#but there is SO MUCH INFO THERE you guys! so much holo-technology! and so much that doesn't make *any* sense and allows me to basically make
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procrastinatorproject · 3 years ago
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Holo-Tech Database
Over the last seven or so months, I have watched through every episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It’s the first time I’ve seen the entire series, there were quite a few episodes in the later seasons I’d never seen before. Quite an enjoyable experience on the whole.
But because I’m me, of course I didn’t just watch TNG. Instead, I took notes every single time the holodeck or any other piece of holo-technology played a part in the plot, were the setting for even the briefest of scenes, or so much as got mentioned. Essentially, I’m building towards a database of every little scrap of canonical information about holo-technology that I can get my hand on. And this was a start.
I haven’t had the time or energy to look through all of my notes in detail. There is a lot of information in there already. Of course, I’ll only be able to draw any real conclusions once I add in all the data from DS9, Voyager, and PIC, (since I’m interested in the state of technology at the time La Sirena is in operation, because of course that’s what this is about), but it’ll be quite a while before I get there.
So, in lieu of any detailed analysis, here are some quick impressions of my first foray into holo-episode-tracking!
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[Image ID: a table showing the number of total holo-episodes for TNG is 58, and breaking that number down for each season. Season 1 has 10 episodes, season 2 has 8, season 3 has 6, season 4 has 9, season 5 and 6 both have 8, and season 7 has 9 episodes. /end ID]
My observation aren’t limited to the holodeck, but also to other instances of holo-technology. An example for an entry might be:
S03 E04 - Who Watches the Watchers
Archaeologists watch a pre-warp civilzation from an outpost that is hidden behind a holo-projection of a rock
The projection is powered by a 4.2 Gigahertz generator, which is failing.
When the projection is reinstated, it is solid to the touch and indistinguishable from the surrounding rock
In total, my notes about TNG (including episode titles) come out to 18.417 words, though my notes did get more elaborate the later the season. I still think I made a note of every time holo-tech was mentioned, even if it was just in passing. Though only a full rewatch would confirm that, of course, and I’m not there yet 😅
One interesting factoid I have pulled from the data so far is whether the holodeck/holo-tech is the main focal point or main setting for the episode, whether it’s importance is only secondary (only a short scene, inclusion has no bearing on the plot or characters, etc.) or whether it is merely mentioned but is not actually seen on screen.
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[Image ID: a pie-chart titled “Role of Holo-Tech in the Episode”. Over have of the pie are episodes labeled “secondary”. The wedge labeled “Offscreen” is about a fifth of the pie. The wedge labeled “Main” is slightly larger than the “Offscreen” one, and comes to a quarter of the pie when you add the very small wedge labeled “Main (questionable)”. /End ID]
So this is what I’ve been working on - and why watching all of TNG has taken so long. I frequently got stuck when an episode hit a holo-moment and I didn’t feel like getting out the notes, or when I knew the next episode was one of the designated Holodeck Episodes 😅
But I’m still glad I’m doing this. Research!!!
Next: The TNG movies and DS9!
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zoeykallus · 3 years ago
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The Clone And The Gray Part 10 – About Saving A Good Man
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Tech x Fem. Reader
Warning: SMUT 18+ NSFW
SMUT/ PiV Sex/ Fingering/ Cunnilingus/ Thigh Riding/ Slight Dom-Sub/ Violence/ Cursing/ Near Death Experience/ Pain/ Blood/ Stab Wound/ Some Fluff
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Author's Note:
I took some artistical/writing freedom with the one or other thing. Not yet proof read
Still my writing playlist: Playlist
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What Happened Before
Please Stay
Keeping A Secret
The Dark Side
Deep Inside
Perception
No Harm done?
Th Abyss Inside Us
Reaping What We Sow
Hate, Bleed, Love
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Part 10 - About Saving A Good Man
"So, there's an Imperial Commander named Thrawn who is temporarly in charge of a base outside of Lessu at the moment. They're still holding Howzer captive there," Tech explained, going over the info and calling up the base he was talking about on the holo map in front of him.
The Batch and you stood gathered around the map looking at what Tech was showing you.
"There are two main entrances, heavily guarded. Overall, our intel says the base is too hot for us. But there is a way to get in, from above, we just have to get up there unseen somehow," he said, pointing to some kind of roof deck.
Echo cleared his throat, looked up from his own holo pad, and said, "There's another option. Have you read through the info on Thrawn that our contact gave us?"
Tech frowned reluctantly, looked up and said, "Of course I have. What are you implying?"
Echo explained, "It says here that Thrawn has a weakness for art and beautiful women."
"So?", Tech inquired impatiently. Hunter chimed in: "We could use this to our advantage. We sneak someone in to give us access from the inside, get past the guards, disable the surveillance technology for the roof, then we could drop some of us in with the Marauder." Wrecker scratched his head and grumbled questioningly, "How do we sneak someone in? I don't quite follow"
"Like I said," Echo explained, "He has a weakness for art and beautiful women, so if we combine the two we might get him interested enough to let our mole in."
You frowned critically "And where the hell are we going to get a beautiful woman and a suitably interesting art object?"
All eyes turned to you. You glanced over your shoulder assuming they were looking at something behind you when it dawned on you. They were talking about you.
"Oh," you said turning your head back again, "I see where this is going." With a sigh, you finally asked, "And where do we get the art object?"
"That's a good question, and we don't have much time to prepare, so we should scrap that plan and come up with another one," Tech said firmly.
It was clear he didn't want to use you as a decoy. Firstly because of the danger you would put yourself in and secondly because he didn't like the idea of you deliberately making yourself interesting to another man in order to deliberately attract his attention. They were selfish thoughts, but they ruled his actions for the moment.
"Tech," Hunter said admonishingly but also gently, "we don't have a lot of options, you'll have to leave that decision up to her."
Crosshair, who until then had remained quietly in the background, suddenly said darkly, "Tech is right. She's not trained for this. It's too risky."
Echo sighed: "Yes it is risky, but let me know if you think of something better".
Your eyes darted back and forth between the guys, unsure what you should say. But something about this idea worried you, aside from being behind enemy lines.
„Don't get me wrong, I want to help, I really do, but I don't understand the first thing when it comes to imperial systems. How am I supposed to shut down any surveillance system?“
"Shoot, I didn't even think of that," Echo groaned.
Hunter rubbed over his face as if he was tired before he said: „I really want to help Rex about this, and Howzer of course, after all back then he pretty much safed our asses. But this might be a bit too big for us“
Wrecker growled: „Nothing has ever been to big for us. There is a way, Tech will think of something“.
Crosshair cleared his throat, "I think I have an idea."
When all eyes were on him he said, "We find an artifact and send Tech in, he's the only one who can get into the system on the fly. Y/N accompanies him, as his secretary or something, that way we connect the two and Y/N isn't alone in there."
Surprised looks were exchanged.
Tech said somberly, "That's surprisingly helpful, and I'm afraid I can't think of an acceptable counterargument. Unless you're not up for it, Y/N?"
The look he gave you was strangely hopeful, he hoped you would back down, he just didn't want you to put yourself in danger. But you couldn't do him that favor. You didn't want to abandon that soldier. It seemed to be important to Rex, besides, the batch obviously owed this man something, you wanted to help pay this debt.
Shaking your head, you said, "I see no reason why this shouldn't work. I'm in. A good idea Crosshair"
The Sniper nodded briefly, barely looking at you. Since the thing with Maul you had hardly exchanged a word, he kept away from you, but you still saw the reflection of his Sniper Scope every evening, so you knew that he was still watching you. Honestly, you didn't know quite how to deal with him, but you suspected that some distance would do you both good.
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Tech wore black pants, a black shirt, a dark brown noble leather jacket and matching dark brown boots. Damn he looked fine. You'd never seen him in civilian clothes before and he was wearing a cologne that smelled delicious. You wanted to mount him right then and there, but of course that was impossible.
When it came to choosing the dress you should wear, the men were very divided. Tech wanted you to wear something pretty but chaste, pretty much everyone else wanted you to show some skin. Sighing, you listened to the men argue. Tech fought off all of his brothers' arguments, saying that he wouldn't let you walk around half naked, no matter what they said.
Finally they more or less agreed and Tech brought you a short black dress, it showed no cleavage and had long sleeves, but was really quite short. That was the only compromise he was willing to make. Your opinion was not really asked for.
With a sharp look in the round you said: "It's not like someone asked for my opinion but I think I can wear this".
A few pairs of embarrassed eyes avoided your stern gaze.
You put the dress on in the refresher when you were back on the Marauder. It was really short and the high heels Echo had chosen took you a moment to get used to. You walked up and down a few times until you finally got the hang of it with a slight swing of your hips.
You caught Crosshair staring at your bare legs, which seemed much longer because of the high heels.
"Seems to be working," you muttered, whereupon he hastily looked away and busied himself with something else.
The mini dress had a high lace collar, ruffle detailing, long lantern sleeves and was wrapped around the hips with a narrow belt. It was pretty, the high heels too, but you felt uncomfortable. Not so much because of how you were dressed, but rather why you were wearing it. Another man you didn't know, should be eyeing you up and down, get distracted by you. Then there was another thought, what if it didn't work?
„You look pretty“, a raspy, deep voice pulled you out of your thoughts.
You looked up at Wrecker with a smile: „Thank you Wrecker“
You glanced over at Tech who stared at you. He had never seen you dressed like this before, not with high heels anyway. You just stared back, because he looked so fine in his civi clothes.
Hunter looked from Tech to you and back again and muttered, "Wow, there's quite a bit of sexual tension in here"
„Sorry“ you hastily apologized and tried to calm your heart again.
The sergeant just chuckled: „You two look great, like civilians but better“
While you, Tech and Hunter discussed the plan, Crosshair had to stop himself from staring at you, it was hard not to undress you with glances. He was annoyed at how fantastic you looked again, or more so that he just couldn't help but feel pure longing. He still dreamed about you regularly and by now he couldn't jerk off without thinking about you, everything else just didn't work anymore, not even holo porn. He knew himself that his fixation on you was completely unhealthy, but he just couldn't control it.
"Crosshair you stay on the Marauder with Wrecker, you two fly the ship. When Tech gives the signal, Echo and I will go in and get Howzer out of there. Once we get him, we'll signal Tech again."
The Sniper blinked.
"Shouldn't I go in with you instead?"
Hunter shook his head.
"No it's easier not to attract attention the fewer of us there are. I need Echo to open the cell door, otherwise I would go alone."
„Everyone ready?“, Tech asked.
A nod and an approving murmur went through the group.
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It all seemed to work as planned, so far. Tech and you had organized a meeting to deliver a holocron to Thrawn. At the moment, you were waiting in an atmospheric room where various art objects were already on display. The holocron had been found by Batch during a job some time ago, rather by accident. You had protested when Tech suggested it, but you had no other options.
You didn't like putting a holocron in the hands of the Empire. You decided that if possible, you would not leave the holocron behind.
Tech and you are examining a statue. When you asked, "Do you know what this is supposed to be?"
Tech shifted his goggles and replied, "Looks like Massassi, a long-dead culture that resided on Yavin IV."
"I'm impressed," spoke a deep, smooth voice behind you, "You seem to know your way around. Professor Yettun, I presume"
You hadn't heard him come in at all.
As you turned around, you had to pull yourself together not to stare or otherwise look nervous.
Thrawn was a tall Chiss, surprisingly young for a commander, as far as you could tell, blue skin, slicked back black- blue hair, eyes as red as a Sith's blade.
His appearance had something aristocratic, high cheekbones, elegant narrow lips, high forehead, narrow prominent nose.
When his eyes fell on you, an ice-cold shiver ran down your spine.
"And who is this pretty creature?"
Tech cleared his throat, uncomfortable that Thrawn was looking at you as if you were the artifact, the actual object of interest.
"This is my assistant Y/N"
He winced as he realized he had used your real name, if only the first name.
"Y/N" said Thrawn "A beautiful name for a beautiful woman."
You tried not to cringe at this not so imaginative pickup line and smiled politely
But Tech had to take care of the technical of the plan, so you had to distract the captain as best you could.
"My assistant is actually very knowledgeable about the artifact we discussed, more than I am in any case," Tech began, "The history of Force users is her specialty."
"Sith or Jedi?" Thrawn wanted to know.
"Both," you replied with a smile lifting up the box the holocron was in and opened it.
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Tech had excused himself to seek out the refresher. Which meant he got to work, now it was up to you to keep Thrawn busy for a while.
You knew Tech didn't like it, but he did what he had to do and so did you. Thrawn asked you questions about the holocrons and all sorts of other things about the Jedi and the Sith. He was impressed with how much you knew and listened carefully.
You hoped you could keep him distracted long enough so he wouldn't notice how long Tech had been gone.
"How did you come to start studying all these things?"
"My father," you answered more or less truthfully, "He was into it too, when Jedi were still alive, he was allowed to study in their archives from time to time. He was fascinated by it, this fascination has probably passed on to me. Especially now that they've been eradicated from the galaxy, they have an even stronger fascination for me."
Thrawn smiled barely noticeably and nodded.
"The Jedi were something special, I admit. However, they were traitors"
The word traitor felt like it cut into your flesh. You knew the truth, the truth about Order 66. You wondered if he knew that truth as well and supported the lie behind it or if he merely believed the lie. Of course, you couldn't ask him that question without revealing yourself.
"So I've heard"
He was still smiling as he said, "You sound like you don't believe it."
With a soft sigh you said, "I met a few of them in my youth when I sometimes accompanied my father. They just didn't seem like traitors to me."
Thrawn turned the holocron in his hand and replied, "That's what made them the perfect traitors. No one expected it, no one wanted to believe it. The eternal keepers of the peace, the protectors of the Republic. Almost a genius trick."
"If it had been so ingenious, they wouldn't all be dead now, would they," you returned somewhat sarcastically.
He laughed softly, but before he could reply, an alarm interrupted him.
"Excuse me, I have to take care of this. If you would wait for me here"
You watched him leave the room, anxiously wondering where Tech was. Something must have gone wrong, hence the alarm. But what should you do now? Should you just try to leave? That probably wouldn't work. Should you look for Tech and the others? Or just wait?
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Tech, Hunter and Echo were in the cell wing. Echo couldn't open the cell's energy barrier, so Tech had to come in.
"I shouldn't even be here, this is taking way too long, Y/N is alone with Thrawn," he cursed while trying to override the lock.
Since Echo had accidentally set off the alarm while trying to open the cell, the whole thing had become much more complicated. The base had been sealed off.
"You should leave," said a voice from behind the barrier.
A clone soldier stepped out of the shadows of the cell in front of the barrier door. He wore parts of his armor but not his equipment. He had a scar on his left cheek, his dark hair was cut into an undercut, the longer hair on his head slicked back.
"We're not leaving without you," Hunter grumbled.
"It's too risky!" persisted Howzer seriously.
With a clicking sound, followed by a low hum, the energy field finally came up.
Tech grumbled, "Stop arguing and get out of here. I'm going back to get Y/N."
Before anyone could protest, Tech was on his way as well.
When you heard blaster fire, you just couldn't wait. You tried to open the door, but it wouldn't open; Thrawn had apparently locked you in. There was no time to curse or panic. You opened yourself to the Force and used it to feel the lock and finally open it. When the door opened, you looked directly into Thrawn's face.
He walked toward you, pushing you back into the room.
"You seem to have other talents you haven't told me about. How did you open the door?"
You didn't answer, just paid attention to his movements and body language.
"No answer? That's fine, too. An appropriate interrogation will loosen your tongue. Right now I'm more concerned with who this man is that you came here with and who the others are that got the clone trooper out of the cell block."
So it had worked, Howzer was apparently freed. But had they also escaped? Where was Tech?
"Where is the man I came here with?"
Thrawn grinned darkly.
"You don't give me answers but you ask questions. He probably escaped with the others, they left you behind"
For a moment, a chill ran down your spine. If they had really fled, it was because they had no other choice, but it didn't make the feeling of cold hands that seemed to wrap around your heart any better.
"Good" you said softly "Then the mission was successful"
Thrawn scrutinized your face.
"You were traded for a clone soldier, I wouldn't necessarily call that a success. But I guess that is in the eye of the beholder in this case"
You sighed, "I'm tired of this."
With the Force you grabbed his body, flinging him across the room. His body smashed through a glass case and against a statue.
Hastily you grabbd the holocron and left the room, looking up and down the corridor. When you couldn't see anyone, you took the path that you and Tech had come in on.
Tech had taken the gun from a trooper and had to shoot his way back to the room with the artifacts. When he opened the door, however, he found the room empty, shards lying on the floor, but you weren't there and neither was Thrawn.
Panic rose in him - where the hell were you? The thought of what could have happened to you sent shivers down his spine.
His gaze briefly wandered over the shards on the floor before he cursed and left the room again. He followed the way you had come in, on the off chance.
He heard tumultuous noises and thought he heard your voice, moving towards it. When he came to the next bend in the corridor, he looked to the right and saw you. You whirled a few troopers out of the way with the Force as Thrawn approached you from behind with a vibro-knife in his hand. Tech yanked up the stolen blaster and fired at the same moment Thrawn struck.
The pain came very abruptly. Hot and burning deep in your flesh between your ribs of your right side. The pain shot through your guts and made your muscles immediately lose all grip. Your body fell to the ground. You wanted to scream but the pain cut off your breath.
There was a groan and then the sound of another body hitting the ground. You couldn't look at what was happening, you stared at the gray, metal ceiling of the corridor on whose floor you were lying and tried to breathe. You had to cough because your right lung began to fill with blood and the coughing made the pain worse.
The next moment you saw Tech above you, his face worried and horrified. He was talking to you, but you were losing your senses, his words were like a distant echo that you could barely understand.You felt him lift you off the ground, then suddenly everything was dark and completely silent.
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When you came to yourself, your environment was different, it was familiar to you. You were in your apartment, in your bedroom to be exact. As you were about to breathe a sigh of relief, the pain in your side reminded you of the injury you had received. Looking down at yourself, you realized that you had been stripped down to your underwear. Your wound had been treated and you had been covered.
Next to you in the bed lay Omega, rolled up and also covered in a blanket. When you tried to move your right arm, you felt her hand on your forearm. Tech was sitting in an armchair to your left, he had changed clothes, was wearing his equipment and had fallen asleep sitting up. Hunter was standing by the window, leaning against it, silently looking at you with a smile.
Wrecker and Echo were sitting on the floor at the foot of the bed and had both fallen asleep leaning against it. Crosshair was sitting there a few feet away in the same position. Then there was another clone, Howzer as you suspected, sitting on a chair near the bedroom door.
When he saw you move, he slowly got up.
Breathing shallowly, you looked around from one to the other. Relief and warmth flooded through you, gratitude for this unusual family that had taken you into their midst. Emotions threatened to overwhelm you, but you managed to pull yourself together.
"Hey," Howzer said quietly so as not to wake the others, "how's our heroine?"
A wry smile twitched across your mouth.
"I don't feel like a heroine, is that enough of an answer?" you returned in a husky, low voice.
"I'm in your debt, anyway," he said softly "That was damn brave, for a civilian"
"Yeah, and it was probably stupid too. But it was worth it, we're all alive and the job is done, you've been freed."
He nodded in agreement.
"I didn't expect anyone to come," he admitted.
"Rex found out you were still alive and set the levers in motion. We saved a good man today."
"That was two days ago," he noted "You've been out of action for a while."
"Oh"
You let your hand slide to the spot under the bandage where your wound was, focusing on the force and your injury, feeling the tingle in your flesh under your skin as the wound healed. It hurt a little too, but only briefly and quickly got better. When the healing was complete, you breathed a sigh of relief and chuckled.
"Did you just heal yourself?" asked Howzer, intrigued.
"Yes. Great thing the force, if you know how to use it appropriately."
He laughed softly with a little pain in his golden brown eyes.
"Yeah, I knew a force user or two".
Hunter stepped closer, sat on the edge of the mattress on your side of the bed, and turned to face you.
"Hey ad'ika, are you okay so far?"
You nodded and patted his hand that rested next to you on the mattress.
"You don't have to sit here, I'm fine".
"We were all very worried about you, we didn't want to leave you alone. Omega really wanted to stay with you and when she fell asleep I put her next to you, I hope that was okay."
"Of course, just let her sleep a little longer"
The sergeant said seriously, "Tech fought for your life for a whole night, you almost died on us a couple of times, your heart had stopped. He has been through hell. He just fell asleep for the first time a few hours ago from complete exhaustion."
The blood was just everywhere, everything was red. It wouldn't stop bleeding, no matter what he tried to do to stop the bleeding. Cursing, he tried everything in his power to save your life, but nothing seemed to work. He kept cursing and trying, saying your name over and over like a mantra, as if he could keep you alive. Then all of a sudden he felt your hands on his shoulders....
"Tech! Tech honey! Wake up! You're dreaming!"
He opened his eyes slowly blinking and saw your beautiful face hovering over him. You gave him a smile and immediately warmth rose in him. The next moment he had a lump in his throat, felt his hands shaking and a flood of emotion wash over him.
Tech reached for you and pulled you onto his lap, pressing you against him as if he never wanted to let you go. He was shaking.
"I almost lost you forever," he said very softly in a hoarse voice.
"I'm still here, Tech, I'm not going anywhere. You saved me, honey," you spoke softly to him, stroking his neck soothingly.
When you looked at his face, it was wet with tears. You wiped them away, kissed him gently on the forehead and showered him with sweet, loving, comforting words. He closed his eyes and nestled his face against your neck.
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Later....
His hands wandered along your naked body, stroking, pressing, groping. He was not rough, but definitely greedy. He was still fully dressed, made no effort to undress or allow you to disrobe him.
Tech wanted you, he wanted so much to perceive, love and consume you with all his senses. After you were almost torn out of his life, he needed that, he needed the confirmation on all imaginable levels that you were really here with him.
"Today you have to let me take the helm, Cyare. Without exception," he commanded in a voice rough with arousal. You nodded, gave him your consent, but that was not enough for him.
"Use your words, Mesh'la, I want to hear it," he murmured, giving you a gentle slap on your bare bottom. "I'm giving you full control, I'm okay with it, I want it that way," you said in a low voice. He was so different today. Maybe it was because you had been almost killed.
Tech was much more demanding today, knew exactly what he wanted from you and wasn't the least bit shy about it. You knelt over his lap where he wanted you for the moment. One of his hands spread your buns, his fingers were brushing over you tiny little backdoor, making you shudder. His other hand traveled between your thighs from the front, teasing through your already wet folds, stroking your clit.
In a rough voice filled with lust, he said insistently, "You will cumm by my fingers, my mouth, my cock and maybe I'll come up with a few more things along the way" Everything about his behavior, about this intimacy, was different from the last time. The last time he had been gentle, cuddly and tender. But here and now, he obviously had something completely different in mind. It was exciting, you couldn't deny that, it was one of your favorite fantasies anyway, but it was atypical for Tech and that unsettled you a little. You couldn't help but wonder automatically what was wrong, but you did it silently. For the time being, you let him. You wanted to see where it all really led.
Aside all this, you were already in lustful excitement and enjoyed the attention he gave you.
His lips touched your neck, gently, before he said: „I need to see you shiver, hear you moan, watch you twitch and jerk in helpless lust and bliss. I'll make you beg for me Cyare“
Tech's words rippled through your body lik a wave of heat.
When he suddenly pressed a finger on your backdoor and pushed it in, your body jerked forward so that his head was suddenly between your breasts.
He chuckled and the sound was muffled because he pressed his face into the soft flesh of your breasts. Tech inhaled deeply and released the air with a stuttering breath.
"Oh your smell, that scent, so intoxicating, my cock could get hard just smelling you, if it wasn't already".
His name slipped across your lips in a hoarse little cry, as at the same time he sank one finger of his hand between your legs, into your moist heat and his mouth enveloped one of your hard nipples and began sucking on it.
Tech's fingers in both of your holes began to pump and a high pitched moan followed by lustful whimpers and whines escaped you. He switched back and forth between your breasts, sucked on the nipples and swirled nimbly with his tongue over them teased the delicate buds feverishly.
Between a change he cooed: "Darling you are literally dripping! Good girl! You like that?"
The heel of his hand massaged your pearl while his middle finger pumped inside you. The middle finger of his other hand pumped sloppyly in the tight hole between your buns.
"Y-Yes.... I'm going to cum soon if you keep this up," you warn him breathlessly.
He chuckled and you felt the vibration over the nipple he had in his mouth just shooting into your body.
"That's good, we still have a lot to do Cyare, let go love", he said and picked up the pace with his hands.
Your hands clawed at his armor on his shoulders, your hips moved toward his ministrations.
The glow in your core increased immeasurably, the gentle steady tingle found its peak and twitched through the muscles in your lower body, making both of your holes clench around his fingers.
He looked up into your face, watching you come undone on his fingers and smiled.
"Oh Tech," you sighed in devotion.
He carefully withdrew his fingers, letting you catch your breath for a brief moment.
When you looked down, you could see the bulge in his pants. He must be aching for some touch, you thought, and bent down. But Tech's hands darted to your arms and snapped around your wrists.
You flinched, startled.
He saw the expression on your face, gave you a gentle kiss on the neck and murmured, "Not yet honey."
Tech began to remove the gear from his thighs, spreading his legs a little wider and finally tapping the fabric of his Blacks on his left thigh.
"Come here Mesh'la, sit down".
You followed his instruction expectantly and looked at him questioningly.
"I want you to ride my thigh".
Somewhat surprised, you blinked.
"I don't quite understand. You want me to... rub my..."
Tech nodded.
"I want you to rub your sweet, wet pussy against my thigh until you come." Heat rose to your face and your ears grew hot as you looked at him coyly.
"But your blacks are going to get all dirty."
Tech shook his head "I don't care, I want you to rub yourself on me without restraint".
When you continued to hesitate, he flexed his thigh muscle and pushed his leg slightly upward, into your lap. Automatically, your hips moved with his movement.
Tech grabbed your hips with both hands and dragged you toward him on his thigh and back again, inflicting sweet friction.
Softly you moaned his name as the heat inside you rose again, the tingling in your pussy increased and your clit swelled in need. As if of their own accord, your hands grabbed his shoulders, your eyes fluttered shut and you picked up your own rhythm, grinding your pussy on his thigh.
"Good girl" he cooed contentedly "Does that feel good darlin'?"
You nodded eagerly but were focused on your own movements, the right angle, the speed, the pleasure.
Tech watched you and enjoyed the feel of you rubbing against him, your juices slowly but steadily seeping through the fabric onto his skin. He still couldn't believe how gorgeous you were and that you belonged to him.
His hands gently stroked your thighs while you were grinding on his thigh, seeking that delicious friction for your clit. Your breath went faster and heavier, your moans became higher.
"My good girl, so beautiful," he praised.
Tech grabbed your breasts, gently kneaded the delicate flesh, stroking the hardned nipples, elicited sweet, lustful sighs.
You kept rocking back and forth, intensifying the tingle in your core, feeling your pussy twitch and clench around nohting as you reached your high with a hoarse whimper of his name.
He smiled at you with satisfaction. His cock was hard and aching for some touch, but he still held back.
You looked down in shame, his pants were all wet. “I’m going to wash this” “No, I can do that myself, it was my idea. But certainly not now because I have more plans with you”
Tech grabbed your hips, pulled you off his leg, spun you around and before you knew it you were lying on your back on the bed. He immediately pushed your legs apart with his shoulders and looked meaningfully down your body into your face.
His tongue shot out and licked over his lips. You knew he'd be all over your pussy like a starving man at any moment. The thought alone made your body swim in new surging lustful heat.
When he went down on you, the moan that came out of your mouth, was almost a scream. He spread your folds with his hands, his tounge diving right into your wet heat, literallyt drinking up your juices. The strong, hot muscle of his tounge making you jerk and twitch as it roamed through your pussy in a wild pace.
„Fuck... Tech!“, you exclaimed throaty.
In the next moment he was all over your clit, sucking, twirling his tongue, making you moan his name again and again. It was so intense, you bucked and jerked, couldn't hold still, but he adepted easily to every move of yours, kept going.
His tongue play was wild and demanding, stimulating your swollen, pulsating clit greedily. Whimpers and moans came from your lips as the hot tingling in your core continued to increase. This man really knew what he was doing to you and he loved doing it too.
Tech's name came breathlessly from your mouth as he sucked your clit between his lips and nibbled on it. He pushed you over the edge, falling into bliss once more.
When he let go of you and stood up, his chin was shining with your essence. He simply wiped it with the back of his hand. His eyes were dark with lust and desire as he looked down at you, your legs spread before him like an invitation.
He freed his cock from his pants, hard, girthy and proud it stood out from his body in a gentle curve. He pumped it two three times and said, "You should be more than ready for me by now Mesh'la. What do you think?"
Eagerly you nodded, wanting to finally feel him inside you. As wonderful as this extended foreplay had been, you finally wanted to feel his cock inside you, filling you and stretching you.
"Use your words Cyare, tell me how much you want it".
Heat rose to your face as you said "I want you inside me tech, please don't make me wait any longer"
"How bad do you want me?"
"Very, very much! Please, I need you inside me! Love me! Fuck me!"
Tech smiled, "That's more like it."
Quickly and skillfully he was between your legs, lined up with your entrance and immediately sank into you.
A small cry came from your lips when he filled you so quickly. Tech waited a brief moment to let you get used to the sensation before he grabbed your legs, leaned them against his chest, your feet on his shoulders and bent over you. This way he practically folded you up, you couldn't move under him and were completely in his control.
Your fingers dug into his shoulders and in a hoarse voice you begged him, "Faster... harder... pleeease"
Pleased, he complied with your request, gradually increasing the speed and strength of his thrusts until both of you slid towards your climax, breathing heavily and moaning. He saw you throw your head back, bite your lower lip, and was spellnound.
"Please, faster," you insisted. Even trying to buck your hips to meet his. His hips snapping into yours faster and faster with each thrust, hurtling you to your climax.
His eyes couldn't decide if he wanted to watch your beautiful face or your tits. The way they bounced with each thrust of his hips. Or the way your face scrunched up in pleasure. All because of him. Your hands reached up to scratch at the back of his neck when he hit that sensitive spot inside you.
"yeah... right there, Tech, please!" You squealed, and he made it his mission to hit that spot with each thrust. Moving one of your legs a little to the side to make it easier to hit it.
"I'm gonna-" you told him, and he nodded with a breathless smile. "Me too."
You were a writhing, whimpering mess, nearly hitting your next orgasm. Walls fluttering around Tech's cock as he continued at his quick pace.
You moaned out as his finger rubbed your clit and your pussy twitched and contracted intensely around his cock as your climax washed over you in a hot, tingling, buzzing sensation.
Your sounds and the contraction of your pussy carried him away, his seed shooting into you. The feeling of being full made you whimper as your fingers loosened on his shoulders. A layer of sweat coated both your bodies as you lay beneath him. His cock slowly softened, but he continued to keep it buried inside you.
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When you had cleaned yourselves, you had slipped into bed under the covers. Tech had immediately pulled you tightly into his arms, snuggled lovingly against your warm body. He was suddenly very tender, needy and affectionate, very much in contrast to your lovemaking before. You sighed contentedly and nestled your face against his chest, listening to his steady, strong heartbeat.
"I don't want you to go on any more missions," he suddenly said into the silence, hugging you even tighter than before, as if he feared you would try to run away.
In Case you wondered about the dress: Dress
Mr. Cliff Hanger wasn't at his best today, but he tried....
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Text
So here are some ideas for the techno augments and mutations for some of the cast of the Cyberpunk Mafia AU.
MARINETTE: she has 3 pairs of arms giving her 8 limbs like a spider. One pair is her natural arms and the other two are her cybernetic ones. They cybernetic limbs are are filled with various embroidery tools like scissors, thread dispensers, bedazzlers, and when she combines two she can even turn them into a sewing machine. For self defense she's rigged her arms to also be able to fire needles like an smg gun. She also has a pair of goggles with multiple rotating lenses that allow her to switch her vision to either super up close like a magnifying glass or super far away like binoculars.
KAGAMI: Kagami has some reptilian mutations. She has bright red scales along her arms, neck, and legs which are extra sturdy and act like armor for any vital weak points. She has a pair of horns that double as a sort of antenna for for certain signals. It's mostly for sensing really strong tech in an area. They can give also her the more terrifying appearance in the dark. Her most dominant trait though are her reptilian eyes which can actually switch to a biological heat vision. The problem with the yes however is that it's a mutation that's exclusive to the Tsurugi Clan and can cause problems for her from those either seeking the clan or the mutation itself. Kagami's mother was blinded becuase of such an incident. She also has a tattoo on her back of a pair of dragon wings. Also I wasn't sure if this was too much or not but I thought maybe she could have a dragon tail as well which is where most of her emotions show since she usually has to be so passive. Like she's trying to hide how happy she is but her tail is just wagging like crazy.
KIM: Basically raw muscle with this sort of neon blue/green that flows through his veins giving him a sort of radioactive appearance. I kind of imagine him with a build somewhat like Luther fro the Umbrella Academy but less hairy.
MAX: max more or less lives inside his high tech chair that has a practical cocoon of holo screens surrounding him giving him ALL the info he needs at once. The rest of the chair is a mix of hover technology and a bunch of doctor octopus like arms that do most of the functions. He's also almost always seen with a pitch black pair of round goggles on at all times. He seems to make it a point to hide his eyes.
LILA: as a digital construct Lila just shows up on screens as a digital avatar of herself. Although when she's possessing someone's tech augments they start glowing a sort of pinkish orange to signify that the chameleon is in control.
ALIX: she has her robotic rabbit legs and a pair of rabbit ears that gives her superhuman hearing. And she will deny this to ANYONE that claims otherwise but her mutation also had the unintended side effect to give her a puffy rabbit tail. She usually hides it under a long jacket. When Chloe finds out she thinks it's the most adorable thing in the world.
CHLOÉ/SABRINA: they were mostly done by other users so I'll leave that open. From what I understand they both look very human but have had ubsurd work done on them.
ALYA: she's basically made of cameras and recording devices. Her eyes? Direct live feed cameras. That weird spot in the palm of her hand? A camera. Her ears? Advanced audio recording equipment. Are those eyes in the back of her head? Oh look more cameras. She sees and remembers EVERYTHING. Even the stuff she'd rather forget about.
AURORE: she actually doesn't have any augments or mutations. Partly becuase she can't afford the cost and partly becuase she likes the idea that what she's able to do, is all becuase of her natural ability and experience. She does carry around a wicked electric stun baton/ Umbrella combo for self defence. The fabric of the umbrella is even strong enough to resist bullets. (think the umbrella from The Kingsmen.)
NINO: he's half cybernetic in that a lot of his torso had to be replaced after an incident. He did manage to equip himself with super sonic speakers directly into his chest so can blast beats as an actual weapon.
The Couffaines: with the exception of Anakra who absolutely wanted to rock a peg leg just becuase, non of them actually have any augments either. They're just armed to the teeth with every kind of weapon imaginable and seemingly the ability to completely ignore the laws of physics because, and I quote, "Literally no laws are safe from a Couffaine!" rumors say they beat the crap out of Zeus with their bare hands but rumors do tend to get a little wild whenever a Couffaine is involved.
I think of more mods for people later, including more specific stuff for Luka and Juleka (maybe a combo battle axe guitar for Juleka and Lazer rifle guitar for Luka?) but i think that's enough for now.
————
This is gonna be so fucking dope
Alya being a living camera is such a visceral and almost horrifying and monstrous image is absolutely amazing
I think I’ll leave Alix to just being cybernetic and not mutant, but while she’s missing her legs, the cybernetics go up to her waist line like almost pants- and that has a bunny tail.
Kagami I’m still debating between mutant and cybernetic or both, because I so desperately want to give her a robot arm.
I can imagine Nino has heart, respiratory, and stomach problems because of that incident and he coughs up blood like All Might lol
Max is mysterious as fuck and I love it- I bet he has cyber eyes (Lila posses those only for the purpose of animating herself in his vision like a ghost. Think like the short film ““Best Friend”” by Gobelins. This goes for Adrien too when she possesses him as well)
I’m loving this thank you guys so much
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vaguely-concerned · 7 years ago
Text
Overwatch fic - I hope that I don’t fall in love with you
PG-13, Hanzo Shimada/Jesse McCree, 7400 words, young McHanzo.  Jesse and Hanzo are stuck in an airport overnight because of a snowstorm - drinks and shenanigans ensue.
On AO3
Outside the huge windows the snowstorm kept howling like the tantrum of some weather god whose idea of creativity stopped at ‘just turn the dial up as far as it will go and call it a day’, a shifting wall of white rushing by behind the glass.
Inside the airport it was quiet, though, like the snow had settled in here too and was dampening all sound. Everyone moved with the weary yet unflappable tranquility of people who had accepted the truth that they were stuck here until the forces of fate and air traffic control saw fit to release them. Even the baby that was invariably crying somewhere in the distance sounded like it was mostly phoning it in for the look of the thing at this point. With the darkness pressing in on the airport it felt like being trapped in a high-tech cave of glass and concrete, the lights kept low and lulling.
Jesse was aching for a smoke, but the lady behind the bar had that ‘overworked and ready to commit murder with a cocktail strainer’ look about her and he wasn’t ready to stand outside in the roaring gale again until the bourbon had properly thawed out his bones. So instead he fiddled with the corner of the coaster and idly kicked his heels against the leg of the bar stool, keeping half an eye on the holo-set in the corner showing some kind of soccer game and otherwise watching the slow trickle of his fellow waylaid travelers flowing past.
He glanced away from a thrilling 0-0 draw — Jesse wasn’t big into sports that didn’t involve horses at the best of times, and found that having to watch grown men aim for and fail to hit such a big target for ninety minutes straight was like sandpaper over his soul — to see Hanzo Shimada standing in the middle of the terminal, glaring at the flight information display screen. Jesse felt an instinctive twinge of amusement; there was no mistaking him, no other man could have so eloquently stared at a defenseless piece of technology like it had personally offended him and his entire family back several generations.
Hanzo looked no different than he had when they parted ways twelve hours ago, job well done and encrypted info on illegal weapons technology duly exchanged. Even in everyday clothes — well, what passed for it for him, anyway — he seemed… sharper than the people around him, like he’d been carved out of the world differently. Jesse leaned his cheek in his palm and took the opportunity to watch him without having to think about being watched back. Yeah, no, there really was nothing the clothes could do to hide the broad shoulders or the way he moved like he knew precisely where every part of his body was at all times. You could stick a hoodie on a wolf, but it wouldn’t make its teeth any blunter.
With his hair down and a look of peevish outrage on his face he looked younger and infinitely less forbidding, though, like said wolf caught using the drawstrings as a chew toy.
After a while he seemed to spot Jesse and stood for a moment completely still, as if making up his mind about how to react. Jesse decided to leave the choice to him and pretended he hadn’t seen him, instead taking a sip of his drink.
A minute or so later there was the sound of Hanzo clearing his throat, and Jesse glanced up to find him standing close by, snow melting on the shoulders of his coat.
“Oh. Hey there.”
“Hello again,” Hanzo said, letting his bag fall to the ground with a thump and the tiniest hint of clanking metal — Jesse tried to keep out of his mind how many lethal weapons he could keep stowed in there, security be damned. Not that he needed them to be the deadliest guy in the airport. Any airport.
“We keep meetin’,” Jesse agreed, tilting his head to the side. “You having a drink?”
“Why,” Hanzo asked, sitting down on the bar stool next to Jesse, “are you buying?”
Jesse let out a surprised huff of laughter — now there was a tone he’d never heard from him before. If he didn’t know any better he’d say that that was a touch of playfulness.
“Sure,” he said. “If the next round’s yours.”
“Of course. Have they said anything over the intercom?”
Jesse shrugged. “Nothin’ encouraging.”
Hanzo gave a dissatisfied grunt and ordered a drink after a perfunctory scan of the list. He checked his phone while he waited, his brows drawn together irritably.
“Good luck with that, the only forecast you’re likely to get is ‘disappointment with a chance of confused meteorologists’,” Jesse told him. At Hanzo’s surprised blink he added: “Checked it before. You know you’re fucked when they ain’t even had the time to give the storm a name before it hits. We’re right on the outskirts of it as it passes, though, so with a bit of luck we’ll be good to go before noon tomorrow.”
That same impenetrable blinking for a few seconds and then Hanzo gave a breath of laughter and put the phone down, accepting his Old Fashioned with a short ‘Thank you’ when the lady handed it to him. “I see.”
“Guess we’re stuck here at least overnight, huh,” Jesse said.
“It would appear so,” Hanzo sighed, running a hand through his hair to push it away from his face — it fell sleekly over his shoulder and down his back. His cheeks and the tip of his nose were still pink from the cold outside.  
Strangely enough the confirmation that they were indeed trapped seemed to calm him down more than anything. He took a sip of his drink and wrinkled his nose, though it didn’t stop him from going in for another straight after.  
Hanzo shrugged the coat off and rolled up his sleeves, the tattoo clearly visible on his left forearm. Jesse found himself wrapped up in the design, tracing the interlocking patterns with his eyes when Hanzo wasn’t looking — he’d been trying to get a better look ever since that first time he’d noticed it, when it had been way too dark to make out details and a smear of blood had obscured parts of it. Now that he could study it freely he decided the design suited the man, stark and bold and wound tightly in on itself in ways that didn’t look entirely comfortable.
Eventually Hanzo seemed to sense Jesse’s gaze on him and raised an eyebrow, glass halfway to his lips.     
Jesse tore his eyes away and cleared his throat, leaning his elbows on the table. “You gonna get in trouble with your folks over this?”
“Hm?”
“We were already runnin’ kinda late before. Can’t imagine they’ll be happy with this little delay.”
“I… may have some explaining to do when I get back.” He stared into thin air, as if contemplating this, then grimaced and knocked the rest of his drink back in one go, waving for another even as he swallowed.
“Whoa,” Jesse said, equal parts impressed, perturbed and feeling his throat burn in sympathy.
Hanzo gave an acknowledging shrug and started in on the new drink with infinitesimally more restraint, sipping it like a man on a grim quest to escape the dingy shallows of sobriety. “It has been… a long day. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Do you have no one back home to answer to?”
Jesse made an indifferent sound. “Sure, but so long as I get the job done they don’t care much one way or the other how I get there. Would probably start askin’ around for me if I didn’t turn up in a week or so, though. At least I’d like to think so.”
“...an interesting way to run things.”
“I’m a bit of a special case,” Jesse admitted, shrugging. “And I’ve earned it, too. We’re not all charmingly free spirited mavericks like me, though, believe it or not; some of the guys actually do numbers and spreadsheets and shit.”
“Thank heavens,” Hanzo said, “I am not sure the world is big enough for more than one of you.”
When Jesse looked at him there was a smile playing on Hanzo’s lips even as his eyes were drawn and weary, a disarmingly charming expression just from how pleased he looked at his own joke.
“You know, like in your movies? ‘This town isn’t big enough for the both of us’? Dramatic duels at dawn?” He made the most deadpan finger gun Jesse had ever seen and lifted his eyebrows.
“Yeah, I, uh, I thought I caught your reference there,” Jesse chuckled, swirling his drink around in his glass. “You have watched a few Westerns in your time, then? You been holdin’ out on me?”
Hanzo gave a grunt and took a sip of his drink. “None that did not involve assless chaps and only the R-rated kind of riding. No horses involved, though.”
It was a near thing that Jesse didn’t snort bourbon through his nose. Hanzo’s smile widened almost imperceptibly.
If you’d asked Jesse before tonight about Hanzo Shimada’s defining qualities, his sense of humor would not necessarily have come up. The aloofness might, as well as the way he walked and talked like he knew, in a disinterested, blasé sort of way, exactly the most efficient way to kill anyone he set his eyes on if needed — the sparkling repartee, not so much. Jesse had always felt that slinging jokes in his direction was like appealing to a vaguely condescending brick wall. Well, more fool him; one on one and devoid of any business to discuss the guy could be hilarious, not even unintentionally, in a way that careened merrily between the sharply observed and the delightfully mean, though the worst of the nihilism eased once he started in on the third drink.
“So you’re telling me,” Jesse said, squinting at Hanzo’s face, “that you had to stay in character as a delivery boy for a month before the guy finally let you in?”
“It was the only way to get close enough to him,” Hanzo shrugged. “A deeply paranoid man. Rightfully so, of course, he had made some powerful enemies through his stupidity and greed.”
“Wow, Mr. Shimada, tell us how you really feel.”
Hanzo made a little face that clearly said ‘Eh, what can you do, there’s no helping some people’. It was the kind of expression that held the ennui and world weariness of a much older man — Jesse suspected Hanzo had been born with it already preprogrammed into him. “If he had been as willing to learn to cook for himself after divorcing his wife as he was setting up diabolical and deadly security systems… I might have had a lot more trouble. He used his last words to complain he had not ordered pepperoni.”
Jesse had a vivid, inexorable mental image of Hanzo dressed up as a pizza boy scowling daggers under the cap; he had to rest a hand over his mouth before he made a sound he might regret, though Hanzo picked up on it anyway.  
“I am glad you seem to find it funny. I did not see the humor in it at the time.”
“I can see how you wouldn’t,” Jesse said, strangled. Pushing his luck he asked: “You keep the uniform, at least?”
Hanzo grimaced into his drink. “Perhaps you and Genji should get together some time and create your own comedy act. He asked me the exact same thing when I got back.”
“I knew that kid was alright,” Jesse beamed. “Good instincts.”
“Apart from having to endure your comedy it was a temporary indignity only and the job went smoothly from there. I did get a commendation from my employer several times,” he added, as if he’d only just remembered. “Had to all but fight off a promotion before I left.”
“Well then, at least you know you got a job waitin’ for you if this industry goes tits up in these peaceful Overwatch times. More than you can say for some of us. Ain’t got too many marketable skills outside of… this whole deal,” Jesse said, catching himself before saying ‘shootin’ people in the head’ as the bartender passed by on her way to another customer.
Hanzo made an unconvinced sound in his nose. “Oh, I would not be so sure of that. One does a lot of people watching in our line of business. You develop a knack for working people out, which is usually half the battle. Take that one,” he said, gesturing discreetly in the direction of a corner table with a lone businessman whose only crime, as far as Jesse could tell, lay in a supremely bland taste in ties.
“What about him? You find his fashion sense personally offensive?”
“Obviously, but beyond that he is clearly having an affair.”
Jesse squinted at the guy, finding that despite looking gracelessly and resignedly middle aged there was no lipstick on his collar, literal or figurative. “Oh, clearly.”
Hanzo, taking this as a challenge, held his head higher and appraised the man as a renowned art critic might the results of a ‘Watercolors For Complete Beginners’ course. “Hm. The first thing he did after sitting down was remove his wedding ring. Two phones, two separate credit cards, which — oh, how embarrassing, he still mixes up on occasion, so this fling might be a recent development…”
The guy sat there mortified while the server reset the card machine; Hanzo rested his chin in a studiously dispassionate palm and kept going.
“Generally surreptitious and flighty manner, so perhaps very recent at that, could be he is not entirely sure his new flame will show up — a newly bought and expensive if, hm, inadvisable outfit, a rather sad attempt at styling what remains of his hair, but I suppose there is something to be said for the nobility of doing what you can with what you have…”
Jesse bumped their shoulders together, chuckling despite himself at the sheer unfiltered disdain. “Okay, Sherlock, I get it. You can stop showin’ off.”
Hanzo shrugged and abandoned the theatrical thinking posture, sitting up straighter again. “Of course most cases are not quite so blatantly, pathetically obvious.”
“You really don’t like this guy, do you.”
A stiffening of his back, almost unnoticeable if you weren’t paying attention — perhaps he thought no one was. “I dislike disloyalty. If you have made the decision to devote yourself to something or someone, you stay true to it.”
“Well, I dunno. I’ve seen too many people stay loyal to their own misery. To bad places, or bad times, or bad people. Sometimes you gotta know when to fold ‘em and walk away, y’know?”
Hanzo glanced at him with sharp, dark eyes from behind the curtain of his hair, something written nakedly in his expression that Jesse didn’t know how to read.
“Not that goin’ behind the back of someone you’ve promised the whole ‘to have and to hold’ thing to isn’t a certifiably shitty move, it ain’t the way a man oughta treat his partner,” Jesse clarified, holding his hands up in easy concession and leaning back to show he didn’t mean to make an argument out of it. “Just sayin’ that there are some things that loyalty doesn’t… well. You see enough shit, it makes you wonder.”
“Hm.”
The corner of Jesse’s mouth wanted to twitch up — he’d known the man for almost a year now, and those little ‘hm’s still remained completely opaque to him.
Hanzo touched his arm and tilted his head towards their new friend with the bland tie. “Ah. Observe.”
The guy was still fiddling with his two credit cards when a woman — slightly younger than him and looking excitedly nervous in high heels — came over to his table, and in his rush to hide them away he almost ended up putting his mouth on her nose when she went in for a chaste kiss.
Hanzo gave a little ‘ta-dah’ wave with such withering sarcasm that it was a miracle the guy didn’t collapse on the spot. “See? He may be unfaithful, but he respects his wife and her intelligence enough to go out of his way to hide it. Touching, in its own way. Perhaps there is something to salvage there yet.”
Shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter, Jesse brought his glass to his mouth but had to put it down again before he spilled booze all over himself. “You’re a cynical, cynical man, Mr. Shimada.”
“As cynical as any man who endeavours to see the world clearly.”
Jesse nudged his knee against Hanzo’s under the bar, inclining his glass towards him. “What’s that thing ‘bout how… behind every cynic there’s a disappointed idealist or whatever? Is there really no romance in your soul, sir?”
Hanzo quirked a strange little grin — he glanced at Jesse out of the corner of his eye and held out his glass too. “An odd question to ask a man who studies swordsmanship in this day and age.”
Jesse tipped his head to the side in acknowledgement and touched their glasses together with a clink, taking a sip. In his precise, certain way Hanzo pushed his hair away from his face, still that look about him like he was entertaining some private amusement.
“Such incisive commentary is enough to have me worryin’ what you see when you look at me,” Jesse said, meaning it as a joke. “Starting to think I’ll have to plant some red herring backstories to keep you off my trail. On an unrelated note — I ever tell you ‘bout how I was found as a baby by a circus elephant and was raised by a happy triad  of clowns, knife throwers and fire eaters? The good ol’ ‘secretly a Russian princess all along’ ditty? How I got this scar?”
“You,” Hanzo said, the slightest slur to his words now when he didn’t watch it, “are… strange, mostly.”
When he finished laughing Jesse said: “Yeah, I’ve been reliably informed.”
Hanzo pursed his lips thoughtfully, looking at him with what seemed like honest curiosity. “It does not trouble you, then.”
“If it did I’d be nothin’ but troubled all the livelong day,” Jesse said. “Lotta effort, low payoff. Not like I’m ever gonna pass as anything but what I am for any length of time anyway. Might as well work with it.”
Hanzo smiled, his cheeks flushed with the booze and dark hair loosely gathered over one shoulder. He looked different when he smiled for real, almost surprised, like his face had just received an unexpected but not unwelcome visitor.  
Jesse found himself smiling back.
“You, uh, you hungry?” Jesse asked after a while, without quite knowing why. “‘Cause I could murder a burger right about now.”
Hanzo blinked slowly at him. “...it is nearly two in the morning.”
“It sure is,” Jesse agreed. “You can have some of my fries, if you’d like,” he added, in the name of sweetening the pot.
After a moment of deliberation Hanzo shrugged. “Who am I to refuse such a deal. Lead the way,” he said, hopping down from the bar stool and gathering up his things.
 ———
 After they finished eating they drifted aimlessly through the terminal for a while before settling down on a bench in an isolated corner, Jesse giving up on what remained of the ketchup splotch on the thigh of his jeans and tossing the paper napkin in the trash. He felt full and warm and oddly at peace with the world at large, and not just because of the booze or the fact that he’d gotten to see Hanzo Shimada — a man whose name was whispered with fear and deference in certain parts of the underworld — make fun of his smoking habit by way of creative application of a french fry not ten minutes ago. The image of Hanzo holding the fry between his fingers like a cigarette and giving a bad imitation of Jesse’s drawl would keep him warm on cold and lonely nights.
Their conversation had petered out to become a comfortable lull, and when Jesse glanced over at him Hanzo was glaring intensely at the opposite wall — almost, Jesse noted, like someone desperately fighting to keep their eyes open.
“Y’know,” Jesse ventured, having observed this internal battle for a while and taking pity, “you can have a snooze if you’d like. I’ll keep a lookout for any questionable characters headin’ our way.”
“Hm?”
“When life gives you jetlag, make a night shift, right?” Jesse said, waving at what he felt sure were the impressive dark circles under his eyes. “I’m not gonna be sleepin’ anytime soon anyway.”
Hanzo blinked in consideration for a while, then gave a ‘fair enough’ head tilt and leaned back. If he was anything like Jesse he probably had the chip with the data they’d traded somewhere on him, close to the skin, but he made a loop with the shoulder strap of his bag anyway and hooked his foot into it. Then he settled into perfect stillness with uncanny immediacy, arms folded over his chest and a look on his face like he was preparing to offer Mr. Sandman an offer he couldn’t refuse — since Hanzo’s eyes were closed anyway Jesse allowed himself a grin.
He rooted around in his bag to fish out the holovid, booting it up and navigating his way to the giant trove of video files he’d downloaded — extremely illegally — when he was eleven and had kept around and up to date ever since for occasions such as this. His logic had always been that should the war break out again he’d better be able to watch every decent Western ever made before the nuclear winter finished him off.
Hanzo drifted off quickly, if the way his breathing changed to be calmer and deeper was any indication, though he still looked stiff and tensed up. Occasionally he would let out a small, hilariously dainty sniffle as he shifted; Jesse was delighted to learn that even while far off in Dreamland he managed to look faintly peeved.
Jesse started the movie and let his brain slide into the comforting groove of the familiar plot. Sinking down on the bench he settled in, crossing his legs at the ankles and stretching out as much as politeness allowed.
When the first movie ended he put on the next one, whistling to himself under his breath as the title screen flashed to life. In his sleep Hanzo slid down the bench until his temple rested on Jesse’s shoulder — for a couple of mad, serene moments Jesse’s body acted like this was the most natural thing in the world. In fact it decided to just sit there for a while, smiling faintly down at the top of Hanzo’s head. They were close enough now that he could smell him, warm and clean and strangely graceful even after what must’ve been a couple of days of travel and half a night in the airport bar. Maybe the mystical mumbo-jumbo the Shimadas shrouded themselves in wasn’t all smoke and mirrors after all and the man was actually magic. It was either that or a really well picked aftershave.  
(Jesse might’ve had more to drink than he’d thought at this point, he recognized absently.)
Huh.
…wait a fucking second.
Jesse’s brain felt a slow, indomitable wash of horror as it realized that what his body had meant to do was pull Hanzo in closer where he’d lie more comfortably and securely against his side before turning back to the movie.
Jesse stared into the middle distance for a long time. At one point an elderly lady walked up to him and asked him in hushed tones if he was feeling well.
“Never better, ma’am,” he said hoarsely, realizing too late that he’d sort of leaned back into Hanzo’s weight as if to seek out something sure and steady under her mild, concerned gaze.
She patted his knee. “I get like that myself,” she said wisely. “Put away enough gin beforehand and you’ll sleep through most of the flight anyway. I’m sure your young man won’t mind if he knows you get that worked up about it.”
Jesse made a strangled sound in his throat and nodded, smiling a fixed, manic smile.
As she winked at him and walked away Hanzo sighed in his sleep and turned his face further into Jesse’s shoulder — a soft, trusting gesture that had Jesse dizzy because...well, you wouldn’t know it to look at him, would you, that there could be that kind of easy sweetness in him. Normally you got the impression that he was the kind of man whose most pressing reason, at any moment, not to stab you to death was the potential dry cleaning bill, and nothing about that could prepare you for this.
Some locks of hair had fallen into his face, silky over sharp features. Jesse kept very still and watched him.  
You deserve better, Jesse thought nonsensically, out of the blue, Hanzo’s face as he talked about loyalty flashing through his mind. Was loyalty really the word for it when you gave them everything and they seemed all too happy to take it and give nothing back?
He wasn’t sure how much time passed before Hanzo gave a low sleepy sound and seemed to come awake. As he stirred he tilted away; Jesse hurriedly inched away before Hanzo’s eyes blinked open, desperately trying to pretend that his side didn’t suddenly feel very cold and lonely. He crossed his legs at the ankles and sank back against the bench, staring fixedly at the holovid as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever laid eyes on.
With a grunt Hanzo sat up, rubbing at his neck with a pained expression.
“Welcome back,” Jesse said, hoping his grin seemed natural enough to hide the fact that everything inside him was currently one long incoherent scream.
Hanzo smiled slightly and rolled his shoulder, working out the stiffness. “Thank you. Happy to be here.”
The scream in Jesse’s head rose to a violent crescendo at the easy sarcasm. Hanzo glanced down at the holovid for a second with an unreadable expression, then squinted at the big hologram clock over by the entrance, moving his neck like he was smoothing out a crick. He looked over at Jesse. “Hm. It is still only four.”
Jesse’s heart gave a thrill at the barest indication of a raised eyebrow, the invitation slyly offered and easily ignored if unwanted. “Ah, the night is still young, then. You up for another round, Mr. Shimada?”
“‘Hanzo’ is fine,” he said, getting to his feet in one mesmerizingly sure, fluid movement. “And absolutely. I have nowhere else to be.”
 ———
 The bartender seemed both amused and unimpressed to see them again, but she acquiesced readily enough when Jesse grinned and told her to leave the bottle.
“Promised to buy you a drink, right?” Jesse said, waving Hanzo off when he started to say something and pushing a glass towards him. He felt sure he needed to be much drunker if he were to survive the night in this state.
Hanzo tasted the admittedly dirt cheap bourbon and wrinkled his nose. “...interesting,” he said, with the very faintest veneer of politeness the human voice could bestow to cover up the disgust.
“A free drink is a free drink, ain’t it?”
Jesse noted that Hanzo’s expressions changed after a few drinks — normally he looked like he meant to constantly school them even if the results were varying, any flicker of emotion the result of a momentary slip-up and immediately, angrily squashed, but tonight that mask had definitely fallen off somewhere along the way. It looked good on him, that new unrestrained expressiveness. Now that he knew the signs to look for Jesse was pretty sure he could start to pick up on them in a sober Hanzo too. “An excellent point. I apologize for my brashness before, keep it coming.”
“You got it, friend,” Jesse said and topped up his drink.
The nap seemed to have given Hanzo a second wind. There was more of a swagger to him now, a tiny lift of his chin. They talked shop for a while, in a vague and euphemistic dance to avoid saying anything that’d have someone in the bar calling the cops on them, then somehow ended up derailed enough that they were talking about the history of their respective countries in the eighteen seventies the next time Jesse checked in with himself and realized he was having fun. In his surprise he ended up stuttering to a halt; when Hanzo gave him a questioning look he floundered for something to say.
“Y’know, I keep meanin’ to ask,” Jesse said, hoping it covered for his momentary distraction and current existential horror at how charmed he was by Hanzo explaining, in his sardonic, clipped manner, the finer details of the military reforms of the Meiji restoration. “What’s the deal with the sword ‘n the bow ‘n stuff? Not that you’re not pulling it off like nobody’s business, but isn’t it a little… old fashioned?”
Hanzo wrinkled his brow thoughtfully, tapping his fingers against his glass. He looked Jesse over from boots to hat and back again; Jesse fought the urge to squirm under the inspection. “...was that a serious question?”
“Huh?”
That private half-smile from before returned, something brightening in his eyes. “Apparently it was. Hm. I suppose it is a little old fashioned, at that. But you never know — perhaps there is still a future for anachronisms.” He blinked slowly — well, he did have a few drinks under his belt at this point too, built like a brick shithouse though he was. “It is also a smidge quieter and more discreet than the hand cannon you carry around.”
“I’ll not sit here and listen to you besmirch my gun just ‘cause your taste skews more medieval,” Jesse announced. “Peacekeeper’s served me plenty well through the years, thank you very much.”
“I am sure it has. And I am even more sure that my ‘medieval tastes’ would still have you beat every time.”
“Would it, now?”
“In fact I am perfectly willing to put money on it,” Hanzo said, leaning forward, a glint in his eye that made Inner Jesse whimper. “Any contest, at any time.”
“Oh ho ho,” Jesse said, casually pushing his hat back on his head as his heart raced against his ribs, “you better believe that all that stands between you, an empty wallet and complete humiliation in this very moment is the laws of this land frowning on firin’ guns in public places.”
Hanzo gave a faux-haughty huff, eyes glittering. “A pitiful excuse.”
Jesse felt the grin bright on his face and leaned forward too. “Hey, gimme a time, place, and somewhere to dump the evidence and we’ll see ‘bout that.”
“That can be arrang — ” Hanzo stopped, a frown appearing on his brow.
“What’s up?” Jesse asked after a while, realizing suddenly how close their faces were now.
“I just had a strange feeling that — ”
Hanzo’s phone called out shrilly, a dozen times or so in quick succession. With the air of someone stepping up to the scaffold and giving the hangman a meaningful look to get it over with already he checked it.
After a few moments he picked up his drink, finished it in one go, poured himself another and then leaned forward to rest his forehead against the bar, the image of a beaten man.  
“Uh…” Jesse said, tentatively resting a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder. “You okay?”
“My feeling was right,” Hanzo murmured, holding out the phone without lifting his head. “My brother is indeed disgracing himself and our entire family as we speak.”
“What, your Genji sense was tinglin’? You felt a great disturbance in the Force?”
Hanzo gave a mirthless bark of laughter. Jesse stared at the bared line of his neck, stumbling over the fact that he could barely remember ever wanting anything as much as he wanted to brush his lips there, to hear a breath of real laughter in response. The physical contact before had woken something inside him that had slumbered for a long time; he couldn’t remember ever longing for anyone to just… touch him before. It was easily the third most pathetic he’d felt in his entire life, sitting there yearning for what was likely one of the most dangerous men in the world to rest a hand on his shoulder, even for a few seconds.   
He felt vaguely that his brain had broken or something.
Taking the phone he glanced down at the screen, then flinched back like he’d been stung by a wasp.  
“Dear lord,” Jesse said, tilting the phone and then his head to try to make more sense of the image, morbidly fascinated. “The hell’s he doin’ with that lobster? How would that thing even fit down the front of his… huh. Well.”
Hanzo just whimpered, burying his fingers in his hair. “Keep going.”
Jesse flipped through the next few and whistled under his breath. “Well, someone’s havin’ more fun than us tonight, at least. Didn’t even know they made drinks with that many colors. Who’s the young lady with the… ”
“I have absolutely no idea.”  
“Fair enough, that’s — whoa there,” Jesse said, hurriedly skipping one. “Don’t mean to be rude or anythin’, but that’s, uh, that’s more of your brother than I ever needed to see.”
“I know the feeling,” Hanzo said. “For what it is worth I think he sent that one by mistake. My name must be close to one of the girls he is… dating in his contact list, it would not be the first time.”
“‘One of’, huh. One of those situations.”
“Enough of ‘those’ to fill an entire four act comedy of errors.”
Helpless against the depths of resigned despair in Hanzo’s voice Jesse chuckled. “Sounded like you saw this comin’, somehow.”
“It is a special instinct I have developed,” Hanzo told the tabletop earnestly. “I can feel Genji shaming every single one of our ancestors from half a world away.”
Jesse snorted, squinting to make out an image distorted by blurred lights and excessive photo filters and deciding it might be a nightclub actively, literally on fire.
“Of course it is partly a matter of always being prepared to expect it,” Hanzo continued vaguely, sitting up. “Statistically I usually turn out to be right. Mathematics. You know how it is.”
“Least he’s kept his pants on in this one,” Jesse said philosophically, flicking through the last few messages to find that Genji had gone the extra mile by making a holo gif so the nipple tassels could have their full, animated effect.
“Sometimes,” Hanzo said, in a way that suggested he wouldn’t have done so sober, “it feels like he does it specifically to spite me. To get a rise out of me, rubbing it in my face just to show me that he can. Which is naturally ludicrous because I doubt he has ever thought that deeply about anything in his entire life, but it does not stop it from being… annoying.”  
Jesse put the phone down, intrigued by the minefield stretching out before them. “Is there anything in those,” he waved towards the phone, “that you’d actually want, though?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Hanzo snapped, though Jesse didn’t take it personally as the ire was clearly not actually directed at him as much as the very concept of the question. “It’s pathetic. But he stands free to do anything he wants and chooses to squander it on…”
He stopped himself, looking down at his hands tightly curled on the bar. With deliberate movements he unfurled his fingers, though the tension still ran through them like piano wires — some part of Jesse, having already barrelled through the first stages of grief and resting now in depressed acceptance, recognized that his hands were extremely nice, strong and sure and well shaped. He wished he could have managed to dwell in the tranquil valleys of denial at least until boarding his flight, but there you were. “No matter.”
“Hey,” Jesse said. “He’s just bein’ young and dumb. When’s the last time you saw each other?”
Hanzo shrugged. “Weeks ago. Half a month or so, maybe. Why?”
“You call him in all that time?”
“No. I doubt he would pick up if he knew it was me.”
“Maybe he wanted to get your attention somehow and thought actin’ like a dumbass was the way to go about it,” Jesse offered. At Hanzo’s blank, uncomprehending stare he quickly added: “Hey, what do I know, though, I’m just some random idiot with a neat hat.”
Hanzo, in a very un-Hanzo move, looked unsure. He fiddled with the edge of his sleeve, staring into the middle distance.
“I never know why he does what he does,” he said finally. “We… do not speak much anymore.”
“You used to?
Hanzo shrugged again, a tight, constrained little gesture. “Some. More. When we were boys. Before — hm.”
Jesse nodded, watching him out of the corner of his eye — he’d ducked his head again, as if going into hiding behind his hair, shutting himself off. There was an ache in Jesse’s chest, some puzzle pieces falling into place and making a pretty sad picture in his head. It seemed weird now that he’d found the guy so inscrutable and overbearing in the beginning. Considering where — who — he came from, it was maybe a wonder he had any urge left to connect to anyone else at all.
“Should I…” Hanzo furrowed his brow as if doing complicated calculations in his head and looked up. “...answer him?”
“Why not? What’s the worst that can happen?”
“You saw the nipple tassels, why would you underestimate him like this,” Hanzo said immediately, but he was tapping something out on his phone with a thoughtful expression. “I — would asking him to stay safe count as nagging, do you think?”
“Just like that? Shouldn’t think so.”
Hanzo made an absent-minded sound of gratitude and kept writing. There was something horribly endearing about the way he picked each character like he was setting down important messages in stone that people would see and judge for generations to come.
For a while Hanzo stared down at his finished message, a doubtful downward curl to his mouth. Finally he mumbled: “Perhaps I should not encourage…”
“Hey,” Jesse said, touching Hanzo’s shoulder. “Don’t think about it too hard. Just send it.”
“Is that your professional opinion?” Hanzo said sardonically, though there was a grin lurking in his voice.
“As someone who ain’t never thought too hard about anythin’ in my entire life,” Jesse agreed, bringing his free hand to rest over his heart, “you’d be surprised how often it works out.”
Hanzo chuckled, letting his head fall to one side. After a moment he pressed ‘send’ and put the phone face down on the table, giving a small sigh. “There.”
“And would you look at that, the world didn’t even end,” Jesse beamed, snickering when Hanzo aimed a cheerful kick at his shin.
He had his hand on Hanzo’s shoulder and Hanzo wasn’t shaking him off, wasn’t even acting like it was strange, just looked at him with eyes that were tired and soft with booze and still warmed by a small, rueful smile.
There was a chime of longing in Jesse’s chest, at first unbearably gentle like a bell struck by butterfly wings, but deepening, a call that couldn’t be silenced because it rang through his bones.
Fuck, Jesse thought, giving Hanzo’s shoulder a squeeze before pulling his hand back. I am so screwed. Twenty years of nothin’ and then I just had to go for the gangster ninja assassin. Sure. Splendid. Why wouldn’t I do that. Completely in character, if nothin’ else.
Hanzo’s phone buzzed again, only twice this time; he snorted as he checked it but wrote an answer before sliding it into his pocket. He turned back to Jesse. “My brother apologizes for accidentally mentally scarring us both. You do not have siblings, do you?”
“Not that I’m aware. I’ve known some of the boys long enough that it’s kinda the same thing, I guess.”
“It is, as they say, a mixed blessing,” Hanzo said. “On the one hand I have been in a constant state of worry for close to twenty years now, on the other… actually no, there is no other hand. That’s it.”  
Jesse grinned into his drink. “Sounds like maybe I dodged a bullet there.”
“...I would not go that far.” There was a quiet, fond lilt to his voice Jesse had never heard before.
Fuck.
Maybe — maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad. It wasn’t as though he’d ever act on it, Jesse told himself. Just because he knew it was there didn’t mean he’d have to do anything about it. It could just… stay a background thing. A, what was the word. No, a less embarrassing word than that. A crush, perhaps. His heart could do its whole newfound pitter-patter tap dance routine now and then, backstage where no one could see it, and otherwise he’d keep it under wraps and act like the goddamn professional he’d been scrambling to pretend to be all these years. Topsy-turvy with the booze and the low lights as he felt he wasn’t dumb or mad enough to think that Hanzo would welcome any advances with anything but, at best and simultaneously worst, pity. This was not a knife edge he was eager to test his throat against.
And yet… even as he thought it the part of him that was always watching itself and was wise to his particular brand of bullshit braced itself for the inevitable hurt.
He did a mental shrug. Oh well. In for a penny, in for a pound. Anything that was worth doing was worth doing with panache and gusto, even if that thing was crashing and burning. “Can I interest you in more of the house’s finest damn disgusting swill, Mr. Shimada?”
“Mr. McCree,” Hanzo said, “I thought you would never ask.”   
 ————
 When the storm ended Jesse didn’t even notice for a while. It was first when Hanzo glanced over his shoulder to the windows and gave a small sound that he realized how light it was out, and that the low but constant howl of the storm had faded somewhere along the way.
Hanzo got up and stood by the huge windows, arms loosely crossed over his chest.
“It would seem the worst has passed,” he said, black hair outlined by the sharp clean light of the dawn. He glanced over as Jesse came up next to him. In the distance they were clearing the runways for snow at a fervent pace, though the inside of the airport had only just started to move out of its torpor. Soon it would be a real mayhem as people scurried to their new gates — but for now it was quiet.
“Seems that way,” Jesse lied blithely, watching his profile, the curl of his mouth.
They paid for their drinks — Jesse hissing between his teeth because well, he’d known it was gonna smart but he’d been trying to keep it out of his mind — and wandered off again, drifting idly through the terminal. Jesse was still tipsy enough that everything felt light and warm, all the sharp edges worn off the world. Hanzo was muttering something under his breath about the architect’s taste in dramatic floor tiles and looking enchantingly snippy while doing it.  
Then the departure board updated and Jesse gave a grunt as his phone buzzed with the alert too. “Well, that’s me, I guess. Better get a move on. Thanks for the company, by the way,” he added, reaching out a hand before he could think better of it. “Saved me from being that weird guy getting shitfaced alone in a corner. It was fun.”
Hanzo blinked at him in surprise.
“Y’know, fun?” Jesse prompted. “Surely you’ve encountered the concept before?”
“Hah. McCree,” Hanzo said, taking Jesse’s outstretched hand and shaking it — you could sense the strength in his fingers even under such a controlled, careful gesture. He was grinning. “I… hm. We will keep in touch.”
“You better, we got a bet to settle now,” Jesse said, feeling mildly delirious. “Come at me whenever you’re ready for a taste of humility, I’m always ready to defend my gun’s honor.”
———
A couple of hours later he sat sleepless and hungover in the window row, leaning his head back against the seat as he replayed Hanzo’s startled laugh in his head again and again.  
Part of the Scoundrels and Thieves ‘verse, which can be found here!
I would like to thank @callmesherly for helping me with what kind of drink Hanzo might go for if sake was off the table, and to @solivar and @bananamilk for lending their expertise on cowboy innuendo for Hanzo trolling Jesse! On another note — ‘leaving the bottle’ does not seem to actually be a Thing outside of movies and/or very special circumstances in most places, so let’s just assume that the bartender heard our two wonderful boys talking ~*inconspicuously*~ and was smart enough to go ‘haha I’m *not* getting paid enough to argue with international crime syndicates, if this weird kid with the hat believes the shit he sees in movies I’m not gonna be the one who corrects him’. (They did not finish that bottle by themselves, btw, the dialogue would have ended up a lot less coherent otherwise lol)
Also feel free to imagine, years down the line, Sombra finding Jesse’s old… holovid account or whatever they call it and just rubbing her hands together because surely there’s some embarrassing porn in there, there must be, he’s been updating this playlist all through his teens and young adulthood… only to find that no, it really is just every Western ever made, regardless of quality or merit, scrupulously organized like literally nothing else in his life has ever been. Which is, of course, also deeply embarrassing, but in a way that’s hard to exploit because he has exactly no shame about it and he always has at least one backup squirreled away so she can’t even threaten to delete it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Lastly: There might be nothing funnier to me than the idea of Hanzo doing the social stealth part of the whole ninja bit. Entirely competent (because he would never allow himself to be anything less) but also wearing the most long-suffering FML face once the dupe’s back is turned? — yes good. Title is from a Tom Waits song because I am incorrigible and none of you can stop me.
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sherlockxreader · 7 years ago
Text
Man and Machine
Title: Man and Machine - Part 1: Tony’s Invitation
Summary: Your new life in Baker Street has been challenging, exhausting, exciting and satisfying. It has been little over a year since you have moved away from your brother Tony and after becoming part of the duo that is John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. You hadn’t expected their worlds to collide so quickly however, with Christmas fast approaching, you find yourself caught up in the whirlwind that will be the Avengers Christmas, featuring two British best friends, one obnoxious boyfriend and one protective older brother. Merry Christmas?
Author: Maddy @laterthantherabbit Words: 2220 Characters/Relationships: Sherlock x reader, Tony Stark x sister!reader, John Watson x platonic!reader Warnings: Nada
Request: Hey it’s me again Haha so I was hoping if I could request that reader is Tony Stark’s Daughter (or maybe sister would work better for you?) and she manages to drag her boyfriend coughSherlockcough to America during a holiday to meet him(?) that was my idea and I know it’s a really weird and specific niche of fic but if you guys are comfortable with it ik you’re the best ones to pull it off - anonymous
A/N: Hey anon, thanks for this request! I love it heaps! I’ve decided to write this with the reader as Tony’s sister just cause of the ages and stuff. I’ve also added in a few more Avengers cause they’re always fun. The Accords exist but all the drama that had happened and the split has been resolved, so everyone’s together in the new compound. Also this is after Sherlock’s fall but he and John made up and are still working cases together. Season 4 didn’t happen in this universe. I’ve also decided to write this in multiple parts as well just cause I feel like I’m doing some major info dumping here that I don’t want to try and put it all together into one. Hope it’s what you were expecting!
———————————————————
Being Tony Stark’s younger, introverted sister was both a blessing and a curse when living in New York City, especially after he gained countless enemies over the near decade of being Iron Man. After the Battle of New York and the events of The Mandarin, you had decided to move to London, away from any business your brother was involved with, into a quieter, more stable lifestyle.
It was more peaceful in England and though there were some people who recognised you as Y/N Stark, they were more polite about your personal space and kept their distance better than those in NYC. Life was quaint, as Tony had described it when you showed him pictures of the small apartment you were going to be renting in Baker Street from a nice old lady. Mrs. Hudson if you remembered correctly. You commuted from 221C to the law firm you worked at via the tube daily, preferring that over any eccentric cars Tony would have bought you. You met up with Mrs. Hudson frequently, finding solace in the woman when your cases were getting to your head; she always knew how to help in the drug-related cases somehow.
The most exciting part about your move however were your neighbours, John Watson and Sherlock Holmes. You didn’t meet them until your third day in London, as your hours required you to leave early and work late. You had always heard the occasional violin upstairs, sometimes loud arguing between the two men at the early hours of the morning. Their theatrics amused you even if they didn’t know you knew of their various exploits and adventures through Mrs. Hudson’s stories and John’s blog, kindly provided by Mrs. Hudson herself. When you finally met the men on one of your afternoon’s off with Mrs. Hudson, your amusement towards them grew tenfold.
John was grumbling to Sherlock about running off by himself again from the front of the building to the dining table in Mrs. Hudson’s kitchen, ignorant of your presence at the end of the table. You chuckled quietly over your tea as he walked in ahead of Sherlock, looking at the ground and flopping into the chair at the other end of the table, his head in his hand and his elbow in the table. Sherlock came in next arguing against whatever John had just said, stopping abruptly when he saw you sipping tea at Mrs. Hudson’s table. John looked up at the sudden silence and blushed a little at having not noticed you in the room.
From there, your life became far more interesting. John became a close friend, one of your best. He was always one to listen to your problems at work, letting you whinge on his shoulder as he read a book or watched crap telly.
Sherlock on the other hand became one of the most important people in your life. At first, he was his abrasive and obnoxious self yet he had always left the light on for you when you came back to the building especially late and you began to notice that he’d play soft music at these times, helping you sleep before the next monstrosity of a day. After a couple of weeks, you’d find little post-it notes on some of your work, suggesting at evidence you should use and even pointing out parts that would change the game immensely. You knew who it was immediately.
John managed to get Sherlock to face his feelings for you when he saw him drape a blanket over your exhausted figure which had collapsed on the couch of 221B, a smile that could only be of adoration on his face. It took some time, but eventually, he worked up the courage to open up his heart to you and from there, your life was perfect. Until the first Christmas away from Tony approached.
—————————————————————-
You were sitting cross-legged on the ground of 221B, your back against the couch and mounds of paper strewn across the floor in front of you, different coloured highlighter and post-it notes dotting the white in a code that only you and Sherlock could really understand. You were alone at the moment, John having gone to work and Sherlock having gone out to examine something with Molly. You had the day off from work, only to have to catch up on a heap at home. You attention remained fixated on the papers in front of you as you heard someone’s footsteps on the staircase outside, the door creak and the person shake out their coat from the rain outside.
“Hello Y/N. How’s the case coming?” Sherlock spoke as he stripped on his way to his bedroom, coming back out a moment later in his pyjamas and blue dressing gown. “Y/N?”
“Hm? Oh it’s dismal, as always.” You chucked the pen you held onto the words with frustration, lying your head back onto the couch cushions as you scrubbed the tiredness from your eyes. “This one’s hopeless. God dammit.” You kept your eyes shut, letting them rest as Sherlock flopped onto the part behind you. He began to stroke your hair out of habit as he let his other hand drape across his own eyes.
“It’ll work out. You always make it do.” You hummed in appreciation as he continued.
“Only with your help. I can’t remember how many times you’ve helped me.”
“True.” You smiled and brought your hand up to playfully swat at his chest. You heard him gasp at your antic and felt him shift as he brought his fist to his chest. “Rude.”
“Rude yourself.” You sighed and opened your eyes, lifting your head to continue with your work only to have it brought back to it’s resting place by Sherlock’s hand on your forehead. “Sherlock. I really need to get this done, I don’t have time.”
“I’ll help later. You need to rest anyway.”
“You shouldn’t be helping at all. These are confidential documents. In fact, everything I do is confidential. I should’ve stopped you right away.” Your bickering was pointless as you settled your head back and let Sherlock fiddle with your hair.
“Mycroft can sort anything out if we’re caught. Don’t worry.”
“How horrid.” You both laughed, the domesticity of the room making you sleepy. You dozed until John came in a couple of hours later, letters in his hand, one nearly double the size of the rest.
“I see you two are cozy. I brought your mail up as well Y/N. It’s mostly junk except this one.” He handed you the giant, off-white letter, the outside rimmed with a thick gold border, a thinner one next to it in hot-rod red, before he made his way into the kitchen to make tea. You knew who it was from immediately and your sleepy body sprung upright immediately as you worked on opening the letter. Sherlock, who had managed to catch some sleep with you, was jolted by your movements, making him grumble and turn to the back of the couch.
“It’s from Tony!” You heard John chuckle to himself as he emerged from the kitchen while the jug boiled.
“I kinda guessed that. I thought he usually called?”
“He does but you know Tony. Always going that extra mile for the wow factor.” You smiled as you lifted the flap of the quality envelope, your address written in Tony’s messy handwriting, a contrast against the pristine paper. Inside was a thin black screen branded with the Stark name. When you lifted the rectangle, it flickered and came to life, scanning your fingerprints where they were at the edges, projecting the Stark image above the tablet when it was flat, as it was in your hands.
“That’s a bit much isn’t it?” John had made his tea while you were pulling out the device. His face was a mixture of confusion and awe towards the advanced piece of technology. “And he sent that through the post? Would’ve thought it would break.”
“It’s probably stronger than that mug you’ve got there.” You smirked at John as he scowled and sat in his chair, preferring to read the paper. The scanning completed and, after confirming that you were you, the face of your brother appeared in the holographic image.
“Y/N?” Holo-Tony called through the screen. He was in his engineer clothes of a singlet and grease stains, as you had dubbed them, and he was leaning in with his head tilted showing the left side more. You could see his workshop and suits behind him.
“Tony! How’ve you been?” You stood from your place when you realised this was a phone call of sorts, moving to Sherlock’s room to have some privacy.
“Splendid. Never been better. How’s the Traveling Utility for Removed Dumbasses working?” He had leaned back to fiddle with something out of screen though you could still clearly see the smirk on his face as your face dropped, unimpressed.
“Seriously, TURD? It’s like you’re still five.”
“Well I had to find some new way to insult you. You should be grateful I made that thing just for you.” He was looking smugly at you through the screen as the smile that had disappeared flickered back onto your face.
“You dork.”
“You love me.”
“Yeah yeah. Anyways what’s up? That can’t be the only reason you made this thing?” You sat on Sherlock’s bed and rested the tablet at one end so you could lay down on your stomach, nothing behind you except a blank wall.
“Course not. You know what the date is?” He had gone back to looking down at something and you could see his tongue poking out the side of his mouth in concentration.
“Um, the twenty-fifth?”
“Of?”
“November?”
“Exactly! And where are you?”
“England. Tony what has this got to do with anything?” He dropped his hands loudly on the desk and looked into the screen with a gobsmacked face.
“Christmas! The Big Stark Christmas and now the Big Avengers Christmas! We are planning the best Christmas ever and that can’t begin until you’re here so pack your bags sis, you are coming home!” He spun in a circle on his chair as holographic fireworks surrounded him on screen in the vibrant colours of Christmas. You giggled at his theatrics and shook your head.
“Tony, I can’t. I have so much work here and-”
“Nope.” He waggled his finger at you and picked up what he was working on, one of his thrusters, “It’s already been sorted. I got you the whole month off and am sending a jet over tomorrow so you can come here and celebrate. Meet the newbies. Maybe meet someone.” He wiggled his eyes suggestively and you blushed, hiding your face in your arms.
“Uhh, well, about that-”
“I’m just joking Y/N.” He began tightening a screw in his thruster, not registering the direction you were heading with. “Anyways what I’m saying is that you have no choice really. You’re coming here for Christmas whether you like it or not. So?” His eyes flicked to the screen and you saw how hopeful they looked. You sighed and smirked at your brother.
“Well after all the trouble you’ve been through, of course I’ll be there. Tomorrow the jet was coming you said?” His eyes crinkled at the sides and his mouth widened in a brilliant smile.
“Yes it is! I’ve got stuff to do but I will see you soon!” He leaned in to hang up but you waved your hands at the screen and spat out syllables in objection.
“Wait! Wait, stop!”
“What?” Tony looked confused at you and slightly worried as you fiddled with your sleeve and said you were going to bring some friends if they agreed. “Is that all?” He relaxed against his chair and smiled softly. “Course they can come, the more the merrier! I’ll need a name to do a background check so, who are they?”
“Uh, John Watson and Sherlock Holmes.” You thought you saw recognition flicker across his features however, it disappeared as quickly as it had come, replaced with his previous relaxed face as he asked FRIDAY to remind him to run a background check on the two.
“No worries Y/N. I’ll see you soon yeah?”
Your tense face and body loosened and you smiled into the screen, saying you’ll text if they agree to come. “I can’t wait. Bye T.” He smiled back then the screen went dark, leaving you reeling as you realised that you were about to introduce your boyfriend and new best friend to some of the most powerful people in the world as well as your brother.
On the other side of the world, Tony sat in his workshop, a dark screen in front of him and his mind racing. “FRIDAY?”
“Yes, sir?”
“Don’t worry about that background check and bring up everything I have on those two people.” A moment later, a mass of virtual newspaper clippings and information appeared in front of Tony. John’s service in Afghanistan, Sherlock’s rehabilitation, their work on a multitude of cases, John’s blog, Sherlock’s fall. Anything and everything that was related to the two men was at Tony’s fingertips and a steely expression was on his face. “She just had to meet a Holmes, didn’t she?”
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wo-the-wolf · 7 years ago
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A Bluff, A Lie, What's the Difference? Part II (FINALE)
Inspired by user The-Grape-Gatsby. The prompt was, human bluffing. What if humans were the only ones with a strong poker face? The short story follows three detectives aboard the Citadel (No not mass effect). Enjoy!
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 They moved as veterans on a battlefield that had long since gone cold. Quinn took point as Vec hunched low to follow close behind. They crossed the near dead silent road, avoiding the eyes of local gang members a few buildings down. Upon reaching the apartment, they made their first move. 
“I got the lock,” Vec whispered as he knelt by the door. 
“Make it quick,” Quinn grunted as she aimed her blaster up high, watching the windows like a hawk, swearing even the small ripple from the drapes made her nearly squeeze the trigger on instinct. 
Vec jammed one of his real claws into the holo-lock, and began tinkering with the mechanism. “Almost….. Got it…. Aaaand…..” A small click echoed near them, “We’re in.” Vec was proud of his work. 
“You’re mechanical arm is quicker.” Quinn smiled softly, muttering this to him as she moved past to enter. 
“Thought human ladies liked the longer experiences,” he obviously teased. 
“Don’t think I qualify as a ‘lady’ Mecha-Croc.” Quinn whispered as they made their way onto the stairs. 
 "Don’t know about that,“ Vec’s voice trailed off as his eyes wandered. 
"Eyes on the stairs, not my ass.” Quinn gestured up top. “Or you’ll be in two pieces again." 
Vec followed were she pointed as saw it, a crude but effective trap. A trip wire that blended in the dark despite the night vision from his cybernetic eye. "Oh,” he cleared his throat, looking to follow the wire as it lead to a primitive human weapon tied to the ceiling, a machete as they called it. 
 "Let’s move, third floor isn’t far,“ she exhumed confidence from her authoritative words, though within there was another war brewing. The anxiety was deathly, as every job took its toll. Working the beat as a detective on the Citadel led to some interesting encounters, as well as some less than desirable experiences. Serial killers, homicides, twisted and demented things some people could make of the underworld. Where no normal citizen would ever have to worry about seeing such things, they weighed heavy on Quinn’s mind. Though still, she would never let it show.  They ascended higher and higher until they they reached a battered door labeled as the number they had seen earlier on the report to label as a potential hideout. “On me,” Quinn ordered as she gestured to herself. She held up three fingers … Then two… Then one, then nodded. They burst through the door and gazed at the hideout of their fugitives. Decorated in a series of graffiti of anarchy like symbols and a gangly mass of wires and technology littering the area. Two plain beds, a barely used kitchen, and a living room tricked out to looked like some sort of planning area. Yet only a single humanoid hooded figure stood staring out of the window. “Hands in the air!” Quinn ordered, blaster raised and primed to kill if needed. She fired a warning shot near the culprit, but he barely moved.
“Listen to her pal, you don’t want this to go badly,” Vec added with similar authority.
“Detectives, I was wondering when you’d arrive.” The figure turned. That dreaded mask sent chills rippling through Quinn’s spine. A demon’s mouth smiling wide, painted to look like digital designs out of some old sci-fi movie. A visor made to look cobalt black, and the voice warped to sound like it did on all those threatening holo vids it sent. “Welcome to my home, I wish you would have called in advance, I would have tidied up.” 
“Get on your knees, Viceroy,” Quinn ordered, taking a step forward. “We will not hesitate to call in the sniper team if needed.” 
‘We have snipers?’ Vec thought to himself. Confusion washed over him for but a moment, but he ensured he kept his eyes firmly placed on the target. 
“Snipers?” The masked man perked up, taking a slightly defensive stance. He sounded unnerved.
“We know about your mole, they’ve been dealt with accordingly,” she primed the blaster. “Now don’t try me.” She threatened, though her expression was calm and collected. 
Viceroy looked up in what could be called shock, if anyone could see him. “Really? My mole failed?” He sighed, “Ah well, can’t find good help anywhere. Guess that’s strike one.” He shrugged. 
“Enough with the games, you have till the count of five to get on the floor before we call in the kill shot.” Quinn stated coldly.
“You’re bluffing.” Viceroy folded his arms, unimpressed. 
“I love a gambling man,” she scoffed with a dismissive gaze. “One,” she started. 
“Two,” Viceroy chuckled as he added the next number, “Strike two, that is.” He leaned against the window. “I’ll give them a good shot.” His voice sounded nervous.
“Three, you’re pushing your luck, you really want to die here?” She raised her brow, barely moving as the sound of more sirens came rumbling through. ‘Rookie must’ve called in the guys… I can use this,’ she thought as she seldom took her eyes off of Viceroy. “You hear that? That’s the sound of number 4 happening. Now get on your knees.” 
“And do you hear that extra sound?” He raised his hand to where his ear would be, and turned to look out the window.
“On your knees, Viceroy, now!” She moved up and, without hesitating, sucker punched the man before putting him in a choke hold. “You’re wanted for counts of murder, assault, grand theft, Robbery, terrorist threats, Money laundering, corruption, digital crimes against the Alliance, and weapons trafficking. You have the right to remain silent, you have the right to-”
“Yes, yes, do please continue, I’m well aware of my rights. Though I prefer they be read in person.” The figure continued, sounding very much capable of speaking despite being choked. “Oh and that extra sound, Detective? Is the sound of strike three. A human can tell when we’re lying to each other.”
“What the,” Quinn raised her brow in confusion. 
Vec moved in slowly, ripped the hood and mask off. “Fuck,” He grumbled as Quinn let go. “It’s a Decoy,” he scratched at his scales and growled as the metallic face of a droid looked up at them. 
“Quite right. Banshee and I are very much gone from this place. You can add my species as definitely human now. You’ve all earned the right to narrow your suspects.” The droid gave a chuckle, at least it’s speaker did as the body moved in unison. “I’ll give you props, on your Rookie that might’ve worked, hell maybe on your precious partner… But I’ve dealt with my own kind and our tricks, Quinn,” the droid stated. It rose to its feet and looked out the window. “Which by the way … Strike three usually means you’re out. In this case, someone else loses tonight,” the droid looked back at them as an explosion suddenly rumbled outside. 
“What in the hell?!” Vec shouted as he gripped a nearby table for support. After the initial shock died down, Vec looked up, “Um … You miscalculate there buddy? Got a few bolts loose?” Vec gave a slightly raspy laugh. 
“I didn’t miss, Detective,” he stated coldly. The air grew colder around them all. Realization hit Quinn rather quickly as she rushed towards the window, then a few moments later it hit Vec like a wave. “Rookie!” He screamed. Vec followed and moved to the window with haste, panic rising over him.
Quinn remained silent, horrified but resolute as she watched burning car. “Don’t try again, Detective… I grow tired of our games, after all.” Viceroy spoke up through the droid. 
Quinn merely shot the droid, bearing no other response reasonable. “Let’s go,” she finally said after agonizing minutes of silence. They gave their report to the reinforcements, and stood in solitude as they watched the medics pull the charred remains of their Rookie from the car. 
“He’ll recover,” The Medic stated to them, “But it will take quite the amount of time.” The molluscan based life form informed them as it put away its data pad. 
“See to it he gets well, Doc,” Quinn nodded. Once she and Vec were alone, they lit cigarettes and watched the regular cops handle the scene clean up. Far enough away to where they wouldn’t be questioned any more. 
“Nice job staying cool, Quinn,” Vec nodded as he took an extra long sigh to truly try and relax. “The worst part is… He could of done it at any time… But he waited to show us… Fuck,” Vec scratched his head, showing his nervous tick. “Wish I could stay level headed all the time like you Qu-” He stopped as he looked at her. A stream of tears slowly falling down her stone cold face. “Quinn,” Vec slowly realized there was more to humans than he realized . Even she felt the pressure, but unlike his species, they hid their emotions. 
“I’m fine,” Quinn muttered as she bit down on her cigarette. “Just… Fine,” She swallowed the lump building up in her throat. 
Vec put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her in a way he thought would help. She accepted, as the years of stress and memories came hitting for a strike, but she did not break yet again. “I’m not done yet… We’re going to capture these bastards… And I’m going to break every bone in their body.”  ———————————————————————————————————–
HEY! YOU! YEAH! YEAH YOU! This was such a pleasure working on, and as we speak I’m already hard at work thinking through the next short story. Just a little piece of info, all my stories take place in the same universe, so expect cameos and paths crossing in the future. If you have a prompt you want me to work on, feel free to message me or tag me in it! I try to update nightly or every other night. As a Uni student it depends XD. Either way, hope you enjoyed! 
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monsteronfire · 8 years ago
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BTS AU Prompt
Okay, this got way out of hand. First let me do some background explaining. So a few days ago I came across a post on my dash about someone asking if a writer had ever considered a BTS pirate AU. I immediately started thinking of a Treasure Planet type of universe (because I’m a ho for those futuristic AU’s). Now let me let you all in on a bit of info. I love strong female protagonists. If there is an opportunity for me to write one, I fucking will with enthusiasm. In a world like this, how could I pass up on making a badass chick. If you ever give me an AU to write, I will like make the Read/OC a strong character that isn’t to be messed with. So I got this fucking idea and I was honestly just trying to write a tiny little prompt and post it to see what you guys thought, part of the reason I wrote it in the tense that I did. Seriously it was only supposed to be a few paragraphs long at most and then it turned into this. If you guys do like this, I will honestly be making this the first chapter. Anyway! So here it is, a prompt on a new idea I got and I wanted to see what people thought. Are you interested? Do you think it’s great? Do you want more? Is it stupid? Please let me know because if people are interested I want to write this. There will be more than just BTS added as I want various members from various groups to be a part of the crew. I’m hoping you can guess who the two mechanics are near the end. The pair is set up to be Reader/Jungkook and that’s my idea for right now, but for all I know my brain to take the story in a whole new direction and pit the Reader with someone else. I don’t know. This is a very rough idea and I have no idea where it’s going, but I would love to see. Please help a ho out and let me know!
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Imagine an unknown age of the future where people have become so advanced that they have also regressed. Beginning anew in a solar system where multiple planets have been discovered, terraformed and colonized for the lives of not only humans, but alien species as well. New forms of life have come to mix and intermingle with the race of man and all live in relative harmony on the inner planets of the federation, the outer planets of the free marches and the small moons of the common folk. Technology has birthed an age where ancient sea ships rule both water and sky in a new forms, all with an air of their father vessels.
In this age their are three prominent groups of people. The simple, hard working common folk; the righteous, protective and just armed forces with their largest and most prominent branch being the Navy; and the underbelly of all society. Criminals, goons, gangs and, more commonly, pirates. Sea pirates, sky pirates, space pirates. Pirates of all walks of life have become the leading head of the dark and dank underworld of society. The one thing the common folk are always sure of is that the Navy and Pirates are mortal enemies. This is the world now, the setting for this tale.
Enter one Jeon Jungkook. A young man filled with strength, will, determination and the drive to serve and protect the common folk. At first a member of the Navy, he spent three years working towards making the system a better place. But his dream was quickly snuffed out when a band of pirates aboard a ship both infamous and unknown attacked his vessel. Merely a legend to the common folk, the ship by the name of Bonreol (B-aw-n-ree-ol) is well known to all pirate kind though few would speak of it if prompted. Jungkook, with his skill and hardwork, has reached the rank of first mate on his crew’s ship, the S.S. Virtue, but that does not save him on the night of the attack. In the dark while most of the crew slept, the pirate crew of the Bonreol board, slaughter all, but six of his crew mates and attempt to take the ship. The captain is killed and by some sheer light of hope, Jungkook is somehow able to fend off the pirates and protect six of his crew mates until help arrives.
It is a famous event that only serves to get Jungkook honorably discharged from the Navy against his will. With nothing left to give purpose in his life and his insatiable need to protect the innocent not fulfilled, he turns to becoming a freelance bodyguard for all the common folk. He has done well on his missions so far and it has made him cocky. His current assignment is to protect and safely deliver the daughter of a low tier royal family (of some planet or other) to her parents by the evening of the next day. Unfortunately he has run into a local gang of goons and the girl has been stolen away as a hostage. Before they do, though, they make sure to show Jungkook that he is hardly much when it comes to a real fight and that if he were to try and take on their whole group himself to rescue the girl he would surely fail. He can do nothing else, but turn to a companion he has made in his time as a bodyguard.
A pirate captain by the name of Juda (Joo-dah). A surly old man of a different species with a stout, large and round body that was probably three times the size of Jungkook. His skin is smooth and shiny, often looking moist and he has a beard of short tentacles on the bottom edge of his face, much of it covering his mouth and jiggling around when he speaks. He speaks plainly, though lightheartedly, his laugh big and booming- and frequent. Jungkook is not one to make friends with pirates, his Navy instincts kicking in most of the time, but Juda has helped him on more than one occasion and the young bodyguard feels he can be trusted.
“I need someone, Juda. Anyone that can fight. A few of your men perhaps.” Jungkook practically begs, determined to get this little girl back alive.
“I’m sorry, Kook. Ain’t have anyone ta spare. Ya should try lookin’ in on da pub, there ‘re always dem merc types lookin’ fer work.”
“I can’t use mercs, Juda, you know that. They’re just as likely to kill that girl in the crossfire as they are to take that gang out. I have to get her back, Juda. She’s just a little girl, isn’t there any way you could help me out?”
Juda is silent for a minute, staring at Jungkook as he wages some unknown war within himself. Jungkook can tell he’s nibbling on his lip, the tentacles jiggling slightly with the action. The pirate looks away for just a second or two before sighing heavily and turning back to the kid. He’s staring hard and Jungkook can tell this is not something he wants to do, but he’s willing to do it regardless.
“Der’s someone I can call. Dis won’t be no easy feat, mind ya! Da captian o’ da Lideo (Lih-day-oh) ain’t one ta be trifled wit.”
Jungkook doesn’t care. If this captain can help, he will do whatever the guy needs him to do.
“Okay, get him here as soon as possible.”
Jungkook is lucky. The Lideo is nearby and arrives within the next couple of hours, a medium sized air ship slowing to a hover over Juda’s old, docked ship. It looks like a hunk of junk at first glance, but as he watches it slowly descend to a more reasonably height to disembark, Jungkook can see that it is built to be far more than that. Under the rusting metal and permanent layer of general filth lie the components to make the ship not only sky worthy, but space worthy as well. The hull is too large to be a normal sky ship and he can see the outlines for hatches where weapons could come out. It is certainly more than it seems.
“Ya got a photo of da girl?” Juda suddenly asks and Jungkook is quick to pull out his holo-com, pulling up a picture of the girl. Juda takes it and grins at Jungkook.
“Brace yerself, boyo. Yer about ta meet da cream o’ da crop,” he says, slapping Jungkook on the back as he stands next to him. He turns to stare up at the ship and Jungkook can only mimic the action, the shadow of a body hoping from a now open hatch on the side. It drops quickly, but lands more gracefully than Jungkook is prepared for, the figure standing tall with ease and staring the two men down with an icy, hard stare.
“Alright, Juda. What’s this emergency?”
“(Y/N)! Ma dear, welcome back ta Horsalth! It’s been a whi-”
“Cut the shit, Juda. You want something done, what is it?”
She is a cold character, but heated at the same time. Jungkook is taken aback at her very presence before him. She is lovely to say the least and Jungkook is certain he has never seen a creature that has both drawn him in and frightened him more. She stands tall, almost rigid, but not in a nervous way. In the way of being ready for a fight. He is sure that if he were to throw out a sucker punch to her now she would have him on the floor before he is even aware of what’s happening. She has a photon pistol strapped to one hip and the hilt of a nano saber on the other. Straps of various kinds adorn her body, all holding onto something or other (he suspects mostly weapons), the most interesting of which is a staff on her back. It is pure black and long, almost as long as she is tall, and held at an angle there. Her clothes are tight fitting, but even he can tell they are made to be fought in.
This... This is a warrior and for a moment Jungkook is unsure if she is the right person for the task.
“We got a target fer ya,” Juda finally says, producing Jungkook’s holo-com with the picture of the little girl. (Y/N) takes it, staring at it hard for only a second before turning a dark glare on Juda.
“I don’t take out kids, you know that Juda.”
“Not take out ma dear, save. Dis here’s ma boy, Jungkook. He’s a freelance bodyguard and is s’posed ta be protectin’ dat little girl. Unfortunately he crossed paths wit da Dockboys and they took ‘er. He can’t take ‘em on alone, so he needs help.”
(Y/N) turns her icy gaze to Jungkook, her stare hard and it makes Jungkook’s skin crawl. She’s judging him, he can tell, but she says nothing. Finally she produces the holo-com back to Juda, who hands it over to Jungkook.
“I’ll get your girl back... Won’t be free, though, Juda. You know that.”
Juda looks sour for a moment, but nods.
“Eeh, I figured as much. Watchyer price?”
She’s silent for a longer moment than Jungkook is comfortable with and he can see something sparking in her eyes.
“I want your uranium.”
Juda looks stricken for a moment, quickly trying to hide it under playing dumb as he bumbles out a response.
“Br-br-m-my what?”
“Your uranium stash, I want it. All of it.”
He suddenly bursts into the laughter, the booming noise almost rattling many of the metal panels on his old ship.
“Dat ain’t gonna happen, missy and yer know dat.”
“Cut the bullshit, Juda. You’ve had that stash for half a millennia now and it’s still burning a hole in the back corner of your lower deck! You can’t use the stuff for anything what with this hunk of junk still running on crystalarium.”*
“I plan ter sell it!” He shouts at her as if trying desperately to grasp at something to deter her. She is not so easily swayed.
“To who?!”
“I got a couple o’ buyers!”
“Bullshit, again Juda! You haven’t had buyers in years since you won’t give it up to sell anyway. You’re not going to sell it and you’ve got no use for it! I want that uranium.”
“I’m waitin’ fer da right price!”
“And what price is that, squilleren?** A soul or two? Perhaps a first born? You want that little girl back, you’ll give me that stash of uranium.”
Jungkook is suddenly placing a hand on Juda’s meaty shoulder, practically pleading with him silently. Juda stares at him in anger for a long moment before finally he’s shaking the tentacles of his beard and harrumphing.
“Half,” he bargains.
“All,” she says back, resolute.
“Leave me a quarter o’ it then!”
Jungkook can tell he’ll never give it all away, desperately trying to keep as much as he can. (Y/N) is silent, glaring down Juda. For a moment Jungkook thinks she’s trying to get him to submit, but then something changes about her. Her strong stance slackens, her shoulders loosening and dropping a bit. Her eyes go very wide and her pupils dilate so much that he can no longer see them from where he stands. Then suddenly they are glowing, a bright aquamarine light that blocks out any other feature of them. Slowly her gaze drops from Juda and runs along the floor from him to her feet.
“What’s she doing?” He suddenly questions in a whisper.
“Checking,” Juda grumbles back lowly.
“For?”
“Anything. Everything.”
Jungkook is confused, shooting a questioning glance at Juda before his eyes are immediately drawn back to (Y/N). In all his years he has yet to see any supernatural abilities that other races possess, so he is unable to let his attention stray far from her.
“She’s checkin’ ta see if I’m goin’ ta stand true to ma word or back out, seein’ how many crew I got nearby in case da situation goes sour an’ we fight. Makin’ sure da uranium is actually on da ship.”
He trails off after that as if eluding that there is more to the power. Was there? What more could there be?
“Is that all?” Jungkook asks, unable to control his curiosity.
“Loads more. She can check, read, predict and plan accordin’ly wid just dat power alone. It’s one o’ her special abilities.”
Jungkook is blown away.
“She has more?”
Juda snorts.
“Dat woman dere is nothin,’ but a black box. Cream o’ da crop, just like I said.”
“Fine,” she suddenly says, her eyes returning to normal in the blink of a second and her gaze returning to Juda.
“Three quarters of your uranium in exchange for the safe return of the little girl.”
Jungkook just barely holds in a sigh of relief, (Y/N) lifting a hand so she can speak into a device on her wrist.
“Namjoon, I need you.”
The hatch she fell from is still open and another body jumps from it. It lands in a crouch, long and lanky arms stretching out in front of it to brace the fall on its palms. It’s a man, tall and wiry as he stands to his full height next to his captain. He slouches more than her and he’s quick to stuff his hands into his pockets, but he holds a similar air of power and authority as (Y/N). His skin has been kissed by the sun, tattoos of various colors splaying across parts of his face, arms and what little of his chest Jungkook could see. His hair is so blonde it is nearly white, shaved short on the under side and his long bangs styled up to reveal his forehead. He is handsome with big lips, sharp eyes and a strong jawline. Jungkook has a hard time believing he is a pirate.
“You and the rest stay here and keep our good friend Juda company.”
“What’s the job,” he questions in a deep voice.
“I’m off to rescue a charge. From the Dockboys no less.”
Namjoon turns a look of slight shock and disbelief on his captain.
“Those goons kidnap people now?”
“Apparently,” she says, suddenly producing fingerless gloves from somewhere and pulling them on. Finally, Jungkook can get to what he was here for.
“I can show you the way,” he says, already eager to move out. Both (Y/N) and Namjoon look at him with such condescending shock that it jars him to a halt.
“I know the way just fine, thanks. You’re not coming with me.”
Jungkook is just as shocked, his gaze easily turning into a glare.
“She’s my charge.”
“A charge you lost. Trust me, bodyguard, it’ll be easier and much quicker if I go alone.”
She looks serious, but unfazed in any way. She is not worried or afraid and Jungkook finds himself jarred by her very existence. Their hideout is filled with at least a dozen and a half men, yet she is going in alone to take them all on. He looks to Namjoon who looks equally unworried.
“You’re just letting your captain go take on a gang alone,” he asks, trying to say anything to get in on this mission. Namjoon looks a little taken aback for a moment before he’s finally shrugging his shoulders.
“Why not? She’s the strongest of any of us by a long stretch. Anyone else would just get in her way. Trust her when she says it’ll be quicker if she does it alone.”
Juda is once again slapping Jungkook on the back.
“Don’t ya worry, boyo. She’ll have da girl back before da settin’ sun. You’ll be able to return her by yer deadline.”
Jungkook is in disbelief. He is outnumbered on the subject apparently and can only stand back and watch as (Y/N) and Namjoon share a few more words before she’s simply gone. One second she is there and the next she isn’t, the only thing left behind being the familiar sound of a mini-warp. She has simply just disappeared without any other preparations and Junkook is left wondering if he can really trust any of these people. Even Juda. He looks back to Namjoon who is eyeing him in a way that makes his skin crawl a little. It only lasts a moment before he’s turning his attention to Juda who is glaring right back at him.
“So, Juda... How’ve you been?”
“Fine,” is Juda’s short reply.
“Good, good.”
He’s silent again for a moment, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he looks around the deck of Juda’s ship.
“Sely around?” He suddenly asks casually. Juda’s alien skin nearly turns the color of a tomato he’s so mad, but his voice is even when he answers.
“No. Back home wid her mum, thanks ta you. Even if she was about, I wouldn’t be lettin’ ya near ‘er.”
“I do apologize about that, it was a huge misunderstanding.”
Jungkook is convinced he isn’t sorry at all. His voice sounds apologetic, but he hardly looks it in anyway. Just a small smirk playing on his lips. Juda storms away back behind the counter of his on-ship shop and into his cabin. Unsure of what else to do, Jungkook simply nods at Namjoon and turns to follow the captain.
True to their words, before the sun has even begun to set Jungkook catches the sound of a mini-warp and a little girl’s laughter outside. He’d been pacing Juda’s cabin nearly the whole time he was waiting, but now he’s practically ripping the door off its hinges as he exits back out into the sun. Sure enough, (Y/N) and Namjoon stand there with small grins on their faces while a small girl sits atop (Y/N)’s shoulders laughing gleefully.
“Iyo (Ee-yo)!” He calls with relief, trotting up to her as (Y/N) lifts her up and places her gently on the ground. Iyo squeals with delight, bouncing in front of the female captain a couple of times before she’s running at Jungkook.
“Onii-san!”
Jungkook catches her easily as she rushes into his arms, lifting her with ease while she hugs his neck tightly. He hugs back lightly before pulling her away a little to check for any injuries.
“She’s not wounded,” (Y/N) says knowingly.
“She had a scrape on her knee when I found her, but I quickly healed that.”
Jungkook looks down to either knee on the small girl spotting a whole in her pants, but no wound. He looks up a little shocked, but nods.
“Thank you... For getting her back too.”
She smirks, a devilish yet attractive expression on her.
“Don’t thank me, I’m getting paid. Now, Juda...”
She trails off and turns her attention to the larger man who’s been standing back near his door this whole time. He looks sour, but nods and leaves his cabin. He heads to another door, (Y/N) grinning just as devilishly as she smirks and hitting Namjoon lightly as a signal for him to follow her. He does, smirking as well, and they disappear below the deck with Juda. Jungkook watches after them curiously for a moment before Iyo is pulling his attention back to her. She’s still giggly, telling him about how ‘onee-sama’ came and beat up all the bad guys that had taken her.
He’s still trying to get over his shock when a sharp rapping on the medal below his feet draws his attention. He stares at the spot below him for a moment before he’s forced to jump away, skipping off to one side as a large portion of the deck splits and begins to open to reveal the lower deck. Before the large panels are even done moving apart Namjoon is hopping up onto the deck in front of him, winking as he straightens and turns to face the hole. He pulls something from one of his pockets, fiddles with it a bit and then tosses it into the hole. Within minutes both Juda and (Y/N) are slowly rising out of the hole on top of a large pallet of crates, Juda’s side tipping lower than the one (Y/N) sat on.
She’s grinning just like before, sitting with one arm resting on her bent knee and the other patting the crates she sat on almost lovingly. Namjoon is returning her grin with a smirk of his own and Jungkook can see their closeness in that moment. They are certainly brethren. He’s surprised by the pallet of crates, never having seen so much uranium in one space. It was one of the rarest forms of power anymore, not as powerful as some others, but still sought after by some of the less developed settlements across the system. Anyone who owned some could sell a single ingot for a hefty sum. Even on his naval ship- many of which still ran on nuclear power- he had only ever seen one crate at a time. Seeing this much was a sight most would never get in their lives.
Juda hops off his side and onto his deck with a thunderous sound, the pallet immediately righting itself so that it was floating evenly. Once it’s high enough it starts to float off to one side, Namjoon moving with it slowly and Jungkook finally notices another device in his hands. It’s similar to the one he’d tossed into the hole, a beam of green light arcing from the one in his hands to stretch across the pallet of uranium. As he brings it over the flat surface of the deck, he lowers it (Y/N) hopping off to land gracefully on her feet before it even touches ground. Iyo suddenly squeals in Jungkook’s arms, giggling as the older woman winks at her. She seems much more personable now that she has what she wants.
“Don’t know what yer gonna use this fer. Yer ship don’t run on nuclear power either.”
“Who knows, maybe we’ll sell it to the highest bidder,” she says nonchalantly, her voice light.
“Ya go an’ rob me blind only ta sell what I meant ta sell in the first place!”
Juda sounds angry, but he knows the transaction is over so he doesn’t look too put out anymore. (Y/N) lifts her wrist to her mouth again and speaks into the device like before, smirking a bit as she watches Juda.
“Mark, bring her around and park her up. We got cargo.”
Something blips and a voice comes through.
“On it.”
The Lideo suddenly roars with life and lifts a little higher in the air before moving forward a bit and starting to turn. It makes a wide arc around Juda’s ship as it turns completely around and lowers beyond some other docked ships where Jungkook can no longer see it. (Y/N) pats a hand on Namjoon’s shoulder and he lifts the pallet a little before heading up the ramp and onto the sky-dock. She turns back to Juda, smirking one final time at him and then Jungkook.
“Pleasure doin’ business with you again, Juda.” She says as she turns and waves halfheartedly as she leaves. Jungkook suddenly feels a twinge of panic as he watches her leave, his eyes darting from Juda to Iyo and then back to the female captain. Juda’s grumbling to himself as he slams a large hand on a button he passes, the deck beginning to close again. Jungkook turns his attention back to Iyo who is also watching (Y/N) leave, looking a little sad.
Finally he turns to follow Juda slowly, the gears in his mind cranking away as he keeps looking back behind him. He’d had so much trouble trying to take on only a few of those gang members, but she had done it all alone. He had strength and skill though, he took on that pirate crew when he was still in the navy. Why couldn’t he take on those goons. Was he just rusty? What about her? How was she so strong to take on a full gang alone? Before Jungkook knows what he’s doing, he’s rushing up behind Juda. He calls the captains name to get his attention, handing Iyo off to him.
“Take her for a minute.”
“Wha-? Oi!”
He turns quickly to run up the ramp and down the dock in the direction he’d seen the other two disappear in. Thankfully they aren’t far, the Lideo docked just at the end of the line with two other men joining the female captain and her companion. They’re both thin, one a little more lanky than the other, and wearing dirty mechanic’s overalls. One had the top rolled down and tied around his waist, only a black tank top on to reveal black inked tatoos up and down his arms and across his shoulders. His hair is dark and styled up like Namjoon’s and even from where he is Jungkook can see the spots of grease and dirt blotting his skin randomly. The other is a bit taller, long and lanky with the mechanic’s overalls on, but the front unzipped most of the way. He’s got a dark blue shirt on underneath and while he’s also covered in grease and dirt, it’s considerably less than his counterpart. His face looks fair and his orange hair is faded and loose, falling across his forehead lightly. He has a sucker in his hand, popping it into his mouth from time to time as they both listen to their captain. Jungkook slows as he gets closer, practically creeping up to the group silently as he nears.
“Did you tell them what we’re going to do with it,” the dark haired one asks.
“It’s none of their business, get it loaded up and make sure it’s secure.”
They both nod and Namjoon hands off the gravity device to the orange-haired one, both of them following the crate into the ship. Jungkook stands just off to the side now, his nerves getting the better of him as he watches only (Y/N). The way she stands, how she holds herself. She is strong and confident- powerful. Jungkook wants to taste strength like hers. Namjoon finally notices him standing there, smirking and motioning to him so that (Y/N) turns to see him. She frowns at him, eyeing him up and down.
“Now what?”
“What’re you going to do with it? The uranium,” he suddenly asks, curious.
“That’s doesn’t concern you, kid. You want something?”
“I deliver Iyo tonight,” Jungkook replies, not sure how else to word what he wants to say.
“Congrats to you,” she says, just as sourly as the first time, “... and?”
“My job is complete after that and...” He trails off, losing his nerve.
“And what?”
“I think he wants to come with us, captain,” Namjoon elaborates for Jungkook. (Y/N) snorts and laughs a little.
“No,” she says simply- finally. Jungkook is taken aback, his inability to back down kicking in.
“Why not? You’ll likely stay the night to restock and leaving in the morning. My job will be done then and I’ll be free-”
“So? What use do you think we have for you. I got a full crew on this ship, everyone one of them with more experience and know-how than you.”
“C’mon, cap. He’s good looking, he could be handy at a pub,” Namjoon suddenly cuts in, speaking with a smirk on his face. He was enjoying this exchange.
“I’m not taking on some navy boy-scout so you can use him as a wingman,” she shoots back, glaring at her companion.
“I can fight.”
“So can my crew and last I checked I had to save your ass because you couldn’t keep a little girl safe from a bunch of goons.”
“The Dockboys are pretty low tier-”
“Shut up, Namjoon. Listen, kid-”
“I’m not a kid,” Jungkook shoots at her, glaring and trying to look strong.
“You are to me,” she suddenly replies, her voice hard and her eyes holding the same iciness he’d seen when he’d first met her.
“I’ve been the captain of this ship longer than you’ve been alive. This isn’t some free for all traveling fight club. We’re pirates. This type of life isn’t meant for boys just fresh out of the Navy. Go back to being a bodyguard, you wouldn’t cut it with us.”
Her words are so final and they sting, but Jungkook is determined. He has to get stronger. He’s lost his purpose with no one to fight for or protect. He is lost and the only thing keeping him going now is his ability to fight and protect, but he wasn’t strong enough to protect Iyo. He has strength and he can fight, he knows that, but he’s never tasted power like what (Y/N) has. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, but he does know that right now he needs her.
“I can fight, I have before. Against pirates from the Bonreol and-”
“The what?” Namjoon asks, suddenly looking serious.
“The Bonreol, they attacked the vessel I was stationed on when I was in the Navy.”
“That was you? The kid that saved six of his crew mates?” He asks and Jungkook is suddenly puffing with pride.
“Yes.”
“Captain,” Namjoon turns to reason with (Y/N), but she looks  unimpressed.
“That doesn’t mean anything. You think you took on some badass pirate crew? The men on the Bonreol are known for ‘playing with their food’ so to speak. They’re practically famous for making people think they’re weak before tearing them to shreds and you know better, Namjoon.” She suddenly stops, jabbing a finger at Namjoon before turning back to glare hard at Jungkook.
“The only reason you and your brothers survived is because your backup showed up in time. They got careless and took too long, but have no doubt that if you didn’t get help you would’ve died. Likely slowly and painfully.”
“Captain,” Namjoon suddenly says quietly, pulling her back to speak in a hushed tone to her.
“He took on their crew-”
“And they played with him, that doesn’t make him strong,” she shoots back.
“That’s not what I meant. Even if he isn’t that strong he’s fearless. He took them all on alone, that’s worth something. We can train him, teach him to be strong.”
“No.”
“Captain... Noona,” he says softly in a tone that makes Jungkook immediately uncomfortable. Like he’s invading on a private moment. They seem to stare each other down for a long moment before she’s turning her heated glare back on Jungkook. He sees his moment and tries one more time.
“I have strength and even if I’m not strong enough I can learn. I was in the navy, I know how to be on ship even if it’s a pirate one. I can be of use to you.”
So? What say you captain? Will you take him? This is his story, but this world is yours. What will you decide?
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Crystalarium* - A source of power and energy through crystals found on specific planets or moons.
Squilleren** - A race of squid-like people. With skin and various tentacle features they are able to live underwater, but don’t need to.
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ssa-steverogers · 8 years ago
Text
Memories   Avenger one-shot
Memories
Requested: Yes
Summary:  Alexandras Winchester joined the Avengers after her mother died during what was known as the New York Battle. She had never told anyone. Now, it’s been exactly seven years and she had never visited her mother, Lilly. Her father, Charles, and twin, Thomas, had died in a accident a long time ago. And after a long mission, she decides to visit her buried family.
“What do you want for dinner?” Pepper popped into the main room. 
“You can have dinner without me, I’m going out for a while.” I said reaching for my coat over the couch. Tony sat across from me on a recliner. He looked at his watch and frowned.
“Where you going out so late? It’s almost eight. Going to a pub? We got a whole bar that’s probably bigger than any of the pubs in town.” He said with that signature smirk of his. I gave him a look and so did Pepper.
“Where are you heading?” Loki asked the same time as Thor. They looked at me and I just stared back at them. They looked at me for a answer. I blinked a couple times and got up.
“Out.” I said smiling and putting on my coat.
“Where? You got yourself a boy?” Wanda asked with wide eyes. She’s been trying to set me up with people lately. I got ready and when I was about to walk to the elevator, I was stopped by a big boulder; well, a Loki Laufeyson. He looked suspicious as he asked me questions. 
 "Where. Are. You. Going.” He asked in more of a statement than a question. I sighed. 
 “Why? Who wants to know?” I smirked. I crossed my arms and leaned on one foot. 
 “Who? Me, Thor, Steve, Tony, Wanda, even Bruce! And you never leave this facility unless it’s for missions or the girls drag you out! You go out like every blue moon. You always stay in the lab!” He said with arms motions. 
 “Well, today, there happens to have a blue moon… So I will be on my way.” I said slipping around Loki and into the elevator. He held his hand up about to say something but the elevator doors closed and silenced him. I put on my beanie and the elevator door opened. I took a deep breath and walked out. I left a note saying I was gonna borrow Tony’s black matte Audi R8. It was new, actually. Which is why I didn’t tell him face to face. He installed J.A.R.V.I.S into the car and made it that it could drive by itself when needed. I got into the car and quickly drove out of the basement. I was driving to a cemetery where my mom, dad, and twin is buried.
“Where do you think she’s going?” That was almost the only question asked after everyone had found the note Alex had left.
“How are we supposed to know?” Now that, was a answer everyone gave. They were all in the basement, where all the cars and Tonys lab is. Thor was nearly dying because he was so bored. He dragged Vision back up to the main floor and tried to work, what he referred as ‘midgardian toys.’ Which were basically technology. 
“Hey J? Could you track Echo?” Tony asked J.A.R.V.I.S. Natasha raised a eyebrow at him as he stopped half way from eating a Pringle. He retracted his chip and gave her a weird look. After a couple of moments of blinking he understood why she was looking at him odd. His mouth formed a ‘O’ shape. “What? I name my cars.” He said casually as he continued with his Pringles. Nat just mentally face palmed silently. 
“It shows Echo is driving at a incredible speed and is headed a bit north.” J.A.R.V.I.S said in a monotone voice and projected a holo-screen and there was a black dot that stood out from the satellite behind it showing roads. In the corner of the black dot, there was a box that showed info about Echo.
Speed: Average. 185 MPH  Name: Echo Brand: Audi Type: R8 V10 plus Year: 2017
“Won’t she get a ticket or something?” Asked Clint as they gathered around the holo-screen. 
“Nah. She took MY car, darling. If the license plate has ‘Stark’ in it; she’ll be fine.” Tony said going through drawers trying to find keys for his other cars. Steve was basically frightened by her speed. His eyes wide open.
“She’s going 185 miles per hour and you’re caring about if she gets a ticket?!?! What if she gets in a crash or something?!?!” Steve yelled, if he went any louder, he would have broke everyones ear drums… even in china. 
“Yeah! What if she gets hurt? Or if she hurts someone else?!?” Loki yelled after Steve, grabbing peoples attention. Everyone went silent, realizing Steve and Loki didn’t know about Alex’s history.
“You really don’t know, don’t you?” Silence.
“Don’t know what?” Loki asked, his main concern at the moment is Alex’s safety; so was Steve’s. 
“About what she did before she was a S.H.I.E.L.D agent?” Nat asked, emphasizing on ‘before.’ The two boys were almost clueless. They shook their heads carefully. Bruce sighed and explained what had happened in Alex’s life.
“As a teen, she wasn’t always the… straight A’s type. She had always been the ‘badass’ in school.” Bruce explained, choosing his words carefully as he continued. “She… made some choices… Not very good choices, really. She had quit school when she was in high school. She… had raced. Had bet money, which is illegal. Her file wasn’t always clear, you know?” He said as he pulled up a file of Alex, which was clean. “This is her file now.” He said pointing to her file. 
“This used to be her file.” He said pulling up another file on another screen. It informed that she had been in prison quite often. It was probably like her second home. “It was only after the battle of New York when she had became a new person. And when she became a S.H.I.E.L.D agent. She improved so much; a new person she was. She forgot all about that life. So she became one of the top agents here.”   
 “And you don’t get to be one of the top agents without a couple scars and bruises.” 
 “It appears Alex and Echo has slowed down and come to a stop.” Everyone’s attention had returned to the other hologram which had Echo and Alex’s location. It had appeared that the black dot had stopped moving. 
 “Why is she at a cemetery?” Nat wondered out loud. 
 “I don’t know, but we gotta go there to see if she’s okay, preferably NOW.” 
 I had reached the cemetery within about twenty minutes. If I had driven at the speed of a turtle, I’d get there in a hour and a half. I got out of the car and stood in front of the gates, watching the gates as if they were going to come to life. I took a deep breath and slipped through the locked gates. 
 I walked around the cemetery looking at headstones. I remember exactly where my family was. The center. I walked along the path with my hand in the pockets of my hoodie, the other hand with roses. Staring at the ground in front of me, I came to a stop. I carefully looked to the headstones in front of me. I took a shaky breath and looked at the words engraved in them.
R.I.P Lilly Winchester June 11, 1945 - May 4, 2012 Here lies a beloved  Mother      Leader            Friend                  Wife                       Sister  R.I.P Thomas ‘Tommy’ Winchester December 28, 1991 - December 27, 2003 "I hate to leave you all one day, but I promise you, we’ll meet again someday.” 
R.I.P Charles Winchester June 26, 1944 - December 27, 2003 “If I could do life all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing.” 
I sat down in front of my mothers headstone with my fathers and brothers headstone on either side. I sat criss cross, staring at the ground, picking on the grass in silence. I slowly looked up. 
 “Hey, mom.” I whispered weakly, my voice was breaking and it hasn’t been five minutes yet. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” I chuckled quietly. “I got you your favorite roses,” I started as I laid a couple roses in front of them. “I know your favorites are the dark red and white ones, I got you those.” I started to play with the roses, putting them dark red and white as a pattern. “I joined the Avengers, you know? The comics about those superheroes you liked as a child? Yeah, I’m with them. It’s overwhelming sometimes, you know? I live with the people who could have saved you, but couldn’t. I could’ve saved you, but I didn’t…” 
I rubbed a hand on my face and through my hair, a bad habit I have. “…Wow… I just… I honestly don’t know what to say. It’s been just so terribly long and I missed you guys so m-” I paused ranting when I felt my hand touch a hard surface. I was really sure that roses weren’t hard and the headstone didn’t have that texture. My hand was behind the headstone when I pulled out a MP3 player. My mom had always loved those even though I told her she could just download music now. It was old, and dusty. It was the type that didn’t need headphones, the speaker type. 
 I blew off some of the dust and coughed a bit from the dust going everywhere in the air. I glanced up at the headstone a bit confused where this was going. “What are you doing, mom?” I got rid of the access dust and read the small handwriting on the inside. 
 'For when my time is up' 
I could already feel my eyes tearing up. I gulped and with a shaky hand, pressed play. There was static and then there it was; her voice. Speaking. The one I had missed so much. 
"Hi, darling."  The first tear dropped. It was actually was her! I couldn't believe it. After seven years. It was her voice. I stared at the headstone in front of me intensely with a emotionless face, listening to the voice. 
"I already know it's going to be a long time after I die when you're going to get a chance to listen to this." It honestly felt as if someone was taking my heart and ripping it to pieces. 
"I know that you might blame yourself for all of this. That your brother and father... passed. But, honey, it isn't. No matter what, it was never your fault for any of our deaths." Her voice was smooth and gentle. She never yelled at me. It was always the gentle voice talking to me. 
"If you're listening to this, I would presume I'm dead. And I know you had a hard time getting over your siblings death and mine. You might’ve never told me that you weren’t ‘okay’... but I knew you weren’t.” I pursed my lips, trying my best to swallow the lump forming in my throat.
“I know you’re feeling lost, and everywhere you go is like a dark room. But you just gotta keep going, find the light; your light... God, this is so cheesy... Find that special someone, if you don’t already. Because i need someone to take care of you, the day I can’t.” I was staring at the MO3 player in my lap with tears dropping onto it.
“There will be things you don’t want to happen, but have to accept it. Things... we don’t want to know but have to learn, and people we can’t live without, but have to let go. Darling, I’ve been through all of that I came out just fine. I even earned you in the process. You haven’t let go us yet, haven’t you.” I nodded a silent reply as if she was there.
“Find that special someone, learn to let go of me. Learn to let go. Learn to love others when I can’t. Learn to find a light when others can’t... Okay? Just find your way in this world. Okay, honey?”  I nodded carefully, while sobbing.
“Mommy?” That was my voice...
“Yes, darling?”
“What are you doing?” She was always making something as I grew up.
“A creation you will see when you are older.”
All of a sudden the MP3 player bounced out of my hands and in front of me. It laid there making mechanical sounds. I wiped all the tears from my face. It unfolded and a small camera with a indent on the side; my initials. A 3D hologram formed from the bottom out of small virtual pixels.
It was my mom hugging me on her knees. She was facing the camera as I hugged her.
“I love you, Alex.” My mom whispered, looking directly at the camera, on the verge of tears. 
“i love you too, mom.” The small version of myself and I said at the same time. She looked directly in my eyes and whistled a tune from her favorite song. Both myself and the small version of me whistled it back. I chuckled as tears fell from my eyes. 
“Goodbye, Alex.” The camera whirred back into the MP3 player and the hologram was no more. The MP3 folded back into a normal MP3. I stared at the MP3, sobbing. 
“Bye, mom.” I said between sobs. There was a presence started sitting next to me, and another on my other side. We sat in silence for a while as I looked at my lap, sobbing my lungs out. When I recovered from crying and ended up sniffling, the presence on my left talked to me.
“I lost people too, you know. I know it isn’t easy.” 
“I know.” Of course he did. He was in ice for seventy years. 
“I had too... my... mom had died in Asgard, protecting my brothers lady.”
“I know.” He had told me that when we met for one of the first times. “When did you come?” I asked the two men sitting next to me.
“When you started playing the MP3.” A voice said from behind me. I looked behind me and saw most of the team standing. I stood up, along with Steve and Loki. I hugged Tony and sobbed into his shoulder. He tensed for a moment but hugged me back, anyways. It wasn’t a weird hug. It was the type of hug where a father would give a daughter, and I haven’t had one of those in a long time. 
“Let’s go home, okay?” Loki asked me as I pulled away from Tony. I nodded with red puffy eyes. He pulled me into his side and held onto my waist. His other hand was entangled with mine. We walked back to the cars and motorcycles. We all went on our vehicles and headed back home. 
But not without Wanda whispering, “I think she found her special someone.”
•UNEDITED•
Tag: @meatballevan  
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rhouston72 · 6 years ago
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Redemption - Part 13
It was the day after his little trip to the ALF safehouse and he was back at the Justicar office again. He was searching up the area around the abandoned warehouse the woman told him about, right before he finished her off. He could hear some chatter coming from down the hall near the break room. A couple of Justicars were talking about the attack last night, and what they were saying could only make him smile. “Did you hear? Took all four people down in minutes. Had to be at least two or three guys that did it.” “Nope, just one. Didn’t you hear? When the two surveillance officers went to stop him, he said his name was Vengeance. I think we’ll be seeing more of him.” Matthias kept up that smile. If they only knew… Making his way through the precinct, Matthias taps on the door of the Chief of Detectives, Melisandia Wynen. For a Chief of Detectives, she was pretty wild, with olive complexion and light red hair. Really it was pink, but since pink wasn’t allowed by Department regulations, she called it really light red. Whatever, it’s pink. Heading inside after she called to enter, he promptly sat down in a chair across from her desk, completely missing how her eyes lit up as he entered, then turned to sorrow as she remembered seeing him on the holo. “Matthias I’m glad to see you, though my condolences on the loss of your loved ones.” Matthias swallowed the pain he felt at her mentioning Serena and Anabell. Use it. “Thanks Mel. I’ve actually come to you about that. Do you have any leads on this ALF? Anything that’s not in the reports? I’ve gone over all of them.” And copied them. “I’d like to look into these people further.” And slaughter them all. She came around her desk then, sitting on the edge of it directly in front of Matt. She really liked the Corellian, and she sat there watching him with her striking green eyes. “Matthias, I feel for you, I really do. But let us handle the ALF. If you’re the man I think you are, you’re gonna want to do something about them. Matthias, that’s only going to get you killed.” Well shit, she saw right to what I was doing. Gotta lead her away. “Oh don’t get me wrong Mel, I want to burn the ALF to the ground. But it’s not going to be just me doing it. It’s going to be every Justicar and soldier I can get my hands on. Or if I can’t do it, I’ll pass anything I find out up the chain of command. I’ll be pissed that I’m not involved, but at the same time I’ll be happy that those bastards are all looking at a grave from the wrong side.” She looked at him, those green eyes of hers boring into him, as if looking at his soul. All Matt did was stare back at her, never blinking. Seemingly satisfied, she got up from the edge of the desk and sat back down behind it. “Well there’s not much I know that isn’t in the reports.” She stopped to think for a bit. “Well, one thing that hasn’t been confirmed is an unlikely connection. It seems that the ALF is being funded in part by a crew of thieves that hit banks and other high end establishments. Strange thing is, they slaughter all the guards but don’t hurt any civilians. It doesn’t fit with the ALF’s MO. So I’ve grouped their information over in the Robbery Division. They don’t fall under the purview of the new task force being put together.” Matthias made a mental note to head over to the Robbery Division, see if he could confirm what he had just learned. “I hadn’t heard that. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were working out of some old warehouse in the industrial district. It’s how the did things sometimes on Nar Shaddaa.” Mel raised an eyebrow just then, “Where?” Matt gave her a half hearted smirk. “Someplace far from here. It’s a nest of scum and villainy. Not someplace to take children.” She seemed to smile a bit at the mention of children - not that Matt noticed. He got up at that point. “Well, I’ll stop chewing your ear off for now, thanks for the talk Mel.” She murmured something that sounded like, “You can chew my ear all night…” But she coughed and nodded instead. “Anytime Matthias. My door is always open to you.” He smiled, nodded, and turned to head out. His next stop was the Robbery Division. He made his way through the building from the Headquarters Division over to Robbery. The building here didn’t seem as posh or as well funded as the rest of it. He went over to the Senior Detective’s desk, hoping to get somewhere. He hadn’t met the man before, but he hoped his reputation preceded him. Let my renown be of some damn use for once. He knocked on the office door and let himself in. He was met by a cluttered office and what looked like the remains of too much takeout. The man behind the desk was portly and running to waste, and had his head down doing some paperwork. He spoke to Matt without looking up. “I’m busy, this better be important.” Matt just walked up to the front of the man’s desk. “I don’t mean to bother you Detective, but I was hoping you could help me out.” The man sighed and looked up as he started speaking, “You’ll have to give a statement to one of my… Wait, I know you… Holy shit you’re one of them! The visitors from the other part of the galaxy!” He got up from behind his desk, coming around to shake Matt’s hand. He smiled broadly at Matt, lighting up the man’s blue eyes. “It’s an honor to meet you Captain Jayne, a real honor sir! Are you here by yourself, or are the others with you...the young blond woman, perhaps?” His eyes stole behind Matt, looking to see if he was alone. Fucking pig… He returned the hearty handshake and gave the detective a smile. “Sorry Detective, but I’m here alone. I’ve been following up on some information, hoping to get some more leads, and one of them lead me to you. Tell me more about this group of thieves that have been hitting the high profile targets.” The man withdrew his hand, cutting his smile short. “I can’t divulge information pertaining to any of the cases my men and women are working on. Can’t disrupt their due process and all, in case we get any suspects.” The man’s dodging… Matt sat down in the chair - after he cleared it off - in front of the Detective’s desk. He also saw buried under the refuse the man’s name plate: Thouche Meoni. “Tell me Lieutenant Meoni, how is it you guys haven’t tracked these men down? The Justicars I’ve met aren’t incompetent, and know their jobs. So what gives?” The man sighed, leaning back in his chair and rubbed his face. “What isn’t stopping us? I’ve asked for more manpower, gotten nothing. I’ve actually gotten some of my detectives taken away to other departments. I’ve asked for more money to give to CI’s, nothing. I’ve asked for more technological resources to maybe track the money these guys take. I’ve gotten nothing. And the few times we’ve actually been able to tail them, we always lose them. It’s like they’re ghosts.” Gotta love bureaucracy… “Show me where you’ve lost them at.” The Lieutenant got up and went out of his office. He headed down to a mid size conference room where another detective was doing some paperwork. “Rochefort, give the Captain and I the room please.” She gathered her things and was mumbling a yes sir when she looked up at Matthias. “Holy shit sir… you’re…” Matt cut her off with a raised finger over his lips. “Shhh, Detective. I’m here on the QT. Don’t let others know I’m here, got it?” She nodded and went to move out of the room, but stopped. “I’m sorry for your loss sir. Me and the boys all saw it. We also saw how you handled those scumbags. I hope more of them cross your path sir.” She then ducked out. You have no idea Rochefort, how soon your wish will come true. Turning his attention to the map the detective had up on a whiteboard, he looked at the pins. It showed locations across the city hit by the group. It also showed the three locations where they were lost by the Justicars. “Think I can get a copy of this data? I would like to collate it with some other data I have.” The Detective shook his head. “No way. This is all information pertinent to the case we are building. There’s no way I can let you have a copy of it.” Matthias just shrugged. “Well, that’s fine. I suppose I can just ask Lady Maryell and have it sent to me via official channels. Though she’d probably want to know why you didn’t just help me out…” Let that stew you little worm… The man looked decidedly nervous. He had no way of knowing Matthias didn’t have a pipeline to the Lady, but what he didn’t know could very well be Matthias’ gain. “Alright, alright. I’ll get a copy of it sent to you, that okay?” Matt shook his head. “I need it before I leave today.” The detective just grumbled as he muttered a, “I’ll be right back” and left the room. Matt took the opportunity to pull out his datapad and snap a shot of the map. It’s not that he didn’t trust the Detective, it’s just...yeah he didn’t trust the man. Plain and simple. About ten minutes later, the detective came back with clipboard and a manila envelope that was sealed. “I’m gonna need you to sign this, sir.” It was clear from his tone of voice that he didn’t want to do this. Matt took the clipboard from him and signed it with a flourish. “Thank you Detective, I’ll be seeing myself out now.” As Matt left, the Detective returned to his office, and made a phone call. “Hey, it’s me. This line secure? Good. That offworlder, Jayne, was in here snooping. Yeah, that one that foiled your attack. He forced me to give him information on your group. I fiddled with the info as best I could, but he’s on your trail. Right, got it.”He hung up the phone and reached into his desk, taking out small vial and an injector. He hid his arm below the desk as he injected the stims into his vein and leaned back, feeling them course through his blood. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------​
Making his way back to the basement apartment where he had so recently started a new life, just to have it torn away from him, he walked in and just stood there. He closed the door, then closed his eyes. He drew in a deep breath through his nose, smelling the scent of the home, the subtle odors of Anabell and Serena. He felt it coming again, the pain, the sorrow. He felt his eyes start to water. Use it. He forced it back down under a simmering fire of anger and rage, forging it with determination into a weapon to use against the ALF and to bring them down. He went to a table he had setup, where he worked on his weapons and what little information he had. He pulled what he had gotten from the Justicar Precinct and sat that on the table. He also pulled out the map the detective gave him, comparing it the image he had captured. He immediately saw the changes and corrected them. You fool. You’re either jealous, or dirty. Pray to whatever Gods you worship that if you are dirty, that I don’t find out. He worked long into the night, triangulating and formulating options. The escape vehicles all seemed to disappear in random locations. It took him awhile, but he eventually decided to compare it to a map of the sewers, and he hit the jackpot. Nearby to where the Justicars reported losing the suspects, were large sewer tunnels, easily big enough to fit a vehicle into. That had to be how they were eluding capture. He yawned, and finally decided to call it a night. He stretched out on the couch, and fell asleep. He’d dream of fire and death - and of large Wroshyr trees.
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