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queen-of-writing-bad-things · 9 months ago

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Henry Danger Reader Insert | Captain Man x Reader: SEASON 5

Episode 7: Part 2: A New Darkness

Call this the worst day of (y/n)'s life - or one of them, certainly.

It was all right for some; whilst the city remained in blissful ignorance of the storm cloud of doom looming over them, it was all go-go-go for Captain Man, his sidekicks and those in the Man Cave. Well, it was for Charlotte anyway, as per usual, Schwoz and Jasper were a little more laidback, mainly because they didn't grasp the full severity of the situation as she did.

They'd been fooling around ever since she'd received the distressing message from the Captain that they had a super-duper, code red emergency that trumped all other emergencies and as she scurried around trying to get stuff ready for what she assumed was gonna be one of the biggest fights of the year, the boys were playing dress-up. With Kaitlyn. Because she was cute and death and destruction aren't.

"Captain Man, Swellview's in danger!" "You're the only one who can save us!" "Time's running out! You gotta act now!" It wasn't actually Ray they were speaking to, lord knows that they'd never stroke his ego like that. No, it was Kaitlyn, who had adorably dressed in a tiny Captain Man costume that made her look like the famed hero if you looked her in the furry face, and Schwoz and Jasper were taking great delight in pretending that she was their boss and not the real Captain Man. He was not cute, well, he might have been to (y/n) but to them, he was just the nutjob who paid them.

"Up the tube!" Schwoz squealed as he pretended to lift the dog up to the tube's mouth under the false pretence that she was blasting off on some dangerous mission to save the city, one paw-punch at a time. He'd never had this much fun with Captain Man before and was thoroughly enjoying messing around since the real heroes weren't around to throw them funny looks, the only one concerned about what was happening outside the four walls being Charlotte.

"Guys!" she yelled above their cooing and fussing whilst also holding armfuls of weapons and equipment. The message had said something about a big disaster, danger and the possible collapse of society as the world knew it so she wanted to be prepared, even if the eleven blasters she'd swiped were a bit of an overkill. "I'm gonna try and rescue, Ray, (y/n) and Henry. Now, do you wanna come with me or do you wanna stay here and play super-pooch with Captain Kaitlyn?"

"Ughhh, tough question," Jasper pulled a face at the predicament that honestly wasn't that hard to answer. Possibility of death and lifelong maiming or playtime with a doggie? He chose life.

"Ray is very mean to me..." And Schwoz didn't even have to think. Whilst Henry and (y/n) were very nice people, he'd long been shot in the butt, bullied and beaten by Ray ( in the most affectionate way but still) so he decided that this would teach him a lesson. The sidekicks would just have to be regrettable collateral damage, oops.

"Seriously?" Charlotte groaned, hating the idea of having to storm the Honey Factory and tackle the Beekeeper and that lying little sneak, Rick Twitler, herself but after all her preparation, she didn't have to. Like the gods commanded it, the tubes sounded and dropped, bringing home the weary and disappointed and defeated heroes to what definitely wasn't a heroes' welcome.

Henry was like a limp noodle as his feet hit the metal and the two in the adjacent tube weren't doing so hot either; after a gruelling struggle and a lot of coordination, he'd helped to pull their tired bodies from the wreckage of the plasma gas traps, allowing them to escape the factory. Freedom was nice but there was no getting away from one simple thing - Twitler had flown and taken his internet virus with him, leaving their pride bruised and the kid powerless.

"Oh, thank god." Charlotte sighed and dropped her bundle of kit once she saw the familiar blue and red uniforms and for a brief, shining moment, she thought that all was okay, the situation had been dealt with and they could all relax, but no. Her gaze narrowed in worry as Henry fell limp with the support of the glass around him and Ray and (y/n) had to look sharpish and untangle themselves from each other to catch his body before he hit the floor.

"Okay, we gotcha', kid. It's gonna be oooo--oh my god, that's adorable!" Ray began by carefully walking his youngest sidekick down the steps, helping his sweet girl by taking most of the kid's weight as she guided their movements to get him to sit down on the couch.

And it was a sweet gesture from the man, it made (y/n) proud that he was being serious in a serious situation for once. That is until he reverted to type when he caught a glance of Kaitlyn in her little doggie costume; then, it was bye-bye Henry and hello poochie, which left her to hold him and then drop him as the kid buckled without the man's support. It was up to Jasper and Charlotte to grab both of them as Ray rushed to Kaitlyn to fawn over her and it was safe to that that if looks could kill...(y/n) wouldn't be glaring so hard because everyone knew that she could never live without her dumb doofus.

"Raymond! Forget about the damn dog!" The woman growled as she tiredly pushed on her knee to straighten out before bending to help Henry. Yes, Kaitlyn was lovely, she thought she was great, her dream walking around on four paws but this wasn't the time. The kid looked like he was about to pass out and she was feeling like sixty-one, not thirty-one. Her back was aching from that metal slab crushing her kidneys, her arm was still aching from being stretched out for so long and her temples were throbbing from the huge headache of a problem they were facing, namely that Henry was powerless.

"But sweet girl, she's wearing a cute costume..." the man fluttered his eyelashes and stuck out his bottom lip in the best pout he could muster since it usually swayed his best girl into cracking her icy glare. However, nothing was gonna melt Charlotte's anger nor her confusion considering the last time she heard, they were all in mortal peril.

"Forget about the costume. How did you guys get out of Rick Twitler's trap?"

"Whoa...whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You knew we were walking into a trap?" Henry frowned at her as (y/n) and Jasper helped him to the couch. Despite his clear exhaustion and delirium after having his superpower sucked away, he was still able to give her an ugly stare, one that was half accusing and half confused because a heads-up would've been nice before walking into that place.

"Yeah..." "And you didn't tell us?" Ray asked in a similarly accusing tone as he picked up Kaitlyn and held her close to her chest. Y'know, for a guy that had said no to his fiancée's whining and begging about getting a dog over the eleven or so years he'd known her, he was getting quite attached to their new pet. It's always the ones who hate the dog that'll end up loving them the most.

"I tried to call you but you never answered! I left you voicemails!" The girl snapped back at her boss since she was about to be bullied into submission. No one could say that she, Jasper and Schwoz hadn't tried to contact them but as always, the heroes didn't pick up when they needed them to, so in the end, it just made more sense to work on something else than continuously call someone who'd never answer.

"Okay, Char, I'd normally be grovelling and begging for forgiveness for leaving my phone on silent at this point but come on, who leaves voicemails these days? Couldn't you have just texted us?" (y/n) asked with a hint of tiredness in her voice as she wandered over to Ray's side to fondle Kaitlyn's long-haired ears. She wasn't fond of how he rushed to her side but that didn't mean she wasn't in love either.

"You're old." Rude. Charlotte gave them a bored expression as the couple looked at each h other, back to her and then back at each other with horrified expressions because old?! There wasn't a single grey hair on their head and they didn't wear sensible shoes when driving and they didn't make satisfied groans whenever they sat down. They weren't old. Hell, if (y/n) was old (which she most certainly wasn't), what did that make Ray? Ancient? Very rude.

"We are not old!" Ray hissed, feeling very touchy on the subject, especially after Rick Twitler mocked him so cruelly only an hour ago. Sure, he was in his late thirties and he hadn't achieved half of what he wanted yet but that didn't mean he didn't plan on doing so; he was certain of it, marry (y/n), kids with (y/n), house with (y/n), retire with (y/n), the whole nine yards. Was it really so bad that he'd waited a little longer than normal and no longer connected with youth culture as he moved towards a more mature part of his life?

"Who cares how old Ray and (y/n) are?" Jasper rolled his eyes as they got off-topic. Yeah, they were the adults in the Man Cave, so what? Well, he said adult, even at thirty-seven, Ray still acted like a child.

"Thirty-six..." A definite child. What difference was one year supposed to make? And anyway, it's not like he was fooling anyone, not when his sweet girl was in earshot.

"Ray, I'm thirty-one and you're six years older than me. That makes you thirty-seven. There's no shame in it, sweetheart," (y/n) reassured her doofus as he moodily stared at the floor and stroked Kaitlyn's back for comfort, which only came when the woman lovingly planted a kiss on his cheek. At least when he was with her he didn't feel old, love didn't understand age, no matter what those young whippersnappers said or mocked.

"Did you guys really walk into a trap? Is Rick Twitler in jail now? Did you bring us some honey?" Jasper ignored their little moment in favour of blasting the questions. It was unfathomable for him to think that they'd been defeated because they were the city's go-to heroes, they seldom lost. Although, his hope for a tale of victory and a sweet snack died when Ray solemnly placed Kaitlyn into her cosy bed with (y/n)'s hand rubbing his back comfortingly and a glum expression on Henry's face.

"Yes, no and no." the boy answered, feeling his anger and bitterness come flooding back as every moment, mistake and terror replayed in his mind.

"Twitler got away." "What?" Schwoz's eyes widened at Ray's shocking news. That man was like a bloodhound when it came to sniffing out criminals and tenacious when it came to sinking his teeth into them. The fact that this one had managed to escape came as a shock but not the biggest one.

"And he stole Kid Danger's superpowers," "What?!" (y/n)'s addition made everyone's eyes widen and practically fall out of their heads. Well, that was shocking and worrying and...it couldn't be true, right? Disasters happened, sure, but never anything like that because Kid Danger usually punched anyone with his super-fast reflexes before they could get him. Had Twitler truly managed to pull something off like that?

"Yeah, check it out. Testing rock!" Ray being Ray, couldn't just make them take his word, no, that would be boring. So instead, he decided that throw a small rock that he'd pulled from a cabinet (because of course, they kept rocks in the Man Cave), and threw it at Henry's face. And without his powers, it came as a horrifying surprise to his friends that he wasn't able to catch it with a blur of his hand, but rather he caught it with his face...painfully.

"Ow!" "Raymond!" His sidekicks groaned and glared at him furiously as the dense rock ricocheted off Henry's face and rolled onto the floor, leaving him with an angry red mark on his forehead and (y/n) feeling tetchy. If he didn't look so adorable from being proud of himself right now then she'd give him a piece of her mind...or something like that.

"See?" "Oh, that's where my rock is. Where have you been hiding, Dwayne?" Schwoz bizarrely said to the sedimentary as he happily scooped it up from the floor and examined it between his fingers. Oh good, Henry's face hadn't caused any damage, that was all right then.

"Tell us what happened," Charlotte moved on from Schwoz's bizarre affection for the pebble he was stroking with all the admiration in the world and turned back to face the heroes. Even to her, the smart one, failure didn't make sense and neither did her best friend losing his power. That was just crazy and she knew how much he relied on it, how much he loved being able to do something cool.

"Okay..." Henry began with a deep breath and as with any teenage boy, he couldn't help but add a little flavour to the story to make himself a little spicier, "So I got to Swellview Honey Factory. Then, I drop in from the ceiling like, bam! And I land right on Rick Twitler and he's all, owie! And I was like, sorry to drop in like this! And everyone was like, that was a totally sick entrance line, bro. And I was like, I know."

"Hold on, hold on. Nobody said any of that stuff," Ray butted up, causing the others to look over at him and (y/n), who also wore a sceptical expression. Maybe they'd missed those parts when they were trapped in those horribly uncomfortable plasma gas things or maybe it was just the kid trying to build himself up into an epic hero - obviously, it was the latter. And no one was falling for it, no matter how hard Henry tried to make it sound realistic.

"Well, they were about to so..." "Just skip to the part where they steal your powers, otherwise, you won't be able to walk through the door with the size of your head," (y/n) waved off his excuses with her hand and a smirk that caused Henry to look slightly bashful for a second before he carried on. He preferred it when she was too engrossed with her fiancé to pick apart his exaggerations.

"Okay, I'll skip, I'll skip!... So, I'm stuck in Rick Twitler's trap, I'm lookin' super cool and Rick Twitler's all, euhhhhh, I'm gonna steal your powers and put it in this computer virus and destroy all computers forever, 'cause I'm lame! And then he used this machine to start sucking my powers right outta my mouth and Captain Man and Miss Danger were all, noooooooo!! And I was all, you'll pay for this, Twitler! And also, there was this bee flying around my head and Rick Twitler kept making goo-goo eyes at (y/n) like, oh mer geurd! I'm gonna marry Miss Danger and we'll have lots of evil babies! And Ray was all, I'm gonna kill you, Twit—"

"Wait, wait, wait!" Schwoz butted in right at the good part. It was true that Ray had wanted to rip Twitler's head from his body for blatantly leering at his sweet girl when he was next to her and Jasper and Charlotte were eager to hear if any head-ripping had gone on but one small detail irked the resident genius. As much as he liked the drama, he'd heard something intriguing.

"What, what, what?" "What was that last thing you said?" He asked, causing Ray to scowl even more than he already was. His arms circled around his girl's waist and tugged her back into his body in a protectively needy embrace that hadn't been possible when they were at the factory but it was now and there was no asshole CEO around to act like he had a chance with her. He hated it then and he hated hearing about...babies now. And evil babies no less.

"About Twitler hitting on (y/n) all the time like, join me and we'll be evil and have an evil wedding and evil children because we'd be mean and bad and in love! Blergh—blergh—blergh!—?" Henry suggested and this time, his description was so troubling that it warranted (y/n) momentarily turning in her lover's arms to connect their lips. Evil people were so sure of themselves, so confident and she would never be up to the task, so no matter how suave and hot Twitler saw himself, Ray would never lose his sweet girl. Plus, she was already a little in love with someone else and far too sweet to ever go sour.

"No! About the bee! You said a bee flew near you when the machine was sucking the power from your face," Schwoz elaborated impatiently, wanting to know more about the elusive insect because if he had the perfect conditions, they might just have a miracle on their hands.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! This bee flew right past my face when Twitler was stealing my power! Actually, it sort of glowed for a second and then, flew away really fast," the kid retold the story of how the bee was suddenly flying around his nose and then...nothing. It just whizzed off right after straying too close and for some reason, that fact really excited Schwoz.

"Ayyyyyyyyyeeeeee! I know what we should do!" He exclaimed, knowing some clever, scientific method of using that bee to their advantage and despite how irrelevant it seemed, he knew that that small creature was the answer to all their problems. One of his finest moments, for sure.

"Me too," however, it was not one of Ray's, "we gotta find that bee...and kill it." "No!" Schwoz cried. Did he not understand the whole miracle thing? If that bee died then they'd had it, Twitler had won and they'd have to shut down their entire operation because the world would fall into so much chaos that it would be every man/woman/child for themselves. Jeez, no wonder (y/n) had to be the brains in the relationship, he had none.

"Well then, I'm outta ideas..." "Wait, are you think that maybe some of the superpowers were transferred to the bee when it flew by Henry's face?" The woman asked after her doofus went to sit down at the computer because clearly, this was a time for the smarties, and he was not one of those. Oh well, he preferred to sit back and watch his sweet girl do smart things anyway, not to mention the fact that from where he sat, her ass and hips looked superb in her costume.

"And if we can bring the bee back here to the Man Cave..." "We can kill it?" Jasper jumped in, clearly thinking that he could be a smartie too and it did not work out. Charlotte, yet another smartie, Schwoz and (y/n) looked at him in horror for such a suggestion after they'd already ruled out killing their only hope at salvaging Henry's powers. Just because Captain Man said something dumb, did not mean he had to follow suit.

"Yes!" "No! Raymond, sit down!" "Ughhhhhh!" The man jumped in from his seat with elation at the thought of his original plan panning out, only for him to groan loudly and slump onto the couch when his happiness was shot down by his sweet girl, no less. Why did they have to be such party poopers? Kaitlyn understood her daddy, she'd want to kill the bee too if she was given the chance, he was sure of that, but if his lover said no, then the answer was no. He respected her enough for that.

"If you bring that bee back here, then I can transfer Henry's superpowers back into his body," Schwoz explained and for once in his life (and without (y/n) having to tell him), Ray buttoned his lip as he processed that information. So, they couldn't kill the bee? When it was put like that, it did sound a little bit more important than something he wanted to squish with a flyswatter.

"Then, let's go to the honey factory, find that bee and bring it back to the Man Cave!" Henry didn't need telling twice. With renewed energy, he stood up from the couch and looked at his boss and (y/n), reaching his hand out towards Ray for them to clasp together as all bros do. He'd do anything to get his powers back and give Rick Twitler a super-fast kick in the teeth and if he had to find a bee in a huge factory to do so, then he would with his fellow heroes by his side.

"Dead or alive..." Ray was quick to meet him, connecting their hands in a silent pledge to search for the insect with the same enthusiasm and determination...just fewer brains. Had he been staring at (y/n) so much that his ears had stopped working again?

"Alive!" "What is wrong with you?" Schwoz and Charlotte groaned and threw their heads back. Twitler did have a point in some ways; what did (y/n) see in him? Or rather, what had that thick-skulled nitwit done to impress her so much that she fell in love with him? Because they were just polar opposites, one being the top of her class but painfully shy and the other a jock but a total dunce.

"Sweetheart, we are not killing the bee, okay? Hurt the bee and I'll be sleeping in my old room for the next three months," (y/n) told her doofus with a straight face and it was enough for Ray to see that she meant it—the bee was off-limits. However, as straight-faced as her threat was, deep down she knew that it didn't carry any real threat; she'd never be able to go through three months of sleepless nights because that's all she'd be getting without her doofus to snuggle up. Also, Ray wouldn't be able to stand the heartbreak and would end up pawing that the door like a forlorn puppy with an apology spilling from her lips the moment she opened the door to let him in.

"All right, fine! You're the boss, sweet girl," he replied quietly and pecked her forehead as a smile graced her lips," come on, kid, let's—" Ray tapped Henry's chest after grabbing his girl's hand and he was just about to lead her up the staircase to the tube when the computer started beeping. Odd...

"It's a video message!" Schwoz said as the notification came up on the screen and he and Charlotte moved to answer it. It didn't feel like a normal video message; for some reason, (y/n) got a sense of foreboding as she hovered with Ray and looked at the flashing screen but perhaps that was just her tummy - it had been fluttering ever since Twitler's betrayal.

"Eh, it's probably Charlotte, just let it go to voicemail," Ray shrugged off their concern in a moment of stupidity that had to be one of his thickest moments. Not only was he blind to the girl right in front of him but he'd also stitched himself up by proving that he often ignored her texts and calls and left them to go to voicemail, which had been strongly denied only moments ago.

"I'm right here!" She frowned, wondering how one man could be so...dense. How could she call them anonymously when they were watching her every move?

"Good point, let's listen," "Yeah, that's probably for the best, doofus," (y/n) teased him and hugged his arm close to her chest as he tried to hide his lightly dusted, pink cheeks and smile from her words. He was a good listener when he wanted to and with a final kiss placed on the top of her head, the couple focused their attention on the monitor.

"Hey there! It's me, Rick Twitler. How ya doin'?" The message started and their frustration immediately shot through the roof when Twitler's annoyingly smug face appeared on the screen. It had been infuriating enough to see it in real life in that factory and now, Ray had to put up with it and that stupid, well-cut, tailor-made suit in his Man Cave. It was enough to make him feel sick and angry. Very angry.

"How am I doing?" "We're coming for you, Twitler!" Henry and he snapped at the screen, wishing they could strangle him with their bare hands and drag him around by his styled quiff for ruining what should've been a peaceful week until he turned up. And in their anger, it was easy to forget that the villain had pre-recorded his message and sent it to them, so no matter how much they shouted, Rick Twitler was not going to answer or get scared.

"Guys, it's a video message. He cannot hear you." Jasper pointed out flatly as he paused the message, for once being the voice of reason in their madness because even he wasn't beyond knowing that men in videos cannot hear things in real-time. He understood their passionate need to kill him for the things he'd done and said but right now, they were just wasting their breath.

"Y-yeah, I knew that..." "Obviously...let's move on," So, to spare their blushes and any more awkward stammering, Jasper resumed play and Twitler began talking again. Honestly, he was so much better when nothing came out of his mouth.

"Now, I know you're upset with me for stealing Kid Danger's powers, putting it in this and flirting with Miss Danger, but I think you have other things to worry about. Like, oh, I don't know, protecting Kid Danger's family from the thugs I just sent to his house. Or should I say, the thugs I just sent to Henry Hart's house?" Rick smirked at the startling threat. Unlike (y/n)'s, this one was full of malice and would most certainly be acted upon if it had not already.

Of course, he'd be free to do whatever he wanted whilst they were off at the kid's house saving Mr and Mrs Hart and Piper, plus, it came with the added bonus of preying on Captain Man and Miss Danger's relationship. Would she want to stay with a man who'd drool the moment he swept Kris Hart off her feet in a bid to save her? Probably not, and then Twitler would get to know the girl he'd read about on that stolen file whilst simultaneously piecing together her broken heart. It was foolproof.

"How do you know my real name?" Henry asked sharply, having not caught up on the part where Rick Twitler had read up on their personal lives after having into the Man Cave computer but still. The video was still a message and Twitler was never gonna answer back.

"Is what—is what I would say if he could hear me. Which I know he cannot. So..." Henry stammered as Jasper paused the video again. With this level of expertise and genius, the mission was gonna be a walk in the park. Or not.

"Just play the video, Jasper. I don't want to look at this creep any more than I have to," (y/n) told the kid, feeling antsy the more she had to look at the guy. It was like he was one of those paintings where the eyes could follow her around the room—his stare was unending and not to mention disturbing. So, it was a good thing that she had six feet of hard muscle and soft doofus to hide half on her face into as Jasper hit play again.

"Let's see...uh, I did the introduction, made a threat, sent thugs to Henry's house. Yeah, I think I'm done. Any questions?... Oh, right, this is a video message..." even at the end, Twitler fumbled with the same mistake as Ray and Henry had and everyone released a sigh of relief when it was finally over. He had thought of everything; it wasn't like they could leave Henry's family to get hurt whilst they fought for the internet, that just wasn't how they did things.

"Okay...okay, I gotta go protect my family, you get the bee! Or...or you guys should come to my house and someone else should get the bee. Or we should all get the bee and bring it back to my house—" "Henry, calm down—" "I can't, (y/n/n), I'm freakin' out, man, I"M FREAKIN' OUT!" Henry screeched as he let his worries and anxiety get the best of him. As much as he wanted to save the rest of the world, his family was his world and the thought of some big, hairy, mean gorillas going to beat them up because of his enemies made his stomach turn so badly, that not even crying into (y/n)'s shoulder was helping. Jeez, he was really freaking out and in need of some best friend support.

"Hey, hey, hey! I'll get the bee! I got the perfect jar up in Junk-N-Stuff!" Jasper volunteered kindly, seeing that his friend couldn't make heads or tails of the situation in his current state of panic, so he took out a factor to make things simpler. Whilst he could punch people, he could definitely catch a bug in a jar and the soft smile that twitched on (y/n)'s face was enough to tell him that he was doing the right thing. It was a load of the boy's mind anyway.

"And I'll be Jasper's adult supervision." Charlotte followed after him, heading for the elevator. As sweet and noble as Jasper's actions were, he was quite clumsy and irresponsible on his own, so it was always a good idea to send someone dexterous and responsible to monitor what he was doing and Charlotte was ready to rally around Henry because he was her friend too.

"I'll go get some poopy bags for Kaitlyn," Schwoz was also helping out. Not directly since Henry didn't care much for the dog or what business she did right now but still, one job done was better than nothing, so the final task was for the trio to go out and kick some butt before someone got hurt.

"Come on, man. Those thugs are gonna attack my family!" Henry stressed as he nervously paced to the tubes, intent on heading out without thinking first. That would do for (y/n) and Ray though, who knew that he was getting rash because he wanted to go save them but going without a plan wasn't gonna help, rather, things would start to go wrong. First and foremost, they needed to take a deep breath and assess the situation so they knew what they were doing before they went gallivanting off.

"Just relax, okay? I mean, first of all, is your family even at home?" Ray asked, wanting to know if they were worrying over nothing. For all he knew, the Harts could be out on a trip or at work or school and the thugs were turning up to an empty house. In that case, all they'd have to do was roll up, do some surprise sneak attacks and their work would be done.

"Yes, they're at home," Bummer. There went that plan. Okay, people at home weren't great but it wasn't terrible either, ow they just had to be extra careful and extra sneaky. Tactful and smart, if Ray could ever be that.

"Even your mom?" "Especially my mom!" In a moment that definitely lacked tact and intelligence, Ray couldn't help but ask about Henry's regretfully attractive mother and Henry, in his panic, couldn't help but rub it in for poor, old (y/n). She felt a twinge in her heart at his elated tone and the catch in his breath, knowing that even though it was probably a slip of the tongue, a second of forgetfulness or some bullshit like that, he still said it and it still hurt.

"Then what are you standing around answering questions for? We gotta go!" The second blow came from the way her stupid, stupid doofus pushed Henry out of the way and scrambled up the steps to the tubes, standing on his tube pad and hitting his belt so fast that she nearly didn't have time to join him under the glass.

It was weird, she didn't cry and neither did she feel the same heartache she normally did, not even when he repeatedly hit his belt to cause the tubes to fall quicker or when he screamed the command to launch them upwards. Mrs Hart had been a thorn in her side for too long and she'd spent long nights coaching her mind to not pay attention to when her idiot of a fiancé said something stupid because that was just him, it didn't mean he loved her any less or vice versa. But at the same time, she couldn't help but wonder about her life, her choices, her relationship.

She just felt numb and as she swift wrapped her arms around his neck to hold on, a seed of doubt planted in her mind. Had Rick Twitler been right?

~Henry's house~

Was it possible to love someone with all of your heart and want to punch them in the teeth too?

(y/n) was debating it as she trudged a few metres behind Ray and Henry, staring at the approaching Hart residence with a black look. Every time she came here, it ended in a sore heart and an argument and right now, with all of the problems that they were facing, she didn't fancy getting distracted by something as petty as a few spoken words. Therefore, she deemed it wise to hang back a bit, and trudge a bit slower than the stampeding boys since she figured that if she didn't hear their conversation, she'd have nothing to worry about. What the heart doesn't know about won't trouble it.

That was her working mantra anyway as they got closer to the house and walked up the driveway. For a while, it was working; there were a few mumbles here, what sounded like a few tense comments there and as she dragged her heels the boys loitered before the door, evidently a little apprehensive to go in. She could only think why.

"Come on! Let's go, let's go! (y/n), hurry up!" Henry shouted to his slow friend as she barely made the effort to pick up her feet, preferring to wait for Ray to go inside and get whatever love he had for the kid's mother off his chest before she had to hear it. Maybe it was cowardly to do nothing but after trying and trying and trying, this just seemed easier - just let it go and let it be.

"Wait, wait, wait! Stop!" "What? Why stop? We gotta get my family outta the house!" The kid was not fond of his friends' slowness, not (y/n)'s lack of energy and certainly not Ray stopping before his hand could grasp the door handle. Did they not know that his baby sister and parents could be battered and bruised in there? Did they not care? He thought (y/n) would've cared given how close she was to Piper, even if there was a little...tension between her and his mom, but for the life of him (and Ray), he couldn't think of what had gotten into her. A moment's thought would tell them straight away.

"Yeah, I know but uh...how do I look?" Ray asked, not thinking and not worrying because this was a rescue mission, right? He had a reputation to uphold, even if they were out of costume and mere citizens right now, it still did well to seem suave, manly and heroic as he swooped in to save the day, and a messy, crumpled outfit and bad hair wouldn't help that. It wasn't so much Henry's mom that he was worried about, more like the image that she was a part of; that classic hero who fought crime and looked good doing it, the image of a man in his prime and not steadily moving away from his glory days.

"What? I think you look fine. I don't know, whatever," the kid responded, causing (y/n) to narrow her eyes when she saw the look of confusion written on his face. She was barely moving now, having come to an almost standstill halfway down the drive when she saw that they'd stopped to talk and something told her that she didn't want to listen. Could anyone lend her a kid so she could be a hot mom just for one day? What would it be like to turn his head like that?

To have his unyielding attention in a relationship that made sense because moms were his type, they had to be. The feeling he got with her, or his reaction at least, seemed...stale in comparison—like his smile was more of a routine than a reflex, an obligatory gift he had to give her when she entered his line of view because she was his fiancée. Or she was supposed to be.

"You think, you think?! Your mom's in there!" Ray hissed, causing Henry's stomach to drop and his chest to tighten.

"Oh my god..." God almighty, he thought this problem had been wheedled out ages ago, back when he swore that it meant nothing, never had and it would never happen again. He couldn't believe it, he just...was it just him? The guy had everything he'd ever wanted, the girl he'd pined after for a decade and he was still pretending that he was that guy. The guy who loved the ladies, took a new one out every night, the guy who never needed anyone because the one person he wanted wasn't his to love. Those might have been Captain Man's greatest days but Ray Manchester's life was starting right now, he was months away from marriage. Did he not remember that?

"Now, would you say I look great or really great...?" "Yeah, we're not doing this—we're not doing this because she's married and you have a fiancée, so stop!" Henry glared at the man and ignored his frankly revolting attempts to casually ask if he looked good enough to make an impression on his mom. Not that he would ever accept an invitation, nor would Mrs Hart offer one, the boy knew that each was perfectly happy in their own relationships and despite his outward stupidity, Ray was as loyal they come. He just...he was bad at showing it.

"Fine, whatever!" Ray grumbled before turning his head to see his best girl shuffling down the driveway, a tight but still beaming smile on her face, one that warmed his heart but would've made him worry had he looked a little closer. Did she think he looked great? He'd picked one of her favourite shirts that morning to win her affection, Kris Hart had nothing to do with it, "hey, sweet girl, would you say I look good?"

"As handsome as always, doofus," (y/n) replied kindly, trying not to let her voice wobble as she knew who he wanted to look good for. Once, it would've been her but that wasn't exactly the case anymore. He was gorgeous, the hottest man she'd ever had the pleasure of seeing, so he looked good in anything with more than one woman inclining to agree. The problem with the good-looking ones is they have the pick of the bunch...always.

"Good...then, follow me," he grinned and lightly held the back of her arm so he could pull her into the house after Henry, who started shouting like a madman the minute he entered the house. Of course, Ray strutted in like a peacock, jumping in like the hero he wanted to be with (y/n) behind him with a nervous stare to match those of the shocked family before her. Clearly, they had no intention of getting out, no matter how much Henry begged.

"Out! Everybody out! Why is no one moving?!" "Hey, (y/n)... Why do we have to leave?" Piper asked as she sat there looking like a glamour model in a beautiful dress with her hair and makeup done. Her gaze met (y/n)'s, who just shrugged and stared at the floor since she wasn't in the mood for lying or fighting or being strong for a change. Her bed, a pint of ice cream and silence were sounding heavenly right now, just the right thing for her to sob and wash away that seed of doubt that clouded all of the times when Ray had proved that despite a few odd instances, he was very much devoted to her and only her.

"Uhhhhhh...because..." "You...." "Are..." "You're all in danger," (y/n) stated dryly as the boys tried to find a better way of saying that thugs were approaching the house with weapons and god knows what else. There was no point dithering and trying to cover it up, their lies were pretty terrible and she wasn't in the mood for lies. She'd had enough of those too and no matter how much she twisted her engagement ring to try and calm her nerves, that dark mood wouldn't lift.

"Of what?" Piper questioned, her frown deepening at the woman's blunt statement. It didn't take a genius to see she wasn't in the best mood but then again, she wasn't exactly amongst geniuses when it came to the boys. Still, she didn't press it, she merely probed deeper into this sudden need for them to leave and her brother and his boss' weird reactions to what the woman said. Something told her that they wouldn't have said that if they had been able to come up with something.

"Of, uh...." "Of...missing out on a free weekend at the Hotel Staines!" "Yes!" Well, it wasn't a bad lie. An expensive one, but not bad. The Staines Hotel was famous for being the best place to stay in all of Swellview with full five-star treatment, pool, fancy rooms, great food, the lot.

It had been the scene for many a romantic getaway for Ray and (y/n) when he wanted to treat her to the pampering she deserved as a goddess amongst mortals and for a brief moment, a glimmer of a smile flickered onto her face when she remembered how he surprised her with a penthouse suite, complete with rose petals on the bed and a champagne bottle waiting on ice. It had been two days of heaven but the seed was starting to push those memories out in favour of horrific imaginings of him slipping into the same suite with a honey-haired woman with a kind smile. Jeez, it sucked that even if the unthinkable happened, she'd never stop loving him, not even when the next mom came along.

"What?!" "My boss is paying for a deluxe suite!" Well, that was news to Ray. The man's faux-happy face fell at the sound of forking out at least a few hundred dollars for a room that he wasn't even gonna have the pleasure of enjoying. It was one thing to go with his sweet girl, that he'd do gladly, but not for anyone else. Did the kid not know he was trying to save every buck he could for his wedding? The day he was looking forward to with everything in his heart despite what his moronic mouth came out with?

"Ooh!" "What?" "Garden view..." Ray quickly calmed their excitement by knocking a substantial amount off the price tag. It would still be a nice stay, just not as nice as they had first imagined but they were prepared to make the best of such a generous offer. Although, for Piper, it wasn't so easy to hide the disappointment on her face.

"Awesome..." "Well, still good." "Sure is!" "Yeah, okay, let's go! Fantastic. Come on!" Henry brushed over whatever they were saying and dragged his dad by the arm towards the door. The sooner he got them out of the house, the better and Piper and Mrs Hart were quick to follow, rising from the couch and practically skipping to the door without a moment's thought. Normally, people take luggage when going to a hotel, clothes, a toothbrush, and toiletries. Weren't they forgetting something?

"To The Staines!" "What are you guys doing? Why aren't you leaving?" Henry asked with a tense face as his family made a complete U-turn, having remembered the essentials that they sorely needed to take. He hadn't thought about the need to pack and knowing his mom and sister, they would take half the house with them, which would waste precious time that they didn't have.

"We have to pack!" "There's no time to pack, you have to leave! Right now!" Henry opened the door, only to shut it immediately when he saw a...friend standing on the porch. And by friend he meant a very vicious-looking thug cracking his knuckles. Well, someone wasn't selling Girl Scout cookies, more like looking for a fight and his heart stopped as he, (y/n) and Ray shared a worried glance. They couldn't get out, so keeping his family upstairs was looking like a better idea since they'd have the high ground and as much as (y/n) would've liked to see Mrs Hart having a bad day, she knew it wouldn't be nice if she got pummelled by a man with violence issues.

"Um, packing is a great idea. Go pack!" "Okay!" Mrs Hart beamed at her son and scampered off to go and fill her suitcase with everything she'd need for a sophisticated weekend at The Staines Hotel. And it was a good thing too; with the family hidden away upstairs, the trio soon found themselves with new company as another henchman came through the back with a particularly mean look on his face. Right, okay, there were only two, nothing they couldn't handle.

"We'll take front thug?" (y/n) suggested, her eyes briefly looking at her doofus as he kept his gaze trained on his opponent coming across the room. He could handle one by himself, which left his less experienced sidekicks to deal with one between them, a fair split that made sense. As much as she hadn't felt like it before, the heroine knew she couldn't run away now and leave Henry by himself, not even when her heart was hurting at the way she was sure that Ray's eyes followed Kris up the stairs like she was a supermodel or film star. At least, it had looked that way to her because, to be fair, Mrs Hart was beautiful.

"I'll take back thug," Ray replied, looking back at his girl just as she turned towards the door. He would've usually given her a good luck kiss before sauntering off to go beat the guy to a pulp but he put it down to her wanting to focus on the fight. He could make up for it later with plenty of kisses when they weren't in danger and he'd tell her how beautiful and hot she looked in a fight. The hottest, sweetest, bravest girl in the world.

It was fight time. With Ray briskly walking away to go duel his man, that left Henry and (y/n) to deal with theirs. The kid opened the door to reveal the thug, who let out a deep breath that honestly sounded like more of a grunt as he pounded his fist into his palm and rubbed at his wrists. The Rick Twitler logo was tattooed onto the back of his hand, a definitive sign that he was one of Twitler's flying monkeys sent to terrorise his family. Well, he picked the wrong heroes to mess with.

"Okay, pal. Listen, I eat thugs like you for break—" "Hey! You—you dick! Kid, are you all right?" (y/n)'s mouth dropped in horror and shock as Henry's sick quip was interrupted by the thug socking him in the face with a strong left hook. He clearly wasn't one for banter and the sidekicks looked at him in disgust for laying a hand on Kid Danger, who wasn't quite up to speed with how slow his body and mind were now that he'd been drained of his superpowers.

"Ow! I think I'm oka—" Henry groaned and briefly turned to his friend, thinking that the man had only been able to land that punch on a fluke because he never normally got hit like that. Rather, it had been so long since he sucked at a fight that he'd forgotten how bad it felt to be beaten up and things were only going to get worse. In a flash that never used to be a problem, the man punched him again and stormed into the house when Henry hit the floor, causing (y/n) to jump back and raise her fists to her face in preparation for retaliating. Yeah, he was gonna have to get used to a normal pace again because she could not fight this guy alone as she was on the puny side in comparison to his beefy body.

"You okay, kid?" Ray shouted from across the room as he repeatedly bashed his thug's face on the kitchen counter. His fight was going swimmingly since he was still the same old invincible Captain Man and had (y/n) broken her focus to look at him, she would've swooned at the way his upper body heaved with rippling muscles with each movement. It was a treat that he was fighting in civilian clothes that revealed more than his super-suit ever did and deep down, she'd be quite smug that no one else got to see him like that when she finally found a moment to stare.

"Yeah! It's just kinda hard to fight without my pow—ers..." Henry groaned when he was hauled up from the floor by the neck of his shirt and punched again. His face was finally starting to feel quite sore, so as Ray threw his goon across the kitchen island, (y/n) stepped in between him and their guy to try and buy him some time to recover.

"Look, pork chop, you wanna get the kid, you gotta go through me," she growled and softly ducked and jabbed at his face when his sausage-like fingers reached out to seize her throat. The thug grunted softly in pain when her hardened fist met his nose, only to spring back just as quickly with a backhand to her cheek. The sting was momentary but enough for (y/n) to gasp and feel tears spring in her eyes, leaving her to dodge the next two attacks. Henry was still panting against the mantlepiece of the fireplace and upon seeing his friend struggle against the meathead, he decided that there was no need to fight with fists when they had technology on their side.

"Hey, watch this..." he said to the bad guy, who look at his watch in confusion when he plucked it from the mantle and held it towards him. For such a tough guy, he squealed like a terrified child when the teen zapped him and fell to the floor as any true drama queen would. Well, that was easy and for Ray, things were going quite well too; he kicked his enemy in the stomach, causing a basket to fly up from the floor, which he then promptly threw back down onto his face. If he was a smart thug, he wouldn't get back up.

"Henry!" Mr Hart called from upstairs, probably having heard the commotion downstairs. The boy panicked for a moment and had to think fast as he worried about what his parents would say if they caught him and his bosses fighting two evil strangers and messing up the house. That just wouldn't do, so he thought quickly and came up with a brilliant solution.

"Stuff him in the fridge!" "Oh, that's fun!" Ray grinned at the idea of stuffing the man in the fridge next to the pickles like he was some kind of salami and as (y/n) spread a blanket of the other goon in a pathetic attempt to hide him, Ray tossed his thug into the fridge headfirst. With one final punch to ensure he stayed put, he closed the doors and casually leaned against the machine, acting as though he hadn't just been in a fight that destroyed half the kitchen.

"Have you seen my toothbrush?" Mr Hart asked his son as he trotted halfway down the stairs. All the three could do was hope that he would remain his oblivious self and not notice the villain-shaped lump in the middle of the sitting room floor.

"Uh, have you checked your bathroom?" the teen suggested and his dad skipped off back upstairs at what should've been an obvious location to look. Thank god Mr Hart was a bit dumb, he never even noticed the mess or the man under the blanket, he was more worried about his silly toothbrush.

Now that they were alone again, Ray swiftly reopened the refrigerator doors and scooped the chilly thug into his arms and over his shoulder in a fireman's lift—the easiest way to carry a bad guy when you need to dump their bruised body somewhere. What he didn't notice through the kitchen window, however, was that Twitler was not so stupid as to send only two men, no, if the guy loitering outside the house was anything to go by, they would be having more company any time soon.

To Henry and (y/n)'s shock, some karate, Mr Miyagi-type jumped through the doorway and landed in a fighting stance. He was shouting, kicking and waving his hands around like he was about to chop them into itty-bitty pieces but once they got over the initial startle, it was easy to deal with him. A quick blast from the Whiz Watch sorted him out and no karate move in the world was gonna stop him from flying out the way he came.

"You grab his right leg, I'll take his left," (y/n) told Henry as they returned to their original thug, intent on dragging him from the building and hiding him someplace where he wouldn't cause any more harm. However, just as they began the almost impossible task of dragging his body across the rug, they failed to notice that the bruiser who'd seen Ray attack his associate had circled the house and had crossed the threshold. Henry looked over his shoulder and gulped slightly at the guy, who cracked his knuckles menacingly, but he didn't let the fear show on his face, not when they were already preoccupied and now outnumbered.

"Be with you in a sec!" He grunted as he and the heroine struggled to pull the thug's body across the floor and (y/n) thought the kid had gone crazy when she heard him speak, only to look around and see that they had more problems than the one they were tugging along. This wasn't her day, not when the man let out an alarming scream as a battle cry and charged them despite Henry's polite smile.

"I don't think he wants to wait!" She yelped as they made a tactical retreat and danced across the room with the psycho on their tails, dodging nearly every kick and punch that he threw their way. Ray was having much more success, beating his man up with ease as Henry struggled to cope with how many hits were landing on his torso and butt. Had the world always been this slow or had he just been that fast?

It was hard to tell when (y/n) was avoiding the jabs and kicks so perfectly, her mind in tune with her body as she leaned backwards and dropped o the floor in time, something he was struggling with. Yet another kick to his chest pushed him over and into the door, making him grunt in pain as his friend bravely stood in front of him and blocked the onslaught of attacks since he was winded.

Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Ray was still going great; he punched another dude in the face, then kneed him in the stomach and threw him across into the living room, watching with a satisfied smirk when he slid across the coffee table and landed in a pile. The problem, though, was that upon sliding across the table, he also took with him some huge, impressive jigsaw puzzle that Piper had enlisted her entire family to help build. It was something she wanted to do to get back at that stupid Jana Tetrazzini since she'd broken the record and helped a load of puppies but now, her attempt at smashing the world record was smashed itself...in ten thousand and one little pieces. Damn, that took Henry and his super-fast reflexes, like, five minutes to piece together, not to mention an excruciating amount of family time.

"Hey! That was my sister's puzzle!" Henry screamed as he watched the destruction from across the room with a horrified face. Piper was gonna die when she saw the mess because if she loved something, it was laughing in Jana's face when she did something better than her.

"More like that was your sister's puzzle, am I right?" Ray grinned as he strode into the other half of the room and over the coffee table, swaggering from the adrenaline high of the fight. It was just a puzzle, no big deal, at least his sister would be okay at the end of this, that was what he should've focused on, not some dumb puzzle that could be put back together with a little—or a lot of—effort.

"That's exactly what he just said, doofus!" "Am I right?" "No!" The trio argued back and forth as they carried on fighting, (y/n) instinctively teaming up with Ray to fight his bad guy as she picked up his limp body and began slamming it loudly against the door. It probably was a better idea to go and help the kid since he was being pinned to the wall with his own hatstand but he'd never ask for help, not even a little bit. He'd fought for ages before he had superpowers and he used to be good at it, it was just a matter of getting back into the swing of things. Besides, it would do them good to work together for a bit, because even he could see that there was something up with the girl underneath the reassuring smiles she kept giving him, even if he couldn't quite work out the reason.

"Henry? Someone's at the door!" Mrs Hart shouted from upstairs after hearing the racket of the thug thumping against the door. It would've been best to say nothing or just shout some half-assed reply but Ray being Ray had to be helpful, chivalrous and polite with the nice lady upstairs who'd encouraged him all along to persuade the girl of his dreams all along, the least he could do was make sure she didn't come down to absolute chaos in her house. If only that was how it came across.

"Uh, I got it, Henry's mom!" He shouted in reply, not seeing how his sweet girl looked so forlorn when he grinned at the spot at the top of the stairs. She didn't put up a fight when he took matters into his own hands and shoved the thug through the door and onto the porch before pretending he was talking to some passing visitor, "Uh, nobody needs your cookies, little girl!" He yelled before leaving the steadily growing pile of bodies and turning around to tease his young sidekick, who was almost laughable in his failed attempts to win against one guy.

"Buddy, you are really struggling today!" He grinned and put a casual arm around (y/n), who wasn't sure if she enjoyed the contact or not given the beaming look on his face when he was talking about Mrs Hart but she figured that it was his way of balancing his affections. She didn't doubt that he loved her, but she wasn't sure if he loved Mrs Hart too, after all, his mind kept straying back to her. What was a doofus to do when his heart was torn between a hot mom and a sweet girl?

"Yeah, I'm not used to fighting without my y'know..." "Dignity?" Ray joked as he hugged his beloved fiancée closer to his side, ignorant of her hurt since he was so distracted by how. His youngest sidekick couldn't overcome one simple henchman and whilst he'd never let it go too far, it was quite amusing to see him wriggle around like a newbie.

(y/n) felt just as conflicted watching the boy struggle whilst they did nothing as how she wanted nothing more than affection from her lover and to smack him for going back on all of those flimsy promises. She knew it was just him; the playboy, flirtatious edge was just his personality but still. Seeing him that excited over such a beautiful woman was upsetting and she wondered why she let it get to her after so many years of putting up with it.

"No!" "Deodorant?" He joked again, watching in amusement as the kid dodged a few jabs of the hatstand and pushed the guy away. He looked down at his fiancée as his chest rumbled and felt his smile soften when she rested her cheek on his chest, content to savour the moment before something, a terrible comment most likely, ruined it. A peck on her head made her feel special for a glorious second and she remembered why she could never stop loving him—because those moments made her feel so special like she was a twenty-something-year-old in a restaurant again with her hot boss who'd made time for her and not the pretty waitress who was obviously into him. Why couldn't it always feel like this?

"No!" "Daring do?" Then, finally, despite all of Ray's teasing, Henry caught a break. Well, sort of a break. Regrettably, the thug thrust the hatstand a little too slow to hit the boy and ended up smashing a cute photo frame that would cost his parents a fortune in sentimental value. That was the bad bit, the good bit came in the form of him being able to rag him around a little s he growled in reply. "No, my superpowers!"

"Henry, catch my suitcase! Thank you!" Piper yelled from upstairs and to everyone's shock, she didn't wait for her brother to respond, she just dropped it from the top of the stairs. It was a mere stroke of pure luck that the heavy object landed right where the henchman had been pushed and for Henry, not having to fight anymore was a saving grace.

"Aw, Hen, you're so lucky that your little baby sister was here to help you," (y/n) teased as she wandered over to the boy now that his opponent was groaning on the floor, no thanks to him or his years of sidekick training. She was so busy looking at him with mirthful eyes that she didn't see the way Ray followed after her like a lovesick puppy, watching and finding her every move endearing like she hung the stars in the sky. Maybe one day someone would film the way he acted around her and the way he acted around moms and then show her the comparison; the moms didn't even come close.

"Yeah, (y/n/n), she's the only one here who could've helped me..." the kid retorted, causing Ray to wrinkle his nose at his sass. It wasn't her fault that he couldn't fight without his powers, she was just trying to make light of the situation and he didn't want anyone upsetting her, even if his own words should've been a little more careful.

"Easy, sassy pants," he told him as he walked past to collect the thug's body but not before placing his large, warm hand on his girl's back. The warmth that settled into her skin nearly distracted her from the beeping shrill of Henry's phone ringing, which was the only thing that stopped her from going into a daydream about how perfect he was or a nightmare about how inadequate she was for a guy like him.

"It's Charlotte," the kid said as she looked over his shoulder and as Ray took hold of the guy's legs. It was easiest to drag him out the back and ignore the call since they were kinda in the middle of something here.

"Eh, just let it go to voicemail." "What? Ray, seriously, what is your deal with ignoring Charlotte?" (y/n) asked after him as he disappeared around the corner with the Boyd, just as Henry answered the phone. That would have to be a conversation for later, if later ever came, and Henry answered the phone hoping it was good news. They could do with some of that right now, what with Twitler, the threats and the clandestine rocking of the relationship between the Man Cave's OTP.

"Hello?" "We found the bee! Come back to the Man Cave," Charlotte instructed him as soon as he answered and for the first time in what felt like forever, things seemed to be going their way. The bee was the hardest part and they were just about done at his house so things were looking up...for now.

"Okay, click!" "Click," the conversation ended and Ray wandered back into the room, his chest pressing into his sweet girl's back as he reverted to type and got all touchy-feely with her, which was nice but so confusing at the same time. She was the one he wanted to love up now? How long would it be until she was in a thrupple with Kris again?

"Charlotte found the bee. Let's get back to the Man Cave," Henry told his boss, who was more than ready to go home since home meant kisses and the freedom to be as heavy-handed with his affection for his lover as he wanted but for (y/n), something didn't feel right—and it wasn't just his incessant flirting with another woman. No, something felt off, like there were eyes on her figure, watching from the shadows.

"Wait...my tummy is telling me something..." "(y/n), we've talked about this. Your tummy can't speak to you," Henry replied gently, thinking that her biggest kooky quirk was getting the best of her. Whilst he had no doubt that she had excellent instincts for danger, the notion that she felt a premonition of peril in her stomach seemed crazy and he just put it down to all of those dormant nerves zooming around in there. Come on, tummies don't talk.

"No, kid, trust her tummy. Not only is it adorable and an excellent pillow...but it knows things," Ray said mysteriously as he dismissed his sidekick's apprehension. He also knew that his sweet girl had good instincts and those instincts stemmed from her tummy, which she said felt funny when something was wrong and was never normally incorrect. He thought of it like an innocent deer sensing danger in the meadow before the hungry wolf came to attack and he thanked his lucky stars that she often avoided being hurt before traps or bad guys pounced.

"What? You're just saying that 'cause you love—" "Shhhh! Do not interrupt the tum!" (y/n) snapped and smushed her finger against the boy's lips since he was being far too loud for her liking. Like the deer she emanated, her eyes closed and her ears took over, listening for the slightest rustle or vibe that might give her a clue, and someone's heavy breathing was a dead giveaway. "Got it, there's one more goon in here."

"Oh, yeah, where?" Henry smiled, thinking they were both crazy as Ray took her word for it and began searching the room for the idiotic sucker who thought it was a good idea to stay behind when all of his evil chums had gotten beaten up. He'd sniff them out. After all, if (y/n) was the innocent deer then he was the vigilant bloodhound, seeking enemies with pinpoint accuracy because, at this point, he knew how the average low-life thought.

And he did, which was quite impressive and also annoyingly obvious as the final goon had chosen the worst hiding spot in the history of hiding spots. Ray lifted a potted plant out of the way, revealing the last man stood there like a statue and not breathing in the hope that no one would notice or hurt him. Too little, too late, and Henry wondered how he hadn't seen him sooner.

"Ah, the weird tummy thing works! Nice, (y/n/n) and good eye, dude!" He grinned at the adults as they stared down the snivelling thug, who had clearly bitten off more than he could chew with the three superheroes that Twitler had told him to distract. Damn right, the tummy never lies.

"Thanks," Ray nodded as his sweet girl gave her friend a smug smile before they properly focused on the thug again in a calm manner because it would be oh-so-easy to scare him shitless into a life on the straight and narrow rather than just plain attacking him, "are you the last goon?"

"Yeah..." the man whimpered pathetically.

"You wanna just run away?" "I just wanna go home..." he replied in a small voice, looking as though he was about to burst into tears and cry for his momma, something (y/n) could sort of relate to given how crappy she'd felt over the last few hours. Actually, it felt kinda mean to punch him now, so much so that in a rare moment of mercy for the criminal scum, Ray gave him the chance to run away.

"Okay, go." "Thank you..." "Get out!" Although, not before kicking him up the ass to get him to move a bit faster. Well, nobody was perfect and it amused Ray enough to cause a smile to break out on his face as he moved the potted plant back to its original position. Oh man, he loved his job sometimes.

"All right, let's get back to the Man Cave," Henry said as he took one last look over his house and the unfortunate damage that had taken place. Oh well, items could be replaced, all that mattered was that his family were okay. So, he waltzed out of the house like nothing had happened, like they were never there and (y/n) waited for her doofus by the door. She had been willing to put the events of the last hour or so behind them because she swore that this house brought out the most heartbreaking things about him, but then, she couldn't forget so easily.

As Ray also looked over the house, she could swear that his gaze lingered on a framed photograph of Mrs Hart smiling beautifully into the camera and it took every ounce of strength and resilience built over many years of seeing him go to someone else to not cry when she thought his fingers twitched to reach out and take it. Was he really thinking about it? Would he hide that photo in his bottom drawer to pull out whenever he grew tired of looking at the pictures of them together? Would it be easier to set him free now before she made the mistake of trapping him forever?

~The Man Cave~

The journey home was fraught with anguish for (y/n) as she mulled over her options and descended into the Man Cave with Ray and Henry. They were none the wiser to her inner torment as the tubes dropped into the main room where a lot of things had been done since they left, including Schwoz building some clever gadget to get the kid's powers back and the all-important bee that had been held in Jasper's mouth because it was a better receptacle than nothing. She didn't know what to do because all of her ideas so far weren't helpful or smart, some ranging from stupid and others stretching as far as downright insane and reckless, which wasn't exactly her style.

"Where's the bee?" Henry asked the minute his feet touched the ground, and he, Ray and (y/n) trotted down the stairs. Her worries could stay silent for now, she knew they had bigger things to worry about than her silly little feelings and besides, Ray had been a total sweetheart ever since they left the Harts' residence in tatters, so it was almost like things were back to normal. Almost.

"Over there." "Thanks for bringing it back," the boy nodded at Charlotte as he studied the bug that had been trapped inside a plastic box for Schwoz's whacko experiment. What was even more whacko was how she was preoccupied with looking at Jasper's mouth, looking for a way to soothe the stinging bumps that covered his tongue and gums since he'd made the sacrifice of his palate so that the bee could be kept safe. It was admirable if a little odd.

"Hey! Thwe bwee was in mwy mwouth!" "Why you talkin' like that?" Ray asked impatiently, not wanting to interact with the weird kid any more than he had to but he couldn't deny his insatiable curiosity to know why he sounded like his tongue had been cut out. Jeez, what had happened whilst he'd been out? And why was his sweet girl avoiding his eyes? Even he, the densest man on earth, was starting to pick up on something being wrong.

"Oh, sweet cheese, Curly!" (y/n) grimaced with the boys when Jasper turned around to reveal that the bee had left an unsightly mess on his tongue in the form of several sore-looking blisters that made the muscle look like the surface of the moon. Rather him than them, to be honest, Ray would never be able to kiss his sweet girl if his mouth was like that...or if he could be stung...and that's only if he worked out why she was acting like the (y/n) from ten years ago when the slightest move made her awkward and jumpy.

"Wait a second, I thought a bee only had one stinger and it falls out when it stings you," Henry pointed out, noticing that his tongue was covered in bumps when technically, the bee should've only managed one before it died. That was how it went when he was taught ecology in school.

"Well, some bees do but other bees don't. It depends on which bee stings you, so some die after one, others can keep on stinging and some bees don't even have stingers at all," (y/n) replied without taking her horrified stare off of Jasper's hideous injuries and she made a mental note to get him some calamine lotion or something later. That bee must've been one tough cookie because jeez, that looked nasty, even if they were adorable and important to the environment.

"Guys, this is no time for real facts about bees!" Ray butted in, his renowned impatience coming back as his sidekicks swapped info on what bees could and couldn't do. As much as he loved hearing his sweet girl be all smart and stuff, for once, his brain ruled over his heart and told him that cooing and gooeyness could come later when the boy had his powers back. That would be the time for banter, not now.

"Yeah, you're right. Here, use these man-tweezers to pull the stingers out," Henry advised Jasper as he handed over a pair of tweezers that weren't manly in any way, shape or form, simply a product that Ray had bought to make his face extra perfect, ergo, they just had to be called man-tweezers, much to (y/n)'s annoyance.

"Tweezers. They are just tweezers. Call them tweezers, for the love of God," she groaned and threw her head back, missing Ray's small smile when he saw how her pet peeve irked her. It was cute when she screwed her nose up, even cuter when she scowled and pretended to be annoyed.

"Thwanks! Wi'll gwive them bwack to you when I'm dwone!" Jasper said to ray, who turned his nose up at the thought of being handed a pair of slimy tweezers that had been in the weird one's mouth. Yeah, no thanks, he could live without them now, call it his only gift to the kid he claimed to dislike intensely.

"Uh, yeah, you can just keep those!" "Oooh, schweet!" Well, at least it made Jasper happy and he seemed to pluck at the embedded stingers with a little more vigour as he wandered off to complete the task. It wasn't the weirdest thing the Man Cave had ever seen.

"Hey, so, can you get my powers back?" Moving on, Henry asked Schwoz the all-important question, the one he'd been gnawing his fingernails away at over the past few hours. It was the thing they were striving for and Schwoz had been working pretty hard, so there was a good chance they'd be successful, knock on wood. It wasn't certain but the man was confident, outwardly anyway.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. You get in the box, I press the button, and your powers will transfer from the bee back to your body!" "Awesome!" Schwoz's brief, dumbed-down explanation brought a relieved, joyous smile to his face and he had never been so happy to hear science stuff coming from the small man's mouth. His worries were over, everything was okay and he wasn't gonna remain useless at fighting for much longer because Schwoz, the little coconut-headed beauty, was gonna fix everything.

"Quick! Get in the box, get in the box!" Ray encouraged him, wanting to waste no time in testing whether the man's technology worked or not. Henry didn't want to wait either, chasing the high that came with the knowledge that he was about to be super again, so he jumped into the box for Ray to close and bolt the door behind him with a final reassuring smile. All they could do was pray it worked.

"Henry, can you hear us?" Charlotte asked as she pressed the intercom button on the side of the box. Normally, Schwoz wouldn't have built on intercom because it was an effort to have to press the button every time they wanted to talk to the test subject��person—but he also wasn't fond of hearing screams of pain so he added it anyway. He just hoped that Henry took the news that it wasn't going to be a pleasant experience well.

"Loud and clear, let's do this!" He replied in a cheery tone that would be gone by the time the genius was done, he'd stake his multiple degrees on that. Still, positivity would make it seem better, to start with anyway.

"Okay, I'm going to release the bee into your box and you have to make it very angry so it will schting you." "What?" Henry knitted his eyebrows together at the sound of Schwoz's ridiculous instructions. Okay, did he know how much bee stings hurt? His enthusiasm was slipping away more and more with each passing second he was trapped in the claustrophobic box, which was also beginning to look more and more like a trap; now that he thought about it, what were all of those locks for?

"Yeah, and I have to activate a switch to activate the ribonucleic gas at the precise moment it schtings you, which will make the bee schting hurt even more!" Schwoz exclaimed with a cheery grin on his face, the kind a doctor would use when trying to convince a little kid that their shot wasn't so bad and the needle wasn't the size of a machete. But Henry wasn't a kid and he didn't believe in Schwoz's smile or any attempt to make that sentence any better. Bee stings were already quite sore and it wasn't that he was scared but...he was a bit nervous.

"You never said any of this before I got in the box!" "Yeah, well, you would have never got in if he did, would you?" (y/n) grinned at him with a mischievous glint in her eye. It was nice to be back in the Man Cave since its four walls seemed to make the problems of the world disappear and with no one else to distract him, Ray returned to his usual, affectionate self.

His arm was slung around her shoulders, he stole kisses from her cheeks, temple and forehead and warmly chuckled into her ear when she cracked a witty comment to try and stop her sour mood from bringing everyone else down. Mrs Hart was a long-forgotten memory but she didn't want to be his precious fiancée one minute and hear him sing her praises the next. She was fed up with the same old story.

"Release the bee!" Schwoz muttered to Charlotte, who still had the intercom line open so Henry heard every word. And boy, he was not happy to hear that his protests were going unheard and not acted upon.

"No, no, no, no, no, no! Hang on a sec, hang on a sec! Why does the bee have to sting me? Why can't you just flip a switch or do some science? Okay, I really do not like bees, guys?—" Henry screeched and jolted around the box as his traitorous friend released the bee, which had begun glowing green thanks to the superpower it had soaked up. It was also quite speedy as it zoomed around the box, agitated by his brisk movements and swatting, so when his complaining didn't stop, Ray started to get agitated too.

"Oh, this is really hard to hear...can you mute him?" He asked, knowing that his sidekick's endless grumbling was ruining the friendly atmosphere they had going on outside. He was trying to love up his sweet girl after a stressful day that was clearly wearing her down, did he have to ruin that with his big mouth?

"Yep," Charlotte was growing tired of it too, so she took the remote control from her pocket and hit what she thought was the mute button. However, as they soon found out, that did not make Henry quiet, rather, it translated everything he said into Spanish because why wouldn't Schwoz include that?

"Now, he's just being annoying en español. What did you do?" (y/n) asked, feeling Ray's hands land on her hips to keep their bodies pressed together. It was a nice gesture and the warmth spreading through her back was nice but she was more interested in what Charlotte had done to the box because Henry had never paid that much attention in Spanish class before.

"Oh, sorry. That was the Spanish button," the girl replied bashfully before meekly pressing the button adjacent to the one she pressed before. This time, it had the wanted outcome and whatever Henry was whining and shouting, they couldn't hear it; the silence was bliss and now, it was just a waiting game to see when the bee would get fed up with the lumbering human trying to squish it. They watched patiently as the boy kept the insect away from his face with his eyes trained on it at all times despite how quickly it could move and it was strangely exciting to wait for the big moment.

"Is it stinging him?" Charlotte whispered to the couple behind her, her eyes not shifting to meet them since she already knew that they were already locked in a tight embrace, Ray hunched over his sweet girl like he wanted to shield her from anything horrible in the world. She seemed happy and it was enough to settle him since he wasn't a mind reader and couldn't see the flip-flopping of her heart in her chest.

"It's thinking about it," (y/n) told her, watching closely as the bee zipped around Henry's face and then landed on his cheek. The suspense was so bad that even Ray stopped fawning over her and stared at the kid as his eyes screwed shut and the stinger finally penetrated his skin.

"There we go," the hero smiled the wait was over and it was kinda funny to see how the boy tensed his entire body from the pain. At last, the moment Schwoz had been waiting for and as Henry gritted his teeth to bear what was probably like a pinprick, the genius twisted a nob on a canister to release the gas, flooding the chamber. He adjusted some settings and kept everything steady as the gas worked oppositely to how Twitler had stripped his powers, returning the energy that had been stolen through his nose and back into his body. It didn't look very pleasant, but it worked, no one was gonna complain.

The process came to an abrupt end and the bee was released from its service, leaving Henry in a state of panic and everyone else waiting with bated breath. As he thumped on the glass to be let out, they couldn't help but wonder if it had worked or not. Did the kid get stung for nothing or were they back in business? Charlotte quickly stepped forward to let her friend out of the box and the moment the door was open, Henry shot out and scrambled to get as far away from that demon bee as possible. Did they know how badly his face was throbbing?

"Did it work? Do you feel fast?" Charlotte blurted out as Henry got his bearings after such a traumatic experience. He felt the same, a little groggy but nothing told him whether the world was going fast again or not, everything just seemed to go at a normal pace and he didn't feel particularly speedy. Well, there was only one way to sort that out.

"I don't know..." "Testing rock!" Ray had a method of decline whether they were back to their usual fighting power and of course, it came by throwing a rock at Henry's body. Before he'd taken it to the face in a humiliating defeat that proved Rick Twitler had won a bottle but to everyone's delight and Henry's shock, the rock seemed to slow down for him and his body became a blur when he dodged it a familiar lightning speed. Who cares if it hit Schwoz instead? Kid Danger was back and faster than ever.

"Oh!" "Yes, nice one, kid!" "Okay, uh, quickly! Someone throw some more stuff at me!" Henry gasped and blinked a few times to check that the moment was actually happening and not some delusion he'd conjured up in the grief of losing his superpowers. They. Had to ensure that everything was right and if his speed was working properly, so a missile or two would probably do the trick, just a few weapons of mass destruction to make his butt go quicker and see if he could go fast enough to punch Twitler in the face like he wanted to.

"I'll throw something at you!" Schwoz went first after getting up from the floor with a bruised forehead, "Now, you can also fly!" He said dramatically, making Henry's eyes go wide and (y/n) put at the sudden news that he'd inadvertently gained a new power thanks to the bee. No fair, she wanted to fly too, it seemed so cool, even if going high was a bad idea in a skirt.

"Are you serious?" "Yeah! You got all of that bee's power! You too can fly! Just jump and believe!" Schwoz exclaimed, building the boy up to believe that he could really do it if his heart wanted to get out there amongst the clouds and for the two other heroes in the room, it wasn't nice to have that scene painted in their heads but out of their reach. Of course, (y/n) settled for just a pout since she was a grown-up and preferred to stomp down her jealously so it would never see the light of day but Ray liked to throw tantrums. He was a man-child, after all.

"What? No fair, I wanna fly!" "No way, dude! I'm about to fly, go back to your girlfriend!" Henry shoved him back out of the way when the man pushed his way in front of Schwoz to stamp his feet and shout until he got his way, but Henry didn't want to hear it. He could go back to his babysitting fiancée and be a good boy because he was about to take flight for the very first time, and it didn't even matter how far-fetched the promise seemed.

"Uh, Hen? You sure you wanna jump from there?" (y/n) asked in a concerned voice as the boy clambered onto the arm of the couch with the obvious intention of jumping off. She hadn't exactly researched how Schwoz had transferred the powers from the bee to him and she didn't exactly understand it, but now that she thought about it, the smirk on his face did seem a little weird. As much as she'd like to get around without paying for an air ticket, she'd definitely take that news with a pinch of salt, unlike Henry, who was too excited about having an upgrade than thinking things through.

"Who cares?! See you in the clouds, ground-walkers!" He cried and took the leap of faith, diving off of the arm with his sights set on the ceiling and his arms spread wide like they'd help him take off. Of course, they didn't; predictably, he didn't fly, not at all, rather, he sank like a rock and bellyflopped on the ground in a heap of pain and regret in a move that made Schwoz and Charlotte cackle and (y/n) and Ray frown in concern. Well, that was a mean trick.

"I can't believe you thought you could fly!" "You literally fell for it!" The genius and girl laughed at his pissed-off face as Henry stayed on the ground and tried to ignore how his entire body was now aching. Yes, he now understood that he was an idiot, there was no need to rub it in, not when he could already feel how much of a dumb move that had been.

"Not cool, Schwoz!" He snapped as Ray leaned over and offered a hand to help him up, which he gratefully accepted. (y/n) gulped at the sight of the thick muscle tensing and stretching to get him to his feet and she felt the urge to reach out and grab hold of one just to reaffirm that they were as solid as they looked. No, focus on the mission at hand, it was best to get this mess over with, then they could go back to normal and she could live happily with him and the ring on her finger until the next time they were unfortunate enough to cross paths with Kris Hart.

But, just as the jokes and laughter had reentered the Man Cave, the danger and malice crept back in. With Henry on his feet, the computer's monitors flickered and went fuzzy for a brief minute before an all too evil and familiar face was back on their screens. Twitler had hacked into their network again and was sending one of his so-called friendly video messages, intent on seeing the chaos he'd wrought and eager to show what else was to come. Instinctively, Charlotte and Schwoz fell to their knees and ducked behind various pieces of furniture before they were seen by the villain. That left the three heroes, or rather the off-duty heroes to stand awkwardly without their usual masks to hide behind. Talk about being exposed.

"What's up, Man Cave?" He greeted them joyfully with an air of confidence that immediately had their guards up and their hair standing on end. That stupid smirk was back and (y/n) couldn't help but feel her skin crawl as his eyes scanned the room and seemed to linger on her, something that she tried not to think about, no matter how disturbing it seemed. "Twitler!" Ray didn't take the sudden intrusion into his home very well either and in typical Ray fashion, he reacted without thinking, whipping his laser controller from his back pocket and zapping one of the computer's monitors before he could think about what he was doing. Of course, the screen cracked and broke upon impact but Twitler's image remained because he wasn't actually in the room, just a load of pixels being beamed from an undisclosed location. Duh.

"Did you try to shoot me through a computer screen?" Twitler asked with a condescending smile. It was fascinating for him to peer into their lives like this and even more satisfying to see what chaos he'd caused. Kid Danger looked so nervous, Captain Man was a bigger idiot than ever and Miss Danger, well, it seemed like his little plan of sending her and his moronic fiancé to Henry's house had worked a treat, just like he knew it would. That guy couldn't resist the woman that lived there and even after all she'd said to him, he was certain that even (y/n) (y/l/n) wasn't sure anymore.

"No!" "Yeah, you did, doofus, we all saw you—" the gorgeous woman murmured to her lover as he pretended that he hadn't just lost his temper so easily. But, to her shock and in a move that was totally unlike her adorable Ray, the man shouted over her soft mutterings, too wound up by the taunts of his enemy to treat her right. It wasn't the worst thing he could've said and normally she'd gloss right over it with an eye roll at his childish behaviour but it wasn't nice to hear after feeling so crap all day. Oh, what a glorious sight trouble in paradise made.

"What do you want, Twitler, huh? You gonna send more goons for me, (y/n) and Henry to take out?" Ray asked, not seeing the way his sweet girl deflated and looked down the floor, nursing a bruised heart. She was just overreacting, right? He didn't mean it, she was just being dumb, a dismissal was hardly a sign that he was growing tired of her, that was crazy. Ray didn't see but Rick did; his smirk carved into his cheeks even more as he practically witnessed a rift open between them, just a small crack that was widening with every minute and the idiot didn't even know it. It shouldn't have been so easy to prey on her insecurities and fears but it was.

"Oh, those goons were just a diversion! I need time to carry out my real plan." "Oh, yeah? Which is what? Huh? Being a jerk? 'Cause if so, mission accomplished!" "Yeah, good one!" the boys bumped fists as Henry used one of the burns he'd thought up and stored away when he was in the shower. It wasn't his best but it did the trick, anything to insult the man would do but he didn't seem offended. Rather, the comment and fist bump rolled off him and he didn't miss a beat when it came to responding because he was now in a position where revealing his entire plan wasn't disastrous. He was about to be victorious and in his victory, he'd get everything he ever wanted.

"No, the plan I told you guys about at The Honey Factory," Rick Twitler frowned at their apparent forgetfulness because he swore that he'd already revealed what doom he had in store for the world. Internet, destruction, dark ages, blah, blah, blah, how could they forget that?

"Uh, I wasn't really listening..." "Uh, I remember zapping you a lot..." "They aren't exactly known for their listening skills, you know," (y/n) told the CEO dryly as her friend and beloved doofus struggled to recall any specific details. Twitler wasn't sure if they were being deliberately facetious or not, but he wouldn't put being that dumb past them; Miss Danger understood, she was leagues beyond them but they struggled with simple skills learnt as a child. No wonder she was the only superhero he tolerated, well, it would be better if she swapped that uniform for something a little...darker.

"Remember this? The living computer virus I invented?" The villain questioned cockily and raised the canister that contained the glowing liquid of both Henry's power and the virus swirled together. That radioactive soup could take out the world's entire internet in a second and (y/n) gulped at how he was passing it between his hands so calmly, radiating a power that came from holding a weapon of mass destruction in his hands. But still, Ray and Henry weren't gonna give him the satisfaction of basking in his success.

"Uhhh...kinda?" "Uh, what am I looking at here? Sorta..."

"Well, it's nasty stuff. All it wants to do is spread and destroy, and now, it has your super-fast reflexes, Henry Hart," Twitler told them smugly, knowing that his virus had been engineered to stop at nothing and devour everything, any circuit, any data, anything that made up the web. It made him feel powerful and gave him a high that Twitflash had never done and he knew that whilst that had given him his money, freeing society of that scourge was gonna be his most real achievement.

"Oh, yeah? Well, guess what, Twitler? I got my powers back!" "Yeah!" "It's true, you've done nothing to stop us," the trio replied with equal confidence, not letting his little slip of Henry's real name affect them, even though it was still alarming to know that he knew all of that stuff. It was a small surprise for Twitler that they'd managed to get the boy's power back so quickly, but he didn't show it on his face. Wow, the kid could move fast again, as if that was gonna stop him. They were too late, everything was too late—the end had come and he wasn't about to back out now.

"It won't help you stop me. You couldn't stop me even if you could fly!" Twitler mocked the kid, causing Schwoz and Charlotte to silence their laughter by slapping their hands over their mouths. They could let him hear them but it sure was funny to remember how Henry had jumped from the couch because of their hilarious prank and the teen scowled as his fellow heroes also struggled to stop their lips from curling. Come on, if they didn't tease him, who would?

"That's funny you said that actually, 'cause, like, a second ago, Henry jumped right off the couch and— "He genuinely thought he could fly!" "It's not funny—it's not funny that you say that, so stop laughing! Let's listen to the plan that Twitler has that won't work..." Henry slapped at (y/n)'s arm as she put her hand over her mouth and giggled, Ray grinning just as much. Yeah, yeah, he knew he was an idiot, didn't they have more important things to worry about? Like stopping this guy's dumb plan that would fail because evil never triumphs?

"Oh, it'll work. This virus is about to destroy every computer network in Swellview and then, it will spread and destroy every computer network in the entire world and the era of technology will end! Forever..." Twitler's tone turned soft at the end and (y/n) felt as though his gaze had returned to her.

And it's not like she could turn to her doofus for help; whilst his body was still there for her to hide behind, he was too engrossed in his text messages to notice any lingering looks and she didn't feel like being too clingy after feeling like a burden all day. She knew what it was like to be called clingy and the shame and pain were almost unbearable. So, she steeled herself and met his eyes, intent on figuring out why such a frankly brilliant man would have such dastardly plans.

"W-why would you want to destroy all of technology? I still don't understand," she asked, unable to wrap her head around his viewpoint, despite having it explained to her earlier. Twitler decided that if she didn't see the light then he'd take it to her. She was smart, she could work it out and once she saw it on his level, then maybe, just maybe, her feelings for other things would change too. His plans were so very dastardly and perfect.

"I think the internet killed his mom or something," Ray muttered, not once looking up from his phone as he vaguely replied to her query in the least helpful way imaginable. The woman sighed at him, wishing that he was just a little bit more engaged in such a serious conversation because whatever was on his phone couldn't have been more important. She was trying to think and him, his stupid huge muscles, tight t-shirt and floppy hair were distracting her brain from processing Twitler's reasons, which was infuriating under her heart's fluttering.

"Really? That stinks, dude," Henry grimaced for the man and considered offering him a little more sympathy before he decided against it. He was a criminal, after all.

"The internet did not kill my mom! She's fine! She lives in Boca—and are you seriously on your phone right now?!" The man snapped as he lamented the mention of his mother, who would probably disown him if she knew what he was up to. What was more frustrating though, was how for the last few minutes, Ray had been scrolling through the internet that he hated so much, meaning no matter how epic or heinous his speech was, it was just wasted breath. Ray loved how irritated he sounded and unable to resist, he couldn't help but use his few brain cells to come up with one of the sickest burns he'd ever thought of—and one of the most damaging, but not only for Twitler.

"Yep, looking at pictures of your mom!" He quipped, causing Henry to snigger at his laddish humour and they tittered together when Ray scrolled down the Twitflash page of what looked like a lovely lady with dark hair and brown eyes in her mid-forties. She looked nice, pretty despite the signs of her age and (y/n) felt her heart drop into the rift that was now gaping between her and Ray. It was just a burn, he didn't mean anything by it as he just wanted to embarrass that asshole, but she'd had more than enough of him lusting over other women for one day and the fact that he kept scrolling and smiling at each picture was the final straw.

"Well, enjoy your precious internet while you can because soon, if you need information about something, you'll have to read a book! A real one! With pages made of paper!" Rick Twitler snapped, having taken that insult a little more seriously than the first. He wasn't seething like (y/n), but he wasn't just gonna let something like that slide, not when he was a momma's boy at heart, so he made them hurt too.

The world was better before the internet came about; kids weren't rude or glued to phones, people talked face-to-face, libraries were the go-to place with information and everyone was happier. Things were great back then, and even (y/n) had to admit that her childhood was filled with fun and imagination without tech shoved in her face.

"No!" "You monster!" Henry and Ray didn't see it that way, though, they were quite happy with how things were now, so they were disgusted at his vow to take that away. In fact, the hero was so distraught that he forgot himself again and took out his laser control to break yet another monitor, and another, and another because maybe he could hurt Twitler now. Or not. Probably not, he was just breaking stuff and wasting dollars because he was having an emotional outburst.

"Stop it!" (y/n) hissed and lowered his hand quickly before he could ruin anything else. She confiscated the gadget with a stern yank, causing Ray to pout at how his sweet girl had to tell him off, but he made another mental note that he'd make it up to her later with kisses and his usual friendly approach to make her happy with him again. It was fine, everything would be worked out later, he just knew it because that's how they always sorted things.

"Say goodnight, boys...and (y/n), don't look at me like that. You know what's logical and what's not," Twitler gave them all one last look, one more lingering than the others, before taking his computer virus and kneeling on the floor, meaning he was now leaning over several, thick pipes. They could only guess that they were the pipes that housed millions of super-thin, super-delicate fibre optic cables that fed the world's internet, which made them all so much more nervous, especially when the madman paused to look back at the camera.

"Also, Charlotte, I could see your hair the whole time," he revealed to the startled girl, who quickly ducked and slapped her hands over her protruding bun. If she had known that she stuck out, she would've chosen somewhere else because the knowledge that Twitler knew about her and all the other helpers in the Man Cave was disturbing. They didn't deserve to get hurt too just because they worked there.

The heroes couldn't break their gaze from the monitor as they watched Twitler break the jar open, releasing the green sludge onto an exposed portion of the fibre optics. Tenacious was the right word to use; the green goo seemed to come to life as it met the tech and seemed to wriggle to coat every single inch as the data went back and forth, thus releasing the virus into the world too. This was it, the internet was being hijacked and that was the end of the video.

"It's, uh, probably fine, right?" Ray stammered as they all reeled from what they had just watched. The virus was fast but for a few milliseconds, they had no way of knowing if Twitler's ick had actually caused a technological disaster. That was until the alarms started blaring and the lights started flashing, signalling that they had a very big problem on their hands, one that Charlotte rushed to identify.

"Is that the "everything's totally cool" alarm?" Henry asked nervously as she stood at the computer to check it out. And all the while, no one noticed (y/n) slipping away, not just in thought, but also physically; she didn't know why but she had an idea in her head and it wasn't brave, it was stupid; it wasn't clever, it was ridiculous; it wasn't helpful, it was heartbreaking, but in the face of adversity, she decided that sacrifices had to be made for the ones she loved.

"Hey! Got the stingers out!—what is with the alarm?" Jasper exclaimed as he reemerged from the secret door with a handful of tiny pinpricks that had previously hindered his speech. (y/n) was glad that she got to see him one last time as she headed for the elevator and she was more than grateful that Ray was now focusing on several things that weren't her. If she had to meet his eyes, she wouldn't make it and nothing or no one could stop her in her flight. If this was a game then she'd play it, even if the winner loses in the end.

And just as she silently slid into the elevator and used the last of the power to make it to Junk-N-Stuff, the city went black. Generators and grids that supplied Swellview with power went down without the internet to tell them where and how much voltage was needed, so literally, the Dark Ages had arrived, with (y/n) having to push the doors open with her bare strength when the elevator jutted to a stop on the store's level. At least in the darkness, no one would notice she was missing until she was long gone with nothing more than her sincerest love left behind.

"Is this an "everything's totally cool" power outage?" Henry asked again in a much more fearful voice as they adjusted to the new world and instinctively, Ray reached for his sweet girl. His hands swatted at the air, wondering where she was in the pitch black because right now, things didn't feel safe and he needed her safe more than anything, so it truly was heartbreaking that she was walking herself into danger with the sole intention of doing the logical thing.

"It's okay. I think there's a flashlight in this drawer full of blasters..." Jasper said as he reached into a cabinet to try and find a light. However, in a typical Jasper fashion, he was less helpful and more...deadly, as he pulled a weapon that had been put away for safekeeping from noobs like him.

"No, Jasper!" Ray cried and he lunged for the blaster since he didn't want anyone to have any holes in them when they couldn't see to find his fiancée's first aid kit, but it was too late. Jasper was known to be a bit trigger-happy and the minute the gun was in his palm, an orange death laser began to rain down on them, hitting the rock-face ceiling, walls, floor, you name it, it ricocheted off of it until it finally hit the final monitor and dissipated. Oh well, they couldn't connect to anything anymore, so it's not like they needed it.

"Sorry!" He yelled as their hearts thumped in their ears and he sheepishly put the blaster down before he could kill something else. They had bigger things to worry about though, such as the lights going out across the city; Junk-N-Stuff, Henry's house, the huge Swellview sign, everywhere was dark, which aided (y/n)'s sprint through the chaotic streets as she headed where logic told her to go. And that was Ray's biggest problem.

"Just put it down!" He snapped at Jasper because he had enough to worry about right now and a serious injury didn't need to be one of them when he had serious superhero stuff on his plate. More importantly, though, his heart twitched when he realised that something wasn't right and it wasn't because everything was dark. There was no laughter, no small figure pressed against his side or small hand holding his, there was no sweetness worrying about his silly self and suddenly, his heart lurched. Oh god, oh no, wait, where was his sweet girl?

"Uh, guys, where's (y/n)?" He asked in a panic, looking around frantically for her feminine frame in the dark and coming up with nothing. There was no reply either, no soft voice calling out to reassure and call him a doofus for worrying when she was right next to him and there were no lips to kiss away the worry etching lines on his forehead. The teens and Schwoz looked around in confusion because that was a stupid question; (y/n) was wherever he was and vice versa because they came as a package, one was never seen without the other as they were joined at the hip.

"Uhhh, she's right...she's gone?" Henry gasped softly and was wide-eyed as he turned to his side, where he could swear the girl was only a moment ago, staring down Twitler as he had done but now...she'd just disappeared. They all looked around at the shadows and the shrouded furniture, wondering if she'd moved to a particularly dark corner but there was no one there—and Ray was starting to hyperventilate.

His chest was heavy, his forehead was getting clammy and Henry had to put a hand on his shoulder to pull him back to reality when he began to tear random objects out of his path, as if (y/n) would be crouching behind the took cabinet. He had to find her, he just had to because not knowing where she was frightened him more than a global apocalypse ever could and every scenario played in his head from kidnap to teleportation, foul play to...something more deliberate, a notion he couldn't stomach, not when everything was in chaos.

Ray looked so distraught and confused, so heartbroken and terrified like his soul had been pulled from his body to leave him lost and wounded. What would he say when she told him that she was just doing the logical thing?

~Some seedy, abandoned internet factory~

Navigating the streets of Swellview wasn't easy in the dark and the lack of GPS didn't help (y/n) either as she hiked her way up Mount Swellview and then crept along a shadowy, abandoned hallway. Why bad guys had to have such secluded hideouts was beyond her.

Well, it wasn't totally abandoned, she could see a light at the end of the tunnel and against all instincts, she was going towards the light. Why? Logic told her so, or rather, a mysterious text sent to her phone seconds before the lights went out told her where to go. It didn't say much, nothing at all really, just a line of coordinates and a pin on a map in the creepy part of town where all of the crime went down.

She knew where to go but she didn't know what she'd find, so just in case she was walking into more trouble than she could handle, her Miss Danger uniform came out to play, which admittedly, made her stick out like a sore thumb for any criminals who were passing by, but it gave her an air of confidence and security as the colours reminded her of who she was doing this for. No fear, no weakness and certainly no revealing of her true emotions—that would end up in her being hung, drawn and quartered or something, bulletproof costume or not.

Reaching the end of the hall, she pushed open the heavy metal door and thankfully found it to be less squeaky than she had originally thought it to be. Someone kept their doors well-oiled and that someone was stood in the middle of the room, clad in a maroon suit with his broad, lithe back turned to her as he worked away on a rickety old machine that would've been more suited to a museum than service but she figured that it was the next best thing given that there was no internet.

And for the most part, she could swear that her footsteps were silent, a trait perfected during one of Schwoz's lectures on "schneaking like a ninja for schuperheroes", but as she stood behind the steadfast man, his head seemed to look over his shoulder as if he sensed her presence.

"I wondered how long it would take you to get here," Rick Twitler started in a velvety tone that could've melted butter given how soft and crooning it was. The heroine stopped in her tracks, shocked that he knew she was there all along when she was trying to gain the upper hand of surprise but she refused to let it show in a soft gasp.

The whole point of coming here, jeopardising everything she'd ever hoped to have and becoming a traitor was to make things right and she was certain that Twitler thought that she was stronger than she appeared on the outside.

"You knew I would come," (y/n) replied and immediately cursed herself when her voice wobbled between the intonation of a statement and a question. She didn't mean to sound so unsure of herself but if he noticed, Rick didn't say anything, he merely stopped what he was doing and turned so she could see his face. Still handsome, still perfectly groomed and still wearing the same smirk as always, and she knew it was because she'd come to his lair of her own free will.

"I knew that it was only a matter of time until you saw the logic of everything. I've read your file, you and me, we're the same," he told her, taking a few steps forward so he was only a few feet from being close enough to touch. Twitler's eyes seemed to study every flicker, every facial tick that lay beneath her mask and normally, she'd flinch under such close scrutiny given how unnerving it was to be under a perfectionist's eye.

But she relaxed and let her shoulders drop, a sign to show that she wasn't here to fight, nor did she mean to be a threat because if she wanted a war, she'd have brought the cavalry. That bit was obvious.

"How do you mean?" (y/n) frowned and tilted her head, a gesture that was endearing to the man since he appreciated how she strove to enlighten herself but not in a dense, moronic way that often infuriated him with others.

No, her gaze was curious yet had a pearl of certain wisdom behind it that he enjoyed because it was so hard to find someone like him who saw the truth and how simple it would be to solve so many problems if people just stopped and thought. The world lacked thinkers and rationality, so with her, he hoped to end everything that repulsed him.

"Well, I saw it today. You don't shout, you listen. You don't argue, you learn. Do you know hard it is to find someone who understands what it's like to be a tortured genius? You—you are tortured, (y/n). You put on his uniform, you help him fight his battles and what does he give you in return?"

"I suppose...he...he will never see the world the way I do. And it's so tiring sometimes, loving a man who behaves like a five-year-old. That is until he sees a mom..." (y/n) squeezed her eyes shut to stop a brief moment of weakness in front of Rick, who took another calculative step so he could rest his palms on her shoulders.

A warmth settled into her skin that strangely chilled her to the bone and she looked up to see piercing brown eyes boring into hers. For a brief moment, she could swear that she saw a flash of familiar icy blue but it was just her imagination—or possibly her heart trying to find what she was assuredly never gonna find again.

"That's why you sent us to the house, wasn't it?"

"My dear, sweet (y/n), I had to make you see. The minute he was there, Henry's mom took first place and where does that leave you? Hmm? With me, you'd always be first and you'd never be taken for granted. Not your loyalty, not your intelligence, nor your beauty. Join me, and we can make this imperfect world perfect again...let them see your worth."

Twitler's offer made her shiver as his breath hit her neck and blew down her back. His nose was brushing into her hair and she could feel the curve of his smirk brushing the shell of her ear, a gesture that was so intimate it made her gut lurch and quiver as if her soul was rejecting the affection of a man who wasn't her soulmate. But she didn't push him away and spit in his face that he obviously didn't know her that well because that wasn't logical.

"I understand. The internet dies and society gets to live again." She replied with a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth as her arms came around his body to bring him into a gentle embrace, one that pleased the man to no end.

"Exactly. Long live society...sweet girl."

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greyturned · 2 years ago

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soulstcne / AISLING JONES @soulstcne

IT CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE. that’s what they say. no amount of wallpaper and suburban bliss can keep out the shittiness of the world. not even the white picket fences and pristine front lawns are enough to shield them from their combined pasts. instead, as the book club disperses, and aisling allows herself to relax a single muscle at the base of her neck, she quickly learns that there still exists far greater perils than memorizing the details of danielle steel’s latest.

he barely knocks on the door. it’s more of a rushing stumble that ends with a weighted collapse against the screen. she doesn’t even take the time to set the plate of pastries down. it just clatters to the ground with a vibrant crash, exploding into cream-spattered shards of porcelain against the oak flooring. the door is tugged open, and she just barely manages to intervene before ben hits the ground, one shoulder beneath his arm as she fights the battle with gravity. after five minutes of the clumsiest and most awkward dance of her life, she has the door shut, and ben’s impractically tall form pulled over to the unfortunately white sofa.

“ ben? “ three designer cushions later, she lowers him into the couch, rushing back to the kitchen to fetch the makings of an impromptu medical kit. towels from the hot press, hot water, disinfectant, and about fifty band-aids of varying sizes. it’s pathetic. it’s also not something she ever imagined she’d have to do in this fake little life of theirs. “ ben, stay awake for me, will you? ben? ben, waken up, now, come on... i’ll start insulting your baking if you don’t start talking to me, and then you’ll end up wanting a fake divorce, and that just brings up a tonne of fake paperwork, and i mean... do we honestly need that fake hassle? “

IT CAN HAPPEN ANYWHERE, AND IT CAN HAPPEN AT ANYTIME. Ben had reminded himself of this daily, and it kept him alive on more than one occasion. it was something he lived by, and it'd be something he swore by for the rest of his life, which is why he felt so stupid now as he struggled to make it to the front door of the facade house he shared with Aisling. with all the good his abilities did him, there were moments where he was sure the universe that gave them to him liked to fuck with him. this was one of those moments, and as he barely clung to consciousness, he was sure that someone out there was getting a kick out of his misery.

he'd had only a moment to react when he felt another presence with him in the parking garage he kept the crappy Chevy the Marshals gave him to use. with no one else around but him and his two attackers, First Order lapdogs that were likely there making a drop or pick-up for the heroin line Snoke had an interest in --- Ben hadn't realized it'd moved that far south and if he lived, he'd have to warn the Marshals --- and, much to Ben's unfortunate luck, had recognized the former right hand. what Ben had going for him was the fact that they were too stupid and arrogant enough to call it in. he'd used that and the otherwise empty garage to his advantage to give them a swift end, but not before they'd gotten a few good hits in. too good of a hit.

the only thing that kept him going was the panic he felt when he realized he'd been compromised. panic not for himself, but for Aisling. Ben didn't know how he made it back to the house, but as soon as he set eyes on it he forced himself to keep going. eventually, his body couldn't keep it up anymore and he fell against the door, then again moments later. when his body never hit the ground, relief filled him, because he recognized the smaller frame barely holding him up. as his vision went in and out, all he could think was that she was safe and let himself fall briefly into unconsciousness. Ben barely noticed when he was horizontal, he wouldn't be too upset with the couch when he was awake because he'd always hated it, but he could feel hands on him and a voice filled with worry. it was like trying to listen with his head underwater, but eventually, he was able to make out what Aisling was saying and claw his way back to awareness long enough to ask a simple question: ❝ 's the house compromised? ❞

#damn u tumblr for making me accidentally delete the original #little shorter bc i can't remember what I first wrote #moved bc of beta too alksndlansd #* &. i know what i have to do. / in character #* &. marvel / the world is getting bigger #soulstcne

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tanyawritesstories · 4 years ago

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Bliss Beneath Waves | Kit Fisto x Reader

Here is the fic based off this request. Sorry it took so long, anon 🥺 I loved the idea that this inspired! You can either think of it as before the Clone Wars or if they never happened, since it's peaceful and cute. 🥰 Also, I just started reading The Cestus Deception and have been simping extra hard over Kit recently 😍😍 enjoy!!

Word count: 1.9k

Warnings: fluff, one NSFW scene, fingering, cuddling, adorable themes, more fluff, Kit is such a sweetheart and I love him

•••

The planet was gorgeous at night. It’s moon was closer to it than on Coruscant and provided more light, bathing everything in a soft blue glow. The surface of the planet was mostly water with islands of every size scattered about here and there. The only noise was that of the gentle waves lapping at the shore and songbirds whistling their lullabies for all to hear. It was so peaceful, even if you were sitting by yourself on a boulder at the edge of the water, not currently joined with your partner just yet.

You closed your eyes and breathed in the fresh air. Glee Anselm was one of the favorite planets you’d ever visited and it wasn’t just because the locals were nice and the scenery was beautiful. It held a special place in your heart. You smiled thinking of all the reasons why it did.

One of those reasons was currently walking towards the rocks where you were sitting. You could faintly hear the shuffling of the sand as it sunk under his boots, your smile widened. You knew he was looking at you. You heard what sounded like clothes rustling together before small grunts as he clambered onto your rock, sitting down beside you. “Evening, my love,” he greeted. You turned your head, still smiling, and was treated to the sight of Kit, looking just as happy as you. “How did your mission go?” You asked.

“It went great,” he said, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. “I didn’t expect it to go so well. The Senator even invited me to dinner afterwards, hence why I was so late. You remember meeting her, don’t you?” You nodded, resting your head on his chest. “I remember. I’m shocked you two are still good friends despite the idea that politicians and Jedi don’t mix.” He chuckled. “She and I have been friends for years, our political ideals and lifestyles don’t get in the way of that.”

You had initially been a bit jealous when you first met the Senator of Kit’s home planet. He seemed very fond of her, and her of him. Kit had sensed your emotions and explained that Senator Kadis and himself had been good friends when they were growing up. When he became a Jedi he took attachment very seriously and purposely forgot about her, but as he grew older and more comfortable with his life, his interpretations of the code had loosened and that had been when he met you. His relationship with you was stronger than anything and nothing could tear him away from you.

You both sat in silence for a few minutes until Kit noticed your attire. “Where did you get this dress?” He asked, thumbing the material. You had almost forgotten that you were wearing such a nice outfit. “I had a formal dinner meeting to attend, I came here right after,” you explained. “I don’t mean to sound dull, sweet thing, but your business dealings sound more boring than anything the Senate has to offer,” he commented. You laughed. “They are for the most part,” you agreed, “but I love investing in promising people and helping their ideas make it big.”

Kit smiled and returned his attention to your dress. It wasn’t anything too fancy. It had been a warm Coruscant summer day and you wanted something that would keep you from overheating. It was a light yellow flowy, strapless dress that came down to your knees. A white ribbon with a small bow acted as a belt around your middle, and also kept the chiffon fabric from getting out of control. “Where did you get it?” He inquired. “Just a small store I found, it was the cheapest formal looking thing I could find,” you answered. He hummed, “you look stunning in it.” You smiled, a small blush dusting your cheeks and ears. “Thank you, baby.”

Kit decided it was that time in the day to relax and promptly whisked off his shirt, leaving him in just a loose pair of knee-length, brown pants. “Would you like to join me for a swim, darling?” He asked, slipping off the boulder and into the water. “I’ll think about it,” you said. You swung your legs off the rock, letting your feet dip into the water as you watched Kit walk into deeper water and dive under. You hadn’t known much about Nautolans when you first met Kit four years ago. You remember how sheepish you felt after you got worried when he had been underwater for ten minutes without surfacing, only to have someone tell you that his species was mostly aquatic and had gills to breathe underwater.

Kit resurfaced near you and swam over, running his hands up and down your legs, coating them in a sheen of warm water. “Are you sure you don’t want to join me?” He wondered. “I’m fine right here, for now,” you replied. Kit planted a few kisses to your calf before smirking to himself and looking up at you with an innocent stare. “How much did you say you paid for this dress?” You looked down at him, curious as to why he was asking. “Not much, why?” Kit moved his hands farther up your legs. “Do you like it a lot?” You shrugged, “I mean it’s alright, it’s not my favorite thing I’ve ever purchased. Why are you-”

“So you wouldn’t mind if it got a little ruined, would you?” Kit asked with a devious smirk. You were confused until his grip on your legs tightened, by the time you realized what was happening, it was too late to stop it. “No, no, no, Kit!” You shouted in shock as he pulled on your legs, dragging you off the rock and into the water. He caught you in his arms before you completely submerged, laughing at the annoyed expression on your face. “What? You said it wasn’t your favorite,” he joked, his smile so big and genuine that you had a hard time finding it in you to be mad at him. At least the water was warm.

“You’re lucky I love you,” you joked along with. Your arms linked around the back of his neck bringing you closer together. Kit cupped your cheek and brought your lips to his. The kiss started slow, but it quickly escalated into heated passion and want. One of Kit’s hands wandered down to the hem of your dress, running his hand up your thigh and pushing the wet fabric up. You broke away with a small gasp. “Kit…” you breathed. “Shh, I know, we don’t have much time,” he said, “but I’ve finally got some alone time with my wife, there is no way I’m going to spend it without pleasuring you in some way..”

You whined and wrapped one of your legs around his waist, opening them just enough for Kit to rest his hand on your barely covered sex. “You’re warm down here,” he observed, sending you a lust filled glance. “Well, my husband did just promise to finger-fuck me within an inch of my life so I don’t know what you expect, you handsome devil,” you replied cheekily. Kit chuckled, the sound a low and enticing rumble. “Then finger-fuck you within an inch of your life I shall do,” he settled. In a few quick movements Kit pushed the offending fabric of your thong aside and ran two fingers firmly along your slit.

You gasped and gripped onto his shoulders, grinding down onto his long digits. Kit attached his lips to your neck and gently nibbled, he didn’t want to leave marks knowing where you both would be heading after this. He teased your entrance before sinking two fingers deep into your needy cunt. “Kit..” you moaned out, running your hands through his head tendrils softly. He groaned in response, working his way down to lick the skin of your collarbone. His fingers sped up, your slickness combined with the water meant little to no resistance for his fingers. Your breathing was shallow and you squealed when he hit your hidden pleasure point. He hummed, now nibbling on your earlobe. “You going to cum on my fingers, sweet one?” His thumb found your clit and he rubbed firm circles on it. You only nodded, not able to produce words.

His fingers were thrusting in and out at a blinding pace now, he curled his fingers up sharp and hard, sending you over the edge. You wailed as your orgasm washed over you, Kit removed his fingers when it got too much for you. He gently pulled your panties back in place and watched as you came down from bliss. You sighed happily, continuing to run your hands over and through his head tentacles, it helped you both relax. When Kit was calm he gave off a calming aura that you latched onto, bringing yourself into the same headspace. He nuzzled into your touch as one hand moved to his back and you pulled him in for a tight hug. You massaged his back, working out any tension in his muscles, the water providing an extra relaxing effect.

After a while of calming down and spending time loving in silence, you both decided it was time to get moving. You both exited the water and dried off the best you could, heading to a familiar side of town once you were both presentable. “I hope your mother won’t be angry that we’re fifteen minutes late,” you wondered aloud. You and Kit stopped at a simple, cozy looking house at the end of the road, where Kit began pushing in the code for the front door. “I’m sure she won’t mind, you know she loves the kids,” he assured.

The door opened and you both stepped inside, not seeing anyone at first. You weren’t standing for very long until you heard the thundering of footsteps coming your way, the two young boys rounded the corner, barreling towards you and Kit. “Aiden! Mika! We missed you,” Kit said, kneeling on the floor as his son ran to him at full speed. “Mommy, dada! You’re back!” They both shouted. Mika ran to you and you grabbed under his arms, lifting the youngster into your arms and balancing him on your hip. Aiden ran straight into his father’s arms and Kit scooped him up and spun him around. Kit’s mother rounded the corner shortly after with a smile on her face. “You two came back just in time, they were starting to get restless,” she said.

“Thank you again for watching them.” You said, planting a kiss to Mika’s forehead and smoothing your hands over his tiny head tentacles that were just starting to grow out. “Daddy, can we go home now, I’m getting tired,” Aiden voiced with a yawn. “Of course, little man,” Kit answered, “say goodbye to your grandmother now.” Both boys waved and said numerous goodbyes as you and Kit carried them out of the house. Your ship was parked a short distance away and by the time you reached it Mika had fallen asleep in your arms and Aiden could barely keep his eyes open. You got to the ship and set both boys down in their on-board bunks, kissing them goodnight before you and Kit joined each other in the cockpit.

You pecked a kiss to his cheek as he punched in the coordinates for Coruscant. “I love you, Kit,” you said. He smiled and planted a kiss on your cheek as well. “I love you too, darling. Now strap in, it’ll be awhile before we reach home.”

#star wars the clone wars #kit fisto #kit fisto x reader #star wars fanfiction

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jksmoongf · 4 years ago

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heaven’s kitchen [preview] || jjk

Pairing: cook! Jungkook x shy! reader

Genre: fluff / smut

Wordcount: n/a [preview 1.4k]

Plot: Jungkook is one of the youngest and most popular cooks in Seoul, lucky for you - he teaches cooking classes and so much more.

Warnings: not established relationship, non idol Au (omg it’s my first time writing one of these so pls be kind lmao), a big dash of pining, a pinch of jealousy, smut (tba!) a/n: a little while ago I asked if some of you wanted a preview and I never posted it, sorry! I still don’t know when this will be up (I have presentations to do and work, so I have to put writing on the backburner. I originally wanted to post this on my birthday but I didn’t finish it in time.) Hopefully I’ll be able to post this at he end of July. As always feedback would be lovely. love you, angel babies!

Thursday - August 20th

“You confidently cut down to the bone, three times… you want the chicken to cook evenly and the thigh meat won’t cook as fast as the breast if you don’t do this. ” Jin explained as they were all gathered on the opposite side of the counter, watching him skillfully prepare the chicken. “Hyung, here…” Jungkook handed him a bowl filled with the herb butter he had just taught them how to make. “Thank you…” The older one trailed off. “By now the butter should be at room temperature, and you should be able to easily spread it evenly underneath the skin. You carefully pull here at the end and you have to be really gentle when you move your fingers underneath so you don’t tear the skin, we really don’t want that to happen because it’ll prevent all the goodness from the butter to leak out…” “And when it melts in the oven, the butter will seep into the meat with the herbs and give it a wonderful flavor and it will be so soft, the meat will melt on your tongue; combined with the tardiness of the lemons…it’s heavenly.” Jungkook sighed, making the females around him swoon in response. “That must be one hell of a roast chicken.” Taehyung mumbled. “I’ll be on lemon cutting duty, I won’t touch the bird.” “Me neither.” “I’ll do it.” She gestured for them to be quiet so she could soak up the rest of the instructions until the chicken was safely tied up and roasting in one of the ovens. “Wow y/n, you’re so good at this.” The boys gathered around her, watching in awe as she stuffed the warm lemon slices inside of the chicken. “You should open a restaurant, this is amazing.” Tae peeked over her shoulder, his deep voice vibrating in her chest. “Shush, it’s not even halfway done.” She waved her hands to shoo them away so she would have some space. Namjoon and Taehyung were preparing a salad all on their own, she had figured that it would be easy enough for them to slice and dice some greens and mix a dressing according to a recipe. “Did you put everything in?” She asked her best friend, eyeing the butter he was preparing. “Only the parsley is missing then I’m done.” He beamed, happy with the almost finished product. “But you need to make sure it’s finely chopped.” “I know, I know…” Hoseok trailed off, the tip of his tongue parting his lips in concentration as he tried to use the chopping technique Seokjin had taught them in the first class. She reached for a bigger knife in the wooden block to have better control when cutting the thigh meat when suddenly a smooth, familiar voice made her freeze in place for a second. “How’s everything going?” Jungkook stood next to her, his eyes scanning the work in progress. “The salad looks really good. You two are slowly but surely getting the hang of it.” He praised the other two who proudly bowed a little in return. “And over here?” He walked around them to check on the butter, which Hoseok was now mixing up so all the ingredients were spread as evenly as possible. “We’re just getting ready to butter the chicken.” He announced, placing the bowl next to the tray. “You’ve not cut the thighs yet, let me see how you do that. Maybe you’ll need some help.” Her heart was hammering against her ribs; her hands were trembling as she felt the warmth of his body so close to hers - it was the first time he was standing this close to her, usually he was avoiding her at all costs, even sending Seokjin over to help. The sweet musky scent of his cologne intruded her lungs, clouding her brain. Now she knew why all those girls always tried to be close to him, he smelled amazing; and she wanted to ravish this moment forever. “Y/n…” Hoseok hissed under his breath, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Right.” Her grip around the handle of the knife tightened and carefully she cut into the meat. “Ah, really good! Good job!” Jungkook commented; her eyes shot up to look at him, a small smile playing on his lips. He had praised her, he had said she did really good. A tingling feeling of bliss spread from every single hair follicle down to her toes. Finally, he knew that she wasn’t a lost cause, that she didn’t just come here to drool all over him and without looking down she moved her hand and pulled the knife from the incision. “Ouch.” Instantly she dropped it, her hand wrapping around her finger but it was too late, blood had already dripped down onto the chicken. “Are you okay?” They gathered around her. “Yes but I ruined the food.” “Doesn’t matter, come over here…” Jungkook’s hand nudged her towards the sink. “We have to clean the cut…” In a daze she watched how he carefully rinsed her hands under cold water, examining the cut. “It’s not deep, I don’t think you’ll need stitches.” “I’m sorry, I’m so clumsy…now you’ll have to throw the chicken away.” “I told you, don’t worry about it. Your health is more important.” Handing her a paper towel to apply some pressure to the cut before he reached for a small first aid kit on top of the shelving unit. “Do you have a preference?” He held up regular flesh-colored band-aids and yellow ones with a Pororo print. “Uh…regular is fine.” He nodded, his fingertips brushing against her skin when he deliberately removed the paper towel. The plague-like army of butterflies in her stomach, made her knees feel weak - his touch was so gentle yet determined. An unexpected hiss escaped her lips, his hand wrapping around her’s to hold it still while he placed the small bottle of disinfectant back into the pouch while the stinging slowly subsided. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you…noona...” His voice hitched at the end, she wasn’t sure if he was asking if she was older or if his heart was racing just as fast making his voice hiccup. He was so beautiful, she watched how his lashes fluttered softly while he looked down to place to the bandaid just right. Her eyes carefully examined every feature of his face; from the little scar decorating his cheek to the small mole on the bridge of his nose, down to the perfect shaped cupid’s bow - he looked like a prince from a fairy tale and she was desperately wanting to be his princess. “All done, I hope it’s not too tight? Everything okay?” His big brown eyes dived into hers, the fear that he caught her staring spread through her limbs, petrifying her as she watched a look of confusion form on his features. “Y-yes, it’s okay.” She swallowed the tight feeling in her throat, an unwanted redness creeping its way onto her cheeks. “You have to be more careful, those knives are very sharp.” ‘ Quickly she nodded her head, averting her eyes to his chest which suddenly seemed to move in closer with every blink. Her hands were starting to shake, an uncomfortable clamminess was sticking her hair to the back of her neck. Was he really going to do this in front of everyone? They had never really talked to each other, yet she couldn’t bring herself to step away, it was happening too soon. It wasn’t at all like she had imagined what it would be like every night before she fell asleep but maybe reality would be better than her dreams. Time seemed to have slowed down and with every blink of her eyes; he was so close that she wanted to drown in his warmth and scent. She wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing herself tightly to his toned body. If only this moment could last forever, she never wanted to let go, nestling her face into the soft fabric of his black shirt. “Oh my god, what is she doing?” A voice laced with mockery reached her ears, shortly followed by a snarky laugh that drowned out everything, even her heartbeat that was beating so loudly against her ribs. She couldn’t feel his arms around her; he wasn’t reciprocating the embrace. Almost immediately she pulled back, trying to get some space between them. Jungkook had simply wanted to reach for a box on top of the shelf, frozen in place he stood still, a baby pink hue tinting his cheeks as he avoided looking down. Praying for the floor to split in two and swallow her whole so she wouldn’t have to face him ever again, was the only thing she could hope for. She always had a habit of making a fool of herself but this time it was worse. If she had ever stood the smallest chance with Jungkook, she had just ruined it...

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yourcoolfriendwithallthecandy · 3 years ago

Text

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND Chapter 14

Ya'll, when I say, that the writer's block for this story practically parked it's 18 wheeler sized ass in front of me, like a boulder on a mountain road AND THERE WAS NO WAY AROUND IT, to the point that I didn't know if I ever would get to write it again and I had to take a break for...way too fucking long. Also- for the record, all of this still happens in my head in 2018, you know, when I started writing this story, because BY GOD, all these characters should have had their weddings and a small piece of happily ever after BEFORE COVID comes to fuck everyone over. But Hazel's dress, that's still 2022 Pnina Tornay, it's a fantasy story, I'm fudging the timeline, a little. Also Hazel's engagement ring? Chocolate diamond. She's a foodie. It made sense.

Also, Yes, I do realize that I am face casting Alex Pettyfer twice. The first was as modern Ravus Nox Flueret, and then...as Dash Parr in my modern Incredibles AU Why So Jaded. Look, I just adore the guy ok? He's...incredibly good looking and talented, and HOT. They don't happen in the same alternate universe, it's fine, it's fine.

Anyway, so back to the road block, sorry, detour, anyway, so then, tragedy struck in my personal life, ok several tragedies kind of piled up all at once it felt like and shook me to my core, and suddenly those earthquakes, knocked that boulder off the road and opened up the creative roadway to this story again, then I wrote something truly horrific for this particular story. AND IT'S AWESOME, like it's brutal, will reach inside and grab your heart, put it into a blender before handing it back to you as you cry and say thank you, kind of awesome, so angsty.

But, I couldn't just...post it and not keep wrapping up other character's story lines because this was still "everyone needs to find their happily ever after" foundations laid. So. What that did, was give me a "if you want this- angsty thing to happen, how do you get the story from here to there, now that you don't have this fucking boulder in the way." and my brain finally went "I got it! TREDD IS AN ASSHOLE" and boom, problem solved. See I had- most of the components to this particular chapter, already written and mentally mapped out and planned out but the "go juice" to write it was empty.

But Tredd, lovable, asshole Tredd, gave me what I needed. I don't even know if I should tag who I used to tag...however long ago I used to post chapters to this story or if they have all changed their usernames and stuff or if any of them are still interested. But you know what? I'm gonna post it anyway. So enjoy.

Also, @the-immortal-marshal, thanks for sticking with me and hanging in there, THE PAIN IS COMMING NEXT CHAP. ENJOY the last moment of "peace and happiness where everything is perfect and nothing hurts" while it lasts.

Magic and Miracles and BEYOND

Chapter 14

“Hello Behbehs!” Selena cooed when she came home from school to her dogs and Duchess who eagerly greeted her before she got all the packages from the little stylish boxes she built out of pallets to create a little place for packages to be stored on her front porch before she and Ravus could get home and get them in their apartment.

“Ah thank goodness.” Selena breathed in relief when a couple of them were those pre prepared meal kits. Because with both her and Ravus being in school and both of them working too, they rarely had a chance to go grocery shopping anymore and the meal kits were a healthy alternative to fast food and surprisingly less expensive than take out and right now they were still in their “try everything once to find our favorites” stage. But Selena barely had them all unpacked and put away by the time her phone chimed.

‘Hope you had a good day today Darling’ Ravus texted when his phone chimed that she had made it home.

‘It’s been fine, busy, how about yours?’ Selena texted back.

‘Not great, I’ll be happy to call it a day soon.’ Ravus texted back as Selena frowned at her phone before she got an idea and raced up the stairs to get dressed in more business formal attire that was clearly flirtatious that covered up some ridiculously sexy lingerie and some really good ‘fuck me’ heels and put on some makeup and put her hair up in a quick bun then quickly left their apartment to go to Miracles Hospital where she parked next to Ravus’ car and purposefully strutted into the offices, using the badge keycard Sylva had made for her to get in before she made a B-Line for Ravus’ temperoary office while his was under construction before she checked in with Kathryn to make sure he was alone in his office before she opened his office door and struck a pose in his door frame with a smoldering look and a mischevious smirk on her lips that had Ravus’ jaw dropping to the floor at the vision she was.

“Hey. What are you doing here? Is there a problem with…?” Ravus began to ask as she closed the door, locked it then sauntered up to him and straddled his lap before she kissed him passionately as he eagerly held her and pulled her to himself as he kissed her back with equal passion that had Ravus thanking God that he put such an amazing, wonderful and sexy as hell woman in his life that could give him the one thing he wanted that he knew money could never buy- her love, priceless and perfect as it was. And with her love came devotion, loyalty, honesty, faithfulness and right now- desire and it was his life’s goal to make himself as desirable to her as he could possibly be because being the object of her affection was all he could ever want and he wanted her to feel as lucky that she had him for a partner- that he felt about her.

“How’s your day now?” Selena purred when they broke for air.

“Ah-amazing, I can’t, can’t complain.” Ravus answered truthfully, his mind desperate in it’s grasping for coherent thought as he was completely blown away and delighted by her little surprise visit as his hands traveled down her body, appreciating every nuance and curve she had.

“Good, now do you want to fuck me here or in the sleep studies wing, in the car or at home?” Selena asked and watched as he swallowed thickly as his own eyes grew a dark stormy gray with lust.

“Is there an ‘all of them’ option?” Ravus returned which made Selena smile brighter as he quickly hiked up her skirt the rest of the way to reveal that she had not been wearing underwear but was wearing thigh highs attached to a matching green silk garter belt ,which were his favorite kind of stockings as his cock tried to break through his pants trying to get into her as he gasped and ‘oohed’ in surprise and delight as she made quick work of his pants and underwear before she managed to seat herself onto him as he let his chair lean back and rest on a filing cabinet so they wouldn’t crash backwards and also so that Selena could ride him as hard as she wanted to without hurting anything as she opened up his silk dress shirt so that his chest and neck were bared to her before he yanked down her shirt and undid her bra so that her breasts, which had been pushed up to show her amazing cleavage before- were now bared to him in turn as he suckled as his hands went to her hips to guide her over him and when his other hand reached down to stroke her clit with practiced ease as he whispered some absolutely filthy things to her in French which he had discovered could get Selena all riled up and to hear and see and feel that was like a drug to him.

Selena could feel her orgasm approaching as her body and mind were in absolute bliss and to hear Ravus whisper, moan and growl in her ear in between kissing and licking and playfully biting every inch of skin he could reach as he drove up into her as hard as he could and rub her clit just right. Not too hard, not too fast, but as if he was delicately conjuring her soul through her pussy was the greatest pleasure she had ever known and she didn’t care what he was saying to her in French, but the way he said it, the way it rolled off of his very gifted tongue and the way he could enrapture her mind, body and soul so easily, as easy as he breathed and leave her so desperate for him, desperate for more. Just one more touch, one more kiss, one more thrust, one more profession of love, of promise, of adoration, everything. How she was his everything and how he was going to love her and cherish her for as long as he lived and she had the utmost faith in every word. And she knew that she was going to love him for the rest of hers. She didn’t care if he lost his fortune or the hospital or anything. She would keep him and he would keep her. And that would be all that mattered.

In rapid succession Selena came, her shuddering cry of bliss was the most perfect sound in Ravus’ ears as he smiled victoriously that he was able to give her the greatest pleasure possible before Ravus’ own face scrunched up as he came himself, a grunting, hissing moan. His cock throbbing but since his injections, there were no loads, other than an extra load of precum before they both collapsed in the chair as they held each other as Selena let her head rest on his shoulder as they recovered.

Selena traced random designs on his skin around his chest hair that was starting to fill in nicely along with more muscle mass that had started to build just in the last few months since he graduated highschool and gotten back from the most epic summer vacation. It was as if he was a late bloomer. All the bulky muscle he had always wanted was finally filling in the way he wanted it to and he was having to buy new suits and shirts because his old ones no longer fit him the way he wanted them to, but thankfully that glorious cock of his stayed the same, much to Selena’s utter and complete delight.

The only thing that hadn’t grown was thankfully his feet so that meant the man didn’t need to buy new shoes. Which was his own guilty pleasure and obsession, especially dress shoes. While they had gone cross country all summer, he and Luche would hit up all the thrift stores and speciality shops looking for old shoes to restore and when they had been in L.A. They had hit the mother load. All these places that had all the shoes from the old stars of hollywood, whether they became famous or infamous or never even made it on the map. But their very expensive and very good quality shoes were left behind. One shop in particular was run by a couple of older gentlemen that were so happy to see some younger guys were into this kind of thing that they gave them the deals of a lifetime and even Tredd and of course Ignis came along and between Ravus and Ignis, Luche and Tredd got quite the crash course education on shoes, in particular old dress shoes as the four of them practically bought the store out and had to ship out most of them back home because they wouldn't fit with their former travel plans. Ravus and Ignis were the way about shoes the same way some women were about fashion and purses.

Of course that wasn't the only "obsession" Ravus and Ignis had shared with Luche and Tredd, Ravus' mother and of course his grandparents were avid fountain pen collectors and when Sylva's parents had passed, they went over her parent's very, very extensive fountain pen collection that was in the thousands of pens large, Ravus insisted that about two dozen of them go directly to Selena so she could "impress" her more "financially affluent" clients she was starting to get as Sylva happily let those precious few go to Selena, then the rest were picked through by Sylva, Lunafreya who was also an avid fountain pen enthusiast as well as Ravus and Ignis who then coached Luche and Tredd of all people who showed an interest in what he called "rich people shit", just like jewels, yahts, jets, shoes and the like, which amused Sylva who humored him enough to go through what made a good fountain pen and what made different pens valuable and what the more "famous" or well known "name brands" were and what inks were best for which pens and corralating inks to the pens themselves as Luna did the same thing with Selena so that Ravus could coach Luche through the same thing too as the rest were divided evenly and "put away" so that they could become an "inheritance" for the next generation.

Meanwhile Ravus wasn’t the only one who had gone through some changes over the course of the summer and now fall, Selena too seemed to fill in quite nicely, she had gained some weight over the summer, her hips had filled out and her derriere had plumped out and her breasts had grown, filled in and rounded out and while she had gone up a few dress sizes, Ravus couldn’t be happier about the developments. Like she had transformed from lithe teen to full blown woman and he was all too happy to replace every piece of clothing in her wardrobe so that she was comfortable and could embrace her current body.

And with Selena landing what in her opinion was the dream job at Fosters as a junior designer and was currently designing all her friend’s houses as Oak Creek Estates under the supervision of a woman named Samantha Leeds, who had taken Selena under her wing and was showing her the ropes and helping get all the classes at the local college. Selena had had the hardest time understanding CAD but when she finally figured it out. She quickly excelled.

“So what’s going on?” Selena asked after they seemed to recover but were in no need to change their positions or state of partial undress.

“Something stupid in office politics.” Ravus huffed.

“Ok…” Selena urged.

“Some of the board members are getting greedy, in particular Mr. Greed, they look at how much Project Recovery is making them and they’re seeing dollar signs at the other pharma we produce.” Ravus revealed.

“But I thought your mom had a pretty good stance that when it came to life saving drugs like insulin and other medications like it- that you put a cap on all those so they’re affordable to everyone.” Selena frowned.

“She did, but the other board members see Luche and I coming onto the board and think they can get to us and pit us against mother or pit us against each other- thinking their greed is going to be contagious or something or that we’re too young to know what we’re talking about and too inexperienced to have valid opinions.” Ravus grumped before he kissed her forehead sweetly, grateful he could bare his heart and soul like this to her so freely.

“Well that’s not going to work right?” Selena said as she raised her head to fix him with a look.

"No, it's just frustrating to deal with until they retire, although I can’t imagine dealing with Roman or Ainsley is going to get any better, all I hear is ‘chip off the old block’ when Rob talks about them." Ravus shook his head.

"Is there any way we can get Mr. Greed to retire early? Get some peace before Roman and Ainsley come on board or is it not just Mr. Greed that’s giving you all the headaches?" Selena hoped.

"I wish it was just him. But it’s not. It just...comes with the territory. Besides if there was a way to make Mr. Greed and the others to retire early, I'm pretty sure my mother would have done it already. They've been thorns in her sides most of her life and they’re proving to be thorns in ours as well." Ravus mused as Selena frowned deeper.

“Don’t worry about it, it’s not your problem to fix, but thank you for listening.” Ravus thanked her gratefully as he held her comfortably in his arms. “And thank you for this, this was the best surprise.” He smiled appreciatively as he nuzzled her face with his.

“You’re welcome.” Selena smiled happily.

“Hey you wanna go out to dinner?” Ravus asked hopefully. “We could see if Lu and Ada wanted to join us?” He asked.

“Sure,” Selena nodded as she and Ravus worked on getting straightened up as Selena pulled her dress down a bit more so it was a bit more modest and pinned the top up to a much more modest height and by the time they got squared away and unlocked the door they saw Ada coming out of Luche’s office dressed similarly to Selena and Luche himself had the same love drunk smile Ravus was wearing.

“Hey,” Selena greeted as both Selena and Ada blushed before they looked pointedly at each other’s shoes then back up to each other before they both tried to stifle their giggles because they both knew exactly why the other was wearing those heels as they beamed knowingly at each other.

“Dinner?” Ravus asked as he self consciously smoothed his hair as Luche did the same as Luche gave Ada a questioning look and smiled when she eagerly nodded her head.

“Oh yeah.” Luche agreed before they all hopped into Ravus’ new Land Rover and drove to the restaurant that piqued their interest and hunger.

“So how’s the wedding planning going?” Ravus asked Luche while they looked at the menus.

“Good, still deciding on invitations, although we've narrowed it down to three different choices.” Luche answered.

“We did agree to use the same venue Sylva used when she got married.” Ada revealed.

“Yeah, that’s the same venue we decided on too.” Selena smiled happily.

“Do you have any ideas what dress you’d want?” Selena asked.

“Actually yeah.” Ada nodded as she scooted closer to Selena in the booth to show her the dresses she had found on Pintrist.

“Oooh, I like that one.” Selena agreed.

“It’s just going to be a challenge to find one that doesn’t drown me out. Because I’m so short and petite, but I don’t want to walk down the aisle in like 7 inch heels just to not trip over the dress.” Ada confessed as Ravus nearly lost it Luche’s grin as he had that ‘I wouldn’t mind’ kind of expression.

“Are you excited to go back to Kleinfelds?” Selena asked.

“Very much so, I’m already packed.” Ada confessed.

That weekend, the whole crew went back to Klinefelds for Ada to do her dress shopping. As Sylva made sure that Ada’s parents and Luche’s parents were in the middle couch while the boys made sure to keep Luche preoccupied while all the girls happily rallied around Ada as they all had their own ideas of what Ada should wear while Morgan got Sylva’s picks and other dresses into the room.

“Ok, this is Crowe’s pick.” Morgan said as she brought Ada out in the first dress.

“Aww,” they all awwed.

“You’re drowning in it though Love.” Ada’s mother noted as others kind of grimaced and nodded in agreement.

“So what do you love about this dress?”

“I love the bling, I love the tiered layers, it’s just a little too poofy.” Ada offered Morgan.

“Ok, so let’s try again, we’ll be right back.” Morgan offered the crew.

“Ok, so this is a mermaid, fit and flare,” Morgan announced as she brought Ada back out.

“It looks amazing, I just can’t really move because it’s so restrictive.” Ada realized as the rest of her family put in their 2 cents about it before she was back and tried even more, trying on her mom’s picks, Linda’s picks then finally getting to Sylva’s picks but Sylva made sure that Morgan didn’t tell Ada that they were her pick’s and instead urged Morgan to introduce them as her picks before sneaking one into Morgan’s hands that was brand new that had not been there when they had been there last.

Ada softly gasped when she saw it, it was perfect, it had the tiered layers but it also had lace and glitter and just a little bit of everything. It was perfect and when she put it on, she couldn’t help but cry. It was a soft, blushed ivory. It complemented her red hair and her skin tone gorgeously. She felt like a proper bride in this and she could see in her mind- so clearly- how Luche would probably cry tears of happiness if he saw her in this. This was it, this was the one.

“There’s that smile.” Morgan grinned victoriously as she looked at Ada in the mirror after she cinched the corset back closed and got it looking like Ada was born into this dress.

“This is it, even if all of them hate it, this is it.” Ada insisted.

“Well then let’s show them.” Morgan insisted.

Everyone could tell that Ada’s smile practically came from her toes, she was practically glowing with happiness as Sylva got choked up which caused Linda and Ada’s mom Amelia to start crying as all the girls started gasping and cooing before Morgan happily snagged an appropriate veil and put it on her and that’s when they were all practically sobbing.

“It’s perfect Love, absolutely perfect. It has those tiers that you love and the lace is so romantic.” Amelia cried as she squeezed her husband- Richard’s hand who was also getting choked up as they passed a box of tissues down the line.

“You look stunning Ada, really, just perfectly beautiful.” Linda praised as she had already made her peace with Ada being a daughter in law.

“And it still has enough sparkle and glitter to it, that even in low light, you’ll glitter like the jewel you are.” Sylva added.

“So, are you saying yes to the dress?” Morgan asked.

“Yes, I’m saying yes to this dress.” Ada confirmed happily before Amelia got up off the couch and hugged her daughter tightly before her dad hugged her tightly too along with her brother who had also been flown in for the event with his fiance.

A week later, Hazel and Sylva returned to Klinefelds as Sylva had flown out Hazel’s sister Mei and her mother Huan and her dad Tommy along with Titus' mother Helen and Titus’ sister Jenny in for the appointment. Helen and the rest of her family had been all too happy to welcome Hazel into the fold. Once Titus was thirty and then almost 40, Helen gave up on the idea that Titus would ever get married and settle down, especially when the rest of her children were giving her grandchildren at this point but it seemed she was too hasty when Titus finally met Hazel and seemed to get with the program and settle down “properly”.

Meanwhile Huan and Tommy were also over the moon that Hazel was finally settling down and even though Billy wasn’t wild about the age difference at first, the more he and Titus got to know each other, the better they got along, Tommy was happy that Titus made Hazel happy in addition to Titus’ character and stability and profession and Huan was so happy to learn that Titus was a good man, who had a house and was planning on building another with Hazel and when Titus and Hazel adopted Brutus who was Kona, Kahlua and Sasha’s sibling, while Tredd and Stella adopted Brutus’ brother King. To Huan- a grand-dog was close enough to a grandchild, for now. While she was always proud of Hazel for earning her own way though the world and earning enough to take care of them in their retirement, she had been on Hazel since she was in her twenties to have someone take care of her. And it seems Titus had finally come along and to do just that.

“So what are you looking for?” Meredith asked Hazel after everyone had been introduced.

“I’m looking for a very simple, not too many embellishments, comfortable, light weight wedding dress. Titus and I are getting married at the beach next May, right after school lets out, because he is highschool football coach. It’s going to be a very small, intimate wedding with just family and really close friends.” Hazel answered.

“Aww, that’s awesome, is there a price point we’re comfortable with?”

“Ten thousand.” Hazel answered.

“Ooh, more than enough to work with, well let’s go.” Meredith urged as she brought Hazel back into a dressing room to get changed before she went hunting for the perfect dress.

“Simple, light, comfortable.” Meredith echoed over and over again as she combed through the back room, her almost encyclopedic knowledge of the backroom to her aid as she went through all the dresses before she found several that would fit those criteria.

Charlotte came into the bridal shop, a giddy grin on her face as she came and “snuck up” on her family as Sylva turned her head and smiled at the newcomer.

“Surprise!” Charlotte announced to her family.

“Charlie?!” Tommy smiled happily as he got up and gathered up his daughter into his large arms. She may have been a wanted criminal and fugitive, but he was always happy to see her and to him, she would always be his "little Charlie".

“I thought you were overseas?” Tommy asked.

“And miss this? Nah, it’s Hazel’s first big day before the big big day, I wouldn’t miss it for anything.” Charlotte happily murmured into her dad’s chest before Tommy put his arm around his daughter’s shoulders and introduced her to Titus’ family who were completely oblivious as to Charlotte’s true identity as Charlotte sat next to Sylva.

“It’s nice to see you again. Different kind of exciting this time,” Sylva offered with a mischievous grin that Charlotte mirrored.

“I take it you didn’t get any kind of trouble from the last time we were in each other’s company.” Charlotte offered.

“Nope, not a peep, thank you.” Sylva reassured her.

“You’re welcome, this was wonderful, thanks for letting me know, when you get to know their wedding arrangements, forward them to this number, I doubt the groom would be comfortable with Gil and I coming but I want to send them a proper wedding gift that won't be on any kind of gift registry, at least domestically.” Charlotte nodded as she handed Sylva a slip of paper written in Mandarin as Sylva read it quickly, nodded and put it into her billfold just as Hazel came out in her first dress and stopped when she saw Charlotte.

“Charlie?” Hazel gasped in excitement as she saw her sister.

“Hey you, don’t you look beautiful.” Charlie greeted as she set her large, heavy purse on the seat and came over and embraced her sister.

“I didn’t think I would see you again.” Hazel admitted as she hugged her sister tight.

“Sylva invited me, hope you don’t mind.” Charlotte explained.

“Nope, not at all.” Hazel readily assured her sister.

“Is Gil here too?” Hazel asked.

“He’s doing business, as usual, plus I don’t think Dad would be cool and I know your fiance wouldn't be cool if Gil and I showed up to the wedding itself, so this is the best I can do and this is exposed enough without making things difficult or uncomfortable or "unsafe".” Charlotte excused.

“I get it, I'm still really happy to see you and that you're here. It means a lot, especially to Mom and Dad, and of course me as well.” Hazel nodded as Charlotte nodded in unison.

“So is this your dress?” Charlotte asked, changing the subject.

“This is just the first one, you came just in time.” Hazel answered.

“Well then let’s get to it.” Charlotte insisted as she returned to her seat.

“So this is dress number one. What do we think?” Meredith asked.

“It’s nice, I’m not in love with it, but it’s nice.” Hazel answered honestly.

“It makes you look like you’re wearing a tent.” Huan criticized as Helen and Jenny nearly choked on their spit and looked at Huan in alarm as Charlotte akept her snickering quiet enough to pass it off as a cough as Mei just rolled her eyes and complained to her mom in Mandarin that she was being too harsh.

“You don’t look like you’re wearing a tent, but the cut isn’t quite right. You need a more flattering shape to the fabric.” Charlotte offered.

“Agreed.” Sylva nodded.

“Well, that’s what first dresses are all about, finding what elements can work and what elements won’t.” Meredith explained before they tried on a few different picks as Charlotte looked around as did Sylva at the other dresses on display at the other dresses in the store.

“That one,” Charlotte and Sylva said at the same time once they both locked eyes on it and pointed to it.

“Well go get it then, bring it to her, it will mean more to her if you do.” Sylva encouraged before Charlotte got up and strutted across the floor to get the dress in question before she asked to see which room her sister was in before she came to the appropriate dressing room, a security guard shadowing her.

“Try this one.” Charlotte suggested as she handed the dress over to her sister as Hazel gasped softly when she saw it before Charlotte saw her way out and went back to the group and waived the security guard back a little farther so his presence was not felt by everyone else.

“And?” Sylva prodded.

“She had the gasp and the smile.” Charlotte answered as she checked her phone.

“Please let this be the one, I’m running out of time.” Charlotte whispered as she looked at the time on her phone and read the messages her henchmen were sending her as they stood guard a short distance away as her driver himself was scanning the police channels as Gil’s other men were monitoring the area.

Hazel came out a short time later, wearing a smile that shamed the sun, moon and stars as everyone else gasped and oohed and awed.

“Now that’s the dress, you look exquisite Hazel.” Huan finally complimented as Charlotte and Sylva gave each other a meaningful smile as Hazel nearly burst into tears as Jenny and Helen were already crying too.

“It’s perfect, but still incomplete.” Hazel began as she stood up and pulled a special box from her bag and took out a set of jade jewelry and put it on Hazel as Huan and Mei cooed and practically giggled as they put it on her as Charlotte gave Hazel a special sachet as well before Charlotte’s phone chimed.

“Do you have to go?” Hazel asked as Charlotte’s eyes watered as she tried to put on a brave, happy smile but nodded yes.

“Thank you for coming and for all of this. Thank you for being my sister. I love you so much.” Hazel thanked her as the two hugged before Charlotte got to hug every member of her family as Sylva got to get a quick picture of them all together, both with Charlotte’s phone as well as other members of her family so that each one would have a picture of this moment to treasure forever before the Henchmen came over and cleared their throats to get Charlotte’s attention as Charlotte hugged her parents, specifically her dad one last time.

“I have to go, I love you.” Charlotte bid her family before she used her handkerchief to dry her eyes and left with the henchmen as her driver was already anxiously out front, waiting to take his Empress back to a safer, less ‘exposed’ space.

“How come she couldn’t stay?” Helen asked.

“She’s a very busy woman. She lives half a world away and she probably had to fly back pretty soon, and security at the airports is a nightmare.” Sylva delicately excused as she waived it off.

“But now that we found the dress and the veil and obviously the jewelry. Let’s get settled up and get dinner shall we?” Sylva encouraged with a bright happy smile.

When Sylva came back home from flying and taking care of all the other guests, she came home to see all of her kids and their fiances and their friends as they had made a really nice dinner for everyone as Pelna and Yasmine, Gladio and Pashmina, Prompto and Cindy, Luche and Ada, Libertus and Crowe and Craig and Iris were on their way as well as Luche’s family and Ada’s family.

“Hey! So how did it go?” Luna asked as she gave her mom a big hug.

“Good, Charlotte came and surprised Hazel and the family.” Sylva revealed which caused everyone to freeze and look at each other worriedly.

“Charlotte Stevens?” Luna asked, taken aback by the news.

“Oh don’t look so surprised, when Charlotte and Gil used the jet they left a single phone number for the pilot to give to me and said I get to use it once. And I knew Charlotte wouldn’t want to miss the milestone in Hazel’s life because Charlotte knows she probably won't be welcome at the wedding since Cor is one of Titus' groomsmen, so I used it and told Charlotte the plan and she was very grateful for the invitation since no one else in her family knew how to get a hold of her to tell her. Besides, Titus’ family was blissfully ignorant of who she really was and Hazel’s family got to have a nice little reunion within the realitive safety confine of a public space and Charlotte got to see Hazel in her wedding dress as a good sister should. It was fine, I mean she had to be carrying four guns on her and who knows how many knives on her person, she had to have two guns in her outfit and at least another two in her purse and her four henchmen were armed to the teeth as well and she could only stay for about an hour but Hazel found the dress and everyone gave it their stamp of approval and Charlotte gifted Hazel some really pretty jade jewelry which is customary for a Chinese bride to receive which honored that part of her heritage and traditions, which was really nice, it was a lovely time.” Sylva waived off as she got the picture and showed everyone the family picture she took.

“She has got to have the biggest balls in the world.” Tredd noted, impressed when he saw the picture.

“She’s got you beat, that’s for sure.” Stella teased.

“She’s got everyone beat.” Sylva laughed.

“So is this everyone or are more coming?” Sylva asked.

“More are coming.” Luna reported.

“How many more?” Sylva asked before her doorbell rang and slowly then all at once, everyone came as everyone started pulling all the components at the table, setting it up for a large extended friends and family meal before Luche and Ada came in last, both of them having anxious smiles on their faces.

“Is everything ok?” Sylva asked Luche as she tried to keep her knowing smile to a minimum.

“Yeah, yeah, everythings great.” Luche reassured her.

“You sure?” Sylva asked as she looked from Luche to Ada who had the same anxious smile on her face.

“Ok, so we have some news and we wanted everyone to be around to make the announcement and we don’t exactly know how it’s going to be received.” Luche hinted.

“If it’s what I think it is, I will do my best to lead the way in accepting the announcement with all the happiness and joy that such an announcement garners. But I also want to be the first to offer my congratulations.” Sylva reassured them both.

“Thank you.” Luche and Ada breathed in relief.

“Come on, dinner is getting cold.” Sylva encouraged them before they all came into the kitchen where everyone was getting something to drink with their dinner.

“So Luche and I chose wedding invitations!” Ada happily announced as she handed every couple an invitation as well as one to her parents and one to Luche’s parents as well.

“Wait, I thought we agreed on May 18th, this is in December..only three months, it’s the weekend before Nyx and Luna’s wedding?” Linda pointed out.

“Well that brings us to announcement number two. We’re pregnant, or rather Ada is.” Luche announced as there was just a hint of nervousness to his excitement as Sylva was the first to squeal, almost an excited scream in delight, only half a second before Crowe did which got everyone else to cheer joyfully as Sylva came over and hugged them both and offered her first “official” congratulations which got Linda and Ada’s mother Amelia and Linda to get over their initial shock and plaster on happy smiles and congratulate them before Ada was swarmed by the girls with hugs and congrats as the first ultrasound pictures were passed around that she had gotten the day before.

“So how far along are you?” Sylva asked.

“Ten weeks.” Ada announced as Tredd, Nyx and Ravus shared a rather knowing smile, but no money was passed between the three because Tredd and Ravus had “seen it” when Sylva had as well. Crowe especially was super happy because she wasn’t the only one pregnant anymore as her own little baby bump had seemed to pop out since her own wedding.

“Baby bump!” Crowe happily cheered as she gently bumped her little baby bump into Ada’s belly which got Ada to giggle as the two hugged tightly and couldn’t stop laughing.

“Congratulations man!” Libertus congratulated Luche as he hugged him super tightly.

“Thanks.” Luche laughed into the hug before he got more congratulations from everyone else as even Tredd was, for once, gracious.

“So what are you hoping for?” Tredd asked.

“A healthy baby and a non complicated delivery.” Luche answered honestly.

“Good. Ok, everyone listen up! Taking bets on due dates and gender, where’s a white board?” Tredd suddenly turned, raising his voice to shout over everyone as he received a mixture of laughter and groans from some of the adults as Sylva laughed the hardest as Tredd took the whiteboard off the fridge and the little marker and erased all the important reminders after taking a pic of what was on it so none of it would be lost.

“Ok so that technically puts Crowe five months ahead of Ada so if gestation is 40 weeks, that’s basically ten months and Ada is already ten of those 38-40 weeks in- that puts us at...holy shit you’re due on your original wedding date- May 18th. OK, So, taking bets on three day spreads May 18th, 19th and 20th? Any takers?” Tredd continued undeterred.

“You asshole, I announce my fiance is pregnant and you immediately turn it into a bet?” Luche laughed, not surprised by his friend’s behavior, but was hoping he would have at least five minutes before Tredd turned into “The Lovable Douche Asshole”, the lovable part was questionable though most of the time.

“May 12th through the 15th, and a boy and the winner gets bragging rights but all the money and proceeds go to Luche and Ada.” Sylva said as she fished several hundred dollar bills out of her wallet and handed them to Ada before discretely handing Tredd another one too.

“Sweet, first better, Sylva Caelum, May 12th through the 15th and a boy.” Tredd repeated as he wrote that down and put a note in his phone.

“Oh what the hell. Twenty quid on the 16th-19th and I want a granddaughter so I’m betting on a girl.” Amelia offered as she handed Luche and Ada the money with a laugh of her own.

“May 9th-12th, a boy.” Ignis said as he handed Luche a few hundred dollars as well.

“May 19 through the 21st and a boy as well.” Luna giggled as she handed the couple a few hundred dollars too.

“May 14th through the 17th, boy as well.” Ravus added as he gave Luche most of the money in his wallet.

“Amelia it looks like if it is a girl, you’re getting amazing odds, five to one, that’s pretty awesome.” Tredd grinned at Amelia.

“Oh hell, I say May 21st through the 24th, also a girl.” Linda added as she gave Luche and Ada some money too as soon Luche and Ada were holding wads of cash and laughing as their friends were giving them money as Tredd was taking “bets” from everyone as everyone joined in on this impromptu gamble.

“Ok, so this isn’t so bad.” Ada had to confess to Luche as they tried to organize their “winnings” into a “gift bag” that Sylva had on hand before they all sat down to eat dinner as Luche nodded his agreement to that. That had gone way better than he was fearing as Selena, Stella and Luna all looked at their fiances with thinly veiled suspicion as they were looking at each other knowingly as they also noticed that Sylva also seemed particularly smug as they all happily enjoyed a very nice friends and family dinner as they discussed baby shower ideas as well as when to plan all the bridal showers and such and made a new, accelerated timeline.

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agent-bash · 3 years ago

Note

For the head canon thing, the CPD squad and 24?

24: Is there one subject of study that they excel at? Or do they even care about intellectual pursuits at all?

I like this question.

Jay: School was never really his thing, it's not that he didn't like, he got good enough grades, never anything lower than a C. It's just he never measured up to Will. All the times his teachers compared him to his big brother, ugh. And he's not going to say that school isn't important, he just understands that it's not for everyone. That being said, other than PE there was one subject he always did better in than Will, history. Jay loves history. He doesn't really have one area in particular that's his favourite (though please, God, not the reformation!) he likes learning about people. How they lived, what they did, why what was happening was happening and how they adapted or didn't, it's all just fascinating to him. It still is. School isn't for everyone, but having interests, educating yourself however you can that's something he believe everyone should do.

Hailey: She was always pretty good in school. But for her it was more a means to an end. Do good in school, get to university, get out of the house and away from her father. Her favourite subject was always English, reading was a huge escape for her growing up. She could lose herself in novels, and completely tune out the sounds of violence in her house, at least for a little while. And analyzing what she read, forming an opinion on it and arguing about it? Well there is a reason her father wanted her to be a lawyer. Look intelligence is sexy okay? It just is. But you don't need a degree to be intelligent, to have interests, to learn. College and university isn't the be all end all. And while she's not the biggest 'follow your bliss' person, she in terms of education. Study what you love, what interests you, whether that's in a structured, overpriced environment, or just by heading down to the library and check out some books.

Kevin: Like Hailey Kevin also loved English class. Particularly when the poetry unit came around. If he could have gotten away with it, it's all he would have read, all he would have written and all he would have done essays on. He and Hailey have fallen into conversations about the merits of Keats and Whitman, and which Shakespeare play was best many a time to pass a long stake out. Surprisingly, or maybe not, he is the most adamant about post secondary education. It's not an option for his siblings, their asses are going to college. When he has kids it's the same. He doesn't care what you study as long as you go out and study something.

Kim: Her hidden passion has always been engineering. You know those kids who got grounded for taking apart the toaster and not being able to put it back together? Yeah, that was Kim. Honestly one of the reasons she became a flight attendant was because she loves how airplanes work. She loved explaining it all to little who were on their first flights, watching their faces light up as someone indulged their endless questions. And while she loves how creative Makayla, and know her girl is probably going to flock to Kevin and Hailey eventually (seriously the two teamed up and bought Makayla a big bound collection of classic children's faiytales, and had copies of all the Narnia books, and she's on her third re-read) she can't help but buy little STEM kits at the toy store and building them with her. It's a fun thing for them to do together. One of her biggest hopes as a parent is that she does imbues Makayla with a passion learning. One never fades.

Adam: He will never admit this, ever, in fact the only person who knows is Kim and she is sworn to secrecy alright? But he was a double major in university. Art history and french language. He knows how he comes across, and uneducated, brash goon, but that's just because pretty much everyone he went to school with was SO pretentious. But Adam's actually fluent in French, even did a semester abroad. Which how he knows he's a Chicago boy through and through. While he doesn't really go out himself and keep up with what he studies, he does have a couple of coffee table book full of his favourite paints, if you're interest and he's in the mood he can talk about them for hours on end. But his favourite thing, in fact the only thing he sometimes thinks his degree is any good for are his day where he babysits Makayla. They go to the MCA or the Art Institute and spend hours walking around sharing what they think the artist was trying say on a given piece. Talking with a kid he loves about art, yeah he's pretty happy with that form of intellectual pursuit.

Trudy: She was a mathlete. Literally, she was captain of the team. She got into Loyola on a scholar-athlete based scholar ship. one that required her to hold a 3.5 GPA every semester while being a soccer player. She made the chancellor's list ever semester, and graduated sums cum laude, maintaining that was no challenge for her. Sometimes she muses over the Riemann Hypothesis for fun. But now mostly her degree is used to towards filing out expense reports. And freaking out the members of Intelligence when they're running late on theirs. She'll never forget the look on Halstead's face when she stormed into the bullpen for his over due report. He was furiously punching numbers into the calculator, and she just picked up the receipts looked at the totals and did the sum in her head and growled the total at him. Ever since then he always, sheepishly, comes down stairs with his all his receipts in hand and looks at her in awe she rattles off the sum for him.

Voight: He always liked science. Chemistry and Biology especially. But not enough to pursue them. Honestly it was Camille that got him interested in educational things again. She was a teacher, teaching was her passion. And she was so good at it. He's listen with rapt attention as she tried out a lesson plan on him. They'd go to museums to check out exhibits and it was the same. For a while, after she was gone, it hurt, he couldn't even pass by the Field Museum without a lump in his throat and a clench in his heart. Now on a free day, he'll go there and just sit somewhere and listen to the tour guides, the parents, the teachers, talk, teach and share, and sometimes, he swears he still hears her voice.

#Jay Halstead #Hailey Upton #Kevin Atwater #Kim Burgess #Adam Ruzek #Trudy Platt #Hank Voight

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rjhpandapaws · 3 years ago

Text

A Weaker Man Would Walk Away

Chapter 2: I Meant All the Things I Never Said

Tw: Cheating, Child Death, Suicidal Ideation, Alcohol Abuse.

Hank could almost convince himself some days that what he had with Gavin hadn’t meant anything to either of them. Almost, but he had loved Hank when Ezra couldn’t, and had even loved Cole when he came along. Even on the night of Gavin’s promotion there had been something just out of reach; the lust had burned too brightly then. In the morning though, he had felt it, the familiar feeling of falling in love. He wasn’t one to cheat, so he had tried to keep his distance. A hard thing to do when Gavin was assigned to be his partner. It was easy to forget and be pulled in. A suggestive remark here, a lingering touch there, and all of the stolen kisses in his car. Hank knew better. He had to be the bigger man; walk away. It would have been easy to blame Gavin. Call him a homewrecker among other things. After all, it wasn’t like his marriage was a secret. It was pretty common knowledge. There was no way Gavin couldn’t have known. Love was a powerful thing though. It pulled Hank to Gavin as much as it seemed to pull Gavin toward him. His promotion night wasn’t even the start of it for Hank; but in a way it marked the point of no return. He had managed to convince himself that he wouldn’t have any consequences to face if he had stopped after that night. Stuck to it being a one night stand and been on his way.

He and Ezra were all but on the rocks by the time Gavin was hired at the station. Even if it had been subconscious at the time, Hank had been looking for a way out. He wasn’t looking to cheat, just someone to talk to about it. An escape of sorts. While they didn’t talk much at first, Gavin became his escape. Gavin, Tina, and Chris were the most interesting of the group of rookies that had been brought on. They had been friends before the academy and being hired which was something that didn’t happen often. Usually you had to make friends from your coworkers. Gavin and his two voices of reason came to the station as a package deal. The breakroom conversations on Mondays were always interesting. Tina or Chris, and sometimes both; getting on Gavin’s case about a fight he had gotten into or any of the other bad decisions he had a tendency to make. Even though the aggressive behavior had only taken place outside of work, Hank had still worried about the kind of cop he would be. He hadn’t needed to though, Gavin was good at what he did for the most part. Gentle when he needed to be, and combative when that worked better. The thing that had surprised Hank the most was how good Gavin was with kids and how much the kids seemed to like him in turn. Whenever he was around kits it was almost like a switch got flipped and Gavin became an entirely different person.

Hank had been the one to put the word in for Gavin’s promotion. His thought process would make him a good detective. He hadn’t thought far enough ahead to the fact that as the only solo detective, Gavin would be his partner. Or that it would lead to the night that changed everything. He had accepted the invitation to the promotion party to be a good partner. The plan had been to have a couple of drinks then head home. He knew the saying about well laid plans, and now, he was definitely in hell. When Gavin had asked him to dance, he didn’t think it would lead to anything. He liked him sure, but he could handle himself. Gavin was young and would bounce back if Hank let him down gently enough. That didn’t stop Hank from thinking though. He wondered what it would be like if he pulled Gavin closer. How would he react? Would the club lights be enough to hide his staring? If he leaned in for a kiss would he be able to blame it on the alcohol? Would it matter? He should have left when he caught himself thinking like that, but he didn’t. Gavin was having a good time with him and Hank was enjoying himself too. It was a night to let go of himself and just be. To enjoy himself without having to walk on eggshells. He should have left then, but without uttering a word Gavin asked him to say, and Hank had been unable to say no.

He should have called it at the cab ride. They lived in opposite directions. He should have put a stop to it then, but he didn’t. Or when Gavin invited him inside for drinks. He could have said no then, but he followed Gavin. On a night of bad decisions, the confession had been the real breaking point. Gavin wanted all of the same things as him, and for one night they could have all of it. Come morning they would be coworkers, but tonight they were free to be in love. Drunk as he was, Hank knew the moment their lips meant there was no way this would be a one time thing. He wouldn’t be able to give up the feel of Gavin against him. There weren’t supposed to be feelings involved, it was the lie they had agreed on; but Hank knew what falling in love felt like. He would not be coming back from this. In the worst place and time he was falling in love all over again. Of course, by the time he noticed it there was nothing he could do to stop it. He loved Gavin and would never be able to tell him. The subtle silver band on his finger held him captive. The morning passed like they had been doing this for years. It passed in a haze of tired kisses, gentle words, and hot coffee. It was natural, and something in Hank broke because of it. After he left the safety of Gavin’s apartment he would have to bury this and pray it stayed down. Suffer in silence in a way that had become familiar since his marriage had stalled.

He had an out. They were professional partners now and there were rules. It was a way to get away from this and correct his mistake. Had he been a better man he would have taken it. Walked away, at the very least until what he had with Ezra crumbled away at long last. If Hank had been stronger it would have only been a matter of waiting. He was weak when it came to Gavin so the next slip up didn’t take long. Ezra had gone on another one of her trips. She would be gone for the weekend so he caved and invited Gavin over. He had known Gavin would accept it; and yet he still held the small hope that he would already have plan. The weekend was an example of all the things they could have had. It passed to quickly for Hank’s liking, but it had been burned into his memory like a brand and it haunted him. Hank had never thought he would have been the one of them to cheat, and he had his suspicions as it was. The line had been so easy to cross with Gavin, like it wasn’t there at all. He had loved Ezra once, but it had never felt like this. It made his marriage feel even more like he was trapped, but this time it had nothing to do with Ezra’s cold distance. It was because he knew now that there was something outside of it worth having. He couldn’t leave though, Ezra had made sure of that.

When the weekend came to an end they promised that they wouldn’t do this again. It had only been words. Hank didn’t know which one of them leaned in first when they came to kiss for what he hoped was the last time, but pulling away had been painful. It felt like giving up; like he was closing the door on all of the good things he could have had. Surrendering in a way. The Ezra had gotten pregnant. Hank was pretty sure the kid wasn’t his, they had stopped trying to patch things up a while before Gavin had been promoted. There was still a chance though, so he resolved to stay. It was the excuse he needed to finally pry himself away from Gavin. Their partnership at work ended pretty soon after that. Gavin had put in to work on his own, and Hank did his best to pretend it hadn’t hurt. Cole changed things for a while. Hank had a living, breathing reason to try and make things work. Gavin even went so far as to act like he was happy for Hank. It was a bitter sort of pain. The kind that came with knowing you were being liked to. Cole was three when Ezra decided she’d had enough of playing house and left them. She had someone waiting in the wings for her and Hank didn’t have the energy to even feign surprise at this point.

He called Gavin, there was no one else he was comfortable with seeing him this weak. They went out. Gavin’s reasoning was that he needed to take his mind off all this and catch his breath. They went out for drinks because that was the way Gavin took his mind off things when burying himself in work wasn’t an option. It worked, because all Hank could think about was the last time they drank together and all the things he would give to have that again. There was nothing to stop him this time. It felt almost like they were just picking up from where they had left off. Cole took to Gavin quickly, and the reverse was just as true. For the first time in a long while, Hank had everything he had ever wanted. He planned to savor it as long as he could. He got three years of bliss, of getting to love Gavin and have a family. Three years that he would give up the rest of his life to get back. All of the things that had changed his life had all taken place in a matter of moments. So it made sense that a moment was all it would take for everything to come crashing down around him. All it had taken was a patch of ice and bad timing. He had lost Cole. He died on the operating table because he had been left in the care of an android. Hank had been the one to tell Gavin, and the second piece of his life began to crumble away.

Gavin dealt with it in the way that he dealt with most things, by burying himself in work. They’d had their issued before this, but losing Cole seemed to be what finally broke them apart. Hank couldn’t blame him, but that didn’t lessen the hurt. In a moment of anger he had snapped and told Gavin he didn’t care if he stuck around or not. He had been drunk, as he often was these days. Gavin had looked at him with a heartbreak that was seared into his memory, packed his things and been gone in the morning. He’d left a note on the door: I love you, but I can’t keep watching you kill yourself like this. He drank. Black Lamb and the pictures he had saved to his phone where the only things he kept of Gavin. The only things he had left really, he didn’t go into work enough to see him. There was one to help him remember the good times, and the other helped him to forget when the pain became too much. It provided him a lot of time to think. About the things he could have done; the things he hadn’t done; and the things he’d done wrong. They all took their turns to haunt him, a relentless tag team of regret and misery. They came in small sharp stabs under the pain and grief of losing Cole. The one thing that could have been changed. Cole would still be alive if only there had been a human there. If Cole were alive, then Gavin probably would have stayed.

It was between glasses of whiskey and the rapid clicks of his spinning revolver barrel that he realized he had never actually told Gavin that he loved him. He had shown it sure, but he had never said the words. Maybe that was what Gavin needed toward the end of things, reassurance that he was loved. Perhaps if he hadn’t been so afraid of those feelings he might have said it. if he hadn’t been such a weak man he might have said something. It was over now though. Too little too late. Even if he were to admit it now, Gavin wouldn’t come back. They were different people now, bitter and broken. So he loved Gavin when he was alone with his thoughts. Where he could mean all of the things he never had the courage to say. Then drink until all of those thoughts had been drowned. He lost the game again tonight and tomorrow he would try again. Maybe he would win and Gavin would never come to know the things Hank had meant to say. There would be no harm done. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him. Or so Hank hoped. Unspoken things had a tendency to haunt people.

#A Weaker Man Would Walk Away #AWMWWA AU #Hankvin #dbh Hank #dbh Gavin #dbh fic #dbh #child death tw #cheating tw #suicidal ideation tw #alcohol abuse tw

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ms-rampage · 4 years ago

Text

Eden’s Gate: Aftermath Chapter 7 - Now That The World Is Ending

Warnings: Cuteness, Gabriel holding baby/toddler Daenerys

Word count: 2.4k

Summary: In the final chapter of Aftermath, as the bombs drop down to Earth above their heads. The Winchesters have a surprise guest living with them.

Guest OCs: Just the usuals.

Guest Characters: Archangel Gabriel [Supernatural], John Seed [mentioned]

Note: Next is NEW DAWN: NEW HORIZONS. Taking place 15-17 years later in the year 2035. THANK YOU FOR READING MY CRAP!!!!

Far Cry New Dawn x Supernatural [crossover with OCs]

********

“Gabriel?!?” Kate mutters in confusion, and also in surprise. He looks up at the two sisters, with a soft smile on his face and weakly mutters “Surprise to see me?”. That question was directed towards Kate, and she smiles back in return.

Surprised and also happy to see her Archangel.

“How did you g-” Paige asks, before stopping herself when she realizes it was a stupid question, “That was a stupid question”.

They help him up, and take him to the main room. Sitting him down on the living room couch.

“Gabriel?!?” Mandy mutters as she walks into the room. In shock and surprised to see the wounded celestial, bleeding a little through his shirt.

Paige leaves her mom, sister and the Archangel by themselves to go get Kenny and the others. Mandy then stands up, and goes to grab a first aid kit, or something that can heal an Archangel. Leaving Kate and Gabriel alone. She takes a seat in front of him. They look at each other for a few seconds.

“What happened?!” she asks, opening his shirt, and cleaning his wound on his stomach.

He shrugs, and softly groans in pain “I’ve sorta lost my powers”.

She furrows her eyebrows at him, “Sorta?!?”.

He sighs, “I’ve lost some of my powers when I was cast out”.

She looks at him, confused, “Cast out?. What do you mean cast out?”

He looks at her, “I’m sure you saw the giant mushroom cloud in the sky”. She nods, “Yeah, we all saw it”.

He shifts in his spot on the couch, “Did you see what else appeared in the sky shortly after?".

Shaking her head, “No, we all ran down here. What else happened?”.

He looks her in the eyes, and says in the most dramatic way possible, “All Angels were cast out of Heaven”.

Her eyes widened, “What?!?. All of them? Everyone?". He nods his head slowly, she stands up from her spot, and paces. Worried about her boyfriend, her friends and everyone she got to know in Hope County. Playing with the bracelet Wheaty gave her. Her thoughts are interrupted by the wounded Archangel on the couch in front of her.

“A boyfriend huh?” he asks, chuckling and looking up at her.

She looks at him confused, “What?!?”.

“You got a boyfriend?" he asks, "Or had one".

She tries to hold back her tears, biting her lip “Not helpful Gabe” she mutters softly. Standing there in front of him, her hands resting on her cheeks, looking at the floor. Her anxiety builds up, and her hands become shaky.

Gabriel stares at her stomach, just something about it looks different to him. It looks slightly bigger, like she put on some weight. He can’t seem to put his finger on it, but whatever it is he can feel some strange essence, or some sort of energy coming from it, coming from her body. She has a slight glow on her face, but it could be sweat.

Kate notices him staring at her stomach. “Why are you staring at my stomach?!?” she asks, glaring over at him. Breaking his focus on her slightly bigger stomach.

He looks up at her, anticipating for her to slap him for asking the question, “Don't hit me for asking this but, did you gain weight??”.

She scoffs at him, rolling her eyes, and crosses her arms. Taking a few steps away from him, “You never ask those types of questions to a human Gabe”.

He tilts his head, curiosity getting the best of him, and motions her to come towards him, “Come towards me”. She heeds, and walks towards him, standing in arms reach. He places his hand on her 7 and a half week baby bump, and feels why his curiosity is concerned about her belly.

His eyes widened, he looks up at her with his eyebrows raised “You’re pregnant?!”.

Feeling somewhat hurt that his special human is pregnant with another man's child.

For a moment she forgets that she’s carrying another tiny human being inside her, she nods her head, “Yeah. I am”.

"And it's not mine?!" he jokes, totally not hurt that his human is pregnant. Moving his hand away.

She scoffs again, "We both know the outcome for that". Taking a seat next to him.

"You were there, you knew I'm pregnant" she tells him. He looks at her confused.

"I was where??" he asks, very confused. She looks at him in disbelief, thinking this Trickster is messing with her. "In my hallucination trip. A few months ago" she tells him.

He looks at her like he has no idea what she's talking about. Shrugging, "What are you talking about??".

She shakes her head, "It's nothing. Forget it". She drops the hold thing, she knows what she saw in her bliss hallucination a few months ago.

A few moments later, Paige walks back into the living room with Kenneth, Cody, Martin, Mark, Nate and Adrian.

"Gabriel?!?" the 6 men say in unison.

The Archangel chuckles, "Did you all rehearse that?!".

He catches them all up on what was happening in the world. Angels, all of them were all cast out of Heaven, God tried to wipe out all of humanity with a nuclear explosion. The Collapse. The Reckoning. The Apocalypse. The End. The whole world is up in flames. Literally. Heaven is shut down with no one but God up in cloud city.

*****

May 2019. 7 months later

It’s been 7 months since the bombs were dropped. After several hours the bombs stopped falling, and you'd think everything would be safe to go back out. Nope, knowing that you're gonna have to live underground in a bunker with 20 other people for the next 6 and a half years. After 2 and a half months the world has now ended but it's only just begun.

No other bombs, or explosions have been dropped by The Man upstairs. The World was going through the route of regrowing, and being reborned. Starting over again.

On May 2nd, Kate gave birth to a healthy baby girl. A few weeks earlier on April 16th, Paige had a C-section giving birth to triplets, 2 boys and 1 girl with the help of Cody, his wife and Adrian’s wife Amanda delivered all 4 of them. Having all the right equipment in the bunker infirmary, stored away.

Jeffrey Dean Winchester-Smith named after her cousin, Dean. Weighing 7 pounds, and 5 ounces.

Thomas Sam Winchester-Smith also named after her cousin, Sam. Weighing 7 pounds, and 5 ounces.

Bianca Rhea Winchester-Smith because she's always liked the name Bianca. Weighing 7 pounds, and 4 ounces.

Daenerys Arya Brienne Winchester named after Daenerys Targaryen, Arya Stark and Brienne of Tarth all female characters from Game of Thrones. Being the smallest of the 4 infants, weighing 6 pounds, and 5 ounces.

Cristina is over a year old. 1 year, and 6 months old. She is now walking, she has almost all of her teeth, and can say 7 to 10 words. She is able to comprehend language, and know from right from wrong. From good from bad.

The triplets are a little over a month old now, Daenerys is 2 in a half weeks old.

During her pregnancy, Gabriel was very protective of Kate, even though they were all living underground in a huge bunker, and couldn't leave for another 6 in a half years.

Cradling her 20 day old daughter in her arms, Kate feeds her a bottle of formula. Gabriel was very cautious around her, afraid that he'll somehow hurt the tiny infant. Even though he has very little to no powers left in him.

He tried to keep a safe distance from her, Kate constantly reminded him that he didn’t need to worry about hurting the infant. That he and Daenerys will be fine. He is very fond of humans, of course, unlike most celestial beings. That was his one fear, hurting her.

"You wanna hold her?!" she asks him. He looks up at her, stammering. "Uhh, do-do you want me to?".

She smiles at him, "It's fine with me" she responds. She hands him the tiny infant. He holds her, cradling her and she starts to fuss in his arms. Making her typical baby sounds.

He groans uncomfortably, holding her away from him, stammering “Uhhh w-what is happening?!?”.

“She’s fine” she reassures him, fixing her baby blanket, “It’s a normal infant reaction”.

She starts to calm down, yawning and falling asleep in Gabriel’s arms with her finger in her mouth.

“What’s happening?!?” he nervously asks, “Is she dead?!?”.

She looks at him, chuckling, “She’s not dead. She’s asleep”. She takes the infant from his arms and puts her in her old bassinet.

Paige comes in holding one of her triplets. “Hey” she says, looking down at the one month old infant in her arms.

“Hey” Kate responds, “Which triplet is that?”.

She groans unsurely, and checks the diaper, “Thomas, and/or Jeffrey”.

“It’s Thomas!” Kenneth calls out from the next room over, “You’re holding Thomas!”.

She points in the direction where her husband's voice came from “The 2nd one. Thomas Sam”.

“How’s the scar?” she asks, referring to her C-section scar.

She groans uncomfortably, “It’s healing. Slowly, but it’s healing”.

*****

Later that night, Everyone is in their own bunker rooms. Kate is in hers, changing Daenerys into her night onesie.

Talking to the infant in a soft voice. Gabriel, who is a few rooms over, can hear Kate and the tiny human with the very little powers he has. Leaning against the headboard of his bed, listening to her conversation.

He knows he’s Kate’s Guardian Angel, he saved her several times, he gripped her tight, and raised her from perdition when she was a somewhat innocent teenager. He’s her soulmate as well. He has had these feelings for her since forever. He knows she would be better off with her boyfriend before God dropped the bombs on humanity, but he’s most likely dead. John? He’s dead as well, and he knows damn well that Daenerys is his kid. He knows Kate is ashamed that she’s his kid, regardless she loves her.

He couldn't possibly imagine how Daenerys would've turned out if John Seed had lived. How he would've treated Kate, how that demented, psycho family would've treated a pregnant Kate. A premarital baby. How that sadist psychopath would somehow ruin Kate and their baby.

He gets up, and goes to her room. Walks down the hall and knocks on the door.

“Yeah?” she responds her voice muffled from behind the closed door. He opens the door and steps inside her bedroom.

“Hey” he sighs, “How she doin’?”.

“She’s doing great” she answers, taking a seat on her bed. Gabriel takes the leap of faith, not holding back.

“I just wanted to get us over with” he tells her. Kate looks at him confused, “What are you talking about?!?”.

He lays down on her bed, laying on his side with his hand prompt up against his cheek. Looking up at her.

He lifts up his free hand from behind him, and holds a diamond ring between his index and middle fingers. Her eyes light up, and gasps softly.

“You already know where I’m going with this” he chuckles, “Will you marry me? Blah, blah, blah. I love you. Blah, blah, blah. You could do so much more better than that idiot Yes man John Seed”.

She laughs softly at his comments, “So. In all seriousness” he continues, “Will you marry me?”.

She looks at him, “You already know the answer” she whispers to him before passionately kissing him on the lips.

Katella Evyanna Winchester is set to marry an Archangel. Archangel Gabriel. She always thought of herself as the human he had to protect. That’s all she thought she was to him. His human.

*****

A few years later, November 2022, the children are all 3 years old, Cristina turned 5 years old that same month.

Daenerys, the youngest of all the children, wakes up at 6:00am, which is unusual for a child at her age to get up at, and feel energetic.

Her and the other 4 Winchester children share the same bedroom, across the hall from their parents rooms. She stumbles to Kate and Gabriel’s room, pushes the door open and climbs onto their bed.

“Mommy! Daddy!” she says loudly, waking them up.

Kate groans, as her daughter steps on her with her tiny feet. She sits on Gabriel’s chest and playfully slaps his cheeks. Waking him up.

“What?” he asks, half asleep. She giggles softly, “Wakey wakey”. He chuckles softly, slowly sitting up.

He looks over at the clock, “It’s 6 in the morning, how are you so energetic?!” he asks the 3 year old child.

She lets out a playful giggle, and jumps up and down on their bed.

She looks up at the child bouncing on the bed, having the same exact eyes as John. Those baby blue eyes that she got from him, a reminder that this little bundle of joy and happiness is also John Seed's daughter.

He gets up out of bed and carries the 3 year old child down the bunker hallway towards the kitchen.

Despite him being an Archangel with very little of his powers. He manages to get 3-6 hours of sleep, and eat solid foods. Not wanting to use his very little powers in fear that he’ll hurt any of the children living in the bunker, he manages to get by without using them, he knows the world above them is going through some change, a huge massive change that'll change everyone's lives.

But finally being able to marry the human he fell in love with, and fathering her child, he was more than happy to be a part of their lives.

Paige and Kenneth walk into the kitchen shortly after, her holding Jeffrey and Thomas in each of her arms. Kenneth holding Bianca, and Cristina following behind him.

"Here you go" Paige mutters, sitting the two toddlers in their seats at the kitchdn table. Everyone else wakes up half an hour later. Adrian, and his wife Amanda. Mark, his wife Dana and 2 kids. Nate, his wife Ellen and 3 kids, Martin and his fiancée Megan, Cody and his wife Brandy. Mandy, Barbara, Kenneth, Gabriel, Paige, Kate and their kids.

One bunker with 20+ people, and 1 Archangel living in it. 16 adults, and 10 kids. Having to spend another 2-4 years underground while the Earth regrows, and the radiation goes away. Its only a matter of time, and they can go back to their normal lives, or at least they think its their normal lives.

Hopefully, a new hope. A New Dawn. New Horizons will come their way.

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whumpfigure · 4 years ago

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Whumptober Day 12, Broken Bones

Timeline: right after Rescue pt.2

CW: pet whump, conditioned whumpee, box boy universe, broken bones, blood, medical procedures, drugging(nerve blockers), delieious whumpee's POV

Lev started moving back to the safehouse as soon as Jenna called him. Leaving Aliona with her coaches, and getting on the car to drive back home.

Jenna hadn't told him what was wrong exactly. Just that there was a new rescue, and he needed immediate care. Something about bleeding and broken fingers. And that was about it. But as the medic of the safehouse, it was enough for him to let Aliona go alone, and get himself to where they needed him most.

Lev was in no way a doctor. Or a nurse. All his medical education was done in a year-long medical course, back in Russia, after he was out of Vadim's house. His medical knowledge though, well, was another story. Knowing how to stitch, or set bones, or make bruises and wounds heal faster, or scar less, had nothing to do with the course he went through. He had learnt all those from sheer experience. Having had to patch up Sasha's wounds - and later on, his own - had made him capable of many things. Enough to make Jenna consider him as her medic.

When Lev got there, Jenna was already at the door, waiting. Her long brown hair was hanging loose on her left shoulder, and she had her thin blanket thrown over both shoulders. She guided Lev up to where the hurt rescue was, as soon as Lev got out of the car.

"He's had his hands pierced by a knife, and his fingers look odd. We both believe they have to be broken. His forearms are also swollen and bruised, but I'm not sure if they're broken as well or not. He's been left like that since morning, and he's lost a ton of blood." Jenna explained as they walked upstairs to where he was.

Lev was surprised to find Javier sitting beside the boy, with a look on his face that was not far from terrified. The boy on the bed was laying on his back, his hands laid by his sides. His breathing seemed forced.

There were bloody bandages around him on the bed. Obviously just unwrapped from his hands for Jenna to look at the wounds. The medical kit was already on the side table.

Lev went up ahead to look at the wound, while taking off his coat and wearing the pair of plastic gloves on the side table.

"Alright, let's start."

****

The room around Bastet is full of noises. Voices and sounds. The distant cluttering if something metalic. The sound of people talking. Someone puts a hand on Bastet's shoulder. Warm and reassurring. In contrast to the screaming pain and agony in Bastet's own hands. Throbbing and stinging. Making Bastet's stomach sick.

He feels a sharp sting, on the inside of his wrist, as a needle breaks the skin. A cold liquid is injected through the needle, and Bastet can't help thinking that he's back in the Facility. To be retrained. Or worse, refurbished.

But he remembers Javier taking the knife out of his hands. He remembers his voice telling him that it's alright. He remember being in Javi's car. But maybe, it hasn't been Javi's car at all. Maybe they were both sent to the Facility. Maybe Bastet's begging was not enough for Master to let him go.

He wonders what he's been injected with, as the needle enters his other wrist as well. He's never had anything injected to his wrist of all places. Bit the questions gives its place to confusion as the area beneath his wrists begin to numb. The pain slowly subsiding, and giving its place to a blissful nothing.

Something sharp pushes in on the skin of the back of his left hand, and he feels nothing but the mere presence of it. It barely hurts as the sharp thing pierces his skin right next to where Master's knife had, and starts stitching.

The process goes on. The sharp thing - the needle - pierces his skin, again and again, stitching the wound close. On both of his hands.

Next, he feels pressure on his right pinky. He remembers Master twisted this one particularly hard, when he broke it. And Bastet whines as he feels it twist the other way this time. The drug he was injected with definately dulls the pain. But this one's deep, and Bastet can still feel it to some extents.

"Jenna, give me a splint." A men's voice, unfamiliar and slightly accented, says from beside him.

Jenna. Bastet has heard that name. Javi used to speak with a Jenna on the phone. Said they were college friends. And Bastet can't help but wonder if this Jenna is the same or not. If yes, does it mean that Javi's friend works in the Facility? Or does it mean that Bastet is not in fact, in the Facility? Bastet would do anything for it to be the latter.

"Here." A woman's voice says. Soon after, a metalic piece with inner plastic lining is put on his finger, and wrapped with several layers of thin tape.

This happens, again and again, until all his fingers are wrapped up in the things they call 'splints'. With the drug's effect starting to fade, Bastet's starting to feel the pain build up in his hands. He feels so tired.

"How long does it take for him to heal?" The familiar voice of Javier comes from beside him, and startles him. He wants nothing in the world more than to open his eyes and see why he is here. Where are they even? They can't be in the Facility if Javier's right beside him. But they had drugs, and where else other than the Facility can have them? Bastet doesn't know, and he wants so much to know. But his exhausted body won't let him open his eyes, and he'll find himself asleep soon.

Tagging: @slaintetowhump @ashintheairlikesnow @liliability @ohmywhump @whumptywhumpdump @raigash @castielamigos-whump-side-blog @simplygrimly @whump-it @misspelledwitch @inky-whump @whumppsychology @inaridriscoll @rivertamandspike @spookyboywhump @faewhump @thingsthatgo-whump-inthenight @whumpzone @sola-whumping @whumpsy-daisies @crystalrainwing @a-whump-muffin @tears-and-lilies @cupcakes-and-pain @whumptober2020

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malkumtend · 4 years ago

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I Like Your Laugh (A CrowSquirrel AU - Chapter 15)

The shadows of the approaching night scattered around the mountain. Light faded from the hollow, as sunlight sank under the mask of clouds. In the distance, a faint sound of thunder roared over the mountain’s peak, growling like a rabid cat.

It was time.

Crowpaw would have felt more tense if he wasn’t so overcome with disgust. His pelt was wet and slimy with mud from the stream, it oozed over his short fur and caked on his skin. He could have retched at the sour scent of wet earth, especially when it was being rubbed over his face.

“Any more great ideas from you Thunderclan cats?” Crowpaw said sullenly. He was suddenly muffled as the strong paw covered his face with a slab of dirt.

“Yeah, don’t get it in your eyes.” Brambleclaw shot back, it was clear he was smirking even if Crowpaw couldn’t see. “I never expected you to be such a cleanpaw.”

Crowpaw rubbed the dirt from his eyes, careful not to take away too much. He glared at the larger cat, also streaked from head to tail in mud. “What, is this how you typically wash yourself?”

Brambleclaw snorted, “Just shut up and have another roll around.” He did the same himself, laying down by the pool’s edge and twisting his body in the mud. He wandered by Tawnypelt, checking that she was covered as well.

Crowpaw cringed, but he obeyed. It was better to be safe than sorry, and he had to admit, it was an extremely clever idea. With this, it would be much harder for the Tribe cats to spot them or recognise their scents.

Once covered by the thick sludge, Crowpaw darted an impressed look at the she-cat who’d given them this idea. He couldn’t help but smirk as her usually bright ginger fur dripped with wet brown darkness. Just the kind of idea she would make up.

He climbed up to solid ground again, wincing as he felt the clods of dirt slide down his wind-flattened coat. At least it will come off easier for me than the others. He didn’t want to think how long it would take Squirrelpaw to get all this stuff out of her fluffy body.

“You alright?” A soft voice mewed. Crowpaw tensed, meeting Feathertail’s eyes gently. It was impossible to ignore the affection when he knew what he knew. She looked over him carefully, as if worried.

Crowpaw shrugged, “It’s just a bit of mud. It’ll wash out.”

She blinked at him graciously. Her silver fur was now very much dark and faded into the shadows well. “It’s not ideal though.”

“No, but no point complaining about it. It has to be done.” He sneered, “At least your fur is used to getting wet.” He needed to act normal, he’d told her they’d still be friends no matter what he decided to do, he couldn’t let her think he was suddenly uncomfortable around her.

Feathertail’s tail curled in amusement, “Water usually doesn’t leave me looking like my father.”

Through their laughter, Tawnypelt’s voice cut in, “We better get going soon. It looks like rain’s coming and we can’t let the mud get washed away.”

Crowpaw’s eyes widened. She was right, the clouds did look like they would start spilling water soon. They needed to get back to the Tribe, quickly. Feathertail nodded at the she-cat, jumping up; her tail curled around Crowpaw’s back, maybe keeping him steady as he pulled his paws out of the mud.

She really was keeping a close eye on him.

He thanked her with a flush.

At least she still seemed comfortable around him.

Now soaked in mud, the cats began their journey back to the cave. At the front, Brambleclaw sniffed the air cautiously every few moments before pressing his nose down to the path in order to catch their scent trail again. At the top of the ridge, he paused to take another hesitant sniff at their surroundings before relaxing. He turned back to the group with a heavy nod. “Let’s go.”

They stepped down, padding down the slope again. They were now back in the Tribe’s territory. Crowpaw, like the rest, kept his senses fixed at every moment he could. Even if Squirrelpaw’s plan kept their pelts hidden in the growing darkness, they couldn’t underestimate the persistence of the Tribe cats who knew this land as their own home. One wrong move could mean incredible danger for the group. Crowpaw could still feel a sting on his neck, where a Tribe cat had struck him before.

He shook his head, silently growling. I’ll pay them back for that. He knew that they wanted to get away without any injuries, but if he needed to fight, he would fight with no mercy. These cats had taken their friend hostage, they had delayed their journey, they deserved nothing but the sting of Crowpaw’s claws.

He had to be patient though. First thing’s first they had to get their way back. And that was harder than he’d hoped. With the gathering night and the dull grey of the mountain, it was hard to identify any sights that might signal they were following the right direction. All they had were their own noses, with Brambleclaw pressing his nose practically against the stone floor to follow the trail. The Windclan cat sighed, they just had to hope for the best at this point.

He was suddenly aware of the warmth at his side; he did not cast a look there for fear of losing focus. His face still heated up though.

He wondered how she was coping, what she was prepared for. Was she preparing for a fight or a quick escape? It was her brother they were rescuing after all. It was probably a silly thought. Feathertail wasn’t the type of cat who would lay a claw on anyone, she hadn’t even moved in the arms of a twoleg for fear of hurting the kit.

She was just that kind.

And she wanted him.

Crowpaw still couldn’t grasp that. A cat had feelings for him. A cat he held as one of his best friends. She’s confessed that she wanted them to be something more. Mates. Crowpaw gulped as the word entered his mind.

So, did he want the same thing?

By all accounts he felt he should. He felt comfortable around Feathertail, she was one of the most blissful cats he’d ever known, he trusted her with all his heart, and she was incredibly beautiful. Crowpaw was sure any Riverclan cat in his position would immediately see stars if they had this kind of luck.

But Crowpaw wasn’t a Riverclan cat.

And it wasn’t that fact that put him off.

Sure, it went against the Warrior code, it was a blatant spit in the face to years of clan boundaries, years of culture, and if any cat in Windclan knew about this they would more than definitely want to rip him limb from limb for even considering such an idea.

But it wasn’t that.

It was the fact that even though he considered every positive aspect of the cat he held so dearly, he felt nothing different. He just felt the same. The same way he had felt about her whenever they went hunted, talked or laughed together. She was precious to him, but…

If he loved her as well, surely he would feel something different. Something more.

Or was that just some stupid kit fantasy? Was love meant to be like this? Just having someone you felt you could trust enough to spend the rest of your life with. Was it really nothing else?

Maybe… should he give her the chance? Maybe something else could grow from it if they tried? But what would happen if he did and it turned out he didn’t like her like that? That would just add to her pain.

He didn’t want to hurt her.

But how could he not?

She was hurting enough as it was. If he was going to give her an answer, he’d have to do it after they rescued her brother. Crowpaw cringed. Her brother who had been right in his suspicions. He dreaded thinking how that cat would react if he found out about this.

Crowpaw bit the inside of his cheek, hard, feeling vindicated by the pain. He shouldn’t be thinking about things like that! For all he knew, the Tribe were still waiting for the group to return with a full army of guards.

For all he knew, they were walking straight to their graves.

He groaned silently. Sometimes he wished he could have a shred of optimism.

The path became steep, littered with sharp, crooked rocks that Crowpaw vaguely remembered from earlier. They were on the right track then. He felt a flashing, grudging, respect for the brown tom at the front. He was leading them well.

Though not well enough that he didn’t hear what Crowpaw heard.

Low, muffled voices. About a tree-length behind them. Crowpaw’s pelt prickled with alarm. The Tribe.

Thinking quick, Crowpaw whirled on his heckles, feeling a cat beside him. Feathertail. He dragged her with him behind a large rock at the side of the path, surprised by how light she was. The others turned to him, and he waved his tail towards the other rocks, hoping they would understand his signal to hide.

Thankfully they did, their shadowed forms crouching beside the other rocks, hidden in the darkness. A few moments later, Crowpaw heard the voices become clearer, passing by their hiding places. He peered out cautiously, keeping himself concealed, and saw a patrol of Tribe cats pass by, their mouths full of freshly caught prey. Around them, the hulking forms of the guards stood around them, tensely protecting their tribe-mates.

Crowpaw held his breath, expecting any one of their enemy to suddenly turn and see where he and his friends were hiding. His claws unsheathed in preparation. But there was a moment of hesitation between the cats and they passed on without so much of a sniff.

The mud really had masked their scents. Crowpaw let out a silent breath of relief. Thank Starclan he wasn’t sagging with dirt for nothing.

He stepped away, realising he was still holding Feathertail behind the rock. He let out an awkward laugh as she turned to him. And he realised just how small she’d become, as well as the two green eyes looking up to him.

“Oh.” Crowpaw sighed, half-relieved that he hadn’t put Feathertail into an embarrassing position. He smiled at Squirrelpaw teasingly, “That’s twice I’ve saved you these past few days.” He chirped.

Briskly, Squirrelpaw shoved him away, her eyes glazing past him with a clear glint of annoyance. Crowpaw’s back fur lined down in surprise. “Don’t expect any favours from me.” The ginger molly shot back, a little more bite in her tone than usual. “I would have heard them.”

Crowpaw felt his eyes narrow, his neck fur spiking with a wounded anger. What was up with her? “Well you didn’t, thanks to me.” He hissed. Immediately, he regretted it. He sighed, they couldn’t afford to start fights right now. “But,” His tone smoothed over, “They would have found us if it wasn’t for your mud plan.” He mewed gently, “That was really brilliant, you know.”

He smiled at her. Truly.

She didn’t return it. Her face twisted away from him, padding away with her tail raised high. “Thank you, but now isn’t the time for compliments.” She meowed dryly, it was hard to see her expressions under the darkness and the mud. “Come on, we can’t let Stormfur wait on us.” She waved her way back into the group as they went back onto the path.

Crowpaw stared after her for a moment, his mouth hanging. His breathing became slow and cold. W-What did I do? Why was she acting so strange? She’d been ignoring him all day, but she’d never been so openly dismissive.

Had he actually upset her somehow? His heart sank. If he had, he hadn’t meant to.

“Crowpaw,” Brambleclaw’s hushed, but urgent, voice broke in. “Come on.”

Gradually, Crowpaw stepped out, his brow knotted in frustration as he looked ahead at his friend. She never looked back. He felt Brambleclaw give him a light press on the pelt with his tail. “Thanks for warning us. That could have gone bad.” He mewed lightly.

Crowpaw gave the cat a wave of his tail, but he didn’t say anything. Brambleclaw shrugged and padded towards the front again. Feathertail wavered at the back until she was beside Crowpaw. She kept next to him, her ears more alert than before, gazing around in case any more of the Tribe were behind them. “Can’t be that far now.” She mused.

Crowpaw nodded, trying to give her as much time as he could. But his mind was torn on two things already. One on making sure they wouldn’t have another close call with the Tribe, the other focused on wondering what it was that had gone wrong between him and the cat he’d bonded with so closely.

Crowpaw felt he could cope if she didn’t want to hunt with him or travel with him, but the turn of her head and the sight of her back, never flinching away from forward, even if it was just her focus on the mission, that hurt astonishingly so.

“Quiet now.” Brambleclaw whispered, “We’re getting close.” The florescent glow of the moon began to glimmer in the sky, banishing shadows from the mountain. It began to sparkle on the sight of the river, casting tiny stars in the ripples. The cats followed the sound of the water, noticing it grow into the growl of the waterfall.

Crowpaw shook his head until his senses were now pure on their goal. It wouldn’t be long now. They all stepped up the steep path until they reached the edge of rock where the water flailed over in a hissing white shower. They had reached the top of the falls. Crowpaw’s lip curled. Just below them was where Stormfur was being held.

A fresh dampness came over Crowpaw’s head, he looked up to the white clouds. If he listened close enough, he could hear the rain pattering heavily, growing near, as well the grumble and crash of thunder, maybe even lightning.

“Storm’s coming.” He observed. Maybe if the storm became loud enough it would help distract the tribe, giving the cats enough time to rescue Stormfur. Still, it wouldn’t help the fact that there was more than certainly a horde of guards around where Stormfur was being held.

“Let’s go!” Squirrelpaw hissed, her tail lashing indignantly.

Crowpaw couldn’t help but agree with her, they needed to get Stormfur out quickly. Whatver as awaiting them wouldn’t go away if they stood there waiting to grow roots.

He peered over the lip of the waterfall, trying to find a clear way down to the cave. He could see the deep shadow of the path, leading to their destination. He tensed when he saw another shadow, the one of a cat padding sluggishly towards the entrance. Another cave guard?

Wait… no? This shape was huge! Far too big, even for the tribe cats! It was bigger than any cat he’d ever seen, maybe even bigger than some dogs!

“What’s that?” He meowed cautiously, leading the group’s attention to the shape.

A flash of lightning answered his question.

He wished it hadn’t.

The group let out a collective gasp of horror as the lightning gave them a full look at the huge, tawny coloured ‘cat’ advancing to the cave. It’s eyes burned with orange desire, a hunger. It’s teeth were open in a hissing maw, a large tongue tracing a set of fangs larger than Crowpaw’s own paws.

So this was what the Tribe were so afraid of…

Sharptooth!

The creature slunk behind the waterfall. And then the screaming started.

A cry of terror erupted from what seemed like a hundred terrified throats. Beside the strong beating of the rain, the shriek of the tribe and the hungry growl of their predator sliced through the night.

Crowpaw couldn’t close his mouth. The creature was worse than he’d ever thought. How could they get past such a menace?

“Come on!” Brambleclaw cried.

Crowpaw turned on him, his eyes wide with disbelief. Is he crazy?! “Down there?” He was glad the rest of the cats looked just as horrified. “Are you mouse-brained?” They would be slaughtered!

Brambleclaw ignored the judging eyes, bounding down to the entrance. “Think! With Sharptooth in the cave, they won’t notice us! This is our best chance to rescue Stormfur!”

He didn’t wait for another retort as he slipped over to the entrance.

Yeah, he’s off the deep end. Crowpaw mused to himself. But still… there was a point to his madness. The cats wouldn’t notice them through all their screaming, but it still lingered that that beast could see them!

Crowpaw groaned. What choice did they have? He followed where the brown tom led. He heard the others behind him as he kept his balance on the wet rocks, just about holding himself steady on the slippery surface. With a grunt, he bounded down to the entrance, where Brambleclaw was looking around desperately for a way through.

The sight was awful.

In the pale glow of the moon, Sharptooth cast a terrible shadow along every wall of the cave, towering over everything. He sprang around the cave, growling like a twoleg monster, its claws already dripping with dark blood, and its jaws wide it a brutal snarl. Crowpaw felt his stomach twist with a terrified sickness; how could the tribe believe any cat could defeat this thing?

The Tribe cats were scrambling around in a mass of panic, crying and shrieking as they raced away from the danger. Crowpaw felt some jostle past him, not seeming to care about the cats who had returned. Brambleclaw had been right.

Crowpaw twisted towards the tunnel where Stormfur had been herded to. Just by the entrance, a cave-guard was desperately clamping himself to the lion-cat’s neck. The beast roared in savage fury, moving its paw to the cat and tearing through his fur with claws larger than a cat’s teeth. The fur parted like the claws were running through snow. Then it flung its huge neck to the side, whipping the guard away from it, the cat smashed against the wall with a horrible crunch, sliding motionlessly to the ground, leaving a dark smear stroking down the stone.

The huge cat licked its lips, satisfied, before springing to the other side of the cave where it stretched up clawing at the wall, where a white cat trembled, hoping to avoid the vicious weapons reaching for her.

Crowpaw could tell it was a molly from the weeping and the pleading.

He felt the need to retch. If he didn’t know better, he might have felt some kind of sympathy for why the Tribe had been so desperate.

The entrance was clear though.

Brambleclaw sprinted forward, “This way, we have to do this for Stormfur!”

Crowpaw didn’t argue. Holding his breath, he followed to the entrance to the cave of pointed stones, the others not far behind him. He grimaced as he passed by several cats, some screaming for their Tribe to save them, some simply limp in silent terror, some dragging their wounded tribe-mates along, ignoring the blood leaking out of their wounds. The smell of blood was now ripe in the air, it sent a wave of panic down Crowpaw! They needed to get Stormfur out of here now, before they ended up on the end of the creature’s wrath.

At the actual entrance, two huge guards still kept watch, their eyes wide in fear. Their pelts prickled with realisation as they saw the cats bounding towards them, crouching down into a fighting stance. Crowpaw’s mouth opened in shock. They were still going to keep Stormfur prisoner with all that was currently happening? Either they were stupid or brave.

Crowpaw settled on the former as he realised whatever they were, they were going to fight the clan cats. His eyes narrowed, and his paws pulsed. Bring it on.

Brambleclaw looked similarly ready for action. “Now!” He roared, leaping onto one cave-guard. The cat let out a cry of astonishment as he was pushed back by the large brown paws. Brambleclaw struck out, catching the guard with a heavy paw, sending him to the ground. He didn’t wait for the cat to jump up as he pounced onto the cat, tearing into him with a flurry of blows to his exposed chest.

The other guard looked on stunned, and Crowpaw recognised him as Crag, but not caring as he leapt by the huge tom, raking him against the ears as he did so. Crowpaw landed with a snarl, hissing with pleasure as he saw Crag wince at his bleeding head. Then the guard growled, pouncing forward with a furious leap. That’s right, come and get me.

Now the entrance was clear.

Tawnypelt and Feathertail wasted no time as they burst through to where their captive friend was. Crag seemed to notice, his fur rising in alarm. “No!” He cried, beginning to turn back.

“No you don’t!” Crowpaw hissed, leaping in front of the tom. The guard stared with fiery eyes at the apprentice. The cat towered over Crowpaw, but the Windclan cat didn’t move. He wouldn’t give this flea-pelt any time to halt their rescue.

“Do you see now?!” Crag demanded, his voice strained with fury and terror. He craned his head, indicating to where the screams were erupting. “Do you hear them?! Do you see why we need the silver pelted cat? This has to end!” He cried, as if casting one last plea.

Maybe Crowpaw could see, but he didn’t really care. He growled, advancing forward. “We are not part of your prophecy!” He puffed his fur out in an attempt to look bigger.

Crag let out a snarl of frustration, his stare widening as something seemed to break inside him. “You fool!” He erupted. He pounced forward, his large paws moments from catching Crowpaw’s fur. The apprentice swiftly dodged it, slamming his paw into the cat’s side. It would have been a direct hit to his ribs.

But Crag only muttered a small grunt before turning back.

Crowpaw’s stomach sank, his blows wouldn’t do much damage to the large cat. Crag pounded forward again, and Crowpaw swiftly dodged back, he needed to rely on his speed here. Hopefully he could tire the guard out before landing some decent strikes to him. Unfortunately, Crag was faster than Crowpaw had anticipated.

With a spasm, the guard burst forth with a heavy strike that hit Crowpaw on his back. A pounding agony immediately took hold that made Crowpaw stagger, how could any cat be that strong. He let out a breath, leaping out of the way as Crag struck out again.

“You little insect!” Crag screeched, using his large tail to swat the leaping tom. Crowpaw hit the stone floor with a moan, glaring at the guard as he approached him, pure white fury on his muzzle. Crowpaw grit his teeth as he tried to rise up again, but it wouldn’t be easy with the stinging tremors on his back. He needed to think of something fast.

The apprentice tried to get to his feet, but another blow came thundering across his muzzle. Crowpaw’s cheek panged with agony, but he was just able to find his footing before his face hit the stone. He spat, trying to regain his sight from the swirling vision. He exhaled weakly, turning to see the dazed shape of Crag approach again, his pawsteps heavy and menacing. It looked like he was growing tired of this fight.

Worry tightened Crowpaw’s throat, he was quickly realising that he was losing this battle, badly. He needed to do something soon, but with his head spinning like this, his advantage in speed wouldn’t do him much good. It seemed all he could do was wait for more hits to come.

Then Crag buckled back in pain, turning as Crowpaw saw a glimmer of dark ginger fall away from behind the guard, her paw wet with blood. Crowpaw’s eyes widened. Crag turned to the new challenge, his back lined with deep cuts down his flank.

“Come on then, lion-chow!” Squirrelpaw seethed, her fangs on open display as she stared unflinchingly up at the reeling guard. New worry seized Crowpaw. What was she doing? Surely, she knew that she didn’t stand a chance against this threat.

Something flashed in Crowpaw’s mind. Something familiar. The sight of Squirrelpaw staring down two massive kittypets. The sight of her taking on an impossible fight.

For the group.

For…

Crowpaw found his vision was beginning to focus again.

Squirrelpaw ducked under the swinging paw coming at her, rolling swiftly to her feet and landing a scratch on Crag’s left back-leg. The tom hissed, kicking out with the leg. Squirrelpaw threw her neck back just in time, quicker than Crowpaw had ever seen her, before she burst forward again to sink her fangs into Crag’s tail.

Now the Tribe cat yowled as he viciously lashed his tail to shake the apprentice off, but Squirrelpaw held on, tugging, drawing blood and ripping fur and flesh. With a flame of ire, Crag kicked out again, his claws curved and glinting. This time he hit his target, just on the cheek. Squirrelpaw was torn away from the tail, but not without tearing away a bloody chunk that made Crag scream.

Crowpaw watched, as if it was slow motion, as Squirrelpaw landed with a thud against the floor. She got up quickly, hissing, her teeth clenched. She didn’t look too hurt. But Crowpaw saw it. The scratch marks along her cheek, bleeding, a deep horrible crimson that didn’t belong on her ginger fur.

Now, Crowpaw felt something black and foul boiling in his blood. His sight set on the guard, red with fury. Biting back any pain wracking in his limbs, Crowpaw burst to his feet, just as Crag began to stalk towards his friend again.

He couldn’t take on this cat face on without getting another set of blows, so Crowpaw did the only other thing he could think of.

He sprang, landing on Crag’s back and ferociously pierced the back of Crag’s neck with his teeth, while latching his claws deep into the tom’s chest. Crag howled, shaking fiercely to throw the smaller cat off. But Crowpaw only tightened his grip and bit harder, only edged on by the painful groans the Tribe cat made.

How’s this feel? Crowpaw thought bitterly, moving his paws down, scratching raw lines into the cat’s fur. His answer came with a choking gasp. Crowpaw saw something move, looking down to see Squirrelpaw burst forward again, striking the guard’s legs with a series of hard swipes.

Now, his legs becoming torn, Crag began to stagger, still shaking himself with the last of his strength. But both apprentices’ did not give up in their assault. They dug and they struck the same vital points over and over again, until finally Crag’s feet collapsed, bringing him down with a dull bang.

Crowpaw held on for a moment, until Crag’s last weak struggles faded, leaving him gasping in agonised terror on the floor. Crowpaw rose up, leaving the tom to groan miserably, a puff of triumph escaping his mouth.

They’d made the guard pay.

Crowpaw quickly looked up to where Squirrelpaw stood panting, hoping she wasn’t too hurt. He relaxed as he saw her keep her footing, scratched and scraped, but nonetheless better than their opponent.

There might have been a word said between the two if, at that moment, Tawnypelt and Feathertail didn’t coming racing out of the cave of pointed stones entrance. Another purr of relief escaped Crowpaw as he saw Stormfur behind them. His eyes were wide with fear and confusion but he looked unharmed.

The reunion was short lived though as another crash of lighting cracked the cave with light. Crowpaw twisted round, and his heart surged with horror. Sharptooth was slowly padding away from the cave, not at all fazed by the scratches across its large body. From its mouth, it carried the white molly Crowpaw had seen earlier. From the permanent gape on her muzzle, a thin line of blood bubbled down her jaw, and her paws weakly struggled in a fruitless attempt to escape her fate. Then the light went black, and the dark shadow of Sharptooth disappeared behind the waterfall, carrying away the smell of blood and fear with it.

For a moment, nothing but a horrible silence filled the cave. Crowpaw joined in. He had just seen a cat be carried away like prey. No…as prey.

The silence broke as the Tribe began to wail together, loss and pain raw in their voices. None of them looked to care about their intruders anymore.

“Out-now!” Brambleclaw exclaimed. No cat disobeyed. Crowpaw bounded after him, Squirrelpaw by his side, watching as the Tribe didn’t move at all. They all just sat, their heartbroken eyes to the floor, frozen with fear, still with the memory of another loss.

Outside, where the rain was now battering the ground and thunder boomed from every cloud, the cats could smell Sharptooth’s scent growing faint as it stalked away with its prey. The rain covered Crowpaw’s whole body, washing away the mud, but he didn’t shiver from that.

Not after everything that had just happened.

Brambleclaw sniffed the air, nodded towards the other cats and began to lead up the rocks where they had come from. They could finally leave this terrible place behind. Crowpaw limped slightly from the sting of his fight, but he kept straight. Not stopping until the wailing of the Tribe and the crash of the waterfall had grown silent under the crash of the weather and the mist of the night.

Crowpaw swayed his eyes over to their rescued friend. Stormfur was curled beside Feathertail, his eyes glassy in shock and sadness. Crowpaw remembered how he had been the one to originally grow so close to the Tribe, it was only natural that he was the most betrayed by their intent. At least, they hadn’t hurt him.

It seemed every cat was aware of Stormfur’s expression, all silent by the horror of what they’d seen. Hesistantly, Brambleclaw turned to where the grey tom was slowly padding, his amber eyes brimming with pity and a small bit of relief. “It’s good to have you back, Stormfur.”

Stormfur lethargically rose his head to where the brown tom stood. His eyes blinked, as if he was just realising that he was safe. Crowpaw saw his tail curl more tightly around his sister’s. “Thank you all for coming back for me.”

Crowpaw let out a surprised mew. “Of course we came back. We weren’t going to leave you there.” Was that not obvious? He was one of them.

Stormfur turned to the apprentice and for a moment Crowpaw wondered if he’d accidentally sounded too harsh. But the Riverclan tom just looked gently at him, his eyes seeming to give another thanks before he curled back into his sister’s pelt. Feathertail looked desperate to hold him nearby, to never lose his scent again.

The siblings were together again, like they belonged. Crowpaw felt his muzzle warm.

A pinching feeling made him cringe however. How would Stormfur react when he found out what Feathertail felt for another clan’s cat?

He swung his tail. It wouldn’t help to think on that, the two were united and didn’t look like they were going to part again any time soon. Feathertail had that on her mind now, and that would give Crowpaw plenty of time to think this through.

First things first, they needed to get out of this rain.

Crowpaw screwed his eyes a little at the rain belted his short pelt, it almost stung when it hit the spots where Crag had wounded him. But it wasn’t enough to slow him down. Brambleclaw had taken on a guard on his own and he was doing just fine, Crowpaw felt a begrudging urge to do the same. And Squirrelpaw had…

Squirrelpaw!

Crowpaw whirled to his side where the ginger cat walked next to him. She looked steady enough, the mud washing away to reveal her bright fur again. She seemed to feel the eyes on her as she met Crowpaw’s gaze.

Really met his eyes.

For the first time in a while.

The awkwardness seemed to spread over her as well as she sniffed, her eyes casting away, low. “Is there something on my face?” She quipped, craning her head to where the scratch mark ran across her cheek like red riverlines.

She may have seen it like a joke. But Crowpaw wasn’t laughing. If she hadn’t intervened, Crag could have done him some real damage, but she had gotten herself hurt as well. He moved himself closer to her, examining the wound. “Are you okay?”

“Better than him, I guess.”

Crowpaw chuckled dryly, “Moss-brain.” His tone lightened as he remembered how they had been earlier. How she’d avoided him, pulled away from any contact he attempted? His gaze dropped.

“What’s the matter?” Squirrelpaw spoke up, making Crowpaw shift. She looked over him worriedly, “Is your back hurting too much? I can ask the others to stop if we need to.”

“No.” Crowpaw meowed, he didn’t want the group to stop know, they weren’t out of the dark yet. “No, I’m alright.”

She looked again, pointedly, at his scraped and bruised pelt.

“Well, alright enough.” Crowpaw said. His paws seemed to slip a little as he walked, his lips went thin. He needed an answer, but his stomach still twisted with worry for the answer. Gently, he met her eyes again. “Squirrelpaw… did I do something wrong?”

The ginger cat let out a mrrow of confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well… to you?”

“To me?” Squirrelpaw mewed, her brow raising, but her eyes still flashing with concern. “No. Why?”

“It’s just that you don’t seem like you want me to talk to you.”

Squirrelpaw’s eyes widened crazily, her jaw hanging. A quick breath escaped her, her tail fluffing up in embarrassment. “O-Oh.” She coughed, “Um, no, you haven’t done anything wrong, Crowpaw.”

The Windclan cat’s whiskers curled with alleviation at that. She didn’t sound like she was lying. He hadn’t upset her, at least, thank Starclan. But his muzzle still curled with wonder at why she had been like she had.

Squirrelpaw could see the question in his eyes. She turned, looking at her paws. Something glazed in her eyes. “You honestly haven’t done anything.” She cast him a fiery glimpse. “You’d know if you had, believe me.” The she returned to her paws, now wet and dripping with rainwater. “I-I’ve had a lot of things on my mind recently.”

Crowpaw’s tail curled, “About the clans?”

Squirrelpaw’s lips only thinned further, like she was sucking them against her teeth. Her lid dropped halfway, unreadable. “Yeah… stuff like that.”

Crowpaw felt his chest swell. She didn’t need to worry about that kind of stuff alone. Heck, she’d been the one who’d comforted him about their home’s safety days ago. Still, it wasn’t outlandish that she’d have those kind of thoughts still in her mind.

But Crowpaw still sighed in a small relief that it was just her needing some space to think. He grimaced, he needed the same thing himself if he was being honest.

He had to say something to help though. “If you need to talk, we can, you know?” He grinned cheekily, “Just because you usually talk nonsense doesn’t mean I won’t listen when you have something worth talking about?”

Squirrelpaw’s mouth kept thin, but it curled up a little. “Oh, be quiet. Maybe I just grow tired of hearing your voice every hour?”

Crowpaw rose his nose up playfully, “See, that’s the nonsense I love to hear out of your mouth.” That was only half-sarcastic.

Squirrelpaw shoved him away with her paw, laughing. Crowpaw was about to join her, happy that things were really coming back to normal, when he saw a fresh line of red leak out of her cuts. “You’re bleeding!” Crowpaw mewed, closing the distance between their pelts. He felt Squirrelpaw flinch, but she didn’t pull away.

“Y-Yeah. That’s what happens when you get cut.” She quipped, something was off about it but Crowpaw didn’t notice. Concern pounded all over him as he saw the blood begin to ooze, not even stopping as the rain soaked Squirrelpaw’s fur.

Crowpaw sighed, “You shouldn’t have gotten hurt.” He scowled, anger towards himself, at his weakness. “I should have been able to take down that river-rat!”

Squirrelpaw darted a look at him, pressing. “Don’t be a rabbit-brain! Of course, I was going to help you!” She cried, her tail batting him. Her face heated up. “I told you I wasn’t going to owe you any favours, remember.” Crowpaw was about to roll his eyes when she softly added on, almost silent by the rain, he might not have heard it if she wasn’t so near. “Besides, I couldn’t just watch while you got hurt. I had to do something.”

For a second, Crowpaw didn’t know what to say. He looked down, gaping, at the she-cat. She didn’t look like she would look up, her mouth twisted in some kind of humiliation. But she did. Her green eyes peered up, honestly finding his. Honestly showing that she truly wasn’t against him, even when they weren’t speaking. Crowpaw felt like a fool now for even thinking it.

But he saw the blood again, and the mutual care he held with her swelled over him again.

His tongue tenderly licked the wound before either could picture it.

He shivered at the taste of blood, but he felt a larger terror at the idea that Squirrelpaw would pull away again. Her face seemed motionless, wide eyed and open mouthed, mixed in so many ways that Crowpaw couldn’t imagine. Her face looked forwards again, fixed and direct on the path ahead, not making a single sound.

But she didn’t pull away.

That was enough for Crowpaw.

He looked to see if the blood would come back, and found it didn’t, yet he kept by her, sharing their small warmth. Honestly, her fur was so fluffy that the fur was soaked and sodden, actually making Crowpaw a little colder as he curled beside her.

But he didn’t complain. And neither did she.

Despite the pouring rain, and though neither cat could realise it, neither cat felt a little bit cold.

They were at ease.

#crowfeather #squirrelflight #Feathertail #brambleclaw #tawnypelt #Stormfur #the new prophecy #Warrior Cats #warrior au #warriors fic #Thunderclan #WindClan #crowsquirrel #squirrelcrow

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