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aquietwritingcorner · 2 years ago

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Title: Ice and Survival Day: Whumpuary 2023 Day 3: Hypothermia/“stay with me”/gunshot Word Count: 14030 Author: aquietwritingcorner/realitybreakgirl Rating: T Characters: Donatello, Raphael Warning: Blood, at least a little. Summary: They should have never gone out exploring in the woods. Now Don’s been shot, the temperature is dropping, a storm is moving in, the farmhouse is too far away, and Raphael has to figure out how to keep both him and his brother alive. Notes: A few headcanons that I have in here: All of the boys are more than competent in first aid and beyond; they all have more survival skills and are more competent in more areas then we see in the show; they’re a weird mix of cold and warm blooded that probably can’t actually work, but is going to work here anyway. Also, someone please teach these boys to consistently wear winter clothes when they go out in the snow, please. AO3 || ff.net

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Ice and Survival

It was a stupid, stupid, stupid idea. Hadn’t they learned anything the last time, when Mikey had gotten the attention of that crazy doctor monster hunting lady? Sure, Raph had been helping Leo with his swords at the time, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t heard the whole story. Casey had certainly been vocal enough about it, especially after spending so long locked in the back of that woman’s truck in all that grass and stuff. They should have known better than to go off like this.

But no, for whatever reason, he and Donnie had gotten in their brains to go exploring in the woods in the middle of winter, without any gear, and now look at them. Raph had a brother half draped over his shell, trying to make sure he stayed conscious and didn’t bleed out from a gunshot in his thigh, while still having to avoid the guy who shot them and his dogs.

And all because he was restless and wanted to get out, and Donnie had some sort of scientific something or other that he wanted to investigate.

Stupid. Stupid the both of them.

Mentally, Raph cursed. Don’s breath hitched in pain with every move he made, and Raph could still hear the dogs somewhere behind them, closing in. It wasn’t as if they were hard to track. They were slow and leaving a trail of blood in the snow. They needed to try to stop the bleeding but stopping at all meant letting the dogs and the farmer catch up with them. They needed to find someplace to hide. Ideally, they’d make it back to the farmhouse, but Raph was sure that was too far away.

And, of course, a storm was blowing in. If Raph could spare the time, he’d curse their turtle luck.

“We need… we need to lose them,” Don gasped out, around the pain. Raph tightened his hold on his brother.

“Tell me something I don’t know genius,” Raph said, the sarcasm falling almost automatically. “I’m open to suggestions.”

Don shifted, and it almost unbalanced them, Raph having to readjust quickly to make sure he didn’t drop his brainy brother. “Shell, Don, what are ya—”

“In my bag,” Donnie said. “I have something that… might do the trick…”

Of course, he did. Raph should have expected that. If Don had his magic bag of tricks with him, then it was likely he had something to help any situation. The stupid pigeon puppet had taught all of them that.

“We’ll need… need to move fast. Make it difficult for them to… to follow us.” Don looked at Raph, something clutched in his hand. “Think you can carry me?”

If someone didn’t know Don, that leap might have seemed a bit dramatic. But Raph knew his brother, and he knew that, instead of explaining that he couldn’t run in his current state, Don skipped right over that and onto the solution, not bothering to feel embarrassed about it. Raph knew that if Don jumped to a request or a solution, there was always an explanation there, and a reasonable one, even if he didn’t explain it then.

Raph nodded. “Yeah, for a bit I can. But what about the bleedin’? We’re still leavin’ a trail.”

“After I throw them, I’ve got some—ngh—gauze to press to it. It… won’t last for long, but it should do to—to at least put some distance between us.”

It didn’t sound like it was enough of a solution, but Raph trusted Don. There was probably more to his plan than he had said, but not enough time for him to explain it. That was alright by Raph. He’d get it all later.

He nodded. “Whatever ya say, Donnie.”

Don nodded. “Alright. When I throw these… it’ll be go time, alright?”

Raph glanced at the rather innocuous looking white spheres in Don’s hand and nodded. “Yeah, I gotcha, Donnie.”

The dogs were getting closer now, and Raph knew that Don could hear them as clearly as he could. Raph crouched slightly, ready to pick up his brother the second that he threw the spheres. Every instinct screamed at him to go now, to run, to flee, but his training and his trust in Donnie was better than that.

“Get ready,” Don murmured, as the dogs drew close enough to see.

Raph’s muscles coiled, like a spring waiting to move. He didn’t think ahead, didn’t try to plan or see what was happening. He simply waited for the right moment to react. The dogs grew closer, outpacing their master. When they were only about three yards away from them, Don threw down the spheres. As soon as Raph had seen Don’s arm move to throw them, he was already in motion, scooping up his brother in a fireman’s carry. The spheres exploded, letting out some sort of gas. Raph didn’t know what it was, but he did pick up a spicy sort of scent from it, as well as something that almost seemed like ammonia. It wasn’t important, though. Getting Donnie out of here was.

He took off running the moment he felt Don was secure, leaving the yelping dogs behind them and ignoring Don’s grunt of pain. Don’s bag swung around too, thumping on the back of his shell and his thighs. He could feel Don shifting and figured that he was putting pressure on the wound. That would help with leaving a trail of blood, but even ninja left footprints in the snow.

Don also wasn’t unaware of this problem. “The trees,” he hissed out between clenched teeth. He wasn’t trying to be quiet, Raph could tell. That was pain in his voice, and Raph felt a little bad knowing that it was his rough treatment that was making it worse. But survival was more important than momentary pain.

“I dunno if they’ll hold both our weight,” Raph said back.

“Trunks will,” Don gasped out. “Sit me on a branch.”

“I’m not leaving ya defenseless,” Raph said.

He felt a thump on his shell. “I’m not defenseless… you goob. You can… scout.”

Alright, Raph had to admit that was a good point. Besides, even though whatever he had done had slowed down the dogs and their master, it wasn’t going to stop them. They needed a different plan. Spying a couple of good trees, Raph headed towards them, adjusting Donnie’s weight as he did. Don let him, knowing that he was preparing for the jump. He lept, using momentum to bounce between the two trees until he got to higher branches. He could feel the weight of them trying to give under his feet, under the weight of two turtles, and he kept moving, doing his best to hop a couple of trees over.

When he stopped, he very quickly lowered Donnie to a sturdy looking branch and transferred his weight to another one. Don shifted his weight to balance himself out, keeping one hand pressed on his thigh. The two stayed silent, blending into the shadows as much as possible. The wind cut through the trees, rustling the needles of the evergreen they were in, and shaking the empty branches of other trees. The sun moved deeper behind the clouds, giving them more cover, and snow began to fall, starting to cover up their tracks. The dogs’ yelps had ceased, and a faint rumble of a man’s voice could be heard. Neither ninja moved, holding so still they might as well have been part of the tree they were in, blending into their environment.

Finally, when they could hear man or dogs no more, Raph moved. “Gonna go check it out,” he said, barely above a whisper. Don nodded, and Raph took off.

He moved as silently as he could through the trees, taking as much care as he could not to knock off too much snow or disturb too much wildlife. He didn’t want to do anything that would give away his position.

He backtracked to where they had last seen the dogs, seeing no one between where he had left Don and that spot. There were plenty of tracks there, as if a group had trampled over that area several times. Making sure no one was around, Raph jumped down to examine the tracks. There was a set that brought them to this spot, of course, but it looked as if there was also a set that lead away, back the way that they had come. Not wanting to even risk being seen, Raph made his way back into the trees, and followed the tracks for a bit. They seemed as if the farmer and his dogs had given up and gone back home, and, after following them for about ten minutes, Raph concluded that it was exactly what they had done. Tracking them any further would be pointless and besides, the snow was staring to fill in the tracks.

No longer as concerned about being unseen, Raph turned and made his way through the trees back to where he had left Don. It took him much less time, which was great, because Raph couldn’t help the worry that ran through him. Don was injured, bleeding, and Raph was no idiot—the snowfall wasn’t a good sign. They were in trouble.

He laid eyes on Don almost immediately when he got near the tree he had left him on. Raph frowned to himself. Donnie was great at stealth when he was focused. If a situation required it, or if he was focused on it, he could stay hidden longer than the rest of them. The fact that Raph could find him so quickly was worrying. It meant that Donnie wasn’t hiding as well as he could.

Raph landed on a branch near the one Don was on. Don had his eyes closed, but his breathing was even and steady. There was a fresh bandage around his leg, showing Raph that Don hadn’t been idle, at least. The breathing was reassuring too. That kind of breathing was controlled, which meant Don was still with it.

“Donnie?” he said softly. Don’s eyes opened, landing directly on his. Of course, he had been aware the entire time Raph was there. Raph should have figured that.

“Any problems?” Don asked, keeping his voice soft.

Raph shook his head. “No. Looks like after yer little trick, they decided to go home.”

Raph could see the relief pass across Don’s face. “It was honestly probably the weather that turned them back,” he said. He frowned as he looked at the snow that was accumulating on the branches—and on them. “It’s falling fast. This isn’t good weather to be out in.”

Raph frowned. “Think we can make it back to the farm before it gets bad?”

Don shook his head. “No, not with how fast it’s falling.”

“If I carry ya, would that help?” Raph asked.

Don shook his head again. “It’s not about my wound,” he said, grimacing a little as he tried to shift and pain clearly ran through him. “It’s about time. The snow is falling faster, and the temperature is already dropping. It’ll get bad long before we get back to the farmhouse even if I wasn’t currently shot.”

Raph’s frown deepened. None of what he was saying was good, and it was all made worse by Don’s gunshot wound.

“So, what can we do?” he asked, knowing that Donnie would have already been thinking this through. “Call for backup? See how far we get? Build an igloo?”

Don gave a strained smile at the last one but shook his head. “The storm interferes with the Shell Cell signal. I didn’t think to compensate for that out here. Signals are harder to come by out here then they are in the city,” Don said. “And while we could start construction on an igloo, I’m afraid that the storm would get bad long before we could even get a proper foundation built.” He twisted his head around to look towards the farm. “Our best bet is to start moving and keep moving. With any luck, our movement will help with keeping us warm, and the others will start looking for us soon.”

“And if that don’t work?” Raph asked, pretty sure he didn’t want to hear the answer.

“It’s the only option we have,” Don said, all mirth fading from his eyes.

Raph nodded. “Alright. Then we’d better get movin’ while we can.”

Donnie looked down, and then looked at his leg. “I’m gonna need a little help with that,” he said with a grimace.

It was a little difficult maneuvering Donnie back into Raph’s hold and getting him down to the ground. Going up had been easier. Raph had momentum and started out with solid ground. Going down was a test in the strength of the tree branches and how light he was on his feet.

Still, the trip had left Donnie grimacing in pain, and his leg and given out the moment Raph had set him down. Fortunately, it hadn’t taken long for the pain to fade enough for Don to get his leg back under him and for the two of them to set off. Raph slung Donnie’s arm over his shoulder and wrapped his hand around Don’s belt for added support. Don used his bo as a walking staff and relinquished his bag of tricks to Raph. It was nowhere near perfect, but it was the best they could do.

It quickly became clear, though, that they were in serious trouble. The wind was icy, cutting right through them. It stung them in the face with snow that was slowly turning to ice. It never ceased blowing, and the snow never stopped falling. It fell heavier and heavier, even as it turned into an icy mix. Don was pushing himself as fast as he could, but it hadn’t escaped Raph’s notice how his brother had fallen quieter and quieter as they moved, nor the tremble that had started up about thirty minutes into their walk. Every once in a while, Raph was able to catch a glimpse of the bandages. They had been steadily turning red for the past thirty minutes, and Raph was afraid that if they didn’t do something soon, then Don would bleed out.

Raph grit his teeth. That wasn’t going to happen. He wouldn’t let it.

After what felt like hours, they emerged from the trees near the creek that ran through the property. The waters were flowing fairly well, but they looked cold, and rough with the wind. Along the banks ice was already starting to build. Raph had no idea if this creek froze over completely in the winter or not. They had crossed it earlier that day, leaping across a narrower spot, but Raph couldn’t recall if there was any ice along the edges then or not. He had been busy teasing Don about something or other.

“We’re… we’re going to need… to cross,” Donnie said, his voice tight with pain. A shudder ran through him, and Raph pulled him tighter against himself.

“I know,” Raph said, eying the water. “It’s too wide for me to jump with ya here.”

Don nodded his head, indicating someplace further down the creek. “There’s a spot… down that way. ‘S narrower. The na… narrowest Mikey and I… found.”

Raph frowned at the way Donnie was speaking, not liking the pauses or the slurred words, but said nothing about it. Instead, he turned them both to look down the creek. “Donnie, that’s the opposite way we need to go.”

Don gave a one-shouldered shrug. “…Gotta cross somewhere.”

He was right, and Raph knew it, but he didn’t have to like it. Instead, he just turned them and headed back down the creek. As they made their way, part of him wondered why Don didn’t steer them towards that narrow part to begin with. It would have made this backtracking unnecessary. More of him worried that Donnie not anticipating this meant his stubborn brother was worse off than he was admitting to. Was the blood loss more than Raph thought? Was the cold getting to him more because of the blood loss? Raph wasn’t sure, but it worried him.

Stupid dumb stubborn brothers who can’t admit when they’re hurt or how hurt they are. Never mind that he was the same way, it irritated Raph nonetheless.

The only good thing about going along the creek in the opposite direction was that they weren’t facing directly into the wind anymore. It was still absolutely freezing, but it wasn’t stinging their faces and their eyes, at least. But Raphael didn’t need Donnie to tell him that this was cutting into their time. Every step further away from the farm was a decreasing their chances of survival, and they both knew it. And, at least to Raph’s mind, this was taking far too long. He was just about to stop them both and try to convince Don to just go ahead and cross when Don pointed with one of his fingers, the others staying wrapped around his bo staff.

“Right there,” he said. “…at the bend.”

The bend was only another two dozen or so yards away, and Raph nodded. “Alright. We’ll cross there. And then it’s just followin’ the stream back to where we were and headin’ towards the farm.”

Don gave him a tired grin. “Pretty much,” he said.

They continued towards the bend, Raph impatient to get there, but doing his best not to rush Donnie. He didn’t think that his brother could move faster right now. He was relying more and more on Raph and his staff, not to mention the tremble that was running through him. Don could only go so quickly.

It took them longer than either of them would have liked to get there, but by the time they did, it was clear to Raph that Don needed a break. He eased his brother down on the icy snow, handing him his bag, and then went to look at the creek. It was narrow enough that he should be able to jump it with Donnie. He’d definitely jumped gaps bigger than that between buildings. He’d jumped ones about that size while carrying things. Hopefully it wouldn’t be that much different with Donnie.

“Think… you can do it?” Don asked him.

Raph glanced back over his shoulder at his brother. He was already wrapping more gauze around the gunshot wound, hands not idle even now, even they were shaking. “I think so,” Raph said. “Maybe. Lemme see yer bo for a second.”

Don surrendered his bo to Raph, and Raph approached the edge of the creek, poking a bit at the snow and ice nearby. He’d learned early on to check for false edges that the snow created when jumping buildings. He figured the same principles applied here. Sure enough, near the edge of where he would have lept from, there was a place that looked solid, but was really an overhang of snow and ice. Carefully, he brushed it away, so he could clearly see the solid edge.

The problem was the other side. He couldn’t reach over there to do the same. The bo wasn’t long enough, and he couldn’t risk a misstep. If the opposite side had an overhang as much as this side had, Raph wasn’t sure if he could make the jump with Donnie. Although, the bo might have given Raph another idea.

“Hey, Don. How much weight do ya think yer bo can hold?”

Donnie blinked up at him seemingly perplexed for a moment until he caught on to what Raph was thinking. “It’ll be harder to use it as a pole vault if you’re carrying me,” he said with a frown. “But it pole vaulting would be more of a guaranteed cross.”

“Do ya think it’ll work?” Raph said.

Don considered it. “No,” he said. “Not with both of us. I think the risk is too much. But if we each did it, then I think we could.”

Rest, Raph couldn’t help but note, seemed to have done Donnie some good. His voice was still tight with pain, but he wasn’t gasping out his words at the moment. Still, Raph wasn’t forgetting that his brother was injured.

“Can ya do it, though?” Raph asked. “With yer leg, I mean.”

“I think we have to try,” Don replied, and that was that.

After tossing a few rocks across to see if and where the false edge on the other side was, the two readied themselves. Raph went first, to make sure that that the ground was solid, and to be ready to catch and assist Donnie if needed. He took the bag, took the bo, and ran a couple of steps before leaping, thrusting the bo down in the middle of the creek and using it to give him an extra boost across. The landing was a little slippery, but not too bad. Still, he made sure to clear it out as best he could for Donnie, before throwing the bo back across the creek like a javelin. Donnie, of course, caught it. He readied himself, using the bo to stand, and then delicately balancing on the edge. He wasn’t going to take a running start but rely on his good leg to give him the boost he needed. With a moment to gather himself, Don, pushed off the bank with his good leg, landing the bo solidly in the middle of the creek.

For a moment, it seemed as if it would work. At least, until it was clear that the arc was off, and Don’s aim was off course. He tried to compensate by shifting his weight, and it almost worked. But the shift had cost him, and he landed bad leg first onto the very edge of the bank, just slightly off from where Raph was. the bank crumbled under his weight, his bad leg gave out, and Donatello fell.

Raph made a grab for him, but he was just a touch too far, falling at just too fast a pace, and Don went splashing down into the icy creek.

“Donnie!” Raph’s shout split the air, rising over the wind, even as he scrambled down the bank.

The creek, fortunately, wasn’t that deep, coming, at most, midway up the calf. Don was already sitting up in the water, grimacing in pain, and trying, and failing, to get his legs under him so he could get out of the frigid flow. Raph splashed into the water too, hissing as the cold hit his feet and legs, but not letting it stop him. He reached for Don, pulling him up out of the water and hauling him onto the bank.

“Shell. Shell, shell, shell, shell!” Raph cursed as he tried to look over his brother. Don was soaked. This was bad. This was really bad. Donatello was already wounded, bleeding, and now he was soaked, and they were in the middle of a snowstorm—or maybe it was an ice storm by now, Raph wasn’t sure—too far from any sort of shelter.

Don was shivering violently now, and Raph desperately looked around for anything that he could help wipe off the water with. He whipped Don’s bag around and violently tore through it, trying to find something, anything, that would help. There were some old, greasy rags in the bottom, and Raph pulled them out, running them over Don’s body, trying to soak up as much of the water as he could before it froze to his skin.

“G-g-g-get your-your fee-fee—”

“Stop talkin’,” Raph demanded. “I’ll get my feet too, but right now I’m more concerned about you.”

Don shook his head, but Raph didn’t even let him try to explain himself. He just kept wiping him down until he was dry as he could get. Then he went after his own, frozen feet. This was bad. This was really bad. They needed shelter and warmth now. The farm was too far away. That old man with the dogs was at least just as far away. Maybe there was some other place nearby, or he could find them a bluff and build a fire, maybe try for that igloo. But they couldn’t keep going like this—

Don’s ice-cold hand grasped his arm, and Raph nearly jumped out of his skin from how cold it was. He knelt and wrapped himself around Don as best he could, trying to shield him from the worst of the wind and ice. “Donnie?”

“C-c-cave,” Don said. He raised a shaking hand and pointed up the creek. “Ssssaw one wh…when we were… walking…”

A cave? That was promising. It was better than this, anyway. If it was out of the wind, Raph could build a fire for them in there. He’d need to do something. He could already tell that Don was way too cold.

“Alright, we’ll head that way,” Raph said. “But yer in no shape to walk.”

He shifted around, maneuvering Don, and Don didn’t protest, just hissed in pain. Raph wasn’t sure if that was because he didn’t have the energy to, or because he knew it was useless to argue. He hoped it was the latter. With the bag hanging in front of him, Donnie draped on his shoulders, and the bo staff that Don had somehow managed to hang on to for extra support, Raph set out.

The cave had to be somewhere between the bend they had tried to jump across, and where they had first found the creek. Raph wasn’t sure how far it was in feet or yards, but he it had felt like at least ten minutes of walking. Don had been moving at a slow pace then, though, so Raph wasn’t sure if he could really base an estimate off of that. Still, it was all that he had, and so he worked with it. Hopefully in five minutes they’d have a place to rest.

Raph pushed out through the storm, struggling as the wind had increased and the temperature had dropped. His one comfort was that Don didn’t feel like a dead weight on him, and he could feel his breath. But he could also feel just how cold his brother was, and that pushed him to keep going, despite how numb his feet were growing. He was so focused on moving, that he almost missed the cave. It was only Don’s tug on his mask tails that brought it to his attention.

“Th-th-there…” Don said, pointing.

The cave was hard to see, partially hidden by bigger rocks blocking its entrance, and the plants around it. From the outside Raph couldn’t tell how big it was, but even if it was shallow, it would be something.

“How the shell’d ya spot that from the other side?” Raph asked.

He felt Don shrug. “L-l-luck.”

“Our luck doesn’t have the best track record,” Raph disagreed. He knelt and lowered Don down to the ground, only letting go when he was sure Donnie could stay standing for just a few moments. “Stay here, frozen one. I’m gonna make sure we’re not about the be Goldilocks to some bear.”

Don nodded and leaned on his staff. “F-f-flashl-light in th...the bag.”

“I gotcha, Brainiac.”

Making sure Donnie wasn’t about to just fall over, Raph took out the flashlight and carefully entered the cave. The entrance was bigger than he realized. It would have been able to fit one of their shellcycles and side cars through it, albeit carefully. The inside was dry, and the wind was blocked out. There seemed to be some signs of habitation, but there was nothing there now, and Raph wasn’t about to turn down what might be their only salvation. If an animal came, he’d deal with it then, somehow. Donnie was his priority now.

Heading back outside, he quickly returned to his brother’s side. Donnie was still standing, leaning heavily on his staff, but Raph didn’t like the look of him. He was pale, swaying slightly, and looked out of it. Worry settled in Raph’s stomach and hastened his steps.

“Looks like it’s clear, Brainiac. Let’s get ya inside,” he said.

Very slowly, Donnie nodded, and Raph placed himself under Don’s arm, coaxing his brother into following him in. Being out of the wind and ice was a relief, but Don’s skin felt like ice to Raph, and that he didn’t like at all. Carefully, Raph led Don to the back of the cave, where it seemed to be the warmest, and helped him sit down. Don grimaced in pain as he did, clearly still hurting.

“Alright, Donnie,” Raph said as he removed Don’s wet mask, belt and pads. The less frozen things on him the better. “What’s our next steps? We found shelter. What’s next?”

Raph had a plan himself, but Don’s somewhat vacant look worried him. Like Leo, the best thing to do to get him more aware was to get him thinking again. The easiest way to do that with both of them was to set them on a problem, specifically one that required steps.

Don’s brow furrowed. “Um… h-h-heat. W-w-we n-need h-h-heat.”

“Okay, that makes sense. How do I do that?” Raph asked, keeping his voice patient and calm.

“T-t-tinder k-k-it in b-b-bag,” Don said. “J-j-just n-need… f-fuel f-f-f-.”

“For longer, yeah, I getcha, don’t stress yerself out tryin’ to talk.” Raph interrupted him even he was kneeling to dig through Don’s bag. Of course, Don would have a tender kit. Don was always prepared. But that brought Raph to another problem—Fuel.

Fuel would mean something to burn. There wasn’t much in here, and with that storm out there it’d be hard to find anything. Shell. What was he going to do? Even if he set about burning their gear, that wouldn’t last long. Raph glanced toward the entrance of the cave. The storm was getting worse out there. Going out in it was asking for hypothermia, especially for someone like him. Even a strictly warm-blooded animal would have problems in that weather. But if he didn’t go… Raph looked back at Don. He was pale, ice decorating his skin, and shivering violently. As much as he didn’t want to leave Don here alone in the shape he was in, not getting something for a fire was as good as a death sentence. It might even be as good as a death sentence for Raph, and he wasn’t injured and didn’t fall in water.

Don must have read his mind, because he reached out, grasping Raph’s wrist, and struggling to say something. Raph held still, listening.

“D-d-dead w…wood,” he stuttered out. “...’s…dr..dry.”

“Yeah, I know,” he said, rummaging through Don’s bag for the tools that he’d need. Don had, of course, a rather large knife in a sheath, which would be useful, as well as some rope. The bag itself would be useful as well. He reached in pulling out all of the stuff Don had stuffed in it. He’d use the bag to gather as much wood as he could. “But ya gotta stay here and stay back from that entrance. I can take care of myself. I don’t need ya gettin’ colder, got it?”

Donnie nodded, tremors of shivers still running through him, and Raph was satisfied with that. He stood, pulling Don’s bag over his chest again, and braced himself, heading out.

The wind felt twice as icy to him now, and he could feel his skin being pelted with small bits of ice. This had easily gone from a snowstorm to something closer to an ice storm, and Raph knew he had to be quick. Not only did he need to get out of the elements and warm back up as quickly as possible, but he needed to find dry, dead wood before it got iced over.

Maybe the old turtle luck had decided to be kind to him for once, or maybe it was like Master Splinter said, and their ancestors were watching over them—although Raph had kinda always wondered if that mean Master Yoshi, or if it mean their turtle ancestors, but he figured in the end it really didn’t matter—but Raph was able to find a dead tree rather quickly. It was half fallen already, which Raphael was grateful for. It made it a lot easier for him to break off parts of the branches and stuff what he could in the bag. What he couldn’t break off, he used to knife to hack at, cutting off what he could. It wasn’t as good a as an axe or a hatchet, or even one of Leo’s swords would be, but it did well enough to get what he needed.

He could feel himself becoming colder and colder, especially without Donnie’s body heat right next to him. Still, he wasn’t going to go back with a half-done job, and so he worked quickly, ignoring his own shivering and numb feet, instead filling up the bag with as much wood as he could. Then he hacked off more and, using the rope, tied it to his shell, carrying it that way. It would, hopefully, be enough to last them. If not, he’d have to come back and see if he could get anything else out of this tree or any others, provided it hadn’t iced over.

The trek back to the cave seemed longer going to it than it had coming from it, and Raph felt himself struggling more as he trudged through the snow and ice. The cold was definitely starting to slow him down, and he grit his teeth. There was no way he was going to let some stupid storm do him in and no way he was going to let it keep him from Donnie. His brother needed him, and he wasn’t about to let him down. It didn’t matter that it was getting harder and his shivering was getting more and more violent—Raph wasn’t going to let this stop him.

He couldn’t deny, though, that it was hard. The snow and ice swirled around him, causing white outs in his vision every so often. He was operating on muscle memory more often than not, and with the amount of snow falling, the landscape was changing rapidly. He could only hope that he wasn’t getting too off course. If he could find the creek again, then hopefully he could find the cave.

A light suddenly caught his eye. It was about head-height, and it didn’t seem to be moving. Raph squinted at it. It was in the direction he was pretty sure the cave was in. There hadn’t been a light there before. Had someone found Donnie? Was that a signal to someone else? Raph didn’t know, but he picked up the pace, his hands coming down to his sai, holding tightly to them despite the cold metal. If it was a threat, he’d be ready for it.

The closer he got to the cave, though, the less he thought it was a person. The light held too steady. It was almost as if someone had turned on a light and left it on a shelf. For a moment he had a spike of fear that he had gone the wrong way, but he pushed that to the side. Even if he had, there was nothing to do right now but keep walking towards it. Whatever he found at the other end of the light, be it Donnie, or something else, he’d do what he needed to.

The light cut through the swirling winds and snow well, and it kept Raph heading straight for it. As he approached, though, he realized that it was a flashlight—Don’s flashlight—sitting in a small, sheltered area of the rocks, on and glowing brightly and steadily. Raph growled slightly, picking it up when he got close enough and heading inside the cave. Don was huddled on the back wall, curled in on himself as much as he could be and shivering. His eyes slowly opened as Raph called out his name, and half-aware eyes met his.

“Donnie. I thought I told ya to stay away from the entrance!” he snapped out. Don just sort of looked at him and didn’t say anything. Raph huffed, masking his mounting fear with annoyance, and set about preparing the wood for the fire. His hands were shaking, but there wasn’t really any other choice. He took a branch that seemed to be relatively easy to peel and reached for Don’s hands, turning them over and putting the branch in them. “Here. Make yerself useful and start peelin’ off the outer layers of that bark.”

Slowly, Don blinked at the branch and nodded. “K-k-kay…” he said, the word sounding even more slurred than before. His hands picked over it slowly, and Raph found that he didn’t like that at all.

Instead of focusing on that, though, Raph put all of his effort into building the fire. If he could get that built, then he could warm Donnie up.

A couple of years ago, Mikey had somehow convinced all of them to watch some survival show. It wasn’t some stupid one like the one on that island where it isn’t really about survival, or that one with the naked people, which Raph could never figure out the appeal of. Humans did not look good without their clothes, and as soft and unprotected as they were, why would any human want to be out in the woods like that? At least he and his brother had thick skin and shells, and Master Splinter had his fur.

Regardless, though, the show Mikey had made them watch was actually a good one. It was really about true survival, and the people on it were honest about what was available to them because of the requirements of the camera crews, and what was them really having to survive. It had sucked all of them in, and Raph actually had learned quite a bit about wilderness survival from that show. It had intrigued him enough that, once they were making regular visits to the farm, he had bugged Casey into teaching him more, and went and looked up more information himself.

Raph put that knowledge to good use now, remembering how to build the fire, and finding a good place to put it where it would vent out and not fill the cave with smoke that would kill them. It took him longer than he wanted to prepare the wood, having to strip off the outer layers of bark to get to the dry wood underneath, but even with shaking hands, he did get it done. His clumsy hands cut his fingers a few times, but he’d deal with that later. His priority was getting them some warmth.

He was also keeping an eye on Donnie as he worked. Don was moving so much slower than he was, hissing in pain when he tried to move his leg. The bandage was bloody, the blood soaking through. It would need to be changed soon, especially as it had gotten wet in the fall in the creek as well. Raph set his jaw. One thing at a time. He’d get the heat going, and then tend to his brother. Don’s condition was worrying him, but he could only do one thing at a time.

He didn’t build the fire quite as big as he wanted to, seeing as they only had so much wood, but he did turn it into a decent blaze. It would need to be, if he was to warm Donnie up. After they were warm, he could always make the next fires smaller. When it was built, Raph made sure to move Don closer to the fire. Don tried to move himself, but there was a dazed look in his eyes and delayed reactions. He was tracking what was going on, but it was like it was taking him longer to do it.

“Alright, Donnie. Just lemme take a look at yer leg. Somethin’ tells me yer patch job while runnin’ probably needs some work.” Raph was maneuvering Don’s leg around as he spoke, reaching for the few medical supplies that had been in the bag.

It took him a moment more than it should, but Donnie let out a light snort. “D-don’t tr-trust my… s-s-skills?”

It was an attempt at a tease, and Raph let out a small, amused grunt. “Don, I’d trust yer skills on the run any day. But now that we’re settled, I still wanna good look at it.”

The bandages Don had managed to put on his leg while up in that tree were soaked through with both blood and water by this point, half-frozen in the falling temperatures. Raph was extremely careful as he peeled them back, not wanting to make anything worse by ripping frozen bandages from frozen skin. Fortunately, the bandages didn’t seem to have frozen that far in. Unfortunately, taking them off still seemed to be causing Don pain, and Raph did his best to ignore the sharp hisses of pain from his brother.

The wound itself wasn’t as bad or as messy as Raph had feared. It looked like a relatively clean shot, in and out, which was good. But the amount of blood soaking the bandage and the fact that it was still bleeding a bit was definitely in the not good category.

“Coulda been worse, Donnie,” Raph said, taking the time to clean it. Good thing Don was always prepared. Raph had no idea if the bottle of rubbing alcohol was meant for this, or if Don was going to use it for something science related, but he was glad to have it either way. “Looks like it was a rifle, not a shotgun, so we don’t hafta worry ‘bout picking shot outta yer leg. Looks like it went through too.”

“Go—ood!” Don gasped out, the word interrupted by a spike of pain when Raph poured some of the rubbing alcohol directly on the wound.

“Sorry,” Raph said. “I’m guessin’ it’s still bleedin’ cause of all the movin’ we’ve been doin’.”

Don nodded. “P-p-probably,” he said, still shivering.

“Just gimmie a minute and I’ll have this wrapped up. And then we’ll both sit by the fire, alright?” Raph said.

Don just nodded and closed his eyes. Raph focused in on his work, wanting to make sure he did this right. He, like all of the others, knew quite a bit about first aid. Splinter had insisted that they learn at least some of it young, and they had only built on that knowledge as they grew. Don probably knew the most, just because Don usually knew the most about things. But the rest of them were no slouches, and Raph’s hands moved confidently despite the small tremors from the cold that ran through them.

By the time he finished Donnie looked absolutely exhausted, and Raph helped him turn around to face the fire. He dumped the wood out of Don’s bag and put the supplies back in it, taking the pile of wood over to the fire. With the light of the fire, they didn’t need the flashlight as much anymore and Raph started to turn it off when a thought occurred to him. The light had helped him find his way back to the cave. Maybe it would help the others find them too. It might help other people find them as well, but who would be looking for anyone around here? Raph turned the flashlight over in his hands. It was one that Donnie had modified. He wouldn’t have to worry about the batteries running out. Decision made, Raph took it towards the entrance of the cave and set it on the ledge where he had found it, the light on. Hopefully that would help them, and not come back to bite them in the shell.

That done, he sat back down by the fire and brought Donnie over to lean on him, wrapping an arm around his freezing, hurt, and exhausted brother. He reached for a piece of the wood and set about stripping it and making it ready to use when they needed it. He could feel Don’s eyes watching his hands work, and the two brothers sat there in silence, letting the warmth of the fire leech into them.

Eventually Donnie fell asleep on Raph, still shivering, still cold, but not as freezing. Raph was starting to feel his own exhaustion at that point. He’d been taking point and supporting Donnie through all of this, and now with the adrenaline crash, he could feel the tiredness start to overtake him as well. He couldn’t let himself sleep though. Not when there was a fire to tend and Donnie to worry about. Instead, he set his focus on stripping the wood and keeping an eye on Donnie.

Time seemed to stretch on as they huddled in the cave, with Raph stoking the fire a couple of times, and periodically checking on the storm. He could hear it howling in its fury outside of the cave and knew that going out in that now would be certain suicide.

Which brought up another problem.

Raph knew that he wouldn’t be able to go out for more wood for the fire, so he had to be conservative with what they had. But Donnie was barely getting warmer, skin still cold and shivers shuddering through him. Raph woke him up every so often, just to make sure he was still with him, and it always took Don a few moments to get his brain working again. He needed more warmth, but if Raph gave him that, then he was afraid that they would be left with no warmth, and that would be worse.

Raph had no idea what they were going to do when the fire ran out.

The supply was dwindling, and Raph had a dozing Don pulled tightly against him when the first sound caught his ear. It sounded like something outside of the cave. Tensing, Raph shifted Don so that, if he needed to, he could easily get in front of Don and protect him.

“Raphie?” Don murmured, stirring from his doze.

“I heard somethin’,” Raph said, already fingering a sai.

Don shifted, and Raph could sense him sitting up a bit more. It too him a moment, but he reached into Raph’s belt for a couple of shuriken, seeing as Don was still stripped of his gear. Raph didn’t mind. He’d rather his brother have something to protect himself and besides, he had added all of Don’s tools and weapons to his own earlier, just in case.

There was definitely something at the entrance to the cave, and it sounded big. Raph silently stood, taking a moment to make sure that Don was good before peering towards the entrance. If this was a bear or something, he’d definitely need room to fight—and probably something more long range than his sai.

He glanced at Donnie, seeing that his brother was a little more aware now. Good. It was probably the adrenaline. He gestured for Don to move to the back of cave and, after a moment, he did, scooting back without standing, and managing to keep quiet despite the pain Raph could see on his face. Raph picked up his brother’s bo, holding it in one hand. It wasn’t his preferred weapon, but they all knew how to fight with other weapons, especially the ones their brothers favored. He’d need something with more range for an animal, and Don’s bo fit the bill. He wished it had some sort of blade on it, but Raph knew from experience just how much damage could be done with a bo staff, if handled properly.

With Don at the back of the cave, and with himself as armed as he could be, Raph waited, letting the tension of battle seep into his body. He was ready. The second he saw his moment, he could strike. He just needed his enemy to reveal itself.

Suddenly, a green head poked its way inside the entrance, and Raph faltered for just a second. He knew instantly it wasn’t his brothers, but the surprise had taken him aback for a moment. He recovered quickly, though, and took a couple of steps forward, the bo raised.

“Wait!”

Don’s voice stopped him in his tracks, and Raph paused, risking a second to glance back at Don. “Donnie?” he questioned.

“I… I don’t…” he took a moment, even as the creature kept its eyes unnervingly fixed on Raphael. It made his hackles rise, and he willed Don to finish his sentence faster. “…it’s the green man,” he finally said. “or… um… green woman.”

Raph recalled the story that Casey, Mikey, and Don had told them, and he looked back at the creature. Its bulk took up most of the entrance, and Raph could see two little heads wiggling their way under its arms. It—she—took a paw and gently pushed them back.

“Is she dangerous?” he asked Don.

“…don’t think so,” Don replied, his voice starting to sound exhausted again. “…’less we’re a threat.”

Raph eyed her again and then, slowly, lowered the bo. She seemed to take this as permission, and trundled in, carefully avoiding the fire and guiding her two children along. Raph backed up a little, keeping a wary eye on her. If she turned on them, he wasn’t sure that he’d be able to take her, although he’d sure try.

She trundled along the edge of the cave, sniffing it. One of the cubs got closer to the fire, and she let out a noise that seemed to be a warning to them. The cub darted back. She sniffed the air and paused, as if she had just discovered something. Her head turned, nose sniffing, and she seemed to zero in on Donnie. Raph watched tensing up as she seemed to make her way over to Don.

He took steps toward Don, and she paused, looking at him curiously. Raph moved into a more protective stance in front of Don, her eyes fixed on him the entire time. Then, slowly, she moved her attention to Don, and brushed her fur back on one front leg. Raph’s brow furrowed. What was she doing?

“…oh.”

Don seemed to understand, and Raph looked back at him. “Donnie?”

“She’s… she’s the same one,” he said. “’s okay.”

“You sure?” Raph wasn’t sure.

“Yeah… ‘s scar there.”

Raph wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but cautiously stepped back, and the green woman moved closer. She lowered her head, sniffing at Don, taking her time to sniff at his wound. She let out a distressed sound at it.

“He got shot,” Raph said. “Hurt. We’ve done the best we can.”

The green lady looked at him, and then back at Donatello. She nosed at his skin, seemingly unhappy, but backed off again. She lumbered over to the opposite side of the cave, settled in, calling her cubs over to her. They had been sitting and watching everything but scurried over to her at her call.

Raph knelt by Donnie, reaching out to help him move back towards the fire. His shivering was getting worse again, and Raph wanted him as close to the fire as possible.

“Okay. That was weird,” Raph said as he helped his brother stand.

Don grimaced, and Raph handed him his staff, letting him use it as a crutch. “Yeah,” he said. “I—ah—I, um… I d-don’t think… I don’t… think sh-she liked… that I was-s hurt.”

Raph gently helped Donnie sit back down, wishing there was something more that he could do. The green woman watched it all as she laid curled around her cubs.

“Yeah, well, neither do I,” Raph said. He threw a bit more wood on the fire and wrapped his arm around Donnie again. He was still like ice. “Just rest bro. I’ll keep an eye on things.”

Don nodded, clearly spent again, and leaned into Raph’s side.

The green woman and her cubs weren’t bad roommates. Just them being in there had helped raise the temperature of the cave a bit, which Raph found helpful. The cubs liked to run around and play like any other kids. She kept them mostly reigned in, mostly just observing Raph and Don. That was fine by Raph, as he did the same to her and her cubs. They existed in the same space but didn’t really interact.

At least, not until one of the cubs was getting too close to the fire. It had been warned off by its mother, but the little fella just seemed determined to get a closer look. Raph couldn’t decide if that was his kind of rebellion, or Donnie’s type of curiosity, but regardless, it kept getting too close.

“Hey,” Raph said to it. “Shoo. Back off.” It paused as if it was considering Raph’s words, and then moved closer. “I said, back off,” Raph said again, this time stronger. He could feel the green woman’s eyes on him. Once again, the cub looked at him, and crept closer. This time, Raph picked up the bo staff. “I said to back off,” he said firmly, and brought the staff down just tin front of the cub, smacking it hard enough against a rock to make a loud noise. It startled the cub, sending it back to its mother with a cry.

She had been watching him the whole time, and Raph had no doubt that if he had hurt the little cub, she would have stepped in. But instead, she just gave a bob of her head, as if in approval, and started getting onto the cub, or at least that’s what it sounded like to Raph’s ears.

From that point on, if Raph said something to the cubs, they seemed to listen, backing off when he told them too, or just heading back towards their mother. They also apparently decided that meant that they could come up and demand attention from him and Donnie whenever they wanted, but Raph didn’t mind that so much. They were warm, and that was nice.

Unfortunately, the storm was getting worse, and it didn’t take long for Raph to run out of fuel for the fire. Once it was out, the temperature seemed to drop again, leaving the icy cold to start moving into the space. The green woman and her cubs didn’t seem too bothered by it, but Raph was.

Don had been somewhat responsive while the fire was going, still cold, but with it enough that he enjoyed watching the cubs play, even petting them a few times. But once the fire was out, his shivering picked up again, growing more and more violent, and leaving Don more and more out of it until he was pretty much unresponsive to Raph.

“Come on, Donnie. Stay with me, bro,” Raph said as he clutched his brother to him, trying to rub some warmth into his brother’s limbs. Don murmured against him, but that was about it. His shivering was dying down, but his skin was just as icy, if not more so, and something about that made alarms blare in Raph’s mind. He had to do something, anything, or he knew that Don wasn’t going to survive.

He’d have to go out and get some wood or something, although he had no idea how he would find his way in the storm. He was shivering hard too, and that worried him. It would be too easy for him to get too cold out there as well. But he had to do something. Doing nothing meant Don’s death.

He rubbed Donnie’s limbs with his own shaking hands one more time, and laid him down, arranging him so that the least amount of skin was touching the cold earth. He started pulling things out of Don’s bag again. There was no other choice. Maybe he could use the rope to guide him. He could tie it off to something here and use it as a guideline. He only hoped he could find something within its reach—

His thoughts were cut off as the green woman stood up, making her way over to the two of them. Raph froze as she bent her head down and gently snuffled at Don. Raph had no idea what was going on, but he wasn’t sure he liked it. She looked as if she were trying to get a response out of him, but Donnie barely twitched. The green woman huffed. She nudged him again, and Raph slowly reached for his sai, unsure of what was going on. Then, with a whine and a huff, she nearly made Raph’s heart stop as she put a hand on her brother’s shell, hauling him to a sitting position, and then curled herself around his brother.

“Hey--!” Raph started, alarmed. “Get off of my brother!”

The green woman curled tighter around Donnie, and simply looked at Raphael. Raph gripped his sai, not sure what to do. If he attacked, she could hurt Don, or he could hurt Don accidentally. If he did nothing, then that could put Don in more danger. And Raph knew he wasn’t in the condition to take on the green woman. He was too cold as well. But no matter what, there was a good chance of Don being hurt, which Raph did not like. He couldn’t leave his brother there, though. He’d have to--

Donnie let out a contented sigh seeming to sink into the fur.

Raph blinked in surprise.

The green woman curled around him more, once again nuzzling him with her head.

Raph understood.

“Yer—yer keeping him warm,” he said, surprised. “Ya—but why?”

The green woman looked at him, and Raph had the distinct impression that he was getting a maternal amused look. She made another noise, and Raph felt something warm and furry butt its way into his hand. He looked down to see one of the cubs nuzzling his hand, while the other gently butted him from behind. They were trying to push him closer to the green woman.

“What—hey, what is this, family cuddle time?” Raph asked, pulling his hand away. The little green cubs were not undeterred, though, and Raph realized that family cuddle time was exactly what this was. They bullied him closer to their mom and Raph decided to give in, putting his sais away as they pushed hi =m closer. He was cold, he was tired, they were warm, and it would put him closer to Donnie. “Alright, alright,” he said and sat down next to the green woman. She shifted, arranging herself so that he could lean on her. The two cubs plopped down, one practically in his lap, the other nuzzled up against his side. Raph sighed. He could keep an eye on things like this, he supposed. So long as Donnie was safe, that was all he cared about.

The next thing that Raph knew he was waking up, half buried in warm green fur. It took him a moment to make sense of the situation, but once he did, he realized he was leaning heavily into the green woman’s side, with the cubs cuddled up with him. He was quite warm with them, the only places that were cool being the ones that weren’t covered in green fur, like his head and one arm.

He squinted as he looked around the dark cave. The bag was still laying where he had left it, half emptied, and the fire was still nothing but ashes. Don’s gear was still laid out where it had been drying. Sunlight seemed to be coming in from the opening to the cave and—

Raph paused. Sunlight! That meant that the storm was over! If the storm was over, then that meant that maybe he and Don could make their way back to the farmhouse. It would be hard, but Don needed medical attention. However, while that was good, that didn’t seem like what snapped him to awareness. Something obviously had. He didn’t just wake up like that for no reason.

His heart lept in his throat. Was it Donnie? Had something happened to Don and that’s what woke him up? Raph began struggling to get loose from the two cubs, needing to see Don, needing to make sure that he was alright. He was just managing to get his arms free when he froze.

“Raph! Donnie!”

“Raphael! Donatello!”

“Raaaaaph! Dooooon!”

“The guys—” Raph pulled himself loose of the cubs, waking them slightly as he stumbled back. He could see the top of Donnie’s head from where he was buried in the green woman’s hold, but that was enough for him. He lunged forward, ignoring the confused sounds from the cubs, and the curious ones from the green woman. He pushed on her arms until he could see Don, could feel his skin, check his pulse see him breathing. He was alive. He was alright. He was still colder than he should be, but he was still with him.

Raph turned and headed towards the entrance of the cave. “Here! We’re—Leo! Mike! We’re here!”

“Raph? Raph!”

“Raph!”

“Over here!”

They weren’t close enough to see yet, but they had heard him. He wanted to get out there, try to find them, make himself more visible, but he needed to check on Donnie before he did anything else. Something shone in the sunlight, and he saw the flashlight, still on, buried in the snow and ice and brushed it off, pulling it out. He set it up in the snow again, a beacon for his brothers even as he rushed back to check on Don.

The green woman was awake now, even if she hadn’t moved yet, Don still carefully cradled in her side. But she was looking at him curiously, as were the cubs.

“Our family,” Raph said. “That’s our family, lookin’ for us.” He reached for Don again, and this time the green woman moved her arms away further, allowing Raph better access. Raph knelt, putting his hands on the sides of Donnie’s face. “Donnie? Don, bro, can you hear me? Donnie.”

Don’s brow furrowed, and Raph tried again, this time also tapping his brother on the cheek. Finally, after what seemed like forever, Don’s eyes cracked open.

“Mm…Raphie?” he said, clearly still a little disoriented at the moment, but awake and recognizing him. “What… I’m…um…”

He looked around a little bewildered, and Raph laughed. “Don’t worry, Brainiac, I’ll explain everythin’ to ya. But I want ya to wake up, but ya need stay here. I can hear the others lookin’ for us. I’ll be right back, okay, bro?”

Donnie still looked confused, but he nodded at Raph’s words, looking around the cave. That did wonders to lighten Raph’s worries. The look he had was one of Don trying to figure out a problem, not one of not being able to understand what was going on.

Knowing he might need something to grab their eye, Raph grabbed up Don’s bo and his now dry mask and tied the mask to the end of the staff. He headed out of the entrance of the cave, wincing at how cold the snow and ice were on his feet. The snow seemed to cover everything, as did layers of ice. There were broken branches all around and a few downed trees. His breath formed visible puffs of air as he breathed out, the cold trying to steal all of the air from his lungs. But the sky was clear, and the sun was shining. And in the distance, he could hear his brothers’ voices calling for him again.

Raph climbed on top of the out cropping that made the entrance to the small cave, and waved the staff with the mask around, as well as the light. “Mikey! Leo!” he bellowed. “We’re here! Near the water! There’s a cave! Mikey! Leo!”

There was the crunching sound of snow and then, almost before he could process that, Mikey, heavily clothed, emerged from the trees, running towards him and flinging his arms around him. Raph took half a step back for balance but closed his arms around Mikey.

“Raph! Oh man, oh man, oh man, are you alright? Where’s Donnie? Oh man, Raphie, don’t do this again!”

The only thing that cut off Mikey’s frantic babbling was the sudden appearance of Leo, also heavily clothed. He didn’t bother to hold back either, rocketing towards them and wrapping his arms around both Raph and Mikey.

“Raph! Are—are you alright? Where’s Don? Is he alright? Shell, you’re shivering, Mikey, we needed to call the others, get them here, get him in something warm.”

Leo was already stepping back, pulling out a shell cell even as Mikey was unzipping one of the heavy coats he had on, eager to give it to Raph.

“Whoa, whoa, hang on, Leo, one thing at a time,” Raph said as he tried to get the both of them to calm down. “I’m not about to freeze to death, although I wouldn’t mind steppin’ inside the cave.” He jerked his thumb towards the entrance. “Donnie’s in there. He’s hurt, but I think he’ll be alright, thanks to some help we got last night.”

“Help?” Leo questioned.

Raph nodded. “Yeah. Look, just come see for yerself, alright? Besides—this ice is freezing my feet.”

The other two nodded quickly, and Raph staked Don’s bo with his mask in the snow near the flashlight, figuring it could serve as a marker if others were going to be coming this way. He led the way into the half-hidden cave, his brothers following him. Almost immediately the two cubs came running up to him, making little trilling noises at him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m back,” Raph said, giving each of them a pat on the head and then shooing them back.

Mikey was the first to understand what was happening. “The green woman!” he said in surprise.

“The green woman?” Leo questioned. “You mean that creature that you and Casey and Don saved from that crazy monster hunter lady?”

“…I think creature might be a bit unfair.” Don’s voice floated out, sounding exhausted still, but aware at least. The green woman shifted enough to reveal Don, and the looks on Mikey and Leo’s faces were priceless. They were part disbelief and part relief. “I think she’s got more intelligence than we realize, we’re just not used to understanding intelligence in the way that she’s presenting it.”

“Donnie!” Mikey rocketed over to him, falling to his knees and sliding the last little bit to him. The coat he had been taking off was still in his hands, and he laid it over Don, even as Don was still reclining into the green woman.

“Don,” the relief was clear to hear in Leo’s voice, and he gave their brother a smile. “Raph said you were hurt. How bad is it?”

“He probably shouldn’t be up and around,” Raph said. “He was shot in the leg,” both Mikey and Leo stiffened at that, “and then we had to move on it. It was a clean shot but kept bleedin’ for a while. I haven’t had the chance to check it this morning yet.”

Almost immediately Mikey was searching for the injury and bringing the bag he was wearing around, clearly set to check on the wound.

“That’s not all,” Leo said looking at Raph.

Raph shook his head. “No, it ain’t. We got caught out in the storm, tried to get home. But when we tried to cross the creek, Donnie fell in. We managed to find this cave, and I got us some wood, but it wasn’t enough. The Green Woman and her cubs joined us partway through. When the fire ran out, I had no way left to keep Don warm. He… he got real cold, Leo. I didn’t… I was about to risk the storm again just to find some more wood to burn. But she,” he nodded towards the green woman, “brought Don in close to her and curled around him, keeping him warm. Those two,” he nodded at the cubs, who were busy play wrestling, “bullied me over too. The next thing I knew I was wakin’ up in a pile of green fur because I heard you two.”

“I’m glad you did,” Leo said. “Mike, how is he?”

“He is right here,” Don said, a little annoyed.

“It’s like Raphie said,” Mikey said. “It looks pretty clean, but I don’t think he should be up on it.” He placed his hands on Don’s face. “And he still feels a little cold to me.”

Leo nodded. “Alright. Casey, April, and Splinter are all out looking for you two as well. I’m going to call them and get them over this way with the snow mobiles. We’ll get you two some warm clothes and head back to the farmhouse.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Raph said. “I could use a nice warm house.”

“I’m sure,” Leo said. “But until then—” he stripped off his outer coat and handed it to Raph, pausing only to put his hand on his shoulder and squeeze it before he headed towards the entrance to the cave. “I’m really glad you two are safe.”

He stepped away then, and Raph slipped the coat on. He knew that the others had to have been worried about him and Donnie, but he was getting the feeling that it was worse than he thought. With a shake of his head, he made his way over to Mikey and Don, where Mikey bullied him into sitting next to Don, the cubs joining and pinning them down again. Raph didn’t fight it, not when he could see the little extra edge of relief that Mikey had to him.

It didn’t take long for the sound of two snow mobiles to be heard, and then more voices. Raph felt the green woman tense up, but Raph just rubbed a hand in her fur.

“Easy,” he said. “That’s just more of our family.”

Within moments Splinter, April, and Casey were rushing into the cave, Splinter immediately rushing over to them.

“My sons!”

The green woman nudged the cubs out of the way and moved herself more so that Splinter had a better access to them. His hands ghosted over them, checking for hidden injuries and checking temperatures.

“Raph! Donnie!” April was right there as well, a worried look on her face as she sat down what looked like the medical kit the family kept.

“Guys! Yer alright!” Casey followed behind them, setting down a heavy pack that looked as if it had clothes spilling out of it.

“For the most part,” Raph said.

“Neither of you are to move,” Splinter instructed them sternly. He looked to the green woman. “Thank you for watching over my sons. Please allow them to stay here for a few moments longer, until we are ready to move them.”

“Master Splinter I’m fine—” Raph started, only to stop at his father’s look.

“I will be the judge of that, Raphael,” he said. “And you are still cool to the touch.” He turned his attention to Don. “And you—”

“Don’t worry, Master,” Donnie said, his voice still sounding far too tired. “I’m not planning on moving until I’m made to.”

“Good.” April kneeled down next to them as Splinter started his own examination of Don.

Raph scooted to the side just a bit, giving April a bit more room. “What’s in the bag?” he asked Casey, absentmindedly petting the cubs who had come over to him, demanding attention.

“Clothes and stuff for you two,” Casey said. “Although I think yer little buddies there are keepin’ ya plenty warm.”

Raph snorted. “They’re like pushy little heaters that demand attention.”

“So like Mikey, if he was warm-blooded,” Don said, a faint smile on his face.

“I heard that!” came Mikey’s voice from outside of the cave.

“Casey, April, help Donatello into some warm clothes,” Splinter said, interrupting the conversation. “Raphael, let me look over you.”

“I’m fine, Master,” Raph said. “Donnie’s the one you should be worried about.”

“You have been through an ordeal as well, my son,” Splinter said. “You have pushed yourself hard. Do not discount that.”

It did not take Splinter long to make his evaluations. While they were both alert enough, it wasn’t good enough for him. He refused to let either one of them move without help and insisted on both of them being bundled as much as possible before he even considered letting them leave the cave. Neither Raph nor Don really minded, as they were both feeling the cold more than anyone else.

Throughout it all, the green woman watched, letting her cubs play around them all, but keeping her eyes on what was going on.

Mikey made sure that all of their things were gathered back up, and the two of them were led out of the cave and to the waiting snowmobiles. Don was still unsteady on his feet, both from the gunshot wound, and from his dance with hypothermia. Leo and Casey supported him out and onto the small supply trailer Don had rigged up last year. April and Splinter would ride with Don there while Leo drove that snowmobile. Raph would be sitting behind Leo. Mikey and Casey were going to take the other one and go on ahead to make sure things were prepared at the farmhouse.

Mikey walked Raph out. Raph really didn’t need the help, but he didn’t have the heart to turn Mikey away. He was just about to settle on the snowmobile when he looked behind them to see that the green woman and her cubs had come out of the cave to watch them.

“Wait a second,” Raph said, and he waved Mikey off as he turned around and walked towards the green woman, stopping before her. He hesitated a moment, then half-bowed to her, feeling a bit too unsteady to completely bow. “Thank you,” he said. “I don’t think Donnie woulda made it without ya. And I’m not sure I woulda either.”

The green woman leaned her head forward, nuzzling the side of Raph’s, before slowly turning away. The cub rushed forward, nuzzling into his hands, and then turning to follow their mother as she made her way into the woods.

Mikey stepped towards Raph, clasping a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, bro. Let’s get home,” he said.

Raph nodded, and let Mikey lead him back toward the snowmobile, getting on behind Leo. Within moments they were moving, gliding over the snow, Mikey and Casey racing ahead of them. Raph just kept ahold of Leo and let his mind blank out as they moved, relieved to finally be able to turn the decision making over to someone else.

He had almost lost his brother. He had almost died himself. They had almost frozen to death. Donnie could have been shot in a much, much worse way or place. And while he had done his best, it wouldn’t have been enough, except for the help of the green woman. He tightened his hold on Leo, suddenly very tired.

Leo turned his head toward him just a bit, raising his voice a bit to be heard over the noise. “We’ll be back at the farm soon,” he said. “Will you be good until then?”

Raph nodded. “Yeah,” he said, responding in kind. “Just… it’ll be good to be there.”

Leo turned his head back toward the front, and Raph felt their speed increase just a little bit more.

The farmhouse was a welcome sight. There was already smoke coming out of the chimney, and as they pulled up right in front of the front porch, Casey and Mike were there and ready to help them inside. Casey and Mikey took the main part of Don’s weight as he limped inside with them, April following not far behind. Leo turned the snowmobile off, getting off, clearly waiting on Raph. Raph swung his leg over the seat and stood up, although almost immediately he swayed.

“Whoa there!” Leo reached out to steady him. “You good, Raph?”

Splinter was suddenly at his side. “You have over-exerted yourself, my son. Leonardo, help me get him inside.”

“Yes, Master,” Leo said.

“I ain’t the one hurt,” Raph grumbled, but he didn’t refuse Leo’s help up the stairs and inside.

Leo led him to a chair that was by the fire, where Mikey immediately wrapped a warmed blanket around him, and lifted his feet, stripping them of the boots and socks to put them in a bucket of warm water. He pushed a warm drink in his hand.

“Drink up, bro,” Mikey said. “I’ll have some soup for you two soon! I bet you’re starving.”

Raph blinked. “Yeah—now that ya mention it, I am pretty hungry.”

“Some of my sewer famous soup coming right up, then!” Mikey said with a grin.

Raph looked around the room. Don was on the couch, which had been pulled closer to the fire as well. He, too, had a blanket over him, although it had been pulled back and most of his clothes pulled off so that his leg could be seen to.

“We will clean it thoroughly, and then stitch it,” Splinter said as he examined it. “After that, you, Donatello, will stay in bed until I say you are ready to be up.” He turned his stern gaze on Raph as well. “Both of you are far too cold for this old rat’s comfort.”

“Yes, Sensei,” they both murmured.

Raph kept a lazy eye on watching his family move about the farmhouse. Leo and Splinter were tending to Donnie, he could hear Mikey and April in the kitchen, and Casey had headed out to put the snowmobiles away. Raph burrowed more into the warmth around him, letting it envelop him. Eventually Mikey brought out the soup, and both he and Donnie ate some while it was nice and warm. Raph hadn’t realized just how hungry he was until that moment. The soup was hearty, and Splinter insisted that they both eat at least two bowls of it.

Don managed to whine enough about feeling gross from creek water, dirt, and unwashed fur that he was finally allowed to get a monitored shower after they ate, with the provision that he went straight to bed afterward. He agreed. When he was out, Raph got a shower of his own, knowing that the same conditions applied to him. Splinter would have it no other way, and everyone else seemed to agree.

Leo waited on him while he was in the shower, ready to walk him up to the attic space they claimed as their room when they were here. Raph found that he didn’t mind. He was exhausted, and, if he were honest, having his brother nearby was a comfort.

“Hey. Leo,” Raph said once they reached the bottom of the staircase.

“Yeah?” Leo responded.

“…how bad did we scare all of ya?” Raph asked.

There was a pause. “…pretty badly,” Leo said. “We honestly thought it was more likely that we’d find your bodies then find you alive.”

Raph took that in. “The storm seemed bad to me, but it musta been worse than I thought from that cave.”

Leo’s expression darkened. “The winds shook the house from time to time. We saw the ice building on things as we watched. Power went out a couple of times, although Don’s generators kicked in just fine. There were reports all over the news about how bad it was. We… we honestly didn’t know how you two would survive,” Leo said. “We were nearly certain we had lost both of you.”

Raph had paused at this point, not heading up the stairs to the third floor yet. “…Can I be honest with ya, Leo?” He waited until Leo nodded, then continued. “I think ya almost did. Or at least one of us.” He looked up the stairs. “That farmer saw us, and we weren’t fast enough. He got Don, and I swear my heart almost stopped there. But even though we managed to get away, the storm just kept getting worse. Don wasn’t sure if we’d make it even if he wasn’t hurt. I was worried then. But when he fell in the creek…” Raph swallowed. “It was like feelin’ him freeze under my fingers. And then I never could get him warm enough. We ran out of firewood. I was certain that he was going to freeze to death and that I wouldn’t be far behind. If it hadn’t of been for the green woman…” Raph shook his head. “I thought Donnie was gonna die right there and there was nothin’ I could do about it.”

Leo gave Raph’s shoulder a squeeze. “I’m glad she showed up.”

“Me too,” Raph said. “Although I have no idea why.”

“Probably the flashlight you left sitting out and on.” Don’s voice drifted down from the attic. “And if you two are going to have private conversations having them on stairwells that force the sound in only a couple of directions probably isn’t the best thing.”

“Maybe if we didn’t have eavesdropping brothers it wouldn’t be a problem,” Leo said with a grin, gesturing for Raph to head on up.

Don was already in bed, the bed piled high with quilts, a portable heater turned on him. He watched them as they came up the stairs, as if he had been expecting it for a while. “Tired?” he asked.

“Exhausted,” Raph responded, collapsing into what he was fairly certain was his bed. Leo just chuckled and turned the second portable heater before draping at least one blanket over Raph.

“I’ll leave you two to rest,” he said with a smile. “Just get under some quilts soon, Raph.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Raph muttered, his face in his pillows.

Leo chuckled, but left the room, leaving the two in the relative quiet. With the distant sounds of the television and the gentle murmur of their family, Raph found himself relaxing.

“Hey, uh, Raphie?”

Raph shook himself out of his stupor and looked over at Don. “Yeah?” he said.

“Sorry for scaring you,” he said. “I should have been more careful—”

“Stop apologizin’,” Raph said. “It wasn’t like it was yer fault. And ya did a lot to keep us safe. Ya took care of yer leg, had those smoke bombs of yers, found the cave. You were even the one that set up that flashlight for me.”

“Still,” Don said, “that had to be terrifying.”

“It was no walk in the park,” Raph said. He sighed, and rolled off his bed, leaving the blanket behind and walking over to Don. “Move over,” he said.

Donnie looked up at him in surprise, “What?” he asked.

“I said, move over,” Raph repeated. Don did and Raph slipped into the bed with him. He could feel Don’s curious look on him, and he explained. “I’m not gonna sleep good without knowin’ yer safe. And somethin’ tells me you could use the comfort too.”

“…you’re not wrong,” Donnie said with a smile. He sat whatever it was he had been working on, on the nightstand and snuggled into the blankets. “…thanks, Raphie.”

Raph wrapped his arms around Don, knowing that thanks was for more than just this moment. “Anytime, Donnie. Anytime.”

Raph tightened his hold on his brother, and let sleep slowly take him, safe, secure, warm, and content with the knowledge that he and his brother were safe.

“Hey, Raph?”

“Mm?”

“Next time I want to go out in the middle of winter, just throw me in some snow and remind me why it’s a bad idea.”

“In a heartbeat, Don.”

#whumpuary #whumpuaryno3 #tmnt #tmnt2k3 #tmnt raphael #tmnt donatello #I'm terrible at title names guys I'm so sorry #and this is a long one so just be prepared!

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breaddo · 2 years ago

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Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway.

thank you @weidli for tagging me! :] i will also be posting my last 5 fics posted on ao3 + 5 wips of varying recent-cy. would have done this on my sideblog but i included other fandoms

published:

1. cambi di me, pensieri e forme (doctor who; eight wears a pretty dress and charley realizes she's not quite a woman)

"Do we have to?" "Oh, where's your sense of adventure, Charley?"

2. you're so cold, keep your hand in mine (tatort münchen; vampires au in the 90's)

The neon lights were blinding in the dark, and Ivo didn’t like having so many people so close around him like this.

3. your burning yearning need (polizeiruf 110; vincent finds out about a vulgar deal adam struck with ulysses during demokratie stirbt in finsternis)

They were in the middle of a difficult case. One murder became two, then three, something more coordinated than they originally believed.

4. è vietato morire (polizeiruf 110; adam dies, or so vincent thinks.)

It's just a normal case. It's a long, grueling case that has them spending a couple nights in another town thus far, but in the end it's just another damn case.

5. Good Night, Sweet Prince (polizeiruf 110; the lead actor in a hamlet production dies that same night, and vincent becomes a main suspect in the death of his friend.)

“Horatio.” It was the softest word he’d ever spoken, as if tailored just for him to say. “Horatio, if thou didst ever hold me in thy heart…” Hamlet slowly raised his reddened hand to cup his face, dampening his jaw. “Absent thee from felicity a while, and in this harsh world, draw thy breath in pain.”

wips:

6. Untitled (polizeiruf 110/4 gegen z crossover; a retelling of abgrund in which adam reunites with an old friend)

Adam's side of the investigation started with the inn and its owner.

7. Untitled (tatort münchen; in which carlo is dead and franz disappears. sorry i riffed too hard off a mutual's blorbo dream)

It's been two weeks. They've been working together long enough that Kalli can tell when there's something wrong with Batic and Leitmayr.

8. Untitled (4 gegen z; au where everything is the same but jona has a cat)

The Guardians practically materialized on Jona's boat, flooding through the doorway. "Jona, we−What's that?" Jona looked up from his lap. "What's what?" "That." Pinkas pointed at him, and Jona looked back down. The little ball of orange fur in his lap stared at the kids with wide eyes.

9. Untitled (doctor who; post-seasons of fear, eight is exhausted after his recent adventures and shows up to a familiar doorstep in san francisco in search for something grounding)

Another patch in time stitched over. Well, that was an extremely simplified and basic explanation of what really happened to the timeline since they chased after Grayle, but it would have to do for now, because the Doctor didn't want to think about time at the moment.

10. No Satisfaction (metamoro; x-files au idea based on the no satisfaction music video and fueled by multiple years of really specific brainrot. this is my wildcard option, babey!)

1:27 A.M. It wouldn't have had to be such a long night for him if he could just make himself stop thinking for a minute.

i'll tag @bunny-banana, @occhi-verdi-come-il-mare, @tinypi, @egirlgarak, @carlomenzinger and anyone else who wants to do it 👍

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mybookplacenet · 3 months ago

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Author Interview: Julie Catania-Shady

Tell us about yourself.: Hi! I'm Julie! I'm a Law & Order: Special Victims Unit junkie; children's books literacy advocate, Author, spouse to a retired air force airman, and mama, who is simply making it through the day by the grace of caffeine and Jesus. I live in leggings and LOVE wearing dresses with sneakers! I have a degree in broadcast journalism and criminal justice from the University of Maryland in College Park. After college, I went on to work in television, specializing in crime TV, and then advanced to investigations for the federal government. My most favorite job has been being a mommy and Conversations With Colton are my favorite! I live in Oklahoma with my husband, son, and dog. Where did you grow up, and how did this influence your writing?: I grew up in Maryland and I have to say that had a significant impact on my work. The state has a rich history, diverse population, and unique geography that can inspire creativity and shape one's perspective. For instance, the Chesapeake Bay and its surroundings can inspire stories of adventure, romance, and mystery. Maryland's proximity to Washington, D.C., also influenced my work, as politics and policy often come into play in the nation's capital. Do you have any unusual writing habits? I believe every writer has unique writing habits, that they follow to help them stay productive and creative. Mine is: I prefer to write at night. I'm more productive and enjoy a quieter more peaceful environment when writing. Do you have any advice for new authors? Read as much as you can! Nothing inspires an author like reading someone else's words. It's super common to hit roadblocks and get writer's block when you are immersing yourself in books! What is the best advice you have ever been given? The best advice I've ever received is to keep a pad of paper and pencil on my nightstand. You never know what ideas you may have in the middle of the night or while dreaming. What are you reading now? First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston What's your biggest weakness? Chocolate and Reality TV 😂 What is your favorite book of all time? Heaven Is For Real by Todd Burpo. It was the inspiration behind my son's name! When you're not writing, how do you like to spend your time? I enjoy spending my time with my family, reading and walking Rocky our family dog. Do you remember the first story you ever read, and the impact it had on you? My favorite series growing up was Nancy Drew. I wish I had fond childhood memories of enjoying books before middle school, but I don’t. I don’t have any memories where I enjoyed reading before the Nancy Drew series. I know my parents read bedtime stories to me. I read when it was required in school, but I didn’t love books, until I “met” Nancy and the gang. For those you don’t know, Nancy Drew is a fictional teenage amateur detective in an extended series of mystery books by Carolyn Keene. Nancy Drew’s intelligence, courage, and independence made her a popular role model for many generations of young readers. I may have been her #1 fan. I was obsessed with her investigative skills and loved the idea of solving mysteries. In hindsight, I believe she inspired me more than I realized at the time, but I owe Carolyn Keene the world because she is was sparked my LOVE of books. What has inspired you and your writing style? I write inspirational non-fiction. After suffering a miscarriage and a cancer diagnosis, finding out I was pregnant was an incredible miracle. But what happened next put my faith to the test, more so than the previous trials. How do you keep having faith when you are caught in a "storm?" Conversations with Colton will explore just that! Colton survived despite what doctors said, and conversations with him have made all the fear, faith, and doubt that got to this moment 100 percent worth it. What are you working on now? I am working on a coffee table book filled with life lessons from an 8-year-old. It will be filled with fun, comedic conversations, from a miracle baby's views on life. What is your favorite method for promoting your work? social media! I love Facebook and connecting with old friends and new ones! What's next for you as a writer? I would love to finish my 2nd book and start a children's book one day. How well do you work under pressure? My best work comes from having a firm deadline. How do you decide what tone to use with a particular piece of writing? I like to write as I talk. Connecting with my readers and allowing them into my world leaves them feeling like we are sitting at my favorite table at Starbucks having a conversation. If you could share one thing with your fans, what would that be? Be on the lookout and try not to miss them, the tiny miracles, because they are what will give you hope for the future. Julie Catania-Shady's Author Websites and Profiles Website Amazon Profile Goodreads Profile Julie Catania-Shady's Social Media Links Facebook Page Instagram Pinterest YouTube Account Read the full article

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q-unsolved · 6 years ago

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Doctor Madej makes inappropriate jokes about dead bodies and is way too smug about it. Detective Bergara counts the days till his retirement.

i mean... this is what my brain imagined when it heard “roast mortem”

#buzzfeed unsolved #shane madej #ryan bergara #bfu #bfufanart #roast mortem #this is kinda... uh #police au #i guess???#can you tell i have no idea what investigators and doctors wear #buzzfeed unsolved fanart #my art

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movie-magic · 3 years ago

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Ruby Rose Alleges Gruesome Injuries, Toxic Behavior on ‘Batwoman’ Set

“I will come for you so what happened to me never happens to another person again,” actress wrote on Instagram

Actress Ruby Rose detailed the injuries and difficult working conditions she says she and others endured while making the CW Arrowverse series, Batwoman.

Rose — who left Batwoman in May 2020 — leveled her allegations in a series of posts on Instagram Stories, which included video from doctors’ visits post-injury. She also detailed alleged injuries suffered by crew members and stunt people, while she accused Warner Bros. Television executive, Peter Roth, of hiring a private investigator to track her.

“Enough is enough,” Rose wrote in her first post, which was addressed to the CW, Batwoman showrunner Caroline Dries, and Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter of the show’s production company Berlanti Productions. “I’m going to tell the whole world what really happened on that set… I will come for you so what happened to me never happens to another person again. And so I can finally take back my life and the truth. Shame on you.”

Rose shared a handful of videos from doctors’ visits regarding injuries to her ribs and neck. Reposting a clip made during a neck surgery she underwent in 2019, Rose wrote, “To everyone who said I was too stiff on Batwoman, imagine going back to work 10 days after this … 10 DAYS! (Or the whole crew and cast would be fired and I’d let everyone down because [Warner Bros. exec] Peter Roth said he would recast and I just lost the studio millions (by getting injured on his set). … Instead of spending half a day to rewrite me out for a few weeks to heal.”

Rose went on to say she would never return to Batwoman for “any amount of money nor if a gun were to my head,” although also clarified that she did not quit. “They ruined Kate Kane and they destroyed Batwoman, not me. I followed orders, and if I wanted to stay I was going to have to sign my rights away. Any threats, any bullying tactics, or blackmail will not make me stand down.”

She then went on to share allegations involving dangerous workplace conditions and injuries she says were suffered by herself and others on the set. Rose claimed a crew member “got 3rd degree burns over his whole body, and we were given no therapy after witnessing his skin fall off his face.” She claimed that soon after, she was told she “had to do a sex scene without a minute to process.” Additionally, she said the show lost two stunt doubles, and she was once cut so close to the eye while doing a stunt, “I could have been blind.”

Rose also claimed that a PA was “left quadriplegic” following an incident on the set. While the incident was allegedly blamed on the woman being on her phone, Rose noted, “she’s a PA, they work via phones.” Rose added that the incident “occurred because our show refused to shut down when everyone else did because of Covid,” and that the showrunner, Dries, “wanted us to finish the season throughout the pandemic and I told her it was a bad idea… I told her everyone was too distracted, constantly checking Covid updates, checking on friends.” Rose said when the show was finally shut down it was not because of the PA’s injury, but because of the government mandate.

Elsewhere in her posts, Rose addressed Roth, the Warner TV exec, saying he allegedly made “young women steam [his] pants, around your crotch while you were still wearing said pants,” and that he allegedly hired a private investigator to track Rose, but fired them “as soon as the report didn’t fit your narrative.” “When it comes to you, there’s already an army waiting for u,” Rose wrote.

She also leveled several accusations against Batwoman co-star Dougray Scott: “Dougray hurt a female stunt double, he yelled like a little bitch at women and was a nightmare. He left when he wanted and arrived when he wanted, he abused women and in turn, as a lead of a show, I sent an email out asking for a no yelling policy, they declined.”

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letarasstuff · 4 years ago

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Minimal Loss - Maximal Stress

(A/N): This was requested by an anon and plays in the intern universe. It’s based on 4x3 “Mininal Loss”. I didn’t follow the exact plot, but the quint essence is there (you’ll see what I mean). I hope you enjoy it.

Summary: An intern goes along on a seemingly undangerous case with Emily and Spencer on a ranch under the lead of Benjamin Cyrus. What could go possibly wrong (well, everything ig)?

Warnings: Mentions of child abuse, guns, vomit, swear words, ususal Criminal Mind stuff

Wordcount: 2.9k

✨Masterlist✨ ________________________________

“Do you guys really think it’s a good idea to bring a child to an interview about child abuse?” Agent Lunde asks skeptically while steering the car towards the ranch, where the allegions originated from.

“(Y/N) is our intern and we thought she has to make some experience in the field and since this is the most peaceful case you can find within the BAU, it’s her opportunity”, Emily defends the team’s decision.

“Also, she is nearly the same age as the girls, so it’s easier for them to open up to her and she is incredibly bright, meaning she can help us deducing a profile”, Spencer adds. The teenager doesn’t acknowledge anything they say, too engrossed in listening to One Direction over her bluetooth earbuds.

Soon the quartet arrives at the Saptarian ranch. “I’m looking for Benjamin Cyrus.” “You found him”, answers the man, who sits in front of a chapel.

“He really is nicely placed. I feel like I looked like this in my math classes. I was like beautiful decoration, but had no use”, (Y/N) whispers to Emily. She in turn has a look of confusion on her face. “You aced math, you graduated with an A+ in it.” “Just because I have good grades doesn’t mean I’m not stupid. I mean, I’m educated, but stoopid.”

A little later she sits across from a blonde girl named Jessica, asking her questions about the 911 call. Her mother continuously steps into that conversation.

“Jessica, can you tell me, if anyone here were ever touched inappropriately?” “Is this really necessary? You are a child yourself, shouldn’t ask one of the other agents the questions?” Slowly the teenager’s patience is wearing down and Spencer can definitely see that from five meters away.

“Ma’am, with all due respect, but I’m perfectly capable of conducting this interview, if you stop interrupting me. I may be young, which doesn’t stand in my way of being an intern for CPS and still knowing my way around, so please step to me colleagues or something and let me do my job.” Hesitantly the mother gives the two girls their space.

As soon as she is out of earshot, Jessica begins to explain. “Nobody is touched in a way they shouldn’t be touched. Or is it wrong for a wife to share a bed with her husband.”

(Y/N) remembers Emily telling her to not judge anything anyone of the girls will say. But damn it, this girl is really hard not to judge.

“Wait wait wait. Let me get this straight: You are simping for that walking quote machine?” Okay, maybe she is judging. But just a little bit.

“If simping means deeply in love then yes, I am simping for Benjamin Cyrus, my husband.” At this point the other three agents get closer again. “Jessica, the state of Colorado demands parental consent. You aren’t married to him unles-'' The black haired woman cuts the young doctor off. “She did give consent.”

(Y/N) can barely contain the unsurprised “surprised” gasp leaving her mouth. But it would have been cut short nonetheless, since sudden gunfire erupted outside the school building.

Fairly quickly everybody is evacuated through the tunnels. As Cyrus tells the cult members to trust in god, the teenager turns to the agents. “This much to it’s safe for me here. Didn’t anybody check for weapons or something?” Flabbergasted because of the whole situation Spencer answers. “Yes, Garcia checked with the authorities and nothing was suspicious.”

Suddenly Lunde takes all the courage she has (maybe because a teenager she brought into this is in immediate danger like all the other kids) and goes up with the cult leader to speak to the shooting law enforcement officers. Shortly after the other three get the message of her death.

But they don’t have any time to think about her, since they all are shoved into the chapel.

While Cyrus holds a speech about trust in god in dangerous and trying times like this the BAU in Quantico learns about the shooting through the tv news report.

“HOTCH”, Morgan yells up to the Unit Chief’s office, probably giving everybody else a heart attack. Alarmed Aaron storms out into the bullpen followed by Rossi, who is attracted by the tumult. “Aren’t Prentiss and Reid on that ranch?” Derek asks, his eyebrows furrowing in worry.

Squinting at the screen, horror etches on the other agent’s face. “(Y/N) is also there”, he says, realizing that they sent a minor with zero field experience into a lava hot situation.

Suddenly the whole bullpen’s phones ring, which results in Hotch barking his first commands.

After a nightflight to Colorado the team sets up at the crime scene.

“Dave, I was appointed to determine the primary negotiator”, Aaron tells him after he pulls him to the side. “It makes sense. I trained most of the people here, if you want me I can give you a few recommendations.” But the Unit Chief shakes his head. “No, I want you to be the negotiator in this.”

Now it’s Rossi’s turn to shake his head. “Aaron, I can’t do it, I’m too emotionally involved.” “So are all of us and why should I take the student if I can have the teacher?” The older one sighs in resignation and accepts the offer. They don’t have the team nor reccourses for any mistakes in this.

As he goes to prepare for his task at hand, Hotch hears a man complaining loudly. “I demand to talk to know why I wasn't told that the FBI was sending undercover agents into the Saptarian ranch?” “The only thing you are in position to demand is a lawyer”, he says while stepping closer to the scene.

“Who the hell are you?” The man spits out into his direction. “I’m Aaron Hotchner, Unit Chief. I’m the guy who is gonna tell the Attorney General of the United States whether to charge you with obstructing a federal investigation or negligent homicide.” “You can’t talk to me like that”.

Upon closing the little bit of space between both of them, Aaron stares him down. “Get off my crime scene.” Just a few seconds of the intense and pissed Hotch Stare are enough to chase that man down to his car and go on his way to Coward Island.

Meanwhile the first contact is made, Emily and Spencer tell (Y/N) in hushed voices what the situation means. “There are three groups here. The leader, in this case Cyrus. The hard die hard believers, the goons of him, and the followers”, Spencer explains.

“In a case like this we go for minimal loss. We try to get as many of the followers out as possible, because the rest won’t give up as long as they can breathe. At first we go with one or two people, children mostly, then with smaller groups and in the end we get out as many of these people we can. Soon, there will be the first supply delivery from our team, but it’s gonna be bugged, which means we know they are listening. Understood?” Emily adds.

Aside from the knowledge that there is a great possibility that they won’t come out alive of this one, (Y/N) is pretty calm. “Honestly, it’s pretty extra here. I mean I can’t even, look at the walls and the whole pseudo decoration. Why would anybody choose this willingly? But yeah, I understand.” Seeing that these phrases are a kind of a coping mechanism, the two agents aren’t too concerned about her right now. I mean, of course they are pretty much on edge because they all are in a hostage situation, but since the teenager doesn’t seem to be on the verge of a breakdown she has to be fine.

“Is there anything you want to know?” The black haired woman asks, stroking the younger one’s hair out of her face. “No, not right now. This is anything but basic, but I’ll hit you up if something shoots into my mind.”

When Rossi comes in to hand make the first delivery, he looks beyond worried. It seems like he got years older in the span of the last 24 hours. As he glances through the rows of people, he subtly acknowledges their presence and well being.

“How do we know this will be nothing like Waco?” (Y/N) asks out of the blue as all the members get a cup of wine. Surprised Emily turns towards her. “You know about Waco?” “Duh? I told you, I’m educated. So, how do we kno-” “And together we drank the poison.” “Oh well, I guess we do now. It’s nearly iconic how bad his acting is.” Now both of the agents look confused at her.

“What? Didn’t I tell you that I was a theater kid? Also, his goons are writing the reactions down, so it’s just a test to know who to separate from the group and who not.” Even in a situation like this a girl in a red and black flannel over a white graphic tee - it is a Doctor Who Tardis - astounds them.

Not long after this, the three of them are shoved into a small room, which looks sort of like an office.

“Which one of you is it?” Cyrus asks. Confused Prentiss, Reid and the intern look at him. When nobody speaks up he pulls out his gun. “One of you is an FBI agent. So who is it?”

In the short silence he points his weapon at (Y/N). “Oof. Dude, what the fu-” “She is a child. The FBI doesn’t recruit children. But she is a good leverage. So, if neither of you reveals their identity, I will blow her brain out.” This is the final point for the teenager to slowly freak out.

“It’s me. I’m the FBI agent”, Emily confesses. Seeing the young girl with panic in her eyes sets something off in her. Roughly she is taken away by two big guys.

“No no no! This can’t be right. Nobody of us is from the feds. It’s not her, you stupid piece of boom-” With a swift motion of his gun Cyrus knocks her out.

“Damn, this is an annoying one. I don’t know how you can even take her seriously.”

(Y/N) wakes up half an hour later in the chapel draped over two stools with her head in Spencer’s lap. He strokes her hair while his mind is running non stop looking for a solution to this situation. A groan tells him that she is awake.

“Hey, how are you feeling?” The young doctor asks in a soft voice. “If good means your head feels like it’s dancing samba without me, then I’m good.”

He smiles. “We are going to get out here, soon. I convinced Cyrus that we are on his side. He also won’t hurt Emily any further. I saw her earlier, he held a speech. She is fine, just a bit roughen up.”

To lie to the girl like that feels wrong to Reid, but he can see signs of a concussion by her behavior and doesn’t want to worry her more than she already is.

Three o’clock rolls closer and closer, which makes both of them more nervous. Because of the lack of communication they don’t know the tactic the team will use to come in. They can only hope that they all come out alive and in one piece.

Since they are in the chapel, their attention is solely on the cult leader. They don’t even notice all the women and children leaving. As (Y/N) and Spencer spot Cyrus with the remote for detonating the explosives, she mumbles “Let’s get this bread”.

When the leader sees Spencer trying to convince one of the die hard believers that he has a choice to change his mind, he punches the young doctor so hard in the gut that even (Y/N), whose vision is slightly blurred, feels the pain he endures.

“Hey Cyrus”, she calls out, “TBH I think all the shit you are doing here didn’t pass my vibe check. Also, the whole system is pretty whack.”

“You are a child, you don’t know anything. If god doesn’t want me to do any of this, he would stop me.” As Cyrus cocks his gun towards Spencer, Derek runs in and shoots him in the chest twice.

(Y/N) crosses her arms over her chest, says “Ok, Boomer” and rolls her eyes.

“Are you ok, princess?” Morgan asks, going over to her and examining the wound on the side of her head. “Never felt better now that there are two Derek Morgans to protect me.” Concerned he goes to say something else, but is cut short by Spencer shouting “RUN!”.

A look behind them shows Jessica short circuiting upon her husband’s death and grabbing the remote.

When the explosion erupts, Emily looks terrified at the remains of the chapel.

“Morgan! Reid! (Y/N)!” She shouts, followed by the other members and their calls after the three. A certain fear captures every single one of them. If only one of them is- No. Nobody can go through this thought. They are going to be fine. They are alive and-

“Thank god”, JJ breathes as she spots three limping figures. They slowly approach the group of four. “EMILY!” The teenager shouts relieved, though a little loud for the proximity between them. “SPENCER WOULDN’T REALLY TELL ME HOW YOU ARE! YOU LOOK TERRIBLE! THANK HARRY STYLES YOU ARE FINE!” Yes, the explosion definitely messed all of their hearings up, since Morgan and Reid also speak with the same volume.

Emily hugs her. “I’m okay. But you need to get checked out.” But the teenager vehemently shakes her head as she hugs Aaron. “I DON’T NEED TO”, when she sees her teammate’s faces, she reduces her loudness. “I am ok. But Spencer, he got a good blow to his guts. I think the Queen in England even felt that vibe check.”

As Derek escorted the young doctor to one of the awaiting ambulances, JJ also gently stirs the girl in the same direction. “Just let a doctor look over your head, it looks like a nasty cut and believe me, you want to get this checked out, Honey.” “But Jayje-” She begins to complain, but gets cut off by bile rising up her throat. In the next moment (Y/N) kneels on the floor, letting out anything she got in her system over the course of the past few days.

“I think this is nothing your body should do, Bambi”, Rossi adds up. Unwillingly the intern goes with the blonde mother to the EMTs. They decide to have a doctor looking over her and getting her x-rays done at the hospital.

A few hours and uncountable complaints from (Y/N) later, the team is back on the jet on their way home. She thanked Emily in a heartfelt moment in the hospital shortly after she got pain killers, which made her loopy, for saving her life by putting her own on the line by exposing her identity. Even Prentiss had tears in her eyes as she saw the young and innocent girl so frayed by the just occured events.

Unusual for Rossi, he takes a seat on the sofa, petting his lap as (Y/N) sits beside him. With pleasure she lays her head onto it, cuddling closer into the fuzzy blanket she got from Morgan.

A few minutes into the flight, Rossi just got into describing the interviews he conducted with Ted Bundy, Aaron motions him to make space. David excuses himself with the reasoning of getting a cup of tea for her.

“I’m sorry”, Hotch says as he runs his hands through his youngest employee’s hair. He is careful to not mess with the bandage she has on the side of her head. Confused (Y/N) looks up to him. “What for?” “For sending you into a situation, where you got seriously hurt.”

This makes the girl sit up, though her world once again begins to spin. “Aaron Hotchner, I hope you don’t mean that. You nor anybody else knew that this was going to happen. You only wanted for me to get as much experience as possible while this internship lasts and I tell you, with that story I’ll go viral on TikTok. Just because I got a medium severe concussion and a wound, which hopefully will leave a badass scar, doesn’t mean you have to apologize. But you can do me one favor.” “Anything.” “When I fall asleep, please make sure I don’t choke on my own vomit. The doctor told me it could happen, that’s why I am not allowed to fall asleep unsupervised. But I haven’t slept in three days and I think I'm beginning to feel uncomfy because of that.”

Smiling softly Hotch nods and lets the teenager take her original place in his lap. Minutes later she is fast asleep. But one thing is certain: As soon as she wakes up and feels any better, she is going to tell everybody who wants to listen about the one time where she got blown up by a fifteen years old girl, who was married to a cult leader. And nobody is gonna believe her tea. Except for Penelope, who greets (Y/N) with a hug and the promise to never let her out of her eyesight.

All works:

@agentshortstacc

Criminal Minds:

@averyhotchner @mggsprettygirl

Spencer Reid:

@calm-and-doctor

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x teen!reader #emily prentiss x reader #emily prentiss x teen!reader #derek morgan x teen!reader #jennifer jareau x teen!reader #aaron hotch x teen!reader #david rossi x teen!reader #criminal minds fanfiction #Criminal Minds #x teen!reader #reader insert

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misha-moose-dean-burger-lover · 4 years ago

Text

destiel, 2.4k, mild hurt/comfort, happy ending. for @wormstacheangel who wanted a fic with anemic!Cas <3

"Cas?"

Dean hears a flump from the direction of the bedroom right as he finishes shaving his left cheek. It takes him about five seconds from there to dashing out of the bathroom, sink hastily turned off and half of his neck still covered in white, wearing an expression of worry that doesn't quite go with the foam beard.

Cas seems to hold the same opinion because his face splits in a wide grin the moment Dean enters the room.

A grin almost distracting enough for Dean to not notice that Cas is back on the bed, and suddenly wearing a blanket.

Almost.

"Goddammit, Cas." He sighs, huffing as panic slips away to make room for exasperation. He walks up to the bed, sets about righting the blanket around Cas.

Cas lets him.

"I should've known -"

"- Dean, I forgot -"

"- you were going to ditch your meds the first night after I stop bugging you 'bout them." Dean mutters, ignoring Cas completely as he makes weak attempts at protesting when Dean tucks one corner of his blanket all the way round at the other side, effectively turning him into what he mentally likes to call a Cas-burrito.

He doesn't like to call it anything at the moment though, cause right now, it's just proof of how Cas doesn’t listen.

Friggin' ex-angel of the lord, billions of years old, with libraries worth of stories and history in his head — but taking his meds when they're supposed to be taken, he forgets.

"It wasn't on purpose." Cas insists in a small voice, and Dean shoots an annoyed look at him before stepping back, finally finished with the blanket routine.

If you could call it that.

Well, Dean does call it that.

Because it happened often enough times after Cas's return from the Empty, human as the day Dean was born, to prompt both a title, and a reason to investigate why in the first place.

And not a lot of road to cover from typing in Cas's symptoms in a search engine — headaches, spells of dizziness, fatigue and feeling cold in general (things Cas had dictated to Sam who was typing, while Dean seethed from the next chair at not having been priorly informed of most of those things that warrant being informed about) — to ending up at the conclusion of a few billion (but actually just the first four) results, just minutes after.

Cas had anemia.

(The doctor Dean took him to the very next day, and Sam's completed research on the Novaks' medical history by the time they got back, confirmed it.)

Now, as far as the Winchesters were concerned, that was practically a relief — especially since their next place to look would've been old, tired books of curses, and the meekest of those would've been several times more worrying than the awfullest case of anemia one could possibly get - and Cas's, thankfully, wasn't even that bad.

However, curses are reversible. Or at least, equally as destroyable as their curse-rs are — who, usually, tend to be pretty destroyable when it comes to Sam and Dean.

Mineral deficiencies, on the other hand, are neither.

So supplements it is, as the doctor said and then prescribed — or so it should have been anyways, except for how the love of Dean's life was a giant baby when it came to taking pills.

"Sure it wasn't." Dean rolls his eyes, continuing in his exaggerated 'Cas' voice. "You just forgot."

Cas squint-frowns at Dean with all the ferociousness of a tired, cold and anemic four-weeks-old human, and Dean perches next to him on the edge of their bed with a sigh, the exasperation wearing off too.

(If he hadn't already wrapped them up, this would've been about the time Dean would've taken Cas's hands in his own.)

"Cas," He says, softer now.

Truth be told, Dean can't imagine what it must be like to go from being a - a being, that can heal itself and everything else, to a human who gets shivery and lightheaded cause of things inside of him he can't even control.

It's got to be terrifying, and obviously awful, and Dean's proud of Cas for the way he's been handling all of it — but dammit he's supposed to do the things that make it easier.

Just like he's supposed to let Dean take care of him.

"Dean," Cas replies, looking sideways at him with most of the stubbornness melted from his expression as well. "I'm a little cold but it's okay. I'm fine." He says, like he can still tell exactly what Dean needs to hear.

What he needs Cas to be.

There's a pause and Dean looks down at his hands. He can't help his next question, it's been on his mind for some time.

"What about the first time you were human?"

Cas noticeably withdraws into himself on hearing him, and Dean feels immediately a pang of guilt. It may have gotten easier to read him since he became human, but an accidental display of emotion was still a novelty. (Being difficult to read was apparently more of a Cas trait than an angel feature.)

"What about it?"

"Shouldn't you, uh," Dean pauses. "Shouldn't you also have been anemic then?"

Cas turns away from him, slow enough that Dean knows he's not taken offense, deliberate enough that he's thinking.

He finally answers, facing the wall ten feet away instead of Dean.

"I guess I was."

"But," Dean frowns. "I thought you had no idea you had anemia until last week."

"Dean, I didn't even know there was anything wrong with me until last week." Cas returns, his tone steady. "And back when I was human for the first time, I didn't either, because I'd never known what healthy felt like before, so I had no idea if I was or wasn't it. Of course I knew in an objective sense, say, the ideal temperature of the human body, but the ordinary amount of chilly one should feel on the streets in winter, or how hard or easy falling asleep is supposed to be, I couldn't have told you."

"Oh."

"And I still wouldn't have been able to," Cas turns back to him. "Had you not been the one to point it out."

Dean scoffs.

All he'd done was ask why Cas had been shivering in the middle of the day. That was it. Honestly, how could he not have seen it sooner?

"So you just," Dean lets out, afraid of the answer. "You just thought the cold spells and the, uh," he falters. "The being tired all the time — you thought that was part of being human?"

Cas smiles wryly. "It is for a lot of people."

"But —"

"And it was, Dean, anemia or not, for a lot of the people I lived with back then."

Dean's stomach bottoms out. He knows Cas is right. Six years ago, he'd been living on the streets, living in a bus. Dean remembers him — homeless, cold, sleeping on the floor of a Gas 'N Sip in his only set of clothes, Cas. And he knows he's responsible for it — knows he deserves to be hated for it, and it messes with him everyday that Cas doesn't — but did Cas really not even know what Dean had done to him? What Dean had — and Jesus, he detests himself — made him go through?

"You really thought all of us were going through that," Dean blinks. "And none of us was saying a thing?"

Cas doesn't look away this time and Dean goes on.

"I mean, I know you put humanity on a pedestal it doesn't deserve, and you think we're all capable of things you're capable of, but Cas, I can't believe you associated being human with being cold and tired, and —" Dean scrubs his face with a hand. "Goddammit, Cas! How could I have let you go out there on your own when you — h-how did I not see it, and — and you should never have had to deal with it all alone, I should've —"

"Dean."

It's not until Cas interrupts him that he realizes he's been rambling. Ranting, really, because it's not fair that Cas only got to see the worst of humanity, and it's not fair that Cas was so used to feeling awful that he just figured everyone felt that way all the time. That Cas was all alone at a time Dean should've been there for him, should've been at his side, been there to make sure he was warm, and make sure he ate spinach and seafood and whatever the hell else is rich in iron — hell, Dean should've looked it up sooner — and Dean should've been able to tell that Cas was sick, even if Cas couldn't, because that's his job.

He hasn't felt this way in a while — this particularly familiar fear of failing Cas, and losing Cas, entwined horribly, returning to him; seeping back in through his skin, and settling on his bones like the vast sediments of guilt and loss he's been carrying for most of his life.

Cas is supposed to be okay, and Dean's supposed to make sure he is.

But so far as upto here, turns out Dean's just been failing in more ways than he'd even known.

"Dean," Cas repeats, pulling him out of his reverie with determination in his voice, and a hand on Dean's left arm, his blanket now hanging off of one shoulder.

Dean immediately reaches to make it right but Cas holds him right where he is. Physically and not-drowning-in-his-own-head wise, and he's the only one who can do that.

"You're not listening to me."

Shit, Cas had been speaking this entire time, hadn't he? "Sorry, I was -" Dean looks Cas in the face to apologize, and lets out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding, cause thank god, Cas isn't that pale. "Sorry."

"It's okay." Cas smiles, and it's not lopsided anymore, it's just Cas.

(Dean wonders if he should try to mirror it.)

"I was just saying that now I know that that's not the only part of being human."

"What do you mean?"

"The pain and the suffering, Dean. That's not all." Cas says. "There's also love, and kindness, and worry of the non-lifethreatening kind that dissipates with a smile, and warmth."

Dean stares at him.

"And sure," Cas shrugs. "I knew those things before too — I've read books, I've watched you and Sam — but now I've felt them as humans do, for the very first time, so it's a different kind of knowing."

Cas takes Dean's hand in his, and Dean's the one who squeezes.

"I believe the human expression is 'knowing it in my bones'."

Dean lets out a strained laugh in spite of himself. "Dunno, man. I don't think that's exactly what that means."

"But I do know it in my bones." Cas says simply, and Dean's heart does that thing where it feels too big for his chest. How Cas could go through so much, and still be so full of kindness and good, is one of the mysteries of life Dean's never going to solve — but it doesn't stop him from falling a little bit harder every time it happens.

"You should've gotten to know it the last time too, Cas." Dean tells him, sighing again. "I'm just — I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"Well, you are now." Cas tilts his head. "And I prefer the things I'm learning this time over the last time anyway, and I believe it's you who's always taught me that the present is what matters the most. I'm just glad you're here this time."

"And I'm not going anywhere." Dean squeezes their hands tighter, and Cas's smile grows. God, he deserves the world and he keeps settling for Dean, doesn't he — and Dean hates it, and loves it, and couldn't live without it. He puts his other hand on Cas's face, gloving his cheek. Cas leans closer.

"I love you."

Dean's throat constricts. "You're too good to me."

"I think that's the point."

Dean can't help but smile, and he really can't help the tears.

"I'm okay." Cas says, once more. "Are you?"

There's only one answer, and nothing to fight this time.

Dean closes the gap.

"I love you too."

It's not their first kiss, nor is it the first time they've ever said it — but it feels more significant than anything's felt before. It's more them, too — not sickly-sweet or angry and fighting, just them, coming around to the end of a hard talk, falling into each other's arms with an ease they reserve for each other only, and sinking into each other, slow and perfectly synced, like they're made for it.

When they pull back, a moment later, Dean leans his forehead against Cas's and licks his lips. Breathes.

"There's so much more to being human," he hears himself saying. "Than you'd ever find out just living here in the bunker with us."

"Dean," it's Cas's turn to sigh. "I've already found everything I need."

Dean's cheeks heat up. "I thought it was never too late to learn."

"It isn't." Cas leans back, hands falling back to his sides from where they were wrapped around Dean's neck. "But sometimes, practising old things is more important."

Dean immediately dissolves into laughter. "Yeah, no, great going. Call me old before you go to town practising on me."

Cas ignores him save a twinkle in his eyes. "And some things, I'd like us to learn together."

Dean grins.

"And some things," Cas concludes, with a wide smile. "Aren't taught anywhere else in the world."

"Yeah?"

Cas shrugs.

"Why so?"

"Well, rumor has it the teacher's afraid of flying."

Dean freezes for a moment, silent, and then snorts — because yeah, that's funny, Ha Ha, but okay, if Cas is fit enough to make jokes, then he's fit enough to take his meds now, and Dean tells him that gleefully, resulting in Cas's grin immediately turning upside down as he tries to scoot away from Dean, except Dean's kinda expecting it so he's prepared to launch himself on the bed if he has to — and he does have to, cause Dean might love him for his heart, and his courage, and his kindness, but remember how Cas is just a baby in a trenchcoat?

Yeah.

(And that is just a regular morning in the Winchester household.)

#destiel #destiel fic #angst with a happy ending #destiel kiss #deancas fluff #cas angst #well. minor angst.#long post #i really hope you like it Rubi <33 #it got considerably longer (and sadder in the middle) than i'd expected it to be?? but oh well :'))#nyrawyra #userpris #userdee #spncreatorsdaily #dean pov #kashmircastiel #friendshapedcastiel #rambleoncas #oh writing my writing

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believerindaydreams · 2 years ago

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Me: I wanna read a five times things didn't happen fic staring my fave poly of the week

Me: however it looks like I'll have to write it myself

Me: fortunately this is not an insurmountable problem

1. exile

"You don't have to do this," Sarah pleads. The Doctor smiles at her, maybe for the last time.

"A tear, Sarah Jane? Don't cry-"

Harry catches the Doctor as he collapses, gently lays him out on the hospital gurney. Not for long- within seconds someone else is wearing that old velvet jacket, madly punching coordinates into the TARDIS console.

"Come on, old girl, come on- before the Time Lords stop us-"

Harry's eyes widen as the time ship starts a cry like tortured piano strings. "I say, I didn't know it would sound like that."

Neither had Sarah. But she takes his hand and smiles reassuringly anyway.

2. according to plan

"So this is the moon."

"Exactly."

"I think- if you don't mind very much- I'd like to go back to UNIT now."

"What, already?"

"I think you've made your point," Sarah Jane intercedes, with a little pity for Harry. Some people just don't have any sense of adventure.

3. time war

Time on Skaro is slippery, like chunks of ice that merge and freeze and calve.

They've blown up the incubator room a dozen times, and died far more than that. Sometimes they're helping the Thals, sometimes the Kaleds. Harry's developed a limp that starts before the land mine that triggers it. The Doctor keeps regenerating into himself, tells them how the timeline convergences are so thick he might as well be blind.

Sarah sets her teeth as she loads a grenade rifle. Enough dilly-dallying.

This time around she's going to kill Davros. Or at least make one hell of a bang.

4. alternates

"Before we go anywhere," Sarah Jane says. "You should know that I'm a Zygon and prepared to kill you."

"Oh," says Harry. "Well. So am I for that matter."

"That makes three of us," the Doctor says, twiddling a TARDIS control. "We really ought to have coordinated copying a bit better to stop us all accidentally stabbing each other."

There's a pause.

"Are we still doing that whole larking about in space and time, then?" Duplicate-Harry ventures.

"Before our originals catch up with us," Duplicate-Doctor says, setting the ship in motion.

Duplicate-Sarah can think of a dozen reasons at least why this is a terrible idea.

But they're going to have a fine old time doing it anyway.

5. pause

"What if you just stayed on Earth a bit longer?" Harry suggests.

For a while it works. Sarah finally hands some articles in to her editor and helps out at UNIT between times. Harry settles into his role as medic for human and non-human alike, with a skill belaying his off-duty clumsiness. The Doctor starts taking a more active role in UNIT operations- an investigation into a lost pilot here, leading the charge against killer plants there- in a way the reserved scientist of his previous incarnation would never have credited.

(They make love on the bare boards of the Doctor's laboratory, in Harry's bachelor pad, in Sarah's rented room, and it's too satisfying ever to feel wrong.)

Until the day the Doctor gets a summons to Gallifrey; and his look of utter relief tells Sarah he's not ever coming back.

6. end

"Ow," the Doctor says.

"Falling off a radio telescope at your age," Harry says indignantly. "It's a jolly good thing I was here to patch you up, you know that?"

Sarah rushes over. "The Brigadier has the Master in custody. Everything's all right, the Pharos project is safe- Doctor, how are you?"

"Slightly dazed. As if somebody with astoundingly capable hypnosis abilities had been doing his very best to convince me it was my time to go. You know, what would I do without you two?"

Sarah clucks her tongue. "Just as well, probably. Come on. We've got this whole rabble of teenagers to take home..."

#wow those sure turned out incredibly violent #will have to remember to tag on a03 #doctor who

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pastpatientlywaitingforimagines · 4 years ago

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Wormhole | Spencer Reid x Reader Platonic

WC: 10k

A/N: This is a comfort fic disguised as a CM episode. Also, I had a lot of fun writing this.

WARNINGS: Kidnapping, murder, general CM things, hospitals, mentions of blood, psychopaths

You weren’t normally nervous to talk to Agent Aaron Hotchner. Sure, he was your boss, but he had also been leading the BAU for so long that you always trusted his reactions and motives. Still, the reason you had asked him to meet was so far out of left field that you were nervous he would tell you you were insane.

You were the first one in the office for the morning, perching on your desk in the empty bullpen while you waited for Hotch to arrive. You stood up when he entered the office, but waited to move until he made it to his office door and beckoned you to follow him inside.

“Good morning, (y/n).”

“Morning, Hotch,” you stood awkwardly in front of his desk, clutching the file in your hands.

“Please, sit. Is everything ok?” As soon as you made eye contact with him, your nerves settled. Everything about his behavior showed that he was genuinely concerned for you and interested in what you had to say. You took a deep breath, sliding the file onto his desk.

“I was looking into this cold case from the eighties, in Illinois. Mia-Rose Horn, 16, found murdered under a bridge. I have a theory, and I was hoping I could take a couple of days to go check it out.” You bit your lip while he picked up the file, thumbing through it.

“What’s your theory?”

“The only suspects considered were older transients in the area because the town was so biased against migrant workers. My preliminary research shows that the unsub profiles as younger, someone who knew the victim and her family personally. It feels like there’s a piece of the puzzle missing, and I think victimology can really help this case. I’d like to visit the dumpsite and walk the crime scene. I’d also like to go through the evidence to see if I can narrow it down a little more, and possibly do updated DNA analysis. I’ve already contacted the lead detective, he said it would be fine if I went out there.”

Hotch was quiet for a minute, reading the case information from the file. The longer you sat in silence, the more you feared he would say no. Finally, he closed the file and handed it back to you, “the FBI wasn’t invited in on this case when it was active, how did you find it?”

You blushed, hard. “I was watching a cold case documentary and when they talked about this one it just didn’t feel right, so I asked Garcia to pull the file. Once I looked it over more I realized my hunch was correct. They barely built a profile and the one they did make was wrong.”

“Do you work on cold cases often?”

“I’ve only worked on it when we don’t have an active case and I’m caught up on my paperwork, it makes me feel like I’m still making a difference when things are slow here.”

Hotch nodded, “you’re a good agent, (y/n). I trust that you’ll represent the BAU well. I can’t let you take the jet but you’re welcome to an SUV. However, as soon as we get an active case it takes priority. Do you understand?”

You stood up quickly, excitedly gripping at the file, “Yes sir, of course. Thank you so much. I promise I wouldn’t be asking if I didn’t think I could do something. I won’t let you down, sir.” Hotch smiled softly at your energy. You had reached for the door handle before he spoke again, calling after you.

“(y/n),” you turned, hand still on the doorknob, “take Reid with you, I assume he knows the details of this case, too?” You nodded quickly, practically bouncing back to your desk with excitement. You checked the clock, Spencer would probably arrive in the next ten minutes or so, giving you time to arrange everything you’d need for the trip.

As soon as he stepped out of the elevator, you were waiting for him, go bag in hand.

“Hotch said you could go?”

“Not only that, he said you could come with me,” you smirked, falling in step next to him as he walked to his desk.

“Really?”

“We’re leaving now, so get your go bag.” You did a little happy dance as he started to gather his things.

“Ooh! Where are you going?” Penelope joined you at Spencer’s desk, hot cup of coffee in her hands.

“(y/n) is solving a cold case, we’re going out to Illinois to get more information.”

“The one I pulled for you? You actually solved it? Is there anything you can’t do?” Penelope asked in disbelief. Just last week she had explained to you why she was convinced you were a superhero.

You laughed brightly, “I don’t know if I can solve it yet, that’s why I need to go check it out for myself. Yes, I’ll call you if I need anything,” you answered when she opened her mouth to speak again. She hugged both you and Spencer before you left, making you promise you’d call her with updates and letting you know she’d call the detective to let him know you were on your way.

In true Spencer fashion, he had brought enough audiobooks to last the whole drive. You didn’t mind, your brain was more focused on driving. You didn’t talk about the case until you were nearing the end of the twelve hour road trip. Spencer was the one to bring it up, turning down the volume knob on the console.

“How are you feeling about this?”

“To be honest, Spence, I haven’t really been listening.”

“I meant about the case,” he chuckled.

“I’m trying not to get my hopes up. It’s been a cold case for over three decades for a reason, you know?”

“We wouldn’t be in Illinois right now if you weren’t on to something. Instincts exist for a reason, and your instincts are usually right.”

You fiddled with the air conditioning vents absentmindedly, “I don’t want to dredge up old wounds for the family and the town unless I’m absolutely certain I can bring some closure to them as well. The detective is the only person who knows we’re coming. I don’t want to start interviewing witnesses until I know I can do something to help.”

Spencer nodded, “I’ll follow your lead, you just tell me what you need.”

You spent the rest of the time discussing the details of the case, Spencer looking over the file again while you navigated to the police office. Having Spencer with you made you feel a lot better. You knew the case front to back, but this was your first time leading an investigation and you didn’t want to accidentally miss something in the file out of nervousness. Spencer’s eidetic memory and genius brain would keep you on track and ask you questions you knew would only help you in the grand scheme of things. Spencer was also your best friend, your biggest supporter. Any considerations he had would always come from a place of love and mutual respect.

When you arrived at the police station it was late in the evening, but the detective was waiting for you. He was an older man, tall and mostly bald.

“Hi, you must be Agent (y/l/n). Nice to finally meet you in person.”

“Detective Reeves, nice to finally meet you, too. This is my partner, Doctor Reid.” Spencer brought a hand up to wave. “Thanks for letting us take a look at this.”

“Thanks for making the drive out here. This case…” he sighed, “Mia-Rose went missing two months after I started this job and I’ve been hunting her killer ever since. It’s been thirty two years, a fresh pair of eyes will do this case good. It’ll do the whole town good if you can see somethin’ I haven’t.”

“We’ll see what we can do,” you said, not wanting to promise any results to him. “Is there a room we can set up in?”

“I’ve brought all of the evidence to our conference room. Use it for as long as you need.”

“Thanks,” you took off to the door that he had pointed at, Spencer on your heels. He shut the door behind you, dropping his bag on a chair while you picked up examination gloves.

The next few hours were spent meticulously going over the evidence that had been collected. You occasionally made comments to Spencer about where the item had come from and any notes that had already been documented about it.

The clock had just passed midnight when you were ready to move on to the next part of your investigation. You wanted to walk the dumpsite, but it would be useless to go while it was still dark. Instead, you retreated to a small motel at Spencer’s insistence that you needed sleep.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to shut my brain off enough to actually sleep,” you confessed once you were wearing sweatpants and leaning up against the headboard of the bed.

Spencer wandered out of the bathroom, giving you the softest look as he sat down next to you.

“What are you thinking about the most?”

“The evidence told me exactly what I thought it would, but I can’t build a decent mental picture of what happened until I see the dump site. What if I get there and it still doesn’t make sense? What if I’m in too deep on this one, Spence?”

“This case has been cold for thirty years, it can wait one more night. You are an incredible FBI agent. You’re an incredible human, at that. I know you can handle this, and Hotch knows you can handle this, too. If you aren’t able to solve it, you’re not letting anyone down. It’s been a cold case for a reason, I’m sure you’ll solve the next one.”

“Logically I know you’re right, but that isn’t making sleep happen any easier,” you sighed, sinking down onto a pillow. You could tell from Spencer’s expression that he had an idea when he reached up, turning off the lamp beside him and laying down next to you in the dark.

“This is called Image Distraction, all you have to do is close your eyes, try to relax, and listen to my voice.”

“Are you hypnotizing me?” you giggled into the darkness, feeling like a small kid at a sleepover with their best friend.

“No, it’s just a strategy to help you fall asleep. I’m going to describe a scene to you and the idea is that it takes up enough space in your brain to prevent you from re-engaging with other thoughts. Hypnosis doesn’t actually put you to sleep, just in a trance that seems like you’re sleeping. It’s been proven to help change habits and thoughts around sleeping though. There was a study done in 2010-”

“Is that what I’m supposed to be picturing? I’m seeing dudes in lab coats and creepy hospital walls.”

You felt the mattress shake next to you as Spencer laughed.

“No, that wasn’t it. I’m going to start now, picture a waterfall. As you walk closer it gets louder, pounding onto the rocks below it and spraying a mist into the air. The droplets of water stick to your face. You can see a rainbow that touches the pool at the base of the waterfall. The plants growing around the pool of water are greener than emeralds, bright and shining in the sun…”

That was the last thing you remembered him saying before succumbing to sleep. You had a very vivid dream while you were sleeping, not uncommon for someone in your field, but it wasn’t one you had had before.

There was a teenage girl walking in front of you down a long hallway. You instantly recognized her as Mia-Rose. She turned around every so often, beckoning you to come closer, but no matter how fast you tried to move your feet it was impossible for you to catch up. The hallway was familiar, you realized it was one in Quantico that you walked down every day to get to the elevator. It took longer than normal to reach the end, and just when you thought you could catch up to Mia-Rose, Hotch stepped out in front of you, holding Spencer with one arm and holding his gun to your best friend’s temple with the other.

“You have to choose, (y/n).”

“Choose what?”

“One of them has to die. Him or her?” he moved his gun to point the barrel at Mia-Rose.

“I don’t understand, why can’t I save them both?”

“One of them has to die.”

It only took you a moment to consider, “me. Shoot me. Let them live.”

“Brave choice,” Hotch’s gun came to point at you and his finger squeezed the trigger.

You woke up.

Soft morning light was coming in through the window and Spencer was already awake, quietly tying his tie while perched on the edge of the bed.

“Morning,” he grinned when he noticed you watching him.

“Morning,” you panted, sitting up and rubbing the sleep from your eyes.

“You were dreaming.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Hotch made me choose between him shooting Mia-Rose or shooting you.”

“What did you choose?”

“I made him shoot me instead.”

You expected Spencer to launch into an analysis of your dream and what it meant, but instead he asked another question, changing the subject.

“Can we stop for coffee before we walk the dumpsite?” he pulled a blue cardigan out from his go bag and stuck his arms through the sleeves.

“Sure,” you said, stretching as you stood up. While you got ready, Spencer found the nearest place to get coffee, and you stopped there before continuing on to the bridge where Mia-Rose’s body had been found thirty years ago.

“I’m too used to walking active crime scenes,” you murmured when you pulled over to the empty dumpsite. Normally dumpsites like this were taped off with officers present, as well as some news reporters and civilian gawkers. You were sure that it had looked like that when the crime had first happened, but now it was just a bridge that nobody thought about.

When you stepped out of the SUV you noticed a small memorial for Mia-Rose nailed to a tree, wilted and weathered flowers around it. You stopped for a minute to look at it, then continued through the brush to the overpass.

Mia-Rose had fallen off of the bridge onto the ground beneath, where you were standing now. Her death was originally ruled a suicide, which had slowed the investigation until her parents insisted she wasn’t suicidal and had her autopsied, revealing ligature marks and evidence of assault. Just from reading the file, you knew that her parents were right. She didn’t profile as suicidal, and if she was she could have jumped from further down the bridge into the flowing river to your right, not onto the ground where she likely would have survived.

“Mia-Rose was found right here,” you pointed, “and her belongings…” you turned to your left, Spencer moving from behind you to stand where the girl’s school backpack and shoes had been found, a handful of yards away.

“They were found next to this rock.”

“That doesn’t make sense,” you said, facing him from where you stood, “the ME found traces of motor oil on her skin, so she must have been transported in a car. That means the unsub was driving on this road, stopped here by the bridge, then tossed her over the side. Why not just toss her stuff after her?” After thinking in silence for a minute, you started moving. “Stay where you are,” you instructed Spencer as you climbed the embankment. Once you reached the bridge, you stood on the edge so you could see both locations of dump sites.

“Spence,” you called to him, “how long is the average car?”

“Anywhere between 10 and 18 feet, depending on the size of the vehicle,” he answered quickly. You positioned yourself in line with where Mia-Rose’s body was found, then paced out roughly fifteen feet, landing you almost squarely in line with where Spencer was standing down the hill.

“What are you thinking?”

“This might sound kind of out there, but what if there was a partner?”

Spencer furrowed his eyebrows, trying to figure out how you had gotten there. He climbed up to where you were standing before asking you about it, “what makes you think that?”

“Eyewitness accounts said they saw Mia-Rose in a car with a man the night she went missing, and they were both sitting in the front of the car, but that’s about all anyone can agree on. What if there was a second unsub sitting in the back? If I’m the unsub getting Mia-Rose out of the front, you’re taking her stuff out of the trunk and tossing it over the side,” you acted out.

“Which means my DNA should be on her belongings,” Spencer concluded, finishing your thought, “I’ll call the lab and start getting things processed.”

“Good idea, I’m going to call Garcia and then we can head back to the station,” you said, pulling out your own phone as Spencer took a step away to make his call.

“Crimefighter! What have you’ve got?” Garcia answered her phone quickly.

“Hey Penelope, can you go through the list of Mia-Rose’s family members and get me some updated contact info?”

“Of course! Did you get a lead? I knew you could solve this,” she rambled. You could hear the clicking of her keyboard as she multitasked.

“Not quite, just a better understanding of the situation. I want to start interviewing family members to really nail down victimology and see if they know of anyone who fits my profile. Spencer’s calling the lab to get some evidence re-examined. When they send you results can you run them through CODIS?”

“Absolutely. Anything else?”

“That’s it for now, thanks Garcia.”

“Anytime, my love. I just sent the updated contacts to your tablet. Garcia out!”

Spencer was waiting for you in the SUV, once you finished your call with Garcia you drove back to the station. Detective Reeves assigned an officer to help you call the family members and invite them in for interviews.

“Mrs. Horn, thank you for coming in to talk with us,” you said gently to the elderly woman sitting across from you.

“Anything to help you find my little girl’s killer. Do you really think you can solve it?”

“We’re trying our best. Any information you can give us will make our job easier. Mia-Rose was walking home from school when she went missing, and was later seen getting into a blue car. Is there anyone she would have willingly accepted a ride home from?”

“No, she always walked, rain or shine so she could say hello to the neighbors on her way home. Except for Tuesdays, my brother Dylan would drive her home from band practice on Tuesdays because it was after dark.”

You exchanged a glance with Spencer, silently acknowledging that Mia-Rose was abducted on a Friday.

“Did she have any enemies? Anyone who would want to hurt her, bullies or friends she might have had a falling out with?”

“No, she was sweet to everyone. That’s why it was such a shock to the town when she was killed. There wasn’t a soul who hadn’t been touched by her kindness.” Mrs. Horn spoke so highly of her daughter, further validating your theory.

“Let’s take a break,” you said, noting the way she was tearing up, “excuse us.” You stepped out of the room with Spencer.

“We should talk to Dylan,” he said once you were out of earshot of Mrs. Horn.

“I agree. He was interrogated by police when Mia-Rose first went missing, but I don’t think he’s a suspect. His alibi was rock solid, but he might know something about what happened.”

You had the detective bring in Mrs. Horn’s brother, Dylan Godfrey. While he agreed to an interview, he was much less cooperative than Mrs. Horn.

“I told the police thirty years ago, I had nothing to do with it,” he drawled, “I was at home with my wife, God rest her soul. I didn’t even have my car to kidnap Mia if I wanted to.”

“Where was your car?” Spencer asked quickly.

“My boy had it, out with his friends. He had just gotten his driver’s license. You know how kids are, impossible to control.”

This was the first you were hearing of his son. Nowhere in the records from the original investigation did it say Dylan Godfrey had a son, let alone a son who’s whereabouts were unknown on the night of the crime.

“Mr. Godfrey, let me ask you this. How old was your son the year Mia-Rose was murdered?”

“Eighteen.”

“Do you know where he was that night?”

“Out, like I said. He didn’t come home until after two o’clock in the morning.”

“Do you know where he is now?”

“Last I knew he was working on a farm just out of town, the McGilroy’s place.”

As soon as Spencer had gotten the information out of him, you were firing off texts to Garcia. She sent you the address of the farm, and you called her once you were en route.

“You’re on speaker, Garcia. What have you found about this guy and why didn’t we know about him before?”

“I’ve been asking myself the same question. He wasn’t included in any of the original witness statements. I’ve barely been able to find information about him online. I know he’s still alive because I don’t have a death certificate, but other than that no home address, no phone number, no nothing. Everything I know about him is from his childhood, before Mia-Rose went missing.”

“Something is better than nothing, what did you find?”

“Daniel Godfrey, born in 1965 to Mary and Dylan Godfrey. He was a decent kid from what I can tell. He got good grades in school, even got a scholarship to a college in Chicago but he turned it down at the last minute. I’ll hit you back if I figure out why.”

“Thanks Garcia,” you chirped before she hung up. You pulled up the long dirt drive of the McGilroy’s farm, putting the SUV in park and getting out. Spencer was by your side in an instant, you noticed the way his hand rested on his revolver.

“My goal is to get him in for a voluntary interview. If we can get him talking, we can figure out what happened that night and why his known locations on that night fit our timeline. Best case, we get a confession and the name of his partner, worst case, he had nothing to do with it and we’re back where we started.”

Spencer nodded, so you reached up to knock on the door. After a moment, a blonde woman opened the door.

You flashed your credentials, “hi, I’m SSA (y/l/n) with the FBI, we’re looking for Daniel Godfrey and we were told he might be here.”

“He’s out back in the barn,” she said, pointing down a gravel path.

“Thanks so much,” Spencer said as you stepped off the porch. You reached the barn and pushed open the large door, revealing a man inside. He was carrying a bucket of water that he poured into a trough for a horse before acknowledging you.

“What can I do ya for?”

“Are you Daniel Godfrey?” you asked.

“Depend’s who’s asking,” he chuffed, wiping his hands on his dirty coveralls. You held up your credentials.

“I’m Agent (y/l/n) and this is Doctor Reid. We’re with the FBI investigating the murder of your cousin, Mia-Rose Horn. We were hoping you’d come in to the station so we could get some more information about her.”

“What kinda information? Mia’s been dead a long time now.”

You had to play this carefully, one wrong word and he wouldn’t voluntarily interview with you, “your father told us you were out with friends the night she disappeared. We were hoping you could tell us what town was like that night and if you saw anything unusual.”

“You talked to my father? I can tell ya right now, it was quiet. Just like any other night in this town.”

“Great, that’s exactly the kind of information we’re looking for. Would you be able to come with us to the station so we can get that statement through the official channels? While we’re there I’d like to ask you a few more questions, if that’s ok.”

“Are ya saying I’m being arrested?”

“No, not at all. This is completely voluntary.”

Daniel fell silent, considering your offer. When he finally spoke again it was gruff and hostile, “will my old man still be there?”

You exchanged a glance with Spencer, hoping he had a better read on what answer would be your best choice. Spencer’s tongue flickered over his lips, then he cautioned a response, “he’s there right now, will that be a problem?”

Daniel looked dejected, scuffing his feet in the hay below his boots, “not unless he makes it a problem.”

“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Our car is out front, is there anything you need to do before we go?”

Daniel shook his head and quietly followed you and Spencer back to the SUV. He didn’t say much while you were driving back to the police station, and neither did you. You escorted Daniel inside the station, walking quickly past where his father was sitting, still talking to the officer Reeves had assigned to your case. Dylan stood up when he noticed his son, but Daniel just kept his head down and quickened his pace. You brought him to an interrogation room, a small space with just a table and a couple of chairs.

“You can wait here, we just have to go collect some materials and then we’ll be back, alright?”

“Whatever,” Daniel said, taking the seat closest to the door. You stepped out, shutting the door behind you.

“Did you see the way Dylan reacted when he saw Daniel?” you asked Spencer quietly. He nodded.

“Did you see the way Daniel reacted when he saw Dylan?”

“Do you think it’s relevant to this case? I don’t want to waste time asking about it if it’s just some squabble they had once. Hotch said I could only work this case until we got an active one back at Quantico, and you and I both know serial killers don’t take extended vacations.”

Spencer considered the situation, you could almost see the gears turning in his mind, “it might be a way we can get him comfortable talking to us, irrelevant or not. This is the best lead we have. Just like you said earlier, you have to get him talking.”

You trusted Spencer’s opinion, not just because he was your best friend, but because he had led his fair share of interrogations during his time in the FBI. He was really good at it, his accelerated mind picking up patterns of words and behaviors that you could only be envious of.

“What do you mean ‘I’ have to get him talking? I thought this was a team effort.”

“It is, but you have to lead this interrogation.”

You weren’t surprised at his statement, but you resented the fact that he was right. Your favorite part of your job was the quick thinking, the on-the-fly deductions you had to make in the field that helped you put all of the clues together. You liked helping people and actively putting bad guys away for the greater good of the country you served. You were good at your job, too, having spent so much time developing your skills with arguably some of the best agents in the Bureau. You couldn’t not be good at your job surrounded by minds like the ones at the BAU.

Like everyone though, there were some aspects of your career that you were better at than others. You usually excelled in the takedown and arrests of suspects and left the mind games to your colleagues that were much better equipped to handle them. Sure, you could talk a suspect into putting their weapon down instead of pointing it at you or a victim, but that was a heat of the moment interaction. Cool, collected interrogation rooms just weren’t your strong suit, and nothing during your time at the BAU so far had changed it.

“You really think I can do this?”

“Absolutely. You have the skills, knowledge, and rapport to conduct this interview,” Spencer showed no hesitation in his answer.

“Promise to let me know if I’m going down the wrong rabbit hole?”

Spencer smiled, “of course. Let’s go solve this case.” He handed you a sheet of paper, a form for Daniel to sign with his Miranda rights on it.

Once you were seated across from Daniel, you handed him the paper and read him his rights.

“If you don’t mind me asking, Daniel, what happened between you and your father?”

Daniel’s eyebrows furrowed as he looked back and forth between you and Spencer, “what kind of FBI agents are you?”

“We’re with the Behavioral Analysis Unit in Quantico, Virginia. We use psychology to solve crimes. I hope my question wasn’t intrusive, Doctor Reid and I both just noticed the way your behavior changed when you saw your father. He’s been helpful in our investigation and I don’t want any family conflicts to interfere if you’re going to help us too.”

“We had a disagreement.”

“Just a disagreement?” you pressed carefully.

“Just a disagreement.”

“Alright,” you said, deciding to leave it at that and move on. He was giving you too much resistance for the direction you had wanted to take the conversation, so you changed the subject. If his disagreement with his father was relevant to the case, you’d have to get that information out of him another way.

You started off by asking about Mia-Rose and gathering any information Daniel had about her. At first he was reluctant, just explaining that they saw each other during family gatherings and when his father would drive them both home from band practice.

“You went to the same high school then, if you were in band together?”

“Uh huh. It’s a small town, everyone goes to the same school.”

“Can you tell us about who Mia-Rose spent time with? Who were her friends?”

“Everyone was her friend. She was the friendliest kid in school.”

“Who were your friends?” Spencer asked, tilting his head. It wasn’t a question you had thought to ask, but as soon as he did you saw where he was going.

“Does it matter?”

“It does to me,” Spencer answered.

“Alec Krause, Markus Sparrow, Nicolas Rush,” Daniel listed.

“Where are they now?” you asked while Spencer pulled out his phone, presumably to text Garcia for a background check, “are you still in contact with them?”

“They all moved out of town for college. Haven’t seen or talked to ‘em since,” Daniel shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

“You were supposed to go to college, in Chicago, right?” you prompted. Daniel’s eyes flickered between you and Spencer, probably wondering how much about him you knew.

“Yeah.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

“Got a job at the farm,” he shrugged.

“Daniel, I’m going to be real with you,” you squared up, “I’ve seen plenty of small towns in this job. I’ve talked to many people from small towns just like this one, and almost all of them in your position would have taken the out. They would have moved to the city as soon as they got the chance, so why didn’t you? Why did you choose to stay in this town?”

“I didn’t have a choice,” Daniel was quick to correct you.

“You didn’t?” Now you were on to something.

“The disagreement I had with my father was about me leaving. He wouldn’t let me leave, so he got me the job at the farm.”

“Alright, let’s take a break,” you said, standing up and stepping out of the room. Spencer exchanged a few words with Daniel, then followed you out.

“That was big,” you panted, trying to shake out the jump of adrenaline that you were feeling.

“You’re doing great,” Spencer confirmed.

“When Dylan was talking about his son earlier, during his interview, it seemed like he didn’t have control over Daniel. What was it he said, ‘you know how kids are’? Something must have changed to make Daniel listen to his father telling him to stay, something that changed after Mia-Rose was murdered.”

Right before you were going to go back into the interrogation room, your phone rang. Hotch’s name lit up the screen.

“Hold on, Spence. (y/l/n),” you answered, praying that Hotch wasn’t going to tell you to abandon the case and get back to Quantico right when you were making strides.

“I’m just checking in to see how things are going.”

“We’re talking to a person of interest right now, it’s just very slow going. We think he had been working with a partner when the murder took place, but he’s not giving up names,” you explained, “please don’t tell me we have a case that we have to come back for, we just got a break that might open this case up for us.”

Hotch chuckled on the other end of the line, “no, we don’t have a case. Garcia told me you had a lead and I was curious.”

“Honestly, I don’t know how you were a prosecutor before joining the BAU. This is exhausting, and every time I say something I feel like he’s going to invoke.”

“You’re doing fine,” Spencer whispered reassuringly.

“Spencer says I’m doing fine,” you relayed to Hotch.

“I’m sure you are. Sometimes unsubs like this take time to crack,” he reminded you.

“It’s already been thirty years, I’d like to close it now,” you decided, squaring your shoulders. “I’m going to go back in there and wrap this up. I’ll call you back when we’re done.” You hung up with Hotch, then turned to Spencer. “Let’s do this.”

Daniel seemed to tense up when you walked back in, sitting down across the table from him once again.

“Thanks for being patient, Daniel. I’d like to know why your father wouldn’t let you leave town. From what he told us, he gave you a lot of freedom in high school. What happened?”

“We had a disagreement, like I said.”

“Right, we’ve covered that. It must have been hard going from being able to do whatever you wanted to working a farm job under your father’s thumb. I was hoping you could tell us exactly what kind of disagreement. Was it because Mia-Rose was murdered?” Daniel nodded, “ok, that’s a start. Was there a specific reason beyond Mia-Rose’s murder?”

Your tactic was deliberate, validating his feelings before pressing harder in hopes that he would give something up.

“He didn’t want me getting into more trouble.”

“More trouble? As in, you got into trouble here first?”

“Correct.”

“We don’t have any police records for you, Mr. Godfrey. Usually that’s the kind of ‘trouble’ that stops kids from going to college,” Spencer chimed in.

“The police don’t know I was there.”

“Where?” Your question was burning hot, and you watched Daniel squirm as he realized he had dug himself into a hole.

“I was in the car.”

“Which car?” you hoped he meant the car you thought he did, but you needed a true confession.

“My father’s car…” you chose not to say anything and instead let him sit in uncomfortable silence, “the night Mia was killed.”

“With her? Was Mia in the car with you?”

“Yes, she was.”

You had to maintain your composure, even though your insides were doing cartwheels out of excitement. This was exactly the kind of lead you were looking for, you couldn’t blow it now.

“Your father said you were out with friends, were any of the people you mentioned earlier with you? Alec, Markus, and Nicholas?”

“No, it wasn’t with them.”

“Who else was in the car then, Daniel? It wasn’t just you and Mia-Rose.”

“I don’t remember,” he started backpedaling, a clear sign that you were closing in.

“We’re going to step out and give you some time to think about it, see if you can try to remember,” Spencer interrupted before you could say anything, nodding towards the door when you made eye contact with him. You followed him out, turning to him abruptly once the door was shut behind you.

“I was getting somewhere with him.” You were fired up, to say the least. Now that you were in the comfortable privacy of Spencer’s company, you could let your emotions come forward.

“I know, I know,” Spencer smirked, “Garcia got a hit with Daniel’s friends, we should call and see what she has so we have more leverage when we go back in there.”

You took a deep breath, pulling out your phone and calling Garcia.

“Boy Wonder got my text!” she answered after the first ring.

“What did you find, Garcia? We’re really making strides here and anything you’ve got could really close this for us.”

“I ran the names of Daniel’s friends, like you asked. Almost all of them checked out, normal guys with normal lives.”

“Almost all of them?” you caught the specificity of her words.

“Right. One of them, Markus, he checks out too… but his brother, oh my his brother has done some stuff.”

“What kind of stuff?” Spencer asked, brows furrowed in thought.

“Kyle Sparrow. When he was 11 he attempted to rob a bank, and not just as a joke. When he was 14 he was suspended from school after locking students in storage closets. He’s been in and out of jail his whole adult life. He got out a year ago and hasn’t been back since.”

“That fits our profile. How old was he when Mia-Rose was killed?” Spencer followed up.

“That’s where things get weird, I was hoping you guys would have a good explanation because this really doesn’t make sense.”

“Garcia,” you called, refocusing her.

“Right. Kyle Sparrow was 10 years old when Mia-Rose was murdered.”

“What?” you whipped around to look at Spencer incredulously, hoping he would have some kind of information about child serial killers that would clarify the situation. Instead, he just frowned and shook his head. You had to decide if it was worth bringing up to Daniel and risk wasting precious time. You considered for a moment, then spoke. “Send us his address, we’re going to ask Daniel about him. If he seems like a viable lead then we’ll head out there. Thanks Garcia.”

“Done and done. You’ve got this, crimefighters!”

“Are you ready to go back in there?” Spencer asked when you reached for the interrogation room door handle.

“Do I have a choice? This case just took a turn that I wasn’t expecting.”

“It’s been four hours and thirty six minutes. We can take another minute to get coffee if you need a longer break,” he suggested.

“I’m too close to cracking this. I can feel it,” you confessed. Spencer nodded, acknowledging that your gut feelings were usually right. You opened the door, sitting back down across from Daniel. Spencer stood in the corner behind you, hands in his pockets.

“Did you remember who was in the car with you the night Mia-Rose was murdered?” Daniel shook his head. “Ok, that’s fine. I have some names that we’ve collected as people of interest for this case. I’m going to read them off and you tell me if one sounds familiar, ok?” Daniel nodded, so you opened your file and pulled out a blank piece of paper, holding it so Daniel couldn’t see the lack of information on your side.

“Emily Prentiss.”

He shook his head.

“Derek Morgan.”

Again, nothing.

“Penelope Garcia.”

Your list was intentional, listing people you were certain Daniel wouldn’t know so you could get a baseline for his behavior. It paid off when you listed the next name, “Kyle Sparrow.”

You could practically see Daniel tense up. Though he shook his head, his leg started bouncing nervously and his eyes were flickering frantically around the room, looking anywhere but at you and Spencer.

“Daniel,” you started, keeping your voice low, “remember when I told you Doctor Reid and I use psychology and behavior to solve crimes? You may not have noticed it, but your behavior shifted when you heard Kyle’s name. You know something about him, don’t you? Was he in the car with you that night?”

Daniel finally looked up at you, eyes watering, “I’m not a criminal.”

“I didn’t say you were. Was Kyle in the car with you the night Mia-Rose was murdered?”

“He was just a kid, my best friend’s little brother. We were out in my dad’s car, I had just gotten my license so I skipped class and took Markus and Alec for a spin around town. When I dropped them off back home Kyle said he was lookin’ to go across town to the library so I offered him a ride. I even made him sit in the back because he was still just a small kid. Then we saw Mia walking home. It always took her longer because she stopped to say hi to everyone she passed. Kyle suggested we offer her a ride too, so I did.

“It all happened so fast, first she was getting into the car and then Kyle had a knife at her throat. He told me he’d kill her if I didn’t do what he wanted. He made me drive out of town to the woods and watch as he tied her up and did horrible, horrible things to her. I didn’t even know a kid was capable of doing those things. When he was done with her he made me help put her back in the car and drive to the bridge. She wasn’t dead when he made me push her over the edge, that’s why I didn’t throw her in the river. I thought she’d survive it without Kyle knowing because he was too busy getting rid of her stuff in the trunk. He still made me drop him off at the library after, even though it was closed on account of it being real late at night, and swear that I’d never tell anyone what we did or he’d kill me too.”

“How did your father find out?” you asked.

“He found blood in the car the next morning. I told him it was from Markus, that he had gotten scratched up while we were messing around in the afternoon. He made me clean it out with bleach, told me I’d have to learn responsibility if I wanted to move out. When my auntie called him later and told him about Mia being missing, he connected the dots. He told me he didn’t want to know what I had been doing the night before, but if I tried to move away it would make me a suspect. He got me the job at the farm and I’ve been there ever since.”

“Thank you for your honesty, Daniel. We’ll tell the court how cooperative you’ve been, they might ease your sentence because of it.”

“The court? What?” Pure fear crossed Daniel’s face. It didn’t sit right with you that he had to be arrested, knowing he had been coerced into helping murder his cousin, but he had still committed a felony. You had to let the court decide his fate.

“Daniel Godfrey, you’re under arrest for accessory to the murder of Mia-Rose Horn,” Spencer moved behind Daniel, taking his hands to cuff them. As soon as he was done Daniel was passed off to an officer and you and Spencer took off, SUV keys in hand.

You sped towards the home address Garcia had sent you for Kyle Sparrow, wishing the rest of the team was there so you could split up in case he was at work. This part of your job was where you felt the most comfortable, the tactical side of an arrest that was more physical than the mind games you had just played in the interrogation room. It was just starting to rain, a light drizzle that darkened the skies as you drove to what you hoped was your final location for this case.

“Is there Kevlar in the back?” you asked, realizing you hadn’t gotten vests from the police station before you had left. Spencer turned around in his seat, checking around the vehicle.

“Nope.”

“Great,” you sighed, “let’s try not to get shot at then, alright?”

“Sounds good to me,” Spencer agreed.

You pulled up to Kyle’s house, which was more of a rundown shack on the outskirts of town. You drew your weapon as soon as your boots were on the ground, approaching the door cautiously.

“Where’s Morgan when you need him,” you mumbled, hoping you wouldn’t have to kick the door down, “Kyle Sparrow, FBI,” you announced, knocking on the door. A gunshot flew through the window next to you, shattering the glass. That was all the invitation you needed to bust open the door, but Kyle wasn’t in the room inside. You moved quickly through the maze of rooms, taking one side while Spencer took the other.

“Clear,” you called every time you ensured a room was empty. You heard Spencer clear a couple of spaces, then fall silent. You worked your way to the kitchen, finding him in a standoff with Kyle.

“I’m not going to jail again. You can’t make me,” Kyle seemed unreasonably calm, grinning slightly to himself while he pointed a pistol at Spencer.

“You’re wanted for the murder of Mia-Rose, Kyle. There’s no way to get out of this one,” you had to keep things simple for him and talk him down as quickly as possible before he shot at you again, “let’s just talk about it.”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I’m not going to jail for a person I killed thirty years ago.”

“There’s no other option. We know it was you, this ends here.”

“If I have to go back, it has to be for something better. You’re right, this ends here, but not because I killed Mia-Rose Horn.”

“How does it end, Kyle?” Spencer asked. You noticed the glint in Kyle’s eye, giving you a split second to push Spencer out of the way and get hit with a searing pain in your side. You heard Spencer’s revolver fire as you hit the floor.

“Get him first,” you grunted, putting a hand on your side to try to stem the bleeding. Spencer crouched next to you, worried eyes looking you over before he pulled your handcuffs out of your pocket. Your ears were ringing, but you could just make out the sounds of Spencer talking before you blacked out.

You woke up in the hospital, an all too familiar experience. Spencer was beside you, nose in a book. You weren’t sure how much he was paying attention to it though, considering the way his brows were furrowed and his fingers were tapping against the cover. He was lost in thought somewhere, you just didn’t know where.

“Spence,” you managed to croak through your dry throat. His eyes shot up from the page, lips turning up in a small smile when his gaze met yours.

“Hi,” he practically whispered.

“Is Kyle dead?”

Spencer hesitated, no doubt weighing the value of telling you the outcome now or waiting until you were better rested. He chose the former, shaking his head.

“I did what you would have done and shot him in the hip. He’s not dead, and once he’s healed he’ll go to trial. You did it, (y/n). You solved the case.”

“We solved the case. I couldn’t have done this without you.”

“You also wouldn’t have gotten shot.”

“So?” you shrugged, “I lived. Where’s Garcia? Usually she’s the first one at the hospital.”

Spencer’s smile returned, “she wanted to but a case came in right right after you went into surgery. She sends her love and said she’d make up for not being here when we get back to Quantico.”

“A case? We should get back to help,” though you were exhausted, you brain immediately went into profiling mode.

“No, you’re going to stay here and rest. You should be staying for longer than you’re going to, but I was able to convince your doctor that I was more than capable of making sure you got home safely.”

“I didn’t realize you were a rule-breaker,” you teased, feeling your eyelids droop.

“I’m not, I just thought you would want to go home as soon as possible. You’re not the kind of person who likes being away from their family, and we’ve already been gone three days. Staying here doing nothing, although it would be good for you, would just torment you more.”

“Thanks, Spence,” you murmured, falling back to sleep. You dozed on and off for the better part of the day, Spencer staying by your side the whole time. Towards the end of the afternoon, you woke up to his seat vacant. The immediate panic you felt was squashed by calculated thoughts, he’s probably getting food or in the bathroom. You fought to stay awake while you waited for him to come back. He surprised you by returning with someone behind him.

“Mrs. Horn wanted to talk to you, if you’re feeling up for it,” he said, resuming his position in the chair next to you. You nodded, watching the older woman enter the room from where she had been standing in the doorway.

“I wanted to thank you for finding my daughter’s killer, even though it put you in the line of danger.”

“I’d do it again in a heartbeat,” you reassured her, sitting up a little against your pillows.

“I wish her father could have been here to see it solved. He always told me not to lose faith, that a blessing would come our way. You were our blessing,” she dabbed at her eyes with a handkerchief.

“I was just doing my job, I’m sorry it took so long for someone to figure this out.”

Mrs. Horn tutted, telling you she was just glad that her daughter could rest in peace now. Before she left, she made sure to tell you that if you were ever in Illinois you and Spencer were welcome to come over for dinner, and that she hoped you got better quickly so you could go help other victims.

Once she was gone, your doctor came in to follow up with you. You had been shot in the side, the bullet passing through and exiting out of your back without hitting any major organs. Spencer did most of the talking for you, asking questions you couldn’t make sense of and checking over your chart for what was probably the hundredth time that day.

“You seem to be healing well and have a… knowledgable… support system, so I’m going to clear you for discharge. If anything changes you’ll need to go into the nearest hospital, ok?”

“Yes ma’am,” you answered. A nurse came in later with your discharge papers, which you signed before Spencer helped you in a wheelchair and out to where the SUV was parked.

“Are you sure you want to drive in this rain? I can-“ you winced in pain, hand flying to your side, “I can do it if you don’t feel comfortable.” Spencer stifled a laugh, reaching his hands out to give you something to brace yourself against as you moved from the wheelchair the SUV.

“I don’t mind driving,” he said simply.

“Yes you do,” you quipped quickly, exhaling as you settled into the passenger seat.

“Ok, yes. Under normal circumstances, I do mind driving, but I think I can make an exception when my favorite driver has been shot.”

“Don’t let Morgan hear you say that,” you smirked, still struggling to breathe in a way that would make your side hurt less.

“Are you warm enough?” Spencer fiddled with the heating knobs once he was settled behind the wheel. You nodded, but the shiver that ran down your body betrayed you.

“You’re the one driving. I want you to be comfortable,” you mumbled.

“You’re the one who just got shot. Here,” he reached behind him into the back where both of your go bags were stored. He unzipped his own and pulled out a cardigan, then leaned over the console to drape it across you. “The wool will help you retain heat.”

“Thanks,” you sighed, relishing in the comfort of his gesture.

“You didn’t have to take that bullet for me.”

“I did. I pulled you into this mess, I wasn’t going to let you get hurt because of it.”

“Hotch sent me with you so that you wouldn’t get yourself hurt,” he rebutted.

You brushed him off, “I’ve been shot before, I’m going to be fine.”

“I’ve also been shot before, you didn’t have to push me out of the way.”

You were quick to counter, “you didn’t have to push Blake out of the way either.”

It was an unnecessary squabble, a fact you both caught onto quickly once you realized the direction the conversation was going. Instead, Spencer changed the subject to explain the history of the small towns you were passing through on your way to the interstate.

Miraculously, once the car was comfortably cruising on the highway, Spencer fell silent. You suspected it had to do with his intense concentration on driving in the elements as the rain got harder, though he also could have been giving you the space to sleep if you needed to.

It wasn’t until you were over an hour into your journey that he spoke again, after a quick glance at you revealed fresh tear tracks down your cheeks under the passing street lights.

“(Y/n), are you crying?” His question was so soft you almost missed it, “is it the pain? You’re not due to take your meds for another three hours but I know you have ibuprofen in your bag that would be ok to take now. I can pull over-“ his hand was about to move back to the steering wheel from where it had come to rest on the console, but you reached out to grab it instead.

You and Spencer didn’t really ‘do’ physical contact. You both had reasons not to, instead finding comfort just in proximity. As long as he was around, you were happy. This time, though, it was different. Maybe it was because you were touch starved, or because you had just been poked and prodded at all angles while in the hospital. Whatever the reason, the light grip you had on Spencer’s hand to stop him from pulling over was enough to make you feel the tiniest bit better. He was there with you, he was real.

“It’s not the pain,” you managed to hold your composure, knowing that letting any kind of sob escape the confines of your soul would only physically hurt you more.

“Are you tired? I drank enough coffee to get us home by morning but if you really need to sleep we can find a hotel somewhere. There are three off the next exit.”

“Spencer,” you ran your thumb over the prominent vein in his hand, “it isn’t something you can fix.”

“What do you mean?” He was puzzled, and by the way his hands were twitching you could tell he was deciding whether or not to stop the car anyways.

“There are hundreds of thousands of cold cases. Hundreds of thousands of families that don’t have closure. Hundreds of thousands of victims that haven’t gotten justice.”

“There’s one less because of you. You made a difference to Mia-Rose’s family, you got her the justice she deserves.”

“She deserved justice thirty years ago. I feel like the system failed her, the very system I work for. She was just a kid, and the answer was right there the whole time. Why did I have to be the one to figure it out, thirty years too late?”

Spencer’s response was soft and gentle, “because you’re exceptional, (y/n).”

“I didn’t have to be exceptional to solve this case, though. That’s what I’ve learned from all of the cold case documentaries I’ve watched. The ones that get solved are because someone knew what happened and didn’t come forward about it until years later. There was a psychopathic kid on the streets for thirty years because the police didn’t think to talk to Daniel Godfrey.”

“We can’t change what happened in the past, but we can make a difference in our futures.”

“I’m just so tired, Spence. I chose this job, I love this job, but it’s exhausting.”

“Then rest, (y/n). It’s ok if the only person you save some days is yourself.”

He was right, of course. You wanted to keep saving others, but you couldn’t do that if you didn't make time to save yourself too. You finally closed your eyes and pulled his cardigan up to your chin. Though you were still conscious, limiting your sensory input helped calm you down enough that you found yourself flitting in and out of dissociation. Even when Spencer’s hand gently moved out from under yours to answer his phone, you kept your eyes closed.

“Hey JJ,” his voice was quiet, barely audible over the rain pounding against the windshield, “they’re doing ok.” He paused while he listened to JJ’s response. “No, they keep reminding me that it’s not the first time they’ve been shot. I’m worried about them though.” He trailed off.

“They’ve been shouldering this burden of over 185,000 cold cases since we started working on this one, and now that it’s solved they’re finally feeling the weight of it. I don’t want them to drive themselves crazy trying to solve all of them on their own. We deal with enough active cases as it is.”

Though you were barely in a state of mind to process his words, he had hit the nail right on the head.

“How is the case you’re working on?” You presumed JJ was filling him in on what they knew, “have Garcia look into large purchases of triacetone triperoxide… Call me if anything changes. We should be back by morning.”

“Yes,” his change in tone indicated that JJ had asked him a question, “that would be great, JJ. Thank you so much.”

He must have hung up with JJ because his hand found yours again, fingers just barely touching. It was a simple action, loaded with a lot of meaning. Spencer was your best friend, and would always be your best friend. Bullets, cold cases, marriages, there was nothing that could break the bond you had with him.

You didn’t understand why people called their significant others their “better half”. It insinuated that you weren’t a whole person to begin with, a fractured existence that only found completion by the means of someone else. The idea that your life couldn’t be fulfilling until someone else made it whole was a concept that was set up for failure and self-loathing.

Instead, you believed that you were a whole person who could live a fulfilling life without the necessity of another. Instead, you surrounded yourself with people who lifted you up and helped you achieve your goals without being the direct cause of your success. Instead, you followed your dreams and somehow found Spencer Reid along the way.

Spencer was your best friend, your confidant, the one person who you knew you couldn’t live without, but he was not your other half. He was his own whole person, a mirror image of your own being. You found solace in his companionship, safety in the complexities of his brain. When the stress of your job got to be too much, you could reliably turn to each other and exist in the little slice of the world you called yours for a moment.

No, he was not your other half. He wasn’t even yours, for that matter, but he was there. He was there in a capacity that nobody else could achieve.

This is part of my GALAXY universe! If you liked this relationship, check out the MASTERLIST for more content!

Galaxy Taglist: @kermitsaysgayrights @niallthedancingharry @shadyladyperfection @thatsonezesty13 @lexshead @ceeellewrites @howdycharlie @girlycakepops @fantastic-fans @canimarrypizzaornah @daisyflower138 @dyingrexx @taylormobley @bazzleslynn @tj-drinks-tea @willa-wonky @eddiesbifocals @tee-mbrown @reniescarlett @bone-hurty-bitch @messyacademia

#spencer reid x reader #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #Criminal Minds #Criminal Minds Fanfiction #platonic imagine #platonic soulmates

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whereisten · 4 years ago

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The Interview

A Doyoung fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: you’re a journalist that just booked her biggest gig, an interview with Doyoung, a vampire notorious for a series of murders in your city.

Pairing: Vampire!Doyoung x female reader

Other characters: Best friend!Johnny

Genre: horror, angst, smut, violence

Word count: 8.7 K

Warnings: blood mention, descriptions of murder and violence, cursing, smut! (Threesome (MMF), breast fondling, fingering, male masturbation, oral sex, penetration, slight overstimulation, c*eampie.), mentions of chains and knives.

A/N: I am sorry for taking so long to post this, but I hope you enjoy!! I didn’t proofread (shocker) so there may be some errors but I will fix them later. THANK YOU GUYS AGAIN FOR THE SUPPORT FOR OUR HALLOWEEN SERIES AHHHH!! It’s been so much fund and I hope you guys enjoy the last few fics we have coming up!!

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You entered the house and walked hesitantly inside, looking around to observe all of the meticulous paintings and art. The mansion was dark and gloomy, it sent a chill through your body to imagine all of the horrors and secrets it held within it. So much murder, so much blood and death. And yet, it was kept in pristine condition by a loyal maid. Not a speck of dust in sight, and no stench to even indicate a single crime having been committed.

You sat down in his office on a cushioned loveseat before you placed your recorder on the coffee table in between your seat and his.

You heard the jingles of his handcuffs and the many footsteps of police entering a few minutes after.

He sat down across from you as you cleared your throat. You noticed his irritated and burgundy red wrists being burned by the handcuffs around them made of pure silver.

He was stunning, like a painting himself. His skin looked like it was made of the most expensive marble, his eyes looked playful, but held a dark glint about them that you couldn’t shake. His arms were in front of him as his hands were held together by the handcuffs, you couldn’t ignore the obvious presence of his biceps as they strained against the thin material of his long sleeved prison uniform. His veins also bulged from his wrists all the way to his neck.

The devastatingly handsome man looked...hungry.

His tongue darts out over his bottom lip as he watches you observe his features.

“Oh, a pretty one for once, thank God.” He smirks.

You look at him sternly and press record on the mechanism in between you two.

“Good afternoon, Doyoung, my name is y/n. Today, I’ll be asking you a few questions about the crimes you’ve committed, but first, I would like for you to confirm your identity.”

You hold your iPad in your arm and start to type a description of his features and what he is wearing.

Doyoung laughs.

You stop writing and look up at him.

“What’s the matter?”

“I’m chained up in my own house, and not in the sexual way for once…”

You look back to your iPad.

“Unless..you’d like to change that..” he says with a low tone that makes your body shiver.

“Doyoung..you’ve just been sentenced to a lifetime in prison for the brutal murders of 36 people. I’d appreciate it if you’d just answer a few questions so we can both go about our day.”

“Oh dear, I won’t tell you anything unless you get these barbaric things off of me, and get these useless men out of here.” He tilts his head towards the police officers behind his seat.

You shake your head. “No can do Doyoung, you’re a danger man, if they leave I’m done for.”

He chuckles lowly. “Don’t you trust me, sweetheart? My maid is no longer here, she testified against me and fled the country, so obviously I have no intention of ruining my place with anyone’s blood while she’s gone.” A smile crosses his face and it makes you uneasy.

You shouldn’t have done what you did next, but for the sake of writing a damn good article for Neo chronicles, you knew you had to. This trip would’ve been a waste of time and effort. It took you months to convince your boss to get you an interview with Doyoung, the notorious vampire that was just found guilty of capital murder.

He could tear you to shreds in moments with his hands and teeth, but something told you to ask that he be free..just for a few minutes.

He leans forward and keeps your eyes in his gaze. “You want them to release these cuffs, don’t you?”

You swallow hard then look up at the head police officer.

“He won’t cooperate unless you leave and take the handcuffs with you, please…” you beg, but the officer immediately shakes his head.

“Under strict orders from the judge, we cannot do that. It’s a miracle that we were even allowed to bring him back here.”

The tall man says without budging.

Doyoung turns to look at him. “Officer...these cuffs really hurt..it’ll only be for a few minutes..please.”

The officer furrows his eyebrows.

“Officer..I promise it’ll only take 15 minutes.” You continue.

“Fine...we’ll be right outside the door.”

You’re surprised to see that the officer agrees. He takes his key and opens up the cuffs. He then places them beside you on your chair.

“Slap these on the son of a bitch if he tries anything.”

You nod. A part of you felt so uneasy now that you were alone with him, but you had to make the most of it and get some information out of him while you could. No one could do what you were about to do, for Doyoung would be put away for life in a few days.

The door clicks and the room falls silent.

Doyoung turns to you and already starts to heal his wrists. “Well, then...should we get started?”

“Where are you from?” You ask.

He raises an eyebrow and throws an arm over the head of his seat.

“I’m from this city, dear.. I was just raised in a very different one...a few hundred years ago, without the cars, without the noise..”

“You’re the first of your kind that society has come across. Are there any more like you?”

He chuckles then looks at you and tilts his head. “There’s no one like me..”

You lick your lips quickly and lean forward. “Are there any more vampires, Doyoung?”

“Of course there are, some lurk in the shadows, some live boldly as the very doctors that take care of you. No one from my bloodline is alive however.” His gaze shifts downward as if he’s reminiscing.

“How do the vampires survive without being caught?”

He looks back up at you. “We just feed on animals to get by.”

Your heart began to race, you were finally getting information that no one else knew about, for Doyoung never spoke a word to investigators looking for answers about vampires.

“So why did you feed on humans and kill them instead of changing them?”

“For survival, sweetheart. I’m a man with very expensive taste..I’ve been killing humans for years, but I got lazy and decided to not run from city to city..I’d take out anyone that was evil or treated others like shit..some of my victims deserved it, but I’m sure you already knew that.”

You looked to the side. You did notice that he mainly killed other murderers or robbers.

“Furthermore, humans have polluted the earth so badly, the taste of animals that feed off of diseased grass is just disgusting. I couldn’t take it anymore.” His face winces.

“And human blood..is it good?”

Doyoung smirks. “Oh, my love, you have no idea. It’s sweet and savory, there’s nothing like it..and if I may say, it’s even better when the subject surrenders willingly.”

“Did your subjects surrender willingly?”

He looks up and tries to think. He taps his chin. “No..I don’t think any of those bastards surrendered, they were quick fixes to my thirst. There was one woman though..Hmm what was her name?...Was it Diamond or Daisy?”

You closed your eyes as you listened to him struggle to remember the names of his victim.

“Darlene..her real name was Darlene, but she went by Tiffany at the strip club she worked at.”

“Ahhh! Yes! Darlene..she was sweet, magnificent. I remember taking her in the back of my car, she was ecstatic. She felt amazing around me, so warm. Her body shook as I stretched her out and played with her beautiful womanhood..such a shame.. she was so willing.”

You swallowed hard as tears filled your eyes. Doyoung was making light of a dark situation that ended in the murder of a young woman just trying to live her life.

He leans forward to get your attention. “First..I tasted her lips, then I placed my tongue around her hard nubs. I traced my tongue down her abdomen and all the way...down, before letting it rest on her folds. I licked up her essence and listened to her moan and breathe heavily. I can still hear the rush of her blood in her veins. I can still taste her trembling core on the tip of my tongue, and feel her velvety walls around my fingers.”

You cross your legs as his voice lowers more and more with each sentence.

His dark eyes hold onto yours as his smile grows. He can smell the pool building in your underwear.

“In and out, I moved in and out, circling around her bud before she came hard all over my mouth. But I licked it up and kissed her thigh as she begged for more. She tasted delicious and brain became flooded with thoughts of just how wonderful her blood would taste too. So I wrapped her legs around my waist and pushed into her, sliding in between her delicious and wet folds and hitting her sweet spot over and over.”

“Doyoung..” you turn away and gulp, but he grabs your chin within a split second of standing up in front of you.

He tilts your head upwards and gazes down at your lips.

“I placed two fingers into her mouth...just like this.”

On instinct, your mouth falls open, allowing him to place two fingers onto your tongue. Your mind went crazy, half of it screaming for you to look away from the dangerous man, the other half saying “yes, God, yes.”

You sat with your mouth agape, waiting for him to continue.

“If only you could taste her...nonetheless, when she came again, her eyes rolled in the back of her head and the veins of her neck stuck out to me, begging to be punctured into. I sucked her dry even as she clenched around me from the overwhelming pleasure.”

He withdrew his fingers, licking them as his eyes held onto yours.

“Your lips must be delicious too.”

You snapped yourself out of your daze and shook your head.

“Doyoung, what the hell?”

He sits back into his chair. “Any more questions, love?”

You clear your throat again and look at your iPad.

“Uhh..what are your abilities?”

He smirks. “Well, I’m sure you can imagine one of them. But in addition to that, we are fast, strong, powerful beings. Some can read minds, some can hypnotize..we are what humans aim to be, perfect beings.”

Your face grows into one of disgust. “With the exception of having the burning need to murder, right?”

He chuckles once more and rolls his eyes. “Humans kill all the time, what makes us so different if we do it for survival? Murders are done out of rage against those that are simply different in terms of religion, ethnicity, or sexual orientation all the time, why aren’t you interviewing those bastards?”

You hesitate.

He leans towards you and crosses his arms.

“What if you could make this world a better place by getting rid of those that commit crimes against the helpless? I can see that you’re one that believes in justice.. you can be like me, but use your abilities for good..”

You shake your head. “Absolutely not, you’re a monster. Just because you killed for survival does not negate the fact that you still took many lives.”

He leans back and nods. “Oh, pity then. I thought I’d have a partner for my getaway. I would’ve loved to keep such a pretty face by my side..”

Your eyes widen, you lean back and reach for the handcuffs..but they’re not there.

He jumps up from his seat.

You stand up as well. “What are you doing?”

But within seconds, your arms are behind your back and locked in the handcuffs that he stole from beside you.

“Doyoung!”

He pushes your body so that it lays back down on the love seat. You stare in horror as he crawls over you while looking up your scared face through his lashes.

He licks his lips.

“Thank you for giving me this chance to get away..”

“Help!!” You call out and soon the police break through the double doors.

Doyoung flicks his head towards them and holds out his hand. “Halt!”

He yells and they stop in their tracks.

You cry out. “Doyoung!!” But he’s already dug into each and every one’s necks and ripped into their throats.

Blood platters across the room and the bodies fall down dead almost unanimously as Doyoung moves incredibly fast. He appears as a blur one moment and the next moment, he is over you again, but this time with the lower half of his face covered in crimson liquid and his eyes intense.

He licks your collarbone, slowly trailing his tongue up your neck then to your chin. You tremble and cry as your heart races.

“Mmmmm...sweetheart, I’d take you right here, but you’ll taste so much better when you give in to me completely, I’ll see you soon.”

He disappears, you only hear the breaking of a window behind you.

You close your eyes tightly and sob.

The police officers that were outside in their cars immediately run into the house when they see that Doyoung has flown away.

They open your handcuffs and console you as you turn away from all of the dead bodies on the floor.

When things finally settled, you noticed that Doyoung had taken your recorder, leaving you without proof that this interview even happened.

———

[3 Months Later]

A national manhunt for Doyoung had been going on for months, no one saw the man or..creature. The good part about his absence was that there were no more killings. You tried your best to explain what happened that day, but you couldn’t. Everything felt blurry, all you could feel was this longing to be with him again. He had you under his grasp in just a few minutes, but that partially wasn’t your fault. You were hypnotized, just as the police officer taking him out of handcuffs was.

But you couldn’t help but feel guilty when you thought about the lives lost that day, the families that weren’t with their loved ones anymore because of your weakness. You swore it would never happen again.

You were released from your job at the Neo Chronicles, your boss was embarrassed and dealt with the harshest treatment from not only the legal system, but from the media as well. No one understood how such a huge mistake could be made. They had him and were ready to punish him for his crimes, but in just a few minutes, they lost him, the only vampire known to man.

You worked from home now, uploading conspiracy theories to your own website where people could submit photos, videos or written accounts of their experiences with the supernatural. They could do this anonymously if they wished. You wrote about Doyoung and the vampire community, you even went out at night at farms or in the woods to try to catch vampires in the act of taking blood from them, but you had no luck.

You would set your life to finding Doyoung, you’d make him pay for what he did to you. Even if you were intrigued by him, you’d make him suffer. However, you couldn’t help but wonder why he didn’t kill you as well.

———

[One Month Later]

You were about to do some research on cult practices that involved sacrifices, when you heard a knock at your door. You jumped up in your chair at your desk and turned to the door.

You swallowed hard. Had you done too much digging? Was someone tracking you? Were you being watched all this time?

Maybe you shouldn’t have visited the dark web.

You stand up slowly and walk to the door. You hear another knock.

You grab a tennis racket you placed by your door after playing tennis earlier that day. You then look through the peephole and see him.

Your heart started to race. Should you call the authorities? Should you scream for help? No. They would just be too slow, they’d be gone by the time a shriek escaped your throat.

You quickly opened it and held up your racket.

“Ah!!!” You yelled as you swung it, but he grabbed it with one hand and broke in two effortlessly.

Your eyes widened as he stood there with one corner of his mouth tilted upwards. His eyes sparkled in the darkness.

Your jaw fell open while the rackets ripped to your doorstep in two separate pieces.

“Invite me in...I have the recorder.” He demands through a husky tone.

You breathe heavily. “I-I..”

“May I come in...sweetheart?” He pouts.

You sigh and nod. “Yes.”

You didn’t want to but he had the evidence that you needed. Maybe you could just take it from him and he’d leave. With that piece of evidence, you could get your job back or make money online with your testimony.

Doyoung speeds past you and sits at your desk.

“Ooooo..satanic cults...interesting!” He searches through your computer.

“Hey!” You lock your door and walk towards him.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

“How have you been doing, my love? Have you been well? Probably not...seeing that you’re stuck at home now, researching this nonsense.” He ignores your question and stands up from the desk.

You walk after him into the dining room.

“Answer me! Why are you here?”

“Have you thought about my proposal? You’ve had a lot of time..”

“Why didn’t you turn yourself in?!” You grab a knife from your kitchen counter and hold it behind your back.

He takes a look at your 4 day old pizza on your stove top and gags. “You and I both know I wouldn’t dare out well in prison.”

“So why the hell are you here?!” You say a little louder.

He turns to you suddenly and flips you around. In just a few seconds, he pins you against the wall with your cheek pressed against it and your hands behind your back.

You grunt as he presses in your back with your elbow.

“Did you know that you’ve been on my mind every night since that day?” He forces the knife out of your hand and trails the tip down the side of your face.

You wince as you anticipate it breaking your skin, but he only drags it down your neck delicately and watches goosebumps decorate your skin.

He flips you back around so you face him now, he looks down at your chest and breathes heavily over it. He still holds both of your wrists in his hand, clenching his fist around them tightly as you squeal.

“The way you smell, the way you feel, the way you taste...it’s all haunted me..I want you so badly..”

You blink rapidly. “If you want to kill me, why don’t you just do it already.”

Doyoung chuckles and hangs his head low.

“I’m here to ask you again...join me..live as I live and give up this boring life..” he licks long your neck as you struggle in his grasp.

You shake your head.

“No..I don’t want you..I don’t want to be a monster like you.”

He laughs as he smirks while watching your lips. His closeness to you makes you dizzy, but you try to remain firm.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m too old to be fooled, I know you have a recording of our little interview on your ipad..I know you don’t really need that recorder..so why did you invite me in?”

Your face falls. How did he know that you had a second audio recording saved to your iPad.

“Okay...fine, I wanted a reason to let you in..” you search his eyes.

He smiles and watches your lips.

“Oh? And now that I’m in, what else do you want?”

You pant and lick your lips. “I want..to feel what that woman felt..”

He kisses your neck. “Like this?” He whispers against your heated skin.

Your eyes close as your head falls back. “Yes..take me to my room..” you beg breathily.

He wraps his arms around you and by the time you open your eyes, you’re on your bed with your legs around his waist.

He grinds his covered member into you and listens to you moan.

He continues to kiss your neck and bite teasingly.

He licks over the warm area and moans. The cold touch of his fingertips makes you yearn for him more.

“This is what I missed, the taste of your beautiful skin..”

He looks down at you through wide eyes, he adores your lips and eyes, watching as you finally give in to him like he’s longed for.

He leans down and kisses your lips.

You reach above your head and place your hands under your pillow. You grab a specialized collar.

“Look at me, Doyoung.” You whisper in between kisses.

He releases your lips and looks up. You suddenly lock the collar around his throat.

He hisses, flying to the ceiling and grabbing at it in an attempt to take it off, but he has no luck.

The collar made of pure silver sends violent and painful shockwaves through his body whenever he touches it.

It tightens slowly to stop him from breathing.

His eyes grow. “What..what have you done to me?” He says as he dangles from the ceiling and looks down at you on the bed with a smile on your face.

“Oh Doyoung, you’re old but you still didn’t see this coming..” you chuckle, everything went as planned.

“Please...please stop this...” he reaches out for you as he gasps for air.

You stand up from the bed and look up at him.

“I’ll explain this quickly since you’ll be unconscious in about three minutes..”

He loses his grip from the ceiling, falling onto the bed limply.

“Do you remember a tall fellow that you bit one evening as he walked home from work?”

Doyoung groans in pain.

“I’ll take that as a no..” you continue. “Well, this victim’s name was Johnny, he owns Johnny’s Café and locked up kinda late that night when you found him. He became your prey and in the blink of an eye, was left to die in a dirty alleyway. No one was there to help him, no one…” your eyes start to water.

“He was my best friend..and you killed him. Or so I thought..you see, you made a grave mistake with this “murder.” You didn’t ensure his death by sucking until you heard the very last beat of his pulse. You got what you wanted and left him there with a faint pulse. He was able to pull his phone out and call me..I found him through Find My iPhone, and when I inspected his injuries..I realized that he had been attacked by a vampire.”

Doyoung’s eyes roll in the back of his head as he takes his final breaths.

“It was my first time seeing such a wound since I was young. Guess what, Doyoung? My family has hunted vampires since the beginning of time..my grandparents were sure that they had killed all of you in this city...but it seems we hadn’t, and Johnny’s attack is what brought this issue to my attention. Lucky for me, you fell right into my hands, making it easy for me to gain more information about your kind and the actual status of vampires in our city. I was ill-prepared for your hypnosis, however. That’s why I couldn’t lock you down the first time.”

You walk up to him and caress his pale face. You then yank his arm and drag him through your house and down to your basement.

You throw him down the stairs and walk down.

You both hear yelling and crying.

That’s when Doyoung sees him. That night starts to come back to him, the night when he attacked Johnny.

Johnny is chained to a wall in your basement. His hair is long and disheveled. He yells as he begs for food. His fangs stick out, he looks weak and terrified.

Doyoung gasps. “I didn’t mean for this to happen..”

“This is where he will have to stay, I can’t turn him in because he’s my best friend, but I also can’t kill him or set him free to murder innocent people like a maniac..I will fix him, I swear I will.”

You flip the lid off of a coffin and throw Doyoung into it after much effort. Luckily, he was quite weak from the collar already.

“Even though you turned my best friend into a monster, I am thankful to you for bringing all of your kind’s secrets to light. I will find each one, and I will kill them.” You smirk.

“Enjoy prison, you monster.”

Doyoung only smiles. “I’ll be back, sweetheart. Hunting you will make for a lifetime of joy.”

You shut the lid over the coffin and nail it shut.

You drag the coffin upstairs using a pulley system then call the police to retrieve him.

—————

[2 Years Later]

You enjoy your life as a journalist once again. You gained wealth and notoriety for your interview with Doyoung. You also hunt and kill vampires that killed animals, you finally had used the training from your family to do so.

“I never thought you’d have to do this..” your mom said one day when you visited her for tea.

“I thought..we killed them all and kept you and the rest of our world safe.”

“They’re like roaches..they never die.” Your dad yelled from the living room.

“It is what it is..” you took a sip from your cup.

“But tell me, once one has changed...is there any way to turn them back?”

You thought of Johnny and how you had to watch him suffer now for the past two years. You loved him dearly and spent hours on the dark web searching for clues as to what to do, but nothing worked.

You didn’t tell your parents, for fear that they would tell you to kill him immediately or they’d do it themselves.

You wouldn’t give up on you, you just couldn’t.

The two of you were friends for her 10 years, how could you even think of killing him?

Your mother laughed. “Honey..we’ve tried everything, there’s no way…once they change, the hunger roars through them, making them impossible to tame.”

You nodded.

“What is it you're not telling me?” She tilted her head when she saw the look of worry in your eyes.

“Nothing, it’s just...some of these people are good people..I just wish we didn’t have to kill them..”

“People? They’re not people! They’re savages and self-centered barbarians! Don’t fall for it, all they do is lure in victims for their own gain. They have no conscience.” Your father walked into the dining room with a freshly carved stake.

“Here.” He hands it to you. “You kill those bastards without any thought in your head, they’re meant to seduce you, make you think that they’re innocent humans with beating and good hearts, but they’re not! Kill them before they kill us.”

You nod and take it from him.

—————

[1 Year Later]

You receive news that Doyoung has broken free from prison. No one knows of his whereabouts so all eyes turn to you.

“We can set up police around your place to keep watch if you’d like..” your boss tells you.“There’s a chance that he’ll come after you first.”

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”

You weren’t scared at all, and having police around would only draw more attention to you than you needed. What if they heard Johnny in your basement? What if they saw you bringing in live rabbits in the middle of the night?

And if something were wrong, they’d eventually go into your basement only to find a series of hunting weapons and digging gear, for you always buried the vampires you killed deep in the woods.

You headed home and walked in slowly.

The air felt crisp and cool, the night sky peered in through your windows. You looked around and that’s when you noticed that one of them were open, the wind blowing the curtain that should’ve been drawn over it.

You hold your stake close to you and quickly walk over to it.

You slam it down shut and turn the lock, but by the time you turn back around to head to your room, you see Doyoung.

“Hello, sweetheart.”

He stands just a few feet away from you with blood dripping down his mouth and neck in a steady pool.

You step back and walk around in a circle.

Doyoung smirks and walks in a circle towards you too.

“You knew I would be here, and yet, you came home on time..are you not afraid of me?”

He chuckles and holds his arms out.

You raise your stake in front of you.

“Do I look like I’m afraid of you?”

Doyoung tilts his head and pouts. “I’m not sure, your heart is racing, the sweat on your forehead is building, your grip on the stake is weak..”

“I didn’t give you permission to come in..”

He shakes his head. “No no, you didn’t..but someone in this house did.”

Your steps falter for a moment and you swallow hard.

When you listen closely, you hear something happening in your kitchen.

Then your eyes widen when you realize.

“Johnny..”

You gasp and run into the kitchen.

Doyoung laughs loudly.

You scream when you see Johnny sucking blood from a woman’s neck in the middle of your kitchen.

“No!!!”

“I’ve missed you, my love...but I see you kept him around, locked up in the basement for fun..I used my senses to contact him and tell him to give me permission. You see, he doesn’t enjoy being locked up in your basement.”

Doyoung stands behind you and crosses his arms while leaning against the doorway.

“Johnny!! Stop this please, this isn’t you!” You try to shake him off of the woman but all Johnny sees is red. He has never had human blood before and now his eyes have been opened. You start to cry, your stake drops out of your hand.

“He can’t hear you, he’s enjoying what will now be his favorite meal in the kitchen.”

Doyoung grabs you by the neck and slams you against the wall. You yell out in pain.

“And here we are again, but this time we have some unfinished business, you and I...what should I do with you?”

You shake your head as he lifts your body nearly four feet off the ground while choking you.

“Please Doyoung, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have turned you in..please, just let me go, I’ll run far from here and leave the two of you alone to kill as you please.” Seeing Johnny like this leaves you broken. You can’t believe he’s free to live as a monster after all of your efforts to protect him.

“But running will only make me want you more, I enjoy this game that we play..”

“Doyoung…” you tap his wrist as it becomes difficult to breathe.

“Being choked isn't so nice, is it?”

“What..what do you want from me?”

“I want you, but I like that you’re a challenge, you make my life exciting, and now that I have you here, I want to let you go again just so I can watch you run.” He grins.

“You can shoot some arrows or throw a few stakes, how about it, y/n?”

“Fuck you! I’m not some toy!”

You try to wiggle out of his grasp.

“Then take my offer..I’ll only ask one more time..will you give in to me?”

You start to shake your head, but Johnny rises up from the body on the floor. He runs his hands through his long black hair and licks his lips while panting.

“Y/n..I feel...amazing.” He smiles at you. Even after all these years of you feeding him small animals and keeping him locked up, he still looked at you with love.

You cry harder. “No..Johnny..please don’t give in, I can fix you, I’ll find a way to turn you back.”

He chuckles then steps closer to you. He already looks healthier with the heavy dose of human blood he just consumed. “And you’ve been searching relentlessly for this cure for how long now?”

Doyoung lets your body slide back down the wall as he loosens his grip.

“I’m so close, just trust me.”

“Y/n..Look at how happy he is, don’t you want to be happy too?”

“yes..join us..” Johnny traces his finger down the side of your face.

“No!” You suddenly push Doyoung off of you and dive to the floor for your stake.

You jump back up but Doyoung takes you into his arms.

“Is this what you want?! To die instead of being with your best friend forever?!”

You press the tip of the stake into his chest, you’re so close, but your mind doesn’t allow you to push harder.

“Do it! Kill me!” He doesn’t put you under hypnosis because he wants to see what your true desire is.

Doyoung watches your sad eyes as you struggle to stab him.

Him being so close to you makes you weak, you don’t know why, but you fall into him more.

You second guess everything and your will weakens more and more each second.

You lean forward and kiss Doyoung’s lips finally.

You relax into his arms as his tongue traces over your lips to enter.

You swallow back your disgust from the taste of blood on his lips and close your eyes. A rush runs through your body, it’s like you’re being commanded by waves at the beach, your body just enjoying the feeling of floating in his arms.

The stake falls out of your weak hands. Johnny comes up behind you, kissing your neck from behind while circling his arms around your waist.

If you could just distract them for a few more moments..you could catch them off guard, take them to your room and grab the stake under your pillow..just a few more minutes..

Then..a sharp pain makes you jolt. Your eyes fly open. Johnny’s fangs dig into your neck. He sucks hard while you groan.

“Johnny!” You cry out, but then you moan as a feeling of euphoria washes over your body. You feel amazing, your mind goes blank, a soft, tingly sensation makes you weak as blood rushed from your veins and to his mouth. You’re drunk from their love and you want more.

Doyoung continues to kiss your lips and smiles when he feels you finally giving in to him.

Your heartbeat drives him crazy, he just can’t stop thinking about how good you must taste, so he takes the two of you to your room and lays down beside you on your bed.

Your neck is bent backwards towards Johnny behind you still, your hard nipples covered by your dress are just begging for his mouth.

“Do you give in to me, dear?” His lustful voice echoes in your ear.

“Yes..” you whimper.

In one swift move, Doyoung tears your dress off and throws it to the floor. He licks your hard nubs passionately, darting his tongue out and playing around with them with the tip.

Johnny continues to suck slowly, his hand reaching to your front side. He placed two fingers in between your legs, swatting away your thighs so your legs open more.

You are enraptured by them, completely forgetting your plan. But it didn’t matter anyway, your fate was sealed the moment Johnny bit you. He would either suck you dry or leave you alive to turn into one of them.

A part of you feels regret, but another part has come to terms with your situation. Right now you were focused on the yearning in your chest that made you tremble and the building heat between your legs that needed to be tended to.

Without warning, Doyoung bites your breast and sucks hard after latching his lips around the nipple.

He groans as he listens to you yelp.

You run your hand through his hair. “Yes..that feels so good.” You felt like you were already climaxing with both men sucking your blood at the same time.

Johnny’s fingers push past the waistband of your underwear and presses against your folds.

Doyoung sucks harder, the taste of your blood is sweet and intoxicating, he never wants to stop.

You feel Johnny’s long fingers rub circles into your clit, your legs widen more as you ache for more. He lets go of your neck and nibbles your ear.

“Can I?” He asks seductively.

“Yes..” you bite your bottom lip, your body becoming more and more turned on from Doyoung’s mouth and Johnny’s touch.

You can feel Johnny’s hard member against your back as he pushes one finger into your throbbing opening, sliding it in effortlessly.

“You’re wet…” he pulls his finger out and places it into your mouth. You moan while licking his finger.

“So wet..” he then pushes two fingers in, your body flinches as he pumps in and out of your. Your head is dizzy, you felt that you’ve lost too much blood. You’re too weak and Doyoung feels it too.

He gives your breasts a few more kitten licks to clean up the blood on it, then looks into your eyes.

“How do you feel, my love?”

“I’m-I’m dizzy..” you moan shortly after as Johnny adds a third finger and presses upward while inside your pussy.

Doyoung smiles when he sees your low eyes. “It’s time for you to feed..”

Your eyes widen. “What?”

Doyoung uses his nail and digs a vertical line into his throat.

“Taste me..”

“N-no.” You shake your head.

“This is what you are now, y/n..just taste him and you’ll know..” Johnny whispers into your ear.

You stick your tongue out hesitantly and lick up the trail of blood on his neck. It tastes wonderful, amazing and different. You didn’t know what to describe it as but you felt that rush from earlier run through your body once more.

You lick again, this time, placing your mouth into the wound and actually sucking more blood out.

Doyoung groans while pushing his pants down and taking his member out. He strokes it up and down and pants as you suck hard. You can’t use your fangs yet, but the feeling is still magnificent for him as well.

You need more, a hunger builds in your body and you tilt over Doyoung more to apply pressure.

Johnny withdraws his fingers, allowing you to completely kneel over Doyoung’s lap now.

He lays flat on the bed and watches you mount him. You look beautiful naked, like a goddess. Your eyes are wide with hunger and desire and he’s happy to be at the center of it all. He aligns his cock with your opening, watching as you slide down onto it slowly while wincing.

You breathe heavily and lean forward so you can suck his neck again. You place your hands on either side of his head and move up and down slowly, your body already clenching around him as he fills you up completely.

Johnny wraps his hand around his aching cock and strokes it as you ride Doyoung.

Your body becomes cold even as you sweat from the constant movement.

Your mind is flooded with sounds of Johnny’s moans coupled with the new sound of blood rushing through Doyoung’s veins and into your mouth.

He guides you down onto him by placing both hands on your ass. You push down onto him harder and faster, moving your hips so that his cock curves into you and presses against that spot every time.

You whimper as your movements stutter.

Doyoung flips you over onto your back, he watches your mouth, covered in blood, fall open into a loud moan. “Come on, sweetheart. Tell me how badly you want to cum.” Doyoung says with an evil smirk across his face covered in your blood now.

He thrusts into you hard and places both hands on your knees. He pushes them further apart and watches as he slams himself into you.

“Johnny..she feels so good..she’s just like you imagined for all these years..”

“But how does she taste?” Johnny strokes himself faster as he aims for your breast.

“Her blood tastes sweeter than any berry, and her pussy? Well, you’ll just have to try that yourself.” He goes faster, so fast you can only feel a satisfying vibration that stimulates your clit.

You throw your head back. “Fuck..Doyoung..”

“Do you want me to stop?” He stops suddenly to tease you.

“No no no no, keep going..please!” You beg in a high pitched tone almost embarrassingly.

He resumes his speed, watching your hands grip the sheets and your eyes roll in the back of your head as you cum.

Doyoung grunts and releases inside you.

He milks himself out completely as you shake from your orgasm. You see stars and entire galaxies, a feeling washing over you like no other feeling.

You gasp and watch Doyoung pull out. He moves to the side while watching his cum leaks out of your entrance.

Johnny then flips your limp body over. He wraps and arm around your waist and pulls you against his hard cock. You’re sensitive so you cry out from suddenly being pushed into by his long member.

He grabs your hair and bends your neck backward before biting into it to suck more of your blood. Your overwhelming sensitivity soon fades away and your climax starts to build again, the feeling in the pit of your stomach becoming nearly unbearable once more.

Johnny’s nails dig into your waist, slamming your ass against his hips as he reaches your depths over and over. He goes crazy from the feeling of your silky walls tightening around his cock. He wants to bury his cum so deep inside your pussy, that it leaks for days. And your sweet blood, he could drink it forever, he could drink you dry.

But Doyoung won’t allow that. “That’s enough..she’ll pass out if we take any more.”

Johnny stops drinking but grunts as he goes harder and faster.

Your knees make an indent in the mattress, you hold onto Doyoung’s hands for support as your mouth falls open.

“Fuck…” all you can mutter are curse words as Johnny destroys you.

Doyoung kneels in front of you, his intimidating cock sticking out hard once again.

He strokes it.

You open your mouth and stick your tongue out. You had to taste him, again. You craved him.

With low eyes, you maintain eye contact as he fills your mouth and hits the back of your throat. You flatten your tongue, licking the underside of it. You press your tongue hard against every vein then kiss the tip once he pulls back out.

He pushes back in faster this time, listening to you gag and watching as tear up.

You moan to send vibrations through his body. Doyoung throws his head back and mutters “shit..”

You gag again but breathe through your nostrils.

Johnny presses into you one more time before shooting milky strings across your walls. He pants while cursing then lowers himself so that he can taste you from behind. He licks up all the slick that has escaped and sticks his tongue in as deep as possible.

The night went on for hours as you switched positions and brought each other to paradise too many times to count.

You collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep once the three of you were done.

———-

[The Next Morning]

For the first time, sunlight burnt your eyes and made you suffocate. You tried to jump up from the bed, but then you noticed that your legs and arms were tied to a bed that wasn’t yours. You looked around and saw that you were on it by yourself.

Where was Johnny? Where was Doyoung? Why did you feel a burning hunger in your chest?

You recognized the smell of an old building and looked above you. It looked like you were in some sort of castle. You were covered in a thin white sleeping gown that you didn’t recognize either.

“Doyoung!! Johnny!!”

A door in the corner of the room opens and in walks Doyoung with a smirk across his face and something in his hand.

“Good morning, sweetheart.”

“Doyoung..please, I don’t feel good.” You strain against the chains.

Your eyes widen when you realize what dangles from his grasp.

Johnny’s head..

“No!!!!” You scream loudly.

“Oh, like music to my ears..” Doyoung chuckles and dangles the head above your body.

He sees your body through the thin fabric, your breasts and perfect curves, the warmth between your legs that he missed so badly. He almost regretted his decision.

He bit his lip and watched you struggle.

“Doyoung!! Why?!” You sob.

“Because you’re mine, you can’t be his too!”

Doyoung walks back over to the door and chucks the head outside.

He walks back over to you. “Well, now that we know what happened to Johnny, we need to discuss what’ll happen to you.”

“What did you do to me?!” You say through gritted teeth.

“Actually..it was Johnny that turned you..not me, but I made sure to kill him this time.”

Your face fell. This was exactly what Doyoung wanted. He lured you in by using Johnny, then he got Johnny to change you. They both seduced you to crowd your mind and make you too filled with lust to care. And now, you turned into the very thing that you hated the most.

“Now you realize…” Doyoung nods and strokes the side of your face.

“I couldn’t just let you get away with exposing my secrets and putting me in jail..I mean, the sex was amazing, so amazing, but I still couldn’t let you get away with it.”

You shake your head. “Please..I’m yours, I’ll do anything. I always wanted to be yours but I was too stubborn.”

“And the stake under your pillow? Would you have used it against me?” He pouts.

“No! I was going to love you.”

“Love me? A monster?”

“Doyoung please!!”

“This is your prison now...and when you are free, look for me, I’ll be waiting for you, my love..” he walks out and leaves you alone still tied to the bed.

————

[3 Days Later]

You finally break your chains with your new strength. You run out of the room, but find that you are in an old castle. When you run through the destroyed halls and into the courtyard, you see nothing but ocean.

Doyoung left you on the notorious Gil-Eul Castle, a mansion on a secluded island that was hundreds of miles from the nearest coast. It was known as the meeting grounds for vampires long ago, but your family along with other hunters destroyed it, planting bombs in the form of air strikes to kill everyone inside.

You yelled into the sky and ran around rampantly, searching for anything to eat.

You felt like you were going insane without blood. You were literally burning from the inside out because of the lack of blood in your system.

————

[20 Years Later]

You survived the last 20 years off of fish and rats. You never stopped thinking about Doyoung and how you’d get your revenge. You’d kill him slowly, make him suffer like you had, and even though you didn’t look any older, you felt tired and weak from watching the years fly by in a broken castle.

Until one day..a ship approaches the building. You watch from above as several construction workers all onto the island.

You lurk in the shadows and wait until one of them has strayed away from the group.

The man turns around when he feels that he is being followed, but sees nothing.

He turns back around and continues walking.

You reach out from a hallway and grab him by the collar. You feed on him quickly then do the same with the other men. One by one, you kill each man to quench your plentiful years of undying thirst.

But you’re not dumb, you save one of the men so that he can bring you back to your country. The man tells you that they had planned to clear the island and build a resort.

You take your tattered dress off and shower in the bathroom on board. You break down in tears when you feel warm water and soap on your skin for the first time in twenty years. You were finally free.

You find a set of clothes set aside by the workers and put them on. It’s a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt that’s not the right size, but it’ll have to work for now.

Once home, you hypnotize the man that brought you back.

“Tell them your team was attacked, you were the only one that survived. It was a man with fangs and pale skin. His name is Doyoung.”

The man nods, then walks off the ship and heads for the police station.

You, on the other hand, go in the opposite direction.

You thought about visiting your parents and letting them know that you were okay, but what would they say now that you were a vampire? Would they try to kill you?

You weren’t sure, so you continued walking to his mansion.

You closed your eyes and tried to focus, you knew that all vampires were connected and that if you tried hard enough, you could sense where he was.

It didn’t take long before you heard his voice. It was coming from an apartment about 10 miles away.

Of course he stayed in a nearby city.

You knocked on his door and waited for him to answer.

With round glasses on, he opened the door and smiled widely. “I knew you’d find me..”

“Invite me in.” Your voice was stern.

Doyoung nodded. “Of course.”

“Are you here to kill me?” He walks behind you.

“Yes.”

“Then go ahead.”

You turn to him.

“Why did you do this to me?”

“Life is pretty boring for an old man like me..I wanted to do something different.” He sits on the couch, then pats his thigh. “One last time before I say goodbye. I’ve missed you..”

You scoff. “You never came back, so I couldn’t really tell.”

“You were in solitary confinement, what could I do?”

You walk over to him and sit on his lap.

He placed his hands onto your ass and brought your body down onto his pelvis.

“Did you miss me?”

“No..”

He bucks into your clothes opening, brushing his hard member against it. “Are you sure?”

You bite your bottom lip, then reach to your back and pull out your stake.

You had made it with materials from the burnt down castle. You even engraved your initials into it, knowing that you’d use it to kill him.

“Yes..”

He smirks and licks his lips. “Are you ready?”

“Why aren't you scared?” Your brows furrow.

He chuckles. “I’ve been anticipating this moment for quite some time actually.”

You shake your head. “That’s not fair, this is too easy.”

He flips you over onto your back and suddenly you’re in his room and lying on his bed with him in between your legs. “And would you rather I make it difficult for you? Are you sure you want to wait another 20 years?”

You whimper as he commands your needy body effortlessly.

He grinds down into you. “If you won’t be mine willingly, then I would rather die..so are you ready, my love?”

You pause for a moment.

“Absolutely.” You press the stake into his chest, watching as his final breath leaves his beautiful lips.

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