#back to the animation mines. I'll be normal one of these days

[dragondawdles]

art's going great

[thinkinonsense]

THE BOY IS MINE✮

Logan Howlett x fem!reader

C/W: cursing, obsessive behavior, and slightly sexual content (mostly flirty behavior except at the end)

Word Count: 980

A/N: this is inspired by the song and video for the boy is mine by ariana grande. kinda just wanted to write about someone being obsessive and crazy. if you haven't seen the music video, I would suggest it. it's pretty short so I hope you enjoy <3

ִֶָ 𓂃˖˳·˖ ִֶָ ⋆★⋆ ִֶָ˖·˳˖𓂃 ִֶָ

Missions weren't always as exciting as they might seem; bosses were demanding and cruel. The danger was inevitable but you needed to eat so there wasn't much of a choice in finding other work. This would have to do for now but sometimes a girl needs to create her own excitement in life.

Which is exactly what you did when you met the Wolverine.

It was a quick first impression but God, it was one to remember. You were sent to settle a deal with a couple men upstate when a strange man pins you to a wall in the hallway; pressing his hips to the front of your black skirt and a hand over your mouth. He smelled of cigar smoke, wood, and mint. Without hesitation, you sink your teeth into the meat of his flesh until he moves it.

"Who the hell are you..?" You hiss.

"Stay here." He ordered.

The man walks away; metal claws shoot out of his hands as he attacks the businessmen at the table. You had never been so furious. The last thing you needed was for some stranger to come and take your credit. This was your job; not his.

Despite being livid with the stranger, you couldn't help but notice how attractive he was. The man sunk his claws in all their guts; you watched them fall one by one until only the two of you were left in the warehouse. Once you snapped out of his trance, you swiftly reached across the table for the paperwork. His hand lands on top of your latex glove, stopping you.

"I can't let you take that, princess." He says.

"I don't take orders from animals." You put on your best fake smile.

"Really? Because it looks like you did just a couple of minutes ago."

He had you there.

You notice a pair of dog tags dangling against his chest. One of your hands grabs them, pulling him to you. The side shown to you says, Logan while the other says, Wolverine.

Cute name.

Over his shoulders, you saw more men running in. A pleasing smirk spread across your face, leading him to turn around and see what you were smiling at.

"Since you handled that last group so well all by yourself," You swiftly knock him down with a heel to his chest, catching him off guard. "I'll let you take the next ones too, Wolvie."

Just as the men entered, you snatched the paperwork and booked it out the window to return it to your boss.

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

It had been months and still no run-ins with Wolverine. It was beginning to drive you insane; flashbacks of him pushing you up against the wall with his hand over your mouth replayed in your mind almost every chance it could. Your days were spent sketching pictures of him so you wouldn't forget his face or searching for him.

It felt sickening how much you needed to see him again. Your apartment was decorated with sketches of him. He took up every inch of space in your head. This wasn't like you. Normally, you don't entertain the men you encounter but something about the Wolverine was intoxicating. This wasn't some schoolgirl crush. This was a full-on obsession, and you knew it.

The only thing you could do was make him just as obsessed as you were; making him yours.

It took weeks but you finally managed to create your potion for the Wolverine. Now, all you had to do was find him. You asked around to see who he works for and it didn't take long until the name Charles Xavier appeared. Before you knew it, you were back in your latex apparel and standing on the roof of the mansion. The potion was strapped to your belt as you crawled down the brick walls and into his bedroom window.

Almost everyone was out on a mission that evening except for Logan and a handful of students downstairs. You knew if you came any other day, Xavier would have seen you coming and you couldn't have risked that happening.

It was late, midnight by the time he came upstairs. You sat on his bed, waiting perfectly for him. The second you heard his heavy footsteps, your heart almost pounded out of your chest at the thrill.

When the bedroom door opens you are greeted with the scene of the man of your dreams in a white tank top, blue jeans, and a beer in his hand. Instead of running like you assumed he would, Logan stands still with a smirk on his face.

"Didn't think I would see you again," Logan said. He wasn't moving as fast as you would like him to, so you used your whip to bring him closer until he's knees hit the front of the bed.

"It's simply meant to be, Wolvie."

Quickly, you pull the red potion from your belt and pop the lid open. One hand snakes its way up to his jaw, holding him still while the other moves closer to pour. He stops you by pulling off your lacey black mask, finally revealing all of your pretty face to him.

Logan knew exactly who you were. He had been looking for you too; searching every abandoned warehouse and sketchy alley in town. No one knew your name so he thought it was a lost cause and tried to move on. He should've known that you would show up at some point for him again.

Honestly, Logan thought it was cute that you brought some sort of love potion. Little did you know, you had been haunting his mind ever since that night. He wasted no time in smacking the potion out of your hands; laying you back and inching closer until his lips ghosted over your throat.

"I don't need a damn potion."

[vhaos-chaotic-writing]

idea.. Yandere! tfa! Blitzwing x autobot! y/n who is energetic and transforms into a tank (and is also significantly smaller than him) ... Haven't seen a lot of Yandere Blitzwing and thats make me sad bc he's my pookie...

Oooh! I'm once again poiting out to have a lil bit patience with me cuz I've never seen TF Animated - I'll do my best to give the best accurate writing of the characters, specially someone like Blitzwing!!

(❁´◡`❁) Hope you like it!

(TFA) Yandere!Blitzwing w/ energetic Autobot!S/O (Headcanons)

WARNINGS: Yandere behaviour, yandere has multiple personalities (canon), enemies-to-lover (unilateral). Reader is Gender neutral, Reader is Cybertronian with an established alt mode (a tank) and established height (smaller than Blitzwing, 1 inch taller than Bumblebee)

Oh Primus - where to start? Blitzwing is such a special case, and, in my point of view, one of the most complex yanderes in my vision of TFA.

You don't have 1, or 2, but 3 whole yanderes coexisting in the same frame. And they all like you - very, very much.

Icy Blitzwing is a manipulative, obsessive yandere.

Hothead Blitzwing is a possessive, overprotective yandere.

Random Blitzwing is a delusional, hysteric yandere.

And such traits become 10 times worse with the fact that you were an autobot - the supposed enemy he is tasked to destroy if the chance is placed on the table.

Weren't you just the sweetest, most beautiful pain in the aft for Blitzwing? Even when you were smaller (barely beating Bumblebee for 1 single inch in height), you were such a ball of energy and a menace in your tank alt mode whenever you were fighting decepticons.

In the beginning Blitzwing would have hated you.

You always got away with the trouble you give to the Decepticons whenever they clash and battle with the Autobots - and in the beginning, Blitzwing thought he hated you just in a normal amount. The typical "oh they defeated me and my faction!" hate.

But whenever he saw you be all buddy-buddy with any of your autobot teammates... something inside of him wanted to become violent.

More than usual.

And it bothered him for so many days - whenever your image came to his mind he would become more irritable in his Icy personality, more aggressive in his Hothead personality, and... eerily silent in his Random personality.

It was in one fight between him and you that he finally understood everything. Why his feelings towards you felt too strong for his liking.

He didn't hate you. He loved you.

"C'mon, decepticreep! Thought you were one to actually put on a fight!" You shout, giggling as you change from your tank mode, smirking at how bewildered Blitzwing was, as you were ready to throw another kick and punch.

You were awaiting for an explosive outburst from his Hothead personality, or watch his Icy personality lose his coolness - heck, even to see his Random personality start to laugh or something.

Instead... you were met with his three faces switching, all of them smiling as if he had found the answer to every single question in the whole universe.

"Ze name iz Blitzwing..." He started, Icy. "And you are..." He continued, Hothead. "MINE!!!" He finished, his Random persona switching his faceplate and jumping towards you, trying to tackle you.

Thanks to Primus, you got to escape that day and go back to your safe place in the Autobot's base, but from that day one, the decepticon became way more unhinged than he was already.

And he would get worse if he got to see you again.

His switching personalities became more erratic, and yet somehow worked perfectly.

His Icy personality would make him extra dangerous with his tactics and taking-decisions ability. He had from time to time managed to get you away from your team in battles and nearly got his servos all over you. Like he always had the upper hand and manipulated the whole situation in the end, as if a cat and mouse play.

His Hothead personality would became a beast, getting everything and anyone out of the way with such a fierce force that it was nearly unstoppable as he would try to get to you - a couple of times he had got to immobilize you if it wan'st thanks to one of your teammates helping you get out of that situation. Always threatening to get you next time and shout a couple of death promises to anyone who saved you.

His Random personality would drain you emotionally - between trying to save your aft by fighting or trying to escape him, Blitzwing would say dark, lovesick promises, what he would do to anybot that got to place their servos on you and so on, laughing hysterically. It made you feel sick and actually be afraid of the decepticon.

"My love! My sweetspark - soon you'll see the truth, and you'll be mine!"

Optimus and the others are so concern, having witnessed too many times how obsessed the decepticon has become towards you.

They can't keep you inside of the base, they need you out helping and you have put down the idea of staying back.

But Blitzwing is counting the kliks, keeping an optic on everything and you, calculating, thinking, waiting for that little window of opportunity to snatch you away, for the day your luck runs out and you finally end up in his arms.

Oh, to hold your smaller frame with his servos, to kiss you, to feel your plates with his digits, to have his spark bond with yours - it is going to be perfect!

Ngl, I like how this one turned out! (*^▽^*) Vhaos out!

[fairyysoup]

the devil i know

♫ series playlist ♫ series tag

pairing(s): crossroads demon!eddie munson x fem!reader

summary: To summon a demon at a crossroads, simply cast a circle, make an offering, and recite an incantation. What happens from that point on is subject to your desire... and the demon's.

In which the reader makes a pact with Eddie, a crossroads demon, for power and protection. He takes it a little too seriously.

cw: explicit, smut, dubcon elements, monsterfucking!!, making a deal with a demon, inspired by american and european folklore, way more plot than you'd expect, sacrilegious themes, horror, witch!reader, reader is 21+ in modern day, eddie is immortal, coercion (a bit), sex pact, marking, possessive behavior, demonic possession, murder, there are MANY minor character deaths, animal death, trauma, depictions of physical and emotional abuse, graphic depictions of violence, bullying/harassment, reader is ostracized by her very religious hometown, dark comedy, tfw your accidental boyfriend is a demon who is obsessed with you bc he doesn't know how to be normal about anything ever, dead dove: do not eat

please check individual parts for content warnings before reading. this fic contains dark themes. your media consumption is your own responsibility.

ALL OF MY WORKS ARE 18+ MINORS DNI

CHAPTER ONE: GOD YOU'VE GOT THE BLACKEST EYES

CHAPTER TWO: LOOK HERE ALL YOU WANT

CHAPTER THREE: I SMOKE OUT YOUR DARKEST SIDE

CHAPTER FOUR: CAN'T TURN WATER INTO WINE NEVER ASKED YOU TO

CHAPTER FIVE: SO IS IT YOUR PLACE OR MINE

CHAPTER SIX: I DON'T NEED TO FEEL THE SUN, LET ME TOUCH YOUR SKIN

CHAPTER SEVEN: FILL MY MIND WITH DIRTINESS, I'LL INVADE YOUR DREAMS

CHAPTER EIGHT: BACK IN HELL AT LEAST IT'S COMFORTABLE

CHAPTER NINE: NEED YOUR BODY WHEN MY FIRE'S COLD

CHAPTER TEN: I'M GONNA STAY FAITHFUL TO THE DEVIL I KNOW

[valley-of-headcanons]

Harveys reaction to the farmer getting hurt in the mines?

bachelors reacting to you getting hurt || headcanons

these bachelors vowed to stay with you, in sickness and in health! part one here!

warnings: you get hurt (obv) by: the mines, tree, ocean, farming, concert exhaustion, and animals. if you're scared of that, don't read this :)

requested by: @stardewhhore + anon! hii, i decided to combine this request for convenience. this is a part two to one of my earlier posts, so i hope you enjoy! :)

alex

• Alex knew you had left for the day when he woke up, assuming you were out on the town doing something important. You were actually down in the forest, chopping some trees so that you could craft a few more chests. With Alex moving in, you needed a lot more storage! So, you chopped down trees like you normally would. You weren't expecting one to fall your way ...

• Finally getting out of the house today, Alex decided he was going to play some gridball out in the forest. He needed to get out of the house and feel the sun on his skin! He hummed softly to himself as he walked out to the forest, tossing the ball up in the air and catching it. His eyes drifted away from the ball to a fallen tree ... with you under it.

• A rush of adrenaline pushed Alex toward you at lightning speed, picking the tree up off of you and holding you in his arms. Looking across your body for wounds, he knew that he needed to get you to Harvey's as soon as possible. Alex's emotions were battling him, tears pooling up in his eyes. He's good at hiding his emotions, but not when someone he loves is hurt. He got you to Harvey's as soon as possible, sitting beside you as Harvey examined your body. Once you woke, Alex let out a sigh of relief and kissed your knuckles.

• “Babe ... I am so glad you're awake. I would hug you right now, but Harv' said your ribs are a little bit broken ... not too bad though, don't worry! I'll help you get better. You're lucky I was there to save your clumsy ass, it was just a coincidence I was walking by ... hey, don't worry about it. If you need help doing anything dangerous, let me be there ... to spot you, I guess? I know that's not the right term, but in my terms, it is. ... I love you so much, and I don't know what I'd do without you.”

• Alex took you home and made sure you were comfortable. He was very cautious and careful with you, making sure to give you what you need and not to hurt you. Yes, it was hard not to wrap his arms around you and hug you tight, but he managed. Your health was more important than his wants. He loved you and showed it in alternate ways, through his words and actions.

elliott

• Fishing was part of your daily routine. The beach was always your favorite spot, you enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the memories you've made with the love of your life. You sat on the beach, casting your rod and waiting for a fish to bite. Elliott was back at home, not worried about your whereabouts. You were always safe and careful! ... sometimes, accidents happen, though.

• Elliott decided to go for a stroll on the beach. He knew he'd probably run into you, since he knows you so well. The beach was such a relaxing place, and with you there, it'd make it even better! So, he happily made his way towards the sand, humming softly as he did so. He didn't expect to see you face down in the sand. You didn't look so good ...

• His heart dropped through his shoes, racing towards you as fast as he could. Tears pricked at his eyes, letting his emotions get in the way of logistics. He turned you over, giving you CPR. You were breathing, it wasn't that big of a deal, but Elliott's thoughts wouldn't slow down enough to think this through. Words can't describe how relieved he was when you opened your eyes, though.

• “Oh dearest! You scared the daylights out of me, I was horrified! I thought I had lost you for good, my love. Please, don't scare me like that again! Are you okay, are you feeling well? I would do anything to help you, I hate to see you in such a state! You mean the world to me, my love, and I don't know what I would do if my world stopped turning. Now, let's get you to the hospital. Let me do everything for you, please.”

• Elliott picked you up very carefully before practically racing to Harvey's. He bursted through the door, handing you to Harvey and explaining the situation with his usual dramatics. Harvey tended to you and let you both know that it was going to be fine, but you were to be on bed rest for a few days. Elliott held true to that, staying by your side as much as he could. He showered you with as much love and affection that you needed to feel better.

harvey

• You were hard at work in the mines, making sure to get some gems to bring home for your husband. Yes, working in the mines wasn't the easiest and was definitely a health hazard, but it would be fine! You've done it so many times before, why would this be different! All you had to do was get the job done and get home. But … you forgot to bring food down to the mines and your energy was running low. Uh oh.

• Harvey got home from his shift at the clinic, walking into the cabin to something strange. You weren't there, there was no note as to where you had gone … huh, isn't that odd? He had a strange feeling. He grabbed his first aid kit just in case, like always, and headed to the mines. He had a strange suspicion … he hoped he wouldn't be right. But when he got to the floor you were on, his heart dropped.

• Seeing your unconscious body resting on the floor of the mines, he panicked. Harvey is known for being calm during medical emergencies, but when it came to you … he couldn't bear seeing you hurt. He picked you up and carried you to the top of the mines, resting your body against some rocks as he checked your vitals. You seemed fine, maybe a concussion and some scratches. He got to work stitching you up when you stirred awake. Harvey let out a giant sigh of relief as he wrapped his arms around you, pressing a kiss to your temple.

• “Oh thank God- … you’re okay, you're okay … I was really worried about you for a second there. I knew you'd probably be fine, it's just … I hate the thought of your life being in my hands … I’m just glad you're okay. Let me check to see if you're concussed, dear. It'll only take a moment, then we'll get you home and to bed. You need to rest, my love. Doctor’s orders.”

• He did just that, getting you home and into bed after cleaning all your wounds and making sure everything was okay. You were fine, you just needed to stay in bed for the next few days. Harvey could work from home for the next few days, it would be fine. Harvey made sure to keep you healthy, fed, and hydrated. You deserve only the best from your loving husband.

sam

• Sam was finally performing at a pretty big venue, and of course his lovely partner would be in attendance! You wouldn't miss it for the world! You danced and sang along to every song, not stopping for a second! Until ... you started to feel a bit faint. The heat paired with all of the excitement started getting to you. And then it got you. You hit the ground with a thud.

• After getting off stage, Sam's first thought was to go see you. Of course, you were always let back stage. But, he didn't see you. Something was off. He walked toward his friends, asking where you were. They stuttered and explained that you were in the emergency tent. His heart dropped.

• Sam didn't even take off his costume or mic pack before running at full speed toward the tent. He was extremely worried about you, and his heart was pounding. The adrenaline of the concert basically carried him to the tent, getting there quicker than anyone would have thought. You had already woken up, and you were getting taken care of.

• “Oh my God- BABE?! Are you okay, what happened?! I- ... I'm sorry, I couldn't see from the stage, I should've been paying more attention! I would've stopped the show- ... Babe, yes, I would have! I love you, but I would've stopped for any emergency, I don't want anyone hurt, especially not my partner! ... as long as you're okay, it's not a problem. I love you, and please take it easy. I love that you're supporting me, but don't support me too hard, okay?!”

• Sam took you home and pampered you for the rest of the night. He kept apologizing, worried for your health and taking the orders the doctor had given you very seriously. He loved you, and it showed through every kiss and hug he gave you. Sam was basically your servant for an entire week, giving you whatever you needed and wanted!

sebastian

• Every morning, by the time Sebastian woke up, you were already hard at work. He was more of a night owl, while your limit was 2 AM. You were up bright and early to start working on your shared farm. Today was harvest day, so you began the strenuous task of getting your hundreds of crops taken care of. Since when did your farm get so big? And since when did the hot, summer air bother you so much? And since when was the world around you so fuzzy ..? ... thud!

• Sebastian finally rose from his slumber relatively late in the evening. He saw that you already left, so he decided to grab an energy drink from the fridge. He didn't feel like going through the hassle of making a huge pot for just himself. Sebastian did, however, want to see how you were doing. So, he headed outside to see his lovely partner ... face down in the farm. That's not a good sight to see.

• Frozen for a moment, Sebastian stared at the sight in front of him. He slowly creeped forward, biting down on his lip softly as he approached. A huge sigh of relief escaped him once he realized you were still breathing. He quickly sat beside you, trying to get you to wake up. It didn't seem to be working. He gathered enough strength to pick you up, slightly struggling, and carry you down to Harvey's. He told Harvey everything he could before sitting down beside you. As Harvey was cleaning you up and doing a quick check-up, your eyes carefully opened.

• "Good, you're finally up. You had me worried, hon ... I assume the heat got to you, it was definitely hot out today. Maybe we should both be taking better care of ourselves. Harvey said you're dehydrated ... I'm just glad it's nothing serious ... I thought the worst had happened when I saw you out there. I am so glad you're okay, my love."

• Sebastian followed Harvey's orders as close as he could, making sure you were drinking enough water and eating enough to keep your energy up throughout the day. He also took a few pointers for himself, drinking more water instead of energy drinks. He wanted to keep you safe, and if that meant taking better care of both you and himself, he'd do it.

shane

• It was a hot summer’s morning, and you were about to head out for the day to work on the farm. This is the usual, nothing out of the ordinary. Shane opted to stay inside for a while, hitting the metaphorical snooze button. You started work on your daily chores and decided to help Shane out by doing a few extra ones. One of which was the chicken coop. It really did get hot this time of year, and you hadn't ate this morning … thud.

• Once Shane got out of bed, he sluggishly started to do his chores. They were a bore, but they had to be done. He loved you, and whatever he could do to make your life easier, he would. One of the things he does enjoy is going to hang out with the chickens. He put it on the top of his to-do list, marching out of the cabin with a pretty tiny spring in his step. What he didn't expect to find was you laying down face first in the hay of the chicken coop.

• He raced toward you, his heart beating wildly out of his chest. Seeing that you were at least alive, he let out a breath of fresh air. He couldn't seem to get you awake, though … he dragged you out of the chicken coop, barely being able to pick you up and get you in the house. Putting a cold rag on your forehead and pointing every fan in the house directly onto you, he waited for you to wake up. And once you did, he was ecstatic.

• “Hey, ya passed out on me back there … yeah, everything’s fine, I was uh- … just worried about you, that’s all. Let me handle the chickens from now on, you're gonna overwork yourself. I love you doin’ favors for me but I don't love you passing out on me. Now … let’s get you checked out at Harvey’s, I’m just hopin’ you didn't bump your head too hard when you hit the ground.”

• Shane got you to Harvey’s as soon as he could, being your crutch the whole way there. He listened to what Harvey had to say, taking a mental note of it as he got you back to the house. You were on close but subtle supervision. He would do anything you need, staying pretty close, but wouldn't get too far up in your business. He loves you sincerely, though. He just hates seeing you hurt like this. But, being depended upon is pretty nice for a change.

[simplepotatofarmer]

Sixteenth Day Event Prompt:

Alienation & Spite

tuesday morning, 8:47 a.m.

characters: technoblade, dream word count: 1,541

I've been in this room before.

The last time, ages ago, it was brief. Techno had practically rushed me out after ringing the bell a few times. That felt like something that had to be done, some stupid ritual that you signed up for the moment you stepped into the cabin. He had come back, a little later, and made sure I wasn't watching as he opened the secret chest in the back of the room.

I knew where it was. I could go over right now and open the chest and take whatever the hell I wanted and Techno wouldn't stop me. It wasn't a secret anymore and that felt...

It felt shitty for no reason. Of course he didn't bother hiding those things anymore. I've been living in his house for months, what was there to hide? But fuck man. He could at least pretend things were normal.

Ugh.

Rolling over, I shoved one of the pillows into my face and resisted the urge to scream. If I did, Techno would hear. He would climb up the ladder and ask if everything was alright and I would lie. I should feel bad for lying; I know he's trying to help but I don't want help, I want to be left alone.

It's easier. No one gets that. No one understands that everything still hurts or that I feel wrong without a potion or that food makes me want to vomit or that I don't want to leave the cabin. I don't even want to leave the room.

Techno calls it wallowing. Maybe he's right. Maybe I don't care.

Out of the corner of my eye, I can see the sunlight reflecting off the bell and block of emerald. Something about that makes me angry. I've been angry a lot, I guess. It knots in my chest and I want to tear it out. I want to punch something. I want to punch myself. I settle for dragging my nails against my skin until its red and stings. It doesn't calm the anger that's making my eyes water. Without thinking, I throw the pillow across the room, at the bell.

It makes a low chiming sound and I groan.

As expected, a few moments later, Techno pokes his head up, arms resting on the floor. He's worried. I tug my sleeves down over my arms, hiding the scratches. Not that Techno would be mad. That's the problem. He'd understand. He'd say it's okay and it's not.

"Hey, Dream. You rang?"

It was funny and I have to fight the smile.

"No. That—That was an accident."

His eyes slide towards the bell and sees the pillow on the ground.

"Ah."

I don't say anything.

"How about you come downstairs, man? I'll make you some breakfast."

I still don't say anything. I stare at the ceiling.

"C'mon on man."

He talks so softly, the same way he does to his animals and it's another thing I want to be pissed about except I've heard him use the same tone with Phil, with Ranboo or Niki.

So stupid.

I want things to be normal but it is and I'm still mad.

"I'm not hungry," I lie. I'm starving. I want a potion.

"Alright." Techno reaches out and tugs the blanket up over me. He's stretching precariously. "How about we make a deal? I'll leave you alone for a bit but you've gotta promise to come down for dinner."

His words hang in the air a bit and I roll my eyes.

"Or what?"

Techno laughs.

"Or I'll carry your scrawny behind downstairs my dang self," he says.

I believe him.

"God. Fine, Techno."

He laughs again.

“See ya later, Dream.”

His head disappears back downstairs. Already I regret agreeing to his stupid deal. He won’t actually drag me downstairs if I change my mind, I know that. I roll over the other way, facing the ladder. On the bedside table is a bottle of water and Techno’s communicator. Mine is gone and has been since Sam took it. I reach over and grab Techno’s. It’s only 8:47 a.m. Dinner is a long way off.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

I’m worried.

It’s kinda hard not to be worried when you have a man in your bedroom who’ll barely move and barely eat. I don’t mind. Well, I do, just not in the way Dream thinks I do. He thinks I want him out, gone out of my life. I had to fight against his idiotic plan to fake a parting of ways while we were in prison. The only thing I want is—

It’s lame, chat, I know.

I want him to be okay. The first few weeks, he hardly moved because he couldn’t. He wasn’t in any kind of shape. The thought of what happened to him in that cell after I left haunts me. How can you make up for that?

I pull the raw beef out of the ice chest. A good steak is a start. I wouldn’t have made something that required so much chewing a couple months ago but Dream’s jaw had healed. And I know he’s a steak man when he’s not relying on potions or golden apples. I’ve caught him sneaking both after days of refusing food.

Fighting the urge to keep walking over to stand at the bottom of the ladder is the hardest part. I want to go back up and check on him again. He had been quick at pulling his sleeves down but I saw the marks on his arms. If I had said something, it might have made him withdraw even more.

I’ll make him a cake.

I have no idea if he’ll eat it but he might. It’s something to occupy my time and something to do to show him I care. He knows, he’s gotta know by this point but sometimes he lays there like he doesn’t know anything anymore. I don’t blame him. He has that lost look in his eyes every so often and I know he’s pulling away because it’s easier.

I know, I’ve been there. This cabin was built to get away from everything. It took some time to realize I was being a fool. Dream will get there, I’ve got faith in him. He’s been through a lot and he still smiles sometimes.

I’m on autopilot baking. Niki’s recipe is well-worn by this point and I don’t need to have it sitting out but that’s habit, too. It’s a nice reminder. By the time the cake is in the oven, the sun is midpoint in the sky. The beef’s been marinating for awhile. I glance towards the living room and sigh.

Just a quick check, I won’t even go up the ladder.

Standing at the base, I can’t hear anything. That’s probably a good sign. Hopefully, he’s sleeping. Sleep hasn’t been easy for him which means it’s not been great for me, either, and I can sleep through a lot. Except the person next to me lashing out or screaming. It hurts. Not the times he’s hit me on accident but hearing a friend say ‘no’ and ‘please’ and ‘stop’ over and over.

I’ve gotta stop thinking about it. I know Dream’s picked up on my worry and I know sometimes it makes him feel weird. I get it, I do.

By the time the cake is cooled and has a nice layer of green frosting on it, the steaks are also done and the sun is lower in the sky. I pat my pockets, looking for my communicator to check the time, but I must’ve misplaced it again. I make another mental reminder to put a clock somewhere and head over to the ladder.

Dream is pretending to sleep, I can tell.

“Dinner time.”

He opens one eye. I smile. He opens the other and sighs as he props himself up.

“I’m—I’m not hungry.”

It’s the same thing as earlier and it’s still a lie, I know it. I raise an eyebrow and look at him silently. After a moment, a slight tinge of pink is on his cheeks.

Got ‘em.

“Ugh, fine,” he says as he swings his legs out of bed. “You’re so annoying.”

“I know, Dream, I know.” I slide down the ladder and wait for him. When he climbs down, I put my hand out, hovering near his back, just in case. “I’ve made you a real special dinner.”

“What? Why?”

I stop in front of the kitchen table. Some of the icing on the cake has melted a bit but the steaks look good. Dream is next to me. He looks confused. He looks sad. I put my arm around his shoulders. They still feel awfully boney.

“Because it’s your four month anniversary of stayin’ here, man. We’ve gotta celebrate.”

Dream’s voice rises in pitch.

“What?”

I know that tone. He’s struggling not to smile and rolling his eyes. I nudge my nose against the side of his head and pull him a little closer. He doesn’t pull away.

“We’re celebratin’, Dream. I even made you a cake.”

“This is so stupid,” he says but he’s leaning against me and I wrap my arms around him and hug him.

“Let’s eat.”

@sixteenth-day-event

[crazyinluvfix]

1:1 WOLF MOON ( pt. 1 )

FATAL ATTRACTION - a stiles stilinski story

summary: after a late night trip to the woods, scott obtains a strange animal bite that heals within a day. sera struggles with the fact that her best friend might be a werewolf, while simultaneously trying to keep them from finding out her own secret.

WARNINGS: none

series masterlist

4.6k words

┌──────── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ────────┐

January 2nd, 2011

It was the night before the first day back at school after winter break, which had been incredibly slow.

Considering what I heard about what was going on back home, I did not want to risk a trip to see my brothers - lord knows what I would be roped into. I was enjoying my unproblematic, stress-free, normal life. Nothing could take that from me.

And at least I had Stiles.

Yes, Scott was my best friend too, but Stiles was like a brother to me. And his dad was the closest thing I’ve ever had to a father, even when mine was alive.

So naturally, I spent a lot of time at their place. Including Christmas, which was just the three of us - we ate, played games, watched movies. Nothing too special, yet it was nice, peaceful.

But I lived alone.

For legal reasons, everyone (including Stiles and Scott) was under the assumption that I lived with my older brother, Damon, and that my twin brother Stefan was off at some camp. But in reality, it was just me and my apartment. But I didn’t mind that much, I liked my own company.

Tonight was one of those nights. I sat on my bed, alone, reading some book I didn’t care all that much about while sipping on a glass of bourbon Damon had gifted me. That’s when my phone lit up with an urgent flurry of texts.

Stiles

SERA

COME OVER ASAP

BIG NEWS

I put down my book with a huff and picked up my cell, scanning over his words before typing back.

Sera

why?

what’s up?

‘Big news’ to Stiles could mean anything. And right now, I wasn’t exactly sure that whatever he was getting at was worth interrupting my simple night.

Stiles

I'll tell you when you’re here

Now come and we’ll go get Scott

I turned off my phone and rubbed my face before shooting up and straightening myself out, throwing back the last sip of golden liquid in my glass and sighing as the warmth travelled down my throat.

As I made my way downstairs I remembered to take my time, since it would only take me a minute to run there and neither Stiles nor Scott knew I was a vampire. I had to make it look believable, so I took the time to fix my hair and waltz about before leaving the house.

About ten minutes after Stiles had texted I appeared outside his window, a spot I frequented so much you could almost see the wear on the roof tiles from where I so often waited for him to respond to my knows on the glass.

Soon enough, he did.

I watched him shoot up from his desk and shuffle over to the window where I was curled up with my hood over my head, shielding myself from the harsh winter winds.

“Wait there, I’m coming out,” he held out a finger to stop me from coming inside, going back across to the other side of his room, bending down to find his shoes.

The way I rolled my eyes was almost audible as I crossed my arms over my chest, “Stiles,” I complained as he took his sweet time. “Hurry up, it’s cold.”

My gaze followed him as he hurried to tie his laces, subsequently tripping over and just about catching himself as he hopped over to the window and looked me in the eyes before stepping outside.

“Did you just run here?” he observed, looking me up and down, noticing my shortness of breath and the fact that he could see no car or bike.

In fact, I was just playing into the role of ‘human girl having run half a mile,’ but I was glad my efforts were convincing. Stiles knew I didn’t drive, and I usually did just get everywhere on foot. But even when he dropped me home or picked me up I made sure he let me out just a bit down the road so he didn’t see that my house had no car at all, let alone having no one else in it.

“Yeah,” I shrugged before quickly changing the subject.

“So what’s going on? Is this actually serious or is it just another one of your little adventures you’re dragging me and Scott along for,” I teased with a slight laugh.

Stiles was notorious for his little late-night escapades, but even though I usually put up a bit of a fuss, I did typically enjoy them. If for nothing else but being there to make sure he or Scott didn’t actually die.

He scrambled out of the window, pumped up on too much Adderall to focus on not falling off the roof, leading me to grab him by the sleeve of his flannel as if second nature and pull him back to safety.

He stared at me with those wide brown eyes and spoke again, “I promise you I have a good reason this time.” Too sincere to be a joke, but he still seemed thoroughly excited.

~

Soon, we arrived at Scott’s house. We hopped out of Stiles’ prized Jeep and he started to dramatically tiptoe over to the side of the house like an old silent film, deciding to climb up the tree to get on the roof.

Meanwhile, I just stood there in the middle of the driveway, hands on my hips with my head cocked to the side, a breathy chuckle escaping my lips as I watched him clamber up the branches.

“Stiles?”

“Mhm,” he replied plainly, not taking his eyes off the tree.

“You know Scott’s mom is out, right? She’s on the night shift?” my smile grew as I laughed at him, who had now made his way atop the house, finally glancing back to face me.

He failed his arms in annoyance upon seeing I didn’t follow him, “Yeah, but it’s more fun this way.”

I shook my head, walking up to the side of the house, alongside him just a few feet down.

That’s when I heard footsteps coming from inside the house. My ears perked and I listened closer; they were coming from Scott’s room, then down the stairs, then to the front door…

Instinctively I hid behind a bush to watch this play out, looking on in amusement as I had a view of both scenes. Scott was treading cautiously, holding a baseball bat as a defence - which was funny in itself considering we were in Beacon Hills, practically the safest, most uneventful place on Earth. Meanwhile, Stiles was crawling carefully on the roof, trying to be as quiet as possible before hooking his legs on the tiles and flinging himself down so his body appeared right in front of Scott like Spiderman.

Upon both of them seeing the other they started to scream back and forth, causing me to stumble out from behind the bushes and onto my knees, clutching my stomach - I’d never seen a funnier sight.

Scott looked at me, then back at Stiles, lowering the bat. “Stiles! Sera! What the hell are you two doing here?” he exclaimed angrily as I scrambled up to shush him.

“Shut up! You’re gonna wake the whole neighbourhood!” I ran up to Stiles’ side, my head next to his upside-down one.

“Yeah!” Stiles agreed, all of us now speaking in exclamatory whispers. “And why do you have a bat?”

Scott stuttered, still shaken from the sudden rush, “I thought you were a predator!”

I giggled to myself as I watched them interact, Stiles proceeding to ramble on and move his arms in an expression of utter confusion, “A predator? Wh- What!”

“You weren’t answering your phone!” he continued as if that made the situation miraculously make sense.

“Okay, Stiles. Now that we’re with Scott could you please tell me what we are doing!” I joined in, flinging my hands up in the air before landing them back on my hips as I waited for his response.

Stiles turned his body to face mine, then turned back to Scott before explaining at his usual fast speed. “I saw my dad leave 20 minutes ago. Dispatch called and they're bringing in every officer from the Beacon department and even state police.”

“For what?” I interrupted his excited rambles. It was clear to anyone with any of the 5 senses that Stiles worshipped his dad and his job as Sheriff, so this sort of thing really got him ticking.

“Two joggers found a body in the woods.”

Before we could ask any more questions he dropped down from his position to stand upright on the ground next to me.

Scott’s eyes widened, “A dead body?” he asked hesitantly.

Stiles scoffed and jumped up and over the fence onto the porch to be face-to-face with Scott, nudging me to do the same.

“No, a body of water,” Stiles rolled his eyes sarcastically - a trait that not even an event like this could shake from him - “Yes, dumbass! A dead body.”

“You mean like- murdered?” Scott inquired further while I was in pure disbelief.

Stiles rested his hands on his hips and shook his head, “Nobody knows yet.”

The words sent a chill down my spine.

“Just that it was a girl, probably in her twenties.” he recited whatever he overheard from his dad.

I finally spoke, confused about the logistics. “But… if they already found the body then what are they looking for?”

“That’s the best part,” Stiles pointed to me before practically jumping for joy - a strange reaction considering the topic at hand. “They only found half.” His voice shifted to a significantly higher pitch and I noticed Scott’s face twist in curiosity, raising his eyebrows.

I chuckled dryly, clearly taken aback at how casually he had stated it. It’s not like I was a stranger to death, not by any means, but here? That was something I had never expected. “How is that the ‘best part’?” I retorted, but Stiles didn’t respond, just looked at us both and nodded his head determinedly.

“We’re going.”

~

“I’m still not sure about this, guys,” I expressed my concern as we trudged through this secluded, dark part of the woods Stiles had driven us to, with one torch and nothing else.

“Oh, don’t be a sourpuss,” Stiles teased as he hung back to walk next to me, “you’re the one always bitching about how nothing ever happens in this town.” He nudged me in my side as he briefly put a hand on the small of my back so that we’d continue moving.

‘Bitching’ was admittedly somewhat accurate. But even though a part of me missed the eventfulness of my old lives, it didn’t mean we weren’t all better off without it!

“Yeah, man,” Scott agreed with me, “I was tryna get a good night's sleep before practice tomorrow.”

“‘Cause sitting on the bench is such a grueling effort,” I teased before going back on myself. “I’m sorry, stress really does make me a bitch.”

I drained out the sound of their lacrosse talk as they went ahead, distracted by the ever-so-faint smell of blood in the distance. Tuning back in instantly when I heard Scott bring up something else of importance.

“Just out of curiosity, which half of the body are we looking for?”

“Huh,” Stiles shrugged, “Didn’t think about that.”

The smell of blood hit me stronger and I unconsciously stopped in my tracks.

“Sera? You good?” Scot turned back around.

“Hm?” my eyes darted between them, I then snapped out of it and caught up, “Oh yeah. I’m good.”

A subject change was all I needed to distract from my weird behaviour, playing off Scott’s question. “And what if whoever killed the girl is still out here?”

Stiles chose ignorance. “Also something I didn’t think about.”

We approached a hill and Stiles started to scale it, leading me to throw my arms up in exasperation and whine, “Ew, I don’t wanna get all muddy!”

“Well you’re gonna have to, princess,” he teased, making it to the top, as I now followed, easily overtaking Scott who was leaning up against a tree, desperately sucking on his inhaler.

“Maybe the severe asthmatic should be the one holding the flashlight,” I heard him say, although it seemed to go ignored as we all made it to flat ground.

But then all of a sudden Stiles dropped to the ground, and when I didn't immediately do the same he reached up to grab me by the wrist, pulling me down with him, Scott copying on the other side of me.

“Stiles-” my grievance was abruptly stopped by him putting a hand over my mouth.

“Shh,” he hissed and pointed his torch to the lights in the distance. Police cars.

I must’ve missed them while trying to rid myself of dirt, only to now be covered by even more. They were talking about the investigation, repeating everything Stiles had told us earlier.

“That’s my dad,” Stiles whispered.

Indeed it was, I recognised his voice.

But then he did the unexpected - which, when it came to Stiles Stilinski was rather expected - and legged it towards them, beckoning me and Scott to follow which we reluctantly did.

We must have been too caught up in following Stiles’ crazy idea to notice what was right in front of him. Sheriff Stilinski.

“Stiles-” I choked out his name, only to be yanked behind a tree while Scott stood behind another.

Stiles turned around to shout at me for speaking, but when he turned back after not seeing me the police dog barked loudly, flashing his fangs and sending Stiles falling to the ground, scrambling to get back, looking straight up at his dad.

Me and Scott both held our breath - it was Stiles’ idea, we didn’t need to be punished.

“Hang on, hang on,” the Sheriff stopped the other officers approaching. “This little delinquent belongs to me.” His tone was disappointed, not a rarity since Stiles did do stuff like this an awful lot.

My eyes closed as I listened to them talk, knowing it was only a matter of time before we were discovered too.

“Where are your usual partners in crime, huh?”

There it was.

His tone was still gruff and I could practically sense the nervousness radiating 0ff Stiles as he contemplated whether to rat us out.

But he didn’t, he never did.

“What? Sera and Scott? Pft-” he stuttered, trying to catch his breath after the scare. “They’re home. Probably fasttt asleep,” he goes on to tell probably the least convincing lie ever told, as if dragging out his syllables would make his statement more believable.

Bringing my hand up to my forehead I glanced over to Scott and shared a look, it was difficult for me not to laugh, however, Scott appeared genuinely worried as he was sabotaging his opportunity to make first-line tomorrow.

��It’s just me…” Stiles carried on rambling, not helping our case at all, “In the woods… alone.”

“For fucks sake,” I sighed, raking my hand down my face.

I practically jumped out of my skin when I heard the Sheriff’s booming voice once again.

“Sera! Scott! You out there?” His flashlight caught the hood of my jacket poking out from behind the tree. He took a step closer, tone even firmer, “Sera!”

I went to walk out, but Scott eyeballed me in a way to tell me not to, but I knew that if I showed myself he wouldn’t catch Scott. So I rounded the tree with my hands up in surrender, skipping over to Stiles’ side.

The Sheriff sighed. He walked up to us without a word, parting a gap between me and his son, and stood between us.

A hand reached up to the back of Stiles’ neck, grabbing it forcefully, “I am going to walk you back to your car and we are going to have a serious conversation about invasion of privacy,” he scolded.

I almost sighed in relief, but my hopes were in vain as he did the same to me - albeit a tad lighter, but still firmly. “And you, young lady,” he exhaled loudly, “what are we gonna do with you.”

He walked us back to his car like this, letting go of us to get in our usual spots to drive us back to the Jeep. The journey was incredibly silent. When Stiles got home he was surely in for the lecture of his life - I was just glad that this time it wouldn’t include me.

Sheriff Stilinski saw me as a daughter the same way I saw him as a father, meaning he usually was not afraid to shout at me too, but he always saw me through a faint lens of pity around the holiday seasons - in ways, my solitude worked in my favour.

Soon, we had made it back to Stiles’ car and he was tasked with driving me home, straight home with no detours. Tension radiated off him the whole way back, partly due to the anticipation of being told off, and partly because we still hadn’t found the body.

“I guess Scott’s gonna have to find his own way back,” I chuckled, slumping down in the passenger seat.

“He’s a big boy, he’ll make it,” Stiles assured before interrupting with one of his little quips, “that’s if the killer doesn’t catch him first,” he put on a scary voice and looked over to meet my unamused expression.

The only reason I agreed to this was to know I’d be there to kill the thing out there before it killed us. But I guess we’d just have to find out what happened in the morning.

What a pleasant start to the term.

~

Waking up the next day was a panic.

Memories flashed back like freezeframes from last night and I worried for Scott since he hadn’t answered his phone since.

My nerves were only settled once I arrived at school, seeing my two best friends on the sidewalk, looking as alive as the last we saw him.

I skipped over to them and turned Scott around, my hands on his shoulders, “Thank god you’re alright,” I breathed a sigh of relief until he gave me a look that said otherwise, piquing Stiles’ interest now too.

“Well… about that…” He lifted up his shirt slightly to reveal a massive bandage on his torso, blood that had seeped through the white cotton staining the outside. “I got bit by something.” His comment was all too vague.

Stiles reached forward to touch it and Scott jumped back, “Woah,” he laughed at his enthusiasm.

“It was too dark to see, but I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.”

‘A wolf?’ No, surely not, it can’t be. I had done thorough research before moving here to be sure that nothing like this would happen. During my research, I found that not only have there been no werewolves here for decades, but no wolves of any sort.

“No, it wasn’t,” I butted in abruptly as we walked to class.

Scott scoffed at my quick rebuttal, “I heard a wolf howling.”

After mimicking his noise, I spoke again, “No, you didn’t.”

“Oh yeah?” he questioned, looking back at me, “How do you know what I heard?”

“I don’t. But I do know that there hasn’t been wolves in California for like 60 years,” I elaborated, watching his eyebrow quirk in confusion.

Stiles interjected, running forward to walk backwards in front of us. “And how do you know that?” he challenged, almost tripping over a pebble.

I thought fast. “School project.”

We didn’t all have the same classes, so it wasn’t questioned. Luckily, Scott was quick to change the topic anyway.

“Well, if you don’t believe me about the wolf then you guys are definitely not gonna believe me when I tell you I found the body.”

It’s as if he had just told Stiles he had won the lottery because his eyes lit up so bright and he jumped so high that birds thought he was one of their own, “Are you kidding me? That is freaking awesome!”

“I wish. I’m gonna have nightmares for a month,” Scott chuckled.

I was too stunned to reply, so Stiles happily filled the silence.

“I mean- this is like the best thing to ever happen to this town since…” That's when his attention was drawn elsewhere, it was when he practically started drooling that me and Scott knew it was the work of Lydia Martin.

“Since Lydia Martin,” he eyed her like a moth to a flame as she passed, “Hey Lydia,” he greeted her with a slightly awkward wave, turning over his shoulder when she didn’t give him so much as a glance. “You look… like you’re gonna ignore me.” He admitted defeat, turning back to us.

His schoolboy crush always amused me and Scott.

I reached over, putting a hand on his shoulder, “You’ll get her next time, tiger.”

“Ya think?” We continued walking and he didn’t wait for a reply. “It’s your fault, you know?” he spun around and pointed at Scott. “Dragging me down to your nerd depths. I’m a nerd by association!”

“That doesn’t make sense. Because Sera’s cool and we’re both friends with Sera,” Scott pointed out, simultaneously disproving Stiles and admitting his own nerdiness.

I saw his words click with Stiles, making him ponder why he was perceived as nerdy rather than cool considering his social circumstances, I just laughed and went to take my seat.

Class was a bore, but then again, I had done this all before so it wasn’t that mandatory for me to pay attention. Instead, my focus was drawn to the girl outside, sitting on the bench. I always felt a little guilty to eavesdrop, but it’s not like I could help it.

“Mom, three calls on my first day is a little overdoing it.”

“Great. I’ve got everything except a pen.”

Poor girl. Today was exactly one year since I started here too, I knew the feeling.

My eyes followed the the man from the office who collected her and coincidentally her first period was with us.

“Class, this is our new student, Allison Argent. Please do your best to make her feel welcome,” the man said, gesturing for her to take a seat.

There was a free seat next to me, behind Scott, so I gave a friendly smile to tell her to come take it. But the second she sat down, Scott turned around with a pen in hand and passed it back to her.

At first, I thought nothing of it, but then it clicked. ‘How did he know she needed a pen?’

I chose not to dwell on it.

~

After class, I decided to befriend the new girl, I knew the new school stress well, so I waited by the lockers.

She came out of the classroom after speaking briefly to the teacher about catching up on reading material.

“Hi,” I called her attention, “Allison, right?” I held out a hand.

She accepted, seeming a little nervous, but she responded with a friendly nod.

“Sera,” I stated with a smile.

“That jacket is absolutely killer,” outfit talk was always a good ice breaker. “Where’d you get it?”

“Oh! My mom was a buyer for a boutique back in San Fransisco,” her smile widened too.

My jaw dropped in typical teenage girl fashion, “You are my new best friend.”

Lydia was summoned to us like a beacon. “I heard boutique,” she skipped over and pouted, “I’m Lydia,” instantly being swept up by her boyfriend. “Hey Jackson,” she lilted before he gave her a kiss.

While they were distracted I turned to Allison and jokingly rolled my eyes at their PDA and she bit back a laugh.

“Somebody tell me how it was so easy for Sera to make friends with the new girl?” Scott sighed, slumping against his locker.

Stiles scoffed as if it was obvious. “‘Cause they’re both hot?” His eyes flicked between Allison, Lydia who had joined them, and his best friend. Like Scott, he too was a tad jealous of her social skills.

“Beautiful people herd together,” he sighed, quickly tearing his eyes away to continue pestering Scott with everything he could about the body.

But he wasn’t listening. Well, he was, but not to him. Somehow he was able to hear the new girl and Jackson’s conversation as if he were standing right next to them.

Lacrosse talk bored me. And I could tell it bored Allison too, but she was trying to be polite. Just as I was about to save us with an excuse I noticed a very pensive Scott, his eyes directed at us. But the moment he saw me notice he turned away, as if he had been caught doing something he shouldn’t. Strange.

Either way, the life-draining sports talk was cut short when Lydia hauled us to next period.

~

After school, Stiles dragged me to watch lacrosse practice. This was how I spent most of my Tuesday afternoons, but this time I had company.

Lydia was almost always there to cheer for Jackson - which got very incessant very quickly. But Allison had asked me earlier ‘Who is that friend of yours?’ (the friend being Scott), and it was now my mission to play matchmaker - maybe it would help distract from the wolf problem handing over my head.

Scott and Stiles waved me down when they got onto the field. I knew better than to question why so I put down my book, leaving my stuff with Allison as I trotted down the bleachers.

“What’s up?” I noticed Scott’s brimming smile, directly contrasting Stiles’ snarl.

Scott was practically buzzing, “I’m playing first line!”

I gasped, bringing my hands to my mouth, “Really?” I was frankly quite surprised.

“Sound a little more shocked will you,” he rolled his eyes sarcastically.

“That’s not what I mean,” I laughed.

Okay, I did mean it a little, but good for him. “But that’s great! Congrats!”

“Yeah. So great,” Stiles added bitterly with folded arms.

“Aw, is someone jealous?” I mocked, pouting.

“No,” he answered quickly. “It’s just that, if Scott’s on the field, who am I going to talk to on the bench!”

Me and Scott both laughed, Scott reaching over to pat him on the shoulder.

Then, before I left, I stepped over to Scott to whisper, “Hey, I think someone’s here to see you,” my smirk directed his attention to the girl on the bleachers who gave him a soft smile and his face lit up considerably.

Gross.

When Coach blew the whistle I went back to my seat, taking the opportunity to tease Allison for the pinkness of her cheeks after relaying Scott’s excitement.

While she was engaged in conversation with Lydia I turned back to my hardback - the novelty of lacrosse had worn off long ago. But my gaze was quickly snapped up to Scott where he stood - or rather sat - in the goal after being knocked over, wincing in sympathy.

Not the best start.

I was practically peeking through my fingers to watch the next player shoot. But to my surprise, and everyone else's, his defense was flawless.

And he did it again.

And again.

And again.

Cheers of awe erupted at his sudden talent. He kept it up for so long it almost felt too good… Considering he hadn’t particularly been great at the game before, it was incredibly unusual, so much so that my jaw hung slack in the stands.

ੈ✩‧₊˚

a/n: hiya ! this chapters only a 2-parter because it’s the first episode so there’s a lot of stuff to introduce, future chapters will most likely be condensed into one part x

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[apocalypseornaw]

Wanna be Yours (Pt 1/5)

Sam Winchester x Reader

After years of hunting with Dean you finally meet his younger brother

@lacilou s genius idea

Every hunter had one thing in common, tragic backstory. The one event that fucked their lives up bad enough that they not only discovered that the things that went bump in the night were very real but they decided to not sit on the sidelines and to actually do something about it.

Your event? You'd gone camping with your family, your parents along with your aunt and uncle and a couple cousins. No one had heard anything about the so called animal attacks neither did anyone know how the hell to defend themselves when the wendigo attacked.

The initial bloodbath had been hell. Your dad and uncle were first gone, going at the beast straight in an attempt to save their families. Next came your mom and aunt, a last ditch effort to distract it while you and your cousins ran. The three of you barely made it half a mile before the beast caught you.

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

You'd assumed that was it, you'd die just like your family had. The beast had kept the three of you for days in a cavern. You'd seen it kill your older cousin, Derek was fourteen and had fought like hell so you begged it to spare to your younger cousin, Allie his little sister who was only four not knowing if it even understood you.

The begging seemed to lure it to you. It raised its clawed hand and you prepared for a slash that never came. Instead you heard someone yell "KIDS GET DOWN!"

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

You nodded to Allie and you both tucked down in as small of a ball as possible. The heat that filled the cavern was unbearable mixed with the scent of burning flesh along with the sounds of the creature as it died.

When it was over you untucked and was met with a woman, she was probably around your aunts age. Her brown hair braided back, wearing jeans and a red flannel of all things. A flamethrower was in her hands "You girls ok?" You nodded numbly "Help Allie first"

That was how you met Hayley Lynols. She was a second generation hunter. When it was discovered you had no legal guardian (Allie had gone to a relative of her dad's) Hayley had stepped in to offer you a place to stay.

She'd given you three options. One was a normal life, one was the life of a hunter and the third option was what she wanted you to take "I'll train you just like my dad trained me but you go to school and get a ged at least. Any kid of mine isn't going to be dumb in any way. If you want to hunt on your own some after you're eighteen that's you but just know I'll always be here to help"

You'd taken the third option. You'd buckled down on school and studied hard. You'd gotten a ged by the time you turned fifteen and started hunting with Hayley.

That was how you met Dean. You were nineteen, on the very first solo hunt Hayley had allowed you. She deemed it simple enough, a haunting case that seemed like it'd be a simple salt and burn.

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

She hadn't realized another hunter was already on the case. You stood across from the guy that had to be around your age, both of you carrying a duffle and a shovel.

Neither of you blinked so you decided to go out on a limb "Anthony Rowen?" He sort of laughed "You a hunter?" You nodded then motioned towards the grave that was about three feet from where the two of you stood "I say we work this together and it goes a lot faster" he nodded "I like that idea" then offered his hand "Dean" you shook his hand "Y/N, let's get to it"

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

Since the two of you weren't old enough for a bar you ended up at a diner, coffee and pie in front of you both as you talked about your lives. He told you about his father and brother and you told him about Hayley. Before you went your separate way you exchanged numbers and swore to keep in touch.

You'd see Dean off and on but when you were about twenty six he fell off the map for a while until he resurfaced about a year later with a simple phone call of "Y/N, I need some help"

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

You pulled your challenger to a stop next to Dean's impala and grabbed your phone to check the text as to what room he was in but before you could the door to room one fifteen opened and Dean walked out, shadowed by another guy. He looked a little younger than Dean with hair that borderlined shaggy but it was clear they were related. Could that be Sam?

You climbed out your car with a smile "Winchester!" Dean grinned and met you halfway pulling you into a hug "Y/N! It's good to see you" when the two of you separated he motioned to the other guy "This is my little brother Sam"

You turned your eyes towards Sam with a smile and offered your hand "I've heard about you for years, weird we're just now meeting but good to meet you" he grinned as he shook your hand "Good to meet you too" you had to admit, he was cute. Broad smile and dimples along with green hazel eyes that followed your every movement. You cut your eyes at Dean "Also, little brother? He's taller than you"

Sam laughed at your words, the sound was enough to pull a smile to your face "Oh I like her already" you winked at him "Stick around cutie, I'm a very likeable person" Dean shook his head "Let's get to work"

After that day you and the Winchesters started keeping in touch every few days. You hadn't known they lost John so you weren't able to be there for them but when you lost Hayley they'd driven straight across two states to get to your side.

--------‐--

You stood between them both, staring at the flames as they engulfed her body. You felt a shiver run through you and weren't sure if it was from the cold night air or losing the only parental figure you had left. "I'll go grab your jacket" Dean offered and headed for your challenger.

You and Sam stood silent for a few moments before he said "When dad died Dean wouldn't talk to anyone, let anyone in until he finally broke one day. Y/N I know we're not as close as you and Dean but you're my friend and if you need anything I'm here" you nodded, eyes never leaving the flames "Thanks Sam"

About that time Dean walked back over with your jacket and draped it over your shoulders "You know Y/N, I was thinking" you cut your eyes at Sam with a weak smile "Should we run?" A small smile slipped onto his face "Let's hear him out then we'll see if we need to"

"Ha ha very funny" Dean replied before continuing "Hayley always said she didn't like you hunting alone, you can always throw your hat in with me and Sam. We don't mind the company" you nodded "Maybe I will" a silence fell back over the three of you as the flames began to burn down to just embers.

@nelachu2423

@lacilou

[meloarto-me]

Hello sweet 🍬🍭cheeks may I have a request for Jason, bo, vincent, lester, michael, Thomas, Bubba, and brams with, S/O who really cares about them and has the character and attitude that is very suitable to be a wife. Not forgetting their sweet lips which always managed to make them kiss those lips AND ALSO SEXY.

You are free to ignore this request of mine. Plus I really like every story you make.

This sweet is just for you sweet cheeks 🍏🍎🍐🍊🍌🍉🍇🍓🫐🍈🍒🍑🥭🍍🥝🥨🧇🥞🍧🍨🍦🥧🧁🍰🎂🍮🍭🍬🍿🍫🍩🍪

LOVE YOU

Hhehehe! I like this idea! English is not my language.

Slasher with s/o who is fit for a wife and gives them lots of love.

Michael Myers

- I feel like at home?

- He hasn't felt love since he was in the institution.

-But having you by my side I feel this strange emotion called Love.

- Your sweet behavior will make his heart stop more than once.

-You made him dinner and waited for him? He won't admit it, but it made his heart weary.

- Hug him, ask for help with typically masculine things? I feel important and loved!

-He even started thinking about getting engaged to you.

-But he also loves when you kiss him sexually or not.

-The feeling of your lips on his body sends shivers down my spine.

-He also loves it when those sweet lips of yours do sinful things to him.

-Or moan his name like a prayer.

-God, why are you so perfect for him?" you make me feel more normal and loved.

Jason Voorhees

-I feel loved!

- You give him so much love and home warmth that his cold heart bursts with love and warmth.

- He will be such a cuddle for you that every stuffed animal hides.

-Your home warmth ignites family relations in it.

-Thought he would propose to you. his mom would like it.

- You're perfect for a wife.

-But your mouth.

-God melts as soon as your lips touch his skin.

-Always trembles when you kiss and touch him.

-Just looking at your lips makes me have sexual thoughts.

-When this happens, he runs away to the forest to calm down.

Brahms Heelshire

- You started as his babysitter so he already saw those domestic qualities in you.

-you were jealous of the doll. he wanted you to kiss him, not a doll!!!

-he loved your food, eyes, style, laundry, cleaning. everything about you and about you.

-Your love made him start a little but it helps you a little.

-Home wife, god loved it.

-But your lips and goodnight kisses.

-I'll tell you it jumped on something other than just one goodnight kiss.

Bubba

-You survived because you were perfect to take care of their home.

-Imagine how messy and muck there was.

-You've gone to work ever since.

-Bubba watched your actions from the sidelines and felt your heart beat every time you looked at him with a smile.

-You were cooking and Bubba was sure he was in love with you.

-He already knew you would be his wife.

-But when did you kiss him for the first time? God. he was in heaven.

-Your mouth drove him crazy.

-You turned him on and you didn't even do anything."

-He had to deal with the problem for a while. please leave him alone for now.

Thomas Hewitt

- whatever, but he knew you'd be the perfect wife.

-he knew it from the moment you helped Luddy May in the shop.

"But when did you start showing love to him?"

-It melted.

-Love for you grew involuntarily.

Your family already considered you a member of the family.

-But Thomas secretly thought you were the perfect wife for him.

- She'll tell you one evening.

-Do you want to excite him?

-kiss his hands, tell him how strong and beautiful he is.

-I don't promise you won't scream his name tonight.

Bo Sinclair

-At first he had a plan to take you to the basement in his workshop, but when you started talking to him with such love in your voice.

- He's held off for now.

He let you into the house and told you to stay there.

-He came back in the evening and was in complete shock to find the house tidy, dinner ready and you talking to Vincent.

-Can you feel jealous? maybe a little?

-But it passed quickly when you ran up to him, asked how his day was.

-Did you offer dinner, back massage, beer?

-God.

- You were perfect and you knew each other for one day.

-It took him a while to admit to himself that he loves you.

-Another plus about you is those plump lips.

-Bo loves to kiss, to see on his body.

-But he loves it best when they're wrapped around his cock.

Vincent Sinclair

-How did it come about in your home behavior?

-he himself don't know.

-It just kind of worked out.

You treated him normally

You didn't judge, you wanted to spend time with him.

- you kept it clean, you prepared the food.

-Even his brothers liked you.

-He fell in love with the feeling of your lips on his.

- He even noticed that he often painted them in different situations.

"When there's more going on between you two, she'll kiss you fervently."

-You have his lips on yours all the time

[poisonedfate]

hi <3 for that ask game, merthur #16? if you need details then i request fluffy merthur having breakfast in bed but i'll leave it up to you!!

send me prompts

16 - "You're getting crumbs all over my bed":

As soon as Merlin, along with the breakfast tray he was carrying, were what he deemed "close enough" to Arthur, he plopped down on the bed, legs dangling over the edge of it, the rest of him pressed comfortably in the messed up sheets. One more barely-there effort was made to push said breakfast towards Arthur before he let out a sigh that had been building up in his chest, allowing the softness of the bed to draw him in. 

"Good morning to you, too," Arthur muttered - if an eye roll were to be a tone in which one spoke, this would probably be it. Merlin just groaned in response. Arthur no longer questioned his antics, and Merlin had it in good confidence that Arthur quite liked having him in his bed. The other even let him have a few minutes of (almost) complete silence before speaking. 

"Why are you so tired today then?" the prince asked between bites, offering Merlin his usual cue for his complaints of the day - or rather, the day before. 

Today, however, Merlin didn't have any good reasons to give, so, instead, he decided to do the second-best thing.

"Well, because you treat me like an animal."

"I do not-," Arthur immediately countered, only to be interrupted by Merlin peaking up at him with one eye, beaming. 

The prince's unimpressed look was the last thing he saw before shutting his eyes again, though Arthur's expression had quickly changed to an amused one by the time Merlin was forced to look up again, a grape bouncing off his forehead. He feigned offence, as he propped himself up on one arm, but Arthur simply raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded his head as if to say 'this is what you get'. Merlin felt around the bed, looking for the poor abandoned grape - thankfully, it had rolled closer to him, tucked in between the bed and his side. Without taking his eyes off Arthur, he threw the grape in his own mouth, chewing on it more aggressively than any normal person would, making Arthur chuckle. 

He grabbed a handful of the grapes that were still left on the tray, before lying back down, smiling to himself. 

"Hey!"

"Sharing is caring."

"This isn't sharing, it's stealing."

"Stealing is......feeling," Merlin quickly retorted before adding, "and stop talking with your mouth so full."

He could hear Arthur shift for a moment, already knowing what was about to come.

"Don't tell me what to do," the prince answered, more muffled than before, mouth as full as he could get it. Merlin only groaned again.

"You're getting crumbs all over my bed."

"Your bed?" Arthur exclaimed, still half-muffled. Merlin stared at the ceiling, eyebrows slightly furrowed, wondering why that was the thing he had decided to say in the first place. 

"Well, I make it and keep it clean, I put you in it and take you out of it. You merely use it. I think by all accounts it's more mine than it is yours," he finally answered after a few moments. 

Arthur was silent then - as if he was actually considering what Merlin had said.

"Does that mean I'm yours too? You dress me and feed me and so on, I merely use this body-," Merlin interrupted him with a glare, though it didn't wipe off the stupid smile that had appeared on Arthur's face.

"I think I'm going to be sick," 

"Hey! It would be a privilege-"

"A privilege? You are a pain in my backside," Arthur faked offence at that just as Merlin had done earlier. 

"How dare you?" the prince leaned closer, positioning himself so that his face was now almost directly above Merlin's own. 

"What are you going to do? Throw more fruit at me?" he asked, tapping the grape he was holding between his fingers against Arthur's mouth before putting it between his own lips. A redness crept into Arthur's cheeks and Merlin couldn't help himself, as he put his weight on one of his arms again, getting even closer to the other.

"No? Didn't think so. Now why don't you get out of my bed and start your day, sire," he smiled, placing a quick kiss near - but not on - Arthur's mouth. 

"You," he paused, kissing Merlin on the lips this time, "can't tell me what to do."

"Ah, see, apparently, you're all mine so I think I can," Merlin smiled, leaping out of bed and out of Arthur's reach. 

[xlxvesxckx]

[I hope you'll love me one day]. Jotaro Kujo.

synopsis: Having a crush on someone like Jotaro was dangerous. But not because of him. It was the girls who hung around him like buzzards who would make your life hell, when all you wanted was to be loved by your friend.

warnings: bullying, violence, suicidal thoughts, angst, some comfort, jotaro being jotaro near the beginning.

Au: None Pairing(s): Jotaro Kujo x Reader Based off: Some personal experiences of mine (explain more in a/n).

A/n: I wrote this based off some experiences from Highschool of mine, I used to be bullied and I know how it felt to think no one had my back.. I wrote this as a comfort fic for myself mostly, but I know there's others who dealt with this as well. I just want you all to know that you are loved. Someone out there loves you, and if you don't think it then I'll be that person. I hope that you never feel alone again and know that you can turn to me if you ever feel down.

Heres my Kofi if ya wanna support my work! Enjoy the fanfic!

꒰ ୨୧ ─ ・┈ ・ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ─ ・┈ ꒱꒱

‘There he goes…’

You sigh watching the item of your affection walking past you with his unwanted entourage.

Who was this male you may ask? 

Well…

His name is Jotaro Kujo, he was the most popular boy in the school, against his will though. He was strong, known for beating up anyone who dared looked at him the wrong way.

You, were Y/n L/n, school outcast basically. You only had two friend to call your own and one was this weird ghost thing that followed you around. You called it piper, it was a pretty ghost like humanoid surrounded by music notes. It was a pale pink color and had no facial features besides a nose and mouth.

You were used to being alone, even when you went home you were alone. So to see someone like Jotaro who had people surround him effortlessly, you couldn't help but like him.

You had several classes with the male and he always peeked your interest, from the day he started back coming to school after being gone for 50 days. You saw something in him that none of the other girls saw.

And that was a normal human being.

"Oi! Y/n!"

You looked up from your spot to see Noriyaki Kakyoin coming towards you. He was one of the popular kids too, he was skilled at the arts and he was practically best friend with Jotaro.

You and him weren't best friends, but you consider Nori close enough to trust.

"Hi Nori! You need something?" You asked as your eyes wandered by over to Jotaro.

Kakyoin followed your eyes and a smirk landed on his features, one that you saw too often.

"Y/n….you already know what I'm about to say.."

"Nope. Nope. You can't make me!"

Kakyoin sighed as he sat beside you. "Come on, the two of you are practically alike! You both like peace and quiet, you both like to stay to yourself" Kakyoin was always trying to get you to admit that you liked Jotaro.

You had attempted to tell him before but that was right before he left for 50 days. When he came back, you could tell that something in him had changed. Kakyoin told you it was him being more sheltered from nearly losing some of his closest friends and family.

You chalked it up to him simply not wanting you around. Hell, you assumed he roped you in with the other girls he found annoying.

Kakyoin would try and keep your hopes up but you didn’t want to risk your feelings being hurt.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was white day. The day where people confessed to their crushes and gave things to the ones that they loved the most.

Your goal was to give Jotaro the sweets you’d worked so long on.

With help from Kakyoin and his mom, you managed to make several different sweets all in the shapes of marine animals since you heard about the stoic males love for marine life.

You made sure to decorate it in stars and made it a pretty black and purple box. “You know, The colors remind me a bit of Star Platinum.” You mumble to yourself and Kakyoin only chuckles at you.

Kakyoin had to basically force you to talk to Jotaro so you can get to know him better, he wanted you to be able to trust Jotaro and not see him as the big hulking brute. 

The three of you bonded over being the only stands users, a fact that you guys made sure of. Kakyoin remembers the relief that washed over your face when he and Jotaro showed you their stands, it reminded you that you weren’t alone…and only solidified your crush on Jotaro even more.

“It does. Now, are you actually gonna give it to him?” Kak teases nudging you as the two of you walk to your classes. You looked down at the box in your hand before thinking about it for a second. “If i can get him alone, I will.” “You know well that we are always on the roof for lunch…You can do it then.” 

You sighed as You arrived at your classroom, looking at Kakyoin, he gives you a mini salute and heirophant green gives you a little thumbs up. (Your Stand Name) echoes the same emotion that you have before you entered the classroom.

You had to make it past this class period and to lunch. 

That all you had to do, seems simple enough right?

“Oh here comes the weirdo~!”

Wrong.

There was a group of three girls that made your life a living hell.

Tsubaki, Neji and Kakura.

They basically were the heads of the weird little group that follows Jotaro around all the time. And because you were a girl, that was close to Jotaro they made your life a living hell. The only other girl they tried to mess with was Evan, but she graduated and always told them off. Evan was kind of your protector and then she had the nerve to graduate.

So now you had to deal with them yourself.

When you walked into class you managed to make it to your seat but as soon as you sat down, the box you worked so hard on was quickly snatched by tsubaki.

The chemically dyed blonde held it in her hand before smirking down at you. “Aww the little weirdo has a crush? Who in the hell would like your ass at this school??”

You stood up to get it back but was forced back into your seat by Neji and Kakura. 

"Wait…Is this for Kujo-San?"

"Ooo~ I think it is!"

"What makes you think Kujo-San would actually like this?"

She asked snarkily and you didn't want to answer it, but you started getting scared once you saw him walk into the classroom.

Tsubaki got this awful smirk on her face before standing up. "I'll go ask him myself~" You struggled to get up out of your seat but Neji and Kakura forced to down.

Neji getting out a switch blade before pressing it against your side.

"Move if you wanna bitch." She muttered.

You watched helplessly as Tsubaki walked up to Jotaro.

"Hiii Jojo~! Happy White Day!" She said handing the box to him. "I made this all by myself just for you, because you deserve the best~"

Jotaro raised an eyebrow before walking straight past her. He went to sit in his seat. Which was in the back row 5 seats across from you. You were surprised he even showed up today, you knew he despised this holiday so you wondered why he came.

Tsubaki stomped her foot and walked right back up to him, "Um, Jojo didn't you hear me? I made you a white day gift!" She reiterates, a bit louder this time making the male sigh.

"Yare Yare, if I ignored you then there's your fucking answer." He said coldly and Tsubaki, pouted.

"Well! Since you hated it so much, it's actually from the weirdo over there! Yea! Creepy Y/n made it! I think she's been stalking you because she mad-"

Jotaro cuts her off with a hand raise, You could feel his eyes move over to you. You froze as your eyes looked to where he was, you could see a slight dust of pink glide across his features. And as quick as it came it was gone.

"Didn't I say I don't fucking care? Get away from me." He then goes to a book he brought with him.

Tsubaki angrily looks back at you before walking back over with your box."That was all your fucking fault weirdo!" She yelled before sitting in her seat.

You sighed in relief as her two lackeys went to sit down too, leaving your box bon your desk.

You glanced back over to Jotaro only to lock eyes only to lock eyes with him.

You gave an embarrassed wave and he only gave a tilt of his hat.

That could've went way worst.

—-------------

Oh but it got worse.

After class you went to the bathroom, you wanted to make sure you looked presentable when you officially confessed to Jotaro. When you left the bathroom you went to the stairwell to get to the roof you bumped into the three stooges.

Tsubaki rolled her eyes as she walked over to you.

“Do you really think Kujo-san is gonna like you? He doesn’t like any fucking body.” She starts off rudely and you just try to ignore her, but that seemed like the wrong thing to do.

Tsubaki pulls you back by your shirt and forces you to the ground with a harsh thud. You cry out in pain as your back hits the hard. Tsubaki then reels back her foot and kicks you in the side.

“Don’t you dare turn your fucking back on me bitch!”

You curled up in a ball as her crew comes together to start kicking you, all of them yelling obscenities at you.

“Fucking Bitch!”

“Jojo will never love you!”

“Fucking weirdo!!” “Just Kill yourself already!!”

Your eyes widened at that last statement as tears started to fill your eyes. All you wanted was Jotaro to care about you. Yea he may seem standoffish, mean and rude. But you knew deep down that he was loving and cared about his friends. 

All you wanted was for him to recognize you as more than a friend. Not just the weird girl who he has to save from his posse of girls every other fucking day.

You felt useless, you couldn’t even get the energy to summon your stand as you were so weak. It hurt your heart and you just wanted to cry more.

Eventually you broke out into sobs as they continued their assault on you, Kicking and punching you.

Neji landed a particularly hard kick to the back of your head causing you to scream out in pain.

Tsubaki laughed at your suffering “That’s what you fucking get for messing with whats mine!!” She screamed at you. 

And as a final blow of disrespect, she opened the box of candy you spelt time lovingly making for Jotaro and dumped it out over you. She then threw the box at your head while she was laughing. 

“Come on girls..I’m tired of looking at this disgusting thing.”

You hear the three of them leaving but you don’t have the energy to get up and go after them.

“Kill yourself~! You’re fucking useless Y/n. Face it. He’ll never like you.”

Your entire body hurts. You feel weak, and you feel numb. You took a few hits to the head and could feel yourself going in and out of consciousness.

You didn’t want to go out like this..but with how you feel right now.

You really wanted to.

You should’ve known better than to have feelings for Jotaro, because you didn’t have to be worried about getting your feelings hurt by him.

You had to worry about getting hurt by his fangirls.

“Y/n?..”

Your eyes start getting heavy as you see a pair of shoes coming towards you.

“Y/n! Oh my God! Jotaro get over here quickly! She’s hurt!”

It was Kakyoin and Jotaro. You thought they were already up on the roof, you weren’t expecting them to come later. You wished that they were on the roof. That way if you were severely hurt from your injuries, you would die by yourself, and not in the arms of your friends.

Your feel your body get lifted off the floor and held close to a warm body. You used the remaining part of your strength to look up, locking eyes with a…worried Jotaro?

You couldn’t even question it as you felt yourself slipping to darkness, the last thing you heard was him cursing under his breath and the sound of him running.

“Fuck..Fuck. Please don’t fucking die on me…”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You open your eyes to darkness, looking around to see where you were.

‘Am I dreaming?’

You look down at your hands and see that you’re still in your school uniform. When you look back up you see Jotaro standing across from you with his back turned to you.

You give a weak smile before running over. “Jojo! Hey! Jotaro!” You place a hand on his back before seeing him snatch away from you. He turns to face you with a disgusted look on his face.

“Why the fuck are you touching me?”

You bring your hand with a confused look. “H-huh?..”

“Don’t you fucking huh me. Get the fuck away from me!”

He moves to walk away but you grab his arm. “Wait! Jojo we’re friends remember? Why are you acting like this??” You were on the verge of tears. You were confused you didn’t know where you were and now your friend didn’t want anything to do with you.

He scoffed before pushing you away. “Stay away from me. Do not talk to me ever again, I don’t want to be seen with you.” He started to walk away from you and you went to follow him but was blocked by an invisible barrier of some kind.

“W-wait! Jotaro Please! Please! Don’t leave me!!” You screamed banging on the barrier but it seemed he couldn’t hear you. Tears were now streaming down your face as you banged helplessly trying to get his attention, but he continued to walk away from you, not even bothering to look back.

“Please! PLEASE DON’T LEAVE ME!!!”

You jolted awake in shock, scaring the blonde woman that was sitting at your bed side. “Oh my! You’re awake! I’ll go get Jojo!” You watched the woman hurry out the room, you could barely register what she was saying but when you heard heavy footsteps coming towards the room. You assumed she was getting someone.

When you looked to the doorway that she went through, your eyes widened as Jotaro walked through the doorway. The male walked over to you and sat down near you. “Are…Are you okay?” He asked and you nodded slowly. Jotaro let out a sigh of relief before pulling you into his arms.

He placed his face in the crook of your neck as he held you. You were about to protest before you felt something wet against your neck, “Jotar-” “Shh..Please. Just let me hold you.”

You stayed silent as he rocked back and forth with you in his arms. Jotaro soft cries filled the room and you felt awful. You couldn’t help but wrap your arms around him as best as you could.

“I thought i lost you…I thought I lost you because of those stupid fucking bitches.” You hear him mutter and he soon lifts his head to place his forehead against yours. This is an emotion you’ve never seen from the male, and it scares you a bit to be honest.

“I came so close to losing all my friends when we went to egypt. I don’t want to come home and lose you.” He raises one of his hands to cup your cheek before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on your lips. You gasp softly, your mind was freaking out, Jotaro is kissing you, he was kissing you!!

Jotaro pulls away and gives you a soft smile. “Hey, say something…I’m trying to make sure you’re alright.” You giggle softly and return the smile. “I’m alright Jojo..just a little shocked right now..after all I thought you-”

“You thought I hated you by the way I acted? Far from it. I was afraid something like this was going to happen. I knew how those girls were. I’m sorry.” Jotaro interrupts before placing your head on his chest. You could hear the soft beating of his heart and was about to talk when he beat you to it. “You hear that?..” He asks and you nods. He chuckles quietly, “That only beats for you. I’m sorry, i promise to protect you from now on.”

“I love you Y/n..”

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

I want all of you to know that if you ever feel down, just know that there is someone out there that loves you. and if you think there isn't, think again because I am one of them. <3

I love you all, take care of yourself please and have a good day/night/afternoon.

[subway-boss-jericho]

(threataning with art anon) yes! Rambles! Also you are so incredibly real for imagining all that stuff in different mediums (I have had similar experience) wish I could make a full animated film. That would be So Cool.

And! At one time or another I think I’ve read through the majority of the aus, but you are so right I freaking. Love the Mech AU. And coupled (uncoupled) looks like it would a verrry interesting character study (in like a “I wouldn’t do this but ingo would. Huh” kinda way)

help I’m reading them all again

also! I am here to encourage prattling I love prattling (it gives me more ideas for drawing-)

Hiii hii welcome back thank you for continuing to enable me :D

:D Yayy I'm so thrilled you like them. I never know if people actually think my wild bullshit is interesting or they just follow me for one thing (wheeze) ((Which, to be clear, is still totally fair and valid. No shame)) Of the AUs I've uploaded, I think the one that has gotten disproportionately ignored the worst is Coupled (Uncoupled). I am fucking obsessed with the coupled twins, and you're exactly right on the money there because holy Shit it's Such a character-study-rich situation to put them in. They were my in my top 3 indisputably Favorite AUs for a very long time (along with Steady Tracks and Spirit Keeper as the other two) and while I feel like I'm not super vocal about them they're still extremely high on that metaphorical list.

Realistically I could never actually list my Favorites, for the same reason why I can't really pick favorite pokemon. I like all my AUs for different reasons, so I may like one aspect of a given AU more than a different aspect of a different AU, but actually Ranking them As Favorites would be virtually impossible. Just know that I'm horribly fucking ill about coupled uncoupled more than most of the other smaller ones. Some day I'll vibe check you all so fucking hard with art or animation or writing out of left field that is about them, and then none of yall fucks will ever be normal again /lh /j

Actually. I've been struggling to write a caption for this thing so I can post it for months. Check this out:

I'M SO NORMAL ABOUT THEM.

Slaps top of this guy. He can fit two people's worth of the worst existential socio-emotional crises in him. I love gel pens.

I've decided to keep rambling about whatever the fuck on this topic, but I'm putting a cut here for my sanity:

Anyway! I really did make this AU entirely because I saw a fandom trend and went Whoa! Did we consider The Implications! And then didn't wait for an answer. Considering the implications is actually the Thing I Do the Most as I am writing in general, as any friend of mine can easily confirm. It's how a decent number of my AUs happened. I also have a trend towards either 1. trying to make an AU that doesn't touch on anything I've seen other people doing or 2. is explicitly inspired by what I perceive as trends in the fandom. Coupled Uncoupled is one of the latter, being directly inspired by Diamond Crossing. God I was not normal about diamond crossing. I'm Still Not Normal about diamond crossing.

I'm a HUGE fan of fusion in media, just in general. I don't actually know a whole lot of examples off the top of my head other than steven universe, but fusion as a concept drives me totally crazy. What if you and your friend/best friend/closest ally/rival/enemy/lover/a stranger etc could be the same person through a process so crazy intimate and vulnerable that it forces you to expose your deepest weaknesses, insecurities, emotions and motivations fully and without restraint. Sure I can be normal about that 👍

But yeah coupled uncoupled isn't like, me looking at Diamond Crossing or any other fic for that matter and going "I could do it better/I don't like insert plot point A," it was actually me looking at diamond crossing and going holy FUCK this is the COOLEST SHIT I'VE EVER SEEN. I need to participate in this or I am going to die. Then I came up with a million different ideas of fusion stories I thought would be interesting to tell, identified aforementioned trope of using the b2/w2 DNA splicers as a plot device, and went. ohohohohohohhoohohohoo i could do something silly and fucked up me thinks.

What if fusion was great and cool and awesome and a coping mechanism for a trauma/grief and also not what you thought and also more than you bargained for and also didn't give you the closure you were expecting and ALSO you didn't know how to make it stop.

Fusion as a mistake. Fusion as a regret. Fusion as a character flaw. Fusion as a major conflict (that isn't inherently connoted about?? forms of abuse and toxic relationships?? can we use fusion as a metaphor for other nuanced things too?? pls let me have this /lh)

Anyway their story is extremely complex and just by listing off ^ that I am extremely underselling the level of interwoven conflict and complicated emotional states of all parties involved so please do not misunderstand and think that one of the twins is fucked up and evil. I swear i didn't mischaracterize them that badly 🤣 The main point of the story, just off the top of my head, is actually focused around the theme of vulnerability, conflict resolution, and the strength of relationships founded on communication.

Trying to avoid spoiling The Entire Plot because I really think Coupled (Uncoupled) is going to be my next major fic project but in essence it does get better and this new tool available to them only opens the door for them to be closer than ever before and express care and compassion in new ways unique to them. i might make myself cry if I keep yammering. i care them

God I totally just used your ask as an excuse to go off. I've been doing that every time you send an ask, actually. This is why I love asks. Tysm <3 And I hope you enjoyed reading or if you didn't and TL;DR then basically god i'm so ill about them.

Every day I think about how a friend of mine made an entire animatic for this AU and yet we can't put it anywhere because we both want to remake it digitally. thats going to be one hell of a day when that bombshell drops

Thank you for the ask, and as always thank you for listening!

Coupled (Uncoupled) Masterpost

[surplus-of-sarcasm]

31st Story, Part 2

TW: Blood, implied past captivity and torture, stitches, wound description, angst, corrupt system, issues regarding figure (brief), bruises, angst, knife, touch starvation

Part 1

Guess who's back with a hella long piece. vacay from college for some time with semester 1 over, woo! enjoyyy 💙

“So how did you sleep?” the vigilante asked as she walked downstairs to find the villain sitting cross-legged on her couch. 

“Well,” he answered evenly, emotionlessness overtaking his tone as usual. It wasn't a complete lie; he'd slept better than he had in a long time, but his eyes had wrenched open a little after sunrise, even though he wasn't a morning person. He couldn't relax too much into this life, the knife he took shoved into the pocket of his sweatpants, but she didn't need to know that. 

“I'll make us breakfast,” she announced.

“I'll help you out,” he offered, even though he knew she could probably infer what his motives were. He still wasn't taking any chances anyway. 

She nodded curtly in response, leading him to the kitchen. And he'd almost wished someone had warned him about the whiplash of doing something so outlandishly casual with your enemy, as he watched her make a sandwich and soon enough followed suit, still hyper aware of the knives and the boiling water in the kettle. 

And of course, nothing was lost on Vigilante, even if she probably wasn’t half as nervous as he was, the half-frantic, wild animal wrapped in the poorly fitting garment of someone calm and collected. “Are you always this tense?” she questioned as she sat down at the table and he sat opposite from her.

“Just hungry,” he shot back smoothly, a seasoned liar. Sure, he technically was half-starved, trying to eat slowly just so he wouldn’t retch, but if that was the case, he would’ve relaxed when he ate.  

The vigilante said nothing as she took a bite of her sandwich, but her disbelieving eyebrow raise needed no further additions. 

The villain’s grip tightened on his mug as he worried his frayed bottom lip between his teeth,”What do you want? If you’re going to question every micro-gesture of mine, then why’d you bring me here?” His voice was hoarse with exhaustion, probably from all the screaming he couldn’t muffle, not that he cared.

“I get it,” the vigilante said placatingly, even though it was clear she was somewhat irritated. She wasn’t a goddamn bleeding heart just oozing compassion and patience, not that he expected any different. “You’re afraid of getting hurt.” 

“I am not afraid of crap, Vigilante.” It came out softer than he’d intended, almost as though he was the one trying to calm the situation, a new trait of people-pleasing a new and heavily despised survival skill he’d recently acquired. 

The vigilante wanted to argue, but she also knew that from the day she’d walked into his cell and pulled him out, that she’d been walking on thin ice. That the man in front of her wasn’t his normal, unflappable self that could dish out a lot worse than whatever she dared to throw at him, so for the rest of this tense, awkward breakfast, they both remained quiet. 

It had taken them about two hours of trepidation spent in the opposite ends of the living room for Vigilante to break the silence. “So, about the plan,” she started.

“Yeah?” he asked, now turning to face her. 

“We can’t fight her by traditional means. We don’t have the time to amass an army big enough to rival my sister’s own. The main thing we need to do is find some way to desecrate that shining image of hers,” she explained. 

The villain let out a low hum as though he was contemplating something, but the slight shift in the nature of his gaze indicated he’s noticed something. “Knocking your sister off of her pedestal is surely going to gain you some traction,” he noted. 

“I don’t care much for the spotlight,” she countered. 

“I know. But you seem to care about making sure your sister doesn’t have everything. Still, that isn’t the issue anyway.”

And again, he was right. There is something so utterly sickening of being born in someone’s shadow, of having all your power from someone else’s name. Vigilante was only formidable in people’s eyes because it was required of Superhero’s sister. Again, she’d never claimed to be dramatically selfless.

Still, she took note of how the villain made no effort at eye contact, his eyes trained on the pattern of her wooden coffee table, but she refrained from commenting. “Right. The general idea is, if the adoring public find out what she does to the people in her custo-”

The villain, in his most daring act of the day, had let out a sardonic snort. “Oh, save it. I don’t think you realise that how people like me are treated doesn’t really irk anyone. Because that’s how the world works, it’s easier like that. I’m not the most notorious, but it’s safe to say I’m ‘famous’ enough,” he made air quotations with his fingers, “People usually want to know about the trial, when it comes to people they’ve heard of, but no one gave a damn. No one cared to know I never really got a trial in the first place. Because they were just relieved that the Big Bad Guy was off the streets. Locked up somewhere. It doesn’t matter that my record says I’m guilty of crap I’ve never done. Because technically, I’ve committed my fair share of my crimes, what’s more to the pile? Hell, if it keeps me locked away for all eternity, then why not?” 

This time, the villain’s gaze was steely, his teeth gnashed together and his tone harsh, and yet before she’d even commented, the villain was quick to force the muscles of his face to work on pulling it into a blank expression, his hand going to his pocket. 

Where, unbeknownst to Vigilante, the knife from yesterday was. .  .

It took her a moment to register his words and realise he was right. The likes of Villain wouldn’t garner the sympathy of the same people that cheered when they were locked up, at every suffocating press conference where her sister’s airy voice seemed to ring in her ears. 

But how else was she supposed to rouse some sort of public outcry against her sister? She needed the key, the concept, the idea, and from that she could form a plan. It was why she thought of asking the villain in the first place. 

“Then what should we do to get people to notice?” 

The villain’s pale hand made its way out of his pocket, his expression still nearly unreadable. “Your sister’s clever. She’s almost untraceable, and uncovering her shady past would be difficult. Or actually, more difficult than having her do something terrible now.” 

“So you’re saying we somehow force her to commit some sort of terrible crime?” 

“Force is the wrong word. It wouldn’t be a choice she wouldn’t make on her own accord. And that’s our selling point. No one needs to make her pull underhanded crap because she’ll take that choice anyway. And from then, whatever it is you want to reveal is actually going to have a basis.” 

The villain straightened his posture, pulling his now slightly loose fitting hoodie down so straighten a wrinkle only for it to come down with a strange difficulty, like it was stuck to his skin, the man letting out a soft hiss. 

“You alright?” she asked. 

“Fine,” he answered curtly, getting up. He knew exactly why his jacket had stuck to his form in the first place, and he really didn’t need Vigilante’s supposed concern. There’s a lot worse he’d seen in his life, in those three months alone than some old scratch reopening. Walking into his room, he shrugged his hoodie off in front of the mirror only to notice that the stupid scratch was in an area he could barely reach, deeper and uglier than he thought, blood running down it in crimson rivulets, exposed tissue that was barely healing showing too. He didn’t know where the gauze was, or how he’d even manage treating the wound. And somehow, his past vanity, or rather basic awareness of his appearance that he now called vanity hadn’t completely faded away considering he noticed bone and skin where muscle used to be and the ridiculous amount of bruises adorning his figure in various shades of dusty purples and browns; every sign of how his captors had turned him into a punching bag for all their sadistic cravings. 

“Villain?” 

Hell no. He didn’t want anyone in this room with him while he looked like this, frantic again and wishing he could rip his hair from its roots. He almost didn’t care that he was still bleeding and it hurt to shift even slightly, or that his wound felt warm to the touch and was probably infected. He sat there on the bed, gripping onto the sheets like they were the only thing tethering him to the world around him. “Just,” he faltered. As much as the villain hated it, he couldn’t do crap right now without her help. He bit his lip again and exhaled slowly. “Come in.” 

She cursed softly when she looked at the wound, the scarlet already snaking down his lower back now. It didn’t take her long to come back with a whole lot of first aid equipment. “This’ll hurt,” she said slowly. 

All she got was a low grunt in response as she pressed antiseptic-soaked gauze to his back, and even though he barely let out a noise, didn’t move out of the way, his shoulders still tensed up under the pain. 

Involuntarily, she stroked a hand through his hair, a reflexive action even though the vigilante wasn’t particularly touchy, especially with her enemy turned ally of convenience. He turned to stare at her, looking nothing short of surprised, but not irritated or afraid. He turned around again as she stitched up his wound and tended to his other scratches, surprised how well he was holding out. The villain barely flinched through the process, but again the man had always been surprisingly enduring.

The villain seriously didn’t remember the last time anyone had tended to his injuries, even before getting captured. He’s sure someone did, during the times he couldn’t do it himself, but no one had ever run a hand through his hair when he’d tensed up or anything of the sort. He despised the fact that it hadn’t irritated him, instead he was left there dumbfounded, half-wishing she would do it again and half-grateful she refrained from it, from making him feel so bloody exposed like that. This entire ordeal, how strangely gentle the vigilante had been with him, how he slowly relaxed even though the idea of being this vulnerable, this close to one of his enemies terrified him.

The villain didn’t like to feel things that weren’t dry, controlled anger or smugness or absolutely nothing. So he didn’t, pretended he couldn’t until he believed it. 

Every lie dies in the end, no?

The vigilante had got up to hand him a new t-shirt that he slowly pulled on, minding his wounds but still refusing any help with it. “Thanks,” he mumbled awkwardly. 

“Y-you thank people?” she asked, half out of genuine surprise and half to lighten the mood. 

The villain didn’t smile, but his lip twitched up ever so slightly with a half-smirk, “I’m a villain, but I’m not a complete tactless bastard.” 

“I guess you could say that, and you’re welcome. I’ll just go clean up. Put your jacket in the basket over there.” The vigilante looked down at her bloodstained hands, and the villain gave her a curt nod. 

He was lucky she hadn’t taken the jacket herself, or noticed the knife somehow, and he could still keep it. It felt even scummier after right now, when she could’ve just let him bleed out, or made it worse since she was this close to him. He didn’t even know what she would try the second he was no longer useful. 

Carefully, he lowered his form onto the bed, letting out a soft groan. This was the strangest stage of his life yet, he presumed. 

So many times, life is about choosing the worst option, the choice you’d swore to never make, about condemning yourself to being at the mercy of the unknown. People will scream at you to avoid the lion’s den, but sometimes it is the only shelter from a raging storm ready to destroy you into nothing. And yet, maybe there is wisdom in the most foolish decisions, and safety in the most dangerous risks. Because even if you’re riddled with deep wounds and scars, even those can heal under care, even in the most unexpected places.

✨️Le Taglist: @larinzz @syberianjade @lateuplight @altu-interactions @enbious-prince @astr0-mj @thelazywitchphotographer @a-fucking-simp-00 @addictedsandwhichaki @justalittlecorrupted @quaggasus @theangstyclown @vernilliom @mothmancommitsarson @starssabove @kurai-hono-blog @talkingsperm @muffinrebel44 @sunnynwanda @annablogsposts @cardboardarsonist @itsmyworld23 @onlywhump @m3rakii @crotchgoblin69 @wtfevenisausername @pendarling @avloki-pal @kaiwewi @those-damn-snippets @genuinelythioehat-is-whump @ghostofnorth

Wanna be on the taglist? This'll take you there!

[i-am-worm]

(This is an old idea I had for Quarians here, I just think Tali looks adorable in this old pic, lol).

Today's inktober word is 'Nomadic' and this made me think about Quarians in the game Mass Effect. And to my self-imposed horror, I realized I never bothered uploading my ideas for what they looked like back in the day. I went through a phase like that. I did lots of stuff back in 2010 and never really uploaded it...Possibly for the best, as it looks pretty rough in places now, but I did want to share some of my ideas before I upload my more current version from today.

I did at least upload my concepts for the Volus and the Raloi though (two other unseen races in game, one is coved up, and the latter just mentioned in other media). You can see them here:

Quarians are masked aliens in game and back in the day, I had to have my graphic settings turned WAY down in order to play mass effect. Have my low graphic crunchy Shepard

Because of that, I never saw the two glowing eyes or slightly human nose bridge reflection you can see in a normal setting. So I had in mind an alien species that somewhat resembled the Geth - a race of AI the Quarians themselves made:

So I was picturing something with one eye, armour and maybe even mandibles? So here is my first go:

BUT later on, when I played Mass Effect 2 on a better pc, I was disappointed that you could see a bit of a human face. No matter- I could still work with this.

MORE BELOW so I don't clog up your feed with ancient quarian debates I should have posted a decade ago, lol.

So I got to playing around with ideas, using my old ones. I mean- Quarians are mentioned to be attractive to Turians and later Javik mentions that ancient Quarins looked attractive. And they look like this:

So definitely not very human....right?

One thing I also noticed was that male Quarians have a flat nose compared to females, almost like a muzzle. (screenshots are mine, the model I downloaded back in the day and can no longer find a source sadly)

And that made me think about the sci-fi trope of cat people.

Seriously, these are just some of the books on my bookshelf that contain sci-fi cat people, and that's the ones I could find off the top of my head:

It makes sense; Mass Effect is a bit of an amalgamation of sci-fi tropes into new ideas. You have the insect race (Turains), Warring tank race (Krogun), the classic 'Grays' (Salarians), Animal-like with tentacles (Hanar), The 'sexy human female but a colour' (Asari). etc. etc. yadda yadda.

So I sat down and tried to design something that sort of encompassed all these ideas, Geth-like, attractive to Turians, Javik and maybe even humans...and a little bit of space cat thrown in.

So this was my first idea that I meant to upload back in 2012.

I think I wasn't happy with the body and I had meant to come back to it. I had over the next few years dabble din other sketches, even going back to the drawing board on the face.

I think what stopped me was the things we learned from Mass Effect 3. If you romance the Quarian Tali, you can see a photo of her face!...

...they were purple humans.

LAME.

But recently, The legendary edition took the critique on board and revamped the picture to the one on the right. Now they look ...even MORE human.

EVEN MORE LAAAAME.

Utter disappointment. Now I always knew that if Bioware revealed the Quarian face they would disappoint some people, but this was such a missed opportunity to design something unique. Bioware did they that they were worried if it was too alien, it would be hard for cosplayers to dress up? But come on, cosplayers love a challenge and will overcome anything. We knew they had two eyes and a nose bridge, it didn't have to be too alien, just alien enough.

TALI RAGE.

BUT the best answer is to REJECT CANNON.

And in a moment I'll upload my more updated Quarian idea.

[elena-mayfair]

Choices that define us

Paring: Bruce Wayne x f!reader, Batman x f!reader Genre: Thriller, mystery, with elements of slow-burn romance Warnings: rating T+/M, gore and violence, strong language, themes of depression, depictions of mental illness Summary: "This was supposed to be a new beginning, the beginning of a bright new future…" you recalled the optimistic thoughts that filled your mind when you first set foot in Gotham City. But Gotham City turned out to have other plans for you. "How did I get here?" you wondered. Between the Joker and Harleen and Batman and Bruce Wayne, between near-death experiences and sessions with Professor Crane, in an endless loop of constantly recurring nightmares, attempts to contact Harleen, and the bold decisions. "What am I doing?"Word count: 10.5k Note: Gifs are not mine, credit to the authors.

Series masterlist

***

"No" two letters, one syllable, that's how much Batman answered to your question. For a moment you looked at him surprised, not quite believing your ears. "No?" you asked in a whisper, anger rising in you second by second, "No?!" you stood up abruptly and measured him with a furious look, "isn't that what you do? She needs help! And you have the opportunity to help her and you refuse?!" you asked Batman, who before your eyes turned from an empathetic man into a stern, cold mythical being. He stood in front of you measuring you with an unwavering stare, while his posture betrayed no emotion, "how can you say no?!" you tried but he looked at you with eyes hidden under a mask and in an icy tone ended the discussion, "leave it or I'll have you arrested for interfering with the investigation."

Sitting back in the office, tapping angrily on the keyboard, you tried your best to focus on your work but his words still echoed in your head. The cold and harsh tone of his voice, the threat of arrest, the last glance, his shape looming faintly in the sky as he rose above the rooftops. At that moment, when you asked him for help, you were sure he would agree. After all, you had spent two weeks reading incessantly about how much good he had done for the city, how many people he had helped, how many he had saved, how he had restored hope in the hearts of Gothamites. The words Batman and hope so often appeared side by side, and yet, he refused.

Days had passed since that evening and yet, the echo of his words refused to leave you. Days have passed since you went back to work and yet, every day your own words echoed in your head. "I can't just go back to work and normal life," you said, and each passing day convinced you more and more of the truth of your words. When you first stood in front of the majestic Wayne Enterprises building more than two months ago, you felt joy and excitement. With your eyes open, you were daydreaming your bright future, the growth opportunities you would get, the possibilities to build your new life. Now, as you sat in front of your computer, you felt trapped, like an animal that had tasted a little freedom only to find itself caged again. The numbers didn't line up in equations, the drawings of the project didn't look perfect, and your focus kept slipping away with a longing look out the window. For the world outside the window was frightening, it was full of horrible people doing nightmarish things, but it was also thrilling, alluring, exhilarating. What was mundane work, even for a prominent company like Wayne Enterprises, compared to loud stuffy clubs, to chases with a gun put to your forehead, to late-night strolls along the bank of the bridge, to long fascinating conversations over a mug of coffee when everyone had gone to bed, to the feeling of flying when you soared above the surface of the water in Batman's arms. Some part of you felt ashamed to admit it, but secretly, you longed for it. You longed for that feeling of wild freedom, for the threat that could end your life in the blink of an eye, for the adrenaline pumping through your veins, for the cool thrill of excitement every time he spoke in a cold stern tone. Batman. He possessed your every thought causing you to follow the news every day, forcing you to go out to the observation deck after work every evening longingly looking out for his symbol in the night sky, causing you to replay your encounters over and over again even while at work. Every gesture he made, every step he took, every word he said to you was imprinted in your mind and you could once again see clearly the contradictions colliding with each other. Because in your eyes, Batman was just that, a clash of contrasts like all of Gotham. The Dark Knight, the crime-fighting vigilante bringing pale terror to the faces of criminals by his mere appearance. A defender who put his life on the line to protect those who could not protect themselves. Manece, capable of knocking down several armed assailants in the blink of an eye. A savior, diving into the depths to save the life of a stranger. There was strength and authority in him, under which even his partners yielded, but also kindness and concern, which he did not have to show at all. There was something else, something infuriating, something that wouldn't let you just "go back to normal life." Something that made you stare mindlessly at the computer screen instead of paying attention to your surroundings, oblivious to the approaching footsteps.

"Good morning," a soft voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

"Mr. Wayne," you whispered surprised raising your gaze above the computer screen. Bruce Wayne, stood in the doorway of your office, with a barely discernible smirk wandering across his face. He leaned against the doorframe with his hands nonchalantly shoved in the pockets of his perfectly tailored black suit, and you couldn't help but wonder how long he had been looking at you like that, "I'm sorry, I didn't hear you coming," you stood up abruptly, realizing that it wasn't polite to sit in the presence of the company's CEO.

"It's okay," he replied maintaining a gentle tone, "I saw you were busy, I didn't want to interrupt you. Lucius reported that since you came back from sick leave you are not allowing yourself to be sent home and you are working for twelve hours a day."

"I thought I was contracted for non-regular, task-based working hours," you replied maintaining a professional tone, "I didn't think that would be a problem."

"It's not a problem," he replied softly, "don't get me wrong, I'm glad you're feeling well after that terrible accident you had. But that doesn't change the fact that your engagement caught Lucius' attention, and consequently mine."

"I have wasted enough time…"

"You suffered an accident, a fortuitous situation. You can't hold that against yourself. None of us do."

"And yet I feel I must make up for it," you replied stiffly. Bruce merely continued to stand leaning against the door and looked at you intently, "Excuse me for asking Mr. Wayne, but what brings you here? It seemed to me that the CEO has more important things on his mind than keeping an eye on lower-level employees."

"I'm not checking on you, not on your work to be precise," he replied shortly, "I pay close attention to Wayne Tech, I'm sure I told you that. Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing," he took two steps inside your office and pushed the door behind him without closing it completely, "I hope you don't mind."

"No, not at all," you replied with a smile yet you struggled to hide the irritation caused by his sudden appearance, "this is your company."

"But your office," he smirked, "so, how do you feel Y/N? To be injured in a car accident, that must have been horrible," the blue eyes watched carefully as if observing your reaction.

"Unexpected, that's for sure," you replied, "but I feel fine, physically at least. My shoulder still hurts, but the doctors said that's normal with joint damage. And I'm managing with the rest, a friend is helping me."

"I'm glad to hear it," he replied sincerely, "if you need anything…"

"I'm fine, Mr. Wayne," you interrupted him.

"I thought we were past that," the smirk returned to his face, arching a surprised brow.

"We're at work," you replied in a hushed tone, "forgive me if I don't feel comfortable addressing the company CEO by his first name on professional grounds."

"Forgiven," the discreet smirk irritated unbearably, "speaking of professional ground, wouldn't you mind sharing with me what you're working on?"

"Sure," you replied shortly and sat down at your desk, "this is just the start of a project. Mr. Fox gave me a few others to choose from but the events of the last few days inspired me to do something else," you explained as you opened the files and arranged them across the three monitors. Bruce made his way through the office and stood behind your chair, bringing with him the energizing scent of fresh citrus, smoothed by woody and musky notes.

"Some kind of detection system?" he asked leaning closer to the computer screen, placing one hand on the desk the other resting on the back of your chair. The scent of his fragrance lingered in your nose sharpening your senses, making you hyperaware of yourself. "Does this dress show too much cleavage? I forgot to put on my bracelets. Why do I have such a mess on my desk? I should straighten up, I hunch over. My hands look awful with these bloody cuticles," the thoughts ran rapidly through your mind, one after another.

"That's right," you said focusing on the design displayed on the screen, "but not some kind of. A system designed to detect increased activity in the city meant to warn Gotham citizens of a potential threat," you explained.

"May I?" Bruce asked, gently taking the mouse from you, "continue please," he encouraged while clicking through the project files.

"My recent accident as well as the events of the last few weeks that have been talked about in the news inspired this idea in my mind. First the shootout at the docks, then the Joker's escape from Asylum and the chase through central Gotham. Miraculously, only three people were injured…"

"How do you know?" he glanced at you out of the corner of his eye.

"I've been reading online," you replied evasively, "anyway, it all gave me an idea. What if we created a system to detect increased activity in the city that could send alerts to the people of Gotham warning them of potential danger?"

"You'd want to use telecommunication boxes, traffic lights, and radio towers for this," he analyzed points plotted on a map of Gotham.

"Wayne Tech owns most of the telecommunications and radio network in the city," Bruce nodded confirming, "we could use the already existing points spread throughout the city. On top of that, we could install the system in traffic lights, CCTV cameras and coordinate everything by triangulating the signal to the radio towers," you continued to explain.

"What would be detected?"

"At first, I thought to base the system on existing in the city speed limits and coordinate them with traffic lights. In case the limit was significantly exceeded and the registered vehicle ignored the traffic light, the sensors would send a signal to a radio tower, which in turn, coordinated with the telecommunications network, would send out alerts to citizens," you took the mouse out of Bruce's hand and clicked through several files, presenting a diagram of how the sensors would work, "this solution, however, seemed too flawed to me."

"Detecting every increased traffic would send too many irrelevant notifications unnecessarily spreading panic…"

"Exactly! So then I thought about adding a camera system and face detection software, but I think the city government and some of its people could find that…"

"Unethical…" he finished for you.

"Yup!" you confirmed and smiled faintly seeing his visible interest, "having crossed out these two solutions, I started to think what else could be detected. I thought of detecting sounds and the air's chemical composition," Bruce shifted positively surprised blue eyes from the computer screen to you, "criminals are unlikely to operate silently. This method may be flawed, but by my calculations, it has at least a 65% success rate. Sound detection based on specific sound waves to eliminate accidental detection. Sound waves such as those emitted by screeching tires, gunfire, the shouting crowd, the sound of shattering glass, an explosion."

"What about detecting a chemical alteration of the air?" he asked without breaking eye contact.

"An additional precaution to eliminate accidental detections. We would have to design really accurate and sensitive sensors, able to detect the slightest change in the air but based on its chemical composition. I was thinking that the sensors could detect gun smoke fumes, chemicals released during explosions, carbon, nitrogen, nitroglycerine, mercury fulminate, lead styphnate," you listed, "we could present the design to the police and get the chemical composition of the toxins the Joker has used in the past. I was thinking that one more safety feature could be added in the form of supersonic sensors to detect blast waves in an area, but I don't have that worked out yet."

"You worked it all out in four days?"

"I've been working too much," you smiled playfully, "I know that's not what I was supposed to do but…"

"This is good," he interrupted you, "really good."

"You think so?" excitement crept into your professional tone.

"Yeah, really impressive," he returned his eyes to the screen, "it requires the development of new technologies, especially sensors, but the idea itself is really impressive."

"I know it would require a lot of financial resources to implement the project, but if you give me the green light I will refine it! I'll develop new technologies, design the required components, plan tests and proofing methods, sparse risk levels and an implementation plan," seeing his interest you didn't hesitate, "Bruce! Imagine how many needless accidental casualties we could avoid with such a system! We could deploy the system to hospitals, the police and the emergency services, thereby improving response. We could design a mobile application for smartphones, voluntary to install, thus avoiding unnecessary dissenting voices and unfavorable public opinion that would probably want to turn this against us and argue it as an infringement! Bruce! Every time when something bad happened in the city people could just stay home and avoid the danger!"

"You've really thought it all through," he smiled fondly.

"I've had a lot of time to think lately," you replied innocently, "what you think?"

"Keep working on it," he replied, "you have the green light. I'll inform Lucius not to assign you any additional work for the next few months."

"Yes!" escaped happily, "sorry, but I'm really glad that you approve of my idea."

"And I'm really glad that I hired you," he replied straightening up, "send it all to me please. To me and to Lucius. I'd like to study your concept in detail," he added heading back toward the door, "good work."

"Thanks!" the wide smile didn't disappear from your face, "you'll have a link to the share drive tonight."

"Speaking of tonight," he stopped in mid-step, "I still owe you a stroll," he added softly.

You blushed not knowing what to answer. The sudden change in tone and direction of the conversation completely threw you off balance.

"Bruce… I'm sorry but I think this time I'll ask for a raincheck," you replied hesitantly, "don't get me wrong but after my accident, somehow, damn…" you stumbled over your words.

"What about dinner, then?" he asked and that rage-inducing smirk crept onto his face again, "Saturday night?"

"Bruce, you're my boss…"

"Lucius Fox is your boss, I just sign papers and spend money," he smiled wider, "Italian or Asian?"

"Italian," you smiled meekly, "after last weeks Asian is enough for me for the next six months."

"Italian it is," he agreed, "I'll pick you up at let's say 6 pm," he added, then without waiting for your answer he left your office leaving you confused, shocked and happy.

"Bastard is smooth…" you chuckled to yourself in disbelief at what had just happened, "damn smooth…."

***

Twelve miles southeast of Gotham in the Bristol Township amidst the towering hills and green woods a lonely Wayne Manor stood. Huge, lavish, majestic, a symbol of wealth and prosperity hidden deep within the estate behind an iron gate decorated with a stylized W at its top. To casual eyes, it seemed to be a Gothic palace, with beautifully ornate carved walls, and perfectly preserved architecture, surrounded by a beautifully tended garden. For some Gothamites, it was just one of the city's many Gothic buildings, for others it was an unshakeable memory of the great men who had been taken by the city's darkness and whose memory continued to live on in the hearts of many. Yet only a few knew its true meaning. For behind the perfectly painted richly decorated walls hid something more than prosperity and wealth. Beneath the arched vaulted ceiling, below the polished wooden and marble floors, below the firmly set foundations, countless caves spread. Once raw, wet and cold, they had been transformed by a young man who decided a few years back to change Gotham forever. The smaller caves were combined into one huge one, stretching underneath the entire mansion. Stone obtained from the reconstruction was used for creating various elevations and passageways. The natural structure of the cave was preserved but the flow of water was modified, leading all the streams down a single torrent towards the entrance, which in turn was converted into a waterfall hiding behind a driveway. Electricity and heating were brought in. An elevator was installed connecting the property to the cave as well as multiple minor entrances. Digitization was introduced, monitoring and many safety features were installed. Not one, not two, but three training rooms were created, and a special augmented reality simulation room was designed. Some of the natural rocky hollows were transformed into a medical wing, another into a workshop, and another into a laboratory. A huge computer was installed, multiple vehicles were brought in and in time even a small kitchen was arranged. For overtime, the cave became a home not only for one determined young man but for four more. Each so different from the other, each with a different past and different baggage of experience, all united in one goal, to make Gotham safe, to protect those who could not protect themselves.

Life for the men living in Wayne Manor was not easy. Years passed, years spent in sacrifices, devotion, and constant work. Years of loneliness and a sense of belonging. Years of frustration and joy. Years of anger, angst, grief, and understanding. Years of loyalty and love, even if none of them would admit it out loud. Years full of pain and suffering but also joy and warmth. Years kinder to some than to others. But can one speak of the kindness of fate when each of them bore on their bodies and souls countless wounds and scars like badges from battles fought? Can one speak of the kindness of fate when some carried within themselves wounds so deep that it seemed they would never heal?

In the empty cave music echoed from one of the training rooms. The loud deep beats blended together with the sound of fists hitting the punching bag repeatedly. 'Till the roof comes off, 'till the lights go out 'Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth fists hit the bag rhythmically again and again. Right punch, kick from the knee, left punch, kick, elbow, kick. 'Till the smoke clears out, am I high? Perhaps I'ma rip this shit, 'till my bone collapse sweat poured down Jason's forehead but he didn't stop. He pounded the bag repeatedly and the swollen muscles pulsed under the tight T-shirt. Fist, elbow, kick, right fist, left fist alternating, faster, faster, harder, faster, kick, knee kick, fists again, alternating, as if his life depended on it. 'Till the roof comes off, 'till the lights go out 'Till my legs give out, can't shut my mouth anger, frustration, pain poured out in a hail of strikes.

"I think this bag has had enough Jason," Dick said in a raised voice observing his brother, "don't you want to change the bag to a living target?"

"Go away Grayson," Jason growled without interrupting his strikes.

"I'm just sayin'! A living target is better than a training bag! Promise I'll go easy on you!" Dick's unbearably cheerful tone irritated Jason.

"I don't need a training partner," Jason breathed out through clenched teeth without even looking at him.

"Come on Jay! Let's agree that I need a workout!"

"Then find Drake or little brat," right fist, left, kick, elbow, kick.

"I rather spare with you!"

"I said go away."

"Dude, don't make me beg!"

"Fuck off Grayson!!!" Jason yelled sending the bag ripped from its hanger with a thump through the room, "I won't train with you when I'm in like this cos I'll fucking massacre you!" Panting heavily he finally looked at his brother. To his surprise Dick was not smiling, concern and worry were painted on his face. He took a few steps toward his brother and handed him a towel and a water bottle.

"No, I don't want to talk about it," Jason snarled, downing the entire bottle in one gulp.

"I'm not saying anything!" Dick raised his hands defensively.

"You don't have to!" Jason growled angrily, "you've got this look on your face!"

"What look?"

"The one you give to little shitheads from Brat Justice Leauge! The one that says I'm your friend and mentor you can talk to me," Jason mimicked Dick in a mocking tone.

"Dude I'm just worried about you, that's all..." Dick kept his voice calm, knowing very well how to talk to his brother.

"Then don't! Just fuck off! I don't need your pity!" anger burned in Jason's eyes.

"Jay, you are boiling with rage…"

"What a fucking discovery mister detective!!! Wow!!! Just wow!!! Fucking brilliant detective work!!!"

"Jay…" Dick tried to interrupt him but it was too late. Jason's remnants of self-control were gone, the barriers let go.

"And how the fuck would you feel in my place?! How would you feel?! Every fucking time the Joker shows up, the fucker benches me! Every fucking time! Because what?! Because I can't handle it?! Because I can't handle the Joker?! Because he doesn't trust me?! Because he thinks I'm weak and I'll fucking break as soon as I face the fucking clown!!!"

"No, Jason!" Dick interrupted him abruptly, "Bruce doesn't think you can't handle it! None of us thinks so! Just the opposite…"

"What?! He's afraid I'm going to fucking kill him!"

"Jason…"

"I should do it! I should kill the fucking clown! I should fuck him up with a fucking crowbar, just like he fucked me up!!!! I should do it because neither Bruce nor any of you have the balls to do it! Because your precious moral code doesn't allow you to do it! But it did allow you to have the Joker kill me!!!" Jason grabbed his brother by the shirt and pulled him violently towards him, "I should do it. Not a day goes by that I don't dream about it. I should repay him with death for death. But I won't do it!!! But I won't fucking do it even though I want it and even though he deserves it! I won't do it because I'm not like him!!!"

With his hands gripped on Dick's shirt and his face red from anger, Jason was breathing heavily, and even though he was shouting the rage in his eyes was beginning to dim. For as he looked into his brother's eyes he saw only sympathy, concern and understanding and something much more important to him, trust.

"Better?" Dick asked quietly.

"Fuck you," Jason chuckled but this time a faint smile swept across his face. He let his brother go and proceeded to collect the ripped bag from the floor.

"Good, because we got work to do."

"Suit up?"

"Yup!"

"What's the job?"

"Tim and I interviewed Elliot Mercy employees, but they didn't tell us anything interesting. Crane, on the other hand, hasn't appeared at the hospital or at his home for several days. We need to track him down and interrogate him."

"You and I?"

"Not this time," Dick replied sensing his brother's impending second wave of rage, "You and Damian are tasked with observing the hospital and Crane's home."

"Stakeout with little batbrat? You must be shitting me!"

"Dude, work with me here!"

"What about you?"

"Tim and I have other job to do,". Dick replied evasively hoping Jason wouldn't ask for details.

"You are going after the Joker…" Dick was wrong.

"After Harleen Quinzel more than the Joker but yes."

"And what about Mr. Brooding?"

"Bruce is investigating Arkham," Dick replied, "Dr. Quinzel worked there for almost two years. There is a lot to investigate at Arkham."

"So I'm stuck with babysitting on a stakeout…" Jason muttered with resignation, hanging the bag back on the hook.

"Please don't kill him," Dick chuckled, "One dead Robin in the family is enough."

"Very funny Grayson, very fucking funny…."

Yet they both laughed, understanding very well how much self-control Damian sometimes required of them. Understanding very well that in the presence of death sometimes there is nothing left to do but simply laugh in her face.

***

Batman deeply wanted to share Y/N's belief in Dr. Harleen Quinzel's innocence. His memory was still vividly alive with situations from the past in which he himself had first assumed the innocence of a potential criminal, only to later realize painfully his mistake. He was young then and his head was filled with idealistic ideas and the belief that people deep down are good, only the situations they find themselves in do not allow goodness to flourish. Years passed, and he learned. He learned painfully from his own experiences, and he learned through the experiences of others. He hardened his body, honed his mind, learned to rely on his intuition, learned to see the facts as they were, without embellishing them with needless ideology. Years passed and he changed, his view of the world changed, his view of people changed, his approach to the mission changed. Still, one thing never changed. He always believed that the people deep inside were actually good, that he could help them. And he tried. He tried until no illusion remained. He tried until no other choice remained.

As he walked through the dark corridors of the Intensive Treatment Center, he looked sadly at the cells of all those he had failed and he could not help but wonder if each of them was a lost cause. He knew their stories, he knew the cause-and-effect sequence that led them to where they were now, but still he pondered who they would have been had they made different choices. Who would Victor Zsasz be if he hadn't lost millions in a casino and started murdering people arguing that he was "liberating" others from their pointless existence? How much good could Jervis Tetch, a brilliant neuroscientist, have done for the world if he hadn't gone on a homicidal spree driven by delusions and psychotic manic depression. Would Dr. Robert Langstrom have made a scientific breakthrough had it not been for the experiments he conducted on himself that eventually turned him into a humanoid bat-like monster and led to the death of his wife? How much good could Harvey Dent have done for the city as an amiable and courteous district attorney had it not been for the acid thrown in his face by Sal Maroni? Could the rise of others like Mad Hatter, Man-Bat, Two Face have been prevented? The latter particularly saddened Bruce; after all, they were once friends. Walking into Harleen Quinzel's former office, he wanted nothing more than for Y/N to be right.

*

Dick remembered very well the glory days of the Amusement Mile. The times when the Mile was bustling with life, laughter and joy, resounding with music and lighting up the neighborhood in all the colors of the rainbow. He remembered the times when families came with laughing children to ride the carousels, to feel the adrenaline rush while riding on roller coasters, to see the city from the top of the Ferris wheel. He remembered clubs bustling with music, theaters filled with artists, cinemas overflowing with viewers. He remembered the crowds of excited spectators filling the benches of Haly's Circus which was stationed on the shore of the bay. He remembered donning a shiny, tight red and white costume every night to swing with his parents on trapezes suspended from the ceiling, performing intricate acrobatic tricks to the delight of the crowd. It was the latter that Dick remembered very well, as well as his parents' dead bodies lying ten feet below him.

Only a painful memory remained of the past. The Amusement Mile was long forgotten, consumed by time, rust and decay. Once vibrant with life it now stood abandoned, silent, only occasionally whining metallically under the pressure of the wind. It once brought laughter and joy, but now the only laughter to be found in it was the distorted maniacal laughter of the only clown left in it.

"You okay?" Tim asked glancing stealthily at his brother.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well…you know…" Tim didn't want to state the obvious.

"I'm fine Robin," Dick forced himself to smile, hoping to look sincere, "honestly, I'm fine."

"I wouldn't be," Tim replied zooming in on the entrance, " One time I wandered in there you know? I never told you that. Did you know in some parts of a mile you can still find posters?"

"I know," Dick replied shortly, "there was a time I wanted to burn them all."

"What happened?"

"Batman made me realize that wasn't the healthiest thing to do."

"How does he do that?"

"Do what?"

"He acts as if nothing moves him. As if he has everything under control."

"He doesn't have everything under control," Dick countered, "he tries, but it's not possible, even for him."

"Then why pretend?"

"It's not about pretending Tim," Dick lowered his voice addressing his brother by name, "this is about us. About you, Jason, Damian, and me. I think he's doing this for us. That he has decided in his mind that he needs to be strong so that we could be strong too."

"But displaying emotions is not a sign of weakness," Tim argued.

"You and I both know that," Dick chuckled, "But you know how he is. I'm not sure there's anything that could change him. He carries too much."

"But you are so much like him and yet so much different," Tim continued scanning his surroundings, "You have a life beyond the mission. People you care about. You have Barbara, and you guys somehow made this work! And I see how happy you are together!"

"Don't think that is all sunshine and rainbows! We've got our problems and it can be challenging at times."

"But you make this work!"

"Are you implying that Bruce needs a woman?" Dick chuckled.

"I'm not implying anything but even Joker got himself a girlfriend," Tim rightly pointed out straightening up from his squat, "and there she is…"

The door of one of the buildings opened revealing a female figure. Dressed in a tight-fitting red and black outfit, with two braids tied at the sides of her head, with a gun attached to her thigh, she wielded a baseball bat in her hands.

*

Jason hated many things in life. He hated the color green because it reminded him of the years he spent alongside Batman as Robin. He hated the sound of metal scratching against the pavement because it reminded him of things he preferred to forget. He hated it when the v-belt of his motorcycle jammed, hated the punctured tires as they bent the rims. He hated it when someone disturbed his reading, he hated black coffee, he hated pineapple on pizza, and above all he hated hospitals. Sitting on the roof of a building overlooking Elliot Memorial Hospital, he slowly realized another thing he hated, stakeout. Hours passed, every position he tried became uncomfortable, and Crane didn't show up.

"So, father assigned you with me so you wouldn't get yourself killed by going after Joker," Damian started the conversation as he scanned the hospital windows one by one, "If you ask me, I don't understand father's hesitance toward killing. It's the most effective way of dealing with criminals. Hundred percent success rate."

"I didn't," Jason muttered.

"If you think about it father doesn't at all bring the change he would like to bring for the city. He's only minimizing it temporarily, but the threat comes back sooner or later anyway. It's not a very impressive tactic." for a 15-year-old, Damian was haughty and snarky, in a tone of voice indicating his superiority over others.

"No one asked you for your opinion."

"Mistake. My grandfather has a much better approach from a tactical point of view. Complete eradication of the threat at the source."

"Ra's al Ghul would have happily slaughtered hundreds and thousands of innocents if he had any reason to do so," Jason growled, "The Lazarus Pit perverted his mind. Even you must see that."

"Lazarus Pit brought you back to life," Damian pointed out, "my grandfather didn't have to do that and yet…"

"Listen, kid! I didn't ask to be resurrected! Ra's al Ghul hoped to bring me back to life and create for himself the perfect soldier, which he failed to do. There was no moral virtue in it! Mere calculation and cold logic!"

"He is a great tactician."

"For fuck sake can you just please shut up!" Jason cast a warning glance, "your name is Wayne, isn't it! So think about it, who are you? Are you Damian Wayne, the son of Bruce Wayne? Or are you Demon Head descendant, grandson of Ra's al Ghul?"

"I'm both…" the confidence suddenly vanished from Damian's voice, giving way to downright childlike embarrassment.

"You can't be both," Jason stated, "You're smart kid, too smart for your own good. Think about it, can you really be both? You're here, with me, proudly wearing Robin's outfit, and at the same time you're bullshitting about how you don't like your father's tactics."

"I thought that who like who but you would understand…" Damian tried explaining quietly.

"I understand. But no matter how much I sometimes resent him, and how much I sometimes disagree with his approach, and how much I sometimes wish he would behave differently…." Jason hesitated for a moment and sighed heavily, "no matter how hard it is for me to admit it, but Batman is right."

"It's not like you Todd," Damian quipped.

"Maybe not," Jason admitted, "but sometimes you have to shove your pride up your ass and admit someone else is right."

"From a strategic point of view…" Damian began again in a haughty tone but Jason didn't let him finish. He stood up abruptly throwing a loud for fuck sake, then began to walk away at a quick pace. "Where are you going!" Damian called out after him, "Hood! Where are you going!?"

"Far away from here!"

"But Batman clearly…"

"Crane is obviously a no-show!" he turned on his heel to face his younger brother, "my ass froze to concrete! Fuck it! I'm outta here!"

"But Batman clearly gave us instructions!"

"If you want you can stay. Do I tell you to follow me," Jason growled.

"And where are you going!?"

"I'm going after Wing and Red."

***

Meanwhile, in another part of the city

The white light was hurting your eyes making keeping them open impossible. A huge lamp shone straight at your face, blinding you, hiding everything around you from sight. The light was irritating, causing your eyes to water. You wanted to push it away, smash it, you couldn't. You yanked with one hand, then the other, to no avail. You couldn't move. You moved your wrists and felt the material tightly wrapped around them. You tried to pull yourself up, you couldn't. You were weak, helpless. You wanted to speak but instead of words, a pitiful moan came out. You tried to scream but your voice seemed trapped in your throat. You were choking, the tube pushed deep down your throat made it impossible to breathe. Fright overwhelmed you completely. You tried to get up but someone's hand held you tight.

"She's waking up," came as if from afar.

"Too early…" replied another.

Stinging in the hollow of your hand, a burning sensation like acid spread through your veins. You cried out. Darkness followed.

*

You pulled yourself upright drenched in sweat. For a moment you lost your sense of time and space blinking intensely trying to find anker with reality.

"Breath steady, everything is fine, you are safe," Jonathan grabbed you gently by the shoulders and force you to look at him, "do you know where you are?" he asked softly.

"Yes…" you whispered anchoring yourself in his eyes, "we are in your laboratory."

"Good. Now breathe calmly," he instructed.

"Easier said than done," you chuckled, "since the accident I've been dreaming the same dream, alternating with other nightmares. Every goddamned night."

Jonathan handed you a glass of water and helped you sit down comfortably. You placed your bare feet on the soft carpet thus making sure you were not still dreaming. For a laboratory, the room you were in was uncharacteristically cozy. If it weren't for the medical equipment, ECG monitor and electroencephalogram you were hooked up to, you might have thought you were in a cozy living room with a curved chaise longue and soft fluffy carpet. The design was reminiscent of his office where you met regularly for weeks. Suspicion crept into your head at the realization that Crane had two nearly identical offices in two different parts of the city. Nevertheless, you didn't have time to dwell on it, you were here for another purpose.

"Tell me what you were dreaming about," he instructed in a gentle voice.

"It's hard to say…" you tried to gather your thoughts but your mind seemed as if behind a fog, "I was in some room, a hospital maybe? I couldn't see much because the lamp above my head was shining in my face, blinding me. I tried to struggle but I was tied up. I couldn't see but I think it was the operating table."

"That would explain the spikes on your EEG," he stated, looking at a printout from the machine, "what happened next?"

"I couldn't speak, I had an oxygen tube in my throat," you continued, "and there was someone else there. At least two people. I couldn't see their faces. One held me down and the other gave me the injection," you involuntarily touched the deepening in your arm and to your surprise you felt a small pinprick under your finger, "what the hell!"

"I had to give you a sedative because your heart was racing at over 200 beats per minute," Crane explained, seeing your shocked look.

"Then I woke up…"

"Continuing the test was a threat to your life, we can't risk that," he explained handing you two pills.

"What are those?" you asked uncertainly.

"I thought we trusted each other," green eyes glared above his glasses, "something to calm your heart rate and iron. I need to take your blood for testing," he explained before walking over to you, putting his hand on your shoulder and gently forcing you to lie down again, "relax," he smiled, "I promise to be gentle."

"You better!" you replied with a frail smile and straightened your right arm exposing a vein, "I have an important meeting tomorrow, I don't want to be forced to cover the bruises!"

"And what is this important meeting?" Crane asked tightly clenching the belt above the hollow of your arm.

"That's something you don't need to know about," you smirked, grimacing simultaneously when the needle pierced your skin, "and don't start again with confidence and full transparency! Some things I must keep to myself, and I assure you they have nothing to do with my problems."

"So sure you are able to assess that?" he glanced at you.

"Yup!" you smiled widely, "one hundred percent sure! My problems apparently come from the past and tomorrow's meeting has nothing to do with it."

"If you say so…" he relented while gently removing the needle from your hand, "all done. There's not even a trace."

"You're lucky!"

For a moment you watched the professor as he busied himself around the equipment. He tightly secured the blood vial and labeled it with a date sticker, tore the printouts off the machine and folded them methodically placing them in one of the drawers, then returned to you and began detaching you from the machine. First, he gently removed the sensor grid fitted on your head, carefully so as not to tug your hair, then proceeded to remove the electrodes from your chest and ribs. You watched him. Undressed from the waist up, lying in front of him in nothing but a bra, you didn't feel ashamed; after all, he was a doctor, and he also maintained complete professionalism, focusing his gaze alternately on the electrodes and on your eyes.

"I'd like you to add to your evening medications, two more," he informed, removing the last electrode and handing you your blouse, "one that will help you sleep better, and the other is simply iron."

"Am I to understand that we plan to draw my blood more often?"

"It is imperative. We are subjecting your body to a strong chemical influence. It's my duty to monitor the changes on a regular basis and react accordingly should anything alarming occur."

"Sure," you nodded in agreement and put on your blouse, "Do you think it happened?" you asked, then added upon noticing his puzzled look, "I mean my dream. Do you think it happened?"

"And what do you think?"

"I'm not sure…"

Jonathan only sat down next to you, looked deep into your eyes, and placed his hand on yours as if to assure you.

"We can't conclude anything after one session, but don't worry, I promised to help you didn't I?"

"That you did," you smirked in response. "Not like him…."

***

Contrary to popular opinion, which was often expressed by his boys, Batman did not like to always be right. For two weeks he kept returning to Arkham Asylum, for two weeks every night he hoped to finally find evidence that he was wrong. He hoped for it when he analyzed the breach in the wall in the Joker's cell that strangely reached toward the floor and below. He hoped for it when he forcibly interrogated the inmates, when he talked to the Arkham staff, when he surveyed Dr. Quinzel's office, when he calmly listened to the arguments of Warden Quincy Sharp, who tried at all costs to keep him out of the Penitentiary's lower levels. However, as he stood in the room hidden deep in the lower levels of Intensive Treatment, from which, as it turned out, the explosion had been initiated a few days ago, he could not help but feel disappointment, sadness even, that Y/N's faith in human goodness had lost in the battle against his suspicion of human intentions. "Perhaps if Y/N had arrived earlier in Gotham, Dr. Quinzel would have changed her plans in time, perhaps she would have turned back, perhaps she would not have made the choices she made…" he wondered.

The evidence was unmistakable, the breach in the wall, the traces of blood splattered on the floor, the bullet holes, the knocked-out teeth in the corner of the room that no one has cleaned up till now, the photos and plans hung on the wall, all of it left no doubt, that Y/N was right about one thing. Dr. Quinzel was a victim. A victim who, like all the others he passed along the way, had been harmed by the circumstances in which she found herself, by the man she met on her path, by the choices she made because of him. But instead of running away, instead of turning back, instead of seeking help, she gave in to madness.

"Are you getting this Oracle?" Batman murmured seemingly to himself, yet the voice in the earpiece answered almost immediately.

"Every single bit," Oracle confirmed, "enough evidence to convict her."

Batman squatted wordlessly over a fragment of the detonator that had not been destroyed but had merely flown off to the other end of the room during the explosion.

"I'm sending you more fingerprints for analysis…"

"Sloppy job," Barbara replied, analyzing the image from his camera displayed on the computer on the other side of the city, "the bomb must have been unstable, and constructed in haste, or without much knowledge, that's why the fuse flew off instead of being destroyed," she assessed with confidence, "Batman, those marks on the wall…. blood…"

"The pattern and direction of the spatter, as well as the amount of blood on the wall, suggests that the blows were inflicted with something very heavy and with a wide sweep…" Batman assessed as he stood up from his squat and approached the wall again.

"Could a petite woman have hit a large bodyguard with enough force to knock his teeth out?" Oracle questioned.

"You could," Batman noted, "And you wouldn't need a heavy tool to do it."

"True, but I was trained."

"We don't have enough information on Quinzel to be able to rule out training or the presence of a metagen. The evidence is clear," Batman straightened up and retreated to the entrance of the room placing himself in a way that allowed his eyes, and therefore the camera, to capture an accurate image and send it to the computer, "Dr. Quinzel used this room for months, maybe longer. On the day of the Arkham breakout, she came here from the main corridor of Intensive Treatment and detonated a charge placed on the east wall," he trailed his eyes to the breach.

"The fingerprints match…" Oracle interrupted him upon seeing the results of the analysis.

"Arkham's security guards must have known or at least suspected something because they resisted and tried to stop her," he ran his eyes over the wall, "shots were fired, I assume they were aimed at her…"

"Frank Nelson who was on shift that night is in a clinical coma, we can't verify that," Oracle's voice in the headset interrupted his thoughts, "his weapon was not found."

"It doesn't matter," Batman continued, "bullet marks on the wall suggest a tracking pattern. The guard fired, Quinzel dodged the bullets," he paused with his eyes on the traces of splattered blood, "she reduced the distance separating them and overpowered Nelson with a strong blow with a heavy tool made from a sweep, rendering him unconscious."

"Analysis of the tooth found matches dental records. Well, and there's also the fact that Nelson actually has several of them knocked out."

"We need to find her and stop her," Batman stated thus completing the analysis, "Oracle, give me a status update on Nightwing and Red Hood."

"Dick and Tim are in the Amusement Mile and Jason and Damian are on the move…" Barbara replied almost immediately, "Dick, report!" Batman heard a beep in his intercom and after a brief moment a second voice.

"Nightwing to Oracle. We have eyes on Quinzel. Over."

"Do not engage!" Batman spoke, "Stay out of site. Follow and observe. Hopefully, she will lead us to Joker."

"Copy that!" Nightwing confirmed.

"Dick! Consider her highly dangerous and be careful. If she tires to run, detain her."

*

On the way from Crane's office, you couldn't stop thinking about the situation you were in. Events followed one after another and it seemed you had no control over them. "This was supposed to be a new beginning, the beginning of a bright new future…" you recalled the optimistic thoughts that filled your mind when you first set foot in Gotham City. But Gotham City turned out to have other plans for you.

"How did I get here?" you wondered. Between the Joker and Harleen and Batman and Bruce Wayne, between near-death experiences and sessions with Professor Crane, in an endless loop of constantly recurring nightmares, attempts to contact Harleen and the bold decision to go out for dinner with Bruce Wayne. "What am I doing?" you questioned your choices while swallowing one of the green pills you got from Crane. This wasn't your style. Just a few weeks ago, the vision of seeing Bruce Wayne at the office gave you heart palpitations, and talking to him on the observation deck brought a strange excitement that you tried with all your might to hide. But when he mentioned a walk you didn't refuse because you were afraid, you refused because decency demanded it. And when he did not back down and invited you to dinner, you did not hesitate for a moment. There was no fear or anxiety in you against meeting with this powerful man even though logic told you that there should be. You felt good, confident.

Just as confident when Crane put his hand on yours and, while looking deep into your eyes, assured you that he would help you. You didn't run away with your eyes, you didn't took your hand away, you embraced it. "He will help me… I've got someone I can count on…" you thought, recalling in your mind his intense gaze, a gaze that was almost immediately banished by darkness and an ice-cold voice, "No. Leave it, or I'll have you arrested for obstructing the investigation."

Determined, fearless, you pulled the hood over your head and hid your face in the shadows, glancing one last time at the dark, extinguished "Amusement Mile" sign looming in the distance.

*

"Hood wait!" Damian shouted, following Jason with rushed steps. Jason was older, taller, and although Damian was much more agile, he moved much faster.

"Keep up kid!" Jason shouted as he saw the Amusement Mile sign faintly in the distance, "You don't want Wing and Red to have all the fun for themselves!"

"Don't call me a kid!"

Jason only laughed deeply, amused by his brother's reaction. They may have had different fathers and mothers, but to Jason, Damian was always the little brother. He had never told him this, but he hoped Damian understood it without mincing words. The grapple gun fired high and Jason soared, dragged through the air toward the tall buildings.

"Where the fuck are they…?" he asked quietly, landing softly on the roof, knowing that thanks to the intercom installed in his cowl, Damian would hear everything. He looked around trying to spot any movement, "Quiet…too quiet…" he muttered under his breath.

"Do you think they are not here?" Damian asked landing quietly next to him.

"I think they are…I think they are here. As well as Joker and his chick…"

"Hood, we should not abandon the task. Batman will…" Damian began but stopped mid-sentence. He climbed on his toes and fixed his gaze pointing wordlessly at the figure in the darkness.

"Bingo!"

*

Nightwing and Red Robin observed. Crouching in the darkness, hidden under the cover of the night, they sat on the roof and watched. Their perceptive ears picked up every murmur, their attentive eyes caught every slightest gesture Harleen made. Every glance at her watch, every glance at her phone screen, every methodical tweak of her hair, every affectionate pat on her bat.

"Someone is coming…" Tim said almost inaudibly, "can you hear?"

"Yup…" Dick nodded quietly, "be ready…"

Tim replied with a nod, pulling a Collapsible Bō Staff from behind his back.

"Multiple steps…. ambush?" Tim turned his head then left then right listening for movements.

"I think we might have overstayed our welcome…"

*

The surroundings were eerie. Abandoned buildings with broken windows bore no trace of their former decadence, the empty dark littered streets had long forgotten the joy and vibrancy of life. Even the street lights seemed dark and gloomy, as if trying to scare away stray wanderers. But you were not strayed. You walked confidently ahead with a steady step, minute by minute, decreasing the distance between you and the pin on the map. You wondered what you would say to your friend, what words would be appropriate? Will you contain your anger? Will you hold back your resentment? Will she do the same? What could you possibly say?

"Harleen?!" you stopped in half step shocked, "what the actual fuck?!"

"Call me Harley, everyone does!" Harleen turned on her heel displaying her new look and smiled broadly.

"No one calls you that!"

"You like my new outfit?!" she asked, running her hand over the tight-fitting red and black corset, "What am I saying! Of course, you do! Who wouldn't!"

"What the actual fuck…" you measured her with your eyes from top to bottom. Tight leather pants, corset, mid-waist jacket, baseball bat placed by her leg, gun at her thigh, tattoo on her forearm, all colored in black and red.

"I see you speechless! Imagine what Mr. J said when he saw his new and improved Harley Quinn!"

"Did you lose your goddamn mind!" you growled angrily not believing your eyes. Walking here you imagined that you would find Harleen miserable, weeping, and tormented, instead she looked thriving.

"Hey, no need to be mean ya know!"

"Fucker put the gun to my head!!!" you shouted and your voice echoed through the empty surroundings, "your boyfriend threatened me to blow my brains out and you telling me not to be mean!"

"Oh he was just joking with ya!" she brushed off, "ain't my fault that you never could take a joke!"

"A joke…" you gritted your teeth, narrowing the distance between you, "a joke?!"

"You see… Mr. J found your joke very funny! He was laughing all evening! So no hard feelings, forgive and forget!" she sounded infantile, modulating her voice in a playful way, "what ya think!? We can still be friends!"

"Harl…" you lowered your tone, "you need help. That maniac has you wrapped around his finger. I don't recognize you."

"Mr. J loves me! I don't need any help!"

"Harleen…" you looked at her seriously, "whatever that is I am sure it's not love…"

"You just say that cos you don't know him!" she grabbed you firmly by the forearm, "once you get to know him you'll see!"

You never thought Harleen had such strength in her. Ignoring your screams, she dragged you toward the entrance. You begged, fought, tried to struggle but she didn't listen. Singing cheerfully under her breath she dragged you towards the entrance.

"Let me go!!!"

"You know, I ain't even mad at you! You shouldn't be mad at me either!"

"Harleen, please! Let me help you! Come with me please!" you begged "Whatever he did to you we can fix this! I'm gonna help you! Just please come with me!"

"Mr. J always says….."

"I don't give a fuck about what Joker says!" you yanked your hand from her grasp, "just come with me!"

"You shouldn't say no to my invitation," she frowned, "Mr. J won't like that. He doesn't take no for an answer."

A swish cut through the air. Something metal flew past your head and hit Harleen right in the hand in which she was wielding a bat. She cursed foully.

"You brought them here!!!" she exclaimed furiously with a blazing look.

Jason didn't have to give any orders; he and Robin worked in perfect synergy. They jumped off the roof using the element of surprise and attacked. Batarang aimed at her hand stripping her of her grip on the bat giving Damian a split second to leap into the air and attack Harley. With one swift move, Jason pushed Y/N aside and attacked. Both he and Damian assumed a quick effortless fight but the Joker's new partner turned out to be much more skilled than they anticipated. She leaped back nimbly with two back flips, avoiding Robin's attacks, and delivered a powerful half-turn kick.

"Where is Joker!" Jason shouted furiously.

"Mr. J is not up for a visit! Especially not from a batshit crazies like you!" she chuckled angrily and swung aiming a punch.

Block, counter, punch. Jason delivered three quick, precise blows. Harleen groaned falling to the ground.

"Where is Joker?" he repeated the question, standing over her and crushing her hand to the ground with his boot as she tried to reach for her weapon. Harley groaned in pain. He had her. Weeks of searching were over. He may have defied Batman but he had caught the Joker's accomplice.

"Red Hood to Batman," he spoke into the intercom, "we apprehended Quinzel."

An unknown force lifted him into the air and threw him several feet away. His eyes darkened as he hit his head on the wall.

"Hood!" he heard Nightwing's voice in the distance. He opened his eyes again and saw an utterly hilarious image. Dick, Tim, and Damian trying to deal with two angry women.

Nightwing tried to reach out to Qiunn but Y/N stubbornly kept placing herself between them.

"Leave her alone! She needs help!" she shouted in Nightwing's face.

Tim and Damian attacked Quinn again. A big bat snatched from Y/N's hand flew above their heads trying to hit them. They dodged the attacks nimbly, one by one trying to counterattack. Aimed at Quinn's head, Damian's Batarang missed, Damian never missed. Tim attacked from behind Quinn's back but Y/N reached out in time and grabbed his cape sabotaging his attack.

"Wing would you mind!" Tim threw in the direction of Nightwing who was struggling with the girl.

"Harleen run!" she shouted.

She merely smiled broadly, reached behind her belt, and pointed her gun straight at Tim.

As if in slow motion, Jason watched the flash bounce off the metal, a wide Joker-like smile, her finger on the trigger…. He reached behind his belt and threw the Batarang with all his strength in Quinn's direction. He missed. He never missed either. The clang of metal. Y/N's terrified eyes and her two hands on Nigtwing's chest as she pushed him back with all her strength.

"Harleen don't!!!" she ordered with a shout, situating herself between the aimed weapon and the unaware Tim, "just don't…" she added more gently, "don't make choices that you won't be able to change…"

"You just made yours…" Harleen hissed angrily and dashed to escape.

*

Tim and Damian ran after her. They did not wait for permission or for the reactions of their older and more experienced brothers. They knew what they were doing. During the fight, during the mission, they worked seamlessly with each other. Jason watched them disappear behind a closed door and for a moment considered running after them.

"Hood!" Nightwing called out in his direction, "you good?!"

"Yeah yeah…" he muttered gathering himself from the ground. He knew very well that this question was only there to redirect his attention, "What the hell happened?"

"That is a good question…" Nightwing glanced meaningfully at Y/N who was still struggling in his grasp. Despite her hands twisted to the back held with little force she yanked and pulled in an attempt to free herself from his grip, "please stop. You gonna hurt yourself."

"Let me go!" she hissed fiercely.

"I cannot do that…"

"You are hurting me!"

"Then stop yanking…"

"But Harleen…"

"She made her choice."

"Oh, you are as stubborn as he is!!!"

"Who? Batman?"

"Let go of me!"

"If you try to run I'll stop you…"

"I won't…" she replied but as soon as Nightwing loosened his grip she threw herself running towards the building.

"Where do you think you're going?" Jason asked blocking her way.

"Oh for fuck sake!!! How many of you is there!" she boiled with frustration.

"How come I flew over a hundred feet and hit a wall?" he asked, ignoring her curses.

"I don't know, fucking magic!" she growled, "get out of my way!"

"Is she always like that?!" he asked Nightwing ignoring her completely.

"Last time she was more unsteady on her feet but just as fierce," Nightwing countered in his characteristic playful tone, "are you done?" he turned to Y/N, "we won't let you in."

"But Harleen, she needs…"

"Yes, yes she needs your help yatty yatty yatta…" Red Hood sneered, "you want to go get yourself killed by all means!" he taunted stepping off her way. She, however, did not move. The door to the building opened and Batman emerged from the darkness. He measured her with a stern look and, without taking his eyes off her, spoke.

"Quinzel is gone, Joker was never here," he informed, "the building was a decoy. Two additional exits with quick access. Robin and Red are searching the place."

"Now it's Quinn, Harley Quinn apparently," Nightwing informed him.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Batman turned to Y/N, "You ask me to believe in your innocence and yet I keep finding you in compromising situations."

"I wanted to help her," Y/N began uncertainly only to look at him furiously a moment later and add in a raised voice, "I wanted to help her because you refused to help me!"

"I think I like her…" Jason muttered to Nightwing quietly.

"I asked you to help me! Didn't I! I gave you my reasons, explained my point of view, and asked for help and you said no!!!" she shouted furiously standing at arm's length in front of Batman, "so don't fucking act all surprised that I decided to act on my own!"

"I definitely like her..." Jason grinned under his mask.

"I also said that I'll have you arrested for interfering with the case…" Batman reminded her.

"Then please!" she held out both hands in front of him, "Arrest me!"

For a moment they stood like that. Y/N and Batman in uninterrupted eye contact as if they were fighting each other without words. As if they were challenging each other, soundlessly questioning each other's choices. Jason and Dick were just observing but they too didn't need to exchange words to know what each was thinking. Both were amused and curious by the unfolding situation.

"You have to come with me," Batman finally broke the silence but did not cuff her hands. He only turned around and started walking toward the district exit.

"Hey, I was just kidding…" Y/N chuckled nervously and yet she sped up her pace to catch up with him.

"I'm not arresting you."

"Then why do I have to go with you?"

"You need to see something."

***

Chapter seven: Choices that shape the future

~~***~~

Author note: Well...I got carried away with words. Oops? As I started to write this chapter I had only two major bits to hit and story, well it just happened. Is unfolded as I wrote it, and I had to make sure that it will all come together. I hope it did cos I won't lie, I really really loved this chapter. Mostly because I got an opportunity to more light on beloved Batfamily! Oh, I so love them all and it is a crime that Batfamily is so ignored in the mass media and popular big blockbuster movies! Batman, there is no Batman without his Robins, without his whole family. So right from the beginning, I knew I wanted to bring Batfamily to this story. I wouldn't have it any other way. Hope you enjoyed this very very long chapter! I'm hitting "publish" and starting to work on next chapter :) I've got a feeling it's gonna have more fluff to it. Thank you all for your interactions and shares! I truly appreciate that. And as always Dear Reader, I thank you for reading.

~~***~~

Tag list:@clown-princesa @theclassicvinyldragon @blondwhowrites @batgirlspain @hangmanscoming

[cainluvr69]

Surely, We Can Make Miracles Chapter 18

Previous Chapter

Akira: …!

The sound of water roared in my ears as I sank down, down, down to the bottom of the deep, dark sea. Countless bubbles filtered up past me, brushing against my skin as they continued their path up to the surface. My wizards were framed by halos of thin and fleeting light, looking like messengers from the moon as they descended through the water. The initial big splash faded into quiet burbling, and then that too faded into a quiet stillness. The nighttime sea was different from the sea during the day; for one thing, it was pitch black. The icy chill of fear and anxiety seeped into my limbs. If not for the feeling of Oz's hand in mine, I'm sure I would've started panicking on the spot. Several of the younger wizards looked scared, too. But with their comrades there to act as examples, they, too, began to calm down. I, on the other hand, had completely stopped breathing in my fear and had to force myself to take a breath.

Akira: (Ah… I can breathe just fine.) (I wonder how it works. Well, as long as it does work…)

Thanks to magic, I was still able to breathe, even this far underwater. As I took deep breaths in and out in wonder, I gradually started feeling calmer. I recalled what Murr had told us just a little earlier. I needed to have fun. I needed to let my world open up more. With those words in mind, I looked around at the night-dark ocean.

Akira: (Woah…)

It was like opening my eyes to a still, quiet paradise. The light of the moon streamed through the surface of the water, as if it were drawing a path for us to follow--and follow we did, tracing its glowing steps deeper into the ocean. There were…I'm not sure exactly what they actually were, but there were what looked like little sparkling grains of sand floating through the water, glittering like stars. There was coral that glowed with a gentle radiance, and vividly colored fish that caught that radiance on their scales.

Chloe: It's so pretty…

Rustica: We've stepped foot into a veritable wonderland.

Rutile: We really have! Any other time, I'd want to go back up and bring Mitile down to see this, too.

Cain: We should come back once everything's all settled! Ah… I can talk normally…

Arthur: What a beautiful world… It's just as Murr said.

Murr: Riiiight?

Everyone's eyes sparkled as they excitedly looked around at the underwater garden that surrounded us. Illuminated by the moonlight above, everyone's hair was floating weightlessly in the water, swaying with the currents. It was as if we'd stepped foot into the canvas of a painting.

Heathcliff: Ah, Vespa?!

Vespa was pulling on one of Heathcliff's arms, spinning him around. Until now, this darling mermaid had been carried in Heathcliff's arms, but now that she was back in the ocean, she was even more animated and quick in her motions.

Shino: Hey! Don't pull on Heath.

Heathcliff: Wah, she's so fast… Wait, hold on a second…!

Vespa: …! …!

Cain: Woah…!

Faust: That's more speed than I was expecting…

Vespa flipped her tail and vigorously swam deeper into the sea.

Heathcliff: …Where are you going? Is that where all your friends are?

Vespa: …! …!

Heathcliff: I think she's going to take us to the cage where the other mermaids have been imprisoned!

At some point, Vespa and Heathcliff, who had been at each other's side since they first met… Had learned to communicate with another no longer through drawings, but simply through the expressions on one another's face. Shino smiled as he watched them, looking like he was recalling some nice memory or another.

Heathcliff: What?

Shino: Nah, I'll tell you later.

Faust: Does everyone think they can keep up?

Chloe: I think so… Rustica, how are you doing?

Rustica: I'm just fine. What do you think, Cain?

Cain: …Yep, things are working out somehow! Alright, this way!

Faust: It's the same as flying through the sky on your broom. Ride the current and reduce drag… Wah…!

Rutile: I've figured out the trick to it! I think I'll be able to catch up to Vespa!

Murr: Let's goooo!

Rutile: Okay!

Faust: Be sure you don't get too far away from the rest of the group! Murr, keep an eye on him!

My wizards swam through the neverending world of blue like a school of fish. Arthur was so deeply moved by the undersea garden that he was smiling like a schoolboy as he looked up at Oz.

Arthur: It's so beautiful down here… There's so many adventures I want to set out on.

A smile finally broke through the stoic expression on Oz's face.

Oz: I can only imagine how much of this world you want to see and investigate for yourself.

Arthur: Oh, all of it. I'm so happy to find out there's a whole new world I don't know a thing about yet.

A school of long, thin fish drifted between Oz and Arthur. I met Arthur's gaze, and smiled. Snow, White, Shylock, Lennox, Hwylryn… Worry was still playing on my nerves, but the fact that I was here, seeing such a wonderful world in the flesh… It was something I never wanted to forget.

✦✧☾✧✦

Faust: Oz. Were the imprisoned mermaids around this area?

Oz: Yes.

Vespa: …! …!

Heathcliff: Vespa is telling us to hide!

Cain: Wh-- How?!

Shino: Won't you have a perfectly good place if you move just a little more forward?

Chloe: Wait! I think I have a spell that'd be perfect for this! <Suispicibo Voitengok>!

Chloe recited his spell, and it was like it rippled out, weaving through the seawater. If I paid close attention, I could see a bolt of fabric the same gentle blue as the water around us spreading through the water, shrouding us from view.

Rutile: Amazing…! No one will be able to see us from far away like this!

Chloe: I'm soooo happy it worked! This is the kind of magic I've been working on lately! I came up with this by using magic cloth I bought at the flea market in the Town of Foam! It was honestly pretty hard to get, but… Ah, sorry! I can talk about that later!

Chloe had gotten caught up in talking, but when he saw Vespa fidgeting nervously, he snapped his mouth shut in a hurry. Heathcliff shook his head, looking even more apologetic than Chloe did.

Heathcliff: I'm sorry. I want to hear more about the magic cloth later when we can take our time with it…

Shino: By the way, since she told us to hide, what's out there for us to hide from?

Heathcliff: Umm…

Heathcliff poked his head out of the magic cloth a little bit, just to peek out at what else was out there.

Heathcliff: I can see something that looks like a cage, but there are mermaids armed with spears swimming just in front of it.

Faust: They sound dangerous. Should we be thinking of them as enemies?

Vespa: …! …!

Vespa shook her head vigorously, a sad look on her face. I didn't think that was all she had to tell us, though. She was trying to make some kind of appeal to us with her big motions and gestures as she darted back and forth in the water.

Akira: We shouldn't attack them…?

Faust: That seems to be the message here.

Oz: I can feel Balthazar's magic. I imagine those mermaids are being puppeteered.

Akira: By Balthazar…

I thought about the mermaids that had deferred to Hwylryn.

Akira: I saw mermaids obeying Hwylryn, too. Is he a tyrant lording over the mermaids, too…?

It was entirely possible that Hwylryn was the reason Vespa and her friends were suffering. I looked at Oz, complicated feelings swirling in my chest. But he just gently shook his head, a delicately small gesture.

Oz: Dragons hold dominion over the natural world. Both spirits and magical creatures are naturally drawn to them. If there is a sea dragon in these waters, then it is only natural that the mermaids that live here would obey it.

Arthur: In the same way that spirits are naturally drawn to and obey you, Lord Oz?

Oz: Yes.

Vespa: …! …!

Heathcliff: …Ah! Vespa!

I turned my head towards Heathcliff's voice, and saw the tip of a spear pierced through the magic cloth. We'd been noticed. The spear-wielding mermaids tore through Chloe's magic cloth, revealing themselves. Their faces were pale, and their eyes were dark, cavernous voids.

Chloe: Vespa, watch out…!

Vespa: …!

One of the spears was aimed directly at her, intent on running her through. Cain caught the edge of the blade before it could touch her.

Cain: Vespa, run…!

Vespa: …!

Cain: Is there any way we can break through the brainwashing or put them to sleep?!

Rustica: Allow me. <Amores Viesse>

Rustica recited his spell, but it sounded more like a gentle song, echoing through the sea like through a music hall. When the song reached the spear-wielding mermaids' ears, it was like they were jolted back to their senses. Slowly but surely, their blank eyes began to refocus on what was in front of them, the melody of the song catching their attention.

Faust: Are they starting to wake up…? Is Balthazar's control being undone?

Rustica shook his head a bit, not once pausing in his song.

Faust: I see…

Faust had obviously been hoping this would be enough to free Lennox. He pressed his lips together in a tight line, frustrated. Rustica, on the other hand, was enjoying himself--his hands were moving as a conductor's would, holding an invisible baton. The mermaids followed his motions as though they were his orchestra. Their long hair floated in the water, bubbles dancing around their seashell barettes. It didn't take long for them to drop their spears. As their weapons sank down to the bottom of the sea, the mermaids closed their eyes, falling into a gentle, peaceful sleep. Chloe gathered up his magic cloth. We had managed to stealthily make our way to a large reef that had been fashioned into something similar to a jail.

✦✧☾✧✦

The reef "jail" was similar in construction to a three-story building. Beyond the many ash-grey pillars--I couldn't tell if they were made of coral or of stone--were the imprisoned mermaids.

Akira: (Woah… There's so many mermaids…)

There was something oddly captivating about them, and I felt my hardened heart dance in my chest. Now that I thought of it, though, I hadn't let myself feel anything for Vespa, and I hadn't even properly introduced myself to her, either. I took a deep breath. It's important to not get so mired in your sadness that you can't pull yourself free from it. We startled the mermaids as we drew closer to the bars of the cage, and they swam in deeper, hiding themselves. Vespa swam right up to the bars, calling out to the fleeing mermaids. Oz took me and advanced behind her, before taking a moment to address her.

Oz: Stand back.

Vespa: …?! …?!

Oz: I am going to destroy their cage.

Vespa: …?! …?!

Shino: Vespa, come here!

Shino beckoned Vespa over to him. Vespa darted towards him, away from the bars of the cage. I squeezed Oz's hand tightly, my heart pounding in my chest. Was his spell going to succeed?

Akira: (It will… I'm sure it will.) (I need to believe in myself… In myself, and in Oz!)

Oz: <Vox Nox>

A weak light trailed out of Oz's staff and made contact with the bars of the cliffside prison--and then those same bars crumbled away as if they were made of sand.

Arthur: Yay! It worked! Master Sage! Lord Oz!

Akira: It did!

Faust: Now we can ask Vespa's siblings about where to find Balthazar and the cintamani stone of medicine.

We exchanged grins as we waited for the mermaids to leave their broken jail. But there was absolutely no sign that they had any intention of leaving.

Shino: … Hey. Isn't it taking the fish a while to come out?

Heathcliff: Don't call them that.

Murr: Hey, Oz, you didn't kill 'em all out of habit, did you?

Oz: …Hmm…

Arthur: I'll go check things out!

Rutile: It might just be that they're scared! Like how little fishies hide themselves even when you're just looking at them…

Heathcliff: That's certainly possible. Why don't we just wait a little farther away and see what happens?

Akira: Good idea! Let's all back off a little… Let's wait for them to come out on their own!

We put a bit of distance between us and their cage, and once we were comfortably far away, we waited for the mermaids to come out of their own accord.

Rutile: Are they out yet? How about now?

Chloe: Everything's okay! You can come out now!

Rustica: Ah, there they come now.

Heathcliff: You're right! Ah…

But the mermaids vacated the area at an impressive speed, scattering to the vast sea as fast as their tails could take them.

Heathcliff: Ah, ah, ahhh…!

Akira: Wa--wait…!

Murr: Speedy…!

Shino: They're so ungrateful…!

Faust: <Salliuq…> Dammit! I bit my tongue…!

Rustica: It makes sense that they'd want to leave in such a rush. I understand completely.

Cain: That's fish for you! I let my guard down because I was thinking of them like women.

Arthur: Lord Oz, what should we do…? If we follow them intending to capture one, we'll only frighten them more, won't we?

Shino: Stop talking like a feral child when you've got the face of a pure-hearted prince.

Vespa was in a tizzy, swimming back and forth in a figure eight--and then Oz recited his spell again.

Oz: <Vox Nox>

Orbs of light scattered in all directions. A few moments later, a number of the mermaids were dragged back to us through the water, wrapped in a soft light. As they drew towards us, they started struggling, clearly scared. Vespa swam in a circle around them, desperately explaining what was going on, but the mermaids were staring straight at the seafloor, and none of them raised their heads to look at her. That was when Rutile spoke up.

Rutile: Oh… They look like they're hurt.

Akira: Huh?

Just as Rutile had said, there were a number of shallow cuts on the mermaids' arms and tails.

Faust: I imagine they hurt themselves in their haste to escape their prison, rather than being injured by a magical attack.

Rutile: Oh, how terrible…

Rutile approached the mermaids unhesitatingly, looking at them with concern. He retrieved his magical focus, his feather pen, and smiled at the fearful mermaids.

Rutile: Just stay still, okay… This won't hurt a bit. <Ortonik Setomaouge>

Rutile chanted his spell, and then the mermaids' injuries were wrapped in a gentle light. At first, they were scared, but as the swelling around their cuts went down, they looked up at Rutile in curiosity. Their painful-looking cuts closed up, one after the other, leaving nothing but the faint outline of where they used to be. They weren't perfectly healed, but it was still enough to free them from their pain and wariness of us. Perhaps in a display of both gratitude and fascination, the mermaids began to swim around Rutile in a circle, spinning around.

Rutile: My… How pretty…!

Vespa smoothly added herself to their circle. She grabbed Heathcliff's arm and dragged him into the circle, too. She swam between Heathcliff and the rest of us, and over the top of us, too--probably explaining to her friends what was going on. While she did that, the mermaids split into two groups. Vespa returned to Heathcliff's side and explained…something to him, using nothing but gestures.

Heathcliff: Erm… The ship is this way…and Balthazar is that way…?

Vespa: …! …!

Chloe: It's amazing that you got all that, Heath…

Shino: It's because he's attentive when it comes to other people. I understand that much. Or at least I think I'm starting to.

Chloe: Shino…

Shino: …He was the same way with me. I used to never have someone who'd check on me when I wasn't feeling well. The most I got was people peeking at me in fear when I attacked them. No one wanted to let a kid as filthy as me dirty up their line of sight. But…

Shino's red eyes were fixed on Heathcliff's back. Heathcliff, however, was looking at Vespa, doing his absolute best to understand what she was thinking. Shino smiled softly, seeing him like that.

Shino: Heath tried to learn things about me. What was I thinking about… What I wanted, what made me upset. That kind of thing. No one had ever cared about those things before. Instead, they just wanted to know what I wanted from them, when I was going to get out of their hair, and how they could get rid of me. Pretty sure that was all they thought, at least. Thinking back on how I used to be, I'm pretty certain of it. But Heathcliff cared about me when everyone else in the world treated me like trash not worth the effort of so much as glancing at. He was serious about it, and polite about it… Even though he was scared, he still cared about me. So, I… I wanted to treasure him just as much… That was how I felt.

Shino's heartrending sighs turned into bubbles, floating up to the water's surface. Across from him, Vespa was gesturing with her arms spread wide. Her blonde hair floated gently in the water, rippling like sunlight. Heathcliff was watching her very seriously, nodding at what she had to tell him. Sometimes he'd look puzzled and frown a little. But when he understood something, he smiled happily. Even though Heathcliff was lit by nothing but moonlight right now, Shino narrowed his eyes when he looked at him, as if he were dazzlingly radiant.

Shino: I remember now. Before I met him, I hated his guts for being the Blanchett heir, always adored and blessed from the day he was born. If Heath… If Heath wasn't the person he is inside, I never could've become friends with him. For the first time, I wasn't being rejected for who I was, and someone really cared about me… That's why I love him.

Shino's voice cracked and faded into the sound of the water around us, so I couldn't quite make out what he'd said there at the end. Faust gently put a hand on his shoulder.

Faust: Well done… You found the words you needed to convey how you feel.

Shino: Can I even say them to him? It's so embarrassing…

Normally Shino couldn't get enough of singing Heathcliff's praises, but right now, I could see a dusting of a blush over his cheeks. But Faust didn't laugh at him. He just spoke softly.

Faust: You should tell people the things you want to when you can. Before you regret not doing so.

Shino: Faust…

Heathcliff: Master Sage, Mr. Faust! I got it!

That was when Heathcliff and Vespa swam back over to us.

Heathcliff: The sunken ship with the cintamani stone and Balthazar's undersea city are in two different directions! Vespa's sisters can lead us to either of them…

Cain: Two different places…

Arthur: So we'll need to split into two groups.

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