#and i can’t tell if it’s the new medication or being in unfamiliar places w my family (stressful)

[boycritter]

i don’t like how i’ve been feeling. :(

[intergalactic-padawan]

inquisitor - Ezra Bridger

Requested: yes, by the beautiful @raganbridger! Sorry for the wait, it's finally here!

Warnings: angst, dark side!reader, confusion, mentions of bad injuries/blood, betrayal

A/N: You asked for le angst, so here it is! I've had this idea for a long while and this request was the motivation I needed to start. LOTS of alternative endings were written, this was mostly the reason it took so long.

Pronouns of reader: she/her

*ENGLISH IS NOT MY FIRST LANGUAGE! I make mistakes just like everybody else 😉*

x

.

-"oh, good, you're awake"

You sit and inhale sharply, focusing back on the real world, startled at the strange voice.

Well, not so strange per se. You knew who was talking to you. What was strange was why he was talking to you.

Before you can adjust your vision to the unfamiliar environment, the memories from hours earlier instantly come flooding back.

Malachor. The place where jedi go to die.

An easy kill for you and your inquisitor colleagues.

That's what they had said on the ship, at least. You, on the other hand, knew better than to underestimate how slippery those jedi could be - especially if they fought side by side, like they always did.

You remember cornering the younger one during the fight. His skill was minimal compared to yours, which would give you an advantage against his master if he were to die first.

The boy and his friends go after the sith holocron. There had been a blinding light when it was placed at the altar.

And also, the jedi knight who was blinded by your former master, Maul.

Maul.

Not only had the cursed man left you for dead years before, he had come back from hiding to haunt you and join forces with your other enemies.

But you were an inquisitor. You wouldn't - you couldn't let him get the best of you, not this time.

You feel a light hand pressing your forehead and recoil in fear, reaching for your lightsaber, only to feel it was not there.

-"whoah, woah, calm down. I'm not going to hurt you" - it was the padawan you'd been fighting before - Ezra Bridger. He had placed you and his master inside a cave in a planet you were not familiar with when you'd escaped Malachor.

You'd escapd Malachor? But how?

You couldn't have, unless he'd carried you back to his ship.

-"hey, hey, it's alright."

-"what do you want, jedi?" - you wince in pain again.

-"a thank you would be nice, actually. I did just save your life"

-"a foolish mistake. One you will pay for with yours"

You reach out for your lightsaber, but can't feel it anywhere close. Scouring with the force for its presence, you quickly realize he must have hidden it outside the place.

-"Nope, absolutely not" - just as quickly, he slaps your outstreched hand - "I may be an idiot, but i'm not stupid. Your lightsaber's not here, it's caused enough damage already."

You rub the hand he pushed away, more shocked at his actions than anything. How DARE he?

-"Then what do you want from me, if not revenge? Why treat my wounds if not to finish the battle we started?"

-"Listen, I'm not sure if it's the adrnaline or something, but you're in no condition to fight anyone any time soon"

-"You underestimete me, Jedi. Even in these conditions you would be no match for me."

-"Like I wasn't a match for you at the sith temple?"

At the mention of the event, images of the fight start to come back.

Back at the sanctuary, you drew him away from the fight, knowing his strengh lied with his allies. Only, you hadn't imagined your former master to join his side - not until you'd seen the holocron in Ezra's hands, at least. You'd warned him: "he will use it and throw you away. Like he did to me". Needless to say, he didn't listen.

Your vision starts to lose focus at the intensity of your anger and you groan in pain, not able to sit anymore. Driven by instinct, the padawan holds your side so you won't fall completely, pressing your abdomen and making you hiss in pain.

-"ah, looks like I was right. You're conscious, but not healed" - you feel yourself be adjusted back on the ground, too weak to fight him.

-"where are we? Why did you save my life?"

He hesitates, eyes studying you, like you might attack him any second and he still knew it.

-"not so sure" - he finally answers - "maybe because now you owe me one?"

-"Did you hit your head or something?" You scoff - "Make no mistake, I WILL kill you when the opportunity rises!"

-"And that is why your lightsaber privileges have been revoked for now."

You lock eyes, studying him like he had you. It made no sense- you'd followed his group to the sith temple, tried to kill him several times, called for the man who had murdered his strongest ally, Ahsoak Tano. Why was he helping you?

With a shiver, you realize he's still holding your side, not as firmly as before but still providing support for your back. Inhaling sharply, you graze his hand and he lets go instantly, realizing how close the two of you had gotten.

Standing up just as quickly, he brushes a strand of unruly hair our of his forehead, while you you clean your throat, diverting your attention to the exit of the cave. The rain pours on the large trees outside, but you can't make out much except for the fact that you're in a forest planet (maybe a moon?) and his ship is in less than ideal conditions to get out of it.

-"here" - Ezra kneels down with two bacta patches and a piece of fabric from a medical kit -"i felt your back was pretty sore, but didn't want to take off your shirt while you were out. Your cuts need cleaning."

You hesitantly take the items, using the rocks behind you as support to lean your body on. He stands up, hands on hips, and chuckles when you sniff the gel, suspicious.

With the small bit of privacy he gives you by turning around to check on his master, you fumble with your shirt, deciding to take it off in order to see better.

-"Need some help over there?" - he asks, hearing you grunt in frustration at not being able to reach some spots

-"Not from you, thank you very much"

-"Oh, so she CAN say thank you! That's a welcome change"

You throw the rag at his direction, irritated out of your mind. Who does he think he is??

He must sense the harmless ball of soaked fabric coming his way, turning around to catch it mid-air. Now that he's turned, you see a glimpse of amusement in his eyes at your rage, giving you the answer you needed as to why he went through the trouble of saving you; it was merely to see you suffer and laugh at your expense, apparently.

His expression quickly changed when he saw your bruised torso, however.

- "who did this to you?" - he whispers, and you look down at you look down at your sore ~ well, everything~, covered only by a wrap in the bust area.

-"As you said, jedi. I may be better than you, but you still gave me a decent challenge"

"No. I didn't even hit you there." - his serious reaction to your injuries had caught you off guard, you had to admit. - "those are old and deep, you shouldn't even be able to walk!"

-"I'm not, remember?" - you motion at your debilitated situation, unable to even sit down or cross your legs properly -"But i will be, soon. And then it's over for you"

-"you know what? I think if you wanted to, you would have killed me by now." - he shoots back and you're impressed at his audacity once again.

But he had a point. Why hadn't you attacked him yet?

Sure, you had no lightsaber or phisical conditions to stand, but your force abilities were still as strong as ever. You were vulnerable, but so was he, and you weren't kidding when you said you could deal with him even at your worse.

-"you know what? " - you cross your arms. He was playing with fire now - "maybe I might"

-"and why haven't you?"

-"because I wouldn't enjoy it as much." - you snap back venomously - "I want to see you suffer before I bring you to Lord Vader"

His expression darkens at the mention of Ahsoka's murderer. His whole body stiffens as he balls his wrists and clearly struggles to control his anger at the recent loss. For a moment, you fear you've gone too far, but reprimand yourself for worrying about his feelings over yours. You're not supposed to be anything more than indifferent to the weak and ruthless to those who dare oppose you.

-"Yeah, no matter what you do, you're still imperial scum"

You're not prepared for those words to affect you so much. You're supposed to have a response, but nothing coherent seems to come out of your mouth, so you settle for an an uncomfortable silence.

It doesn't last for long, however, as his comlink goes off. It's his droid, asking - no, demanding - that he go help him with repairs on the ship. He hesitates, looking at you and contemplating how bad it would be to leave you unnatended in the company of his defenseless master.

-"Dont worry."- You reassure him. -"I won't make his situation worse. Maul is the worse you can get, and I refuse to step that low"

You can see he doesnt like it, but leaves for a few moments before returning with what must be the droid that talked to him before. It was a C1 series unit with an orange top and a bratty atitude, you could tell that much by just seeing him interact with the jedi.

-"Chopper will stay here, just in case"

-"I understand. It's fine."

-"I wasn't asking if you were fine with it. Behave" - you can't be sure if his command is directed at you or the droid, but you weren't about to ask.

The coldness he now had to his voice was understandable - you had worked to get him to that emotional state - ,but you felt hurt at the change. The droid didn't do much to help you think clearly about what just happened, and by the look of it, your frustration would only grow bigger in the many hours it would still take to repair the ship to a normal flying condition.

'He thinks i'm imperial scum, huh?' - you think as you scour a pile of your belongings with the force, not too far away inside the cave.

Bad news, your lightsaber really wasn't there.

Good news, your wrist comm was.

'i'll show him imperial scum'

With a plan forming in mind, all you had to do now was be patient and wait for the right time. There's no exchange of words between the two of you when he gets back, which makes time fly by before he's betrayed by exaution and finally gives in to sleep. You take care of the droid easily after that.

Activating the tracking beacon, you start to leave the cave, but not before noticing the boy's lightsaber beside him. It was a bold move, he could easily wake up if you took it, but you knew that if he woke up to see you gone you'd need it to compensate for your injuries.

You were still on opposing sides, after all.

You knew there had to be an imperial ship near the planet, and they would pick up your signal in an instant when you called. Wallking to a less dense area of the forest, away from the crash site, you're proven right when, in a matter of minutes, a shuttle tripulated by four troopers and a senior lieutenant meet you on the ground.

-"and what of the jedi?" - the higher ranking woman asks when you finish your brief description of the events that led you there.

Well, not all events. You'd left out the part where Bridger had helped you recover.

You could just tell them to take the two jedi for excecution. You were supposed to do it, in fact.

-"it's just me. And the younger one's lightsaber" - you finally answer, not exactly knowing why you'd deliberately just saved them.

She nods curtly and escorts you back to the ship without a second glance. It was a good story so far, but you would have to work on it if your superiors were to believe it.

-"Wait- " - you start, second-guessing your motives for not giving away their location. One of the troopers turns to you expectantly.

-"yes, sir?"

You hesitate for a moment, ready to do what you'd beeen taught to do your whle life. Kill the jedi.

Kill the jedi.

A tingling crept up your sides, where the padawan had touched earlier to give you support. You try to betray the gut feeling pressing you to do your duty as an inquisitor, but it's stronger than you. Something is forcing your better judgement to be leaving your natural enemies alive.

-"nothing." - the tingle goes away as soon as it had come, leaving an unusual feeling of relief. - "Thought i'd sensed something. Let's leave"

'Perhaps it's for the best'. - you think as the shuttle's door closes. After all, you did owe him one for saving your life - whatever his reason was for doing so.

That was what you told yourself as you boarded the ship, at least. Now, the next time you saw him, there would be nothing to stop you from finishing him and his friends for good.

.

x

Hope you like it? I gave him a 'hands on hips' moment in honour of your videos for a more personalized touch hahahaha

[hamburgerhelpersotherhand]

the cheating scenario w/ hannibal was so good omg! would you do a part two? maybe reader has found comfort with Will and they start to pursue each other, would also love to see some jealous Hannibal 😏 I love your work!

Part 2 as requested ✨ I didn’t write much Hannibal in this, actually rhhdjshf I’m sure he’s great at hiding his true feelings.

*spoilers*

Will is sweet and all but I really like the idea of Hannibal setting him up as some ticking time bomb for Y/N to witness.

Warnings: Implied future mindbreak and dead pets.

Your presence in Will Graham’s home felt different. It was unlike what he had become accustomed to but things seemed to get better with time.

It was meant to only last a short while, giving you enough time to get yourself back on your feet with a clear mind and savings for your own place... but something bloomed between the two of you. Unintentionally, you might add.

So you stayed.

A human being often takes part in stupid things when life feels out of their control. But the decision to be with Will, physically and emotionally, never felt wrong. He was sweet, even kinder than Hannibal had led you to believe.

You had known Will for a while, but never well until this point. Up until now, Hannibal had never seen you around Will when you two had been together.

So when he had caught the slightest hint of your perfume on Will’s collar, you can only imagine his reaction.

“New cologne?” He asks Will, smoothing out his jacket.

“Mhm.” He replies, not giving it much thought as he sits down.

Hannibal notices his lack of care on the matter and drops it from the conversation.

“Alright, let’s begin.”

Hannibal likes Will, genuinely. But he doesn’t want you near him. Especially when he eventually breaks— and trust him... Will Graham is a twig under his boot.

But, as he’s listening to Will express the changes in his life— the new dog, the new diet and you- Hannibal quickly comes to a grim realization:

You’re going to have to be collateral damage.

“-he’s pushing me too hard. I’m inclined to believe her.” Will finishes.

Hannibal brings himself back into the conversation, having dozed off in his thoughts for the first time in a long while.

“Who’s pushing you too hard? Could you repeat yourself?” Hannibal asks.

Will shifts in his seat before speaking again.

“Y/N tells me Jack is pushing me too hard. And I’m inclined to believe her.”

“Why do you think that?”

“Because I stay up until ungodly hours for work.” Will laughs, looking at his feet. He’s silent for a moment as he rubs the inside of his palm. “The truth is... I still have nightmares. Things have been looking good lately, but I can’t sleep at night.”

Hannibal watches him intently, feeling content with the revelation. He knows how to proceed.

“Have you spoken to Y/N about it? I’m sure she’d appreciate the transparency.”

“No.” Will shifts again. “Dr Lecter- I’m sorry, I— I honestly don’t feel comfortable speaking of her with you—” He rolls his wrist. “-given your shared past.”

“It’s no problem.” Hannibal stops himself from gripping the armrest and, instead, reaches for his notes. “Let’s move on.”

Will nods.

“I can prescribe something that will help, but you have to take it daily. Every night before bed.” Hannibal begins writing on his notepad. “It should help you sleep.”

And it did.

Will Graham had managed to sleep, but wild dreams still flooded his mind.

They felt vivid— real. But they were far from his previous nightmares. They were more along the lines of something a child would dream of- unhinged and randomized as they were.

He had taken the meds for about a week, and would always wake up in a different room than he had fallen asleep in. Hannibal had assured him it was because of his level of stress, and it would balance itself out with time and rest.

The sleepwalking was nothing to be scared of.

But on the seventh night, as he dreamt soothingly, his mouth became flooded with warmth, an unfamiliar beating played on his tongue and against his gums. When he had opened his eyes, falling away from the trance-like dream, Will Graham nearly choked.

There, in his gripping hands, he tightly held the twitching body of one of his smaller dogs. Bloodied and struggling, he could barely recognize it like this.

Will spat at the ground, his fingers dropping the animal as he tried to assess the situation. But his mind wouldn’t respond, only focusing on the here and now. He darted his eyes around as his breathing quickened at an alarming rate. He looked about his other dogs, all of which sat awake and cowering in the corners of the room.

As he later observed himself in the bathroom’s mirror, he became aware of the shaking in his hands and the bloodied mess covering his face. He felt sick.

His hands nearly stopped him from turning on the sink, but he needed to wash up as soon as possible.

As quietly as he could, he retrieved his phone from the bedroom and called Hannibal from the tight comfort of his car, explaining to him what had happened and wasting no time on blaming it on the medication.

“What if I killed her? I-I don’t know what to do— Hannibal, what if I killed her?” Will frantically begins to talk, spitting at the dirt from his open door between stops as if blood still flooded his mouth. “I don’t know what to do with the body.”

“Y/N’s body?” Hannibal asks.

“No—no, god no. I mean... the dog. The dog in my living room.” Will shuts his eyes and exhales. “Y/N is sleeping.”

“Will, it’s a dog.” Hannibal persuades, smiling as he does. “As sad as losing a pet may be, you haven’t committed a crime.”

~

The next morning, you awoke to a certain smell. It stung your nose until your eyes shot open at the realization.

You jumped out of bed and rushed to the kitchen. Will stood by the sink, filling up the water filter, but didn’t seem to notice the smoke coming from the iron pan on the stove.

“Will!” You shouted, grabbing a rag to move the pan away from the heat. He turns around and sets down the filter. Will grabs your arm before you could throw anything into the sink.

“It’s just a little charred.” He says quietly.

“Don’t you smell the smoke?” You look to him with concern. His responses have been slowed, almost slurred.

“I think I’m congested.”

You look down and observe the food. It’s burnt scrambled eggs with equally charcoaled diced ham.

“You can’t expect me to let you eat this—” You say, shrugging his hand away. His arm falls to his side as he watches you dump the iron pan, along with the blackened food, into the sink. “-especially if you aren’t feeling well.”

With a heavy exhale, you lean against the counter and look at him. Your observation lasts a while, and he seems to watch you as well. His eyes look weighted and tired.

“You’re exhausted.” You say, bringing your hand forward to brush the hair out of his face. “Did you sleep at all last night?” You ask.

He twitches.

“... No,” Will takes your hand into his own, rubbing gentle circles above your knuckles as he looks dazedly at your fingers. “I’ve been busy.”

[melancholydreadfuldream]

Going Under Part Four

Fandom: Doctor Who

 Pairing: 13th Doctor x Reader

 Summary: An accident during a routine adventure made your life spiraled out of control with only the Doctor as the anchor. Will you ever find your way back to your Doctor again?

 Trigger Warning: ooc, angst, plot holes as usual, attempted suicide, dark!doctor, death, insanity, etc. You have been warned.

 More warning: English is not my first language so beware of the headache you will receive upon reading this.

     I fell on my knees as I clutched the sand beneath my fingers. I could feel wind blowing around me. I look around and I saw that I'm currently stranded on some beach?

  "(name)?" 

  I heard someone called my name from behind me.

  "(name)!!"

  I turned around and squinted my eyes against the annoying wind. It was Tenth Doctor in a blue suit and he is not alone. He is with Rose. 

  "Doctor?" I trailed in confusion.

  The Doctor ran toward me with a grin and hugged me tight while I just stood there and hesitantly hugged him back. 

  I just left a version of him alone. My heart ached suddenly at the reminder. That Doctor is sad, so very sad and I couldn't do a thing to ease his sorrow.

  The Doctor released me, still grinning happily.

  Rose didn't say anything but she smiled at me.

  I nodded at her. "Thanks for the stun gun?" I blurted out.

  She chuckled at that. "Don't mention it."

  The fact she know what I'm talking about meant she is the same Rose I met back at the crucible. Which meant this version of Tenth Doctor is from that time too.

  "What stun gun?" The Doctor asked. "Why do you even have a stun gun?" He sounded annoyed.

  "For protection." Both Rose and I simultaneously answered and we smiled genuinely at each other.

 "Stun gun is useless against the Daleks." The Doctor pointed.

  "I know. But it worked against the Master." I said.

  The Doctor's eyes widened. "The Master? You met the Master?!" He yelled.

  Rose is confused. "Who is the Master?"

  The Doctor explained who the Master is to her.

  My head felt dizzy suddenly I almost lost my balance but the Doctor caught me.

  "Are you okay?" He asked in concern.

  "Just a bit dizzy. Where are we now?" I asked. "Can we get something to eat first?" I rubbed my stomach as I smiled sheepishly at them. "I'm a bit hungry."

  It was Rose who told me where I am. Bad Wolf Bay.

  "Where is your Tardis, Doctor?" I asked.

  The Doctor rubbed his head with an almost guilt look. "Well, that is...a bit complicated."

  I stared at the Doctor in confusion as he explained that he is not exactly the Doctor. He said he is the metacrisis Doctor whatever that's meant. 

  My eyes widened when Rose helpfully tell me that the metacrisis grew from the hand in a jar I saw before.

  "Like a worm?" I asked with almost disgusted look.

  The Metacrisis looked insulted while Rose laughed out loud.

  I shivered in cold from the wind. Thankfully they noticed and finally suggested we left the beach.

  I stared at the metacrisis who is holding hand with Rose in contemplation.

  Usually I always ended up wherever the Doctor is. I suppose this metacrisis version counted as the Doctor.

  Rose called her mobile and shortly after a black car appeared. She gestured for me to get in.

  It felt kind of awkward as we shared a car. I didn't know what to say to them. But the two lovebirds are too busy staring at each other in silent.

  A sudden sharp pain in my head made me gasp out loud and I found myself spiralling like little Alice who fell into unknown hole. It feel like splintering but also...not?

   7777

  Cold. It was so cold.

  I opened my eyes and suddenly fell into a panic state as I found myself submerged under water. I opened my mouth, causing icy water to fill my throat and lung. 

  I struggled to surface and coughed harshly when I did. I wiped the water in my face and I saw Thirteenth Doctor rushing toward me, saying some comforting words but for some reason she sounded so far away. There must be waters inside my ears too.

  The Doctor is still rambling as she clutched my cheek, sometimes my hair but I still couldn't get what she is saying.

  "D-Doctor?" I whispered with chattering teeth. "Where am I?" I made a move to get out of...glass tube? "W-what is this?"

  The Doctor prevented me from moving out of the glass tube. She said something to me but I can't understand.

  "Doctor, I can't hear you!" I said in frustation.

  The Doctor stopped talking and she stared at me in sorrow.

  Suddenly she pushes me back by the head back into the icy water.

  I was shocked at first before I struggled against her strong grip but it was useless.

  From beneath the water, I saw her yelling something at someone I couldn't see. Someone is beside the Doctor and that person is about to inject me with something.

  I panicked even more as I screamed under water and everything turned black once more.

   7777

  I screamed myself awake.

  "(name), it is okay! Open your eyes! You are safe!" I heard a voice said urgently.

  I opened my eyes slowly to see Tenth Doctor, no, Metacrisis Doctor and Rose. They stared at me in concern.

  I took in my surrounding while still trying to calm my breath. I am in some medical room and I am not wet despite being under water just before. I coughed a few times as if getting the air knocked out of me.

  Was that a dream? I thought to myself as I touches my neck, remembering how the Thirteenth Doctor pushed me back into the icy water. Was she trying to kill me? Why?

   "W-what happened to her? What was that?" Rose asked the Metacrisis Doctor.

  I blinked, trying to focus on those two talking. 

  The Metacrisis Doctor is staring at me with a look of concern and fear. Fear for me? 

  "What?" I asked him.

  They told me that I suddenly fainted in the car and that I was in a...state. 

  "It was like you got stuck between one place and the next..." The Metacrisis Doctor said with a frown. "...like a blip..."

  I grimaced. Well, that one is new. So did I splinter? Unsuccessfully? "But I was here, right?"

  "Like I said, to us, it looked like you were stuck...like a blip but yeah, you are mostly here." He said again, frowning as he ponder about it. "Did you go somewhere?"

  "I think so. But it feel more like a vision of nightmare rather than being stranded somewhere foreign again..." Oh this is confusing and kind of scary. I groaned. Great, another unwanted complication.

  "Where did you go when you were in that state?" He asked. "Was that the first time it happened or...?"

  "I think that was the first time that happened to me...?" I was unsure, remembering that vision of waking up to a frantic Thirteenth Doctor but that time...it didn't feel like splintering. It almost feel unreal so I didn't mention it or even write it in my notebook.

  "Were you in pain?" Rose asked in concern. "You look like you did."

  "I'm fine...I think?"

  "You don't sound sure..." The Metacrisis pointed. 

  I didn't speak for a few seconds. "I think the Doctor...I think she just tried to drown me?"

  "What?" The Metacrisis yelled loudly making me wince.

  "Wait, what? She?!" Rose also exclaimed loudly.

  The Metacrisis got distracted by Rose as he sheepishly told her about the future of the Doctor being a Time Lady.

  Despite knowing about regeneration, Rose look pretty astonished by the revelation.

  The Metacrisis turned his attention back at me and demanded I tell him every detail of my encounter with the alternate Thirteenth Doctor. 

  But is she really an alternate version? She seemed to know me. I know there are alternate version of me who is also travelling with the Doctor. I met one before. Could that version of the Doctor mistaken me with her version of myself?

  I sighed again. That doesn't make sense either. Why would she tried to drown any version of me? 

  The Metacrisis snapped his fingers to get my attention as he urgently asked me for the detail of my experience earlier. "Focus!"

  So I told him about waking up in some deep glass tube, of seeing the Thirteenth Doctor and of her trying to drown me and inject me with something.

  The Metacrisis frowned as he asked more detail on the glass tube I was in. Sadly, I didn't pay much attention to the glass tube so there is not much detail I can tell him

  He thought that the Doctor I met is probably experimenting on me for some reason, presumably to save my life. He was a bit disappointed that I can't give more information.

  I decided not to contradict him with the fact that I once met a somewhat insane Thirteenth Doctor. But that version wanted to keep me for herself while the version earlier...

  You know what? I need to give her benefit of the doubt and just consider that what Metacrisis said might be true. Maybe she is just trying to save me? I sighed. Here I am in denial.

  "Next time, doc, keep in mind to tell someone when you are trying to save them by drowning, say, to save misunderstanding." I said in annoyance.

  He grinned sheepishly. "Noted." His cheerful demeanor vanished as he told me to write down everything that happened to me in my notebook.

  I nodded obediently. 

  I noticed Rose is still staring at the Metacrisis. I think she can't get over the fact that one day the Doctor will switch gender. I understood the feeling but I have accepted it somewhat. 

  They gave me some food and a set of new clothes. I drank my medicine and get a rest some more. They gave me some privacy.

  My mind keep replaying being under water with the Doctor hovering over me as she pushes me under. I closed my eyes, wishing for that memory to leave me alone.

  I stared at my notebook that I just finished writing in with a sigh. I put the notebook on my bag. I could feel the sign that I was about to be pulled away again.

  The Metacrisis and Rose are nowhere to be seen so I couldn't say goodbye to them.

  7777

  I blinked as I found myself in an unfamiliar room but I know I am inside the Tardis. I turned around and yelped when I saw two bodies embracing each other on the bed.

  "Oh my God!! Cover everything!!" I yelled as I covered my eyes with my hand. I turned my back from the surprised and frantic couple.

  It was definitely Eleventh Doctor and River Song...in bed, having sex. I wish I could bleach my mind.

  The Doctor grabbed a pillow to cover his junk while River remained chill despite the unwanted interuption. They both redressed themselves.

  "(name), have you ever heard of knocking?" The Doctor glared at me.

  I glared back at him. "Like I have any control which place I ended up to!!"

  River perked up. "(name)? Your alternate future companion? The one who is crossing all over your timeline in every alternate universe? That (name)?" 

  Wow, River's description of me making what happened to me sounded awesome. I mean I supposed it is exciting if not for the fact that I'm dying. 

  The Doctor nodded at his wife as River immediately grinned at me, offering a handshake.

  "How exciting... Nice to meet you. I'm River but I reckon you know that, don't you?" She said with a friendly smile. "I've been wanting to meet you for a while now."

  I felt awkward under her attention as I forced a polite smile. I turned to the Doctor and asked about the last time he saw me.

  "It was at the crucible. Remember? Tardis got taken by the Daleks?" The Doctor reminded me.

  I nodded. "Yeah, I was actually just at Bad Wolf Bay with your Metacrisis and Rose."

  The Doctor look surprised and turned solemn at the mention of those two. "How are they? Do they seem...happy?"

  "I think so...?" I trailed in confusion.

  He beamed a little. "That's good."

  River put a hand on his shoulder in comforting gesture.

  They took me out of their bedroom and back into console room as I told them about what happened to me earlier. About Thirteenth Doctor tried to drown me and how the Metacrisis disagreed.

  I took my medicine as they asked me to tell them everything that happened to me. They wanted to take some of my blood to conduct their own test. I gave them what they wanted.

  Afterward they gave me a room for me to get some rest.

  River came to have a chat. It was awkward at first but soon we started talking animatedly about the Doctor. She also asked to read my notebook. I was hesitant at first but...she is the Doctor's wife so...essentially I can trust her, can't I? So I let her read some pages. 

  She told me she kept a diary too detailing her encounters with the Doctor. She has a wistful smile as she got to the page with the gallifreyian writings. She can read it but she won't translate it for me.

  "Don't worry. They all spoke fondly of you." River said, fingers tracing on the gallifreyian writings.

  I sighed at that.

  "I must admit I am curious about the female version of the Doctor." River said. " Did she ever mention me?"

  I shook my head slowly. I felt bad for River because she looked sad at my answer.

  "Honestly, she was very secretive about her past. The fam and I, we didn't know much about her. I only know some stuff about her because of the splintering." I said.

  When she noticed my stun gun, River decided to teach me how to use a gun. She started simple with a small gun. 

  That's how the Doctor found us in a room for target shooting, apparently a room that the Tardis created just because River asked the ship out loud. 

  The Doctor look absolutely disappointed at us and our gun. He pouted much like a child under River's teasing.

  I observed them with a fond smile. The smile slide off my face as I felt it was time to go. I voiced my gratitude for their company.

  They turned to me with unreadable expression before smiling encouragingly at me.

  "Next time you come here, I promise I will get you a simple weapon for your protection." River sweetly said despite her husband's protest.

  I laughed at them as I slowly faded away right before their eyes.

   7777

  I blinked in confusion as I found myself in some random wood. I walked around, hoping to find the Doctor soon. Wonder who will I get this time?

  I didn't watch where I was walking and I ended up triggering some trap.

  I screamed as I found myself hanging upside down by feet.

  Someone must have heard my scream as I could hear many someones coming my way. I could only pray they are friendly, not the kind who want to eat me. Oh gosh, please don't let me meet a cannibal.

  I got a headache already thanks to the unwanted position I am in. Thankfully, the universe is kind to me today as a bunch of people came toward me. I recognized Twelfth Doctor and Clara. Clara's red period dress caught my eyes immediately. 

  I blinked at them.

  "Oh, it's you." The Doctor said flatly.

  I would feel insulted by his tone if not for the fact I am hanging upside down. I pitifully pleaded, "Help me get down please..."

  One of the men, his name is Robin Hood, Clara supplied, thankfully catches me after he ordered his merry men to free me.

  I was too busy trying to balance myself again to appreciate the fact I'm actually meeting a Robin Hood. 

  I sat on a fallen branch as the Doctor stared me down. Clara sat beside me and engaged me with friendly conversation. But I was a bit dizzy to keep up. Thanks to her being chatty, I found out that this version of Doctor and Clara are the one I met when they were imprisoned alongside the Doctor's other past faces and companion.

  I finally looked up toward the Doctor. He was staring at me in calculation. I sighed. "Don't worry, I won't demand a cure from you. Judging from how you look at me, you didn't expect me to come back again, did you?"

  The Doctor look almost ashamed but didn't say anything.

  Clara watched over the both of us in curiosity.

  "Honestly, I'm beginning to think a cure for my current state is impossible." I said softly.

  "Don't be absurd. I just haven't figure it out yet. It does not meant I give up or that there is no cure." The Doctor said. "Do you still have your medicine?"

  I pulled out my pill bottles. There are only a few pill left. 

  "Thought so. I have a backup for you somewhere back in the Tardis." He said.

  "You actually make the medicine for me just in case?" I asked, feeling a bit surprised. He sounded like he was annoyed when he first saw me.

  "I did promise you a cure, didn't I? Though I have to disappoint you as the cure is just a temporary measure." He said.

  I smiled at him gratefully. "Thank you, Doctor."

  We are interrupted by Robin and his men, something about an archery tournament launched by Sheriff of Nottingham.

  I noticed Clara is flirting with Robin with ease while the Doctor is grumpy and overall rude toward Robin. 

  Clara and I exchanged amused glance as we both watched the Doctor challenge Robin with archery, trying to one up one another. They are definitely trying to impress Clara, I think.

  Everyone cheered every-time those two releases their arrows.

  Predictably thing turned into trouble when we found out the soldiers employed by the evil sheriff are robots.

  I exhaled loudly in annoyance as I ended up in a dark prison with Doctor, Clara and Robin. The Doctor really is a magnet for trouble, isn't he?

  Clara and I exchanged annoyed look as the Doctor and Robin won't stop yapping at each other.

  Eventually Clara was taken away as they thought she is our leader after she lost her patience and snapped at both Doctor and Robin. I am impressed with her. 

  Though I felt kinda insulted that they only take Clara. Was it because I don't look like a noble lady like her? But then again I'm not the sort who take charge. I wouldn't know what to do if I am in her position.

  I was shook out from my musing when the Doctor and Robin yelled loudly again at each other. It was amusing at first but this gets really annoying fast. For once I wish to splinter as soon as possible just so I could get away from their stupidly grating voices.

  I glared at them but they don't notice me. I sighed as I stared at the cuff around my wrists. I hope I won't end up splintering taking the cuff with me. That would be awkward.

  After a few minutes of them yelling and mocking each other, I yelled at them to calm the fuck down.

  I glared at the Doctor. "Stop being jealous of him and start using that brilliant mind of yours to get us out of this mess." I said.

  The Doctor glared back at me with a scoff. "Jealous? Of him? Hah!"

  Robin, in turn, scoffed at the Doctor, exchanging annoying 'hah!' at each other repeatedly.

  I rolled my eyes. I felt a headache already. I glanced at my bag. When I was taken, they took a look inside but deemed it worthless and tossed it on the ground nearby. I really hope the Doctor stopped being childish already and work on our freedom. It would really be troubling if I splinter without my notebook and medicine. Also I wonder if Clara will be okay.

  I watched in annoyance as the Doctor and Robin acted stupidly which ended up with the key to our freedom far from our reach. I groaned. This is going to take a while.

  Eventually they did finally able to release themselves and worked to release me. Unfortunately, they still can't get along even for one common goal, rescuing Clara.

  I picked up my bag as I held back from rolling my eyes as those two started to bicker, practically ignoring me. It was at that moment that I felt the tingling.

  I hitched a breath and turned toward the Doctor. But he was too busy yelling at Robin to notice. When he did finally noticed, I was already fading away. Last thing I heard is Robin demanding what is happening to me.

  7777

  I felt dizzy as I arrived on...wherever I am this time. I found myself standing in some sort of a deserted land? But I didn't see anyone. I took a walk tentatively. Then I saw figures coming my way. I squinted my eyes to see and my eyes widened when I saw the Doctor and Ryan. There is an old man with them.

  The Doctor and Ryan called my name in disbelief and confusion. They recognized me. I wondered if I am home but knowing my luck, that probably not the case. But they recognized me so I have to assume they were the set that I met much earlier, an universe where I never travelled with them. I sighed at that. It is such a sore subject for me. I can't imagine not knowing the Doctor and the fam.

  The Doctor scanned me with her sonic screwdriver and once she is done, she smiled. "It's good to see you again, (name). Wish it is on a better situation."

  I smiled at her and Ryan. I have to swallow my bitterness upon confirming they are not my original friends. "What is going on?"

  The Doctor glanced at me sadly. "Cybermen."

  The smile slide off my face immediately. "The lone cyberman?"

  "Now, it is an army." Ryan replied.

  "Where are Yaz and Graham?" I asked in worry.

  "We got separated from them." Ryan said.

  I turned toward the Doctor who remained silent. We exchanged a look. I was reminded the last time I saw her, how I warned her about a version of herself who went insane after losing her companion.

  "I won't let that happen." The Doctor suddenly said.

  I prayed that she can keep her promise. They might not be my original set but they are still a version of the same sort of people that I care about. I don't think I could deal if I saw one of them die here right before my eyes. Last time was hard enough, watching a version of the Doctor died with me being completely helpless, to the point I lost my marble. 

  I swallowed down a fearful sob as I took a very deep breathe to calm myself. A part of me wanted to stay and help but another part of me just wanted to fade away from here. I am such a coward.

  The Doctor fussing about some communication equipment nearby when suddenly a static noise and we heard Yaz's voice.

  Ryan and I quickly come closer to the Doctor so we could better hear what Yaz said until I realized she was saying goodbye. They were trapped in a cybermen spaceship with the army on the way of either killing or converting them. A flashback of the sweet Bill Pott turned into a cyberman flashed my mind.

  I observed the Doctor's face. She flinched at what Yaz said. The despair in her eyes as she realized she is helpless, unable to save Yaz and Graham. I feared that she would snap into that version of the dark doctor I saw before.

  I tried to focus on what Yaz is saying and froze when I heard her confess to the Doctor. Yaz is in love with the Doctor!! My mouth dropped open in shock. 

  In hindsight, I shouldn't be surprise at all. The Doctor is such a person, so wonderful, I don't know how to describe it. I never thought I like woman until I met her. But maybe it is because she is the Doctor that I fell for her. I wonder if I meet earlier incarnation of her instead of her, would I also end up catching feeling for them?  I admitted I kind of have soft spot for all the alternate previous incarnation of the Doctors I met so far.

  I watched the Doctor as she clutched the device close to her lips, hearing her muttering Yaz's name solemnly. The Doctor closed her eyes as if in pain. My heart goes for Yaz and the Doctor. Though now that I knew, I can't help but wonder if my Yaz also has feeling for the Doctor. She never said anything to me. I wonder if the Doctor...

  Gosh, noo! Oh, no! I hit myself on my head immediately, feeling stupid for having a love crisis when Yaz and Graham are in danger! Priority, Me, priority!! 

  I bit my lips hard as I focused on the Doctor.  I felt the tingling right at that moment. 

  No! I can't leave right now! I have to help them somehow anyhow or...I have to know what will happen next in order to prevent my original friends from suffering the same fate. I sounded so selfish I realized but what am I supposed to do?  I want to go home to them, to that version who know and love me as much as I love them.

  I didn't call out to the Doctor. I didn't want to ruin Yaz's possibly last moment with the Doctor. As I fade away, I can only pray that they will survive whatever ordeal coming their way. 

  7777

  I landed on my knees on the floor and I coughed up blood. I quickly popped up on my medicine, wiping the blood using some napkin I saw before taking a look at my surrounding. I was in a room, a bedroom and on the bed, the Tenth Doctor in pajamas sleeping. My mouth dropped open in confusion. I noticed he look pale. I stepped toward him when the door opened and Rose entered the room. Upon seeing me, she started yelling at me.

  "Who the hell are you? How did you get here?" Rose demanded. "Stay away from him!"

  Wow, she is so intense.

  An older woman entered the room bearing a fruit knife and upon seeing me, waved her knife threateningly at me after hearing Rose yelling at me. A young man also entered the room bearing a frying pan.

  What a welcome.

  I raised my hands up in placating gesture and then I blurted something stupid, "I come in peace!"

  Rose and the others stared at me stupidly before they started talking at the same time. I think the man accused me of being an alien.

  "Would you please be quiet so I can explain?" I finally snapped.

  They did.

  I figured I shouldn't say anything complicated so I told them I am from the future and a friend of the Doctor. I also said I knew Rose in the future, well, a version of her, but like I said, just keep it simple.

  Rose didn't believe me at first. She told me to move out of the room as not to bother the Doctor. She let it slip that the Doctor has just changed his face. 

  I braced myself as Rose then started to interrogate me about some stuff regarding the Doctor and the Tardis. I think I passed the quiz as she finally relents. 

  I thank my lucky star that she didn't press my knowledge of Rose herself. I only met her a few times and I didn't know much about her aside that she is a bad-ass with weapon and is in love with the Doctor. 

  Is it a common occurrence, I wonder, for the companion to catch feeling for the Doctor? Rose, River, Clara, Yaz and myself, so far that I observed. But obviously River is the one most special since the Doctor married her. From what I have seen of River, she is amazing woman. 

  Rose introduced me to Jackie, her mother and Mickey, her best friend.

  Both Jackie and Mickey tried to ask me about future events. It was then Rose suddenly noticed the Christmas tree in the room and asked her mother about it.

  I stared blankly at the tree when it started to whirl around mechanically. My mouth dropped open when the tree started flying toward us just as Rose screamed for everyone to run or take covers as the tree hurling sharp ornaments at us. Mickey grabbed my hand and pulled me along. 

  I can't believe a Christmas tree just attacked us. Seriously life with the Doctor in it is so weird but fascinating, never a dull moment.

  We ended up inside the room where the Doctor is sleeping. Trapped and helpless, I saw Rose climbed up the bed and whispered in the Doctor's ear. Suddenly the Doctor woke up and immediately use his sonic screwdriver toward the tree. He ran outside the room toward the balcony and the others followed.

  I saw creepy figures in Santa Claus clothing stared at us from below. I didn't hear what the Doctor said but I was worried when he suddenly grabbed his chest as if having a heart attack with Jackie hovering and asked him what he need, even going as listing everything she thought he might need much to my amusement.

  I accidentally laughed when the annoyed Doctor shouted at Jackie that he need her to shut up. Everyone stared at me much to my embarrassment. I muttered a small sorry at Jackie.

  "Who are you?" The Doctor asked. "you are new."

  Rose glared at me. "She said she is a friend of yours. Did you lie?"

  "Really?" The Doctor turned to look at me. "Are we?"

  "I did not lie. He just don't know me yet." I said.

  "A-ah." The Doctor suddenly nodded as if he understand. "Sometimes I did met someone in a wrong order. Hello, there, I'm the Doctor. Who might you be?"

  I shrugged. "I am called (name)."

  The Doctor grinned at me clutching my hand on his, shaking it rather hard. He released me with a groan as he clutched his chest again. When he exhaled, a sort of yellowish energy flew out of his mouth.

  "What is that?" I asked.

  "Don't worry about it. It is just some regeneration energy." He waved it off as if it is not a big deal.

  At the mention of regeneration, my eyes widened. I only get a glimpse of a regeneration energy once when a version of Tenth Doctor transferred the energy into his spare hand. I hope I would never saw it in my Doctor. My wish for her to remain as she is.

  "Aah, you woke me up too soon. I am not finished yet." He said, pale and sweaty and then he fainted.

  With the Doctor is out of commission, things went downhill pretty soon with a broadcast from an alien race that somehow able to control the mind half of the population into walking on the edge. Next thing I know, Rose and the rest of us suddenly met up with Harriet Jones to deal with the alien.

  Much to my horror, I realized I couldn't understand what the alien is speaking. Rose said the Tardis must have some malfunction of some sort or maybe the ship is connected to the Doctor. That never happened before with my Doctor and the fam. I dreaded meeting alien with language barrier, bound to cause misunderstanding. Although these alien race seemed wanting to invade the earth for some reason, I wonder if we could reason with them without the Doctor.

  Rose tried her best though much to my admiration, she took charge. I don't know what I would do if I'm in her position. I prayed the Doctor feel better soon so he can help us with this crisis. I grimaced, feeling useless and I have a few hours to kill before the next splinter. I hope I could be of help somehow.

  I accompanied Rose, Harriet and a bunch of her people to face the alien. Part of me thought everything will be alright because I met  a version of Rose far back in the future, which meant that Rose probably survived these event, which meant the Doctor definitely will come through for us. And I was right. The Doctor did come through, still in his pajamas, with a smug look on his face as he started talking fast at everyone.

  "I want to be ginger. I never get to be ginger." The Doctor complained.

  Next thing I know the Doctor challenged the alien leader into a duel. He even lost a hand. I gasped as I covered my mouth. The metacrisis! I chuckled as the puzzle started to fit. My mouth dropped open as I saw the Doctor grew another hand. I meant I know he will do that since the version of him that I met didn't walking around with one hand.

  "Like a worm..." I whispered to myself.

  Rose gaped as she stared at me and then she covered the giggle that burst out of her mouth. But soon she started laughing.

  I chuckled and soon followed laughing especially when the Doctor walked toward us, asking us what is so funny. We just kept laughing.

  As the Doctor give his oncoming storm warning at the alien, they retreated. He took us back with his Tardis. The Doctor is pissed at Harriet for obliterating the retreating alien but she stood tall, believing she did the right thing. The dark look that crossed the Doctor's feature made my heart clenched in fear. But this is the Doctor. He would not do anything to punish her, would he? All he did is whisper something to Harriet's assistant and then walked away, ignoring Harriet attempt to plead her case.

  I frowned as I watched Harriet and then the Doctor's retreating figure.

  "(name), come along." The Doctor called out. He turned to Rose to tell her to get inside her house and that he need to change his clothing. They shared a flirty smile at each other before parting. He turned toward me, looking way too serious which make me very, very nervous. He gestured for me to come on board his Tardis. He made me wait in the console room while he went to the wardrobe room to change.

  "What do you think?" The Doctor, now in a proper suit, asked me. He was grinning in almost flirty manner.

  "It's very you." I answered flatly, trying to cover my nervousness of being alone with him.

  "Ah, right, you are from the future, so you must have already seen me in this suit." He said as he put his hands on his pockets and walked toward me with a stern look. "Care to explain why you are here?"

  "You didn't trust me." I know I can't expect the Doctor, any alternate version of him, to immediately put their trust in me but damn, I hate having to try to convince the Doctor again and again. Luckily, so far, I haven't met a version of Doctor that outright reject or dismiss me.

  He shrugged. "I don't know you." He said.

  I sighed. I pulled my notebook from my bag. I haven't updated my record yet, I really should do that soon. I flipped some pages.

  The Doctor stared at my notebook curiously.

  I showed him a page written by a version of Tenth Doctor. "Here." I gave the notebook to him. "This should at least clarify." The Tenth Doctor that I met wrote in my notebook said it will help the other Doctor to help me.

  The Doctor read the writing on the page but he look confused. "What is this?"

  "It is your handwriting..." I said with a touch of 'duh' on my tone.

  The Doctor sheepishly scratched his head. "Yeaah," He drawled. "I haven't done any writing yet, brand new hands, you see..."

  I gaped at him. Suddenly I felt stupid, he is right after all. I pulled to the next page. "But I'm sure you recognize this language." I said to him.

  And he did. A sombre look passed his feature upon seeing the Gallifreyan writings on the page.

  "How did you get this?" He asked suddenly looking almost angry.

  His  harsh tone took me aback. I gulped. "You are the one who wrote that..." I said almost defensively. "Well, technically an alternate version of you."

 ��He glanced at the notebook and then at me and then back to the notebook. He flipped some pages. "Alternate universe? You?" He asked. He pulled his sonic screwdriver to scan me. While he is waiting for the result, he flipped on some pages again.

  I glared at him and the sonic. I grabbed the notebook from him, almost in petulant. "Some of that is private, okay?" I put the notebook back on my bag.

  He took a glance at his sonic and his mouth dropped open. "You are telling the truth..." He glanced at me with a look of pity. "...and you are dying..."

  I exhaled at that. "Thankfully I'm still alive and kicking thanks to medicine your alternate future self give me, but I'm about to run out. The last Doctor said he has the back up but we got into trouble and then I splintered before he could give me the back up medicine."

  "That does sound like me...getting into trouble..." He pondered thoughtfully and then grinned boyishly at me. "Oh, well, it is nice to meet you, (name)."

  I tried to smile but it is more like a grimace.

  "Now, about the medicine... I think I spot a page about the formula of some kind."

  "Ah yes, he does wrote it in my notebook." I said as I pulled back out my notebook, flipping on the page of the formula written by a version of Twelfth Doctor. I showed the page to him. He took the book from me and scanned it using the Tardis. "What are you doing?"

  He smirked at me. "Making you your backup medicine. The Tardis will help me find the key ingredient for the formula."

  I watched him moving in circle surrounding the console, pushing some button on it.

  "My alternate-self seemed to trust you so I don't see any reason not to help you." He said, without looking at me.

  "Gee, thanks." I said sarcastically.

  He grinned. "I assume you took one when you arrived in this universe?"

  I shrugged. "Kinda have to considering..."

  "considering...what?"

  "Well sometimes I cough up blood. He said, the Doctor I met before, he said to take one."

  The smile slide off his face as he is looking at me solemnly, pity in his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

  I shrugged. "It is fine. I'm getting used to it. So, the medicine, how long will it take to finish?"

  He glanced at me. "We could join Rose and her family for dinner. It should be finish afterward. Join us?"

  "I don't want to intrude."

  "Nonsense, come along, (name)." He said with a grin as he grabbed my hand and pulled me outside the Tardis.

  "Oi, hurry it up, will you two!" Rose called out.

  A bright, adoring smile crossed the Doctor's feature upon seeing Rose. "Coming..."

  I relented and joined the Doctor and Rose. Thankfully, Rose is friendly enough with me. But I kind of feeling like a third wheel around them...again.

  I smiled as I observed the Doctor, Rose and her family. They seemed to having much fun. After we finished dinner, we got out and saw it started snowing much to everyone excitement until the Doctor ruined it by saying it is a remnant of the exploding ship of the alien earlier.

  I glanced at the obvious couple as they stared and pointed at the night sky. That's when I felt the tingling. Realizing I was about to be taken away, I called out to him.

  "Doctor, thank you for having me. But it looked like I couldn't get the medicine again. Hold on it for me, will you? We might see each other again..." I said with almost a sad smile.

  The Doctor and Rose frowned at me in confusion. Their eyes widened as I slowly started to fade away.

   7777

  I landed somewhere and immediately feeling like the ground beneath me collapsed. I fell on my knees, clutching my head and groaning.  "Ooww..."

  "Are you alright?"

  I blinked and opened my eyes to see a red-haired little girl staring at me curiously. I took a glance at the surrounding, I was at the backyard in some random house. "Where is here?"

  "Leadworth." The little girl answered almost in annoyance directed at the said place.

  "Leadworth?" I repeated. Then I finally noticed the Tardis next to a shattered shed. "Doctor?" I called out. "Doctor!"

  "You know that weird man?" The little girl asked.

  "You saw the Doctor?" I asked as I turned to question the girl.

  Suddenly the Doctor come out from the house, calling out my name in excitement. "(name), you are here!"

  I blinked as I saw Eleventh Doctor in a messy, torn suit. "Doctor?" I pondered about which Eleventh Doctor is he when he went to hug me tight.

  "I'm so glad to see you again." He whispered at me.

  I hesitantly hugged him back. "Me too."

  He released me and he suddenly sniffed me. "You smell weird."

  "W-what?" I asked in horror and offended.

  He suddenly licked my cheek.

  "Eww." The girl and I exclaimed at the same time.

  "What the hell, Doctor? You can't just go around licking people!" I yelled, wiping my cheek with my clothes.

  "You smell...You smell like me...like a regeneration. Have you been with a version of me that has just regenerating?" He asked.

  My eyes widened at that. "Err, yeah, actually." I remembered the Tenth Doctor from before, with that weird yellow regeneration energy thing, it does get caught on my face. "You can smell that?" I asked. I glanced at him, really taking him in. "You...you also have just regenerated?"

  He smiled almost solemnly.

  "Doctor." I called out. "The last time we met is..."

  "Thank you for comforting me that time, (name)."

  My heart clenched in sorrow suddenly upon remembering that version of Tenth Doctor, the one so clouded with sorrow and burdened by the prophecy of his death. He finally regenerated into his eleventh self after all. I am sad that I won't see him ever again despite knowing they are still the same person in all the things that matter.

  "I am so glad that you survived. You make it sounded like you will not." I said softly.

  "Yeaah, sorry about that, mind is a bit messy last time."

  The little girl coughed up to catches our attention.

  The Doctor is beaming as he introduced me to the girl, Amelia Pond. I recognized the name and I stared at the little girl in wonder. 

  Amelia grabbed the Doctor's hand asking about some crack in the wall.

  We ended up in Amelia's room, observing the crack in the wall. A faint voice calling out a prisoner zero can be heard through the crack.

  The Doctor observed the crack carefully, sonicking it. At that moment, I felt the tingling again.

  "Doctor..." I called out. But he ignored me, staring at the opened crack and some eye thing that he said to be the warden of some alien prison.

  I turned to Amelia who is staring at me curiously. "Amy, I have to go. Stick with him, okay? He can fix the crack. Be safe."

  "Are you leaving?" Amelia asked looking almost disappointed.

  "I have no choice. But I'm sure we will see each other again." I said as I faded away.

  The Doctor turned to me at that exact moment. He looked like a kicked puppy upon seeing my fading self.

  I wanted to say something, anything but it was too late.

   tags: @thatsonezesty13

 A/N: And...I'm stuck. Sorry that it took so long to update. Hope this will still be a good read.

[ddixons-angel]

Fated: Season 5

Summary: Gloria Rhee narrowly escapes Atlanta with her brother as the outbreak reaches the city. Luckily, they find a camp outside the city and together, they fend through encounters with the living and undead.

Starts a little before Season 1 and then follows the main storyline of the show.

Pairing: Daryl Dixon x Glenn Sister!OC

Warnings: major TWD spoilers, language, violence (the typical TWD stuff)

A/N: And we’re back! So last week, our group finally made it to Alexandria and Gloria found her sister was there too! As I expected, she wasn’t very well liked xD she does get better though... eventually :P I really can’t wait to see what you guys think of this chapter, hehe let’s get into it!

Chapter 9

The next day, the group had been told to explore, get to know the place and meet people. Rick was surprisingly encouraging of it and so the group took off. Gloria decided to leave her daggers at home, she had planned to check out the community’s infirmary and if she was to work there, having daggers strapped to her sides may not be the best first impression. Gloria walks out to the porch where Daryl was seated on the floor, his back leaning on the rails. She looks at him and tilts her head, blinking.

“What are you doing just sitting there?” she asks, taking a few steps to him.

He shrugs, “‘m good here.” 

“Are you sure? You can take a walk with me,” Gloria says with a smile.

“The sun’s out, thought ya only liked full moon walks.” Daryl says, a hint of a smile on his lips. 

She chuckles and shakes her head, “I like walks with you, sun or moon.”

“Ya go off, I’ll be here...” Daryl says, not moving from his spot on the porch floor. 

“Okay, I’m just going to check out the infirmary, I’ll be back soon,” she tells him as she starts to go down the steps.

“Ya ain’ gon’ bring yer daggers?” Daryl calls out as he notices he doesn’t have her weapons on her.

“I don’t think I’ll need them, pretty sure I can take down anyone who comes at me here,” Gloria says, earning a snort of a laugh from Daryl.

“I think we should check out their pantry, see how well they do on runs,” Glenn says as he walks out of the house and down the steps with Maggie trailing behind him.

“Room for one more?” Gloria calls out as she follows suit behind her brother. 

Glenn chuckles at her choice of words then the three of them walk down the street together. They come across the house that is supposedly Gena’s house, she made sure to let Glenn know which one was her’s. A young man around Glenn’s age steps down the porch of that house and both Glenn and Gloria stop in their tracks when they see who the man is. Maggie looks at the two in confusion, trying to figure out why they both stopped dead in their tracks. 

“You’re kidding me... right?” Glenn groans.

“Okay... who else are we going to find here...” Gloria grimaces. 

“Glenn! Gloria!” the young man who came out of Gena’s house runs towards them and tackles Glenn in a hug as Gloria swiftly dodged out of the way. 

Glenn makes a face at his sister just before the man pulls away, grinning at Glenn, “I seriously can’t believe you’re here, man!” 

“Jacob... I can’t believe it either,” Glenn says, an uncomfortable smile on his face. 

“I never thought I’d ever see you again!” Jacob grins. 

“I never wanted to see you again...” Gloria mumbles under her breath, making Jacob look at her, but he still had a grin on his face. 

“Gloria... I missed you so much!” he says as he makes his way towards her.

“W-woah!” Gloria exclaims as Jacob picks her up in a hug. 

“You have no idea how happy I was when Gena told me you’re both here,” Jacob says, putting Gloria down and looking back at Glenn.

When Jacob turns to look at Glenn, Gloria signals to him that she is going to go and to keep him distracted. He catches her eye and nods, knowing just how uncomfortable Jacob made her feel. 

“Yeah...” Glenn says, then he gestures to Maggie, “this is Maggie, my wife.”

“Oh right! I heard from Gena that you got married in this? Woah, she’s a beauty, man.” Jacob says, shaking Maggie’s hand. 

As they make small talk, Gloria backs away and mouths ‘I love you, brother’ to Glenn then she quickly takes her leave. She turns on the next street over where the infirmary was located, Aaron had let her know where it was earlier. Gloria walks up the steps to the building and knocks on the door, waiting a short moment before the door opened. 

“Hi?” a woman with red hair in a ponytail, and glasses greets her, seeming somewhat nervous at Gloria’s sudden appearance. 

“Hi, um, I’m Gloria.” she smiles at the woman.

“I’m Denise,” she says, awkwardly waving her hand. 

“I’m part of the new group that came in yesterday, pretty sure everyone knows about us...” Gloria says, causing Denise to nod, “I just wanted to check out the infirmary, I’m apparently gonna be one of the medics working with the doctor? Pete, I think his name was?”

“Oh! You’re one of the new medics! Well, I’m one of the... other medics, please come in,” Denise says with a smile as she invites her into the infirmary, “did you want me to get Pete? I can if you want me to.”

Gloria chuckles and shakes her head, “it’s okay, I don’t actually start until tomorrow, at least that’s what Deanna told all of us. I just wanted to check it out here, if the doctor’s not in I wouldn’t want to bother him on his downtime given he always has to be on-call.”

Denise nods, pursing her lips, “you... actually worked in a hospital... didn’t you?”

Gloria nods but furrows her brows, noticing the woman’s drop in facial expression, “what’s wrong?” 

“Nothing... just... Pete’s a surgeon, you worked in a hospital, and the other medic probably has some experience in being a medic... meanwhile, there’s me, a psychiatrist.” Denise sighs, slumping down on the empty patient bed. 

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself,” Gloria says, “a psychiatrist is still a doctor, no matter what.”

“I’m useless when it comes to saving lives and in emergencies,” Denise looks down.

“A psychiatrist heals wounds people can’t see.” Gloria tells her, making Denise look up at her.

“Did you get that out of a book or something?” she asks.

“I think I heard it somewhere,” Gloria says, making the other woman chuckle, “it’s okay for you not to have experience in these things. When this all started, I barely had experience.”

“Really?” Denise furrows her brows, “but I heard from Deanna that you helped stop someone’s bleeding.”

“That was after the world ended. Before that, I would just watch the doctors do all the work since I was only an intern. The most I did was give shots and stitches,” Gloria explains.

“At least you still have experience with stitches... You know I planned to become a surgeon?” Denise says, a sad smile on her face, “it’s what I wanted to be but then... my anxiety acted up and then the panic attacks... and that’s when I got really interested in psychiatry.”

“I know what you mean, we probably have the most stressful and pressuring job there is now,” Gloria sighs, “but hey, we’ll work through it all together.” 

“I’ll just stand in your way...” Denise looks down again.

“Denise,” Gloria calls out, making the other woman look up at her, “I’ll be right with you, I just need you to try, okay?”

Denise ponders her words for a moment before nodding with a smile on her face. Gloria understood what Denise was going through with the pressures and stressfulness of being in the medical field. She’d felt it while she was an intern and even more so after the world ended. Gloria felt that Denise was a good person who wanted to do her best. She knew that with the proper encouragement and guidance, Denise would become a fine medic. 

---

Back at the house, Daryl was pacing around the living room, driving himself absolutely crazy. The others had been out for a few hours already to explore the community, leaving him at the house alone with his thoughts. He didn’t care that the people in Alexandria were watching him, eyeing him like a hawk and judging him. He knew they would no matter what, and that wasn’t what bothered him. What plagued his mind was him seeing another man hug his girl. 

Since Daryl remained on the porch when Glenn, Gloria, and Maggie left to explore the place, he was able to hear when an unfamiliar male voice called out to the siblings. He turned to catch the man picking up Gloria in a hug, regardless of her being visibly uncomfortable towards him, and seeing that made his blood boil. It took everything in him to not run over and punch the man in the face. Daryl trusted her, of course he trusted her, he just hated seeing someone who was not him embrace her the way he did. 

“Hey Daryl,” Glenn says, interrupting his pacing as he walks into the house with Maggie behind him, “everything okay?”

Daryl looks at him, mid-step and nods at him in acknowledgement. He felt stupid for feeling the way he did, but he really needed to know who the hell that guy was. 

“Yo Glenn...” he calls out just as he’s about to sit on the sofa. 

“Yeah?” he responds, looking at Daryl.

“Come here for a sec?” Daryl says, beckoning him over to the kitchen counter where he stood.

Glenn furrows his brow as he walks over to him, “what’s up?”

Daryl hesitates for a moment, biting his thumb nail nervously, “that guy... who is he...?”

“What guy...?” Glenn tilts his head in confusion.

“Don’ be playin’ dumb, tha’ prick tha’ hugged ya an’ Gloria,” Daryl says, frustration in his voice as his patience was running out.

“Oh, Jacob?” Glenn clarifies.

“Whatever his name is, who is he?” Daryl persists.

Glenn finally realizes what’s going on with Daryl and has to keep himself from chuckling, “he’s a guy on Aiden’s run team, used to be a cop before all this, but he’s not someone you need to worry about.”

“Ya know him from before?” Daryl asks.

“Yeah, we went to the same highschool, and his sister is Gena's best friend,” Glenn tells him truthfully.

“So, he’s yer friend too...” Daryl says, not liking this.

“I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend...” Glenn says, earning an eyebrow raise from Daryl, “I knew him before highschool because of Gena and he was in a few of my classes but we barely even talked. He was one of those jocks who always thought they’re better than everyone else.”

“Ya were friends with that kind o’ person?” Daryl asks, furrowing his brow in confusion, he thought that Glenn was saying he wasn't his friend just so he felt better about not liking the guy. 

“I told you, we aren’t exactly friends,” Glenn says then sighs when Daryl stares at him, “okay, long story short... he bullied me in highschool.” 

Daryl narrows his eyes at him, he knew Glenn wasn't the type to fight back, especially not in his teen years. He wanted to tell him that he should have told his older sister, but knowing how Glenn is, he wouldn't want to potentially ruin his sister's friendship with Jacob's sister. Now, Gloria on the other hand, Daryl was sure that she'd do something about it. 

“Gloria wouldn’ let that slide...” he says. 

“She wouldn’t... and she didn’t. When she found out, the next day she found him and punched him in the face,” Glenn chuckles at the memory then sighs, “but then that’s when he apparently fell in love with her...”

“What?” Daryl frowns at that, “what kind o’ masochist prick is he..?”

Glenn shrugs, “I don’t know, man. I just remember that he couldn’t stop bothering her after that... asshole even used me to get her to go on a few dates with him.”

“What?!” Daryl exclaims, he couldn’t stop the jealousy from exploding inside him as he registered Glenn’s words.

“He threatened to keep bullying me if she didn’t...” Glenn sighs as he looks down, “I practically begged her not to go and that I could take whatever he threw at me but you know her...” 

Daryl sighs heavily and nods, knowing how protective Gloria is over Glenn, she would have done anything to prevent Glenn from getting bullied, even going on dates with a prick. The thought of it made Daryl uneasy and curiosity plagued his mind again as he wondered what they did on those dates, or rather what that guy tried to do on those dates. Glenn seems to catch onto his uneasiness as he snaps Daryl out of his thoughts when he puts a hand on his shoulder.

“You don’t have to worry about him, though. Gloria still kinda hates him,” Glenn says with a chuckle.

“Ya tellin’ me not to worry about her ex who might still be in love with her?” Daryl asks rhetorically.

"Gloria says he’s just a guy she went on a few dates with to save my ass, nothing more.” Glenn reassures him “yeah, he might still be in love with her or whatever, but she doesn’t care. She cares about you, Daryl. And if it makes you feel any better, I approve of you, not Jacob.”

Daryl scoffs playfully, and he nods, “thanks...”

“No problem,” Glenn smiles at him, patting his arm, “also, let me know if you’re ever planning to kick his ass, I’d love to join in.”

Daryl snorts a laugh at his words and nods again, wordlessly promising Glenn to let him know. He felt himself more at ease after talking to Glenn, although he didn’t like that they would be living in a community with someone from Gloria’s past but he had to deal with it. Later in the evening, Gloria had come back to the house and she told Daryl about Denise. He was happy for her that she made a new friend at the community, all the while he kept quiet as he listened to her talk about her day. Daryl felt that he didn’t need to bother confronting Gloria about Jacob, he was a person from her past.

---

Next Chapter

Okay so! I know that Denise doesn’t actually appear in the show until Season 6 but I love her and she deserved so much more so I just added her here haha and then we have another new character (you all probably already hate him too xD) who triggered a jealous Daryl. Reason why I thought that it was best to add more characters from Glenn and Gloria’s life before the apocalypse is because it wouldn’t really make sense to me for Gena to come to a community alone without any friends since it seemed that everyone in Alexandria originally has a family with them. Also, I just really love writing Daryl and Glenn moments ❤❤❤ Please let me know what you think about this chapter and what you guys think will happen! ^^

And as always, I would really appreciate any comments left for me! I’ll be replying to any comments in a new post because this is a sideblog!

Taglist (please let me know if you’d like to be added/removed!):

@twdeadfanfic​ | @fandomfanatic97​ | @crossbowking​ | @watchmeaspire​ | @spidergirla5​ | @kamieshep​ | @letsstarsfalling​ | @molethemollie | @alicewinchester99 | @neilox | @womanup22​ | @jodiereedus22 | @theonlyone-meeeee | @theunofficialduke | @inlovewdxx | @delightfullykrispypeach | @mrsfortune1306 | @wolfkg | @funeral-7 | @wnygirl2012 | @alispaceme | @themihala | @aavocadocloud |  @polkadottedpillowcase | @felicisimor | @depressedfrog2 | @spacexkiddo0

[crazyyanderefangirlfan]

The Rabbit of Night Raven: Chapter 1: Demons in high places. Pt 1

A collection of drabbles of Valerie and boys, the story takes place after the Diasomnia arc.

"Read pages 46-55 for tomorrow's quiz, otherwise expect immediate failure and remedial classes. You are dismissed" "Meow." Stated a familiar elderly teacher and his cat. One-by-one students were standing from their seats and filed out of the door.

"Gyaah! Finally, it's over. But studying all that sounds so boring." Cried a familiar black and blue trash cat as he slumped over the desk. He felt himself getting picked up by a soft pair of hands whose fingers began scratching under his chin.

"Aww. Don't be like Grim. If you want to be the greatest wizard, then you have to attend class." He felt the fingers gently bopping his nose before swatting them away. Valerie giggled at the sight of Grim feebly swatting away her fingers. She opted to cradle him to her bosom.

"Don't treat me like a pet henchwoman!" He cried but purred at the sensation of her fingers gently scratching his ears. The girl internally squealed at his cute expression.

"Are you done babying him now? Come on." A familiar voice called out to the girl and turned to the source, her first and best friends in Night Raven, Ace, and Deuce. The two boys were glowering at the monster who was engulfed by the girl's bust, but luckily for them, the girl and her monster did not notice.

"Yes, I am." She re-adjusted her bag and walked with them outside the classroom.

"So princess, we're heading to clubs; don't miss us too much." Ace teased and playfully pinched her cheeks. Valerie grimaced at the gesture and rubbed her cheek once he was done.

"I won't, besides at least I can take a break from your lack of brain cells." She smirked at their indignant expressions.

"Hilarious princess. But you still have to deal with Grim." It was Ace's turn to smirk but directed it to the vexed monster in her arms.

"What's that supposed to mean!? I am the great Grim, don't you dare say I'm unintelligent!" He was ready to blow a stream of fire towards Ace if it weren't for Valarie scratching his ears to calm him down.

"Grim, if you start a fight, I'll limit your cans of tuna for 2 months" She smiled, but the cat monster saw through the girl's mask, a sense of dread blowing a cold chill down his spine. Defeated, he let out a whimpering "Sorry."

"Great, now that's outta out of the way, we can text you when we're done." The atmosphere lightened up as Deuce's voice, with the girl returning the comment with a smile, "I have a new movie we could watch, maybe later tonight?" Deuce finished up, walking up to the girl, he places a palm on her shoulder.

"Jack, Epel, and Sebek can't come. They said they got caught up with some dorm stuff, so it's just us."

"Tonight it is." She remarked, giving the two a peck on their cheeks as she playfully walked out, causing the onlookers to eye the now blushing boys with an envious eye.

____________________________

The brunette happily hummed as she walked out of the school, and as she made her journey to Ramshackle, her thoughts drifted on how everything was now.

It's been months since her arrival in Twisted Wonderland, and honestly, she loved every second here. Don't get her wrong she missed her family and friends back home and wishes to go back. But she secretly desired for the crow to give up on his research if he did any that is, she loved it here too much, and it was beginning to feel like home. Surely her loved ones can live without her...

Valerie shook her head at the ridiculous thought. What was she thinking? Of course, they would miss her, she has to stop those ludicrous thoughts, she has to go home someday. 

"Valerie, we're here." Grim's voiced snapped her out of her head. Apparently, she was so focused on her thoughts, she nearly crashed into the gate.

"O-oh. Thank you, Grim. I didn't even realize we're here."

"Tch, honestly henchwoman, what will you do without me?" 

She laughed heartedly at his comment, but before she could step on the porch. She overheard a crashing sound. Both students froze. Valerie could feel Grim shaking in her arms from how loud it was.

"W-what was that!? I-I mean, I'm not scared, but where did it come from?" the poor monster tried to brush off his fear, but it was apparent on how violently she shook in her arms.

"It came from the back, let's go and check." He blanched at her words and started to squirm when he felt her move.

"Are you crazy!? I mean, I won't have a problem fighting it, cause no one is a match for the great Grim. But you? You have no magic!"

"I know hand-to-hand combat."

"Even so, you'll be obliterated!"

"Oh, look, we're here." Grim had to do a double-take on her words. Sure enough, they were in the back of the woods, and lo and behold, a large crater stood amidst of it.

"You have no self-preservation." She didn't respond. Instead, she peeked inside the crater. But the sight left both the girl and monster were dumbfounded on what they've discovered.

It was a young man, he appeared to be in his early 20's. His midnight blue hair was in disarray and matted with dirt, his bronze skin was littered with various scars and wounds. An ugly gash was near his forehead and bleeding profusely. His clothes consisted of a white dress shirt, a red vest coat, and khaki pants were torn and stained with blood. He was also missing his shoes.

"Oh my gosh!" The girl dropped the monster in her arms and rushed inside the crater and quickly hauled the young man onto her back, indifferent to the blood staining her clothes. 

"Grim! Go back to the house and tell the ghosts to prepare a medical kit, and hurry!"

"Are you seriously going to take him back with us!? What if he's doing some shady business? Or some kind of criminal?"

"Then I'll have the great Grim to protect me. Besides, helping others is the duty of a human being, regardless of their background." Grim sighed but did what she told him. Not before muttering 'how a reckless human she was' under his breath.

Valerie huffed as she tried to balance both her weight and the stranger's as she tried to get out, which proved to be difficult due to how deep the crater was, which caused her to slip from time to time. But thankfully, she managed to climb up and run full speed back to Ramshackle.

  ____________________________

The door was opened once she got there, and the short ghost came to helped her carry the man to the couch. The ghosts and Grim were waiting for them in the lounge, the medical kit was on the table.

"Jeez, who did he pissed off to get such a beating?" The skinny ghost commented as they watched the two placed the man on the couch.

"Thanks for the help, Bennett." The ghost merely tipped his hat and smiled.

"No problem, kiddo."

"Gerald, please go to my closet and get some clothes. An oversized shirt and a pair of sweatpants will do." The skinny ghost saluted and went upstairs.

"Wilbur, please fetch me a bowl of water, soap, and a towel from the kitchen." The stout ghost nodded and did what he was told. Valerie painstakingly proceeded to remove his clothes. She winced on the number of wounds inflicted on his body. What did he do to deserve such a severe punishment? 

Her heart stopped when she caught the sight of his right leg. It was gruesome, it was a third-degree burn, the skin was in a ghastly shade of black, the skin was so dry and leathery that flakes were falling off. She nearly cried at the sight of it, but she pulled herself together. Now is not the time.

Wilbur was first to come back with the things she needed. He winced at the sight of his leg. She sent him a grateful smile and began her procedure. She gently washed his body, thoroughly removing the dirt from his body, before she patted him dry. She carefully treated his wounds and wrapping them tightly with the gauze.

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

"So... Are you planning to tell the headmaster about your discovery?" Bennett inquired as he watched the girl sipped her tea.

The residents of Ramshackle were situated in the kitchen, discussing what to do about Valerie's unconscious guest, and whether or not he can be trusted. Valerie, currently sitting on the counter with a mug of tea in her hand and Grim on her lap, petting his fiery ears. 

"Of course I am, and knowing that crow. He'll probably milk money from him as a reward because one of his students saved his life. Because he's so gracious." She stated as she sipped more of her tea. The sarcasm on her voice was heavy when she spoke the last sentence.

"That guy will gladly take money for himself, and say it's for the school," Grim chimed in.

"But still. I'm bothered about not knowing who he is. He could be a dangerous criminal for all we know." Gerald voiced his thoughts.

"That's what I told her! But no! She refuses to listen to the Great Grim and decides to be a suicidal maniac." The monster exclaims while waving his arms for emphasis. She flicked his forehead. 

"Grim, we can't just leave him there. We live near a forest remember? Who knows what monsters are out there." The stern look she gave made him freeze. Before anyone could utter another word, an unfamiliar voice made Valerie dropped the mug from her hands and spilled the boiling liquid on the floor. Everyone's heads snapped towards the lounge.

"THE FUCKING HELL!? WHERE THE FUCK AM I!?" The sounds of crashing furniture, broken glass, and vulgar words filled the atmosphere. Scooping Grim on her arms, they all swiftly made their way to the lounge, to find their guest on the floor.

It looked like a hurricane pass through. Furniture was overturned, pieces of glass were littered around, and the man was on the floor flailing around like a fish out of water. The blanket that Wilbur provided for him was now acting as a straitjacket.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! You've got to be bullshitting me!" He let out another flurry profanities, before noticing his bewildered audience.

"Oi Sugar tits, get me out of this."

They were truly surprised by the man, but for different reasons.  Grim was amazed by how fast he recovered and how he managed to get into that position. The ghosts and Valerie were... Appalled by his choice of words.

"Young man, you should not talk to a lady like that!" But he merely rolled his eyes, annoyed at the ghost's nagging.

"Whatever the fuck grandpa. So anyway, get me out of here." Valerie quickly snapped out of her stupor and gently placing Grim down before helping him. Carefully, she placed him back to the couch before untangling the blanket from his frame. 

"Thanks for the help, Sugar tits." Upon closer inspection, she finally noticed the details on his face but was too busy saving his life. He had lovely almond-shaped eyes with long lashes, his left eye was taffy pink, while his right was cornflower blue. His surfer hairstyle complimented his diamond-shaped face. From his sitting position, she can tell he could possibly be Azul's height. He had pointed ears, which made her briefly wonder if he was a fae like Malleus and Lillia. 

The man stretched his arms but winced. He finally took a good look at himself and let out a low whistle.

"Damn, the fucker did a number on me. But you did a pretty good job in healing me up Sugar tits, even if you did a fucking sloppy job at it." He remarked, flexing his fingers.

 Valerie frowned, what was with this guy? He was starting to remind her of one the pervs in and out of school. She counted in her head to calm herself, before asking the question that was in everyone's mind.

"Excuse me, sir, what's your name?"

He looked at her in disdain, as if she made a joke that so awful that she needed to shut up. She wondered if she insulted his pride, but, oddly he chuckled and slung his arm around her shoulder.

"Good joke Sugar tits. Pretending to know who I am hilarious." He gave another mirthful chuckle and brought his hands up to her head to play with her bow. But, she slapped them away before they could even reach. He sat there stunned, eyes wide and mouth gaping as if no one has done that to him before. 

Valerie's lips were pressed into a thin line, her expression was calm. But everyone in the room, including the heterochromatic male, could feel a shift in the air. The aura surrounding the girl was foreboding, and her eyes were locked on him, like a predator watching its prey to make a mistake and go for the kill. Finally, she spoke.

"No. I do not know who you are."

The silence was thick as fog, the noises within the house seemed more prominent as the rest of the residents stared at two, giving uneasy glances to one another. Grim, who has been with her since the beginning, has known what her anger is like. He shivered at the thought of her hellish gaze and silently prayed to the Great Seven to let this man survive.

Her opal-Esque eyes held burning fire as she stared down the man. Her body tensed up, legs twitching erratically, waiting for him to make any reason for her to kick him in the gut.

The man studied her face to know if she's joking or not. Once he confirmed she genuinely doesn't who he is, his curled up in amusement.

"The name's Amane Mania." She sighed, at least one problem is out of the way...

"So I'm guessing you want your reward huh? So what do you want? Money or a fu-"

Amane didn't get to finish and suddenly collapsed on her. Stunned, she peered behind him to see Bennett with a cane on hand and a mildly irritated look on his face.

____________________________

"I could have done it myself," Valerie grunted as she carried the unconscious man again, but this time to one unoccupied but clean rooms of Ramshackle.

"I know you could, but I couldn't stand his attitude anymore," Bennet grumbled.

"Yo, Val we're h-WHO THE FUCK IS THAT!?." Ace exclaimed. She turned to find her friends gaping at her in shock, more specifically at Amane.

"Guys! Don't be so loud, I don't want to wake him up." 

"H-Hang on I'll help you." Deuce scrambled to get to the stairs with Ace following behind, once he got there. He grabbed his legs and began to make their way through the hall.

They came across one the doors and she gestured Ace to opened it. Once they were inside, they dropped him on the bed and Valerie covered him with a blanket. Quietly as they could, they walked out of the room and made their way to the now cleaned lounge.

"Okay who the fuck was that? and why does he look like he went through a war?" Ace questioned.

"Grim and I found him in the back of the woods. He was laying on a giant crater and I brought him to get fixed up. Then he woke up and started to call me Sugar tits-"

"He called you what!?

 "And Bennett him in the head. You guys know the rest."

Deuce took a deep breath and tried to organize his thoughts, before speaking.

"Valerie. You mean to tell us you brought a stranger to your home, who doesn't seem to have any respect towards females and healed him?"

"Yeah, that's it." He sighed.

"Valerie, as much as I admire your selfless nature, but you should be careful with strangers. Especially when you get people like that and don't know their intentions."

"Come on guys. You witness me took down people five-times my height. I can take care of myself."

"What he means Princess, we don't know what kind of magic he does or what he's capable of using." Ace injected.

"Well in that case. I'll just use a potion on him to make him feel weak. Professor Crewel already taught us that so I know I can make use of it."

The boys could only glance at each other in worry.

Amane felt a throbbing pain when he woke up.

Grunting, he sat up and held his head. He hissed when he grasped the side where the was gauze wrapped. 

"What the fuck was that?" He mumbled, before taking note of his surroundings. 

He was in a bedroom and spotted a first aid kit near his bed. He gazed down at his body, he was sporting a black shirt and a pair of grey sweatpants.

He tried to get out of bed but hissed when tried to move his legs. The pain was agonizing. He pulled up the right part of the pants and perceived how heavily it was wrapped.

He clicked his tongue. The bastard really went all out, and he was going to bring the pain back tenfold.

The sound of the door brought him out of musing. The girl was back with a tray of food, two boys one had ginger hair and a heart mark while the other had blue and a spade mark, and a weird cat monster of her shoulder. There was clear mistrust on their eyes when they stared at him.

"Glad to see you awake." she offered him a smile and placed the tray on his bedside. He scanned its contents. An egg and chicken fried rice. He knitted his brows and faced her.

"You ain't gonna poison me, are ya?"

"If I wanted you dead, I would have just left you in that crater." She asserted. She sat down on a chair next to him with boys leaning against it, and the monster stretched itself on the bed.

"Besides." The monster spoke, a male by the tone if it's voice. "She's too much a goody-two-shoes to let anyone die. Unless they pissed her off too much." Amane raised a brow on the last part but said nothing.

He took the bowl and brought the spoon to his mouth. He hummed it was pretty good. He began to devour the whole thing, finally realizing how hungry he was. He placed the bowl back once he was finished.

"You're a pretty good cook, Sugar tits." He licked lips in satisfaction. The girl, surprised by how fast he finished the food, narrowed her eyes. The boys scowled at him.

"Could you just ask me my name, instead of calling me that?" The exasperation in her voice was transparent. He raised a brow, but his lips curled in a teasing grin.

"Why should I? When that name fits you so well." Eyeing at her ample bosom. He snickered at how red her face is. She was so fun to tease and seeing the looks on those guys was priceless.

"Ow! The fuck!?" Pain shot through his body, clenching his teeth, he found her adding pressure on his wounded leg. All with an innocent smile on her face.

"Oi Sugar tits quit that!" He let out another string of curse words when she pressed harder.

"You know what she wants." The ginger boy's deadpan voice rang out. Another yelp of pain came out when he felt she dug her nails on his leg.

"Okay! Okay! What's your name!? Fuck." He sighed in relief when she stopped but glared at the still smiling girl.

"Ugh. What's you're name?"

"I'm Ace." The ginger started.

"Deuce." The navy waved.

"It's Valerie, and this little guy is Grim."

"That's the Great Grim, Henchwoman!" She playfully stuck her tongue out, while Grim growled. Valerie returned her attention back to him.

"So. How are you feeling?"

"Besides having a helluva headache, and nearly losing my leg. I'm good."

"That's great. Cause you need your all your sanity on what comes next." This confused him greatly. He was about to ask what she meant when the door slammed open.

 There stood a man in rather extravagant clothing and a crow mask. As soon as his eyes landed on Amane, he visibly froze. Mouth hanging wide.

"No.." He whispered

"Long time no see Crow shit."

"Sir, are you okay? What wrong?" Deuce glanced at Amane who looked like he wanted to laugh. He ignored his students.

"You look tacky as usual." He flinched at his words.

"I see you’re as rude as ever."

"As if I care. You old crow." 

"The nerve! What would you're parents say about your attitude?'

"Probably nothing."

"Such insole-"

A loud cough broke their dispute, and turn their attention to the sole girl in the room.

"Headmaster, don't you think instead of lecturing him about how to respect authority. Shouldn't you be focused on his well-being?" She gave him a pointed look, the man coughed.

"A-ahh. Yes, of course." He cleared his throat.

"I see Ms. Kemonohito has taken good care of you. It warms my heart to know my students are capable of such compassion and selflessness. Ah-huh huh!."

Aman arched a brow while the other four just sighed, already too used at this display. Crowley quickly regained his composure.

"So please tell me, how he ended up like this?"

She told him everything from the beginning. Crowley nodded once in a while. After she finished, he had a contemplative look on his face, or at least she assumed it was one with the mask and all.

"Hmm, how strange." He turned his attention to students.

"All of you come with me for a moment." Crowley quickly stood up and made his way to the door, gesturing his students to follow him. They all stood up, silently following him.

"What was that about? You know him or soemthing." Grim questioned.

"Do any of you know who he is, or at least his family." He finally spoke, the serious tone in his voice startled them momentarily but shook their heads. Crowley frowned.

"Oh dear, this quite a predicament. To think he’ll be back here in school." He muttered under his breath.

"Just what so great about his family?" Ace prodded.

"The Mania family is an old crime organization who ruled Twisted Wonderland before Crewel was born. Though they are disbanded and faded in history, their influence is strong. They have many businesses, and still manage to have loyal followers who will gladly do anything for them, and he was a former student here as well."

This information floored them. To think this guy was part of a mafia group and to top it all that. Now Valerie understood why he looked surprised when she said she didn't know him. She jumped when Crowley called her.

"Ms. Kemonohito, I thank you for saving his life. I'm so proud of having such a benevolent and caring student." He cried once more earning annoyed looks from all four of them.

"Seriously. How old is this guy?" Ace grumbled. 

"However, due to his critical condition, and lack of phone. He will remain in Night Raven until he fully recovers." He gazed at Valerie, she frowned. She knew what comes next.

"Which is why you, Ms. Kemonohito will let him lodge here until he recovers. I cannot ask the dorm leaders due to their duties, and the infirmary is full due to the last Magift practice."

"I have no choice do I."

"Unless you want me to cut off the dorm's budget, then no." She sighed.

"Fine, I'll do it." He beamed.

"Wonderful! I shall inform him right away." He went back inside. Grim glared at his back.

"Grrrr. This again, whenever something happens we always get the short end of the stick! Why can't he be useful for once in his life!"

"The day he's reliable is the day I go back home."

Which she secretly hoped that it never happened. They returned to the room, Crowley was already finished explaining to Amane about the situation, who couldn't decide whether to be annoyed or amused.

"I can assure that Ms. Kemonohito is a gracious host such as myself, will surely make feel right at home!"

"Oh, I'm sure she'll be a great host. Huh, Valerie." The way he said her name, made her instantly wary of him. Even more when he turned to her.

His smile was borderline sadistic, and his eyes held a mischievous glint in them. Valerie felt a shiver up her spine, oh Great Seven, please save her soul. She can already tell that this guy won't make it easy for her. Ace and Deuce scowled at him and formed a wall between them.

"Splendid. I'll be off then." With a flourish, he vanished.

_____________________________________

"Still a weirdo I see." Amane stared at the spot where Crowley vanished.

"Yeah, you'll get used to it," Deuce assured, scratching the back of his head. He turned to Valerie.

"So. Still up for that movie?" She perked up at his words, but before she could say anything, Amane beat her to it.

"Umm. Hello~ Are trying to exclude me? How standoffish of you Ms. Kemonohito. What would that crow say once he learned that you are being unkind?"

He had raised a single brow and propped his face to his hands, all with a shit-eating grin on his face. Ace fumed.

"Hey! You don't own this house asshole! She can do what she pleases!"

Amane turned to him, sporting a bored look on his face as he studied him. Seconds after, he had a lecherous smirk on his face.

"Why hello~ I didn't get a good look at you earlier, but now I do, I gotta say you're pretty hot. Say, after I recover, why don't we booked a love hotel hot stuff~" He purred as he licked lips and eyed at Ace's bottom with such fiery hot intensity.

Ace flinched at his words and shivered when he stared at him with such hunger. Amane then turned his attention to Deuce, who also trembled at his wanton gaze.

"You're not so bad too handsome. Maybe we should do a three-"

Valerie coughed loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Uhh...Why don't we get set up the movie here, Ace go and help Deuce get the projector, while I get some snacks. Grim, you stay here."

The boys briskly walked out before sprinting away from the room. Valerie trailed after them, ignoring Grim's protests. She found them hastily getting the stuff, both having shaken expressions.

"What the actual fuck was?" Ace was carrying an extension wire and mini wireless speakers.

"How...How could someone be so...Shamless." In Deuce's arms was the laptop.

After getting everything they needed. Wordlessly, they made their way upstairs and found Grim struggling to get out of Amane's grip, who was squishing his pink paws.

"Aww, aren't you a cute little piece of shit~"

"Fgua! Put me down ya weirdo!"

"Ahh. So mean."

Ace snickered at the sight, he would have laughed if Deuce didn't nudge his ribs. After setting up everything, Deuce showed them the movie. It was a comedy, Cater suggested it to him. Then he pressed play.

It wasn't even twenty minutes, and Amane began to make licentious and snarky comments about the characters, and the general plot of the movie. He called them out from their costumes to their acting. The boys covered Valerie and Grim's ears whenever he made a perverted comment.

"Dayum~ Look size of that guy. Bet he's packing something bigger." 

"Seriously? How the fuck people find that funny? Even burning trash has better humor."

"How much longer is this movie. It's fucking boring!"

As much as boys wanted to beat the shit of him, they can't due Valerie holding a vice grip on their arms, a silent plead to not to do anything stupid, lest they get in trouble. They grudgingly oblige but cast resentful glances at him. After the movie, the boys were very hesitant to leave her but assured them she'll be fine.

"I dealt with overblots. I can handle a rich boy."

That didn't reassure them but eventually left because she reminded them of  Riddle's curfew. After waving goodbye, she was headed to her room, when...

"Oi Sugar tits! Bring me another pillow!"

_____________________________________

(A/N: I decided to make this a two part chapter)

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Downfall Of Us All: Chapter 12

Downfall Of Us All

Chapter 12

AN: I’m going through a rough time right now, emotionally and I’m sorry that I won’t be posting a chapter every day. Thank you to @jtargaryen18​ for writing this story with me.

"If Foster's assistant hadn't been snooping for information, on Project Genesis then Foster wouldn't be in this mess." Rumlow said bluntly, eying Pepper hungrily. She wasn't bad looking, and she had wonderful breasts as he pulled out the metal handcuffs. He restrained her hands, and Laura smirked in amusement. This would be fun.

Rumlow could tell help but feel aroused by the sight of Pepper Potts handcuffed to the bed, and he cupped her right breast tightly. He heard her moan, and smirked.

One of the HYDRA female scientists strapped her legs down to begin the process, he was going to enjoy this. He saw her wake up and grinned malevolently at her. "Hello Virginia, you're gonna be part of our experiment." He said amused, as he began cutting at her hospital gown with his knife.

Pepper's eyes widened, she jerked in the restraints as the knife sliced the gown up, over her stomach. "W-what experiment?" Pepper looked groggy, but she did understand that she was in very real danger. "Where am I?" "Don't worry about where you are," Rumlow told her as she slid the knife through the gown to just under her chin, grinning as he let the gown gap open down her body. "The experiment, well, let's just say it's not totally unfamiliar to you personally." Pepper's gaze bounced from Laura and back to him. Pepper squinted at her, did a double take. "Laura?" she rasped. "Right? You're Clint's wife." Laura shrugged nonchalantly. "Was." "What? Why are you here? Where's Clint?" Pepper's panic was a living thing around them, her fear nearly tangible. For Rumlow, the fear satisfied a craving. It was all he could do to contain the feeling of triumph as he watched the famous Pepper Potts, posed wife of Tony Stark, crumble before him. "Clint will meet the same fate as his children soon enough," Laura said coolly. "Not your problem though." One of the scientists reached the table next to the bed, opening a case he placed on the table. He opened it to reveal a set of injections of something that looked terrifying familiar. "Is that…?" The scientist, a small bald man, didn't even make eye contact with her. "Extremis?" Rumlow asked. "Why, yes, it is. I'm pleased you remember." Pepper shook her head frantically in denial. "You can't… Why would you… Why are you doing this?" Rumlow shrugged a shoulder. "I'm doing this because that's why HYDRA wants. Specifically, to you because you once had Extremis and you did remarkably well. You'll be our star pupil." "I need your help now," the scientist said, injection at the ready. Pepper fought as she watched the huge man walk around the bed to the other side. His grip on her arm was like a vice. He kept her arm flat against the metal bar, so she couldn't move it, smiling at her the entire while. "Just a few pricks," he told her, making it sound like she was overreacting. "Then a bigger one once he's done. Me and you will have a little fun." Pepper's mouth dropped open as the needle slid into her arm. She screamed as it burned its way along her arm, through her body.

"T-Tony will come for me," she warned them. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rumlow said with a chuckle. "That was a pretty bad fight. The slap across the face was a nice touch. I'm not so sure I'd come after you. I mean, you have a guy, a do-gooder granted, working hard to make the world a safe place for everyone, including you, and you're just a complete bitch to him. It's a level of selfishness that's just impressive really." Pepper gasped, feeling the virus burn its way into her body. "That's why I'm not going to feel too bad about what we do after these injections." Laura laughed on the other side. "You going to stay and watch again," Rumlow asked her. Her nod was the last thing Pepper saw as everything started to fade in and out. It felt like she was burning alive, from the inside out. The pain was intense and then he planned to rape her? With any luck, this time, the Extremis would kill her.

She could feel the burning sensation, despite needles being injected into her bloodstream. She could feel the fire burning through her veins, and cried out in pain. This could be happening to her again, it couldn't be. She felt tears stream down her face, she didn't regret how she'd spoken to Tony. If Tony hadn't gotten back into being Iron Man, then none of this would have happened.

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

The team refused to give up on finding Pepper, Darcy and Jane. The team had reluctant help from S.H.I.E.L.D grudgingly and were searching abandoned HYDRA bases in America. Clint and Grace both surveyed the abandoned HYDRA base located in Wyoming, it looked deserted. They cautiously entered the base, and Grace looked around quietly. It was like people had left in a hurry, there was hardly any equipment around the place. Clint cautiously checked the room and found nothing. He joined Grace and they both began searching the other rooms, when they came across a file. Half of it was written in Romanian, and Ukrainian. Clint couldn't make out most of it, but Grace helped him translate some of the words. He felt his stomach drop, as he saw Grace's face pale. Project Genesis. The project had been formed by Dr List and Dr Wolfgang Strucker, in 2014. The project's aim was to use Enhanced, Inhuman and Gifted women as breeding mares for HYDRA agents who had been part of Project Centipede. The file went on to file how many of the women had died from complications, caused by being impregnated by the HYDRA agents. Many of the women had died along with the baby, and there had been only one survivor. Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi had survived the procedure, she'd been captured in early July. Unlike the other women who had failed to carry the pregnancies to term, Grace had thrived, and it was believed her DNA had protected her. 'Test Subject 24 shows no signs of illness, or stress. The father of the child had been informed.' HYDRA also expressed interest in using Peter Parker, Natasha, Sophie and Bucky but dismissed Peter due to his young age. Clint saw that Grace was shaking slightly and gave her hand a tight squeeze. She gave him a grateful smile, and they put the file away as they continued to search. The wind howled around the base, and Clint pulled out his bow when he saw a blood trail leading down the hallway. He cautiously followed it, Grace behind him. And lying on a medical table, was the dead body of a young woman. Her stomach had been cut open, and her skin was waxy looking. She'd been dead for a few days.

"My God, Clint," Grace said with tears in her voice. "How many women have they done this to? How are we going to stop them?" Clint steered her out of the room. "Grace, we don't have to know right now how we're going to stop them. We only have to know that we will." Her beautiful face was drained of colour. "Clint, I'm scared." "I know," he told her, getting his comm ready to bring the team in for the body. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you. The team will keep you and your sister safe. I can promise you that." "And Bucky?" Clint snorted. "Steve damn near tore the Avengers apart before for Bucky. I would expect no less now. Besides, I think he likes your sister." Grace smiled at that, one small happy thought in all this darkness. "Need a team up here," Clint said into the comm. "We've got another body. If we can spare a couple of agents, let's sweep the grounds. You'll probably find the body of a child buried somewhere on the grounds." Grace's chin trembled. Clint wrapped an arm around her, trying to steady her. She was clutching the file so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white. "Let's get you out of here," Clint said. "Okay?"

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

Tony sat behind his desk when Clint walked in, Steve and Bruce waiting with him. "What did you find?" Tony asked. "Why the specificity on who was here?" Clint held the file, placing it down on Tony's desk. "Information Grace and I found on in Wyoming," he explained. "Most of it is in languages I can't read. The gist of it? Project Genesis."

That got Tony's attention. "Did you say Project Genesis?" "Yeah, reasonably sure I did," Clint told him. "Do you know what it is?" Tony asked curiously. "A breeding program to create super-soldiers," Clint told him. "The only one the Erskine serum ever really worked on was Cap here. Since they can't replicate his formula, they are taking enhanced and inhuman women, raping them, and forcing them to carry pregnancies that they hope will be a new race." Steve's expression was grim. "That's disgusting." "I asked for the specific people now because I don't want people's emotions to compromise them as we deal with this," Clint explained. "Compromised?" Steve asked concerned. "I even hesitated to have you here," Clint told him. "This concerns Bucky too." That got Steve's attention. "What about Bucky?" Clint calmly explained what they found. Aside from the body being autopsied at the moment in their lab, he explained the contents of the file. "Basically, only one woman has survived this procedure to produce a viable child," Clint finished. "Grace," Tony said out loud. Clint nodded grimly. "They will want her back," Clint told them. "And I don't mind saying that I'm emotionally invested because I'll die before I let that son-of-a-bitch Rumlow lay another hand on her." "They also had Sophie, Bucky, and Parker as viable candidates," Clint went on. "Peter?" Tony's face darkened in anger. "They ruled him out because of his age," Clint explained. "Bucky?" Steve didn't like that. "He's been through enough." "Agreed," Clint told him. "That wasn't why I didn't request him here. With Sophie being a target? I don't want him going off the deep end if they target her." Steve understood, but shook his head. "I think it will give him… focus." "I'll defer to whatever you think, Cap," Clint told him. "But I'm going to make my intentions very clear here. Rumlow? Is mine. Laura? She's mine. I don't want to fight any of you for the privilege of killing either one of them, but I will if I have to." "It's okay, Legolas," Tony told him, his expression serious where his words weren't. "I understand. For my part, I'll stay out of your way." "But parts of our team are targeted," Steve wanted them to understand. "That means we're going to have to handle things carefully. And Ross…" "Ross knew," Tony said, rising from his chair. "Son-of-a-bitch, you're right. He knew the girls were targets and that's why he put them on the Avengers Initiative. Bucky, he was theirs to play with for years. No offense, Cap, but that was a given. And Peter?" Clint knew that pissed Tony off. He thought of the kid as a son. "I want Peter looked after," Tony told them. Steve nodded his agreement.

"We won't let anything happen to Peter, Tony. Grace, and Sophie love Peter like he's their baby brother, and Lilia might actually blow up someone if they hurt her assistant." Clint reassured, Tony looked relieved and reassured. "We better tell his aunt, and put her into protective custody. Not to mention his friends, their parents never came back after we killed Thanos," Tony said quietly, sighing bitterly. Even though Thanos was dead, people had still died because of him snapping his fingers. It was something he still hadn't forgiven Peter Quill for, and why none of the team left them alone. Steve squeezed his shoulder in a sign of comfort, and they both decided to get the others.

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

Lilia had been busy looking through Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster's laptops, that SHIELD had given to her. Whoever had been on them, had not left any clues. She frowned when she saw that Darcy had been hacking into the old Soviet Union government files, she managed to download the files onto a backup USB stick. 'Project Genesis Candidates.' 'Natalia Alianovna Romanoff: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having been in the Red Room Program.' 'Sophie Anastasia Melnychenko Drăgoi: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having been burn from the successful Widow Project.' 'Grace Alexandra Melnychenko Drăgoi: Deemed suitable, after successfully carrying a child conceived from a HYDRA agent who was a member of Project Centipede.' 'Peter Benjamin Parker: Not a suitable candidate, due to his young age.' 'James Buchanan Barnes: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having the super soldier serum. Will be recaptured in time, along with the two sisters, and Black Widow.' The file went on to express interest in using an Enhanced individual known as Quicksilver, Lilia had no idea who that was. But HYDRA did want Wanda Maximoff, who was the only surviving female from Project Psyche. Lilia felt sick, as she saw Tony's name had been added onto the list, due to his genius intellect. It was hoped by using Steve, Bucky, and Quicksilver, and a man named Ronin that they could build an army. Hands shaking, she printed the files quickly and told her AI D.A.V.I.D to make sure no one hacked into the laptop. David assured her they wouldn’t and locked the laptop.

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

Sophie and Grace had been in the training room all afternoon but neither minded, Grace had told Sophie what she and Clint had found in abandoned HYDRA base. It made her feel sick and horrified at what these people did to those poor women. Had they done this to their mother, when she'd been used by them.

She took off the boxing gloves, and took a sip from her bottle of water, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She saw Bucky entering the room, and he looked at her quietly. "Tony and Steve are calling an emergency meeting, everyone needs to be there in an hour," he explained quietly, and Sophie could tell that he was worried. "Has something happened?" Sophie asked concerned, Bucky bit his lip and squeezed her hand. He didn't want to scare her or Grace, as Peter came over. "Lilia's found out something on Darcy's laptop, and it's not good." He said finally, his voice from. Sophie felt her hair stand on end.

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

They'd all gathered into the larger conference room at the compound for the meeting, Steve and Tony waiting for everyone to arrive and take a seat before getting started. Grace caught the concerned glance between Nat and Steve when she walked in with Sophie and it did nothing to bring down her already elevated anxiety level. Clint motioned her over, having saved her a seat. Joining him she sat down as Tony looked ready to get started. "Hey guys," Tony started. "So, thanks to ah, my –" "Lilia," she offered with a smile. "Her," Tony pointed to her, "we have some critical new data that we need to review as a team." "Starting without me?" Nicky Fury walked into the room to loom over them ominously, Maria Hill right behind me. "Just started," Tony told him, trying to reach his usual snarky level but missing it by a mile. Whatever it was, it had Tony rattled. That wasn't a good sign. "Lilia, why don't you…." Tony motioned her to the front. "Okay," Lilia told him, coming to stand next to him. "I was able to retrieve data from S.H.I.E.L.D from laptops belonging to Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. Unfortunately, it appears they were targeted because of their hacking efforts into old Soviet files. From what I can tell Ms. Lewis was able to retrieve files and download them onto a thumb drive. No clues were left as to who accessed the systems after they were captured. Whoever they were, they really knew what they were doing." Steve's expression was grim as he looked to Thor, knowing his friend's feelings for Jane were still raw and painful. "They are calling this program Project Genesis and it's a breeding program. They need to generate an army of enhanced, superior individuals," Lilia explained. "Which doesn't do them any good for what – twenty years?" Nick offered. "Well," Lilia continued, "you would think that but…" "But what?" Sophie prompted, knowing the other woman was struggling with whatever she needed to say. "Okay, look," Lilia explained, "HYDRA has been secretly working on some very interesting biological experimentation in the last few decades. None of this is really new, it just existed without our awareness. They are working with Extremis, which I know most of you have heard of, and is likely why Pepper Potts was taken. She's been the most successful project with the virus to date." Tony's face showed his shock. "I'm sorry," Lilia told him. "The one project they haven't had any luck on – so far – is age acceleration. The minute they figure out how to do that, their army goes from being a threat down the road to an immediate emergency." "So, we need to locate facilities where this is being developed and shut them down?" Steve asked. Lilia nodded. "Apparently Darcy was able to locate certain data files, including lists of possible candidates for the project. They include Natasha ---"

"I can't have children," Nat pointed out. Lilia took a deep breath. "Another part of their biological developments is the reversal of sterilizations. Even on females. Their plan for you is to reverse that and then breed you." The look on Natasha's face made Lilia's heart drop. To think they sterilized her to make her a weapon, taking away her ability to have children if she ever wished. Then wanting to reinstate it to cruelly use her for a broodmare. "They have also identified Sophie and Grace as potential candidates," Lilia went on, "particularly since Grace is the only experiment case to produce a live birth and thrive with the child." "Live birth?" Grace's eyes stung with tears. "He's my son." "I know," Lilia said gently. "I mean you no offense. Sophie was the result of an experiment, same as you, and they think she's viable along with Bucky who they plan to take back and Wanda who is the only living experiment from Project Psyche." Bucky's expression was closed while the sisters gazed at each other fearfully. "They eliminated Peter Parker as a possible candidate, for now, due to his age," Lilia went on. "But the minute they can age him…?" Tony threw in. "They'll likely re-add him to the list," Lilia said. "This is barbaric," Natasha grumbled. "Forcing people to breed. How is that scientific?" "It greatly increases the chances of a viable pregnancy," Lilia told them. "They are using their agents as fathers for the female patients. Many have been a man named Brock Rumlow who is working with a female accomplice, someone you all knew as someone named Laura."

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

Tagging list: @jtargaryen18​, @marvelfansworld​, @sapphirescrolls​, @queenoftheunderdark​, @nomadicpixel​, @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​, and @my-favourite-fics​

[eddieeatsass]

7 and 21 for reddie😎 only if you want to❤️

Sex Magic/Sex Pollen + Blind Date from this prompt list

This combo was so interesting, it really made me wrack my brain to figure out how to meld these two concepts together. My friend Jack actually helped me come up with this idea, so thank you for making us both push the limits of our imagination!

Read On AO3

The System had been in place for nearly a decade; the population’s first ever completely computerized dating process. A computer took in all of your data, scanning your life history, your future goals, your medical status, as well as having each client fill out a ten page questionnaire. All of that information was then used to narrow down everyone in their database, giving you your most compatible mate.

There were two experiences you could choose from; The Classic, which involved a regular blind date, and The Neo, which ended with the release of their patented pheromone gas. Clients who chose the later would get to experience the sensuality and intimacy that usually resulted at the end of a successful date. Clients were able to opt out at any time during the date, if they decide they do not want to go through with the final step. Despite that, however, the public still argued about the morality of the consent issues that could arise from this practice.

Because of this outrage over the program, The Neo got used less and less over time. What was once new and exciting had now taken a back seat to The Classic.

Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak were two of The Neo’s first clients in months. Of course, the company couldn’t tell them that they’d only been paired together because they were the only two participants available, so instead, Richie and Eddie went into a blind date expecting to find their computer generated soul-mate.

It was a bright, sunny Friday afternoon when Eddie approached the dating center. He was welcomed warmly, and after reading through and signing all of the consent forms and legal documents, he was lead to a room. The building he’d arrived at was nice, the lobby had been decorated in a way that reminded its clients of why they were there; to find love. However, the room Eddie found himself in was starkly opposite.

It felt like he’d walked into a hospital. Everything was white, and the air smelt of disinfectant poorly concealed with the artificial smell of roses. In the middle of the room was a small square table, already set up with a table cloth, a candle, and two plates of pasta that couldn’t possibly be fresh. To the side there was a bed, barely big enough to fit two people but obvious in its purpose. Eddie was just considering bailing on this whole thing when he heard the door open behind him.

He turned to see a tall man stumbling in, eyes darting around the room before settling on Eddie. He was accompanied by the same worker who had brought Eddie in moments ago, but she quickly left with a curt nod, shutting the door behind them.

The two men stared at each other for one very long, very awkward moment, before the taller man took the lead.

“Hi, I’m Richie, you’re soul-mate, apparently.” Richie stuck his hand out towards Eddie, a charming but shy smile revealing a set of slightly buck teeth.

Eddie grasped his hand, shaking it timidly before deciding Richie was decently attractive. Definitely the type of guy Eddie would try and pick up at a bar. He was pleased with the introduction so far.

“I’m Eddie-” His voice was abruptly cut off by the crackle of a speaker.

“You’ve got thirty minutes before the gas will be emitted. If at any point before that you wish to end the date, you may discreetly press the button beneath the table, at which point one of our staff will be in to get you. Thank you for choosing The System as your dating course of choice. Good luck at your happily ever after.”

The voice was monotone, the disclaimer obviously rehearsed and recycled for every new date they supervised.

Eddie was quick to stifle his giggle, finding the contrast between the person’s lack of enthusiasm and the idea of finding your one true soul-mate hilarious, but unsure of how Richie would take it.

Surprisingly, Richie laughed unabashedly.

“Wow, with an introduction like that, how could we not be excited.”

Eddie let his giggle bubble up, soothed by the knowledge that Richie thought this experiment was turning out just as ridiculous as he did.

“Do you wanna see how terrible the food tastes?” Eddie asked.

“Eddie, my dear, nothing would make me happier.”

The food was awful, but that much shouldn’t be a surprise. This was a dating service, after-all, not a restaurant. The meals were probably made in giant batches, left to sit out all day and only being stirred or re-heated when necessary.

They poked at their pasta more than ate it, focusing instead on the conversation that seemed to flow freely between them. So far, Eddie had found out that Richie had recently moved to the city, was an only child but had a friend named Stan who he considered a brother, was trying to become an actor, and had a pet turtle.

“So, Eddie spaghetti,” Richie said, pointing towards the neglected spaghetti with his fork and a self-satisfied smile. “What led you to sign up for this romantic excursion?”

There it was, the question Eddie had been dreading. He knew it was going to come up, but hadn’t quite figured out a way to explain without coming across as lonely and desperate.

The truth was Eddie had gotten to a turning-point in his life very recently, where he’d had to choose between his own happiness and the happiness of others. After years of letting his mother dictate his life, choosing his school, his career, his partner, his sexuality, he’d had enough. But how could he sum that all up without Richie thinking he was a loser?

“Uhm, I came out recently…” Eddie chose that route; not quite a lie, but not the whole truth.

“Hey, congratulations!” Richie cheered, clinking his glass of water with Eddie’s before taking a sip. The action caused Eddie to startle, unfamiliar with someone congratulating him on, well, anything.

“So, you thought this might be the best way to find that special man?” Richie winked, gesturing at himself comically.

Eddie nodded, a small smile secured across his features.

“What about you?” He asked, eager to turn the attention away from himself.

Richie raised his eyebrows, as if he hadn’t been expecting the question to be turned around on him.

“Oh, uh, well my friends signed me up for this actually.” Richie rubbed the back of his neck. “But, well I guess it’s because I’ve been moping around for the past few months. Bad breakup and all that, you know. They must have decided it was time to get me back out there, and thus, here I am.” Richie gestured to the room around them, bringing their attention back to the bed that sat tauntingly in the corner.

“Apparently sex is part of getting me back out there.” Richie added, trying to make a joke out of an awkward moment.

Eddie smiled a little sadly.

“Well, if this was your friends’ idea, you certainly don’t have to, you know, act on anything. There’s no pressure.”

Richie’s featured contorted, almost as if he was offended Eddie would even suggest Richie might not want to see this through with him.

“Thanks for the out, but I hope you don’t mind if I don’t take it.”

Eddie’s cheeks tinted pink, a bashful smile causing him to tilt his head down.

“You’ve got a cute smile.” Richie murmured, almost too quiet for Eddie to pick up, before he was suddenly changing the subject.

The half hour they had to talk went by quickly, but they still found the time to discuss their entry questions for the program. They found out that they’d answered almost everything entirely the opposite from one another, leading them to question just how the algorithm worked.

“I still can’t believe you’d prefer a night at an arcade over a horse-back riding lesson for a first date.” Eddie teased, rounding back to the first question they’d been asked on their entry questionnaire.

“Hey, I stick by my guns; horses are terrifying creatures and I wish never to meet one.” Richie joked.

“I’ll have to introduce you to my friend Mike. He owns a farm and they’ve got the most gentle horses you’ve ever met. They wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

The insinuation of meeting up again after this program didn’t go unnoticed. Richie’s grin widened before Eddie realized what he’d said, slumping a bit lower in his chair and bringing the water glass to his lips.

“You know, if you want.” Eddie added, hiding his own smile behind a gulp of water.

“Already introducing each other to the friends, huh? Why Eddie, I didn’t know we were that serious.” Richie drawled in a dreadful impression of a southern belle.

Eddie’s face was flushed, his heartbeat preparing to send him to the hospital, when the overhead speakers came to life once more.

“We are now commencing part two. Please get comfortable as the gas begins to take its effects. Under the bed you will find anything you might need to make this experience more enjoyable.”

The two looked at each other with mixed expressions, the tone in the room suddenly thick with anticipation. The faint hissing of gas filtering in could be heard, but after looking around they couldn’t find its source.

Richie was the first one to move, pushing himself away from the table and heading towards the bed. He crouched down, reaching under the low bed frame and blindly feeling around until his hand met a box.

Once it was pulled out in full view, Richie and Eddie’s eyes both widened. The box was filled with an assortment of condoms, different types of lube, and even a few sex toys that were still in the package, marked with bright price stickers that implied if they used them, they were purchasing them to be taken home after.

“Wow, this is really happening.” Eddie said from where he still sat stock-still in his chair.

“Only if you want it to.” Richie said firmly, turning to give Eddie a genuine look.

“I don’t think that’s quite how it works. Soon our hormones are gonna take control and we won’t be able to help ourselves.”

“Hey,” Richie got up from his perch and walked over to Eddie, kneeling down in front of him and locking on to his gaze. “I will not do anything you don’t want me to. I don’t care what kind of crazy sex magic this is, I can and will hold myself back, if you tell me to.”

The tightness in Eddie’s chest began to loosen at Richie’s assurance, or maybe it was loosening because of the gas. Either way, Eddie found himself feeling more at ease, more confident, brazen.

He rose from his seat and passed by Richie, beginning to strip his shirt off as he walked towards the bed.

Richie was frozen in place, heart beating quickly at the mere sight of Eddie’s back. He was all tan skin and freckles and toned muscles; Richie found himself wanting to trace every curve with his tongue.

When Eddie’s hands began undoing his pants, Richie shot up and strode over within seconds, stilling Eddie’s hands with his own.

“Leave some for me, w-will ya?” He tried to joke, dry throat causing him to stumble over his words.

They couldn’t tell if the heat in the room was rising, or if it was the heat in their bodies. What had felt comfortable moments ago suddenly felt stifling. Getting rid of each other’s clothes became both lust-fueled and an attempt at regulating their temperatures.

Eddie began finding himself noticing things about Richie he hadn’t before. His hair was not an even shade of black, but rather a meld of dark browns and raven tones. It curled up in ways that made you want to run your fingers through it, and it looked so soft it was tantalizing.

Richie was noticing similar details about Eddie, like the swoop of his tiny nose and the smattering of freckles that didn’t just dust his cheeks, but scattered across his forehead and down his jaw. Richie followed the freckles down Eddie’s body, eyes glazing over as he took in the delicious planes of bare skin. When his gaze finally settled on Eddie’s cock, pink and perky, he dropped to his knees automatically.

Clients had to be free of STIs to pass through, so Richie didn’t think twice before taking Eddie into his mouth. The warmth of him on his tongue matched the warmth Richie felt all over, and the weight of the cock grounded him. He found it easy to focus on that and nothing else.

Eddie let out an unrestrained moan, letting his head tilt back as his fingers wound into that tempting hair. It was just as soft as he’d imagined, and he found himself gathering as much of it as he could in his fists.

As wonderful as it was to look down and see Richie’s mouth formed around his cock, eyes shut as he sucked with fervor unlike any Eddie had ever seen (or felt), Eddie needed more. His body tingled all over, his hole throbbed for attention, and all he wanted was for Richie to stuff him so full he wouldn’t be able to walk out of this place without assistance.

“Are you okay with topping?” Eddie struggled through his syrupy thoughts, trying to form a coherent sentence.

Richie hummed questioningly around Eddie’s cock, sending a shock of vibration up his shaft that had him cursing silently.

“Richie, are you okay with topping?” Eddie tried again, this time gritting the question through his teeth as his fingers tightened in Richie’s hair.

He got the same response, and irritation mixing with arousal caused Eddie to yank on Richie’s hair, pulling his head back and leaving him slack jawed and staring up at Eddie.

“Are you going to fuck me?” Eddie asked, all composure gone from his tone, replaced instead with desperation.

Richie smirked, raising on shaky legs and pulling Eddie close. Eddie’s hands were still tangled in his locks, causing his arms to rest on Richie’s shoulders.

“Oh Eds… I’m going to fuck you so hard you’ll be wrecked for anyone else.”

Richie leaned in, capturing Eddie’s lips in the first of their kisses. It was messy, driven by passion and an intensity that nearly knocked them off their feet.

Richie began steering Eddie backwards towards the bed, keeping their mouths connected with melding tongues and swallowed moans.

When Eddie felt the mattress hit the back of his legs, he turned around and crawled across the bed on all fours, lowering his chest until it touched the bed so his ass was in the air. He reached back with both hands, spreading his cheeks and presenting his hole to Richie. It was such an unexpected lewd pose that it nearly had Richie choking on air. Eddie looked like a cat in heat, bearing himself completely to be at the mercy of Richie.

“You better make good on your promise.” Eddie challenged, his voice a bit breathless.

Richie grabbed a bottle of lube from the box provided and hastily joined Eddie on the bed, his excitement causing him to stumble momentarily.

Richie’s chest was tightening, a slow spring getting ready to launch him into the abyss of infatuation. He was already completely taken with Eddie, but now, with the addition of the pheromones, he felt completely consumed by his obsession over this boy.

Richie was quick to squeeze some lube out onto his fingers, surprised when the smell of cherries drifted up to his nose. He looked at the label on the bottle, seeing it was indeed marketed as cherry flavored, and made a mental note to test it later when he wasn’t so hyper-focused on getting as deep inside Eddie’s guts as possible.

Richie brought a single digit to Eddie’s hole, admiring for a moment how pink and pretty it was; like a small flower waiting to bloom. He teased around the ring of muscle, enjoying the way the skin twitched in response, before he experimentally began pushing in.

Richie was surprised as Eddie’s hole essentially sucked him in, pulling him through the warm channel until he was up to his knuckle.

“I… may have stretched before coming here…” Eddie admitted, wiggling back into Richie shamelessly.

Richie’s brain was spinning, partially from the gas but mostly from the sight in front of him. Eddie was taking him so well, so eager to be stretched open and fucked good, and boy would Richie deliver.

After a few pumps and twists of his finger, Richie was already able to add another. In addition to Eddie having already stretched himself, a side effect of the gas was that it relaxed you, loosening your muscles and making your body more pliant. So Richie was able to get three fingers deep in record time, having received not a single complaint from Eddie, but instead continuous encouragement and hip swivels.

At this point, Eddie was basically fucking himself back on Richie’s fingers, and Richie legitimately considered letting him get off just like that. However, Richie’s own length was feeling ignored, so he shelved that idea for another day.

Richie removed his fingers, soothing Eddie’s whine with kisses along his back as Richie reached towards the box for a condom.

“No, n-no condom.” Eddie panted, trying to pull Richie’s hand back towards himself.

“Wha- are you sure?” Richie asked, despite his heart rate skyrocketing at the idea of being inside Eddie completely bare.

Eddie nodded, accompanied with a little moan.

“I want to carry your load inside me for the rest of the day.”

That’s all the encouragement Richie needed to convince him. He let his forehead rest between Eddie’s shoulder blades for a moment, letting out a shaky breath as he tried to compose himself so he didn’t cum then and there.

“You are going to kill me if you keep saying things like that.” Richie huffed out.

Eddie wiggled his ass back against Richie once again, only now that Richie was hunched over him, Eddie was grinding right back into his lap, the thick head of Richie’s cock catching on Eddie’s rim every few seconds.

“Then shut me up.” Eddie challenged coyly.

Well, Richie might only last a few seconds, but at least they’ll be a blissful few.

Richie drew back his pelvis, lining himself up with Eddie and pushing in without hesitation. The resulting moan was wanton, filling the room with a small echo that bounced off the walls. Richie momentarily wondered if these rooms were soundproof, and tried to think back to when he’d been walking through the halls. Had he heard anyone? Were there people listening to his most intimate moments right this second?

Eddie’s tight heat clenching around him was enough to shake those thoughts from his head. If they wanted to listen, then god bless them, because Richie would put on a show.

He pulled his hips back before pistoning forward with a vigor that knocked a choked moan out of Eddie. Richie quickly set a tempo that had Eddie unable to keep quiet, making sure to angle himself in a way that he found Eddie’s prostate, and keeping himself aimed towards it with every thrust.

“Fuck fuck hhhhhnnnnnngggg- so full.” Eddie groaned, reaching one of his hands down to his abdomen and pressing in, as if he might be able to feel Richie within him.

“So tight.” Richie responded, petting down Eddie’s back.

“I don’t know if it’s the g-gas but I don’t think I’ve ever been fucked this g-good- oh my god yesssss right there.”

Eddie was meeting Richie thrust for thrust, the sound of skin slapping together the only thing that could be heard apart from their moans.

“That’s not the gas- fuck- it’s all m- mmmmmm- all me, baby.”

Normally Eddie would hate a cocky response like that, but right then it went straight to his cock, causing it to twitch and release a heady string of pre-cum. He could tell he was going to cum soon, could feel the tightening in his balls and the constricting of his abdomen.

“I’m gonna cum, Richie- ‘m gonna- ahhhhh-”

Richie reached a hand around to Eddie’s front, grasping his cock in a gentle hold and giving it the attention it craved. Within seconds Eddie was spilling over Richie’s deft fingers, soiling the bed beneath them with waves of his release.

It took Richie another few minutes to cum, fucking into Eddie’s overstimulated hole to chase his own high. Eddie didn’t complain, didn’t wince away or whine, he just stayed open and willing, a vessel for Richie to get off.

When Richie finally finished and pulled out, Eddie collapsed on the bed, too far out of his mind to care that he was laying in his own cum, or that Richie’s was dripping out of him.

Richie lowered himself down beside Eddie, catching his breath as he let his eyes wander over the man’s lithe form. He wasn’t sure what the protocol was after having sex-gas initiated intercourse with a stranger. Did you cuddle? Kiss? Was he allowed to ask him on another date?

As the gas induced haze started to leave their minds, they became more and more aware of the state of them.

“Do you think they have showers here?” Eddie’s voice chirped up after a long silence. It was smaller than before, shy, maybe, which Richie thought to be endearing after he’d been begging for Richie to destroy him mere minutes ago.

“I hope so. I’m not too keen on the idea of walking home covered in my own spunk.”

Richie heard a small giggle, and when Eddie turned to face him he just about stopped Richie’s heart.

The smile on his face was radiant, shining up into his eyes and directly into Richie’s soul. Richie nearly missed his next few words, too busy falling so hard he thought he may get a concussion.

“I’ve always hated that word. Spunk.” Eddie repeated it, scrunching his nose up in disgust.

Richie wasn’t aware of his hand moving until it was curling a lock of Eddie’s hair around his ear, fingers drifting down to his cheek bone and along his jaw. Eddie’s face fell into a new expression, surprised, but also inquisitive and searching.

Richie let his hand settle on to Eddie’s neck, thumb grazing back and forth over his jaw. He locked in to those hazel eyes before slowly, carefully, leaning into Eddie’s space and placing a gentle peck on his lips.

Eddie responded with a light press of his own lips, eyelids fluttering shut only for them to pop back open when the kiss ended before he was ready.

“Eddie…” Richie took a breath, stilling himself before continuing. “Will you go on a date with me? A real date?”

Eddie bit the inside of his cheek, trying to keep his grin from showing through. He tried to calm his heart down before responding.

“On one condition.”

Richie raised an eyebrow.

“The food has to be better than that slop.” Eddie nodded towards the table where their forgotten dinner laid.

“Of course, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie smiled before recapturing Eddie’s lips.

[parasympathic]

SELF PARA 001.

It isn’t until Thursday morning that Montgomery decides he has to leave.

He wakes up, and the emptiness of his bed is entirely familiar. The scent of someone else still clinging to his sheets is not. A moment that exists in his memory alone, because the man who’d spent the night next to him doesn’t know that Monty had woken up pressed so closely against his side. He doesn’t know that he’d taken a few precious seconds to memorize those quieter details that only serve to haunt him now. He doesn’t know, because he’d been gone by the time he woke up.

He spends too long holding onto those things now. Too long with his eyes crushed closed, head resting against his pillow and fighting the urge to reach out in the darkness because he knows no one will be there next to him. 

Then he gets up, strips the bed clean, and tries to take better comfort in the familiar brand name of his favorite painkiller.

It’s not, and never has been, the most effective one he’s ever had. He thinks that distantly after he puts his sheets in the wash, it solidifies when he finally cleans up the mess of his kitchen that’s been sitting there for the last day. Fruit that’s gone rotten because he left it sitting out, empty coffee cups, the only bit of breakfast the man had accepted from him, and it’s sometime after that, the last pieces of Emiliano cleaned away, that he comes to that conclusion; he needs to go home.

Friday is dedicated to making the arrangements. Ensuring someone is at the hospital in case they need a medical examiner, making sure the training schedule for his House is set for the week. He doesn’t tell them he’s going, not until he’s sitting in the airport Saturday morning and he finally texts Athena. On my way to New York. Be back before the end of the week. A moment of hesitation, the thought that he should warn her, tell her not to let Hugo too close to the Duponts, tell her to keep an eye on them, ask her if she’s seeing Emil because it’s not a subject he’s wanted to touch on or even think about around either one of them. He sends none of it, and then his flight is being called, and he’s gone.

The plane arrives at JFK, he calls a car, and then it’s the first time he’s been back in the city in over a decade. And it strikes him as strange, not that it feels unfamiliar now, but entirely the opposite. The towering gray buildings, bright lights and concrete, and something that isn’t warm enough to be nostalgia. A reminder, of who he was when he was here, even if that had only been some hollow husk of a person. It’s who he still is, when the rest of it gets stripped away.

The Lacroix family home looks almost the same as it does in his memory, tucked in among other houses just as expensive in the Upper East Side. The outside a familiar ivory shade, wrought iron fence barring the way, the familiar creak of the gate when he lets himself in. Motions easy and his stomach in knots, a sinking dread that he couldn’t remember if he’d felt before, but it feels like he should. It feels like a nightmare he’s had too many times, walking towards an empty grave that he knows belongs to him, terrified he’ll look in and see he’s already at the bottom.

It’s too late to run, he still has to look, and he doesn’t hesitate when he rings the bell. He still stands there and holds his chin up and feels a familiar insecurity starting to eat away at him, that when his mother passes judgement on him, he’ll only fall short of every expectation.

The door opens, and she’s standing there, and he hasn’t seen her in just as many years, but she looks almost the same too. A few more lines around her eyes and mouth that he knows better than to point out, a little more makeup like it can hide those signs of age. Dressed in some strange combination of bohemian and affluent, lace shawl around her shoulders, but the layered necklaces are decorated with diamonds, the mismatched braids in her hair woven with the same. He’s sure that every bit of it is entirely intentional. A reminder to those rich and powerful circles she’d forced her way into that she still holds his father’s name, his wealth, and enough influence of her own now, even though she came from nothing.

Anyone who thought that was all she ever was never looked her in the eye, because they are as cold and sharp as he remembers, absent any echo of the smile that curves her lips. “Montgomery,” she says. “Look at you.” She holds her hands out in some dramatic fashion as she studies him head to toe.

For a moment it’s almost fond, and then she shakes her head and steps back to let him in. “Your hair’s too long. When’s the last time you had it cut?”  

There is a personal and very selfish reason he’s here, one he can’t get himself to ask for or even consider the first day, because there’s something painful about the thought that he can’t look right at. Like he’s an addict on the verge of relapse, hating himself for every weakness, for crawling back here, for still wanting his mother to put her hand on his jaw and take away every piece of anger and hurt that’s carved out a hole in his chest that Vicodin won’t touch.

It’s too much of why he’s here, it’s also not the only reason, carrying his own share of multiple agendas. Not just to put distance between himself and Emil, or himself and Hugo, but in some desperate hope that he might be able to find some better evidence than his own suspicions of just what the man has done and what he’s capable of.

The title of doctor offers him a foot in the door to Mount Sinai, the title of one of Endine’s Head Significants pushes him past it. A lie on his tongue about trying to find family records for one of their initiates that’s still close enough to the truth.

It leads him to the records room, and it’s where he spends the next few days, and it’s where he finds Henrik Mortensen’s file. It’s old and hasn’t been updated in years, because the man hasn’t been here in years, but this time there’s a name, this time it leads him to his parents, and in those files he finds the answers to at least one of those questions he’d been looking for. The smallest piece of validation. Gifted parents, gifted sister, and then Mortensen.

A Void. 

Wine is his mother’s drink of choice, she presses a glass into his hands before she takes a seat next to him. She asks more questions than she answers, she asks him if he’s seeing anyone, when he’s going to give her grandchildren, a subject hedged around with a familiar excuse, that with work he just doesn’t have the time. He thinks briefly about telling her the truth, the words forming in his head, but he knows he’ll never say it. 

He doesn’t believe her interest is entirely feigned, a smile the moment he tells her about a change in title that he’s sure has less to do with pride and more to do with some possible leverage it might give her. Less interest in the hospital, because pathologist is harder to make sound interesting or noble in polite conversation.

But she is an empath, even if he came to the conclusion at some point that she’s also likely a sociopath, when one of the harshest lessons he ever learned was that no normal person was so vacant of emotion. Not enough to drain it so easily from someone else. 

It leaves him just as certain that it isn’t empathy that eventually has her setting her glass aside so she can focus on him. “You’re upset,” she says. It isn’t a question, which is for the best, because he doesn’t know how to answer her. Silence following, an urge to argue on the heels of that, but the longer it takes to smile back, the less point there is to even trying, so he doesn’t waste the lies. He just looks away, focusing briefly on the glass in his hand, and the glass she put on the table. It’s a red instead of a white, but the details have little to do with the momentary flicker of loss and heartache that follow on the heels of memory.

“Let me take it from you,” she says. That isn’t a question either, and out of the corner of his eye he sees her lifting her hand to place it on his jaw, the motion a familiar piece of his childhood. One that promises relief, a promise that the only good thing she’s ever done for him is to just make it stop hurting, and he thinks this is why he really came here, not for research, not for any greater cause, this is why he came back. So she could simply take it from him.

The problem, he finds, is her word choice. The problem, as he is so often, is Emiliano Pavone, asking him what he was taking back. And if his heart was the answer he gave him, it’s just one more awful realization that not all of it belongs to him anymore, not enough to let her have it.

He catches her by the wrist before she touches him, pulling his head back while she’s left frowning at him. “Don’t,” he tells her.

“You know I can feel what you’re feeling.” She sounds annoyed by it, which does little to ease the hurt. “It isn’t doing you any favors.” 

“I know.” And he does. “But it’s still mine.”

And it’s not.

It’s Monday before he finally contacts him, before he finally tells him he isn’t coming, because he’s never missed a Tuesday before. Whatever excuses he can give, even the very honest truth, that he’s no longer even in the same state, he still knows how it looks. Exactly like what it is; that it has everything to do with a disastrous Wednesday morning, and it’s the first time he wished he’d gotten more of his father’s anger, because it doesn’t last as long as the regret.

It wasn’t a promise he’d given him, but it had come out like one, a simple I will, swearing that he was going to keep trying to figure the man out. It feels like arrogance now, that he’d sat there and told him he thought he understood him better, and not even eight hours later he proved that he didn’t. 

There's plenty about Emil that he thinks is fake, different faces he puts on, and most of them trying to take the form of someone nice. Something he hadn’t been that Wednesday morning, and Monty had let it hurt, when he should have been watching for the pieces that were real. The man drunk and rambling in Italian across his lap had been real. Something messy and honest, and maybe it’s a delusion to decide that’s the part that matters most about those twelve hours, but he prefers to call it hope.

He writes a dozen different messages trying to think of the right words, in his notes this time instead of in a text because he doesn’t want to be caught with all his fear and his doubts playing out in a constant ellipsis. Something blunt and all too hopeful one of the first. I’ll be back the end of the week. Do you want to go to dinner with me?

It gets erased. I’m sorry, and I should’ve stayed, they get erased too. You’re right. I think this is a romance too. Scrubbed out just as quickly before he stares at his phone and then starts to type something more honest.  You're the worst thing that’s ever happened to me. You said that you love me, but I don’t know what that means to you. Only that whatever this is, it hurts. And you can change your mind tomorrow, but I can’t. So what happens to me if I let myself love you back? 

He takes a breath, he knows halfway through that’s nothing he’ll send, but he leaves that one there before he tries again. Je te veux means I want you. So don’t tell me there’s no ‘we.’

In the end he just gives him facts. He’s going to miss their date. He’ll be back before the end of the week. And then it stalls, because he wants to ask if everything’s ruined now, he wants to know if there’s any point to hoping for anything at all. 

In the end he settles on sorry, which he thinks describes the state of him too.  

It’s sitting on the floor of the records room that he finds something more than rumors, more than guesswork. It’s his father’s autopsy report, a thing he’d never looked at, never cared about. It means so much less than the corpses that he cuts open on a daily basis, because at least he tries to find answers for them. At least he can figure out why they’re gone, a question he had never really asked himself when it came to Nathan Lacroix.

A home invasion. That’s what they’d called it. It read more like an execution, two bullets put through the back of his father’s skull. It’s the only way he can really see the man dying, because it was one of the many lessons he’d taught him, one he’d used not that long ago even if it had earned him a steadily forming scar on his ribs for it. Any weapon used against a telekinetic became their weapon. So it would have to be from behind, it would have to be a surprise.

It seems incredibly likely now that someone already knew that.

He sits it down on the floor in a row, next to three other files. The Caruso’s. A year and a half after his father, six months after the disappearance of the Dupont’s. A timeline sitting in front of him that has a sinking feeling in his stomach.

He makes copies of each of them before he puts the files away, hoping that’s all he’ll need because it suddenly feels much more dangerous to be here.

The rumors surrounding Hugo’s parents are a little more useful than their medical records. Nothing he paid attention to when he was younger, because he didn’t care, because the man didn’t matter any more to him than any other, despite his role as the Dupont’s guardian. If his mother proves a little more helpful, it doesn’t ease the hurt that this is how he’s spent his week, this is what he missed Tuesday for.

She has cards in her hands, sitting on the floor across the table from him. He does the same, because it’s still habit to indulge whatever’s asked of him. So he plays Gin Rummy with a woman he can’t help but resent, wishing he hated her half as much as she probably deserves.

“What do you know about the Hellströms?” he asks.

Her gaze flicks to his, the briefest glance, something sharp looking up at him before she lowers it back towards the cards in front of her, smile settling on her lips. He would’ve missed it years ago. He’s paying attention now. “I haven’t heard that name in a while. What do you want to know about them?” 

“Hugo. He’s in Asphodel at the moment, so I’m just curious.”  

She hums, taking a card off the top of the deck. “Well, I’m not really sure,” she says, and he doesn’t believe that for a moment. Cecilia didn’t survive this long through ignorance, and there are still scars on his leg serving as a reminder of exactly what kind of business she’s involved in. “His father was caught up in some kind of scandal when he was younger. I think it was gambling or money laundering. Something like that. What’s Hugo doing in Asphodel?”

He shakes his head, takes a card off the deck, discards another one. The thought occurring to him briefly that he’d never mentioned to her that the Duponts were alive, so he doesn’t start now. "I’m not sure.”

“He didn’t say?” She takes another card, discards another, he watches her hands move and he thinks of Three Card Monte, and he almost tells her he’s changed his mind, she can have all this hurt after all, because he doesn’t like the ache that follows something so simple and stupid as a game of cards.

“He said,” Monty offers slowly. “I’m just not sure I believe him.” 

“Oh? Why not?” Said as casually as anything else, but it still draws his gaze, watching until she looks back up at him. A smile on her lips, a tilt of her head as she studies him in turn, and if he feels desperately empty inside he knows it’s from her. “Montgomery?” 

He hesitates a moment longer, considering the real answer, considering what she might respond to. Ambition seems the smartest bet. “I think he’s after my position.”

“I see.” She frowns briefly, something thoughtful in its place, but it’s more telling that the cards in her hand are momentarily forgotten. Voice a little colder, and he thinks that’s so much closer to the truth of her. “So what are you planning to do about it?” 

For a moment, he ignores the question, because it’s a dangerous one to answer either way. He ignores everything except the woman looking back at him, just as many rumors circling her as the  Hellströms, if not more. His grandmother’s drunken ramblings echoing somewhere in his memory, and he hadn’t cared enough then either, because it hadn’t mattered until abruptly, it did. “I don’t know. What happened to my father?” 

Her brow furrows, the smile fading, he thinks it’s supposed to be confusion but it doesn’t read quite right. “You know what happened,” she tells him. Shaking her head in the next moment, dropping her attention back down to the cards. He feels the press of it then, something like grief and regret starting to crowd into his frame, but it doesn’t belong to him, perfectly capable of recognizing the difference. “You know I don’t like to talk about it.” 

“Don’t.” He can’t help but snap at her, pulling back like physical distance will separate him from those emotions. He thinks he should drop it but he doesn’t, tired of not having answers, even if it means poking the hornet’s next, even if it means discarding self-preservation entirely. “If I told the Magistrate I think someone had him killed, would you talk about it then?”

“That’s a terrible thing to say.” The sensation of hurt grows worse, it presses against the inside of his ribs and he can’t breathe with it, which is funny because it’s what he wanted her to take away, and instead she’s just making it multiply. “Anyway the Magistrate already investigated. They were just thieves. A burglary gone wrong, despite your grandmother’s conspiracies.”

“There are ways of deceiving even the Magistrate. Telepathy.” He pauses, still watching her face, practice keeping his voice calm when he’s doing his best to ignore every awful emotion she’s trying to force on him. “Alchemy.”

There is no flash of anger, there’s no sensation of it either. One moment there’s an aching loss forcing itself on him, and then the next moment it’s gone. A strange sort of relief following it, even if it isn’t his own pain she’s taking back, just the illusion of her own. “I can’t believe you’re still angry about that. You healed up fine.” Her cards tossed down on the table as she rises gracefully to her feet. Grasping at her glass of wine and taking a long swallow from it. “I think,” she tells him. “It’s time for bed.”  

And he thinks that might be it, that might be the end of it, but the words come over her shoulder, said just as casually as her telling him to cut his hair. “Don’t worry about your position. Usefulness was always your best trait. As long as you don’t outlive it, I’m sure you’ll be fine.” 

[quirkydeaky]

Life is Real {Chapter Two}

ROGER TAYLOR

how will Roger cope when he finds that his new best friend,  whom he's falling in love with, is slowly dying?

.

HI! So I’m back and hoping this series will not flop, lol. A few people have been interested in seeing this, so here I am with what people want! If you want, drop a comment or send me an ask and I’ll add you to my tag list. Mwah!

{p.s - send me asks cause i want mutuals and my ask box is open! eek!}

Also... This story is a multi-part fan-fiction with heavy, mature themes. The Original (and Main) Female Character has a type of Cancer. The type will not be mentioned, but there may be some scenes with heavy implements of medication, treatment or heavily implied scenes at a hospital. 

I DO understand that this topic hits close to home for a lot of people, and if this angst-based series is not something for you, please ignore. Thank you.

.

W/C: 2.6k+

Warnings: Small angst, some fluff. Dialogue.

Main Characters: 80s!Roger Taylor, MammaMia2!Lily James (Lillian)

[we’re starting to get more into the swing of things, if you’ve stuck around. this is not into the full plot, but it begins to be introduced with dialogue, too. here we are with chapter two, babies! enjoy!]

Beyond utterly confused at what he had just opened his childhood home's front door too, Roger was left standing staring at a girl looking utterly starstruck, yet beyond upset at the same time. Roger was beginning to become impatient, but felt somewhat sorry for this poor girl too. She looked tired, eyes rimmed red, presumably from the stains her hot tears left, Roger guessing those tears formed were from the distress this girl was facing. Still no answers from this girl and feeling utterly apologetic. He couldn't just leave her there, could he? He'd feel rotten if he did that. "Look, I don't know who you are, but you best come in." Roger stated, opening the door wider and stepping backward, an inviting gesture toward the girl who only blinked repeatedly at his original gesture, until he finally got a word out of her. "No, I- no. I couldn't possibly, I'm sorry for dis-disturbing your day, Mister Taylor." Lillian mumbled, turning around and beginning to walk away, head cloudy with the confusion of her numerous thoughts. What were she ought to do now? She was never supposed to knock on some strangers door, asking for assistance, let alone that stranger being Roger Taylor, a drummer from a famous band who probably just wanted to visit his family in the peace and quiet. Yet here she was, walking away from his door feeling uncomfortable and even more distressed and in pain then before. Roger couldn't bare to see this girl walk away vulnerable, possibly in an even worse state than she was since the five minutes ago in which she turned up at his door, so as she reached the end of the driveway, he caught up to her in fast strides, and not wanting to startle her, grabbing her wrist lightly to be met with her turning around to face him. Lillian retracted her wrist instantly, and Roger thought he had gone too far but she was far more than comfortable to be talking to him when he struck up a conversation to make sure she was okay and that she had a way home. "Look, now I know who you are, Lillian... I'd like to make sure you get, uh- home okay." "It's okay, Roger. I just rely on public transport. The train and my own legs got me to where we both stand now." Lillian says, making a small, yet grand gesture with her thin arms, not being wary of how Roger had been watching her and her behaviour - constantly shielding her skin away from him. He got that he was a complete stranger to her. Hell, the two wouldn't be talking unless he made the bold decision to go after her in order to make sure she was safe, but he couldn't help but wonder what her answer would be if he were to question on why she was being so protective over letting a glance of her skin seep out of her long sleeve black shirt. With his mind was wandering with many thoughts, all those thoughts were drained from his brain when she made that grand gesture to explain her words, not noticing the slight slip up of her sleeve, Roger instantly noticing the thinness of her arm, how pale her skin was, the bruises over her wrist and how her petite hands and wrists gave easy access to show how thin her skin were, making her bones have clear pigment through her skin.

Roger couldn't tear his eyes away, responding wearily. "Okay, well... if yo-you're sure you don't want me to call a cab?" "I'm fine, thank you, but," She started, finding his eyes that weren't locked onto her own and continuing to talk as he still didn't tear his eyes away, Lillian becoming self conscious, "Stop looking at my wrists." She mumbled. Rogers eyes shot up, expecting to meet her own but only met with the top of her head as she looked down, making every effort to pull the sleeve down to cover her pale skin, already knowing Roger had a decent glance. "I know we don't know each other, but... why?" Roger questioned, nodding his head toward her wrist, not knowing whether it was too soon. Only, he knew. It was way too soon, but he only could cringe at his stupid question until his crumpled face turned sympathetic towards the girl who now looked up at him with teary and red-rimmed eyes once more. "Don't..." She began but was simply cut off by Roger. "Are you in danger?" He pressed, stepping closer and looking down to her. "No." "Tell me the truth, I know it doesn't seem right, but I can't possibly let you walk away if you are at the possibility of harm." "I- no, just- give me a minute." Once the words left her mouth, he refocussed his attention on her flinching arms as she dropped her bag from her shoulder, down her arms and placed it toward the ground, dropping it when it was close enough. Turning around, she stood still, taking a deep breath before walking around the colder-sack, the circular end of Roger's street where his childhood home lay. A coping mechanism. Deep breaths usually helped her forget about one of the many things that constantly flowed through her mind, yet the only thing that was on her mind was achieving the approval of Roger. But why? She didn't even know this herself. Feelings, of course. But the sight of the sky in front of her made her forget of his presence behind her, the girl whipping off her sunhat and ruffling her hair, combing her fingers through her soft, knotty hair, her mind in such a haze she forgot about the amount of hair she would be shedding by doing the simple action of combing her fingers through it; and with long and blonde curls and shedding hair, it didn't mix well with a black top. Lillian was still in such a haze that she calmed her rapid breathing and the urge to let tears fall down her cheeks that she did another lap around the colder-sack of his street, breathing deeply. When she returned to stand in front of him, she noticed how desperate he was to get certain words off of his tongue when she noticed what he was staring at on the ground. A decent amount of hair that had fallen from her head. "Roger, I-" "Save it." Roger said before looking up at her again, the deep breathing really not saving her from the current situation of tears leaking from her eyes. "I don't need you explaining things to me if you don't want to. I'm sure enough people know, and I'm definitely sure you don't want some famous drummer added to the list." But something struck a course of blood through her veins in that moment. A warm, fuzzy feeling, one she hadn't experienced in a while. A while being a few years. It was an odd and unfamiliar feeling, yet something was urging her to at least try to keep this drummer in her life, as if it was important that even if she were not to tell him what was going on, that for some reason, he may need her too. Maybe they needed each other, just two people here accidentally met each other in need of a stranger. In need of each other. "Roger, I want you to know." "You... what?" He asked, confused at her sudden positive attribute to the conversation. "We've known each other not even half an hour, love, you couldn't possibly need someone like me to know what's your troubles are in life..." "Maybe I do, Roger." "Do you?" He asked, only hesitantly. "Maybe I don't need you to know, but maybe I just need you, because something inside me is really telling me that maybe these strangers," She spoke, gesturing between the two of them as Roger locked his eyes on hers. "Almost completely irrelevant to each other's lives... somehow need each other." "I don't see your point-" "I know this sounds ridiculous, but... why do I have this feeling that if I were to somehow convince you I'm not some... crazed fan, I suppose, begging for your sympathy, that I were to keep you in my life, that at one point or another we'd always have someone there for us? Because-" Roger didn't know how these next words came out of his mouth, but he knew that it really did finally make sense to him. "Because we've never had someone before?" He stated softly, cocking his head to the side as if to ask for approval, double checking he was correct after his brain registered what he had actually said. "Well, yeah. Read my mind actually." Lillian said with a shrug, coaxing Roger to shrug after her making her crack a smile which made his insides flutter at the sight, something he rarely saw of many people these days. Maybe he did need her. Seeing that smile made his attitude lift a little, his insides melting at the slightly younger girl. If this really was meant to happen, him and Lillian, a friendship where they would have each other... then he could finally begin to understand his own problems because he finally would have someone supporting him. He's not to say that Brian and John haven't been supporting him, because they had... really, but some things were only meant for those special types of people you came across on a rare occasion. This rare occasion occurring. This rare occasion meaning Lillian. But why was it a random stranger that had the nerve of uncertainty come across her in a confused state to knock on someone's door in need of help? Why was the random stranger, Lillian, being the person that the universe was telling him to take under his wing to support her for reasons he didn't even know yet? "Well, I can tell your not some crazed fan..." He began with a chuckle as Lillian raised her eyebrows in question. "How so?" She said, clicking her tongue in thought. "I could be not just some crazed fan, maybe some crazed serial killer, and you'd never know." "Well, you knocked on my door, vulnerable, you have't shown almost any sign of interest into getting into bed with me and you haven't asked for an autograph." He stated before quickly adding, "You also don't have a weapon." "But I still somehow got your attention?" She asked, eyes gazing into his blown, blue ones. "Well, yeah. You knocked on my door for a reason, so here's where we start, I guess. I'm Roger. Roger Meddows Taylor." He says, sticking his hand out to shake. "Lillian Grace Reynolds." She repeats back to him after his introduction, placing her fragile hand in his expecting a handshake but received a somewhat gentle yet forceful pull into his chest, his arms coming around her into a hug. "You needed more than a handshake, I can tell." "You're definitely right, Roger." She said, arms looping around his torso. "Thank you for coming up with this idea," Roger mumbled from above her as he towered over her with a height of 5'10" while she stood at 5'5". "You don't know how much I'm going to need you." "Thank you for agreeing with me on this, I don't think you know how much I'm going to need you." She said, looking up at him as the two broke away from the hug. "So... is this where strangers with as little as an introduction of names have agreed to basically become best friends because they're desperate for support?" "Well done." She said with a shrug before picking up her bag once more. "Do you have a pen? I'll write my number down so we can stay in contact, I need to head home now,'s getting it late." "Just a second." Roger said before rushing back inside and reappearing less than three minutes later with a backpack on his back, sunglasses on his head and car keys jingling in his hand. "Let's go!" "What? Aren't you visiting your family?" "Been doing that all week, I'm heading back home - London, and it's Sunday afternoon. One, if we go, we'll make it before the traffic," He begins, unlocking the car and throwing his bag in. "And two, please tell me you live in the main part of London." He begs, moving to stand on Lillian's side with her car door open. Lillian giggles while shaking her head. "I do," She says, but continues. "Although, we met a little less than an hour ago. Should I really be getting into a car with you?" "I mean, I know this sounds ridiculous, but, yes? I mean-" "And why's that?" She interrupts. "Well, this- thing, friendship," Roger says, gesturing between the two before opening the car door wider. "We need to trust each other. I want this to last, I really need someone like you in my life." "You're not wrong." "I'm not really, am I?" "I guess not." She replied, stepping into the car and sitting down, muttering a quiet 'thank you' as he begins to pull the seatbelt so it's within arms reach. Running over to his side after shutting the door, he started the engine before even sitting down properly for a hot second. Putting his seatbelt on and turning the radio low enough so the music is still loud enough for listening and singing along, but also quiet enough so they can have a deep and meaningful conversation, he places on hand on the steering wheel and uses his other to grasp hers in his hand. Placing a small kiss on the back on her hand making a small shade of a pink flush to her pale cheeks, he starts talking once more after pushing down the hand break. "Right, so tell me everything about you. I want to know-" "Do I really have to start?" She whines, fumbling with her fingers in her lap and looking down. "Yes. I want to know everything important in advance so I can discover all the other small things about you during the rest of this extraordinary friendship!" He exclaims, drumming a beat on the steering wheel as he turns onto the main street. "We have a whole loves, 'til we're old and grey to find all the small things about each other, don't we? So, off you go, tell me about you." Lillian pauses in thought, making the two deal with silence. It's far from awkward, but she hums a tad to fill it anyway - just as she thinks. He probably just thinks she's thinking about all the possible things she's wanting to tell him, probably expecting there to be positive and exciting. But all she's thinking is about one of the last things he said; 'we have a whole loves, 'til we're old and grey to find all the small things about each other, don't we?' He might, but does she? No. Not at all.

TAG LIST: @rogerinathehystericalqueen @toger-raylor @jennyggggrrr @xox-talia-xox​  @hottestofspaces @stormtrprinstilettos @devil-in-those-eyes @redspecialty​ @brian-roger-deaky-and-fred​ @ogrogerbattle​ @im-addicted-to-queen​ @killerqueenbucky​ @xgoingdownx​ @benhardyisdaddy @luvborhap @loveandbeloved29

WANT TO BE ADDED TO MY TAG LIST? SEND AN ASK OR A MESSAGE! 

[beepbeeprichiellc]

Wild Flowers

Part 1, Part 2. 

*Couldn’t help myself, not really a series but there I just loved this idea I had to do a part 3. I loved it, and fuck...it’s so sad.*

The weather had stalled out in between seasons. There was a blistering wind that came with the sunrise but faded by mid morning. Pumpkins-that Beverly had been so adamant about carving-were now withering on their front porch, their faces twisted and grotesque. All of leaves had almost all fallen, dying on the cold earth as a symbol of things yet to come. Stores were just now displaying their Christmas decor, making Richie shift in his own skin. 

It had been six months since Eddie’s last letter. 

Six months since he had seen that elegant hand writing, read the words that pored onto the paper and saw that faithful ‘love Eds’. He had known that this was coming, with Eddie’s company being on the move the soldiers had no time to write to their loved ones. Eddie had told him, warned him and yet there was a longing that begged to be tamed. There were news stories of platoons being captured and tortured by the enemy and every night Richie prayed that Eddie was safe. 

Well, begged was more like it. 

Things were tense in the house, his friends walking on eggshells around him. It was a wonder why they put up with his outbursts and frustrations, supporting him in any way they could. What hurt the most was that none of them truly understood the pain he was in, neither Stan or Beverly or Ben having to worry about the thing he did. Never worrying if today he would receive a call telling him that the love of his life was dead, or worrying that Eddie wouldn’t even bother to come to the farm if he did come back to the sates. Worrying about the body count coming in in waves, the horror stories soldiers told on the news, the fight to end this meaningless war. 

Ben had left an hour before, needing to get to town before the grocery store closed so that Stan could finish dinner. The others were merely lounging around, waiting for his return with only the small hum of the news floating between them. Richie sat with his eyes glued to the names that crossed the screen, men who had died that week across the sea. After they were done he could breath again, not having seen his lovers name. 

There were headlights in their front window, signaling his return and Beverly took it upon herself to meet him at the door. Her face twisted the moment the barrier was open, a question coming out in a hushed voice so that the others could not hear. What came next was Ben, followed by a unfamiliar solider who wore a thin and worrisome face. 

Their guest had obvious seen better days, his hair shaved short as to expose a healing wound, his uniform worn and dirty as if he had walked cross country to get here. Even with all that it was the eyes that weighed him down, the darkness that swam in the grey pools was concerning and frightening at the same time. Richie looked at him, really looked and felt a sense of reality punch him in he gut. If this was what was coming home, what in the hell was staying over here? 

“This is Bill, I found him in town asking around for you, Richie.” Ben explained, offering a sad smile. “He uh-he says he knows Eddie.” 

“Eddie?” Richie repeated, his heart jumping into his throat. “Y-you know Eddie?” 

“I-I do.” Bill stuttered out, sounding unsure of his own voice. “H-h-he was muh-my muh-medical officer. We w-w-worked to-ge-gether.” The stutter was bad, so bad that it was almost impossible to understand what he was saying. This left a sour taste in the air, a question that they all wanted to ask but knew it was not their place to do so. Bill must have sensed this because he added, “Suh-sorry about th-the stutter. I was ne-near a land mi-mined explosion and got sc-scrap metal in muh-my head.” His long finger pointed to the patched spot on the side of his head, “Th-they said I-I’m luh-lucky to be a-alive. Th-that if E-E-Eddie hadn’t been muh-my medical officer I wo-would be s-six fee-feet under.” 

“Oh.” Richie whispered, taken aback by the information. “Okay, why are you looking for me? Is Eddie okay, are you here to tell me he’s-” But there was no finishing, no end to what he was asking because he was afraid of the answer that he would receive if he did say that faithful word. Stan’s hand was on his shoulder, supporting him and if it weren't for that alone, he would crumble. 

“H-he was oh-okay the last t-t-time I saw him.” Bill said, understanding the question fully. “A-alive and f-f-fighting.” 

A weight was lifted from Richie’s shoulders, making him feel a thousand times lighter. “That’s my Eds.” He mumbled, shaking his head and trying his best not to cry in relief. “He’s a fucking fire cracker.” 

“I a-a-agree.” Bill replied, smiling. “I c-came loo-looking for you be-because of what E-Eddie had told m-me. He wo-wouldn’t shut up a-about you, about h-how amazing yuh-you were and h-h-how you b-bought this h-house for him a-a-and your freinds a-and fuh-fuck -” He laughed, the noise coming deep from within as if reliving a memory. “I d-don’t th-think I’v e-ever seen anyone s-so in luh-love.” 

Richie didn’t know what to say. His face flustered in a mixture of embarrassment and pride. Eddie, it seemed. hadn’t forgotten him one bit. Even with a ocean separating them they were just as strong as before. “Is that what you came here to tell me? That Eddie loved me?” 

“N-no.” Bill shifted his weight from one foot to another, awkwardly avoiding eye contact as shame covered every ounce of his face. “A-actually, I c-c-came here to-well uh-I j-just.” He let out a hot breath, his shoulders slumping in defeat as he muttered. “E-Eddie always t-t-told me th-that if I had n-no where e-else to g-g-go you and yuh-your friend w-would be th-there to he-help and as it t-turns out m-my brother was killed o-over in Vie-Vietnam. My p-parents d-don’t know h-how to d-eal with th-that and with muh-my st-stutter and th-they well-” 

“Kicked you out.” Stan finished with pain in his voice. 

Bill nodded, biting his bottom lip as to keep it from trembling. “Th-they well, y-yeah basically. S-so I remembered wh-what E-E-Eddie had told m-me and I buh-boarded a train from N-New York and w-w-well th-that’s wh-when Ben f-found me asking f-for yuh-you.” 

“You are welcome to stay as long as you would like.” Beverly interjected, knowing that she was speaking for all of them. “A friend of Eddie’s is a friend of ours.” 

Bill was beaming, his grin spreading the entire length of his face. “Th-thank you so muh-much, you h-have no i-idea how mu-much this me-means. I c-can’t-express h-how much-” The rest of the sentence ran away from him, his words becoming incomprehensible making tears build up along his glasses. 

“It’s no problem, man.” Richie said, stepping forward and patting Bill on his shoulder in a brotherly way. “It’s what we do, we look out for one another” 

“C-can you d-do one muh-more thing for m-me?” Bill asked, wiping at his eyes. “I kn-know it’s s-s-sounds stupid but E-Eddie t-told me you pl-played the guh-guitar? D-Do you m-mind if you p-p-lay for me? G-Guh-Georgie was learning when he-he-” 

There was another shooting pain in Richie’s heart, understanding that Georgie was the brother Bill had lost in the war. He agreed instantly, accepting the interment  that Ben retrieved from the other room. As Richie sat down the others took their usual place on the couch, Bill siting down at his feet like an anxious child waiting for a bedtime story. 

When Richie played, the music took him away to another world. A world where he and Eddie had never been separated, where the war did’t exist and he was happy to live the life he chose. The notes floated into the air, creating a masterpiece with the tempo and tune. Richie began to sing, something he hardly ever did anymore. His throat was raspy and his tuning was off but the emotion that dripped from his lips was gut wrenching. 

Beverly closed her eyes and leaned into her fiance who held her close. Stan was relaxed into the recliner, bobbing his head along with the music and Bill was weeping as he melted into the carpet. It was all wrong and so right at the same time. The only thing that would make this any better, any more sweet would be the missing boy who was still fighting in another country. Richie could feel his presence, feel his love that kept pushing him forward and rekindled his hope. 

They would be together some day.

Someday, but not today. 

Not tonight.

[alabasterswriting]

In A House Without Doors

Hello! This was written for @elevenknope who came up with the idea, and @itcouldbendoritcouldbreak and @1980s-jean-ralphio who both came up with the idea of El’s room and Mike not wanting to leave Will’s side. I hope you guys like it! Thank you for letting me use your brilliant minds! Enjoy!

Hawkins National Laboratory was too sterile for its own good.

The cloying scent of antiseptic and overpowering blast from the air conditioner were more than enough to set Mike’s teeth on edge as he sat at Will’s bedside. It was cold. There was a blanket across his lap that was far too thin and his sweater did little to keep out the chill. Idly, he wondered why all medical facilities found it necessary to freeze their occupants to death. Did they think it was funny? Were they trying to grab more patients by inducing hypothermia? It seemed like such an unwarranted use of funding that could have easily gone towards providing more comfortable furniture. His chair, for instance, was a rickety old thing, cushioned only by cheap styrofoam covered in plastic, and his butt ached from the stiffness. He’d long stopped being able to process anything from his fingers.

But that part wasn’t from the chill.

Will’s grip was vice-like - a trembling, desperate attempt to keep hold of something, and Mike wasn’t about to tell him to let go. If anything, he held on just as eagerly, hoping to transfer what little body heat he could manage to his friend in an effort to induce some type of coloring other than chalk. Will was nothing more than a still-breathing corpse. 

They were alone.

For the first time in what felt like years, the room was devoid of other people. It was almost a relief to be free of the questions and the shouting and the nonstop conversations he wasn’t allowed to have a voice in, but with that loss came the all-too unsettling void of sound only broken by the beeping of Will’s heart monitor. Mike would have been tempted to turn it off if doing so wouldn’t bring a stampede of people back into the room.

He’d much rather be alone with Will than surrounded by adults who couldn’t understand that the more incomprehensible words tossed into the aether the more terrified Will got. Mike wasn’t about to put his friend through that. He already had enough shit on his plate.

“Mike?” Will’s rasping call snapped his attention away from his discomfort and back into the real world.

Condensation had gathered along the inside of Will’s oxygen mask, and Mike struggled to smile as he leaned in. God, it was so hard to hear him. “Yeah, Will? I’m still here.”

Will smiled - tremulous, as if he had to put in all his energy just to make the effort. “I-I know. I c-can feel your h-hand.”

“Heh, is it warm?” Under normal circumstances, Mike would have made a joke about how at least one of them could, but Will was the type of person who would instantly let go after that, and Mike knew Will needed the connection more than he needed the circulation.

The smaller boy nodded. “Y-yeah. Really w-warm.”

“Good. I’d turn off the air conditioning, but knowing me I’d probably set off some sort of alarm.” 

Will’s eyes brightened, overshadowing the fog for just a moment, and a tiny weight lifted from Mike’s chest. “Y-you would.”

“And they’d definitely throw me out after that,” he continued, hoping to keep the joke alive.

“Can’t h-have that.”

“Nah,” Mike shook his head. “So holding hands is really the best we’re going to get.”

“I-I don’t m-mind. It’s nice.”

Nice. Mike had to swallow back bile. He could see the way Will’s body quivered under the blanket. His friend was in agony. It wasn’t hard to notice, and the doctors (the horrible, evil doctors who didn’t have an ounce of compassion anywhere in their horrible, evil bodies) refused to give him anything for the pain, citing they didn’t know what type of effect the medicine would have on him.

Bullshit, Mike hissed in the back of mind. They just wanted to study him. They didn’t want Will to get better because if Will got better they would have to let him leave, and if Mike knew anything it was that the scientists of Hawkins Lab never let anyone of interest leave. No, they locked them away and kept them separated from their friends and family and any inch of happiness and - no. Stop.

It wouldn’t happen. Not to Will. He’d never let it happen to anyone else. Will wouldn’t be like-

“Mike?” Will shook his hand weakly. “A-are you okay?”

Shit, he really had to work on controlling himself better. He tossed Will another smile, hoping it looked real. “Yeah, I’m okay. How ‘bout you?”

Will shrugged one shoulder. The sleeve of his hospital gown pulled awkwardly to reveal a bony shoulder. “O-okay,” but his body must have chosen that moment to remind him that he was anything but because his face contorted in obvious pain and he sucked in a whistle of air through his teeth.

His grip tightened.

“Will?” Mike half-stood from his chair. He was ready to sprint across the hall and grab a doctor if need be, no matter how convinced he was of their malicious intentions. 

An eternity of harsh breathing passed before Will finally shook his head and relaxed his hold. “I-I’m alright. Really,” he added upon seeing Mike’s disbelief.

“You’re not alright, Will.” As if that wasn’t evident enough by the oxygen mask, hospital gown, and current location.

God, Mike wanted to get out of here. 

This place just…he shivered. Chills ran down his spine.

“H-hey, Mike?”

“Yeah?”

“Ca-can you t-tell me something funny?”

Mike could feel the way his brow furrowed in confusion. Funny? It was hard to think of anything funny right now. Granted, that was probably why Will wanted it; anything to take his mind off the pain if only for a second.

But what could possibly be funny at a time like this?

He looked around the room. All fresh white paint and bright lights and beeping machines. Everything was new, as if the old was something to be washed away. It was hardly the most delightful atmosphere. The air was stale with the scent of illness and the video camera hanging from the ceiling didn’t so much as make the room feel secure as it did a cage at the zoo. For all Mike knew, there were a dozen Hawkin’s scientists on the other side of that camera just watching them, recording everything they said and did for future analysis.

For perhaps the first time, Mike understood what it meant to be completely on display. Enough so, at least, that a little girl felt perfectly okay with undressing in front of a total stranger.

He ground the thought to a halt with enough speed to leave skid marks.

Nope. Not going there again.

It wasn’t funny.

But what to say? Will needed this. He couldn’t leave him hanging, but this place just seemed to sap happiness right out of the air as if it were a vacuum of depression. No wonder El had been so-

Shut. Up.

But the thought wouldn’t leave. El not understanding privacy. El not knowing what a friend was. El’s fear of adults. El not knowing how to tell time or articulate or even speak to them about what hell she had gone through.

El smiling.

Her tiny, tinny laugh as he made her swing back on the La-Z-Boy in the middle of his empty living room. The way her eyes glazed over with unfamiliar happiness as he said goodnight to her. Heck, even her complete lack of enthusiasm for his Yoda impersonation was endearing in hindsight.

A light went on in his head.

“I once did my Yoda impression for El before we, you know, knew. She, ah, wasn’t impressed.” Was that funny? He hoped it was funny. He hadn’t done humor in what felt like years.

The snort that erupted from under Will’s mask was enough to send Mike’s heart soaring. “I w-wonder why,” his best friend teased, and Mike rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I didn’t know, okay?”

Will raised a delicate eyebrow. “You h-had a real J-Jedi living in your house and you did y-your Yoda impr-pression?”

“What part of ‘I didn’t know,’ aren’t you getting?” Mike glared, but it was the teasing sort that had his friend not even bothering to hide his grin.

Not that it would have mattered. It was hard to see Will’s mouth behind the fog gathered along his mask anyway.

Once again, this place sucked the joy out of everything.

Will must have sensed it because he was suddenly silent, sunken eyes focused on Mike as if trying to find something buried there. His fingers - so cold, so skeletal - squeezed around Mike’s warmer ones.

Mike almost couldn’t feel it and it wasn’t because his fingers were numb.

Will was getting weaker.

It was a shattering realization. His breath was stolen from his lungs as if ripped out by some otherworldly force and Mike had to physically restrain himself from bolting out of the room. He was selfish. So, so selfish, he thought, as he held on just that much tighter, gluing his hand to Will’s so that the doctors here would have to use a crowbar or some sort of strong acid to make him let go. Anything to keep himself anchored to this room. How could he think to run? How could he possibly contemplate leaving Will here at the mercy of people who only saw him as a walking cadaver and not a living child? He bowed his head to keep himself from throwing up.

Oh God, he really might vomit.

“Mike?” But the voice wasn’t Will’s. Will was as quiet as the corpse that had been dragged out the quarry all those lifetimes ago. No, this voice was softer, higher pitched even though Will was the only one of their friends who’d yet to reach puberty.

It was fleeting, too. Incomprehensible, like a whisper that had traveled too long in the breeze.

Or, more to the point, a ghost left haunting the halls.

He could see her, curled up in the corner like some sort of phantom. Dressed in a hospital gown to match Will’s, she had never looked smaller. Her smell, usually maple syrup, had been replaced by rubber and metal and nothing, and the warmth Mike had always associated her with now surrounded him only with the bone-aching chill of absence.

She was everywhere. Her feel, her smell, her image. She was imprinted into this place as much as any tile or brick - as much a part of the building as an inanimate object. Because that’s all she’d ever been here: an object.

One who could do extraordinary things. One who could help them win a war. One who could move things with her mind and tear holes between worlds. She was an object, an experiment, a nameless subject. 

But never, ever a child.

She screamed. It bounced off the walls and traveled through the halls in an unearthly wail that only served to rip his heart from his chest. He bit his lip so hard it was a wonder it didn’t bleed and Mike belatedly wondered how Will couldn’t hear it. She was so loud; how could everyone else be so deaf?

And then she was gone.

Wait, no. She was next to him. Beside him. Across from him. She was curled up on Will’s bed, bony fingers clinging to the little stuffed lion toy Jonathan had grabbed in his rush for something to help his brother. They were sharing it - two messed up lab rats garbed under the disguise of children. 

Maybe it was the other way around.

Mike tried to shake the image away. It wasn’t real. She wasn’t here. He knew that because he knew where she was, and she had hair now, and living people didn’t leave ghosts behind.

So why wouldn’t she go away?

Why was she here - in this too small room, with its too small bed and a lion toy made for toddlers?

“Mike?” She called again, sound absorbed into the walls so that no one from the outside could ever hear her. 

Why did -

Mike stopped. He was suddenly inextricably struck by how at home she looked. She knew this room. She knew Will’s room as if it were own.

Unbidden, the thought came. This was El’s room.

The fresh paint suddenly made a terrible sort of sense.

Mike started, leaning forward towards the phantom of El, but the words died on his lips. She was gone, vanished as if she’d never been there to begin with.

This time she didn’t come back.

“Mike?” That was Will this time. His brows were scrunched along a forehead dotted with too much sweat - a feat considering how cold the room was - and he eyed his friend with open concern. “W-what’s wrong?”

Everything. Mike wanted to shout it from the rooftops. Everything was wrong.

Because how dare they? How dare they place Will in this room? A room where the men and women here only ever viewed an experiment. How dare they make El live here for so long that even alive she haunted the place?

Anger coursed through his body like an inferno, and he sent a glare to the camera that would have melted the skin off a Demogorgon. He hoped someone was watching. He hoped they knew exactly what they’d done.

He hoped they regretted it with every fiber of their being.

It’s your fault, it’s your fault, it’s your fault, he repeated in his head, even as he calmed his expression so as not to worry Will. “Sorry, just tired,” he reassured, and it wasn’t even a total lie. He was tired, but he was tired and terrified and so goddamn angry that it hurt to breathe.

But Will didn’t need to know that. It wasn’t Will’s fault. It was this place. It was the people in this place - the people who came here every day and thought it was okay to experiment on children like something out of Nazi Germany. It was all their fault. It was their fault El had been used. It was their fault the gate had been opened. It was their fault Will was suffering. It was their fault El had been forced to sacrifice herself to a literal monster.

It was all their fault. And they thought it was okay to place Will in this room where only an experiment had ever lived.

Mike seethed.

Eleven had been a test subject. Test subject number eleven. What did Will’s chart say? Was it twelve? Thirteen? Fourteen? Was it higher or lower? Or maybe because he was so different they’d moved onto using Greek. Test subject alpha. Test subject beta.

He slid his eyes surreptitiously to Will’s uncovered forearm.

Still unmarked.

Good. It had better stay that way.

El haunted these halls. He didn’t know the specifics of what had been done to her, but then he didn’t need to. This room told him enough. She had been an experiment, and as Mike held tighter to Will’s trembling hand he made himself a promise.

No matter what happened, no matter how much he was threatened or coerced or pushed, he would not leave. He wouldn’t so much as budge.

El had never had anyone to help her, but Will Byers did.

Mike would make sure of that. 

[cutegirlmayra]

I’m trying hard to find time to do these, it’s tough, but hopefully, Thanksgiving break will give me time to write! :D I’m working on my fanfictions currently since my readers are saying it’s been a long time since I’ve written. Please, stay tuned!

Here are just a FEW of the same concepts I've already done for this. Because so many requested, I’ll do a new one. But here are some others from the same category! (x) (x) (x)

And now, for your feature presentation!

Combined plot of all listed above: Jap Sonic Team meet Boom!counterparts. Jap Sonic meets Boom!Amy and Jap Amy meets Boom!Sonic while he kinda likes her affections. :)

prompt:

After a nasty wormhole sends our team blasting through a parallel dimension, it’s up to Sonic Team to find their missing members and collect the Orb of Dimension back from wherever it has fallen too.

Boom!Eggman is scuba-diving for ore and rare materials, before looking up and seeing something like a comet up above him. “Oh-ho! Look at this ore! it’s bound to be useful in my latest and greatest- uh... Cubot, what have I said about the manning the spotlight!?” He abruptly turns around, having his eyes almost blinded by the orb firing down into the water, knocking straight into his face.

Orbot and Cubot rush him to the Medic, where Doc slaps bandages over his eyes and states that he’s lucky to still see.

Being blindfolded, Eggman’s convinced he’s ruined for at least a week until he can start wearing shades, but the orb fascinated him as he can now ‘superhuman’ feel the power from it. But Orbot’s convinced he’s just letting this ‘blind for a week’ thing, get to his head a little too much...

The first to fall and meet someone is Japanese Amy, who lands and gets tangled up before the Gogobas act like she’s ruined their natural sunroof. In guilt, she agrees to help them out and ends up working and creating a spa-treatment center in the middle of the jungle for them.

Sick of how they treat her, she blows up in their face and destroys everything she created, before stopping off and not letting them get the better of her.

She ends up returning to remake what she destroyed and then takes off, but by then, she sees something blue speed by in the jungle.

Excite bubbles within her and she leaps after it. “SOOONICC!!! Aw, he must be looking for me! He’s so sweet~”

“W-wait. Oh, that’s fine. Pursue your own interests as we lie here with only one coating of essential oils. It’s fine. Not like we’re sitting ducks for monsters who like good smelling things... it's perfectly understandable.” Then they’re attacked by large birds and scatter screaming from the spa-treatment center she set up.

“Sonic!”

Boom!Sonic hears something sort-of familiar, and halts in his racing to find Boom!Tails- since he technically just knocked out another Tails and tied him up in his buddy’s storage closet.

“Amy?” Sonic turns around, skidding to a halt.

The second he does, he notices her running towards him in a different outfit, a cute red dress with white lining, and arms stretched out to him.

Unfamiliar with the protocol, he stands there and lets her tackle him down.

Luckily, he balances himself out before he falls. “W-wo-woah! What’s this for!?”

“Oh, Sonic! I was so worried about you! I accidentally got lost and found these awful people that made me feel bad about ruining their ‘priceless’ tree, though it looked pretty ordinary to me, and then I was a spa-slave, and then I saw your shining blue and followed my heart’s pull, and AH~ Sonic~ I’m so happy to be with you again!” She shook and rubbed her head against his chest and squeezed before feeling something off...

She blinked her eyes open from the adrenaline and moved back, not letting him go, but noticed the strange bandana around his neck. “...Did you get...” she looked all the way up to his nervous and confused expression. “Taller?”

“A-Amy, woah-!”

She hugged him again, “Emm! You’re thinner too~ hehe! That wormhole really sucked a lot out of ya, huh?”

“I-I-I’m not saying this isn’t nice or anything-AH! Maybe under the right circumstances, it could be- EEE! Even nice or.. something, but-AHHEE! Can you let me go now?” He tried to move her away, but the more he struggled, the more awkward it got. She finally saw him drape down and give up, slouching his head to her shoulder as she giggled and stepped away.

“You’re not really my Sonic, are you?” she grinned, much more calmly now. “I figured the wormhole Eggman sent us through would take us somewhere strange and different... but I never thought I would meet a cosplayer here!” she beamed.

“W-wormhole? You said wormhole, just like that Tails-imposter from- WAI-WAI-WAIT. WAIT. Hold up. COSPLAYER?!” Sonic was thinking to himself as Japanese Amy put a finger up to her mouth to circle him and figure it out, but Sonic shook his hands out to stop her examining.

“I am Sonic!” he defended, pointing to himself.

She giggled again, “Oh, of course, you are. Teehee~” she swayed her body a bit, “The brave, the bold, the magnificent and charming~ the handsome and discreet~ The lone ranger...” she walked around him again, clearly up to something but he soaked in the praise and held his head up.

“Hey, you’re no Amy, but I like the way you talk!” he praised.

“Hehe! If you like it, maybe Sonic does too!” she kicked up a leg behind her, being cute as Sonic smiled.

“You’re not like my Amy at all... All she does is yell and boss me around..” he pouted, folded his arms.

“Emm... maybe you just don’t see how much she does praise and care you... cause you only focus on all the negative things like that.” Japanese Amy felt a stirring in her heart again, peering down through some foliage and nodding. “I say my Sonic’s this way. Call it my girlish intuition! A girl in love can always find her true love~ This way!”

“W-wha-huh?” Sonic was shocked by her directness, “H-hey, wait a second! You make it sound like I’m not seeing something! Wait! It’s dangerous that way! Come back! What do you mean ‘your’ Sonic???” Sonic took off after her, before looking behind his shoulder, “W-well.. I should take her back with the other imposter b-but...” he looked ahead, as she cutely turned back and waved to him with a huge smile, before taking off again.

“I.. Don’t want her to get hurt,... right? I guess so? H-hey! Do you like mehburgers?!”

“Huh? I can’t hear you! Oh well, I’m coming my darling Sonic! We’ll be together soon enough! I won’t let anything stand in my way!”

Sonic gulped, “A-anything?” he moved under some bushes and then over a log, watching her fling herself over it with her hammer. “Well, she’s got Amy’s grace, I’ll give her that much...” he followed behind her, just like that!

A while away, Boom!Amy was trying to hit this Sonic wanna-be who kept talking about strange things.

“Hold still!” she swung her hammer but he narrowly dodged it.

He whistled, “Nice shot!” he smirked and gave her a thumbs up and a charming wink, laid out on a branch, messing with her.

She growled before hoisting her hammer over her shoulders again. “What kind of cheap, robot are you!?” she was getting exhausted, “But I won’t lie.. Eggman’s certainly got the smirk down pat..” she huffed out.

Sonic placed a hand to his hip, “You’re pretty bent on calling me a fake, aren’t you?”

“Heh. I know Sonic. You’re most certainly not him!” she got her hammer out again, ready to try once more before he jumped down, and moved right up to her.

This startled her, and she blinked while moving back, “H-huh?”

“You know...” he stood confidently, but there was a gentleness in his eyes as he approached, but Amy swung her hammer over herself.

“Watch it! Stay w-where you are!”

He continued his kind smile now, “I know Amy too.” he lighlty put a hand to her hammer, making her pause and look up to him with her heart racing.

“And I know she will always do what she feels is right.”

Smitten, she dropped her hammer to her side. “For a robot... you sure have his eyes...”

He smiled and tilted his head, “For a look-a-like Amy... you sure do swing like her.” he kid, and they lightly laughed together.

Coming back to Tails’s workshop, Japanese Sonic was surprised to see Knuckles and Boom!Knuckles duking it out on the floor, rolling around as they kept insulting each other. He shook his head left and then right, surprised by the other Knuckles. “That’s a huge Knuckles.. what’d you feed him?” He then shook his head in embarrassment for his friend and put a hand to his face. “So embarrassing...” he lightly let out.

“I’m not not Knuckles!” “But I AM Knuckles!” “Oh yeah!?” “YES!!! That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you!” “If you're Knuckles.. then you must be the only one! Who am I then!? Augh! This minds my hurt! I’m taking you down, hurt minder!!!!”

Boom!Amy also looked ashamed at their behavior, before looking up to Sonic, “I’m not gonna lie, but...”

“He’s not the brightest, is he?” Sonic flat out said it, making her twitch at his bluntness.

“H-he’s... he’s our lovable Knuckles.” she lightly chuckled, “And hey! For the record! Only we can say stuff about our Knuckles, deal?” she stood up for him by poking Japanese Sonic in the chest, but he smiled at her courtesy to her friends and nodded.

“Yep, you’re Amy alright!”

She blushed, but freaked out by it and clamped her hands to her face. “Ah! What’s wrong with me?! haha, fever! that must be it! Nothing to see here! EMMMMM.” She grumbled all the way to the sink, washing her face to try and conceal what she was feeling.

“huh?” Sonic shrugged, “What’s wrong?”

When Japanese Amy and Boom!Sonic showed up, she peeked her head in the door, “Excuse us... AH!” she opened her mouth wide into a huge grin and charged for her Sonic. “DARLINNNG~”

“Ah!” Sonic got spooked and raced away, before trying to dodge her by the long table, making sure to be strategic as she tried to round it, he would move away in the opposite direction.

“Ohh... Why are you being like that? I missed you!” she pushed her fists down before folding them, groaning at his distance as he smiled sheepishly. “Aren’t you glad I’m alright?”

“Sure am! I’m happy from right over here!”

“OHHH! Sonic!”

Boom!Sonic then whammed over the door, halfway down the doorframe and looking utterly exhausted.

He crawled into the room and collapsed. “Finally... how do you.. ugh... put up with her energy?”

He had black under his eyes, twigs, and leaves in his hair, looking real torn up.

“Hehe~ At least he’s a gentleman.” Japanese Amy threw out her hip to her Sonic, and raced to the ground for Boom!Sonic. “Ohh.. Are you alright?” she hugged him as he jolted and lifted a leg up.

“ACK!”

Japanese Sonic didn’t know how to react at first, before pouting and folding his arms. “Hmph.” he didn’t comment more than that, before hearing shifting in the closet.

He cautiously opened it and out fell a restrained Japanese Tails, all tied up and gagged.

“Woah! Tails!” Sonic quickly untied him and he let out a huge breath, coughing.

“Thanks, Sonic..” he then glared up at Boom!Sonic. “He locked me in there!”

Japanese Amy dropped Sonic cold, “You what!?” she got up, insulted. “How dare you treat your friends that way! Hmph!” she walked back to her Sonic, who nervously stood his ground and let her take hold of his arm.

He seemed to smile and turn his head from her, but his eyes watched her as she stuck her tongue out at the other Sonic and bent some of her lower-eyelid down to mock him.

Boom!Sonic reared his head up, growling and slightly jealous that he had lost her affections for a moment. “I thought he was Eggman’s creation or even Steve!”

“Steve?”

“A guy we know.”

“AMY!” Boom!Sonic dashed over to her, as Japanese Sonic’s eyes shifted between their conversation.

“You believe me, right?” he gestured his hands out, as Boom!Tails walked in with a newspaper, closing the door with his foot and losing engrossed in it. Not even seeing what was going on. He walked right through the squabbling Knuckles and sat down at his work-bench.

The other Tails grew curious and followed after him, not caring about Boom!Sonic’s treatment of him anymore and looked over his shoulder.

“Of course, I thought he was a robot too.”

Sonic sighed, “See.. I knew you would under-”

“But that doesn’t mean I’d lock him in a closet, Sonic.” she shifted her weight, putting her hands to her hips, and giving him the lowered eyes of sheer judgment.

“WHAT?!”

“Oh, now I get it.” Japanese Sonic smirked, watching the two with knowing eyes.

“Huh? Get what?” Japanese Amy released his arm, and moved up next to him, curious about what he was talking about.

Sonic nervously looked her way, as if not wanting to tell her, “Oh.. uh.. you know.. just something.” he rubbed his nose lightly.

“Ehh? Tell me, tell me!” she persisted, hopping on her two feet as he smiled down to her and held up a finger, winking to quiet her down.

“Ah, but it wouldn’t be a secret then, you see?” he charmed her, and she whined a little. “Hehe, alright. I’ll tell you a little.” he leaned to whisper into her ear, covering his mouth with his hand and being silly. “They’re closer than it looks. Right?”

Amy blinked, before narrowing her eyes at the two arguing.

“You’re never on my side!” “You locked Tails’s other-dimensional guy in a closet. How can I side with you on that?” “You're just supposed too! It’s the idea! Not the moral!” “But the moral of’ whose idea to stand by’ should be right!”

As they bickered, Japanese Amy’s eyes widened with understanding and sparkled slightly at seeing some heart fly around them in her sight, along with anime bubbles.

She squee’d and threw her arms up to her face in tight fists, nodding profusely to Sonic. “Ohh! I see it! I see it! They’re so cute together!”

“Right?” Sonic smiled down, folding his arms before seeing the two lean over and holler at them.

“WHOSE CUTE TOGETHER!?”

They both chickened, Sonic remaining silent and Japanse Amy swaying her head adorably, “Nothing~” she chimed, giggling at them.

“What are you laughing at.” Amy narrowed her eyes at her before sighing, lifting her head back in defeat. “I can’t understand if she even gets there’s another her in front of her or not.”

“Huh? Oh, I knew! You’re pretty cute, just like me! Hehe! That’s why I knew you had to be my other dimensional self! You look so young too!” The flattery didn’t just work on Boom!Sonic, but Boom!Amy dropped her act and threw her hands up to her face, lifting a leg up.

“Ah~ You noticed my hard work! <3″

They were instant friends, holding hands and talking about things they enjoyed.

“Neh, neh~ What kind of eyeliner do you use?” (*Neh = hey, hey.) “What’s your favorite gardening plant?” “What do you like to bake the most?” “Have you two gotten engaged yet?” “Eh...”

Boom!Amy froze white in a twinkling of an eye...

Then Boom!Tails flipped out, “WHAT ARE YOU ALL DOING IN MY WORKSHOP!? AND WHO ARE YOU GUYS!?”

They all gave mixed expressions.

After some time, Tails revealed that the newspaper talked about a meteor of somekind, no bigger than an Orb. The team agreed to stop Boom!Eggman was absorbing its powers to open thousands of dimensions all over the island.

Defeating and closing the portals, Sticks joined the fray and ended up capturing everyone, telling the ‘aliens’ to reveal themselves and give her back her real friends. Claiming something about Organ-farming, they finally convinced her of the truth, and she let them all go, handing back the orb to Japanese Sonic.

“Thank you! Little lady.” he winked, but she ‘pfft’d in his face.

“Don’t ‘thanks, lady’ me, bub. I know what you’re really after! Our organs! This isn’t that kind of island, you got that!?”

The Sonic team departed back to their dimension, as Japanese Amy wished Boom!Amy in good luck, and cautioned Boom!Sonic not to wait too long or-

Japanese Sonic pulled her further into the portal before she could say another word...

Boom!Sonic turned nervously to Boom!Amy, who just looked confused.

[btsmutimagines]

Hell's Angels (M)

*because I’m extra*

Request: #36 Namjoon Drabble 

Word Count: 8.1k

A pitch black darkness that preceded after a spatter of red clouded in his vision. The world around him felt cold and heavy. His limbs lost its feeling as if he had phantom limb syndrome. The smell of gunpowder dusted itself over his noses and the loud bang of a bomb going off jolted him awake, his eyes opening.

“It took you long enough.”

“W–Where am I?” It looked like an abandoned mall, glass storefronts broken, the escalator stopped working and there were small patches of fire in some places. There was a boy, maybe three years younger than he was, firing from this range and shooting down people.

If he didn't know any better, he would have thought he was trapped in a video game.

“The dead zone.”

“Dead zone?”

“For a new recruit, you sure do ask a lot of questions but do little action.”

“I don't even know what this place is or why am I here?”

“Listen, dude. I don't have your answers but you won't get any if you don't fight.”

“I don't fight.”

“Yeah, I can clearly tell.”

“What are you even fighting against?”

“Them.” He fired a shot right after, hitting a foot soldier in the chest and he reloaded his rifle. They looked no older than he was, the only difference being they were suited up in midnight green.

“How do we get out?”

“Until we get that flag.”

“Cover me.” It was futile, simply shooting the enemy without any real offensive power to back it up. If he's learned anything from watching war films for his history class, winning means more than protecting the line.

“What the hell are you doing?” He hopped down the escalator, a man with a knife ready to attack him but he gunned down. Maybe he does have my back. He ran towards the flag, the boy shooting anyone that threatened to stop him.

“I–I got it!”

“Dude, watch out!” He felt a bullet pierce through his skin, his abdomen having a new hole in the middle of it and he touched his shirt. His own blood covered his hand and he fell forwards, collapsing from his gunshot wound.

“Why isn't he waking up?”

“The adrenaline from his victory knocked him out?”

“He got shot, V.”

“So? I got shot plenty of times.”

“He doesn't even know where we were or what we were doing. Shit. Can't you heal him any faster?”

“I did what I could, Jungkook.”

“Hey, buddy. Oi, wake up.”

“Like that will work.” He felt a hand slap his face a little, making him turn his head away and attempt to open his eyes.

“It worked?”

“Dude?”

“Quit calling me dude, my name is Namjoon.”

“Okay, Namjoon. You wiped out pretty bad out there.”

“Jeez thanks. I feel like shit.”

“It's not everyday you die and wake up rejuvenated.”

“Die?”

“Yeah, you died. Happens to the best of us.”

“You guys are so insensitive.”

“Well, Mirae, why don't you explain to him what's going on sensitively?”

“Why don't you get out, you jerk?”

“Ooh~”

“You too, Jungkook. I’ll deal with you two later.”

“I can't be associated with you anymore, you always get me into shit.” The boy named Jungkook grumbled on his way out and the other boy latched onto him, his head resting on his shoulder.

“Kookie~ You don't mean that, do you?”

“Get off me–” They took their bickering outside and the woman, Mirae was her name, sighed.

“Sorry about those idiots, they're very blatant in their speech.”

“I see.”

“Well, Namjoon, was it?”

“Yes.”

“As you know, you died. You actually died twice. Once here, once on earth. Currently, we are in Ex Pura, where no one truly dies–”

“Wait, slow down. I died before I came here? As in there was a funeral and I was buried dead?”

“Some of us didn't get that luxury on earth but yes. Everyone here died on earth.”

“What happened to heaven and hell?”

“We don't belong to either.”

“So, purgatory.”

“Like purgatory, we are the in between.”

“Then how come there's fighting? Shouldn't we band together?”

“Some people believe in a collar system, people's cause of death determines how cushy your life will be. Suicide are cowardice, dying while trying to kill someone else is weak, gang deaths are valuable, murder–suicide is the lowest of the low. I think the most valuable deaths are ones that result in another's life being in tact.”

“But why?”

“This world is limited. With the amount of people that die every day growing constantly, food and supplies are scarce. Mirror, the bad guys, wants to limit us, letting some be reduced to nothing.”

“Is there truly no way to die?”

“I don't know, Namjoon.”

“Why do you two idiots always have nothing to do but goof off?” He heard a female voice barked in the hallway, she was probably yelling at the two boys he said earlier.

“Noona, don't be so angry all the time. Loosen up.”

“Excuse me, Kim Taehyung.”

“Hyung, are you crazy? Do you have a death wish?”

“You know what, I do need to loosen up. How about I loosen up on your rations? Half the amount for a week. While I’m at it, I’ll loosen up your joints too. Three extra hours of training for a week as well.”

“Noona.”

“Make that two weeks.”

“This isn't–”

“Would you like to make it three?"

“No, ma’am! I'm sorry, Noona.”

“We have a meeting in 3 minutes, gather everyone.”

“Mirae!”

“Yes, Unnie.”

“If the new recruit is well, bring him with you.” Her voice was authoritative, leaving no room for protest and he listened to her footstep trail down the hall. He didn’t know it was possible to simply find a voice attractive, but there was something about how commanding she sounded that made his dick jerk.

Maybe it was because he was used to be in charge, taking his little sister often as his parents were the type to forget they have kids. His mom would come home, expecting his little sister to have dinner cooked and her homework done as well as his. She would smoke her cigarette, using whatever cup Namjoon was drinking out of as her ashtray before going to her office for hours. Their father was a doctor, often on call and working odd shifts. He simply would ask Namjoon about his rank before reading some medical textbooks, ignoring Namjoon for the time being and passing out the couch later.

Namjoon hoped he wouldn’t grow up to be like that, he would love his wife and care about every detail in his children’s lives. No matter how tired he was, he would make love to his wife, tuck his kids to bed and work as hard as he could. Now that he couldn’t live that kind of life, it feel like his dreams were ripped away from him as well as his life.

He doesn’t even know how he died. Was it valiant? Was it pathetic? Did he just die averagely? Was it a mistake? His head filled itself to the brim with unanswered questions, Mirae pulling him along and he merely followed. He entered the room after her, seeing the two boys from earlier and five new faces. You sat on the ledge of a worn oak desk, similar to the one in his mother’s study but he could only focus on you.

“Are you listening, newbie?”

“Sorry, what was that?”

“I asked you for your name and cause of death.”

“My name’s Namjoon and I uh don't really remember.”

“You don't remember how you died.”

“Why is that important?”

“It's how I do things, Nathan–”

“It's Namjoon.”

“Whatever, Nate. Next order of business, strategy.” You turned to one of the unfamiliar faces, seeing the boy smile which was heart shaped. He reached into his pocket, grabbing a snickers.

“This is ridiculous–”

“Ssh! Just wait for it, Joonbug.” He looked at the boy with a mischievous look on his face, he knew that one was going to cause him trouble.

“Joonbug?” He raised his eyebrow in confusion but the man began to speak.

“After thoroughly studying the attack patterns, we can now weaken their forces. What the newbie over here did, although reckless, was the first time we pull a victory over Mirror.”

“Nonetheless reckless.”

“Get on with it, Hobi.”

“We need to have a set of snipers to handle the foot soldiers but that will only get us into the building. A team of three needs to reroute the security system so we can get past the second floor. How many silencers do we have?”

“More than enough.”

“If there’s about 30 people on each level…”

“Isn’t there a way to scale the building to reach the top floor and end it?” He blurted out, he knew he spoke out of turn when he had 7 eyes on him and an eyebrow raised.

“Listen, newbie. You don't even know what you’ve gotten into. Be a good little patient for Mirae and shut it.” The icy tone that cut into him has just as cold eyes on him for his outburst. He was much taller than the man who spoke but his stance made Namjoon wanted to shrink.

“Yoongi, you don't have to be so harsh.”

“Continue, Hoseok.” He went on, his plan was overly detailed in Namjoon’s opinion but Yoongi's rather cold eyes threatened him.

“Any comments now?” You turned your eyes on him, Namjoon opting for silence and the meeting adjourned.

“Don't look so glum, Joonbug! You didn't know better.”

“Yoongi hyung just has a stick up his–”

“You gonna finish the sentence, kid?”

“Hyung~”

“Get off me, brat.”

“OH, we should introduce ourselves!”

“Not now–”

“Kim Taehyung, sniper extraordinaire! You next, hyung.”

“Yoongi, weapons expert.”

“Hoseok, best damn strategist you’ll ever meet.”

“Don't get ahead of yourself, Hoseok.” Yoongi said to which Hoseok pouted and the man next to Yoongi cleared his throat.

“Kim Seokjin, residential beauty and food expert.” He was comfortable enough with his sexuality to admit when a guy was handsome and Kim Seokjin was just that. Although he seemed a bit full of himself, he couldn't see why not.

“It doesn't take much intellect to know I’m the commander, James.”

“Now you’re not even saying the right syllables–”

“Meeting adjourned.” Everyone except you filed out the room, Mirae and Taehyung dragging him out and he sighed. He wish he caught your name.

“Y/N–noona is so cold.” He blushed at the sound of your name. The syllables rolled off the tongue nicely, your name was perfect for you.   

“Come on! Let's have some fun.”

“Not so fast, mister. A little birdie tells me you two have extra training for the next two weeks.” Jin stopped Taehyung and Jungkook, the two of them sighing as they seemed to have hoped they would be free from their punishment for now

“Birds can't talk?”

“It's an idiom, idiot. Now, come along.” Yoongi interjected, the boys following the man and Jin going his own way.

“I guess you're stuck with me, Namjoon.”

He followed Mirae around, her spending most of her time healing people.

“Do you have to heal people?”

“It's not that much, I mean they get better faster with my help but everyone eventually heals.”

“Oh, so the bandages are just decorative.”

“You still bleed, Namjoon. We're still human somehow.”

“I thought a part of being human was the uncertainty of death, the fact you die once and will never rise again…”

“What choice do we have, Namjoon? Living in this endless loop is all we have.”

“I don't want to…”

“But you have to.” He didn't say much more than that, the rest of his thoughts would have been futile against her cold hard fact. He had no choice but to die only to wake up again. His future deaths are his living nightmares and his nightmares alone.

He watched Mirae cut open the shirt of a boy they rush in moments ago. His heart was still beating, his blood soaked shirt clung to his body as the stain grew larger. He was slain, his chest having a large slash and she grabbed cotton to stop the bleeding. The boy’s breathing was uneven, Mirae trying her best to disinfect and suture the slash.

“Hold on for me, please.” She skillfully stitched up the wound, cleaning up any excess blood and the boy's eyes were droopy.

“Please, please keep your eyes open. I need you to stay awake for me, look at me.”

“Mirae…”

“M–Mirae?” The boy croaked out, wincing a bit when her hand grazed his chest.

“Yes?”

“That's a...pretty name.”

“What's yours?”

“G–Grayson.”

“Don't sleep on me, Grayson.”

“I can't...keep…” He closed his eyes, Mirae sighing and Namjoon got up to pat her back.

“He wasn't going to die.”

“It just feels like it. It always feels like that ever since– I’m going to need a moment.” He watched her walk out the room, the boy, Grayson with his eyes closed shut and you walked in.

“Grayson, that brave bastard. Taking the fall for one of his members.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Awfully rude for someone who doesn't know their place in this organization. I should just hand you over to one of those idiots but I personally decided to give you a tour.”

“A tour?”

“The last thing we need is for you to be wandering off into somewhere you shouldn't be. You strike me as the curious type.”

“The only thing I’m curious about is you.”

“Trust me when I say I’m the last thing you should be curious about. Now, listen well, Newbie. I don't like repeating myself.” You walked out the infirmary, him having to keep up with you.

“You need training. You can barely keep up, long legs.”

“Look, you’re basically jogging around everything.”

“And you’re whining.”

“Ah, noona!” Namjoon was about to retort when a blonde haired boy came running towards them with a huge stack of papers.

“Minnie. I always tell you no running.”

“I know but I have new tactics to discuss.”

“Go to my room, okay? I’ll be right there.” He did as he was told, Namjoon feeling a pang of jealousy for the smile you were giving the man. He didn't even know his name and he was already jealous.

“Our last stop, newbie. Your room, I figured you and Jungkook wouldn't mind sharing. He's taken a liking to you, which is rare.”

“I’m honoured…”

“Make yourself comfortable for now. Training starts tomorrow.”

“I was just wondering–”

“Hyung! You're a hyung, right?” Taehyung with Jungkook in tow over to you and Namjoon. You took the opportunity to go and deal with that blonde haired boy.

“Hyung, get off me–”

“Don't be so cold to me, Kookie~”

“I need to go to bed.”

“The bottom bunk is yours.” Jungkook said as he fights off Taehyung's arms and Namjoon retired to the bottom bunk.

This was his path now.

“Oppa! Oppa!”

“What is it, Eun Ji?”

“I got 98 on my math test.”

“I knew it was in you.” He ruffled her hair and she punched him. She whined and pouted, Namjoon hugging his younger sister.

“Hey, girl! Where the hell is my dinner?” The front door opened just as quick as it was shut and his mother shrieked as she entered the kitchen.

“Mother.”

“What were your scores on the mock exam?”

“Almost perfect.”

“Apply yourself. I want perfect scores, no less.” She grabbed her plate, huffing up the stairs and he looked at his sister. Their mother acted as if she was her personal chef rather than her daughter.

“You won't leave me, right?”

“Who else will protect you, baby sis?”

“Then why did you die on me, oppa? HOW COULD YOU LEAVE ME–” He woke up in a sweat, hitting his head on the wooden frame and Jungkook rolled over.

“Ow…”

“Go back to sleep, hyung.”

“How do you know I’m older than you?”

“Mirae scanned you…”

“She what?” He half yelled, it was unintentional but Jungkook groaned at the loud sound nonetheless.

“Everyone gets scanned, hyung. It's just for identification.”

“Oh.”

“Sleep before it starts.”

“Before what starts?”

His curiosity will be the death of him, the sound of a trumpet playing right into his ears and he shot up. This was the second time he hit the frame that held up Jungkook's bed.

“Up and ‘em, sunshines. It's time for morning training.” He groaned, covering himself as the trumpet sounded in his ears. Jungkook walked along with him, holding onto the older man for support and Namjoon hoisted him up. They made it to the brig where everyone else was gathering and Taehyung was rubbing his eyes and yawning.

“What the hell–”

“This routine shouldn't be new to most of you, why the hell do you look so tired?” Yoongi was the one speaking as if he were commanding his troops.

“It's because you woke us up 10 minutes early!”

“Who said that?”

“He did, sir.” Everyone glances at the boy who said it, most looks of horror and other smirks.

“Those extra 10 minutes will be spent running laps, understood?”

“Y–Yes, sir.”

“Complain about something as irrelevant as minutes again and I will make sure you’ll run so much laps you’ll start goddamn sleep running.”

“Anyways, off to your designated schedules!” Hoseok said with his hand on Yoongi's shoulder. Everyone left, leaving Namjoon alone with Hoseok and Yoongi.

“What do I do?”

“Since you're new, you’ll be introduced to your instructors. Starting with me. Come along.”

“I’ll see you later, Namjoon!” He gulped as Yoongi gestured for him to follow, obliging and he entered the weapons room. Yoongi eyed him, making him feel insecure. He pulled a few weapons, a dagger, a sword, a pistol, just to make a few.

“Is that a spear?”

“Yeah, she's my favourite. You won't believe how many people meet the other end of this baby.”

“She?”

“Some people name their cars, others their gps, I got my weapons. What, are you judging me, Newbie?” He raised an eyebrow, Namjoon quickly denying it. The last thing he wants to do on his first day of training is get stabbed with a spear.

Especially when Yoongi looked so tempted to do so. He handed him a machine gun, Namjoon barely managing to hold it up and he shook his head.

“You got no upper body strength.”

“Hold this.” He handed him a halberd, the large weapon slightly intimidating. He vaguely remembers his world history teacher talking about this weapon and how it killed the Duke of Burgundy with a single stroke.

“Hey, Ex Pura to Newbie!”

“Huh?”

“You would be dead by now on the field.”

“Yoongi–”

“I’m pretty sure I’m older than you.”

“Yoongi hyung.” He grit his teeth, the older man getting on his nerves. He had to remind himself that one wrong move meant he’d join that kid for mouthing Yoongi.

“Yes?”

“Let me pick one, please.”

“Just one more shot. I know my weapons, Namjoon.” He handed him a magnum revolver, the handgun perfectly moulded for Namjoon's hand and he held it up like he's seen in gangster movies.

“Slow your roll, Al Capone. I haven't even taught you how to use it yet.” yoongi abruptly moved into the connecting room, the large space empty and he followed. Yoongi grabbed a similar gun, showing him the stance before he mimicked.

“Put hands on the gun, dumbass. You’ll fall on your ass if you think you can handle shooting with one hand.” He quickly rolled his eyes, listening to his instructions. Yoongi tossed him a pair of muffs and he had a stupidly cocky grin on his face.

“You think you’re ready, kid?”

“Bring it on.” Yoongi placed a few pop cans on a table and walked over.

“Start.” He shot, the sudden impact too momentous for his expectant and he lost his balance.

“It’s like watching a baby giraffe walking for the first time.”

“Hey!”

“Up. Again.” In the hour he spent with Yoongi, he learned two things. Yoongi was an authoritative asshole and his aim was impeccable. In a matter of 5 minutes, Yoongi hit six times the amount of targets Namjoon hit with less bullets.

“It only takes one bullet, Namjoon. Make it count. You’re dismissed.” He tossed Namjoon a towel, leaving him to dry his sweat as Hoseok happily marched into the room.

“You’re horrendously sweating.”

“Thanks for stating the obvious.”

“Oh, a revolver? You do kinda look like a gangster at first glance.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing~ Now, get up. It’s my turn to school your ass.” Another thing he learned, Hoseok is definitely more terrifying than Yoongi. Namjoon followed him in a room where the walls was plastered with whiteboards. Numerous plans were scribbled on the boards, minimal amounts of actual blank space almost non–existent.

“I was thinking about what you said yesterday, maybe I overestimate my strategies.”

“I mean, how many victories do you guys have?”

“Uh.”

“That doesn’t sound promising.”

“What do you have, Mr. Genius?”

“Do you have a map?”

“Who do you think I am?”  He took a notepad that was lying around and Hoseok raised his eyebrow. He studied the entryways, the marked blind spots and questioned Hoseok. The two of them spent their time piecing together a plan. A new strategy that was shelled out from their previous attempts to gain control of Mirrors Headquarters.

“The left side is weak, Joon.”

“No, look. We need to put the average on the left, taking out the stronger side leaves us a path straight to victory.”

“We can’t put all our manpower on one side!”

“I’m not, we need the brain power to crack the security system, fighters to tackle the manpower and commander to grab the flag.”  

“You two look so cute arguing together. Do you need some time alone?” You had your hair tied by in a ponytail, dressed up in a black tank and leggings. Namjoon’s voice was caught in his throat, swallowing his protests along with him. You were a bit sweaty, the droplets made your skin beautifully glisten in the dimly lit room.

“He’s not my type. Plus, I’m way out of his league.”

“Oh contraire, you wished you could get some.”

“I wish I didn’t have to hear that sentence. Come along, Nate.”

“My name is Namjoon–” You turned your heel, walking out the room and he sighed. He caught up to you, seeing you taking a sip of water.

“Aim at me.”

“What?”

“Do you find listening to instructions difficult, newbie? I said point your gun at me.” Maybe he needed to re–evaluate his crush on you. He did as you said, pointing his gun at you and you looked at him expectantly.

“Shoot.”

“But you’ll…”

“That’s an order.” He aimed his best, shooting at you and the bullet not even grazing you. His temporary moment of confusion was your advantage, you flipping the gun out of his hands.He ducked your next kick, hoping that you would eventually slow down or go easy on him. How naive.

“Are you going to fight me or keep ducking like a little bitch?”

“Name calling, really?”

“Fight me, you pussy.” He fought back, his attempts to swing at you failing and he was still on defensive. You smirked, the cocky action driving him to find your weakness and he found it in your legs. He knocked you down swiftly, you lying down on the ground and wincing.

“Shit, Are you okay–” You pushed your feet up, his abdomen against the soles of your feet as you flipped him over on his back. He landed with a groan, his spine taking most of the impact and you flipped yourself up.

“Get up, you wimp. I’m not done with you.”

“Remember this, they don’t call me the ‘hydra’ for nothing.”

His muscles were sore, you really weren’t called the hydra for no reason. Each time he managed to pin you, you came back at him three times stronger. You handed him in his ass on a silver platter before tiredly dismissing him for lunch.

“FOOD!” Taehyung and Jungkook rushed to the lunch line, brushing past Namjoon which made him wince when Jungkook’s arm brushed against his.  

“God, why do I hang out with these neanderthals?”

“Come on, Yoongi hyung~ You love us.”

“I’d love some goddamn peace and quiet.” He muttered as hoseok put his arms around Yoongi’s shoulder. The kid from before patted his shoulder, looking at him with a bit of concern and Hoseok hopped over to him.

“Oh, Namjoon. Did you get a can of commander’s whoop–ass?” Everyone laughed, Namjoon sarcastically laughing with them as he joined the line.  

“The hydra strikes again!”

“I think Mirae will give you an ice pack if you get through Jungkook first.”

“Shut up, Tae–”

“This is for you making googly eyes at her while I tried to eat my granola bars–”

“I wasn’t, you dick. At least, I don’t need to regulate my fucking bowel movements.’

“Don’t talk about my schedule like that!”

“Couple problems, you two?”

“Stay out of this, hyung!” They both said to Jin before glaring at each other, everyone else rolling their eyes at their antics. It must be typical for the two to argue like 5 year olds and he heard the lunchroom open, you walking through. You swapped out of your previous outfit and slipped into a black shirt, a red plaid shirt over top and blue jeans. It was simple, but you made it look red carpet worthy.

You paid Namjoon no glance, cutting in front of everyone and going straight to Jin. He smiled at you, you returning the gesture and he felt a pang of jealousy. He didn’t even know your name and he couldn’t help hating seeing you smile at other guys.

“Thanks, Jinnie.”

“Any time.” You left the lunchroom, your tray in tow and he looked back at the swinging doors.

“What the hell was that?”

“Commander gets served first. It’s an unspoken rule. Better get used to it, lover boy.” Yoongi said matter–of–factly, grabbing a tray in the process. The line began moving, people being served and Namjoon following suit in grabbing a tray.

“Not that.”

“Oh, the friendly smiles.” Taehyung offered, Namjoon scoffing at him.

“It didn’t look just friendly.”

“Jealousy looks ugly on you, Namjoon.” Hoseok said distastefully, everyone moved to a table. He sat with them, the other tables already full. He looked at the small portion size, used to the amount of food his sister used to make for him. She would always say that he had to be big and strong so he can lift the both of them out of their home.  

“Jin just always had that kind of ability.”

“Bet he would kill to have that ability.”

“Shut up, Tae. Eat your goddamn granola bars.” Jungkook hissed, Namjoon cracking a smile at their silly bickering.

“It wasn’t like you had a chance, anyways,” Yoongi took a hearty bite of his mashed potatoes before pointing his spoon at Namjoon.

“Her and Jin are inseparable.”

“Yoongi hyung, you never know.”

“Trust me over that energized monkey.”

“Don’t listen to him, he’s just a grumpy old man.”

“What was that, Taehyung?”

“You know, I love you, hyung~”

“Piss off, you brat.”

He trains for about a week now, his body adjusting to your attacks now and he was excited about the operation. Hoseok clued him in about going over the final positions with you before springing their plan into action.

Jungkook woke him up, saying that the meeting started in 5 minutes and he rushed over to the meeting room.

“Just on time.”

“Hope I didn’t miss much.”

“Jungkook, Tae and Yoongi will be on site. Jin and Hobi will defend the base while Mirae treats our wounded.”

“Where does that leave me?”

“Back up.”

“As in?”

“Be a good boy and protect your bed from the monsters. What do you think it means? You’re staying here.”

“That’s not how I planned–”

“Are you forgetting who I am? I’m your damn commander and my command is for your ass to stay here, got it?”

“Y/N, you don’t have to be that hard on him.”

“I’m sick of you questioning every goddamn order I give you. If it takes me tearing apart of your soul to get you to fucking listen to me, you should know I sure as hell will.” You spat, Namjoon shocked into silence. The room was similar, no one saying a word and you reaffirmed everyone’s position.

“Hyung.” You ended the meeting, everyone leaving the room but the guys surrounded him.

“Kick their ass.” Words no longer cut into him anymore, his parents’ harsh words making him numb to the cruelest of words. He knew why you said it, he was probably the only one that questions your authority, not out of disrespect but a sheer curiosity that needed to be ripped apart. He knew where he was, a world where the dead aren’t dead and living isn’t truly living. The last thing he needs to be is curious.

“She’s not usually like this. I promise.”Jin’s attempt to reassure him just made him pissed off. Even though they were both stuck at the base, Jin still held a better position than him.

“We’re moving out.” You said, the boys following you as Jin and Hobi went their separate ways. Namjoon found himself in his room, kicking the black tiled floor and heard a knock on the door.

“Hoseok?”

“Do you want to go?”

“What– Yes.”

He thought Hoseok was just trying to comfort him, starting with why you were harsh on your orders but he tossed a black outfit in his lap and he changed. Namjoon snuck into one of the units, perfectly blending in the recruits and Taehyung sat next to him.

“You’re terrible at being discreet.”

“How did you know?”

“You’re the only one brave enough to dare to disobey commander’s orders.”

“I thought you would say ‘stupid enough’.”

“Yeah, that too.” He nudged Taehyung’s arm, him returning the favour and it turned into a nudging war where Taehyung went as low as digging his finger into Namjoon’s stomach.

“You’re a cheater.”

“Aren’t we all?” The van stopped, the recruits hastily leaving out the vehicle and they followed.

“You know where she’ll be, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Hyung?”

“What?”

“Good luck.” He smiled at him before they both entered the building, Namjoon rushing to the left and Taehyung to the right. Namjoon watched how skilled everyone else was, seeing the small group that he set up handling a large squadron with ease and he slipped past them. He memorized the route you would be taking, the sketches his mind made of you fighting bad guys like a human Wonder Woman and him taking any unexpected blows for you. Of course his rampant imagination expected you to want to celebrate with him after this…

“Look at what we found here, boys?” He froze, knowing he was seen and now royally screwed.

“How about we pretend we never saw each other?” Namjoon offered, the looks of the men making him realize that he has to stick to his first plan: run. He sprinted, hoping he could at least defer the men from where you were. His dreams didn’t come true, you seeing him being chased and you shot everyone behind.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”  

“I–” A man came towards you, a knife in hand and a crazed look on his face. He pushed you out the way, allowing the man to stab him in the heart and he gasped at the pain.

Never leave me– Namjoon – Dare

“Namjoon!”

Dying is his worst habit, the familiar white room reminding him of the knife that pierced through his heart. His body ghosted the pain and he tried to move his arm.

“What fuck–” You were resting on his arm, your hand resting on his forearm. Was this a sick dream? If it had been one of his fantasies, you would be dressed up in a nurse outfit and ready to give him a thorough bath.

He opted for poking your head until you sprang up, dazed and confused. It was kinda cute since you tiredly rub your eyes before you looked at him.

“You’re a fucking idiot.”

“Morning to you, too.”

“I clearly told you to stay here and you decide you want to be some fucking male lead in a drama?”

“I’d make a pretty good male lead. Although, you’re the best main girl.”

“Not the time for jokes, you disobedient asshole.”

“I know. I disobeyed you and question your authority. You had to tear me down and I get that. But I took the knife for you because I wanted to. Always willing to risk myself for a member.” You looked away from him, taking your hand off his arm and walking out the room. He caught you muttering under your breath, him affected by your soft words.

“I don’t need anyone to save me, Namjoon.”

He wasn’t surprised when you reprimanded him in front of the team, giving him double the hours in his workout schedule and he took it. For him, it meant two hours watching you work up a sweat. Maybe he would like it better if you were kissing his ass, not kicking it.

“Willing to put your body on the line?”

“I guess.”

“You don’t sound so sure now.”

“I have a pretty great body.” You rolled your eyes, charging at him and he deflected your attacks. He figured you had a pattern, a certain amount of punches before you would kick him. You changed things up today, sheathing out a knife and he reacted too late to one of your roundhouse kicks. His body hit the floor with a thud, you taking the opportunity to straddle him with the knife close to his throat.

“Do I still look like I need saving, Namjoon?”

“Y/N– I can’t...” The cold blade touched his neck, the flesh of his neck breaking at the knife’s will and you tossed the knife into the wall. You were shaking, getting off him and running out the room. He chased you, catching you in a dead end and you avoided his gaze.

“I’m sorry..”

“I’m fine. Everyone gets their neck sliced like ham once in awhile.”

“God, don’t even joke about it.”

“I was hoping it would make you smile, did it work?”

“You’re such an idiot.” He turned you around, his fingers intertwined with yours and he pulled into his chest.

“W–What are you doing?”

“Being the male lead.”

“You’re the worst.” You shoved him away, walking off and he bit his lip while following you. You two return to the combat room, continuing his training and he was more focused on his progress today.

“What are you smiling about?” He was happily tapping his fingers against the corners of his tray as he waited for your arrival.

“Has he finally lost his mind?” Hoseok ‘whispered’ to Yoongi, the older man simply responding with a firm nod.

“Did Noona hit his head too hard?” Taehyung said.

“I don’t think brain damage is reversible.” Jungkook replied and Namjoon looked at you passing by him, a sweet smile on your face as you collect food from Jin once again. He winked at you, you giggling a little and he was shocked back from his happy phrase.

“He’s back.”

“Her laugh is really cute. So is her smile.”

“Okay, Romeo, I want to eat my lunch without vomiting it back up.”

“Oh quit being a grumpy pants, Jungkook. How's Mirae?”

“Choke on a dick.”

“Will yours be available?”

“Hobi hyung!”

“I get it, Mirae is the only one you want to do.”

“It's not like that– I want to do other things that aren't dirty.”

“Why did you have to corrupt the poor boy, Hobi? He just has pure love.”

“I–It's not love!”

“Whatever you say, Kookie.” He dropped his utensils, leaving the lunchroom in a huff and Namjoon followed him out.

“Are you going to tease me too?”

“Nope.”

“Then why are you here?”

“Would you like me to leave?”

“No…” He wasn't great at expressing himself, no wonder Mirae doesn't get the message.

“You know you're going to have be more obvious with her.”

“She likes her independence, gives her control of who gets to be close to her. I don't think she’ll want anything with me.”

“Show her what you have to offer.”

“I got nothing.”

“Bullshit. You’re loyal, blunt, fiery and willing to do anything for her.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“You aren't making more progress than I am. How about you take your own advice, hyung?”

He let Jungkook's words float in his head for awhile. The time to act finally arriving: free day. You knew only working out or supplying for the next attack would make one go mad. Once a week, groups were allowed to leave the base and enter the city.

Namjoon wasn't allowed to have free days under his punishment, his punishment officially over as of the previous day.

Jungkook was still asleep, also having a free day like him. It was nice and quiet but Taehyung soon interrupted that.

“PARTY UNTIL SUNDOWN!” Jungkook threw a pillow at Taehyung, the soft object smacking his face and he pouted.

“Kookie~ Wake up.” Taehyung said, pulling on the younger boy's arm.

“It's the middle of the night.”

“It's 11am.”

“Exactly.” He retorted, pulling his arm away and turning over.

“Mirae is coming~” Jungkook hopped out his bed, going directly to his closet and slipping on jeans as he hopped into the bathroom.

“How about you, hyung?”

“I’m going to spend it with Y/N…”

“Oh, what a statement. Good luck with that, hyung!”

“You remember your end, don't you Jungkook?”

“I–I got it, alright? Gosh.”

“You're so flustered, how cute.”

“Did Taehyung rub off on you too, hyung? I thought you were cool.”

“Hey.”

“How can Namjoon hyung be cool when he falls down all the time?”

“You're such a brat.” He put Taehyung in a headlock, ruffling his hair and he whined for him to stop,

“Ah, good luck with Noona, hyung.” The two of them leave him, Namjoon taking his time to get dressed. He wore a striped shirt with black ripped jeans and a pair of brown boots.

He talked to himself on the way to your office, seeing Yoongi leaning against the dour when he got there.

“She's teaching a class.”

“But she has her free day too?”

“One of the instructors was sick and she stepped in.”

“Shit.”

“You were going to try and swoon her today. That's cute.”

“I didn't know you could find anything cute, hyung.”

“I can. I'm not a robot, Joon. Now, come on. Tae’s waiting.”

“But he just took Jungkook?”

“He figured if Y/N was busy, I should drag you with me to where he is.”

“Drag me?”

“Your head against the dusty floor with my hands wrapped around your ankles, yeah literally drag you.” He surrendered, knowing Yoongi would fully be dragging him if he refused. They exited the building, the street deserted. Yoongi just led silently as usual, taking Namjoon to a train station.

“Hyung!”

“It's too early for that shit.” Taehyung grinned, pulling them both along and joined the group.

“What are we doing?”

“Have you played Subway surfers?”

“It's a knockoff of Temple Run but why do you ask?”

“Hehe.”

He was atop of a subway car, ducking when it went under a tunnel. The large rush of air held him back as he tried to catch up to the others. Taehyung jumped from car to car as if he was playing hopscotch.

Namjoon was never more relieved when the train stopped, hopping off and the others had as well.

“Was that fun?” Taehyung asked him as he tried to calm down his heart.

“Do you just play with your life because you can't die?” Namjoon spat, Taehyung chuckling.

“It's all for fun. Come on, let's go to the grocery store next.” They stole a few carts, an angry old woman chasing them and they sprinted.

“Cart race?”

“You're on! Namjoon hyung, we got this.”

“I didn't agree to-”

“Ready. Set,” Taehyung looked at everyone's starting position with each cart having a person sitting in it.

“Go.” Namjoon tried to run with Jungkook in his cart. The keyword being tried, the kid was mostly muscle. He tripped over a pebble, letting go of the cart and Jungkook rolling down the street in his own.

He passed the finish line, the lamp post and Namjoon dusted himself off.

“The one time Namjoon's clumsiness comes in handy.”

“We are the champions, my friends!” Jungkook began belting out a song, Mirae laughing at his silliness and he blushed.

They roamed the streets more, spending time doing parkour which Namjoon happens to suck at. He got his pants caught in the fence, giving the group something to chuckle about.

“A tattoo parlour?”

“Why not?”

“If you're going to suggest that shitty idea of getting the same tattoos, you can earn my disapproval in advance.”

“Yoongi hyung is no fun.”

“And you’re a pouty brat. We all have our problems.”

“I’m getting a tattoo.”

“Me too.”

“Namjoon should get one too.”

“I like my body to be tabula rasa.”

“What does that mean?” Jungkook inquired, Namjoon quickly answering his question.

“It's Latin for blank slate.”

“God, Namjoon you’re such a nerd.”

“I learned it in Psychology…”

“You know we're dead, knowledge means nothing to us now.” Hoseok stated, Namjoon huffing at his response.

“I rather be a smart dead person.”

“Do you hear yourselves?” Yoongi said, shutting them both up. They entered the parlour, Taehyung greeting the artist. She had an array of tattoos on her arms, the most striking being the rose on her left arm.

“Hey, Nini~”

“Back again for more, Taehyung?”

“I want one of my left shoulder this time.”

“Anyone else here, want anything?”

“We’re emotional support.”

“We'll help yourselves to some seats, I’ll be done with Taehyung before you know it.” They sat, waiting for Taehyung to come back out and Namjoon bounced his knee. He spent most of his day with his friends, almost forgetting about you and he quickly spit out an excuse before going back to the base.

He barged in your office, seeing you in mid sip of a glass of wine and you almost choked as you made eye contact with him.

“Don't you knock?”

“I was hoping to catch you.”

“Well you definitely caught me. I never thought white wine could hurt my throat until now.”

“I’m glad.”

“That my throat hurts?”

“That I get to see you like this.” He stepped closer, you leaning against the desk as per usual and he towered over you. He found your short height adorable but he wouldn't dare to say it to you aloud. You’d probably flip him.

“Must be lonely, isn't it? Calling all the shots. Not being able to relax as much everyone else.”

“Namjoon–”

“I’m more than happy to help you, Y/N. That's what teammates do.” He whispered against your lips before kissing you. The bittersweet taste of wine was dull in comparison to the sweet taste of your puckered lips. He has wanted this for so long, his hands gripping your hips as your hands fist the fabric of his shirt.

“N-Namjoon.” He pulled away, kissing along your neck as you ran your fingers through his hair.

“Jin’s o-outside.”

“So what?”

“You need to stop.” You said as sternly as you could, Namjoon taking a step back. He left the room before you could touch him, the blur of Jin entering the room after him was unforgettable but he couldn't do anything.

You weren't his.

He dreaded for when he had to train with you, you playing nervously with your sweatshirt. You made anything look hot, the loose sweatshirt exposing a bit of your collarbone and he fought every urge to mark the delicate skin.

“Namjoon.”

“Let's just start.”

“We need to talk about last night.”

“What is there to say? I kissed you and you rejected me.”

“It wasn't like that–” He put his words into his fists, taking swings at you and you dodged his movements. You kicked him, this time not knocking him down and he charged at you. He slammed you against the wall, his arms trapping you.

“Give up.”

“Make me.” He kissed you, letting the taste of you make him inebriated and his legs give out. He grabbed your ass, hoisting you up as you wrapped your arms around him. You pulled away, your lips roughly against his neck as you marked him.

He didn't know he had a sweet spot until your teeth broke into the succulent flesh. You moaned as he snaked his hand under your shirt, clasping your breast and groaning in your ear. He returned the favour, marking your collarbone in devilishly purple bruises and he let you down. You pushed him away, dropping to your knees and taking off his sweatpants.

He didn't wear underwear, you smirking at how hard was already becoming.

“So hard for me. Do you think about me when you touch yourself?”

“Thinking about me bending over for you and destroying my little pussy, don't you?”

“Or am I sucking for your thick cock until you shoot your cum down my throat?”

“Am I riding you until you let out your hot cum into me, your semen pouring down my thighs?” You pumped his cock, your sinful words easily making him hard. He bit his lip as you licked his cock teasingly. The predominant vine bulging out as you continue to run your tongue along his shaft.

You returned to the tip, sucking the precome that was dripping from the head. He nestled his hands in your hair as you slowly took him in your mouth.

“Fuck, baby.” You slowly bobbed your head, teasing him with your pace and he cursed under his breath. He wanted to thrust his cock down your throat, making it so your voice was so hoarse that you could barely scream out his name when he fucked you.

“Baby, please. Don't be such a fucking tease.” You answered him, picking up the pace and he felt himself getting closer to coming down your throat. He pulled out of your mouth, spit collecting on your chin and he wiped the excess.

“Turn around.” You did as he said, him pushing you against the wall and stripping off your leggings.

“Such a little tease.” He smacked your ass.

“What are you going to do about it?”

“So fucking mouthy, baby.” You bit your lip as he smacked your ass again, him getting down on his knees and grabbing your ass cheeks. He pressed a kiss to your left cheek before pulling your panties to the side.

“Oh fuck–” You whined when he took a slow swipe along your cunt. He teased your clit, you moaning as he continued.

“Right there– Fuck, Namjoon–” He sucked on your clit, his fingers teasing your opening and you whined for him to shove his fingers in your cunt.

“Stretch me out–yes. Just like–ngh–that.” He relished your whiny moans, the incoherence of your words as you mindlessly spoke. His fingers gave you a nice stretch, clenching around every pump of his fingers into you. You grew wetter, his fingers drenched in your juices and you trembled as he pulled his fingers out.

“Such a tight little pussy you have, baby.”

“Jesus fuck–”

“You like the way my cock fill up your little pussy, huh? It's begging me to smash it.”

“Then, fucking do it.” You breathed out, him pounding you into the wall. His arms gripped your waist to hold you in place while he thrusts into you.

“Take my fucking cock like a good girl.”

“Ah–fuck–Namjoon.”

“Scream my fucking name. Let Jin know who fucks you like this, baby.” He groaned when you tightened around him, fucking into your harder and you screamed his name.

He nibbled at your ear, leaving little kisses behind your ear while you came. You felt an euphoric rush as he pounded you through your high, overstimulation being something that you seemed to love judging by your whimpers.

“Oh fuck–” His sloppy thrusts brought him to his orgasm, shooting his cum into you and pulling out to watch it dribble down your thighs.

You adjusted your panties, not letting any more cum dribble down and pulled up your leggings.

“It's time for lunch.”

“We still have thirty minutes.”

“You'll need energy for round two, idiot.”

~Admin Blake 

[zerohour-fic-blog]

chapter three

The base is a simple, but then again complex one. To the natural hybrid, it’s a home that's suitable. It’s habitual.

We’re located on the outskirts of the Catskills, south of Town of Olive, where the human mind never thinks to explore. Some are curious, but for the most part, we’re safe and things are kept quiet. Our area consists of mostly land and tiny bodies of water such as, lakes or rivers. The water supply for New York State is located towards the East so though our water resource is limited and lacking, we survive and we stay hidden. That’s our first priority—to stay clear of the human eye.

The origin of this place started with Ray Gueye. Everything started with him—his idea, his mind, his vision. Larry and I had slipped from the hands of the enemy and needed a place to reside. We were located in South New Orleans, at the time, stranded in the abyss of the human world with nothing, but the scorning sun and weak faith to accompany us. Through the grapevine, we heard of a festival that would supply us with nourishment. It was around the time of Mardi Gras. A festive weekend that took over Louisiana streets and humans’ hearts for the sake of forgetting troubled times for a short period of time. I found it senseless and just another excuse for lightened chaos, but Larry was drawn to the intense horns and fierce colors that surrounded the city.

I went for him and for the free snags of food, but we ran into something even more interesting. Within the festivities, a crowd was forming that promoted the opposite of our kind. They wore all black and held signs that were marked with dye as dark as blood. The words written iced my veins: Death to all ELIES. Larry was the first to notice the shouts coming from the distance, but I was the one that sensed the presence of our own.

“This way.” I pulled the fabric of his shirt, encouraging his feet to move in rhythm with mine. I could sense the fear rumbling in his stomach. The sensations made a frog surface my throat, but I wouldn’t let the both of us freeze up in a situation like this. I had to get us clear of their view. “Come on. Move it. They’ll catch us, Larry.” 

He looked at me with bleak eyes before blinking away the coming concern twisting his brow. Nodding, I waited for him to bob his head in return and then began to weave our way through the mass of people. 

I felt his hand reach for mine and I curled my fingers with his in a bone-crushing grip. My shoulders bumped against others in sharp bombards and I winced at the pain, but kept going. I hated that the sensational feel of fear made me sensitive. It made me feel weak. Advanced hybrids weren’t weak. We were too targeted to be–it was too costly.

I could hear the shouts of the anti-hybrid rioters coming from my left and I tried to blur them out. I tried to make myself numb, but nothing worked. I was beginning to panic and I could see my eyes dimming to a bleak black.

“No, not now.”

My fight was letting up because I was so weak. We hadn’t eaten since yesterday and our stomachs were literally living off of drops of spared water and our own natural fluids. My body was worn and the alien in me was beginning to feed off of the human portion out of starvation. I was slipping and I could feel every single cell withering away within me due to the high stimuli of the moment—my fear was making my malnourishment worse.

“Cera, hold on.” Larry called in a boisterous shout and that’s when I noticed my pace had weakened. He was no longer behind me and we were no longer sprinting. Larry was jogging and dragging, while I was weighing him down with my skipped steps and trips.

Suddenly, the sun’s ultraviolet rays intensified and my face and body felt the humidity it gave off. My forehead burst with beads of perspiration and its sweat glands began to scream their frustration. The black had fully taken over my vision causing me to fully shut my eyes and trust Larry’s abilities. 

“I-I’m blind, Lar.” I wearied behind him. “I’m blind. I can’t see anything, but black. I’m losing myself.”

“Stay with me Cera!” I heard him bark the command before my body was snatched around and suddenly the sun was no longer on my skin. My back was against the curves of a lap and my hair being caressed. “Cera!”

I heard his voice, but my senses were overpowering my ability to respond. I sensed something and it felt sweet against my skin. It nurtured the burning sensation of anxiety scorching my epidermis and I wanted more of it. My dry tongue fixated on the words that I wanted to say, but all I could get out was a slight, “Hybrid.”

I felt Larry’s hands against my cheeks and the soft brush of something on my lips. It was warm and coarse. His hair. Larry’s hair.

The last thing I felt was the warm drop of liquid against my cheek. Then, I heard the blurred sound of a voice other than Larry’s smooth one. I blacked out.

That was over 7 years ago.

I woke up in an all-white room with two pairs of eyes on me a couple of hours later. The pair I recognized were sickeningly concerned, but they weren’t blackened, which promised me relief.

 The other pair were unfamiliar, but tranquilizing.

“We almost lost you there.”

A threat.

The first thought I had of the man.

He was tall and muscular. He had dark skin and a brawny frame that left Larry and I at an ultimate disadvantage. We wouldn’t be able to fight off the man if we had to. He would demolish the both of us with a single punch to the stomach. 

I looked to Larry who had risen from his seat and was now standing over me. He looked tired—fatigued—but not alarmed. I raised a single brow his way before asking the question that was lingering on both of our minds—or more so mine to deliver and his to confirm and respond to. 

He answered promptly, “He’s a friend, Ce. Chill.” He smiled as if to confirm the statement, which rubbed me wrong. Larry wasn’t a person to trust someone so easily.

So quickly.

Quickly…

“How long have I been sleep?” I asked him. The hoarseness of my voice came from the dryness of my throat—it felt like sandpaper.

“Easy.” Larry whispered, soothingly pushing a hand through my hair.

I shook my head and tried to sit up. A pain shot through every part of my body causing me to collide back down on the pad I was leaning on. That's when I noticed the difference. The differences in my senses—they were lagging.

"Larry, I feel...different–"

“It’s been about a day or two.” The mystery man spoke the answer I was looking for. I shot a glare at his bleak eyes and Larry’s hand rested against my shoulder. He’d felt the hostility in my cold gaze.

“Détendez-vous, Cerafine. C’est bien. (Relax, Cerafine. It’s fine.)” Larry whispered, pushing his thumbs over the balls of my cheekbones and then caressing my mane again. I growled at the man as Larry’s hands guided me back to the sheeted surface of the thin cot. There weren't any springs under it, but a wheeled contraption usually found in medical facilities.

 We were in a hospital? No. We couldn't be. By this man's scent, I could tell he was a hybrid. It was the same sweet waft I caught at the riot. He had to have more brains than this—to take us to a human hospital would mean he'd given us up to the authorities.

“She’s a defensive one.” The man grinned and his protruding cheekbones followed the lead of the perk of his lips. “That’s good. It shows she has heart. I respect that in a hybrid since our species are lacking in it now-a-days.”

I huffed a heavy warning breath through my nose as he began to round the pad.

I could feel Larry’s hands freeze against me as the giant inched towards us with healthy strides. Both of our defenses were radiating off of one another’s adrenaline. Larry could feel my alertness, while I could feel his hesitance.

The man froze and looked between Larry and I with squinted eyes. He nodded towards Larry and then moved his attention to me again. My instinct told me to pounce on him or try to use some strategic mechanism of escape or defense, but I refrained.

Something told me not to and Larry’s resistance definitely had a great deal to do with it.

“Cerafine, you just had a near-death experience back there.” He said it so casually. “You sniffed me out real quick though. It was immensely impressive.”

Sniffed him out? Couldn’t all hybrids sense one another?

“I’m assuming your trigger deals with others, correct?” I watched as he gestured for Larry to push his hands through my hair again. He obeyed. I didn’t refuse. It calmed me. “Or other hybrids at least. You’re a hybrid that feeds off of others.”

“I feed off of no one.” I snarled. 

His brows shot up. “Words. I’ve got a response from her. This is good.” I watched him nod towards Larry who was watching the man intently himself. He was still tense. I could feel it. “Your friend tells me his trigger has to do with the people he cares for and nothing else. Correct?” He looked to Larry for confirmation.

Larry only glared at him.

“I’m hoping…that’s a yes.” He chuckled, wearily. "You two are so entwined. I can feel your connection from here. It's amazing."

“Who are you and why did you help us?” I questioned, pushing myself up against the worn pillow behind me. “Where are we?”

“You’re in my home, Cerafine.” He looked around the whiteout room before turning back to me. "Welcome.” 

I looked down at the scratched marble floors and the rippled curtains hanging from the metal bars above us. I hadn't noticed their condition before. I took in the small space of it and confirmed this was definitely a guaranteed hospital room, but not an average one a person would be admitted to. My eyes shot towards the door not too far from the cot I was laying on. My lips parted to release a needed breath when I met the metal texture of the appliance meant for entering and exiting—or maybe just entering.

I moved my hands along the cold metal below the bed and soon my fingers met the sharpness of something. I brushed my index against the object before moving my curled palm down the length of a long, keyed chain. I looked up to Larry who reached down and laid a circular cuff into my hand.

When my eyelids twitched, while mystery man began to speak again. “It’s a prison. This is the hospital portion of the confinement. The very bottom of the building.” I blinked up to his knowing eyes. “Bet you’re wondering what you’re doing here. Well, I can start off by telling you where you are exactly. Do you remember?” 

I looked to Larry. “We’re in New Orleans.” I whispered, hastily. "In South New Orleans."

He blinked at me before shooting a sharp glare at our company.

 “You were in New Orleans 48 hours ago.” Mystery man said, crossing his arms. “ Now, you’re in the North.”

“T-the North?”

“Yes. The Catskills.”

 My eyes widened. “The mountains?” I breathed. “How did we get here?”

“Just like any other human would.” He smirked. “Plane. Rented car.” He looked off to the ceiling. “Hybrid abilities.”

"You got through security?" I questioned, astonished.

"Connections." The man advised.

My eyes moved back to Larry’s neutral ones and I noticed them flicker into warmth when he looked at me. “He good people.” He stated, pushing his hand into my tresses again. I leaned into his touch as he massaged my temple with a thumb. “He save you. I almost lose you and he come.”

“What do you want in return?” I looked at the man’s placid pupils. “We don’t have much to give—”

“All I ask is your ear, your opinion, and your drive.” He crossed his arms. “You have room for ambition. I see it in you. I saw it as soon as I sensed you.”

I eyed his expression. It was trusting and almost platonic—something I hadn’t seen in a while.

“Why do I feel like this?” I asked. "I feel...I feel–"

"Like a human, almost?" He chimed in. "Your senses are regulated. Your brainpower is limited. Your frenzy is maintained at a less threatening rate. You're stabilized."

I squinted my eyes. "Stabilized? You mean you gave me their medicine?" I snarled, harshly.

"No." He rebutted, nonchalantly. "I gave you a serum that will help you survive. The humans created a medicine that terminates us. I modified it into something that regulates us. You see it lowers your capabilities so that you can exist in the human world without going insane. Your frenzies don't come intensely. It's lightened." He smirked at me before pointing a finger at Larry. "This one was about to frenzy the exact moment you passed out. I injected him with the stabilizer and he was fine within seconds. It's like a medicine that benefits us and spits in their faces."

I stayed quiet for a moment just taking his words in. Was this really possible? Could we use our enemy's tactics to our benefit without injuring ourselves in the process? Were hybrids really something other than the outcasts of the human world? Could we actually be a part of it? 

My eyes wavered over the man's gruff beard that connected to a filled in mustache. He couldn't be anymore older than his late 20s. The hard eyes staring back at me were warm within their pupils. It was such a contradicting combination. It puzzled me, but for once in a long time, I felt safe.

His age didn't match up with his aura. He seemed experienced and attained an elderly wisdom within his words. Maybe that was why Larry trusted him while I was gone.

"Why are you helping us?" I quizzed.

He nodded and began to walk towards the end of the pad. I watched him. I listened. "Hybrids have been feuding with humans for centuries. We've never taken a chance to breathe and think about our own." He shrugged. "Instead we kill our own. We feud ourselves. We make an ass of our kind and it only makes it easier for them to wipe us out."

"A hybrid is taught not to trust anyone for the sake of their safety."

"Who told you this?" He asked, defiantly. "Another hybrid or the humans that kill them?"

I remained silent. 

"Society is a hypnotizing structural system. They want you to believe that they're on your side just so they can stab you in the back with your own weapon after." He crossed his hands against his front. "Why listen to them when you can make your own mottos? Lead your own kind." He raised a brow, inquisitively. "Start your own interspecies revolution.” 

"That's what you're trying to do?" I asked in disbelief.

He nodded, confidently. "That's what I hope to achieve. Yes."

"You're insane." I chuckled out.

"No, dear. I'm a reformist." He challenged. "I'm the oppressed in this world, but my voice isn't silenced as yet." He shrugged slowly while twisting his lips. I looked to Larry with the same expression of utter astonishment as he continued, "Why not use it? I still have the ability to fit into society's everyday. Maybe," He stressed. "Just maybe, I can use it for the good of my kind. I can get to them and I can inform.” 

My eyebrows furrowed as Larry nodded towards him. I looked to see that he'd raised a finger eye level.

"Inform them? On their powers?"

He smirked like I was a toddler asking for a piece of candy. I suddenly felt small under his gaze. "You know so little, my dear." His head shook. "But you're one among many. And, the difference between them and you is you're curious. And, you're strong." He clapped before pointing towards Larry and I. "The both of you. You two share a want for survival. A hunger. And, it's not only to live, but it's to live as a hybrid. You don't want to let go of that trait. That sense of self. It's important."

I looked down to the sheets covering my body as I heard Larry's whisper in his thoughts. I could feel his sadness overpowering his aura. I knew why. In reality, he didn't want this fate, as a hybrid, but this stranger didn't need to know that.

"So, you want us here so you can protect us?"

He shook his head. "I want you here to help me teach our kind how to unite in an inhumane world."

"Don't you mean human?" Larry said.

"No." The man peeped looking back and forth between us. "I know what I said. The truth is son," He crossed his arms and shrugged. "They're not as human as you think they are."

Ray was a man of not manipulation, but knowledge. Larry and I learned that after while and soon he was the man we confided in. We threw all of our eggs in one basket and trusted that we had the best.

 He'd found the base some time before he found us, explaining how empty and rugged it was. We'd been the first hybrids that found a reason to put our trust in him so we built a foundation of the firm with him. It took time. It took blood. It took sweat. It took hidden tears, but we structured it the best we could, while gathering our allies in one place.

But, we also learned the place had secrets hidden within its creases and cracks. Gruesome ones that would leave any hybrid wide awake at night.

"This used to be a prison for hybrids years upon years ago. There was a time when the general public had no idea we even existed. As soon as we were conceived, they would find a way to rearrange our leave to a case of maternal death and we would be shipped to hidden places like Exhibit A."

I curled myself around Larry's free arm as Ray presented us to the transparent plastic. Behind it was a room that contained rows and rows of capsules that resembled manmade cocoons—had to be about 50 or more tucked inside one chamber. Within the oval containments were blue and pink colored blankets. The lack of light didn't help a lot with depicting much else, but I could see the faint traces of dust laid dead against the surface of them. 

"The capsules have no holes for the babies to breathe." I whispered, inquisitively. "The sides have no attachments for any type of venting or breathing room. How did they survive?"

I looked to Ray who was a ways ahead of us, already looking in the next room. He blinked at me before nodding towards the top of the door that led into the darkened room. 

I followed his gesture to find the wording marked in bold: Early Leave.

My throat closed and my muscles tightened, while my veins turned to icicles in one sweep. My mouth fell agape and disbelief left me speechless leaving the silent sadness to speak for me. I felt the anger rising from my stomach. Larry's arm suffered the worst from my reaction due to my nails seeping into the skin of his trapped arm, but he didn't pull away. He didn't even budge. He understood.

"They didn't." Larry swallowed, looking into the room before looking back to Ray. 

Ray lowered his eyes before dithering between the floor and his flexing hand below him. Looking back to us, he nodded his head toward the long hallway we'd been walking. "Lets keep going."

The curtains were being drawn and the gap between human and hybrid began to grow wider and wider the more Ray told us. He held nothing back and told us straight up what our build-up, our history in homo sapien society consisted of despite our age. We were still teenagers, still young in maturity, but he made us grow with his words and his tasks he constantly laid on us.

 We were trained. We were given tests that taught us what to do in any human-hybrid interaction situation. Our communicative skills were perfected, our medical aid abilities were honed, and our sense of direction, sharpened. It was an ongoing process that took years, but he never shunned us. He only critiqued and constructively criticized.

With our training and education in hybrid history increasing, our want and love for humans gradually decreased. Ray always told us never to hate them, but to be cautious of what they're capable of when misunderstood. It was hard not to hate the person that was continuously oppressing you and spitting in your face because they assumed you were inferior, but then again dangerous. We didn't understand their strategy of conquer-and-kill when lost. It didn't register to us that they only did such ungodly things to protect themselves. But then again, we didn't see ourselves as dangerous. We saw ourselves as targeted and also as half of what they were. We still do. All in all, we're still in danger.

 We're still stomped on and thrown into a pit of rejection and rebuke. To keep a healthy mindset knowing you're unwanted in your only place of reside is difficult. It's a challenge that we face everyday—that we faced everyday. Ray made sure we were well and hidden from the harmful, but what do you do when your mind is the biggest threat to your existence?

"To start a revolution, you must start a war, correct?" I looked into the same bleak eyes of the person I'd been idolizing for the past 6 months now. They were the same as when I first saw them. Hard, but placid. "That's what they do."

"They." He said.

I stood and leaned against the metal of Larry's bunk. We'd found more stable bunks in the right cohort of the prison. Ray inferred it had been set up for the head officials of the firm to sleep in. I suggested that we should just move into the rooms, but he went against it. The walls were too creaky and the location too deep within the base. He ended up deciding it was more meant for storage of some kind or an emergency meet up room. I didn't argue and Larry couldn't care less.

"The humans." Larry chimed in. We'd been talking about this for a while so it was basically rehearsed between us. Ray's was the only dialogue being added. "They go for war to reform. Revolution is war."

 "Violence is the only way to attain power." I added.

Ray looked at us before rising from my bottom bunk, and slowly walking to the middle of the room. We watched as he silently tucked his hands in his pockets and then turned towards us with a hardened expression that spiked an icy jolt up my spine.

"The only way." He repeated, flickering his eyes to mine. "Where did you learn this, Cera?"

"From history." I shrugged. "From the books."

"From history, huh?" He nodded, curling his lip. "American history, I presume?"

I nodded slowly, inching towards Larry who was perched on his bunk. 

"Ah, I see." Ray continued. "It makes plenty sense. American Revolutionary—the American War of Independence. End of the first British Empire and the United States comes of it. World War I—Allied victory. Germans, Russians, and Ottoman Empires lose, but we prosper." He snapped and pointed at me. "And then, World War II—1939-1945—Allied wins again. The Japanese fall and we bomb Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Again, we make it through the war and things are all great." Ray placed his hand back in his pocket and leaned towards Larry. "Momentarily.” 

His shoulders shrugged. "The books don't pertain to us." He said. "They only pertain to them because they've built a foundation on destruction. They've started with it and so just like a lie—just like a fib—they have to keep going with it because it's what they know works. Just because the enemy is doing it doesn't mean that it's the right way. Doesn't mean it's the only way." He raised a finger. "It means it's the cultured way." 

I watched as he pointed to his side. "That's not our culture. They made that very clear to us. I know my facts and I know what your books say. I've read them twenty times over trying to find a way to kick dirt back in their faces with the same exact tactic you're using." He shook his head. "Don't let them suck you into their game. All it leaves you with is burden and guilt." He said. "That's the worst form of torture for a hybrid." 

"Yes sir." I peeped, weakly.

I didn't hear Larry's response.

"Son?" Ray eased. 

Larry breathed a hefty sigh before giving in, "Yes sir." 

"You two are worth more than that. Don't let them convince you otherwise."

Larry and I spent days trying to find a way not to live in their society, but construct our own that was more superior to theirs. We wanted to show our worth instead of solemnly living in their ignorance. We felt like prisoners. We felt like our voices weren't being heard and we were being restricted by not them, but ourselves. It was frustrating to have Ray constantly telling us to accept our place under them when we knew we were better. Stronger. Faster. More intelligent. Our abilities are double their capabilities and yet they were the ones free to frolic the Earth while we were given the fate to hide if we chose something other than their normal path.

We wanted to make a mockery out of them to show how much of a joke they actually were to us. Yet, we were taught to respect them, for they were a part of us. We just weren't a part of them.

"We're going to start saving hybrids."

I looked to Larry who was already looking at me. My back occupied his torso. I could feel his heart racing against my skin. It matched mine.

"I think you two are ready." Ray finished, looking between us. 

It was the day that we feared would come too soon. We'd been living with Ray for a good two years and some change so we knew it was near. We knew he would be coming to us with instruction on missions and information on facilities sooner than later, but that didn't stop us from feeling undertrained. I still felt like that 18 year old waking up to oblivion surrounding her—ignorance being bliss and Larry being present. I still wanted to hide. I still wanted to run away from my reality and tuck myself away.

This was all so sudden and time had gone so fast. It was almost unbelievable that he was coming to us with this.

 "I know you're scared and I know you're feeling a bit uneasy at the moment, but trust me you're more than prepared." He nodded, waiting for us to nod in return. We both did, but very weakly. "I believe in you two. You're my prodigies and I'm more than proud of what you've become. Y'all are my pride. My family."

I lowered my eyes to Larry's shivering hand that rested in mine. When I let go of it, I noticed it was me who was shuddering. Larry couldn't have grabbed it back any quicker.

Ray placed his hand on our conjoined ones and squeezed them together. "I believe in you so believe in yourselves. Believe in your kind and your ability. You're an advanced hybrid." He smiled wearily at the both of us. "Don't show them, but show yourself. You're worth more than any human and those hybrids out there need you to protect them." I smiled some as he looked at Larry. "Do what you gotta do, son." When his eyes moved to mine, I straightened up.

"Because believe it or not, y'all are more than superior. And by natural selection, my dear, those who are superior, are the future."

"When did you bring her back?"

"She get here yesterday. Shut up or leave. She resting." Larry.

I lye still as voices filled the room. The scruffs of shoes told me the two weren't the only ones present.

"How you gonna be illiterate and then tell me to shut up? You don't deserve that right." I rolled my eyes underneath my eyelids as the energetic squeak of a voice spewed the insult.

I knew Larry would get mad. Ty always knew how to tick him off—tick everyone off.

"Je vais diviser votre crâne. Regarder votre bouche. (I'll split your skull. Watch your mouth.)" Larry spat back. 

The few weird chuckles that followed came from Laurent since he was the only one that fully understood his dialect besides me. I moved to lie on my back, but didn't show any signs of consciousness. I already knew the hybrids in the room by their stench. Every one of them has a distinct smell that differentiates them from another. Stalling is the word I'm looking for.

"She still got a body. Those shorts hugging them thighs, man." Ty runs off of pure energy. We call him the triple AAA hybrid, but the actual term is an elan hybrid. He’s the most energetic I’ve by far though.

"Ty, I will end you."

"Ty, you know good and well you wouldn't even think of saying that if she was up." The country twang of Aadi. She's a stand up kind of girl--tracker hybrid. "Larry finna wring your throat if you slip up and say something too reachy."

"What? I'm only praising her for what God's blessed her with. It would be disrespectful if I didn't."

"You're defining her worth by basing your judgment off of your attraction to her. It's called sexualization." Toni—healer hybrid. "Try praising her ability to–"

 "This has nothing to do with mistogony or periods. Be quiet." Ty grunted.

"It's misogyny you incognizant prick. Learn your vocabulary before you tell Larry anything."

"Thank you, Toni." Larry cooed, behind their argument.

"Brother, don't touch Toni. She secretly a succubus. That feminist shit just a cover up." I heard a squeal come from Laurent, the elan hybrid, following his speech, telling me Toni had gotten to him before he could scurry away from her dangerous offense. 

Aadi and Ty's laughs and Larry's rebutting shouts confirmed the beat down she was serving him for his extensive mouth.

"Why are we in here? She's sleeping. We're only disturbing her." The mellow tone of Raël—sensor hybrid. We share the same type. "Ray said to check on her. I think we've overcompensated our stay. Let’s go.”

"Raël, do you ever shut up and just not be the cryptic ass middleman in a conversation? Nobody asked for your questionable, either-or input. Choose a fucking side for a change."

 "I didn't hear a question. It was an order. A command. A statement. Be quiet. I'll feed you sugar again."

 I opened my eyes the same time Ty decided to pounce on his victim. The laughs and hollers came from the far end of the room where Aadi and Laurent stood, as expected, hanging off one another. Larry took the task of holding a raging Ty back, while Toni went back and forth between the opponents with her scolding.

I watched the scene while sitting up and planting my feet on the floor to take my normal, leaned position. My side throbbed from the healing scar taking over my ribcage, but I managed to disguise the pain through expression.

 Larry felt my mental reaction to the pain, which is why he noticed my awakening first.

I slowly put a finger to my lips as his features softened and his grip loosened from Ty's arms.

 "Larry! Don't let go of him!" Toni yelled as Ty began to charge to Raël. 

I looked towards the doorframe where Raël stood with the most condescending smirk perking his lips. His eyes flickered to me as he held Ty back with a hand to the chest. 

"Welcome back." He said, letting his lips pull back into a full smile.

I nodded his way before rising from my bed and grabbing my shirt from the floor.

"Cera!" I didn't have to look up to know who was headed my way. Instead, I began to walk towards the tiny sink a few feet away from the bunks. Tossing my shirt back to the bed, I twisted the nozzles so the water would overpower his speech.

"Don't touch me." I ordered as I felt Ty's hands nearing my shoulders. Quickly moving to the side, I dodged his feverish hands and reached for my toothbrush. 

"You've been gone for so long. I wanted to give you a welcome back hug, you know. I know you've missed me."

I didn't say anything in return, merely continued brushing. To respond to Ty is to respond to a fool. He's a jester—not to be taken seriously at any moment.

"Ty, you're not going to get anything out of her." Aadi advised from across the room. "You know Cera is a cold heart and a hollow soul. She ain't the emotional kind."

I reached for the nuzzles, and slowly twisted them off so the rust would make the metal creak. I heard a mixture of pained shouts come from behind me, Aadi's in particular.

"I'm only telling the truth, Cera! Gollee!" She groaned. "There's no reason to be a mean about it."

 I spit foam into the sink before turning and leaning my bottom on the edge of the ceramic piece so I could take everyone in. All of the sensor and tracker hybrids were holding their ears, while the rest were eyeing me—one roguishly, one deliberately, and another unblinkingly.

I found the unreadable stare the most alluring, but because of whom it belonged to, I decided against it. Instead, I glared at Ty and then slowly moved my eyes to Larry who had found a seat on my disheveled bunk. When he saw me looking down at the messy sheets, he sighed and began to make it up without much effort.

 I lowered my stare and then shot my attention to an irritated Aadi.

"Everyone met with Ray, I heard." I spoke before turning and spitting my remaining toothpaste into the sink. I twisted the nozzle quickly, watching the foam drain.

"He just gone over some new missions for the retrievers that Larry can tell you about. Me and buddy over here showed him some new ideas for combat." I could see Aadi look up to Laurent through the sink mirror. He was taking false jabs as she spoke. "Raë and Ty showed him some new tech equipment that could be of use and Toni Ton just put in some request for vaccines and such. Nothing major."

"He told us to come welcome you back while he took care of business." Raël said. I turned to look at him. "He didn't say anything about coming as well, but I'm sure his visit will be when no one's present."

 The look on his face told me he knew that was what I was looking for. I cursed his inference, but didn't let my frustration with his ability to read between the lines so accurately show. Instead, I just nodded my gratitude and began to move towards my bed again.

"Thank you, Larry." I whispered as he smoothed a hand over my wrinkled sheets.

He nodded before sitting back down in his prior space and scooting over for me.

I shook my head.

"Well, welcome back, Ce. It's been quiet around here without you." Toni said with a smile.

 "Usually it's dead silent when you're here. It's nice to have that back, right guys?” 

"So help me god, Ty, I will rip out your vocal chords if you say one more thing.”

"You can't take a fucking joke, Toni?! Jeez. I'm playing with her."

"No one likes when you play with them, Ty. Especially Cera. Don't you realize that by now?"

"Toni, you like when I play with you, right?"

"Laurent, do not get on my nerves twice in a day before the 12th hour hits, I will be authorized to kill you."

Ray said he’d stop by sometime tonight when things simmer down.

I turned my attention to Larry, who was already looking at me.

How many missions do we have? 

Larry's lips twisted as I sat down next to him and turned back to our fussing teammates. While Ty and Toni went at it, Aadi was scolding Laurent for picking at Toni every time she pivoted to respond back to Ty. 

I looked to the doorframe, which still held a calm Raël. His eyes weren't on the festivities, they were on me. He smiled immediately when we caught contact. Pushing himself off the edge of the frame, he winked at me and made his exit, disappearing into the dim light of the hallway behind him. I didn't take my eyes off the entranceway until Larry telepathically whispered my way.

We don't have until next week. Ray thinks it's best if you rest up a little.

 I eyed him, but he didn't look my way.

I agree with him.

The add-on was unnecessary to me, but I took it for him-for his wellbeing.

My health is much less life threatening than those hybrids waiting for us out there. I hope you know that.

 Larry sniffed the same time Toni took her first blow at Laurent. I watched his feet maneuver his body out of her reach with advanced precision and accuracy. He'd been training rather hard lately. I could tell. I had to ask him what his regime looked like later. Maybe he could mold some rough edges of mine when it comes to combat.

The human in me knows, but the other guy is having a hard time conforming to that. I'd much rather give in to him than side with the same kind that hurt you.

"And, that's not him talking, that's me."

I didn't look his way as he turned to me. Leaning my elbows on my knees, I nodded.

"We go as soon as the scar forms. No rebuttal."

I heard him sigh through his nose irritably, but I didn't expect much more. He knew me. Once my mind was set on a decision then there was no going back. He’d have to conform to my word whether he liked it or not because if he didn't it meant I would be going alone.

"I going to the combat corner." I watched him rise from my bunk and stretch his arms over his head. "Come with me.” 

I shook my head, watching Laurent lift Toni and start to carry her towards the entrance. Ty, and Aadi followed close behind their laughs echoing down the length of the narrow hall, even when they'd gotten to the end of it.

"I'm good." He sucked his teeth, poking my ankle with a foot as I lifted it onto the bed, and stretched out my limbs. “I’m not in the mood to be treated like a toddler.”

"I not treat you like kid."

"You'll be monitoring me by the millisecond."

"You too stubborn to do it yourself." He grumbled in response, his frame already turning towards the door to head out.

I placed my hands behind my head watching him exit the room and turn down the hall, his footsteps distancing towards the outer region of the left wing. 

I sighed through my nose, closing my eyes tight before relaxing them.

Within minutes, I heard light footsteps of rubber soles slowing as he approached the door again.

"Combat was that boring?"

"Shut up."

I smirked keeping my eyes shut as he uncrossed my legs and pushed himself between the tight wedge, cupping his arms under my thighs. His bottom hung off the end of the bed and his head lay directly at the center of my abdomen, his chest melting into my pelvis.

"You're tired." I acknowledged once he settled.

I could feel it in his aura and the fatigue of his limbs resting against my thighs. He didn't respond.

"Sleep." I breathed, pushing my fingers into the start of his hair set in twists. He grabbed my wrist and pushed it fully into his abyss of his black tresses. I didn’t refrain.

He hummed his satisfaction.

"Don't worry." I said taking his thoughts into account. "I'll be here when you wake."