#caspian keyes oneshot

[imagineanime2022]

The Variable

Caspian Keyes X GN!Reader

Word Count: 2240

Requested: Anon

Request: literally anything involving caspian idc ill read anything i just need SOMETHING WITH HIM

Warning: neglectful non existent parents, spoilers for pantheon so please watch the show if you plan to before reading this!!

A/N: I can definitely write a part 2 continuing through the series, it was just getting supper long, I got carried away.

Logorhythms had not expected you to be a problem, when you were young they expected you to grow apart having you in a part of his childhood that he was unlikely to remember would be fine but even as you started to get older you never seemed to grow apart. They had tried paying off your parents but that resulted in them running off with the money and leaving you to fend for yourself. They had then thought that it would be the perfect opportunity to have you moved halfway across the country to be placed in foster care but even they didn’t have the power for that without telling the government what they were doing.

You were placed in a care home until the age of 16 where you placed in a apartment with an assisted living allowance, during that time it only seemed to make the friendship stronger, you weren’t afraid of his Dad who on many occasion and tried to scare you away, you never headed his mother’s warnings to leave while you could, for whatever reason you stuck around. You quickly became a problem for them. Stephen never had a friend that he could fall back on. You were ruining everything but there was nothing they could do short of killing you that would get you to leave.

They had decided given your ages that there was one more thing that they could try to get you out of the picture and it came with the hire of a girlfriend, Hannah. That had always been part of the plan but now there was a bonus if she could get you both to have a fight or push you away in some way.

The day that Hannah joined the school was when you started to see that things were changing, you had been leaning against the lockers next to Caspians as he grabbed everything that he needed for the next lesson, you watched as the new girl was shown around the school. “Oh hi.” She waved eyes not moving from Caspian. “Oh no.” Nicole said as she looked between the two of you. “That’s Casper the unfriendly goth and his guard dog.” “Caspian.” He introduced himself with the correct name. “Oh like Narnia.” She joked and he nodded. You didn’t listen to what was actually said from there on, you watched her frowning, you wanted to believe that she was genuinely interested in him but your brain immediately asked why someone like her was interested in someone like him having just walked into the school. You were pulled out of your thoughts when he nudged you to start moving. “Oh, Hannah!” She called as she turned back to Nicole. “Like Montana.” He mumbled more to himself. “She seemed cool.” Caspian said as he looked back at her and you raised an eyebrow. “Cool? Is that the new word for pretty?” You asked. “Stop.” He narrowed his eyes at you while nestling his skateboard under his arm as you turned towards the next class. “Alright but ‘like Montana’ really?” You asked. “Shut up.” He couldn’t stop the smile pulling across his face as he pushed you towards the door for the next class.

The next day everything seemed to be normal, you walked into school and met Caspian at the gates. “You won’t believe what I found on that conspiracy site.” He said. “It’s too early for this.” You mumbled rubbing at your eyes trying to get yourself to wake up. “Oh come on!” He pleaded as you opened your locker. “Don’t come on me, I have no parents, the only reason I’m here is you, that should be enough.” You joked, you heard him shuffling before he pulled out your favourite snack. “What did you find?” Though it was framed as a give and take, you would have heard him out either way you’ve never been able to say no to him, not since you’ve been old enough to know what it was like to be in love with your best friend. “Someone thinks the Logorhythms faked their Dad’s death and is holding him hostage.” He explained. “Faked his death?” You asked “where would they be holding him and for what?” “I don’t know I didn’t ask but you remember there was a proposition logical problem and I solved it?” Caspian asked. “Mmm.” You hummed, closing your locker and making your way to his. “The images that they sent, it looks like her Dad is communicating the same way that AngryAngel did.” He explained “so I sent the pictures to them.” “And?” You asked. “Well nothing yet.” He answered. “Yes if you get kidnapped and imprisoned by some tech company, I will storm the building to get you back.” You dramatically declared and he rolled his eyes. “Not what I was asking.” He rolled his eyes. “Alright so what are you asking?” You asked. “What do you think?” He asked. “I think that it’s very unlikely.” You answered honestly. “But let’s be honest nothing is completely impossible… How was last night? You text and said your Dad was home.” “Ehh.” He shrugged “he ate and then he left.” “Mhm.” You hummed. “Don’t worry about it.” He dismissed your concern as he always did, walking into class, you moved to your assigned seat regrettably halfway across the room from Caspian. “Okay, everyone settle down, yesterday we were talking about Orlando’s love for Rosalind and it represents just one of the many types of love Shakespeare highlights in the play. For the next phase of our analysis, we’re going to break into groups of two, so everyone find a partner.” Your teacher said. “Guess it’s you and me.” You glanced up at a boy you recognised from class not that you cared to even know his name. “Why?” You asked. “She wants some time with your boy, without his guard dog around.” He smirked, jutting his head towards Hannah talking to Caspian, she’d pulled over a table and they seemed to be well into their discussion. “So can I sit or…” “Whatever.” You pulled your feet up into a crossed leg position on the chair leaning forward, ready to do all the work for the project since you were sure that he knew literally nothing.

“Are we still doing that movie night tomorrow?” You asked. “Oh um.” Caspian avoided looking at you and you knew the moment that he started fumbling. “You hanging out with… what’s her face?” You clicked your thumb and middle finger as if trying to remember her name, when in reality all it was doing was running around your head in circles. “Hannah.” He answered. “Don’t do that.” He muttered. “Don’t do what?” You asked. “Stop.” He was a little too smart for the games that normal people played as teens when dancing around their feelings. “Yeah, it’s fine I’ll just watch it on my own.” You finally answered. “Hey maybe we can-” “No it’s fine honestly, have fun.” You waved him off before heading off home.

The next day went as all the others did, when you got home you threw your bag onto the chair in the living room deciding to get changed and eat something before sitting down to finish the rest of the project that needed handing in. You were about an hour in before there was a knock on the door, you frowned as you opened the door to Caspian “I thought you were supposed to be with Hannah.” You said. “My parents scared her off.” He answered. “Your dad was home?” You asked. “Pushed my mum.” He answered. “She’s okay?” You asked. “Yeah.” He nodded. “And you're okay?” You moved out of the way allowing him into the house. “Yeah, he didn’t touch me.” He answered walking in. “Wait I thought you were watching that movie, it looks like your doing the project.” “Well my partner has no intention of working with me.” You explained as you walked towards the sofa where everything was spread out. “Oh yeah.” He nodded. “Look I’m-” “Don’t apologise for making other friends, just please be careful, there’s something going on here, I don’t know what it is but there is something going on.” You explained. “Is it so hard to believe that she might just be interested in me?” Caspian asked. “No it’s not, trust me it’s not but I don’t trust her.” You shrugged. “So you're jealous?” He asked. “Excuse me?” You asked. “You know you’ve had a rough evening, I’m not going to make it any worse but when you're ready to talk to me, you let me know.” You said picking up your laptop to continue with your work, he stood there for a second before disappearing out the door, your eyes cast down to your hands as you fought tears.

Over the next few days you only grew apart, your life became very monotonous, you went to school, you went home. You didn’t have any other friends so there was no one else to hang out with, instead you watched and rewatched old shows and movies. Caspian seemed happy with Hannah and you hated yourself for being angry about it, it wasn’t about you, he should be happy and you should be happy for him. You had for a long time wished that it might be you that made him that happy but it seemed like it was just not in the cards.

One afternoon you came home from school, everything seemed normal at first, that is until you walked into the living room to find Caspian hunched over your demolished laptop “I hope you're upgrading that as part of an apology.” You decided not to start a fight immediately. “Are you one of them?” He asked. “Excuse me?” You asked. “Answer the question.” He ordered, standing from where he was sitting in front of. “I don’t know what you're talking about Cas.” You answered honestly. “What’s this about, did something happen?” He looked at you for a second before looking back at your laptop. “I found these in my computer and my phone.” He explained holding up 2 small chips, you stepped closer looking at the little chip that said Logorhythms in small letters. “Okay so why did you think I had something to do with that, I still need you to sort out my tech problems.” You reminded him as you looked at the laptop in pieces on the table. “I went looking for my mum after I found this, I found her at the Civic Centre with Hannah.” He explained. “They were talking about me… About what I talked to her about.” “What you talked to Hannah about?” You asked. “Mhm.” He hummed. “So you thought that I was working with them too?” You asked. “I didn’t know what to trust.” He answered. “Well why don’t you talk to Hannah about it?” You asked. “Your mum’s not going to tell you anything but she might, especially if she’s new to all this.” “Why are you helping me, after everything that happened?” He asked. “Cas I’m not your enemy, never have been. I am, however, going to be real mad at you if you can’t fix that.” You informed him, jutting your head towards the laptop. “I can fix that.” He promised “Look I’m sorry about everything, you were right and I didn’t listen to you.” “No it’s fine I sounded like a jealous best friend, who-” You stopped yourself from talking realising that you almost outed yourself. “Who what?” He asked, he was a little too sharp for his own good and you knew that he was not going to let it go. “Don’t you have to meet up with Hannah, find out what’s going on?” You asked. “Who what?” He asked, stepping forward causing you to step back. “Can you maybe not make me say it?” You asked. “I need you to say it.” He almost pleaded, his hand coming up to rest on your cheek, thumb gently running back and forth. “Do you know what ‘it’ is?” You asked. “I have an idea.” He was so close now, you had to look up to make eye contact and his other hand had come to rest on the back of your head keeping you in place. “I’d really like to be more than friends.” You finally said and what you saw was the realist smile you had seen in a long time. “More than friends?” He asked. “Don’t make-” You were cut off by him pressing his lips to yours in an almost bruising kiss one hand dropping to your waist to keep you close. “Cas we have to find out what’s going on.” You reminded him between kisses as you tried to get him to pull back. “I will, I’ll talk to her tomorrow, I still need to fix your laptop.” He said dismissively, leaning back in. “Alright.” You pulled away placing your hand over his mouth, you could feel him smirking “you're very good at that.” “At kissing?” He asked, eyebrows raised, his voice muffled and you rolled your eyes. “You need to end things with Hannah and you need to fix that laptop, the rest is up to you.” You informed him as he pulled your hand from his mouth. “I’ll talk to Hannah tomorrow, I’ll fix your laptop tonight.” He promised, pressing a kiss to your cheek. “Happy?” “Happy.” You nodded.

*Part 2*

Request Here!!

[imagineanime2022]

The Variable *Part 2*

Caspian Keyes X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4648

Requested: Anon

Request: https://www.tumblr.com/imagineanime2022/768228245966569472/the-variable?source=share

Op this is amazing! Please do continue it!

Warning: gun shot wounds, existential crisis, panic attack (if you've seen the show or like really squint)

A/N: I honestly don't know how I got so carried away with this one, again will continue into another part, hope you enjoy it.

*Part 1*

“If I come with you she’ll be suspicious.” You mumbled as you paced the room, you didn’t like that Caspian would have to do all of this by himself if we were to avoid raising suspicion. “You gotta calm down, it’s not like they know anything.” He reminded you standing from where he was sitting on the sofa “how about I call you and leave it open so that you can hear everything, if something happens then you can call someone.” “What good will that do, not like the police will get to you before they do.” You grumbled defeated and he rolled his eyes, a playful smirk on his face. “Are you sulking?” He asked. “Shut up.” You ordered. “Look I have to go if I want to meet her.” He squeezed your hands. “Fine… Fine, be careful and make sure that you call me.” You ordered. “Thought that didn’t matter.” He teased. “Doesn’t mean that I don’t want you to do it.” You followed him to the door before he opened it. He pressed a kiss to your forehead “I’ll see you tomorrow.” “See you tomorrow.” You watched him leave, waiting until he was completely out of view before going back inside.

It took about 20 minutes for him to call you and briefly explain the plan he had apparently thought up on the way there “you didn’t tell me this before, because you knew that I would not let you drive full speed into traffic to scare someone.” your voice gradually rose as you got to the end of the sentence, you vaguely registered Caspian’s chuckle and he put his phone in his pocket. You muted your mic to make sure that you didn’t ruin the plan and waited. “Hannah.” Caspian called. “I was looking for you, where’d you go today?” You heard Hannah ask. “Just getting your surprise ready.” He answered. “My surprise?” She asked. “Gross, guess I’ll be seeing you tomorrow.” You heard Nicole, you carried the phone with you as you walked into the kitchen looking for something to eat as you listened for anything that worried you. You heard car doors closing as you assumed they both got back into Caspian’s car. “It’s about time stranger, thought I’d have to send a search party.” Hannah joked, you heard the care start moving “where’s my surprise?” “First I have a question.” You honestly weren’t sure how she didn’t pick up on it, his voice was flat and uninterested, something that would have made you uneasy had you been the subject of it. “The answer’s yes.” You had to admit her dedication was admirable, they must have been paying her something. “No it’s not.” “Okay.” Hannah drew out the word she was finally getting suspicious. “Who are you and who do you work for?” He asked. “Oh we’re just going to say it.” You nodded to yourself. “What?” Hannah asked. “I saw you talking to my mum at the civics centre yesterday. Talking about me like I was some job. So I want to know exactly what the job is.” Caspian was pulling no punches. “Okay I don’t know what you're talking about, but it’s not funny or whatever, so I think I want to get out.” She was panicked but you heard the click of the door locks with one simple word from Caspian. “Nope.” You giggled slightly considering the delivery of the word but it was immediately silenced by the car speeding up. “What are you doing!? Slow down!” Hannah ordered. “I will when you tell the truth.” Caspian answered. “I am telling the truth!” She yelled back, Caspian was unfazed, you heard the wheels screeching and the honking of horns but no crash. “Who are you?” Caspian asked. “Stop! Stop! Please stop!” Hannah pleaded. “What’s the job?” Caspian asked. “You are you’re the job!” She finally answered. “Talk.” Caspian ordered.

“My name’s Rachel, Rachel Brooks I’m from Hoboken! I’m an actor! I’m- I went to NYU! I graduated last spring, I got this audition, I thought it was a show, but it was for a company! They said it was a social experiment.” Her rushed explanation was fast and almost impossible to hear, you had to concentrate to catch everything that she was saying. “Wait… What company?” Caspian asked, he sounded distracted, you could tell that he was a little too focused on the answers for how fast he was driving. “What company!?” he asked more urgently when he received no answer. “Candle Street, I think it's a shell for someone else but the check, the check cleared.” Hannah answered. “How much?” Caspian asked. “1 million up front 5 million over the next 3 years.” She answered “I said yes, I signed all these contracts and NDAs, if I break I get nothing they take it all back” you heard the car slowing to a stop letting out a breath and relaxing now that the worst part of the plan was over. “My mum my mum is sick, she has cancer, she can’t have surgery and her insurance doesn’t cover the immunotherapy, that is the truth I swear, if I mess this up-” “Rachel, it’s okay I’m not going to tell anyone you told me. What does my mum know?” He asked. “Renee? Renee knows everything, she won’t tell me shit I have to report to her.” Hannah, or Rachel answered. “What about (Y/N)?” He asked. “They wanted me to split you both up and offered me extra, like a bonus if I did.” Hannah answered. “Why?” Caspian answered. “They said something about her being the uncontrolled variable.” Hannah answered. “Something they couldn’t control.” Caspian mumbled. “Okay if you help me, you will get your money and we will make sure that none of this comes back on you. If you help me, if you do exactly what I say.” “What? What do you want me to do?” She asked. “I need you to pretend that everything is normal, make her believe that nothing has changed.” Caspian ordered.

The next day school went very much the same as it had been the past few weeks, you had decided that you’d have to continue to pretend that you weren’t talking so you walked into school with your earphones firmly placed in your ears as you made your way to your locker. Your locker was a little off the main corridors, when you got to your locker you opened it and grabbed everything that you needed, you closed it and walked towards your first class but before you could get too far someone wrapped their arm around your waist and pulled you back into a small alcove. “It’s just me.” You recognised Caspian’s voice. “I was about 3 seconds away from elbowing you in the ribs.” You informed him as the arm around you relaxed. “Good.” He leant down resting his chin on your shoulder. “I’ve set up cameras at my house and Rachel managed to convince Renee that everything is fine.” “Good. So she doesn’t suspect anything?” You asked. “No.” He answered, you assumed that was the end of the conversation but he didn’t let go. “Is there something else?” You asked, he gave a shrug looking around, with no prying eyes he quickly leaned down and pressed a kiss to your lips, firm and reassuring, a promise that it would be okay. His hand came up to cradle your face, thumb pressed against your chin under your bottom lip, his own lips trapping it as he pulled away. “See you later.” You reluctantly pulled away, again glancing around before hurrying off to class, you set yourself up at a table and waited. The test made the class easier since you didn’t have to work with any other popular kid that left you to do the work. Caspian caught your attention when he stood asking to use the bathroom, your eyes connected briefly and you knew that it had something to do with his mum.

“What happened?” You asked when you finally got out of class. “She was talking to someone, sounds like something has happened, like someone got out.” Caspian explained. “Renee sounded panicked, like she was worried that they would come down here and ruin everything, she said his name was Cary. I think it might be your dad.” “Why?” You asked. “She said that he couldn’t even break her arm, that she had to do it herself.” He sounded distant when he said that. “She broke her arm herself?” You asked, Caspian had sat down with you and told you everything that had happened since you stopped talking but the fact that she had gone as far as to break her own arm to keep in role. “Then she’s more dangerous than we first thought.” “What do you mean?” He asked. “She’s extreme, she won’t hurt you but she’ll hurt anyone else so we have to be careful.” You explained. “That’s all you’ve said.” Caspian rolled his eyes. “It’s not all I’ve said but it is the most important thing that I’ve said.” You corrected him, he just squeezed your hand affectionately. “We’ll be careful.” You promised.

Later that afternoon, your phone was ringing “Hello?” You asked. “She wants to go to the coast.” Caspian informed you. “The coast? Why?” You asked. “She said we need a vacation, that I’ve been working too hard and hse needs to get out of the house.” Caspian answered. “How long does she want to go for?” You asked. “She said for the weekend.” He answered. “But?” You asked, feeling that there was something else that he wanted to say. “Maybe that would be the perfect opportunity to run.” He said softly, leaning back in his chair. “Run?” You asked “Alone.” “Well I can’t ask you to-” “Fine then I’ll tell you that I’m coming with you so what’s the plan?” You asked. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” He argued. “Well then I’ll be following you across the country because I’m not letting you travel around alone.” You answered like a petulant child “so I meet you or I follow you your choice.” You heard him make a noise over the phone before speaking again. “Fine, once I know where we’re staying I’ll give you the location, then you make your way up there, I’ll leave the keys for my car out front so that you can drive it up once you meet me up there, we’ll figure out a plan.” He explained. “Good sounds like a plan. I’ll pack some stuff.” You informed him. “I’ll text you.” He said. “Hey Cas… I- be careful.” You settled on those two words something that had started to mean something else by, not that you knew if he knew that yet. “Yeah, you too.” He said before hanging up the phone.

It was a couple of hours later that you got a call from Caspian “Meet me at my place.” “What?” You asked “I thought you were going to the coast. What happened?” “She went through my stuff and unpacked it, I need to go back and get it, I stole the car, I’m heading back now.” You stood from where you were looking at your clock. “How long?” You asked. “At least a few hours.” He said. “Fine, just get back safe okay, I’ll meet you at your place.” You said.

By the time that you had gotten to Caspian’s it seemed that a lot had happened, you could see Renee and Cary along with Caspian, it looked like they were leaving the house, you saw Renee pull out the gun “Cas!” it was shouted at the same time that the gun was shot. She wasn’t aiming for Caspian, she was aiming for Cary and she hit him, you rushed over sliding to a stop and scuffing your knee at the same time. You grabbed a shirt out of your bag and pressed it to the wound as Caspian came to stand on his other side. “Are you okay?” Caspian asked. “I’m fine.” You answered, his eyes cast down to your knee but you didn’t correct yourself. “What do we do?” “Help me get him in the car.” He said. “Are you sure?” You asked. “Mm.” Caspian hummed, you helped him get Cary into the car and then he directed you to the back of the car “get in.” “Cas?” Your eyes moved to Renee who was still pointing the gun now solely at you. “It’ll be okay I promise.” He said softly pressing a kiss to your forehead before opening the back door, your eyes never left Caspian as he made his way around the car, you leaned forward. “How are you doing?” You asked, looking down as Caspian opened the car door to assess the wound. “I’m really sorry about this.” You pressed down harder on the wound, he grunted. “Sorry.” “It’s okay.” He managed to say through laboured breaths and gritted teeth. Caspian started the car and pulled away from the house, with his mum screaming after him but instead of calling his name she called out Stephen.

You have been driving for a couple of hours when you came up to an emergency hospital. Your hands were covered in blood as were a good few of your tops “No, no hospitals.” Cary managed to say. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Caspian argued but eventually pulled away. “They will still find us, keep driving.” Cary’s voice was breathy and strained. “We have time, I can hold out.” “There’s someone I can call.” Caspian called. “There is?” You asked at the same time as Cary spoke. “No. Caspian we can’t trust anyone, we just have to get somewhere safe. Off the grid. We have to focus.” Caspian glanced at you through the rear view mirror before speaking. “Stop saying ‘we’ I don’t know who you are. Okay.” “My name really is Cary. It’s Cary Duval.” Said person admitted. “Alright anything else?” Caspian asked after a minute of silence. “What do you want to know?” The breaths between his words were becoming more laboured and honestly it was becoming a little worrying but with him refusing hospitals you were at a loss for what you could do. “Was anything real? Like, are you really an asshole?” Caspian asked. “I’m a believer, I believed in the mission, I believed in Stephen Holstrom. But you, I’ve been watching you all your life, Caspian. Van Leuwen may have the plan, but I watched you. I was with you but when the plan called for me to be… I saw what I was doing and I didn’t want that. I didn’t want that for my son, I didn’t want that for you. It sounds horrible but I’m glad that your parents left you.” His hand latched on your in an affectionate grip. “Left you to look after him, give him something real.” “Who is Van Luewen?” Caspian asked, bringing the attention from you. There was silence as you looked to see that Cary’s eyes had closed. “Cary?” You asked, that caused Caspian to look over. “Cary! Hey! Hey! Dad!” Caspian attempted to rouse him but nothing worked. “I have to call Maddie.” “Maddie?” You asked. “You remember I told you about that person who thought that Logorhythms was holding their Dad hostage?” He asked, you nodded. “Yeah she’s the one that thought that, she told me her name in the same call where she warned me that I was being watched.” “Right and you can get in contact with her?” You asked. “I think so.” He answered, pulling out his phone. “Here, pull over, we'll swap, you call them and I’ll drive.” You suggested and he nodded.

Once you were both swapped over you started driving while he dialed whatever number he was looking for. It was a couple of minutes of arguing back and forth between him and someone else before he spoke to you “she called from a friend's phone before, she’s calling her.” You nodded. “Caspian!?” A new voice asked, you glanced back to see that he had put the phone on speaker. “Yeah it’s me.” Caspian answered. “Yeah it’s him, now who is he?” Another voice asked. “Justine, you can hang up now.” The first voice said, the one you assumed was Maddie. “Uh - uh I’m hearing this.” Justine said. “Whatever, Maddie I’m coming to Sacramento, I’m coming to you.” Caspian said. “What?” Maddie asked. “You said Logorhythms was watching me. You were right and now my… My dad has been shot.” Caspian explained. “Then get him to a hospital.” This voice was a grown woman, again different to all of the others. “What? Who is that?” Caspian asked. “It’s my mom she.. Mom, let me handle this.” Maddie ordered. “Listen, I can't go to a hospital. Logorhythms will find us.” Caspian explained. “They… They are the ones that shot him.” “How far away are you?” Maddie’s mum asked. “150 miles maybe.” Caspian gave a rough guess, honestly you were no help with that, you hadn’t done much travelling yourself given your past. “Sacramento Raceway, one o’clock. Parking lot should be empty.” Maddie’s mum ordered before hanging up the phone.

When you got to the raceway everything was empty, there was one car in the car park opposite.” Caspian said, leaning forward between the front seats as you hummed in confirmation. “There’s three people in that car.” You said as you glanced at Cary in the passenger seat. “It’s them.” He said. “How’d you know?” You asked. “When I spoke to Maddie before she said that she was younger than us, I don’t know who the guy is though.” Caspian said. They all got out of the car first, they didn’t seem to be carrying anything so you opened the car door climbing out, Caspian was behind you, he moved to stand in front of you but you reached out to stop him from completely covering you. “Are you hurt?” Maddie asked, looking at the two of you. “It’s not our blood.” Caspian answered. Maddie’s mum moved forward causing you to tighten your grip on Caspian, who gently shuffled your hand down until your finger intertwined, squeezing in reassurance. Maddie’s mum looked into the car catching sight of Cary. “Okay we are getting him to the ER.” She said. “I said no hospitals.” Caspian said. “Cas he’ll die if we don’t take him to a hospital.” You said softly. “Mum, if we do this won’t that just lead them back to us? To Dad?” Maddie asked. “Not if I take him, I can check him in with any five of my fake IDs, avoid the cameras. I’ve been a ghost on the ground for a year, give me your keys, you’ll ride back with them. I’ll drop him at a hospital far from here, I promise.” The guy stepped forward. “No you don’t understand, you don’t know what these people are capable of, whatever you think you know, whatever you think you know about me, you don’t.” Caspian argued. “You’re a clone of Stephen Holstrom. You’ve been raised just like him so you can complete his life’s work.” Maddie said, you could feel the shock “My Dad lives inside a computer, so we get it let’s go.” Maddie turned back towards the car getting in the front seat. “Come on.” Caspian pulled you behind him to get into the car.

You had been driving for a while, your leg had not stopped bouncing since you got in the car. It had been a while since he had seen this kind of a response from you, when your parents left it was common for your leg to bounce like that, he used to use it as a way to tell what you mood was and it had been a long time since he had seen you scared. He reached out placing his hand over your bouncing knee, your hand coming down to rest on top of his. “Who shot him?” Maddie’s mum asked. “Who shot your father, specifically?” “He’s not my father.” Caspian looked out of the window, though his hand still didn’t leave you. “And the woman who shot him was not his wife… She, she was a liar.” “Where is she now?” Maddie’s mum asked. “I don’t know, can you call your husband and make sure that they made it to the hospital?” Caspian asked, slightly changing the subject. “That’s not my husband.” Maddie’s mum glanced back at him through the rear view mirror. “That’s Cody, Laurie’s husband.” Maddie added, you didn’t recognise the name but Caspian seemed to. “You mentioned that name on the phone, said that was the one I talked to, who knew Logorhythms was watching me.” Caspian explained. “She’s Laurie Lowell, the first person to be uploaded.” Maddie explained. “My father was the second.” “You're serious, that other guy, that’s not your Dad.” Caspian said, catching her eye in the rear view mirror. “Just like the guy he’s driving isn’t yours.” Maddie said. “Maddie.” Her mum warned. “What do you… How do you know about me?” Caspian asked. You watched as they both looked between each other. We’ll show you when we get back.” Maddie finally said.

The rest of the drive was quiet, they pulled into a nice looking neighbourhood with an even nicer house. We all walked into the house, Maddie led Caspian towards the stairs “hey you knee looks like it needs cleaning, do you want me to help you with that?” Maddie’s mum tapped your shoulder and for the first time since it happened you looked down at your knee, bloody and bruised. “I should clean it.” You mumbled. “I’ll wait with you-” “No go and get your answers, we’re one floor away from each other, I’ll shout if I need you.” You smiled. “Are you sure?” He asked. “Of course I’m sure.” You nodded, he looked at you for a second longer before following Maddie, you followed Maddie’s mum into the living room where she directed you to sit down. “This will sting.” She told you and you nodded, hand fisting into the cushion underneath you. “You never told us your name.” “I assumed that you already knew it.” You answered as she started cleaning, she was right it did sting. “They referred to you as the variable, Maddie didn’t mention a name.” Maddie’s mum explained. “My name’s (Y/N).” You answered. “My name’s Ellen.” She smiled, before you could say anything else Maddie ran down the stairs and straight out the house. “He’s not really good at dealing with people at the best of times, right now his communication is probably abysmal. I usually do that for him.” “This is a pretty deep cut.” Ellen said as you looked for something to cover it. “I slid across the pavement to catch Cary after he was shot.” You explained. “That will do it.” She nodded as she put a bandaid over the top, Maddie walked back into the house and you looked at her. “I’m sorry.” You said. “What are you sorry for?” She asked. “I promise he doesn’t mean to be that harsh or unapproachable, he’s never been good with people stuff, I said it to your mum I’m the one who usually deals with the people.” You explained. “Lucky for them.” Maddie muttered. “I don’t think they would agree with you, they used to call me his guard dog.” You shrugged, “is there somewhere that I can wash my hands?” You asked. “Yeah.” Maddie showed you to the bathroom where you washed up and changed your clothes. It was the quickest that you had ever changed.

Once you changed you walked out into the garden, giving yourself a moment to clear your head. You don’t know how long you stayed out there but before you could go back a heavy weight crashed into your back, his arm wrapped around your waist and a face pressed into your shoulder. You could tell it was Caspian from the harsh breaths, the harsh breaths became less aggressive the longer he stayed wrapped in you “What happened?” You asked. “T-there were some videos, just stuff about where I came from, hiring Rachel, all of that stuff.” He explained. “Mmm.” You hummed, you turned in his grip wrapping your arms around him “just talk, it doesn’t have to be about this.” “Have you ever heard the theory that our whole life is a simulation, like the Matrix, but the whole universe? And we’d never know the difference.” Caspian said as he pulled you both down to sit, he pulled you close, legs crossed under yours that were pulled up. “I don’t know much about losing people, or feeling like your world isn’t real, in fact to me the world has always felt as real as it could ever be. I’ve always been hyper aware of the world and all the things that hid in it because in some way they’ve made their mark on my life. The part of my world that didn’t seem real is you.” You explained. “Well I’m not.” Caspian mumbled. “Not like that, I mean that you were too good to be mine, everyone left me but you never did, I believe in you and I trust you. Those feelings are real, that's what I choose to focus on.” You explained. “I always had this feeling that it wasn’t real, I even told Hannah that, told my fake girlfriend, in my fake house with my fake mum probably listening in.” His hold tightened on you as he finally looked up “that feeling was the only real thing in that house.” “I would have ignored it too.” You shrugged. “They say when you're a teenager you're not supposed to know who you are yet. But me I-I don’t even know what I am.” Caspian’s face took on a far away look, something you could only see from the corner of your eye. “Well at least we all have a reason to be dramatic.” You shrugged. “I think I win.” Caspian said. “Mmm.” You hummed. “I don’t think so my dad is digital.” Maddie called from where she had walked out to check on you. You pointed at her while nodding in agreement. “My mum is a robot.” Caspian answered as you and Maddie burst out laughing “don’t laugh I came out of a robot womb.” “I’m sorry.” Maddie laughed as you patted the space next to you for her to sit down. “It’s called ectogenesis.” Caspian added and that set you all off again for the first time in a couple of days and it felt good, you leant back against Caspian head rested on his shoulder, eyes falling closed for a second. “So your dad… Is he really real?” “He doesn’t know what he is.” Maddie answered. “You got a lot to talk about.” You mumbled. “I can show you if you want.” Maddie said. “I can wait up here if you want.” You added, Caspian glanced down at you, your eyes were still closed and he could tell by the tone of your voice that fatigue was catching up to you. “There’s a sofa down there that she can rest on while you talk to my dad… If you want to.” Maddie stood dusting herself off. “You should talk to him.” You said forcing your eyes open, “he might be able to help you understand.” “Fine but you need to get some rest.” He gently ran his hand over the top of your head before you lifted it, Maddie took your hand helping you stand before Caspian stood behind you, you all went down to the cellar in her house. You sat down while Maddie handed Caspian the VR headset. With nothing else to do but wait it didn’t take long for you to fall asleep.

*Part 3*

Request Here!!

[imagineanime2022]

The Variable *Part 3*

Caspian Keyes X Fem!Reader

Word Count: 4685

Requested: @itzkatsbg @kalebell46 @twilight5139

Request: I NEED A PART 3 AND Miss ma'am we need a full series AND part three pls I'm begging

*Part 2*

Caspian was gentle when he shook you awake, he hated doing it but he wanted to leave and he wasn’t going to leave you behind, no matter how badly he wanted to get out of there. “Hey.” He said softly brushing his thumb across your face as you started to frown, an indication that you were waking up. “What’s wrong?” You asked sitting up, his arms braced on either side of you to make sure that you didn’t topple over. “We have to go.” He smiled when you didn’t question him, only stood ready to follow him anywhere. As you both made your way up the stairs towards the front door Maddie attempted to stop you both from leaving, Caspian was able to shoulder past her easily given his height but she caught your wrist before you could get too far out of the door. “Wait, Caspian wait!” She called grip on you tightening as if holding you hostage. “Maddie let me go.” You said as you looked at her. “Where are you going!?” She asked. “Somewhere that my reality doesn’t blow up every 6 hours!” Caspian answered his hand slamming down on the car roof as he turned back to her, his eyes lingering on her hand wrapped around your wrist before travelling to your face, he didn’t see any signs of distress even still he gave a look that promised he would get you away from her if you asked him too.

“It’s the same reality, you're a part of it, you're here for a reason!” Maddie argued. “A reason? The Caspian project? I didn’t ask for that.” Caspian argued. “I know.” “I didn’t want that.” Caspian continued, you reached out from where you were between them and squeezed his hand in reassurance. “No one asks to be born.” Maddie argued her hand falling from your wrist, Caspian took the opportunity to pull you towards him opening the door ushering you in to climb over the centre console to the passenger side. “Well they do now, there are probably a bunch of crazies all raising their hands to be born again into the cloud.” Caspian climbed into the car after you, pulling on his seat belt and starting the car. “What are you going to do?” Maddie asked. “Enjoy the rest of the world while it lasts, I give us a month.” Caspian answered before his hand found its way around the back of the passenger seat to reverse out of the driveway and leave. “Any idea where you're going or are we just going?” You asked. “Just going.” He answered. “Are you okay?” “Me? Fine. She had a strong grip but it was nothing to worry about.” You dismissed the worry easily but he didn’t seem convinced instead pulling over for a second to catch the wrist that you had animatedly been waving him off with. He pulled it over the centre console to look at it properly, the skin was red but otherwise seemed okay. “Satisfied?” “Mm.” He hummed letting go of your wrist and starting to drive again. “We’re going to have to get rid of the car if you're serious about no one finding you.” You said as you looked out the window. “Yeah I know.” He said “There are other ways to get around.” “Oh I know, I thought about running away a lot after my parents left.” You admitted hand drumming against your thigh. “What stopped you?” He asked. “You.” Your eyes travelled to him, he’s eyes stayed on the road but you could tell that he was listening “I felt so lonely after my parents left, I wondered why they had left me there, was it something that I did? Was it something that I could do again if given enough time? I thought about running away because if no one was around then I couldn’t be abandoned again right?” You pulled your knees up to your chest as you rested your cheek against them “but then I remembered that I was one of the only people that you had and I never wanted you to feel like that, alone and confused. So I never left and I’ve never been happier with a decision in my life.” “Thank you for staying.” Caspian said after a moment of silence. “Trust me when I say you have helped me probably more than I have helped you.” you mumbled into your knees. “I don’t think that will ever be something that we agree on.” He reached out squeezing your knee.

You eventually found somewhere to ditch the car and jumped on a train, you didn’t even know where it was going, you just knew that it would take you away from Sacramento, once we were settled in one of the carriages “you should get some sleep.” You suggested your arm moving to wrap around his shoulder pulling him to lean against you. “I-” “You haven’t slept since we left home, you need to sleep, I’ll wake you when we need to get off.” You said softly as you started running your hands through his hair. “Are you-?” “Yes I’m sure.” You said softly as you waited for him to relax, you realised that he held onto you quite protectively even when he was sleeping, his arms wrapped around your waist as he basically curled his whole 6ft form around your body. As if his body would be the tripwire that woke his brain if anyone got too close. You spent more of the train journey trying not to move even as the ache set in hoping that he would grab as much sleep as he could. He woke up long before you got to where you needed to go, you both jumped off of the train at Kansas city, it took some walking but Caspian overheard someone talking at a convent and it was an easy choice from there. A place that asked no questions and didn’t even need to know your real name. You stayed.

You both fell into a routine, Caspian got ready to teach the teens maths while you helped with cooking and cleaning and sometimes helped the kids with other stuff. You weren’t a particularly academic person in school, you could do enough to pass but you were always much better at dealing with people. In your down time you ate together, talked about all kinds of things and some of the girls even asked how you managed to get a boy your age to settle. To which you answered Caspian was special.

You were in the kitchen helping out as you did most days when someone tapped your shoulder “hey is this your boy?” One of the girls asked as she held her phone out to you, showing you an image of Caspian. He was writing something in chalk on the black board while mumbling to himself before he seemed to come back to himself and start to wipe everything away. “Mmhm.” You hum your confirmation as you turn away from her to continue what you were doing. “Is he okay?” She asked. “He’s fine,” You answered. “If you're sure.” she shrugged as she turned away from you. You bit your lip, this might be another place that you have to leave before long, that video might tell the wrong people Caspian was. You helped serve lunch before sitting down with your own, it was easy to find your boy in the crowd, he still very much dressed the same as he did before which made him stand out against everyone else. “You okay?” You asked as you sat down across from him. “Yeah, I’m fine.” He answered, playing with his food as he did. “I know that you probably don’t want to talk about it, so I won’t ask but I do need to know if this means that we need to leave.” You said as you started to eat. “I don’t know yet.” He answered.

“Hey, how was your first day at school?” Brother Kenneth, the man that had allowed us both to join sat next to Caspian. “I think I flunked out.” Caspian looked down at his place, he seemed upset, you assumed because he really wanted it to have worked out here. “At least you got their attention, that’s half the battle.” Kenneth argued. “You saw that?” Caspian glanced at him for a second before closing his eyes and sighing. “I’m sorry I don’t know what happened, I guess it just- Please don’t kick us out.” “And find someone else who can solve for x, I don’t think so, I just want to make sure that you're okay.” There was a hint of a joke in his tone as he looked at Caspian, there was a smile on his face and that gave you cause to relax. “Look I don’t want to sound pushy but most of the kids that come here, they just want a hot meal no questions asked but it seems like you, you're both running from something. If you tell me what it is, I can help.” “I don’t know, can you run away from yourself?” Caspian asked, your hand moved over the table gently squeezing his hand in reassurance. “What do you mean?” Kenneth asked as he looked between the both of you. “I mean I don’t know who I am, or maybe I do and that’s the problem.” Caspian leaned forward on the table, his hand twisting upwards to gently hold yours as you attempted to pull away. “The struggle to reconcile conflicting personalities is pretty much par for the course for the brothers here.” Kenneth leant back so that he could catch Caspian’s eye. “Most of us lived very different lives before we took up our vocations.” “I uh.. Saw the tattoos.” Caspians eyes moved down to the art that he was referencing. “You thought those were from prison? I was in a bad metal band.” Kenneth laughed as he twisted his wrist to show them off a little more. “Spent most of my time with a needle.” his hand rested on Caspian’s shoulder “it can seem like we are required to act one way because of society, our parents or even our own bad impulses that we don’t really have a choice.” “Do we?” Caspian asked.

“The great paradox of christian faith is that we believe in predestination, for God all moments in time are present in their immediacy, we also believe in individual free will, in other words sincere can’t know our ultimate futures we can’t know how our choices will effect them, what matters is that we still get to choose.” Kenneth explained, you watch as a small smile stretched across Caspian’s face, it was gone in a second though. “How do you know it’s the right choice?” Caspian asked. “It doesn’t matter so long as you willingly embrace it.” Kenneth answered before standing up and leaving the table. “I assume we’re staying?” You asked, a smile taking over your face when he nodded. You moved to the other side of the table sitting next to him as you finished what was left of your food.

You had been sitting eating the next day, Caspian had taken your place serving, claiming that you do it all the time and that he should do it every once in a while. You rolled your eyes, a small smile on your face as you thought about the conversation, you were startled out of your thoughts by someone sitting across from you. “You’ve been quite the thorn in our side, you know that? (Y/N)?” The man asked as he stirred the stew in the bowl. “Who are you?” You asked as your eyes travelled around the canteen and the streets, nothing that you hadn’t seen there before. “See any black SUVs, that always seems like a bad sign.” He said as he looked between you and a person you assumed was Caspian approaching behind you. “For what it’s worth I’m driving a rented Malibu. I lucked into a spot across the street. I’m Julius Pope, by the way.” “You're alone?” Caspian asked, his hand coming up to rest on the centre of your back but not sitting yet. “Just me.” He confirmed. “Look. I-if you want to run again. I’ll understand. I-I just want to talk.” Caspian stayed silent for a moment before he sat down next to you, he leaned forward on one arm the other under the table where your hands were connected your thumb gently running over the back of his hand. “That TikTok, but I deleted it, which means you must have searched all the deleted caches which means you had access to government surveillance tools and military spec facial recog. NSA?” He asked. “Caspian you do not disappoint, by the way, Cary’s okay.” He added, you didn’t like him, he added things like an afterthought used to make you both feel safer, you only hoped that Caspian realised that and didn’t get too caught in searching for answers. “He pulled through and he’s doing better, thought you might like to know.” “What are you going to do to him?” Caspian asked. “You think we’re the bad guys. I get that. Actually, no. I take that back. Even though we have psych profiles that tell us what you’re supposed to think, I don’t pretend to have any idea what this is really like for you.” Julius rattled off explanation after explanation in hopes of getting you to relax. “I don’t imagine anyone on this planet does.” Caspian looked down, you're not sure at what but when he looked up Julius smiled “he used to give me that same look. Stephen Holstrom was my best friend. You, your birth was his idea, we were given the responsibility to guide you but who were we kidding? I guess I just want to apologise to you for screwing that up, ‘cause I can’t apologise to him.” “An apology. That’s how this ends?” Caspian asked. “I don’t know how it ends. It’s up to you.” Julius explained. “Oh, now it’s up to me. Now I have free will.” Capian slumped forward as his eyes fell on Kenneth and a couple of kids across the way. “Does Brother Kennth work for you?” “Who?” Julius asked.

“Does matter. You want me to be Holstrom?” Caspian asked. “Full control of the company that I created and the power to do whatever I want with it.” “Okay.” Julius answered. “You don’t get it. The first thing I’m going to do is trash your UI program, then shut down the rest of the company and sell off the pieces.” Caspian was trying to provoke him, you could tell that much from his tone. “I-I-I used to have this catchphrase. I think I said to Stephen like a hundred times a day. I would say, ‘I work for you, Boss.’” Julius said. “Is that supposed to make you more trustworthy?” You asked. “When we were a struggling start-up, Stephen said ‘let’s pour half our profits into research’ and I said ‘you're wrong.’ A few billion dollars later, he said, ‘let’s take the company private.’ and again, I was like ‘no, you’re damn wrong.’ By the time he got around to ‘let’s fix death,’ it was ‘I work for you boss.’” He explained. “You took the company public again after Holstorm died.” Caspian said. “Because I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. Just like most of the people who can’t see how you see. Pay no attention to the scared, greedy bald guy behind the curtain okay? Tell me what to do.” “You are going to regret saying that.” Caspian said, a smirk taking over his face. “You’re wrong.” Julius answered, Julius stood from where we was sitting “I’ll give you some time to say goodbye-” “To who?” He asked. “Everyone-” “(Y/N)’s coming with me.” Caspian said. “Caspian-” “(Y/N) comes or I stay.” Caspian tightened his hold on your hand as you attempted to pull your hand away. “Fine.” He looked away from the both of you for a second “don’t take too long.”

Julius took you to a private jet that he said would take you to the block site in Norway where Caspian would find everything that he needed. When you got to the jet Caspian stopped “I need to make a call.” He said before leaning down to you “I should probably explain everything to Maddie.” “Mm.” You hummed in agreement as you stepped away. “Stay there.” He pointed to the stairs “where I can see you.” The conversation seemed to be heated, you heard him raise his voice but eventually he turned and walked back to where you where, helping you stand and leading you into the jet. “What happened?” You asked once you were both seated. “She told me I sound just like him.” He answered, pressing his face into your shoulder. “She didn’t mean that.” You said softly, your hands running through his hair. “She sounded like she meant it.” You felt the sentence vibrate through you as he spoke, quiet and deflated. “I know but the truth is she’s hurt, angry and scared for her dad, she’s also young, she wanted to hurt you and she knew that was the fastest most hurtful thing that she could have said.” Your fingers continued their gentle movement through his hair as the plane started.

After a 9 hour flight you were led into an office one that seemed to be preserved and your thoughts were quickly confirmed by “I upgraded the system over the years of course, that’s what he would have wanted, but I’ve never once sat in the chair. Honest.” He pulled plastic covering off of the desk, your eyes immediately drawn to the little doodle on the desk something that you had definitely seen Caspian draw before said man drew your attention. “That’s the flaw?” He asked, looking at the computer screens that had lit up. “He worked on cracking integrity until the very end. These are the conditionals he was working on when he collapsed.” There was moment of silence that followed Julius’ sentence before Caspian finally spoke. “Okay, enough with the showcase. I don’t care where he died. I wanna see where I was born.” Caspian turned on his heels reaching out to grab your hand when you made no move to follow him.

Julius led you both down to the dingy basement level, which looked a little bit like something out of a horror movie, the fact that they had managed to make something as amazing as Caspian in a place like this gave you pause. As the lights flickered on your eyes drew to every piece of machinery. Caspian attention was drawn to the bag that acted as an amniotic sack while he was growing. “Am I the only one?” “Yes, you’re the only one. First try out the gate. Cloning Stephen was the easy part, relatively speaking. Raising you to be just like him, well that took enormous effort and resources.” Julius answered. “And we still screwed up.” A new voice spoke, you heard the footsteps as Caspian put himself between you and the new threat. “Dr Karl Van Leuwen.” Julius introduced the man that had spoken. “I read the files.” Caspian then turned his attention to the woman that had walked in with Leuwen “who are you?” “Deirdre Ryan, head legal counsel and employee number five at the company.” She introduced herself. “I met Stephen when he was just a kid, not much older than you are now.” She stepped forward and Caspian stepped, your hand clasped the back of his sweater when you both heard a voice that you recognised. “No one is going to hurt you, Caspian.” Renee said softly. “I promise.” “You think I’ll trust one word that comes out of your mouth?” Caspian asked, grabbing the closest thing to him to use as a weapon.

“Whoa.” Julius moved to defuse the situation but everything stopped at the sound of yet another voice that you recognised. “No, but you can trust me. I wouldn’t let them touch either of you, even if they tried.” Cary next to join now with all the adults in a semi circle around you, it became a lot more imposing. “Oh my god.” Renee groaned as she lifted her hand to press against her temple. “Cary let’s de-esculate.” Leuwen stepped forward. “Shut up Karl.” This was starting to get a little aggressive. “Guys, we knew this would be weird. Look, there’s no avoiding that.” Julius looked at each of the adults around the room. “Weird? Weird!? This isn’t even human!” Caspian’s out burst seemed to shock them into silence and he wasn’t done. “You’re not gonna hurt me? You made me to be hurt. You planned it, you carried it out.” He pointed at Julius and Renee respectively and then threw the metal tray he had grabbed before to the floor. “Every life had pain, Stephen insisted that this was the source of his greatness, every choice we made was calculated to bring you closer to that greatness.” Leuwen explained, you frowned as you listened to them. “For what?” Caspian asked exasperatedly, “So you freak can survive death and live forever!?” “No, it’s so the world can survive us.We’re too many for the planet to support. Our carbon based bodies require the gratification of inflexible, finite matter. Freedom from these bodies, these atoms grants us freedom from scarcity, possession, decay, waste… and yes death.” Julius answered. “Do you all understand what you sound like, you're crazy. Caspian is amazing as Caspian. He doesn’t need to be Stephen, the world doesn’t need another Stephen!” You argued drawing everyone’s attention to you. “Why are you still here?” Renee asked, “I thought you were getting rid of her.”

“Touch her and you’ll regret it.” Caspian warned, reaching back to where your hand was still connected to his sweater “That thing you said before I said that, didn't I? I mean Stephen did.” They all gathered together in front of the both of you. “Yes.” Renee answered. “Alright this is what I say now mum dad, you're fired.” Caspian said. “What?” Renee asked at the same time that Cary spoke. “Caspian.” “I wanna dump my shares, then break up the company and sell it for parts.” Caspian ordered. “You can’t do that.” Deirdre was the one to step forward. “He can and he just did.” Julius shut her down. “Julius.” Deirdre warned. “Do as he says.” Julius answered. “We work for you boss.”

Finally back up in an office, one of the brighter rooms in the place, Julius was on the phone to someone talking about a man called Waxman, who was what you could only assume was an employee involved in everything that had been happening behind the scenes. Julius ordered his arrest and hung up the phone, Caspian spoke the moment he knew the line was dead, stepping back from you who was leaning against the desk across from him. “I bet you dreamed of the day you introduced this technology to the world. Ever imagine it would end like this?” “End? You think this is the end?” Julius asked. “Every system needs to be taken off like and sponged clean, none of the UI’’s would survive. “ Every one of them would survive.. If anyone were to get wiped in the system beads they may suffer some lose but they would soon resurrect at home.” “It’s the miracle of backs.” Julius explained. “People won’t allow it.” Caspian argued. “Who won’t?” Julius asked, “People, Look at them, they're rioting all over the world, they’re freaking out.” Caspian gestured towards the computer screen. “You know how many millions of people have protested against nuclear weapons since then. But toothpaste does not go back in the tube.” “this is not the end of it, every country who has an AI will protect it, hide it, and lie about it. Every government that doesn’t have one will make one up and lie about it.” “More UIs.” Caspian stood next to you face Julius. “Countless UIs” Julius confirmed. “Then we end another way because they will not be controlled.” Caspian argued. “Stephen predicted as much, which was why he wanted to be the first to crack integrity.” Julius stuffed his hands in his pockets. “So he could make them more powerful.” Caspian accused him. “Not him, one, one whose speed and power will not degrade and therefore cannot be matched.”One whose interest align with humanity. “One UI to rule them all.” Caspian mumbled more to himself. “More like you will have no others before me.” Julius corrected. “Oh sjit, Biblical.” Caspian gave him a sarcastic response. “As an organising tool for civilisation you gotta admit monotheism was a killer app.” Julius smiled. “The killer part sure.” Caspian shrugged. “No if you choose the right god.” Julius smiled. “Who did you have in mind?” Caspian asked. “You didn’t hear me. I said, ‘not if you pick the right god.’” Julius remarked and you looked between them. “Or we just wait and see how this plays out.” “What do you think?” Caspian asked, turning to you.

“I never met any of the UIs Caspian, I can’t help you make that decision, of all of the ones that you met, who do you think would make the best and most fair and impartial judge, someone who can keep the rest in line?” You posed the question, in hopes that it would help him get to the answer that he was looking for. “David.” He mumbled softly as he leaned down and pressed a kiss to your forehead before pulling out his phone. He called Maddie but he only managed to have a small conversation before they seemed to be cut off. “The network is down.” Julius informed us. “What one?” Caspian asked. “All of them.” He answered as you looked at him and frowned. “The internet is going dark everywhere, we don’t have much time.” “What do you mean?” Caspian asked. “Until the world feels ready to come back online, when the network comes back so do the UIs-” “David Kim is gone.” Caspian sid, almost as if that were the end of the conversation and the world as you knew it. “David Kim?” Julius asked. “He was the one I could see trusting to carry the responsibility.” He sounded so dejected and you reached out to squeeze his hand in reassurance. “Let’s get you working on his source code then.” Julius stood from where he was sitting to walk out of his office. “What?” Caspian asked. “We kept a copy of course, the miracle of backups.” Julius answered, turning back to look at him. “We should ask Maddie beforeyou start this.” You suggested. “I can’t get her hopes up before I figured this out.” Caspian answered as he followed Julius out. “Please just trust me.” Caspian put his hand out for you to take. “When have I ever doubted you?” You asked, taking his hand “be careful with him.” Your eyes travelled to Julius as you all settled into a walk back to Holstrom’s old office, when you got there, Caspian walked over to the desk sitting down, he started working on cracking integrity.

It was late in the evening, you had fallen asleep on the sofa in the office after Julius had finally left. Caspian took a moment to glance over at you smiling softly at the position that you had fallen asleep in, he stood from his chair and walked over gently moving you into a more comfortable position and covering you over with a blanket. He didn’t know what he did to deserve you but he was thankful that you were there.

You. The variable. The girl who stuck by him. The girl he would put all of his all into protecting no matter the cost. Caspian leant down and pressed a kiss to your forehead, he needed to make a better world for you to thrive in.

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[imagineanime2022]

A True Friend

Caspian Keyes X GN!Reader

Word Count: 776

Requested: Anon @kalebell46

Request: On god please I need more Caspian Keyes fan fiction. This internet is so dry, there's like none out there. Could be of a him x reader while he's finding himself, the first real friend in his life that isn't there by the choice of someone else. And he'd be so paranoid about it too. Gooooodddddd please. AND I would love for a caspian fic please there are none

Caspian had been alone for so long, since he was young he had always been the outsider, the black sheep, the target and he thought that was how it was going to be for the rest of his school life. That is until he met (Y/N). Now (Y/N) for all intents and purposes probably wasn’t the best example for Caspian, they got into trouble, paid around and never listened to anyone who assumed that they knew better than them. Except when they were with Caspian, who they had only met because they needed tutoring.

(Y/N) wasn’t stupid though most people treated them that way, in fact they had a basic grasp on most things that were taught in class, they just didn’t seem to get it down on paper very well. Caspian was asked to tutor them and the rest followed with time, tutoring sessions turned into skateboard races and trips to the comic book store. Caspian learned quickly that his new companion was not stupid as he had heard a lot of the others in their year saying so he did make sure that some of their time was dedicated to bringing up his grades, in the end it didn’t matter though.

The world crumbled around Caspian as he found out about the real reason behind his birth, with his father gone and his mother keeping more of a watchful eye on him then usual, the only place he thought he might even be a little bit safe was with (Y/N) but then the thought crossed his mind… What if you had something to do with Logarithm's little experiment. That was why he stood outside your door hand hovering to knock, he jumped when you opened it smiling at him “what are you doing?” They asked “thought you were going to knock but you seemed like you were thinking about something.” They stepped to the side giving him space to come in but he didn’t move. “What?” “Are you really my friend?” He asked. “Really your friend?” They asked “of course I am.” “Really because I just found out a lot about myself that doesn’t make sense.” He answered. “Okay talk me through it.” They prompted stepping out and closing the door behind them. “I found something on my computer, they’ve been watching me.” Caspian answered. “They’ve been watching you?” They asked frowning, you were either genuinely confused or very good at acting. “Logarithms!” He answered more frustrated at having to explain himself at all. “Logarithms? Caspian you're going to have to start from the beginning if you want me to understand, remember I’m the slow friend.” They reminded him as he looked at you, that seemed to calm him down as he spoke again. “Don’t call yourself slow.” He grumbled, they shrugged as they looked at him waiting for him to continue. He took a second to calm down and then explained everything that had happened over the past few days.

It was easy to prove that you weren’t a part of it when you looked back at Stephen Holstroms life and realised that he didn’t have a best friend or a friend of any kind at Caspian’s age. (Y/N) was the only person that Caspian could trust but that didn’t mean that he wanted to drag them into everything that was happening, he still didn’t understand how they ended up in the car with him and Cary going to meet Maddie. “I’ll find a way to get you back home after all of this.” He promised. “Home?” They asked. “Why would I go home, you need someone right? Someone to trust?” “Yeah but-” “And we’ve proven that I can be trusted?” They asked. “Yes but-” “Then I stay.” they leaned back in their chair as Caspian glanced at her through the rear view mirror. “Why?” He asked. “Because I'm your friend, this is how friends work… Real ones anyway.” You shrugged. “Real friends?” Caspian asked. “Alright, how about this, I promise to be the one person that you can trust, a true friend, pillar to lean on and person to talk to, if you promise to stop thinking that you don’t deserve it. You didn’t ask to be made this way and no matter how you were born you are no less human than anyone else I know.” You said. “Alright, fine, as long as you don’t keep calling yourself the slow friend.” He answered. “Alright deal.” And that was the first time that he felt like he could trust someone, accept someone, turn away and they would still be there, a true friend he liked that security.

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[imagineanime2022]

My Friend

Caspian Keyes X Male!Reader

Word count: 2713

Requested: Anon

Request: Omg I just finished Pantheon and kinda fell in love with caspian, if you could pleasee do a fic with him x male reader (if you don't do male reader gn is fine) that would be pretty rad. Anything is fine because like I can't find any fanfics to cure my voices, and I'm going insane.

Warning: Estranged family, Maddie and her mum are a little mean in this one

After your Dad died your mum decided to move to Sacramentos and while you having just finished school decided to move somewhere else, your mum wasn’t happy with you deciding that you wanted to live in San Clemente but it was still somewhere that she could drive to if you ever needed her help. You gave no explanation for the move away from the family, you had a strained relationship with your mother, you argued a lot and the only person that seemed to be able to fix it was your dad. Now that he was gone you decided that living apart might be the only way that you preserved your relationship.

When you started working at the comic book store there was one kid that showed up every other week to browse the store and buy. It took a couple of months before you had a proper conversation and it started with a couple of kids following him into the store. “Hey Casper.” One of them sneered, knocking his shoulder. “Friends of yours?” You asked, leaning on the counter as you looked at each of them. “No.” The boy answered as you stepped around the counter, your eyes caught on the boy who seemed to be leading them, he was the high school epitome of jock. “You on the football team?” You asked, the boy in front of you raised an eyebrow. “What does it matter to you?” He asked, you rolled the sleeves of your jumper up to your elbows. “Leave.” You ordered. “What if we want to buy something?” He glared at you and you shrugged. “Tell me what you want and I’ll bring it to you.” You said rolling your shoulders and stretching your arms. “Just get out of the way!” The boy ordered hand touching your shoulder in an attempt to push you out of the way, your hand shooting out so quickly no one could really see it, you twisted his arm behind his back. “I’ll give you 10 seconds after I let go of your arm to leave, otherwise I’ll break the arm that’s going to get you into college because it sure as hell won’t be this.” You flicked his temple indicating his brain before pushing him back towards his friends and watching them all scurry out of the shop. “I didn’t need you to do that for me.” The boy said and you shrugged. “No but I really needed to do it.” You walked back behind the counter “take your time.”

From that day onwards you found out more about the boy, eventually learning that his name was Caspian and that he didn’t have any friends in school, you became the only person he talked to face to face. “So what you're telling me is someone thinks their dad has been taken hostage by Logorhythms?” You asked. “That’s what they said, the images they sent me reminded me of the way that someone else wrote to me, so I sent it to them, but they both ghosted me after a while.” Caspian explained. “Seems like there’s something else.” You leant against the counter waiting for him to speak. “UI.” He answered. “No you lost me.” You admitted. “Uploaded intelligence.” He answered. “I looked into it and found a black site in Norway, it is owned by Logorhythms.” “Seeming more shady.” You admitted with a nod. “But this really isn’t your problem and honestly if they both ghosted you then what’s the point in looking into it anymore?” “It was a personal endeavour.” He shrugged. “Well you let me know when this personal endeavour gets you into trouble.” You said taking out a new volume of one of the many comics that he followed and handing it to him.

You looked up at the sound of the door opening and Caspian rushing in. “Is there like a phone or something that I can use?” He asked. “You can use mine if you want.” You said pushing your mobile across the counter. “No, you remember that person I was speaking to before?” He asked. “The one that ghosted you?” You nodded. “They want me to call them, said that I can’t call from my phone, so I think they might be tracking the call.” Caspian looked around frantically. “I’m not going to pretend to understand this but here’s the phone we use for orders and stuff.” You reached under the desk to pull out a small mobile, he nodded and headed to the back of the store where he took the call. “Everything okay?” You asked. “Yeah, yeah, I just have to check something.” He said as he walked towards the door. “You sure Cas?” You asked. “Yeah, I’ll talk to you later.” He waved you off before disappearing out the door.

It was no surprise that he called you and panicked when everything happened with his parents. “(Y/N)!” He said the moment you picked up the phone. “Hey Cas what’s up?” You asked. “I need your help.” He sounded so different then anything that you had heard before. “What happened?” You asked. “My mum shot my dad.” He answered. “Where are you now?” You got up grabbing your jacket and keys for your bike, it didn’t take long for you to get to and start up the bike ready to meet him wherever he was. “I just started driving, I don’t know where I am.” He answered. “Are you still in town?” You asked. “Yes.” He answered. “Can you get to the comic store?” You asked. “Yes.” He answered. “I’ll meet you there, we’ll get this sorted.” You promised as hung up, stuffed your phone in your pocket and drove towards the comic book store.

When you got to the store he was already there, you tapped on the window before leaning down “I’m going to need you to explain everything.” You said as your eyes caught on his dad in the passenger side seat. “Okay but we have to go, she could find us here.” Caspian prompted you, you quickly moved the bike around the side of the building and chained it up where it would normally be when he worked, he then climbed into Caspian’s car and he started driving. Caspian explained everything that he had found out, with who you now know as Cary, his fake dad chiming in every now and again to make the story somehow crazier. “There someone in Sacramentos that might help me?” He pulled out his phone as he spoke “her name’s Maddie Kim.” “Maddie Kim? Are you sure?” You asked. “Yeah, that was the name that she gave.” Caspian explained. “Do you know her?” “She’s my little sister.” You sighed as you pulled out your phone, scrolling through your phone until you found Maddie’s name “what do they have to do with all this?” “She hasn’t told you?” Caspian asked. “I don’t know if I should be the one to tell you.” “Caspian.” You warned him, you knew he was trying to be respectful but with everything that was going on you didn’t have the time for it. “She said it had something to do with your dad.” He answered. “My dad is dead.” You said more to yourself than anyone else, you pressed the dial on your phone and waited. “(Y/N) I don’t really have time to talk-” “Mads I need an honest answer here, have you and mum neglected to tell me something important?” You asked. “W-what are you talking about?” She asked. “I’m sitting in a car with someone I’d say is pretty trustworthy who knows you.” You answered. “What’s going on with dad?” “D-dad’s dead.” Maddie answered. “Fine if you don’t want to talk to me then you can talk to him.” You answered, handing the phone to Caspian. “Your mum wants to speak to you.” He said passing the phone back once he was done. “We never meant to keep this a secret, you seemed to have a really good thing and there’s something wrong, something we wanted to fix before potentially uprooting you.” She explained. “It’ll be nice to see you.” “Yeah I’m sure that it will be.” You said blankly before hanging up the phone. “You good?” Caspian asked. “Mmm.” You hummed. “I’m sorry I dragged-” “You're not the one that needs to be apologising.” You said softly.

You made it to the raceway with no problems, you wasted no time in getting out of the car leaning against the side of the car as you waited for your mum to get out. “(Y/N) how are you?” She asked when she was close enough. “I was doing well until about 2 hours ago.” You answered, you watched her eyes look over the new style that you had picked up since leaving home. “How’s his dad doing?” Your mum asked. “Not good.” You answered, she walked past you to look into the car, Caspian climbed out then and she looked at both of you. “We’re taking him to a hospital.” Your mum said as you rolled your eyes. “We aren’t taking him anywhere, the moment that he walks into a hospital it’ll lead back to everyone here, so try again.” You argued. “I can take him.” A man said “I can drop him off with any one of my fake IDs. I’ll take the car and you go back with them.” “That sounds like a better plan.” You said as you walked around to the other side of the car. “I think that might actually be the best plan that we have, he will die if we don’t get him to a hospital.” “Fine but we can’t go with them.” Caspian leaned closer as he talked and you smiled. “Don’t worry, I guarantee that they know everything already, my sister is nosey and if she wants to know then she knows.” You looked over at Maddie “Mads what do you know about him!?” “He’s a clone of Steven Holstrom made to solve a problem that he couldn't solve.” She yelled across the car park. “I’ll be there the whole time.” You promised. “Fine, fine.” He nodded, sticking close to you as after handing over the keys to the guy that had been with your mum and sister.

Once you were back at the house Maddie took Caspian upstairs while you looked around the house that you mum and sister shared. “Are you going to explain everything that’s going on or am I expected to guess?” You asked. “Your dad is…” Your mum said. “Is?” You asked, you frowned as your phone started ringing, pulling it out of your pocket and you frowned at the unknown caller ID. “Answer it.” You mum nodded towards the phone, you looked at it for a second before finally answering the phone. “Hello?” There was a second of silence before you heard it, your dad’s voice. “Hey Trouble.” “D-dad?” You asked. “I know this is a lot to take in.” He said. “I don’t know what this is.” You looked at your mum “someone still needs to explain it to me.” “When your father got sick, Logorhythms approached us with a proposition-” “To upload his brain to a computer?” You asked. “They told me that it failed, that was why I never told you or your sister, as far as I was concerned he died.” You mum continued to explain. “So what happened after he came back?” You asked. “We really didn’t want to uproot you, there’s still a chance that I might die, your friend Caspian is the only one that might be able to save us.” Your dad explained. “Us?” You asked. “There are others like you?” “2 that we know of.” Your dad answered. “Laurie and Chanda.” “Right, so what do you want from me now?” You asked. “Nothing.” “We need you to convince your friend to help us.” Your mum answered. “If not for me, then for your little sister.” “No, don’t do that! You don’t get to ignore me until I hold the key to all of your problems and then expect me to listen to everything that you say.” You glared at her before looking at your phone “I’m sorry that this is happening to you dad but it’s not up to me if Caspian helps you or not it is up to him, I won’t use our… Friendship to manipulate him into something.” “What’s that supposed to mean!?” Maddie asked. “That’s your dad too.” “And until a couple of hours ago he was dead.” You argued as you looked at her “you’ve all made moves in a family unit while I’ve been in another city.” “Why is Caspian so much more important to you!?” Maddie asked, “He doesn't even want to help.” “Caspian is the only person that I’ve had since dad died.” You answered. “You didn’t have to move out!” Maddie stepped closer and you stepped back, dropping your phone onto the sofa next to you with your fists clenched tightly. “Maddie, stop.” You warned her. “No, you have to help us!” Maddie demanded grabbing your wrist, you snatched your arm back easily before squaring a cold gaze on your family. “Don’t you ever ask me to choose between people I love ever again. Don’t demand things from me, I owe you nothing. I will be here until Caspian decides what he wants to do, if he decides to help I will be here until he’s done, I promised him that I would be here.” Your tone was final as you turned towards the garden.

You had no intention of going back into the house but you worried about Caspian, you hadn’t heard from him, he hadn’t even come out of the room from what you could tell. As if you had said his name out loud he came racing out of the house “Caspian?” You moved forward but you could see the rapid rising and falling of his chest. You stopped waiting to see what he wanted, when he moved forward, hands reaching out blindly, you grabbed them, you placed his hand on your chest and kept your breaths deliberate and slow. You lowered yourself with him until you were both sitting on the grass, you watched as his breathing returned to normal. “I heard you earlier.” Caspian finally spoke, you leaned back to get a look at his face. “I meant it I’m not going to force you to-” “Not that part, I mean I heard that part but that’s not the part that I’m talking about.” He answered. “Oh what part are you talking about?” You asked. “You told them not to make you choose between people you love.” He finally looked up at your face and your eyes widened realising what you had said and what it meant all at the same time. “I-” “You know when Maddie told me that I was being watched, the first person that I suspected was you.” Caspian explained. “Me?” You asked, a short laugh at the end. “You just seemed too good to be true.” He answered honestly. “Well I think you deserve some good.” You attempted to move away from him but he caught your chin before you got too far. “I appreciate you staying with me, going against everyone else for me.” He drew in closer to whisper as if it was a secret only meant for your ears “I love you too.” “Cas-” You were cut off as he pressed his lips to your, his hand moving to cup your jaw, the other cupping the back of your neck, keeping you close, controlled. He pushed a little as your hands now came up one pressing against his chest while the other ran through his hair. His lips picked up pace with his confidence, more demanding and sure kisses followed as he gently caught your bottom lip between his teeth finally pulling away and giving you the time to breathe. “Wow.” He scratched the back of his head as he looked at you shyly. “I can't offer much but we could at least be happy.” He shrugged. “I like the sound of that,” You rested your forehead against his as he looked up at you “I like the sound of that.”

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