#constantly waiting for the drones to attack thinking the next one will be their last

[cringefail-clown]

dirkkat has been consuming me for the past few days i cannot stop thinking about the potential of this ship istg

[latte-fairytaekwoon]

Ateez: They Think You Forgot Their Birthday

Kim Hongjoong:

As his big day was fast approaching, Hongjoong couldn't help but think about how you were going to surprise him this year. For weeks, he had been dropping subtle and not so subtle hints about what he wanted. But it seemed to always fall on deaf ears, almost like you had no idea what he was referring to, or changing the topic completely. When the day arrived, there was no happy birthday text, no note on his dresser, nothing to indicate that you wanted him somewhere.

Genuinely upset, he went straight to the studio, hoping to release his sadness through music. Upon arriving though, there was a yellow box with a red ribbon sitting on the couch. He inspected it closely and with curiosity, he opened it up. His eyes widened as he saw a brand new laptop and other components he needed to better his producing skills.

"You didn't think I'd actually forget right?"

Your voice startled him, but he quickly composed himself and pulled you into a hug.

"Oh my God baby! Thank you so much! It was exactly what I needed!" He began peppering kisses all over your face, super elated with the fact you do care about him and pay attention to him.

"I know. You aren't very subtle." You chuckled at him.

"So is this all?" Hongjoong asked.

You shook your head. "Just part of it. I wanted to take you out to brunch for a while, just until the guys give me the signal to bring you to your surprise party."

"It's not a surprise if you just told me." He pointed out.

"Well pretend to be surprised when we get there. We can't have you having a heart attack like last year."

You both started laughing at the memory of last year's fiasco before linking hands together, walking to your favorite restaurant.

Park Seonghwa:

You usually had a tendency to ask him weeks before his birthday if there was anything in particular he wanted or needed. But this year, you didn't. Although he found it odd, he didn't think too much of it. You probably were planning something elaborate and didn't want to spoil anything. It only made him more excited, often thinking about what you were planning.

But the day came, and when he called you, you didn't pick up. When he texted you, you gave a vague reply that you'd be busy for the entire day. His heart sank. How could you forget about his birthday? He spent more time in bed than he usually did, sighing loudly. When he finally got himself up, it was well past 11 a.m. His day got worse when he looked at the mess left by the 99 liners antics last night.

"Happy birthday to me." He said sarcastically to himself as he went to start cleaning up.

Before he could even get his roller, he was stopped by screeches.

"Hyung! What are you doing? You're the birthday boy!" Jongho took the roller away.

"You're not lifting a finger today. We'll clean up here. You already have plans." San chipped in as he started picking things up.

"I do?" Seonghwa asked, utterly confused.

"You do birthday boy." You said, walking in with a couple bags and set them on the table.

"Y/N.... I.." He couldn't get the words out.

"I know. You thought I forgot. Sorry. I just really wanted to surprise you." You explained.

You wrapped your arms around him, giving him a light peck on his lips.

He smiled, happy to know you didn't forget about him. And couldn't wait to see what you had in store.

Jeong Yunho:

He was always like a kid on Christmas, pestering you about what you were gonna get him, or if you were planning a party for him. He just couldn't contain his excitement. He toned it down after you dumped a bucket of cold water on him a few days before his birthday.

"Gift? Why would I get you a gift?" You asked him very seriously.

He was completely taken aback by your answer.

"Y-you know why .... don't you?" The worry could be heard by his tone.

"No I don't. Care to enlighten me?"

But he simply laughed nervously, telling you not to worry about it, that he was just playing with you. He was hurt though. For the next days, he moped around like a lost puppy, wondering how could you actually forget. He tried to not stay upset with you. You had been working a lot more these days, no doubt you were stressed and just forgot. It wasn't your fault. Still......

When the day came, his members gave him a jolly wake up, which did cheer him up a little, but you weren't there, so he was still sad. Throughout breakfast, even Seonghwa and Hongjoong looked agitated, glancing back and forth at their phones like they're waiting for something. That something did come, in the form of you bursting into the dorms.

"Sorry I'm late! There was something keeping me but I'm here!" You sounded out of breath.

"About damn time! He was about to cry." Hongjoong said.

You walked over to Yunho, cupping his cheeks in your hands.

"Did you think I forgot?" You asked him, to which he nodded, a sad pout on his lips.

Kissing his forehead, you smiled. "Never. I could never forget about my cutie pie."

A series of gags and cringing ensued from the rest of the boys.

"So what did keep you anyway?" Yunho asked, hoping it was his present.

An excited smile formed on your face, before you went back to the hallway, disappearing then reappearing with a box. You carefully set it down and opened it, revealing a fluffy and adorable puppy, much to Yunho's happiness and Seonghwa's horror.

"Oh my God! It's so cute! I love it! We're officially parents!" He ran to pick the pooch up and give you a loving kiss.

"I swear to God, I'm not cleaning up after it." Seonghwa warned.

Kang Yeosang:

He tried to pretend like he wasn't looking forward to your gift for his birthday, but the truth was he was super excited. He just liked to play it cool. However, you had been a little distant lately, working extra hours at work, hardly even having time to talk to him. Heck, sometimes you barely replied to his messages. He felt neglected and upset.

"Fine. I see how it is."

He then started giving you the cold shoulder as well, the silent treatment. Call him petty, but it wasn't fair that you're being like this on the week of his birthday, when it's supposed to be a happy occasion. Sometimes he even snapped at the members for little things, even though they weren't the problem.

When the day finally arrived, he was grumpy as hell. He refused anything the others offered him and was overall very moody. When you arrived, he didn't even look at you, refusing to acknowledge you like you did him.

"Ok, what's going on. It's your birthday, why are you like this?" You finally asked.

Sighing, he finally poured what was in his heart. He felt neglected, like you didn't care, like you forgot about his special day on purpose. You calmly listened to him before sitting next to him.

"I'm sorry you felt that way. It really wasn't like that. I was working extra hours because I got you this."

You pulled up the bag you were carrying and handed it to him. He grudgingly opened it and gasped when he realized it was the new drone model he had been eyeing for a while.

"Y-you got this. ...f-for me?" He couldn't believe it.

"Duh. You're an expensive person to shop for." You rolled your eyes.

He suddenly felt guilty. Putting the drone down, he hugged you tightly, whispering an apology for being an asshole to you. You told him it was ok and then ordered him to change out of his pajamas.

"Why?" Yeosang asked.

"We're going to get you your favorite fried chicken. " You answered.

"Assa! This day just got even better!"

Choi San:

San had a tendency of always finding out when you were planning a surprise for him. Whether it'd be that he accidentally overheard you, one of the boys accidentally said something, or he went out of his way to figure it out himself, he always knew. Therefore, you were extra cautious this year, you definitely wanted to surprise him. Even if that meant feigning ignorance that his birthday was coming up.

So whenever he subtly mentioned anything about it, you quickly shrugged it off, changing the topic. You even made the other boys swear themselves to secrecy and also pretend like they didn't know what you were planning. At that point, San became a sulky baby. How on earth could his s/o forget an important day?

When the day arrived, he was anything but happy. Not only did you not spend the night before, but there was no reply to his 'good morning' text. To top it off, the boys told him they got called into the company. He was on the verge of crying. This day could not get worse.

And it didn't. As soon as he stepped foot into the practice room, balloons and confetti were being thrown by you and the KQ staff. For the first time, San was genuinely surprised by the party.

"Happy birthday baby." You greeted him with a hug and kiss.

He actually teared up, explaining how he thought you forgot about him. You shook your head, explaining why you did what you did, and he completely understood.

"I promise I won't ever pull something like that again." You held up your pinkie, which he connected with his own.

"And I promise I won't be nosy next year." San promised.

"Good. Do you know how hard it is to keep a secret?" Wooyoung exclaimed, causing everyone to laugh.

Song Mingi:

It was extremely hard to keep Mingi's surprise hidden. He was clingy, not in a bad way, and loved to spend any free time he had with you. So keeping it a secret from him was extremely hard. That's where Yeosang came in. He hardly spoke at all, so he was the perfect one to help you with this sort of thing. Of course, that involved a lot of meetings and encrypted messages between you two.

Mingi noticed both of your odd behaviors and it kinda worried him. Then you seemed to have forgotten about his coming birthday and that's when he started panicking. You and Yeosang are hanging around each other a lot and you completely forgot about his birthday? That could only mean one thing: you two were probably meeting up behind his back. It honestly hurt him to think that.

The thoughts constantly bothered him, that even he forgot about his birthday and on the actual day, he secretly followed you to some fancy restaurant. No one was there except you.... and Yeosang! He fumed at seeing you two together, marching right up to you two, demanding to know what was going on. You and Yeosang just looked at each other.

"You tell him. This was your idea in the first place." Yeosang said.

"It takes two to tango buddy! You're not exactly innocent either! What kind of a friend are you, taking away my girl/boyfriend?!" Mingi was ready to throw hands.

That's when you and Yeosang asked him what the hell he was talking about. When you heard his suspicions, both of you couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Honey, don't you remember what day it is?" You simply asked.

Mingi realized it was his birthday and he was able to put 2 and 2 together and realized, you guys were just planning a surprise for him. He felt really stupid for assuming such things, but you told him it was fine and decided to call the other boys over.

"It didn't go exactly as planned, but I hope you like it."

Mingi hugged you with a smile. "Trust me, I know I'll love it."

Jung Wooyoung:

Wooyoung always got excited when the month of his birthday came around. Cause you were always planning something that topped the last one. He often wondered if you would ever run out of ideas. You've done practically everything, how were you going to surprise him this year?

He was definitely surprised when you seemed to have no clue about why he'd be so happy about this month.

"I mean what's so great about it? It's cold and muddy, and it has been raining so much lately. It's gross." You told him one day.

Wooyoung just stayed quiet for once. He seriously couldn't believe you forgot what was coming up very soon. He pretended like he was fine though. He was not going to get upset over the fact you may have forgotten, but in reality, he was very sad. This may turn out to be the saddest birthday he'd ever have, because his s/o didn't remember the most basic thing about him.

However, the day came and he was shocked to see the huge party you organized for him. He was left speechless for the 2nd time in a week. But he was happy to know you didn't actually forget. You were just being extra secretive this time.

"Did you really believe I forgot?" You teased, knowing fully well that he was upset.

Wooyoung only scoffed and tried to play it off. "Pfft. No. What makes you think that?"

"You're a bad liar Jung Wooyoung." You poked his nose in a teasing manner.

"Come on! I'm the birthday boy! Can you tone down the teasing?" He pouted.

You kissed his cheek. "Fine, only cause I love you."

"But probably not as much as I love you." He winked.

Choi Jongho:

Honestly, Jongho never really needed an elaborate gift or party for his birthday. Just getting the day off and spending time with you uninterrupted was all he could ask for. So both of you often took the day off from your respective work places, giving a notice ahead of time to make sure they'd give it to you.

He was confused when you told him though that you'd be flying out that exact day on a business trip. When he asked you why did you agree, you responded that since you had nothing to do on that day, you of course had to go. He was shocked at your words. Did you really forget and you won't be here with him? He didn't say anything though, just wishing you good luck and that you'd stay safe on your trip.

He woke up feeling miserable. He wasn't going to be able to spend the day with you and that made him sad. He didn't want to even get out of bed. But soon, his Hyungs pulled him out, packing his belongings and making him look presentable. He asked them why they'd do this.

"You need to meet Y/N at the airport." Mingi answered.

"They left yesterday." Jongho refuted his statement.

"Nope. You're wrong. They're waiting for you so you two can fly out on a birthday vacation for you for a week." Mingi explained .

Jongho's eyes nearly burst out of their sockets when he heard that information.

"You didn't seriously think they forgot?" Mingi chuckled.

Jongho covered his embarrassed face. Of course you couldn't forget. He quickly got ready, wanting nothing more than to see you soon.

Gifs not mine. Credit goes to their respective owners.

[sisterofleatherfrog]

The Silence Brings Me Home

Hey! This is my first fanfic so I hope you all enjoy it! I was inspired by an illustration I saw of Crosshair sobbing and holding Lula for comfort (which I cannot find for the life of me, if I do eventually I’ll link it). I meant to get his done before ep. 11 Devil’s Deal (and especially before this week’s) because we still didn’t know what Cross looked like at that point, but I’m slow and here we are. There is some fanart I did at the end, I’ve only recently gotten back into drawing after a long time, so it might be a little rough sorry!

Summary: The Batch get Crosshair back, but what he has, and almost done haunts him. Comfort is given in the simplest of ways: by being presen for the healing.

Warnings: Mention of blood/injury, killing/murder. Heavy angst with comfort. Self loathing ideation.The beginnings of a family healing together from trauma.

Word Count: 2188

It was as close as it got to silent within the Havoc Marauder. The ship always faintly hummed as it cruised through space; the engines and various systems constantly working away in the background via a complicated web of technology and wiring, maintained by the Batch’s resident genius. Rumors were, if someone listened close enough as a ship passed through hyperspace, they could faintly hear the sound of the decillions of particles out there passing around the ship. Something like sand blasting the outside of the hull, but with a bell-like, ringing, song. It was that sort of silence that found all six of the inhabitants within the Marauder.

Tech, the aforementioned genius, was nursing a new goose egg on his forehead with a cold compress while attempting to repair a hairline fracture in one of his goggles lenses. Echo sat across from him helping to guide the nearly blind man in his endeavour. Besides a myriad of small cuts and new bruises, Echo’s left leg lay detached and balanced on his lap, waiting for attention from Tech for a recently smoking blaster hole through the calf. Laying in his bunk, Wrecker was also nursing a new blaster wound: the bolt having ripped through his armour and taken a chunk out of his right bicep. He lay quietly, making sure to stay off his wound so the bacta could do its work and trying to process the events of the day. Remembering the adrenaline and the genuine moment of fear he’d had, but smiling nonetheless. Foreword in the front of the ship, Hunter sat quietly, his face kriffing hurting, his nose having to have been reset after being knocked out of joint. He’d definitely taken a beating, he’d be feeling everything that currently hurt fivefold tomorrow, but the wounds could have been worse. Everything could have been much worse. What could have been was an ache that never faded and a silence that was never filled. 

Hunter’s gaze slid to the seat beside him, looking at the small girl that had so quickly become a priority in his life. Omega was curled up on the seat, her arms and legs tightly squeezing Lula to her body while her eyes peaked over her knees to watch the blue of hyperspace. She had thankfully missed all the action this time, safely tucked away within the ship by a promise Hunter had made her swear. He looked over at her, thankful she and his vode were all together here, alive, and relatively in one piece. Still needing something to comfort him though, he reached over and ruffled Omega’s short blonde hair. Her eyes, brown like his, slid over to look at him and he could see a small smile curling at the edges of her mouth. She’d been incredibly worried at the state her family had been at their return, seeing them beaten, bloody, bruised, and punctured wasn’t something a kid should ever be exposed to. They were alive though, and…

Hunter turned his head a little, gazing into the back of the ship where, almost hidden in the furthest recess of the bunks, he could see a pair of long, thin legs encased in black armour. Omega followed Hunter’s gaze and that smile wavered some as nervousness played over her face. She was happy her family was alive and she was happy that her fathers’ brother had been brought back, but the fear of all that time being hunted lingered like a dark cloud on the horizon in her mind. Omega knew it wasn’t Crosshair’s fault. The chip wasn’t something that the host could reason with; locking them far away in the back of their own minds. From the little she could get from what she’d heard, he could be mean, but wasn’t inherently malicious. Everything he’d done in his hunt for them under the Empire was a stripped version of himself- the man was gone but the shrewd soldier remained.

…

Waking up in that dingy medbay was one of the most disorientating moments of Crosshair’s life. He was… a man again, something that thought independently from orders given. But good soldiers follow orders. He wasn’t a drone though. But you are a soldier... Yes, he was, but something else guided him, rather than his superiors he’d always looked elsewhere- 

“He’s awake!” The call came from nearby, as did the sound of several pairs of feet rushing in. He knew that voice, but reacted on instinct to the people closing in and jerked his head up, ready to defend, no, attack- Hunter was there, the closest, he was one of his targets-

...So follow through.

No!

Revulsion rose so strongly within himself that everything in his mind that wasn’t his own shrank back like frightened animals, leaving him gasping with an acrid taste in the back of his mouth and a feeling of bile rising in his chest. Pitching sideways he landed gracelessly twisted on the metal floor and began heaving, unable to tell if anything came up at all; not able to remember when the last time he ate was, only feeling a burning in his stomach. Hands gently touched his back but he jerked violently, seeking to remove that touch even if it wasn’t a punishment. When was the last time he’d been given that understanding? When had somebody last cared that his body needed tenderness? It felt unnatural to him now, no longer familiar, and painful.

Voices filtered through as the haze of sickness cleared: “...scans indicate the procedure was a complete success and that he should recover the same as us. Crosshair’s reaction is due to something else entirely.” Tech, he’d know that voice always rattling away with statistics and diagnostics. He’d almost silenced it forever with a single shot- how long ago was that? How long had it been since the ion engine had left him broken and the Kaminoans had pieced him back together, fit him with an eye that didn’t quite measure up to his shooting one and left him always a little off balance? 

“Crosshair? Vod?” Hunter now, “Are you with us?” Crosshair felt him kneel next to him and could see his concerned face in his peripheral vision now that his initial haze had begun to fade. 

He considered himself for a moment now that the remains of whatever had been in his head were gone. “Yes, I’m here.” Physically, but everything felt so strange. He could hear Wrecker roaring something nearby, probably his loud approximation of a greeting, but he made no move to meet it, didn’t (couldn’t) move himself to. At this, Hunter motioned for him and the others to back off a little before speaking again. “That’s good, we finally caught you and your inhibitor chip is gone now. You’re going to be fine, we’ve got you.” Fine? After everything Crosshair really didn’t think so.

…

Despite the best possible outcome the Batch made their way back to the Marauder, from another downed Jedi cruiser they’d managed to locate thanks to Rex, in an unwieldy silence. Back on the ship they all finally began to address their variety of wounds, and Crosshair, seeing this, froze. This was all him. This was his fault. He had hurt his vod, brought them pain, tried to kill them. He felt sick again, felt as if he was dropping out of his body while his heart constricted painfully and began to race in a clumsy gallop. Crosshair stayed where he was in the back of the ship and sat while somebody got it under way, finally feeling the vague reeling in his gut from entering hyperspace. 

It was quiet, nobody made a move to approach him yet. He didn’t know if he even wanted one of them to get close. Everything felt so wrong. He was wrong. What he’d done, betrayed and tried to murder his family, all because of an order?! Him, who flicked his toothpicks at commanders and belonged with a group of defective clones, couldn’t defy an order. Kriff him. One simple pull of a trigger and it could have been any one of them. If he hadn't missed, it could have been Tech’s brain matter splattered over the hull of a downed starship. His vod who was so much like an over-eagre younger sibling. Or Wrecker, who Crosshair had teased and soothed in equal measures in his life. Or Echo who, even though he wasn’t modified like the Batch, could never be normal again and Crosshair had learned to respect him as a brother. And Hunter… he couldn’t think it, couldn’t parse a world where he was dead, where he had been responsible for his death. 

Kriff him. How did he- how did he go on alongside his brothers when he’d almost done that? When he’d always be haunted by the pitiless voice in his head (his own, that had ordered the death of innocents) that had repeated his mission as a mantra. He could scrub his skin forever with the harsh scourer he used to clean his armour, but this isn’t something he could wash away. Whether it be in the new scars that had accumulated on their bodies, or the cybernetic eye that now greets him in the mirror, there would be no losing this. No taking it back or making it better. He couldn’t- he should-

A black mass came into his sight and he jumped. Lula was being offered to him in two small hands. The girl, what was her name again? She’d spoken to him when they were all in the cell on Kamino together (the last time they were all together where he wasn’t trying to kill the rest of them). She’d told him it wasn’t his fault, had she known what was working against him in his head? It didn’t matter now. The girl-Omega, that was her name- watched him partially hidden behind the tooka doll with the eyes of his brothers. 

“Here” She said, her kaminoan accent still strong after all the time she’d been running, “Wrecka’ lets me borrow her when I’m upset, I don’t think he’ll mind if you do too.” 

Crosshair looked at the old, scuffed doll and noticed a stitch in grey forming a cuff on it’s left arm. It had been a dumb scuffle over his and Wreckers continual rivalry and it had ended up with Lula getting the worst of it. He’d stayed up all night trying to make his stitches even and neat, not wanting to ruin the doll. He touched those stitches, gently tracing the line they made before gently grasping it and curling forward, needing to wrap the aching sore that was himself around something. Omega slipped onto the seat next to him and leaned into his left, he wanted to flinch away but something about this gave him... grace. He’d ordered the men under him to aim for her fragile little body and yet here she was offering him comfort through it’s support.

What comfort did he deserve though? What did he deserve indeed. Crosshair gazed unseeingly at the floor, trying to piece the parts of him left scattered in a thousand memories together to once again become the man he was before all this. He startled again when another body suddenly pressed itself into his right side. He turned, a masque of death greeted him, etched into a face permanently carved stern, but the eyes- Hunter’s eyes reminded him of the rail-thin cadet he used to be, not built to fight off any clones who wanted to get a piece of him on his own. He wasn’t alone back then though, three other boys were always there to back him up, and they would patch each other’s wounds together in their quarters afterwards. Hunter, their de-facto leader, was always worried about the hits they’d taken, not relaxing until every bump was seen to and bandaged. It was that look again, that same look that said: ‘I’m staying right here until I know my brothers are going to be fine.’

Some more shuffling in the ship Tech and Echo came into view, the latter still short a leg and being supported over to sit across from him. They didn’t say anything, but Tech came and sat in front of Omega on the floor, letting himself rest against Crosshair’s legs. Echo didn’t move to touch him, but remained in his presence just the same and gently smiled, his posture relaxing to lean against the wall of the berth. Just visible from behind a corner, Wrecker gingerly turned over with his injury, meeting Crosshair’s gaze with a smile already there for him. His injury prevented him from rising, but he extended a large hand towards him from his bunk. He was too far to physically reach him, but the gesture translated anyway: ‘I’m here brother, I missed you, I was worried.’ 

The Marauder sang through hyperspace; no words were spoken by anyone aboard for a long time. But this silence was familiar, and even though he felt a long way from having earned it, Crosshair could understand it perfectly: ‘Welcome home.’

Here’s Crosshair as in the story, I thought it would be really cool if he and Wrecker had matching cybernetic eyes. I gave him his ep. 11 haircut though because it’s cool.

[imagine-loki]

Blushing in His Colours, Chapter 25

TITLE: Blushing in His Colours CHAPTER NO./ONE SHOT: Chapter 25 AUTHOR: fanficshiddles ORIGINAL IMAGINE: Imagine Loki being a Daddy Dom, his adores and loves his little, worships the ground she walks on. She has vaginismus, but he couldn’t be more supportive with her. RATING: M

While Loki and Mia had been enjoying their vacation, the drone footage had been constantly all over the news, reporters always saying the biggest question was where was he now? Was he a threat to Earth? Who was the mortal he saved?

Loki made sure if they had the TV on it was never on a news channel. He didn’t want to freak Mia out. Though he had a feeling she would be alright with it, he still didn’t want to chance it.

The Avengers were still working hard and trying to deal with the World Security Council.

‘Where is he now?’ The head councillor asked.

Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘He’s back on Asgard for now, until we get this mess sorted.’

‘Who is the mortal he saved?’

‘His girlfriend, Mia. She works for us, she deals with our social media. And before you ask, she’s gone to Asgard with him until he can return. They’re inseparable.’

‘Why was she at a Hydra base?’ Was the next question fired at him.

‘She was out with Natasha and Wanda, they were attacked. And Hydra managed to get away with Mia while the other two were knocked out. They came back here to get help, but Loki wasn’t willing to wait. I believe he really loves her, and I don’t blame him for going to rescue her. Not wanting to risk anything with her safety, so he just unleashed his powers to get it over with as quickly as possible. Can’t blame a man, a God, for wanting to keep his girl safe.’ Fury said.

The councillor said nothing for a moment, thinking.

‘We want to speak to Loki himself when he returns. We need a few days to discuss this, then we want a meeting with him.’

‘Of course.’ Fury nodded. ‘Give him a chance though, I really think he will be good for the team. He has been already, he’s been here for a while now and helped us on many missions. We all trust him. If he was going to do harm to Earth, I think he would have already done so by now.’

‘We will speak to you again soon, Director Fury.’ The councillor said in a rather clipped tone. The screens were then cut off.

Fury sat down with a sigh and ran his hand down his face. He had no idea if that went well or not. It had taken him long enough to get to speak to the head of the World Security Council. And it was over in a flash.

He just hoped that when they spoke to Loki it would go ok.

-

Loki’s invention of his squirting dildo came into play for a few scenes over the following days on the island.

Mia had always wanted to just be taken and ravished forcefully. So Loki set her up first by putting her dilator in, with plenty of lube, and had her put her knickers on to help keep it in. He had her clean some dishes and to just… do whatever she would normally be doing.

After a while of mooching around, she actually forgot that Loki had been planning something. Even with her dilator in.

But when he magically appeared out of thin air, a wicked look in his eye, she felt a rush of adrenaline and screamed as she ran off through the villa. Loki chased after her, growling. ‘You cannot out run me, pet.’

He grabbed hold of her in the living room and forced her over the arm of the sofa. Flipping up her dress, he gave her bum a smack. ‘Well, what do we have here?’ He growled.

She gasped and tried to fight back, trying to get away. But Loki grabbed hold of her wrists and hauled them behind her. Using the bangles, he had them attach together so her hands were trapped. Then he tore off her knickers and ran his fingers along her cunt.

‘Hmmm, seems you’ve been waiting for someone to come in here and ravish you.’ He nipped at her earlobe as he spoke, making her shiver. ‘You’re absolutely dripping wet.’

Pulling the dilator out, he quickly replaced it with the dildo. The roughness of it all was setting every inch of her body alight, there was very little resistance with the dildo. The dilator having done its job of keeping her open enough to get the job done.

Loki pressed his body against her back, crushing her hands between them, he used more of his tricks to have the dildo move itself and the same with the syringe. So he had his hands free.

He wrapped them around her and put one hand around her neck, not any pressure though, just keeping it there. And as he moved his hips against her, she could feel his erection grinding against her bum through his trousers. But she noticed with each thrust of his hips, the dildo thrust into her in tune.

‘Oh my god!’ She cried out as Loki and the dildo fucked her from behind over the sofa.

She couldn’t believe how real it felt, well, almost. But with Loki snarling and growling in her ear like a wild animal, feeling the dildo thrusting into her in time with Loki’s body moving behind her, it was no wonder she couldn’t last long as she came over the dildo.

Loki bucked his hips against her and he came in his trousers, at the same time he made the syringe shoot the sperm into her with the same efficiency of his own orgasm.

Her eyes rolled back in her head as she was filled with his cum. His hand around her neck gave a very light squeeze as he bit down on her shoulder and sucked, making sure it would leave a mark. ‘You belong to me now, pet. Every inch of you.’

Mia could only whimper in response as she felt like she had died and gone to heaven.

-

It had been about a month and a half in total that Loki and Mia were on the island. They’d loved every single second of it, just the two of them. Really getting to know one another even more, including on an intimate level.

Mia was able to take the next biggest dilator too by the end of it. And the revelation of using the squirting dildo was the best thing ever.

But they were called back to the Avengers base. It was time to return.

Loki wasn’t going to admit to Mia that he was nervous, he didn’t want her to worry. But he was nervous. He had no idea what returning would entail. What they had decided on.

But one thing he did know, was that he had Mia’s support and she would go wherever he went.

[mythrilhusk]

Despite Everything - Chapter 3

NOT RPF Featured Relationship (Only SFW): Puffy/Niki

(Ao3 Link) Words: 1,759 Last Chapter CW: violence, coercion

Next Chapter

Niki arrives home to her apartment after a harrowing day of working in a field where all her male coworkers talk over her constantly, barely notice her when she offers ideas, and then promptly take credit for said ideas. Sometimes she hates men as a whole concept. 

She collapses onto her favorite beanbag and flicks on a show. Puffy sings in the shower, oblivious to Niki's arrival. Smiling, Niki hums along and relaxes to the tune. 

Puffy emerges from the bathroom dripping wet and covered in a towel. She waves to Niki and retreats to the bedroom to change into her comfy jeans and the hoodie she stole from Niki. "I ordered takeout, there should be some left on the table!" 

"Thanks, babe, you're amazing." Niki laughs and gets up, going to the kitchen. 

Puffy's scroll lays innocuously on the table, open and blinking with seventy new messages. Niki avoids looking at it, not wanting to invade her girlfriend's privacy, and picks up a plate of pizza. "Puffy, you're pretty popular today!" 

"Oh? Can you read them real quick and tell me what they say?" 

Niki blushes. "Sure." She picks up the scroll awkwardly and taps through the apps to get to the messages. "Uh, it's all your superhero shit, Puffy, I don't know what any of this means." 

"Really? I told them to call the other one if they need me... oh, it's dead again, dammit." Puffy storms to the kitchen with lightning in her smile. "Thanks, Niki, I'll take it." She skims through the pile of increasingly desperate calls for help. "Ugh, I'm sorry, babe, I have to go. Sam got in trouble with the law again. Eret's good, but he's no lawyer." 

"Don't you have a legal representative?" 

"Niki, I've told you, we're not backed by anybody. We're on our own. The officials see us as vigilantes, and yeah, that's kinda what we are." 

The fact finally sinks in. "Ohhh!" Niki laughs with relief. "So your battles aren't staged?" 

"No, babe. Real battles." Puffy grabs a slice of pizza. "I gotta go bail Sam out again, sorry." 

"Let me come with." Niki decides. "I won't help you fight, but I'm a paralegal. I can help you with the officials." 

"Really?" Puffy stares at her with stars in her eyes. "You'd do that for us?" 

"For you, yes." Niki says firmly. 

"Thank you, you will not regret this." Puffy stuffs the pizza in her mouth and grabs Niki's free hand. 

Down at the city's holding facilities, Niki strides straight to the front desk. "I'm here to legally represent Awesamdude." She slams down her identification. "And this is Sam's employer, Puffy." 

The bastard in a suit behind the desk gives Niki a bored, dismissive glance. "No visitors allowed." He drones. His nametag marks him as Sapnap.

"Sam has a right to legal counsel. I am here to provide that." Niki snaps. "Let us see him." 

"What are you two, his sisters?" Sapnap laughs. "Run along. You'll see him again in five years or so." 

Niki smiles sweetly at the guard, hiding her anger. Sam hasn't been convicted of anything yet, but the officials can legally postpone the trial and keep him captive for up to five years. "You wouldn't want to piss off the Nemesis corporate heads, would you?" 

"Nemesis?? Haven't heard of'em." He shrugs. "You got anything to back that up?" 

"Puffy?" Niki gestures her girlfriend forward with the bribe. "Sir Sapnap, we'd like to see our employee and make sure he hasn't been harmed. We at Nemesis take utmost pride in our marketing team." 

"Oh?" Sapnap leans forward as Puffy transfers several thousand bullion credits to his account. "Ohh. That's an admirable missions statement, ladies. I'll see what we can do." 

"We are going to visit Sam, now." 

"Yep, he's back there." Sapnap waves them along. "I'll send the code to unlock his cell, but I'll need a bit more, uh, compensation for the paperwork to release him." 

"Of course. We will take care of that in a few days. He could use a bit of discipline for allowing himself to be caught in the first place." Niki shushes Puffy's shocked little protest. "Good day, Sapnap." 

Leading Puffy back towards the holding cells, Niki waits to speak again until she's out of ear-shot. "I'm sorry, Puffy, but we had to make it seem as though he's just an errant employee."

"It's fine, I was just startled. You're so cold in your business mode." Puffy laughs lightly. 

Niki blushes. "I have to be, or nobody will take me seriously." 

Puffy bumps her shoulder. "I take you seriously." 

"You do. Thanks, babe." Niki bumps Puffy back. 

Puffy gasps and rushes to one of the cells. "Sam!!" She cries. "What the hell did they do to you??" 

The man in the cell smiles weakly, his lips and cheeks bruised, his clothes torn and muddy with blood and grime. "Hey, Puffy." He coughs. "I got in trouble." 

"I see that, but how??" 

"I shouldn't have gone after them alone." Sam groans and struggles to sit up. "I thought I could take them, but they were too strong, Puffy, they were too strong for me." 

"Who??" Puffy snarls, vengeful fire blazing in her eyes. 

"Pax Triumvirs." 

"Damn Angels." Puffy growls. "How dare they?? I oughta whoop their asses!" 

"It's fair, Puffy, I attacked them first." Sam laughs haltingly. 

"They didn't have to beat you up so badly!!" Puffy cries. "Now we have to hire a healer!" 

"I'm right here, Puffy." Niki crosses her arms. 

"You said you didn't want to get involved. Let me respect that, babe." 

"I am already involved. I just invented an entire corporation for you." Shrugging, Niki opens the cell. "Let me do this." 

"Darn, does this mean I have to actually pay my team now?" Puffy laughs. 

"Probably, yes." Niki kneels by Sam and places her hands over his chest. "This will hurt a lot." 

She activates her magic and pours the healing fire out into his body. Sam gasps, gritting his teeth to hold back a yell. His head lolls back as he faints, but his wounds are all healed. 

Niki rises and leaves the cell. Puffy stares at Sam's prone body, tears welling in her eyes. "Is he okay?" 

"He'll be fine when he wakes up." Niki responds. "Let him sleep for now. Healing takes a lot of energy." 

"Are you good?" Puffy turns to Niki. "You aren't going to collapse too, are you?" 

"No, I'm good." Niki smiles reassuringly. "Just thirsty." 

"Can I buy you a drink?" She says it like she's trying to flirt, but she's too worried to commit to a teasing tone. 

"Sure." Niki takes Puffy's hand and leads her out of the facility, waving to Sapnap on the way out. 

In a small indie bar, Niki and Puffy sit together in a corner booth. Puffy sighs over her bloody vodka. "Sam should know better than to mess with Angels."

"Is he a Spirit too?" 

"Spirit of Dark, yeah. His boyfriend disappeared a year ago, and he's been recklessly hunting for him ever since. I don't know what I can do to keep him safe." Puffy takes a gulp of her drink. 

"Who else do you work with?" 

"Hmm. There's Jack, Spirit of Light. Oh yeah, he told you already. You just met Sam. Then there's Eret, who's Ice, and Foolish, who's Life." Puffy grins and shrugs. "And then there's me, the hot one."

"What are Angels?" 

"They're like Patrons. You know how Patrons are aligned with a type of creature or being, yeah? Angels are aligned with a concept or ideal, and they're each chosen by a god, which gives them extra power. The one downside is they're always in their fae forms." 

Niki stares at Puffy, slightly confused by some of the words coming from her girlfriend's mouth. "Gods aren't real." She finally manages to giggle. 

"Niki, where the hell do you think our magic comes from?? Thin air??" Puffy cries. "Gods are probably the realest thing about this crazy world we're living in." 

"Okay, okay. But what's a fae form?" Niki raises her hands with a placating smile. 

"All us magic folk can transform to use more of our power." Puffy explains. "It usually takes a lot of focus and willpower to stay in your fae form for very long, so nobody ever does it for staged battles, but most of us Spirits can shift easily on command." 

"Why would staying in your fae form be a downside, then?"

Puffy laughs. "Most Angels' forms are absolutely terrifying, Niki, unless they're under a glamour. None of us can take one Angel alone, much less three like Sam tried to do!" 

"Huh. How'd they become Angels?"

"Generally? They break." Puffy spins her cup in her hand, then gulps it down. "They break, they die, a god chooses them, and voila, new Angel. Then they owe the god their life, so they're bound to serve. Probably some Angels pledge voluntarily, but most are broken and pieced back together. Like kintsugi." 

"Oh. That does not sound pleasant." 

"I mean, that's life, y'know." Puffy takes another fatalistic swig.  "Us Spirits, we've at least got a choice to fight or not."  

++++

Sapnap looks up as someone enters the holding facility past visitation hours. "Hey, you're not supposed- agh-" He chokes as an unseen power slams him against the wall. 

"Where is Awesamdude?" The Lucid Spider's mandibles click and chirrup as the low, mockingly gentle voice permeates the air with menace. 

"In- in cell eight!" Sapnap gasps. "Sir, please!" 

"You never came for me." 

"I couldn't, I couldn't find you, I'm sorry!" Sapnap pleads. The Lucid Spider drops him. He rubs his throat, gulping. "My pledge never expired, Dream. I live to serve you."

"Where are the others?" 

"We lost- we lost Quackity. Bad turned against us. But George and Karl are still loyal to you, sir." 

Dream shifts down to a humanoid form, his holographic vectors of neon green containing the death-white Wurm inside. His camo-shields activate to hide the painful neon behind drab black armor. "Take me to Sam." 

"Yes, sir." Sapnap hastily goes back to the cells, trembling with confusion and terror of his lord's sudden return to life. 

Sam glares at Dream and Sapnap as they approach. "You." He growls. 

"Me." Dream laughs. "Hello, Sam. I'm going to give you one last chance, old friend. Are you going to be smart like Sapnap here, or should I kill you last after I rip your precious team to shreds?"

Sam drops his head meekly. "I'm yours to command, my lord." 

Next Chapter

[asagi-s-garden]

It’s time for Dumb Headcanons-

For whatever reason, Kara is the one to carry her and Lena’s first born child, she can’t just vanish for almost a year without saying anything though, I mean what kind of hero would do that?

So she makes a public announcement right after officially finding out that she’s pregnant that she’s “going away for a few months on a personal journey”

Now the thing is, Lena knows her wife, she knows her very well, and she knows that her watching from the sidelines as Alex and the others keep the city safe is going to be incredibly painfull for her, so she decides to take Kara on a vacation for the first few months of pregnancy

Once they get around the second trimester they’re going to have to go into seclusion in a special fortress that Clark and Kate built for her that’s like half Fortress Of Solitude and half Batcave that’s structured to both keep enemies out, and keep Kara in, because they know their girl as well as Lena does (Alex tunes in from skype from time to time to tell them what they’ve done wrong specifically because she knows how crafty Kara is and is just “mmm nope you see that little crack in that wall right there? Yeah she could get through that, I don’t know how, but she could”) Ofcourse freinds and family are welcome to visit because it’d just be cruel otherwise but anyway

Lena knows Kara, she knows that staying cooped up in one place for 5-6 months is going to be hell enough as it is, the full extent of her pregnancy would be a NIGHTMARE, but she also is a little afraid to stay in National City during the first 3-4 months because that would equally be disasterous on Kara’s mental health, seeing shit go down and not being able to help, so she decides to take them on vacation instead, to some of the most peacefull places on Earth, like the New Zealand countryside and a small town in Switzerland and a tiny island that she may possibly own, it seems like a solid plan to begin with, until....

Proof That Lena Luthor Is Supergirl

That’s the headline that starts popping up about four days after they leave and it’s just everywhere, conspiracy theories that Lena is Supergirl because she “vanished“ at the same time that Supergirl left

Kara thinks it’s hilarious, it’s the best laugh she’s had in a week and that’s saying something considering how much time she’s spent watching cute cat videos on the private jet

They have to cut their vacation short so Lena can go back to National City every few weeks, show her face for a few days, and then leave again

Everyone starts making it into an inside joke that they have to be very carefull not to share outside of The Circle of those in the know because otherwise something might slip, Brainy in particular thinks it’s bizarre that Kara just keeps getting more pregnant everytime she comes back and yet somehow no one has tried to pin Lena’s wife, who’s pregnant, as the superhero who has to mysteriously vanish for nine months (because against her better instincts Kara does mention at the press conference that she’ll be returning in June, wich is about nine months from when she announces her departure, somehow no one has picked up on it, until they start with the Lena theory and go “AND HER WIFE IS PREGNANT AND DUE IN JUNE, COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT-” evidently they’ve decided that Lena is leaving because Kara is pregnant, wich isn’t wrong, but still somehow off)

By the time baby Kira Zor El Luthor is born (they made the conscious decision to break from the “L” tradition in Lena’s family only to end up with the “K” tradition in Kara’s completely by accident; their second born will be named Luka and Alex is going to headdesk so hard she bruises) half of National City has started to believe that Lena is Supergirl, somehow, and she and Kara- as Supergirl- have to actually appear together in public and shake hands with people to prove neither one is a hologram before anyone lets the theory die

Other less cohesive headcanons about this insanity-

-Kara insists that she take care of Kira when she wakes up in the middle of the night because to be 100% honest sleep is a luxury, not a necessity, for her- that’s not even being careless with herself, that’s just.... a legitimate fact... she doesn’t really HAVE to sleep very much as long as she’s under the yellow sun so why on earth should she deprive Lena of it???

Lena: Really, it’s ok, I’ve had a lifetime of being denied sleep so at this point I can actually function with out it :)

Kara: That.... that in absolutely no way makes me feel better...... also I have super hearing so I’ll hear her first anyway, there’s no need to wait for you to wake up..

Lena: Oh no that’s fine, I’m hypervigilant and paranoid so I’ll wake up as soon as she starts crying, no superpowers required! :)

Kara: That just makes me feel even worse?????? B-Besides I have a Kryptonian lullaby I can sing to her that works like a charm

Lena: Oh that’s so lovely, I have an old Irish lullaby my mother taught me right before she died that I can’t wait to sing to Kira as the literal only good thing that comes from my family legacy :)

Kara, near tears: ...Have I done something to you today????? ;_;

Lena: ...no?? why???

-The amount of food they go through during Kara’s pregnancy probably could have sustained a small country for atleast a month, it doesn’t seem to matter how much Lena thinks she’s stocking up ahead of time, it’s never enough and she inevitably always has to buy more the very next day, it takes the combined efforts of Barry and Kate to help keep things stocked so Lena isn’t having to constantly be leaving the Bat Fortress (it was the name Kate and Clark finally decided on and no one has the right to veto it no matter how much certain people want to) to restock, they start this Superhero Delivery Service as a Bros Being Bros type of thing, just freinds being freinds and loving their pregnant super freind so very much but after a week it turns into a ruthless competition of what, ultimately, is the better resource- speed or money, Barry has the Speed Force but Kate has every method of transportation imaginable and also drones and by the time Kira is born a rivalry has slowly simmered between them, the likes of wich goes right back to the type of “Who’s faster?” rivalry Barry has with the Supers, that probably won’t end even after they both die, Kara has mixed feelings about being the inadvertent catalyst for this but Nia thinks it’s the best thing that’s ever happened and she and Mary are placing bets

-Lena knows that Kryptonians don’t exactly have the same health issues to worry about that humans do but Kira is going to be atleast part human isn’t she? So Kara has to be willing to step up her health game wile she’s pregnant right??? Nice theory, no dice, Alex tried to warn her but Lena Luthor doesn’t lose and when she wants something she gets it................ unless that something is getting Kara to have a healthier diet, then there’s no force on any planet in any universe that can help

Lena: An apple

Kara: A dozen doughnuts

Lena: One apple

Kara:  ...Sixteen doughnuts

Lena: *gently places an apple on the table*

Kara: ....*stares intensely at the box of doughnuts, unblinking*

Lena: ....What are you doing?

Kara: I wonder if I try hard enough if I can develop telekinesis

Lena: No-

-True panic is Lena taking care of Kira at the office wile Kara is off doing the superheroing for the first time in months (nanny? nope, not in this house, the child never leaves our sight, we die like moms) and Kira starts giggling and levitates out of her bassinet wile Lena is on a conference call so her investors are met with a frantic Lena keeping her voice astoundingly level and clear wile running around the office chasing her floating baby, they mostly just get glimpses of her jacket from time to time and, if they ask, are only met with “I have a child now” and absolutely no other explanation

-For the first time since being on Earth Kara is faced with the cosmic joke that is Earth’s gravity during her late months of pregnancy because everything is wobbly and waddly and holy RAO HOW IS IT SO HARD JUST TO GET OFF OF THE FLOOR!?!?! SHE COULD FLY TWO MONTHS AGO AND NOW IT’S A MAJOR STRUGGLE TO PULL HERSELF OFF OF THE COUCH WHAT THE FUCK!?

-Kate has managed to live through four years of having actual freinds who have started to reproduce and never once has she reacted with more than marginally more interested than what she had during Crisis when Kara tried to hand Jon to her, but in those four years all of those freinds have been straight, to be fair, and there’s something a little different about seeing other lesbians with babies that’s mildly more tolerable, first it was Alex and Kelley, then it was Kara and Lena, Sophie and Mary keep cooing over the babies and Kate doesn’t really get that........ until she’s visiting Kara and an alien attacks and Kara is just “hold my baby-” and flies out the window and Kate is Stuck with a sleeping four-month-old and no ability to get to a phone without waking Kira up so she’s just kind of frozen like that for the foreseeable future and when Kara comes back Kate is laying on the couch, Kira sleeping on her chest, looking incredibly relaxed

Kate: Oh you’re back, we’ve had a lovely time

Kara: Awwwwwwwww, see? You are good with babies <3

Kate: Mmmm still going to have to disagree on that but your’s is... not... bad...

Kara: Sooooooo you’ll babysit sometime? :3

Kate: Nope, this last half hour was enough thanks

Kara: Wait until Sophie hears you lasted an entire half hour ;)

Kate: Just hold off telling her for about fifteen years or so, I don’t think we’re ready to live in a world where I can tolerate this for an entire thirty minutes yet

Kara: lol ok

Years later when she eventually ends up taking after her cousin and having a couple of orphans with her name on them she insists to Sophie that it’s Kara’s fault because “that time she made me hold her kid for half an hour did something to me I just know it”, Kara pops in one day after hearing this and just goes “You’re welcome~” before flying off again

And finally-

Kara: Lena honey I think Kira is a little too young to be getting her first suit tailored...

Lena: But she’s already a year old...???

[salty-ironstrange-shipper]

For convenience’s sake, I’ve compiled my dark ironstrange/supremefamily headcanons

----

So I love the Dark!Stephen Headcannon, do you have any Dark!Tony or maybe some Dark!Ironstrange ones?

You guys have found my weakness

Some more dark!Stephen ones because I misread this at first (these are separate from the ones at the bottom)

Stephen reads Tony’s mind all the time. He always knows exactly what Tony wants to hear and how to manipulate his emotions. He plays with his insecurities constantly and often makes it seem as though the world is against them and all Tony has is him.

If someone who Tony cares about can be manipulated to his side, they’re fine. If they can’t, then prepare to watch him slowly convince Tony that you don’t actually care about him and are working against him.

Peter’s fine - he’s still young and fresh eyed, and Stephen has no trouble swaying him. But Rhodey and Pepper? Gone.

Pepper was easy - their relationship was already on the brink. He just pushed it over. But cutting off Rhodey involved weeks of prodding at their sore spots and the Accords and the rogue Avengers, and then it’s too late. Tony won’t even listen to him try to warn him away from Stephen. There’s nothing they can do.

Now onto what you actually asked for when I looked at it again

Dark!Tony

It started after Ultron and Wanda’s magic. Tony hated himself, hated destruction, hated what he’d done to the world. But instead of going the route of accountability and the Accords, he takes a different one — it was his job to protect the world, no matter the cost.

He obsessively builds weapons and uses them indiscriminately against his enemies — villains, terrorists, the UN when they tried to control him, the Avengers when they tried to stop him.

He realizes that he can’t protect the world like this. There are too many variables, too much out of his control. The only solution is to take it under his control.

He starts with New York, makes it his central hub. He strikes hard and fast, so fast that by the time whatever other superheros are left can even begin to respond, the city is his.

Drones that patrol the streets. Forced implants that know when you’re planning to hurt someone — or plotting against him. The city has never been safer.

He clears out the prisons and uses them as shelters for refugees, abuse victims, the homeless. After all, what are the prisoners going to use them for now that they’re dead?

It’s during a trip to one of these buildings — he always finds time for the people he’s so carefully protecting — that he finds a young boy (I’m fudging the timeline, not @ me) who tells him that his aunt and uncle died in the attack on New York and that he’s been shuffled around foster homes before ending up there. It’s not the nicest place, but there’s food and it’s warm and no one dares hurt anyone else.

Tony is so heartbroken by his story that he’s moved to take the boys home and raise him as his own. He won’t be having kids of his own now with Pepper dead, fallen when she tried to report his plans.

“What’s your name?” “Peter Parker.” “Well, now you’re going to be Peter Stark.”

And for a while Tony is happy. But it’s not long before he sets his sights on the rest of the country … with the help of a new ally.

Dark!Ironstrange/Dark!Supremefamily (look, two for the price of one)

Stephen Strange has been watching him, and he likes what he’s found. Like Tony, he’s certain that the best way to protect the world is to control it — and he thinks the easiest way to do that will be together.

Getting Tony Stark to the sanctum is easy. Quick portal under his feet. Convincing him is almost as easy. When he looks at Tony’s mind he sees the wreckage of Wanda’s magic. The remnants of her power are easily disposed of and replaced with his. From there, all it takes is his manipulation, his assurance that they want the same thing and will get it faster together. He sees it the moment Tony agrees.

Together, the rest of the states fall to them. Stephen is no longer welcome at Kamar-Taj — tends to happen when you kill most of the people at a place — and the tower has long been destroyed. So they build a new place out of what remains of the Compound, one that is equal parts magic and science.

At first, Stephen pays attention to Peter because he knows that Tony will like it and feel more connected to him — though it is not hard to connect to a man so lonely now that the world has turned it’s back on him — but he’s surprised to realize one day that he cares for him, is proud of his resilience in a world that has tired to destroy him and how he has managed to keep a sense of childlike wonder despite the odds.

Peter adores them both. He doesn’t understand why the rest of the world hates them. Don’t they know that Tony and Stephen are just trying to keep them safe?

But somehow Stephen is blind to his own feelings for Tony until they’re fighting the last vestiges of the heroes. It’s them against Captain America, War Machine, and Scarlett Witch. Thor and Bruce never returned from space (at least not that Tony knows of), and T'Challa is keeping Wakanda closed off and safe from them, ignoring pleas of help (he knows he can’t keep the world safe, only his people).

Stephen never thought that he would see Tony die. Tony Stark seemed as invincible as any human could, but he was still human. And when Wanda blasts him out of the sky, he knows what fear is. He makes her know what it is.

It’s almost poetic, he thinks. Wanda Maximoff started this with her visions and now the last of the resistance ends with her. It’s the last thought on his mind before Tony wakes up. When they kiss this time, it’s real.

… So this was more involved than I thought it would be, but I hope you liked it.

-----

I love the Dark!Supremefamily AU so much.. can you make some more headcanons for it please?

I meant to do more of these on the last one, but I got kind of carried away, so thanks for giving me a chance to do some more:

Stephen teaches Peter magic. “Don’t tell your dad.” Stephen warns. “It’ll be our father-son secret.” Peter kept his secret because it was the first time Stephen ever called him son.

Tony is extremely protective of Peter. If anyone so much of thinks of hurting him (or if Tony thinks they are …), Tony will know, and that person will soon find themselves wishing for death. Stephen makes it easier by monitoring the minds of the people around them.

One of the things Tony did when he took over was take control of companies - including the one that created the spider that bit Peter. Peter’s there one day with Tony, working on learning everything he needs to know for when he’s an adult when one of the spiders gets loose and bites Peter.

Tony is angry and terrified. Even Stephen’s assurance that Peter would be fine was worthless. He never left Peter’s side while he alternated between unbearable pain and unconsciousness. When Peter finally got through it okay - better than okay, Peter thought, looking at his newfound muscle with eyes that saw so much more - Tony wept in relief.

For years, Peter begged Tony to let him fight. There were still people who considered them villains, who didn’t understand their work, and he was eager to prove himself. Tony always said no.

When Tony finds out about the magic lessons Stephen was giving Peter, he was irate. But Stephen always had a way of bringing him around to his way of thinking. “Peter is young now. He won’t be for much longer. He needs to know how to protect himself in a world that will want him dead. Or would you keep him powerless for the rest of his life?”

Tony reluctantly let it go, but he still refused to let Peter fight. Peter begged Stephen to intervene on his behalf, but he only ever smiled and assured Peter that his time would come. Eventually, he gives in enough to say, “Ask him again after your birthday. You’ll be an adult then.”

So Peter waited until his 18th birthday. Tony had been spending more and more time away from him lately, planning something. Peter didn’t know what since by then the planet was more or less completely under their control, and Stephen was annoyingly enigmatic when he asked him.

But eventually his birthday did come. Starting with a ceremonial sacrifice by Stephen, they spend the entire day celebrating. Peter can’t help not thinking about it when he’s too busy enjoying the attention.

When sunset comes, Tony halts the party to make an announcement. “Now, for what is clearly the most important part of the evening, I have a gift for my son.” Peter sat up in his chair as Tony moved to the middle of the room where a black tube connecting the ceiling and floor. “Peter, as my present, I give to you-” the tube opened, revealing- “The Iron Spider.”

Peter stared at the suit - red and blue and, if you looked closely, gold mandalas that showed Stephen’s influence, with a spider in the center of the chest. “Are you serious?”

“Of course. You’re going to need it after all. Because next month Stephen and I will lead our new campaign as we set our eyes not on the ground, but on the sky, and leave Earth and the Solar System to continue our work of protecting the world. And Peter will be with us.”

Peter was speechless. Stephen just smiled and said “Happy birthday.”

Tony made a toast. “To … the future.”

Their guests followed his lead. “To the future!”

------

Please please give me more dark!supreme family, I'm obsessed Ps. I love your blog

I’ve created a monster

Stephen is the fun dad by design. Early on in his and Tony’s relationship, he would manipulate him into doing things that were overly strict or made Peter upset so that he could be the nice one and help Peter out

Stephen dampens Peter’s memories of his family and past friends so that he’ll be more accepting of them

Tony’s birthday present to Peter was the Iron Spider suit, but Stephen’s was a bit different - Steve Rogers, the only surviving hero fighting them, who Stephen happily killed in a blood ritual that would grant Peter protection, simultaneously giving his son a gift and ridding their family of an enemy

Tony is careful to include Peter as much as he can in the decisions he makes and what it takes to be a leader (cough*dictator*cough)

Peter matures quickly. He knows that his dads and their empire have a lot of enemies, and that they might die one day and he would need to take over

Peter didn’t have a lot of friends. Tony and his A.I. took up his schooling, and he was never able to get into contact with the people he remembered. Once Stephen got involved, he started spending time with the sorcerers, but he still spends most of his time with his dads

Usually, Peter goes to Tony for comfort and Stephen for advice. Of course, Stephen’s advice is usually along the lines of “just send them to the dark dimension” but sometimes that’s what you want to hear

That’s all I’ve got for now

[randomguywithwords]

As The Dust Settles: Chapter 7 (Dabiten Slowburn)

Recap from Chapter 6: 

“Find out what you can on that girl, Apocrypha.” 

...

“I don’t really owe you anything do I?” Hawks winked. 

“What do you want?” Dabi growled. 

“Nothing for now, but you’ll owe me. That’s all.” 

“Fine.” 

-------

Their meetings of the PLF were shifted to Re-destro’s mansion, a labyrinth of identical corridors, lavish rooms that stank of wealth built upon foundations and corporations that concealed this singular secret of their true loyalties. Said loyalties, once pledged to Destro, then to his son, were now transferred onto Tomura Shigaraki. 

The young man sat at the head of the council table. The table was in a semicircular shape, with the lieutenants taking a seat each. These meetings, a daily routine, were something Dabi didn’t enjoy. 

And with the agenda of this one, he was about to enjoy them far less. 

“I’m pairing you guys up. Each pair will lead a squadron of their own. I don’t care what you guys do to them. Just make sure that when I assign your squad something, it gets done. Got it?” After waiting for a general murmur of assent, Shigaraki passed a sheet of paper to Mr Compress, who stood up to read the pairings. 

“Re-destro and me, Trumpet and Twice, Skeptic and Spinner, Dabi and Apocrypha —“ 

Goddammit. Dabi shot the girl a look, who had been looking at the table the whole time. Even as her name was called, she hadn’t looked up, her eyes frozen to the grey marble. 

“Toga, you’re with me.” Compress looked up from the paper. Toga stuck her tongue out. “Fine.”

“Thanks, Compress.” Shigaraki said. The performer nodded and sat back down. “So, we’re done with everything, yeah? City’s repaired, the media’s finally shut their mouths and stopped annoying us, all that garbage. Good…” 

“Let’s talk destruction.” Shigaraki’s statement was met with silence. Dabi felt the tension in the room spike. He was curious to hear what the leader of the PLF had to say on his ambition.

“Re-destro, I’ve looked at your plans. I gotta say, I’m impressed. I like the idea.”

“Thank you, great leader,” Re-destro replied, smiling widely, perhaps out of a fear that still manifested even as they were technically on the same side. Dabi hid a grin of his own.

“What’s the idea?” Toga asked. “I wanna know.”

Shigaraki picked up a piece of paper on the desk. “Basically, they want to slowly get people on their side, by spreading their message. It’ll be non-violent, at first,” Shigaraki emphasised the last two words, “But once it reaches a lot of people, they’ll start their attacks.”

Licking his lips, he continued, “Attack the major cities with the members, cause chaos, cause destruction. Show them the strength of the average citizen, how even they can overpower heroes. Broadcast this country-wide. Re-destro and his political parties will swoop in and take charge, offering assistance, offering anarchy – within their control. This’ll create a divide between the hero society and the Liberation Front. Slowly, with more attacks and threats, more and more will join our side. Until Japan is ours.”

“Wow.” Toga breathed, grinning. The feeling was mutual with Dabi. He was impressed too. 

“But,” Tomura put the paper down, “I’m not patient enough to wait. I like the idea of getting them to our side via desperation, not genuine belief in the ideals. So here’s my change.”

“Start small, going for the small towns and villages around Deika City. Take over Kyoto first. From there, the rest of Japan. Destroy society and everything within it.”

“That’s great and all,” Dabi interjected, drawing a look from Shigaraki, “But isn’t this a little rushed?” 

“Yeah, I was getting to that,” Shigraki droned with mild annoyance, waving a hand dismissively at Dabi, who retorted with kicking his legs on the table. “We’re going to lay low for a week, scrub whatever’s left of the media off our backs, don’t draw anymore attention. Use that time to get your squads in order. By next Friday, we’re starting.”

Shigaraki spun in his chair. “That’s all I have for you guys. Dismissed.” 

People got up and began to leave, Dabi with them, until he heard Tomura call, “Dabi. Here.”

The fire-user turned back to see Shigaraki pointing at the empty space in front of his chair. He stalked up to the boy. “What is it?”

“I didn’t toss you and Apocrypha together by throwing darts. I need you to get your shit together. This...whatever it is between you two, stop it.”

“No idea what you mean,” Dabi said. 

“I saw you two fight last night from the tower. It wasn’t exactly subtle. So yeah, end this little fight of yours.”

“I am trying to end it. That bitch is insane, constantly blabbering about her precious ‘meta-ability’ and her army. She’s trying to kill me because she thinks Re-destro’s orders are still in effect, so I’m going to kill her first.” 

“You kill her, I kill you.” Dabi froze for a moment under the red glare of Shigaraki’s cold irises, and the threat that came from his mouth. “No one’s going to murder anyone within the League – Liberation Front, whatever. I’m not having my lieutenants start a civil war under my nose, not when we have this much going for us.”

His ears burning, Dabi shook off the instance of trepidation that he felt from Shigaraki, and answered back hotly, “She’s not one to listen to reason. Have you tried talking to her? She’s mental.” 

“I don’t have time to deal with this bullshit. I’ll do something if things get out of hand. Otherwise, you’re solving this on your own. That’s final.”

“Hey.” Dabi took a step forward. “You have a lot of nerve, y’know? You go through some epiphany shit and now you think you’re the next boss. We ain’t chums, but I ain’t your servant either. I have my own things to look out for too.”

“Oh yeah?” Shigaraki got to his feet, meeting Dabi’s stare with equal intensity. “What ‘own things’? Come to think of it, I still don’t know who you are, just your name, quirk, and what you’ve done. To me, you’re the same as any random soldier in the Front, especially Apocrypha.”

“Don’t compare me to her!” Dabi hissed, brandishing a spark of fire. 

“I’m sure as hell going to if it riles you up so much.” Shigaraki knocked aside Dabi’s raised arm with a backhand. “I let you go your own way because I don’t believe in ordering you guys around, but now that I’m leading more than a small group, I’m changing my style. You’re settling things with Apocrypha, got it?”

The two stared at each other with cold fury for a second, before Dabi spat, “Fine.” and spun on his heel to exit the room. 

––––––

Managed to write this out. I’ll see what more I can do with the little time I have. Sorry Kanra and others for making you guys wait so long. This probably isn’t the chapter you guys wanted, but I have to push the plot along instead of stagnating on the relationship between the two MCs.

[gothfoxx]

Bnha prompt where Easerhead is made to look over the income students files and doesn't like how bakuguo looks. So he goes to see himself and sees how he acts and has proof so in the end even after passing both the paper and qurik exam he is turned down. And bakuguo doesn't know the useless deku is in ua until he sees him win the feastal

Ok I can’t sleep so you get yours early!

Mrs Midoriya was a kind woman that loved her friends fiercely but no amount of friendship was worth seeing her baby boy charred and bloodied. She and Izuku had lost their closest friends but they were both able to grow because of it. Inko filed for divorce and Izuku saw that idled idol worship wasn’t going to get him into hero school without a quirk. They both faced ridicule for ‘forcing’ a mark on an exemplar and honored student. It wasn’t the last mark Katsuki got for harming Izuku while they attended the same middle school.

Every year Aizawa had to wade through stacks and stacks of student entry files. The ones that didn’t pass the written exam or didn’t meet the cut off number of points for consideration had already been tossed so all that was left were those deemed qualified for assessment. Which was all just fancy words for these are the kids he and Ken would be picking their next classes from. This year Principal Nezu had added on an interview to the process, one with the student and their guardian and one with their middle school home room teacher. Aizawa knew it was because he had expelled his whole class last year by the end of the first week so this was Nezu’s way around that problem.

Out of 67 candidates Hero Eraserhead had gone to 43 school rooms and homes. His next stop was Aldera middle school where two hopefuls attended. He was curious about the place that produced both a kid as clever and determined as Midoriya Izuku and a kid as brash and tactically minded as Bakugou Katsuki. He was also curious about the missing pages in both of their files, it could have been a fluke but he wasn’t an optimistic man.

The building was nothing to write home about but Eraserhead knew better than to judge a book by its cover, many had done so to him in the past. He counted his luck that he could finish two interviews with one trip once he set foot into the school. It smelled of mildew and the wooden stairs were warped in places, not a good first impression. The teacher who greeted him at the classroom was a middle aged man with a slight hunch and thin hair. “Welcome Eraserhead sir, we are so honored to have you with us today. We don’t normally have students achieve such feats but it’s no wonder with our promising prodigy Bakugou, we are so proud of him!” Praises the Aldera teacher, as he walks Eraser to a seat at one of the desks.

He notes it as odd the man hadn’t mentioned that they had two students in the running for UA and writes it in the notebook he brought for today’s set of interviews. “Yes Bakugou has shown he has the mind and skill it takes to make it at UA but there is only so much a video and an incomplete file can tell us about a child. So that’s why I’m here today. I would like you to tell me about your students today. Particularly Bakugou AND Midoriya.” He drones only putting emphasis on the fact this was for two students, not just one. The cheerful face the man was wear slips into a exasperated one at the mention of the other student. “Oh so he got into General studies did he, well can’t say I’m surprised. He isn’t much be he has a good melon on his shoulders, could probably get into marketing if he wasn’t so hung up on being a hero, that damn Midoriya.” The teacher ponders aloud like it wasn’t just for show. Keeping a straight face and not just calling the man out on favoritism Eraser pushed forward with the interview.

Drawing out the folder for Bakugou first Eraserhead flips to where behavioral records and notes should have been. “Normally a file will have at least a note or two on student behavior so teachers down the line can help curb bad habits or know how to handle a quirk controll issue. Neither student submission had one which seems like an odd over site. What can you tell me about Bakugou’s history with his quirk and other students?” As he spoke the teacher was growing more and more agitated. “He’s a good student, I don’t know what you’ve heard but he deserves to be a hero! Just because he has a slight temper doesn’t mean he’s a bad kid. That bitch and her son just wanted attention! Slandering a prodigy before he gets a chance to shine? It’s absurd.” Rants the hunched teacher, sounding like a politically backwards uncle. Eraser makes a mental note to stop at the office to get another copy of the files.

“That was informative. Do you have any notes on Midoriya’s behavior?” He asks fearing he already knows the answer. “Like I said before the kid is smart but he is constantly garnering for attention. Probably because he’s quirkless and his father ran off. Mess up him and his mother, they accused poor Bakugou of picking fights and using his quirk in public. Absurd, Bakugou wouldn’t ruin his chances on some nobody like Deku.” Aaaand that was all he need to hear. He would be advising Nezu to investigate this place, the building wasn’t the only thing that smelled.

The secretary seemed like a nice and headstrong lady. When he asked to see the original files she pulled them out of a false bottom in one of her cabinets. She must have been waiting for someone to finally see what she must every day. “I was told to lose these as soon as both boys applied to UA. I’ve seen that poor kid come in fine in the morning and then leave covered in marks or limping home.” She whispers quickly, sparkling purple eyes checking for nosy nellies. “My mom is quirkless and the stories she told me are mother compared to what must be happening to him.” He thanks her and discreetly snaps photos of both files. One taking longer because how large it was.

Bakugou’s sheet listen 7 accounts of bullying since the 3rd grade. And that was just against one student, there were many more of one off fights or arguments. No matter what though it painted the kid as an egotistical narcissist with a God complex who was not above physical violence as a first option. Not what Aizawa would call exemplary or promising. Midoriya on the other hand had no official marks but all his teachers before had called him disruptful and attention seeking. He would have to see for himself at the home interview but he might as well get the one he was sure about out of the way.

So...the Bakugou family was dysfunctional to say the least, Aizawa had been forced to not only use his quirk and also restrain the mother after she attacked her son and made several remarks about her wish for him to “just shape up or go kill himself”. Aizawa felt bad for the father he had tried to calm the situation but his eyes betrayed him, the man had known it wouldn’t work. Now Mrs Bakugou was facing charges of child abuse and suicide baiting, both were small charges but she would still serve time for it. For the two Bakugou men the court would probably suggest therapy for ptsd and whatever non-addressed issues Katsuki would probably had ignored in his childhood.

On the other side of the coin the meeting with the Midoriyas was a short and peaceful affair. The notes on the kid’s file were obviously just the teachers discriminating against a kid that was already delt a bad hand in life. He was definitely having Nezu pick apart that school, hire the secretary too for her smart thinking and strong morals. “Well Ms Midoriya I will be in touch with you soon. And Izuku, you’re going to do great things no matter what you choose to do.” Okay so the kid impressed him...multiple times. He didn’t have a soft spot for bullied kids with minds as sharp as their eyes, no matter what Mic says.

-3 months later-

The sports festival was playing on the television at the support house. The little kids were oohing and awwing. It hurt to even listen to as the students all fought for a spot at the top. Katsuki’s therapist had told him “it is okay to be upset about thing like this but the way you show that emotion should help you get the emotions out not bottle them up.” So he was letting himself be mad and sad and holding onto his dad’s hand for comfort. Another thing his therapist had told him was okay, comfort and crying weren’t weaknesses. Some of the kids were cheering now and one typically shy kid shouted “go green boy!” And there was no way.

Katsuki let go of his dad and moved closer to the tv. The smaller kids gave him room to see the screen. Just as he thought, a small bundle of wirely limbs and green hair slung a slab of metal forward on a pile of canisters. The explosion of pink and red glitter launched Midoriya Izuku, the kid Katsuki had thought he had hated for most of his life, past the losers just hopping over the obstacles and into third place. He joined the kids in their cheers, he wasn’t sure what De- Izu had done to win these kids over but to them he was already a hero. They all watched as he used all of those brains that the Bakugou’s recognized and all of the skill they did not to get further and further through the competition. He thinks his therapist will be happy to know that when Izuku was named that year’s Champion that the only things Katsuki had felt were pride, happiness, and anticipation. He couldn’t wait to get better and be able to tell Izuku just how much he saved him.

Okay so a little different than you probably were expecting buuuut I hope you still like it

[mxsinistir]

Reasons I loved Spiderman: Far From Home (spoilers!!)

 Super Strength - With Tom Holland playing Spiderman as a cute high school kid who’s kind of confused, it’s easy to forget just how powerful Spiderman is as a hero. But that tower scene? LEGENDARY. I nearly screamed in the movie theatre whenever they showed that? Not to mention the lock, the seatbelt, etc. Just casual strength that made his identity harder to hide. I’m glad they didn’t just show his strength when it was convenient to the action plot. 

Betrayal written right - think about all the Marvel movies, and try and think of one that had a really good betrayal aspect. Iron Man 1 tried, but I don’t even remember the guy’s name. Loki was kind of constantly betraying Thor so there were no surprises. Bucky had betrayed Steve against his will. But Mysterio outright got Peter - a naive and loveable kid - to trust him enough to declare him the next Iron Man. And it felt like a real betrayal to everyone when we (and Peter) found out.

Hero at fault - continuing on from the last point, I loved the fact that the conflict happened because of Peter’s actions. I loved that so much. Because he had to own up to his own faults (aka his naivety and trusting towards everyone), and honestly I can’t even explain how much he obviously grew as a character in one movie.

Rock Bottom - oh god, seeing Peter tortured like that. Whenever he sees Happy and just breaks down on the plane. I nearly cried right there, not gonna lie. He just looked so tired and hurt and sad and confused and-- he looked like he was in too much pain for any kid to be going through. 

MJ x Peter Kiss! - I love the fact that MJ’s first kiss wasn’t a sudden french kiss or long head tilt. It was a literal peck. I loved that because you know what? They’re teenagers, and of course, Peter would have a cringey plan to win his girl. Of course, they don’t suddenly know how to kiss and make out. I love it because it all felt so real and funny and light. It was a defining part of Peter’s character without dominating his own storyline. They just executing their romance so well.

Gentle Love Triangle! - I was mad because I thought they were going to shove this plotline down our throats. But they didn’t! They ended up keeping the focus on Peter and MJ and their chemistry, not MJ and Brad’s opposing chemistry. I really liked that a lot . It seemed a lot more natural. 

Fear of Confusion / Illusion Scene - That scene where Peter is overwhelmed by the illusions is so goddamn scary. I openly admit that I am scared of confusion, and watching that scene nearly gave me a panic attack on the spot. I was watching it an XD Theater, and the surround sound nearly had me shaking and sobbing on the floor. It as so scary and overwhelming and made you feel so bad for the kid that’s trapped in it. it was written beautifully.

Spider-Sense / Peter Tingle - I love that they didn’t make it so much of a power, but rather a “Sixth sense”. And Peter had to actually focus to use it. And he used it so cleverly in the second illusion scene!!! I was so happy to see him learning how to adapt and evolve his skills!!!! That’s great character development!!!

Scientific Explanation - Whenever my friend and I watched the trailer for FFH, she groaned and said “Great, there’s magic? it’s turning into DC!!!” (We both laughed at that but knew we were gonna see the movie anyway). It got worse whenever I heard Mysterio was from an alternate dimension. “Great, Marvel timelines and universes are both super messy now!!!”. But wait, it’s not!!! They explained it with science because it’s a Spiderman / Iron Man movie. It’s about science, and how it can be used for scary things. 

Peter being smart! - I always feel guilty for constantly forgetting that Peter Parker is a genius. Like, Tony Stark levels of raw intelligence. And they portrayed that so well! And he’s still a kind and compassionate boi! Like whenever he was making the suit? Brilliant. Whenever he was using his webs to bring down the drones bc he doesn’t have harmful weapons? Masterful to his character. He’s like a better version of Tony Stark because he was raised right (I love Tony to death but I’m not gonna pretend he was a model 16-year-old). 

Tony Starks; presence in the movie - They kept Tony in the movie so subtly and beautifully. Like, the moments with Peter and Happy. E.D.I.T.H. Mentioning him with Mysterio. Peter’s new character arc. I love how the world hasn’t forgotten him. he is still making such an impact on everyone - whether that impact is good or bad is up to the person. 

Peter becoming Iron Man / following his path - There’s way more to my analysis on this than I can sum up in a paragraph, so I’m gonna write a longer version of this and link it. But basically, I think we’re going to watch Peter follow a very similar journey to the one of Tony Stark. The writers are going to completely break him in order to turn him into a hero of the likes of Iron Man. 

Stealth Suit - This one isn’t as deep as the others. I just love the suit. it looks so cool.

Happy Hoggan - Cool Uncle figure? I don’t like how he and May are in a relationship but I’m fine with it. I love how Happy sees a little bit of Tony in Peter, just like how Peter sees Tony wherever he goes. He’s just such a great supporting character.

The Teachers - No reason in particular. No deep ones anyway. i just thought they were hilarious and reminded me of multiple of my teachers.

The ending - Definitely going to write a longer analysis on this. I hated the ending, of course, because what do you mean our boy is a bad guy? We know he’s innocent and that’s what’s frustrating. But it’s well written. It’s going to hurt Peter. I hate the writers for that but it’s so masterful to do that. 

Peter in general - his motivations, his story arc, his new character development. Writing an analysis on him later maybe. I love him so much. I ‘m not a massive fangirl of the actor himself (though I still love Tom, ngl), he adds such a depth to Peter’s character portrayal. There isn’t a single moment in this movie where I’m not just totally in love with this adorable boy of a brilliant character. 

[gladrial]

Bad Thing - Chapter 9

Author's Notes:

We are very, extremely, sincerely sorry for the long wait on the rest of this story! Most of it is already written, thanks ENTIRELY to Gladrial, just needing detail and polish. Thank you so much, from the bottom of our fangirl hearts, for enjoying this and letting us know! This is a story close to our souls and we cannot wait to share the rest with y'all!

Risque has put together a soundtrack for this fic on Spotify, though it frustratingly leaves out the song that inspired the title, which is the hard to locate "I've Done A Bad Thing" by Ellen Reid. Consider that the real first track!

---

August had started with a heatwave. A dumb, stupid heatwave that reminded Harleen of a time early in high school where she'd rode with some friends to a lake outside the city, eight teenagers packed in an ancient van with no air conditioning. Somewhere in the middle of Nowhere, Gotham County, the engine decided that life wasn't worth living and, since it was a time before everybody had a cell phone, they were stranded on a lonely stretch of road, with the sun beating down on them, and not even a brief breeze to bring respite. Most of them had also already been drinking, getting a headstart on the drinking they were going to do at the lake, which led to Harleen and her friend Amber taking turns holding each other's hair while they puked into the roadside weeds.

"...And that's why I'll never drink lemonade and vodka ever again," Harleen concluded, flicking the ash from her cigarette off the side of the balcony. "Or get in a van that's old enough to have grandchildren."

Miss Murton laughed, coughing out a cloud of cigarette smoke as she did.

Millie, Harleen reminded herself as the older woman had insisted she stop addressing her so formally. She patted her back, concerned, but Millie brushed her off, insisting she was fine.

"Just reminds me of my own youth, is all. I'm always tickled by how, at the heart, nothing ever changes."

-at the hands of the notorious Joker. Upon hearing his name, Harley suddenly became acutely aware of the televised news broadcast playing softly in the background, through the open sliding door.

"Turn it up," Harley asked, as she knew still had the remote and Harley was busy leaning her head to see the screen, her attention now focused fully on the shaky footage of wreckage and smoke.

Miss Murton grabbed the remote and raised the sound, the announcer's General American accent droning over an aerial shot of the scene, the view of twisted metal and firemen scaling rubble.

At least thirty-one dead in the wake of last night's attack on the subway. Many more in critical condition following the forced derailing.

"Horrible," Millie offered sadly. "I used to think that it was impossible for anyone to be truly evil. But him-"

Harley declined to respond. She'd never gone into detail about her job with Millie. Patient confidentiality notwithstanding, Leland had warned her not to let loose even the most mundane details of her job early on, particularly with such a high profile case. She could see why. Arkham Asylum was constantly hounded for information from the media and bribes worked exceedingly well, not just with general staff, but also for the doctors. Of course, aside from the obvious security risk idly chatting about her career would be, there was the real possibility that it would lead to morbid curiosity or straight-up avoidance.

Better to let someone really get to know you first, Leland had advised. Harley had taken it to heart. She didn't really want to get in a mental health debate with someone Miss Murton's age anyway, imagining she'd be very set in her ways.

Thankfully, Commissioner Gordon has confirmed that the clown prince of crime is currently in custody and awaiting his return to Arkham Asylum.

That certainly hadn't taken as long as Harley thought it would. After all the trouble he'd put her through to only be out a few days? ...Still he had indicated it was for a specific purpose. She realized uneasily that this must have been it.

"Make sure to lock the door behind him this time," her companion muttered bitterly behind another cigarette. "Honestly, why is it so hard to keep him in there?"

In this specific incident, Harley knew exactly why. She inhaled sharply, feeling that familiar pang of guilt trying to creep in. The one that he had argued out of her not a few nights ago. Exhaling, she decided this was a prime incident to bring up in their next session.

---

Dr. Quinzel waited patiently in the therapy room. Normally, she'd have some anxiety about seeing her patient once again, but it seemed strangely absent this time. Perhaps because it'd only been a week since she'd last seen him. Or perhaps because this was all becoming rather commonplace. A thought that, she knew, should fill her with concern, but somehow it didn't. This all felt...strangely natural.

Even so, things had been extremely tense the last time they saw one another. It had ended okay eventually, but there had been a point when she thought he really was done with her. So why then wasn't she the slightest bit scared?

She closed her eyes and briefly analyzed herself. Her behavior. His behavior. Their interactions. The answer lay there somewhere. He was done with her because she wasn't living up to his expectations. He should have killed her, but he didn't.

It was far from the first time it crossed her mind. He could have done it in the car. She remembered how angry he had been. He'd let her go instead. Why? She recalled other incidents when she'd irritated him on some level. Questioning him on the way to their date. She'd disappointed him that day too, on the rooftops. Times she said or did things that he found asinine.

All in all, very minor infractions, if infractions at all. But, she reminded herself, logic didn't matter where he was concerned. They were infractions to him. And it didn't matter how minor, he'd killed for far less, for seemingly no reason at all. She couldn't analyze him in the same framework as other people.

He'd had every opportunity. She'd allowed herself to be as vulnerable as a person can be around another. She should, by all accounts, be very dead…but she wasn't.

She went back to the night in question, when she'd disappointed him the most. He hadn't killed her. He'd approached her at home and actively sought her out for some form of understanding instead. She imagined he would have gone ahead with it, if she hadn't reciprocated.

She smiled to herself. He was seeking connection in the only way he knew how and she'd successfully risen to the occasion. Perhaps if others had made more of an effort...but then, a large part of her was selfishly glad no one had.

"Morning, Dr. Quinzel," Jeremy greeted her as he and Sean escorted her patient inside. "You look like you're in a good mood."

"It's going to be a good day," she replied, regarding the Joker. He had come in calmly without any of his normal quips. Instead he wore an expression of someone torn between surprise and self-satisfaction.

"Well, well. Look who's still here," Joker commented, after security had put the pitifully futile restraints on him and left.

"I'm your doctor," Harley replied, glancing above the brim of her glasses toward him, as she fingered through his most recent file. "Where else would I be?"

"That was entirely up to you," he reminded her. "All part of our bargain."

She cringed inwardly, but was certain it didn't show. She'd become rather good at hiding her inner thoughts, given the recent twists and turns of her life. She knew no one could hear them in here. Not unless she made the very stupid choice to record their session, something she could not afford at this point. Still, hearing the word 'bargain' between them, within these walls, was unsettling.

"As I recall," Harley said, putting his file down on the desk in front of her. "That was something you had come up with."

"Ah, so you helped me have my little romp out of the kindness of your heart then? If memory serves, you didn't seem too enthusiastic at the time."

This was off the topic she wanted to focus on, but part of her was glad he'd brought it up. After all, it was precisely what she had been thinking about before he'd entered. Therapy was meant to air thoughts that were uncomfortable to confront. In this case, uncomfortable for her...but still. Doing so with this would keep them from being bogged down by it later.

She tapped a pen rhythmically against the surface of the desk, considering her response. "Maybe I don't know what I want," she offered carefully.

Once the words had left her lips, she felt an unexpected weight lift off her shoulders. She'd had a plan. A plan that she'd been relentlessly pursuing, despite feelings she didn't want to admit to. Feelings that ultimately none of it was going to make her happy.

"Oh, but I think you do." He leaned in conspiratorially as much as his restraints would allow. "I have to admit, I was looking forward to following your career, but this is better. Much, much better. I was dreading whoever they were going to dump me on next. They wouldn't have been half as fun as you."

Harley laughed. "Well, while we're confessing things, it might have occurred to me that anything I could choose to do wouldn't be half as exciting as what we've been doing lately."

"Darling, you haven't seen anything yet," he promised with a wink. "Speaking of, what are the chances of you opening the door for me again, as it were?"

She let the pen drop from her hand. It landed absently on the floor as she stared at him, slack-jawed with a half-smile.

"What?" he continued innocently. "We could have one of our little sleepovers. You like those!"

"You just got here!" she exclaimed with disbelief.

"I wasn't suggesting it be today. I haven't even seen the old gang yet."

Harley shook her head absently. "Unbelievable," she said to herself, a giggle betraying her.

"That wasn't a no!" Joker declared triumphantly.

Harley pointed at the file in front of her assertively in an attempt to regain control of the conversation. "Getting back on track, we need to talk about the subway incident."

"Oh that." He rolled his head dismissively. "Last I heard, the death count has gone up to thirty-six. Hardly my record, but not bad."

"You're upset that more people didn't die as a result of your actions?"

"Oh, it could have been more," he replied, defensively. "Or it could have been none. See, that's the thing when playing with the Bat. You've got to have distractions in place. If you're single-minded, he will hone in relentlessly and you won't have a prayer."

"I don't understand," Harley admitted, wondering if it was better or worse that these massive acts of violence had a strategy behind them.

"Well, if I had planned, for example, to attack one subway train he would have sniffed that out. It's not like I was being subtle. I wanted his attention after all. So, he would have figured it out, stopped it, and dragged me away. A very short, anticlimactic game, wouldn't you agree?"

"So...what'd you do instead?"

"This time? Divide and conquer," he continued, smugly. "Instead of saying 'x marks the spot', I planted many an x. Unlike our resident riddle machine." He rolled his eyes heavily with disdain. "He literally wants to be caught. What kind of gimmick is that? 'Come catch me Batman.' 'Oh no. You caught me.'"

Harley snickered behind her hand, trying to compose herself.

"Feel free to laugh, my dear," the Joker encouraged. "He's truly a ridiculous man."

"I shouldn't encourage the mocking of another patient under our care," she stated, straightening her glasses.

Joker smirked at her with a tilt of the head. "He once had an underground game show. Do you know what he called it? The Riddle Factory."

She exploded in laughter despite herself. "Oh my god! That's so stupid."

"Agreed."

Blinking back tears, she suddenly regarded him with irritation. "You've gotten us off track again."

"My mind does tend to wander," he admitted apologetically. "Where were we?"

"Divide and conquer."

"Ah yes," he continued. "So I made it clear that my latest scheme would be taking place on the subway, but which station? Which train? Who could say? To make doubly sure, because the Bat is a crafty one, I redoubled my efforts. I actually had several explosives ready in different locations. Enough to keep the entire Bat-clan busy. By the time they had finished, they'd deactivated all but one. C'est la vie."

"A most engaging tale," she complimented. "But what happened wasn't really going to be my question."

"Apologies," he offered. "I appear to have jumped the gun."

"You were very insistent that this had to happen at a very specific time. Why?"

His eyes gleamed. "Oh, it was a very important anniversary. I couldn't possibly have missed it."

"Anniversary? For you and Batman?" she clarified, scribbling in her notebook.

"Who else would I go through so much effort for? To think he almost ruined it too," he finished sadly. "He appreciates the lengths I go to so little."

---

"I'm just saying that the physical health of the patients under our care should be just as, if not more, important than the mental care," Kirkwood stated pretentiously. "You can't care for the mind if the body is not healthy."

Harley hid the desire to roll her eyes yet again, struggling to look busy. Not that it ever worked. It was as though he was arguing not with her but at her, seeing as she never swapped words with him at this point. Why would he think that she, a psychiatrist, was a good candidate for this conversation?

This morning routine she was forced into was getting beyond tiresome. She was considering asking him to leave, point blank, even if it did open a can of worms at work she didn't want to deal with, when Jeremy suddenly walked in. Without a word, he pulled another chair up to her desk to join them, as though he had been expected.

"Thanks for inviting me," Jeremy said to her casually, setting down a coffee and bagel on her desk.

She stared at him awkwardly for a moment, before replying with a confused, "...You're welcome?"

"Not a bad way to start the day," he replied quickly, seemingly oblivious to the perplexed faces Kirkwood and she were throwing at him. "I never make time for breakfast."

Kirkwood wasn't just confused, Harley realized. He was annoyed. Really annoyed. Her eyes flashed quickly between him and back to Jeremy who was giving her a look with intent.

"Not a morning person then?" Harley asked him nonchalantly, suddenly acting as though she had expected him all along.

Jeremy's posture relaxed upon her understanding and hers followed suit. Kirkwood's only seemed to tighten all the more as a result.

"Not really," Jeremy admitted, taking a bite out of his bagel. "How about you?"

"I suppose life has forced me to become one, but I don't think I come by it naturally," Harley answered. "But I didn't have a lot of choice in college. Between classes and gym practice and meets-" she finished with a shrug.

"You did gymnastics in college?" he asked, sounding somewhat impressed.

"Yes. I actually got a scholarship through it." She didn't try to hide the sound of self-satisfaction in her voice, still rightfully proud of herself after all the grueling practice and sickeningly early mornings.

"No shit," Jeremy commented. "Well, show us what you can do!"

Harley chuckled, enjoying the attention. "I'd say I'm rusty, but I've actually gotten back in the swing of things lately. Just the same, I don't think here's the place and I'm not dressed right anyway."

"I'm a morning person," Kirkwood offered, which had nearly startled Harley, having momentarily forgotten he was there.

He must have realized as much, because he suddenly excused himself, claiming he needed to get to his wing of the building and started with his day. Both Harley and Jeremy wished him a good day and waited for the door to close behind him.

Jeremy instantly turned to Harley with a look of sincerity. "I'm so sorry. If I've overstepped my bounds, just say so. It's just...I've seen him bothering you a lot...or at least it seems like he's bothering you...and I just thought maybe it'd help if I-" He gestured around helplessly. "I don't know."

"Are you kidding?" Harley exclaimed. "You're my hero! He's been driving me absolutely up the wall! Thank you. A million times thank you. If you can see he's bothering me, why can't he?"

"He's just trying to wear you down. You don't have to put up with it, you know."

"I know," she sighed helplessly. "It's just...he hasn't really done anything. What am I supposed to do? Complain to HR that he won't stop exchanging pleasantries?"

"Well, if it helps," he offered. "I don't mind doing this more, if you'd like."

"Jeremy, you don't have to do that. I would never ask someone else to be subjected to him on a daily basis too."

"Have to? Who said anything about 'have to'?" he asked with a mischievous grin. "I'm still hoping to get a cartwheel out of you or something."

Harley laughed at that, good and loud. "We'll see," she offered simply, grateful not to have to face these awkward mornings alone anymore.

---

It felt surreal being there once more already, Harley mused as she entered the cemetery for the second time in four months. She'd barely been working at Arkham more than a year and here she was again for a work related death.

She silently walked with a small group of co-workers to the gravesite of the guard the Joker had killed during his latest escapade. Everyone was respectfully quiet, making it easy for her to get lost in thought. An image of a chalkboard declaring 'Zero Days Since Our Last Workplace Incident' came to mind and she stifled a chuckle.

All thoughts of levity quickly abated as she found herself face-to-face with an open casket. This wasn't the result of an unfortunate workplace accident. It had been cold-blooded murder.

The cold-face looking back at her as she paid her respects wasn't one she was familiar with from day-to-day. She only ever saw him once, but it was a face she'd never forget. The face of someone trying to comfort and reassure her, before he'd been brutally stabbed to death.

Stabbed to death with her knife. The knife she'd smuggled into Arkham. The knife she'd willingly given to a notorious killer and set loose.

She couldn't help feeling like this face, albeit dead, was staring at her knowingly, even through shut eyes. She was overcome with this feeling that it would continue to do so, even six feet beneath the earth. Even from the comfort of her home. Cold, dead eyes piercing her apartment walls.

Next thing she knew, Harley found herself seated in a folding chair. Several concerned faces watched her intently, though she managed to focus on Joan kneeling in front of her first.

"Take it easy," Joan suggested softly.

"Did-Did I faint?" Harley asked.

"No," her mentor assured her. "Well...perhaps nearly. Jeremy here made sure to catch you before you hit the ground though."

Harley looked up to see Jeremy smiling at her warmly. They both took a seat on either side of her as the service began, but she couldn't focus on the words. Even sitting between two people that obviously cared for her, she felt so alone.

She hadn't wanted to come. Knew it would only make things worse for her, but could see little way out of it. She'd been the last person to see him alive after all. All it served to do was make her feel completely guilt-ridden...which granted, why shouldn't she? Bad enough that she was responsible, but then she had to go and have a spell right there in front of everyone, making herself the center of attention during an event where she absolutely should not be.

At least Kirkwood wasn't here. He'd probably spend the remainder of the service mooning over her.

The casket closed with a dull thud and she felt herself jump slightly at the sound. She moved mechanically, following the crowd of people as they made to leave. Maybe she could blend in with them unnoticed and those dead eyes would lose sight of her.

---

It hadn't taken long before he'd convinced her to escort him out of the asylum once more. She'd agreed, but with the stipulation that it'd be done quickly and quietly this time. He didn't argue. She supposed she could have done so just as easily the first time around, avoiding bloodshed, if she'd just had gone through with it without a fuss.

What had followed was a rather lengthy stint of him coming in and out of her apartment at will, often staying the night and even conducting business over the phone in full earshot of her. One day, she'd come home with takeout and dessert to find him engaged in what she could only consider a kidnapping craft project, discarded letters cut from magazines and being glued to construction paper, the whole cliche topped off with a lunchbox of fingers in the fridge.

"See, Harl? The guy was already dead, it's not time sensitive. Plenty of time to eat and watch the movie, I can finish this after. Just push the box of Fred Fingers to the side and the cheesecake will fit." Both the Fred Fingers and cheesecake were gone by the next morning.

Though she wasn't aware of it at first, eventually a hat here, some socks there, and there was enough of Joker's laundry mixed with hers to fit in the top drawer. Which Harley emptied the moment she thought of it, feeling slightly drunk and giddy with the thought. Two of his purple trench coats, though different fabrics and shades of his signature purple, hung in the coat closet. One of his jester headed canes sat beneath, leaning against her vacuum.

Seeing his handguns casually out on a table or in a shoulder holster slung over the back of a chair was normal now and loose ammo cartridges were scattered around the apartment. Erring on the side of caution, she didn't move them, though she suspected it was less "strategic placement in case of attack" and more him emptying his pockets wherever he pleased. Appropriately, the Joker's belongings were home to a seemingly endless assortment of pill bottles, knives, and colorful "props" that she, as a rule, always considered dangerous.

They had meandering talks about everything and nothing, enjoying the constant stream of comedy that he played on the television. Relaxing on the couch, his head in her lap, her fingers brushing through his tousled curls as the smoke from their cigarettes curled around and up. She often snuggled against his chest in bed, her petite form enveloped by his long arms and his hands petting the back of her neck. At times, Harley had watched him sleep, marveling in the rare stillness of a face so often in motion.

She had to admit, she hadn't been this happy in years. It was so nice to have someone to come home to, even if it was sporadic.

And she noticed those eyes she had been so scared of following her home...they were strangely absent whenever he was around.

Harley brushed her teeth vigorously, taking note of his own purple toothbrush looking up at her. She shook her head in disbelief at the turn of events that had brought her here. It was such an innocuous thing, a toothbrush, but it was his and it was next to hers, something she doubted anyone else could ever claim.

The thought put a bounce in her step. She placed her own toothbrush in the holder next to his and skipped out of the bathroom to her bedroom.

"Well, someone's in a good mood tonight," he commented, looking up from his phone as she hopped into bed next to him.

"Why shouldn't I be?" She asked, melting into the sheets beneath her. "Life is good."

"Is it, cupcake?" He looked down at her suggestively, giving Harley that fluttery drop feeling in her stomach. "I know something that would make it even better."

Giving a blowjob was like riding a bike, Harley thought, falling quickly into the familiar movements with her tongue and lips. The Joker's cock was thick and long enough that she could only get a few inches after the head into her mouth at once, though he didn't seem to mind, petting and stroking her hair while murmuring words of affection and encouragement. She swirled her tongue around the soft skin near the slit, her left hand cupping and fondling his balls gently. Her right wrapped around the exposed length of shaft she couldn't fit in, her own fair complexion seeming like a deep tan next to his ever so lightly pink-tinged alabaster and tiny pulsing blue veins.

Though Harley was no stranger to giving head, she was surprised with how much more into it she was than with previous men, actually working herself up even with all her concentration on his pleasure.

And his were the only eyes she could see.

[bd-bandkanon]

so I’ve been playing this game called Kenshi and it’s ruining my life I guess?

I did a short 'noob fail’ playthrough with the Wanderer start and a boring random dude I called “Tiddlywinks”. Within 24 in-game hours he broke both his arms trying to fight without weapons, got beat up by hungry bandits, and then got eaten alive by blood spiders, so that didn’t go over well...

But then I started a new game with the Nobodies start. I got to have five characters, though they started out in the horrifically unforgiving desert called Venge, which has broken skeletons (robots) wandering the sands and giant flesh-scorching lasers shooting from the heavens. These guys were my characters. They survived thus far, and have each developed their own array of skills, and as I kept learning about the lore of the game I also began to build on each of their backstories... So here they are in order of appearance I guess lol

-

First there’s the Greenlander Fujin, a twice-traitor to her former factions and the daughter of a high-ranking samurai. First she freed a bunch of slaves and ran away from her home in the Empire-owned city of Heng, then she joined the Dust Bandits and, after some time, abandoned them as well. All she wants in life is a ‘family’ of her choosing. Seems like she’s got what she wants now-- and she’ll do everything in her power to protect them. 

With a Plank type weapon as her go-to and heavy armor to soak damage, Fujin is definitely the tank of the team, but also the fastest for reasons I might explain later...

-

Then we have the Scorchlander twins, both escaped slaves of the Holy Nation and both actively in search of a place they can call home, free of influence from uncaring factions and safe from the dangers of the wild-- like Fogmen for instance. So Mongrel is out of the question. Ares is a vigilante at heart and will be quick to free any slave from their shackles if she sees them, and Vass is constantly prodding the land hoping there’s a place suitable for living. 

Vass is both fast and an excellent dodger, preferring the sabre but capable of martial arts if need be, and Ares is a sharpshooter. (It’s fun to aggro enemies with Vass while Ares bumps them off from a long distance)

-

This next one is pretty long: Leer is a Hive Worker Drone, which are usually dumb and flimsy-- but he’s kind of a rare gem. Stolen from his Hive shortly after his conception by a skeleton named Kite, Leer was raised and educated in Black Desert City, a town run entirely by skeletons in the barren region of persistent acid-rain known as the Deadlands. There he was brought up differently from his Hiver kin, excelling in subjects that even Greenlanders don’t have access to. He was happy there-- until one day Kite vanished, never to be seen again. Leer set off in search of his mentor, but such sudden exposure to the outside world was quite the shock to him. People degraded him for his race, judging his intelligence by it, and used his physical weakness against him. He was a target for everyone and everything, subject to assault and abuse from all angles. It was only a matter of time before he employed the company of two scorchlander twins and a very large woman to protect him on his journey... but deep-set feelings of inadequacy and self-doubt lead him to set his own goals aside in favor of theirs. He truly wishes to be useful to his friends, but at the same time he also wants to be reunited with Kite. Despite all this, despite EVERYTHING, Leer is the brains of the group. A strategist suited for warfare, he has so far orchestrated the most successful of the group’s battles, has prospected the regions, has done all the research-- and very recently he gained the alliance of about 27 damaged skeletons... Very soon people will have to call him Commander Leer. 

On the actual gameplay side of things though, he really IS the best prospector and researcher of the five. I don’t know how I managed this. But I like it. Not to mention he’s pretty formidable with the naginata and other such polearms, though for a while he did tend to have to switch out to katanas because he is indeed squishy and his left arm was quite the target. But now it’s gotten to the point where barely anything can get more than one hit in on him, and that’s not just thanks to his skeleton army.

-

And now for the one we’ve all (just me actually) been waiting for: Ghost. (I briefly considered renaming him Geist because I discovered there’s a canon character named Ghost in the game, but Ghost just suits him better.) Discovered by the group in a ruined lab in Venge, they reportedly witnessed a bunch of skeleton Thralls (headless broken skeletons) working on him. The group wasn’t sneaky enough though and got attacked by these Thralls-- just in time for him to wake up. Just like that, the thralls left without a second notice as if they’d been called away, leaving the four alone with Ghost who quickly got to patching them up. Upon questioning, they discovered that Ghost didn’t remember anything from before he awoke-- not even who he was. It was Vass’ idea to give him the name Ghost, and with nowhere else to go, he chose to accompany them out of Venge and onward. Not long after, problems began to arise. He’d have violent attacks wherein he’d be overtaken by pain and black out. When he’d come to, small memories from his past would become revealed to him. But many of these things wouldn’t add up. As if he’d been in two places at once... Worse yet, he was soon to find that there’s a strange inconsistency with Skeletons, how their memory reportedly degrades over time thus leaving the past in shadows, and yet the way they react to his own plight... Very distressing, one might say. Either way, it’s this plight of his that inspires the group to venture to places they would otherwise never attempt to travel, and uncover things no man should ever see. He’s a driving force, almost as if he’s meant to lead them... somewhere. Who knows where. Only time will tell.

Ghost’s stats are the best out of all of them, all things considered. Mainly relying on katanas, with a hand in ranged weapons as well, he’s more often than not the last one standing. He’s even taken on entire hordes of enemies while his companions lay helpless. In short, he’s a freaking badass. It’s wise not to mess with him, even if you think you have him outnumbered. (But I wouldn’t put him up against a group of crab raiders...)

One final note, I actually had to rework Ghost’s design because honestly? I can’t draw the canon design for the typical skeleton without making it look janky as all hell. So I came up with something --- close, but definitely not the same.

But now that I’ve finally got all that down on paper I can finally go to bed I’ll probably talk more about this later goodnight bye

[sharperthewriter]

How the Rockwaller Stole Christmas (2/2)

(PART VI) The bad guys all slithered and snuck with vile smiles most unpleasant

Around the entire den and living room, they took all the Possible presents

Ann's jewelry set and new brain surgeon tools, Kim's new Kimmunicator The Tweebs' drone with a flamethrower nicknamed "The Incinerator" James' rocket set, Joss's mechanical horse went amiss And his latest version of "Fortress"! She even took Larry's Bernalus Senator action doll as seen To her, it would look even better soaked in gasoline But that's not all, no.... For she had more gifts to steal, though. Bonnie wanted to inflict more damage to them. To that point, she had Junior steal Ron's PSX720 and "Zombie Mayhem"!

Once the den was taken care of, there was the next phase of the plan. The kitchen was the next victim room, if one can understand. Junior and the henchmen seemed invincible like the Terminator They then began to raid the refrigerator They took the Possible's feast This included Nana's lemon-squares and even the Roast Turkey Beast. They cleaned out the fridge quickly like The Flash They even took the last can of Slim Possible's Montana potato hash.

They took all the toys and food out the open door, not too far. To the 'borrowed' trailer hitched on Cruella's 'borrowed' car Bonnie giggled with glee "Now..." the Queen grinned, "Junior, take the tree!"

Just as Junior did so, she almost made a fatal mistake One of the members heard the sound, turned on the light, suddenly awake Bonnie gasped and quickly instructed the henchmen to hide. Leaving only Junior without a hiding place inside. She feared that this would be Kim Whom would not be afraid to use all 16 styles of Kung Fu against her and him. To her amazement, she saw that it wasn't a Possible who got out of bed. But it was a STOPPABLE instead.

(PART VII) Hana Stoppable had heard the sound and came to. She, at time, was no more than two.

She was adopted by the Stoppable parents, not a few months sooner Ron once even called her "The Intruder"

But her big brother loves her so much If one enemy harmed a hair on her, they would DEFINITELY regret that touch

Coming out of bed Hana stared at Junior and said: Santy Claus? Why are you taking our Christmas tree? Why?

Junior, learning from his lessons with Shego Knew a perfect lie It was to boost his ego And to keep their plan alive

"Why, my sweet dear..." the fake Santa fibbed "There's a burnt-out light on the tree..if you can see.. Bonnie smiled, for she taught him to ad-lib For it is so Junior gave out a big Ho-Ho-Ho "I'm taking it back to my workshop up the North Pole My elves will work on the tree that also has a huge trunk hole."

Hana did indeed observe the hole in the trunk He instructed one of his 'elves' to put the tree in a very large sack. "Don't worry, I'll bring the tree right back."

The fib easily fooled the child And Junior patted her head. He gave her a warm glass of milk And sent her to bed.

Once Hana left the living room space The henchmen, and Bonnie, came out of their hiding place She exclaimed "That was extremely close. Now let's finish up the job, you dog

Take the last thing in their house! The yule log!"

Junior took the Possible's log for their fire. The HenchCo henchmen left nothing but hooks and bare wire.

(PART VIII) It was now quarter to 6. Bonnie and Junior were doing their final tricks. They had stuffed every last bag and tied it with ties. Bonnie gasped, looking at the sunrise. "Junior, start the car! "We have to make sure the Possible's Christmas will not go far!

And to his intuition Junior went into the car, followed by Bonnie, and started the ignition The DeVille vehicle sped off from sight From the theft of the Possible house that occurred during the night. The henchmen's HenchCo automobiles followed as well To make sure that everything Possible-related burns in the flames of Hell

About 4,000 feet up outside the city limits of Middleton The car came to a stop at such precision. Bonnie asked "Junior, do you have the two tanks of gasoline?" Junior took out the tanks from the trunk, so that they could be seen "They are right here, my love, for it will be brighter Once we set the gifts and food on fire." The henchmen also got out of the cars too To unload the trailer filled with the gifts and food They moved the trailer from the DeVil car 1500 feet away So that no fatalities or injuries would result that day.

"Wait..." Bonnie paused, stopped and stared, "The Britinia CD! That is the only gift to be spared If the disc doesn't skip or hinder."

"But the rest of it? Burn it to a single cinder!"

One of the henchmen gave her the gift she wanted the most. They have now received their instructions to reduce everything to toast.

"Before you can do that, I must hear... ...The sound that the Possibles most fear" Bonnie insisted with, again, her sexy grin "I want to relish my victory, my triumph, my win!"

She was constantly humming

"As we speak, the Possibles are finding out now Including Kim, the big, fat redheaded pig-cow Their Christmas is not coming. That will definitely make up for me being sad For all the crappy Christmases I had!"

Junior added, "They're waking up, and their mouth with drop for a minute or two. Then the Possibles in the Possible will cry boo-hoo!"

(PART IX)

"This is a glorious noise...." grinned Bonnie, "....that we simply must hear. Both Bonnie and Junior  paused and put a hand to her pierced ear.

The evil couple did hear a sound rising over that heavy snow. It indeed started low, then....it started to grow!

To the Evil Couple's shock, the sound from the Possibles wasn't sad. This sound was more in the area of....glad!

Every Possible down in the Possible-house The tall and the small Was singing their carols without any presents at all.

The Queen hadn't stopped the Possible Christmas from arriving, it came. Somehow, in the mystery of life, it came all the same. And the Queen and Junior, with her  boots cold stuck in the snow, stood puzzling Puzzling and wondering and mustering How could it be so?

It came without her mother's jewelry case! It came without the wannabe's Kimmunicator! It came wihout her dad's rocket set! It came without the Tweeb's Drone Incinerator!

Junior suddenly thought of something his tiny mind hadn't before. "Maybe the Possible Christmas....means a little bit....more!"

Bonnie gasped. She hadn't thought of this. Of Junior having a change of heart on her evil list. "Junior, what the Hell have you been smoking?"

"You really must be truly joking!" But Junior gave Bonnie a treasonous reply. With a bit of a small sigh

"No, my beautiful brunette! It's the Possible family coming together that is the primary reason To celebrate their Christmas season." Bonnie growled. She didn't know what to do at this junction. Her family, with all of its gossip and intrigue, erred on the side off dysfunction. What happened then?

Through the TRUE meaning of Christmas, Junior's heart grew three sizes that day. In a sort of a miraculous way. But then, from the city, came a loud holler The Queen gasped in horror after recognizing that voice: BONNIE MARIE ROCKWALLER!!

This left her no choice.

(PART X) Bonnie sneered, thinking for herself, "If you don't have the gumption To do a lot of destruction. Then I will do the evil deed myself."

She  swiped the gas cans away from Junior's hands And was about to accomplish her own dastardly evil plans. Bonnie gave an evil cackle What she didn't expect was a hard-charging tackle From the 'redheaded pig-cow' she had called Kim moments ago The gasoline went onto the DeVille car to and fro. "Now, Tweebs!" the world-saver yelled, tackling her rival in the attack Both Jim and Tim freed the drone from its prison sack. With the flamethrower as its primary weapon, it's target in sight. It breathed fire on the gas-covered DeVille car, ready to ignite. The DeVille Car blew up in a blaze of glory Of twisted Detroit (actually UK) metal and steel (and thankfully, things that are not gory) The HenchCo henchmen, seeing this destruction Tried to get out of here, wishing they had jobs in construction. But almost all of their vans stalled out and didn't move, to their dismay. Ron and Rufus has loosened their air from their tires, and Rufus said OK!

"Bonnie....you should know better than that in this sitch!"

"Of all the evil things you have done, this is the most wrongsick of all, you evil witch!" Growled Kim, wresting with the brunette. "K, it's no fair of what you and your fam are doing.

Living next door to me, and enjoying Christmas while I stare out of the window, losing!" Kim then replied, "Then why don't you move out?

Before I force you on me my puppy-dog pout!" And she did make the PDP

Bonnie covered her eyes, not wanting to see.

Not literally, Kim gave Bonnie a black eye. Thankfully, Hana told Ron about Junior's flat-faced lie. As if the Christmas Day started off worse on Bonnie, for sure She then tripped and fell into a pigsty filled with manure.

What Bonnie didn't know was that Junior, finding the meaning of Christmas came through. He now has the strength of 50 henchmen, plus two. With his heart hadn't felt quite so tight. Junior, Ron, and Rufus.  up the only active HenchCo van in the morning light. The one minivan whose tires were not slashed Bonnie screamed as Kim cuffed her rival behind her back, the former's reputation now gashed.

Junior descended down toward Middleton eating crumpets And Ron blew out a charging tune on the top of the van from his ramhorn trumpet.

Everyone went back into Middleton And went back to the Possible abode and released the toys. To Joss, Cousin Larry, and the Twin Possible Boys Junior brought back Ann's jewelry box and Kim's new model Kimmunicator. The drone carried its toys to the den with its' now-closed incinerator. Larry was especially delighted a lot When he received his versions of Fortress and Everlot He even jumped through the hall on a football That Junior gave him back both his Bernalus Senator action doll

Everyone, except for Bonnie, brought everything back, including the food and feast. And to the youngest Rockwaller's shock and disgrace Adding a banana-cream pie to her face. Junior even....carved the Christmas Turkey Beast.

Though Kim interrupted the festivities and said, "You know, Junior, both you and Bonnie will be serving time in prison instead."

"The police are going to arrest you for the robbery that you two performed last night And of course, they are going to read you the Miranda Right You still did the crime You still are going to have to do the time. As for Bon-Bon, the School Board will decide your fate, you stupid clod And also for your position on the MHS Cheer Squad.

So, Bonnie and Junior were led away in the wagon, facing their stupid decision Of doing this crime that would definitely lead them to prison "Now..." the driver said in a familiar voice. "...you two have done well as so You especially, Miss Rockwaller, have obeyed "The Villain Code" Both Junior and Bonnie smiled with delight, for they recognized his evil demeanor The driver took off his mask, revealing to be Senor Senior Senior

For Bonnie's relationship with Junior, everything was forgiven. When Junior gave her a wad of $500,000 rolled up in fresh crisp Benjamins "You have chosen your mate wisely, young lady, Except for the fact that my son suffered a good gaffe But no matter, when the weather is sunny or shady We shall all practice our evil laughs!"

And they all laughed in the wagon for sport While Senior took them on helicopter to the island from the airport.

THE END

[loftyexecutor]

heroes, even in the morning

characters; everyone wc; 1088 rating; t au; superheroes notes; oh you know

Move.

Move. Get up.

Move! Get out of there!

It is on shaky legs that he finally manages to stand up, only swaying the barest amount. His ears ring and head pounds with a mixture of a migraine and nausea, swirling together into a foul combination of gross.

That's gonna leave a bruise.

It takes a moment to remember who he even is, who he's supposed to be. His feet hurt and he tries not to think of the shrapnel digging into his calves through his insulated suit.

Esper.

He's Esper now, Diabolic Esper, and right now he's in the middle of a fight, an ambush?, with blinding blades and zinging arrows being exchanged ceaselessly. A shadow slides into his vision, offering a dismembered hand to steady him. Offer an energy replenishment.

He takes it with a grateful, if lopsided smile, and drinks up the energy flowing into him like a starving man. Apostasia's face betrays no feelings as usual, and while it's somewhat reassuring to know he's alright and still peppy enough to share energy, Esper can't help but try and dispell the air of shame he feels.

"I knew I shouldn't have gotten out of bed today. The computer was saying something’s up," he says, chuckling slightly, a sound Apostasia doesn't return. Esper's eyes flicker to the side, menus at the edges of his vision displaying green stats for all his weapons and shields. Too bad he himself feels nowhere near green.

He doesn't really want to, but he can't help reminiscing how they'd ended up where they are.

He always hopes, somewhere deep within, that he'll be granted a single peaceful morning, but he's never had the luck necessary for the universe to grant him that. Coupled with the fact that he hadn't slept a wink all night and is now trying his hardest to quiet the low hum of the coffee maker from the back of his mind, he just wants to curl up in his bed and hibernate through everything.

Again, he doesn't have the privilege to. He has other privileges, like sitting down at the kitchen table that dwarfs him in size and waiting for the rest of the team to assemble for a morning meeting.

He's the first one, this time. It's always a flip of a coin with him; he likes the times he isn't the first, when he doesn't stay up all night trying to perfect a new idea, something someone asked of him and he wouldn't even consider if he weren't trying to avoid the nightmares plaguing the vicinity of his bed. But there's something enchanting about being the first one.

He gets to see everyone pouring in, can make sure everything is running as it should be with them.

The first one, not counting him, is always the Commander. Despite his name, he doesn't run the show, though Esper sometimes thinks it'd be better if he did. Don't tell Infinity that. He hadn't even thought that, nuh uh. Esper asks if everything is alright with his arm, even when he can hear it humming to him, loud and clear and obviously needing recalibration but not much else. It's courtesy, something Esper is trying his best to work at.

Commander shakes his head and smiles. He's grateful for the question, Esper can tell even without words.

The second is Trooper, already up and chipper after his morning workout. Night Watcher is usually right on his tail; she loves her morning walks (she refuses to call them patrols, even though that's what they are).

Seraph comes, ignoring Esper's offer to perform her daily checkup, and Demonio drags Diabla in a little later, to make sure she eats the most important meal of the day.

The others trickle in afterwards, depending on who is feeling how, and who ignored their alarm(s).

Somehow, it feels almost like a family meal, what with Infinity and Witch arguing constantly and Night Watcher trying her best to calm them down while Commander did what he did best. No, not pummeling villains into a crisp, but yes, he's very good at that as well.

"And if someone," he sighs, looking at Infinity pointedly, "hadn't issued an order to 'go -- and I quote -- home and chill out cause we fucking earned it', we would've had the dude in prison by now. So now we're on a hunt."

Infinity doesn't even have the decency to look guilty, but then again, why should he? It'd been a tough day - hell, week! even more, he can't even remember the last time he'd stopped and not done… this heroic thing - and he wanted everyone to finally get some rest.

But the world doesn't work like that.

One minute they're all bickering, and the next, the window on their left is being shattered with a deafening crash. In flies a grenade, landing perfectly in the platter holding Witch's favored pastries.

It hums loudly, too loudly. He blinks at it.

Two seconds left on the timer.

"Duck!" he shouts, instincts taking over as he yanks the closest person - who just so happens to be Apostasia, so quiet Esper had almost overlooked his presence earlier - down by the sleeve.

Apparently two seconds isn't as long as he thinks, because he doesn't get under the table level before the grenade goes off with a blinding red flash. The force is more than enough to send him careening into the wall, back arching painfully from the impact.

And that leaves him assessing the dining hall, doing his best to ignore the pounding warnings at the edge of his vision. They're better after Apostasia's energy boost.

Infinity is holding his blades tightly, hair a mess and look wild. Beneath his feet lay the remains of what once probably used to be an attack drone, decommissioned and silent. His eyes meet Esper's and his lips quirk up, lopsided grin splitting his face.

"Idiots. Don't they know whatever technomancer they send after us has nothing on our own?" he chides, beckoning Esper to pick himself together.

And the worst part is, it works.

Esper takes a deep breath and calls forth his own weapons. Infinity is grinning madly when he takes his spot by the leader's side, foot perched right over the remains of the drone and driving it into even tinier pieces of scrap beneath his sole.

He's not Velder's best technomancer for nothing, after all, and whoever thinks they can challenge the Search party will surely benefit from a few years in VCPD's prison.

"It's show time, everyone! Let's clean up our city!"

[jadekitty777]

Doomsday Dinner Party

Ooooh, we’re starting to hit some of my personal favorites for the week! 

Day 3 – Best-Worst Date @taiqrowweek

Summary: The world might be over as they know it, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t still time for a dinner date. [Zombie/Walking Dead AU]

Rating: T

Warnings: Just your typical things you’d expect in a zombie story – gore and lots of cussing.

Ao3 Link: Doomsday Dinner Party

~

“What’s all this?”

Tai looked up at the tall, lanky man who had just entered the room. He waved to the spread along the table like a game show host would when showing off a prize. “Dinner.”

“Yeah but what’s with the candles and the-” He looked around the table as if hoping to find something else to point out and just settled for repeating, “…candles?”

“Qrow, if you are about to tell me you have never been on a date before when you are the smoothest motherfucker I have ever known, I’m going to develop a complex.” Tai deadpanned.

The man barked a surprised laugh, raising a hand to his mouth to stifle some of it, but the wide grin stayed. “I think we’ve been hanging out too much if you’re starting to talk like me.”

“Your sense of humor is hilarious.” He retorted, pointing to the chair opposite him. “Now sit your ass down and eat.”

“Yes sir!” He saluted him before doing as told. He picked up his fork, looking down at the blue-trimmed plate.  To pretend the warmed up can of green beans and the strips of beef jerky was a feast by any measure of the word was so utterly absurd Qrow didn’t even bother joking about it as he carried on, “And you even dug out the good china and silverware! You really went all out. All for lil’ ol’ me?  What’s the occasion? Wait!” He mock gasped. “Please don’t tell me I forgot our anniversary.”

“Qrow this is our first date. Shut up already.” His tone was as dry as the Arizona desert, unamused at the other’s antics. He paused, then added hesitantly, “I just, wanted something normal. You know?”

The other speared some vegetables, expression bitter. “Nothing’s normal anymore.”

Tai looked away. “Yeah.”

There was a thick lull that settled, no other sound but a battery-powered clock that was miraculously still ticking. Qrow broke it with a sigh, “I’m being an ass again, aren’t I?”

“Lil’ bit.”

“Sorry.” He pointed finger-guns at him and winked, “Let me make it up to you tonight baby. I’ll rock your world.”

“Oh for the love of God. You’re the fucking worst.” Tai groaned.

“Since you’re like the only other person in a three-hundred mile radius, does that mean I get second place? Because, I gotta say, that’s actually a step up for me.”

He couldn’t decide if the joke was in bad taste or not, but it was so left field he couldn’t help but chuckle, if only because Qrow’s eternal insufferableness still managed to be endearing. He wasn’t the only other person in a three-hundred mile radius – or at least he hoped he wasn’t. It was hard to say if they just hadn’t seen anyone else because they weren’t staying in one place for very long or if just that few people had survived once the real fallout began.

The news of a chemical bomb striking Canada in early September had hit overnight and by that morning, Tai was being called to arms for the national crisis. He barely had time to think as he packed up some of the girls’ clothes and toys and dropped them off with his ex-wife. “It’ll be just a few weeks. I’ll be home in time for Christmas.” He had told them just before he drove off to the nearest military airport in central Texas.

Christmas was months ago.

The attack had been without provocation and even if the source was ever determined, his platoon had never been told. At first, his only assignment was to provide immediate relief to surviving victims – but upon arrival, he’d found himself in a warzone. No one knew what to make of it. It was like a nightmare as they were overwhelmed by a force they hadn’t been prepared to fight.

The dead just… coming back to life. The bodies of former comrades rising from the ground, mindless and hungry before they turned on them. If one was lucky, either they killed it or were killed. If one was unlucky and only got bit, then it was days of suffering as the body overran with the volatile sickness that had people running high-grade fevers and coughing up blood. By the time they had figured anything out, so many were already gone – and it only grew worse as information of in-home attacks started coming in. The chemicals had poisoned the air and spread across the states and into Mexico. Hospitals and morgues were overrun within days and, soon, entire towns.

Tai could still hear Summer’s terrified cries as he gave her directions to a military encampment and told her to take the girls and stay there. Gave promises he doubted he could keep that he would come get them. Choked down his own sobs when he told his girls, maybe for the last time, how much he loved them.

He tried to reach Raven as well, but his ex-girlfriend never answered. He left the information on her machine anyways, praying she got it but fearing it was already too late.

After a month, the blackouts started. Reports stopped coming in. Within another week, people started to desert. He followed his own squad as far as the Montana border and that was about when General Ironwood, sounding a little unhinged, started talking plans about storming the Pentagon. For what reason, he never made clear, but that was all Tai needed to hear to know it was time to set out on his own. He tried to invite Winter along, knowing his lieutenant was desperate to head to California where her own family was but, for reasons he couldn’t quite fathom, she declined, leaving him only her blessings.

Getting out of just Montana took weeks; the streets were crowded with abandoned cars and being forced to avoid towns with large populations was making him take detour after detour. It was shortly after the ground was dusting with the season’s thicker snowfall that he found himself in a department store, desperately searching for something, anything, to eat. What greeted him instead was a grand ol’ view of some guy’s pale ass while he slipped on a pair of “free” boxers in the middle of an aisle.

That was how he met Qrow.

They bonded over a pack of Oreos and some Snapple. As it turned out, they were both headed the same way. Qrow had an estranged twin sister he hadn’t seen in years but knew had been living in Wichita Falls. “It’s appropriate, since she’s a witch herself” He had jeered. Apparently, the two had been split up when their parents divorced and they hadn’t kept close contact over the years. When Tai asked why he’d seek her out at all, the other man just shrugged and looked away, his gaze dark. “Nothing else for me here.”

He didn’t ask any more questions after that.

“Gotta say,” Qrow’s voice brought him back to the present. He was eyeing some of the candles that were burning brightly on the kitchen counter. “I know I’m being a bit of jerk about it but, this is actually kind of nice.”

He smiled happily though he couldn’t resist teasing, “That’s only making me worry more that this really is your first date.”

“Of course not. Just, I always had a bit of trouble keeping my relationships long term. My longest was maybe a year and then I just started to purposely distance myself until Oz got fed up and walked.” He scratched the end of his nose, looking both a mixture of amused and sheepish. “According to my old AA coach, aside from all the rampant drinking, I also have a bad habit of sabotaging myself due to my insecurities. Purposely avoiding calls and being late. Picking fights just because. That sort of thing. It was part of my ‘recovery’ to work on it.” He rolled his shoulders some, “But obviously, I still do it.”

“You’re not that bad.” Tai reassured. After a moment, he snorted and added, “Actually, you’re no worse than me really. I tend to rush things. I was jumping into bed with Rae without asking all the important questions. She never wanted to be a mom, but I didn’t find that out until after she was pregnant with Yang.” He rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, his face flushing with embarrassment. “And with Summer, I somehow was even worse. I proposed after we were only together six months. So when she just told me one morning she wanted a divorce because she wasn’t happy with me, well… that was a hell of a blow. I told myself next time I’d do it right and take things slow.” He looked across the table, waving between them, thinking of the various nights they had lain together. “Instead, I’ve upgraded to pulling off the clothes before the first date.”

“Wow, we’re perfect for each other.”

“That’s one way to put it.”

Qrow chuckled, popping a strip of jerky in his mouth and saying around it, “To be fair, there’s not much opportunity to do anything slow right now.”

“Nor is self-improvement a high priority when you’re constantly running for your life.” He countered. He had to wonder what it said about both of them that, despite knowing those things, they were still making an effort regardless.

“For what it’s worth,” Qrow said as he set his fork down, “If I have to walk through this hell on earth, I-”

He never got to finish before the sound of a siren loudly going off jolted them both to their feet. They stared at one another with wide eyes, before they hurried to peer out the kitchen window. They had holed up in a small, fenced in home that was part of the rural district on the north side of town. They hadn’t bothered to waste energy clearing the streets, so they could see how the straggling dead were lifting their heads and starting to stumble down the street.

Tai turned his head some, listening to the pulsing drones that echoed across the town. “Is that… the tornado siren?”

“How is it even going off?”

He shook his head. “They have back-up power for emergencies. Maybe something malfunctioned?” Or someone was setting it off intentionally, though he couldn’t fathom the reason why if that were the case. “Either way, that’s gonna attract a lot of attention if it keeps up.”

Qrow took a few steps back, frowning. “Then we need to leave, now.” He turned, heading for the den where their stuff was. “Can’t get a damn bit of sleep like this.”

Tai glanced out at the darkness warily, not really liking the idea of traveling at night. But knowing the alternative could be worse if they got caught in an unexpected horde, he blew out the candles and joined the other in gathering their things. They searched the house one last time for any last provisions they could scrounge up and poured the melted wax from the candles before packing them up too. Most of the lumbering dead had made it to the street corner by the time they stepped outside and the jarring noise of the alert and the thickness of the summer’s heat and humidity pressed down on them.

Tai pulled open the gate while Qrow started the car, the roar of the engine gearing up being lost to the siren’s call. He hopped into the passenger seat, saying, “Looks like they’re heading towards the center of town.”

“Then we know where we’re not going.” He backed the car up, heading up the street. “Alright navigator, which way should we go?”

“Go left. We should avoid the main street.” Tai said, turning on the overhead light and unfolding their map. He ran his finger down the blue trail lines. Even though the 44 was a straight shot into Wichita, they definitely wanted to avoid going through Lawton. “If we keep going down this way, eventually we’ll hit a road that crosses into the 17. We can follow it up to Sterling and stay there for the night. It’s mostly just countryside from here to there. Should only take an hour or so.”

The other nodded, leaning back some as he drove with one hand. Tai could have believed he was entirely relaxed, if not for the white-knuckled grip he had on the wheel. “Sounds good to me.”

He clicked the light back off and settled back as well. With no street lamps and the moon barely a crescent, there wasn’t much to see. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; without all the light pollution, the sky was littered with more stars then he’d ever seen in his entire life. Clusters upon clusters of them that shaded the sky in a dark sapphire blue and the barest hint of violet nebula clouds that he’d taken to admiring during times when they were holed up and safe. Sometimes Qrow would join him and they’d huddle under a shared blanket as they tried to pretend they knew anything about constellations.

“They’re not all dragons Tai.”

“Oh fine.” He moved his finger in a few wide arcs.

“What are you making?”

“A crow. The dragon needs a meal after all.”

“I can’t decide if you’re trying to scare me or seduce me.”

After a few minutes, they were already out of the small town and into nothing but miles of dark fields on either side. Qrow was keeping their speed tempered so they could avoid any potential hazards. Still, Tai tried to stay alert, knowing they could come upon something at a moment’s notice whether it be an abandoned vehicle or a shambling body. It was why he didn’t miss something shifting in the dark and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“I see it.” Qrow murmured softly, the headlights illuminating the form of a deteriorating body that was reaching out for them before he swerved carefully around it.

A few feet later, there was a small group of about three that they also drove around. When they hit another cluster, this one a little bigger, Tai felt tension coiling within him, gripping his own knee tightly. “Qrow…”

His partner shifted forward, gripping onto the wheel with both hands now, “Maybe we – fuck!” The tires screeched as he slammed on the brakes.

Tai caught himself on the dashboard as momentum jerked him forward, heart stuttering to a stop at the sight of the massive horde now illuminated in their headlights. They came lurching towards the car, the sound of their snarls loud over the hum of the engine, a few hands banging onto the hood.

Beside him, Qrow cursed again as he fumbled for the gear shift, throwing them into reverse. “HOLD ON!” Tires screeched as he hit the gas pedal hard and they shot backwards, only for them to slam into the bodies that had been behind them. The whole car shook hard enough toss them in their seats and rattle their bones.

And then the back of the car pitched upwards like it was on a hill and stopped.

Qrow’s breathing was coming out in rapid pants, slamming his foot on the gas again and again as the mass of dead came closer. The tires were spinning but the car wasn’t moving. He gave a yell of frustration, tearing off his seatbelt and reaching over the backseat for his weapon. “Get our stuff, I’ll cover you!”

Tai didn’t argue, throwing open his door. It smashed into a few of the bodies that had started to come close and he dove out of the car, pulling open the back seat, tossing the duffel bag and backpack over his shoulders. While he was, Qrow slid across the hood of the car, landing on his side and swinging his gardening scythe in a fierce arc, looking much like the grim reaper himself as he lobbed off a few heads.

Tai unsheathed his own machete knife, slamming it up the underside of someone’s jaw, a harsh kick dislodging her and throwing her down. “Come on!”

The other threw a few more wild swings before turning and sprinting back down the road with him, his long legs making it effortless in catching up, angling his weapon astride himself. Their feet pounded together on the asphalt, a discordant harmony to the growls and snarls following behind them. “Now what?!”

“We run back to town!” Tai replied, reaching behind him to grope for the mesh pocket on the side of the backpack. They had only been driving a little while. They couldn’t be more than a few miles from town – but even if they got back, then what? Unless the horde moved on, they’d be trapped. His hand caught around the flashlight and he yanked it out in front of him, the beam of light bouncing along the road as he tried to guide their way, only to reveal a slowly growing crowd stumbling up on the street from the west side. “Shit! This way!”

They ran a diagonal path into the fields, the tall weeds swallowing their shins. The taller pushed back his bangs, throwing a look over his shoulder. “Why are there so many?!”

He yelled back between gasps for air, sweat already slicking his skin from the heat. “They must be coming off the freeway! They’re probably following the others because of the siren!” And now they were following them, pushing them away from the road and from the town. Without having slept or eaten well lately, Tai knew they were going to run out of energy very quickly. If they didn’t think of something soon, they were going to die.

Qrow slowed his pace some, squinting at a dark, imposing shape they were quickly approaching. “I think something’s ahead of us!”

He held the flashlight forward, exposing circles of white that didn’t make sense at first until they started to get closer. It was a brick wall that was about nine feet tall and, as he waved it down both sides, found it was covering a few acres worth of land. They’d never be able to run along it without being intercepted.

His grit his teeth as he realized their only choice was to go over.

As he put away the flashlight and his knife, Tai looked to the man beside him, the worried look on Qrow’s face clearly telling him he was coming to the same conclusion. “Can you make that jump?”

“Yeah, I got it!”

As they came to the wall, Tai ran ahead, finding purchase against the brick, lunging upwards. His right hand caught along the back of the fence, using the leverage to pull himself up. As he did, a scythe flew by, Qrow having pitched it over like it was a javelin. He looked over, seeing the other man distancing himself a few paces before rushing forward and taking a leap.

The tips of his fingers grasped onto the edge before he was falling back to the ground. The man cursed, stumbling backwards and shaking out his hands before trying again. His second attempt fell even shorter. Qrow looked up at him, panicked, while the growls behind him grew ever closer. “Uh, Tai?!”

Tai glanced to the other side of the wall, seeing nothing in the enclosure except some large tanks – a propane facility, possibly – and yanked off the bags, throwing them over the side. He swung around, jumping back down. “I’m gonna vault you over, alright?” He clasped his hands together into a make-shift stirrup. “Put your foot here and put the other on the wall. You jump and I’ll push you upwards. Got it?”

“Yeah!” He replied, placing his foot in his hand as told.

He counted down, “One, two, three, JUMP!” Suddenly, all of Qrow’s weight was on him as he hopped up. Tai’s arms shook with the strain, lifting the other’s leg high when he was able to grab the edge again, the extra height giving him the boost he needed to scrabble on top. Once he was sure the other was secure, he took a few steps back as he readied himself again.

Just as he was about to run forward, a hand grasped onto the back of his shirt and a hiss echoed in his ears.

“TAI!”

Acting on instinct, he threw his arm back, his elbow driving home into the nose of his captor, throwing him and his gnashing teeth miles from his shoulder. He pivoted on his toes as he drew his machete again, hurling it into the skull of another, but when it didn’t slice through like he wanted, he just used the leverage to push the stumbling dead into the crowd behind him, making quite a few fall down like they were dominos. More continued to stagger over them.

Qrow had stood, running lengthwise along the wall as he pulled out his pistol and took shots. “HEY! HEEEY OVER HERE!” The noise he was making was drawing most of them his way.

Taking the opportunity, Tai dashed forward and scurried up the wall a second time, finding it much harder this time when his whole body shook with effort. He straddled the wall, the adrenalin that had kept him going waning fast. His heart was hammering hard, lungs and eyes burning, muscles trembling with strain and clothes stuck to sweat-soaked skin. He waved when his partner called in concern, wordlessly pointing to the other side, and they both hopped down to the other side. Tai fell back against the wall, hand against his chest as he caught his breath.

Qrow hurried across the grass, fishing again for the flashlight before he turned it on, giving several long, slow sweeps of the area. Other than the tanks he had seen before, there was a single, long, metal warehouse at the far end of the facility. But nothing else. For now, they were safe.

He pulled off from the wall, walking over. “We did it Qr-!”

The flashlight hit the ground, the beam of light dancing as it rolled away, and Qrow whirled on him, dragging him forward into a bruising kiss. After a moment, Tai tore off his bloody gloves, tangling his clean hands into the other man’s hair, kissing back with equal fervor. He hummed pleasurably as their tongues tangled together, the other’s hands slipping up his chest and around his neck.

When they pulled apart, the other whispered breathlessly against his lips. “I’m glad it’s with you.”

“What?” Tai gasped back.

Qrow pulled back slightly, his gaze intense as he said heatedly. “If I had to walk through this hell on earth, I’m glad it’s with you.”

Tai stared back at him, his heart thudding again for an entirely different reason as he replied, “Yeah. Me too.” And then he lent forward, capturing his lips in another kiss.

~ A/N: Not written – the moment when these two discover that Qrow’s twin sister and Tai’s former girlfriend is the same person.

Also, a dad’s happy reunion with his two precious daughters because for god’s sake I’mnotamonster.

[palerdin]

Home

Argus was a hell of a planet, or really, a hell of a loose collection of rocks floating in space. Mairèad had lost track of how long she, Chadley, and Lorcan had been stationed there, but it felt like years. Twice now, she’d had to add pages to the album they’d been collating of pictures showing the three of them posing triumphantly over some monstrous demonic fiend. Those pictures had grown lackluster, however, as had the Draenic field rations that had served as their primary source of food and the constant fel-green glow from the land below.

Well. The latter had never been exactly pleasant, but now it wasn’t even interesting. It just existed, as they did, day in and day out, like the demons and the shattered world and the ceaseless hum of the orbiting Vindicaar. And truly, Mairèad objectively preferred routine combat situations to chaos and panic, but as their deployment dragged on, she found herself thinking more and more about home.

Where was home, though, really? Was it the Bad Wolf, docked in Stormwind for whenever Mairèad could come back to her beloved ship, the only good remnant of her ill-fated marriage? Was it Stormwind itself? Hearthglen? Dalaran? Azeroth in general?

She thought of this often, particularly when her team of three returned from their Winter Veil holiday, leaving behind the festivities at home for the rocks of Argus once again. Rumor had it that the current campaigns, in Mac’Aree, in Krokuun and the Antoran Wastes, were all part of the final push against Sargeras and the Burning Legion. Antorus, the Burning Throne itself, was under siege by the Light’s best and brightest, and other swords were still needed on the ground, to supply the troops and keep the demonic legions occupied as the death blow came.

One morning (Mairèad thought; time seemed to have lost all meaning since coming here), Chadley shook Mairèad awake long before she would have preferred to wake up. “It’s over,” he said, but he wasn’t smiling much as he said it. “We’ve won.”

Mairèad sat up, pushing hair out of her eyes and wrapping one of the Vindicaar’s scratchy blankets around her shoulders. “What happened?” she asked, offering a sleepy wave to Lorcan, who sat on the bed opposite.

“The usual with this kind of thing. Minimal casualties, thank the Light. Supernatural intervention at the last possible minute, epic tales of heroism, the whole lot. Illidan stayed behind with the Titanic Pantheon to face Sargeras himself, because…”

“...because ‘a course he did,” Mairèad interrupted, rolling her eyes. “So that’s it, then? Clean up and go home now?”

Chadley hesitated a beat. “We’re orbiting Azeroth now. People are departing left and right. But there… well, things didn’t end as cleanly as everyone had hoped.”

Lorcan picked up the tale before Mairèad could ask about it. “In a final act of desperation, as the Pantheon pulled him away, Sargeras drove his sword into Azeroth herself. It’s… well, it’s still there.”

Mairèad’s stomach churned violently. “Where?” she asked. Visions of a devastated Stormwind, of churning seas, of Krogu flashed before her eyes. Chadley held up a hand to calm her.

“Well, that’s the thing. It’s in Silithus, as far as anyone can tell.”

“Silithus!” Now Mairèad let out a laugh of relief. “I mean, no good that there’s a fuckin’ sword comin’ outta th’planet, but of all th’places he coulda hit, at least it’s th’one what oughta be wiped out fer good, right?”

Lorcan and Chadley both gave her half-hearted smiles, and Chadley spoke up. “You’re not wrong. I’m sure there are teams from the Cenarion Circle and Earthen Ring heading there now, but if the Light is just at all, he’ll have taken out whatever remains of the Silithid and the Cult of the Forgotten in the process of trying to destroy the world. Still…”

“Still. It’s a mess,” Mairèad agreed and stretched. “But. We’re goin’ home?”

“Once we receive our official discharge papers, yes.” Lorcan’s smile broadened as he spoke. “The real question is, though: are you going to keep the pictures with you or shall we take them with us?”

Now Mairèad laughed again and clambered out of bed, faster than she usually would have, the idea of finally being home on Azeroth for the foreseeable future giving her the push she needed to hurry through her morning routine and report to their commanding officers for discharge. By what felt like midmorning, the three had teleported to Dalaran with papers in hand, said their good-byes, and headed home in their various directions--Lorcan and Chadley to Hearthglen and Mairèad back to Stormwind and the creaking decks of her ship.

Of course, it was too good to be true. The missive arrived in Mairèad’s mailbox the next morning, bearing the seal of the Alliance. She groaned when she saw it, grumbled, “What now?” and tore open the seal.

The words blurred together somewhat after she read the first line of the missive: Forces needed for a special assignment in SILITHUS. An odd pain shot through her chest, one that she’d once known intimately but hadn’t felt in a long time. Her hands shook, uncharacteristically, as she tried to read the rest of the missive. Something about mining a new material that had begun cropping up since the sword, something about the Alliance, the Horde, the Twilight’s Hammer.

All of a sudden, Mairèad realized she was about to throw up. She staggered to a nearby planter and coughed up bile and what remained of the previous evening’s dinner. “Fuck,” she rasped. “I’m supposed t’be over this. Get it together.”

But the panic attack wouldn’t stop, and she ended up sinking to her knees, eyes watering at the stench of vomit in the planter beside her. She tried to ground herself by the stench, tried to touch the planter, to gain a sense of something real, but everything was happening too fast. She heard dying gasps of breath. She saw broken, burnt bodies. Chadley, his abdomen mangled from an impalement. Fiery Light engulfing them all, the raging howl of the Apophan, his minions screeching and cackling…

The cabin wasn’t her ship, but it was warm and welcoming, and Chadley and Lorcan had at least been dressed when she arrived this time. Mairèad had no idea how she’d gotten there--portals, maybe, or a gryphon--but as soon as Chadley opened the door, she thrust the missive into his hands and sank down into one of their kitchen chairs. “I can’t do it,” she managed to say as he scanned the page, looking similarly pale when he’d finished.

“Is-- are we--?” Chadley stammered a few times before he was able to speak, dropping into the chair beside Mairèad. “It’s not a draft, is it? Not an order?”

Mairèad shook her head. “I… I dunno. I don’t think so. It don’t read like a order, but… what else could it be?”

As she spoke, Lorcan finally made his way to the table and read the missive himself, frowning as he did so. “Odd,” he remarked. “It sounds here like something that’s trying to reignite the war between the Alliance and the Horde. All of the language is painting the missions here as preventing the Horde from doing… something, though I can’t piece together what. Mining new ore, spying on the Horde’s endeavors… why are we at this again, when there’s literally a sword sticking out of the world?”

Neither Mairèad nor Chadley acknowledged that much, even as Lorcan sat himself, resting his hand on top of Chadley’s. And when she looked back at it all later, Mairèad could remember only snippets of the conversation, her mind constantly drifting to those horrific images that would forever come to mind at the mere mention of Silithus. She didn’t leave the cabin until it was growing dark out, even more unsure of her next steps than she had been before.

She couldn’t go back to Silithus; she wouldn’t. What use would she be there? The landscape was vastly changed, but reports told of Ahn’Qiraj itself remaining untouched, and Mairèad could almost feel the incessant droning of the Silithid resonating in her head. The droning that was only broken by the gasps of the dead and dying, the cries of pain, a hissing and unrelenting cackle that echoed across the sands.

Even the calming sounds of her ship and Stormwind outside couldn’t lull Mairèad to sleep. She estimated that it was near four in the morning when she finally rolled out of bed, eyes aching, and slumped over the ill-used writing desk in the corner of her room. Her penmanship was far from its best, and she barely knew if the letter she wrote was legible, but once she’d scrawled it out and sent it, she was finally able to sleep, in anticipation of weighing anchor the next morning.

All the coast of Stranglethorn had in common with Silithus was sand, but it was a beach, and that was different. Mairèad had docked at Booty Bay and trudged along the coast until she came to the place she’d described in her letter, once home to a naga temple and now merely a quiet spit of land with gentle azure waves and a waterfall high above. She settled down on the beach, a jug of rum beside her, and waited, praying that the Azerothian postal system hadn’t slowed down any in her absence.

It hadn’t. The sun was barely reaching the top of the sky when she saw what she’d hoped to see: a broad figure, shorter than the average orc but still head and shoulders taller than she was, trudging towards her from the direction of Booty Bay. She stood, and when he spotted her, he broke into a run through the waves, and she did the same, meeting him halfway and letting him sweep her up in his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist as they kissed.

“Welcome home,” Krogu murmured against her mouth, and Mairèad smiled, something stilling inside of her.

Fuck Silithus, she thought, as she and Krogu sank to the sand, the sea lapping over their bodies. Fuck Silithus, fuck this new warmongering, fuck whatever rocks they’re talking about, fuck it all. I’m home.