#car GPS track er

[rdoverseas01]

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[mediocre-shark-tales]

Singapore GP part 2

Masterlist

The sun bore down on the track as I settled into my car for Practice 3. The heat shimmered off the asphalt, making the circuit look like a mirage in the desert. My engineer’s voice came over the radio as I pulled out of the garage.

“Alright, let’s do a few race simulations. Keep it smooth, and let us know how the balance feels.”

The laps started off fine—steady pace, good feedback from the car. I was starting to feel the groove, envisioning how I’d attack certain corners during the race. But as I hit the apex of Turn 8, something felt... wrong.

“Uh, guys,” I said into the radio, frowning as I fought with the steering. “Something’s off. Feels like I’m losing power on the straights.”

“Copy that, we’re seeing it on the data. Box, box,” came the reply.

I limped back to the pit lane, frustration bubbling under the surface. By the time the mechanics started investigating, I was already out of the car, pacing near the monitors.

“It’s the ERS,” Marcus said after a tense ten minutes. “We’ll need to replace some components, but you’ll be fine for tomorrow.”

I nodded, exhaling sharply. I hated losing track time, especially during a session this crucial, but there wasn’t much I could do. As the minutes ticked by, I watched other drivers complete their runs, mentally taking notes while the mechanics worked on the car.

The next day, Qualifying loomed, and the pressure was palpable. By now, the car was fixed, and I was determined to make up for lost time.

Q1 was smooth—I managed to clock a competitive time and made it to Q2 without a hitch. The car felt sharp, responsive, almost like it was making up for yesterday’s troubles.

By the time we hit Q3, my nerves were a cocktail of excitement and determination. Every corner mattered now.

“Alright, let’s push,” my engineer said as I started my final flying lap.

The car danced through the corners, each turn feeling like an extension of myself. Sector one—purple. Sector two—green. I pushed harder through the final chicane, my tires squealing in protest as I crossed the line.

“P7,” my engineer said over the radio, his tone almost celebratory. “Great lap! Fernando is P6, this is a great look for the team.” 

“What about Franco?”

“Franco in P12.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding, a smile breaking across my face. P7. Not only was I starting in the top ten, but I’d qualified right behind my teammate.

As I climbed out of the car and waved to the fans, I caught sight of Fernando. He gave me a small nod of approval, a gesture that felt like a victory in itself, even if he wasn’t smiling.

Franco, on the other hand, was standing off to the side, shaking his head in mock disbelief when I passed him. “Alright, Hermosa,” he called out with a grin. “Don’t get too comfortable ahead of me.”

I laughed, the weight of yesterday’s frustration finally lifting. Tomorrow was race day, and I was ready to fight.

The city lights of Singapore reflected off the wet streets as the three of us stepped into a cozy restaurant tucked away from the chaos of the paddock. Franco had picked the spot, insisting that it was far enough from the main driver's haunts to avoid the usual media frenzy.

“Table for three,” Franco said with a charming grin as the host led us to a quiet corner.

I slid into the booth beside Lando while Franco took the seat opposite us. The tension from earlier—my battle in Qualifying, the weight of the weekend—started to melt away as the aroma of food filled the air.

“You know,” Lando began, glancing at me with a smirk, “you could’ve let Franco have P7. Would’ve been nice to have you further back so I wouldn’t have to worry about you at the start.”

I laughed, rolling my eyes. “Please, you got pole. Like I’m even in your mirrors.”

“Exactly my point!” Lando teased, and Franco chuckled as he picked up the menu.

As we settled into conversation, my gaze wandered across the restaurant. In the far corner, a table of familiar faces caught my attention—several other drivers were eating together, laughing and chatting like old friends. Fernando, Carlos, Pierre, Alex, and even Sergio were there. For a moment, I felt the sting of exclusion, but I tried to push it aside.

Franco noticed where my eyes had landed and cleared his throat. “You okay, Hermosa?”

I forced a smile. “Yeah, just... didn’t realize everyone else was here.”

“They always do this,” Lando said softly, his tone lacking its usual playfulness. “It’s kind of a thing. They keep it tight-knit, you know?”

I blinked, looking between the two of them. “You knew about this?”

Franco nodded, his expression serious. “We did. And we chose to be here instead.”

Lando leaned closer, his voice quieter but filled with sincerity. “Look, you don’t need them. They’re stuck in their little circle, and they don’t see what you do. You’re proving yourself every single weekend, and if they can’t see that, it’s on them.”

The lump in my throat threatened to choke me, but I managed a small smile. “Thanks, guys.”

Franco grinned, breaking the tension. “Enough of this sappy stuff. Let’s order before I starve.”

The night ended on a lighter note, filled with laughter and stories, the earlier sting of rejection fading as I realized that, with Franco and Lando by my side, I wasn’t entirely alone.

The humidity was oppressive as I sat in my car on race day, the grid bustling with activity. Lando was on pole, radiating confidence, while I prepared for the challenge ahead from P7.

The lights went out, and chaos erupted. I managed to hold my position through the first corner, but the car felt off almost immediately.

“Something’s not right,” I radioed in, fighting to keep control through Turn 5.

“Copy that,” my engineer replied. “We’re seeing it too. Keep pushing if you can; we’ll adjust strategy.”

For the next 15 laps, I wrestled the car, the balance off and the rear sliding unpredictably through the tighter corners. Drivers behind me loomed dangerously close, and I had to dig deep to keep them at bay.

Fernando, in P6, was a constant figure ahead of me. I could feel his presence as both a motivator and a challenge, his car tauntingly steady compared to mine.

Lap by lap, I fought back, leaning into the anger, the determination that had carried me this far. By the final stint, I found a rhythm, the car stabilizing enough for me to push.

When the checkered flag waved, I crossed the line in P6, a mix of exhaustion and relief washing over me.

“P6,” my engineer confirmed. “Well done, great recovery.”

As I rolled back into the pits, I caught sight of Lando climbing out of his car, his arms raised in victory. Pole to win—it was his day. But as he looked toward me, a smile broke across his face, and he gave me a thumbs-up.

Franco jogged over as I climbed out of my car, his grin as wide as ever. “See? I told you you’d survive. Now let’s go find Lando and celebrate.” I laughed, letting the tension of the race melt away. 

Franco and I made our way through the bustling paddock, weaving through the sea of team personnel and media. The cheers from McLaren's garage were unmistakable, and it wasn’t hard to spot Lando—his beaming grin and the sea of orange-clad crew celebrating his victory made him stand out like a beacon.

“There’s our winner!” Franco called out, throwing an arm around Lando’s shoulders as soon as we reached him. “Pole to win, mate! And you were worried you’d choke!”

Lando laughed, shoving Franco lightly. “Please, I was never worried. Just making it look dramatic for you lot.”

“Sure you were,” I teased, stepping closer. “You looked ready to pass out on the grid.”

“I call that focus,” Lando shot back, sticking his tongue out before pulling me into a quick hug. “But seriously, thanks for coming. It means a lot.”

The celebration was warm and chaotic, with McLaren’s garage buzzing with energy. Oscar joined the group a few moments later, his quiet demeanor contrasting with Lando’s exuberance, but he was smiling nonetheless.

“Hey, Oscar,” Franco greeted with his usual charm, nudging me subtly. “You’ve met our girl here, right?”

Oscar nodded, his smile polite but genuine. “We’ve crossed paths a few times. Great job out there, by the way,” he said, glancing at me. “P6 with car troubles? That’s impressive.”

“Thanks,” I replied, genuinely surprised by his compliment.

“She’s been outdriving you for a while, mate,” Lando joked, earning a mock glare from his teammate.

“Careful,” Oscar warned playfully, “I’m still faster in the simulator.”

The banter flowed easily, and I found myself laughing along with them, the weight of the past few weeks easing with every joke and story shared.

At some point, Lando raised his drink—a bottle of water, still in full celebration mode but with tomorrow in mind. “To good races, great friends, and proving every doubter wrong.”

The four of us clinked our bottles together, the unspoken camaraderie cementing itself in the shared moment.

As the night wore on, I couldn’t help but notice how seamlessly Oscar fit into the dynamic. While quieter than Franco and Lando, he had a subtle wit that added to the conversation, and his genuine interest in getting to know me felt like a small but meaningful victory.

“Guess we’ve got a new regular for our dinner outings,” Franco remarked as we started to head out.

“Careful,” Lando quipped, “Oscar’s competitive. He might take over my friend spot.”

Oscar smirked. “Not a chance. I’m not sure I can handle both of you.”

We all laughed as we left the McLaren garage, the Singapore night alive with energy. For the first time in weeks, I felt like part of something bigger than just the race. It wasn’t about the rumors, the past, or the doubters anymore. It was about moments like these—building friendships that could weather whatever the world threw at us.

And as I walked back to the hotel that night, surrounded by laughter and lighthearted teasing, I knew one thing for sure: I wasn’t alone anymore.

[chibrary]

“Brrrrrr!” says Charles Leclerc, on a chilly late afternoon in a São Paulo that’s enveloped in grey and pendulous cloud.

Cruelly denied a coat by our photographer, Charles hastens from the back of the Sauber garage to the welcoming environs of the team unit as soon as his duties are concluded. Glenn, our snapper, replaces a lens cap and shakes his head ruefully. “You can’t treat ‘em like kids,” he says. “Otherwise it starts with you letting them wear a coat and ends with you having to take all the blue M&MS out of the bowl…”

Perhaps in some cases, but Charles Leclerc is emphatically not cut from junior diva cloth. Though F1 starwrangler Nicolas Todt has steered his career, Leclerc’s talent and singular determination has provided the momentum. There is not a hint of the silver spoon about his rise to prominence, and that comes across in the respectful politesse with which he unfailingly conducts himself.

Now seated and beginning to thaw, Charles holds the question deck between finger and thumb and regards it with genuine surprise. “All these are from fans?” he asks, agog at how an F1 rookie could possibly generate so much interest.

Well, there’s a reason for that… [...]

source: gp racing (uk) series: 2018, f1

What does the underside of Alonso's car look like? David Foulston, UK CL: The underside? What's the underside? [The penny drops] Ah! Yes, when he went flying over me [at the start of the Belgian Grand Prix]. I tell you, it happened so fast that I could barely see anything. I certainly wasn't going to analyse it [technically]. It was definitely black, but that's the only thing I can say.

F1 Racing: Surely, given their relative position in the championship, Sauber don't have much to learn from Mclaren at the moment any- way… CL: Ah… [He glances in the direction of team PR Mia, who responds in startled fashion to F1R'S cheeky query. Charles giggles, though whether this is at the question or its effect on his colleague is un- clear]

In your company car, have you beaten the best commute times from Monaco to Modena set by Gilles Villeneuve and Jody Scheckter? Phil Darby, UK CL: [Laughs again] Errrrr… no! I'm not so quick on the road. F1R: In your position, you need to be responsible. CL: Definitely.

F1R: Were you aware there was a record each of them tried to break? CL: To get to the grand prix? F1R: To get to the Ferrari factory when Enzo rang up. They'd say, "Okay, be there in five minutes…" CL: [Laughs] For sure, I could never get to the factory that quickly. I'm not really racing on the road.

Is there any circuit you would love to see added to the F1 calendar? Matt Lloyd, UK CL: Laguna Seca. Even though it's very… yeah, I don't think F1 could go there in reality.

F1R: The run-off at the Corkscrew isn't very wide, and there's a cliff on the other side.

CL: Yeah? That would make it more, er, challenging… F1R: According to folklore, the corner is how it is because they were driving the bulldozer along, got to the edge of the drop, and then just turned left. CL: Nice story. But is it true?

What is your biggest fear? Severine Covens, UK

CL: Oh, snakes. F1R: Is it the creepy dryness of the scales, or their rasping forked tongues that creep you out? CL: I don't really know - I'm just not liking these animals. F1R: Have you ever actually encountered a snake? CL: I did, in Australia. Haven't you seen the pictures? I have it all round my neck. [He shudders at the memory] You'll have to ask the Sauber people why they did it…

What was the first car you drove? Kamil Zaotkowski, Poland CL: I really shouldn't say, because I was quite young!

What is your favourite childhood memory with Jules Bianchi? Chloe Hewitt, UK CL: Probably every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday at his track. [Jules Bianchi's father managed the kart circuit at Brignoles] That and his birthdays in Saint-tropez. All the races we did together in karting. Fun times. F1R: Did you get to go to his party after he finished in the points in the Monaco Grand Prix? CL: No, I was too young, and in Monaco they're quite strict with things like that.

[captainnameless]

Yes to that last anon! I can just imagine Max (and let’s be real Lando too) just taking off sprinting with a shout of VAMOS

Nap time? “vamos!!” and they’ve scattered, time to tidy up? VAMOS

Carlos asks them to do anything and suddenly Max can only speak Spanish (magically it seems they don’t understand Papa’s Spanish just their own 😉)

no bc:

“Vamos?”

There’s a chuckle that Carlos cannot help from escaping, catching Max’s eyes while he steps out of the Ferrari hospitality.

“Your new favorite word, no?” He asks, amused, ruffles Max’s hair as he moves past him, waits a split second to makes sure Max follows. “But yes, we’re going. Where’s Lando?”

Max shrugs, quickens his step to walk alongside Carlos, suppressing a yawn into his palm. “He went ahead.”

Carlos notices the yawn, figures it’s gonna be a relatively relaxing night. He knew Lando had wanted to go down and had been a little surprised when Max has showed up too after media. Figured he would be out partying with his team after the 10 consecutive wins, a history breaking record after all. But Max desperately needed a break, the stress and pressure of today seeping out of him after having delivered, Daniel still being hurt and the news of him possibly not returning for Singapore having it’s effects too.

“I can ask GP, if it’s too much.” Max had muttered, sort of partially hiding behind Lando who looked offended at the suggestion. Carlos quickly spoke before Lando could.

“Of course not, Max. You’re always welcome.”

They meet up at with Lando at the gates, saying his goodbyes to Alex before he joins them.

“I’ll meet you guys at the hotel.” Max speaks, opening the door to his car. “Take a shower first.”

Carlos nods, shoots him a smile, momentarily distracted which gives Lando the opportunity to slide into the drivers seat.

“Too slow!” He grins, beeping the horn. “Vamos!”

Carlos suppresses a groan while he slides into the passenger seat, might not be the relaxing night he’d been expecting.

- - -

Max shows up in sweats and a T-shirt two sizes too big for him. His hair’s still damp and his cheeks are flushed from the hot shower. He looks soft and sleepy. Carlos figures he’s only a kiss and a cuddle away from falling asleep, Lando on the other hand-

“Maxie Max!” Lando’s shouting from a few feet behind Carlos, scrambling to get up from where he’d been sat cross legged on the floor puzzling, a desperate attempt from Carlos to get him to settle down.

Lando’d gotten into a new phase where he’d go into ADHD mode when he’s clearly tired, trying to keep himself awake. Puzzling usually quieted him down significantly, sat between Carlos’ legs but not today, the promise of his friend joining him for a sleep over.

“Lando, tranquilo.”

“No, tranquilo! Vamos!” The smaller brunette moves past Carlos to grab Max’s arm, pulling him over to where he was sitting before.

Carlos groans as Max giggles, allowing himself to be pulled along, backpack dropping at Carlos’ feet.

So much for his relaxing night.

Carlos allows them to puzzle for a bit, up until they decide the puzzle pieces make excellent weapons and start throwing them at each other in a made up game of war.

“Alright! Alright,” Carlos calls out when he’s hit square in the face. “Time for bed.”

There’s a simultaneous “Nooooooo!”

“Clean up then brush your teeth.” Carlos simply replies, not entertaining their disapproval.

Lando blinks up at the elder before scrambling to his feet. “Vamos, Max! Brush our teeth, Papa’ll clean up.”

Carlos gawks for a second while he watches Max scramble up a little more clumsy, clearly still more exhausted than Lando is before following after him.

“Eres un mocoso!” Carlos calls after him, stopping Lando dead in his tracks.

“Hey!” Because he knows that word. “I’m not a brat!”

Carlos laughs. “Oh so you know more words than vamos? How about travieso?”

Max looks stumped while Lando puts on his frowny face, his Spanish does not go behind counting to ten, hi and bye and now vamos.

“I’m not naughty.” Lando huffs back, crossing his arms over his chest.

“You gonna help Papa clean up the puzzle?”

Lando groans dramatically, turns to Max. “Papa can’t clean up the puzzle, so I’ll help him, you can brush your teeth okay?”

Max nods, tiredness consuming him more now that their game is over and disappears into the bathroom after getting his backpack.

“Good boy,” Carlos praises, pressing a kiss to Lando’s head when he’s in reach.

- - -

Carlos is used to having little space while sleeping with Lando, the younger usually attached to him as much as possible but even with the big hotel beds it’s a snug fit for the three of them, and Leo.

“I like Leo.” Lando comments, mostly on top of Carlos so he can reach over and pet the plush in Max’s hand.

“Me too.” Max smiles, another yawn leaving him while he cuddles a little bit closer to Carlos side. “Carlos?”

“Hmm?” Carlos hums, struggling to keep his own eyes open as the weekend’s exhaustion catches up to him.

“Can I call Daddy to say goodnight?”

It’s not like Carlos would’ve said no anyway, but now he really can’t, cause Lando shoots up from his cuddle spot with a cheer. “Danny!”

They’re in the same time zone, so Daniel answers on the second ring, greeted by a mix of Danny’s and Daddy’s.

“You look snug.” Daniel comments with a chuckle, once the boys have settled down.

Carlos smiles. “I am.”

“Daddy sleep with us?” Max pipes up, and Daniel is not one to deny those sleepy puppy eyes, which is how Carlos’ phone screen ends up on Max’s side of the bed, the brightness all the way down and Max’s side squished into the pillow next to it, Carlos’ arm around him while Lando’s barely awake against his chest.

He has a surprisingly good sleep.

[vro0m]

vro0m’s rewatch - 159/310

2015 Belgian GP

Alright. We're back after the summer break, it's round 11, officially the second part of the season and we have minimal broadcast as always nowadays. NOPE FOUND IT.

I remember I hated 2014 Belgian GP because I started by writing I think I like Spa and then everything went to shit– OH RIGHT WAIT I'd already forgotten it was the season turning point with the Long Review, Jesus. I don't know what to hope for this time.

It fucken wimdy. To the point we have a full shot of just the Spa forest undulating to really Show Us.

A little bit of context. It's Ferrari's 900th GP. They celebrated by announcing Raikkonen's 1-year contract extension in the week prior. Merc came with a new low-downforce rear wing. RBR tried two different new rear wings. McLaren came with a new power unit and a new engine cover but warned that the gains might not be visible until Singapore + a tray design for the front of the floor, lower sidepods and a new radiator positioning to cool the ERS. 

New regs were also introduced : drivers are now only allowed to adjust one clutch level after leaving the pit for the starting grid. I'm unsure what it means. 

The Lotus team has had legal troubles with Pic that I think I mentioned in the 2015 context in the Australian GP review. He claimed some breach of contract or something. Because of the legal proceedings, there was a possibility that the Lotus cars would be impounded after the GP. In the end, Bernie stepped in "to ensure staff were paid" and the cars were returned, allowing the team to race in Italy after this GP. 

Verstappen managed to get through Q1 even though he complained of a loss of power. Raikkonen stopped on track during Q2 due to a loss of oil pressure, qualifying in 15th on the grid. Max did not take part in Q2 due to his car's issues and was ranked 14th. Lewis' first hot lap was almost half a second faster than Nico's, and that's about how they qualified. Valtteri was 3rd, 1.3 seconds behind Lewis. Then it was Grosjean in 4th and Perez in 5th. Seb was only 9th.

BUT WAIT because there were penalties. The McLarens had already been given exceptional permission to use an additional PU in 2015, using their 6th in Hungary, and then came back with completely revised 7th PUs on both their cars. It meant a 50 place grid penalty for Jenson and a 55 place grid penalty for Alonso. Yep. You read that right. Verstappen also received a 10 place grid penalty for a 6th PU. Grosjean and Raikkonen both received a 5 place grid penalty for a gearbox change. 

In the end, the top 10 at the start was Lewis, Nico, Valtteri, Perez, Daniel, Massa, Maldonado, Seb, Grosjean and Sainz. 

Lewis thus became the first driver to get on pole six consecutive times since Schumacher, who did so in-between the '00 and '01 season, while Mika Hakkinen was the last one to do it in one season in '99.

Alright now let's see what I missed in the build-up at the time I wrote this. 

Of his quali Lewis said the first lap was great, and he hoped it would be enough. He knew it put a lot of pressure on Nico for the next run. The next lap he did was one of the closest to perfect he thinks he's ever done. 

Ted has been filmed walking around a forest at night to tell the tale of the curse of Spa aka a recap of all the times Lewis got unlucky at this track. And yeah. That's a lot. In 2007, he was pushed wide by Alonso in Eau-Rouge. In 2008, he won but he was penalised after the race for cutting a chicane and lost the win. In 2009, Alguersuari crashed into him. (In 2010 he won so it's not mentioned.) In 2011, Ted says he was slow on track. I mean sure but more notably he spun and crashed and DNFd. Oh sorry, now he mentions it, I thought he was done talking lmao. In 2012, Grosjean managed to take 4 cars out with him in a crash, including Lewis. In 2013, he was on pole and got a good start but got overtaken by Seb, who won. And in 2014, of course, he was taken out by Nico. So that's 4 DNFs in 6 Belgian GPs. Well well well. 

Lewis and Nico are doing a joint side track interview again. He's very happy about the qualifying performance but he needs to translate it into race wins, he says. Johnny says to them they must have bad memories of last year, are they gonna stay as aggressive? Nico says of course, they're gonna keep battling. Johnny asks Lewis if he has plans for the start. Lewis jokes that if he did he wouldn't tell him.

Johnny says he seems to be the man of the moment and then stutters on the word momentum. Lewis makes fun of him. Then he says qualifying has been great as he said and he's happy they have a great crowd today and he hopes they'll put on a great show for them. Then Johnny says today's very important for Nico's claim on the title, how hungry is he? He says of course every race counts. 

Back to the broadcast, Simon says that was a bit earlier and Johnny is now lurking around behind the camera. "What were you doing?" he asks, "rapping?" They laugh. He shrugs with a smile. It happens. 

Well there really wasn't much in this broadcast but here you have it anyway. Let's get to the race. 

Formation lap. 

Hulkenberg is already reporting no power, he was already having issues during quali if I understand correctly. He's told to pit. Then he's told to take the start and not pit. 

They're all ready but Hulkenberg is waving in his cockpit. Aborted start.

Second formation lap. 

Hulkenberg left his box but then stopped. His team tells him they'll pull him back in the pits. Now it's Sainz saying he has no power. He's called into the pitlane as well. 

Both cars are into the garages and may or may not join the race at some point. 

The others are racing! 

It seems like a normal start but in the end, three cars are ahead of Nico into the first corner. That's weird. OH MY GOD AND PEREZ OVERTAKES LEWIS FOR THE LEAD A FEW CORNERS LATER WTF. No wait he didn't, he was shown as such on the graphics but he actually had to fall back phew. Seb also got a great start btw he's up in 6th. Lewis is now flying away and Nico overtakes Valtteri for P4. He attacks back but it's Seb getting ahead of him now. Maldonado has lost the engine and is very slow on track. He retires. Verstappen overtakes Ericsson for P10. Kvyat overtakes Massa for P8. Sainz came back out on the track from the garages but he's now also slow af. Lewis is setting fastest lap after fastest lap. Daniel pits from P3, they're trying to undercut I guess, but it seems early to do that. Grosjean overtakes Valtteri for P5. Perez pits from P2, and it worked for RBR as Ricciardo is ahead. Yellow flags blinked shortly as Kvyat went wide after a lock up. Massa is called in. 

It's lap 10. Lewis is 8.4 seconds in the lead ahead of Nico. Seb is not far behind in P3. Then it's currently Grosjean, then Kvyat and Massa and Verstappen all pit as I'm writing, then Raikkonen, Ricciardo and Perez. Raikkonen is called in from P4. Nico is called in as well, before Lewis. Crofty thinks it's because Daniel, who's currently P4, is really pressuring them. Nico is out ahead of him as well as Perez, but Perez attacks! He can't make it though. Lewis is called in, he stays in the lead. Oh. Valtteri gets a drive through for "incorrect tyres fitted"? Seb pits. Nico sets the fastest lap. Grosjean overtakes Ricciardo for P4. 

Lap 20. Lewis is leading by 3.1 after the pit stops, still ahead of Nico. Behind them Grosjean is attacking Perez for P3 and overtakes him easily. Daniel is P5 ahead of Seb, Kvyat, Massa who's being attacked by Raikkonen and Verstappen is P10. Oh! And Daniel was attacking for P4 but as we're watching his on-board, he locks up and then stops completely on the main straight! That's a bad place to stop too, just at the exit of the corner… DRS is disabled, VSC, the gaps are frozen. Of course a lot of people dive in the pits. Perez actually pitted as Daniel had his issue. Massa pits. Grosjean pits. Raikkonen pits. Lewis asks how Nico gained a second under VSC. It's a good question, but the VSC is over now and people are racing. Perez is told they need to make his tyres last to the end, that's 20 laps, not impossible. The sky is darkening. Are we gonna see rain? I'm kinda bored. Oh no Seb is having issues? He's told to change some things on the steering wheel and he answers a bit high pitched that it doesn't react. Kvyat pits. Seb, much calmer : "Think about an extra stop if that makes sense" and he's told they're looking into it.

It's lap 30. Kvyat overtakes Valtteri for P9. Lewis : "Track has changed, I think I need another half hole back in." It's about front wing specs. Kvyat sets the fastest lap. Lewis is called in. "My tyres are still good, can I do one more?" he asks. "Negative Lewis, this is the fastest race, Nico will take the stop otherwise." He obeys. He's out in P2. Nico is called in, and Lewis is back in the lead. 

10 laps to go. Nico sets the fastest lap. Behind the Mercs the order goes Seb, Grosjean, Perez currently under pressure from Massa, Raikkonen not far behind them, then Kvyat, Valtteri and Verstappen. Sainz finally retires. Kvyat overtakes Raikkonen. There's a four-way fight over P5. 

5 laps to go. Grosjean is told to go get Seb. He's indeed only half a second behind but come on I'd rather have a sewis podium please. To make up for the boring race. Kvyat is warned over track limits. Verstappen overtakes Valtteri for P9. Kvyat overtakes Massa for P6 and they almost make contact. And Kvyat overtakes Perez for P5. OH NO! SUDDEN PUNCTURE FOR SEB ohhh nooooooooo. There's just a lap and a half to go… Sucks. Verstappen overtakes Raikkonen for P7 but locks up, goes wide and drifts onto the run-off area. Back in P8. 

It's the end of the race. 

Lewis wins ahead of Nico for the Nth time this season. Grosjean P3. Welp it was an eventful start but actually kinda boring after that. 

The video glitches just as Nico and Lewis shake hands so I can't gif it lol. Grosjean seems baffled to be here. Nico and him talk in French, obvi. Nico says something about "ta caisse" (your car, but slang) and Grosjean says "incroyable, incroyable ! J'partais 9 en plus !" (incredible, incredible! I started 9th on top of that !) then it's drowned out by the hostesses applauding outside and then he says "j'étais derrière lui, derrière lui, derrière lui, pfiou" (I was behind him, behind him, behind him, phew) The merc representative says he's very lucky and Grosjean nods as he pours water into his mouth and all over himself like a toddler. Lewis is nowhere to be seen.

Bono is in the crowd looking very proud of his boy.

It's DC doing the interviews. It's Lewis' 39th win, his 80th podium, equalling Ayrton Senna. Lewis asks the crowd if they're good. They roar. He thanks them as usual. He says he's had a great weekend, "again, an amazing job done by the team." He's drowned out by the fans cheering and chanting his name. It's unbelievable! 

DC says the only time he thought Lewis could get concerned was after the virtual safety car when Nico somehow got closer. Anything else? He says Nico had obviously good pace but he was able to answer to him most of the time. The car was feeling great so he was relaxed and just mostly looking after the tyres, and especially at the end after he saw one tyre had exploded on another car he was really cautious, and that's why Nico was catching him at the end. But he felt really under control the whole time and great assistance from the team. 

Nico gets a lot of noise from the crowd too. As does Grosjean wow. 

DC asks Lewis if although it's still close with Nico he's starting to feel like he might get another title. He says it's definitely way too early for that. He says you just wanna get these pole positions and translate them into wins. 

After the race, Seb criticised Pirelli's tyres, pointing out that Nico also suffered a failure during practice. He deemed it unacceptable and said if Nico said he didn't go off track then he didn't, as he has no reason to lie and that he himself didn't go off track and the tyre exploded out of the blue. He saw it as a safety risk. Pirelli's director Paul Hembrey said he did not want to start a war of words with Seb but that they were concerned when they saw that the teams intended to do a big number of laps on one set of tyres, as nothing suggested to them that they would go for one-stop strategies but rather two or three stop strategies. Nico backed Seb saying this shouldn't happen and pointed out it also happened in other categories. He said they both were "so lucky" as if it had happened a bit earlier or later it would have caused bad crashes for them, something Seb also mentioned. He called for immediate action as the next GP was to be Monza, which is a very fast one. Pirelli reacted by asking for a maximum stint length for their tyres, something they'd already suggested at the end of 2013. They then announced that they'd found cuts on other team's tyres, especially the rear ones, and that they were investigating the cause. Seb reiterated that his team was not at fault and that their strategy wasn't risky. Ultimately, Pirelli's conclusion was that Seb's blowout was due to debris and not excessive tyre wear. 

Max was singled out for his overtake on Nasr in Blanchimont. He ultimately received an Action of the Year award from the FIA at the end of the year ceremony for it. 

I've found Lewis' interview with Will Buxton. He asked him how it felt to be back on the top step after the summer break. He says it feels amazing. "Sometimes you wonder if a good thing is followed by another good thing."

He says he had an amazing holiday and so he was wondering if the happiness would last and it has. He says qualifying was ridiculous, and he smiles, and it gets a chuckle out of the journalist amassed around him.

He's happy with his race, he didn't have to overpush or overdrive. The balance was really nice and he's very happy with the outcome. Will Buxton or whatever journalist says last year Nico got the pole trophy and this year nobody can seem to beat him and he's said he's been on top of sector 2 this weekend which he never was before. The question is how much does he feel that with each passing race he's becoming more and more complete. He hums. He says generally this year he's growing into his thirties, "the start of a new era for me", he thinks he's growing wiser and stronger, mentally also, with the pole positions he's getting and the results he's getting. "I think I'm growing generally as a man so that's reflecting in how I drive and the decisions that I take and a lot of things I do." He smiles. "How worrying is that for everyone else," he's told. "Hum… Hopefully it should be very worrying," he laughs.

I also found the BBC interview. The journalist tells him Niki said he absolutely raised his game. "You must agree with that," she says. He says it feels good and the weekend has definitely been fantastic.

He says he as always has to take his hat off to his team that's has done an incredible job again this weekend. From the ones building the cars to the engineers. "Me and Nico wouldn't have been able to do that without them." 

He says he's coming back from the best holiday he's ever had with such a facial expression that I'm wondering what happened there,

and that it gave him even more drive to get the pole positions and turn them into wins. He says he's really happy within himself because he drove his heart out. She asks if this is the strongest he's felt in his F1 career. "I think so, yeah." then he adds : "I mean… I felt good today, when I woke up, I was like 'yeah. I got this'".

He remembers it wasn't the case in the last race. "But definitely I feel… Not only the strongest just, but in general the happiest I've genuinely been in my life." He says he loves his job, he's grateful he gets to drive F1 cars every other weekend, it's the greatest job in the world and he has to seize it with both hands and enjoy, which he does, "and in my personal life enjoy it as much as I can!"

He's truly in a very good mood.

(This gif is just for me because I have a thing for intense staring, don’t mind me.)

She says when things are so good he's not wishing his days away to Monza, "you're in a great place at the moment." He says even when the days weren't good he wasn't wishing days to go by (it's a lie but it's okay, we all wanna forget about 2009) because he's "very very aware" that time flies by, "I'm already halfway through my career if not more"... Oh my god. Wait. I can't with this interview. "Erm in my formula 1 career, and it feels like it was only yesterday that I started in Melbourne so I really want to… I don't want it to go…”

“I'm not looking forward to the day that I hang my helmet up but erm…"

"There's room for a few more championships before then." – "I hope so, I hope so." 

(btw given this was 2015 so his 9th year, according to this interview he's stopping in 2024 lol, 2023 being his 17th year in F1.)

Anyway let's see the postrace content now that it’s been uploaded.

Hill says Lewis is watching Nico all the time, as he's been able to tell he gained 1 second under VSC. It shows how in control he is. 

Ted tells Niki they got a perfect result. It's unfortunate for the Ferraris but they score no points. Niki says they went very long, he has to say. But Lewis, Nico and the whole team did an incredible job. "Mercedes is back, I have to say, after Budapest so..." He just thanks everybody. Everybody involved is working hard. They were a bit depressed after Budapest but now it's fantastic, it's the way it should be. 

Let's hear from Lewis. (Again.) He says he'd definitely say this is a "so-so circuit" for him, he's not won a lot here and it's never been easy, but he's happy with this weekend's performance. Particularly qualifying. The race was managing what he had, the gap he had, the tyres… "Nico was exceptionally fast today, but I didn't really feel like I was incredibly under pressure, I was able to match when I needed to so erm… Super happy." He says he was 5 years old when he started watching Ayrton, and he doesn't know what age he was when he wanted to emulate him, but thinking he has the same amount of podiums doesn't feel real.

She asks about the start because in the last race he apparently said having to do a second start it affected his clutch. He says he wasn't nervous, you can't allow yourself to get nervous for the start anyway, but he did the restart and was focused on keeping his car cooled and when he did the restart he did the appropriate sequence to make sure he wasn't overheating it and it turned out "relatively good". He says he did get wheelspin, like Nico did, but he managed to control a bit better and maintain the lead. She asks if he was surprised to see Perez alongside him. He says he was generally happy, and starts laughing, that it wasn't Nico.

He says Sergio was great, he says he thinks if it had been Nico it might have been a different outcome. (He says both ‘obviously’ and ‘probably’ in the sentence, you interpret that as you want lol) He's really glad the day went the way it did. She reminds him of the WDC standings and asks at what point he allows himself to think of a third world title. He says you really have to take it one race at a time. At no point you can get overly excited and think you've got it. But he's very happy with the car, so as long as he continues doing what he's doing and stays focused and healthy, he feels good about it, he finally admits.

Later, he says he's had such a good break and feels super refreshed. He has to interrupt himself to wave to the fans that are yelling. He says they can't imagine how at peace he feels in his heart after coming out of this great break, getting pole and it translating into a win. Brundle says it just seemed easy, he seemed in the groove. He says you don't always get the car where you want it but he did this weekend and same in the last race. He says he and his engineers are gelling more than ever and are working better than they've ever worked together. Together they've put a really good package and the car was feeling beautiful.

Brundle asks him about his position on the tyres given Seb and Nico's comments. He asks for clarifications. Brundle says Seb especially has been very punchy. Lewis says "yeah I'm sure, I'm sure." with an empathetic tone. He says both of them had "fairly big incidents" and that it was just lucky that both of them happened at a stage when it wasn't too detrimental or unsafe. They never ever want that to happen. They always want to be able to go out there with confidence that there won't be any problems. However he says he's heard that for Seb, they went too long on the tyres. So it's not necessarily fully down to the tyres. But if it had happened just a bit before it would have been in Eau Rouge which could have been "quite nasty". He says the FIA and the teams work closely with Pirelli and Pirelli will learn from this weekend.

Simon says he's had a fair share of bad luck in Spa. He nods with a smile. He asks if it's nice to have the perfect weekend here. Lewis says it's a very difficult track. For some reason there are tracks that really suit you and tracks you struggle at more. This is one of those tracks he's struggled at a little bit more (full emphasis on a little bit). He says he's had good results when it was raining, "it makes it easier for me" he half-jokes, but this weekend he thinks he did the best and extracted the most he could out of what's a weaker circuit for him.

Brundle asks what about Perez breathing alongside him in the first lap. Lewis smiles and tilts his head. They're all chuckling a bit like it's really really weird that he did such a thing.

Lewis echoes his earlier answer to that. "Well, better him than anyone else." He says again Perez was very fair. He tried to keep everybody behind but he followed him aaall the way. Brundle says he went wide a little bit. Lewis says he went in there nailing it then the back end bottomed a little bit and slid and he still kept it going, "I was like 'I'm NOT lifting'!"

And Perez slowly caught him but as long as he covered the inside, that's all he could do, and then he fortunately outbraked him. He's grateful for the way it came out because it made the race much easier, he chuckles. Brundle says the only other break in his serene afternoon was the VSC, he thought Nico might have gained on him? Lewis says what happens is you hear beep beeps and the screen changes and you have to brake very heavily to slow down to hit the delta. When you're driving at some point you see the other driver behind you appear so you know what the gap is. And when the VSC started he was maybe four seconds behind but during it he was closer than ever so he thought surely he'll have to fall back for the restart which he never did. Which is why he wondered. Because he did not make a mistake so there was no reason for him to be that much closer. He says he needs to go figure out where he lost that second but dismisses it saying it wasn't a big problem anyway.

Simon says he's 28 points ahead in the WDC standings so one DNF clear and asks if that's something in his mind, wanting to keep it above that. Lewis says he doesn't look at it that way because naturally as a team you never want a DNF. Simon insists that it gives him leeway though. He says for sure, but last year he crashed in this race and was 29 points behind when he came out of Spa. So it's been way more positive up until now. His goal coming back from this great holiday (seriously what did he do?) into this part of this season was to translate the great laps he does in quali into results and wins. And hopefully today was the start of it. Brundle asks if he's got on top of Nico, does he think mentally Nico realises he can't beat him? (way to put him in a tough spot) He says he thinks as a driver you never– it's very rare you see a driver fall to that belief. They still believe that they're better and all that, "whether it's true or not". He says he remembers when he was driving with Alonso. "Fernando could never believe why sometimes I was quicker, he was like 'there must be something wrong with the car cause I'm the best'. That's what he would say. To himself, I know. For sure." He says Nico's very strong, he's gonna come back and keep fighting, he knows that he still has that belief in himself, which is fine by him, no problem. 

For some reason they start talking about Notting Hill carnival and twerking. I'm at a loss. 

[detroit-grand-prix]

Wildest Dreams Chapter 10 - A Place In This World

Chapter summary: Phoebe finds out that the life of a rising racing driver is difficult and busy. Post-season testing for F2 teams is soon, and she's just trying to make sure she's ready.

Content warning: None.

Chapter word count: 3,637

Author’s notes: I don't actually know if F1 simulators can be switched around to load the specs of multiple cars. That part is completely made up, but I imagine it's technically possible, as even the F1 video games have the GP2/F2 cars available, even if it's not something a team would actively DO. I watched a video of someone in the Mercedes sim that was pretty fascinating though. You can watch that here.

And by the sound of it, the 2016 Abu Dhabi GP was messy as hell. It sounds like only the 2021 iteration was messier.

Previous Chapter

Brackley, Northampton, England, United Kingdom November, 2016

Bee had an early meeting with Gwen the day after she got back in from Mexico. She was a bit tired from jet lag, but she was very happy to be back in Brackley again. She stopped and got a coffee from the canteen’s coffee shop (and smiled as she imagined Natalie running the place). She didn’t even normally like coffee, but it felt like it was going to be that kind of day. 

“Well, I have good news,” Gwen told her when they met. “We got you a test with a GP2… er, F2 team. The good thing about the team you’re testing with is that they also run in the GP3 series, so we can kill two birds with one stone. Ideally, you’ll end up in F2, but if not, spending a season in GP3 isn’t a bad thing - GP3 races are support events for Grands Prix, so you’ll still be traveling with the team and you’ll have all of the infrastructure of the Grand Prix environment.”

“Okay, uh… well, what team am I testing with?”

“It’s a French team, called DAMS. you’ll be testing with the GP2 car, which is good. Both the GP2 and GP3 cars have similar chassis, and both of them are spec series, so every team uses the same exact car. So, you’ll be in Abu Dhabi for the Grand Prix and post-season testing afterward. That’s going to be November 30th through December 2nd. Correct me if I’m wrong, you’ve not been to Yas Marina, right?”

“No, not yet. I’ve only done tracks in Europe.”

“Okay. So, we’re definitely going to want to get you working in the sim before then, but we just need to make sure that you get a handle on the course before you go. But we’ll need to see how your fitness is coming along, you have a physical this afternoon with the trainers later, right?”

“That’s the plan.”

Before that, though, she had her fitting for her new suit and helmet for testing. She saw the DAMS suit, and liked it. It was navy blue - not quite the same shade as her old Red Bull Racing suit, but a richer sort of blue. It also had nice lighter blue accents, and the stock team helmet was blue and white. “Not a terrible color scheme,” Bee thought. In the end, Bee's opinion on her racewear didn't matter much, but if she was going to have to wear a team kit most of the time, she'd at least like something that looked nice.

She looked at her measurements before they were sent off to Sparco, the manufacturer of DAMS’ suits. It had been a while since she’d been measured for gear, and she’d probably grown a little bit, but it looked like she’d had some gains, especially in her neck circumference and arms. It was probably a good sign for her physical that afternoon.

She ate a light lunch at the canteen (the Mercedes factory had excellent food) and found a lounge to read in for a bit, until she headed to the factory’s gym to change for her physical.

She met up with the trainer again in the gym, and essentially ran the same battery of tests she did a few months ago - BATAK reaction timing, leg presses, neck weights, and a cardio test. 

“Excellent job, Phoebe.” The trainer said. “Much improved, I’m impressed. You’ve been putting the work in, clearly. You’re not quite ready for game time yet, but I think you’re ready for the sim, and you’ll definitely be ready for testing if you keep this up.”

She was relieved. She had been a bit short on time since signing on with Mercedes, so she had to be extra-diligent, which was difficult with all of the travel. She'd been making use of hotel gyms and doing bodyweight exercises where she could. Making sure that she was getting enough calories and covering her macronutrients was difficult, too. She was lucky that she could eat at the Mercedes motorhome while she was at the races, because they did serve decent meals.

Sessions in the simulator would come later in the week. They had the ability to set the sim up with a profile to match the chassis and engine for the previous years’ spec of GP2 car, and the GP2 car was not changing for the upcoming season. It was the closest she’d get to driving the actual car before testing. She spent the rest of the afternoon watching and studying onboard footage from Lewis and Nico’s previous runs on the circuit, trying to get an idea of how the circuit worked from a driver’s perspective. 

She took extensive notes - just from the video, she could already tell that it wasn’t going to be one of her favorite tracks. The two long straights were followed immediately by slow left-right combination turns, meaning that if you got inside at the end of the straight, you would immediately be on the outside, and starting the turns on the outside just wouldn’t work. The rest of the course were all a series of turns, like it was trying to emulate a street circuit. It seemed to make overtaking difficult, and she was a decent overtaker. She also checked lap times from the previous years’ sprint and feature races in the GP2 series, just to get an idea of the pace she had to aim for. 

Bee had some free time the next morning, and sent Susie a WhatsApp message to see if she was in the UK and if she’d be able to visit.

“I’d love to see you, but I am in Ermatingen right now. I definitely want to hear all about how things have been going lately. We’ll be able to see each other soon, though. I heard you’ll be in Abu Dhabi, and I will be there as well for C4.” 

Bee had forgotten that Susie had taken on commentary duties for a British TV channel this season. Their commentary panel had a few other personalities that took turns rotating around for each race. Susie hadn’t been at the US or Mexico Grands Prix, but she wasn’t sure if that was due to their regular announcer rotation or the announcement of her pregnancy.

They chatted a little while. Bee told Susie about the woman on the airplane, which Susie thought was touching, especially that Adelle had remembered that she had done testing for Williams. Bee told Susie about how her physical test went (“I’m so glad to hear that, I know you’ve been working hard.”) and about testing in the sim soon (“Don’t be surprised at how hot it gets in there since there’s no air moving like on an actual track. Just remember that you will need to stay hydrated, just like you’re doing an actual race.”) 

Bee also asked how the pregnancy was going, but it was still early days. (“I’ve had a bit of morning sickness and some heartburn, but it’s not been unbearable yet. But my doctor says that everything is looking perfect so far.”

Eventually, she was able to get into the simulator. They gave her a stock set of gear and a helmet. They also didn’t have the same spec steering wheel that the GP2 cars had, so they found her an older F1 wheel to use. Climbing into the fake monocoque felt a little alien - it had been almost half a year since she’d been in a car, and the simulator’s fake nose was quite a bit bigger than a Formula 3 car, which was the last thing she’d driven. One of the engineers came in to help her adjust the seat and harness. She put her headset and helmet on, took a few slow, deliberate breaths. She could feel her nerves creeping in - the last memory of her being in a car wasn’t a pleasant one. 

“Radio check”, the engineer said.

“Loud and clear.”

“We’ve got the profile loaded for the Dallara GP2/11, and we are going to Yas Marina Circuit. We’ll give you a few laps just to get a feel for the circuit and then we’ll start with timed runs.”

For most of the first lap, Bee felt strange. She was trying not to let her anxiety seize her, but it felt like she’d never driven before, and she was a bit frightened. 

By the final sector, though, she’d managed to find her rhythm again. It also helped, she realized, to ignore the fact that she was in a simulated car looking at passing scenery and a road on giant screens. Somehow, she managed to convince herself that this was an actual car if she mentally leaned into it a little bit. 

She completed a few “out laps” before she heard the engineer in her headset again. “Okay, what do you think? Are you ready?”

“Yep. Let’s do it.”

Her lap times dropped as she got more comfortable with the track, as was typical. She had been incredibly nervous about being back in a car again, even if it was a fake car in a windowless room and a fake track that was projected on computer screens, but the thrill of it started coming back, bit by bit.

She noted her lap time on her final, and fastest run: 1:54.244. Not terrible for a simulated run in a track she’d never been on, but still a few seconds off of the GP2 race pace for the previous year. 

“Well, it’s at least a good time for GP3,” she joked to the engineer who was undoing her harness as she took her helmet off. Susie wasn’t kidding about it being hot inside - Bee’s forehead was pouring with sweat, and the loose strands that weren’t her pigtailed braids were plastered to the back of her neck. Her legs felt like gelatin, exhausted from the effort of pressing the pedals.  

“Ah, you’ll get there. You’re a pretty good driver, if you don’t mind me saying. I'm not trying to be rude when I say this, but I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect.”

“Well, thank you. That’s nice of you to say. I wasn’t sure what to expect, either. I haven’t been in a car since May.”

By the end of her time in Brackley, she’d managed to improve her lap times to a pace that was just about on-target for last year’s GP2 pace.

She flew home to Stuttgart and had a few weeks at home with her parents until she needed to fly back out to the UAE. She had another therapy session with Natalie in the meantime, and told her about the trip back from Mexico. Bee had been itching to talk about it, because it felt like some sort of breakthrough.

“I don’t know what happened. We were both coming back from the race in Mexico, and she told me about how her daughter used to watch races with her and stopped because there weren’t any women competing and that she knows there's someone out there that's good enough and they just don't know it. It was just… I don’t know. I just started crying. In front of a stranger! And I just felt like, some sense of relief, maybe. Obviously, it was a shame to hear that her daughter didn't watch races anymore, but it almost felt like -”

 Bee wasn’t religious at all and didn’t really believe in coincidences being the work of the divine, or anything like that, but something felt strangely poignant about sitting next to Adelle.

“Like… it felt like it was a reminder of why I’m working so hard.”

“I’m really glad to hear that. It sounds like you’re starting to be able to let down your walls a bit. I know you have people that you trust and can be vulnerable around, like Susie, or your parents, but you showed that vulnerability to a complete stranger, and I think that was very brave of you. How did it feel?”

Bee thought for a second. It felt like she wasn't carrying around so many feelings all the time, that would build up and weigh on her shoulders. She could let them go one by one. “It felt wonderful.”

Her new gear for testing had arrived, too, so she tried that on just to make sure everything fit. There would be someone at the track that would be able to make slight adjustments, but everything fit her decently well. Her fingers lingered over the embroidered Mercedes AMG logo on the upper-left of her chest that indicated she was a Mercedes driver. She still couldn’t believe it.

Abu Dhabi, Emirate of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates November 23rd, 2016

She flew out the Wednesday before the Grand Prix. That way she would be able to arrive when the Mercedes team was getting set up and go out for the track walk before practice and qualifying.

Bee managed to get lunch with Susie on Friday, after free practice. It was so good to see her after so long, and Bee finally understood why pregnant women were described as “glowing”. 

“You look wonderful,” Bee said. “I’m so happy for you and Toto.” There was something she wanted to say, but she wasn’t sure if she could - it was something that required the kind of emotional openness that she wasn’t fond of. But, she was working on that, so - 

“I think you’re going to be a great mom. You’ve been like… almost a second mom to me these past few years, especially when my parents couldn't always travel with me. I’m sorry if that’s weird to say, but it has meant a lot to me.” She couldn’t really look directly at Susie while she was saying it, but she really did mean it. 

Susie looked like she was going to cry. “Thank you, Phoebe. I keep having nightmares about me being terrible at it. I wasn't even sure if I wanted kids before this, and I’m on the older side for having my first child. I get on well with Toto’s other kids, but I’m still nervous about it. By the way,” she said, changing the subject. “You look fantastic, too. You’re looking very strong these days, although I think the last time I saw you, you were still recovering from surgery. I feel bad it’s been so long. But, enough about that - how are you feeling about the test?”

“Uh… not bad, I guess. I got to drive on the track in the sim, and my best lap times kind of fell in the middle of the pack against last year's times, but we’ll see what happens.”

“You’re going to do great.” Susie said. “Just remember, in this kind of test, all you have to worry about is the clock, not the other cars so much. Don’t do anything risky unless you’ve absolutely got pace on the car in front of you. I know you can let yourself get trapped in your head on the starting line, so just remember to take a few deep breaths before you start. I used to visualize the racing line around the track at least once before the start, it let me focus on what was ahead instead of getting too wrapped up with getting the best start.”

The Abu Dhabi Grand Prix itself was probably one of the more interesting races Bee had ever watched. The championship battle between Lewis and Nico had come right down to the final race, with each of them having a possibility of winning depending on where the final result ended up. If Nico was anywhere on the podium, he would win. If Lewis was on the podium but Nico was not, Lewis would win. There was tension in the garage around Lewis’ pace. He was, according to the engineers, deliberately going slow in order to hold back Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. If Nico finished in fourth, Hamilton would have the championship. 

Bono, Lewis’ engineer, kept telling him to pick up the pace, and Lewis kept ignoring him. Eventually, Paddy Lowe, the technical director, came over the radio to tell Lewis to increase his pace, but he never did. Nico ended up in second anyway, beating Lewis in the drivers’ championship by 5 points. 

The morning of testing, Bee went to the garage where DAMS was set up, bright and early, to meet the team principal, as she hadn’t gotten a chance to yet. Toto met her in the paddock as she was coming in.

“Are you ready? How are you feeling?” he said, placing a kind hand on her shoulder. He would be there to observe the entirety of the testing weekend, and to handle the negotiations of a possible contract with DAMS, if it came to that. 

“Ready as I'll ever be, I suppose.” She didn't feel very ready, but there was not much to be done about it now. 

“Oh, by the way, do you know George Russell? He’s also joining the Mercedes program, and he’s here too, testing with Carlin, so I’m here for both of you. He couldn’t make it to the race, but he got in last night.” Toto said as he checked his phone. “He should be here any minute.”

“I do know George! I like him, we hung out together sometimes when we raced together in F3. I’ve been wondering how he’s doing, I didn’t look at any of the results from this past F3 season.”

“Oh, das super. At least my junior drivers will get along, even if my actual drivers don’t.” 

Bee laughed. “Yeah… team radio was a little… interesting during the race.” 

Toto just rolled his eyes.

She headed to the drivers’ meeting, where they went over the format for the weekend - each day would have two three-hour sessions, each car would be allocated eight sets of hard compound tires. There were also two others testing with DAMS, a British driver named Oliver and a Canadian driver named Nicholas. 

Once she got into the car for her first practice laps, things started to feel familiar quickly. She was worried once she’d gotten the actual car on the track, it would feel strange, like the simulator did initially, but it felt good to be back driving again. She missed this - whipping around the track as the world passes by so quickly. She could practically feel the adrenaline down to her very bones.

At the end of the testing weekend, her lap times were good, but not great. She was still proud of her performance. She ended up in the midfield, but she was edged out slightly by Oliver and Nicholas. She was not offered a F2 seat, but she was offered a seat on the GP3 team, and would be the first reserve driver for F2. The team principal, Damien, told her that she showed a lot of talent and promise, but needed a season in GP3 to get some more experience and track time, especially given that she was coming off of a season cut short by injury. Bee was disappointed, but she supposed that was a reasonable concern. Plus, it was better than not racing.

Now that she had a drive lined up for the 2017 season, Mercedes finally put out a press release announcing her joining the team. She read it over and over again, and sent it to just about everyone she knew. After such a difficult, messy year, it felt good to be looking forward to the next.

 Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team is pleased to welcome Phoebe Stallard to the Junior Program

Phoebe most recently competed in her second year of the FIA Formula 3 European championship. Her sophomore season driving for Mücke Motorsport was cut short due to an injury, but she placed fifth overall in her maiden Formula 3 season during the 2015 Drivers’ Championship and second in the Rookies’ Championship with an impressive six podium finishes. Prior to this, The American recorded a second-place finish in her second season racing in the 2014 Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0 Series, and third in the Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup. 

The 19-year old has recently signed with DAMS, a team based in Ruaudin, France, for the upcoming 2017 GP3 Series Championship. She will also serve as the first reserve driver for the newly-introduced FIA Formula 2 Championship. 

As a Junior Program driver, Phoebe will utilise her experience to conduct simulator work and help with car development as part of a long-term agreement, becoming fully immersed into the team both trackside and at the factory in Brackley. Phoebe is not only the first American to be accepted into the Junior Program, but also the first woman. 

Speaking about the announcement, Stallard said, “I’m very excited to be joining the Mercedes family. It’s a team with an amazing history, and a great record producing results on-track. Every member of the team I have met is incredibly kind, supportive, and talented, and I am very excited to hit the ground running.”

Toto Wolff, CEO and Team Principal, added “I am incredibly pleased to welcome Phoebe to the Mercedes Junior Program. I have known Phoebe for many years, since her days competing in karting in Germany. She has demonstrated her talent in junior formulas, and was consistently delivering strong results in an incredibly competitive field. I am also proud that Mercedes will play a part in supporting and developing one of the few women in the field of motor racing at the moment. She is an amazing young driver and I am excited to see her career unfold.”

Next Chapter

[mcgnussen]

the monaco gp haas report:

Kevin Magnussen, Driver No. 20, Haas F1 Team

“We had a power unit issue of some sort, so we had to retire the car �� there was nothing we could do about that sadly. I really thought our pace in the race was good considering we were on a full wet on a dry line, I had been able to keep Gasly behind until our issue and I was closing on Bottas. It would have been really exciting around the pit stops to see what could have happened. It’s unfortunate with no points today even though I think we had the car to do it, we knew we could fight.”

Mick Schumacher, Driver No. 47, Haas F1 Team

“I’m feeling alright, it’s very annoying. In terms of pace, we were definitely there and it’s just a matter of keeping it on track – unfortunately I wasn’t able to do that. The pace felt strong and it felt like we were able to attack and push. Unfortunately, I went a bit too wide, probably about 10 centimetres at the end, and that’s enough to lose all grip that you thought you had and the result is what happened.”

Guenther Steiner, Team Principal, Haas F1 Team

“It was a disappointing day today. Kevin’s car was really fast, we were just waiting for our opportunity to pass Bottas at the pit stop, either under or over cutting to get by him and chase the field. He could easily follow him. He then had an issue with a water leak on his ERS system. With Mick we obviously saw what happened. It’s not very satisfactory having a big crash again. We need to see how we move forward from here.”

[lilacsandwhiskey]

How ‘Bout This? // Drake Walker x Riley Brooks

Request: Hi I have an ask? What if Riley took Drake shopping for naughty wear for herself and needed a male perspective POV. How would he feel! 💘

Summary: After the crew arrives in New York, Riley is given the task of doing none other than picking up Madeleine’s wedding ring. Riley runs into Drake at a jewelry store and decides to take advantage of time with him. This includes a little trip to a store for some fun.

A/N: This takes place in New York during the engagement tour. This isn’t going to follow exactly as the story obviously, because they didn’t end up in a lingerie store. Also this might be terrible bc I suck woo!

Warnings: lingerie, suggestive conversations, language

tags: @lovingchoices14 @gkittylove99 @moneyfordiamonds

Riley wanted to say she couldn’t believe that Madeleine sent her on the mission to pick up her wedding ring, but she could. Riley knew Madeleine was hoping to get under her skin, but that was the least of her worries. So, she took a deep breath and left the train cart to make her way through her familiar city.

Cars stopped all through the streets, the smell of sidewalk food being cooked and eaten, the nonexistent small talk between strangers - she was home. Riley typed in the address to the jeweler in her phone to see how far away she was from it. Only a ten minute walk, no biggie.

Riley hummed along as she followed the directions to the jeweler. People passed by and had no idea what royalty she had been experiencing over the last few months or the scandal that she was currently enduring. What a breath of fresh air.

Looking down the sidewalk, she finally spotted the high-end jeweler. Letting out a sigh, she turned off her GPS and found her way right to the door. As Riley’s hand went to the door handle, she stopped dead in her tracks when she saw the familiarity of brown shaggy curls, a jean shirt across his back. Riley cocked her head, pulling the door open, revealing the sound of bells clattering together. Drake slightly jumped at the sound, turning around.

With wide eyes, Drake gave a shy smile. “Oh, hey Brooks.” “Drake Walker, why on earth are you in a jewelry store?” “I, er…” He reached up to scratch behind his neck with a shrug. “Look, I’m just trying to find Liam a gift.” “So you’re going to get him jewelry,” You said with a giggle. “What do you buy a man who has access to everything?” “I don’t know, furniture?” Drake’s eyes brows shot up, practically asking her if she was serious.

“Better yet, why are you here?” Drake asked. “I’m here to pick up the bitch of Cordonia’s wedding ring.” Riley said with a giggle. “Damn, she really gave you that task?” “She thinks this is a throw it in my face situation, when I really don’t care.” Before the conversation could continue, a short stubby man with a comb over walked from the back. “My apologies, sir. Do you need anymore assistance?” Drake shook his head no, ushering Riley up to the man. “Miss, what can I help you with today?” “I’m here to pick up the Rhys wedding ring.” “Oh, very well.”

The man made his way to the back, behind the large white wall he had came from behind earlier. “Here it is.” He opened the box to reveal the ring. Riley nodded her head as he placed the ring in a small gift bag. “Thank you.” Riley said before ushering Drake out the store.

“So that’s it?” Drake finally asked once the door closed behind them. “What did you expect?” “I don’t know, I guess something more… pretentious?” “You’re thinking of engagement rings. They’re the ones with the bigger diamonds, this is just the band.” Riley explained.

“So where are you headed now?” Riley asked, looking down the rows of shops. “I’ll be honest, I’m not even sure, Brooks.” “Wanna make a pit stop with me?” Riley asked. “Anywhere with you, Brooks.”

Riley’s eye had caught a lingerie store just down the way and knew there was no better way to embarrass and tease Drake than force him into the store, or better yet, try things on. How would she get by with it? Or convince him? Her main goal was to get back at him for the continuous teasing that she had been enduring the length of not only just the last few months, but especially over the last few days on the trip. Kisses, heavy breathing, hovering bodies, just to stop right before. Yep, this was it.

“Oh, no, no, no. I’ll stay out here, Brooks.” “Please, I’ve got to get Madeleine a gift.” Riley lied. Drake fake gagged, wiping his face. “I could have went my whole life without that image. Also, who the hell buys someone else lingerie besides their partner?” “It’s a wedding gift tradition.” “So you’re buying the devil some?” “Yep, now come on.” Riley took Drake’s hand and led him into the store.

Wall to wall was lined with delicate lacy pieces. Ranging from body suits to skimpy things and material claimed as bras. Riley grinned at the uncomfortable man beside her as a woman walked over. “Good morning, are the lovebirds looking for anything particular?” Drake’s cheeks turned a shade of pink and though his mouth was open, nothing came out. “We’re just looking, but thank you.” “Of course! If you have any questions, feel free to ask me. Dressing rooms are just around the corner, we just ask that you stay sanitary and continue to wear undergarments as you try on pieces.” “Of course.” Riley replied with a smile as the woman walked back to the counter.

“Thank goodness you’re not trying them on, right?” Drake said, eyes wide as he took in the articles around him. Drake wasn’t sure if he was slightly aroused being in this store with Riley, knowing how intimate these garments were, or disgusted that Riley said they were shopping for Madeleine. Drake looked over at Riley who was already scraping the elegant hangers across the metal rods, looking at each piece. “Who says?” Riley said nonchalantly.

“Brooks, you said you’re shopping for Madeleine. Why would you try them on? And why am I here?” “Maybe I want some for myself. And maybe I need a man’s opinion - well not that it’s needed, but I don’t think I’d mind it if you admired me in something.” Riley’s voice was sing-song, seductive almost. Drake felt a heat rise in him.

“Oo, what about the black?” Riley held the small delicate fabric against her body. “Oh, and this red one.” She snatched it off the rack, laying it across her arms. “This white one would be nice for a wedding gift. Yeah, no.” Shoved it against the last one. After picking one more black two piece, Riley was walking towards the dressing rooms.

“Wait, are you really trying these on?” Drake asked. “Mhm, now go sit.” “Brooks, you’re killing me.” Riley have a smile before closing the curtain behind her. Grateful for the secluded dressing rooms, knowing that she could walk out and model them for Drake, Riley found herself shaking her head at herself in the mirror. He was paying for the teasing.

Riley slipped off her clothes, making sure to leave on her thing that she was already wearing for sanitary purposes, as the woman had mentioned. She decided to go with the black one piece first. It wrapped around her neck, sitting delicately over her breasts, creating a plunging v-line to her bellybutton to show her cleavage. “Thoughts?” She pulled back the curtain to find an awaiting Drake. He wiped his hands on his jeans, swallowing. “Looks nice.” “Wow, complimentary.”

Drake rolled his eyes, a smile playing on his lips as she walked back into the dressing room. Once the curtain was closed, Drake let out a breath. Though he was the one seeing her try these on, his insecurities began to get the best of him. Why was she buying lingerie? It could be for herself, but it could be for… him? We were so close to cracking the case, then she would free to choose. Though she had stated several times he had nothing to worry about, that didn’t stop him from recognizing what he couldn’t offer. His thoughts were interrupted when the curtain pulled back, revealing Riley.

The last one was obviously scandalous, but this one just barely covered her budding nipples. Drake gulped. He took in the woman in front of him. “That’s nice, too.” Drake said, sitting up straighter. Riley let out a uninterested sigh. “Hmm?” Drake asked, fumbling with the hem of his shirt. “I thought you’d enjoy seeing me in this.” Riley shrugged. “Brooks, er, I do. Very much. I just, I don’t know why you’d want me to enjoy it.” “Because, I don’t know. I just thought I’d try them on for you.”

Drake saw the confidence begin to leave her face. “You don’t have to prove yourself to me, you get me fully clothed. You can only imagine what this is doing to me.” Drake said. “I want to make sure I look good in them.” “Who are you trying to look good for?” Drake asked, hoping Liam’s name wouldn’t slip her lips.

Riley’s eyebrows furrowed towards him. “Are you really asking that?” “I don’t know, I just…” “You think I’m trying these on for Liam.” “No.” “It wasn’t a question, it was a statement, Drake. I know that’s what’s going through your mind.” Drake’s face fell as he stared back at Riley, who was still dressed in almost nothing.

“I’ll remind you today, tomorrow, and forever if I have to. I choose you. I choose you always. You have nothing to worry about.” “But when your name is cleared…” “It won’t change my feelings towards you, Drake.” Drake felt himself soften under her glare. She was closer to him now. “I promise.” Drake held his hand out to grab hers before pressing delicate kisses to her knuckles. “I shouldn’t second guess you.” Drake whispered. “You don’t have to, Drake. I’m yours.” She whispered, a smile playing on her lips. “Now, I’ve got one more.”

Riley closed the curtain behind her as she slipped the black two piece off and picked up the red one piece. As she slipped it over her body and stared at herself in her mirror, every ounce of confidence she ever lost had reentered her because this one made her feel unstoppable. Brushing her long hair to the side, she finally stepped out.

Drake’s eyes went wider than before. “Wow, I…” He stood up to get a better look. “Have I rendered you speechless, Drake Walker?” As he inched closer, Riley stood up straight. Her hand reached out to graze his arm as he walked closer. “This one… is phenomenal.” Drake’s lips were hovering over her ear, his breath warm against her exposed neck.

“If I buy this, will you promise to find me later?” “You know I won’t break a promise, Brooks. Get it. Hell, let me buy it. You damn temptress.” Drake pulled back, looking back into Riley’s green eyes. Her lips were slightly parted, slowly inching into a smile. In this moment, Drake was reassured that he was the one she wanted. The doubts had disappeared and the hesitation he had to make sweet, sweet love to her was gone. He knew tonight would be it, and Drake Walker couldn’t stand that the day was still very much in their way. Just get through the next several hours, Drake.

A/N: WOW this was pretty fun to write hehehe tell me what you think!!! reblog and like pls :)

[iamanartichoke]

I started typing this in the tags of this post, and it got too long, and then I was going to just reblog the post with this as an addition but that got too long too, and I've been meaning to make a post addressing free will vs. predestination since the premiere anyway, so - here we go. Spoilers, obviously.

Cut for length and spoilers. Please blacklist #loki tv series spoilers, #loki series spoilers, and #loki spoilers.

This is kinda rough and I'm not sure it actually makes any sense but I'm posting it anyway.

I realize that the post is a joke, obviously (and it is hilarious) but I started thinking about the implications and couldn't stop because it's honestly a goldmine of existential reflection and an inevitable crisis or three.

Let's look at a scenario.

Say you're late to work for reasons totally beyond your control: your neighbor stopped you to ask a question on your way out the door; you swung through the drive-thru for a quick coffee but the person in front of you is ordering a full continental breakfast ffs (this happened to me this morning); there was an explosion and then the Winter Soldier randomly dropped from the sky and landed on the hood of your car. Whatever. Shit happens.

So you're late, but on this particular day, your lateness somehow has consequences that lead to and create a nexus event and the next thing you know, you're being arrested, tried, convicted of time crimes and ultimately (a version of you is) erased from existence.

And this is if it's not even your fault you're late.

Now say that you're late and it is your fault. You took a new route on a whim and drove a little more slowly because you passed a particularly pretty meadow; you hit the brakes at a yellow light instead of speeding through bc you wanted the quick chance to check your email; you sat in your car for a few extra minutes in the parking lot, because maybe your job sucks and you really needed those extra minutes today to psyche yourself up into getting out of the car and going inside and clocking in.

These little choices are you exercising your free will. Because to me, free will is all or nothing - it doesn't just apply to the big decisions.

On the other hand, predestination means that regardless of the choices you make or if it's a big decision or not, everything you do is ultimately going to lead you to a set point or position or place (your destiny).

And I can kind of look at it like a GPS - that is, there are a number of "insignificant" choices you could make and they will still lead you to where you're predestined to go. Like how a GPS will reconfigure your route if you miss your exit on the highway. It doesn't matter if you took Route A or Route B, you're still going to end up at your destination.

But say sometimes the route does matter. Say that there are certain scenarios in which there's only one road (for example, 14 million losses vs 1 win) and you can only get on it by following a specific series of events and what determines the ultimate outcome is whether or not you're late to work that day.

If you decide to wait those extra five minutes in the parking lot, that means that you weren't in your cubicle at 9:03 when Stanley from Accounting wandered by with his giant stack of papers, and when Mary Sue said hello to him, he got distracted and tried to wave and ended up dropping those papers. Had you been at your cubicle, you'd have swooped down to help him but since you weren't there, Stanley is crouched on the floor alone and doesn't notice Joe coming at him with a paper trolley so when he stands up, he and Joe collide and Stanley loses his balance and goes face-first toward the trolley and breaks his nose when he hits the metal handle on his way down.

Now Stanley has to go to the hospital to get his nose set because you wanted to sit in your car and spend five extra minutes hating your life that morning.

If the sacred timeline says that Stanley is supposed to be in that ER at that specific time on that specific day, and no other set of circumstances would get him there, because this will ultimately take Stanley down the road to whatever greater journey he's supposed to go on, then it has to happen. But say you exercise your free will and decide not to wait those five minutes, because the free will applies to every choice you make, even the tiny, insignificant ones. You chose to put on your big person pants and took a deep breath and just head inside - and because you chose to do that and because you were at your cubicle to help Stanley with his papers, Stanley never ends up in the ER and the timeline that's supposed to happen is suddenly at risk and the TVA has to get involved (I assume).

So having free will introduces way, way too many variables into a fixed timeline to ever keep track, because you're taking these tiny, seemingly insignificant choices that people are making every minute of every day, and you're multiplying them by trillions of sentient beings in the universe, and you're saying the fate of the timeline and reality itself depends on all of these beings either always making the choice they're supposed to make or constantly sending the TVA out whenever they don't.

It's fair to conclude, then, that both free will and a fixed, single timeline can't exist at the same time. Either you adhere to the fixed timeline and everyone does exactly what they're supposed to do every second of every minute of existence, or you have free will and autonomy over all of your decisions, no matter how big or small, and those decisions can result in a number of outcomes, ultimately leading you to one of several possible destinations.

Case in point: Tony didn't have to snap his fingers in Endgame. He chose to. Had he not, Thanos would have won. It doesn't matter if there was one way to victory or 14 million ways to failure; the timeline could ultimately only go one of two ways and the choice Tony willingly made determined that Thanos lost. It wasn't predetermined because if Tony had not chosen to snap his fingers, the timeline would have gone the other way.

My personal belief - and this isn't necessarily for the MCU, but in general - is that we do possess free will and the future is ever shifting and changing because nothing is written in stone. It holds up against most, if not all, of the world's belief systems. For example, if you believe that people have guardian angels, the rule is generally that your guardian angels can help you but you have to ask them; they can't decide to intervene without your permission because to do so would infringe upon your free will.

Similarly, you can go on etsy and pay $5 for a funsies psychic reading or pay a lot more money for an in-depth, specific tarot reading and both will tell you that the outcomes may change depending on the paths you take, and that their ultimate advice is for you to keep your focus on your goals and your own self so that you can be subconsciously manifesting the best possible future for yourself. (Not that I know this from experience. It was one time. It was a few times. My point stands, and also stop judging me.)

To get back to the MCU, though - if you determine that both a single, fixed timeline and free will can't simultaneously exist, and your ultimate purpose is upholding said timeline and not letting anyone fuck it up, lest it break off into lots of different branches, then it poses a pretty serious moral and/or ethical question of - who decides what choices we make and what paths we're destined for? The time lizards? Who gave them that authority? Did anyone, or did they just manifest themselves into existence one day, create the universe, and then decide all of the rules (and, if so, where does that leave the norns and the gods and other super powerful beings who are generally thought to be in charge of things)?

If free will doesn't exist and everyone is acting based on what has been predetermined for them by some higher being (or, in this case, time lizards), it takes away our autonomy, and if everything we do and every single tiny step we take is decided for us, what makes us any different than cogs in a machine just following orders? What separates us from robots?

Speaking of robots, it's interesting to me that the TVA's screening process (if you can call it that) has a failsafe against robots specifically. Any robot that might come through is destroyed immediately and in this case, “not a robot” is defined, more or less, as a sentient being that possesses a soul. What does the TVA have against robots if their ultimate goal is ensuring that the robotic machinations of the time lizards are consistently carried out to protect the sacred timeline?

A soul makes you human; the energy of the soul is what you, at the core, are. It can be assumed that having a soul also means that you have some sort of moral and ethical code by which you live your life but, if you don't also have free will, then what is the point of possessing a soul and a moral and ethical code?

Loki is a villain and he's told by Mobius, the TVA, Odin, and pretty much everyone who ever meets him that the only thing he's good for - the only reason he exists - is to cause pain and suffering and death. This has been predetermined for him; this is not his fault and he did not choose it. And every single choice he makes has either already been destined as the choice he was supposed to make, or will be pruned so it won't grow into the wrong timeline. Ultimately Loki can change neither his final destination, nor the purpose and meaning of his existence.

Which leads me to the theory that the several Loki variants that the TVA keeps coming across are the result of Loki consistently resisting against his predetermined path; he's trying to find the timeline where he is able to latch onto and keep his own free will in defiance of the timekeepers but, so far, he hasn't been successful. This could segue into why the current Variant is now going scorched earth and just obliterating the main timeline completely - because if there is no sacred timeline, there's nothing dictating who or what Loki can be, and free will is regained. If there's a multiverse that branches and branches beyond anyone's control, then there must be a branch in there, somewhere, where Loki can exist on his own terms and decide how his own story goes.

This also might be a theory for why Loki is already setting his sights on taking over the TVA (assuming that's not just something he told the variant for reasons). But my original point in delving into all this is to ask: if Loki is predestined to always be a villain whose story plays out exactly the same way because that's what's supposed to happen, then how can anyone ever hold his misdeeds against him? He's literally just existing as the timekeepers decided he would exist and everyone is blaming him for it.

And this leads me to ask, as well, if one's soul is generally good, and one possesses more good traits than bad, what is the logic in making them exist only for pain and destruction? If it's for a greater good, then it stands to reason Loki is not the only one predestined for misery, and what greater good could come from all that suffering?

Conclusion: the existence of the TVA as an organization means that there is one fixed, sacred timeline but the existence of said timeline is immoral and unethical because it means no one actually has any free will at all in the MCU. The very notion of heroes and villains is pointless because it has nothing to do with your own qualities or morality, it's literally the luck of the draw. In order to have free will, the sacred timeline has to be destroyed, and so my prediction is that the Big Bad of the Loki series is not the TVA and not the time keepers but the actual timeline itself, and the entire fate of the MCU rests on whether or not Loki can ultimately succeed.

Also, don't be late for work.

[440mxs-wife]

No One Hunts Alone

Pairing: Dean x Reader. Other Characters: Sam Winchester, Ruthie (Reader’s BFF) and Amber (OFC’s), Jim and Trevor Morrison (OMC’s)

Word Count: 6460

Warnings: Some mutual pining, Reader is a little stubborn, dreaded class reunion, mostly fluffy though.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You were putting away some freshly folded laundry when your phone buzzed in your pocket. The screen showed the call was from your best friend, Ruthie. "Hey, chickie, what's going on?" you asked. Silence. "Ruthie? What's wrong, honey?" you insisted. Your panic level escalated with each passing silent moment. "Please, Ruthie, answer me," you pleaded.

"Hey," Ruthie finally answered softly. "Listen, I know you said you wouldn't be able, or didn't want to come back home for the class reunion, but...." she trailed off. "I really think you should reconsider. Please. There's something weird going on around here. You know, your kind of weird," she emphasized.

Dammit. You pinched the bridge of your nose between your thumb and forefinger and sighed heavily. "Yeah, okay. I'll pack up tonight, and leave early in the morning. I can bunk with you, right?" you asked.

"Of course you can stay here, you never have to ask. You know that," she gently chided. "Just you, though? You're not bringing the Wonder Twins?" she asked.

"Nope, just me," you replied. For now, anyway. They have too much going on already, wouldn't want to be a bother to them, you thought. You heard a knocking at your door. "Ruthie, I gotta go. Someone's at the door. I'll text you before I leave tomorrow," you promised.

You opened your door to find Dean standing there. "Hey, sweetheart. Ready for our Movie Night in the 'Cave?" he asked.

Ordinarily, you'd jump at the chance to spend any amount of time you could with Dean. But you had to pack tonight so you could easily slip out in the morning. "Is that tonight? I'm sorry, Dean, but I'm kinda tired," you replied.

"Aw, come on, it's still early. Please?" Dean tried his best to give you the puppy dog eyes.

"Not tonight, Dean. I'm sorry, I'm just tired and I have a lot on my mind right now. This thing with Ruthie--" you stopped short before you gave everything away.

"Wait, what 'thing' with Ruthie, is everything okay?" he asked with concern. Dean knew how close you and Ruthie were, that you were more like sisters than best friends.

"It's just some local stuff. It's probably a bigger deal in her mind than it actually is," you explained, hoping he'd buy it.

"Well, if you're sure," he remarked, raising one eyebrow. "But you owe me for missing our regular Movie Night," he grinned and tapped the end of your nose.

"Put it on my tab, Winchester," you teased. "Goodnight, Dean," you replied softly.

"Goodnight, darlin'. Sweet dreams," he responded. You closed the door and leaned back against it, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

After he left your door, Dean walked into the library, where Sam was sitting at the table, reading. He looked up to see the concerned look on his brother's face. "What's up with you?" Sam asked.

Dean explained that he had just reminded it was time for your usual Movie Night in the Dean Cave, but that you had backed out. "So what, Dean? Maybe she really is tired and has a lot on her mind," Sam defended.

"Nah, I think there's more to it than that, Sammy. She said there was a 'thing' going on with Ruthie, then tried to play it off as no big deal. Some kind of 'local' situation," Dean muttered.

"You want me to check online, see if there's anything resembling a case in her hometown?" Sam asked.

"For right now, let's just keep an eye on things, see what happens. There has to be some reason she didn't or doesn't want me--er, us--knowing what's going on," Dean replied. Sam nodded in agreement but grinned internally at Dean's almost confession.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You went to bed shortly after packing your bags and stowing them in your closet. You felt a twinge of guilt about turning Dean down for your Movie Night, considering your feelings for him. As far as he was concerned, you have been and probably always would be just his best friend. For you, though, it was more than a crush. Yep. You were full-blown, head-over-heels, heart eyes, Cupid's-arrow-in-the-butt, in love with Dean Winchester.

Too many times, you were almost caught staring at him, wondering what it would be like to be held in his strong arms. Or kissed by those plump, perfect lips. One look in his forest-green eyes and you were a goner, throwing almost all speaking ability out the window. For all his strength and take-charge attitude, though, he let you see his tender side as well. The one that brought you tea when you weren't feeling well, or held you close when you watched a horror movie in the 'Cave. How tenderly he dressed your wounds after a hunt.

Yep. In love with your best friend, and you couldn't do thing one about it. Not without it becoming awkward around the bunker when he didn't return your feelings. Sam figured it out a long time ago, but you made him promise not to say anything to Dean about it. So far, so good, but you weren't sure how much longer you could go without him finding out.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The way Ruthie sounded on the phone made your heart clench, especially when she said it was your kind of weird. She knew what you did for a day job and that it was important, even though she didn't like thinking about you in danger.

Ruthie didn't give you many details, but because she was involved, that made it personal. Despite having so little to go on, you knew you had to drop everything and go. There was no way you were going to trust another hunter to handle it.

There was always the hope that it was a 'milk run' kind of situation, and that you could cover it on your own. If not, you were sure that you could call Sam and Dean for help, though you considered that as a last resort. They have enough to worry about. No, you thought, this one's on me, I can do this. I have to do this myself. You rolled over, closed your eyes and tried to get some sleep.

Early the next morning, you quietly slipped out of your room with your bags and locked the door behind you. Using one of the secret passageways, you silently made your way to the garage, undetected. Your weapons bag was put into the warded compartment under the trunk bottom, with your other duffel bag on top. Before you left, you turned off the GPS function on your phone so you couldn't be tracked. You texted Ruthie, then eased your car out of the garage and headed for your hometown.

Your route out of town took you by one of the nearby parks where Sam usually went for his morning run. You hoped that you had left the bunker before him, to reduce the chances that he would see you as you drove past him. Just as you passed the park, you saw a familiar figure in a navy blue jogging shorts, sweatshirt and beanie. The figure turned his head in your direction and you knew you'd been made. Welp, you thought. So much for a clean getaway.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Sam turned his head just in time to see you drive past the park. He stopped on the path to stretch, then pulled out his phone to call you.

Next to you on the seat, your phone rang. A quick glance at the Caller ID showed that it was Sam, but you chose not to answer it at first. Immediately after it stopped ringing, it started again, so this time you picked up.

"Hey, you're up awfully early, what's going on?" Sam asked.

"Nothing, Sam, I'm running some errands," you explained.

"You don't really expect me to believe that, do you?" he shot back.

"Believe what you want to believe, Sam. Listen, I have something that I need to handle. I'll be back in 2, maybe 3 days, tops. Bye, Sam," you replied.

"No, wait, don't hang up! I'm headed back to the bunker now. Just please pull over and wait so that Dean and I can catch up to you. Whatever it is, we want to help. Please," he implored.

You thought about doing as he asked, but then you realized that they have enough to worry about in their own lives. Surely you could handle this one case by yourself. "I'm sorry, Sam. You guys have enough to deal with on your own, I can't put this on you. I have to do this on my own. Please understand. I'll be home in 2-3 days," you said. After you hung up, you turned your phone off.

Sam knew there wasn't a moment to waste. Whatever you had going on, he knew it was better for you to have back-up, despite what you thought. He hightailed it back to the bunker to wake up Dean and try to figure out what you're doing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"She WHAT?!?" Dean roared.

"I saw her on the highway, headed out of town, so I called her to ask what was going on. All she told me was that there was something she had to handle, and she'd be back in 2 or 3 days at most. I tried to get her to pull over and wait for us, so we could go with her. She said we had enough to deal with on our own, that she wasn't going to put this on us. Then she hung up, and I haven't been able to reach her since," Sam explained.

Dean cast his eyes downward and shook his head. "That stubborn woman. Doesn't she know that I--we--would drop everything to help her? That hunting alone in a highly emotional state is dangerous? What if something goes wrong, what if she zigs instead of zags and she ends up getting hurt? Or worse?" he whispered the last part.

Sam studied his brother as he ranted about you and your decision to hunt alone. Granted, he had the same thoughts as Dean, that he was worried about you, but with Dean....it was more. "You care about her, don't you?" he asked.

"Of course I do, Sam! She's my best friend," Dean snapped.

Sam gave his brother an epic bitch face. "C'mon, Dean. You know what I'm talking about," Sam admonished.

Dean couldn't form the words at first, so he just nodded. "Been wanting to tell her for a long time, man. I decided that last night was time to 'nut up or shut up', which is why I waited until our Movie Night in the 'Cave. I was going to tell her everything," he explained. "She's amazing, Sam. So sweet and kind, smart, she's got the best sense of humor and she's an awesome hunter. Damn gorgeous, too."

Sam chuckled softly at his brother's assessment of you. "So, you said this had something to do with Ruthie. Wouldn't Ruthie's house be the first place she's going to go?" Sam asked, to which Dean nodded. "Okay. I'm going to go shower, then we're gonna pack up and head in that direction. You with me?" Sam inquired, his hand out for Dean to take.

"Yeah, let's do this," he said as he locked hands with his brother to bring him in for a bro hug. Dean caught a whiff of Sam's shirt and immediately drew back, waving in front of his nose, which was wrinkled in disgust. "Whoa, dude, you reek! Get to the showers, man, before I pass out!" he grinned. Sam shook his head, and as he left, Dean clapped a hand on his shoulder.

After Sam left the room, Dean pulled out his phone and dialed your number, only to have it go straight to voicemail. He decided to lay it all out on the line and let the chips fall where they may.

"Hey, sweetheart. Listen, Sam told me you're on your way out of town, on a case. I-I know you have your reasons for doing this alone, and I hope you'll tell me sometime. But please, honey, whatever you do, be careful," Dean pleaded.

"I'm....I'm not gonna lie to you, I'm kinda freaking out right now, 'cause you're out there, alone, and you don't have to be. I wish you were here with me, because then I'd know you were safe. Please call me back when you get this," he ended the message and started packing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Ruthie was sitting on her front porch when you pulled your car into her driveway. You got out of the car, grabbed your duffel bag with your clothes and headed into the house. Ruthie's husband, Jim, was waiting inside the door and gave you a hug when you came in. He took your bag and put it in the back bedroom, where you would be sleeping. Ruthie gave you a hug as well and asked you to join her in the kitchen while she made you something for lunch.

A plate with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, chips and two cookies was placed in front of you. "EAT. Then, you're going to tell me why you didn't want the Lumberjack Brothers to join you on this case," she remarked grimly. "You know, they've been calling me, asking what's going on and if I've seen you. They're worried about you, sweetie, especially Dean. He sounded miserable," she added.

You dropped your head to the table. "Oh, man, that is the last thing I wanted. I thought I'd come here, take care of things and that would be it. Zip, zap, no muss, no fuss. I can see now that was a mistake," you admitted. You pulled out your phone and turned it back on, only to see about 10 missed calls and 4 voicemails from Sam.

There were twice as many calls from Dean, but only one voicemail message. You punched in the code and waited for the recording to start. What you heard was the last thing you expected. Instead of an angry tirade, you heard the concern, the understanding, but mostly the fear in his voice that you were out here on your own. You realized that you had made a huge mistake in thinking you could work this case without them. Time to face the music, you thought.

With trembling fingers, you accessed your contacts list and selected Dean's number. You wondered if he'd even pick up, and if he did, how would he react to you calling him? You had to try, had to start somewhere. Just as you were about ready to hang up, you heard, "Hello? Sweetheart, is that you?" he asked.

"H-hey, Dean, it's me," you answered. There was an audible sigh of relief on his end. "Dean, I'm sorry for leaving and not telling you where I was going. I--" you started to explain, tears threatening.

"Never mind that right now, just listen. Sammy and I are on our way to Ruthie's right now, so stay there with her and Jim, where it's safe. We should be there in a couple of hours, hopefully less. I am very much looking forward to hearing your explanation of why you thought hunting on your own was such a good idea," Dean replied sternly.

You swallowed back a sob at hearing the disappointment in his voice. "Yes, Dean," you choked out. "I promise I'll wait here, talk to Ruthie and see if we can figure out what's going on," you whispered.

Dean agreed that talking about the case with Ruthie and getting some details down would be a good idea. "Hey?" he called.

"Yes, Dean?" you answered.

"Whatever this is, whatever is going on, we'll figure it out and fix it together. Remember, sweetheart?" he inquired softly.

"I do, I remember, Dean. See you soon," you responded.

After you hung up the phone, Ruthie pointed down the hall and ordered you to go get some rest. She said she would wake you up when Sam and Dean got there, and then you all could talk about the case.

You thought about protesting, but you figured you'd made enough bad choices already. Finally, you relented and trudged to the bedroom at the end of the hall. Once inside, you changed into more comfy sleep clothes and crawled beneath the blankets. As soon as your head hit the pillow, you were out cold.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Around a couple of hours later, you awoke from your peaceful slumber to voices and laughter in the kitchen. You splashed some water on your face, took a swig of mouthwash then pointed yourself towards the voices. Ruthie looked up to see you standing in the doorway. "Hey! There she is! Did you enjoy your nap, honey?" she asked.

You nodded. With your eyes transfixed on Sam and Dean, mostly Dean, you tried to gauge their mood. Sam rose from the table, coffee cup in hand. He motioned that he was going to get a refill on his coffee, and as he passed by you, he squeezed then patted your shoulder.

"I'm going to get some coffee," you mumbled. As you walked by Dean, he stood up and you knew he was following you.

He brushed his knuckles up and down your bare arm. "Can we talk?" he murmured. You nodded and led him by the hand out to Ruthie's back porch. Dean stood next to you at the railing, neither of you speaking at first. You turned to Dean and opened your mouth to say something, then closed your mouth again as if you'd thought better of it.

"Okay, I'll start then," Dean remarked. "That night I asked you to watch a movie with me, this was what you were talking about with Ruthie? A case?" he asked.

"Yes. She told me about the stupid class reunion a while ago, and I had already decided that I didn't want to come back for it. But, when she said something else was happening here that was 'our kind of weird', I had to check it out," you replied.

"But why didn't you tell me or Sam about it? Why did you think you had to do this all on your own?" he demanded.

"Dean, we just got back from a series of back-to-back hunts. You and Sam were exhausted, I was trying to give you guys time to rest. Besides, you two have enough going on, you don't need me adding to your list," you retorted.

"So, what, you don't think you need rest as well? Last time I checked, you got thrown around pretty good on that last salt-and-burn we did," Dean snapped.

"Dean, she's my sister! No matter what, no matter when or why, if she calls, I drop everything and come running. That's how it works," you shot back.

He put his hands on your shoulders then ran them down your arms and cupped your elbows to pull you closer. "Sweetheart, I understand that, really I do, but you are just as important to us. If you had brought us in on this case, exhausted or not, we would've dropped everything for you," he affirmed.

You laid a hand alongside his face. "I know, Dean, and I'm sorry for running out like that on you and Sam," you replied gently. "Let's go back inside and Ruthie will fill us in on what she knows. Then we can hopefully fill in the blanks," you started to walk back into the house.

Dean caught your hand in his and pulled you back to face him. "Hey. I'm still a little upset with you," he declared as he narrowed his eyes at you a bit. Then he cupped your cheek and caressed it with his thumb. "But I'm also glad you're okay and that we're working this together," he added, softening his gaze. He pressed his lips to your forehead in a lingering kiss and you closed your eyes to savor the moment. "Come on, let's head inside to see what we're dealing with," he said.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

You and Dean walked back into the kitchen, hand-in-hand, which did not escape anyone's notice. "I was just starting to tell Sam what I know, Sis," Ruthie informed you. "I was in the grocery store the other day, and I heard someone mention Trevor Morrison's name."

"Ugh," you remarked, rolling your eyes and making a noise of disgust. "And?"

"And, they were saying that he just got back from some overseas trip, and that there was a late-night delivery to his house the following day," Ruthie explained.

"How big was the delivery? Did anyone see any strange markings on the package?" you inquired.

"No one mentioned seeing anything strange on the box. Size-wise, not that big, maybe the size of a phone book and about as thick," Ruthie answered.

"Sam, do you think you can patch in to the cargo plane manifests and figure out what it could be?" Dean asked.

"Let me see what I can do, Dean," Sam replied, taking out his laptop.

While Sam was getting his laptop set up, Dean noticed the troubled expression on your face and pulled you aside. "What's the deal with you and Trevor Morrison?" he asked.

You took a deep breath to calm yourself before responding. "He's an ex-boyfriend from high school. We were supposed to go to Prom together, but we sorta didn't after I found out that he cheated on me with the head cheerleader," you muttered.

Dean put his arm around you and rubbed his hand up and down your back. "I'm so sorry that happened to you, sweetheart," he murmured.

"I got it, here it is. The Grimoire of Astaroth is what Trevor had delivered to his house," Sam swung the laptop around to show everyone the packing slip.

"So, what's the significance?" you asked. "Who's Astaroth?"

"Astaroth is a demon, who makes his appearance by riding a dragon-like creature and carrying a viper in his right hand. The lore says he knows the answers to the Past, Present and Yet to Come, and can discover all secrets," Sam explained.

"That's an awful lot of power in the hands of one man," you warned. "We need to get in to his house and retrieve that Grimoire."

"Leave that to me, dear sister," Ruthie said with a smug grin on her face.

You quirked an eyebrow at her statement. "And just how do you propose to get us in there?" you asked.

"I can get everyone tickets for the reunion. You go in with Sam or Dean, then Jim and I will go in with you. Whoever doesn't go in is in charge of surveillance, telling us where the cameras and security guards are. Sound good?" Ruthie suggested.

You, Sam and Dean looked at each other in silent communication. "It's worked for us in the past, I don't see why it won't work this time," you acknowledged. "Which one of you is going in with me?" you asked.

The boys looked at each other, brought up their fist for Rock, Paper, Scissors. You and Ruthie both rolled your eyes at the way that this was being decided, but you knew this was the easiest way. "Okay, winner goes in to the party, loser is stuck with surveillance," Dean said.

"Ready? One, two, three!" Sam counted. He chose paper, while Dean chose scissors. A smile as wide as the Grand Canyon broke out over Dean's face.

"You bring your 'Fed threads'?" you asked.

"Always, sweetheart. What about you? Do you need to go shopping for something to wear?" Dean inquired.

Ruthie spoke up. "I'm sure I have something she can wear. I might have picked something up for her when I was out shopping for my own dress," she added with a wry grin.

Your eyes narrowed at her. "Did you set this up just to get me out here?" you exclaimed.

"Relax, would ya? No, I did not set this up, but there is definitely something weird going on. You coming out here is just a nice little side bonus," she stated simply. "Come on, let me show you what you'll be wearing."

"I'm going out to the car and get our bags," Dean announced.

As you walked by Sam, you caught him chuckling quietly to himself. You took hold of the open sides of his flannel shirt and yanked him downward. "You lost on purpose, didn't you? You KNOW he always chooses scissors, and you planned your move accordingly, right?" you remarked, then let go of his shirt.

"I have no idea what you're talking about. If you'll excuse me, I have to set up surveillance," Sam replied, still with a smirk on his face. "But you're welcome," he said in a sing-song voice.

"Yeah, right, you have no idea what I'm talking about," you mumbled. "Ruthie! Where's this dress you have for me?" you barked then walked down the hall towards her room.

"Step into my office, sister dear. It's time to make some magic!" Ruthie declared.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"Where did you get this dress? It's gorgeous!" you whispered.

"You'd better hope Dean's wearing socks, because you're going to knock them off of him when he sees you," Ruthie smirked.

"I don't know about that, but thank you so much for this," you turned and gave Ruthie a hug.

The floor-length dress was a one-shoulder, with the strap encrusted with crystals in a starburst pattern. The bodice was black, which continued down the length of the dress until it faded into a deep red at about knee-level. There was a band of crystals at the waist to divide the top half from the bottom half. A pair of black pumps completed the outfit.

Ruthie even did your makeup for you which was great, because as a hunter, you didn't have much call for it. She curled and fluffed your hair, pulling it back on each side with crystal-encrusted clips. "There, I think that should do it, don't you think?" she remarked.

You stared at yourself in the full-length mirror, trying to recognize yourself. "Whoa. This can't be me. Is it?" you asked.

"Of course it is, silly," Ruthie chuckled. "Now wait here while I get ready, then we'll walk out there together. I'll go first, save the best for last," she giggled, while you just shook your head at her in amusement.

While the two of you were getting ready, Dean slipped out and found a place that was able to rent him a tux at the last minute. He was looking forward to going to this party, because it meant he'd be going with you on his arm.

Ruthie was wearing a floor-length navy blue dress, strapless, with a gathered bodice. The pattern was criss-crossed in the chest area, so it held everything in place. "Okay, Sis, it's your turn. Come on down!" she called.

You stepped into your black suede pumps and nervously strode down the hall, fidgeting nearly the entire way. Sam saw you first, a look of surprise mixed with wonder flitted across his face. But his was not the opinion you sought, the one that meant the most to you was yet to be determined.

Dean raised his head and locked his eyes with yours when you stepped fully into the room. His eyes widened and his lips slightly parted in amazement, then closed. He slowly walked towards you and held out his hand for you to take, which you did. Dean raised your hand to his lips, brushing them gently across your knuckles. "Wow. Sweetheart, you look gorgeous," he rumbled in that deep, sexy voice of his.

You could feel the heat rising from your neck, all the way to the ends of your hair. "Thank you, Dean. Might I say, you look particularly handsome yourself in that not-Fed-suit tuxedo," you noted with a small curtsy.

"Whaaaat? This old thing?" he replied then held out his arm for you. "Shall we, milady?" he asked.

"We shall, good sir," you answered, taking his arm and feeling him tuck yours in close to his side. "Here," you reached into your small handbag and pulled out the keys. "You can drive my car, because I know there will be valet parking. And there's no way you'll let anyone park Baby except you," you remarked.

"You're right about that, darlin'. You trust me to drive your car?" Dean asked.

You stopped him and stared straight into his emerald eyes. "I trust you with my life, Dean. Why wouldn't I trust you with my car?" you reasoned. When the two of you reached your car, Dean opened the passenger door and waited to close it until you and your dress were all settled.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The short ride over to Morrison Manor was mostly silent, except for the rumble of the engine. Dean took hold of your hand and interlaced your fingers. Every once in a while, you'd catch him looking in your direction, so you sent him an encouraging smile. He would respond by lifting your joined hands to his lips and pressing a kiss to the back of your hand. The toothy grin he gave you afterwards was more than enough to make your heart flutter in your chest.

Dean pulled up to the valet station, stepped out and hurried over to your side of the car to open your door. He held out his hand to help you exit the car, which you readily accepted. Just before you entered the manor, Dean tugged on your arm to pull you back a little. "You ready for this?" he asked softly.

You looked at Dean and gave him a soft smile. "Yep. We go in, get the Grimoire, then get out. The rest of it, facing everyone in there? That's nothing. I don't owe anyone an explanation, nor am I required to have lived up to their expectations. I'm good with who I am, with who you and Sam are. I'm proud of us," you replied while you walked into the event.

Dean leaned over and placed a lingering kiss to your temple. "Let's do this," he murmured against your skin. You nodded slowly and the two of you walked in behind Ruthie and Jim.

Sam's voice came over your earpiece. "Okay, I've found it. The book is in his study, but unfortunately, so is he at the moment. You'll have to do something until he's clear," he informed you and Dean.

"Come on, sweetheart. Dance with me," Dean said, leading you to the dance floor. You followed, and Dean took your left hand and curled his fingers around it. His other hand snaked around your waist and splayed across your back. The contact of his fingertips on your partially bare back caused you to gasp at the sensation.

"Relax, darlin', it's just dancing," Dean whispered in your ear.

Easy for you to say, you thought, with your heart beating a mile a minute. At that moment, the voice you never wanted to hear again was demanding your attention. Your dance with Dean was interrupted by none other than the former head cheerleader, Amber.

Dean must have sensed your apprehension because he tightened his hold on you all the more, making sure you knew he was there for you. "Do you trust me?" he asked. You nodded slowly.

Amber stood in front of you and Dean, holding on to Trevor's arm. "Well, well, well. Look who decided to grace us with her presence. I thought you weren’t coming," she drawled. Shifting her attention to Dean, Amber let out a low whistle. "Wow, she must have paid a fortune for you," she sneered.

"Excuse me? That happens to be my wife you're talking about, and I think you should be a little more respectful," Dean snapped.

"Ha! You expect me to believe that? You and her, husband and wife? Prove it. Let me see the ring," Amber demanded.

You looked around nervously, but when your eyes met Dean's, he gave you an almost imperceptible wink. "Honey? You left this on the sink in the bathroom, remember? You must've taken it off while you were getting ready for tonight," Dean pulled a ring out of his pocket and slid it onto your left ring finger. He brought your hand to his lips and pressed a tender kiss to where he'd just placed the ring.

Amber gave you a snort of disgust and stormed off, while Trevor shook his head at Amber's lack of manners. "Excuse me, I have a business matter to attend to," he left you and walked off in the opposite direction as Amber.

"That was smooth, and quick thinking, thank you. Where did you get the rings?" you inquired.

Dean wiggled his left hand for you to see his ring before grasping your left hand. "Remember that museum job where we went undercover?" he asked, to which you nodded. "Well, these are the rings we used for that case. Good thing I kept them in the glove compartment all this time," he declared.

"Thank you, Dean. I don't know what I'd do without you," you remarked, leaning into his embrace.

"No thanks necessary, darlin'," he replied while his hand settled on the small of your back.

"Uh, guys, I hate to interrupt, but a window of opportunity just opened to go into the study and grab that book," Sam interjected.

Dean released you from his hold and grinned as he searched your face. "Ready?" he asked. You nodded your head enthusiastically and took his outstretched hand in yours. "Then let's get this thing and go home," he remarked.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Around 90 minutes, a couple of slices of pizza and a beer or two later, everyone had returned to Ruthie's house to relax. The Grimoire of Astaroth was safely stowed in the warded compartment in the trunk of your car to escape detection. Once you returned to the bunker, it would be catalogued as had been done with other charmed or cursed objects.

"Who's up for another round?" you asked, rising from your chair at the kitchen table. Everyone raised their hand, so Dean got up to help you. Before you could open the refrigerator door for more beer, Dean caught your hand and motioned for you to follow him outside. Curious, you slipped out the back door to the porch and into the cool night air.

"You warm enough?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay," you replied just as a shiver ran through you.

Dean chuckled. "Come here," he said as he unzipped his sweatshirt and wrapped his arms around you from behind.

"Mmm, that feels nice, thank you," you sighed and closed your eyes.

"There's something I've been meaning to tell you," Dean began. "You've been my best friend for the longest time, and I wouldn't trade that for the world. That's why what I'm going to say next is so difficult," he added.

You turned around in Dean's arms to face him. "Dean, no matter what it is, you know you can tell me and I'll still be your best friend," you tried to assure him.

Dean looked up to the starry sky and took a deep breath then locked eyes with you again. "I hope so, sweetheart, because I wanted to tell you I'm in love with you," he declared.

"What?" you whispered.

"It's true. You're smart, kind, you have the best sense of humor, even though you still laugh at my feeble attempts at telling jokes. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know, and your dedication to family is almost stronger than mine. As was just recently proven, I believe," he chuckled.

"Yeah," you returned his chuckle.

"And for me to say you're so beautiful just doesn't even cover it. From your eyes that look at things from a different perspective, to your cute little nose that crinkles when you're researching. From your smile that brightens up my day just to see it, to hands that are tough when swinging a machete and soft when sewing up an injury. Ones I can't wait to have roaming over every inch of my body while I'm taking my sweet time to learn every inch of yours," he explained.

"I had no idea you felt this way, Dean, but I'm glad you told me. Kinda makes what I have to say next so easy, which is I'm in love with you too. I have been for a long time, but I didn't want to give up what we had if you didn't love me. So I kept my feelings to myself," you finished.

"Oh, sweetheart," Dean whispered.

"There are so many things I love about you. Such as, you like to show the world how tough you are, but I know about the flip side of that. The one that tenderly patches me up after a hunt or takes care of me when I'm sick. Or holds me in his arms so I feel safe from my fears, real or imagined. The side that knows when something's bothering me and won't let up until it's out in the open. And believe me, you're no slouch in the looks department," you giggle at the last part.

"Really? Well, don't stop now, baby, I think you're really on to something," he replied.

"Let's start with the eyes. I know I can tell you anything and I won't see an ounce of judgement in them. Plus, they kind of shine when you talk about the things you love, like music," you started.

Your index finger began tracing a line down the edge of his jaw. "Your smile is contagious and it lights up the room. And last but not least," you whispered, inching ever closer. "I really want to know how soft your lips are. So, for the sake of science," you closed the gap and meshed your lips together with his.

The kiss itself was perfect, all you'd ever imagined, and then some. Your lips left his for a brief second until he recaptured them and dove back in for more. As your mouths moved in tandem, Dean's tongue swept along your bottom lip to request access, which you readily granted.

"Mmf, sweetheart, I love you so much," he murmured against your mouth. He nudged your head upwards to trail a path of open-mouthed kisses across and down your neck. Once he reached the place where your neck met your collarbone, he attached his lips and sucked at the skin. When he pulled back, he had left a mark there for all to see. "Now everyone will know who you belong to," he grinned.

"My heart was always yours, Dean. Always and forever," you sighed. "I love you."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Tags:

@janicho88 @yourelivingwrong @akshi8278 @magssteenkamp @swiftlymoniquesblog @lyarr24 @miss-nerd95 @distefano123 @hobby27 @deanwanddamons @jessica-noel94 @wayward-mikaelson @gabrielslittleangel @jensengirl83 @deangirl93 @ellewritesfix05 @supernatural-jackles @idreamofplaid @like-a-bag-of-potatoes @winchesterprincessbride @babygurltt @ejlovespie @flamencodiva @deandreamernp

[jj-iz-bae]

Don't tell me not to worry

Word count: 1722 words

Requested by @sunwardsss : Can you do comfort 38 and 43 for Chase please? 38: “I’m in the hospital.”43: “You don’t have to sleep here just because I got admitted.”

Pairings: Chase Stokes x Reader; Chase Stokes x Rudy Pankow; Rudy Pankow x platonic!reader

Warnings: Hospitals,seizures,Fluff,bad spelling and grammar

Note from author: so this is actually based on a seizure episode I had. It only happend one time and was caused by strep throat which triggered a reaction in the auto immune disorder (the disorder basically is that instead of my immune system attacking the virus or illness, my immune system attacks my brain causing all sorts of weird things to happen. When I was younger only strep throat triggered a "flare" of increased symptoms ie ocd,anxiety,age regression,mood swings,foggy brain and other things. Sadly the disorder has developed so that I flare with any illness, not just strep) ANYWAYS 😂 I hope you enjoy this Fluff with a tiny pinch of angst. Just a tiny bit if you squint. Ace is my nickname for Chase and I've used it in other blurbs. I just think it's cute. Kinda like how I call Rudy Panky🙃

Chase was wrapping up a day on set, shoving all his belongings into a backpack. He slung the backpack over his shoulder and grabbed his keys ,leaving his casting trailer when his phone started ringing. He just realized he hadn’t heard from you all day. Seeing your name flash across the screen, he stopped in his tracks and answered. “Hey baby girl! I haven’t heard from you all day!” Chase exclaimed as he started to kick a rock around with his foot. “Sorry Ace. Please don’t freak out.I’m totally fine now but I'm in the hospital.” you explained slowly. Chase’s eyes grew large as he starred jogging to his car. "Don't tell me not to worry baby! Where are you? What happened?" Chase asked as he reached his car and fumbled with the keys, trying to move quickly in his panicked state. He swore under his breath as he dropped his keys and put you on speaker phone while he picked up his keys. You heard the rustling on the other end of the phone and grew nervous. "Chase! Babe are you OK? Calm down I promise I'm OK!" Rudy just so happened to be walking to his car when he heard your voice and saw Chase cursing at his car keys. "Hey dude! What's going on? You OK?" Rudy asked as he walked over to Chase. "Rudy! Y/n's in the hospital and I need to...I just can't.." Chase stuttered. Rudy grabbed the keys out of his hands. "I'll drive. You just talk to her." Rudy threw his stuff in the back of Chase's car as he hopped into the drivers seat and Chase ran around to the passenger seat. "OK sorry babe. Rudy is driving cause you're freaking me out. What happened?" Chase asked, running his hand through his wavy hair as Rudy pulled out of the set parking lot. "Thanks for taking care of him Rudy! I swear I'm fine! I'm at St. Marcus hospital. I think it's pretty close to town." Rudy picked up his phone and pulled up directions on his GPS before placing his phone in the cup holder so he could see the map. "No problem hun! Now tell us what happened before Chase pulls his hair out." Rudy answered ."Yeah you're scaring the shit out of me,Baby girl." Chase let out a breathy giggle.

"OK. Well I had my mom over and we were just hanging out watching TV and everything went black. Everything sounded echoey and I tried to open my eyes but it was like i had no control. I started convulsing and got sick. Mom called an ambulance and they brought me to the ER. The Er sent me here so I've been in the ambulance twice today!" You sighs. Chase nervously picked at his lips. "So what does that mean? Like did they run any tests yet?" Chase asked as Rudy broke a few traffic laws to get him to you quicker. "They have me hooked up to all these monitors and I'm going for an MRI tomorrow. The doctor said I most likely had a seizure." You explained as you looked at all the wires and iv lines covering your body. Chase let out a breathe that he didn't know he was holding. "OK baby. We will figure this out! Rudy, how far away are we?" Chase looked over at the blonde with red eyes, on the verge of tears. "It's right up here on the left." Rudy mumbled as he leaned over the steering wheel to make sure it was clear to turn. "OK babe. We just pulled into the parking lot. Where do I go?" Chase asked as he unbuckled his seat belt. "I'm on the 7th floor room 54." You said yawning. Rudy pulled up to the main entrance and stopped the car. "Go ahead man. I'll park the car and meet you up there." Rudy explained as Chase gave him a quick hug and jumped out of the car and jogged to the entrance. "OK I'm getting in the elevator now. Ill see you in 2 seconds OK? I'll be right there!" Chase babbled on as he put the phone up to his ear, taking it off speaker. "So how was work?" You asked trying to distract him a little. "Y/n as much as I wanna tell you about my day, I can't remember shit right now." Chase smirked as you hummed in response.

The elevator dinged and Chase got off the elevator and walked up to the nurses station. He put his phone on his shoulder so he wouldn't look rude for not giving the nurse his full attention. "Hello miss! My girlfriend is here somewhere. Room 54. Her name is y/f/n y/l/n. I can give you her birthday if you want to verify I'm not some weirdo." Chase said talking a mile a minute. The nurse just smiled and got up from her desk. "You must be Chase! She told us you were coming! Said you'd be the tall surfer guy with the chocolate brown eyes. Follow me." The nurse smiled before walking down the hall with Chase on her heels. She got to a door and knocked lightly before opening it. "Hey y/n! Surfer boy is here!" The nurse giggled as Chase walked through the door and the nurse closed it behind him. You were laying in the hospital bed with leads attached to your chest and stomach. You also had an iv in her arm and a couple stickers with wires on her head. Upon seeing Chase, you total lost all your composure and started sobbing. Chase rushed over to your side and gently hugged you close. "It's OK baby. I'm here. I've got you." Chase cooed as tears started to run down his face. You scooted over on the bed making room for Chase to lay down. He carefully made sure all the leads were out of the way and nothing was being pulled before tucking you into his chest. " It was so scary! I didn't know what was happening or why." You sniffed as you snuggled into his chest. "Shhhh. It's OK now. It's over. You're here now ad we will figure out what happened and why. Just relax baby." Chase cooed as he rubbed your back. A soft knock made you jump in your sleepy state. Chase said come in before kissing the top of your head, noticing the jolt of your body at the sudden noise. Rudy entered the room with Chase's backpack on his shoulder. "Hey y/n. How you feeling, sweetheart?" Rudy asked in a soft voice as he crouches down next to the bed. "I'm exhausted and confused as to what happened but I feel ok. Thank you for making sure Ace got here OK. I really appreciate it." You said while reaching out to grab Rudy's hand. "No problem at all! JD is coming to pick me up so Chase's car is here." Rudy explained before putting Chase's backpack down. "I thought you might want your bag." Rudy nods to Chase as he stands up. "Thanks man. I owe you one." Chase bumped his fist to Rudy's. "No you don't! You would have done the same for me. You rest up OK y/n? Don't let this guys puppy energy keep you up." Rudy said pointing between the two of you, which made you let out a small chuckle. "He smells like the ocean and is warm. I think I'll have no trouble falling asleep." You mumbles as you snuggles into Chase's chest again. Chase smirks ,holding you close. Rudy's phone dings and he waves good bye so he doesn't disturb the half asleep girl on Chase's chest.

You awoke from your nap to Chase still at your side. You smile up at him. "Sorry I fell asleep on you. You didn't have to stay." Chase opened his eyes lazily, drawing shapes on your arm with his finger. "No way am I leaving you baby. But since you're awake now. I really need to pee." Chase chuckled as he slowly scooted off the bed and walked to the bathroom on the other side of the room. You turned on the TV and sat up a little, looking at the screens and wires all around you. Chase came out of the bathroom, tossing a paper towel into the trash bin, before grabbing his bag from next to the bed. He pulled out his charger and plugged your phone in before putting it down on the table next to you.As he placed the bag down and sat next to you on the bed, a nurse knocked and entered the room. "Hey you two! I have extra sheets and blankets for you! This chair fold out into a lounger so you both don't have to smush together all night." The nurse explained as she sat the extra blankets and linen on the chair. "Thank you so much!" Chase beamed as the nurse came over to your bed side to check all your vitals. "Is there anything I should look for overnight?" Chase asked the nurse."Well if she has any convulsions or gets sick, press this call button." The nurse said pointing to the red button on the wall. "Other than that, if anything has you worried press the button and we will come make sure everything is OK." The nurse smiled as she finished getting your blood pressure and typed the vitals into her laptop before leaving the room. Chase got up from his seat on the bed and opened up the lounger chair, putting on the different sheets ad blankets. "You know, you don't have to sleep here just because I was admitted." You smile watching his basically throw blankets round until he was satisfied. He came and laid down next to you again before pecking your lips. "I told you ,baby. I'm here with you for everything. We'll figure this out together." Chase cooed as he pulled you closer and watched SpongeBob with you on his chest, running his ringers through your hair. "I love you, Ace." You said before kissing his hand. "I love you more,Baby girl."

*photo cred to pintrest*

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[multiharlot]

home (TLTL2) / s. reid

summary: spencer is more than determined to win back the heart of his last lover. even if it means being a little unethical. 

warnings: i dunno? i don’t think so? okay, who’re we kidding. violence. cursing. also mentions of blood.

part 1

masterlist

spencer’s pov

“i mean, what does she even see in a guy like that?” i scoff, gulping down my last bit of coffee. 

“i mean, he does look like he belongs in a calendar.” jj says, staring dreamily at the buff sheriff. 

“you’re married.” i deadpan, and she laughs softly. 

“yes, spencer. i know. thank you for reminding me.” she smiles sarcastically. 

i watch closely as he throws his head back in laughter as something the deputy said. 

“there’s something off about him. he’s too...calm.” i glare, and jj lets out another sigh. 

“spence, the only thing off about him is that he’s sleeping with the woman you’re still in love with. and i love you, i do, but if you do anything to mess this up for her, i will personally be...very angry at you.”

“what a threat.” i scoff, and she hits my shoulder lightly. 

“i’m serious. she’s finally happy and back on her feet. don’t mess that up for her because you can’t handle the idea of somebody else finally doing what you couldn’t.” jj scolds, picking up her now empty cup of coffee and walking off. 

i’ll figure you out, daniel.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

y/n’s pov

“bye park! have fun with the overnights.” i smile, patting the doctors shoulder softly. 

“oh you know i will.” he glares playfully, making me laugh. 

“have a good night.”

“you too, y/n.” he smiles, waving goodbye as i walk out of the ER doors. 

while humming a small tune, i fumble through my purse, searching for my keys. my eyebrows furrow as i realize they’re missing from my bag. 

“did i-”

“looking for these?”

my head snaps up and i see daniel, leaning against my car door with my keys in between his fingers. i hold my hand to my chest as a gasp escapes my lips. 

“jeez. you scared me.” i laugh, walking forward and wrapping my arms around his torso. 

“sorry.” he smiles, leaning down and pressing a soft kiss to my lips. 

“what’re you doing here?” i ask, pulling away from him. 

“i’m taking you home, come on.”

“in your car?” i ask, questionably glancing at the patrol car parked behind mine. 

“yeah.” he nods. 

“baby i can’t just leave my car here.” 

“except you can. just...come on.” he urgers, grabbing my bicep tightly. 

“ummm...ow. daniel, let go. i’ll just follow you and meet you at your house.”

“there’s no time for that. i have a special night plannes and i just...need you to trust me.” he pushes, and i pull my arm from his hold. 

“daniel. no. i’ll drive home first. plus, i want to change i-”

suddenly, he lifts me off the ground, his hand over my mouth. my things fall across the floor and i attempt to wiggle myself out of his hold, screaming as loudly as i could. but the sounds were muffled by his large hand. my head hits the top of the door and i’m immediately knocked cold. the last thing that registered through my mind was the sound of the seatbelt clicking and his engine revving. 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

spencer’s pov

“she’s gone” daniel breathes out and he runs into the station in a panic. 

“who’s gone?” hotch questions, walking towards daniel who was currently in hysterics. 

“y/n...she’s gone. i went to the hospital to bring her her spare keys and her stuff was all over the ground and her car is still there. oh god...” daniel groans, gripping tightly at his hair. 

“hey, we’re gonna find her. don’t worry.” his deputy says, immediately coming to his side. 

“we need all units out on patrol to keep an eye out for y/n. she’s been taken from the er parking lot.” the deputy says into his radio, the feedback pouring in almost immediately. 

“you’re never going to find her.” daniel breathes out, throwing his hands down to his sides in frustration. 

my eyebrows furrow and i look over at jj, who seemed to notice the same thing i did. 

“we’ll find her, man. she was our friend once too.” morgan says, patting his back. 

“let’s head to the emergency room and check the security-”

“they don’t work. they stopped working about 5 months ago.” daniel sighs, running his hands over his face. 

“we’re going to find her, daniel. if it’s the last thing we do.” i say, staring him right in the eye. 

his right eye twitches for a moment, but he takes a deep breath, nodding his head. 

“i left everything the way it was when i found it. you guys go look...i need to go home for a minute. i...i just need a minute.” he mumbles, walking out of the station. 

hotch turns to jj, blake, and i and before he even lets out a word and i speak out. 

“he’s hiding something. he targeted us specifically when he said we were never going to find her. and on top of that, who wants to go home and rest when they’re girlfriend has just been kidnapped?” i say, everyone pauses for a moment, but by my surprise, hotch nods in agreement. 

“you, jj, and morgan follow where he’s going. have garcia track his patrol unit. blake, rossi and i will head to the hospital.” hotch nods, and we all nod our heads ready to take off before hotch grabs my arm. 

“spencer if you need to step away from this case then i understand-”

“hotch...i’m fine. i just want to save her. give me that chance.”

the three of us parked across the street from daniel’s home. as he walked in, morgan’s phone rings out. 

“whatcha got for me babygirl?”

“so, turns out, those hospital cameras don’t actually work, but they didn’t stop working 5 months ago like the sheriff originally explained. their transmission feed was cut off about an hour before y/n was scheduled to get off of work. so i logged into the daniel’s patrol unit’s gps systems, and guess where he was right as the camera’s were shut off?”

“the hospital.” i finish, morgan and jj looking between us and back towards daniel’s house. 

“alright, thanks mama.” derek sighs. 

“you guys bring her back, alright? and you tell her she still owes me a coffee.” garcia says, her frown audible in her tone. 

“over my dead body.” i mutter, as garcia hangs up the phone. 

as we’re watching the house, i squint my eyes towards his car, pointing my finger out. 

“guys is that...is that a dent above the passenger door?” i squint. 

morgan and jj leans forward, nodding their heads. 

“i- i think it’s a dent.” i say, unbuckling my seatbelt. 

“spence don’t-”

“it’s fine. just...go to the door and tell him that you want to ask him some questions about y/n and keep him occupied.” i say. 

they sigh, getting out of the car and walking with me to the door. i squat down behind his car and don’t get up until i hear the front door shut. i stand, walking over the passenger door where i look over the door. and lo and behold, there was a dent with fresh blood still on it. my breath catches in my throat as i send out a text to hotch and morgan.

there’s blood on his passenger door. it’s him. 

i wait a moment before i hear crashing from inside the house. daniel runs out the front door and morgan tackles him onto the lawn. 

“are you guys fucking serious!? my own girlfriend!? this is because of that fucking popsicle stick isn’t it? he couldn’t possibly stand the sight of her with somebody else, so he’s trying to pin this on me!” he shouts, trying to wriggle his way out of morgan’s hold. 

“we found blood on your car, dude.” morgan scoffs, ushering him into the car. 

hotch pulls up beside us, handing me a small plastic baggie with a cotton swab inside of it. i swipe the blood with the swab and stick it into the bag, handing it back to hotch. 

“...what if it’s hers?” i ask after a small moment of silence. 

“if it’s hers, then we do our jobs, and we find her.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

the interrogation was going nowhere, and the entire station was less than cooperative with us after we had brought in their own sheriff, that was, until the test results came back from the lab. 

“the blood was hers.” hotch confirms, making daniel’s deputy stare up at us with wide eyes. 

“w-what? no. that’s...he’s being framed.” he says, shaking his head. 

“deputy rivera, i understand the personal conflict with this case, but all the evidence is pointing to him. he’s been the one to find all the past victims bodies. he specifically requested for us to come and assist with this case, despite acting as though he had no idea we were the team coming in. and more than anything, he fits the profile.” hotch explains, and rivera lets a short breath fall from his lips.

“but...his own girlfriend?”

“we think that was used to taunt me. y/n and i...y/n and this whole team have a history. so we believe that he took her in order to taunt us as though he was smarter than us. one step ahead.” i say, and rivera’s eyebrows shoot up. 

“oh my god...you’re the genius ex-boyfriend. aren’t you?”

i pause for moment, before nodding my head. rivera’s eyebrows furrow before he scoffs. 

“oh my god...it’s him. it’s you.”

“me?”

“yes. well no. i- daniel hates you. and i mean...hates you. y/n used to talk about you a lot. well, she referenced you. i don’t think she did it on purpose or maliciously, but it used to make daniel so angry. and once she told him what had happened between you two-”

“when did he tell her?” blake asks, and rivera shrugs. 

“i dunno, probably about...a month or two ago.”

we all exchange looks, probably all thinking the same thing. 

“that was the trigger. he needed to channel his anger into something, so he started killing people who resembled you or maeve in some manner. wether that was intellect or looks. and now, he feels the need to prove himself. prove that he’s better than you...” rossi explains, turning back to the board.

“wait so...you think he did all of this for her?” rivera asks, still trying to get a grip on his new reality. 

“yes. and if we’re ever going to find y/n, we need your help.”

rivera nods his head, and i pace back and forth. 

“did daniel every have anywhere where he could go, other than his home? was there some place he frequented? it’s a small town, there can’t be many places to go.” i say, laying the map flat against the table. 

“not that i know of. he usually spent all of his time at home, at y/n’s place, or at the rec center.”

“rec center? what was he doing there?” i ask, marking down the locations he had just named off. 

“outreach programs” he answers quickly, and i nod my head. 

morgan quickly pulls out his phone, undoubtedly dialing garcia’s number. 

“give me somethin to do that ain’t you, sugar.”

“i need you to check through the list of kids who participate in the outreach programs at the rec center and see if their parents own any plots of land or empty buildings.” morgan says, and i hear the clicking from her keyboard through the phone. 

“okay...well, it looks like...oh.”

“oh what?” hotch asks, leaning into the phone. 

“it looks like daniel had made a...generous donation to a family about three months ago-”

“yeah. to the jackson’s. they owned a canning facility down by the wharf. they’re one of the founding families of the town, so when the recession hit, we all helped gather the funds to keep them afloat for the next few months. daniel was the one to give it to them. but after their son died, they decided to skip town and start fresh somewhere else.” rivera explains. 

“garcia we need the address for that warehouse.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

y/n’s pov

it was cold and it smelled wet. this cold metal chair was extremely uncomfortable and the rope was burning against my wrists. i groaned as i began to come to my sense, my vision flooding in little by little. i struggled against the restraints, but i couldn’t seem to pull myself out. my head still throbbing and the tears began to cascade down my face. 

“daniel?” i croak out, but nothing came in return. 

i shouted out for someone. anyone. bu no one came. a sob escaped my lips as i continued to try and pull myself out of the rope’s hold. so many thoughts ran through my head, but only one was prevalent at the front of my mind. i wanted spencer. 

“spencer...please find me.” i whimpered, as i struggled, the twine breaking into my skin. 

blood began to stain the rope as i pulled harder and harder. my wrists began to bleed heavier and that’s when i heard the sirens. 

“y/n!?”

“spencer!” i shouted as i pulled harder at the rope around my wrists. 

the door is kicked open and spencer runs in, morgan standing by the door, guns drawn. spencer fall to his knees in front of me. 

“spencer.” i sobbed as he pulled his knife out, cutting away at the thick rope. 

“you’re okay, baby. you’re okay. i got you.” he whispers. 

he cuts through the last restraint around my ankles and i throw my arms around his neck. he lets out a sigh of relief as he wraps his arms around my waist. 

“i love you. i love you so much, i never should have left. i’m so sorry.” i cried into his shoulder. 

he rubs my back softly as he calms his rapid breathing. 

“no, i’m sorry. i was too caught up in maeve and myself to focus on you. i’m so in love with you. if i had just gotten over it like i was supposed to, this would’ve never happened.” he sighs, pulling away and wiping the tears from my face. 

we stood there, looking at each other for just a moment before he places his lips on mine. the familiar bunch of butterflies erupting in my stomach as he held on tightly to my face. we pulled away, and he chuckles awkwardly. i lean my head, smiling over at dererk.

“hey derek.” i smile.

“hey mama. come on, let’s get you checked out.” derek smiles softly. 

i nod, and spencer wraps his arm around my waist, walking me out. i sat on the gurney as the paramedics disinfected and wrapped my wrists cautiously. eventually, we make our way back to the station, where i stood awkwardly as i gave the team my statement. 

“so...what happens now?” i ask, looking between the group of fairly tall individuals. 

“well, i believe you own garcia a coffee date. so we’re going to have to bring you back home with us.” spencer smiles softly, looking down at me with hopeful eyes as he intertwines my hand in his.

“home...yeah. home.”

(pls tell me if you want to be added to my taglist! i have no clue if you want to be here if you don’t say anything!)

@dreatine @slytherinintj13 @mileven-reddie @eleventhdoctorsangel

[tw-anchor]

38. Yes, Werecoyotes Exist

Anchor

Stiles Stilinski x Original Character

Episode:  3x14; More Bad Than Good

Word Count: 6,132

Warning(s): Mature language, canon violence + gore, panic attacks

Author’s Note: Introducing Malia! I freaking love my girl and I can’t wait to write about Olivia and Malia’s relationship. I hope you enjoy the newest chapter! Make sure to tell me what you think, reblog, and like!

Masterlink in Pinned Post!

When Scott had waltzed into Stiles' bedroom and said, "We're going to find a dead body," Stiles had expected the night to go much like that one night, not so long ago. Thankfully, his best friend was the alpha in this situation and Scott definitely wasn't going to bite him. Also, this time, the dead body was not one of Olivia's relatives—which he considered a blessing. She'd be so pissed if she knew he was looking for one of her dead relatives.

Actually, she'd probably be pissed that he was going to look for a dead body at all. He could picture it; she'd have a lecture all set and ready for him, but he'd get distracted by her beauty and then distract her. And then, well, what happened next would be private—for no one but him and Olivia.

The sharp snap of a stick under Scott's shoe brought him out of his fantasy of a night spent between Olivia's thighs. Yeah, he should probably be paying attention to where they were going.

"You know, if my dad's right, that means there's another werewolf in town that we haven't met yet," Stiles brought up the elephant in the room—er, woods. The only reason they were coming out to look for a dead body was because Noah thought that the accident that killed the women of the Tate family had been caused by a werewolf.

The theory had some substance; after all, the accident took place on the night of a full moon.

"I know," Scott was paying more attention to the GPS on his phone, but Stiles didn't mind. They had to get to the site of the wreck somehow and neither of them knew the woods that well.

"If it turns out to be something like triplets that form into, like, a fucking three-headed hound of hell, I'm seriously not up for that."

"Yeah, me either," Scott sighed in agreement. "Especially if I can't even control my own transformation anymore."

Eventually, they came across a ravine, close to where the accident should have been. They would have to climb down a few feet of stone and dirt, but it was doable for the both of them. It wasn't like it was Mount Everest or some shit.

A howl echoed through the air, making Stiles flinch. He flinched so violently that he accidently bumped into Scott, causing the phone—and GPS—to go flying out of his friend's hands, into the ravine below. It was just their luck that it had recently rained, because the phone had sunk down into a puddle.

"Fuck, sorry, dude," Stiles grimaced, looking from the phone and the puddle to Scott's annoyed face. "I hate coyotes so much. They always sound like they're mauling some tiny, helpless animal."

Amused, Scott scoffed and jumped down into the ravine. While he grabbed the phone from the puddle, Stiles got to work on following him down. He slipped and slid a little on the way, but he managed to get into the ravine no problem. Yeah, it was nothing like Mount Everest.

"It still works," Scott informed him, showing Stiles his phone, which was apparently waterproof.

Stiles only glanced at the phone, as the beam of Scott's flashlight had caught something that intrigued him. He grabbed the flashlight from Scott's hand and crept forward, following the light to where an old car lay, upside down and ultimately destroyed.

"I think we found it."

Scott walked over to him, looking at the wrecked car in confusion. "Uh, why wouldn't they move it? Isn't it evidence?"

"Probably too much of a pain in the ass to tow out," Stiles studied the vehicle. Its windows were long gone, probably from the crash, the tires had been scavenged, and thankfully, there was no blood from the accident. There was, however, claw marks scratched down the car, imprinting the metal. "Look at this. See those?"

Scott nodded and shifted closer to the car. He put his own hand on the marks, surprised that they were a match in width and height.

"Animal claws would be closer together, right?" Stiles prompted. "A lot closer."

"It was a werewolf," Scott agreed.

"So my dad was right."

A hint of pride bubbled in Stiles' gut at the thought of his dad taking all of this supernatural shit in stride. He just wished that the reason wasn't because Agent McCall was out to get him impeached from his job. Still, at least his dad would know that this case was closed, even if it meant that a werewolf had decimated a family.

Stiles dropped to his stomach and flashed the light through one of the windows so he could see into the vehicle. He just wanted to make sure that there was nothing wrong going on down there. It wasn't until Scott kneeled down next to him and pointed something out did he see something.

He pulled the doll out of the vehicle and got to his feet, Scott following. They stared at the doll, a basic one that most little girls would have to play with, when out of nowhere, it spoke.

"I'm hungry!"

Stiles shouted and threw the doll away from him, so scared that he lost his balance. Scott stared at him in shock, but Stiles felt vindicated. There was no way he wouldn't have screamed from that fucking doll speaking out of nowhere. It was out of a fucking horror movie.

He inhaled deeply and pressed a palm against his chest. "I think I just had a minor heart attack."

Scott sighed heavily in agreement before pausing. Stiles saw the dangerous look on his face and stood still, his heart starting to race when he heard the low growl come from the other side of the car.

"Stiles," Scott reached for Stiles; he shakily joined his friend. "Please tell me you see that."

Stiles stared in the direction where Scott was, spotting the coyote within seconds.

Shit, shit, shit, he cursed himself. Oh, we are so fucked.

He didn't voice his fear, though his voice did shake when he answered Scott, "I see it."

And then Scott was off, chasing after the coyote.

"Wait, hey, Scott!" he yelled after his best friend. "Scott, wait!"

What was the fucking point of running after a fucking coyote?! If anything, Scott needed to stay by Stiles' side as they left, so he could protect them. Without Scott around, who knew if another coyote would come around and eat him. And also, Scott could get hurt as well. If he couldn't control his transformation, how was he supposed to go up against a fucking coyote.

God, I hate coyotes so fucking much.

He couldn't just stand there and wait for Scott to come back—if he came back at all. He supposed he should at least take a look around the area to see if he could find any hint that Malia Tate had been killed around here. The sight of a coyote by the wreck almost confirmed her death. Though her body wasn't found with her mother and sister's bodies, she couldn't have survived for long out in the woods by herself, with coyotes around. It was sad, but it was the truth.

He walked slowly and with purpose as he aimed the flashlight in front of him. He slowly made his way to the opposite side of the ravine, secretly hoping that Scott would come back soon so they could get the hell out of there, and tried to find anything that stood out. He was about to leave and head back to the site of the wreck when the flashlight caught a shadow of an opening in the stones in the ravine wall.

He raised an eyebrow in realization; a coyote den.

He didn't want to explore the den without Scott, so he made his way back to the wreck. He was halfway back when he crossed a tree and ran smack dab into Scott. There may have been some frightened screaming on both sides, but they would never mention it to anyone.

"I think I found something," Stiles blurted out once he was sure he wasn't going to die of a heart attack.

Scott nodded. "So did I. I think that coyote I followed is Malia."

"Malia Tate? Come this way," Stiles led Scott toward the den. "The girl who wasn't found..."

"Exactly," Scott nodded. "She's like me—well, not like me, because I don't change into a wolf."

"Maybe it's like Derek's mom," Stiles suggested, his mind racing a mile a minute as they walked. "She could turn into a four-legged wolf. Maybe werecoyotes can too."

"I can't believe werecoyotes are a thing now."

"Me neither."

Together, they climbed up the ravine wall and entered the den. While Stiles hadn't known that the coyote was Malia, it didn't surprise him to see an old jacket that would fit a nine-year-old girl, as well as a couple of shoes, a scarf, and a patterned blanket. They were all dirty from age and time in the den, but still recognizable.

"You see this?" Stiles picked up the blue jacket. "This is Malia's. Remember, it's the same one she was wearing in the photo."

Scott nodded, recognizing the garment, before hesitating. "We shouldn't be here."

Stiles gave him a look of confusion. "What do you mean?"

"She's not going to come back now," Scott explained. "We just invaded her home. Our scents are gonna be everywhere."

"Shit," Stiles sighed in realization, his eyes landing on an old teddy bear. "Well, if she's not going to come back here, where's she going to go?"

"I don't know."

"Can you track her now?" Stiles asked Scott, his eyes still wandering around the den. "You think you got her scent?"

"Maybe, but I'm better at this when I'm a full wolf," Scott sighed. "And I'm still worried that if I do it, I won't be able to turn back."

Stiles remembered what Deaton had told them earlier that day; when the three of them underwent the sacrifice, they had opened a door to their minds. That was why he, Scott, and Allison were having such a hard time with things.

"The door's still open," he stated; Scott nodded. "Well, what if Olivia helps you?"

Scott nodded. "And if that doesn't work, I'll ask Derek if he can help," he sighed heavily and looked around the den. "This is basically a crime scene, right? I think it might be a little out of Deaton's league."

"And more my dad's," Stiles finished his thought.

Yeah, he already dreaded trying to get his dad to understand what had happened to Malia Tate.

-

-

"How much are we talking here? I'm not doing it for any less than ten."

"Ten thousand?" Olivia hissed into her phone, eyes narrowed.

"And if you want the older one alive, I'm thinking fifteen."

"You want fifteen thousand dollars to rescue Derek and Peter?" Olivia lowered her voice when the girl who had the locker a few feet down from her gave her a weary look. "Did Morrell give you this much to get to Isaac?"

"I don't talk about previous contracts," Braeden, the girl who had rescued Isaac from the alpha pack at the beginning of the school year, snapped through the receiver. "And we're talking about the Calaveras here. I'm not going in for under fifteen."

Well, when she put it like that...

"All right, fine," Olivia sighed, digging into her purse for the checkbook she kept on her. Luckily, Peter had decided to start giving her child support and had given her access to his bank account. She rattled off his account information while glancing at the clock on the wall; she had two minutes to get to class. "If it doesn't go through right away, it'll need Peter's approval."

"That's hardly getting paid upfront," Braeden argued.

"Well, I don't have fifteen thousand dollars in my bank account," Olivia rolled her eyes. "Peter's good for the money, he just might have to authorize the payment. Are we gonna do this or not?"

It was silent for a few seconds on Braeden's end. "Fine," she finally decided. "I'll head there now. I'll make contact when I pick up the packages."

Olivia furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you talking like a UPS worker?"

Braeden sighed. "Goodbye, Olivia."

"Bye."

Olivia slammed her locker shut and rushed toward her history class, cursing Braeden for getting back to her right as the warning bell rang. She slid into the classroom with a minute to spare and headed right into the back corner of the room where Stiles, Scott, and Allison were huddled around Stiles' iPad.

"Here's where we found the den," Stiles pointed out to Allison as Olivia walked over to them. "It's right in the middle of the hiking trails."

"Well, that could narrow it down," Allison said thoughtfully. "Coyotes travel in fixed trails. But, I think you're right about her not going back to the den. Coyotes don't like wolves."

"And they're really smart," Olivia piped in; she didn't know what they were talking about, but she never brushed off a time to show off her brilliance. "If they don't want to be heard, they actually walk on their toes."

Stiles gave her a surprised look. "Coyotes tiptoe?"

Olivia shared an amused look with Allison. "Yeah, they tiptoe."

"Wow."

The bell rang, announcing the start of class.

"I got to go," Allison said hurriedly. "but send me the pinned location."

Stiles nodded and she ran off, hurrying to her class. Once Scott had started to head to his seat, Olivia confronted Stiles, still a little confused about what he and their friends had been talking about.

"So, what was that about?"

"Okay, so, you know how I told you that Scott's dad is trying to get my dad fired?"

"No."

He hadn't said anything about that, in actuality. Agent McCall was trying to fire Sheriff Stilinski? How was that even possible? She was pretty sure the FBI didn't have jurisdiction over local police forces—or they did, and she just didn't know about it.

"Right, sorry, I forgot," Stiles winced. "Anyway, McCall is trying to get my dad impeached, so Dad's been going through old cases. Since he knows now, he figured a set of fresh eyes might do some good. He found a case, this family had died in a car accident on the full moon and he thinks a werewolf did it."

It was a lot to take in at once, especially since Stiles was speaking a million miles per hour, but somehow, she managed. "So did a werewolf do it?"

"Not exactly," Stiles whispered as they took their seats. "it turns out that their oldest daughter, Malia, is a werecoyote."

Olivia blinked slowly. "A werecoyote."

"Yes, and she accidently caused the accident," Stiles finished up his story. "So, Scott and I went out to the wreck last night and Scott found Malia."

"...but as a coyote?"

"Yes, exactly," Stiles nodded excitedly. "So, now we're trying to find a way to get Malia to turn back into a girl."

"Oh, my God," she sighed. "You found this all out in one night?"

"Yeah," Stiles smiled casually. "What'd you do last night?"

"I had a dream about Derek and Peter, so I hired a mercenary to find them."

Stiles blinked at her, bewildered. "Excuse me? What?"

Before Olivia could elaborate, Mr. Yukimura was calling the class to attention. "All right, everyone. Let's get started."

Stiles turned and sat properly in his desk while Olivia straightened up her notebooks. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott at his desk, going through a huge bundle of paper. "Scott, what is that?"

Scott glanced back at her. "Kira printed this off for us. It's about that Bardo stuff."

"Huh," she hummed, impressed. She turned toward Kira's desk and smiled at her, earning her a shy grin back, before looking back at Scott. "That was nice of her."

"Yeah, it was."

"...We were just talking about internment camps and prisoners of war," Mr. Yukimura continued. "There's a passage in our reading that I'd like to go over in more detail. Who would like to come up and read aloud for us?" there was no volunteer, so Mr. Yukimura picked a random student. "Mr. Stilinski, how about you?"

Olivia's eyes cut to her boyfriend, watching him wearily. He couldn't read at the moment.

"Oh, uh, maybe someone else could," Stiles excused himself.

Mr. Yukimura wasn't having that. "Everyone participates in my class, Mr. Stilinski."

"Okay," Stiles sighed and got out of his seat, heading over to the podium where Mr. Yukimura's copy of their textbook rested.

Seeing someone you love struggle is never fun. Physically feeling someone you love struggle was even worse. Stiles' tether pulsed in sync with his quickening breaths as he stood at the podium, glaring down at the textbook. Though she was trying her hardest to help through her tethers, she just wasn't reaching him.

Olivia knew the signs of a panic attack, especially on Stiles and he was there; his rapid breathing, his glazed-over eyes, his tight-knuckled grip...She needed to get him out of there.

"Stiles," she popped out of her seat and rushed over to him, gently grabbing his arm. "It's okay. J-Just, just hold on."

Scott, who had followed her to the front of the classroom, glanced at Mr. Yukimura. "We should take him to the nurse's office."

Honestly, they didn't wait for Mr. Yukimura to agree. They had already started helping Stiles walk out of the classroom. It was only when they were freely in the hall that Stiles moved on his own accord, ripping away from Olivia and Scott's grip on him. He stumbled, breathing heavily, into the closest room, which happened to be the boys' bathroom.

"Stiles, look at me, man," Scott was almost as panicked as Stiles; he hadn't seen his best friend like this before. "What's happening?"

"It's a panic attack," Olivia told him as she hurried to Stiles' side. Her attempts to grab his arms and help him sit down were pushed away as Stiles gripped onto the sink.

"It's a dream," he mumbled frantically, tears slipping down his cheeks. "it's a dream. This is just a dream."

"Stiles, this isn't a dream," Olivia's voice was soothing, gentle. "This is real. You're here with me and Scott."

"It's okay, Stiles," Scott's eyes fluttered, afraid for his best friend. "What do you do? I mean, like, how do you tell if you're awake or dreaming?"

"Fingers," Stiles gasped out. "Y-You c-count your f-fingers. Y-You have e-extra fingers in d-dreams."

"How many fingers do I have?" Olivia immediately held out both hands so Stiles could see them. "Stiles, hey! Look at me, look at my hands and count my fingers. Come on, sweetcheeks."

Scott grabbed Stiles' arm and forcefully turned him away from the sink in order to face Olivia. Stiles inhaled and exhaled far too quickly to be safe, but he set his blurry eyes on Olivia's hands, counting her fingers one-by-one.

"One, two..."

Scott nodded in encouragement. "Keep going."

"Three, four..."

"Five," Olivia put the first of her thumbs down and gave Stiles a heartfelt smile. "Good job, babe. Keep going."

Stiles exhaled shakily. "Six, seven..."

"Eight," Scott supplied as Olivia put her last middle finger down.

"Nine..." Stiles inhaled and finished counting breathlessly, "Ten."

"Ten fingers, Stiles," Olivia encouraged. "I have ten fingers. This is real. You're not dreaming."

The weight of what that meant seemed to fall on Stiles all at once. He collapsed, his back hitting the wall, as he slid to the floor. Ignoring how dirty the floors in the boys' bathroom were, Olivia didn't hesitate to get on her knees and kneel next to him, grabbing his clammy hand to press a loving kiss to the back of it.

"What the fuck is happening to me?" Stiles cried out in frustration, knocking his head back against the wall. It broke Olivia's heart to see him like this, so frustrated and helpless.

"We'll figure it out," Scott joined Olivia and Stiles on the floor. "You're going to be okay."

Stiles scoffed in disbelief. "Am I?" he raised his head to look Scott in the eye. "Are you? Scott, you can't transform. Allison's being haunted by her dead aunt. I'm straight up losing my mind. We can't do this. We can't—we can't help Malia. We can't help anyone."

"Stiles, don't say that," Olivia shook her head, squeezing his hand. He lazily looked at her and went to disagree, but she cut him off. "No, seriously, don't. Can't is not in your vocabulary, Stiles. If anyone can do anything about anything, it's you, sweetcheeks. You are the one who figures things out. You are strong—you always have been, and you always will be."

"Babe..."

"And even when things are tough, we don't give up," Olivia insisted, her eyes starting to sting. "We try. We always try."

"Liv's right," Scott agreed, nodding proudly. "It's not in our nature to sit by and do nothing. We're doers, Stiles."

Stiles sniffed and nodded resolutely. "You're right," he agreed, straightening up as he looked between his girlfriend and his best friend. "We can do this."

-

-

The rest of school did not get any better. By the time Stiles was feeling better, class had already been let out and people were headed to their second period. However, there was one person who wasn't headed to their next class and that had been Kira. The nice girl she was, she had picked up the bags that Olivia, Scott, and Stiles had left in the history classroom and went to return them.

Unfortunately, Malia—yes, the Malia who was also somehow a werecoyote—had attacked her in the boys' locker room. No one had any idea how a coyote was able to get into the building, but apparently doors didn't deter her when Stiles had something of hers in his backpack.

Scott had saved Kira, thankfully, and the animal control and the police had shown up for the aftermath. The situation went from bad to worse, when Stiles admitted that he had brought the baby doll from the Tate's wreck with him to school at the same time that Mr. Tate walked onto the scene.

He went off the handle at Stiles and then was caught with a gun by Sheriff Stilinski. Fortunately, Mr. Tate left before things could get even more heated, while promising to find the coyote and kill it. He did all of that without realizing that said coyote was actually his daughter—not that anyone would just know that.

So now, the pack had to group together and save Malia from her own father. It was the how they were going to save Malia that was the problem. With Scott and Allison out of commission, they didn't have much options in the way of muscle.

Which led them to Dr. Deaton's animal clinic.

"Xylazine," Deaton set three vials of medicine on the stainless-steel counter in the middle of his exam room. "It's a tranquilizer for horses. For a werecoyote, expect it to work within seconds. I only have three, so whoever's shooting needs to be a damn good shot."

"Allison's a perfect shot," Scott was quick to say.

No, Olivia disagreed privately, she was a good shot.

Isaac voiced what she didn't. "She used to be."

"She can do it," Scott insisted.

Olivia shared a skeptical look with Isaac; Scott hadn't been there when Allison accidently almost shot and killed Lydia. They had. Ever since the sacrifice, Allison wasn't the marksman she used to be. She was so shaky nowadays that she could hardly write with a pen.

"If we manage to find the thing," Isaac muttered pessimistically.

Stiles was not happy with Isaac's negativity. "Okay, what is the point of him?" he pointed at the blonde werewolf. "Seriously, I mean, what's his purpose? Aside from the persistent negativity and the scarf? What's up with the scarf anyway? It's sixty-five degrees out."

Olivia sighed, tired of the back-and-forth between Isaac and Stiles. "Stiles, cut it out."

Stiles shot her a betrayed look as Isaac crossed his arms over his chest, irritated.

"Look, maybe I'm asking a question no one here wants to ask," he pointed out blankly. "How do we turn a coyote back into a girl when she hasn't been a girl for eight years?"

"I could do it, if I could keep myself in control," Scott said thoughtfully. "But...Liv, you could do it?"

Olivia pointed to her chest, confused. "Me? How am I supposed to do that?"

"Yeah, how is she supposed to do that?" Stiles echoed curiously.

"Well, you remember what Deucalion told you, right? About your abilities?" Scott prompted. Olivia's mind raced as she thought back to the night of the lunar eclipse. "He said you could turn a werewolf back with..."

"With a call of his name," she finished. "Yeah, I remember now."

"Is that true?" Isaac asked Deaton.

"Yes, it is," Dr. Deaton confirmed, studying Olivia with peculiar eyes. "You've already done something like that, haven't you?"

Olivia nodded. "With Ethan and Aiden."

"And Deucalion," Scott added.

"So, if you can make three alpha werewolves transform back to their human selves, you can do it with a werecoyote," Stiles encouraged Olivia, a proud smile playing at his lips. "It'll be a piece of cake for you, babe."

"We don't know that," Olivia disagreed. "I have no connection to Malia, I've never met her. Scott, you ran into her, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but I can't transform."

"So, we make a second plan, just in case Livvy can't get Malia to change back," Stiles clapped his hands as he started scheming. "We need a real alpha, though. You know, one that can get it up."

Scott sighed, embarrassed. "I'm an alpha with performance issues."

"It's okay, Scott," Olivia patted his hand. "You just need to practice. Unfortunately, Derek and Peter are somewhere in Mexico right now."

"Which leaves the twins," Isaac hummed.

"They're not alphas anymore," Dr. Deaton informed them. "After what Jennifer did, almost killing them? It broke that part of them."

Olivia didn't see how that was even possible, but okay...

"Yeah, but they still know what it's like to be alphas," Stiles pointed out. "Nobody's seen them in weeks, though."

Olivia winced; she had walked in on Lydia and Aiden one too many times in the past two weeks to say that no one had seen the twins. She knew what Aiden's ass looked like, much to her chagrin. Lydia was taking this I-don't-like-Scott thing to a whole new level by sexing it up with one half of the ex-alpha twins.

"That's not totally true," she spoke up reluctantly; Lydia was going to kill her. "Lydia may or may not be in contact with them...especially Aiden."

Stiles raised his eyebrows at her. "Still?" she nodded. "Ew..."

-

-

They were set. A plan had been made, with hopes that they wouldn't have to use their back-up plan. Scott could control his transformation again, but they were still counting on Olivia to turn Malia back into her human self. It was the easiest route to go since they knew that Olivia could change were-creatures back into their human selves.

All they had to do now was implement the plan. The six of them would be splitting up; Allison and Lydia would try to shoot Malia with the tranquilizer in hopes that it would slow her down, Isaac and Scott would chase Malia and get her to the site of the car wreck, and that's where Olivia and Stiles would be waiting so Olivia could change Malia back. It was a fairly simple plan, but anything could go wrong.

They arrived at the preserve in three separate vehicles; Stiles' Jeep, Scott's bike, and Allison's Toyota. Olivia, Stiles, Lydia, Scott, Isaac, and Allison gathered in a circle, ready to go over their plan once more.

"Anyone else think we might be doing more harm than good?" Lydia asked reluctantly.

Olivia twisted her lips together and glanced at Stiles, gripping his hand tightly. He didn't say anything to her, but his actions did their job in assuring her that everything was going to be all right. He squeezed her back and lifted their intertwined hands, wrapping his arm around her shoulder in assurance. She snuggled into him, the warmth of his shoulder defrosting her chilled cheek.

"We're trying to keep a father from killing his own daughter," Scott rationalized for all of them.

"Actually, we're trying to keep a guy from killing a coyote who is actually his daughter, who we don't know how to change from a coyote back to his daughter," Isaac corrected him bluntly.

Despite the situation, Olivia couldn't help but chuckle. She could always count on Isaac to tell it like it is. It was one of his many charms and why she considered him such a great friend—and there was also the fact that before she grew a heart and fell for Stiles Stilinski, she was just as blunt as him. In a way, that was kinship between them.

"And again with the not helping," Stiles shot a glare at the tall blonde.

Scott rolled his eyes and turned to Allison, who had stayed silent until then. "Did you bring it?"

"Yeah," Allison walked to the trunk of her car and opened it, pulling out her family's tranquilizer gun. "All ready."

As if the universe wanted to ruin their plan, a gunshot echoed through the woods. For some odd reason, they all realized what that meant; Mr. Tate had taken his coyote situation in his own hands and was out gunning for Malia.

Scott and Isaac made to take off, but Olivia quickly stopped them. "Wait, wait!" she shouted "Stick to the plan. Get her to the wreck."

Scott and Isaac only made noises of agreements before they were running off with Lydia and Allison trailing after them. Olivia and Stiles started their own journey to the site of the car wreck and when they were halfway there, Stiles received a call from his father.

"It took the doll again?" Stiles exclaimed, frustrated, once Noah told him that Malia broke into Tate's house to take the baby doll. "What the hell is so important about this doll? Why would it go all the way to the school and then all the way back to the house just for a doll?"

Stiles had ended his call with Noah now, and muttering under his breath as they continued toward the wreck.

"Well, you found the doll in the car wreck, right? Not the coyote den?" Olivia mused; Stiles nodded. "Okay, so, what does the doll even look like?"

"I don't know," Stiles quickly, a little snappish. "It's a doll, you know. It's got little arms, a big baby head, and dead, soulless eyes that scare the fuck out of you...Actually, I took a picture..."

Olivia hovered over his shoulder as he unlocked his phone and found the picture he took of a photo of Malia and her little sister. The older girl in the picture, Malia, wasn't even holding the doll; it wasn't her doll, it was the sister's.

"That's not Malia's doll, Stiles," she pointed out.

"It's her younger sister's," Stiles caught on quickly. "I know what she's doing. It's like taking flowers to a cemetery."

"She's heading to the same place we're going, the wreck," Olivia realized. "We have to get there, now."

They picked up their pace, practically running through the woods to get to the ravine where the wrecked car stayed for eight years. No one else was at the ravine yet, not even Malia, so they slowed to a walk to wait for everyone.

And then Olivia felt it. Isaac's tether pulsed painfully and before she could react, a pained shout echoed through the woods.

"Isaac?" Olivia turned quickly, facing the direction where the shout came from. It was when she took a step that she stood on hard steel which clicked with her weight. "Oh, my God."

It was a trap. A trap that was meant for Malia, but somehow caught Olivia instead.

"Livvy, don't move!" Stiles shouted from behind her. She stared at him with frantic eyes, her heart racing a mile a minute, as he slowly approached her. "I'm gonna look at the warning label, okay? Just stay still."

"W-Warning l-label?"

"There's instructions on how to disarm it," Stiles kept calm for her, though he wanted to vomit from the nerves pooling in his chest. "Animals can't read, so...fuck..."

Olivia swallowed thickly. "Stiles?"

"I can't read, either," Stiles' tone was heavy with anger, though not at her.  He was angry with himself for being unable to help her. Livvy was on the verge of losing her leg, and possibly dying, and he couldn't fucking read. He couldn't get her off the trap safely.

Fuck, fuck, fuck...

"You don't need to read the instructions," Olivia pulled together all of her courage to get herself and Stiles out of this mess. Everyone was counting on them. "You never read the instructions, remember? It's annoys the shit out of me."

Stiles chuckled wetly, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

"You don't need the instructions because you're smarter than them," Olivia recalled something that Stiles had actually told her on one of their date nights where they attempted to put together a Lego set. "You can figure it out, sweetcheeks...You can do it."

There were only two seconds until Stiles responded. When he did, Olivia drowned peacefully in relief. She believed in Stiles. He could do anything.

"Okay, okay," Stiles settled himself on his knees and carefully grasped the wheel that would disarm the arm. "Here we go. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"I love you."

"I love you, too. Just do it."

"Okay, here we go," Stiles twisted the knob. All at once, the jaws of the trap snapped open, Olivia jumped out of it, and Stiles grabbed her and pulled her away from it. He let out a large sigh of relief when the trap snapped shut and she was unharmed. "Oh, my God. Thank God. You're all right. You're all right."

Olivia was hardly able to lift her head before he was pulling her into a dizzying kiss. She would have stayed in his embrace and celebrated her safety and his success for days if she could, but she couldn't.

Scott's tether was going off and one glimpse at her map told her that he was making his way toward them with Malia. She hurriedly pulled away from Stiles, muttering about Scott and Malia as she did so, and started sprinting toward the ravine.

She held out her hands, envisioning her power conforming to her palms. As soon as she saw Scott round a tree a hundred feet ahead of her, a coyote on his tail, she was pushing that invisible energy out. On her map, she had already located Malia as a navy blue tether; she attacked the tether with her purple energy, commanding Malia's attention.

She inhaled deeply and then:

"MALIA!"

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Scott collapse to the ground under the weight of her scream. In her map, she felt Isaac's tether strengthen and heal from whatever trouble he had gotten himself into. All she could really focus on, though, was Malia.

The coyote fell to the ground and right before Olivia's eyes, started shifting. Before long, a naked girl, around her age, laid where the coyote had dropped. She had dark brown hair, the same color as Olivia's, and somehow, it wasn't as messy or as wild as Olivia had expected it to be after eight years as a coyote.

She ignored Stiles' call of her name and ran toward Malia, shifting out of her peacoat as she did so. Malia stared at her, stunned, as she carefully wrapped it around her bare body.

"Hi, Malia," she greeted the girl in a gentle whisper. "I'm Olivia. Are you okay?"

"Y-You--I-I?" Malia seemed shocked that she was not her normal coyote self and that she could actually talk.

"You're okay, now," she didn't know why, but Olivia felt so protective over Malia already. "Everything's gonna be okay."

Shockingly, Malia seemed to believe her. Despite having been an animal for the better half of a decade, she still seemed to remember some human actions. Without a word, Malia wrapped her arms around the shorter brunette and buried her face into her soft hair.

Olivia smelt like family, like home.

(Gif is not mine)

[queenssunshine]

Making a Living off of Death (1/4)

I literally cannot believe I’ve posted my first fic to AO3! This is my first fic in almost seven years, so I’m really excited to become a contributing member of fandom again. 

Anyway, here’s my first Spider-boy fic, and in the spirit of Whumptober, it is of course whump.

Read On AO3 Here

When people ask him what he does, he generally tells them he’s a freelancer. On occasion they will enquire further, “A freelance what?”, to which he will respond, “Whatever I can.” That’s basically true—while he deals mostly in assassinations, he also does assaults and robberies on occasion. Sometimes he needs to put the fear of God into people. Sometimes he just needs to play God.

The hit on Tony Stark comes to him in a heavily encrypted email that takes his computer two days to work through. Sometimes clients are paranoid like that, making the orders so difficult to access that most people in the business walk away before they even know what they’re for. He supposes this isn’t a bad idea. Plausible deniability and all that. But it’s annoying for him to have to wait around for his program to work out the endless lines of tangled code. This also probably means payment will come in a similar form, which is even more annoying.

Anyway, the hit on Tony Stark gets sent to him and three other colleagues and he’s the first one to decode it (and probably the only one to try) so first come, first kill. The built-in kill code activates and his instructions unwrite themselves from the screen, his laptop defaulting to his desktop photo of the silhouette of a dog on a sunset. Alright, time to strategize.

First, he has to get to New York. Then he has to figure out how to get Stark’s schedule. Then he has to get close to him. Then he has to kill him.

Hacking into Stark’s security team is above his skill set but gaining access to his employee files ends up being pretty easy. Cross-check some names, Google some addresses, hack a local AT&T store, and boom, he has access to the personal phones of who he has decided is two key players in his plan: the head of security and an intern.

He decides these two are key because he sees them too much. Photos from expos, parties, conferences, press events—the two are a constant presence at the side of Tony Stark. The security head quite frankly looks like an oaf, and the intern doesn’t appear to be older than college age, so he decides that they can’t do too much thwarting to his plan. The more he gets to know them through the screen, the more he feels that way.

The emails that the two have sent back and forth are heavily encrypted, and there are heaps of text messages that are as well. He can’t believe it, but his main source of information is coming from the animojis that the two send each other on occasion. The intern favors the alien. The security head favors the brown bear. (The intern also thinks the security head should use the poop one more, but that’s beside the point.)

Through the animojis, GPS tracking, and some old-fashioned stalking-- er, in-person reconnaissance, he discovers that the intern is a student at a magnet school in Forest Hills and that the security head is, for whatever reason, his personal after-school driver. The relationship between the two of them seems pretty relaxed. They clearly have a long history of uneventful school pick-ups, because he just sits in the visitor parking lot and stares at them without detection as the security head pulls up in the black Audi, the intern hops in, and they wait in the long queue to get off the campus. He trails the car, but the location of drop-off changes on the daily—sometimes a restaurant, sometimes a bodega, twice it was just an alleyway. Once they went to Stark Tower, or at least he assumes that’s where they were heading, but by the time they were two blocks away he decided to drop off to avoid getting clocked on any of Stark’s cameras. Even though Stark probably had access to every CCTV in town. Sometimes you just have to play it safe.

After about two weeks of monitoring, he gets his golden ticket. His phone pings a few times in a row, and he opens it to witness an exchange between Alien and Brown Bear:

[Alien] Are we still on for after school? [Brown Bear] Yeah, he had to move some stuff around so we might be late, but we’ll still be there. [Alien] Cool! It’s probably better, I don’t want—[the alien hesitates, rotates his head, lowers voice] Mr. Stark to have to deal with people freaking out about him being here. [Brown Bear] Don’t worry about it, kid. [Brown Bear] I think he’s kind of excited to see your school and your friends. [Alien] Okay, well I’ll see you guys later then. [Alien] OH! Can we please go to Julio’s again? Please? I’m craving breadsticks. [Brown Bear] Boss says okay.

So the decision had to be made: to carry out the assassination on a high school campus, or at an Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. He sighs as he Googles “Midtown academic calendar forest hills,” and sighs again when he discovers that tonight is the Annual Science Fair. What will Tony Stark do in the presence of one thousand geeks and their parents: double down on security or keep it modest? He rapidly Googles some more, trying to find instances of Tony Stark, billionaire and savior of the universe, attending a high school science fair. Bingo. Seven years ago he had attended the science fair of the Bronx High School of Science, and according to r/TonyStark and r/IronMan, he had only had Brown Bear and his gauntlets at his disposal. No supplementary guards? Not wise, Stark. Still, one instance was not enough to base his operation on.

Further inquiries reveal that Stark, in his years since becoming the savior of the universe, has only grown laxer. His prosthetic arm doubles as a housing unit for the Iron Man suit, sure, but it seems to be de-weaponized most of the time. He’s spotted without security regularly—outings with clients, with the Avengers team, with the kid, all solo. Rarely a body guard appears, but it’s only when he’s with his daughter or wife. Maybe it’s because Stark thinks he’s too big to fuck with. Maybe Stark is, and maybe this is a big mess in the making. Oh well. He decides the assassination is going to go down at the school, but he needs one more thing to make it go off well. So he calls a colleague, has them transfer the encrypted message, decodes it again (but faster, thank you machine learning), backward engineers it, and makes a phone call. And a request.

Two hours later, a cloaking suit arrives at a P.O. box, to which he has the key.

Sometimes his clients gift him cool things to execute a mission, but a cloaking suit is hands-down the coolest thing he’s gotten. He didn’t know what he expected when he takes it out of the courier box, but it looks almost civilian—a thick grey windbreaker with lines of reflective material running down the sleeves, and a pair of pants to match. It’s basically a tracksuit. He’s relieved. New Yorkers have likely seen weirder things than a man dressed in full tactical attire on the subway, but it’s still nice to have a low profile.

He messes around with the settings and soon enough he’s standing before the hotel bathroom mirror almost completely invisible, only a slight warp betraying where he is. Nothing anyone would see unless they were looking for it. Without the hood on, he looks like Harry Potter on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. He is—he dare say—giddy.

He deactivates the cloaking, grabs his guitar case (read: sniper rifle) and wallet and leaves the hotel.

Before getting to the school, he has a slice of pizza, a coke, and a bag of gummy bears. This is not good fuel for the potential get-away sprint, but he can’t help himself. He’s so happy, he can just feel the brewing of a good mission on its way.

He arrives at the school after classes have let out and before the end of the science fair, meaning that the parking lot is a ghost town. His cloaking suit already activated, he climbs up on his predetermined hiding spot (a portable building next to the bus parking lot which would allow him ample cover and a quick escape were things to get hairy), sets up his Barrett M82 (already sheathed in its matching grey cloaking suit), and hunkers down. He lets his mind wander as half an hour passes, thoughts looping around his ex-wife (that bitch), his breakfast tomorrow (maybe that 2.8-star diner down the street), and his dog (who was currently boarding at a doggy daycare next to his house in Kentucky and got a time-out today). Finally, families start spilling out of the front doors of the school, and from his view atop the portable, he can clearly see the faces of all exiting.

Fifteen minutes pass of parental pride and filial embarrassment before Stark, the security head, and the intern come walking out. By the time they exit, most of the fair has cleared out and only a few cars remain in the lot—probably teachers and staff. The intern is clutching a blue ribbon and a small trophy while the security head struggles to maintain hold of some kind of robotic device. Stark has his hands jammed in his pockets, strolling casually, lips quirked in a contented smile as the intern rambles about something. He can barely hear it—something about how the intern knew his project was good but didn’t think it would win an award or anything. For a moment, he pauses, feeling a little remorse. He had always wanted kids. The intern seemed pretty endearing. Oh well. Moment over.

He lines up the sight on Stark. It’s a clean shot, a beautiful shot, a stars-have-aligned-and-I’m-about-to-get-away-with-this shot, and he feels the rush of a perfectly executed assassination flow through his veins. This moment is why he mainly deals in assassinations. This high of having so much power yet not even being seen, it hits different. He drops the safety and just as his finger twitches back to the trigger the most bizarre thing happens.

The intern looks at him.

Of course, the kid can’t look at him, he has the cloaking suit on, but the kid’s suspicious eyes pass over the top of the portable and he feels violated.

Also, he squeezes the trigger thrice.

And then a more bizarre thing happens: the kid drops.

Well, shit.

[shaylybaby2032]

Let Me Be Your Lighthouse Chapter 2: Demons, Demons, Demons

Fandom: Supernatural

Rating: Explicit/18+

Pairing: Gabriel x OFC

A/N: Please do not copy my work to any platform without my written permission, even if giving credit. Reblogging is OK.

Overall Warnings: Eventual smut, physical/mental abuse, angst, fluff, language

Summary: A Duke of Hell wants to use Gabriel for his own nefarious plans and makes a deal with the Empty Entity to bring the Archangel back from the dead. But, when Gabriel escapes, the Duke must reach deep into his arsenal to try and track him down. Not long after Gabriel’s great escape, Sam and Dean race to save a fellow hunter who has been captured by demons and, after rescuing her, convince the woman to let them help her get rid of the demons hot on her heels. While the two occurrences seem unrelated at first, they may have more in common than any of them realize.

Chapter 2: Demons, Demons, Demons

Dean Winchester lounged on his bed in his room at the bunker, watching some mindless show on his TV. The program hadn't really held his interest but provided a background noise as he dozed off. Things had been unusually quiet on the hunting front and he welcomed the much needed break that he had received. However, his peace was short lived. A loud knock echoed through his room and he glared at the door as it opened and Sam walked in.

“Get your gear,” his little brother said. “We have to head to Jody's.”

“Why?” Dean asked, not ready to leave the comfort of his bed.

“She's got a string of murders that turned out to be demons. The latest victim is a hunter that she and Claire were working with.” Sam explained quickly.

Dean groaned as he pushed himself off the mattress. “I'll be ready in ten. Tell Cas to get ready too.”

“He's not here.”

“Where the hell is he?”

“He took off early this morning. Said he had something to take care of.”

“Well, that's vague.”

Sam shrugged as he turned to exit. “We'll hear from him soon enough. I'll meet you in the garage.”

***

Castiel pulled his old Lincoln Continental into the parking lot of a no star motel in the middle of nowhere Colorado, parking in front of one of the rooms down close to the end. He stared at the dingy green door with a rusted brass number 115 nailed to the surface diagonally. He shut off his engine as he tried to take a calming breath, but the uncertainty of what laid behind that wooden door had his anxiety at an all-time high.

He had tried to ignore the desperate prayer at first, thinking it was just his own mind playing tricks on him, because there was no way it could be coming from who he thought it was, and especially not in that ‘condition.’ The prayer had become insistent, however, and after almost a week and a half, he couldn't ignore it anymore. The angel had gotten in his car and sped toward where the call was originating from. After making sure his angel blade was posed ready to drop as soon as he needed it, he exited his vehicle and walked to the door. Taking another deep breath, he raised his hand to knock, but before he could make contact the door swung open.

Castiel was met with a pair of golden eyes that quickly darted around the angel to check their surroundings before they met his blue ones, taking the very breath from his lungs.

“It is you,” Castiel breathed.

“Hey bro,” Gabriel greeted.

“How..Why…What…?” Castiel stammered, trying to focus on which question he needed an answer to first.

“You should come in,” Gabriel replied as he moved to the side to allow his brother entry to the room. “We have a lot to talk about.”

***

It was close to midnight when the Winchesters rolled into Jody Mills’ driveway. By the time they had gotten there, Claire and Jody had, thanks to the use of GPS and cell phone towers, tracked down where the demons may have been holding their fellow hunter. As they prepared their rescue, Jody and Claire had told them what they knew about the case.

They had explained that nearly a week ago, people had started to vanish at various places in town and turning up with their throats slit the next day. Jody had thought it was a run-of-the-mill psycho, but when the third body had been found, Jody had also found sulfur at the crime scene. She had also discovered a woman claiming to be an FBI agent that turned out to be a hunter named Zora who had been tracking the demons committing these crimes for the past few weeks. They started working together, adding Claire to the team as well. On the day Jody had made the call to Sam, she, Zora, and Claire had cornered the demons, and a fight ensued that ended with Zora being captured. That was when they decided they needed back up.

Claire had discovered signs that led them to believe the demons were holding Zora in a new housing development that was still under construction just outside of Sioux Falls. The four of them had gotten there as fast as they could and were now making their way through the rows of half-constructed houses stealthily as they kept their eyes peeled for any indication of the demons or the huntress they were there to save.

Sam and Dean led the way with guns drawn and angel blades at the ready, the two women behind them armed in the same way. Screams suddenly pierced through the quiet of the night and all four hunters took off in a wordless agreement to follow the sound. They came to a stop in front of one of the cookie cutter houses when they spotted three men standing at the front door, eyes turning inky black when they spotted the hunters. The demons charged, starting a fight that ended with angel blades through their chests.

“Come on!” Dean exclaimed as he threw the third lifeless demon to the ground. “We gotta get inside!”

Before the words had even left his mouth, Sam was kicking in the front door and rushing inside with the other three hot on his heels. They had prepared themselves for another fight, however when they entered the house they were hit with a stillness that sent a shiver down their spines. A groan of pain punctuated the silence and four heads swiveled to find a woman lying on the floor of what would eventually be a living room.

“Zora!” Claire shouted as she and Jody ran to her.

They both dropped to their knees beside her as Jody pulled her into her lap. Sam pulled a flashlight from his pocket and shined it onto the huntress’ unconscious body. Claire gasped at the sight of her. Zora's blonde hair had so much of her own blood and dirt in it the young woman could barely make out the purple highlights in her golden locks. Her face was a bloodied mess covered in ugly bruises and cuts from where the demons had used her as a punching bag. Her arms held the same dark marks and slashes with blood that had spilled on to her clothing.

“We need to get her to a hospital boys!” Jody declared.

The Winchesters nodded their agreement as Dean handed his brother his weapons and scooped the beaten girl up into his arms. The four quickly got to their feet and turned to leave, but were stopped cold when they saw another man with black eyes standing in the doorway smiling at them. His long, shaggy red hair swayed in the breeze from the open door as his head slowly turned to take them all in.

“Well, well, well. It appears I've been discovered by the infamous Winchesters,” he said mockingly.

“Yeah, and who the hell are you?” Sam demanded.

“The name's Adonis, and unlike my idiotic co-workers, I know when I'm outnumbered.” Adonis inclined his head to the unconscious Zora in Dean's arms. “Tell the hunter bitch I'll be seeing her.”

“I don't think so!” Sam shouted, and he and Claire hurled forward to attack the demon.

By the time they got there, however, their blades sliced through open air.

Adonis had vanished.

***

Castiel sped down the almost empty interstate toward the bunker, every so often glancing at his cell phone on the dash and then to his brother sitting quietly in the passenger's seat next to him. He had yet to call Sam and Dean about Gabriel being alive and what had happened to him that made him human. He honestly wasn't sure how to even begin the tale, because as many answers as he had now, he had just as many questions. Telling Sam and Dean would just add more questions to the pile and he needed time to get his head straight.

“Seriously Cas,” Gabriel said in exasperation as he saw his brother's eyes flick to the phone again, “stop being a teenager and call them. I'm guessing it will be a lot better if they are prepared instead of me just walking into the bunker.”

“It's not going to go well either way,” Castiel snapped. “You have a Duke of Hell after you, Gabriel!”

“You don't think I know that?! I didn't rip my grace out just for the hell of it! Do you know how much that hurts?!”

Castiel sighed as he scrubbed a hand over his face. “We have to find where your grace ended up before Eligos does, because if he finds it and gets his hands on you-”

“I KNOW, CAS!” Gabriel huffed his frustration as he peered out his window. “Believe me, I know.”

***

Sam, Dean, and Claire sat in the ER’s waiting room at Sioux Falls General Hospital, not so patiently waiting for Jody to come back from speaking with the doctor about Zora's condition. They had arrived at the hospital two hours prior with the still unconscious hunter. The nurses had taken her back immediately and after a few minutes Jody had left in search of Alex to see if she could give her any information.

Just as Dean was standing, ready to go to the nurses station to demand some information of his own, Jody came through a set of double doors with a now conscious, and annoyed looking, Zora at her side. They walked quickly toward the brothers and Claire, bypassing them and heading toward the entrance. With the huntress’ wounds having been tended to and her hair and body cleaned, the trio that had been waiting for news was relieved that Zora's condition wasn't as bad as they had feared. She was still banged up with cuts and bruises on her face and arms, but none that wouldn't heal relatively quickly.

“Zora, please, stay!” Jody pleaded as they went through the doors with the other three following. “We can help you!”

“Help me?!” Zora exclaimed as she whirled around with her crystal blue eyes widening in disbelief. “Why the hell would you want to do that, Jody?! This bastard wants me! I'm not sticking around and letting anyone else in this town get hurt!”

“Now that we know what we are up against, we won't let that happen! We can do this together!” Jody tried to assure her.

“No! I'm doing this alone like I always do!” Zora said, visibly trying not to raise her voice at the Sheriff.

“Yeah, because that worked out so well for you tonight,” Dean snarked as he put two and two together and realized that Zora intended to go after Adonis on her own.

The huntress turned angry eyes toward the older Winchester. She may have had respect for Jody, but she didn't know him. “And who the hell are you?”

“I'm Dean,” he said, and inclined his head towards his brother. “My brother, Sam. I happen to be the guy that carried your unconscious ass out of that house tonight.”

Zora's brow shot up as Dean introduced himself and his brother. “Sam and Dean?” she questioned. “Last name wouldn't happen to be Winchester would it?”

Sam and Dean shared an uncertain look before they turned back to her.

“You've heard of us?” Sam asked.

“Any hunter worth their rock salt has heard of the legendary Winchesters,” Zora said with a chuckle and walked toward the brothers, extending her hand. “Zora Townsend. Nice to meet you.”

***

“So you really do pal around with an angel?” Zora asked Sam in astonishment as she watched him load the trunk of the Impala. “What's that like? Most angels I've met have been complete dicks.”

Sam chuckled as he shut the trunk and turned to look at her. She was perched on the hood of her 2015 maroon Chevy Malibu. “Most are,” Sam agreed. “But Cas isn't. He's family. I think you'll like him.”

It had taken more than a little bit of time, but with some help from Jody and surprisingly Claire, the Winchester brothers had convinced Zora to let them help her. She had tried to get them to change their mind, telling them that the demon had had a hit out on her for a few weeks now because she had ended up killing another demon that was apparently close to Adonis. Now he wanted revenge, and instead of deterring the Winchesters, it had sparked their protective side and each brother had been even more determined to help their fellow hunter. They even went so far as to offer a room at the bunker for her to stay in until they could track Adonis down.

She had, of course, refused at first. However, “no” wasn't an answer the Winchesters were willing to except. After a solid hour of going back and forth over the issue, the huntress finally conceded and agreed to follow the brothers back to their bunker.

“Cas?” she questioned with a raised brow. “The angel has a nickname?”

“Like I said, he's family,” Sam reiterated as he came around to lean on the back passenger's side door of the Impala. “You got any family out there?”

He immediately caught the way she tensed at the question.

“My dad,” she answered as she averted her gaze to the cement of the driveway.

“I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-”

“No, it's OK,” she reassured him as she brought her eyes back to his with a smile painted back on her face. “We all gotta get to know each other, right? We are apparently roommates now.” She paused as she thought on her next words. “Let's just say he's not the most supportive or friendly guy in the world.”

Sam nodded slowly, not sure what to say or even if he should say anything. He was saved from the awkward conversation when Dean came rushing out the front door of Jody's house. The younger Winchester was relieved to see his brother, that is, until he absorbed the frantic look in his eyes. The worry that had stolen over Sam's features had Zora focusing on the elder Winchester as well.

“We have to go. Now!” Dean said as he made his way to them.

“Dean, what's going on?!” Sam demanded.

“Cas just called. Sam, Gabriel's alive!”

The deafening and shocked silence that settled between the brothers for a moment had Zora jumping down from the hood of her car.

“Guys, who’s Gabriel?”

***

Zora stared ahead at the tail lights belonging to the Impala, both hands gripping her steering wheel as she worked through the story that Sam had told her. He glanced over to her from the passenger's seat of her Malibu, trying to gauge her reaction.

“You're pretty quiet over there,” Sam said cautiously.

She glanced over to him for a moment with an incredulous look before she focused back to the road. “Sorry, I'm still trying to work through an Archangel pretending to be a Norse god in an attempt at some insane witness protection program.” She paused for a moment. “Porn stars?! Really?!” She shot another fleeting gaze at him long enough to see him nod. “Then he's tortured for seven years, in hell...fuck, I don't even want to do the math on that one. He escapes, kills Asmodeus, then goes on some Kill Bill style revenge tirade against Loki and his sons just to end up getting killed by another world's Michael.” She saw Sam nod again out of her peripheral vision. “And now he's miraculously alive again and in yet another fucked up situation. Only now he's human? How did that even happen?!”

“Dean said Cas didn't really go into much detail over the phone, but it's not the first time we've known of an angel ripping their own grace out,” Sam explained.

Zora's mouth opened and closed a few times as her brain tried to choose an appropriate response. “Are you sure you guys want me and my baggage around? I mean, whatever is going on with this has to be much bigger than some demon after some random hunter.”

“We're good multitaskers,” Sam said, shooting her a grin.

“If you say so, but I don't think the angels will be terribly thrilled about the idea.”

“Everything will be fine,” Sam assured her. “Dean is filling Cas in on what went down in Sioux Falls as we speak.”

Zora chuckled to herself, deciding it was best not to argue the point anymore and just let it be. Soon enough, they would all see just how well things would or wouldn't work out.

***

Castiel and Gabriel had made it to the bunker long before the Winchesters and their guest, but when Dean had called to say that they had crossed into the Lebanon city limits the two had chosen to wait for them in the war room. Gabriel sat in one of the chairs with his feet propped up on the map table as he watched his little brother pace the length of the room. Castiel had voiced his wariness of the young woman that Dean had told them about and his concern had only mounted once they were about to meet her.

“Are you really that worried about her?” Gabriel asked as Castiel finally halted his movements and leaned against the iron staircase.

“You're not?” he grumbled in return.

“She's a hunter, Cas!”

“That just so happened to show up with demons after her around the same time you did! What if she's being watched?!”

“Do you really think Sam and Dean didn't take precautions for that? Hell, Dean had Sam test her with salt, silver, and holy water while she was unconscious on the way to the hospital.”

Castiel simply glared at his brother, to which Gabriel rolled his eyes and placed his feet back on the floor. “I'm not saying we give her the keys to the castle. By all means, keep an eye on her. I'm just saying, give her a chance before you smite her. From what Dean says, she just needs some help right now.”

Castiel opened his mouth to respond, however, as he did, Dean's voice rang through the bunker from the garage.

“We're home!”

“We're in the war room!” Castiel called back.

As Gabriel stood from his chair, Sam and Dean entered with Zora trailing behind them, almost like she was using their bodies to hide behind. When the brothers’ eyes settled on Gabriel they were both silent for a moment as they took in the former Archangel alive in front of them. Sam was the first to make a move and crossed the room to, much to Gabriel's surprise, embrace him. He briefly, and awkwardly, returned Sam's gesture.

“It's really good to see you, Gabriel,” Sam said as he stepped aside.

“Yeah, it is,” Dean agreed as he strode forward with his hand extended. “We can't thank you enough for what you did for us,” he continued as Gabriel accepted his handshake.

“Yeah, you're welcome,” Gabriel said, slightly taken aback by their appreciation.

When the brothers had moved to greet the former Archangel it had put Zora straight into Castiel's line of sight, and he suddenly had a pang of guilt for being so suspicious. The bruises and cuts that littered her body drove home that his brother may have been right about her needing their help. Zora looked up to meet the angel's gaze and gave an uncertain smile.

“Right!” Dean said, catching the nonverbal exchange between the two. “Guys this is Zora Townsend. Zora, Cas and Gabriel.”

Zora nodded her acknowledgement as Dean pointed to them in turn. “Nice to meet you guys,” she said.

Castiel walked up to her, and she visibly stopped herself from taking a step back. “Those bruises look painful. I can heal them if you want.”

She nodded her consent and the angel placed two fingers to her forehead. Zora gasped when she felt the tingling warmth spread through her body quickly.

“There,” Castiel said as he lowered his hand. “I also healed some internal bleeding in your abdomen. It appeared to be a bit older than your other wounds.”

“Uh..yeah,” she stammered. “Must have been from the last time I saw them.”

She quickly averted her eyes from Castiel's gaze to find Gabriel very obviously checking her out.

“Damn, Sugar, you clean up nice!” he said, causing the mouths of the other three men to drop open.

Zora narrowed her eyes at the former Archangel. “Is that supposed to be an attempt at flirting? If so, you kinda suck at it.”

“No,” Gabriel replied with a smirk. “That was just an observation. Trust me, if I was flirting you'd know it.”

“Alright then!” Sam interjected, taking his opportunity to diffuse the situation before it escalated. “Come on Zora, I'll give you the grand tour and show you where you'll be sleeping.”

Zora dragged her gaze from the former Archangel to meet Sam's and let him lead her from the war room with Dean following behind them. Gabriel chuckled to himself as he turned back to his little brother and was met with a stern look from the angel.

“What?!” Gabriel asked.

Castiel simply rolled his eyes and shook his head.

***

Once the Winchester brothers had shown Zora around and helped get her settled in, the rest of the day had been spent in the library behind laptop screens and in old dusty lore books. Sam, Dean, and Zora searched for any and all information they could find on Eligos and Adonis, and Gabriel and Castiel scoured for any signs of the grace the former Archangel had ripped from himself. The latter of the two proved much less fruitful.

Gabriel and Castiel had filled in the gaps of the lore books for the hunters on the knowledge they possessed of the demons. Of the four Dukes of Hell, Eligos was the only one who remained, and he was a demon of war. They had gone on to explain that the Duke had had a hand in every war that had happened on Earth since Lucifer fell in some form or fashion, and was rumored to have his own army of sixty legions of demons at his disposal. He also thrived on destruction and seeing soldiers fall in battle. His plan to bring Gabriel back and darken his grace would have given the Duke his own personal, and reusable, nuclear warhead.

Adonis, while still more powerful that your average demon, was nowhere near as high on the totem pole as the Duke. The information they held on him was much more sparse than the other, but they were not aware of any connection he had to Eligos. That didn't mean, however, that they could assume he didn't know about Eligos wanting Gabriel. They were positive that every demon in existence was aware of the hit on the former Archangel by now, and if they spotted him word would surely get back to the Duke.

Beyond that marginal amount of information, they had found nothing else on either demon. Hours passed and frustrations mounted until Dean slammed the book he had been reading closed, making the others jump in their seats.

“I need a break,” he grumbled as he rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

“I second that,” Zora said as she leaned back in her chair and glanced at the clock on the wall. “I haven't had any sleep in like two days. Well, other than being knocked out, but I don't really think that counts.”

“Definitely doesn't count,” Sam agreed as he shut his laptop. “I'm pretty beat too, to be honest.”

“Yeah, me too,” Gabriel said as he stood to stretch. “This being human thing sucks.”

“You all should get some rest,” Castiel suggested. “I'll continue here and catch everyone up in the morning.”

None had it in them to argue with the angel and, slowly, they gathered their things and headed off to their respective rooms.

***

Zora had decided last minute to shower before she laid down to sleep, and as she exited the bathroom she heard the faint, but distinctive, sound of soft snoring coming from three rooms near her own. Quietly, she made her way to the room Sam and Dean had given her and shut the door as she entered. As she placed her messenger bag full of her clothes next to her bed, the cell phone sitting on the nightstand buzzed. She picked it up to find a message from an “unknown number.”

We need to talk.

She sighed as she sat the phone back down and began to pull her shoes back on. She knew exactly who the message was from, and it caused a feeling of dread to settle over her. She had hoped he would wait until the next day to contact her. She knew better than to keep him waiting. As soon as her shoes were on, she slipped her phone into the pocket of her violet fleece pajama bottoms and made her way back into the hallway. Listening intently for any sign of Castiel, she made her way to the garage and slipped outside.

Despite the warmth of the summer night, she felt a chill settle over her as she walked to where Sam had pointed out that the protective warding of the bunker ended. She waited, standing with her arms crossed over her chest until she heard a twig snap next to her. She whirled around to see Adonis gazing at her with a smile on his face. A breath of relief escaped her as she returned his smile.

“You're not who I was expecting,” Zora said as her body relaxed.

“He's on his way,” Adonis told her as he stepped closer to her and gently reached out to take her chin between his thumb and pointer finger, carefully turning her head from side to side. “The angel healed your injuries?”

“Yes,” she confirmed as he let his hand fall back to his side. “Your goons got a little carried away.”

“I know. I'm sorry,” he said, guilt slightly lacing his tone. “Why do you think I made sure they were the first ones the Winchesters encountered?”

“He will be mad you let them get killed.”

Adonis shrugged off her concern. “We've already dealt with the issue. It wasn't that bad. You're OK and the Winchesters took the bait. That's all that matters.”

“Indeed,” another male voice said.

Both Zora and Adonis spun around to face the speaker, their postures stiffening as their eyes landed on Eligos. A cold grin was set into his features as he looked between them, finally settling his gaze on Zora and moving to stand directly in front of her. His face distorted in disgust and she dropped her eyes to stare at the ground.

“And I thought your human scent was bad,” he spat. “The smell of human mixed with the angel's magic is downright appalling! I thought I told you to shower if he healed you!”

“I did, sir,” she replied quickly.

“Take another!”

“Yes, sir.”

“Look at me!” Eligos growled.

Her eyes shot up to meet the Duke's.

“What do they know?” he demanded.

“No more than you assumed, sir.”

“Have they any indication of where the Archangel's grace landed?”

“No, sir. Gabriel and Castiel haven't been able to find any signs of it anywhere.”

Zora flinched as Eligos roared in frustration. “Sir, if I may?” she asked cautiously.

“What?!” he half yelled at her as his eyes turned black.

She dropped her eyes to the ground again, his intense and rage-filled gaze sending a chill up her spine as she fought to get her voice to work. “With...with all due respect...we have Gabriel. He's right inside. I'll get him out here and you can grab him.”

A yelp of shock and pain tore out of Zora's lips when Eligos harshly reached out to twist his hand into the hair at the back of her head. He roughly forced her to the ground on her knees and pulled her head back until pain shot through her body and she whimpered. She locked her arms to her sides, knowing better than to put up a fight. From the corner of her eye she could see Adonis fighting his urge to intervene.

“If I want your worthless opinion on what to do I will ask!” Eligos growled. “You will do well to remember your place, girl! I'm the one that raised your pathetic human ass, and you will do as I say and nothing more! Is that clear?!”

Zora did her best to nod in the position he held her as she fought back the tears stinging her eyes.

“ANSWER ME!” Eligos bellowed.

“Y-yes, sir,” she said, her voice strained.

“You will get close to the Winchesters, their pet angel, and the former Archangel! Make them trust you and keep me updated on their findings! If I need you to do something more I will tell you!  I, and the rest of my competent soldiers, will take care of the rest. Do NOT fuck this up, Zora, or that tiny internal bleeding issue the angel fixed will be nothing compared to what I'll do to you if you fail or get found out!”

“Y-yes, sir,” Zora choked out.

The wind was ripped from her lungs when Eligos threw her to the ground and landed a kick to her stomach. He glared at her defenseless form for a moment before he turned his attention to Adonis.

“Meet me at base. We have work to do,” he ordered, and then vanished.

As soon as the Duke was gone, Adonis was kneeling next to Zora, helping her to a sitting position.

“Why do you provoke him?” he asked gently as he brushed the dirt from her clothing. He paused when he saw the rip in her pants at the knee. She had obviously landed on a sharp rock when she hit the ground, and blood was seeping from the wound it had caused. “Are you OK?”

“I'm fine,” she said meekly. “I need to get back in there before anyone notices I'm gone.”

Adonis nodded reluctantly and helped her to her feet. After saying their farewells and him telling her to call if she needed him, Zora made her way back through the garage. She quietly shut the door that led into the hallway from the garage and turned. She then froze in her tracks. Her brain spun into overdrive as she looked into the whiskey eyes of the former Archangel standing in front of her.

Chapters 1 through 5 up on AO3. Link below.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18542239/chapters/43948366

If you would like to be added to a tag list for this story or any other fics I post just let me know.

[kmbtob-monthly]

June 2018 ;; Story # 1

Author: Mika

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Your name: submit What is this?

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Rule #1 You either need to be a skilled shooter or a skilled runner But being both would be better Rule #2 You must never be alone Be with someone you could trust your whole life with and always stay together And lastly... Rule #3 Don't get bitten by a zombie Just. Stay. Alive.

If you want to survive just keep these things in mind "Come on y/n, let's run for it" My boyfriend Sungjae said as he took my hand and we ran as fast as we could I don’t know how many days or weeks have passed since this catastrophe started but I do recall that this happened because of a meteorite that hit earth and unfortunately it was near Sungjae's hometown The meteorite was reported to be carrying alien bacteria that instantly started infecting people surrounding the area up to a hundred kilometers away that gradually spread to the whole country and soon enough, the whole world Many people died, a few survived, and well... the rest turned into the walking dead We were supposed to go to Yongin to stay for the weekend and also, so that I can meet his parents

It's not that long when we started dating and eventually he said he wanted to “show me off” to his family

“They’ll love you as much as I do, trust me” he would always say then kiss me on the cheek whenever I bring up the what ifs when the time comes that I’ll finally meet them

When I first met him, I was amazed at how he is just a simple guy, you know, having the t-shirt-and-denim-pants kind of fashion. He doesn’t wear any fancy accessories or branded perfumes, or doesn’t ride an extravagant car and yet he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth

Sungjae is cool and comedic at the same time, he can be cute or hot and something in between, he’s kind, sweet and thoughtful. He can sometimes be dumb, a little too much playful and annoying but it’s okay, I love this dork anyway

I never thought that my uneasy heart on our way to the place he grew up would grow into a frazzle by an unexpected turn of events

For starters, the road that we turned into was closed so we need to take another route but it was one where Sungjae was not familiar, so we need the help of the GPS

Then came an earthquake, a massive one, we were in his car and he halted at an open space away from the trees and utility wires

Panic started to rise in me when I saw establishments collapsing and heard people screaming

Sungjae reached out and put me in his embrace. I closed my eyes

“We will be fine” he whispered to me as I calm down, I didn’t even notice that I was shaking in fear

When we felt the quake stopped, I looked at our surroundings again, it was a total wreck

The road had a lot of cracks, breaks and other obstructions, and some downed electrical lines

“Are you okay?” he immediately asked “yeah” I nodded

Both of our signals were reduced to zeroes, the GPS isn’t working anymore

We were lost and we needed to find help

We waited for possible aftershocks and when none came, he got out of the car to check if it was safe to drive. He said to me that it’ll be hard to use the car so we got our stuff and we walked to find a vehicle or someone that can transport us to our destination

It was almost dark in the whole place because the power was down and the sun has already set

The town was so quiet, it was like we are the only ones alive

I can’t shake off the fact that atmosphere also got weird

“Let’s get back to the car, I think it’s safer if we go out in the day” I suggested and we headed back

Since then I got the feeling that what happened wasn’t just an ordinary earthquake

That there was something more

And boy was I right

That night we slept in the car, the mosquito bites woke me up in the middle of the night. I sat up from the reclined seat and I noticed a form a few meters away from us

The figure got closer and I realized it was a man and he was walking very...slowly?

“Sungjae wake up, you’ve got to see this” I slightly shake him

He rubbed his eyes and put his gaze on the direction I was pointing

The man walked towards us, I got out my phone and turned on the flashlight and waved it outside the window “Excuse me, but were kinda er- lost” I called

The man didn’t say anything and just kept walking

“I think he’s drunk” Sungjae said as he opened the car door “Stay here, I’ll go to him”

My heart beat faster when he started walking towards the man

The glow that was reflected by the moon was the only source of light in the area

I saw Sungjae got closer to him and he stopped in his tracks

He stepped back but the man plunged towards Sungjae and strangled him

“Sungjae!” I ran to them and the face of the man was slowly coming into view

His eyes were fiery red, skin seemed like they were decomposing, blood trailed from the corner of his mouth and it smelled rotten, I have confirmed it was coming from that man or whatever it is

It was a monstrous sight, he was strongly pinning Sungjae down and he struggled to fight him back

The next thing I saw was his teeth going for Sungjae’s neck

There was no time to panic and I immediately spotted a broken tree branch and directly hit the creature as hard as I could

His neck twisted as he fell to the ground

“Oh my god, I was so scared” I hugged Sungjae when he stood up

“What is that thing?” I felt his heartbeat matching its pace to mine and his eyes were on the thing that almost killed him

I didn’t know what and how it became like that but one this is clear

It’s not human

Since then, we encountered more. We run and hide, here and there. We also saw humans like us doing everything they can to survive

When our stock run out, we got food, water, other necessities and supplies from convenient stores that were wrecked by the earthquake

It was the same everyday

We also got melee weapons and firearms in hardware stores and gun shops for defense

Besides staying alive we have another mission and that is to find Sungjae’s family

Now we are avoiding a group of zombies, they aren’t that fast but they are strong especially in groups

Usually if there is only one or two, we shoot or kill it but in a bunch like this one, it’s hard to fight them

We found a pick-up truck and hid on the back

“Are they gone?” I whispered still catching my breath

“Wait, I’ll check” he lifted his head

I heard him gasp, he looked more like he saw a ghost than the living dead “Why? What happened?” I asked him, he was turning paler

“Noona” was all he said before he got out of the truck

“No- Don’t!” I dashed towards him

He was about to touch the shoulder of a female zombie when I caught him

We ducked down in a bush “But it was her I was sure of it” His eyes turned glassy “I need to save her” Sungjae’s voice cracked at the last words

“Sungjae, it’s no use” I embraced him and he bit his lip as he cried in my arms “I’m so sorry” I felt my own tears start to fall

We kept moving in hopes of finding his parents

And praying that they are still alive

We searched more and found a woman in a garage on one of the houses, it seemed human for it was hiding behind a garbage can

It was Sungjae’s mom and we immediately went to her

“Sungjae” she cried when she saw him “Your appa…I lost him“ Sungjae hugged her “We’ll find him, eomma” he assured her

I joined in and comforted them, Sungjae also told her mom about his sister, it was a time that they needed to be strong because they we’re the only ones left

It wasn’t the first meeting I have in mind, but at least I got to meet his mother

Mrs. Yook held my hand “I heard a lot about you y/n, thank you making my son happy” she smiled warmly

“Sungjae is a great person eomeonim, you brought him up well. I am more grateful” I sincerely said and gave the same warmth of smile and she wrapped her arms around me

Sounds of clattering cans ruined our moment, reminding us that it was not a good time for chitchatting

A pair of zombies greeted us, one male and one female, they seem like they were a couple

Two more came

And another

Then another

They must’ve smelled us

We prepared ourselves for battle

“Stay behind me, eomma” I heard Sungjae say as the female zombie came towards me

I reached a cricket bat on my backpack, it’s the best I have that I can handle

I swung it hard hitting the female one on its side, then another came and soon they were countless

I can’t see where Sungjae was neither his mom

But I still continued to bat and kick whatever I felt on my leg clung

They were coming from everywhere and then I heard something break

“Uh-oh” I muttered and tried to find an opening

I run through it but one grabbed me by the arm and I felt one on the other. I screamed when I felt my body getting numb, their hold was too strong, I was getting dizzy for they reek that I can’t compare to anything

I thought I was going to die then and there

“Y/N!” It was Sungjae, I heard a gunshot then it was followed by another

I felt the decomposed hands on me loosened

Sungjae held my waist to support me, my legs feel like jelly

“Are you hurt somewhere?” worry was written all over his face

I shook my head as a no then I remembered his mother “Where’s eomeoni?”

He didn’t answer instead he shifted me from one arm to another and I heard a loud bang, I saw the living dead drop to the ground

“She… she saw abeoji- and..” he trailed off

Knowing what happened next I grab hold of his hand and gave it a squeeze

“I’m here” I said “We’re going to get through this together, right?” my gaze never left his

“I love you, I won’t let them take you away from me too” he pulled me closer and planted a kiss on my forehead

I was going to answer when I saw one attacking from behind

“Behind you!” I said turning him around so he can shot it but the clicking sound of his pistol made him curse

It was already empty

It all happened so fast, the next thing I felt was a searing pain on my right shoulder

“NO!”

I got bitten

I felt myself getting weaker by the second

“This can’t be… no no”

I saw him run a hand to his face

“Sungjae” I said to him then smiled “I love you too”

He must stay away from me after this, or else he’s going to turn into one too

I was getting sleepy, I kept hearing his voice saying my name and telling me to wake up

It was fading

Slowly fading

Then I hear it again

“Y/N!”

This time it was getting louder but with less intensity than before

“Y/N wake up!”

My eyes shot open, my chest was heaving, my heart drummed violently, beads of sweat trickled down my face

Sungjae hugged me when I sat up

“God, you scared me” he sighed in relief

I saw that I was in my room and felt that everything was normal

It was only a bad dream?

“You were having a nightmare, you kept screaming and saying my name” he pulled away “I told you to watch something that is not horror last night but you kept on insisting” he nagged

It all felt so real

Then I remembered that I was the only one who watched the zombie movie last night because he kept on hiding behind the blanket

I just laughed and he gave me a puzzled look

He stood up and ruffled my hair “are you fine now?”

I smiled and nodded

“Okay then, get your things ready and we’ll get going” he said getting a bag “I said to eomma that we’ll be at home by lunch”

Shit. I forgot that it was today!

He saw my anxious face and he chuckled

“Don’t worry” he walked up to me and lowered his head then he kissed my cheek

“They won’t bite” he winked