#as my friend allen puts it. instead of asking Would they say that. ask what would Make them say that?

[orcelito]

Sometimes I get worried about whether smth I'm doing is wildly ooc but then I'm like This Is Fanfiction, what the fuck ever

[callsign-dexter]

My Daughter, My Heart Pt. 1

Summary: Jake gets his papers and instead of talking it out with his long-term girlfriend he does something that is beyond repairable.

Pairings: Jake Seresin x Ex-Girlfriend (OC: Elizabeth Taylor), Jake Seresin x Daughter!Reader

Warnings: angst, cursing, heartbreak

Masterlist

My Daughter, My Heart

Prolog Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

The alarm on Jake's phone is what woke him up. He was quick to wake up and turn it off and when he did so he looked over at his girlfriend of 5 years and smiled at her sleeping form. He loved her he really did but the thought of him getting deployed and him having to break her heart when he didn't come back broke him even though he didn't let anyone see it. Breaking out of his thoughts he slowly got up and looked at the time and the clock read 5:30 AM he sighed and got up and started getting ready for the day.

Once a shower was done and everything to do in the bathroom was done he was heading to the kitchen. Jake started the coffee to get it going for both him and Elizabeth as the coffee was going he went outside to the mailbox. Most of the time he would get in a morning run but decided against it he could do it after work. As he was walking down the driveway their neighbor Mrs. Allen was out walking her dog. "Hi, Jake!" She said excitedly and Jake smiled.

"Hello, Mrs. Allen. Early start of your day I see." He said as he was opening the mailbox and grabbing the mail.

"Yes! I'm going to be out for most of the day and need to get the energy going." She said and he smiled and nodded. Jake was dressed in his Navy ABUs. He would get changed into his flight suit once he got there.

"I understand that. Well, it's been nice talking to you!" Jake said as he waved to her with the mail in his hand.

"You too, Jake! I'll see you around." She said and he smiled and nodded and headed up the house. When he got in there he heard the shower running and he smiled because that meant that Elizabeth was up and getting ready for the day.

As Jake was looking through the mail he found nothing too exciting than one piece stuck out to him it was labeled with the Navy's official stamp and his name sprawled across it. He put down the rest of the mail and opened that piece. They were sending him on a 1-year long deployment and his heart dropped to his stomach when he saw that they were sending him Saturday night, tomorrow night. He truly did love deployments but that also meant a chance of him not coming home. When he heard the patter of feet coming down the stairs he quickly put the letter away with his work stuff and smiled when Elizabeth came into the room. "Good morning." She said with a smile and he smiled back.

"Good morning." He replied and kissed her as she walked up to him. He handed her coffee and she began going through the mail. Seeing nothing interesting or immediate attention she pushed it to the side. "I'm gonna be late tonight." Jake said to her and she nodded.

"That's ok. I'm gonna have to stay late to finish up some grading and paperwork." Elizabeth said and he nodded. He had already made up his mind that on his lunch break, he would come and get his stuff. He didn't have much there considering that it was her place and he had already bought a place before he met her so it was still considered very new and he was letting Javy, his friend from The Naval Academy, stay there. He was in his mind thinking of everything and wasn't paying attention until she had said his name. "Jake?" Elizabeth asked and he looked up.

"Hmmm?" He asked

"Did you hear me?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No sorry I have a lot of my mind." He said and she frowned.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asked and he shook his head.

"No. I got to get to work. I love you." He said and kissed her hard and extra long then he headed out the door, leaving a confused Elizabeth. He didn't even give her a chance to say she loved him back.

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Jake got to the base in record time and through the gate without any trouble. As soon as he parked another car pulled in next to him and he recognized it as Javy’s. They both got out at the same time. "Did you get the orders?" Javy and Jake nodded.

"Yup. Sure did. You?" Jake said as they walked into their building and to the office that they shared.

"Yea I did, I leave the say after you. Have you told Elizabeth?" Javy asked. He was fond of Elizabeth and considered her a friend.

"No. I don't want to. I'm thinking of ending things with her." Jake said and it pained him to say that.

"What? Why?" Javy asked looking at him shocked.

"This is the longest deployment I'm going to be on. All the others were short. I don't want to break her heart when I don't come home. So I'm gonna go at lunch and move out and back to the house." He said and finally looked up at his friend who was looking at him like he had two heads.

"Jake. That's absurd, even for you." Javy said and Jake hung his head.

"I know but it has to be done. I don't have much there." He said and Javy sighed and gave up trying to convince him to do the opposite of what he's going to do.

"Fine. I'm not happy with your decision but I'll help you." Javy said and Jake nodded.

"We'll go at lunch." Jake said

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After the weird goodbye, Elizabeth got ready for the day. Jake's behavior still running through her mind. She didn't know what to think about it and tried not to think about it. She and Jake had met through Javy and it was an instant connection. As she was putting her makeup on for the day so made a mental note to text Jake. As she was walking down the steps she decided to go ahead and text him.

I don't know what happened this morning but I love you and hope you have a good day.

She hit send and waited for a reply, which usually happened fairly soon after the first text. As she waited so got nothing and that made her heart drop. She decided to push it behind her and get along with her day. Elizabeth worked on base at the school. She was the middle school history teacher and she loved her job.

When she was done inside she headed out to her car and started her journey to the base. She wasn't in the Navy but a civilian working on a Navy base. When she got to the school she parked and walked in. Soon her students would start piling in. She tried to call Jake hoping he wasn't up in the air. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number after 3 rings it went to voice-mail.

You've reached Jake Seresin. Please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Hey Jake, it's me. I'm not going to be able to do lunch today. I'm just not feeling all that great. I hope you have a good day and I love you.

Elizabeth frowned as she finished her message this was not like Jake. She didn't have to think long because a turning in her gut had her rushing out of her classroom and to a nearby bathroom. She barely made it into the stall before she was throwing up. This had been going on for about a week, she thought it was just a stomach bug that she had caught from her students so she let it go. She didn't tell Jake because she didn't want to burden him. When she was done throwing up she went back to her classroom just as soon as the students started to come in. She sighed and started her day.

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When lunchtime came around for Jake and Javy both men went and got into Jake’s truck and went to the house. Before they left the building Jake saw that he had some messages from Elizabeth but decided to ignore them. When he listened to the voice-mail he thought maybe what he was doing was out of line and he should back out, but those thoughts came back and he decided to move along with his plan. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Javy asked and Jake nodded.

"I'm sure." He said as they pulled out of the base and drove the short amount of time to the house. When they got there and parked in the driveway and headed inside everything was the same as they had left it. Jake sighed standing in the kitchen looking around but got a move on, if he wanted to do this he needed to do it now.

"You're 100% sure?" Javy asked one more time looking around the house that he had been to so many times.

"Yes, Javy. I'm 100% committed to this decision." Jake said with a slight annoyance even though he was thinking about having second thoughts.

"Ok man. Just making sure." Javy said as he followed Jake to the bedroom. Everything was still the same. Jake went to the closet and pulled out two duffle bags and sat them on the bed and began to put his belongings in them. It was silent as the two men worked with the occasional question from Javy about something.

All of the clothes and bathroom items were cleaned out and packed they headed to the front of the house. Jake had decided to leave the TV, couches, and most of the appliances there for her since he was going to be deployed and wouldn't need them. He grabbed his computer, charges, extra phone charges, and odds and ends that were lying around. "I think that's everything." Jake said while doing a look around one more time.

"I don't think this is right. She loves you, man." Javy said and Jake sighed and hung his head. He knew it was wrong but to him, it had to be done.

"I know. I just don't want to break her heart when I don't come home." Jake said and Javy nodded as they picked the stuff up and headed to Jake’s truck and put everything in the backseat. Jake had left his keys sitting on the counter along with the garage door remote. He still had time if he wanted to back out but he pushed those feelings behind and walked out the door for the last time.

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When the school had let out for the day Elizabeth stayed back and worked on some work like she would. She sighed and smiled a little to herself thankful it was Friday but also for the little child growing in her. During her lunch hour, she had run up to the store and bought a couple of pregnancy tests and took them when she got back to the school, and after waiting 5 minutes they both showed positive. She and Jake weren't actively trying but they sure weren't doing anything to avoid it.

When she finished up what she needed she packed her stuff up and headed to her car. She said her goodbyes to her friends and colleagues who had stayed late as well. She had been too busy to text or call Jake so she sent him a message. When she got her phone out she frowned at the lack of notifications.

Hey! Finally done for the day! I'm heading home! I can't wait to see you! I have some news!

She waited a good amount of time, more like the amount of time for her to get her stuff packed in her car before she looked at her phone again. Nothing. She was getting nervous and her stomach was in knots, she was worried.

All she could think about while driving home from work was that something bad happened to him. She loved him with all of her heart and would love to get married and have a family with him. She exited the base with ease and started her journey home. The time seemed to drag by especially since she wanted to get home.

When she got home his truck was not in the driveway and when she opened the garage it wasn't in there either. She felt like she could vomit right then and there. She turned off her car and headed inside.

When she got inside something felt off and when she noticed his phone charger missing from the counter she frowned. 'Maybe he came home at lunch to grab it', she thought which made her nerves ease up. As she was going through the house she was starting to get nervous again. Everything of his was mostly gone. She wasn't going to let it get to her just yet but when she got into the bedroom and saw the drawers open and the closet empty of his stuff tears welled up in her eyes. "This can't be happening." She said aloud to herself. She stood there in front of their now her bed and she felt sick, she rushed to the bathroom and vomited. When she was done she rinsed her mouth out and then noticed his toothbrush, cologne, and other bathroom necessities gone and that's when tears leaked out for the first time. "Fuck, this can't be happening. Not now!" She yelled out and ran to the living room to find extra shoes by the front door and his extra jackets gone. She stumbled to the couch sat down and called the only person she knew who would answer. Javy. It rang twice before he answered.

"Hello?" He answered while sitting in his and Jake's office while Jake was doing last-minute training and adjustments.

"Javy. Can you come over?" She asked

"Give me 10 minutes." Javy said and she sobbed out.

"Thank you." She said and they hung up.

She sat there for 10 minutes sobbing as she heard Javy’s car pull up. She rushed out of the house and crashed into his arms. "Everything ok?" He asked even though he knew what she had found.

"Everything of his is gone." She chocked out.

"What do you mean?" He asked as he ushered her inside.

"Everything that he owned." She said as they sat down on the couch "Nothing is here. He hasn't been answering my texts or calls. Do you think he found someone else?" She asked looking up at him with tear streaks down her face.

"No, I don't think he would do that. He loves you too much." Javy said bringing her in for a hug and silently cursing him out.

"I need him, Javy. I need him because I can't raise this baby on my own." She said and that shocked him into silence.

"Say that again." He said knowing he heard her correctly.

"I'm pregnant." She said looking up at him.

"Does he know?" He asked and she shook her head.

"No, I was gonna tell him tonight. I found out this afternoon. Please don’t tell him." She said and he brought her into a hug again.

"Everything is gonna be ok. I promise. I won't tell him." Javy said as he held his friend until her crying had turned to hiccups and her breath evened out. He held her there cursing Jake. He took his phone out and opened Jake's contact and hit text message.

I'm with Liz. You fucked up, man. Big time.

He hit send and got comfortable.

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Jake had just gotten into the locker room and was changing when his phone went off. He grabbed his phone and saw a message from Javy and his heart dropped. He never wanted to hurt her just protect her. Maybe he took it too far.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@persesphonestears

@grandstrangerphantom

[willowpenguinwritting]

Party Girls inspired oneshot.

Rebbeca Allen sighed as she typed a message to Tori asking if she wanted to meet her partner. Raine danced past her in her slippers before looking at Becky's gloomful stressed look, so pinched Becky's chin and kissed her cheek. Raine was her pansexual partner and her sunshine. Raine could light up everything wherever they went. Becky's phone buzzed to see an excitable message from Tori. Yes, an excitable message from Victoria Spring, seemed unbelievable. Then there was another buzz with a message that explained Micheal had sent that and they were both free to meet at a restaurant for dinner. Becky typed back frantically smiling through her still-bitten lip when she heard a clatter and rose from the sofa she had been slumped in.

"Raine? What was that noise?" Becky asked as she entered the kitchen pulling her hair to rest on her shoulders. Becky glanced to see Raine in the splits on the floor picking up a bunch of cutlery. "You and your spoon juggling need to be kept under tighter control." Becky giggled. Raine nodded as she threw the spoons into the air before jumping up and catching all the spoons in a bowl. 

"Spoon?" Raine asked Becky presenting the bowl to her girlfriend.

 Becky picked up a spoon and twirled it between her fingers before answering with a short and sharp "Raine No, Put them back in the drawer properly."Raine sighed as she placed the spoons back in the cutlery drawer. 

"So do I get to finally meet Spoldren?" Raine asked Becky who nodded in response. 

"We are meeting them for dinner, now will you allow me to dye your hair again?" Becky asked.

Raine nodded and headed to the bathroom where they had hair dye galore and sat in front of the bath whilst Becky sat at the edge and slowly and carefully dyed her hair. The aim was red highlights, instead, the whole thing went a bit red. "Ummm oops." Becky laughed. 

"What have you done to my hair?" Raine inquired, her dark hair didn't suit been dyed very many colours because of the shade. 

Becky sighed "Lorraine don't be annoyed."

"You used my full name, am I going to be annoyed?" her girlfriend asked fearfully. 

Becky shrugged, "Well I think it looks nice, the red makes your hair look alive."

"I suppose it is ok," Raine responded as she looked at it in the bathroom mirror.  

Becky grinned "You look beautiful bubs," Planting a kiss on her girlfriend's cheek. Raine laughed as she pointed to the cherry-coloured mark that Becky's lipstick had left behind. "Ooops?" Becky tried to suggest she was not expecting anything less than a mark. She pulled out a makeup wipe and wiped her girlfriend's cheek. 

"You need to either stop wearing lipstick or stop kissing me so much." Raine giggled from the tickling wipe.

Becky posted "How about no to both?"

"I need to get dressed." Raine started the obvious as she was still standing wearing a duck onesie and bunny slippers. 

Becky looked at her "Yep, you do. Remember we are going to a restaurant so that means your frog hoodie is off the options list."

"Homophobia at its finest," Raine commented raising her eyebrows.

Becky frowned "I hate you."

"I love you too," Raine called out as she left the bathroom and entered their bedroom. She gazed up at the painting next to their bed. It was two foxes painted in the Bisexual and Pansexual pride flag colours, their friend Frances had painted it for them. She pulled open the wardrobe and went along her assigned side, She pulled out a deep red blazer and trousers and a black sparkly tank top. She placed it to one side as it was for later she needed to look formal so she pulled on her bright pink tracksuit and headed into the dining room.

To say Becky was nervous would be an understatement. There were things from her past with Tori that she did not want to be brought up. In her head she had a mental list of things not to mention, this included Tori's brother Charlie and his mental health. If she mentioned that she was certain that something could instantly feel that something would go wrong.

For most of the rest of the day, Becky was a bit uncertain and anxious. She had been more anxious about other things than this but it was still a bit of an uneasy thing to do after not seeing Tori for so long.

When the hour of seven arrived the pair got into their shared car and began driving towards the restaurant. Becky's worries had not exactly faded in fact they had increased at the discovery of the restaurant being called Black Jack. It was another card game. Named ever so similar to the group who set fire to her school in year twelve. Raine grabbed her hand and stroked it delicately.

"It will be ok Becks." She said with a smile that she hoped would relax their girlfriend slightly.

Becky nodded with a half grin as they got out of the car. "Come on let's head in,"

The pair entered the restaurant to be waved over by Victoria and Micheal. It was an odd awkward pause before anyone actually said anything.

"Well hello, it's good to see you both." Micheal grinned.

Becky bit her lip unsure if this was the truth or not. If it was he was certainly acting odd, to say the least.

"Hello," Rainne said with a wave. Becky exhaled as Tori responded and started a discussion of how work was and all that jazz and adult talk that teenage Tori would have rather died than listen to or join in on.

"So Tori are you still going to have lemonade to drink?" Becky asked her feeling more comfortable now.

Tori laughed "Obviously I am."

When a waiter came to collect all of their orders for drinks Micheal shot Tori a look which he got an elbow to the stomach for. "Please just let me say it." he pestered.

"Fine." Tori groaned.

Micheal's face lit up and he turned to Becky "I can't believe Tori has a gay best friend."

"He told me he has wanted to do that for a year now," Tori informed the table.

Becky laughed "God I was so stupid back then."

"You weren't stupid," Rainne told her.

Micheal laughed "She was."

Tori just let out a loud heavy sigh. They all fell apart laughing after the argument had settled with yes Becky was kind of stupid in their past.

[kitkatt0430]

Iris West-Allen for the character ask game 👀

How I feel about this character

I think she's awesome. We really get to watch her grow over the course of the series and watching her truly discover herself as a leader and hero in her own right is really wonderful to see. While she occasionally has powers here and there, she's a great example of a badass normal and proves that a powered character (Barry) doesn't need a powered love interest in order to be in love with someone who is every bit their equal. Iris is no damsel in distress; she's going to try to find a way to save herself every time.

That said, I wish her agency was more consistently her own. Her plots often get co-opted to serve other character's plots (most often Barry, but it's also been done for Allegra which was just weird...) which puts a lot of her achievements in the background or sub-plot area instead of centering them the way she deserves.

(The fact that she goes from student to journalist with no graduation in between is really frustrating. She's Barry's best friend and yet he's never shown as being super excited to attend her graduation and celebrate her achievement of a Masters degree??? S1, asleep at the wheel right there...)

All the people I ship romantically with this character

Barry, Eddie, Cisco, Caitlin, Lisa, Leonard (more for ColdWestAllen than for ColdWest on it's own though), Ralph (but again more for ElongatedWestAllen than DibnyWest itself), Linda, Laurel, Sara...

Probably more tbh, she's very shippable

My non-romantic OTP for this character

Barry again, I kind of prefer the platonic ship for them because of how their dynamic in S1/S2 is (though obviously the romantic ship grew on me...)

Cisco, Caitlin, Frost, Allegra, Kamilla, Linda, Ralph...

Everyone wants to be besties with her, okay? :D

My unpopular opinion about this character

The show does a terrible job of establishing Iris' feelings for Barry as romantic in the first several seasons.

In season one especially there is so much of other characters telling her how they think she feels, but every time she establishes what her feelings are for him are... those feelings are platonic. Aside from the cheating kiss that was the worst decision ever made by the show runners (and made kinda creepy given how it's been romanticized by later seasons) and was a heat of the moment thing that happened after yet another character (Linda) was telling Iris 'I think you're in love with him based on your stated as platonic, sibling-like behavior with him'.

Basically every 'shippy' moment I've seen pointed out for the first two seasons fits entirely with Iris' stated platonic feelings and can really only be interpreted as romantic interest if her stated feelings are ignored. (Especially Joe trying to get Iris to say she wouldn't have dated Eddie if she knew Barry liked her; way to take what she was just saying out of context despite the context having literally just been established. >_<) Iris is the one living in her own head, I wish other characters would respect that she knows what her emotions are better than they do.

This essentially leads to the problem where when Iris and Barry get together it feels less like it's happening because Iris is in love with Barry and more because everyone and their time-line reading AI has told her she marries Barry. And since trying to deviate from that got Eddie killed, what choice does she really have? She loves Barry, but is she in love with him? It's painfully unclear for quite some time and the show itself doesn't even acknowledge this problem until (briefly) in S9.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

I wish she'd been looped in on Barry being the Flash from the start. Locking her out of the loop 'for her protection' only ever put her in more danger than she'd have been in if she'd been kept aware of what was actually going on.

[dementedspeedster]

From the 'Weirdly specific but helpful character building question' prompt: 1, 7, 13, 30, 31

Accepting || WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

"I'm fine."

7. What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

Mun: I wouldn't mean it, but I'd probably say something vaguely insulting about The Flash/Barry Allen because Thad would come find me in that instance. For a best friend: @deborahmorgna gave me a few options for Deb: - "I think Bart is hot." - "Supers are better than Bats" (That would work in either of my ship verse) -"Marco" In Interlac with the expectation he yells back, "Polo." - No words needed Deb's just starting a fire. - Or just Deb screaming. (Thad would absolutely ) A Romantic Partner: I also asked @volucerrubidus and they replied, "Probably a straight up insult" and that definitely would definitely get Thad's attention. He would also respond in a very Miette way f you're familiar with the meme. Thad's response: "You insult Thad??? Oh, oh! Jail! Jail for Tim." (He will be mustering the biggest puppy eyes and the poutiest pout he can.)

13. When do they fake a smile? How often?

Thad doesn't fake his smile too often nowadays, but he will fake his smile in moments of duress. In the moments where he has to play villain for someone. In the moments where he needs to be a villain to just get by the moment even when that's not what he wants. If someone is so sure that he's bad, evil, or a villain, then he will fall into that role and put on a mask for them and play his part because arguing against people like that is so much harder. It's not worth the time or energy for him, so he just doesn't fight back. Also just relating to the first question. He would fake a smile when saying "I'm fine".

30. When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

No, it doesn't differ for him. You might notice that I refer to Thad pretty strictly as Thad in my writing because there is no difference between Inertia and Thad Thawne. Inertia is not an alternate identity to Thad or a name he can hide behind, but instead it is just him.

31. When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

I think Thad feels the most guilt when he betrays the trust of someone he cares about or when he fails them. These types of moments have to due with just who he s as a person. He's selfish at times, self-serving, he'll do almost anything to protect himself first and foremost, so sometimes he tries to defend his actions. But other times he will just feel that guilt and shame. He'll probably try to stay away from the person he hurt.

[shannyh25]

Summary: After the sudden death of Gilbert’s parents, he became his little sisters legal guardian and also Sarah’s Doctor. This is about how Gilbert handles taking care of his little sister who has anxiety and their journey on how they move in after there parents death. Anne is with them every step of the way. They eventually get married of course.

Please let me know what you guys think of my story. I always thought Gilbert would be a great big brother. Especially to a little sister. Also, I’m thinking this story is taking place after the second movie, Anne Of Avonlea. If you like the first chapter and want more, I’ll post chapter 2. You guys just tell me!

Follow me for more inspiration! 💜💕

Chapter 1

Gilbert Blythe was holding his youngest and only sister Sarah at their parents funeral. He had just graduated medical school and he was suppose to be celebrating with his family and friends. But instead, he was watching his parents get buried.

Reverend Allen was saying a prayer as a few of Gilbert’s father dearest friends were lowering the coffin into the gravesite. They had asked Gilbert if he wanted to help to, but he has said no. He needed to be with Sarah, and Anne. Gilbert’s long time girlfriend.

Gilbert took a deep shaky breath, trying to calm down. He wasn’t ready to take on the task of raising his sister. Not as a parental guardian. He was loving his role as a big brother. Now, not only is he a big brother, he was also her guardian and on top of that, Sarah’s Doctor.

Once their fathers coffin was lowered into the ground, Gilbert whispered to a whimpering Sarah “ They just lowered papas coffin into the gravesite sweetheart. They are getting ready to do momma next.”

Gilbert felt the tiny arms around him tighten. Sarah has been having a hard time since their parents died. It wasn’t fair. Gilbert had his parents for 22 years. Sarah only had them for 8 short years. Not long enough. Life was cruel, Gilbert thought.

Once they finally lowered their fathers coffin, their parents friends went over to their mothers next. Reverend Allen said another prayer for their mother and silent tears were streaming down Gilbert’s eyes. He quickly whipped them away with his free hand.

Gilbert took a peek at Anne to see how she was holding up. She was crying softly to. His parents had basically adopted Anne as their own daughter. They loved her dearly and loved how Anne loved Sarah as her own sister.

“It’s okay to cry Anne-girl. Papa and momma loved you to like their own daughter. I know it hurts, come here.” Gilbert said softly.

Gilbert opened his free arm and Anne gladly accepted the invitation. He pulled Anne close to him. He could feel Anne’s body shaking as she was crying.

Gilbert didn’t hear much of the prayer the Reverend was saying before they lowered his mother. He was focusing on Sarah and Anne.

Gilbert did notice that they were lowering the coffin down into the gravesite beside his father. The Reverend said another prayer and then their parents friends started to put dirt on top of the coffins.

They can Rest In Peace together. Side by side. Gilbert thought.

Just a couple of days ago, Gilbert and Reverend Allen walked around the Blythe’s property so Gilbert can find a nice gravesite were his parents can be buried together.

Reverend Allen and Gilbert spent about a hour hour walking around the property. Gilbert had a hard time trying to decide were his parents would be buried. He wanted them birdied at home so that Sarah can visit and talk to them whenever she pleases. Reverend Allen agreed with Gilbert and thought that was a good idea. For Sarah’s sake. Anne was kind enough and invited to have Sarah over at her house at Green Gables to distract her for awhile and get her mind off of what was going on.

Anne was happy to watch Sarah. Anne and Gilbert talked about what he was going to do tomorrow and that he thought it was best if. Sarah was at home. Anne agreed.

Gilbert had finally found a place that he thought his parents would love. It was close to the house and he wouldn’t be worried about Sarah wandering to far to visit the gravesites.

The place Gilbert found was underneath a big pine tree that had shade in the afternoons and a creek was near by. If was right across from the famous Blythe’s Apple Orchard. Eventually, Gilbert wanted to make a white picket fence to go around the burial site to try and keep wild animals out from digging it up.

Gilbert was broken out of his thoughts when Anne whispered to him “Reverend Allen just got done saying a prayer for momma. They are getting ready to buddy here next.”

Gilbert took a deep breath as his parents friends were lowering the coffin into the ground. He held Sarah tight with one hand and pulled Anne closer to him with the other. Anne was quietly crying.

Anne buried her face into Gilbert’s shoulder and he hugged her with his free arm. Her body shook with sobs. Gilbert was trying to be the strong one for all three of them.

Finally, what felt like forever, both of their parents were put in their final resting spots. Side by side. Their friends started to cover the gravesite and 20 minutes later, a fresh pile of dirt lay on top of the graves.

One by one or in small groups, their friends came over to talk to Gilbert and said comforting things to Sarah. They weren’t mad or upset that if Sarah didn’t acknowledge them. Gilbert did most of the talking and he knew Sarahs anxiety was going yo start acting up. He wanted to get her inside to rest as soon as possible.

Finally, Doctor Spencer shook hands with Gilbert and told him that he was sorry he couldn’t help or save his parents. Gilbert told him it wasn’t his fault an Gilbert still looked up to Doctor Spencer a great Doctor.

“You take care of your sister Gilbert. Watch for any signs of her in case she gets sick. You know what took look for. Give her a check up once this lot leaves and have her rest for a few days. Her anxiety hasn’t been that bad while you were gone. Just the last week with everything happening to your parents. You know how to take care of her anxiety to. Your so good with her Gilbert. Be the best big brother that you can. Then worry about being a Doctor. When your ready, come by my office and we can talk.” Doctor Spencer said.

“Yes sir Doctor Spencer. You know I’ll take good care of Sarah. I plan on giving her a check up when we go in. I’ll let you know if I need help. Thank you for everything you have done for Sarah my parents.” Gilbert said.

“Good man. I’ll be by in a few days to check in on you and Sarah. See how Sarah is doing.” Doctor Spencer said.

Then Doctor Spencer made his way over to Anne. “ Keep an eye on him Anne. See that he doesn’t run himself sick or exhausted. We both know that he will. He will be focusing on Sarah and her health right know. Especially since he is a fresh out of medical school. If he doesn’t slow down, come and get me and I’ll talk to him, or have one of the twins get me. I’ll be by in a few days to check on Gilbert and Sarah.”

“I will Doctor Spencer. He is worried Sarah might catch Typhoid since she was expose to it. I pray that she doesn’t.” Anne said.

“Thank you Anne. I’ll see you in a few days. Call me if you need me sooner.” Doctor Spencer said.

With that, Doctor Spencer made his way over to his buggy and got in it. He nodded his head to Marilla and Rachel as he rode off.

Marilla and Rachel were standing in a corner somewhat close Gilbert and they were talking softly to each other.

Rachel was watching Gilbert and how he was comforting Sarah. Rubbing her back and talking softly to her. Anne was close with him to.

“Gilbert Blythe was meant to be a big brother. That’s what.” Mrs. Rachel Lynde was telling her best friend Marilla. Marilla nodded her head in agreement as she stared over at Gilbert holding his little sister Sarah.

Gilbert’s parents had died from Scarlet Fever lees then a week ago. Gilbert had just graduated from Medical School with high honors. They had a big celebration. Then a couple of days later, there parents sadly passed away.

“Do you think he will get mad or impatient with Sarah when her anxiety kicks in?” Rachel asked.

“Absolutely not. No one has more patients then Gilbert. He won’t get angry at her. That will make things worse. He will be loving, caring, patient with her. He is a Doctor and no one will understand Sarah more then Gilbert will. I’m not worried about that at all. Plus, he has Anne to help him and us.” Marilla said.

“Sarah is going to school right?” Rachel asked.

“According to Anne yes. Anne and Gilbert were talking last night and when Gilbert thinks Sarah is ready, she will start school. Gilbert is planning on her going to school not next week when it starts, but the week after. Gilbert will be her teacher at home. Anne liked that idea since Gilbert was a teacher after all. Anne will come over in the afternoons to see how they are doing in Sara’s homework that Gilbert will give her.” Marilla

Marilla felt a tug on her sleeve and looked down. It was Dora. Dora had been so quite, that Marilla forgot that Dora was even there. Marilla smiled softly at Dora.

“What is it Dora?” Marilla asked.

“Sarah won’t be starting school with us? Even though it starts next week? I was so excited to have her at school and we would share a seat together. Anne even said so.” Dora said.

Marilla couldn’t help but chuckle at Dora’s sadness.

“Sarah won’t be starting school right away as I have mentioned. Anne and Gilbert feel that Sarah will be more stressed and anxious if she goes to school right away. Since Gilbert is also Sarah’s doctor know, he has the right to keep her home from school until he feels like Sarah can handle it. Her anxiety is already high Anne said and Gilbert doesn’t need Sarah to be in anymore stress at the moment. What Sarah needs to know, Gilbert and Anne can teach her at home until they feel she is ready. Gilbert used to be a teacher and he knows exactly what Sarah needs to learn and study.” Marilla said.

Dora thought about this for moment. “Can I come over to Gilbert’s house with Anne sometimes after school? I can help Sarah go and keep her company. Give Gilbert and Anne a break for awhile.”

Marilla couldn’t help but smile at Dora. She didn’t think it was a bad idea.

“I don’t see why not. We can talk to Anne about it and then Gilbert. I think it will be good for Sarah to be around someone close to her age. I’ll speak with Anne tomorrow about it. Right know, I want her to focus on Gilbert and Sarah.” Marilla said.

Dora didn’t say anything after Marilla had explained why Sarah wasn’t going to. But, she was happy that she had agreed to let Dora go over sometimes when Gilbert or Anne gave them the okay.

Dora was hoping she would be able to take Sarah out into the famous Blythe’s Apple Orchard to pick apples and make a pie for Gilbert and Sarah. Usually, Sarah and Dora pick apples in the fall. Occasionally with Sarahs family and Gilbert if he was home. Sarah loved picking apples and she would send a box full of them to Gilbert while he was at school. Which always made Gilbert laugh.

After all the Apple picking, Dora and sometimes Anne would go over to the Blythe’s and spend the day baking apple pies. It was always a fun time for Dora.

Finally, what felt like a life time to Dora, Marilla noticed that Reverend Allen left and it was just Anne, Gilbert, and Sarah. They made there way over.

“I’m very sorry for your loss Gilbert. Your parents were very nice, respectful, hard work people. They will be missed dearly.” Marilla said softly.

“Thank you Marilla. We will miss them and it breaks my heart Sarah has only had 8 years with them when I had longer years. At least she got to experience there love and kindness.” Gilbert said softly.

Rachel and Marilla nodded there head in agreement.

“How did Sarah do last night?” Rachel asked.

“Not very good I’m afraid. She was crying and asking for our parents. Her anxiety kicked in about midnight and she threw up a few times from it. Clinging to me. After I gave her a brief check up, I crawled into bed with her and stayed with her all night. Telling her I wasn’t going anywhere. That she stuck with me whether she likes it her not. She got some sleep, I didn’t get much. I was to worried about today and how Sarah would do.” Gilbert said.

“Poor child. If anyone can get Sarah better, it’s you Gilbert. You know her better then any of us. Just please, don’t get mad at Sarah for her anxiety.” Rachel said.

“I would never, ever, get mad at her for that Rachel. You know that as well I do, I would never loose my patients with her. She is just a child that lost her parents. Right know, we just need time and she needs to understand what is happening. You have my word that she is in safe hands with me. I’m her doctor know and know that I am home, I can keep a close on her.” Gilbert said.

“That’s all I ask Gilbert. Just make Sarah feel safe and loved. But, be firm when you have to.” Rachel added.

“I will Rachel. Thank you.” Gilbert said.

“ I’ll make a pot of Beef Stew and I’ll have Anne bring it over in the morning for you guys. I’ll make enough to last at least a week. Along with some fresh bread. Don’t try to talk me out of it Gilbert Blythe. I need you and Sarah to stay healthy and we all know that you can’t get very well. According to Anne. You even burn eggs! How? I have no idea. This will give me something to do as well.” Marilla said.

“Thank you Marilla. We will be sure to eat it. It won’t go to waste.” Gilbert said.

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

Once Gilbert had brought Sarah into the house, he sat her down on the couch and he went to go and get a chair. Anne was with him and she was going to help with Sarah to.

Gilbert brought a chair and Anne went to sit on the couch with Sarah. Sarah looked defeated and heartbroken at the same time.

“Gilbert?” Sarah whispered.

If Gilbert wasn’t paying attention, he might not have heard the tiny voice call his name. He turned around with his doctors bag and looked at his sister.

“What is it sweetheart?” He asked.

He had sat down and and placed his Doctor bag on the floor.

Sarah bit her lip and trying to figure out what to say. Gilbert has an idea and so did Anne. But, they wanted Sarah to talk.

“Is it my fault momma and papa died? I couldn’t help them when they were asking for it. I tried to help them. All I could do was give them water and put cool cloths on their forehead. Feed them a little bit of soup some people had brought over. But, but, right before they died, momma called me asking for help and by the time I got to her, her and papa died. It’s my fault they died.” Sarah whimpered.

Gilbert’s heart broke for his sister and he pulled her into his lap and she clung to him. He knew her anxiety was going to go up soon, and he needed her to calm down.

“Oh sweetheart, it’s not your fault momma and papa died. You didn’t do anything wrong. The sickness they had came on all of a sudden. Without warning and I pray to god you don’t catch what they had. You did nothing wrong little one. You are to young to take on that big of a responsibility. Why no one called me or got a hold of me, I don’t know. You did the right thing by going over to Anne’s to tell her what happen. I’m so sorry little one I got here so late and I might have been able to them. It’s not your fault sweetheart.” Gilbert had said.

Sarah by this point was whimpering and her breathing picked up. Gilbert new that was a sign of her anxiety kicking in. This was going to be a long road to recovery for Sarah.

“Anne-girl, can you hand me the trash can please? I think Sarah might need it.” Gilbert muttered.

Whipping her eyes, Anne got up to get the trash can. Glad to do something useful. She handed it to Gilbert just as Sarah threw up.

Anne held Sarah’s hair back and rubbed her back.

“Is it her anxiety Gil or what your parents had?” Anne whispered.

“Just her anxiety. I knew this was coming on. I could feel how tense she was when I was holding her and breathing was more deep and labored at the service. We are going to have to keep a close eye on her for any symptoms of what ma and pa had.” Gilbert said.

“I’ll help watch her to.” Anne said.

“You okay little one? Can you take slow deep breaths for me? Follow my breathing.” Gilbert said.

Gilbert placed a hand on Sarah’s chest to see how fast her heart was beating. From what he can tell, it was beating to fast for him.

“Okay sweetheart. Slow breath in, slow breath out. Follow my breathing. I know you don’t feel good right know. I need to get your breathing under control. That’s right. Breath in, breath out.” Gilbert said.

Sarah was trying to do what her brother was telling her to do. It was hard for her and Gilbert new it was hard for her. He was going to give her some medicine to help her sleep.

“Anne-girl, I’m going to bring Sarah into my room and give her something to help her sleep. Can you grab my bag and I’ll carry Sarah?” Gilbert asked.

“Of course.” Anne said.

Gilbert got up and was whispering to Sarah saying how proud cans brave she was. That she was going to be okay to his sister. Telling her that they were going into Gilbert’s room and she was going to lay on his bed for awhile.

He put her down and she didn’t want to let go of him.

“Don’t leave me Gilbert. I’ll be good. Please don’t leave.” Sarah whimpered.

“I’m not going anywhere sweetheart. Not without you. You have my word. I’m just putting you on my bed and you will be more comfortable there. I’m going to give you a quick check up though.” Gilbert said.

Anne sat on the bed next to Sarah while Gilbert got out his stethoscope. Gilbert knew Sarah didn’t like it when he went into doctor mode, but, he needed to monitor her symptoms and watch for any signs of illness.

Gilbert put the ear pieces in and he told her he was going to unbotton her dress so he can listen to her heart. Anne had helped Sarah sit up and Gilbert quickly unbotton the top part of the dress.

“This is going to be cold sweetheart. Bear with me okay. I’m going to place this on your chest and I need you to be still and quite. Are you ready?”

Sarah nodded her head yes.

Gilbert placed the bell on her chest and she flinched at the coldness of it and she could feel his fingers on her chest to. He looked straight into Sarah’s eyes while he was listening. Moving around the bell of the stethoscope around her chest to hear her heart. Her heart was slowing down to a normal best much to Gilbert relief.

“I’m going to put this on your back to hear your lungs. I’m going to have Anne unbotton your back part of your dress okay?” Gilbert said.

Anne quickly did as Gilbert asked and he leaned Sarah forward a bit so he can hear her lungs. He listen to her lungs for about another 10, minutes. Moving the bell of the stethoscope around. Her lungs sounded good so far. Gilbert gave a sigh of relief.

Gilbert took the ear pieces out and draped the stethoscope around his neck. He buttoned up the front part of the dress while Anne did the back. Then he gave Sarah a kiss on the forehead telling her how brave she is being.

“I’m going to lay you back on the bed and lift your dress up, but, have the covers covering up your legs to your waist. I want to look at your tummy.

Anne and Gilbert had lay Sarah back down on the bed and Gilbert pulled her dress up to were her tummy was exposed. He pulled the blanket up to Sarah’s waist and her dress was just above her tummy.

“Okay sweetheart. I’m going to feel your tummy for any bumps or lumps. I’m sorry that my hands are cold. I need you tell me if I’m hurting you.” Gilbert told her.

Anne held Sarah’s hand. She felt like she needed to do something and Gilbert gave Anne a look that said thank you and Anne nodded her head yes.

Gilbert felt Sarah’s tummy. Pushing on her tummy and gently running his fingers over her tummy. While the whole time, he was feeling Sarah’s tummy, he was staring in his sisters eyes and face. Watching for any signs of pain or discomfort. There was none to his relief.

Gilbert pulled Sarah’s dress back down and pulled the covers back up. He patted her hand and asked “How are you doing sweetheart? Feeling any nausea? Like you have to throw up?”

Sarah didn’t look at her brother on the eyes of face. She didn’t want him to worry anymore then he has to. He smiled at her. Anne gave her hand a squeeze.

“I can’t help you little one if you don’t tell you don’t feel good. I have one more thing I want to check before I let you take a nap. Do you feel like you have to throw up? I promise I won’t be mad. Trust me, if I get mad at you Anne will break a dozen slates over my head.” Gilbert said

Gilbert winked at Anne and Sarah slowly shook her head yes. Telling her brother she has to throw up. Just as she was nodding her head yes, Gilbert quickly took the trash can by his bed and Sarah had thrown up.

Anne rubbed Sarah’s back and pulled her hair back as Gilbert was comforting his sister. His whole world.

“I-I’m sorry. I tried not to throw up. Really I did. Please don’t be mad.” Whimpered a terrified Sarah.

Gilbert looked at Anne helplessly. Anne shook her head sadly understanding Gilbert.

“I will never be mad at you sweetheart for having anxiety. It’s perfectly normal. Especially what you have gone through the last few days. You have my word and Anne as a witness that I will never scold you or be angry with you for having anxiety okay? We are going to get through this. I promise. I know you feel responsible for loosing ma and pa, but please sweetheart, it’s not your fault they got sick and died. Their bodies just couldn’t handle the sickness. I should have been home. I had to take care of a few things first. Your okay sweetheart. I promise.” Gilbert said.

“I’m not going anywhere sweetheart. Not without you or Anne. We are a family. We will stay here in Avonlea so we can be close to Ma and Pa. You can visit them everyday when you feel better. I’m not going anywhere.” Gilbert said.

Sarah clung to him. Her breathing was picking up fast again and Gilbert can tell she was going to throw up. She did. Sarah got herself worked up and it broke Gilbert’s heart to see that.

“Anne, I need to finish up my exam on Sarah. Then I’m going to give her something to help her sleep. Nothing heavy. A light sedative. But, she won’t like it, and I’ll need you to help hold her.” Gilbert said.

Anne nodded. Knowing exactly what Gilbert meant. He was going to give her an injection with some medication to help her sleep. She needs a good rest for at least a few hours.

“Sweetheart, can I finish up my exam I’m giving you? It will only be about 10 more minutes. Then you need to sleep. I’m just going to feel your neck and your throat and make sure there isn’t anything alarming or I need to be concerned with. “

Sarah nodded her head yes.

“I’m sorry my hands are cold. This won’t take long.” Gilbert said.

“Can you tilt your head back for me a bit? So I can fell your throat?” Gilbert asked.

Sarah did as she was told. Gilbert put his finger tips on top of her throat and head concentrating very hard while he light moves his finger tips up and down her throat and on the sides. He felt relieved when he didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.

“You can relax know sweetheart. I’m just going to feel the sides of your neck and the back of your neck. Then I’m just about done.” Gilbert said.

Once again, Gilbert this time used his whole hands on neck. He ran his fingers tips up and down the side of her neck and then the back. Again, he didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary.

“All seems good little one. I just need to do one more thing. I’m afraid you won’t like it, but, since I’m your doctor, I feel like it’s the right thing to do. You need sleep sweetheart. Anne said they have tried everything. “ Gilbert said gently.

Sarah’s eyes got wide when she realizes what her brother meant she tried to back away, but, she ran into Annes chest. Anne wrapped her arms gently around Sarah and stroked her hair.

“Don’t make him do it Anne. Please. I’ll go to sleep. I promise. I don’t want any needles.” Sarah begged Anne.

“I’m sorry darling. But, your brother is your doctor and he has the right to feel what he needs to do. He is very gentle.” Anne said.

Sarah was watching her brothers every move while he was getting the syringe ready and the needle. That’s when Sarah knew her brother wasn’t joking and that he was serious. He really was a doctor at this point. Her Doctor. Gilbert was going to give Sarah her first injection.

Gilbert got out the vaccine and the small bottle of medicine. He filled the syringe up very carefully. Then when he was happy with the amount, he squirted out the air bubbles a little bit and then flicked the syringe to mix the medicine up.

Anne felt Sarah flinch while he did that with the syringe. Anne gave Sarah a small comforting hug.

Anne could tell that Sarah was starting to get antsy and she started to stroke Sarah’s hair. Telling her that everything was going to be okay and that both Anne and Gilbert will be here when she wakes up. That she has nothing to worry about. That she needed sleep.

Sarah watched Gilbert walk over to his bed and sat down on it. Sarah curled up in Annes lap. Suddenly afraid that her brother is her Doctor and he won’t take any nonsense from her.

“No needles Gilbert. Please. I’ll promise I’ll go to sleep on my own. I don’t want any medicine to make me sleep.” Sarah said.

Gilbert gently took Sarah’s hand and squeezed it. Sarah was curled up against Annes chest. Hiding her arms.

“I love you sweetheart. I’m not doing this to hurt you. I’m doing this to help you. Your tired little one and you need your rest or you will get sick. Are you ready? It’s going to be a little poke. Don’t fight it. Just sleep and I’ll be here when you wake up. I love you baby girl.” Gilbert said.

Sarah moved from her spot from Annes lap and moved over to Gilbert’s lap. Which he gracefully accepted. She curled up in it and hugged him.

“Your not mad at me sweetheart? For giving you an injection to help you sleep? You understand right?” Gilbert asked.

Sarah nodded her head yes.

“Are you ready sweetheart? I’m going to roll up your sleeve and clean your arm off with a wipe. Then im going to give your arm a small pick. It will hurt for just a moment. Don’t fight the medication. Let it do it’s work okay? I’ll be right here when you wake up. I love you.” Gilbert said.

While Sarah was still on Gilbert lap, Gilbert gently rolled up Sarah’s sleeve of her dress. He gently cleaned the area on her arm were he was going to inject her with the medicine.

“You can hold Anne’s hand little one. Take a deep breath in and slowly let it out.” Gilbert said.

Gilbert gently squeezed Sarah’s arm to relax the muscles. One hand holding Annes, Sarah buried her face in Gilbert’s chest. Sarah felt a small poke in her arm and whimpered.

Less then five second, Gilbert pulled the needle out and set the syringe on the dresser for the short term and he rolled down Sarah’s sleeve.

“I love you baby girl. Sleep good and I’ll see you when you wake up.” Gilbert said.

Sarah told Gilbert she loved him to and she finally fell asleep in her brothers lap.

[saiilorstars]

Ch. 6: Don’t Look in the Mirror

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC  // Fandom: The Flash

Story Masterlist • Previous Stories: Rise Up • It Had To Be You • Belén’s Masterlist

• Can also be found on Fanfic and Ao3 •

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag​​ @arrthurpendragon​​ @anotherunreadblog​​ @maaaaarveeeeel​​ @stareyedplanet​​ @foxesandmagic​​ @frostandflamesfanfic​​ ​​

Belén was too focused on her computer screen to notice the Jitters' barista drop off her second round of coffee. She was deep in reading on her doppelganger's profile. Harry had come through with his reports and for the last couple of days, it was all Belén did. She was making herself an expert on Datura — all over again.

She'd made it a complete mission to learn everything about her doppelganger's history. When she fought Datura with Zoom, all she did was focus on Datura's powers. This time, Belén was honing in on Datura's background; how she became Datura in the first place. So far, it was a pretty straightforwards story.

Datura started making her appearances in her metahuman identity only a week after Harry's Particle Accelerator went off. It took her only a couple of more weeks to figure out she could siphon powers because that's when she started displaying them in the open. Certain metahumans whose powers matched the ones she displayed were petty thieves who were barely getting the hang of their powers. They were easy kills.

Belén wondered if Poison Ivy had made any influence on Datura enough to begin making kills just for the heck of it. Datura had been a one-woman villain for a while before Poison Ivy came into the city. Being a much more experienced villain, Poison Ivy led Datura to grander schemes until Datura herself could make plans and execute them. This was all before Zoom started taking over and dragged the two women with him.

All in all, Belén couldn't pinpoint at what point did Datura began...to hear the voices. She couldn't figure out when her doppelganger started to "lose it" in a sense. It meant she couldn't calculate how much time she had before she succumbed to the voices.

"What are you so interested in?" Julian's voice startled her out of her reading. He stood beside her table holding a stack of files in his arms.

"Hi," she closed midway her laptop and greeted him with a kind smile.

"Good morning," he took a seat across her and put the files between them on the table. "Let's see, you asking me to bring you old cases of metahumans instead of your dear old boyfriend indicates there's some secrecy going on that Allen's not in on. I'm a little proud."

Belén rolled her eyes and completely shut her laptop's lid. "I did not call you in so that you could take jabs at my boyfriend. In a perfect world, you two would get along."

"In a perfect world, he wouldn't be here," Julian had no trouble retorting.

"Julian."

"Fine," the blonde huffed and focused on the main issue. "So why did you ask me to bring you this? It's against my rules, you know."

"I'm sorry, I'm not...I just want to look over some stuff for a report I'm doing. Don't worry, I won't take long with them," Belén assured him and took the folders into her bag.

"Are you alright?" Julian began to notice her weary ticks and the two cups of coffee already empty on the table.

"Yeah, I'm just tired." The excuse was so recited that Belén now said it without thinking. It was an instinct. She was sure it was getting on Barry's last nerve but he was too sweet to say anything. She wondered how long that would last.

"Well, what exactly are you looking for? Maybe I can help take some of the load off."

"Um…" Belén debated on the offer. She had yet to tell anyone except Caitlin what she was doing, but she trusted Julian in the end. They'd been friends forever and he did know a lot about metahumans. "Well, you remember Datura?"

"Evil psycho part of Zoom's group?"

"Yeah, that's the one," Belén swallowed hard. "Um, I'm just taking a lead on her since her powers were a unique set. She could siphon but I heard from an eye-witness that she seemed to assume different personalities every time she used a power." Julian nodded as he listened in, his eyes already doing the usual flicker to the side every time he began to think. "This whole personality disorder thing interests me. I want to know if there's a way to stop it." Belén reached for her coffee and took a small sip from it. She felt terrible for lying, but lately that's all she felt. She felt terrible leaving Iris on the job, she felt terrible for constantly lying to Barry, and most of all she felt terrible because she was letting the same thing happen to her again. She was losing control.

"To stop a personality disorder?" Julian raised his eyebrows at that. "That's a long, complicated medical process, Belén. Why the interest?"

"Because Poison Ivy said that Datura was a good person once—"

Julian scoffed, almost laughed at her too. "And you believed her? That woman was a criminal and her partner was one too. Wherever the Flash and the Azalea put Datura, I hope they keep her there."

"But I'm just saying—"

"No, you're done looking for all this nonsense," Julian patted a hand over her closed laptop. "Besides, who even said — who can clinically confirm — that Datura suffers from that?"

Belén bit on her bottom lip. That was a good question. So far, she had just assumed but this was metahuman business, after all. Assuming was the worst thing she could do, especially when it came to siphoners.

"Go get some sleep, it looks like you haven't done that in days," Julian said after a moment.

"Yeah, Barry says the same thing," Belén mumbled. He'd been on her case for her strange behavior, lack of sleep, and overall distance.

"Well, for once, Allen is right," Julian started getting out of his chair. "Those folders? You don't need them, Belén."

"I do," she softly countered. "Let me keep them for a couple of days. Please?"

Julian knew once she laid her big eyes on him he stood no chance. It was always the same story when they were younger. "Fine," he pointed a warning finger at her. "But you better take some rest."

"Promise," Belén raised a hand.

"See you around," Julian gave her a side hug and went on his way.

~ 0 ~

Barry and Joe had taken the video of Clariss' murder over to STAR Labs to get the others' opinion on the strange matter. The video was on a loop and no matter how many times they rewatched it, nothing made sense.

"Are you sure this is even real?" Iris asked after about the tenth time. For all they knew, it could've been edited.

"Forensic analysis indicates that the footage is genuine, no evidence of tampering," Barry confirmed. He understood her perspective. At first glance it seemed like a joke, but seeing the corpse made it all too real.

"And we're pretty sure this is Doctor Alchemy that did this?" asked Caitlin.

"The last thing Clariss said before he died," Joe nodded.

"Unless someone else killed him. Like a meta with telekinesis or cloaking abilities," Harry suggested. "We've got both on our Earth."

"So what do we do now?" Cisco asked on their next move.

"Our meta-human specialist at CCPD, Julian Albert, he prefers to work alone, but I got feelers out on his investigation. I'm gonna go there now and see if he dug up anything," Joe said and began to leave.

"I have to get back to work too, give me a ride?" Iris went after him and grabbed her purse along the way. "Oh, Barry," she stopped momentarily, "Do you know why Belén didn't show up to work today?"

"No," Barry frowned, just now hearing about it. When he woke up, Belén was nowhere to be seen in the apartment. He figured it was just another tactic of hers to avoid his questionings. He'd been asking her over and over what was bothering her - what was going in her life. He supposed he'd finally annoyed her to the point of driving her away. "She didn't show up?"

"No," Iris shook her head. "I covered for her and said she was sick."

Caitlin discreetly shifted herself away from them and pretended to work on her computer. She knew Belén was reading over Harry's reports and felt awful for not helping Belén despite wishing not to use her own powers. She, personally, did not want to know anything about Killer Frost from Earth 2.

"I'll see what's going on," Barry assured Iris and let the woman catch up with her father.

"Hey, is it okay if we train again?" Jesse walked over to him with a hopeful expression. She didn't want to waste any time that could help her.

Barry figured since he wouldn't be seeing Belén for the rest of the day, he could at least help someone in the group. "Yeah, sure. Let's go."

She beamed and sped out of the cortex to the speed lab first. Barry chuckled and followed.

Caitlin, Cisco, Wally and Harry all remained in the cortex and monitored from there. While everyone seemed awed with Jesse's superb progress, Harry was still reluctant to be as carefree as them.

"Damn, Jesse's almost as fast as Barry!" Wally exclaimed.

"Velocity's just under Mach 3. Heart rate, 100 BPMs. Her vitals are normal," Caitlin was happy to report.

"Yeah, no, we already know all that. Cisco, we need to test her reflexes. Can we test her reflexes?" Harry didn't exactly give Cisco the opportunity to answer any of his questions since he kept adding something new every second or so.

"Patience, Harry, patience. If anyone's gonna teach Jesse the ways of the Speed Force…" Cisco let him finish the thought.

"It's Barry '

"Thank you."

They continued to watch the two speedsters train until, somehow, Jesse tripped over her own feet after attempting to speed going up the ceiling. It wasn't her most proud moments but she was still greeted with congratulations for her continued progress.

"Maybe we should stay a little bit longer," Harry said once Jesse and Barry returned. If Jesse was going to pursue this vigilante business, then he wanted her to be as prepared as possible.

"Yeah, I guess so," Jesse agreed with a deflated sigh.

"It's gonna take some time to master your powers, Jesse. You'll get the hang of it," Caitlin assured her.

"Yeah, I know, thanks. Well…" Jesse turned her attention to Wally, "...since I will be here for a while, do you want to get out of here?"

"Where to?" Wally curiously asked but Jesse laughed.

"Does it matter?"

Wally agreed that it did not. They took each other's hands and got out of there as Jesse had said.

"N-no touching!" Harry's call was made in vain, much to the amusement of the others. "Not what I meant by staying longer!"

"Hey, Harry," Caitlin called the man's attention. "Are you really sure you have to leave?"

Seeing Jesse was not coming back anytime soon, Harry sat back down. "Just a lot I still have to fix on my Earth."

"Yeah, but you know it's more fun when you're here helping us fix stuff on our Earth," Cisco admitted.

"He is right," Barry leaned over the desk. "It hasn't been the same without you. The team doesn't feel complete without Harrison Wells."

Harry smiled. "Then change that. There's a whole multiverse of Harrison Wells out there at your fingertips. You want one? Let's go get one."

The others thought the idea was out of the blue but since Harry seemed to like the idea...they wondered if it could possibly be good.

~0~

Before being able to return home, Barry received a call from Veronica urging him to get to the precinct first. He came rushing in to find Joe and Veronica watching at a distance a dark-skinned man in a wheelchair and heavy injuries be interviewed by a fellow co-worker.

"What's going on?" Barry came to a stop beside the two detectives.

"We've got a new meta in town with a revenge plan against Snart," Joe took Barry back into the reception with Veronica. "Name's Scudder. He used to pull heists with Snart before the Particle Accelerator went off."

"Okay, so he's not part of Alchemy's…" Barry glanced back into the offices to see the interviewee.

"No, this one's all evil Dr. Wells' fault," Veronica bitterly said.

"Scudder's going after everyone in Snart's old crew to track him down," Joe explained the situation but there Barry gave a little wry smile.

"Yeah, Scudder's not gonna find him. Snart's gone." He was met with two blank stares in return. "Did I never tell you?"

"Tell us…?" Joe made a gesture of rolling his finger.

"Oliver told me that Snart left with some friends of ours on a... trip," Barry felt at this point it was best to leave any time travelling out of their lives.

"I don't even want to know," Joe shook his head then glanced at Veronica.

The woman raised her hands. "I wish I knew less."

"Bet you wish you hadn't poked your nose into this mess," Joe nudged her, almost laughing too.

Veronica wasn't amused and it showed on her flay face. "One of Snart's old crew is at Iron Heights. We'll go see if we can talk to her tomorrow morning, but we just wanted you and the others to be aware."

"Yeah, thanks," Barry nodded and was finally given the 'ok' to go home.

He entered the apartment and immediately spotted Belén's sleeping figure on the couch. Her laptop was sitting on the coffee table, closed, and with the charger cable threatening to pull it over the table. Barry walked over and carefully unplugged the charger from the computer and placed the cable beside the couch. He gazed at Belén, wondering what it was that kept her so busy and distant from everyone lately. He didn't want to wake her up for a new argument. There were only so many they could have without actual consequences. Still, Barry decided not to push it.

Carefully, he retrieved Belén's body from the couch and brought her into their bedroom. He laid her down on the bed and pulled a blanket over her. She must have been exceptionally tired because she didn't even move throughout all that.

Well, she has spent days without sleep, Barry reminded himself. And for that matter, he grabbed his pillow and a second blanket to take into the guest room. He didn't want to risk her waking up and finding him beside her, pushing her away even more.

So, he left.

~0~

"I am...Flicker Do you remember me?" A woman wearing an orange mask, dressed in a matching orange one suit with dark brown hair threw Belén across a foggy place. "After all, you did kill me and took my powers."

Belén sat upright, breathing hard from the blow she took. "That wasn't me. It was Datura!"

"And yet here you are, enjoying my powers," Flicker stalked towards Belén but before she could reach Belén, the foggy place darkened.

An Illuminating moon flashed up in a sky that had not been there two seconds ago. A feminine figure in a silver suit rose in the air. "You think you could ever dominate my powers? You're too weak!"

"Eclipsa…" Belén recognized the woman and gulped. "It wasn't me!" she tried to say but Eclipsa ignored her in favor of attacking.

Lunar beams shot from Eclipsa's hands and just narrowly missed Belén on the ground. She rolled to a stop on her back and looked up in time to see a third metahuman, Terra, rising on a rock structure.

This meta had nothing to say as it had already been done. She fired multiple rocks of all sizes towards Belén. She screamed as she dodged some of the rocks but ultimately there was one large rock she just could not escape. It came crashing down on her...

Belén gasped wide awake. Her quick-paced breathing was the only sound in her room after her livid nightmare. She couldn't decide if it was just a simple terrible nightmare or if it were the victims now stored in her head that were actually finding another way to torment her.

Flicker, Eclipsa and Terra were the three victims Datura had killed on Earth 2 and unfortunately for Belén, they were the three metahumans whose powers she'd accidentally gained from Datura.

Belén's hand instinctively went to the other side of the bed. Though she was upset Barry was nowhere to be seen, it turned into confusion because...she hadn't fallen asleep in her bed. She got up and walked out the room to find everything dark. Last time she remembered, she'd fallen asleep in the living room with everything turned on.

Barry was home.

Belén moved towards the guest room and found the speedster asleep in there. He didn't feel like he could sleep with me, she felt terrible again. Maybe Caitlin was right and she should just leave this alone. It was costing way too much for Belén.

But then what if you lose control completely? That was the trick question. She couldn't afford to leave her powers unused and thus uncontrolled. She was already susceptible to losing control since her original powers had acted the same way.

She inwardly sighed. There was nothing conclusive yet, but all she knew was that it was pushing Barry away from her and that was unacceptable. She closed the guest room door and went back to her own, though she doubted sleep would happen again that night.

~0~

Caitlin yawned behind her coffee mug while she watched Harry and Cisco tinker on metal device aiming straight ahead. "How sure are you that this will work?"

"Pretty sure," Harry whirled hid screwdriver.

"Okay, but how's this going to help us find another Harrison Wells?"

"You ever go fishing, Snow?"

"No."

"No, all right. When you go fishing, you use lures. Lures attract fish. Fish end up on your fishing pole. This satellite is our fishing pole, through which we're going to cast our very tempting bait out into the world's largest ocean."

"Okay, how?" Caitlin felt her lack of sleep was affecting her ability to understand simple things. She blamed it on her nightmares. It was why she agreed to come see this in person. She would much rather be awake than suffer nightmares starring Killer Frost. At least attempting to find yet another doppelganger of Harry's was more amusing.

"Cisco will open a breach, and this satellite will shoot a message embedded with a tachyon-enhanced laser out into the multiverse, and any Earth that is technologically advanced enough should be able to receive it," Harry spoke in a quickly ramble as he went around the satellite.

Cisco shot him a look before studying the clear board full of algorithms. "Okay, let's say this somehow works. Just 'cause they can solve a riddle doesn't mean they're a right fit for the team."

Harry stopped working to express his offence. "A riddle. Did you say riddle? How dare you, sir! This is not a riddle! This is a complex algorithmic cryptogram designed to test deductive reasoning, IQ, problem-solving skills, anything that our team will need to combat threats, meta-human or otherwise!"

Caitlin smiled after taking a sip of her coffee. "Okay, so you're just sending out an intergalactic IQ test to all of your doppelgangers in the multiverse."

"Not just a test. Think of it as an invitation," Harry corrected. "Think of it as an elaborate "help wanted" ad."

"Will it test their attitudes, too?" Cisco mumbled. "'Cause I'm not sure I can stomach another Wells with your bedside manner."

Harry smiled nonetheless. "I care for you too, you jack wagon. System is calibrated." He motioned Caitlin to step back then glanced at Cisco. "What are you waiting for?"

Cisco figured they were already doing crazy things anyways so he just went along with the plan. He helped Harry ignite the satellite then opened up a breech straight ahead. The satellite whirred in a red glow and a couple seconds shot right into the breach.

Caitlin waited for some sort of second reaction but nothing happened. "Was that…?"

"That's it," Harry read her thoughts and answered her. "Now we go get a Big Belly burger." He happily came down the steps and led the two out.

~0~

"Hey," Iris came into the cortex where Belén was working at the computers. She'd gotten the call from Belén to head over to STAR Labs that morning since there was apparently a new case to work on. "What are we doing?"

"Uh…" Belén would've explained the little she knew but heard the others coming in and opted to let them do the work.

Barry had taken the crime case to them so they could start thinking of a way to end it. Caitlin pulled up the profile pictures for the group to see.

"Good-looking guy," she remarked without thinking and earned herself rather odd looks from Barry, Cisco, and Harry.

"Mhm," Belén and Iris agreed without the same thinking as Caitlin. All three men redirected their stares at them next.

"Just because he's a criminal doesn't mean he stops looking good," Iris raised her hands in defense.

Barry still felt no less jealousy after seeing Belén smiling to herself. "He's more than just a criminal now. Apparently, he's a meta who can travel through mirrors."

"Oh, oh, I got this one!" Cisco snapped his fingers with excitement. "He's, uh—"

Harry beat him to the punch without even trying. "Mirror Master."

Cisco dropped his fingers and whirled around. "What the f—"

Harry smirked. "Boom!"

"That's good," Caitlin admitted, even though she had Cisco glaring at her too.

"Thank you, we had a Mirror Master on our Earth, Evan McCulloch," Harry explained. "Wasn't a meta, though. He had some kind of mirror gun that he used."

"How'd it work?" Barry asked.

"Must've had dimensional warping tech that changed everything into two dimensions."

"Well, Scudder is hell-bent on finding Snart, and he's going after anybody that worked with him in the past. Joe's interviewing one of 'em right now."

"Well," Caitlin began searching through the database of the precinct, "All of Snart's known associates are either presumed dead or gone AWOL, except for one." She pulled up a blonde woman's mugshot. "Rosalind Dillon. Says she has the ability to induce crippling vertigo."

Cisco once again snapped his fingers. "Oh, um, uh... She's, uh—" he jumped to a quicker end when he saw Harry opening his mouth—, "Top, like a top! She's The Top! That's her name!"

"Top. Amazing," Harry sarcastically said.

"What, you want to go?" Cisco opened his arms.

"Okay," Belén tried her best not to laugh. "So this woman — is she going to lead us to Scudder?"

"It all depends if Joe and Veronica can get answers out of her," Barry shrugged. He struggled to look at her and not feel awkward.

"Is there anyway we can start writing about this?" Iris asked after clearing her throat.

"You might want to wait at least until there's public witnesses," Barry replied. "I'll go see how that's going." He gave them a quick goodbye and headed out. After him, the others began to disperse as well.

"I'm sorry," Belén apologized to Iris when it was just them in the cortex. "I thought we could write about this together but I forgot about the witnesses…"

"Don't worry about it," Iris waved it off and reached for her purse on the floor beside her chair. "I'm just glad you managed to think about me and our job a little. You know," she turned her chair in Belén's direction, "You've been pretty off lately, so...thanks."

Belén took the jab with with a shake of her head. "I'm working on that, trust me."

"Hm, you might want to start close to home," Iris gave her a hug and left her to think about it.

~0~

Even though there had been no necessary gains from talking to Rosalind Dillon by Joe and Veronica, it had been wortwhile since Scudder made an unexpected visit.

"You're telling me that this guy escaped through a glass window?" Belén was sure that sounded ridiculous even after dealing with every possible metacase for the past three years.

Veronica gave a weak nod of her head, still shaken up about the matter herself. Sam Scudder had escaped with Rosalind Dillin right in front of her eyes through a window and no possible capture. "He grabbed her hand and then...they went into the window."

"There was no possible way of getting them," Joe shook his head.

"So, mirrors, windows. It sounds like he can travel through anything that has a reflective surface," Harry theorized.

"How exactly does he do that?" Caitlin wondered with no possible explanation for herself.

"He must be able to link Einstein-Rosen bridges to anything with high solar reflectance, right?"

"In English, please," Belén cast a hopeful glance at Cisco.

"He creates wormholes through reflections."

"That's a new one," Barry rubbed his face.

"Look, I can't pretend to understand or care about the science of it all, but we need to find Dillon and Scudder before something really bad happens," Joe pointed at them in warning to get working on a solution. "So I'm gonna go old-school at the precinct."

"And I will definitely help," Veronica turned with him. "That little smug look Scudder gave is one I'm gonna enjoy wiping off," she muttered as the two walked out.

There was a chorus of chiming phones in the room after a second or two. "Oh, my God, pings," Caitlin picked up her phone first.

"We got pings. Looks like some of your doppelgangers out there actually cracked your code, Harry," Cisco blinked with surprise. "That was fast."

"Let's go take a look," Caitlin said with some actual excitement and got up from her chair.

"What are you...what have I missed?" Belén made hand gestures to express her confusion.

"We're getting ourselves another Harry," Cisco shrugged and went after Caitlin and Harry.

"That still makes no sense," Belén put her hands on the desk and got up from her chair. "On another note, do you think we can use this for Iris' and my article yet?"

"Uh...I mean, probably not a good idea, just yet," Barry awkwardly responded. "Using your parents as your source…"

"Not a good idea, I see that now," she nodded and smiled only slightly. She met his shifting gaze and awkwardly cleared her throat. "Thanks for cleaning up my mess last night. And for taking me to our room."

"Yeah, no, that was...you just looked tired," Barry slowly started making his way to the desk. "I know you haven't been sleeping well for the last couple of days, so…"

"Yeah, I've had some...things to think about," Belén nodded. She absolutely hated the awkwardness between them, especially knowing it was all on her. "I'm sorry for...this—" she pointed between them, "—and being...my weird old self from the past."

Barry moved around the desk and took Belén's hand. He encased it with his own and genuinely looked at her. "Are you okay?"

Belén met his look and really thought about things and to what extent their consequences could lead to. She resolved now that there was no way in hell she could ever understand the position she was now in. She wasn't smart enough to comprehend the implications of her powers and Caitlin was in way over her head trying to solutionize her powers and Belén's. There was only one person left who could help both of them.

And if that was the truth, then there was no point in hiding everything from Barry.

"No," she finally answered. "But I guess you already knew that."

"Yeah…"

"I just...I have been trying to figure things out on my own, but - surprise - I am not smart enough."

"Bells—"

"To put it in another way: it's not my area of expertise."

"Let me help you, then," Barry of course offered and took Belén's other hand. He held them both together. "We do make one fantastic team, you know."

"Yeah, we do," she agreed. "But I just can't right now."

"But Belén—"

"Just give me until the end of the week," Belén quickly requested. "Give me until then to...to gather courage, and...just to find one last bit of information I need."

Barry stared at her for a couple of seconds, trying to deduce anything that could help him figure out what was bothering her. "Are you sure?"

She nodded her head. "Yes. I promise. At the end of the week, you can ask me anything you want and I will answer."

"Alright," Barry agreed without much of a choice. "But I have one condition."

"What?"

"You have to start getting proper rest. Sleep, Bells, please."

Belén chuckled and leaned on him. "Only if you sleep in the same room as me."

"I think we can work something out," Barry pretended to think about it but ultimately smiled with her. "Can I take you home?"

"Please do," Belén was eager to get home and finally have one decent night with her boyfriend.

Despite Belén's work still being in the living room, Barry paid no attention to it. He was keeping to his word and giving her until the end of the week. "You have a specific craving tonight?" he asked just as Belén let herself fall on the couch.

"Um...some donuts wouldn't come by bad…"

"Donuts? That's not dinner," Barry moved towards her.

She let her head lean back against the couch as she laughed. "Are you going to police me for having dessert before dinner?"

"It's very unhealthy," Barry took a seat beside her.

She snorted and laughed again. "You're one to talk Mr. five-pizzas-all-for-me." She draped her arms over his shoulders and gave her best smile. "Donuts? Glazed donuts, please?"

"That smile will forever make me do absolutely anything," Barry pretended to sigh so deeply.

"Aw, it's not like you don't have a hold on me either…"

"What!? Like what!?"

"You're charisma, your charm - eugh, I hate your smug charm," Belén playfully rolled her eyes.

"What cha—"

"Don't even try it," she put a finger over his lips, "Donuts?"

"Yeah, alright," Barry gave a light shrug of his shoulders.

Belén beamed and kissed him before sending him on his way. In about five minutes he'd returned with not one but five boxes of donuts in his arms.

At her face, Barry cleared his throat and said, "I may have gotten some for me…"

"You don't say?" she pretended to be surprised.

"Shut up," Barry handed her a box full of glazed donuts just for her.

She giggled and picked up her first donut. "So good," she hummed.

Barry watched her for a minute or so and felt like this was just a regular night between them with no metahuman problems and definitely no secrets hanging over them. He really wished it could become a normal thing for them again, but maybe that was his punishment too. He changed the timeline and now everything was different, including Belén. It wasn't on her - it was his fault.

"What?" Belén noticed his long stare and suddenly felt self conscious about being on her third donut already.

Barry leaned over and kissed her. It was a short kiss but a rekindling one nonetheless. "Sweet," he couldn't help himself to say.

"Stop," Belén grabbed him by his shirt and brought him back for more kissing. They had about five minutes of sweet romance before both their phones started ringing with alerts.

"What…?" Barry pulled himself off Belén with a deep scowl on his face. "Really?"

Belén chuckled at his reaction. "Nice to know I still got it."

"Always will," Barry mumbled as he got up to retrieve his phone from the coffee table. "There's a robbery at First National. Suspects match Scudder and Dillon's description. Ready?"

"Um…" Belén apologetically smiled, "You know that whole secret thing...until I figure it out, I don't think I should be out there. I'm a liability to you and Jesse."

Even though this only made Barry worry even more about her situation, he let it go just for the time being. "I'll be back."

"Mhm," she nodded, accepting a short kiss from him before he left.

~ 0 ~

There was a deep regret inside Belén of not accompanying Barry and Jesse. Here they were, the entire group in the speed lab, with Jesse hauling in the street structure mirror that now held Barry on the other side.

"What happened?" Iris couldn't get the facts straight, and much less make sense of how things...ended up this way.

No one was taking it worse than Jesse. She was removing her gloves with teary eyes full of guilt and frustration. "I don't know. I don't know, okay? I looked at Dillon, and I lost my balance."

"You said she induced vertigo and that's...that is just a creepy, yet powerful power," Belén said, glancing at Caitlin just to make sure she'd gotten it right.

The brunette in question agreed. "She just surprised you, Jesse. It could've happened to anyone."

"It doesn't really matter, does it?" Jesse didn't mean to snap. Her frustration was simply getting the best of her. "Because now Barry's trapped in there and it's because of me," she gestured to the speedster inside the mirror. Shaking her head, she left the room.

"I...I'll go talk to her," Wally offered and went right after her.

Barry pursed on the mirror wall and called to them, but no one understood a word he was saying.

"He's finally actually speaking Chinese…" Belén whispered with rapid blinking eyes. "It's finally happened."

"No, I think...it's mirror language," Cisco slowly began to realize.

"Mirrors show objects in reverse. Maybe that's what we're hearing here," Harry snapped his fingers.

"Only one way to find out!" Cisco exclaimed and hurried up to a stock of drawers.

"What are you looking for, Cisco?" Joe asked.

"You ever seen "Twin Peaks"? Of course not," Cisco answered himself and shook his head, "Why do I ask? This is an old back-masking trick they used for the Man from Another Place, where they record his audio backwards and then play it forwards." He brought back a small circular device to the mirror and stuck it on like a magnet.

"Like the Ozzy Osbourne records," Joe simplified it for his own sake.

"Sure, let's go with that," Cisco gave the device a little push, igniting it. "Okay, Barry, say something." Barry said something alright but it still made no sense. "Oops," Cisco realized he forgot to turn on one last part of the device. "Say it again?"

"Um, get me out of here?" Barry repeated himself, presumably.

"Now we can understand you," Cisco clapped his hands together.

"How do we get him out of there?" Iris asked the others.

"Barry, have you tried to phase out yet?" Caitlin inquired, beginning with the most logical option.

"Yes. It's not working," Barry planted both his hands on the mirror.

Harry paced shortly while he thought out loud. "If Scudder used this mirror as a wormhole, then these molecules are in a hyper state of flux, so all…"

"We need is something really cold to slow them down," Caitlin finished once she caught on.

"I can help with that!" Cisco exclaimed and hurriedly went along with Harry to begin on the task.

~0~

"Grandma and I bought the baby three different rattles! One's got a white unicorn and it's all pink! The second one's purple but it doesn't have a unicorn. And the third one's green with sparkles!" Axel finished his detailing of the presents he'd gotten with much enthusiasm that even though with the situation in STAR Labs, Belén and Barry couldn't feel completely down.

"That sounds good, Axel," Belén chuckled at her phone as the seven year old started digging through another bag of presumed-to-be presents for Nina's unborn child. "Axel—"

Axel dropped the bag and told his grandmother to give him her phone. He stuck his face just a little too close to the screen but, at Veronica's instruction, he backed the phone away. "Auntie Belén, when are we going to the park? You and Barry promised me…"

"I never promised…" Belén mumbled and shot Barry behind the mirror a suspicious look.

As much as the speedster tried to recall, he couldn't. It had to be a promise his other version in this new timeline made. "I...sorry," was all he could by this point.

"Axel, give Grandma the phone…" they heard Veronica on the other end say.

"Auntie Belén!" Axel exclaimed urgently, knowing his time was about to be cut short. "We're going to the park! Right?"

"Axel, give me—"

"You promised!"

"Axel, we'll do that next week, I swear," Barry managed to say just before Veronica took back her phone from the boy.

"I don't think you should make promises while you're stuck behind glass, Mr. Allen," Veronica smirked at them now.

"She's got you there," Belén shrugged at Barry.

"So, what are you doing to get yourself out of there?" Veronica inquired.

"We have Caitlin, Cisco and Harry working on it," Barry sighed. "So I'm just...stuck waiting."

"Well, I'm a bit preoccupied with Axel right now, but if there's anything I can do just give me a call."

"Thanks Mom," Belén ended the video chat and shifted on the floor to face Barry in the mirror. "I definitely wasn't expecting to talk to Axel right now. But, how's that for distraction?"

"He sounded like he really missed you," Barry noted. Axel had been delighted at getting a chance to use his grandmother's phone to show Belén everything he had gotten in the last week.

"Yeah, I feel terrible. But...I guess we now have a park date," Belén smiled. "Plus one."

"I look forwards to it," Belén honestly said. She'd been practically pushing her poor nephew away when he had no fault whatsoever about her situation. "But I think my Mom is right - we should first focus on getting you out of that thing. I am so getting these two freak metas back for this."

"I thought you said you didn't feel comfortable going out in the field yet?"

"After what they did to you and Jesse — I'm going." Belén made that clear for him, and hoped to God she would go through without a problem.

A short time later, Cisco and Harry came in with their cryogenic machine that would hopefully get Barry out. Caitlin walked in with the last bit of cable for them to connect the machine to the mirror. The machine did give an encouraging whir of life and send cracking ice at the mirror. It only encased half of the mirror, however.

"It's only negative 280 degrees Fahrenheit!" Harry groaned and tried to tinker with the machine again to give it more power. "We got to get it colder somehow!"

"I thought you guys said this thing could get him out of there," Joe remarked, doubt now seriously etching across his face.

"Okay-" Cisco clapped his hands together, "-this thing is a highly advanced molecular decelerator that's being powered by a cryo-engine, and we just kind of improvised it in the last 30 minutes, so let's just... just cut us some slack, please?"

"Then just try to phase out, Barry," Belén came closer and watched with hope as Barry planted his arms on the wall.

"I am!" he grunted. For some reason, he just couldn't do it.

An alarm went off, signaling a metahuman was up and about in the city. "Let me guess, Top and Mirror Master are back?" Belén frowned.

"Probably," Cisco said as he scanned his phone. "We're going to need to take a break for a moment, Barry," he held a finger at the speedster and hurried out.

"Hold on, Bar," Joe warned as he went after Cisco.

"I'll get them," Belén promised Barry, even though she had no idea what she was going to do.

Barry hung his head with a deep exhale. He never saw Caitlin's guilty face at him. The brunette bit her lip and looked out to see if anyone was still around then quickly hurried behind the mirror. She stared at her palms and focused on just the bit she needed to help Barry out. She barely gasped when she felt the prickly ice surface in her skin. The billowing smoke reached the mirror and further spread the ice around it.

Caitlin hoped it was enough to get Barry out.

~ 0 ~

"Central City Municipal Bank just got robbed," Cisco picked up on the computers.

"Let me guess by who," Jesse bitterly said.

"Guys…?" Barry's voice made them all turn in shock at his presence. Even he was looking confused of his escape.

Caitlin came stumbling in behind him and did her best to look normal. That did not work with Belén.

"How did you get out?" Joe blinked.

"I have no idea but it doesn't matter. Right now we need to stop Scudder and Dillon," Barry moved over to the map Cisco pulled up.

"Okay, so... so what do we do?" Jesse asked, more than ready to take the two metas on again but with more caution.

"I've got an idea," Barry was happy to report. "We're gonna use mirrors, an old trick, and an old friend."

~ 0 ~

Scudder and Rosalind fell right for the trap set by the team. The two arrived in an old abandoned carnival set. Lighted games and streamers illuminated the place, reflecting off the several mirrors set in a neat circle.

Captain Cold stood in the center of the mirrors, taunting Scudder to come forwards. It was no challenge angering Scudder and making him try to attack. He struck a punch forwards but found his hand went right through Snart. Even more, Snart whirled around shouting "bang!" with his cold gun before completely disappearing.

Scudder stumbled back a couple steps, confused. "What…?"

"Funny thing about holograms. They're just pale reflections of the real deal," Barry's voice made Scudder get on high alert since he was supposed to be stuck behind a mirror...forever. Barry took off speeding around the mirrors, confusing Scudder for the first couple of seconds.

In another part, Jesse Quick found Rosalind carelessly spinning a wheel. "Hello again," Jesse greeted.

"Jesse Quick," Rosalind gave one last final spin of the wheel. She grinned devilishly at Jesse. "Quick to run, quick to fall." Her eyes flashed lime green and once again put Jesse under the effects of her vertigo.

"Run, Jesse!" the speedster heard. She forgot about Rosalind and took off in a run.

Rosalind, confused searched for the second feminine voice. "Now who wants to play?"

The Azalea dropped in upside down, hanging from above with the help of her vines. "Peek-a-boo, bitch," she wiggled her fingers then blew out her poison.

Rosalind waved a hand in front of her nose then quickly covered it up. She flashed a glare at Belén then attempted to use her vertigo powers. Belén knew better than to keep staring, she turned over and landed in a squat. Rosalind took her chance kicked Belén on the side, smacking her to the ground.

'Get her back! Don't be weak!' the voices began just a second afterwards.

"No…" Belén groaned and held her head. She could feel a fiery power prick underneath her suit not built to withstand the new powers she held.

"You're not up to the standards this city puts you on," Rosalind sneered and moved towards Belén.

Jesse came up from behind after shaking off Rosalind's vertigo and spun around the blonde. She thrust Rosalind to the side and then sped up again to pick Rosalind up. Without hesitation, she punched Rosalind out cold.

"I learned fast," Jesse was proud to say but then heard the groans of Belén behind. "Azalea?" she hurried over to check on Belén. "Azalea? Are you - hey," she tried pulling Belén's hands from her head but all of a sudden Belén viciously growled and her eyes snapped open to reveal glimmering golden irises. Jesse gasped and immediately retreated.

'You weak girl. Flicker would have gotten her! Rise up!'

Belén pushed against the fiery feeling in her body, the same one trying to expel powers she just wasn't ready for. "I can't, I can't, I can't…" she told herself and repeated until it all...seemed to fade…

But Jesse would not forget.

~ 0 ~

Barry had tricked Scudder into following him to an aisle of mirrors. As Scudder jumped through each one, Barry shattered them to prevent any surprise return. Scudder finally reached a circle of mirrors, to which Barry completed it by adding three more.

"Well played, Flash," Scudder gave him his props before jumping into one mirror.

Barry didn't even move and instead chuckled when Scudder jumped back into the place he started. "I know, right? This is the, uh, Droste effect. I'm sure you've heard of it, right? It's an infinite reflective loop that even you can't escape. Good luck getting out." He sped the meta-dampener cuffs on Scudder and put an end to the fight.

~ 0 ~

"You sure you don't want to stick around to see your doppelganger?" Caitlin joked with Harry now that he and Jesse were going to return to Earth 2.

"Uh...I think I can do without," Harry said with utmost honesty. He was not interested in meeting another version of himself. "We don't have to go through all the tears again, do we, gang?" he asked once he took in all the sad stares of the group.

"Well, did I...did I cry last time you left?" Cisco sarcastically tilted his head in thought.

"I was talking about myself," Harry responded in his same tone.

"Oh, gotcha. Hey, listen. Don't worry about it, okay? There's only one Harry," Cisco promised him with a light smile and gave him a hug.

"Oh, I wanted to tell you," Harry whispered, "The molecular decelerator, it wasn't working."

"Okay, what does that mean?"

"It means that we did not get Barry out of that mirror. It wasn't us."

Cisco frowned. "Then who did it?"

"You tell me. See you later," Harry left it all up to Cisco.

To the side, Jesse was giving her goodbyes to the group.

"Earth-2's gonna have one hell of a speedster protecting it," Barry said proudly at his pupil, making the younger girl laugh.

"Well, I did learn from the best."

"If you ever need any help, you know how to get back."

"And just take care of yourself," Belén hugged Jesse and secretly whispered, "And I'm sorry about...you know…"

Jesse gave her a nod and said nothing about the sort. "Just...you take care too," she said since Barry was right there watching them. She didn't know what exactly she saw in Belén, but Belén left it clear that it was a secret and that she was going to get help.

"Oh, Allen?" Harry called to the speedster one he and Jesse were side by side. "While I'm gone, never, ever, no matter what—"

Jesse sped him and her into the breach Cisco opened up for them, leaving it a mystery as to what Harry would have said.

"Okay, so how's about we get that Harry doppelganger?" Caitlin asked Cisco, very much curious to see what new Harry they would be getting.

"You guys, I've never vibed across 18 dimensions before…" Cisco sucked in a breath and rubbed his hands together.

"Well if there's anyone who can do it, it's you," Belén chuckled at him.

Cisco agreed with a nod of his head. He rubbed his fingers then shook his entire body, creating amused smiles from his friends behind. He struck a hand forwards and opened up a new breach. It took a while for him to reach the required Earth. "Just a little bit longer…" he told the others before they started asking why it was taking a while. Usually his breaches were short and quick.

"Shouldn't we...be prepared?" Iris wondered, much to the group's confusion. "Cisco is reaching out to some new Earth. I just meant we should probably take precaution..."

"Someone's coming," Belén excitedly said as the breach gave a wriggle.

Indeed a figure jumped out of the breach, but right away there was something that told the group this was not one of Harry's doppelgangers.

First of all...she was a woman.

She had long blonde hair and green eyes.

She was scared.

And she was very familiar to one person in the group.

Barry walked a couple steps forwards, stunned and dumbfounded. His mouth opened and shut several times before he was able to spit the name out, a name he never thought he would use in his world. "Anais…?"

Earth 18's doppelganger of Barry's and Belén's adoptive daughter — whom Barry had met on Earth 38 with Supergirl — gazed at the group. Anais gulped. She locked eyes with Barry, giving the impression she too knew him despite being a completely different version of the woman Barry met on another earth.

"Anais—"

But then, just like that, Anais sped out of the room.

A/N:

Aaaaand we're finally getting into the good parts! If anyone's read the previous story or even my Supergirl fic, Anais is an alien hybrid who was adopted by our loveable dorks on Earth 38! Obviously this is not Earth 38 Anais so you don't have to read my Supergirl fic for this to make sense. She is just a doppelganger! That being said, it's quite clear there will be no H.R. in this story. I found that character utterly useless and was merely placed in the show to be decoy character who was murdered :)). Not in my book!

[theofficefantasyfootball]

WEEK 2 - Wrap Up

OMG!

Yes OMG! What does this mean? It means you are either a "Brett" or "Scott" putting up major numbers and are feeling pretty good about yourself - or you are a "Dana" or "David" and you are in panic mode. If you happen to be neither of those you are what I call "the lucky ones". Of course, everyone is just happy football is back but with all the injuries and all the upsets - it's for sure making the start of the fantasy season interesting!

WHAM BAM THANK YOU LAMB vs HOWARD

I was going to blame this week on Josh Allen, then I was going to blame it on Scott Krippayne because he took my Chargers waiver wire pick, then I was going to blame it on my opponent, Rob Howard....but then I realized - that it's nobody's fault except mine that I lost last week and this week. I am a loser to the core. Rob is great fantasy football manager. He knows how to draft, he knows how to win championships...what does David Breen know how to do...order a Brisket from Hogwood and make his wife cook all day once a year. That's it. So, congrats Rob. You deserve all you are receiving this year as do I.

MOOSES ON THE LOOSES vs FUNK GUY

A win does the heart good...but for Mitch who had a heart "attack" two wins is extra special. Maybe they put something special in his heart that has made him a changed man or maybe he just played two very unprepared individuals in week 1 and week 2. We have all seen Dana's text this week about how he is a disgrace to our league and it's going to be interesting to see what he does to turn things around...after all 66 points is a tough thing to come back from. Nice win Mitch. Let's see how you do next week against your good friend Bebo!

LONG LEFT BALLERS vs TuPADRE

I know Gully won, and Bebo lost - and it was all fair and square...I just feel like Gully dodged a bullet on this one. Such low numbers for Bebo this week from White, Kupp (out for an extended period), Pickens and Kelce - I just can't help but think if just 1 or 2 of these guys showed up Gully would be 0-2 instead of 1-1. Oh well. If I am being really honest I didn't have too much to say about this match up but this GIF was so good I had to use it so I made this shit up about "dodging"....Nice win Gullahorn!

LANAKILA vs TREE HUGGERS

What is going on? Last week high point was 131...this week Scotty K throws up a 168? Is this what the year is going to be like? And poor Cliff who has an amazing week but doesn't get the win, money or any recognition....that's always tough. To pay tribute to Scott's impressive high point - lets highlight a few of the key players he had this week...Kyler (34.5), Hall (17.4), Devonte Adams (22), Metcalf (23.9), Dobbins (24), Prater (kicker 14) and my chargers defense (19). Amazing. Nice win Scott ($20).

TRADE WITH ME vs BOOMER SOONER

And, with our close call game of the week we have Brett vs Stu. After Sunday Trade with Me was at 127.68 and Stu was at 127.24. Stu was done and still had Kyle Pitts to play. So, technically Brett already had it won but Stu was holding out for that negative 5 yard loss and then a broken leg. Which is a tough ask any time. In the end Pitts but up less than 1 point so it really was close! Brett walks away with win number 2 and another high scoring week. Stu moves to 1-1 and puts a bunch of points in his column toward wild card assurance. Also - Brett, bet you are loving that auto pick was on for that Kamara pick now!

MR AWESOME vs RIDLEY ME THIS

What have we here? A new name, a new look and a win for Kyle Allmendinger. Nevermind that he had to change his name because most likely Tua is gone and Nacua is out for an extended period. Given those two scenarios I guess there is not much reason to matata anymore..so he is now Ridley Me This. I will say Ridley did get him a win over the Gabe Scott who now has a Q on Justin Jefferson (after he put up 24 points) and a Q on Rachaad White...so Gabe is in murky water. Congrats Kyle! Nice win.

SURVIVOR

If I just would have taken the Chargers everything would be over...I would be the survivor champ...but it's still me, Gabe and Stu. On to week 3.

CHEERLEADER OF THE WEEK

#DallasCowboysCheerleaders2024

[bluejaysandblackbats]

Honor in Crisis

Fandom: DC Comics, Batfam, NTT, Titans, JLI, Arrowfam, Flashfam, GL Corps, Infinity Inc

Summary: Every chapter will focus on one character specifically and then I'll update their statuses in order.

This is a no powers au/fix-it fic for Heroes in Crisis. I wanted to focus on the characters and their healing. I decided that'd be easier to put some of these characters in a fic like this and work on it more from a real-world perspective. I DO want to say that I do not believe healing is linear so don't plan on a clear-cut happy ending. I'd say (and idk for sure) we're gonna eventually get a bittersweet ending for certain characters but nothing tragic.

Chapters: 3/?

Characters: Jason Todd, Bruce Wayne, Kole Weathers, Lilith Clay, Eddie Bloomberg, Michael Carter, Michelle Carter, Rani Carter, Grant Emerson, Roy Harper, Grant Wilson, Joseph Wilson, Thaddeus Thawne, Bart Allen, Helen Claiborne, President Thawne, Todd Rice, Alan Scott (DCU), Damon Matthews

Relationship(s): Damon Matthews/Todd Rice

Additional Tags: No Powers AU, Canon Divergent AU, Fix-It Fic, Angst, TW // Self-harm , TW // Suicide attempt , TW // Explosives mention

Chapter Three: Puzzled (Eddie's POV)

Eddie plopped down on a bean bag chair in his therapist's office. They sat in silence for a few minutes while Eddie got comfortable. "Morning, Mark," Eddie grinned.

"Good morning, Eddie," Mark greeted, "And how did you sleep?"

Eddie grabbed Mark's stress ball from the shelf and tossed it from hand to hand. "I didn't," Eddie answered. He chuckled lightheartedly.

Mark didn't smile back. Instead, he whispered, "Oh?"

Eddie was by no means a manipulative person. He just enjoyed having someone around to listen to him. As far as most therapists went, Mark was great. He was straight to the point, but he was funny too. It was easier to talk to Mark, but it usually took him a while to open up. Mark understood that. "I think I saw someone I used to know last night... I don't think he recognized me, though," Eddie revealed.

"Were you friends?" Mark asked.

Eddie looked up at the ceiling and shrugged. "Well, we only met once or twice in person, but he was my pen pal when we were kids," Eddie explained. Eddie didn't know why Jason was on his mind but decided to roll with it. It wasn't often that he could find something new to talk about in therapy.

Mark reached out, and Eddie tossed him the ball. "Eddie," Mark tutted, "Do you ever think about reaching out?"

Eddie's smile faded. "Funny, Mark," Eddie mumbled, "What would I say? Hey, long time no see. What have you been up to? Oh! I've been in the hospital for blowing myself up after my aunt died, and everyone thinks I did it on purpose, so I'm living in an inpatient psychiatric hospital." The question made Eddie uncharacteristically upset. He ran a hand through his hair and took a breath. "No, I'm sorry. Mark, I'm sorry about that."

"No, that's fine. If I had my choice of patients biting my head off during a session, I'm glad it was you... How did it feel in the moment?" Mark asked.

Eddie froze as he pondered over the question. "Uh... Yeah, it felt—. You know that definitely came from elsewhere. I wasn't snapping at you," Eddie explained.

"Who were you snapping at, Eddie?" Mark asked. Eddie smiled uncomfortably and shook his head. "Come on, Eddie. I promise I won't take it personally."

Eddie laughed and nodded before sucking his teeth. "I didn't cry. I still haven't cried... And I guess that's weird, but I shouldn't be punished for that," Eddie took a deep breath, "Right?"

"You feel like you're being punished?" Mark asked.

"I mean, isn't that what this is? Everyone wants me to cry or be visibly upset, but it's not gonna make anything better. Neither is reconnecting with people I haven't spoken to in years. It's not gonna change the fact that Aunt Marla's gone, and no one wants me around, and I burned nearly half of my body trying to blow myself up because I can't take it anymore!" Eddie yelled before covering his mouth.

Eddie didn't mean to say any of that. He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to hold back his tears. They flooded to the surface, and he attempted to laugh them away. "I didn't—. I—. What do I have to live for?" Eddie asked.

"What do you have to die for, Eddie?" Mark asked. Eddie grew silent and stared up at the ceiling, tears streaming down his cheeks as he tried to pull himself together. "Better question... Do you think you'd still be alive had everyone believed the explosion was an accident?"

"No," Eddie answered weakly. He wiped his eyes with his palms. "I wouldn't be here. I don't wanna be here."

Mark leaned forward at his desk. "Eddie?" Mark whispered.

Eddie wasn't used to showing his rage like that. He tried to collect himself. "At least I look how I feel," Eddie half-joked, "I'm sorry..."

"It's okay, Eddie. You don't owe me an apology. You're entitled to your feelings," Mark reassured him. Eddie nodded as if he understood, but he wondered if his outburst would be too much. After two weeks of joking his way through sessions and pretending that he was fine, he wondered if that was the last straw for Mark. "Eddie, I'm not going anywhere."

"Okay," Eddie let out a breath, "Okay... Can we talk about something else?"

"Sure, what would you like to talk about, Eddie?" Mark asked. Eddie reached out, and Mark threw the ball back to him.

Eddie squeezed the ball in his hand and took another breath. "My roommate, Mike's, been working on this puzzle his sister brought him, and he's been letting me help... It's this cityscape, and there are these blue and green brownstones," Eddie described, "And Mike looks at me, and he says—. He says that he has to keep living until the picture's finished. He says that every time he gets a new puzzle as a joke."

"I suppose I could kill you tomorrow," Mark quoted from a movie. Eddie chuckled.

"Yeah. It's ridiculous... Right?" Eddie asked.

"Well, actually, I think it might be a way of coping. Living can be difficult when you feel there's nothing to look forward to," Mark explained.

"Circling back to what I have to live for?" Eddie asked. Mark nodded.

"Well, I'm sure there's something you've left unfinished," Mark replied.

"Yeah... Yeah, I guess so," Eddie replied.

Eddie gave Mark his stress ball, and he apologized a second time at the end of their session. He walked outside to the courtyard. Jason sat outside on a bench, his eyes closed and his face pointed upward towards the sun. Eddie wanted to say hello. He wanted to be seen just once, but he didn't want to be seen like that.

Eddie felt trapped in his loneliness and grief. At least he could admit it now. After twenty-two days in the burn unit and nine days on an involuntary hold, Eddie could accept that the explosion was purposeful. If that was growth, he'd take it. Had his roommate not run into him in the courtyard, would've pondered over it until it was time to go back inside. Michael ran into him and smiled as he announced, "I forgot it's movie night."

"Oh, nice. I'll save you a seat," Eddie replied, "Do you think it'll be a movie from this decade?"

Michael chuckled. "Aww, come on, movie night last week was not that bad," he replied.

Michael was old. Well, not old, but old enough for Eddie to think of him as an uncle. His first night there was strange and uncomfortable, but Michael was there. He lay in bed with his eyes closed, talking about nonsense until Eddie fell asleep. It was the first time he'd felt comfort since his aunt passed away.

[batemanofficial]

rae i'm so sorry but i do mean actual legal ssn :(

i'll explain how, but first i should explain how SSNs are structured: every american's social security number is formatted as "AAA-GG-SSSS," where each set of numbers corresponds, respectively, to the location (or "area" in office parlance) of the social security office that issued your SSN, the batch ("group") in which your SSN was processed at that office in a given period of time, and finally the serial number of your SSN within that group.

so, for example, if someone was born in an area of the US that uses the (unused!) "666" area number, their SSN was processed in the fifth batch of the cycle, and was the 891st application processed within the fifth group, their SSN would be 666-09-0891.

[the "09" in the group number comes from the fact that application groups aren't processed in numerical order. i won't explain how or why because this is already getting long-winded, but here's the social security admin's explanation. all this to say, "09" is the fifth group in the sequence.]

from there, if someone knew the location, date, and time at which you were born, they could, theoretically, figure out your SSN. if they know the city you were born in, they can get the area number. if they know the date and time, they can figure out the group and serial numbers as well, if they do a bit of digging.

and birth charts, of course, contain all of this information! astrological hooey aside, a birth chart is essentially just a map of the position of the stars at a given place and time. for example, let's say paul allen posts his birth chart online, and it looks like this:

to start, we know paul is a virgo. maybe that explains why he was so preoccupied with the copies of the style section all over patrick's floor! the dates corresponding to the sun in virgo are august 23 - september 22, so we know paul's birthday falls somewhere in this range. but we can get much more specific!

paul's "first house" or "rising" sign (listed as "I ASC" on this chart) is also in virgo. i will admit that i have no idea what a rising sign is supposed to mean or imply from an astrological perspective, but from a practical perspective it indicates which constellation is crossing the eastward horizon at the time of your birth. so if someone standing at the exact location and time at which paul was born would have seen virgo crossing the eastern horizon, we can do some math to figure out that he was born just after 7 in the morning on september 11, 1974 in new york city. this, of course, requires the ability and wherewithal to deduce times and locations based on the positions of the stars, but it is doable with as little as a calculator, an almanac, and a little motivation. people have been making maps out of star charts for a really long time! just ask my good friend tuunbaq!

with all this info in mind, we can determine the area number of paul's SSN based on the fact that he was born in NYC, and we can also determine his SSN's group and serial numbers based on the fact that we know he was born around 7am on september 11. now instead of forcing him to listen to hip to be square before cutting him to ribbons, we can open a credit card in his name and ruin him financially!

all this to say, even if something seems as innocuous as a star chart or a silly nickname based on the street you grew up on combined with your mom's maiden name, it's always a good idea to think about what you could deduce from this information before you put it online. identity theft happens to a lot of people, and making stuff like this available on your social media profiles makes it a hell of a lot easier for someone to create a pretty good facsimile of you. after all, they know things that banks assume only you would know, like your SSN and the answers to your security questions.

but of course all of that is kind of moot now, since a background check company just got hacked and exposed over 3 million discrete SSNs. sorry if this is how you found out :(

i hate astrology for a whole host of personal reasons but i do love reciting people's social security numbers back to them when they show me their birth charts

[scarisd3ad]

Found you | Steve harrington x f!reader

Chapter one

Previous > next

Series masterlist

November 1983

-the vanishing of will byers-

"He's an asshole y/n don't even think about him" Liv said one arm wrapped around my shoulder the other holding Michele's hand. "I'm just saying he slept with me last year and now he doesn't even want to talk to me" I groaned "wait that's what you guys did that night you left?! I thought you guys just kissed!" Liv said. "Liv" i mumbled, I put my head down as we passed Nancy and Steve. "I'm sorry I'm sorry" she said. Steve looked over at us, making eye contact with me before quickly turning back towards his locker. "He's an asshole y/n, you should find someone who at least cares for you. Like my brother!" She giggled "Ew gross no" I said covering my face with my hand "come on he totally like you" she said "no he doesn't" I laughed "he's liked nancy wheeler since like the third grade" liv's eyes widened "you're sure?" she asked "yes! I'm pretty sure they're sleeping together too" I laughed "but she's dating st-"

"It didn't stop him for sleeping with me, so why would it stop her?" I said shrugging my shoulders. "But..but she's like the goody too-shoes of Hawkins you think she's sleeping with my brother?" She asked. "I babysit her little brother and sister Mike said he's always at their house" I said as we walked up to my class "welp this is my class" I said untangling myself from under liv's arm. "Yep we're continuing this conversation later though!" She shouted as she started walking down the hallway. "Totally!" I walked into the classroom and found my seat Michele following shortly behind me still half asleep. "You ok Mickey?" I asked as I sat in my seat "Yup I'm fine" she yawned as she leaned her head on my shoulder. This particular classrooms had tables all of the desks pushed together to make it kinda look like a kindergarten classroom. (I hated it it made me feel like they sent me back to like second grade) a few minutes after Michele and I arrived nancy and Steve arrived well just Steve. Steve failed this particular class last year so he had to take it again while nancy she was a year ahead taking eleventh grade instead of tenth grade English. Steve came up and sat across from me. "Hey" he mumbled "hey?" I replied quietly not trying to wake the now sleeping Michele. "I'm sorry" he said, my eyes widened before I giggled a bit "what for?" I asked cocking my head to the side a bit "for everything really, I'm an asshole." He sighed "you are" I laughed "friends?" He asked sticking his hand out to shake my hand "friends" I shook his hand. The bell rang waking Michele up. "Welcome back" I giggled as she sprung up in her seat. "Good morning class" Mrs.Girard said, some of the student replied with sad excuse of a 'good morning' it just sounded like a bunch of tired zombies trying to talk. "Ok, let's start class with attendance." Michele leaned her cheek against her arm slowly dozing off. Mrs. Girard then started to call out names each kid replying with 'here' or 'present.'

"Sidney Anderson?"

"Leo adams?"

'Tonya Allen?"

"Lea brown?"

"Bailey bell?"

Soon enough I just ended up zoning out, thinking about everything and anything. My vision became blurry as I focused less on my surroundings and more on my thoughts. My hearing also became a bit echoey if that's even a word. I wondered what my dad was doing right now? What everyone was thinking?

"Steve harrington?"

"Barbara holland?"

"Y/n hopper?"

I didn't hear my name being called I was too far into my thoughts to notice anything "y/n? Y/n? Are you ok?" Steve asked his voice a bit echoey but I could still tell who he was. "Y/n?" he snapped his fingers in front of my face waking me up from my daze. "Y/n" he pointed up towards the teacher, "oh shit" I muttered "I'm sorry" I mumbled the teacher glared at me before going on with roll. "Are you ok?" Steve asked "yeah I'm fine I've just done that since I was little sorry" I said quietly. I had done that since Sara died it was my way of dealing with all the stress of my parents fighting. When my parents should start their humongous fights I would just zone out go into my own little world until my dad came in and snapped me out of it. Now that I think about it he probably thought I was crazy I'd stare at one spot on the wall for hours while I was in my own little universe.

About thirty minutes into the double blocked class mrs. Girard called me out of class. "Mr Thompson wants to see you" she said "what why?" I asked "he just wants to talk to you y/n" she said before walking back into class. I sighed as I walked slowly down to the councilors office. It was probably because my grades were dropping they always did when they came around Sara's death date. I pushed open the door to see a way to eager mr. Thompson sitting at his desk. He has messy blonde hair and green eyes, he was on the younger side causing most of the girls to drool over him. "Hi y/n, how are you?" He asked "good I guess" I mumbled as I sat down in one of the two chairs in front of his desk. "Good, y/n your grades are dropping quit a bit, is everything okay ar home?" He asked I nodded. "Good, okay your teachers are complaining about you zoning out during class. Are you sure your ok?" He asked I shrugged my shoulders. "It's getting around the time my little sister died I guess it just shakes up my whole family" i muttered "yes okay, is you're mom and dad doing ok?" He asked "I haven't talked to my mom since I was twelve but dad he's fine" I replied as I fidgeted with my fingers. "Ok, do you have any friends y/n?" He asked I nodded "good" he replied as he wrote a few things down. "Can I go back to class or are you going to keep asking questions about my family?" I asked "yes of course you can go. Remember you can talk to me whenever you want!" He said. I sighed as I pushed open the door and almost sprinted towards my class. I knocked on the door a few times until the teacher opened the door. I walked back over to my table as practically fell back into my seat. "Woah what was that about?" Michele asked as I groaned "I'm just tired of everyone asking if I'm ok" I mumbled. The thing I liked about Michele is that she didn't ask if I was alright she didn't really care much about my family life at all. It probably wasn't healthy for my to not have at least one person who cared about my feelings but at least I didn't have it have one of those awkward moments where you cry I a friend or family member when they ask you if your alright. "Hey y/n mrs. Girard assigned this project do you wanna work with me?" Steve asked I shrugged my shoulders and said "sure" his eyes lit up "cool, okay do you want to meet somewhere tonight?" Steve asked "I've gotta babysit Nancy's siblings tonight" I sighed "we can meet at her place nance won't mind" he said "okay sure" I said.

My dad had dropped me off at the wheelers. The sun was already setting as I walked up to the wheelers front door. I had a bag slung around my shoulder filled with crayons and coloring books for holly. Normally when I babysat for the wheelers I was also babysitting for the Hendersons, Sinclair's, and the byers since will, Dustin, and Lucas always hung out at the wheelers.

The wheelers house has always been the hotspot for any of the wheeler childrens friends, even when I was in the second grade and best friends with Nancy everyone in our little friend group always gathered at Nancy's. I rang the doorbell and Ted wheeler opened the door. "Hi y/n how are you?" He asked in his rather monotoned voice "good. you?" I asked "as good as I can be" he said as he waved to my dad signaling so he can drive off. I walked past Ted and into the kitchen where Karen was tending to holly.

"Hi Karen" I said as I placed my bag onto the counter and grabbed a coloring book and some crayons. "Thank god you're here" Karen sighed "Mike and the boys are downstairs, mikes bedtime is nine thirty and eight twenty you know that don't let them manipulated you into letting them stay later. Nancy is upstairs I think she has a guy that might be coming over later I don't really know" she sighed as she grabbed her purse.

"Is it ok if I have someone come over? I've got a English project I've gotta do" I asked "yes of course" she said as she practically sprinted out of the house with Ted following behind her. I glanced up at the clock sat on the wall it was only about six o'clock. I sat down next to holly at the dinning room table. "Hi hol how are you?" I asked "good" she said quietly holly was always a rather shy kid she was only three though so she had so much more time to break out of her shell.

I placed them in front of her and she smiled up at me before quickly opened the book and began to color. I normally didn't bother mike or Nancy. Mike was alway doing some dnd shit and Nancy I just didn't ever feel like talking to her.

The door bell snapped me from the coloring page I was coloring. I sighed as I got up and walked over to the door. I opened it to see Steve with a poster in hand and a bag full of art supplies. "Hey" Steve said as I let him in. "Hi" I replied as we walked over to the kitchen table. "So the project is on a book we read so which one should we do?" Steve asked as he sat at the table next to holly. "Um how bout the one we read at the beginning of the year?" I asked his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to figure out what book I was talking about "yeah...um..yeah that one was good" he stammered "you didn't read it didn't you" I laughed. He nodded as he buried his head in his hands. "I'll tell you what it's about" I laughed.

"You're a life saver y/n" he mumbled as he placed his hand on my thigh "Steve" I pushed his hand off of my thigh. I still had a crush on Steve I don't think I'd ever be able to get over the crush I had on Steve, but I didn't want to go through the heart break I went through last year. "Yeah sorry, sorry" he muttered.

"Steve?"

Steve and I both turned around to see Nancy with Liam standing a little bit behind her. "What are you doing here dude?" Liam asked as he walked up to Steve and gave him a high five "y/n, and I had a project we had to do." Steve said. Nancy quickly walked over to the fridge and grabbed a water "yeah ok Um Liam and I are going to be upstairs" she said. Her and Liam quickly walked back upstairs. "She's cheating on you" I blurted out, my eyes widened I didn't mean to say that. I was going to lose my new friend not even a full day of being friends with him. "Y/n" he sighed "I know I'm overstepping but she is" I replied. "I know she is I'm just in love with her I can't leave her" he said. I grabbed his hand "I'm sorry" "it's okay it's fine y/n I had it coming" he sighed as I leaned my head against his shoulder.

After about an hour of working on the project it was around holly's bedtime. She was already dozing off in her seat. "I've gotta get her to bed I'll be back" I said as I scooted the chair back and standing up. I walked over to holly and picked her up. her cheek was smushed into my shoulder as I walked up the stairs. I passed by Nancy's room, her door was slightly ajar just enough that I could see in. Inside I saw Liam on top of Nancy making out. Honestly no one would've expect her to cheat on Steve. Everyone expected Steve to cheat on her (he did several times)! I quickly walked past and into hollys room. I laid her down on her bed and tucked her in before quietly walked back downstairs. I sat back down next to Steve. "You saw something didn't you?" He asked I hesitantly nodded "god dammit" he groaned as he buried his head in his hands. "I can't leave her, I'm to in love god" he sighed. I wasn't really good at consoling people I was normally the one getting consoled so I should've picked something up. "Hey Um it's okay steve" I said resting my hand on his shoulder. "It's not okay y/n! Stop saying it's fucking okay!" He shouted. I flinched back a bit from the loudness of his voice. I hated yelling so much it always scared the shit out of me it was like I just time traveled back to when I was twelve sitting in my room listening to my parents scream at each other. "shit sorry, I didn't mean to yell" he said softly grabbing my hand I quickly snapped my hand away "did I scare you I'm sorry" he said softly as he grabbed my hand again gently. "I'm sorry, let's just get back to the project" I mumbled tugging my hand away from his grip. "I'm really sorry I didn't mean to yell at you. It's just I'm so fucking pissed right now" he sighed, "it's okay Steve it's not your fault" I said softly he smiled softly down at me "you're so nice to me y/n" he laughed.

It was nine twenty nine meaning it was time for mike to go to bed. It was always so hard to get all the boys to go home and then get mike to bed. "Mike!" I shouted no answer just a bunch of shouting coming from downstairs "mike!" I shouted again before opening the door down to the garage. "Mike!" I shouted placing my hand on my hip his head quickly snapped up he was on his hands and knees on the ground looking for something "y/n, we're in the middle of a campaign!" Mike sat up on his knees "you mean the end? Your mom said nine thirty you've gotta go to bed" I said.

"No! Oh my god! Freaking idiots!"

I walked back into the kitchen, Mike followed shortly behind me "y/n, wait just twenty more minutes?!" Steve asked. I shook my "mike it's a school night, and I'm not getting in trouble again" I said. Steve still sat at the table working on the project practically falling asleep. "You can finish next week end" I said "but that'll ruin the flow!" Mike shouted "micheal!" I turned towards him as I scrubbed a dish "I'm serious, y/n the campaign took two weeks to plan how was I supposed it was gonna take ten hours?" Mike asked "you've been playing for ten hours?" I asked my eyes widened. Mike opened his mouth to speak before turning back around.

Soon enough all the boys came upstairs. "Be careful guys!" I shouted as they all walked outside.

"Do you want this?" Dustin asked holding a box of pizza in front of him. Dustin Henderson, practically a brother to me. I've been babysitting him since I was able to babysit when i was twelve. He was only in the second grade when I met him. He was friends with Sara and somehow I ended up being his babysitter once I was finally able to. I was the one who gave them their cat mews when I found her outside our house. "Nope" I replied shaking my head. He was about to go upstairs when I warned him "don't go up there give it to Steve" I said pointing to a half asleep Steve. Dustin plopped the box down on the table snapping Steve out of his half asleep state. "What's this?" Steve asked yawning "pizza you want it?" Dustin asked "hell yeah" Steve said digging in.

Mike came back in, "goodnight, y/n" he sighed as he trudged up the stairs "night, Mike" I replied as I finished washing the dishes. I returned back to my seat at the table to see Steve still munching on a piece of pizza. "You can go home if you want mikes parents aren't gonna be home for awhile" i said. Steve shook his head "Nuh uh, I'm gonna drive you home" he said with a mouthful of pizza. "We never agreed on that" I laughed "yeah but you don't need to be walking home at this time" Steve said. I rolled my eyes playfully "I don't walk home, I walk to liv's house then she gives me a ride" Steve stands up, grabs the pizza box and walks over to the trash "we'll tonight I'm giving you a ride" he said as he dropped the pizza box into the trash. He walked back over to the table and slumped down into the chair. "You know we're practically done with project. Do you wanna watch a movie?" Steve asked I shrugged my shoulders "yeah sure" I replied. Steve and I both stood up, Steve followed me into the living room. We both sat down on the couch a good amount of distance between us just encase his girlfriend decided to come down. I grabbed the remote and flipped through the channel until I found a movie. "Is this okay?" I asked, Steve just nodded.

About and hour and a half later Karen and Ted arrived. "How were they?" Karen asked as she walked into the kitchen I followed her into the kitchen to clean Steve and i's stuff up. "they were good" i replied "good good" she sighed. "Okay we'll you're free to go" she said handing me a twenty. "Thanks I'll see you friday!" I replied as I walked back into the living room to wake up Steve. I tapped him a few times until his eyes blinked open "what?" He asked his voice groggy and deep. My heart practically stopped at how attractive I thought his voice was right now. "Uh...let's go" I said quietly Steve nodded "yup" he mumbled as he stood up and followed me out of the house.

Steve unlocked his doors and I hopped into the car. Steve placed the keys into the ignition and twisted it. The engine growled before the air and music turned on. "I'm sorry about Nancy. You don't deserve that" I said quietly "I do I really do" he sighed before pulling out of the wheelers driveway. "I'm just so in love with her you know. I don't know if I'm even going to be able to break up with her" he frowned. My heart broke just a little, I've always had this dream in the back of my mind that Steve would fall in love with me, but obviously that was never going to happen. I frowned as I leaned my head against the car door. "You ok?" Steve asked "yeah my head just hurts" I mumbled. "Oh" the rest of the ride was basically in silence the only thing heard was the faint sound of the radio.

Steve pulled up to the cabin. "I'll see you in English tomorrow" he said as I got out of the car "Mhm" I hummed as I slammed the door shut and started towards the cabin. I walked up the steps and unlocked the door to see my dad half asleep on the couch watching tv. "Hey dad" I said as I sat down next to him on the couch. "Hey hun" he muttered as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder pulling me closer to him. "I've got twenty bucks you wanna order a pizza?" I asked "save your money" he mumbled as he leaned his head against mine. "Dad have you eaten?" I asked he shook his head as he started to doze off. "Dad you need to eat" I said worry laced in my tone "I'm fine y/n I'll eat tomorrow let's sleep" he mumbled.

I woke up at around three am with a strange feeling of anxiety wash over me. We were still sitting on the couch, the tv was now off though. "Dad" I mumbled as I shook him awake. "Hm?" His eyes blinked open "can you call Joyce? Make sure will made it home?" I asked "what y/n it's three in the morning I'm not gonna go bother Joyce right now"

"And that's it for news center this morning, thanks for joining us. Let's hand off now to liz at the news desks. Alright thank you Donna. Turning now to local news, we're getting reports of surges and power outages all across the country"

My eyes opened my dad was still asleep. I rolled my eyes as He snored. I got up and walked to my room to see what time it was. I could hear the sounds of a dog barking which seemed a bit weird to me because we basically lived out in the woods. We moved here after mom left since she decided to sell the house it. It was a complete mess I remember when dad took me here for the first time, him and I cleaning the cabin while music played in the background. We moved here for a fresh start new house with no old memories in it. Sara's death broke my family, it truly did. Dad and mom fought all the time, about me, about Sara, sometimes it was even about stupid things.

It was around seven thirty so I decided to get ready. I heard the sound of the shower turn on so I assumed my dad had woken up. I quickly got dressed and did my hair before settling back on the couch to wait for my dad. About ten minutes after the shower turned on it turned off. I heard my dad groan as something fell on the floor. My dad came back out with his police uniform on. "Hey dad" I said as walked over to the kitchen counter. "Hi honey" he mumbled as he swollowed down his pill with a beer. "You ready?" He asked I nodded and stood up slinging my backpack over my shoulder. Dad grabbed his hat and placed it on his head before we walked out. "You babysitting tonight?" Dad asked I nodded "for the baker's" I replied "they just had a baby right?" Dad asked and I nodded again. "What time do you think you'll be back?" He asked "I dunno probably about eleven" I replied. Dad nodded and placed the keys into the ignition.

Dad pulled up to Hawkins high. I hopped out and waved goodbye to dad. I walked up to the front of the school and met up with Michele. "Hi mick!" I exclaimed "hey y/n how was babysitting?" She asked "good guess who I saw making out with Nancy though?!" I giggled "who?! Who?! Who!" She said a smile broke out on her face. Michele loved drama, no matter what even if I was about the teacher. "Liam! I told you they're hooking up" i said. "Shit really? I feel bad for Steve" she sighed. Liv and Liam both walked up. "Y/n, mick" he saluted to both of us. "Soooo..are we gonna talk about the elephant in the room?" I asked Liam's eyes filled with panic "what? What do you mean?" He lied "Liam I saw you with Nancy last night" I said "wait y/n don't tell Steve please he'll beat the shit out of me" I laughed awkwardly "well I um kinda already did" his eyes widened "y/n! What the hell!" He shouted. I took a deep breath as I stepped back at bit. "You're scaring her!" Liv hissed "no she needs to be told off for her bullshit! Why the fuck would you do that!" He shouted. Being yelled at is scary but being yelled at by a 200 pound football player is terrifying. "Do you understand you're going to get my ass kicked!" He got up in my face. My hands began to shake and tears began to well up in my eyes. "Liam you're scaring the shit out of her! Calm down!" Liv said trying to pull him away from me. "Hey what the fucks going on over here?" Steve asked Nancy standing just shortly behind him. "Are you okay y/n?" He asked I shook my head as tears threatening to spill. "Come on" Steve said grabbing my hand. "Are okay?" Steve asked as we began to walk away. Nancy stayed behind to talk to Liam. "No" I blinked back my tears. "Why was he yelling at you?" Steve asked I shook my head, and he took the hint I didn't want to talk about that. "Do you want me to walk you to our class?" Steve asked I nodded "yes please" I said quietly.

Steve was being sweet, I haven't seen him do that since the eighth grade. Steve was normally a douche bag, I had gone to the same school as him since I was  seven so I should definitely know. In eighth grade Steve became friends with a bunch of the popular kids, by the time ninth grade came around he was a total asshole.

He grabbed my still shaking hand making me look up at him. He smiled softly down at me "I won't let him fuck with you" he said I smiled and nodded "thanks Steve" we walked into English, Michele was already sitting down at our table a worrier expression on her face. "Oh thank god! Y/n are you okay?" She asked as I sat down I nodded "yeah I'm fine" I mumbled "I'll beat his ass y/n I promise" she said making me giggle "don't, I'm fine I promise."

At lunch I noticed Jonathan byers wasn't there. Jonathan byers, he was practically my best friend he was the same age as me and his little brother was the same age as Sara. My dad had known Joyce since he was in high school so it was almost destined for his children and her children to become best friend. I made a mental note to call the byers when I got home and see if Jon was okay.

"Okay you need to tell me what the fuck is up with Steve, he's being so fucking nice to you!" Michele exclaimed, I rolled my eyes as I picked at my food. "He's not being nice to me" I laughed "yes he is, and he's still a huge asshole to everyone else so I want to know what the fuck did you do?" She said "I didn't do anything" I rolled my eyes as I popped a cherry tomato into my mouth "tell the truth did you suck his dick last night?" She whispered just loud enough so I could hear. My eyes widened and I pushed her shoulder "mick!" I giggled "what? I just wanted to know!" She laughed. Liv walked up sitting down "im so sorry about my brother y/n! Im gonna beat his ass when I get home" she said her face full of worry "I've been worried all day"she sighed "I'm fine Liv I promise" I said smiling. "Y/ns sucking Steve's dick!" Michele whispered to Liv "I am not!" I shouted "totally are no way he'd try and that up if it wasn't you who was getting yelled at" I scoffed "what do you mean?" I rolled my eyes and Liv began to explain "well if it was just any girl I think he'd start laughed but no he helped you why else would he do that if you're not giving him amazing fucking head" Liv giggled. I rolled my eyes again. I picked at the rather disgusting salad before I decided to open up the chocolate milk on my tray. "Your babysitting for the baker's tonight?" Michele asked as I took a sip from the milk. I nodded "aw I wanted to come over tonight" Michele sighed. "Tomorrow night?" I asked and Michele nodded.

When dad picked me up from school that day he looked pretty worried. "What's wrong dad?" I asked as I hopped into the car. "Will byers has gone missing" he sighed my eyes went wide. He couldn't have, I just saw him last night. God I knew I should've asked Steve to drive them home. "You saw him last night right?" Dad asked I nodded "did he seem normal?" He asked I nodded "you're going to find him right dad?" I asked "we're trying y/n" he sighed. "I don't think you need to go to the bakers tonight y/n" dad said. "Dad I'll be careful please, I need the money" I begged "I don't know y/n" he sighed.

"Hey!"

I jumped and looked over to the window to see Steve. "Hey" I smiled softly "are you okay after earlier?" Steve asked I nodded "what happened earlier?" Dad asked "Liam was yelling at me that's all" I mumbled "are you okay? I can sort this out if you want me to" I shook my head "it's fine dad, Steve sorted it out" I said. "I couldn't help but overhear you're conversation, chief I can go with y/n to the baker's make sure she's safe" Steve offered "if that's okay with you" dad said placing his hand on my knee. "Are you okay with that kiddo?" Dad asked and I nodded. "Well I'll see you at five?" Steve asked "Yup" I replied and he walked off. "Are you dating him now?" Dad asked "dad! No! He's dating nancy" I said my face turning red "so you like him?" Dad asked "dad!!" I groaned as I buried my face in my hands.

Five on the dot Steve harrington pulled up to my house in his bmw. He honked his horn a few times. "Bye dad!" I shouted as I ran out of the house and out towards Steve's car. My bag slung around my shoulder containing a walkie talkie (not as strong as the boy's had but it was close), and some toys for clay (their three year old). "Hey!" I exclaimed as I hopped into his car "hey pretty girl" he said a smile on his face. "Steve" I warned he sighed as he sat back in his seat "sorry" he mumbled. He pulled out onto the road and started towards the baker's house. "You can just leave if you want I don't need you to stay" I said quietly. He shook his head "Nuh uh I'm staying with you" I rolled my eye's, he was so stubborn "Steve you can just go and get drunk with your friends I know that's what you want to do" he shook his head again "I don't I wanna stay with you" he said "that kid just went missing I can't leave you by yourself" I shook my head and sighed sitting back in the seat.

We pulled up to the house, it was two stories, and painted red. You could tell they were well off just by looking at the exterior of the house. Steve and I both got out and walked up to the front door. I rang the door bell and just a few seconds later liane the kids mother answered the door. "Hey, god thanks you for coming on such short notice!" She said and then looked up at steve. "Harrington?" Steve nodded "god I haven't seen you since you were about this tall!" She exclaimed as the gestured to her knees. Steve laughed akwardly as he nodded "so are you two dating?" She asked I shook my head No as fast as I could "no, god, no. He's not even my type" lie it was a total lie, Steve was one hundred percent my type. She raised her eyebrows and nodded "hm okay you two can come inside" she said opening the door up wider so we could fit through. Steve and I both settled down on the couch while Mrs. baker went to grab the kids.

When she came back down she had about a two month old in her arms, and clay followed shortly behind her. The baby was dressed in a pink onesie with a pink bow clipped into the little amount of hair she had. "This is lily" Mrs. baker said quietly as she handed the baby to me. I craddled the baby in my arms my expression softening as I saw her tiny eyes open showing off her gorgeous green eyes. "Her bottle is in the fridge and you already know everything for clay" she said before leaving. Clay hopped up onto the couch next to me. "Hi y/n!" He exclaimed "hi bud how are you?" I asked "m'good!" He smiled up at me "how do you feel about being a big brother?" I asked. He shrugged a frown replacing the smile on his face. "You don't know?" I asked cocking my head to the side. "I dunno momma doesn't spend lots of time with me anymore" he sighed "I felt like that too when my little sister was born my dad and mom spent all their time with Sara, but I ended up loving being a big sister i actually kinda miss it" I said ruffling his hair. It wasn't a lie at all everyone knows I miss being a big sister more than anything, I missed everything about it. That's why I spend a lot of time with 'the party' and babysitting it kinda fills that void. "Once she gets bigger you're gonna love it i promise" I said softly and he nodded. "Who is he?" Clay asked furrowing his eyebrows and pointing to Steve. "I'm Steve" Steve replied. "Steve do you wanna color with me?" Clay asked hopping off the couch and running over to Steve. "Not really" Steve mumbled "Steve!" i hissed "ok fine" he sighed and clay began to jump up and down before grabbing Steve's hand and pulling him upstairs.

"Hi baby" i coo'd as I lightly tickled her belly making the most adorable smile break out onto her face. "You're so cute, arent you?" I coo'd as I stood up and made my way upstairs to see how Steve was doing. I walked over to clay and now lilys room and stood in the door way watching the two boys interact. Both Steve and clay laid on their stomachs coloring books in front of both of them. "How old are you?" Clay asked "I'm seventeen" Steve replied as he colored in an elephant. "Woah! You're so old I'm this many!" Clay exclaimed holding up three fingers. "My birthdays coming up! I'm gonna be a big boy momma says" Clay said. "Woah that's so cool buddy" Steve said his voice way softer than it usually is. I smiled as I watched the two interact. "Do you have a girlfriend?" Clay asked and Steve nodded "yeah I actually do" Steve replied "is it y/n?" Steve shook his head "no, um it's this girl her name is Nancy she's the most prettiest girl in the world" I frowned Steve was so in love with Nancy I couldn't even hold a penny to her. "Prettier than y/n? Because I think y/n's the prettiest girl in the world" Clay replied innocently "Hey Steve" Steve instantly turned his head around "yeah?" I walked into the room "can you hold her for a second I've gotta make dinner for Clay." Clays eyes instantly lit up at the mention of food. "Yeah yeah sure" I handed the baby to Steve. His facial expression softened as he held the baby. Clay jumped up and ran to me making grabby hands towards me. "Hold me too" I rolled my eyes playfully and picked him up. I fake grunted "you're getting so big Clay" i giggled as I walked down the stairs Steve following behind me. "Momma said I'm a big boy now!" Clay exclaimed "really?" I asked raising my eyebrows "mhm! Momma said since I'm turning four I'm a big boy now!"

"So what do big boy's have for dinner?" I asked.

"Mac n cheese!" Clay exclaimed "mac n cheese? Steve you want Mac n cheese?" I asked "hell yeah I do" Steve replied. I grabbed the box of Mac and cheese and placed clay down. "Go watch tv I'll call you when it's finished" Clay nodded and ran into the living room. I grabbed a pot and filled it up with water "Steve can you turn the stove on" Steve didn't answer he just turned it on and continued to interact with the baby. "Hi, oh you're so cute" he coo'd, I placed the pot of water onto the stove and sprinkled a bit of salt into the pot before pouring the noodles into the pot making sure to grab the packet of cheese. "You're fucking adorable!" Steve coo'd I quickly turned around "language!" Steve rolled his eyes "she's two months old" he said. I pointed towards Clay "he can hear you" i hissed "fine, fine" Steve groaned. He then continued his conversation with the baby. "Yeah, you're so pretty arent you" lily then began to laugh.

Once the noodles were done cooking I mixed in the cheese and then began to plate it. For clay's I added a few extra things to the plate like some fruit just to fill him up. "Clay!" I shouted instantly the kid jumped up and ran to the table. I placed a plate in front of clay and he immediately began to devour it. I then placed a bowl in front of Steve and grabbed lily from him. "You're not gonna eat?" Steve asked furrowing his eyebrows "I can't I have to feed lily" I said grabbing the bottle out of the fridge. The bottle was already filled up I just needed to heat it up. After I heated up the bottle I sat in a chair next to Steve. I placed the bottle up to lilys mouth and she instantly latched on to the bottle. She sucked down the bottle as fast as she could. "God dammit" I giggled "language!" Steve mocked with a mouthful of Mac n cheese in his mouth. I rolled my eyes and began to burp her.

After Clay finished his food I took both kids upstairs to put the to bed, leaving Steve downstairs. I first placed lily in her crib, she instantly fell asleep. Then I tucked clay in and tried to read him a book. "Big boys don't need bed time story's" Clay whined "are you sure?" I asked raising my eyebrows "yes" he said nodding "okay goodnight Clay" I said as I walked out of the room after turning off the light. "Night y/n!" I made myself downstairs to see Steve with another bowl of Mac n cheese. "What bowl are you on now?" I asked "fifth" Steve said stuffing a spoonful into his mouth. "My god" I murmured as I sat back down. He then took another spoonful and started to move it towards my mouth. "Steve I'm not hungry" i replied "come on eat" he said I rolled my eyes "I can feed myself" i grumbled. "Come on y/n/n" I rolled my eyes and gave in, he stuck the spoon in my mouth. I chewed up and swollowed the Mac n cheese before sitting back in my seat. "Let's watch a movie" Steve suggested, I nodded and stood up before Steve picked me up and placed me over his shoulder. "Steve! Put me down!" I giggled Steve just chuckled before lightly dropping me down onto the couch. Steve sat down next to me wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "I feel bad" I mumbled "about what?" Steve asked cocking his head to the side as he looked down at me. "Will, he's missing and I'm just going on with my day to day life like nothing happened" i replied tears welling up in my eyes. "He was like a little brother to me, I just don't think I can handle losing anyone else. First it was my sister, then my mom, now will. I don't think I can take it anymore" I said a tear falling down my cheek. "Hey it's ok y/n." He said softly as he wiped a tear off my cheek. "It really isn't, I'm ditching my friends to babysit and hang out with eleven year olds, because that's the only way I don't feel the pain of my sister gone. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them just left me someday" I cried. "Hey, hey I'm not really good at this I'm sorry, but it's okay. Everything's gonna be okay they're gonna find will and everything gonna be fine" he said softly. I nodded as i sniffled, “shh, it’s all gonna be okay sweetheart” he said as he pulled me into his chest. “It’s all gonna be okay.”

“Y/N! DO YOU COPY!”

I groaned as I reluctantly pulled myself away from Steve and crawled over to my bag. “Yes I copy what the fuck do you want?” I cursed “we need you at mikes like now!” Dustin said “what is it?” I asked “we can’t tell you over this I’ll explain when you get here” I groaned “fine okay I’ll be there when I’m finished babysitting.”

“God dammit we need you now!” Dustin shouted “I’m sorry I’m babysitting and their mom won’t be here for another half hour!” I shouted before stuffing my walkie back into my bag. “God they’re insufferable” I sighed as I crawled back over to Steve. Steve chuckled as he wrapped his arm around my shoulder again.

“Steve!” I warned.

“What why don’t you like it when I flirt with you?” Steve asked pouting “because I don’t want to get hurt again Steve” I replied as I pushed his arm away from me.

An hour and a half later the kids mom came back. “Thank you so much” she sighed as she handed me thirty bucks. “No problem” I replied “have a good night” she replied just as we were about to walk out of the house.

“You too” I replied.

We walked out of the house, “half it?” I asked and Steve nodded. I handed him fifteen bucks “we should babysit together more often” Steve said as he stuck the money in his pocket. “Definitely, and it adds up over time. I’ve got like a hundred saved up just from the past month” I replied as I got into his car.

Steve drove over to the wheelers house, he decided to stay in the car just in case Liam was there. I knocked on the door a few times and Mrs wheeler answered. “Oh hey y/n! What are you doing here?” She asked “the boys said they needed to tell me somthing” I replied “oh well they’re just down there like they always are” she said. I thanked her and made my way down the stairs to see all the boys gathered around a little girl with a shaven head.

[gotnofucks]

The Unreformed Rake

Pairing: soft!dark Ransom Drysdale x Reader

Summary: Ransom Drysdale is a notorious rake, but he seems to have taken a shine to you. When he plans to make you his, nothing would stand in his way. No is not a word he understands.

Words: 3k

Warnings: Slightly dubcon touching, fingering, semi-public touching, forced marriage hinted, 18 + Only

A/N: This is my submission to Siri’s 5k Softdark challenge. Congratulations love @stargazingfangirl18​ , you do us hoes so proud and keep our punanis so happy! I chose the prompt “Come on, just a little taste”. It’s highlighted in the text.

If your corset was a millimeter more tighter, you’d be dead. The mammas cared more about getting their daughters married off than about them making it alive through the ball. You were glad that as a second daughter you didn’t have too many eyes on you. All you had to do was let three to four men twirl you around the dancefloor to appease your mother, and then you could sit back and enjoy watching your older sister Anika try to catch a husband.

Mostly, the balls weren’t too bad. You got to meet with your friends and eat some delicious food without the constant supervision of your mother, sometimes you’d even find a decent dance partner who wouldn’t step on your toes or whose hands wouldn’t wander south of your back. You could have made it through the evening unscathed had one handsome rake not made an appearance.

The moment Lord Huge Ransom Drysdale stepped into the hall, all eyes were on him. And his were on you. He made a spectacular vision, donning the bright colours that most gentlemen stayed away from, and yet he looked more masculine than any of them. The eyes of every unwed lady followed his movements, their mothers urging them to approach him despite his reputation.

Everyone knew Huge Ransom Drysdale was a notorious rake; his stories were told at tea parties in hushed tones and often accompanied by giggles. He was proficient in the art of leaving a trail of broken hearts and stuttering men, but more than that, he was a master at getting under your skin. His eyes hadn’t left you for a moment, fixating on you and your current dance partner who was glued to your side like lichens to rock.

“You dance most marvelously Miss Y/N, would you do me the honour of the next one too?” He asked, looking smitten at you.

“Now now Allen, you wouldn’t hog Miss Y/N’s attention all for yourself, would you?” Lord Drysdale’s mocking voice carried over to you, the man walking languidly until he stood before you. “There are a number of other ladies in want of a partner, if you’d be kind enough to relent Miss Y/N’s hand to me.”

Allen bowed to him, recognizing the superior title and the man who held it. Placing a small kiss on the back of your hand, he beat a hasty retreat from you side like the coward you knew him to be. Lord Drysdale chuckled, raising a brow at you before offering you his arm. You had half a mind to turn your nose at him and storm away, but your mother would have conniptions if she learnt you said no to a Lord.

“You have a lot of nerve and no tact Your Lordship” You said in a whisper, allowing him to grip your hand and bring you closer. The music began and he spun you out gracefully before bringing you back into his body, much closer than was socially acceptable. His fingers were firm around yours, the hand on your waist tight, singeing the flesh underneath with his touch.

“You know I am a tactless bastard, that shouldn’t be news to you.” He said with a charming smile that could fool anybody but you. He put a façade better than any theater artist you knew. He led you around the other dancing bodies dexterously, not looking away from your face. After a moment, he abruptly asked, “Who were those three morons you danced with earlier? Didn’t I sent word that you must keep your dance card empty but for me?”

An appalled gasp escaped you and it was with restraint you kept yourself from bolting away from him. “Are you having me watched?”, You hissed in anger, wrinkling your forehead. “Who the hell do you think you are?”

“Of course I have people keeping an eye on you. Can’t let anything happen to my future wife.”

Because you couldn’t leave, you did the next best thing. You stepped on his toe with all your might, digging your hell into his feet until he groaned in pain. He retaliated by moving his hand from your waist to your backside, giving a firm squeeze to your ass that had you choking on a scandalized scream.

“Hugh!” You chided through gritted teeth, looking around quickly to see if someone had noticed. Amidst the sea of dancers, nobody focused on you alone, but it would be enough to ruin a lady’s reputation.

“You know that’s not what you call me.”

His blue eyes turned darker, more challenging and predatory as he leaned closer until his chest brushed against you. You struggled, trying to put distance between you as discreetly as possible but he wouldn’t give.

“Let go!” You said, digging your nails into his shoulder to no avail. The thick padding of his clothes prevented any harm.

“Say my name.”

It was an order, one that if not met would hold consequences. People thought they knew the philandering Lord Drysdale, but they had little inkling to the danger that resided just beneath the surface. You knew. Your gaze dropped away from his, head a little bowed in defeat.

“Ransom.” You whispered, and he let out a shuddering breath as if his name on your lips had taken away more from himself than from you. He wouldn’t let you address him as anything else, not you who he claimed would be wearing his ring soon.

The dance slowed to a stop, people clapping, and you pushed away from him, halfheartedly joining in the applause. Ransom stood too close, his hand on your waist still fast and you slapped it away in irritation.

“Look, just stay away from me. I don’t want mamma to see us together.” You said, weaving through the throngs of people and trying to escape him. He followed, keeping at your heels with no problem, playfully pulling at your sleeve.

“Stay away?” He scoffed, almost as if in wonder of your audacity to even demand that. “You’re gonna be Lady Drysdale soon, you need to get used to my presence. I will always be close. Very close.”

You turned on him, raising a finger and wagging it in his face. Heat was settling over your face and neck, seeping beneath your neckline and into your chest that was heaving. Ransom’s eyes trained on the rise and fall of your breast, a wolfish grin on his face as he licked his lips in appreciation and anticipation.  

“I am not going to marry you Ransom!” You yelled in a whisper, amazed at his arrogance. “You keep away from me.”

In a second his fingers encircled your wrist, pulling you away from the floor into the shadowy corners as you protested. Sweeping aside the curtains, he pushed you into an alcove, pressing you in deeper with his body as the curtains fell again to shield you from curious eyes.

“We’ll have to do something about that mouth of yours.” He hissed cruelly, caging you between his massive arms. “You can’t go around speaking to me like this.”

His face neared yours, eyes dark and dangerous as they glared into you, his mouth opening slowly. You knew what was going to happen and you turned your face at the last second, his lips finding your cheek instead. Warm breath fanned your already heated skin, a flutter of butterflies setting your nerves astray.

“Stop! This isn’t proper.” You said, squirming as Ransom refused to back away. He chuckled in derision, forcefully turning your face to his. You hated how he still looked so beautiful, despite the sneer and arrogance.

“Wouldn’t be the first time we did it. Or did you forget about those stolen moments after the lakeside picnics? What about those walks in the park where I’d press you into a bark of tree and ravish this sinful mouth? We’re long past proper my darling, and the only reason your virtue is intact is because I am affording you the dignity to keep it until our wedding night.”

Your gaze lowered in mortification, those shameful moments coming back to you as flashes behind your eyelids. He had been far too powerful, too intense to refuse. In your weakness, you’d allowed him liberties that made guilt settle like weight on your chest every time your mother bragged about your modesty to other mammas.

“That was my mistake, Ransom. I’m supposed to marry a man of impeccable standing, someone who holds everyone’s good opinion. After Anika gets herself a man, it’ll be me, and my mother would never marry me off to a rake like you.”

His chest expanded in indignation under your hands, and he held you steady as he ground himself against you. Anger, jealousy, and sheer disbelief at your words was evident in his glare, and you shivered in fear as his lips skimmed over your jaw.

“You will marry me, mamma or no mamma. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to make you mine.” He promised, eyes glinting in warning. “What’s that saying? A reformed rake makes the best husband, ain’t it?”

“You’re not reformed.” You countered, captive in his hold. A part of you that you refused to acknowledge didn’t want to leave at all.

“That’s true.” Ransom said, smirking. “I am a rake, its time I play to my reputation.”

He kissed you hard, his tongue pushing past your lips without preamble. You couldn’t help moaning into his mouth, your fingers clutching his collar for dear life, knees threatening to collapse as he kissed you like a man starved. You knew he had a talented tongue by his charming words, but there was more to it than merely speaking. He discovered you, explored you like an untouched cave and brought you back to life.

Nobody could make you feel like he did. You had no patience for conceited, blustering men, but Ransom was more than that. He was a force that overpowered your life like winds did to fallen leaves. He carried you with himself, unrelenting, persistent. He was passionate and hungry, he was obsessed. After the first time he had kissed you in the park, he promised he wouldn’t kiss anyone again. He promised he’d make you his, and that if any man tried to claim what belonged to him, it would end in a duel.

In his kiss, you felt his possessiveness. You felt his raw power and lust that had led you to sin on more than one occasion. Saying no to him was difficult, mainly because you were most yourself when with him. He gave you wings unknowingly. He gave you the freedom to rebel unknowingly. To him, it was your claiming. But hadn’t you claimed him too in one kiss? Hadn’t you transformed the rake into a marriageable sort in one kiss?

“Ransom, we can’t.” You breathed against his lips, both your mouths swollen and glistening.

“Yes we can. We will.”

His hand ventured south of your neck, dipping into your neckline and brushing against the plump swell of your breast. You sputtered, not knowing if you were urging him or objecting. He pressed you hard into the wall, trailing his lips from your neck to your chest, sucking and nibbling with utmost patience and care. You whimpered at his assault, soft mewls spilling from your mouth and you rested your head back, unable to control the heat that simmered in your core.

“There is no power in the world that can stop me from making you my wife.” He said, looking right into your eyes as he sharply pulled and tore a rip into your bodice. You screeched, thumping your fists against his chest before he gathered them in one arm and held them above your head. “This is just a preview of what will happen between us when you take my ring and name.”

Pushing away the limp fabric from your breast, his mouth enveloped your nipple in one fell swoop. You cried out in pleasure, his warmth spreading into your own body and you feared you’d burn. A fire was simmering between your legs, wet and wanting, chanting his name. His teeth gently grazed your nipple, causing you to whimper, a sound he captured in his mouth.

“Look at me.” He ordered, and you opened your eyes without having realized they were closed. The blue in his had never been darker, almost black like the night sky that swallowed down everything in its path.

“Please don’t.” You begged. “I have sisters whose reputation are tied with mine. You’ll ruin us all.”

Ransom smiled, and you gulped because he looked almost tender. As his fingers trailed down your front to gather the layers of skirt above your knees, he bumped his nose in yours. “Never. I am a Thrombey-Drysdale. I’ll take you, and I’ll save your family. Everything I own is yours.”

The look in his eyes was such that you didn’t protest as he traced your thighs, approaching the apex. He didn’t look away as he reached your moist core, nor when he found your sensitive nub and ran circles around it with his fingers. You moaned, biting your lip to stifle your voice as his breathing picked up. Your scent filled the small niche you were in, his chest digging into yours, hand buried between your legs.

A strangled cry did escape when you felt him at your weeping entrance, threatening to breach the untouched walls of your virtue. You shook your head, asking him not to cross the boundary that will change everything between you.

“Come on, just a little taste.” He urged, pressing inside with one finger. He delved in slowly, his intrusion felt against the spongy walls of your sex and you trembled. You were panting you realized, hips gyrating almost subconsciously to mirror his movements.

“Ransom” You moaned, pushing forward. You had to do something, anything. You felt about ready to combust.

“I know. I know. Look at me and remember the pleasure I can give you. Remember the love I will shower on you.”

Another finger joined the first, stretching you until it burnt. You held onto his arms, breath coming in sharp intervals as he moved in and out, the obscene sounds of your essence mixing in with your laboured breathing.

“Do you feel the fire my darling?” Ransom asked, and you nodded. He rested his forehead on yours, forcing you to meet his eyes as he sped up, the heel of his hand digging into your nub. “Look into my eyes and let go. Come, now.”

Your back arched and your pressed forward into his body, quacking in pleasure as sensations that had no name wrecked your whole body. Your teeth sank into his neck to hold in your scream, whole body vibrating and undulating in ecstasy. You remained like this until you caught your breath, sweat gathering above your lips and brow. He looked ravenously at you. He looked in awe too.

Raising his hand, he showed you his fingers soaked in your wetness and slowly he brought them to his mouth and sucked. You gulped, suddenly feeling empty as Ransom closed his eyes in the relish of your taste. When he finally looked at you again, you knew you were lost. The wolf had had his taste of blood. There was no escaping.

He kissed you slow and soft, sharing your taste with you and pulling you closer into him. It didn’t seem like he would part. For all you knew, the world had burnt away leaving only this niche in the wall intact, two people who were just learning to explore each other the only ones alive.

“Do you know, or should I say?” He asked, and you sucked in a breath. Who would have thought this day would come?

“Say it.” You answered. You knew, oh yes. But you needed to hear. You needed to watch those beautiful lips curve around words that bound you to him in something far more potent than marriage.

“I love you.” He said, sincerely, truly and with no hesitation. He loved you. Lord Hugh Ransom Drysdale loved you. Your eyes glistened with unshed tears and you stood on your toes to brush a kiss against his lips.

“I love you, Your Lordship.”

His arms came around you so strong that they felt like chains. You stayed in his embrace, disheveled and disoriented. You never expected your evening would have ended like this.

“Remember my love, then. And forgive me.” Ransom said. Before you could ask him what he meant, he threw apart the curtains that contained your sin and bared you to the world. The first person gasped aloud, and then ten more. You stood paralyzed, holding a hand against your chest to conceal the peeking flesh behind.

Ransom stood before you, nonchalant. Whispers flew around, taking the form of a vicious wind that swept across the ballroom until your mother was running towards you, scandalized. She took one look at you and staggered back, falling behind on the people who rushed forward to help.

“You – no. It couldn’t be.” She sobbed, holding a hand to her heart as if asking it to stay inside. You couldn’t say anything, shame written on every part of you. Ransom cleared his throat before looking at you softly, uncaring of others who gossiped when his lips pressed on your forehead.

“I plan to do right by Miss Y/N.” He announced, removing his coat and draping it around you. Pulling you out from the alcove, he put an arm around you and tugged you at his side. He glanced at you mother who was on the verge of fainting, a small tilt to his lips. “Madam, with your blessings, I would like to wed your daughter and make her an honest woman.”

You hid your face into his chest, not bothering to see your mother’s response. He had compromised you. He had ruined you. Ransom Drysdale didn’t take a no, and he fought hard for what he wanted.

“I hate you.” You whispered, heartbroken. Had he waited, you’d have said yes yourself. Ransom read the question in your gaze and stroked the curve of your cheek.

“I have done my waiting. No more of it. You’re mine now.”

[h0neyjaehyun]

☁︎ 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐡 ☁︎

Summary // Talia grants Jaehyuns wish

Characters // Talia Flores + Jaehyun ( ft. Allen, Chan, Karma, Song-ho)

Era / Year // Feburary 2017

Talia never really cared for her birthday, it’s never something she’d look forward to. Even now, birthdays only really reminded her of bad times. It’s not like it’s just her day either. She shares it with her twin brother Miguel which she doesn’t mind. She loves her brother so there was no need to dislike her birthday, especially right now as she has a new life without all that abuse and torment, but yet she doesn’t feel excited. The energy from her members didn’t really reach her, so she fondly smiled at them appreciating their excitement for the day of her birth even though she wasn’t. It made her feel warm that there were people who are glad she was born. 

Yes, her other friends did celebrate, but since they were all going through their own things when they were younger there wasn’t much time to celebrate but more like worry about what’s going to happen next on what felt like a never-ending nightmare which they called their life. 

Talia was now staring at a gravestone, how can one person change everything with just existing for just a moment, then disappearing the next. She crouched down cleaning it up a bit smiling bitterly, wanting to cry her hear aching even she though she figured she was able to keep the promise. Her hand grazing over the engraving of the one she held so dear. She slowly put down her lily stepping away admiring their hard work. She raised her hand high fiving her friends. 

“It was a good idea to visit him even though it took like what? Two hours?” Allen nodded impressed they didn’t start complaining halfway through that car ride.

“Wow great job now we know how long it took, now it’s going to feel like it’s 4 hours instead of 2.” Karma whined punching Allen on the shoulder. The group laughed at Karma’s whining but got what she meant.

“Ah we really should head back I can just imagine one of my members waking up to me not being there.” Talia thought out loud just imaging the chaos that would ensue when they don’t see her there. Allen scoffed.

“Please they will call you and you can say you’re with Chan.” Allen pointed at Chan while his head shook in confusion on how he came up with that.

“Me? Why me?” He pointed at himself dramatically.

“Cause they know you are responsible, so if you think about it and use your noggin, they will be cool with it.” Allen said oh so casually while Talia, Karma, and Chan looked at him with ‘are you stupid?’ look on their face. Now Allen taken back from their reaction.

“Why are your guys faces screaming ‘are you stupid?’ on them?” he asked concerned. Talia huffed and started to walk away with the rest but Allen following her as he was frozen in confusion, now getting to his senses running to catch up with them.

“WHAT WAS THAT LOOK FOR????” 

Talia sighed in relief as she entered her dorm. Cracking her neck, feeling like she was just on a 10-hour road trip with a bunch of idiots (Allen). Talia kicked off her shoes taking off her jacket feeling overheated already. Looking up now making intense eye contact with a member of the foreign swaggers.

“Ah Mi Bon Bon.” She tilted her head smiling sweetly acting like she didn’t just leave and come back at 5 am at night. Jaehyun raised an eyebrow at her giving her a knowing smile.

“Now princess, I know it’s your birthday and all and you turned like 18 but, why did you just come through the door at 5 am in the morning when I clearly saw you knocked out with Jaemin and Haechan clinging on to you.” He asked walking up to her helping her get her layers off as February can get quite cold.

Talia looked down and pouted no way she was getting out of this one. “Ah well you see, I was planning to leave around 12 am as I figured Dream was gonna take me to their dorm which they were gonna knock out as soon as they get there, and to which they did. Then I pretended to be asleep so when managers did a round check with the older members aka you, Taeyong, Doyoung, etc. Then when you guys left, I took a shower and left aswell." Talia explained her process as to Jaehyun was impressed.

“You a professional now?” He asked playfully leading her to his room as he was rooming alone, and the bed was big enough for both of them. Talia giggled at his joke, glad he wasn’t to upset at the fact she sneaked out late at night. Where if it were the other members, she would be scolded right off the bat. Jaehyun smirked a bit knowing Talia owed him one as they can play it off as she couldn’t sleep and decided to sleep with Jaehyun. Talia side eyed him knowing exactly what he’s thinking.

“What do you want Jung Jaehyun.” She turned to him eyeing him up and down. He chuckled. “No Mi Bon Bon?” he mocked her as she groaned letting her head fall back rolling her eyes at him going to his closet for some comfortable clothes to steal. He thought about it for a moment and smiled he got out the room as she signaled him to leave.

“You thought of one yet?” She raised her voice a little, just enough for him to hear. “Yeah, I got a perfect one~.” He said in a sinister way to mess with her. Laughing a little as he heard her little moan on the other side clearly dreading her future. He knocked twice to see if he could come in the silence was a yes as he opened the door to a small girl planted face down like a star in the middle of his bed.

“Now princess would you like to hear my wish?” he said in a breathy tone petting her hair. She nodded still facing the cushion. Jaehyun smiled sweetly at her little act finding it adorable.

“I want you to wish me Happy Birthday and Valentine’s Day once the clock hits 12~” He sang, he could feel Talia stiffen and his eyes followed her body as she slowly rose her head in surprise. She smiled signaling she liked his wish.

“Alright Valentine Boy I will grant your wish with a bonus!” She exclaimed now sitting up with Jaehyun still sitting on the floor laying his head on her legs interested in the bonus.

“Bonus? What bonus?” He smiled dimples coming out making him seem more charming. 

“I will wish you Happy Birthday plus Valentine every year in person or through call depends on my schedule.” She proposed now playing with his face, his smiled got wider and tackled her down the bed hugging the life out of her. Now more relaxed, lights turned off his face just nuzzled in her hair in the place of her neck. He could feel her body relaxed and breathing slow down as she fell asleep in his arms. He looked up at her, even though he can’t see her properly he could still make out her figure. His eyes softening but yet his heart was racing. This girl took his breath away in one foul swoop and he couldn’t complain as it felt amazing.

“I love you, I love you so much, thank you.” 

[roseybunlucy]

I have so much to say about every single one of these guys! Below i'll comment on my s/o, the runner up, who I thought I would originally marry and our kid names!

This template was made by pinkcatflower and if you'd like to give it a try too, here's the link!

https://at.tumblr.com/pinkcatflower/newly-updated-fill-in-the-blank-story-of-seasons/2c1q2b17sfh5

Harvest Moon DS Cute

Commentary- I never actually played this game. I asked for it but my brother got me "Harvest Moon DS" instead, but SKYE is the reason I started playing harvest moon! When I was little I was trying to find games where I could marry and start a family. I found skye and I was swooning instantly! Now that I'm older, im too scared to buy and play the game because what if my fantasy of the guy who started my love of the series doesnt come close to who he actually is?

Harvest Moon : Sunshine Islands

Commentary- THIS was my first harvest moon game! As for Will, I cant remember exactly why I chose him since it was so long ago. Maybe I thought he was cute, I didnt like the other candidates or that I thought marrying him would help my income on the farm (Which it didnt!) But it doesnt change the fact that he'll always have a special place in my heart for being my first Harvest moon husband! I still do think he's a cutie to this day.

Who I thought i would marry - Pierre! I was on the road to him until Will came at the last minute! Lol

Child name- Maulina. I remember before the kid was born, i named my cow malina and i liked the name but i didnt want to name my child after a cow so i spelled it differently. I also remember seeing a "leak" of the child portraits, with will's kid having blonde hair and blue eyes and I thought the name was fitting for that design. I later found out that was not infact an official leak 😅

Harvest Moon : A New Beginning

Commentary - I had no patience to wait for all the bachelors to show up in this game so I regretfully rushed and married the first person that came, Neil. I was never a fan of his tsundere personality but his nervous face did make me smile after the marriage every now and then.

Who I thought I would marry/ Runner up - I remember dating allen in this game but I thought his personality was so horrible after a while I deleted the save file. I do wish I had took the time to get to know Sanjay. Thinking back on it, I couldve possibly liked him if I had talked to hime more.

Child name- I think it was Sage but im not 100% sure...

Story of Seasons

Commentary- My FAVORITE game of the series with my most FAVORITE bachelor! Mistel! His personality got me immediately! I was always caught off guard by him and blushing. Needless to say he's my number 1. With Nadi an extremely close runner up! I actually chose the picture of him that made me like him. The first time I ever saw that smirk, I had an instant crush.

Child name- Surprisingly I never married! It came out when I was in high school and I got too busy but I do sorta remember the names I was going to use! There was 4 names in total since this game gives you twins but I only remember "Drossel and Verona". I guess the art design made me feel like these names were fitting for this game. I also remember wanting to give Nadi's kids a plant based name.

Story of Seasons : Trio of Towns

Commentary- I liked Inari's ears and im a sucker for white hair. Other than that, I just wasnt a fan of any of the other bachelors

Runner up- If Inari didnt exist then I would had chosen Hinata, I like positive energetic characters.

Child name- Kana, After my child in Fire emblem Fates

Story of Seasons : Friends of Mineral Town

Commentary - Kai! I LOVE Kai! I hate putting my favorites in competitions with eachother but Kai is DEFINITELY in my top 3. He's so charming, smooth, funny and charismatic! How could I NOT like him? He's made me blush a few times too. Not to mention we both have the same favorite food!

Runner up- If Kai never showed up, I probably would have gone after Cliff, It made me sad that he came with no family, I wanted to help him go from nothing to a new found expanding family!

Child name- No child name! I got too busy with school again to marry him sadly! Plus I never thought of a name for our future kids.

Story of Seasons : Pioneers of Olive Town

Commentary- Not too much to say here. I liked Jack's normal personality, his events were cute AND he's not too bad looking himself. I never finished the game far enough to marry him.

Runner up- Ralph. I had a hard time deciding between the two. Ralph's events were pretty cute plus I liked his personality.

Rune Factory 4

Commentary- Doug! I didnt expect to like him but I was so caught off guard the first time I saw his introduction! I was like "Woah! Whos that!" He had instantly piqued my interest after that!

Runner up- I remember I had accidentally asked Dylas out in one of my other files. I had no interest in him but seeing that he liked me made me see him differently. I also had another file where I had planned dating Leon but I lost interest in that

Who I thought I would end up with- Before the game came out I looked at everyones Bio and thought I would fall for Vishnal! His design was cute and his personality seemed nice on paper but once I started playing I lost interest fast lol.

"Harvest Moon" : One World

Commentary - Jamil had the best 1st love event to pull me in. It showed how compassionate and caring he is and has to be one of my favorite events I've seen. It had me thinking about him hard enough to leave an impression on me!

Runner up- Sami. I did marry him but Jamil stole my heart.

Who I thought I would marry- Everyone except Braden

Girls

Harvest Moon DS

Commentary- Muffy is DROP DEAD GORGEOUS! And has such a cute personality! I could never understand how she had romance troubles. If she were real I'd snatch her up in a heartbeat! As for Leia, Her sweet pwrsonality and cute looks got me too. Sadly, all my hard work went in vain as my save file corrupted and I was never able to marry in the game.

Harvest Moon : Sunshine Islands

Commentary- I never really had a thing for Lily, she was more of an "If I had to choose" option because I find her pretty.

Harvest Moon : A New Beginning

Commentary- I feel like If I could, I could write a whole essay about Tina. Im surprised that she's so underrated when she literally started my awakening! Everything about her is so perfect! She made me realize Im a sucker for short hair and her peppy outlook on life and energy made me feel so refreshed. Infact the first thing she ever told me that made my heart flutter was "Let's seize the day!" and she had the cutest little smile. For some reason that moment was a core memory. I just think she's best girl. I started a new save file just for her and Ive never done that before!

Child name- We never married but I had planned on naming our daughter "Tharja" for some reason.

Rune Factory 4

Commentary- Xiao Pai is just cute! I think I liked her mom more though lol.

"Harvest Moon" : One World

Commentary- Malika is just pretty and I think her personality is neat. I feel like she teases alot.

[kitkatt0430]

Iris West-Allen for the character ask game?

1: sexuality headcanon

Bi or pan

2: otp

Westhawne or Westhallen - while westallen did grow on me, I can't say I ever got over the feeling that Iris got together with Barry because she had everyone and their doppleganger telling her that she was destined for Barry and... not because she actually chose him for herself. Whereas Eddie? Saying screw destiny? She wanted that, enthusiastically so.

And, well, close the triangle!! Westhallen!!

3: brotp

When not shipping her with Barry, definitely brotp with Barry. But also Linda and Wally and Kamilla. She deserved more time with those three.

4: notp

Kamilla. I was so desperate for Iris to have a friend again that when she got one I shipped them platonically so hard that I just don't see Iris/Kamilla in a romantic way.

5: first headcanon that pops into my head

Iris is a roller coaster fiend. She loves them so much, going so fast and all the ups and downs and upside downs and spins... so of course she loves it when Barry runs with her because it's such a similar experience.

6: favorite line from this character

I have a few different favorite lines, but... summing up why keeping her locked out of the loop was a terrible idea

Did you ever stop to think that looping me in would keep me safe? That if I knew what was out there that I could prepare for it? Maybe I could have helped you and Barry put the bad guys away instead of being in the way!

She deserved to call them out on that and I'm glad she got to.

7: one way in which I relate to this character

I've had people try to tell me that I'm obviously attracted to someone that I was not before and since I hadn't figured out I was aro yet I really wondered if they were right in telling me that. It was definitely a very confusing and upsetting experience. So everyone shoving Iris at Barry in S1 and her being confused and upset over it is something I very strongly related with.

8: thing that gives me second hand embarrassment about this character

not so much stuff that she does but the way people often treat her. There's very much a tendency towards other characters to treat her like they've got the right to make her decisions for her and it's super painful to watch when it happens

9: cinnamon roll or problematic fave?

cinnamon roll ^_^

[shiroganeryo]

Komui's Discussion Room content (DGM 27)

Volume 27 has been released recently here in Brazil and I realized the remaining of Komui’s Discussion Room were nowhere to be found in English, but after reading all of it, I thought there are very interesting things hence why I wanted to share!

Please bear in mind this is not a direct translation, but a summary.

I have a lot of criticism when it comes to Viz Media’s release (official English), but I’m quite content with the work Panini, the distributor of D.Gray-Man in Brazil, has done so far with the official Portuguese release. If there are any mistakes, please bear in mind I translated the information directly from their version.

There are 11 questions covered in this summary. For the others, please check Jeidafei’s translations on them (totally recommend it!): Part 1 | Part 2 | Author's note & Thanks Corner | Extra

Without further ado, let’s get into it! This got very long.

≫ Kanda hasn’t reached the “critical point” in synchronization yet (+ why Allen isn’t a General)

In the question “How did Kanda hide having gone past the critical point”, Tiedoll answers that he actually has the potential it takes to do it but hasn’t done it yet. Still on the same question, they answer a related question about Allen’s critical point: “If Allen has reached the critical point, why wasn’t he appointed to become a general during the Order’s reconstruction?”

Allen replies that it was impossible at that time since Central was keeping watch over him. Tiedoll adds that he’s also too young and the only one able to operate the Ark, the latter making Central even more suspicious of him. General Cross’s reputation also seems to have played a part in this, having the higher-ups deem Allen as someone they couldn’t trust enough.

Ryo’s note: Allen thanks Tiedoll for putting his thoughts about Cross into words and Cross simply laughs it off. XD

≫ Sleeping positions

They get asked about their sleeping positions. Tiedoll describes how Kanda sleeps with detail (when younger, in fetal position; nowadays, he sleeps lying on his side, preferentially the right side).

Allen comments that Johnny sleeps sprawled on the floor or the desk and that everyone in the Science Division sleeps like this; when he first saw it, he got concerned thinking something tragic had happened. Johnny says it’s comfortable to sleep like this, but Allen isn’t so sure.

Cross comments on how Allen sleeps; he mentions he likes to sleep hugging something and when he can’t do it, he complains until falling asleep. Allen gets flustered and claims that he got used to sleeping with Tim because he used to be big, but is over it nowadays. Johnny remembers Link used to tell him not to sleep with the piggy-bank, to which Allen replies that it was “not a sleeping position, but survival instincts”.

Kanda comments on how he brought a ton of food to the infirmary one time and says it was annoying to listen to him eating nonstop. Allen replies with sarcasm (“sorry for needing to eat to recover my energies”).

Cross sleeps naked, with his arms open (according to Allen).

Tiedoll sleeps on his stomach, blanket over his face.

Ryo’s note: The time Kanda is referring to is in Chapter 135 (135th Night: Repose, Partly Cloudly).

≫ The symbol on the CROWs' foreheads

Cross replies that it’s probably the compulsory mark of the procedure that transforms regular people in CROWs. Tiedoll says that Cross knows a lot, as expected of someone who’s able to use magic –he shrugs off the compliment – and Kanda asks when and how exactly someone like him learned it. He angrily says he didn’t learn it anywhere and ends the question at Allen’s remark that he always gets angry when people ask.

Ryo’s note: This is interesting. Could imply he was the one to teach magic to Nea (and the Earl himself?), and not the other way around. But, it’s also possible he just didn’t want to answer.

≫ “What is something you find impressive on the other, but have never admitted?”

Johnny decides to start with Kanda and Allen, and the two exchange insults for several lines.

Johnny then passes the baton to the Generals, who do the exact same as their apprentices.

Johnny ends the question with a thank you and sweating nervously.

Ryo’s note: By “insults”, I mean things like Kanda calling Allen a crybaby, and Allen saying Kanda’s dumb. Tiedoll calls Cross a delinquent; Cross calls him “doting dad”. The list goes on…

≫ The time Kanda spent with General Tiedoll right after becoming his apprentice (+ Allen’s time with Cross)

They are asked what was the most outstanding episode from such a time, and Kanda absentmindedly says he forgot. Tiedoll seems disappointed, stating they had made so many marvelous memories together, to which Kanda replies “please stop talking in this weird way”.

Allen asks how the travels were, and Tiedoll says the most important at that time was to take care of mending Kanda’s heart. They spent much time talking about amenities, having contact with plants and animals and admiring beautiful landscapes. Tiedoll believes that getting in touch with beautiful things can help to connect with the world, despite carrying the burden of being a Second; he wanted Kanda to feel like regular people feel about the world.

Johnny and Allen are touched, and the latter comments how jealous he is. Cross then reminds Allen of how many bedsheets he had to wash because of him, making him flustered. He then goes on to remind how not only he did that but also had to feed him – Tiedoll comments on how it seems impossible to imagine Cross doing all that – and even help him change many times.

Allen’s embarrassment reaches the maximum and he threatens to beat Cross if he keeps talking about that.

≫ Stories of when Kanda and Lenalee were little

Kanda tries to shrug the question off, but Johnny insists they answer. Tiedoll says that the two of them were really cute, just like two lilies that bloomed inside the gray scenery of the Order; Kanda tells him to stop.

Allen is uninterested in Kanda, but wants to hear about Lenalee. Cross asks him if he likes her, and says he thought he had a girlfriend in the Asian Branch already. Allen denies it and says both LouFa and Lenalee are his friends; Cross laughs, saying he doesn’t judge, and Allen nearly snaps in irritation (again).

Johnny moves on to answer the question; Kanda is against it, but Tiedoll holds him in place. Johnny tells that Jiji told him that at first, Kanda would be asked if Lenalee could train with him, but he would shrug her off saying he didn’t want to train with a girl, which would make her cry.

Every time Kanda made Lenalee cry, she would run off to Reever. In reality, Johnny thinks she wanted to talk to Komui instead, but she thought he was busy and didn’t want to bother him, resulting in her crying at Reever’s desk. Tiedoll and Allen are weeping at it (they thought it’s cute).

While Reever comforted Lenalee, Marie would appear bringing Kanda along, who had no idea how to apologize, while Lenalee would bashfully hide inside Reever’s lab coat. This kept happening until he eventually accepted to train with her.

Johnny starts telling another story involving Kanda’s meditation and Lenalee coming back tired from a mission, but Kanda interrupts him. Allen says it’s being fun and tells him not to bother.

Kanda tells him to shut up, calling him a bedwetter. Allen snaps (again).

Ryo’s note: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

≫ “Who amongst the Noah would Allen best go along with? Hypothetically speaking.”

Allen and Kanda are worn out from fighting (see the previous question); Johnny is giving them calming tea. Tiedoll says that it seems Allen and Tyki Mikk looked friendly when talking to each other, and Allen interjects saying they’re not friends and that Tyki doesn’t respect the notion of personal space.

He then goes on to say he doesn’t imagine himself being friends with any Noah because they lack common sense. Cross mentions Road and how she’s always being flirty with him, which makes Allen tell him to stop implying things, while sounding unsure about being friends with her or not.

Johnny asks if Allen is embarrassed and reminds Road kissed him. He denies being embarrassed and says that kissing is just a form of greeting for her (he’s sweating nervously while saying so). He adds that, on top of that, he feels like Road sees someone else when she looks at him.

Cross seems amused.

Ryo’s note: This answer is very interesting. It seems to confirm the theory that Road had some kind of connection with past!Allen. We won’t know for sure until it’s revealed, but it does seem to imply such a thing.

≫ The taste of Innocence + the Crystal Type Innocence + Exorcist supplies + Cross suspiciously knowing about the Bookman clan

A reader asks how did Innocence taste like when liquefied; Kanda says it tastes like nothing, similar to water.

Johnny points out the wounds that formed after their Innocence became Crystal types and if they don’t hurt. Kanda says that at the time they don’t, but such wounds won’t heal even with his healing ability – which he concludes makes sense since it’s from where the blood comes out to form the weapons.

Johnny mentions that the Science Division (Komui, more specifically) made Lenalee pills that will prevent anemia. Still on that subject, Allen remembers people had asked what goes inside the bags the Exorcists carry on their uniforms. Johnny says they carry first-aid kits, disinfectants, anti-hemorrhagic meds, and things of the sort. Miranda and Timothy carry sweets with a high intake of calories, Krory carries Akuma blood sweets and Lavi and Bookman asked for migraine meds.

Tiedoll says they are nothing without the support of the Science Division and thanks them. Allen asks about Lavi and Bookman getting migraines. Cross mentions it’s probably from an occupational disease because storing that much information and memories can wreck your head over time.

Allen comments again that he seems to know a lot about the Bookman Clan, and that it’s very suspicious. Cross magnificently shrugs off the question.

≫ Allen’s cheating

Allen gets asked if he becomes bad at luck games (i.e gambling) in case he doesn’t cheat. He says that a bet on luck always rewards something even if gains are small, but Johnny says he’s really bad at things like rock-paper-scissors. Kanda thinks he was just in denial about admitting he’s unlucky.

When scolded by Kanda, Allen says it was a matter of survival and that he never cheated good people on; just bad people.

Johnny says living like this is dangerous and that he should stop; Allen apologizes and says he needs money, and if anything, he can use his Innocence.

Cross is amused and sounds proud. Tiedoll regrets Cross’s influence on Allen.

≫ About Link

Allen gets asked if he has ever seen Link smile, to which he responds he has tried making him laugh/smile, but never could do it. Johnny says that everyone from Central is very serious, especially Link. Tiedoll thinks that it might be forbidden to smile when their superior is Director Lvellie.

Allen goes on to ramble about how Link complained about everything: when he had food on his face after or during eating, asking him to redo reports because they were illegible despite Reever being able to read, scolding him for not drying his hair after going out of the bath because he could get a cold, and how he was a shame for not folding his uniform properly before putting it away.

Cross asks him, “what was he? Your mother?” and Allen says he didn’t get annoyed at him. He wonders if all moms are like this.

Johnny says people were worried when he was assigned to watch Allen, but in the end, Link went along well with everyone and confirms that Allen liked him as well. He also states that Allen’s reports became a lot easier to read thanks to him.

Ryo’s note: Ladies, gentlemen, and non-binary folks: it’s Link appreciation time! *tips hat* Also Allen wondering about how mothers treat their children was just precious, even if it’s a throwaway comment.

≫ The vibe at the Black Order

In the question “Who runs faster, Komui or Reever?”, Johnny says that he thinks Reever is faster; Allen adds that Komui cheats by using Komurin, though. Kanda gets annoyed and tells them they (at the Science Division) should make Komui behave accordingly to his role. Johnny sniffs and says that they try.

Tiedoll says that it’s actually good that Komui is cheerful because the Order used to be a very different place until he took over the post, and that he (Tiedoll) disliked the gloomy aura it used to have. Allen remembers Lenalee commented about it once and asks if the Order was really this different back then. Tiedoll says that even if it’s been built with a noble purpose, human beings aren’t perfect and a lot of things get distorted over a hundred years. He recommends Allen to ask For about it, as she has existed ever since the Order was founded and protects it to this day.

Allen is sad and comments he wants to visit the Asian Branch again someday. Johnny says he’ll go with Allen, but the latter says he would want to eat Jeryy’s food again before that. Cross sneers and wishes good luck.

They wrap it up at this, and both Kanda and Allen look very happy about being done with the Discussion Corner (as noted by Johnny). Tiedoll bids Cross adieu, and says “rest in peace, Marian” – to which he replies “don’t treat me like a ghost”.

Allen says he knows Cross is an illusion created by his weakness, but that he was happy to see him (in reference to the 222nd Night: Searching for A.W - Hypokrisis). Cross tells him not to exaggerate.

Johnny is content that they could finally keep it to the ideal number of pages – something the Discussion Corner is known to usually have trouble with. Tiedoll says that if they had gone overboard, the next issue’s Discussion Corner would be canceled, and wraps up thanking everyone who has cared about Yu so far and asks that people keep cheering for him.

Johnny thanks the readers for sending their questions. Allen and Kanda are relieved it’s over.

Ryo’s note: And that’s it! Man, this got LONG. Thank you very much for reading until the end. Can’t wait for the next Discussion Room, the way Tiedoll worded it makes it seem like it’ll be on the next volume, 28. I’m excited!

If you're interested in seeing more DGM content from me, feel free to check my masterlist here.