#and then when we got home she was like jonas! tell your dad who you think the hot guy in animal house was!

[gaypornluvr420]

mentioned to my mom that i think john belushi is hot while we were walking the dogs and she was so surprised that she let go of her respective dog who then saw a rabbit and chased it down the street across many people’s yards

[wosoamazing]

Rescue

Barça Femeni x Teen!Reader (Mainly Alexia)

Based off of this request. (And also vaguely off of Lauren Daigle's song - more so just the title, but it kind of under lays the fic I guess.)

WARNINGS: Attempted Sexual Assault References (flack backs), Abusive Father (physical and emotional), drinking/drunk, slight mentions of implied sick (doesn't happen). Let me know if anything else

The team were always suspicious about your home life and what it was actually like but you always brushed them off when they questioned and no one had tried to push further until recently.

“Y/N, we missed you last night, what happened?” Lucy asked you as she walked in, most of the team following behind her.

“Oh, sorry I was going to message but I must’ve forgotten, I felt a little sick so I thought it was best to stay home,” you told them, causing Alexia to move towards you with her hand out, which you dodge, “but I’m fine now,” you smiled at your captain and she gave you a fake smile back.

That was far from the truth but you didn’t want to tell them what happened. You were in your room making some finishing touches before you left to go out with them, when one of your Dad’s friends had walked into your room, you thought you had locked your door but you must’ve forgotten. He walked up behind you and his body was pressed against yours before he slinked his hand up under your dress and brushed his hand over your upper thigh. You snapped around and punched him before you ran, you could hear him yelling at you afterwards, and you Dad yelling at him, but all you could do was run, and to the safe place you knew no one would come looking for you. Thanking the heavens above that Jona somehow gave you a pass that meant you could go to the training grounds at all times. You quickly got changed into your training kit and took off your makeup before setting an alarm on your phone and falling asleep on one of the couches.

That day during treatment you flinched every time one of the physios touched you, and when he moved his hand up to your thigh you felt your body tense up and your breath becoming laboured, when he applied pressure to start working you bolted straight out of the room, the touch bringing back all the feelings from the night before. You found yourself in a room, full of your teammates, who all worried over but when you finally calmed back down they all left except for one, your captain. Who gave you a pointed look as you made contact with her eyes.

“I’m fine” you reiterated to her for probably the 100th time that hour.

“You know you can talk to us anytime, about anything,” Alexia reassured you.

“Si, I do, but I don’t need to because I’m fine,” she gave you a very unconvincing nod before walking out, leaving you to be by yourself. The team knew you weren’t fine. You constantly showed up to training with bruises that were slightly too dark or too big to be caused by whatever your excuse had been that time, but you were clumsy so they never really questioned it. However Alexia had kept a mental note of when they happened and what your excuses were and she couldn't help but see that there was a pattern. Then there was the incident last week when you were calling some of them and your Dad started yelling at you, and calling you names. You tried to convince them that it was because he had tripped over because you had left your boots and bag and other stuff all over the floor which caused him to stub his toe, however they all felt that it was a very poor excuse to yell at your child in such a way but you just brushed them off.

One week later you found yourself laying on a yoga mat in the gym, you were flat on your back as you stared straight up at the ceiling. Alexia had come over and placed a mat down next to yours, she didn't say anything but just laid there next to you on her back, as the team filtered out to go to the pitch for training neither of you made an effort to move. 

Several different thoughts ran through your head as you laid there next to her for quite some time. You were having an internal battle in your head of whether you opened up to her or not, maybe she would help, maybe this wasn’t normal. But maybe she would tell you it was your fault, you had a short dress on that night, that was slightly slutty, were you asking for it? Had you deserved all of it, all the yelling, the hitting.

“He-he, tried to touch me,” you blurted out, one side of the fight winning, your words caused her to bolt straight up, sitting crossed legged on her mat facing you.

“Who did? Your Dad?” she asked.

“No one of his friends,” you said, shaking your head.

“Did he?” she asked, concerned. “No, not really, I mean he put his hand up my dress, he was leaning forward into me and he touched my thigh, but I quickly moved away from him and punched him and ran, while I was running he was saying something about reporting me for hitting him, but I don’t think he did because I could hear Dad saying something about them finding out if he did because the police would show up to the house,” you said as tears started to flow out of your eyes.

“Find what out?” Alexia asked, confused, wondering what had been happening.

“That he abuses me, they would see the holes in the walls from where he would try and punch me but miss, the shattered mirror that I glued back together, it smashed because he threw it at me, but they wouldn’t see the emotional things, they would only see the physical things. The name calling, the swearing, they couldn’t see that, it would be his word against mine,” you continued as your shoulders started to shake as your cries turned into harsh heavy sobs, “I’m sorry,” you cried out as you rolled over onto your stomach, head resting in your arms as a puddle formed on the underneath you.

“Oh Nena,” Alexia sighed as she went to place a hand on your back, “please don’t touch me,” you asked and she obeyed, quickly retracting her arm, “b-but, please, s-stay” you hesitantly asked her. You felt broken, like there was something wrong with you, how didn’t you notice it wasn’t normal. You thought you had a broken home but at the same time, you never spoke about it so maybe everyone had a broken home and just didn’t talk about it, but since being at Barça you slowly started to realise that what was happening in your home wasn’t normal and wasn’t okay, but it was normal to you, to you being called an idiot, or a stupid bitch was normal, being told you were too lazy or not good enough was normal, being scared to take a step in your own home was normal. Constantly living on the edge and not feeling comfortable in your own home was normal. It was normal in your extended family as well, you came from a long line of toxic men, there was no one to show you that what you were experiencing was abnormal, until now. Men drinking until they passed out was normal. Men controlling the house was normal. Women only dated Men, even in a different universe you would never see a Woman dating a Woman in your family. But somehow Barça had shown you this wasn’t normal.

Alexia’s heart ached as she watched sobs rack your body, she just wanted to hold you tight and tell you it would all be okay, but she couldn't. She had to respect your boundaries and give you some control back.

But you soon found yourself sitting in her lap, your body having gravitated to the warmth and safety she seemed to provide. Your hands clutched to her shirt.

“Nena, can I hug you?” She asked not wanting to do anything against your will, you nodded into her chest and she wrapped her arms around you. You suddenly felt safe, cared for, loved, it suddenly all came crashing down, this team loved you, you had never really experienced that before, and you broke down even more. You were now gasping for air as your body shook, Alexia’s concern for you was rapidly growing.

“Nena, I need you to breath, you’re going to make yourself sick,” She told you, “I-I can’t” you told her as you struggled to suck in air, “Yes, you can Nena, just in and out, focus on my chest moving up and now,” you managed to slightly calm down, but it was barely, your were still shaking and your sobs still racked your body, but you were no longer gasping for air. Alexia put her headphones over your ears and made sure to turn on the noise cancelling feature, she needed to call someone for help but didn’t want you to have to listen in, you didn’t mind, you kind of liked the quietness they provided you. She called Mapi.

Mapi, I need you and Ingrid to take me and Nena home now.

[specialagentlokitty]

Mr Evershed x Daughter!reader - it takes a toll

Hi I think I have a idea for a Mr. Evershed x Student or daughter Reader. There is a very rude teacher who loves to insult the students. So the teacher also has high demands on his teaching, which the students do not meet. The teacher gives too much Homework, or something like that. Anyway, the teacher has a very special hatred for Reader. And somehow Mr. Evershed is notice it. Thanks. - Anon💜

You dreaded going to this lesson, every day before you were supposed to go in you debated just ditching, but with your dad as the headteacher you knew you couldn’t.

So with reluctance you trudged into the room and sat at your seat in front of the class with a few others.

“Ah, (Y/N), do you have your homework today?” Mr Jonas asked.

“Yes sir.”

You got it out of your bag and showed it to him and he looked at it briefly before ripping it up making you sigh heavily.

“Not good enough.”

“I literally answered all the questions.”

“Detention for talking back. Anything else to say?”

You clenched your jaw and shook your head, slumping back in your chair a little as you glared at the table.

There was nothing you could do.

You couldn’t talk, no matter what you did your work was never good enough, he was failing you on every single test you sat for no reason.

For some reason this man hated you.

And you couldn’t understand why.

So you just sat quietly like you did every lesson, and as the final bell went you stayed sat in your chair as all the other students finished.

“You know what to do.”

“Yea sir.” You sneered.

Getting up, you walked around the table and took the whiteboard pen from him.

“What am I writing today?”

“I will never amount to anything.”

You clenched your jaw even more, and you began to write what he wanted you to write, using a chair in order to reach the top of bored.

You knew this routine like the back of your hand now, and when you finished you slammed the pen on to the desk and glared at him.

“Now you’re going to redo all of the last two weeks worth of homework before our lesson tomorrow morning.”

“That’ll take all night!”

“Well that’s such a shame isn’t it? Keep it up and I’ll tell your father that you’ve been rather destructive and you threatened me.”

You snatched your workbook from him and stuffed it into your bag.

“I hope you burn in hell you bastard.”

“I’ll see you down there.”

You walked out of the classroom and slammed the door shut.

You walked to the front of the school and looked at your dad as he left his office.

“Hey, so you want to get something to eat?” He asked.

“Busy.” You snapped.

You stormed away from him and he looked at you confused, and looked at the few other teachers who were in reception as well.

“She’s been rather snappy all afternoon Martin, got quite rude to me and told me to burn in hell.” Mr Jonas said.

“Is there a reason?” Mr Evershed asked.

“No, just came right out with it.”

Mr Evershed frowned and walked to his car, trying to figure out what was going on with you.

He got home before you, and when you came in he called for you to come through to the kitchen where he was making dinner.

“Did you tell Mr Jonas to burn in hell?”

“Whatever I’ll take the detention, I’ve got homework.”

You went to walk away and he stopped you.

“Hey, hey stay there. What’s going on?”

“Nothing in busy can I go now?”

“Not until we talk and you tell me what’s going on. I know you, and I know this isn’t you.”

“Well maybe it is!” You snapped.

You marched away to your room and sat at your desk to begin on your homework.

You felt horrible for how you had been treating your dad, but you were frustrated, overworked and tired.

You couldn’t exactly go accusing the teacher of picking on you, and even if you could, who would you go to?

Sure your dad would investigate the matter, but he was busy as it was, so you didn’t want to add anymore to the long list of things he had to deal with.

So you had to deal with this alone.

And that’s what you did.

You worked for maybe an hour, ignoring your dad as he called for you to come eat, and he came up not long after.

“Homework can wait, come get something to eat.”

“I’m fine I’ll come down later.”

“No, you’ll come down now, take a break from your homework and eat.”

You got up and walked over to the door.

You flipped the sign on it to say stay out and you slammed the door closed and Mr Evershed sighed, knocking on the door.

“(Y/N) come on, talk to me. I’m worried about you.”

“Worry about someone else then.”

“Is it trouble at school? With your friends? Have I don’t something to make you angry?”

You sighed a little bit and glanced at the door before turning to your homework.

“Nothing to do with you.”

He nodded to himself and walked back down the hall and he grabbed your plate, bringing it upstairs.

“Can you at least eat your dinner, please?”

Getting up, you opened to door and took the plate, setting it on the desk.

“If I have time.”

With that, you closed the door again and went back to your work.

You worked all throughout the night, even as your body screamed for you to sleep, or eat something you just couldn’t take a break.

By the time you finished the last sentence you hardly had time to shower and get dressed, and you rushed out of the door to get to school at your usual time.

Mr Evershed walked upstairs to bring your plate down and he frowned when he saw your food still sitting there untouched and he binned it, setting your plate in the sink as he left as well.

He did try to find you before lessons started but you were nowhere to be found.

And as you sat in the dreaded lesson while Mr Jonas looked through your workbook you had to fight to stop yourself from falling asleep.

“Detention today.”

“What? Why?!”

“This is only half attempted, really a primary school student could have done better.”

And in your tired state, you flipped.

Standing up, you grabbed your bag and shoved your chair away.

“You know what yeah? You can go fuck yourself and this stupid class. Give me a detention, tell me dad on me I don’t give a fuck. I’m tired of how you treat us, especially me.”

A few students nodded in agreement and stood up with you.

“Walk out and I’ll have you suspend you idiots!”

“Gonna suspend a whole class?” Someone called.

The entire class stood up, and you watched them leave.

“Get fucked asshat.”

You stuck your middle finger up at him and left, slamming the door behind you and a few teachers came to see what the commotion was about.

While the students mingled about in the hallway, you made your way to the front of the school and you passed your dad.

“Uh no, turn around.”

“Leave me alone.”

You barged past him and left the school, heading back home you didn’t even bother to change as you fell into bed and to sleep.

Mr Evershed had to diffuse the situation, and he heard Mr Jonas’ side first before he slowly began to talk to the students one by one who all had the exact same story.

And after some time, and speaking to some teachers, and finally a meeting with the trust, Mr Jonas was fired immediately and after a string of curses and insults about the students and shouting how useless you were Mr Evershed had enough.

“How dare you talk about my students that way! My daughter!” He snapped.

“These kids are pathetic!”

“This kids are trying their best! You have been overloading them with so much work they’re not looking after themselves and they’re failing lessons! You’ve knocked their confidence down!”

Mr Jonas scoffed a bit.

“Break them down build them back up.”

“This isn’t the military! This is a school full of young people who needed guided not to be berated! And treating my daughter the way you have? She’s barely been sleeping, hardly eating because of you!”

“So what?”

“She’s my daughter that’s what! You can’t be treating students like this and I will make Damn sure this will be your last teaching job, now get out before I call the police.”

Mr Jonas scoffed, made another insult and left.

And it all made sense to your dad now what was going on.

And when school ended that day, he went straight home, and he walked up to your room and knocked on the door.

You hadn’t bothered to close your door, so he picked up a small in your doorway and lightly tossed it at you, watching as it bounced off you and back to the floor.

He didn’t like to come in without being invited in, but this time he sighed and walked in, sitting at the top of your bed next to your head.

“Hey..” he whispered.

He gently shook your and you swatted his hand away.

“Give me detention.. suspend me.. I don’t care…”

“Hey, hey come on, look at me sweetheart..” he said gently.

You refused and he sighed a little bit.

“I’m not suspending you, or any of you.”

You looked up at him and sat up, turning around to face him.

“I know what’s been going on, and he has been fired.”

“Thank god..”

Mr Evershed looked at you and turned to face you, taking your hand on his.

“Why wouldn’t you tell me? How long as this been happening (Y/N)?”

“Since the beginning of the year… but you’ve been so busy I didn’t want to bother you..”

“Come here, come here.”

He pulled you in for a hug and he held you tightly, pressing a kiss to the top of your head.

“I love you okay? And nothing, I mean nothing is ever more important than you are to me. You’re my little girl, if someone is every treating you like that you tell me.”

“I’m sorry..”

“Hey, don’t apologise you’re alright. You did absolutely nothing wrong, okay? Nothing.”

You sniffled a little bit and pulled away.

“I’m so sorry for how I treated you..”

“You’re alright, it’s okay. I know you didn’t mean it, okay? It’s okay.”

You sniffled a little bit and nodded your head.

“Come here sweetheart don’t cry.”

He hugged you again and sighed softly.

“I’ve given your whole class the next few days off if they want it to get some rest, to eat and take some time. That goes for you as well.”

“Thank you…”

He kissed to top of your head and he pulled away from the hug.

“Now, get changed, bringing your blanket downstairs, and I’ll order some food alright?”

“My favourite?”

“Of course.”

You smiled softly and nodded and he left, closing the door behind him and you came padding downstairs a few minutes later and tucked yourself into his side.

“I love you dad, thank you..”

“I’ve got you sweetheart okay?”

You nodded and he placed his hand on your head, smiling softly at you as he handed you Tv remote.

He was making sure you weren’t going back to school for the rest of the week at least, you were going to be getting as much rest as you needed

And tomorrow he was going to sit down with you and get you to tell him everything that had been happening in that lesson

[fandomzwriterk]

Smoke and Mirrors

Pairings: Tomas Vrbada/Smoke x OC

Warnings: slight gore + Amnesiac!OC + religious trauma (?) + characters dying + hinted innuendos later on + Kuai & Bi Han trying to be good brothers + Liu Kang as a dad figure (?) + Tomas just being his sweet lovable self + Bi Han being kind of a dick + Kuai Liang having no clue what it’s like to have a sister + confused “brother” Kuai Liang (?) + Raiden, Kung Lao, Johnny, and Kenshi being simps (mostly Raiden)+ Angel’s new family

PT: 9/?

A/N: oh look K isn’t dead! I’ve been busy rip me cause of College (I’m under the arts program I’m not saying what though) Anyways I have been busy so enjoy! Who’s excited for DLC in a couple of weeks?!

Also this chapter is inspired by the song “What a Man Gotta Do” by the Jonas Brothers (oh yeah… we’re going there)

“You can’t tell us what? That you’re a-“

“Tomas shut your mouth and let the man speak.”

Tomas shut his mouth closed after Kuai snapped at him. Normally this never even happened, Tomas never ran his mouth and Kuai never snapped at either him or Bi Han.

“Fine. Go on.” Tomas grumbled

Yuriel looked sad, his wings drooping down and his eyes no longer held the light they had seen earlier when he saw Angel. There was something he was hiding from them, and it looked like it was something very bad.

“I know you don’t trust me, you never-“

Yuriel coughed, quickly smacking his chest to wake himself up and get more air in.

“You’d never understand is what I meant to say. What I’m doing is keeping Azriel and Michael safe, just like I always have been and always will be. Azriel means a lot to me, she’s the only family, aside from Michael, that I have left. We lost a lot too, so don’t think I don’t understand what it’s like to lose something you love.”

Yuriel’s amber eyes flicked back to Tomas, looking back into the other man’s eyes with a glare that showed a lot of anger he was holding back.

“Azriel is safer with you and as much I want to have her here with us, it’s best for her if she doesn’t stay here. Besides, she’s happier with you two than me. She needs to stay with you Tomas, please make sure she’s safe. I’m begging you… and I never have begged in my lifetime.”

Both brothers looked at each other, Tomas looking back at Yuriel with empathy. Tomas had no right to judge Angel’s past trauma that she didn’t remember, and he no right to speak to Yuriel in such a bad way. But as much as he wanted to keep the siblings together… he knew whatever Yuriel was saying was the absolute truth and Tomas had no reason to not trust him.

“Alright. I’ll do my best to keep her safe Yuriel. I can’t promise that she’ll not want to come back… but I’ll do whatever I can as her friend to save her.”

Yuriel had a curious glance, seeming to think long and hard to himself like he’d heard this all before.

“Thank you. And Kuai…”

Kuai turned his attention from Tomas to the other man a few feet away from him, standing between him and his brother.

“I’m sorry our first meeting turned out like this. I truly did not mean to start off on the wrong foot with you and Tomas.”

Some time later…

“Hey Angel I’ve got a question… I hope this isn’t too personal for you.” Johnny spoke out of nowhere

Angel sat on a marble bench thinking to herself as everyone was readying themselves to head back home. Johnny, however, was all too interested in the girl with wings that he had to know everything.

“What is it Johnny?”

Johnny pulled out his phone, Kenshi and Kung Lao walking up behind him. He pointed it right at Angel, as if capturing a moment he’d like to keep to himself to laugh at.

“So… there’s this rumor-“

“More like question.” Kung Lao interrupted

“Guys come on let her rest she’s had a long day.” Kenshi added

“Quiet Kenshi I’m filming important information. After all it’s not like I’m gonna see another angel walking around like it’s a totally normal thing for angels to come down from heaven.”

“You talk too much.” The man with the blade replied

“And I still technically own Sento. So keep talking if you don’t want it back.”

Angel lost focus as the two began to bicker, so Angel got up and started walking away as Johnny lost interest and started talking to Kenshi. Kung Lao slid away to find Raiden amongst the group.

“I think I need to-“

Angel collided with somebody’s chest, taking a step back as the thick smoke around her almost made her stop breathing. Lo and behold, it was Tomas who had just smoked his way back to the group.

“Oh! Hey Angel I was about to come look for you.”

Angel coughed, waving the smoke away from her face as her vision cleared. Tomas was standing there, Kuai Liang landing down next to him as if he’d jumped all the way here.

“Oh good because I was looking for you too.”

“Uh… why? I mean I thought you wanted time with family?”

Angel started to move a little away from the group, still waiting for Liu Kang to show up. Tomas followed as they made a small conversation away from prying eyes and ears.

“It was… fun, I think, but it just didn’t feel right. It felt like something was missing.”

“Missing? Is it your memories?”

Angel shrugged, slowly they had been coming back to her but it was only about Yuriel and Michael, trying to remember something from the past that could wake up her mind.

“I’m sure you’ll figure out what that is one day.”

Angel looked from the ground and looked on at the rest of the Earthrealm champions as she focused her mind on the one person in front of her. Tomas was her safe space, someone she felt safe and protected by. Someone she trusted. Angel put her trust in him now… knowing he’d always do right by her even if it meant death.

“Hey Tomas.”

“Yeah?”

She backed up, ushering for Tomas to follow as they went to a secluded part of the bridge hidden behind a few bushes and tiny knee high marble walls. Angel stopped, spinning 180 to face Tomas as they both came to a stop.

“Can I trust you with something?”

“Whatever it is you know I’ll always be there to help you and be your friend.”

Angel brought her hands up, slowly snaking them behind her neck as she touched the simple knot behind her head. Tomas grabbed the one he could see, holding it tight as he looked her up and down. His grip was like steel, but there was a sense of gentleness to his actions.

“What are you doing?”

“Something I know I’ll regret not doing.”

Tomas let her hand go, moving them to go behind her head as well, just barely touching the knot in her hands as well.

“Let me.”

His voice was calm, slightly shaky like this moment was the last time he’d ever even lay a finger on her. His fingers made quick work of the knot, feeling the fabric going limp in his hands as he saw the top of her eyebrows peek up from under the blindfold. As he pulled the fabric down, Angel’s eyes remained closed, her face fully uncovered and open for Tomas to see. Her face expression, despite her eyes being closed, showed hesitation. She was hesitant to reveal this last part of herself… and she couldn’t remember why.

“You don’t have to do this Angel.”

“But I want to.”

“Okay. Take your time, I’ll be here waiting for you.”

Angel breathed in, feeling cold air fill her lungs as her eyes dared to open. Slowly, she opened them… fully seeing every color around her… and finally seeing Tomas in a way she hadn’t seen before. The world was more vibrant than what she had seen before, and every single shade of color stood out to her.

“Your eyes… they’re so… pretty.”

Tomas’ kept staring into her eyes, feeling a sense of safety and calm as the colors of blue and purple flashed in her eyes. The color was a deep dark blue, almost purple as well, a color he hadn’t seen before. Her eyes were peaceful to look at, a sense of calm washing over Tomas as he felt himself fully relax and just stare at Angel.

“You like my eyes?”

“I’ve never seen eyes like those before.”

Angel abruptly closed her eyes, sealing them shut as the back of her mind told her too. Why? Angel didn’t know.

“Wait! I want to see them again.”

Angel opened her eyes slowly again, Tomas’ overwhelming comforting energy made her full accept his request.

“I want to see those eyes more…”

“Angel! Tomas!”

Both Angel and Tomas jumped, quickly making Angel put back on the fabric as both Raiden and Kung Lao appeared behind Tomas.

“Lord Liu Kang says we’re free to go.”

“Thank you Raiden. We’ll be right there.”

Raiden and Kung Lao looked at each other, hearing the waver in Angel’s normally calm voice.

“You okay there Angel?” Kung Lao asked

“I’m fine. You just startled me that’s all.”

Both men left, watching over their shoulders as Tomas stood by Angel’s side. There was something that they needed to ask him but they decided it could wait.

“Let’s go home.”

Much later…

Angel decided it was too hard to sleep, so she stood up and started to walk out of her room as she pulled over a soft and warm robe over her, feeling the fabric run over her wings, sending a chill up her spine. The home was quiet, seeing Kuai Liang’s room dark as the night, Tomas’ the same.

“I think a walk will clear my head.”

Silently, Angel tiptoed down the hall, stopping as she reached the giant sliding doors a few yards down the hall. She reached out, feeling the hardwood on her fingertips.

“Don’t. Don’t do it.”

Angel turned, seeing nobody behind her as the voice echoed around her. Perhaps it was just paranoia. She reached out once more, opening the door a few inches, sliding between the small gap and onto the stone walkway. It was quiet, the sounds of water dripping onto stones and the crickets of the night were enough to put an ordinary person to sleep. Angel, however, was far from ordinary, so perhaps that is why sleep evaded her.

“The night is comforting. It’s almost as if I could have had a memory to do with this.”

The wind kissed Angel’s face, her long white hair blowing in the wind as the night was silent, seeing the glimpse of the moon over the pond that was at Angel’s feet, lighting up the dark water with a circle of light as if it could’ve been the sun. Angel could see the reflection of her eyes in the cold dark water, the purple-blue mix standing out amongst a sea of darkness. Her eyes… she hated them, but she didn’t know why she hated them. She just did, feeling like nothing good to come of her ever seeing her own eyes again.

“You know staring isn’t going to help you with your problems.” A cold voice spoke cutting off her thoughts

Angel turned to look behind her, and there stood the one person she hoped she didn’t have to run into. Bi Han stood there, his arms crossed and his eyes cold like ice daggers piercing through Angel’s very being. He stayed there, standing in the darkness as Angel took a step back out of worry. Was this when Bi Han would strike? Make it seem like it was an accident if she died right then and there?

“Don’t look at me with those disgusting eyes. Whatever you are, I will find out and I will make sure you don’t return back here to the Lin Kuei. You’re not fit to be one of us. You’re not even fit to be my brother’s love. I don’t know what he sees in you.”

“Love? I don’t know the meaning. And who are you to tell me I’m the problem here?”

Bi Han lunged, ice surrounding his right hand like a blade. He went for Angel’s shoulder, making Angel lean to the side and deflect with her own spear. Bi Han struck once more, his ice colliding with her spear in an effort to push the other back. They were equally strong, pushing back and forth on each other so the other could fall back.

“Damn you! Damn you for being a traitor to the Lin Kuei!” He said kicking Angel right in her chest making her stumble back

Another clash of blades could be heard over the silence of the night. Bi Han was strong, much stronger than Angel even at her best.

“Me? Look who’s trying to kill me!” Angel shouted swinging for Bi Han’s legs

Both blades met, the sound echoing throughout the compound as everyone lay asleep.

“If you’re so strong then, come hit me!”

Angel leaned back, the blade of ice just cutting the air above her face. She would’ve been killed that way. Bi Han was truly not holding back.

“Get off of her!” Someone yelled

A blur of grey flashed across Angel’s vision, Bi Han getting tackled to the ground as Tomas held him down.

“What the fuck are you doing brother?!” Kuai yelled as he ran up to the other two men

Bi Han flipped Tomas off of him and into the side of a building, turning his attention back to Angel. Kuai ran to Angel’s defense as Tomas struggled to get up from being thrown. Bi Han threw him hard, and he was partially dazed.

“Get out of my way brother.” Bi Han growled

“The hell I will!”

Kuai lunged back at Bi Han, weapon ablaze as both brothers came to striking each other with their own weapons. Tomas wasn’t far behind, appearing next to Angel as both his older brothers engaged in a fight.

“Angel come on!”

Both ran, however ice walls appeared in front of both of them, stopping them in their tracks. Bi Han had Kuai in chokehold, his back pressed into the ground and his weapon tossed aside.

“Angel get out of here! Run!”

Tomas rolled and head-but Bi Han’s shoulder, taking his older brother down to the ground with him. Kuai jumped in as both Tomas and Bi Han engaged in a fight on the ground. Blood stained the rocky ground, dirt covering Angel’s hands as she looked down at herself. Her eyes caught onto Tomas, who tried to get Bi Han off of Kuai. Both of his older brothers were engaged in a fight, and Tomas needed to break them up.

“Do it… you know what to do.”

Angel felt something snap inside her brain, like it connected a missing dot inside her head. She sprinted, feeling great energy push her forward as she collided with Bi Han and flew into a brick wall. Obviously, Bi Han wasn’t ready and was winded as Angel took him down.

“You-“

Angel had him pinned down, a blade of light in her hand above his head as her eyes lit of some sort of purple-pink mist. Angel went for the stab, only to be held back by Tomas while Kuai helped up Bi Han, who seemed to forget about what fight he had just started. Angel was held in with Tomas’ arms going from her back and locking her arms with his own.

“⊬⍜⎍ ⍙⟟⌰⌰ ⌿⟒⍀⟟⌇⊑ ⍙⟟⏁⊑ ⏁⊑⟒ ⍀⟒⌇⏁ ⍜⎎ ⏁⊑⟒ ⊑⟒⍀⟒⏁⟟☊'⌇!”

Tomas dropped Angel, backing up as the language he didn’t understand fell from her lips. Even Bi Han and Kuai Liang stopped their own fight to look at her. All three brothers backed up a few small steps.

“⎅⍜ ⊬⍜⎍ ⎎⟒⟒⌰ ⏁⊑⟒⟟⍀ ⊑⟒⌇⟟⏁⏃⏁⟟⍜⋏?”

Angel flew at Bi Han, grabbing his gi and flipping him over her head and into the ground. As Bi Han lay there a little stunned, Angel turned her attention to Kuai Liang.

“Fuck!”

Angel swept his legs, her hand pressing him down into the ground with such force she might as well have the strength of Liu Kang himself. Kuai swiped his weapon at her, missing completely as she jumped back and almost hitting Tomas.

“Do something brother!”

Tomas jumped in front as Angel began to charge Kuai Liang’s body on the ground. As her spear came closer to his chest, Tomas swiped the blade away with his karumbit hit the tip of the blade and sending its aim for the air next to him. One fast half-step and he had Angel on the ground in seconds. Angel fought back, trying to swing as Tomas held down one wrist.

“Come on Angel! I know you’re in there!”

Inside Angel’s mind… everything was a blur and the world seemed slow. Her body moved on its own, like she wasn’t in full control, but she could see what she was doing.

“Tomas! No!” She shouted to herself

Kuai Liang and Bi Han started their own fight while Tomas clung to Angel and pinned her down on the ground. Tomas was strong, a lot stronger than Angel even in this state.

“Stay down Angel.”

Angel could see falcon like claws on the tips of her fingers, what monster has she become?

“Stop this!”

As if in suddenly in control, Angel froze under Tomas’ grip, struggling no more. Her vision was like smoke, seeing just his eyes through the haze. Those eyes, those eyes she’s come to see and know so much about. His grayish eyes blinked with hers, seeing the smoke clear from her eyes. She looked confused, worried about what she did.

“Oh thank the Elder Gods you’re okay.”

Kuai Liang and Bi Han stopped their fight, now standing next to each other with angry glares and wounds all over each other. Tomas was no better, but at least he had been in the full center of that fight.

“Come on let’s get you patched up and cleaned.”

Tomas lifted Angel up and put her over his shoulder, immediately running to one of the training rooms not too far away and placing her on the stairs inside. He seemed amazed at her brute strength and capability to withstand an attack from Bi Han not just once, but twice.

“I think we need to talk.” A voice spoke breaking the silence

A/N: hey everyone. It’s been awhile hasn’t it? I have some shitty things going on in my personal life that I need to step back and spend time with my family, mainly a furry one. If you wanna know, DM and I’ll explain (I can’t talk about everything) but please know I will try my best to start writing more, I haven’t lost all inspiration yet. But I want to say thank you, thank you for waiting patiently and I hope I’ll be back fully very soon… I just need some time away with people I love and care about

[arickaandherfictionalothers]

Descendants Canon: Meet the Notorious Nine

(Mal, Evie, Jay, Carlos, Uma, Gil, Harry, Azalea and Aricka Kore Page.)

(CW: heavily implied child abuse.)

———-

Aricka Kore Page was good at observing. She was queen of the shadows after all. They were her domain, her birthright as daughter of Hades. Her smoke-blue hair and cobalt blue eyes were a dead giveaway as to her her father is, and her pale skin and vicious cackle was a dead giveaway as to her mother.

Right now, she was observing Gaston Jr and Trois, who were arguing loudly over something, and she crept closer to further eavesdrop.

“I should be the one to shoot it down, I saw it first.

“No, I’m older. I deserve the pride of shooting a Bore-adon limo down,” Jr growled. Her blood ran cold at that statement.

An Auradon limo- a MARKED Auradon limo- on the Isle of the Lost-?! The last time they were there they were investigating the kidnapping of a prince from one of the kingdoms. The prince was never found but if he’d been a baby then they never would’ve. The person who did the deed would’ve hid their tracks way too well for them to find him.

Breath in her throat, she scampered through the shadows to the Dragon’s Den. Her twin sister’s domain. Here, Aricka was a mere lackey, not a princess, but that was just as she liked it. She would defer to her twin’s rules anytime she wanted. She chucked the largest rock she could at the “Falling Rocks” sign and as a soon as the stairs were low enough she leapt up and took them two at a time.

She tripped on the last step and fell into the meeting area of the room, startling Evie and Carlos who were also there with Mal. She scrambled to her feet, “Mal-!” She panted. Hand over her chest to regain her breath. “Jr-Trois- Auradon limo- HERE-!”

“Easy, Aricka,” Evie guided her to the ratty couch in the Dragon’s Den, where they both sat down. “Slow down and catch your breath. Then tell us what you saw in the shadows.” Carlos moved to get Aricka’s favorite item in the Den- a soft ratty, holey purple blanket that didn’t smell like mold or seawater, but instead Evie had sprayed it with a liquid that smelled nice. She’d called it lemon verbena. It smelled like the sunshine Aricka loved seeing in Auradon.

If a limo was here that could only mean that Ben had successfully convinced his parents to agree to the VK Isle Reformation Proclamation.

“Mal…” she says, once she could breath without panting. “I heard Gaston Jr and Trois talking about shooting down an Auradon limousine- if they were correct and they saw a limo here on the Isle-,”

“Then that reformation plan you mentioned when you got home was agreed to.” Mal says, crossing her arms. “Which means we need to plan. Carlos, Evie, go to the Junk Shop and make up and excuse to drag Jay from his dad’s grip and grab Azalea when you do.” She turns to her twin. “You and I are going to the docks to grab Uma Gil and Harry. They’ll leave Jonas and Desiree in charge of things while we talk. Meet back here when you get them, E and Carlos.”

With plans in motion, the four teens went about their respective tasks.

~~~~~~

Fifteen minutes later, the well named Notorious Nine were assembled in Mal’s carefully hidden Dragon’s Den:

Demigoddess Fae Mallory Bertha Page, eldest daughter of Maleficent and Hades, legally adopted stepdaughter to Lady Persephone of Olympus.

Demigodess Fae Aricka Kore Page, youngest daughter of Maleficent and Hades, legally adopted stepdaughter of Lady Persephone.

Future vizier in training Jadir Ali, son of Jafar and an unknown mother.

Princess Evelyn Rose Grimhilde, daughter of Lady Regina Grimhilde and Graham Humbert, Regina’s Huntsman.

Super genius Carlos Oscar de Vil, son of Cruella de Vil and William Cecil Clayton.

Captain AND Princess Uma Adira Nautica-Facilier, daughter of Ursula and Dr. Draven Facilier.

First mate Harold Everett Hook, son of Captain James Hook and Queen Narissa.

Master-at-Arms Gilbert Castor Legume, son of Gaston Legume and Paulette Dupont.

Azalea Ixoria, daughter of Hyacinth and an unknown father.

“Right,” Mal says. “The day Aricka said would come has come. Uma, I trust your crew is ready for a seamless transition from your rule to a crew mate of your choice?”

“I selected Jonas, son of Razoul and Mother Gothel, for temporary Captain and Desiree, daughter of Shan Yu and an unknown mother as First Mate,” Uma says.

“For Master-at-Arms I picked Bonnie, daughter of Evelyn Deavor and Arthur Harrow,” Gil added.

“Hadie is taking over the shadows while I’m gone”, Aricka said, knowing that she would go by default to help whoever was going to Auradon.

“Ginny Gothel and Hermie Bing are in charge of our turf whilst we’re away,” Mal adds. “The orphans have been moved into the basements of Bargain Castle, Uma’s Fish and Chip Shoppe, and the various ships we have in our control.” It wasn’t the best solution but it was the only one they had. “Harry, does your older sister know which children are moving onto her ship?” The eldest Hook sibling had procured the Arabella when she was 16, five years prior. She had a fine crew she’d carefully accrued over her rule as captainess, and when Mal had first proposed this manner of action she was the first to join the force.

“Aye,” the first mate drawled. “She’s cleared all the space she could, just waiting for the signal.”

“Uma, your crew ready for new crew members?” Mal confirmed. The teal-and-aquamarine haired captain nods.

“Jonas, Bonnie and Desiree know that they are to let any orphan child who says the code onboard. If they don’t know the code they have to vet them carefully, but if they pass the test they may also be sent aboard.” They would never turn a child away unless they tried something like actively murdering a crew member or one of the main Notorious Nine members, but they still had to be cautious in their actions.

Mal nods. They knew Auradon would pull the key players off the Isle first, to get a feel for things, so they’d been preparing for this day even though it seemed like a crap shoot.

Now that it was here nobody really liked the idea of leaving their turf so exposed, but it was for the good of the kids on the trash heap of a “home” they lived on that they would go.

“Aricka. We have an idea of how things will work thanks to you, but we still have to make sure we don’t meet their expectations. They want us to be evil, so we need to blend in as much as possible. This is where your expertise comes in. You will have to guide us through the social aspect of everything along with Evie, and make sure we don’t make a spectacle of ourselves,” Mal says, locking eyes with her sister. The sapphire-haired princess nods, having expected this.

“Jay, you Harry and Gil are on bodyguard duty. You’re the three strongest looking guys we have, and they’ll be expecting you to be ruthless and mean. So while you are the muscle you’re also to be kind and earnest and you need to each find a hobby that doesn’t purely rely on your strength.”

“Does this mean I can’t play Tourney?” Gil seemed genuinely upset about that notion, and Uma was quick to assuage it,

“No, Gil, you just need another hobby that shows how much of a good person you can be, like drawing or making jewelry or something.”

“Harry, you can join my sewing business I’ll be starting in Auradon,” Evie offered quietly. “We can say that once you get settled in Auradon you realized you didn’t just like sewing basic repairs but you had an eye for fashion as well. Once you get comfortable as a tailor you could start your own shop, and we could be allies in that regard.”

Harry blinks at this, considers, then shrugs. “Might as well, Blueberry,” he says, which was as close to an agreement they would get from him.

“Jay, use your parkour abilities to join some dance classes, show the perfect prissy Auradon kids how the Isle does dance,” Aricka Page says, teasing her allies for how they addressed her mainland friends.

Jay considers this, knowing Aricka would have been able to find classes that fit all their strengths and personalities. “Yeah, that could work… great suggestion Aricka,” he says and offers a hand for her to high five. The shadow princess smiled brilliantly at the Agraben, and reciprocated, interlocking their fingers and shaking their hands.

(It was no secret that Jay had a huge soft spot for her, her having been the one to discover the true atrocities his father committed against him, and had dragged him to her dad one night when it was particularly bad.)

“This has to work, guys. Our parents will likely make us try to get the wand or something to break the barrier down, but we have to play the long con, which means no stealing the wand. We have to be smart and vicious and ruthless but loyal.” Mal looks around the Den. “Head back to your respective parents. They’ll expect us to be oblivious so act like nothing is amiss.” The crew assembled nods their understanding. “Disperse. Meet at Bargain Castle with your parents when Maleficent assembles us.”

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

Thirty minutes later, the well named Notorious Nine were shuffled into an expensive looking limo marked with the Auradon royal crest.

The time had come for a new era.

Whether it was for better or for worse was yet to be seen…

~~~~~~~~~~

@astralshipper @rosieshipper @hyperionshipping @sappy-secrets @tsundere-selfship @yeehawselfshipping @letsgofoletsgo @callsign-revenge

[falloutstasis]

Growing up fast Part 2

The death of Jonas shook Alex to her core to the point of tears. But she wiped them away before Amata would respond to her.

"A-Are...are you okay?" Alex asked.

"Yeah." She nodded somberly. "Don't worry about me. I'm just sorry you had to find out like this. But we need to go, now. My father's men will be here any minute!"

"I'll find my dad." She sniffed once. "He'd know what to do."

Before Alex would pass the doorway, Amata held her back by the arm. "He's not here. He left!"

Confused, she stayed. "W-What? The door is sealed shut. How in the world did he opened it?"

"He opened it with his Pip-Boy." Amata explained. "He connected a wire to a panel that had a button next to it. He must have pressed it to open it. Follow me. I have a plan to escape the vault."

Amata finally let Alex walk out of her room, but not before following her closely. They were both walking slowly and very stealth like so they wouldn't make too much noise. The two were barely out of the home quarters of James Gonzalez.

"Listen...it may not be any of my business, but didn't your dad tell you anything before this happened? Anything at all?" Amata asked.

Alex shook her head. "No. I didn't know he was going to leave."

Amata let out a sigh. "I'm sure he had his reasons. Maybe Jonas was going to explain everything to you." She looked both ways to check if there was no secretary near by. When the coast is clear, she checked back on Alex.

"Look, there's another way to get out of here. There's a tunnel that leads directly from my father's office to the exit. You'll have to hack the computer in his office to open it. Use these to get into his office." Amata almost shoved her ten bobby pins to help her into her father's office. "That's how I always get in."

"O-Okay." She had no idea how to even use the bobby pins to unlock the door to the Overseer's office, but she was going to try anyway.

Escape

□ Enter the Overseer's office.

"Oh, one more thing. I have my father's pistol." She said, showing the pistol in front of Alex.

"You have what?!"

"Shhhhh! Take it in case you have to use it!"

Right away, Alex shook her head. It was a while since she handled a weapon, much less a gun. Part of her wanted Amata to use it to defend herself. "You keep it. You might need it more than I do."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

"I'll find something to defend myself with." Alex responded, looking around her room.

There was a little bit of pause on Amata's end. "Okay. I'll keep it. Just be careful and I'll meet you at the exit. Watch out for security."

She saw Amata run out her room and out of the home quarters. Near by, hung on a wall was a first aid kit. Inside is just what she needed if she was going to survive. Ten Stimpaks and one Med-X for the road.

"Might as well get everything else here."

She saw a baseball bat, leaning against her desk and picked it up. She should be able to wack someone if she were in any danger.

When she was done, she slowly poked her head at the doorway, making sure she looked both ways so no one was following her. The minute she was out of her room, Officer Kendell spotted her, pointing at her.

"There you are!" He yelled out.

No sooner, three radroachs appeared behind him, ambushing the poor officer. He stood no chance against the attack and was left collapsed on the floor as Alex watched.

This would be the first death she would be exposed to in the vault.

His death caused her mind to race as the three radroachs soon spotted Alex and rushed towards her in hopes to attack her.

When they jumped one by one, it took one swing each to take them down. She didn't care about the bugs she killed, she only cared about the dead body of Kendell. She had no idea all of this would have happened and she didn't want anyone to die.

"What the hell is going on..?"

She moved along the hallway, taking her sweet time into not getting detected by anyone, radroach or human-

"You gotta help me!"

Alex's first instinct was to hit the person who had got behind her, scaring her for catching her off guard. Luckily, said person ducked before the bat hit them. She didn't register the voice until she finally took a look at them. It was Butch.

"Butch! What the hell are you doing?!" Alex whispered, shoving him. "I could have hit you!"

"Yeah, yeah. Look," The worry in her tone meant that Butch wanted her attention. So she didn't make any remarks when he spoke.

"I need your help. My mom's trapped in her room with the radroaches!"

She knew Ellen DeLoria to be a nice mother, but an alcoholic. That was much all she knew about her as she never the one to pry into people's personal business. Nonetheless, she rushed past Butch and headed over to their shared home quarters. Butch did his best to catch up and he waited by the doorway by the time Alex made it to Ellen's room, where she was being attacked by three more radroaches.

She got rid of those radroaches with the bat. These were slightly tougher, but Alex got rid of them all the same. Ellen collapsed on the bed.

"A-Alex?"

Alex stood up, checking to see if there's any injuries on Butch's mother. "Are you alright, Mrs. DeLoria?"

"Yes. I am. Thank you."

Ellen was too shocked to pay attention to anything else but her well being, so Alex left the room. She was only meet with a bone crushing hug from Butch.

"You did it! My mom is going to be okay! You're the best friend I've ever had, man!"

She managed to wiggle her way out of Butch's grip. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Look-"

Suddenly, a Tunnel Snake jacket was shoved onto her arms. "Take this."

As it turns out, Butch had a spare Tunnel Snake jacket that he took out under his bed. She didn't want to put it on, not knowing how dirty it was, she put it around her waist instead.

"T-Thanks."

Before Butch responded, Alex and Butch heard the Overseer over at the Vault's intercom.

'Attention vault residents: There has been a Radroach infestation. All Vault residents are to stay in their quarters until the infestation has been eliminated.'

"A little late for that." Butch angerly replied.

"Look, Butch, I really, REALLY got to go now." Alex peeked her head out of the door way when she made it into the living room in Butch's quarters.

"Are you in trouble, Alex?" Mrs. DeLoria asked.

She sighed. "I guess I am."

Mrs. DeLoria was confused in the way Alex responded, but she made her way out of the room just before she could properly explain herself to her.

She continued to make her way towards the Overseer's office. The alarm continued to blare through out the Vault, with various corners of the Vault glowing red. She went through a hallway that lead to the diner room, the very same room where she had her 10th birthday party.

She spotted another radroach and proceeded to beat it with her bat. When she turned her head ever so slightly to her left, she spotted another body.

"Miss Taylor..."

Things were now beginning to weigh on her. People that she knew or formerly trusted were dying. All because someone opened the door to the Vault. Tears started to drop down from her face.

Yet, she kept on moving forward. She slowly walked out of the diner room and made her way to the stairs that lead to the atrium room.

[kittenofdoomage]

Autumn Falls: Monday (Pt.1)

Summary: Y/N’s had a run of bad luck that’s left her miserable, so her sister and best friend surprise her with a trip to Autumn Falls, the exclusive Californian resort where your every dream comes true. Seven days of relaxation and luxury await her, but will her vacation lift her spirits or leave her longing?

Pairings (reader is female): Negan x reader, Bucky Barnes x reader, Thor Odinson x reader, Sam Winchester x reader, Negan x reader x Sam Winchester, Dean Winchester x reader, Geralt of Rivia x reader, Steve Rogers x reader

Word Count: 37041

Warnings (expect any combination): slight angst and commiseration, non-disclosure agreements, flirting, conversations about relationships, oral sex, vaginal sex, public nudity and skinny dipping, size kink, sex in a hot tub, suspension (sort of), intense sex, breeding kink, yoga, my obsession with Sam’s hands, massages, dirty talk, slight praise kink, vaginal fingering, anal fingering, and squirting, threesome, double penetration (vaginal/anal), handjobs, shower smut, sex in a kitchen, horse riding, wild nature sex, over-stimulation, excessive orgasms,  comfort, companionship, aromatherapy and hot stone massages, anal sex, light BDSM, restraints, spanking/paddling, anal play, double penetration with toys, gagging, cuddling, post-vacation blues

MASTERPOST

Days had begun to blend together, each one beginning the same and ending the same. She got up, fed the cat, watered her withering house plants, went to work, drank too much coffee, ate too much fast food, and collapsed into bed when it was all done, ready to repeat it until she died. Since Everitt had dumped her for his younger, hotter mistress a year ago, Y/N’s life had been on a downward spiral, where all she had left was her work and Jonas, her elderly cat who pee on her rug every morning at three.

It didn’t help that her prolonged relationship had estranged her from most of her friends and family, something she realized now was down to her devious snake of an ex. She had never thought of herself as the sort of person who could be manipulated like that but it turned out, she was a fool for sweet promises that went unfulfilled.

Luckily, some of her friends hadn’t forgotten her entirely, and she’d never let Everitt drive a wedge between her and her sister, who’d maintained a dislike of him the entire time while respecting Y/N’s feelings. Now he was gone, Kelly didn’t let up on her comments about him, though Y/N suspected it was mostly to make her feel better about being dumped. Along with Sarah, Y/N’s best friend from high school, she’d been there to pick her up when she was at her lowest, and it was partially their friendship that had kept her going through the long lonely month afterwards.

Friday night was girls’ night. Kelly left her two young boys at home with their dad, and Sarah sent her boyfriend off to his favorite sports bar, and they descended on Y/N’s tiny city apartment. Jonas would start hissing at the first sign of company and spend the whole night inside the laundry hamper snoring loud enough for anyone passing within a few feet to hear. It had become a regular fixture over the last few months, and after the week she’d had at work, Y/N was looking forward to some downtime.

One bottle of wine in, and she could tell there was something going on that she wasn’t clued in on. Both women had been sharing secretive little looks all evening, and it was beginning to bug her. “Okay, spill,” she drawled, picking up a fresh bottle of white wine from the rack. “There’s something you’re not telling me.”

Kelly grinned, taking the bottle and twisting the cap off. “We might have a little surprise for you.”

Y/N’s eyes widened. “A surprise?”

Holding out her empty glass for a refill, Sarah smirked at her. “You need a pick me up,” she said playfully, “and we happen to have just the thing.”

“Look,” Kelly continued, pouring out Sarah’s glass then turning her attention to her sister’s, “it’s no secret you’ve had a crappy year. And we both agreed that you needed a break.”

“I’m not gonna disagree,” Y/N chuckled. “But I don’t have time for a break.”

“Yeah, about that,” Sarah murmured.

Kelly finished filling her own glass, placing the bottle on the coffee table. “We already talked to Aunt Kathy,” she explained. “She agreed with us. Now I know, you love your job, but you’ve been working yourself to the bone. Kathy said you haven’t taken a day off in six months. And she appreciates it but girl, you need to relax.”

Y/N’s mouth opened and shut a few times before she scoffed and shook her head. “I know I’ve been a little -”

“All work no play?” Sarah provided.

“Doesn’t this count?” she argued back, sitting forward on the cushions. “So maybe I’ve pulled a few weekends and late nighters.”

“Have you looked inside your fridge?” Kelly pointed out. “You’ve been existing, Y/N. And you need to be living.” She sighed, leaning her arm on her knee as she tapped one finger against the side of her glass. “Aunt Kathy agreed with us anyway, she’s given you two weeks off at the end of the month.”

Glaring at her sister, Y/N’s mouth set into a thin line. “Two weeks?”

“That’s plenty of time to finish up anything you got going on and make arrangements for the rest. Don’t worry about Jonas, we’re gonna take care of him,” Sarah assured her. “You’re gonna love it.”

“Love what?” Y/N squeaked, completely bewildered. “Where am I going for two weeks?”

Kelly shook her head. “Just the first week. The rest of the time is… well, it’s up to you.”

“Kel, just tell me, please.”

The two women shared another look, both smiling, before placing their glasses on the table. Kelly  got to her feet, disappearing off into the kitchen for a moment, returning with her purse. “Aunt Kathy knows this guy who owns a spa retreat in California. It’s very exclusive, invite only, no phones, no cameras.” She retrieved a leaflet from her purse, holding it out to Y/N. Y/N stared at it, hesitating before she took it. “It’s all legal and above board, Kath checked it out - she’s been doing some business with the guy who owns it. And he was pretty grateful, told her if she wants an invite at any time, to let him know.”

The leaflet wasn’t thick, and it looked like the usual standard spa resort; candlelit restaurants, a pool, hiking trails, massage rooms. Across the front, the name of the spa was written in delicate coral colored writing - Autumn Falls, where dreams and desires meet in reality. Cute slogan. “Aunt Kathy suggested this?” she murmured in surprise.

“She’s seen you go through this whole thing with The Douchebag,” Sarah soothed. “Plus, you landed her that big contract with those sweet designs you did last spring.”

“Yeah but… this is…” Y/N flicked through the leaflet, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. “I mean, these places are expensive.”

“Kathy said it’s all taken care of. All you gotta do is get yourself to the airport,” Sarah informed her, taking in her wary expression. “Come on, Y/N. You need this. Even if it’s just a week of fine dining and drinking at the poolside.”

Staring at the leaflet, Y/N contemplated it, dragging her eyes over the picturesque setting. It looked nicer than anywhere she’d ever been and the last vacation she had been on was a depression trip to Florida where it rained the whole time and Everitt left her in the hotel room to meet his buddies, which actually ended up being code for “get drunk and buy hookers”. Other than that, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d left the state.

Maybe a vacation would be good for her.

“Okay,” she murmured, looking up at her sister and her best friend. “Where do I sign up?”

She wasn’t sure what kind of “exclusive” required a non-disclosure agreement beforehand but after a quick call with her aunt, Y/N found herself signing her name on the documents and sending them back to the office at Autumn Falls. Every single day of the two weeks until her flight seemed to drag, the apprehension and excitement growing even more when she couldn’t talk about it beyond saying “a spa in California” whenever she was asked if she was going somewhere nice.

Her flight was early, and while she couldn’t sleep the night before, she found it easy to drift off on the plane. It landed in San Diego only a few hours later, and when she left arrivals after collecting her luggage, she was met by a tall man in a smart suit, holding a sign with her name displayed on it in neat cursive. He had long thick hair, and the suit looked like it was barely containing him.

“Hi,” she squeaked as she approached, giving the man a little wave. He smiled, nodding his head. “Are you the driver?”

“Miss. Y/L/N?” he asked in confirmation, and she nodded back. “I’m Jason,” he greeted, dropping the sign with one hand and holding his other one out. She took it, shaking firmly, trying not to seem too awkward. “I’ll be your driver today.”

“Nice to meet you.”

He grinned, gesturing towards the exit. “The car’s this way. Can I take your bags?” His hand was already reaching for her larger suitcase and she surrendered it with a shaky smile, letting him lead her away from the crowds and out of the large glass doors. The parking lot was only a short distance away, and when he pulled out his keys, a huge black SUV beeped, the lights going off as its wing mirrors popped out automatically.

The inside seemed even bigger than it appeared from the outside, and Y/N took in the luxurious vehicle interior as Jason put her bags in the back. When he climbed into the driver’s seat, he turned, giving her another brilliant smile.

“It’s about an hour out to Autumn Falls, would you like me to put some music on?”

“Um, yeah, that would be great,” she replied, sitting still and tense with her hands folded in her lap. 

“Feel free to wind down the windows,” he added, “and there’s some sodas in the compartment here.” He tapped the central console and it opened with a dull thud, the mechanism pushing the door open. Icy tendrils of steam curled out of the chilled interior, revealing several cans of brand sodas, along with a bottle of champagne. Jason smiled again. “It’s a pretty nice drive. Relax and enjoy it.”

It took a while for her to actually relax like he said, and he wasn’t wrong about the drive. Once away from the airport and off the main freeway, the journey took them through rolling farmland until the ground became steeper and the roads smaller. With the windows down, Y/N was treated to amazing views of the land as they climbed higher, and then it was thick, beautiful forests as far as she could see.

“Wow, they weren’t kidding when they said middle of nowhere,” she murmured, leaning forward to look out of the window, trying to see the tops of the trees.

The road narrowed to a single lane further on, and Jason took a side road through a large ornate metal gate that closed behind the car. It was slightly steeper here but he handled the SUV well, and the road opened up a few yards along, leading into a circular courtyard with a fountain in the middle. Y/N took it all in as the car rolled to stop, remaining in her seat as Jason climbed out.

He fetched her baggage first, and as he did, the double wooden doors at the front of the building opened. A woman with bright red hair strode out, a smile on her perfectly made up face, and a clipboard in her hands. She was dressed casually in a long summer dress, and as Jason opened Y/N’s door, she greeted her pleasantly.

“Y/N Y/L/N?”

“That’s me,” Y/N replied, stepping down out of the high vehicle. “Hi.”

“Julia,” she offered, holding out her hand for a quick shake. “Good flight?”

“Yeah. Little bumpy coming in.”

Julia smiled a little wider. “Well, how about we get you all checked in, and we can go through the paperwork. Jason, could you take Y/N’s bags up to her room?”

Y/N looked up at the huge wooden front of the spa, noting the carved lettering above the entrance that spelled out the name. It was three storeys high, with large glass windows along the lowest floor, and smaller ornate windows that she guessed were rooms. The building was even more impressive on the inside as it was on the outside, and she had to bite back a gasp as she took in the luxurious staircases and leather armchairs in the lobby.

Julia led her past the front desk and into an office underneath the main staircase. Everything looked so expensive, more so than any hotel she’d ever stayed in.

“You look a little apprehensive,” the redhead chuckled, walking around a desk and gesturing for her to take the chair on the other side. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever been somewhere so… nice,” Y/N replied, shaking her head in awe. “This place is amazing.”

Another dry chuckle followed as Julia sat down. “I’m sure you’re going to have a wonderful stay. I just need to double check you understood everything in the NDA and then I’ll show you up to your room. I’ll be here throughout the week but your personal liaison will be handling all your needs and wants.” She leaned down and pulled out a file from a drawer Y/N couldn’t see, placing the paperwork on top of the desk. “Everything was signed perfectly, but we’re very high on privacy here, so I just wanted to make sure there was no confusion.”

“No problem.”

“There’s a safe in your bedroom that you can set the code to. Any problems, speak to your personal liaison. We don’t expect you to be fully cut off from the world, but you must not take any personal devices or cameras outside of the bedroom. Absolutely no photos.”

“Understood.” Y/N didn’t really get why that was, and didn’t feel confident enough to ask, but she wasn’t about to break the rules when she’d been given a free vacation. A little time away from social media and constant screens would probably do her some good.

Julia smiled, ticking off something on the top sheet of the file. “Your stay here is completely complementary. The owner is somewhat of a philanthropist, and our guests are by invite only. We’ve got a list of your allergies here -” She passed over a different sheet and Y/N scanned it quickly. “Everything accounted for?”

“Yeah, that’s everything.”

“Perfect. Oh, I just need to make you aware, we do have a medical professional on site in case of emergencies. Again, anything you need, just ask your personal liaison.”

At the third mention of her “personal liaison”, Y/N tilted her head. “So this is the person I’m going to be checking in with or…”

The other woman chuckled. “He’s quirky,” she confessed, “and he curses like a sailor, but I’m sure you’re going to enjoy his company. He’ll be along to your room soon, and he’ll answer any questions you have.” She turned the file to Y/N, passing her a pen. “Just one last signature and your week of relaxation can begin.”

Signing quickly, Y/N got to her feet when Julia did, following her back out of the office and out from under the ornate staircase to where three elevators were along the back wall. Julia stopped at the middle one, pulling a card from inside the file. She swiped it over a pad on the wall, then handed it to Y/N as the door opened.

“After you,” she gestured, smiling, and Y/N smiled back nervously, stepping into the elevator, followed quickly by Julia, who pressed the button for the second floor. “Your referee indicated you weren’t such a fan of heights, so your suite is on second.”

“Oh, thanks,” Y/N chuckled.

The elevator ascended quickly, opening onto a long corridor on the second floor. The two women stepped out, with Y/N following as Julia headed left. She slowed to a stop before the end, at a door with the number “15” on it, and turned to face Y/N.

“Your bags should already be inside. Negan should be along soon.”

“Negan?”

The redhead smiled. “Your personal liaison,” she explained before pointing at the door. “You wanna check that the card works?”

Stepping forward, Y/N pressed the card against the door reader, and the door clicked, opening for her. Julia grinned, clasping her hands around the file she held.

“I hope you have a very pleasant stay, Y/N.”

“Thanks, I’m sure I will,” she replied, watching with one hand on the door as Julia turned and carried on down the hall, disappearing around a corner. Exhaling softly, Y/N slipped into her room, gasping as she saw it wasn’t just a regular hotel room but a suite. A luxury suite. “Holy crap.”

The room she’d walked into was a lounge area, complete with mini-fridge and bar. A large corner couch occupied the center of the room, looking out beyond a gigantic television to floor-to-ceiling windows that opened up onto a balcony. She walked further in, moving past her luggage piled neatly next to the couch, her attention drawn by the view outside. She was at the back of the building, evident by the way the balcony was half-set into the rock behind it, but the whole right side provided a beautiful unobstructed view of the valley and the forest that she’d just driven through.

“Wow,” she breathed, reaching out to find the clasp for the door, which popped open easily once located. The balcony appeared to be mostly wooden, and there were two comfortable looking loungers separated by a table, with plenty of space besides. She realized quickly that the lounge only occupied the middle of the balcony, which meant there were two other rooms to her suite at least.

Curiosity dragged her back inside and she closed the door again, hoping it locked automatically. She chose a door, heading into a huge bathroom, decorated in pearl and gold, and an impressed noise left her as she inspected the bathtub big enough for three adults and the biggest corner shower she’d seen outside of a gym.

“And this is free?” she wondered aloud, trying the faucet for no particular reason. The water pressure seemed decent too.

The room on the other side of the lounge was just as impressive; the bedroom, obviously. A bed larger than any six people would reasonably need was up against the further wall in the middle, with more floor-to-ceiling windows that opened onto the balcony again. Another television was mounted on the wall, and she looked for the remote, quickly looking through the channels.

“HBO too? Cool.”

A knock at the door made her swiftly turn the television off, and she hurried back through to see who it was. Opening the door, she froze as her eyes landed on the man standing outside; he was tall, tall enough that she had to lift her chin slightly to meet his gaze, though she struggled not to let herself drink in the tight fitting black t-shirt and equally tight denim on his lower half.

“Hi,” she managed, forcing a smile through her stutter.

He smiled, and her knees wobbled. “Hi,” he greeted, holding out a hand. She took it as if in a trance, unable to stop looking at him. “I’m Negan.” He bent, lifting her hand to kiss her knuckles, and her stomach was suddenly filled with butterflies.

“M-my personal liaison, right?”

God, his smile was beautiful. She could stare at it all day.

“That’s right, darlin’,” he drawled, softly releasing her hand. It fell back to her side, awkwardly dangling as she tried to appear casual. “How’re you finding the place?”

“It’s amazing,” she gushed.

Negan chuckled, licking his lips, and Y/N felt like her heart was going to thud out of her chest. “Well, if you like, we can start with a tour of the place. Julia told me you got a spot at the salon this afternoon, but we got an hour or so to kill before then.”

She nodded enthusiastically. “Sounds great, uh, should I change or - ?”

His gaze dragged over her in a way that made her feel naked, and she struggled to suppress a shiver. “You’re good,” he murmured, stepping back. “Just make sure you don’t forget your card.”

Holding it up, she moved out into the corridor to join him, suddenly stopping as she remembered her phone was in her pocket. “Oh, wait, I haven’t put my phone in the safe.”

“No problem, you can take care of it now.”

She stepped back into the room, holding the door open as an invitation to him, and Negan took it, following her inside but stopping in the lounge. For a second, she floundered, unsure where the safe was but remembering Julia had said it was in the bedroom.

“It’s in the closet, right hand side,” Negan offered in amusement, and she flashed him a smile of thanks.

Setting up the digital safe was easier than she expected, and she tossed her phone, wallet, and keys in there. She closed it up and rejoined Negan in the lounge, smiling at him again. “Okay, I’m set.”

He went first out of the door, and she checked for her card again before letting the door shut. When she looked at him, he flashed her another dazzling smile, and in her head, she collapsed against the doorframe under the weight of its charm.

“I thought you might be hungry,” he suggested. “A light lunch and then we can tour the outside grounds first?”

“Awesome,” she exhaled, a shaky smile on her lips, her legs trembling as she tried to keep up with his pace. He noticed almost immediately that she couldn’t walk quite as fast as he usually did, so he slowed, glancing back at her as she finally drew level with him.

The elevator back down was filled with silence and she couldn’t tell if it was awkward or not. She had a bajillion questions since her arrival, the least of which being about the details of her personal liaison. It seemed like such a strange way to phrase it and the underlying feeling that this spa might offer services outside of massages and hot tubs was growing stronger with every intentional-or-not-intentional smirk that Negan sent her way.

He led her out of the elevator onto the first floor and round the same front desk she’d seen when she arrived. There was still no one in the vacant chair, and the whole lobby seemed vacant of any other guests. Negan turned at the desk and went the opposite way to where Julia had taken her earlier, going through the chairs she’d seen earlier and a set of large wooden double doors that opened up into a wide space filled with a few tables and comfortable looking chairs. The bar at one end gave away the purpose of the area - the restaurant - though it seemed smaller than she would have thought, with seating for less than ten guests overall.

“Are there other guests?” she asked curiously as Negan kept going, out of the restaurant-bar area and out into the sunshine, where there was an outdoor grill. She noticed then that there were other people - two employees at least, all wearing similar attire to Negan.

“Not this week,” Negan replied, nodding his head as one of the employees, an attractive blond in maybe his thirties, stepped around him and flashed her a dazzling smile.

This place is staffed by GQ models, she thought.

“Tom,” Negan greeted, slapping a hand on the counter by the grill. “What’s good?”

The man behind the grill turned, and Y/N felt her face heat up at his charming grin. “That depends on our guest,” he replied in a crisp British accent. “Would you prefer meat or vegan?”

She froze, stumbling over her answer. “Oh, uh, I guess… it depends what meat it is?”

“I’ve got organic chicken drumsticks,” Tom offered, tossing his head back to get his long black hair out of his eyes. “With salad?”

“That actually sounds pretty great,” she chuckled, feeling a little more at ease.

“We aim to please,” Tom grinned, winking at her.

Her heart fluttered and she ducked her head. Negan laughed a little, pointing at the grill. “I’ll take a hotdog,” he requested. “You mind bringing them over?”

Tom held up the barbecue tongs, obviously happy to oblige. “Sure!”

Leaning over the counter, Negan grabbed for something underneath it, his hand coming back into view with two sodas. “We’ll be by the pool.” Y/N just about caught the can he tossed her, and he tilted his head to indicate that she should follow him. “I take it Julia went through the non-disclosure bullshit,” he drawled, pulling out a chair for her at the first table by the crystal-clear pool.

“Uh, yeah,” she mumbled, taking a seat and scooting herself in as Negan took the chair next to her. He opened his can with a little bit of flair, and she found herself captivated by his fingers for a second before he looked at her, and she smiled awkwardly. “I’m not entirely clear on what I’m not supposed to be disclosing though.”

“We can talk about that later,” he promised. “I’ve got a reservation for us tonight in the restaurant. Today is all about getting to know each other.” He sat forward, placing his drink on the table as he looked at her. “Once we’ve eaten, we’ll take a stroll down to the stables, and I’ll show you where everything is.”

“Can I ask one thing now?” she asked, chewing the inside of her cheek. “Only because I’m not clear on what a personal liaison does.”

Negan chuckled under his breath. “My job,” he started, “is to make sure you have every single need, want, or desire, catered to. Literally anything you want, I’ll make it happen.”

Her throat tightened a little as her mind went to places he was probably intending with the low rumble of his voice. Just the way he said the words was enough to make her toes curl inside her shoes, and she shivered a little when she met his dark eyes. “Anything?”

He smirked. “Anything.”

“Oh.”

“But like I said,” he continued, leaning towards her a little, “there’s time for that later.”

Feedback is golden, please let me know what you think 😁

[doevademe]

Prompt: let s say percy and nico s daughter (the one from the time travel prompt) asks them one day where do babies come from. What could they possibly answer (knowing she probably came out of a magic gem?) 😂 idk i just think it would be hilarious.

"Welcome home," Nico said when he heard the door opening. He turned around just to see his daughter running up the stairs towards her bedroom, her little brother in tow.

"I don't speak to liars!" Emilia shouted, slamming her door. Nico turned to look at his husband, who just winced.

"Apparently, her teacher asked if anyone knew where babies come from," Percy said, sitting down on the couch. "She got teased pretty badly for answering."

Nico bit his lip. They had never made a secret of how Emilia or Asher came to be, and had told their children from the beginning.

On the other hand, Emilia was 9 and attending a mortal school. A story about how papa and daddy made you and your younger brother out of a magical gem not only sounded ridiculous, but also even more childish than the usual stork delivery story.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to her," Percy promised, but Nico shook his head.

"She took Ash with her," Nico said. "There's a no-parents united front forming right now."

"What's the plan, then, commander?" Percy asked, smiling slightly. Nico knew Percy like the back of his hand. Emilia's rejection was hurting him worse than any monster.

"Ash is the weak link," he said, almost like he was talking about a real battle strategy. "We break him, and Emmy will follow... I'll go order pizza."

Percy whooped with middling enthusiasm, making Nico roll his eyes. They all knew he hated American Pizza, but his seven year old son took after his dad there rather than him.

Thirty minutes later, the delivery man came, and Nico made sure to thank him for the pizza extra loudly.

Not even three minutes later, there was a bang as Emilia's door opened and his little boy came running down, all while his sister looked disgruntled and betrayed.

"Does it have anchovies?" Asher asked excitedly, before catching himself. "I mean, I won't believe it has anchovies, liar!"

Emilia sighed at her little brother. She seemed to be ready to return to her room, but Percy was already on the stairs, blocking her path.

"Come on, Emmy, just let us explain..." he tried, but Emilia just huffed and crossed her arms. "We never lied to you!"

"Then why did you never tell me where babies come from?" She asked, stomping her foot. "All my friends knew, even Mark, and he never knows anything!"

"...You never asked?" Percy tried. Emilia's unimpressed stare made Nico proud. "Okay, maybe you did, but you just asked about you and your brother, and..."

"Who is our mom?" She asked. "Ms. Jonas said all babies come from an uterus, usually a mom's. Whose was it?"

"Er..."

"The pizza is getting cold!" Asher protested, now jumping to try to take the box from Nico's hands. Nico shook his head and placed the box on the dining table, making him cheer.

"We can talk over dinner like civilized people, okay, Emmy?" he asked.

"I don't like that pizza," she said stubbornly. Nico smiled.

"Good, because I had already made seafood risotto, and it would be a shame to eat it alone," he said teasingly. His daughter did her best to hide her excitement, but sat down anyways.

"O-only because I'm hungry!" She insisted, but the way her face lit up when he set her plate told a different story.

"Listen, sweetie," Nico said while Asher and Percy devoured their slices of pizza. "Remember what we told you about our family, that thing you can never share with anyone?"

"The mythology thing?" Emilia asked. Nico nodded in confirmation. "Hard to forget when dad still mops and dries the floor with just a hand wave."

Nico looked at Percy, raising an eyebrow. His husband just laughed awkwardly.

"It's good practice," he defended himself, but turned to look at Emilia. "But the point your papa is trying to make is that you and Asher aren't like other kids. You guys... don't have a mom, we made you using magic."

"It's a long story," Nico continued. "But we got our hands on a gemstone that could make anything in the world, and we decided that, more than anything, we wanted you and your brother."

"Yes, you've told us before," Emilia said. "But you have to admit, it is very hard to believe."

Nico nodded. He'd offer Emilia to take a paternity test, and see how both him and Percy would get positive results, but the girl was still too young to understand what that meant.

"The gem disappeared shortly after your brother was born," he said. It had probably been Ananke or some other primordial taking it back lest they overused it. "So I can't show you it, but you know you are ours. You can speak to fishes, and even see ghosts."

Emilia squirmed in her seat, thinking it over.

"We would never lie to you Emmy," Percy said, reaching over to grab her hand. "We love you."

"But we did skim on telling you where babies normally come from," Nico conceeded, knowing his daughter could be as resentful as him. "For that, we are sorry."

"But then, what should I tell everyone tomorrow?" She finally asked. "Ms. Jonas said she wanted me to ask you because we were an 'alternative family'. Should I lie?"

Percy and Nico looked at each other for a few seconds, before Percy's face lit up with an idea.

"Say 'I was born artificially, like in a test tube'," Percy said. "Let them assume what they want from that."

Nico nodded.

"It's not a lie, and you get to keep the secret," he commented. Emilia nodded, looking grateful.

"Thank you dad, papa," she said. "Sorry I got mad."

"That's okay sweetie," Percy said, finally looking relaxed. They all went back to their dinner.

"Wait!" Asher exclaimed, making his parents jump. "I still don't know where babies normally come from!"

"Uhh..."

"We'll talk after dinner, Ash."

[monamourbladie-mb]

19 Years Later... (Darth Vader x reader miniseries chapter 1)

19 years have passed since Y/n’s husband Anakin’s death, and she has become the leading General of the newly founded Rebellion alongside her past Jedi friend Obi-Wan Kenobi, now known as Ben Kenobi. When her children Luke and Leia Skywalker gets kidnapped by Darth Vader, the man who killed her husband; her and Obi-Wan Kenobi must come rescue her. But when she finds out who’s behind Darth Vader’s mask, the truth is something she never thought she had to prepare herself for.

——————

Index:

1. prologue

2. chapter 1

3. chapter 2 [Coming soon]

wc: 2.3k

warnings: cursing

——————

Being the leader of the new Rebellion against the evil Galactic Empire had its perks. One of the things that was not a perk, however, was hiding one’s actual name from their people, and past.

None of Y/n’s rebels knew of her past as a former Jedi Knight that fought in the Clone Wars. Though she fought like a cunning warrior, the thought had never once crossed their minds, seeing as all the Jedi were dead.

She had raised her children Luke and Leia with Obi-Wan’s guidance to be trained as Jedi, seeing as both of them were very Force-Sensitive.

Watching Luke wield his father’s lightsaber brought such bittersweet feelings to both old Jedi Knights. Anakin was such a big part of both of their lives, that it was almost painful to see this without him there.

Anakin would be beyond proud of his son and daughter, for sure.

Y/n recalled the first time he and Leia held their lightsabers. They were both 9, the same age their Father was when he was brought him by Qui-Gon Jyn from Tattooine.

Luke had rushed up to Obi’s old trunk excitedly, admiring the strange silver object with big eyes as Leia crowded behind him, “What’s that, Uncle Obi?”

“This is your father’s lightsaber, my dear. He would’ve wanted you to have it,” Obi replied, a sad smile on his face as he held onto the hilt, activating its stellar blue glow.

“This is the weapon of a Jedi Knight. Not as clumsy or random as a blaster—“ Obi handed it to Luke and his eyes widened, waving it around gently so he didn’t break it. “—an elegant weapon for a more civilized age.”

“Is it mine?” Luke’s eyes beamed in excitement. Obi-Wan nodded, sitting down as he picked up Leia, putting her on his knee.

“For over a thousand generations, the Jedi were the guardians of peace and justice. The old republic. Before the Empire...” he trailed off, turning his head towards the window.

Y/n rushed into the room, hearing the lightsaber and fearing there was an intruder, “Obi-Wan! What’s going on, I’m—“ she ignited her brilliant (l/c) saber, holding it in a protective stance before she realized it was just Luke. She sighed heavily and disengaged her saber, attaching it back to her belt loop, “Obi, you didn’t tell me you were doing this now...” she crossed her arms.

“Mom! Obi-Wan told me this was Dad’s! Look!” he started swinging it gently, making sure it didn’t hit anyone since he knew how deadly they could be. She began to smile sadly as she remembered a young Anakin as a padawan, rushing in to show her his lightsaber he constructed the day he finally got one.

She smiled sadly, tears welling up in her eyes. “You look so much like your father, Luke,” she said sadly. Obi looked back at Luke, and for a split moment, he was reminded of the small slave his old master brought back with him. He smiled to himself remembering how he helped Anakin with his padawan braid.

“Princess, come here. I’ll let you hold my lightsaber, okay?” she handed Leia her saber gently, and she took gingerly from her hand. Leia took it and igniting it, the blade’s glow reflecting in her excited little eyes.

“Mom? How did dad die? You never answered me,” Luke asked. Y/n felt herself freeze in place, a large lump in her throat forming. “Luke, I...”

“I’ll tell them, Y/n,” Obi-Wan replied solemnly. “Your father was killed by a young Jedi named Darth Vader. He was a close friend of mine before he fell. He helped the Emperor hunt down and destroy the Jedi Knights. He betrayed and murdered your father.” The room fell silent, until Luke asked another question, “So you and Uncle Obi are the last remaining Jedi?”

Obi-Wan shook his head no, “There are others, but sparse. To name a few, Master Yoda and Ahsoka Tano, your father’s Padawan learner. The last remaining Jedi are being hunted down by Vader, which is why we hide.”

Leia spoke up softly, “Is that why we don’t use our actual last name, mommy?”

“Yes, sweetheart. As long as Vader’s reign continues, we must hide our names. Darth Vader does not know about the two of you, so you are safe. For us, on the other hand...” she trailed off, and the kids understood.

“Mom... Mom,” Leia spoke loudly. Y/n blinked in confusion and turned back around, looking at her daughter, “Yeah, my love?”

“Are you okay mom?” Leia asked, frowning. “We need to look at the Death Star plans.”

“Right,” she sighed heavily, turning to face from the window out looking Yavin 4. “I’m fine, princess. I just... was remembering Anakin, that’s all.” Leia sighed and laid her hand on her mother’s back, rubbing it gently, “Dad would be proud of everything you’ve done, mom.” She began to tear up as she pulled Leia into a tight hug, “I hope so. It’s been about 20 years and it still doesn’t feel right,” silent tears fell down her cheeks into her daughter’s bunned hair.

“I’m proud of you, Leia. If you were to be trained within the Order now, you’d be the same age your father was when he became a Jedi Knight, and when he married me...” she sniffled, wiping her tears. Leia smiled softly, holding her mom’s hand, “Do you think he’d be proud of me, too?”

“I know he would,” she rubbed her fingertips against hers, “He would pull you into the tightest hug, spin you a little and say softly, ‘That’s my baby girl,’” she replied, her voice cracking slightly. Leia began to tear up as she hugged her back, “I wish I knew him...” she said softly. “I wish so too, babe, so bad...” Y/n sighed. But I won’t let his memory be in vain. Let’s go look at these plans and destroy that Death Star, yeah?”

Leia and Y/n walked to the main board room, seeing how the map was already up on display. “General Jonas, we’ve been examining the Death Star plans. They’re on screen now,” one of her commanding officers recited. “Good, thank you, officer. Have we discovered a weak point yet? Or at least some form of entry point?”

“No, ma’am. We haven’t studied long enough. There are many ways in, but all most likely heavily guarded. We will have to find a way to go under the radar without getting detected, somehow,” he replied. She nodded, walking closer to examine it. She closed her eyes and felt out through the Force for some answer. No surprise to her, she could barely feel anything at all but an empty void. Ever since Anakin had died, she had felt more distanced from the Force than ever. Maybe she and Anakin possessed a rare Dyad, or maybe she had simply lost touch with the Force; but no matter what she did, she was nowhere near as powerful in the Force as she used to be.

“Alert me if you find anything, Officer, I would love to have this Death Star in shambles by the end of the month,” Y/n left to walk out and to ask Obi-Wan on the matter. “Yes, ma’am,” he responded, turning back to his computer to get back to work.

Elsewhere, Leia was pacing in Luke’s room, grumbling to herself, “I know Obi-Wan has taught us to not let our emotions guide us, but I can’t when it comes to him. He killed our father, he should be dead!” Leia huffed in anger, collapsing down onto her twin’s bed.

Luke grunted in response, his mouth full of food still, “It’s not like you can take him on yourself. You’d die!” he said, or at least, sounded like he said. “I will not let the lives of those lost who got us the plans in the first place’s memories die. We wouldn’t be this close to planning an attack without their sacrifices. Moreover, Mom has had these plans for two days now, and she hasn’t done a single thing about it!” Leia responded quickly. Luke shrugged, “Leia. Be real. It’s not like we can steal a ship and fly to the Death Star, find it’s a weak point, and get back in time for dinner.”

Leia sat up, looking at Luke as if he had just committed mass murder. “...What?” Luke asked warily. Leia grinned, “That’s it! We’ll do just that, Luke! We’ll take one of mom’s ships, fly around the death star undetected and find weak entry points, and get back like we were never even gone!”

“Leia, you can not be serious right now!” Luke gasped, setting his food down, “We can’t do this, we could get in so much trouble! Or spotted!”

“Do you want to sit idly while our mother and uncle do nothing, whereas our Father’s murderer is out on the lose on that moon!” Leia snapped at him. He narrowed his eyes, “That’s no moon, Leia. Also, no, I don’t! But do we have a choice? No. We’re staying here.”

“No, we’re leaving. Whether I go alone is up to you entirely, but at this point, I just want the man who killed my father dead,” Leia said, glaring at him. Luke huffed, “You think I don’t want him dead, too? But we are children, we literally can’t do anything!”

“We are 19 years old and I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to sit at home here and wait for Vader to kill more innocent people,” Leia frowned, crossing her arms. “I really need you with me, Luke. But I get it if you don’t go.” she stood up, grabbing her stuff to leave when Luke grumbled “Wait!” under his breath. “I’ll... go. Just to protect you. But this is a bad idea, and I don’t want to get caught,” he raised a brow to her. Leia grinned and hugged Luke tightly, “Thank you, thank you! You won’t regret this! But bring your lightsaber maybe, just in case?”

——————

“What do you mean, YOU LET THEM GO?” Y/n snapped to C3-PO, enraged. Threepio raised his hands in defense, “I couldn’t stop them, mistress! I tried my best, I swear!”

“You let my children go confront Vader ALONE? You’re so lucky I don’t shut you down for that!” she growled, shoving past him with Obi-Wan following close behind her. “Oh, dear. I’m doomed,” Threepio whined.

“We have to go after them, we... I can’t... I can’t lose my kids,” Y/n said nervously, starting to pace once Obi got close. “Y/n, calm down sweetheart. I need you to breathe and think,” Obi said, holding onto her shoulders gently. “If we go, we have an equal chance of being caught since they’ll already be on high alert.”

She sighed heavily, shaking her head, “I hate you for being so levelheaded and smart, Obi,” she frowned. “That’s my specialty,” he winked. “Now, we need to stop and make sure that we can pull this rescue off without risking our lives, too.”

Meanwhile, at the Death Star, Vader was summoned by his leading captain because of an alert of an enemy ship flying nearby. “Bring them in, search them. They may know General Jonas.” “Yes, My Lord.”

Vader turned to leave the bridge towards the docking bay, to meet his guests personally. As he walked, his mind was filled with visions and memories from his dream the night before. Of her.

He sighed heavily, picking up speed as he neared the docking bay. Passing a group of stormtroopers, he pushed past them to be in front, crossing his arms. The door opened, and two stormtroopers walked out holding a young girl and boy, yelling at them to let go of them.

As soon as Vader looked at the two, he felt something... strange. A certain presence in the Force he had never felt before. What is this? Why do they feel familiar?

Vader dropped his arms, walking forward and raising his hand to stop the troopers, “Who are you? And why were you near my Death Star?”

His unmerciful, robotic voice rumbled through their chests, terrifying them. In all their years, they had never seen something so cold and unforgiving. “Don’t be petrified, answer me if you want to live,” Vader challenged, staring right at the boy.

“You killed our father,” Leia’s voice was cold, sad, and broken. She knew this was a bad idea, but it was too late now. “I wanted revenge.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, my princess, but I’ve killed many men. Your father was just another tick on my list, whoever he may be.”

“You son of a—!” Luke yelled, rushing to jump at him when the stormtroopers all turned their weapons on him, making him stop. Vader growled, “Insolent children. I don’t think you know who I am, truly. I’d crush you in a heartbeat, but seeing as you could have something of use to me... take them away, both of them,” Vader commanded. The two shouted in disagreement, and Vader simply stood and watched them struggle.

“You bitch! You’ll pay for what you did to our dad!” Luke yelled as he was taken away. Vader rolled his eyes from under the mask and walked back to his quarters. He knelt on the floor, taking his mask off as he called out to his Emperor through the force.

“What do you want, Lord Vader?” Palpatine growled, looking down at Vader’s hologram. “I felt something through the Force a few moments ago. My new hostages... they seem to be strong with it.”

“Really? Are you sure, my apprentice?”

“Yes, Master. More sure than anything.”

“Well, you know what you must do. Kill them. They could be Jedi if they tried opposing you,” Palpatine smirked. “They’re only children, which means they’re newer Jedi. Someone had to have trained them.”

“Children never stopped you before, don’t let it stop you now. Do it.”

“...Yes, my Master.” Vader ended the holomessage, sighing.

“Who are you two...?” he asked himself, reaching out through the Force and feeling they were still there.

Strange.

——————

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[badgirlcovenrep]

The Goddess' Blessing (of a daughter)

Chapter Two

Here it is... hope you enjoy

After Tiffany is in warm pajamas and her hair is nicely brushed, they head to the living room to meet Edwin, who is sat at the couch watching some kind of civilian sport that features a stick. Scylla never took interest in televised sports - that was not really part of witch culture - but she thinks it's sweet, how enralled he is when they come out. She remembers Raelle telling her once that she used to watch games with her dad.

Scylla can almost see her sitting there beside him, in her civilian clothes, snacking on nachos and discussing what was happening on screen. It made her heart tug painfully. Once again she considered if coming here was a good idea at all. Seemed like everywhere she looked, she could just see Raelle, and even if she'd seen the other girl just a day before, here, inside her childhood home, it did nothing to how much Scylla missed her - and how she wished Raelle could be here, with them. Warm and peaceful and free.

"Hey, dinner's still in the oven." Edwin informs, once he sees the pair of witches have joined him, but still, he rises from the couch and crosses the living room towards the kitchen "I got some boxes of Rae's toys when she was a kid down from the attic earlier, and I thought you'd like to take a look, Tiffany."

The small witch was still unsure about her new surroundings, and Scylla gently directs her to join the man in the kitchen, where he had settled two sizeable cardboard boxes over the tiled floor, filled to the brim with random toys that went from surprisingly well kept barbie dolls to matchbox hotwheels and loose pieces of lego.

"Wow, Mr. Collar, you didn't have to." Scylla assures, as Tiffany puts her doubts aside for a minute to peek curiously into the box.

"Of course I did, it's not like these were going to use all the way up in the attic."

"Well, you're very kind. What do we say, Tiffany?" Scylla coaxes the younger girl, as she's started sorting curiously through the barbies. The necro is happy to see she seemed to be feeling safer.

"Thank you, Mr. Collar." Tiffany smiles up at him.

"You, little one, can call me Edwin if you like, and same goes for you, Scylla." He declares, and Scylla can't help the affection that settles inside her chest.

Jonas was right. She really *was* going soft. But the witch is not so sure she minds it that much anymore.

"Alright... Edwin." She nods.

"Good." The man smiles, leaning down to take the box Tiffany hadn't yet looked through, "let's take these to the living room so you can play near the fireplace. It's getting cold."

****

Edwin sits back down on the couch a while later, and Scylla helps Tiffany sort through Raelle's surprisingly big collection of beanie babies. The young witch is fascinated with them, and she's lining them up in a circle with plastic cuttlery for each, getting them ready for a tea party as Scylla watches sleepily from the couch, when suddenly the phone rings.

Edwin gets up to answer. They can hear from the living room when he picks up, but aside from that, the conversation is nothing but muffled sounds. Scylla could listen in if she wanted, farspeech is not that hard, and she can surely manage to hone in on a conversation that is happening just at the end of the hall.

But Edwin is kind to them, and she's trying to be a better person, even if she can't push away the curiosity - the thought - that maybe it's Raelle. And how much she wishes to hear her voice.

She knows it isn't right though, so Scylla decides not to peek. They deserve their privacy- not without some internal protesting, she turns her attention back to where Tiffany still played with her new (to her) toys.

"Oh, no! You spilled your tea, mister giraffe!" She exclaims, knocking the yellow giraffe plushie against it's pink teacup until it topples over the carpet, "I can't give you more tea right now, sir, the other babies haven't gotten any, you'll have to sit down and wait. Yes, I'll make you more tea in just a minute." Tiffany grabs the equally pink teapot and turns to the stuffed hippopotamus, tskng annoyedly with a roll of her eyes "some clients are so impatient, mrs. hippo."

Scylla smiles fondly, settling down into the soft cushions of the couch and resigning herself to watching the game absentmindedly. Just then, Edwin peeks his head from the hallway.

"It's Raelle." He says, and Scylla's heart jumps at hearing her name, "she wants to talk to you."

The necro would've been embarrassed at how fast she gets up, but her mind is one tracked at this point, and she can barely hold herself back from running down the hall to where the phone sat by the back door.

Edwin had settled it speaker up on top of the phone box as to not hang up, and when Scylla finally comes face to face with the device, she can't help but stop - just for a minute - in hesitation. What they had lived a year ago was so fiery and fast paced. Scylla felt as if it enveloped her whole before she could even see the surface. Like canon-balling into the deep ocean when you can't swim.

Now, whatever they had- it felt tentative and unsure. Like walking across tight rope blind-folded. It was new, and she didn't deal very well with change.

Even then, as the witch picked up the phone with a shaking hand and settled it into her ear, beside her shaking nerves - it became quite obvious to her. Anyway Raelle wanted to be in her life, Scylla would never be able to deny it.

"Hey." She says, finally, and from the other side, a soft sigh comes.

"Hi." Raelle sounds tired, and Scylla wants to ask why, but the fixer continues before she has the chance, "I'm glad you both made it safe. Dad seems excited that you're there."

"Yeah. Your dad's been very nice." Scylla chuckles, resting the palm of her hand against the wall to suppress the heady, dizzying feeling in her lungs. Like she's just now taken a breath for the first time since hearing her voice in the clearing.

"He even brought down some toys from the attic. I hope you don't mind" The necro chooses to say, looking for anything that could distract her from the feeling and help keep herself upright "you didn't tell me you had like, a hundred beanie babies."

"Oh, Goddess." Raelle moans in mock embarrassment, but Scylla can hear the smile in her voice, and she can't help but smile too, "I- hm- I forgot they were in there. I asked him to bring them down for her once you guys got there."

"They're cute." Scylla replies simply, "Tiffany loves them. Thank you."

"Well- she can have them. They don't really have use in the attic." Raelle says, and they stop for a second of amused silence before the blonde speaks again, "what's her favorite?"

"I don't know. Honestly all I know is that the giraffe is a really bad customer." Scylla replies, chuckling lightly at the previous interaction she'd watched.

"Oh, yeah, he has always been an asshole." Raelle laughs, and Scylla joins her, for a second they sit there in little fits of giggles. It's refreshing and so very light. The necro thinks maybe she shouldn't have been worried after all.

Whatever they had before, it was absolutely incredible - it took Scylla's breath away to even think about it - but this? This was all of that wrapped in warm, soft silk. This was different, and honest, and it filled her with butterflies that threatened to flutter out of her throat with each tug along the rope that tied them together so very tight. She wished, more than anything, that Raelle was there, in the dark hallway of her childhood home with her.

"Thank you." Scylla hears herself say before she can truly think about it, as she leans down to rest her forehead lightly against the cold wall to settle her aching heart, "for believing me. For helping me."

Raelle clears her throat on the other line and sighs before she speaks again. For a second Scylla thinks she might have burst the glass bubble that extended around them, but then-

"I never got the chance with my mom but I- I get to have that with you. I guess I can't help but want to try." Raelle decides. She sounds so soft, Scylla's heart strings tug once again, and she's left at a loss for words. Somewhere in the kitchen, the oven timer rings, but Scylla is barely aware of it.

"I guess I also did save your life. Twice now." She speaks out, after a few minutes of silence. On the other line, Raelle chuckles, and Scylla can't help the pride that settles over her for having caused that.

"Yeah. Guess you did."

"Scylla! Dinner!" Tiffany calls out from the kitchen, and it startles Scylla a little out of the stupor that settled over her body as he lifts her head towards the rest of the house.

"I should let you guys eat." Raelle decides, sighing as if she doesn't want to hang up just as much as Scylla hoped they could be physically together. For a second, she lets herself believe that to be the case.

" I- thank you, for calling."

"Yeah... thank you for- hm- being there when I did."

Scylla's heart tugs against her ribcage once again, and she can hear Raelle's soft breathing on the other side. The witch feels as if she could stay there all night, given the opportunity, but Tiffany is annoying Edwin with a thousand questions about the game he'd been watching (she finally finds out it's hockey) and Scylla figures she should go save their host from being questioned to death. Besides, she is quite hungry.

"Good night, Raelle." She says, finally. "Try to sleep, okay? You sound like you could pass out any moment."

"I will." The fixer assures, simply "G'night, Scyl."

****

The next morning, Edwin very graciously lends her his truck and offers to watch Tiffany while she goes to meet with the Dodgers. He doesn't ask many questions, but Scylla still offers quite a bit of information. She understands how frustrating it must be to be left in the dark, and for once she doesn't feel the need to be as secretive as she'd been before.

The place they send her to is out of the city, away from the bright lights and military patrols. She takes back roads that almost seem to lead to nowhere a couple of times, before they cut into the horizon to reveal more sprawling landscape. Protective magic, she realizes, and the only real reason she hadn't been led away by confusion was probably because she was expected.

Scylla remembers staying at the farms before, when she was very young.

It'd be a good place to grow up, she thinks. A place where Tiffany could be away from all those things that so very desperately wanted to trap her for her voice.

She remembers harvesting berries when she lived here, squeezing them into her mother's basket as she smiled fondly back. It was a good memory. All the ones here were.

Before her, the fields come into view, a variety of different fruits and vegetables, tended by people of all ages, in simple but well kept clothes. Beyond them, the pastures, where fat brown cows chewed lazily at the grass, and even beyond that an orchid of fragrant trees that Scylla knew bore a multitude of fruits, all spring and summer, from juicy plums to red, big apples.

She passes it all to reach the gates, wooden and simple, but still flanked by two imposing towers from where respective guards peered down, one on each tower.

"State your business." The one on the right demands, once Scylla has rolled down her windows to the frigid winter air outside.

"I'm here to see Velma." She says, pulling down her sunglasses.

They give her only a nod in response, and the gates open so that Scylla can drive down the winding road up to the main house. It's an old, opulent mansion, built somewhere along the Victorian era. Over the years, the community had surrounded it by other buildings and houses alike, some looking newer and others, older and dustier, but all sturdy and charming, with flower boxes and wood panelling over the windows.

People and children walk to and from them, carrying various objects and chatting along their companions calmly. It feels peaceful here, and Scylla can't help but observe their languid movement as she parks the truck by some other trailers. It's definitely different from what she remembers, bigger and yet eerily emptier.

Scylla shakes her head to clear away the thoughts, sure there are a million explanations as to why there wouldn't be many people out here when it's still 7A.M. and so cold her fingertips threaten to freeze under her gloves. She gets out of the car, adjusting her coat and nodding slightly to a pair of older witches walking by before starting her way up the familiar path to the main house.

Velma Bjelke had come from Sweden along with her parents years before she was born. They had fled the great European witch war in the late 80's. All three had never been in favor of conscription, but given the way things were going in the old continent, Scylla guessed it was worth the shot to move all the way here. She wonders if they ever regretted it. But it was never something she thought to ask before they died.

When she was younger, Velma used to be around all the time. She was her mom's best friend, with whom she shared the knack for necromancy. Velma taught Scylla her very first seeds, and she acted like a second mom to her throughout the years they were together.

Eventually Velma had settled herself at the farms, where they all lived for a few years, and when Scylla left along with her parents, Velma chose to stay behind. She never quite knew why they left, and it was another thing she'd probably never get the chance to ask.

It should be around ten years since they last saw each other, and Scylla couldn't say she didn't feel apprehensive as she went up the stairs. But as soon as her feet were planted on the porch, the big oak doors swung open and there stood Velma, looking older than Scylla remembered her but still just as recognizable as she'd always been with her curly red hair, big glasses and flowy dress.

"Sweet girl." She sighed out, "I have missed you so much"

"Hi, aunt Velma." Scylla smiles, just as the older witch takes a step forward and pulls the youngest witch into a long, tight hug, "I missed you too."

I gave Scylla another mother figure and this one ain't dying

This fic is mostly gonna be fluff but it's also gonna have some plot around the Camarilla and the Dodgers that's gonna be put in C3, which is coming tomorrow or the day after

Hope you enjoyed, and feedback is always appreciated 🥰

[spine-buster]

The President Wears Prada (William Nylander) | Epilogue 3: A Love So Tender

A/N:  Well, here it is, folks...the last epilogue of The President Wears Prada series.  It’s been a blast.  Like with Alone, Together and The Storm Before the Calm, we’ve created a little community on this blog, except this time we joined together during quarantine and a global pandemic!  I posted the prologue to this April 27th (so right in the thick of it lol) and I’ve been so happy giving you guys something to look forward to every Monday these past eight months!  Keep asking your Willberdeen canon questions forever and ever!

Be on the lookout for the post date of my Brock Boeser mini-series “Peaceful Easy Feeling” -- I’ll announce it and put it on my Masterlist.  Then, I’ll start my next big series!

As always, happy reading :)

March 2034

“Mooooommmmmyyyyyy!  Mommy look!” six-year-old Saoirse Nylander ran through the house to the kitchen where she knew her mom was ready with breakfast.  “Look!  Daddy let me do my own hair!”

Aberdeen looked down at her daughter to see her blonde hair fixed in to a half ponytail…well, a six-year-old’s version of a half ponytail.  Aberdeen smiled down at her daughter.  “Looks good!” she smiled.  “Can I fix it a little bit before we go to Andy and Maia’s house?”

“Can I eat first?” Saoirse asked as Aberdeen heard more footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Of course!  Your oatmeal is right over there,” she nodded her head towards the bowl already set up for her daughter.  As Saoirse moved and climbed into the counter stool to eat, Aberdeen looked to her left to see William enter the room, holding their three-year-old son in his arms.  “My two Williams,” she smiled.

“Mowning mama,” William Jr. said as Willy placed him down in his own stool, his own bowl of oatmeal also ready to go.  

William walked around the island and gave Aberdeen a kiss on the cheek before placing his hand on her stomach tenderly.  “Morning, minskatt,” he said before pouring himself some coffee.  He looked back at his kids, eating their oatmeal.  “Are you excited to see Maia, Saoirse?”

“Mhm,” she smiled.  “Can I bring my colouring book so Maia and I can colour?”

“Of course you can!” William smiled.  “You know how much Maia loves to colour with you.”

“When you and mommy get home, I’m gonna have a beeeeeeautiful picture,” Saoirse exclaimed before spooning some more oatmeal into her mouth.

Both Aberdeen and William looked at their fridge, adorned with ripped out pages from colouring books that Saoirse and William Jr. did for them.  “We can’t wait,” Aberdeen smiled.

***

“Mr. and Mrs. Nylander, I know that we’ve confirmed your pregnancy,” Dr. Collinson spoke to the happy couple.  

“We needed the tie-breaker,” William joked.

“Indeed,” he chuckled.  “But I must ask you both…have you gone through any fertility treatments that I’m not aware of?  IVF, artificial insemination?”

William and Aberdeen looked at each other before looking back at their doctor – the same doctor who had been there and helped birth Saoirse and William Jr.  “No…” William shook his head.  “We figured we were okay…I mean, with Saoirse’s and William’s pregnancies being pretty easy with no major complications, and the fact that we didn’t have to try for very long before Aberdeen got pregnant…” he trailed off.

Dr. Collinson nodded his head.  “That’s good to know.  Because I do have some further news for you.”

“What’s that?” Aberdeen asked.

“You’re having twins.”

The words hung in the air for an excruciatingly long period of time.  “Excuse me?” Aberdeen asked.

“Twins.  You’re having twins, Mrs. Nylander.”

Aberdeen looked over at William.  “I’m going to cut your penis off.”

***

“TWINS!!!!!” Bee exclaimed, jumping up and down as she hugged Aberdeen.  “Twins, Aberdeen!  Oh my goodness!”

“More Nylanders?” Morgan piped in.  “Christ almighty.”

***

“TWINS?!” Aleida was shocked when Aberdeen told her the news over the phone.  “Twins!”

“Who’s having twins?” Aberdeen could hear Fred’s voice in the background.

“Aberdeen and Will!”

There was a pause.  “More Nylanders?  Good God.”

***

“Twins, William?  You knocked her up with twins?” Jason deadpanned into the phone.

“We’ll have four, just like you,” William said.

“More Nylanders…Jesus Christ.”

***

“Oh!  What fantastic news!” Svea beamed over the FaceTime call.  Elias was smiling beside her.  “You must be so excited, guys.”

“We are.  We joked that we were only supposed to have one tie-breaker though,” Aberdeen said, looking at William beside her briefly.  “Now we’re getting two.”

“Do you know the sexes?”

“Not yet.  In a few weeks they’ll tell us if they’re identical or fraternal, and I think that will be very informational,” William said.

“More Nylanders…” Elias shook his head.  “God help us all.”

***

“This is fantastic news, Aberdeen.  You’re such a great mom already,” Brendan said from across the table, his smile stretching from ear to ear.  “Saoirse and Will Jr – I mean they’re just delights.”

“Thank you, Brendan.  There will be two more to add to the MLSE family room during games.  Not to mention more Nylanders occupying the city of Toronto.”

“More Nylanders…wow.”

***

September 2034

The Toronto Maple Leafs and the entire MLSE organization would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to William Nylander and his wife Aberdeen Bloom on the birth of their twins, Jonas Alexander and Astrid Elina.  Jonas and Astrid join big siblings Saoirse and William Jr.  

***

November 2035

BREAKING: Aberdeen Bloom, the youngest person ever to win the Booker Prize for Fiction, has just won the prize for a second time for her latest novel, A Love So Fond.  Bloom becomes the third woman (after Hilary Mantel and Margaret Atwood) to win the Booker Prize twice, but the first woman under forty to accomplish the feat.  

***

The First Monday in May, 2036

William looked at Aberdeen lovingly as she touched up her lipstick in the mirror of their hotel room.  She was wearing a beautiful dress, styled to perfection.  He was wearing a suit, tailored to equal perfection.  “You look beautiful, minskatt,” he said, hoping it would calm her down a bit.  He knew she was nervous.

She looked over at him as she clicked shut the lipstick tube.  “We’re going to the Met Gala, Willy,” she said as if it was the first time he’d heard the news.  He’d heard.  He’d heard for months now.  Anna Wintour invited them to the event.  Aberdeen screamed bloody murder when she got the invite.  “We’re going to the Met Gala.”

He giggled slightly.  “I know.  Who would have thought all those years ago two kids who hooked up the night of a graduation would make their way to the Met Gala.”

Aberdeen smiled.  “Who would have thought an aspiring writer and a hockey player would accomplish so much that we’d even get invited to the Met Gala.”

“I had nothing to do with this,” William shook his head, smiling.  “You did all of this.  I’m just in the background, remember?”

Aberdeen couldn’t help but smile.  The man in front of her supported her dreams without question.  There was nothing she thought of that William didn’t think she’d be able to accomplish.  Her two Booker Prizes were evidence of that.  Her Governor General’s Awards and Giller Prizes were evidence of that.  Her numerous other awards were evidence of that.  “You’re not in the background, Willy,” she told him once more.  It was something she told him time and time again, even though she knew he was joking.  To think he still used a joke he made when she was twenty-two years old…she couldn’t help but laugh.  “You’re the reason I’m able to do this.”

Their conversation was cut short by Aberdeen’s phone ringing.  When she dug it out of her purse, she saw Orla requesting a FaceTime call.  “It’s the kids again,” she said, holding up the phone and turning around so that when she answered it, whoever was calling would see both their parents.  When she accepted, she saw Saoirse’s face first.  “Hi baby,” Aberdeen cooed.  “Did you forget to tell us something?”

“Maia wants to know if she can come over this weekend to play.  Is that okay?” she asked.

“Of course,” William answered.  “I’ll talk to Uncle Morgan about it when we get home tomorrow night.”

“Let me see!” William Jr.’s voice was heard off camera.  Soon, Saoirse had turned the camera around so he could see his parents.  “Hi mom and dad.”

“Hi baby,” Aberdeen cooed again.  “Do you have a question too?”

“No,” he said.  “You look pretty, mama.”

Aberdeen couldn’t help but swoon.  “Thank you, baby.  Are you having a good time at grandma and grandpa’s house?”

He nodded his head enthusiastically.  “Grandma just made popcorn!”

“Wooooo!  Movie night!” William exclaimed from behind her.  “Be good!  Go to bed on time.”

“I will,” William Junior nodded his head.  “Bye daddy.  Bye minskatt.”

Aberdeen furrowed her brows but couldn’t help but laugh at her son.  She could hear William chuckle from behind her too.  “William!  Why’d you call me that?!”

Williiam Junior didn’t know what the big deal was.  He knew he was named after his dad; it was only fitting that he test his limits and call his mom by her first name too.  “Daddy’s name is William, and my name is William, and your name is minskatt!  Daddy always calls you that!  Hi minskatt, bye minskatt, I love you minskatt.  Minskatt is your name!” he argued like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  

William thought back to so, so many years ago.  To Aberdeen asking him why he called her minskatt and him telling her why.  A tear escaped his eye and he brought his hand up quickly to cover it.  Aberdeen noticed.  She looked back at William Jr.  “Okay William.  We’ll talk more when we get home, okay?  You better be good for grandma and grandpa.”

Aberdeen ended the call with a couple of more air kisses.  When she was finished, she placed her phone down and saw that William kept wiping his cheeks with his thumb.  “Hey…hey come here,” she said gently, walking over to him because she knew he wouldn’t move.  “Was it Junior?” she asked.

William nodded his head.  “You remember what I told you, like, fifteen years ago?  About why I call you minskatt?”

Aberdeen nodded her head automatically.  She’d never forgotten.  “Of course,” she said softly, bringing her hands up to wipe some of his tears away with her own thumbs.  “It was always your dream, wasn’t it?”

William nodded.  He leaned down slightly to kiss her, even though he knew he’d get lipstick on him and that Aberdeen would have to reapply it for the fourth time before they even left the hotel.  “I know you’ve accomplished so much with your writing and I’ve accomplished so much with hockey but my best accomplishment is you.  Us.  Our family.  The love I have for you.”

Aberdeen nodded her head.  She understood.  She knew.  “Mine too.”

“It’s been fifteen years.  Fifteen years and four kids, Aberdeen.  And still.  Still.  I think about you when I’m not even thinking.”

Aberdeen smiled.  She kissed him once more.  “Jag tänker på dig när jag inte ens tanker.”

[cruzrogue]

Arrow's Horizon

This is a fic that has risen due to a fic idea posted on this A03 site. Oliver becomes a dad to William, is a husband, still gets shipwrecked, leaving behind a wife.

Chapter 1 Home base - Oliver finds out he is a dad. Fears losing Felicity

In this story, Felicity is only 2 years younger than Oliver. The chapters are roughly 4 pages each (using word)

This is a completed story. The next chapter will be published in 3-4 days and the others will be on some set time table.

Chapter 1 Home Base

Felicity finds Oliver exactly where his mother said he’d be. His favorite thinking spot. Located at the outskirts of his family’s estate. Sitting on a tree stump overlooking a stream that is generously full due to the recent rainstorm. She knows he can hear her make her way towards him. He doesn’t skip a beat as he continues pitching rocks upon the body of water as the silence between them endures.

Finding a log nearby. She waits to be acknowledged.

Coming to Starling City for a few days during a weeklong school break. Oliver had her come here to meet his family. Now that they are more than just friends. Their next stop is Las Vegas to officially meet her mom. Everything is moving nicely she thinks. She really, really likes him.

Felicity doesn’t glance at Oliver as he is still throwing the stones into the flowing stream. Keeping her attention on the skips the pebble makes against the water.

Oliver had a visitor yesterday. Since then, he’s made some elaborate excuses to be alone. Giving her forced smiles. Leaving her to go to bed wondering if they were alright. Since walking onto a meeting between Oliver and some girl she has never met before. His whole demeanor is of someone who now has the whole world on his shoulders.

They both are known to need time to process whatever ails them alone. It never boarders on more than a day. Felicity isn’t pushy in that department but being that she is here in Starling. Away from her comfort zone. She feels that Oliver needs to understand that and maybe open up to her sooner rather than later.

Oliver in a low raspy whisper finally speaks, “I’m sorry.”

Felicity now able to see him clearly notices the red eyes. She has never in their time of acquaintance seen him cry. He is usually so upbeat.

“Oliver?” She wants to add something else, but the words don’t flow out fast enough as her boyfriend falls to his knees before her. It isn’t a romantic scene where one would see in a movie. No. This moment is in some ridiculous romantic flick where it looks to be the end for the couple. His name makes it out of her lips before he finally sheds some light on what is tormenting him.

“It was before you and I became a couple. I need you to know that.” She doesn’t know what he is trying to say. The confusion must show on her face as he clarifies, “You know that time I went out with the guys because I finally ended it with Laurel?”

She nods. Felicity was the creator of his moodboard for almost a month of listening to Oliver count the pros and cons of his relationship with his high school sweetheart. So many images, pieces of text hung on a board to help him visualize his desires. Going to college has opened his views on what he wants in life. If truth be told. Meeting Felicity has curbed a good faction of his partying ways.

“I was finally free.”

Not knowing where he is going with all this, “Okay.”

“I messed up.” He swiftly gets up and begins to walk away which has Felicity almost ready to bolt after him. When he stops and walks closer to her. She can breathe slightly easier as it looks that his intent is to pace back and forth as he continues his story.

When he finally gets to the part of his dilemma that has her gasp in shock. He knows he is about to lose the girl that owns his heart. He is scared shitless. Even so, he owes her the truth.

Oliver’s been out here alone thinking of how his life is going to dramatically change. Scared of losing Felicity Smoak to a mistake that he’s been regarding for the last few hours with a heavy heart.

Finding out Samantha Clayton is pregnant with his child. Coming to him knowing she is going to keep his baby. Everything changed in a blink of an eye. He is going to be a father.

Oliver finally stops pacing to face the music. He tells her everything.

In an unsteady breath knowing that whatever answer Oliver has could change everything, “What does this girl require of you?”

“What do you mean?”

“Does she require you to try and playhouse with her? Is it financial?”

“We didn’t discuss anything in detail. Just…”

“That she is pregnant with your baby.” He nods.

“Felicity, I know this shifts how you’ll feel…” Her hand goes up to indicate for him to stop. He still adds, “I am so very sorry.”

She knows he is. In her heart she knows Oliver would never do anything to inflict pain on her. They got to know each other since meeting in a library. His inability to guide himself around a library's catalogue made her have pity on him. Turning her into the friendly guide that opened his world to library books. Nothing like the beginning of a friendship while teaching him how to identify and use a call number to find a specific book.

His sincerity pulls on her heart strings. Like him, she’ll need some alone time.

It doesn’t change the fact of how she feels. She is truly, madly, deeply in love with Oliver Jonas Queen. If bringing her here to meet his parents is any indication. His I adore you, you’re remarkable, and his soft voice that he uses when they’re just being them. He is also over-the-moon with her.

“Oliver.” His reaction is to look away, so she places her hands upon his face. Making sure she can glance into those saddened eyes, “I’ll need to figure my place in all this. That is if you’ll still want me in your life.”

He is up from his kneeling position, “Of course, I want you. I just don’t deserve you.”

Jumping to her feet. She isn’t letting him go.

“Hogwash!” For a brief second. There is a levity in his eyes, “Forget I just said that. You know what I mean. I am not walking away from you. Not saying all this won’t be tough.”

“Its nothing like the Cooper situation. A baby is a lifelong commitment.”

“Well, if you weren’t there to pull me back. I could have been a lifelong inmate in Guantanamo Bay or some fancy cyber jail.”

He cracks a smile, “I don’t think they send blondes there.”

“I’m actually…” He can’t help but sweep her off her feet. Their lips connecting. Felicity being in his arms brings optimism that wasn’t there when he came out here to agonize over some life choices. She brings balance and with her here. He can hope.

He almost blurs out how much he loves her. Glad to have caught himself from that blunder. Saying it now could confuse Felicity. She might think it’s not sincere. When he says it. It’s got to be at the right time where the woman he loves understands his words are true.

Felicity eyeing the small gathering of pebbles Oliver piled up beside the tree stump.

“Why don’t you go back home. Your parents are worried.”

“I don’t know what to tell them.”

With a hand on his arm, she tells him to be honest. Nodding to Felicity’s words a small moment of silence stretches between them.

“Okay then. I’m going to sit here for a while. Deplete a portion of your mighty impressive pile of rocks.”

“Wish me luck.”

Giving Oliver a quick hug they depart. Oliver heads back to his family’s home as Felicity takes a seat to contemplate the new norm of what their world will entail.

[sasa-gay-yo]

Just Us (Chapter Eleven: Break Up)

← Chapter Ten

“A little higher, yes, right there! Now to the left, put the nail right below that truss. Perfect! I’ll hand you the sign.” I reached down and picked up the newly polished piece of wood with the cafe’s name on it in a fresh coat of paint for the year-end opening. 

Flynn’s 

Jonas took it in his hands and hung it up on the new wooden post. This time, it would hang off over the street so that people could see where we were. Before, the sign was nailed next to the door and was now fading drastically. While I kept the old sign there for memories, the new sign was a fresh red color and had been sealed by the carpenter to make sure it lasted longer than the last one. It was something I had meant to do for years, but never got around to it. Now that I was just sitting and making bread for the refugees, I had time to design the shape and font I wanted. The sign was a light wooden rectangle with dark, red cursive lettering and had another small circular sign with a cup of tea attached to it, indicating we were a café. 

“It looks nice, Eva. You picked a good wood to contrast the letters,” Ben marveled up at it as Jonas came down from his ladder. Whenever I had added or changed something about the café, I asked Ben his thoughts about it, seeing he was the only one, second to me, who cared the most about it. When I went to him saying I was buying a new sign, he rejoiced. 

Jonas shoved his hands in his pockets and looked up at it too. He couldn’t grasp why this was such a monumental change to Ben and I who had to fight Mr. Flynn to even make a sign in the first place. There weren’t many visitors to Trost when he had built the café, but when we came along, things were changing and he hated it. The first time Catrin gave out fresh squeezed juice, he grumbled about it for weeks saying a café should just have bread and coffee. It was funny, but if we left Mr. Flynn alone with his precious café, he would have ran it into the ground.

“You think he hates it?” I looked up to Ben and he nodded and mirrored Jonas’s stance. There was almost some undertone of weirdness being friends with Jonas because when he hit puberty, he morphed into a younger version of Ben. It was also a bit awkward that the mirror image of my brother still had feelings for me. Maybe that was one of the reasons I didn’t see Jonas as someone other than my best friend or another brother. They looked too similar.

“Most definitely. The old man is rolling in his grave right now. I wouldn’t be surprised if a strong winter wind knocked it down.” We stood there for a few, marveling at the sign as the sun went down. Jonas was the first one to whine it was too cold and we took that as a sign to go back into the café. I still had to clean up and get ready for opening tomorrow. Ben and Jonas had promised to help me run the café tomorrow to hold off the rush of people coming. 

When I took out an add in the paper to announce my holiday hours, people had flocked to my door, there to confirm if the newspaper was right. When I told them I was, in fact, opening back for year-end only, people were already trying to put in orders. I think the people of Trost wanted normal back, and my café would give them some of it. 

“So the Garrison just dropped you like that? Without any warning?” Jonas swept some dirt into the dust pan. 

“It wasn’t like, out of the blue. I knew it was coming. They have nothing to give me for pay and I demanded pay. I would have done it for a few more weeks as well, just for the refugee’s sake, but with the allotted flour for year-end, I just couldn’t continue without them giving me their stores. I wish they did it a little after year-end though so I could have brought pastries to the refugees. Maybe next year will be a better harvest.” Ben looked up from the book he was reading and moved his feet so Jonas could sweep under them. Jonas mumbled something under his breath about his father not doing anything, but he left it unnoticed. 

“Could you just show up with some things? Maybe you could make enough to give the children?” Ben had also worked closely with the refugees, trying to help outsource jobs and employment opportunities for them when people still trusted them. By now, no one would take in refugees for work. 

“No, they aren’t letting any outsiders into the stockyards now. That might be another reason I can’t make bread anymore. I have no idea why they’re doing that, and I hope it’s not another isolation policy because Trost citizens are complaining again. I even asked a person in the Garrison who likes me, and he said he couldn’t say.” Jonas, again, grumbled something under his breath, probably about the refugees, and I threw a rag at his head. 

“Hey!” 

“You are almost thirty years old and have no regard for other human lives. Tch!” He threw the rag back at me a little harder and glared. Ben just looked on, smirking at the two kids he was used to bickering back and forth. Ben had said the first day he introduced Jonas to me, he knew we’d be best friends and perfect enemies.

“Well, we always seem to forget that two refugees attacked you and that our food supply is little to none because we have to give half of it to them. It’s not just Trost either, Aunt Catrin told us that Stohess is also struggling with the weight of a whole district. We’ll be starved by next spring, the titans won’t even want to eat us!” I put down my rag and just sighed, glaring at him as he swept quickly, wanting to get out of the café. Jonas had broken up with his third girlfriend of the year and he wasn’t in the mood to have a heated argument session with the girl that was still pushing him away. That was the reason she had broken up with him: he still had feelings for me. I was afraid to bring up Levi to him because of this, but I wanted to tell him. Everyday, I would get more and more uncomfortable lying to him.

“I’m sure the titans don’t want to eat you anyways, Jonas.” He stopped sweeping, glaring at the ground. Uh oh. 

“I guess no one wants me then.” It was Ben’s turn to widen his eyes at his son’s sadness. He had spent a few minutes lecturing Jonas about how long it took Ben to find Analee, but it didn’t help soothe his sadness. In all honesty, Analee was Ben’s first girlfriend and he got her pregnant before they were even married and both eighteen. He wasn’t the right person to give his son advice and neither was I. We both agreed to just forget Jonas said that and move on with whatever we were doing. 

“Well, you two, I’m going to get back home. Your sister was adamant I help her build that new desk before tomorrow. I’ll be here tomorrow at opening, Eva, like old times. Don’t come back late Jonas, or you’ll wake up your mother.” I smiled up him, casting away the mood Jonas put me in, and waved to my brother. Ben and I were the closest, probably because of our locations too, and I always felt calm when he was around me. He was the most like Mr. Flynn. Jonas was such the opposite, and I’d always wondered how Ben had made him.

When he left and the bell stopped ringing above the door, Jonas and I just let the silence consume us. At this point, he wasn’t even sweeping up dirt, but he didn’t want to talk to me in the bad mood he was in. Did she really have to break up with him when I was about to spend every day of the next week with him? It had nothing to do with his feelings for me, but everything to do with the awful mood he’d be in. Last break up, I had to pull him from the bar at least three times, waste a pale of water to sober him up, and he fell asleep completely on top of me, cutting off my breathing. I had told Levi about this and he threatened to break off his fingers in letter form, even if it was back when we were eighteen. Levi gave Jonas no chances.

“How many people do you think will be here tomorrow?” He broke the silence first and I was glad he’d changed the subject. I could talk to a regulars Jonas.

“I couldn’t say. I’ve had at least thirty come to the café in the past week asking. I don’t think there will be a lot of people at the tables, but most will be coming in and out.” He nodded and set the broom down, sitting with it. He’d probably swept the floors twice, but I guess the extra cleaning won’t hurt. 

“My dad’s been on my ass about learning how to work at the café. Something about character building…” Sounds like Ben. Well, sounds like Mr. Flynn, but same person. 

“I wouldn’t mind the extra help. Elias can’t really count money reliably enough to let me bake while he runs orders. I let him just take things in and out of the oven and to customers. Sometimes, I’ll even let him use the mixer. Elias is getting that vital character development. I’ve also thought about giving him this job when he gets old enough so he doesn’t have to work under his father.” I jumped back up on the counter and forgot I had just cleaned it. I’ll do it more tomorrow. 

“I hated this place as a kid. Grandpa always forced us to clean if we were staying with him and Duran tried to always beat me up for no reason. When I was old enough to get my own job, I was ready to leave it behind. Funny to think the kid likes it here. I guess since you’re basically his older sister, it’s probably a you and dad situation.” Jonas and his younger sister were forced to come help at the café since Mr. Flynn was getting older. Duran would always run off somewhere and I stayed and baked, so Mr. Flynn needed some others to do the dishes and lift heavy boxes. Jonas stayed because I stayed. The café work at least helped Jonas prepare for delivery work at Reeve’s. 

“I loved this place, still do, but you know that already. It wouldn’t be mine if I didn’t like it.” He rolled his eyes, knowing how much I stupidly fell in love with the bakery at one point. It was during secondary school when Mr. Flynn’s lessons of life actually go through to me. I was finally getting out of the Underground depression and having a purpose fueled me. The bakery was something I did every day, almost every hour, and sometimes neglected my school work to do it. I had finally found something that was mine and I wasn’t going to let any amount of slacking take it away from me. 

“Do you think you’ll stay here forever? I mean, like Grandpa did. Pass it on to your kids and what not.” I nodded, looking out at the hanging sign in a crack of the front window blind. 

“There’s nowhere else I want to really go. I have everything I need here in Trost and I can go visit the other districts when I want. Plus, we’ve already lost four places I can go, so it’s slim pickings for retail locations. If I somehow don’t end up having kids and Elias takes my offer, I’ll give it to him probably. ” He hummed in agreement and leaned back in his chair, tilting the front legs of the floor. This reminded me of when we were in school and Mr. Flynn would make us close up for him when he wanted to sleep early. We’d clean and then sit here talking for hours about anything. I’d force Jonas to help me with math homework and sometimes pay him to do it. After Jonas got a job, it would be just me closing. It’s been a long time since this ex-tradition has occurred, so it was mildly comforting. We sat like that for a while, just staring somewhere in the café, probably thinking about when we were young.

Mr. Flynn acted like he hated us, but I knew a day never went by when he didn’t smile down at us and was thankful we were there. Jonas, Duran, and I were a lot to handle sometimes, but it was just the joys of youth. I would pay to go back them, too. Just to be able to tell myself that I needed to remember times like this, because when I was older, it would all change. I would be alone in the café.

“You know, Dad wants us to get together. He said it’s the thing that makes the most sense.” I sighed. There goes the comforting feeling that we’d just developed. Goddamn it, if he didn’t have to mention that, I would have had a great night, even a drink or two to celebrate opening. Now, his attitude changed and he suddenly wanted to talk about feelings. Didn’t you just get broken up with?

Ben had even taken me aside after Wall Maria fell and mentioned to me what he thought was right. Humanity’s time seemed to be fleeting and it wouldn’t be fun to die without a family. I fended him off, not telling him that I was not alone and very much in a relationship, but he would still leave hints here and there. Today was one of those days talking about keeping the café in the family and remembering the times when little kids ran around the tables. He’d even start telling us stories of how him and Analee would take care of the café as it’s first employees and how they fell in love. He was hoping the same thing would happen to Jonas, and that’s why he was forcing him to work here now. That was probably the only thing Ben and Jonas agreed on. 

“He’s mentioned it to me a few times. I’ve always told him no, but I guess when he gets his mind set on something you can’t tell him to lay off of it.” I looked warily at Jonas, trying to gage where this conversation was going. Why does it always have to be around year-end when he tries to pull all of this stuff? Wasn’t he just crying about his girlfriend breaking up with him yesterday? Now he’s talking about how bad Ben wants us to get married? 

“You know what I think about it. If you gave me a chance then may-” I cut him off before he could dig himself into a deeper hole. How could I tell him he wasn’t the one for me without telling him about Levi? While Levi and I weren’t nearly as serious as our time together would allow, his letters have shown me no reason to think we’d be ending our relationship soon. I was busy with bread and the café, he was busy with training, and at the end of the day we would sit down and write letters to each other, looking out at the same moon over Trost. It wasn’t the best situation, but it wasn’t one that was so hard I’d give into Jonas’s easy way. 

“Jonas, you also know my opinion. You’re like my brother or my cousin. We were raised together and you look almost exactly like Ben. I don’t need to keep listing out reasons to hurt your feelings more.” He sighed, looking up at the ceiling. 

“I know, but it’s just… Actually, I don’t know what it is. Never being able to advance your relationship with someone you have feelings for? Always getting into relationships you know will end because you don’t really like the girl? Maybe, I’m just tired of doing that.” 

“You’ll find someone, Jonas. You just aren’t looking in the right places. What was the girl’s name? Nana? Nora? Whatever it was she was annoying and self-centered.” I laid back on the counter looking up at the ceiling. I wasn’t going to be able to cheer him up like this forever because it’s always at the expense of me not liking him. He makes me feel like all of these breakups are my fault.

“She wasn’t you.” There it is. The direction we were going to. 

“You need to stop thinking about me, Jonas. What do you need me to say or do so that you move on from me?” I put my arm over my eyes, trying to stop the headache that I knew was about to come soon. I guess he was holding this in for a few months since he was dating that girl. It started with an N, I know that for a fact.

“No clue, Ev, but when I find it, I’ll tell you. If knowing that you’re in love with the Captain of the Scouts doesn’t deter me, I don’t know what will.” My eyes snapped open. 

“If knowing what?!” What the hell does he know? There’s a very serious possibility that he was sneaking around and found the letters in my desk. Maybe he saw Erwin’s letter carrier handing me the envelope? It didn’t make sense that he would know from Levi and I’s actions because he was pretty cold to me when Jonas was around. We’d taken most of the precautions we needed to. It had to just be his hunch… but his hunch was right. 

“I heard you that one night when he was bandaging you. There was just… something didn’t sit right with me when I was leaving. I sat there outside of the café listening to you two for what felt like hours. That confirmed it for me, but I still can’t believe it until it comes out of your own mouth. I guess I’m not good enough for you, Eva, but how could you fall for a Scout? I didn’t think you were that stupid.” The anger enveloped me as he said that, but I knew what he was saying was from deep down inside. If he knew this long, his heart beat with anger at every and any mention of the Scouts. His unexplained hatred for their presence in the last few months now made sense. Every time he saw a Scout he was reminded that even though they die young, are never around, and go on suicide missions, I’d rather pick that over him.

Laying there on that counter with Jonas’s eyes on me… it made me uncomfortable. Every layer of privacy and secrecy was shed in front of him now knowing that he knew for that long. That means he must have noticed the letters. Noticed how I always cleaned Levi’s table twice and had peppermint tea stocked even when the café was closed. He might have even heard me crying at night over how much I just wanted to see Levi again when he’d crashed on my couch… and every time I did that, he wanted it to be him. 

I couldn’t deny our relationship and try to make him feel better about himself. He knew and had heard everything we had said to each other that night. I’d have to face this feeling head on and I didn’t want to. I just didn’t want to tell Jonas that it will never be him. It was better to have him in limbo and still have my friend then to break his heart completely and never see him again. Jonas was my first friend and is my best friend. He was there the first day I was above ground. He was there for me when Samias broke my heart. He knows almost everything about me, but here I was about to lose him over something I couldn’t control. I wasn’t going to give up Levi so that Jonas would feel better. 

That probably hurt him even more though; me lying to him about Levi. 

“How much are you going to hate me after I tell you everything?” I was hesitant to tell him anything. I know deep down he wanted to know all about Levi and I. He wanted to see where his shortcomings were and judge Levi’s actions and intent. He wanted to be able to reach deep down and find some string of hope in one of Levi’s downfalls. However, this emotion he’s had was pent up for months.

“I’m never going to hate you, Ev. That’s the problem.” I let the tears fall then and curled up into a ball on the counter top. This wasn’t the Jonas I liked talking to. This was the Jonas that made you feel every emotion he was going through too so that you gave him pity. You wanted to love Jonas because you didn’t want to see your best friend hurting like this. It was my fault that he was hurting and I couldn’t fix it. I couldn’t do what he wanted me to.

I knew he was in pain when he didn’t move to comfort me like he usually does. Whenever I would cry, he would always be next to me, a soothing hand on my back. I would never shy away from it before, but looking at the situation now, I wish I would have created that distance. It was good that he didn’t do that because it would have made the situation worse. We just sat there and I tried to mute my cries with my arm. It wasn’t working. 

“One day he’s going to die, Eva. If he doesn’t leave you before that.” Now he was trying to hurt me directly. Maybe he thought if he broke me enough, I’d go to him and not Levi. 

I didn’t answer him as I was too busy choking on my tears. 

“He won’t marry you. He won’t give you kids. He can’t give you anything you want in the future if he knows someday he won’t have one.” I wanted to beg him to stop. He doesn’t think at night, when all I have are the thoughts to pull me out of loneliness, I don’t think about all of this? Will I be happy with just Levi or will I want more and he can’t provide that? Can I not be up to his standards? After Hange mentioned kids, I thought about how horrible it would be for them to live in a world like this. We’re fighting to stay alive and to eat, and their father would be gone for months on end. I didn’t want to think about the future and Jonas was forcing me to. All the negative emotions I tried to push back in these past months were coming to the surface with every word. 

“Does he really like you or are you there just to fulfill his fantasy of a relationship? What man leaves the woman he loves alone for six months?” I clenched my jaw hard. His words started to stab too deep.

“Shut up.” It was soft and muffled by the sounds of my tears, but he heard it. He was waiting for my response. He wanted to see if I agreed or not; to see if he broke me enough. 

“Eva, I know you know what I’m saying is the truth.  It’s best to stop this game of pretend before it’s too late.” 

Pretend. 

I pull my hands into fists and shot up on the counter. I was angry again now. He didn’t get to call my relationship a game. Whatever feelings of loneliness or sadness that Jonas wanted to make me feel had left instantly as he mentioned playing pretend. 

“You are the one who’s playing pretend! Pretending that I’ll come around and pick you. Jonas, if I wanted you, it wouldn’t have taken over ten years to realize it!” This time his face contorted into some type of negative emotion. His plan didn’t work. I didn’t cave like I normally do. 

“You’re pressuring me into something that I don’t want to do all because you don’t like that Levi makes you feel inferior. He’s stronger, smarter, and now he’s taken your girl from you. You know why? Look at this,” I gestured to him with both of my hands, “Levi has never talked to me at me like this. He would never call me stupid or try and insult me enough to change my mind. You’re right, I haven’t seen him for six months, but in that time he’s written more sincere words than you have ever said to me. I don’t care what Levi does and doesn’t give me, and I know you won’t be able to give me what I want either. Not like this!” I threw my left hand to my side and took the silence to catch my breath. 

“Eva.” It was angry and heavy. He wasn’t ready for me to come back at him like that. He never thought I could talk to him like he talks to me. 

“I have supported you through everything you have done. The countless girlfriends, the times when you were kicked out of your house, when you didn’t have a job; I was the one who comforted you and took you in. Now, I make a decision that hurts your feelings and you can’t live with it? You have to degrade me for who I choose to date, only because it’s not you?!” He stood up too, the chair flying back and hitting the floor. He stood almost a foot above me, but I wasn't backing down. 

“You will never understa-” 

“You’re right, Jonas. I will never love you the way that you love me, and I will never understand how you treat someone you love like this.”

It was tonight. I had always thought about when this would end. When Jonas and I would stop playing pretend. When I would stop pretending not to see how he looks at me across the café. When I would stop pretending that my best friend didn’t only have feelings for me and wouldn’t choose anyone else. When I would stop pretending I didn’t have to hurt him like this one day. Tonight was the night this friendship ended because he couldn’t pretend we were just friends anymore. 

“How long have you been with him?” The air had quieted and so did his voice. His face was now a mixture of anger and sadness, and he turned his eyes to look at the ground. I didn’t know what he wanted me to say when answering the question, but I was done hiding it from him. Even if it hurt him, he had to know. He had to stop playing pretend and be snapped into the reality he lived in. 

“Around Spring Equinox till now.” His fist clenched harder. 

“So you missed Spring Equinox with us to be with him?” I thought about this moment the day I didn’t show up. He never asked me where I was when he saw me and he must have assumed I just didn’t want to go out then. I’d even told Levi that I was going to be in a weird situation if Jonas asked me where I was and he helped me make a plan. A plan to lie to him. I guess that plan just flew out the window. 

“He was injured and I was taking care of him. I wasn’t going to leave him,” I let the last line out, underlaid with some remorse. I was angry with what he was saying and how he was coming at me, but I was at fault too. I should have told him sooner or at least tried to distance myself. 

“I don’t think I’m going to be in tomorrow, Eva.” He said, still not looking up at me. This was the softest he had even been. I think now he knew he couldn’t sway me towards him. He was giving up.

“Jonas-”

“No,” he held his hand up, finally looking at me with the faint gleam of tears in his eyes, “I’m going to be sick tomorrow and maybe the next day. So, don’t come looking for me.” He turned his back and I had to stop my hand from reaching out and touching his shoulder. I was angry at him, but unlike him I didn’t see this as a reason to end our friendship. It was coming, yes, but it didn’t have to end here. We’d change something. We’d adapt. He was acting like he’d completely given up that. 

“Jonas, you’re still my best friend.” He stopped at the door and straightened up. He was stiff and lifeless when he answered. It was fake and he was hiding his true emotion. If he turned around, what expression would I see on his face? 

“I know.” 

The door opened and closed, the bells ringing twice above it. With the windows closed, I couldn’t see if we walked away and I didn’t go up to the door in fear of him just sitting on the stoop. I didn’t want to hear his tears. Jonas rarely cried and I didn’t want to know that I was the person who did it to him. 

I turned to look at the clock at the back wall. It was nearly one. 

Anger. At him. At myself. Sadness. For him. For losing my best friend in some shape or form. Regret. For not telling him any sooner. But, if I told him, wouldn’t the situation still end up like this? He would yell at me, I would cry, and he would tell me how irrational it was to love someone like Levi. A fantasy he called it. It set the seed of doubt in my head. Levi hadn’t loved or liked before as far as I knew, not to the capacity we’ve set up. Was he really just using this as a test run? 

I put my towel down on the table and decided I didn’t want to be in the café anymore. I wanted to be in my bed, two blankets over me, thinking over and over again the conversation I had with Jonas. Where did I go wrong? When? I wouldn’t sleep tonight and I would be sluggish in the morning when Ben came. Ben was smart, too. He would probably connect the dots between Jonas’s absence and my attitude, but at least he never questioned. 

Walking up the back stairs, I tried to listen to see if Jonas was still there. Maybe something would pull me to go back to him and try to talk it out. I don’t think this issue can be talked over though. It was going to be the way it was. As of now, it was Levi and I, not Jonas and I. It would take Jonas months to turn around or feel like talking to me. It may not go back to normal. 

That thought stopped me on the last wooden step. What would I do if Jonas and I never went back to normal? He was a big part of my day and of my life. Every holiday, every arithmetic question I couldn’t answer, every broken heart; I was with him. It made so much sense to be with him permanently, but that’s not how life wanted it to be. If I was to be with Jonas, I was sure, it would have happened already. I would have feelings for him to the same degree he has for me. 

Maybe we shouldn’t go back to normal as that normal was fake. Pretend. Would it hurt Jonas more to act that way, knowing that Levi was one step ahead of him in every regard? Or, would it be better for him to keep distance and ignore me so he won’t have to deal with the pain he feels every time he’s around me now?

I shook my head and walked in. This was for me to think about, slightly drunk, and in two hours. 

“Here, for you.” Levi handed me a single flower as we sat in the meadow. He had found it on the ground next to where we were sitting and I laughed a little at the gesture before putting it on my ear. He looked at it too and smiled faintly, going back to look at the Scout HQ that was quite a distance away. No one would see us on our way back to Trost. 

I told Levi that I wanted to stop and sit since it was such a nice day. The spring was bringing warm winds to our area, and the whole time I had been with him we were inside his dimly lit office. We were far away enough from Trost and the HQ to be alone and outside. I thought of Jonas and the Equinox today. Where would he be sitting out here? 

“Thank you, Captain.” He laid back, still wincing a little at the pain in his ribs. The horse ride was a bit too much for him to handle, and we had to walk our horses out here to the open meadow. No doubt he would bear the pain to get me to the gates of Trost before we parted. Maybe I would convince him to walk so we had more time together. 

“After this expedition, I would like to start.” I looked over to him, putting a piece of the Scout’s cracker ration in my mouth. Did he have some hobby? 

“Start what?”

“Trying to be yours. I have no experience being in a relationship with someone, therefore, when I can give you my full attention, I will do that. I’ve never made you food. I will do that first.” It made my heart strangely warm, him always announcing his intentions. Maybe he felt that they needed to be approved. He was so apprehensive about anything, and he was not used to being wrong. In this uncharted territory, he needed to make sure he was right before he executed anything. So, I nodded. 

“I’m not picky when it comes to food.” Once he got his confirmation, he went to stand up. I just looked up at him as he did it. 

“Yes?” He put out his hand for me to take it. I just stared up at him again, smiling. I’d tease him a bit more because he was leaving soon. 

“So does that mean we’re really dating?” He rolled his eyes and his hand dropped. The nice gesture went away. 

“Did I not make it clear before? I said I required monogamy.” I shook my head, no.

“You have to ask me. You can’t just command me into a relationship with you.” He cocked up an eyebrow. 

“Ask? Why do I need to ask you when you already know?” I rolled my eyes at him and took another bite of the cracker. 

“We aren’t dating until you ask me to be your girlfriend.” He scoffed. 

“Girlfriend is a word for teenagers. We are almost thirty.” 

“Ask me.” 

“No.” 

“You have to.”

“No, I don’t.” I huffed and turned my head to the other side, faking anger. I knew he probably wasn’t going to do it anyways, and I didn’t really care, but it would be fun to hear. 

“Ask me or I’ll just sit here all day,” I said, folding my arms. There was no protest, or huff of annoyance. He was probably standing there with the same pose I had, just waiting for me to get this idea out of my head.

Huff. Huff. Huff. 

“Don’t tell me you-” I turned and screamed, scrambling to get away from what was to my right. It stood there, his body broken in it’s mouth. His eyes were stained with blood, and were looking at me, begging me to do something, anything. 

The titan crunched down once more on Levi’s body, and only a puff of air came out of his mouth. Not a cry for help. His body went limp, eyes wide staring into my soul. 

Help. Help. Help. 

I shot up, holding my head. My body was shaking and I was afraid to open my eyes. The bustle of customers could be heard below and I knew I had fallen asleep late in the morning and overslept till now. Ben would be holding the customers down fine, and I needed the extra minutes to calm myself down. 

Was that dream an omen? Was he dead? 

It left a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn’t shake, so I got up to get water. I needed to get this taste out of my mouth. Once I drank the water, I leaned over the sink and it came right back up. The shaking of my body stopped after I’d thrown up, but the feeling in my stomach was still there. Maybe I was just hungover. I had a whole bottle of wine while thinking my life away last night. Usually I was fine, but the emotions tied to the amount of alcohol I had could be making my stomach twist and turn. 

Setting the cup down, I quickly went to put on clothes and try to put something on my face to cover the dark circles. The clock was at ten, and I knew that soon Ben would hear my footsteps upstairs using his years of training his ears to identify the creaks of this building and yell up at me to come down. If Jonas really wasn’t here, he was having to remember how to make various coffee drinks himself. 

One day he’s going to die, Eva.

I help my stomach again, trying to position myself over the bathroom sink and not get the face powder all over the floor. When nothing came up, I tried to push that thought out of my mind and finish covering the dark circles under my eyes. To a trained eye, aka Ben, you could easily see through the layer of powder. Hopefully, it will last all work day so I won’t get comments on my tiredness. Those were my least favorite. 

“Eva!” It was muffled by the floorboards, but with one quick look in the mirror, I went to walk to the door. 

Does he really like you or are you there just to fulfill his fantasy of a relationship? 

Stopping on the stairs, I leaned over the railing, hoping that if I did vomit again, it would be away from a window so the customers didn’t notice a projectile falling from the sky. I’d have to get another drink of water before I started or else this hangover was going to kill me. 

I pushed the back door open, taking a look at the plastic one that separated me from the café. People were in there, sitting, talking, and buying pastries. I could hear them and it scared me. My first day open, and I’m in this condition? That wasn’t going to be the best look for business. I was also scared because this was the first customer rush I had in months. It was like my first day running the shop all over again. 

This time my stomach bubbled up with nerves and before I could turn back outside, Ben opened the door peeking in at me. He definitely saw the condition I was in, and had to take a double take. Now, the dots started to connect in his head. Did Jonas look like this to when Ben tried to wake him up only to discover he was “sick”? 

“There’s a line of people out here waiting to be served and to talk to you. I suggest you hurry out, yeah?” I just stared at him and nodded once, tying the matching apron around my middle. 

“Yeah.” Even my voice was shaking. He closed the door again and I picked up a random cup, filling it with water from the sink, and downing it in a few seconds. I coughed once, hoping it would help my throat, and despite my stomach, I walked out into the main café. 

“Eva!” 

“Miss Eva, it’s been so long!” The crowd of people at the counter greeted with smiles, and I did my best to give one back. It was comforting, their words, but my stomach still felt like shit. So did my head. And my arms. And legs. Either way, I willed myself to the crowd that was blocking my view into the café. Ben had done a good job curbing them because he didn’t know how to make a latte. 

“It’s a good thing you’re here, Eva. Ben’s a little rusty.” I smiled to the man who’s order I had memorized, but not his name, and took the personal cup he had in his hands. Ben tended the money while I turned my back to make the drinks. 

“I’ll pass, you make, pass back?” I turned over my shoulder to nod at him and this new angle made me catch a view of the table. The Wings of Freedom were draped over the chair and he was leaning back with the new addition of a book in his hand. There was no cup in front of him, nor was he staring out at the window anymore. 

Six months. 

My stomach churned again and before I could answer Ben, I had to run into the back, past the plastic door, open the regular door, and throw up in front of the trash can where the stray dogs like to eat our scraps.

I’d have to pass it off and I took another big gulp of water before picking up some random milk jug to bring it up. I hoped I didn’t wipe off the face powder that took ten minutes to apply. When I walked back in, people seemed shocked I had run so fast into the back, but once they saw the milk jug, they settled back down. Ben didn’t let it get past him that I’d set the new milk jug next to a completely full one on the table and went to work. 

We went back and forth for what felt like hours. He’d collect the money, write the order on a piece of paper, I’d make it, and he’d go set it down on their table or give it for them to go. We didn’t talk at all while I did it, and I only engaged with other customers. When I looked at him, he never looked back, just down at the book. When I looked at him… my stomach churned, but with a different feeling now that I was pretty sure all the alcohol was in my sink or by the trash in the back. I wanted him to look at me, or to come hug me, but he was Captain Levi right now. 

My dream. What was my dream about? He was here and he was alive, so it couldn’t have been an omen. Was it triggered by my fight with Jonas? Levi dying? It was a simple memory, but it had morphed into something graphic and depressing. He’d asked me to be his girlfriend, reluctantly, but why didn’t my dream get to that part? Why did it cut it off there? I just tried to mock it up as another drunken dream, ones I used to have often, and maybe a few times in the past months, but something wouldn’t let me mark it as that. 

“Eva!” I turned at the little boy’s call and saw all three of them at the counter. I was zoning out so much. Elias, June, and their father were there and I smiled at them, starting their orders. Elias and June: steamed apple juice. Their father: a cup of coffee, no cream, two sugars. 

“Where’s the boy? I thought Jonas said he was working today.” I froze up at their father’s question and I saw Ben glance back at me before answering.

“He felt really sick this morning and could barely get out of bed when I tried to wake him up. He slept at our house last night and came back really late, so he might have been out and drank himself sick,” he tsk-ed his son, but I knew that his message was really meant for me, “Dark circles, a bad attitude, and his face was all red. I’m glad he didn’t show up today.” I turned to them, handing the two steamed apple juices. Before I could turn back around, they started a conversation with me. I could barely focus on it with Ben’s gaze boring holes into me. 

“Eva, Mr. Chapel said I could start on my own books now! Isn’t that exciting?!” I smiled down at her and nodded. In the place in my brain that could still process a little emotion this afternoon, I was happy for her. 

“That’s amazing, June. I have some books upstairs that need to be rebound.” Ben had given their father his coffee and he was now pulling the kids to go. He probably had some cult stuff to do and just wanted to stop by for his morning cup like he normally does.

“Eva, do you need help on year-end? Like last year? With Jonas?” Elias’s face begged up at me to say yes. He wanted to know if we would do something like last year. With no festival, it would be hard to entertain them… and with no Jonas… 

“I don’t know about it his year, Elias.” His face dropped and he was pulled away by his father before he could ask why. I saw June looking disappointed as well as they walked out the door. When Ben turned to greet the next customer, I felt another pair of eyes on me. I looked up at him and felt my heart flip as we locked eyes. His were filled with concern and I knew he’d heard the exchange Elias and I just had. I had always taken the kids in for year-end, so why not now? 

The day went like that. My stomach never settled down, and I could barely keep up the energy of the people coming in and out to talk. Ben would mostly fill that job, but whenever the customer wanted to talk to me directly, I stared at the back wall, mustering a smile, and turned to act. I was glad that I’d decided to close earlier than usual so I wouldn’t have to go through a dinner rush either. My mind was tired from thinking over and over again about last night and the dream I had, that I could barely handle any more stimulus. 

Levi had sat there all day, reading through the book at least twice. I could feel his eyes on me throughout the day, but if I looked back into his eyes, my dream would play over again and my stomach would fight with me. He must have noticed, but he never approached me. Ben and the wave of people coming in and out must have stopped him, or he was waiting for me to go over and serve him tea. It was sitting right on top of the coffee filter box, ready to be made, but I could never pull myself to do it. I wanted to go over and talk to him, but with the amount of people here, I would be talking to Captain Levi. I decided to wait until close, knowing he would stay, so I could talk to the real him after months of waiting. The dream made my stomach feel awful, but the idea of having Levi back to me again made the butterflies stir too. 

“Alright, what’s up with the two of you?” Ben put the small bag of flour back up on the stock rack as I mopped the flour on the back room’s floor. It was closing, and I insisted that he could leave the cleaning to me, but I knew from the second I walked in to the café, he was ready to corner me and ask questions. I still feigned innocence.

“Two of whom?” He huffed and wiped off excess flour on the apron I left him. It didn’t help my case that I couldn’t look him in the eyes when I answered. I didn’t want to stare into Jonas’s eyes. 

“Jonas comes to our house drunk, red face, and mumbling things under his breath. He almost broke Analee’s favorite vase trying to take his shoes off. I thought it was a bit weird because he’d have to come back from your place, but maybe you two decided to do something. I didn’t care. Then, I drag his dead body weight onto the couch and he tells me he can’t come to the café tomorrow and starts crying. I mark it up to him being drunk off his ass. Come today, and you’re not up early like you usually are. I guess I thought you’d be as drunk as Jonas, and gave you a few hours. You come down here, looking pale as a ghost, go throw up outside by the trash can,” He pointed his thumb to the back door, “and anytime someone mentions Jonas, your face goes pale over and over again. You probably drank at least thirty glasses of water today… I really don't want you to answer this question, but I have to ask it. He’s my son, sure, but you’re also my little sister… also weird to say, but you know what I’m trying to get to…” Ben didn’t want to have to finish his statement and trailed off, trying to get me to fill in the blank. Did he think we… ? I pulled my face into a look of disgust, but still didn’t look at his face. 

“Are you trying to ask if he and I had-” He frantically waved his hands at me.

“Please, please, please. Spare me. I realized I don’t want the answer to that question anymore right as it came out of you mou-” I stopped him there. 

“We fought. That’s what happened.” He dropped his hands and let out a big sigh of relief. He was happy we only fought, because he could deal with that. He’d been dealing with that for years already. Mediator Ben was about to come out. 

“Thank gods. What did you fight about this time? Both of you look very upset.” He leaned against a random table, and I had stopped sweeping at this point. I didn’t want to tell Ben, but there was just something about him that made the words flow out. He’s always been like that, regardless of the situation. Comfortable to talk to about any and everything. When I first got my monthly cycle, I went to him and not Catrin, who was the obvious choice. Then later in life, Jonas started to take the same position in my life that Ben had. That made me feel worse again, losing him over something I had to be selfish with. If Jonas felt he couldn’t let go of whatever it was, I would permanently lose him. 

“I think this is the final time, Ben.” He sighed, probably not knowing what that meant. If I told him what the fight was really about, he would have to learn about Levi and I. I shifted my gaze to the plastic door separating us from the main café. Was he still sitting in his chair, waiting for us to kick him out? Waiting for me to lead him up the stairs to my apartment? 

“Did he bring up marriage again? When we were walking to meet up with you, I had mentioned something about it and he seemed to get quiet. Usually, he denies anything like that would happen.” So it was mentioned previously, that’s why it was on his mind. When Ben mentioned it to him, did his mind go to Levi and I?

“Yes,” I whispered, and set the mop against the wall. I was ready to spill all of my feelings to Ben like I always do. 

“Then, is it that man out there?” He pointed at the door and this time I looked him in the eyes. It was like admitting everything to Jonas all over again and it made my stomach twist and turn. I knew Ben’s opinions on the matter, too, so it was worse having to go against his wishes. 

“Yes,” I whispered again, waiting to see a streak of disappointment in his eyes that never came. He just sighed again and walked over to me, putting a hand on my back. 

“He was the first customer today and seemed annoyed that I was standing there instead of you. I was the one who gave him the book. I told him he’d have to wait a few hours to see you, and then another few to get to talk to you after lunch. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t see the way he kept looking at you either.” I clasped my hands together, looking at them. It made me a little less sad that he could see Levi’s emotions as well. Ben didn’t think it was fake like Jonas did. 

“I had a bad dream last night, too… and a few too many drinks. I’m just so… I don’t want to lose Jonas. This felt like it was it, Ben.” I put a hand over my heart and rubbed my collar bone with one finger. Ben shook his head ‘no’ and patted my back. 

“The kid can be moody, but he’ll come around. It may take him a bit longer than usual, but you two are best friends. He’ll just have to deal with the fact that it’s going to really stay like that now. I guess I didn’t help either, talking about you two the way I did.” I shook my head, making sure Ben didn’t take the blame away from me. 

“No, I did this. I didn’t tell him about… I didn’t distance myself from him and-” 

“Do you really think that if you tried to distance yourself from Jo, it would’ve worked? He once came home from secondary begging me to ask the teacher to transfer him to your class. He can’t be away from you for too long, no matter what emotions he has tied to it.” I laughed once at that comment, remembering the day Jonas randomly showed up at a desk next to mine. I reached up to wipe a tear off of my cheek. 

“I still feel awful. It’s my fault I made him feel like this.” Ben rolled his eyes. 

“I’m going to go home and he’s going to have this same conversation with me. You both fight like cats and dogs, and then feel bad that you said anything in the first place. He could have broken your arm and you’d still feel like it was your fault.”

“Yeah.” Ben did make me feel a little better, but I still couldn’t shake the feeling of regret. We sat for a few more minutes as I calmed down and my stomach hurt a little less. 

“Now, that boy out there. He’s the Captain of the Scouts, but I have to threaten him. I know he’s still sitting out there, if you just let me-” 

“Ben.”

“I’m serious. I was close to going over and telling him to stop looking at you. It’s annoying. Like that one kid you dated in the past.” It was my turn to roll my eyes at him. 

“Ben, I’m twenty seven.” Before I could protest more, he lunged at the door to open it. 

“Hey, you.” I quickly raced out of the back room, watching Ben walk his way over to Levi who had grabbed a rag and was cleaning the tops of the tables. 

“Ben-” Levi turned to give me a confused look as to why the giant man was walking towards him. They’ve probably only spoken two sentences to each other and now Levi was going to get reprimanded by Ben. 

“You’re dating my sister, correct?” Levi’s eyes widened a little bit, not expecting Ben to come right out with it. He probably also didn’t expect Ben to know anything, but with how obvious Levi had acted today, it wasn’t a surprise. Ben picked up on things probably to the same degree Levi did. 

“U-u-uh, we are?” He did the same thing I’d done to Erwin, and when he looked over at me again, confusion painting his face, I just nodded once, “Y-yes. We are…” A faint tint of blush painted his pale face. Mine was probably the same way. This was the first time he had admitted that out loud to someone from my world. 

“If you hurt her, I’ll beat you up. Her last boyfriend, he couldn’t walk for two days after Jonas and I jumped him.” He pointed his finger at Levi who didn’t seem that concerned about the threat. Ben was also lying, because he wouldn’t lay a hand on anyone. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ben swat at a fly, let alone a human. 

“My intentions are not to hurt her.” Ben took off his apron and slammed it down on the table Levi had just finished cleaning. Flour dust went everywhere. This was quite the show he was putting on. Levi, however, didn’t know he was playing with him. He was trying to keep his face as neutral as possible, because he didn’t want to, in some way, offend Ben and make him angrier, but he was also getting annoyed with the man’s display. If Ben was to come at him, would he be permitted to slam him on the ground, or would that just make this whole situation worse? Levi didn’t want to beat up my brother, which was nice. 

“What are your intentions then?” Levi was not going to like expressing his feelings aloud to a stranger, so I saved him from Ben who I knew was trying his hardest not to laugh. 

“Ben, just let him go. I have to clean more and you’re keeping me from dinner.” I think Ben was also glad I gave him an out because I heard that Analee was making porridge for dinner and that was Ben’s favorite. 

Ben walked a bit forward, using his height to tower over Levi. This time, Levi’s face hardened. If I did get Ben away from Levi, Ben might end up on the ground. 

“Next time, Captain.” Ben retreated back and grabbed his jacket, turning to me with a smile. 

“Have a nice night, Ev! I assume I won’t need to come tomorrow?” He glanced over at Levi who was now extremely confused at Ben’s 180 degree flip. 

“No, I think I can handle myself tomorrow. Thanks Ben!” He raised his hand up and waved once, exiting the café. There was a moment of silence as the ringing of the door bells finally stopped and Levi turned to me, that expression still on his face. 

“W-wha..?” I smiled at the door, not disregarding the butterflies that came to my stomach now that I was finally alone with Levi for the first time in six months. 

“That’s Ben, my brother.” His face dropped to his regular look and nodded. 

“I can tell.” I huffed and grabbed Ben’s apron, hanging it up behind the counter. I decided to clean the counter and wait to see what Levi was going to do. Heaven knew I wanted to run up into his arms, but again, the vow I took held me back. 

To my surprise, he moved to behind the counter after cleaning the flour from the last table. He put the rag down on the back table and stood there, staring at me for a bit. I just disregarded his stare and kept cleaning the counter and glass case which was ridden with Ben’s handprints from the amount of times he leaned on it. 

“I’m going to hug you.” I left out a huff of laughter and didn’t move, signaling that he could do what he wanted. 

“I told you, you don’t have to say it alo-” His arms went around my waist, chest touching my back, and his head nuzzled into my neck. I also melted right there and then. Who taught him how to hug like this? I used my free hand to reach up and play with his hair, leaning my cheek onto the top of his head. 

“Hi,” I said, breathing in his scent. It’s been so long, the shirt he gave me had lost its smell, so it was nice to have it back. It was also nice that he had given me such an intimate display of affection after how long he’d been away. It told me that he missed me as much as his letters would insinuate. Maybe even equal as much as I missed him. 

He lifted himself up, leaving one arm wrapped around my waist. 

“I thought I’d personally deliver this letter to you,” he handed me the envelope with my name written on it. 

“Do you come with the letter?” I turned to face him and blushed at our closeness. He looked down at me slightly, examining my face. I’d cried the face powder off in the back, so my dark circles were at full force.

“You haven’t been taking care of yourself again.” It was low and had a tinge of disappointment in it. I looked up at him, examining his face. Tired. Large dark circles. Nothing out of the ordinary, but I could still yell at him for it. 

“I can say the same for you, Captain.” I reached up and put my hand on his cheek like the last night we had together. I figured that wouldn’t be off limits and I felt his face heat up a little before pulling back to lean against the back table across from me. He had hit his daily cap for affection and needed to cool off. 

“Erwin gave me the rest of the month off. So, I guessed that the best place to stay was here. He also told me to go see you after my work was done, and then proceeded to give me one more month’s worth of work.” He crossed his arms, his face pulling into one of annoyance for Erwin’s actions. 

“I did ask him to give you more breaks, but he didn’t promise me anything.” His eyes narrowed at the mention of our meeting. 

“Don’t think you three can keep it a secret about what you talked about. I told them I’d get you to tell me.” I smirked back up at him. 

“They aren’t telling you what we said?” 

“No details. I just know they asked you about us and to support the Scouts, and you accepted. I know that they left out everything important and Hange always laughs when I try to get her to tell me.” I guess I’d have to keep up this secret promise with Hange and Erwin. 

“Well, if they aren’t telling you, then I guess I can’t either, Levi. It was a confidential meeting, you know how that goes.” He shot off the table, pushing my stomach into the one I was cleaning. His arms were on either side of me, trapping me against the wood. My heart beat shot up at this sudden, aggressive touch, and I almost jumped as I felt his breath on the right side on my neck. This was the first time he had done something like this. Intimidating, aggressive, and very exciting. My heart wasn’t the only thing that fluttered when he whispered into my ear. 

“I have ways of getting you to tell me, Eva.” He lingered there for a few moments before pushing away and going back to rest on the table. I had to take at least ten breaths to calm myself down, and my face was still definitely the color of a cherry. That was the first time Levi had done something so… hot. One moment, he was pushing back because he was getting uncomfortable with the affection, and another he was shoving me up against the counter, making my brain race a million miles a second with the things I was imagining. The ways to get me to talk. Levi wasn’t like that was he? Did he have experience with that? He did live in the Underground and was extremely good looking, I’m sure he had girls at his feet at some point. It made me curious about his life in the Underground again… and what or who he did there. 

“I-I’m… done cleaning. We can go up to the up, upstairs.” He didn’t even hesitate and slung his cape around his shoulders, following me to the front to lock the café. 

We walked upstairs without saying anything, Levi walking a few steps behind me. He had retrieved a bag from the side of the alleyway and my eyes widened. I didn’t think he’d be staying here the whole rest of the month. That was almost three weeks. I remembered how dirty I had left it this morning and the empty bottle of wine next to my bed. 

Once we got inside, he set his bag on the couch and took off his boots and cape, hanging it up. I was a bit upset he didn’t take off the ODM gear straps, because now that he had done that little act downstairs, my mind was thinking about them. I had felt the buckle of the one on his chest dig into my back ever so lightly. 

“Did you really forget what I looked like? Stop staring at me.” He mumbled it, but it made me blush a bit and stare at the ground. Did he know what I was thinking about him? How did he get so bold in the last few minutes? 

“Can I shower? The ride here was long, and I sat in the back of the cart on some dirty hay.” 

“O-oh. Yes, you can. It’s that door right there, but you knew that already didn’t you. Sorry.” He smiled and laughed once, digging through his bag for his shower supplies. I just watched him as he did it, staring at the mundane task and letting my mind run wild. I don’t think he’s ever taken a shower here before. 

Without saying anything else, he walked into the bathroom and closed the door. I instantly let out a breath of frustration, but the room did cool down after he left. 

“He’s bold when being like that, but he’s still afraid of sleeping next to me?” I shook those thoughts out of my head and blinked when the bathroom door opened a little bit, the light shining through my dark apartment. 

“I forgot soap for my body, do you have any?” He yelled out. 

“Uh, there should be some in the cabinet below the sink. It’s Jonas’s.” I heard the cabinet open, along with a little grumble about ‘Why is he in your shower?’ before I heard them close again. 

“I don’t see it.” I did not want to go into that tiny bathroom and show him, but I knew that’s where this was going to end if I sent him on a hunt. I’d just let him use mine. 

“There’s a bottle in the shower. It’s glass and has pink liquid in it? You can use mine. I hope you don’t mind rose.” I heard the shower curtain rip back and a tiny laugh. 

“There’s about twelve bottles with pink liquid in them, Eva.” That was simply false. All of my shampoos, conditioners, and soaps were different colors. He wanted me to come in there and show him. I started walking slowly to the door. 

“It should be on the second shelf.” 

“Just come here and show me, I don’t have the patience.” There it was, and I was already halfway to the bathroom anyways. Ignoring my heart, I opened the door. 

“It should be in…” My eyes widened as he leaned against the sink, giving me access to walk to the shower as the room was only meant for one person at a time. My eyes widened as he leaned against the sink shirtless. I instantly flushed and something churned in the pit of my stomach. I glanced for one more second, and pushed on after seeing his smirk. I shoved myself up against the other wall, so there was no way for me to touch him as I walked past to the open shower. There the soap was and it was even labeled. I gripped hard around the bottle, turning to shove it into his hands. I tried so, so hard to only look at his face. When I glanced down at his chest again and back up, his smirk got deeper. It made me angry, but it also made me want to look even more. 

His body was completely toned and looked like it had no ounce fat on it. He was completely lean like I predicted in our last encounter in a bathroom. Every single possible muscle was defined in a sleek way that was easy for him to hide this… this Adonis of a figure beneath a regular shirt. His waist was probably smaller than mine and shoulders broad from carrying the heavy ODM gear on them for years, but I didn’t try to get another look at it as I walked past him, pressing up against the wall again. 

“I told you I’d let you see it when I got back,” he said jokingly as he set the bottle down on the sink. My face was burning and I didn’t dare turn around to look at him again as much as I wanted to. I had a free pass to look at him all I wanted if I took it, but I was too embarrassed right now. This combined with what happened downstairs wanted to make me scream. How long had he thought of doing this? The first time he’s seen me in six months and this is what he planned. 

“I-I’ll make food!” I half yelled, getting out of the small bathroom that was heating up to a hundred degrees. I could hear him laugh a little bit before closing the door behind me. The air outside was so much cooler, it gave me goosebumps and I stood out there for a bit, waiting to hear the shower turn on. When it did, I went to the kitchen and instantly sat in front of the open ice box trying to cool down my face. 

“Why are you like this, Eva? It’s not like you haven’t seen a shirtless man before. You’ve seen more than one and you’re never like this.” I hit my cheeks over and over again, trying to get them to cool down. No man I’ve been with before could go from sulky and hesitant one minute to making a heat pool in the depths of my stomach in thirty seconds. 

The shower stopped and I closed the fridge quickly, taking out eggs to act like I was using them. I had no clue what I was going to make to eat and I’d spent ten minutes staring at an open fridge. 

When he walked out, I almost broke the egg in my hand. He walked over to his bag on the couch, searching for clothes. The heat that I’d gotten rid of came back, and I finally turned away from the indecent sight. Just a towel?! 

“Sorry, I forgot to grab another pair of clothes.”

Chapter Twelve →

Chapter Masterlist

[walkerwords]

“The Savior Sessions” Part 14 of 33 - Negan x GN!Reader

IMAGE CREDIT: AMC (ALL OFFICIAL DIALOG FROM SERIES IS PROPERTY OF AMC)

SERIES MASTERLIST

Summary: Negan goes home, Jesus is brought home, and a whisperer is taken captive. What happens when Negan starts to see how the world is emptier without the one he cares for and how does the reader react to coming face to face with the daughter of their new enemy?

Word Count: 7103

Warning: Swearing

Song I Wrote To: "Unhinged” by Nick Jonas

Note: As I mentioned before we will be getting two different POVs for the next couple of parts, but they then will interact again soon. we need a look into their heads again and thus, we enter the war. THIS ONE IS SO LONG. We flip flop a bit, but its all for story tellin purposes. 

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

Alexandria was a ghost town at night, but Negan moved through it easily. 

The last time he had been out on the vacant streets, you had been by his side. Now, it was just a dark street with closed doors and a feeling that something different was in the air.

As he wandered through Alexandria, his thoughts were on you. What would you think if you saw him right now? He had promised that he was going to be waiting for you, but when the opportunity presented itself, Negan felt a draw to the world beyond his concrete box.

He wondered where you were or if you even made it to Hilltop safely. There was a part of him that wanted to take a detour to where his mind was telling him to go. He figured he could just skim the perimeter of Hilltop to see if you were there. However, from his many moments of overhearing Aaron and Gabriel talk outside his cell, he knew how much security was around Maggie’s former homestead. 

The thought of you had him heading to the Grimes house. He knew that Michonne was gone and that the kids would be with Gabriel. It was lucky that nobody bothered to lock their doors anymore. The people of Alexandria were safe considering the big bad wolf was locked up...until now. And while Negan felt anger towards his jailers, violence was the last thing on his mind. So, instead of burning down walls or taking revenge, he took the time to wander through the house. 

He could see little things here and there that had once been Carl’s, trinkets that were too old to be Judith’s or RJ’s. There wasn’t anything out that was once Rick’s, but Negan figured that Michonne would keep that in her bedroom for just her. 

Negan had no intention of crossing that line. 

Instead, he found himself in the doorway of another bedroom. Hanging on a small hook by the door was a compass. Gently, he picked it up and turned it over in his hands. Etched into the metal were the initials “JG”. He smiled softly at that and then looped the compass around his neck. 

Not trusting that the community was going to stay silent for long and with the sunrise on the horizon, Negan ducked back outside, grabbing some laundry that hung on a line close by. Shoving a cap on his head to hopefully obscure his face from afar, he searched for a way out. 

The sun was just rising over the trees when Negan grabbed a shovel as he headed to a portion of the wall that was behind an empty house. Staring up at the wall, Negan took one more second to think about what he was about to do, but then he remembered your face as you watched him through those infernal bars. With a huff, Negan threw the shovel over the wall and then began to climb.

“I thought you were smarter than this,” a small voice came from below him. Negan froze and then slowly turned to see a pajama-clad Judith Grimes. In her hands was her daddy’s gun and it was aimed right at Negan. “I guess not.” 

“You’re not gonna shoot me, kid,” Negan said, looking down at her. 

“I will, I’ll do it,” Judith said but Negan could see her arms shaking from trying to hold up the colt python. 

“I'm not going back. So you just pull that trigger if that's what you're gonna do, little lady. How 'bout this? How 'bout I go my way, you go yours, and we never see each other again?”

“How about you come down and I don’t put a bullet in you?” Judith offered and it was quick, but Negan saw so much of Carl in her then.

“You know, when your mom and dad... when they locked me up, they told me I was gonna be good for something, that I would help people see that things could change,” Negan said.

“Haven’t you done that?” Judith asked.

“Sure, but all the good shit happened to everyone else. I’m just rottin’ away in that box and I don’t think I can do it anymore.”

“What about (Y/N)?” Judith asked. Negan sighed, expecting this. 

“What about them?”

“They’re gonna come back and find you gone. Don’t you think they deserve better than that?” she asked with a frown. 

“They deserve better than me,” Negan said. 

“I don’t think that’s up to you,” Judith said. 

“Judith…” Negan began, but she wasn’t done. 

“No! I heard what you said to them. You promised to be here when they got back.”

“People break promises all the time.”

“Not to people they care about,” she argued. Negan knew she was right, but he had made up his mind. 

“I can’t be locked up anymore, kid. Who knows, maybe I’ll see them again someday but it will be on my terms, not your mom’s.” Judith frowned but then dropped the gun, letting it hang by her side. “You're not letting me go. You're just not seeing me leave,” he tried to reason. 

“You know, there's nothing out there for you. For anyone,” Judith said. 

“You know me better than anyone's known me in a very long time. So... I promise... I promise you that I'm not gonna hurt anyone. Even if they try to hurt me, I promise you, I won't hurt them. But... I gotta go, kid. I have to figure some stuff out.” 

“What do I tell (Y/N)?” she asked and Negan’s heart sank. 

“Nothing,” he said. 

“That’s not fair,” Judith whispered.

“I know,” Negan said and they looked at each other for a moment before she took a few steps back and she nodded. “Thanks, kid.” Negan began to climb again when Judith finally noticed the compass. 

“Hey, were you in my room?” she asked.

“You want it back?” Negan asked her, holding out the trinket. Judith shook her head after thinking about it. 

“Keep it. It'll help you find your way,” she said and then raised her gun again. “But if I see you again, I'll shoot.” Negan grinned at her as he continued to climb. 

“Yeah, I would.”

--------

The road beneath your feet felt wrong.

Everything around you felt wrong and every little sound had you jumping. You were all still shaken about what had happened in the graveyard and you could still hear that horrific whispering. It was like someone had dragged ice up your spine and you couldn’t get warm again.

As you made the trek back to the horses, Aaron and Daryl carried Jesus’ body as you helped Michonne with Eugene. Magna and Yumiko were ahead with their weapons drawn keeping an eye out for any more of the freaks with the masks.

The thunderstorm had been hard enough and then hearing Aaron scream after Jesus had been killed was even worse. It still rolled through your head alongside the whispering.

“What are we supposed to do?” you asked Michonne.

“Keep moving, get back to the horses, and get back to Hilltop,” she assured you.

“Who the hell would do this?” you asked.

“Someone who ain’t right,” Daryl said from behind you.

“You think there’s more?” Yumiko asked, her bow held out in front of her as she surveyed the area.

“Yeah, I do,” Daryl said as he readjusted Jesus’ body.

“Just keep movin’,” Michonne reminded everyone and you plowed on ahead, helping Eugene keep off his knee. It was swelling up even more and he needed to get to Siddiq. It took a bit longer to reach the horses, but eventually, Magna and Yumiko were taking the fence down and helping you to get Eugene up on the saddle.

Aaron and Daryl laid Jesus over one of the other horses while Yumiko and Magna rode the other. You, Michonne, Daryl, and Aaron walked alongside the animals, keeping your eyes on the woods as you did. Everyone was nervous and everyone was on edge. Daryl kept a bolt loaded in his bow and you kept noticing Michonne reaching back to touch her katana. Your own weapons had been lost in the fight, but you now had a new one that rested on your hip.

It was Jesus’ sword.

After you managed to get Jesus’ body off the ground, Aaron had picked up his blade as you all began to run from the cemetery. When you were finally clear, Aaron had passed you the sword without a word.

You had been hesitant to take the blade at first. Not because of whose it was, but because you figured Aaron would be the one to keep it. However, there was a look in his eyes that said more than anything he could put into words. And so, you carefully unbuckled the scabbard from Jesus’ belt and slung it on your own, sheathing the blade.

It swung on your hip now, your hand occasionally brushing against the pommel. Thinking back to the conversation you had with Judith about wanting a blade of your own now made your stomach turn. This was not the way you wanted to gain a new weapon. It felt both alien and right to carry Paul’s sword. 

You were now determined to use it to take down as many of the murderers in masks as you possibly could. Whether they knew it or not, they had just declared war.

As Michonne spoke to Aaron behind you, Daryl caught up to you, matching your stride. He reached out and placed his hand on your shoulder. You reached up and held onto it, letting him ground you.

“It’s good we’re bringin’ him back,” Daryl said.

“I know,” you said with a nod.

“I know ya don’t like small talk,” he said.

“You’re right, I don’t,” you agreed, keeping your eyes forward.

“But, I’m worried about ya,” he admitted.

“I’m alright, Daryl,” you said. “Though, I think that may be the shock.”

“He didn’t deserve to go out like that. Not Jesus,” Daryl said and you knew he was hurting. Jesus and Daryl had an unspoken bond. Both were warriors who cared for the people they protected and they had become quite close. Dixon wasn’t one to be open with his emotions, but you could tell that he was in pain.

“I feel too exposed out here,” you admitted.

“Ya wanna go home?” Daryl asked, but you shook your head.

“No, not yet. I mean, yeah, I do want to get home, but this is more important.” Daryl was watching you and he could see something else was bothering you.

“What have I missed back in Alexandria?” he asked suddenly. “Somethin’ is different with ya. What’s goin’ on?”

“Not now, okay, D? Not now,” you pleaded.

“I don’t want us keepin’ secrets,” Daryl said and you nodded.

“It’s not a secret, I just don’t have the energy to explain.”

“Long story?” he asked.

“Somethin’ like that,” you agreed and he turned his eyes back onto the road, accepting your answer. It was only a few minutes later that Daryl spoke up again.

“I’m gonna try to convince Tara to let them stay,” Daryl said and you knew who he was talking about. You glanced up at Yumiko and Magna with gratitude. While you all had lost Jesus, without them and without Michonne, you could have lost everyone. You could have died too and all you could think about was what would happen to Negan.

It felt wrong to be thinking about him at that moment. Your best friend was gone, but all you wanted was Negan’s strong arms and the comforting sound of his voice. You needed your person and it made you feel a bit sick to think about him that way while walking beside someone who loathed him.

Negan’s hazel eyes lit up your mind like beacons of hope and you were willing to drown in them even if it meant losing the people closest to you. It was selfish and a bit insane, but nobody’s touch would offer you more comfort at that moment more than Negan’s.

When Michonne sped up to walk alongside Daryl, you fell back to walk with the horse that Jesus’ body was laid across. Aaron walked on the other side, keeping his eyes forward.

Michonne and Daryl were speaking about Rick and the sound of his name sent a jolt into your chest. You couldn’t help but wonder what he would do in your current situation. You also wondered what he would do about Negan in general. Would he have let him out of the cage more than the others? Or would he just leave him to rot like the others?

While you were all feeling the loss, Eugene was feeling a more complicated emotion.

Guilt.

“I’m sorry that we had to be in that graveyard,” Eugene said from atop his horse. “If I had just crawled out of that damn barn and went to find you—”

“Eugene, don’t,” you said, interrupting him. “This was not your fault. The only people we need to be blaming are those psychopaths in the damn masks. They killed Jesus, not you. Who knows who they are. They could have been watching us for weeks and we wouldn’t have known. Do not put this on yourself,” you said and then reached for his hand. Eugene reached down and held onto it tightly, tears pricking at his eyes.

Squeezing his hand tight, you tried to reassure him that you were there for him and that he was not alone in any of this. If anyone should feel guilty it was you. You had turned your back on Paul, had let him go and fight the Walkers alone. However, you were trying to remind yourself that the situation was one that nobody could have predicted. Still, it felt as if there was ice in your heart.

Suddenly, Dog became alert. His bark echoed around you and Daryl immediately raised his bow as Michonne pulled her sword. Your hand rested on the foreign weapon on your hip as you caught the motion that Dog had picked up.

Walkers were moving through the trees, but you weren’t so sure they were alone this time. “Is that the living kind or original recipe?” Eugene asked and if it was any other time you may have laughed. However, now, you were silent.

“Let’s find out,” Daryl said and then motioned for you and Michonne to move. You followed your leader, drawing your blade. The small herd was moving across a bridge. Yumiko and Magna secured the mounts while Daryl positioned himself at the end of the bridge, his crossbow raised.

You remained on the other side, Michonne adjacent to you as the others remained hidden too. As the Dead stumbled towards Daryl, he aimed and fired a bolt at one of their legs. When they kept walking, he reloaded and tried again. The second bolt found its target and a shout of pain lit up the bridge.

The masked man went down clutching his leg and the Walkers fell upon him, biting into his fresh, and very much alive flesh. While the Walkers converged, two more individuals in masks turned their attention to the other end of the bridge. One pulled a blade, but they didn’t get very far as an arrow cut through the air and embedded itself in the assailant's forehead.

You turned to see Yumiko standing there with her bow raised and a murderous look in her eye. When the last mask went to go for her, you and Michonne moved at the same time. You both raised your swords, crossing them into an “X” to block her escape. When the killer drew their weapon, Daryl moved in.

“Drop it!” He yelled. The other hesitated for a second before throwing the knife down and getting on their knees, raising their hands. Yumiko and Magna moved to take out the rest of the Walkers while you, Daryl, and Michonne approached the shaking figure on the ground.

Daryl didn’t hesitate to reach for the back of their head and pull the disgusting mask from their head. When their face was revealed, you took a step back.

It was just a kid, a teenage girl.

“Please, please don’t kill me,” the girl said as she looked up at Daryl with terrified eyes. She was filthy and looked as if she had been walking the Earth with the Dead for years. It was unnerving. Even more so, she couldn’t have been that much older than Carol’s son, perhaps even the same age. 

“How many?” Daryl spat.

“Please... you killed them all. It's just me now,” she said, her eyes narrowing in on Daryl’s weapon. Michonne surged forward then and placed her sword against the girl’s throat. 

“I don’t believe you!” Michonne shot, but you knocked the sword back. Michonne looked at you in shock. 

“She’s a fucking kid, Michonne,” you said.

“She’s also a killer, (Y/N),” Michonne argued, pointing her sword back at the kid. Behind you, more Walkers began to approach from the East and it would soon be too much to handle and keep the horses safe. Not to mention keeping an eye on the scared teenager at your feet. Daryl then made the call. 

“We ain’t got time for this, we’re takin’ her with us,” Daryl said as he roughly grabbed the kid’s arm and hauled her to her feet. Michonne shot you a look as she followed after. 

“Shit,” you muttered under your breath, knowing you were never going to hear the end of it. 

--------- 

Negan stood in a clearing, the grass at his feet dead from years of heat and the Dead trampling it. 

He knew where he was, he knew the second he turned off the main road. Years before he would have thought about this particular spot with a smug smile. Now, all he wanted to do was be sick.

And so he did. 

The air felt too hot and every image and sound from that bloody night had come back. He knew their names now. Glenn Rhee and Abraham Ford. Gabriel had made sure that he knew who they were when he first visited him in the cell. From faceless corpses to actual people, Glenn and Abraham haunted him and he took every abusive shriek from the other side as he soaked in his guilt.

You had been in the clearing that night. Though you had barely been conscious since Dwight had given you quite the beating when you tried to stop him from hurting Daryl. Not long ago, you admitted that you barely remembered him talking to everyone in the lineup. You remembered Glenn and Abraham dying and the screams of your family, but not much else. He didn’t know if he was grateful for that or not. 

Perhaps if you could remember everything from that night, then you wouldn’t be wasting your time with him now. It was always so odd for you to talk to him as if the first time you had truly noticed each other was when you first visited his cell. The truth was, he had noticed you that night in the very clearing he was kneeling in. 

He didn’t know what it was that made him look at you twice, but there was a resolve in your eyes even as they glassed over. He could tell that somewhere behind the disorientation and fury was someone who would be the last one standing.

He still believed that. Though, he didn’t think you would be much of a survivor with a failed Savior by your side. At least, not until he knew who he had become and the best way he knew how to figure that out was a test and the new world was the biggest one there was.

-------

Returning to Hilltop was not the celebration you had anticipated when you had set out. 

What started as a rescue mission turned into a funeral procession and as the large gates opened, silence filled the air as you walked with Daryl and the others. Tara and Enid were coming out of Barrington when Enid gasped as she finally saw what and who was on the back of the horse Aaron led. 

Stopping right before the Colonial house, Aaron approached Enid who ran to hug him, burying her face into his chest. He was shaking as he held her. Tara stepped towards Jesus’ body and placed her hand on his back, dipping her head in sorrow. 

You took a step back, not wanting to intrude on the moment. You also made sure Paul’s sword was out of sight. It felt wrong to bring it into Hilltop when it was separated from its owner.

Former owner. 

Instead, you focused on the other task at hand. Daryl hauled the girl off the horse, the blindfold he had put on still tightly in place. She stumbled on the ground as he righted her and began dragging her towards the cellar that you knew led to Hilltop’s jail cells. You followed closely by, ignoring the people’s calls for answers. Daryl yelled back a few but kept walking. 

He yanked open the cellar doors and shoved her down the steps. You followed him and Michonne, your hand now resting on your weapon. You could hear Tara speaking to Tammy above ground, but you ignored her. 

“Daryl?” a voice came and you recognized it immediately. When Henry saw you, his eyes were filled with worry. “(Y/N)? What’s going on?” 

“Jesus is dead,” you told him as Daryl tossed the girl into a cage on the other side of the cellar. 

“What?” Henry asked. You didn’t have the energy to respond to the kid as you slipped away towards Daryl and Michonne. You didn’t even want to ask why the kid was down in the cells in the first place. 

Daryl was glaring down at the kid as she stared up at him with those same terrified eyes. 

“No more bullshit,” he sneered. “Yer gonna talk or I’ll finish what she started,” he said pointing to Michonne. The girl met your eyes through the bars, but you just faded back into the shadows and watched. 

---------

Negan didn’t remember the world feeling this empty. 

Then again, anytime he was out in it, he had an army at his back. Now, he only had himself. He could practically hear your voice in his head saying something like, “Come on, now you’re just bein’ dramatic.” 

That thought comforted him as he came across a building that seemed to be Walker-free. With a quick shove, he broke in through the front door and began making his way through the shop. Immediately, he clocked it as too small and that you would hate it. You had only briefly mentioned your fear of small spaces, but it was one of the small details that he had never forgotten. 

When he spotted a leather jacket, a laugh flew from his throat, and with a smile, he slid it across his shoulders. “Damn Teach, would you look at that? Fits like a glove,” He said quietly. Shaking off the thoughts that were threatening to overwhelm him, he moved further into the shop. 

When a gnarled hand grabbed at his ankle, Negan swore in surprise but brought his boot down on the Walker’s head before it could take a bite out of his leg. Then, of course, because his luck was turning for the worse, the storage room door broke open and more Walkers flooded into the small aisles.

Negan ran for the back door and slammed his body into it. Scrambling to get back outside, he wrenched the door open and shoved it behind him just as the Walkers reached for him. “Jesus Christ,” he swore, and then finally, he got it to shut. 

Negan glared at the door as he tried to catch his breath. He hadn’t had to fight Walkers for over six years and he had almost forgotten how it felt to go up against the things. He thought back to the night when the wall had come down and he had seen you fight with your blades. You had been a powerhouse and one that he had no intention of ever going up against. He definitely understood then why you were one of Alexandria’s main protectors. 

Letting that image wash over him, he finally turned his face towards the direction he was always heading.

He was going home.

----------

The girl was still begging, but Daryl wasn’t having it. 

“How many more?” he asked for the third time. 

“They're all dead,” the girl said as tears streamed down her face. “My family's dead. Please just stop.” The begging was starting to get to you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to ask Daryl to stop. You knew that you needed answers. However, no matter how angry you were, you hated seeing a kid in a cage. Just another thing you had in common with Negan.

“Not until ya start answering our questions. Your name. Start with your name.”

“I told you, I don't have one. None of us do. None of us did. That's not how it worked,” she said, trying to make him understand. 

“How did it work? Why do you wear their skins?” you asked, finally stepping out of the shadows. “What’s the point?”

“It's what we did to live. That's... That's all we wanted to do. Live,” she said, but you still couldn’t understand why. Since the start of the Apocalpyse, there was only one constant rule and that was to stay away from the Walkers. How these...people could willingly surround themselves with them is something you couldn’t comprehend.

“You're saying you had to do this?” Michonne shot back. 

“You wouldn't understand,” the girl whimpered. 

“Then make us understand. What the hell were you doing?” Michonne tried again.

“We... We were just trying to see if they were good people, too. But then you attacked us, and now they're dead. They're all dead. And I don't have anything!”

“What did your people know about us? Do they know about this place?” Michonne asked, glaring down at the girl.

“I don't know. I don't know anything. They didn't tell me anything!” she yelled as the sobs continued. “Please stop asking me. Just leave me alone, please. Please just leave me alone,” she begged and Daryl threw his hands up in exasperation. 

As Michonne and Daryl slammed the cage door behind them, he looked at you and you knew what he was asking. You nodded and leaned back against the wall to watch over the girl as Daryl led Michonne outside to speak to her.

After a moment of hearing the soft cries of the girl across from you, you finally stepped forward. She backed away as you approached her. Resting your arms on the bars, you stared down at her calmly. You were well-versed in speaking to someone from the other side of a cell, but this was not Negan and you were not in the mood to play games. 

“I don’t care about your name,” you began. “That not what’s important right now. To be honest with you, I am struggling with not breaking this door open and strangling you.” She gulped at that. “However, I am not someone who kills kids. Though, I can’t say the same for my friends that just left. You see, kid, we are incredibly protective over our people and we don’t let monsters hurt them.” 

“I didn’t—”

“I’m not done,” you stopped her. “I know all about monsters. I know how they think, how they act, and I know how to make them talk.” She was staring up at you with wide eyes and you could feel the fear that was radiating off of her. 

“(Y/N)…” Henry interjected. 

“Shut up, Henry!” you shot back, turning your glare on him as he sunk back into his cell. 

“I never wanted to hurt anyone! You attacked us!”

“We were killing Walkers!” you shouted back. “And in case you damn well forgot, you were the ones hunting us.” 

“This is just how the world works now,” she whispered. 

“I know damn well how the world works. You’re a child, you may be a part of some kind of cult or whatever the hell you wanna call your family, but you are still. A. Child. We’ve all seen the way this world is, we’ve fought for our lives here, won wars, and lost friends. Now, I got someone waitin’ for me and I ain’t about to waste my time on you and your bullshit. I stand by my code that I don’t want to kill you, but make no mistake, if I don’t start gettin’ some damn answers, I will keep your ass down here. Even if that means you never see daylight again.”

--------

“Home, sweet home,” Negan said as he looked up at the factory that was once his kingdom. 

A pipe was resting on his shoulder as he smiled up at the building, feeling a shred of his former self trying to breakthrough. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that there were people on the other side of those walls waiting to welcome him home. 

However, he knew the truth. The Saviors were gone, his kingdom had fallen, and all he was now was a washed-up leader with a rusty pipe. From the corner of his eye, he could see a few Walkers staggering towards him. With a wide smile, he swung the pipe and cracked the first skull. Dark blood sprayed as the creature hit the ground and then, he was fired up. 

As more and more of the Dead converged on him, he got back into the rhythm that he thought he had lost. It was exhilarating to just let go and take out all his frustration on the Dead. He had been feeling quite overwhelmed and angry the past few months, more so than usual and he had been so afraid that he would lash out at you and scare you off. 

By the time he was out of breath and thoroughly proud of himself, Negan strutted towards the front doors. However what he was met with was not a shrine to his empire, but a sunken graveyard of failure. 

The entirety of the factory floor was flooded and if he hadn’t known the building like the back of his hand, he wouldn’t have thought this was the same place he had stood above proudly seven years before. Negan leaned against the railing, hanging his head.

None of it was right. 

He could see bodies of fallen Walkers submerged in the corner, old equipment from before used to barricade doors, and even evidence that multiple fights had broken out. Negan wasn’t fully aware of what became the Sanctuary during the year after the war. Laura had told him once that Daryl was overseeing it but that he was rarely there and when he was, he always wanted to leave. 

Negan didn’t blame him. Daryl had been through hell and back at the Sanctuary. Another thing he wasn’t all that proud of. Truth was, Negan liked Daryl, he even respected him, but back then, he liked power even more. Just thinking about the kneeling and the killing now made Negan ashamed. 

Not all of it, but most of it. He never felt guilty for what he did to the Monroe boy. Even you had agreed that Spencer had deserved it and nobody missed him all that much. He probably didn’t deserve a full evisceration, but he never felt bad about killing him. Then there were the moments that he killed to protect his people, the incidents that happened before he met Rick. 

However, then there were the moments that he had learned about after the war. The killing of the child at Hilltop, the massacre at Oceanside, and of course, the slaughter of Jadis’ people at the dump. Simon had been very busy. Negan thought his Second was simply spreading fear, but he had never known just how blood-soaked his name had become. 

“I am Negan” was now sounding more like a curse than a mantra. 

As Negan walked through the ruins of his former home, he was met with a loud bang as a Walker threw itself at one of the doors. Negan recognized them immediately. "Big Richie, is that you? Look at you. Loyal to the end,” Negan said as he looked at the Dead man. 

He moved on, heading out onto the main floor where he felt the true loss of everything. Most importantly, though, he was missing you. He didn’t know if you were home yet or if Judith had told anyone what happened. 

If he was being honest with himself and he always was, he didn’t care about a cage or a warden in the form of Father Gabriel. He just wanted you. Leaving Alexandria, breaking his promise, all of it was a mistake and he now hated himself for it.

His hand found the compass around his neck and he flipped it over, rubbing his hands over the initials carved into the back. He sighed, closing his eyes as he thought about the last thing he had said to you. 

“I’ll be waiting,” he whispered to himself. That was what he said to you and you had believed him. “Fuck,” he swore as took a last look at the fallen kingdom. He had made up his mind and there was no going back this time. 

He didn’t care about Michonne or Daryl or even if Rosita wanted to skill him alive. He only cared about you and that alone had him walking from the Sanctuary and turning his back on his old life in favor of the new one he wanted to build with you. 

As he spotted a motorcycle, a realization hit him like a truck. He smiled and the rusty pipe in his hand fell from his grip, the sound echoing around the yard like the final ring of a church bell on Sunday.

“I’m comin’ home, (Y/N).”

-------

Michonne was leaving. 

You knew that she had too. It was too dangerous for people back home in Alexandria to not know what was going on. However, you had decided to stay just a bit longer. “Are you sure?” she asked you as you walked through Hilltop.

“I need to be here to get answers and I don’t know, try to get Daryl to keep his head on straight,” you said. 

“What about Negan?” Michonne asked and for the first time, her tone wasn’t that hostile when speaking his name.

“He knew I was coming out here. I’ll see him when I see him.”

“Should I tell him what’s going on?” Michonne asked. You thought about it for a moment before nodding. 

“Probably for the best. He’s gonna hear people talking about it anyway. Hell, maybe he’s heard about these freaks before. I know he traveled for a bit before settling at the Sanctuary.” Michonne nodded. 

“I’ll ask him,” she said. 

“Something isn’t adding up with this girl,” you admitted. 

“What are you thinking?” 

“This kind of pack mentality, the no-names, the vicious nature of these people,” you said, trying to wrap your mind around it all. “I don’t think she’s telling us the truth when she said we killed them all. If my instincts are right, there is a whole herd of masks out there. They may have been out there for a while too.” 

“This is not good,” Michonne said, rubbing at her brow, 

“I’m going to get the answers I need and then I’ll come home and tell you what I think,” you said. 

“Alright, I think that’s the best idea.”

“Go, Michonne, get back to your kids,” you said and she smiled softly, reaching out to give you a hug before going over to Daryl to tell him the same thing. Your eyes scanned the community around you and you were starting to get nervous. 

Tara had told you that Alden and Luke had gone out to look for you and they hadn’t returned.  There were thoughts that were nagging at you that said that they were in trouble and you couldn’t shake them. Alden was a good friend and he was special to Enid. You couldn’t handle losing him so soon after Jesus. And Luke was important to Yumiko and Magna, two people who you now trusted with your life. 

When Jesus was finally buried, you stood at the back, gripping his weapon. Aaron stood next to you, his hand wrapped around your shoulder as you watched the man you both cared for be placed in the ground. It was a silent ceremony and as the grave was filled in, Enid was nowhere to be found. But you knew where she was, she was with Glenn. 

Enid always went to his grave when someone had died and you were probably the only one who knew that besides Alden. You didn’t mention it as Aaron hugged you goodbye and followed the rest of Alexandrians from Hilltop with Michonne leading them home. 

Instead of participating in the moment of silence with the rest of Hilltop, you headed back down to the cell. Daryl found you down there a few moments later and didn’t say anything. The girl had cowered at your presence when you had entered, but now just watched you with open curiosity.

Daryl was pissed when he barged in, heading straight for her. You didn’t try to stop him. 

“Who are you?” Daryl barked. “Answer the question. You wanna die? Is that it?” he bellowed, but Henry wasn’t having it either. 

“Daryl, what's your problem?” Henry said. 

 “Quiet!” you yelled at the kid and he just slammed his hands against the bars. 

“Do you?” Daryl repeated. “People up there just buried a good man. And they are ready to string you up right now. All I got to do is drag your ass up them steps. How many in your group?” 

“I already told you…” she said but Daryl ripped open the door and grabbed her, throwing her against the bars. 

“How many?” he yelled.

“I don’t know, ten maybe? We wore skins to blend in. We didn't have names. I mean... I mean, we did, but we didn't use them!” 

“How long you been out around here?”

“I don't know. We moved around with the... with the Dead. I mean, the skins made them leave us alone. They protected us, so we protected them.”

“You got a camp? Walls?” you asked.

“Walls don't keep you safe. Places like this don't make it. They never make it. That's how it is. My mom and me, we saw it happen over and over. I... I barely remember the world before all this. But my mom, she told me how it was changing, how we had to change with it, how we needed the dead and each other to keep safe. We're never alone.”

“Why'd your people kill our people?” Daryl asked. 

“It's just what we do. Everybody still alive is a threat. It's us or them.”

“How many people in your group and don't lie to me!”

“My mom! It's just my mom,” she said. 

“You said your people were never alone,” you said, narrowing your eyes.  The girl’s eyes widened as she was caught in a lie and then Daryl was grabbing her and trying to drag her from the cell. 

“No! No, I told you the truth!”

“I told you what was gonna happen!” Daryl yelled back

“Daryl!” Henry shouted. 

“Shut up!” Daryl snapped at him.

“Please! Let go of me!” the girl begged.

“Daryl, stop!” Henry begged again and you were ready to ship his ass back to the Kingdom right then. 

“Please, Daryl, please don't kill me, please,” the girl said, and at the sound of his name falling from her lips, he pushed her back into the cell and slammed the door. As Daryl went to yell at Henry, you couldn’t hear anymore. You climbed back to the surface and tried to calm down. 

Daryl wasn’t far behind you. “I don’t believe her,” you said. “What happened with the herd and the graveyard, it was too coordinated.”

“I know,” Daryl said. “Come here.” He led you over to the window that led into the cell where the girl was and he sat down. You joined him and then, you listened. 

“Thank you,” the girl said. 

“What?” Henry responded. 

“For saving me, thank you.” 

“You’re welcome,” he said and then, “I'm Henry.” It was quiet for a moment before she finally responded.

“I'm Lydia.”

-------

Negan had seen a lot of weird shit in his life, but seeing little Judith Grimes in the middle of the road pointing a gun at him took the cake. 

“Shit!” Negan swore as Judith fired at the bike he rode. He skidded on the road, the bike going into a ditch as he flew off it, landing on his back. Judith ran after him.

“I told you I was gonna shoot you,” Judith said, aiming her weapon on him again. 

“Yeah, you did,” Negan sighed, getting to his feet as he brushed off the dirt from his pants. 

“Why’d you come back?” Judith asked. 

“Because I should have listened to you,” Negan admitted. “There wasn’t anythin’ out there for me.” Judith narrowed her eyes but then shook her head.

“That’s not the full reason,” Judith argued and Negan sighed, crossing his arms. “Tell why you really came back.”

“Judith…” Negan said. 

“Negan,” she shot back and he knew that she wasn’t going to let him move without an answer. Instead of brushing off the girl’s question, Negan knelt down to her level, keeping his eyes on hers. Whatever she saw in his eyes had her dropping the colt and moving closer to him. 

“I don’t care about being locked in a cell if it means that I’m near them,” Negan admitted. “If I can spend only an hour a day with them, it’s worth it because dammit kid, you were always right.” 

“About what?” she asked

Negan reached out and adjusted the brim on her hat as he smiled gently at her. He took a deep breath and then with an open heart said, “I’m in love with (Y/N).”

-------

As tensions rose, somewhere not too far from Hilltop, Alden and Luke were met with the barrel of a shotgun. 

TAGS:  : amaroho  @thanossexual @yes-sir-hotchner @boom-bunny @delusionalteenagewhispers @scootankle @ritajammer21​ @writteriguess @tea-atfive @jennydehavilland​ @halszka-potter​ @yespleasejayhalstead​ @fmunegan @hoemadegrace  @pulplorrd​ @writingdead0829​ @lucillethings

[peakyxtommy]

Last First Birthdays

Summary: Tommy & you celebrating your last child’s first birthday. You’re sad that the kids are growing up. Tommy provides a listening ear. 

Warnings: All Pure Fluff, slight mention of birth/pre-term labor. 

A/N: I am not a doctor, but did do some research. Enjoy, I loved writing this. Soft Tommy & Tommy with kids is my forever weakness. 

Word Count: 2.4K 

Today was a special day. Your last born was having his first birthday today. Attius James Shelby.

“Look at the birthday boy.” You coo, your fingers patting your son’s stomach as he releases a small squeal, happy to see your face. He had just awoken from his pre-party nap.

You dressed him in his 1st birthday onesie, khaki shorts, and clipped his pacifier to his top, which would come in handy later. His little blue orbs stare into your eyes, as you stand him up on his changing table, before lifting him into your arms.

“Let’s go find your dad and siblings.” You peck his forehead, brushing your hand over his brown curly locks. You walk down the stairs, to see the hustle and bustle of the last minute platters of food and drinks being placed. 

You walk into the living room to see Henry, your eldest son reading a book on the couch. Lydia, your second child with cards in her hands, slapping one down against the carpet. While Tom sits on the floor with Maeve, your third child, assisting her while laughing at something she says.

“Who’s ready for the birthday boy?” You speak gaining their attention.

“Me! I can’t wait for cake.” Lydia screams with excitement causing Maeve to scrunch her face up in annoyance at her sister.

“I am going to play with Jonas. He’s bringing his new card game over.” Henry responds, closing his book.

“Mummy we sing for Atty, right.” Maeve asks, calling her brother by his nickname, not able to pronounce his full name.

“Yes we will sing and have one slice of cake each. I will be watching.” You wag your finger playfully at Lydia. All the while your husband sits with a smirk on his face, his eyes fully enticed with yours. The doorbell rings, causing the kids to scramble to greet their family and poor Tom left with cleaning up the card game, but it wasn’t new to him with a house with four kids.

“Looks like you need some help Mr. Shelby. Bones of yours are getting old.” You tease, earning an eye roll, as he leans himself gently into you, as your free hand helps him off the floor.  

“Keep it up while it lasts, you are right behind me.” He chuckles pulling you into his side. “You look lovely, dress suits you well. Always a beaut.”

“Why thank you, my love.” Your lips press against his cheek.

“Let’s go birthday lad, we have to spend time with our crazy family.” You laugh as he takes your son from your arms, fingers entwined with yours as you make your way to the backyard. - The party was a smash. It was an overall great day with your’s and Tommy’s family and a few close friends. You hoped Tom was able to get Lydia to bed because she had a sweet tooth almost as bad as you, knowing someone gave that girl a second piece of cake (John), which was more unnecessary sugar the girl needed in her system, hoping she wouldn’t have a stomach ache from all the treats today.

Atticus enjoyed being passed around, trying cake for the first time, and being more interested in the wrapping paper than the presents. You took enough photos to last a lifetime.  

As you rock your son asleep in his rocker you mind couldn’t help but think back to what a year it had really been since he was brought into the world, a miracle really. You couldn’t take your eyes off the photos you would switch out periodically (as you took new ones) around his bedroom. Keeping the same ones you took of him when he was just born, when he arrived home, family photos throughout the year. The images floating in your head. The memories forever imprinted in your mind.

He was born eight weeks early in September.This pregnancy came as a surprise as you and Tommy weren’t expecting to have any more as your hands were full with three kids already. You both weren’t getting any younger. 

When you told your husband the news, he took it in stride, telling you how excited he was, despite the chaos of his world around you. All your pregnancies so far were a breeze but this one was stressful. Tommy tried his best to be home, get extra help around the home with the children, and get your older two children to be more helpful when possible.

Your water broke 8 weeks early and you had to have an emergency c-section. Tom was by your side through it all panicking on the inside but putting a brave front on for you. He wheeled you to the NICU to see your small infant son with tubes hooked up to him. Learning how to connect with him through the two small holes of the incubator. That was the start of a journey, for the family.

It definitely put a strain on your marriage of having Tommy balance work, the kids, and taking time visiting the hospital and helping you recover. Both your families provided as much support as possible. The car ride home was nerve wracking having to remember all this information and doing this without the help of the nurses.

Atticus settled in pretty quick to the environment and his siblings who would come to say goodnight to their little brother. It would be hard to sleep during the night with either one of always getting up to check on him, even if he was just sleeping peacefully. He was a little behind his milestones which was to be expected but each step of the way was worth it. He was growing healthily, was able to say little phrases, and was getting closer to walking. He was the calmest out of all your children and easy going.

Your heart was happy to celebrate his first birthday. All your children’s birthdays made you emotional, as you knew they weren’t going to stay young - little - forever. As much as you both wanted them to. This one was the last first birthday you were going to celebrate, as you weren’t planning on having anymore children. Atticus like the rest of your kids were going to grow on their way to independence and need you less and less. You knew you had to let them find their way in this beautiful but cruel world.

“Knew I'd find you in here.” His voice brings comfort to your heart as he whispers to you in the dim lighting across the room, opening the door, just leaving it cracked a bit.

“The rest of the crew are finally to bed and remind me to slap John on the back of his head the next time I spot him for giving Lydia a second piece of cake.” His head shakes with a roll of the eyes as he paces across the floor, to take half a seat on the arm of the rocking chair. You can’t help the smile that plays on your lips.

“Those two are as thick as thieves, poor lad can never say no to her. Spoils her rotten, like the rest of your siblings do to all our kids.” You reply knowing all the Shelby siblings loved all your children equally, each one having similarities to them all, but knew which children brought a weakness or were closer to their uncles/aunt.

It’s quiet for a moment, just the two of you, staring at your sleeping son in your arms. “You know he’s not going anywhere, none of them are. They’re always going to need you, need us. Hell, even I'll need you when I'm old and grey.” His lips peck the top of your head, fingers squeezing your shoulder with gentle reassurance.

He knew you like the back of his hand. His words rang true in your mind and heart, knowing this wasn’t the first time he found you in this spot, with the same thoughts, that come along with parenthood.

You wanted old and grey with Tom, you wanted to believe in it, even though you both knew it wasn’t promised not in his world especially. You were blessed with him thus far, this man aged like fine wine the older he got. You could tell he was getting older in trying to keep up with the energy of the kids, the glasses you adored, and the crow’s feet that was starting to make an appearance.

“I know, just working myself up over the small things. I know we don’t have to worry but I do. Just want to make sure everything will go right. Henry is going to be a teen soon, that boy is too smart for his own good. Lydia is just as stubborn as you are and free-spirited but reminds me of you. Maeve is sweet and our little helper, she’s only just started preschool. Both of them wrapped around your finger in different ways.

I accepted it then in my mind after Maeve but then Atticus came along. I think about the what if’s of that day, the weeks passed, but then I'm reminded of today. How it all feels right and complete. It all goes by so fast, I just want to hold on to this moment, ya know.”

He listens to your continuous thought, walking through it as you speak your mind. You were a deep thinker and took everything to heart because you cared so much. It was the little things that added up. That made life sweeter than the grand things. That was one of the things he loved the most about you, the thing that attracted him from the very beginning of your relationship. He doesn’t miss the quiet tears that release gently out your eyes, the smallness of your wet voice.

He knows what you mean because he has the same thoughts, even though he doesn’t always share them. He has enough nerves for his lifetime and lines in his forehead to prove it.

Henry the eldest reminded him of the earlier years of your relationship. Young, in love, just starting out. The excitement of your first born. He knew after Henry was born, he would do everything in his power to stay alive. He was smart, a leader, and enjoyed spending time with his cousins. He was a younger version of himself, but better. He was glad for it.

Lydia came a few years later and she took his heart when his blue eyes met her brown ones. She was a handful from the start (she was definitely his daughter). She reminded him of Ada in her sass and the mouth on her but also John as she was the child that brought the most laughter and entertainment to the family as she was extroverted. They would enjoy being silly together and tease you to no end.

Maeve was like you in all ways, sweet, loving, and ready to help the best way a 4 year old can. She was a shy girl but was definitely a daddy’s girl. Always searching for him when he was away or would try to sweet talk her way to stay up to see him before bed or read her an extra story. Would make herself comfortable in his home office to play with her toys or find a way to sit on his lap as he did paperwork. She would always ask him the sweetest of things or most serious things, trusting whatever answer left his mouth. He had the hardest time telling her no.

Atticus came as a surprise but in the best of ways. His birth changed something within him. Thomas Shelby wasn’t a religious man by any means, but when he watched his son get wheeled away by the nurses and was watching him through the big glass window the first few hours of his life, he prayed hard for the first time, in a long time, since he was 18. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing a child, let alone losing you.

He remembers your tears as he wheeled you to meet your son for the first time. Him reassuring you and himself, that it was all going to be okay. It was this child that made him slow down the most and rethink his priorities, putting them in check once again. These past two years were hard business and family wise. Managing the logistics of expanding and meetings, risky deals/death threats, raising 4 kids, with two under the age of 5 and in need of constant attention.

Handling the nerves of it all, your/his moods, and the tiffs you both would get in due to sleep deprivation, late nights working, stubbornness on both ends, or just not having a minute alone together or for intimacy. Moments like these, in the quiet night of his home with you and the children at peace made it worth every minute of the day. Made him want to be around even longer, even though it wasn’t necessarily promised.  

“I do too love, I know.” His fingers brush the sleeping infant’s cheeks, watching as he snuggles subconsciously closer in your arms. He knew he didn’t have to say much because in that small phrase communicated all you needed to know, to hear. The both you could read one another like a book where it speaks for itself.

“Come let’s get to bed.” He hums, blue eyes shimmering with affection, as his lips turn upward in one of your favorite smiles, reserved just for you. His soft lips press against yours lightly into just a small peck. The pads of his soft fingers, brushing against your wet cheeks to collect this remainder of the tears. He stands to his feet, holding the chair still as you get up to place your son into his crib.

“Goodnight, sweet Atticus. We love you.” You whisper, feeling the warmth of Tommy wrap around your frame, chin resting on your shoulder, fingers tangling together, bands touching as you both stare down at your sleeping son.

You knew that everything was going to be okay. Even though you weren’t going to be celebrating anymore first birthdays in your household, you knew every birthday after would still be as special as the last one. You always made sure of it as you loved celebrating birthdays as much as holidays. You had all you needed within yourself, the man you loved dearly, and the four sleeping children you called your own.  

[nikkzwrites]

(They Long to Be) Close to You | Dark Fix-It Fic Series Part 2 | Chapter 7

A/N: This fic is one that I started with my OC because honestly, I personally didn’t like how season 3 ended. So I am rewriting all of Dark with my OC Annalise Dahlheim. I hope you all like it. Some things will be expanded more on just for more depth to Dark that season 3 kinda skipped over so…. yeah. This is part two of the series! You can start the full series here!

CW: Canon Typical Triggers: Smoking, Sex, Language, Drugs, Drinking, Death, Violence.

Word Count: ~5.0k

[First Chapter] [Previous Chapter] [Next Chapter]

Jonas cried over Martha’s body promising that he would set everything right. He looked up hearing the explosion and then ran down into the basement to stay safe.

The older Jonas shot up in bed breathing hard from his nightmare. He must have fallen asleep in his clothes. He turned to look at the letter labeled Jonas on it. He opened it to read,

‘Dear Jonas, you promised to make everything right again. I want you to know that you will do that. You must never lose hope that there is a way out of this maze. A way to save me and you...But we will have to make sacrifices… do unimaginable things...to untie the knot at the end. Each fate in this knot is linked to the next. A thread, blood red, that connects all our actions. In light and in shadow. But the apocalypse must take place. You must let her die, so I can live. We have to let some things go before they find their way back to us. We are perfect for eachother. Never believe anything else.’

Martha cried over Jonas’ dead body clutching Annalise’s necklace in her bloodied hands. She stood and walked away from him still shaking from the shock she just received. Annalise walked out from the door and ran to Martha. She held the girl close in her arms and started to cry for her. Her fingers intertwined within Martha’s hair. Yet, Martha felt close to nothing. This is what she had always wanted, so why does it still feel wrong.

The short haired Martha looked up at the swirling God Particle in their world knowing what must be done now. Her two older selves watched it twist and turn just like their hearts. Their eyes crying from the knowledge each of them had. Mary smiled proudly at her work. She had spent years getting back to this point. Yet, her eyes still cried knowing just as soon as she was going to experience the greatest ecstasy, she was going to experience the pits of despair. Unknowing of her own fate that was just close to happening.

Silija took her rifle and shoved Martha into a cage. She locked the girl in, ignoring her cries of confusion. Adam watched on with a sigh.

The older Jonas took the letter and burned it after reading. He felt disgusted at what she was trying to imply, let Annalise die so that Martha could live as if he could possibly do that. As if he could let that happen. 

Annalise and Martha walked back to Martha’s home. It was the day of the apocalypse. As they got inside, Martha started to panic about how dirty and covered with his blood she was. 

Annalise took hold of her and said, “Hey, hey… shhhh… It’s okay.” She carefully walked the girl to the sink and washed her up. Her hands were gentle, yet dexterous at getting off the blood. After cleaning her hands and face, Annalise heard someone stirring upstairs so she quickly helped Martha undress and shoved the blooded clothes in the trash.

Magnus hurried downstairs after hearing the door open and close. “Martha,” he breathed relieved at his sister being back home safe. He looked between Annalise and Martha asking, “Where were you? Mom cried all night long.” Noticing that Martha wasn’t her normal self, he turned to Annalise and asked, “Is she okay?”

Annalise shook her head as Martha tried to wipe her tears away. She turned to look at her brother.

“Hey,” He spoke softly. He opened his arms to her which were gladly taken by Martha. He held his sister and asked, “What happened?”

Martha sobbed into Magnus for a second. She held him tighter than she had ever held her brother before. “Bartosz was right,” she whispered. She shook her head and said, “What he said in the woods… about the end of the world.” She started to panic. “The nuclear power plant… Today. Bartosz’s father is trying to cover up an accident. The containers… The world is going to end today.”

Magnus looked at her then to Annalise, who just shrugged and shook her head acting as if she didn’t know anything… 

While in truth, she did. Annalise knew exactly what Martha was talking about and it was her job to also get to Bartosz so that way they could all go fix this mess. At least, that’s what Eve told her and her older self told her. There was no reason not to trust them. 

Meanwhile in 1986, a younger Mary smiled with a young Noah. She turned to him and said, “We did it! We found the way back! We can get Bartosz and go back home.”

Magnus shook her head at her, “Have you gone crazy? When did you last sleep?” When she tried to yell at him, he shook his head and said, “I haven’t got time for your psycho crap. You can handle this, right Anna?”

Annalise nodded. She shook her head at Martha, “I’m sorry.”

Short haired Martha looked down at Annalise’s necklace and started to cry. She trembled as her fingers traced the tree of life pattern.

“They had to die,” The older Martha explained, “It’s all wrong.” They stood in the old Eris Lux meeting area. “I know what you’re feeling. But you’ll learn to let the feeling go. Everything will run its course. Just as fate determined our world and his.”

In the other world, Martha tried to escape her cage. When Adam appeared to her, she screamed, “why did you lock me up? You promised me there would be a way to change everything.” She started to cry, “So the apocalypse won’t happen. You lied to me, just like my older self lied to me!”

Adam looked down at the sphere in his hands. He spoke, “Sic Mundus. Old Tannhaus. He firmly believed he was creating a paradise where we’d all be free of destiny, and free of our pain. A world outside your world and my world. But I have finally realized what this paradise really is. Unending darkness, in which nothing exists. But for that...the apocalypse must happen. In my world...and in yours.” He turned and walked away from her.

“Jonas,” she roared, “Jonas! Let me out!”

There was only six hours before the apocalypse left and Aleksander was speaking to Obendorf about the containers. He had seen Annalise leave earlier that morning so he knew it would be safe to speak about it.

“Dad,” Bartosz said, walking into the room and surprising Aleksander, “Is everything okay?”

Aleksander nodded, but sadly said, “I know I said I’d stay home today...But something important came up. I’m sorry.”

Bartosz shrugged and grumbled to his dad, “It’s alright”

His father turned and said, “I have to tell you something. Someone is blackmailing me.”

Bartosz’s face turned into confusion, “What?”

Aleksander turned and showed his son, “With this. Something that happened a long time ago. Sometimes we make decisions in our lives that we can never undo.” He sighed and continued, “My name is not Aleksander. It is Boris. Boris Niewald. But it was an accident… You must believe me. I’m not a murderer.”

Bartosz shook his head and asked, “What about Mom? Did Mom know about this?”

“Your mother is the best thing that ever happened in my life,” said the man, “she saved me from all that and I never told her the truth.” He looked at his son, “Bartosz, I’m sorry.”

Bartosz threw the newspaper down and walked away from his father.

Across town, Charlotte walked to Ulrich’s house with the file to let him know what they found on the investigation for Mads resulting in Ulrich leaving quickly and Hannah realizing it was her the entire time.

Annalise sat with Matha. She tried to convince the girl to take a nap, but Martha felt too wired for that. 

The girl walked over to her mirror to look at herself. “I hate this,” she sneered at herself. She grabbed the scissors from her things and started to cut.

“Hey,” Annalise said. She walked over to the girl and stopped her, “Let me do that for you. You are going to mess it up.”

“I don’t care,” Martha mumbled, but conceded giving the scissors to Annalise anyway.

Annalise smiled and giggled, “Come on. Let’s cut off all the things weighing you down.”

Martha watched as everything happened through the mirror. She just wanted everything fixed and over with.

Katharina slept on Mikkel’s bed calmly. She awoke to Martha standing over her, “You scared me. Where were you? Did you cut your hair? What happened?” She looked over towards Annalise who stood awkwardly behind her daughter. She looked back to see Martha nearly in tears.

Martha spoke, “Do you believe in fate?”

“I don’t know,” Katharina admitted watching Annalise walk out to give them some space. She spoke again, “No. I believe that we take our lives into our own hands. That we decide which road we take.”

Eve stared at the older Bartosz with a sigh. She spoke to him motioning towards the hideout and to his child Jonah. Her heart sunk, but she knew this was what was needing to happen. Everything was so so close. She needed everything to continue just as it had before. She knew what this would cause though. She knew what this part would lead. She needed it to happen. This was one of the finally domino effects needed for her plan to see him again.

Katharina shook her head and said, “I’m sure I’m the last person you want to talk to, but...If you do...I’m here.” She took her daughter's hand and held it. The woman spoke again, “Your dad and I… A lot of things maybe different now, but that’s not necessarily bad.”

Martha started to cry. She shook her head and said, “No, I’m sure it’s not.” She held her mother closely. She let go after a moment and explained, “I promised I was going to do something.” Then she walked out.

In the other world, Claudia stared at a picture of the blond boy who had started this all. Her breathing was all that could be heard in the small bunker. She sighed and looked down to open one of the journals letting her know what she was supposed to do as well. It spelled out where the God Particle was and to follow the signals to it. She found herself going to the area in her yellow radiation suit. Inside, she saw only a bright white light. Her heart pounded as she reached out to it.

“Stop,” A man called to her. Claudia turned to see Jonas.

She sighed in relief and said, “Jonas…” She looked surprised. Her voice shook as she spoke again, “You’re alive.”

Back in Eve’s world, the short haired, scarred Martha wrote Jonas a letter. She knew all of it to be absolutely true. She hated to admit it to herself, but she was doing all of this for her own Annalise as well. Something for them to be together just as Mary and Eve were. To raise this child together. She sighed and spoke, “I murdered him. Why is he still alive?” 

Mary drew a diagram for the young Martha, “There is a switch point in the loop of time. The moment that causes things to run in one direction or the other. You bring him into your world, or you don’t. A line that starts at one point, then loops onto itself once more. Two possible ways on the outer edge of the line or on the inner edge of the line… yet it is the same line. Two overlapping realities happen in a single moment.” She spoke quieter, more in reflection, “In one, she goes with you… in another she’s kidnapped and trapped until she figures out the puzzle of this.” She shook her head and spoke louder again, “One, he dies...on the other road, he doesn’t.” She pointed and said, “Both realities continue from the point of the sphere’s activation, then collide on itself if it’s in the same reality. Both of your worlds continue from that point and repeat in an endless loop. One triggers the other one to happen. You two are locked in Quantum entanglement.”

Eve interrupted and spoke, “Adam has tried to sever it for 33 years. So that the thing growing inside of you will never be born.”

Mary spoke up again, “But it is impossible now. Your worlds… they can never be disconnected.”

The older Martha took the letter and folded it up to be put into the envelope as Ever spoke, “Every step Jonas takes is guided by us. He cannot escape his fate.”

In Jonas’ world, Claudia stared at the blond and asked, “What is this?”

Jonas spoke while looking at the glowing white orb flowing suspended in the air, “That is what was left over after the catastrophe.”

Claudia breathed heavily and asked, “The God Particle… and this here? What is this?” She pointed to the equipment not too far from them.

Jonas looked at her confused and explained, “I’ve seen where all this goes.” He pointed towards the equipment, “in the future. There is no way back now. The cave was destroyed. There’s nothing there anymore. The passage is completely gone. But this here… If I find out how it works, I’ll be able to go back. Then I can save them. Martha, Mikkel, and Annalise. I can save all of them.” He stared at her. She seemed off. She didn’t seem to support any of this. He spoke to her and asked, “How is it that you found me?” He waited for a moment then asked in a slightly different way, “How did you know I would be here?”

“The apparatus,” Claudia explained, “The matter it needs.”

“The apparatus,” Jonas yelled, “You still have it?! Where is it?”

Claudia reluctantly showed him to where she was keeping the machine. She knew if she didn’t he would only become more aggressive. She watched as he rushed towards it. As he toggled with some of the switches, she spoke, “It doesn’t work. Maybe this is how it had to happen first. For all the things to change for next time.” As he slowly turned towards her, she explained, “The substance in the device. You and I brought it into the passage again. The variables in the equation were changed. There’s a chance it might work next try.”

Jonas yelled, “I can’t wait 33 years to try!” He growled as he walked towards her, “I’m supposed to just hope this won’t happen again? Maybe next time I’m on the other side of the bunker door?!” He sneered, “She didn’t say anything… Your older self. She knew Annalise was going to die. That Martha was also going to die. How they would die.” Tears dripped down his dirty sweaty face, “Why should I trust you now?”

Claudia felt a pain in her chest hearing about Annalise. Yet she pressed on, “The material in the plant. I know what it is. I can assist you. I can help you save them. To save all of them.”

In Eve’s world, there was only three hours left before the apocalypse. Martha stormed to Bartosz’s house with Annalise behind her. She screamed, “BARTOSZ!”

He very quickly went to the glass door as if by instinct. He opened it for her and asked, “Martha?” He looked at her then saw Annalise not far behind her. He bit his lip hoping this wasn’t going to affect them then turned back towards Martha to listen to what she had to say.

“Can we come in,” the short haired girl asked him. She stared up at him pleadingly. It was the least he could do now right? After stealing the girl she loved, the least he could do was let her inside.

“Eh,” Bartosz shifted uneasily. He swallowed and nodded, “Yeah. Come on in.” He moved out of the way for the two girls to rush in.

Martha shakingly explained, “33 years ago there was an accident at the plant. Somehow the accident caused some strange matter to form… and your father helped cover everything up.” She started to breathe heavily. Her eyes flickered between Annalise and him, “And everything we heard in the caves. It’s all the same… The substance… It starts the end. Today. We have to talk to him.”

“Starts what end,” Bartosz spoke calmly.

Martha’s voice shook as she said, “The apocalypse.”

Ulrich stared at Mads body in disbelief. There was no way any of this was happening. He’s heart raced as he realized it had to be. He unlocked the jail cell and stared at Helge. He lifted him up and asked, “The Kid in the bunker. You said it was you who killed him. But you didn’t mean him. You meant Mads. The boy in the bunker looks just like Mads. How did you do it?”

Helge shook and said, “They...They both said that I must do it.”

Ulrich growled, “Who? Do what?”

Helge swallowed and explained, “To help send him to the future. To fill the gaps.”

Ulrich let go of him and took a step back in disbelief. He took the pennies out of his pocket and showed it to the man, “The pennies… What does this mean?”

Helge looked up and said, “I must stop him.”

“Stop who? Who will you stop?”

Helge swallowed and spoke softly, “You.”

Ulrich pulled back and looked down before looking out the door. He said, “You can go now.”

Helge hurried out to go on his own mission to stop the man.

“And this Jonas guy,” Bartosz asked, “He’s dead now? And you killed him there. Well it’s not you… It’s...another you?” He looked at her completely confused. This sounded a lot like how Annalise was trying to describe being in two places at once just the other night. He ran his fingers through his long hair thinking about everything.

Martha nodded and explained, “I was there. In the future. There’s nothing left.” She shook her head. “Nothing.” She sighed and stated, “It all has to do with your father. He can’t be allowed to open those containers.” Watching his thumbs rub together and him look down then back at Annalise, Martha knew he was deep in thought. “Bartosz,” she tried to reach out to his mind to pull him back to her. She pleaded with him, “Please.”

Bartosz reached for his phone and called his father. He didn’t get an answer due to his father looking at all of the sins of his past and what they lead to. Aleksander called Charlotte now knowing what he must do to make amends.

The Unknown looked up at the sphere. He turned it on and watched it descend. The youngest walked in first, then the oldest. The middle one took out the ball and held it in his hand.

In Adam’s world, Silja let Martha out of her cage and at gunpoint led her to where Adam wanted her to go. She explained that all she was here to do was to help fill the gaps for everyone so that everyone could reach salvation.

Adam stared at the swirling mass. He spoke to himself mostly but turned to see the ghost of Annalise standing there with him, “We have waited a long time for this moment.” He turned towards Magnus and Franziska and told them, “you know what to do.” He nodded to them to leave him alone with the ghost of the girl he loved.

Magnus and Franziska swallowed. They shifted and took hold of each other’s hands not sure if they were really ready for the other world yet and to see their long dead best friends.

In Eve’s world, Magnus and Franziska sat at the edge of the pond unknowing of the apocalypse about to hit them in just one hour.

Franziska turned to him and signed, “What do you think it means? The birds? The light? The boy in the bunker?”

Magnus shrugged a bit then signed back while mouthing, “Martha has lost it. She thinks the apocalypse will happen today.”

Franziska shook her head at him. She could tell without words that he was nervous. She smiled a bit to comfort him and slid her hand into his. She signed to him and mouthed, “If we die today, then at least we are together.”

Magnus smiled and signed back, “Together.” He leaned close to her so that they could kiss all his troubles away.

Bartosz and Annalise rode their bikes down to the powerplant. Martha sat behind Bartosz looking up at the boy. They tried to ride as quickly as possible to stop the canisters from being opened by Charlotte and Aleksander.

Helge waddled through the woods muttering to himself the sounds of the clock in his mind. He walked toward the cave knowing exactly what he was going to try to do.

Ulrich called Charlotte trying to get a hold of her to let him know of what was going on as he tried to follow the man.

Adam’s world Magnus and Franziska stood in the road and stared at the group on the bikes. Bartosz and Martha stopped smoothly while Annalise crashed Martha’s bike trying to avoid them.

Martha stood up and walked towards them, “Who are you?”

Magnus chuckled, “You can’t take a few guesses?”

Annalise groaned on the ground causing Bartosz to run towards her side, “Anna!” He looked over her and caressed her face, “It’s okay. You’re okay. Where does it hurt?”

Annalise reached her hand down towards her side. She groaned as he touched it, “Ow...Ow. Ow.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

Mary screamed as she walked into her family’s part of the hideout. There her older Bartosz, her husband, held their dead baby in his arms crying. He looked at her pleadingly, “Please, Annalise. Forgive me.”

Mary screamed at him, “What did you do?!”

“I had no other choice, Annalise please.”

Martha stared at the man and whispered, “Magnus?” She gasped as he stared at him, “You’re from the future.”

Magnus nodded, “But not from yours. They lied to you. Your older selves. They want the apocalypse to happen. They’re the ones responsible for it happening in the first place. But there is a way to change everything.”

Annalise struggled out, “Liar! You’re just working for Adam.”

Bartosz cooed at her, “Shhhhh. Anna… Please. You’re hurt. You are only going to keep hurting yourself. Shhhh.”

The older Bartosz looked sadly at his wife, “Please don’t look at me like that. She said I had to or else he’d die anyway.”

Mary rushed at him and started to hit him, “Liar! She would never do this to me.. MARTHA WOULD NEVER!” She stole her dead Jonah from him. She cried over his small body. 

Franziska looked from the couple on the side of the road then looked at Martha and said, “But you have to choose our world and trust in him. Jonas.”

Bartosz started to question them as well. Annalise could see it on his face as Martha asked, “Jonas? He’s alive?”

“In our world,” Franziska nodded, “And he knows what the origin is.”

Mary trembled as she realized, no. Eve could, and Eve would. She started to realize everything was just Eve’s fault. She had been using her just as she used Jonas, but to what end. Mary sneered at him and said, “Of course in the end you would choose her. I hope you rot in the hell you both made.” She walked away from him to go to Eve’s office.

Franziska continued, “But before that, you must save Jonas from the apocalypse in his world and bring him into your world.”

Bartosz stood up and growled, “All of you are crazy, you know that?!”

Magnus stepped towards the girl and said, “You can’t stop what’s happening now, but...if you come with us, you can prevent it. Another time.” He took out the orb and held it towards Martha.

Bartosz helped Annalise up and asked, “What is that?”

Martha stared into her other worldly brother’s eyes. She panted as she tried to figure out what to do. What was the best step. Who should she trust? What should she do?

Bartosz’s voice cut through the noise in Martha’s head, “Martha what’s going on here?”

Martha walked towards them and turned towards her two closest friends, “you have to come with us.”

“Come with you where,” Bartosz asked.

Franziska spoke up as Magnus got the orb ready, “They aren’t one of us. They work for the others. She will save them.” Franziska nodded towards Annalise. 

Martha looked between the two groups unsure of who to go with or who to trust. She looked at her friends and whispered, “I’m sorry.” She disappeared in a cloud of ashes and ember.

“It’s time,” Eve spoke to her group, “Adam has moved each of his tokens into position. It is time that we do the same.”

Mary burst into the room angry with her Bartosz trailing behind her, “You MONSTER! You LIED TO ME.” She growled and launched herself at Eve. 

Eve laughed as everyone else left the room to leave them alone. She shook her head, “I did no such thing. This was all just a test for you, don’t you see that?”

Mary screamed, “You killed my son!? After everything I had done for you! I made your damn machine for you! I traumatised myself for you. I worked years and years for you. Blindly trusting you. You separated me from Bartosz for years to motivate me to make the machine work! I helped convince someone I was an angel with the son you had my husband have after me so that we could have your dad’s brother killed! Who even does that?! Why me?!”

Eve sighed, again, she chose Jonas in the end just like every cycle. Annalise chose Bartosz. As her heart slowly broke, she spoke, “I am so sorry you see it that way, but I want to hear it from you. Say what you are truly feeling deep inside your heart. Tell me.”

The younger Eve took over speaking to the rest of the group, “This knot has given us all life and we are its keepers. In both worlds. He’ll never be able to untie this knot. In all these years, he’s never understood how everything is connected. How it all ends and begins. Not only in our world, but in his as well. We are destiny. We raise the walls of this labyrinth. Each of us shapes the paths and extend their hand. Bartosz, you must help save yourself and Annalise to save our lives. Claudia, you must guide yourself to be our eyes in the other world. Egon, you must create your past to preserve the family tree. Noah, you must bring love and friendship... To start everything anew. Every darkness is followed by light. With every death comes life.” The younger Eve opened the portal for them.

In Adam’s world, Martha pleaded with the scarred man, “You brought me into your world. You promised me we could change this. Why are you doing this?” She struggled against her chains crying. She sobbed and asked him, “Where are the others? Where did you send them?”

Adam’s raspy voice grated in the air, “They are all fulfilling their destinies. Magnus and Franziska. Charlotte and Elisabeth. Silja and Agnes. They’re sustaining the cycle’s life. So that you and I exist here, now.”

“What are you saying,” She shook her head in confusion.

Adam looked at the ghost of Annalise dancing around them and looked back at her, “This is the end we’ve reached. What’s growing inside you, the origin, must die. But it can’t be killed by normal means. It’s born of both worlds and so the energy of both worlds is necessary to destory it. The apocalypse in my world...and the apocalypse in your world. This here is the end. A machine that crosses not only time, but space as well. Which then focuses the energy of both apocalypses on one concentrated point. This spot. Your son only exists because the matter exists. Now, through it, he will die, and all of us with him. None of this will exist anymore. Both worlds will erase one another. Absolute annihilation.”

Martha shook her head. She looked at him with sorrow for him, “You’ve gone insane.”

Adam slowly walked towards her, “There is no hope. No salvation. No paradise.” He took Annalise’s necklace from her, “We were wrong. You and I. In your world, and in mine.” He walked away from her.

“Jonas,” She called out to him, “JONAS! Jonas, please don’t do it. Jonas.”

Adam closed the door to prevent him from still hearing her call his old name. A name he had not associated with himself in a long time. A name when he was still Annalise’s. As she cried, he sighed knowing what he had to do. He turned it on and watched her struggle.

The beginning is the end and the end is the beginning. Every connection in one world must also be closed in the other world. Everything is interconnected. In the light and in shadow.

Slowly, all of Eve’s foot soldiers reached where they were to go. Older Noah to Sylvie and Elizabeth, Helge and Egon back to the past, Claudia to her other self, and Older Bartosz to Annalise and his younger self. Ulrich going into the past to stop Mads from dying.  Older Jonas creating the machine while young Eve went to place the note. The Unknown going to help create the end. 

Mary screamed, “ADAM WAS RIGHT. There is no salvation! You are the monster and this should end. All of this should end. There is no paradise! There is only pain!”

Just as a gunshot rang out deep in the cavern walls, The Unknown all yelled out desperately, “MOM!”