#and it was through that fanfiction that she grabbed the attention of Holly Black (of Cruel Prince fame)

[rabbits-of-negative-euphoria]

if you want to know how the lines started to blur between YA fantasy and adult bodice-rippers, and how TikTok catalyzed the market shift, look no further than middle-aged women writing Harry Potter fanfiction in the early 2000s

[waitinginthedarke]

It Consumes Me

A BTS/Kim Namjoon Fanfiction

Summary: The minute he laid eyes on her he knew she was the one. But love is a battle of the mind and the heart, and when the voices in your head start winning, how can your heart possibly compete with a choice that consumed you before the very start…

Type: Angst/Love

Disclaimer: This story contains strong themes. Should a chapter be potentially triggering, it will be stated beforehand. (This chapter contains more direct reference to triggering subjects, most prominently EDs)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5

You peer nervously from Namjoon to Jungkook, feeling your legs shake a little when you stand to greet him, keeping Namjoon’s hand tucked tightly in your own and you feel him do the same with yours as you bow to the other guy, attempting a warm smile after realising that he was someone clearly important to the man beside you with how scared he’d seemed to introduce you to him.

‘Its…uh, its nice to meet you, Jungkook-sshi.’ You say, cursing your voice for sounding so quiet as a result of your uneasiness at the sudden turn of events, panicking when you suddenly feel light-headed, grabbing Namjoon’s hand tighter in response to make sure you don’t fall, and seeing him turn to look at you in your peripheral vision with slight concern .

‘I wish I could say I’ve heard a lot about you, y/n. But in actual fact, I only learned of your connection to Namjoon-hyung this evening. …although I must say, since I pulled the secret of your existence out of him, he hasn’t stopped talking about you...’

Its that tiny tit-bit of information that Jungkook finishes on that centers you in your dizziness and brings you back to the present, the smile that appears on your lips going unnoticed to yourself as you turn your head to look at the angel beside you.

‘Is that right?’ you ask, knowing you’d use this information to tease Namjoon for a long while after this moment, especially with the way his cheeks tinge pink in his embarrassment at being caught talking about you without you being there.

‘Yah, did you have to say that?’ he complains at his friend, his almost instant reaction of protest causing you to grin and break out into laughter as you lean into him, closing your eyes as you momentarily touch your forehead to his shoulder, taking the quickest drag of his scent into your lungs before tilting your head up once more to look at him, only to see him already peering down at you.

There is a momentary pause as the two of you watch each other, both feeling yourselves sink into the other, the clasp of Namjoon’s fingers around your own making your heart race as your gaze flickers to his lips, lingering for only a second before you’re alerted to an awkward cough made by Jungkook.

‘Uh, so, Hyung says you were spending the evening studying, y/n?’

You can feel your cheeks heating all over again as you quickly divert your attention to Jungkook, continuing to feel Namjoon’s gaze on you as you reply.

‘Ye-ah…yeah, I’ve got an assignment on Murukami to finish for a seminar at the end of the week. But to be honest I’ve spent the last hour reading the same page over and over again and none of it is sinking in.’ you explain, pulling a slightly aggravated face at yourself as you look over your papers spread on the desk in front of you, although the feeling dissipates almost immediately when Namjoon pulls you into his side and slips his arm around your waist for comfort.

‘Well maybe you need a break from it for a moment…and what do you know, you’ve got two willing volunteers to help you relax for perhaps just an hour?’ the man clutching you suggests, raising a single eyebrow in the most seductively intense way that you almost want to jump him there, before you reason with yourself that that would really make a disturbance in the library.

It’s after a few seconds more of staring at him that you realize you hadn’t replied, licking your lips nervously as doubt over finishing your assignment in time begins to seep into your mind. However, you already knew from your racing heart and the tightening of your chest that demanded you follow him to the ends of the earth, that you were about to do anything he said.

‘You promise it’ll just be for an hour?’ you ask timidly, subconsciously biting your lip, but having your attention bought to the nervous habit when his thumb is softly trailing over your lip and pulling the flesh from your teeth, the sight of his wide grin and soft voice swimming in your vision as your heart gives in to his wants.

‘Are you really doubting me?’

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

It was only as you were walking away from the river path that had streamed down from the university and toward a little street of back-alley restaurants after Jungkook had made a comment about how hungry he was, that the concept of bunking off for a little while with Namjoon began to seep into tones of blackness and dislike.

You could already feel your palms growing clammy, and as much as you’d tried to stifle it, the rumbling in your stomach had grown three-fold the minute the scent of fried chicken and various sesame oil-soaked noodles had hit your nostrils 100 yards back.

Eyes scanning the shop fronts in desperate search of a cute little café to save you, you couldn’t help but be thankful that peak rush hour was only just beginning to ease off, the distractions of multiple bright car lights and the sound of horns and revved engines keeping Namjoon’s attention away from you…

…or so you thought.

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

Namjoon

You’d noticed her palms grow clammy the minute Jungkook had lead you both from the river path and up towards one of the guys’ favourite restaurant haunts- the secluded, hidden in plain sight location, housing plenty of food joints with private seating being perfect for all of their needs. At first he’d assumed it was due to his profile and the attention it might bring to them if they were to be spotted, but it had only taken him half a second to remember that as far as he was concerned, she was unaware of the vast, chaotic nature of his life, and after that he couldn’t help but watch her curiously, overly aware of her and her reactions to try and work out what was making her so uncomfortable.

‘Chicken or bbq?’ Jungkook asks from up ahead, turning with a grin on his face as he gestures to the different restaurants either side of him, laughing at y/n appearing amazed by the hidden gem of a street, but you can see the tightness in the smile that forces its way onto her face as she responds.

‘I’m down for wherever has coffee!’

As an instinctive response you grin at her comment, your heart fluttering in your chest when she turns to see your reaction, and despite your concern for her you still find yourself in awe of her beauty…in awe of everything that was so utterly her.

‘uhh…well I don’t think either of these places does particularly good coffee-‘ Jungkook goes to explain, an apology in his tone of voice, but you’d already come up with a small plan of action in your head.

‘Its okay, Jungkook-ie, take y/n to the bbq place and I’ll run and grab some coffee from Holly’s-‘

‘Wait! Namjoon, you don’t have to do that-‘ she immediately goes to protest, but you quickly silence her with a touch of your lips to hers, the temptation to stay there almost overwhelming you before the voice in your brain that was excited to please her takes control once more and you step away with a teasing smile.

‘Black, no sugar. …go with Jungkook; I wont be a minute.’

Smothering a laugh at her dumbfounded expression, you quickly turn away to backtrack on yourself slightly, jogging back around the block to the coffee shop that would have appeared before had the three of you continued down the river path and quickly ducking in, being thankful that it wasn’t particularly busy at that time of night.

After ordering her drink, you stand at the counter with your hood pulled low, scuffing your shoes a little on the floor, ears immediately tuning into the conversations of the few people sat at tables in the café, the chat of one pair of girls particularly peaking your interest.

‘She missed first period again today, that’s two days in a row now- and she bunked off of fifth period the day before that; if she’s not careful she’ll get pulled into the head teacher’s office…-‘

‘I don’t think she’d be that worried about the principle; we both known what her dad is like since her mom died. …God knows what would happen if he found out she’d been missing school...’

With a feeling of pity for the unknown girl in the conversation, Namjoon thanks the server for the take-out cup as he passes it to him, turning towards the door, and walking out without looking back-

-but not before he could tune into the next part of the story.

‘She looks so small these days…Its like she’s slowly disappearing…’

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

Your leg wouldn’t stop jigging as you sat at the table with Jungkook waiting for Namjoon to return, politely making light conversation with Jungkook to distract yourself from the turn of events of the night, and the assignment that was going untouched in your bag. Although when you peer down at said rucksack, and glimpse the delicate bouquet of flowers poking out of the top, you couldn’t help but become momentarily distracted by their beauty.

‘So how long have you known Namjoon?’ you ask, figuring whilst he wasn’t there, you’d get the low down on why Jungkook had suddenly shown up that night, and why Namjoon had seemed so shy and embarrassed about it.

‘Ah, probably about 10 years now. I met him when I joined the agency, and he took me under his wing.’ Jungkook explains, a reminiscent smile lighting up his face as he stirs his straw through his glass of coca-cola.

‘Do you find your job hard?’ you inquire, smiling at the thought of the two of them staring at computers all day long, working hard and always striving to do their best.

‘Well its not an easy business to crack, although once you’re at the top, you begin to get used to the shows every night; its mainly just the exhaustion that never gets easier, but the amount of food you get to eat from all the dancing does make everything a lot more fun.’ He explains, chuckling as right on cue the waitress brings out the banchan for the food he’d ordered for everyone, your body tensing when you see the glorious colours, and your body inhales the sweet scent of kimchi.

But you barely focus on the food with your mind stuck on the information Jungkook had just given you, trying to process the phrases ‘shows every night’, and ‘dancing’ into a job role that didn’t imply that Namjoon was some sort of strip-club dancer- a thought that half concerned you (because he hadn’t mentioned it), and half turned you on.

‘Wait, so, what do you mean by ‘shows every night’?’ You ask politely, watching the guy across from you keenly as he begins to pick at some of the dishes.

‘Well they’re not every night, but we’ve done frequent shows over the past month because we wanted to hype up our fan-base before the comeback, but some days are easier than others; I’m hoping we get a few rest days in before we release the new album.’

You sit in a stunned silence as you let this new information sink in, the only possible solution you could conjure from the details he was giving you, being that Namjoon and Jungkook were some kind of singers or performers that by the sounds of their ‘frequent shows’ were rather popular in Korea.

‘Namjoon-hyung has definitely been working the hardest though, what with all the producing he does for the album and the international press and media releases we have to put out- has he told you yet that he can speak fluent english?- he’s amazing!’

Or perhaps they were even more popular than you had in mind.

‘Someone order a black coffee?’

Your brain is practically buzzing with information as you look up to see Namjoon stepping through the sliding doorway to the room, a bright smile on his face as he walks round to your side of the table and places your drink in front of you, touching your cheek briefly as a way of greeting you again when you thank him, before removing his jacket and shoes to make himself more comfortable.

‘So, what have you guys been talking about?’ he asks, instantly picking up a set of chopsticks to dig into the plate of kimchi set on the table, winking at you with a cheesy mouth-half-full grin before you answer him.

‘Jungkook was just telling me about how hard you’ve been working.’ You begin, watching him intently for his reaction, noting that Jungkook had picked up on the slight difference in tone of voice you were using, and seeing him looking slowly between the two of you in your peripheral vision, a slight frown of confusion between his brows.

‘It has been pretty intense lately.’ Namjoon appears to muse, continuing to graze on the small bowls on the table, but pausing with chopsticks halfway to his mouth with your next sentence.

‘He was telling me about the.... album ....you’re releasing soon.’

There’s a pause.

It almost seemed like you were all holding your breath as you wait on his response to your comment, the tension in the room only being broken when the waiter returns with the bbq platter and the extra dishes Jungkook had ordered, obviously sensing that something had happened as he occasionally side eyes you all as he disperses the plates, hurrying to place the meat on the grill before darting out of the room within 30 seconds and leaving you all in silence once again with the exception of the sizzling of the bbq.

‘Was he?’

It’s the way his voice cracks on the words that seems to clue Jungkook into the fact that he’d told you something he wasn’t meant to, his eyes widening theatrically as it dawns on him that you didn’t know about their job and apparent fame.

‘Mmhmm, he was telling me about all the shows you’d been performing recently.’ You mutter faux nonchalantly, sipping from your black coffee as you continue to watch the man beside you without blinking, feeling yourself get a head rush as the caffeine entered your veins and quickly grabbing the edge of the table as you feel yourself rock backwards slightly, the sudden movement forcing Namjoon’s eyes toward your hand and then up to your own gaze as he finally swallows the mouthful of food he’d been holding in his mouth for the past two minutes.

‘Im sorry.’

They weren’t the words you’d expected to leave his lips, let alone how softly they’d escaped him, or the subtle undertone of fear they rode on to reach your ears.

For a moment you were frozen in place again, your brain trying to figure out why his expression seemed so desperately afraid, but when you fail to come to a reasonable conclusion, you reach over to lay your hand on his knee, watching him worriedly.

‘Why are you saying sorry?’ you murmur back, voice almost equally as quiet as his was, and despite the fact that Jungkook had begun silently applying the vegetables to the grill in his awkwardness, you shuffle closer to Namjoon in an attempt to provide him with some comfort, hating the look of loneliness that had entered his gaze.

‘I didn’t tell you because I thought it might scare you. You’re so delicate to me y/n, I don’t want to lose you before we’ve even had a chance at being together, and I figured the magnitude of my life would be too much to deal with right away.’

The way his hand had risen up to cup your cheek half-way through him talking, his palm providing you with much needed warmth as he’d cradled your jaw so delicately, had your throat closing up as emotion had overwhelmed you. After a few moments of staring at him you stand up, murmuring a quick ‘excuse us’ to Jungkook, before smothering Namjoon’s protests at you leaving by grabbing his hand and gesturing for him to come with you.

You’re barely outside of the room and down the steps of the café, into the deserted back street behind, before you grab his head and pull his lips down to meet yours.

Your body feels like a livewire is running through it as you press your mouth desperately to his, choking on your breath as you feel his arms instantly wrap around your waist, hold becoming so tight that he’s almost lifting you off of your tiptoes in his passion. In that moment all you could comprehend was the smell of him; woody, minty, and warm, and the feel of him all around you, making every nerve ending stand to attention. And the only thought that stood out in your mind around the tumult of information you’d learned in the past 15 minutes, was that you never wanted to be anywhere else other than by his side.

‘I don’t want you to be scared.’ You murmur between kisses, finally managing to break your lips apart long enough to be able to catch his gaze, staring intently back at you as he waits for you to speak.

‘Does the idea of dating some famous guy absolutely terrify me? Definitely…for multiple reasons, but-…but none of it matters when that famous guy is you.’ You explain, smiling timidly at him, ‘since the moment I met you, I’ve felt this need to be next to you despite how terrifying that thought it to me, to find out everything about you that I can; to learn you inside and out, because to me you appear utterly fascinating- wonderful, beautiful, -I just-…God, why am I telling you all of this-‘ you trail off, realising you were rambling, completely spilling your heart to this man, and trying to put a stop to the splurge of words that wanted to fight their way from you so that he knew how special he was in your eyes, how the image of him had burned itself onto the backs of your eyelids since the very moment you’d first met him in that café.

For the three seconds of silence that followed your outburst, your entire body fills with fear, the need to recoil burning through your veins as you realize you’d laid yourself bare to him when you’d only known of his existence for just over a week. But before you could make a mad dash for it, you feel his hands cradling your face, bringing your attention to the fact that you’d closed your eyes and ducked your head in your imminent defeat as he lifts your gaze to match his, bringing your attention to the fact that his eyes were shining in the light of the restaurants slightly garish electric banner behind you.

‘Everything…you have just told me, all the ways you feel about me…I feel that way about you too, y/n- …and so much more. ….The second you walked through the door of that café the first time we met, It felt like being blinded by the sun; like my whole life had been waiting for that single moment, and the second I saw you the world made sense. Within seconds of speaking to you, of making an absolute fool of myself and seeing that it had made you laugh, I knew I wanted to be the fool for the rest of time, as long as it meant I got to see your smile for just as long.’

Your knees were knocking together, and your hand was shaking where you were holding his forearm gently, needing to be touching him in some way as you listen to his words, your thoughts falling in on themselves as your heart tries to break free from your chest, swelling beyond belief with the emotion his words held for you.

‘The life I lead…its scary, and dangerous…and secretive,…but I don’t think I could survive it alone now that I know you … this past week I’ve lived like a king; I’ve been invincible, ask Jungkook-‘

‘Oh god, Jungkook-‘ you murmur quietly, just now realising that the two of you had left him alone for the past five minutes, and hoping that he had begun eating without you so that he didn’t remain hungry.

1 point to irony.

‘I’ve felt more alive than I have since moving to the city almost ten years ago.’ Namjoon continues as you redirect your gaze to his, the feeling of a smile lingering around your lips as you tune in once again to what he had been saying. But at that point, the look on his face told you that he already knew he didn’t need to say anything else.

And as he leaned in to touch his lips to yours once more, you couldn’t help speaking the words aloud that the two of you had learned in that moment that you’d both been holding onto since the moment you’d first met.

‘Its you.’

(T.B.C)

PSA: I will upload the next chapter tomorrow, but don’t expect uploads to become regularly frequent again quite yet as i’m just letting myself go with the flow at the minute until i get back into a good rhythm :)

[tea-books-england]

Take Me Home To The Place I Know

Hello! I’ve been reading a lot of your wonderful creations for some time now, and finally tried to write a fanfiction myself. This is the first time I try this, I really hope it doesn’t sound like utter garbage.

Also, I apologise in advance for any typos, I’m not a native English speaker. I also apologise for the length of this. The title is inspired by Ella Eyre’s “Home”.

Author’s note: Rated T for mild language and mentions of character death and murder. This is a crossover for round 28 of #choicescreates, between Hero and Endless Summer, hosted by @ladyashtonofcordonia and @holly-park. I used the default name Alex for my female MC in Hero and the name Serena for my female MC in Endless Summer

I hope you enjoy it!

The rain is pattering heavily against the open window as the train soon comes to a halt at London Paddington. People swiftly get up, grabbing their belongings, long rain coats and umbrellas, before forcing themselves through to the narrow corridor to reach the exit as fast as they can. At a quarter past six in the evening, Paddington is crowded with employees finally making their way home, rushing to their next train. They wind their scarves tighter round their necks, turn the collars of their coats up against the cold breeze that hits them as soon as they leave the mouldy air of the train.

A tall woman gets out and calmy walkes towards the exit of the railway station. Her black coat wrapped tightly around her slender frame, the black hair tied in a neat knot, she passes the rushing passengers, the clicking of her heels getting lost in the shuffle. A man sits in the corner, turning a cigarette in his hand, studies her for a short moment before he shouts. “Why hello, there, beautiful!” But she does not react. Standing now out in the open, right in front of the station, she takes a pair of gloves out of the little handbag she is carrying and puts them on. She reads the little note again that she has in her coat pocket, and turns towards the main street.

Now, in the middle of October, the temperature having been quite warm for the past weeks, had dropped over the course of several days, and the rain does not seem to help it. The rough climate of autumn can now be felt more than ever, and it costs quite an effort to even leave the house and not just to lie on the sofa all day, watching TV and drinking a nice cup of coffee or tea. The woman turns left in a side alley, before she turns another left and then another right, an old looking building appearing in front of her. She reads the note again, looks for a name at the entry, and rings. The voice of a young woman cracks through the speaker. “Hello?” “Good evening, Miss Tate, I am Miss Martin, we spoke earlier about a possible job offer and agreed to meet up. May I come in?”

There is a small pause on the other end of the speaker, then the voice agrees and opens the door. The woman enters the lift, pressing the button for the third floor, and finds a young blond woman already waiting at the doorstep of apartment number 301. The blond studies her quickly before she says: “Good evening, Miss Martin. It’s a pleasure to meet you, please come in.” The other woman thanks her, inspecting her surroundings. “Please take a seat. Would you like a cup of coffee or tea?” The woman nods and takes a seat on the gray sofa. “Coffee, please.” She chuckles. “You are adapting quite well to the British way of speaking.”

The blond turns, lifting an eyebrow, before she regains her calm composure. “Quite so. Now, about this job offer”, she sets the coffee in front of her counterpart on the tea table. “I learnt that you are an executive assistant at Prescott industries, situated in Northbridge.” “I see you did your research.” The woman sips her coffee. The blond smiles. “Can you blame me? It’s not everday that I get a message on my answering machine from America, saying they might be offering me a job. I must say I am surprised you came to me for that job. Are you planning to open another company here in London?” “Not at the moment, no.”

The blond looks astoundished. “Is it about a job in America then?” Her counterpart nods. The blond studies her with an unreadable expression, then looks away. “I am very sorry to trouble you with the long travel, Miss Martin, but I am afraid I cannot come back to the United States for the time being. I built my life up here, in London, and I am not really ready to leave it all behind again.” The black-haired woman watches her, not responding, as if she is patiently waiting for the blond to go on. The latter grows nervous. “I believe, you will find a suitable marketing assistant back in America who would love to have the job.” She stands up, but again, the other woman makes no move. “I am not exactly talking about Prescott Industries, Serena.”

Serena stares at the woman, her eyes wide open. She searches for words, before she asks: “How did you know?” “Everybody’s attention was drawn to the missing airplane with the college students that had been offered a trip to the island La Huerta. From one day to the other, no one was able to find you. The agencies were not even able to connect with “The Celestial” for answers upon your sudden disappearance. You just vanished from this world, and this high media attention lasted for several months, before they let the matter drop. And then, half a year ago, we read a little announcement, that they gave up on looking for you. But, you see, I have this friend Dax of mine who really was interested into the matter, and when he started looking for sources in the internet, he read about several bizarre mysteries linked to the island, and he dug deeper. Although he was not able to find any information that lead towards “The Celestial” or the missing airplane, he found out that they did not give up the search, but found the students, you included.”

Serena nervously takes a sip of her tea. “So, what are you, then? Some kind of secret agency? Are you working for Rourke?” The woman shakes her head. “Nothing of that sort. I told you, I am offering you a job.” “I feel it’s nothing to do with working as marketing assistant in any company.” The woman watches her intensely. “I have been looking for you since the day Dax came to me and told me about you. About the weird things that happened when you were around. About your sudden disappearance.” Serena closes her eyes for a moment, suddenly overwhelmed by emotions. “If you know my story, then you know why I had to leave.” The woman nods sadly. “Yes, you had every right to leave, and I am very sorry about the things you had to endure. But it is time you came back.” “No, I don’t. I feel myself quite comfortable here. London is nice, I got a nice job, I can start my own life. I’m moving on. And I’m damn sure I won’t return to the US.”

“Look at you. Look at this apartment. There is nothing personal here, no decoration, no pictures. It’s like you just moved in, when you have lived in London for a couple of months already. Before that, you were in Costa Rica, constantly on your feet, traveling around, and not settling down for one second.”

“So what? I found a new start here, and I ain’t giving it up!” Serena looks around and throws her arms in the air. “It takes some time to adjust, but I’ll get there.”

“Your working as a marketing assistant in a company you don’t even care about. I am pretty sure you don’t even like the job. You will be gone in several months again, traveling up the coast or taking the plane, to get to a new place. You are not trying to look for a home, trying to settle down, your fleeing. And the problem, the problem is, that you don’t realise that the only thing you flee from is your head. There was no point in leaving the US in the first place!”

Serena defensively stands up and walks to the window. “I can’t! I cannot return to this country! Not to the place I share memories of my friends! Not when I have these- “She stops, unsure, if she should say it out loud. “Telepathic abilities? Visions of the past?” Serena turns towards the woman. “Who are you?” “I am not so different from you. I have abilities too, abilities I must keep secret from others. I know it is hard when you are alone with this. And I am offering you a chance. Come back to the United States with me, I can help you.” Serena hesitates, unsure what to say. “I might be able to help with your visions, too. “

“They just come whenever they want.”, Serena whispers. She almost starts to cry. After months of loneliness, months where she had to build walls around her because she did not know what she could tell others, months of sleepless nights she visioned of Jake, of her friends, their deaths, waking up all alone in an ugly apartment in a city she did not feel at home at all, she finally can let her guard down. There is person that understands her. The woman gets up and hugs her tightly. “Having an ability means you need to control it. Those visions, they may get better once you train your mind.” She smiles sadly at Serena. “Even if you will still have nightmares about your friends, it is a relief.”

Serena nods, tears falling down her cheeks. She takes a deep breath and settles down on the sofa again. She drinks her tea, then turns back to the woman standing at her window. A lightening illuminates the street outside and the semi-dark room, followed by a loud thunder. And as if there is a click in her head, Serena suddenly knows what to do. Hell, she never wanted to stay here. “Alright.” The woman watches her astoundished. “You’re right. I’m done fleeing. I come home.” The woman smiles. “You can take your time. I help you settle your things – “ “No, I don’t need that. I am still on probation at work, I have a very nice landlady. She’ll understand. “ “Then it’s settled. I’m taking you back with me to the United States.”

Serena smiles to herself. She feels awkwardly relieved. She can finally go home. And she isn’t going to be alone. At that thought, she notices something. “Hey, what’s your name, actually?” “I’m Alex. “, The woman grins, obviously very pleased with the turnouts of this evening’s discussion. “And that job you wanted to offer. What exactly is the description of that?”, Serena asks. Alex grins wider. “You’re going to work with a few very cool people, going to wear some fancy clothings, and going to kick some people’s asses.”

A dark figure rushes through the gaps between the skyscrapers, disrupting the night’s tranquility. Alex flies and makes a sharp turn to the left then flies over a park, almost touching the fallen snow on the tree branches. Her red capes moving furiously in the cold breeze of the night. She holds her arm right in front of her face and speaks to the waistband. “Serena, where are they going?”, she shouts against the wind. “You gotta take a sharp turn to the left again after the next building. They are heading towards an industrial site. There’s a car waiting for them.” Alex turns to the left again. A couple is underneath her on the sidewalk and looks up, as they notice the sudden commotion in the air. Alex swiftly ducks behind another high building, trying not to lose speed. Kenji’s voice crackles in the waistband.

“You see the other suspects waiting for them?” “Yes. They’ll drive outside of town where another car is waiting for them. Seems to be a park. They’ll change cars there. We gotta reach them before they can drive away.” “Quite so.” Kenji says. “CCTV has recorded them driving away from the crime scene. They gained themselves time by leaving the car in that parking lot up the alley, but they’re much slower by foot. They must have adjusted his plan and called their colleague to meet them withhin reach, but not too near to the crime scene. The police are spreading out around the parking lot and search for witnesses, but with their faces not visible on the security camera, they don’t stand a chance to find them.”

“But we do.” Alex flies around complex. “Serena, how long before they reach the instruction site?” “I say five minutes. No wait, ten. The way they wanted to take is under construction, they’ll take a sideroad to their left that leads them around several apartment complexes. Turn the next left and you’ll see me.” Alex obliges and promptly flies next to her friend. Serena grins. “Hey, there.” She studies her friend in the tight blue costume. “You really didn’t want to bring a scarf and gloves, huh?” Alex laughs. “No, it slows me down. What about you?” “Oh, you know, I wear leggins and a t-shirt under my suit, it’s quite comfortable and warm this way.”

“Trendy. We should get you both warmer suits for the winter season, you know with these furry collars and everything. “Poppy chuckles on the screen of the waistband. “Only if you add a portable coffee holder too.” Alex retorts. She looks behind them and sees a bronze figure hurrying over the buildings, following them. “Kenji, you’re still with us?” “Believe me, I’m hot on your heels. The minute you end your little coffee party up there you’ll be the ones to follow me.” All three women laugh. “Oh, you wish.” Alex retorts and flies faster. Ignoring the frustrated sigh of Kenji, she turns to Serena. “Your new flying device is absolutely brilliant.”

“Yeah, it’s actually very comfortable. And also quite useful.” “Remind me why I have no such thing?”, Kenji asks. “Because I couldn’t produce a device so far that is able to carry your bronze without making you a giant bronze dragonfly. And because you always preach that true heroes know their strenghts and weaknesses, and that you are feeling much better with your feet on the ground.” Dax’ face appears on the screen of the waistband. “Guys, the police radio states that one police car makes a patrol in your direction. Better be safe when passing them, don’t draw their attention on you.” Alex nods. “Got it.” Serena seems to space out for a second. When it’s over, she turns to Alex. “He’s leaving the side street now and is back on his way. Eight minutes.” “Alright guys, let’s hurry.”

Dexter hurries into side street and stops for a short while to catch his breath, Rager with him.  Their plan had worked out. They had trained this for months. With all that practice and planning, it had been quite easy to break into the Central Northbridge Bank. Dexter looks at the heavy bag in his hand. He imagines the dollar bills laying inside of it and his eyes begin to glow. “We’re rich now, eh?” Rager asks with a deep voice, grinning widely all over his face. Dexter nods. “Too bad we’ve got to dump it.” He throws his bag into an edge. Rager shakes his head, but follows the given orders. “Such a waist of money.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll get a wage that’s worth it. We have the most important thing.” Dexter holds the USB stick inside of his hands. The key they had taken from the corps of investigative journalist Logan Werner had fitted with one of the safe deposit boxes in the bank. Although CCTV probably had them on camera, he had immediately hid the stick and they had taken off. The other valuables Werner had put inside of his deposit box were still there, and as he had been a very sceptical human being, he had not told anyone about the stick inside. There was no way the police had taken notice of a missing USB stick. “What’s even on that thing? All this crap for a small USB stick.” “I don’t know. “Dexter answers. “And we shouldn’t ask questions. Come on.” They take of again, soon reaching the industrial site where the others were waiting. “Took you longer than we thought, Dexter.” A blond man, sitting in the driving seat, studies the other man. Dexter rustles his hand through his brown-haired curls.

“Yeah, one street was barred. But we got what was asked for.” “Boss is going to be happy about it.”, the driver smiled. Rager, taking off his black cap, letting his red hair fall on his shoulders, asks: “Has anyone of you met him? I mean, we don’t know anything about him. For all we know he could be a creepy lunatic.” “Who cares, man?”, another blond-haired man says. “We get a lot of money for the job, so we better do what he wants. I don’t care what kind of man he is.” “True.”, the driver says and starts the car. But just as he hits the gas pedal, a blue figure jumps down in front of them and crunches the engine bonnet with one fist.

“What the hell?”, Dexter cries out and jumps out of his car, drawing his gun. He tries to focuse on the lady in blue, as a blond lady appears to the right hand and a bronze guy to his left. He whirls around, as one by one of his team is captured and put inside of the car, leaving him the only one armed. As the bronze guy tackles the driver to the ground, Dexter focuses the gun on him, his hand jerking nervously. Before he can pull the trigger, a kick to his hand makes him drop the gun and another strong kick to his rips sends him flying back to the ground. Unarmed, surrounded by three masked people, he lies hopelessly on the ground, unsure what to do. This was not what they had planned, this was not what he had been called for. Break-ins and robbery? Yes, everyday, but dealing with masked creeps that know martial arts? He did not sign up for this.

“Hey Dexter.” The blond lady speaks. “What – “, he begins, at loss of words, and then cringes when the blond woman approaches him. He tries to spring to his feet and to defend himself, but the bronze man keeps him down. The blond grabs inside of the pocket of his jacket, and takes the USB stick. “So this is what he asked you for, huh? Quite clever, a bank robbery when the only thing you wanted was this tiny thing here.” The blond studies the stick. “Talos, when did you say the police was coming here?”, the lady in blue asks. “Oh, any moment from now, if I am correct.” “Then we better hurry.” The blond replies. “Now tell me, Dexter. Why does Everett Rourke need this USB stick so badly?” Dexter looks at her, shocked. He had not told anyone of his boss’s identity. He had clear orders; to keep the identity secret and to tell the others he was just an ordinary thief that got signed up for the job.

“Who are you freaks?”, he shouts. He hears sirens howling nearby. The blond ignores him. She steps forward, her eyes narrowing, and grabs him by the collar. “Tell me what I want to know.” She brings her face even closer. “Why. Does. Rourke. Want. It.” Dexter trembles. The bronze man and the blue lady move closer, staring at him intently. “I don’t know.” “I know you do.” The blond one grabs him tighter, then laughs. “It’s almost funny, you know. You’re a trustworthy loyal dog to him, doing anything he says. You are his employee, aren’t you? Working as a loyal secretary for a rich businessman. You would do anything for him.”

Dexter trembles harder. The woman’s blue eyes stare directly into his soul, and he feels as if she uncovers his memories, thoughts and secrets, laying them out bare for anyone to see. “Who are you?”, he murmurs, but she does not listen. “You are just bait to him. The moment the police captures you and interrogates you, he’s going to drop you like a hot potato. You’ll be sent to prison for your crimes, and he will silence you the moment he has the chance to. There is no reason for you to defend him now. Tell me what he needs it for and I’ll tell the police you coorperated well with us and just maybe they’ll get your sentence reduced.”

Dexter thinks about it for a second. “He- he…” Dexter stutters. He breathes, then speaks: “He’s been working on another project. I don’t know where, what or when, I really don’t, but he kept saying that this investigative journalist Logan Werner had gained information he shouldn’t have, and that he needed this USB stick to ensure that his project was not in danger.” “The guy who was murdered in his apartment? So he ordered you to kill him?” Dexter panicks. “I didn’t kill him! I swear it! The driver guy Bill did it, I had nothing to do with it.” “Okay”, the blond says conciliatory. “Is there a number you had to call, or a place to go? To hand Rourke the stick?”

Dexter’s shaky hands take out a small note. “He said I should come to that place. He said he would wait for me in the café there, and I should come alone. Tell me, what’s he going to do? What’s he going to do to me?” The blond looks up, and Dexter follows her gaze. Several police cars approach and surround the car Dexter’s colleagues are sitting in. District Attorney Meiko Katsaros leaves one car and approaches them. “There you go ahead and capture them again before us.”, Katsaros smiles to the woman in blue, before looking onto Dexter. “We found the money in a side street. Any idea why they dropped it?”

“The street they probably initially wanted to take was under construction and barred. I guess they panicked when their plan didn’t work out and tried to get rid of evidence.”, Talos answers. Katsaros nods. “They opened a safe deposit box inside of the bank. I guess you didn’t find what you were looking for, hm?”, she turns to Dexter who quickly stares to the ground. “I guess we continue this discussion at the police station.” She handcuffs Dexter and leads him towards the police cars. “Thanks again, Talos and Blue Bird.” She turns, when she notices the blond woman standing behind them.

Her hair is loose, she wears a grey mask over her icy blue eyes that study the District Attorney intently. Her costume is a dark grey too, reaching from her underarms to the black boots. Iron chains in the color of amber are wrapped around her torso and she wears a black coloured belt on her hips. Her amber coloured cape flatters in the wind. “You must be new to the team. Who are you?” The blond woman smirks. She intensely stars at Dexter. “Andromeda.” Katsaros takes her leave with a final nod and gets into the police car. “And once again, we catched the criminals. Good teamwork, everyone!”, Kenji announces, smirking at Alex and Serena.

“Well done, guys.”, Poppy smiles broadly into the screen on the waistband. “So we’re kinda onto something big there, aren’t we?”, Dax asks. “This whole Rourke thing, he seems to plan something very secretive and important. Do you think this Dexter guy will talk?” “I don’t think so. He knows how much power Rourke holds. I highly doubt he says any word of it to Katsaros, and he doesn’t have a reason to, since she has no idea of the existence of this USB stick.” Serena explains. “Whatever he’s planning.”, Alex frowns. “It sure as hell is nothing good. But we’ll be hot on his heels.” She looks encourangingly at Serena. “Together, as a team.” Serena grins. “You’re right. And we made a big progress today to stop him. That’s worth a celebration!” Talos looks knowingly at the two women. “Guys, I believe it’s time to party. To party hard!” Alex laughs. “Alright, Poppy, Dax, at my place in 30 minutes.” Serena watches as Alex locks an arm with Kenji. She studies the tiny little USB stick in her hand again. It’s quite funny, she thinks. This is the first time she finds something connecting to Rourke since she came back from the island. She feels overwhelmed; Jake’s image in the back of her mind, his loving gaze, then she sees Quinn, the sunshine, and Michelle and all the others. All the people Rourke took from her. But she knows she doesn’t have to deal alone with this.

Alex’ encouragement rings in her ears, and when Alex turns back to her to look where she’s at, Serena closes the distance and links an arm with her. Together, they push themselves off the ground, Alex keeping an arm round Kenji who loosingly hangs in the air, complaining about getting sick from her flying style, and Serena laughs wholeheartedly.

She takes a moment to feel the tiny USB stick against the breast pocket of her costume, and smirks to herself.

I’m coming for you, Rourke.

[dingoes8myrp]

Supernatural: The Man with No Name, Chapter 10

This is a chaptered fanfiction piece taking place during season 14 of Supernatural.

Premise

This story takes place after episode 14.02 “Gods and Monsters.”

The arrival of John Winchester raises many questions, and gives us a glimpse into a world in which a few vital moments went a different way.

Note: This piece is being crossposted on my Ao3.

Ten

John sat in a diner booth staring at a menu. Mary had gone to the bathroom. He guessed it was a good sign that she trusted him not to run off. Then again, she could’ve been calling in the cavalry.

He knew he should be concerned about that, but he was sitting at a diner where he could smell coffee and bacon and pancakes, and he was about to have breakfast with his long-dead wife.

Maybe he hadn’t made it through that tear. Maybe he’d gotten taken out by one of those croats and now he was in Heaven, or something like it.

Mary came back and sat down across from him.

“They take your order yet?” she asked.

“Nope.”

She picked up her own menu and examined it. John just stared at her. He didn’t care if he was being rude or inappropriate. He just wanted to look at her.

Mary glanced up from behind her menu.

“What’s up, John?” she asked.

He smiled.

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m just… happy to be here. I’m happy to be where I’m at.”

He didn’t really care what this world had going on. It was already a million times better than his own. He was just hanging onto that for the moment.

Mary could feel him looking at her, and it made her nervous. She was grateful when a tall, blond server approached their table with a smile.

“Good morning. I’m Holly. I’ll be taking care of you today. Can I start you off with something to drink?”

“Coffee, please,” Mary said.

Holly jotted a note on her pad and looked to John.

“And for you, sir?”

“Coffee sounds amazing. Thank you.”

“Our special this morning is New England pumpkin pancakes with almond butter and apples or bananas,” Holly rattled off. “I’ll give you guys a few minutes to look those menus over and I’ll get your coffee right over to you.”

She walked away and Mary stared at her menu, but she couldn’t focus on it. Okay. She just needed a second. Needed to breathe, collect her thoughts.

“Can I ask you a question?” John asked.

She made herself look at him.

“I think I already know the answer,” he said. “But I need to ask anyway.”

Mary put down her menu and sighed.

“Okay. Go ahead.”

“I’m not around over here, am I?” he asked.

Hearing him say it quietly, just for her to hear, made her feel, for a second, like he was her husband. The same man who had once leaned over a diner counter just like this one and said “So, do you think I could give you a call sometime? Take you out on a real date?” Mary brought herself back to the present, where the same eyes stared back at her, waiting for an answer.

“No,” she said.

John nodded, not surprised.

“The way you looked at me back at the station,” he said. “Must’ve been the same way I was looking at you. Like seein’ a ghost.”

Mary barely had time to process what he'd said.

Holly returned, setting a cup of coffee in front of each of them along with a little bowl of creamer and a caddy of sugars and sweeteners.

“Do y’all know what you’d like to order?” she asked.

Mary kept her gaze on John’s.

“I’m good,” he said. “What about you?”

Mary nodded and turned her attention to Holly with a smile.

“Yes, I’d like steak and eggs, please. Rare. Practically mooing, if you can manage it.”

“Okay. That comes with a side of bacon, ham, or sausage.”

“Bacon,” she said.

“Alright, and for you, sir?”

John folded his menu and smiled at the server.

“I’m gonna have the Flo Special.”

“Okay. How would you like your eggs?”

“Scrambled, please.”

“Would you like a side of bacon, ham, or sausage?”

“Sausage.”

“And that comes with either two slices of French toast or a short stack of pancakes.”

“I’m gonna go with the pancakes.”

“Alright. Anything else I can get for you?”

Mary took John’s menu and hers to hand them over.

“Not for now, but I do have a pretty large to-go order I’d like to put in. I have an army of people back home.”

“Sure.”

Mary pulled a folded piece of paper out of her jeans pocket and handed it to her.

“If you call that number there, someone will pay you by credit card,” she said.

She didn’t have enough cash on her for the whole order. Dean said he’d take care of it.

“Alright, can do,” Holly said.

“Thanks.”

Mary watched Holly leave. When she turned back to John he was looking at her.

“An army of people, huh?” he asked.

“Oh, yeah,” she said.

The interruption from Holly had given her a second to get her head together.

“Listen, John. Before we get too far into anything, there are some things I need to be sure of.”

John nodded.

“Okay.”

He grabbed two sugar packets out of the caddy and a few creamers out of the bowl. He’d learned to take his coffee black when sugar, milk, and cream got scarce. It would be wasteful not to use them now.

“The place you came from,” Mary said. “What was it like?”

John sat back in his seat. It was the question he knew he’d have to answer, but he’d been dreading it all the same.

“Shit, where do I start?” he muttered. “Well, there was… I can’t call it anything but an apocalypse about eight or nine years ago.”

Mary frowned, trying to reconcile the timeline with what she knew about this world’s.

“What happened?” she asked.

John stared at her, maybe not sure how she’d take whatever he said next.

“Lucifer happened,” he said.

An icy chill went down her spine. Lucifer. One world had Michael, another had Lucifer.

-

Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven, Chapter Eight, Chapter Nine, Chapter Eleven, Chapter Twelve, Chapter Thirteen,  Chapter Fourteen,  Chapter Fifteen,  Chapter Sixteen,  Chapter Seventeen, Chapter Eighteen, Chapter Nineteen, Chapter Twenty, Chapter Twenty-One, Chapter Twenty-Two, Chapter Twenty-Three, Chapter Twenty-Four, Chapter Twenty-Five, Chapter Twenty-Six, Chapter Twenty-Seven