scott stares at his tray as he tries to concentrate on anything but Jackson’s voice.

It’s silent at our table as Scott clenches his teeth and look up at us, “Say something. Talk to me.”

“I... I don’t know what to say. My mind’s blank.” Stiles speaks, panic lacing his voice.

“Your mind’s blank? You can’t think of something to say?”

“Not under this kind of pressure! And FYI, he’s not sitting with them anymore.”

Scott and I both turn our heads to the table seeing that Jackson is no longer sitting there. My eyes drift and notice that Nate isn’t there anymore either.

Scott breaks me from my train of thought, “Where the hell is he?”

I can tell Scott is getting angry but before I can say anything a hand is place on my shoulder. I turn and follow the arm up to see Nate standing slightly behind me, “Hey babe, why aren’t you sitting with is?”

I knock his hand off my shoulder and stand up making my way out of the cafeteria, knowing that he was going to follow.

Once we are in the hall we turn to each other, “What’s wrong, baby?”

“Don’t play dumb.”

“Seriously, (Y/N/N). Why are you mad at me?” He knits his eyebrows together and tries to grab my hand. 

Before he can touch me, I slightly back away and cross my arms, “I saw you” I say through clenched teeth.

“Saw me what? You’re going to have to be more clear babe.”

I hold out my hand, “Don’t,” I whisper, tears threatening to spill. I take a deep breath before I continue, “I saw you and Claire kissing.”

Nate’s mouth drops open, he quickly starts speaking, trying to defend his actions, “(Y/N), I...”

“Don’t try to come up with an excuse Nate. No one is going to treat me like that.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m over this stupid relationship.”

“(Y/N), please. You don’t mean that, baby. I love you.”

“Don’t try.” I choke out, tears now falling freely down my cheeks. “We’re done.” I turn away from him quickly wiping at my face.

*_*_*_*_*_*

At the end of the day I find Stiles heading to his car, “Wait up!”

He turns at the sound of my voice. “Can I hang out with you? I don’t really want to be around anyone else at the moment.”

“Yeah of course. Hop in.” He opens the passenger side door for me and I smile as I step into his jeep.

As he pulls out of the parking space I can see him glancing at me from the corner of his eye. Finally he breaks the silence, “Are you-”

Before he can finish the sentence I interrupt, “I caught Nate cheating on me.”

“He what?”

“He was kissing Claire. I confronted him about it when he came up to our table at lunch and I broke up with him.”

There was a pause as Stiles took in the information, “I’ll punch him for you. Do you want me to punch him for you?”

I cracked a smile as I looked at him, “No, if anyone gets to punch him I want to.”

He gently smiled back, “Are you okay?”

I sighed, “I don’t know.”

He just nodded as he continued to his house.

When we finally got there, we quickly made our way to his room. Both of us throwing our bags to the floor as I go to sit on his bed and he goes on his computer. “Stiles?” We hear his dad call.

“Yes,” We both turn to face the door and see Derek.

“Derek?” We both ask, looking at him with wide eyes. We both then quickly shut our mouths just as Mr. Stilinski cracks the door open.

“What did you say?” He asks, “Hi (Y/N).”

“Hi Mr. Stilinski.”

“Yes, Dad?”

“Just headed back to work. But I’m coming tonight. Your first game.”

“Great.”

Mr. Stilinski doesn’t make any move to leave, “I’m so unbelievably proud of you.”

“So am I. Very proud. Of myself.”

The sheriff turns to leave then pauses and asks, “They’re really going to let you play this time?”

I nod my head and answer, “Yes, he made first line.”

Sheriff’s smile widens, “So proud.”

As soon as Mr. Stilinski shuts the door and walks away Derek speaks, “Scott didn’t get the necklace?”

“He’s still working on it. But there’s something else we can try. When we were trapped in the school that night Scott sent a text to Allison telling her to meet him there.” Stiles replies.

“So?”

“Scott didn’t send the text.” I answer.

“Can you find out who sent the text?”

Stiles shakes his head, “No. But we know someone who can.”

*_*_*_*_*_*

After waiting for a few minutes Danny walks into Stiles’ room with his bag hanging over his shoulder.

“You want me to do what?”

“Trace a text.” Stiles says like it’s no big deal.

“I came here to do lab work. That’s what lab partners do.”

“And we will. After you trace the text.”

“What makes you think I know how?”

“I saw your arrest report.” Stiles shrugs.

“I... That was... I was only thirteen. The charges were dropped. No. We’re doing lab work.”

Danny pulls up a chair to sit beside Stiles at his desk. I was casually laying on Stiles bed and Derek was sitting in a chair as far away from Stiles and Danny, reading a magazine trying to look inconspicuous.

Danny leans over to Stiles, “Who is he again?”

Before Stiles can answer I reply, remember the lie I told Nate, “His cousin...” I trail off not thinking of a name.

Stiles continues for me, “Miguel.”

Derek glares over the top of his magazine as Stiles cringes. “Is that blood on his shirt?” Danny asks.

“He gets horrible nosebleeds. Miguel, I thought I told you to just borrow one of my shirts?”

My lips immediately pull into a smile. Seeing Derek shirtless is just what I need today.

Derek’s glare hardens, he slowly stands up and puts the magazine down. He moves to Stiles’ closet, looking at his shirts.

Stiles starts talking to Danny but my attention stays focused on Derek.

“Stiles,” Derek grumbles. He is holding a shirt in his hands, “This... no fit.”

“Try something else.”

Derek pulls out another shirt and Stiles speaks, a smirk evident in his voice, “That looks good. What do you think, Danny?”

“Huh?”

“The shirt?”

“I think... I think it’s a nice shirt.”

“Think he should try something else?”

“I do,” I mumble, knowing that Derek would hear me. As he quickly fixes his glare on me I lick my lips but just as fast as he turns his attention on me he turns back to the boys.

Danny is having trouble speaking but manages to get out, “It’s... It’s not exactly his color.”

Annoyed, Derek pulls off the T-shirt, exposing his abs once again. I bite my lower lip raking my eyes up and down Derek’s body as I hear Stiles whisper something to Danny.

Derek looks over at the boys once more, “None of these fit.” And once again the t-shirt comes off and I get to sit back and admire his gorgeous stomach.

Derek finally picked out a shirt and y eyes move to Danny who is tracing the text. After a couple of minutes he speaks, “There. The text was sent from a computer. This one.”

Derek and I move to stand behind the two high school boys to look at the screen. Derek then asks, “Registered to that account name?”

“That can’t be right,” Stiles says. My mouth is hanging open in surprise. The name on the screen reads Beacon Hills Hospital - Melissa McCall.

Danny soon leaves and Stiles, Derek and I make our way to the hospital.

I sit in the back of the jeep staring down at my phone as Stiles speaks with Scott. He’s on speaker phone but the words aren’t registering. Nate keeps texting me and trying to call.

He’s apologizing and asking if I’m coming to the game tonight.

I close my eyes and take a breath, gripping my phone tightly. I finally open my eyes and shove my phone back into my pocket, tuning back into the conversation just as Derek asks, “Is there anything on the back of it? There has to be something. An inscription. An opening. Something.”

“No, the thing’s flat. And no it doesn’t open. There’s nothing in it, on it, around it, nothing. And where are you, Stiles? You’re supposed to be here. You’re first line.” There’s a pause then Scott continues, “You won’t play if you’re not here.”

“I know. If you see my dad, tell him... tell him I’ll be there. Just a little bit late.”

He hangs up. Derek begins speaking the moment Stiles’ phone is in his pocket, “You’re not going to make it.”

“I know.”

“And neither of you said anything about your mother,” Derek continues looking at me.

“Not until we know the truth.”

We all turned to look at the looming building that is Beacon Hills Hospital.

Stiles opens his door but Derek stops him before he can get out, “Wait.” Instead of saying anything else he punches Stiles’ shoulder.

“OW! What was that for?” Stiles grips his arm as he gapes at Derek in shock.

“You know what that was for. Now go.”

Stiles gets out and waits in front of the jeep for me to follow. I climb over the seats and into the drivers spot but once again Derek stops me before I can get fully out, “Was it really necessary for you to be drooling over me too?”

“Yeah, I’ve had a sucky day. I needed it.” I shrug then step out of the jeep, making my way to Stiles.

*_*_*_*_*_*

Stiles and I pace the empty hospital corridor looking for Derek’s uncle, Peter’s room. There is an eerie silence surrounding is. Stiles then picks up his phone talking to Derek, “We can’t find her.” There’s a pause as Derek answers. “Yeah well, he’s not here either.” Another pause as my mind races, oh no, “He’s not here. He’s gone.”

I turn to look down the hall when Stiles talks. My eyes land on a man with a half burned face and a long coat. He has a seemingly friendly smile on his face as his eyes meet mine.

Out of the corner of my eye I see Stiles lower his phone and turn his head to look in the direction of the man.

“You must be (Y/N) and Stiles.”

I suck in a big breath and quickly find Stiles hand to clutch onto. We both take a shaky step back then see Jennifer, Peter’s nurse, standing on the other end of the corridor.

“What are you doing here? Visiting hours are over.” She states.

Stiles and I look between the Alpha and his nurse. He starts nervously mumbling, “You... and him... you’re the one who... and he’s the one... Oh, my God. We’re going to die.”

Once the words tumble out of his mouth a hand presses to Jennifer’s cheek and slams her head into the wall making her crumble to the ground.

“That wasn’t nice. She’s my nurse.” Peter pouts mockingly.

“She’s a psychotic bitch helping you kill people.” Derek says to his uncle. He then turns to me and Stiles, “Get out of the way.”

Derek opens his mouth revealing sharpened fangs, he lowers in an attack pose. Stiles whispers. “Oh, damn.”

We both press ourselves to the wall as Derek launches himself at Peter. Peter however barely moves. His eyes flash red and he grabs Derek by the jacket, slamming into the wall. The wall cracks on impact. Peter then slams him into the opposite wall with the same result.

I stand shocked, frozen to my spot against the wall. Stiles pulls me down so we can avoid being hit by the wall plaster that crumbles around us.

Peter drops Derek and drags him towards the nurses body, “You think I killed Laura on purpose? One of my own family?” Peter pauses digging through his nurses unconscious body for her car keys. “My mind, my personality, was literally burned out of me. I was being driven by pure instinct.”

Stiles and I slowly start crawling away but we can still hear Peter and Derek. “You want forgiveness?”

“I want understanding. Do you have any idea what was happening to me in those years? Slowly healing cell by cell. Then even more slowly coming back to consciousness. Yes, becoming Alpha, taking that from Laura, it pushed me over the plateau in the healing process. I can’t help that. And I tried to tell you what was happening. I tried warning you.”

Stiles and I slowly inch ourselves towards the Morgue, where Derek and Peter last were. But when we peek around the corner, neither werewolf is in sight.

[dauntlcss]

( m, 26, est )  ─  the mirrors surrounding you did as they were meant to, reflecting back a spitting image of PETER GADIOT  -  but it’s clear something is wrong from the moment that a vision of JOINING THE WEST COAST AVENGERS WITH KATE BISHOP strikes you.  perhaps it was a passing daydream in the frenzy of the funhouse. you reassure yourself  -  you’re CLINT BARTON,  a THIRTY-FIVE YEAR OLD BARISTA AND PASTRY CHEF whose virtue lies in your + CHARMING & + CUNNING, although you’ve been told that you tend to be quite - RESENTFUL & - GLOOMY,  and you’re associated with THE SMELL OF FRESHLY BREWED COFFEE IN THE MORNING, EMPTY PIZZA BOXES ON THE KITCHEN TABLE, BAND-AIDS  ALWAYS COVERING YOUR FACE by those around you.  suddenly,  however,  you’ve found YOUR S.H.I.E.L.D. ID CARD on your person - was that always there? from the moment you leave the funhouse,  memories from your life in MARVEL COMICS have begun to return - leaving whoever you had been before in the mirror’s reflection behind you.  you can almost hear VOID by SEAHAVEN following in your wake.

graphic pictured above contains art from square enix.

LIFE IN ALUCARD —

NAME: Clinton Francis Barton-Barnes NICKNAME: Clint OCCUPATION: Barista & Pastry Chef at The Cat’s Meow ETHNICITY: Mexican-American NATIONALITY: American FACECLAIM: Peter Gadiot BIRTHDAY: June 18th AGE: 35 HEIGHT: 6’3” EYE COLOR: Blue HAIR COLOR: Blond SEXUALITY: Bisexual MARITAL STATUS: Married FAMILY: Harold Barton (father, deceased), Edith Barton (mother, deceased), Barney Barton (older brother), Bucky Barnes (husband), Lucky (family dog), Alpine (family cat) LANGUAGES KNOWN: English, ASL, Spanish NOTABLE FEATURES: Wears purple BTE hearing aids

Clint is the youngest son born to Harold and Edith Barton. They have one other son named Barney who is fifteen years older, which put a significant age gap between them. Their father was an angry man who never really wanted children. He preferred drinking to doing any parenting. He didn’t raise a hand to either of the boys but verbal abuse took place and the Barton household never felt like a home. Their mother tried her hardest to make it work.

Some events appear to be constant — the alcoholism leading to the death of Clint’s parents. Only the events that spiraled after that are different in this new life. He was only five years old, holding onto Barney’s hand at the funeral not understanding what was going on. “Where’s mama? Papa?” He would ask but not even the older Barton had the right answer. “It’s only going to be us from now on, kiddo.” He answered after kneeling down to be Clint’s level.

His brother was twenty, having held onto the same job for several years now and it paid well. He took on the responsibility of raising his little brother the best to his ability. They moved into a smaller apartment in Alucard and for a while they were happy. This was so the two of them wouldn’t be separated.

Few years later on his way home from school some older kids jumped him. Without getting into graphic details — the injuries from the beating was so extensive that it left him with head trauma. Barney was worried about his brother and how they were going to pay for his medical expenses. The doctor informs the oldest Barton that Clint lost 80% of his hearing which only made him worry that much more.

They don’t always see eye-to-eye but they’re the only family they both have left. Maybe that’s why the blonde puts up with the anger Barney feels toward him sometimes. You can usually find them signing angrily in the kitchen or living room. They do have their moments where it’s possible to get along but it usually doesn’t last.

Clint made a life for himself. He studied at a culinary institute to become a pastry chef. He knows that it wasn’t a requirement but wanted to take the extra step. It got him away from his brother since it was apparent they couldn’t live together anymore.

Three years ago, Clint got invited to attend an engagement party. One of his friends was getting married and seemed to invite everyone she has ever spoken to — renting out one of the bars in town. He didn’t know a lot of people there but wouldn’t miss out on such a joyous occasion. A few drinks into the night Clint saw the most handsome man he has ever laid eyes on standing across the room. He tried asking the person next to him if they knew the guy. “I’ve never met him but his name is Bucky, I think?” The blond repeated the name over and over in his head while handing the beer to his friend and pushing his way through the crowd. He went over there and introduced himself. He didn’t normally do this but something was telling him to try putting himself out there.

They dated for two years, moving in together in that timeframe. Clint even got a dog named Lucky from the local shelter. He’s missing his left eye and has been there for quite some time the volunteer told him. He didn’t need to know anything else and brought him home. Lucky is a smart dog and got along well with Bucky’s cat to the point they’re inseparable at times.

A little over a year ago, Clint and Bucky got married — the blond added on his husband’s last name to the end of his own. Barton-Barnes. They don’t show a lot of public displays of affection in public but you might see them holding hands. Anything more is usually kept for closed doors. They’re happy although Bucky hates Barney so when his brother stops into town that tends to create some tension if he wants to stay at their place. Bucky will even make Clint lunch to take into work! Which is always better than eating take out again.

Clint is working at The Cat’s Meow as a barista and pastry chef. He’ll work with Marinette on creating new recipe ideas for the menu sometimes. They have a little bit of a sibling dynamic going on, looking after her and always being there when she needs a shoulder to lean on. He couldn’t have picked a better place to work and will always appreciate Adrien for taking a chance on him.

Clint is deaf. If he doesn’t have his BTE hearing aids on he will need to rely on reading your lips or sign if your character happens to know ASL. It makes him really happy when people know sign language!

Not all of Spoken English can be lip-read, some words are incomprehensible. He can figure out what you’re saying by filling in the blanks with the words that were missed while lip-reading. He’ll use outside cues to figure out the context of which word is being used. Since a lot of sounds visually look similar such as. ‘th’ and ‘f’ sounds.

He doesn’t wear his hearing aids at night. You need to let them air out and keeping them in while you sleep could damage them if they fall out into your sheets or end up on the floor where you’ll step on them. They’re expensive and can cost up to six thousand dollars just for one. Clint has two so he wants to take care of them. They’re put on a charging station at night so the batteries can charge.

His hearing will NOT be perfect just because he’s wearing hearing aids. They’re AIDS not FIXES. He will miss parts of the conversation still and ask you to repeat yourself occasionally.

CANON LIFE —

ALIAS: Hawkeye, Agent Barton AFFILIATIONS: S.H.I.E.L.D., The Avengers OCCUPATION: S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent S.H.I.E.L.D. CLEARANCE LEVEL: Seven, Blue

Clinton Barton was the youngest son of Harold and Edith Barton. He grew up helping out around his fathers butcher shop with his older brother, Barney. Their mother was a sweet woman but she couldn’t protect them from what would happen when the whiskey was brought out. Harold was abusive and continually beat both of his boys. It got so bad that the injuries Clint suffered from damaged his hearing. He remembers sitting at the doctors office not being able to understand a word the doctor was saying or his parents.

Eventually his father’s alcoholism caused him to get into a car accident while Edith was in the car, costing both of them their lives. Clint and Barney were sent to numerous foster homes until running away from one of them to join a traveling circus instead. He would adapt his archery skills to become a star carnival attraction, a master archer called Hawkeye.  He spent some time as a member of Tiboldt’s Circus until leaving to try using his skillset for fighting crime.

Nick Fury would end up hand-picking Barton to join S.H.I.E.L.D. and he quickly became one of their very best agents. In addition to this Clint would also end up joining the Avengers and West Coast Avengers. He’s one of the best archers in the world and should not be underestimated for being Human.

The rest of his biography is pretty straight forward from here, if you want to know what kind of shenanigans his teams got up to then there are plenty of marvel fandom wiki pages to check out!