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missnight0wl · 4 years ago

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“I'm curious, what would you say to Rakepick if you had the chance, Helena?”

This is something that was on my mind pretty much since Rowan died. So, now that the game basically called me out with that question in the recent chapter, I suppose it’s time to deliver the answer.

Minor spoilers for Y6Ch30, but also not really, because it’s mostly about my “Six minutes” AU anyway.

Words: 2205

Helena and Jae were waiting near the entrance to the Kitchens for a while when Tonks finally showed up, waving her hand at them from afar.

“Sorry I’m late!” she said in a hushed voice.

“The Hufflepuff Basement is the nearest, Tonks. How you’re coming last?” Helena teased her.

“Don’t you know it’s always that way? You think that you have time ‘cause it’s not far, and suddenly, you should’ve left ten minutes ago.”

“That’s true, I can confirm,” Jae backed her up. “I’m almost always late to the next class if it’s on the same level. I mean, I’m usually late to the classes in general, but…” He paused to clear his throat.

The Ravenclaw raised her eyebrow. “Fair enough.”

“What?” He furrowed his brow and shrugged. “All right, but can we go now?”

The girls nodded, so he approached the portrait with a bowl of fruits and tickled a pear. It giggled quietly and turned into a green door handle, letting them enter inside.

“Aren’t you worried sometimes that they might just cut that fireplace off one day?” asked Tonks as they walked between the tables.

“To be honest, I am,” replied Helena. “I’m always a bit nervous using it.”

“Maybe we should start casting the Freezing Charm, just in case?”

“They won’t cut it off,” stated Jae confidently. “It works since forever. If they wanted to detect and close it, it’d happen by now.”

“You’re an expert here,” Helena said with a smile, but then she frowned. “Damn it, is it Pitts coming?”

Both Jae and Tonks glanced back in the direction she was facing. It was enough distraction for her to draw her wand.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

One after another, her friends fell to the ground, motionless. Helena walked closer to them to look into their eyes expressing shock and confusion.

“I’m sorry…” she said in a low voice. “I’m so sorry, but I have to do this alone.”

She scanned the Kitchens. Most House-Elves were busy with their work, but a few were watching her closely.

“They’re fine!” she spoke a bit louder. “We’re just… we’re just playing! You know how students are with their jokes.”

She was aware that she didn’t sound the most convincing, but nobody intervened either way. She felt brief relief that she succeeded in the first part of her plan until she turned around again.

“Pitts!” she gasped. “I can explain…” The House-Elf was standing right in front of her, a mix of suspicion and disapproval on his face. Helena never thought that she could feel so bad about disappointing him. “Actually, I can’t. I have to go to Knockturn Alley, and I have to go alone.”

“Helena Ellis has detention tomorrow.”

She stared at him owlishly. “Yes. I know… I remember.”

“Helena Ellis better be on time. Pitts doesn’t like it when students are late.”

For a moment, she didn’t know how to react. Was she being sent off of the Kitchens? Would Pitts try to stop her if she didn’t get out? Would he alarm Dumbledore? But the House-Elf only get closer to Jae and Tonks to check on them. Then, he looked back at her, and she could’ve sworn that he pointed at the fireplace. It wasn’t time for pondering, though. She took a handful of Floo Powder out of her bag and threw it into the flames before Pitts could’ve changed his mind. Shortly after that, she was in the Leaky Cauldron.

“It’s rather late for trips to Diagon Alley, don’t you think?”

The landlord was watching her narrowly from behind the bar.

“I… I just need a book for tomorrow’s exam,” she stuttered out.

Tom shook his head. “It might be your worst lie yet.”

He didn’t say anything more, so Helena just gave him an apologizing look and ran out of the pub. Right before turning into Knockturn Alley, she hid around the corner to put on the Invisibility Cloak which Jae gave her previously for keeping. She started moving even faster now, but by the time Borgin and Burkes was in reach of her sight, she realised she was too late: Rakepick was just leaving the store. Helena cussed in her mind as she was hoping to have more time for preparation, even if only mentally. Still, nobody followed the Curse-Breaker, so she decided on the spot to take a risk and headed in the same lane.

“Rakepick! We need to talk!” she called, getting the Invisibility Cloak off when the distance between them was appropriately small.

The witch turned around casually with a smirk on her face.

“You’re approaching me in the place like that, and your wand is not ready? How reckless of you.”

It was true. Helena was holding her wand, but her arm was hanging freely along her body. She wouldn’t defend herself in time if she was attacked right away.

“Funny, you sound almost like my brother,” she said before she considered her words.

It seemed to amuse Rakepick even more. “Tell me, Miss Ellis. Do you trust him?”

The girl froze hearing that question. Why would she ask about that from all things? She clenched her jaw, once again feeling like Rakepick could read her like an open book – quite literally.

“None of your business.”

“Do you?” she insisted.

“It doesn’t matter. And why’d you even care?”

“Very well.” She didn’t stop smiling. “You wanted to talk, I’m listening then.”

She was too calm. Something was wrong, but Helena couldn’t figure it out yet. She quickly glanced sideways.

“Don’t worry, we won’t be disturbed,” said Rakepick. “I suppose you have some questions.”

She hesitated before answering. “I do.” She came closer to her opponent. “Why did you do this?”

“You have to be more specific.”

“Why did you do anything of what you did?” she snapped. “You said you want to kill me, then why you didn’t? If you’re so powerful, then why a group of teenagers defeated you in the vault? And then, in the Forest…” The words stuck in her throat, and she had to swallow hard. “Why didn’t you kill me? You had a clear shot, you just had to immobilise Ben and Merula. Just… why?”

Rakepick was unaffected. “You know why.”

Helena paused again. She was trying to keep eye contact all that time, but her voice was much quieter when she finally spoke. “Because you want to lure me.”

“And you came here so I’d kill you, preventing R from getting what they want. Pretty smart. Not without reason, you’re my favourite.” She crossed her arms. To Helena’s surprise, she didn’t get her wand. “Still, why would I go along with your plan?”

A lump in her throat was growing bigger, and she felt that her eyes are getting teary, whether from fear or anger. “Every day since Rowan died, I wish you killed me instead…”

“Do you want to tell me that you’re surrendering?” interrupted Rakepick. “So easily?”

“No, I’m not. You have to stop wanting to fight to surrender, and I never wanted to fight. You have to have hope and lose it to surrender, and I lost mine when you left me! I just… I just wanted to keep my friends safe…” Her voice cracked.

“I praised you a moment ago, don’t ruin it like that now,” complained Rakepick, watching her with her head slightly tilted.

“Just do it,” said Helena through her teeth. A tear fell down her cheek, but she didn’t care anymore. “You hate me, don’t you?! I can’t be this important to them!”

“You have no idea how important you are.”

“What, you want me to put up a fight?! Fine, I can pretend!”

If she didn’t want to kill her, Helena’s going to force her to that. She assumed the stance and was raising her hand already, but Rakepick - instead of drawing her own wand - unexpectedly leant forward, gripping her wrist and twisting it off to the side as if she wanted to avoid getting hit by the spell that way. It didn’t really matter, though. For one, that reaction threw Helena off so much that she didn’t even think of using magic. Moreover, in the very next moment, everything went black and some unknown force started pushing on her whole body, making it hard to breathe. And then, it all stopped, as suddenly as it began.

Helena inhaled sharply. She blinked quickly a couple of times, trying to adjust her eyes to seeing again, and she realised that she’s not in Knockturn Alley anymore. She was standing in some kind of field. Well, they were standing – Rakepick was still with her.

“Are you all right, Miss Ellis?” she asked indifferently. “I hope you’re not gonna vomit.”

“Did we just Apparate?” she rasped out, furrowing her brow. “What the hell is going on...?”

“Helen!”

She turned around, trying to identify a person calling her name, but also spot anything which would tell her where they were. And then, she saw her – running towards her, a bright smile on her face. In the next moment, she was embracing her tightly. Her impact spun them both a little in the way that Helena was facing Rakepick again.

“Miss Khanna, you were told to wait at the house.” There was a sign of reprimand in her voice, but her expression remained neutral.

“I know, I’m sorry. I just couldn’t--” Rowan paused half-sentence, only to make her hug even stronger.

“That’s okay, Patricia. I took care of it, we’re safe.”

A male voice was coming from behind Helena’s back - a very familiar voice. She couldn’t see the face of the man, though, as she was restricted by her best friend’s hold. The friend who was supposed to be dead.

_____

Tonks was pacing back and forth on a short distance in the Kitchens.

“Tonks, could you stop and just sit down already?” Jae murmured, rubbing his forehead.

“I can’t, I’m too nervous…”

“Well, you’re making me more nervous too.”

The girl suddenly halted in her tracks. “Maybe we should go for Dumbledore after all?”

“And get into big trouble?”

“Helen might be in trouble right now!” she snapped.

“No, I know…” Jae stood up and walked to Pitts who was keeping an eye on them. “C’mon, Pitts. She’s gone for too long. You have to let us go after her.”

“Jae Kim and Nymphadora Tonks can wait in the Kitchens. If they don’t want to wait, they have to leave.”

“Pitts! I beg you--” started Jae, but he was interrupted by green flames showing up in the nearest fireplace and Helena emerging out of them.

Tonks made a short strangled sound and rushed to her. The Ravenclaw appeared to be scared about what to expect, only to calm down when Tonks hugged her. Still, when she eventually let her go, she punched her arm hard.

“Ouch!” Helena hissed. “It hurt!”

“It was supposed to hurt!” Tonks yelled at her. “What the hell was that?! Have you lost your mind entirely?”

“I’m sorry!” Helena gave her and Jae a remorseful look. “I really am! But I couldn’t put you in danger like that...”

“And what about the danger you put yourself in?” Jae joined in.

“There was no danger,” she replied weakly.

“What?” they asked in unison.

Helena shrugged slightly. “There was no one there. I had a feeling the whole deal with the Whomping Willow might be just some crazy conspiracy theory, I even talked with Talbott about that.”

Tonks raised her eyebrow with her arms crossed. “So, what took you so long then?”

“I’ve been waiting there for a while. Thought that maybe I’m too early or they’d come back.”

“I can recognise a liar when I see one, and you’re lying like a rug, ma’am.”

“I’m not, Jae! I’m just angry that all that planning was for nothing. We only wasted time.”

“Wait, hold on.” Tonks was clearly pondering on something. “But you did find a Black Quill, didn’t you? How you explain that?”

“I dunno. I mean, someone has to hear about Black Quills finally. The rumours spread at Hogwarts like wildfire, and I keep finding them for years. Whoever it was, they had to pull a stupid prank on me.” Neither Tonks nor Jae seemed to be convinced. “I’m serious! Look, I’m not even hurt! Do you really think I’d be back in one piece if R was there and I was alone? Why would I even lie to you about that?”

They exchanged glances, but they backed down. Pitts also started complaining about their presence in the Kitchens, so they decided that it’s better to evacuate. When they were outside already, Tonks insisted to walk Helena all the way to the Ravenclaw Tower, but Jae took that responsibility on himself - it was an unnecessary risk for her to go back later. Two of them quickly sneaked through empty corridors and finally reached a parting point.

“Listen, Jae, I’m really sorry about earlier.”

He smirked. “Don’t worry, I’ll find the way you can repay me. But, Helen…” He got more serious. “If anything happened there that--”

“Everything’s fine, I swear,” she cut in and hugged him. “It’s all gonna be all right.”

#hogwarts mystery #hphm #hphm mc #jacob's sibling #helena ellis #patricia rakepick #jae kim #nymphadora tonks #pitts the house elf #rowan khanna #year 6 #six minutes au #my writing

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trashinaglass-archive · 5 years ago

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Movie Star

Y/n is sick of Tom thinking he’s the shit

Request: Hi can I request kinda an angsty imagine kinda based on when Tom said was talking about his dad and acting like a “movie star”, and basically he says something really pretentious to the reader about how important he is and he is taking the fame to his head, and she gets upset and he realizes he messed up. Thank you loads :)

A/n: I’m here for the angst. I hope it’s good bc this is a good concept

Tom was the best boyfriend you could’ve ever asked for. Kind, loving, understanding, and grounded- the latter being the most important to you. You felt the responsibility of keeping him grounded laid on you; you were the one he cared about most. The opinion he cared about the most.

You didn’t really worry with a few comments he made- he was hardworking in a career that didn’t allow him much privacy. Of course he’d get angry from time to time, act like an asshole every now and then, but it was when it turned from mean comments toward others to praiseful comments toward himself than you began to get really worried about him.

“I just want a girlfriend. I’m tired of being single,” Sam groaned as you and the brothers were sat in a bar.

“Look, bro- all we need is for someone to recognize me, and you’re golden,” Tom suggested.

You raised an eyebrow at the comment, “or you can be yourself and find a girl that likes you for who you are.”

“I’m just saying, I’m kind of a big deal,” he said, shrugging his shoulders making you roll your eyes.

“Calm down, movie star,” you told him, the word rolling off your tongue with disgust. Tom immediately shut down, sipping his beer quietly as you continued to talk to Sam.

Hearing the words come out of his mouth pissed you off endlessly. You wanted nothing more than for him to create something he’s proud of, to feel proud of himself, but you needed him to be humble about it as well. You were sure that he had brought himself back, no ridiculous comments to follow for a while, but lo and behold, amidst the recent film reviews, he found himself excited again.

You were currently driving home after a long meeting in London, answering the phone when Tom called.

“Hey, gorg,” you answered.

“Hey- how long are you going to be before you get back?” He asked, sounding excited about something.

“Um,” you said softly, glancing at the clock. “25 maybe? If traffic stays good. What’s up?”

“I was out today, shopping with Harrison and Tuwaine, and I saw something that I think you’ll really love,” he told you.

You let out a sigh hearing his words. “Tom, as much as I love you and your gifts, it’s getting to be a bit much,” you tried to break it to him gently. He’d ‘been out shopping and gotten something for you’ just about every day for a week and a half now. Maybe it would be okay if they were simple five dollar gifts, but they cost hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars. You never were the one to tell people how they should spend their money, but it was getting to be crazy.

“What do you mean?”

“Tom, you’re spending way to much money on gifts for me. I don’t need a new piece of jewelry every day,” you explained to him. “I appreciate that you think of me like that, but don’t waste your money on these gifts for me when you could use it for so many other things.”

“You’re not even going to ask what it is?” He replied, his voice sounding hurt or angry.

“No because I’m scared of what you’d tell me. For all I know it’ll be £10,000, and I can’t even fathom you spending that on me.” The line went quiet as the words came out of your mouth. The silence making your heart sink. “Tom, tell me you didn’t spend ten grand on a piece of jewelry.”

More silence, making your heart sink even further. “No,” he said quietly, causing your suspicion rise.

“How much did it cost?” You asked him, wanting to know the final verdict.

“Love, it’s not the price that matters,” he tried to reason.

“No, tell me, Tom. Stop fucking stalling.”

He let out a breath, knowing you were going to be upset, “thirty-five.”

“Grand?” You asked for confirmation, your jaw dropping. Tom let out a quiet ‘mhm’ to answer that your fear was indeed correct. “Thomas Stanley-“

“Y/n, it’s fine! I wouldn’t be buying you things if I couldn’t afford it,” he defended himself. Part of him wanted to be mad that you weren’t jumping for joy, but the other part of him just wanted you to understand it isn’t hurting him financially. “I’m fucking Spider-Man- I get paid more in a day than normal people get in an entire year. I have so much money, I could buy you the entire city if you wanted it. Have you seen the expensive fucking suits I’ve been wearing? The watches? I’m not broke- buying that £35,000 bracelet was nothing to me. I’m probably the richest person in Kingston right now, you ought to be happy about that.”

You bit your lip, not believing what he’d actually said. “No one gives a shit how much money you make, movie star. I sure as hell don’t, fucking dick.” You could hear Tom yell out as you hung up the phone, turning it off and throwing it in the floorboard of your car. You pulled the car off the side of the road, placing your head on the steering wheel and letting out a good, long cry.

You don’t know what happened to your sweet boyfriend, the one that wasn’t obsessed with money, but you wanted him back dearly. You weren’t sure what was going on in Tom’s thick skull, but you were certain. If he couldn’t get his act together, you weren’t going to stick around for it. You didn’t sign up for any of that.

Once your eyes dried, you started the car again and continued on your route home- going to your place rather than Tom’s like you two had originally planned. Sleeping and being by yourself was all you wanted at the moment.

When you woke up, you found yourself in your cold living room early in the morning. You decided to check your mailbox since you didn’t yesterday, finding a particularly heavy envelope, and hurried inside to open it.

Inside lay the bracelet, a receipt, and a note from Tom. It was a pretty bracelet, you had to admit. With diamonds surrounding the outside of it. It definitely was your taste in jewelry, but not £35k worth.

I wanted to say this all in person, but knowing you, I probably won’t see you in person for a while. I’m sorry for what I said. I’m sorry for being a dick. I’m sorry for being a ‘movie star’ and properly acting like one. I don’t mean to be obsessed with how much I get paid. I plan on working to keep myself grounded. I feel like you constantly do so much for me, I need you to know just how much I love you for it. I guess buying gifts is my love language, but you’re right. I’ll try to do better on what I get you and how much I spend.

As you’ve probably seen, I left the receipt in this envelope along with the bracelet. Keep it if you like, but I figure you’d want to return it. Do whatever you want with the money, you’re obviously the more responsible one and know how to handle it. I love you so much, y/n. I would trade all the money in the world for you to be happy. Nothing compares to what I feel when I see you smile, and I hope I didn’t just fuck up everything we have. Call me when you’re ready- and preferably not angry with me anymore :)

You bit your lip, looking at the bracelet and receipt. You almost didn’t even want to touch the thing, appalled by how expensive it was. Sure you liked pretty things every now and then, but you were a simple person and a bracelet that costs more than your flat and your car combined just didn’t belong on your wrist.

You put the receipt and the bracelet back in the envelope, slipping it in your purse and heading out the door.

. . .

“Y/n!” Tom exclaimed as he saw you walk through the front door. He didn’t expect to see you today, but he was more than excited by your presence. Without a word, you handed him a stack of papers. “What are these?” He asked, looking at them confused.

“Thank you letters for your generous donations- £7,000 to five different charities,” you told him. “I don’t care if you want to spend your money, but just keep in mind that there are people out there that aren’t as fortunate as you that can use that money for more productive reasons than looking pretty.

“Tom, I love you, and I hate to break it to you, but you are only special to so many people. Myself, your family, your fans, but that’s it. No cop thinks you’re special, no doctor or nurse thinks you’re special, no lawyer or judge thinks you’re special. That room full of actors at the Oscars could care less who you are because you aren’t them. I don’t give a shit how talented or hot or rich you are because that’s all superficial. Years from now, you won’t have that. But you will always have your heart. Don’t let it become corrupt because you can’t see past the pretty things.”

Tom nodded as you spoke, taking in every word like his life depended on it- which, to him, it probably did. It sucked having to be the person to say such harsh words to Tom, but it had to be done. The thought of losing your sweet boy to a fame driven and egotistical world was the biggest fear you’d ever felt.

“I don’t know what else to say other than I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“How about ‘I won’t act like vain, dickhole movie star again’? Or ‘I understand that I’m not the shit’? ‘I’m just as special as my ‘broke, normal’ girlfriend’?” You offered. Tom visibly sucked a breath, his jaw clinching. “You realize I’m that person you called out? That ‘normal person’ that makes in a year what you make in a single day? I’ve never been so insulted, and it was from my own boyfriend’s mouth that I had to hear that from. I’m sorry I’m not cool enough to be an actor and play pretend in a Spider-Man costume, but I can assure you that even though I make less than a quarter of what you make, I am still on your level. My broke ass is just as important as your arrogant, rich one. And I need you to pull that stick out of your ass so you can see who you’re dealing with because you are not going to belittle me like that again.”

“I didn’t mean to,” he whispered, tears pooling in his eyes. He didn’t realize just how severe the situation was; he was so concerned about himself, he didn’t even realize he was insulting the love of his life. He could hear the hurt behind the anger in your voice, and it broke his heart knowing he was the cause of it. “I’m such an asshole,” he mumbled, more to himself than to you, running through his hair.

“Yeah you are,” you said with a humorless laugh, turning to walk away.

“Are you breaking up with me?” He asked, his voice pitiful.

“No,” you looked at him again. “But you need to take some time to realize some things, and I need some time to cool off. We have dinner plans with your parents tomorrow- fix your shit before then.” You turned again, walking out of his flat.

Taglist: @lucychg @yourwonderbelle @rageyoudamnednerd @maliburumofficial @cutiepiemimi13 @happywolves81 @lifeandloveandhappiness @madeinthemidnightmemories @castellandiangelo @meaganjm @spnobsessedmemes @h-oneyholland @babylsn @harrydesires @xxtomxo (add yourself here)

#tom holland #tom holland imagine #tom holland one shot #tom holland blurb #tom holland x reader

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elven-oracle · 5 years ago

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under the rose: part 1 |th.

CATCH A GRENADE

moodboard courtesy of @mcuspidey

SUMMARY: Would you do anything for the person you love?

Would you do anything for the person you lust?

PAIRING: Agent!Tom Holland x Agent!Reader

WORD COUNT: 4k

sub rosa: adjective and adverb. formal. happening or done in secret. directly translated from latin: “under the rose.”

Part 2

Part 1: Catch a Grenade

When you signed on to become an agent for a secret sect of the government, you hadn’t realized that the job meant being in disguise almost all hours of the day.

From the moment you entered your place of work, a mask shaded your face. You went from being one person around your family to someone else entirely around your fellow field agents, but there was no one you shaded yourself more from than your partner. For him, you masked yourself completely.

Tom Holland was practically James Bond, and he knew it.

He had been assigned to you after multiple cases of “conflicts of interests” according to Human Resources. After not much digging (you were an agent after all), your suspicions were confirmed. Tom had seduced his way through the female agents of their tier to the point where he was practically impossible to work with. Even the men of their department refused to work with him. You were the last-ditch effort. Upon discovering that, you made it your own personal secret mission to make that effort a success. You wanted to become the agency’s new favorite agent. Dealing with Tom was just a step in your path to climbing the ranks.

What he was after, you weren’t sure. Your theory was that he wished to work alone, and was trying to run the higher-ups dry of possible partnership opportunities, or even force them into giving him a promotion. Unfortunately for him, you had been the longest-lasting partner, having been paired with him for 6 months. His lips hadn’t come near to any part of your skin. No matter how delicious he attempted to be.

When your partner entered the room, all eyes gravitated to the way he walked. It was confident, yet you knew from the deepness of your heart that the false confidence was manifested from a dangerous arrogance. You had been working alongside Tom long enough to know how seriously he took himself, and how much of a joke everyone else was in his mind. You were the only one who didn’t fall to your knees at the sight of him. You dismissed him as if he was any other agent on level 36.

You didn’t lift your eyes when you felt him standing next to you, knowing that he had plenty of people already giving him the attention he needed. The game you played with him rubbed him the wrong way and you knew it and loved it. There was no one more he wanted to crack than you, yet nothing seemed to phase you. His penetrating aura had nothing on you. It barely left a scratch.

Which wasn’t to say it didn’t occasionally knock.

You felt his breath on his neck as he squeezed past you, laying a hand on your shoulder to get by which you promptly rolled your shoulders away from in an attempt to send a message. You were never sure if he actually received it, but it was always worth a shot. He had to figure it out one day.

“We need to be downstairs for a debriefing in five minutes,” you spoke sternly, pursing your ruby red lips as you finished the sentence. He was typically late to debriefings, so telling him the time frame was probably not going to be much help. Picking up the two files sitting on your desk for your current case, you waited to see if he would join you in heading to the second floor, or if he was just going to be late. When it was obvious it was the latter, you rolled your eyes and proceeded to the elevator.

Yourself and Tom were assigned to one of the most secret missions currently being taken on by the agency. After what felt like endless weeks of research, today was the day one of you, Tom, would finally be venturing into the field. As much as both of you loved research and paperwork (which was close to not at all), it was the disguises and collecting evidence that really gave you the rush. To most people, the act of putting one’s life on the line sounded terrifying, but you had always been an adrenaline junkie. Going for what was dangerous was what spoke to you.

“This mission is completely sub rosa. You have signed a contract saying that discussing this mission outside of this room and with each other is strictly prohibited. No agents below level 8 are permitted to know anything on Mission 8382. Is this understood?” Chief Agent Madison had her snowy white hair tied tightly back into a bun that rested in the middle of her head, and her eyes were fixed not on you, but on Tom, who had shown up 10 minutes late with a coffee in hand.

“Yes, ma’am,” you were the only one who spoke. In your peripheral, you saw Tom roll his eyes.

Because yeah, that’s a great way to get in my pants.

“Agent Holland?”

“Yes I understand,” it was almost irritating how chocolatey his British accent stood out amongst the sea of Americans. You stifled a heavy sigh of annoyance.

You both were walked through the basic outline of the mission, which you were both familiar with. The debrief before heading into the field was more of a formality than anything.

The end goal for you and Tom was to expose a group responsible for one of the largest sex-trafficking empires in the world. It was a case that your department had been following since before you had even been hired, and keeping everything under wraps and running smoothly was of the utmost importance. There was no room for error. Luckily, Tom was good enough at his job to know that.

“Agent Holland will be heading into the facility first. His application to work for them has been processed, and he has memorized everything that we put on it to make sure that his cover is secure. After a few weeks, he will be asking if his girlfriend, Agent Y/L/N, can come along with him as long as she keeps her mouth shut,” Chief Agent Madison hit a button and another formal-looking slide took the place of the previous, “From there you two will be gathering as much intel as possible. Talk to people, gain their trust, get to know them. You will file a mission report at the end of each day, and when it seems like we have enough information, you’ll be pulled and reassigned to your next case.”

The debrief was always a formality that no agent was a major fan of. It was essential so that agents were held accountable while in the field, but after spending so long in preparation for this case, having the chief of the agency reiterate what you already knew was only making you more anxious to get into your disguise and onto the field. Of course, it was Tom Holland who got to make the initial contact, but that boiled down to the underlying sexism in the criminal world that you were all too familiar with. The men of this trafficking ring were more likely to accept a young man and his girlfriend into their group rather than vice versa.

“All right. Head to level 40 for your disguise debrief.”

The red wig was a deep crimson that, by a miracle, didn’t look tacky. The dark red locks fell in waves over your shoulders, perfectly complimenting the red lipstick you had taken to wearing on the daily, solely to get used to the way it felt on your lips. Usually, you only wore makeup for special occasions, but the character you would be embodying for an extensive amount of time was an ex-waitress from New Jersey. Wearing heavy makeup on the daily had become second nature.

To your left sat Tom, whose hair was usually styled to perfection, but now a charming pile of curls that barely didn’t cover his eyes. He looked displeased.

“Is this really neces-”

“Yes Agent Holland, it is,” the woman fixing his hair was just as British as he was, steam coming out of her ears as she spoke. She must have fallen victim to Tom’s advances by the way he smirked at her in response.

You, on the other hand, liked the way you looked. The name you had come up with to go along with your cover fit the look well. Staring at the cat-eye flicked on your eyelid and the thick lashes, both of which you had placed on yourself, you perked your lips into barely a smile. This woman’s name was definitely Rose.

You had heard the term sub rosa so many times in the past few weeks, and just in general with your career, that you couldn’t help but create a name using a play on words. Tom had offered his disapproval almost instantly, but you weren’t really a fan of his name either.

“Ay,” he said in a well-developed New York American accent, “‘Name’s Johnny.”

It could not be more of a cliche.

The weeks that you were waiting to be thrown into the field were slow. You hated that Tom was the one to go first, no matter how many times you had reminded yourself that it was essential to the mission for Tom to make the introductions. It was not the agency’s fault that men, especially criminals, saw women as accessories rather than assets. If anything, you were a slightly better and definitely more professional agent than your partner.

You kept a careful eye on him while he worked, whispering suggestions into his earpieces, which he took about half the time. It was better than what you expected, which was he wouldn’t take any feedback at all. Typically he didn’t leave their main meeting base until about midnight or sometimes later. The day-to-day activities of the world’s most wanted criminals were more mundane than you had anticipated, limited to playing cards, watching sports, and lots of drinking and drugs. Tom only took part in minimal drinking, usually escaping to the bathroom to dump them out. He only wanted to give off the appearance that he was drunk.

By week four, it was hard not to get exasperated. You were starting to wonder if he was dragging the process out on purpose to keep you excluded from the case. He easily could have brought you into the picture during week three. Chewing on your lip, you listened to the menial conversation that that day’s group made while smoking blunts. Tom cleared his voice and started to speak.

“Hey boys, I was wonderin’ if my girl could start coming by,” on the small screen with the low-quality camera, you could see his pixelated body lean back into the chair, his arm swinging across the back.

A man that was usually referred to by the name of Hardy perked up, taking a hit and leaning on his knees, “Your girl….”

A different man, nicknamed ��Candy” (you didn’t care to find out why) spoke next, “Will she keep her mouth shut?”

Tom this time, “Of course. She’s dumber than a doornail, she has no idea, what happens here.”

You held back rolling your eyes. It was all a part of the backstory, your alias had purposefully been written as not the smartest, but hearing it from Tom’s mouth had a different sort of way about it.

“Why does she want to tag along then?” it was Smithy that asked the next question.

“Just lost her job at Hooter’s,” the entire male group’s ears perked at the sound of that, “And she isn’t particularly the stay-at-home type.”

A dark brooding figure appeared amongst them in the outskirts of where the camera lens stopped, just at his presence, the entire dynamic of the room change, the attention going immediately to him as if waiting for something absolutely profound to be said. After a pungent pause, his profound words turned out to be, “We could use a little bit of ass around here.”

It was followed by chuckles and a few playful punches to Tom’s shoulders.

“Perfect,” by the way Tom was speaking, you could tell he was smiling, “I’ll bring her with me tomorrow.”

…

The drive to the evil lair was silent. If it had been any quieter, Tom probably would have been able to hear how your heart was pounding in your chest. Since he had already been doing this for a month, this was just another day of work for him, as much as this degree of “work” could be. There had been barely any intel in the month he had been working the case, only drinking and smoking. It was almost as if Tom, and now you, were getting a very tense vacation.

“Nervous?” you could see the warehouse by the time the first word was said.

“Me? Johnny, please,” you said it in the thick, well-practiced New Jersey accent that had been a part of studying this woman you were becoming.

Out of the corner of your eye, a hint of a smile twitched on his mouth.

You placed a pair of sunglasses over your eyes, a tacky pair that were so huge they shaded your eyebrows, not because it was bright outside but because the truth was you were slightly nervous. It wasn’t like shading your eyes from the criminals would protect you in any way,

The room that they spent most of their time in smelled of booze and weed (not much of a shock), with a hint of metal that probably came from the tall pillars and an entire wall that was elaborately decorated in graffiti, which were unintelligible through the crappy observation cameras that you were so used to looking at. With a deep inhale, you took in the scene, trying to memorize every detail.

The large man, the one that had given his seal of approval on Tom’s “girl” being allowed to come around, was the first to greet you. After the months of surveillance, you still had never caught his actual name. He was strictly referred to as “boss.” If you could weasel your way into figuring out what his name actually was, it would be a major lead in your case. In the moments that you had spoken with Tom about it, he had mentioned that his efforts to crack the alias hadn’t come to anything. As much as you hated it, maybe the boss needed a little more than what Tom was able to give him.

The man was tall, broad, and a lot more handsome than you had expected. He was tough in a sexy way, with the hint of stubble speckling his jawline, and veins popping out of the muscles that extended out of the white tank that tightly hugged his toned body. He approached you, slowly, sizing you up as if you weren’t the meek girl that you were pretending to be. Little did know, he was dealing with one of the most highly trained agents in the United States.

His fingers brushed a strand of your fake, red hair over your shoulder, and he took off your sunglasses for you, closing them with his mouth and placing them in the front pocket of your jeans, moving as if someone had pressed the “slo-mo” button.

“Hey, gorgeous,” his accent was Australian, “I’m glad you’re able to start joining us.”

You snapped your gum, ignoring the drumbeat of your heart, and spoke with your Jersey accent, “Pleasure’s all mine, mister.”

Tom’s hand snaked around your waist, and you ignored the butterfly feeling that accompanied it. No one had touched you like that for as long as you could remember. The way that he pulled you close following the subtle touch, you felt as if he was being protective. You turned your head so that you were facing him, each of your faces temptingly inches away from each other.

“Now, boss, let’s not get too handsy, eh?” Tom accompanied his teasing tone by placing a toothpick in between his teeth. He kissed the side of your head, which was rough but sort of endearing at the same time.

You soon discovered that your perception of what the men spent their time doing was exactly correct. Chairs in a circle accompanied by an endless supply of beers and straight whiskey. You kept to the beers, and when a blunt was passed around, you politely declined.

“History of lung cancer,” you winked at one of the guys across from you. You were pretty sure it was Hardy. His jet black hair was slicked back to a point where you were sure that wringing it out would follow with an ugly amount of hair product dripping out. He looked as if he belonged in Grease.

You had gotten what you wanted, though. Hardy responded with a slight bite to his lip and a subtle hiding of his eye contact upon noticing that Tom was glaring at him.

He was certainly good at playing his role. This was the most emotion you had gotten from Tom in all the months you had been working with him.

“Boys,” Boss clapped, his voice immediately altering the energy in the room, “I have news from our men on the outside that our rival might be in the area looking to...give us a frighten. Let’s take a walk outside, huh? Grab your toys.”

Of course, the day that you decided to make an appearance, there was something other than lounging around Home Base. You met eyes with Tom, who responded with a smirk, throwing his shades over his eyes.

You had heard of the rival group with a few mentions, and you were sure that the agency was on it, possibly assigning other agents to potentially take them down. Being in this line of work had given you a heavy realization that the world was a fucked-up place.

That’s why you did this. You had always aspired to make the world a better place, and now you had no choice.

“Of course,” the boss’s attention fixated on you as all the men shuffled to get what you assumed was weapons, “you are more than welcome to come, my dear, but I wouldn’t want you to find yourself getting hurt.”

You circled your finger around the rim of your beer bottle and sucked the liquid off your manicured finger with a cheeky POP, “I think I’ll be okay, mister.”

Each of the men filed back in, Tom quick to make his way to you and place a hand on the small of your back. If you hadn’t been wearing your chic denim jacket, his hand would have met bare skin thanks to the leopard print crop top you had picked for that day. A shiver tempted to shake your shoulders.

It was a hot, muggy summer afternoon in New York. Looking around, you saw that each of the guys you had been with had taken to their own set of shades, trudging through the high grass like they were hunting an animal rather than another group of people.

One of Tom’s arms held the automatic weapon, and the other hung over your now bare shoulders, the red curls brushing against it. You popped your gum with every step, keeping a keen eye on the situation around you, knowing that the newest people to this gang had the most experience.

The Jeep came out of nowhere, driving roughly across the field without any question of anyone’s safety. It was who they were looking for.

What you hadn’t expected was the projectile that flew from the front window, thrown by a man in sunglasses, mouth guarded with a black bandana. It was headed straight for Tom, but before you thought twice, you unraveled yourself from him and caught it, only taking a moment to realize exactly what they had thrown at you.

“Don’t worry, beautiful,” Candy spoke up. “It’s probably a fake-”

You were definitely not going to risk it. It was your first day on the job, and neither you nor Tom was getting killed. Throwing it, you used every muscle in your arm, almost popping it out of its socket. It did the trick, flying across the field far and high, where it exploded.

“Damn,” Candy adjusted his attitude.

The boss was now eying you, his arms crossed and a finger lingering on the corner of his mouth, “You got quite an arm, Rose.”

It was the first time you had been called by your fake name.

You laughed, forcing it to sound as natural as possible. Rose was an airhead after all.

“I was softball captain my senior year of high school. Guess your throwin’ arm never truly goes away, huh?” with another laugh, you wrapped your arms around Tom’s waist, the feeling of his abs pressing into your chest, “I saved your life, huh baby?”

On his lips were a smile, but his brown eyes were filled with some concern that was unfamiliar to you. Tom never worried about any one of his partners, “You sure did.”

The kiss was short and soft, and while you wished you could have said it was detached, all a part of the facade, there was something sugary about the way he interlocked your lips.

“Careful,” you said, brushing his lips with your finger. “I’m wearing my good lipstick.”

When you had returned to home base, you needed to take a minute to yourself. Asking for the restroom, you escaped to the grungy, foul-smelling bathroom that was littered with more graffiti.

The mirror was scratched and etched with names and quotes and years that were remnants of the past. With a deep inhale you took a square of toilet paper and dabbed at the sweat that was shining on your forehead and chin, mixed with the natural oil of your thick, full coverage foundation.

You were startled by the sound of someone bursting through the door, and you were about to stay in character and shriek before you noticed it was Tom, who was filling the little space that you already had in the grimey bathroom. You hardly got a word in before Tom wrapped you in his arms, gently.

“Johnny what-”

“No, this is Tom giving you a hug. Not Johnny,” he was speaking in his native, British accent.

You weren’t sure if this was authentic, so after standing stone-cold still, you returned the hug unenthusiastically. Was this his attempt to woo you?

“I just wanted to make sure you were okay,” he continued, parting from the hug. Your faces were barely inches apart, and you could feel his breath grazing your skin as he looked down at your feet.

“Well,” you swallowed the small amount of saliva remaining in your dry mouth, “I’m okay. I’m Agent Y/L/N, remember?”

“Catching a grenade is more intense than one would think,” he rubbed one of his eyes, “If you need anything let me know.”

You watched as he exited, unsure of how to feel. Tom had never seemed like a compassionate person to you, yet here he was making sure you were okay. It was so out of character.

It had to be him trying to get to you.

Clenching your teeth, you huffed out a sigh and returned to the group, greeted by the familiar smell of marijuana. With a simple smile, you sat back down in your spot next to Tom. You slid a lock of hair back behind your ear, and made eye contact with each of the different men, unapologetically gawking at you.

“You all are making me wish I’d kept the grenade in my hand. Eyes on your cards, gentlemen!” you flashed Tom a wink and watched as his ears turned pink.

Two could play at his game.

Part 2

M A S T E R L I S T

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getthefckouttahere · 6 years ago

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Two Hearts Fixed, One’s Still Broken

prompt/thank you to @lifesasickjoke: nikki cheats on the reader (his fiancée) with tommy’s fiancée, tommy and the reader fall in love and get married. nikki is super upset and that’s why he did the whole drug thing at the wedding pairing: tommy x reader (with a nikki x reader history) A/N: hey this is my first fic for the dirt/mötley crüe so yeah i hope y’all like it and yeah, i guess reader replaces heather here. warnings: mentions of cheating, swearing, mentions of drugs, angst and fluff

“Hey Y/N, d’ya know where Nikki is? I want him to meet Roxie and my parents.” Tommy asked her, giddy like a child on Christmas.

Man, he looked so happy and so excited to get married, she just wished that Nikki would show the same enthusiasm toward her.

Sure, it wasn’t all his fault, seeing as the only other woman in his life had been nothing but a bitch to him. She understood that he couldn’t trust anyone, because the two people that he was supposed to love had let him down, but it still made her sad that he always spoke to she so coldly.

The day he asked her to marry him was both the happiest day of her life and the most relieved she had ever felt in the course of her relationship. She found out that he really did love her, it was just difficult for him to show that strong of an emotion. Because he didn’t know how to.

“He’s probably still in his dressing room getting ready. Follow me.” she replied, walking down the hallway with him following suit.

“You ready for the wedding?” she asked him, grinning when a little squeal emitted from him.

“I’m so pumped! I really like her, dude, and I’m totally ready to spend the rest of my life with her. Maybe even see some little Tommy’s running around the house, y’know?” he snickered.

Tommy really was ecstatic, but what made her feel bad was that his fiancee, Roxie, wasn’t all that interested in him. She had met her before…she really wasn’t that great. Pretty, but that’s where the good qualities end. It just seemed like she wanted to marry him because he was famous and he could buy her things.

It hurt to see her friend so blinded by love, that he can’t see how much he’s being manipulated and taken advantage of.

“Eww, that’s gross! I don’t wanna think about that!” she said, giving him a playful shove on the shoulder.

“What, it’s a perfectly normal part of life! Don’t you have the same thoughts with Nikki?”

“Well, yeah. But honestly if it were to happen, it’d probably be by accident. That man doesn’t make love, he fucks.”

“Fuck that’s disgusting, Y/N!” he laughed.

“Payback, asshole.” she giggled, deciding that her goal was now to make him as uncomfortable as she can.

“I’m serious, man. The noises he makes are basically inhumane-”

“You mean like the ones that are coming from his room right now?”

They were standing outside Nikki’s dressing room door and she only payed attention to what Tommy said right when he mentioned it.

And he was right, those were normally the sounds she’d bring out of him on a regular night.

But now, it was some other girl doing the job for her.

And it wasn’t just some other girl.

“Hey, those female sounds seem familiar too.” Tommy commented, his voice turning softer. She assumed that he had put two and two together.

He knocked on Nikki’s dressing room door and deepened his voice to make himself unrecogniseable.

“Yo Nik, you ready? Tommy wants you.”

They heard the shuffling of feet and what she supposed was them clambering to find their clothes, accompanied by muffled curses.

The door sprang open and confirmed all of their suspicions.

“Shit.” Roxie breathed out, freezing when her eyes met her fiancé’s.

His whole face had gone pale, his bottom lip was trembling. And she could’ve sworn that she could see tears glistening in his bright, blue eyes that were normally so full of joy.

Which was also the moment where she realised she weren’t even hurting for herself, but for him.

“Babe-” Roxie started to explain herself.

“Don’t.” his voice croaked as he turned and ran away.

“I hope you fuckers are happy.” Y/N spat in her face, shooting Nikki, who was stood behind her, a dirty look.

Maintaining the eye contact with him, she slid the engagement ring off of her finger and threw it at him before she ran off after Tommy.

“Tommy! Wait!”

He froze and turned around, tears were starting to fall down her cheeks when she noticed his own tear stained face. It broke her heart, because this was her fault. All of this could’ve been avoided if she’d just told him how bad Roxie was and she was bound to break his heart one way or another.

But she didn’t. She stayed quiet. And now, she was witnessing her best friend’s heart shattering before her.

“Y/N...shouldn’t you be yelling at Nikki?” he said between sniffles.

“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

He couldn’t reply, he just smiled sadly at her while his sobs grew bigger. She ran towards him, wrapping her arms around his torso and buried her head in his chest. He was way too tall for this to be any sort of comfort to him, like he only wanted to comfort her.

But the reminder that the man she loved didn’t love her back made her weak, her knees buckled under her and he fell down with her.

It all felt like an out of place movie scene, the way that her tears slid down the leathery fabric on his shoulder, arms clinging to him while his own hands tightened their embrace.

The way Nikki had given her hugs in the past was nothing compared to how Tommy was holding her. She felt safe, warm and, dare she say it, she actually felt like she was needed. Loved.

She picked her head up from his shoulder to greet his eyes again, tending to the small strands of his black hair that had stuck onto his face. He gave her a toothless smile as a thank you. After all, the last time he ever got a hug that reassuring was from his mom.

Things were tense between the band and Y/N from then on. She had moved out of Nikki’s place in an instant, Tommy by her side helping her as she stuffed all of her belongings into a suitcase.

Tommy himself kicked Roxie out as soon as he could, not even giving her a chance to explain herself.

He cried himself to sleep that night - and every night onwards. He had never had a relationship that ended as messy as this one did, he had never loved a girl as much as he loved Roxie.

The pain got to him, so much that he had to isolate himself from the band for a while, as he couldn’t even manage to look at Nikki without having the urge to punch him.

Not because he stole his girl.

Because he broke Y/N’s heart.

The pair found themselves growing closer together. Tommy would frequently invite her over and they’d spend the day sprawled across his sofa, a platonic tangle of limbs, watching whatever distraction was on TV at the time. But she would never spend the night there.

Until one day where she left her coat at his place and only realised it when she got home. She excused herself out of the apartment she shared with her friend again and drove back to his house, entering his unlocked house, at this point she had her own set of keys, surprised to be greeted by sniffles.

Y/N knew that a week isn’t enough to get over something like this, but she was always under the impression that he was getting better. She immediately ran into his room, where she saw him curled into a ball, rocking back and forth. She took her place next to him.

“Hey, Tom.” she cooed, placing a hand on his shoulder that was shaking as a result of his continuous sobs and tears.

They subconsciously slowed down at the sound of her voice, because he was so used to being soothed by her gentleness, even when they talked about something random like the best flavour of Twizzlers.

Being around Y/N was like a soft, warm blanket, shielding him from the horrors of the world. She, herself, was his safe space.

She helped him sit up and he immediately wrapped his arms around her.

“She fucked me up, man.”

“I know.”

“I’m never gonna find anyone like her.”

That formed a pit in her chest.

Sure, she knew she was just a shoulder to cry on and the only one that offered to comfort him, but she couldn’t help wanting more. It was wrong of her to even think about it.

“No, you’ll find someone better.”

He pulled out of the hug, their faces no more than mere inches away from each other, while Y/N thumbed away the river of tears that had flowed down his face.

“I think I already have.”

She could feel his eyes switch between hers and her lips as he licked his own. He leant toward her, entwining his soft, pink lips with hers and the taste of salt had never been sweeter.

Maybe it was because their fond for each other had grown deeper, or maybe it was because they were both needy and desperate for someone to care for them again, but the kiss just felt right.

Like it was meant to be.

At least, that’s what she told him during their wedding vows. And the two of them laughed her asses off at the fact that her vows were almost identical. He too mentioned that the kiss felt like something that the angels above controlled.

And it would’ve been the happiest day of Tommy’s life, if it wasn’t for Nikki deciding to act like a dick throughout. He regretted asking him to be the best man, but no matter what they’d all gone through, he was still a brother to him.

“She’s really gonna marry me, huh?” Tommy had asked the band when he walked into the lobby, straightening his tie. Vince was sat in a big armchair, spinning around as a result of his boredom, while Mick stared into space, fighting the urge to murder his friend every time he could hear the chair squeak.

“This isn’t some kind of a sick joke, is it?”

“Life’s a sick joke.” Mick chimed in, being the life of the party he normally was.

“Hey, what time is it? I think we should get out there. Hey Nikki, let’s hit it.” he said, looking at him. He was quite clearly doped up again, practically unconscious across the couch. That wasn’t what he meant by ‘hit it’.

“Yo, best man, let’s go! I got a wife waiting.”

Still no response.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Tommy muttered, walking over to him.

“Nikki! Wake up, asshole!” he continued, slapping him awake.

“Fuck, dude.” Nikki grumbled as he sat up.

For a split second, he thought that the world he frequently hallucinated every time the heroin entered his bloodstream was real, that this was all for him and the boys were getting ready for his special day with Y/N.

But then he saw the rings placed neatly on the pillow next to him, the rings that weren’t in any way shape or form like the ones he had proposed to her with (he hated to admit it, but they were much better. Tommy had really outdone himself), the reality of what was actually happening hurt him more than Tommy’s slaps.

It got to a point where he was practically stabbing needles, careless whether it drew blood or not. He just wanted to use the heroin as a replacement for what (or who) was once the best part of his shitty life.

His primary sources of happiness were mostly reliant on Y/N and the band, so what else could he have turned to when he drove her away and broke the band with it?

He found his hand flying toward the necklace he never took off, the one Y/N bought for him on their one year anniversary - just a month before he proposed. His fingers toyed with the engagement ring threaded in the necklace, the one he wanted her to wear today. He had been wearing that ring around his neck since the day he broke her heart - and his along with it.

“I’m good.”

No, you’re not. Your best friend is getting married to the love of your life.

“It’s all good, man.”

No, it isn’t. That’s your wife. This was supposed to be your day, but you just had to fuck that up.

“It’s most definitely not ‘all good’, man, but whatever. Just clean up-” Tommy started to spit back, growing sicker of his sarcasm the more time he wasted.

He was interrupted by the sound of Nikki getting up, knocking over the contents on the table in front of him when he leant on it for support.

“Hey!” he yelled, grabbing Nikki aggressively by the shoulders, glaring at him with narrowed eyes.

“Get your shit together. I don’t want Y/N to be embarrassed, okay?”

“I’m embarrassing? Cool.” Nikki scoffed. He pushed himself out of Tommy’s painful hold.

“Let’s go marry your fancy ass hand-me-down in this fancy ass hotel-”

“Hey, at least I know how to love the woman.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up. Neither of you even know how to respect a woman, not to mention love one. Nikki just set the standards really low so she fell instantly for Tommy.” Mick rolled his eyes, getting up with some struggle.

“I can be the best man instead if you want, Drummer.” he continued, losing the same amount of hope as Tommy did for Nikki.

“Nah, ‘s cool. I got the rings already. Let’s just get this over with.” Nikki sighed, making a start out of the hotel lobby, not looking back to see if Tommy or anyone else was following.

The time finally came when the boys had taken their spots in a semi circle around the vicar and Tommy, waiting for the heart and soul of the ceremony herself to walk down the white-carpeted aisle.

And what a truly magnificent sight she was, her hair and makeup done to the 9s and her dress…

Fuck, Nikki thought, his hand gripping tighter around the ring on his necklace.

Her dress was the exact same one Nikki had confirmed would be the best one for her.

He felt like the air had been knocked out of his lungs and when he looked over to Tommy, he saw that he had the same expression.

That’s when he realised how much this meant for his best friend. He couldn’t ruin this day for him.

He found himself growing more nauseous as she walked toward the front of the church and a huge grin on her face.

The same grin he saw when he proposed. Or when he made cookies that were perfectly crunchy, but also chewy, fit for her liking.

“And do you, Thomas Lee Bass...”

Nikki could barely hear what was happening over the voice that echoed through his head.

You deserve this.

“...take Y/N Y/L/N to be your lawfully wedded wife

You deserve to be hurt,

“…to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health.”

sad,

“To love and to cherish…”

and jealous.

“from this day forward, until death do you part?"

You brought this on yourself.

“I do.”

“I do.” Nikki found himself whispering.

“Yo Nik, the rings.” Tommy whispered. When he didn’t reply, he looked behind him to see that the veins on Nikki’s hand were about to burst, his cheeks the colour of tomatoes.

“Nikki!” he said a little louder this time.

“What?” he jumped, blinking away the tears that started to burn up in his eyes.

“The rings.”

“Oh. Right.” he replied, giving the pillow to the officiant and stepping back, not meeting anyones eyes.

"And now, by the power vested in me by, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss your bride."

Their family and friends all cheered and applauded the happy new couple, giving Nikki the perfect opportunity to slip out unnoticed. He felt as if he would throw up if he spent one more second seeing Tommy in the spot where he should be.

Admittedly, he was happy that Tommy had gotten his moment with a girl that really did deserve it. That she deserved to be loved in a way he couldn’t.

He just had to live with the fact that, if he had gotten his shit together, if he could’ve been a better boyfriend, if he just had the chance to apologise and show how much he really loved her, this would’ve been his moment instead.

let me know what you thought :P

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nellie-elizabeth · 5 years ago

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Grey's Anatomy: Snowblind (16x15)

I don't know what to even think at this point?

Cons:

I've gone on record saying that Tom Koracick is better than Owen Hunt in every conceivable way, but especially as regards Teddy Altman. But come on. This whole love triangle/quadrangle/pentangle or whatever is getting seriously out of hand. You've got Teddy and Owen, and then Owen and Amelia, Amelia and Link, Teddy and Tom... it's a freakin' mess, and I wish all of these people would get over their bullshit and just sort out their lives. I know that this kind of thing is par for the course on a show like this, but it just goes to show that there's a right way and a wrong way to write trope-filled stories. I've enjoyed plenty of love triangles and messy situations on this show in the past, but this is one that I cannot abide. Teddy is going to feel guilty as shit, Owen is going to find out Amelia's baby might be his, Link is going to cry about it some more... I'm already so exhausted.

Nico has been deflecting with Levi, not addressing the issue about him not being out to his parents. I've got to say, I really like Levi, but I'm feeling frustrated about Nico. They haven't given him as much time to develop, so when he basically gives Levi an ultimatum, telling Levi to stop trying to change him by forcing him to talk about his feelings... it's really hard to see both sides here. I honestly think that's a writing issue. I like Nico. I want to keep liking him, and I want to learn more about him whether or not he and Levi stay together. I just wish their story was being handled with a bit more care, especially after so many great Levi-centric story-lines in recent weeks.

Are they going to kill off Alex? This isn't a complaint about the episode, just a - what the fuck? My guess is maybe he found out he was terminally ill or something, and wanted to leave so Jo and Meredith wouldn't have to watch him die. I know the actor bailed out, and maybe there was drama there, who knows? But from a story-telling standpoint, Alex's exit has so far been very bizarre, and troubling to say the least. This guy has sixteen seasons' worth of development under his belt. It's completely bonkers that he would run off and abandon his wife. It doesn't track with reality at all.

Pros:

Teddy going over to Tom's and kissing him is really annoying, but I loved their silly snowball fight earlier on. Tom's speech about how he's been trying to get in the club for two years really broke my heart. I think a lot of people have maybe felt that way in their lifetime, at some point. I know I feel it where I work, and I used to feel it doing theatre as a kid - like I was never quite in the center of things. Tom is a good man, and Teddy liking him is so sweet. It's just... clearly I'm supposed to think that Teddy kissing Tom is a bad thing, the kind of thing that is going to backfire on her. And here I am, wishing she'd just kick Owen to the curb!

As frustrating as the Alex situation is, I do like Jo and Link's friendship getting more screen-time. Great acting from them both in that final scene, where Jo talks about how she's pretty sure Alex left her, and Link rushes over to offer comfort. They have such good energy as friends who support each other no matter what. I'm glad to finally see that come through.

Bailey essentially adopts Joey, the foster kid who recently turned eighteen. I am actually all about this. Of course it's partially something she's doing in reaction to her recent miscarriage, but also it's built out of several episodes of buildup and trust. And it's like Bailey says - she has extra room, extra food, extra money, extra love to give. (She probably should have discussed it with Ben first, but I suppose that they do have a tradition in their marriage of making big life decisions without talking it over!)

Richard's story-line offered a couple of big surprises. He bonds with a resident and offers to let her do a surgery, only for Levi to stop them just in time - turns out, the woman is not a resident, but his missing patient who he has been tracking all through the hospital. This woman, Tess, has been sick throughout her whole life, and her repeated diagnoses meant that she couldn't finish med school. She just wanted a chance at following her dream. Richard ends up telling her that she still has that chance - she has more obstacles than most people, but she can still make it. And then Richard confesses that his hands have been shaking, and that his days of surgery are over.

This is a lot to process. I really liked Tess' story, and hope she does find a way to make it as a doctor. It's absolutely insane that she was about to cut someone open, but it worked within the confines of the story. And then there's Richard. He has been through hell recently, what with his marriage falling apart, getting fired, etc... and now this. He has a great speech about how his career defined his life more so than any of his relationships, and how he's not sure who he is without it. But he also knows that he got to do what he loved for a long time, and that he's still got a lot of life left to live. Richard is such a natural teacher and nurturer; it seems clear that he still has a future working in the medical field in that capacity, even if his time in the operating room has come to an end.

Then there's the DeLuca situation. He is rightfully and naturally quite upset with Meredith for saying he might be sick like his father, and even points out that he doesn't throw alzheimer's in her face every time she forgets something. And yet, as much as I want to be on Andrew's side here, there's the fact that he went out in a blizzard and walked several miles to fetch a liver for a patient, since the roads outside are all blocked off. He walks three miles both ways without gloves, saving a little girl's life but also doing damage to his hands. Jackson is adamant that Andrew needs to follow instructions or he could lose his hands, so this is clearly serious business. I'm worried for him, and I can totally understand why Meredith and Carina would be concerned.

Cormac and Meredith continue to bond over their dead spouses - I could definitely see this going in a romance direction, and it seems like that's where it's headed, but at the same time, they are also just good for each other because of their shared life experience. Cormac confesses to being lonely - he hasn't been with anyone since his wife's death. Meredith talks about the complexities of that first kiss, first "I love you" after her husband's death. I don't know if Meredith and Andrew are done for good, but Meredith's behavior here felt kind of... wistful, like maybe she can be grateful for what they had and know that it's not meant to last. I don't know if that's where we're headed, but I'm totally pulled in to the story. (Thus proving that a well-developed love triangle is possible!)

Also - the mentions of Cristina were delightful as always. She feels a lot closer to the core of the story this season than she has in a good while. And we even got a Twisted Sister reference!

There are probably details I've missed here - like Maggie confirming Teddy's suspicions, showing once again that she can never be trusted. Or Jackson making up from a fight with Vic that probably happened over on Station 19. I liked this episode, for the most part - I liked that for once, the big "disaster" of a snow storm didn't actually cause most of the drama of the episode. It was more contained, more character driven.

And next week, we get to find out whatever sort of ending they've cobbled together for Alex. I am... dreading it, y'all.

7.5/10

#review #grey's anatomy #grey's anatomy review #greys anatomy #greys anatomy review #grey's abc #greys abc

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jess-the-vampire · 5 years ago

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Sky And The Forces Of The Multiverse, Chapter 28

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Landon was waiting for judas when he left through the door, almost scaring him as he approached, he didn't entirely seem pleased about his father and judas interrupting his plea to have his crush over, nor did he all that much about not even being able to talk to judas as a result of that situation but fine, at least it was over with. Judas did give him an apologetic look for the situation though, trying to comfort his brother with a hand on his shoulder, trying to be more conscious about hurting landon due to stuff like this, Landon didn't bring the matter up though, grumbling and turning his head. "Dad tell you anything interesting?". "Well, i think we might have some new chores over the next few weeks if you consider that interesting...", he was partly joking but he did basically sign the family up to clean his father's wizard room for a good while, and it sure would take a good while, even with magic. "But no, dad....he wanted to talk to me more about...my arm and that kinda stuff. But I'll get into more of it later if you want to know, I personally wanted to ask about what you wanted to talk to me about and then maybe...we could hang out?". "You and me...hang out?".

"Landon we're brothers, i don't think it's too uncommon for brothers to hang out...". "Well uh.....", he crossed his arms and turned his head, "It's more like you don't really hang out with me and mason like you hang out with sky....Like i get you see us all the time, but we don't "Hang Out" like you "Hang Out" with skyler." He wasn't entirely wrong, usually when he did hang out with his brothers it stemmed from a family thing then them actually choosing to spend a ton of quality time together as brothers, but judas still persisted on this. "Well, this time i'm asking for both of us to hang out together, and you can tell me about...whatever it is you need to tell me...", landon didn't really protest as judas led them to keep going, passing through the dark hallways of the underworld castle and trying to talk to each other. You'd think them being brothers would make it easier to speak to each other but it didn't in a lot of ways, somehow it felt easier for judas to tell sky everything going on with him then landon and he wasn't sure if it was a matter of their dynamic or personalities. Could've been both as landon tried to speak through the awkward silence. "Judas...so...look, me and celeste found something and we kinda think there's someone we need to question but i'm not sure how you're gonna respond to it so it's a little weird...", how was he supposed to tell judas his best friend could've been responsible? Or that she had powers she may not of told him about? Judas would never believe that about her and he knew that, even he really wasn't sure about sky doing anything since literally everyone knew she wasn't an amazing magic user of manipulator to find some way to be behind this. But still, if she knew she had this kinda power, she needed to tell everyone, right? "It has something to do with sky right?". Oh "how'd you-?". "If it's gonna be something you were worried about telling me, it had to be about someone close...and if it had been about our parents or mason, you'd have no reason to not have said it in sky's presence.". Guess when you put it that way,it was more obvious what was going on then it seemed, "Landon, we know sky's under suspicion by the high commission for being responsible for a lot of the things going on, we're trying to keep her out of most of these dangerous missions for a reason, if she gets caught at the scene of the crime she's in danger...". "But you still took her to save nora...". "That was a more desperate situation, we needed more help and sunny and galexia had to stay back to keep our parents busy, not to mention you and celeste were gone...", he kept him close as he watched out for listeners, "I'm just worried whatever you found is either faulty evidence used against sky to frame her or-". Landon quickly shoved the paper into his hands, silencing him, "Sky's wand, how much do you kinda know about that thing personally?". "W-what?" "Dude, luna wanted to look at sky's wand when she tried to team up against you, we found that page and we think we know why she wanted a closer look, apparently that wand as a very odd opal attached to it...can see other realities?". Judas's reaction as as expected, as in, looking entirely confused and outright non-believing. "Uh....wait...are you indeed claiming that sky....has a gem, that allows her to peak into other dimensions, hence saying she's responsible for everyone being here like she said she wasn't?". "Do i need to repeat it?". "Dude that's....a pretty wild claim...", he sounded a little caught off guard, his voice oddly cracking during his response, "I mean....sky being able to peak into other dimensions with her wand? She had a hard time doing a cloudy ride spell not even all that long ago, she kept summoning her mom's...sky's just not that supremely powerful to send them all here even if she wanted to, she still needs more magic practice for somethign crazy like that....besides i'm her best friend, i'd know this if it were true...". "Celeste translated this for me, look at it, it's sky's page! I'm not making this up judas, sky's wand is weird and she's not telling you for some reason...i don't want her to be in trouble as much as you...but it's like.....weird isn't it?". Well, he couldn't deny that, that was for sure, sky was pretty open to him about a lot of this stuff, she wasn't the type to not tell him something like this. Him looking over the paper and trying to rack his brain about it. "Maybe we should ask sky if she actually wrote this..". "What?". "C'mon landon, it's not rocket science, I should talk to sky about her page, the page you found.....we should get confirmation from her if she wrote in this book all this stuff about her gemstone. You finding this random page in the woods that looks like a page from her book needs a little more proof behind it before we start getting the pitchforks ready on her?", the younger brother rolled his eyes, "We didn't find it in the woods, fae did and we saw her drop it....somewhere and besides...celeste thought it was kinda legit..". "That's not enough...". landon shot a look to judas that could kill, "What do you mean it's not enough? Like i might not have a book of spells but it looks like a page from it! and a fellow princess confirmed it!". "I mean, anyone with knowledge of the low mewman language could've written this in her book, torn out the page, and left it out there to trick someone....we should talk to sky ourselves before we start really pointing any fingers." The pink boy didn't argue with him on that, not like he really could anyway, there really wasn't any evidence that sky had been the one who had written this for sure in this page. They did just find it without so much as thinking someone who wasn't sky could've written in it. "Look i don't want her to be behind anything...I'm just....I don't like the implication....she's your friend and like....if this is true it's super freaky and ugh...there just has to be a reason luna wanted to see sky's and and if this is not it then i don't know what is!", if judas asked if landon thought sky was bad enough to keep this from him, he'd say no, the situation just unfortunately left him wondering if maybe sky was more secretive to judas then he thought, they were close....almost perfectly close...sky didn't typically keep secrets from judas if any. And this was a big thing to not be telling everyone, especially if it was the keep to solving their problem in the first place. "I'll talk to her about it later landon, we'll see what's really going on...", Judas tried to reassure his younger brother, though landon couldn't help but wonder if judas was left a little suspicious or conflicted or was seriously loyal to his friend on the matter, though whichever way he was feeling....landon was not feeling better about this at all. "Yeah but what if-". "We'll see later..". Judas sounded particularly dismissive about the idea of sky being up to anything, well, it's not like it wasn't expected since landon was basically accusing his best friend of being at fault, whether knowingly or not. Though it did leave landon a little annoyed. " Let's go get some ice cream...I think right now i need a break...", he walked a little faster and landon had to hurry to catch up with his older brother, taking note of jude's less then smiley personality right now. Landon tended to be the grumpy brother of the group, well, usually the grumpiest person in general of their family. It was considered sorta a normal thing, being angry, but theses days the grumpiest were landon and tom occasionally, their dad. Well, even their grandparents could get mad but they were usually very loving people who were very protective and wanted to help in their own way, the family wasn't entirely used to anger coming from Judas more then anyone. Yeah he had an arm that was considered the equivalent of a ticking time bomb attached to him and that made everyone afraid of him, but judas had a prime focus on never wanting to hurt anyone. He didn't like the idea of making someone cry, or get hurt, in fact he had a fear of it since he was little since everyone made him afraid of himself. Landon kinda wanted to be mad at him for not being more suspicious of sky but then again he'd be pissed if judas accused bernard of this so he might do better to back off before he made things worse until they had better proof. Judas usually tried to be a positive person, so when he was upset, he was upset. The boy put his hands in his pockets and was quiet as the two continued, landon grumbling to himself before trying to ease up the tension and spouting something under his breath before he could even consider what he was saying fullly. "I think I'm starting to like bernard...more...", judas's ears pricked up as he looked over to his younger brother, "Wait...what was that?". Landon blushed and grumbled, well he had to do it now, and spouted it out a little louder this time. "I think I have a crush on bernard....". The older demon's eyes lit up in realization, "Oh....OH, wow wait really? You serious?". Landon felt like hiding all of a sudden and almost tried to make a run for it when judas took ahold of his arm, a smug smirk on his face now, "Good for you, I knew it...". Landon felt redder then red,"Look, just....we don't get to see each other in person as much and I want him to come over and look....maybe you could....convince our parents into doing it sooner then later?". This was more humiliating then it had played out in his head, there was a reason he kept his tail hidden, it exposed how he felt too much in every situation. He knew full well if it were exposed now it'd be trapped between his legs and only making him look more pathetic right now as he tried to explain his plight. "I just want to be able to hang out with him down here....or...let you guys get to know him more, well...without mason trying to set us up hopefully..". Judas patted his back, "That sounds great....uh....sorry about mason, I kinda was the one who egged him on to that.....sorry. BUT in my defense i was trying to keep him from finding out any....stuff he still shouldn't know about, though i am sorry.". Landon shrugged him off and sighed, "Whatever, just don't do it when he's here...if my parents and grandparents start setting up dates for us i'm gonna be utterly humiliated and I can't handle that right now...". "Eh...i know the feeling actually...". "Anyways....look....it's really important to me and you're better with our parents so...". Judas suddenly felt a little worse, geez landon really did see him this way didn't he? He reached out to comfort his brother but landon shrugged off the action, "I just want your help, it would mean a lot to me if you could help me...get more time with him.". Judas got it, reassuring him, "I'll give it a shot, y'know, we were mostly teasing you about having a crush on him, uh...sorry if that was weird considering you sorta ended up kinda liking him...". "No it's....it's fine....i mean we all relentlessly made fun of you for crushing on sky...". "Yeah, when i was 6! And had a crush on anyone my age willing to talk to me..."., judas still seemed slightly embarrassed by that judging by his blushy face and hand rubbing his shoulders in anxiety, "When you're a small child who doesn't have a lot of friends and not a lot of people understand you...it was easy at the time for me to feel that way before I got older and did some growing up. I was really young and naive, you're not and if you really feel that way then I'm sorry if it was a little too much....I know i can kinda hurt people when I tease sometimes..". "Still.....but whatever...". "Yeah but....we shouldn't have been teasing you so much about it, so...yeah I'm sorry about that. But hey....I think it's great you've found someone you really like, You thinking about asking him out properly?". Landon just shrugged as he tried to reduce the redness as much as possible, "I dunno, i don't want to make things awkward, not to mention he's my only real friend so if i lose him....well it'll kinda feel like i caused myself to lose the only real friend i had...I mean, yeah i hang out with sky and such kinda...but it's not the same, they're your friends judas...not mine...". "You should probably be honest with him at some point though, i mean, what if he does feel the same way about you and you're both trying to avoid saying it to not ruin your friendship? Imagine him saying something similar to melaine right now....", it was wishful thinking of course, it's not like judas knew the human as well as landon did and honestly melaine's response was more likely to be worried that bernard had been possessed by a demon curse then be playing matchmaker....but it was a nice thought. "Right now i just want to see him in person, and as far as i know, earth magic doesn't allow him to teleport here like we can do....". "Well...I'll give it my best shot.....we gotta get my lil bro a date!", landon groaned as judas tagged him along, "C'mon, it's ice cream time!". The two boys heading off further along the castle, a mewman girl with a giant card chasing after them from behind. "Galexia?", they turned around and stopped in their tracks as she approached them with a skid, her long brown hair probably dirty from all the things she most likely ran into on her way over to find the boys in the first place. Even with a giant card practically making it hard to see her face it was fairly easy to tell the tall girl running down the corridors was the green-eyed princess, honesty judas was more surprised she didn't pop up next to him out of nowhere. She shoved the card into their hands before they could even say much else and markers as well, "Sign! Get well card!". Landon glared at Judas and he just gave him an awkward smile. "I'll try in get you a chance in the next few days, promise...", Landon sighed and nodded, "Fine....just...tell me what Sky says when you eventually ask her...ok?". Judas went silent but left a nod as he attended to galexia's current request, Landon was just going to have to trust him on this situation, he didn't really have much of a choice considering judas was sky's closest friend, though he just hoped his brother's emotional status wouldn't get worse over this. They got ice cream shortly later and even though judas was in better spirits as he enjoyed his mint chocolate chip sundae, landon chose not to speak anymore of sky as he took small bites of his cookies and cream, the two talking more about other matters till they parted ways. Sky was always a sensitive subject for the guy since he was so protective over his best friend and landon just hoped for everyone's sake judas's protectiveness didn't lead to anymore issues down the line. Last thing they needed was to be at each other's throats more then anything. - Some time passed for the next few days, and sky's attention had diverted from luna to focusing a little more on angel then she would've liked. She was still very suspicious of luna, and deeply uncomfortable with her knowing what she did and her powers, but with all the fingers pointing to angel right now she was definitely missing something on his end. Whether guilt or innocent, there was still something fishy about her and his people these days and getting it out of him wasn't going to be easy. The direct approach, was probably a bad idea considering there was a high chance of ruining whatever good graces their relationship had had recently. So the most likely way was to just act like nothing was wrong and keep an eye on him as they hung out, though at least she didn't have to do it alone. Her best candidates to help, were judas, sunny and nora and that seemed fine enough. Though nora was still processing the whole "Multiple dimensions" thing, her research into angel's species was a good way to get some insight onto him and the situation. Sunny of course said she did this all the time back home, befriending monsters and keeping company. Judas told sky sunny was a sweetheart, but she was clever and a little scary sometimes, especially since she was more powerful then she looked. As long as Sunny stayed friendly and didn't end up stabbing the prince with her tail knife, hopefully things would be easier from then onwards. Sunny seemed more then happy though to help out, though angel seemed less fond of her bubbly personality in comparison to the others. Probably with no intention to be rude, but he seemed to get along better with people who weren't as "out there". Judas seemed to be the person he was the most comfortable with next to sky, and that was fair, he knew judas for longer and he and judas had always had a more respectful relationship between them. Sunny and Nora were cool but judas seemed to make angel feel more relaxed since he knew him better and well, Judas seemed to usually get along with anyone who didn't antagonize him right off the bat. Judas told sky that angel was mostly about as strange as he usually was though, and if he did have anything to hide, he had become very good at lying recently. Judas himself had been wanting to speak to Sky on something recently but Sky had the feeling her clear stress made him shift his entire focus on Angel for her sake. If Judas was shifting his focus so heavily to help Sky deal with something that was bothering her tremendously, she must've been pretty bothered by it. He already spent a few nights reassuring her and trying his best to relax her with hot chocolate or offers for game nights just to offer her a break for a few minutes. Maybe Sky was being too paranoid about angel, but it was hard for her to help it either. She'd spent a long time dealing with this boy and they seemed to finally be getting along for better and now she was forced to re-question everything once again that she had known about him. Then again, angel has never been clever enough to hide this much from her in the past, she was getting a headache from this, it was getting to be too much to deal with. Which had probably been why she called melaine tonight to get a break, and to vent to someone else and get another opinion. "I dunno mel, what if he does turn out bad....am I being too paranoid?". On the other end of the line she could hear the earth girl scrambling around her very messy room, though considering she should be asleep at this hour, sky wondered if her mom was lying awake right now. "Oh no no, in a lot of stories i read the heroes get paranoid when their turned good team member's past comes back to haunt them...like they'll become evil again! But then sometimes, it's usually not the case at all!". Sky was looking up at the ceiling and her face twisted, "Well angel wasn't really evil..so...". "Spiders aren't usually the good guys though? They're a primal fear for most humans, the many eyes, the pincers...all the hair...". "This is the same thing you said about judas when you first met him, you were all like 'Demons are bad guys cause they steal your souls and make deals and all that'!' Y'know all your earth books and shows and movies don't always depict the truth. I mean, I know earth isn't entirely used to monsters...but c'mon mel, you're judging them too hard. Maybe like, you need to watch more stuff with monsters as the good guys, like angel's species doesn't drink blood, judas doesn't regularly eat humans, you gotta let it go mel...". "But didn't you-?". "Didn't I what-?" "You liked to talk about spider boy being a pain all the time.". She wasn't wrong, even as much as Sky wished she was, since Judas usually had never really approved of Sky fussing about the prince, she had usually done it with melaine, telling her about how how frustrating the boy had been. The stupid plans he did, the destruction he caused from whatever fight. Sky almost spent every night after ranting to melaine about Angel, It was something she'd grown a little too used to especially since her mom wouldn't listen much to it, her other mom found it more amusing then anything, and judas would lecture her on the matter. No wonder Angel and her had issues. Sky felt her throat welt up, trying to soften the matter, "Well yeah, in the past, and maybe it was stupid, but right now i just kinda wanna move past it....at this point it's gonna do us more harm kinda biting at each other...". "But still you kinda-". "Mel c'mon....i want all my friends to get along here and you're making it difficult with all your talk about what monsters and demons and all kinda of stuff do, like c'mon....i don't live in a spaceship and i don't probe people. You gotta let it go for them like you do me...like i love hearing your cool theories and stuff but this stuff is kinda like....rude.. and maybe i was being rude too with angel and everything...I was just...mad about being forced to...deal with him because of my mom....". Melaine was still running around on her end judging by the sounds of papers being throw around and sky bit her lip. "Melanie?" "Yeah?". "Mel, you're really cool, it's just....like....you don't know mewni very well, it's just a lot different then what you're used to thinking it is. And like i really need to be able to talk about this without all the bias against them, It would just mean a lot to me ok?" Mel hummed on the other end, and sky sighed again, maybe she needed to speak mel's language to get through to her. "You're like one of the people in stories who y'know...gets lost in them too much that they don't notice the truth or consider what they're used to might be wrong...", sky wasn't familiar with tropes like she was but that had to be one right? "Oh..."., she felt relieved knowing she finally got to her, though at the same time she almost felt responsible for her past issues with angel and anything else she might've said before to melaine on a rather bad day. She was supposed to be queen and she was talking heck about all these people to her friends. A little bit of time passed and Sky sighed to herself, she had really been kinda a pain before hadn't she? She rubbed her face and pinched her nose as she spoke. "I mean, it's partially my fault, i guess i don't really y'know, help you learn much about mewni? Maybe I really should get you involved more with mewni stuff...", she could practically see melaine's eyes lighting up on the other side of the screen, even if she couldn't actually see her. "REALLY?!", and sky smirked, and rolled over on her side, "Well, yeah yeah....I think it owe it to you to explain mewni a little better...so you and judas can get along...all that stuff...". Melaine squealed on the her end and sky worried it'd wake someone up at this late in the hour. "Yeah, it'll be cool, just...be careful what you say...ok?". "Ok!". Sky wasn't sure how much to believe her, but she could worry about it later. "Anyways...I just....ugh i'm worried....I feel like i'm being paranoid...and i don't want to be wrong or right and...ugh.". She shoved the pillow over her face, "I can't believe i'm getting worked up and frustrated over ANGEL of all people...but right now i need allies and people i can really trust and with loki under a spell for who knows how long that makes things way scarier. Me and Judas had a suspicion that maybe angel was under her control and....". Her eyes widened. "Under her control.....and now she seems to have some possible connection to their kingdom...possible vendetta against the butterfly kingdom and me, lucitor kingdom, and spiderbite kingdom...magic user...." She bit her lip as she grabbed her compact, "Mel, i'll get back to you, start working on some theories, lemme know if you come up with any good ones and uh...say hi to your mom for me, we'll find a time to meet up soon ok!". Melaine squealed on the other end as sky immediately went to texting judas. He might not see it till morning, but she had to send him a message, quickly. It was an assumption, and who knows if she was right for sure, but it was there and it couldn't go away. Chills running down the girl's spine as she typed in the dark room. Sky: Hey Jude... Sky: How do you feel about Angel's mother being our masked foe? - "Landon sweetie, you need to relax....", marco watched landon run around in circles in his room, worrying, "How can i relax? Bernard is coming over tonight! I didn't really expert him to be allowed over so soon and now i'm not sure what to wear or what to say or...ugh...". Marco smiled, sitting on the bed and sighing, "For the record, me and judas both convinced your father to do this today, it wasn't easy, but he softened pretty quick...he had a hard time with friends in the past, so i think he was more forgiving despite everything...". "I know but-.". "Landon, he's going to love you, it'll be fine....you guys had a great time at the sleepover right? Don't treat it much differently then that! He's gonna meet up with the rest of us for dinner and you'll both hang out, it'll be just fine....". Landon didn't feel so sure though, staring as his violin as if were something rotten, "I wanted him over and now i'm worried he's not gonna like it, what was it like with dad? Was it weird? Cause you guys seem...really happy these days...". "Well, your dad and i didn't really get off to a good start, our first technical date was even a set up for his anger issues, but things did improve and we ended up getting along just fine. Trust me, you can't get as bad as we did at the beginning, you'll be just fine...". Landon stopped his pacing and took a deep breath, "I know you guys keep reassuring me but it's still scary...just promise me dinner doesn't get weird....? And by that i mean...don't start asking if we're dating and stuff like that...". "Oh trust us, we'll try....though might wanna keep a careful eye on your grandparents just to be safe.". Ugh, of course. "They did that when you were together?". "Something like that...let's just say granny gushed a little too much how much i meant to tom and how much we cared about each other, i swear she was planning our wedding long before we even dated!". Oh geez, that sounded like a mess, if he could avoid that, then he'd sure try to. Bernard and him were just friends right now, and nothing could be worse then his family trying to make that humiliating for them both, marco reassured him as he tried to clean his already pretty neat room. Boy he was getting too worked up over this. He felt the queen put a hand on his should and move him away, "C'mon...maybe we instead should focus our priorities elsewhere...? let's go make sure dinner is ready, bernard doesn't have any allergies right?", landon was dragged away , out of his room and down the hall as he thought over their conversations. "No but he does say his folks are like...health conscious? He says they really focus on calories and food products and all that and it's hard for him to even just eat a bag of chips sometimes...". "Protective parents huh?". "He talks about them a lot....so I guess it feels that way...". "You think we're too protective over you boys?" "Well...I mean, i dunno....aren't all parents kind protective most of the time?", which resulted in a shrug from the human, "I mean, every parent is different, just like every child is different, some parents don't want to risk putting their child in danger, some want them to make choices for themselves. Bernard's folks may just raise him a lot differently then we tend to do. Now the true matter is if we should feed him like they tend to do so out of respect or-". "No no no, trust me, bernard is looking forward to eating something else today....TRUST ME.", marco smirked, "Alright alright, just be wary as a parent if anything happens, his parents are gonna blame me.". Landon was wary, he was just hoping it would never come to that point as they reached the kitchens. They were making a classic, spaghetti and meatballs, luckily without any trace of obscure demon food this time, though landon was still on the fence if bernard would eat normal demon food or not. Marco seemed pretty happy, looking over the garlic bread being served along with regular salad, the demons in the kitchen didn't seem too pleased making food that wasn't native to their culture but they could live with it for a day. Seeing the food seemed to ease landon's worries as marco asked to have the food tested just to be safe and they continued on their walk, landon checking his compact often. "I have to pick him up myself, so I...just want to wait till he tells me he's ready..". "It's going to be ok landon...breathe...". He took a deep breath, is this how his dad felt most of the time with work and his anger issues? It probably was, being so over stressed and almost at the brink of blowing up all the time that he needed to take constant breathers. Usually his mom was with him to help make sure he calmed down, the king almost preferred it, since marco was very good with helping him through it. Geez if he was this stressed all the time landon was glad for once he wasn't going to be king. He messed with the strap of his violin case and stood close to his mom, staring at the floor, "I wanna do right by him, i can't help it...I'm not trying to panic so much, i just want to impress him and stuff with our family and everything....i guess i'm jut not used to people coming over..". Marco ran their fingers through their son's hair, trying to comfort them as they walked along portraits of other royal demons, "It's ok to be nervous, but i promise we'll try not to embarrass you so much.". "So much?". "Can't promise you we won't embarrass you at all, though don't worry, we won't bring out any baby photos today.."., he knew his mom was being silly and teasing him but right now it was hard to laugh at the idea, baby photos always looked corny to show off to a crush, especially when you lacked a ton of confidence already. Marco seemed to notice landon's feelings, kissing his cheek and sighing, "You know i got your back mijo, if something happens just let me know..". 'Yeah i know....". Marco tugged them close and placed their other hand on their hips, looking around at the demon portraits and reminiscing, "I know it's a little rough dealing with your feelings right now, but give it time, you'll figure out when you want to talk to him about it soon enough. For now, just get fully comfortable being best friends, it took awhile for me and tom to start dating, so don't rush into it...right now, this is all about getting to spend time in person and having fun and everyone's excited to see him!". "I dunno if i'd really ever be able to confess honestly...". "You will, when you're ready, but not tonight....let's just make tonight fun and stress-free. I think we all needed something like this". "I guess i've just never had a crush before...", landon huffed, trying to fix his hair to the best of his ability, "I Guess it's just weird to like your friend like that.....like maybe it's too soon to think of him that way? Maybe it'll make things....worse between us...i don't want to stop being friends with him". The human kissed the demon's forehead, nuzzling it, "Crushes aren't easy things to deal with...I should know, but it's perfectly normal to feel like this with someone you really connect with....don't be ashamed to like him...". "He's just cool and nice and i'm being weird....", the queen seemed to find it amusing, "You're just nervous, it's ok, your a handsome young man and you're gonna do great. Just be a good friends to him for now and you can figure out the confusing feelings part later....right now, your one of his closest friends and he's one of yours....just have each other's backs...ok?". Marco was just doing their best as they usually did, and sometimes with landon's downer mind they needed to reassure him over and over, landon just hoped tonight went well and he could fully push his problems to the back of his mind. Then his mother left out a laugh, "Ah, you two remind me of me and your father...a demon hybrid and a human, i think if our relationship can make it despite everything we've been put through, i think you two no matter what will do just fine...". Landon would've had a retort but just then his compact buzzed and he knew what that meant. "I better go get him...i'll be back in an instant...", he was pulled into a tight hug, landon sighing into the embrace before his mom kissed his forehead and landon teleported off. At least it wasn't hard to find bernard's house, moving across from his grandparent's place saved him from needing to remember the address to the exact, though he just hoped his grandparents weren't outside painting or anything, because if they spotted him he was going to have more problems to worry about. Though seems he was lucky this time around, approaching a simple blue home, white fence, and seemingly well kept garden. Bernard mentioned at one point his folks liked to grow their own food though not much seemed to be growing so far, then again bernard never said they were experts at gardening either. Bernard seemed about as eager to get out of the house as landon had been to see him again, trying to struggle out of his mother's arms to head out and meet him. Landon had seen Bernard's parents before when Bernard first moved here and through pictures bernard sent on his phone. Though Landon wasn't sure how well his parents knew him, he'd yet to be over their home yet and honestly his appearance could vary in reactions. Though it almost seemed like earth just didn't care about him having three eyes and horns at all in most cases, he'd had a few incidents of scaring kids before, which of course were on accident but yeah....he wondered what bernard's parents thought. If Bernard hadn't told landon already he was adopted, landon might've found the complete differences between him and his parents jarring, but honestly considering landon himself was born out of magic, being adopted was really not strange despite how bernard made it out at times as he almost had a weird urge to explain it to everyone the second they saw him in comparison to his mom and dad. Landon couldn't help but feel Bernard had been embarrassed by it in the past and that's why it made him so anxious, thought honestly landon felt he had been bullied for worse, and he was royalty. Guess it wasn't fair to judge, but Bernard was too cool in his mind that people picking on him so something as small as being adopted just seemed dumb. Bernard seemed reassured landon didn't care so much though, kinda like how landon was reassured bernard seemed to care less about landon being plain compared to his brothers. It kinda felt nice to have someone to trust like that. Despite all the nonsense going round the two were texting vigorously, talking about their days, terrible moments, exchanging favorite songs or movies. This was probably how Sky felt with melaine the more he thought about it, not being the friend you hang out with 24/7 but the friend you always contact and check up on and get to know through hours of fun communication and calls and video chats. A lot of people were too nervous to talk to their crush and landon knew his favorite colors, celebrities, and was the person he seemed to most confide in when he was grumbling about his family or dealing with echo creek high school. Bernard adjusted his vest and t-shirt and tried to fix his hair as he stuffed some things into his pockets, smiling at the sight of the prince and crossing his arms, "It's good to see you in person again, almost thought your super magic would transfer me through the phone...". Landon snorted, "Har har...trying to have you come over was just a pain, you're not mad right?". Of course he wasn't mad but he still wanted to ask just to make sure of it. "I'd be mad your family is struggling and are worried for my safety? It's pretty reasonable....you're my personal bodyguard right?". "Well, as long as you don't go out and do anything stupid i won't have to be...". He smiled. Landon felt red as he hoped his already pink skin would hide it a little better, the guy just had a nice smile, and he got way too worked up about it. "So yeah, just don't wander off, don't eat anything we haven't tested already for anything dangerous, don't go outside the castle cause we live on a cliff thing surrounded by lava and you'll die in that kinda heat, and if you need to go somewhere and get something you'll need me to come with you...or one of my parents....maybe judas too...". The human seemed to get it ok, which put him at ease for tonight more. Landon took out his hand and the boy happy took it and held tightly. They teleported back immediately and bernard took a second to get himself together as he looked over the castle halls of the underworld once again, "Y'know, sometimes i have a hard time believing i'm in another dimension...underground...". He was still impressed, so that was a good sign. "Gotta admit though, doesn't it suck to not get snow? Do you guys have a hard time telling when it's dark out or not?". Landon as an answer, redirected him to the nearest window, only adding to his confusion as he saw a purple...sky? "Uh...wait...what?". "We have a sorta magical simulation of a sky, it's not real...but it exists.... "Huh.." "I mean it's more exciting then staring at stalagmites and stone, it even changes depends on the weather....it rains lava down here, so stay close to me if you plan on ever going out, you're not exactly fire proof.". Bernard seemed amused though and impressed, "Don't worry, I wouldn't want to go around out there without you anyway, wouldn't be nearly as fun...". Landon felt a sigh of relief, bernard seemed pretty causal, it was going pretty well so far. "My family is royalty but trust me, they're rarely that formal or anything, well I mean they can be but usually they aren't or anything...". Bernard left the window and put his hands in his pockets, walking side by side with his friend as they strolled the halls together, gaining eyes from passing demons and monsters. "I have a few tricks i wanna show off to them if that's ok? I've been practicing card tricks and I've even gotten better at uh...you know what..", he winked and landon snorted. "I'm not sure that's a good idea to be doing at dinner of all places...". "Maybe not, but i think they'll think it'll be cool! I've been practicing and I get it back out at least 70% of the time now! Which is much better then It used to be", he seemed so proud of it, smiling heavily and making landon smile in return, "Well, that's good! I mean....good for you and all that...doesn't that hurt though?". The human shrugged, "It takes a lot of practice to get the hang of it, my parents don't exactly approve honestly of it, which isn't a surprise but...yeah...". "I mean, don't magicians always say 'Don't try this at home?'" with the kinda stuff you're trying?". "Well i mean, how do people learn to do this if they don't try in the first place?". "Just don't die on me bernard...". "Promise, cross my heart, I won't get myself killed...". It was so much nicer to talk to him in person then just in text and just from calls, Bernard had a soothing voice and it almost contrasted his strange appearance. All his piercings, even a stud in his tongue, his multicolored hair, a vest. Though honestly it made landon feel normal by comparison, everyone always said he looked like a punk and he played something as formal as violin which seemed unfitting for his appearance. They were a couple of oddballs it seemed liked. "How's school back on earth anyway? Still lame?", the demon said with a tint of laughter, trying to make the human laugh. He seemed delighted to earth a smug grin in response as the human droned on, "Could be worse, but don't worry, mel seems to keep my life pretty eventful. She likes to drag me out to her investigations as libraries or just to see movies, i guess without spending so much time with sky she's just kinda happy to have someone to hang around with her...". "My brother's not too big on her, she's kinda weird about us being demons...but she's weird about mewni in general..", landon didn't even see her as much as even he knew enough about her to know when it came to anything that wasn't like normal life on earth it made her wild, and a little annoying. "Sky like showed up on earth one day, mel saw her and they've kept touch ever since, though it's kinda like i'm not sure if they're friends or mel just thinks she's cool...". 'It's a little of both...", the boy's hand pushed some of his hair back, trying to make it a little less messy, "She considers sky her friend and tells her everything, but she also likes the idea of being apart of that world and being the hero of a fantasy story. Though i suppose what she reads in stories isn't the same as in your world?", it was an obvious trick question, but landon shook his head anyway, "Yeah, assumed as much, hey, mel saw a world she always dreamed of and wants to be apart of it....it's kinda fair....your world...is kinda cool...". "It's like..not all fun and magic though..", the prince grumbled, "Like i guess it's cool to an outsider but it can still be super boring and upsetting if you've lived here as long as i have...people suck sometimes, some people hate monsters...some hate mewmans....some just hate...failures...". He coughed into his hand and decided maybe now he better change the subject before things got anymore awkward then it was clearly already getting to be. Lucky for him, he didn't need to, Bernard seemed to notice the tension rather fast himself and immediately got to work. "Hey landon...how ok are your family with like...humans and all that?". "Hmm?". The human almost looked embarrassed, trying to repeat the question in a way that made it sound less strange, "Like, your mom.....they're human right? Are demons down here super cool with humans or is it just your parents or something?". Landon have him a strange look but tried not to think much of it, bernard probably wanted to know as much as possible about this place if he could, it's not exactly like he knew all that much about the underworld outside of some things landon explained every once in awhile. "Well i mean, my grandparents are fine, and most demons seem mostly ok....my grandpa isn't a demon so he had some trouble for awhile but you don't have to worry about my own family getting on your nerves. Don't let being human get to you too much...". Bernard raised an eyebrow at finding out there were more non-demons among them guess it was to be assumed from his perspective only demons would live down in these hot and lava filled landscapes. "Anyways, my family is cool...sorta...don't worry, you'll get used to them...", bernard eased up as landon gave him a tour around the castle for a bit, keeping him close as to make sure he didn't wander off and get himself in trouble on accident. Like landon said, most likely he'd be fine down here but that wasn't to say some demons were harmless and didn't have any vendettas against humans they'd want to cash out on, so better not risk it if he could help it. Bernard was slightly iffy during the tour and Landon couldn't help but feel worried if he was making him feel nervous or scared, though bernard seemed to be trying to hide it and keep smiling and listening regardless. When the dinner bell approached, landon hadn't even realized he grabbed onto bernard's arm to direct him to their dining room till they made it to the door, making landon tense as he immediately removed his hand, blushed and tried to prep the human for his entrance. "Ok so just...act natural, and if my parents or brothers, or grandparents say anything weird...find a way to change the subject". He was sweating wasn't he and he felt bernard's gaze on him, "Landon, you don't gotta be so nervous around me...I'm not doing anything wrong am i?'. Oh shoot, now he was making bernard feel bad, he quickly tried to ease over the situation, "No no no, it's just i've never really had a friend over so I'm worried about making you feel uncomfortable...". "I'll be ok, don't worry so much", now he was trying to help relax landon, "I'm excited! I'm really looking forward to this, i'm sure it'll be great!". Landon sighed as he pushed open the door and forced himself to relax, the rather large door opening and bernard gasping at the sight before him. He'd somewhat seen and met landon's family before, but the giant demon sitting next to a...human? was not what he expected at all, the room was also rather large but then again, demon royalty. There were also a couple of girls he remembered seeing at the sleepover there, but he paid them much less mind. Landon's parents looked more then excited to see him, waving over as they found their seats, bernard struggling to not lose his mind. He seemed more anxious now then he was before, only making landon more nervous, perhaps his grandmother and the large room made him a little nervous? Though as judas looked around, it was a little weird with his parents being lovey as always, judas seemingly engaged in a text conversation with sky, celeste being her grumpy self, and sunny and mason exchanging ideas for the next session of their roleplay game together. Bernard was most likely a little left out, and landon felt himself kinda get a little annoyed at him being mostly ignored as he tried to strike up a conversation, everyone piling food onto their plates. "So...bernard is from earth, he's...new to echo creek..". that was a good opener right? "How you liking echo creek so far?", thank god for his mom on helping him out, the human taking a bite out of their pasta and making their guest fell more at ease. "Oh well, it's alright, the school is ok...it's nothing all that special". Marco looked a little worried they had said anything weird though so bernard tried to explain further, "My family moves a lot, so it's hard to get too attached to a place, i've been to a lot of different states at this point.". "Aww i'm sorry-". "No no, you don't have to apologize! It's not your fault, besides um...it's not bad here, i wouldn't be here today if i hadn't moved here after all!", smooth, that seemed to make things a least a little bit better. Landon's parents were smiling and overall the situation was less awkward then expected. The food was actually really good as well, and eventually judas looked up from his compact to get more involved with the family, though whatever he was presumably texting sky about seemed to worry him greatly. Even Wrath was in a good mood, offering the human more food and cooing so much so, forcing the family to translate for her for a bit so bernard wasn't left confused. As dessert rolled up he found his opening, reaching into his pockets, "So I kinda like.....do magic? I mean, well, not your demon magic...or or....mewman magic either! We humans have our own kinds magic for entertainment purposes, um....is it ok if i show off a few tricks i've been learning?". No one seemed to mind at all actually, if anything everyone seemed ecstatic, sunny and mason were especially excited but that was expected coming from them. Had Bernard ever actually performed in front of an audience before? Maybe his parents and melaine , but usually this wasn't how he normally did things. Nonetheless he started with some simple tricks, pulling coins from ears, doing some simple card magic, pulling things from his sleeves and utterly fascinating them when he appeared to puke cards or pull a handkerchief from his nose. He seemed to feel more confident the further he went along, landon wished he shared more of that confidence sometimes. Everyone was enjoying their lava cake when he got to his grand finale, which left everyone excited but landon a little nervous. Though despite that he was thankful when he saw that bernard was swallowing a small peice of hard candy then a key or stapler or anything of the sort. It didn't seem anyone was actually sure of what he was about to do before he started doing it, swallowing the piece whole before trying to push it back up, however the situation seemed to panic pretty quickly. Wrath starting making troubling growls, dave stood up, tom seemed about ready to use his telekinesis if possbile, judas looked about ready to panic, celete's usual grumpy mood become more concerned, and both the younger kids were speechless. It was not particularly the reaction bernard had wanted at all, even if he was aware this could possibly happen. And landon wasn't sure what he was supposed to do in this kind of situation, it probably wasn't normally for your friend to show off how he could swallow and puke something and then proceed to figure out what to do when it didn't come back up. Marco immediately got on their feet, panicking and turning to landon, "Is he choking?", which led to landon immediately trying to clam them down despite his own anxiety. "N-no it;'s part of the trick, promise, he's just fine.". Though marco didn't seem so sure, walking over before landon tried to somewhat bodyblock his friend who was violently coughing, and if bernard hadn't slammed his fist on the table, swearing under his breath in frustration, marco would of not doubt pushed past their son to give the boy CPR. Bernard looked both embarrassed, and frustrated. He wanted to try again but reading the room told him that was probably not a good idea. Instead he silently excused himself, scooting away his chair and stomping off in utter embarrassment. He shut the door behind him and sighed before leaning against one of the walls nearby, landon rushing out to meet him moments later. Landon looked really upset, though for very different reasons as bernard crawled up in a wall and softly hit his head against the wall. "Hey...dude....it's ok, it just didn't work this time, you can try again later and-". "Your family thought i was choking!". "Well i mean, yeah but....it's part of the trick right? To gag like that to get the thing up your throat?". Bernard pulled at his hair, "They looked so panicked and worried, ugh i screwed the rest of the night up with my stupid tricks didn't i? I was doing so well too and....ugh...". Landon felt a wave of sadness wash over him, wow this really got to him didn't it? He slumped and sat next to the panicked boy against the way, he'd never seen the boy like this before. He'd seen him upset before sure, he was human of course, but not to this extent. He hesitated, before reaching a hand out towards him and resting it on his shoulder, trying to calm him down almost like how his own mother would when he was stressing out. "It's ok, I promise no one's really mad...". "But I am!", he said back, before forcibly trying to hide his face in his shirt, "I was so nervous to be here because i wanted to make a good impression! Y-your family is royalty and powerful and.....I wanted to impress them, i didn't want to screw up...and make them worry and maybe they're creeped out and will think less of me or you and...". Landon tried to get his attention to stop his worried rambling, tugging on his arm and finally getting the boy to calm down a little from his worried panic. "You really cared about my family thinking you were cool? Heh, i was worried you were gonna think my family was uncool....or...scary...the entire night i was panicking about you being scared of them since you hadn't properly met most of them before.". "Landon i'm not scared of your family, they're cool, i've honestly accepted your creepy vibe at this point.....I just don't want them to...not like me.". "You don't need to-". "Landon, you're a prince, you're incredibly talented, and your family is full of chill people. I'm the weirdo between the two of us, I don't really have any friends outside of you and melaine and i might lose you guys too, i still can't master all my tricks perfectly, my family isn't even all that supportive of my hobbies. Like, you shouldn't be trying to impress me, i should be trying to impress you! You are.....you....I'm sorry landon, I'm making you uncomfortable aren't i?". "W-what no?", his face was heating up a little more then he liked right now, but he needed to focus right now, focus on helping bernard feel better. "Bernard...like c'mon, you're super cool! I mean, i'm not even all that good at demon magic and you do pretty good for yourself with human magic! I suck at demon magic like...WAY more, i mean, you can swallow things and spit them out! You got a really pretty singing voice, and you're super friendly...like have you SEEN me? I suck at making friends, or getting along with a ton of people, i like.....sit in my room and hide away from literally everyone...". "Landon...". "Like, you're super cool compared to me....you just seem so confident in yourself and i'm...not...". Now HE was breaking down, and he felt guilty about it as he felt tears coming on, he was trying to comfort bernard and somehow he turned this session into his own weeping fest, feeling the human pull him into a side hug. "Landon...I'm sorry....I-I....I didn't mean to make this night about me....I knew you just wanted it to be a fun night and i turned it into a night about impressing your family...I....I didn't mean to...". His words wandered off as landon wiped at his eyes, "No It's....I want you to get along with my family...and well...i don't want you to beat yourself up...". "Well neither do i!". "then why are we beating ourselves up?!" "I don't...I don't know...I just.....I care ok?" Bernard felt his hair and rubbed his forehead, his fingernails tracing over his piercings. "Look....I didn't actually have really any friends back in my previous homes...i kept trying new persona's everytime we moved to y'know....fit in?". He closed his eyes, "But my friends that i made just....weren't really my friends, they didn't really know me and i was forcing myself to be friends with them and when i moved it was easy for them to forget me and me to forget them...". "Dude...". "But this.....this isn't a persona this time....I swear...i gave up trying to be appealing like my folks wanted me too and well...i decided a year ago to do whatever i wanted so....I dyed my hair, got piercings, decided to do something wild like magic of all things! And here I am now....and somehow...I well....you wanted to actually me my friend cause of it...and i wasn't doing it as an act either...And after everything else i don't want...I don't want to screw this up..". "Well, maybe you're trying too hard....and maybe i get it as well...", the demon got the human's attention away from himself again as he went on, "I kinda do a lot to make sure everything's great for you and maybe that's just too much, you should know my family and what they're like naturally more then me dictating what to do and make everything super perfect...it'[s taking a lot out of them....and a bit out of me it kinda seems...i just wanted you to like it...". Bernard seemed pretty touched, sleeve wiping his tears some more, "That's really nice of you to care that much...even if it was too much...". They finished their moping and starting to weakly laugh, landon trying to fix his running eyeliner. "Then can we make a promise to stop comparing each other and just...stop thinking we're losers? Or maybe...be losers together...?". Bernard snickered, "Maybe that's a good idea....though, i am still sorry for worrying your parents....I didn't mean to make either of us...look bad....", though landon bumped him playfully, like he was used to seeing judas and sky to each other to mess with the other. Bernard seemed to feel a lot better due to landon's shift, and bumped him back, trying to fix his multicolored hair. "I know you didn't mean to, it's ok... don't let this whole thing keep you from practicing...you'll figure it out eventually...". "I know...I just wish now of all times i didn't end up swallowing the candy instead...". "Like i said, my parents are super cool, this won't make them hate you or anything...I promise...they just care about your safety....", he kinda did promise to take care of bernard so that itself probably added another layer to the bad situation, "We should probably go back and see them right?". He knew they'd have to, he couldn't hide here forever, he had to go up and see them again before the night ended. He picked himself up, trying to make himself seem presentable as landon stood up next to him. "Thanks for....talking to me." "I wasn't gonna just leave you upset out here...like i'm responsible for you here and you're my friend...", bernard was more then thankful, working himself to re-enter the room with landon at his side. Though as they entered they could see not everything was as they left it, judas was pacing and mumbling something to himself, still looking as his compact. Celeste was mostly keeping to herself and eating her dessert, the two youngest perked up at their arrival, and the adults in the room were having a discussion that the boys had clearly interrupted. "Ah, see, they're just fine!", marco seemed more then happy with their return, immediately coming up to see the boys and hugging their son. "Uh.....". "Don't take it personally, they were worried bernard left or something...but i told them you'd be fine, I raised you better then to then that and you could handle it.", marco gave their inlaws another look, "Sorry, they're just uncomfortably used to people storming out of dinner and leaving when stuff like this happens. But I'm at least glad to see you both seemed to have talked about the issues and hopefully we can move on from what happened...just be careful with your tricks next time....ok?". Oh "I'm sorry about the trick...", Bernard stepped forward, "I didn't mean to worry any of you so much, i promise landon didn't do anything wrong, i just wanted to do the trick and i'm sorry....", marco let out a relieving sigh and placed a hang on the boy's shoulder, glancing over at the other adults. "Don't worry, i promise we're not mad, i'm glad you're ok, let's just try to make sure the rest of the night is still welcome and not make it all about this ok?". "Thanks..". "I've done much worse when i was younger, i promise you that, it's ok.". Bernard beamed. "What now?", landon mumbled under his breath, "Does he have to go home or....?". But marco shook their head, "No, i think instead let's go and play some games together tonight, is that ok? Judas might be a little distracted to play but hey, might give us a better chance at winning." Marco's smirk was enough for them, and it wasn't even that much longer later when they found themselves going up against tom and marco in a battle of ping pong. Bernard wasn't particularly good at the table sport, bu the laughter and goofing off seemed to make him happier then Landon had seen him in a long time. At one point they even knocked into each other and landon felt himself blush hard before laughing it off. He hoped they were allowed to have more days like this in the future, well, minus all the crying but at the very least having fun and getting to let all their emotions out with each other in person. There seemed to be a good chance after this night they'd get more days to hang out, at least he hoped so. By the time he finally went home, he was already planning on another visit in the near future. Maybe someday soon landon would build enough courage to make an actual move with him, but for now, this was just fine. Any opportunity to hang out and get to understand each other a little more was good enough for now, he could worry about the crush aspect later. There had been a lot of rough nights for the past few months or so but as soon as he fell on his mattress, he'd slept the best he'd slept in a very long time. Though the same could sadly not be said for his older brother in his own bed, having texted sky constantly over and over because of her most recent accusation. His eyes looking straight at the ceiling, he'd been thinking about it since she mentioned it and it was hard to get it out of his mind. Was that why the masked being looked at him so long before, because angel's parents liked him? But the queen couldn't be running around if she was sick right? Unless she was faking it and this was some elaborate scheme in it's entirely. He couldn't sleep thinking things like this, no matter how hard he tried. Especially with the thought that she was right inside the castle right now, she had got inside, with nora, sky, luna, and lexi. It was not a good feeling, at all, and they didn't even know they were right yet so he wasn't even sure if he should confront it, though if he did he could get someone hurt, but if he said nothing someone could still get hurt. He couldn't stop worrying and Sky definitely sensed it from the other side of the compact screen, trying her best to not have him panic. Judas was typically the level-headed one after all, but also the most caring and protective. He tossed and turned in his bed before sitting up and tussling his messy dark hair. No, if this had any chance of being true, they needed to confront this sooner then later. He took his charging compact from his nightstand and flipped it open to find who he needed and sighed. Judas: Nora....we need to talk about this It was a little while later till she responded. Nora: Judas...is everything ok? What do you need to talk about? Judas: Meet me tomorrow, in the gardens, we need to talk further about the arachfords

#star vs the forces of evil #svstfoe #svtfoe #sky and the forces of the multiverse #janstar bby #tomco bby #ostar bby #my art #fanfiction #fanfic #tom the demon #tom lucitor #wrathmelior lucitor #dave lucitor #queen lucitor #king luctor

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kiss-my-freckle · 5 years ago

Text

My predictions for Gina, the woman from Paris, and Ressler.

Ressler was the right person for Liz to reveal the truth about the woman from Paris, and I’m glad that she did. He now has the opportunity to act as a safety net, which I consider a huge possibility. I’ve been considering other scenarios while noticing how much Brothers could run parallel to Marko Jankowics. Red already knows what Ressler feels about Liz, so I see him forgiving Ressler for keeping the woman a secret. Because Ressler would want for Liz just as Red does. For her to be happy. If Brothers runs as I believe it will, would prepare Ressler for what’s to come when woman from Paris returns.

With Red, I consider Ressler’s character most. With the woman from Paris, I consider Gina’s.

The woman from Paris has two options:

1. Prove Red is Katarina

It’s my belief that her proving Red is Katarina would require she piece together information that she was already given. Things that were said to her during her torture of Red and Ilya, dynamics as she’s witnessed them during her attacks. You get the idea. The issue I have in her learning Red is Katarina through this avenue, is with her inability to reveal Red is an imposter. Should she reveal that to anyone, it could affect her ability to gather intel while also remaining safe from the Townsend Directive. She has to get information, not give it.

In consideration to my theories, I consider this option less likely.

2. Prove Liz is Masha

As it relates to Gina Zanetakos and to my theories, Masha would be simple for her to discover, and would prove a better play in the storyline. As I’ve already theorized, it was Tom who revealed Liz’s born identity to the Cabal, knowing her identity and framing Gina with the mark in the go-box. Having framed Gina with the mark, had to be believable enough that she’d know what it represents. For Tom having the mark, had to know either mother or daughter. Having seen him question the Russian in Quon Zhang for Katarina’s identity, must’ve then known Masha’s. This falls in line with Red’s questions in The Freelancer.

“Tell me about your husband. Does he know you as well as you know him? Does he know about you as a child? Does he know about the fire?”

This sells Masha all the more, and adds quality to the storyline. While Liz seeks answers to save her fake mother, the woman from Paris seeks answers about Masha. Imagine woman seeking out Gina while Liz seeks out Ilya. Moreso in the women. Tom left Gina for his target, who then became his wife. While I believe Ilya was married to the woman, who then became his target.

The reintroduction of Tom's go-box furthering my suspicions ,and because of this, it’s what I’m predicting. I basically view the scar on Liz’s palm as a branding, like the one on Dembe’s back, only Liz’s is specific to Rostova rather than to mutliple victims. Their way of identifying her. What’s interesting to me, is the fact that Tom had the mark, but this woman has yet to learn about it. Gina could hand her that learning.

Ressler’s character adds flavor to my prediction on Gina, given his role in her episode. Imagine when he finds out Tom wiped her memory, then imagine him finding out Tom entered her life in an attempt to cash in on her mother’s head. Now imagine Keenler becoming lovers prior to the woman’s return, and Ressler being there when they attempt to take Masha to Neville for confirmation.

There are so many levels that Gina could tap, and in their consideration, is the reason she’s my only prediction for this woman from Paris. She not only sells current storyline, she sells future storyline, and could even dish up our next big bad - Scottie Hargrave. I’m talking about my Tom Domino theory that spans the entire series. I could go into more detail, but thought I’d keep this as short as possible, and my Domino theories are already posted.

Now, go back to that fight between Gina and Ressler in the elevator. One helping Red, the other helping the woman from Paris. And Liz - wishing Ressler had killed her.

#Rederina #Anti-Tom Keen #Anti-Keen2

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geekmama · 6 years ago

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Something Blue

She’d tried to make it work… she really had. But it was hopeless.

Oh, the angst! Not my usual thing, but Ellis_Hendricks and I were discussing the end of Molly’s notorious engagement and I was inspired to write this short piece on the subject. This could be considered the prequel to Visiting Hours, the first Sherlock piece I ever wrote, three years ago now. How time flies. Many thanks to Ellis_Hendricks for looking this over for me.

They hadn’t spoken a word on the drive back to London. There had been nothing left to say.

In the beige and grey of their hotel room, she’d told Tom the whole -- or most of it. The basic facts, at least. Though it had turned out that these merely confirmed suspicions he’d done his best to ignore, right up to the moment when she’d stabbed him in the hand with her fork.

“So,” he’d said, his voice as dull as the room’s appointments. “You are in love with him.”

She’d sighed, weary with emotion, champagne, and the long day, but had not voiced confirmation of the statement. After all, what was the point?

They’d packed their bags in silence, checked out of the DoubleTree with a minimum of fuss, and returned to London, arriving at her flat in the small hours of a starless night.

“I’m sorry, Tom,” she’d said, bleak and dry-eyed as she’d watched him set her suitcase on the pavement beside her.

“I’m sorry, too,” he had replied, a bitter note in his voice. A brief pause, then, “Goodbye, Molly.”

And that was that.

It was the inevitable conclusion of a process that had begun months before, on the day she’d opened the door of her locker to find Sherlock reflected in the inadequate mirror, a quizzical, almost tender smile on his lips and in his eyes. She’d whirled to face him with a small gasp, and there he was, towering over her, warm and alive. The happiness, the blessed relief…

And then she’d remembered.

“You’re back,” she’d managed to say, and then frowned. “Have you been in a fight?”

“John was less pleased at my return than you appear to be.”

“Oh.”

She hadn’t seen John for a long time. It had been too awkward, and now, she’d thought, it would be more awkward still. Mycroft Holmes had told her she’d nothing to worry about, legally speaking; he would see to that. But nothing would alter the fact that she’d deceived Sherlock’s closest friends for over two years.

So many lies.

In the end they’d understood, and forgiven, even John, knowing it had all been part of the game -- a very serious game.

But she hadn’t told Tom much of it at all, until that night at the hotel, after John and Mary’s wedding and that nerve-wracking reception. And by then it was too late.

Though maybe it always had been too late.

A month later, Sherlock was standing in her lab looking both dissipated and coldly indifferent as she ran the drugs panel and she could not help wondering what insanity had prompted her to throw over Tom for this. Like the Watsons, she hadn’t seen Sherlock in weeks, but the shock she’d felt when they’d first dragged him in had rapidly turned to fury as she worked, a fury that was well able to vie with John’s, and, when she had the final results, surpassed it. There was no way she could have kept from stripping off her gloves, marching over to her bloody, wasted Nemesis, and giving him just a taste of what he so richly deserved.

She felt a moment’s satisfaction at having hit hard enough to penetrate that seeming detachment, and followed up her assault with a demand that he apologize. But of course, even out of his skull on opiates, Sherlock was more than capable of a cutting riposte.

“Sorry your engagement’s over -- though I’m fairly grateful for the lack of a ring.”

After which all she had been able to come up with was, “Stop it! Just stop it!”

How she managed to work the rest of that day she had no idea, but she was a professional and she did it.

A couple of her co-workers had somehow heard about what happened and begged her to come out for a drink when her shift ended. There was nothing she wanted less.

She made her way home, angry at Sherlock, livid with herself. Idiot was the word of the day, and when she got home even Toby sensed that she’d snapped, retreating under the bed in the guest room after she’d slammed her front door upon the world.

No matter.

She fetched the bottle of good white wine she’d been saving for a special occasion (oh, the irony!), poured herself the first of several enormous glasses, put Toby’s dish of wet food out where he would eventually dare to find it, and flopped down on her couch to watch crap telly. God knew she needed the distraction.

It was several hours later when she woke to a dull sense of depression, lingering inebriation, and the sound of her mobile phone noisily vibrating and blaring its current ringtone (‘Happy’ of all things. Irony upon irony). She grabbed the phone to shut it off, but saw that it was John and accepted the call.

“Hi, John,” she said, her voice rough.

“Molly? Are you okay?”

“Yes. Of course. What is it? Sherlock again?”

“Molly… yeah, it’s Sherlock. We were on a case and… Molly, he’s been shot.”

“What?” she blurted, sitting bolt upright, her head swimming.

Bad… chest… surgery… not sure…

She could barely take it in.

But John’s last words were, “... will you come? I mean, there’s not much we can do until he’s out of surgery -- if he makes it. But I thought…”

“I’ll come. I’ll be there,” Molly said, firmly.

“Good. Yes, that’s good. See you soon.”

John ended the call.

And Molly, hopeless idiot that she was, collapsed against the sofa cushions and began to sob.

~.~

#sherlock #sherlolly

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hockeytexts · 6 years ago

Text

Somebody Else- Andre Burakovsky

“Andre look at this” You said to your boyfriend who was right next to you on the couch of his DC apartment, Andre soon turning to you to check out what you were showing him. A small uninterested laugh slipped past his lips before turning back to the tv, watching a show that he picked for the two of you to watch.

Soon all of his attention turning to the tv and his phone, almost like he was trying to avoid you altogether as if you just weren’t there with him or if you were a stranger he just happened to be in the same room with. You sighed as you texted Taylor, maybe she had something interesting going on in her life or maybe she had plans with Tom that you could third wheel. Anything seemed like a plausible option, rather than sitting in a room that almost felt like it was suffocating you.

“I think I’m going out later” Andre mentioned to you before getting up from his space on the couch in order to go to his kitchen, probably to search for something to drink. He always seemed to pregame before going out with his friends, something you never minded but now it seemed like he always did that to avoid you completely. Inviting other people so that you couldn’t really object to what he was doing, as if you could predict the future someone had knocked on his door.

“I’ll get it” You yell to Andre who was in the kitchen, to no avail since he didn’t respond to you at all. This left you to sigh and go open up the door to be greeted by Vrana and Djoos who both gave you a smile and hug, completely unaware of the tension between you and Andre at the moment. “Hi guys” You say before letting both of them in and telling them where Andre was, Djoos soon heading to the kitchen to pregame with Andre.

“Aren’t you coming with us? Ebba is even going out tonight” Jakub asked, referring to Djoos’ girlfriend who you have grown close with this past hockey season. You soon quirk up an eyebrow at Vrana, you heard nothing of tonight much less Ebba flying into town to party. You soon just look down at your messy hair and sweatpants to signify this was a night in for you, skipping out on what seemed like another night out with everyone that you would miss.

“No Jakub, I actually have homework, but thanks for the offer” You politely decline, knowing that if you made a big deal out of everything it would just turn into this huge thing between you and Andre. Jakub just gives you another small hug before going into the kitchen to pregame with Andre and Christian, you just sat back on the couch before getting out your laptop to do homework.

“We’re leaving now” Andre said to you before giving you a small wave and heading out the door, Christian and Jakub looking at each other before giving you a small hug and leaving with Andre. You just turn on the tv in order to put on music, hopefully aiding you in a distraction from your current predicament right now. Andre had grown cold towards you, it was absolutely sickening to you since he used to be where you felt most at home.

It was almost like a switch and instead of lovers, you were each others worst enemies and you were tired of it completely. So instead of doing your homework, you packed a bag and left his apartment in order to go over your friends house who lived in DC. Soon texting her to tell her everything that was happening and how you were feeling, your friend replying back with the okay to come over her apartment and to stay as long as you liked.

You sighed before standing on the curb to wait for your Uber, the cold October wind proved to be unforgiving as you waited for your ride. Gripping your coat so that it would be as close to your body as possible, hoping to secure more warmth for yourself and guard yourself away from the wind.

Your Uber soon pulling up to pick you up, soon you just got in your Uber a deadly silence falling over the car when the driver saw your face. Allowing you to look out at the window to see the sights of DC, a city you always called home that was just chewed you up and spit you out. The soft sounds of the city at night comforting you until you arrived at your friends apartment, your friend who was already outside waiting for you.

“Oh gosh look at you, thank you for taking her” You friend Anna thanked the driver before ushering you out of the car and taking your bags. The both of you rushing upstairs to be greeted by the warmth of her apartment, sighing when you got in. “What happened?” Anna asks with concern in her eyes, you soon really breaking down and explaining that you and Andre basically fell out of love.

“Andre really was the one to let me go, I just can’t believe I stayed for so long” You admit to Anna who just gives you a frown, Anna soon just sighs before popping up with a smile on her face. “We’re going out now, to the same club they’re at because you deserve to have fun too (Y/N)” Anna states before pulling you up much to your dismay. A groan escaping your lips before Anna got you up completely, soon you just gestured to your attire before Anna went to her room.

Soon getting a dress which meant you were definitely going out tonight.

“I hate everything about this place” You complain to Anna who just gives you a soft smile before joining the table some of your friends were sitting at, which was as far away from the Caps table they could find. You soon just following her to soon be met with a group of your friends and a couple of new faces added to the mix of people. You said your hellos to everyone at the table, soon joining in a conversation with your friends Matt and Bella about an event everyone at your University was going to.

“You guys aren’t going to that right? It’s not mandatory is it?” A guy asked before scooting in next to you at the table, soon just introducing himself as Ben and handing Bella and Matt drinks. “No but I think (Y/N) is right?” Matt asked you as he took a sip of his drink, turning to give you his full attention. You just shrugged, you really didn’t feel like going anywhere since you left Andre and you needed to get all your stuff out of his apartment.

“(Y/N) what are you doing here?” You heard your soon to be ex boyfriend ask you with curiosity and intent, meaning he really meant what are you doing here without him. You knew that he was unaware of the break up you were planning in your head, it was supposed to be dramatic with pouring rain. Instead you were now going to do it in a sweaty club with tons of people around, you hated confrontation but this had to be done.

“Come on let’s go outside” You softly command before slipping Andre’s hand in your own before leading him outside to the sidewalk away from all the drunk people. The music from the club could be heard softly through the brick walls and the wind had slowly started to pick up, an almost perfect setting for you as you stood in front of Andre. He was scanning your face, curiosity overtaking his face as you turned away in order to not look at his face since you were going to break his heart.

Something you never thought you would do but everyone had your breaking point, yours was right now standing right in front of Andre. “We need to break up, I already packed my bags and I’m staying over Anna’s until I can find a place. I don’t know when I can get the rest of my stuff but I just want to say thank you for everything, no matter how hard you broke me in the end” You explain as tears rolled down your face. Andre soon just looking at you in confusion before tears slowly start to threaten to leave his eyes too, both of you matching expressions.

Andre just looking at you without saying anything, making you feel worse since you at least thought he would fight at least a little bit instead of letting you walk away. You soon just shake your head at Andre, walking away in order to save yourself from more heartbreak. The only thing your numb body could comprehend is heartbreak and it was the worst feeling in the entire world.

“Wait!” Andre called after you before jogging up to you in order to stop you from walking away from him. “Andre I can’t do this anymore, it’s like you’re not even there anymore” You confess, all of your frustrations ready to be let out even if it was the first thing you said to him. Andre soon just rolling his eyes at you, making you more angry at him than you originally were.

“I’m sorry okay, I just I’ve been going through somethings but I truly do love you (Y/N). You have to know that I love you and I trust you more than most people on this planet, I always thought you’d be my person” Andre fought, a convincing argument except for the fact that something just clicked for you. You just stared up at him before crossing your arms in front of your chest, ready to ask another question in order to confirm your suspicions.

“Andre our love has gone cold ever since you started ignoring me like I’m not even there! Do you know what that has done to me for the past month and probably a half when everything started, you aren’t the only one in this relationship here. You aren’t the only one that matters but that’s all I’ve seen from you, selfish behavior and leaving me out of every little thing” You let out, frustration seeping through you. Trying to explain to Andre that everything was as hard as it was for him, you knew everything was equally as hard for you especially since you were constantly trying to save your relationship.

“Listen I love you and I know you haven’t been feeling the best either but please, give us another chance. I’m standing here, begging for you because I care about you so much (Y/N) and you have to at least know that” Andre begged with you making your tears flow again, you knew you had to end it.

“Andre I’m sorry” You said before walking away but not before turning around to look at your now ex boyfriend on the sidewalk, looking him dead in the eyes. “I know about her too, I was waiting until you could say something to me to my face. It turns out I was wrong and so are you because if you loved me, you would have never cheated.” You say before walking away from him, Andre not following you this time.

You wanted him to fight and he wanted to try for you but he knew he couldn’t, not when you were right. Not when she was in the picture.

“It was always someone else, Anna I’m so dumb” You complain to your friend the next day while she was brushing her teeth and listening to what happened, shaking her head when you got to the cheating part. Anna soon finished up before going on her phone to check something, gasping before showing you her phone.

Soon you were faced with a laughing and smiling Andre, with a girl who you knew from somewhere and it was going to drive you mad if you couldn’t figure out where she was from. “Isn’t she the girl Andre is always leaving with when he had a business emergency” Anna asked, making you gasp as you realize she was right. This was that girl, making you soon question how long this was going on behind your back and how everyone just kept this secret from you.

“Fuck this” You said before leaving Anna’s apartment and calling an Uber to go straight to Andre’s house. Even though you seemed to come to terms with everything last night, you were angry all over again after finding out who she was. How dare Andre even go after someone that close to you and right under your nose, it was a stab in the back and you didn’t appreciate it at all.

Soon you were at Andre’s apartment, luckily enough you grabbed both sets of keys before you left which meant getting into his building or apartment didn’t require his assistance. So you made your way up, fuming the whole way up and stomping out of the elevator to Andre’s door before letting yourself into his apartment.

Soon you spotted Andre in his kitchen, stopping when you both spotted each other in his apartment. Andre just staring at you as if to silently ask the question why the hell were you there, making you sigh before continuing. “I came here because I have to ask if the person really is the business emergency girl?” You asked softly, you knew it was but you had to hear it come out of Andre’s mouth.

“Yes that’s her, I accidentally put up that video on my Instagram story and I really hoped you wouldn’t see it” Andre admitted before stepping closer to you, looking at you still. Almost like if he looked away, you’d disappear and it’d be like the dream he had last night where you just kept leaving him. “Well I saw it, I just want to know why her and was she worth it? If she was, then I’ll leave and never come back into your life ever again” You ask, hoping he’d pick you.

“Are you asking if she was worth losing the one person in my life, other than family members and everyone on the team, who I care about more than myself? No not at all. I’m sorry, everything that I’ve done to you in this past month and a half have been some of the worst things in my life. I’m sorry” Andre apologized, making you cry.

“Andre I can’t forgive you after this, you mean so much to me but after everything you’ve done. A simple apology isn’t cutting it at all, I deserve better than that.” You reply, Andre sighing before stepping towards you again. When you didn’t move, he just pulled you into his arms before resting his head on top of yours. Soon just pulling his head back in order to look at your face again, scanning it before letting you go and stepping away from you.

“I’m sorry we had to end it this way (Y/N), I’m going to hire a moving company once you find a place to live to make things easier for you. Go be happy” Andre demanded before opening up his front door for you, you just nodded your head before walking out of the door and out of Andre’s life.

#andre burakovsky #andre burakovsky imagine #AHHH OKAY I NEED TO MAKE PART 2 #BUT LIKE PLEASE REQUEST BECAUSE IDK HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS #washington capitals

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quinzelade · 8 years ago

Text

By No Constraint (chpt 68)

SS x Danse

Chapter List

Thanks to my amazing beta, waiting4morning, for her wonderful work! Thanks to Musashi1596 for the title.

Hi guys! Sorry for the long absence. Basically, my hand pains came back and I decided not to push myself this time and let them recover instead. I've been slowly writing and taking it easy.

There a nice bit of drama at the end of this story. I had a rather rude reviewer, and honestly? I've been writing this story for a year and a half. Sometimes it just feels good to be pissy back to people.

The rude review is still here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/r/11649684/

I have no intention of deleting it. Their rudeness only fuels my desire to carry on writing without their much sought after permission.

...*SNORT*

Major Brotherhood/Danse spoilers.

Want update alerts? Follow this story on FFnet or Ao3.

Remnants

“You tried to kill me. The least you can do is look me in the fucking eye, Liam.”

Danse had only heard Quinn’s voice this sharp a handful of times—one of which was when he’d told her she was being an irresponsible parent. Quinn damn near bit his head off in response.

Danse leaned against the wall, trying to force his leg to support him. It was trembling badly, the pain a constant drone tearing through his limb. He gritted his teeth and ignored it, watching as Carson winced at Quinn’s tone.

Carson looked terrible: worse than yesterday, if that was even possible. Barely alive. His skin was still ashen and coated in a thin sheen of sweat, the dark circles under his eyes deeper and more pronounced. His body was covered in bandages, but they were tinged with patches of unpleasant yellow stains, mixed with traces of lilac. Looked like Weathers knew how to make the hydra concoction for laser burns.

Carson shivered, but after a pause met Quinn’s molten gaze and said, “Is she dead?”

No one had to ask who he meant.

“Yes,” Danse replied when Quinn stayed silent.

“Fuck.” Carson tried to raise his hands, but then made a noise of pain and let them drop back onto the bed. Instead, his fingers gripped tightly at the sheets as he whispered, “Fuck, fuck, fuck.”

Quinn’s scowl softened with confusion. “You attacked her. Took away her advantage. What the hell did you expect?”

“I know, but…” Carson let out a shuddering breath. “Fuck.”

The anger drained from Quinn's face. She grabbed a chair and sat down next to him. “Tell me what happened. How did you both end up here?”

“I...um…” Carson blinked rapidly, looking dazed. “I...where do you want me to start?”

“Is anyone else involved?” Danse said, gripping at the door frame as his leg gave another violent tremor. Quinn finally noticed, and she got to her feet and found another chair, helping Danse into it.

Carson waited until Quinn returned to her own seat before speaking. He weakly shook his head. “No. Just me and Rachel. We...we wanted to make sure you were okay. Or...I thought that's what we were…” He broke off, his voice thick. When he continued, he sounded strained. “Rachel said you were missing. You and Shaun—”

Danse resisted the urge to correct Charlie's name.

“—and your armour was gone too. Rach said she was worried, that it wasn't like you to leave without telling us. And...I agreed. But we decided to wait to see if you came back. You didn't.”

Danse saw Quinn's face visibly pale, and felt her pain. They'd discussed the possibility of a search party, but with everything going on…

“She asked if there was anywhere you might go, and I said...I said…” Carson closed his eyes. “I said Tom and I brought you here for your husband’s funeral. That you had a house and everything.”

“You didn't mention Nick, did you?” Quinn asked quickly.

“No.” Carson’s eyes snapped open again. “You told me not to!”

“And it didn't occur to you that Rachel might run into Nick and attack him?”

Carson went red. “No, I...it sounds stupid, but I didn't really think of that.”

“You're right. It does sound stupid.”

He went even redder. “I had other shit on my mind!” Carson erupted, trying to sit up without thinking. A horrible shriek left his lips and he fell back onto the bed, face twisted in agony. Quinn watched him, balling her hands so tightly her knuckles went white.

“You left,” Carson hissed, forcing his words out between his teeth. “You disappeared with your kid, and I was scared you’d finally lost it. You hadn't been the same since the Institute! I just wanted to make sure you were safe!”

He screwed his eyes shut and fell silent, trembling where he lay. Quinn bit her lip and after a pause reached for the med-x Weathers had left in a pile on the nightstand.

Carson’s eyes snapped open as she moved, and he scowled. “No. I can't answer your questions if I'm high.”

“Carson—”

“Leave it.”

Quinn's fingers tightened around the med-x, but then she nodded and set it back down.

It still took Carson a few minutes to settle before he could speak again. His breath came out in pants, sweat running freely down his face. Quinn stood up, taking off her jacket and using the clean sleeve to mop his brow.

“Thanks,” Carson whispered, staring up at the ceiling. He swallowed, taking deep, gasping breaths through his mouth, and then went on. “So we walked to Sanctuary. I don’t think Rach slept the entire way. I asked her why we weren’t riding a vertibird, and she said in case we found you on the road. I took my armour...she went without. As usual.”

“Your armour?” Quinn frowned. “If you have your armour, why weren’t you wearing it?”

“Rach’s orders,” Carson replied. “We found a cave just behind the truck stop you were in yesterday. We’ve...we only arrived two days ago.”

“Two days ago?” Quinn asked.

Carson nodded. “Early evening. Rach told me to stay in the cave while she scouted ahead. She used a stealth boy and disappeared for a few hours. She came back before it got dark.” He swallowed, his brow creasing with distress. “She...something was wrong. Something had changed. Said she’d overheard you talking with a guy called Robert, but wouldn’t say what she’d found out. Except…” Carson bit his lip. “That her suspicions had been confirmed. Rach didn’t elaborate much past that.”

Quinn and Danse looked at each other.

Carson closed his eyes and continued talking, faster than before, as if he wanted the tale over with. “I woke up just before daybreak and found her wide awake, checking over her stealth boys. She’d obviously been awake all night. Like...like she was preparing for battle or something. She kept running her hand through her hair, getting to her feet, pacing...when I asked her what was wrong, she…she…”

Carson took a deep, shuddering breath. “She said she thought you might be a traitor. That something wasn’t adding up. She’d been thinking and thinking since she’d got back to the cave, and...and we needed to investigate further. She told me to leave my armour behind and use a stealth boy. But just as we walked past the truck stop to go to Sanctuary, you and Paladin Danse came out.”

“Did she already know I was alive?” Danse asked, leaning forward in his chair. He couldn’t imagine Marguerie would have the restraint to hold herself back until the next day. It just wasn’t her. It made much more sense if she thought Charlie was the only synth in Sanctuary. Anything else would have been a bloodbath.

“I don’t think so, sir” Carson murmured. “Because...when she saw you, I...well. She just...stopped.” He finally opened his eyes again and turned them to Quinn. “She stopped so suddenly I walked into her. And then...I saw her shimmer go straight for Paladin Danse.”

“And you didn’t know that was going to happen?” Danse asked, staring at Carson. Carson shook his head. “Then why did you stand there, pointing a gun at us, while Marguerie threatened to kill everyone in the goddamn settlement?”

Danse only became aware that he’d risen to his feet when the pain overwhelmed his shaking leg. It buckled, and Danse crashed forward, managing to catch himself on a conveniently positioned dresser. Quinn was at his side in an instant, helping him back into the chair and kissing his cheek.

“Well?” she snapped, shooting a vicious glare at Carson.

Carson bit his lip, looking close to tears. “I...I froze. I’m sorry, but that’s the truth. I didn’t know what was happening. It was all just too much. Paladin Danse was alive, and I didn’t know if that meant you were both traitors, or…” His voice shook, and he stopped, breathing heavy. When he continued, the tremor was still there, his pitch a little higher. “Then Rach started talking about killing kids, and I just...I knew I had to stop her.”

“Stop her?” Quinn spat, looming over him. “She pulled the fucking trigger! If that gun hadn’t been broken, we’d both be dead!”

“And if the gun hadn’t been broken and I’d acted, we’d probably all be dead anyway!” Carson hissed back, anger lighting his face up. “I couldn’t just throw myself at her! She had a gun to Paladin Danse’s head! By the time I got there, she’d have shot him and probably shot you too! I figured if I waited for an opening, then at least one of you would have a chance of…”

His voice faltered again.

“I’m sorry,” he said finally, turning his eyes back to the ceiling. “I’m sorry I didn’t warn you. I’m sorry I just...stood there. I’m sorry she’s dead, too.” Finally, slow, sorrowful tears slid down his cheeks. With what looked like a great effort, he lifted his arm, gasping with pain, and pulled his holotags over his head.

Danse stared at them, a sinking feeling in his stomach. Carson’s tags were caked in dried blood and burnt skin, and looked as if they’d been ripped away from his scorched flesh. But all they made him think of was Marguerie’s holotags. He had left them on her body.

His heart began to race. The tags were supposed to go to the next of kin. To Sarah. How could he have been so stupid?

Danse tried to calm himself, taking slow, deep breaths until Quinn glanced at him with a concerned look. He gave a short nod to show he was fine, and forced his attention back to Carson. Think about Marguerie later. There were more important matters at hand.

Carson was trembling badly now, and wearing an expression as if he was going to throw up. Finally, he got the tags loose and held them out to Quinn. “Don’t tell Tom what happened to me. Just...tell him it was mutants and that it was quick.”

Quinn’s eyes widened. “What…? Do you need a doctor?”

Carson blinked, suddenly confused. “I’m not an idiot, Quinn. I know what you’re going to do.” He raised his arm higher, the agony clear in his face. “Tom will need closure.”

Quinn and Danse looked at each other again, and in that moment, they both came to the same, unspoken conclusion. Carson was telling the truth.

Quinn leaned forward, took the tags from Carson’s hand, and set them on the nightstand. Then she picked up the med-x syringe and put it between her teeth as she mopped his brow again.

“You can tell him yourself,” she said, when she’d returned the med-x to her hands and pulled off the cap.

Carson frowned. “What?”

“Get some sleep,” Quinn replied, injecting him with the chem. “We’ll talk more later.”

Danse seemed in a strange mood when they left the house, Nick resuming his watch over Carson. Quinn placed a hand on Danse’s shoulder, but he shrugged her off, shaking his head. She didn’t push it. The last twenty-four hours had been trying for both of them, and if he needed some space…

Her suspicions were confirmed as she watched him limp towards the new graveyard. Talking with Carson must have added salt to the wound. She wasn’t feeling much better herself.

Quinn turned in the opposite direction and walked off down the street, deciding to speak with Rose Crowcroft before Rose went in for some sleep. Quinn believed Carson—she really did—but if he and Rachel had left without saying they were looking for her, then Maxson might still send out a patrol of his own. Better to stay alert for the time being.

A lone figure was hunched at the barricade on the edge of town, perched in the guard’s seat. Quinn glanced around for Crowcroft, wondering which unlucky settler drew the short straw for early watch on such a cold morning, before remembering the shift change wasn’t for another hour. She stared hard at the watchman and then blinked. It was MacCready.

No, it couldn’t be MacCready. He’d been helping with the chaos yesterday, well into the evening. Quinn had stepped out of the operating room for a much needed break, and when she’d walked back, saw him digging with Danse, Nick, and Preston. The open grave had been stark against a backdrop of rotting picket fences and dead trees. To be here now would mean...

“Mac?” Quinn said, hoping it was someone else.

MacCready looked up, his empty eyes boring into hers. His usual smile failed to appear. “Hey.”

She strode over to him. “Have you been here all night?”

He didn’t answer, but checked over his weapon and directed his attention back to the wastes. When Quinn stayed where she was, he exhaled slowly through his nose and nodded.

“Why?”

“Keeping an eye on things.” His grip tightened on his gun. “And...thinking.”

Quinn bit her lip. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure there was no one in earshot, and then said, “About Rachel?”

“No,” MacCready replied sharply, his cheeks abruptly flushing with colour, though he continued to stare ahead. “Why would I be thinking about her? We only...a one time thing. Nothing to it. Just another...” His words seemed to catch in his throat, and he suddenly tugged his hat down, shielding his eyes.

“Mac,” Quinn said again, crouching next to him as she laid a hand on his back. “Talk to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” MacCready replied, his voice muffled by the hand now covering his face. He lowered it and shot her a sharp look. “Shi—I mean...bad stuff happens.”

Quinn stood up and sat on the edge of the barricade, taking care to avoid the rusted barbed wire woven into the structure. She wondered where to take the conversation, when MacCready shivered, and she finally realised he was missing something.

“Where’s your coat?” Quinn asked.

MacCready waved his hand lazily towards the ground, and Quinn saw his coat in a heap at his feet. She squinted at it and realised there were smears of blood on the brown leather. She decided not to ask who the blood belonged to. Instead, Quinn stared hard at MacCready, and after a few seconds, his mask crumbled away. He seemed to deflate, suddenly looking tired.

“I’ve been thinking of Lucy,” he said, picking at a hole in the cuff of his sleeve. “All night...just her.”

Quinn blinked. She hadn’t expected that answer.

Apparently, neither had MacCready. He looked surprised at himself, then shrugged. “I know it sounds weird. I know I should probably be thinking about Rach, given that…” He swallowed. “I can’t get Lucy’s last moments out of my head. Her screams. Duncan crying.”

MacCready’s eyes were glassy and faraway. “I couldn’t even bury her. Just took Duncan and ran. He...he cried so much after that. I didn’t know how to make him stop. Lucy was the one who could calm him down.” MacCready pulled his hat down low again, cradling his gun in his arms. “I’ve only ever been good at killing people.”

Quinn didn’t speak. What could she say? She waited patiently while MacCready sniffed and rubbed at his face, his eyes shielded by the brim of his hat. When he looked up again, they were red and slightly damp.

“Sometimes I wonder if I really left home to save Duncan’s life,” MacCready said, his voice flat. “I’m a terrible father. A liar. A Gunner—”

“Ex-Gunner,” Quinn interrupted, scowling. She wasn’t going to let him forget such an important distinction. “Ex-Gunner.”

MacCready hesitated and then nodded. “Ex-Gunner,” he repeated. “Doesn’t change the fact I’m still here. I found the cure...but I haven’t gone back” He shifted in his seat, face contorted with disgust. “I thought about it all last night. I figured it out. I’m just like Rach. Afraid of raising my own kid. Afraid of...of fucking it up.”

Regret crossed MacCready’s face in an instant. He slowly closed his eyes, as if inflicted with great pain, and bowed over his lap.

It took Quinn a moment to recover from MacCready swearing, but she felt commenting on it would only make him worse. She quickly fished for a subject. “Who told you Rachel’s daughter was still alive?”

“She did.”

Quinn’s mouth dropped open. “What?”

MacCready nodded as he straightened up. “When we got rid of the Gunners and we were celebrating. She can’t…” He frowned. “She couldn’t handle her drink. Let slip that Sarah was a ghoul instead. Well, I say let slip—” His face suddenly went beetroot. “After we...y’know...well.” MacCready coughed. “We were lying there, and from nowhere she starts talking about her daughter. How much she missed her.”

“What did you do?”

“I asked what happened, and I just...I dunno. Listened.”

Quinn was impressed. “You’re doing better than some of my exes.” She stretched her arms and then narrowed her eyes. “You said Rachel told you her family was dead.” She couldn’t keep the accusing note out of her tone. It stung that he’d lied to her.

MacCready shrugged, though he had the decency to look sheepish. “I...I didn’t want to share. It felt like something between me and Rach. Private, y’know? Even if she was gone the next morning.”

Quinn felt her face soften. “You really liked her, didn’t you?”

MacCready shrugged again, but the pain was clear in the premature lines etched into his face.

“You’re allowed to hurt, Mac,” she said in a low voice.

Weariness swept over his expression. “About who, though? Lucy keeps…” His sentence trailed away, and when he spoke again, there was a tremor that hadn’t been present before. “I don’t even know who I buried yesterday. I mean, I know it was Rach, but as I was digging, I kept going back to the metro station. And how I left Lucy behind.”

Quinn crouched down and hugged him. MacCready didn’t hesitate, gripping tight at her as he shook.

“You put your son first,” she said quietly into his ear. “Whatever happened, Lucy would have wanted Duncan to live.”

“I shouted at him,” MacCready mumbled, clutching so hard at Quinn it was starting to hurt. “After we got away, he wouldn’t stop crying and I shouted at him. Swore at him. He was only a baby and I…”

“You think I haven’t shouted at Charlie over stupid things?” she replied, remembering the string of incidents since the Institute with a horrible, guilty feeling in her stomach. “Being a parent is hard. Especially when you’re on your own. And even more when you’re grieving. But it sounds like you learned from it.”

“Yeah.” MacCready sniffed, leaning heavily into her shoulder. “Promised I’d be a better person. I’m...trying.”

The two of them were silent for a moment, still hugging. An idea suddenly jumped into Quinn’s mind, and without a second thought, she blurted it out. “Bring Duncan here.”

MacCready pulled away from her at once. “What?”

Quinn paused, considering what she’d just said. Why the hell not? She smiled. “When things have settled down with the Brotherhood—and if you want to—bring Duncan here.” She gestured to the barren settlement. “I’ve been thinking it over. I’m gonna fortify this place. Build trade routes to the other Minutemen settlements. Expand. Make this a home for everyone. The Minutemen will help.”

MacCready stared at her.

“It’ll take a while, and it’ll be hard work,” Quinn said quickly, not wanting to sell the wrong impression to him, “but I think the end result will be worth it. And if you bring Duncan, then you’ll have people who can help you if you’re worried.” Her insides churned as MacCready continued to gaze blankly at her. “I think Charlie would like the company, at any rate.”

MacCready turned his head from side to side, surveying the desolate town. Residents were starting to emerge from their houses, collecting water in buckets to take to the crops, or dragging materials into piles to use for the settlement repairs.

“Y’know,” he said quietly, “I’ve never had friends like this.”

Quinn frowned. “People who would look after your son?”

“No. Otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to leave Duncan behind.” MacCready met her eye, a smile slowly spreading across his face. “Friends who would knuckle down to build a place that lasts. Friends who watch either other’s backs, not because they’re paid, but...because of the principle. Everyone helped you and Danse yesterday without being asked.”

Quinn smiled back. “So, is that a yes?”

MacCready didn’t reply, and after a while she patted him on the shoulder. “Get some sleep. The shift is changing in a few minutes.”

He stood up, stretching out his body with a groan, and picked up his coat off the ground. His eyes flicked to the blood stains, and he paled, before quickly looking away. Then he turned to Quinn, pulling something out of his trouser pocket. “Before I forget…”

Quinn saw a set of holotags in his palm, gleaming in the low morning light. She picked them up and inspected the name. They were Rachel’s.

“I don’t know why I took them,” MacCready said, staring at his feet. “No one else seemed to think of it, and they were just poking out of her uniform when I put her in the grave, so I…” He was starting to go red. “I don’t want them. But Danse will. Or Sarah. Or heck, maybe the Brotherhood can recycle them. But they shouldn’t be with me.”

Quinn closed her finger around tags, the metal warm to the touch. “Thank you.”

Danse’s leg throbbed as he stood over Marguerie's grave. Sluggish thoughts oozed through his head, malice prickling inside his skull. He had sworn an oath to fight by his brothers and sisters, not murder them. Even as an exile, those heavy words clung to him like spider webs in a tomb.

Danse’s throat tightened, remembering the feel of Cutler’s thick fingers digging deep into his neck, and drew in a shuddering breath. Marguerie’s face flashed across his vision—not a mutant, out of control, but completely and utterly human.

You had to do it, he reminded himself, trying to push back the clawing desperation in his stomach. You had no choice. She would have killed Quinn and Charlie.

Anger crashed over him as he stared at the miserable mound of earth holding Marguerie's body. Once upon a time, Danse might have said she had just been ‘doing her duty.’ He scowled. ‘Doing her duty’ for an organisation that would never allow her marriage to George Marguerie, had Elder Lyons not rebelled. The codex plainly stated outsiders to the Brotherhood were not a priority, and mingling with them, actively discouraged.

The tenants of the Brotherhood echoed on. A new Marguerie appeared, standing next to him on the first day of initiate training. She was his partner in their first sparring session, and immediately managed to punch him on the nose. Danse worried that his guard wasn’t good enough—or even worse, that he was just plain sloppy—until the training sergeant rotated everyone’s partners. Marguerie ended up with Cutler, and within thirty seconds of the start whistle, she’d punched him on the nose too.

Danse had worked himself to the bone after that first day—there were too many naturally talented people in the ranks for him to be lazy. Slowly, Marguerie came into his circle, along with a few others.

With a stab of grief, Danse realised every single one of them was now dead.

She was my friend.

“Was it worth it?” Danse snapped, glaring down at her. The emotions of yesterday were biting into him, refusing to leave. Try as he might, all he could think about was the Brotherhood—the toxicity of its rigid rules and falsely infallible leadership. Principles he had followed to the letter until very recently.

“What possible explanation do you have for sympathising with these machines?”

Old words. Ancient words. Danse felt shame rip through him as he remembered his first encounter with Nick Valentine, ready to put him down. He would have pulled the trigger without hesitation had Quinn not stepped between them and forced Danse to back off.

Shame bubbled in the pit of his stomach. Ignorance was the enemy, and the Brotherhood was riddled with it.

Danse stood rooted to the spot, clenching and unclenching his fists. Why was he still standing here? The longer he remained, the worse he felt, old disgraces wriggling up from the grave like maggots and burrowing into his thoughts. There was only one way Marguerie would let him go—he’d have to dig down and take her tags.

Danse shivered, remembering how rigid she’d felt in his arms. His leg shook violently, and for a second Danse thought it would buckle. He managed to stagger over to the fence, gripping at it as he breathed heavily through his nose. The very thought of scraping his way through the earth to her body sickened him. He didn’t want to see her. Not when she was so cold and still. No fire in those eyes. No smirk on those lips.

I can’t. I can’t do it.

I have to. I need those tags.

No!

Before the internal argument could go any further, a familiar arm wrapped around his middle. He jumped and turned to see Quinn, her expression containing traces of worry.

“You alright?” she asked, glancing at his leg.

“Yeah,” Danse lied. “Fine.”

Quinn raised an eyebrow but didn’t persist. Instead, she brushed his hair out of his eyes. “You look like you’ve run a marathon and you’ve only walked across the street. I think you need some rest.”

Danse winced as something stinging trickled into his eye, and he wiped impatiently at his face. His hand came away slicked with sweat.

“Come on,” Quinn said, tugging gently on his arm. “Let’s go back to the house.”

“I...I need something first.” His mouth was dry, legs shaking harder than ever. But if he didn’t do it now, he never would. “Her tags…”

Quinn held a small object up for him to see, and he stared at it, his mouth dropping open in shock. The tags. Marguerie’s tags.

“How…?” he mumbled, reaching out and taking them.

“MacCready,” Quinn said simply. “He...grabbed them for you before you buried her but forgot to pass them along.”

Danse nodded. He didn’t care whether Quinn was telling the truth or not. He had the holotags. He turned them over in his trembling hands, scanning the chipped and scratched metal. The blue light of the electronic panel glowed faintly against his skin, and with rising nausea, he saw splatters of blood partly concealing Marguerie’s serial number. Danse gripped the tags tight in his fist, a mixture of relief and guilt needling him.

Quinn pulled more firmly on his arm. “Come on,” she repeated.

Danse obeyed, turning his back on Marguerie and letting Quinn steer him away. He limped across the settlement, each step increasing the sharp pain in his leg, and by the time they’d reached home, he was exhausted. Quinn set him up on the sofa, after warning Charlie not to climb all over Danse, and then swept from the house. Five minutes later, she returned with Preston at her side, who checked over Danse’s injuries, injected a stimpak, and then re-dressed the wounds.

Sturges poked his head through the door, asking Quinn to take a look at which building she wanted repairing next. She left Danse on the sofa, promising to be back soon.

The next thing he knew, he was snorting awake to the sound of Quinn telling Charlie off for messing around with Danse’s workbench. He glanced around the room, noting the morning glow had turned bright and strong.

“They’re tools, not toys, Charlie!”

“I know, mom, but I was making Mr. Danse a—”

“You don’t use this stuff without his supervision!”

“I wanted to surprise him!”

Danse groaned as he rubbed his eyes, and Quinn and Charlie turned to face him, looking guilty.

“Sorry,” Quinn said, biting her lip.

Danse smiled to show it was fine, and shot what he hoped was a stern frown at Charlie. “What did I tell you this morning when I left?”

“Not to mess with the guns without you,” Charlie replied, scowling, suddenly looking strongly like his mother.

“And what did you do?”

Charlie didn’t reply, staring at his own feet.

“What did you do, Charlie?” Danse said, louder this time.

“Messed with the guns without you,” Charlie muttered, still gazing at the floor. He glanced up. “But I just wanted to make you a present!”

“And that’s very nice of you,” Danse said, “but if I can’t help you with a project, then you get your mother to help instead.”

“She’s been busy,” Charlie said bitterly. “Fixing stuff around the settlement. She didn’t have time for me today.”

Quinn looked upset by this proclamation, and Danse felt a spike of irritation. He could understand the need for attention, but it wasn’t Quinn’s fault if there were other things to do.

“I think you need to learn some patience,” Danse said sharply. “You know what happened yesterday, and if we can’t make time for you on a particular day, it’s for a good reason.” He tried to stand, but his leg had become stiff and aching again, and he grunted with pain.

Charlie’s eyes grew wide, and he stuffed a knuckle into his mouth.

Danse felt some of his annoyance ebb away. He leaned forward, holding Charlie’s gaze. “Look at me, Charlie. Look at my leg.”

Charlie looked.

“Weapons did that. Guns killed the woman we buried.” He decided not to add he’d been stabbed himself rather than shot. “I was incredibly lucky. But playing around with guns can get you killed. What if there was a misfire? Would you know how to stop yourself bleeding to death before you got help?”

Charlie paled, before turning a delicate shade of green. Quinn looked as if she wanted to tell Danse to stop scaring her son but clamped a hand over her mouth and stayed silent.

The last of Danse’s ire disappeared. “I’m sorry we’ve not been around much the last couple of days. It’s not always going to be this way, but right now, there’s a lot to do. Sanctuary isn’t like the Institute. We don’t have things served on a plate. Clean water, food, security...we have to provide that for ourselves, which is what your mom is trying to do. When things have settled down, I promise we can work on something together.”

Charlie blinked, his eyes watery, but nodded. “Sorry, Mr. Danse.” He glanced at Quinn. “Sorry, mom.”

Quinn nodded, but didn’t reply, her hand still firmly fixed over her mouth.

“Alright,” Danse said gently, smiling. “Off you go.”

Charlie shuffled from the room. A few seconds later, small snuffling noises came from down the hall. Quinn let her hand drop, a pained expression on her face. She picked a comic book off the coffee table and strode away to Charlie’s room without a single word. Danse stayed where he was, listening to the distant sound of Quinn’s voice as she comforted her son. When she returned half an hour later, she looked as weary as he felt.

“Sorry for ordering him around,” Danse replied, hoping she wouldn’t mind him telling Charlie what to do.

“He needs to understand how dangerous guns are, and I’m obviously not up to the task.” She smiled. “Besides, I told you—you’re going to end up a father to him.”

A warm glow ignited in his chest at these words. He squinted across the room, his gaze falling onto the workstation. “What was he trying to make?”

Quinn picked up the gun on the workstation, inspecting it. Danse recognised it as an old, salvaged laser rifle that he’d picked up from one of the visiting traders. Quinn passed it to him, and despite himself, Danse checked over Charlie’s handiwork. After a few minutes, he blinked.

“This...this is good.” Danse turned it over at every angle, looking for flaws. There were some mistakes, some shoddy work, but nothing dangerous. He met Quinn’s eye. “Did you teach him this?”

Quinn frowned. “Teach him what?”

Danse looked back at the gun. “He’s got a real talent for gun work.”

Quinn glanced nervous at the corridor. “Keep your voice down. I don’t want him to tinker unsupervised again.”

Danse nodded but smiled all the same. He felt...proud, though he wasn’t sure why. He set down the rifle on the coffee table. They still had a decision to make.

Quinn knew what he was thinking before he’d so much as spoke. She sat down on the sofa with a long sigh. “So, what are we doing about Carson?”

Danse stared at the peeling paint of a nearby wall. Against all odds, he believed Carson’s tale. That didn’t necessarily mean it was safe to let him go. “Do we trust him enough to risk Charlie’s life?”

Quinn leaned against Danse’s shoulder, and he shifted, wrapping his arm around her.

“I don’t know,” she replied eventually. “Hancock’s offered to do the dirty work, but…” She squirmed in her seat. “I’m tired of killing friends.”

When Danse didn’t respond, she went on.

“I want to believe we can let Carson go and everything will be alright. He had every opportunity to let Rachel kill us, and he didn’t.”

“Well,” Danse said eventually, closing his eyes as he gave Quinn a small squeeze, “we have some time to decide. He’s not going anywhere for the time being.”

A/N:

I got a review last chapter that I wanted to address. Sadly, they gave their review anonymously, so I can’t talk to them directly. And given their gripes, they probably won’t see this. But hey, it feels good to at least respond.

1. Yep, BNC is very long. It’s also fanfic about the ENTIRE GAME. That means sticking to the original narrative, in all its drawn out glory. If that’s self indulgence, I can live with it. I enjoy writing, and people enjoy reading my work.

Given that you’ve only mentioned two characters, though, I strongly suspect you’ve probably skipped through most of BNC, and gotten frustrated because the two main leads haven’t fucked when you wanted to them to.

Which brings me to my next point.

2. Adults do have sex. Well done for noticing that. Adults do NOT all have sex the same way, though. Some people are very shy and awkward about it. Some people lose libido for many reasons. We don’t all conform to your expectations of sexuality. The fact we think you should suggests a fault on your part, not the rest of the entire human race.

3. Quinn and your weird standards of how women and men SHOULD behave does you no favours. Just because Quinn is a wife and mother doesn’t mean her life stops when those things are taken away from her, and nor does grief, depression, getting married, or having kids permanently deprive you of the ability to giggle. Christ.

4. Similarly, men are allowed to blush, whether they’re aroused, embarrassed, ashamed, or angry. The fact you think that women should be the only one to show emotions other than arousal is as boring as it is sexist. Men feel a range of emotions, and I think that should be portrayed MORE in media, not stifled.

5. My story is a character-driven piece. And yes, that includes my OCs. Quite frankly, I don’t really give a damn that you find them distracting. Every fanfic I’ve ever written has OC driven stories. That won’t change.

6. Work on your attitude, buddy, because you’re obnoxious. You don’t grant me permission to do anything, let alone ‘permission to end my story.’

It ends when I want it to end.

#Fallout 4 #Paladin Danse #ss x danse #sole survivor x danse #fallout 4 fanfic #by no constraint #story #writing

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bluegreenamber · 7 years ago

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The Mirror (3/4)

((AN: Heyyy here's the next chapter. Now if only I could find my motivation again... So yeah, sorry for the wait. It's been crazy busy lately, and updating just completely slipped my mind. Anyways! Hope the content will somewhat make up for it. Enjoy!)) I first met her at the library. It had taken an embarrassingly long time to realize that maybe there was a record of what had happened to the four boys that had previously lived in our house that might explain why some of them were still around… in a way. And that I might just find the record in the library and research those things. When I saw her among the shelves, I felt my whole body react. My face flushed with blood, my limbs froze in place, my eyes widened, and my breath halted in my throat. She was beautiful, perfection in its simplest form. I barely had time to compose myself before she looked straight at me, smiled brightly, and strode over. She introduced herself as Aisling and had to write it down for the spelling because it sounded like “ash-ling.” I smiled as I watched her write it, trying to keep my face from completely revealing every thought and feeling that crossed my mind. I hope it worked; otherwise, she would practically see me thinking, “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” She asked me why I was here today, and I told her. Apparently, she was volunteering here and would be happy to assist me find my records. Just my luck. As we weaved through aisles of bookshelves, she decided to strike up conversation and started talking about the origins of her name. It was Irish, meant “dream” or “vision,” and was actually a genre of poetry. She personally was named after a character in a movie I had never heard of. She promised to show me one day, and I decided our friendship was off to a good start. No thanks to me or my awkward stammering I'm sure. She knew the library really well, so we found the record in… well, record time. We sat at one of the wooden tables with the files, and I started reading over them intently while she helped where she could. There was some… rather interesting stuff. Our house had last belonged to four boys: Edd, Tom, Matt, and Tord. They had formed their bond from a mutual love of art, comedy, and adventures. They went on many such adventures and often documented them through doodles and comics, many examples of which were within the records. But it was those adventures that led to their untimely demise. All four of them died young on the same day. Their bodies were found at home together, and almost all of the autopsy reports were unreadably marked over. So that was a dead end. Most of what I found was pretty useless. Since their deaths had been rather recent, the file was fairly empty. The only other thing that I saw that could possibly have been of any value was the obituaries cut out of a newspaper. They listed the usual things: age, occupation, date and location of death, birth date, accomplishments, family, etc. But what really caught my attention was the things that weren't mentioned. Many vital parts such as cause of death and what happened with the funeral just weren't there. That basically matched up the information marked out from the autopsy reports. I found that very intriguing. When I deemed the files thoroughly searched, Aisling and I returned everything to their proper places. There was yet another awkward moment as neither of us seemed to know what to say or do next. Finally, something came to mind. “So when do you get off?” I asked. Her face lit up in happy surprise. “At three. Which is in…” She checked her phone. “About half an hour.” I grinned. “Do you maybe wanna grab a bite to eat then?” She returned the smile. “Thought you'd never ask.” If I wasn't blushing before, I definitely was now. “Great! I'll just be hanging around in here. Meet me here?” She nodded. We stood there, looking into each other's eyes, for a beat too long, then broke apart. The grin still danced across my face and continued to do so for the next half hour as I browsed the shelves. I couldn't stop checking my phone every ten seconds. Finally, it was three. I had been loitering in our meeting spot for a good five minutes already. And just on time, she appeared, strolling from around a shelf. Another smile dimpled her cheeks as she spotted me. “So where are we going?” she asked as we walked out of the library together. I had been planning my response for a while now. “It's a surprise,” I replied vaguely. Her grin widened. “Excellent.” I was practically floating when I got home that night. Aisling and I had had a wonderful time at this cute little cafe I had taken her to, most of the evening consisting of us talking about everything and bursting into laughter. I had walked her to her house nearby and then nearly skipped the rest of the way home. I'm sure my family would have caught on to my mood immediately and been all over me about it… had they not been occupied by a news story on the TV. There had been a murder of one of the local students. Ben Jameson. He had been a year younger than me, and I could barely remember seeing him briefly in the hallway of my school. He had been on the tall side with dirty blond hair and blue-green eye; everyone considered him very attractive. He had been on the school Junior Varsity basketball team and in the BETA club. The epitome of one of the well-rounded, scholarship-to-a-local-college-just-waiting-to-happen popular kids. Not my crowd. And apparently, he had been stabbed with sharp pieces of glass. Part of the broken mirror in his room to be exact. There had been obvious signs of a struggle but no fingerprints or any other traces left by the murderer. Just a bunch of smashed mirrors. That rung a bell in my head, and I retreated to my room. I searched through the pictures on my phone, and sure enough, there were confirmations to my suspicions. One of the titles that had been written on my brother’s wall that one night was “The Mirror.” So this was almost certainly connected to the four boys. Matt and Tord were left. But I still didn't have enough information on them to figure out who it was or what was happening. Or, more importantly, what they wanted. Maybe it was time to do some more research… The next few days consisted much of the same thing. I went down to the library to research and usually ended up going out with Aisling afterwards. When I got home, there was a new murder story on the news. It was strange. The victims weren't really related or similar. It varied immensely, from old to young, from rich to poor, from ugly to stunningly attractive, from living in one area to living in a place across the county. Any gender, any age, any place, any time, any one. The words “serial killer” were being thrown around a lot lately. This same thing went on for days. After six of them, I thought it was going to continue. But the killer had the misfortune to pick our house as their next target. I was making myself a midnight snack in the kitchen, the microwave the only sound in the sleeping house. Until I heard a hissing next to me. I turned and nearly jumped two feet in the air. Towering over me was what could only be described as some kind of vampiric monster. The guy was easily seven feet tall with flaming red hair under an army cap. He wore black robes over his whitewashed skin. His eyes glowed red as his hair, and one of his arms consisted only of bones as bleached white as his skin. He snarled at me, baring his glistening fangs. I backed up against the counter, snack already forgotten. “Who are you?” I could barely hide the tremor in my voice. “Matt,” he hissed. Okay, that was good. It was willing to talk to me. Maybe I could work something out. “Alright, Matt. What do you want?” I was sure my skin was almost as blanched as his. “To kill you.” Okay, that was not so good. I trembled slightly. “Why?” He leaned in closer, and I had nowhere to retreat. “You're not my type,” he sneered. I doubted humor or reason would work, but it was worth a shot. “How do you know that? We’ve barely even met.” From his expression, I was right in my guess that my words would have no effect. “I can take just one look at you and tell.” I was definitely not comfortable with the proximity. “That's kind of shallow, isn't it?” I tried to keep a joking tone, but I think my fear overrode it. He hissed in disagreement with my words. I was certain he was going to attack when my saving grace came in the form of the microwave going off. He turned slightly, and that temporary distraction was all it took. I sprinted down the hallway and into my room, slamming and locking the door behind me. I could hear him moving, snarling and even breaking mirrors out there. I held my breath in anticipation as I listened for the end, my heart racing in terror. I thought for sure that I'd hear a bang or a rip as Matt attacked my door and removed my last barrier any second now, but it never came. Instead, the door beside mine opened, and my older brother sleepily wandered out. I could hear his half-awake voice through the thin wood. “What is that noise? What's going on?” My breath caught in my throat as I heard another hiss. My brother gasped, and I made the split-second decision to grab the nearest weapon and open my door. I immediately spotted Matt hovering over my terrified brother, who was surrounded by mirror shards on the floor. “Get away from him!” I shouted and threw the shoe in my hand. It bounced off Matt, and the creature didn't even seem to notice. His gaze was fixed on my cowering brother, and it had stopped hissing. Something felt off. I stood there, ready to jump into action but waiting. Matt leaned down over him, but it didn't seem as threatening somehow. I could barely hear the words that came out from between Matt’s fangs from my spot down the hallway. “You're perfect,” he said, almost longingly. Then, to our surprise, he closed the distance between the two of them and planted a soft, short kiss on my brother’s lips. We were stunned into silence. Neither of us moved as he retreated towards my brother’s room. Almost in a trance, we finally wandered over to the open door and watched as Matt walked towards the mirror in the room. He gave us one last toothy grin and stepped into the mirror, disappearing into it as if he had never been here in the first place. I had a feeling he wouldn't be coming back. My brother and I didn't say anything to each other as I went back to my room. In fact, we never talked about the incident. It was the second time he had saved my life from a monster, and we pretended it never happened. As usual, the picture of the four boys greeted me from my bedside table. I stared at it for a good while, still dazed, until I finally fell asleep. Matt was grinning up at me, his smile bright and charming and a mirror gripped in the hand that was sassily resting on his hip.

#writing kat #ew fanfiction

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aggresivelyfriendly · 8 years ago

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Divide- chapter 5- How Would You Feel

The minute she hit the send button she wished she could take it back. But, just like Harry’s Instagram like, somethings you simply couldn’t.

Like telling Harry she loved him on their last weekend together.

It wasn’t the first time she felt it. She’s been swallowing the words like a jagged little pill for months. She’d embraced the feeling when they were in Barcelona, she was a woman in love, so she wore it like a mantle. Everything about the experience felt magical, but, when she returned to her real life and Harry to tour, things continued just as they had since she let Harry kiss her the first time after months of obvious innuendo. The boy was cheeky and flirty on a good day, but irresistible when he was trying. And so she didn’t resist, but had she guarded her heart a little maybe it wouldn’t be broken. Or so slow to mend.

When their lips met she learned all of those cliches about electricity and sparks and stars getting in your eyes were true. Her stomach and the bottom dropped out. When his large decorated hands had cupped her face she never wanted to stop and when he’d clutched her throat, the rush of blood to her core meant she wouldn’t.

Laurel wasn’t a virgin, but her experience had been limited. Limitless better described how she felt when Harry touched her. She probably fell that first night.

The ground was hard when she hit it and she was sure she’d bruised her ass when Harry gave her his rules of engagement. ‘Harry’s rules’ as they became emblazoned in her mind were simple. When it was convenient and easy they would hang out, he didn’t expect her to be faithful, but if she had a partner between their trysts, they’d use a condom until she got tested again, if she met someone, the arrangement ended. Same rules for him. Laurel was surprised every time he didn’t open the little drawer by his bed when they reunited. She’d had one other partner since beginning with him and the very attractive hipster of a boy did such an amazing job of illustrating what she was not missing, she never bothered again.

When they were available they fit like a zipper, and it was so good to be embedded with him that Laurel could overlook his cavalier attitude. It was always after he left, again, that she’d remember that while he seemed to truly like her, he didn’t know her. Basic facts escaped him, she wasn’t sure Harry even knew her middle name. He certainly didn’t know anything about her family. That her sister had died when she was 11 in a car accident. Or that her parents were in love with one another, but divorced.

Despite this, she knew her feelings for him were unlikely to fade quickly. He was inescapable. Even when she tried to ignore his stupid face, his dimples showed up on her screen. Laurel wasn’t even sure she wanted to erase the way she felt. Being with Harry felt like zip lining, heart pumping, exhilarating, free.

The first time she had to physically stop her mouth to halt her confession had been a few months into their arrangement. They were sitting in a parked car outside Harry’s marketing manager’s country estate. He’d been avoiding going in. It was an expected band function. Someone with connections had a daughter with a major 1D jones. They hadn’t done many of these private events since the early days, but the favor that Simon would have in his pocket after today was apparently too good too miss. So, they were summoned with the promise of a handsome reward. Though the boys had more autonomy these days, Harry and crew still knew where their bread was buttered.

“I’d so much rather be spending this day, well, anywhere but here really, especially if you were there!” He cheesed her way and bopped her nose and was generally being so obnoxious she laughed in his face.

“You laughing at me?” He asked as he pulled her across his center console into his lap and tickled her until she was screaming and snorting in the ugliest fashion she could imagine. She hated her braying laugh.

He stopped abruptly when the snorting started. Once she caught her breath, Laurel wiped at her nose, “oh god, did I snot too?”

“No, that laugh just might be my favorite sound.”

The late afternoon sunlight made the blue rim of his iris shine and she felt the words she’d been denying bubbling up her throat. To stop herself, she covered her mouth and made big eyes at him before she kissed him and made a joke. “You know what my favorite sound is?” Mischief played in her eyes.

“My laugh, the ding of a text message you’ve been expecting from me, hearing me on radio, my morning voice?” Harry knew he was being an ass and was loving it.

“The sound of your snores when you finally shut up at night,” she feigned relief.

“I don’t snore!” Harry vehemently denied.

“Oh, you do, loudly! But, it’s still preferable to your other sounds, especially what you call singing!” Oh, she loved his offended face. “Kidding, baby, kidding,” and she kissed him once again before cracking his door open.

“Hey, where you going?” He made grabby hands for her.

“I’m going inside, and look, I’m not even getting paid to!” She teased.

Once inside, she kept her distance and her hands to herself. Everyone knew they were friends, but Harry had a lot of friends.

The second time Laurel nearly shouted out her feelings, Harry’d agreed to come to a house party with her and she couldn’t believe it. Their “dates” nearly always took place between his four walls, usually between his two sheets, so when she asked about the party, it was mostly to confirm her suspicions about her place in his life and heart. But he said yes and they planned out their couples costume with giddy giggles. It was really easy to procure his Kermit costume online and she really only needed a pig nose and wig. She had a dress from her mom’s youth that was at least 4 ruffles over the top.

The costume allowed Harry anonymity and she knew he loved fancy dress a bit more than the average person. She was fairly certain it was why he’d agreed. The inside joke was too fun to pass up. Laurel had given Harry the moniker of Kermie one morning when he’d croaked out a greeting, his eyes had been glued shut with sleep and his dimples widened his puffy sleepy face.

“Oh my God! You really do look like a frog,” she hiccuped out after laughing for 3 minutes straight.

Harry had turned into the bed sheets and pouted like the younger sibling he very much was, until she had given him an “I’m sorry” blowie and promised him pancakes. However, the nickname had stuck, much to Harry’s displeasure.

Laurel was so chuffed that he’d come out, she didn’t notice his slow withdrawal. Late that night, after many drinks he’d asked her to follow him up to the roof.

“Harry, baby, what’s wrong?” She asked as he immediately pulled off his mask and sucked in a breath.

“Haven’t been able to breathe properly in at least an hour. It’s hot in there. Whew.” He blew out a big breath and she watched his chest expand as he sucked one in.

“Why are we up here then, we can go. I just need to find my purse,” she fidgeted and turned back to the door.

“No, just let me cool off. I know we are trying to avoid detection, and we never get to go anywhere together. I like seeing you with your friends,” he touched her bottom lip and smoothed his thumb her growing smile. “They’re funny. I like them. Tom’s got it bad for you by the way.”

“You jealous?” Laurel laughed, how ludicrous.

“No, maybe a little, he’s a bit handsy. I don’t really like it.”

“Harry…” she trailed off.

“I know, I have no right,” he interrupted her search for words.

“You have no right, but you also have nothing to worry about,” Laurel returned.

“Yeah, why’s that?”

She wanted to say, 'because I love you, you idiot’. But, instead she made a joke. “I’ve seen him eat, trust me, the thought of spending 50 years watching that across a table put me right off,” then she grinned at him, “he goes tongue first and I’m not interested in teaching another baby bird how to kiss.”

Harry rose to her bait and gave her his offended face, “I’ll show you how to kiss,” he advanced on her while she ran away giggling. He caught her easily they wound up making love on the roof with all their clothes on because of the chill. To ward off the cold they kept their arms wrapped around each other and watched their breath until the sunrise replaced the moon. After sunrise, they snuck out undetected through the passed out revelers.

But for all the times she felt compelled to confess her feelings, when she felt like a girlfriend and not just a fuck, there were many more times she was sure she was just an option.

He’d go months at a time without a text. They could have plans for sometime in advance and he’d change them on a dime. Laurel would like to think it was for work things, but he was too public a person for her to labor under that delusion sometimes.

But, the most telling thing was how one-sided their arrangement was. Harry called the shots, always his terms, always his place, always his convenience. Laurel was his beck and call girl, his favorite perhaps, but not his only.

That last weekend, Laurel’d been emotional before she got there. Her mother was sick and he’d been away for what felt like forever. She felt funny, like her body wasn’t her own. Tired and weepy.

They had a good time, but he hadn’t noticed her red eyes or sallow skin. When he was inside her early Sunday morning, he’d been sweet and gentle, full of praise. It felt so much like love making and her walls against him were so gossamer that she’d let the words slip out when she came undone.

“I love you,” she’d whispered on a quiet harsh exhalation.

Laurel had seen his eyes widen, but he’d just buried his face in her neck and pushed into her deeper. Though their bodies remained connected, her heart broke. She’d held her tears until he’d fallen asleep and left while he showered.

She couldn’t do this anymore, the reasons kept piling up. Laurel had cried herself out and wanted to bash his face in when he sent her that Kermit gif.

She needed to move on, she couldn’t be spending her life falling deeper in love with him if he couldn’t tell her that he loved her too. If he didn’t love her too.

But here she was, texting him at 2 am while Willy, who took her out, showed her off, and asked her questions about herself like he needed to take notes, slept in her bed. Laurel was not an option to Willy.

Laurel could see that he’d read her message and her heart raced when the gray bubble appeared.

Why did he have to be the one.

AN- unbeta’d and under the wire. Forgive the mistakes for now

#harry styles fanfiction #harry styles smut #Harry styles #ed sheeran #divide #how would you feel #song fic #one direction #one direction fanfiction

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kiss-my-freckle · 6 years ago

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The girl, the Fulcrum, and Rostova identity reveal(s).

This is gonna be a mouthful, so if you plan to read this, it’s probably best to take small bites so that you don’t find it altogether confusing. My ADHD tends to do that to readers.

“Masha Rostova was never more than suspicion and rumor." - Red, 3x11

Suspicion defined: 1. a feeling or thought that something is possible, likely, or true. 2. a very slight trace of something.

Rumor defined: 1. a currently circulating story or report of uncertain or doubtful truth. 2. be circulated as an unverified account.

For “Masha Rostova” to be never more than “suspicion and rumor” as Red claimed, neither Constantin Rostov nor Katarina Rostova would’ve been able to so much as discuss or introduce their daughter using her born identity to friends, relatives, coworkers, or neighbors. “Masha” quite literally would’ve needed to live in seclusion from all people but her parents unless they did so otherwise. Basically, Masha’s born identity couldn’t leave the house.

Far different to say that Katarina having a child was never more than suspicion and rumor, than to say “Masha Rostova” was never more than suspicion and rumor. So one could know that a child existed, but would not know the identity of said child. Such was the case with Anton Velov, who claimed all he knew was that Katarina had a daughter. Basically stating to not know her by name. Referring to the identity rather than the child seems implausible - to only suspect a child existed, yet coincidentally pull her actual born identity out of their ass. So it would seem to me that the existence of a child was known, but not her born identity. Braxton told Red that he heard all the stories. He knows about the house, the fire, and the girl. He spoke to knowing about the girl, but did not specify the girl to be Katarina Rostova’s daughter, nor did he speak of her by name.

“The manhunt and the publicity it generated changed all of that.” - Red, 3x11

Because of the manhunt and publicity, all references made to Liz as “Masha Rostova” need to be disregarded. We can’t prove one way or the other whether characters knew her born identity before or after her framing due to said publicity. This left me very little transcript to search for dialogue regarding Liz’s born identity because that identity went public at the end of S2.

"Masha" alone wasn't mentioned until S2, and in S2, had only been referenced eight times. Four of those references came during the Braxton recall, and unless spoken “out loud” by Liz during said recall, would not have been revealed to Braxton or his men. There were no indications that her born identity OR her mother’s identity had been revealed to them. Braxton and his men simply spoke of her as the child at the fire. Basically, there’s nothing to suggest that Braxton and his men knew Liz’s born identity, and nothing to suggest that Braxton and his men knew her to be Katarina Rostova’s daughter.

The sixth came in-scene (2x20) with Red when they discussed the photograph of Liz with her mother. Unless the room - or those three people standing in it were bugged, would not have been revealed to anyone.

The 6th, 7th, and 8th came in-scene (2x22). One in flashback during the shooting of Tom Connolly, and again, would not have been revealed to anyone unless spoken “out loud” by Liz. The other two, from the interrogator questioning Liz. This scene being the first time her born identity had been spoken “out loud” in any kind of public setting. “Katarina Rostova was a [name] that had been lost to history.” -Red

Red specifies that the name “Katarina Rostova” had been lost to history, but not the woman herself. This makes sense to Red’s dialogue given to us in S5.

"Mr. Kaplan gave you a suitcase. In it was a skeleton she never should have unearthed and whose [identity] must remain secret.”

Red specifies that the identity of the bones must remain secret, but not the bones themselves. This also speaks to Red’s dialogue regarding Dr. Nik and why he was killed for the suitcase. If it were unknown to Red that Jennifer’s DNA was in CODIS, he’d have no idea why Nik would be killed over said bones because there’d be no other way to identify them. The real RR’s DNA wasn’t in the system, nor was Elizabeth Keen’s. So we have one woman whose name had been lost to history, and the remains of one man whose identity must remain secret. The story of Raymond Reddington and Katarina Rostova. It’d be the mother of all coincidences if I believed in them, but I don’t with this show. Huge sell for Rederina.

Katarina’s identity is another story. Her name had been referenced 13 times in S2. Outside of scenes already mentioned regarding “Masha” Rostova, 12 came in episodes 2x21 & 2x22. Maternity of Liz would’ve already been known at that point given it was mid-Cabal framing. Therefore, up until episode 2x20, Katarina Rostova had yet to be mentioned with regard to Liz’s maternity, and the only three people to hear it (as earlier stated - unless the room or those peole were bugged), were: Red, Liz, and Dembe. It is not referenced a single time during the Braxton recall.

Back to the Braxton recall, and “the girl.”

Braxton is shown with Dr. Orchard’s son, Max. He uses Max to push her into digging through Liz’s mind faster. From there, he’s shown at the church for his meeting with The Director. I can’t be sure if there was a huge time gap, but it doesn’t take long on-screen.

Braxton’s scene with The Director (in full) went as follows:

Director: Where is it? Braxton: I’ll have it to you by 9:00. Director: I thought you said you had it already. Braxton: And I do. I wanted that Fulcrum in my hands before I negotiated with you. Director: Need I remind you that the price had already been set? Braxton: That was before you volleyed missiles at me and my men. Now the price has gone up. Director: Mr. Braxton, I don’t think you fully appreciate the power of the people who have engaged your services. Braxton: Well, if they’re that powerful, then I’m sure they can afford an extra 10%. Go find the money, chief. You do that, and I’ll have what you want by 9:00.

I can’t say for sure how many men Braxton had with him, nor how many of those men survived knowing he kidnapped Liz. After leaving The Director, he was shown on the phone with one of them.

Braxton: Hey, I want you to call me just as soon as you get confirmation of funds. Nah, we’re gonna get the intel out of that girl’s head, even if I got to drill a hole in her skull and hang her upside down. Alright. Will do.

After this point, was killed by Red.

It is unclear whether Braxton learned about “the house, the fire, the girl” from The Director himself upon hire, or whether he was being honest when he said, “I know all the stories, Red." Either is possible, but neither were confirmed. Because of this, it is unclear whether or not The Director knew about “the girl” at such point. Had he not, would have needed to learn about “the girl” (Liz) from one of Braxton’s men because Braxton himself didn’t mention her in their scene. I don’t much feel like searching through script for “girl” dialogues, so I’ll skip to Red and Velov’s conversation.

Velov: Sometime back, two men from Justice Department come and ask me about Katarina. I suppose they think I am one of the few people left who still remember the old stories. Red: What sort of stories? Velov:They were asking about her KGB contacts, where she lived, and about a child. Red: They asked about a child? Velov: Yes, many times.”Tell me about her child.” I said, “All I know, is they say she had a daughter.” Red: Dembe, the phone.

Here, we aren’t given a specific time frame to those two men from Justice Department questioning Anton Velov. “Sometime back” leaves a rather wide opening. Given this, I searched through scripts, hoping to get an estimation. We have nothing confirmed pre-Braxton recall. We have nothing confirmed post-Braxton recall. The Director gives simple statements that aren’t actual confirmations.

What The Director knew of The Fulcrum.

Fitch spoke of the Fulcrum to Red privately before his death. From there, it wasn’t mentioned again until Braxton’s first episode when Red went into The Factory. Given the way he spoke, The Director knew of the Fulcrum’s existence, but believed someone other than Reddington to have it. He does not specify who that someone else is/was. First mention of the Fulcrum by The Director was in episode 2x9.

Cabal member: Do we have confirmation on what it is they’re looking for? Director: Yes, we do. The Fulcrum. Cabal member: So Reddington does not have it. Director: I never believed he did, actually, and his efforts to stop Braxton only confirmed my suspicions. Cabal member: What’s our collateral exposure? Director: Honestly? None. We are mirroring Braxton’s search algorithms, and if the Fulcrum comes into play, we will find it. Cabal member: So, Mr. Braxton is a liability? Director: Oh, yes, and Mr. Reddington may no longer be a threat. We haven’t touched him for fear that he’d use the Fulcrum as a - well, to expose us, but he’s bluffing.

Red: I think you’re bluffing. I don’t think you have it. I don’t think you ever did.

It’s also as if he’s needing to explain their reason for not executing Reddington, perhaps to a board of new members, or simply those unfamiliar with the story behind the fire and the Fulcrum. "Search algorithms” involves data stored on computer systems. We also have Red’s two dialogues regarding the Fulcrum.

Red: Within 12 hours, inmate Luther Todd Braxton will break out of his cell. When he does, he will steal a classified intelligence packet that contains secrets vital to your National Security. The means for his escape and his team are already in place. Red: No, the Fulcrum isn’t here, but I believe information critical to finding it is, and that’s what Braxton wants. I’m here to stop it.

This second statement from Red, his belief that The Factory has information stored regarding Liz’s connection to the Fulcrum. Braxton spoke nothing of the girl at this point, so prior to that - he either planned to search through their computer system for the Fulcrum’s location, or it was all a hoax. Basically, Braxton wants Liz. To learn about her, information regarding Liz (Masha) would need to be stored in The Factory. I have a hard time believing Red went there on a hunch. Given the way he responded and his chosen course of action, I’d say his fear must have been reasonable.

Regarding Red’s first statement about the classified intelligence packet. This could speak to both paper or computer data, but I suspect it to be computer data. This takes me to Ms. Goodson’s statement and Braxton’s desire for the access code.

Goodson: The factory isn’t just a black site. It’s a level-six intelligence node. It communicates directly with Langley, the Pentagon, the White House sit room. The intel being squeezed out of these targets, our highest-level targets, is mission-critical. We needed our interrogators and our operatives in the field working together in real time, so we removed any latency between the time we received a lead and our ability to act on it. Cooper: You put an access point to the country’s most sensitive data in a prison with the country’s most dangerous enemies? Goodson: Yes. Which is why I am asking you - do not release that code.

This means that Braxton wanted to search their network for data. Given this, information regarding Liz’s connection to the Fulcrum was believed to be stored in (one or all of) these offices mentioned by Goodson. Likely kept classified, otherwise many would've known about “the girl” long before, and it would’ve been more than just a “story.” Langley, the Pentagon, and the White House sit (short for situation) room. Langley is headquarters for the CIA. The Pentagon is headquarters for the Department of Defense (DOD). The real Raymond Reddington was said to be a rising star at The Pentagon - working in Counterintel. Oleander and Katarina are both wanted by the CIA. Katarina was stated to have been a KGB asset by Connolly in episode 2x22. I believe the person who initially stole it (which I believe was our Red) had a conversation in one or perhaps all of these locations about the Fulcrum and it’s location - and that information was available on the network. Perhaps as a contingency plan triggered upon his death. This was mentioned by Cabal members as a possibility. Fitch to Garrick, Hobbs to Jasper.

Summing up Braxton’s side of the Fulcrum. He either heard the stories or The Director gave him this information upon hire. If Braxton already knew about the girl, and he were searching their system for the Fulcrum’s location, then he was seeking the identity of that girl - whether it her born identity or her current. If used as a contingency plan, would speak more to her current identity, Elizabeth Milhoan. Given Braxton’s actions, I believe it more likely he heard the stories, and that’s why he broke into The Factory’s network. He was seeking Liz’s identity as the girl present at the fire.

Summing up The Director’s side of the Fulcrum. Because of his conversation with Braxton in the church, I have no reason to believe The Director knew about “the girl.” I believe The Director suspected Katarina was initially in possession of the Fulcrum, and because she is presumed dead, believed her to have passed it to an unknown party before departing. Basically, I believe Braxton knew far more about the house, the fire, the girl, and the Fulcrum than The Director did. I believe that’s why he took the risk of calling Red’s bluff.

Summing up Goodson’s statement and the Fulcrum in general. Given both Red’s and Braxton’s actions in both of his episodes, I believe information connecting Elizabeth Milhoan to the Fulcrum’s location had been stored on a classified network. Not squeezed from a spy-prisoner, but stored in (one or all of) those locations by our Red - and done so as a contingency plan trigged upon his death. The release of the Fulcrum’s contents. I believe this to be the reason Red’s course of action and belief that vital information was indeed stored there. He knew because he’s the one that put it there to begin with.

Given I’m in the Rederina camp, I believe Katarina originally stole the Fulcrum, and that being what our Red was referring to when he told Jennifer he “stumbled” onto the Cabal. I believe she placed it in Liz’s Fulcrum bunny, which was then stolen by the real Red when he kidnapped Masha. Thus, Masha and the Fulcrum were taken at the same time. That’s how Katarina would’ve known Red had the Fulcrum when she went to get her daughter, and how our Red would’ve known Liz had its location stored in her memory.

Blocking Liz’s memory of the fire before retrieving the Fulcrum makes sense if he were using said Fulcrum as a contingency plan triggered upon his death. Liz wouldn’t remember anything about it, so she couldn’t reveal its existence to the wrong person. Masha herself was never more than suspicion and rumor, but was simply known as the girl from the fire. So basically, Red was safer blocking Liz’s memory without getting the Fulcrum beforehand. That was his contingency plan kept safe in Masha’s memory - and her new identity had been stored on a classified network. A double layer of protection. The only thing connecting Liz to the Fulcrum - was her scar - and her scar is specific to the Fulcrum.

Oleander and Katarina were both wanted by the CIA. This alone removes Langley as a suspected storage place for Liz’s identity. At least for me. The Director himself would’ve had accesss to this information, which furthers my belief. Cooper never spoke of the Fulcrum, so it could’ve been stored at The Pentagon. I have no reason to remove the White House sit room as another location. Take this to the limo under the Kenyon compound. The bubble module, the key, the cipher, and Caul. Liz had the bubble module, Pepper had the key, and the Kenyon compound had the cipher. Perhaps the holders themselves are connected to someone in each office Goodson spoke of. Three pieces - three locations. Possibly anyway. Don’t place all your eggs in one basket, I suppose. Our Red knowing the location of all pieces furthers my belief that he’s the one who stole it - and he’s the one who broke it up into three separate locations.

Summary of the Rostova identity reveals in S2. Because there were no confirmations nor timelines given, the only bit of dialogue I have to rely on regarding the reveal of Masha’s born identity - was Red’s from Karakurt’s episode. Tracing it back to The Harbormaster case over the phone with Liz after the Orea bombing. Let me put it this way: Liz didn’t know The Director was a threat at the time Red was shot. Had The Director known about Liz since Braxton’s second episode, could’ve kidnapped her at any time, then attempted to get the Fulcrum himself, then taken the shot at Red. The only reason I see him taking aim at Red first, was in knowing he couldn’t get to Liz and the Fulcrum with Red still breathing. It’s impossble for someone as cautious as Red, but simple for someone not so cautious like Liz. I believe Liz was followed by Tom - from his warehouse - to get the Fulcrum - then to the meeting location. A two-for mother of coincidences in less than 90 seconds. Both things The Director wanted from Braxton episodes prior.

Only two people were shown to have known Liz’s born identity: Constantin and Katarina. Everyone else appeared to know her as “the girl” at the fire or as “Katarina’s daughter.” This makes sense given what I said before regarding Masha never being more than suspicion and rumor. My overall opinion about the reveal of Liz’s born identity. The only way the Cabal could’ve learned Liz’s born identity, was by her born identity being stated by one or both Constantin Rostov and Katarina Rostova. Because I’m in the Rederina camp, and I don’t believe Red released Liz’s born identity to the Cabal, I believe Constantin Rostov hired Tom Keen, and her born identity was revealed because he had possession of Kirk’s fabricated DNA report. I believe that to be the reason Kirk was so desparate to kill Tom in S4. He blamed Liz being in the news on Red when he knew it was actually Tom Keen who put her there. There are only two other ways the Cabal could’ve learned her born identity in the time required for her frame. 1. Liz speaking of her name “out loud” during her Braxton recall, one of Braxton’s men actually hearing it, that man leaving before Red arrived, then him turning to The Director. Because The Director met directly with Braxton, and those were Braxton’s hired men, I highly doubt those men knew about The Director. This seems an unlikely scenario for me. 2. Red and Liz’s conversatoin about the photograph in Quon Zhang was overheard. Either because the room was bugged or one of those three there were bugged. I consider this highly unlikely. I think it more likely Tom Keen revealed Liz’s born identity to the Cabal during the Harbormaster case and walked out of his prison cell because they needed him to get close enough to take a shot at Red and fool Liz into giving up the Fulcrum.

#Anti-Tom Keen #Anti-Keen2 #Rederina

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