#but having updated lighting where characters don’t look flash banged in some shots

[littlechaoscosplay]

I know it never gonna happen… but just the thought of inquisition getting a remake or even remastered ….

[commander-rahrah]

RESIDENCY: SECOND CHANCES (AN OPEN HEART FIC): PART TWO

Pairing: MC (Jordynne Holland) X Ethan Ramsey X Bryce Lahela; MC X Bryce; MC X Ethan. Please note that both pairings are present in this fan fiction — off & on, at the same times, and the relationships do ebb & flow. Please keep this in mind. Thank you.

Masterlist: Click Here

Chapter Rating: T (drinking, swearing)

Word Count: 5000+ (its a big one) 

Description: Bryce and Jordynne have time together to explore what everything happening between them means, since Ethan is away in the Amazon finding his own answers.

Disclaimer: Characters, storyline, and parts of the dialogue are taken from Pixelberry’s Choices. They fully own the characters, dialogue, backgrounds, etc. MC Jordynne’s background is my own creation, based loosely off of MC in-game’s personality and provided with more details.

Author’s Note: Well this took much longer than expected! With everything happening in the world, I found it harder and harder to take that personal time for myself to get away and write. But I eventually carved out time for it, and it felt nice to get back into the perspectives of Jordynne, Bryce and Ethan. This fic has a lot of little moments and memories from Book 1 (and fic 1) that can turn into big moments for these characters in the future <3

As always any likes, reblogs and comments are very appreciated. If you would like to be added/removed from the tag list please just let me know! I have always had issues with the tag list as well (people not receiving notifications) so if you do receive a notification if you could let me know that would be great! Or if you have any tips for why it wouldn’t be working? 

Taglist: @drakewalkerfantasy @owleyes374 @lahelable @mayar-mahdy @paisleylovergirl​ @nicquix @emilymay100 @octobereighth @llamasgrl @timmagicktoad @lilyofchoices @msjpuddleduck @mfackenthal @paulfwesley @ccolz88-blog @mindlessdreaminxo @jooous @lapisreviewsstuff @choicesarehard @themingdynasty @omgjasminesimone @hopelessly-shipper  @binny1985  @perriewinklenerdie  @jens-diamondchoices  @indiacater  @chasingrobbie  @writingsbymissy  @dimitriwife  @tacohead13  @amy-choices  @violinet​ 

Previous Updates: Residency — Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five Part Six Part Seven Part Eight Part Nine Part Ten Part Eleven Part Twelve Part Thirteen Part Fourteen Part Fifteen Part Sixteen Part Seventeen Part Eighteen Part Nineteen Part Twenty

Residency: Second Chances -- Part One

Chapter 2

The golden liquor coated her pink lips, turning them shiny. They pursed together, licking the excess off as she lowered the shot glass to the table with a loud bang.

The sound snapped Bryce back to reality — and he swallowed hard as she watched Jordynne throw her head back and laugh.

She was in full force tonight. Her big laugh echoing in the bar. Her perfect, wide smile drawing everyone in. Her wild, blonde hair being thrown over her shoulder.

Sometimes he wondered if she was really from this world.

“Let’s get more!” Her voice was much higher than usual — a good note that she was getting more and more intoxicated.

“C’mon Jordy, let’s pace ourselves.” He suggested, grabbing onto her wrist gently.

“Pace ourselves?! Do I look like a beginner to you? Come on!” She put out her bottom lip at him, looking up at him with giant puppy dog eyes.

It was like a punch to the gut — she could get whatever she wanted with that look. Dammit.

Before he could reply, Jackie came to the table with a tray of more shots and Jordynne greedily grabbed two of them.

“Whoa, Holland’s on a roll tonight,” Jackie said as she slid into the booth, passing out the remaining glasses.

“She’s on something.. that’s for sure,” Sienna said to them, a hand in front of her mouth.

At the sound of the next song coming on, she jumped onto her leather seat in the booth. “This song! This song!!”

He couldn’t even hear it over the crowd. But he couldn’t help but let out a chuckle at her excitement.

She crawled over Sienna and jumped out of the booth, landing with surprising dexterity for the amount of liquor she had consumed. “Come on dance with me.” She stretched her tan fingers over to him, “Please.”

“Okay,” He agreed — maybe a little too easily.

He grabbed onto her warm fingers, letting her pull him to the dance floor with surprising strength.  

He watched her jump up and down for a moment — her blonde hair flicking around wildly. He let out a laugh, before mimicking her movements — his tan arms raised above his head as they danced recklessly in the crowd.

She joined in with his laugh — flashing her white teeth at him in a brilliant smile. He gulped as she moved closer to him. He could still smell her, even in the old bar — orange blossoms, vanilla, and jasmine. He could get drunk off of that scent.

His heart fluttered as she grabbed onto him casually, pulling him into her to dance more closely. Bryce was suddenly overwhelmed being this close to her — he felt dizzy, and it wasn’t from the liquor.

Jordynne Holland was intoxicating. And addicting.

His dark eyes settled on her mouth, how much closer it was getting to his as she swayed in front of him.

“Jordy...” He breathed out, stepping away from her.

“What?” Her eyebrows furrowed slightly as she looked up at him — her green eyes fluttering. She stepped forward and carefully wrapped her arms around his neck. “I just wanna have some fun. You’re fun. You like fun. Remember fun?” Her pink lips stretched into a smile.

He felt his stomach twist and tug and flutter all at once.

Bryce so badly wanted to give in — to crash his lips onto hers, to hold her back. But he didn’t know where all of this was coming from. Things were still so messy — and right now, she was messy. There had to be something that caused it.

“I know — I just —,” He hesitantly put his hands on her waist, steadying her movements, “Are you sure, you’re okay?”

“I’ve never been better Bryce Lahela. Now dance with me.” She replied, tightening her hold on him as she pushed her body up against his.

_____________________________________________________________________

Ethan watched the light through his window dim as the plane flew into a series of clouds — the pages of his book in his lap suddenly becoming harder to read. 

Letting out a sigh, he put his head back on his headrest — leaning against it as he looked over his shoulder and out of the window.

He eyed the empty spot next to him — a placeholder for his leather bag this time. He tried hard to not go there — to think about the last time he was at the airport, on an airplane, who was with him. If he started down that road, it would make everything harder.

So he ignored the subtle reminder — repressing the memory and averting his eyes from the empty chair.

“Hi sir,” A brunette flight attendant pulled a cart up near his seat, “Due to the length of the flight you will be provided an in-flight meal. It will be arriving shortly. Would you like a beverage to go with it? Spirits? Wine?”   He gestured to the cart.

Ethan swallowed as he eyed it — the little bottles of alcohol clinking together as the flight attendant shifted the cart.

It was tempting. It could be another way to repress memories in the long flight. To calm any gears that started winding.

He cleared his throat, putting on a polite smile, “Can I actually just have a coffee?”

“Of course, sir.” He poured the hot beverage and carefully passed it to him. “I’ll be back with your meal.”

Ethan took a sip and grimaced slightly. It was terrible. And he had to force another thought down as he thought of who else would grin and bear it with him.

But it was just a coffee. He’ll get over this.

He can get over this. He could do this.

_____________________________________________________________________

The slightest crack of one of her eyes caused Jordynne to groan in pain. Her head was pounding — and even the little trickle of light coming through the blinds was killer.

Blinking over and over, she finally was able to open her green eyes fully. She was in her bedroom — how she got there? She wasn’t entirely sure.

The previous night was a blur. She remembered taking an uncertain amount of tequila shots and dancing. So much dancing — her feet were killing her.

Letting out another groan, she shifted onto her side but froze when she felt resistance next to her. Moving her head, her eyebrows raised as she saw Bryce laying next to her — sleeping soundly. He was still wearing his jeans and t-shirt — his arms folded around himself carefully as he slept on top of her white duvet.

Her eyebrows furrowed together — a deep line forming in her forehead. Now that she didn’t remember. Peaking under the duvet, she realized she was still wearing clothes — her boyfriend briefs and shirt were clinging to her body. Her mind started whirling as she attempted to connect the dots.

“Hey,” Bryce’s groggy voice whispered next to her, “You okay?”

She chewed on the inside of her cheek — praying that it was too dark in the room for him to see how embarrassed she looked, “I’m— I’m pretty rough.”

“I would imagine so. You consumed enough tequila to get you, me, and Sienna drunk.”

“Ugh.” She groaned.

“And I’m sure spending two hours on your bathroom floor probably didn’t help.” 

“Nooo...” Her face felt hot as it flushed with embarrassment.

He let out a quiet chuckle, “Oh yeah. Held your hair back and everything.”

She wasn’t sure if she had ever hated herself more then that moment. “Ugh, I’m so sorry Bryce.”

“Don’t be — I didn’t mind.” She gulped as she felt his practiced hand rub her shoulder.

“I’m sure that’s not what you signed up for when we decided to go out last night.”

“I mean, I went to hang out with you. And we did hang out..” His voice trailed off for a moment, “I just didn’t imagine it would be on your bathroom floor with your head hanging off your toilet.”

“Haha,” She hesitated for a moment, “Did we — Did I say anything? Or... I dunno, try anything?”

“Oh yeah,” He let out a little chuckle again, “Drunk Jordy is chaaaatty. And handsy.”

“Oh.”

“I didn’t — we didn’t do anything. You just tried to kiss me a couple of times.” He mumbled a little.

“I’m sorry.” She apologized again.

“People have done crazier things then try to kiss someone while drunk on Tequila.” He reassured.

“I know, I— But we never—“

He interrupted her, “S’okay Jordy.”

“Thanks for staying with me.” She whispered. And she meant it. As complicated as it was, she was glad Bryce was there. He was always there for her.

She felt the bed shift as he turned on his side to face her, “What kind of doctor would I be if I didn’t take care of you?”

“I live in a house full of doctors.” She could feel how close his face was to hers.

“Ha — right.” She could see his sheepish smile in the dim light. “I just needed to know you were okay.”

There was a beat of silence before he spoke again. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, of course.” She lied — a little too easily.

“I just — I haven’t seen you like that before. You were drinking hard. Did something happen?”

She shook her head against the pillow, “I just wanted to let loose. Celebrate surviving my first week back. I just went a little bit too hard.”

“That’s the only reason?”

“Yeah.” She did her best to hide the lie, suppressing the memory of Ethan walking away in the parkade, “So what to do I gotta do to convince you to drag my ass out for some breakfast?”

“No convincing necessary.”

_______________________________________________________________________

 He fell into a routine a lot easier than he thought he would. The repetition was nice — satisfying after the continuous curve balls life had thrown at him over the past year.

There was still chaos here — it was still a medical crisis. But it wasn’t anything that Ethan couldn’t handle.

He spent most of his days in their temporary clinic — diagnosing cases. In the evenings he would spend time with other team leaders, discussing measurements and tactics for preventing further cases. During their free time, he would usually see himself to his room — avoiding the socialization hours around the campfire. He rarely spoke to his colleagues in Boston, why would he do it in the Amazon.

One of the local doctors had told him his Portuguese was improving. A compliment that Ethan heartily took as he was teaching himself from the little pocketbook in his messenger bag and repetition with the locals.

Most nights by the time his head hit the pillow he was too exhausted to think. For the gears to start winding. For memories and thoughts to resurface from the far depths of his mind. And if they did — he forced them away. Closing his eyes with knitted brows, until sleep overcame him. And then he would wake up to do it all over again.

_______________________________________________________________________

“Wow, it’s been a while since I was in here,” Jordynne smirked as she stepped into a familiar supply closet.

Bryce had texted her during her break — asking to meet her there. She didn’t have to ask which one he meant — she knew. The supply closet from the first day they met. From where she had dropped all of her usual guards and kissed a stranger.

The smirk fell off of her face when she saw Bryce’s expression. It was serious — his usual megawatt smile was nowhere in sight. “Wh—what’s going on?”

He took a steadying breath before he spoke, “Jordynne, when did you know?”

“Know what?” Her eyebrows furrowed.

“That Ethan was gone. That he was leaving again.”

Her mouth opened slightly, but nothing came out. She didn’t know what to say.

He let out a sigh — taking her silence as an answer. “Is that why you got like that? At Donahue’s? You literally drunk enough to make yourself sick.”

“I— I was upset.” She explained, stepping a little closer to him, “I didn’t know what else to do — I just didn’t want to deal with it.”

“Have you dealt with it?” He asked back, his voice sharp, “You lied to me. I asked you what was really going on. And you lied.” His brown eyes stared deeply into her green eyes — studying her.

“I— I can’t talk to you about him, Bryce.” She wrapped her arms around her torso, folding in on herself. “I know you tell me I can but I— I just can’t.” Her eyes dropped down to her shoes.

“Why not?”

“Because it isn’t fair!” She raised her voice, her jaw clenched tightly, “Bryce, every time something bad happens with Ethan I run to you. When I didn’t want to admit to myself how I felt about him, I went to you. When he rejected me, when he quit, when he flew to a different continent literally just to get away from me. I keep boomeranging back to you Bryce. And it’s not fair.”

The small space of the supply closet turned quiet as they both thought.

Jordynne broke the silence as she finally looked back up at him, her voice croaking out, “So no I don’t want to talk to you about Ethan. Because it reminds me of what an atrocious person I am.”

“You’re not a bad person Jordynne.” Bryce shook his head at her, reaching a tan hand out and brushing a piece of her hair away.

She closed her eyes at his touch, doing her best to not lean into it, “I am Bryce. I have been to you.“

“I think... I think that you’re human. And things got complicated. And that I decided it was worth the complication — your feelings and relationship with Ramsey included.” He used a knuckle to raise her chin, putting her attention back on him, “But I need you, to be honest with me. Is there something between us? Or did I just invent that?”

“No.. of course there is Bryce. But I... but there’s something between Ethan and I too. Or there was.” She grabbed onto his hand, holding onto it as she took a deep breath. “You’re one of my best friends Bryce. And you’re more than that. And that’s why I need to say this. I think we should stop the “more” between us. For now. Until I — until I can figure how to stop complicating everything. And I can’t do that if we ...”

“Okay.” He said, interrupting her with his honey voice. He was nodding at her — his dark eyes focusing on her as he placed his steady hands on her shoulders.

She let out the breath she was holding, staring up at him in disbelief, “Okay? Just like that. Why are you so agreeable?”

“Puppy dog remember?” He gave her a half-smile, his long hair falling into his eyes as he looked down for a moment. “I’d thought you would’ve figured out by now I’m not going anywhere, Jordy.”

_____________________________________________________________________

Ethan hesitated for a moment — looking at the group of people sitting and chatting by the fire. He could join them — if he wanted.

Shaking his head, he plopped himself down on a stool on the edge of the campsite. Tucked away, and out of sight.

He pulled out the pocket-sized translation book from his chest pocket and started thumbing through it in the dim light from nearby lanterns.

“May I?” A voice asked from behind him.

Ethan stifled the sigh that almost escaped him. Straining his neck, he turned to see Dr. Adébáyọ̀ standing sheepishly, waiting for his response next to the empty stool beside him. He grunted in response, closing his book and slipping it back into his pocket.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, staring off at the distant campfire and taking sips of their drinks from their steel water bottles.

“Do you mind me asking why you came here, Dr. Ramsey?” The other doctor's voice broke the silence.

Ethan furrowed his brows, “Why?”

“I’m curious.” He shrugged, looking over to him.

“Curiosity killed the cat.”

“But satisfaction brought it back.” The man retorted quickly. “Humor me.”

Ethan remained silent — keeping his eyes on the lid of his water bottle.

“Okay — I’ll go first. I came here to practice, of course. Help with research. But I came here for selfish reasons too.” Dr. Adébáyọ̀ settled into his seat as he spoke. “My family emigrated from Nigeria when I was 8. We lived in the UK, Canada, America. We traveled all over the world. But never South America. My father died last Spring. He always wanted to come here. So I signed up for him. It’s sentimental but — I’m glad I did.” He smiled up at the night sky that was glittering with white stars.

“I’m sorry about your father.” Ethan finally replied, looking over at his comrade.

“Me too,” He nodded, a sad smile on his face. “So are you going to tell me why the Ethan Ramsey left his fancy office in Edenbrook for tents in the Amazon?”

The Ethan Ramsey.

He hated that.

He hid his white-knuckled fists at his sides. “I am a diagnostician. I came to diagnose and treat Malaria and other ailments.” He used his practiced voice.

“And that’s it? You are a doctor and nothing else. What are you running from?”

Ethan remained silent for a long moment. He had been avoiding thinking about it this entire time. Why he had flown all the way out here. Abandoned his regular life to sit in a tent all day in the Amazon.

Out of sight, out of mind.

But he could feel his stomach twisting — a gnawing.

“Not what.”

“Hmm?” The other man was so shocked at him speaking, he barely heard him.

“Not what. Whom— whom I’m running from.” He let out a heavy sigh.

“I see. And this person... They are family?” Dr. Adébáyọ̀ asked with a raised brow.

He shook his head.

“Ah, I see. Matters of the heart.” He span around on his stool, so he was facing him more, “You are not together anymore?”

“We — we never got the chance to be together in the first place. Not really. She — we’re coworkers.” He admitted.

“That could be complicated.”

“And when I get back I’ll be her boss.”

“That’s more complicated.”

“Yes.” His voice was barely a whisper as he admitted this all out loud.

“What are you going to do? Coming here is doing what?” He questioned — his eyebrows furrowed as he studied Ramsey in the dim light.

“Delaying the inevitable.” He took a swig from his water bottle, gulping it down, “I’ll have to face her eventually.”

“And when you do?”

He avoided the question, “I just keep thinking to myself what if things were different. If she worked at a different hospital, if we met at a conference instead...”

“Do you want to hear something that was told to me? The universe sends us exactly what we need, right when we need it.”

Ethan let out a sad laugh, remembering Teresa saying the same words to him. “A patient told me the same thing once.”

“And is she? What you need, right when you needed it?”

Ethan thought to the past year. He couldn’t have handled Delores without her. She helped him process and navigate the Naveen situation. Hell, she saved the man too.

She grounded him — brought him back down to Earth. Yet had never had more ups and downs in his life before meeting Jordynne Holland.

He couldn’t have planned for any of it. But he wouldn’t take it back either.

“She — she’s everything I need that I never knew I wanted.“

“It sounds like you have an answer.”

“I don’t — because I’m not what she needs.” Ethan hung his head back for a moment, pursing his lips as he looked up at the inky black sky.

_______________________________________________________________________

She had forgotten how easy it was with Bryce Lahela.

How contagious his smile was. How infectious his laughter was. How easy it was to fall for him.

She was starting to remember why it had been so easy to make out with him in that closet after only knowing him for a few hours. What those early days were like — sneaking away together, watching movies in bed, remembering each other’s burger orders. Before she had made a mess of things.

The entire group was laid out on a couple spread out blankets at the park across the street from the apartment. They had packed some snacks and music — and were all basking in the sun, enjoying each other’s company.

Jordynne was sitting with her knees to her chest — smiling down at the blanket as she listened to Bryce’s warm chuckle reverberate through her. He was sprawled next to her, teasing Sienna about Danny.

Jackie, Elijah, and Aurora were in the blanket next to them — arguing over who has the best taste in music as they passed the speaker around.

She knew what she and Bryce had decided. And they had honored that over the past month. They were still friends — after everything the pair had gone through in the last year, she felt like she could always rely on that fact. They still hung out altogether, and a few times alone too. But sometimes she would catch herself staring at him a little too long, or laughing at his joke a little harder than anyone else.

The tune of an ice cream truck nearby snapped her back to reality as her friends buzzed with childlike excitement. “Ooo! Let’s get some for dessert!” Sienna jumped up, a wide smile on her face.

“Good idea,” Bryce stretched his arms behind him to push himself up, the hem of his shirt pulling up just enough that beginnings of his tan abs were revealed. Jordynne bit her lip as she watched him get up, “What does everyone want?”

“Chocolate!” Elijah said eagerly, his eyebrows raising up on his forehead.

“Gotta go classic — vanilla please Lahela.” Jackie gave him an unusually warm smile as she looked up at him.

“Got it. Mint chocolate chip Jordy?” He asked, looking down at her expectantly. 

“Um, yeah. Thanks.” She blinked in surprise at him knowing before a small smile spread across her face. Bryce Lahela knew her way too well.

Once they had returned with their frozen treats, the group sat together in a circle. Eating fast as the treats started melting over their fingers on the sunny summer day. Bryce had sat next to her again — his bare knee touching hers as they sat crossed legged. It was comforting. And maybe a little distracting.

Jordynne dared a glance at him, to only find him already looking at her. Her breath caught a little as he let out a little chuckle.

“Oh, you gotta little’,” He pointed his finger at his mouth, indicating she had something on her own, “Here I’ll get it.

He reached forward, his hand moving up to her face — his thumb gently swiped at the corner of her mouth, wiping away the melted ice cream. Jordynne unconsciously parted her lips as his thumb traced the curve of them. Their eyes finding each other during the few seconds — holding each other’s gaze.

Sienna coughed awkwardly — breaking the moment.

“You get it?” Jordynne asked, blinking herself back to reality.

He smiled sheepishly at her, “Yeah, I did.” Her eyes fell to the ground before his did, her face flushing a deep pink.

Sienna grabbed onto Jordynne’s shoulder, turning her attention, “Hey Jordynne, I need to wash my hands. Come with me?”

“Oh,” She tried to hide the surprise on her face, “Sure.” She followed Sienna’s quick march to the public restrooms across the park.

“Uhhh, so I thought you guys were gonna cool it?” She asked with one eyebrow raised as they entered the restrooms.

“What? We are — nothings happened.” She shrugged in reply as she headed to the sink.

“Suuuuuure,” The word dragged on with a tone of disbelief, “You looked like you were about two seconds away from sucking each other’s face.”

She shook her head, “We’re just friends right now Sienna.”

“Mhmmm.” Her friend sounded like she still didn’t believe her.  

“I mean it.”

She watched as Sienna turned on her heel and headed into one of the dark green stalls. “I’m just saying friends don’t look at each other like that.”

“You should talk. Aren’t you and Danny “just friends”?” She retorted. She grinned a little when she got no reply.

As she waited, Jordynne pulled out her phone from her back pocket. Her thumbs swiped over her keyboard quickly as she replied to the lengthy group chat between Kenzie, Carter and Jason. God, she missed them.

She started scrolling aimlessly through pictogram, liking photos of friends and scenery back home. Her homesickness was starting to become intolerable.

Her eyebrows furrowed as she scrolled passed a photo quickly — not quite believing what she saw. Scrolling back up, she felt a pang in her chest as she realized she saw it right.

It was Ethan.

The World Health Organization had posted it — whom she followed long before he volunteered with them and flown off to a different continent. He was in the corner of a white tent — his mouth pressed in a firm line as he listened to the slightly out of focus patient sat in front of him.

He looked more rugged — his stubble darker and longer than she had ever seen it. His skin had a golden tinge to it from spending time in the Brazilian sun. It was weird to see him out of his usual button-up shirt and jacket — he was wearing a soft henley instead, showing off the lines of his neck and shoulders.

She swallowed her feelings down as she realized the most important thing about the photo. He looked fine. His usual Ethan Ramsey self. He wasn’t torn up about leaving. He clearly didn’t look like he was having sleepless nights, worrying about what happened to them, what was going to happen to them.

Not that she was doing that anymore.

Well, not as often. She was trying.

Jordynne blinked away at the tears welling in her green eyes — staring up at the tacky fluorescent lighting in the public restroom.

“Hey — you okay?”

She felt Sienna’s warm fingers grab onto her wrist gently. Her coffee coloured eyes were filled with worry.

Jordynne mustered on a smile, squeezing her eyes shut to get rid of any lingering tears. “Oh, yeah yeah. I’m fine.” She reassured — sliding her phone back into her back pocket quickly, “Just my allergies with all the pollen.”

Sienna looked up at Jordynne, her eyebrows still meeting in the middle a bit from concern, “Okay.. you good to head back to the others?”

“Of course. Everything’s good.” She lied through her teeth, forcing a smile onto her face a lot easier then she thought she could.

_____________________________________________________________________

 A couple of days off in the nearby port town did Ethan a lot more good than he had expected.  Santarem was gorgeous — it had been a long time since he had been able to visit somewhere new as just that, a visitor. Not a doctor — he had no busy conferences or meetings or lectures to attend. And there were definitely no tents for taking RPDs for Malaria — thankfully he got to take a break from that.

He could barely remember the last time he had just gone somewhere to enjoy being there.

That’s why when he saw the sign for motorcycle rentals, he had marched straight towards the shop.

Now he was riding along the coastline — the wind wiping around him as the fine machine purred down the road. The green leather jacket he had purchased was still a little tight — it needed to be broken in. But he had liked the way he felt in. How he felt on the bike.

A little jolt of pain went through his face — and Ethan realized it was because he was smiling. So wide that it was hurting.

Pulling over on to the side of the road, he used the toe of his boot to put up the kickstand. Maneuvering around a few rocks he made his way to the shoreline.

He stood there for a moment — putting his hands into his jeans’ pockets and soaking in the Amazon river in all its glory.

Pulling out his phone he took a photo of the scenic view of the river. He hadn’t touched the device since he came to South America — airplane mode staying on constantly to stop any reminders of Boston to come creeping in. Then he twisted around and took a picture of his rented motorbike. The only photos of his trip so far — and they were moments he would want to remember.

Without the wind wiping around him, he felt hot in his leather jacket. Shrugging it off, he laid it out onto the sand and sat on it — his arms resting on his knees as he looked out at the water.

And then it hit him.

Miami.

Sitting on that beach with Jordynne — sharing the tiny space of his tuxedo jacket. Closing his eyes he could still remember the feeling and weight of her resting her head against his shoulder.  Or the way her green eyes had stared into his — trying so desperately to read him, to see if he was feeling the same things as her on that quiet beach.

Snapping his eyes open again, he let out a loud sigh — his eyebrows furrowing in anger with himself. He had been enjoying himself — finally, he had a moment of solace and he let that memory creep in to ruin it.

Why had it taken him so long to find that solace? Over a month of being here — away from all of it, Boston, the hospital, Naveen, her. And still, he was battling it. Constantly — every day.

His body twisted with want, and anguish and frustration.

It — they — she had so much power over him still. Even 3200 miles away in a different timezone, a different continent. And that’s what scared him the most. It terrified him. 

Ethan took a hard swallow, trying to stop the emotion that was climbing up his throat making it harder to breathe.

Part  3

[authorgirl1111]

A/N Hey. New chapter hope you enjoy it!

Cut into multiple parts because the actual chapter was like 30+ pages. Hopefully the rest of the chapters won't be that long.

Question: Would you all prefer to have long chapters given to you in one update or cut up into smaller segments? Let me know.

Disclaimer: I do not own Buffy

Chapter 2 part 1: Meeting the Slayer

Meeting the Slayer Part 1

Buffy nodded absentmindedly as Xander and Willow talked about how they buried The Master's bones before she turned back to Xander. "Anything else?" She asked desperate to get as far away from the topic of the Master and last May as possible.

"Outside of that the only other thing of interest was someone ran over the 'Welcome to Sunnydale" sign last week," Xander said with a shrug. "Should have seen it, the thing looked totaled."

"Oh yeah, I noticed that while we were driving in," Buffy said as they walked along. "What happened?"

"Dunno. happened sometime during the night, the running theory is that someone got tired and weren't being as careful as they should have been."

"They find out who did it?" Buffy asked looking straight ahead.

"If they did the police are keeping quiet," Willow said. "You don't think it could be vampires, do you?"

Buffy sighed. "I don't think so," She said. "You said it was a week ago? Most vamps don't wait a week to start creating carnage. You did say the vampire we just fought was the only one seen all summer." She stepped away suddenly tired and desperate to be as far away from the subject of vampires as possible. "Well, I should probably get home, clothes won't unpack themselves."

"Oh," Willow said looking a bit upset. "Well ok then see you."

"Oh, come on," Xander said. "Unpacking can wait an hour or so can't it?"

Buffy shook her head. "Not this time." She said.

"You should at the least contact Mr. Giles about the vampire," Willow said.

Buffy scrunched up her nose. "I'll see him in school." She said before she walked off.

The dream wasn't a cohesive narrative. Just a wave of images she couldn't stop, and Aisling in the center trying so hard to ride the wave and fighting against the need to just push them away.

Aisling could only hear, and feel, and see snippets as all the memories rushed past. Throughout the sequence, the same verse of a song she had never wanted to hear again played itself over and over.

Fire, so much fire- unable to get out-

"Go mbristear do chosa, do chosa-

"Close your eyes Aisling."

"Go mbristear do chosa bean Pháidín-

"Release him- "

"Go mbristear do chosa, do chosa-

The sounds of bones cracking-

"Go mbristear do chosa 's "do chnámha-

"Precious doll- "

"Go mbristear do chosa, do chosa-

The flash of steel, a cut wrist-

"Go mbristear do chosa bean Pháidín-

Blood, so much blood

"Go mbristear do chosa, do chosa-

"They're dead Bit"

"Go mbristear do chosa 's do chnámha-

Carrying her father to their hotel as he bled from his wounds-

Over and over and over again they played in her head, snippets of the worst moments of her life, with that song playing in the background. As the images and sensations passed by her and the song replayed its final verse (Her favourite verse) curled in on herself and covered her ears and shut her eyes, waiting for it all to end.

***

Aisling opened her eyes as she shot up from the bed. She looked around, and took a deep breath, and put a hand on her heart.

It was racing. She winced her dad might have been severely weakened from Prague, but his five senses were still so much more superior than hers. She took a deep breath and tried to will her heart rate to slow down.

When she was confident that her heart was beating at such a rate that her father wouldn't ask questions, she pulled off her covers and slid out of bed.

She shook her head trying to clear her head of the dream, her therapist had told her that change could bring back the nightmares and a change that was brought about by a traumatic event would make it all the worse. She'd dealt with this before, she'd had to move because of dangers before, she could handle this now-

Knowing that did not make her feel better and didn't stop her from focusing on the fact that it was different now. Her father had never been so severely injured before. If something went wrong; if her name on the rental agreement wasn't enough to keep vampires out…

"Princess?" Spike called through her closed door.

Aisling jumped and turned her head she hadn't realized that she hadn't moved. "Yea?" She asked crossing her arms.

"Can I come in?"

Aisling turned toward the windows in time to see the sunrise. "Wait!" She called climbing over her bed and hurried to the window. For a moment she took a second to stare at the sunrise before she pulled the curtains as hard as she could over the windows. When she was satisfied that no sunlight could get through, she walked toward the door and opened it. "Hey, da'."

Spike's stood on the other side of her room his eyes lingered for a moment on the three scars that ran down the length of her arm. She looked down.

"Your heart rate spiked – twice." He said. "Are you ok?"

"First day o' school," Aisling said attempting to wave him off. Her accent had lessened over the years, but it still came out on occasion "You know how it is."

Spike leaned against her door frame. "Are you sure?"

Aisling stared up at Spike and looked away. "Yea."

Spike stared down at her for a long moment. "You know you don't have to pretend with me, right?"

Aisling shrugged. "I had a nightmare – but I'm fine. I get them every time I change schools. It's… fine." Inwardly Aisling winced at the repetition.

Spike raised his eyebrow, which emphasized the scar on his left eyebrow. "Is that right?" He asked.

"Yea," Aisling said. "I need to shower." She said walking over to the wardrobe and pulling out her housecoat. "Can you move?"

Spike rolled his eyes and moved out of the way. "Don't think we're done talking about this missy."

"There's nothin' to talk about," Aisling said. "And shouldn't you be restin'?" She asked.

"I'm fine at the mo'," Spike said.

"Uh-huh," Aisling said. "And you accuse me o' pretendin'?"

Spike glared at her. "Just- just go take your shower.

Aisling laughed before she disappeared into the bathroom.

***

An hour later, she exited her room, her curly black hair was tied back in a ponytail, her nails painted almost blood red. Her clothing consisted of dark blue jeans and a white tank top. Her large round dark blue eyes stared up at him questioningly.

"You look good," Spike said taking a sip from his cup of warmed blood.

Aisling smiled her-the corners of her lips turning upward. "Thanks, Da'" She said softly.

Spike smiled and walked forward and kissed her on the forehead. "You're welcome." He straightened and turned toward the kitchen. "Now have some breakfast, I'd rather not have your first day of school be ruined because you fainted after not havin' eaten."

Aisling chuckled and shook her head. "I've gone without it before," Aisling said as she went to sit at the kitchen table. "It's not a problem."

Spike sighed as poured out some cereal and some milk into a bowl and slid it over to Aisling.

"Eat, and don't forget your meds."

"Aye aye," Aisling said as she scarfed down her breakfast. When her bowl was empty she pushed it away and stood and left to the bathroom to take her meds.

The minute Aisling was out of sight he dropped his head onto his arms suddenly tired.

Or, well, no it wasn't sudden, he'd been feeling tired since Aisling entered the kitchen, but he hadn't wanted her to worry.

He wanted to drive her to school this morning – first day and all that, but now he didn't know if had the strength to make it downstairs, let alone drive Aisling to school.

He didn't know how long he was like that when he felt someone's hands on his upper arms.

"Come on," Aisling said gently pulling him up. "Bed."

"I'm fine Ash."

Aisling nodded and smiled softly. "It's fine, I promise."

"It's tradition," Spike argued.

Aisling sighed. "I know, but this isn't my last year of school, there is always next year. Besides, you and I both know that you aren't a stickler for tradition anyway."

Spike sighed. "It's different when it's you."

Aisling squeezed his arm. "Rest, I wanted to walk to school today anyway."

"Alright." Spike gave in. "I do love you, Princess."

Aisling leaned forward and they both kissed each other on the cheek. "See you later," Aisling said waving as she walked away. "Get some rest."

***

Finding the school wasn't hard. She had seen it several times over the past week as she explored the town. She knew exactly where she had to go to get there even if she had chosen to walk.

The problem however was finding her way into the principal's office. She had no idea where it was and the school had called her on Friday to let her know that she had to be at the office to pick up her schedule, documents that needed to be signed, and that the principal wanted to have a word with her.

Aisling had a feeling the principal wanted to talk to her about the number of schools she'd been to. He wouldn't be the first principle concerned over the number of times she'd had to move around.

Still, the class was gonna start soon and she still had no idea how to find the office. She looked around for someone to ask and spotted a girl with long brown hair and bangs held back with a hair clip. She had on a light blue sleeveless shirt with a white and black striped skirt and white heeled shoes.

Given the confidence, she was exhibiting it suggested that she was the alpha especially with the way all the other girls were hanging off her every word. She straightened the black leather jacket that she was wearing fixed her hair took a deep breath and walked forward as confidently as she could.

"Art and buildings? I was totally beachless for a month and a half. No one has suffered like I have. Of course, I think that that kind of adversity builds character-" She heard the girl say as she walked up to her.

"Uh 'scuse me?" Aisling said with a light wave. "Sorry to interrupt but I'm completely lost."

Aisling could feel herself getting measured as the resident alpha looked her up and down.

"Nice shoes." The girl said sounding vaguely impressed. "And that leather jacket is tres chic."

Aisling couldn't hear any lies in her tone and decided to take her at her word. "Thanks. Sorry for interrupting, but I'm lost, and I desperately need to find the office to get my schedule and papers to be signed." She said, "I'm Aisling by the way, I'm new."

"Sure…" The girl said before she started rattling off directions. Then her eyes caught hold of someone a couple of feet away. Aisling turned her head to see who Cordelia was staring at and saw a man with dark hair and a receding hairline, who appeared to be about as tall as Aisling and kind of reminded her of a Ferengi. "Or you could just talk to Principal Snyder there," Cordelia said pointing off.

"Ah," Aisling said. "looks strict."

"Yeah, word of warning, he hates students." She said her voice low to avoid being heard.

"Like bad at hiding, he hates students, or gleefully lets everyone knows he hates students?" Aisling said her voice equally low.

"Leaning towards that second one." The brown-haired girl said.

Aisling pursed her lips and nodded. "Ah, might as well get this out of the way, thanks," She said starting to walk off then she paused and turned back around. "I'm sorry I didn't quite catch your name."

"Cordelia Chase." The brunette said with a wave. "See you around."

"You too."

***

"Might as well be talking to myself," Snyder said Aisling watched as two adults walked away from him and had to bite her lip from chuckling.

"Principal Snyder?" Aisling stepped in with a smile. "I'm Aisling-"

Snyder glared at her and Aisling found her smile wilting.

"Can't you see I'm-" Snyder said turning around and noticing that Mr. Giles was nowhere to be seen. "Talking to someone…"

"My apologies," Aisling said bowing her head slightly. "But I was told that before I head to my first class this morning, I had a meeting with the principal. Who, I was told, is you."

"Least you aren't transferring halfway through the year," Snyder said walking away from her, Aisling walked up after him. "Unlike another troublemaker student."

Aisling wisely kept her mouth shut.

Snyder walked ahead of her, occasionally pulling students out and warning them to 'spit out that gum', 'tuck in that shirt', and at least once to 'stop laughing.'

Oh yeah. Aisling thought sarcastically. This is gonna be fun.

Snyder led her through the school to the principal's office and opened the door and lead her through it.

"I see you've moved schools quite a few times, Miss Pratt." Principal Snyder said when she entered.

"I have." Aisling nodded.

Snyder narrowed his eyes at her. "Any particular reason why?"

Aisling shrugged. Cause I live with a vampire who hunts demons for a living?

"Dad and I don't like being tied down to one place for too long," Aisling said giving the usual answer she gave when asked that question.

Snyder's eyes narrowed. "I can sense you're a troublemaker, Miss Pratt," Snyder said leaning forward over her file. "I don't like having troublemakers in my school. Since there's nothing in your record that suggests delinquency I'll just have to settle with letting you know that I'll be watching you very closely – understand?"

Aisling bit the inside of her cheek to keep from losing her temper.

"Now Ais-ling," Snyder said with a slightly smug smile. "Anything to say before you pick up your schedule?"

Aisling fought demons, vampires, and entire mobs of human beings. Principal Snyder in comparison was a small man, who liked acting tough to compensate for his small demeanour.

Still. Getting kicked out of school on the first day was not a great way to start the school year.

"No Sir." Aisling said paused and then decided 'screw it'. "Except, really – it's pronounced Ash-ling." She said before she jumped out of her seat and ran out the door before Snyder had a chance to yell at her.

***

Buffy sighed as she sat in class vaguely aware of the new student that walked into class and sat just in front of her after having spoken to the teacher for a moment.

"Hey." The girl said her hand outstretched. "I'm Aisling; I'm new." She had a slight accent that Buffy had trouble placing.

Buffy forced a smile on her face. "I'm Buffy." She said taking the proffered hand.

Aisling's eyes became questioning before she sat turned to pay attention to class.

Buffy tried to pay attention to class like the good student she was supposed to be, but she found herself without the energy, her mind constantly drifting to other topics. Memories and feelings that she didn't need or want, but still they came at the most inopportune time.

For the entire day, she found herself unable to concentrate only barely able to be present when Ashlyn-or whatever her name was-asked her a question about the assignment the teacher had set, as well as a question about where the library was located.

She could tell that the newbie was aware that she was distracted but outside of giving a fake smile there wasn't anything else Buffy was willing to do to prove that she was fine.

So instead, she did something else – she tried to alleviate her feelings by forcing herself to think about something else.

"So…" She said "Newbie huh? Where from?" Buffy asked after class as the new girl walked along beside her. Willow and Xander keeping pace on the other side.

"Well, I was born in Ireland," Aisling said indirectly telling Buffy where her accent was from. "But I've lived in America for years, recently moved here from Los Vegas."

Xander chuckled. "That must have been interesting."

"What did your parents do there?" Willow asked curiously.

"My dad's a private contractor and a writer," Aisling said with a smile.

"So, he doesn't work in a casino," Willow asked.

Aisling rolled her eyes. "No, though he has gone there from time to time to play poker."

"Your dad a big gambler?" Xander asked.

Willow's eyes widened and hissed "Xander!" In a low shocked voice.

Aisling shrugged. "He likes to play, and he's good." She said then smiled gently. "He's responsible."

"That's good," Buffy said distractedly.

"Everything alright?" Aisling asked turning her attention to Buffy. "You seem…" Aisling looked around trying to find the right word.

Buffy jumped and turned around. "Oh – yeah." Buffy scoffed waving her hand. "I'm fine."

Aisling sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. "Rough summer?"

"No! No…" Buffy winced at her defensive nature "Is it that obvious?"

Aisling smiled sympathetically. "Me too," Aisling said. "Dad got awful hurt while the two of us were vacationing. Ended up having to cut our vacation short."

"Sorry to hear that," Buffy said. "Is he better?"

"What happened?" Xander asked.

"Took a bad fall." Aisling said before changing the subject. "Do you know where the computer science room is? It's my next class."

"Oh yeah, Willow takes that class," Buffy said pointing to Willow.

"You a computer whiz?" Willow asked brightly.

"Oh no, but it can't hurt to learn how to use them," Aisling said waving toward Willow. "Get the feeling that knowing how to use them is going to beneficial in the future."

Willow stepped forward. "Well, I can show you where it is!" Then she became hesitant. "That is- if you want me to?"

Aisling smiled and linked arms with Willow. "Please, newbie here, any help given to me by anyone would be welcome. Especially after the lecture, I got by Snyder just before class."

"Lecture?" Xander stepped in Buffy herself leaned over intrigued. "Ooh, what happened?"

"He… was concerned over the number of schools I'd been to in the last few years," Aisling said. "Thinks I'm a troublemaker, just because I've moved around a lot." Aisling rolled her eyes.

"Moved around a lot?"

Aisling nodded. "Yeah, Born in Ireland, moved to America when I was around 8, and dad moved us around. Neither of us like being in one place for too long."

"Ireland?" Buffy asked. "Guy I know's from Ireland."

Aisling looked impressed. "Fellow Mick huh? He go to school here?"

Buffy paused and suddenly looked as though she wished she'd never brought it up. "Uh No. He doesn't. So anyway Ireland huh? That must be fun."

Aisling nodded. "It is. Dad and I go back there every other summer, was supposed to go there this summer, but I changed my mind last minute," Aisling said, Buffy vaguely noticed that Aisling's eyes went slightly distant at that, but before Buffy could even think to comment on it, Aisling shook her head and continued. "We take turns choosing summer vacation destinations every year. I usually choose Ireland, but decided on Prague…" She paused and looked around at everyone staring at her "and I accidentally revealed that dad and I have a lot more money than most people, here didn't I?" Buffy wondered what the look on her face must have been because Aisling immediately looked uncomfortable. Buffy tried to smooth out her features.

"Only by the fact that you can apparently afford to leave the country every summer," Xander said with a sarcastic grin.

Aisling winced.

"It's fine." Willow jumped in. "Not unless you're the type to flaunt it, like a certain queen bee we know."

"Cordelia Chase?" Aisling asked. "Met her before class, she pointed out Snyder to me."

"Be warned she'll only put up with you until you threaten her status – then she'll drop you like a hot potato."

"Yeah, I've been to enough schools to know how most Queen Bees work," Aisling said. "The last school I went to, her daddy owned one of the top casinos in the Strip… and was a major benefactor to the school, needless to say, that girl was the walking definition of untouchable."

The bell rang.

"Shoot," Willow said linking arms with Aisling. "We're late, we gotta go, Bye Buffy, bye Xander." She said before she hurried off with Aisling.

"Uh bye!" Aisling said as Willow ran off with Aisling in tow. "See you later!"

"Bye!" Buffy said waving as Willow and Aisling hurried off.

***

"So… I hate the principal." Aisling said into her phone as she sat outside during Lunch a half-eaten sandwich in her hand. "But other than that…"

Aisling heard a tired chuckle on the other line. "You've had bad principals before. We're generally able to sort them out by Parent-Teacher Night."

"Yeah, but their hatred of kids and teens wasn't so… blatant. It's both refreshing and weird." Aisling said taking a bite out of her sandwich deciding not to bring up if Spike would even be well enough to head out to PT night.

"You alright?"

Aisling nodded her mouth full of food that she quickly swallowed. "Yeah, I can handle an awful principal."

"Good," Spike said. "I mean not good but…"

Aisling chuckled. "I know. It's fine, I only need to worry if I get sent down, and I'm really good at not having that happen."

"Just be careful, alright? You're over a Hellmouth. It's not just students and teachers you have to worry about."

"I know," Aisling said taking a bite out of her sandwich. "I have lived on one before y'know."

"Don't remind me." This time Spike sounded bitter.

"Wasn't so bad," Aisling said. "Can confidently say that I have, in fact, lived through much worse."

"Amazingly, that's doesn't make me feel any better." Aisling could almost hear Spike rolling his eyes at her.

"Aisling!" Aisling looked up as she saw Buffy, Xander, and Willow walking toward her. She smiled and waved as the three walked toward her.

"Who was that?" Spike asked.

"Just some people I met in class," Aisling said. "I Gotta go. Try to get some rest. I'll see you when I get home alright?"

"Your making friends?" Spike sounded almost thrilled at the idea.

Aisling rolled her eyes, for a vampire her father could get so weird about the most human things. "Possibly, I'm not sure. I gotta go, I'll tell you more when I get home."

"Fine," Spike said. "I love you, princess, alright?"

Aisling smiled. "I'll talk to you later." She said just as the three students walked up to her.

"Love you."

"Love you too," Aisling said before she flicked her phone closed. She looked up and smiled at the three of them. "Fancy meetin' you here." She said. "What can I do for ya?"

"Sitting by yourself is no fun on your first day," Willow said sitting beside her. "Thought we'd keep you company."

"Oh, thanks! It was no trouble." Aisling said with a smile. "Just thought I'd call my dad let him know how my day was going."

"You two must be close." Xander said.

Aisling smiled and looked down. "Yeah, his work keeps him busy but when he's home he does his best to make sure that we spend as much time together as we can." She said with a shrug.

"So, what did you think of Miss Calendar?" Willow asked. "Pretty cool huh?"

"Yeah, she is," Aisling agreed, taking another bite of her sandwich. She looked at Buffy who looked like she was starting to Space out. "What about you Buffy?"

Buffy turned to Aisling her eyes wide. "What?"

"Your day, how was it?" Aisling asked with a small smile.

"Uh" Buffy gave a one-shoulder half shrug. "It was fine."

Aisling nodded. "So, have anything decent to do in this town?"

"There's this nightclub called the Bronze." Willow cut in with a smile. "Club let's just about anyone in, everyone goes there."

"Nightclub?" Aisling said.

"Yeah, that's not a problem is it?"

Aisling shrugged and took another bite of her sandwich. "Music any good?"

"Oh yeah, the Bronze does live music almost every other night," Willow said eagerly. "You should check it out one of these nights."

Aisling shrugged. "Maybe."

***

"Sorry!" Aisling said into her cell. "I'll be out in a few minutes, I just wanted to check out a couple of books for English."

"What books?" Spike asked.

"Uh- shoot." Aisling cursed as she realized she forgot what the booklist was. Aisling pulled the list out of her book bag. "Pride and Prejudice, Lord of the Flies, Wuthering Heights…"

"We have Pride and Prejudice, so you don't need to bother checking that one out," Spike said.

"I remember," Aisling said. "The other two, however-"

"I can wait," Spike said. "See you later, Bit."

"See you," Aisling said closing the phone.

The Library wasn't too hard to find once she'd stopped and asked Cordelia where it was. She found Cordelia to be a little tactless but not overtly off-putting in her help

She opened the double doors and walked into a middle-aged man and a blonde girl in a tank top and leggings, the girl was doing flips and jumps over the room. Aisling was mildly concerned that the books would be destroyed but given the middle-aged man didn't seem concerned over the books, she had to assume that it was a common occurrence.

Aisling coughed to get their attention and the blonde immediately stopped her gymnastic routine while the middle-aged stood straighter at seeing her there. The blonde girl turned her head and Aisling immediately recognized her as Buffy.

"Yes?" The man asked stepping forward.

"Sorry." Aisling said, "I needed to borrow a few books for class-though I can come back early tomorrow instead."

"No, no." The man said. "It's fine I'm Mr. Giles the Librarian, what books did you need to get?"

"Wuthering Heights and Lord of the Flies" Aisling rattled off.

Giles pointed off to a nearby bookshelf. "They should be there."

"Thank you," Aisling said, she turned to the blonde. "Hey, Buffy." She said waving slightly.

"Hey, Aisling," Buffy said.

"So… any reason you're working out in a library, instead of the gym?" Aisling asked as she made her way to the bookshelf.

"More private," Buffy said a little too quickly. "No one comes in here." Her eyes widened and she turned to Aisling. "Uh… you know regularly."

"Hmm," Aisling said as she looked around the bookshelf and smiled when she found what she was looking for. She grabbed the two books off the shelves they had been standing on and smiled as she turned to Buffy.

"How was the rest of your day?" Buffy asked.

"It was fine," Aisling said. "Very little homework, but that's to be expected for the first day of school, right?" Aisling's eyes caught the sight of another book and she gasped and grabbed it.

"Emily Dickinson?" Buffy said. "Someone I dated, once, liked her."

"Yeah, I like her rhythm… as well as listening to my da' rant about how… American she is.

Though honestly, I don't get it… he likes her poetry too."

"American?"

Aisling paused and smiled. "Yeah, my da' was born in London."

"Ahh," Buffy said. "So, your Irish-English?"

Aisling shrugged. "I'm adopted."

Buffy's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry."

Aisling shook her head. "It was a long time ago," She said softly.

"Still…" Buffy said. "Can't have been easy."

"You have no idea," Aisling said. "But what in this life is?"

Aisling handed the books to Mr. Giles. "London, right?"

"Yes. How did you-"

Aisling smiled. "My dad was born and raised in London too."

Giles nodded and finished checking out the books for Aisling and handed them back to her.

"Nice to meet you Aisling."

Aisling smiled and nodded she turned to Buffy. "See you." She said before she hurried out the door.

***

Aisling saw the black Desoto as she made her way off school property. She stared for a moment before she smiled and shook her head and walked toward the car.

Aisling knocked on the window, she watched through the darkened windows for Spike to cover himself with the blanket. When she was confident, he was sufficiently covered she quickly opened the door entered and closed it.

Spike removed the blanket and tossed it into the backseat. "How was school?"

"Fine," Aisling said tossing her backpack in the backseat. "Met some interesting people… specifically this one blonde girl."

"Interesting how?" Spike said as drove off.

"She was doing gymnastics in the Library." Aisling said, "and the Librarian wasn't scolding her the look on his face seemed to suggest that it was a common occurrence."

"Huh."

"I know that not every athletic girl I meet is gonna be the Slayer. I mean hi I exist. But I mean it is strange. And given the fact that the Librarian is from London-"

"I'm from London." Spike cut in with a raised eyebrow.

"Who seems to oversee her training in a very empty Library, it does suggest something strange is going on," Aisling said.

"Did you tell her your suspicions?"

"And risk being wrong and mortifying myself on the first day of school?" Aisling shook her head. "No."

Spike smiled in spite of himself. "That's not what I meant. Most humans aren't aware that such a thing as a Slayer exists. You revealing yourself-"

"Might reveal more about me and my family than I want." Aisling finished. "I know. We did talk though, both now and at lunch."

"What'd you talk about?"

"She knows I'm adopted. There's a club called The Bronze that everyone goes to."

Spike nodded but decided against giving Aisling a final decision on whether he wanted her out after dark. On the one hand, he knew she could take care of herself – Prague had proven that and she'd gone out after dark multiple times in Vegas - but on the other Hellmouth energy tended to make demons and soulless vampires act even more hostile than normal.

Still, if she was befriending the slayer assuming her assumption was correct… it would give her a smidge more protection.

"Da'?" Aisling said staring up at him.

Spike turned to Aisling and smiled. "What else did you and this strangegirl talk about?"

***

"You know, I could have walked home from school," Aisling said as she watched her father lean tiredly against the doorframe. "You don't have to waste what few precious moments you have feeling 'ok' coming to pick me up."

Spike pushed himself off the doorframe attempting to wave away her concern. "Nonsense, dropping you off and picking you up on the first day of school is tradition."

"I once again feel the need to iterate: you hate tradition," Aisling said taking his hand and leading him to the Master Bedroom. "Come on. Back to bed. Then I'll make us some dinner and we can eat together."

Spike make a face. "I'm not a child, Bit."

"No, you're just stubborn and gormless," Ash said. "Bed. Now." She said pulling him along.

"When exactly are you gonna stop treatin' me like somethin' breakable."

Aisling turned and smiled, and Spike immediately realized his mistake.

To her credit Aisling didn't bring up the hypocrisy of his statement and instead answered his question by pulling on his arm roughly, Spike nearly fell over luckily for him Ash caught him and held him steady. "When I can pull your arm and you can resist better than that."

"You caught me off guard."

Aisling raised an eyebrow and Spike suddenly had a feeling of what it was like for Aisling throughout the years.

Spike sighed. "Did I ever make you feel breakable?"

"You're a vampire with superhuman strength, speed and agility, any human who knows you would feel breakable in your presence," Aisling said as she opened the bedroom door, she turned to see Spike looking at her guiltily. Her gaze softened and she stepped forward. "You helped me feel strong."

Spike scoffed, "That was cheesy."

"Yea, but it's true," Aisling said. "Now come on, I'm hungry and your hungry." When Spike looked like he was about to open his mouth and retort. She fixed him with the same glare he would throw at her when she was being obstinate.

He did not like that. That she could just throw everything back into his face and he couldn't do much against it.

Especially when he knew that she was right.

Hope you enjoyed it. I did have an extra seen of her actually making Spike's dinner but I cut it out as it didn't actually lead anywhere. (Might have it in Part 2) though not entirely sure.

Song’s in the dream sequence is: Bean Phaidin, the version I’m familiar with is the one sung by Celtic Woman. Though there are other versions sung before Celtic Woman sang it. 

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (26) Escaping

And Marinette had thought Highschool had been hard. Right now, in this moment, she'd give anything to go back to those petty arguments and gossip fueled drama. But she couldn't. Instead, she and Adrien were trapped here, being punished, humiliated, tortured, for being heroes, all broadcasted for the world to see. At least she and her kitty were in this together. For now. Whump!Fic

Ao3 | FF.net

Happy Thanksgiving! (To those of you that celebrate it.)

Today I am thankful for having an amazing group of readers that continue to make me laugh with their comments and hang in there when it gets rough. I’ve received so many fan pieces that I’ve actually cried. I keep waiting for that one comment that’s like ‘you’re a sick twisted weirdo’ to come, but it never does. So I thank you!

Despite what this fic may say about me, I am a Christian, so there may be some…religious tones coming up. I don’t want to impress my own faith on cartoon characters, but…I just thought I make that statement so you can understand my decisions in the future.

We are officially out of the torture section of the fic, but this chapter and the next(?) are still pretty gory. But judging by the comments, that might be a good thing. (There will be some recap of the last chapter though.)

*Cracks knuckles* Time to put my blackbelt to use!

—

It was a rough day at the Agreste mansion.

Nino had risen for school far too early, after not having slept much. He showered and dressed before coming downstairs and picking through the pastries in the kitchen for breakfast. He came into the living room, being the first one there, and sat on the couch to watch the stream for an hour or so before going to classes.

Except what he saw on the screen made him drop his croissant.

Or better, what he didn’t see. Adrien and Marinette were gone.

The website showed three live videos. One of each of their cells, and one of the ‘torture chamber’. The footage of the cells had a green hue to it, being shot with night vision cameras.

But those feeds were just a dark green blankness, while the torture chamber was empty.

Afraid he might of missed something, Nino rewound the stream, checking to see what happened.

Then he caught it. First Marinette turning her camera in, and then Adrien doing the same.

So what next? He brought back to the live feed, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Tom came in, yawning. “You’re up early.”

“Marinette and Adrien turned their cameras away.”

Tom frowned slightly, and then shrugged. “Maybe they got tired of people watching them, and they wanted some privacy.”

“I don’t think—look!”

About twenty minutes after they had moved the cameras, Adrien was being pulled back into big room. The stream to the two cells cut off completely.

“Where’s Marinette?” Tom wondered with panic.

“Isn’t life just so unfair?” Salo said, shoving Adrien into the room. “You actually made it out! But your precious Lady threw you to the dogs. That’s what she’s always done, hasn’t she? Let you take the hits, let you get hurt or straight up die? As long as she sets things right, who cares? You can take all the hits, all the trauma. You’re her meat shield. You don’t matter to her at all. You’re just a tool. A sidekick. And she left you behind, because you’re a dead weight.”

Adrien wasn’t protesting.

“Come on dude! You know Marinette cares about you! Don’t let her get inside your head!”

“They got out? Marinette’s out?” Tom breathed.

Salo snapped in front of his face. “Bah, he’s so out of it, I doubt he can even hear us.”

“Did someone put something in his food?” A man spoke from off camera.

“No, it’s a sign that he’s dying. Close to death, people get really disorientated and can hallucinate. It’s a common sight down here.”  

After that, Nino didn’t really stand a chance. Dignity be damned. He sat with his head in his hands, and just cried.

Hours passed, and slowly the others in the hours came to check the stream.

Tom updated them on the development, since Nino couldn’t even speak.

Gabriel was livid. Watching Adrien be flogged, what little life he had left in him fleeting with each lash, it was unbearable.

But what could they do? There were no leads.

And where was Marinette?

Gabriel had lost his mother to old age. He remembered sitting in the hospice room, just waiting. Each breath sounding like the final pull on a bow of a cello. All he could do was wait for the symphony to end.

Despite the living room having Alya, Nino, Tom, Sabine, and Gabriel all gathered together, it was quiet. Nothing but the ticking of the clock, and the crack of a whip and a scream every minute.

Gabriel couldn’t bare watching, but he couldn’t leave the room, because he didn’t want to miss a second of his son’s heart still beating. So he took to pacing.

Any minute could be his last, and it was agony just sitting and waiting.

A little before sunset, the assembled were startled by the rapid ringing of a doorbell.

Gabriel snarled in anger. How dare someone interrupt such an important moment!

They went ignored, for a minute, before the ringing became more and more insistent. The interloper was not leaving.

With a huff, Gabriel stormed into the lobby to yell at them.

Curious, Alya, Nino, and Sabine followed, but kept in line to see the television.

“Who is it, and what do you want?” Gabriel snapped at the intercom.

“I-I’m so sorry!” A teenage boy was standing at the gate, and he was panting. “My name…is Tanner Chevalier, I think we found Ladybug!”  

Gabriel’s eyes widened, but he didn’t get his hopes up. “What do you mean?! Explain yourself!”

“Yes sir! My brother and I were walking home from school through Montparnasse, and I heard someone banging on an old utility door. My brother had this hunch that it might be Ladybug or Chat Noir, and so we asked. They couldn’t talk, probably because her mouth was sewn shut! But we asked if she could knock once for yes, and she did and we couldn’t get the door opened so my brother went home to get our dad and a crowbar but I came here to tell you—“

“You came and told me first? Not the police?”

The boy curled in on himself. “Sorry, I just—everyone kind of knows that the police haven’t been doing a very good job, so  I thought I’d tell you first…”

“No no, Tanner was it?”

“Yes?”

“You did good. Don’t go to the police. Anyone with any leads in the case have been killed. I will take care of this.”

“Oh!” The boy said, producing a piece of paper. “Here’s a map we made with the door on it, and our contact information, if you need to ask us anything.”

Gabriel opened the hatch so he could drop the slip in. “This is…if you’re right, I will be indebted to you.”

“My mom almost died during an akuma attack. We’ll call it even.” And at that, the boy took off again.

Sabine was right behind Gabriel at this point. “I’ll call the police,” she stated, her phone already in hand.

“Don’t.”

She blinked at him. “Don’t?! What do you mean don’t?! This is the first real lead! You can’t think that boy was lying, do you?!”

“No, I’m certain he wasn’t.”

“Then what are you doing?! My daughter—Marinette’s right behind a door in Montparnasse! We have a map!” She just groaned and unlocked her phone.

“I said don’t!” He barked. “I’ll handle this!”

Tom peered out of the room at the shouting, ready to protect his wife, while Alya and Nino looked on in horror.

Sabine, a normally pretty understanding woman, became frantic. “How the hell do you expect to do anything on your own!? Do you have an army at your disposal?!”

He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a shake. “I am the only chance we have at saving them!”

Sabine stared at him wide-eyed, before Tom rested a heavy hand on his shoulder.

“Gabriel. You’d better explain yourself. Now.”

Gabriel let go of Sabine, taking a deep breath. “I…I will explain my actions. All of them. Once Adrien and Marinette are safe and in the hospital, I’ll tell everything. But right now, I just need you all to trust me.”

The other four watched him, but didn’t try anything.

Gabriel lifted the lapel of his jacket. “Nooroo?”

A little purple kwami came out, and Alya and Nino, the only others in the room that knew what a Kwami looked like, froze in shock.

“Would I be able to make two akuma, without Catalyst’s aid?”

The little kwami looked hesitatingly around at those gathered.

Gabriel snapped his fingers by him. “Focus Nooroo, we are on a time crunch.”

“Yes, sorry Master. You…you can make multiple akuma on your own, but you know they become a lot harder to control. Especially if they have different goals from each other and you. If you plan to akumatize Marinette and Adrien…they’ll most likely work together, but they will be extremely volatile…and they could potentially break free from your control.”

“That’s fine. We just need to give them the strength and means to get out. They’ll be akumatized for a hour at most.”

Nooroo nodded in understanding. “Then it should work.”

“You…” Sabine spat, with venom. “You’re Hawkmoth?!”

Gabriel sighed. “Yes, I know it comes as quite the shock but—“

Sabine didn’t let him finish that sentence before ramming her knee into his groin, and then elbowing him in the back of the head. “Does anyone else have a Miraculous in this room!?”

Nino sheepishly raised his hand, before Alya elbowed him, and he lowered it back down.

Gabriel caught his breath. “…I deserved that. I agree. And I owe you all an explanation…but we have to work quickly if we want to save them.”

Alya stepped forward, showing her necklace. “Trixx, let’s pounce!” In a flash of orange, Rena Rouge stood in Alya’s place. “As cool as Gabriel Agreste has been the last few weeks, I still don’t trust Hawkmoth.”

“Fine,” said Gabriel with a huff. “Don’t believe me. But don’t you dare try to stop me from saving my son.” He removed his tie, revealing his brooch to the room.

Tom snagged his wife and stepped back.

“Nooroo, Dark Wings Rise!” A flash of purple light took over the room, stunning the others for a moment. Then, Hawkmoth was standing in the room, in all of his unholy terror.

It was one thing to hear him confirm it, but to see the suit and the mask, that changed everything.

Sabine let out a sob.

That urged Nino to transform into Carapace too.

“Alright,” Hawkmoth began. “Rena Rouge, Carapace, I need to get to my butterflies. You are welcome to follow. Tom, Sabine, I recommend you return to the living room. I promise, I mean no harm.”

Tom steered his wife towards the living room. “I guess we have no choice. Just know we still expect that explanation, Gabriel.”

Hawkmoth nodded once, and headed to his office.

Rena Rouge and Carapace followed silently, as Gabriel activated the hidden elevator. They travelled together to the dark room filled with little white butterflies.

“I want to be angry, but my fan girl is freaking out.” Whispered Rena.

“Would one of you pull up the stream, please?” Hawkmoth spoke softly, as the window opened.

Carapace held out his shield, a screen lighting up on the inside.

Adrien cried out in pain as the stream came up.

“He’s still with us,” Hawkmoth said with a tightness in his voice. “We can’t waste anymore time.” He coaxed a butterfly to his hand, evilizing it. “Don’t go far, my little akuma, I have a friend for you.” He made another, and together they headed out the window.

“And now we wait.”

Looking back at the stream, it was then that Marinette was escorted into the room. She looked dirtier and even more exhausted, if that was possible. Her feet dark with dirt and bruises.

“That would be one lash a minute, over the ten hours you were gone...so, 600? Does that sound right?” Salo spoke.

“Technically 487, madam,” Said a voice off screen. “We broke for lunch.”

“Oh yes, I’m glad someone was taking count. You know, the science of lashings is very interesting. The more time you give the body between strikes, the more time it has to clot blood, and deal with pain. And if you spread out the lashes over more parts of the body, the less likely a person is to suffer nerve damage or organ failure. We did make sure to spritz him down with rubbing alcohol, so he shouldn’t get infected.”

“They’re in Montparnasse.” Hawkmoth announced. “I’m feeling a lot of frustration and anger, but it’s hard to pinpoint one source.”

“What do you mean?” Rena demanded.

“There’s a lot of upset people over here. And a lot in pain from the hospital.”

“But there’s got to be a stronger feeling somewhere, right?” Asked Nino. “Marinette and Adrien should be angrier and in more pain than everyone else.”

“Yes, I agree. I’ll keep looking.”

The assembled winced as Marinette was tied up too, and her flogging began.

Hawkmoth grit his teeth. “Damn them. That just brought up the anger of everyone in Paris.” He grunted in pain. “It’s overwhelming!”

“Don’t you dare give up!” Rena scolded. “You said you were our last hope! You fail, and I’ll—I’ll beat you to a pulp!” It was a weak threat, she knew.

“I’m not giving up!” Hawkmoth barked back. “I’m just—stating that it’s not as easy as it seems.” He groaned. “It’s like having thousands of people shouting at once, and trying to pick out one voice. Now, quiet. I have to focus.”

His explanation did make sense, she supposed. But Rena was still on edge, and worried that this wouldn’t be enough.

They waited, as Hawkmoth stood silently with his eyes closed. He looked increasingly nauseous as time went on.

“How many was that?” Asked Salo, from the stream.

“150, on the nose.”

“How do you feel, Little Piggy?”  

Marinette’s voice was barely audible, but Hawkmoth heard it. “…I have…a bone to pick…with you…” She managed between trembling breaths.

“Oh honey…you’re not doing anything to me. Even if I just stood here, unarmed, undefended…you wouldn’t be able to hurt me. You’re too weak.”

“Why would she say that?” Said Rena, aloud. “It doesn’t answer the question, and it’s not much of a threat…”

Hawkmoth gasped. “That clever girl!”

“What? What is it? Did you find them?!”

“Not quite, but I will!” Said the man, grinning maniacally. “I wasn’t looking deep enough!”

“Deep enough?” Rena parroted.

“The catacombs.”

Deep deep underground. Sealed off from the city by forbidden entrances. Almost impossible to get to unless you knew how. Or if you were small, like a butterfly.

The two akuma found their way down through a sewer grate, and then followed the trail of pain.

Hawkmoth doubled over once they were underground.

“Mr. Agreste…?” Rena wondered carefully.

“This…these feelings…” He gasped. “Are so strong…they have to be…”

The akuma slid under the door of a small closet, and melted into the thick metal collars around both of their necks.

His eyes shot open as he was overcome with the most putrid, raw, painful anger he’d ever felt. It made him heave. Then Hawkmoth took a massive breath and stood slowly. “I’ve got them.”

“You found them!?” Rena shouted, grabbing onto his jacket.

“Yes, but we still need to get them out.”

“But…they both looked so weak. Can akumatizing them really be enough?”

“I think so.” He assured. Then with a deep breath, he gathered himself and activated the connection. “Ladybug…Chat Noir…”

On the stream, the butterfly mask was barely noticeable. Marinette sat up a little straighter.

“It’s been a long time. We’ve all missed you. I’m sorry it took me so long to find you. It wasn’t as easy as I had hoped. You’ve taken care of Paris for so long. Now let me take care of you. In exchange, I ask that you go home and get healed. No Miraculous required. What do you say?”

Marinette smiled, relieved tears flowing from her eyes.

“Yes, Hawkmoth.” And a purple smoke engulfed them both.

—

All she could see was purple. Her wounds soothed, her muscles strengthened, her exhaustion waned. It was almost like being Ladybug again. Almost.

“Lady Lacrima, named for the tears that brought me to you. I am giving you powers you are familiar with. The powers to create. Though you may summon as much as you like, you are bound to those only made of metal.”

“I can make due, Hawkmoth.”

“Grimalkin,” He addressed Adrien. “A bastardization of your hero name, I gift you a version of your old powers. With just a touch, you can destroy. It’s not as powerful as your old cataclysm, but you can use it as many times as you’d like.”

Grimalkin’s reply was a pleased growl.

“I look forward to seeing you soon.” And with that, he ended the connection.

Lady Lacrima stood, the anger that had been on a rolling boil for the last month, now hot as magma, and lethal to the touch. She offered a hand to her companion. “Are you ready Kitty?”

He purred in response, nuzzling against her hand.

“Then after you.”

With just a touch of his finger-length long claws, the door blew open.

Lady Lacrima cracked her neck. “This’ll be fun.”

Of course, when a door is down off it’s hinges, it’s bound to make a lot of noise. It was Pasolini that came to check.

The flashlight landed on them, and then soon dropped on the floor. “Don’t—Don’t come any closer! I’m warning you!”

Lady Lacrima smiled. “Oh, you hear that, kitty? He’s warning us.”

Pasolini spoke into the mic on his lapel. “We’ve been compromised! Ladybug and Chat Noir have been—“

Hawkmoth had been kind enough to replace the yo-yo on Ladybug’s waist with a whip, and with a snap she caught Pasolini around the neck, silencing him.

“Hush…we’ll let them all know we’re here soon enough…but first…we want to pay special attention to you.” She wrapped the whip around her wrist, bringing the man closer to her. “We pleaded and begged for help, we were humiliated, tortured, starved, and driven to madness, and you didn’t care. You laughed at our suffering, and willingly pinned me in place day after day as that bitch scarred me for life. So now the question is…what do we do to you, to make up for it?”

Pasolini had grabbed the end of the whip that was choking him, and pulled on it in an attempt to speak. “Let…me go…”

Lady Lacrima tilted her head to listen.

“Let me…go…and I’ll…I’ll make it worth…your while…I..I promise!”

Lady Lacrima looked at him flatly. “You promise? What would you do?”

“Money…power…protection…anything you want…I can get it for you.”

She smiled at him, pulling the whip tighter. “I want my innocence back.”

Pasolini only had a second to think before a knife materialized in her hand, and she stabbed it through his eye. The cord around his neck prevented his cry of pain from escaping.

Grimalkin let out a sound that was a cross between a laugh and a hiss.

Lady Lacrima forced the man down to his knees, and rested her foot on his shoulder. “I suppose we’ll make this quick. We have a lot of revenge to inflict.” She pressed down her heel, forcing the man to face ground, then she summoned a javelin. With a mighty heave, she sent it through his shoulder and into the floor, pinning him like an insect.

Grimalkin chattered, circling him like a jungle cat.

Another javelin and another pin. Then she released her whip. “I’m sorry, love. You’ve been so patient. Why don’t you finish him off?”

Grimalkin let out a sickening snarl before brandishing his claws.

“What are you doing?!” Pasolini asked, his voice hoarse and full of terror. “Please!”

But Lady Lacrima and Grimalkin were beyond mercy. There was no compassion, no hesitation, no empathy.

Only dark horrible thoughts that could only stew in the minds of tormented souls.

Though he only had use of one hand, Grimalkin tore into the flesh of his tormentor, pulling out muscle and tissue with ease.

Pasolini screamed like a little child, blood splattering over everything.

As the blood landed on Lady Lacrima, her suit sizzled and stained, giving her red spots.

Finally, the man’s suffering came to an end when Grimalkin placed a boot on his rib cage, took hold of his spine, and ripped it out of his body.

Lady Lacrima petted him like he was an innocent kitten. “Hawkmoth didn’t give you a baton. Guess you’ll just have to use that.”

Grimalkin bared his fangs in a smile.

Another flashlight shone down the hall, the figures in shadow. But Salo’s voice pierced through the darkness.

“This bunker is off limits. You have three seconds to run before we open fire!”

Lady Lacrima and Grimalkin shared a loving look, and then they turned and walked towards the light.

“Three…”

Salo could hear something scraping on the wall, and see sparks flickering.

As the intruders approached the group, Salo could hear some of her men gasping in shock and fear. There were only three of them between her and the intruders.

“T-two…” she continued to count down, pretending that she wasn’t afraid of what was only a few feet ahead. They stepped into the light, and Salo swallowed thickly.

Lady Lacrima wore an all black suit, insulated with plates to look like armor. She wore a red domino mask, just as she had as Ladybug, but it was broken up with thick black lines running down her face, resembling her namesake. As if she was a reversed Ladybug, blood red spots splattered over her body. A whip instead of a yo-yo dragged across the floor.

Beside her, Grimalkin stalked like a predator. His suit was similar to what it had been as Chat Noir, with cat ears on his head and a belt fashioned as a tail. But instead of small claws at his finger tips, his fingers were coated in metal, making long, razor sharp blades. His bum arm was strapped to his chest in a way resembling a straight jacket. Instead of friendly feline eyes, he had glowing red eyes like a beast, and fangs that looked absolutely lethal.

“One! Open fire!”

Grimalkin darted behind Lady Lacrima, as a shield materialized in front of her. The bullets hailed down on them, drilling against the shield and ricocheting back at them.

“Careful!” Salo demanded over the gunfire, though she could barely be heard.

Lady Lacrima walked over to one side of the hall, leaning one side of the shield against it.

Then the gunfire started to subside as they ran out of bullets.

“Hold your fire,” Salo demanded, withdrawing her handgun. Carefully, she stepped forward, and once she was close enough, she kicked the shield away…only to find a hole in the wall.

Then one of the men behind her screamed.

She spun to face him, finding Grimalkin coiled on him like a snake, his claws in his face and his fangs digging into his neck.

Salo took aim, but a whip took hold of her wrist and pulled. The shot meant for Grimalkin hit one of her men in the leg instead. The follow through with the whip brought Salo around, unbalanced, to face Lady Lacrima who held a knife.

But Salo was a fighter. She didn’t get where she was on looks alone. She grabbed the wrist with the knife, watching the blade inch closer and closer to her face.

Fighting dirty, the only way she fought, she kicked Lady Lacrima in the side of knee, bringing her to the ground. Then she took the opportunity to run, leaving her last henchman to cover her escape.

Salo escaped back into the torture chamber, where the other ten men in her group were assembled, preparing the next session.

“Arm yourselves! Ladybug and Chat Noir have been akumatized and they have no mercy!”

That was the only warning they got before Grimalkin swept into the room, feral and dripping with blood.

“Jesus Christ!” Someone shouted, before opening fire.

Grimalkin ducked and weaved through the room, never letting himself be a target. He locked onto the man that had flogged him the day before and smiled with sinister intent.

“Oh hell no!” The man shouted in protest. But Grimalkin was too fast, and jammed his claws up the man’s nose and pulled forward.

With Grimalkin standing still for the briefest moment, another man with a full auto rifle sighted up.

A red knife tore through his hand before he could get the shot in. The man next to him yanked the weapon away, and took aim at Grimalkin.

Unfortunately for him, Grimalkin was already finished with the poor sod, and leaped at the next available target. The man pointing a rifle at him.

Six shots fired, none hitting Grimalkin, and all hitting Harken, who was sitting behind the computer. Grimalkin grabbed the barrel of the weapon, and snarled. The gun exploded on the man’s shoulder and Grimalkin finished the job.

Lady Lacrima went head to head with a huge man wearing brass knuckles. Each swing of his fists whistled, as she danced around just out of reach. Another man with a lead pipe joined the fight, attacking from behind. But the akuma had greatly enhanced Lady Lacrima’s speed and perception. She leaned back to avoid the blow, and summoned a machete on the upswing.

Cutting through flesh and bone was not easy, but she sure made it look like it. Two pairs of arms, one brandishing a pipe and the other brass knuckles, clattered to the floor.

The room filled with blood curdling screams.

Lady Lacrima moved onto the next closest victim. A bald man behind the camera. As she made eye contact with him, he held out his arms, defenseless.

“Just end me,” he begged.

She stared at him, remembering the pathetic sob story he had concocted earlier when he dragged her back. As an akuma, she found it hard to believe, but decided not to waste the energy. “Make sure you get all this,” she told him, gesturing to the camera, before racing off to do more work.

While all of this chaos was going on, Salo sat under the table in the corner, the safe with the Miraculous in her lap. “Come on…come on…” she muttered to it. “1680, that’s the combo! Work damn it!”

But in all of Marinette’s frantic slamming just an hour before, the lock was jammed.

She looked up to check the state of her men. One was being eviscerated by Grimalkin, while Lady Lacrima strangled one with her whip and had another in the chest with a katana.

It was an absolute bloodbath, and it happened in only a few minutes.

She slammed the safe down in one final attempt to get to the Miraculous.

But it was too late.

A bloody hand enclosed on her ankle, and dragged her out. Salo looked up to glowing red eyes, wide and frantic and bouncing with untapped rage.

She would not go down without a fight. And thankfully, she still had a gun on her hip. She whipped it out and aimed right at his face.

“Let me go, you beast! Or I’ll shoot you right between the eyes.”

Grimalkin opened his jaw, his fangs glistening with blood. He let out an inhuman snarl, and lunged.

Salo pulled the trigger.

The gun jammed.

But Grimalkin wasn’t about to give her a swift death. He grabbed the hand with the gun and pinned it to the floor above her head. Then he growled, activating his power, and a shooting pain took over her hand as she screamed in pain. He knocked her glasses off as he leapt, and crouched next to Lady Lacrima.

“End of the road.” She said, her face blank and emotionless.

Salo pulled her hand, or rather her wrist, to her chest. “How the hell did he find you?”

Lady Lacrima shrugged. “You must have gotten sloppy.”

“Or you gave him clues! I should have killed you weeks ago!”

“You should have,” Lady Lacrima agreed. “You should have let me die with compassion in my heart. But you didn’t. You created a monster. Two of them.”

Salo spat at her. “You’re a product of Hawkmoth! I only avenged my Eddy!”

“After all this, you’re still justifying your heinous actions. You’re so lost in your depravity, that you can’t even see how low you’ve sunk.”

“So what now?” She sneered. “Now that the roles are reversed, what are you going to do?”

Lady Lacrima reach out and caressed the woman’s face, leaving a smear of blood on her cheek. “The roles are far from reversed, Salo.” She stated, holding out her arms. A buster sword, one bigger than any human could wield, materialized in her hands. “I’m more powerful than you could ever hope to be. And you…there’s no punishment on Earth that befits you.”

“Will you kill me then?”

“That depends…do you believe in God?”

Salo scoffed. “What are you, my Nonna? Go ahead, kill me. Let your God punish me.”

Lady Lacrima adjusted the sword in her hand. “He’ll get his turn.”

Salo’s lip trembled as she attempted to scoot away.

“It’s funny. Without those glasses, you look almost human. And all this time, I thought you were a soulless machine. But if you have a soul…you can burn in hell.” And she slammed the blade down, down through flesh and bone and into the cement, separating her legs from her torso.

The woman screamed in agony, clawing at the ground to escape.

Claws ripped into her stomach, pulling her intestines out and spilling them on the floor.

“What do you think Salo? Should we leave you like this?”

Salo didn’t answer, only squealed and cried out as she writhed on the floor like a worm. Her vision was blurred, but she could see the lights above her head.

Then there was a silhouette, holding out long claws. Claws that pulsed and churned with dark energy. They came closer and closer to her face.

It burned. Hotter than any fire she’d felt before. She heard her skin sizzling and cracking.

Then there was nothing.

—

Lady Lacrima looked down at her tormentor’s remains. A head turning to dust, a torso disemboweled…and legs separated from the rest.

She wished she could have done more.

A purple mask lit up over her face. “My dear, you are free. Find your way to the surface, and I will have an ambulance waiting for you. Once you are with the paramedics, I will take back the akuma.”

“No.”

Lady Lacrima felt his fear. “No? What do you mean, no?”

“Paris has gotten lazy with Ladybug and Chat Noir around. And in our absence, things have only gotten worse.”

“You’re not well, Marinette. And Adrien was almost…you need help.”

“And we’ll get it. But we have business to attend too. Thank you for the akuma, I’ll be taking it now. Goodbye.” And she cut the connection.

The bald man who had pissed himself behind the camera trembled as Lady Lacrima looked to him.

“I am Lady Lacrima. This is Grimalkin. We seek Justice, and Justice will be what we get.”

Grimalkin pounced at the camera, destroying it with his touch.

The man skittered over to Salo’s torture table and grabbed a flashlight and the lockbox with the Miraculous. “Here! There’s—There’s arrows on the walls to lead you to the surface! Just follow the trail, and you should come up in an alleyway in Montparnasse!”

Lady Lacrima took the flashlight. “I thank you. I knew it would be smart to spare you.”

The man cried like a child. “I don’t—I don’t deserve it!”

“You will call the police, and escort them down here.”

“Yes ma’am!”

Then she turned to Grimalkin. “Would you be so kind as to open the safe, kitty?”

He just dragged his claw over the lock, and the lid popped open. She took the Miraculous and put them in his suit pocket. “Hold on to these for us, please? I don’t think I could bare to let Tikki see me like this.”

Grimalkin growled in agreement.

Then with a solemn nod to the remaining henchman, she took Grimalkin’s hand, and together, they left.

The hall was just as long and dark, but with the flashlight, she could see the endless tunnels she had wandered earlier. “I tried, kitty. But it’s a maze down here. We’re in the catacombs, you know? I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I didn’t want Salo to overhear and move us. But I guess Hawkmoth got my hint.”

Grimalkin let out a happy chirp.

“Well, we don’t have to worry about that anymore. Come on, we’re almost there!”

They came to a ladder that led to a manhole cover. With her enhanced strength, popping it off was a cinch.

It was night now, and a thunderstorm had rolled in. Rain poured as they climbed out of the tunnel and out to the street. Paris was a blur in the torrent. Lights flickered and sounds of the city interrupted by the slapping of water.

Both teens stood, letting the rain rush over them like a healing shower.

Marinette looked at her partner, and let out a breath. Exhausted and relieved, she leaned on his chest.

He wrapped an arm around her showers and turned his face to the sky.

Justice would reign, blood would be shed. But for the moment, they just stood.

Just being free.

--

Marinette and Adrien being Akumatized by @raealexie​

Akuma and rain art by me :)

[steebrogurz]

The Snow in Winter Chapter 11

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x reader, 

Summary: When you wake up in a dark room with no memory of who you are the Avengers come to your aid as you try to adjust to your new life with them.

Word count: 2032

warnings: minor character death, blood, torture

Masterlist | series masterlist

Bucky watched as Y/N was taken away, all while fighting anyone in his path. He snapped the neck of one man and broke the leg of another when he broke free. He heard a pop and suddenly pain exploded in his side. He collapsed to the ground holding his abdomen as blood seeped through his fingers. He heard a scream in the distance and fought to stand again but his vision blurred with the pain and blood loss.

When he opened his eyes again he was still lying on the ground but he was alone now. The man named Ketch and his men were gone, so was Y/N. He slowly sat up and inspected his torso. The bleeding had stopped but the wound and pain were still there, the serum could only do so much. He gingerly got to his feet gritting his teeth against the burning in his side and turned towards the compound. It looked a thousand times further than before.

With each step, pain shot through his body but he eventually made it back to the compound. The party was in full swing and no one noticed when he stumbled through the side door. Thankfully, Steve was nearby talking to Sam who caught sight of Bucky. They both rushed to his side and helped him into a chair away from the party to avoid a panic.

“Buck, what happened?” Steve asked as he inspected Bucky’s wound. His pain had subsided to a dull throb and was almost healed.

“They came back for her.” He said through gritted teeth. “Y/N. She’s gone.” Bucky stood and threw the chair against the wall leaving a hole in the drywall. He stood there staring at the hole in the wall for a few seconds before turning to face Steve. “We have to go after them! They want to finish what they started with her.”

Steve placed a hand on his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. “We will Buck, but you need to calm down. We won’t get anywhere with you like this. Sam, see of you can get everyone, we need to figure this out.”

Sam nodded and quickly left.

“What do you know?” Steve turned back to Bucky.

Bucky was taking deep breaths in an effort to clear his mind. “His...his name is Ketch,” Bucky said slowly. “He’s in charge. I think they have a facility here in America I could hear his men speaking english.”

Steve nodded just as Wanda burst through the door closely followed by Natasha, Clint, and Tony.

“Y/N was taken?!” Wanda looked between Bucky and Steve who both nodded. “Do you know who took her? Why do they want her?”

“Wanda…” Vision had appeared in the doorway and now had his arm around her in comfort.

Steve recounted everything Bucky had just said to everyone else and they quickly went to work. Wanda’s eyes and hands glowed red as she used her powers to tell everyone at the party to go home. Tony ordered Friday to scour the internet and every file they had on Hydra for anyone named Ketch. Natasha and Clint were on their phones immediately calling contacts for any information they could get.

Steve lead Bucky to the door. “We'll find her Buck. But first, let's get you cleaned up.”

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

“No one is coming for you, my pet,” Ketch stated as I was strapped to a table and a piece of machinery placed over my head. “There's no sense in fighting, I promise, once we're finished you'll be happy here.” He grinned at me as I fought against my restraints, the collar was still around my neck rendering me powerless.

He’s lying. I told myself. They would notice our absence and go looking for us . They would find Bucky and know something was wrong. The image of Bucky lying dead on the ground flashed in my mind and I let out a cry of rage and pain.

At that moment a switch was flipped and my brain felt like it was being melted. I screamed and strained against the straps holding me down. This continued until I screamed myself hoarse or passed out. Then I would be brought to a room with just a bed and a toilet. This repeated until I barely knew who I was anymore. The majority of my memories had faded to nothing but simple feelings.

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

Two weeks passed and they were no closer to finding Y/N. Natasha’s informants had nothing new to tell her, Steve and Bucky interrogated every Hydra agent they could lay their hands on but found no leads and Bucky was finding it very hard to hold onto the hope that they would find her.

“I may have found something,” Tony reported as they returned to the compound. He was standing at his desk swiping through pages of reports. Bucky sat down at a table and began cleaning his gun as Steve joined Tony.

“These are satellite images of a building in Canada that doesn’t exist in any official document or article.”

“Do we know if she’s in there?” Steve asked zooming in on one of the images.

“There’s no way to know for sure but someone is definitely in there.” Tony pointed to an area on the screen that revealed a figure entering the building.

“It’s the only lead we have,” Steve straightened up. “Natasha, you’re with me, we’re going to stake out the area. Everyone else, stand by.”

Bucky watched the exchange in silence and once Steve and Natasha made a move to leave he stood up.

“I’m coming with you.” But before he could take a step Steve blocked his way.

“Buck no, you’re too close to this. We don't even know if she's in there.”

Bucky fixed him with a hard glare. “Steve, if this was Peggy would you be ok staying back to watch? I couldn't help her out there. I'm going to be there when we get her out.”

They stood there for a few more seconds silently challenging each other, until Steve finally stepped back allowing Bucky to follow Natasha through the door. “Wheels up in ten,” Steve informed them before heading in the direction of his room to gather some supplies

Bucky did the same and packed as many guns and knives into his outfit as he could. When he walked through the doors to the hangar he saw Wanda talking to Natasha near the quinjet and joined them.

“Bring her home,” Wanda said giving Bucky a hug, he nodded and joined Natasha and Steve in the quinjet. Bucky sat in silence as the other two planned a way to get in and out. Once the jet was landed a safe distance away from the building the small team began their mission.

Natasha entered the building first scouting any guards in the way and taking them out on her way to the security room. When she gave the all clear, Steve and Bucky followed with her directing their path.

“She’s here,” Natasha confirmed as soon as they reached her. “It looks like they’re holding her three floors down. We should call the rest of the team and let them know what’s going on.”

Something seemed off, Bucky stared at the monitor watching as she screamed and fought against her restraints. The room she was in was very similar to the one he was held in for so long. Then it hit him, “We need to get her out now!” Bucky reached across Natasha, he zoomed in on the machine that was attached to Y/N’s head.

“Buck, we can’t just go storming in there to get her. We’re outnumbered and outgunned, we need backup.”

Bucky straightened up and faced Steve. “They’re not just suppressing her memories like they've done with me or her before,” he pointed at the screen. “They’re erasing them altogether. Once her memories are gone not even Wakanda will be able to get them back.”

Both Natasha and Steve stared at Bucky in shock for a second before jumping into action. Steve instantly updated the team while Natasha went through various surveillance feeds and scouted the best way to get to Y/N.

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

Time seemed like a distant concept, minutes felt like hours and hours felt like days. They made sure to keep me in the dark most of the time and no one would talk to me. They barely even looked at me, I was property to them something they could bend and warp as they pleased. I tried to use their comings and goings as a way to get a sense of how much time had passed but lost count of how many times they strapped me to the table and sent shocks through my brain and body. Every time the door opened a small spark of hope that they would come for me bloomed in my chest. However, I was having a hard time remembering exactly who they were and eventually even that hope I felt began to fade.

My feet dragged on the cold floor as I was pulled towards the room after a particularly bad session. The man holding me up swore under his breath and picked up his pace to the point where he was literally dragging me, he pushed me inside before closing and locking the door again. I crawled to my bed which was just a thin, perpetually damp mattress lying on the floor in the corner. I rolled onto my back and tried to blink away the stars clouding my vision. I barely registered the shouts and gunshots that seemed to shake the whole room

A pounding in my head had started and I rolled onto my side facing the wall trying to get as comfortable as this mattress would allow. When suddenly a loud bang sounded behind me and I realized that the pounding wasn’t inside my head, it was at the door. I rolled over again to see what was happening and was met with a dark figure standing in the doorway. In the dim light I could see that his right hand held a gun and his left was...metal. I looked up at him frozen in place, but amidst the fear, a sense of familiarity filled my chest. I had seen that cold look in those eyes before. I've watched the light glint off that metal arm before.

“Y/N, it’s me, Bucky. Can you understand me?” The man slowly stepped into the room with his hands raised. I nodded staring at him with wide eyes. The sound of his voice awoke something in me and I found the strength to sit up. “Steve and Nat are here too. We’re here to take you home.” He searched my face as he held a hand out towards me.

“Bucky?” The name felt familiar on my lips and the coldness in his eyes melted to something softer stirring a long lost feeling in my chest. Another man appeared in the doorway and shouted something at us but before he could finish Bucky had raised his gun and shot the man between the eyes. The loud pop startled me into action. I scrambled to my feet and fell into his arms, I could hear him breathe out a sigh of relief as he held me close.

“Y/N, we need to go.” He released me but didn’t let go of my hand. “I got her, Steve, we’re making our way out.” Bucky looked down at me and hesitated, eyeing the collar around my neck. “I can remove this. You’ll get your powers again.” He touched the collar with his metal hand and I tilted my head back allowing him to close his fist around it and squeeze until it broke.

The collar fell away from my skin and suddenly the chill I felt in the air disappear. Ice climbed up my arms and frost covered the walls as our breath fogged out in front of us. I still felt weak but my legs were now able to carry my own weight and I straightened up as best I could nodding to him. “Let’s go.”

Chapter 12

[owlways-and-forever]

A/N: Well what'd'ya know, it's been a few months, but I've finally managed to crank out another chapter. I haven't been much in a writing place of mind lately, just hasn't been the frame of mind that I've been in, but I'm trying to get back in the swing of it, so hopefully I'll be able to finish this story up soon. But for now, I hope you all enjoy this [rather dramatic] chapter!

*IMPORTANT: You may have noticed that the title of the story has been changed, and that’s because I’ve decided to break this story into pieces, since it’s already pretty long, and I want to avoid having one long, 100+ chapter, 1,000,000 word leviathan that takes 10 years to finish. I will absolutely be continuing the story, I’ve just decided to split it into four different “books”. And even though they’ll all be continuous parts of the larger Better Together ‘verse, they should be pretty much readable as standalone pieces too. So hooray to that! As for this particular “book”, there will 4 more chapters before I conclude and begin the next one. That’s all I’ve got to say right now! Go check out @thosemarauderboys where you can find some awesome edits that @ginnyweasiee has been making for this story!

PLEASE GO CHECK OUT THE BLOG FOR THIS UNIVERSE @thosemarauderboys​​. You can find fancasts of the characters (including OCs) to see what I imagine them looking like, plus fun facts about them, and I’m trying to update with like, images and stuff as well.

Read the previous chapters at the links below, on ff.net, or ao3.

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11,Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24

Chapter 25: Bedknobs and Broomsticks

"James?" Sirius whispered, turning over in his bed to face his friend.

"Mmmm?" James groaned in response, grabbing the pillow from under his head and folding it over his ears.

"James, I can't sleep," Sirius said more loudly, propping himself up on his elbow.

"Well could you can it for those of us who can sleep," Remus interjected, and James groaned in assent.

"Come on, let's do something," Sirius said, getting up and sitting on the edge of James' bed, bouncing slightly.

"Go to sleep," James hissed, turning over and pulling the pillow over his head.

"Come on," Sirius crooned, shaking James' shoulder, "tell me you don't want to get on your broom right now and feel the wind in your hair. I know you hate watching the Quidditch players and not being on the pitch."

It was the exact words Sirius needed to say to get James' attention, and he sat upright in bed, blinking the sleep from his eyes.

"Let's go," he said, pulling socks onto his feet and grabbing his broom from where it stood propped up against the wall.

Sirius grinned, his eyes glinting in the moonlight as he followed James' lead.

"You're going to get caught, and then McGonagall'll throw you out," Remus mumbled, his eyes only halfway open.

"She won't throw us out just for being up after hours," Sirius argued, continuing to pull on clothes. "But if you're so worried, don't come."

Remus rolled over and covered his head with the pillow, and Sirius frowned, a little disappointed. He quickly shrugged and plastered a grin on his face. Who needed Remus anyway? The two boys rushed out of the dormitory, padding through the halls as quickly and quietly as they could. When they reached the great oak doors of the Entrance Hall, James and Sirius were dismayed to find that they were firmly locked, and impervious to James' attempts to charm them open.

"Now what?" James whined, frowning. He had fully woken up by this point and was ready for a bit of fun, knowing that sleep was out of the question. Sirius considered their options for a few moments, his eyebrows pulled together in concentration. After a minute, his eyes began to glitter and a smile slid across his lips.

"Ever wondered," he preened, puffing out his chest with pride, "how high the ceiling of the Great Hall goes?"

James' face lit up with excitement and he practically began to vibrate as he considered his best friend's words.

"Let's do it," he agreed, and the two boys ran off toward the doors of the Great Hall.

The two heavy doors were closed, but not locked, and with a fair bit of effort, James and Sirius were able to push them open enough to squeeze in. With matching grins on their faces, they exchanged looks of glee and then mounted their brooms, pushing off the ground confidently. In James' opinion, nothing compared to the feeling of the air whipping through his hair, making it messier even than it was on its own. He started doing laps of the Great Hall, flipping over and doing barrel rolls and loop-the-loops, anything the adrenaline pumping through his veins told him. Sirius' cheeks were starting to turn pink as the chill of the night air and the speed that they were flying teased his skin as he followed James. He was more reserved in his flying, not nearly as confident as his best friend. Growing up in the center of London, he hadn't had as many opportunities to fly, especially considering his parents weren't tremendously fond of quidditch. They weren't staunchly opposed to the wizarding sport, but in their minds it didn't exactly constitute gentlemanly behavior, and so it was not something for their sons to participate in.

"Come on, James, let's see how high this thing goes," Sirius taunted, trying to get his best friend to stop performing tricks that he wasn't comfortable duplicating.

Grinning, James immediately grasped the front of his broomstick and yanked it upward, flattening himself to the handle as he did so, so he shot upward with a zoom. Sirius followed suit, trying to get as close to the broomstick as he could. Tricks might be a little bit beyond his comfort zone, but speed most definitely was not. They seemed to keep going up for several minutes without getting any closer to the velvety blackness above them, and Sirius was beginning to wonder whether there even was a ceiling or if the Great Hall in fact just opened onto the sky above. He slowed down and looked beneath him, and his heart skipped a beat when he saw how high up they had flown. A fall from this height would absolutely be fatal. When he looked up again, James was at least fifty feet above him, whooping with glee. Sirius was debating whether or not to call out to his friend and call off their quest - he didn't want to get hurt, but he also had a voice in his head that was challenging him to keep going - when there was a flash of light and a bang that shook the castle like thunder had struck right there in the Great Hall as the spell that had been enchanting the ceiling broke. The force of it sent Sirius tumbling backwards on his broom, and he tried desperately to regain control. As he managed to right himself, his eyes fixed on James, and his heart stopped.

James had been thrown from his broom when the spell broke, and was falling helplessly to the ground, and to his death if Sirius didn't do something. He pressed himself flat against his broom and zoomed toward James, who was rapidly approaching the floor. Even though he was sure he was flying faster than he ever had before, Sirius didn't seem to be catching up to James fast enough, and he tried to think, pulling his wand from the pocket of his dressing gown.

"Wingardium... wingardium leviosa! Wingardium leviosa! WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!" he yelled, but his hands were shaking and he couldn't aim properly, instead missing James each time.

Cursing, Sirius shoved his wand back in his pocket and focused on flying faster, he was getting close, and he let silent prayers flow through his mind that he would reach his best friend in time. He was ten metres away from James, but James was only six from the floor, and Sirius tried to push forward faster. Seven metres away... five metres... three... he stretched out his arms and reached for James, his heart racing. He had barely wrapped his arms around James' body and heaved it upward away from its rapid descent when he realized that his trajectory was not much better as he sped toward the dais where the staff table stood. He tried desperately to redirect his broom, but it was taking all of his strength to hold onto James. Instead, Sirius folded himself in, curling around James as much as he could, trying to protect his friend as he braced himself for the crash.

It was worse than he expected. They hit the dais and he felt his bones shattering against the sandstone blocks, pain radiating through his body. He kept himself focused on James and struggled to fight the pain in his body in order to push himself up and off his friend, trying to assess the damage. He was unconscious, but Sirius wasn't sure if that was from the crash or if he had been knocked out by the force of the spell breaking. There were scrapes and cuts over James' face, and his pajamas were torn in several places. He was breathing though, and Sirius could feel his heart beating strong, so he knew he was alive. Fear gripped him still, knowing that James wasn't definitely going to be okay as long as his eyes remained closed. The pain was getting to be too much for Sirius, and he felt unconsciousness tugging at him as well, but he tried to fight it. He heard the doors of the Great Hall burst open and saw fuzzy figures running toward them, and he thought one of them might have been Dumbledore based on the long beard. Knowing that there was someone to help them, Sirius gave in to the pain and let his eyes close.

Sirius woke up in the hospital wing, unsurprisingly. He turned his head, wincing at the way it ached, and saw James lying in the bed next to him. He also saw Mrs. Potter asleep in a chair next to James' head, and he wondered how long they had been unconscious in the hospital wing that their parents had not only been informed of their condition, but that Mrs. Potter had felt it necessary to travel all the way to Hogwarts. Guilt coursed through him, causing his insides to twist unpleasantly, and for a moment he thought he might be sick. Sirius wondered if his own parents had come to see him, the thought making him feel even more sick, but he reminded himself that his mother would probably be happy if he stupidly got himself killed at school, not distressed, like James'.

He tried to sit up, letting out a groan as he realized how much his body still hurt, despite Madam Pomfrey's ministrations, and the sound made Mrs. Potter stir. Her eyes blinked open and she instinctively looked at her son, her face falling a bit when she realized that he was still unconscious. She smoothed down a lock of his hair and looked over at Sirius, giving him a weak smile.

"You must be James' friend," she said kindly, looking him over.

"Yeah, I'm Sirius," he answered, but he found he couldn't meet her eyes, knowing that it was his fault her son was lying in the hospital wing.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sirius," she replied politely, and she stood up, looking down at her son and smoothing his hair once more. "I'll just go fetch Madam Pomfrey so she can give you a look over."

"Thanks," Sirius mumbled as Mrs. Potter walked away.

A few moments later, she returned, accompanied by Madam Pomfrey, who was wearing a stern expression on her face. The matron began busying herself around Sirius, checking his pulse and prodding his body, much to his chagrin.

"You had a lot of broken bones," she informed him as he winced, "but I've mended those. You'll be a bit sore, but no worse for the wear in the long run."

"Thank you," Sirius mumbled again, but he turned to look at his friend. "Will James...?"

"I hope he'll make a full recovery," Madam Pomfrey answered, her voice low and disapproving, "but I won't know more until he wakes up."

Sirius nodded, trying to swallow around the lump in his throat. The door to the hospital wing opened and Professor McGonagall walked through, approaching Sirius with a stern expression on her face.

"Mr. Black," she said, "I'm glad to see you conscious again. We can now begin discussions on how misguided your actions were and what the consequences might be."

"Yes, Professor," he answered, staring at his hands folded in his lap.

"Are you aware that you damaged a very complex and dangerous spell that has taken considerable effort to repair and in doing so risked the lives of both yourself and your friend?" she asked.

"Yes, Professor," Sirius said again, sullenly. He felt a deep sense of shame at Professor McGonagall's words.

"What on earth inspired you to do something so completely idiotic?" she hissed, her voice dangerously high pitched, and Sirius was fairly certain she would be shrieking if it weren't for James and Mrs. Potter.

"I couldn't sleep," he whispered, barely audible, "and we wanted to fly."

"You couldn't sleep so you decided to risk your lives instead," Professor McGonagall clarified, pursing her lips until they were a barely visible line.

Sirius couldn't even bear to answer her, guilt was twisting in his gut and he felt tears stinging his eyes as he fought to keep them from spilling forth. His lip began to tremble and he twisted his hands together in his lap.

Professor McGonagall watched him carefully and saw how deeply upset he was. She couldn't exactly not punish him, but she didn't have the heart to be as harsh as she initially planned. It was clear that he was affected by his actions and the danger his best friend was in. She sighed heavily and sat down at the foot of Sirius' bed, patting him lightly on his shin.

"Because of your actions, first years have been banned from possessing broomsticks on school grounds," she said softly. "I have taken the liberty of sending your broomstick back to your parents, along with an explanation of what happened. Mr. Potter's broomstick was... well, there was not much to send home, it was rather damaged."

"He's going to be so mad," Sirius groaned, still not looking up at Professor McGonagall.

"Furthermore," she continued, "each of you will receive five detentions, to be served with myself over the course of the next month, and Gryffindor house will lose 50 points for each of you."

"Is that... is that all?" Sirius asked hesitantly, looking up at her from under his lashes.

"Idiotic though your actions may have been," Professor McGonagall answered carefully, "they were not malicious. And I believe Mr. Potter's current condition is quite a punishment for both of you."

Sirius nodded severely, taking Professor McGonagall's words to heart. He understood that they were not being punished more because the knowledge that his idea could easily have killed his best friend would be enough to torment him forever.

"Mrs. Potter," Professor McGonagall said suddenly, standing and turning to the next bed, "may I have a word outside?"

"Of course, Minerva," the other woman replied, and they both walked out of the hospital wing to speak in the hallway beyond.

Sirius idly wondered what they could be talking about that they needed more privacy, but he quickly found his mind turned to James. He looked over at his friend who was still lying as he had been, looking so peaceful. Sirius wasn't sure how long he had been watching James when he noticed some small stirring. His hands started to twitch, fingers grasping at the sheets covering him, and his head turned from side to side slightly.

"Mummy," he croaked almost inaudibly, wetting his lips.

"James?" Sirius said excitedly, watching his friend's eyes begin to blink open.

"Sirrus?" James slurred, turning his head toward the sound of his voice, though Sirius could tell that his eyes were not focused on him.

"I'm here, mate," Sirius laughed, practically giddy that his friend had woken up. "MADAM POMFREY!"

James winced slightly at the noise, but the matron came running over, and when she saw that James was awake, she beamed.

"Mr. Potter," she sighed, sounding very relieved, "how are you feeling?"

"'ve fel' better," James answered hazily, turning his head to follow the voices.

"Of course you have," she replied soothingly as she began to examine him. After several long minutes, Madam Pomfrey smiled broadly and ceased her ministrations. "You appear to be astonishingly alright, aside from a very nasty concussion. It'll take some time for your brain to heal completely, and you may have some lasting effects, but I feel comfortable in saying that you are out of the woods. I'll go tell your mother, I'm sure she'd like to see you."

Sirius let out a small whoop of joy, his heart leaping. James smiled happily, but it was clear that he didn't fully process the information he was being told. He had apologies to make, but they could wait until James was feeling better. For the moment it was enough that his best friend was awake and would be just fine in time.

[sunshineoptimismandangels]

Blind Dates and Other Misunderstandings (A Klaine Fic)

Chapter: 2 of 4

Status: WIP with daily updates For: The lovely @miasswier Beta: My dear friend @theatrevicki Summary: This is for miasswier who prompted: Kurt and Blaine’s parents were all friends in college and ever since Kurt and Blaine came out they’ve been trying to push them to get together because they just really want to be in-laws.  

FF.net | AO3 Part 1

October

Kurt rushed into the building, breathing quickly and glancing around until he saw the sign for the elevators and the one pointing to the stairs. He made a snap decision and sprinted towards the stairs. He only needed to get to the third floor, running it would be faster than waiting for an elevator. And he knew if he was late, he might as well not show up at all. 

He started unbuttoning his coat on the way up and had it halfway off when he banged through the door to the third floor. The first thing he saw were glass doors etched with the words Rhodes Casting. Kurt smiled and checked his phone. He wasn’t late. He wasn’t early either, which he always tried to be for auditions, but after the subway delay, and not being able to catch a cab, and spilling coffee all over his shirt (thank god he had a spare in his messenger bag to change into) he felt lucky to be there at all. He straightened his shoulders, tried to steady his breathing and walked confidently into the office. “Hello, I’m here to audition for-” Kurt began, smiling at the receptionist, but she just glanced up at him, pushed her glasses up her nose and then pointed with a pen to the right. Kurt glanced that direction and his shoulders dropped – there were already over a dozen young men about his age waiting. “I have an appointment?” He tried. The receptionist didn’t even glance up this time. “So do you all. Write your name on the clipboard – we’ll get to you.” Kurt nodded and wrote his information down on the clipboard before briefly scanning the group, not giving any one person much attention, though he did recognize a few faces. For as big as New York was, Kurt was always surprised at how often he went to casting calls with the same handful of actors. Kurt folded his coat over an arm and spotted an open seat. He started uncurling his scarf from around his neck on the way. He slid his scarf off right as he got to his seat, and somehow, with an accidental flick of his wrist, the end of his scarf whipped directly into the face of the person he was about to sit next to. It actually made a slapping sound. “Ohmygosh! I’m so-” Kurt started to apologize before he realized it was even worse than he’d realized. When he’d spilled his coffee earlier, he apparently soaked the end of his scarf without even noticing, and now he’d just smacked some poor unsuspecting victim in the face with a wet, coffee-stained scarf. “No! Oh no.”  Without even thinking about it, he grabbed the dry part of his scarf and started dabbing at the stranger’s face to dry it. “I can’t believe I did that. I’ve been such a klutz all day-” A sound was coming from beneath the soft folds of his wool scarf – was that coughing? Choking? Was the man… laughing? Kurt quickly moved his hands and scarf away from the man’s face, realizing that he was making things worse. Who would want a stranger to wipe coffee of their face? All eyes in the waiting room were on him and Kurt felt like turning on his heel and just marching right out. This was just not his morning. “Really, I’m sorry,” Kurt hurried to explain, “I don’t know what-” Kurt’s mouth and throat went dry, his words ripped away from his lips, as his eyes landed on the face of the man he’d just accosted. Fuck. Honey golden eyes looked back up at him in surprise and the man’s brows lifted in recognition. There was beat where they just looked at each other until the man’s face broke out in a radiant smile. A smile Kurt immediately recognized. “Kurt Hummel?” The man said, just barely holding back his laughter. “Blaine.” Kurt’s voice was small and too high-pitched. He no longer wanted just to leave the room; he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole. Out of all the ways to run into Blaine Anderson again, hitting him in the face with a disgusting and wet scarf in the middle of a crowed waiting room seemed particularly mortifying. “What is this?” Blaine deadpanned, glancing at the scarf in Kurt’s hands “Psychological warfare on your competition?” Kurt sucked in a deep breath and then Blaine’s words sunk in, “No!” Kurt shook his head bunching the scarf up and taking a small step beck, “No, I would never. I didn’t mean to, and I didn’t know it was you.” “Kurt, calm down, I was kidding.” Blaine was smiling again, and Kurt wondered if he was always this cheerful – and devilishly good-looking. “I just…” Kurt glanced around the room to see everyone quickly look away as if they hadn’t been watching. Kurt could feel his face heating up. “I’m sorry,” Kurt said, and quickly turned away before Blaine could chew him out, or worse, be nice about this. He hurried to the only other empty chair in the room, which was luckily as far away from Blaine as he could get in a small waiting area. Kurt pulled out the script they were all auditioning with, and though he had it down by heart, he started to read over it as if engrossed; doing everything he could not too make eye contact with the gorgeous man across the room. Even if all he wanted to do was look up and check to see if Blaine was watching him. Slowly but surely, they started calling names back to audition. Some actors were back there for half an hour, while some were there no more than 10 minutes before they were sent away. Kurt’s stomach tightened, he’d been that guy before, the one they took one look at or heard his higher than normal voice and gave a polite, “Thanks, but no thanks” too. That was just the way of this business. As the room started to empty, Kurt couldn’t help but steal glances at Blaine Anderson, who alternated between looking at the script, looking at his phone, or just sitting still with only his leg jogging. Kurt tried to be sly about it, but he couldn’t help but study Blaine’s nervous expression; he was just as handsome with a furrowed brow and chewing on his lip as he was with that dumb, dazzling smile he had. Kurt found himself thinking back about that day at the Lima Bean, even though Blaine had been late – Kurt was unmistakably rude, he’d know that as soon as he left, but didn’t have a way to change things. Now Kurt had a second chance to talk to the guy he’d heard of all his life, or at least an opportunity to apologized for his previous behavior. Kurt took a deep breath and placed his script back in his messenger bag before walking back over to Blaine. “Um… Can I sit here?” Blaine looked up in surprise but immediately nodded. Kurt sat quietly for a moment; he wasn’t sure why he was so nervous around Blaine. “If you don’t like to talk before an audition or you’re already in character, just say.” Blaine put down the script he was glancing over, “No, it’s fine.” “I wanted to apologize.” “Kurt, I know you didn’t mean to hit anyone with your scarf.” “Not for that… Um… I mean yes. I am sorry about that. But… this summer when we met?” Blaine lifted a brow and nodded. “I was rude to you. I shouldn’t have just left, and I didn’t give you a chance to explain why you were nearly an hour late, and I almost immediately regretted my boorish behavior.” “I…” Blaine opened his mouth to speak and then shut it again, shaking his head and looking perplexed, “An hour? Kurt, I was 10 minutes late, max.” “No…” Kurt answered slowly; he remembered that day clearly, “I’d been there since 9:45am which is when my dad said we were going to meet.” Blaine’s eyes widened and then he took a long breath, rubbing his forehead before he started to laugh. “What?” Kurt’s own lips were nearly quirking up in a smile; Blaine’s laugh was so infectious. “My mom told me 10:30am. So yes, I was definitely late but not… an hour? You waited almost an hour for some person you didn’t even know? And then I just breezed in – no wonder you were so mad!” Kurt let that information wash over him. He didn’t know how their respective parents had gotten things so mixed up, but it did put the whole situation in a new light. “I thought you were standing me up and then I thought, yeah you came, but you were an hour late and obviously didn’t want to be there!” “I wanted to be there, Kurt,” Blaine said, his face growing more serious, and damn his eyes were intense, his earnest expression made Kurt shiver, “I promise I wanted to be there. I don’t like blind dates in general… but I’ve wanted to meet you for years. I can’t believe I blew it so badly.” “You didn’t.” Kurt shook his head and let a true smile form on his lips. “I mean, we could start over?” Blaine nodded eagerly and started to respond- “Blaine Anderson?” They both looked up at the sound of Blaine’s name. A middle-aged woman with dyed red hair and a tired expression stood by the door that everyone had been disappearing behind all afternoon. “I guess I’m up,” Blaine said, standing reluctantly. “I know you’re my competition, but break a leg, Blaine,” Kurt said, and was rewarded with a flash of a Blaine’s stunning smile as Blaine gathered his things and followed the woman back. Blaine was gone about 20 minutes before he came out again. Kurt was ready to try to strike up a conversation, but he was called in next. Blaine shot him a thumbs up as they passed each other, and Kurt was too nervous to say anything. He really wanted the audition to go well. He also really wanted to talk to Blaine more, but it seemed like he was missing out on that chance – again. Kurt’s audition went fairly well; at least they let him get through the provided script and asked him a few questions. He never really knew where he stood with casting directors; they had some of the industry’s best poker faces. He hitched his bag on his shoulder and thanked them again for the opportunity as he exited the office and walked back to the waiting area. There were only two people left in the room and Blaine wasn’t one of them. Kurt let out a disappointed sigh. It seemed like getting to know Blane was not meant to be. “Kurt!” Kurt turned towards the sound of his name and saw Blaine stand from where he had been sitting – out of the way near the elevators. Kurt felt his heart beat a little faster. “What are you still doing here?” Kurt asked as he hurried over. Blaine shrugged, “I wanted to see how things went for you and I…” His cheeks grew a little rosy, “I wanted a chance to talk to you more.” “Oh?” Kurt couldn’t help but bounce on his toes a little. “I’d like that. We could compare audition notes. Besides, I owe you a cup of coffee?” Blaine laughed, “Do you?” “If you aren’t busy now-” “Yeah! Yes, I’d like that.” Blaine’s eyes were sparkling. “I noticed a coffee shop on my way in, want to try it?” Kurt felt a little giddy. For months, Blaine had been popping up in his mind, with his gorgeous smile, and beautiful eyes and over-the-top, but still somehow charming classic clothing – and here Kurt was getting a second chance to make a first impression. No way was he turning that down.  “That sounds great.” “My parents will be thrilled,” Blaine joked, as he pressed the elevator button. Kurt’s excitement suddenly took a blow. Oh yeah, their parents. Now he was nervous again. He wanted to spend time with Blaine because he was cute and interesting and sweet, but without all the pressure of him being Blaine Anderson. “Um yeah…” Kurt began, “Mine too, but maybe… I mean we should just be friends, right? This could just be a friendly cup of coffee. Not a date? Nothing to get our parents all worked up about.” Blaine nodded, not seeming phased, “I’d really like that.” The elevator binged open and they walked in sharing shy glances. “My dad said that New York was a big place and I’d never have to see you again, and here we are running into each other at an audition.” Blaine bit his lip and smiled before speaking, “I’m really glad we did.” “Me too.” Kurt agreed, squeezing the strap of his messenger bag in excitement, “Really glad.” ________________________________________________________ “Mercedes, call me back, we have to talk! I met Blaine Anderson again and just had the most wonderful time.” Kurt sighed happily, “Call me!” ________________________________________________________ “So wait, in a city of eight million people, you ran into Kurt Hummel? “Yes.” “And was he as rude as ever?” “No! No, Cooper, that was all just a misunderstanding.” “Uh huh, and was he as hot as ever?” Blaine felt his cheeks warm up, “Um, yes… but more than that he’s just... god Cooper, I really like him. I mean, we’re just going to be friends, which is fine, but I’m so glad I ran into him.” Cooper laughed from the other end of the call, “Just friends huh? Let me know how that works out.” Blaine rolled his eyes, but couldn’t help but think of Kurt’s sweet smile, beautiful blue eyes and charismatic personality. He would have been fine with their coffee date being a real date, but it was okay that it wasn’t. Really. “It will be fine,” Blaine insisted even as his stomach flipped over and the thought of Kurt’s lovely voice, “No worries there.”