#but it's worth it for you Cassie dearest

[agattthaa]

Ridiculous?

Paring: Cassiel/Audrey

Word count: 1.014

Summary: It's normal to feel a little ridiculous when putting on a custome to take your children trick or treating.

Rating: T

Thank you, Tanu my dearest, for the adorable idea.

Tagging: @rc-catalog @ratanslily

-I look ridiculous.

-You say that every year.

-That's because every year I look ridiculous, Audrey.

-Oh, believe me, the last thing you look in this leather outfit is ridiculous. It’s a very nice view.

She could see him rolling his eyes in the reflection on the mirror as finished closing the zipper on his suit. It was hard to find a seamstress capable and willing to do two leather outfits and two normal cotton ones, but considering how good her husband looked and how much he had stared at her as she dressed, it was worth every penny. She hugged him from the behind, letting her hands wander around his torso and his chest.

-It’s not like it’s something you never saw before.

-And if I’m lucky I’ll see it again later tonight. -She placed a kiss on his shoulder before slowly walking to stand in front of him, placing her hands on his shoulders, the grin on her face growing bigger as she saw his eyes watchingher figure. -Do I look ridiculous?

The black leather clinged to her skin beautifully although they both had ordered their costumes one size up. He placed both hands on her waist, pulling her closer to him and his own face starting to break into a wicked smirk to match hers.

-Oh, the last thing you look right now is ridiculous.

She clearly was struggling to hold back her own laugh as she pulled him closer by the neck.

-Oh, but this is something you saw a lot of times.

-And I’ll be very lucky when I see it again later tonight.

They were both grinning as their lips almost touched. But that was before the loud bang in their bedroom door.

-Mooooomm, we are wasting time. The sooner we get out the more candies we get.

The two of them gave a defeated sigh still with their smiles on their faces as they pulled apart from each other, Cassiel going to open the door for the little troublemakers behind it and Audrey walking towards her bet to put on her boots. Surely the catwoman costume would look a lot better with high heels, but she was a mother and it wasn't her first Halloween and it wouldn't be her last. She would need to walk too much to even consider heels. Maybe on some other occasion, maybe later.

The small girl stormed into the room, stopping on her tracks to look up to her father. Before Cassandra was born, they used to make fake bets and play silly fights about who she would look the most like. As a first time mom, of course Audrey wanted her daughter to look like a mini version of her, but when she was born looking almost like a carbon copy of her father, Audrey's heart almost melted. She could still find her traits on the girl like her eyes or the way she lifted her eyebrows, but watching them both like that made her fall even more in love with the man that was lifting up their 9 year old child just so they could talk at eye level.

Not that she would say that.

-Wow, dad, you look so cool!

-Thank you, darling. You look even cooler. Where's your brother?

-He forgot his mask in the kitchen. He's very excited. And we're late. I told you two that we should leave at sunset.

-You really are father's daughter, Cassie.

She gave a small laugh as Cassiel playfully rolled his eyes as Audrey got up and Cassiel placed Cassandra down, the girl rushing to look at her hair in the mirror. On that, she was one hundred percent Audrey’s daughter. Always searched for different hairstyles for her mother to try and giving an annoyed look whenever her curls didn't look exactly like she wanted them to. And at that moment, when she smiled pleased at her own reflection, Audrey thought her daughter would rush them again.

But her own carbon copy ran inside the room, pridefully wearing his costume and mask, also stopping to look at his father.

-Wow, dad! Say it! Say it!

The two kids started to run around Cassiel, echoing “Say it!” until their father lowered the mask on his face and said with the roughest voice.

-I’m batman.

That only made Cassandra and Adrian run more and jump around excitedly as Audrey let out a big laugh and Cassiel showed himself uncappable of hiding his own smile.

-You don’t seem to be that worried about the time anymore, Cassie.

The two children turned around to look at their mother, Cassandra quickly turning towards the big window that showed that the sun was now completely gone while the little boy’s green eyes stayed fixated on her. He rushed towards his mother, rising both his arms as he asked to be lifted up. He was getting too big for getting picked up, Cassiel once said, but she still lifted Cassandra up and she would keep her children on her arms for as long as they asked for it.

-You look very pretty, mama.

-And you look even more, my little reeeeed robin.

-Cassie would look cooler if she wore her mask too. She’s ruining her secret identity going out like that! Orphan always wears her mask!

-We are late, mommmm.

Cassandra completely ignored her brother's complaint, hugging Audrey’s leg and pulling her mother towards the door, making the adult woman almost lose her balance until Cassiel lifted Adrian from his wife's arms and holding his son, laughing to himself while Audrey was basically dragged towards the entrance of the house.

So he followed them out of the room. And as his gaze shifted between looking down at his son on his arms and towards his wife and daughter push and pulling and laughing, he closed the door of his bedroom, thinking to himself.

And although he was covered in a leather costume that his siblings would mock him to death and that all his neighbors wouldn see, the last thing he felt at that moment was ridiculous.

[choking-on-dandelions]

Good morning, dearest friends! I'm delighted to say we're back from up north and it was a BLAST!!!

So first of all, whoo. what a drive. From the heart of the city to the softspoken winds of the water it was erm, give or take about 5-6 hour car trip. Ya girl got pockets of car sickness but I managed not to throw up so yay!

The four of us traveled through Traverse City and omg THE CROWDS BRO I COULDN'T. We did weave through the people to catch the air show, that was so cool! All you heard was the planes ripping through the sound barrier as you watch them do their tricks and spins and barrel rolls through that bright blue sky. They looked so close that you could reach out and touch them! So many cool tricks! The people were a little less than stellar, only because I get panicky in big gatherings, but the cherry pie was worth it. Soo worth it.

Okay, now, off to the Sleeping Bear Dunes! We arrive in fair time and pull up to the BIGGEST piles of sand I've ever seen with my own two eyes! I get nervous, a little dizzy just looking at this beastly climb, and immediately predict this is going to be the funnest nightmare ever. (I was right btw!) We all take a whiz then start climbing, each of us donning our breeziest most death-proof clothing we packed, and right away I resort to scaling the FIRST dune on my hands and feet, growling and howling like a monster and chasing after my boyfriend while other tourist watched and laughed. It was all fun and games until about the 11th pole marker on our never-ending hike. How long did it take, you may ask, to get through these sand hills? I will tell you, dear friend:

It took us, in grand total, a whopping 6.5 hours to get from the car, down to the beach, back to the car, all without the relief of adequate shade from any trees, and running dangerously low on water after we saw for ourselves that there were no facilities on the shore. No bathroom, no water fountains, just sand and lake and lots of cool rocks. We rationed the water we had for about the last 3 miles of our hike, only sipping enough to wet our mouths. When I tell you we got burned bad. My back is just now starting to peel. Turns out, after all was said and done, we had mistakenly taken the longest and steepest path there was coming and going. But we did it! And we didn't even need to call the rescue team (good thing too, hello $2,000 rescue bill, no thanks)! But watching some of these other people hike our way WITHOUT ANY WATER OR ANYTHING, I was like '???' So we went out of our way coming back to warn others that they might want to turn back and prepare for the worst. They were grateful to say the least lol.

From there we carried on towards Cadillac and meandered around the country roads until we found a cozy little hole-in-the-wall bar and grill and stopped off for dinner. The food there was excellent! My friends Cassie and Annette got a giant ceaser salad and mac n cheese with a side of fried cheese curds, my boyfriend David got a burger with fries and a side of mac n cheese, and I nibbled on a plate of veggies with a few fries on the side. I got something super light because I suspected I'd doze off in the car right after eating; sure enough, I was right lol.

From there we drove about an hour to our hotel room and packed it in for the night. Super nice little place, we lucked out and got one of the best rooms with lakeside view and a backroom door leading straight to the heated pool room. Everyone else stayed up for a bit, I was knocked out lol. We slept a few hours, got up the next morning and showered and whatnot, then took off for the local beaches for some serious rock and shell hunting. We found some neat stuff: David found some cool Petoskey stones and me and Cassie and Annette were chasing shells around the shore. We found a bunch of big snail shells and a few clamshells, I was hoping to dig up some gemstones somewhere like how I did out in North Carolina, but sadly no such luck this time. But that's okay. We beach hopped for a few hours, had a few seltzers in the sun, then began our journey home, saw a haunted-ass barn and belted out some car karaoke for a while.

Y'all, it. Was. The. BEST!!! It was the getaway we all needed and some amazing bonding time, even though we all nearly died out on the dunes lol totally worth it! We're already planning another vacation for next year, we wanna go gem hunting up in the mountains. Gonna be bomb!

I'm so glad to be home though. It's good to be back!

[lady-lauren]

hi lauren !!! big congrats on your milestone, you deserve it !! thank u for blessing us with your incredible writing !! 💓

i'd love a matchup if that's okay !! 🌷 any of the three fandoms are fine! and both male and female characters are also fine 💖 i'm a leo sun and a sagittarius moon :> my favorite colors are black and like. a soft seafoam green and also a beige-y pink ?? jskjsdf im indecisive 🥴 fav kinks are praise, size, edging, corruption, voyeurism.... among others😳 my fav parts about myself are... maybe my ass ?? idk i think it’s nice 😩🤚 and i like my waist to hip ratio LMAOO. im so down for some nsfw action 😩😩🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️ !!

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR DOING THIS 🌷 i hope you’re well and that you’re having a good day!!!

Cassie, Leo sun and Sagittarius moon is one of the sexiest zodiac placements I've heard of in a while eo;gbe (I say this like I know shit about the zodiac I barely do 😂😂) but two of my fav signs that's sexy as hell

anyways, to the good shit, I pair you with: Izuku Midoriya 💚 (like, a real beefy, dilfy deku)

Two reasons: (1) Izuku likes ass, (2) you bet that pretty ass he would love corrupting you

Because you’re sweet. Sweet like soaked cherries at the bottom of a Shirley Temple, sweet. And you’re smart, too. And smart girls are the most fun to fuck dumb.

I say this like it’s all about the sex for him (it’s a lot about the sex, once he gets a taste of you he’s fucking feral) but it’s also just about you. 

You’re the kinda girl to get obsessed over. (and I can say that because I adore you with what few, nice moments we’ve talked to each other, so imagine how Izuku feels being able to have you to himself). The kind of girl to spoil just to see her smile. Izuku’s true goal is to make you happy, and you definitely deserve that happiness. I said dilfy deku in particular because he would have the means and the confidence to spoil you absolutely rotten.

But, I think even as a confident hero, he would still struggle to feel like he really deserves love. He’s just that guy who mutters to himself how beautiful you are, how can he deserve you? And that, Cassie, is where your true talent comes into play with this pairing. 

You’re one of the most encouraging people I’ve ever met. You constantly praise others and help them build up self-esteem, and Izuku would need you by his side to keep his ego from deflating. He needs praise, and when you give it to him, he gives it to you ten-fold in return.

And your encouragement just makes him have to have you. He’s kinda co-dependent, so he’ll spoil and corrupt you into being his perfect partner, perfect for him and only him. Him and his big ass cock, which is what he truly loves to spoil you with. 

Believe it or not, he’s a little possessive, too. Once he finally gets the girl of his dreams, he’s not gonna be shy about making it clear you’re his. And clearly you don’t mind it either, not when he slaps your ass in public or when he fucks you knowing that other people are around to hear, even see. You’re his, he loves being able to have the sweetest, most supportive girl as his and his alone.

Song: Fever by Transviolet

[tragedybunny]

Naming Day

Swain wants to do something special for his wife Katarina, but finds out it is easier thought than done. Takes place after my story "The Blade's Edge"

I just wanted an excuse to write something sappy and fluffy about these two. I hope it works in that capacity.

A decent husband would recall his spouse’s Naming Day. That is the truth as espoused by those most intimately acquainted with living in matrimonial harmony. And for once, I intended to prove I was capable of being a decent husband. I am, of course, not one to indulge in celebrations of a spurious nature, Naming Days being one of the foremost of those. In times long past, the Noxii tribes would not name their children until they had survived their first year, marking the occasion with much celebration. As this tradition was passed down, the time grew shorter, and no one really withheld a name in the current time. However, a notion occurred to me as I overheard the bragging amongst a number of the Officers of High Command about the celebrations for their recent progeny. Marking the occasion would probably be appreciated by my dearest wife, and I rarely had the opportunity to indulge her.

Mere seconds later that thought was followed by a terrible realization, the source of doubts about my status as a decent husband. I had no idea when Kat’s Naming was. The notion tormented me as I hurried back to my office, a tactical retreat to plan my next move. Surely she must have mentioned it at some point. Was I not paying attention or had I simply forgotten? After bolting the door behind me, I settled into the chair behind my desk, desperately needing to think.

After an hour of stern concentration, and even inquiring of my birds, I still had no answers. Cold realization washed over me, I couldn’t remember my wife’s Naming Day. The battle was not entirely lost though. She had not been angry with me for any reason I had not discerned, so if I followed logic, it implied that I had not yet missed it. There was still one route to victory left to me, a strategic reserve as it were. Noxian records were unparalleled and went back ages. There was no way a Du Couteau birth in the years of Darkwill went undocumented. I would have to go myself though, I couldn’t trust this to anyone else.

With Kat out on an assignment, and the sense of urgency I felt, there was no better day to accomplish this task. As soon as the last dispatch of edicts and orders left my office, I hurried off. The records hall was just concluding its daily business as I arrived. “I have personal business to attend to, leave me.” The stunned clerk vanished as I waved him away. My steps quickly took me through the endless maze of shelves and cabinets, laden with registry books and rolls of parchment, to the section that should contain the correct date. With trepidation, I assessed my adversary, a near endless amount of paper, and felt a sigh leave my throat. Truthfully, I couldn’t place the year either. I could narrow it down, but still, the task would be daunting. Should I have asked for the clerk’s aid? Would it have been worth the embarrassment? The Grand General cannot figure out his wife’s Naming Day or birth year. With a frustrated growl, my left fist slammed into the wood of the nearest shelf and it buckled, making a distinct popping noise. It would seem I fell short again, a pattern I’m tiring of.

But I had to know the year, I...I’d been at the damned celebration. At the time it hadn’t been very remarkable, I had little interest in the Naming of an infant. Marcus had been a friend however, and our two families had long been allies. It was enough of an occasion that my parents had insisted on my attendance, even if I was only on a short leave from my fledgling military career. A memory floated to the surface of my mind, as though summoned at last by my concentration. Marcus spies me from across the room and rushes over, a smile adorning his features and a tiny bundle in his arms. “Jericho, you made it! Here, you must hold her.” That bundle is passed to me before I can utter a protest. I stare down at the cooing little thing, green eyes wide and locked on me, a dusting of red hair matching Marcus’s adorning her head. For just a moment I think perhaps infants are not so terrible after all. And then she screams at me, the wretched little brat, with such force and fury that Marcus quickly snatches her back.

It could be a humorous memory I suppose, but my teeth dug into my lip as I was reminded of exactly how much difference there was in our ages. So, just to make a clear assessment of my current position, I don’t know my wife’s Naming Day or birth year, and I’ve just been reminded I’m old enough to be her father. What a miserable set of circumstances.

Lucretia had laughed though. Another unbidden memory from somewhere deep inside, the place where I’d buried all remnants of her. I clenched my fists and willed myself not to feel the burning in my chest that accompanied it. “Lucretia.” The whisper filled the empty air around me. It had been the last laugh we would share, she would be gone in mere months, my first companion and friend, my sister. I remembered the year now.

It was easy enough at that point to find the correct registry containing all the high born births for that year, and from there, the Du Couteau name within. Ah, a solid victory at last, it was not for some weeks. We hadn’t been living together at the time last year, so perhaps it just hadn’t come up. I doubted the likeliness of that scenario, but either way, this year was sorted. We’d been busy enough planning for the wedding we never had that a small celebration would be a welcome break.

When the day had at last arrived, I felt a small touch of pride. I’d considered the notion of something more extravagant, but in the end, I’d thought she’d appreciate time where my attention was focused solely on her, where she didn’t have to share me with the Empire. It was something we both understood would be a rarity, but she never resented that fact. So, to that end, I’d planned an intimate evening at home, and handed Darius all authority until sunrise. Her gift was tucked away in the small wooden chest it had arrived from Piltover in. Dinner was arranged to be all of her favorites, starting with Cress’s seafood bisque and ending with a confection laden with strawberries. The bottles of her favorite Shuriman red had been brought up and placed on the table.

When I greeted her at the door, her surprise was evident. “Home on time for once?” I knew she didn’t intend it with malice, still, I was reminded of my fears that one day, she would no longer tolerate this life.

“I can always work in my study if you decide to keep up the sass, Kitten.” At that, she bounded into my arms with enough force to knock me back a step. After a lifetime of war and ruthless ambition, I’m not a man who deserves to be loved like this, but I’m selfish to cling to it as tightly as possible. “Shall we?” I held out my arm and she took it with the soft, slight smile that I know is mine alone. The dining room door lay open, revealing the first course on the table, and the cake awaiting us at the center. She inhaled a soft breath and turned to me, eyes narrowed with suspicion. “Jericho.”

Looking down, I brought up my hand to cup her cheek softly. “Kat, I wanted to make this evening something wonderful for you and show you how much I cherish you. Happy Naming Day, my love.”

I leaned down for a soft kiss, which she absent-mindedly returned. Panic clutched at me, she was not pleased. Perhaps she had expected more? The wooden box on the table offered some hope, and I led her to it. After opening the lid, I carefully withdrew what was inside and set it before her. The finely carved crystal reflected the gas lamps and set hundreds of small glowing motes of light on the walls and ceiling. Two figures stood at the top of it, frozen in a moment. One turn of the small handle in the back and they began to move, the room filling with the soft tone of a waltz.

Still, she stood rigidly, saying nothing. “It’s the waltz from our first dance, that night at Solstice.” I offered, my heart rending in two. I had botched this somehow. All the careful planning, all my lofty intentions, it was all coming to naught. Even when I put all my will into it, I could not be what she deserved. “If it doesn’t please you I could find something else. I know it isn’t grandiose, perhaps it was a poor …”

“I love it.” She cut me off, but the melancholy in her tone did little to convince me it was the truth.

Moving in closer, I took her hand again. “I promise I won’t be upset if you don’t.”

“Did you realize you couldn’t remember when it was?” Her fingers entwined in mine, even as her eyes avoided me.

It would seem she had found me out. “Yes. I had to work it out. I’m sorry for forgetting.” Was that what she was upset about?

“You didn’t forget. I never told you.” The figurines stopped moving and she winded the handle again before finally turning to me. “I don’t celebrate my Naming.”

“Oh.” I’d still made a grievous error, just an entirely different one, it would seem.

Her gaze fixes back on the music box, the tune filling the silence between us. “When I was younger, just after Cassie was born, we stopped celebrating it. Father was away on campaign, this was before the move to Uzeris, and I excitedly went running to Mother the day of, asking how we would celebrate it. But she had Cassie now, and she looked at me with that cold look I would come to know so well, and replied that she was too busy with the baby. If I was old enough for Father to take away for training, I was too old for Naming Days, and that she would beat me if I continued to whine. I was five.” For a moment, she was quiet, staring into the distance. “You know what the worst part was? Father never said anything to the contrary when he returned.”

My own parents had been absent, cold, and ambitious to the detriment of all else, in many ways though, it was too typical of an upbringing in Noxian nobility. Kat though had experienced so much outright cruelty and intentional pain, I sometimes sensed I had not even scratched the surface of it. I wrapped myself around her until I could feel her head resting just under my chin, the place it felt like she was made to occupy. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to stir up old hurts.” Though I wasn’t sure how, I felt as if I should’ve known better. All the secrets I’d seen, all my ability to be ten steps ahead of allies and adversaries, I should’ve figured this out. Desperately clinging to her, I kissed the top of her head.

“You know better, you can’t blame yourself. You’re not all-knowing, as much as you’d like the pretend.” Sadness still colored her words.

“A failure is still a failure, no matter the cause.” All I had wanted was one night to love her right. “I told you I would make a terrible husband.” My forced laugh did little to lighten things.

“Oh shut it, you’re wonderful.” Her arms tightened around me, making breathing difficult, but it was worth enduring. “You know what? Fuck her.” She looked up at me, that fire that I adore burning in her eyes. “She’s rotting in her empty manor, and I’m here with you, celebrating my Naming with the man I love.” There was a feral intensity to the kiss she suddenly pressed to my lips. “I won’t let her keep controlling me.”

In that moment, I doubted the gods themselves could control Kat if she put her mind to it. “Are you sure? You don’t have to force yourself.”

“I am. I don’t want to let the past ruin what we have right now.” There was no denying the conviction of those words.

I kissed her cheek and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “In that case, I do have further plans tonight that involve the two of us, another bottle of wine, and the bath.”

She inhaled sharply. “Only if it ends with the bed a wreck and both of us exhausted.”

“But of course, my love.” I kissed her deeply again, hands wrapping around her waist to keep her close. She really is the best thing that ever happened to me.

[crashdevlin]

Crashing 1- Drowning

Crashing Masterlist

Author’s Note: Originally posted to ao3 (This is an edited and improved version) Part Four of the Red Queen Chronicles!

Summary: When Loki pulls Cassandra Campbell out of cryo and uses her trigger words against her, the memories that have been hiding from her since she was ten years old finally crash down on her completely.

Word Count: 3686

Pairing(s): Clint Barton x OFC, past Loki x OFC, past Bucky Barnes x OFC, past Steve Rogers x OFC

Chapter Warnings: mentions of brainwashing, mentions of murder, violence and anger, mentions of cheating

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“She is beautiful, isn’t she?” Loki asked, setting his hand against the glass of the tank. The terrified Wakandan scientist nodded nervously. “Gives off an air of regality, even asleep.” He scoffed. “Especially asleep. There’s no fear on her here. No contempt. No attempt to run from her king,” he mused before turning to the scientist. “You can speak German, yes?”

“Y-yes.”

Loki produced a red notebook from his breast pocket and handed it backward to the man without looking away from the frozen woman. “Halfway through. Labeled ‘Kind’. Open this and recite those words.”

The man hit several buttons on the console attached to the tank and it filled with a chemical. Cassie blinked her eyes open, green orbs filling with confusion. The blur of confusion cleared out of her eyes and it was replaced with fear. “Loki?” she squeaked, struggling against the binds as the tank opened.

“Junior. Vierhundert.”

“No! Don’t read that!” Cassie struggled harder, but she didn’t move. “Please!”

“Keep going,” Loki ordered, smiling at her as she fought against the binds.

“I’m sorry,” the man said. “Rot. Tochter. Vermächtnis. Fünfzig. Messer. Schädel."

“No! God, please, no! Please! Please, stop!” she begged over the trigger words.

“Johann. Zwei,” the scientist said, shaking as the woman blinked slowly...as if everything were suddenly clear.

“Undo her restraints,” Loki demanded, and the man rushed to release her. Cassie stepped down from the tank and looked around like she had new eyes. “How do you feel, Joanna? What’s different?”

“Shut up, Loki,” she bit out quietly before turning to the Wakandan man. “Run. Now. Go.”

The Asgardian watched in amusement as the man ran from the lab. “Now. How do you feel, my queen?”

“Not as different as you would want,” she snapped, leaning against the tank and looking up at Loki with disdain. “You really thought I’d come out on the other side of this ready to be your bride or something?”

“I wasn’t sure how you’d come out of it, Joanna. I was actually hoping you’d be ready to take directions as the other one does.”

Cassie scoffed and shook her head, scornfully. “Someone’s feeling a little flaccid without his scepter.”

Loki’s eyes went wide. “How dare you talk to-” he started, indignantly.

“Don’t start, Loki. Let’s just go. We don’t wanna be here when the king and the Doras get here,” she said, grabbing his coat and pulling him out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

T’Challa sent word to Steve as he was mounting his offensive on the Raft that Cassie was kidnapped out of the cryo lab by Loki, so when they were safely away from the prison and sitting in the cargo hold of a ship on its way to America, Steve sat next to Clint. “You know, Cassie was the one who gave me the information I needed to get you out.”

Clint nodded. “Yeah? When did she talk-”

“She didn’t go home after she got out. She found me and Bucky and she helped us get to Wakanda. She was instrumental.”

“Wait, but she was--what about the…” Steve looked down and Clint’s whole body slumped. “No. What happened?”

Steve shook his head. “She said she lost it, but...she also said she had some interaction with Loki after she left the Raft so...he may have...I’m not sure.”

“She must be devastated,” Clint whispered.

“Um...there’s...more.” Steve pulled the letter out of his inside pocket, but he didn’t hand it to the archer.

“Wh-”

“And before you read this, you need to know...Loki found her in Wakanda.”

Clint’s eyes went wide. “What?! What do you mean? Why did she stay in Wakanda?”

“She had them freeze her. She said that the letter would explain.” Steve set the envelope on Clint’s lap and stood.

Clint’s stomach was in knots as he slid his finger across the envelope and pulled out the letter. A weight in the envelope had him shaking out a white gold ring that he recognized. He cleared his throat to deal with the sudden dryness.

My Dearest Clint,

I’m so sorry that I cannot do this in person, but you’re in prison and I’ll be frozen by the time Steve gets you out. Loki is looking for the red book, the one that Zemo used to activate Bucky as the Winter Soldier. I’m 90% certain that my words are on those pages too. What I’m not sure of is who I will become when those words are said. Since it means I’ll be who Hydra wanted, I can’t imagine anyone would enjoy finding out. That’s why I’m going into cryo, because I can’t hurt anyone if I’m frozen. I decided it was the best course of action...and I know you’re thinking that I would never hurt anyone, but you have never been more wrong. I’ve been remembering things and I know that I have killed. I killed two SHIELD agents when I was a child and I killed a man just a few days ago. Who knows what else is hiding in my head?

I’m sorry to send the ring back like this, but it’s what you deserve. I never should have said ‘yes’. It was selfish of me. I wanted my happy ending so much that I lied...to myself and to you. But I’ve been pretending for so long and I can’t anymore. I can’t keep putting up this facade for you. I kissed Sgt. Barnes. He saw the real me, those parts that I’ve been hiding from you and something about that drove me to break your trust. You deserve better. You deserve the woman you thought I was.

Despite it all, I love you. Be well.

Cassandra Campbell (R.Q)

Clint crushed the letter in his hand, anger almost palpable in the small space. “Let me get this straight,” he snapped as he stood, stomping up to Steve as the others stared on in confusion. “While I was in prison for helping you, your buddy made out with my fiancée and then one of you convinced her to freeze herself, leaving her completely defenseless when Loki showed up to get her in the supposedly impenetrable fortress that is Wakanda?”

Steve looked up at the ceiling. “It was Bucky’s idea to go into cryo...and he isn’t the only one that she kissed,” he finished quietly.

Clint’s fist smashed into Steve’s left cheekbone, groaning as he pulled away cradling his hand. “Worth it!”

“You kissed her back?” Sam asked, as Scott tried to not look impressed and Wanda made no effort to hide her judgment of Cap.

“I…” Steve rubbed the back of his neck and cleared his throat. “She...I didn’t know she kissed Bucky first and...she did say she was breaking up with you, Clint, and...I didn’t know if I was ever going to see her again. I’m sorry, Clint.”

“I know what you are thinking and she is not,” Wanda practically growled at Scott. “I could feel your judgment. You don’t know her like I do, like we do. She isn’t promiscuous.”

“Oh, really? ‘Cause, I mean...evidence to the contrary, Wanda. How many other guys does a woman have to kiss before she gets labeled a slut?”

“Shut the fuck up, Lang,” Clint growled.

Scott rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Get angry with me.”

“So what are we gonna do about Loki taking her?” Sam asked.

“We’re going to go to the U.S. and we’ll go from there. Coulson gave me the location of an old SHIELD black site where we can hang our hats. We’ll search for them from there,” Steve responded.

“Screw that,” Clint snapped. “I’m going home. You can find me on the farm.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Clint stood in the barn, launching arrows into a target made of hay. He was furious. He was dismayed. He was taking it out on the wall behind his target.

“What’d that wall ever do to you?”

Clint turned to the voice, immediately dropping the bow and bounding for the small blonde woman. “How’d you get away from Loki?!” he asked, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tight.

“I fought back,” she answered. “Did you expect anything less of me?”

He pulled back, eyeing her warily as a feeling of unease settled in his chest. “You...you wrote me a letter. You said Loki was looking for your trigger words. It’s the whole reason you let yourself be frozen. You didn’t want him to let out the sleeper-”

“You think Loki’s controlling me?” she asked, incredulously. She scoffed. “He’s just an alien without his fancy scepter. I’m a super soldier.”

Clint drove his fist into her jaw and stepped back into a fighting stance. “You might be, but Cassie hates being called that. You’re Joanna again,” he accused.

She smirked as she straightened, her tongue darting out to lick at her busted lip. “Actually, Clint, I prefer ‘Cassie’. Joanna Schmidt is an obvious Nick Fury construct. It evokes uncomfortable feelings and images of the noseless abomination my father became.” She wiped at the blood leaking from her lip. “Cassie, though, that gives off a feeling of hope and love. It evokes images of a young woman crying over a holiday dinner because she finally has a family to share Christmas dinner with.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I was afraid you were going to be a problem. That you were going to see the change, recognize.” She hummed sadly. “Sad. I was praying to fool you.”

“You could never fool me,” Clint spat out.

“Because you love me,” she finished for him. “You, the man who watched through a scope as I tried to piece together some semblance of a normal life. But I couldn’t, could I?” She chuckled ruefully. “Not with Phil’s help. Not even with your help. It’s like I was trying to put together a puzzle with half the pieces gone. Joanna...she was a completely different puzzle, but she was missing the same number of pieces.”

“And you, what, you’re the missing jigsaw pieces?” Clint asked as his hand went to the tactical blade clipped to his belt.

Cassie lurched forward, grabbing the knife from his hand and punching him in the mouth with the handle. “The words are the pieces, you idiot. I’m the big picture, Clint. Pay attention,” she snapped. “I’m the image we’ve been trying to get to but haven’t been able to because we didn’t have the words to trigger the memories. The memories that Hydra and SHIELD decided I’d be better off without!” She kicked Clint in the chest, sending him backward into the barn door. She let out a satisfied sigh as the sound of cracked bones hit her ears.

“Because what good could come from me knowing that I killed my first enemy agents at nine years old?” she asked, with a bitter laugh. “Fury said he was afraid I’d look in the mirror and hate myself but he was terrified that I’d like it...and you know what, Hawk? I don’t.” Her smile faltered for a moment as a nauseated look took her face. “I don’t like it...but it feels right to be me. The ‘me’ I was bred to be.”

Clint coughed painfully and moved to sit up against the barn door. “This isn’t you. This is Loki.”

“Loki has nothing to do with this! I sent him packing a week ago! He wanted nothing to do with Hydra and since I am the future of Hydra, I sent his ass back to Asgard.” She squatted down in front of him, a sincere sadness gracing her pale features. “I knew this was going to be difficult for you to understand, Clint. Even before Loki made me...complete, I knew you’d hate this. I knew you’d hate me if I became this.”

Clint glared at her. “We won’t let you-”

“I know,” she interrupted softly. She nodded as she stood. “All of you would fight tooth and nail to get me back to being the person you think I should be. You’d send me off to SHIELD to be erased again. So, I guess I’ll just have to kill you all.”

Clint’s lip twitched into a sneer. “Harder villains have tried.”

“You’re right, they have...and we’ve overcome them all, but...see, Zemo had the right idea and he did half of the work for me.” She ran her hand through her hair and licked her lips. “The Avengers are strong because we work well to balance each other’s faults. The powered and the nonpowered, tacticians and geniuses and just plain strong heroes...but right now, we’re fractured. Those of that signed can come and go as we please and the rest of you, fugitives, you’re scattered. I heard Scott is even on house arrest. Are the rest of you even in contact with each other?” She shook her head. “I’ll have marched through the hidden Avengers before you all realize the rest of your team is gone...and then I’ll take the Compound.”

“You’ll never make it through all of us,” he groaned. “Even separately.”

“See, you forget, Clint, that I’ve known you all for quite a while now, so...I know your pressure points. I know your buttons, Clint. Like I know that just mentioning Bucky makes Steve stop in his tracks.” She smiled cruelly as Clint swallowed heavily. “I wish I could have been there to see his face when the Winter Soldier showed up at Fury’s old black site.”

“You didn’t,” Clint whispered.

She chuckled. “Of course I did. Why would I leave such a powerful Hydra asset on ice?”

“Why would you send him after Steve?”

“Why wouldn’t I? He’s Steve’s weak spot. I would be a fool to not use him. Especially since I know Soldat’s trigger phases. It’s the only Russian I know. Strucker taught me a long time ago. Did you know that Winter Soldier was supposed to be my right hand man when I came of age? When they put me at the head of Hydra, Bucky was going to be standing next to me.” Cassie examined the knife in her hand and smiled sadly. “I remember that now. I’m finally the person I was created to be, Hawk. I know you can’t be happy for me about that and...if it’s any consolation, killing you is really gonna hurt my feelings.”

A shock went through her as something hit her back but it didn’t put Cassie down. She turned to the redheaded intruder with rage in her eyes, then forced a tight smile. “Natasha! How unexpected. I didn’t think you’d be here. Did you know she was coming, babe?” she asked, stomping her booted heel down onto Clint’s hand.

“Steve sent me,” Natasha said, hand resting on the stingers on her wrist.

“Really?” Cassie growled.

“Bucky showed up at Steve’s new base and tried to kill him. Luckily, Sam was there. They were able to subdue him. When he came back to himself, he told them you sent him. He was adamant it wasn’t your fault though, so Steve called in to get you some help.”

“And you’re just here to stall until the help gets here, right?” Cassie rolled her tongue along the inside of her cheek and scoffed. “Let me guess...my help comes in the form of Phil’s Zephyr 1, which will take me to Fury to be erased again.” She shook her head as she twisted her heel until she heard the crunch of Clint’s bones. Her lips twitched, attempting a smile as Clint screamed. “Someone’s not drawing a bowstring anytime soon. Something to remember me by, Hawk, since I won’t be able to.”

“It’s better this way,” Natasha said, matter-of-factly.

Cassie took her foot off of the archer’s hand and squared herself off with the Russian. “Says you. You’re not the one who has to walk around with a giant hole in your personality. You aren’t the one who gets to feel wrong every day and not know why.”

Clint cradled his broken left hand in his right and stood with a wince. “You don’t even like yourself like this!” he argued.

“I hit a wall, Clint,” she growled through clenched teeth. “I couldn’t deal with fighting myself anymore. Since Sokovia I’ve been trying to convince myself that this isn’t who I am, that remembering wouldn’t change me, but it did. I changed...and when I woke up, when Loki said those words, everything clicked. Who I really am flooded into me...so I let myself finally drown.”

“What, you’re tired so you just stop fighting? What happened to the strong woman I wanted to marry?” Clint snapped.

“She died in Africa,” Cassie snapped, looking from Natasha to Clint to the barn door to the hayloft. “About the time she killed a warlord and threatened to drown a little boy in the blood of his friends.” She bent her knees and vaulted herself over Natasha, landing on the ladder before jumping to the loft. “I can’t let you take me back, sorry.” She started toward the hayloft door but stopped in her tracks when an arrow hit her right thigh.

“Barney! What the fuck? You shot my-” Clint yelled as Cassie pulled the arrow from the soft flesh of her leg.

She turned and flung the arrow at the tall ginger man, who grabbed the arrow from the air. “What? You can’t shoot her so I did.”

“Barney Barton! Nice to finally meet you!” she said with sarcastic enthusiasm. “Unfortunately, I can’t stick around. You understand, I’m sure,” she said before jumping out the loft door.

Barney handed the arrow shaft to Clint’s good hand. “Great taste in women, bro.”

“That wasn’t Cassie,” Clint defended as Barney walked out the door. He threw the tracer-arrow shaft to the ground and followed.

“Yes, it was,” Natasha said, pulling up a map on her tablet and watching the retreating dot.

“How can you say that, Nat? You know Cass. You know she’s not-”

“Clint, I know what you wanna hear, but I can’t say it.” Natasha shrugged. “She was one person with those memories gone, but she is someone different when she has them.”

“Yeah, okay, but...you remember your-”

“And I fought to become someone better than what they made me in the Red Room,” she interrupted, following the Bartons across the field to the farmhouse. “Cassie doesn’t wanna fight so unless we can get her to Coulson to get those memories erased, your fiancee is gone.”

“Do you even want her back, Clint? Bitch just broke your hand.” Barney threw the bow on the porch swing as he walked through the door. “I mean, even if you got her back to being...what’s her name? ‘Red Queen’. Even if you get rid of the homicidal tendencies the Nazis gave her, she tried to kill you. It’s gonna change how you see her, how all of you treat her.”

“And we won’t be able to tell her why,” Natasha added.

“What does that matter? How many times have you tried to kill me, Barn? Nat was trying to kill me when we met!” Clint exploded.

“Different,” Barney said, pulling a beer out of the fridge with one hand and grabbing an ice pack from the freezer with the other. “This is the chick you said hadn’t ever killed anyone, right? That actively avoided doing more than incapacitating the bad guys, ‘cause her dad was a huge dick?”

Natasha rolled her eyes. “Now we all know that’s not true, don’t we?”

“You don’t seem too surprised by that, Natasha,” Clint said suspiciously as he put the ice pack over the back of his hand.

“I read the file. The Projekt Kind file. I knew she killed the agents in ‘99 before she did,” Natasha said, sighing as the signal on the tracer dulled. “She’s blocking the transmitter.”

“She’s a scientist,” Clint growled. “I coulda told you a tracker wasn’t going to work.”

“Shut up, man. I had to try something.” Barney popped open his beer and took a drink. “At least you know which direction was heading and she’ll have to pull whatever’s dampening it eventually to cut out the chip.”

“If we even want to find her,” Natasha reiterated.

“Of course we do! What kind of-”

“Exactly what memories do we take, Clint?” Nat asked, calmly. “Just her childhood or do we take her memories of the things that made her start remembering? Do we take away Loki’s second attack? Do we take Austria? What about Wanda? Where do we stop?”

“Wherever we need to to get her back!” Clint’s hand reflexively started to clench, causing him to hiss in pain.

“But if we take everything, she’ll barely know you. She’ll still be terrified of Steve. She will be drowning in a bottle of whiskey and pining for Phil, who kinda still loves her and is currently very unattached.”

“Coulson wouldn’t.”

Natasha shrugged. “Man’s lonely. His last girlfriend was shot and bled out in his arms. He might.”

“And she’d have no memory of playing Avenger with you,” Barney said from behind his beer can.

“Why don’t you just turn the new Cassie?” Laura suggested as she entered the kitchen and all eyes fell on her. “I’m sorry. I know I’m not supposed to listen in, but Cassie’s a friend.”

“It’s not that simple, Lore. She’s gone over to Hydra. It’s not like we can just convince her to come be an Avenger again.”

“Also, Avengers are less a thing now,” Natasha finished.

“She loves you, Clint. You know she does.”

“She woulda been really sad about killing you, right?” Barney set the can on the counter and turned to his wife. “She may not be fixable.”

“But...you just bring her in, help her,” Laura argued. “She doesn’t have to be bad just because she was made to do some things when she was Hydra...right?”

Clint looked between Barney and Natasha. He sighed loudly as he heard the sound of a Quinjet landing in the yard.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Kitchen Sink - @emoryhemsworth​​​ @flamencodiva​​​ @wasabiwitteks​​​ @rainbowkisses31​​​ @rissbennett @mariekoukie6661​​​ @officiallyunofficialperson​​​ @dolphincliffs​​​ @mrs-meghan-winchester​​​ @gayspacenerd​​​ @foxyjwls007​​​ @ilovefanfic86​​​ @marvelfansworld​​​ @f-yeahfandoms​​​ @wonderlandfandomkingdom​​​ @hhiggs​​​ @sev3nruby​​​  @hobby27​​​ @paintballkid711​​​ @divadinag​​​ @thewhiterabbit42​​​ @fantasymyth-1 @queenoftheunderdark​​​ @cosicas-cuquis​​​ @superfanficnatural​​​ @letsby​​​ @supernatural-bellawinchester​​​ @onethirstyunicorn​​​ @swinchester27​​​ @chalicia​​​ @sunnyroadtrips​​​ @screechingartisancashbailiff​​​ @death-unbecomes-you​​​ @dayasvalkyrie​​​ Hero Tags - @atc74​​​ @winchesterxfamilybusiness​​​ @holylulusworld​​​

[leydoodle]

Ben 10 OC: Cassie Williams HCs

(Messy 10 minute scribble AHAHAHA)

A compilation of all the info I have written so far about Cassie/Mobius. She’s still being improved so some of these might change in the future but the general structure of her storyline is in here....!!

HCs under the cut!

General

Cassie is the granddaughter of Hugo from her mother's side. During his time-travelling journey with Paradox, he discovered the tragic future of Cassie from the abuse of his niece. Unfortunately, he wouldn't be alive by that time in order to save his granddaughter. Upon this realization, Hugo asked a favor from Paradox that if he sees anything bad happening to Cassie, he would take care of her. Many years later, Paradox would fulfill this promise.

Her telekinesis power comes from her father's side of the family. Her DNA came from a tribe that was said to have interacted with angels back in ancient times. In reality, these angels are actually rogue alien species who have come down to Earth and mated with the said group, giving birth to a special group of half-breeds that later on became strong historical figures such as kings, warlords, and many more. As time passed by, the genes of the alien race became much weaker to the point that only their enhanced mind and the ability to use telekinesis remained. Though there are possibly more people who have the DNA, only 14 have been documented so far, with Cassie being the most recent one.

 She was the cause of the infamous 'Mutant Catastrophe' in Bellwood. An event in Ultimate Alien where an upset Cassie wrecked havocked with her newly-discovered powers after getting fed up with the torment she was subjected to in her school. During the mayhem, Ben who was a newly-acknowledged hero at the time, decided to work with an underground organization who focuses on studying mutants, in hopes of saving his best friend. During the event, Ben was heavily conflicted as to whether he should fight his beloved friend or save the people of Bellwood. In the end, he chose to do his duties as a hero at the cost of his best friend's detainment in the organization's lab. Later on during the series, Gwen mentions that the sight of a chained Cassie being taken away is a sight that Ben is still greatly traumatized from.

Prior to Omniverse, the Plumbers were negotiating with the underground organization for Cassie's freedom. By the time of Omniverse, The process ended in the Plumbers' favor and thus was able to get Cassie back (despite some particular arrangements). Ben was greatly relieved from this news and wanted to reconnect with his friend again. Due to how they previously left things between them, Cassie was rather scared of the hero and avoided interacting with him, much to Ben's despair. After Ben's return from his months of banishment during the Frogs of War, they were able to reconcile in the aftermath, with Cassie saying, "Life's too short to be upset at your best friend." Ever since then, Cassie became the third member of Ben and Rook's team.

After her detainment in the underground organization, Cassie has developed an irrational fear against humans, only with the exception of some Plumbers. Her phobia has caused her to only be comfortable around aliens.

 Harangue has sensationalized Cassie as "Bellwood's Mutant Disaster". Due to her affiliation with Ben Tennyson, Cassie is often the subject for the journalist's smear campaign against the hero. His notable point would be that Ben being friends with such a destructive being meant that he could easily choose her side over saving other people. Due to Cassie's past action of causing destruction in Bellwood, people are actually very scared of her and believes that the journalist has a valid point.

Cassie loves to pair her smoothies with powdered sugar donuts. It's a tradition she does everytime she passes by Mr. Smoothy, even after she became a time traveler. As Mobius, she often buys smoothies and donuts during sunrise, when the people of Bellwood are barely awake.

According to Paradox, Cassie is always fated to be linked to a Tennyson in every existing timelines and universe, though he indicated that they won't always be friends.

Ship ( Ben/Cassie = Benssie)

Ben sees Cassie as a reminder of his much more simple life before he became a world-renowned hero. According to him, every moment spent with her was like being a normal kid all over again. Though he liked the powers and capabilities he got ever since he became an omnitrix-holder, being given the responsibility as the universe's hero at such a young age caused him to lose his 'innocence' in a sense. Because of this, he often goes to his childhood best friend to atleast experience being a goofy and geeky teenager for some time before going back into action. Alongside this, Cassie is someone who is very dear to Ben. Having grown up together, she is basically considered a 'family' to the hero. Because of this, Ben is extremely overprotective of Cassie to the point the latter became somewhat dependent on him.

Ever since they were kids, Cassie always had deep feelings for the young hero. It was only until they became teenagers that she realized that her feelings were romantic. However, since this was a point in time when Ben was in a relationship with Julie, she chose to repress and bury her feelings towards him (an action she continued to do so, even in Omniverse).

 At first, Ben saw Cassie as merely a best friend, someone special but not particularly a romantic interest just yet. It wasn't until Cassie got assigned into Ben and Rook's team that the young hero started to develop deeper feelings towards his childhood friend. Afraid of once again hurting his best friend, he decided to hide his feelings. Despite that, he was still very affectionate to Cassie.

Cassie's tarnished reputation and destructive powers is what makes her scared to be around Ben. She knows that he's a hero and that the public greatly trusts him. If anything, she's worried that her being around him is going to make the people turn against the hero. Though she tried to keep her distance away from her Ben, he still ended up chasing her, reassuring that no matter what the public thinks, she's still his dearest friend.

Hints of her 'death' were foreshadowed by Ben 10K during his visit in Let's Do the Time War Again. Upon meeting Cassie once again, he almost became sentimental until Paradox stopped him. After the whole ordeal against the Time Beast, the older Ben asked for a hug from the blonde, which the latter gladly offered. Upon arriving to his original timeline, he can be seen shedding some tears for his best friend and lost love.

Cassie's demise caused Ben so much pain to the point that even after many years it was something he had a hard time recovering from. His longing for Cassie was one of the reasons why the earlier years of his marriage with Kai was messy. After conceiving Ken, Ben made a promise to Kai that he will finally let go of his best friend for the sake of their future. Due to this promise, all pictures and memories of Cassie was locked away for the sake of the hero's family. Ever since then, Cassie's name has been a taboo to the Tennyson family.

Ben and Cassie are both absolute geeks for Sumo Slammers. Their love for the franchise is one of the many things they share a deep connection with. According to Rook, once they start talking about it, the two can go on and on for hours without stopping.

Their playlist consists of the following songs: all about you - taeyeon /  cornelia street - taylor swift / say you won't let go - james arthur / kids in love - mayday parade / cardigan - taylor swift / way back home - SHAUN / i will always think about you - bojack horseman / eight - IU (ft. BTS Suga) / futarigoto - RADWIMPS

Life As Mobius

Cassie's relationship with Professor Paradox can be described as familial-like. Due to the latter's lack of knowledge of his prior life, he sees the young lady as he describes, as "a sister, a daughter, and a granddaughter". Though he may have given her the role of a time traveler, Paradox aims to bring Cassie back to her proper timeline before the effects of time travel makes her fully immortal.  Overall, his purpose of 'adopting' Cassie was to fulfill his promise to her grandfather and his former assistant, Hugo.

Paradox aims to make sure that Cassie has let go of her grudge and massive hatred to herself before bringing her back to her proper timeline. On the other hand, though she knows the consequences of time travelling for so long, Cassie doesn't mind being immortal as long as it means she won't go back to Bellwood. Knowing that this is what she thinks, Paradox hasn't told her about his plans.

 Similar to her mentor, Cassie later on picked up the habit of mixing up verb tenses whenever she's explaining an event that's either to happen or has happened.

She mostly wears a large variety of dresses during her life as Mobius. Her reason for sporting this kind of style is because she wanted to 'be in touch with her feminine side more'. Growing up, Cassie was often deprived of decent clothing and was forced to wear hand-me-downs from Gwen. Though she was given proper clothing during her stay with the Plumbers, she never really knew the feeling of wearing 'pretty dresses'. Since then, she's been obsessed with collecting dresses from different time periods.  

At some point in her time travelling journey, in a certain campsite, she meets a lost child who she decides to help find his parents.  It's later on revealed that the child was a young Ken Tennyson who got strayed away from his parents. When Ben asked who helped him find his way back, his son merely replied with saying, "the lady in the big white dress" obviously referring to Mobius. According to Ken, ever since that encounter, he's started to believe in the supernatural, believing that Mobius was some sort of forest deity.

 After approximately a hundred years worth of adventure, Paradox ended up taking Ken Tennyson under his tutelage after the kid got grounded from using his own omnitrix. At first, this was an idea that Cassie was heavily against, though she was stating that the kid is 'incompetent' though deep inside she was very uncomfortable with taking care of the child of they guy she had always loved. Cassie ended up taking the kid under her wings after seeing his desire in being a hero (which heavily reminded Cassie of her similar childhood ambitions).

 When he was a small child, Ken was curious about the 'Cassie' that people always mentioned to his father. According to him, there was an incident back then when he brought up the name to his father that later on caused a fight between his parents. Ever since that moment, he's disliked the name, stating that it's a name filled with bad memories.

 Since Ben hid all things related to his childhood with Cassie, Ken has never actually seen the face of Cassie. It doesn't help that everytime he travelled to the past as Spanner, she would often be in another place. Due to this, he doesn't know that Mobius is actually the Cassie he's been long curious about.

 Ken sees Mobius as his 'cranky aunt'. His childish and impulsive nature often irritated the time traveler to the point that she would always scold him for being reckless. Despite that, he holds his mentor in high regards due to her intense dedication on heroism. Cassie, on the other hand, sees Ken as the spitting image of Ben,though she sees that the kid has the capabilities to uphold his father's legacy.

 After her thousand years worth of journey as a time traveler, Cassie does end up resolving her long grudge and self-hatred. However, she wasn't too sure of returning to a normal life in Bellwood, due to the fact that the flow of events have been proven to have a much better outcome without her. She's later on convinced by Ben 10,000 (who was brought in by Ken) to come back to his time, which she ends up doing. The outcome of her return remains unknown.

[thana-topsy]

Day Two of OC Romance Week! The prompt was “Fake Relationship”, so I borrowed sweet little Casien Yedlin from @curiousartemis and I think Aerik is absolutely in love with the wee lad. You can read it below, but can also pop over to AO3 and gimme a kudo if you’d like! 

Word Count: 1775 Chapter Rating: G (for ‘gasp, I can’t believe there’s no sex’)

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

“We don’t server Dunmer.”

Aerik’s ears perked up as he made his way down the stairs from the upper level of Candlehearth Hall. Elda had her arms crossed defensively from behind the bar, scowling at a small dark elf with a ratty satchel on his back.

“Please, I’m not here to cause trouble. I just need a place to stay for the night,” the young mer reasoned.

“Go try the Gray Quarters where your kind belongs,” Elda insisted, and Aerik felt his blood begin to boil.

“Please,” he tried again, voice cracking slightly. Aerik cleared his throat loudly, putting on his best smile.

“There you are my darling!” he called out, waving. “I thought you might have gotten lost.”

The Dunmer whirled around, eyes wide, and oh, what a precious thing he was — a curly mess of black hair, clever, dark eyes, and once Aerik drew closer he noticed a smattering of soft freckles across the boy’s cheeks, which had suddenly flushed a lovely shade of purple.

“I’m… sorry?” he stuttered, eyebrows creased in confusion.

“Don’t be sorry!” Aerik responded slightly too loud, wrapping and arm around the mer’s thin shoulders. “Windhelm can be confusing! Elda, love, this is a simple misunderstanding. This here is my fiance. Be a dear and put him up for the night?”

Elda laughed, a raspy, barking sound. “Your fiance, huh? Why can’t he just stay in your room then, Aerik?”

Aerik gasped in exaggerated shock, placing a hand across his chest. “Elda! I wouldn’t dare share a bed with my husband-to-be before we’re married! Think of the scandal that would cause! The gossip would absolutely ruin my good reputation.” Elda raised an eyebrow, clearly not buying it. Aerik’s expression dropped into annoyance, his arm going slack across the mer’s shoulders. “Listen, I’ll give you twenty septims to put the kid up for the night.”

“You should have just started with that,” she grumbled, holding a hand out expectantly. Aerik sighed, reached into his coin purse, and tossed the gold onto the counter. Elda threw the key in his direction with the same amount of courtesy.

“You’re an absolute saint.” Aerik’s smile didn’t quite reach his eyes as he steered the small Dunmer away from the counter and down the hall towards the rooms.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“I know, I know…” Aerik released the boy’s shoulders and waved the comment away. “I just can’t stand how they treat Dunmer in this city.” They stopped outside the mer’s room. “What’s your name?”

“Um, Casien. Casien Yedlin.” The boy tucked a wild curl of hair behind his ear which immediately sprung free again.

Aerik chuckled. “Well my name’s Aerik. Aerik Havardr,” he offered, extending his hand in greeting. Casien took it tentatively, his fingers soft against Aerik’s palm.

“Can I buy you some dinner? A drink? You… are old enough to drink, aren’t you?”

Casien seemed to ruffle at that. “I’m twenty!”

“Ah, lovely. I was worried you were my child bride there for a bit. So, dinner and a drink then?”

“Why are you being nice to me?” Casien asked suspiciously.

Aerik shrugged. “You looked like you needed a friend. And you look hungry.” Casien’s stomach took that moment to growl loudly and Aerik couldn’t help the knowing grin that spread across his face.

“How about you freshen up and you can meet me upstairs, hmm?”      

—

Casien looked uncomfortable, eyes darting nervously between the various Nord patrons that milled around in the upstairs. Once his food arrived, however, he seemed to lose all interest in his surroundings and scarfed it down greedily.

“Take a breath, love, nobody’s going to take it from you,” Aerik suggested, taking a measured sip of his mead. Casien looked up at him with wide eyes, cheeked puffed out with food.

He swallowed with a loud gulp and smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s just been a couple of days since I’ve eaten.”

Aerik leaned forward, brow creasing. “What in the name of Azura is a sweet thing like you doing in a city like this?” His lip twitched at the flush that crept up Casien’s neck and across his cheeks.

“I…” He coughed, averting his eyes. “It’s a long story. I don’t really want to talk about it, if that’s alright?” Picking up his fork again, he seemed to make a concerted effort to eat slower. Aerik could understand not wanting to talk about the past. He shrugged and leaned back in his chair, bringing his mead to his lips once again.

The sound of Luaffyn’s playing filtered over from across the room and Aerik grinned. “I’ll be right back,” he said, before swiftly rising to his feet and leaving Casien to look after him in confusion.

“Luaffyn, my dearest, your lute playing is spectacular this evening,” Aerik beamed, waltzing over. The Dunmer woman blushed with a curtsy.

“You’re flattery is terrible, Aerik,” she giggled. “What is it that you want?”

“Can I borrow that for a minute?” He pointed at her lute, flashing his most charming smile. She rolled her eyes, but handed it over with a smile.

“Try not to outshine me.” Aerik just winked, making his way back over to where Casien still sat, eyeing the lute curiously.

“You play the lute?” he asked, suddenly a bit more interested. His plate was practically licked clean and pushed to the side of the table.He leaned forward, resting his chin in his hands, watching Aerik check the instrument's tuning.

“That I do,” Aerik nodded with a grin. “Figured I’d serenade you — cheer you up a bit more.”

Casien flushed, sitting back abruptly. “Oh, no, that’s not… you don’t have to do that.”

“I know I don’t!” It was becoming a predictable exchange. “I rarely do things because I have to.” Aerik strummed the lute once, moving through several different chords before playing one of the jauntier tunes he knew. Casien had leaned forward again, tapping his toe beneath the table and swaying his head. He closed his eyes and smiled the smallest little smile, and Aerik was pretty confident that the young mer might be the cutest thing he’d ever seen. It was inspiring.    

“Child of fire, it’s you I desire,

In a city so far from home.

Your presence divine, oh won’t you be mine?

For you, I have written this poem!”

Casien was snapped from his brief reverie and he blushed furiously. “You did not just write a song about me!” He laughed, covering his eyes.

“I’m afraid I did,” Aerik said as he continued to play. “Would you like me to write more? I’m fairly good at improvising.”

“This is too much...” Casien laughed again, shaking his head, his soft curls swaying from side to side. “So you’re a bard?” “What gave it away?” Aerik grinned cheekily, setting the lute down.

“You like history then?” Casien’s eyes were bright and curious as he leaned across the table. And just like that, they were off. Casien, it seemed, could talk endlessly about history and poetry and literature and had Aerik scrambling to recall the things he’d learned at the College just to keep up. The precious thing was also starting to sip a little more on his meade, which made him even chattier. At one point, Aerik simply sat back in his seat and just listened, content to let the kid ramble for as long as he wanted.

“Aerik,” Luaffyn called as she walked primly over. “May I have my lute back?” Aerik tore his eyes away from Casien to smile at her.

“Of course! Sorry about that, I got quite distracted.” He picked the lute up from where it leaned against his chair and handed it to her.

She brushed her fingers over his as she took it and smiled coyly at him. “It sounded lovely.”

“Thank you! That means a lot coming from a performer such as yourself.” He grinned. She seemed to oscillate for a moment and Aerik’s grin faltered.

“Will you be in town long this time?” she asked finally.

“Ah,” Aerik scratched the back of his neck, tossing his long braid over his shoulder. “Afraid not. I set out for Solstheim tomorrow... not sure when I’ll be back.” Luaffyn seemed to deflate, smiling sadly.

“Well, you shall be missed,” she said with a bow, moving away from the table. Casien was looking at Aerik with a smug, knowing little expression.

“What is it?”

“She likes you.”

Aerik let out a bit of a sputter, laughing tightly. “We’re just friends. Besides, she’s not my type.”

Casien’s expression dropped and he averted his eyes, beginning to pick at a small splinter on the table. “Oh.” He shrugged. “Dunmer aren’t quite as beautiful as Nords, I suppose.”

Aerik sighed, smirking. “Women aren’t my type,” he clarified, adding, “Dunmer most certainly are,” with a wink. The tips of Casien’s ears turned purple almost immediately and he took a hasty swig of his mead. Well, that answered that.

They finished up their drinks and Aerik left a little extra coin for Suzanna on the table before walking Casien to his room.

“Thank you, again, for everything. I’m sorry I don’t have any money to pay you back.”

“Your company alone was worth every septim.” Aerik smiled. “Besides,” he tapped his cheek. “You could always just give me a kiss and we’ll call it even.”

Casien flushed again, and Aerik was starting to get a little addicted to that lovely bloom of fuschia across the boy’s cheeks. He looked taken aback for only a moment before his brows creased in determination and he stepped forward. Aerik bent down slightly and turned his head, presenting his cheek as Casien raised himself up onto his tiptoes.

With some force, the young mer placed his hands on either side of Aerik’s face, turned him forward, and planted the kiss firmly on his lips instead. Aerik hummed in approval, smiling against Casien’s mouth briefly before they pulled apart. The little Dunmer was wearing that same smug expression that he’d seen earlier, as if he’d really pulled one over on Aerik. And wasn’t that adorable?

“That all you got, Cassie?” Aerik challenged, huffing in amusement. Casien seemed to bristled, grabbing Aerik by the collar of his shirt and pulling him back down, mashing their mouths together even more forcefully than before. Aerik laughed into the kiss, bending forward and scooping Casien up into his arms. The mer wrapped his legs around his waist almost instinctively, and Aerik shifted his weight and pressed into room behind them, and bumped the door shut with his hips.

Perhaps they could have just shared a room after all.

[crownoyami]

Uncle

Title:  Uncle Pairing: None Rating: Teen Archive Warning: None Category: Gen Fandom: Supernatural

Warnings/Tags:  Uncle! Gabriel

Summary: Gabriel had been called many things in his existence; from His Messenger to the Left Hand of God. His dearest title was a much simpler one. Uncle. **** Gabriel Bingo Card Uncle!Gabriel Square.

Beta: QueenOfHearts

AO3 Link To Story: 

@gabriel-spn-bingo @idabbleincrazy

Author’s Note: Hello everyone! This is the first submission for my Gabriel Bingo Card 2019. Updates for the challenge will be random since it’s running until December. I hope you all enjoy!

            Uncle

It had started before Gabriel knew what he was getting into. Originally his off-hand comment about being an uncle was to simplify the relation he had to with Jack, as not to get into the complications of rank within Heaven. Even when Nephilim were permitted, before they had grown too strong and he was tasked with destroying them, Gabriel had never been more than a legend in their eyes, a threat, the same as the other archangels. None of the Nephilim had wanted to spend time with him, had never reached out to join in his small flock, none except Lucifer’s son.

 “Uncle Gabriel, I had wondered where you were. You promised you would show me how to conjure nougat today.”

 Turning to face the young man, Gabriel couldn’t help the smile that crossed his face. It was unexpected to be thrust into the human version of an uncle. Jack made it worth it. The young Nephilim was always eager to learn, and while he shared a special bond with his three fathers, all but ignoring who sired him, the one he shared with Gabriel was special. There was no fear from the boy, nothing like the Nephilim of old. Gabriel had been a predator to them, and for good reason, but to Jack; the archangel was a member of his family, someone he could trust who wasn’t a parent.

 Gabriel found himself enjoying the new title, and more than once wondered what could have been if he had taken a more active role with his former nieces and nephews. Would he have been able to slaughter them as commanded if he had allowed himself to grow close? Just the thought of something happening to Jack, of any threat to the young man, made Gabriel’s grace burn in rage. Though his powers weren’t what they used to be, still recovering from his narrow escape from the Alternate Universe, he would use every last shred of grace to protect his nephew.

 “I remember, kid. How about you fly out to the yard like Cassie taught you, and I’ll be there in a minute. We might want a bit more space in case there’s a mess like last time.”

 Dean had not been happy last time Gabriel had attempted to teach Jack how to conjure something. Oh boy, the mess a peanut butter and jam sandwich could make. Jack scrunched his nose for a moment, concentrating on how to fly through the many wards surrounding the bunker. In a flash he was gone, leaving Gabriel alone for a moment. Glancing around the room, the archangel wondered if this was what he had been looking for through the eternity he had been running from Heaven.

 It wasn’t the porn stars, the booze or the parties that made his grace settle. Instead, he found peace, where he least expected it, from one of the races he would never have guessed would mean so much to him. Shaking his head at the thought, Gabriel lifted a hand and snapped his fingers, his wings spreading and taking flight while he did. He didn’t need the glam and the awe, apparently, to find his slot in life. All Gabriel had needed was an innocent to protect and a new designation.

 Gabriel, former Messenger and Archangel of Justice and Mercy found his peace as merely Uncle.

   P.S. If you want to keep up to date on my writing add me to Facebook, Tumbler, Twitter or Instagram as CrowNoYami ;-) Also, if you want to see what I’m reading (I always review so you know what you’re getting into) I’m on Goodreads as well, the same name as always.

[stealther-gurl]

Test of Faith (xOC AU)

Word Count: 2600+

Summary: If Nabu had never let Kaldur take off the Helmet. Featuring one of my own OCs!

Klarion cackled, the noise ripping apart Nightingale's brain as she gritted her teeth and tried desperately to think of a plan that would get her team out of this in one piece. Just because she and Richard had to grow up real fast in order to lead the team after what happened to Aqualad several years ago, didn't mean the others had to grow up quite as fast.

A quick blast of lightning took care of the lava demon being sent after Wonder Girl.

"You okay?" Emma demanded, yanking the girl to her feet.

"Y-yeah," Cassie said. Emma couldn't tell if she was crying or not. It was too hot in this demonic lava-pit-trap that any tears would evaporate immediately.

"Then keep moving. We're gonna get out of here," Emma growled. Cassie nodded, and flew at another lava monster. Nightingale took to the air too, surveying the battlefield. No Zatanna for instantaneous magical teleportation, no zeta-tubes in sight, and no Kid Flash to zoom them out of here.

As much as she didn't want to see him, they needed Doctor Fate.

"Superboy!" Nightingale cried. A lava burst singed her arm as the boy of Steel looked up at her.

"Get Miss M and Beast Boy out of here!" She barked.

"I can still fight!" Garfield Logan shouted up at her as Superboy grabbed him and his blood sister.

"Yeah, but the heat is slowing down your Martian blood just like hers!" Nightingale shot back. "My job is to keep you safe." Reluctantly giving in, Beast Boy let Superboy leap out of the pit, carrying him and the unconscious Miss Martian with him.

"Nightwing!" Nightingale landed next to her own twin, blocking a wave of lava aimed for him with her wing.

"Em, you okay?" Rick said, knocking his monster back into the lava it had come from.

"Just fine," Emma shook her head. "Please tell me you have a plan. We can't keep this up for long."

Nightwing sighed through his teeth. "Well, I did call in the cavalry, but Wotan was trying to use the Amulet of Aten to block out the sun- again- so he should be here right about-"

The end of Richard's sentence was lost in a clap of thunder, the glow of the lava dimmed by the brightness of an Ankh symbol that was brighter than the sun at noon.

"Klarion!" Doctor Fate's layered voices echoed demonically. "Desist at once!"

The Lord of Chaos glared up at the Lord of Order. "Here to clean up the kiddies' messes again, you old fart?" He snapped.

It worked, though. The lava monsters that the team was fighting sunk back into the base of the pit, and the temperature decreased the tiniest bit as Klarion focused all his energy into fighting the Lord of Order.

Nightingale fell to her knees, breathing heavily. "Good plan." She told her brother, though she didn't look up. She couldn't watch the fight right now.

Nightwing grinned sadly as he knelt next to his big sister and co-leader, patting her back encouragingly. "Now we get out of here and avoid the cataclysms and Fate has this all wrapped up like a burrito before we head off to-"

"Look out!" Bumblebee, though she was in shrunken form, yanked Nightwing and Nightingale out of the way as Klarion's blast forced Doctor Fate through the stone platform where they'd been standing, and into the lava.

"Kaldur!" Nightingale screamed. She felt Nightwing's fingertips digging into her arm, holding her back from a similar fate.

"It's okay, it's okay, Nightingale, he's magic. He'll be fine. I hope." Nightwing's rambling was not helpful at all.

The twins and Bumblebee stared at the bubbling lava for a moment, before a golden bubble burst triumphantly out of the lava. Doctor Fate leaned on his hands and knees, still smoking from the heat as he coughed, breathing heavily.

"That's why Klarion chose this place," Emma gasped in fear. "Not to take out our biggest player-" she quickly glanced in the direction that Superboy had brought Miss Martian.

"Kaldur may be weilding Nabu's power and mind, but he's still got his Atlantean weaknesses. Klarion is gonna kill him!" She cried, already flying across the field to his rescue.

"Nightingale, wait-" Nightwing gave up on trying to stop his sister. "Wonder Girl, Superboy, double punch!" He commanded, signalling to the team that it was time to jump back in and help out the Leaguer.

As Klarion bore down on Fate, reeling back to deliver the killing blow with Teekl's approval, Nightingale blocked the blast with her wings, still tender in the ravishing heat. Before Klarion could recover, Wonder Girl and Superboy made their move. One hit him in the gut, the other in the face, effectively drawing his attention away from Doctor Fate.

Nightingale's ponytail had come undone, the stray strands of hair plastered to her sticky, sweaty face as she knelt over the body that had once belonged to her dearest friend, and was now possessed by and used freely by an all-powerful, incredibly rude, prick of a Lord of Order.

"Kaldur, Kaldur wake up," She begged, shaking him roughly.

"Come on! You have to get up!" She cried. She pressed her forehead against the forehead of the helmet. "We need you, Kaldur, not the Lord of Order. You." She whispered.

Static leapt between her fingertips and the metal helmet, and instantly, she knew what to do.

She looked back to her team. Nightwing could lead the team much better than she could, she knew that, she wouldnt hold him back this way. He and Robin and Finch would have people to help them move on and grow up. And what of Batman? Would he be proud of her for making such a sacrifice? Livid that she did so unnecessarily?

Well, it wouldn't be so unnecessary to her. This way, Kaldur could finally get the closure he needed. He'd get to go home, back to Atlantis, see his parents again, join the team once more.

Kaldur hadn't known the risks when he put on the helmet, but Emma understood them perfectly.

"I will take the helmet," She whispered, just loud enough that she knew Fate would hear her and finally let Kaldur go free.

With one smooth yank, the helmet came off, and the robes of the Lord of Order faded from around Kaldur.

He looked just as he had four years ago when he first put it on in the Louisiana Bayou, only more tired. He hadn't eaten or slept in four years. He hadn't needed to. But even though he knew sorcery, that much power had to tire him out.

"I should have told you the moment I knew it myself," Emma bit her lip. Her arms tingled, the weight of the helmet in her hands, compelling her to keep her promise. But she still had the willpower to do one more thing.

She quickly kissed Kaldur's cheek.

"I love you," she whispered.

Almost on its own, the Helmet slid over her head, heavy and burdensome.

And then she heard his voice.

"EMMA! NO!"

She tried to turn around, tell him it was okay, but then it was dark, and the world disappeared from around her.

Emma's eyes popped open, seemingly on their own.

"AH!" She gasped, panting for air. The last thing she remembered was Kaldur screaming her name.

At least he was alive.

"Okay, okay, I put on the helmet. Now what?" She whispered. It was as if she was onstage, a spotlight bearing down on her head, but she couldn't see the apron of the stage, or the backstage clutter, barely hidden by a jumble of curtains.

"You know Nabu, if you're gonna keep people trapped in your stupid helmet for their entire lifespan, you might wanna provide them with some light entertainment. You know, a book, some arts'n crafts, a show, anything?"

As if he was actually listening, A portal-like window appeared in front of Emma. She leaned through it, and she was suddenly looking through her own eyes in her own body again. Her-Fate came at Klarion, fists glowing with magical energy. Fate summoned glowing golden chains to bind Klarion, but he swatted them away with a giant, clawlike hand.

Nightwing and the team had been forced back by the magic fight. She could feel them staring at her, watching Nabu in sheer terror.

Superboy had moved Aqualad out of the way, up where he'd brought Miss Martian and Beast Boy. The way that they were busying themselves with him convinced Emma that he was still alive. At least one good thing had come from today.

"You know, Wally told me that you can't use the combined powers of the mortal's body that you wear in addition to your own," Emma started, resting her arms on the bottom of the portal as if it were a big window, "It just seems kind of a downside if you ask me. I mean, you're taking over a guy or girl's body for the rest of their life, don't you think it would be nice if they got some say in what the heck you did with their body?"

Fate didn't reply, probably busy fighting Klarion, but Emma wasn't done with him. He'd taken Kaldur from them and refused to let him go, and he'd almost done the same thing with Wally. Just because she'd given herself up to him with full knowledge of the consequences in order to save Kaldur, didn't mean that she necessarily liked the guy.

"You know, now that I think about it, all the stuff a guy gets out of wearing your Helmet and letting you pilot their body around is a downside. I mean, they have no control over their own body anymore, they can't control their own life, they can't eat, can't get any rest, I mean, why would anyone want to put on this old tin can?" Emma scoffed, kicking at the floor with her boot.

Fate shot an ankh at Teekl, but Klarion snatched her out of the way in the nick of time.

"It is an honor to be chosen." Fate informed her, his voice ringing within the helmet.

"Honor. Huh. Do you know what that's worth these days? Right up there next to nothing."

Emma was pretty sure that Fate took the next blow Klarion delivered to them just so she would feel the pain of skimming the top of the lava.

"I mean the least you could do for a person is let them out once in a while," Emma winced, rubbing her shoulder. She couldn't feel any burned skin with her fingertips, but the pain was still there.

"Any trouble with that? You get a host, a kid still gets to live out their life. Just like Kent Nelson." She reasoned. It was a perfectly obvious compromise.

"Still, there is no guarantee that they would don the Helmet again after wearing it a first time." Fate came back.

Emma snorted. "You're paranoid." She told him bluntly. "Still, if you wanted people to line up to wear your helmet, you might want to consider offering benefits, and finding someone who's better at magic than me, or Wally, or even Kaldur."

"It is true you are lacking in the skills of the typical Homo Magi, but your endurance is stronger than the average human." Fate acknowledged.

"Do you mean the wings or the bat-training?" Emma stuck out her bottom lip in a fake pout.

"Tell me child, are you always this insolent?" Fate demanded, finally landing a hit on Witch Boy's familiar. Teekl screeched, and Klarion's form flickered, but he wouldn't give up.

Emma pretended to think about it. "Well, only when my friends are taken from me by stupid omnipotent magical beings from another plane of existence." She admitted.

Fate sighed. "I have seen this before." He grumbled, like a fifth grade teacher fed up with the class's shenanigans.

"You mean with Kent Nelson with Inza?" Emma asked, remembering the stories from Red Tornado.

"Actually, the way Inza Nelson fiercely loved her husband. She had a passionate fire within her, that would never let my old bearer give himself the short end. She managed to convince him that his life was worth more than that."

Emma bit her lip. She'd already admitted it once today, once more wouldn't hurt.

"I do love him. He deserves so much more than what he's been given." She said.

Nabu laughed. Doctor Fate, the Lord of Order, laughed.

"And to think, the poor boy thought he would never find love."

Emma smiled as Kaldur found the strength to break Superboy's protective hold and join he fight. He electrocuted Teekl with the Atlantean sorcery he hadn't used in years, and left Klarion vulnerable, enough so that Doctor Fate could trap Klarion in a golden ankh symbol along with his familiar.

"So now what?" Emma asked. Klarion zapped himself out through a portal, and his lava pocket dimension disappeared, leaving the team emerging from their shelter spots around the now ordinary warehouse they'd come to investigate in the first place.

"You knew the risks when you took on the helmet."

Setting her mouth in a firm line, Emma nodded. "I'm still willing to bear the helmet, so long as another unwilling person won't have to."

Nabu was silent. Outside, Nightwing was incoherently yelling, a mix of almost-threats and pleas for his sister to come back. Emma saw Kaldur, still so tired and exhausted as he leaned on Superboy for support.

"I sense you are more sincere, more desperate than your West friend was when he made this promise. Perhaps... Perhaps you could find someone who is willing."

Emma's head shot up. "And you'd let them out after every...Magic-mission, I guess?" She ventured.

"And you would train them to fight on your team?"

The start of a smile grew on Emma's face. "Yeah, I promise. I'll have Zatanna and Zatara help out too."

She took a deep breath. "I may hate you, Nabs, but I want to keep the Earth safe as much as you do. I promise you, we will find you a willing host. But kicking the Light's butt is still our main priority." She bit her lip, hoping this plea would convince Nabu.

The omnipotent voice gave a grumbling sigh. "I understand."

The focus of the portal-window zoomed in on Kaldur, who watched Doctor Fate painfully.

"I cannot keep apart two who are as bound by Fate as you are." He admitted.

"Wait, what?" Emma asked, but in a blinding flash of light she was taking off the helmet, back in the warehouse with everyone else.

"Nightingale!" Nightwing and Beast Boy were instantly hugging her.

"You're... You're you!" Karen and M'gann were hugging her too.

"Yeah, yeah I am," Emma laughed breathlessly, patting the golden helmet under her arm as they gave her space to breathe. Her legs were shaking like jelly.

"Don't worry, I gotcha," Nightwing pulled her arm over his shoulders, but Emma looked over at Kaldur, in a similar position with Superboy.

"Nabu let you go?" He asked, confused.

"Yeah, so long as I found him a willing host." Nightingale was well aware of the goofy smile wiggling its way onto her face.

She felt another shock of static electricity from the helmet.

"Oh! I almost forgot something!" She gave the helmet to Nightwing to hold for a moment and marched over to Kaldur. Taking his face in her hands, she promptly placed a kiss on his lips.

"Just wanted to make sure I did that before either of us took on another magical artifact." She grinned.

Like the others, Kaldur was shocked for a moment, but then he smiled. Letting go of Superboy, he wrapped his arms around Emma, holding her tight.

"Thank you, Emma. Thank you so much."

Emma hugged him tighter. "You deserve the world, Kal. Don't settle for anything less."

[chaserrodemann-blog]

4/27/17 8:05pm

Dearest Cassie,

I did a lot of thinking about our situation over my shift at Goldfish. And here are the conclusions that I’ve come to:

I think the main reason I’m so hung up on the whole prom thing is because we as a couple don’t do that much. And in my head, prom is a big deal, so when you comment on things like “yeah we exchanged flowers” that’s seen as a big, romantic deal to me, you know? Like I know it’s not, but at the same time it just kind of hurts because in my mind that moment is seen as so special so it’s hard for me to imagine that moment not meaning anything.

That being said, I think what we both have to do is put more of a conscious effort into making the other person feel wanted and feel worth it in the relationship. Pretty much all we do is meet up in a car 2 (now, unfortunately, 1) time a week and make out in your car. As great as that is, I feel like we need to do more. Prom night is basically, a date. You say you have a date to prom. We’ve like, never gone on a date since the break lol. So I just feel if we put a little more effort in that sense, things could get a little easier.

Prom is a special night. If I wasn’t dating a high schooler, it would mean absolutely nothing to me. I’m still gonna go ahead and say it doesn’t mean that much to me, it’s just hard to reply the exchanging of the flowers in my head and picture that moment with another guy that isn’t me. That being said, I don’t want to make my life easier but repeatedly saying to you “prom isn’t that important, that doesn’t actually matter”, because that’s not fair to you. Prom was obviously important to you, and I have to let you have that.

THAT being said, part of what makes it difficult is it being a special night. You said you didn’t want to miss out on ‘the experience’ of prom, and if by experience you mean going out with a group of friends, getting something to eat together, and dancing and having a fun night, then pssh that’s like the point. That’s awesome. But part of me feels like ‘the experience’ is having a guy put flowers around your wrist, and going with another guy. This hurts, because then part of the experience to you was doing date-y stuff, going on a ‘date’ to prom. That pretty much means you went on a date with another guy that wasn’t me. As you may of guessed, I wouldn’t be a fan of that.

T H A T being said, I think what I need to do more special, important things that we can call ours and mine. Like prom. That’s a memorable night. I wasn’t a part of a memorable, “ “ “ romantic “ “ “ night for you, and that’s what hurts. Making out in your car (while fantastic) isn’t exactly the most memorable, special thing. So I think part of the problem (LMAO I typed promblem) is making the relationship special, making the other person feel special, and forming and creating and living in special moments and memories. 

So I think what we need to do is both make more of an effort of communicating with each other. I’m not the best at it, but more ‘good morning’s, ‘i love you’s, this maaaayyy be a conflict of interest, but honestly more sexy talk. Also, I just think we both need things that make the relationship and the other person feel special. Show the other person that they care. And I think it needs to go farther than words on a screen. We need to be more than friends, because honestly, right now, words on a screen isn’t enough for me. I’m sorry, but it isn’t. I need more to feel wanted and feel like I’m in a relationship where the other person truly cares about me and is invested in being with and growing with me.

I need to work on it, you need to work on it, we, together, need to work on it. I don’t think the fire between us is out, I just think we need to put another log on the flame. We can do it, I believe is us. I love you baby.

Love, yours truly,

Chase