#ellis is spitting blood by the end of the fight that's for damn sure

[xfindingtrouble]

forever thinking about ellis' fighting style. he's a dual-wielding rogue. man is 5'7" & can't really rely on his size / brawn to get him out of a lot of situations. so he fights dirty, will pull every trick in his book to weaken an enemy & fall back for his allies to finish them off when he's out of breath / needs a moment to recuperate.

so in the span of a two-minute fight, he would probably spend 30 seconds flanking his enemy, about a minute throwing every disadvantage at his opponent that he can [ slashing, stabbing, throwing dirt in his opponent's face, kicking their knees from under them, dirty fighting all around ] & then those last 30 seconds he steps back, looks at his allies & is like ' you guys got this? sick. sick. give me a second ' while trying to catch his breath. like he does an insane amount of damage in that minute but he is not built to fight on his own.

[starlessskies94]

Consequence (Joel Miller x OC)

Summary: What if Joel survived his injuries from the Abby and Fireflies attack but ends up with really bad amnesia. He can’t remember his wife, Ellie, or the Outbreak; only before. How will his family bring back the man they once knew?Pairing: Joel Miller x OC                                                                                      Note: An update? Could It be? After all this time?...Yes. It is I! I come with a thousand apologies for taking so long to update. I didn't plan for it be so long but with Covid and going back to work during Covid and family stuff, I just haven't had the time but I'm back my lovelies and I really hope this chapter doesn't disappoint :)

Chapter Seven 

Tommy woke up late for the first time in weeks; he didn’t often sleep in but given his late night chasing lost cattle through the town after they’d somehow managed to escape the paddocks; he figured he more than deserved it. Maria had woken him when she made to leave and insisted he stay put while she made a start on the morning checks. She kissed him goodbye and they promised to meet later for lunch together.

The morning air was crisp and fresh as he stepped down onto the path, his jacket zipped tight to fight off the dwindling cold. The snow had long since melted and there were clear telltale signs of Spring fast approaching in Jackson.

And while the cold wasn’t as biting as it had been, there was still the odd chill that needed to be shielded from with a layer or two.

It wouldn’t be long before they were preparing for a new harvest to grow throughout the year. The sacks of seeds and planting equipment appearing all over town as families began to prep the soil and start their planting as the wildflowers poked their heads through the ground to bask in the warming sunlight.

Tommy made his way through the streets heading straight for his brother’s house. It was still hard to believe that it had been a whole two months since Joel’s attack.

Two whole months since his sister in law had lost her husband; his niece, her father. And unfortunately for all of them; it didn’t seem like Joel was making any progress to getting his memories back. He tried to help of course but his brother, being the stubborn grump that he was, had only pushed his younger brother away, insisting he was capable of handling the trauma alone.

He hated seeing his brother struggling, especially when it seemed that some details were coming through. It was little things but it was better than nothing. The only problem was, it was things Joel seemed to dismiss without a second thought.

Tommy honestly believed if Joel focused on them, they’d help process bigger things. Though it certainly hadn’t helped matters that the older Miller had stopped going to his weekly check ups to help his mind improve. The head of the infirmary had voiced her concerns to Tommy a few days earlier. His constant dismissal and disregard for their importance to his slow recovery; not just frustrating the Doctor but also Tommy himself.

He just hoped he could talk some sense into his big brother.

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He knocked but no answer greeted him as he stepped inside the house. It was quiet but clean. Each room meticulously organised and tidied to within an itch of its life. He figured this was what Joel must have been filling his days with over the past few weeks. The sound of muffled hammering caught his attention, leading him up the stairs to Joel’s workshop room. The door slightly ajar. Tommy had barely entered the room before Joel acknowledged him.  

“What do you want, Tommy?” Joel grunted without even bothering to turn around. Tommy just shrugged silently, his hands awkwardly stuffing into the front pockets of his jeans.

“Well good morning to you too, just stopped by to see how you’re doing.”

“As good as I can be I guess.” He muttered as he continued to work, never taking his eyes off the wood in his hands. It felt nice seeing his brother once again taking an interest in an old hobby that he had enjoyed before his injury. It felt like maybe they were finally heading in the right direction. But Tommy had to hold off, he didn’t want to push anymore than was necessary. He knew Joel well enough to know that if you pushed too far; Joel would only push back twice as hard. “Right, sorry... whatcha making?”   Joel hobbled back a little from the table, giving Tommy a better view of the work in question. The long neck and the four legs beginning to take shape made his heart skip. The older man had always had a talent; that was for certain. The horses he made were always magnificent. The wolves and the deer along with any other animal the people of Jackson had asked for; were always made with utmost care. And it seemed this work of art was no different.

“I think I meant for it to be a giraffe before... everything. Figured I might as well finish it. Hell if I know who it was supposed to be for.”

“Ellie.” Tommy whispered.  

“What?”

Tommy took a second for his brain to catch up with his words as he quickly cleared his throat and tried not to fidget too much. “It’s just...uh.. that it’s her birthday in a couple of months and she always liked giraffes, maybe it was meant for her?” He offered nervously. Joel just hummed casually. With a quick dismissive shake of his head and a sigh; he moved the half carved giraffe onto a nearby shelf along with his other unfinished projects. Turning to face his brother, his arm reaching out to grab his cane to steady his balance.

“Yeah, maybe...maybe Ada asked me to make it for her to give to Ellie as a gift.” He wondered out loud, stopping Tommy in his tracks.

“You talked to her?” He asked almost a little too quickly. Causing Joel to frown slightly in response at his brother’s unexplained eagerness.  

“Who Ada? Briefly, why? Am I supposed to know her or something?”

“You guys were...friends I guess…” Tommy replied weakly. He knew he had to be cautious here, baby steps. They were moving into uncharted territory when it came to Ada and Ellie. Joel had only just started to accept the life they had lived in Boston as smugglers and that was before he had even had the courage to bring up the Fireflies. He needed to steer clear of things deeper than that for now  and ease into the conversation he wanted to have. But his patience was starting to run thin. “Look, the reason I came by is because I was talking to Elizabeth and she said you’ve stopped going to your check ups.”  

“Oh not this again Tommy!” Joel snapped, his brother rolling his eyes in frustration as Joel hobbled away from his work space and further towards the door. But Tommy was quick to stop him, stepping in the threshold and blocking Joel’s exit.

“Look I know I don’t understand what you’re going through but-”

“You’re damn right you don’t!” He yelled. "You have no idea what it’s like Tommy; to lose years of your life in an instant. Forget everything you’ve done and the people you used to care about. I don’t see how bitching about how shitty this is to the damn Doctor is going to help!��

“But you’re starting to remember things Joel! That’s a big fucking deal!”

“How?! All I’m remembering is crap no one cares about! How are horse’s names gonna help me? Or how I take my coffee in the morning? I couldn’t even remember holding my little girl in my arms after she was shot! Oh but thank the lord I could remember what colour shirt I was wearing when it happened!!”

With every word Joel got closer, his nostrils flaring in anger as blood continued to boil. But Tommy never backed down, squaring up to his big brother wasn’t unusual and certainly wasn’t the first time they’d been at odds on how to handle something. Joel’s eyes narrowed and his jaw clenched.

“It’s been two months Tommy...two months of this and it ain’t getting better any time soon. This ain’t your problem so just back off!” He hissed between gritted teeth.

“You can’t just push me away Joel, I want to help. I’m trying but you’re just being so damn stubborn.”

“Then leave, I didn’t ask you to babysit me. And I sure as hell don’t need you sticking around outta guilt.” The words stopped Tommy dead.

“What?”

“I might not remember what happened but I know enough from what you told me about Boston...You survived because of me. All those years I took care of us. Just like when we were kids. So what? You feel like you owe me? You gotta take your turn to take care of me now? You can keep it baby brother because I don’t want it. And I didn’t ask for it.” The words spit venom with every ounce of bitterness Joel had in him. And Tommy felt his lip snarl in response. The ungrateful bastard; he thought coldly, after everything he’d done to keep his brother alive on the way back to Jackson after the Fireflies had almost beaten him to death and this was what he had to say in response.

“How do I know the people who did this weren’t after you. I mean they did a pretty good number on you too right? Big brother to the rescue to save your sorry ass; yet again! You think I want to live like this?! Huh?! Trapped in a life of a man I don’t even know. A house full of memories I can’t even goddamn remember!”

That was it, Tommy was done. Joel was frustrated and angry, he knew that. He understood that. Of course he did. But to blame him for this?! How the hell was that fair? His hands shook in pure anger, chest heaving as he held back his punches as much as he could. He stumbled away from the door. His trembling hand reaching up and running through his beard in a poor attempt to calm himself.  

“You know what screw you! Screw you Joel! You wanna give up, you wanna feel sorry for yourself? Fine! I’m done. You give up on your family-”

“Family?! What damn family? There’s no one left Tommy! Sarah is gone!”

“She ain’t the only one you got!” Tommy cut off without thinking. Joel’s face dropping at his brother's outburst. The younger man’s eyes widened in shock as he realised what he’d said. But it was too late to take it back now. And Tommy knew that. They both did. Perhaps now was the time to tell the truth.

“You want to know who your family is Joel? Take a look in your damn attic.”

Tommy uttered the words into the thick silence left between the two men. Before turning on his heel to leave, never giving Joel a chance to answer. Leaving the man to stew in his confession. He just hoped that somehow...Ada could forgive him for this.  

[druid-for-hire]

new hadestown au: BIKER ! EURYDICE, in which she’s a rogue lone-wolf biker dwelling in the urban jungle of a Neo Tokyo-type city called Hadestown, wracked with biker gangs, violence, poverty, corruption, and civil unrest, still recovering and rebuilding from an apocalyptic event many years ago. Heavy-handed with the AKIRA inspirations here, haha.

She fights for herself on the dangerous streets, an illegal racer with a consistent top-three placement and a reputation for ferocity that earns her the money she needs to scrape by. And then she meets Orpheus: a dopey bartender who has no place being in her business.

okay okay okay i’m gonna be jumping around a lot here. be warned. thanks @supercantaloupe, @regzillas, @birdmanlyss for your contributions! (sorry if i missed someone it’s been a while)

she's a lone wolf in a city infested with biker gangs and it's brutal

she's run over plenty of limbs in her day

then there's orpheus, this gentle, kind-hearted soul, an indie musician and shes like. fuck. now i gotta keep this bastard safe

puts a long pipe with a mess of bolts and metal on the end in his hands and tells him he'd better buckle up and learn to fight the road

this sort of thing is common among biker gangs to cause destruction and knock people off their bikes onto the road. other types include mallets, hammers, baseball bats, etc

shes small but knows a lot of self defense and is very good at handling herself on the road

besides teaching orpheus to steel himself and yes use that pipe on people, push them off and jam it in their wheels and let it break if it does, she's gotta teach him to hold on while she pulls all this crazy shit on her bike

she avoids taking him on the road because having to fight people gives him so much stress but he also stresses about her so it's all weird

the first time orpheus sees her run over someones arm hes like ""???????????????????!!!!!!!!"

"Don't worry it doesn't happen often" "WHAT IS 'OFTEN'"

she has a red songbird on her helmet and flowers on her jacket

and flowers painted on her bike too probably

or patterns like on the album cover

orpheus thinks it’s the prettiest shit he’s ever seen

so eurydice races, right? everyones like “who is this tiny little upstart” and then she takes off her helmet and shakes out her hair and everyone loses it

somethingsomething ig hades (who is something of a crime boss here, similar to Tombstone from the Spectacular Spider-Man cartoon, but not so unambiguously villainous in nature) becomes a contractor and he catches her in like, a bad contract that's hard to get out of without some kind of consequence

and now orpheus has to topple a capitalist again

anyway she like, meets orpheus in this little bar he works at

it's about lower middle class, so it's not too bad but it's still mostly populated by like, poorer people and bikers, etc.

they meet and it's cool and fun blah blah Come Home With Me shit

also this is a scene:

biker!eury: we gotta cross through downtown orpheus: what???? but there's a riot going on there! right now! eury: that's too bad, it's the fastest way! that's why you get this! (tosses him her pipe weapon) orpheus, barely catching it: sajskhsfdfs ???? eury: and i am gonna take this. (kicks open a trunk and takes out a rifle) orpheus: ???????!!!!???!?? WHERE DID YOU GET THAT AND DO WE REALLY NEED IT eury: Yes we do now come on orpheus: H-HOW did you get it eury: (loads gun) no worries orpheus: No i have many worries HOW DID YOU--

actually, on this emergency ride, orpheus proves surprisingly competent with her pole weapon—ruthless even, and eurydice wonders just where and how the hell he learned that

the conversation she has with him about that is the same one where he shows her his old, old scars

(besides ruthless—orph has apparently learned how to pose and intimidate. he does stuff like putting the tip of the pole-pipe to the asphalt as they’re riding, skipping on the road and creating sparks)

eurydice loves her bike more than certain relatives 

certain complications lead to it being destroyed by hades as punishment for doing him wrong. and it destroys her. that is her most trusted sacred bike, that thing has been with her since she was a teenager

once she repurposes that devastation into white-hot anger orph has to physically restrain her from hunting hades down and breaking his kneecaps with a thick lead pipe

he's never seen her this absolutely devastated and furious

he goes to persephone for more work because he wants to buy eurydice a new bike

he keeps it a secret from her until he leads her out to a garage, hands over her eyes

(some of these bits are copypasted from my friend @regzillas​)

orpheus takes his hands off and says Tada!!! it's just like the old one, there's no painted birds but she can do that. She just stands there in total silence mouth open, and orpheus goes 'so? do you like it?' before she bursts into tears. and at first orpheus is like :O!!!!! oh no!!! do you not like it? and eurydice through sobs just says 'nobody's ever done something like this for me’

it's... beautiful, it's touching, it's deep and it's love and she's so in love and she loves him so much, and she cries and holds him close and takes him in and she's so overwhelmed by her emotions, full of the care that orpheus so freely gives to her; and it's a breath of newness, fresh air in the cycle of dread and bitter anger that haunts the city (but she's still going to find hades and shoot him in the foot)

he just holds her and kisses her head

they spend the day painting it, the day after he buys the bike

hand-painted. and they both leave their handprints in paint on it, like carl and ellie do on their mailbox in the beginning of Up

a significant amount of time is spent thinking of a good name

theres lots of joking and eurydice playfully shoves orpheus and he falls over into paint

okay i wrote something like. Obnoxiously long for orpheus. i sort of have his backstory in this down, but i don’t have anything for eurydice unfortunately :( suggestions are welcome! but first: Hermes

biker!au hermes owns a chain of bars, several of which find their patronage among the ruffian youth, several of which are more refined and serve the middle class, and another several of which serve the upper crust hermes has a hand in every world and it serves him pretty well, and his chain is a bit of a channel of communication and its unspoken rule that whatever socioeconomic class or gang or organization you're a part of, hermes' chain is neutral territory no fighting allowed

eurydice walks in and hermes just gives her a Look and taps the 'no fighting' sign and she huffs

hes >:( if anyone does try to start shit. the honor system is strong enough that usually the other patrons will just throw them out, and if there are really problems, they'll hear from hermes personally

he maintains a very strict "no bitching in my fucking kitchen" atmosphere

and now, Orpheus

this really is kind of akira but without the government conspiracies; the city is a neon corrupt hellscape that’s still struggling to rebuild after an apocalyptic event that wiped it all through. the city is wracked with frustration and violence and anger, there are still urban ruins everywhere and the scars of rebuilding and struggle are plain in every corner of life; plain to see are the shells of ruined buildings, gigantic boats levelled from the sea and left in the middle of inland sectors.

orpheus was abandoned by his mother at an early age—kind and timid, he had to learn fast how to be suspicious and cautious in cruel ways. he couldn’t land himself a spot in any of the groups that other ragtag raging folks had eked out for themselves, still too hesitant or ungraceful or young for any of them. sure, he made friends, sitting and talking with lots of people, but never got to really team up—all he could do was just fight for himself in the blown out corners of the city. weapons made from whatever he had. a young child already spitting blood and teeth in hadestown’s vicious ground-floor landscape.

hermes is his mother’s close old friend, though the times they see each other are few and far between. when he saw him, hermes hardly recognized her son, wild-eyed and clawed and alone in one of the city’s more dangerous neighborhoods, with a pole full of screws slung over his back. how did she lose track of her kid for so long? he thinks. and takes him in.

hermes eventually realizes that his mother didn’t lose him. meanwhile, tiny orpheus, kind-hearted orpheus, despises hermes at first. he’s full of suspicion and desperately wants to lean into hermes’ kindness, but the streets have taught him to hold back. he spits curses at him, though the words slide right off hermes’ shoulders. it’s not genuine.  just frustrated. and picked off of the delinquents that were his friends, just like most everything else about him.

(hermes knows he’s gotten his trust when orpheus starts getting soft, when he’s crying over littler things; it means he’s been deemed safe to be vulnerable around, and he damn near starts crying himself.)

orpheus owns a little vespa! it’s covered in stickers, some of them worn out and old, some places with just the adhesive and the fuzzy white paper from where he tried to pull them off. some of them aren’t even proper stickers and just shit he peeled off from places while he was wandering around and stuck onto the vespa

even in canon i see him as the kind of guy who like. you look at him and think jesus how is this guy still alive he’s so noodly and soft, but he’s unexpectedly sort of street smart

anyway i mentioned this before but didn’t elaborate. biker au orph, to eury's surprise, does have his collection of scars, since he had a bit of a rough go at life

also he’s just ungainly and runs into shit

you can see em on his sketch page. he has a bit more than what’s shown, but what’s visible is a little slash across the bridge of his nose onto his cheek, and two on his left forearm. he probably has a stab scar in his side from just getting fucking knifed. the ones on his left forearm are from when a drunk coming out of a bar charged him with a fork

eurydice also has scars. kind of hard not to with the kind of life she lives

ok thats it. For Now. i don’t know how persephone or the fates or the workers factor in, if at all. I barely know how Hades factors in, mostly what i’ve said so far and that he does what he does to support himself and persephone. ah well! just have this

as this is extremely based off of AKIRA, i verily recommend listening to the movie’s soundtrack. besides the fact that it slaps hard as hell, the opening song, Kaneda’s Theme, has the perfect vibes for the city and the tone of eurydice and orpheus riding at night through it

[of-tatooine]

mercy. | chapter 15 - white

“because I know I will kill my enemies when they come.”

Flashes of bright, white light surrounded your universe.

They left no room for escape, encircled and almost trapped your vision to be limited to unbearable shine. And it was not just your eyes that felt the frustration - it was your entire mind, body and soul, in unison against the damage, trying to bring you back to your core yet to no avail.

Every single inch of your skin and every marrow in your aging bones screamed damn murder. Estranged, white hot matter engulfed your brain, occupied your thoughts and shot out any ounce of positivity that may or may not have been there to begin with.

Pain.

It invaded your entire body, every single cell and fiber of your being, like daggers digging deep into your skin. That troubled mind of yours could not recall when the last time you had been in such pain was - even getting shot seemed to be a breeze with the adrenaline kicking in.

In such a state of mind and body - all you were reduced to was wishing you had been six feet deep in some gravel already, to save you the years worth of misery and pure agony which seemed to only get fucking worse. No, these bastards holding you down did not even give you the damn luxury of dreaming of death.

Instead, the blade was dug deeper into your bullet wound.

“Motherfucker - ” was the latest addition to the plethora of curses you had spitted out in the past waking hours, the only vocabulary available to you. Sweat dripped down your jaw and trailed down your bloody neck in contrast to the freezing cold right outside the wall inches away, your flannel-covered chest heaved in exertion. Arms bound behind the chair with some makeshift rope which, in other circumstances, would not stand a chance against your nimble fingers. The jeans drenched in a mixture of blood, some dried and most of it your own, the fabric and bandages that used to cover your thigh ripped beyond recognition - and the sick fuck who would not stop grinning held the blade way too deep into your scab, reopening the wound, making blood gush out all over.

Ellie.

From the pain that rattled the very ground you were sitting on, your eyelids pushed themselves open to seek for the little girl. As much as you could make out of the bloodshot sight coated by tears, your almost lifeless irises searched for that familiar sight - heart dropping once again as you spotted her green coat in that blurred vision of yours.

Yelling, screaming and arms flailing as a couple of men tried to get a hold of her, dragging her out of the dirty cell they had tossed you both into and she put up a good fight. Just like she always did.

Just like he had taught her.

A newfound rage fueled you from within, surpassing the agony delivered by the probing into your body - the thought of filthy fingers touching her with nothing but harm intended, her screams echoing off of the hanging slabs of meat and corpses making your jaw clench and blood boil, veins bulging.

Get her the hell out of here.

“Leave her the fuck alone!” you would scream out into the bastard’s face with whatever voice you had left in your throat, body tightening and shooting up in a sudden burst of adrenaline - the movement erupting another groan out of you as the metal moved within your flesh.

Gathering all your efforts to keep your focus on the girl, green eyes would meet yours and they had nothing but absolute fear and terror in them. Helpless and hopeless, fighting yet beaten as the men pressed her against the rusty bars of the kitchen cell that was built to keep in animals for slaughter.

It was in the slight furrow of your eyebrows as your eyes met hers for the briefest of moments. The little spark of hope that never gave up on shining, no matter how much blood you had lost and how close death was. The sternness that seemed to give her some sort of determination, something to take example of. The pure rage against any and all men that walked on this very ground who dared touch her.

Be brave, Ellie.

“Now, we tried to be nice,” the greasy-haired fucker David who stood dangerously close to your face spoke, “ - but you just wouldn’t play.”

As you breathed in and out, frantically, the veins in your neck bulging as you struggled to get out of the bindings with what little strength your body could muster. “You let that girl go,” your bloodied lips would spit out, jaw clenched as you dared stare the monster right in the eyes.

Surviving for this long meant you had seen a lot of fucked up things in your lifetime, as a Firefly or sometimes on the other end of the barrel - yet your mind and soul would never forget the horrors these pack of cannibals had inflicted on both you and the little girl, in just a matter of days. It was not even about the beating they gave you, nor the scab wounds they re-opened up, no. This was so much more than your own torture, watching that little girl you had somehow sworn to protect be handled so roughly, hurt, battered and bruised.

“What are you gonna do, doll? Kill me?” he taunted you, pressing the blade a bit sideways to widen the wound, eliciting another muffled scream out of you as your head arched back slightly - if you had managed to get out of this hellhole alive, if the fucking Cordyceps did not kill you, this pain in your damn thigh would take you out. A bloody hand wrapped around your neck as he left the blade embedded, bringing your face forcefully back to match his eyesight - those sick orbs not having an ounce of light in them, shaded by a couple strands of hair.

Had you not been in such a weak position, you would have snickered at the man’s broken finger in a cast.

Lips aching to scream, legs craving to run and mind racing for the one and only Ellie, you used every inch of your leftover resolve to not give up your soul right there and then as your fingers worked softly against the knots of the rope bindings - broken fingernails digging into your skin, jaw clenching yet the rope giving away slightly. A silent prayer went up to whatever god was listening to you - it was some worn-out material that they used to tie animals with, or in this case, human meat. These fuckers had not anticipated you to be conscious, with all that residual pain after the torture.

“Take me. Let the kid go,” your hoarse voice pleaded, the desperate tonality of it lighting sick sparks inside your captor’s eyes. Another thick knot slipping through, the coarse rope cutting through your calloused fingertips.

Fuck, almost there.

“Now, how about we take you both?”

A blood-curling scream rang in the cold air of the kitchen as a couple of men carried Ellie forcefully to the adjoint freezer room not too far away from you where slabs of meat dangled all over, making you sick to your stomach knowing half of those were human.

Chest heaving in exertion and pure anger, you could only watch helplessly as David extracted the blade from your thigh in a sickening pop of blood and flesh - opting to press it against your neck, your own blood trailing down your throat as he cooed to you - an animalistic ssh that was sure to haunt you in your dreams if you ever made it out alive.

The only thing you could do was gulp, speaking would be futile as he angled the blade to keep you looking up at him. Meanwhile, your fingers worked ever so softly to untie the last knot. You still kept your hands together behind you - if that did not work, well, he would be better off slitting your throat right there and then. Even if it was your only chance, you would take it.

So you did.

“What the fuck is that?” you would hear one of his soldiers speak up, in total and utter disbelief, making your bloodshot eyes look over to the girl they had tried to restrain against the metal table. Her sleeve tugged up as her legs tried to kick at the other guy - yet their attention to a certain detail seemed to stop the proceedings, and stop time for a split second as David turned around to face his men.

Then, you saw it. From the corner of your eye, squinting a little. A fucking bite, all scabbed in its’ glory, on her inner forearm where they had tugged the sleeve upwards to make a cut.

When they told you she was immune, you did not believe it one bit. This crusade was simply for the fact that Joel needed the help, for whatever end goal he had in mind. For the contentment of the kid and her safety, nothing more, nothing less.

Now, you had seen more infected bites than you could count - and this one was no ordinary one. Jesus Christ, this was real. Your shocked orbs caught Ellie’s equally scared ones in that moment of confusion - a distraction that you probably would not get ever again.

“Run!” you screamed at Ellie as the bindings dropped from your reddened wrists, your foot lifting up with such force to hit the man where the sun don’t shine - your hands reaching to hold the blade further away from you, not even giving the cannibal a split second to comprehend what the fuck was going on as he collapsed in a loud groan, the blade tumbling over the concrete floor.

And run she did - using her little size to her advantage, she jumped off of the table before the bastards could catch her, running to the exit through the slabs of meat as you ducked into another hallway in a hurry - the pain subsided by the pumping adrenaline only for a little while. Curses and slurs rang in the coldness of the compound as the men scurried for their guns, one rushing to help David up yet you would not dare look back.

The only thing that mattered was finding Ellie outside and getting the fuck out of the village. The moment you dashed from the backdoor of the kitchen, the blinding blizzard hit you right in the eye, making your step falter in the snow. From the right came footsteps - quick yet light, your instinct told you to follow them, only to find a head of ginger hair with specks of snow scattered as you got close.

Hope filled through your being, despite the fact that your only protection against the blizzard was Joel’s flannel. Blood trickled down every inch of your skin, leg limping.

Oh God. 

Joel.

Would you live enough to see him one more time? To thank him for his shirt you had borrowed? Freezing would be a big understatement in your condition, somehow the fear of death and the survival instinct pumping through you kept you in operating condition. It did not matter if you got hypothermia or suffered a long, painful death from blood loss - as long as you got this girl under safety, you could die a happy woman.

She must have seen you too, you reckoned when she collided into you, a silent throe of gratitude as her hands wrapped around yours in such force. Dragging you deeper into the snow, away from the approaching sounds of men and guns cocking and into temporary cover.

There was no way in hell they were going to spot you in this hell-sent snowstorm, unless you got too close, or shot someone. The latter would not deem to be the case, considering you had absolutely nothing to defend yourself with. You had been in fucked up situations before, but never like this, never with the responsibility of a little kid looming all over your shoulders and a gaping bullet hole in your thigh. Taking the chance to peek above cover, your arm was placed protectively around the little girl, your best attempt to shield her from harm and give her some warmth.

As the two of you took a moment to breathe, the slow crunches of snow underneath boots alerted you - they were everywhere, looking for you both, eager to get their hands on you. Muttering a curse, you looked down at her, and that was when you noticed the utter fear mixed in with blood and determination written on her face. Staring up at you with faltering eyes.

"Ellie," you whispered, head leaned in, as your arm encircled around her to press her against you. "I'll get you out of here. We need to go inside - and take these fuckers down."

She nodded quickly, tensing up at the sudden movement up ahead, her trembling hand reaching to her coat to take out her trusted switchblade.

"No matter what happens, you don't leave my side."

Another nod of confirmation, and against the protests of every inch of your limbs, you moved on forward into the unknown snow - Ellie tugging onto your sleeve as you advanced like a wolf to choke out the first of many cannibals. Adrenaline and the resolve to protect this little girl at all costs the only things giving you strength.

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

She was gone.

All it took was one second of carelessness, leaving her a couple steps behind to sneak up on another one of David’s gang members - by the time you had choked him out, fighting and stammering in the snow, the wind had picked up and made you totally lose sight apart from what was literally an inch in front of you.

Sqinted eyes searching for the little girl frantically, the jacket you had stolen off of the bodies you knocked out in your way providing some much-needed warmth. Yet another stolen item - a scarf this time, thickly tied around the gaping wound to stop the bleeding the best you could. The dizziness from the blood loss seemed to hit you in waves, faltering your step occasionally as you trudged through the blizzard. After coming this far, all this way, with the cold freezing the very marrows of your bones and your blood drying all over your skin - you would not let a fucking bullet wound take you down nor keep you from finding her.

There, over the far horizon of your vision coated by snowflakes, you could spot color. Orange, burning red, emanating from the building not too far away it seemed - it could not be if you could make it in this storm. Dark smoke starting to follow up into the sky, contrasting the white stillness of the snow with the smell of burning wood.

Praying she was alright, you would let out a silent curse and take off towards your new lead.

Fear rose up in your throat again, your heart racing as you tried to stick to the walls and be as stealthy as possible while making your way towards the burning building. Not many men were in sight, even if they had been, they did not spot you - most of them you had choked out or kicked to death on your way. There was no room for mercy, there never would be for these bastards who tried to touch the kid you swore to protect.

If only you could get your hands on that fucker David, you were going to make him wish he was never born.

Breath quickening as you silently approached the building from the back alley, which seemed to be an old, abandoned diner, an open window could be spotted near the back of it - noting that it was just near Ellie’s height. Without a second doubt, or thought in that matter, you hastily moved and carefully hopped inside of the kitchen of the joint. Alert and jaw clenched, you could hear the thuds of footsteps and the voice of that sick fuck once again as you dared sneak a peek from the crevice - along with the cracks and winds of the flame slowly emanating through the walls, originating from the entrance.

“You think you know me?”

Ellie’s muffled sounds of protest rose up in the air, your feet fucking killing you as you sneaked your way towards the two. If you wanted to save her, you needed to do this nice and so damn quiet - you were not packing and the only weapon you had was your damn hands, knuckles all bloody. The one guy you managed to snag had been out of bullets, before you decided to discard it and you were beginning to regret that stupid decision, made in your haste to get to her. It destroyed to your core, knowing that she had been through so much and you could not save her sooner - in the end, even if it meant your own demise, you promised her you would protect her.

Fire illuminated the center point of the premise as you sneaked up closer, sounds of struggle ever so prominent as you readied yourself up for the battle, now having a clear view of his denim covered back. You would not dare imagine the animalistic expression on his face.

And Ellie, laying vulnerable and beaten on the floor.

When that monster, no doubt injured by the way he was holding onto his arm, got on top of Ellie to strangle her - that was when your blood boiled to the rim. It did not matter if the fire burnt through your skin, bullets pierced your limbs, knives got stuck in flesh.

Legs pushed you up in almost an instant as you growled and lunged at the man from his back, catching him by surprise as you used the maintained stealth to your advantage. Giving Ellie time to escape the hell out. He grunted as you tackled him to the ground, laying down a solid punch to his jaw but then the remaining survival instinct in him decided to act up, much to your bad luck - his good arm came out of nowhere and punched you in your stomach, hard, pure rage spitting out of his mouth.

“You fuckin’ bitch.”

Sending you curling back on the floor as the wind got knocked out of you, that split second enough for him to try to get up with a snarl and move towards his one designated victim - the best he could do was crouch in his state.

Maybe you should have noticed, or maybe the blinding fire had been too distracting. Maybe it was the urge to get this man’s hands off of her as soon as possible, no matter what the cost. As you practically crawled on the floor towards the girl in a race with David to get to her, the shy glint of the machete she wielded stopped the breath in your lungs.

A loud hurl that no child should have to muster came out of her lips as she gave the man who had put her through so much pain a slash - right in the head, the man’s screams erupting in the burning room before ceasing abruptly as the metal pierced through his skull. Blood and brains scattering all over the hardwood, with such force - and yet she did not stop. All that frustration of captivity, the way he touched her and you, tortured you relentlessly - it was all expressed in the form of brutal, fatal slashes to David’s now unrecognizable remains.

“Ellie,”  you managed to crawl up to her, your arms tentatively reaching out to get wrapped around her tense shoulders, pulling her towards your frame as tears dropped from her green eyes, sobs filling in the air.

“C’mere - it’s okay, it’s over,” you softly whispered as the girl wrapped herself around your kneeling frame, letting go of the machete with a thud, craving the comforting touch. She had done it. Killed a man viciously, without an inch of remorse, exactly the way he deserved to die. Brutalized and mutilated to no dismay. And now she was crumbling, as if reminding herself that she still was a child in a cruel, big world.

“It’s alright, sweetheart.”

Heart broken into a million of pieces, her tears coated your stolen, oversized jacket as your eyes threatened to spill - a couple drops raining down on your bloodied cheeks, chest heaving in the aftermath of it all. Fingers ran through her hair  as you pressed her even closer, finding much needed comfort in each other surrounded by fire and death.

Lost in the embrace as you comforted the child, you did not hear the giant of a man run through the fire and into the burning diner, breathless and battered - who dropped down to his knees and encircled both of your pressed frames into a hug, pulling you close. Ellie shielded herself from the world instantly, grabbing a hold of his jacket while another held onto your hand for dear life as she cried his name.

Instant warmth comforted you, the scent of flannel and snow seeping through your very being. Instinct told you not to budge, not to protest - you did not have to. It was safe, he was safe, hell - his arms were be the safest place to be on that scorched earth. His calloused hands wrapped around both of your shoulders, you felt his breathing soften. He had found you - before it was too late. Before he lost the two who mattered to him the most, even if his lips were silent.

Unable to do anything else, your bloody lips parted, leaning your heavy head against Joel’s broad chest as you never let Ellie’s other hand go - her small but bruised one in your equally injured. Joel’s presence gave you all the hope you had needed in the world for that moment, as if he was this glue putting together the shattered pieces, after you and that little brave girl in his arms had gone through absolute living hell.

“Ellie, it’s okay now,” he spoke, the rugged edge of his voice breaking as his one hand cupped Ellie’s cheek, the little girl looking up to him and you with terrorized eyes.

“Joel…he, he tried to - ”

“Oh, baby girl…” he gave in, the giant of a man’s entire resolve dissolving, the pure love he held laced his tone as his thumb wiped down the tears falling down her blood-coated skin. Joel buried his face in the little girl’s hair, cherishing her very existence as his hand held her face ever so gently. It warmed your heart, this burning fire reminiscent of your entire reason of fighting to survive. It was all for love, in any shape or form. Taking care of each other and never letting go.

That was all that mattered.

“It’s okay now, I got you. I got you both.”

As he allowed her to just let it all out for the mere remaining seconds they had before you all had to flee, his neck craned down to focus entirely on you. “Look at me, honey,” his rugged voice spoke with the softest, sweetest tone, olive green eyes clouded with such concern and relief, his long fingers gently pushed your hair back. Exhausted and teary eyes met his orbs as he adjusted his arm so that his calloused hand held your cheek in a warm embrace. No doubt inspecting for injuries, always checking if you were okay. Your lips curled in the softest of grateful smiles.

“God, I thought I lost you,” he whispered, the approaching flames reflecting in his green orbs as he pressed a desperate, loving kiss to your forehead. Lips you never thought you would feel against your skin. The type of affection that could only come from a man who thought you had been gone forever.

A loud thud of burnt wood falling down the floor echoed amongst the cracks of fire. “Let’s get out of here, c’mon,” he cooed, helping both of you up to your feet as his arm remained tightly wrapped around your waist - never letting go, always holding you close. Ellie took his other hand as she used her sleeve to wrap her tears, eyes looking up to find the exit.

Joel Miller swore to himself, right there and then, that he would take care of both of you. No matter what it took, he would always be there to watch over you and fight for both of you to the ends of this earth.

As long as it meant having you in his arms again.

[suffering-and-happy-about-it]

Broken Families (Favored Ones, Part 16.)

Series description: Many things were surely fucked up in the year 2038, but no-one ever told anyone how all of it went down. What happened before a group of people left for Seattle to handle personal matters? Why did one girl refuse to leave all of it be? And why there were so many dead in the end?

Part summary: Abby stayed true to what she said. She made you scream in pain that day.

A/N: So, Abby is here. And she’s here to play some golf, y’know. She likes iron clubs better than iron ones and... Just kidding, Owen and Tommy are about to play a game.

Warning: Gore, blood, some torturing, Abby; Tommy and Owen playing golf. 

Word count: 4.2 K

Tagging:   @nemodoren @xxgoldenhour @missdictatorme​​ @peakymarvels​​ @davnwillcome​ @pickleriiick​ @jodiereedus22​ @gladiosamicitias​ @tamkashi​ @eternallyvenus​ @avengerssstuff​ @fangirl-inthe-us​ @avery-miller​ @mikah-writes​ @mad-hatter-98​ @sadiaafrin99​ @flavorishy

Series master list: H E R E

Joel Miller’s playlist for the bonfire occasions: H E R E

Youtube playlists: JACKSON DAYS | SEATTLE DAYS

Another steel nail under your nail. How many of them were already there? Twenty? Thirty? Jesus, it was hard to count at that point. Especially, when you had a problem to even breathe or to see what was happening around you. The woman didn't lie. As soon as she told Tommy what she wants to do with you, she started with it. Her comrades took the jacket, gloves, and pants off of you, no matter how hard you tried to fight back, taping you to the chair with silver duck tape.

First, she was punching your stomach while the man named Owen held the chair, so you wouldn't fall on your back as he told you some nasty things. When your stomach was fucked up enough for you to spill blood, she moved to punch your face. Yeah, you couldn't see with one eye and your nose surely broken at one point, since the blood was all over your breasts. Or was it the one you spat? Jesus, it was so hard to tell.

Then, to keep you breathing and full of consciousness, they brought nails and a small hammed, and oh boy, that was where the fun started. You didn't scream until that point, but now, every inch of the nail digging into your meat was followed by a high-pitched cry. You were trying to wiggle out of the chair, but Owen was leaning into it with his full weight. It appeared as if it made Abby happy to see you scream in pain, crying, and bleeding. Either she was happy or she barely notices. Both of the options were equally probable.

Abby was trying to break Tommy down. It wasn't about you, no, you were just Abby's plaything. One of you had to know Joel and sooner or later, one of you had to spill the truth. They chose to torture you since you were the smaller, more fragile one. It must've been so hard for a man to see a woman he cared about getting hurt without having a chance to help you. Well, he had a chance, but he didn't.

They handcuffed Tommy, so he would sit in front of you, and they taped his head to the wood, so he couldn't see anything but you.

Yet, for how fragile you might've seen at the beginning when Abby was choking you, you haven't said a word. Which was surprising for both of you. You wouldn't suspect you could have so much willpower inside of you. You were looking at Tommy, your look alone was telling him not to say a word. Where, for the love of God, was the girl who almost broke down when Harry was killed by the infected?

Everything about your posture was telling Tommy that you'll make it. You could take in a lot, right? You were a survivor, it wasn't too wise to fuck around with you or your family. If they killed you? You were madly in love, you didn't honestly care. As long as Joel was away from that place, you could take it somehow. Sooner or later, Ellie, Dina, Maria, or Jesse had to show up to look for you.

"Why the fuck are you still smiling, huh? Puta." - The Hispanic man tugged your scalp harshly, spitting in your face. You could barely feel the warmth of the spit since you had dry blood everywhere.

"Maybe you took a mentally ill one, Abs. Maybe she just doesn't know." - Owen mumbled from smoking a cigarette. The short-haired woman asking you about your well-being left what seemed hours ago after she almost threw up. Whoever she was, she didn't seem to take the sight too well, which made her different than Abby and Owen. These two were fucking psychopaths. You were smiling for the last half of the hour, yeah. Because you knew that once Joel will get to know about this, Abby is done. You didn't know what he'll do to her, yet you know she won't be smiling after he'll be done with her. Also, there wasn't enough oxygen in your brain anymore, so you maybe were starting to get delusional.

"It's taking too long, we've been here for hours. We need to leave this fucking place before the people in town notice they're missing." - A woman of color said, looking Abby in the face. The woman seemed to be shaken with the scenery as well. - "Finish this fucking mess, I can't look at it anymore." - She spat in the tall lady's face, leaving the room.

In the begging, Tommy was begging them to stop. He was pleading for the love of God for them to let you be. They should do all of this to him, not to you. But he was silent for hours now.

Abby was looking at you for a small moment, having an unreadable expression on her face. She was thinking about what Nora had just told her. The woman was right, probably. This was taking way too long. Whether you were a damn psycho or you didn't know any Joel Miller, she didn't care - she took a knife from the counter, pushing it right above your knee. The pressure was quite painful.

This action made you open up your mouth while a horrible scream came out, as you held the chair with your palms. The woman kneeled beside you, steadying herself to turn the knife inside the meat of your thigh. The blood was dripping around as she motioned the Hispanic man to drag Tommy away to show him some manners. Manny knew where Abby had her golf club packed and she knew that Owen will gladly show Tommy some of his favorite tees.

Your screams slowly stopped, since your vocal cords were too tired to make such a sound. - "I told you I don't want to kill you. You're innocent. I'm after someone else. Don't you understand?" - Abby mumbled and started to turn the knife around, making you almost faint at one moment. - "If you won't stop dodging the answer, I will pop your knee off."

"Why don't you tell me, where is Joel Miller? I'll let you go, I swear. Me or my friends won't come after you or your friends. That's a promise." - She stopped, holding the chair in place with her hand. Abby knew what she was doing. If she'd turn the knife around too fast or if she wouldn't stop for a small moment, she'd make you numb to the pain. And the last thing she needed was to let you lose your consciousness. Her eyes widened when a whisper came out of your lips.

"What? What did you just say?" - She mumbled frantically, looking at your destroyed face. It was horrifying to see you like that.

"I was saying..." - You coughed, looking away from her to spit another blood out of your mouth. - "That he'll fuck you up once he gets to know who you are and what you've done. You're a walking dead man." - And you carried on laughing. Who the fuck were you? How could you even develop enough capacity to say such things? With that, Abby shook her head, tears appearing in her eyes, and pushed the knife deeper, just behind your knee, twisting it with hatred in her face. You were screaming like a fucking animal. Just when she was about to slice your throat like a pig's, Melanie's scream stopped her.

"Someone's inside the house! Move it, run!" - Owen yelled over the building. Without second thoughts, she threw the knife away, picked her stuff, and ran into the woods through the big windows, leaving you exposed to the ice-cold air.

A few hours ago, Jackson:

Maria was getting worried. You left early in the morning. It was already six o'clock in the evening and you were nowhere to be found. Ellie, Dina, and Jesse had already got back from the patrols just as the other did. Where did you two got stuck? When others found out you're missing, they immediately called everyone to a meeting. Yet no-one had the slightest idea where you were at the time.

"I told you I saw lights in the fucking house. What if they're there?" - Ellie asked with hatred, pointing her finger on the map. Dina was kissing her shoulder, trying to calm her down, but it wasn't helping much. Tommy was her fucking uncle and you were her best friend.

"Why would they go in there? It's completely out of the way for them." - Jesse asked back. Yeah, there was something fishy going on. If one of you'd die during the hunt, one of you'd be already back. If you'd got lost, he knew that Tommy would find the way back.

Ten patrols searched through the surroundings of Jackson, coming back empty-handed. The house was the only reasonable location.

"Maybe one of them got hurt? They would never leave the other somewhere out there if one of them bleeding or something like that." - Dina asked silently, trying to calm them down. Ellie took in a deep breath, closing her eyes. After a while, she moved from the desk, looking at her friends. - "I'll tell Joel that we'll be going on a patrol to search through the house. Maybe the old man will want to join us? It's his brother and his girl, in the end, we're talking about."

"That's a good plan, yeah." - Jesse agreed, watching as she left the room. Ellie was not having a good feeling about you and Tommy just disappearing one morning. She was with both of you on a patrol multiple times and neither of you hasn't done anything like that before. It was like a magic trick - you disappeared in the thin air. She ran up to Joel's house to be there as soon as possible - the longer they would hesitate, the longer was the probability you'd be found dead. The old man opened up the door within a minute after she knocked the first time.

"Hey, hey." - He mumbled, putting his palm on Ellie's shoulder. She looked weirdly off to him. He had a free day thanks to you, but it was making him worried you weren't back just yet. It was maybe the morning blizzard or the fact that most likely, you needed to maneuver a lot around the horde to lower their numbers. But this was making him think that just maybe, you weren't hiding from the weather after all. - "You good? Did somethin' happened, kiddo?"

Joel was getting into his more worried and protective mood within seconds. Ellie nodded and motioned for him to come inside so he could at least sit when she'll tell him. - "Is it somethin' about you and Dina? Did Tommy do some bullshit? You know you can tell me." - The man looked into her face, offering her at least a glass of water.

"More or less. It's about both Y/N and Tommy." - She mumbled, looking the tip of her boots. Jesus, Ellie was tired as a dog. The hangover was terrible, she could barely hold her eyes open, her body was hurting and she only had a few hours of sleep. Joel was confused, yet his expression was telling Ellie that he's not making too much out of it. - "She told me that they're goin' on a patrol because of some infected. I think they just got a bit stuck there."

His small girl nodded at that, thinking about the best way to tell him. After she took another sip of the water, making herself just tell all of it to Joel. - "We searched the place, we haven't found neither them nor the horde. They are MIA a the moment." - At that, Joel stopped making a joke out of the situation. It wasn't the weather, but the infected. Were you two even alive? Were you all alright?

"The last place were looking into is the house an hour away from Jackson. You know which one I mean. Are you coming with us?" - And this question Joel needed to hear. Of course, he was about to search for both of you. It wasn't likely that you'd split, even if something happened. Tommy surely kept you by his side the whole time, making sure you're all right. Finding Tommy meant that they'd find you both.  

Everyone gathered at the stables in the next ten minutes - there was Ellie and Dina, Jesse, Joel, Maria, and Diego, everyone ready for any inconvenience to come. During their journey to the house in the mountains, everyone was awfully quiet. Everyone had their ears ready to hear for any kind of strange noise, but none had come. The first sign of someone coming through were dad bodies put on fire laying at the gate. These were infected - which meant that normal people are inside the guarded building. Yet there was nowhere to be seen.

"This isn't our technology." - Jesse said after looking at the bodies. - "I would recognize her handwork everywhere. She hadn't made this and Tommy doesn't know how this works. Someone we don't know is in there and we don't know if they're friendly or not yet." - The young boy stood up and looked at everyone.

"Then we should leave horses here and try to get into the building unnoticed. If they're friendly, they won't hurt us when they find us sneaking around, right?" - Ellie asked everyone and they needed to say that this is a reasonable plan. The people divided into two groups - one consisting or Maria, Joel, and Ellie, the other one having Dina, Jesse, and Diego in it. They were ready to roll.

It was taking quite a long time before the two groups met at the back of the house where a window was opened - which, in translation, was the only way leading inside the house. To get there without making too much noise was kind of fun, but in the end, everyone got there safe and sound. It was just when Ellie and Dina were slowly opening the window when the first screams filled the air. It sounded awfully like a young woman's accompanied by dull loud noises coming from downstairs.

"Okay, let's calm down first. We need a plan," - Ellie whispered before she leaned her shoulder to Joel's chest to stop him from just running there, killing everyone in an instance and probably getting himself killed as well. - "You are going to calm down first. We need to be careful here."

"And listen to her gettin' killed any moment? No." - Joel answered back immediately, just to have Maria's hand on his shoulder too.

"Ellie is right. This house is huge, there's probably ten to twenty of the people and we have two people to loose here. I'll stay with Joel, makin' sure he'll behave. Ellie's coming with us. Jesse, you're taking the right side of the house, were heading right? If you find something you won't do on your own, the first thing you do is to yell at us. It will probably make them realize were here, but that can scare these fucks off." - Maria put an end to the argument, making everyone calm down immediately.

Jesse looked at his group nervously. Dina was excellent in silent killing, while he and Diego were more of the fistfight and gun guys. But they were about to make it. Just as Maria told them, their ways parted.

They tried to be as careful and as quiet as possible. Every moment built up the tension inside of Jesse, he had the feeling that each of their steps is as loud as a thunder. Which wasn't a comfortable feeling at all? The left side of the house was emptied - the rooms were empty, there was no kind of civilization in sight. It was when they arrived at the stairs when Dina noticed heavy footsteps walking up. Her nails dag up to Jesse's arm as she motioned on her arm. Jesse closed his eyes, listening to the surroundings, nodding at Dina in the end as everyone his behind the walls to take cover.

Dina did her best to quietly put the suspenser on her gun, making sure that her knife is ready for any case. When she was sure, she leaned her back to the wall, taking in a deep breath as she stood up. When the guy walked in, he didn't look around and behind the walls - he was just patrolling. It was this weird, disgusting dude with a baseball cap, whistling a song as he walked forward. Dina jumped on his back, covering his mouth and shooting a bullet right into the man's brain. His body relaxed in a second as the life left it, his back falling on Dina's chest. She huffed a bit, slowly laying the man down.

"Ever told you you're fucking good at this?" - Jesse looked at his ex-girlfriend, now covered in blood, who just grinned back as they quietly made their way through the halls and corridors. The dark-haired girl smirked at what Jesse had to say, shaking her head. - "Focus, 'kay?" - She whispered, but suddenly, as they were about to enter some white door, they heard some person yelling.

"Someone's inside the house! Move it, run!" - Each of them stopped in the middle of what they were doing, hoping that any of the running people won't meet them. But it had to happen, hadn't it? It was a short-haired, small, fragile woman who had her eyes red with tears. As soon as she realized she doesn't know any of the young people and Dina pointed her gun at her, she rose her palm in the air. For a moment, they were staring at each other before the woman turned around and ran in the opposite direction.

"Why didn't you shoot her down? She can alert the others."- Diego whispered into Dina's ear angrily, but when he was about to chase after the woman, Jesse's hand stopped the boy. - "She was scared. Did you see the look on her face? Maybe something real bad happened here." - Dina told to Diego, turning around to open up the white door.

All of them stopped and looked into the room, thinking that they may be dreaming. Dina knew she knows the person dressed only in their top, with a knife sticking out of their thigh. It was a girl... Dina suspected, but it was hard to tell honestly. There was blood everywhere, small nails and a hammer laying on the ground, the window was open and the snow was now falling in, making the person freeze.

"Joining the party? About fucking time. Sadly, you missed the main program." - The person told them, coughing some blood, spitting it on the ground. Jesse's face stiffed in horror as he realized who's he looking at. It was you. Their best friend. The girl who wore the worst cowboy shoes ever to every dance there was in Jackson. The boy ran to you, quickly, looking at what they had done to you. There were tears in his ears when he looked at the hematomas on your stomach, seeing the swelling part of your face. - " I didn't tell them, I didn't say a word, Jesse, I..." - That was all you were repeating the whole time Dina and Jesse were strangling your thigh and preparing pieces of cloth to cover the wound. The girl sighed and nodded at Jesse, who gently turned your face at him. - "I know you didn't say them a word, you've done so well, come on, stay with me, look at me, that's it, that's it." - The boy whispered as Dina gently pulled the knife out of your thigh, making sure she won't do you more harm. But the screaming filling the room was terrifying. Jesse, even if he didn't want to hurt you more, pressed his finger into your cheek to keep you from looking on your leg as Dina put gazes around it with swift movements.

Diego was checking for clues of who they've might be, but these people didn't leave anything behind. That was nothing. No badges, maps, instructions... What were they after? You did know by the looks of it, but it wasn't probable that you'll talk in the following few days, maybe even week. And where was Tommy? There was an opened door leading to the garage, which they also opened as they ran away, and Tommy's horses was somewhere there as well. And they were about to get to know as Ellie ran into the cellar after them, opening the white door with a loud bang. - "We had... Found... Tommy." - She said slowly, looking at her friends taking care of the hurt person.

It took her a whole to recognize your face, but when she did, she helped Dina with making you stand up and put your clothes back on you. The rage was stronger and stronger within her. If you and Tommy wouldn't be in such a bad state, she would go after the duckers immediately until she'd chase them down. Joel couldn't talk when they found his brother.

He was laying in front of a fireplace with his hands duck taped behind his back, beaten up like a dog.  He was still alive, for now, but... You were looking good in comparison to Tommy. Someone brutally beat up Tommy with a metal golf club, almost beating his skull open. The people who did this to you had been stopped in the last moment - there was a small stand of blood on your neck, telling them that the person wanted to slice your throat. And Tommy, he was still breathing, but his skull was almost cracked open. The girl was shaking and crying when Dina started to nurse you as you kept on repeating them that you didn't tell them, whatever you were talking about.

Jesse took Ellie's face to his palms, looking her inside the eyes. - "Tommy, is he alive?" - Jesse asked, but the reality around Ellie was blurry. Her heart was aching with every small move it made, she couldn't take in one deep breath. - "Hey. Is Tommy alive?" - Jessie tried to ask again, but Dina knew she wouldn't answer. The process that Ellie was going through was undescribable - there was this mix of anger, fear, and hatred inside of her, so it would be better to let Ellie be for the moment. - "Jesse, help me get Y/N on Sadie. We need to ride back to Jackson, she won't make it otherwise." - Dina begged Jesse. She knew she can ride you back on her own - they'll have a harder time figuring out how to help Tommy... If he wasn't beyond saving at the moment.

Jesse left Ellie with Diego, helping you into the saddle. The screams were horrifying and he was sure that Maria is holding Joel back from running directly to the garage. But neither of them tried to stop you from screaming, it would be meaningless. As soon as you both sat on Sadie, Dina rode to the snow and Jackson, knowing shes running out of time. - "I didn't tell her, no, no, she doesn't know, I swear, I didn't." - You were still whispering, but soon, Dina felt the weight of your back on her chest. She didn't know if you'd have just passed out or dead, but she couldn't stop the tears from falling off of her eyes either way.

The ride was almost endless, but just when the light was disappearing, the gates finally showed up just a while from where you were. Saide was getting more nervous and tired - Dina was making her go the whole the time, not stopping for a single second and the journey was quite long. There was the danger of both of you being thrown down off of the horseback any minute. It was refreshing to see the gates opening as you rode in. People were calling out to Dina, they were trying to ask about what happened, but the girl was just shaking her head, riding directly to the hospital.

"Bobby, call Bobby!" - Dina yelled on the way. By the time you arrived there, almost everyone was ready to help, not knowing what happened. But Bobby's eyes widened as soon as she saw you. - "Bring her in, the second floor. I'll need to check her to see what's going on." - "Are those nails?" - Nancy asked when she rose one of your palms to the level of her eyes. When she saw the state of your fingers, she quickly turned around and puked to the nearby snow. Dina got off Sadie, walking straight to Bobby.

"Just don't let her die, 'kay?" - The girl whispered with her voice broken, getting a hug from the old lady. After that, Bobby disappeared to the house and started to take off your clothes, looking at everything these fucks had done to you.

[tempesrature]

The Case of the Murdered Witch Doctors | Chapter 5

Chapter: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 The Charm of Lost Things (Oneshot Follow-up) Creative Process Note Commissioned Art Piece

Pairing: Ride or Die | Ellie x Colt Summary:  “It is my belief, Watson, founded upon my experience, that the lowest and vilest alleys in London do not present a more dreadful record of sin than does the smiling and beautiful countryside.” - Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes: The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume I  Word Count: 2k+ Warnings: PG-16 @rodappreciationweek @lovehugsandcandy

~*~

Colt sighs and runs his hand through his hair as he tries to calm the stormy gold fliting across his eyes.

Ellie looks up from her projected notes and her gaze lands on Colt sitting next to her in the dim meeting room, the curtains drawn and covering the expansive windows from the strong sunlight. Somehow, she’s gotten better at reading his cues. Not that she was ever bad at reading cues, she learned from her father after all, but she seems to be especially attuned to Colt’s cues and body language more than ever. Despite his rather gruff and abrasive attitude, his eyes gives away most of his emotions.

“I can tell that you’re pissed you know,” Ellie teases as she bumps her knee against his.

Colt scoffs and turns to her with a frown. “Yeah? What gave it away? Is it the fact that I’m meeting with the person who murdered my pop or is it something else I didn’t catch?”

Ellie falters a little as she frowns and lays a gentle hand on his thigh. “You can leave if you want. I won’t force you to stay here if it’s too difficult for you.”

Colt scoffs at the idea as he takes her hand on his lap, squeezing it briefly, before he moves it away. “And leave you alone in a room with a murderer? Like hell I will.”

Ellie grins at him, seeing the soft flit of gold in his eyes, and she opens her mouth to tease him when the double doors open and Jason Shaw enters the room. A tall imposing man wearing a brown leather jacket and black jeans with brown hair and snake-like blue eyes.

Her body goes into high alert, her back straightening, as she stands up to greet him while Colt remains stubbornly seated.

“Oh I see,” Jason grins as he bares his fangs and makes his way to the chair across them. “Now I know why the new Kaneko wanted to have a meeting with me.”

Colt growls, his eyes narrowed and fangs bared at Jason.

“I’m Detective Ellie Wheeler,” Ellie interjects hurriedly, not wanting to cause a fight between them in the middle of the afternoon, as she reaches out to shake Jason’s hand. “I’m the lead investigator of the death of Ernesto and Malina Kilat who were murdered a month ago in their home.”

“Wheeler?” Jason raises an eyebrow as he takes Ellie’s hand and, instead of shaking it, brings it up his nose to sniff it. Ellie quickly pulls her hand away from his grasp. “I see. You’ve bought such an interesting pet to me Kaneko.”

“Just answer the damn questions Shaw so we can get out of here,” Colt practically spits out the words, his golden eyes darkening in a menace as Jason takes his seat in front of them.

Ellie wastes no time with her questions.

“First, I’d like to know how you were acquainted with the Kilats and what you regularly purchased from them.”

Jason tilts his head to the side, his face blank. “Who are the Kilats?”

Ellie scrunches her nose, trying to see if he’s playing dumb on purpose, but she answers him nonetheless. “An albularyo family, witch doctors from the Philippines.”

“Ah, I remember now,” Jason chuckles as he leans back on his chair, his eyes glinting with green. “Lovely family. You say they were murdered? How tragic.”

Colt reacts at the callousness of his tone but Ellie stops him by placing a hand on his thigh and squeezing tight.

“They were and with how the murder was conducted, our prime suspect happens to be a vampire. You were recorded as one of their frequent customers.”

“Hmm…oh yes,” Jason replies, almost bored at the hidden accusation in Ellie’s words. “Let’s see…I do remember purchasing some potions but I don’t really remember the name or purpose of them.”

Jason smiles pleasantly at Ellie and she looks back at him with a stony expression.

“Try your best to remember the name and purpose of the potions Mr. Shaw.”

Jason smiles amusingly. “Ahh…could it be perhaps the Fern Libation? Although I can’t be too sure since all I remember is the purple bottle.”

Ellie’s eyes widen for a moment as she feels Colt bump her knee from underneath the table. She immediately understands what he’s trying to tell her: Do not ask further questions about it.

Although the Fern Flower can be used without disastrous side-effects in small amounts (like the Fern Flower blunt), it can be dangerous and highly addictive in larger amounts. Fern Libation is the worse of them all since it uses a highly concentrated amount that can be deadly not only to magical creatures but mortals too. The Agency, specifically the Elves division, has been trying their best to crack down on it before it fully catches the attention of the mortal world.

It’s a dangerous territory to tread and Colt’s right, she shouldn’t ask questions about it. Especially when there have been quiet but insistent rumors that one of the biggest suppliers of Fern Libation happens to be the man currently sitting across from her.

But she’s stubborn, reckless and she wants the truth.

“Are you implying that the Kilats were producing Fern Libation?” She asks as she hears the deep sigh coming from Colt.

Jason grins as the edges of his eyes crinkle in amusement. “I’m not implying anything Detective. As I’ve said, I don’t remember much. Old age really does mess with your memory,” He lets out a brief laugh before his lips twitch into a smile. “But maybe you’ll like this answer more: I used to regularly feed on the wife.”

Ellie’s eyes widen as she glances to Colt who looks back at her with the same expression.

“…So you were having an affair with Mrs. Malina?” Ellie asks, her nose wrinkling in disgust.

“Affair?” Jason confirms, his eyes blinking at the word before realization dawns on his face. “Oh I suppose that is a good word to use for it but she was just someone I used for feeding.”

“Shaw, she was a magical creature. How can you even stomach the blood?” Colt says, his nose wrinkling in disgust at the memory of the taste. “Not to mention she’s what? Close to two hundred years old?”

Jason lets out a hearty laugh as his eyes dance in a bright green. “That’s the thing with younger vampires, so picky with the age and taste. After you live a few centuries, things like those don’t really matter anymore.”

Jason smirks as he leans forward. His eyes glinting in a green that seems animalistic, predatory, in the dim light of the room. The look he gives them almost traps them both on their seat and Colt sits straighter, his own eyes narrowing in a gold hue that edges on red, as Ellie moves one hand under the table to gather up a little of her magic in case a fight breaks out.

“Do you want to know why she was one of my favorites?” Jason asks, his voice cold and affectionate, as he continues. “When I feed on creatures, I get to live through the deepest and darkest parts of their memories. The ones they’ve tucked into the little corners of their mind. The Kilat wife saw the Spanish invasion of her country and witnessed the end of her lineage as the last witch doctor of her village. Every last one, killed and slaughtered right in front of her,” Jason licks his lips as his green eyes flick to Colt, his voice heavy and feral. “And what’s more delicious than the memory of seeing the end of your bloodline?”

Colt’s eyes widen before they narrow, anger boiling deep inside him that it heats up his skin. He opens his mouth, ready to throw out the very worst of his thoughts towards the man that murdered his father, when Ellie stands up and slams her hand on the table with a loud bang. The force of it sending crackles of blue sparks that reach the edges of the table and leave burn marks across the wooden surface.

“We’re done here,” Ellie speaks, her voice eerily calm in comparison to the deep and dark blues of her eyes. 

She pushes herself away from the table and Colt stands from his own seat, sending one last glare to the smiling Jason on the table.

“Oh by the way Detective,” Jason calls out as he leans back and balances his chair on two legs just as Ellie’s about to walk out of the door. “If you crosscheck the time of the murder to my whereabouts, you’ll see that I was in Europe for the entire month. You can pick up my travel itinerary from my assistant on your way out,” Jason sighs as his lips pull into a sad frown. “Also, I can’t see the memory if I don’t directly feed from the creature. It might not mean much but I truly do grieve for the lost of one of my favorite memories.”

“You’re right,” Ellie confirms as she looks at Jason with a hard glare. “It doesn’t mean much at all.”

She turns and exits the meeting room as Colt slams the door behind them with a loud bang.

~*~

“He’s not our murderer,” Colt concludes as they step out into the sun and out of the building.

“No,” Ellie sighs as she looks at the piece of paper in her hand that clearly places him in Paris during the time of the murder. She massages her forehead to push back the headache as she subtly uses magic to send the paper back to her office table. “He’s an absolute psychopath though.” 

Colt smirks as he bumps his shoulder against hers lightly. “Live long enough and they all turn out like that.”

Ellie chuckles wearily as she glances at him with a grateful smile. Colt returns her smile with his own before he looks up at the sky and squints a little at the sunlight blinding his eyes. He looks down at his wristwatch, notes the time left, and nods before he turns to Ellie.

“Wanna get out of here?”

Ellie furrows her eyebrows. “Where would we go?”

Colt smirks. “It’s a surprise, come on.”

Colt leads them to the Cavalieri and swings his leg on the bike. Ellie follows after him, reaching out to take the bike helmet he offers her, before she takes her place behind him. She hesitates only for a moment but she eventually wraps her arms around his waist before the bike takes off and weaves through LA traffic.

~*~

“Wow,” Ellie breathes out as she takes off her helmet and hops off of the bike, her eyes taking in the vast expanse of the blue sea over the cliff. “How did you find this place?”

Colt shrugs as he stands next to her, his hands deep in his pants. “My pop took me here when I was younger. He said that this is where you can catch the sun where it’s brightest, where it’s strongest.”

Colt closes his eyes as he soaks in the strong rays of the sun, almost as if he’s drawing strength from it. Ellie observes him quietly and seeing the way his face relax and the way his body loosens up helps to ease the scramble of thoughts in her own brain.

Ellie steps forward and leans over the edge, her eyes going wide at the height. “Ever jumped down there?”

Colt scoffs as he stands next to her and peers down the edge too. “Not if you want to be the next case file in the Agency. Do you see how big those rocks are?”

Ellie leans back to look at him. “That’s easy. A little levitation spell before the jump and a water spell to cushion your fall and you’ll be fine.”

Colt looks at her incredulously, a smile pulling on his lips. “Yeah because everyone is a genius witch like you.”

Ellie’s eyes widen before she smiles brilliantly. “A genius witch huh?”

Colt rolls his eyes but he can’t hide the smile anymore. “Yeah, yeah enjoy it while you can. I keep my compliments a maximum of three a month.”

“Sounds like I still have two more then,” Ellie grins.

Colt chuckles as he shakes his head at her, his eyes sparkling in a soft gold, and Ellie can’t help but feel…vulnerable under his eyes. She doesn’t hate the feeling but rather welcomes it. Even if it does make her feel like there’s a knot in her chest that she can’t unravel.

“Wanna see something cool?” She asks to try to distract herself from him.

“Sure,” Colt shrugs but the curiosity in his voice is unmistakable. “Show me.”

Ellie nods as she takes a step forward and faces the sea. She raises both of her hands, the blue sparks already dancing around her fingertips, and with a quick flick of her wrist her magic descends and lands on the waves below.

“Holy shit!” Colt exclaims as he takes a step forward, his eyes latching to a patch of the once blue ocean now sparkling and shining with a color of brilliant gold below them. “How the hell did you do that?”

“I learned how the ocean absorbs light to give it that blue color in mortal school. So if you use magic to mess around with the wavelength of the light you can pretty much change the colors to whatever you like,” Ellie says proudly as she looks at Colt with a big grin.

“Shit that’s amazing, Ellie. I’ve never seen a witch do that!”

Ellie blinks, her hold on her magic on the ocean disappearing as she regards him seriously. “You called me Ellie.”

“Yeah,” Colt says, suddenly aware that the name slipped out without his permission, and he doesn’t really know how to handle that, his tongue seemingly so loose and free when he’s in front of Ellie Wheeler. So he resorts to what he knows best, teasing. “Or do you like Miss Half a Witch more?”

“Definitely not,” Ellie laughs, her gaze holding his as she unconsciously leans in closer to him. “I like hearing you say my name.”

“Yeah?” Colt steps closer to her with a wide grin. “I know a way for you to hear it more.”

Ellie bites the bottom of her lip, his intentions definitely not lost on her. After all, they’ve be dancing around each other since they’ve met and it always ends with tension just bubbling on the surface. She knows, that if she accepts now, it won’t end with just a kiss.

A better part of her tells her that no, this is a bad idea. That sleeping with a vampire, a Primordial vampire, a Primordial vampire helping with the investigation, is number one on top ten things a good detective shouldn’t do.

And yet a part of her, the one that seems to call out to him so instinctually tells her that—one night can’t hurt, right?

Her eyes momentarily flick to the Cavalieri parked near them before she looks back at him. She licks her lips as her eyes dance with an excited and hungry blue.

“Show me then Colt.”

[angrylizardjacket]

insufferable {Joe Mazzello}

Summary: Joe is the star of the college musical you’re lighting, and all he seems to care about it goofing off, which irritates you to no end. Maybe he’s just an asshole for asshole’s sake... maybe not.

A/N: 2390 words. College AU. No pronouns for reader. Friends, show week fortnight is OVER, so many things in my life have changed in the past two weeks, I have a 3000 word essay due tomorrow, and this literally took me over a week. I’m sorry it took so long, I hope you enjoy it. As always, feedback is appreciated!! Also @sitonmyhot-seatoflove, @cosmicsskies, and  @borhapbxtch 😘

Joseph Mazzello III (or as you liked to refer to him as; Junior, The Second) was the lead of the musical one of your friends had written. For your part, lighting an original, college musical wasn’t exactly how you wanted to spend two weeks of your life, but a promise is a promise, one that you were rapidly regretting with every moment you spent in that little theatre.

The most irritating thing about Joe wasn’t the fact that he could never seem to find his light, or that he liked touching the buttons on the fog machine, or that the director seemed to adore him, it was that he was genuinely talented. The second most irritating thing about him was that he couldn’t seem to shut up for five minutes.

You’d met him at the first script reading; Ellie, the director and another friend of yours, had gathered the whole cast and crew at her little shoebox apartment for dinner, and to familiarize everyone with the script. Joe had caught your eye where he was tucked up against one end of the sofa, eating party pies like his life depended on it. He’s pretty, has a certain aura about him like he’s got some sort of magnetism about him, and everyone speaks fondly about and to him. When he smiles, something about it has your heart beating unexpectedly faster. 

And then he starts speaking.

That’s not to say he’s annoying first off, actually he’s quite funny and charming. He’s the leading man, and with good reason. He gives a good cold read, humming along when Ellie pulls out her guitar to give demos of the songs she’d written, and bantering easily with the other cast members every so often if it fits the scene. He’s warmhearted, well-spoken, and completely affable.

But he also turns out to be a fucking pain to work with.

Maybe it’s that he’s too good with people. You adored watching him in rehearsals, loved hearing him sing along with the band, and enjoyed his company well enough when you hung out with the group. 

But right now, it’s six at night, you’re only halfway through the lighting plot after an already long day, and he’s got the stage manager on his shoulders, chicken fighting his costar, who’s got the AV designer on her shoulders. This is the fourth time you have had to break out the God Mic in the last hour; Ellie is too tired to reprimand her cast and crew for their behavior, not that she would, she hates playing the bad guy.

“I’m sorry,” your voice is absolutely harmless and sweet as you death glare the cast and crew from bio-box where you’re operating the lights from, “am I interrupting you?” You ask, tone sharp, eyes tired.

Joe’s actually the first to look to where you were, and is quick to lower the stage manager back to the ground.

“No, you’re fine Y/N,” he says with a laugh, and that boyish smile that you’re too irritated to enjoy right now, “we were probably interrupting you-”

“Joe,” you cut him off, lips against the microphone for emphasis, “that’s the joke.” You tell him absolutely humourlessly. He obligingly shuts up. For about five minutes.

It’s the most painful lighting plot you’ve ever done; between Joe and the rest of the cast goofing off, the stage manager not writing down cues and having to borrow your copy of the script at the end of the session, and the director not knowing exactly what she wanted but that she’d know it when she saw it (which she didn’t, she just liked whatever you did, and made indecisive noises whenever you asked her opinion), you needed a damn drink.

It seems the rest of the cast and crew have the same idea, however, and they invite you along. You don’t want to seem rude and say no, but if Joe doesn’t shut his damn mouth you’re gonna punch him. He’s not even talking about anything irritating, you’re just sick of hearing his voice.

You found yourself coming to hate Joe professionally, and it seemed that that was starting to bleed into your personal opinions of him too. You made sure to stay well away from him at the bar you all headed to, a few blocks away from campus and within reasonable walking distance of your home.

It's a nice enough night, all of you excitedly discussing the development of the show, all crammed together in a little booth at the back of a poorly lit pub. You've got the director on one side, and you're practically falling out of the booth on the other, but you don't mind too much. Joe, from where he's sitting in the middle of the seat opposite you, will occasionally give you a scrutinizing look when he thinks no-one else is looking, and he's always quick to look away, crack a joke, when you catch him.

Call time for the actors for the tech run the following day is ten. You're there at nine, your phone plugged into the aux cord and blasting your favourite album through the speakers as you refocus a light diligently. It's where you feel most at home, on top of a ladder, on top of the world. 

“You really know what you’re doing up there, don’t you?” There’s something almost awed in the voice that greets you, though it comes as a surprise, and you have to grab the bar you’re rigging the light on to steady yourself when you jump. It’s Joe, leaning on the stage, bag slung over one shoulder. You bite back the first sarcastic response that comes to mind, and you smile, tired.

“Of course, that’s why they pay me,” you laugh, a little put out for being thrown off your rhythm, despite the music still playing.

“We’re not- you know we’re not getting paid, right?” He asks, a little confused. You roll your eyes.

“It’s a joke,” you replied, going back to your work.

“I feel like we have different definitions of joke.” 

“Why are you here so early?” You were quickly losing patience with him, pulling the gates of the light by the bulb out to widen the beam of the light. There’s a moment of silence, of hesitation, and when you look to Joe, he’s looking over the set. “No reason?” You prompted, and it snapped him out of his thoughts enough to look at you.

“Came to go over choreography before the run,” he admitted. That does get you to smile a little, he’s nothing if not diligent. “You?”

“Just fixing a light.”

He’s stretching and warming up, earphones in while you struggle to put the ladder away, and that quiet moment in which you thought he was diligent evaporates.

“I will fade to black in the middle of his solo.” You growl, sitting by the window of the on-campus cafe, watching the steam rise from your drink on the morning of opening night.

“Please do not,” Ellie sighs around her mouthful of granola. You make a face, but she holds up her hand for silence, chewing and swallowing before she speaks again, “listen, if you two could stop bitching about each other for five minutes you’d see that-”

“He’s bitching about me? I’m just doing my job!” You cried, and Ellie looked like she regretted even opening her mouth, not that you really cared; it felt as though your blood was boiling. “I’ll cut the lights before he comes out for his bows, I don’t give a fu-”

“I know you’re joking, but honestly I don’t have the energy to talk you out of it,” Ellie tells you, and she leans back, out of the conversation, her gaze turning to the window as you fume quietly. She’s right, you wouldn’t actually do anything to jeopardize the show, but something about Joe just got on your nerves.

Each show goes off without much of a hitch, and for the sake of the sound operator and stage manager, who are sharing comms with you, you keep your complaints to yourself and focus on your job and enjoying the show. For the record, it’s very easy to enjoy the show; Joe’s even entertaining enough on stage that you forget how much he irritates you. He’s a wonderful singer, an exuberant performer, and the crowd and the rest of the crew love him.

But then comes the afterparty.

You’ve been drinking. He’s been drinking. You’ve had to listen to drunk, emotional Ellie gushing about how he ‘saved the production’. It’s more malicious than you intended, when you spit that he’s an entitled asshole.

“He’s not an asshole! That’s why people love him, okay?” Ellie fires back, expression defiant. She won’t remember this.

“Is that why you’re constantly defending him? Because you wanna bang?” You asked, scowling. Ellie’s expression fell, avoiding your gaze; she’s picking at the label on her cider, because she hates beer.

“I’m defending him because he’s transferring to this course next year, and I don’t want you scarring him off.”

Oh.

You find him by the bonfire, poking at it with a stick, expression contemplative. He doesn’t acknowledge your presence as you stand opposite him, by the fire.

“How was your first show with us?” 

“Do you mean like, with the course?” He asks, frowning, “You’re not even in it, though.” He wasn’t even pretending like he wanted to make small talk with you.

“Yeah,” you forced a smile, “but the course is good, from what I hear, and I just-”

“You don’t need to make small talk, you can tell Ellie and the rest of them that I’m still joining the course. I know you don’t like me.” He added, and your mouth snaps closed, tone turning defensive.

“I don’t not like you-” but you’re cut off by his gentle laugh.

“Dude, do you think I’m an idiot?” He doesn’t let you answer, which your drunk brain wants to. He drops his stick into the fire and finally looks at you. “Don’t answer that; I know you don’t like me; that’s no skin off my nose. The show’s over.” 

Silence hangs between the two of you; his gaze is so intense in the firelight, and for a moment you remember how handsome you’d thought he was at that first table read, before you’d known him.

“You’re talented, but disrespectful.” Tumbles from your lips.

“I’m fun, you’re just too uptight.” He laughs, but he doesn’t look particularly hurt by your words. In fact, he’s smiling. “You know this isn’t a professional show, right?”

“I- I’m used to-”

“No, I know,” he nodded, with a smirk, “I can tell. The way you hold yourself- you know you sound demanding when you’re working, right? Like you expect everyone to be on the same wavelength as you without even trying. They’re not. I’m not. This is fun; we’re not getting paid. We’re just trying to have fun.” He shrugs, before picking up the bottle of spirits he had by his feet that you hadn’t been able to see. “You should learn to have a little more fun.” He muses, before taking a swig of the alcohol, and offering it to you.

“I am fun,” you huff, taking the bottle from him and having a swig. It’s rum, cheap rum, and it burns, but you swallow it.

“Oh, I’m sure you are,” he nods with a faux seriousness that makes it clear that he does not believe you in the slightest. You scowl, but take another sip.

“See, you’re still being an asshole.”

“You’re fun to rile up.” He shrugged, before grinning, “but I don’t mean to be an asshole... mostly. You just don’t like me, so everything I say-”

“I did like you, but then I had to work with you.” You pass back the bottle, and Joe actually laughs, and it’s such a genuine and lovely sound.

“Well then, maybe we shouldn’t work together again,” his smile now is much more genuine, and you feel your cheeks heat up, which you can’t entirely blame on the fire, “because I don’t like having you hate me.” He’s making his way around the fire now, standing beside you, looking at the flames as they’re beginning to die down.

“I don’t hate you.” You admit, bumping your shoulder against him. Joe laughs.

“I know.”

“God you’re cocky-” you scoff, turning to look at him, but he’s looking back at you, expectant grin on his lips.

“Yeah, but I’ve seen how you look at me.”

“With loathing?” You deadpan.

“Sometimes.” He agrees, laughing a little. Your heart beats a little faster, with the endeared way he’s smiling at you. “It’s so hard to make you smile when you’re in like, work mode, you know?” He muses, “you just think I’m an asshole.” That you have to agree with. “But when, like, a light hits just right, or someone mentions how hard they’ve been working, or-” he actually flushes a little as he ducks his head, “someone comes in early to practice, say, choreography on their own time? You smile so big, so damn big.” And the fact that he’d noticed, your expression turns surprised. 

Oh. Everything he’s said or done over the past three months suddenly shines in a new light.

“You like me? That’s what all this was about?” You can’t help but laugh, wrapping an arm around him, and Joe snickers, nodding a little sheepishly. “Wait, does Ellie know? Is that why-?”

“Unfortunately she has had to listen to me complain about every time you give me a dirty look in rehearsals,” he sighed, and you feel embarrassment well up within you.

“No wonder she was so ready to go to bat for you,” you murmured, a little horrified with yourself, before turning to Joe, looking both mortified and apologetic. “We can never work together again.” And he’s never agreed to something faster. “I really did - do - like you, I just thought you were being-”

“I know, I know; you’re too professional for your own good, and I’m a fan of goofing off, and that just doesn’t mesh well. Professionally.” He clarified, and then paused, finally looking back at you.

“Professionally.” You agreed, quietly. Your smile is genuine and wide as you lean in to press your lips to his.

[cait-with-luv]

J.JK Soul Ink - Playlist

Previous | Next

¬ Me, Myself & I - G-Eazy ft Bebe Rexha

Oh, it's just me, myself and I Solo ride until I die Cause I, got me for life,yeah Oh I don't need a hand to hold Even when the night is cold I got that fire in my soul

¬ Him & I - G-Eazy ft Halsey

Cross my heart, hope to die To my lover, I'd never lie He said "be true", I swear I'll try In the end, it's him and I He's out his head, I'm out my mind We got that love, the crazy kind I am his and he is mine In the end, it's him and I, him and I

¬  You Don't Own Me - Grace ft G-Eazy

You don't own me I'm not just one of your many toys You don't own me Don't say I can't go with other boys

Don't tell me what to do And don't tell me what to say Please, when I go out with you Don't put me on display

¬Control - Halsey

I sat alone, in bed till the morning I'm crying, "They're coming for me" And I tried to hold these secrets inside me My mind's like a deadly disease

I'm bigger than my body I'm colder than this home I'm meaner than my demons I'm bigger than these bones

¬ Gasoline - Halsey

And all the people say You can't wake up, this is not a dream You're part of a machine, you are not a human being With your face all made up, living on a screen Low on self esteem, so you run on gasoline

I think there's a flaw in my code These voices won't leave me alone Well my heart is gold and my hands are cold

¬Hold me down - Halsey

My demons are begging me to open up my mouth I need them, mechanically make the words come out They fight me, vigorous and angry, watch them pounce Ignite me, licking up the flames they bring about

¬ Without Me - Halsey

Gave love 'bout a hundred tries Just running from the demons in your mind Then I took yours and made 'em mine I didn't notice 'cause my love was blind

¬ Nightmare - Halsey

I've tasted blood and it is sweet I've had the rug pulled beneath my feet I've trusted lies and trusted men Broke down and put myself back together again Stared in the mirror and punched it to shatters Collected the pieces and picked out a dagger I've pinched my skin in between my two fingers And wished I could cut some parts off with some scissors

¬ Now or Never - Halsey

Never pick up, never call me You know we're runnin' out of time Never pick up when you want me Now I gotta draw a line Baby I done, done enough talking Need to know that you're mine Baby we done, done enough talking Gotta be right now, right now

¬ I Walk The Line - Halsey

I keep a close watch on this heart of mine I keep my eyes wide open all the time I keep the ends out for the tie that binds Because you're mine, I walk the line

I find it very, very easy to be true I find myself alone when each day is through Yes, I'll admit that I'm a fool for you

¬  Desperado - Rihanna

Gotta get up out of here and You ain't leaving me behind I know you won't, 'cause we share common interests you Need me, there ain't no leaving me behind Never know, no, just want out of here yeah Once I'm gone, ain't no going back

¬Needed Me - Rihanna

I was good on my own, that's the way it was That's the way it was You was good on the low for a faded fuck On some faded love Shit, what the fuck you complaining for? Feeling jaded huh? Used to trip off that shit I was kickin' to you Had some fun on the run though I give it to you

¬I'm Gonna Show You Crazy -  Bebe Rexha

I'm tired of trying to be normal I'm always over-thinking I'm driving myself crazy So what if I'm fucking crazy?

And I don't need your quick fix I don't want your prescriptions Just 'cause you say I'm crazy So what if I'm fucking crazy? Yeah, I'm gonna show you

¬ Bad Bitch - Bebe Rexha ft Ty Dolla $ign

You're sayin' that your tired of all your empty habits You want something that's deeper 'cause you're over the generics You're fuckin' with them basics when you really want the baddest So come on, baby, get it, 'cause to miss it, it would be tragic

¬ Straight Shooter - Skylar Grey

Married into this family and I'm datin' a bunch of outlaws Even the children drawing guns out of little crayon box Playing with scissors, cuttin' straight to the point Don't need to beat around the bush, we takin' shots to the groin

¬ Yonce/Partition - Beyoncé

Driver roll up the partition please I don't need you seeing 'Yonce on her knees Took forty-five minutes to get all dressed up We ain't even gonna make it to this club Now my mascara running, red lipstick smudged

¬ Or Nah - SoMo (Rendition)

I'm a freaky-deeky lover wanna hit you from the back and other ways That you have never experimented under the covers Roll around the bed with me is something you don't just discover If you wanna get with me you gotta keep it on one hundred I'mma make you scream my name

¬ The Hills - The Weeknd

I only love it when you touch me, not feel me When I'm fucked up, that's the real me When I'm fucked up, that's the real me, yeah

¬ Gangsta - Kehlani

I'm fucked up, I'm black and blue I'm built for it, all the abuse I got secrets, that nobody, nobody knows I'm good on, that pussy shit I don't want, what I can get I want someone, with secrets That nobody, nobody, nobody knows

¬ CRZY - Kehlani

Everything I do, I do it with a passion If I gotta be a bitch, I'ma be a bad one I'm AI with the designs, du-ragging Bounce back game good, why we talkin' practice? Yeah, yeah, yeah Pull up score when I want to Best thing next to Heaven They be tryna count me out though I'm just countin', countin' blessings A real woman 'bout her paper

¬ Good Life - Kehlani & G-Eazy

Raise up a cup up for all my day ones Two middle fingers for the haters Life's only getting greater Straight up from nothing we go Higher than the highest skyscraper No Little League, we major The proof is in the paper

¬ Sucker For Pain - Imagine Dragons, X Ambassadors, Lil Wayne, Logic, Wiz Kalifa, Ty Dolla $ign

I torture you Take my hand through the flames I torture you I'm a slave to your games I'm just a sucker for pain I wanna chain you up I wanna tie you down I'm just a sucker for pain

¬ Do Re Mi - blackbear

If I could go back to the day we met I probably would just stay in bed You run your mouth all over town And this one goes out to the sound Of breaking glass on my Range Rover

¬ Zipper - Jason Derulo

I'ma mark my territory Shawty I'm an animal, slowly digging in to you Spread you like a bad story Turn you to a criminal, let me see you cock it back

¬ Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding

Fading in, fading out On the edge of paradise Every inch of your skin is a holy grail I've gotta find Only you can set my heart on fire, on fire Yeah, I'll let you set the pace 'Cause I'm not thinking straight My head spinning around, I can't see clear no more What are you waiting for?

¬ Beating Heart - Ellie Goulding

Wanna hear your beating heart tonight Before the bleeding sun comes alive I want to make the best of what is left hold tight And hear my beating heart one last time.

¬ Pillowtalk - Zayn

I'm seeing the pain, seeing the pleasure Nobody but you, 'body but me 'Body but us, bodies together I love to hold you close, tonight and always I love to wake up next to you

¬ Dusk Til' Dawn - Zayn ft Sia

'Cause I wanna touch you, baby And I wanna feel you, too I wanna see the sunrise and your sins Just me and you Light it up, on the run Let's make love, tonight Make it up, fall in love, try

¬ I Don't Wanna Live Forever - Zayn ft Taylor Swift

Been sitting eyes wide open behind these four walls, hoping you'd call It's just a cruel existence like there's no point hoping at all

Baby, baby, I feel crazy, up all night, all night and every day Give me something, oh, but you say nothing What is happening to me?

¬ Wrong - MAX Ft Lil Uzi Vert

Wanted to take her back to my place Driving 90, let the cops chase Making that "Damn it feels so good" face Cause she don't wanna wait, no, wait 'til we get home

¬ Youngblood - 5SOS

Remember the words you told me, love me 'til the day I die Surrender my everything 'cause you made me believe you're mine Yeah, you used to call me baby, now you calling me by name Takes one to know one, yeah You beat me at my own damn game

¬ Champions - Fall Out Boy ft RM

Have you ever felt how hard it is to be an anybody To be living, to be breathing, not choosing a dead body Remember, the man told me that this life is a party Yeah, all the glory's so short you should put away the garbages Normal ain't normal, ordinary is a luxury

¬ Crossfire - Stephen

He'd trade his guns for love But he's caught in the crossfire And he keeps wakin' up But it's not to the sound of birds The tyranny, the violent streets Deprived of all that we're blessed with And we can't get enough, no

¬ Revolution - Diplo

Can you see it? The worst is over The monsters in my head are scared of love Fallen people listen up! It's never too late to change our luck

¬ Bad Guy - Billie Eilish

White shirt now red, my bloody nose Sleeping, you're on your tippy toes Creeping around like no one knows Think you're so criminal Bruises, on both my knees for you Don't say thank you or please I do what I want when I'm wanting to My soul? So cynical

¬ Bad Moon Rising- Mourning Ritual ft Peter Dreimanis

I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way. I see earthquakes and lightning. I see bad times today.

Don't go around tonight, Well, it's bound to take your life, There's a bad moon on the rise.

¬ Give It To Me- Agust D

(Same Lyrics, just in Hangul and in English)

아직은 성공의 비법은 몰라도 망하는 비법 잘 알 것 같어 딱 너처럼 놀고 나불대는 게 비법 죽어도 그렇겐 안 살 것 같어

I'm still not sure about the secret to success But I think I know the secret to failure The secret is to play the fool just like you And keep blabbing your mouth But I wouldn't live like that even if I had to die

¬ Jopping - SuperM

You think ya big boi, throwing three stacks I'mma a show you how to ball, you a mismatch Opinionated but I'm always spitting straight facts Throwback, I might throw this on an 8 track Believe me, I'm sight to see Exciting go and drop the beat We get it jopping the party, it don't stop The festival is now starting

¬  Tove Lo - Vibes

Skin to skin Seepin' in Flickering, our eyes go wide You giving me studded sight Painting stars In our hearts Yeah, you know I'm down for you I want you to lick my wounds

¬ Bad Things- Machine Gun Kelly ft Camila Cabello

Am I out of my head? Am I out of my mind? If you only knew the bad things I like Don't think that I can explain it What can I say, it's complicated Don't matter what you say Don't matter what you do I only wanna do bad things to you So good, that you can't explain it What can I say, it's complicated

¬ Home - Machine Gun Kelly ft Bebe Rexha ft X Ambassadors

I been through so much pain And it's hard to maintain, any smile on my face 'Cause there's madness on my brain So I gotta make it back, but my home ain't on the map Gotta follow what I'm feeling to discover where it's at I need the (memory) In case this fate is forever, just to be sure these last days are better And if I have any (enemies) To give me the strength to look the devil in the face and make it home safe

¬ Way Down We Go (Stripped) - Kaleo

They will run you down, down 'til the dark Yes and they will run you down, down 'til you fall And they will run you down, down 'til you go Yeah, so you can't crawl no more

¬ 7 Rings - Ariana Grande

Been through some bad shit, I should be a sad bitch Who woulda thought it'd turn me to a savage? Rather be tied up with calls and not strings Write my own checks like I write what I sing

¬ Don't Call Me Angel - Ariana Grande,  Miley Cyrus & Lana Del Ray

See you here with somebody Dude sizin' up my body Don't you know that I bite when the sun set, yeah? So don't you track 'em around me Might work on them, but not me Don't you know that I bite when the sun set?

¬ Into You - Ariana Grande

I'm so into you, I can barely breathe And all I wanna do is to fall in deep But close ain't close enough 'til we cross the line So name a game to play, and I'll roll the dice, hey

¬ Dangerous Woman - Ariana Grande

Somethin' 'bout you makes me feel like a dangerous woman Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout you Makes me wanna do things that I shouldn't Somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout, somethin' 'bout

¬ Seven Nation Army ( Glitch Mob Remix)

I'm gonna fight 'em all A seven nation army couldn't hold me back They're gonna rip it off Taking their time right behind my back

¬  Dollhouse - Melanie Martinez

No one never listens, this wallpaper glistens Don't let them see what goes down in the kitchenPlaces, places, get in your places Throw on your dress and put on your doll faces Everyone thinks that we're perfect Please don't let them look through the curtains

¬ Carousel - Melanie Martinez

Round and round like a horse on a carousel, we go, Will I catch up to love? I could never tell, I know, Chasing after you is like a fairytale, but I, Feel like I'm glued on tight to this carousel

[kianraidelcam]

Written for @cownnor and their wonderful prompt. They also provided some assistance and helped me edit! Full fic under the cut as per the norm! And I present to you, Connor whump and Nines being a great little brother!

Connor just never knew when to fucking quit with the whole sacrificial gimmick he had going.

Detective Gavin Reed was confident that Terminator 1.0 could have easily taken on the four drug smugglers and walked away without a scratch, but of course he didn’t. Of course one of them pulled a gun on him and told Connor to freeze. And of course, Connor froze. It made sense; CyberLife didn’t design the asshole with a sense of self-preservation, making him some sort of self-sacrificing prick who didn’t fight back when he clearly could. Because, if they didn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to integrate with any team and protect humans at all costs. Of fucking course.

They had been assigned an undercover case together, much to their respective partners’ and their own chagrin. Apparently, while Nines was designed more like a soldier, Connor was more like a spy, an infiltrator. And Lieutenant Drunkerson was too well known by all of the Red Ice rings for arrests he made years ago, while Gavin was still in the academy. And, naturally, Captain Fowler felt like fucking up all of their days. But, they all had to admit that Fowler’s logic was sound, and all parties involved agreed this new drug ring had to be taken down. There had been too many overdoses, shootings, abuse reports, and of course, the kidnapping and murder of quite a few androids.

So, Connor had thrown on his ridiculous beanie to hide the LED he refused to remove (for whatever reason) and Gavin tried to ignore the “if I see even one scratch on him, Reed” coming from Hank and Terminator 2.0, and they set out to the arranged meeting place. And it all went downhill from there.

The four had been cautious, but friendly, at first, until one of them recognized Connor’s face. One “wait, isn’t that the android from the TV, that robot hunter?” later, their ring leader had pulled a gun before either of them could react and jabbed it toward Gavin’s temple. “Freeze, you plastic prick! One move, and I blow his brains out,” Kingpin Wannabe snarled, his green eyes bloodshot and wild, “You fucking pigs, think you can get the drop on us.”

Connor spoke before Gavin could. Of fucking course he did, what with the fancy computer brain working far faster than he could ever hope to. “It’s just me, I was using him as a way in. He had no idea.”

The addict to Connor’s left yanked the beanie off of Connor’s head, revealing a mess of curls and a yellow LED spinning fast enough to make Gavin dizzy, while the one to his right slammed his foot into the back of Connor’s knee. Gavin was an asshole, but he wasn’t fucking stupid. Just like his punch that first morning in the precinct didn’t really bring the plastic detective to his knees, this collapse onto one knee was strategic, designed to prevent further violence. Gavin moved forward, trying to salvage this shitshow by playing along with HAL’s claim. He ignored he gun trailing his every move and backhands Connor across the face, allowing his expression to twist into something akin to rage.

Gavin has wanted to punch the Ken doll for a long time now.

He feels sick to his stomach as his hand stings from the force of the blow, Connor’s LED blinking red for a split second as his head snaps to the side. “You goddamn piece of plastic, thinking you can fucking use me like that!”

With a jolt, Gavin realizes he didn’t want to hit the plastic anymore. He wasn’t sure when he had decided that the robots were alive, but ever since watching Robo Jesus fucking sing in the face of certain death, he began to question his previous belief system. And now, nearly a year after the revolution, he wasn’t sure he could deny it any longer.

But of course he did, because acknowledging he was wrong left him open to a large number of emotions he wasn't quite ready to face.

“Prove it,” Wannabe spits, his gun never lowering.

“And how the fuck do you want me to do that?”

The yellow toothed smile Gavin receives in response sends chills down his spine. Whatever happened next, Gavin knew Nines and Hank were going to kill him.

Nines was breaking approximately 12 traffic laws, which is very much unbecoming of a new detective. Ranging from what would be a felony speeding ticket to reckless driving, he knew Captain Fowler would be displeased.

He didn’t give a flying fuck.

{WARNING: STRESS LEVELS ^45}

He’d gotten the distress signal from Connor, telling him to move in now due to their cover being compromised. Reed’s followed exactly ten minutes and 14.8 seconds later, requesting technical assistance immediately. His brother hadn’t responded to Nines’ messages ever since. He should have been there ten minutes ago, when the first signal went out, and he was sitting stuck behind some rA9-forsaken ass who didn’t know to pull over for emergency sirens. Out of pure spite (Nines knew in the back of his mind that Lieutenant Anderson would be proud of these brand new emotions he was showing), he sends their license plate information along with a video file of them refusing to move aside to the precinct. They were going to get a ticket in the mail later, and it was more than deserved.

Nines finally, finally, gets past the driver, blasting the horn as he does, and it takes him another two minutes and 54.2 seconds to reach the scene, somehow the first on scene even though Fowler had promised backup would always be close by. He turns off the car cybernetically, updating Lieutenant Anderson as promised, as he rushes toward the building, his service pistol already freed from its holster. When he slams open the door to the warehouse, he is met with a sight he was not expecting.

That was a new one, feeling this sort of surprise. His processor was the most advanced ever created and his preconstruction software was more refined than even his counterpart’s. He prided himself on predicting events, using the software given to him to protect himself and the people around him. He files away the emotion to be reviewed later, a tip he received from Connor when he first deviated, and takes in the scene in front of him.

Four humans, all suspects in their drug ring case, his scan helpfully informs him, lay on the ground with their hands cuffed behind their backs. All have various minor injuries, although all are unconscious, caused by what Nines believes was blunt force trauma. The silver metal bat, lined with blood both red and blue, supports his theory. Detective Reed is in the middle of them, protectively crouched over a still figure, the bat laying discarded next to him. Nines runs a quick scan of his partner, relieved to find his only injury is a graze along his left arm and possible bruising to his right side. When he runs a diagnostic scan of the prone android, however, Nines could almost have sworn his thirium lines froze over.

{WARNING: STRESS LEVELS ^50%}

{SCAN COMMENCING: TARGET SELECTED - RK800 - DESIGNATION: CONNOR}

{THIRIUM LEVELS: >78%}

{BIOCOMPONENTS #8456w, #8087q, #7511p, #1951r DAMAGED}

{CRANIAL TRAUMA DETECTED}

{CHEST TRAUMA DETECTED}

{SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 18:19:09}

{END SCAN}

Before Detective Reed can process his arrival, Nines has already rushed over his brother and sent the diagnostic report to New Jericho’s technicians, catching the end of Gavin’s hushed murmurs. “I named her Snips, and Ellie absolutely hates her but she can fucking deal with it. She’s handling the amputation well, doesn’t slow her down one damn bit,” Gavin looks at Nines, “Don’t worry, Connor, Nines just got here. You gonna be okay, you fucking hear me?”

Nines finally looks down at Connor’s face, the red LED casting an eerie glow on the right side of his face. Both of his eyes are bloodshot with thirium, and it leaks from his mouth and nose as well, the cranial damage causing a major leak inside of his skull. Nines retracts the skin from his hand and interfaces with Connor, trying to ignore the way his glazed eyes stare beyond Nines’ face.

{CONNECTION ESTABISHED: RK800 - CONNOR}

{RK900: Don’t worry, Con, you’re gonna be just fine. I need you to communicate with me verbally to prevent the thirium from entering your ventilation biocomponents. Can you do that for me?}

{RK800: I can’t see, Nines.}

{RK900: I know, we’re going to get that fixed right now. I’m going to pick you up, okay, and then I need you to talk to me.}

While interfacing with Connor, he glares at Gavin, “Did you think I was bluffing with my threat earlier, Detective Reed?”

He notifies Lieutenant Anderson, instructing him to meet them at New Jericho while he sends a signal for technical assistance to stand down. Nines would handle this and they couldn’t afford to wait. Gavin uncharacteristically refuses to meet his glare, and his voice holds no venom when he responds. “S’not my fault the tin can refused to rat me out.”

“Did you arrest these men?”

Gavin snorts, finally looking up to match Nines’ cold, gray stare, “It’s not like Terminator was in any position to do it. They were going to kill Connor if I didn’t snatch the bat away,” he glances at the blue blood staining his hands, “Is he going to be alright? Why isn’t he fucking moving?”

Nines hooks an arm under Connor’s leg and back and picks him up, “His cranial processors are damaged, as is his thirium pump regulator. In human terms, he is experiencing major head trauma and his heart is damaged. I’m taking him to New Jericho for repairs, stay here and make sure they don’t escape,” Nines turns and begins to rush to his vehicle, already turning it on along with the sirens, “I want to have a word with them after I get back.”

Connor doesn’t react to the sudden jostling he receives, instead he maintains the interface despite his lagging processors. From it, he can feel his predecessor’s fear threatening to overwhelm him, the lack of control and his blindness finally getting to him. Nines gently lays him in the backseat, shrugging off his jacket to cushion Connor’s head and wipe some the blue blood away from his face while running another scan over his brother.

{SCAN COMMENCING: TARGET SELECTED - RK800 - DESIGNATION: CONNOR}

{THIRIUM LEVELS: >74%}

{BIOCOMPONENTS #8456w, #8087q, #7511p, #1951r DAMAGED}

{CRANIAL TRAUMA DETECTED}

{CHEST TRAUMA DETECTED}

{POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGE TO VENTILATION BIOCOMPONENTS ^30%}

{SHUTDOWN IMMINENT: 16:24:12}

{STRESS LEVELS ^62%}

{END SCAN}

Nines gently removes his hand from Connor’s arm, the skin flowing back over his hand as the interface ends. Connor groans and reaches blindly for his brother as Nines slides into the driver’s seat. “None of that now, Con. Remember what I said, talk to me.”

“I can’t see, Nines. I can’t see anything and my diagnostic system isn’t working.”

The RK900 is grateful that Connor can’t see him at the moment. If he could, he would have seen the flinch at the static lacing the RK800’s words. “I know, Con, I know. Don’t worry, I already know what’s wrong and we’ll be at New Jericho soon. Talk to me about something else, okay?”

“My sensors indicate you are driving at 20 miles above the speed limit.”

Despite himself, Nines smiles. “Shut up and let me save you the way I want to. Talk to me about something else. Who was Gavin talking about?”

“He was updating me on the status of a cat I saved from a group some time ago. He named her Snips since she required an amputation of her right hind leg.”

Nines smiles as Connor rambles on about the cat as he speeds to the repair center in the heart of New Jericho, pleased to note Connor’s lowering stress levels as he reminisces about the animal. Nines makes a mental note to meet this kitten as soon as possible, as a thank you to the creature for keeping his brother calm during this car ride. He pulls into the parking lot and is immediately met by Markus and a team of technicians waiting with a gurney. As they carry him out of his car and load him onto the gurney, Nines runs his hands through Connor’s hair in the way he knows his brother likes. “Don’t worry, Hank and I will be right out here waiting for you. Markus is going to make sure you’re okay during repairs.”

And like that, Nines is left alone in the parking lot, with nothing but the sound of cars passing on the highway for company.

His hands are shaking.

He did not know they could do that without him being aware of it.

After ten minutes, Hank finds him in the parking lot as he races in. The police lieutenant’s heart rate is elevated and he is sweating, both are indicative of high stress levels.

After 15 minutes, Nines has him fully updated on Connor’s last known condition, and he uses human terms instead of the mechanical terms because he knows Hank prefers it that way. His voice is monotone and his hands are still shaking. Hank’s eyes soften and he leads him instead to the waiting room, urging him to sit down before he “fucking falls down, you look like a stray breeze could knock you over.” He grabs a wet paper towel from the restroom to wash the blue blood from Nines hands.

After four hours, the thirium Hank missed has fully evaporated but Nines can still see it.

After six hours, Markus finally comes back to the waiting room and Nines is immediately on his feet, scanning the leader of New Jericho.

{SCAN COMMENCING: TARGET SELECTED - RK200 - DESIGNATION: MARKUS}

{STRESS LEVELS 15%}

{THIRIUM LEVELS 98%}

{ALL SYSTEMS OK}

{END SCAN}

Hank’s knees make an audible pop and he scrambles to his feet, his heart rate rising once again. “How is he, Markus?”

The deviant leader offers the pair a smile and raises his hands in a placating gesture, and Nines own stress levels drop ten percent. “He’s going to be just fine. We’ve already repaired the damage to his heart and all other biocomponents,” Markus’ smile falls, “Well, all except his optical units.”

“Wait, you mean you still haven’t fixed his eyes? Why the fuck not,” Hank’s voice is gruff, blue eyes shining in his sudden anger.

“Lieutenant Anderson, I’m sure you know about Connor’s prototype status. His systems are even more advanced than mine, behind only Nines,” Nines receives a nod, which he returns.

“And?” Hank challenges.

“And that means not all parts are going to be compatible with his model, Hank. Our optical units are different from any other android, Markus included. We take in a lot more information, and we see a lot more,” Nines voice is monotone once again.

I should have been faster.

“I’ve already updated Captain Fowler at the police department. We will have replacements soon, but he’s going to have to wait a week. I’m sorry, but that’s the best I can do,” Markus’ tone is apologetic and Hank visibly deflates, all anger dissipating, “He’s still in stasis so his self-repairs systems can function at full capacity, but you can take him home now if you want.”

Nines agrees to let Hank drive Connor home, if only to give himself the time to calm down. Once Connor was fully recovered, he was in for quite the lecture, but for now, he had to focus on helping his older brother. As he takes in the scenery, decidedly not speeding this time, he devises a method to care for the RK800 and informs the Captain and his partner of his decision to take the week off.

When Nines returns home, he grabs Connor’s favorite mug and fills it with some thirium, sending Hank to bed with a promise to watch him as he recovers. He pulls up their desk chair, and settles in for the long night, counting down the seconds until Connor wakes up.

Connor is roused from stasis at 05:34:12, and his stress levels immediately jump to 15 percent when his foggy eyes open. Nines gently touches his arms, sending a request for an interface as his other hand musses Connor’s hair. The prototype detective latches on to the interface without a second’s hesitation, centering himself before he talks, “I can’t see.”

“So you’ve said multiple times,” Nines voice is cool but he sends a wave of reassurance through their connection, “New Jericho didn’t have any compatible units but we’ll replace them in a week. Markus promised.”

Connor frowns, his brows furrowing as he sits himself up, reaching out for the mug Nines guides into his hands, “I don’t like this.”

“I want to try something, once you’re feeling up to it. It might help.”

The older android tilts his head as he sips from the mug, “You know androids do not require recovery time following an injury. Once we are repaired, that’s it.”

“And you know I didn’t mean physically.”

Annoyance drifts through their connection from Connor’s side and Nines smirks as he deepens their connection. He gently guides Connor through his code and allows him access to his own visual feed, giving Connor the ability to see through his own eyes. The annoyance shifts to gratitude and Connor watches as a smile forms on his own face. “What did you do to my hair?”

Nines hopes Connor can see his eye roll as he replies, “We aren’t starting on that argument again.”

“Thank you, Nines,” his tone is soft, as is his smile, “Now go into stasis, your energy levels are a bit low, I can feel it.”

“I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”

“And I’m the older brother. From what Lieutenant Anderson has told me, that makes you my responsibility.”

Nines pulls away from the interface, blinking in sync with Connor as it fades away, “Alright, Connor. But please refrain from moving around without me and wake me if you require assistance.”

“Of course, Nines. Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

Nines doesn’t miss the double meaning behind Connor’s words.

{STRESS LEVELS 0%}

[captainsbabysitter-blog]

Mama’s Pride

Pairing: McKirk

Rating: Everyone?

Length: 2079

Warnings: I don’t usually have to do these, but there’s some homophobic bullshit.

Summary: Jim convinces Bones to head to their local Pride event and mama McCoy tags along. Questions abound, and Len finds him in the awkward position of coming up with answers he never thought he’d have to give.

Notes: I was given this idea as a sort of prompt by a friend who thought they couldn’t really do the subject justice. Basically all the questions mama asks are questions I was asked by my own dad, and the protestors later on feature an argument I had with another family member at a later time. So... Yeah, enjoy!

~*~*~*~

Sure, jeans and a flannel over a t-shirt wasn’t exactly in tune with the “dress code” for most of the men in the park at the moment, but Len was having fun walking with his boyfriend through Pride. He wasn’t so sure about his mother tagging along. Mama made it clear from the second she noticed the looks her son gave Jim that first Christmas Jim tagged along that she didn’t care who her babies loved as long as they were happy. Really, he couldn’t have asked for a better response to his mama finding out he was bi.

He loved her to pieces, but if she didn’t stop asking questions, he might burst a blood vessel from the embarrassment.

“What do all of these flags mean?” She was probably gesturing toward the rows and rows of various pride flags adorning the booths.

“Each one is for a different orientation, mama,” Jim explained and then enthusiastically launched into a detailed explanation for each flag.

At least Len didn’t have to field the questions alone. They already explained to her by pansexual meant, patiently corrected her when she’d confusedly asked, ‘but who’s the woman?’ and Len was pretty sure he only ground his teeth a little at her wondering out loud why someone couldn’t just choose one or the other. ‘Well because some people like both, mama,’ Jim had answered.

Speaking of Jim, Len took in the sight of his boyfriend with fond amusement. He knew Jim would want to go a little more eccentric with his look, and Len would be lying through his teeth if he tried to pretend those shorts weren’t working for him. The pink, yellow, and blue stripes adorning his left cheek had been streaked there by a young girl eager to add color to anyone willing to sit still long enough. So far, they’ve been dragged to every single booth and mini even going on in the park by the over-excited blond.

Len was broken from his wandering thoughts by a small flag being jammed into his hand by his mama. She apparently decided he needed a bit more pride adorning him.

“I got you and Jim mini flags! See, yours is the bisexual colors and Jim’s matches his cheek!”

All he could do was give her a warm smile. She was trying. A helluva lot more than Jim’s family ever did.

“Thanks, mama.” He leaned in and pressed a kiss to her cheek before offering his arm. “Let’s go catch up with Jim before he does something foolish.”

“Dear, I thought that was the point of today?”

“Maybe, but he’s got an extra strong nose for trouble. Knowing him, we’ll find him talking to the strangest person he could find.”

They shared a smile as Len caught sight of Jim again. Someone had bedecked the young man in a boa made of a million different colors, and he’d somehow ended up with a tiara.

Eleonore blinked at one of the signs, and before Len could notice her sudden curiosity, she piped up with, “Leonard? What does that sign mean by bears?”

His face instantly heated up and he could feel the embarrassed flush creep up his neck as Len dared to follow her gaze to the gentlemen Jim was now in an animated conversation with. One of the men- a rather large fellow in an open leather vest- was waving around the sign in question.

“Well, mama… Uh…” He prayed Jim would come over and rescue him from the question, but when his knight in metallic short-shorts didn’t seem to pull away from his talk, Len was forced to answer, “They’re gay men that tend to be larger and rather hairy…”

“Oh so they’re bears because they’re furry.”

“… Yes, mama.”

“Bones, there you are!” Jim darted over to grab his hand, pulling the doctor along to meet his new friends. “See? This is him.”

Jim ran through introducing him to people whose names he’ll probably never remember while Len kept an eye on his mother. She seemed to be looking the group of men over and a few looked a little uneasy about the scrutiny until she gave them a beaming smile and said, “You boys look lovely!”

“Mama, please…”

“Oh! Sorry, and this is my boyfriend’s mother, Eleonore.” Jim grinned over his shoulder at her before turning back to add in a stage whisper, “We’re giving her the grand tour of gaydom today.”

If Leonard’s face got any hotter, he was sure he’d catch fire, but the men seemed content to coo over his mother’s presence. He took a steadying breath when they finally continued on through the park.

“And now what are they up to?” Her curious tone was followed by her tugging Len through the crowd toward a stage. There was a gay comedian at the mic performing.

“What does he mean by that? What’s a bottom mean?” Eleonore asked quietly, obviously trying not to interrupt the enjoyment of the crowd laughing around them.

Len shot a panicked look toward Jim who seemed perfectly content to leave him hanging with a smirk. His mama looked at him expectantly, not seeming to notice just how uncomfortable he was.

“Um… Well... Shit. Mama, I don’t know how to answer that in a way that won’t disturb you. There’s really just some stuff you probably don’t wanna know.” He rubbed at the back of his neck as he looked anywhere but her.

She finally seemed to notice just how red he face was getting and had the decency to look contrite. “Oh sweetpea I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

“It’s okay, mama… It’s just there are just some things you gotta right not to know and you already had to think about me having sex when I came out and I really don’t need you knowing more specific things.”

The three of them wandered around for a while longer, Len progressively being weighed down by the various trinkets mama and Jim picked up from the booths as the two social butterflies made friends with every craftsman and woodworker and quilter (he had to convince mama not to buy a quilt that had what looked like Picasso’s rendition of several hundred dicks as the topper ‘mama those are penises…’ ‘oh dear! They are, aren’t they?’) who bought a booth for the day. Jim’s wallet was crammed with a couple dozen business cards with personal numbers on the backs so he could keep in touch, and Len was just pleased to see his boyfriend so happy.

It wasn’t until they got to the far edge of the park that Len started feeling a bit tense. The chanting shouts he knew he’d inevitably hear at some point finally rose over the din of revelry behind them. He made sure to keep a closer eye on Jim because the last thing they needed was a fight.

What he didn’t anticipate was Eleonore’s reaction. Her eagle eyes caught sight of the signs with various religious vitriol and she scowled darkly. Before he could shift from holding Jim in place to grab her arm, she was off like a shot making a beeline for the protestors.

“Evangeline Martin! What in the world are you doin’ standin’ there with that sign!”

Leonard paled when he realized a good portion of the group were the women in his mother’s Bible study. The thought hadn’t even occurred to him when he invited her along.

“Ellie!” Her surprise was dampened when she saw Len with an arm around Jim’s waist. A sneer twisted her lips as she continued, “I guess I don’t have t’ask what you’re doing here.”

“I’m learnin’ more about my boys and showin’ them love and acceptance like Jesus preached!”

“Jesus didn’t have cocksuckers in mind when he was spreading God’s love,” another woman (Angelica, Len recalls) countered. Cheers of agreement rose up around her.

“Well then he must not’ve been talkin’ about you either!”

Jim nearly choked on his laugh, and even Len had to bite the inside of his lip to stop the wide grin that was trying to form. Mama just kept on talking, jabbing accusatory fingers in their direction, “Y’all should be ashamed of yourselves! These men and women have had more than their fair share of problems just acceptin’ themselves and now all y’all are here making right fools of yourselves tryin’ to make them ashamed of somethin’ the Lord wouldn’t give a pig’s spit about.”

“The Bible says…”

She cut them off before the sentence was even finished, “The Bible says not a damn thing about the subject.”

“Sodomites are condemned, Eleonore!”

“Ezekiel 16:49-50, Sarah! ‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy. They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore, I did away with them as you have seen.’ You’re lookin’ awful haughty, and you sure look unconcerned for the harm y’all are doin’ by being here.”

From there, it seemed to become a contest over who could spout the most Bible verses to support their side. In Len’s opinion, mama was winning, but he was kind of biased. The whole ordeal was only amusing for so long, however, and he finally decided to snag her arm and lead her away.

“C’mon, mama. I think that’s enough for today. I bet they’ll have plenty to say next time you go to Bible study.”

“It’ll be a cold day in Hell before I set foot in another one of those groups, baby. Not when that kind of ignorance is the majority,” she muttered darkly. Another second later, she turned warm eyes to her boys. “Are you two alright?”

“Yeah, mama I’m fine. I knew a group like that would be there I’m just sorry you’re losin’ friends over all this…” Len accepted and returned the tight hug she offered with a gentle smile.

“They’re not friends I need if they’re gonna be so nasty. You can’t fix that kinda ugly, sweetheart.” Her gaze settled on Jim who seemed almost asleep on his feet. “Jim, darlin’, you look beat. Let’s get you back home, hm?”

“Mmn… That sounds good,” he mumbled as he leaned into Len’s side. “Boooones… Carry me?”

“Sugar, I’m not carryin’ you.”

“Pleeeeeeease?”

The two of them stared at each other before Len finally relented and ducked down to let Jim clamor up onto his back with a victorious sound. He was out cold before they made it back through the crowds to the car.

As he was getting Jim settled into the back seat and nuzzling into his hair a little, Eleonore finally piped up again, “You know I love you both no matter what, right baby?”

“Yeah, mama. I know.” He grinned at her over his shoulder. “And if I didn’t before, I think you arguin’ down half the church on my behalf would’ve clued me in. I think you surprised Jim a bit, though.”

“That boy…He’s had it hard enough. He deserves to have a couple people in his corner now that he’s outta that house.”

“I’m not about to argue with that.”

When they made it back to mama’s, Len woke Jim so they could head inside. The sun was going down, and Len got them both settled into bed to cuddle up. Jim tucked his head against his chest and sighed in contentment.

“Today was the best. Thanks for going with me.”

“It was fun. It’s not every day I get to see mama lose her mind like that,” he chuckled and gave Jim a soft kiss. “She loves you, you know.”

“Yeah… And I love her. She’s the mom I always wished I had when I was a kid.”

“She’s yours now. You call her mama and I’m not planning on dropping you anytime soon, so just act like she is.”

“Mmmn… And I made a lot of friends today. Did you hate it? I know the whole tons of people in a crowd isn’t your favorite thing…”

“I still had fun and mama sure as hell kept me on my toes. Now get some rest, alright? We have family dinner tomorrow, and about the time Donna shows up with the kids and Joanna gets here we’ll have our hands full of excited babies.”

Jim offered up a serene smile, already dozing back off. “Sounds good. Love you, Bones.”

“Love you, too Jim.”

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