#dark!rick flag

[a-reader-and-a-writer-for-all]

The Person I've Become

Fandom: DC, The Suicide Squad, Rick Flag, Dark!Rick Flag

Summary: After he returned from Corto Maltese, Rick thought his life was over. Until, that is, he is reunited with an old acquaintance. But what happens when the truth comes out and it appears he might lose everything once again?

Word Count: 4331

TW: Dark!Rick, Mentions of Past Injury, Betrayal, Death, Suffocation, Lies

Colonel Rick Flag died on the island of Corto Maltese. He was left buried under piles of rubble and debris with a piece of porcelain jutting from his chest. The man who walked out of the hospital a month after the events of that day may have had Rick’s face, but he was no longer that same person. While his body might have been brought home and was on the way to recovery, everything that had made him Colonel Rick Flag was still buried deep within the remains of Jötunheim. His reputation, his career, his patriotism, and, most importantly, his sense of self. Serving his country had been his dream in life for as far back as he could remember. His father, his grandfather, even his great-grandfather, had all served their country with honor and with pride. And now, he had lost all of that. All because of that fucking drive.

As soon as he had gotten out of the hospital, he had tried crawling back to Waller, begging for his job back. However, she had just laughed in his face. After the stunt he pulled that resulted in the remaining members of Task Force X using the drive as a bargaining chip for their freedom, his military career was over. Permanently. Waller had taken extra enjoyment in personally handing him his dishonorable discharge papers and informing him he was permanently blacklisted from all government jobs. And it was at that moment that he realized Colonel Rick Flag had never left Jötunheim.

He had nothing. He didn’t have family or friends outside of the job. His military service had been his entire life. First JROTC in middle school, then ROTC in high school, straight into basic training, multiple overseas tours, running special ops at home and abroad, and finally, the commander of Task Force X. But now, it was all gone. When he was discharged, they had even stripped him of his medals and honors. Erased him as if he had never existed. He had no transferable skills to the civilian world, no alternatives to fall back on. All he knew was how to command, to infiltrate, to kill.

So, that’s what he did.

The one thing his past life had left him was the skills and contacts to become someone else. Someone he hated but someone he knew could do the kinds of jobs he had once fought to stop.

And thus, Ryker was born from the ashes of Rick Flag. A stone-cold assassin who would take any job for the right price. Word began to get around that if you were willing to pay, Ryker would take care of whatever you needed. Didn’t matter the danger, didn’t matter the target, didn’t matter the objective. He took care of everything with a precision and ruthlessness that impressed even the most seasoned or dangerous of criminals. Within two months of first appearing, Ryker had become one of the most notorious mercenaries around.

Sometimes it scared him how similar this new life felt compared to his old one. How the things he had done for the good of his country weren’t all that dissimilar to the things these criminals were asking of him. Was taking a life really so different when it was ordered by the government versus ordered by someone like the Penguin? The only difference seemed to be that one was deemed legal, and the other was not.

And when he considered that, it made him sick to think that if he ever got caught, he would probably end up back in Belle Reve but on the other side of the bars this time. Forced to get a bomb injected into his neck as he was puppeted to his death just as he had puppeted countless others to their deaths. The irony was not lost on him.

As time went on, he began to realize that only Ryker remained. He had been forced to abandon everything from his old life as Rick Flag (his job, his apartment, his identity) in order to create this one. And he slowly started accepting the fact that there was nothing left of the man he was before. Until, one day….

There was a loud knock on the door as he walked out of the bathroom in just his low riding sweatpants, his hair still damp from his shower. Since he had moved into his new apartment, he hadn’t told anyone where he lived. Cautiously, he drew one of his guns from its hiding spot in his end table and approached the door. Cracking it slightly, he blinked in surprise as he saw who it was.

You smiled widely at him as if you had been expected. “Howdy, Colonel. How ya’ doing?”

He quickly tucked his gun behind some books on the table next to him as he stuttered, “Wh-what are you doin’ here?”

“The hospital sends all the agencies a list of people who might need physical therapy after they leave. I know it’s been a few months since you checked out, but you never signed off on a therapist.” He groaned softly. Of course! He had been forced to update his address at the hospital so they could send him his pain medication and follow-up care for his injuries.

“When I saw your name on the list, I jumped at the chance to work with you again. It’s not every day I get to help a real American hero get back on his feet!” You winked before your eyes drifted down to the jagged, red scar that ran down his bare chest. “Yikes. That looks like that hurts.”

Without an invitation, you stepped into his apartment and began running your hand gently over the scar, tenderly probing the muscles around it. He froze, still in shock with your arrival and now this. Since he had left the hospital no one had seen his scar, let alone touched it. And yet here you were, fingers dancing over it like you were strumming a harp. Finally, he came to his senses and growled, “What the hell do you think you are doin’?”

You looked up and noticed his tense expression. Immediately dropping your hand and stumbling back a few steps, you stammered out an apology. “I’m so sorry! I wasn’t thinking. I totally should have asked first. I just saw the injury and went straight into recovery mode and tried to assess the damage. But I’m sure you’re still trying to adjust. I’m just so sorry.”

“It’s okay.” He mumbled, unable to maintain his gruff attitude as he took in your flustered expression.

“No, I mean, just because I’ve worked with you on some of your injuries before it doesn’t give me the right to just barge in here and start putting my hands all over you like that. It was really unprofessional of me. It’s just…we’ve had such an easy rapport in the past, I sort of forgot myself there for a moment. Let’s start over.” You thrust out your hand. “Hi! Good to see you again.”

“It’s… good to see you too.” He chuckled softly as he shook your hand. “And really, it’s okay. You just surprised me, that’s all.”

“I guess that’s to be expected, I didn’t even ask if you were already seeing someone about physical therapy.”

“No…I didn’t really give it much thought. I’ve had a lot going on lately.” He glanced at the stack of books by the door and could just see the top of the gun peeking out from behind it.

But you didn’t seem to notice. Instead, you just nodded. “Oh, I get it. Your file said you were hurt down in Corto Maltese? I saw what happened on the news. It looked so horrifying. But I’m glad you made it back in one piece….even if it looks like they had to stitch two pieces back into one.” You nodded again to his chest.

He shifted uncomfortably, angling away slightly as his sharp tone returned. “Yeah… you could say that.”

You noticed his shift in demeanor and hit yourself in the forehead with your palm. “There I go, opening my big mouth again. I’m sure you don’t want to talk about what happened. Or maybe you can’t. I remember you said there was a lot of security around what you did.”

He didn’t say anything. He just clenched his jaw and tried to ignore the wave of regret that hit him at the thought of his old life.

You must have assumed his tension was still about his scar because you put a hand gently on his elbow, just below his tattoo, and said, “Hey, it’s okay. You’re still as handsome as ever.” This earned you a shy smirk to which you responded with a dazzling smile. “But how are you doing? Any tightness? Lack of mobility? Unmanageable pain? Anything I can help with?”

He shook his head slightly. “Nah, I’m dealin’ with it. I’ve been keepin’ active so that’s been helpin’.”

“That’s great! I always say that’s the best way to speed up the healing process!”

“Yeah, I remember. I remember everythin’ you said last time.”

You bit your lip and ducked your head shyly. “Well, I’m glad to hear you’re taking your recovery seriously. I guess you don’t really need my services then, but it was really great to see you again, Rick.”

He smiled at you. “Yeah, you too.”

You gave his arm a small squeeze then turned and left the apartment. You started to walk away, but just before he closed the door, you called out. “Listen. I might be completely out of line or misinterpreting things, but the last few times I was here, I sort of felt like there might be something between us. I didn’t think it was a good idea to ask you out when I was still your physical therapist and we had to cut your last sessions off so abruptly, I never got to ask you once you were discharged from my care. So, I guess what I’m saying is…. Do you want to grab a drink sometime? With..with me?”

He knew he should say no. This new life he was creating for himself didn’t have any room for the distraction of romance. However…. you were right.

When you had first been assigned to help Rick recover from a shoulder injury sustained on a mission with Task Force X, he had been instantly smitten with you. Your bubbly personality, your intelligence, and your beauty all entranced him. And when you had left after your final appointment, Rick had kicked himself for letting you go.

A few months later, when he had damaged his knee, you had shown back up in his life. And once again, Rick had been captivated by you, if not even more so. He had planned a really romantic dinner for you after your final session, but Waller had called Rick in at the last minute for a mission and he hadn’t seen you again. Until now.

So, even though everything in him said it was a bad idea, when he opened his mouth, “Yes” tumbled out. Your face lit up like a Christmas tree and you handed him a piece of paper with your number. As he took it from you, you darted up and placed a soft kiss on his cheek before hurrying away down the hall. He watched you disappear around the corner, a stunned smile spread across his lips. And as he shook his head and closed the door, he realized that for the first time in months, he felt like Rick Flag again.

The next six months passed in a blur. Ryker began getting more jobs than ever as his reputation grew and grew. He was soon traveling all over the world, kidnapping, torturing, and killing anyone who was placed in his sights. He never asked questions, he never tried to figure out why, he just did the job and went home. To you.

Ever since your first date a few days after you had shown back up at his door, your relationship had grown exponentially every day. You were just as amazing as he had remembered, and you soon became the only shining light in the growing darkness of his life. To everyone else, he was Ryker, deadly assassin and ruthless killer. But with you, he was still Rick. You only saw the man he had been before, the man he so desperately still wanted to be. And when he was with you, he could feel a small part of that person creeping back in. Like a ghost or a shade. When he held you in his arms, he felt like himself again. He felt like Rick Flag. And soon, he began to crave that feeling more and more. While Ryker still left on jobs full of blood and death, Rick was the one who would return to your side as soon as possible.

The current assignment had gone terribly. He was distracted thinking about getting home to you, and he had missed the original window to take out the target. After a few more hours of trailing the man, he finally got his shot. Now, as he stalked through the hall of his apartment building, a cigarette lit in his mouth and blood splattered on his shoes, he couldn’t help but silently curse himself for the situation he had put himself in. You were the most important thing in his life, yet you were causing him to become sloppy. And in his business, sloppiness was not an option. But he also knew that he couldn’t let you go. Which meant, eventually, something had to give.

He unlocked his door and walked into his apartment. As he flipped on the light, a voice cried out, “Welcome home, Rick!”

He jumped, hand immediately reaching for the gun tucked in his waistband. But luckily, he recognized the voice before it was too late. Relaxing his stance, he smiled at where you were seated on his couch.

You stood and walked over to him, frowning slightly. “Since when do you smoke?” you asked, taking the cigarette from between his lips and grounding it out on the counter.

“Since I didn’t know you would be here.” He placed a small kiss on your cheek. “Sorry, darlin’. It was a really rough mission. Helps take the edge off.”

Your face softened slightly. “Oh, Rick. I’m sorry. Um…but do you think you could maybe wait until I leave? I don’t want to be a pain, but it can really trigger my asthma.”

“Anything for you. Besides, nothin’ helps me unwind better than havin’ you in my arms.” He wrapped his arms around you as he kicked off his boots, careful to toss them somewhere that you wouldn’t notice the red stains scattered across them. Still holding you tightly, he led you back to the couch and he pulled you down on top of him.

For the next hour or so, the two of you simply lay there wrapped around each other as you told him about how you had been while he was gone. You knew by now that he never talked about where he went or what he did. As far as you were concerned, he wasn’t allowed to divulge government secrets regarding his job so you didn’t ask.

When you finally glanced at your watch, you groaned as you wiggled out of his grasp and stood up. “I wish I could stay later, but I have an early client in the morning, and I still have to go home and take a shower.”

“We could take a shower here.” He grinned as he reached out for your waist. “You have a spare set of clothes in my room.”

You squeezed his outstretched hand but didn’t let him get purchase on his intended target. “I really wish that was it, but I need my files and equipment too. And my apartment’s so far away from here. So, I need to go.”

He stood up and walked over to you. Placing his hands on your shoulder, he began running them up and down your arms. “Actually, I’ve been tryin’ to find the right time to bring this up, and now seems as good as any. Seein’ how we do live so far away from each other and I want as much of you in my life as I can get, I was hopin’ that you might want to move in with me,” he said nervously.

But he had no reason to worry because you immediately threw yourself into his arms and trailed kisses across his neck and face. “Oh, Rick! I’ve been waiting for you to ask me for like a month now! Of course, I’ll move in with you!” He chuckled happily and spun you around, twirling faster as you let out a joyful squeal. You wrapped your legs around his waist as you said, “Oh! Just wait until my sister finds out! She’s always been so jealous I’m dating a soldier, let alone a colonel! And now that we’re moving in together? She’ll be just green with envy!”

He stopped spinning abruptly, causing you to lose your hold on him and sending you tumbling to the floor. Looking up at him in confusion, you asked, “What happened? Was it something I said?”

He had been dreading this moment from the day you walked back into his life. Yet, he also knew he couldn’t lie to you forever and if he wanted to take this next step, he needed to come clean. About everything.

So, as he gently took your hand and helped you back to your feet, he said, “Darlin’, I have to tell you somethin’. And it’s not going to be easy to hear, but I know you love me and that should be enough.”

“What do you mean? About what?”

“About me. About the things I’ve done. About the person I really am.”

You pulled your hand from his grasp. “Rick, you’re scaring me. What’s going on?”

“The man I told you I am, the one you fell in love with….I was that man once. But things happened, I learned the truth, and I’m not that man anymore.”

“What do you mean? You’re Colonel Rick Flag, yo-you lead missions for the government to stop bad people from doing bad things. You’re a hero.”

He shook his head. “I haven’t been that man for a long time. Not since before you came back into my life. Nowadays, I go by Ryker on the job. And Ryker’s not…. he’s not a hero. He’s not a good man.”

“No…but you leave for your task force missions….you’re gone for days at a time and come back banged up from your assignments…” you shook your head, unable to comprehend what he was trying to tell you.

“Not exactly. I do go on missions, but they’re not for the government anymore.” He took a deep breath as he avoided your eye. “I work contracts for anyone willing to hire me. I-I do whatever they hire me to do.”

“Do whatever they hi-” He watched the realization pass over your face like a shadow. “You’re a- I mean you….No, that can’t be true! You can’t be a-” You couldn’t even say it, but he could tell you understood now, that you knew what he really was. A hitman, a contract killer, a hired gun, an assassin. A cold-blooded murderer.

He hung his head. “I’m not proud of the person I’ve become, but after the shitshow in Corto Maltese, they took everything away and didn’t give me any other choice. Becoming Ryker was the only option I had left.” He gazed lovingly at your face as he cupped it between his hands. “But you… you are the one thing that has kept Rick alive this whole time. You are the one thing that still lets me keep a hold of that part of myself. You’re the tether that keeps me from fading away. And I need you, darlin’.”

“What do you mean ‘keeping Rick alive’? I don’t understand!”

“I thought Rick Flag had died that day. That I had been forced to bury him in the rubble of that cursed building and that Ryker was all that was left. But when you knocked on my door….the way you looked at me, treated me, respected me. You brought a part of Rick back to life. And you’re what’s keeping him alive.” He began caressing your cheek with his thumb.

You pulled your face from his hands as you backed away slowly. “I don’t even know who you are right now! Talking about Rick and Ryker like they’re two separate people! They’re not! You did those horrible things! It doesn’t matter what you call yourself, you’re the one who did them! And that’s not the man I fell in love with! That’s not the man I wanted to spend my life with!”

“Baby girl…It’s still me.”

“No, it’s not! You’re a cold-blooded killer! How can I be with someone like that?” You suddenly turned and grabbed your purse off the table. “I-I have to go. I have to get out of here.”

“Darlin’, don’t do this. Please, let’s talk.” He grabbed for your hand, but you yanked it from his grasp.

You hurried to the door but just as you began to open it, his large hand slammed it shut. You tried pulling on the handle again, but he continued to lean on it, holding it firmly closed. Without turning to face him, you whispered in a voice quaking with fear, “Rick. Let me go.”

“I can’t do that. Haven’t you been listenin’ to anythin’ I’ve been sayin’? I can’t lose you!” His voice was taking on a hysteric edge that neither one of you had ever heard before.

You swallowed anxiously. “Rick. Please, we can talk about this later but right now, I just need to clear my head, think things over. Then I can come back tomorrow, and we can discuss all of this.”

He shook his head. “We both know if I let you out that door, I’ll never see you again. Or, worse, you’ll show back up here with the police.”

“No, I would never do that! I j-just need to go think about things then we ca-”

He smashed his fist into the wall, leaving a large dent. “Stop lyin’ to me!”

Slowly, you turned to face him, your back pressed tightly against the door. He could see tears forming in the corner of your eyes and just for a moment, he hesitated.

You must have seen the shift in his face because you took a step closer and wrapped your arms around his hips. “You know what? You’re right, baby. It would be better if I just stayed here and we talked things out. But I’m really tired so why don’t we go to bed, and we can talk in the morning.”

He stared at you in disbelief. “Do you think I’m an idiot? The second I fall asleep, you’d be out this door. No, you’re not going anywhere.”

For one moment, you looked deeply into his face, searching for a hint of the man you loved. But when all you found was a stranger, you began screaming for help at the top of your lungs. His left hand immediately covered your mouth and nose while his right gripped your throat. He pressed his knee in-between your legs as he pinned you to the door, his face just inches away from yours. You continued to scream, but his large hand muffled all sounds trying to escape your lips. Slowly, he began to tighten his fingers around your throat, cutting off your air.

Your eyes grew wide as you realized what was happening. Frantically, you tried to struggle out of Rick’s grasp, but you were no match for his hulking frame holding you in place. As your air supply began to dwindle, you began to buck and jerk, chest heaving as it burned for oxygen. Tears streamed down your cheeks and pooled at the top of his hand before sliding off his fingertips.

Leaning over, he placed his forehead against yours and he whispered, “Please know that Rick Flag loved you. He loved you with every piece of him that remained. You were the only thing holding him in the light. But now….now, it’s time to say goodbye to both of you. The man I once was, and the woman that he loved.”

And as he stared into your eyes, he felt the last few spasms run through your body before it stilled. Then, ever so slowly, he watched the light fade from your eyes. Even once they had gone dark, and he was left staring into the empty void of what once was, he continued to hold you there thinking about everything that he had lost tonight. Until finally, he let both his arms drop to his side. You crumpled in a heap on the floor, your lifeless eyes staring blankly up at the ceiling.

Ryker didn’t even give you a second glance as he went into his bedroom and pulled out the go-bag he kept in his closet. Then, grabbing a few guns from his gun safe, he pulled on his jacket and marched out the door. But before he closed it, he took out a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with his lighter. He took one long drag before flicking it into the apartment where it landed on his stack of mail. Soon, flames began to grow and spread throughout the room. And just as the first flames began licking at your motionless body, Ryker closed the door, walked down the hall, and out of the building.

Colonel Rick Flag died on the island of Corto Maltese and tonight, the last remnant of this once great man faded into oblivion.

[princessmisery666]

@mayhem24-7forever Submitted by @callsign-phoenix

I’d like to suggest @mayhem24-7forever for your recommendation Monday!

Here’s Jo’s masterlist.

Jo’s writing in general is so gorgeously detailed and full of emotion, I love it 😊

She also writes in a lot of different fandoms, but I’ll focus on Top Gun and Outer Range!

And here are my recommendations:

Cowgirl Lessons (Rhett Abbott) is a whole fic over 15k and so detailed and just perfect, I loved it! Jo shows life in a small rodeo town with so much detail and it’s so beautiful but you also have some of the best smut I have ever read in the same fic!! Just so gorgeous, really!

No Stressing, Just Obsessing (Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd) is so so cute with a lovely twist at the end. It’s pure blush-inducing fluff and I am so absolutely in love with it!!

Time Is Running Out (Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin x female!Mitchell!reader) is amazing, I could absolutely gush about it all the time! It is absolutely beautiful and also so sexy??? It’s a fic I sometimes think back to, because I love the scene at the end at the bar! Plus there’s a part two!

Thank you so much for listening, Jo’s amazing! 💛✨

Find out more about Master List Monday - here

Hello! Welcome to my fic masterlist! I can not stress this enough but I don’t want minors reading any of my fics, even if they are SFW! I deserve a safe place to express myself so please respect my boundaries. I will block blogs that don’t have at least an age range in the bio or dm me. Remember that I always take requests so don’t be afraid to slide into my inbox with an ask or message! Please let me know if a link isn’t working or is incorrect!

🌻=Fluff

🥀=Angst

🌺=Smut

Robert “Bob” Floyd

🌻 No Stressing, Just Obsessing (Oneshot) - X

Things at the Hard Deck get a little more interesting when the team meets the new bartender who has a surprising secret…

Jake “Hangman” Seresin

🌻🌺 Time Is Running Out (Three-shot) - Part One - Part Two - Part Three 

Maverick’s daughter is hiding a pretty big secret from her dad and her friends, hopefully Jake won’t blow it all…

Adrian Chase/Vigilante

🌻🥀🌺 Lose You Too (Series) - Prologue - Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - Chapter Nine - Chapter Ten - Chapter Eleven - Epilogue -

When Y/N Flag moves to Evergreen after her brother’s death, she wasn’t expecting to find Adrian Chase, a lovable and a little unhinged vigilante. She wasn’t expecting to fall in love with him either, or that her past, and her brother’s killer, would catch up to her in the most unexpected way possible.

Rick Flag

🌻🥀 Angel With a Shotgun (4+1 Songfic Oneshot) - X

Four times that Rick Flag has been an angel with a shotgun and one time he needed one…

🥀🌺 Rage Becomes Him (Dark!Rick Series) - Prologue - Chapter One - Chapter Two - Chapter Three - Chapter Four - Chapter Five - Chapter Six - Chapter Seven - Chapter Eight - 

After Colonel Rick Flag dies, Amanda Waller dumps him in the Lazarus pit and resurrects him. But she quickly realized that the soldier that had been sent to Corto Maltese to die was not the same one that walked out of the Lazarus pit. Loyal, friendly, patriotic Colonel Rick Flag was gone and in his place was a cold, rage-filled demon who becomes uncontrollable. And when he gets loose, his first stop on his revenge tour is Evergreen, Washington and a certain “hero” living there…

Eddie Munson

🌺 The Dungeon Master’s Throne (Oneshot) - X

Eddie needs a little help with planning his next D&D campaign…

Steve Harrington

🥀🌻Let Me Protect You (Oneshot) - X

Steve and his girlfriend have a slight difference in opinion regarding sacrificing themselves for the other…

Bad Times At The El Royale - Miles Miller

🥀🌻 Something Close To Hope (Two-shot) - Part One - Part Two - 

Miles never expected to be made the manager of the El Royale hotel, especially not in the way he was but he was going to ensure that the darkness of the hotel never touched his beloved maid, no matter what he had to do…

Outer Range - Rhett Abbott 

🌻🌺 Cowgirl Lessons - X

When she decides to spend her spring break from grad school in Wabang Wyoming, Y/N finds herself getting a little extracurricular education from a dashing cowboy named Rhett Abbott… with important courses like two stepping, cowboy hat law, bull riding, and lassoing/rope work.

Altered Carbon - Takeshi Kovacs

(Coming Soon!)

For All Mankind - Edward Baldwin

(Coming Soon!)

Joaquin Torres/Falcon

(Coming Soon!)

Peter Parker/Spider-Man (Tom Holland Version)

(Coming Soon!)

October²:

🌺🌻 Kinktober 2022 - X

🥀🌻Whumptober 2022 - X

[poppitron360]

Thinking about names having power in the Riordanverse- because it’s exactly the kind of literature motif that I LOVE.

Thinking about “Leo” being short for “Leonidas” who was a Spartan King who sacrificed his life fighting to save his people in the Battle of Thermopylae.

Leo, similarly, gave his own life to stop Gaea and save the world.

That comparison has already been made before, but there’s more-

Leo rejects the name “Leonidas” and chooses to go by “Leo”- in a way, rejecting the fate he’s assigned to. And he doesn’t suffer that fate in the end. He lives.

Yeah, names have power. But what you choose to name yourself has even more power. For example, the fact that Thalia rejected the last name “Grace” because it associated her with her mother, but then taking it back up again when she found out Jason was alive. And Leo chose to not go by “Leonidas” and he also chose to take the physician’s cure and come back.

And here we get onto what Calypso’s doing. By calling him something that he asked to not be called, she is taking away that agency of choice. She is taking away that power.

It’s a small moment, but it REALLY bugs me. Because, like Leo, I go by a shortened version of a longer name, and often one of the ways bullies used to hold power over me was by calling me by my full name repeatedly, even after I asked them to stop. It’s also a way a lot of transphobes hold power over trans people- by deadnaming. By taking away the power of their name, their choice, their identity, who they are, who they’ve built themselves to be, and their right to control all of that.

Now, I’m NOT saying Calypso is going as far as deadnaming Leo, but it’s a similar premise. It’s a manipulation tactic used to knock people down.

Now friendly nicknames -e.g. “Seaweed Brain”- are different, because Percy consents to it. It’s a term of affection between them (and notice how it’s different when Thalia used it. It’s a name that symbolises percabeth’s love, and it’s a name only Annabeth can use). But this is a name, while said in a jokey, banter-y manner, that Leo has SPECIFICALLY ASKED to not be called. And she does it anyway, ignoring the boundary he’s set, ignoring his choice to shape his own identity, ignoring everything that symbolised INCLUDING the fact that it’s literally Leo saying “I choose life” by rejecting the name that fated him to death. It’s just a big red flag for me. And if you put that on top of the fact that she also physically hurt him in this (enough to make him say “ow”) then you just get a whole host of Reasons Why This is NOT Leo’s “Happy Ending”- which the narrative paints it out to be.

[a-reader-and-a-writer]

Surprise self-rec time! Pick 3 of your favorite things you’ve written and share them here, then put this in the inbox (anonymously or not) of your fellow writers to spread the positivity and help celebrate already written fics 💞

Thank you, Fe! 🥰

I shared three of my favorites here, but I don't mind sharing three more!

The Middle of Nowhere (dark!Rooster & dark!Hangman & Reader): This is one of the darker series I have ever done and it is so much fun getting to let Rooster and Hangman be a bit insane 🤭 This is still an active series and I plan on finishing it this spooky season, but I love hearing thoughts or theories about what happens next if anyone ever wants to share 💕

The Colonel and the Sergeant Masterlist (Rick Flag x Reader, Past Bucky Barnes x Reader): This one holds a really special place in my heart because of the process of writing it. Plus, it is two of my favorite characters in one fic! Part 2 of this series also has my favorite scene I've ever written even all these years later (if you know, you know).

One Bad Day.... (Batman x Batmom!reader): Part 1 of this series was the very first thing I ever posted to tumblr. And the response I got for it really encouraged me to keep writing. This is also still an active WIP, but I have the rest of the story planned out and hope to finish it soon!

[deliciousangelfestival]

Kill My Ex (?) Chap 1 - dark!Lloyd Hansen

Character: dark!Lloyd Hansen x Ex-girlfriend , Rick Flag x Fem!Reader (slightly)

Warning: Manipulation, betrayal, delusional character.

Words Count: 1549

Summary: The reader meets a disaster with her fiance, and the team gets into a death trap while on their mission. Her boss told her to get revenge. After finding out who the mastermind turned out to be, her ex-boyfriend, will she kill him or not?

Reblog and feedback are really appreciated. It will make me more motivated and got more people to read the story. Thank you so much 💓 💗 💓 Have a great day and enjoy the story.

Let me know if you want to join the tag list 😊

Chapter 1, Chapter 2,-

‘Beep, beep.’

That’s the only sound surrounding the patient room. It could be annoying if someone keeps hearing repeatedly, but for you, it's an assurance that your fiance is still breathing. 

You held his hand closer to your face, hoping and praying the patient in a coma would open his eyes.

You wanted to cry your heart out, but your tears already dried. You pray that even though he's in a deep sleep, he’s fighting to wake up.

You should've known the mission was a set-up. While you were with the other team on the other side, the team leader, Colonel Rick Flag, your fiance, got shot through his heart. It's a miracle he still breathing.

You wish this is just an awful nightmare. 

While grieving, you could hear high heels echoing around the hallway and getting closer to the patient room. 

The new guest was staring at the patient. She’s wearing her usual outfit and her pearl necklace. 

“He didn't deserve this."

You lifted your head and turned around. In the shadow, she appears like the angel of death, Amanda Waller. 

But she didn’t come here to see your fiance. She came here for you because she knew the mastermind of this chaos.

Even in this situation, you couldn't read her face. Is she mad because her team died, or is she mad because the mission failed that got her fired?

You put down Rick's hand and approached your boss. You grabbed and clenched Amanda's collar then pushed her to the wall. “You gave the mission. We almost died because of the false information you got.”

Once again, the mission Amanda gave to the team was to clean off the government secret. 

You and Rick's teams were separated when they arrived at the enemy base. Your team lost consciousness because of the hidden bomb, but Rick lost half of the team members. After three days, you woke up and learned from the doctor that Rick got it worse.

They said it’s a small chance if he ever wakes up. 

Amanda looked at you and said, “That’s why I want revenge, just like you. I became a laughing stock." 

You released your hand grip and stepped away from Amanda. “Who are they?”

Amanda fixed her collar. “They are experts at making chaos. Hansen Security.”

"What did you say?" Your body froze when you heard that name again. 

"It was your ex who created this mess." You could feel Amanda's eyes judging her. You couldn’t hide any secret from her. She knew the past you had left behind.

The biggest mistake you have made in life is knowing Lloyd Hansen. 

Amanda, grab your hand and give you a gun. "Get rid of him."

Your hands tremble when the gun touches your hand. You have erased him from your heart and now have to erase him from this world. 

At an unknown location. 

A man is looking at the big French Window inside an old mansion. He stared at the woman who he’s been waiting for. He doesn’t even mind an explosive sound from the gun surrounding the place. 

“Sir, she’s on the first floor.” One of the mercenaries, who looked like his face had just got beaten up, was breathless from running to tell his boss. 

His boss's face filled with smiles, and he stopped at the mirror to fix his hair and outfit. “Don’t let anyone hurt her.”

“Yes, sir.”

After his subordinate left, he looked at the watch, counting every second because he was getting impatient. 

“Lloyd !!!” A scream came from behind the door, and she opened it by kicking the door. 

He opened his arms and said, “Y/N, I miss you.” 

You clenched your fist and threw an object toward him. He ducked and grabbed the bloody glasses you threw. He was silent for a while. 

That’s what you were looking for, despair. You want to know how it felt like losing a best friend. 

You thought he would get mad, but instead, he was laughing. 

‘What the fuck!’

You pulled out a gun and placed it on Lloyd's forehead. “What did we ever do to you? Tell me!!! 

Lloyd put his hand to your gun; you thought he would shove it away instead; he pressed to his forehead, “Do it, Y/N, kill me. I would rather die than seeing you with someone else.”

You gasped when he said that. What kind of nonsense is he talking about?

Three years ago, when your world was all about him, he didn’t even notice you. But now, after you meet someone else who respects and appreciates you, he won’t let you be happy. 

You clenched your teeth while staring at him with bloody eyes. “Crazy bastard.” 

“But if you killed me…” His one hand held her waist while the other rubbed her stomach. “Who’s going to be your husband and become the father figure of your child?”

Your breath hitched, only stared at Lloyd, thinking he had lost his mind. 

Lloyd giggled for a bit. “Oh honey, you didn’t know? I read the blood test when you were unconscious for three days.” He shook his head. “That was on me. They didn’t tell me you were on the team.” 

You gasped and stepped back from him. No wonder why the doctor told you not to take another dangerous mission and to take care of your body. That means inside you, there’s a child with you and Rick. 

You didn’t notice there was a hidden door behind you. A group of men dragged you to the chair and tied your arm to the armrest. Suddenly you felt a sting on your neck. Someone gave you an injection. 

“Lloyd, what the fuck?!”

He was crossing his arms and tapping his fingers. “Relax, it will help you relax in 10 minutes. While waiting, we will have a conversation.”

Lloyd pulled another chair to sit in front of you. He leaned closer to you and touched your hand. “I will never hurt you and….” His hand gently rubbed your stomach again. Your body trembled because you felt disgusted, but it was nothing compared to what he said next.

“Our child.”

You snapped back at him, “Enough with your jokes Lloyd.” 

He shook his head. “I’m not joking. This child will need a father figure since there’s no chance his father will ever wake up.”

Your lips quiver, and your vision gets blurry because of the tears you have holding back. “What do you want? You have taken everything I had.”

“That’s what I was aiming for.” Lloyd holds your chin. “I want to get rid of everything that is related to you, that loser and start a new beginning with me.”

You felt throbbing veins in your neck, wanting to burst out. “It’s impossible.” 

“I would say the same three years ago, but now it is different. After I woke up from my deathbed, I realized the only thing that matters is you. The image of us and our future kids at our suburban house.”

As he said, if he had said these words three years ago, you would believe it. But now you were hoping this was just a bad nightmare. 

You can’t believe your old self loves this man and would give anything to get his attention. 

When you have started a new chapter, he wanted you back?

You spitted at his feet. “Fuck you Lloyd.”

“No, mama, it's not good to curse our baby.”

You gritted your teeth. “This child is not even yours.”

“Oh I will. Since the real father presumably died without the machine support.”

“What?”

“With just one call I could hold a funeral for your fiance tomorrow.”

“You…”

“Shhh…shhh…” He rested his pointed finger on your lips. “To apologize, I won’t turn off the machine that supports him.”

His offer doesn't make you feel relieved.

“You could walk away from here. But who’s going to pay the bills for Rick, since the President gave a direct order to close the agencies?”

Another reveal from his lips, it turns out Amanda picked the wrong guy.

“If you were looking for someone to blame, blame him. The order was from him to get rid of Waller's team. He hates her because she tried to get him under her feet.”

“Amanda…”

“While you are here, she’s running away.”

That bitch, you thought. Now she's saving herself and leaving you alone. What can you do? You have no backup anymore. And your lunatic ex-boyfriend is holding the life of your fiance. 

You want to scream and kick your feet to free yourself from this nightmare. But you start to get sleepy because the effect of the drug from the injection has worked. Your head is getting heavier and moving left and right. 

Lloyd shushed you again; he knew the drug had taken effect. He released you from the chair and brought you into his arms. He looked at your side face and smiled. "Welcome home Y/N."

What do you think, guys?? Do you like it? Do you want this made to be a series?

Let me know if you want to be on the tag list. 💝

Taglist:

@magnificentsaladllama

@sabrinaselina55

@patzammit

[justin-hammers]

My AU Aesthetic for my future AU stories involving my Enchanter and the Enchantress:

[wynnyfryd]

Trailer park Steve AU part 61

part 1 | part 60 | ao3

cw: mentions of canonical minor character death

Chapter 14

It's twilight by the time they make their way to Rick's place — gnat clouds swarming, sun dipped low, Lover's Lake an inky smudge beyond the blur of passing pines. Steve’s not totally sure how they got here, this dusty service road that's more pothole than pavement; one minute he's bitching about doomed love and double VHS, the next he’s taking the scenic route to a drug den.

There were some important moments in between, he’s pretty sure.

He’s also pretty sure he blacked out somewhere around the moment the morning news reported that an-unidentified-Hawkins-student-who-very-well-could-be-Eddie-Munson was found dead in his fucking trailer.

Kinda difficult to resurface from that one.

Feels like his soul’s got swimmer’s ear.

Even hours later — after Dustin and Max burst into Family Video talking a mile a minute about how Eddie was alive and they needed to use the phones; after Ernie stupidly gave a reporter Steve’s name, swearing up and down on the TV that his neighbor Steve Harrington was an upstanding young man who would never do something like this; after they spent an agonizingly long afternoon lying low and taking backroads to avoid the cops because the cops probably suspect Steve of murder now, oh god—

“It’s this next right up ahead,” Max says from the back seat. There's a map spread over the bench between her and Dustin, and Steve blinks himself awake; gives her a nod in the rearview.

Beside her, Dustin’s munching on Twizzlers he stole from the store — window down, easy slouch, just way too chipper for the situation at hand. "So Steve," he says conversationally, "now that you're a fugitive, does that mean—?"

Steve cuts Robin a pleading look.

Robin reaches back and smacks the little twerp upside the head.

"Ow!" Dustin whines.

"Shut up, please," Robin smiles.

Max makes a sound like she's trying not to laugh and checks the map again. "Right here," she says, pointing. "After that weird tree stump."

They turn onto another road that could be generously described as paved, once, several decades ago, and eventually, the winding path lets out onto a slightly nicer street. Aging but cared for, Holland Road is a crowded row of little lake houses, trailers and shacks with manicured shrubs and chipped fence paint, weeds growing through the sidewalks beneath pristine American flags. Steve pulls into the driveway of #2121.

It looks abandoned. Dark inside and out, a truck parked on the curb that's likely been there for a while, its tires sagging in a mulch of old wet leaves. There’s an autumn wreath on the front door.

“You sure this is the place?” he asks as they climb out of the car.

Max sasses him for questioning her navigation skills, Dustin unsuccessfully tries to land a revenge slap on Robin — a move that earns him a retaliation wedgie and a wrestling match he was never gonna win — and Steve pops the trunk and feels a hundred years old. Feels every bit the exhausted dad trying to keep the family road trip together as he grabs his nail bat and slings his duffel over his shoulder.

"You planning to spend the night?" Dustin teases from Robin's armpit, still bent double where she's got him in a headlock.

"No, just-" he drops the bag at their feet with a grunt, “doesn’t hurt to be prepared.”

Dustin’s eyes bug out. “Is that a can of goddamn bear mace?”

“Keep your voice down!” Steve hisses.

“You keep your voice down!”

"Should I just go ahead and choke him out?" Robin offers.

Steve considers it for a second: knock 'em all out, stuff 'em back inside the car. Go do this shit quietly by himself.

He rolls his eyes and puts his hands on his hips.

"You're no fun," she pouts, but she lets Dustin go.

Dustin grabs flashlights and walkies out of the bag, passes them around the circle. They take a moment to steel themselves — huddled together in the dark, shoulders tense, the creepy house looming ahead. Sharp shadows stretch toward them. Croaking sounds creeping from the edges of the lake.

Robin puts her flashlight under her chin like she's about to tell a scary story. "Alright, kiddos," she says in a deep, ominous voice. "Let's go rescue Steve's ex."

Stunned silence in the sudden vacuum her words create. Steve lets out a tired sigh. Dustin’s jaw is on the curb.

“His WHAT?” Dustin shouts.

Oh, my god. “He’s not my ex."

Robin rolls her eyes and says ‘sure’ under her breath, and Max turns to Dustin, laughing. “You didn’t know they were a thing?”

“We’re not—” Steve tries again.

“What were you trying to get them back together for then?”

She seems genuinely curious. Dustin seems three seconds from spontaneous combustion. “What was I WHAT?!” he yelps, limbs everywhere. Reminds Steve of Eddie so bad it hurts.

“Okay,” Steve interrupts, clapping them both on the shoulder; drops his voice to a harsh whisper. “In case you two forgot, we’re here to rescue Eddie.”

“Who you’re dating.”

Dustin’s voice is small, disconnected, his gaze far away. Like he’s shellshocked.

“Jesus Christ.” Steve pinches the bridge of his nose. “I— Yes. No. It’s complicated.”

Max snorts at his answer, Dustin makes a series of faces like he's gonna need seven years to process, and Robin interrupts his crisis by waving her flashlight like a traffic guard, walking backward up the hill as she directs them toward the house.

“Why don’t we just go find him first?” she suggests, making a rainbow with her hands, flinging light through the grimy windows. “And then Stevie here can answer alllll your big gay questions.”

Steve glares at Robin. Dustin glares at him, narrowed eyes for a full ten seconds like 'yeah, you fucking better,' and then he takes off up the driveway hollering Eddie's name.

—

part 62

tag list in separate reblogs under '#trailer park steve au taglist' if you'd like to filter that content. if you want to be added please comment and let me know (must be over 21; please either verify in the comment or have your age visible on your blog)

[kitkatpadywaks]

Recommended Fics

Fics/One-shots I liked.

Key: 🔥Smut - 💢Angst - ❤️Fluff - 💀Dark Themes - 💕Slow Burn - ❤️‍🩹Hurt/Comfort - ✔️Complete - ❌Incomplete

Last Updated: 19th October 2024

✔️❤️‍🩹🔥Kinks and All by @babblydrabbly - (Harley Quinn x f!reader x Rick Flag)

❌💀❤️‍🩹 Eternally Yours by @a-reader-and-a-writer - (Vampire!Rick Flag x Vampire!Reader)

💀💢🔥LOVE HURTS by @coweye - (Rick Flag x Reader)

💢❤️Already Married by @darling-i-read-it - (Rick Flag x fem!reader)

❤️💢💀🔥free ground by @foli-vora - (Rick Flag x medicf!reader)

🔥danger! high voltage by @foli-vora - (Rick Flag x metahumanf!reader)

🔥HOT TO GO by @seancekitsch - (Adrian Chase x Reader x Rick Flag)

❌💀🔥💕 when you become untouchable by @starforgedthor - (Meta-Human!Villian!Reader x Adrian Chase)

✔️💢💕 today i bury you in me by - @the-darklings

✔️💢He's cold-blooded so it takes more time to bleed by @kaznejis - (Erik Lehnsherr x Reader)

❌🔥💢Your ivy grows, and now I'm covered in you by @kaznejis - (Erik Lehnsherr x Reader)

we're hanging on by a heartbeat by @kaznejis - (Erik Lehnsherr x Reader)

❤️‍🩹Comfort in the Darkness by @awkward-walking-potato - (Erik Lehnsherr x Reader)

❤️magnetic field by @flowersforbucky (erik lehnsherr x reader)

🔥❤️Healing Touch by @librababe99 (Charles Xavier x Fem!Reader)

🔥Teacher's Pet by @comicbookslut (Charles Xavier x Reader)

🔥Kinktober Day One (Clothed Sex) by @comicbookslut (Young!Charles Xavier x Reader)

🔥❤️Who's Afraid of Little Old Me? by @lokidjarin-7567 (Erik Lehnsherr x Reader x Charles Xavier)

❤️🔥New Tricks by @thevillainswhore (Virgin!Bucky Barnes x F!Reader)

🔥Revenge Sweeter Than Honey by @thevillainswhore (College!Bucky Barnes x MILF!Reader)

🔥❤️change of pace by @nickfowlerrr (beefy!bucky barnes x curvy!reader)

🔥Kinktober 2024: Day 5 by @rootedinrevisions (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

❤️Almost Kisses by @aquaticmercy (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

❤️Beautiful Mess by @aquaticmercy (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

In Another Life by @aquaticmercy (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

❤️Of Black Ink and White Lilies by @aquaticmercy (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

❤️Of Heroes and Heartstrings by @aquaticmercy (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

❤️How I Met Your Father by @brunchable (Bucky Barnes x f!reader)

❌💀❤️🔥💢Winter King by @brunchable (King AU Bucky Barnes x Out of place Queen Reader)

💀🔥Captivate Me by @brunchable (Stalker!Bucky Barnes x f!reader)

🔥Fri(end)s by @buckymorelikefuckme (bucky barnes x fem reader)

🔥Bucky's Second First Time by @eufezco (Bucky x fem!reader)

🔥Silent In the Library by @soelstress (Bucky Barnes x female!reader)

🔥❤️love language by @flowersforbucky (bucky x avenger!reader)

❤️Every Part of You by @anonymityisfunwriter (Grumpy!Bucky Barnes x Sunshine!Reader)

❤️can you watch my boyfriend for me? by @jiarkives

🔥Water Proof by @vivwritesfics

❤️🔥Stay by @jobean12-blog (Bucky Barnes x female reader)

🔥the night trilogy by @thyme-in-a-bubble (bodyguard!bucky barnes x reader

🔥the abandoned tie by @thyme-in-a-bubble (matt murdock x secretary!reader)

✔️❤️‍🩹🔥Don't bet on it by @hollybell51 - (Castiel x AFAB!fem!Reader)

❤️rest your eyes by @perseephoneee - (castiel x reader)

✔️🔥"If you will have me, I am yours." by @gilverrwrites - (Human!Castiel x Fem!Reader)

✔️🔥Takeout Tuesday by @gilverrwrites - (Human!Castiel x Fem!Reader)

✔️🔥Salt n' Lick by APerfectGrace (AO3 - Castiel x Reader)

✔️🔥close call by @wife-of-all-dilfs - (bellamy blake x reader)

✔️❤️bioluminescence by @wife-of-all-dilfs - (bellamy blake x reader)

✔️🔥pretty fixation, wicked temptation by @wife-of-all-dilfs - (bellamy blake x reader)

✔️💢🔥Unravel Me by @thoughtsofedin - (Diego Hargreeves x Hargreeves!Reader)

✔️💀❤️If I Can't Have You by @watchstarscollide - (Homelander x Reader)

✔️💀❤️‍🩹🔥Guilty Pleasure by @blindmagdalena - (Homelander x plus size f!reader)

💢❤️colourblind by @come-on-darling-honey (paul lahote x reader)

[quin-ns]

E = Explicit | * = Dark themes

Bullet Train

Tangerine x Reader

Crazy For You (E)

Summary: you sneak onto the bullet train to wish tangerine good luck in your own way

Safe House

Summary: lemon and tangerine break into your safe house, not expecting you to be there. it’s lucky that you are, especially for tangerine

DCEU

Rick Flag x Reader

Stay With Me

Summary: harley is sure colonel flag has a thing for you, but you’re not so sure. then, when the mission turns sideways and you get hurt, everything changes

Marvel

Eddie Brock x Reader

Fix It

Summary: venom is very grumpy when you leave after a fight with eddie, so he tries to help eddie get you back

Kang the Conqueror x Reader

Inevitable

Summary: you don’t know kang, but he knows you

Peter Parker x Reader

My Safe Place (is Next to You)

Summary: after being outed as spider-man, peter’s life has become a mess. he finds solace with you

Scream

Ethan Landry x Reader

Fake Blood (E)

Summary: spoiler: the blood isn’t fake. alone in your apartment after your friends had been attacked, you ask ethan to stop by. he does in an unexpected way and you get more than you bargained for

Whispers

Summary: request: “fluff w/ ethan Landry where he thinks she’s asleep so he whispers I love you…”

The Hunger Games

Coriolanus Snow x Reader

Always Forever (E*)

Summary: coriolanus finally lets himself acknowledge that he can’t stand to see you with anyone but him

Eventually (E*)

Summary: coriolanus could appreciate irony, but the one person he desires more than anything wanting nothing to do with him pushes him to new territory

Breaking Bad

Saul Goodman x Reader

Taking Care

Summary: after jesse beats up saul you help fix him up

The Boys

Soldier Boy x Reader

The Bet (E)

Summary: butcher leaves you to keep on eye on soldier boy and things become interesting when a deck of cards gets involved

<< back to main masterlist

[ornii]

Could you please tag me in all the parts of my kind of crazy? Cuz i found part 1 and 2 but cant find the rest. And if there is no more could you please continue it?

Yeah I still need to learn how Tagging works, so if anyone can, let me know. But to answer your question no I haven’t made a part three

Until now!

My Kind of Crazy, Part 3

Inside the run down office building, Red Hood motions for Deadshot to follow him. Katana watches them closely as Red Hood opens the door and they both step in, the room was a large office space with multiple computers running programs and systems. And FBI workers tearing and wiping the files. And the one ordering them around was Amanda Waller arguing with Flag.

“You wouldn't have made it without them.” She spoke, packing.

“We got lucky. I don't do luck. I do planning and precision.” Rick replies, and Waller shrugs it off.

“Admit it, Rick. I was right.” She spoke, and Flag wasn’t buying it. “Yeah, I told you to get on the damn truck. Why'd you stay?” He eyed Waller, who stopped packing and gave flag a harsh reality check.

“I was studying your girlfriend. She takes an average person, a yoga mom, an elderly retiree, and she turns them into a soldier who can take a headshot and still fight. It's an instant army. How'd she do it, Flag? How'd she game the system with you watching her every move?” Waller asked, it it was obvious she knew the answer already. Flag buried his pain and ignored the question.

“I'll accept the consequences.” He said

“I am your consequence.” Waller replied with stern emphasis. Just as he prepares to weasel out again, Deadshot and Red Hood approached.”You might need to be careful. They think we're rescuing Nelson Mandela.” Deadshot eyes Waller, who walks past him

“I can take care of myself. Shut it down, wipe the drives.” She gives the order to the Agents who continue to wipe their digital prints from this Operation. Deadshot leans into flags ear as he watches Waller.

“Uh, hey, man, I know you can't hear me 'cause you're trapped in your temple of soldierly self-righteousness, but a two-faced dude like you wouldn't survive a second on the street.” Deadshot points out the obvious Hypocrisy, Flag being called out for lying about this High Value Target.

“Oh, says the guy who shoots people for money.” Flag retorts, Red turns quickly to Waller at the sound of gunfire. Waller has systematically executed the workers. Red could only watch, knowing Waller or Flag could turn his brain into mush. Waller leaves, and Red Hood eyes flag, who doesn’t look very happy about what he’s just witnessed.

“That is just a mean lady.” Deadshot follows.

“Yeah. You get used to it.” Flag grumbled, Red walks past him, “I don’t think a good soldier would let innocent people die, but what do I know right?” Red and Deadshot exit the room, and the Squad see who they’ve been made to protect. Waller and Flag step out into the frying pan of sorts.

“Let's go home.” Flag ordered, it it wasn’t on a natural bass, more of a coercive tone, but it obviously wasn’t working.

“Yeah, let's go home. That sounds good. You guys wanna go home? Or you wanna go back to prison?” Boomerang said, obviously sarcastic, they all had their reasons for not going back home.

“What I'm saying is we kill the pair of 'em now before they kill us.” Boomerang said, which many of agree with, slowly surrounding them, “I got this.” Waller took this one herself, letting Katana and Flag watch, she stepped before the squad, “You all made it this far. Don't get high-spirited on me and ruin a good thing.” Waller shows the explosive device in her hand, much like the one Flag has, all set to explode just like Red Hood predicted. The Squad all share a glance, and they reluctantly escort Waller to the roof. The dark sky has hints of neon lights and flames dance in the sky. Regrouping with Flags men they watch a Helicopter fly towards the Building.

“Savior One-Zero, this is Ground Element. Savior One-Zero, how copy? Savior One-Zero, the LZ's clear.” One of Flags men tries to hail down the Chopper, but no response.

“Boss, they're not talking to me.” He spoke, and Flag quickly assessed the situation, “Our bird's been jacked. Light it up!” Flag and his men open fire on the Helicopter, its panel opens up to Joker, dressed in a suit and with an AK opening fire with manic laughter, a minigun mounted on the heli also opens fire on them, ducking behind AC generators to keep from getting torn to shreds. Red Peers over the unit and his eyes catch a glimpse of that face, the manic laughter, the pale skin. A flood of rage built into Red and he leaped over the Unit, firing his dual pistols at the helicopter. Titanium composite hollow tipped bullets, with a C4 Kicker, explosive ammunition he made himself, the shots land hard on the wall that actually begin to make a dent. They turn the Minigun to him and looks to shred him, before Red can get turned into mince meat, Diablo comes in and tackles him before another AC Unit. He saved Red, who looked at the man, he shrugged it off and kept down to avoid bullet fire, but this wasn’t a random attack it was coordinated, Harley begins to walk to the Helicopter, and Waller orders Flag to execute her, but every tap of the device leads to an error. Harley leaps to the rope and escapes, leaving Waller one less of a member, and Red, a missed opportunity. Dead soldiers litter the roof and everyone steps out of cover, Waller making a B line for Deadshot.

“Deadshot, shoot that woman right now!” She yells, and Deadshot shrugs

“She ain’t do shit to me.” He said lazily

“You're a hitman, right? I got a contract. Kill Harley Quinn. Do it for your freedom and your kid.” Waller said, which was more than enough for him.

“Now she dead.” He walked to a Unit and mounted to fire, heat her Harley dance and swing around, and takes the shot, Harley’s body goes limp, but she suddenly laughs and swings more around, Deadshot missing on purpose, he walked back to the ground.

“I missed.” He said, and Red wasn’t listening, all he felt was red, his chance to kill the Joker, gone. He walked over to the corpse of one of the soldiers, snatching a rifle from its cold dead hands and he mounts up as well, everyone watches as the helicopter takes a slight left. He took everything into consideration and fired, the bullet flew and it hit the cockpit and straight through the pilots skull. They watched the helicopter spiral and go down. Red turned to the group and dropped his gun.

“Got what I wanted… We done here?” He said, everyone was silent, showing the ruthless cold side of the Red Hood. No one knew how to take it, but it’s safe to say for the Red Hood, that felt good. Another Heli picked up Waller and they left. Flag waits as the chopper soars off into the night deploying Flares. Minutes pass and Flag calls in, and listens.

“Ops just confirmed. She's down. 1k west. Let's go get her. The mission's not over.” Flag and his men turned to the exit with the “Heroes”

“Nah. It is for me. We had a deal.” Deadshot spoke up for most of them, everyone.

“Without Waller, you got nothing.” Flag walked off, and the group reluctantly follows. Making ground back on the floor they run into a less than happy Harley Quinn, who survived somehow. She spots them and attempts to put on a happy face.

“So.. shot any good birds lately?” she asked, mixed with sarcasm and scorn.

“One… if it means anything I wasn’t aiming for you.” Red Replies.

“I could kill you..” Harley grumbled

“You’d die trying..” Red replies as they approached Wallers downed chopper. Tears the door open croc side stepped to let them see. But no Waller. Dead corpses but none hers. Red Activated his detective mode in his visor. He scans around and they’re dead.

“I don’t see any of Wallers blood, gun residue everywhere though.. she tried to fight off whoever came for her.. rains going to be a pain in the pass to pick up any blood or sweat to track.”

“What’s your point?” Deadshot asked, Red turned to him. “My Point.. is that they captured her, they didn’t want her dead.. that have some use for her. But for what, I don’t know.” He said, and spots Wallers bag and began to ruffle though it. And sees a black binder and begins to sift though it and red was silent, he turned to Deadshot and handed him the binder. “The Hell’s this?” He asked.

“Why we’re here..” he responds, Deadshot reads it and looked back up to Red, he angrily takes the binder and storms off to Flag, he hurls the binder at the wall and everyone turns to flag. Deadshot and Flag are eye to eye.

“You tell everybody everything. Or me and you gonna go right now.” He said, and flag’s face told a story, and he reluctantly explained. “Three days ago, a non-human entity appeared in the subway station, So Waller sent me and a woman with incredible abilities. Enchantress. A witch. See, nobody could get near this thing, but the witch could. Needless to say, the whole thing was a bad idea, the woman was… possessed by the Enchantress, she’s held captive by her. We were going to blast a hole in the subway under the entity and.. she tricked us with the bomb, And that's how she escaped from Waller. So now you know.” Flag explained his turmoil, to everyone who listened and everyone respectfully was sick of it. Red scoffed, “we’re sent on this death mission to fix your fuck up..” he folds his arms, and Deadshot shook his head and looked around, and saw a Bar.

“You can just kill me right now, but I'm going to have a drink.” Deadshot walked off and Harley follows.

“Hey, Deadshot, I need your help.” Flag pleads, but flint shook his head

“No, sir. You need a miracle.” Deadshot and the others head in, Red Hood was the last to leave and looks Flag up and down. “Might as well call the big man in the sky for that.” He gave one last stinger and walked into the bar, he saw the others enjoying their drinks and slumped in a seat next to Deadshot. Harley was tending and eyed the man.

“Oh, Dead Hood.” Harley still has a pretty sharp bone to pick with him.

“Not my name…” he responded and Deadshot looks around.

“Well, we almost pulled it off despite what everybody thought.”

“We weren’t picked to succeed..” Diablo chimes in, and Deadshot agrees, “Worst part of it is, they're going to blame us for the whole thing. And they can't have people knowing the truth. We're the patsies. The cover-up. Don't forget, we're the bad guys. And, uh, for about two sweet seconds, I had hope.” Deadshot flushed down his drink.

“You had hope, huh? Hope don't stop the wheel from turning, my brother.” Diablo looks at the empty shot glass before him

“You preaching?”

“It's coming back around for you. How many people you killed, man?” Diablo asks Deadshot, who admittedly probably doesn’t even know, the bodies left in his wake. “It’s Karma for us, especially for me..” he continued

“See, I was born with the Devil's gift. I kept it hidden for most of my life, but... The older I got, the stronger it got. So I started using it. For business, you know. The more power on the street I got, the more fire power I got. Like, that shit went hand in hand. You know? One was feeding the other. Ain't nobody tell me no. Except my old lady. You know, she used to pray for me. Even when I didn't want it. God didn't give me this. Why should he take it away? See, when I get mad, I lose control. You know, I just... I don't know what I do..till it's done.” Diablo made a woman of fire in his hand.. and snuffed out her flame, Red listened, memories of his own father flooding on.

“And the kids?” Boomerang asked, fearful himself.

“He killed them.” Red spoke up, and he took off his helmet to reveal his face and sighed. “I remember…” Red stopped talking and shut up, almost revealing his other identity, but Harley wasn’t up for silence.

“Own that shit. Own it! What'd you think was gonna happen? Huh?” She said to Diablo.

“Hey, Harley. Come on.”

“What, you were just... Thinking you can have a happy family and coach little leagues, and make car payments? Normal's a setting on the dryer. People like us, we don't get normal!” She yelled, and Boomerang sharply put his glass down.

“Why is it always a knife fight every single time you open your mouth? You know, outside you're amazing. But inside, you're ugly. We all are.” He said, and Red piped up. “.. So, you just.. willow in that hole?” He started and stood up, he walked over to Diablo as everyone watched. “You kill your wife and kids and you think you deserve a cell for the rest of your life? Feeling sorry for yourself? I got a temper too so I understand, but you’re still in control of your actions.” Red turned to Harley.

“You know why I shot your chopper down?” He asked, everyone really leans in now. Red shows the J scar on his cheek, “see who I got this from?” He said, and Harley began to remember. “You’re—“

“I was.. Robin. I probably helped put a few of you in prison. I went after Joker by myself one time. Didn’t think Batman understood.. and my temper got me. He.. beat me, for days, starved, tortured me, and once in a while, I saw you in the corner, laughing. And when he finished, he blew me to pieces.. I was fourteen. Lazus pit.. Now look at me. This, was my choice... Now I gotta live with it. Same way you gotta live with it.” (Y/n) walked back to his seat, and slumped down.

Everyone was silent, he felt a glass tap his finger and he looked up to Harley give what he can only assume is an apology whiskey. “Mista J is.. not the best when it comes to dealing with kids. I guess I’m not either, maybe you were right when you said that.. maybe I’m just another victim, I mean what lady watches a man beat a.. teenager.” She said to herself, Red took it and downed it effortlessly. “I’m twenty two now, not a teenager anymore.”

For a moment it seemed the two can actually form a decent but obviously volatile relationship, but then, Flag enters the Bar and slumps down next to Red.

“We don't want you here.” Harley frowns, and Flag looks at Red, “You get to the part in that binder saying I was sleeping with her?” He said, Red raises an eyebrow. “Nope, I never been with a witch before. What's it like? I mean I’ve flirted with death before but I don’t go that far.” Red shrugged and Deadshot leaned to see Flag.

“Apparently, that's why the creatures chase him all the time. 'Cause the witch is scared of him.” He chuckled, but Flag shook his head, pain in his voice.

“The only woman I ever cared about is trapped inside that monster. If I don't stop the witch, it's over. Everything is over. Everything. You're free to go.” Flag smashes the device and breaks it, and Boomerage makes a break for it. Red sighs and turns to Flag. “Your girlfriend is going to destroy the world, isn’t she?” He asked, Flag was silent and Red put the mask Back on and gripped his pistols. “Well.. fuck it.” Red stood up. “Let’s go Flag.. least you can say you died tying.” Red walked away, and everyone watched him, and Deadshot sighed and stood up and followed out, Red peeked back in.

“Yo Harley, you coming?” He asked, she shrugged and grabbed her baseball bat. “Don’t have anything else better to do.” She said and followed, everyone now filled with a bit of nepotistic energy follow, if they head into the abyss, at least they go in screaming. flag has the back of the squad, even if they’re “Criminals.” And Captian Boomerang comes back, like a, Boomerang.

Outside the large square, the squad now prep for the final assault, Red tossing a camera to a wall and using his visor to look around, “looks like there’s a woman.. and a massive guy next to her, that’s our targets?”

“Yeah. It isn’t going to be easy getting to her, I did leave a big demo charge down there in that subway. There's a flooded tunnel, leads right underneath that building. SEALs, they can recover the charge, swim in underneath that thing's feet. We get in its face and distract the hell out of that son of a bitch so the swimmers can blow the bomb. That's how we take it out.” Flag gives a solid plan. Croc pipes up

“I'm going with ya.” He spoke to the SEALS, as if they had some choice.

“We got this.” One said, and croc tore off his upper shirt and jacket. “I'm not asking, bro. I live underground. Y'all are just tourists.” Croc and the seals swim in the flooded subway and the main squad prepare for a literal suicide mission. They walked along the subway and corpses strung the pillars. Blood and black ooze follow. They reach the central station platform. Inside felt like a theatre of darkness, whatever dark magic she was conjuring.

“Hey, everyone can see all this trippy magic stuff, right?” Harley asks

“Yeah. Why?” Red replies.

“I'm off my meds.” She weakly smiled. Deadshot and Flag look to the center, of Enchantress continuing to open the

“So that's your old lady?” Deadshot nods in approval.

“Yeah.”

“Well, you need to handle this shit, all right? Get up there, smack on her ass, tell her, "Knock this shit off." Deadshot said, which flag couldn’t tell if he was being serious it not.

“I do not think that'd be wise. I'm gonna draw out the big one. My boys will detonate the bomb underneath him.” Flag gives the order but before they step out, Enchantress calls out to them.

“I've been waiting for you all night. Step out of the shadows. I won't bite. Why are you here? Because the soldier led you? And all for Waller. Why do you serve those who cage you? I am your ally. And I know what you want.” The woman calls out, and begins to show the squad their true dreams, what they truly wish for, Deadshot to rewrite that day, Harley., a family. And (Y/n), who stood across Bruce with a smile, as he’s still Robin.

“Alright Bruce.. what’s on tonight?”

“Patrol, Arkham’s never safe.” He said sternly, (Y/n) gave a smirk and nodded. He felt the suddenly jank of reality, Red saw Diablo in his face.

“It's not real. She trying to play games with you, man. - It's not real!” He yells to all of them, who slowly come down from their dream, and step out to face enchantress. She sees her tricks didn’t work, and frowns.

“The sun is setting, and the magic rises. The metahumans are a sign of change.” Enchantress saw their minds aren’t changing now, and casted a spell, stomping from the back the larger monster approached.

“Who's this?”

“It's gonna be bad!”

“We should run.”

Red Didn’t take advice well and charges in, leaping past its tendrils and firing off his rounds, it began to bend the mental skin and make the monster cry out. He leaped onto its back and slammed an explosive charge on it, he hurls red hood off of him. Deadshot takes aim and hits the explosive dead on, but no effect! Boomerang hurls his boomerangs that do not to stop it, the monster grabs the Australian by the neck and prepares to turn him as well. Kitana leaps off a counter and slices the hand off with a clean cut, only for the Mayan grow it back, bullets and explosives only infuriate it. Before Harley can get crushed by the Mayan for a bat swing, Red fires his grappling hook to her shirt and reels her to safety.

“We can get him in the corner.” Red pops off more shots, and Diablo steps up!

“I lost one family. I ain't gonna lose another one. I got this. Let me show you what I really am.” Diablo rushed forward and blast a bellow of flames at it, only to infuriate the monster who kicks him away. It awaken the true El Diablo! His body underwent a harrowing transformation into El Diablo! The meta human battles with the Mayan. Pushing him to the edge he and the Mayan are right at the corner

“Diablo, get clear! Get outta there!” Flag yells, the Meta turns to them, “Blow it!” He orders, and Red watched The Mayan and Diablo go up in smoke and rubble in the explosion. He laid for it.. he lived. And died with his choice. Red stood up and walked to the hole, but he forgot that this battle was far from over, Enchantress still had her power.

“My spell is complete. Once you and your armies are gone, my darkness will spread across this world. And it will be mine to rule.” Enchantress activated her portal, which begins to tear the world apart. And the true enchantress escapes, her body devoid of color, black, like the ooze leaking from all she touches, and she attacks them, their bullets, blades, nothing can harm her!

“You got a move here, Flag?” Red tackled flag out of the way from getting his head taken off.

“We gotta cut her heart out. While we're fighting, that thing's laying waste to the whole damn world.” Flag said, “You guys have any plans on cutting her heart out?”

“I got one..” Red said. “How long have you been thinking about it?” Harley adds in.

“Maybe five minutes..” Red begins to try something, anything, tapping into the power of the Lazuris pit and felt a heartbeat within it all. A hilt of pure red energy began to emit from his heart. He gripped the handle with both palms and pulled it from him, a red blade of energy was now his. “Huh, this might work.. I cut her chest open and you guys tear the heart!” Red gives the order and charges in, Enchantress swings and fires magic, Red put the blade up and it began to deflect the magic, he leapt forward with a slash and fought Enchantress in the arm. It cut her body made of magic. Her body couldn’t heal from it, the scar emitting a red haze. She looked up worried and Red begins to put more pressure on her, and catches her right on the chest with an upward slash, Enchantress screams in pain, and the squad see the chance, Harley, Deadshot, Kitana and Boomerag grab her arms and legs and flag comes from behind. Just for the moment Enchantress was taken aback, and Red goes in with a blade straight though her heart. Time slows down as the enchantress blinked. The light leaving her eyes in a flash the eruption of light left the station and the bleak sun shined though, and June was right before Red. Confused and why a sword was though her body Which disappeared. Flag realized that his June was back, and hugged her. I suppose it was a happy ending

“Y'all don't mind, I got me a sewer to crawl back into.” Croc turns to leave and Red sighed and turned to the front, “Yeah, and I got some business to handle back in Gotham.” Red dusts himself off

“I'm going to hotwire a car. Need a ride?” Harley offered, but before he can reply, Waller, who’s somehow still alive steps out with her explosive device.

“How are you not dead?” Deadshot said in disbelief. “We just saved the world. A "thank you" would be nice.” Harley spoke, and Waller tilts her head “Thank you.” She said sarcastically, “You're welcome.” Harley replies with a smile.

“So, we did all of this and we don't get shit?”

“Ten years off your prison sentences.”

“Nah, that's not enough. I'm seeing my daughter.” Deadshot kept his eyes locked on Waller who reluctantly agreed.

“That can be arranged. Any other requests?” “An espresso machine.” Harley said

“…BET.” croc nods, and Boomerang scoffs.

“Ten years off a triple life sentence? Darling, I'm walking out of here a free man or we're going to start having some real fun.” He approaches Waller, who coldly stepped up to Boomerang. “Why don't we have some fun?” She replies scaring the piss out of the Captian. Red shrugged, he got his revenge after all.

Back at Belle Reeve, (Y/n) sits in his cell, footsteps echo from the Door and he cracks his knuckles, ready to fight.

“Whoever it is… gonna put.. 14 in the ICU.” He said, and the voice of God, Waller spoke to him. “That won’t be needed, you’re getting released.”

“…What?” He stood up from his bed, staring at the Door expecting death, what opened was something much more than that, he could only muster one word

“…Bruce?”

@henkermen

[magicalqueennightmare]

Trust Me (Pt 3/4)

Rick Flag X Reader

Post Corto Maltese AU

You're getting used to the idea of life in Corto Maltese and starting to think you've found a new normal when Sol and Harley pull the rug out from under you.

You were crammed into the jeep between Cleo and one of Sol's men you recognized from the final fight that day against the soldiers of the old regime of Corto Maltese. His name was Samuel if you remembered correctly. You cut your eyes at him and he offered you a small smile "I'd like to thank you" your brows furrowed in confusion "For what exactly?" he laughed lightly "You pulled me out the path of a bullet and took down two men in the blink of an eye that day. Ma'am you were a force of nature..all of you were. It's an honor to escort you and to welcome you back here"

You couldn't help the shocked laugh that fell from your lips. No one had ever spoken to any of you like that. The task force wasn't exactly ever regarded as heroes..well except for Rick. He was. Was. There was that word again. You found yourself falling into that hole inside of you anytime you realized you had to speak of him in past tense. You realized Samuel was still looking at you so you forced a small smile that you hoped looked genuine onto your face "Thank you but it's an honor to us to be welcomed back into your country. I hope we can help with some of the rebuild efforts and find a place here" he nodded then turned his attention to someone speaking across the radio.

What the hell were you thinking coming here? You weren't a hero. Hell Harley was more of a hero than you and that was saying something. You'd simply fought the way you had that day because the pain inside of you needed an outlet and fate had decided to place quite a few targets into your path. If anything these people should be horrified of being around you.

You closed your eyes as memories of Dubois' face when he'd seen what you'd done to peacemaker flashed through your head. You could feel the blood cooling on your face and hands. Your shirt was stuck to your chest from the amount of blood that had seeped into it and very little of it was yours. It was a mixture of Rick's and Waller's puppet that took him from you. A small part of you had registered that truly that peacemaker was simply only that, a puppet. Unfortunately for him that part wasn't very loud considering the man you loved laid dead a few feet away from you. You'd never even reached for your gun, no Rick had done enough damage to him in their fight you'd been able to take him down with the two knives you carried. When Robert had come looking for you he'd found you sitting with Rick's head in your lap, staring blankly at the bloody remants of what once was peacemaker.

Cleo's hand slipping into yours pulled you back into the present as she gave yours a small squeeze. You gently squeezed hers back and whispered "I'm ok. Just tired from the plane" she nodded "We can rest before exploring with Sol if you need to" You shook your head "I'll get some coffee and food down me and I'll be fine, promise"

She nodded slowly after a moment but you saw Sebastian crawl from her lap into yours so you absentmindely ran your fingers down his back. He was more of a comfort than anything. Maybe Cleo and him could find a rat like him to train? You huffed out a tiny laugh at the thought of an emotional support rat. God, you could imagine Rick's face. He'd probably would've offered to get it a tiny little vest, maybe even a little american flag cap to match his. Probably say something along the lines of "I'm fine with it darlin as long as it doesn't try to get between us when I wanna love on ya"

Your heart ached thinking about him but you knew you had to keep putting one step in front of the other. Dubois and Harley were right about that. You'd had a few dark days. Dubois was a little rougher with his approach and had said "Fuck that. You think I'm gonna let ya roll over and die? Get up" Harley on the other hand had simply said "Come on dollface be the woman he fell in love with. A little crazy, a little angry and very much chaotic" so here you were in the very place you'd faced the worse trauma of your life which was saying so very much because you had to keep moving, not for yourself or even for your little team that had become more like a family to you but for Rick. He'd want you to still be you no matter how much it hurt.

You followed Harley through the house Sol had directed all of you to. It was a four bedroom and had a pool. Perfect for all of you. It was older and needed a little work but nothing you all couldn't handle and Nanaue almost lost his mind seeing the pool. After some debate Dubois annouced you were getting the master bedroom that was on one side of the house by itself. You weren't sure why but when you felt the mattress of the bed you didn't argue, the damn thing felt like laying on a cloud.

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

After settling your few belongings she took all of you to her new base of operations. There was houses being rebuilt, the schools, stores and the hospital needed volunteers.Sol stood at the front of the room looking over all of you "We could any of you wherever you're most comfortable. You all have strengths in areas we need"

It was decided Nanaue was going with Dubois to help the construction on a few places while Cleo and Sebastian was going to the school to assist and that left you and Harley with a decision to be made.She gave you a wide grin "Come on babe, you know we can help at the hospital" you scrunched up your face "I dunno Harls. Maybe I should go with Dubois. Nanaue doesn't like listening at times and if he gets hungry and doesn't tell anyone.." she cut you off by grabbing your arm "Nope. You're good with kids, old people, sick people and can bandage people up in a pinch and triage. We're going!"

You knew better than to try arguing once her mind was made so you accepted your fate "Can I get some coffee first?" She giggled when she realized she'd won "I'll even get ya a nice breakfast sandwich to go with it!"

Years in the special forces, numerous missions and many times he walked away when he shouldn't have. So many things that should strink fear in the heart of Rick Flag Jr but the thing he was currently terrified of was seeing the betrayal in your eyes when you realized he was alive and you hadn't known.

"Rick. If you don't take a breath, you're gonna hyperventilate" Marcel spoke, reminding him he was in physical therapy. He was getting evaluated again but he knew you were in Corto Maltese. Sol had come by that morning before going to meet your plane. He nodded but before he could turn his attention back to what he was supposed to be doing the door to the physical therapy room swung open and none other than Robert Dubois walked in. "The dead lives!"

A smile split Rick's face seeing his own friend as he met him halfway across the floor. The two embraced before Dubois pulled back to give him a once over "Looking good for a dead man" Rick shrugged "Been busting my ass man" Robert nodded "I know you have your reasons so I'm not getting into it now but you shouldn't have waited this long to tell her" "Dubois man.." Robert cut him off by raising his hand "I'm not here to bust your balls Flag. She's just a good gal and loves you with every thing she has. I've been there for it. She's gone through hell so no matter what she says, give her time"

Rick's stomach knotted at Robert's words. He didn't like knowing he'd put you through any hell, intentional or not. "Where is she?" he asked in nearly a whisper. "Harley and Sol took her to breakfast" Rick nodded slowly so Robert patted his shoulder "I've gotta go. I left Nanaue at the fountains. I'll see you later, eh?" "Yeah"

Rick watched Dubois leave in a fog. Would you hate him for hiding from you? No. He truly believed there wasn't much he could do to make you hate him but would you still love him like you did before?

After a stop in the children's ward that left your hair rebraided and Harley dubbed the best clown ever you followed her and Sol through the hospital playing with the pink leather bracelet one of the older girls had tied around your right wrist. If those kids could be strong, you could.

"Where are we headed?" you asked as Sol opened the door leading to the stairwell "I need to speak to my cousin Marcel. He's the resident Physical therapist" You nodded absentmindedly. "After that I think we should go to the schoo considering how much the kids here liked Harley" at the mention of her name Harley glanced over her shoulder with a wink "Everyone loves me babe. Ya know you do" "Ya know it"

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

You stopped out the PT room and started to lean against the wall but Sol shook her head "C'mon. He wants to meet you two" you forced a smile. "Ok" you pushed off the wall and Harley slipped her arm through yours "Its all gonna be just fine honey" "What do you mean Harley?" You asked and she just grinned in return. You looked to Sol who simply nodded and slipped into the door of the PT room.

You felt like they were hiding something but you trusted both women with your literal life so you let Harley lead you into the room. "Sol, where's your cou..." you stopped mid sentence. Your entire body froze, every nerve ending was dipped in ice water and fire simultaneously. You were stuck to the spot yet your body screamed to run. Fight or flight went into overdrive. Your mind collasped into itself and you barely breathed out one name "Rick?" before you felt darkness wash over you as you fainted.

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

Fuck any pain he felt Rick was across the floor and catching you before Harley could turn. A grunt of pain left him as he lowered both of you to the floor, pulling your head against his chest in a recovery postion as Sol ran to grab water and Harley slipped her jacket off to put under your head. Marcel watched everything go down and when Sol cut her eyes at him he shrugged "Now that was some hustle. I see how the hell he's recovered this much this fast. I wish every patient had someone they loved like that"

Sol rolled her eyes then kneeled down next to Rick, gently touching your face as she called your name. When you began to stir it was only then that Rick realized he'd been holding his breath since you'd went down. The first gulp of air he allowed in burned as it went down. "Darlin?" he called gently and when your eyes opened he would've been prepared for damn near any reaction except for the horror that filled your eyes as you scrambled backwards off of him, leg kicking over the water Sol had gotten you in the process as you tried to get away from him "no no no"

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

It looked like Rick, it felt like Rick. Fuck, it smelled like Rick but it couldn't be. This had to be a trick. Rick died in your arms. You scambled backwards until your back hit the wall and you felt your stomach lurch as your breakfast fought its way up. You barely made it to the nearby trashcan before it did. You didn't realized you were sobbing as well until Harley touched your back "Dollface" you tensed under her touch "What the fuck is this Harls?"

"It's Flag, I promise" "He died in my arms Harley. His heart stopped bleeding. Peacemaker killed him" sobs wracked your body with every word you spoke until Harley's hands fell away replaced by a touch you thought you'd only ever feel again in your dreams "Dr Vasquez said he nearly did. My body went into a coma state to protect itselt from the trauma"

You couldn't bring yourself to turn and face him, even as he pulled you back against his chest. Even after Sol ushered everyone else out of the room. "So you're telling me I left you there?" you sobbed, body shuddering with the realization. His warm breath hit your ear when he spoke again "Don't do that sweetheart. Don't you dare do that. You thought I was dead. You had every reason to think I was"

You closed your eyes at the familiar rumble of his chest against your back despite the little grunts of pain you could hear him trying to hide under his breath "Why didn't anyone tell me?" You slowly turned to face him and when you looked up into those hazel eyes the sobs that had slowed began to wrack your body all over again. Rick pulled you against his chest "I'm not the man I was darlin. I'm still healin. I was a lot worse, I didn't want you to have to handle that."

"Handle that? Rick, I've been losing my mind. I thought you were dead. Do you know what that did to me? What losing you felt like?" tears began to flow freely from his eyes as he pulled you tighter against his chest, a gasp of pain leaving him from the action "You hurt yourself from catching me" he kissed the top of your head "It was worth it"

You pulled back to look up at him and you really noticed the differences. The purple circles under his eyes, how the corners of his lips were drawn tight which was a tell that he was hurting and trying to hide it. Hell, his posture alone screamed he was in pain. You were hurting from not knowing, your heart breaking again for him not having faith in your love for him but you had to push that down to take care of him now. You noticed your fingers shaking as they traced his jaw.

"I wish you would've let me be here for the worse but I'm here now. We'll talk more later. Where have you been staying?" he grimaced slightly "Marcel's guest room" you nodded "I'm assuming you know Sol gave the team a house?" he nodded so you half smiled "I have the master bedroom which has a big kingsize bed which is heavenly soft. I am exhausted because I haven't slept more than an hour at a time since the night before..."

He placed a kiss on your forehead when you trailed off, his hands resting on your hips. "You wanna go get some sleep? Then maybe we can talk?" He gave you a weaker version of one of those smiles that had always made your knees weak "I'd love nothing more" you smiled "You need to get something for pain first" he laughed lightly as you leaned up to place a gently kiss on his cheek "Yes ma'am"

@princesssunderworld

[captainremmington-13]

𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖉𝖆𝖚𝖌𝖍𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖔𝖋 𝖉𝖊𝖆𝖙𝖍

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖘𝖎𝖝

show!Luke Castellan x daughter of thanatos!reader

DISCLAIMER: I don’t own the image above or any of Rick Riordan’s characters/world-building.

⚠️Warnings⚠️: swearing, slight angst, mentions of parental neglect

A/N: let the dark!couple arc begin :)

You and Luke were in Elysium for a whole month. 

After your first kiss, Luke immediately asked you to be his girl. And of course, you said yes.

Every resident of Camp Half-Blood knew of your union by the campfire that night. You weren’t exactly sure how, but you suspected that Aphrodite’s children had noticed the sudden change in your dynamic. They had a reputation for spreading gossip like wildfire. 

Most of your fellow demigods were stunned by the new development, save for the other residents of the Hermes Cabin. 

“We saw it coming from miles away,” Travis Stoll had told you at dinner one night, giving you and Luke a cheeky grin. “The way you looked at him and the way he followed you around made it obvious.”

“Yeah,” his brother Connor agreed. “Luke’s usually pretty tough on everyone else, but he’s so soft with you.”

They both proceeded to make obnoxious kissing noises at you, making Luke groan loudly and bury his face in his hands. You had just laughed, and leaned your head against his shoulder. 

Being with Luke had heightened your spirits immensely. No longer did you appear stoic and un-phased. You laughed, smiled, and socialized with campers, satyrs, and nymphs alike. It surprised them, and some of them were still afraid of you at first, but they warmed up to you eventually. You felt more accepted than ever.

Sure, some people openly disliked your relationship. They said you weren’t good enough for your boyfriend. That you were like a bad omen, and you’d just bring him pain and suffering. That he would be better off with a child of Aphrodite, or Athena, or anyone else but you. 

It didn’t bother you a lot. In fact, you only told Luke about it because you found it amusing.

He was not amused. 

He’d pulled the people who slandered your relationship aside and threaten to target them during the next Capture the Flag game. The negative remarks stopped immediately after.  

Luke was the best boyfriend you could’ve ever asked for. He was attentive, sweet, and protective. He made it clear that he adored you, and only you. You still trained vigorously together, but it was much more fun. Besides, no matter if you won or lost, you were rewarded with a kiss. 

Everything was perfect.

Then, the gods had to go and fuck it up.

.

.

.

“Where in Hades have you been?”

Luke winced at your sharp tone. You hadn’t meant to sound upset, you were simply worried that he had vanished after the campfire instead of meeting you back at Cabin 11. 

He stepped towards you and took your hand.

“We need to talk. Somewhere more private.”

As he lead you off of the porch of Cabin 11 and towards the woods, your heart pounded. Was he mad at you? Had you done something wrong?

After walking for awhile, Luke halted. He was still gripping your hand, as if he was afraid you’d disappear if he let go. 

He turned towards you, and in the silver moonlight, you could see that his eyes glittered with anger. 

You reached up to cup his cheek, and he leaned into your touch. “What’s wrong?”

Luke sighed. “I just got visited by my fath-Hermes.” 

You stared at him. “You’re fucking kidding.” 

“I’m not. He offered me a quest.”

You felt your anger begin to boil. After ignoring Luke for basically his whole life, Hermes decided to just waltz in pretending to care about him by giving him a chance to be a hero? 

“I’m going to kill him.”

It wasn’t just Luke who had become incredibly protective. You would become a bit very violent when someone crossed or hurt your boyfriend, just as he would for you.

“Angel,” Luke sighed. “That’s not how it works.”

“I know, I know. Sorry, I just got upset on your behalf.”

He gave you a small smile, but it quickly faded.  He let go of your hand, which made you frown slightly. “The quest I was given is simple: steal a Golden Apple from The Garden of Hesperides.”

You racked your brain, trying to recall anything you knew about the Garden. “Is that the tree that Gaea gifted Zeus when he married Hera?”

“That’s the one.”

You bit the inside of your cheek. “This seems like a pointless quest. You gain nothing from it, you’re not solving any problems or saving anyone. Besides, didn’t Heracles do the exact same thing millennia ago?”

Luke’s jaw clenched, and you could tell he was irritated. “Yeah, yeah he did.”

“So you’re going to turn Hermes down, right?“

He looked away from you. Even though he was silent, you knew exactly what he was thinking.

“No, Luke, you can’t do this! It makes no sense, you wouldn’t gain anyth-“

“Yes, I would!” Luke insisted. “I haven’t gotten a real chance to prove myself in all three years I’ve been at camp!”

“You don’t need to prove anything to anyone!” you exclaimed, not caring if you were being too loud. “Luke, you’re already an incredible fighter and a respected leader. What else could you possibly want?”

“Glory.”

“Then wait for a better opportunity. Wait for the Oracle to give you a real quest, don’t just take orders from your deadbeat, asshole of a father.”

“Angel, listen to me.” Luke’s tone was firm but gentle. “I want to do this. Not because of my  father. I want a chance to do something that people will talk about, something that will prove once and for all that I’m not to be messed with.”

You looked at him, and you knew he had made up his mind.

“You’re not gonna change your mind, are you?”

“No.”

You stepped towards him, taking hold of his forearm softly. “Fine. Then I’m going with you.”

“Angel-“

“It’s not up for debate. We’re a team, Castellan, and I’m your girl. I’m not letting you do this alone.”

Luke put a hand on your waist, the other one reaching up to brush the hair out of your face. “Okay. You can come.”

“Good.”

He let out a quiet chuckle, placing a kiss on your forehead. “You’re so stubborn.”

“So are you,” you retorted, resting your head against his chest. Your eyes fluttered shut, the feeling of fatigue beginning to set in.

“You tired?” he asked, petting your hair gently.

“Yeah,” you murmured. “Let’s go back to the cabin.”

As you laid in bed that night, wrapped in Luke’s embrace, you realized that you should’ve fought harder to make him deny the quest. It really wasn’t worth it for him to risk his life for some stupid golden apple.

But he was hellbent on going. And you knew you couldn’t stop him. So, the next-best thing was to join him.

After all, when you fought side-by-side, you never failed. 

________________________________________________

“Are you two absolutely sure about this?”

Chiron stood at the top of Half-Blood Hill, the shade provided by Thalia’s tree casting a shadow on his face. 

“Yes,” you and Luke said in unison. 

Both of you were carrying medium-sized backpacks full of supplies needed for your journey. You had each packed a canteen of nectar, four squares of ambrosia, a change of clothes, all of the cash you owned (which wasn’t a lot), and some drachmas in case you needed to send an Iris message. 

Because it was July, you decided to wear a light, breathable outfit. You wore black cargo shorts and a loose grey tank top, accompanied by your trusty black leather boots. The grommet belt strapped around your waist held your weapon, which was in its condensed form.

You hoped you wouldn’t need to use it until you arrived at The Garden of Hesperides, but you knew that was extremely unlikely. 

Monsters were bound to come after you. They always did.

Chiron sighed. You hated when he had that “I have a bad feeling about this” look on his face, it made you feel extremely pessimistic. 

“Should you need anything, send us an Iris message. We will expect you to return within two weeks. If you do not, we will send a satyr to find you.”

“We’ll be fine,” Luke said, but it seemed like was trying to convince himself instead of Chiron. “But thanks.”

Chiron nodded. He then turned his attention to you.

“I am very proud of the hero you are becoming.   I know you have not had the easiest childhood, but nevertheless, you have persevered and become a strong fighter and a crucial member of Camp Half-Blood. I believe in you, and I believe you will succeed. But if you do not, that does not define your worth.”

You resisted the urge to tear up. Chiron had been consistently kind to you, even it felt like nobody would give you the time of day. 

“Thank you,” you said quietly. “But we will succeed, I promise you.”

Chiron gave you a warm smile. “Good luck,” he said, looking at both you and Luke. “Be brave, but avoid recklessness. And most importantly, take care of each other.”

Luke nodded. “I’ll protect her with my life.”

You smiled at him. “And I’ll do the same for you.” 

Chiron gave you a nod. “Safe travels, demigods.” 

With that, Luke took your hand, and lead you down the hill past the camp border. He glanced over his shoulder for a brief moment, his eyes wandering towards Thalia’s tree. He looked nervous, but determined. 

Determined to prove himself, and determined to keep you safe.

No matter what it took.

taglist: @orionspaperwork, @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy, @marvelescvpe, @lovingjasontoddmakemewanttocry, @louweasleymalfoy, @stars4birdie, @stargurl-battleship, @daughterofthemoons-stuff

Thank you for reading! Pls let me know what you think in the comments!!!

We aren’t given much info about Luke’s quest in the PJO books, I’ll be making up a lot of the things that happen during it. Because of this, it make take me a little bit longer to write Chapters Seven and Eight.

Let me know in the comments if you want to be added to the taglist!

[busylickingsatansballs]

Three's a crowd

Adrian chase x reader slight Rick Flag x reader

Warnings: slightly smutty, swearing, stalking, voyeurism and I think that's it if there's anything else lmk.

Summary: Adrian's a stalker but maybe this time it's not completely unwanted.

A/N: I had a dream about this.

Where are you? We need to talk. Come to your place now.

Who the fuck did he think he was? Why the hell was he at your place? He’s not your boyfriend he had no right to order you about. Sure he was handsome tall, dark, conventionally attractive it was his personality that ruined it. Always wanting to be in your space, wanting to team up for missions. it was too much. You’d teamed with leota as much as you could which is why you’d grown so close. It was a little awkward at first given who your dad was but that soon melted away when she realised you were nothing like him.

Your shoulders tensed and your stomach twisted, how the hell those four little words had the power to bring every bad thing you’ve ever done flashing before your eyes you’d never understand. You weren’t a bad person, maybe a tad morally grey sometimes but that was to be expected being peacemakers little sister. Sometimes you had to make the hard choices because Chris just couldn’t.

You glance over at him on instinct laughing loudly as he not so subtly flexed leaning closer to Harcourt desperately trying to impress, she seemed more open to it than she did when the team first got together. She wore a relaxed smile and that black shirt that Chris said made her tits look ‘Stellar’ Adrian couldn’t make it busy patrolling, he’d been doing that a lot lately.

Your stomach flutters as an image of him in his vigilante costume comes to life especially his ass, God he was gifted.

And you were being a pervert.

You flex your fingers, eyes drinking in the room. As you down the rest of your drink chasing away all thoughts of Adrian as you type a quick ‘what’s up’ back to Rick. There was no point in but you asked anyway he was a face to face guy liked to watch your reaction before you had chance to rehearse it. Leota notices you picking up your jacket “leaving already?”

“got people to see places to be” you retort fingers tight around the now empty glass.

She cocks a brow  “and what people might they be” she sasses playfully. you gesture to your phone spinning it round so she can read across the table.

“Y/Ns in trouble ” she sings but it’s lost to the noise of the bar.

“grow up, think you’ll survive without me?” leaning back in her seat she cocks her head towards the others.

“hell yeah, Chris has been putting the moves on Harcourt all night and I want to see what happens. Good luck. ”

Shrugging on your jacket you throw your arms around Leota in a tight hug she easily returns with an enthusiasm you could only blame on the booze you’d both knocked back. “thank you. See you all later” you call to the others with a tight smile, you don’t wait for them to reply as your already spinning on your heels and rushing out the bar on your way home.

It’s quiet when you make it to your apartment block, has it always been this quiet or were you just paranoid?

 You sway still slightly drunk regretting not calling an uber. You pull out your keys letting yourself into the lobby passing the night security you give him a nod of acknowledgement as you head straight for the elevator. Nerves kicking in as you punch in the number for your floor, your fingers tingle as you press your fingers flat against your palms, bouncing on your feet trying to ease your anxiety you realise Rick never messaged you back.

You squint at the brightness of the lights as you make your way down the hallway to your door, your ears pick up what you think is faint arguing, which you brush off as your neighbours until you realise the closer you get to your door the louder it is. Rick never mentioned bringing anybody with him, your skin prickles as you reach the end of the long hallway putting your hand against the door as it squeaks noisily you realise it’s slightly open which in your slightly tipsy state you’d overlooked. You push it all the way surprised to find Adrian on one side of the room clad in full vigilante costume aside mask and Rick on the other in army pants and an almost too tight ridiculously orange shirt.

“what the fuck is going on?” both men’s gazes snap to you and for the first time all night Adrian thinks he might faint. Rick was a sneaky bastard, Adrian wishes he’d shot him as soon as he’d caught him snooping through your apartment. It was harmless of course Adrian wasn’t a creep, no he was a concerned friend who just happened to be passing by who had to make sure your apartment was secure.

And jerk off to your underwear, Okay so he was a pervert. Sue him, he couldn’t help it. You made him feel hot, dizzy to the point it was a miracle he could look you in the face at times.

 His skin was melting he was sure of it, his suit felt tighter, almost fused to his skin. Rick shifts slightly out of the corner of his eye and his gaze snaps back almost as if he’d forgotten he was there.

“I can explain” he begs, literally begs hands clasping in front of him as he pleads for you to understand with his eyes. You’re not sure you do but you could never be mad at him.

He was your friend, a fiercely loyal one at that. Whatever was happening you were sure it was a misunderstanding.

“like hell you can, you’re a pervert.” Rick snarls.

You shoot Rick a look “don’t call him that.” he looks taken aback.

“he’s a sicko Y/N”  Rick doesn’t let up before turning to Adrian. “I know exactly what you are, I know that you’ve been watching her that’s why I followed you. I fucking knew I’d catch you eventually.” Rick looks triumphant, smug and it bothered you to no end.

Who asked him to get involved, yes Adrian could be a bit much at times but you always found his enthusiasm sweet. There was something sexy about a man who wasn’t afraid to show he cared that you just couldn’t get enough of.

And now you’re all just awkwardly stood there in what appears to be the worst Mexican stand off ever. Rick’s staring holes through Adrian, Adrian’s looking between you both as you debate whether it’s worth having that bottle of red you’d been saving for a special occasion.

You need to de-escalate this and fast, Rick looks more ready to jump across the room as time goes on and the last thing you needed was another noise complaint.

“look I’m sure there’s a perfectly logical explanation to why he’s here” moving the hair stuck to the back of your neck you roll your shoulders.

That was a lie.

“bullshit” Rick snaps “I see the way he looks at you, following you like some puppy and he’s just always right fucking there Y/N open your eyes.”

Adrian stiffens he really didn’t think he was that obvious thought he was playing it cool.

“why does that bother you so much? Maybe I don’t mind it” both men stare at you and you wish you’d gone for that bottle.

“It is late I need to shower and go to sleep, I don’t have the energy for this right now. We can talk about this later. But for now you need to go.” You point to the door and wait.

 Rick’s face is less than pleased but he knows when he’s lost. He walks past you murmuring about how this was the last time he tried to help, shoulder brushing against yours slamming the door behind him.

Adrian moves to the window probably to go out the same way he got in “not you” you snap.

He balks stopping short hands dropping from the window.

Maybe he could run for it.

“so” you start after a few seconds of awkward silence.

The air is tense, you feel hot thinking of him watching you but maybe that’s the alcohol in your blood.

 Adrian straightens up half expecting you to tell him what an utter fucking creep he was. “what are you doing in my apartment?” you try to meet his gaze which he drags lazily around the room.

“was checking that your apartment was secure” even he doesn’t believe that lie.

You snort god he was such a bad liar.

 Making your way across your apartment throwing your phone down on the kitchen counter before turning and leaning against it in a way that draws his attention down to your chest making his cock twitch.

You don’t miss the way he shifts to arrange his pants.

You find Adrian closer than before but not as close as you’d like. Like he was still debating leaving.

You don’t want him to.

 What the hell wrong with you? He’d broken into your home and let’s face it was probably stalking you.

 And you wanted him closer.

 “do you break into all your friends apartments?”  you pull yourself up to sit on the counter legs swinging childishly.

Adrian drinks in your relaxed state, It almost seems you like this, almost.

I mean what was he supposed to say to that?

Hi yes I’m stalking you, I’m so in love with you I stand on the roof opposite your building, jerking off, watching you because you never close your fucking curtains. And if you don’t close them you must like it a little bit. I stole your underwear, lay on your bed when you’re not home just to be surrounded by your scent.  

You drive him insane.

No that was too much you’d definitely tell him to get out and he already feels like the ground he’s treading on is fragile.

“I think you’re the most beautiful person I’ve seen. I like watching you.” And from anyone else that could be so innocent but with the way he’s looking at you, you know it’s anything but.

You fix him with a look but his gaze doesn’t falter doesn’t break under your own.

“so you’re a pervert then” his eyes flash and heat floods straight to your core.

 This was dangerous but he was past caring.

“yeah - yeah I’m a pervert” his voice strains, Adams apple bobbing up and down as he swallows, your eyes follow the movement.

“I don’t mind you watching me” he steps closer. This couldn’t be real.

You slide from the counter to move closer

“yeah?” he was going to explode.

“I still need to shower” hoping he gets the hint, he does.

“I could join you.”

“It would save water, good for the environment.” He agrees wordlessly his eyes don’t leave yours, you both stand there desire swirling making the air hot.

You drop your gaze to the floor.

Your hair is damp stuck to your face, Adrian reaches to push the stray hairs back into place.

Then reaches slowly behind you to cradle your head, you tilt it up to look at him.

And you just can’t fucking take it anymore.

Pulling him in lips meeting  in a less than graceful manner all teeth and tongue as he presses you back into the counter, hand turning to fist your hair. Your cunt pulses between your thighs as his fingers dig into your skin lifting you effortlessly, you hold on locking your legs around his waist.

Your back meets the wall, his hips roll against yours making you see stars. And it’s the first time you’ve really felt him and my god was he gifted.

You pull back as soon as air becomes a requirement taking in a gulp, as his lips move down your neck to your collar bone creating a blazing trail, his teeth graze your soft skin making you shiver.

Like he wants to bite but doesn’t.

“Shower.” You pant, wordlessly he carries you to where your bathroom is and you want to ask him how he knows but remember that’s a stupid question.

Of course he knows.

Yeah, you were definitely getting a noise complaint.

[bestsiblingstournament]

Carter & Sadie VS Evan @doomed-stickfigure-yuri & Michael @gandlebob

Part A, Round 1, Match-Up 2

(Image description: a book cover with the text "The Kane Chronicles" in a golden font that reminicent of Arabic letters. Directly under it, in a different font and colour, "the red pyramid" in all caps. At the bottom, in that same font, is the name of the author, Rick Riordan. The image on the background is of a large Egyptian-looking figure looming over the figures of a boy, a girl, and a cat. He is holding other Egyptian symbols, and behind him is what seems like a city in ruin. The boy is holding a scythe. End description)

(Image descriptions: the profile pictures of Evan and Micheal, respectively. Evan's is an image of Stan from Gravity Falls in purple with a shape behind him in asexual flag colours. Micheal's is a dark-coloured extreme close-up of something that I am assuming is a character I do not recognise. End description)

Reminder that this is a spoiler-free blog! Anyone who puts spoilers in the notes will be blocked.

[a-reader-and-a-writer]

AI-Less Whumptober 2023 Masterlist

Main Masterlist

AI-Less Whumptober 2023 Moodboard Masterlist

Thank you to @ailesswhumptober for hosting the event! All of this year's prompts can be found here.

The Middle of Nowhere (dark!Rooster & dark!Hangman & Reader)

Prompts: 1, 5, 17, 20, 27

What Went Wrong (Rick Flag x Reader)

Prompts: 1, 8, 14, 21, 30, Alt 1

The Job (Part 1, Part 2) (Tommy Shelby x Reader)

Prompts: 2, 8, 18, 21, 23, Alt 6, Alt 25

The One Rule (Cheater!Hangman x Reader)

Prompts: 4, 19, 31, Alt 7, Alt 13

There Was Never a Choice (Ed Baldwin x Reader)

Prompts: 4, 6, 13, 14, 16, 29

Remember.... (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

Prompts: 6, 23, 24, 25, Alt 11, Alt 29

One Bad Day....Jason's Death (Batman x Batmom!Reader)

Prompts: 8, 12, 23, 31, Alt 13

Nevermore (Rooster x Reader)

Prompts: 11, 19, 23, 28

That's What Family is For (Part 2) (Batsis!Reader & Damian Wayne)

Prompts: 16, 21

[loverhymeswith]

'Cause I'd Rather Feel Pain Than Nothing at All

Pairing: Rick Flag x GN!Reader

Summary: Inspired by the Three Days Grace song of the same name, this is an angsty little drabble that has been sitting in my drafts for a few months.

Word Count: 829

Warnings: Description of injury, angst

“It’s not as bad as it looks.”

Despite your clenched jaw, the lie slips out easily. Still, you avoid eye contact with Rick as he examines your bruised and swollen hand; his uncanny ability to read your emotions won’t serve you well right now. If he thinks for one minute that you’re badly injured, you’ll wind up on desk duty faster than you can say Bloodsport. That is, if either of you make it out of here alive.

“Really?” The word stretches out into the darkness, filling what little space there is between you. “Because it looks pretty damn bad to me.”

With so much cynicism lacing the colonel’s tone, your eyes involuntarily flicker upwards, landing on his familiar worry-worn face, illuminated as it is by the weak orange glow of your twin torches. Shadows dance across his battle-scarred features, eerily emphasising all his sharp curves and edges – a Picasso painting brought to life, albeit temporarily.

Thanks to the explosion rocking the building only minutes earlier, the two of you are trapped in what had once been the ground-floor comms-room, a mountain of rubble outside the door now separating you - somewhat ironically - from your squad of deadly prisoners. Those prisoners are undoubtedly enjoying their fleeting moment of freedom at your expense. If this situation doesn’t kill you, Amanda Waller surely will.

“Really. It’s probably just a sprain.” You tap the cracked GPS device somehow still strapped to your injured wrist and send out a silent prayer that Harley and the others will try to find you. And soon. Much like your ongoing attempt to convince Rick that you’re ok, the signal -- and your hope -- is weak.

The second lie draws Rick’s attention away from your hand, his hazel eyes finding you effortlessly even in the darkness. You quickly subvert your own gaze from the sweat beading across his filthy brow. It’s unfair that in such rotten conditions he still manages to look handsome.

“Let’s leave the diagnosis to the doctors, huh?” Calloused fingers brush across your knuckles. While it’s the ghost of a touch, you still find yourself gritting your teeth against the pain. Something is almost certainly fractured, but your hand is far from the only part of you that is wounded in Rick’s presence.

“If you say so.”

Spite tempts you to point out that hospitals and doctors seem like a distant fantasy when the pair of you might be lost down here forever. After all, any potential rescue attempt rides solely on Harley’s twisted moral compass. Between the two of you, have you shown her enough kindness? Perhaps she’ll leave you here to rot – and who could blame her?

But Rick is an optimist; he sees the good in people while you only see all the ways they can let you down. The colonel is no exception.

Careful not to jostle your hurting wrist, you snatch up one of the torches and aim the beam towards the door. The force of the fallen debris from the floors above has warped the metal in such a fashion that nothing short of another explosion is likely to free it from the frame. And you’re fresh out of nitro.

“Where was your head at?” Rick’s deep voice shatters the cloying silence descending over the room.

“Huh?” For the briefest of moments, you’d forgotten he was here. No easy feat considering his proximity, propped up beside you against the wall.

“Exactly. You’re somewhere else today. Distracted.”

He could be referring to any number of events: how you almost missed wheels-up because you couldn’t drag yourself out of bed; how you forget to check-out Harley’s weapons cache, leading to a meltdown of epic proportions from the princess of crime; how easily the guards got the drop on you.

Rick presses on. “You can talk to me, you know. If something is bothering you-”

 “I’m fine.” You cut him off decidedly, your tone leaving no room for argument.

Fine…

Has anyone ever said that four letter word and truly meant it?

From the flash of his eyes, it’s clear Rick doesn’t believe you.

You want to tell him the truth. You want to tell him that yes, your hand might be bad, but you’ve experienced far worse. That the pain you carry around with you every day has dulled your other senses, so much so that a knife to the gut would probably hurt less. But you don’t. Instead, ignoring the familiar and constant hurt throbbing deep in the cavern of your chest, you subtly shuffle away from him.

All things considered, the pain of your injury is a welcome relief, allowing you to focus on something other than the truth.

Because Rick Flag broke your heart without even knowing it. And now you’re stuck here beside him, waiting for almost inevitable death together in this dank, dark room.

Perhaps this was how it was always meant to be.

Joel Taglist: @a-reader-and-a-writer @yespolkadotkitty @babblydrabbly @heresathreebee @phoenixhalliwell @weallhaveadestiny @lavenderluna10 @immyownlittlebitch @katjnordstrom96 @kirsteng42 @littlefreakingfangirl @s-u-t @xoxabs88xox @lacontroller1991 @mayhem24-7forever