#cant help but wonder if by calling it the “last mission” he also meant that if joker is dead then there will be no more of this

[yeonbam]

I was giggling about how joke was STARVING. said that "yes" to "will you be my boyfriend" already halfway through that kiss like OK GODDAMNNN.

but then I made myself sad thinking about just how much he probably thought, at many points throughout that very day, that this moment wouldn't happen, that he wouldn't get to see Jack again, or ask him who he likes. like he was ready to throw away his whole life into stealing Jack's freedom and that was ALL he wanted, not daring to dream of anything more, not thinking of himself worth, not believing his feelings were returned to that extent.

the light way he said "I almost died today" at the end of the day was dismissed as a joke (another disguise) but the weight of truth within those words was SO LOUD. A confession is literally woven into the unsaid bit— "I almost died today...(for you)" because he truly did almost die for jack. Something could've happened the Very First moment when he was spying on the house, something worse could've happened inside that ice box, something even worse could've happened in that dinner room full of powerful big names, and in the end, without Nang, there's no saying if he would make it alive. he let all his friends out early, even prepared his last wish and said it to hoy, he was READY to die but returned from its gates, victorious.

of course he couldn't wait. he never thought that moment would come and now that it did, he couldn't let it slip away lest it is Another dream he loses grip on.

[levisgirll]

Hello! Can you please do a Levi headcanon/scenario where he hurts his crush's feelings and makes her cry but later regrets it and tries to apologise to her? Thanks!

𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 (𝙇𝙚𝙫𝙞 𝘼𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙣 𝙭 𝙁𝙚𝙢!𝙍𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙧)

➡text: Hello there!! And omg of course I would be happy to write this out 🥺 the fact that to see levi apologize or own up to his mistakes is something that I would like to even write about- so thank you for this request! I hope you love it anon ♥ (incoming some fluff and you wont regret it!)

synopsis:  it was a long tiring day and with under pressure levi ackerman had, he accidently said something to y/n (his crush!) which hurt her feelings. levi feels terrible and to make it up for it, made y/n realize that levi and her might share the same feelings for each other.

fluff, angst, aot world, imagine fanfiction ♡ —

It was a long stressful day at the Survey crops headquarters building, and Captain Levi was assigned with many paper work to get done with.

The last expedition made Levi worry quite a lot for Y/N and her safety. Sure she was skilled, and a fast thinker but that still did not stop Levi from worrying about her. It was because he was the captain he had to worry about his squad....right?

But after Y/N getting hurt on the last expedition because she is kind of ‘reckless’ to what Levi thinks and used as an excuse, his heart sank and he then realized not only did he care about her too much, but he also developed feelings for her and with time it grew. Just her presence, the way she was, caring, friendly, confident, her natural beauty and a badass made him fall for her more.

But ever since on that day, he blamed himself for her getting injured because she was on his squad team.

The upcoming expedition was next month and he was becoming even more stressed and load with paperwork because it was a bigger mission this time they never had. Y/N obviously noticed that so after having a chat with Hanji she went by to his office and entered inside. They become more comfortable with each other so she was pleased to enter his office whenever she wanted to.

“Hi Levi, how are you?” she said with a bright smile, trying to light up the mood that was surrounding in his office.

“What do you think sherlock?” He spoke in a sarcastic tone and then let out a deep sigh. “O-Oh, Um I was wondering if you would like some help with the paperwork? I am free the whole day.” Her kind gestures always somehow warmed his heart, he liked the fact how in her free time she would always visit Levi and try her best to help him. But tonight was different, it was too much pressure loaded on him, he was not thinking straight.

He didn't respond to her offer and instead he got up from his seat behind the desk and gave her a piece of paper. “Read.” Was what he only said.

You took the paper from him and noticed....you were removed him Levi’s squad! “W-What....why.” You said so quietly but it had a very unhappy tone.

“You know why. You are too reckless, and I don't want that in my squad.” He lied and looked away, it was not because of your recklessness and never was because you were brave and perceptive. But in fact, it was because he wanted to keep you safe and away from harm because this time his squad was placed on the front and he moved you all the way on the back where it was safer. He does not want to lose you.

“I-I don't understand Levi...I though you trusted me-”

“Yea I don't trust you, and I clearly don't have time for you either.” You couldn't believe what he was saying to you, this behavior was out of nowhere and it made absolutely no sense! But, he was your source of motivation and inspiration and when he said that to you, it shattered your heart to pieces. You thought he had faith and trust in you and that's why he added you to his squad, you thought....you were important to him. Well, was important.

“Levi, please this makes no sense. At least explain to me why!” You yelled out, demanding an explanation for what the hell was evening going on.

“Don't argue with me.” He now gave you one of his hateful glares, and you know in a million years you would never be getting that from him, you were completely taken aback now. “Leave now! That’s an order L/N”.

You eyes were widen now, and your eyes were slowly starting to tear up. These words, completely damaged you and your feelings, he even called you by your last name which he never does. You never felt so hurt and your stomach sank which left you static and....heartbroken. Hearing this is a ego-killer for you. The paper you held slowly fell off from your hand, and you brought your hand up to cover your eyes and started to softly sob.

He noticed that quickly, and he wanted to come and comfort you but before he could do that you stormed off, slamming his door, y/n never wanting to see his face again.

Levi took a moment to process everything and then realized he had actually messed up everything. Both of you were so close and the bond and moments you both shared, Levi cherished that deeply. But, he ruined everything, shattered the bond, and now actually ironically losing you. He clenched his fist and closed his eyes tightly, “Fuck...The fuck is wrong with me?! Why am I so damn emotional.” And it was a fact, he was that when he bottled everything up and then let out his steam saying some bullshit.

It was days, and he didn’t even see or hear about Y/N. He did not get any sleep, staying up, overthinking his stupid mistake and regretting this all. His gilt, anger towards himself and grief started to grow by each day, hating himself how he hurt the person he had a crush on and someone he adored a lot which then lead to him thinking how to come to you with his true and deepest apology.

He tried to catch any chance to get you whenever you are alone and say apologize, but whenever he saw you, you would just jolt and try to run away and leave the place.

He then noticed from Hanji and the other scouts such as Armin and Mikasa that you were clearly avoiding Levi. He caught you by chance one evening as you were sitting down in the mass hall eating your sandwich alone so cutely and he just missed seeing that sight whenever you both had breaks and he would watch you eat cheerfully but....you were so down, that spirt was gone.

He was approaching you, and you then noticed that and felt your stomach sink, ‘Is he coming to me? Wait...he is, it’s only me here!’ You thought in your mind, panicking and not knowing what to do.

”Good evening.” He uttered, but you noticed there was some nervousness in that tone.

You did not look up at him and you left your sandwich that was half eaten on the plate, and got up. You lost your appetite, and you proceed to leave the mass hall, but you stopped in your steps when you heard Levi yell out. “No...d-don’t go. Please just stay for a bit.” The way he said it, was under such pain and he it sounded as if he was begging you. He really struggled doing this, but he would do it regardless if it was just to speak to you again for a bit.

He caught up to you, and took your wrist while his thumb was caressing your skin. You were still looking down, not wanting to see his face because you knew if you did now, you would tear up again.

“Can we talk please?” He said really quietly, and if the mass hall was not empty you wouldn't be able to grasp what he had said. Levi was clearly tensed and not sure if what he was doing is right, he never done this before, apologizing and talking about his feelings. But he would only, and only do this for the person he loved. Y/N.

“What do you want?” it came out more coldly then you expected and that made him hesitate. He remembered the image of your expression and you sobbing that day and it is still graved in his mind. He cant seem to get it out his head and he wanted to hear your forgiveness so it could go away.

“I fucked up, I know. But fuck, I...miss you.” He finally said, in a nervous and stuttering tone. He now moved his hand from your wrist to your soft and cold hands, and you could feel his warmth, warming your hand.

He brought up his other free hand and placed his palm on his forehead. Clearly this was hard for him and he felt such a jerk and an idiot cause all his words is now gone and he wasn’t sure how to say how apologetic he was and how you meant the world to him really.

But he know thought, How could he do this to someone who regularly checked on him, cared for him and also actually saw him as a normal person unlike the other scouts who thought he was heartless and just labeled as ‘strongest solider’. Y/N was the only who truly cared for his wellbeing and he admired that a lot. “Hey....I’m sorry. Everything I said wasn’t right. T-To be honest it was your bravery that made me fall for you...and care a lot more about you. So, please tell me What should I do to make it up for you?”

This caused you to finally look up to him and staring at his grey eyes, and after such a long time you were able to see his face clearly and close up which never fails to make your heart skip a beat. You stared at him for quite awhile, kind of surprised to what he said and the fact he was holding your hand meant a lot. But Levi took this as you still not wanting to talk to him, he wanted to say more and better things but he was quite bad formulating any more cause it him nervous and afraid to say something else to upset you further. He really did care about your feelings. “I won’t go....till I hear your answer. I waited long enough.”

You spoke, and after a long time hearing your voice this nearly made him tear up and that was because you were a big part of his life. “I can’t stay mad at you forever, so I forgive you. But, you hurted me and I cant forget that easily. But for now, Just....hold me.” You went near him and now placed both of your hands on his chest. He did not waste any second and pulled you in for a hug. It was probably his first time hugging you like this and he never knew it would make him have this fuzzy and sweet feeling like this. Of course, he would hold on to your waist, arm and shoulders sometimes during battle or when you needed some support to get up and move. But this was different, and he questioned himself how he never considered that.

Y/N and Levi both finally made up with each other, and he was really grateful for that and even the fact you forgave someone like Levi, he felt really lucky.

Of course, it will take some time for you to accept his apology, but he wont give up just yet and he really makes an effort everyday, you guys took it slow and he is more than willing to wait for you ♥

As, regret and remorse can lead a person to feel sorrow, this can cause a sense of sorrow for hurting someone such as Levi’s crush, and even though it was bad, this lead to him finally confessing and saying his true apology if it weren’t for this. Time is a healing process after all.

Once you finally sat down with Levi and talked back (after the countless times he tried to initiate a conversation or start something such as cleaning together but never got much a reaction from you) and had a small conversation with him asking how was his day. This melted his heart and he actually felt really happy inside that you finally started to speak to him. He missed your company, your sweet voice, and....that smile.

You surprised him further when you gave him tea (because he gave you so many things to somehow make you smile) and his eyes lit up, Levi never felt so happy in the last few weeks. Then he knew, that you. y/n, was his light and source of happiness. He drank the tea slowly cherishing it.

wow okay this was kind of emotional then I excepted it to be, but I honestly see a scenario like this happening where levi struggles and tries his best to own up his mistake and apologize and he would only be like this if it was to his crush and someone he loved cause this man gets nervous <3 so please y/n, give him some more hugs, he might not seem to ask for any but he is deeply inside craving for it. It’s his best comfort as it is coming from you! Anyways, please leave a like or a reblog if you enjoyed this and I hope you liked this anon 💖

[cloudcovenkite]

Hi. Could i request what it would be like to have a crush on maki and nobara and them having a crush on you(both separate scenarios, fem reader) but you're also gojo's younger sister so i feel like he'd be a little shit abt it whenever he catches reader staring or sum shit. And basically how the whole realizing its a crush and how to whole confession goes down, who confesses, and everyones reaction esp gojo bc he's gojo yk.

I hope this wasnt to much or too specific for you and have a good day. Cant wait to read😍

This is really cute and I had a lot of fun writing this one. Sorry it took so long but its finally ready.

Enjoy🥰

What it Would Be Like to Have a Crush on Nobara and Maki as Gojo's Little Sister:

WC: 2.3k

Nobara Kugisaki

Being the younger sister to 'The Strongest Sorcerer' was not an easy task. Yeah sure you loved him and everything but he just needs to shut his mouth sometimes. You guys were pretty close growing up despite your large age gap, he was the best big brother you could have asked for......sometimes. The current situation had arisen after you joined your brother's class in the first year at Jujutsu Tech. You got along with the other students instantly. Going on missions with each other, spending nights watching movies, and eating as much pizza as you could fit in your mouth. You loved and cared for all of them but one, in particular, held a special place in your heart. Nobara Kugisaki was the most beautiful girl you had ever laid eyes on. Her short red hair and deep brown eyes you could get lost in. Her confident attitude and tendencies to take charge in intense situations drew her to you. As much as you tried to hide your feelings for the sake of your friendship, it was very obvious to someone else. The day was moving very slowly as you sat in class, not paying attention to what was happening. Your eyes started to drift to the redhead, sitting diagonally in front of you. From this angle, she wouldn't be able to see you admiring her delicate facial features or the way she would smile whenever Yuji confidently got an answer wrong.

"Y/N, have anything to share with the class? It looks like your zoning out there."

You snap your head forward at the call of your name. Your older brother has a smug look on his face, he knew what he was doing. You apologize for your lack of focus and the lesson continues. Asshole.

After class Gojo calls you to stay back a bit. You knew what he wanted to talk about so you reluctantly stayed behind.

"So, what did you wanna talk about?" You ask, pretending to have no idea what he's talking about.

"You seemed awful distracted during class today. Wanna tell me why." He had his stupid smile plastered over his face.

"I didn't sleep well last night. I was just thinking about stuff." You tried to ignore the blush slowly creeping up your neck.

"Yeah, think about Kugisaki." He laughed. At this point, your face was feeling hot with embarrassment.

"That's not-NO I-" You couldn't think of the right words to say after your brother exposing you like that, covering your face in your hands out of embarrassment.

"Awwwwwww, look at that. My little sister has a crush." He swayed back and forth on the balls of his feet as he teased you.

"I don't." You said with a serious look on your face in hopes of throwing him off your trail.

"Yeah right. I can smell a lie from miles away." You couldn't outsmart him. Guess all that was left to do was come clean.

"Fine, I do. Can I go now?" You were already tired from your long day at school and now you had to put up with his antics.

"That's cute. You know, I think she likes you two." You looked back at him almost offended. Did he think he could trick you into believing that?

"Yeah right. I get that your power is great but your six eyes can't read people's minds."

"Not their minds but any normal person can read body language. She's always so entranced by the way you speak or how she laughs at your horrible jokes." As you listened to your brother he started to make sense. You always assumed that she was only being a good friend, that you were the one captivated by her.

"Whatever, now can I go?" You asked annoyed.

"Maybe I should tell her about your little feelings." He smirked as you started to walk away.

"Tell her anything and I swear I will pull those pretty little eyes out of your head." You threatened but all he did was laugh.

"Fine, fine. I won't say anything but you should tell her. Life is short Y/N." He patted your shoulder and he left the room. You quickly chased after your brother.

"What should I say to her? I don't know how to do this," you asked, feeling defeated by your own emotions. You expected a smart-ass response from him but he only stood quietly, thinking over what to say.

"Just tell her how you feel, oh, and what you like about her." You didn't expect him to take your question seriously. Looking at him, he pulled his blindfold down. You saw the sincerity in his eyes as he gave you his advice.

"Be honest, don't shy away from what you want or else you'll end up regretting it." You smiled. You never really had a moment like this between the two of you before since Gojo was usually all fun and games but it felt nice to open up to him.

"You know, you give good advice when you're not being an asshole." You poke his side.

"That's why I'm the best big brother." He slung an arm over your shoulder (Why does this man need to be so damn tall) and you two walked back to the dorms.

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

The next day quickly arrived. You had spent all night planning what you were going to say to Nobara when the two of you had a moment alone. As if he was playing cupid, Gojo separated the class so that you and Nobara had time alone to work while Megumi and Yuji trained in a different area. The two of you had all your books laid out messily over the picnic table outside. She needs a little bit of help before the next big test so you offered to help.

"I'm so glad you hear to help me. I suck at this." You brushed it off and continued working through some questions. Now or Never you thought.

"Hey Nobara, random question. I was thinking of telling my crush I like them, any idea's on what I should do?" The question was open-ended enough. She looked up a bit confused and slightly hurt.

"Oh, umm. I don't know. I've never really done anything like that." She looked back down as if you never asked the question and continued to work.

"I was only wondering cause I like this person and I wanted to finally tell them. I was thinking of just being upfront about it but maybe you know a better way?"

"I think being upfront about it is good." She stopped working and looked up at you. You found yourself staring into her eyes, not able to look away.

"I...I really, really like you Nobara." You said out loud. After looking at her you knew that you couldn't hold back anymore. The way her hair perfectly framed her rosy cheeks made you feel warm inside. Her eyes opened in shock at your confession. She sat there not saying anything as her face began to turn red.

"I knew I shouldn't have said anything. I'm sorry, just pretend like i-"

"I like you too." She blurted out, cutting your sentence short. Gojo was right (which wasn't a common occurrence).

"Wait?" You were in complete shock. She slowly nodded her head as she tried to hide the flustered look on her face. You started to laugh causing her to smile at you.

"I don't know what to say." Your face felt hot after your confession.

"Don't say anything." You looked to her, confused by her words. Making eye contact, she leaned in and your lips met finally. It was a slow and tender kiss, one of happiness and bliss. Her lips were plump and soft on yours. You reached and cupped her face in your hand as you deepened the kiss. You pulled away out of shock and need for air. Her eyes were full of love as her face was tinted a light shade of pink. You didn't know how to respond to the situation.

"I knew it!" You both looked to the side where Gojo was standing with Megumi and Yuji behind him. The basted had the biggest smile on his face. Megumi had a subtle shocked look while Yuji's jaw hit the floor. You both looked away after getting caught. Gojo came up behind you and started talking about how he was right and pestering you while your two other classmates just watched their teacher harass the two of you.

"look at my little sister all grown up." He grabbed your chin and smushed your cheeks in his large hand.

"Stop it Satoru." You waved him off of you.

"Say I'm the best big brother and I'll leave you alone."

"Not happening." He slouched over your shoulder. His tall and lanky frame doubling over you.

"Okay fine, you the best big brother."

"Ever?"

"Ever." He stood up tall and congratulated the two of you. Nobara still reeling from embarrassment.

"Usually I would give you two a long speech about you getting pregnant but I don't think I need to worry about that."

"Satoru!" You shouted as he ran away.

Maki Zenin

Being a second year at Jujutsu tech meant you didn't have to put up with your older brother as your teacher anymore. The freedom you felt was overwhelming. You got to know your fellow second years quite well during your time. You and panda like to brawl with each other now and then. You can understand Toge quite well now. The person you were the closest with by far was Maki Zenin. As the only two girls in your year, you guys spend a lot of time together. Where spending hours talking when you should be sleeping or trying to outdo each other at Mario cart (Currently you are in the lead) you guys were inseparable, practically joined at the hip. Because you guys were so close you started to catch feelings for her very quickly while in your first year but you brushed it off as a sisterly like love. After growing and realizing just how much you truly cared for her you started to confide in your older brother, Gojo. You two became quite close while you attended Jujutsu Tech so much so that you started to have proper grown-up conversations (Or as grown-up as Gojo can be). He would make fun of you for your feeling but you could make just as much fun of him when it came to him not knowing how to be a real adult. Make fun of how skinny he is and he will fold like a lawn chair.

It was just another day after class. It was boiling outside and the school didn't have good air conditioning in their classes so you decided to go bother your brother in the staff lounge.

"You know your not supposed to be in here," Gojo said while on his phone. You plopped down on the long couch, dying of heatstroke.

"What are you gonna do? Kick me out. I'd like to see you try." You guys sat in silence for a minute while you recovered your strength to talk to him.

"It is so hot outside." You mutter.

"I think that's what happens during the summer." He responds with a smirk. You just grumble at him.

"You talk to Maki yet?" He quickly changed the subject. He's been on your ass about it ever since you told you were going to tell her your feeling...2 months ago.

"I'll do it when I want to. What do you know about feeling." You said rhetorically.

"I am an expert on love. I have had my fair share of it."

"Sleeping with anybody who takes the slightest interest in you isn't love, it's called being a man whore."

"Hey, take that back!" He pointed at you all dramatic-like. He knew it was true but hearing it come out of his little sister's mouth had a different impact.

"No. Your a man child who never considers other people's feelings so that makes you a man whore." You smile at him. He started at you with a competitive grin.

"I think I need to go have a little conversation with Maki." Gojo then teleported out of the room before you could grab a hold of him. Before thinking about it, you sprinted out of the room to find him. Running up and down the halls, you found the two of them talking in the main corridor. You run-up to the two of them out of breath from sprinting in the heat.

"So Maki-san. What do you have to say about this." You look to Gojo horrified. Did he tell her about your true feelings? Looking to Maki who had a relatively calm look on her face.

"I mean I feel the same way, I don't know why you had to make such a big deal of it Gojo-sensei." You were startled by her words. Did she like you? Gojo backed up a bit to give you some space but he stayed close enough to hear you two.

"Wait really, you do?"

"Yeah of course." She seemed so calm it was almost scary.

"Maki I, I really like you. Like a lot. I was scared to say anything cause I didn't want to ruin our friendship." You blushed after finally coming clean.

"Wait, what?" She looked shocked and confused. You looked horrified.

"What did he say to you?"

"Umm, he said that you were happy to have me as a best friend." That asshole. He tricked you into confessing.

"I'm sorry I sh-"

"No, I...kinda like you too." Maki looked down a bit. Her golden eyes portray strong emotions. After all the confusion you didn't know how to react. You brought her into a tight hug and snuggled your face into her neck to which she reciprocated. You pulled back and pecked her check causing her to get flustered.

"Haha, I'm the best." Gojo stood next to the two of you feeling accomplished in himself. You ran and tackled him to the floor.

"I am going to hurt you so bad."

[angelicmichael]

Imminient Annihilation sounds so dope - Chapter Ten

Michael Langdon X Reader

Summary: Reader and Michael continue to work through their issues and finally start to warm up to each other even further. 

Words: 5.9k+ …oops

Warnings: just normal IA warnings (swear words, manipulation, unhealthy relationships, enemies to lovers, slowburn, etc) anddd maybeee a bit of fluff 👁

A/N: hey guys! Sorry I haven’t updated this in a few months but hopefully this is satisfactory hehe. This chapter is kinda a turning point in the fic so I hope u guys like it!! Also I watched Jennifer’s Body as I finished this so.. do what u must w that information 😌 djdjd

Previous Chapter

Rain was never something you were accustomed too. Spending so much time in Los Angeles had made you partially spoiled when it came to the weather - which is why you knew immediately your day was going to be shit when you woke up to rain.

You tried to convince yourself that the emotions you were feeling weren’t complete disdain but rather just a pessimistic version of indifference.. or that’s what you hoped anyway.

You knew realistically that your day wasn’t already doomed before it even started; and that the rain was nothing more than a mere inconvenience.. However; you still felt justified in complaining, considering today was the day you were ripping the band-aide off and moving in to the apartment Michael had oh so graciously chosen to give you.

Your pessimistic mood surrounding the entire situation was inevitable, and that was something you didn’t even bother to resist or fight. It didn’t take long for your thoughts to quickly go south as you quickly packed. Hatred that seemingly came out of nowhere (but that you realistically knew was only temporarily dormant) wasted no time in blinding your judgement - making you feel a nearly nauseating amount of jealousy and anger for people who actually seemed to be fucking happy in their relationships and werent forced into.. whatever shitty living situation you knew you were bound to find yourself in.

An apartment with no strings attached was way too fucking simple, and you knew it was too good to be true. You knew you were basically walking into a trap, and for what reason were you doing that so willingly? Just so that maybe Michael could start to tolerate you? You resented yourself for even agreeing to this but you also understood you really had no other option.

However; personal feelings aside.. you still had a mission to accomplish. You still had to attempt to seduce Michael, and even though you were doing a shit job at that so far - you still had to try. You knew realistically it was only a matter of time before Cordelia would ask about the progress you've made, and you would have to tell her something.

You had to do this.

That's why you were (semi) blindly choosing to move in to a building you knew you absoluetly couldnt afford; and why you were sucking up your pride and choosing to become semi reliant on Michael.

No one from the coven knew, and for the time being you intended to keep it that way. After all, even though Mallory didnt exactly know that Michael gave you a whole ass fucking apartment - your sure she probably suspected that something important happened between you and Michael just from the short conversation you three harbored together. But for the time being, you didnt have to worry about that. You had bigger things that were on your mind.. like the actual apartment door itself that you currently stood in front of.

You held the keys limply in your hand, your bag slumped next to you as you procrastinated something as fucking simple as opening a door. How pathetic.

You continued to stall in the hallway regardless - thankful there was no one passing through to witness how ridiculous you looked. Your gaze fell south down to your keys which were cold in your hand. Dripping slowly with the subtle rainwater that managed to linger on them, along with the rest of your clothes.

Your skin stung from the cold that seemed stubborn to leave, and a nice change of clothes and a hot shower wouldnt be the absolute worst thing in the world..

Fuck.

You bit your lip in order to prevent letting the profanity from rolling off your tongue. Quickly getting a better grip on the keys (which only made you somehow colder) and numbly, hastily unlocking the door.

You pushed it open, letting the door hit the wall and taking a few steps inside before dropping your bag to the floor.. as well as your jaw.

No words could possibly convey how you felt as you noticed how the room was already illuminated with not only natural light from the already huge windows you could see.. but also with a warm, yellow artificial glow.

Was someone already here?

What the fuck?

The hatred and resentment you previously felt toward others earlier rapidly started to return - except this time it was targeted at one very specific person.

It didnt even register in your mind that the light could've been left on by accident or that people besides Michael actually existed that could be present in the room but.. you didnt care. Anger was the only emotion that was solely present in your body as you fully abandoned your bag by the door. Advancing forward; and only feeling more shock and disbelief with every step you took at the thought that he could very possibly be in (what was supposed to be) your space.

"Michael, I swear to God-"

"Y/n?” said a soft, feminine voice.

It was practically automatic how you froze. Just getting close enough to notice that it wasn’t Michael after all that was on your bed in your new studio apartment, but a woman sat on your bed instead.

For about two seconds, you were scared it was Madison but.. that was a stupid assumption within itself. The company you were with was from a far different nature than of which Madison was, even though at first glance the two woman might look or sound similar. There were so many qualities that distinguished Mallory from Madison. Brown, auburn hair.. dark eyeshadow.. and her classic black boots. It didn’t take long for your anger to fade away as you tried to not think about how logically this still didn’t make sense - walking closer to your bed anyway.

"How did you get in here? And since when did you ever break into peoples rooms?" You asked with a laugh.

Mallory echoed your laugh back, seemingly watching you and your behavior. As if she was expecting you to do something or to act a certain way.. like perhaps leave.

"I didnt break into your apartment but.. you should probably sit down." She spoke, before nodding off to her side. Nonverbally suggesting you to sit next to her.

You did as you were told. Noticing briefly before you sat down how nice the apartment actually was.. including the bed.

The walls, and most of everything in the apartment was a solid black. It looked sleek, and even though black paint made most rooms look small - the natural light helped keep things looking open which you appreciated. It was no surprise that the bed matched the dark theme too. The sheets were silky, black satin. You almost laughed at how comfortable the bed was once you sat next to Mallory, the entire situation was so ridiculous it nearly hurt for you to not laugh out loud. The two of you sat in the silence for a moment.. you were each incredibly anxious, that was more than apparent.

You looked up at Mallory, expecting her to speak first and explain herself since after all.. shes the one who broke into your apartment but she still remained quiet.. Stalling, you could only guess.

"So, why are you here? How did you even get in here? Is everything okay?" You asked, your words speedy and rushed.

Panic started to temporarily set in when you realized that something could be serisouly wrong with the coven, even though you knew how completly irrational it was to think that way with no evidence. What if witch hunters found them? What if someone preformed the seven wonders and it went wrong? What if the plan had suddenly changed with Michael?

Mallory seemed to pick on how anxious you suddenly were, putting a hand on your upper arm before making you meet her gaze. Her soft, hazel brown eyes immeadietly making your breathe slow. That was another reason you were so thankful for Mallory - the soothing, calming effect she seemed to have on everyone she met was something you never took for granted.. Espically now.

"Hey, nothing's wrong and nothing happened. I promise. I just wanted to see you and talk to you, and I figured we should catch up after Michael basically made me leave," Mallory explained.

You quickly nodded. Feeling guilt start to creep into your system once you remembered how Michael previously treated her.

"Yeah, youre right. I've been wanting to see you anyway and I'm sorry I didnt just call you last night or something.. and I know I cant control him but I'm still sorry for how Michael treated you. I shouldn't have brought you into that-"

"(Y/n), stop," Mallory said urgently. Shaking her head slightly in disagreement with your words. "Sure, Michael was acting like a dick but.. it's nothing I'm not exactly accustomed too. It was harmless," she ended her words with a smile. One that was meant to comfort you both at the epiphany her words brought.

You sat with her words for a moment. The realization suddenly hitting you like a truck-

"Wait.. what? Do you know Michael?"

Mallory fell completely silent. Looking at you almost in a.. guilty manner. Her gaze fell downwards before she looked up to meet yours once more, licking her lips anxiously before she uttered out a quiet reply.

"I wasnt going to tell you because I knew it would make you upset but.. Michael called me last night-"

"And you answered?" Your voice raised up a few octaves unwillingly. Threatening to break as you tried to process what you were hearing.

As much as you wanted to immeadietly jump to conclusions, you had to remind yourself that this was Mallory you were talking too. Your best friend, Mallory. You knew she would never do anything to intentionally hurt you.

You noticed Mallory was also starting to get tense. Her spine suddenly a bit too straight and her shoulders were rigid. It was nice to know you werent the only person in this situation who was feeling this way, although you would be lying if you were to say that you werent curious for why Mallory felt tense.

"At first, no but he kept calling so I figured it would cause no harm to see what he wanted so, I answered," Mallory said cautiously.

It was obvious she had more to say and as much as you wanted her to keep talking and fully explain herself - you were more than happy that you didnt have to cut her off again. It was too much. This was too much.

You pinched the bridge of your nose before loudly exhaling with a shallow growl. Not really caring that it probably was coming off like you were mad at Mallory when in reality, that wasn’t the case. Mallory wasn’t the problem; you were really just beyond fucking pissed at Michael.

But at this point.. that wasnt new news.

"I told him that we shouldnt be talking, but he insisted," Mallory continued with a shrug.

You tried to sit up straight again; trying to exhale some of the pure fucking anger that was currently coursing through your system. Your vision was spotted black when you opened your eyes - your gaze pointed upwards at the smooth, blank ceiling. Quickly wishing that you were anywhere else, or really anyone else at the moment.

What you wouldnt kill to swap bodies again.. but then again, who knows what the hell Michael was currently doing at the moment.. He couldnt be trusted.

That was more than obvious now.

You should've known that he would contact Mallory, but how he even got her number was beyond you.. Unless-

"How did he even get your number?" You asked. Your tone strikingly calm.

Mallory looked incredibly spooked when your head suddenly snapped over to look at her. As if she was worried you were angry at her still, and as much as you wanted to reassure her otherwise, you really didnt have the energy to do so anymore. Not at the moment anyway.

"You can't be mad when I tell you the answer, okay?" She said softly.

Your features immeadietly softened at her words. The rest of your body relaxed as well; your shoulders dropping and your jaw unclenching.

"Mallory, I could never be mad at you. You could never piss me off, i'm just.. frustrated at Michael. It's not at you, I swear," you said. Trying your best to make your words sound reassuring and genuine.

Mallorys reaction wasnt one that was verbal but immeadite nonetheless. Her arms suddenly shot out and wrapped themselves around you. Her body temporarily pressing into yours as your hands went to her back, before she quickly broke the hug.

"Promise?" Mallory prompted. Brown eyes looking diligently into yours.

"Yeah.. I promise. Just tell me what that idiot did,” you said halfheartedly.

"So.. I've had his number for a while. Not for too long but just since you two switched. But, we never really talked," Her voice stalled as she watched your reaction. Your mouth grew dry as you really tried to let it sink in that they've known eachother since- well for atleast a week. "But I knew immeadietly that it wasnt you.. that day. I'm sorry I lied, but Michael made me promise."

"Why didnt you just tell me?"

Mallory looked at you in a guilty manner. Her lips pursing shut as she looked solemnly at her shoes, avoiding eye contact. You knew exactly why she was being quiet - she didnt want to admit why she had lied but.. the answer was pretty obvious.

Even though Mallory was one of the strongest witches - almost stronger than Cordelia on some days, she still was scared of Michael and that was nothing worth holding a grudge over. After all he was still the antichrist, no matter how (mostly) harmless and idiotic he seemed to you now.

"Okay.. I guess that doesnt really matter," you admitted with a laugh. Figeting with your hands as you heard a shallow laugh omit also from Mallory, which made you smile. The shallow pit that resided in your stomach finally starting to let up. "But.. What did he call you about last night?"

Mallory hesitated again before giving you another subtle smile.

"It was mostly about you.. I know how you feel about him y/n, but its working. I promise you. Hes finally warming up to you. I just wish you could hear how he talks about you,” she spoke. Taking your hands into her soft, warm ones.

"I wish I believed that," You admitted.

"I wouldnt lie to you. Hes finally starting to warm up to you, plus it was obvious yesterday-"

"Yeah; It was obvious how strong he was coming onto you."

Mallory laughed again at your words. Shaking her head slightly in protest.

“Y/n you know that’s not true. The only reason why he was flirting with me was just to get to you.. I thought that was obvious.”

“It was obvious I just.. didn’t know that you knew that. I mean, Michael has Madison.. or he did so you think that would at least satisfy his flirting needs for a bit but.. Michael faking to be interested in you, that would mean he wanted a reaction out of me on purpose? Why would he-“

“You know why. You need to start cutting yourself slack and realize that maybee this rivalry is starting to be one sided.”

You pouted at her words at the realization that they actually held more truth in them than you were willing to admit. If Michael didn’t hate you anymore, if he was truly actually willing to be civil.. then why were you still so upset? Were you the one who was unintentionally causing problems now? Was it now you instead of Michael that was holding the relationship back?

How fucking stupid.

“I can’t trust him, Mallory. How can I when he and Madison literally tried to kill me. I can never forget that they did that to me.”

“I’m not asking you to forget what he did, y/n. I’m just saying that maybe it wouldn’t hurt to start having an open mind around him, and see where it gets you.”

You were struck silent, knowing that Mallory was completely right. If you wanted to have any hope at all of making things right with Michael (even though you really didn’t do anything wrong..) you would have to try a different approach because obviously; what you were doing now wasn’t working. Being snarky, and vaguely threatening him every chance you got was fun of course but- it wasn’t working. Even though Mallory was probably the sweetest person you knew, the fact your own best friend had to (very politely) make a intervention was.. not a good sign. Although, you knew Mallory was doing this for your best interest because if she didn’t say anything, then Cordelia certainly would.

And sadly, Mallory was actually right.

If you wanted things with Michael to advance any further; or to advance at all you needed to step things up but, you could always worry about that after Mallory left.

“So what, are you guys besties now or something?” You sneered.

“Shut up!” Mallory said with a laugh, playfully pushing you over a bit. “He’s barely even my acquaintance. The only reason he’s being nice to me is just to get to you, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean that’s the goal-“

“Do you think that’s the only reason?” You interrupted.

Your throat automatically tightened after you spoke, the threat of your words potentially being true coaxing you to silence. Your not sure why the thought of Michael using you made you upset.. it’s not as if you didn’t think he was doing it before but this time it was different. Perhaps it was because you finally thought Michael actually had some type of interest in you.. and to have that suddenly ripped away?

That would leave you beyond broken.. you knew that for certain.

Mallory looked at you solemnly, as if she was already resenting her words before she had to say them outloud.

“Look, I don’t exactly know Michaels intentions and I’m not going to pretend too.. I don’t really think anyone does at this point but I do know that regardless of your feelings, or even his feelings that.. you have to try.”

You let out a loud exhale.

“I mean you said it yourself.. Michaels so unpredictable, there’s no point in guessing how he feels so.. maybe I should just.. ask him?”

Realistically you didn’t know how good of a idea that was- but.. trying to remain realistic was something you gave up on days ago. Pretty much the same day you switched and that definitely wasn’t a coincidence by any means.

As soon as Mallorys mouth opened, you heard three loud knocks. Quick and rapid with no hesitation between them. The apartment nearly shook with the force of whoever happened to be at your door, and you certainly didn’t doubt that your neighbors heard the knocking as well.

Mallory looked at you in utter confusion, but stayed on the bed nonetheless with no sign of getting up. Naturally, you found yourself scooting closer to the end of the bed, knowing it was you who was going to have to get the door.. and that made you scared shitless. Not because you were necessarily scared to open the door but because you had a horribly bad feeling on who was on the other side.. There was only one person that you knew of that was aware of where you lived, and you knew it wasn’t matience or staff.

You knew standing up was the logical thing to do but you still stalled. Hands starting to painfully dig into the soft, expensive sheets that lie underneath you. You mouthed a silent, ‘what the fuck?’ to Mallory but your head snapped back at the door..

Three more knocks which were only louder and more persistent than the last.

“Coming!” You quickly called out.

It was pure anxiety that fueled your next actions. You quickly stood up from the bed, trying to walk hurriedly to the door as fast as you could and trying your damn best not to think.. Hoping Mallory also had a idea of who was at the door and also happened to get the fuck out of view.

You didn’t want a repeat of yesterday happening again today, and you knew you wouldn’t hesitate to slap Michael if he tried to flirt with her again. Even though, you knew you weren’t supposed to act like that anymore.. but why should you have manners if Michael refused them as well?

Opening the door swiftly and without a second thought; you stood breathless as you saw a familiar blonde standing in front of you.

You both stared at each other at first - each not daring to have the balls to say ‘hello’ or anything else for that matter.. You noticed how Michael first eyed you up, fully looking up and down your body (as well as peering behind you, hopefully not making eye contact with Mallory). You made a point to just look into Michaels eyes, refusing to do what he was doing.. whatever the fuck that truly was.

“How did you know I would be here?” You breathed.

“I knew it was just a matter of time before you’d come, but it also never hurt to charm the hotel staff a bit,” Michael responded swiftly without a second beat, almost as if he anticipated your words. His lips upturned slightly at the edges, in a way that nearly made your stomach sick.

“The hotel staff-?!”

“I have connections everywhere y/n, I thought you knew that,” he sneered.

He brushed past you as you continued to stand in shock. Your mouth slightly falling open as Michael took a few steps into your apartment - looking curiously around, almost as if he knew Mallory was here..

“I did.. I think that’s obvious,” you shot back hurriedly. “But thank you for the apartment again, Michael. I still feel weird taking it but it is nice I’ll admit,” you continued. Hoping to make him turn around to look back at you and hopefully not find Mallory.. Which worked. At least for a few seconds at least.

Michael made direct eye contact with you for a moment, almost as if he wanted to speak but was deliberately choosing not too. Instead he turned around, walking in deeper in the apartment.

Your mouth immediately dropped open - your feet carried yourself forward as you started to feel a bit numb with shock- not knowing even in the slightest how you were going to handle the situation if Mallory didn’t fucking move.

Sure enough..

“You always manage to linger.. don’t you?” Michael spoke.

It took only a couple steps for you to fully realize he wasn’t speaking to you. You only saw his backside as you approached them. Quickly meeting Mallorys gaze as you came into view.. Her brown eyes darker than ever as she peered up at you.

This time it is nearly impossible to distinguish whether she looked in agony from Michaels appearance or yours; since you apparently interrupted them. Her gaze quickly returned back to meet Michaels before you could think anything of it.

“I’m not here to see you, Michael.” Mallory announced. Her tone harsher than what you were expecting what apparent friends would use.. Were they even really friends?

Mallory suddenly stood up while Michael was still standing a few feet in front of her. Making eye contact with Michael for a split second before almost ducking around him before she stood in front of you.. leaving Michael speechless behind her. She quickly hugged you, her arms only embracing you for a split second before leaving. It was obvious she was in a hurry to leave now but.. you weren’t sure exactly why.

“I should get going, you and Michael have a lot to talk about,” she subtly smiled before turning to leave.. not letting you reply or have any sort of reaction to her words.

You stood solemnly as you heard Mallory’s footsteps gradually go farther away, before hearing the door open and close. You watched Michaels back as he refused to turn around.

“How was your nice chat with Mallory?”

“Why are you asking? Am I not allowed to see her or something?” You bit back. Your words possibly twice as venomous as his were.

Michael hastily turned around, looking at you with utter disbelief. His blue eyes looking into yours, as if he was suddenly surprised by your tone and how you were acting - as if his behavior didn’t proceeded yours.

“You need to relax,” he snapped. He approached you until he was right in front of you. “I wasn’t asking because I’m trying to control you, I know that’s what your thinking,” His words fell soft until they were nearly inaudible. “I just wanted to ask what she talked to you about.”

“About us?” You prompted.

“Well what else would she be talking to you about,” he snickered. His words spoken as more of a statement than a question. His laughter quickly dwindled off after he saw how rigid your frame suddenly looked. “Kidding. For the most part.. she said she was going to talk to you, and I figured I should actually speak to you this time rather than her.”

“Are you.. actually trying to trust me, Michael Langdon?” You teased. A smile, as well as laughter escaped from your lips at the mere thought.

Even though the thought was amusing on its own, you still didn’t completely trust him. Even now when he had Mallorys trust (for the most part), you still didn’t doubt that he had a ulterior motive.

Michael finally stepped back, hesitantly breaking eye contact before inaudibly beckoning you to follow him.

“I’m trying, just like how I told you I would,” He hauntingly reminded you.

You followed him silently to the long leather couch that sat by the overly expansive windows. Sitting down next to him in a way that felt almost too casual.. but being casual around Michael and not borderline fearing for your life was something you would have to adjust too.

You noticed how he instantly slipped his shoes off; drawing up his feet on the couch.. his arms and as well the rest of him contained. Away from you.

“So if your trying.. now,” you suggested uncertainly. “Then.. tell me why you came here to talk suddenly again? I mean why not just go through Mallory again like you’ve doing previously?”

“(Y/n), please. Take me seriously and just trust me for once,” His words came out quick and stern as he spoke them. “I was being serious yesterday, as well as all the other times when I told you I wanted to start.. putting effort in and trying.”

You stared at Michael utterly dumbfounded.. Feeling a bit hopeless that you actually felt almost.. touched by his words. That’s if he was actually being serious, anyway.

“What does trying mean to you?” You asked carefully. Your mind naturally went back to Madison.. were they even broken up yet? Was that even something that Michael was willing to do for you, and how was that something you could just ask? “What about-“

“Madison’s fine. She’s fine.. with everything,” he replied hesitantly.

You simply ignored the fact that he seemed to pick up what you were talking about almost immeadietly.. focusing on rather the latter part of the sentence.. that she was okay with everything?

“So she knows? That you’re here?”

“Yeah. She knows but that’s besides the point. Madison isn’t a part of the equation anymore, I don’t want to talk about her,” He spoke as if his words were final and not to be argued with, but his tone wasn’t angry. He was just done.. and you were too.

You wish that wasn’t the case though. Cutting Madison off didn’t sit right with you in the slightest, and it would definitely have to be something that would have to be mended later. That was a given.

Madison and Michaels relationship was far too close for them to suddenly split and remain like that forever - it was temporary, but so is everything really. That shouldn’t phase you but - it still managed too.

“Okay. I’m sorry, I didn’t-“ you started.

“It’s fine. I knew you would ask.. She’s the reason why I’m here actually,” His eyes broke contact and averted down to his hands. “I don’t mean that as in I’m not here to see you but, it was something she said that brought me here.” He continued, his voice almost growing soft now at just the mention of his ex girlfriend.. and now, you felt like you actually were starting to understand his point of view. Not fully but, it was clear that Michael was trying to be more open with you, and this time he wasn’t ‘fake’ drunk.

It took nearly everything in you to not immeadietly retort but just like the night where you were at the party; you tried to fully hear him out since this was apparently one of the few times he was being civil.

“So Madison gave you advice and you actually took it?” You said while laughing softly. Trying to lighten the mood since Michael seemed to be brooding.

Michael didn’t laugh back but instead his gaze flickered up to meet yours for a moment. The corners of his mouth upturning in a shallow smile that only lasted for a few seconds.

“I did because it made sense.” He said, his tone still remaining serious. You noticed how careful he was being with his words.. something that was typical for Michael to do but this time it seemed a bit too deliberate. You wanted to ask what exactly Madison even told him to do but.. that felt wrong. “It was also the right thing to do.. Being close to you is something I should’ve done a while ago, probably immeadietly-“

“But what’s in the past; stays in the past. And since your so adamant about being close to me.. we can always try now,” you cut in.

Michael continued to sit a good distance away from you; you thought it was ironic how he could talk about wanting to get close with you but wouldn’t dare to move any closer. That thought made your pride a little bit too happy.

Right before he could open his mouth to say something; his phone rang. The sound suddenly earsplitting and blaring but Michael didn’t bother to flinch. Instead he stood up and answered his phone.. making sure to nearly trek across the apartment before he said anything into the phone.

You stretched and casually examined him as he talked, you had a feeling who it was on the line..

After how tense things were with Mallory - you knew they probably weren’t going to be on friendly terms anytime soon.. especially in front of you. And judging by how.. oddly relaxed he seemed (yet timid when he caught your gaze and realized you were staring), it had to be one person.

You were about to sink back into the couch and try your best to not speculate what they were talking about, but before you could fully turn - you realized Michael was sauntering towards you.. clearly still on the phone.

Oh fuck.

Before you could ask what was wrong, the look he gave you alone ushered you to silence.

He quickly held the phone away from his ear. A quick glance at the screen confirmed that the call was still active.

“You said you forgive Madison.. right?” He spoke lowly. His words barely audible, more so mouthing the words than actually speaking them.

You looked at him with a expression you’re sure looked as if you were furious but you were really just completely confused. You wanted to ask but.. there was no time if she was on the phone, but knowing what you were about to get yourself into would also be nice to know.

His eyes had since lost the sharpness that had nearly cut you earlier, instead swarming with urgency and a bit of panic.. It had to be Madison. The only person that could ever have that effect on Michael was Madison.

You simply nodded in response. Not trusting yourself to speak quietly outloud but you also didn’t exactly trust your response because it wasn’t exactly truthful, but Michael seemed to be level headed.. for now.

Michael immeadietly turned and held the phone back up to his ear, this time staying in closer proximity and within ear shot. Putting on his shoes as he continued to hold the conversation he was having.

“Okay

...

So when are you coming?

...

Great, see you then. . . Bye.”

If you didn’t just hear the words that you thought you had heard.. you knew under normal circumstances your heart would’ve ached when you realized how Michael hesitated before he said goodbye, most likely catching himself before he said ‘I love you’. Instead though, you felt a gruesome wave of nausea suddenly rise through you.. urging you to shakily stand up and speak without thinking.

“She’s coming to see you?”

Michael barely gave you a second glance as he turned around and started to head for the front door of the apartment.

“Yes. You’ll be seeing her too, don’t worry.” He spoke before he quickly let the door shut behind him.

You continued to stand, utterly speechless.

Part of you wanted to run after him and the other part merely wanted to scream in anger that he had already made fucking plans but instead you felt numb. Numb and calm.

You returned to your bag and unpacked, trying your best to not let your emotions consume you like they previously had too many times.. until you finally broke down and called Mallory.

Taglist: @michaellangdonstanaccount @langdonsexual @jimmason @blakescoven @dark-mei-rose @9layerdevilfoodcake @prophecy-is-inevitable @matildaofoz @beautyiswithinchaos @frenchlangdon @king-with-no-crovvn @melodylangdon @littledemondani @langdons-pinkyring @celestialrequiem @sojournmichael @mindlesschicca

Let me know if u would like to be added or removed to the taglist!!

[adversityfought-a]

-`ˏ    @tooxldtorememxer​​​​  |  KARL HEISENBERG   ˎ´-

→  Smooch?? 👀

( First Five Asks Get A Kiss  |  ( 6 / ? )  🗂 )

Rare was it that Karl bothered to indulge him in anything fight related or relating to his training. Rare was it also that Chris even bothered when he was out here on surveillance duty. But after his last mission, he was still feeling the leftover pangs of adrenaline thrumming like phantoms through his system. They left him with a notable quiver, an itch beneath his skin like electricity running through a live current.

With nowhere else to go, he needed to find a suitable outlet to release it, that restlessness starting to get on his frayed nerves with a weariness he was starting to feel dig itself deep into his bones. There lie the current issue  -  he was on duty  - benched essentially for a few extra days here. With that, it meant he had to go  &  make do with whatever he had here. Definitely wasn’t the same as a gym in the city or bases, but… it worked.

&  so, outside of the cabin early in the morning the day after he arrives  -  Chris finds himself going through the usual motions in a mindless sort of haze. It's calming  -  soothing  -  but still not enough to completely get rid of his jittering nature. It's not enough  -  the lacking engagement pecking away at him as he slows his movements to instead sweep away the sweat beginning to bead along his brow. Turning at the familiar prickling sensation he can feel along his neck, he's only slightly surprised to note how it's Karl who's watching him, unsure of just how long he's been there before the man does something that stuns him.

He offers a distraction in the form of a sparring partner. Curiosity colours his tone, the way his eyes gleam like light along a knife's edge  -  something just a little feral peeking free with interest as Chris perks up. He should fight a bit more against the offer  -  decline. But instead, with a quirked brow, a small upturn of his lips along the edges, the operative finds himself waving him over.

Before they even begin  -  it's teasing words tossed back  &  forth, doing wonders in helping him ease back from his initial discomfort. It's familiar  -  friendly. Giving him something to focus on even as he braces himself  &  waits for the other man to make the first move. He was worried. He really shouldn't have been.

Before he knows it, each blow traded, each quickened dodge to avoid an attempted grasp here or there, the evasion, the strike back  -  the occasional bit of 'cheating' the other man does with the odd bit of shrapnel tossed his way, never anything too heavy or harmful, meant as a distraction more often than not. There's the stray tugging of his bracelet against the skin of his wrist, another attempt to draw his attention just as Karl moves to lunge. It works this time.

Chris fell for his feigned movement  -  finding himself suddenly breathless as he's knocked over right back on his ass, a dry wheeze leaving him as he thunks his head back against the morning chilled earth. But he knows when to give, especially when he goes to buck the other man off of him from where he has him pinned, only to find nothing gives. The twitch of his fingers, the wiggle of his hands as they remain palm-side up are given, a breathless laugh greeting the air as he lays back in defeat.

He'd call him a cheater another day for that  -  even if it had been fair. As he tries to catch his breathing, regain his own composure, his skin burns like fire even in the cold air outside  -  but something brushes along the curve of his jaw, luring with it, his attention. He cants his head weakly to the side, a curious grin still light in it's presence across his lips, the peek of his own teeth visible past twitching lips. His heart thunders away beneath the cage of his ribs  -  he swears Karl can feel it even as he peers down at him, all toothy smiles, eyes thinned in smug victory as he leans in.

The scent of cigars  &  oil are fast to cloud the air, something more woodsy lying beneath, holding his attention as if it was something tangible. He doesn't move for a moment when lips touch, but he melts into it once his brain catches up, a hand lifting to card through curtained locks of ashy grey. 

An odd prize, but he didn't mind  -  not if the content purr reverberating through him like an echo was anything to go by.

.

[moonlit-imagines]

Headcanons for being Tony Stark’s Daughter (The Intense Years)

Tony Stark x daughter!reader

warnings:

a/n: y/n is 16-17, also ive really never written anything about team iron man so this was weird, someone needs to tell me i dont need every single movie detail in here

prompt: takes place from cacw and smhc

The Early Years (1) The Teenage Years (2) The Aftermath (4) Continued (5)

after the events in sokovia, you set up the relief fund for displaced sokovians and dealt with physical clean up while the avengers...

well, they had to deal with the press—and the governments of the world

getting to know your new suit AI, JOSHUA

briefly looking for bruce; no luck there

you ended up doing the MIT september foundation presentation with tony

and ending the presentation after pepper’s name popped up on the screen

“it’s probably best we get out of here”

you were his entire support system while he was going through his break with pepper

meeting charles spencer’s mother, who really gave your dad a piece of her mind

“my son died, but your daughter gets to live on. if you lost her, maybe you’d show some sympathy for murdering my child”

*awkward silence from you*

*awkward silence from tony otw to the compound*

HATING the sound of the sokovia accords, yet understanding why they’re being ratified

being torn between signing them or not and having a huge argument with the other avengers

“y/n, why dont you listen to your dad for once and sign the damn thing”

“uncle rhodey, you know why i dont want to sign. if they have us, they have access to our suits. you really think the UN should be telling us how to use them?”

“your defense doesn’t even make sense. i had the war machine or iron patriot or whatever the hell you want to call it, but the military was calling the shots”

“and look where you are now”

“right, well i wouldn’t expect a kid to understand”

“are you kidding me, rhodes? you’re gonna play the ‘im older than you’ card?”

comforting wanda while she feared being taken

and as soon as you heard about what happened in lagos

“think about it, maximoff. if you didnt do what you did, do you know how many more casualties there may have been?”

“but i killed innocents”

“no, rumlow killed innocents. you contained that blast better than anyone else could have and you prevented a whole bunch of deaths, give yourself some credit”

okay, so you weren’t the best at talking someone down while they were upset

staying in berlin with your father while the whole bucky thing began to get sorted out

but he sent you out to stay with nat while he had some “private time” with steve

tony keeping you close to him during the power outage at the base

until it turned out you brought your suit and tony did not!

everyone was looking at you to take down bucky, but it just seemed like a bad idea, you didn’t want to hurt him because you didn’t want to hurt steve

stalling to try and buy steve time to subdue his friend

“y/n, come on, for christ sake!”

“got it, dad! i know what im doing!”

“i dont think you do!”

feeling your stomach drop when bucky shot into your dad’s hand, if it wasn’t for his latest invention, he may have gotten seriously hurt

you had a slight change of heart after that, you couldn’t bare to lose your dad. not after all those close calls...

getting yelled at by secretary ross and the wonderful 36 hour ultimatum you, nat, and tony received

“i have a plan”

“don’t say the spider boy”

“fine, i wont say it”

a nice trip to queens :)

when this parker kid finally got home, tony left you to socialize with his aunt

small talk is sometimes unbearable

“so, what’s it like being tony stark’s daughter?”

“honestly? im always tired”

peter becoming a tagalong on your mission, which you didn’t really think was appropriate

“dad, i dont really think we should’ve brought the kid...”

“why? you’re about the same age as him, its not much different”

“um...no, i meant this isnt his battle. i don’t care how old he is”

face off between tony and cap where you literally just swallowed all your pride and apologized because you couldn’t handle the fact that the team was being ripped apart like this

team ups with Spider-Man

“so, uh, do you hate me or something?”

“hey, kid? we’re kind of in the middle of something, i’ll get back to you on that”

“it’s a yes or no question, y/n”

“pass”

so, things didn’t exactly go as planned...

your (former) teammates were taken to the RAFT and you couldn’t pull it together in front of them

they were pretty pissed at you

“im sorry, im so sorry, i should’ve done better”

they ignored you (up until scott lang)

“all you stark’s are the same”

“stay out of this, bugboy”

taking to the remote hydra base in another famous father/daughter teamup

“just like the old days, right kiddo?”

“i guess so”

“hey, cheer up, it’s not all that bad”

waltzing right in there to meet your friend and foe

seeing the video of your grandparents dying

*being killed

absolutely stunned by seeing such a gruesome thing

even after all you’ve seen, this really got to you

you were robbed of ever meeting them, which made you angry, but you couldn’t stay angry because there were so many things out of everyones control

realizing that this was a good time to hold tony back

“JOSHUA, lock down y/n’s suit. protocol: baby gate”

apparently your dad still had some old protocols in your suit that you hadn’t found yet

“JOSHUA? reboot! override protocol: baby gate”

“i’m sorry, miss y/n, but i cannot do that”

watching your father attempt to get revenge

and get critically injured

simultaneously working on opening the suit back up for a bad plan

finally getting the emergency release and stumbling out of your suit, rushing towards the conflict and throwing yourself in the middle of it

“please, dad. enough damage has been done.”

“y/n, get out of the way”

he saw you shaking and crying and he realized what he was doing

attacking the only family you guys really had

getting shoved out of the way so that they could end this fight once and for all

JOSHUA finally rebooting and bringing the suit over to shield you while you helplessly watched the end of this fight

when bucky and steve left, your suit disarmed and you crouched down beside your father

“come on, let’s just go home”

“im sorry”

“i know, it’s okay”

trying to comfort your dad after his defeat

you picked up cap’s shield and returned to your suit, it was time to go home

after a brief time of recovery (while you helped work on uncle rhodey’s prototype prosthetics), there was a slight change of plans for you

“okay, so for your punishment after what you pulled during my...divorce with cap, you’re going to babysit the spiderling so you gain some perspective”

“hold on, what?! what do you mean ‘perspective?’”

“i mean you dont know what it’s like to be in charge of the life of a teenager, so now you get to find out! congratulations on your promotion!”

it was not fun at all because peter kept blowing up your phone and you kept having to tell him there was nothing for him to do

Y/N: I’ll let you know when there’s a spider-level threat, kapeesh?

P. Parker: Yes, ma’am, sorry.

peter going behind your back to do some “superhero work”

and you having to swoop in to fix everything last second

“come on, you stole my thunder, y/n!”

“no, peter, i saved your life. next time you have a lead, call me first”

and then he didn’t 😌✨💕

“Y/N, incoming call from ‘big fat meanie’”

“put him through, JOSHIE...hey dad, how’s dubai?”

“taking care of a kid is harder than it looks, isn’t it?”

“don’t start with me”

damage control ahahah 🤡

“peter, why cant you just call me in? you don’t stop texting me for months but for this you go radio silent? you almost died. and you put a bunch of lives in danger! do you want me to have to go to your aunt and tell her you died?”

“im sorry! i just...i dont want to be a sidekick”

“kid, you’re gonna have a long time to make a name for yourself...but not if you’re dead!”

he started crying and you were very uncomfortable so you tried to hug him? it helped.

letting him off easy (just like your dad did to you growing up)

but apparently tony came back and took the suit anyways and you were pretty pissed about it

avengers moving day :) yes, part of your punishment was helping happy with moving day and hearing him gush about how you were “growing into such a responsible adult”

“happy i dont know if you noticed but ive basically been an adult since i was 12”

“keep telling yourself that, kiddo”

seeing an explosion and immediately knowing it was peter

“i’ll see you later, happy, love you!”

investigating the crash site and whaddaya know, there’s peter and his first bad guy, you were kind of proud

“peter, you okay?”

“nope!”

“okay, cool”

more damage control lmao (a/n: yall sick of damage control yet?)

a congratulatory call from your dad

“hey! you did pretty good, all things considered. why don’t you take the kid to the avengers compound for his special surprise?”

“aye aye, see you soon.”

“love you, kiddo”

“you too, dad”

quick fast forward to peter rejecting the position as an avenger while the press was outside, yes, you were surprised

but then your dad finally proposed to pepper, it was a pretty cool engagement announcement

“y/n, will you be my maid of honor?”

“duh!”

happily ever after (a/n: until the next part is up)

[border-spam]

Leech Lord : Jak-Knife

JK belongs to / is written by / designed by @godkingsanointed​

“That Bandit’s a ghostwalker, my God-King. You don’t want ‘em here, trust me. Sometimes dead clans leave corpses behind that aren’t straight in the head enough to know that’s what they are... Crawl across the plains looking for somewhere else to belong, looking for a new family clan ‘cause all that’s left of theirs are Rakk picked bones. Seen plenty over the years, and they trail bad luck behind ‘em like a disease. That one’s marked like a Hellion, those got slag-burned into the ground by Atlas back in Old Haven. Your majesties weren’t here when that happened, but we were, and I remember. Leave them to me, the scout teams always need fresh meat for replacements.

They won’t stay alive long enough to be a concern.”

- Mouthpiece

Whether death follows JK or they sprint after it in pursuit is something they’ve never really been sure of. It could be either - some great predator snapping at their heels while they grew up in a Bandit clan that wasn’t kind to the small and gentle, or a force they are drawn to effortlessly like the migratory animals that follow Pandora’s monsoon seasons.

Could be either.

Could be both.

Same outcome they figure, so why would it matter.

They'd been a kid when it happened, well, a kid to anyone not a Bandit. In that life 16 years old is more than enough to run with a raid party, adult enough to work yourself to the bone, to show you can earn your keep when your brother is "useless" and you've got to be worth 2 bellies of food or watch as one of you goes hungry. Jak-Knife and Gutpunch, one a runt squinting up from under a stolen warrior's mask crafted for someone twice their size, the other a gentle giant born into a life that no aspect of their soul suited. They'd protected him, them with their little body and dull pocketknife versus the sometimes cruelty of a clan who's survival was based around only the fittest, only the strong staying part of it.

Not evil, just living as was needed. Pandora is harsh, there is no room for softness if you want to stay alive on her rocky flats, that's just the way things are. Nature isn't cruel, it simply is.

They were 16 when the Lance came.

16 years they'd lasted in the Hellions, till the day the gates of Old Haven had been opened for the Crimson Lance's money carriers. They'd done their job, they'd cleared the town at the request of the white Siren, been promised a home for the clan, a place to belong, and in the end, their payment came in bullets sprayed from Atlas gun barrels.

By the time JK had woken up and tried to heave Gutpunch's corpse off their back from where he'd shielded them, it had been two days. Groggy and confused, they'd panicked, desperately trying to scrabble out from under his bulk as the remaining Lance stopped piling bodies to burn and ran towards the sound of gunfire outside the gates.

Vault Hunters. Worse than the lance.

They couldn't take him with them, he couldn't move now, but they couldn't leave him like this, not a brother. Not when he was all they had who'd understood when they'd try and explain why their meat was wrong, how the flesh didn't sit right, when he was who would help them tighten rags around their chest and listen as they ground their overly developed canines and growled to the stars at night when it got too heavy to bear. They couldn't leave him behind after a life together, so they took his mask. Scrabbled at the bindings and peeled the effigy from what was left of his head. They realised as it separated from flesh that it had been all that was holding the remnants of skull together... but this was his face. The meat under it was Gutpunch, but the mask... they'd wear it now. He'd still be with them.

Jak-Knife had ran from the massacre of Old Haven on shaky legs, ducking as bullets whistled through the air around them as Crimson Lance and Vault Hunters traded fire in panicked waves. No hits, not directly, but a spray of Slag from a barrel ruptured by a narrow miss had sliced across their right, thick and acrid in the air as it burned through skin and into muscle. There had been no time to feel the pain, no time to stop, JK had run till their feet bled and the weight of Pandora's inky night blanketed them in exhaustion they couldn't fight any longer.

They'd started to stumble forward once they stirred in the morning. Like Mouthpiece said, a ghostwalker. No clan, no brother, no belonging. They walked and didn't stop for a long time.

Walked to New Haven, to the walls outside the town and a woman with her own terribly scarred face masking a heart softer than others would guess. Not a home there, not really, but allowed stay. A kid is a kid, even when wearing the blood-streaked mask of a Bandit. She couldn't turn them away.

They were 18 when Hyperion came.

Ran again amidst the screams to do so, ran into the wastes of Pandora and a world that made more sense to them than the town being torn apart behind them. Missed her though, Pierce. She'd been kind. A lot of those people had been kind, and now they were dead. Hyperion, Atlas, same thing. Just monsters lead by monsters.

They'd walked to the Slabs, to a jovial King who mocked their size with a tone that both bristled their muscle and left them feeling... welcome. Not a home there either, not really, but there had been jobs to run and food to earn. They'd been allowed stay, and so they did. Stil a Hellion though, still Slag-burned and covered in their clan's flame emblems and splashes of neon across their gear.... still wearing Gutpunch's blood coated mask.

The Slab king had heaved himself into their cramped sleeping quarters one night and whispered that there was a funeral for her soon, Pierce. They could go if they wanted, he'd whispered from under that massive helm. Told them with a gentleness they'd never heard before that he understood loss, having things you loved taken away from you for no reason bar cruelty. That he remembered Old Haven and wished he didn't. That they should go. They'd be welcome there.

So JK had walked again, out of Thousand Cut's Slab fortress and to a somber funeral in the icy fields of Three horns that was filled with Crimson Raiders - a mix of Vault Hunters and ex Lance, and stood in memorial amidst people that made the blood under their skin burn, all to show the respect she'd earned to a woman who'd treated them like a human.

A merc now they figured, easier than being a wanderer and Sanctuary needed mercs. Found themselves in the bar some nights, wary eyes glaring from mismatched lenses as they sat silently at corner tables while watching the rest of the loud patrons, back against a wall and a clear exit always planned.

She'd noticed. She liked big 'n mysterious. Liked how her flirtations rolled off them and were replied to with genuine questions about her. Quiet, gentle-voiced comments about the drinks, how well she played her marks, how clever that gunbelt around her thigh was positioned for quick access if she needed to control a situation with more than just her looks.

Moxx liked this one, and a friendship slowly bloomed into something beautiful.

It had been her who had put their name forward when the leaders of the Raiders had become concerned over the darkness slowly seeping across Pandora's horizon, of the bizarre war cries of fanatics leading raids on smaller Bandit camps and shanty towns...

The "Children of the Vault" was a name being passed through hushed whispers in slums and rot-dives, and Lilith had rolled "Calypso" across her tongue enough times when reading scout reports to know the taste it was leaving behind wasn't anything good. They wanted an in, and what better spy to infiltrate a Bandit cult than a Bandit. Someone who understood clan hierarchy, who could report back in words she could understand from a viewpoint she could never see.

JK had been... wary. To say the least. The Raiders weren't friends, they'd filled their ranks with ex Crimson Lance like they hadn't committed atrocities, they mowed down Pandora's natives like mad Skags who needed extermination, and Krieg...

They all knew of Krieg. Everyone had seen how he'd been really treated. JK certainly had, but they also knew Krieg had been one foot into the great hunger, that he'd been so close to the flood that he'd spoken in half Psycho-cant and half Bandit, and tore at his skin to sate the itch of the song that the mad ones screamed about. That the raiders would let him burn alive in a fury if it meant a successful mission, and they couldn't help but wonder how respected he'd really been. Some kind of mix between respect and pity they figured, mocked behind his back as "Just another Psycho", someone who got the job done even if he limped back covered in blood and bullet holes, but was whispered about as needing to be watched.

He had been called a Raider, and yet - masks like his and JKs covered the command room's wall like trophies. Murderers of their clans walked Sanctuaries halls and narrowed untrusting eyes even at Krieg's hulking silhouette as he passed. It wasn't right, and JK struggled to feel as welcome as the others insisted they were now that they had a use.

But they'd taken the job, because Moxxi said they should and Moxxi was clever, Moxxi cared about them and wanted to see them be happy, so they'd agreed. She had whispered in an accent they’d learned from long nights in her company was for real things and not her act, that this would help people, that the COV was worrying her more than she was concerned about getting intel to Lilith, and they'd nodded in agreement.

Bandits don't congregate, Bandits don't merge clans under one banner... they wanted to know what this beast clawing into Pandora's soil was capable of. They'd heard the rumours like everyone else, twin Sirens apparently. Bullshit, everyone knew Sirens were women and there were only 6. Jack had hammered that information through Bandit clans and across Pandora's E-Com network clear enough. These were obviously frauds using trickery to control those eager to believe, wouldn't be the first time a Siren cult had used Bandit clans as a personal army, and JK had felt roiling disgust at the realisation what they were agreeing to do for Lilith? Just another shade of the exact same thing.

Funny, wasn't it. Very funny.

So they'd walked out of Sanctuary and towards the hub of the birthing COV.

They'd been 20 when they had first seen a real God.

The Holy City didn't exist yet, just a pile of rickety buildings thrown up by worshippers that surrounded an old Dahl fortress bleaching slowly in Pandora's sun. They called it "The Cathedral", but it looked like the crumbling bones of some great dead thing jutting from the red sands like a cracked skull. Maybe those were the same thing, JK had thought. A cathedral, and a beast of the flood. Both seemed like something that should be worshipped to them. They liked this place.

Neon paint and rusty metal spines were everywhere among the shantytown, raucous laughter cut through the clang of metal, and the air itself was heavy with an unmistakable stink of unwashed bodies and leather. They felt it so quickly as they'd crunched through the dirt paths that split the weaving rows of scrapped together tents, making their way to the recruitment line. A fleeting tickle of a sensation that hadn't filled their belly in so long. That this was like...

home.

The twins themselves were cagey and difficult to pull usable intel about. They gave sermons from the crumbling balconies of the fortress to the swathes of screaming acolytes below, too far for JK to get a clear eye on them but dressed like Sirens at least. Swirling loops of pacifying blue along the woman, and the man... jagged lines and curved whorls of a vicious red they'd never seen on any living or dead Witch. He was off. That one was wrong, and his sister made her agreement on that clear enough in how she acted next to him. She was the star, she was in the limelight, and he was relegated to a place behind her when she spoke to her worshippers and basked in their screeched worship. Odd for a "God-King" to be left in shadows, they'd thought.

Odd indeed.

They reported back to Lilith in Sanctuary whenever the opportunity arose to leave the growing "City", cult movement, basic info on what they could see as a blossoming threat to raiders, and it was always met with sneers of disgust and pity. Monsters, she'd sighed. Just using the bandits as fodder. JK's eyes flicked to the masks decorating the trophy wall behind her.

"Whatever you say, commander".

Mouthpiece had kept his word. Fully aware of what had happened to JK's clan and uncomfortable with seeing something he believed to be a walking curse among the COV's war parties, he'd purposefully sent them on suicide runs with some of the less physically capable recruits. "Trial by fire" he saw it as, simple logic when it came to survival on Pandora. Let the weak earn their place - if they die, they die. That's the law of the land, and losing the soft only leaves the clan stronger. Except, JK' scout parties just kept coming back. It had seemed almost a fluke the first couple of times, scouts didn't last long after all, but as it repeated again, and again, Mouthpiece and higher members of the raid parties began to notice.

A combination of Hellion war training and their years of working side by side with their brother had left an understanding of why having others watch your back was more beneficial than only caring about your own neck, especially when you weren't as big as the next guy. JK was a survivor, they'd never been willing to lay down and die so the rest of the clan could be down a "weak link", and their knife-edge instincts merged with a care for the other scouts not usually seen amongst Bandits meant they were teaching the team. Unifying them as a group who responded to signal whistles, barked cant, warcries that triggered defence formations and eyes on flanks. They were leading without being called a leader, and as that first year slowly ticked by, they were being noticed.

Sharp eyes that scrutinised numbers and statistics were watching the growing ratio of successful raids to lost bodies from the recessed shadows of the looming Cathedral while Jak-Knife trained and barked orders at recruits in the garrison that sprawled in the white hot sunlight below, and eventually, the day came where the God-King knew their name.

They'd stood shoulder to shoulder with their boys as they lined facing the burning light at Mouthpiece's demand. The mask lenses had done barely anything to block out Pandora's vicious sun as he'd approached, and they'd shuddered at the warchief's hissed warning to show due respect, or die where they stood. He wasn't accepting of failure, they knew that from the hushed whispers that spread across the camp at night. He expected perfection, and word from within the now sprawling architecture of the growing Cathedral was that neither twin took insult lightly. She sucked the life out of the undeserving and he, well, he supposedly just ripped heretics clean apart.

Father Troy had been all sharp angles and gaunt bone as he'd stopped his slow pace in front of them and hunched to lean down to their eye level. They'd realised how wrong they'd been about his appearance as the heavy furs that splayed across his shoulders like a mantle blotted out the sun behind him and framed his jagged silhouette in light.

Tyreen wasn't short.

Troy was a monster.

It had been hard to pick up on his scale when they'd only seen him next to his sister, they'd just figured she was a smaller woman and him a tall man, but the reality of his size was beyond intimidating now that they could see with frightening intimacy that the scrapped together prosthetic that he held at his side so effortlessly was as long as they were tall.

A glint of gold teeth through a smile they'd thought more Skag than human snapped them out of their shock, and he'd congratulated them. Thanked the "Jak-Knife" he'd been watching so closely for their excellent work on the field, waved the disturbingly proportioned metal claws of his arm towards their team and praised their group promotion, slathered honey-thick words from a barbed tongue about how they'd be blessed by being the honour guard for a God now - a fine reward for their outstanding work... yes?

The others had gasped in stuttered praise and whimpered thanks while Jk had nodded respectfully, knowing damn well that Calypso wasn't really asking at all.

The newly titled vanguard escorted him everywhere, and that meant a shift in JK's life within the blossoming city that they could not have prepared for. They no longer slept on bare ground when not visiting Sanctuary for updates, they were brought into the twin's cathedral, were able to see its glory with their own eyes for the first time. The inside wasn't anything like the still decrepit outer walls surrounded by scaffolding that workers scurried across like ants, it was like nothing Jak-Knife had ever seen.

A bastion of worship, vast cavernous stone halls spread with clan banners in colours they'd almost forgotten, neon blazing lights framing sprawling stained glass windows depicting Saints and Clergy who's names they'd heard but never put a face to.

Ur-Aurum, scowling from under heavy brows, framed in monochrome and gold. Coins and bullets pouring from his open palms.

Ur-Machina, sharp and vibrant in reds and coppers, oil-stained hands resting gently on the slab of gilded war tech she rested daintily against.

Ur-Vendit, pristine in parallel lines and perfect angles, sneering through a swathe of shining colours as numbers and cash totals ran like ivy through the window's frame.

And something new that had been being assembled along the great hall when they first entered, a half-finished window titled "Oracle" - just the fine lines of lead and a great, staring eye all that they could make out as they followed the priest irritably urging the vanguard group to hurry as they were lead to their chambers.

For the first time they had experienced, JK not only belonged, but they were envied. Their gear was decorated, armour and weapons upgraded at the Father's blessing, and the titles that came with the role were impossible to avoid, whispered in reverence by warriors who would have spat at their feet only a few years ago.

God-King's chosen, God-King's first, God-King's hand, the nods of respect passed to them by warlords like Mouthpiece in passing filled their chest with pride under the weight of its binder, and the trips back to Sanctuary became... harder.

For all they had achieved within the now monstrous in scale COV, the Raiders saw them no differently than they had when they'd first sat alone in Moxxi's. They were still a Bandit, and nothing more. JK was side-eyed, muttered about, treated like an outsider who needed to earn their keep by passing on intel they were risking their life for, all while in the back of their mind being more than aware that they could have this place raised to the ground with a damn WORD. Lilith didn't understand what it meant to be as close to Calypso as they were, that they were beginning to earn his ear.

She wasn't aware that a fucking God cared about their opinion enough to ask for it on long technical rides or when escorting him between meetings, to her, and to the rest of the Raiders, they were still simply a lost native behind a mask that was being handed scraps of decency by people better than them - and the strain of that reality was difficult to ignore. Moxxi tried her best, always there to console and remind them she valued who they were, the beautiful mind they had shared with her in tender moments and long intimate conversations over the last few years, but the insult burned in their gut still.

They weren't just Jak-Knife. They were the God King's chosen, and they were betraying someone who valued them to share internal information on Saints and departments, cashflow and raids, with people who willingly partnered with the Crimson Lance, people who just plain did not seem to understand who they were, what they had earned through sacrifice and blood shed.

But Troy? The longer they spent around Troy the more his own mask began to slip, and the harder it came to see him as any form of enemy. The blessed Father couldn't hide his weak spells or the times illness left him barely able to stand from a bodyguard who was at his side almost every waking moment, there was no way to do so regardless of how much he clearly wished there was. JK saw everything... the spasms, the fainting, heard the whistling of weak lungs when in silence next to the damaged God, saw the black circles under his eyes that the expertly applied makeup he wore could hide at a distance. He'd been aggressive about it at first, vicious and hurtful in his reactions when they'd try and assist, but over time, as they made clear that the mockery and pity he was expecting was not going to come, he'd softened. He'd thanked Jak-Knife one night as they scraped together a fire on the salt flats to chase the bitter cold away and keep their king warm.

A God had looked at them with ice blue eyes that reminded them of a face they could no longer remember, and whispered genuine appreciation for them. How could they continue to betray him. How could they hurt him for people who didn't even count JK as human?

They saw a delicate and sickly side of one of the twin God's that felt wrong to share with the raiders, that left a bad taste in their mouth to discuss with Lilith, so they simply didn't. The rationalised that the raiders did not need to know about the self-doubt or painful loss JK saw crack through Troy's facade in private, the raiders didn't need an update on how one of the twins wasn't healthy, that he could struggle sometimes to get to his feet before an audience, or would need a discreet support from the solid weight of their muscle next to his spindly frame after some events.

Lilith didn't need to know it, and as time passed, JK found they were beginning to keep secrets. Little ones at first, justified under the intel not being valuable, but the ease of witholding useful data only increased. Their position, the growing camaraderie with the COV's grunts and militia, the respect in the eyes of worshippers who looked to the Vanguard all fed into the slow realisation that their loyalty simple did not belong to the Vault Hunters, it was to Moxxi, who loved them. It was to Troy, who every day became closer to the memory of Gutpunch they'd try and visualise on lonely nights, see his crooked smile and cool eyes flicker across a face they could no longer place.

The closer JK got with the man behind the King's mask, the harder it became to give over information to the raiders that had any real tactical value...

And that had been Troy's plan, ever since the day he'd discreetly planted a tracker on them while they'd squinted against the blinding sunlight to first look into the face of a God.

[gardenia-angel]

Chapter One:

𝓙𝓾𝓼𝓽 𝓜𝔂 𝓛𝓾𝓬𝓴

(First chapter is a little longer than I planned oops! Sorry not sorry but please let me know what you think of the story so far in comments!)

‘God I wish I could go home.’ I thought to myself as I worked. Today I had an early morning shift, which meant I had to be up at 5 am. As a non-morning person that took a lot of effort and a lot of coffee to get me up. I mainly worked by myself so it was just me and my wandering thoughts during my 7 hour shift. My mind mainly focused on what I finished binge watching last night. The Umbrella Academy. I was shocked but also excited with the ending. Even though the thought of what happened to ghost Ben broke my heart, I still cant wait for what’s in store for season 3.

I began to wonder what it would be like to live a world such as the Hargreeves siblings. I thought it be way more exciting than my normal boring life.

My phone buzzed signaling that it was time for me to take my break. I didn’t realized how much time went by while I was daydreaming about my Umbrella Academy fantasy. As I entered the break room, I realized I was the only one with a break at the time. I sighed contently. I find it rather peaceful being alone all the time. It beats having to be in a cramped room with all your other obnoxious coworkers. My break was ending soon so I decided to leave the room and head over to the restroom. When I opened the break room door however, it wasn’t the store I worked in at all. I stared wide eyed into a blue vortex that was blowing air everywhere. I put my hands to my face trying to shield my eyes from the bright lights flashing when suddenly I felt my whole body being lifted up. Im not the type that screams when im scared, I’m the type that cant let out any noise when im truly frightened. So with a gasp, I was sucked right into the vortex.

I dropped down into an alleyway. I groaned as I laid on my stomach for a few moments as I tried to piece together what the hell just happened. For some weird reason my mind felt all fuzzy and I couldn’t exactly remember anything. I decided to get up now and take a look around. Stepping out of the alleyway I glanced around. I seemed to be in a downtown area with stores that looked..outdated? That’s really weird. I walked down the sidewalk until I stumbled upon a very familiar scene, although I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I saw a boy in a school uniform sitting on a bench next to an older man in a suit. I watched from the side as the two talked. I started to get a bad feeling, like something was about to shift. Across the street I watched as a bus pulled up to a stop. In the back of my mind I could hear gunshots. I got goosebumps all of a sudden as I rushed to the boys side.

“Excuse me but you need to move right now!” I said to him while shaking his shoulder slightly. He looked at me in confusion and with a slight anger in his tone he asked “who the hell are you?!”

I shook my head. “Please you have to listen to me! Three men are about to get off that bus and start shooting at you!”

Just then, the three men did come off the bus. They began walking towards us.

“Who the hell are those guys?!” The boy said, trying to get a good look at them.

“Shit.” The older man said as he put something in the boys pocket.

“FIVE!” I shouted. In a matter of moments the men started shooting at us. The older man had shoved a briefcase in front of us and somehow the boy and I found ourselves behind a car. The briefcase now having bullet holes in it. “How many times did I say bulletproof briefcases.” The boy said in disappointment.

“I think I’m going to be sick..” I groaned as I held my stomach. Did we really just teleport from the bench to this car?! The sound of guns cocking and footsteps nearing us made the boy grab my hand and teleport us again. This time on a roof.

“Oh my god I’m going to throw up!” I groaned again. This time we were laying down on top of a roof. The boy quickly shushed me. “If you don’t shut up they’ll find us and kill us.”

The thought of being shot to death quickly made me stop complaining. He stuck his head up a little to see if the coast was clear. When it was, he grabbed my hand and teleported us both back down into the alleyway.

I ended up vomiting up a little bit. “Sorry about that, didn’t mean to make you sick but if I didn’t, well then you’d be dead.” His way of trying to comfort me did not comfort me in the slightest. “Thanks?” I said as I wiped my mouth and turned back to face him. “Who are you and how did you know that was going to happen before it happened and how do you know my name!?” He bombarded me with a whole lot of questions. I stared back at him in confusion as I stuttered trying to find the answer to these questions i truly did not know. His attention was then directed elsewhere. He looked towards a window in suspicion. “Hold that thought. I’ll be right back.” He said before heading towards a door into the back of a building. “Hey wait! Don’t leave me here.” I said before he teleported away inside. “Wait here my ass..” I mumbled before following him inside. Luckily the door was unlocked. I followed him up some stairs where he knocked on a door. The door next to the other one opened up and a man poked his head out. “What do you want?” The man asked suspiciously.

“Hi I’m selling encyclopedias for my youth group. I was wondering if you —“ The man shut his door without a word. Five then teleported into the mans home without a second thought.

“He really needs to stop doing that.” I said to myself as I tried to open the door. To no avail, it was locked. I sighed as I waited for them to open the door for me. I could hear the other man let out a small scream. They were talking some more until the boy finally came and opened the door for me. He teleported back into the other room where the man was. He jumped a little at how close the boy appeared to him.

“Listen to me I —“ The boy began.

“E-Elliot Elliot, m-my name is Elliot.” He said while backing up.

I looked around at all the newspapers and things plastered on the walls. Guess this guy is super into SciFi.

“Whatever, alright! I got 10 days to find them and save the world, and I’m gonna need your help to find them.”

I looked at him when he said that. Something about what he said rang a bell in my head. God why I can’t I remember anything clearly!

He turned to me. “And you? What’s your name?”

I shook my head solemnly and looked down at the ground. “I really wish I could tell you but I just can’t remember anything clearly.” I said truthfully.

“Well what was the last thing you do remember.” He said, this time his tone was more sympathetic.

“I remember being somewhere and..and opening a door, I think. The next thing I know is falling onto the pavement in that alleyway.”

“Hmm..” was all he said before taking a sip of coffee.

“I know I sound absolutely crazy but it’s true!”

“Well, my whole life is crazy so I understand” he sighed.

“I must’ve accidentally time traveled you too along with the rest of us.” He muttered before looking me up and down. “I can tell you’re from my time, your clothes don’t match the sixties fashion.”

My eyes widened. “Wait hold up..did you just say the sixties?!” I looked over at the other man. He waved at me but I just stared in disbelief. “Plus you also have a cellphone in your back pocket.” I reached down to my back pocket and pulled out my phone. “Oh shit maybe this could help me..” I tried pressing the home button but it wouldn’t turn on. “Just my luck, it’s dead. I doubt there’s a charger around here.” I said sadly as I put it back in my pocket.

“What I don’t understand is how you knew what was going to happen. Is that your power?” He asked nonchalantly. As if having powers is normal.

I knitted my brows is confusion. “My powers?! What are talking about, I don’t know! How do I even know your name? I’m not sure about that either Five!” I crossed my arms around my torso and held myself tightly. “It’s like I know you somehow..all of you. This all just seems so vaguely familiar.”

“You know my siblings names too?” Five asked.

“Yeah there’s..” I ondered on the thought for a few seconds before I could clearly say each of their names. “Diego, Vanya, Klaus, Allison, and Luther.” I said without a second hesitation.

Five looked up at you in curiosity. He’s never met anyone quite like you. Suddenly I got flashes of what seemed like memories. Of the brother Diego. He was in a hospital of sorts and he seemed to be sitting in a circle of patients, talking.

“I think I might be able to help you look for one of your brothers?” I said sounding more like I was asking a question.

Five nodded. “Where do we start?”

“I wanna say he’s in a sort of hospital or something. l don’t really know where for sure though.” I shrugged.

“She right actually!” Elliot chimed in. He went over to a desk drawer and pulled out a newspaper clipping. “Disturbed man with multiple knives arrested outside 1026 N. Beckley.” I read aloud.

“Diego.” Five muttered as we looked at the article. Five then took the paper from Elliot and put it in his pocket. “Let’s go, you’re gonna help me find all of them.” He said to me.

He began walking away towards the door, ready to start his mission.

“Woah woah woah! Hold on mister, what makes you think I should come with you? Have you forgotten about the three men that were shooting at us? There’s a fat chance that they’ll still be hunting us!”

Five turned back to me and shrugged. “They’re hunting me not us. They’re the Swedes as everyone would call them. They’re brothers and they work for my former employer at the Commission. I already know how to handle them. That won’t be our problem.”

“I don’t know Five. I might just slow you down. I’m a liability..”

He shrugged again. “Maybe you can actually fight, we don’t know that yet.” He smiled and I rolled my eyes. I decided to follow anyways.

“Key word Five, ‘yet’. And I don’t think I wanna know if we really do get in trouble.” I said as we walked out the door

In a short time we found the hospital Diego resided. So are we breaking him out of here or what’s the plan?” I asked as we went inside the large building. “I’m not entirely sure yet..” Five said.

Five talked to the front desk lady and she led us to a visiting room where we waited for them to bring Diego to us.

The orderlies led Diego in the room a few minutes later. “Five.” Diego stated as if he didn’t believe it was really him. He glanced at me as he sat down on the chair across from us but quickly put his attention back onto Five.

“Hey Diego.” Five replied back. All were quiet until Five broke the silence. “You look good in white.” He sarcastically remarked. Diego rolled his eyes. “About time you show up.”

“How’d you know I’d be back?” Five questioned.

“Because that’s the kind of shit you pull.” Diego said as if it were obvious.

“Where are the others?” Five asked.

“They’re not with you?” He said then glanced at me again. “And who’s this?” He said confused.

I smiled slightly and put my hand out to shake his. “Hi, I’m...well actually I don’t know who I am.” Diego shook my hand and gave me a skeptic look and turned back to Five.

“It’s a long story but basically when we teleported, I accidentally teleported her too. I don’t know how exactly, time travel is a roll of the dice. I haven’t exactly worked out all the quirks..” Five explained.

They went on talking to each other as I started to drift into my thoughts. Why am I here? What’s wrong with my memory? None of this is making sense. I don’t belong here. I need to find a way home. All Five seems to care about is this doomsday thing. It all just seems too unreal!

I was brought back to reality when I heard Five stand up and shout. “Guard! My brother here is plotting an escape. The bars in his room have been shaved down.”

In a matter of milliseconds Diego jumped up and pranced forward trying to strangle Five as the guards tried to hold him back. I quickly stood up trying not to get in the way. A nurse then came in and injected Diego with something causing him to knock out. Five tugged at my shoulder and leaned in to whisper something. “We’ll come back for him later.” He said and began walking away with me following right behind.

“How could you let them do that to your poor brother?” I said. He doesn’t look like he belongs in a nuthouse.

“Diego’s fine, he knows how to take care of himself. Like I said we’ll come back later.”

I sighed as we walked out the building. I gasped as a sudden flash of memories passed through my mind. I had to stand still afterwards. It had caused my head to start aching. “I need to sit down Five.” I said wearily. He led me over to a bench just outside the hospital entrance. “Did you just have another vision?” He asked with hope in his voice.

“Yeah Luther..” I groaned as I massaged my head.

“Well then let’s go.” He stood back up. Oh god how can he be so active all day and not rest for a minute?! I thought as I looked at him.

I made a tsk sound and shook my head. “No no no no, you can go find your other brother, I’m just going to stay right here.”

“What? Why!?” He frowned.

“Because Im tired Five! I can’t do this all day. I need to stop and think. It’s frustrating when you can’t remember shit!” I yelled and put head in my hands. Five looked down at me in sympathy. “I know it must be tough but don’t give up. I’m sure your memory will come back to you in time.”

“I sure hope so...” I said while looking back at him. “Which is why I think I should stay here. You said yourself you wanted to come back later on to get Diego anyways.” I said making a valid point.

“Hmm..I guess you’re right. You’re sure you’ll be fine here?”

“I’ll be good. There’s people all around here too so it’s not like the Swedes can just come up and shoot me.”

With that, I told Five the name of the Club Luther was at in my vision and he took off. Hours went by and soon it was night time. Five was nowhere to be seen. My memory didn’t come back yet either. I let out a huff as I waited on the bench. What do I do if Five doesn’t come back? I can’t break Diego out by myself. I can’t go back to Elliots because I don’t even know my way back. All I could was stay there. A few more hours went by and soon there were no more people walking about. I now started to regret not going with Five. It’s sketchy as hell out here by myself. Suddenly I saw a truck pull into the hospitals parking lot. It looked like a milk truck. Why the hell would a milk truck be here in the middle of the night? My question was answered when I saw the three men from earlier get out of the truck and load up their guns. I jumped off the bench and quickly tried to hide myself, scared that they were going to spot me. I watched as they made their way into the front doors. Shit they must be after Diego! What do I do? I don’t think I can fight. Five said Diego could take care of himself though. I trust that he can. My best bet is to try to make my way to Elliot’s home. I got up and began to walk away from the hospital.

It felt like I had been walking for a very long time with no final destination. I got myself lost. I ended up walking in a neighborhood. I could tell it was started to get very late because mostly all the house lights had turned off. As I turned down a street I saw flashing lights coming from the left of me. Police cars were surrounding someone’s house. They seemed to be arresting a man. I wondered what was going on. Before I could ponder on the thought any longer, something else caught my vision. I saw a fucking milk truck parked down the way. No way in hell thats them. The moment I saw the truck they seemed to have spotted me because the head lights turned on. “Fuck.” I said under my breathe and sprinted off down the street on my right. The car then began to chase me. I ran and ran as fast as my legs could take me. I tried to turn down every street I could so that I could loose them, but they always seemed to be on my tail. I made my way into a narrow alleyway. I took a right and then a left and then another left. To my surprise I had just lead myself into a dead end. “Just my luck..” I breathed out.

I turned to look to see if they were coming as I breathed heavily. All this anxiety wasn’t helping me catch my breathe. I looked around me to see if there was anything I could use to defend myself. Looking through a dumpster I luckily found a metal pipe. I held it up ready to swing at who ever tried to come near me. In the next few moments they came down the alleyway. With guns. How could I forget they had guns?! None the less I still remained calm with my metal pipe. As they approached me they saw that all I had to defend myself with was a metal pipe. They smirked and the one in the middle let out a small chuckle. The one in the middle that seemed to be like the leader put his gun away. The other two just lowered theirs. The leader made his way towards me. “Don’t you come any closer!” I yelled, tryingto sound mean but all I sounded like was scared. He went in for a swing but I dodged. I then went for a upper hand swing with the pipe but he quickly grabbed it. As if it were a reflex I picked up my leg and kicked him in the chest which caused him to fumble backwards. He looked taken aback for a quick second before resuming to fight me. How I had all these moves, I have no idea! I guess Five was right. Maybe I did know how to fight. Not good enough though. I went in with a high kick almost hitting his jaw but his reflexes were way faster than mine. He caught my foot before I could touch him and with the slightest effort he spun my whole body and I crashed onto the hard cement. I let out a groan and tried to crawl away to the wall to try and pick myself up. When I got to the wall the man turned me around as I stood there. I looked up at him with tears forming in my eyes. “Please don’t kill me..” I said in a hushed tone as I shook my head slightly. He looked at me with curiosity. His two brothers slowly approaching from behind him. He turned to look at the taller one and gave him a nod. I looked at them in confusion. What was their none spoken agreement?! Before I could think any longer the taller one turned his gun around and knocked me on the head causing me to pass out.

[chimswae]

BTS Caretaker CH32

Summary: She may think she has Bangtan Sonyeondan wrapped around her fingers. She may think it is easy to love the members equally without hurting any soul. She may think the boys wont fall head over heels for her. She assumes it is okay to show a little love and affection towards the boys, what if she gets it all wrong? What if it only brings more complication to her already complicated life? Can she survive their charms? Will she be able to resist them? What if they just wont let her go?

- Pairing: BTS x Oc ( Yoongi x OC, Jungkook x OC)

- Genre: Fluff, Slight Angst, Romance, Idol!au

- Word Count: 4, 450

- Author Note: Sorry for super late update i was busy with my work and new semester begin today :< so it took most of my time! anyways, here is the update! :) so im sorry seul is dumb and confuse, and when i wrote this i also confuse lmao so hmm, she has no intention to toy yoongi or kook heart. 

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Chapter 32

Betrayal. Anger. Confusion.

Yoongi found himself gawking at the despicable scene in front of him, just when he thought Seul showed him a signal which he assumed only meant for him. There she was sleeping peacefully under the thick duvet, clinging onto Jungkook as though her life depended on it. Clothes scattered on the floor were enough to give him a short run up about their little deeds last night.

Rubbing the back of his head in frustration, he steadied his heavy breathing. Think rational, don’t jump into conclusion. You drag yourself in this, why are you upset? Yoongi clutched his fist letting jealousy engulfed his heart.

Should he wake these two up and make a scene? Or should he just walk away and talked to her about this after the tour?

None of the choices above could help him in resolving this unsettling feeling. He needed a closure. His thin lips were pressed into a thin line as he scrutinized the couple diligently, not breaking any eye contact. Much to his distaste, Jungkook shifted his position very slightly baffling the older guy. He certainly had no plan to face Jungkook, like hell if he planned to confront him, how he’s going to get started?

This was awkward.

Abort mission. Abort mission.

Yoongi turned around to leave the room however Jungkook hoarse voice put his steps to a halt “Yoongi hyung?” he called out softly. He swore in his head for creating this mess. Jungkook lifted Seul out of the way carefully, moving silently and pulled the duvet to cover her body.

The older guy made no move either as he waited Jungkook to speak, “Hyung..what are you doing here?” the latter let out a small grunt, while putting on his shirt and pants. Yoongi frowned hearing his indifferent voice as if he did nothing to irk him.

He glanced at Seul whom fast asleep and tore his gaze at the exhausted young man before him “You and I, in my room now. We need to talk” he sneered lowly and exited the room. Confused, the younger guy walked after Yoongi feeling the goosebumps all over his body. The topic of the conversation involved Seul and him, he could tell from Yoongi’s burning eyes.

                                                                         This thing enraged Yoongi.                          

Jungkook closed the door behind him and planned to clear the misunderstanding before his hyung jumped into conclusion, things would get complicated that way. As he was about to open his mouth to speak, the older guy beat his him in doing so “Did you guys do it?” Jungkook’s face hardened.

“What-?” he flinched.

“I said, did you guys do it?!” he repeated with slightly annoyed voice. The memories of last night reappeared causing the maknae to feel self-conscious about it. Why was this thing matter to Yoongi? He never questions his hyung intimacy with Seul, only god knew what they did behind his back.

His brow pinched together forming a deep frown, “Why are you so interested in my personal life?” Jungkook mumbled under his breath.

“Because I happened to witness both of you naked under the blanket. Don’t you think it gives me enough ideas what you both up to last night? How far did you go?” Yoongi crossed his arms, with his hard fixated on him.

“That is none of your business” he blurted out.

“It is my business! We promise that we are in this together, if you are sleeping with her then what it makes me then? A one-night stand?” frustrated, Yoongi snarled garnering Jungkook’s attention. The latter brained his friend words, making sense out from it and it finally dawned on him, Yoongi and Seul were having that kind of relationship too.

His heart was pounding as if he had just run a race, he stroked his tousle hair in anger “You…” expelling a long sigh, he continued “You and Seul did….it? ”Jungkook didn’t even dare to finish his sentence as they exchanged a look.

Even though, Yoongi felt rueful over the fact that Seul was being intimate with two guys at once, he realized Jungkook was not the one to be blamed. It was their fault for not having any self-control. If there’s one person that’s partially guilty, then it the person would be Seul.

Screw Ji Seul for leading them on.

Again, they forced the girl to agree with their crazy ideas. Could they have expected this at least? Like they had a control over Seul’s feelings and actions. They should have expected the unexpected because it bounds to happen, sooner or later.

“We didn’t go far. Seul and I were having that moment, however we snapped out from it before we lost ourselves” Yoongi pursed his lips in annoyance and staring at Jungkook with a strained, and expectant glance.

Jungkook looked down while shaking his head “We went halfway, she stopped me before I could make another move. I should have controlled myself!” he said as he sunk on Yoongi’s bed, heaving a deep sigh. Leaning against the wall, a small smile played across his face “This is so fucked up Kkuk. What if..we ended up sleeping with her for real? Neither you nor I would like that to happen, do you? I don’t like sharing” he professed.

“What make you think I like sharing her with you?” he snapped.

Yoongi hissed “I vow to myself that I won’t let girl issues come between us, now look where it brings us? We need to put a stop to this” he groaned.

“How? It is not like we can force her to give us answers?! She…is having a rough time. This is not a good idea. I cant hurt her…I promise to protect her” he muttered.

“Rough time? Is there something that I must know?” the anger inside him had subsided. All he cared was Seul’s well-being. He couldn’t remember when the last time was they had a heart to heart talk which involved her life. It had always been about him and him. Not that he remembered, if there was time Seul bring up a topic about her.

“Someone from her past make an appearance again. There’s a lot of things that we don’t know about her, hyung. It made me realize how it is not easy for her to make up her mind. She had a traumatic past” Yoongi’s ears perked up in curiosity. Hesitant, Jungkook took a long pause as the older guy urged him to continue with his story.

Yoongi had the right to know the truth.

Will Seul kill him if he spilled her secret? But it is Yoongi though, she cares for him. If she wished to bring this relationship to whole new level, she got to trust Yoongi.

Seul, please don’t kill me. Im afraid of hyung’s wrath more than yours. Jungkook prayed in his head, and finally unravelled the mystery of Ji Seul life. Called it dramatic, Min Yoongi really exaggerate his reactions and in the middle of the conversation, Yoongi would punch the mattress under him jolting the younger guy in pure horror.

This was the exact reason why he feared Yoongi’s wrath more than others. Unexpected reaction and action came from him was the worse thing on planet. “Fuck. Why didn’t you tell me earlier?!” he snarled angrily, though he had no reason to be mad at Jungkook. The emotion took over his sanity, he was at the verge of killing someone at this rate.

“I discovered the truth last night, what do you expect me to do? Come running to your room and let you swear at me for waking you up from your deep slumber!” he rolled his eyes, judging his hyung mentally.

“If that is what you need, then you should have come sooner! She fucking cried and you-ugh what an asshole, I swear if I have an image of him in my head..I will not spare his life“ scowling, Yoongi grinded his teeth suppressing his anger.

To be reminded of Seul’s past was repugnant to him. Now, that he shared half of the burden with Yoongi at least they could protect her from the evil man. If that’s what Yoongi planned to do since he insisted on getting the answers from Seul.

“Alright, this is out of topic. Do you think Jimin hyung and Seul are as close as us to her?” Jungkook said out of the blue alarming Yoongi in his seat. “Do you think they ever-Impossible right? We are talking about Jimin here. He is not that type of guy who will do such thing” he assured himself to not let negativity consumed his brain.

“Duh, it is Jimin hyung! The guy who ripped his shirt on stage, and the same guy who used his sexiness to kill girls’ heart. Do you think he is not capable of such thing? Do not belittle him” said Jungkook in an irritating manner.

“Yah! Why are you bringing him up? I am sure there is not much progress in their relationship, just because.. I rarely see them together. She has been sticking like a glue with Jin and you, I should be worried of Jin than Jimin”

Jungkook massaged his forehead “Jin hyung.. Jin hyung..” he hummed incoherently.

A loud grunt behind the partition brought their attention to the sleepy figure “Whose unpleasant voice is that calling my name so early in the morning?” Jin yawned loudly, kicking his blanket off him before sitting up in annoyance. Yoongi and Jungkook froze as they totally forgot about Jin’s existence in the same room, he wondered if the guy overheard their conversation earlier.

“I will go check on Seul. We will talk about this again later” he murmured lowly enough for Yoongi to hear, as he left the room.

 ----------------

The boys had finally left for their Japan tour and would not be home for two weeks or more. Despite their hectic schedule, they would come back in between to settle some stuffs in Korea but there could barely breath Korea’s air. They would need to leave immediately the day after for their tour.

Seul returned to her daily routine, tending her job at the tea shop and as the caretaker except she’d come less to clean since they’re not home. Most of the time, she would spend her time at work with her friends and Hoon made a frequent visit to her workplace just to get his free brownies. Impudent boy.

“We are short of fresh milk, I will be out to buy it. Watch the counter” Wongeun set his brown apron on the table. “Will you be alright alone? Hwasa is out for delivery but she will be back soon though” Seul chuckled.

“Hey this is not my first time alone, stop being dramatic.  Just go, we need those fresh milk” she dried her hands and returned to the cashier counter. Ruffling her hair, Wongeun gave her a final wink as he exited the store with a playful smile.

The business at this hour was not busy in comparison to lunch hour break giving Seul time to breathe and clean the place thoroughly. Three hours till the closing, Seul decided to kill time and polished her skills in baking a red velvet cake. Recently, Wongeun taught her how to bake one since he wanted to make it as their signature cake.

Humming to random songs, she dropped the ingredient carefully inside the glass bowl with a wide grin. Nothing could beat this excitement to see the result of it. Occasionally, she would glance at the counter if there’s any presence of customer. She was immersed in her creations to notice someone presence behind her.

Seul felt a hand slid down her arms, brushing her skin from behind cause her to turn around in fear facing the individual. Her face felt upon seeing the uninvited guest there, and it made her super conscious of her surroundings. She pressed her back deeper against the marble counter as if it could take more of her weigh, to create a huge distance between him and the older man.

“It is nice seeing you again Seul” his dirty voice haunted her once again. A voice that she tried so hard to forget now came to torture her again without mercy. There was a tiny voice in her head telling her to scream and sought help, she just wanted to escape from here. Breathing in the same room as his disgusted her.

“Seeing how hard you try to push me away, I bet you still remember me” placing his arms on both side, he trapped her in between while smirking playfully.

One of her hands clutched onto the counter, gulping the heavy lumps on her throat “Wh-at…do you wan-t..Stay..away from me” her lips quivered as she failed to hold back her fears. He smelled just like seven years ago, a mixture of tobacco and alcohol.

“Aw, I wish I can. But you are working for me, like old times don’t you think?”

Seul eyes sprung open, and she stared at him disbelief “Yes my dear, I am the owner of this place. Fate really brings us together, I like that” he moves his hand along the length of her hair and leaned in to sniff the sweet peach smell from it.

“You smell just as good as before” she palmed his chest to push him away, but his grip tightened around her wrist as fast as lightning earning a soft whimper from the girl. Tears started to cascade down her cheeks like heavy rain, fearing what he’s about to do to her.

“Lea-ve me alone” Seul pleaded.

“Aw, I wish I can my dear, but I am in charged here. It is rude to treat your employer this way don’t you think?” squishing her wrist tighter, he whispered dangerously close to her earlobe.  His hot breath fanned against her skin, weakening her knees instantly.

Tears in her eyes blurred the image around her, she desperately looked for source of help at least anyone inside the store to pull her out of this misery. “There is no one here, just us. We can have a little fun too” the man used his free hand, to encircle it around her waist crashing their body together.

Seul gasped in horror and struggled in his strong grasp. It seemed like his age didn’t deplete his energy at all. Showing no sign of giving up, she reached out to random things on the counter as a defence mechanism. Things happened way too fast, as she sensed his body being lifted off from her and not long after she saw the older man ended up against the wall groaning in pain.

“YOU RAT! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TOUCH HER!” the owner of the voice yelled angrily, glaring at his way getting ready to take another charge and punched the older man into a pulp. The familiarity of the voice shocked the hell out of her. She could tell who’s her saviour under the mask just by his voice.

Hurriedly, Seul went to his side, embracing him from behind “Jin..please. stop it… please” she sobbed between her words.

His heart softened, as he quickly faced the girl taking her in his arms, “Seul-ah are you okay? Did he hurt you anywhere?” she let out a long sigh of relief, grateful that Jin appeared just on time before Mr Kwon could do anything inappropriate.

Mr Kwon got back on his feet, fixing his grey suit with a smug played across his face. “We are not done Seul. I will see you around” Jin gritted his teeth, watching his figure disappeared into the darkness.

He returned his attention to the crying girl, “Calm down, Seul. I am here, he is gone” he stroked her hair and sighed deeply. “Thank you..” she had begun to tremble with a sort of frightened and frustrated fury.

Seul had never been so scared in her life ever since she escaped that gruesome phase years ago. How was it possible to fix her old wound again? Jin took his time to calm down the scared girl. Squeezing her eyes open, she looked up meeting his worried gaze “What are you doing here?” she murmured, pulling away from his embrace.

“We have to get back to studio to record new songs, but we’ll fly back to Japan this Saturday. Where are your colleagues? Why are you alone?” stroking her cheeks, Jin dried her tears and emitted a long sigh.

“Wongeun oppa and Hwasa are out to do errands. They will be back soon” as if on cue, Hwasa and Wongeun made their appearance inside the store cheerfully however only to turn serious as soon as they saw the mess and distressed looking Seul.

Hwasa lurched forward, grabbing Seul shoulder “Oh my god, are you alright? Did someone try to hurt you? Where is the thief?” her eyes scanned the area wildly and as soon as notice Jin’s presence there, Hwasa let out a high pitch holler. “You are the thief? What did you do to her?!”

Both Wongeun and Jin squirmed slightly at the squeaky voice, and before Seul could explain further, her crazy best friend had already grabbed nearby broom to hit the innocent young man with it.

“Aren’t you ashamed?! Do you think it is okay to steal something which isn’t yours?” she swung the broom towards his direction. Jin dodged the hit before it could kiss his face.

“Hwasa! Stop it! He is not the thief!” the shorter girl grabbed her arms, holding the furious girl in her stance before she could cause any harm to this idol handsome face.

She growled under her breath while shooting a nasty glare at Jin “Oh really? I am not convinced by the way how he dressed. He looked even suspicious with that mask on” Seul shook her head tiredly.

Offended by the accusations, Jin pulled down his mask a little revealing his face “If I were a thief, the only thing that I steal will be Seul’s heart” Seul cringed at his cheesiness. The tall guy who stood silently behind Jin looked disturbed by a joke that he pulled a moment ago.

Hwasa gaped “You are the Kim Seokjin! Oh my god!” the latter politely bow and smiled sweetly. “I am sorry to cause the misunderstanding. I was here when Seul was ha-“ Seul blurted out quickly, leaving Jin confused.

“I had a major headache and was about to pass out. Jin came right on time to help” their eyes met , exchanging a hard gaze.

“You sick? You should have told me Seul. I would send you back early. Now, go get your stuff and leave. You need rest” Wongeun suggested.

“I am okay, I can still work”

Jin crossed his arm “No you are not. You look pale to me, lets go back. I will walk you home” Hwasa bit her lower lips, careful not to fangirl over the attention that Seokjin showed on her best friend. She was happy for Seul just because she could see this young man before her is madly in love.

“You guys please” “Seul please listen to me for once, leave before I make you” Wongeun’s voice was stern and firm enough to intimidate her. Giving into the order, Seul made her way sulkily to her locker grabbing her things.

Hwasa turned to Jin putting her serious façade “Kim Seokjin-ssi, take care of my friend. If..i find out she gets hurt under your supervision, I will smack your handsome face with this broom” his eyes wide opened in bafflement.

Seul walloped her back head softly earning a loud protest from the latter “We are heading back home not for a war, stop being dramatic, you rude girl” Hwasa rolled her eyes in annoyance. “Get back home safely” Wongeun crescent moon eyes appeared when he smiled brightly.

 ---------------

Her place was only 10 minutes-walk from the store, but they purposely took another route which took another 15 minutes. She did not mind the long walk especially with Jin by her side. That quiet walk home was her chance to relax and gathered her thought.

Jin on the other hand racking his intelligent brain to find that one perfect word to inquire her about the incident happened inside the store. The harassment was intentional to him, he had a strong feeling that the perverted old man knew Seul.

“We are not done Seul. I will see you around” his voice rung in his head non-stop and for some reason it couldn’t be erased from his memory. A displeased grunt could be heard clearly shifting her attention to her. Seul stopped walking, interlacing their hand together surprising the latter.

Jin eyes landed on their intertwined hand, and a smile crept on his face. “Do you have questions for me?” she muttered softly.

“What questions?”

“You can’t bluff me, it is written all over your face. What’s on your mind?” Jin bit his tongue, sighing one more time. She giggled and stroked the visible line on his forehead “Look you are sighing again and stop frowning. You don’t want to have wrinkle at this age” Jin studied her face.

Her long eyelashes batting at him, and her brown eyes stared out, wide and lovely. Her beauty never fails to render him speechless. Jin shrugged the thought off and wrapped her wrist, holding it down “Lets find a place to talk” she nodded in agreement, letting Jin led the way.

As they walked to nearby park, hand in hand, Jin spotted empty bench. They sat in silent for few minutes until he finally had the courage to ask the question. “The man earlier, do you know him?” Seul knew he finally asked her about Mr Kwon, it’s matter of time.

“He is someone from my past. The memories that I had with him was horrible and pathetic” her fingers fiddled with the hem of her blouse, inhaling a deep breath. Jin didn’t expect her to tell him everything. Seul’s expression darkened as she was remembered by the past again, nothing seemed to be working every time she wanted to get rid of the horrible memory.

“Seul, if you are not-“ “My father sold me to him. Mr Kwon, that man…my father made a deal with him. In exchanged of the freedom from his debt, I have to serve Mr Kwon. He used me to satisfy his needs and..” she had a stoic expression that pained Jin. Although close to tears, she tried to make her voice sounded casual.

He stared at her in a different, and in curiosity. Jin least expected to hear such things came from her mouth. He thought it only existed in dramas or movies, so it really happened in real life. A clawing sensation tugged at his chest, her emotional pain nearly suffocated him.  

“And..I was locked in a room ever since he brought me in. I thought of ending my life right away, I couldn’t handle the pain. It was too much..I..I just..” she was not able to finish her sentence and her voice cracked. She inhaled deeply, as pain engulfed her heart breaking it like a crumbling wall.

Jin threw his arms around her protectively, caressing her long hair “I am sorry..” he whispered.

“You did nothing, don’t be sorry” she felt tears brimming in her eyes. With a single blink, the tears spilled down like a broken pipe. After regaining her composure, she settled herself comfortably in his embrace and continued with her stories. Seul thought if she told him about her dark past, it would help her to heal the wound.

Although he listened attentively to her story of life, her humiliation at the awful past got to her. She was ashamed and disgusted of it. What is Jin felt the same way? When she first opened up to Jungkook, she didn’t expect his reaction contradicted to what she imagined.

It went well despite her struggled between the sobs.

Jin took one deep breath in as soon as the story ended. “So you and Hoon are step siblings? Different father but same mother?” Seul smiled meekly. “Have you found your real father?” he looked at her with a concern look.

“I don’t know who my father is. I asked my mother about it but, she refused to tell me the truth. I stopped asking after that one time because she looked hurt and furious”

“Arent you curious?”

“I am..i really want to see him, my biological father. I wish I can find way to reach him” she murmured in defeat.

He sighed “Your father, you will find him. I..damn how should I put this, is it possible for you to quit your job considering Mr Kwon is the owner of that shop. It is risky to stay Seul-ah. Now, that he knows you’re working there, he will find way to get to you again” his hand stopped around her waist and continue to make a small circle around it.

“I need that job to cover up our daily expenses”

“But you have the caretaker job with us, isn’t it enough to pay for everything?” his brows quirked up.

“The money that I earned from that job I used it to pay mom’s medical expenses. This permanent job that I have, to pay for the bills and Hoon’s college” he gave her a disapproval look.

“If this is about money, I can help you. Your safety is my utmost priority, I want to quit that job. The things that happened today might occur again, you never know when that bastard decided to strike again. Please Seul, think about it” taking her hand in his, he brought it close to his lips, kissing it softly.

Seul shuddered at the contact of his lips against her cold skin, a gush of memory invaded her mind. The kisses that Jin gave to her when she had her panic attack made her face pink. “I will think about it” she coughed away the awkwardness.

“It is late, you need your rest too. Lets go back now” she pulled her hand form his grasp and arose from her feet. She couldn’t stop the thudding of her heart as she waited for him to come up. He smiled to himself and grabbed her hand once again making the latter to squeal softly.

“Lets go” he interlocked her fingers with his, and started walking side by side.

Underneath a sky blanketed with stars, there were two confused souls walking through the darkness. They pretended the sound of their loud heart beatings were not caused by their close proximity.

Was she swooned by Jin’s little gesture?

This work belongs to  Chimswae © 2021. All Rights Reserved

[fruitpunchninja101]

Slow Dancing In The Dark

Characters: Hanji Zoe x Levi Ackerman

Genre: Romance/Fluff

Rating: T

Here’s part 1 of my gift for  LeviHan Eggscghange 2020 :) I hope my dear giftee enjoys this.Part 2 will be out in a couple of days!

You can also read this on AO3

 @levihanweek

Working for Sina Industries has always been a life long dream for Hange.As a wide eyed child,she would always watch live broadcasts of their space launches and tell herself one day shes gonna be there.Standing in mission control smiling as she watched one of her creations get sent to a different planet.Armed with a degree & a determined heart,she applied as an engineer.You could imagine her disappointment when she was crammed into an 8x12 cubicle in the basement to design and develop circuitry which their boss greedily takes credit for all the damned time.She's pretty good at keeping a front that shes a pretty chill with all her bosses bullshit but she finally lost it when he started harassing a temp.Hange bravely spoke out and got into a heated argument with her boss.She got supended for a week after that.

It took almost six months before she was promoted to another 8x12 cubicle.Only this time,shes moving up on the infamous 17th floor.The place where they flung all the adept yet problematic employees.Its pretty much the same,shitty boss,intricate work but now on a higher pay grade and a lot more hearsay about her reputation.Its not so bad though,despite the lack of recognition and grueling work hours she met a handful of wonderful coworkers who shared the same pain.

Mike and Nanaba were sort of the required stable couple of the group.She met them a month after the big promotion when she caught them making out in the copy room.She's probably standing there for an entire minute awkwardly making fake cough noises to alert them of her presence.Enter Erwin Smith,he casually strode up by the couple and grabbed the box of printer ink Hange desperately needed.He's like freaking Captian America & Superman combined except he has a mind of a slytherin.Not that it was a bad thing.

And then there's Levi,The crabbiest member of their little group,Mr.I-look-very-angry-and-irritated-all-the-time-but-inside-lies-a-total-softy.He’s a clean freak who befittingly,is a sanitary engineer.Rumors say that Levi had tendencies with violence and had to be sent at 17th floor for precaution.There used to be a time when they didn't get along.She'd been very welcoming towards him but hes always been aloof and cold.She didn't mind it at first,but after a while it kinda got into her nerves.Til that christmas party back in 2017,where she had a few drinks and sort of confessed that she liked him and it really bummed her out that he didn't feel the same way.For the first time,she saw something other than disinterest and irritation on his face...she saw confusion.He asked her what shes on about,then reminded her that he just made her chocolates for valentines day when she won't shut up about craving something sweet.He doesn't do that kind of shit just for anyone and after that,hange was pretty sure they've become best friends.

Their friendship was forged in companionship in misery but as time passed they became her second family.

One of the things that Hange looked forward to is hanging out with them every Friday night at a dive bar a few blocks away from their office where they get shit faced and let off some steam from their work.Hange was preoccupied with the jukebox when Mike arrived with his arm slung over Levi dragging the smaller man into her space.”You'll never guess what happened.”The man announced and before she could answer the man screamed."Someone got asked for a date!"

"Ohoho!Whos the lucky girl?"Nanaba came out of nowhere carrying two mai tais and handed one to Hange before heading over at Mike's side.

"Petra Ral."Erwin chimed cooly while sipping a glass of scotch.His blond hair still laid perfectly even after a long tiring day at work.

"From PR?Holy shit!Good job!"Hange said slapping Levi’s shoulder hurting her hand in the process.The man didn’t even falter from where he stood,all he did was stare straight at her before scowling."It's not a big deal.”He said settling his gaze on his side.

Hange smiled.

He’s shy.Levi Ackerman is actually being shy about getting asked out by an adorable strawberry blonde colleague.Isn’t that precious?She’d never seen him like that before.Heaven knows how much she wanted to tease him about his situation but she can clearly tell by the way he clenched his jaw and the deep creases on the space between his brows that if she says anything,he'd run straight to the wall to escape,cartoon style.

Mike started telling the story and Levi sneakily started edging towards the exit.Before the questions came flooding in,Levi was already gone.

“I think I should follow him.“Hange announced.

"Try to convince him to go out with Ral!"Mike shouted which prompted Erwin to take his drink away from him."I think you had enough."

"Goodluck!"Nanaba raised her drink at her.Before helping Erwin keep Mike's drink away from him.

#

Hange found Levi brooding on the sidewalk while smoking.”Can I get a light?”She asked.

“Its cold.”He said,which also translates to she should go back inside or she’ll catch a cold.Levi’s nice like that,it took everything in her to hold back and not make a snide comment.He alwas hated it when he gets called out for being considerate.

“So Petra Ral huh?”She started.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“We don’t have to,If you don’t want to.”Hange calmly took a box of cigarettes from her pocket and stood a bit closer to him.

“Good.”He said before tossing her his lighter.

Hange bit her lower lip to stifle a smile and Levi was already armed with his grumpy face.He's getting a little agitated.She let the silence drag on for a while as she started to giddily shift from where she stood.Unable to contain her curiosity.

“But its Petra Ral...The Petra Ral!Our company sweetheart.”She exploded.

“I barely know her.”

"Isn’t that what dating is for?!Besides,She probably just needs to get dicked down."Hange said casually."Go for it!Have a little fun.What’s there to lose?"

"Yeah well...I don't think I could."Levi started bouncing his leg.Is he nervous?Agitated?Both?It seemed like he's trying to say something.

“Levi,you know we wont judge you if you’re gay right?You don’t have to hide it from us.”

“Why would I be hiding that if I was?”

“Then what are you nervous for?"

“I’m not nervous...I.."Levi paused as if he's considering if he should tell her."I haven’t...I...”

“You're acting like you've never been out on a date."she said.

Levi visibly stiffened and averted her curious eyes.From where she sat,she could see how levi clenched his jaw and feel him hold his breath.No?It cant be...

"Oh.Its been a while for you huh?like 6 months?"She tried to take a wild stab but was met with silence.Hange sobered."You’ve never been on a date before?"she repeated a little louder than she meant to and not soon after she found Levi's hand over her mouth.

“You wanna scream that a little louder?“

“EVER?!”She peeled his hand off her face and asked.

“Tch.I dont need this.“Levi rolled his eyes and started leaving but hange caught his arm.

"Hey!I'm sorry.I didn't know.Its nothing to be embarrassed about.Its just,its a little uncommon you know.I'm really sorry.I didn't mean to be a dick.”

She assumed that its not because of the lack of people who wanna date with him.Believe it or not,this whole quiet mysterious guy persona is a total chick magnet.She even had several people from the office ask about him every once in a while.So what happened?Is it trauma?Is he aromantic?Holy shit!How could she be so insensitive?

“Stop looking at me like that.”He frowned.Snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Sorry,I was just thinking...”

“Don’t think of anything.Just mind your own business and let me be.”

“What kind of friend would I be if I let you be?”

“A good one.And stop drawing conclusions!I can practically see the thoughts up your head.I'm not anything I just...dont know how.”

“why are you so intent on giving up?!I thought you like her!”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Oh please Ackerman!How can you not?She's the perfect mix of adorable,kind,fiesty and beautiful...she’s perfect for you!”

"What do you want me to do?"he asked,in his how can I make you shut up tone.

"What if I help you?You could...I dont know...practice with me?I could help you with the whole dating thing!"Levi looked at her as if she grew another head.Honestly shes just happy he didn't look disgusted with her proposal.He gave her a once over before pinching the bridge of his nose.She knows this maneuver.Its the what-have-i-gotten-my-self-into or holy-shit-am-I-actually-considering-this move.“Are you sure about this?”He asked.

Hange made a gesture of crossing over her heart and raising her right hand up and levi scrunched his brows together.

“Quit downplaying this.I’m serious.”

“I wont offer it if my not 100% I’m serious. The last guy I went out with was a total disappointment and Petra deserves better than that.You know she helped me last Christmas...”

“Yeah,yeah she helped you change your tire."He supplied,refraning hange from tellong the story again.

“And in exchange I'm gonna help you be more fun and well rounded for your date!It's the circle of life!”Hange enthusiastically smiled.

“Alright.How do we start?”Levi asked.

"Ask Petra to reschedule your date for next week,Then we can take the whole week to practice."

#

The harsh sun bore down on Levi as if reminding him never to indulge Hange with her antics again.Aparrently,she found Petra's online journal and identified that she had two dream dates.One is a carnival date (which explains why he is standing in line for cotton candy out in the middle of the goddamn afternoon.) and the other was spending an evening at a local jazz bar in the city.

Levi doesn't know how she successfully lured him out.You see,he liked his comfort zone and for some unknown reason Hange always challenged him to take a step out of the little box he created around him.And although there are times when she proved that taking a risk was worth it,Levi never really appreciated getting stuck in very shitty situations like now.He doesn't know how she seemed fine with all these shitty conditions.Maybe because she's been busy talking about her new droid remodel.

"Hey Levi are you listening to me?"

"Yes."He said exasperated.

"What was I saying then?"She folded her arms and raised her brows,challenging him.

"You're planning to replace fiberglass with aerogel as insulator on your next shitty droid."He said which earned a bright smile from her.Tch!He rolled his eyes at that and stepped forward after the couple infront of them was served with an unreasonable amount of cotton candy.

"I'll get the giant sunshine surprise."Hange said and the vendor then started shaping the cotton candy into a big daisy.Hange looks absolutely delighted.

"That will be 50 dollars."The vendor said offering his open palm to him which prompted him to turn towards Hange."Oh!let me get my wallet!"Hange started going though her bag and for some reason he felt chills run through him.WheN he raised his head,he noticed that people around them started glaring at him.Oh great he forgot!He's in a fake date.He assumed people still think he's obligated to pay.Tch.So fucking primitive.Although he's never the guy who gave much fuck about what others think,he didnt want people to think Hanges being mistreated.Begrudgingly,he paid for the goddamn cotton candy.Hange took that opportunity to talk about how expenses should be handled during dates,she personally likes going dutch but immediately started going on about some studies that says women generally like it when the males carries out the expenses.

Hange's like a battery that never runs out of energy.She wanted to ride every possible attraction from the carnival!Beads of sweat are starting to form on her forehead but she never seem to notice,he started leading her to a park bench to rest for a bit.He appreciated how much she prepared.She was very keen on citing the psychology articles and some magazines she read to help him be better at dating.He doesn't even know why would anyone even exert that much effort for him.

She really is something.

He pulled out his handkerchief out of his pocket and started gently dabbing it on her forehead.

She smiled.

#

Hange didn't really need to teach him much.Despite the seemingly abrasive qualities Levi possess,the man is a very courteous guy.He said thank you,please and treated the park employees with respect.Shes pretty sure he wouldnt have much trouble impressing a girl."You never told me why you've never been out on a date."She started.

"I was never asked."Levi shrugged as if telling her its no big deal.Hange was shocked at his honesty but appreciated his straight answer.

"Based on my observations today I'd say all those girls that didnt ask you out missed out on a good time."

"Tch!Quit bullshitting me."

"It's true!You diligently listened to my stories, joined me riding all the  and most importantly,you bought me an unreasonably overprized cotton candy."

Levi let out a soft chuckle at that and Hange immediately panicked.This is the first time she ever made him chuckle and goddamn it was glorious.It's like his features lit up and made him look years younger.She had to bit her lower lip to sort of calm her wild heartbeat.They stayed seated on the bench for a while when Levi surprisingly asked her to walk around some more.As they started to amble along the park,an idea popped on her head.

#

Her hands gently crept on his wrist and made way to cup his hand "what the..."He glared at their joined hands,but didn't find the need to pull away."You're sticky."He remarked

"Does sticky hands really matter if youre holding hands with your crush?"She asked.He kept his eyes on her and he saw blush creep up to her face."I-I mean not me...I meant Petra...which is basically me because im her placeholder at the moment and..."

"Hange."

"Hm?"

"Shut up."He slipped his Fingers against the gaps of hers and continued wandering around the park.

[libermachinae]

Schematics [Or, Another Chance] – Ch. 4, Sensory

Also available on AO3! Notes: Day 4 of @prowlweek and I went a bit squish. Scav’s a good-ish boy.

⏳ 🚧 🚓 ⌛ 🏗 🚧 ⏳

Scavenger apologized probably somewhere around a hundred times. Hook couldn’t keep track of them all, and even Prowl must have been satiated, because he gave up on his lecture halfway through and kept it to a crisp, “Do as you’re ordered.”

“Mixmaster and Scavenger, you’re coming through this time,” Prowl announced as he loaded up the terminal with their next set of coordinates. “Long Haul, you’re anchor.”

“What? Why me?”

“Because that’s your order,” Prowl said.

“Bonecrusher’s the one who caused problems the last time, shouldn’t he be the one stuck behind?” Long Haul’s shoulders were squared and his plating flaring. Though he resented the reaction, Hook could understand where it came from: after being put on guard duty twice in a row, their resentful transporter was probably starting to feel like his skills were being undervalued.

“I’m the leader of this mission,” Prowl said, turning to stare Long Haul down. “If you take issue with my command style, you’re welcome to leave.”

“I’m not gonna do that and you know it,” Long Haul snapped.

“Precisely.” Prowl turned back to the console, as though that constituted a satisfying end to the argument.

Hook tried to get a steadying hand on Long Haul’s shoulder but was pushed off, the larger mech stalking away. Not that there was far to go. The present had been confined to the space of the cave they stood in, their only indication that real time was passing the changing light that filtered in through the ceiling. Their chronometers had fallen out of sync with each journey, but it was pointless to reset them every time, when Prowl had them going back in just minutes after they returned.

He finished punching in the coordinates, the timestream shimmered to life, and the team lined up behind him. Only now, Prowl didn’t bother to specify the order they would travel in. He took the lead, Scavenger slipped in front of Hook, Bonecrusher and Mixmaster lagging behind, and a silent agreement was passed not to bring it up as an issue. If Prowl was relaxing his regulations a bit, that could only mean fewer opportunities for them to mess up.

Part of Hook wondered if they should take a break soon, give everyone a chance to fuel up and ease off, maybe even have a chance to get caught up on everything they had missed. That’s how they’d done it with Scrapper, but he stopped that line of thought before the pang in his spark got to be too strong. This wasn’t the right time to bring it up, anyway, so he put his focus to keeping his processor under control as he stepped into the timestream.

He did a better job of it this time, practice having made him more accustomed to the feeling of time rejecting their intrusion. He reached forward at once point and took Scavenger’s hand, keeping him from rushing ahead like he had the first time, and in response felt a squeeze that held until they nearly reached the exit. This time, Hook could see what they were approaching, but the only thing he was able to make out was that it was dark. Not like the cave, though. There was something familiar about it.

At Prowl’s signal, he let Scavenger slip free of his hand, then followed shortly after, emerging among the roots of another long-lost Cybertronian city.

“An abandoned sector?” Hook said as he peered around. Compared to their last stop, the streets here were barren, lights only distantly visible through the breaks between buildings. Someone turned on their headlights and illuminated the building across the way, its large doors slightly ajar.

“What would the time killer want with this place?” Scavenger asked as he crept closer.

“The what?”

Scav grinned at Prowl.

“The time killer,” he repeated. “We’ve got to call this guy something, don’t we?”

“He hasn’t killed anyone.”

“He’s Cybertronian?”

“Yes, but—”

“There you go! Killer.”

“It’s got a nice ring to it,” Hook said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Prowl said. “Come up with something better. Bonecrusher, you’re on guard duty. Scavenger, Mixmaster, Hook, with me.”

The named mechs followed Prowl into the nearest building, staring up at tall ceilings that only served to offer more room to an incredible collection of junk. Scrapped sheet metal, rusted beams, and all manner of useless spare parts filled the space, a warehouse that had been made to a cheap and convenient dump for some unofficial industrial venture. The whole thing rung familiar to Hook, but it was the rumble of and engine in need of a tune-up that caused his processor to alight in recognition.

“Wh—seriously? Since when do you all show up early?”

Hook whirled around, his spark spinning with way too many emotions to process at once.

“Scrapper?” Mixmaster choked out.

“But no Long Haul. Great. I guess we can just start building the arena on top of the scrap piles, that’ll stand just fine.” Scrapper wasn’t paying any attention to the mechs he was addressing, too wrapped up in his planning and calculations to notice anything amiss. The casual ignorance of a mech who was so profoundly gifted in his ability to notice details struck an emotion in Hook that he did not have the words to describe, and he found himself stepping forward.

“Scrapper—”

“Scavenger, stop standing around,” he said, possibly ignoring Hook, though more likely failing to notice him. “I need you to start sorting through this mess and figure out what’s useful. Mixmaster, help him excavate however he needs; your skills aren’t going to be any use until we get this cleared and Bonecrusher gets here to set up the foundation. Hook, you review the blueprints last night?”

“Of course, sir,” Hook said, forcing himself out of his stupor and back into the role of the perfectionist second-in-command he had played for four million years. The changeover was so natural, he forgot he was lying.

“Start laying out the perimeter. Give us a sense of the space we’re working with,” Scrapper ordered. “Once you’ve got that, I’ll need your help with the fine details, make sure everything’s to Megatron’s specifications. Got it?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Scrapper turned and walked off, optics fixed to the datapad he’d walked in with. Hook stared at his frame as it retreated, taking in the way his legs bent and arms swung, the cant his helm adopted when he was deep in thought. The last time he’d seen Scrapper functioning had seemed like such a non-event, it hadn’t occurred to him to savor it like this. Now, every frame was saved to his memory, copied to multiple folders and heavily encrypted.

There were so many things he wished he could do to that frame. But, if they really were all the way back to setting up gladiator arenas, then the team wasn’t really a team yet. There were rumors about Scrapper and Long Haul, evidence of Mixmaster and Bonecrusher’s late night ‘science projects,’ and a few nights spent fantasizing ceaselessly, but nothing at all like what would come later. Hook, he reminded himself, wasn’t even the second yet. At this point in the timeline, he’d only recently been assigned to Scrapper’s crew and made up for it with a kiss-up habit he was still struggling to break.

He wished there was time; the things he wanted to do to that frame. Scrapper disappeared through the far door, and Hook made to follow him, reclaim lost days he’d never imagined would be significant enough to miss. A hand caught his arm, he turned to Mixmaster’s optics, and was reminded of their reality.

“Prowl says we should go,” Mixmaster said.

“Oh.” Hook didn’t remember setting his vocalizer that low. “Where is he?”

“I’ve got him,” Scavenger said. He’d been leaned over a pile, sensitive digger arm extended in from of him, now revealing that Prowl had been hiding beneath it. “It’s good we got Scrapper while he was still in planning mode. I don’t know if this will work again if he comes back.”

“It’s not worth the risk,” Prowl said. “You’re all compromised and there is no sign of the target, so we’re going back.”

He led the way back out of the building. Mixmaster complied without much fuss, surprisingly eager to get back to the time portal, but Scavenger lagged, glancing over his shoulder to the place Scrapper had disappeared to.

Hook paused to wait for his teammate.

“Hey, c’mon, Scav,” he said, offering out a hand. It was all he could do to close the distance, because he knew if he went to Scavenger right then, he might not be able to stop his legs from carrying him all the way back.

Still, the mech hesitated.

“Is there a problem?” Prowl asked, back at his side.

“N-no, Prowl, uh, boss,” Hook said, trying to hide how the mech’s reappearance had startled him.

“It’s him,” Scavenger said, with a reverence that he usually saved for just one mech at a time. He glanced back at Prowl, optics bright with something. Realization? Hope? Primus, don’t let it be that. “Prowl, could we—”

In two strides, so quick and silent he might have teleported to Scavenger’s side, Prowl pushed himself into the mech’s space, silencing him with presence alone.

“No,” he said, his voice the blade that cut off Scavenger’s fragile buds of hoe. “No. Scavenger, on this day, four million years in your past, Scrapper had a normal day. He worked with you and the rest of the team, erected Megatron’s next arena, and forgot about it among every other day he spent doing the exact same thing. He did not get removed from his place in time, nor did he mention ever encountering a different version of you. This is how things happened, and we can’t change it, no matter how badly we—you want to.”

He was leaning far into Scavenger’s space, closer than Hook had known he was capable of. And although the display was apparently meant to be domineering, show that Prowl was the one in control, there was something else to it, captured in the way Prowl’s hand reached up and touched, so gently, the excavator’s wilting backhoe.

“That’s four million years ago. More recently than that, Spike Witwicky tracks him down, isolated in an Earth construction lot, and kills him. We can’t undo that, either. It’s not ours to change.”

Scavenger’s whole frame perked up under the surprise touch, subconsciously tilting his stick into Prowl’s hand. Hook watched Prowl’s gray fingers stroke with surprising care, a jealousy coiling in his spark that he was only able to tamp down with the knowledge that Scavenger would be delighted to share the memory when they next combined.

Prowl said something else, so soft Hook couldn’t hear it. When he leaned back, he and Scavenger’s optics were locked, the latter nodding in some private agreement.

“Now move it, both of you,” Prowl said, voice returned to its usual commanding timbre. He turned and proceeded out the way he’d been headed before, leaving Hook and Scavenger to follow. It wasn’t a problem this time, though they walked after him on legs that felt suddenly weak. It still took a great deal of will on Hook’s part not to cast a final glance backward as they left, but he managed it, keeping his optics ahead of him, on the doorwings that swayed with each step Prowl took.

[alienbwrites]

Scintilla (A spark or trace of something)

Capricious (Impulsive; prone to sudden extreme changes in mood)

Once again Hayami was going to be late, she hadn’t meant to be but the lack of sleep these past few days had caught up with her and she missed her alarm. Racing to the academy a quick thought past through that this would be her last time being late. Her pace slowed down a little as a strong feeling of nostalgia hit her. Taking her time she finally reached the window, with a quick knock on the glass, the whole class looked towards her. A small smile on her face Kiba walked over to open the window and help Hayami through. The tired look on Iruka sensei’s face was enough to make the class giggle.

“Again, Furutani” Hayami smiled and placed her hands behind her back.

“I had to for old times sake” with a shake of Iruka’s head Hayami took a seat.

“Goal!” Two shouts came from the door Ino and Sakura made their way into the room and started to fight over who would sit next to Sasuke. Hayami payed them no mind it wasn’t different to any other day, her mind started to drift once again. This time she could she flickers from a raging fire, Hayami drew a quick breath and forced her self back to reality, she turned to Kiba and played with Akamaru.

Hayami had her attention drawn away from the adorable puppy when she saw Naruto crouch in front of Sasuke, with a small roll of her eyes she gave Kiba a nudge as she watched the new found distraction. She could feel the electricity in each of their glares, before the boy sitting at the desk in front of them moved back and nudged Naruto into Sasuke with the boys falling into a kiss. The room became so silent as the tension rose and Hayami was bursting trying not to let out a laugh.

“As of today you have all become full fledge ninjas, however you are all still Genin, from now on you will be in squads of three with one squad being four” the students started to mumble to themselves and each other wondering who would be in their team. Hayami didn’t really have any complaints with who she would be with as long as she could get a long with them. ‘I get along with everyone in class except for maybe Sasuke because he’s on his own all the time and doesn’t really talk, or Naruto just because he is so energetic all the time’ Hayami thought. All of the students were curious as to who would be in the squad of four.

“Now the squad of four is happening because we have one extra person in our class, not to matter though we have evenly distributed everyone. You will carry out missions under the guidance of a Jonin teacher, now ill assign you to your groups” Hayami kept her ear out for her name and watched as people were put together.

“Now for group seven; Hayami Furutani, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Saskue Uchiha” Hayami sighed at the interesting bunch she had been put with. Kiba noticed her dismay and patted her on the back for some comfort.

“Man do I feel bad for you” Hayami looked to Kiba seeing the amused smile on his face.

“Group eight; Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzuka and Shino Aburame”

“Wanna swap teams” Hayami asked him.

“No way” Hayami rested her head on the desk and waited for Iruka to finish dividing the students into their groups. She didn’t have high hopes for her group, Sakura and Hayami didn’t really have a friendship though Hayami didn’t think that the girl would like her because she is obsessed with Sasuke, Sasuke was the last of his clan and kept to himself a lot, maybe Hayami could make some sought of friendship there though it was highly unlikely, and Naruto was a loud mouth. A sigh escaped her mouth. She would have to make this work somehow.

“Iruka Sensei, why does an exceptional student like me have to be grouped up with this guy?” Hayami sighed again her new found hope fastly diminishing,

“Sasuke has the best grades of the class, while you Naruto are at the bottom, this is how it is trying to balance the power of the groups it is also why you are in the group of four” the class started laughing, Hayami started to feel bad for him, no good could come from public humiliation like this. “In the afternoon you will meet with your Jonin teachers, you are all dismissed.”

 Walking out of the academy Hayami decided to eat her lunch in her usual spot, in a higam cherry tree, the weeping pink flowers create a nice calming atmosphere which Hayami loved, they reminded her of her home as weeping trees surrounded the area. Hayami had wanted to eat lunch with her new team but they had all ran off before she could suggest it, it didn’t really surprise her she new that Sasuke would be on his own, Sakura would chase after him and Naruto would chase after her. What came as a surprise to Hayami was watching Naruto jump into the window that Sasuke was resting in, the window shut so Hayami could no longer see in, but as expected Sasuke came out victorious. With a huff Hayami packed up her lunch and jumped over to the window, with the intention of freeing Naruto from whatever bind he was in.

“Huh” Sasuke looked towards the intruder, to find Hayami looking at him with such a confused look. He watched as she pointed to him then out the window then back to him. Her eyes went wide with realisation before she bent down to cut the ropes freeing him. “So you aren’t Naruto?” Sasuke looked at the girl with pure offence, huffing a no at her, he noticed that she still had a semi confused look as she was trying to understand the blond boys motivation for tying him up. Hayami knew they hated each other but this was too far. An even deeper confused look came upon her face as Sasuke grabbed her wrist and dragged her out the window behind him, with a short explanation of finding Naruto.

 The pair walked together side by side in an awkward silence, Hayami had no idea how to approach the boy in a way that he wouldn’t annoy him. She knew that he liked to be alone but this silence was slowly killing her, she was semi glad when Sakura called out Sasuke’s name

“You’re such a shy bad boy” the awkward tension was thick, “Are you prepared and ready to go” Hayami fell back a few steps and watched a Sasuke ignored the pink haired girl. “Hey Sasuke”

“Where’s Naruto” Hayami speed past the two not wanting to get involved in, whatever this was, it confused her greatly. She came to the realisation that she was going to be in two moods for the rest of her life annoyed and confused.

“Just leave Naruto alone, all he does is pick fights with you, it’s because he wasn’t raised right, you know he doesn’t have parents right” Hayami took a step back next to Sasuke wanting to hear was Sakura was going to say. “He always selfishly does what he wants, my parents would get mad at me if I did anything like he does,” Both Sasuke and Hayami glared at the girl, not that she noticed both other parties getting irritated at her. “No parents to nag you, its just him alone. So his selfishness comes out,” Hayami felt hot, her anger was boiling.

“How dare you!” Hayami stepped forward, both Sasuke and Sakura watching her now, “How dare you say that, when you have no idea what it feels like”

“The loneliness, Its worse then getting yelled at by your parents,” Sasuke added.

“Whats gotten into you two?”

“You are annoying” Sakura looked like she broke, Sasuke started to walk away but stopped as he realised Hayami wasn’t following.

“You need to take a good look at yourself Sakura, see what you have and count yourself lucky. How dare you complain about that sort of thing, at least you get to experience it. I wish everyday that I could be with my family again but I cant because they are gone. Don’t complain about an orphan to two orphans, it makes you pathetic” Hayami tried her hardest to keep her anger at bay but it reached its limit, the loneliness that she had been feeling days prior had mutated into a deep resting anger that had waited to burst. She felt Sasuke grab her wrist and pull her away from the now crying girl. Guilt followed after the anger, as she and Sasuke were walking side by side she got lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t meant to make the girl cry she just lost control of her emotions. At least now the silence between Hayami and Sasuke wasn’t as awkward.

 Hayami layed on one of the desks in the class room watching Naruto bounce around the place. Sasuke was set on the desk in front of her and Sakura was leaning against the table to his left. For the eight time Naruto opened the door to the class room and checked to see if out teacher was coming. Hayami had her eyes closed as wathing the brightly dressed boy running around had started to give her a headache,

“Naruto wont you stay still” Sakura nodded along with the suggestion of other girl not that either Hayami or Naruto could see.

“Why is it that only our sensei is late? Everyone else has gone off with their sensei and Iruka Sensei has already left”

“Dont look at me” Hayami moved her arm slightly and opened her eyes has the sound of clattering and watched as Naruto decided to set a ‘trap’ for our sensei.

“What are you doing?” Hayami didn’t think she could handle anymore bickering between the others.

“It will be his fault for being late” ”Man you really are asking for it”

“A Jonin would fall for such a week trap” and now Sasuke has joined in. Hayami took  her arm that was sitting over her eyes and placed it laced on her stomache. If her sensei was going to be late, she would take a nap. Or she would have if her team mates weren't so loud. She watched as fingers wrapped around the slightly ajar door, and shock fell onto her face as shot up watching the duster fall onto her supposed sensei’s head. Naruto’s laughter filled the room as did Sakura’s apologies the room fell silent as all for young teens watched their new sensei.

“How can I put this? As for my first impression of you guys? Well I hate you”

 Team seven made their way onto the roof and sat in a line waiting instruction.

“Well, first off, why don’t you guys introduce yourself?”

“What should we say?” Hayami picked at her fingernails, she hated introductions, she didn’t like talking about her self, she didn’t like talking in front of other people about herself and she didn’t like talking to strangers about herself.

“Your likes, dislikes, future dreams, hobbies. Things like that?”

“Hey before that why don’t you tell us about yourself?

“Me? Well my name is Kakashi Hatake, I don’t feel like telling you guys about my likes and dislikes, ive never really thought about my future dream, as for my hobbies I have many” Hayami’s eyes sparkled, she didn’t know you could just avoid the quesiton like that, “Next you blondy”

“My name is Naurto Uzumaki, I like instant ramen, but what I like even more is Ichiraku ramen that Iruka sensei buys, what I dislike is the three minutes you have to wait for instant ramen and my hobby is eating and comparing ramen, and my future dream is to surpass the Hokage, and get the entire village to acknowledge me” Well at least Hayami knew what she could get him for his birthday.

“Alright next is pinky”

“Hi, my name is Sakura Haruno, What I mean who I like is…My hobby is…My future dream is” Hayami watched with a mixture of disgust and wonder at the pink haired girl as said girl kept looking at Sasuke for her answers. “And my dislikes Naruto” Hayami’s face fell for the poor boy. Reaching beside her to pat his shoulder.  

“Your next brownie”

“uh- Hey, I’m Hayami Furutani, my likes -uh- throwing knives and weeping trees, I dislike the smell of lavender and fire, my hobbies -uh-collecting weapons and my future dream, I guess is just to make my dad proud.” Out of the corner of her eye she saw the concerned glances from Sakura and Sasuke though Sasuke’s only lasted for a second before he went back to his usual aloofness. Though what caught her eye was they knowing look she got from Kakashi Sensei, whether he knew what happened or if he had been through something similar she didn’t know but it gave her a strange comfort.

“And you”

“My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I have no likes in particular but a lot of dislikes, and I don’t have a dream but an ambition, I will restore my clan without fail and to kill a certain man.” Hayami looked to the boy slightly concerned but mostly scared, though the more she thought about it the more she understood. The drive for revenge.

“Good! You all distinctive and interesting” The call of her sensei shook Hayami out of her dark thoughts,

“Tomorrow we have a mission, its a survival exercise,” the excitement from Hayami and her peers dropped, “This is no normal survival exercise,”

“Then what kind of survival exercise is it,” The giggles that came from their sensei creeped Hayami out a lot, concern and worry grew from the pit of her stomach,

“Why are you laughing, what's so funny?”

“Well of the twenty-eight graduates, only three groups will become Genins, the remainders go back to the academy, this ‘exercise’ is actually a test with a 66 percent fail rate or higher” Hayami lost hope.

“Then what was the graduation test for?”

“That was just to test to see who had potential of becoming a Genin, prepare for this bring your ninja tools, we meet at five in the morning,” Hayami was stressed, maybe Kaori was home, he could help her right? Her thoughts were racing, she remembered how proud Kaori was of her. ‘I cant go back now’.

“Oh and its best if you skip breakfast or you will throw up.”

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Part 1 

Prev.

Thank you for reading this story your support is greatly appreciated. Feel free to give me any advice or tips x

Sorry also that I don’t update much

feel free to interact with me anytime.

[marvinswriting]

Chapter Two- TSS

Previous chapter, here; Master post, here Regina-centric, TW: extremely mild blood mention

"We probably would have been friends a lot sooner if Janis was more trusting and Regina stopped feigning indifferent," Aaron said.

Janis scoffed. "Do you blame me?"

"No," Aaron says shaking his head. "But my point still stands."

"I want to tell the next part of the story. Janis is gonna be biased." I say.

"Jains? Biased? No." Damian laughs.

"Hey!"

Dying for 15 seconds is scary. 

People tell about how they see god or how deceased relative says it's not their time and it all seems whimsical and heavenly. 

Nobody mentions the fear.

Knowing you're gonna die. Not knowing you could wake up.

Regina doesn't remember much. One minute she was screaming at Cady, trying to ger her voice to travel to the tall girl. The next minute was pain, flashing lights, sirens, her own blood.

Regina shuddered at the memory as she walked down the hall. She was on a mission right now. Ever since Regina woke up in the hospital she was filled with a sense of gratitude which was slowly being replaced by guilt. 

Its funny how getting brought back from the dead can show clarity to how fucked up you were in the past. Regina wanted to fix that.

It was her study hall period and she had hoped to talk with Janis, but the girl wasn't there. 

This meant with Regina's luck she was with her giant friend, Damian and she wouldn't even get near her for the rest of the day. 

If the tiny artist was with Cady she might have a chance, but it would still be slim.

Regina looked around the tiny halls anyway, determined to right her wrongs.

She knew she couldn't fix the years of trauma she caused, but she wanted to apologize. Janis truly was a good friend, it was Regina who fucked up the close bond they had. 

The plastic turned down a hallway and froze to find Janis sitting against the wall drawing in her sketchbook.

It was so easy to think about apologizing, but now that she had the chance, all words seemed caught in her throat. 

She opted to silently walking over, sliding down the wall across from the girl.

"Hey." Regina said softly. 

Janis looked up, clearly not pleased to see her there. "You should be in class. Leave me alone."

"You should be in class too," Regina said. There was an edge to her voice she was trying very hard to keep down. She didn't want to get defensive. "I wanted to talk."

"I'm not in the mood, Regina." Janis went back to drawing in her sketchbook. Regina knew this wouldn't be easy, but she had expected Janis to at least hear her out.

"I'm sorry."

Janis looked up with obvious disbelief. "Uh-huh."

"I'm serious, Janis." Regina turned her palms up, holding her hands out in defense. "What I did was so fucked up, and I can look back now are see that. And I'm not even talking about the years of bullying and hell I put you through."

To Regina's relief, Janis closed her sketchbook, looking closely at the girl in front of her. Her eyes trailed around Regina's face as if looking for any sign of a prank. When she decided Regina was in the clear she spoke. "Continue."

"I was scared. I know its no excuse. People started rumors that we were dating and- I thought maybe if I threw you under the bus and stopped talking to you the finger wouldn't be pointed to me-"

"And it worked." Janis cut in. Her voice was low, mixed equally with hurt and disinterest. It was a tone Regina recognized using herself all too much. The I-care-and-I'm-ready-to-cry-but-not-around-you voice.

"It worked," Regina repeated softly. "But at an awful cost. You were my best friend Janis. I was terrified. When I saw that I was in the clear- I couldn't stop. I needed to make sure I stayed in that clear. And it was so wrong of me. I'm fully aware a thousand apologies can't change my past actions. But I want to change to make my future actions better."

"Are you changing for me or for you?" Janis asked pointedly.

"What?"

"Sounds to me like you have a guilty conscious to clear. I don't think you're actually sorry for me."

"Janis-"

"No, Regina." Janis cut her off. "Not only did you out me to the school, but you also outed me to me. I wasn't even sure of myself yet. I didn't get to make my own decisions on when I came out to people because it was made for me before I even knew my own sexuality. I bet you didn't think of that. Yeah, you're right, the bullying and the homophobic slurs where a shitty touch, but don't pretend like you know what I went through." Her voice while started angrily, was straight-up venomous by the end. "I don't know what you earn from fucking with my feelings with a fake apology, but I'd appreciate if you stopped."

"The apology wasn't fake." Regina said softly. 

"Okay, then what were you hoping to selfish earn from it."

"Nothing," Regina said. And it was honest. "I died Janis. I've been given a second shot at life. I'm not overly religious but I do think it's a chance to fix the awful fucking mistakes I made. I truly feel so fucking bad. I am one hundred percent aware that I have no right to ask for your forgiveness. And I'm not. All I'm asking is that you actually think about my apology. I do want to fix things."

Janis was quiet for a moment, staring at the hallway floor beneath them. "Sure." She said finally. She shoved her sketchbook into her backpack before looking at Regina. "I still don't trust you and would rather you stayed away though."

Regina nodded. "I understand."

The bell rang, causing them both to jump. 

Had they really been sitting here for so long?

Janis mumbled something that could have equally been a goodbye or a fuck off.

.

Regina knew she had a lot of work cut out for her. She also knew it was very likely she would never be Janis's friend again. Even if Janis forgave her, her giant friend definitely seemed like the overprotective type. Not that Regina could blame him, she had given him every reason to be in the past. Regina swung her bag over her shoulder, walking to the tiny pick up the zone with a new sense of purpose. 

.

Her first opportunity to prove herself came not ever three days later while walking through the giant halls with Gretchen and Karen. They were walking slowly, taking in the halls. Regina almost didn't hear it over the buzz of the hallways, but there was no way to miss the cocky tone owned by none other than Shane Omen.

"Wait." Regina said, tugging a strand of Karen's hair. The blonde immediately stopped. Regina turned to where Shane stood in front of Damian who was protectively holding Janis close to him. 

"Hey, Shane?" Regina called, snapping the bully out of whatever homophobic insult rant he was on. "Please shut the fuck up. You're presence is giving me hives."

Shane looked like he wanted to retort something, but Regina placed her hands on her hips, a typical challenge of power for her. She was the queen of this school and Shane wasn't dumb enough to try and pull something.

"Whatever." He said before stalking away.

Regina eyed Janis and Damian for a moment, watching them both visibly relax. She made eye contact with Janis but didn't say anything to the artist.

"Okay," She said, tearing her gaze of the girl and facing forward again. "We can head to class."

.

It was a small action, yeah, but it was something she never went out of her way to do before. It was something she should have done a long time ago. And she knew Janis could recognize she tried from the look on her face that day.

.

It was a week since she last tried for English after school help. Regina wasn't one to stay after for classes, but she needed to turn her grades around fast. But when she walked into the room to see Janis and Aaron sitting at opposite ends of the room and no teacher, she groaned. 

"Are you kidding me?"

" 'fraid not," Janis said, not even looking up from her sketchbook. 

Aaron just shook his head with disappointment. "I gotta pass this class but I can't do it if the teacher doesn't stick to her word."

"Glad it's not just me," Janis says looking up. 

"Oh please, book smart award-winning artist cant do English?" Regina snarked, rolling her eyes before catching herself. "Sorry." She added in quickly.

Aaron's eyebrows raised like he's never heard a genuine apology from Regina before.

Probably not.

"I'm failing from skipping so much if you must know everything," Janis said tensely. 

"Okay," Aaron lifted his hands out, trying to defuse a quickly heating situation. "We're all in the same boat, why don't we study together?"

Regina and Janis stared at each other momentarily before shrugging.

"Sure." Janis got up, moving to a desk closer to the center of the room, Aaron doing the same. Regina sat down as well, pulling out her notes. 

"So, Janis is failing because she doesn't come to class, I'm failing because I can't be bothered to do the work, and Aaron is failing because he doesn't understand it. How are we supposed to help each other?"

"Mutual needs," Aaron says. "I need you to to help me understand, Janis needs to go to class in order to explain to me, and you need to do the work to help as well."

"Sound like you get more out of this than us, but sure soccer boy," Janis said, but she grinned despite the insult. "So what are we learning about right now?" She started.

.

"The teacher never showed up if you were wondering," I say.

"None of us were surprised though." Janis shook her head. "She skipped class more then I did."

"And that's probably saying something." Cady laughed. 

tag list! @musicallygt @realmisspolarbear @smallsoysauce @sourishlemons

[riley1cannon]

Presently Untitled Superbat Fic

Yes, so, I have been wrestling with this thing since July, with many starts and stops, and no title to be found (at this rate it really may end up being called “2 Idiots Sitting Around Figuring Stuff Out”), but there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, for this first half, Clark’s POV, anyway. 

Anyway... It’s DCEU, post-Justice League, and really is just Clark and Bruce sitting around talking--about Harvey Dent, about how Smallville celebrates the 4th of July, with side trips into Alfred headcanon and references to recent JL undercover missions, and there will be a special cameo appearance at the end of part two. But this is part one, so it’s only Clark, Bruce, and Martha Kent. I don’t even want to contemplate the Bruce POV half right now...

“Clark: Chapter One”

He might not feel the heat and humidity like everyone else, but Clark could still enjoy a nice cool shower that sluiced it all away at the end of a long day. Now, if he could have a quiet night with no emergencies, no crisis anywhere, he would chalk that up as a small blessing. He knew better than to count on that, however.

He had changed into cargo shorts and a white t-shirt, and was weighing the pros and cons of rocky road versus Chunky Monkey, when his mom called.

“Clark! Clark! Turn on the Weather Channel!” she told him before he could even say hello.

“What?” He found the remote and scrolled through the channels, wondering what was up with the note of hilarity in her voice.

“Just turn it on, sweetie. You’ll see.”

He found the channel, tuning in just as a woman standing by a fountain in downtown Metropolis was saying, “Couldn’t he, like, tilt the axis of the Earth, or something?”

What? “Ma, what is this?”

“They’re asking people on the street what they think Superman should do about this heat wave.”

Oh for… Now a guy was saying he’d heard Superman had some kind of freeze breath, so why didn’t he just fly around and blow on everybody. Another was saying, “How about if he fixed the Moon so we always had a total eclipse going? That bleep’s bleeping cool.”

“Is this real life?”

“Guess it is, sweetie,” Martha said, laughter still running through her voice. “Guess you can’t blame folks too much. It’s a bad summer.”

Growing up on a Kansas farm, Clark was only too familiar with the weather as adversary. If it wasn’t too hot, it was too cold. There was either too much rain, or not enough. And if, for one rare moment everything was exactly right, ten minutes later a thunderstorm would come roaring out of Colorado to send tornadoes tearing across the landscape.

“Yeah, I don’t blame them,” he said. He did press the mute button before he got too boggled by the suggestions people had. “You know I’d do something if I could.”

“I do know, Clark. Don’t fret about it now.” She sounded like she was rethinking calling him. “I just thought you’d get a kick out of it.”

“Mom, it’s okay. It is funny. It’s just,” he shook his head, “I’m not sure how much good it would really do if I flew around blowing on everyone.”

Now she had a smile back in her voice. “Yeah, that does call up an interesting picture. So,” she let out a breath, “how was your day?”

He told her about it, the highs and the lows, most of it pretty routine. “Just a one thing after another kind of day,” he finished up.

“Uh-huh.” His mother had a note of skepticism in her voice now. “Bet those folks you rescued off that roller coaster didn’t think it was no big whoop. We watched it down at the diner. There were some mighty big smiles when you got everybody back down on the ground.”

“Yeah, that was pretty good,” he admitted, remembering the looks of fear that had given way to relief when he arrived on the scene. Moments like that were a joy. They were a huge  help whenever he longed for the days he could help people and not have it be breaking news. There was no turning back time, though, and things probably never had been as simple as he liked to remember them. “Did you have a busy day at the diner?” he asked, hoping to change the subject.

“Oh, smooth,” his mother teased, a smile still in her voice. He could hear her moving around, the creak of the screen door that told him she’d gone out on the porch, and a soft patter that sounded like rain. “Well, Pete Ross came in and said he felt like changing things up, so he ordered a club sandwich instead of his usual BLT.”

He laughed now and shifted the phone to his other hand as he went back into the kitchen. “Sounds like exciting times.”

“Oh, yeah, things are hopping here all right.”

“Is it raining?”

“Little bit. Supposed to be a cold front coming down from Canada. That’ll help.”

And it would soon be August, with the end of summer looming not too far off, and harvest time coming up fast. Clark already had time scheduled to get back home and help out with that.

“So,” she was patting the porch swing, calling the dog to her, “have you talked to Bruce?”

Oh boy. “I have talked to Bruce,” he confirmed as he opened the fridge. A BLT sounded pretty good, actually, and he checked to see if he had all the fixings on hand.

Infinite patience in her voice, his mother prompted, “About?”

“About…three days ago.” He got out the bacon, checked the lettuce and tomato was fresh. “He wanted some input on the Justice League logo. The headquarters is going to look pretty snazzy when he gets it all pulled together.” Ah, there was the mayonnaise, way at the back.

“Clark Joseph Kent, you know that’s not what I’m talking about.”

“Mom…” He sat down at his small kitchen table, white Formica trimmed in red, and wondered how hard he could bang his head against it without breaking it. “It’s not that easy.”

The pattern of rain sounded louder in the background as his mother said “Looked pretty easy when he was visiting us. Ask me, you two already went out on a couple of dates. You just need to make it official.”

Clark doubted Bruce would share that viewpoint. Then again, Bruce had been known to surprise him--on a pretty regular basis, actually. After all he hadn’t expected him to show up in Smallville to celebrate the Fourth of July with them. That had been one of a hundred things they had talked about during a stakeout on a rainy Gotham night back in March. He’d never thought Bruce would remember, let alone actually follow up.

He thought about that night a lot. He had been surprised at the invitation to join Bruce, and had been ruthless about clamping down on the thrill of excitement that shot through him. It was because his x-ray vision and super hearing made him useful, he reminded himself. Nothing more. If Bruce had occasion to stakeout an aquarium, he’d call in Arthur.

Although why Bruce would ever put an aquarium under surveillance Clark could not have said. Nor had he expected anything but the most cursory information and instructions about the current job. Sit, watch, listen, report what he picked up. He’d been proved wrong as soon as he located Bruce, parked across the street from the Iceberg Lounge.

Bruce popped the passenger door and waved him over. As always, decked out in designer duds, Bruce looked like he belonged on the cover of GQ. Even the top buttons of his shirt were artfully undone. Clark, in jeans and a plaid shirt from the Tractor Supply store in Smallville, had a brief thought of being that thing that wasn’t like the other. It was there and gone in and instant, though. All Bruce had ever said was to once inquire if he’d die if he didn’t wear plaid. When Clark quipped back, “Don’t know, maybe,” he’d heard no more about it--but he had glimpsed Bruce biting down on a smile.

“Don’t tell me: you’re thinking of buying it,” he said, looking over at the night club. Until recently the place had been the hottest spot in Gotham, and you had to be a Bruce Wayne or part of his entourage to get inside. Now, with Oswald Cobblepot locked up in Arkham--again--it was shut up and dark.

“Funny,” Bruce grumbled. “Is anything going on over there?”

As Clark checked, Bruce told him about information he’d turned up that Two-Face--Harvey Dent--might surface at the club to muscle in on what was left of the Penguin’s operation. That was unexpected. He had gathered Harvey Dent was an especially sensitive subject, and one that Bruce didn’t share easily. He wanted to read volumes into Bruce letting him in on this. Best to pare that down to Cliff Notes, though, he suspected.

“It’s quiet,” he reported, completing a scan of the club. “No signs of life to speak of.”

Bruce canted him a look, eyebrows raised. “To speak of?”

Clark shrugged, “Couple of rats in the kitchens.”

“Four-legged variety?”

 “Yep.”

“Hhn. Health Department gave it a passing score on its last inspection.”

“And of course there’s no corruption in Gotham.”

Bruce’s only comeback was a grumpy look. He relaxed back into the driver’s seat and reached for one of two cups of coffee. He jerked his chin at the other one. “That’s yours, if you want it.”

Clark nodded his thanks and reached for it. He took a sip, savoring the flavor. Smooth and rich, not as sweet as he usually took it, but with plenty of cream. “It’s good.”

“You don’t have to sound so surprised.”

Clark smiled and took another drink, skewed in his seat so he could watch Bruce and keep on the eye on the club. “Do you do this a lot? Just sit and watch?”

“That is the definition of a stakeout.” Bruce took a long drink of his coffee, to all appearances relishing every drop like an elixir of life. Every drop that was likely strong enough to peel paint, and untouched by any taint of cream or sugar. Clark didn’t know how he did it.

He also didn’t understand his sudden fixation with that glimpse of Bruce’s throat, with watching the muscles work as he swallowed. Well, that was the story he was sticking with anyway.

There wasn’t anything sudden about it, either, if he was being honest. Clark had been struck by him that first night, at the library gala. Perry had meant the red carpet assignment to be a reprimand, and Clark had felt it. Bored out of his mind and chafing to be anywhere else, he had been ready to provoke more wrath from Perry when a sleek Aston Martin pulled up. Everything changed the instant Bruce got out of that car. Clark’s attention had perked right up and been riveted on the newcomer, the other man’s charisma sparking the atmosphere. It had called to Clark so strongly that, even without the Gotham connection, he felt he still would have sought Bruce out in the crowd.

He thought about that night sometimes. Now and then. Wondered about the what-ifs. Impossible to know if anything could have played out differently, let alone if it would have changed anything. What mattered was they were here, now, on this rainy night in Gotham, and this second chance eclipsed all the what-ifs. He wouldn’t trade this for a Pulitzer.

“Something funny?”

Clark dialed down his smile and shook his head. “Nope.”

“Hhn.” Bruce eyed him with a flicker of suspicion and set his cup back in its holder “It’s a longshot Harvey will show up,” he said, shifting in his seat. “The last solid intel on him was that he’d gone to ground over in Bludhaven.”

Clark nodded, careful not to betray any surprise that conversation had come back to Harvey Dent. Maybe he wasn’t meant to contribute anything, just be a sounding board. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained, he decided. “You’ve known him awhile.” 

Bruce’s fingers flexed on the steering wheel. Nothing else betrayed any sign of tension. Seconds ticked by and Clark was ready to accept that there would be no reply, when Bruce’s shoulders relaxed a fraction and he eased back in his seat. “We go back,” he admitted. “Used to paint the town together.”

Nostalgia whispered across Bruce’s face, caught in a wistful smile as he spoke. Clark knew the facts. How Handsome Harvey Dent, Gotham’s dynamic, young district attorney brought mob boss Sal Maroni to trial, and how Maroni retaliated by splashing acid in Dent’s face, scarring him physically. How the scars went much deeper, his mind turning on him so that he emerged as Two-Face, flipping a coin to decide if someone lived or died today.

Those were the facts, stark and brutal. Clark doubted they came close to conveying the impact of the tragedy on those had cared for Harvey Dent.

Offering his sympathy was feeble, he knew, but he had to say something. “I’m sorry.”

Bruce shrugged it off, tried to anyway. “It’s a long time ago now.”

“And you’re supposed to be over it?”

“So I’m told.”

Not by anyone who really knew him, Clark would bet. Not by anyone who had experienced the loss of a loved one. Almost twenty years had passed and he still felt the ache of his father’s death at unexpected time--while working on their old tractor, or watching Patrick Mahomes throw a game-winning touchdown for the Chiefs. He didn’t know how to begin to mourn for Krypton, for the mother and father he’d never know. One of his secrets was that he even grieved for Zod, for lost chances and what could have been if only Zod hadn’t been hellbent on annihilating all life on Earth.

Time did heal, but the memories were never far from the surface. 

“Could you have saved him?”

Bruce sighed, fingers tapping on the steering as he aimed a pensive stare through the windshield. “Maybe not. I’ll never know for certain.”

Since he’d made it this far, Clark edged out a bit further. “Could you have guessed he’d become Two-Face?”

Bruce shook his head. “I knew he had some...anxieties, that he had that coin flipping fixation.” His hands flexed on the steering wheel. “Nothing that prepared me for Two-Face.”

“But you beat yourself up about it anyway.”

Bruce offered him a wry smile. “He’s my friend.”

Clark nodded. He didn’t miss the present tense wording, nor was he surprised by it. Not anymore. The contrast between when they believed the worst of each other and now, when they could sit and talk like this, verged on the surreal at times. 

He shifted around in his seat and took another drink of coffee, starting to feel a buzz of his own anxiety. It had been there since he came back, a creeping unease that whispered the walls were too close and confining even in the middle of the Daily Planet bullpen. Distractions helped, and he reached over to scrub at the fogged up windshield, scanning up and down the street.

“Something?” Bruce asked, tensing as if ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice.

“No.” Clark shook his head, relaxed back into his seat. “Everything’s still quiet.”

Bruce gave a sharp nod, as if confirming something to himself. “I don’t think he’ll show,” he said, half to himself. Difficult to be sure if relief or disappointment threaded through the words. “We’ll give it a few more minutes.”

“Okay.” Clark watched drizzling drops of rain slither down the windshield, that random twinge of claustrophobia easing away as he concentrated on absorbing the cozy intimacy of the setting. Something else it would be best not to dwell on, and he scrambled for a new topic, prompted by a comment Barry had made in passing the other day. “So did Diana and Alfred really do the tango when you took down the Jade Jaguars?”

Bruce scootched around, eyeing him. “Someone’s been telling tales, I see.”

“Was it meant to be a secret?”

“Apparently not.” Bruce took another sip of coffee, pulled a face and put the cup down. “It was the foxtrot, not the tango, and it was part of their cover, not a celebration of the takedown…”

to be continued

Note: The idea that, in the wake of being dead, Clark might suffer bouts of claustrophobia was the inspired idea of @oneiroteuthis.

[rorynne]

Time Lost (Rewrite) Ch 1

Pairing: Bucky Barnes/Reader

Summary: An accident during a mission sends you back in time to the second world war. There you enlist the help of Peggy Carter, Steve Rogers, and Bucky Barnes to find the object that can send her back.

Warnings: not much bucky but he will be more present going forward

Word count: 2.7k

A/N: This is a rewrite of an OC fic that I have been writing and been wanting to turn into a reader Fic. Im unsure if I will be continuing the OC fic currently, I may just transfer it completely to my reader Fic. Currently 6 chapters are up of the OC fic, and I shall be posting a rewritten chapter every few days on here.

Masterlist

Prologue

Storm clouds hung heavy in the sky as you sat in the back of a jeep bound for the current SSR base in Italy. Almost two years of searching and there was barely any information on the bell to go off of. It was beyond frustrating. At this rate, you were starting to wonder if you would ever get back to your time. Granted, all of the documents you brought back were dated 1943 or later, chances were development on the bell had only just begun. And if that were the case, hopefully, it wasn't going to take them seventy years to finish.

Your general lack of ability to change anything also proved to be frustrating as hell. Only Peggy knew of your true origins. They had both decided against going around saying you were from the future, god only knew that would just get them both locked up. However, as a result, that meant you were far less likely to be believed any time you tried to keep an event from happening if you lacked any evidence. you never thought you would sympathize with Cassandra.

“I was beginning to wonder when you'd show up.” A familiar voice teased as the jeep came to a halt. You smiled as you saw Peggy waiting to inspect the arriving convoy. Peggy had managed to make the last two years far more bearable, becoming quick friends with you.

“You know me,” You said, jumping out of the back of the jeep. “I like to keep everyone guessing.”

Peggy smiled as you approached. “Perhaps a little too much.” She accused. “How was Paris?”

You shrugged and canted your head, “Beautiful city, great food, interesting history.” You crossed your arms. “Too bad I wanted to shoot the majority of my company.”

“I trust you were able to resist the temptation?” Said Peggy eyeing you in amusement.

“Figured I would let the boys have the nazi killing fun for now.” You sniffed indignantly. “Kind of regret it now. At least then I would have something to account for coming back.”

“No luck on the bell?”

“No luck on anything.” You corrected, “A whole lot of Nazis but no hydra. It seems the intel we had was either old or false.”

Peggy nodded at one of the soldiers carrying a crate from a truck. “You think they’ve caught on to us?”

You chewed your cheek. “I'm not sure. I can't say they knew I was coming, or I’d be dead. Or at least so I would assume. I don't see any reason why they would keep me alive knowing I'm a spy. But at the same time, there wasn't a single member of hydra there. I've never seen that before, usually there's at least one.

Peggy narrowed her eyes. “If we aren't being fed false information then somethings happening.”

“And whatever it is, I think the ones outside of hydra are just about as in the dark as we are. Hydra’s making a play, a big one.”

“A faction split?” Peggy offered.

“It's possible. But if it's that, they've got to be pretty confident that they can win.” You scratched the back of your neck, entirely unsure of what to make about any of it.

Peggy nodded, “If what the surviving 107th are saying is true, it seems they've got just that.” Seemingly content with the convoy, Peggy started towards the SSR command tent. “Your history books say anything about this?”

You followed close behind. “About the 107th? Not much. They get captured, Captain America comes in and saves the day singlehandedly. Dunno how much stock I put into to all that personally. Lotta things about the Cap and hydra got covered up after the war by shield. Especially in the history books.”

Peggy frowned, walking into the tent. “I can believe it. I've seen Rogers in action, unfortunately, the army seems content parading him around America singing about war bonds.

Your eyebrows shot up. “Excuse me, what?”

“Peggy gestured to the poster hanging from a support beam of the tent. “Captain America,” it read, “on tour: Allied bases across Europe and North Africa.” You bit your lip to keep from laughing, this was not how you ever imagined meeting Captain America.

“They, they really have him singing?” You said, fighting to keep a straight face.

“Dancing at the very least,” said Peggy, not sounding the slightest bit amused. “Bloody waste if you ask me. He’ll be arriving and preforming here tomorrow.”

You shook your head, still staring at the poster. “I wouldn't miss it for the world.”

The captain's performance was, frankly, every bit as hilarious as you expected. The rest of the crowd, however, didn't seem to agree. Instead, they demanded the dancing girls come back on stage. You grimaced as the famous Steve Rogers walked off stage, noticeably embarrassed. The Captain America you knew was a hero, a legend even. But this was before all of his exploits before he saved the world more times than you could count. He barely seemed to be the same man.

You held back for a time, figuring he would want space after such a humiliation. But, as the rain that had been threatening for two days now began to pour, you went searching for him. Surely there was something that pushed him out of the theater and into heroism because he was far better at the latter. Whose brilliant idea even was it to have him dancing around in the first place?

You found him with Peggy, taking refuge from the rain under a wooden awning behind the stage. Peggy's face was stern as you neared, “And these are your only options? Lab rat or dancing monkey?”

“War hero seems like a fun third option.” You cut in, earning a raised eyebrow from Peggy. “Or, you know, literally anything else.”

He looked at you with apprehension and confusion as Peggy took a patient breath. “What Agent L/N means, is you were meant for more than this.”

You extended a hand to him. “Sorry, my humor isn't for everyone. Y/N L/N.”

He nodded, shaking your hand. “Steve Rogers.” He sighed as his attention was pulled to an arriving red cross truck. “These men look like they've gone through hell.”

You crossed your arms, “They've gone through war.”

“These men more than most. They're what's left of the 107th.” Peggy agreed and you winced. What these men had seen seemed to make hell seem heavenly.

Steves' eyes went wide. “The 107th?” He was up and running to the command tent before Peggy could even respond. You and Peggy shared a glance before chasing after him through the rain.

Col. Phillips sat signing what were presumably condolence letters at his desk in the back fo the tent as steve rushed up to him. Phillips looked up just barely before returning to the letters. “If it isn't the star-spangled man with a plan. What do I own the pleasure.”

“I need the casualty list from Azzano,” Steve said with unexplained urgency.

Phillips looked up from his papers with a glare. “You don't get to give me orders.”

“I just need one name,” Steve continued, “Sergeant James Barnes of the 107th.” The name tugged the back of your memory, you had heard it somewhere before, in a museum maybe? That was right, you recalled the handsome picture of a soldier engraved in stone in the howling commando exhibit at the Smithsonian. He had been the one that died. Steve lost his best friend. You gave him a pitiful look as he argued with Phillips, you had always thought that Barnes became a commando before dying.

“But I don't expect you to understand that because you're a chorus girl.” Phillips's harsh words pulled you out of your thoughts.

“I think I understand just fine,” Steve responded coolly.

“Then understand it somewhere else, if I read the posters right you have somewhere to be in 30 minutes.” Phillips moved passed him to look over maps with another officer, making his stance on the conversation clear.

“Yes sir,” Steve said, studying the large map board in front of him, “I do.” He turned on his heels and rushed out of the tent, leaving you and Peggy in his wake.

“I’ll go after him,” Peggy whispered to you. “We need maps and supplies, whatever you can think of, then meet us in the hangar as soon as you can.”

You nodded letting Peggy follow after Steve. You stood there for a moment, pretending to study the map board before quickly and casually taking a smaller map off Col. Phillips desk and slipping it into your coat. With a nod to the nearest officer, you walked out of the tent and into the rain.

Already thoroughly drenched from your previous two treks thought the rain, you didn't bother trying to shield yourself from the downpour as you made your way to the nearest storehouse. Knowing Peggy, they were probably going to get court-martialed with whatever she had planned, so might as well go the whole hog and steal any supplies Steve might need.

You grabbed a gunny sack as soon as you entered the storeroom and started filling: A compass, multiple rations of food, a blanket, flashlight, rope, matches. Anything and everything that you could think of that he might need should he get lost. ‘Cause God knows, the way he was charging off, he damn well didn't consider any of this.

“Hey!” A guard called to you. “You aren't authorized to take any of this!”

You slung the sack over your shoulder as the guard approached. “Youll find that I am, private.” You bluffed. “Under official SSR orders. Unless that is, you want to waste Col Phillips time clearing it with him first?” The guard blanched at the mention of Phillips's name.

“No, Ma’am!” He said quickly, stepping out of your way. You gave a sharp nod before escaping the warehouse. you started toward the Hangar before pausing and looking at the stage. A devilish smile came over you as you changed your course.

The backstage was empty when you entered, likely all the actors and dancers were still on break, leaving the costumes unguarded. Because, really, who on earth would want to steal them, besides you. You hummed the tune to ‘star-spangled man’ as you picked up a helmet with a large white ‘A’. One thing was for sure, steve was going to save the 107th in (extremely questionable) style.

Peggy, Steve, and Stark were waiting at the hangar when you arrived, helmet in hand, a grin plastered across your face. “You know, for a star-spangled man with a plan, I'm wondering if you've ever had a plan in your life.” You teased, handing him the helmet and sack of supplies.

Steve gave you a look as he fiddled with the helmet, “In all fairness ma’am, you haven't known me long.”

“First impressions mean a lot, Rogers.” You shrugged, moving onto Peggy. “Though I’m not sure if this plan is much better than no plan,” You said in a low voice only Peggy could hear.

“We don't have many other options at the current moment.” Peggy defended as Steve and Stark boarded the plane. “Unless you somehow convinced Col. Phillips to give us an army.”

“I'm not a miracle worker.” You sighed.

“You said he was able to do this single-handed, we just need to have faith.” Peggy took a deep breath, even she didn't seem completely convinced.

You nodded, “Time to prove the history books right. I’ll stay grounded to try to keep the colonel distracted. Go.” You gave a mock salute as the plane took off, leaving you behind.

Keeping Phillips occupied until the plane returned proved to be quite easy. He was already extremely busy, and with some strategic playing dumb and careful excuses as to why you were doing Peggy's work, he was none the wiser until the plane landed the next morning. Then the shit hit the fan.

Steve didn't come back. Two weeks after the flight to Austria and there was absolutely no sign of him either. Phillips was furious, you did everything in your power to avoid him, though you knew it wouldn't be long before consequences came. There was a good possibility that your chance to get home was lost if Steve didn't show up.

You sat on the ground against a tree, picking at your fingers. At this point, you didn't even care about getting home. Instead, you couldn't shake the guilt of getting an avenger killed before the avengers were even a thing. The guilt of it alone made it difficult for you to even sleep at night. you would have gone into Austria yourself to find him, if Phillips hadn't expressly forbidden it, and kept an armed guard on you 24/7 as a baby sitter.

“You look like a child that's been sent to the headmaster,” Peggy said looking down at you.

You nodded, “Feel like it too.”

“Do you regret helping him?” Peggy asked, voice tight.

You sighed and looked up at her, “I regret not helping him more.” You admitted, “I teased him about not having a plan, and then didn't even try to give him one. I could have followed that dumbass into Austria myself.” The young soldier acting as your baby sitter shifted uncomfortably. “Stop acting like you've never heard a woman fucking swear Simmons.”

“Y-yes ma’am” He stammered and you rolled your eyes.

“We did everything we could for him,” Peggy reassured, ignoring Simmons. “He would have walked to Austria if we didn't help him.”

You laughed weakly, “I’ve done stupider things.” You paused for a beat, biting your lip, “Peggy, I, I’m sorry about this all. I could tell how much you liked him.”

Peggy swallowed, “Yes, well. I'm glad he wasn't stuck as a dancing monkey.” She cleared her throat, “I'm going to speak with Col. Phillips if you would like to join me.”

You scoffed, “No, I'd rather him find me if he wants to chew me out.” Peggy nodded and left you sitting under your tree. No doubt Phillips would be in a bad mood. He was finally calling off the searches today, officially labeling Steve Rogers as KIA. God, if only you had just gone with him as back up, at least then either he would be alive or you’d be too dead to care.

You threw your head back in frustration as hoots and hollers came from the front of the camp. Soldiers began running to the gates, curious, you joined them. You gasped when you saw what the soldiers were congregating for.

A hundred some odd men came marching through the gates, Steve Rogers, Captain America, leading the way. Cheers rippled through the crowd as the group walked through the camp, stopping in front of Col. Phillips. You slipped between the men in efforts to get a better view.

“Hey!” The man next to steve yelled, making you freeze, surprised, as you saw the familiar handsome face of a man you had only seen in museum exhibits. “Let's hear it for Captain America!” The crowd roared, men throwing their caps in the air, whistling, yelling, clapping. You found yourself clapping too as Barnes’s eyes locked onto yours for a brief moment. He smiled faintly as he caught sight of you, a sparkle of something in his steel-blue eyes as you shifted your attention to finding Col. Phillips.

You moved through the crowd in search of him, only to find him missing from it. you soon found him exactly where you expected him to be, the SSR command tent. you wore a sly smirk that would have read ‘I told you so” Had he bothered to look up at you. Instead, he focused on packing away his desk. “Don't think for a moment that just because Captain Rogers came back that you're off my shit list Agent L/N.”

You frowned, “He saved at least a hundred and fifty men. I played a part in that.”

“And that’s exactly why I'm not court martialing you for theft of government property.” He said as he tucked away a folder into a box. “Tell Agent Carter to pack her things, we’re returning to London for debriefing first thing tomorrow.”

You scowled, “Yes sir.”

[girls-scenarios]

Risk It All

Idol: Tzuyu (Twice)

Prompt: h o w d y !!! I think I remember that admin Kiwi loves harry potter so i was wondering if there could be a slytherin!tzuyu (like how she's described as pureblood and stony in the Idols That Would Be In Slytherin post) au where she's a double agent, snape-style, and has to blow her cover to save her hufflepuff gf when their paths cross on separate missions.

Writer: Admin Kiwi

A/N: Sorry for taking so long with this, I do love Hogwarts au’s so I really wanted this one to be perfect. As a disclaimer, I haven't read the books or watched the movies in a while so if something is weird I apologize- I hope this was what you had in mind anon!

Tzuyu knew she was a stereotypical Slytherin. She was a pureblood, first of all, from one of the most well-known wizarding families, who only got the best supplies from her parents. She was cold, mostly towards other houses but to some other Slytherins too. She knew how to get what she wanted and could slip her way out of any uncomfortable situation. Most of all, though, she had a sharp tongue that lashed out at any poor fool who thought it would be a good idea to upset her.

But anyone who actually knew her knew that she only acted that way because it was what was expected of her. Her friends knew that her teasing was playful and that she was actually shy, which was why she acted so cold to her fellow classmates. She even had a cute smile that only her closest friends knew. But that meant nothing. She was still the perfect pureblood Slytherin, expected to do everything her parents instructed of her.

So she wasn’t really that surprised when her parents called her home, and she came only to find the Dark Lord standing in her living room. Her parents had long been extremists, and it was hardly a shock to her that they would join the dark forces. Still, there was something in her usually uncaring heart that made her want to run away as her mother motioned for her to sit down.

“Tzuyu, honey, there is someone we want you to meet.” Voldemort smiled, his sunken face contorting to reveal even uglier teeth, and she did her best not to recoil in disgust.

“Chou Tzuyu. What a gifted student you are. Your parents have told me all about you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Lord Voldemort,” she said, shoulders poised and face settled into a look of feigned attention. She’d had to pretend to like her parents acquaintances before, and she could easily do it again.

“Tzuyu, as you know, we believe that Lord Voldemort has brilliant ideas on how to fix the tattered and despicable state of the wizarding world. So we have decided to join him. And we want you to do the same.” She watched in mild horror as her parents rolled up their sleeves to reveal a mark she knew all too well. The mark of the Death Eaters. Of course, she’d expected this, but it didn’t make her any less sick in her stomach to see it, because she knew what her parents meant. She had no choice. She was to join the cause.

“Of course,” she said, tongue heavy in her mouth as she watched her parents smile at their perfect, obedient Slytherin daughter.

Voldemort’s voice sent chills up her back as he chuckled. “That’s what I was hoping you’d say. It would be brilliant to have someone as talented as you within those school walls.” It was over. She couldn’t go back. But still, bile climbed up the back of her throat as he took her arm and pushed up her sleeve. 

Instinctively, she began to quiver, and her mother, mistaking her disgust and fear of the Dark Lord for fear of the pain, wrapped an arm around her her shoulders and pressed her lips up close to her ear. “Don’t worry, dear, it only hurts for a moment.” Voldemort’s wand touched Tzuyu’s skin, and she bit her lip, closing her eyes as a searing pain ripped through her arm. It only lasted for a moment, leaving behind a numb burning sensation on the skin, and she let out a gasp as he dropped her arm, not wanting to look down at the mark that now sullied her arm.

Her father cleared his throat and she opened her eyes to look up at him. “I’m proud of you for making the right choice, Tzuyu. Now, back to school you go. And remember, not a word of this to anyone.” She was still a little dizzy, but she nodded, standing up and stumbling a little as she left the room.

She didn’t even think about what she did next. There wasn’t even a pause to look down at the mark. As soon as she was back at the school, she went straight for Dumbledore's office, marching in and throwing out her arm for him to see before he could even ask her to explain herself.

“My parents joined the Death Eaters and forced me to join as well. But I don’t want to work for them. Tell me what to do.” She clenched her jaw in determination as Dumbledore looked down at her arm in shock. He gently touched her wrist, and she wanted to jerk away, the sensation of Voldemort’s touch still lingering on her skin. But she trusted Dumbledore, so she stayed still.

“Chou Tzuyu. You made the right choice by coming here.” Had she? She’d had two adults tell her she’d made the right choice by doing different things today. But this was the one she felt was right, and she didn’t care what her parents might think. “How do you feel about becoming a double agent?” She blinked. Looked up at him. “You’ll pretend to work for He Who Must Not Be Named, and give us information on the Death Eater’s movements and whereabouts. Just be careful, you mustn't let them catch you.”

“I cant do it,” Tzuyu said, lifting up her chin. She was the perfect Slytherin, after all, cunning and sly. She wouldn’t let them catch her.

Dumbledore smiled down at her and let go of her wrist, and Tzuyu knew that she’d just entered a new chapter of her life. Nothing was going to be the same now. “You’re a bright student, Ms. Chou. I’m trusting in you.”

-

Being a double agent wasn’t hard for Tzuyu. She had no special feelings for her parents, as she hardly spoke with them anyway, and she certainly had no ties or loyalty to Voldemort. There was also no need to worry about getting anyone hurt. Her Slytherin friends knew how to take care of themselves, and probably had ties with the Death Eaters anyway. She doubted they would be hurt, so really, she had no special ties to anyone that would make her worried about her involvement in the fight.

Until she met you, that is.

It was one evening after classes had ended that Nayeon pounced on her, begging her to go to the library with her.

“Come on, don’t you need to study?”

“When have I ever needed to study to get good grades, Nayeon,” Tzuyu said, turning around to shoot a look at her friend. “Why do you need someone to go with you to the library anyway?”

Nayeon flushed and quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening before leaning in close. “I’m meeting with Momo.”

“Momo? The Hufflepuff?”

“Shh, not so loud! Yes, Momo the Hufflepuff.”

“Why are you meeting with her?” Tzuyu, now intrigued, turned around with raised eyebrows, crossing her arms. “Don’t tell me you actually fell for a Hufflepuff.”

“Shut up! I did, okay? She’s really pretty and nice and she makes me laugh, what’s so wrong with that? I know you’re the perfect model Slytherin, but I thought you could maybe put house politics away for your friend!” Nayeon gritted her teeth, obviously upset, but before she could spin on her heel (or pull out her wand and knock Tzuyu out) the younger girl reached out and put a hand on her shoulder.

“Calm down. I was just asking a question. I’ll go with you.” Nayeon’s shoulders deflated with relief and a smile came back to her lips.

“Really? Thank you so much! We agreed that we’d bring friends so that people wouldn’t think it was a date, so I was worried that you wouldn’t come.”

“She’s bringing a friend too?”

Nayeon grinned and wiggled her eyebrows. “Yeah! Hey, who knows, maybe you’ll hit it off with her friend and we can double date.”

With a snort, Tzuyu rolled her eyes. “I doubt it. But I’ll come with you. Hurry up, though, the more you keep talking, the less time you’re going to have with your Hufflepuff boo.”

The library wasn’t very busy, mostly because tests were still a while away and it was almost the weekend, which meant everyone was more interested in relaxing. Still, Nayeon led her past their normal tables and towards the darker back of the library. One turn past a bunch of shelves with a layer of dust on the books was a table tucked back into the corner, and there sat Momo. As soon as she saw Nayeon, she beamed and jumped up to wrap her into a hug.

“You came!”

“Of course I came, did you think I was going to stand you up?” Nayeon still had the snark in her voice, but it was a lot softer and more affectionate now, and Tzuyu couldn’t help smirking. If only their Slytherin friends could see her now.

“I just didn’t think you would be able to convince a friend to come, honestly.”

“I was nervous about that too, but my best friend agreed to come with me.” Momo looked away from Nayeon and her eyes landed on Tzuyu, who waved awkwardly.

“Hey.”

“Oh wow, Chou Tzuyu?” Momo let out a little nervous laugh and moved away from Nayeon. “I seriously would have never expected you to come.” The ‘I thought you hated Hufflepuffs” was obvious, even if she didn’t say it, and Tzuyu just shrugged, shoving her hands down into her pockets.

“Nayeon’s my best friend.” Nayeon beamed and wrapped an arm around Tzuyu’s shoulders, getting up on her tip-toes to do so.

“It’s fine, she won’t rat us out or anything. I know she seems scary and everything, but she has a soft spot for me.” Tzuyu rolled her eyes, but didn’t bother refuting her best friend because it was true, mostly. She also really didn’t care about house politics, she just had to pretend to. “I promise she doesn’t bite.” Momo glanced back at the table, and for the first time, Tzuyu noticed you, and her heart stopped.

You were gorgeous, which was saying something, because she’s seen plenty of beautiful people in her pureblood lifetime. But your beauty was something different, something she’d never seen before. You were nothing like the purebloods she’d met, who’d probably gotten their good looks from their parents, who assured via potions and spells that their children would be good looking. Everything about you was real, and that captured her, pulled her in and left her staring with her mouth slightly agape.

“Well, as long as you promise. This is my friend, (Y/N). She doesn’t bite either, obviously.” Tzuyu snapped her mouth shut and swallowed. (Y/N). She liked that name.

“Um, nice to meet you,” she said, but this time, she wasn’t faking it. You gave her a shy little smile in return and moved further into the table to make room for her to sit beside you as Nayeon and Momo took their seats across the table, hands intertwined.

“Nice to meet you too, Tzuyu.” From your voice, she could tell that you were nervous, and for the first time ever, she regretted being the perfect Slytherin. Suddenly, she was hyper aware of her actions, sitting down as softly as she could and gently setting her books down on the table, much different than how she typically tossed them down.

Nayeon gave her a look from across the table, eyebrows raised and a smile playing on her lips as she leaned her head on Momo’s shoulder, and she could feel her face heating up slightly as she glared down at her textbook. What was going on with her?

Licking her lips, she tried to ignore the display of affection from the two girls in front of her and turned to look at you. “Um. So did you actually want to study, or?” You let out a nervous giggle and shifted the textbook in front of you.

“I guess I should, since I’m almost failing potions.” Tzuyu raised her eyebrows. This was something she could help with.

“I’m pretty good at potions, I could help you study, if you want.” Your eyes lit up.

“Really?” You looked shocked, almost in disbelief, and Tzuyu found herself smiling one of those rare smiles that were reserved for her closest friends only. You were cute.

“Really. I promise I don’t bite.” You glanced from Momo and then back to her before nodding.

“Well. If it’s really no trouble, I’d really appreciate your help.” Tzuyu flipped open her own potions textbook and took out her quill, spinning it through her fingers.

“It’s no problem, really. Now, what do you need help with?” You perked up and leaned forward, opening your own book and scooting closer to her, and she considered herself successful.

“Well, I stopped understanding things a couple weeks ago...”

-

These library meetings became routine, and eventually they actually started feeling like double dates. Nayeon took the opportunity to tease Tzuyu about it, revenge for the years of teasing from the younger girl, but Tzuyu didn’t really mind. For the first time ever, she had someone who she looked forward to seeing, someone who distracted her from everything else going on in her life. She’d never met anyone who made her feel like you made her feel. And for the first time, she started to worry about being a double agent.

She’d told nobody about what she was doing, shown no one other than other Death Eaters and Dumbledore her mark. But for some reason, she felt like she should tell you, both because she didn’t want you to get hurt because of her, and because she didn’t want you to get attached to her, only for her to die. It was a dark thought, but a real one, that kept her up at night. She’d never loved anyone before, not any more than a friendly sort of love that she had for Nayeon and some of her other friends, like Yeri or Xiyeon. But she knew that she loved you, and that changed everything. It suddenly made what she was doing very, very scary.

She came to the conclusion that she could never tell you, because if you knew, it would only put both of you into danger. She also realized that she should start to distance herself from you, for your own good. But she was still trying to figure out how she’d do it without hurting you when it happened.

You asked her out.

She stood there mouth agape, staring at you. You sat in your normal spot in the secluded library table, except Momo and Nayeon were nowhere to be seen, and you had a blush dusting your cheeks, twisting your hands together.

“I’m sorry, I know you might not want to date me because I’m a Hufflepuff, and I probably made you uncomfortable, and you probably don’t like me-.”

“It’s not that,” she said, finally getting her mouth to work as she surged forward, making you jump. “It’s none of that. I don’t care about your house and I’m not uncomfortable and I do like you. It’s just....” Her heart sunk as she looked at your wide eyes and your lip caught in your teeth. She loved you. And she wanted to tell you that. But she couldn’t. “I’m sorry, I can’t.”

“Why?” Your voice broke as you leaned forward, reaching out to grab her hand. “If it’s just about your house, that doesn’t matter! We can keep it secret, just like Nayeon and Momo! If you like me too, it shouldn’t be a problem.” Her heart surged in her chest, and she had to sit down, slipping into the seat across from you.

“I.... I have a secret. I’m not doing this because of me. I’m doing this to protect you.” Your face twisted and she hung her head.

“You’re a Death Eater, aren’t you. I knew it, Slytherins can’t be trusted, I can’t believe I feel for your façade.”

Tzuyu’s heart dropped and she shook her head, reaching out to grab your hands back. She couldn't take it if you thought she hadn’t been sincere in everything she’d said, and the words came tumbling out before she could stop them. “No! Please, (Y/N), listen to me. I’m not one of them.” There were tears in your eyes, but she kept speaking. “My parents, they are, and they forced me to join, but I’m working for Dumbledore instead, I swear. But it’s dangerous, both for me and for anyone close to me. And I don’t want to see you get hurt, (Y/N). You mean too much to me.” Her voice was soft now, and you were fully crying now, squeezing her hands.

“I’m sorry I assumed the worst.” She swallowed and moved over to join you on the other side of the table to wrap you up in a hug, awkward with affection but wanting to hold you. “But I can take care of myself.”

“I don’t doubt that, but I don’t want you to get hurt because of me.” You sniffed and reached up to cup her face gently in your hands, looking her in the eyes.

“Tzuyu, I love you. I really do. And I’m willing to accept that danger because I love you. I’m already in danger being a student here, what’s a little more danger?”

“And what if I die?” The thought had never scared her before, but now it did.

“I’ll just have to take that risk. I want to be with you, Tzuyu.” You had already made up your mind, and now it was Tzuyu’s turn. She stared down into you earnest eyes and took a deep breath.

“I want to be with you too. But you have to promise me you won’t tell anyone about anything we’ve talked about tonight.”

“I promise.”

-

And so the two of you started to date. For the first time ever, Tzuyu felt truly happy. And for a while, nothing happened and everything was fine.

That was until the war finally started. Although Tzuyu was now a secret part of Dumbledore's Army, she still had to help her parents and the other Death Eaters pull off their crimes. Crimes that made Tzuyu sick to her stomach, unable to watch as her own parents tortured innocent victims after playing good to the Ministry. No matter how much she relayed information to the other students in Dumbledore’s Army, there were plenty of things that they couldn’t stop, and plenty of things that Tzuyu had to play a hand in to keep her cover.

The more she saw of what the Death Eaters could do, the less she wanted you to get involved. Her own parents wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if it was shown that she was the traitor relaying information to the other side, so there would be no mercy towards you, a halfblood Hufflepuff that went against everything the Death Eaters believed in. But no matter how much she begged for you to stay out of it, you refused.

“Everyone is out there fighting,” you said, the day you officially joined Dumbledore’s Army. “You’re risking your life. I can’t just stand by and do nothing. If they get their way, my family is in trouble.” At that moment, Tzuyu knew she wouldn’t be able to convince you otherwise, because you were just as fueled to fight as she was. So she stepped back and let you, hoping with everything in her that nothing would happen to you.

But this was war against some of the most ruthless wizards the wizarding world had ever saw, and you were part of the only force standing in their way. Something was bound to happen.

The day that something happened, Tzuyu was frantic. Although she’d relayed to Dumbledore’s Army that they were heading straight into a trap as both sides tried to reach a piece of the Dark Lord’s soul, the other students had decided to go in anyway, putting themselves directly in harms way in hopes of surprising the Death Eaters by knowing what the trap was and avoiding it.

“You don’t know how dangerous they are,” she hissed from under her cloak, slamming her hands down onto the table. The group was hidden away in a secret room in Hogwarts, the only place where Tzuyu and a few of her Slytherin companions could meet with the group without fear of being seen. “Even if this mission goes well, someone is going to get hurt! They have no mercy, I’ve seen it with my own eyes. You can’t meet them head-on like this.”

“We do know how dangerous they are,” Nayeon challenged, “my parents are Death Eaters! We saw Cedric be murdered! Sorn’s parents were tortured until they went insane, Momo was almost killed on our last mission. Chaewon might never be able to use her arm again because of them. We know. But we have to stop them, so we have no choice!”

Tzuyu’s face twisted. Why didn’t they understand? “All I’m asking is that you come up with a better plan! There’s only so much I can do on my side, and I care too much about all of you for you to get hurt!”

“Tzuyu, calm down.” Jihyo spoke from the head of the table and everyone turned to look at her. “We understand the risks of this mission. But that piece of the soul cannot fall into their hands. We will take your advice and go in the back way so that we only encounter a few Death Eaters instead of all of them. But this is something we have to do.” Jihyo was right, and Tzuyu knew it, but she still let out a sigh and slumped down. “Don’t worry. Nayeon, Suyeon, and I will lead the group and we’ll put our other strongest on the sides, like Sowon and Irene.”

“Just be careful.” Her voice cracked, and you reached over to press a hand to her shoulder, eyebrows furrowed with worry. She was no longer the perfect Slytherin. She was just a scared kid who didn’t want to lose any more friends, and as the room fell quiet, she knew that everyone else was the same. And she couldn’t wait for this war to end.

The day the trap was set into motion, Tzuyu could hardly concentrate on what her parents were telling her to do. She knew that you were coming in on this mission too, and that scared her.

“Tzuyu, dear, are you listening?”

“Hm? Oh, yes. Sorry, I was just thinking.” Her mother raised her eyebrows and crossed her arms.

“I expect you to listen to me when I am speaking.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’m sorry.”

“Lord Voldemort wishes for you to be lookout at the other entrance.” Was this fate? Or did he know something? Tzuyu was glad she was so good at staying stony, because her heart was beating like crazy inside her chest. “I expect that you won’t give any mercy to your classmates if you do see them. Your loyalty lies with Lord Voldemort. Do you hear me?” Tzuyu nodded.

“Yes, ma’am. I understand.”

“Good. Now go. They will be here at any moment.” Tzuyu nodded once more and ducked away, wand clutched so tight in her hand she was afraid she might snap it in half. Even as she approached, she knew. There were other Death Eaters positioned at the back entrance with her. Biting her lip, she desperately wished that she could warn her friends somehow as she climbed into position, nodding at the other wizards. She needed a game plan. But what could she do?

She could always pick off the wizards on her side when the students came in and caused confusion, but if anyone saw it was her, she would be outed. She could send a warning flare, but that would be the same issue. Her plan had originally been to be nowhere around them when they came in, but that wouldn’t work now, and the other students would be no match for the wizards that surrounded her, not even Nayeon and Jihyo. There were too many, too strong.

As she agonized over the situation, she heard it. The sound of brooms flying through the air. Clenching her wand again, she stood up, only to almost collapse back down. You were almost in the front, right behind Jihyo, Nayeon, and Suyeon. She couldn’t let this happen, you would be an easy target. As she stumbled back, looking frantically around at the Death Eaters raising their wands, Jihyo charged in, wand raised and jaw clenched in concentration with the rest of the group following her. Tzuyu held her breath, watching as those on the sides did their best to hold off the spells. And then Nayeon fell, leaving you open, and her eyes landed on one of the Death Eaters pointing his wand at you, opening his mouth to utter the killing spell.

She didn’t even think.

“Ventus!” It was a spell that she wasn’t supposed to know how to wield, a spell not taught at Hogwarts that she’d found deep inside a spell book tucked away in her manor’s library. At her words, the air erupted into a wind that threw the Death Eater’s from their perches and wobbled the brooms of the students even out of its range. There was a yell from one of the Death Eaters below her, but she didn’t even pause, throwing herself down onto the ledge below to point her wand at him. “Stupefy!”

Her cover was gone, but she tried not to think about it as she climbed down to run to Nayeon’s side. “Go inside,” she yelled, “and hurry!” Jihyo nodded and pulled full-stream ahead, but you broke the line and flew down to dismount on the ground beside her, shaking slightly.

“You saved my life,” you said, and she bit her lip, nodding and leaning down to check Nayeon’s pulse. She was still alive, so she’d probably just been hit by a stupefy spell. Still, she needed to be seen, she’d fallen from a high height. “But now your cover is blown.”

“I wasn’t going to let them kill you,” she said, voice stern as she stood up and looked around, wary for any other Death Eaters.

“I knew you were a traitor.” She spun on her heel, wand at the ready, to see her mother standing at the corner, watching her with cold eyes. “You’re a disgrace to the family.” The other students should have been able to get the horcrux by now, and Nayeon’s broom lay on the ground near her. If she could just hold her mother off long enough for them to get back....

“Voldemort is a tyrant,” she said, voice level as she stared back at her mother. “You couldn’t have expected me to sit by and let his actions go unchecked.”

“I expected you to be a loyal daughter.” Her mother’s wand moved from her to you, and Tzuyu gritted her teeth. “And you’ve picked up a halfblood pet? Disgusting.”

“She isn’t a pet, mother. She’s a witch just like me.”

“She is nothing like you. Your blood is pure, your lineage is proud. How could you sully your own family name?”

“I don’t care about the family name, I care about the people who actually love and care about me!”

“You’re a traitor!” Her mother leveled her wand at you and began to utter a curse, and Tzuyu jumped in front of you, eyes hard.

“Crucio!” Her mother dropped to the ground, screaming and writhing in pain, and you gasped.

“Tzuyu, that spell-.”

“We have to show them that we’re willing to fight back. That was for all my friends who have been hurt,” she said, face stony as she bent to pick up Nayeon. “Hurry, everyone is coming back. We have to go before more come.” As she hoisted Nayeon into her arms and picked up the broom, Jihyo emerged, the rest of the group following her.

“Is Nayeon-?”

“She’s alive, I’ve got her! Keep going, we’ll catch up!” The broom was unfamiliar, and it was hard to ride with Nayeon in her arms, but Tzuyu was determined. And as she flew up into the air, you right beside her, she looked back down at her mother.

“Tzuyu, are you okay?” She swallowed and turned her gaze back to you and the rest of the group. She knew she would never be able to see her parents again. She was no longer their daughter. But they had never really loved her anyway.

“I’m okay. You, Nayeon, and the rest of the group, you’re my real family. And I don’t mind risking everything to make sure you’re all safe.” The air was quiet, the chaos of the fight long behind, and you flew close to her side. Everyone had gotten out okay, and Nayeon was still breathing. The war still raged on, but they were all one step closer to victory. And Tzuyu knew this would all be worth it, as long as she could keep protecting the people she loved.

“Thank you. I love you.”

“I love you too.”