#baby had their first research conference today

[thelooniemoonie]

There's a weird irony in attending your first conference and one of the speakers is a director of a utilities company that you're a customer of

[penelopepine]

Elephant in the Room Pt. 2

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Summary: John and you hooked up after a night at the bar. You two after that never saw each other again. At least until 12 years later when Price discovers that 9 months after your time together you had given birth to not one baby, but two. Word Count: 2218 Content: angst, violence against kid, kidnapping

The only thing Price had planned today was to organize some files and catch up with paperwork. All of that was thrown out the door though when he received a message from Laswell stating that she was on her way, and that he needed to prepare a conference room right away.

It didn't take a genius to tell that whatever was going on was some kind of emergency. A big enough emergency that the rest of the team was not privy to know about. 

Just as he was getting settled in the room the door was being thrown open.

"John." Laswell momentarily greets him before heading straight to the front and getting her laptop connected to the projector. "Take a seat; you'll need it." 

The screen is turned on as he does as she says and the first thing he sees is a young boy tied to a chair with his head down. The wall behind him is nothing but cracked stones.

Upon seeing this everyone is much more serious now. They don't know who this child is, but it must be someone important for them to be the ones dealing with this situation. Price doesn't have much time to linger on that thought because just as quickly Laswell has clicked play on the video.

A man steps into frame, his face covered, behind the kid before grabbing his hair, and yanking his face up towards the camera.

That is when the boy's face finally becomes visible to everyone in the room. It's a face Price is all too familiar with because in any other circumstance he would have thought he was being shown a picture of himself as a kid. This is not any other circumstance though, and there is a child on screen that looks eerily like him. 

"Captain Price, I have to admit you did a good job, but you must have known you couldn't have hidden your son forever." The man brings his other hand up, and gives the boy a hard pat on the cheek, "Go ahead, tell your father how he failed." 

"Please," he softly sniffles, "I don't know who you're talking about. I've never met my father; you have the wrong kid." 

"I tire of your lies kid," with a growl the man shoves the boy's head back down. "Now Price, If you want to see your son alive again you'll do as we say."

As much as Price wants to continue listening he can't help but drown out all of the sounds around him. That's … his son?

No.

No, that can't be because he doesn't have a son. 

His heart pounds in his chest as he thinks about the possibility of this kid being his son, and what he is currently going through. It's hard to deny the similarity between the two of them. Either this is his doppelganger or … this is his son.

“Name." He demands from Laswell. Knowing her, she has already done all the research she could on her way here. 

"His name is Andrew." Laswell is now sitting opposite of him as she hands him three folders. He knows instantly that these folders contain every piece of information about his … son. What Laswell does next though is what really confirms everything in his mind. She says your name, asks if he knows you, and that is all he needs to know that this really is his child. 

Price doesn't answer, he simply nods, and holds the folders tight in his hands. He goes to open the first one, but Laswell stops him before he can. "John, take these and read through them in your office. They have a lot of information, and some of it is only going to upset you further. Take some time for yourself looking over it while I gather the rest of the boys, and explain to them our next steps."

“What are the next steps?”

“I’ll go over all that only after you read what’s in those,” She points at the papers in his hand, “I imagine you’re going to have a few more questions after, and those can be discussed when planning on what to do.” 

With a final nod he stands up, and carefully holds the folder with both hands as he walks back to his office. Price locks the door behind him before sitting down at his desk. Hesitating for only a second before finally opening the file on top. 

The first thing he sees is a picture of Andrew, who is smiling brightly at the camera. It’s a stark contrast to the video of him half scared to death. 

He'll make sure that his son gets back alive.

Looking at the other papers he sees that Andrew is a football player, seems like he's been playing for years now. What makes him pause though is when he finds a copy of the birth certificate. Very carefully taking in all the information; his son is currently 12 and weighed 5.8 pounds at birth.

Price felt all air leave his body though when he saw the middle name listed. It was his name; John. 

That had to mean something right? 

He refused to think anymore on that thought though, and pulled out the next file. He wasn’t quite sure what he was going to find, but coming face to face with a picture of a 12 year girl wasn’t it. Amelia is the name written under the photo. 

It feels as if a rock has settled in his gut looking at her, and thinking about what this means. The first thing he looks for is if there is a birth certificate within the papers. When he finds it the birth day listed confirms his thoughts.

He has 12 year old twins, and he only learned about their existence less than an hour ago. 

With shaky hands Price flips through the rest of the paper, and what he finds is photo after photo of Amelia at what looks like school science fairs throughout the years. 

Closing Amelia's folder a few minutes later he reaches for the last one. He stares at it for several seconds before opening it up. That is when he sees you; he can’t help, but think that you look just as beautiful as you did all those years ago, if not more so.  

His heart broke though when looking through everything. Pictures of you pregnant, in the hospital holding two babies, and then with two toddlers hanging off of you. Price watched as the two of them grew up with each photo. 

It wasn’t until he reached the last photo did he finally break down. The photo looks to have been taken fairly recently, and he couldn’t help but think about what his life could have been like if he had just talked to you before leaving. At the very least leave you with a phone number to contact him later with. Price had been selfish though, and left you with nothing; not even a last name. 

He couldn’t even imagine what you must be going through right now. 

Instantly Price steeled himself with that thought. The son that you’ve raised for 12 years is now in the hands of terrorists, and here he is feeling bad for himself about a situation he caused.  He stands, grabbing the folders as well, with a new found strength and walks out of his office back to where Laswell is with the rest of the team. If he tucked that last photo into his pocket then that was only for him to know. 

He gives a single knock on the meeting door before barging inside directing his gaze towards Laswell, "What's the plan?"

"John, glad you could join us. I was just finishing up explaining everything to the team."

"They know about all three?" Briefly raising up the files before taking a seat.

"They do."

Looking around at his men he sees that both Soap and Gaz show sadness on their faces. Ghost on the other hand looks as he normally does. "Good, we don't need to waste time discussing that any further then. Let's focus on how we're going to get Andrew back safe and sound to his mother and sister." 

“I’m glad you mentioned them actually because that is our next step.” Laswell clicks something on her laptop and the projector changes to show a photo of you and Amelia. “We need to retrieve these two, and get them on base right away. They already have one hostage, we don't need them getting anymore.” 

As much as Price wished that he could just leave you alone, he knew that Laswell was right. They already thought Andrew and him knew each other; what’s stopping them from getting you two to threaten him as well. “When are we picking them up?”

“Right after we’re done here. I’ll send you the address now.” Laswell picks up her phone and in a second Price feels his own phone vibrate, “Tell them to pack the necessities; I’m arranging for them to be put up in one of the on base houses.” 

Gaz is the first to ask her a question, “I assume a missing child report has already been filed with the police. Aren't they going to be concerned when the rest of the family disappears?” 

“The local police are going to be notified later today. We don’t need them interfering with us protecting this family.”

“What about the lad though; what’s the plan for him?” Soap urgently asks. 

She turns to face Soap, “I have a team looking into the video sent right now. Their demands are being followed as of now. As soon as we get a location you four are going to be sent out to retrieve him. Any other questions?” 

Price knew that each and every one of these lads had a question; it just wasn’t Laswell who they wanted to ask. Ghost’s long staring gaze for example hasn’t left him once during this entire conversation, and he knew he’d be hearing something from the man later on. 

Gaz kept glancing in his direction with looks filled with pity. Soap on the other hand was portraying nothing but anger. The sargeant’s shoulders were obviously tense, and he kept flexing his hands. 

Not wanting to sit in the awkward silence any longer Laswell is quick to send them off. 

It’s luckily only an hour and a half drive to your home. At the same time though it makes his chest tight thinking that this entire time you and the kids have been so close. 

Silently they all followed him out of the room, and into the parking lot. Ghost and Soap went to one vehicle while Gaz hopped in the passenger seat of his. It only takes a few minutes into the drive for the quiet to be broken. 

“Cap, if you want to talk-” Gaz starts to ask. 

“Not now Gaz.” Price is quick to cut him off from finishing his words, “not now.” 

He can’t talk about all of this right now. What he needs to do is to just push his feelings down, and focus on the task at hand otherwise he fears that he’s not going to be able to get through the rest of the day. Price still needs to talk to you after all; that conversation is only going to end in shambles. 

Thinking about it he wonders how you're going to react to seeing him after all this time. Are you going to recognize him? How much do the twins know about him? It can’t be much considering you knew almost nothing about him as well. These questions flooded his mind for the whole drive until eventually pulling into your driveway. 

You lived in a pretty house in the countryside, a place he would have loved to raise a family. 

A sudden knock on the window beside him shook him from his thoughts. Ghost stood right by the car door with Soap and Gaz behind him. “You coming, captain?” 

Without answering him he opens the door, and starts marching towards the front door. Before he takes a step onto the front porch he turns to address the three men behind him. "You lot stand here while I go try to talk to her. We don't want to freak her out with four strange men crowding her doorway." 

Price doesn't wait for them to respond, and simply turns around once more. Time seems to slow down with each step closer to your door. He's not sure how you're going to react, but he knows that he's going to do everything he can to earn a spot in your life; in your children's life. 

With three hard knocks he waits for you to open the door, and when the door opens he feels all the air leave his body. 

You admittedly look disheveled, but that is not enough to make his heart beat any less for you. Upon seeing him though you have a look between confusion and shock on your face. 

He tries to say anything in the moment, but before anything can be said though you swiftly slam the door in his face. Even muffled by the door he can hear a sob coming from the other side.

Taglist: @zarsghost @lulurubberduckie @mafer383 @7thsthings @sazifer

[afeelgoodblog]

#075 - The Best News of Last Week - February 27, 2023

🐈 - Do you know Gacek, the most famous cat in Poland?

Hey there! It's Erica here, and I'm excited to share with you some of the most uplifting news stories of the week. In a world that can sometimes seem filled with negativity, it's important to focus on the positive and find inspiration in the good things that are happening around us. Let's dive into this week's collection of wholesome news!

1. 8-year-old boy missing from Washington state for 8 months is found in Missouri

A boy who has been missing from Washington state since at least mid-June was found safe in Missouri, the FBI office in Seattle said Tuesday.

Authorities said 8-year-old Breadson John had vanished by June 17, when a welfare check at his home in Vancouver, Washington, just across the state line from Oregon, determined his absence.

2. World’s biggest four-day working week trial hailed a ‘major breakthrough’

The trial of a four-day working week in the UK, the largest of its kind in the world, has been celebrated as a “major breakthrough” after the majority of participating companies announced their intention to continue with the shorter week.

The trial, which ran for six months from June last year, required firms to reduce their working hours for all employees by 20 per cent without any reduction in wages.

At least 56 out of the 61 companies confirmed they will continue with the four-day working week, while 18 of them have made the policy a permanent change.

3. This dying baby turtle survived after drifting 4,000 miles to Ireland

A family strolling on a beach in Ireland earlier this month spotted a seafarer that had washed up on the rocks. Less than a year old, the female loggerhead survived a months-long journey across the Atlantic Ocean, teeming with dangers including predators and plastic. Although she was still alive, the turtle was dehydrated, massively underweight.

They called her Cróga, the Irish word for “brave.” After finding Cróga in the northwestern part of Ireland, the family called a few groups that rehabilitate whales and dolphins. There, Cróga’s rehabilitation began.

4. A Hernando toddler found alive after being missing for nearly 24 hours

A 2-year-old boy was lost in the Florida woods for 24 hours. Everyone feared the worst. Hundreds of volunteers came out to look for him.

One volunteer came to a fork in a field: right or left? He trusted his gut, went left and soon heard a whimper. It was the little boy, crying but in good health.

I found something interesting while reading this article: If you are part of a SAR team looking for a child to not only call their name but also that they aren’t in trouble. Young children sometimes hide from potential rescuers because they’re afraid they’ll get in trouble.

5. German man remains free of the HIV virus years after receiving stem cell treatment.

Researchers are announcing that a 53-year-old man in Germany has been cured of HIV.

Referred to as "the Dusseldorf patient" to protect his privacy, researchers said he is the fifth confirmed case of an HIV cure. Although the details of his successful treatment were first announced at a conference in 2019, researchers could not confirm he had been officially cured at that time. Today, researchers announced the Dusseldorf patient still has no detectable virus in his body, even after stopping his HIV medication four years ago.

6. South Korea court recognises same-sex couple rights for first time

A South Korean court has for the first time recognised the rights of a same-sex couple in the country. In a landmark ruling, the Seoul High Court found a government health insurer did owe coverage to the spouse of a customer after the firm withdrew it when it found out the pair were gay.

The men had held a wedding ceremony in 2019, but same-sex marriage is not recognised in South Korea.

Activists say the ruling is a leap forward for LGBT rights in the country.

7. A fat cat has become the top-rated tourist attraction in a Polish city with a perfect 5-star average on Google Maps

A fat black-and-white cat called Gacek has become the top-rated tourist attraction in the Polish city of Szczecin.

Gacek has a perfect five-star rating on Google Maps. His name, pronounced gats-ek, means "long-eared bat" in Polish. Gacek first drew international attention when he appeared in a YouTube documentary in 2020

- - -

That's it for this week. If you liked this post you can support this newsletter with a small kofi donation:

Buy me a coffee ❤️

Let's carry the positivity into next week and keep spreading the good news!

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Tessa Stuart at Rolling Stone:

KRISTA HARDING’S DAUGHTER was eight weeks old when that police cruiser pulled behind her on the interstate and hit the lights in September 2019. She called her boss at the Little Caesars in Pinson, Alabama, where she’d just been promoted to manager: I’m going to be a little late, but I’m coming in! Don’t panic. Harding’s registration tag was expired. She figured the officer would write her a ticket and she’d be on her way, but when he came back after running her driver’s license, he had handcuffs out. There was a felony warrant out for her arrest, he said: “Chemical endangerment of a child.” Harding used her most patient customer-service tone to ask the officer if he’d please check again. But there was no mistake, the cop confirmed: He was taking her to the Etowah County Detention Center, almost an hour’s drive away. “I’m in the back of the cop car just bawling my eyes out, like, ugly-face-snot-bubbles crying,” Harding remembers. She was worried about being away from her newborn, and she was confused: Chemical endangerment of a child? “I think of somebody cooking meth with a baby on their hip,” she says. 

She’s right to think that: The Alabama law, passed in 2006, was intended to target those who expose children to toxic chemicals, or worse, explosions, while manufacturing methamphetamine in ad-hoc home labs.  Harding says it took at least eight hours to be booked into a cell that night, and it was more than a week before she was finally allowed to see a judge. She was still leaking breast milk, and desperately missing her two daughters. Her family wasn’t allowed to bring her clean underwear, so every day she washed her one pair, saturated with menstrual blood, in the cell sink, then hung them to dry.

Harding says she eventually learned the warrant for her arrest had been issued because of a urine test taken at a doctor’s visit early in her pregnancy. Sitting alone in her cell, she conjured a vague memory of her OB-GYN warning her local authorities had begun to crack down on weed. The comment had struck her as odd at the time: Nine years earlier, when she was pregnant with her first child, the same doctor at the same hospital had told Harding, who’d smoked both pot and cigarettes before she was pregnant, that she’d rather Harding kick the nicotine than the weed. (Studies are unequivocal about the fact that cigarettes contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes, but the research on weed is less conclusive, with some doctors arguing it at least has therapeutic benefits, like helping with morning sickness.)

But in the years between her first child and her second, something had changed in certain parts of Alabama. In Etowah County, in 2013, the sheriff, the district attorney, and the head of the local child-welfare agency held a press conference to announce they intended to aggressively enforce that 2006 law. Instead of going after the manufacturers of meth, though, they planned to target pregnant women who used virtually any substance they deemed harmful to a developing fetus.

“If a baby is born with a controlled-substance dependency, the mother is going to jail,” then-Sheriff Todd Entrekin said at the time. Police weren’t required to establish that a child was born with a chemical dependency, though — or even that a fetus experienced any harm — a drug test, a confession, or just an accusation of substance use during pregnancy was enough to arrest women for a first offense that carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. One public defender would later call these “unwinnable cases.” Over the following decade, Etowah County imprisoned hundreds of mothers — some of whom were detained, before trial, for the rest of their pregnancies, inside one of the most brutal and inhumane prisons in the country, denied access to prenatal care and adequate nutrition, they say — in the name of protecting their children from harm. 

[...]

In the past two decades, Alabama has become the undisputed champion of arresting pregnant women for actions that wouldn’t be considered crimes if they weren’t pregnant: 649 arrests between 2006 and 2022, almost as many arrests as documented in all other states combined, according to advocacy group Pregnancy Justice, which collected the statistics. Across the U.S., the vast majority of women arrested on these charges were too poor to afford a lawyer, and a quarter of cases were based on the use of a legal substance, like prescription medication.

Today, Marshall is the attorney general of Alabama, and just a few months ago, the state’s Supreme Court used the same logic — that life begins at conception, therefore an embryo is legally indistinguishable from a living child — in a decision that was responsible for shutting down IVF clinics across the state. The ruling was a triumph for the fetal-personhood movement, a nationwide crusade to endow fertilized eggs, embryos, and fetuses with constitutional rights. Personhood has been the Holy Grail for the anti-abortion movement since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, but outlawing abortion — at any stage of pregnancy, for any reason — is just the start of what legal recognition of embryos’ rights could mean for anyone who can get pregnant. Experts have long warned that elevating an embryo’s legal status effectively strips the person whose body that embryo occupies of her own rights the moment she becomes pregnant.

Across the country, this theory has led to situations like in Texas, where a hospital kept a brain-dead woman alive for almost two months — against her own advanced directive and the wishes of her family — in deference to a state law that prevents doctors from removing a pregnant person from life support. (The hospital only relented after the woman’s husband sued for “cruel and obscene mutilation of a corpse.”) Or in New Hampshire, where a court allowed a woman who was hit by a car while seven months pregnant to be sued by her future child for negligence because she failed to use “a designated crosswalk.” Or in Washington, D.C., where a terminally ill cancer patient, 26 weeks pregnant, requested palliative care, but was instead subjected to court-ordered cesarean section. Her baby survived for just two hours; she died two days later.

Or in Alabama, where, in 2019, Marshae Jones walked into the Pleasant Grove Police Department with her six-year-old daughter expecting to be interviewed for a police investigation. Months earlier, Jones, four and a half months pregnant at the time, had been shot by her co-worker during a dispute. In the hospital after the shooting, Jones underwent an emergency C-section; her baby, whom she’d named Malaysia, did not survive. Rather than indicting the shooter, though, a grand jury indicted Jones, who they decided “intentionally” caused the death of her “unborn baby” because she allegedly picked a fight “knowing she was five months pregnant.” The charges were ultimately dismissed, but Jones’ lawyer says her record still shows the arrest, and Jones, who lost her job after the incident, struggled to find work after her case attracted national attention.

The threat this ideology poses to American women is not contained to Alabama: Recognition of fetal personhood is an explicit policy goal of the national Republican Party, and it has been since the 1980s. The GOP platform calls for amending the U.S. Constitution to recognize the rights of embryos, and representatives in Congress have introduced legislation that would recognize life begins at conception hundreds of times — as recently as this current session, when the Life at Conception Act attracted the co-sponsorship of 127 sitting Republican members of Congress.

[...]

Taking inspiration from Black Americans’ fight for equal rights, the anti-abortion movement began thinking of its own crusade as a fight for equality. “The argument that the unborn was the ultimate victim of discrimination in America was really resonant with a lot of white Americans, a lot of socially conservative Americans — and it was vague enough that people who disagreed about stuff like feminism, the welfare state, children born outside of marriage, the Civil Rights Movement” could find common ground, Ziegler says.  By the time the Supreme Court ruled on Roe v. Wade in 1973, the idea that a fetus was entitled to constitutional protections was mainstream enough to be a central piece of Texas’ argument that “Jane Roe” did not have a right to get an abortion.  

The justices rejected that idea. “The word ‘person,’ as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn,” Justice Harry Blackmun wrote. But he gave the movement a cause to rally behind for the next half-century by adding: “If this suggestion of personhood is established, [Roe’s] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life would then be guaranteed specifically by the Amendment.”  Making that happen became the anti-abortion movement’s primary focus from that moment on. One week after Roe was decided, a U.S. congressman first proposed amending the Constitution to guarantee “the right to life to the unborn, the ill, the aged, or the incapacitated.” It was called the Human Life Amendment, and though it failed to make it to a floor vote that session, it would be reproposed more than 300 times in the following decades.  By 1980, the idea had been fully embraced by the Republican Party: Ronald Reagan’s GOP adopted it into the party platform — where it remains to this day — and in 1983, the Republican-majority Congress voted, for the first and only time, on the idea of adding a personhood amendment to the U.S. Constitution. That vote failed. 

After their 1983 defeat, activists turned their attention away from the U.S. Capitol and toward the states, where they sought to insert the idea of fetal personhood into as many state laws as possible: everything from legislation creating tax deductions for fetuses or declaring them people for census-taking purposes, to expanding child-endangerment and -neglect laws.  Activists pursued this agenda everywhere, but they were most successful at advancing it in states that share certain qualities. “You could draw a Venn diagram of American slavery and see that what’s happening today is in common in those states,” says Michele Goodwin, a Georgetown University law professor and author of the book Policing the Womb. “Some would say, ‘Well, OK, how is that relevant?’ Slavery itself was explicitly about denying personal autonomy, denying the humanity of Black people. Now, clearly, these laws affect women of all ethnicities. But the point is: If you’re in a constitutional democracy and you found a way to avoid recognizing the constitutional humanity of a particular group of people, it’s something that’s not lost in the muscle memory of those who legislate and of the courts in that state.”

Rolling Stone has a solid in-depth report on the war on women and reproductive health in Alabama, going into detail the fetal personhood movement.

[inkofamethyst]

April 24, 2023

The expectation of perfection is what got me to where I am, but it is, unfortunately, an impossible standard to reach.  One that becomes both harder to maintain and harder to relinquish with time.  (I am overreacting.  I forgot the deadline for one (1) online quiz assignment in cell bio which is entirely graded on participation and now I can’t even get partial credit EVEN THOUGH I LITERALLY FINISHED IT LONG BEFORE IT WAS DUE but I just didn’t submit it for some reason?? like an idiot gaaaAHHhhh this is even worse than forgetting to do the assignment altogether oh my god.  All I want is an A in this class so I can graduate with latin stinking honors (because for whatever reason my uni’s cutoffs are way higher than everywhere else’s it seems) and wear that special stupid special tassel and these dumb quizzes were easy points to buffer any “poor” exam performance (for the record, I have gotten an A+ on the two previous exams, but who knows what the third one might bring (ahem, I suspect Ctrl+F will be just as useful but WHO KNOWS)) but now I just have to be way more careful (it’s really funny to write this, actually, because I’ll read this back in a few years, smile, shake my head, and recognize that this is a very small thing in the grand scheme of things to be pressed about, like, odds are, I’m going to be just fine, I’m just feeling my feelings very intensely right now).)

And along similar lines, I also recognize that it is unreasonable to consider my attendance at the conference a failure based on the fact that I could not complete one singular goal despite the many, many positive things I did while I was there (I learned (so much)!  I caught up with friends/peers/colleagues/mentors (and made new ones)!  My presentation went well!), but I feel like a failure because I didn’t manage to introduce myself to the one person I knew I wanted to meet.  I had a plan and everything, but the singular dude I wanted to meet didn’t stay in the room after his talk so I lost him entirely.  I memorized his outfit and everything on the off chance I missed him after the session and I literally didn’t see him the entire rest of the day.  It’s like... I’m an adult and I couldn’t handle finding and introducing myself to one person?  Unreasonable amounts of self-doubt and disappointment are creeping in :/ (Realistically and logically, anything could have happened to make it so that we were somehow never in the same spaces at the same times, and this is unnecessary pressure to put on myself, but, as I mentioned before, I have these terribly high expectations (Great Expectations, if you will) and might be crushing myself under their weight.)

Anyway, I just feel a little out of control again, today.  And the worst part is that Life is just like this.  All the time.  I cannot expect to be in control of everything that will impact me.  Hate that.

But yeah.  The conference was good.  Not much to say on that front, really.  A little less exciting than last year’s (March 27, 2022) because it wasn’t my first and I was also presenting on something that I didn’t care that much about (the topic was interesting! just not a field I see myself going into, really).  Very thankful that I knew more people this time, though I still felt like enough of a relative baby in the discipline to feel really awkward while walking around sometimes.  It was nice to be invited out to places though :)

Thankful for the opportunity to attend a national conference two years in a row and present there as an undergraduate.  Invaluable opportunity.  Also thankful that I didn’t have to pay for travel or lodging because my current research advisor had enough funding to handle it for me.  Also also thankful to have not been the only student from my uni this year!!!  Also also also thankful that my current research advisor is a genuinely caring person and fought for us to all get home on time when our travel plans ran into trouble.

Can’t wait to present again at my uni so I can be done with this topic once and for all (and this upcoming presentation will be so much easier in comparison bc I won’t be surrounded by literal experts (I had like two literal experts come up to me and pester me (it wasn’t mean lol I actually really appreciated their input and poignant questions, as afraid of them as I was))).  I really am more of a bones girlie anyway.

Lastly, I mustered up my courage and wore a long skirt today!!  It’s one of the ones I thrifted (and it’s a lil busted in some places ngl), and I got a lot of compliments on it today which was lovely :)  I still need a slip, but this was a start.

[edit, one hour later: AAAAA ALSO ONLY THREE MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOOOOOL]

[jdgo51]

The Lamb, Yahweh

Today's inspiration comes from

Unlocking the Secrets of the Feast

by Michael Norten

Editor’s Note: For those of us who aren’t familiar with Jewish traditions, Passover is an eight-day festival which is celebrated from the 15th to the 22nd of the Hebrew month called Nissan. The dates on the American calendar change every year. This year Passover is April 5 (Shabbat, or Sabbath) in the evening through, April 13 after sundown.

"'A number of years ago I heard Jimmy DeYoung, an outstanding news commentator and Bible teacher, make a presentation at a Bible prophecy conference. Since it was during the Christmas season, he was teaching about the birth of Jesus in the first chapter of Luke. He read to us Luke 2:8–12:

In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of a great joy which shall be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger.’

Dr. DeYoung then asked the audience a surprising question: “Did you ever wonder why this was a sign?” This left us all speechless. I had to admit to myself that I had never even questioned it. Why was it a sign? Dr. DeYoung had us turn to the book of Micah. We were all familiar with Micah 5:2, which prophesied that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but many of us were not familiar with Micah 4:8, which prophesied that He would be announced at the tower of the flock (Migdal Eder). Dr. DeYoung, who had lived in Jerusalem for a number of years, told us that Migdal Eder was a two-story tower that had been built in a pasture outside Bethlehem. The remains of the tower had recently been discovered.

Dr. DeYoung explained that the shepherds in the field had not all been the lowly shepherds that we had always assumed. They were actually priests from the temple who were doing shepherding work to assist in the birthing of the sacrificial lambs so that they would be unblemished for sacrifice. While the shepherds were keeping watch over the flock from the top floor of the tower, the shepherd-priests would bring the pregnant sheep in from the field to the tower’s bottom floor, where the sheep would give birth. As soon as a lamb was born, the priests would wrap it with strips of cloths made from old priestly undergarments. This was done to keep the lamb from getting blemished. The priests would then place the lamb onto a manger to make sure it would not get trampled. Wow! So when these shepherd-priests went into Bethlehem and saw the baby Jesus wrapped in cloths, lying in a manger, they must have exclaimed, “There is the Lamb of God, prepared for sacrifice, unblemished!” They had to be excited beyond description, because they were the only ones who could have understood the sign. It was just for them from God. It was personal!

God gave us so many pictures in order that we could understand the magnitude of His loving grace!

I presume that Jesus’ swaddling cloths were from the same source as the lambs’ cloths. Mary’s cousin, Elizabeth, was married to the priest Zacharias. Elizabeth could have given her the cloths made from the priestly undergarments. It is highly probable that the first clothes that Jesus wore were the clothes of a priest. What a sign! I was so intrigued by this that I did some further research. These historical observations and parallels were confirmed by many messianic rabbis and the renowned historical writer Alfred Edersheim. I also sought out help from Bob Ibach, an experienced archaeologist, who had done some digs in Israel. He found the written account and pictures of the discovery of “the tower of the flock,” Migdal Eder. This whole insight made the account of the announcement of Jesus’ birth astounding and even more exciting!

More and more facts began to unfold in my research. I was talking further with David Schiller, my Jewish teacher and friend, about what I had learned about the shepherds and the lambs. He amazed me with some more historical insights. He explained that each Jewish family would put the family name around the neck of their lamb that they took to the Temple to be sacrificed. They did this to make sure they received their own lamb back for the Passover dinner. I wondered if there was any significance to this piece of trivia. As I was contemplating this, Schiller pointed out to me a particular object found in most of the paintings of Christ on the cross. There was a small sign at the top of the cross that looked like four letters: “INRI.” I discovered that this was an abbreviation of the sign that Pontius Pilot placed on the cross as seen in John 19:19:

Pilate also wrote an inscription, and put it on the cross. It was written, ‘JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.’

I learned that the letters were the first letters of each of the nouns in the inscription in Latin. I contacted my daughter Ruth, who is very good with Latin, and asked her to show me the inscription in the Latin Vulgate. That confirmed it: “Iesus Nazarenus Rex Iudaeorum” (INRI).

Then Schiller opened my eyes to an incredible observation. Since the inscription had been in three languages — Latin, Greek, and Hebrew — he transliterated it for me from Hebrew to English. I saw before me these words: “Y’Shua HaNatzri V’Melech HaYehudim.” I was absolutely stunned when I took the first letters of each of these words. It spelled “YHVH,” the Tetragrammaton form of the name of God! YHVH and YHWH can be used interchangeably. When this technique of abbreviating is used, the title on the cross in the actual Hebraic script undeniably reveals the name of God. In English, the name is pronounced “Yahweh!”

Just like the Jews put their family name on their lamb for sacrifice at the Temple, God put His name on His Lamb for His family, which includes you and me!"'

God gave us so many pictures in order that we could understand the magnitude of His loving grace!

Excerpted with permission from Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts by Michael Norten, copyright Thomas Nelson.

[wiredlyrelatable]

FOUND MY MATCH HERE..

RISHI, the founder of CHOCO LOCO Ltd arranged a meeting with all the shareholders and managers of different departments of the company at 10 AM in the conference hall.

He was in a lot of anger, actually a rage as from the past few days, when he was out of the country for a meeting the performance of the company went from good to worst.

ADHYA, the production manager was the first person to enter, thirty minutes before 10 AM. She looks at the first slide of the presentation on the wall there are reads,

ADHYA: FACTORS DETERMINING THE PROFITABILITY DECLINE.

After reading that she says,

ADHYA: THE MAIN REASON FOR THIS IS NOT GETTING RAW MATERIAL ON TIME BECAUSE OUR SUPPLIER HAS PASSED AWAY RECENTLY SO HIS RAW MATERIAL BUSINESS IS LEFT IDLE BECAUSE HE DOESN'T HAVE ANY LEGAL HEIR NOR A FAMILY TO CONTINUE IT.

RISHI: WE HAVE TO HUNT FOR A NEW SUPPLIER ASAP THEN RIGHT?

ADHYA: OUR RESEARCH DEPARTMENT IS ON IT FROM THE PAST FEW WEEKS BUT SINCE THE PRODUCTS WE PRODUCE ARE TECHNOLOGICALLY UPGRADED ONES IT'S DIFFICULT TO FIND A SUPPLIER ALL OF A SUDDEN.

He sits down on the chair in front of her, holding his head, says,

RISHI: SHIT! I CRACKED A DEAL OF PROVIDING THEM 100 PRODUCTS WITH A DEADLINE OF LAST WEEK OF THIS MONTH, IN THE MEETING YESTERDAY, WITHOUT KNOWING ABOUT THIS PROBLEM.

ADHYA: IF YOU DIDN'T GIVE THEM A FORMAL CONTRACT ABOUT THE TYPE OF THE PRODUCT YOU ARE GOING TO SUPPLY IN THE DEAL THEN I HAVE AN IDEA.

RISHI: NO I ACTUALLY DIDN'T!

ADHYA: OKAY! WE CAN CREATE A NEW PRODUCT LINE ASAP WHICH IS CLOSE TO THE PRODUCTS WE GENERALLY MANUFACTURE AND OUTSOURCE OUR IDEA TO A COUNTRY WHICH HAS TECHNOLOGICALLY RICH RAW MATERIALS AVAILABLE AT PRESENT, WITH THEM, WHAT SAY?

He with a smile says,

RISHI: IT'S A VERY GOOD IDEA! WE HAVE A LOT OF CAPITAL ANYWAYS, AS OUR PRODUCTION HAS STOPPED FROM THE PAST FEW WEEKS. WE CAN EVEN COMPLETE THE PRODUCTION ON TIME BECAUSE WE ARE OUTSOURCING IT, RIGHT?

ADHYA: YES!

The clock ticks at 10 when people start entering the conference hall where RISHI talked about the company's problem, the deal he cracked, pitched ADHYA'S idea to everyone and everyone agreeing to it ran to their work stations and started the work for the new deal ASAP because of the limited time they had. On the other hand, RISHI and ADHYA arranged a video call with their client and were successful in convincing them to import the new products, from their new product line.

After the call got cut RISHI gave ADHYA a high - five saying,

RISHI: THANK GOD THEY AGREED THIS EASILY.

ADHYA: HMM!

RISHI: YOU KNOW WHEN I GOT TO KNOW ABOUT THE PERFORMANCE OF THE COMPANY, TODAY IN THE MORNING, I THOUGHT I LOST MY BABY WHICH I HAVE BUILT WITH A LOT OF HARD WORK OF ALL THESE YEARS.

She gives a sweet smile to him, looking at his love towards his business empire and tapping his back says,

ADHYA: IT WILL NOT LEAVE US THIS EASILY! DON'T WORRY!

He holding the same hand which she kept on his shoulder says,

RISHI: I HOPE IT NEVER DOES!

Both of them look at eachother when he turns her chair to face his chair and says,

RISHI: BY THE WAY, I LIKED THE WAY YOU KEPT CALLING THIS COMPANY OURS FROM THE START OF OUR CONVERSATION. IT IS VERY IMPRESSIVE THAT YOU ADDRESSED THE PROBLEMS OF THE COMPANY AS OUR PROBLEM, THE DEPARTMENT OF THE COMPANY AS OUR DEPARTMENT AND EVEN THE SUPPLIER OF THE COMPANY AS OUR SUPPLIER. IT'S A VERY GOOD SIGN OF UNITY!

ADHYA: THANKS A LOT! ACTUALLY THAT'S MY NATURE.

RISHI: CAN I GET A CHANCE TO EXPLORE YOUR NATURE FURTHER MORE?

She hearing that starts laughing and says,

ADHYA: IT'S A UNIQUE PICKUP LINE! INTRESTING!

RISHI: REALLY?

ADHYA: YES! THIS YES IS FOR THE DATE AS WELL.

RISHI: OKAY COOL! CAN WE GO OUT FOR A LUNCH THIS WEEKEND AFTER OUR PRODUCTS ARE DELIVERED. IS THAT OKAY?

ADHYA: SURE!

Both of them smile and continue their work in the laptop, sitting in the same hall, beside each other.

[raplinesmoon]

Aguardiente y Limon (KSJ x F!Reader)

pairing: CEO!Jin x sugar baby!reader (feat. shady business partner Hoseok) genre(s): pwp, smut au(s): sugar daddy au word count: 2.7k (the hold these two have on me) warnings:  Dom!Seokjin, Dom!Hoseok, sub!reader, daddy kink, sir kink, grinding, they all just sweaty horny fools, sensory deprivation (blindfold), improper use of expensive alcohol smh, nipple play, oral (f receiving),  degradation, RINGSSSS, brat taming mode on, panty ripping, spanking, hitting it from the back, spit kink, Hoseok is a sadistic slimy mf (we love him tho), hair pulling, licking, throat fucking, spitroasting, marking, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, choking rating: 18+

summary: Still caught up in work even when you’re off the clock, you and Seokjin find a creative, more daring way to let off some steam - with a little help.

a/n: Interrupting this author’s note bc I JUST HAVE TO SCREAM ABOUT MIN YOONGI WHAT THE FUCK. Anyway, I had a good past couple of days with progressing towards graduation and I felt like rewarding myself with some writing (it is rough tho, it’s my first time writing poly, pls go easy on me). So enjoy this shameless 2seok fic that I’ve been wanting to write forever bc the world needs more 2seok fics 🥵 (they own me). Also pls imagine blonde Hoseok and summer package Seokjin with the open necked shirt and chain for this one!!

listen to: aguardiente y limon by queen kali uchis!

Eyes blurring, your computer screen turns into a brilliant kaleidoscope of blues and greens and pinks, the dots blurring together when you close your eyes, rubbing at your temples. Sighing, you slam your laptop shut. The data analysis could wait. Dr. Ko had you pulling extra hours in the lab anyway, crunching numbers and supervising the clueless first-year dental students who, in their eagerness, had nearly knocked over years’ worth of research on oral drug delivery using chloroplasts.

“I knew you’d cave,” a voice snickers to your side. Looking over at the window, Kim Seokjin is the picture of elegance, the vibrant sunset illuminating his broad figure in hues of pink and orange, the sound of waves crashing behind him, and you can almost imagine the blue of the ocean mirror in the smart button-up he wears.

“I didn’t cave,” you pout, not wanting to admit you’d gotten tired of working. “Just taking a break.”

Seokjin had brought you by the seaside to have fun, paying for your flight, but you’d felt guilty, insisting that if he was off attending the biomaterials conference all day, the least you could do was catch up on grant applications and submitting abstracts for your own work. 

It had pained him to see you hunched over the tiny hotel room desk, working hard, instead of flouncing around in the tiny, colorful bikinis he’d seen stashed away in your suitcase, but he had to admit, your determination, and the slightly askew glasses on top of your head, only made you cuter.

“Here, take a sip,” he holds out the glass of Veuve, bubbles fizzing and almost shimmering in the waning light. You knock back the glass, the fizziness making way for the burn in your throat, What was the point of expensive alcohol if it still tasted like wet cardboard?

Seokjin is smiling softly at your disgusted face, but it soon makes way for a smirk, a mischievous look crossing your face.

“Oh no,” you groan. “I know that look. Why can’t we just stay in and watch a movie?”

The movie would be the easiest way to let off steam after your grueling work session. Snuggled against Seokjin under the covers, you know your eyelids would soon drop and his hands would start to wander underneath your shorts, ending with you bouncing up and down on his cock. It was a simple, three-part equation, guaranteed to work every single time. You were both STEM nerds after all.

“Not today,” he chuckles, lifting you up by the arms, sending you stumbling into him. Your lips are plump from biting and your cheeks are puffed out, and he holds himself back from kissing the stupidly adorable pout off your face.

“Now,” he leans to whisper in your ear, a shiver running up your spine. “Be a good girl and get dressed for Daddy.”

Tensing, you make your way through the crowd of rowdy spring-breakers, hand tensing in Seokjin’s as he leads you both to the beachside bar. The floaty sundress you’d picked out to wear clings to your body with sweat, exposing the bright neon of the bikini you’d worn under. If Seokjin notices, he doesn’t say anything, a lazy smirk gracing his handsome features when you came down to meet him in the hotel lobby.

“Is this really your idea of fun?” you question him, nose twitching at the smell of liquor mingling with the sea breeze.

“Not particularly,” he says nonchalantly. He’d switched out the formal blue button-up for a more relaxed look, the buttons of his linen shirt casually undone, exposing the glimmering chain around his thick neck. He’d caught more than a few stares as the two of you traipsed down to the beach, fitting right in with the crowd,

“I figured though,” he turns to you, brown eyes sparkling. “They always hold these fancy conferences in the nicest places. It’s so depressing being stuck in presentations all day. I swear to god, it makes me want to drink and go out more.”

You smile at that. In the brief time you’d known Seokjin through your arrangement, you knew he was a homebody at heart, preferring casual, lowkey situations to many of the fancy parties and events his job required him to attend. While at first, you’d gotten a kick out of his lavish lifestyle, those times soon waned when you realized it was more fun goofing off in his kitchen together, making a viral TikTok recipe, or playing Mario Kart on his couch. Not that it stopped him from blowing your mind after anyway.

“Drink?” his inquiry breaks you out of your thoughts, and you nod, not realizing your throat had gone dry. Whether it was from dehydration, or from following the trail of sweat that trickled down his neck and disappeared under the collar of his shirt, mirroring the uncomfortable pool that had begun to form inside your bikini bottoms.

Watching him turn away, you curse yourself. Why’d he have to be so unfairly hot? Get a sugar daddy, your best friend had joked around with you one day. It’ll be fun, she said. And then next day, bummed after another tuition statement in the mail, you’d happened upon Seokjin at a networking event. Fate had lined up so miraculously for you, that sometimes you couldn’t believe it.

Breath turning shallow, you mull the best strategy to convince Seokjin to ditch the wild spring break party and have one of your own upstairs. You almost don’t hear the low chuckle behind you, footsteps silenced by the sand.

“We meet again,” a voice drawls, and you turn, heart stopping. There, blonde hair glinting against the reflection of the beach bonfire, is Jung Hoseok, eyes trained right on your tits. Shit.

“I’m actually here with someone,” you make up an excuse quickly, eyes searching for Seokjin, only to find that he’s been caught up at the bar, trying to push through a crowd of rowdy fraternity brothers to order drinks. Heart pounding, your eyes meet Hoseok’s, and you swear his smirk looks even more devilish in the low light, feeling yourself clench under his gaze. 

“What hyung doesn’t know won’t hurt him,” he whispers, words awakening memories of your last meeting. Before you know it, you’re pulled up against him, the blunt head of his cock brushing up against your ass, ashamed to find it does nothing but arouse you more.

“Dance with me,” the words come out as an order, not a question, the hypnotizing beat of the reggaeton song in the background drawing you into a trance, and before you know it, your hips are swaying to the beat, Hoseok’s hands wrapping around your waist, pressing until you can feel every inch of him against you.

Feeling his subtle smirk behind you, his hands leave burning touches all over your body, and you’re a sailor caught in a siren’s trap, only able to seek relief from the very thing that’s torturing you.

You’re unaware of how many songs pass by like this, the sticky feeling between your thighs growing more with every fluid thrust of his hips. You feel hazy, head spinning with arousal, a low whine escaping your throat, being carried away on the wings of the wind. This madness had to stop.

Hoseok’s eyes widen in shock when you reach behind him to grasp the fine hairs at the back of his neck, pulling him closer to you. Before you can ghost your lips over his, you’re interrupted by a snarl.

“Jung. Didn’t your mom ever tell you it’s not nice to play with things that aren’t yours?”

Turning at Seokjin’s voice, you find him, eyes blazing at the sight of you wrapped around Hoseok. 

“Actually,” Hoseok answers with a salacious smirk, “she told me sharing is caring.”

Hoseok’s lust-filled eyes meet Seokjin’s and what you thought to be anger in them initially is replaced by a darker, deeper look. One filled with desire. Looking between the two men, a delicious shiver runs up your spine in anticipation of whatever punishment Seokjin has planned.

“Princess,” Seokjin commands. “Upstairs, now.”

A low hum is all you can hear, ears muffled by one of Seokjin’s ties serving as a blindfold, toying with your senses. Seokjin’s hand had curled around your waist on the beach, pulling you away from Hoseok, never leaving your side on the trek back up to the hotel room. He’d said nothing, jaw clenched, skin glowing with sweat, and you knew you’d hit a nerve, one that would result in you getting your back blown out.

All of a sudden, a cold splash causes you to jolt, liquid spilling onto your tits, soaking through the thin fabric of your dress. Your nipples harden under your bikini top, and you can imagine Seokjin through the blindfold, salivating at the skimpy attire. You don’t have time to think, though, before a pair of plush lips wraps around the hardened bud, sucking and laving at it until your tits are aching. You keen when his lips retreat with a pop, before descending on the other one, giving it the same treatment. Heart pounding in your ears, all you can hear is the soft sucking sounds, and your cunt clenches around nothing. Every touch feels sharper, your senses heightened, pleasure coursing through your veins.

Another splash, and the cold liquid lands on your clothed pussy, soaking through the bikini bottoms. For a brief moment, you think you feel Seokjin’s crooked fingers swipe against your folds, pushing the fabric to the side before ghosting over your clit, swiping against the hardened nub but never touching it in the way you need.

“Ahhh, Daddy, cum, please, need to cum–” your whines are cut off by a brief snicker, more liquid splashing against your cunt, before you feel a tongue swipe against your burning core, sopping up the messy pool that has begun to drip onto the bedsheets.

“What a pathetic slut you have, Kim,” the voice groans against your folds. “So needy, all she wants to do is cum. Doesn’t matter who sticks their dick in her.” 

You should’ve known by the swipe of his tongue, the thinness of the lips plunging into you, that the mouth wasn’t Seokjin’s. It moved far too furiously, lashing and licking at your walls, teeth grazing your clit, when all this time, you were far too used to Seokjin’s slow, languid licks. 

“Jung,” Seokjin’s voice is dangerously low, and your cunt clenches around Hoseok’s tongue when Seokjin tweaks your nipple, his other hand coming up to wrap around your throat. “Stay in line.”

“As you wish,” Hoseok replies, before diving back in and continuing to eat you out like a man starved, ringed fingers brushing against your clit as he reaches up to shred the fabric covering your cunt into pieces, leaving you bare and exposed to him. 

Feeling your hair stand on end, you know your orgasm is close, finally crashing over the edge when you feel Hoseok plunge two fingers into you, tongue lashing against your throbbing clit.

Your chest heaves, coming down from your high, and you feel hands – Seokjin’s – gently remove the blindfold, blinking your eyes as the world comes back into focus. The debauched sight of Hoseok’s smile is the first thing you see, face and chin smeared with your wetness, winking as he sucks your arousal off his digits. 

“To her credit,” Hoseok smiles, landing a light slap to your cunt, causing you to whimper, “your girl does taste better than those sorority girls drunk on Tito’s that I ran into this morning. Maybe it’s the Veuve.”

Next to him, the expensive champagne bottle lays overturned, the golden liquid spilling into the sheets, where it mixes with your juices.

“Enough, it’s my turn now,” Seokjin growls, undoing his belt, and Hoseok’s eyes widen before he cowers under his intense gaze, slipping off to the side. 

“Hands and knees,” he commands, and you know better than to disobey him, knowing just how dire the punishment would be if you even dared disobey. A loud spank lands on your ass, and you buckle forward, submitting to his order. You squirm in anticipation, waiting for Seokjin to fill you up someway, anyway he can. But Hoseok beats him to it, his fingers reaching behind you and spreading your messy cunt, dribbling until a thick glob of split lands on your ass, trailing down to your leaking entrance.

“Better hurry and fill her up, Daddy,” he taunts Seokjin. “Or she’ll be begging for Sir’s cock instead.”

Need coils deep in your belly, walls fluttering, and Seokjin chooses that moment to slam his length inside of you, filling you up completely.

“Fuck!” you squeal, and his hand pins you down underneath him, preventing you from reaching around and wrapping around him like you always loved to do. 

“Who’s pussy is this?” he groans when you begin moving your hips back against him, the two of you locked in a passionate dance. You feel a sharp tug, and he pulls you up by your hair, continuing to pound into you. You feel like you’re in overdrive, body coated in sweat, mind running at a thousand miles per second yet also unable to focus on anything else but the feeling of his cock inside of you. He licks a fat stripe up the side of your neck, messy spit landing on your cheek, and you feel him moan into your ear.

“Yours!” you gasp when he pulls one leg around his waist, opening you up even more. His palms play with your tits, and you’ve almost forgotten there’s another person there in the room until you feel your face turned sharply to the side. 

“Little slut loves getting her pussy fucked open, doesn’t she?” Hoseok laughs against your lips, smearing your lip gloss with his thumb, before pulling you into a messy kiss, tongue slipping in between your teeth. It’s over before you can register it, and you feel Seokjin’s lips against your neck again, nipping and sucking at the flesh, making sure to leave marks. Because he can.

“Open for sir,” Hoseok orders, barely giving you a moment to breathe before he’s plunging his length down your throat. Your tongue flattens against the underside of his cock, nerves tingling with delight when you hear him hiss. Hoseok’s hips slam against you, fingers carding through you hair as he pushes you back and forth on his dick, motions as fluid as a dancer’s.

Jaw aching, your body lights up from head to toe, the muscles of your throat tightening around his cock. Seokjin continues to batter your pussy from underneath, and you feel like a livewire, sparks crawling underneath your skin.

“Always a good girl for me,” Seokjin grunts, “letting me fuck this tight pussy any time I want.” 

You moan in response, Hoseok’s length throbbing inside your mouth, and you know he’s close. 

“Make him cum, fuck,” Seokjin commands, and your eyes widen, turning back to face him. The look in his eyes is completely serious, beads of sweat forming at his hairline, and you feel your cunt clench around him, and you give Hoseok one last, long suck, his salty release spilling down your throat.

“Leave,” Seokjin tells him, and you watch him retreat, motioning “call me anytime” before shooting you a wink. 

As soon as he steps out the door, Seokjin’s thrusts slow, setting a lazy pace as he ruts into you, fingers rubbing against your clit.

“You did so well for me,” he whispers into your hair, pressing a kiss to your temple. “Cum.”

And despite his gentle urging, you cum with an ecstatic scream, pussy squirting all over Seokjin’s cock as he spills into the condom. His hands bring you down with soft touches to your back, the inside of your thigh, your belly, and you think you’ve never felt more content in your life.

Shuddering, you feel his warmth disappear beside you before he returns a few minutes later, cleaning you up with a damp towel, eyebrows drawing together in concern at your whimpers.

“M’okay,” you whisper, making grabby hands at him. “Just sleepy.”

You feel the bed dip next to you, his strong arms wrapping around you, before his windshield wiper laugh echoes in your ears.

“Damn it, I was gonna ask if you wanted to watch a movie.”

A/N pt. 2: I am thoroughly sweating but thanks for reading! As always, any feedback or comments are much appreciated, but I appreciate you all anyway. I hope to be back on track with writing and interacting sooner rather than later! Lots of love, Isi 💜

[myenterpriseisparked]

The Voyager Bunch

Or, Rascals: Voyager Edition

-----

Based on this post

This is dedicated to @jellybeansarecool @bizships @emilie786 @joyful-voyager and @subtle-spock for providing ideas, encouragement, and for generally being really awesome people. Also they are the nicest folks ever. Go follow them.

This ain’t my first fanfiction rodeo, but it is my first Star Trek fanfiction rodeo so I beg for your patience. Also, I am perfectly aware that there are some plot holes in here. This is because I am an animal scientist, not a Starfleet physicist/biologist/whateverist. Swiss cheese also has holes and swiss cheese is good so please consider that.

Click here to read on AO3, if you prefer. Thanks for reading!

-----

Despite having only been a captain for a few years, Kathryn Janeway had seen more unusual occurrences, courtesy of the Delta Quadrant, than most Starfleet captains combined. Some days, she felt a little overwhelmed by the summary of the last three years of experiences. Other days, she was grateful for the callouses such challenges had built over her nerves, preparing her to face even the strangest incidents without panicking.

Today was a day to be grateful, because without having seen everything she had seen, the prospect of her Chief Engineer, Chief of Security, Head Helmsman, and most brilliant Ensign being reverted into child-like versions of themselves would have launched her straight into a spiral of panic.

“How-” Janeway paused for a moment to pinch the bridge of her nose, “how exactly did this happen?”

“Well, ya see, ‘Lanna and Harry and I were in that shuttle and then this big black thing showed up and we flew into it and there was a big flash and-”

Janeway held a hand up, cutting off the shockingly fast string of prattle. “I think I understand that part, Tom, thank you.” She spoke as gently and patiently as possible. “What I don’t understand is how Tuvok got into this.... predicament.”

She turned toward the tallest of the four children, who stood with his hands behind his back in a way that would have been exactly like Tuvok, if the pre-teen boy weren’t fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and looking around the bridge, open mouthed and starry-eyed. “Tuvok?”

The Vulcan turned toward her. “The shuttle was stuck in the anomaly and the tractor beam wasn’t working, so I rammed my ship into theirs to dislodge it.” Tuvok nearly smiled, which was jarring to see on his features, no matter how much younger he looked. “It worked, but I got sucked into the anomaly too. When we came out the other side, we looked like this.”

He motioned to Tom and B’Elanna, who were standing next to him, both of which appeared to be around the age of 5 or 6. Harry, who looked to be about a year old, was currently tucked into Chakotay’s arms, playing contentedly with the rank bar at the large man’s throat.

Janeway looked the group over, ignoring the humored smiled playing at her first officer’s lips. With a sigh, she turned to the members of her senior officer team that were not currently under the age of 13. “I’m open to suggestions.”

“I would like to run some experiments first, but I am wondering if I can age their DNA back to the correct age in a process similar to the one I used to turn you and Mr. Paris back into humans after the, ah, Warp 10 incident,” The Doctor said.

“That might put their bodies back at the right age,” Kes said, brow furrowing, “but their minds appear to have reverted to their new biological age as well. Will the DNA reversal process fix that?”

The Doctor tilted his head. “I’m unsure. I need more time to research and run simulations.”

Janeway nodded. “Get started on that right away. In the meantime,” she turned back to the children and her commander, “let’s get you four something to eat.” 

Neelix jumped to his feet, practically lighting up the room with his enthusiasm. “I’ll fix you kiddos up something real nice!” He dashed over to the door with a wild grin. “Give me ten minutes, and I’ll have the best grilled cheese sandwich you’ve ever smelt!” He saluted the whole room and practically bounced out the door.

Janeway glanced over at Chakotay who, for the first time since he had picked up baby Harry, looked nervous. His worried glance met her own and he tilted his head.

“Well,” Chakotay sighed, “hopefully these guys aren’t as picky of eaters as I was.”

-----

As unappealing as Janeway found Neelix’s cooking to be, it was, apparently, perfect for kids, as evidenced by the unrestrained glee with which Tom, B’Elanna, and Tuvok devoured their sandwiches.

The captain couldn’t help but smile as Tom downed the second half of his sandwich in a few bites and think how the older version of Tom would have been appalled to see himself eating Neelix’s cooking with such enjoyment.

As the older children ate, Janeway found herself spooning some kind of mashed vegetable mix into Harry’s waiting mouth. At first, she was a little uncomfortable with the idea of feeding one of her best officers, but, once she was able to get past the strangeness of the entire situation, she found herself enjoying the funny expressions and eager attitude of the baby in front of her.

“Gosh, he’s such a cute baby.” She said with a grin for the fourth time.

Chakotay leaned over, his shoulder brushing hers as he smiled at Harry. “I’d like to agree with you, Captain, but you keep hogging him so I can’t get a good look.” He turned to look her in the eye, raising his eyebrow teasingly.

She shoved him playfully with her elbow. “You got to hold him earlier in the conference room. It’s my turn.”

“I think your turn ended about ten minutes ago,” he grinned.

“I think I can find something else for you to do if you’re going to take Harry away from me, Commander.” She returned his grin.

“Fine,” Chakotay shook his head with a chuckle, “but I get him later.”

-----

Several hours had passed since lunch and, much to Chakotay’s disappointment, baby Harry was still firmly in Janeway’s possession, perched on her hip and looking for all the world like he belonged there.

Chakotay tried not to think too much about how naturally Kathryn had taken to caring for Harry as he watched her pace the bridge, checking on various scanner readings and flight paths, from his position on the floor by their command chairs. Beside him, Tom and B’Elanna rolled a ball back and forth between them, excitedly chattering about... well... everything.

“Do you think the whales were really THAT big?” Tom spread his arms out to the side.

“Yeah they were!” B’Elanna exclaimed loudly enough that the entire ship could probably hear it. Despite Chakotay’s best efforts to get her to lower her voice, the young girl seemed to only have one volume. “I saw a big fake one in a museum once and it was HUGE!”

“Whoa!” Tom’s eyes widened. “Bigger than this ship?”

B’Elanna tilted her head. “I don’t know, but it was definitely bigger than me!”

The two kids laughed, rolling the ball back and forth faster.

“Hey Tom?”

“What?”

“You’re my best friend!” B’Elanna suddenly reached forward and gave Tom a hug.

Chakotay glanced up at Kathryn to exchange a look of awe before he turned back to the kids on the floor. “But B’E, I thought you just said a few minutes ago that I’m your best friend.” He raised an eyebrow, hiding his smile.

The young girl gave him a look that he had seen far too many times on her older counterpart’s face whenever he said something particularly dumb. “I can have two best friends, duh.”

He laughed. “Fair enough.”

Suddenly, he saw Kathryn’s purposeful walk stop out of the corner of his eye. 

“Chakotay,” her voice was even and tense, “where’s Tuvok?”

Eyes widening, Chakotay glanced around the bridge. Tuvok was no where to be seen.

“Chakotay to Tuvok.” He stood as he tapped his commbadge. “Tuvok, please acknowledge.” They waited a moment and, upon receiving no response, moved simultaneously toward the turbolift. 

“It’s possible he hasn’t figured out how to use his comm.” Janeway tucked Harry closer to her side as they stepped into the lift. “Computer: locate Tuvok.”

“Unable to comply.”

Janeway gave the ceiling a glare. “Why?”

The computer did not respond.

“Maybe the de-aging effect has made it difficult for the computer to locate him.” Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s alright; he’s probably just exploring the ship; you saw how amazed he was by everything in the conference room earlier.”

She nodded tightly. “Let’s hope so. Where do you think he’s gone?”

“Maybe to the holodeck?”

“Or his quarters.”

“What about the mess hall?”

“He just ate.”

They both paused, mulling it over.

“Alright.” Kathryn straightened. “I’ll check holodeck one and his quarters, you check holodeck two and the mess hall.” She turned back to the lift door. “Holodeck one.”

Chakotay swallowed around the lump in his throat, trying not to think of all the ways a small child could get hurt on a spaceship like Voyager. As the turbolift began to move, Janeway’s badge chirped.

“Kes to the captain.”

Her brow raised as she tapped the emblem. “Go ahead.”

“I think I’ve found something you’re missing.” Kes’s usually lighthearted tone was even lighter, clear amusement seeping through.

Kathryn turned to look Chakotay in the eye, a hopeful smile brightening her face. “I’m on my way.”

-----

Honestly, Janeway was a little ashamed of the fact that she didn’t think to go looking for her best friend among the orchids and other plants in the aeroponics bay, considering his horticulturally-related hobbies. As she and Chakotay stepped into the room, smiles crept onto both of their faces as they watched Tuvok carefully transfer one of Kes’s sprouts to a bigger pot. After patting the soil around the plant firmly, he wiped a hand across his forehead, smearing dirt on his face to match the dirt on his uniform.

Kes smiled up at the command team. “He came down and asked about a hundred questions about our system and then offered to help me with my work while we talked because its ‘more efficient to talk and work than simply talk.’” 

Janeway chuckled at Kes’s approximation of Tuvok’s speech pattern. “Thanks for letting us know, Kes.” She reluctantly handed Harry to Chakotay, who flashed his dimples, and crouched next to Tuvok. “Hello there.”

Tuvok glanced up quickly before resuming his work. “Hello, Captain. Did you know that these Talaxian green beans take only a week and a half to reach maturity?”

“I did not.” Janeway raised a brow and tilted her head. “That’s very impressive.”

“I thought so too when Kes told me.” He patted the soil around another plant and set it aside, retrieving another sprout.

“Tuvok,” the captain reached forward and rested a hand on his shoulder, “I’m glad you’ve found something to do, but you have to tell someone where you’re going before you wander off. We didn’t know what happened to you and Chakotay and I were really worried.”

Behind her, Chakotay’s heart flipped. There was something rather... intimate about the way she had referred to both of them being worried about a child.

“I’m sorry, Captain.” Tuvok nodded his head. “It won’t happen again.”

“Good.” Janeway smiled and stood. “Why don’t you help Kes down here for a while and then come back up to the bridge when you are ready?” She looked at Kes. “That is, if Kes is alright with that.”

The young woman smiled. “Of course, I’d love some help.”

Janeway nodded and turned back to Tuvok. “Be sure to let us know when you’re on your way back up.”

“Of course, Captain.”

She patted him one last time on the shoulder and turned back to Chakotay. They fell into step beside one another and entered the elevator.

As the doors whooshed closed, Janeway turned to Chakotay with the intention of reclaiming Harry, but stopped. A smile grew across her lips as she watched Chakotay bounce Harry gently, allowing the little boy to palm his tattoo in curiosity. Even as one of Harry’s chubby fingers poked him in the eye, Chakotay simply chuckled and took the tiny hand in his own.

He finally turned to look at her. “What?”

Kathryn just shook her head, grinning wider. “I was going to take Harry from you, but I can’t bear to break up this cute little arrangement.” She motioned to the two of them with a long finger.

The corner of Chakotay’s mouth kicked up a little higher. “Captain, did you just imply that I’m cute?”

Her brow arched, but her smile didn’t diminish. “It would be hard for anyone to look unappealing with a cute baby in their arms.”

Her heart stopped suddenly as she realized what she had just said. From the look of Chakotay’s face, he had caught it too. Implying that he and the baby were cute was one thing; calling him “appealing” was another. Before she could say anything else she might regret, Kathryn turned back to the lift door, schooling her features back into the face of the Captain.

If she had turned but a half-second later, she would have seen a wide smile break across Chakotay’s face.

-----

“I’m sorry, Captain, but I need more time. I won’t deactivate myself until I have a solution, but this situation is very delicate and I can’t risk rushing my tests. You’ll need to find somewhere for the children to sleep. Hopefully I’ll have a solution tomorrow.”

Kathryn nodded. “Of course. Thank you, Doctor.”

With a grim smile, the feed from sickbay switched off, leaving her to look at her dark reflection in the black screen. Something like relief swept over help alongside a touch of regret. On one hand, she could really use her senior officers back in functioning shape. On the other hand....

Her eyes drifted back down to Harry, who had pulled a bit of her hair out of it’s ponytail and was curling it around his tiny fist in unbreakable fascination. A smile tugged at her lips as she cuddled him a bit closer. 

She could get used to this.

The thought struck her before she even knew what she was feeling and, as soon as she admitted it to herself, she took that feeling and shoved it as deep into the recesses of her mind as she could. She was the captain of a ship that was constantly in danger and she shouldn’t dwell on things she couldn’t have.

Kathryn sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Well, Harry, looks like we need to find you a place to sleep.”

Turning back to the computer, she moved to set him down so she could use both hands to search the crew quarters layouts for a suitable place to keep the children overnight. As soon as Harry’s feet touched the ground, a wail rose from the back of his throat and his face scrunched.

Kathryn quickly scooped him back up. “Harry? What’s wrong?”

The boy’s cry of protest faded into whimpers and he buried his head in her shoulder, clinging to her tightly.

A warm feeling washed over her. “Ah,” she smiled, “I see.”

She pulled him closer and turned back to the computer, tapping buttons with one hand. “You can stay up here with me, then.”

The door to her quarters chimed.

“Come in.” 

Before she could turn to greet her guest, mischievous giggles rose from the door. Eyebrow raised, she whirled around to find Chakotay standing in the doorway, a stack of PADDs in his hand, a tiny engineer on his left leg, and a tiny helmsman on his right.

He stepped forward with far less difficultly than she would have expected, given the extra weight on his legs. He crossed the room quickly and passed the PADDs to her. “The crew reports you requested.”

“Thank you.” She smiled, glancing down at the still giggling forms. “Not to alarm you, Commander, but it would seem that you have a couple of lifeforms attached to you.”

Chakotay’s eyes grew wide in mock surprise. “Really?” He turned his head and shuffled around, as if to look at his back. “Where?”

Tom and B’Elanna’s laughter grew. Suddenly, Chakotay leaned over and scooped the two of them off his legs, lifting them both up over his shoulders as their shrieked in delight.

He turned back to Kathryn with a wide smile. “Not to worry, Captain, I’ve apprehended the life forms.” 

She smiled back with a soft chuckle. “We need to find a place for the life forms to stay tonight.”

Chakotay’s smile faded into a more serious, but not displeased look. “The Doctor doesn’t have a solution yet, then?” He lowered Tom and B’Elanna to the ground. They scampered off to the viewport, excitedly chattering about the stars.

“No, he needs a bit more time.”

Chakotay nodded. “Maybe I could take them for the night, that way someone is there to keep an eye on them.”

Kathryn shook her head. “I have no doubt in your babysitting abilities, Commander, but four children is a lot for one person to watch alone and your quarters are not big enough for Trouble 1 and Trouble 2 to run around in.” She gestured to the kids at the window. 

“Fair point. Maybe I should take Harry and Tuvok then, and you could take Tom and B’Elanna?”

She turned Harry away from Chakotay. “Trying to take my boy again, are you Chakotay?” 

He chuckled and shook his head. “Do you have another idea, then, Mom?”

Her breath caught in her throat, but she managed to smirk at him and continue speaking without any indication that his previous sentence had impacted her. “My quarters are the largest on the ship. If we set up cots here in my living room we could easily both keep an eye on the children overnight.”

“Sounds good to me.” He glanced up at the clock on the wall. “How about I go collect Tuvok from aeroponics and some food from the mess hall while you get the cots set up?”

“Sounds like a plan.”

He gave her one last lingering smile, which she returned, before heading out the door and down the hall.

-----

Apparently the lunch they had shared earlier that day had been misleadingly easy. Supper was, to put it lightly, a challenge.

“B’Elanna, eat your own food and stop taking from Tom’s plate,” Kathryn said firmly.

“But Tom isn’t eating it!”

“I was going to eat it! I’m just a slower eater than you are!”

“Well eat faster then!”

“B’Elanna!” Chakotay set down the spoon he had been using to feed Harry and fixed her with a stern look. “That food isn’t yours, and Kathryn already asked you to stop taking Tom’s food. You won’t be asked again.”

B’Elanna mumbled out an apology and stuffed another bite of her own meal into her mouth.

Kathryn shot Chakotay a grateful smile and turned to Tuvok, who was holding up one of his vegetables to the light. “Tuvok? What are you doing?”

“I’m looking at the xylem and phloem of this plant.”

She bit back a smile. “I appreciate your curiosity, Tuvok, but I need you to stop studying your food and start eating it.”

The young Vulcan turned to her and nodded. “Of course.” He politely chewed and swallowed his food and turned back to the captain. “Did you know that this particular plant is a distant cousin of Terran broccoli? You can tell by the-”

Chakotay smiled as he watched Kathryn listen to Tuvok’s fourth lecture of the evening on plant biology. Neither of them were certain of what he was talking about most of the time, but his enthusiasm for the subject was nearly infectious and neither of them minded listening.

“Chakotay?”

He turned away from the scene across the table and looked at Tom next to him. “Yes?”

“After dinner, will you read to us?”

“Of course.” Chakotay smiled and ruffled Tom’s hair. “Anything particular you want to hear?”

“I want to hear about your missions with the Maquis!” B’Elanna bounced in her seat, all of that barely-contained Klingon energy starting to spill over. 

“Or perhaps you could read to us from a classic story,” Tuvok raised a brow. “I’m fond of the works of Tolkien, maybe Tom and B’Elanna would like ‘The Hobbit’ too?”

“What’s a hobbit?” Tom’s face scrunched in confusion.

“Maybe,” Kathryn interjected before Tuvok could give a detailed recounting of the beloved childhood book, “Chakotay could tell us a story from his tribe.” Her eyes met his across the table. “He is pretty good at recounting ancient legends.”

Heat crept up the sides of Chakotay’s face as he held her stare. “Maybe.”

“Nah,” Tom’s voice broke through the pleasant tension between them. “I wanna know what a hobbit is!”

Chakotay chuckled. “Alright, ‘The Hobbit’ it is.”

-----

It took some time to get the older three to settle into bed, but finally, they began to yawn and snuggle deeper under their blankets. As their heads grew heavier, Chakotay wrapped up his story telling and the command team began to tuck their young companions in for the night.

As Chakotay wished Tom and Tuvok a good night’s rest, Kathryn carefully extracted B’Elanna from where she was snuggled into her side and took her over to her cot. As she got the small girl settled, she suddenly reached up and captured Kathryn in a tight hug. Surprised, Kathryn’s eyes widened, but she returned the gesture in earnest.

“Kathryn?”

“Yes, B’Elanna?”

“You’re my best friend.”

Kathryn blinked and pulled back to look B’Elanna in the eyes with a small smile. “I thought Chakotay and Tom were your best friends.”

“I can have more than one best friend.” B’Elanna’s voice was filled with deep confidence, despite how sleep-laced it was.

“Fair enough,” Kathryn chuckled, pulling the blankets tightly around the girl. “Goodnight.”

She met Chakotay in her bedroom, Harry still in his arms.

“Any time I try to set him down he starts crying.” Chakotay grinned sheepishly. 

She grinned back. “I had a similar experience earlier today.” She reached up and brushed hand over the boy’s soft, black hair. “Its a good thing he weighs next to nothing.”

At Kathryn’s gentle touch, Harry stirred. His dark eyes found Kathryn’s and he reached out for her. With a look of mock hurt, Chakotay transferred the boy to his desired location.

“I’m trying not to be offended right now, Harry.”

Kathryn simply grinned and bounced the baby in her arms gently. “It’s alright, Chakotay. He has excellent taste.”

Chakotay shook his head, dimples flashing. “I suppose I can’t argue with that.”

She turned toward the bed and settled herself on one side, her back resting against the pillows and Harry resting against her chest. “Let’s see if we can get this one sleepy enough to not notice if we set him down.” She looked back at Chakotay, who was still standing, rather awkwardly. She patted the bed next to her with a smirk. “Come on, Commander. Get some rest. We’ve has a big day, wrangling the kiddos.”

He smiled and crossed the room to the other side of the bed, gently sitting next to her, his legs stretched out. “It has been a long day,” he said with a sigh. “But, I can’t say I haven’t enjoyed it.” He tilted his head to look at Kathryn, who was already looking up at him.

“Nor I.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Suddenly, Chakotay was very aware of how close their faces were. He watched as Kathryn’s eyes slid down to his lips. Before he could do something he couldn’t take back, he took a deep breath and turned away.

“Well,” Kathryn cleared her throat, sounding more like the Captain now, “it’s been fun but we should get some sleep. I’ll keep an eye on Harry here and take him to his cot in a few minutes. You should go ahead and rest, Commander.”

“Of course.” He tilted his head and gave her a small smile. “Goodnight, Kathryn.”

She grinned back. “Goodnight, Chakotay.”

-----

Apparently, Kathryn didn’t stay awake long enough to take Harry back to his cot, as evidenced by the weight on her chest as she stirred awake the next morning. She slowly became aware of her surroundings and the previous day’s events came flooding back to her.

She also became distinctly aware of the warm, comfortable presence beside her. As she opened her eyes, she realized that her first officer’s arm was settled around her shoulders and that his shoulder was currently her pillow. His head rested atop hers and the hand that was not draped around her shoulders was resting on top of Harry’s back next to her own.

The situation was all rather snuggly and, were it not a violation of every professional barrier Kathryn had erected between her and the commander, she would have had no issue in savoring the moment.

Then again.... maybe she could allow herself just a few moments to pretend that the baby in her arms wasn’t her star technical officer and that the man holding her close wasn’t her XO and that this was a perfectly normal situation.

Before she could get too far into her fantasy, however, Chakotay stirred next to her, his dark eyes fluttering open to find her own.

“Good morning,” he said, his voice huskier than her own as sleep clung to it.

“Good morning.” 

They looked at each other for a moment before Chakotay carefully extracted himself from her side, helping her up so she could carefully place Harry in his cot in the living room without waking the boy or the other children who were still sleeping. Without a word, they quietly prepared breakfast and coffee, steeling themselves for another day of handling the kids.

-----

“I’m afraid I’m a bit.... stuck,” The Doctor ground out with obvious difficulty.

The captain raised an eyebrow. The EMH admitting that he was struggling to solve a problem was a rare instance indeed. “How so?”

With a huff, The Doctor turned back to his desk, flipping through experimental results from a stack of PADDs. “Kes was right; the DNA reversal process I initially thought might work will not account for the de-aging of the officers’ brains, so I decided to look at the type of radiation that might have caused this and, to be completely honest, Captain,” he turned back to look her in the eye, “I have absolutely no idea how this even happened. There’s no evidence of radiation, the temporal energy around them is unidentifiable, and I can’t figure out how their cells and their minds were reversed.” He lowered his head. “I’m unsure of how to even proceed from here.”

Kathryn nodded, taking the emotions that were beginning to tumble in her chest and stuffing them as far down as she could. “Very well, Doctor. Take a rest and we can all come back to the issue later once we’ve had time to think.” She rested a hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up. “Don’t despair yet; there’s a lot of other brilliant minds on this ship besides your own. We’ll figure it out together.” She smiled and gave his shoulder a squeeze before heading into the turbolift.

As the doors slid open, she found Tuvok waiting in the lift for her. She smiled down at him and stepped inside, calling for the bridge.

“Chakotay to the captain.”

She tapped her badge. “Go ahead.”

“We need you on the bridge, there’s a bit of a situation.”

She raised a brow, glancing down at Tuvok, who was gazing at her intently. “On my way.”

-----

“So they want to.... interview us?”

“They want to interview you specifically.”

“To see if we are worthy of going through their space.”

“Something like that.”

“And going around their space isn’t an option?”

“It would add another 7 months to our journey, so this interview is our ideal option.”

“No pressure, eh, Commander?” Janeway shifted Harry from one hip to the other with a long sigh. “Alright. Hail them.”

After a moment, a blue and red humanoid alien appeared on the screen.

“Greetings, Ambassador.” The Captain flashed a polite smile. “I’m Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager.”

The alien woman inclined her head. “Hello, Captain Janeway, I’m Ambassador Tel Parah of the Doonian Delegation.” Her eyes swept the bridge. “You’re ship is heavily armed, which, according to the laws of our people, requires that we do a personal interview of the commanding officer to ensure that violence or other manners of chaos will not be instigated as you pass through our space.”

“Of course, I understand.” Janeway smiled again. “What questions may I answer for you?”

Over the course of the next 30 minutes, Janeway was grilled on their purpose in passing through Doonian space, the types and numbers of weapons they carried, and the journey they had made so far. Just as Janeway thought there wasn’t possibly anything more she could tell them, Ambassador Parah paused and looked up from the computer device in her hand to study Janeway. After a moment, she spoke again.

“Just one more thing, Captain Janeway,” a slow smile slipped onto her face, “What’s your son’s name? He’s absolutely precious.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows in surprise and glanced down at Harry, who she had nearly forgotten was still in her arms. At some point, he had removed her combadge and was currently turning it over and over again in his tiny hands, taking a moment here and there to bite parts of the object he must have found particularly interesting. Kathryn exchanged an amused glace with Chakotay, who shrugged off screen, before turning back to the ambassador. 

“This is Harry.” Janeway smiled, turning the boy so the ambassador could see him better.

The other woman smiled widely. “How adorable. He has the brightest eyes.”

“He does.” Kathryn smiled back down at him.

“You know,” Parah leaned back in her chair, “I usually don’t allow anyone through our space that isn’t from a system or planet we are already know and trust and so I wasn’t planning on letting Voyager pass. However, when I saw your baby and how well-cared for and happy he seems, I felt that I could trust you somehow.” She smiled again. “We value children highly in the Doonien Delegation. Children are often a reflection of a parent’s character. I can tell by Harry’s disposition and curiosity that you are of a fine character, Captain.”

Janeway cuddled Harry a little closer, heart warming. “Thank you, Ambassador, I take that as a high compliment.”

“As you should.” Parah leaned forward again. “You may pass through our space. We will have you stop at three checkpoints on your way though which I will send you the coordinated for in a moment. Have a safe journey.”

The screen went blank and Kathryn turned to Chakotay.

“Should I feel bad that I let her believe Harry is my son?”

Chakotay chuckled, stepping close enough and lowering his voice enough that the rest of the bridge could pretend not to hear him. “Are you saying he’s not?”

Her gaze grew softer. “I guess he’s sort of been like a son to me since we got on board.” She looked back down at him. “I feel very protective of him.”

Chakotay rested a hand on her shoulder. “I know.”

They smiled at each other again. Chakotay opened his mouth to say something more but, suddenly, there was a tug at Kathryn’s elbow.

“Captain? Now that the negotiations are over, I think I have an idea about how to fix Tom, B’Elanna, Harry, and me.” Tuvok’s eyes were bright and eager.

“Alright,” Captain Janeway smiled down at him. “Let’s get The Doctor up here and we’ll hear your idea together.”

-----

Chakotay exchanged glances with The Doctor and the Captain over the table as he bounced both Tom and B’Elanna on his knees. “Could that really work? It seems almost too easy.”

“Well, if this is a phenomena that’s inexplicable and is tied only to the anomaly the shuttles passed through, I feel like sending the children back through isn’t our worst idea.” The captain rubbed the back of her neck. “Doctor?”

The holographic man continued typing into his PADD for a moment before stopping and reading. “I- I honestly think this could work.” He slid the PADD over to Janeway. “It’s hard to predict, since we have no idea what exactly caused this, but if we send the shuttles through the anomaly opposite of the way they first went through, I think it just might turn them back to their usual ages.”

“How do we know it won’t just make them even younger?” Chakotay watched as B’Elanna slipped off of his knee, pulling Tom along with her to go play in the corner.

“We’d have to run some tests to be sure that they don’t. Perhaps we could send a plant through first, or some other organic life form.” The Doctor took the PADD back and made a note.

“We would also have to make sure that, if the tests show some promise, Tuvok can take the shuttle back through the anomaly.” Janeway turned to the boy sitting at her right. “Well, Tuvok? Do you think you could pilot the shuttle?”

He shook his head. “Since I don’t have my older self’s memories I don’t think I could.”

“We could use the tractor beam to send the shuttle through,” Chakotay said. “If we give them enough of a push to go through the anomaly, they should be able to pilot themselves back to Voyager once they get out the other side and have returned to their normal ages.”

Janeway raised her eyebrows. “Well, it’s worth a shot and I don’t have any better ideas. Commander, set a course for the anomaly. Doctor, prepare the experiments.”

-----

Tom and B’Elanna seemed to sense that something was up as they suddenly became even more clingy. The whole trip back to the anomaly, B’Elanna shared the captain’s chair with Kathryn, insisting with all of her Klingon passion that the older woman tell her more stories from earlier in their journey through the Delta Quadrant. At the helm, Tom hung on to Chakotay’s arm, watching the stars go by and asking Chakotay a hundred questions about piloting starships. Tuvok sat in Chakotay’s usual seat, interjecting with questions of his own here and there, and Harry sat on Kathryn’s knee, chewing on her jacket sleeve, her combadge still clutched tightly in his left hand.

After they reached the anomaly, it took a couple of hours for The Doctor to complete his experiments and, once he had declared that plants that had gone through the anomaly twice were returned to the same age the started as, they began preparing the children to enter the anomaly themselves. 

“Will it hurt?” B’Elanna asked in the smallest voice she had ever used in her life as Kathryn tucked the small Starfleet uniform that she had come through the anomaly with around her shoulders.

“It won’t,” Tuvok said. “It didn’t hurt when we came through the first time, did it?”

She shook her head, but didn’t look very reassured.

“It’s okay, ‘Lanna!” Tom grabbed her hand. “I’ll be right beside you.”

Kathryn stood and took a step back, feeling almost as if someone had filled her chest with some of Neelix’s heavy stew. She had to let them go, of course, this wasn’t the way they were supposed to be, but she was certainly going to miss seeing the level of innocence her officers had now. B’Elanna was unburdened by trust issues, Tuvok was passionate and bright, and Tom - well, she supposed he hadn’t changed all that much, but at least he seemed to be genuinely happy, not just putting up a front of humor to protect himself.

It would be hard to see them go back, but maybe, now that she understood how the world and time had changed her friends, she could help them.

She was shaken from her thoughts by a tug at her collar. She looked down to see Harry pulling at her pips, completely enamored by the gold metal.

“Oh, Harry.” She nearly choked on his name. Since he was so young now, she didn’t have any insight into his personality after having seen him as a baby, but she was going to miss his innocent curiosity and familiar weight on her hip.

Before she could think too much about it, she handed Harry over to Tuvok. The younger boy scrunched his face up and whimpered at the change of hands, but Tuvok bounced him gently and he settled down, reaching for the pointed tip of Tuvok’s ear.

Kathryn took a step back, feeling Chakotay step up behind her so that they were nearly touching. “Best of luck, you four.” She gave them her most reassuring smile. “See you on the other side.”

She and Chakotay hurried up the bridge and gave the go ahead for the ensign who had taken over Harry’s post to begin using the tractor beam to move the shuttle out into the anomaly. They stood side-by-side on the bridge and watched the shuttle go through. At come point, they grabbed each other’s hands and squeezed each other tightly.

There was a flash as the shuttle passed through the anomaly. After a few terrifyingly quiet moments, the shuttle came bursting out of the other side and a voice crackled over the comm.

“Cochran to Voyager,” confusion leaked through Tom’s voice. “What the hell just happened?”

Kathryn and Chakotay smiled at each other in relief. “What’s the last thing you remember, Tom?” Chakotay asked.

“B’Elanna, Harry, and I were coming back to Voyager when we- wait a second, how did you get here, Tuvok?”

Janeway laughed. “Why don’t we get you four back on board and then we’ll explain everything.”

“Copy that. See you in a few.” Tom’s voice grew quieter, like he was leaning away from the comm. “I have a feeling this is going to be one heck of a story.”

-----

After everyone had been debriefed and left to process the last two days of strangeness, Chakotay found Kathryn in her favorite spot; on her couch and staring wistfully out at the stars as they drifted past. She had shucked her jacket and taken her hair out of it’s clip, leaving her in her grey turtleneck with her hair falling around her shoulders and face.

“Got a lot on your mind?”

She turned to smile at him, a note of sadness in her eyes. “It’s been an interesting couple of days.”

He settled on the couch a ways down, turning to face her. “It sure has.” He was quiet for a moment. “I’m going to miss our kids.”

“Me too. It was fun having little ones around, playing at being a parent.” She fidgeted with the seam on the couch. “It was different and they sure did give us some challenges,” she chuckled, “but I loved it.” 

“Have you ever thought about having kids of ou-” he coughed, “your own?” 

Her crystal blue gaze caught his. “Yes.” She smiled and looked out the window again. “I always thought someday I would be a mother.” With a snort and a smirk, she continued; “Of course, I never thought I’d be mothering my helmsman, security officer, engineer, and technical officer.”

Chakotay laughed softly. “I think you were mothering them before they were turned into actual children.”

“Perhaps.” A pause. “What about you? Did you ever think about being a father? Outside of the whole instance with Seska, of course.”

He nodded. “When I was in the Maquis, no. My life was too fast-paced to be a proper father. If I was going to be a dad, I wanted to do it right and I couldn’t have done that from a Maquis ship.” He took a deep breath. “After joining this crew, though.... I’m in a better place now, and I think I’d be thrilled to be a father.” He looked over at Kathryn to find that she was already looking at him with something like wonder in her eyes. He held her gaze for a moment and, finally finding a bit of courage, he said: “I’m more at peace.”

A smiled played at the corners of her lips, and her eyes looked a little like they were silver-lined, though Chakotay couldn’t quite tell for sure in the low light of her quarters.

“You were really good with the kids. You would make an excellent father, I have no doubt.”

He smiled. “You would make an excellent mother. You’re a natural.”

“Thank you, but I barely felt like I knew what I was doing.” She chuckled.

“You could have fooled me.” He grinned for a moment, before his countenance grew more serious. “I hope you get your wish someday, Kathryn. I hope you get to be a mother.”

She was quiet for a moment, and Chakotay suddenly felt his chest tighten. Had he said too much.

Before he could fall too far into his panic, her hand slid over to his, giving it a squeeze. He looked up into her eyes, which definitely had tears in them now.

“I hope you get to be a father too Chakotay. Someday.”

He squeezed her hand back and they both fell into a comfortable silence, enjoying the view of the stars outside Kathryn’s window.

[jobrookekarev]

Breathe 

T.S. x Jolex Week 2021 hosted by @thejolexgroupchat​

Chapter One of One

Words: 2760  

Summary: “He left me. And now I can't, I can't, I can't breathe.” Alex left and Jo felt like she couldn't breathe without him, but she had to learn how to breathe on her own, especially when he leaves a little part of himself with her.

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy.

Relationship: Alex Karev/Jo Wilson. 

Characters: Jo Wilson, Alex Karev, Atticus Lincoln, and Meredith Grey.

Rating: General Audiences. 

Additional Tags: Angst, Taylor Swift, Breathe, The Letter, Pregnancy, Pregnancy Tests.

Read at AO3

Read at FFN

AN: This song just fit so perfectly with this scene and I do not own any of Taylor Swift's music or the lyrics to Mine.

……………………………………………………………………

Jo sat alone in the loft. Her hands wrapped around the glass of wine she hadn't taken a sip of yet. She stared at the kitchen sink, but not really as her mind drifted off. She thought of the snow as she drove home. The heavy flakes lingered on her windshield like puffs of cotton falling from the sky. Jo loved the snow. Growing up in Boston, her memories of playing in the winter snow were some of the better memories from her childhood. She smiled when she walked out of the hospital to see the cold frosty night and the quiet that came with a blanket of white across the city. 

Alex loved the snow too. She remembered the conversation they had on their honeymoon. The one that she half listened to as she thought over her cancer research idea. Alex had talked about building forts in the snow with their two kids and how they would have a snowball fight with one of each on their team. The idea of Alex and their two children playing in the snow slipped through her fingers like the sand on the beach. In contrast, the snow stuck to her gloves as she wiped it off her car that night. 

When she got home, she had poured herself a glass of wine to try and relax, but Jo just kept thinking of her and Alex and their children playing in the snow. They were in a good place, she was doing better since her depressive episode. Alex had settled into his role as chief and they were home more as they had a set schedule. They decided that now would be a good time to start trying for a baby. They had thrown out her birth control and the condoms and placed a box of pregnancy tests next to the box of tampons under the sink. As the smell of the wine turned her stomach and her period approached, she wondered which box she should grab. 

She remembered the conversation she had with Helen. They had kept in touch a little bit since she had come to visit, a few texts and photos, but mostly just phone calls here and there. They had a good mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship. Jo loved their little talks and how Helen treated her like her own daughter. Ever since she married Alex and took his name, Jo felt like she was one of the Karev’s. She finally had a family, a name that meant something to her.

Jo heard someone on the stairs. Heavy footsteps shook the snow off their boots in the entryway to the Loft. She got up and rushed over to the door, eager to open it before he could turn his key in the lock. He was back. Alex was home. A little smile appeared on her face. However, it disappeared when she saw that it was not Alex, but Link on her doorstep. 

“Misery loves company,” Link said as he came in and shut the door behind him and she just stared at him. “So I brought donuts and despair.” 

Link brushed past her and went over to the kitchen, setting the donuts on the island table and unzipping his jacket as Jo just stared at him. It took him a while to realize that she hadn't followed him. “Jo?”

“I, I thought you were him,” Jo said, looking around the empty Loft.

Link didn't say anything at first, he of all people, knew how much she missed Alex. He just looked down at the donuts and shrugged off his jacket. “I'm sorry.” 

“He left me.” 

Looking around, the absence of her husband was abundant. His shoes weren’t in the entryway, his clothes weren't on their shelves, she had looked for his favorite Iowa State Hawkeye t-shirt only to find that it was missing. His pillow was gone, and so was his toothbrush, his shampoo, and his body wash. Every little thing that was his and not theirs was missing. At first, she didn't think too much of it, just him taking the things he would need for a visit to his mom’s that didn't have a set return date. Yet as the days grew into weeks, Jo realized that he had taken all of his things and left.

“No, he didn't,” Link said, he was quick to assure her, just like everybody else had done over the past week. No one seriously thought that Alex would leave her, Jo certainly didn't, but she couldn't shake this feeling.

“I think he did.” Jo’s words came out in a breath and she just nodded and looked back at Link. “I think he woke up one day and felt the need to escape his life and me.”

Jo closed her eyes as she took a step forward. “I called his mom. He wasn't there. He'd never been there.”

She tried to keep her voice from breaking as she held back the tears. When she asked Helen about Alex, she tried to seem light, asking to talk to him and saying that she couldn't reach him on his phone. Helen was confused, she said she didn't even know Alex was planning to visit. Jo just smiled behind the phone and brushed it off. She just said that she was tired from a long day at work and must have forgotten that Alex was at a conference in Iowa instead. Helen was smart, and Jo knew she saw through her lies, but she let Jo pacify her with an easy excuse. 

Helen promised to call Alex herself to tell him to call his wife, and Jo had laughed. They ended things on a happy note. Jo mentioned the snow and how cold it was and Helen said she was knitting some mittens for Amber’s family. She said she would start making ones for Jo and Alex and throw in an extra little pair for their future baby. Jo had loved the idea of a little pair of yellow mittens that her mother-in-law was knitting, but the worry about Alex leaving her overtook her joy. Jo had ended the phone call quickly after that as she felt the lump rise in her throat and it became harder to talk without her voice breaking. 

Even now, she couldn't seem to take a deep breath and ease the tension that filled her. All she could feel was the weight on her chest as her heart ached for Alex. Jo shook her head as she looked around in disbelief. Never did she think he would do this to her.

“He left me. And now I can't, I can't, I can't breathe.”

Each word came out as a whisper, and after she broke down into sobs. Jo tried to breathe through the shaking sobs that wrecked her ribs, but she was so heartbroken. It was like she was holding her breath as she waited for him to come back, but she was beginning to drown. Link rushed over and wrapped his arms around her as Jo finally let herself fall apart in his arms. He gently swayed from side to side, rocking her like a child. She sobbed into Link’s shoulder as her knees gave out, and he took her weight. His big strong arms were usually a comfort to her, but the only person she wanted to hold her right now was Alex. Yet, he was the reason for her tears and the reason she couldn't breathe.

Her loud sobs filled the room as she cried out. Jo was in hysterics at this point, wailing into Link’s shoulder. She had kept it all in for so long, trying to keep it together. She had been desperate just to make it one more night, holding out hope that he would come home. That he would come back to her, but after everything that had happened today, she knew deep down that he had left her.

Getting left by your husband was never simple or easy. The way he did it, she could tell he wanted it to be a clean break, but she needed him to be there with her. To save her from this pain, pain that he caused.

Because she couldn't breathe without him. 

They stay like that in the entryway with Jo sobbing into Link’s arms as he held her and their knees dug into the carpet. She felt like she was drowning in tears that stung in her eyes as they cascaded down her face. They were never ending and left harsh tracks on her cheeks. Her breathing came out in long sobs, just taking in enough air to cry out again. Jo didn't bother wiping away her tears or catching her breath. She just cried and wailed because that was all she could do. Jo cried herself until she fell asleep in Link’s arms.

Jo woke up from a dreamless sleep in her bed with the blankets gently tucked over her. There was an arm around her and for a second, she thought it was Alex. She rolled over to bury her face in his chest and breathe in his familiar scent, but instead, Jo was faced with Link’s sleeping face. He slept on Alex's pillow or Alex's second pillow because he took his main one with him. For a second, Jo just stared at him, she gasped as her lungs froze up, and she forgot to breathe again because Alex wasn’t home. He wasn’t sleeping in the bed beside her.

She rolled back over and glanced at her nightstand, her clock said that it was 2 a.m., and Jo stared into the empty kitchen. It shouldn't be Link beside her, comforting her. It should be, Alex. Link was her person, her best friend in the whole world, but Alex was her husband. He was the only one who had been with her through everything. He knew her better than she knew the back of her hand. She knew him just as well, but she lost him. She lost her husband and her soulmate. 

Jo tried to take a deep breath in and out, but it was shaky and she couldn't seem to get enough air in. She squeezed her eyes shut as the tears filled her eyes again. She grabbed the blanket at the end of their bed and pulled it up to her nose, inhaling the sweet scent of him. It wasn’t easy trying to fall asleep in their bed without him, but she had to. Taking a deep breath again, Jo counted the seconds as she inhaled, and then counting again, she exhaled, trying to get to a higher number as she breathed in, taking in more air. It was a trick her therapist taught her, to focus on counting and breathing and not how lonely the bed felt because it wasn’t Alex next to her. She tried to breathe again on her own. Each inhale was hard because all she wanted to do was break down and cry again, but she held back the tears. She had to learn to breathe on her own. She had to learn to do it all on her own.

Alex had been there for her since the beginning, since her first year as an intern. Since then, they had only been apart for a few months, and even then, she still saw him every day in the hallways of the hospital. Jo thought that the most they had ever been apart was the month she was in the inpatient treatment for her depression. Now, as the days bleed into weeks, it was another day she hadn't seen him, hadn't talked to him, hadn't even heard from him at all. She just wanted to know that he was okay. She would settle for a voicemail, or a text, or a freaking letter.

……………………………………………………………………

She regretted that thought a few days later when she was holding his letter in her hands. Alex’s letter to her was written in his sloppy cursive handwriting. Jo used to scold him for it because she couldn’t read his writing, but now she could make out every word. She knew what the letter was going to say before she even opened it, but that didn't make reading his words any easier. Because nothing he could say was going to save them from this fallout. His voice in her head read it to her, and his words cut deep right down to the bone of her ribs, straight to her heart. When she finished it, she just sat there. It had been a week since the night she broke down, knowing that he left her, and despite how she tried, Jo still felt like she couldn't breathe without him. 

She was holding her breath again and there was a tightness in her chest that wouldn't release. Jo got up and drifted through the hospital. She told Link she was going to work, but instead, Jo found herself hiding out in the supply closet, hyperventilating once again as she paced back and forth. She knew what a panic attack looked like as her lungs contracted in quick breaths with air that never quite seemed to reach her lungs. Somehow she was able to calm herself down and go through all of her techniques. Jo took off her shoes and put both feet on the floor as she went through the steps for a chest tube. She had to calm down, she had to breathe again, even if it was without him because there was someone else she might need to breathe for.  

Jo waited until her panic attack was truly over and gave herself time to recover before she reached for the pregnancy test. She slipped out of the supply closet and went to the nearest bathroom. After taking the test, Jo didn't look at it, she knew what the results would be. Regardless, she couldn't be at work today. She went back to the attending’s lounge and quickly texted Bailey. Bailey offered her the whole week with the sympathetic, I'm sorry, but Jo just took the day. She didn't know how Bailey knew Alex quit his job and left her, but considering that he told his wife in a letter, she assumed he told Bailey the same way. Jo took a deep breath in as she texted back a simple reply. 

She tried to keep her breathing even, steady, and deep as she drove over to Meredith's house. Her heart beat faster as she parked on the street and in front of the house she once called her home. Jo took a deep breath, looking down at the pregnancy test before putting a hand on her belly. She took another deep breath and walked up to the house. With each step, Jo took a breath in and out until she got to the door and knocked.

She didn't have to wait long before Meredith opened the door and gave Jo the same sad, sympathetic look as she held a letter at her side. “I just got a letter from Alex. I’m guessing you got one too. I'm so sorry, Jo. I have half a mind to go to Kansas and beat his ass. You don't deserve this.”

Jo just stared at her, slowly processing everything she said. She knew that Alex left her, but she would never have imagined that he would leave Meredith too. The realization that he was truly gone was slowly sinking in, and she took a deep breath. She had to breathe without him, or at least she tried.

“Meredith, I'm pregnant,” Jo said, her words coming out in a breath.

Meredith’s lips slowly parted in shock as she dropped the letter in her hand, the papers slowly falling to lay on the ground. Taking a step forward, Meredith wrapped her arms around her and pulled Jo in for a hug. She let out a breath as she melted into Meredith's arms. Jo could feel the tears spring up in her eyes again, and she let them fall, but she breathed because she had to. 

She had to hold it together for the sake of her unborn child. She didn't know what she would do now that she was all alone, without him, but she would try. Even without him, she would be a damn good mother, the kind of mother their child deserved. Jo would learn how to breathe without him and somehow, she managed to take a deep breath in when all she wanted to do was stop breathing because of Alex.

[joontier]

akin ka na lang (muli.) | drabble

translation: be mine (again.) 

synopsis: Dr. Kim Taehyung, locally known for his successful cardio-thoracic surgeries. One thing he isn’t known for though, is that he’s your two-timing ex who’s come to visit you in the new hospital you work at. 

pairings: taehyung x reader

rating: R (18+)

au: doctors!au; exes!au | genre: smut, slight angst, mentions of infidelity

warnings: exhibitionism, fingering, cunnilingus, degradation 

word count: 2.2k

request: by @taemaknae​​​ “silakbo track feat. taehyung + doctor!au (because we need more doctor aus hehehe” SORRY IT TOOK A WHILE BABE!! but here ya gooo! I hope u enjoy it luv hehehhehe

g/n: this is part of The Paraluman Playlist - a drabble game we’re holding for the whole month of August!!! Send in your requests lovelies;; ((why do i get the feeling that this could be a good prologue too ajsdfhoaiwjef)) also,,, this might be a part of a fic crossover with one im working on right now with jk wOOPS

navi. | m.list

“And that concludes the reports for this month’s cardiac surgery reports.” 

Ending your presentation with one last click of your pointer, you turn to your fellow doctors, resisting the strong urge to roll your eyes. Some of the seniors are already asleep, while those who are a closer to your age are obviously bored to the bone.

You’re seriously considering if you want to even bother asking the audience if they have any further questions when no one was listening in the first place anyways. Well, maybe except for the chairman who had been all ears the whole time.

Meetings like these are just a major waste of time – time you could have used to sleep your fatigue away after having completed a five-hour open heart surgery last night. If it only weren’t for the hospital’s board of directors that implemented this scheme.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare had only encouraged all hospitals to hold conferences like this to support medical-related research, but The Woocheon Group, after having been praised by the ministry itself for pioneering experimental medicine and clinical trials, upped its game, scheduling these quarterly conferences to monthly ones.  

This plan would have sounded engaging to most third parties, but to those who were chosen to create reports, such as yourself, do not find these meetings most pleasant. After all, these month-end reports will also be uploaded to Woocheon’s online journals. Not that these doctors would even read any of those even if published both online or in paper. Unless of absolute necessity as reference, of course.

Your eyes scan over the audience consisting of at least forty doctors until you lock eyes with the one and only Kim Taehyung - infamous for his recently successful cardio-thoracic surgery on a twenty-two year old athlete back at Daegu Medical Center. Unfortunately for you, he’s also the same man who cheated on you for another colleague a few years back. 

He was the reason you left DMC in the first place, unable to continue your career back at the center with such an unhealthy, hate-conducive environment. Obviously, you knew having to work with a cheater and having to face him for at least six days a week wasn’t going to do you any good. Hence, your moving to Seoul to officially pursue your fellowship at Woocheon Medical City. What you never expected though, was Taehyung coming all the way from Daegu to sit in with Woocheon’s internal conferences. 

For what? Why was he here? What reason does he have to suddenly show up like this? 

Whatever his business here was absolutely none of yours, and you promised yourself you were going to be the last person to concern yourself with such. 

“Any further questions?” 

You see Taehyung’s hand raise hesitantly, but retracts it quickly as another raises his hand. As you address the inquiry, you still feel Taehyung’s gaze locked on yours. Nobody dares to ask another question, not wanting to prolong the useless conference any longer. Thankfully, the hospital’s chairman ends the meeting shortly after that.

As you pack your things up while the rest of the crowd files out of the room, you feel someone approach you. In fact, you feel two - with both of the presences extremely familiar. When you look up from your desk, you see Taehyung and Chairman Jung Hoseok nearing the podium you stood behind from.

Taehyung lets the chairman approach you first. Good, at least the man still has a little bit of dignity left in him. “Dr. _______, great presentation today,” Hoseok applauds, “You are a blessing to this hospital,” the chairman adds, placing a hand on the small of your back. 

“All in a day’s work, Chairman Jung,” you give the man a warm smile. Taehyung notices the small gesture and diverts his gaze quickly, as if he was caught watching something private. You smile inwardly, wanting to drop as many hints as possible to let the blonde-haired man he isn't welcome here. 

The chairman finally takes notice of his presence as he turns around, much to your dismay. “Ah! Dr. Kim Taehyung! I wasn’t informed of your arrival… anyways, welcome to The Woocheon Medical City and may I introduce to you one of our best cardiology consultants here…” 

“Dr. __________, of course.” A wide smile forms on Taehyung’s lips, reaching out his hand for a handshake. You hesitate for a split-second - torn between not wanting to be within arm’s reach of your traitorous ex-boyfriend, or maintaining your usual professional demeanor. Maybe it’s best for you to go with the latter, and pretend you two are meeting for the first time. 

“We were colleagues back in Daegu Medical Center.” 

Or maybe not. 

Hoseok’s secretary comes over just in time, informing him of a friend  who wishes to meet him outside as well as the rest of the day’s schedule. “Oh, guess I’ll have to meet that one then,” Hoseok says, turning to the both of you. “Well, I’ll have to leave you both for a moment. I’ll see you both around.” With a short wave, the chairman leaves the two of you to “catch up”. 

“_________. Can we talk?” 

“There’s nothing to talk about, Dr. Kim. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I still have plenty of things to do.” Deciding not to meet his eyes, you scan the room, sending a silent plea to the last doctor who was getting ready to leave, wishing that he won’t leave you alone with this man. 

Taehyung blocks your sight with his body. Clenching your jaw, you tilt your head at him, waiting on what he has to say now. “Come back to me, please…” A scoff escapes your lips as you roll your eyes at Taehyung.

“I’d even beg on my knees, _______. I’ll do whatever you want, baby.” 

“You on your knees?” You raise an eyebrow.

“I am a changed man.” 

“Fuck you, Kim Taehyung.” 

“By all means, ________, please.” Rolling your eyes at your two-timing ex, you continue packing up, making sure you won't forget anything else on the desk. Funny how he can even extract innuendos from your display of hatred. At this point, Taehyung had already rounded the table and is now standing beside you.

You figure he’s fiddling with the projector (for all you care), that is, until you feel his warm breath fanning against your nape. His close proximity instantly gives you a chill and before you can turn to face him, he already has you trapped between his body and the podium. 

Taehyung can't hide the smirk that graces his lips when he sees you gulp. Fueled by your reaction, he proceeds to reach for the clicker by the opposite end of the desk, bending you a little bit forward, all the while pressing his erection against your ass. 

When he feels you hold your breath in, it only spurs him on, slowly grinding against you. “T-Tae…” you whisper out brokenly, weakly pushing away his firm hold on your waist. “You’re not…” All coherent thoughts get drained from your head when he takes your breasts in his hands, kneading them gently through your shirt,  “...s-supposed to do….” 

The door opens all of a sudden and the janitor enters, holding a plastic roll in his hands. Taehyung abruptly takes his hands off you, placing them inside his pockets instead. Thankfully, the janitor only takes notice of you and Taehyung’s presence after checking the trash bin by the last row and not when the latter had his hands all over you. “Oh, sorry Doc! I thought everybody had left already. I’ll just come back later.” Bowing once in your direction, he leaves quickly just as he had arrived. 

As you turn around to confront Taehyung about his brazen behavior, he’s already there, suddenly connecting his lips with yours. Nearly loosing your footing at the unexpected action, Taehyung instinctively places his hands on your back, pushing you further towards him. You place your palms against his chest, not wanting to get scandalized by making out with a guest. “Taehyung…”

The blonde-haired man pulls away from the kiss, only to attach his lips on that certain spot on your neck that ultimately gets you weak in the knees. ‘Does he remember?’ You think, mind getting hazy over the feeling of his pliant mouth on your skin after all these years. Then again, your mind betrays you with the vivid image of him fucking your friend in your very room – inside the same apartment you shared with that friend he cheated on you with.

Your judgment gets clouded once more as he fumbles with your shirt, unbuttoning the first one – enough to leave a hickey just above the valley of your breast. Taking your bottom lip between your teeth to hold in the moan the threatens to escape your mouth, your fist tightens around the fabric of his collar.

Sliding the swiveling chair from underneath, Taehyung pushes you down onto the cushion of the seat. As he kneels to the ground, your heart beats rapidly in your chest, the anticipation causing to form a few beads of sweat by your hairline. Pleasure shoots through your core as he hikes your skirt up, rubbing his hands all over your thighs.

Having him touch you like this after so many years ignited that fire inside you once more, the almost foreign feeling ultimately driving you close to madness.

Fuck, you missed this. Not him. Not Taehyung. Whatever thing this was with Taehyung that was so deliriously enticing: this magnetizing aura that drew everyone to him without him having to even try. Unfortunately for you, it had also drawn unwanted attention from perpetually thirsty women. You missed these feverish kisses, featherlight touches that sent electricity pulsing through your veins.

You repeat the phrase in your head like a fervent prayer. You miss the idea of this Taehyung, the Taehyung that ravished you on a regular basis, like you were the irresistible flame to the metaphorical moth that was him.

“Tell me to stop, baby, and I will,” Taehyung rasps, tucking a loose strand of hair behind your ear. 

“No panties? Still my naughty little slut I see,” Taehyung remarks, as he sees your naked core. It’s shameful how you’re embarrassingly wet within a short period of time, but you no longer put much thought on it, especially with a handsome man like Taehyung on his knees for you.

With dilated pupils, Taehyung looks up and you knew you had both reminisced the time this same scenario happened in his office at DMC. The infamous surgeon draws you out of your reverie as he plants kisses along the expanse of your thigh.

Urgently wanting to fully express his intentions, Taehyung wastes no time, bunching up your skirt by your hips and diving in to flatten his tongue against your wet core. You gasp at the contact and you practically feel him smile at your responsiveness.

Taehyung starts with a slow pace, letting his tongue swirl all over your cunt. “Oh!” you breath out when he flicks your nether bud with his tongue. Taehyung keeps your legs apart with left hand while he dips a finger between your folds with the other. As you shudder at the sensation, Taehyung continues his ministrations, pushing his finger in, reveling in the way your walls clench around his digit.

“You’re still so tight after all these years,” the man says, diving in once more as he familiarizes himself once more of your addictive essence, licking and sucking at your core for all its worth like it’s his last day on the planet.

Just as you were about to climax, three knocks on the door resonate throughout the empty room, and as you push your thighs together and signaling Taehyung to keep quiet underneath the table, the door opens one more time and the chairman’s head pokes through the side, eyes scanning the room to look for you. Fixing your appearance discreetly, you put on a smile on your face, ignoring the frustration that came with not being able to orgasm properly.

“Wanna go grab lunch with me, sweetheart?” 

“Sure. I’ll be out in a few, babe. Just… gotta go through some emails,” comes your breathless answer. “Okay darling. I’ll be waiting for you by my office.” When you feel Taehyung’s fingers start to dance back up along your legs, you swat them away, the realization of your unfaithful acts finally dawning on you. 

“Stop it Taehyung and get up from there,” you tell him, pulling down your silk skirt that’s shamelessly bunched up around your hips. As you tame the creases on your skirt, the light above you hits the rock on your fourth finger. The gleam hits your eyes perfectly, the diamond on your engagement ring seemingly mocking you of your infidelity. 

For the sake of your sanity, you don’t say another word to Taehyung who also had his eyes trained on your ring. Quickly you grab your things off the desk, not sparing your dejected ex-boyfriend a look. As you reach the door, you rest your head on the hard plastic, “I’m happy now, Taehyung. Please respect that.” With a sigh, you open the door, not daring to take a look back. 

Taehyung nods silently, looking away from your figure as a tear rolls down his cheek, regret and longingness weighing on him heavily.

[sirowsky]

The Flowers Always Know

Description: When a mad scientist uses you as an experiment while you’re on holiday, the Heroics only just manage to save you. And in your recovery you become very close to the leader of the group. (Slow burn)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Language, mentions of torture and murdered children. 

Link to Masterlist

Comment: Well, now, I seem to have gone a little overboard here, because this chapter is 6550 words! I’m sick with the flu and isolated and bored, and all I do is sleep, so I have no idea how this happened. The chapter is a bit heavy, lot’s of information to get across for future developments, but we meet some new characters that will be recurring! Also - next chapter is going to be the big 100K one, so please send me a word or phrase you’d like me to incorporate in it, I like a challenge! All my love to you, darlings!

Chapter 36

  The next morning, Marcus woke you up in an unconventional way. Normally, he’d just kiss you somewhere, or throw one or two limbs over you and pin you down so that he could try and pretend that he didn’t have to get up from the warm bed, and your soft skin.   While he didn’t have a bad morning mood, like you, he was lazy and languid and almost excessively soft the first half-hour of the day.   But on this day, he woke you by quite literally jumping on you.   You were lying on your side, with your back to him, and somewhere in the sluggishness of still-asleep-but-not-fully, you heard his phone beep. Since it wasn’t your alarm, your sleep-drunk brain ignored it, but you were aware of him turning to retrieve it from the floor next to his side of the bed. It was just a double mattress on the floor, but it was good enough to hold you over.   But then, he was suddenly bouncing into the air with a loud whoop coming from his lips, before he landed on top of you and started attacking you with wet kisses, tickling you with his patchy beard and giggling happily while he kept bouncing.

  “What’re you doin…?”

  You were groaning the words out in a garbled mumble against the pillow, but he ignored you. He kissed your nose, then bounced, then his moustache tickled your neck, and he bounced again, then he tugged the covers down and kissed your shoulder, bounce, his beard rubbed the top of your right breast, bounce, his lips smacked against yours, bounce…   He was being deliberately annoying in order to get you angry, because he knew that that was the fastest way to get you fully awake. But even though you knew that, it still really got on your nerves.

  “Fuck-off, Marcus…”

  He just giggled more, knowing he was starting to get to you. And then he stood on all fours over you, and just bounced like a gazelle, repeatedly, endlessly, while he kept chuckling like a giddy kid, until you had enough.   With a loud growl, you flung your eyes open and rushed at him, pushing him backwards until he fell over onto his back at the foot of the bed, still smirking and vibrating with light laughter even after you pinned him down and glared at him.

  “What the hell is so damned funny ahead of the fucking alarm clock?”

  “Ooh, I love it when you get all rough first thing in the morning.”

  You were technically straddling him, although there was no real contact between your sexes, and you were too tired and angry with him to feel the least bit horny.   That is, until he lunged his hips up and his hard morning glory bumped right at your opening. It was just enough of a reaction to cause you to lose focus, and he took the opportunity to use his superior strength to swap your positions, except he didn’t hover over you anymore. He nestled himself in between your thighs, grinding hard into your mound, knowing you needed a bit more force to coax your body into playing, while your brain was practically still asleep.

  “We got it, querida.”

  He smiled into the sweet kisses he peppered onto your neck while you tried not to let him persuade your body into morning sex. You weren’t in the mood, not really, and this was gonna be a hell of a day, even if everything went smoothly.   His voice dropped to that silky husk that you loved, as he whispered in your ear.

  “We got the house.”

  …What……?

  You flinched and stared at his eyes as he brought his face up to where you could see it. He was serious.   Suddenly you weren’t the least bit tired.

  “We got it? It’s ours? Don’t you dare joke with me right now, Marcus…”

  You already knew he wasn’t, but you needed him to confirm it. The whole house-hunt had been such a mess, and you’d fallen so madly in love with that place, with the big yard and the perfect kitchen, that when you thought you’d lost it, the whole hunt had sort of become irrelevant to you.

  “They backed out, at the last minute. The realtor just texted me to congratulate us. It’s ours, mi amor. We can move in next week.”

  His smile widened as he watched you absorb the news, and saw the joy spread through your features. Your body started responding to his, and he felt the heat rise in your skin, so he rolled you both again, to let you be the one to bounce this time.

  That led to the two of you somehow not getting out of bed until an hour after the alarm did go off, subsequently ruining your entire morning, but amazingly, not your good mood.   Your press-conference had been scheduled for noon, and you had some things to get done before then, but none of it bothered you all of a sudden.   All those things that would have normally stressed you out just passed by without so much as raising your pulse, and you had the singular pleasure of seriously wigging out Anita when you crossed paths with her in a hallway, on your way to legal.

  “Hey, Máma. What’s happening?”

  “Why would anything be happening?”

  “Um, because you’re here. You’re only here when something interesting is going on. So, spill.”

  “Fine. I’m interviewing candidates for your replacement today.”

  “Oooh… that means weird questions centred around flowers, right? Can I sit in?”

  “Absolutely not, loco.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I don’t like having you around when I’m working, especially not when you’re… giddy…”

  “It doesn’t come around often, you know, you might wanna capitalize.”

  “And what exactly do you think I might need your good mood to get you to agree to?”

  “How about… a garden in our backyard? So, your magic flowers can keep tabs on us.”

  “I don’t need a garden to keep tabs on you, loco.”

  “But you do need flowers nearby, because of the pollen, right? That’s how it works, isn’t it?”

  Uuuhh… and just where did that come from?

  Anita stared at you with the most complex expression you’d ever seen, and at any other time, you would’ve been seriously disturbed by it, but this time, you just beamed a huge grin at her, and patted her shoulder affectionately as you passed her by.

  “I won’t tell. Promise!”

  Then you skipped away down the hall, happy as a cloud, having apparently worked out how at least one of Máma’s abilities worked, without even knowing it.

  After the meeting with legal, to officially sign on for all the duties and responsibilities of a Heroic, you headed down to the Batcave to put on your costume. Velma had tinkered a little bit with the detailing, but overall, it looked the same as before. You allowed her to style your hair into your preferred ‘up and away from your eyes’ manner, and do your modest and simple make-up, which she still managed to get twice as nice as anything you could do.   And then you were ready. With an hour to spare, no less.

  “How you doin with that sparkle, honey? Got a handle on it yet?”

  Right, you’d already forgotten about that.

  “Nope, I haven’t tried it again yet. But I have some time to spare.”

  “Ooh, yes, gimme more glitter, baby!”

  “Wait, don’t tell me you saved that stuff?”

  “See now, darling, that offends me. Do I look like the sort of person who would ever waste glitter?”

  “My apologies, my Queen, how utterly rude of me. Allow me to attempt to create some more for you.”

  Velma just nodded appreciatively and stepped back a little.

  You started picturing the same colourful images that had flooded your mind the day before, and tried to flood the air around you with them using your energy. But it was like it wasn’t there.   Whatever it was that had put you in such a splendidly good mood that morning, you were suddenly certain that it had something to do with the sudden emptiness inside you. As though the happiness had been some side-effect of your body no longer having to deal with that constant drain on your energy-reserves.   That strange feeling that lived in your chest and your gut, and that you had just started to become comfortable with, and used to, as it triggered and activated your powers, just wasn’t there anymore.   The giddiness vanished, replaced with a growing anxiety as you began to realise the potential consequences of this.   It might be temporary, or it might be permanent. Your powers weren’t natural, and thus, they couldn’t be judged by the same data as the other’s. But if it was a permanent loss, the contract you’d just signed would put you in a precarious situation, not to mention the fucking press-conference.   How the hell were you supposed to stand there and proclaim yourself a Heroic with no powers?

  “Sugar? What’s wrong?”

  “I… I can’t. My powers aren’t working.”

  “Oh, no. That doesn’t sound good. Go to research, honey, they’ll take care of you.”

  “No, I can’t. We don’t know who to trust, remember?”

  “Oh, dang it all to hell. Well, go find Marcus, then.”

  You sprinted out of the cave and went to find him, not even seeing the eyes popping on the people you passed in the corridors and stairwells, as they took in your outfit.   He wasn’t in his office, so you headed for the Control centre, and forced yourself to stop and calm down before you stepped inside.   He was there, by the centre console with his broad back to you, overseeing some transfer of equipment from overseas, and there was a kind of chatter in the room, as the operators and analysts kept feeding him information, and mumbling to and between themselves.   But, as you entered, all eyes fell on you, and everyone went quiet.   Marcus noticed the change and turned around to investigate. You watched his eyes go from seeing the people all staring in the same direction, to seeing you standing there in your outfit, and for a moment, that same predatory darkness filled his eyes. He was acutely aware of how everyone was staring at you, and while it made him proud to see others appreciate the beauty he so clearly saw in you, it also made him possessive. A need to declare to the whole world that you belonged to him flooded his system and made his adrenaline spike, and you could see it in his whole frame.   But it only lasted for a second, because then he saw your eyes, and realised that something was wrong, and his fear took over.   He handed the room over to one of the operators, and led you out, and he didn’t stop until you’d reached his office. He placed the little device that scrambled all forms of listening or recording of the room, on the desk, and turned it on before he spoke.

  “What is it?”

  “They’re gone… my powers, I can’t even feel them.”

  “What… how is that even possible?”

  “I was hoping you could tell me. Do you know if this has ever happened to any of the supers?”

  “No, it hasn’t. We all experience fluctuations, especially while we’re young, but I’ve never heard of anyone actually losing their powers. Are you sure they’re gone? Not just… on the fritz?”

  “They’re gone. I know that feeling so well, because it scared me for so long, and now it just isn’t there anymore. I can’t be a Heroic now. Which, technically doesn’t bother me, you know I never wanted to be, but we needed this.”

  “Okay, slow down, we don’t know if this is permanent yet.”

  “Marcus, the announcement is in half an hour! You expect me to stand there and proclaim myself a Heroic, when all I can do now is throw basic self-defence at any enemy?”

  He sighed heavily and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “No, you can’t do that. We can’t let anyone see that you’ve been weakened. We have to call the conference off.”

  “Fuck. Allen is gonna have my head…”

  “He’ll have to go through me.”

  “I feel like such a hypocrite even wearing this thing now.”

  You tugged poignantly at the top of your costume, suddenly feeling even more uncomfortable in it than you had the first time you put it on. He grabbed your chin and lifted it to keep your eyes on his, so that you could see that he was dead serious.

  “Hey, don’t say that. Whatever else has happened, few people have earned a Hero’s costume more than you, and I don’t ever wanna see you wear it with anything but pride, you hear me, hermosa?”

  Your eyes teared up for some reason, and it sparked a torrent of emotions to flood your system. Suddenly you were shaking with fear, sadness and a growing feeling of vulnerability.

  “I know it’s irrational, I know I’m not any more fragile just because I can’t tear buildings apart anymore, but I just feel so breakable now.”

  He wrapped his arms around you and held you close, knowing that no words of comfort would be enough right now.   You tried to calm yourself, knowing that there was too much for you to get through in the immediate future to allow you the luxury of breaking down just yet.

  “We need to talk to Allen and Ms. Granada, before it’s too late to call it off.”

  “We also need to get you checked out, but by who?”

  “Fuck if I know. One problem at a time, please.”

  “Oh, shit! Norway…”

  “You got the green light?”

  “Yeah. For you and me, at 4 pm.”

  “Great, this just gets better and better. Now all we need is for our fucking house to burn down, too.”

  “Whoa, don’t jinx it!”

  “Honey, if that happened – we would have to finally accept that the universe has chosen us to bear a large percentage of all the crap in this world, so that someone else doesn’t have to. And then we can just give up on all dreams and ambitions and go live in an igloo in Antarctica.”

  “I have no idea how to respond to that, except - penguins.”

  “Wait… I think I have an idea about how we can steer past the press-conference.”

  “If you’re about to tell me it has something to do with flightless birds…”

  “What? No, of course not. We need to talk to Allen.”

  An hour later, you and Marcus where on the Heroics jet, heading for Norway, and Marcus was genuinely impressed with how easy your solution had ended up being. Granted, it only bought you a little bit of time, but perhaps that would be enough.   Basically, you’d just convinced Allen that your business in Norway had become urgent, and that you needed to go immediately, or lives might be in danger. It worked because it was technically true, which made it just real enough to persuade him.   Whatever shitstorm you’d be facing when you got back, was another matter entirely, and one you’d both chosen to ignore for now.

  “So, provided my intel is accurate, and we have to assume it is, we should start looking in a small community called Ersfjordbotn, just south of Tromso.”

  “What led you there?”

  “A twitter-post. Don’t ask.”

  “Okay.”

  “You told me that her power is discreet, and that that’s how she’s been so good at staying off the radar, but you never told me what it is?”

  “She can fiddle with temperatures, only in her immediate surroundings, and only a few degrees, but around people that’s all it takes to put you out.”

  “Neat. When did you last see her?”

  “Oh, god… probably around ten years ago now. She was really young and really scared of everything to do with Heroics and responsibilities and the spotlight, most of all. But her family was poor and her parents only saw the advantages of having their daughter become a famous person, so they ignored her protests, and as a result, she ended up running away.”

  “And they sent you to find her?”

  “Mhm. I caught up to her in Canada, but she was so desperate to be free, to not have to shoulder the burden of caring for her family, as well as the whole damned world, at a mere 16 years old, that I just couldn’t bring myself to take her back. I gave her all the cash I had on me, and the names of some people I knew would help her if she could find them. And that’s the last I ever saw of her.”

  “Poor kid. I’m sorry you have to do this, honey.”

  “I hope we can find her, because I’d love to know that she made it. That I didn’t send her to her death that day. But, if we do find her, we’re not gonna force her to do anything, which is why I’m fine with all this.”

  “Did you get the new location on Verity yet?”

  “Yeah. Mississippi this time.”

  “So, if Neune wants in, that’s our next stop.”

  “Let’s just find her first.”

  Airport, rental, getting lost twice, and swooning over absolutely every piece of scenery you drove past, later – you found Ersfjordbotn.   Your costumes were enough to draw all attention to you, so if Neune was there, she was bound to hear about it soon enough. So, you just parked the car and headed into a coffeeshop for an evening snack while you waited.   The shop closed about an hour later, but the midnight sun meant that you had full daylight all through the night, which was odd, but really amazing. The scenery was so dramatic with the steep mountains and hills dropping almost straight down into the fjord. The community was small and all the buildings ran along the waterline at the base of a mountain, and as you walked, you started thinking about the house that waited for you back home.

  “About the move.”

  “Hm?”

  “Honey, we’re gonna have to go on a serious shopping-spree as soon as possible. As if we have time for that, in the middle of all this… And you know what furniture stores are like. It takes five weeks to get anything delivered, and if you want something special or customised, it’s twice that.”

  “Don’t worry, in that regard, being famous has it’s perks. No store wants the bad press involved with disappointing a Heroic.”

  “It’s still gonna take time. Moves always do. I mean, for christs sake, we don’t even have cutlery.”

  “What happened to your cutlery? Someone eat it?”

  You stopped at the sound of a melodious voice to your right, and turned to find a woman sitting perched up on a rock a few metres up the hillside.   Her clothes were so perfectly toned to the colours around her, that if she hadn’t spoken, you’d have never seen her, even if you’d looked straight at her.   You felt Marcus relax next to you.

  “Hi, Neune. I’m happy to see you again, you look good.”

  She stood up and made her way down to you, moving with ease over the lose rocks and patches of unruly grass. She was a few inches taller than you, and heavyset. Strong, there was no doubt about that, and curvy to boot, but her warm dark skin was probably the most beautiful thing about her.   She looked like the kind of woman that wouldn’t hesitate to beat you senseless if you deserved it, but would also love you unconditionally if she decided that you were a good enough person.

  “So do you, Moreno. I was sorry to hear about your wife. But I’m glad to see you seem to have found your way.”

  “Thank you. Yes, this is my fiancé. Hermosa, this is Deema Neune.”

  You held out your hand and she took it. Her grip was firm and cool, but when her skin touched yours, she seemed to react to something, and kept holding onto your hand while she looked closer at you.

  “You’ve been damaged. Badly.”

  You were suddenly nervous. The intensity of her eyes was piercing.

  “Uh… which time are you talking about?”

  “There’s more than one?”

  “There’s like a dozen. I apparently have some self-sacrificial tendencies, and it’s landed me in some serious trouble a few times.”

  “Neune, how can you tell that she’s been hurt? You didn’t have that kind of ability the last time we met.”

  “My powers have evolved over time, Moreno. I can use my gift to reach into peoples’ bodies and trace their blood, their history, through their scars. And you, my dear, have a great many on the inside, though none on your skin.”

  “Yes. People keep wanting to hurt me, for some reason. I blame the balance of the universe.”

  “You have known power. I can trace the marks it’s made when you’ve ended up hurting yourself. It’s like your body was at war with your power, the damage is everywhere.”

  “That’s probably because it wasn’t natural. It was put inside me by a… mad man.”

  “That would explain it. But I’ve never heard of such a thing. How was it done?”

  “That’s a long story, and not a good one. It involved the torture and murder of dozens of children.”

  The younger woman flinched, and her eyes darted over to Marcus, looking for confirmation of these terrible news, before returning to stare at you. But your eyes had dropped to somewhere around her waist, but not seeing her. Your focus was on something inside your own mind, a thought that had occurred to you, hearing this woman detail what Prince’s experiments had actually done to you.

  “Oh, my god. Marcus, that’s why my powers are gone.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’m protective by nature, that’s why I’m always ready and willing to sacrifice myself if that’s the only option I can see. But, the baby changes all that. I’m not willing to sacrifice that, not for anything. So, if my own powers have actually been hurting me, a little bit every time I use them, isn’t it possible that I somehow just forced my body to stop producing those cells?”

  Marcus frowned.

  “I wouldn’t put it past you, but it still sounds improbable. Those cells are incredibly strong, even if you stopped producing them, it would still take months for them to leave your system, and leave you completely powerless. It wouldn’t happen overnight.”

  Neune asked you to look at her again.

  “What I see inside of you, tells me that you’re stronger than any person I’ve met before. If your body decided that the stress it was under was too much to provide a safe place for your child, I do believe that you could and would’ve done whatever was necessary to change that. But I also believe that Marcus is right. Your body might have forced the powers to stop, but I don’t think they’re actually gone.”

  “But I can’t feel them at all.”

  “What exactly can you do?”

  “I can heal people, at great cost to myself, and I can reach into other dimensions, and the energy I find there I can use in several different ways. Like adding to the density of a room or specific area, until it breaks, or displaying images and memories around me, like tv-screens. And recently I created some sort of rainbow dust that seemed to serve no purpose whatsoever, except it was really pretty.”

  “Everything we create has purpose. Where you doing anything special when you produced this dust?”

  You glanced sheepishly at Marcus, and he smiled.

  “I might have… been less than gentlemanly with her at the time.”

  “Ah… that would do it, I suppose. How recently was this?”

  “Yesterday.”

  “Good, then the echo will still be there.”

  You blinked and refocused on her.

  “Echo?”

  “All powers leave an echo in your body as they pass through it, if I know what to look for, I can usually find it.”

  “Usually. What are you, the local supers-witch-doctor?”

  “I never stay anywhere for very long. No one here knows about my powers, but wherever I’ve been, I’ve helped people passing by, over the years. That’s probably how you ended up being able to find me. Now, stay still and let me concentrate.”

  You locked yourself to the spot and tried to relax. You couldn’t feel her probing through your blood at all, but after a minute, you felt a strange wave course through you.   It started somewhere in your gut, and worked its way through your body, and into your hands, where it suddenly left you – in the form of rainbow-coloured dust. It didn’t feel the same as your powers normally did, though.   It didn’t shoot out of you in a plume, but instead just accumulated in your upturned hands, as Neune released them. She picked up a pinch of it, and rolled it around between her fingers.

  “Hm. I have to say, you’re right; I really don’t see what the purpose of this might be. But I’m still certain there is one.”

  You felt ambivalent. On the one hand, you were relieved to know that you weren’t as helpless as you’d feared, but on the other, you sort of wanted the powers gone. You’d never wanted them in the first place, and if they really were permanently damaging you, they weren’t worth the price.   But, at the same time, being able to heal the ones you loved was something entirely invaluable to you.

  “So, if I’ve somehow supressed my abilities because of the pregnancy, does that mean they’ll come back once the baby is born?”

  “Probably. I suspect that if you really need them, for any reason, you’ll find that they’re right were you left them. Supers are complex beings. Our powers develop based on equal parts genetics and personality, and those two elements are sometimes in serious conflict with one another, creating chaotic results. Like a boy who’s terrified of hights, finding himself getting the ability to fly.”

  “But mine weren’t naturally generated, so my genetics had nothing to do with it. The cells came from dozens of different people.”

  “That would explain why you have several different abilities.”

  “The scientists at HQ don’t think that. They say that my powers developed exclusively from my personality and body-chemistry, because the introduced cells wouldn’t have been able to influence my DNA.”

  “I’m not a scientist, but I’ve spent the past 15 years trying to help other supers stay out of the spotlight, and I’ve learned that the genetics are always relevant. Even if they didn’t mess with your DNA, they most certainly influenced you.”

  This was getting a bit too heavy for you to absorb any more, so you changed the topic.

  “Thank you, for helping me figure out what’s going on with me, but that’s not why we came to find you.”

  “I suspected as much.”

  Marcus noticed you were struggling to focus, so he took over.

  “We’re here because of the crazy guy who did this to her, Dr. Prince. We think he created some sort of organisation, who’s goal it is to make all humans supers. We’ve found enough breadcrumbs to suggest that we’re dealing with a global network that may very well have solidified into a corporation by now, if they’ve been able to secure funding. And we’re trying to create one of our own, in order to have a chance at defeating them, if and when we manage to draw them out into the open.”

  “So, you’re here hoping to recruit me?”

  “Yes. I know you don’t want the spotlight, and that’s not what we’re asking of you. Our organisation is covert as well, for the time being, and we need our operatives to work in the shadows, and we need them to be available all over the world. We need intel and research, our own global network to spy on theirs.”

  “How many have you been able to recruit so far?”

  “Unless you agree to be audited, we can’t tell you any details.”

  “Audited?”

  “We have a way to know with absolute certainty, that you’re not an enemy, but it would require a bit of a trip.”

  “Where?”

  “Mississippi.”

  Marcus managed to persuade the pilot to take a detour on your return trip to the States, and you landed in Jackson-Ever airport the next morning.   You’d concealed your costumes under regular clothing now, and took precautions to ensure no one was following you to your destination of Bay Park Drive, and a not at all inconspicuous brick-house, probably the biggest property on that street, with a pool in the backyard, and a boat-house by the water. Most of the properties had boat-houses since they where practically sitting on the water, but this house was the only two-story house you could see. Why the man had picked this place was beyond you, but then, he was odd.   When the three of you walked in, Marcus sent a current through the house, to announce your presence, and a really uncomfortable surge of energy hit you in return. You must have felt that thing some 20 times by now, but it still felt just as unpleasant every time.   With the greeting done, you moved through the bottom floor to the living room, and found Verity waiting for you in a reclining chair, with a tall glass of ice-water on a small coffee-table next to him. Other than that, there was no evidence of his presence there. No clothes or shoes laying around, no suit-cases, not so much as a footprint on the tile floors.   He was thin to the point of looking almost hollow, but his warmly toned olive skin was radiant and his black hair and eyebrows made him look like some comic-book character, with those exaggerated features. All made even more poignant by his sharp and dark eyes.

  “Welcome, my intrepid colleagues. What have you brought me today?”

  You didn’t like speaking around Verity, for several reasons, but you did anyway, trying to train yourself to be less unsettled around him.

  “Neune, this is Verity, a super with the ability to tell the truth about anything and everything, and fair warning: he only ever speaks the truth too, and he has no filter and shows no sensitivity towards anyone for any reason.”

  The same uncomfortable energy surged around you, as Verity went to work.

  “Ah… an old friend, returned to the fold. I can see your reasons for leaving were a bit over-dramatized, but no matter. In the time since, you’ve been busy. Hopping from place to place, looking for a purpose. You’re a clever one, good at hiding, staying just out of view. But you’re unfulfilled. Unhappy and lonely. You’re not here because you want to help, but because you’re looking for belonging, a family. No matter, your helpfulness will be no less useful.”

  He paused, and turned to you.

  “She’s acceptable. But, now tell me what’s happened to you.”

  You felt his energy shift towards you, and it made you cringe away from him and close your eyes. Marcus took your hand, knowing how much you disliked Verity’s probing.

  “You’re scared. Not just for your baby, but for something bigger. Something… on the other side of your power. Something you fear will come for you, from the worlds beyond.”

  Your eyes flung open, and you stared at him while actually taking a few steps closer to him, still holding on to Marcus’ hand, as a daunting realisation hit you. You couldn’t put it into words, but you didn’t need to, because the truth-seeker always voiced his findings.

  “You’re afraid that the energy you take from over there, will eventually be claimed in return, and that everything you love will be sucked over there, into the coldness. You fear your own power, because you don’t understand why it allows you access to those places. Those dark, empty, dead worlds. You fear them more than anything in this reality. And the realisation that as a Heroic, you’d be expected to use your abilities much more than you’ve been doing, finally made you scared enough to break the connection. You’ve cut yourself off from those worlds, and now you’re powerless and weak, and you can’t help but wonder which fear will kill you faster.”

  You kept staring into his eyes while he drew the truth from your soul, desperate to hear it, and equally desperate not to.   Tears streamed down your face as his energy let go of you, but you kept staring at him, kept trying to make his words less true somehow.   Marcus finally tugged you back into his arms and held you as the tears started falling in earnest, and you could feel his current surround you while he tried to soothe you.   Neune suggested they go into the kitchen to have a glass of water and sit down, probably because she too wanted a little distance from Verity.   She handed you a glass after Marcus sat you down on a stool, and then the two of them started talking while you did what you could to calm yourself down.

  “Is he always that direct? It seems a bit… brutal.”

  “Yeah, he’s not really a people-person. He’s one of the best kept secrets in all of super’s history. Only a handful of people even know he exists.”

  “Why? Someone with that kind of power…”

  “Could rule the world. Or tear it apart.”

  She slumped a bit in her chair as he cut her off, her own train of thought disrupted.

  “I was gonna say he could help so many people.”

  “Verity’s power manifested unusually early. He was only three when he began being able to tell – not just when he was being lied to – but what the truth behind those lies was. Imagine being three years old and realising that your parents are absolutely sick of not getting any sleep because of you.”

  “Oh, god… parents lie to their kids all the time.”

  “Exactly. Mostly for good reasons, mostly just to protect them, but Verity didn’t have that. And it made him distrustful towards everyone, to the point where he walked away from his family to live on the streets when he was just ten years old. If he wanted to, he could become president, he could force the whole world to bend to his wishes just by holding their lies as his hostages, or calling them out to discredit them. But he doesn’t have that desire for power. All he wants is to be free of lies and dishonesty, which is kind of impossible, so he stays hidden and keeps to himself where nobody can hurt him, and he can’t hurt anyone in turn. He’s only helping us because I asked him.”

  “How do you know him?”

  “I met him almost 20 years ago, by accident. He was living in the streets, and he got attacked by a drunk. And while his powers work just as well on drunks as sober people, the drunks don’t respond to him trying to call them out. Usually, he can keep people from hurting him by jarring them into just not wanting to be around him, by throwing uncomfortable truths at them. But drunks just either don’t hear or don’t believe him, and they’re not really susceptible to the discomfort his ability normally causes. So, this guy just kept going at him, and he was just in his late teens back then, he didn’t know any self-defence or anything like that. He’d never needed it. I happened to be passing nearby, and I heard this kid scream for help, so I ran over and picked the guy up and made sure he knew that it was in his best interest to leave. And when he did, I kneeled down to check on this kid, not much younger than me, and he was so scared. He hurled truths about me at my face as though they were insults, even though I’d just helped him, and it made me realise that this boy was scared of everyone. So, I just sat down opposite him and let him talk until he had nothing more to say. And when he realised that my truths didn’t scare me away, he gave up and just cried.”

  “Poor kid. He must have had so much crap pent up inside after all that time alone.”

  “Yeah. I stayed with him all night, and the more I understood about him, the more I knew that he could never be allowed to become a pawn in the political scene, or the Heroic one, for that matter. So, I got him in touch with people I knew could help him learn what he’d need to survive under the radar, and as a result, he’s been free to live however he chooses. And that’s a gift he’s been trying to repay me for a long time. He was actually happy when I approached him with this.”

  “I feel like he might have gone easy on me.”

  “He doesn’t generally, but he also just doesn’t see the need to disclose every little detail he finds. For the most part, he just voices the relevant stuff. Unless he decides he doesn’t like you, then he’ll reduce you to a crying ball with childhood traumas and unresolved issues.”

  “Um… and… your fiancé? What was that about?”

  His arm tightened around your waist, where he sat next to you, and he sighed.

  “She’s had a difficult relationship with her powers from the start, and she was actually the first person that Verity’s had real trouble probing. Her fears are hidden incredibly deep, and she seems to be hard-wired to protect herself from them, to the point where even her powers have been shielding her from the truth. Now that that barrier has been lifted, Verity could finally see them clearly. It all makes so much more sense now.”

  You didn’t feel like taking part in their conversation, your thoughts and feelings were all over the place, so you just listened and sipped your water and did your best not to cry anymore.   After a few minutes of silence, Neune finally asked:

  “So, what happens now?”

  “If you still wanna be a part of this, we’ll send you back to Europe, to look for anything you can find about any covert organisation working on human/superhuman convergence. This is a marathon, Deema, and we need runners. Are you in?”

  “I am. So, can you tell me how many people you’ve been able to recruit, now?”

  “With you that makes 31 people across Europe, another 28 around Asia and Oceania, and 45 here in the Americas, including Canada.”

  “You’ve been busy…”

  “We don’t have a choice. These people have to be stopped. And because my querida is their first successful subject, they’ll keep coming for her. She’ll always be in danger as long as this threat exists. I can’t allow that, and I refuse to live like that. So, when I say that I’m truly grateful for your help, you can be certain I mean it. Thank you, Deema.”

Authors’ Note: I love criticism, please don’t be shy to let me know if there’s anything you like/don’t like/have questions about.

@allmyspideys​ @blueeyesatnight​ @hrk-fic-recs​ @strawberryperegrine @lucrezia-thoughts​ @computeringturtle​ @sarahjkl82-blog​ @giselatropicana​

[princess-geek]

Love Lesson

This fic is dedicated to my guardian angel @storyofmychoices. Besides she's a wonderful a writer, she's an incredible human being whose kind and light are endless. I never could thank her enough for what she has been doing for me.

Dear Dani, I know you usually don't read Hunt's fics written by other authors, but I hope you accept this one.

I hope you enjoyed it 😊💕

Choices Book: Red Carpet Diaries (a couple of years after Book 3)

Characters: Thomas Hunt, Miss Taylor (@storyofmychoices ), mentions to Jessica Massena (my RDC MC) and Matt Rodriguez.

Words: 1748

Warnings: none

Notes: English is not my first language. Please, excuse me any typos /or grammatical errors.   

Special thanks to @alj4890 for be by beta reader.

Jessica Massena exclusive pregnancy photos -  The most handsome Hollywood parents to be talk about the challenges of parenthood.

Thomas sighed and poured some more of the expensive scotch in the glass. He has no idea why he was wasting his time reading garbage press. He'll be the baby's godfather. He knew every detail about the issue. All the sacrifices she did to conceive...how the first months of nausea got her down. But now, she was radiant...healthy...happy...with Matt. 

She had woken up his senses and melted his heart unlike any other woman in years. He never actually had confessed his feelings because it was clear like crystal whom her heart belonged to.  For a while, it drove him crazy. Nowadays, he had made peace with his feelings and he came back to his old self. He also recognized that it was nothing more than a crush, a fever of an almost middle-aged man caused by her infectious joy.  Jessica Massena was a closed chapter in his life.

He abandoned the magazine and refocused on his research. A tragic death of a beloved teacher in a shooting at a high school inspired him to approach the question of USA public schools’ problems. He had read tons of news and academic papers about it, but they were too theoretical. He needed to breath that air, step on those dirty floors, hear the sounds. So, he decided to visit some public schools in area.

Since he was invited to speak at a university conference in New York, Thomas decided to visit some schools there too.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Kids and teens. Many. Too many. It was a banal New York school. Perfect.

As he wandered through the corridors, he saw a girl crying, hidden in the corner of lockers. Thomas wanted to do something, but he didn't know what to do or even what to say to calm the girl down. He never had a good way with children.

While Thomas was still distressed in his dilemma, a brunette stopped her hurried march, stepped back, placed a giant coffee cup on the floor and knelt beside the girl.

She gently wiped the girl's tears away. Thomas couldn't hear clearly what they were talking about, but he noticed that the girl calmed down as the woman spoke to her and stroked her hair.

“After class, I promise I'll go with you to talk to the principal. They can't do that and get away with it!”  the brunette promised hugging the girl tightly.

It was the last thing Thomas heard before the bell rings.

With confusion in the crowded corridors, Thomas lost sight of the girl and the brunette. 

The school board recommended him to visit Miss Taylor's class, classroom no.51. It took a while, but he finally found the classroom. Before knocking on the door, Thomas suddenly felt nervous, with a knot in his stomach.

‘In the name of art, Thomas, in the name of art …' he murmured before knocking.

The door opened. Many pairs of expectant eyes looked back at him with curiosity. When the door opened a little more, it revealed the brunette he had seen with the girl.

His eyes fixed on her sweet chestnut for a moment, and, no matter how cliché and cheesy this may be, his heart literally skipped a beat. Thomas felt an inexplicable warmth come to his face. Fortunately, the beard would camouflage his rosy cheeks. Whatever happened in those seconds, it didn't seem to affect the brunette who looked away.

“Is this Miss Taylor’s class?”

“Yes.”

“I have permission from school board to attend your class. I’m…”

“I know who you’re... please come in,” she smiled shyly, “I apologize for not having a seat for you ... the room is at its maximum capacity ... but if you want you can sit at my desk…”

“No way, Miss Taylor! Don’t worry about me. I am going to the back of the room. You won't even notice my presence. Thank you for having me.”

 She just nodded.

“Class, let me introduce you Mr. Hunt. He is a famous director…”

“We watched one of his movies a few weeks ago, didn't we, Miss Taylor?”

“Yes, we did…”

“Mr. Hunt, Miss Taylor is a huge a fan of you…she said she watched all your movies…”

Miss Taylor's cheeks changed to increasingly reddish tones.

“Kids let me finish, please…”

“Is it true that Jessica Massena blow you off?”

“Samantha don’t be nosy! I’m so sorry, Mr. Hunt…they’re well behaves kids. I'm sure this is the excitement speaking for them,”

“I'm not making anything up ... it's in all the magazines!” Samantha protested.

“Miss Taylor is single, and she already has a soft spot for you…You could ask her out!” another girl added.

“Children, you’re crossing the line ... one more inappropriate observation and you are grounded!”

“That’s okay, miss Taylor…they’re just kids.” Thomas said.

“Thank you for understanding, Mr. Hunt...As I was saying, Mr. Hunt will be here at school for some days and attend some classes for research proposals.”

“This is for a new movie?”

“Can we be part of it?”

The students were even more excited.

It took some time for them to calm down, but little by little, Miss Taylor, in a sweet and serene voice, managed to calm them down and refocus their attention on her.

After correcting homework, Miss Taylor started her Math lesson. The way she explained it was truly remarkable…inspiring. She put in those numbers the same passion he had seen in the greatest actresses.

She was very affectionate with the students. One of them was having troubles in understanding an exercise. Miss Taylor explained it once, twice, three times ... always calmly and patiently.

“Very good! I knew you could do this.” Miss Taylor encouraged the student.

Jessica Massena was a consuming fire, but the brunette teacher was warming his soul, a kind of heat that settles on the skin, on the bones and makes us feel good and at peace.

From time to time, when she thought he wasn’t looking, Miss Taylor threw him a discreet shy look. When their eyes locked, she blushed, adjusted her hair nervously and looked away.

Thomas found himself completely mesmerized. In fact, he felt like he was in one of those cheesy movies where the main character is completely lost gazing at the girl, there is a pop romantic ballad playing in the background and the sun shines brighter.

 He didn't notice time passing, delighted to hear and observe her. The bell woke him from the trance.

“Sorry again for the kids... and for and the indiscreet remarks.”

“No need to apologize. It's part of the children's charm ... at least that's what people say.”

“I hope you found our class useful for your research.”

“Yes...thank you for having me...”

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds. Whenever one looked, the other looked away.

“The pleasure was ours. If there is anything that kids or I can do for help...”

He barely heard her, captivated by her natural features. Her lips were two beautiful pink lines. Thomas had never thought of his life being enchanted by a nose, but Miss Taylor's nose was the cutest nose he had ever seen. The director was so distracted that he didn’t notice he was leaning against a desk, which, at some point, gave in to his weight, causing him to lose his balance.

She tried to grab his arm to hold him, but the force of gravity had no mercy and the director ended up falling on the floor dragging Miss Taylor with him who landed on top of him.

Just a couple of inches were separating their lips. “Kiss her!” a voiced shouted in a corner of his head, “Are you crazy, Thomas?” another inner voice replied, “You’ve only known her for a couple of hours ... What would she think of you?”

I must have hit my head very hard... his rational self thought.

“Oh Lord, I’m so sorry, Miss Taylor...Are you okay?”

“Yes...and you? I’m so sorry. I was trying help and my clumsiness got things worse like the usual…”

“No, it was all my fault, Miss Taylor.”

Her perfume. It was not like the expensive signature perfume the women who he usually crossed paths. Her hair smelled like honey and her perfume was soft with hints of flowers.

“Maybe we should get up?”

“Yes, of course, sorry.” Thomas babbled.

She got up first and held out her hand to help him. Thomas declined delicately. A gentleman must help the lady and not the other way around.

However, when he got up, he fell out of balance again, falling once more.

Miss Taylor smiled to avoid laughter.

“You can laugh. This is absolutely ridiculous,” Thomas said, allowing a smile to appear on his lips.

He rose from the ground with as much dignity as possible, shaking the dust and smoothing his blazer. Moved by the instinct of help, Miss Taylor helped him to clean up. At some moment, their fingers touched and grazed each other’s for some seconds. She blushed and took her hand from his arm.

“May I offer you to a coffee? I mean, offer a coffee to you…as an I’m sorry coffee,”

“You don’t have to do it, Mr. Hunt…”

“Just Thomas, please…and I insist…It’d be a pleasure for me.”

“I…I'd love it…”

“Great! Do you recommend any place special?”

“Wait , I can’t…I’m sorry, I promised to help a student after classes…she really needs me today…I’m sorry…”

“She…your students are lucky to have you.”

Miss Taylor blushed. “I’m not that special…I just love what I do…I think you can understand me on that point…You used to be a professor too...and, you know how it is...When we love our job, we don’t just do it...we breathe it.”

Yes, he could understand that. And he was understanding that this he was feeling was something he shouldn’t ignore.

“I’ll come back tomorrow to Mr. Somerset’s classroom. Maybe, after classes tomorrow?”

She smiled.

“Until tomorrow.”

Thomas gently grabbed her hand, taking it to his lips and planting a gentle kiss on it, “I’m counting the minutes. Have a lovely evening, Miss Taylor.”

He made his way out of the classroom, but not resisting to steal some glances of her along the way, which cost him a blow to the shin, courtesy of desk’s iron leg. When he threw a last glance at the doorway, she said:

“Danielle. My name is Danielle.”

[lunnanunna]

New Member

BTS Extra Member AU

Summary: Lexi meets her new members.

Warnings: none

A/N: So here’s Lexi’s first post! I’m excited to write her. Though this post was a bit hard for me to write. It took me awhile to try and write out how all of them would have been 7 years ago. Hopefully you all still enjoy it.

Requests are open! Please me know what you think, and if you’d like to be added a taglist as well.

Lexi walked down the hallway of the company, searching for the conference room that she had been directed to go to. She tightened her grip on her backpack, nervously chewing her lip.

This was it. Today was the day that she’d meet her new group. A group that had already debuted. Lexi was nervous. So nervous that she hadn’t slept a wink last night, and had been distracted in classes all day. (Her teacher had embarrassingly called her out for it.)

Lexi didn’t know much about the group or the members. All she knew was that they were called BTS, they were an all boy group (That’s right. Boy group.), and that they were really good. They had a heavy hip hop influence (Lexi didn’t know why the company thought she’d be a good fit.), and boy could they rap and dance. (Seriously. Why her?!)

The youngest of the group who also happened to not just be her same age, but share a birthday with her, was in her class. They never really talked, both of them mostly keeping to themselves. The rest of the members, she’d seen around the company.

Lexi came to the door that one of the staff had sent her to, and paused. She took a deep breath, dropping her hands by her side, the sleeves to her hoodie falling past her hands. The hoodie itself came to her knees. It was a black hoodie that belonged to her brother. He had given it to her before she left for Korea. It served as a safety blanket of sorts, something that she needed right now.

“Okay. You got this, Lexi,” she whispered to herself in English. Reaching out she knock on the door, then leaned towards it, listening. She heard muffled voices then footsteps coming towards the door. Quickly, Lexi straightened up and took a step back.

The door opened to reveal a boy. Kim Namjoon. (Lexi had memorized all of their names and faces so she wouldn’t be too lost.)

He looked down at her, and Lexi almost took a step back. The boy noticed and gave her a smile, dimple appearing. “Hello,” he said, bowing.

“H-hello,” Lexi stuttered. She quickly bowed, and when she straightened, she saw the rest of the boys standing behind him trying to get a look. (This was a bad idea.)

“Come on in,” Namjoon said, stepping to the side and making room for her to pass him. Lexi hesitated a bit, but then walked in. She was so nervous that she actually stumbled a bit, tripping over her own feet. (God, just take her now.)

“Hi. Sorry,” Lexi mumbled as she stood in the room. She looked up and saw that all seven boys were looking at her. The girl took a quick bow in greeting. “Hello, I’m Lexi Han-King. No wait, Han Lexi…? I’m Lexi,” She always struggled with introducing herself to others.

“Hi Lexi,” Seokjin greeted. He offered her a warm smile, that had her smiling back.

“Hi,” she said softly, playing with the sleeves of her hoodie. Each boy then greeted her, introducing themselves.

“Why don’t we all take a seat?” Namjoon suggested once they finished with introductions. Lexi nodded as the others took their seats at the table.

Looking for an empty seat, Lexi saw that she’d have to sit with Jungkook. He gave her a nervous smile, but motioned to the chair next to him.

“Thank you,” she whispered as she moved to sit next to him. Lexi took her backpack off and placed it on the ground next to her.

“Were you just at school?” Hoseok asked.

Lexi nodded. “Yeah, I had to stay behind to talk to one of my teachers. Sorry if I kept you all waiting,” she said, looking at the pile of papers at the center of the table. (It was hard to make eye contact with them.)

“You don’t need to be sorry,” Yoongi said, offering her a tiny smile. Lexi nodded.

“Yeah. Despite our bad boy look, we’re all really nice guys. We wouldn’t get angry at something like that,” Seokjin chuckled.

“It’s always a big deal when I’m late,” Taehyung mumbled to himself, but the others heard.

“That’s because you wait ‘til the last possible moment to start getting ready,” Hoseok laughed.

Lexi watched the interaction, smiling as the two bickered a bit in good humor, some of the others joining in as well. She smiled seeing that they really did seem nice.

The girl looked around the table and caught sight of Yoongi slouching in his seat, looking at her with what sort of looked like a fond expression, but she wasn’t too sure. 

She sent him a quick smile though, not wanting to be rude. He smiled back, eyes disappearing, and Lexi internally squealed at the sight. She didn’t care that he was older than her by four years, that smile and those cheeks were adorable. (She’d die before she ever told him though.)

“Too cute.” Lexi turned to the oldest who was cooing at her. Her eyes widened at that and he smiled more. “Sorry. I just think you’re so tiny and cute,” Seokjin rested his chin in his hand.

“Stop, Hyung. You’ll scare her away,” Jimin grimaced at the older.

“I’m not that tiny,” Lexi subconsciously said out loud. 

“That just makes you even more tiny,” Hoseok laughed.

“Just accept it. Us being the youngest, automatically makes us a target for their constant need to baby someone,” Jungkook whispered to her. She turned to him, finding him looking at Seokjin with a pained expression. He then turned to her and smiled. “But it’s not always bad.”

“Stop filling her head with lies!” Lexi and Jungkook both looked up at Seokjin with doe eyes. The oldest looked at them, jaw slack then turned to Namjoon. “We’re going to have a problem,” he told him.

Namjoon squinted his eyes at the older then turned to the maknaes. He understood what Seokjin meant. Being the youngest, and looking like that, they’ll have everyone wrapped around their fingers.

“Jesus, look at their eyes,” Taehyung snorted. Jungkook glared at him, while Lexi flushed at the attention. She began to play again with her sleeves, tugging on some loose strands.

“How do you feel about being a new member of BTS?” Namjoon asked Lexi.

She looked up and nodded. “Kind of weird, really. I mean, I’m glad I’ll debut, but,” Lexi trailed off, not knowing how to word what she wanted to say.

“You hadn’t expected to make your debut in an all boy group?” Yoongi asked, with a smirk.

“Yeah,” Lexi breathed out,“Sorry if I’m messing things up.” They had already debuted, and yet the company added her in. She didn’t fully understand the reasoning behind it, but they were an entertainment company. They knew what they’re doing, right?

“Not at all,” Namjoon said, waving his hands in front of him.

“Yeah, we were all kind of excited to try this out,” Taehyung smiled at Lexi.

“Plus B.A.P have a female member too, Jaein, and they’re doing really well,” Jimin pointed out.

“I kind of feel like we could do the same,” Namjoon said, giving a nod.

“So you guys were okay with me joining?” Lexi asked, looking at each one. They nodded smiling.

“Yeah. Believe it or not, we were all on board,” Hoseok said.

“Plus, we did some research about your time here, and your vocal range is amazing. It can definitely be good for us,” Yoongi said, folding his arms over his chest. Lexi could tell that he knew what he was talking about when it came to music. He had this confidant aura surrounding him, so she’d just take his word for it.

“And Jungkook had told us a lot about you,” Seokjin said, smiling. Lexi turned to Jungkook, eyes wide in disbelief.

He shrugged. “I just told them that you're smart and don’t get in trouble. And that you’re really nice,” the maknae said, a blush creeping up his neck.

Lexi felt herself flush as well. “Thanks,” she whispered, then turned away to look at the others. “I promise to work really hard, and not make you regret your decision,” the girl said, giving a slight bow. When she looked up, she gave a thumbs up, smiling.

“Glad to hear it. We’ll all work hard,” Namjoon smiled. The others all voiced their agreements.

“Okay, so this is going to be your schedule for the week. It’ll vary for each of us, and we’ll get a new one each week,” the leader stated, handing Lexi one of the packets that sat in the middle of the table.

Lexi went to reach for it, then stopped seeing as her sweater paws were still covering her hands. She raised her arms up slightly, then popped her hands out, wiggling her fingers. Reaching for the packet, she heard Seokjin coo.

“I’m so glad we get to keep her,” he said, and Lexi avoided his eyes in favor of reading through the schedule, her face feeling warm.

“Hyung. Chill. She’ll leave before she even starts,” Taehyung groaned.

“Told you. At least I won’t be the only baby,” Jungkook whispered to her.

Lexi bit back a smile, as she continued to skim over the page.

Lexi’s Masterlist

[donutloverxo]

Salty Baby

Chapter two

Authors note- thanks to @official-and-unstable-satan​ for being my beta. I’ll give you a thank you gift soon enough. No smut today next time i promise. happy reading.

Please do not repost or steal my work. Reblogs are welcome.

Summary- When you moved to New York in hopes of living a glamorous life this isn't what you expected. Steve offers to help you but your pride gets in the way. Pride isn't going to pay your rent and college loans.

Pairing- Steve Rogers x reader

Series warning- smut, sugar daddy/baby themes, angst, salty reader.

Word count- 1.5k

CHAPTER ONE | CHAPTER THREE | CHAPTER FOUR | CHAPTER FIVE

Masterlist

The whole week you couldn’t stop thinking about Steve. You went as far as to research him. He had lived such an interesting, accomplished life so many things. You couldn’t help but feel intimidated.

Steve had texted you the details of the restaurant. When you said your favorite food was pizza he took it upon himself to book a table at a five star Michelin star Italian restaurant. You being an uncultured simpleton said yes without knowing what you were getting yourself into.

You had never been to a fancy restaurant. You didn’t own a single dress. Neither could you afford one right now. There’s no way in hell your sister would let you set foot in her closet let alone borrow a dress.

“Are you coming to the party tomorrow?”, your coworker Alyssa asked. She had perpetually been nosy and annoying. Always oversharing or probing you about your personal life.

“No I have a date”

“Oh wow!”, she exclaimed jumping up and down. “Is it with that tall drink of water who’s totally obsessed with you?”

“Well... yeah”

“What are you going to wear?”, she asked propping herself up on her elbow batting her eyelashes at you.

You sighed deeply. “I don’t have anything to wear.” You considered cancelling just because of that. You didn’t have a lot of free time to date or socialize. But then you have been in New York for over a year and had yet to have a fun night out on the town.

“Well we’re about the same size. How about you borrow a dress of mine? On one condition! You have to tell me literally everything.”

“Why?”, while you weren’t keen on accepting help from her there weren’t many other options.

“Because that’s just what girls do!”

Alyssa set you up with a beautiful red dress that ended just above your knee that showed just a hint of cleavage. ‘To leave something to the imagination' apparently.

She also warned you at least ten times not to put out on the first date. Which you probably weren’t going to anyway. After a few touches of makeup you were good to go.

***

To make sure he doesn’t make a fool out of himself, Steve went to Natasha for some advice on modern dating. She was his only female friend. Probably his only friend.

She convinced him to buy bunch of new clothes and a new haircut. He wasn’t so sure about the new look but from what he had observed he looked quite modern.

“Oh new haircut”, Tony comments on the Steve’s new look when he comes and sits in the conference room in front of him. “You don’t stick out like a sore thumb now”

“Steve has a hot date”, Natasha smirked. “he’s kind of nervous about it”

“There’s no need to be nervous”, Tony drawls out pushing back on his chair. “Women love to talk about themselves. Just ask her about her hopes and dreams. She is a real human woman right?”

“I’m not sure I should be taking advice from you” Neither did he want to discuss his love life before an important meeting. Although he had to agree it was pretty good advice.

“And money. Women like money”, he continued going through his phone

“Don’t listen to Stark’s misogynistic wisdom. Not all girls are after money” Natasha said throwing Tony a glare.

“Yeah he’ll find out for himself soon enough”, he threw back.

Steve knew money played a part in relationships. It provided security. He was grateful about the more than sufficient funds in his bank account. Some from his army back pay and some from working for shield and the Avengers. After the days he had seen during the depression he considered himself very lucky to treat you to an expensive meal or anything else you would like. But at the same time he didn’t want you to be interested in him solely for his money.

He parked the car he borrowed from Tony outside your apartment building. Both him and Natasha had given him long lecture while laughing at him when he said he was going to pick you up on his motorcycle.

When he looked at your red dress he was more than glad that he didn’t bring his motorcycle. He tried to supress the fact that he was so mesmerised by you. He gave you the small bouquet of roses he had bought on his way.

“Wow”, you exclaimed looking at his hair. “It suits you. Can I touch it?”

He couldn’t supress his lovesick grin and shyly nodded his headed. Sighing in content feeling you run your fingers through his shirt hair.

He felt you shifting in your seat on the drive to the restaurant. It somewhat calmed him to know you were just as nervous.

You both took and seats and ordered some food. You were looking around at the decor in awe talking about how beautiful and sophisticated everything is.

He hasn’t been on a date in more than 70 years. He did take your coat but forgot to pull your chair out for you, the hostess beat him to it. In his anxiety he had already knocked down a fork and cringed so hard he was sure you noticed.

He was going picking at his brain to find something to talk about. This was your first date. He had to make a good impression.

“So... what are your dreams?”, not the best start but he could still recover.

You tilted your head at him giving him a small laugh. “Just the normal things, I guess. To have a successful career... to be happy. What are your dreams?”

“I... well I’m not so sure anymore. I used to want the simple typical things. But then I became Captain America...can’t exactly have that now”,

Maybe he shouldn’t have started with something so heavy so early on. When he became Captain America his life didn’t belong to him anymore. That alone would be more than enough to scare you off.

“That doesn’t mean you can’t still want those things”, you said lightly shrugging “Why did you? Become Captain America, I mean you’re great at it. But it must be a huge responsibility” you asked as the server placed your food in front of you and filled your glass with wine.

“I’ve just never liked bullies”, he started as soon as the server left “being Cap gave me a chance to fight them”

“That’s ironic. Considering America is the probably biggest bully in the world”, you said with a humorless laugh.

Glumness settled over his face. He nodded at you. He had hoped that 70 years would bring about positive changes in the world. While things were better than before they weren’t nearly as good as he wanted them to be.

“It’s a good thing though. You and your superhero friends can keep the country and the world in check”, you said giving him a cheeky smile stuffing the pasta in your mouth. He returned your smile digging into his food.

As the conversation flowed he found himself relaxing and settling down. It didn’t feel like he had only known you for two weeks, not from how comfortable he felt with you. Talking to you. Holding your hand for a few seconds here and there.

After dessert he drove you back to your home. Walking you to your doorstep something caught his eye at the many mailboxes that aligned the wall.

You looked at the mailbox he was staring at. “That’s my Anna’s married name” You looked back at him. “My sister”, you continued still staring at his confused face.

He gave you a small nod “I work with someone called Rumlow”

“Probably a coincidence”

“Yeah. Thanks for keeping me company tonight doll” As much as he didn’t want the night to end. He had to leave just so he could see you again. Preferably sooner rather than later.

“Doll?”, you asked frowning

“You don’t like it?”, he asked nervously. He still wasn’t sure what was considered appropriate. Everyone told him different things.

“I... well I like my name”, you averted your gaze looking at the tiles on the floor. “Thank you so much for today though. I had fun. Can we do it again?”

“Yes!” He gushed instantly “When are you free I’ll call you or text you?”

You nodded at him playing with the buttons on his shirt before slowly stroking the lapel of his blazer looking up at him with a pout.

Steve maybe clueless when it comes to women but he wasn’t an idiot. He took the hint leaning down to meet you in the middle as you stood on your tippy toes. He lightly pressed his lips to yours.

He had planned to keep it chaste and modest, he was a gentleman after all, but then you slipped your tongue into his mouth and threw your arms around his neck pulling closer to you. There was no holding back now. He slid his hands to your waist and hoisted you off the the ground. Up in the air a few inches to match his heights.

You smiled into the kiss. Stifling your giggle so you didn’t have to break the kiss. Feeling completely pampered and spoiled. He put you down on the ground putting his hands in pockets of his dress or he’d to tempted to steal another kiss.

“Good night” You breathed out after a couple of moments of just staring at each other.

“Good night” He almost called you doll again but stopped himself. Choosing to just say your name. He pressed a kiss to your forehead, he couldn’t help it. And left. Already excited to see you again as soon as possible.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hi :) I... really wanna read a fanfic or two but I can't find one I vibe with xD So... do you know one that's not too long (around 100k words maybe), has hurt and comfort, smut (am I allowed to ask about that?? Ahhhh) and a happy ending? Top!lock would be a bonus but it's not necessary. And if it's a nice AU (like... any kind but no crossovers pls), it would be perfect! :D By the way, I found your blog only a few hours ago and I already feel really comfy and Idk, kinda at home here ^-^

Hi Nonny!!!

Welcome to my corner of the Tumblrsphere!!! I’m so happy you’ve found me, LOL, because I love all my followers and friends! <3

First of all, I think it’s super cute that “not too long” to you is “around 100K” LOL LOL LOL!!! <3 That said, I’d argue all my fic recs are fabulous, LOL. But again, I’m stupidly proud of the wonderful lists I’ve accumulated, because it satisfies my organization kink LOL. And yes, you’re ALWAYS allowed to ask for smut here LOL. 

ANYWAY, so I’m gonna use this ask as an excuse to post up a long-overdue part two to my 50 to 100K fic list! But first, here’s some past lists for the genres you’re looking for:

FIC MASTER PAGES: PG1 || PG 2 || PG 3

Toplock (Mar 2020)

Omegaverse

Please Check PG 3 for all my AU fic lists. There’s a lot :)

Hurt / Comfort Pt. 1: Under 5K Words 

Hurt / Comfort Pt. 2: 5K to 10K Words

Fandom Favourites / Popular Fics

I hope those will get you started! So now, here’s the main event!! Hope you enjoy them!

50 - 100 K WORDS Pt. 2 (Novel Length)

See also:

Fics Under 2000 w.

Fics Under 2000 w. Pt. 2

Fics Under 2000 w. Pt. 3

E-Rated Johnlock for Newcomers Pt 1 (Short Fics under 20K)

Novella Length Fics: 25 to 50K (Aug. 2019)

Novel Length Fics: 50 to 100K (Nov. 2018)

Novel Length Fics: 100K+ w. (May 2019)

Long S3/Post-S3 Fics (20K+ w.) [Apr 2020]

Top 20 Fave 40K+ w. Fics (April 2017)

Smut-Free Fics Over 50K (Aug 2019)

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by SilentAuror (E, 50,635 w., 1 Ch. || Post-S4/S4 Divergence, Case Fic, For a Case / Reverse Fake-Relationship, Conferences, Marriage Equality, Travelling / New York, Pride, Homophobia, Bottomlock, Marriage Proposal, John POV, Sexuality, Love Confessions, Emotional Love Making, Public Hand Jobs, Blow Jobs, Passionate Kissing, Needy/Clingy Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Touching / Hand Holding, Bed Sharing, Little Spoon Sherlock, Intense Orgasms) – John and Sherlock go to New York to attend a conference run by the National Defence of Traditional Marriage Coalition in order to investigate the potential bombing of the annual Manhattan Pride parade. As the conference unfolds, John finds himself repulsed by the toxic ideology being presented, which becomes relevent to his own unacknowledged issues and his friendship with Sherlock...

Repairing the Broken Things by BakerTumblings (M, 75,252 w., 15 Ch. || S4 Compliant, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Trauma, Hospitals, Big Brother Mycroft, Misunderstandings, Realizations, Severe Accident, John Whump, Pneumonia, Medical Procedures, Bed Sharing, First Time, Healing, Happy Ending) – "I'm calling today to notify you that there's been an accident."

Points by lifeonmars (E, 53,791 w., 42 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || HLV Rewrite / Canon Divergence, Married Life, Pregnancy / Baby Watson, Drinking to Cope, Boxing / Fisticuffs, Clueless John, Angst, Minor Medical Drama, Tattoos, Christmas, First Kiss/Time, Eventual Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Doctor John, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Case Fic, Drugging, Blow/Hand Job, Emotional Love Making, Parenthood, Passage of Time) – What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other.

Never Change a Running System by Lorelei_Lee (E, 54,246 w. || Pre-TRF, Romance, Humour, Drama, Sex Toys, Anal, Rimming, Masturbation, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Public Sex, First Kiss / Time, Virgin Sherlock / Loss of Virginity, Accidental Voyeurism, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Experiments, Naive Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Straight With an Exception John, Hand Jobs) – Sherlock discovers his sexuality – with far-reaching consequences for John.

A Hundred Crimson Sols by elldotsee (E, 55,536 w. || Astronauts AU || Mars Exploration / Space Travel, Slow Burn, Shy Sherlock, Scientist Sherlock / Biomed Engineer John, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, UST, Angst with Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injuries, Suicidal Ideation, Zero-G Sex) – Will Holmes is a chemical researcher recognized widely for his contributions to the new Mars exploration program. Thanks to his ground-breaking developments, the IMMC (International Mars Mission Corporation) is one step closer to Martian colonization. Will and his team of scientists are headed out on the first of three manned missions before the first group of settlers arrive. Three days before launch, one of the crew has to be replaced. Will panics because...new people. The replacement is of course one John Watson, biomedical engineer and space hottie who was pretty sure he had retired from actual space exploration and was now content to work in the nice, quiet research lab. Can the crew survive this TOTALLY ROUTINE trip? Will they be able to endure each other for the looooooong trip in close quarters? Gonna be a wild ride... prepare for blast off. Part 1 of the SpaceBois go to Space series

The Thing Is by TSylvestris (E, 56,743 w. || Case Fic, Dev. Rel., Anal/Oral, Blow Jobs, Meddling Mycroft, Drama, Romance, Humour, Casual Encounters, Pining Idiots, Possessive Sherlock, Orgasm Delay, Rough / Alley Sex, Public Sex, John Whump, Drugged John, Emotional Love Making, Awkward Relationship, Marriage of Convenience, Switchlock) – The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. Like your flatmate's nose buried in your hair. Whilst you're in bed. Part 1 of Nitroglycerine

One Little Change by jadztone (E, 58,312 w. || ASiB Divergence, Fake Relationship, Bed Sharing, Mutual Pining, Friends to Lovers, First Kiss / Time, Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Bi John / Gay Demisexual Sherlock, Switchlock, Alternating POV, Jealousy, Misunderstandings, Case Fic, Angst with Happy Ending, Emotional Love Making, Butt Plugs, Cuddles) – Our story begins right after John and Sherlock's first meeting with Irene Adler in September. It splits off into an AU that imagines them taking a case where they act as bait to hook a killer targeting closeted gays in secret relationships. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, many things happen that have our boys wondering if maybe they have a chance with each other. Then Irene fakes her death on Christmas Eve, and things get a lot more complicated - especially since they still have a killer to catch.

floating through a dark blue sky by Lediona (M, 58,966 w. || Notting Hilll AU || POV John, Celebrity Sherlock, First Date / Time / Kiss, Past Drug Addiction, Angst with a Happy Ending) – Of course, I’d seen his films and always thought he was, well, brilliant -- but, you know, a million miles from the world I live in. Or, when John is the owner of a travel book shop and the famous Sherlock Holmes stops in one day.

The Burning by SrebrnaFH (M, 60,658 w. || Reverse Reichenbach, Suicide, Depression, Hurt Sherlock / John, Separation, BAMF John, Good Big Brother Mycroft, Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Fake Character Death, Rescue Mission, Reconciliation / Reunion, Hospitalization, Marriage Proposal, Illnesses, Physical Therapy, Happily Ever After) – Something went very, very wrong. John had seemed, if not happy, then reasonably content with his life. Sherlock had never predicted something like THIS might have happened. Not in his worst nightmares. He was the lousiest friend ever, apparently. At least Mycroft found him something to occupy his mind with, so that he didn't have to go back to 221B and stare at the walls and the chair, where John Watson would never sit again.

This Thing All Things Devours by cypress_tree (E, 63,844 w., 15 Ch. || In Time AU || Science Fiction, Dystopian Universe, First Meetings, Action / Adventure, Romance) – In 2169, time is money—literally. Humans are genetically engineered to stop aging at 25, when the numbers on their arm start counting down from one year. When that time is up, they die. The only way to get more time is to earn it, borrow it, or steal it.John Watson lives day-to-day in the crowded slums of Zone 13. He never imagined living any differently—until he meets the practically-immortal Sherlock, and helps him on a case to track a local time-thief...

The Bells of King's College by SilentAuror (E, 64,019 w., 5 Ch. || Post-S4, Missed Opportunities, Angst with Happy Ending, Fake Relationship, Case Fic, John POV, Jealous John, John in Denial, Travelling / Holidays, Virgin Sherlock, Wedding Proposals) – It's only been two weeks since Eurus Holmes disrupted their lives when Mycroft sends John and Sherlock to Cambridge to pose as an engaged couple at a wedding show in the hopes of solving six unsolved deaths...

Hell Sent, Heaven Bound by ConsultingHound (M, 64,381 w, 16 Ch. || Angels / Demons AU ||  Fallen Angel Sherlock / Angel Cop John, Alternate First Meeting, Slow Burn, Case Fic, John & Lestrade are Friends Before Sherlock, BAMF John, Mind Palace John, Friends to Lovers, John in Denial, Sherlock Picks Out John’s Clothing, Clubbing / Dancing, Mildly Jealous John, Awkwardness, Kidnapping, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Sacrifice, Worried / Anxious Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Immortal to Mortal) – Ex-War healer and current angelic guard John Watson is not having the best day. He overslept, he’s underpaid, and now there’s someone tagging the Council’s building walls. However things may be about to get interesting: there’s an unusual stranger hanging around (the definition of tall, dark, and handsome), a literal underground cult is brewing, and rumblings are coming from hell. Can he keep his neighbourhood safe, how and why is he being connected to all this, and who the hell is Sherlock Holmes?

White Knight by DiscordantWords (M, 69,840 w., 13 Ch. || S4 Compliant/Post S4, Marriage For a Case, Jealous John, Pining John, Janine / Sherlock Fake Relationship, Serial Killers, Case Fic, Undercover as a Couple, Weddings, John is a Mess, Misunderstandings, Wedding Planning, Jealousy, Drunkenness, Love Confessions, Angst with Happy Ending) – Green. The word green was used to convey a great many things. Illness. Envy. Inexperience. Standing there amidst Janine's chattering bridesmaids, watching Sherlock furrow his brow and study fabric swatches, watching him smile and simper and flirt, John thought it a remarkably apt colour choice. Because he felt quite sick to his stomach, he feared the source of said sickness might very well be jealousy, and he had absolutely no idea at all what to do about it. Or: Sherlock needs to fake a relationship for a case. He doesn't ask John.

Being John Watson-ish by elwinglyre (E, 69,902 w., 17 Ch. || Bodysnatcher AU || Author John, Cranky Sherlock, Angst, Sexual Tension, First Kiss / Time, Falling in Love, BAMF John, Past Soldier John, Feelings, Inside Someone’s Brain, Shy Sherlock, Sherlock Loves John, POV Sherlock, Switchlock, Slow Burn, Internal Dialogue, Mental Turmoil) – When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he's consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. It’s in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal door—including the man whose brain he visits.

Just To Hold You Close by sussexbound (E, 70,841 w., 18 Ch. || Alternate First Meeting, Sherlock POV, ASD Sherlock, PTSD John, Demisexual Sherlock, Bisexual John, Cuddling/Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling, Enthusiastic Consent, Bed Sharing, Love Confessions, First Kiss/Time, Sexual Tension, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Cuddle Negotiations, For a Case Until It Isn’t, Hair Petting, Sexual Negotiation, Anxiety, Trust Issues, Slow Burn, Panic Attacks, Frottage, Hand/Blow Jobs, Referenced Self Harm / Abuse / Suicidal Ideation, First Kiss/Time, Anal) – When a woman is murdered and the last person to see her alive is recently invalided army vet turned reluctant (and prickly) professional cuddler, John Watson, Sherlock Holmes is pulled into a world of intimacy and intrigue he never could have imagined. John is a conundrum and mystery: frank yet reserved, tender yet angry, open yet afraid. Sherlock is instantly drawn into his orbit, and begins to feel and desire things he never has before.

The Vapor Variant by 88thParallel (M, 72,684 w., 18 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-THoB, John Whump, Protective Sherlock, Guilty Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD John, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Suspense, Virus, Sickfic, Big Brother Mycroft) – They stood face to face in the middle of a clearing. The dim light of the moon barely allowed Sherlock to see the glassy terror in John’s eyes and the sweat that glistened off his forehead. His nose was bleeding again, blood dripping in a slow stream from his right nostril. They were both gasping for air, John’s eyes locked on Sherlock’s. There was no recognition there, just wild animal fear. Time stood still for an eternal few seconds, and Sherlock took a shaky breath. “John—”Spell broken, John spun and bolted back into the woods. Still heaving for air, Sherlock took off after him.

Summit Fever by J_Baillier (M, 78,802 w., 18 Ch. || Mountain Climber AU || POV John, Angst, Tragedy, Suicidal Ideation, The Himalayas, Mountain Guide / Doctor John, Mount Climber Sherlock, Loneliness, Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Injured Sherlock / Sherlock Whump, Pining John) – After graduating from medical school, John Watson followed his heart to the Himalayas. Ten years later, he's a haunted cynic working for his ex-lover's trekking and mountaineering company. Will leading an expedition to Annapurna I—the most lethal of all the world's highest mountains—shake John out of his reverie, and who is the mystery client added to the group at the last minute?

The Monument of Memory by J_Baillier (M, 79,663 w., 14 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It Fic / S4 is Canon, Angst, Family Drama, Guilt, Case Fic, John Loves Sherlock, Complicated Feelings, Mentalism / Hypnosis, Murder, Grieving John, Sherlock is a Bit Not Good, Team Work, Trust Issues, BAMF John, Psychological Trauma, Protective John, Autistic-Spectrum Sherlock, Parentlock, John POV) –  A genius traumatised by a past he's only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

Thermocline by J_Baillier (M, 83,557 w., 14 Ch. || Scuba Diving AU || Adventure, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Marine Archaeology, Asexual Sherlock, Horny John, Relationship Drama, Technical/Scuba/Wreck Diving, Slow Burn, Underwater /  Medical Peril, Doctor John, Hurt Sherlock, Anxious Sherlock, John POV, Protective John, Body Appreciation) – John "Five Oceans" Watson — technical dive instructor, dive accident analyst and weapon of mass seduction — meets recluse professor of maritime archaeology Holmes. As they head out to a remote archipelago off the coast of Guatemala to study and film its shipwrecks for a documentary, will sparks fly or fizzle out?

The Summer Boy by khorazir (T, 94,706 w., 6 Ch. || Post S3/Post TAB/Alternate S4, Friends to Lovers, Flashbacks, Sussex, Bullying, 1980′s Kid Sherlock, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Inexperienced Sherlock, Grief/Mourning, Pining Sherlock, Background Case Fic) – About half a year after the fateful events at Appledore, Sherlock and John embark on a private case in Sussex. For Sherlock, it’s a journey into his past, bringing up memories both happy and sad that he has locked away for almost thirty years. For John, it means coming to terms with the present – and a potential future with Sherlock. Part 1 of the The Summer Boy series

Northwest Passage by Kryptaria (E, 95,157 w., 27 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Canadian AU ||  BAMF!John, Canadian John, PTSD, Anal / Oral Sex, Rimming, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Drug Rehab, Falling in Love, Pining Sherlock, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Violin, Panic Attacks, Switching, Anxious / Protective Sherlock, Hugs for Comfort, Suicide Mentions, Healing Each Other) – Seven years ago, Captain John Watson of the Canadian Forces Medical Service withdrew from society, seeking a simple, isolated life in the distant northern wilderness of Canada. Though he survives from one day to the next, he doesn't truly live until someone from his dark past calls in a favor and turns his world upside-down with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes." Part 1 of Tales from the Northwest

31_Days_of_Porn_Challenge_2017 Series by distantstarlight (E, 96,540 w. across 31 stories || Prompt Ficlets, Assorted Kinks, PWP) – A collection in response to the 31 Days of Porn Challenge issued by AtlinMerrik! Thanks for doing that because this has been buttload of fun (that joke never gets old). All stories will be brief stand-alone one-shots.

The Baker Street Nativity by SwissMiss (E, 99,662 w., 23 Ch. || Nativity! AU || Teacher Sherlock / TA John, Pining, Sherlock POV, UST, Angst, Christmas, Music/Song Fic, Anal / BJ’s, First Kiss / Time) – Fusion between Sherlock (BBC) and Nativity! (2009 movie starring Martin Freeman). Sherlock is a primary school teacher and John is assigned to be his classroom assistant. Together, they are charged with putting on the school's Nativity play. What could possibly go wrong? Part 1 of The Baker Street Nativity Verse

Given In Evidence by verityburns (M, 97,884 w., 19 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-TRF, Angst, Drama, Case Fic, Romance, BAMF!John, Submissive Sherlock, First Kiss, Humour) – Coming back from the dead can be a complicated business. With a new case on the horizon, rebuilding a life is one thing... rebuilding a friendship quite another. For Sherlock and John, things may never be just the same...