#c: maggie chance

[aliciaclarkwrites]

maggie/amelia + 💡

💡 a scared text.

MAGGIE: i don't know like MAGGIE: you're just this perfect cool asf person idk why you like me MAGGIE: i know you don't exactly have your shit together but like neither do i so i don't think i'm one to judge haha, but i really do think you're perfect MAGGIE: i'm so so scared that one day you're gonna realise the bad in me outweighs the like 3% good and leave me Maggie: ik we're not anything and you're not my girlfriend but Maggie: i like you so much, so don't go, okay?

[ashtheketchum]

● Bad girl ●

Daryl Dixon X FEM.Reader

Era: Season 2, farm

Summary: Daryl had been badly injured while searching for Sophia and your daddy had ordered Daryl to stay overnight in your house. The archer had his own room with a bed and you took care of his wounds. But one time you had sneaked a peek into his room while he was jerking off and he caught you.

Warnings: +18 CONTENT, FEMALE Reader, spanking, fingering, AGE GAP (Daryl is in his late 30s, Reader is 20 years old), teasing, perv Daryl, masturbate, Reader watches Daryl masturbating

Words: 2.5k

Masterlist!

___________________________________

PoV (Y/N):

The world was ending and, as my daddy would call it, "sick" people were running around. But suddenly a group of survivors came to us and they brought an injured boy to us. Apparently Otis had shot him and another girl was missing. My daddy took care of the injured boy and meanwhile the survivors were allowed to live with us in the front yard. They were not allowed to enter our house except for Rick and Lori, the parents of the injured boy.

I was the middle daughter of the Greenes. Maggie was my older sister and Beth was my younger sister, but I still wasn't allowed to do much with the survivors. It kind of annoyed me, but I could understand my daddy, after all we didn't know these survivors. But one survivor seemed very interesting to me. I think his name was Daryl, but I didn't see him very often. He looked for the missing little girl every day and only came back late at night. Inside, I already gave up hope of getting to know him better, but one day I got my chance.

One day Daryl came back badly wounded and he had also been shot by Andrea. Apparently he had also received one of his arrows in his side. My daddy took care of his wounds and now he had to lie in our guest room. While my daddy took care of his wounds, I brought him food and towels to wash himself with.

But while I was with him, I hardly spoke to him. I came in with a "Hello" and left with a "Ask if you need anything.". But not because I was afraid or because I didn't want to talk to him, I just didn't dare. Even though he sometimes looked at me with a non-grumpy expression on his face, I didn't dare say more. But it didn't seem to bother him, he actually seemed to enjoy the peace and quiet. But I really wanted to talk to him.

But today I wanted to do it differently. I had some food in my hands for Daryl and I was about to knock on his door when I suddenly heard a soft moan coming from his room. At first I thought he was moaning because of the pain, so I quietly opened the door so it was ajar. I quietly looked in to see if Daryl was really moaning because of the pain. But when I saw why he was really moaning, I turned bright red and my cunt started to throb and tingle.

Daryl had his back turned to me, I could see his bare back, which was covered in scars. I had noticed these scars many times, even though he constantly tried to hide them. Sometimes I had to come into his room when he was sleeping to bring him new clothes or leave his food there. My eyes sometimes fell on his broad back and, accordingly, on his scars.

Daryl's right arm moved up and down very quickly, while in his other hand he held a white cloth. He pressed it close to his face, probably to muffle his noises. Although I didn't have much experience with sexual things, I knew enough to know that Daryl was jerking himself off. Although I couldn't see anything, his noises were enough to make my panties wet. I put the food I wanted to bring him on the floor and then my hand wandered between my legs, under my skirt. I slowly pressed my middle finger against my clit, through my panties, and a quiet gasp escaped me. I did my best to be quiet, since everyone was still near the house. Not inside the house, but close. And Daryl was still behind the door.

The sound of skin slapping against each other became faster and faster and Daryl's breathing became faster too. As his hand moved faster, my movements on my clit also became much more faster. I closed my eyes, completely lost in the feeling of masturbation. My panties became wetter and wetter and my legs began to shake while I wished and imagined Daryl was moaning my name. My legs eventually gave up and I slowly knelt on the floor. On the other hand, I could briefly hear Daryl moaning very loudly before I heard nothing more. But I couldn't stop touching myself and imagining Daryl moaning my name, his rough fingers massaging my clit and stroking my skin. With my eyes closed, I gasped a little louder, his name also escaped my lips sometimes.

God, I was so lost in thought that I actually heard him say my name. "(Y/N)?… Hey…" But soon I was surprised by reality when I felt a rough hand on my shoulder. I immediately jumped and looked up at Daryl, his cheeks bright red. He looked at me confused and a little annoyed and I already knew that he knew what I had just done. But he also seemed uncomfortable, because his cheeks were bright red and his hands were shaking slightly. Maybe this was just the aftereffects of masturbating. "D-daryl…!?" Shocked, I pulled my hand away from between my legs and looked at his plate, which was next to me. The food had probably gone cold by now.

"I-i…! I can explain…!" I stuttered harshly, while I held my hand that had been satisfying my clit until recently. My fingertips shone slightly from my arousal seeping through my panties. But I didn't want Daryl to see them, even though he probably already knew what I was doing.

The archer remained silent, he just looked between my legs. There was something sparkling in his blue eyes before he turned around and looked down at me. At first I was afraid he would tell my daddy and I would get into so much trouble. "Come with me." Daryl then said suddenly. Without waiting for my answer, he went into his room and sat down on his bed. Swallowing hard, I got up anyway, taking the plate with me so that no one would get suspicious. Once inside the room, I put the plate on the bedside table and stood in front of Daryl. He looked down briefly before looking up at me, I couldn't even read his expression. "Ya were watchin' me, righ´?" He asked suddenly.

I didn't think it was possible, but my face turned even redder than it had been before. Swallowing hard, I looked down at the floor, feeling incredibly uncomfortable that he was now confronting me like this. The last time I had felt so pathetic was when Maggie had caught me kissing a picture of my favorite actor at the time. But this situation was a whole new level. But I didn't wanted to lie to Daryl, he was a good man. "Y-yes… I-I'm sorry, I didn't want-!" "Lay over ma lap. Now." His words confused me even more. Had he just told me to lie on his lap so that my butt was in the air? But I didn't contradict him, I just nodded silently.

I moved hesitantly towards him and knelt down on the bed next to him. At first I looked at Daryl quietly to make sure that this was really what he wanted. But his dark blue eyes looked at me stubbornly, as if they were telling me even more forcefully that I should finally lie across his lap. So I nodded slightly before I lay across his lap, my hips now over his thighs and my butt was stretched up a little. "'S yar family in yar house?" He asked as he lifted my skirt. Now I felt completely naked in front of him and my shame grew more and more. Daryl could now not only see my ass, but also my wet panties. "N-no…" I answered his question anyway. "W-why-!? Ah!” I gasped loudly when I felt him slap my left butt cheek.

It wasn't a hard slap, but he wasn't gentle either. It was hard enough to make me gasp and whimper, but not hard enough to hurt me. Another slap, this time on my right ass cheek. Whimpering, I dug my nails into his bed cover that was underneath us. "Yar dirty, ya know tha'?" He suddenly asked. I couldn't even answer his question before he slapped my ass again. I pressed my legs together tightly, even though these slaps hurt somehow, they also aroused me at the same time. I felt myself getting even wetter and my lower abdomen tingled strongly as I felt his slap on my ass again.

Whimpering, I pressed my face into his bed, but this was also a mistake. The bed smelled like him. How could it not smell like him, he was lying in this bed the whole time. Daryl's smell made my eyes roll back slightly and my whimpering turned into a quiet moan. While he slapped my now red skin with his right hand, his left hand held my legs down, as I sometimes lifted them out of reflex. "Dirty girl… ya like tha'?" He asked suddenly. A quiet whimper escaped me again, but I didn't answer him. Yes, I liked it, but I didn't want to admit it. Daryl remained silent for a while before he lifted some of the fabric of my panties and let it slap against my skin again. "Yar so goddamn wet…" He growled quietly.

Before I could react, Daryl pushed my panties aside, now he could see my wet pussy. "D-daryl…" "Shhh… be quiet." He said, in a stern but at the same time gentle tone. I hadn't known Daryl for long, but I believed and trusted him. It was dumb, yeah. But I didn´t really care. I could have pushed him away at any time, his grip wasn't firm or hurtful. He slowly let his finger slide through my wet folds before he pressed his rough finger against my clit. Panting, I pressed my legs together tighter and whimpered a little louder. For a while, Daryl massaged my clit in circular movements and I kept moaning and whimpering quietly. "D-daryl, please…" My voice came out quietly. At first I thought he hadn't heard me, but when he slid his fingers to my entrance, I got a cold shiver.

"Ya wan' it here?" He then asked, circling his finger around my entrance. Breathing heavily, I nodded slightly before pressing my face into his bed covers. His scent immediately filled my nose again, and he slowly pushed his finger into me. "Fuck, yar tigh'…" Daryl murmured quietly as he slowly began to move his finger. I was wet enough that he could start right away and I didn't feel any pain, it just felt weird. "D-daryl…~! G-god…" I murmured quietly as my grip on his bed covers became tighter and tighter.

Daryl just growled softly before he curled his finger slightly. He gently pressed his fingertip against my wet, tight inner walls and the hairs on my neck stood up. At some point Daryl added a second finger and he moved his fingers much faster now. Moaning, I pushed my ass even further towards him, which made him slap my ass with his other hand. Little tears of excitement came to my eyes, the mixture of his fingers inside me and his slaps on my ass provoked an orgasm in me. My breathing became faster and stronger while my legs trembled more and more. "Ya cumming?" The archer asked as he slapped my ass again.

"Y-yes…! P-please~…!" "Please wha'?" "P-please, make me cum~!" I moaned loudly and trembled even more. Daryl moved his fingers as fast as he could and pressed his fingertips against my special spot, which made me see black for a moment. Daryl slapped my ass once more and hit my special spot once more before I moaned loudly into his bed and came around his fingers. My head was spinning as Daryl slowly pulled his fingers out of me and gently stroked my ass. "'re ya good?" I heard Daryl ask in a soft voice.

Humming, I nodded slightly, but I was still trying to recover from the orgasm. I had touched myself before, but I had never been so overwhelmed by an orgasm, if I ever had one. "Yeah, yeah… I'm good…" I murmured quietly. I lay still for a while, Daryl adjusted my panties a little and pulled my skirt down again so that it covered my ass.

When I finally got myself together, I slowly climbed down from him. My face was still bright red and my legs were shaking a little. Daryl just looked up at me quietly before looking down at his food. "Can we… do this again?" I asked uncertainly and then looked at him. Daryl remained silent for a moment before turning back to me and looking at me again with his unreadable expression. "If ya wan´? Jus´… don´ tell yar old man." A certain joy and hope spread through me, but I didn't show it, I just nodded. Then I left his room again and closed the door behind me.

Somehow everything went a little too fast for me, but I didn't regret it for a second. So I went back to my room with a big grin to change my panties.

PoV Daryl:

I stayed in bed for a while before looking at my fingers, which were still wet from her orgasm. Something stirred in my pants again as I hesitantly put my fingers in my mouth and tasted them. God, she tasted as sweet as she looked. Of course I knew that she had been interested in me for a long time, but I never dared to speak to her properly because of our age difference. But this situation that happened recently made my heart beat faster and I could now dream about it every night. How her pussy wrapped tightly around my fingers, how her ass slowly turned red with every slap and how she moaned my name. God, I was already looking forward to the next time.

[daryltwdixon]

Kinktober #2 Oral Fixation

as per usual, MDNI

summary: you're on guard duty with Daryl, and he's chewing his fucking fingernails again. fluffy!!! no smut for my 11% who prefer it that way :) short n sweet

The amount of times you’d look over and see Daryl Dixon chewing the skin of his nails was going to drive you insane.

The one night while you both were on watch in the guard tower you’d had enough. Partially because it was a bad habit of his you always caught him doing, but also partially because you wished…. You wished you could replace it with something else. Your tongue, lips, hell, you’d let him chew your finger if he asked nice enough. But Daryl felt like an enigma, impossible to read but so damn mesmerizing. You were almost certain he never noticed you, as usually you were with Maggie and Glenn since you’d joined their group. Glenn had become sort of your big brother in all of this when he found you starving and hurt on a run, hiding in an old pharmacy from the walkers outside. Maggie of course was l naturally the big sister counterpart. The one time you confessed to Maggie your curiosity about Daryl she couldn’t help but laugh and say “good luck with that one,” 

He was always so hard to read, so aloof, but you noticed his small smiles more and more lately as life settled into the prison and when you’d sneak glances at him, his eyes would also be on you. 

So that night, on watch up on the tallest guard tower you caught him with his thumb up to his mouth again, chewing the side of it like it owed him money. He eyes were intensely on the tree line as he mindlessly had his skin between his teeth.

“You’re gunna chew your fingers clean off one of these days,” you teased, your head leaning back on the outside wall of the tower. The railing was at your eye-line as you slouched against the cement wall. You looked over to him with a playful smile and he barely looked at you, not bothering to drop his hand. He just grunted and continued to look out at the tree line below you. 

“You know,” you gathered your courage before going on, making sure to keep your eyes strictly out on the fences, “there are better things to put in your mouth than just your hand,” 

That sure got his attention. He looked over to you, pausing his incessant chewing, his eyebrow raised.

“You offerin’ any suggestions?” His blue eyes narrowed at you behind his dark curtains of bangs. 

You shrugged, still refusing to look over or else he might’ve seen the pink tinge to your cheeks even in the moonlight, “Maybe,” you said, “if you’re any good,” you bite your lip nervously, finally glanced over at him, doing a double take as you noticed his eyes looked at you with a different kind of intensity you’ve never seen on him. 

His eyes flickered down to your lips briefly, but just long enough that you caught it. You wondered how far you could push him until that rough exterior broke down. He lowered his hand from his face, his gaze turning predatory. 

“Good at what, exactly?” He seemed to want to push you back. Challenging you to break first. Or maybe he really was clueless. But you don’t let up, just shrugging and watching him with a smile, grateful he was playing along, “I have a couple ideas,” 

Your bravery only came from the fact he wasn’t brushing you off. He didn’t grunt at you in reply, he didn’t break eye contact. The air was starting to become charged, the watch tower feeling smaller and smaller around you. 

“You talk a lotta shit, you know that?” He grumbled, “all bark no bite,” 

He may have meant it as a dig but his words held no weight, like he was trying hard to not fall into the trap you were laying out for him. You chuckled and looked off then, breaking the eye contact that you held for so long. But as your eyes met the tree line, a hand blocked your vision, grabbing your face roughly. You gasped as it turned you toward him, his other hand resting on the other side of your face closest to the wall. Before you have a chance to gather your thoughts, his lips crashed against yours, sparks electrocuting where he melded into you. For all his rough exterior—the calloused hands, dirt smudged face— his lips were incredibly soft. 

They moved along yours with a hunger, his tongue darting out to part your lips, which you happily obliged. Your tongues glided along each other, moving between teasing and needy. When his thumb rubbed your temple you felt your head spin and you brought your hands to his front, fisting his shirt to bring him into you even more. You couldn’t get him close enough. You felt enveloped in his musk—the smell of cigarettes and sweat making you dizzy. Everything else in the world around you seemed to still, the crickets and buzzing of insects quieted and the world paused its turning as you embraced each other. 

He pulled back then, both of you breathless. He held your face inches from his, his eyelashes tickling your face as he spoke. 

“How’s that for any good?” he said, so softly that his lips brushed over yours and you could feel his breath against you.

You breathed a small laugh into him and he dove for your lips again. 

[atinylittlepain]

Prologue

jackson!joel miller x witch!oc

series masterlist

series playlist

He thinks he might fall in love with her. She can't let him fall in love with her. Or: a reimagined take on an infamous Practical Magic au by yours truly.

wordcount | 1.8K

series content info | 18+ slowburn-ish, strangers to friends to lovers to estranged acquaintances to ???, discussions of death and grief, a little magic, just a little, jackson era joel and all that entails, eventual smut, angst obviously, and love that requires a little elbow grease.

a/n | thank you folks for your patience while I was being a little worm about this. Very excited to kick off this series, and I'd love to hear what you think <3

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There is the after, and there is the before. This is the before. In the before, there is a town nestled down in the purple-blue belly of a mountain, all shade and damp, cool green. A small town, everyone knowing everyone and everyone knew everyone as far back as history could reasonably stretch. And in this town sits a house at the end of a string of houses, sidewalk curling up in waves under the old force of tree roots, wrought iron gates and sleepy porches. Kids dare one another to step through the gate of this house. Only the bravest make it up to the porch, a quick clambering tap to the front door, wanting, but not really wanting, to see who might answer. All but one child, that is. She has no problem walking through the gate, but she’s learned to be quick in getting through the front door and slipping it shut behind her. The other kids like to throw rocks if she lingers, so she doesn’t. But there is always a sweet suspension of disbelief on the walk, before the gate, and the porch, and the slip through the front door. How nice, to have all her classmates walking her home after school. 

“Did you get into any trouble today?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, always another chance tomorrow.” It’s just enough to coax a smile out of her, her aunt and all her tuts and tsks, turns of her nose and we need a brownie before we do your homework, little choice but to follow after her into the kitchen, warm and sticky, the smell of fresh yeast and something richer. Even now, even in the first gasps of Summer, a pot always boils on the stove, spoon stirring lazy inside it. 

Her aunt moves like a bird she thinks. But not the delicate kind. She saw a blue heron once, at the lake outside of town. Like that, she thinks. Graceful but sharp, big and sweeping, the tails of a linen shirt, and the braid woven gray and black that hangs between her shoulder blades. All so familiar, she can’t help but sigh, cheek propped in the clammy cup of her hand. 

“Something happened today.” 

“You don’t say.” Her aunt, always knowing before she can tell her, sometimes even before she knows herself. She picks a chocolate chip out of the brownie split between them, holds it on her tongue and lets it melt. 

“Andy Nichols broke his arm. He said there’s pins in his bones.”

“Is he the one who–” She nods before her aunt can finish her question. Yes, the one who never threw rocks at her. Yes, the one who would sit with her at lunch, not because his other friends dared him to, but because he wanted to. The one who, last week, sitting on the bleachers during recess, pressed a quick, there and gone kiss to her lips, all shy, all sweet, wings fluttering fierce in her chest. Yes, that one. 

“Now he won’t even look at me. All his friends are saying I did something to him.” 

“Oh, Maggie, I’m sorry. People can be, well, people suck, to speak plainly.”

“Did I?”

“Did you what?”

“Did I?” And the silence is enough of an answer, isn’t it? Her aunt’s eyes melt a little, lips pressed in a thin frown. Her aunt, who is as tired as she is, though she may do a better job of hiding it. After all, while she lost a mother, her aunt lost a sister. And the thing, that thing, this thing, that is threaded like a dark cancer through the sinew and snapping pulse of their hearts, contagious, careful or you’ll catch it. Everyone in town knows not to fall in love with a Campbell woman, a long history pocked with strange deaths, unexplainable misfortune. Her father wasn’t from town though, the first mistake of many.

‘It’s best if you don’t think on it, hmm?” Quiet and close in the kitchen, she does her best not to cry, feeling weak, a little wilted. One of those hugs that presses all the air out of her lungs, she needed it, breathing in deep, soap and sweat and soil and my little witch, we have work to do. 

Homework doesn’t really mean homework in their house. Not the paper she’s supposed to be writing on the civil war, not studying for the math test she has on Friday. Homework means her and her aunt in the greenhouse, and her aunt quizzing her on the plants they tend to. What is what, what does what. 

Lemon balm for stress and sleep. Also used to treat cold sores. 

Echinacea for immunity.

Peppermint for nausea and headaches.

Belladonna for sleep, handle with care. 

It comes easily to her, the same way that knowing things comes easily to her aunt. Plants, she thinks, make more sense than people do. It takes them a few hours to work through the greenhouse, night coming on in a swath of orange that smolders purple, cool shadows filtering in through green glass. They prune, they water, they propagate, and her aunt must think her extra pitiful tonight because she offers to teach her a few new tricks. The offer falls flat, however, when the prickled sound of scratching shivers up her spine. She knows it well, imagines that she could hear it from all the way across town at this point. The back door, nails skittering over its window panes, face pressed to glass, smeared shame, or maybe just a secret. All that’s needed, a look shared between them, no words. She stays in the greenhouse, closes the door behind her aunt, but leaves it cracked. She shouldn’t, but she likes to listen. 

What she hears is always the same. Variations of desperation, I want, I want, I want, I need, I need, I need, him, him, him, her, her, her. How badly? So badly. Anything? Yes, anything. She’s watched a few times, peering around the doorway into the kitchen. All kinds of ways to meddle, to tangle threads, cut them loose, pick your poison, pick your pleasure. Her aunt tries to keep her away from it, the dark, crawling things, the needles, the wax dolls washed in smoke plumes. But she knows. Love is an ugly thing. 

She doesn’t watch tonight, hardly listens either. Something else on her mind, in her hands. She plucks rose petals, lavender, rosemary, fills her hands with the rumpled things, says what she planned to say.

He’ll ride horses, talk to them too.

He’ll work with his hands. 

There’ll be a streak of silver at his temple. 

When we’re together, he’ll be able to stop time. 

“Are you casting impossible spells again?” Her aunt catches her just as she’s stepping out into the backyard, damp grass and cicada thrum and the moon.

“I hope so. I hope it’s impossible.” They stand in the cool, damp grass, all that heat dropping down into a low mist around their ankles. And her aunt knows exactly what she’s doing. Afterall, she was the one who taught her this. Somewhere between a love spell and a prayer, though she hopes hers is more like a curse. 

“There’s no taking something like this back, Maggie. Are you sure you want to do this?” She nods, says yes, and it’s enough for her aunt to stand down, giving her space to finish the rest of it. Intention, energy, that other word that people like to throw around She focuses on the words and the words become something other than words, and the petals and leaves lift from her hands. The moon takes care of the rest. 

“I hope I never fall in love.” 

The thing about spells is they always find somewhere to land, even the impossible ones. And somewhere in the before, that impossible spell found its target. Cupid’s arrow bent and broken, though still able to sting sharp. Somewhere in the before, a boy in another town in another life, young knees working hard to make the thin tires of a bike spin, already late heading home for dinner in the cooling night. 

The boy’s mother hears him before she sees him, big, hot tears and ribs shaking with sobs she doesn’t often get to hear anymore, getting older, trying to get braver. The boy is bleeding, the boy is crying. The soft round of his palms scraped and stuck with gravel, and his knees no better, all down his shins, and he didn’t mean to cry, didn’t want to cry, but walking the rest of the way home, wrestling with the crooked handlebars of his bike, the feeling and the pain got too big, and he didn’t know what else to do with it.

“Oh honey, what happened?” His words come out in stops and starts, little stuttered gasps. I fell, gets strung into a few extra syllables, already ushering him upstairs and into the bathroom, the sharp smell of this’ll sting, cotton gauze getting stuck in the blood. 

In the before, still young, the boy is a soft thing. He cries easily, and he doesn’t like that. Cries when he’s angry, when he’s hurt, when he’s frustrated. Cries harder when he cries because he wishes he wouldn’t cry, even if the words for such a feeling are still too old for him. Somewhere along the way, the boy will lose that. The boy will lose so much. But for now, his mother is making all the big and little hurts better, box fan humming in the cracked window in the bathroom, his brother, even younger, watching through the slivered opening of the door. 

For now, the boy lets his eyes close, sticky with salt and the last wandering tears, and he wonders if he really saw what he thought he saw, what stunned him so snappingly that he flew head over handlebars onto the still-simmering asphalt. A blurred vision, blink and miss it, though even so, he’s still sure of what he saw. A rose bush, a sudden burst and bloom and flashbang, nothing and then something and then everything. Blooms that unfurled their skirts as fast as he was riding by, until what had been only green was blotted out entirely by heavy white petals. The boy will lose this memory with time, reasoning it away as an impossible imagining, something from a young mind that will no longer be his. But while the boy is still young, still a soft thing, he will think to himself with a kind of secret wonder that whatever he saw that night, it had to be magic. 

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taglist: @suzmagine @joelsgreys @vee-bees-blog @noisynightmarepoetry @kungfucapslock @iloveenya @evolnoomym @wannab-urs

[billboard-hotties-tourney]

Okay, folks, the mini-tourney is inching closer to the finals, so I'm going to give a list of the competitors in the Miss Billboard Tourney in order to give everyone a chance to submit more propaganda. The nominees are:

Lale Andersen

Marian Anderson

Signe Toly Anderson

Julie Andrews

LaVerne Andrews

Maxene Andrews

Patty Andrews

Ann-Margret

Joan Armatrading

Dorothy Ashby

Joan Baez

Pearl Bailey

Belle Baker

Josephine Baker

LaVern Baker

Florence Ballard

Brigitte Bardot

Eileen Barton

Fontella Bass

Shirley Bassey

Maggie Bell

Lola Beltran

Ivy Benson

Gladys Bentley

Jane Birkin

Cilla Black

Ronee Blakley

Teresa Brewer

Anne Briggs

Ruth Brown

Joyce Bryant

Vashti Bunyan

Kate Bush

Montserrat Caballe

Maria Callas

Blanche Calloway

Wendy Carlos

Cathy Carr

Raffaella Carra

Diahann Carroll

Karen Carpenter

June Carter Cash

Charo

Cher

Meg Christian

Gigliola Cinquetti

Petula Clark

Merry Clayton

Patsy Cline

Rosemary Clooney

Natalie Cole

Judy Collins

Alice Coltrane

Betty Comden

Barbara Cook

Rita Coolidge

Gal Costa

Ida Cox

Karen Dalton

Marie-Louise Damien

Betty Davis

Jinx Dawson

Doris Day

Blossom Dearie

Kiki Dee

Lucienne Delyle

Sandy Denny

Jackie DeShannon

Gwen Dickey

Marlene Dietrich

Marie-France Dufour

Julie Driscoll

Yvonne Elliman

Cass Elliot

Maureen Evans

Agnetha Faeltskog

Marianne Faithfull

Mimi Farina

Max Feldman

Gracie Fields

Ella Fitzgerald

Roberta Flack

Lita Ford

Connie Francis

Aretha Franklin

France Gall

Judy Garland

Crystal Gayle

Gloria Gaynor

Bobbie Gentry

Astrud Gilberto

Donna Jean Godchaux

Lesley Gore

Eydie Gorme

Margo Guryan

Sheila Guyse

Nina Hagen

Francoise Hardy

Emmylou Harris

Debbie Harry

Annie Haslam

Billie Holiday

Mary Hopkin

Lena Horne

Helen Humes

Betty Hutton

Janis Ian

Mahalia Jackson

Wanda Jackson

Etta James

Joan Jett

Bessie Jones

Etta Jones

Gloria Jones

Grace Jones

Shirley Jones

Tamiko Jones

Janis Joplin

Barbara Keith

Carole King

Eartha Kitt

Chaka Khan

Hildegard Knef

Gladys Knight

Sonja Kristina

Patti Labelle

Cleo Laine

Nicolette Larson

Daliah Lavi

Vicky Leandros

Peggy Lee

Rita Lee

Alis Lesley

Barbara Lewis

Abbey Lincoln

Melba Liston

Julie London

Darlene Love

Lulu

Anni-Frid Lyngstad

Barbara Lynn

Loretta Lynn

Vera Lynn

Siw Malmkvist

Lata Mangeshkar

Linda McCartney

Kate McGarrigle

Christie McVie

Bette Midler

Jean Millington

June Millington

Liza Minnelli

Carmen Miranda

Joni Mitchell

Liz Mitchell

Marion Montgomery

Lee Morse

Nana Mouskouri

Anne Murray

Wenche Myhre

Holly Near

Olivia Newton-John

Stevie Nicks

Nico

Laura Nyro

Virginia O’Brien

Odetta

Yoko Ono

Shirley Owens

Patti Page

Dolly Parton

Freda Payne

Michelle Phillips

Edith Piaf

Ruth Pointer

Leontyne Price

Suzi Quatro

Gertrude Rainey

Bonnie Raitt

Carline Ray

Helen Reddy

Della Reese

Martha Reeves

June Richmond

Jeannie C. Riley

Minnie Riperton

Jean Ritchie

Chita Rivera

Clara Rockmore

Linda Ronstadt

Marianne Rosenberg

Diana Ross

Anna Russell

Melanie Safka

Buffy Sainte-Marie

Samantha Sang

Pattie Santos

Hazel Scott

Doreen Shaffer

Jackie Shane

Marlena Shaw

Sandie Shaw

Dinah Shore

Judee Sill

Carly Simon

Nina Simone

Nancy Sinatra

Siouxsie Sioux

Grace Slick

Bessie Smith

Mamie Smith

Patti Smith

Ethel Smyth

Mercedes Sosa

Ronnie Spector

Dusty Springfield

Mavis Staples

Candi Staton

Barbra Streisand

Poly Styrene

Maxine Sullivan

Donna Summer

Pat Suzuki

Norma Tanega

Tammi Terrell

Sister Rosetta Tharpe

Big Mama Thornton

Mary Travers

Moe Tucker

Tina Turner

Twiggy

Bonnie Tyler

Sylvia Tyson

Sarah Vaughan

Sylvie Vartan

Mariska Veres

Akiko Wada

Claire Waldoff

Jennifer Warnes

Dee Dee Warwick

Dionne Warwick

Dinah Washington

Ethel Waters

Elisabeth Welch

Kitty Wells

Mary Wells

Juliane Werding

Tina Weymouth

Cris Williamson

Ann Wilson

Mary Wilson

Nancy Wilson

Anna Mae Winburn

Syreeta Wright

Tammy Wynette

Nan Wynn

Those in italics have five or more pieces of usable visual, written, or audio propaganda already. If you have any visuals like photos or videos, or if you have something to say in words, submit it to this blog before round one begins on June 25th!

If you don't see a name you submitted here, it's because most or all of their career was as a child/they were too young for the cutoff, their career was almost entirely after 1979, or music was something they only dabbled in and are hardly known for. There are quite a few ladies on the list whose primary career wasn't "recording artist" or "live musician," but released several albums or were in musical theater, so they've been accepted.

[mirkwoodshewolf]

First heartache is hard; Jack Kline x reader

*Author's note*

Well this only took me two days to write which I do like when I can easily write a story that fast hehehe so @gabrielasilva1510 here is your ANGSTY Jack Kline request.

Warning: MAJOR ANGST, Character death, NO FLUFF AT ALL ONLY HURT, blood, violence (this is supernatural afterall so SPN level of violence). Basically get your tissues ready cause this is a sad one.

Taglist:

@plethora-of-things

@waddles03

@psychosupernatural

@jd-johndeacon-or-jackdaniels

@queen-paladin

@gay-and-ready-to-cry

___________________________________________________________

Jack stood outside in the cold night after a long training session with Bobby.  Now that his grace was gone, he had to build up his strength mortally, which meant getting punched and falling down a lot, and getting hurt whilst getting beaten down.  He thought he had felt powerless before, but his mind always went back to what happened that night at the church.  The moment he truly felt powerless.

The night he had lost you.

*Flashback*

Bobby, Mary and (Y/n) stood in the main lobby of the bunker still debating about who in the world would wanna kill Maggie.  After questioning all the hunters from the apocalypse world, they decided that none of them had any motive to hurt her, and that maybe it was just some creep or psycho looking to murder and innocent girl in the woods.

“I mean it’s not uncommon. That’s what happened to my mom’s sister once when they were younger. Some bastard slit her throat, raped her, and dumped her body over the bridge. That’s when I learned that there are more monsters in humanity than there are in the supernatural sense.” (Y/n) said.

“She’s not wrong.” Mary said supporting (Y/n’s) statement.  As Bobby nodded, they soon heard footsteps and that’s when they saw Jack.

“Oh Jack.” (Y/n) sighed with relief but before she could race up to hug him, they were horrified to see Lucifer coming up behind him.

“Hey~” Lucifer greeted with a small wave.

“Kid, what in the sam hell is—?!” demanded Bobby but Jack interrupted him.

“It’s okay. He’s here to help.”

“Him!?” (Y/n) asked exasperatedly.

“Yeah tigress, me.” Lucifer said booping her nose to which she cringed and slapped his arm away from her.  “Okay touchy-touchy Ms. Temper pants.” He said walking away following his son to where Maggie lay dead.

“Call Sam now!” Mary whispered urgently to Bobby as she and (Y/n) followed Lucifer and Jack while Bobby made a call to the boys.

“So you’re leaving dead bodies on tables now? Nice.” questioned Lucifer.

“We were waiting to give her a hunter’s funeral.” (Y/n) said.

“You won’t have to. My father he’s going to bring Maggie back to life.”

“Jack what are you doing?” asked Mary.

“What I have to do. This is my second chance.” Jack answered.

“Jack,” (Y/n) started.  “What happened to Maggie was a horrible thing that never should’ve happened. But it was beyond your control. You couldn’t have known when or where she’d be attacked and murdered.”

“But I promised her I’d keep her safe. All of them.”

“There are some things that you can’t prevent Jack.”

“I’d listen to your little girlfriend son. Plus this whole resurrection thing is kinda tricky. People don’t often come back as themselves.”

“Sam didn’t.” Said Jack.

“Yeah well Sam’s always been a little—in the head to begin with.”

“And like you’re not?” sassed (Y/n).  Lucifer snide at her comment.

“You said you’d do anything.” Jack told him.  The intense look in his eyes soon made Lucifer relent and he did what Jack said he’d do.  Placing his hand on Maggie’s forehead, his eyes glowed red and suddenly Maggie shot up gasping for air.  Immediately, (Y/n) grabbed Jack’s hand and took him out of the room and they came into the kitchen.

“(Y/n) what—”

“What deal did he offer you?” she interrupted him.

“What?”

“Back there, when you told him that he’d do anything you’d ask. What was the deal he offered you?” Jack looked at the harsh stare of her (e/c) eyes and told her.

“We’re gonna see the galaxy together. Like in Star Wars. But I said I’d only go if he helped bring Maggie back.” (Y/n) looked at Jack in shock.

“What? You’re going with him?”

“Well not just me,” Jack stepped forward and took both of her hands into his, gently stroking the back of her knuckles.  “I also said I wanted you to come along too. You always said you wanted to see the stars up close.”

“Jack I—” (Y/n) was a mixture of emotions.  Horror, shock, perplexed, torn, and upset.  “Lucifer he’s…..I can’t.”

“Why not?” Jack asked.

“Jack, there’s nothing in this world that I would like more than to explore the galaxy with you, but with Lucifer tagging along. Something doesn’t sit right with me.”

“He’s changed. He really wants to try (Y/n). Would the old Lucifer have offered you to come along with us?”

“I know that no matter old or new Lucifer, whatever he claims to be now, he’s always gets something out of his deals. And if he doesn’t, he’ll take it anyways.” Jack dropped (Y/n)’s hands, his chest rising and falling as he tried to control his anger.

“Why can’t you be happy for me for once?!”

“Jack I have always been happy for you! Looking out for you! Besides Cas and Sam, I’ve always been the one that’s always in your corner! But you can’t trust what Lucifer says! Believe me I know.”

“Oooo, did I come at a bad time?” Lucifer’s voice spoke out as he peeked his head from the kitchen door before walking inside.

“Get out!” demanded (Y/n).

“I’ll admit son, you at least picked one with fire in her.”

“How the hell did you get back here!?” snapped (Y/n).

“Does it really matter?”

“Let me think, yes it does! Now quit stalling and tell him what you’re really here for!”

“What I’m—listen (n/n) I already told him. I want to take my son to see the galaxies, the stars, hell the entire universe itself. I’m done playing second fiddle to pops and his game. I wanna be removed from the chess board completely and not have to worry about anything than showing my son the wonders of the universe. With you of course by his side if you choose to go.”

“I wouldn’t go anywhere with you if my life depended on it!” (Y/n) snarled with a sneer.  Lucifer shrugged.

“Alright well, there’s no changing your mind. Let’s bounce son.” Jack slowly walked towards him but (Y/n) grabbed his hand and pleaded to him.

“Jack please, don’t go with him. He’s using you.”

“Would you mind stop gaslighting my own son against me? Geez that’s the thing with you women sometimes, especially teenage girls.”

“Jack. Jack please.” Jack turned to her and said.

“He’s my father.” (Y/n) stood there stunned and released his hand and watched hopelessly as the two of them vanished from the kitchen.

“(Y/n)!? (Y/n)!!” soon Bobby came in and he looked around and asked, “Where’s the kid?” (Y/n) buried her face into her hands and wept.  Bobby then walked up and awkwardly wrapped his arms around the weeping girl before bringing her back to rejoin Mary and the newly resurrected Maggie.

When the brothers and Cas returned, they had told that Michael had also somehow managed to come into this world along with Lucifer.  That to (Y/n) struck a chord in how Lucifer must surely been planning something.  There’s absolutely no chance that those two archangels would willingly team-up to escape apocalypse world.  And with Maggie’s death it—it can’t be a coincidence.  She stood up and walked off.

“Uhh (Y/n) where are you going?” asked Dean.

“To talk to Maggie.” Sam immediately took off and stopped her and he said to her, “Hey, hey relax okay? Look mom told us what happened and to interrogate her now while she’s still trying to wrap her mind about being resurrected it—”

“I know Sam. You Winchesters aren’t the only ones to have been resurrected. But I have to know just who killed her. This all is one too big coincidence for them to have come back and Maggie ends up dead the same day they both come through their own rift.”

“You think it was one of them that killed Maggie?”

“Like I said, it’s a hunch but it’s too big of one to ignore.”

“Then let me come with you.”

“You just want to keep an eye on me because of my impatience.” She snapped accusingly.

“That and I also want to find out the truth. Hey,” Sam could sense the anxiety running through (Y/n)’s body about Jack.  “We’re gonna find him.”

“He’s…..” (Y/n) trailed off before confessing her deep secret.  “He’s my best friend. I—I can’t lose him.”

“We won’t. We’ve got everyone looking for them. Now let’s go see about your hunch.” Sam and her walked to where Maggie was sitting in the library trying to process everything that had just happened. “Maggie?” Sam broke her silence as she slightly jumped and turned her attention to Sam who sat down beside her at the table that was once her deathbed.  “Hey, sorry. You okay?”

“I’m alive so…..yes.” she replied.

“Right. So listen, we know this is all weird right now but uhh…..before you died, do you remember anything about the person that killed you?”

“Does it really matter? I mean don’t you guys have a lot bigger Satan-y stuff to deal with right now?”

“Yes but it’s getting handled. For now, just answer Sam’s question.” (Y/n) said.  Maggie took a deep breath in before saying.

“I—never saw his face. But…..I saw his eyes.”

“His eyes?” asked Sam.  Maggie nodded.

“They were—unlike anything I had seen before. Those bleeding red, glowing eyes.” Once they heard that, both Sam and (Y/n) looked at each other in shock.

“I knew it!” (Y/n) muttered under her breath but at that moment, a sudden loud boom sounded off from outside.  It almost sounded like a firework or a bomb had went off close by, then the lights began flickering on and off.  The three of them went to rejoin Dean and the others as the front doors of the bunker began to jostle and bang loudly, like someone was trying to break in. “Ahhh shit.” (Y/n) said under her breath.

“Mom, Bobby, take Maggie out of here through the garage.” Sam said.

“We’ll buy you some time.” Dean said.

“What no!?” Mary said but Sam told her not to argue and soon Bobby had to drag her and Maggie out of the room to make their escape.  (Y/n) came and stood beside Cas who put an arm around her as the doors continue to jostle and the banging grew louder.  The two of them took out their blades as Sam and Dean readied their guns.

After what felt like an eternity, the door finally caved in and fell with a bang as a bright light shone through the bunker.  And soon walking in with his head held high was Michael.  Immediately Sam and Dean began to open fire at the archangel but being what Michael was, the bullets had absolutely no affect on him.  The archangel slowly levitated himself down to the floor from the catwalk entrance and Cas made the first attack with his angel blade.

But Michael easily overpowered Cas and had him flying over the table and across the room, knocking him unconscious.  (Y/n) took out her curved scythes and slashed at Michael.  He dodged each attack until he grabbed (Y/n)’s left wrist and disarmed her before breaking her arm.  She let out an agonizing scream before Michael palm-strike her straight at her chest, sending her flying and slamming into the wall.

“You really thought you could run from me?” sneered Michael.  Sam immediately went on the attack after (Y/n) had been injured but Michael easily overpowered him as well as Dean who more than anyone, put up a fight towards Michael.  But the archangel soon had Dean by the throat.

“How did you—” Dean started to say but Michael interrupted him.

“Get here? Easy. I made a deal. And now this world is mine, I can save it, purge it of sin.”

“Yeah cause that really worked out on your rock.”

“Well I’m not perfect. And yes I made mistakes, but hey second times the charm.” As (Y/n) cradled her broken arm she muttered under her breath in prayer.

“Jack. Jack I don’t know if you’ll even hear this prayer but—we need you. He’s here……Michael is here. Please, help us. He’s gonna kill us.” As Michael and Dean continued to talk back and forth of each other until Michael squeezed Dean’s throat even harder almost to the point where his bones could be heard snapping (but not enough to kill him).

As Dean was starting to slip away under Michael’s grip, the archangel was suddenly thrown back against a pillar by a familiar golden aura of power.  Dean let out a loud intake of air and coughed harshly.  Everyone looked up to see that Jack had come back.

“Jack.” Sam said as he was finally able to stand up.

“I heard your prayers.” Jack only turned to look at (Y/n) and when he had seen the woman he secretly loved hurt, rage slowly began to simmer within him.

“Yeah it’s me, yay. Uhh we done yet buddy?” Lucifer also said as he had appeared behind Jack.  He then tried to get Jack to leave now that Michael had been subdued, but it wasn’t enough for Jack.

First thing he did was walk up to (Y/n), knelt down beside her and healed her broken arm thanks to the teaching he learned from Cas.

“You okay?” he softly asked as he cupped her left cheek.

“For now.” Jack softly smiled but his soft side melted away as anger and rage now consumed him as he turned his attention to Michael.  His eyes glowed as he raised his hand up and slowly walked towards Michael and said angrily.

“You hurt my friends.” Michael let out a pained groan as he hunched forward, almost as if something were burning him from the inside out.  “You hurt my family!” Jack soon yelled as Michael screamed and felt his insides being crushed.  “You hurt (Y/N)!!” as he clenched his hand into a fist now, Michael’s vessel started to bleed from his eyes and his ears.

Everyone, including Lucifer stood there in shock at just how much power Jack held.

“LUCIFER WE HAD A DEAL!!” Michael exclaimed as he slid down to the ground in pain.

“Okay, game over. Hey buddy let’s….let’s split.” Lucifer said with a snap of his fingers wanting to lead Jack away.

“What does he mean?” Jack asked as he turned to his father.  Lucifer began stammering almost trying to play dumb but Dean soon said.

“They had a deal.” Jack then turned to Dean as he continued, “Lucifer gets you, and Michael gets everything else. He’s gonna nuke our world, Jack. Just like he did his.”

“Is this true?” Jack asked his father.

“No! It’s not.”

“Is that why you wanted us to leave? And why you knew (Y/n) wouldn’t come with?”

“Leave? (Y/n) what do you know about this?” Sam asked her.

“Lucifer told him they were going to see the stars. Then Jack said he’d only go with his dad if I got to go with them. But I refused because Lucifer would be the main tag along.”

“What you were just gonna leave the rest of us to burn?” Cas said as he was finally able to stand up after his fight with Michael.

“Okay, okay let’s slow down for a second. Are we forgetting who the real bad guy is?”

“Yeah trying telling that to Maggie dumbass.” (Y/n) snapped.

“What about Maggie?” Jack asked with a crack in his voice.

“You know you’ve done some dumb things Lucifer but even you must’ve known this would turn and bite you in the ass. Jack, Maggie saw the eyes of her killer. The glowing red eyes. Which angel amongst us has eyes like that?”

“Oh come on! Jack are you really gonna believe this girl!? (Y/n) is a hater she’d say anything to get you on their side!” Lucifer tried to point (Y/n) as the bad guy but Jack wouldn’t believe his father over her again, not after the brief pain it had caused him after they had left her behind.

“Tell me the truth!” Jack demanded as his eyes glowed and he held out his hand towards his own father.  Using his powers, he controlled Lucifer’s mind and made him verbally confess how and why he killed Maggie.  He also admitted to how much he enjoyed it.  When Jack released him, he shook his head before saying, “You’re not my father, you’re a monster.”

Lucifer’s impatience was boiling to a head until he finally let out his rage in a powerful scream as he revealed his glowing red eyes.  The scream of the devil shook the entire bunker and the Winchesters and (Y/n) had no choice but to cover their ears less their eardrums explode out of their ears.

“Okay…..I tried with you. I really, really tried with you.”

“Everything you told me was a lie.”

“Because I told you what you wanted to hear man! So what I killed the girl? Big deal! She’s just a human she doesn’t matter!”

“So am I!” Jack snapped.

“Yeah, and that’s your problem. You’re too much like your mother.”

“Jack.” Cas said as he, Sam and (Y/n) started to surround the two of them ready to attack, but Jack told them to stand back and that he’ll handle him.

“Oh yeah? Oh buddy, we could’ve been something you and me. We could’ve remade the universe. We could’ve been better Gods than dad. And I really wanted pal, I wanted that but now—if I can’t have it with you well….I don’t need you. I just need your power.” Suddenly Lucifer used an archangel blade and sliced a small cut on Jack’s throat and began absorbing his grace.

“NO!!!” Cas and (Y/n) cried out.  Once Lucifer had absorbed all of Jack’s grace, he healed the cut on his son’s neck and felt ultimate power surging through him.  Lucifer’s eyes briefly glowed the golden color of Jack’s powers and immediately (Y/n) leapt towards them and with a flash of light, the three of them were gone.

The next thing (Y/n) knew, she fell down to the floor and looked around to see that they had appeared at a small church.

“Really (Y/n)? Hitching a ride, you know you’re taking the term ‘clingy girlfriend’ to a whole new level.”

“Go to fucking hell!” she snarled through her teeth.

“Yeah, yeah been there done that.” Lucifer released his grip on his son and kicked (Y/n) square in the face sending her on her back to the floor.  She briefly rolled across the floor and as she tried to sit up, Lucifer kicked her hard in the ribs.  She let out a groan as she went for her scythe then just as Lucifer was about to stomp on her chest, she slashed his leg.

Being that the material was made of melted angel blades, it managed to cause him pain but not enough to kill him.  She backward rolled and twirled the scythe in her hand as she glared up at the devil.

“I’ll admit, you always were the more fearsome fighter out of the brothers.”

“Growing up alone on the streets of West Philly teaches you a thing or two.” She spat out some blood as she took out her other scythe.  She then charged at the devil, slashing at any chance she got but Lucifer was toying with her as he dodged every single attack that came her way.  After toying with her, he grabbed her wrist and twisted it forcing her to drop her left one first before punching her in the face repeatedly.

Every blow sounded off a broken bone on her face or nose until her mouth and nose were covered in blood.  He then took her by the throat and lifted her up.

“But you’re still human. And humans break easily. Shame though, you could’ve made at least a slightly decent daughter-in-law. But you know, I can always make more and there might be another one like you out there somewhere.” Lucifer then took her right scythe out of her hand and admired it.  “Been nice knowing you tigress.” Then he swung the scythe across her stomach.

Jack who had slowly regained consciousness after losing his grace, woke up to see the woman he loved being held by the throat and saw as his own father kill her with her own weapon.

“NOOOOO!!!” Jack cried out.  Lucifer turned and said.

“Oh good you’re awake.” He then dropped (Y/n) like a ragdoll and as she began to bleed profusely all across her stomach, her body already going into shock at the amount of blood that was already seeping out of her body.

“You—you killed her?”

“Like I said, she’s just a human. There’s dozens more out there like her, but if you’d like, I can let you join her. Classic Romeo and Juliet fashion.” But before Lucifer could do anything, a bright angelic light shone throughout the church and standing there was Dean with Sam close behind him.  The shadow of angel wings coming out from Dean who had accepted Michael as his vessel.

While Dean and Lucifer talked and fought each other, Sam quickly raced over to (Y/n) after seeing her on the ground in her own blood.

“(Y/n)? (Y/n)? Hey, just hang on, keep your eyes open for me okay sweetheart?” Jack came beside her and grabbed her hands.

“I’m sorry (Y/n). I’m so, so, so sorry. I should’ve believed you this is all my fault I-I’m so sorry.”

“Not…….your……f-fa…..” (Y/n) choked out but Sam interrupted her.

“Hey, hey shhh save your strength okay? Jack, take off your jacket and put it on her stomach okay? We have to keep pressure on her wound.”

“It’s—it’s too……” weakly (Y/n) stopped Jack who looked down at her with tears in his eyes.

“No. (Y/n) we’re going to save you. Please let me save you!!”

“You—already…..did.” soon a bright light and a cry of pain echoed throughout the church and as Dean fell to the ground, they watched as Lucifer’s light was extinguished and he lay there dead.

Lucifer was finally dead.

“Is he?” Sam started to ask, almost not believing it to be true.

“He’s dead.” Jack said.  The brothers and Jack couldn’t believe it, finally after all this time Lucifer was finally dead.  Not sealed in the cage, truly dead.

“Dean, you did it.” Sam said.

“No. No man we did it.”

“(Y/n). (Y/n) did you hear that he’s really….” Jack said as he looked down, but something wasn’t right.  Her eyes were still open but there was no life to them, the soft smile was still upon her face but she was as stiff as a board.  “(Y/n)? (Y/n)?” tears began to fill his eyes.  “No, no, no, no, no, no please no!”

“Dean!” Knowing he had Michael’s power, he thought for sure he could heal the wound but just before Dean could make a step, he lurched forward in pain groaning.  “DEAN!!”

“WE HAD A DEAL!!!” Dean cried out before he too went still for a moment.

“Dean?” Sam called his brother again.  Dean rose up but his posture and the look in his eyes were different.  Dean looked around before saying.

“Thanks for the suit.” And then he disappeared, leaving Sam and Jack alone with (Y/n)’s corpse.

“(Y/n)! (Y/n) please wake up! Don’t go please you can’t die!” Jack cried out.

“Jack…..” Sam trailed off.

“There’s hospitals. Human doctors can save her right!? Sam please call them!”

“It wouldn’t do any good. I’m sorry Jack, she’s gone.”

“No she can’t be gone!” Jack picked up (Y/n)’s body and wept into her neck, pleading and begging to anyone above to save her as he wept into her cold neck.

After sending a prayer to Cas about what had happened, Cas found them and brought them back to the bunker so that they could give (Y/n) a proper hunter’s funeral.  As she lay there on the table moments before she would be wrapped up, Jack stood over her utterly broken and lost.

The only thing he could do was lean down and kiss her cold blue lips.  Deep down he had hoped that true love’s kiss would awaken her, just like all those Disney movies and fairytales she had shown him could do.  But this was no fairytale, nor was there a happy ending for them.

“Jack,” Cas voice spoke gently to the grieving young man.  “It’s time.” Jack sniffled and he said.

“I’ll prepare her.” Cas nodded and left Jack to do all the prepping alone.  Once he was done, he carried the wrapped up body of the woman he loved in his arms towards her funeral pyre.  He set the body down on the wood and watched brokenly as the hunters doused her body in gasoline before Sam was the one to light the fuse and burn her body.

As they all watched (Y/n)’s clothed body burst into flames, Jack had no more tears left to spent, but his heart continued to ache him and he would soon be the only one to remain at her pyre even after all the other hunters went back to work to search for Michael.

*End of flashback*

“Jack?” he heard Sam’s voice say.  He felt as Sam came up and stood beside him.  “You okay?”

“As fine as I can be.” Jack said monotonously.

“Look Jack, I know it’s difficult without your grace. But Bobby said you’re really improving and soon you’ll—”

“It’s not that.” Sam looked perplexed for a moment but then realized what he meant.

“Oh.” Jack nodded softly and turned to look back up at the stars.  “Yeah, I miss her too.”

“It’s all my fault.”

“Jack, you can’t blame yourself for what happened. And (Y/n) would sure as hell wouldn’t want you thinking like that.”

“But I—”

“She wouldn’t have done what she did, if you weren’t worth saving. She’s had a rough life before we found her. Trust me.” Jack sniffled and wiped away his tears.

“It hurts so much Sam. My heart it—it’s like…..a werewolf had taken it, tore it apart slowly and then put it back in my chest with no way to fix it. Why? Why does it hurt so much?!” Jack gripped his chest as he lowered his head and sobbed.  Sam cautiously reached out and brought the young Nephilim to his chest, resting his head on top of his.

“I know what you mean Jack. Long ago when I thought I had finally gotten out of the hunter’s life, I found a girl I had fallen for. Jessica, oh she was a force of nature. And—I was gonna eventually ask her to marry me. Once I had finished law school and everything. But when I came back she—it tore me apart too. I went through the exact same heartache you’re going through now. It’s tough losing the woman you love.”

“I never—even got to tell her.” Jack whimpered.

“She knows. Believe me, women like her and Jess, they always know. And it’s also probably why she did what she did.”

“How do you do it Sam?” the two of them looked at each other as Jack whimpered brokenly as a few tears slipped down his face, “How do you continue to live when they’re gone?”

“One day at a time Jack. One day at a time.” Sam brought Jack’s head back over his heart and rocked the young man comfortingly as Sam let a few tears of his own slip out, also mourning for the loss of the young woman whom he called sister for so many years.

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💖 Sapphic Books Coming Out August 2024

🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in July 2024.

💖 Which ones are you adding to your TBR?

Contemporary 💖 Can’t Buy Me Love - Georgia Beers 💖 The Heart Wants - Krystina Rivers 💖 Hers for the Weekend - Helena Greer 💖 You Can’t Go Home Again - Jeanette Bears 💖 Worth the Wait - Kenna White 💖 One Summer in Miami - Amber Rose Gill 💖 The Last Woman I Kissed - Venetia Di Pierro 💖 Changing Her Tune - Amanda Kabak 💖 Chance Encounter - Renee Roman 💖 The Italy Letters - Vi Khi Nao 💖 Our Slice of Paradise - Tiana Warner 💖 Dancing With Dahlia - Julia Underwood 💖 Untethered - Shelley Thrasher 💖 Comes in Waves - Ana Hartnett 💖 Libertad - Bessie Flores Zaldívar 💖 The Avian Hourglass - Lindsey Drager 💖 Mamele - Gemma Reeves 💖 Mighty Millie Novak - Elizabeth Holden 💖 A Bánh Mì for Two - Trinity Nguyen 💖 Don’t Let It Break Your Heart - Maggie Horne 💖 Chance Encounter - Renee Roman 💖 Southern Lights - Liz Arncliffe

Paranormal/Horror 💖 The Curse - Alexandra Riley 💖 The House Where Death Lives - ed Alex Brown 💖 Full Shift - Jennifer Dugan & Kit Seaton 💖 The Dark We Know - Wen-yi Lee 💖 This Ravenous Fate - Hayley Dennings 💖 Come Out, Come Out - Natalie C. Parker

Fantasy 💖 The Crimson Crown - Heather Walter 💖 The Phoenix Keeper - S.A. MacLean 💖 Oath of Fire - K. Arsenault Rivera 💖 The Palace of Eros - Caro De Robertis 💖 Gentlest of Wild Things - Sarah Underwood 💖 Queen of Dreams - Kit Rocha 💖 The Sunforge - Sascha Stronach 💖 The Ending Fire - Saara El-Arifi 💖 Skyscraper - Gun Brooke 💖 Fyrebirds - Kate J. Armstrong 💖 The New Camelot - Robyn Schneider 💖 The Storm and the Sea Hawk - Kiran Millwood Hargrave 💖 Practical Rules for Cursed Witches - Kayla Cottingham 💖 Netherford Hall - Natania Barron 💖 The Duchess of Kokora - Nikhil Prabala 💖 Rise and Divine - Lana Harper

Historical 💖 Not for the Faint of Heart - Lex Croucher 💖 Accidental Darlings - Crystal Jeans

Mystery/Thriller 💖 Better Left Buried - Mary E. Roach 💖 A Midnight So Deadly - Wren Handman 💖 Death At Morning House - Maureen Johnson 💖 A Gravely Troubling Discovery - Hannah Hendy 💖 Verity’s Game - Jennifer Giacalone

Sci-Fi 💖 Time’s Agent - Brenda Peynado 💖 New Adventures in Space Opera - ed Jonathan Strahan

[d1xonss]

Desert Rose

Chapter 31 ~ Happy Birthday

✧ Pairing : Daryl Dixon x Rose

✧ Era : Season 3

✧ Word Count : 5.8k

In this chapter ~ Fear grows in everyone as walkers somehow make their way inside the prison, causing all of them to scatter to get somewhere safe as they split up unintentionally. A weight is heavy on Rose's shoulders as she is faced with the reality of the two people she would have to protect with her life. But the weight suddenly becomes unbearable as a new addition seems to arrive at the completely wrong time.

My heart was racing out of my chest after I heard Carl yell, whipping around to see the many walkers coming towards us, entering in from the other end of the prison. Among the sudden chaos, the only thing occupying my mind right now was keeping Hershel safe. I quickly took out a few of my knives, rushing up to the closest walkers nearby to stab them in the brain, while everyone else around me fired their guns at the ones who were too close to the older man. It seemed we had come to a silent agreement.

He hobbled away as fast as he could on the crutches, while I heard faint yelling coming from all the way down to where Rick, Daryl, and Glenn were by the furthest gates, though I was too focused on the things in front of me I couldn't make out what they were saying. As I ripped my knife out of a walker's skull, I saw that Hershel and Beth were heading to the door to get back to the cellblock, Maggie trying to close the gate behind him to keep him safe.

He was trying to hop up the stairs one by one while holding the crutches in his hands, but a walker managed to get right on his tail. Maggie instantly rushed down to help once Beth was up the steps, but I quickly took another knife and threw it before it could get him. It fell limp to the ground right as its fingers were about to grasp him, both of them looking over at me and nodding in appreciation at the fast act.

I watched him make it all the way up the stairs, waiting to see Beth fully close the gate before I turned around to everyone else. My eyes only landed on Lori as her and Carl shot at the walkers, but her gun clicked within only seconds as she ran out of bullets fast. I ran over to help them, stabbing any of the ones nearby before shouting at them to follow me so we could make it somewhere safe.

I sprinted towards the first thing I saw, a gated door that led straight into the dark tunnels, but it was a chance. The two followed close behind me without question, beginning to shut the heavy door with a slam before any more attention was drawn towards us.

But right before the door creaked closed, I could hear my name being called from a distance, the familiar deep voice filling my ears. It pained me to leave him as the rest were coming up towards the building as fast as they could, but I couldn't focus on that right now. I knew the three of them would be just fine, and all I could think about was keeping Lori and Carl safe somehow in this walker flooded prison.

We walked quickly through the tunnels in a small circle, keeping an eye out for any more surprises as we turned each corner cautiously. But we couldn't make it as far as we hoped, suddenly getting cut off by another large group of walkers before we had a chance at even catching a glimpse of cellblock C. We turned around swiftly upon catching their attention, running in the other direction as we tried to avoid their grasp as they attempted to catch up to us.

Carl began to panic as we hit a darker part of the tunnels, trying not to show the fear on his face as he held his gun out tightly in front of us. But I could still sense it. He was tense as he stood in front of his mother, aiming his weapon in front of them to try and protect her with shaking hands.

Meanwhile all I could seem to think about were the others as we made the many turns through the darkness, hoping that they were all okay.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* DARYL POV ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I couldn't feel my legs, I was running too fast. I had to make sure she was okay.

Everything happened so fast it felt like my head was spinning wildly on my shoulders, processing the fact that walkers were just suddenly flooding the prison. The prison that we tried so hard to clear, taking every single precaution possible for something bad to still happen in the end. And of course it would happen the second I stepped away from everyone else, when Rick and Glenn were the furthest away from the building. Being left in the dark about what was happening as we could only hear the shots that were fired.

We finally made it up to the building, finding dead walkers surrounding the ground, Hershel, Maggie, and Beth behind one of the gated doors, and no one else in sight. My eyes scanned around for the others, for Rose but there wasn't another figure in sight.

"What the hell happened?" Rick yelled.

"The gate was open." Beth told him as she pointed back towards the back end of the prison, signaling that the fence broke open in some way, causing the remaining walkers to spill in.

He looked around, "Where's everyone else?"

"We don't know." Maggie said sadly, "We saw Rose take off that way with Lori and Carl, but we couldn't tell where everyone else ran."

I turned back around at the mention of her name. With the door they went through, they were going straight to the tunnels where God only knows how many of them could get down there. If this many walkers could make it through the fence to attack our people, they could surely make the straight shot down towards the direction where they took off.

When no one said anything for a few second, I began to grow impatient at just standing around, "We goin to find em or what?!" I yelled.

Rick and Glenn didn't hesitate to follow to where I was nodding, noting the harshness of my voice, but then a blaring alarm stopped us all right in our tracks. We all ducked on instinct and covered our ears at the sudden loudness, trying to figure out where the hell it was coming from.

"What is that?!" Rick yelled over the noise.

Glenn looked around everywhere, trying to pinpoint the sound, "I don't know!" he yelled back.

Then Rick caught sight of the prisoners making their way towards the building upon hearing all the noise, their curiosity wanting to know what the fuck was going on. But then man was fuming once he spotted them, beginning to yell and gesture with his hands that they had something to do with this, them being the only ones we couldn't trust.

He was convinced they had something to do with the walkers, the alarm, all of it, blaming it on them with a raised finger in their faces. If I was being honest, the thought crossed my mind as well, silently agreeing with him that they could've easily pulled this off, but we were only wasting time. It was no use in screaming at them when the majority of the damage was already done, knowing damn well we had our people to find instead of worrying about this who did what bullshit.

So, I began to take off without another thought, heading towards the door like we were originally going to in the first place, wanting desperately to just see that Rose had made it out okay.

"Daryl!" Rick called to stop me.

"M' going after her, you deal with this." I brushed off, not sparing any of them a second glance.

"No," he quickly protested as he rushed over to me, "Not yet we need to turn this alarm off, I need your help." he pleaded.

"Man, m' not just leavin her in there!" I snapped.

"Lori and Carl are in there too!" he yelled suddenly, "I get it, but we need to turn this alarm off so it won't draw more walkers towards them, alright?"

He for once made a good point and I knew we didn't have time to argue, just nodding my head once while he went back to the prisoners and demanded answers. I stood off to the side as I waited, impatiently tapping my foot against the ground as the weird worried feeling in my chest only started to grow more each second.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ROSE POV *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I was shocked when alarms began blaring from all over the building, but then again I was shocked when walkers made their way into the prison once more, so this day was apparently just full of surprises.

The sudden distractions and sounds didn't stop me from leading Carl and Lori through the tunnels however, still searching for a safe place to hide. The kid continued to have his gun drawn while I carried two knives in each hand, trying to protect Lori as she trailed behind the two of us anxiously.

Though her pace was starting to slow the longer we were down here, all the jogging tiring her out quickly with how pregnant she was. But she still kept up, reassuring us that she was fine every time she took a small break to pause, though the breaks couldn't be very long. She knew we had to keep moving so she only stood still for a few seconds, before waving us off once again the moment we looked over our shoulders at her. So often it became a routine at this point.

And right on cue, she stopped from behind us, her footsteps quieting down as she suddenly grunted in pain, pressing her hands up against the wall. I turned back to look at her in worry, noticing that she was getting worse every time she stopped, now in pain from how quickly and frequently we were moving.

"Can you keep up?" I asked her softly as I heard the faint sound of a walker creeping up to us.

She shook her head frantically with tightly closed eyes, "Something's not right." she muttered.

"Are you bit?" Carl asked quickly.

"No, no...I think the baby's coming." she said as she turned to face us with widened and fearful eyes.

I physically felt my heart drop as panic began to flood through my entire body, nearly making me dizzy. Now was definitely not the time but with our luck, it kind of made sense. Today was already a shit show, might as well add another surprise on top of the rest.

I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the sound of the walkers now making their way closer, causing me to grab onto Lori and telling Carl to turn back so we could find somewhere to hide and fast. Lori leaned on me the whole way there, supporting her weight as best as she could as she rushed through the tunnels at my side, only getting louder as the pain worsened. The limp in her step was hard to ignore, but I continued to push her further so we could finally sit somewhere out of sight.

After what felt like an utterly eternity, we finally came across a large metal door, not caring where it led as we quickly made our way inside. Carl slammed the door shut behind us and made his way towards the front to make sure the place was safe, scoping it out while Lori held onto the wall again and tried to steady her breathing.

"What are those alarms?" she asked breathlessly, sweat beginning to pool at the top of her head.

"Don't worry about that right now." I said calmly, though really I was far fucking from it. But I didn't want her to panic further.

"What if it attracts them?" she asked as she looked to me through tired lids.

I shook my head as I brushed off the thought, "We're safe in here, okay? Let's just get you laid down."

"No, the baby's coming now." she replied while gripping onto the wall, her knuckles turning white in the process.

Carl came into view only seconds later when hearing that, panic filling his voice, "We have to get back to our cellblock and have Hershel help."

"No, we can't risk getting caught out there, you need to have this baby here." I said.

"Great." she panted, kneeling slightly as another wave of pain washed over her, breathing in and out deeply as best as she could.

"Can she breathe?" Carl asked in horror.

I nodded to him before turning all my attention on her, placing my hands on her back, "She's fine. Come on, let's lay you down."

"Okay." she agreed as she lowered herself down slowly, beginning to undo her pants.

I looked up towards Carl, "You're going to need to help deliver your brother or sister. Are you up for it?" I asked him.

He hesitantly nodded his head while watching Lori suddenly stand back up, "I gotta push." she gasped as she moved, steadying herself.

She began to slowly push with clenched teeth, gripping onto the metal pipes right by her head and screamed slightly at the painful feeling. The moment seemed to pass by in a flash, yet somehow painfully slow as she stopped and reassured us that she was okay with a wave of her hand. I on the other hand, was silently freaking the fuck out. I didn't know anything about childbirth other than a class I took in high school once and that was years ago, but I was going to help her the best I could.

"You're doing great," I reassured her, "Just keep going, your body knows what to do."

She slowly nodded her head, pushing again and let out a loud yelp of pain before stopping and I reassured her again, reaching over to rub her back gently. She pushed again for the third time, but this time my gaze trailed down when I noticed something. Blood began pouring out of her and trickling down onto the floor beneath her, causing my eyes to widen. I didn't know a whole lot, but I knew there wasn't supposed to be that much blood when you're giving birth, and believe me it was a lot.

"Lori stop! Don't push something's wrong." I informed her.

She stopped instantly upon hearing the franticness of my voice, though she didn't respond or even look in my direction. I looked up towards her face again to see that her eyes were now half closed as she rested her forehead on her arm. My instincts told me that she was about to pass out with how unresponsive she became, causing me to quickly grab her arm and help steady her. I quickly grabbed either of her shoulders and helped her back down to the ground as gently as I could and got a better look at her face.

I moved her hair, seeing how pale she had become as she blinked rapidly to desperately try and stay awake. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to help her. And all I could think about currently was the fastest way to get back to where I knew the old man was, somehow trying to come up with a way to bring Hershel to her.

"Mom?" Carl asked, getting down on his knees right next to me to look at her, "Mom, keep your eyes open." he pleaded.

I shook my head as I had made up my mind, "We have to get Hershel. Stay here with her." I demanded before trying to stand.

But Lori quickly caught my arm, keeping me in place as she was breathless, "Don't...I'm not going to make it."

"Lori, with all this blood there's no way you can't keep pushing." I told her, "I have to get Hershel, he'll know what the hell this means."

"I know what it means," she said, "And I'm not losing my baby...you've gotta cut me open."

I felt my stomach fully turn over at her words, glancing back from her face to Carl's before quickly shaking my head, "No. I can't." I said sternly.

"You don't have a choice." she argued.

"I can go for help, I can make it-" Carl tried desperately.

"No." Lori immediately interrupted him.

Hershel. I had to get Hershel. With him working on her, with him giving her a c-section, she had a chance at making it along with the baby. But with me, there was no chance. I didn't know the right way to do it, the right way that would save her life.

I only shook my head again as I began to ramble, "Carol's the one who practiced that, not me. I don't know anything about a natural childbirth, let alone a c-section, I can't-"

"Please." she begged.

"I have no medical equipment, no-"

"Carl has a knife." she interrupted me again.

Familiar tears prickled in the corners of my eyes as I looked at her with devastating features, "You won't survive." I muttered barely above a whisper.

She looked up at me, "My baby has to survive. Please. Rose please." she begged.

I couldn't respond. I didn't know what to say. Just frozen in place as I thought about all of the options. I wanted this kid to survive more than anything, but I couldn't let Lori die, especially not in front of her son. It was all too much to handle at once, too much to process with no time left.

"See my old c-section scar?" she asked, pulling my eyes down to glance at her lower stomach.

Blinking the tears away, I only muttered absentmindedly, "I can't."

"You can, you have to." she breathed, turning to Carl suddenly to see him in utter shock, trying to hold back his tears.

"Carl? Baby, I don't want you to be scared, okay? This is what I want, this is what's right. Now you, you take care of your daddy for me, alright? And your little brother or sister you take care of-"

"You don't have to do this." he cried.

"Oh, you're gonna be fine, you are going to beat this world. I know you will. You are smart, and you are strong, and so brave. And I love you."

"I love you too." he whispered, tears finally rolling down his cheeks.

I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to fight back a sob. This was the most heartbreaking thing I have seen in a very long time and I wanted to do anything to prevent this from happening. But I knew in the back of my mind, that this was the only way to save the baby in time.

"You gotta do what's right baby, you promise me you always do what's right. It's so easy to do the wrong thing in this world. So don't...so if it feels wrong don't do it, alright? If it feels easy don't do it, don't let the world spoil you. You're so good, my sweet boy. You're the best thing I ever did and I love you." she sobbed before pulling him in for a hug while repeating that she loved him over and over again as many times as she could.

They both began wailing in each other's arms, and I couldn't bring myself to watch anymore as I stared down at my hands. Though that didn't stop me from hearing, the heartbreaking sounds echoing off the walls like something that would be engraved in my mind forever.

"Okay, okay." she said while gently pushing him off of her so she could prepare herself. Prepare herself for the sacrifice she was about to make for her child. But what I didn't expect was for her to look at me.

"Rose," she whispered, "Thank you for looking out for me all these months. You truly are an amazing soul, and I'm so glad I met you. Just know that I would do anything I could to save your life again in a heartbeat." she finished with a cry.

I blinked as the tears I was trying so hard to hold back, flowed down my cheeks as I grabbed onto her hand, "You don't have to thank me. I care about you and your family so much. With my whole heart."

She nodded, "I know you do, take care of them for me, alright? This baby is going to need you." she said before subtly nodding towards Carl as well, silently telling me that he was going to need me by his side just as much if not more.

"I'll look after them, protect them with my life... I promise." I said.

She nodded her head and took a deep breath, staring up at the ceiling. Carl looked over at me with sad eyes while hesitantly handing me his knife, glancing back over to his mother's face as he desperately tried to memorize her face. I didn't realize how much I was shaking until I held the object in my hands, genuinely not knowing if I could do this.

Lori breathed out one more time before whispering, "Goodnight loves."

"I'm sorry." I cried as I forced myself to run the blade across her skin.

She let out a loud scream that made me cringe, her hands reaching to try and grip anything nearby as she slightly thrashed around from the pain. Blood coated my hands instantly as I tried to find the uterus to get the baby out as quickly as possible. But then she suddenly was so still, so quiet. I thought that the sound of her screams were gut wrenching, but the silence that followed afterwards was even more painful. It was enough to send a slight shiver down my spine.

Carl stepped in quickly when I asked him to, keeping the cut I made open so I could pull the baby out. It was harder than I expected but the tears that were blurring my vision only made it even harder. But I finally felt the small body in my grasp, pulling the baby out as quickly as I could I seeing it was a girl the moment I had wiped some of the blood away. The two of us sighed in relief with tear stained cheeks upon seeing her, but the feeling didn't last as long as I hoped.

Silence still filled the air and I realized that the baby wasn't crying, meaning she wasn't breathing at all. I sucked in a breath as I tapped her chest, trying my best not to panic. My hand rapidly pushed gently on her chest hard enough to clear her lungs but it wasn't working. Carl only began to sob louder as the realization hit him hard, causing me to gently flip her on her stomach, trying to tap on her back to get her to breathe and watching her face only turning blue.

And that's when suddenly the sound of a small cough and a loud cry echoed around us, finally feeling myself breathe again knowing she was alive. Carl laughed deliriously upon hearing her cry, instinctively removing his jacket from his shoulders so we could wrap her in something warm for the time being.

I quickly cut the umbilical cord with his knife, taking the jacket from his hands to wrap her up tightly and as snug as I could. I held her close to my chest as her cries slightly subsided, slowly calming down at the feeling of the jacket being around her, protecting her from the harsh cold air.

Without thinking and my mind running completely on autopilot, I stood up to my full height, attempting to walk towards the entrance to see if we were clear from any walkers but Carl's voice stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Rose wait, we can't just leave her...she'll turn." Carl spoke sadly.

I slowly turned around to face him again, my entire body shaking and my heart breaking when I saw the look on his face. But I nodded as I reached for the knife he handed me earlier, walking back over towards him to try and hand the baby over so I could put Lori down silently. I didn't want him to see it let alone be the one to do it himself.

He only shook his head however, pulling out his own gun and holding it tight at his side.

My eyes panned down towards the weapon before softly shaking my head, "Carl-" I protested sadly.

"Please. She's my mom." was all he said before turning around to face her again, staring at her lifeless body on the floor.

I knew I couldn't talk him out of this so I just walked a few feet away towards the doors, so he could have a last moment alone with her. I walked over to the entrance slowly with light feet, listening for any lingering walkers but I was met with silence on the other side. Pushing the door open to double check, I shushed the baby as she began to stir, seeing that the last dead one was making its way down the other end of the hall. Giving us the perfect opportunity to slip out.

My hand was barely removed from the door before I flinched slightly at the sudden gunshot rang out, his slow footsteps approaching not long after that. Carl turned around the corner and tried to keep a straight face as he walked, but the second he saw me he completely broke down. Tears built up in my eyes again as I went over to him and pulled him into a tight hug as best as I could with the baby still in my arms. He sobbed into my chest, gripping onto the back of my shirt as he desperately tried to get rid of the image it left in his mind.

My chest ached and my lungs felt tight, seeing him go through such a loss was something I never wanted to witness. I felt frozen in place as I didn't know what to do or say to even try to help him through this. So I just held him. Hoping that he would know just by that action alone that I would always be here.

I held onto him for as long as he needed the next few minutes, before he finally pulled away, wiping his eyes with his sleeves before solemnly nodding to me. I didn't believe that he was okay, not for one second, but I had to know if the others made it and it wasn't safe for us to stay here, so we headed out. It was a long and agonizing silence that fell over us, but what could I say? I didn't know what to do with myself as I just focused on getting the two of them out of here as fast as I could without being seen by any dead eyes.

We finally made it to the exit that led to the outside, opening the heavy door slowly and saw some people from our group standing front and center with panicked faces. Rick was talking to the Greene family and Daryl was pacing back and forth behind him, while Glenn wiped a stray tear that fell from his face, looking around quickly to see if anyone noticed. I couldn't bring myself to make out what they were saying, nor did it matter, but I was dreading the moment Rick's eyes would catch the sight of the three of us.

My mouth opened to say something, to pull their attention towards us to show that we were okay, but nothing came out. My throat was suddenly dry as I couldn't think of the right thing to say, while also trying to desperately keep my emotions bottled up. But the baby suddenly started to cry a little in my arms, trying to get used to the bright light beating down on us, and that's what made all of their heads snap in our direction.

I opened the gated door gently and made sure Carl got through first, holding the baby close to my chest to try and shield her face from the sun. My eyes could only focus on Rick, watching his face carefully even though I desperately didn't want to witness him put the pieces together in his head, I still couldn't look away.

I tried to speak again, opening my mouth to try and find something, anything to say to him, but there was still nothing. I swallowed the lump in my throat, but I could help but start to cry again. I felt so guilty, so devastated, so exhausted as I watched Rick slowly figure out what had happened back there. I couldn't even describe the pain written all over his face.

He dropped his axe from his fingertips as it landed on the concrete with a clatter, walking over to us carefully and hesitantly, "Where- where is- where is she?" he asked in a hushed tone.

I then let out a sob, shaking my head as I couldn't look at him anymore. He lingered in the same place for a moment, before I heard the brief sound of him starting to walk towards the door to see for himself, and I knew I couldn't let him go back there.

"No, Rick. No." I found my voice as I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

That's when he completely broke down and started to sob, raising his hands up to his eyes, repeating "no" over and over again as if he couldn't believe what I was implying. Like he physically couldn't.

I looked back up to see Daryl rushing towards me, dropping his crossbow to the ground as he gently placed his hands on the side of my face. Another sob escaped my lips as soon as I felt his touch, unable to say anything else let alone process it in my mind. He pulled me into his arms carefully, making sure to not squish the baby still in my arms, kissing my forehead multiple times. Relieved that I was okay, yet heartbroken in the state he saw me.

I felt like I couldn't breathe. The baby was now crying louder in my hold, flailing her small arms around as I tried to pull myself together. I picked up my head to look over at Rick, seeing him look so lost and broken, and I couldn't help but feel guilty. Glenn walked over to him to try and get him to snap out of it but it just looked like he was stuck in a trance, swaying back and forth as his mind ran.

"Let me see the baby." Hershel suddenly said.

I slowly pulled away fully from Daryl to approach him, leaning down let him take a look at her. "What are we gonna feed it? We got anythin a baby can eat?" Daryl asked him.

He pulled Carl's jacket down slightly to see her, his eyes scanning her over before nodding his head,"Good news is, she looks healthy. But she needs formula and soon otherwise she won't survive."

My eyes snapped up to him once he said that, and I could feel Daryl shaking his head behind me instantly, "Nope, no way not her. We ain't losing anybody else, m' goin for a run." he said while picking up his crossbow from the ground.

"I'll go too." I said immediately.

Everyone's heads turned towards me wanting to protest, but I ignored their stares as I leaned down for Carl to take her from me.

"We'll go too." Glenn said, gesturing to himself and Maggie.

Daryl looked at me for a moment before nodding, "Okay, think bout where we're goin." he said before pulling Beth aside, whispering something to her that I couldn't hear as he gestured to Carl.

My gaze remained settled on the ground, not being able to snap out of it myself as all I could hear momentarily was a slight ringing left in my ears. With Lori gone and now her baby at risk as well, it was all too devastating to handle.

"Ro? You with me?" I heard Glenn's voice ask, feeling him place a hand on my shoulder suddenly.

My thoughts cut short when I heard his voice, turning to him to nod my head while brushing his arm off of me, starting to walk towards the front gate. I found myself not being able to handle the cries of the baby anymore, it was all too much. Footsteps trailed behind me in a matter of seconds along with their voices, but I partially ignored them and kept going. My vision seemed to be tunneled now as the one thing I thought of was how we could get there and back as fast as possible. How much time we had left to spare.

Though I briefly heard Daryl say he could only take one of us on his bike, and I wordlessly got on the back of the motorcycle with no hesitation.

He sighed and walked over to me, placing his hand on my leg gently, "Darlin, you don't gotta come with, we'll be back soon. Just...keep an eye on Carl while we're gone." he spoke in a soft tone.

I shook my head slowly and stubbornly with tears returning in my eyes, threatening to spill. "Rosie." he tried again, and this time I just hung my head in defeat, slowly getting off the bike as I knew his protest were valid.

Stepping back on the concreate, I saw Maggie get on the back instead with her backpack, getting herself situated as Daryl placed some things in either leather bag that hung on the sides of his bike.

He walked over to me the moment he was done and placed my face in his hands again, "I'll be back soon, okay?" he assured with a small nod, quickly turning on his heel to get on the bike, starting it up to drive away as quick as they could.

I watched them ride off until I couldn't see them anymore, and even then I still didn't pull my eyes away from the road. I just stared at the empty space now, worry embedded in me as I hoped they would return in a flash. Glenn said my name from behind me but I didn't look over at him, I knew if I looked him in the eye, I would just break down all over again. But he only repeated my name again, placing his hand on my shoulder for the second time and I quickly brushed him off with a pointed glare.

"Stop." I snapped.

He looked at me with sad eyes, "Just talk to me." he said softly.

"About what?!" I yelled.

He flinched a little at my outburst but still didn't budge, "About how I couldn't save Lori? About how that baby might die if we don't get her formula soon? Or about how Carl had to put down his own mother because I didn't have the guts to do it myself? Is that what you want to talk about?"

My voice cracked at the end of my sentence and I felt the rush of tears start to pour out of my eyes all over again like I had predicted. I covered my mouth to try and silence my sobs while Glenn wordlessly brought me into a tight hug as if on instinct. I tensed a little at his sudden movements, my hands balled up near his chest, before I felt myself relax in his soft embrace. My body began to shake lightly in his arms, unable to control the cries I let out. He didn't have to say anything in that moment for me to know that he was there for me. And I was glad he was. Even though I just took everything out on him in utter frustration and sadness, I wanted him here more than anything.

~ Thanks for reading!

[enid-rhees]

Negan’s Daughter || Enid Rhee x Fem!Reader

Chapter 6: Fight

Series Masterlist

Y/N,

Carl told me Alexandria is planning a final attack on The Sanctuary, i’m sure you already know though. and i’m sure you guys are now planning a counterattack. and you already know i moved to Hilltop with Maggie to help her take care of her baby. so i’m safe. but everyone else isn’t.

i know a fight is the last thing you wanted, you just want to be free and to have Negan killed. this could be it, this could be the day it happens.

Rick, Michonne, Carl, Daryl… they’re all still at Alexandria planning the attack, i need you to keep them safe. i know you will try, but i really need you to keep Negan away from them. you already know how important they are to Alexandria and Hilltop. they need to live. you need to live.

when it’s over, i’ll be in the woods behind Hilltop, waiting for you.

when Alexandria wins, i’ll come clean to everyone. i’ll tell them whats happening with you. and we’re going to get you out. i promise.

i love you.

- E.

teardrops fell onto the letter, leaving small dots on it.

Enid was right, Y/N didn’t want a fight. although it was inevitable. that’s all they’ve been doing for the past year. she began to think it would never end, and they would be fighting until either Rick or Negan died, which seemed to be impossible at this point.

Y/N folded the letter and placed it in her back pocket. Enid left it buried in the dirt where they would usually meet. she stood up and brushed off her jeans before she made her way back to the Sanctuary. any minute now, they would be on their way to Alexandria to take their final blow.

when she made it back inside, Negan was gathered around with his men, who were all preparing their weapons. she froze at the sight in front of her. grenade launchers. Negan was going to blow the entire town up. how was Alexandria meant to win this? she prayed and prayed that Michonne and the others were prepared for what was going to come. she needed them to win. she wanted to be free.

“Y/N! ah, my beautiful daughter. come on, tell these guys what they need to hear, they need the motivation and the encouragement.”

the men went silent as they turned all of their attention on her. she took a deep breath and nodded.

“tonight,” she started, her words choked up as she forced these words out. “we destroy Alexandria, and we kill Rick Grimes.” she declared, earning claps and cheers from his men. “we’re going to destroy their homes, but leave Rick’s standing. to show him that he has no chance against us, and they will finally surrender.” more cheers erupted from them.

“i want you to be ruthless with these people, do not hold back, as they won’t either.” she told them, eyes scanning through all of the men. they nodded in agreement.

she didn’t feel like herself saying these things, it made her sick to her stomach to encourage these guys to attack the ones she needed to protect. she felt so disgusted with herself for uttering these words. none of them were true, she wasn’t sincere in any way. she wanted the complete opposite of what was about to happen.

“for you, sweetheart.” Negan smiled, and passed over a machine gun. she stared at it, emotionless. she felt drained of herself. what has she gotten herself into? “thanks, Dad..” she mumbled, flashing a forced smile over to him. Negan slid his hand across her shoulder, and she tensed up under his touch. “get in the car, sweetheart. we’re gonna load these into the trucks, and finally end this shit.”

her chest hurt the entire time she walked over to the truck and hopped in. she sat in the passenger seat, chest heaving up and down quickly. she felt sick, she she felt so sick. in one quick movement, she exited the car again and ran off to the side of the road, and choked up vomit. she continued to cough until she knew she was finally done.

“fuck.” she whispered to herself, closing her eyes as she tried to catch her breath. once she did, she slowly made her way back to the car, and leaned back into her seat. her stomach was still hurting, but she knew she probably emptied herself out completely moments ago, nerves were just really getting to her. she didn’t want to kill anyone, she had to find a way to fake it.

or maybe-

the drivers side door opened, and Negan sat down with a sigh. she looked at him through the corner of her eye. “what’s your plan?” she asked quietly. “my plan?” he laughed. “don’t act stupid here. you know what we’re doing. we’re blowing the place up and killing Rick at the end. you said that yourself.”

“i know.” she said, “i just- i wanted to make sure you know what you’re doing.” she told him. “are you doubting me, kid?” Negan asked, his voice raising in volume. “no! i’m just saying, Dad- you are constantly underestimating what these guys can do. i just hope you know that.”

Negan laughed again. “god, you’re so naive and dumb. they could have a thousand men and still wouldn’t be able to beat us, they have no chance against us now. not with these grenade launchers! so just- shut up and let me do what i need to do.”

Y/N didn’t respond and sat back in her seat, keeping her lips in a straight line.

Negan started to drive, and Y/N swore her heart was about to jump out of her chest, it was beating so fast it almost hurt. the sky was getting darker as the minutes passed, it would be fully dark by the time they arrive to Alexandria. and Negan would start the chaos.

she needed to think of something- anything.

when they arrived to Alexandria, it was dark outside. quiet. they were all waiting for what was to come. she prayed Alexandria knew what they were doing. she realized they would be going after her too, but maybe that’s good in her case.

it felt like a light bulb had lit up above her head.

Y/N could get in one of their lines of fire, but dodge it last second, and fall to the ground as if they had shot her. they would think they killed Negan’s daughter, and that’s part of the fight that they’ve won. Negan would think she’s dead. once they leave her body, she runs to find Enid in Hilltop. Enid comes clean about what she did and before anyone could tell her she’s dead, she shows up. and maybe just then, she could be free.

if Alexandra wins and Negan dies, she’s free. but if they don’t win, and Negan is still standing, he might start another fight just because of the “death” of his daughter, he would find out she’s alive and no longer on his side, and when he’s most vulnerable, they end him.

this could work, right?

“you ready, kid?” Negan asked, breaking Y/N out of her thoughts. she blinked once and turned her head towards him. “yeah.” she said quietly. “let’s do this.”

they both hopped out of the car and slammed their doors shut. when they made it to the gate, Negan raised Lucille and banged it against the gate 3 times. he then lifted up a megaphone to his mouth. “listen up!” he yelled through the megaphone, voice booming everywhere. she was sure this would attract walkers.

“you have three options! one, you all line up in front of your own homes, and Lucille will decide one if your fates. two, Rick Grimes can step forward and let me bash his head in, and you all can move on with your lives. or! we can just blow everything up with these grenade launchers we got! you have three minutes to decide, do not keep me waiting.”

this was terrible, truly an awful, awful idea. no matter which way this ended, it would leave people hurt, and traumatized by Negan’s doings. this would leave a scar no matter what happens.

a minute passed, and then she heard footsteps.

Carl Grimes stood above her, over the fence, looking down at her and Negan. he took a deep breath, eyes shifting between Negan and Y/N. she almost lost her grip on the machine gun Negan had handed her.

he exhaled, “kill me.” his voice was shaky as those words left his lips. he didn’t mean them, not one bit. “if there’s… some sort of punishment for this, take it on me. kill me.”

Negan looked at him with an unreadable expression. Y/N could only stare with her mouth halfway dropped open. she didn’t know what to do, or what to say. “you want to die?” Negan asked. there was no humor in his voice, for the first time in forever. his voice was low, and he was looking up at Carl with furrowed eyebrows.

“no.” Carl said, shaking his head. “but it’s going to happen- eventually.” tears pricked at Y/N’s eyes. he was only a kid, he shouldn’t have to think about the possibility of him dying one day. he should have decades to worry about that, not days, or weeks, months, or even a few years. she wanted to turn to her dad and stop this whole thing, but when Carl stepped away and he was no longer there, Negan already started working on destroying the gate.

he raised the megaphone again, “guess we’re going with option three!” he yelled, and one of his men behind her shot the grenade launcher. she watched as it landed on a house and blew up everything it had inside. she flinched, taking few steps back. then Negan’s men flew past her, and they ran inside the gate, firing at everything in their sight.

flames engulfed everything, smoke was filling the air. Negan was really destroying everything.

there was barely anyone in sight, so she hoped that they had managed to hide somewhere safe or make their way to Hilltop. where Enid was.

she needed to get through this, for Enid. god, all she wanted was to be free, no longer have to live in fear of what her father was capable of doing to her. she just wanted to live a somewhat normal life where she never had to see him again.

Y/N ran past the gate, coughing due to some of the smoke. she aimlessly shot the gun, making it seem like she was actually doing something so Negan wouldn’t notice. she ran across the blocks of burning houses, picking up items from the residents of Alexandria that were left behind. she hoped that if she made it to Hilltop, she could give them what they lost. something to remember their home by.

there was a necklace sitting on the burning grass, and a half burnt paper next to it. she stuffed the necklace into her pocket and flipped over the paper.

just survive somehow, it read.

she recognized the handwriting. Enid. she wrote this.

Y/N sat on the ground, and stared at it for a few moments. she repeated those three words in her head, and then leaned her head onto the paper. she inhaled and exhaled deeply, and folded the paper up and placed it in her pocket.

the sound of footsteps made her turn her head, and her eyes widened as she scrambled to get up. Daryl stood there, his crossbow aiming right at her. he shot the first arrow and it had just missed her, and she started running. another one landed right by her foot. the last arrow he shot glazed her arm by a millimeter, but she tripped and fell. she laid frozen, hoping he would think he killed her.

she stayed on the ground for a few seconds with her eyes squeezed shut. she opened one, and peeked around, no one was near. there was a slight pain in her arm from where Daryl’s arrow had glazed her, but it wasn’t anything she couldn’t handle. she stood up and ran to the other side of the fence and leaped onto it. she grabbed the top of it to pull herself up and and jumped back down.

“i have to tell you guys something.” Enid said quickly. Rick, Michonne, Carl, and everyone else had finally made it to Hilltop. “what is it, Enid?” Maggie asked. “i need you guys to just hear me out, okay? please, please don’t get mad.” she begged.

“Enid, what did you do?” Michonne asked. she took a deep breath, “i’ve been in contact with Negan’s daughter since he took over Alexandria.” she admitted, and watched as all of their faces changed. “you what?” Maggie’s voice raised significantly. “what the hell is wrong with you?”

“you don’t understand!” she shouted. “Y/N is trapped. and is being abused by Negan! she never wanted any of this!” Enid was quick to say everything. “and you just trusted her? just like that? Enid- she could’ve used you to get closer to us to feed Negan information!” Rick yelled at her.

“she didn’t!” she yelled back. “i’ve seen everything with my own eyes! Y/N is not safe with him! Rick, why else would she shove Negan off of you? she was trying to save you from getting killed, she’s on our side! and do you know what happened to her when she saved you? Negan hit her, and she had bruises all over her face. for trying to save you!”

Rick went silent, and they all looked at each other like they were silently communicating. “listen, i know i shouldn’t have kept it a secret for this long, but Negan could’ve killed her. you guys don’t know what she’s been through in that god awful place. he’s made her kill innocent people before, and he’s trying again today. we need to help her. because if Negan lives through this, she can help us kill him. for good this time. please.”

“Y/N is an amazing person, and all she wants is to be free from Negan and the Sanctuary. she wants to live like a normal teenager, just like me and Carl. she doesn’t want any of what he’s been doing. she deserves to live. she deserves to be surrounded by people who will actually care for her.”

the walkie on Rick’s jeans started to crack, as if someone was trying to speak through it. “Rick, do you hear me? it’s Daryl.” he unattached the walkie from his jeans and held it up to his mouth. “we’re here, what’s going on?”

“they’ve pretty much destroyed Alexandria. but, i shot Negan’s daughter with an arrow. she should be dead. i didn’t see her move.” everyone’s eyes turned to Enid, who’s mouth dropped open as sobs began to rack through her body. “Rick?” Daryl asked when there was no response. Maggie held onto Enid as she cried into her shoulder. “Daryl killed Y/N.” Rick whispered in disbelief.

“no, he didn’t.” a voice spoke behind them. Rick pulled out his gun and aimed it at them, and they willingly put their hands up above their head. Enid shot up at the familiar voice. “Y/N!” she cried out, and ran out of Maggie’s embrace and into Y/N’s. “you’re alive.” she cried in Y/N’s neck.

“i made it seem like Daryl got me. he fell for it too easily, i’m okay.” she whispered, putting her hand on the back of Enid’s head, she raked her fingers through her hair and inhaled Enid’s scent. “Negan’s still alive, and Alexandria is destroyed. i’m so sorry.”

Enid shook her head. “it’s okay, it’s okay.” she whispered and pulled away from her. “i need you to face Rick, now. he needs to know you’re not lying to us.” Y/N nodded and Enid slipped her hand in hers, and led her over to Rick and everyone else.

she lifted her head up, “Rick, i want to formally apologize for everything, and i also want to try and explain myself if you’ll let me. you can do whatever you want to me afterwards, but you need to let me talk.” he stood next to Michonne with his arms crossed, “i think Enid told me everything i need to know. and as long as we’re all on the same page here, you’re safe here.”

she looked between Rick, Michonne, Maggie and Carl, who all had very small smiles on their faces as they nodded in agreement. “thank you.” she whispered, tears now forming in her eyes. “but we need to prepare again for whatever can happen next. Negan thinks i’m dead. he’s going to come after you guys again soon.”

“we’ll think of a plan soon, okay? right now. we need to get everyone settled here and make sure everyone is safe. Daryl should be back soon, i’ll explain to him what happened.” Rick announced.

“Maggie.” Y/N called out, and Maggie turned towards her. “i need to apologize to you. and don’t- don’t cut me off. i’m haunted by what Negan did to Glenn- your husband. and i’m sure you are too. i’m so sorry i wasn’t able to stop him then. i’m so sorry. i will do anything for you, to make up for what my father did. i don’t care for how long, i just want to make this right. and i know there’s nothing to truly bring him back- but i will forever live with the guilt i have from that night.”

Maggie was silent for a moment, before she brought Y/N into an unexpected hug. “none of this was your fault, Y/N. absolutely none of it. please don’t blame yourself. you’re safe here with us, okay?” her southern accent brought comfort to Y/N and she melted into Maggie’s touch. “thank you.” she whispered.

she was back in Enid’s arms when Maggie had let go, they were like magnets. they could never be pulled apart, not anymore at least. Enid rested her head on Y/N’s and hummed softly. “i can’t believe you’re here with me.” she whispered. “with us, safe.” Y/N smiled and brushed her lips over Enid’s. “i found this when i was in Alexandria. i found a bunch of items, and took them with me incase i’m able to give them back to the ones who lost them in the process. but this one stuck out…”

Y/N unfolded the paper and showed it to Enid. “i wrote that months ago. i meant to give that to you before.” she whispered. “it helped me, Enid. you’re the only reason i’m here. i survived because of you.”

Enid connected their lips and Y/N immediately kissed back, holding onto Enid’s waist tightly. their lips moved together perfectly like puzzle pieces. they were meant to be in each others arms, to kiss each other for the rest of eternity.

“i love you.” Enid whispered against her lips. Y/N pressed one more kiss to her lips, “i love you too.”

[arjengelly]

If Demon Slayer can reincarnate people, then so can we!!! 🥹

When Deku and Kacchan are in their 60s-80s, they run into some familiar faces.

Not everyone is reborn exactly (Touya & Sako didn’t die yet here). Also the reincarnated don’t have any memories of their past lives.

I wasn’t sure on the color scheme of everyone yet. 😅

Jin & Toga are reborn as siblings. Genji and Haruka. Genji can change people’s appearances & make them look identical to other people but if damaged it can melt off like Twice’s clones. Haruka can change people’s blood type depending on her mood.

Yoichi and Kudo are dating. They go by Yoite & Juuzou and are in Kotetsu’s business class.

Bruce works in UA as a very essential maintenance worker/sub. His name is Wayne. He usually tries to avoid Yoite & Juuzou.

Yagi and his mom get a second chance at life. The boy is now called Haji.

Spinner dies in his 60s but is reborn as his youngest grandchild, Iggy. Iggy is part of a rich family b/c of Spinner’s books.

Hana and Tenko are siblings again. Kana is about 7yrs older than Hibiki. Kana is Kotetsu’s girlfriend and can slap things into floating away.

Hibiki is best friends with Iggy and is always texting him or playing online together. The siblings get to go on family trips with the Iguchis.

Shirakumo is reincarnated as the grandson of Moe & Rumi. He’s rivals with Kotetsu b/c both want to be class rep. He spins into a flaming wheel almost reminiscent of Sonic the Hedgehog.

Shinomori, Banjo and En are a family. Shino, Dante and Enzo. Enzo is also in Ko’s class. His dads are Deku fanboys. Enzo and Kana mock Juuzou for being the only Dynamight fan of their group.

Kotetsu is the spitting image of Touya but it’s just the Himura genetics. He’s the son of Geten & Malu (making them old parents and he’s Star & Bumi’s younger brother). He’s initially thought as quirkless until his nephew Ichigo accidentally put him in a life threatening situation. Ko can freeze metal to the point it shatters into small pieces as soft/lightweight as snowflakes. (Ko himself is still oblivious to this).

Magne is reborn as Sato’s granddaughter, Maggie. She has a crush on Ko (he helps out in Nejire’s daycare center when Kana can’t). Maggie can emit a repulsing force that pushes people away certain distances depending on what she eats.

Mr. Compress and Ragdoll had a grandson that kinda looks like him. The kids just refer to him as Sako. He is quiet and stares off into space. His quirk makes things you’re looking for disappear (can be invisible in front of you or in a diff location).

This family is everywhere! The two blondes are Ichigo and Kira. They’re cousins and first years at UA while their uncle Kotetsu and his friends are on their last year there.

Kira’s uncle (Yao Kaminari’s lil bro) is Bumi’s sidekick Doc Hack. Kira interns for them while Ichigo acts as an anti hero at Villains for Hire, an agency run by Giran’s grandson, Bumi’s ex, Wyatt Okuta/Riot. Ichigo does this to mess with his mom (Spitfire/ Bumi). The entire family believes Ichigo to be quirk-less (except Kira who’s in on his secret). Ichigo’s alter-ego is Fennec and his quirk is flame whips.

Sorry for the bits and pieces of a long @$$ story…. I just don’t wanna forget them. 🥲

[aliciaclarkwrites]

character style: magdalen ‘maggie’ mei chance.

[thevegandarkelf]

Finding Myself, Finding You: Chapter Twenty-Three

Masterlist

AO3 link

Let me know if you want to be added to the taglist <3 (18+ only, MDNI)

Story is 18+ for mature content/themes, minors do not interact please

TW/CWs for this story--implied/referenced past rape, canonical violence, non-canonical violence, blood, gore, referenced past suicide, swearing, surgery, excessive drinking, nightmares, panic attacks, mention of scars, vomiting, amputation, medical procedures, non-con medical procedures, referenced past medical torture, referenced past drugging, attempted sexual assault, panic attacks, mental health struggles, referenced sibling death, referenced parent death, PTSD

Each chapter will have its own TW/CWs listed

This story, Lydia Vector, her family, her bestie, and Jake (c) me, TheVeganDarkElf

TWD & its characters (c) AMC & Robert Kirkman, the writer of the comic series

TW/CWs for this chapter--swearing, aftermath of attempted sexual assault, an absolute POS making asinine and untrue claims about Daryl, discussion of nightmares

Word count: 2.6k

I pulled my shirt off over my head and balled it up, holding it to my nose and tilting my head forward. Sure, I could've looked for a towel so I wouldn't be essentially topless, but I didn't care. I was already out in front of nearly the whole community with my shirt open. What else did I have to lose?

It was just me alone in that infirmary for what felt like ages. I could hear a myriad of different voices outside, yelling changing from Rick's voice to Daryl's to Maggie's. It sounded like there was a physical altercation, which if my guess was correct, was Rick having to restrain Daryl from going down to the cell and opening a can of whoop-ass on Jake. Rick said he would tell Daryl what happened, but Rick only knew so much. I was going to have to be the one to tell Daryl what Jake was saying about him.

The sound of the infirmary door opening startled me and nearly had me jumping out of my chair.

"Hey." The soft sound of Daryl's voice graced my ears once again, and my body almost immediately started to relax. It had only been three days, but in my mind, it had been years since I'd heard that sweet Southern accent. "Ya ok?" I didn't look up right away, but I could hear him pulling another chair up across from me and taking a seat. He pulled himself forward so his legs were on either side of mine. He took my hand, which wasn't holding my shirt to my face, and interlocked it with his, stroking the back of my hand with his thumb. I didn't even care that I was shirtless. I needed this human with me, and there he was.

"It's good to hear your voice," I said through shaky sobs.

"The hell happened?"

"Rick said he'd tell you," I explained, my voice muffled through the crop top against my mouth, "did he not do that?"

"Wanna hear it from ya," he said, "figure there's gotta be more."

I took a deep breath and adjusted the shirt on my nose before I continued. It felt like the bleeding was finally starting to let up. I lifted my head a little and peered up over the shirt to meet his gaze.

"Y'know that blonde who always does gate duty? Jake?" He nodded, and I could see the vein in his neck starting to protrude, like just the mention of Jake's name was sending him into a fit of rage. "Well, he came in when I was alone, claimed he had some medical question to ask me about, but only after he..." I hesitated, debating whether or not I wanted to tell Daryl what Jake said about him because I knew it would make him feel awful. “He said some terrible things about you, Daryl. Terrible lies. I kept telling him to leave, but he just wouldn't." I lowered my gaze, unable to meet Daryl's eye contact as shame flooded my body. "Then he said he was having a "dysfunction" that he needed my help with and started grabbing his junk. I held my knife at him, told him he had one chance to walk out, and I thought he was going to, until—"

My voice caught in my throat, a sob escaping instead. Daryl's hand squeezed mine. "He fucking lunged at me and tore my shirt. I pinned him against the wall with a scalpel, threatened to cut his spinal cord so he'd never be able to walk again. He finally left after I threatened him, but then he pulled me outside and punched me in the nose. Shit was bleeding all over the place. Hurts like a bitch, but it's not broken." I raised my eyes again to meet Daryl's. "Don't worry though. I broke his."

"Atta girl," Daryl praised, raising his other hand to the one on my face, "lemme see." I sat up straight and gently lifted my shirt from my nose, wincing a bit in pain as the shirt separated from some of the dried blood. "Vec, how come ya don't got a shirt on?" he asked, sounding worried as he immediately took off his jacket and handed it to me to put on. I un-balled the crop top in my hands and held it out to him, revealing how bad the tear was.

"He nearly tore it in half," I choked out as tears threatened to make their way down my face again. Daryl averted his eyes as I slipped his jacket on and zipped it nearly all the way up, not all the way so that I could clean the blood on my chest and collarbone. I tossed my shirt to the ground, not caring where it landed. It was a biohazard now as far as I was concerned. "He fucking tried to..." My voice was trailing off. I couldn't form the words.

The heat from the fury radiating off of Daryl's body was palpable. He was doing his best to keep his voice and demeanor soft, like he wasn't nearly foaming at the mouth in anger. He knew that's what I needed. He placed a hand under my chin, tilting my head up and back, then side-to-side, examining my injury.

"Looks like it stopped bleedin'," he said. He got up and grabbed a small towel from somewhere in the room before pulling me back in my chair to the sink. He grabbed his own chair and did the same, pulling it around to my side. "Let's get ya cleaned up."

"I can do it," I protested as he ran the towel under warm water and started working at my chin with it.

"I know ya can," he agreed, "but I want to."

"Probably gonna need more than one towel," I said, feeling the dried blood cracking when I stretched my mouth, "feels like there's a lot."

Daryl worked at my chin, mouth, and cheeks with the towel, pressing as gently as he could while still using enough pressure to get the blood off. I winced a couple of times when he got a little too close to my nose, and he looked like he felt awful for even a small accident like that. I know I said that I could get myself cleaned up, but I loved Daryl doting on me like this. His thumb running across my bottom lip, though separated by a towel, felt nice, I won't lie. I just wished it was in a different context.

Once he got my face, Daryl looked at me, as if he was asking permission to move to my neck. I nodded and tilted my head to make my skin taut. The tears were escaping once again, burning my skin as they cascaded down.

"I'm such an idiot," I said under my breath, hoping Daryl wouldn't notice. But he did. He always did.

"Why ya say that?" he questioned, continuing to work at my skin with the utmost care.

"Because—" my voice caught in my throat again, "because I knew something would happen. I had that awful feeling in the pit of my stomach from the moment he walked in the room. I should've just left, but I didn't." Stills from my nightmares flashed through my mind like a flip book. "I know better than to ignore a gut feeling."

"Ain't your fault what happened," Daryl reassured, taking one of my hands in his free one and giving it a light squeeze, "I know that's how it feels, and I know it was real scary. But don't go blamin' yaself for it. Ain't your fault some jackass can't keep his hands to 'imself."

I stifled another sob. "I feel gross. Like I wanna peel my skin off."

"Anything that'd help that don't involve mutilatin' yaself?"

"Taking a shower in bleach."

"We'll get ya a shower when we're home. But no bleach," Daryl insisted. There were a few beats of silence before Daryl asked his next question. The question I'd been dreading. "What'd that asshole say 'bout me?"

I bit the inside of my bottom lip and scratched at my thumb with my index finger. I debated whether or not I would actually tell him what Jake said. "Lies. Accused you of something awful."

"How come ya won't just say what he said?" he asked.

"He said horrible things about you, Daryl," I reiterated, "tried to get me to question my trust in you."

"Goddamnit Vec, what'd he say?" The immediate regret set in on his face as I flinched slightly, his tone catching me by surprise. This was the first time Daryl had ever raised his voice at me, ever spoken to me with anything less than the most sweet and tender tone. While it did sting, I understood.

"I can't...l can't say it," I said. The words tasted bitter, sour, and I couldn't bring myself to say them out loud.

"Can ya write it?" Daryl asked. He took my notebook and pen off the infirmary table beside him and handed them to me.

"Just know I never believed him for a second," I emphasized.

I hesitantly nodded and flipped to a random blank page somewhere in the back. I spelled out the words, slowly and with a shaky hand as I feared what would happen next. Mostly, I feared how it would make him feel, how it would hurt him. I handed the book back to him slowly, twirling my pen in my fingers in anticipation. I watched his eyes scan over the words, the vile accusation.

He said you've been bragging to people about sleeping with me when I was passed out drunk.

I could see the hurt spreading across his face. The corners of his mouth dropped, and there was a sadness in his eyes I'd never seen before. That sadness quickly turned to anger. His fingers curled around the edges of my notebook like he was balling his hands into fists. It shook ever so slightly in his hands before his fingers uncurled, and he set my notebook back on the table. I could see him swallowing his rage, suppressing it because he knew, in that moment, that I needed him, and he needed to contain his anger for the time being.

Once I was ok though, I knew Jake would be in for a whirlwind of pain. Poor bastard had no idea what was coming.

"Vec..." His voice was somber, and I could hear the hurt dripping off it, "I'd never do anythin' that would hurt ya. Nothin' with even a chance of that." He went quiet for a moment. "I care 'bout ya too much."

"I know that. He was just trying to get to me," I assured, "I told you, I never believed him for a second. Just got really angry that he would try to tarnish your name like that. Jesus, I'm so sorry."

"Why ya apologizin' to me?" He had taken another towel and soaked it with warm water, and he was continuing to clean the dried blood off my neck.

"For telling you. I mean, it's about you, so you have the right to know, but I knew it would be painful, and I'm sorry for that," I said.

"You're all I'm worried 'bout," he reassured, "'ll deal with that prick later."

"If Rick lets you anywhere near the building, that is," I said. He got the last of the blood off my neck and rang the towel out in the sink.

"Would ya be uncomfortable if I got ya collarbone?" he asked, and I shook my head. I popped the collar of his jacket back a bit for easier access.

"Real sorry for raisin' my voice at ya," Daryl said as he continued to clean me off, "feel bad 'bout that."

"It's alright. I understand," I replied before a small smirk crossed my lips, "just don't make a habit of it. I'll bite back if I have to."

"Feel bad for leavin' too."

"You don't have to be sorry for that. You were just doing your job."

He shifted his chair back in front of me, working on the other side of my collarbone. "Feel bad cause ya clearly didn't sleep much while I's gone."

It had been almost impossible to sleep while Daryl was away. Knowing I would fall asleep only to wake up on the floor, scared and alone and having to deal with the aftermath of my crystal-clear nightmares by myself...I couldn't handle it. I saw his fucking face every time I closed my eyes. It was only when I hit the point of unimaginable exhaustion that I was able to sleep, and even then, it never went undisturbed. I knew the dark circles under my eyes were intense, and they were only being emphasized more by the bruising from my injury.

"I guess the dark circles are more obvious than I thought," I sighed, "I slept like twice maybe, one of which was a nap in the middle of the day. I can't even think about that right now."

"We can talk 'bout that later," he replied, "we got an ice pack at home?"

"I don't think so," I said, "I thought I saw some around here. They're these instant packs that you break and they get cold."

Daryl finished cleaning off my collarbone and handed the towel to me. "Probably wanna get the rest yaself." I got up and stood in front of the sink, standing a bit on my tiptoes to get my chest in view of the mirror. I unzipped the jacket a bit more, just enough to get the blood off. Daryl started rummaging around for some ice packs.

"So how was your trip?" I asked as I started to clean myself off.

"Fine, I guess. Dunno why they keep sendin' that one guy. Always damn near gettin' 'imself killed," he explained. He rifled through another drawer before slamming it closed.

"Which guy?"

"Don't care to know his name. Nearly stepped into traps twice this time. Gonna get killed if he don't watch out."

I giggled a little and examined my chest, making sure I got all the dried blood off before zipping the jacket back up. I turned to face Daryl. "Well, I'm glad you're back. I missed you."

He turned to me, and a small smile tugged at the corners of his stoic mouth. "Missed ya too."

After another minute of searching, Daryl pulled something out of a cabinet. "These what we lookin' for?" he asked, giving a gentle underhand throw to send one of them my way. I caught the pack in my hand and examined it.

"Yeah, these are it. A couple should be fine. Just be careful not to break them yet," I instructed. I grabbed my notebook and pen off the table and followed Daryl outside, the sound of his crossbow clattering against the door echoing in the small room.

It was dark now, and it appeared people had started going to sleep given that many houses were dark. I looked up at the sky, which didn't have a single cloud in it, giving the stars a chance to really shine. Looking up at the stars always reminded me of my dad. I hoped that wherever he was, whether that be up in space or somewhere on Earth, he was ok.

Daryl's arm bumped me lightly, and his hand interlocked with mine. "This good?" he asked, stroking my thumb with his. My heartbeat was picking up, and my knees felt weak in the best way.

"Yeah. Real good," I responded. We walked back home like that, hand-in-hand. Yet another moment that would've been more romantic had the evening's earlier events not happened and I not felt like such garbage.

Taglist: @raddydaddydude @lovenormandixon

Divider found on Google via searching for stock images

[nebulablakemurphy]

But can we get a Daryl fic sample?

It’s like a Dead City/Daryl Dixon spinoff combo situation that follows Y/N and Daryl on their accidental trip to France. And their daughter Sophie, Carol, Maggie and Negan’s storyline to rescue Hershel Jr. in Manhattan at the same time. So that said, I hope you enjoy this free sample of ‘Way Down We Go’

“Never thought I’d get this close to seeing Lady Liberty in the flesh.” Negan huffs, staring out at the abandoned city of Manhattan.

“Not from ‘round here?” The girl, trailing behind him, inquires. Not that she really cares, but there’s not enough history between them for her to hate him the way Maggie does. And the silence is deafening.

“Virginia, born and raised. You?”

“I was born in a prison.” Sophie raises a shoulder, her Y/H/C hair shifting in it’s ponytail.

“Ain’t that some shit, kid.” Negan remarks.

“It was hardly a prison by then, try compound.” Carol interjects.

“It was a prison, Grandma.” Her parents used to tell her stories about it. How she was named after her mother’s little sister, who didn’t live long enough to see it. Sophie was the second baby born there, almost a year after Judith. They’re both grown now. Adults by all accounts of the old world. Still, when she wants to do anything even remotely dangerous, Carol follows…or her mom…or her dad. “But tomato, tomoto I guess.”

Y/N and Daryl are…different. As parents, they were fair, never came down too hard on her. Her father is an outdoor cat who learned to survive indoors. Her mother is the opposite.

They met at the first camp Rick’s group ever had and the rest is history. To this day they grumble when people ask what they are to each other, or assume that they are together, or worse; married.

They are Y/N and Daryl. That’s all.

Growing up, Sophie always thought they were in love. At least in the way she perceived love to be. Her father would come home after a long day and cling to her mother like it was the first and last time he’d see her for years. Sometimes her mother would cling. But it was rare and often meant that something was wrong.

He let Y/N drive his bike on occasion, hollering all the while, “watch where ya goin’, girl!”

Otherwise her father is a quiet man, her mother is more outspoken. And though Daryl Dixon is more than capable, Y/N Peletier never hesitates to put anyone who messes with him in their place.

Leaving their only child behind was not a decision they made lightly. But Sophie is old enough to make her own choices and she’s never been a risk taker. Staying in a place that’s familiar, versus abandoning it for the great unknown was a no brainer.

Which only adds to the irony of her current situation. Sophie and Carol on a mission with Maggie and Negan himself, to rescue Hershel from some guy called the Croat.

What a time to be alive.

————————————————————————

“Damnit, girl, stop movin’.” Daryl growls, applying pressure to the blade wound on Y/N’s thigh. Something to remember the prick they stole this boat by.

Aaron told Daryl a long time ago, that he could tell a good person from a bad one. Daryl doesn’t know if that’s true anymore, but this last group was not good people.

“Fuck,” Y/N shakes her head. “We’re fucked.” There goes any chance of getting home.

“Why don’t ya say it a little louder, maybe it’ll help.” He lets up slightly when her hand rests over his.

Her lips pressed together to contain the sound of her suffering.

“Lemme see.”

Y/N removes her hand and his. The muscles of her afflicted leg spasming of their own accord. “It’s bad, isn’t it?”

“You’re gonna live.” Daryl murmurs, prodding around the gash. “Needs stitches though.”

Thunder cracks down, booming behind dark clouds in the overcast sky.

Y/N can’t help but laugh as the first drops of rain hit her upturned cheek. There’s a storm brewing and they’re stuck bobbing in the middle of nowhere.

“Now we’re fucked.” Daryl grumbles, under his breath.

Part 1

[felicitysmoaksx]

anything Rheese and the 'come back, be here' series?

Hi anon! Thanks so much for the prompt. So this drabble is from Guilty By Association. It was adapted from an outtake scene I had, but I don't think I can flesh it out enough to get it to be a full fic. In this au Connor did call his dad for help to get Sarah bailed out.

Family had always been a tricky thing for Connor. At the age of eighteen, Connor had cut his father and sister from his life as if they had been rotten flesh (in his father’s case he had exactly been rotten like rotten flesh) but sometimes rotten flesh had their uses, Connor kept telling himself that as he found the number he had been searching for in his contacts, pressing his phone to his ear. 

“Connor, my this is a surprise,” Cornelius Rhodes’ voice was already grating on his son’s nerves and he had only answered the call. It must’ve been a new record. Connor swallowed back his retort of annoyance. After all, he was calling to ask his father for a favor. There was more of a chance of catching more flies with honey than vinegar.

“Dad, I need a favor.” There was no use in small talk. Connor hated it, besides if he tried, his father would snuff it out. 

“Oh?” 

“I need you to pull whatever strings you have at the CPD and get someone out of jail for me."

"And why would I do that? You certainly haven't been..." Connor tuned out the rest of what his father was saying and resisted the urge to throw his phone at the wall.

"Because Dad," he sighed agitatedly. He had put Sarah in that jail cell for nothing. Because his patient was ruined by his own self-entitled father, and now Connor was doing the same with his. But this was for Sarah. His wife, who was only in this situation because she had been backing him up. She was worth breaking his own self-imposed rules for. "She's been my wife of three years and your daughter-in-law."

[LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Sarah kept her back and eyes closed as she leaned against the concrete wall of her holding cell.

"Sarah Rhodes?" Someone called out and Sarah picked her head up, glancing around as she raised her hand. The police officer moved to the door of the holding cell. Then it was unlocked and held open for the curly-haired brunette.

"You're free to go."

"What? How is that-" Sarah asked as she started forward. Then a movement caught her eye and she turned toward it. There stood a man she had only seen from afar and in old pictures. Cornelius Rhodes stood a little ways away, looming and eyeing her warily.

The brunette sighed internally, bracing herself as she made her way to her father-in-law whom she hadn't met once in the last three years she and Connor had been married.

"Mr. Rhodes," she said quietly.

"Daughter-in-law," he said in equal quiet, flinging the title like it was an insult. She didn't take the bait though. Instead, she gave him a wan smile.

[LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK] [LINE BREAK]

Sarah was escorted the rest of the way by her father-in-law to see her husband waiting for her, looking wary and tired.

“So I come out of surgery to find out my wife has been arrested. I’m still wondering how we got to point C when we started at A.”

“She was going arrest Maggie for it and we both know that ED needs her. She keeps it running like a well-oiled machine. So I stepped in and took her place because she had your back with the blood draw and it’s like I told her, you’re my husband. You're more my responsibility than you are hers.”

Connor huffed, but still leaned in to kiss her forehead, forgetting that his father was standing behind them. “Greying prematurely is a real thing, you know.”

She laughed as he wrapped her in her coat to protect her from the Chicago arctic blast, “You just never thought I’d be the one in jail. You thought it’d be the other way around, didn’t you Dr. Rhodes?”

“Nuh-uh,” he wagged his finger at her, “That tone or name is not going to work right now, because we have to go back by the hospital. Mrs. Goodwin and Maggie both want to see you.”

Then Connor glanced up, finally meeting his father's eyes for the first time. His tone was surprisingly sincere when he said, "Thank you for this. I really appreciate it, Dad."

Cornelius Rhodes couldn't find it in him to speak because he was witnessing his son as a husband for the first time. So when the older man met Connor's eyes, he merely nodded and watched the couple make their way out of the precinct.

[lookingatacupoftea]

What's up with Whicker Street?

Crack theory time! This is an attempt to explain the weirdness on Whickber Street. Unlike the other theories I've been revolving in my mind, this theory operates on a symbolic level, foreshadowing a possible future. It does not preclude a more plot-relevant primary explanation, but offers what could be a hidden, extra layer of meaning.

Please don't ask or tag Neil about fan theory. 

Okay, here it is: Whickber Street in s2 is the future of heaven/hell/the afterlife following s3. It foreshadows a post-revolution heaven/hell/afterlife that is not about misery and abstinence or strict dividing lines but about community and enjoyment. 

Evidence in s2: 

WS and the surrounding streets are fairly self-contained, encompassing many human experiences and pleasures: food, drink, sex, music, clothes, theater, books, magic (see the layout here). This foreshadows a more fun afterlife/heaven/hell that is more like life on earth.

A&C spend more time both with other angels and demons and with humans this season, also foreshadowing a greater sense of community in the future.

The frequent use of B-sides in the musical score and references relates to how everyone is getting a second chance in this kinder afterlife/heaven/hell.  

Maggie's shop is the afterlife records office (think Dead Boy Detectives). 

Maggie is angel coded and functions as a parallel or mirror character to Muriel. They're both sweet tempered, enthusiastic and lonely, maintaining the records that no one visits. 

The coffee shop is a portal to the afterlife because “life begins after coffee.” It also represents liberty from the dull-to-torturous spectrum that we’ve seen in heaven, hell and the afterlife so far. 

Image from r/goodomens

Nina is demon coded and her closest parallel is Eric. Like Eric, she's more aware of what's going on than others and just can't stop herself from sharing facts (think Eric in the recruitment meeting pointing out the issues with Shax's plan v. Nina being aware that the ball is all wrong). And like Eric she has a very familiar face that crops up in the show again and again.

The WS traders’ meeting to talk about the “proposed rubbish collection times” parallels the “cleaning rota” at the archangels’ meeting. I think the shopkeepers may mirror higher-ranking angels and demons, but I don't know if they match up one to one. 

The extras on the street walk in circles and double back on each other, a lot like the demons (or damned?) circulating behind Crowley and Beez in hell in ep1. 

GIF by mametupa

The extras’ bright clothes represent a happier way of life than the dead, angels and demons had before - neither the blandness of heaven nor the darkness of hell. 

The vintage aspect to the clothes could be influenced by when humans died or by angels’ and demons’ unique fashion senses.

If this is indeed symbolic foreshadowing, in s3 we could see more about building this sense of community and enabling angels, demons and the dead to practice more free will and have a better quality of life. A particular pair of scenes that might be mirrored in s3 is the ball and resulting battle. Instead of textually human characters (plus Jim) needing to be protected, we could see A&C defend a gathering of the dead and other angels and demons. And we could see an ending where angels go “over the road” (a phrase used multiple times in reference to the coffee shop) to be friendly with demons en masse, not just in these one-off pairings we’ve seen so far.

Another possible s3 development that could grow from this theory is a friendship or romance between Muriel and Eric as mirrors to Maggie and Nina (and A&C and G&B), which tons of writers have already included in their fics.

Finally, if the primary meaning of the weird extras is that they're angelic or demonic spies, that could align with this secondary level of meaning and foreshadowing: Spying on these traitors on WS is the most fun they’ve had in millennia and maybe they won’t be happy to go back to their normal routine. 

I'm not at all sold on this theory and there are lots of discontinuities it doesn't explain. I’m also not sure how much this foreshadows a new heaven/hell or a new afterlife or both. But I haven't been able to get it out of my head, so I offer it up on the altar of meta discussion.  

[killed-by-choice]

“Maggie Roe” (USA 2023)

“Maggie” was a Texan woman who underwent a legal abortion in March of 2023. As Texas laws unambiguously permit, the abortion was meant to save Maggie’s life or health. Unfortunately, it killed her instead.

Maggie’s case and the data surrounding it, though no less of a tragedy, illustrates the following:

• abortion intended to save the life of the mother is legal in Texas and DOES get approved

• Texas abortion laws reduced maternal abortion deaths and abortions overall

• abortions done with intention to save the mother’s life can still do the opposite

While Maggie’s death was undoubtedly a tragedy, Texas laws restricting abortion prevent other women from dying like she did. Texas abortion bans have been found to dramatically reduce overall rate of abortion (even including those traveling out of state to circumvent the law). It was thanks to these laws that Maggie’s death was the only known maternal abortion death in Texas in 2023. Although data reporting for the 2023 period is incomplete (as of February 2024), 49 abortions were approved and done legally with the intention to preserve the life and/or health of the mother. All were done in hospitals, where the resources were present to have the best chance of treating complications— and the conditions that endangered lives in the first place.

(However, it is strange that abortion would have been chosen or recommended over an induced delivery or C-section in any case past the very early first trimester. An abortion at that stage would take multiple days and put the patient at further risk, while delivery would be immediate and allow the treatment of both patients.)

Those who died of legal abortion in Texas before the overturn of Roe v Wade include Denise Montoya, Maureen Espinoza, Jammie Garcia, Latachie Veal, Dorothy Bryant, Virginia “Genie” Lynn Wolfe, Sharyn Graham, Vanessa Preston, Mickey Apodaca, Junette Barnes, Glenda Davis, Sheila Watley and Louchrisser Jackson. Today, Texas bans on abortions not ruled medically necessary prevent many others from dying the way they did.