#except when i said a little green alien he said Oh so an ugly one

[mihai-florescu]

I was meowing earlier (if youre new here hi i stim by meowing when im overwhelmed or trying to cheer up or sometimes just because, to communicate with friends) and my mom asked if i identify as an animal like she's heard is trendy nowadays. Ok. Cant a bitch just meow without getting accused of being a therian

[kythed]

“pillow talk” - a collection of conversations between you and matsukawa issei.

1. october 23rd, 1:03am.

“that was fun.” matsukawa props himself up on one elbow, lower half still covered by a disarray of blue dorm sheets.

you’re sitting on the edge of the bed, pulling your t-shirt back on, but you turn to look at him, smiling slightly. “fun?” 

“great. excellent. out of this world amazing,” he says teasingly. there’s a glint in his eye and a flush in his cheeks. 

“that’s what I thought.” you make to stand up, but matsukawa grabs your wrist before you can move another muscle. 

“you can stay,” he says, face strangely hopeful and childlike (a sharp contrast to the night’s earlier… activities). “if you want, I mean.” 

your body aches to climb back under the covers with him, to press yourself against his hot skin and let yourself fall asleep in his embrace… but what you have with matsukawa is new and fragile, and you refuse to close your fist on something delicate and shatter it in the process. 

“maybe next time. I have class in the morning.” advanced calculus, to be specific. hell on earth, to be even more specific. 

“will there be a next time?” there it is again. that hope. 

“if you’ll have me,” you say, rising from the mattress.

“I’ll do more than have you.” he grins, cocking his head. “I’ll take you.” 

and there it is — matsukawa issei, ladies and gents. you smile to yourself as you slip out of his room, committing the feel of his hands gripping your hips and his lips on yours to memory. 

2. october 27th, 4:36pm. 

you stay this time. it’s a weeknight, and there’s class in the morning again, but the bed is warm and matsukawa’s arm fits like it was made for you. he’s nervous, you can tell, what with the way his fingers shake slightly as they brush the hair from your eyes — but that’s okay. it’s endearing. cute, even. 

“hey,” he says, voice low and throaty. 

“hi,” you respond, turning your face to look at him, his sharp, angular face shaded even more dramatic by moonlight. he really is a little too pretty for his own good, you decide, running a light hand down his torso. his mouth twitches when your fingers skim over his waistband and back up again. 

“tease,” he sighs, and you laugh. 

“it’s what I’m best at,” you say. 

“among other things,” matsukawa concedes, grinning. you gasp and hit him lightly on the chest.

“you’re so dirty minded!” you scold, and he scoffs. 

“I’m the dirty minded one? listen sweetheart, twenty minutes ago you were —” 

you shut him up with a swift kiss on the lips, swallowing his indignant words as he chuckles somewhere in the back of his throat and pulls you on top of him. you slide your fingers into his mess of dark hair and smile into the kiss until he finally breaks away and begins dusting smaller kisses along your jaw and collarbone. 

“you know,” you breathe, trying to avoid gasping when matsukawa presses his mouth to that soft spot right below your neck, “you’re acting awfully boyfriend today, issei. you’d better be careful before I up and decide to make you mine.”

“maybe that’s what I want you do to,” he says without looking at you. 

you start in surprise, a small smile creeping onto your lips. “oh, really?” 

matsukawa unattaches himself from your neck and takes your face in his hands, staring up at you with a grin. “really.” 

“okay,” you say, and in response he squishes your cheeks and laughs. you roll your eyes and tug on his wrists until he lets go. “okay, boyfriend.”

“okay, girlfriend.” 

you’d never anticipated a relationship to fall into place so easily. but then again, with matsukawa, everything — everything from his sweet talk to his skin to his stupid pickup lines — is pretty damn smooth.

3. january 1st, 11:24pm.

“you have a nice nose,” he says, running a finger down its bridge. golden afternoon light slices through the gaps in his shutters, casting odd stripes across his face.

“I hate my nose.” you bite back a sheepish smile. “it’s weird.”

“no, it’s cute,” he insists, and despite yourself, your heart swells. maybe it’s silly, maybe it’s shallow, but nothing really beats having someone refute your insecurities, however insignificant they may be. “I’m the one with a weird nose.”

you sit straight up, nearly knocking him back. “you do not have a weird nose. I love your nose!” 

“I love your face.” matsukawa gently pulls you back down, gathering you into his chest so he can rest his chin on your shoulder. 

“well, it is a pretty nice face,” you say, and he huffs.

“you were supposed to say you love my face, too,” he whines in a small voice. you almost giggle at the thought of this six foot two giant baby-talking to you.

“I thought that was self-explanatory,” you say. “I like everything about you.”

matsukawa shoots you a dramatic glare, furrowing his brows. “yesterday you said you didn’t like my t-shirt.”

“it was a rick and morty t-shirt! I was morally obligated to disparage your fashion taste in that moment,” you say piously. 

“so you don’t like everything about me,” matsukawa sighs, pretending to wipe a tear from his eye. “my girlfriend is a liar.” 

“I like everything about you except for the fact that you like rick and morty,” you correct yourself. 

“I like everything about you except for the fact that you don’t like rick and morty,” matsukawa shoots back, and you let out an ugly guffaw. 

“alright, then. agree to disagree?”

before answering, he leans forward to give you a brief kiss that you return, enjoying the faint taste of spearmint on his lips. “you’ll come around eventually.” 

“I really won’t.”

“you will.”

“I won’t.”

“you won’t.”

“I will,” you say, and then — “wait, no. damn it, issei, I can’t believe that worked on me.”

“gotcha!” 

4. march 20th, 3:16am. 

“dude,” matsukawa says. “we should go out for ramen.”

“did you just call me dude?” you raise an incredulous eyebrow. 

“sorry,” he says, sitting upright and pulling on a shirt. “I meant babe. can we get ramen?”

“it’s 3am,” you say, catching the shirt he tosses to you and putting it on. “is there any place nearby that’s still open at this hour?” 

matsukawa whisks you out of bed, bridal style, and spins you around, ignoring your protestations as you attempt to scold him between giggles. when he finally sets you down you’re dizzy, clinging to him for balance. “obviously you don’t understand the ramen business. when the craving hits, it hits, and these guys know that. that’s why there’s a 24 hour ramen-ya near every college campus in the country.” 

“then,” you say, blinking hard as the room comes back into focus. “I say we go eat.” 

“let zem eat ramen?” matsukawa says in a phony french accent. you want to roll your eyes but you can’t quite bring yourself to do so. he’s too damn charming about it. 

“let zem eat ramen,” you repeat, and he laughs, rumpling your hair before grabbing his keys off the bedside table. 

“you’re adorable.”

“I’m a legal adult,” you sigh. “why do you insist on calling me cute? I’m sexy.”

“you’re cute and sexy,” he agrees, opening the door for you. “the two are not mutually exclusive.” 

“fancy words.”

“I’m just trying to impress you,” he says with an obnoxious wink. 

5. april 4th, 1:58am. 

“do you think there’s life in space?” 

you’re lying side by side next to matsukawa, both staring up at his dorm room ceiling, where a handful of plastic stars glow in the dark. 

he snickers. “you mean, like, martians? little green men with antennae?”

“sure,” you say, ignoring his jab. “or maybe enormous space whales swimming somewhere deep in the cosmos. galactic empires of cyborgs and robot servants. train stations that take you from star to star.” 

“that reminds me,” he says. you feel him slip his fingers into your hand. “we should watch star wars together sometime.” 

“you avoided the question,” you complain, and he laughs. 

“sorry,” he says. “I’ve never given much thought to huge space whales or interplanetary train stations.”

“you’ve never wondered might be out there? never wanted to fly to the moon and see what there is to see?” the thought is alien (pun intended) to you. how could anyone look into the star speckled sky and see anything other than a mass of worlds waiting to be explored? 

“I don’t need to. kinda have everything I could ever want here on earth already.” matsukawa shrugs, flashing you a grin. “good friends. perfect girlfriend. a really excellent ramen shop down the street.” 

“and that’s all you need?”

“that’s all I need,” he agrees, and you stay silent, scooting closer to press yourself into matsukawa’s larger frame. maybe he has a point. you count over your blessings in your head: good friends, perfect boyfriend, a really excellent ramen shop down the street. even space whales can’t really compare, you decide, sneaking a glance at issei only to find he’s already looking down at you with a soft smile. 

and maybe that’s enough. maybe it’s enough to have someone who loves you and your flaws, someone who lets you borrow his dumb graphic tees and never lets you pay for your own dinner. maybe what you have here with matsukawa issei, feet on the ground and hands intertwined, is enough.

[checkingoutforheroes]

B.A.B.Y PROTOCOL.

Part 2.

Avengers x fem!reader 

Pt.1

Words: 1892

Synopsis: This takes place in Avengers: Age of Ultron. When The Avengers were at the rock bottom, Nick Fury and advised by Maria Hill, to initiate the B.A.B.Y Protocol. Will a young, damaged and broke girl agree to this initiative and help a team to save this planet earth?

Main Masterlist 

Maria and Fury bring you to The Avengers tower for mission briefing and meet the rest of the team. To be honest, you are beyond excited you see the building. You move from your seat to another, looking out of the window, facing the tower. Maria looks at you at the rear view mirror, seeing your awe face and smile. “If you open that window, I might’ve mistaken you with a dog.” You ignore her comment and ask them “Is this S.H.I.E.L.D? You guys work here? You build this place papa Bear? This is taller than I thought it would be!”

Fury look at you and then Maria “Now she’s excited.” Maria answer your question. “That is Avengers tower. S.H.I.E.L.D no longer exist. Burn to the ground.” You didn’t keep up about them after left the agency so you don’t know what happened. “What happened? Did this moody papa Bear show his emotion through action?” You let out a small laugh until Fury annoyed “Once again you call my name other than Fury, I’ll burn you too.” “Nahh, you’re not going to burn me. You need me. Otherwise, I’m not in this car right now. I said to him and Maria drive through the parking basement. “She got you, boss.”

Fury walk ahead to their meeting room. You stop your track when you see an aquarium placed at the wall. You never see something like that before in your life. When Maria realize that you are not walking behind her, she turns back to get you. “What are you doing?” “Looking at these fish in an aquarium stuck on the wall. How they do that? How they going to feed the fish? Rich people shit, quite awesome.” You said and Maria just shake her head. “We have a world crisis and the first thing you did is watch the fish?! Are you kidding me? Let’s go meat the team.”

 Meanwhile Fury already told the team about a new protocol or whatever. You didn’t hear that clearly until you are inside the room. Fury talk to them. “Since all of you are here, including Maximoff, I have a new protocol that you can use.” Steve looking confusing at Fury. “We already made a plan.” Tony interrupt to teasing Steve “Yeah and a good ted talk by the captain too.” Natasha asking about the protocol. “Do we know about the protocol?” Fury take a seat “No, Romanoff. No one knows about this protocol except Agent Hill. This protocol was created to help the team when in need, and this team clearly need it right now.” Steve ask him. “What protocol is that?” Natasha looking at Clint and he shrug. “B.A.B.Y PROTOCOL.” Tony just laugh while Steve have a serious face looking at him. “I’m sorry. That’s kinda funny name for a protocol.” Maria open the door and you both going in. All eyes on you and you feeling slightly nervous. How can you not, they are The Avengers! You recognize all of their face except one person wearing black dress and red cardigan.  

Fury introduce you to the team. “Right on time. Avengers, I introduce you B.A.B.Y PROTOCOL, as in Best Associate By Yours truly.” Maria added “Also, we call her Baby.” They are quiet and shock appear in their faces except two people. Natasha and Clint. They go greet you. “Baby!” Natasha walks to hug you while Tony look at you two weird. “Nat! Omg, I miss you. Clint! Miss you too!” You hug Clint and he hold your head. “Well, she grows up.” “Yeah, with some food and water, I did. Man, you’re old.” You said to him and Natasha smile “Kids growing, Barton.” “Natasha, beautiful as always. You have to drop your skin care routine, sis.” Tony interrupt the moment “You both knew her? Fury, you said no one know about this protocol.” Fury nods. “I said no one know about this protocol not that Romanoff and Barton didn’t know her.”

Steve starts asking question. “How old are you?” Tony interject again. “Yeah. You don’t look like a baby to me.”

             You looking back at Steve, smirk on your face. “How old are you?” Maria sign you to behave. “Baby.” Tony sit down at one of the chair. “I like this kid already!” He earns a glare from Steve and you apologizing “I’m sorry. That’s not a good first impression. I’m 22.”

“What is your name?” Damn he is a serious one.

             “People call me Baby.”

“What people didn’t call you?”

             “If they didn’t call me? Silence, I guess.” You whisper at Natasha left ear “Can I not tell them my name?” She crooks a little smile. “It’s up to you.” “I prefer being call by that name that Maria & Fury has told you or anything you want except my real name due to personal reason.” You nod and smile at them.

“Why? Dark past? Major criminal? Wanted by CIA? Interpol? MI6? Ugly name? Kicked out of family or something?” Seriously, how can they work as a team with a guy name Tony Stark? Maria, Natasha and Clint have your back.

“She’s here to help us. Nothing else, Stark.” Maria said to him.

Natasha glare at him. “I suggest you stop right there or you’re not going to see any sunlight.”

Clint agree with them. “Leave her alone man.” Tony look guilty. “Everybody in this room has dark past. I’m just curious, not judging. She’s not alone.” Wanda tell them that he told the truth. “He’s not lying.” “Thank you Wendy. Peace?” You walking toward him “No heart feeling.” You guys fist bump each other.

Steve ask again. “How do you know Barton and Romanoff?”

             “While I was in S.H.I.E.L.D Academy, which I thought a Juvenile school at first, they trained me combat espionage. Since that’s the only thing on my expertise. I wish to have Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz brain though. They’re genius in bio-chem and engerneering.”

“Why you thought it was juvenile at first? You commit crime?”

             “Duh.” Both you and Tony said it at the same time and again “JINX!” Natasha look at Steve. “Relax captain, all of us commit crime back then.” “I didn’t” Tony look at him. “Are you sure about that?” “What do you mean Stark?” Steve ask and he say “You literally cheated your medical checkup to join the army.” “I did it to protect our country.” Steve said and Clint chuckle “Still crime.” Fury tell Maria to handle the briefing and he’s out. You ask where is he going? “Where is he going?” “He have another thing to do Baby.”

             “I know most of you but I don’t think I know or seen you, Mr. ?” You ask and Natasha introduce him. “That is Dr. Bruce Banner.”

             You shake his hand. “Nice to meet you. What did you do?”

Bruce seems like to hesitate to answer that. “You didn’t know? New York?”

             “Alien? Chitauri?” You ask him back innocently.

“Um. I’m, the big green guy.” He anxiously answers that.

             ��An ogre! Wow, that is so cool!” Clint hold my shoulder. “The other green, buddy.” “Oh, I know. I’m sorry, I forgot your ogre name is Shrek. Still cool though. I watch all of his movies when I was a kid. Maybe we can watch it again sometimes.”

Bruce look at Natasha and then back at you. “That’s, not me either, but yeah, we can watch that, big green cartoon sometimes.” Tony finally tell you who he is. “You seriously don’t remember who broke New York kid? He’s The Hulk!” Bruce looks down and tilt his head to look at Tony. “Yes. I’m that! Thank you for bringing back memory, Tony!”

             You feel guilty for not remember that. “Gosh, I’m so sorry. But hey, New York already broken before you broke it. Can I have a selfie? You’re incredible.” You snap the picture before he even answers. Tony said something “I’m literally right here. The coolest guy in the group.” You turn your head to the girl in black dress, red cardigan. “And you are?”

She answers with a thick accent “Wanda Maximoff.”

             “You’re not from here? You have an accent just like Nat. Well, once she’s mad at me during training years ago.” You remember the detail and Natasha rolls her eyes at you. “That is one time. I slipped.” “Human make mistakes sis. You aren’t machine.”

“I just got here yesterday. I made a mistake. Wrong judgement, I want to make it right. I join them.” She explains and you currently melting, just to hear he talk. You want her to talk more so you can hear her talk. Thing is, you didn’t know that she can read mind. Where is that accent came from? Russian? You ask those questions in your head. “From Sokovia.”

             “Where are you from? What? I just ask-“

Maria answer my question. “She’s a telekinesis, energy manipulation and some kind of neuroelectric interfacing.” “Huh?” You don’t even know what that is and Maria make it simple for you. “Telepathic.” You turn to look back at her. “That is so awesome!” Tony huff at your statement. “Yeah, until she’s in your head.” She just looking down “I’m sorry.”

 Right after she said that, Thor, God of Thunder walk into the room and tell about the scepter. You are amazed and suddenly you bend the knee. “Oh. My. God. You’re Thor!” He looks back at you. “and you tiny female human.” “You. Are. the God of Lightning! I am a fan! No. I’m an air-conditioner.” He smiling, feeling proud. “Thank you, tiny human lady. It’s God of Thunder, actually. What’s an air-conditioner?”

Maria gives us final brief. “You guys might want to prepare something for tomorrow. We’re flying to Korea and find Dr. Chow tomorrow morning. Get some rest, sleep early, you guys need it.”

             You ask them a question. “Can I go back to my place, then come back? Clint can you take me?” “Yeah, I can.” Steve kind of not agree with you. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” “Why? I need to take my stuff.” “I can pick her up tomorrow.” You and Clint said and Steve ask you again. “Do you have a suit? or uniform?” You unzip your sweater and show your Donut Do It uniform. “Will, this do? Because someone decided that it was okay to give a surprise visit when I’m on my way to work.” Maria just smirking at you and Natasha smile “I don’t think that appropriate gear for the field.”

Tony offers you to stay with them at the tower. “Captain’s right. Don’t want to risk anything on the team member night before fight. Stay here, I’ve got plenty of room. Natasha can show you. They basically live here. We have spare shirts too.” You look at Wanda “You live here too?” She’s thinking about the answer. “I spend the night here.” Natasha turn you to look at her. “That’s a good idea. Just stay here tonight. Wanda’s here too.” “Natasha can show you your room, take a shower and dinner later.” Tony said. You look at Maria by the mention of dinner. She sighs “Okay, spaghetti and chicken wings.” Natasha add “And caramel pudding?” You smile at her “You remember?!” “Of course I do.” Clint jokingly say “How can she not, you guys practically sisters.”

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Thank you for spending your time reading this. Feel free to reblog or ask me anything, thank you in advance!

Part 3 is coming!

[boop-le-snoot]

PARTY FAVOURS I CHAPTER 37

💖 first time reader click here 💖

Five more chapters to go, guys. This is coming to an end 😭 I enjoyed writing it so, so much! In this chapter we have fluff. Literally only fluff and snark, because my babies have suffered enough. And the remainder is gonna be the same. Because fuck pain.

Coulson was mad. Outwardly, of course, he seemed as level-headed as ever, handing out orders and signing papers out left and right, but coming to sit within five feet of him seemed like the worst mistake I had recently made. His phone was ringing practically non-stop and he answered every call, sometimes speaking in different languages I didn't understand, sometimes in rapid-fire English that sounded like Morse code to me.

I'd never been sent to the principal's office but I imagine that's how it feels like. Finally, his shoulders sagged and the breath he took in left his lungs slowly, deflating his body into a tense ball of quiet fury.

"You and mister Brock ruined months worth of investigation and undercover work," The agent finally spoke. "But I can't even be mad at you properly. We've apprehended the main culprit, detained all of his followers except select few that Dr. Xavier took upon himself to handle," His words shocked me; not at all the scolding I was expecting. A deeper part of me was even afraid I'd be taken away and buried under so much red tape not even Tony's seemingly endless money and influence could have gotten me out. "I... Really don't know what more to say." Coulson folded his hands atop the desk, looking over me with a blank look.

"A thank you would be nice," I let my mouth run before the words even really registered in my brain, the cursed thing.

The agent chortled, "Perhaps, we really do owe you a solid one," Before standing up and walking over to the coffee machine in the far corner of his office. "Coffee?" He motioned to a pile of empty cups next to it. I nodded and he set to work. "The guys should be back in two hours, tops," He remarked off-handedly, watching me out of the corner of his eye. There was no way he had missed how my body relaxed into the uncomfortable office chair at the news. "Nobody is hurt except Rogers but I think he'd find how to hurt himself even on recon duty." The man laughed, bringing over two cups of dark, delicious, steamiy hot bean juice. Nhghhgg.

"Steve is a dumbass," I agreed amicably, blowing over the rim of the cup. The stone of coffee on it's own seemed to wake up my previously anxious, half-empty half-racing brain. The past twelve hours were full of urgency, the team being called in for assistance in mere minutes after my and Venom's return to the tower.

They barely had time to wipe their tears and shelf their worries before the suit-up call came, haste hugs and kisses being traded on their way to the quinjet. Coulson showed up not much later after that, a quinjet of his own and a stack of papers for Eddie to fill out, stern instructions for me to follow him and stay glued to his side at all times. I didn't need to ask: it was obvious there was a rat in SHIELD, again. Thankfully, the rat was discovered before they could come and try to increase their odds by doing something to me; I'd hid out in Coulson's office, crashing down into a strange, most likely Venom-induced sleep as footsteps raced past the door.

I'd woken up anxious and disoriented, the owner of the office pacing along the furthest wall and pointedly whispering into his cellphone. The rest was history.

"Your father called," The agent remarked, watching my reaction carefully. "Said to call him back whenever you can."

I was drained, beyond wrung out, and not just from my latest stunt as a parasitic symbiotic alien's host. The past couple of months were a nightmare, an anxiety-riddled, paranoia-spiced mess of a shit show. I was very much looking forward to breathing freely and enjoying my science without hiding my WIPs, enjoying my relationship (s) without fear of being abducted and sending my men into a panicked, destructive spiral.

My voice remained even as I carefully contemplated and spoke my next words. "He can go fuck himself. Him and that harpy of a woman," I sighed: disappointed in my parents, but not surprised. "I'm freshly out of fucks to give. I'm done."

Coulson, if he even was surprised, didn't show it. His expression remained neutral and supportive. "I understand you. There's enough basis for us to aid you in creating a new identity for you, if you'd like," He pushed a stack of papers towards me.

I chewed on my lip in contemplation. It would be handy, sure, I could be rid of the curse that became of my family name and my parents couldn't legally do anything at all to me; on the other side there was my name plastered on several inventions and projects I'd done over the years. In all my years, I was taught that my name is to be my business card.

The decision was obvious. "No, thank you," I looked at him, hoping to convey the sincerity. "I think I will be okay."

He smiled and went back to his paperwork, all but verbally dismissing me. As soon as I finished my coffee and washed the mug, the couch called to me once again and I curled up under the fleece blanket Coulson had thrown over me while I slept, alternating my attention between sneaking glances at his concentrated form and my cellphone and the few meager games it had. There was no signal and no wi-fi access on the Helicarrier. Security reasons, blah blah blah...

A knock sounded out, startling me out of my sluggish thoughts; one of Coulson's hands crawled down to one of the drawers on his right side where I assumed he had hidden a gun. "Come in," He called out, shooting me a pointed look. I sat up, alert.

"M'here to pick up - uh - a Baby," A tired but amused, familiar voice called out. Clint stepped into the room, still wearing his dirty and bloody uniform, and, as my eyes briefly scanned him, the archer appeared to be unhurt save for a few bruises here and there. His eyes landed on me immediately, visibly relieved.

"Waa," I deadpanned indignantly, raising my hands like a toddler would do when they wanted to be picked up. The only thing Clint was missing was a courier's ball cap.

"I assume the mission went smoothly?" Coulson asked, a soft grin and even softer eyes landing on our interaction.

Clint nodded affirmative, walking over and picking me up with ease, disregarding my shierk completely and stopping only when I poked him in the ear - closest appendage to me - in retaliation. His eyes were laughing and his tone was flat. "Caw caw, motherfucker," He announced to me flatly, waving goodbye to Coulson.

We passed more than a dozen agents giving us the biggest side-eye as I dangled over his shoulder, ass up in the air, fiddling with the numerous straps of his gear as Clint power-walked us to the Avengers quinjet. I'd even stuck out my tongue to some dude pointing a finger at us.

My family was already loaded into the vehicle, all in various stages of dirty, bloody and undressed. Coulson's words were true - only Steve sported a wide bandage over his shoulder, neck and head - one look at Bucky and I just knew the Captain would be regretting his stupidity in a few hours time. Even Stephen was there, looking unhurt but very annoyed and tired, as he hovered a few feet off the ground with Cloaky majestically swaying behind him.

"And what the fuck was that little performance for?" I asked once Clint deposited me in the very front row, between a dozing Bruce and a tinkering Tony.

"I had strict instructions from the Hulk," The archer grinned, pushing a few buttons on the dashboard of the vehicle. In seconds, we took off home.

"Oh, hi," Bruce must've heard his green counterpart being mentioned; his eyes cracked open just as I smiled at the scientist and reached over to brush his curly mop of hair out of his face. "M'yes, Hulk is demanding you do not set foot on the ground these days," Bruce was sleepy and warm, so soft when he kissed my hand, I felt my heart swell.

"Gonna spoil me rotten, you lot," I snorted, keeping the happy smile and the warm feeling as Stephen came back from the Astral world, opening his eyes and giving me a grin of his own.

"That's my job," Tony mumbled, still very occupied with a part of his suit. I turned around expecting a kiss; I had to stifle an ugly snort upon discovering one of the parts of his Iron Man suit got damaged and stuck, making a part of the chestplate render one of his arms temporarily immobile. Tony looked like a frustrated toddler building Legos.

"Someone get me a screwdriver and some pliers," I gently pried away the calloused fingers away from the jagged piece of metal, kissing Tony's cheek in the moments until Natasha handed me the required instruments. Tony was free, grimacing in discomfort as he stretched and rotated his arm, in little under ten minutes. "What happened to the nanosuit?" I asked, not remembering the last time I'd seen Tony in one of his older, clunkier creations.

"They had some sort of technopath mutant," He grumbled - I had discovered the source of his ire. "Turns out, Bruce snuck in my special anti-mutant suit I'd made ages ago. Nanosuit got destroyed in seconds and Hulk had to carry me back to the quinjet for a change of equipment," Despite his sour mood, Tony was visibly more relaxed than since the day I confessed I'd been drugged. "Brucie-bear, this is exactly why it remained a prototype."

"It's better to get stuck in a suit than to be a meat pancake on the sidewalk," Used to Tony's tantrums, Bruce merely blinked and continued eating the chocolate that he procured only God knew where.

I locked eyes with Stephen, both of us shaking our heads in almost identical, semi-fond semi-annoyed way. Ah, sweet sweet normalcy.

There were towers of pizza boxes as we arrived in the tower; a couple of agents got all but yeeted out by Tony, with little to no thank you as they had been the ones that arranged the food for us - still, I understood Tony's dislike of the super-secret organisation and merely paid the two for the pizza, politely waving goodbye as they side-eyed Tony with disdain.

Then, I had to tow both Clint and Thor as they attempted to begin eating, still wearing muddy bloody clothes - of course, I did not possess the physical strength required to handle two adult men, so I merely began a small lecture on parasites (Stephen gleefully joined in) and both of them scattered towards the showers like two spooked little first-graders.

I also used the brief moment of stagnation to hug Loki; these days he didn't freeze in surprise but rather warmly hugged me back, whispering something cheeky to me as I buried my face in his chest. Stephen was the one to cough extra-loudly to attempt to separate us - it was, once again, unanimously decided to have a family dinner and a cuddle pile straight after. Food coma had never sounded nicer.

"So, what'd Coulson say to you?" Clint asked curiously as we all settled in, freshly showered and those who needed it, re-bandaged. I was warm and toasty between Tony and Stephen, wearing the former's gym shorts and the latter's hoodie, Bruce's t-shirt underneath it. The scientist himself was drooling onto Tony's shoulder, somwhere between sleep and awareness, glasses askew.

"He basically thanked me and offered me a new identity," I shrugged, polishing off the last of my smoothie and handing the second bottle over to Loki. As usual, no food was wasted and I always had someone to finish my leftovers, especially since Bucky tended to think I could eat as much as him and kept trying to overfeed me like a foie gras goose.

"Congrats, you've been adopted," Natasha snorted from her place between Clint and Steve. Only the red of her hair was visible behind the man-bulk and the blankets.

"Uh," My response was, as always, deeply informative and astute.

"He likes to take in strays," Clint full-belly laughed. "Me at first, then Natasha. He's got a soft spot for Tony and Bucky but he won't admit it."

My eyebrows rose. "That's... That's my job?" I remembered the whole Venom/Eddie situation, our rogue wizard. Coulson was aiming for my place- the audacity! "He can't just do that!"

"And you can?" Stephen's finger booped my nose, making me huff and cuddle up to Tony, turning my butt towards the sorcerer to show him exactly what I thought about his observations. He only laughed harder. "Sounds like someone's a little jealous."

"Okay, boomer," I rolled my eyes. Stephen Strange, a supreme troll is what he is.

"But that's why you love me," He continued as others around us groaned and snorted, too used to us teasing each other about our age difference and my old man kink. Whatever, I got to bang my hot old men anyways.

THE TAG LIST IS NOW OPEN! @another-stark-sub ​ @mostly-marvel-musings  @vozit ​ @littlegasps ​ @pilloclock ​ @shereadsinquiet @downeyreads ​ @hermione-grangers-wife ​ @individualistfem ​ @sleep-i-ness @capbrie @lillsxd @agustdowney @dee-vn @justanotherblonde23 @fanngirl19 @persephonehemingway @softie-socks @schemefrenzy @letsby @cutenessloading @romeo-the-cactus @jelly-fishy-babie @mikariell95 @gladiosamicitias @warrior1-19 @toomanyrobins @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming

[marvel-mistress-padawan]

The Man In The Green Tie (NSFW)

Sometimes Emma hated these formal dinner parties and other times she quite enjoyed them. Tonight was one of those nights that she felt a little of both emotions. She was dressed in her signature white and wore a diamond pendant on a gold chain just in the right place to display her cleavage. It was working. Half the men in the room had noticed her. Of course they noticed all the other beautiful women in the room too. Men were fickle like that. Some of them even went after the plain looking and ugly women, believing they had a better chance with them. Emma didn’t care for hearing all their thoughts of conquest tonight, only the ones concerning her.

Frost International was her Company and this dinner with partners, investors, and associates, was important for future relations. She had met almost everyone here in previous dealings. Everyone except one man. He had longish black hair and wore a black suit with a green tie. He sat at a table with Justin Hammer and some journalist whose name Emma couldn’t remember. All she knew was that the man in green tie was one of the most fascinating men she had ever had the pleasure of ming reading. He wasn’t paying much attention to the women in the room. He noticed them of course, but only briefly. He wasn’t thinking about money or power, in spite of being associated with Justin Hammer and attending her dinner in the first place. No, his thoughts were thoughts of amusement at being able to deceive Justin Hammer so thoroughly. He had only one weapon to sell. There were none in production, no test models or protypes, just the one, and Hammer was willing to pay a signifigant amount for a supply that did not exist.

Emma got down from her place at the bar and approached Hammer’s table, making sure that her slinky white dress still clung to her in all the right places.

“Miss Frost?” Justin looked up as she stopped at his table. “It’s a pleasure to see you here tonight.”

“Mind if I join you?” Emma didn’t wait for his reply. Justin wanted her to go away and not ruin his business deal. She wasn’t going anywhere. She pulled up a chair. “Those barstools do a number on a girl’s ass,” she said, waiting to see if either of them would look. “Your little table over here looked so much more comfortable. I don’t believe we’ve had the pleasure. I’m Emma,” she offered her hand to the stranger in the green tie.

To Emma surprise, the stranger did not take the opportunity to look at her backside. In fact he mentally told himself not to. Instead he took her hand and he kissed it like a true gentleman. What shocked her even more was that she actually felt something in response to his polite manners.

“My name is Lucas Olsen,” he told her with such sincerity that had she not been a telepath she might have believed it was true. Lucas wasn’t his name. He was thinking about his name. It was Loki. He was not human. “This is a lovely party you’ve created here,” he told her.

Most men would have made a point to say something about Emma herself being lovely as well. Loki didn’t. He didn’t even think it. Emma couldn’t figure out why that irked her so much. It wasn’t that he didn’t think her pretty. He was as distracted by the placement of her diamond necklace as Hammer was. He wasn’t lacking in confidence like some of the men in the room and yet he did not pursue her. Why?

“I appreciate the sentiment but I wouldn’t call it lovely. It’s an unfortunate necessity of this business. I can think of a lot of things more fun to do on a night like this,” Emma told them, her gaze entirely on Loki.

“One ought not mix business and pleasure,” Loki said with a hint of a smile. He had understood her insinuation and was more interested in playing hard to get than in chasing after her.

“W-what things?” Hammer spoke up. “What fun things would you do?”

It was in that moment that Loki thought Hammer to be a sad pathetic little man who wouldn’t know how to win a woman if she were handed to him. The journalist who sat with them, and whom Emma had neglected to greet, got up uncomfortably and left. Emma wished that Hammer would do the same.

“You’re an inventor Hammer. I’m sure you could think of something,” Emma barely disguised her annoyance.

“Well, I’m usually too busy to do much of anything fun. That’s part of being a hard working, stable...single...American,” he said, trailing off and failing to deliver his intended confidence.

“Plenty of hard working Americans know how to have fun. Maybe you’re just a buzzkill,” she told him. It wasn’t nice but she wasn’t known for being nice. “Maybe you’d like to get me a drink?”

Insulted, Hammer got up and left. He didn’t come back.

“I would say that was a little harsh but…” Loki began.

“But you don’t like him any more than I do,” Emma knew it to be the truth.

“I may not like him but he is still useful,” Loki said with a shrug.

“You know what else is useful?” Emma crossed her legs beneath the table and allowed the foot of her open toed shoe to touch his leg. “A little rest and relaxation, don’t you think?”

Loki did not respond to her touch as she expected. Oh he was interested but there was something of amusement in his response. Maybe it was because he was alien. Maybe his people couldn’t be expected to respond like humans.

“I suppose we could all do with a diversion here and there,” he agreed.

It was then that his thoughts became clear. He knew. He knew she was a telepath. He knew she was toying with him, and he was toying with her just as much in return.

“How did you…?” Emma began. This had never happened to her before. She had always been the one in power over men. Her beauty and her ability to read minds, her education as a sex therapist had given her a distinct advantage. And now this gorgeous man was playing her?

Loki smiled. “I have certain abilities. I may not be able to read a person’s thoughts from moment to moment but I can see their memories if I touch them. You gave me your hand and from there I knew the truth of it.”

“Then why didn’t I realize that until now? How are you able to block out at least some of my telepathic abilities?”

“Magic,” he said simply.

“So you can read memories, and do magic? Anything else?”

“It’s a rather long list,” he said demurely.

“Fuck,” she muttered. This was all falling apart now. It had been six months since she’d taken a man to bed. Most of them had been too stupid and self centered to bother with. After six months she was starting to get desperate but not so desperate that anyone would do. She had thought when she came to Hammer’s table to meet his friend that her chance had finally come. Apparently she’d be spending another night alone.

Loki raised an eyebrow at her word. “I wouldn’t say no to that.”

For the first time in years, Emma found herself blushing over something a man had said to her.

“Should I take your blushing as a yes?” he asked her.

Emma felt entirely out of place in this scenario. Never in her life had she been deposed of her power like this. And yet she couldn’t say that she hated it. Not at all. “Yes,” she said, all her hesitation ended. “How about a dance first?”

Loki led her out onto the dance floor and he turned out to be an expert dancer. He pulled her rather close to himself and took in a breath. She had never danced with anyone without knowing his every thought and desire. Some of Loki’s thoughts broke through but they were vague and even unclear. She had never felt so powerless, never so anxious, and certainly never so intensely turned on.

When the song hand ended Emma went to the bar and downed a drink. She wanted this, but it was so weird that she definitely needed a drink. Loki followed her and watched her with concern.

“If you’re not ready, there’s no need to rush,” he told her.

Emma spun on her heel to face him. He was being polite. He was truly concerned that he might be pushing too much too quickly and was too well mannered to do that to any woman, despite his desires. Emma dropped the glass in her hand and it shattered at her feet. Such kindness was rare in the men she had met. This one was dangerous. She had picked up that much from his thoughts, but he had standards. He would not harm a lady. She wasn’t accustomed to being thought of as anything other than an object to be lusted after and yet this man would never treat her as such.

“No, I am ready,” she said, stepping over the glass to return to him on the dancefloor.

The second dance was slower this time and both of his hands rested on her backside. She wrapped one arm around his neck and pressed close enough that she could feel his hardness against her center. The entire dance was not appropriate for a business dinner but she lacked the ability to care. It had been so long and he was more enticing than any dance partner she had ever stood across from. He leaned close enough that his breath was warm against her neck and Emma felt wetness between her legs.

The song came to an end all to quick and the sound of tinkling glass broke apart the few couples dancing. Charles Blake her CFO was making an announcement. She had forgotten that she had requested for Charles to do this speech. It was going to take a good twenty minutes followed by a formal dinner being served.

“I can’t leave, probably not for hours,” Emma said, frustrated. “I did set this up after all.”

“There’s no need to leave,” Loki told her. “I can give you exactly what you want, right here.”

“I’m not sure I can be that discreet,” she said, an eyebrow raised. “Not in this dress.”

“Who cares about the dress?” Loki said. “You’re a telepath. I have magic. I’m sure we can work something out.”

Her jaw dropped open. “You mean…?”

He nodded. “You sit at your table and I’ll sit at mine. No one will be the wiser.”

Emma went back to her seat at the bar and Loki back to his table where Hammer had been. She was barely seated when the thoughts began to hit her. Not just thoughts but images and sensations, very real sensations. This was going to be more complicated than she had thought.

It seemed as if Emma were no longer in the banquet room at all but instead in a bedroom with large open windows to a view of a world she had never seen. Loki’s homeworld. It was so real that she could smell a far off ocean breeze as well as the same scent she had smelled on his collar when she danced with him. He took her hand and pulled her to the bed, unzipping the back of her dress and letting it drop to the floor. Then he was kissing her. It felt so entirely real that Emma worried she wasn’t remaining still in the real world.

Emma worked on pulling off his clothes while he kissed her starting with the green necktie. His hands were on her breasts, his tongue in her mouth and Emma had every intention of pushing him over and climbing astride him. He gently pushed her back and crawled atop of her, resting his weight on his elbows and continuing to kiss her. She lifted her hips to encourage him to continue. She had waited so long for this that she didn’t need further preparation. She was already so wet, so needy, that she didn’t want to wait a moment longer. He pushed his way inside her and she let out a moan. He went still.

“Oh god don’t stop!” she told him, desperate for friction.

Loki grinned a little at her plea but he heeded her words and started moving again. He moved in and out of her slowly at first and Emma sought his mouth for more kisses. He gave them to her and then he moved to kiss down her jawline and her neck and beneath her earlobe. His pace increased and she lifted her hips a little higher to find her center of pleasure.

“Harder?” she asked of him and he gladly obliged, plunging into her deeper and harder than before.

Emma could not stop the moans that came from her and they were only increased by hearing his grunts of pleasure. Then the moment came when she could finally let go of the building tension. Her body pulsated in relief.

Emma came to herself and found she was still in the banquet room. Charles was still going on and on about financial matters and no one in the room was aware of what had just transpired in her mind. She had apparently kept still and silent. The stool beneath her was a little wet where she sat. Her eyes met Loki’s across the room and he grinned knowingly. Emma suddenly felt warm and she reached for a folded paper dinner program to fan herself with. Loki smiled more broadly at her flush face and she wanted to slap him as much as she wanted to laugh.

Once Charles had finished his little speech, Loki crossed the room and sat next to her at the bar.

“I can’t actually stay long tonight. Now that I’m done with Hammer, I’ll be leaving. I know where to find you though. My mind can reach across great distances, if that’s something you wanted anyway?” he asked her.

Emma bit her lip, intrigued by his offer. A telepathic lover? “I don’t want to wait six months until the next encounter..”

“Believe me, you won’t,” he told her.

“And you’re going to send me telepathic flowers and chocolate?” she teased.

“I don’t think I’ll have to,” he leaned into her space and placed a kiss, not on her lips but on her forehead. “Goodnight Emma Frost, until we meet again.”

“Until we meet again,” she told him as she watched him go, shaking her head at herself. Somehow, his green necktie was still in her hand.

[es05l2k5sl]

I'll never understand why WB had to redesign the Batcast for the new Bat adventures. Some characters took getting used to. But as for the villains, I'm roasting they asses cus they're ugly. Can't change my mind.

These Oswalds together look like 2 different people bruh. But we're here to talk about new Oswald. This Wimpy x Olive Oyl fusion snoody looking ass bitch. I'd like his outfit if it didn't have that lazy drawned bow tie looking like 2 triangles glued together & those fake ass MJ gloves. Also when tf did he have 10 fingers in dis universe? Also fuck that hair. Rocking a balding Mullet like ponytail before. Now it's just a boring cut down. Got dat snooty ass bitch look on face like his bird shit don't be stinking. I'll rock tf out u. Lookin like a whole ass Looney character or sum mf from the 30s.

Wot da fuck dey got Selena wearing here? Sis looking like a whole ass alien. Kid vs Kat looking ass bish. And her skin white af too? Did sis fall in some damn Joker acid too? Sis whole lower face is white as shit! Dat shit paler than crack. Like sis got the white slapped outta her and she just turned whiter. Das probably what happened. Her ass probably got on my mans Bruce last nerves one night and got da shit backslapped out her ass.

So my dude Matthew got turned a different color pal & got his neck privileges revoked? Lazy af but not the worst revamp.

You kno that meme: "upgrade, upgrade, FUCK GO BACK!"? Dis pre much sums up Jonathan here. My mans jus looks so dirty here. Looking straight outta da trash bin. Like literally dirty. Nasty ass teeth probably got dat hot ass breath blowing thru them bitches. Das a real fear toxin right there. Long ass black as shit dirty ass hair. Tryna copy off my girl from the ring w dat shit. Need to take dat dirty ass wig and mask and Amish hat tf off my dude. It is not rocking you. Dat whole worn out trashy ass outfit ain't working for you either hoe. You need to take yo ass a bath bitch cus your arms looking brown and ashy as a bitch. You can not even THINK about borrowing anything from me w yo dirty creepy stalker lookin ass. If you don't put down that damn stick like yo ass need help walking and shit I oughtta bitch ya ass with the shit fo going around dressed like dis. Take that damn rope off your neck bitch fo I do something Bruce won't do.

Bruh, you can not go up to my face and tell me these niggas are the same person in the same mofucking universe! Jervis What da fuck did they DO TO YOU MY N**GA?? N**ga looking like a damn leprechaun with special needs and shit. Rocking all dat dookie green swag but you got no swag anymore my dude. It's shit like you clothes and yo breath! Yo shits wasn't perfect and white before but them hoes looking hella worse now. What you get drinking all that damn tea my n**ga. Ol Tiny ass n**ga. Like wot. HOW?! HOW TF DID YO ASS SHRINK??? LIKE SOMEBODY TOSSED YOU ASS IN A LAUNDRY DRYER AND PROBABLY FORGOT TO TAKE YO STUPID ASS OUT. PROBABLY WHY YO HAIR WHITE AND SMALL AS SHIT YA UGLY ASS LUCKY CHARMS LOOKING ASS CRACK FEENY. If you don't hop yo ass back under a rainbow with dem skinny ass broken heel lookin ass tap dancing shoes.

Victor, bruh, they dem did yo ass so dirty in the new adventures. I ain't gonna lie that new suit kinda ok. But you looking like a whole skeleton and shit. Lookin like a young Palpatine & shit. Ol Frisky dingo looking ass! Need to put those goggles back on. The least yo (spoiler) 2003 Baxter Stockman ass can do now.

Yo ass probably looking mad as shit cus ya can't jack it no more n**ga. Dats all gon now. Long with yo unloyal ass wife. How tf she gon bounce on you after everything you did for her? After all the years and bull you had to put up with & she leave yo cold ass for another nibba? Fuck DCAU Nora. Just fuck her.

Scarface lookin like a damn Fanboy & Chum Chum character & his boy over here lookin like Chode. Next.

UUUUUUUUUUGGGHHHHHGG.

Just. UAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHH. Bruh I will never understand who tf thought this shit was a good idea?! Like who the fuck, was drawing dis nigga. Drew DIS Sus af shit. LOOKED at dis shit. And said to deyself: "Yeah dats da Riddler aight". HELL TO THE NAH DAT AIN'T NO DAMN DAS A (dick) FIDDLER! HE LOOKIN SUS AS FUCK NOW WITH THEM TIGHT AS GREEN SPANDEX AND THAT DARK AS HELL EYELINER. Looking like gay Christmas elf! Looking like a gay ass ballay dancer with them Spider Gwen ballerina shoes. You can't dance for shit nigga! Yo shit is SOOO DAMN TIGHT like I can get a good sight and shape picture of yo "Question mark" I'm telling y'all. sSSSUUUSSSSSSS. Looking like a bigasss lima bean. Skinny ass Jack skeleton moFucka. Like. They did my boy Eddy so freakin dirty with this. My mans had class, style, a nice look, HAIR. Now he. Whateverthelivingfuckdisbaldasspeterpanlookinmofuckasupposestobe. And i hate how that's how he did be lookin in almost every new Batverse when why tho? Nigg(m)a look stupid as hell. How tf he expect to be tooken seriously dressed and lookin like dis ? If I saw dis fucker in real life and he threatens me, imma laugh at his ass and beat him with his cane. Get ya Richard from Allen Gregory looking ass away from me. I can't!

Bruh it don't look that much but they did my mans Harvey dirty too. LOOK AT MY MANS FACE. good half i mean. Yall nigs kno. THESE MUHFUCKERS STRIPPED HIM OF HIS PRETTYNESS! Man. Dis version of Harvey was a pretty muhfucka. You can't deny dat shit

Even when he became Two-Face he still got dat 1 side of pretty.  And that deep af panty soaking voice to go along w it. He dat half and half package. 

Now HE LOOK LIKE DIS

WHOEVER TF DID DIS NEED DEY ASS WHOOPED! SQUARE TF UP NOW. NIGGA LOOKS LIKE EYEBROWLESS VERSION OF DOC FROM SECRET SATURDAYS. FAT ASS BLOCK NOSE MUH FUCKA.  His eye looks like traingle with a Nike logo on top of it. Lookin like a poorly drawn Dwayne The Rock Johnson. And ya other half ain't lookin that good either. Dat 1 eyebrow putting Helga Pataki to shame! I mean the shit didn't look good before but it was somewhat tamed, now the shit looking like full grownass caterpillar. And that lip black as hell. Kno that side dirty as fuuhck!

I don't even know what tf I'm sposed to say about DIS except (kinky..)

Angelica pickles looking ass. Bigass blonde captain coconut looking ass hairstyle. Looking like a blonde creepy ass Wednesday Adams. Dem black as fuck Kim possible lips. She actually looking like a family guy character with that bigass head and small body. I SWEAR she ded looking like one of Stewie's ex's right now my dude! Got  tiny ass flat ass guitar chip shoes. Looks like sis wearing fucking Zippers as shoes. Sis got that "i got something planned fo yo ass" smile. Sis look like she plotting something or did some evil shit already.

. . .

Bros I'm sorry but I'm just as confused as you like. I can't find a single thing different about Harley. Like literally nothing. Her makeup at night be looking blue sometimes, looking like a fakeass Livewire, but nah. They didn't even touch homegirl. Why tf is Harley the only character that stayed the same?????! Niggas was playing favorites. They had plans for that ass since day one. They was probs like: "Aye y'all. DO NOT TOUCH HARLEY. SHE STAYS THE SAME!" "why?" "JUST LISTEN TO ME BITCH!" "Wha bout her mans?" "Oh hell yeah fuck his shit up!" ...sigh.. Yep. It's that time...

UaaaaaaAAAAAAAHHH what else is dere to be said about dis ugly ass nigga? Dis nigga look like Yakko Warner & Freakazoid's love child! Dis nigga look like a random Tiny toons or Animaniac character! With that dookie green shirt and flower. You and Riddler's gay ass both matching them Dexter's laboratory Gloves. Why tf yo eyes eyes black as fuck tho?! How tf does one do that to theyself?! Yo ass probably snorted some shit and ya shits expanded and that's prolly yo pupils with ya cracked out ass. Nigga don't even look like a clown no more. Hell Jared Leto Joker atleast had the lipstick down. Dis nigga got dem ashy ass lips hanging out. Nigga think he owning too. Nigga you don't own shit! Broke as hell now. And yo design broke too. Joker? Man more like Broker. Got dat fairly odd parents hair. Got that Cosmo and Wanda in one. Like bitch if you don't. Just like Riddler i can not take yo animaniac looking ass serious. You do not scare me bitch! Bye!

Now see dis? DIS is Aight! A lot more fitting and & faithful to the character. No over the fucking top redesign, you can actually tell it's the same damn character as before, a little bit of swag for personality

So that's the tea. Ivy & Croc are the only good rogue redesigns in the whole series, evBody else ugly as shit.

[alilbihh]

heliophile

masterlist

pairing: hoseok x reader

summary: helio·phile, noun (plural heliophiles)

A lover of the sun.

(or: You turn to look at him and find him already looking. He's stealing cherry-like fruits from behind the counter top and slipping them into the most bafflingly ugly pouch you've ever seen.

You engage in a silent staring contest that lasts approximately four long seconds before you speak. "Yo.")

genre: alien!hoseok, space!au (?), fluff

words: 2.3k

When you step out the space craft, you'd expected the air to be cold and frigid but it's not. It's warm, like if you were to look up, you'd see the blues and pinks of the horizon, the sun peeking just slightly behind the clouds.

You're on an odd planet whose name you can't pronounce, with too many consonants and not enough vowels and maybe, like, three F's. Too many F's. Too much everything.

The pilot is a prickly old man with grey hairs and crooked teeth, but you think he looks happy when you smile in his direction. The void between planets doesn't leave much room for anything but years of self-reflection, pinpricks of destinations, no place to call home. It must be lonely for him, you think.

Someone bumps into you and it's then you realize you're standing still and the people behind you are stepping off, and you breathe breathe breathe before doing the same.

You think it feels like an airport before you stop to think that it kinda is. The walls are a stark white and everyone is carrying around their luggage and it's-- weird. It's weird.

You'd done mild research on the place before leaving Earth, but it all still feels odd. Out of place. Like the whole three days on the space craft had been a fever dream. Like you'd woken up in your bed back at home and suddenly the sky was a light purple and there were two moons.

There are patches of green on the ground that look like grass but not quite. You step over them and continue your trek.

You pass by people with antennas and lurid pink skin and black filled eyes before you reach the outside and realize you're the only human. Or maybe you're an alien to them, too.

(You wonder if they also feel like outsiders.)

It's your seventy third day on the planet and you're milling through the market, trading ores for valuables like water and groceries. You haven't quite gotten over home yet. Still wake up hoping the sky will be blue when it never is.

Someone taps on your shoulder, and when you turn they're vaguely human-like, except when he speaks it's in the planet's mother tongue. It's an ugly language, with a slick, hissing enunciation that sounds like a secret. You hate everything about it, no matter the being that speaks it.

"You look like you're looking for something," He says, and you pick up on enough words to understand what was said. Tourist guides on the language can't help you forever.

The sky isn't blue and the language is ugly and you haven't heard your mother tongue be spoken for a bit too long, but this is meant to be your home. Even if you feel almost too untethered to yourself in it.

So you say, “I'm not. Thank you.” And that's that.

As a kid you dreamed of becoming an explorer, whose name was scrawled on storefronts and whose discoveries were put in museums back at home.

You still dream, sometimes, of places you've never been. Of tossing pebbles over streams that bleed pink, dipping your toes in the shoreline, of trying to decipher the poetry etched onto moss covered rocks, of running through the greenhouses on Mars, biting into the red-speckled fruits. Of trying to find a place to belong.

Your sleeps are dreamless these days.

(There are approximately fifty seven Earth-sized planets in the Milky Way alone.

Before, it made you feel full to bursting like an overripe cherry for the galaxy and its endless mysteries.

Now, it makes you feel small.)

It’s day one hundred and something when you're watching the condensation pool around your drink, making small talk with the holographic bartender and failing miserably when a man sidles onto the stool beside you.

"Do you want a tip?" You're saying, then realize holograms won't have a use for money, but slide a crumpled bill over the wooden counter anyway. It's Earth currency, just something you had in your pocket when you left, climbed into the nearest space craft and didn't look back. You're light-years away from where it could serve any sort of purpose, but maybe the hologram will want it anyway.

"Lifeform detected," it says, flickering blue like static. Not even acknowledging your money, the bastard. "Status: Earthling. What is your language of preference?" It starts cycling through all of Earth's languages when you don't respond and you just let it, try to guess which language it's speaking before it moves on to another.

The man is still sneaking interested glances at you, which you know because he's wearing gloves and a scarf and, like, three sweaters while cramped inside a bar made entirely of heat and sweat, even if you're sure it was warm outside. It's weird and bizarre.

You turn to look at him and find him already looking. He's stealing cherry-like fruits from behind the counter top and slipping them into the most bafflingly ugly pouch you've ever seen.

You engage in a silent staring contest that lasts approximately four long seconds before you speak. "Yo."

There are billions upon billions of languages this man could know, billions upon billions of different planets or stars he could be from, but he still smiles and says--

"Hey."

You swallow. "You were looking at me just now."

The man only hums. Tosses a cherry into his mouth, stem and all. "That I was."

He's wearing this awful yellow wool sweater over what could only be several other sweaters underneath it, and he's smiling something big when his mouth makes this heart shape that you hadn't noticed before because you weren't really looking but now you are looking and it's. Devastating.

"Well." You cough, then clear your throat. Take a sip of the drink you'd just remembered was still there. "Cool."

"Yes." The man says, skin tinted honey and gold. You've seen many skin colors, all from different colors of the rainbow, seen horns and pointed ears and too many eyes. And maybe his is the closest thing to human, but at the same time it's-- not. It's different. Too pretty to be human, like he's lived on the sun his whole life.

He's still smiling, something careful and charming, because apparently his mouth is incapable of resting in any other expression.

"What's your name?" You say because he's been staring for what could only be beyond what's socially acceptable, and then his grin gets impossibly wider, cheeks crinkling at the edges.

His name is Jung Hoseok and he was born on the sun. Visited Earth, once. Visited the whole Solar System, stayed in a humble cottage on Pluto for two years before moving because something was twisting in his gut, apparently. Something that screamed go, move, leave.

He left and left and left, found solace in the nothing of space. (Or maybe he didn't. If he's anything like you, you don't think he did.)

His name is Jung Hoseok and he's had the same froggy green underwear for the last four years and he has a small tattoo on his hip, a little sun, and when he presses you to the mattress he's warm warm warm, tastes like the honey gold of his skin. Like the sun.

His name is Jung Hoseok, and you haven't felt this warm in a long time.

You feel kind of like you're walking on the deck of the Titanic as it sinks, the room tilting slowly on its axis, all off-kilter.

Next to you, Hoseok sits in bulky winter wear and it's kind of funny. It must be hard to be constantly cold, but you think he manages.

You don't know what you're doing here, still doing here. But then an old steam train whizzes by and you feel-- strangely nostalgic. Like someone from the eighteenth century, plucked straight out of a Ghibli movie. You hadn't even known this was on the planet. (Maybe you never cared enough to look.)

Hoseok gets up, offers an elbow. "Well?"

So you follow him inside the train, sit on a plush red seat by the window, watch as the scenery paints itself blue then green then pink. You pass by a sunny forest one second then a snowy one the next. Hear laughing children and spot a mother with kind eyes and laughter lines.

Then suddenly everything fades and you're running on water and the sky is a light light purple that fades into a not-blue. An almost-blue. Blue.

You look away from the window and find Hoseok staring at you. Wonder if he ever looked away. Simply say, "Blue."

He smiles something tender and soft. Fond. "Blue." He agrees.

"S'blue, where I'm from." You look at the window again. The sky is starting to become more purple, but you think you like it. You hadn't before, wonder what changed. "The sky, I mean."

"I know." He nod nod nods, doesn't say anything else.

You both get off on a stop where you don't know where you are, and you lead Hoseok to a nearby farmhouse where the horizon line is burning against the tips of the wheat, setting the world on fire.

You blast through the blazing gold and when you collapse on the ground, no closer to the sun than when you started, Hoseok runs to lie beside you on the soil, brush a finger over the tips of the wheat leaning over him.

Your heart is beating so hard against your ribcage you think it might burst.

"How long are you staying?" You say, tilt your head to watch him.

"Hm," he hums, "Not long. I just crashed here for, like, supplies."

"Oh." Something claws at your chest, squeezes your lungs, takes over when you then say, "Are you looking for a co-pilot?"

Hoseok startles, turns quick, smiles something slow slow slow and then he's grinning. His eyes are wide and pretty and honest.

"We'll travel a lot."

"I know."

"We'll have to leave this place. Won't settle down any time soon."

"Yeah. I know." You breathe.

"Do you even know how to fly a space craft?"

"Uh," you stammer, "no."

You hear more than see the grin when he says, "You're in."

"What does this button do?" You ask, finger hovering over a red button that looks incriminatingly dangerous.

Hoseok hums, not taking his eyes off the monitor, and simply says, "Self-destruct."

You pull back immediately. "Are you being serious right now?"

"No." When you turn to look at him, he's grinning. You punch his shoulder lightly as he tumbles over in laughter, takes a hold of your hand softly. Doesn't let go even though you're sure it's faster to type with two hands.

Hoseok is a constant, you learn quickly.

You and Hoseok travel long stretches of nothing and get off on stops where neither of you know where you are. Sunken cities and civilizations built through secret, languages of clicking and hissing and too many rolled out R's, the setting of a blue sun on an unnamed planet.

Hoseok is always there, there to look out for you and guide you and sometimes, when he looks at you, you catch him smiling something soft and relieved. Almost as if to say ah, there you are.

The in-betweens are a big part of it, you think. Sitting back between destinations just to this, this constant. To Hoseok dancing in the living room to no music at all and to him clicking away at the monitor and sometimes, when you're lucky, to the stars filtering through the blinds and a hand around your waist when everything is warm, warm, warm.

"This is nice," Hoseok says on a day where everything feels slow, like the world is hanging on a drop of honey. An arm is looped over your back, the monitor clicking behind you in a comforting white noise, and there's a steady line of a heartbeat mirroring your own.

Hands are tugging at your face, pulling you in, sun-warmed lips meeting yours halfway.

"What's nice?" You murmur as you trail a hand down his face. You trace the crease between his brows, the slope of his nose, the apple of his cheeks. The dip between his lips.

Hoseok kisses the pads of your fingers. "Just-- sometimes, I used to go months without saying anything out loud, saying anything at all, so this is just. A nice change. Really nice." He trails off, sighs into your shoulder. Presses a kiss there, just because he can.

"Oh." You breathe. When you lean back to cup his cheeks, his eyes are half-lidded and honest and so impossibly fond, and you look and then really look, find traces of the sun.

You press your lips to the crown of his head and just breathe. The mood has softened and you're okay with that, okay with him lifting you up and bringing you to bed, pinning you in place, murmuring something soft that you don't catch.

You stay like that for the rest of the afternoon, soft and still. Hoseok must fall asleep at some point and maybe you do too, but when you look through the glass the outside is still the long black-blue stretch of dusk that it always is. You turn and your nose brushes over Hoseok's, and he looks so beautiful your heart stutters for a terrifying moment.

It's day three hundred and.. something. You're not sure anymore, stopped counting a while ago. Find that maybe you don't need to, not anymore.

(Once you'd run away from your planet, snuck onto a space craft and didn't look back until you realized how lonely it was out there.

And now-- now... Now you've realized that maybe it's not as lonely as you thought. That maybe home was never a place at all.)

a/n: y/n, sitting on the pilot seat of hoseok’s space craft: kowalski, analysis. hoseok: what

[vampirepiggyhunterdefensesquad]

all’s fair (1/?)

Summary: Gaz decides that she’s going to win the school’s paintball war and enjoy the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet from Bloaty’s afterwards. However, there is a certain green nuisance who’s standing in her way. . .

Gaz never listened in class, so naturally she didn't bother listening when Mr. Elliot began rambling about a school-wide event. She merely squinted at the game device under her desk, buttons clicking ever so slightly as her fingers tapped with expert dexterity. Even the flyer that was dropped beside her got crumpled and shoved into her backpack as soon as it touched the desk.

That meant it was only when Dib began talking about it on the way home from school that Gaz heard about the paintball war.

"I mean, what's the point? We already know Zim's just going to find a way to cheat. And the worst part is, he hates pizza anyway! He's just crazy about winning all the time--"

"What's pizza got to do with it?" Gaz scoffed, listening despite herself.

"C'mon, Gaz, weren't you listening? That's the prize! You get a coupon for a free sit down, all you can eat family dinner!"

Her eyes widened for a moment before she snorted. "Like Dad would take the night off for us to go anyway."

"And Zim doesn't even HAVE a family!" Dib continued, squeezing his hands into fists. "But when Miss Bitters told us about the paintball war, he got all excited and asked a bunch of STUPID questions, and--"

"Paintball?"

Dib's eyes swiveled towards her. "Well, yeah. And Zim thinks he's somehow got a chance of winning!"

Gaz turned her attention back to her game as Dib continued his rant all the way home. Outwardly, she was in the same zone as before, but inside the cogs in her brain were turning. Dad liked charity events. He might make an exception to his "one evening a year" rule of thumb. And all-you-can-eat pizza was something that caught her attention. A whole evening of video games and free pizza. . .

So Gaz may have stayed up a bit longer than usual perched on the sofa, drawing, but that didn't have to do with anything.

Around eleven-forty the front door swung open and Professor Membrane finally arrived home.

"Ah! Girl-child! Why are you still awake? You know that children require at least NINE HOURS of sleep in order to be well rested for the morning!"

Gaz ignored this. "Dad. If I won a paintball war my school put on for charity or whatever, and got us a coupon for a free sit-down dinner. You'd come, right?"

"Why, daughter, you know how busy I am with REAL SCIENCE!!" Membrane reached into the air, gesturing proudly and widely. "But I also deeply respect the art of PAINTBALL WARS! Why, as a boy, it was my favorite hobby."

"It was?"

"Of course!! Second to SCIENCE, of course." Membrane walked to the stairs, patting Gaz on the head lightly as he passed her. "I might take an interest in seeing this paintball war! When will it occur?"

Gaz, who had definitely not spent a chunk of time memorizing the information on the crumpled flyer from her bag, said "It's on Friday after school. We have a half day, so right after lunch."

"FRIDAY?" Membrane turned dramatically, clapping his hands to his head. "Why, Friday is the day we're organizing the data we've been collecting these past few weeks! It's merely busywork, and hardly science at all. I will certainly be able to visit your school that afternoon! And if you or your brother are able to win, I see no reason why we cannot have the dinner that evening!”

Gaz's mouth fell open. She hadn't expected it to be this easy. Family dinner, at her favorite restaurant, as long as she was able to destroy her opponents? This was the most perfect situation she'd ever encountered. Maybe the universe didn't hate her after all. . .

As Membrane thumped up the stairs in his big boots, Gaz couldn't keep the smile off her face. She dropped her sketchbook on the table and headed up to her room-- Dad was right, after all. She needed sleep if she was going to be in peak form come Friday.

 . . . . 

"So, uh, who are you and what have you done with Gaz?" Dib asked tentatively.

Gaz shoveled another spoonful of cereal in her mouth. "What do you mean."

"I MEAN, you just laughed at one of my jokes. And said, and I quote, 'nice'."

"What, I'm not allowed to think you said something funny, once in a blue moon?" She rolled her eyes. "Great, Dib."

"Come on, you know what I meant! Did something happen? Was your brain erased by a ghost??"

He reached out to poke her forehead. Gaz swatted his hand away viciously. "Quit it! There's no ghosts, Dib. Is it so hard to believe I could be in a good mood?"

Dib nodded. "Yes."

"Ugh." She tossed her half-eaten bowl in the sink and snagged her backpack, tugging it on and heading for the door.

"Wait, Gaz, don't leave!" he rectified quickly, "I can't let you out of my sight! Zim knows who's a threat to his 'victory' or whatever and I'm pretty sure I saw him looking at you at recess! He's probably planning to--"

Gaz whirled around, effectively cutting him off with her scowl. "You know what, Dib?" she spat. "I don't really care what Zim does. This week, I don't give a crap about him. He can do whatever he wants, but he's not winning that paintball battle. He's not even a threat."

She stomped out the door. Dib took another bite out of his banana.

"I thought you didn't care about paintball!" he called after her, but she was already gone.

Dib wasn't the only one who was worried by Gaz's improved mood. Several schoolchildren ducked for cover upon seeing her smile. One jock jumped into an open locker when they made eye contact in the hallway.

Mr. Elliot was the only one stupid enough to be delighted. "Gazlene! Great to see such a happy expression on your face. Did something happen?"

"I'm going to destroy all of you," she replied, with a tinge of cheerfulness to her usually dour tone.

Her teacher's smile became forced. "Great! Good to hear it. Does anyone have any questions on number four?"

Well, that wasn't exactly true. There was one other person who seemed to be immune to Gaz's slight mood shift. In fact, he didn't even seem to notice it at all.

Zim.

The stupid alien hadn't talked to her or even looked at her, so far as she could remember, since that time he tried waving his ugly pus-filled pimple at her. She'd ignored him then, and when he approached her in the hallway rush between science and english class, she ignored him again.

"Hey. Dib-sister. Hey. Hey."

Her game was out, as was her custom for classroom changes, and her ears were off.

Zim prodded her shoulder, normally a death sentence. But Gaz wasn't feeling particularly volatile at the moment. . . Perhaps she'd hit him a few extra times with some paintballs. Maybe, if she was lucky, he'd writhe in agony as the liquid hit his weird green skin.

"Hey! Dib-sister! Dib-sister! Little Gaz!

Gaz's very slight smile curdled and she whirled around. "Excuse me?"

Zim's put out expression disappeared, replaced by a little smirk.

"Little-Gaz," re repeated. "I take it you have heard about the BATTLE that will take place at the end of the school week."

"I have nothing to say to you, Zim." Gaz met his eyes levelly, expression dark. "Get out of my way so I can get to class."

"Oh, but I have some things to say to you," he sneered, crossing his arms. "You see, I believe you are one of the few humans who might stand a chance against me."

Gaz didn't dignify him with a response, instead walking around him towards her classroom.

"Hey!" he said, offended. She didn't stop walking, so he trailed behind her. Really couldn't take a hint. . .

"I have a proposition for you, HUMAN!! HEY! LISTEN TO ME!!!!"

Gaz flipped him off casually as she swung the door to her classroom shut in his face.

And that was that.

. . . Or, it should have been.

At lunch, Zim attempted to approach their table, but Dib had chucked a glob of baked beans from his tray and managed to hit him right in the forehead, sending Zim screeching out of the cafeteria. Gaz snickered as Dib laughed, and it wasn't horrible.

After school, Zim trailed them, following Dib and Gaz's trek home at about a ten foot distance. Dib had wanted to throw some books at him, but Gaz just grabbed Dib's wrist and yanked them off the sidewalk onto a side path through the park. Sure enough, Zim had gotten lost and might still have been wandering around when the Membrane siblings arrived safe and sound even quicker than normal.

"We should do this more often!" Dib had cheered when they slammed the door shut, delighted at their victory.

"Whatever," Gaz said. "He was being annoying." But a tiny smile flickered on her lips.

"So, Gaz--"

"Don't get used to it," she said firmly. "I still think your cryptid hunting junk is stupid."

Dib slumped over on his chair, disappointment clear on his face. He didn't speak, so Gaz rolled her eyes and headed up to her room. It may have been kinda fun to get rid of Zim, but the fact that he kept trying to talk to her was obnoxious. She didn't do him the respect of hearing him out, but she knew what he wanted: to form an alliance so that he could betray her in the end and claim victory for himself. Pathetic. Zim wanted to talk to her, was paying attention to her, and it was just to feed his stupid ego. Typical.

Gaz could feel her good mood start to seep away, but a few rounds of VPH made her feel a bit better. Soon, she'd be dooming people in real life, with no cares about whether anyone saw her. In fact, they might even be cheering.

And then, pizza.

[saiilorstars]

Sweet Ambitions

Ch.1: Anais

Story Masterlist // Masterlist of other OCs

Fandom: Supergirl // Pairing: Winn Schott x OFC

Summary: Spending her entire life cooped up in secret, Anais relishes in her new freedom. It's only later that she learns it's not easy living as a human when she also wants to be Solar with Supergirl. She has good-hearted ambitions but that's not the case for those around her. Not everyone is Kara Danvers, or Winn Schott. "Friends" lurk by with double intentions and to top it off, CADMUS rears its ugly head to make Anais wonder what side is she really on: human or alien?

Taglist: @ocfairygodmother @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel​ @stareyedplanet @perfectlystiles

[If you’d like to be added to this specific OC’s stories/edits, send me a message!]

A young woman snapped a picture of the sky just as a couple of humming birds flew by. The angle was perfect! She lowered her professional camera, revealing sparkly green eyes. She was dazzled as she saw her picture on the camera screen. "Dad, I got another one!" she called for her father but noticed he'd gone inside the house. "Mom?" she then called but no one answered.

"What do you mean she's been infected?" the young woman began to hear voices from the inside. Super hearing allowed for some interesting eavesdropping sometimes, and when her adoptive parents were secret government scientists, the information was even juicier.

"We're not sure but she might have been affected," went the voice of a man she immediately recognized. It was for that reason that the woman put her full attention to the conversation. "Supergirl's civilian form is usually a kind woman and now she's acting far colder than ever before. We tracked her initial behaviors back to a fight she had. We need your expertise on Kryptonian weaknesses."

The woman's eyes widened in alarm at the important name. Supergirl? She was affected with what? The blonde let her camera hang around her chest and walked into the backdoor of her home.

"I assume you still hold the records from Superman?"

"Well of course we do. What kind of employees would we be if we didn't retain our subjects' records?"

The woman stepped into the cool kitchen and followed the voices of her parents and the man into the living room. "What's going on?" she didn't hesitate to come into the conversation despite her parents' constant reminders she was a subject the DEO was wary about no matter how long it'd been since they'd first found her.

A dark-skinned man immediately laid eyes on her. They were rather cold for the first couple of seconds, something the blonde didn't quite like but was ultimately used to. It was the first impression many employees got from him. "Hello, Hank," she said cautiously. "It's been long since you've visited." She cracked a tiny bit of a smile, and how could she not? He was the man responsible for her rescue when she was a young girl who'd lost her mother.

The man gave a nod, somewhat smiling now. "It is nice to see you again, Anais. How are you?"

Anais glanced at her parents to see their typical uneasiness whenever the DEO was around. It seemed like no matter how many years passed by, the DEO would never be fully welcomed in their home. "I'm...okay. I heard about Supergirl, what's happened to her?" No one answered her. Typical. She sighed, letting her long straight blonde hair swish each time her head turned. "Seriously? I follow Supergirl's actions — I even have collages about her — so I really want to know if she's in trouble—"

"So you can help out," her father finished, settling a hard look on her. "We know how the story ends, Anais. And you know we can't allow you to go anywhere near the DEO and much less Supergirl."

"Supergirl wouldn't act so cold with me like the DEO has," Anais threw that back to Hank Henshaw. "The Department of Extra-Normal Operations should've welcomed the first benign alien just like they did with Supergirl. Did I have to be Kryptonian for that or what?"

"You being a Solista had nothing to do with our case on you, Anais. You are a peculiar case—"

Anais rolled her eyes. She heard the story far too many times already. "Yeah, yeah, what makes me different and a threat is why you keep me away. I thank you for what you did for me when I was a little girl and you know—" she glanced at her parents with all the love in the world, "—how grateful I am to you for taking me in but now I want to know about Supergirl. And good luck getting rid of me. I have the speed and the strength to outmatch you." Her straight white teeth were a pretty sight despite her sour warning of her presence.

Anais Allen(-Mjorlkand) did not play when it came to aliens, even if she was only half of one.

Bearing that in mind, while also counting for precious time, Hank decided to let the woman listen in. He knew she was virtually harmless, despite the weariness of the government. She'd only been five years old when he found her and her dead alien mother. Her now-adoptive parents fought tooth and nail to take her in and prevent her from being a full blown lab rat for the U.S. government. As far as he knew, and he did, Anais was a model citizen.

When Anais learned that Supergirl may have been affected with something they still didn't know much about, she was all for helping. Like before, it didn't quite matter how many times everyone said no.

"Supergirl can be in trouble and I may be the only other non-evil alien that has the strength to keep up with her!" she trailed after her parents and Hank towards the front door. "Not to mention more speed! I am a dedicated speedster, remember!?"

"Anais, the DEO may not be ready for you—" Mrs. Allen began but Anais shook her head to stop her.

"But I can be trained! C'mon! Just...just let me visit at least? I'll be under constant supervision! You can even tag me if you want—"

"That wouldn't be necessary," Hank cut her off, rather put off by the suggestion.

Anais set her hands on her hips. "Then let me come, please." It was clear as day her parents weren't on board with the idea. Despite being adopted and partially alien, they came to love the girl as their own child.

However, the situation was tough and no one knew that more than Hank. His dark eyes flickered from the hopeful woman to her parents. He hated making the tough calls. "You would need to be monitored—"

Everyone winced when Anais squealed in delight.

"Hank, she can't—"

Hank raised a hand to stop Anais' father. "Unfortunately, she is well over the legal age—"

"23 years!" Anais was quick to remind, even waving a hand above her head. Her parents shot her the clear look to be quiet.

"Wouldn't this go against the rules, though?" Mrs. Allen wondered, continuously glancing at her daughter with fear. "It was clear we had to keep Anais under constant supervision and away from society until we were sure…"

"That I wasn't gonna accidentally blow people up, yes I know," Anais rolled her eyes. "Which I haven't, okay? Except for that one time I accidentally blew up the garden shed."

"And?" Mr. Allen threw a mock-glare.

She sighed and added in a much quieter voice, "...and the garage." She straightened herself up and put on her more serious face possible. "But I'm 23 now. I've practiced enough times to know what I'm doing. Just give me the chance to actually help."

Her hopefulness was answered again with a conditional yes from both parties. She would be under the direction supervision of Hank and any other trusted employees he would need. Anais didn't care. All she knew was that she would finally meet Supergirl and possibly even National City if she had free time.

Oh yes, she would definitely be taking her camera!

~0~

The DEO was bustling with the newest Fort Rozz escapee and with little to no help from Supergirl herself. Her lack of presence, however, was not a complete damper on Anais' mood.

"Oh my god I know this place is meant to hate me but it is so cool!" Anais' laughter echoed in the main room, attracting the attention of most employees, among them Alex Danvers.

"Uh...who is she?" the woman came to stop Anais from touching a desk.

"Ow," Anais pouted and rubbed the back of her hand where Alex had smacked her.

"Anais Allen. She is a special DEO interest who may be able to help us with Supergirl," Hank cleared his throat, warning Anais with a glance not to disclose more about herself. Alex looked Anais over with reasonable suspicion. At a time like this Hank decided to bring in some stranger to help with her sister? "Her parents are working on a possible explanation to Supergirl's condition," Hank went on, hoping to get eyes off Anais.

"Her parents being…?" Alex expected to know the answer but Hank left it briefly with "special DEO scientists" and moved on once again.

Anais still flashed the older woman a smile though Alex didn't return it. Anais tried not to look so disappointed - she could feel Alex's concern for...Supergirl? Anais tilted her head as she tried to make sense of the feelings she could actually feel. Because yes, at times, she could be an empathic. She could literally feel other people's feelings, whether they were good or bad. It was a power she was still developing.

But Alex's concern for Supergirl went far beyond that of co-workers, though not couple feelings. It was that same love Anais felt from her adoptive mother: family. With that in mind, Anais paid extra close attention to Alex's behavior while Hank and the other DEO employees brought up the Fort Rozz escapee.

"Two armored vehicles have been attacked in the last six hours. Both carrying hundreds of thousands worth in gold," Hank was describing the situation. "Now, these two have goons managed to take out a number of highly trained and heavily armed security personnel."

"Alien weapons?" asked Alex.

"Almost. An alien is their weapon," Hank had one of the employees pull up a profile picture of a rather sizable man with—was that an eyepatch?

Why must villains insist on being ridiculous? Anais could never figure that out. Her father always loved watching those silly human movies with awful costumes and representation of aliens.

"A K'hund. Stronger than your average Fort Rozz escapee," Hank warned the crowd. "Now, we've obtained intel on their next heist, but we have to move fast. Lucky for us, we have an alien of our own."

"Yeah, that would be me," said another woman, a new woman that Anais immediately recognized as Supergirl. With a gasp, Anais turned around and saw Supergirl herself standing behind the crowd. She was looking rather bored by the ensemble of employees.

"You're late," Hank pointed out, not that Supergirl seemed to care for her tardiness.

Anais opened her mouth to make herself known but she began to get the same feelings from the other alien...and they were rather...mixed.

"I had other things to do," Supergirl said sourly. "You know I do have a life, right?"

Alex's eyes widened at such an imprudent - and certainly not like Supergirl - thing to say. "Supergirl…"

The alien in question raised a hand to stop Alex from whatever she was going to say. "When can I kick alien ass?"

Hank was just going to skip over her language for the time being. It was just more footage to collect and hopefully discover Supergirl's irrational behavior. "Let's move!" he gave the order to the rest of the employees.

As the employees began to spread out, Anais latched a hand to the nearest one she could. It was Alex.

The brunette woman gave Anais a clear look that said 'hands off'. Anais pulled her hand off Alex's arm and pointed in the direction Supergirl went off in. "She's your sister." The phrase made Alex freeze with shock. This only allowed Anais to continue on with what she wanted to say. "I felt that off her hostility towards you. It's not like the one she has against Hank! But to be fair, all her feelings are rather mixed up—"

"Okay, what are you talking about?" Alex grabbed Anais and led her towards the side.

Anais blinked, realizing that just like everything of the DEO was new to her, it was new to Alex too. "Oh, that's right, I'm sorry. I'm—" she gestured to herself, "—a low-level empathic." Alex's blank stare made Anais smile widely out of embarrassment. "It basically means I can feel other people's feelings on occasion. It's really low so the feelings have to be extremely strong for me to catch on sometimes. For example, when Supergirl came in you got this whole concern that...while reasonable, didn't exactly fit within the role of employees."

Alex pinched the bridge of her nose. Things were getting ridiculous now. "So you could...you think Supergirl is my sister?" she dropped her hand. "Did you forget the part where I'm a human and she's an alien?"

"I know the concept of adoption, Alex," Anais said all too calmly, furthering irritating Alex. "I was adopted by humans too. And if I ever did get a human sibling — even adopted — I would love them too."

Alex's mouth opened several times before she actually talked. "Whatever the hell you are—"

"A Solista," Anais was all too happy to name her species for anyone.

"Not the point," Alex gritted her teeth, making Anais' smile vanish to get serious. "Just….just tell me you can help her? Supergirl?"

"Your sister?"

"Fine, yes - can you help her?"

"Well, I'm not a science genius but my parents are. They studied all of Superman's records and they even got to perform some exams themselves. They've got the brains and I've got the bronze," Anais flexed an arm as a joke but Alex was in no mood for such. With a sigh, Anais got serious again. "I'm half human, okay? But physically I can keep up with Supergirl. And I will try my best to help wherever I can."

That was all Alex needed to know. "You should wear a mask or something before you leave…"

~ 0 ~

Against Hank's better judgement, Anais was allowed to accompany the DEO taskforce to get the Fort Rozz escapee. The condition was the mask - first of all - and to have her monitored from the DEO all in the meanwhile.

"Stop touching it," Alex scolded Anais the third time the blonde started fiddling with the strap around Anais' arm.

"You guys seriously couldn't have gotten me a smaller thing to monitor me with?" was all Anais could say about it.

"We're trying to get funding. And it we were a bit out of time," Alex leaned back against the wall of the van. They were on their way to Supergirl's location, hoping to just get out and catch the escapee when Supergirl was done.

"I told you I didn't even need to be here," Anais gestured to the back of the van with a roll of her eyes.

"And Hank said you had to be under my supervision," Alex reminded with a touch of a smirk.

Anais didn't have the chance to come up with a good comeback for that repeated statement due to the van making a big swerve. She screeched when Alex practically jumped over her to get out the backdoor.

"Where did he go!?" she soon heard Alex's confused voice. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. He got away."

Anais sped out of the van and came to a skidded stop beside Alex, startling both Alex and Supergirl. "Hi, big fan!" Anais wiggled her fingers at Supergirl then looked at the dumbfounded Alex. "Right, I'm a speedster too."

Supergirl's eyebrows shot up at the presence of the knew alien in town. "Do I have to kick her ass too?"

Anais' smile faded.

~ 0 ~

"Is this really necessary?" Anais asked the female scientist reading off from a handheld tablet about Anais' tests results collected from her short moment in the field. "Because my parents have run these a thousand times. I swear."

The scientist said nothing. She merely came back to unwrap the monitor around Anais' arm.

Anais rolled her eyes and looked around for anyone she knew, and by that she just meant Alex or Hank. It was clear Supergirl was not in her right mind at the moment. Just my luck. She focused more when she started hearing voices of Supergirl, Hank and Alex not too far from the room. She shouldn't but oooooh her superhearing really wanted to make action.

"...how 'bout you get off my back for once, Hank?"

"Supergirl…"

"I thought we were in a good place here."

"We're in a good place, when I do what I'm told. When I don't, you come down on me. I am tired of it! You want to catch the K'hund, go try it yourself! You're just as strong as me, if you wanted to be!"

"You know how dangerous that is for him!"

Anais made sure not to make any faces that would giveaway what she was doing. What did Supergirl mean by that? Hank couldn't possibly be as strong as Supergirl…

"And it's not dangerous for me too? Every Kryptonian on this planet wants to kill me expect my cousin. I have to live with that! What are you so afraid of? You talk about honoring your people, and yet you refuse to be one of them!"

"Supergirl!"

When Supergirl finally did leave, there was a trail of awkwardness left in the building. Anais did her best not to show any indication she'd heard any of that. After being released from examinations, she was turned over to none other than her parents.

"I thought the deal was I would help if I could," Anais glumly said after catching sight of her parents.

"Oh you still are," Alex remained in the building despite it being rather late. "After what my sister—er…" Anais smirked. "Fine, whatever. She needs help. And I'm gonna take it from whoever gives it. Your parents are keys."

"Dorks. They're dorks," Anais didn't hesitate to correct. The two women walked into the room Hank had brought the two scientists into.

"Annie!" Mr. Allen immediately went over and hugged her. "You're okay?"

"I'm embarrassed but sure…" the blonde hugged back nonetheless. By this point in her life, she was more than used to her parents' over-coddling.

"We feel we have a lead but we need to talk to the person who owned the building in the first place," Mrs. Allen remarked after hugging her daughter as well. She was worried sick as well but knew how Anais got in front of people when they happened to express too much love.

"And who would that be?" asked Hank.

"A Mr. Maxwell Lord."

It became clear to the three visitors that this name was not unknown for the DEO workers.

"Alex looks like she wants to punch this guy…" Anais couldn't refrain from commenting. This time, Alex didn't disagree.

"I hate him. And now we're gonna get him," Alex looked specifically at Hank for this one. Maxwell Lord had been one problem after the next and she was drawing the line at infecting her sister.

"That'll have to be tomorrow, I'm afraid," Hank said, not missing Alex's incredulous reaction. "It's late and we need to figure out how we're going to go to Maxwell Lord. I'm sure you'll be willing to help with that."

Seeing no other option on the table, Alex took it. "You bet."

"As for you three," Hank looked at the visitors again, "We secured a hotel for you to stay the night, all expenses paid. Tomorrow morning I will personally take you to Maxwell Lord for your questioning."

"And me?" Anais curiously wondered. The plan was great, it just didn't seem to include her as much as she wanted.

"It's best if you stay hidden," Hank replied, not surprising her too much.

"We agree," Mr. Allen said all too pleased. "We don't know if this substance is affecting all aliens in the region."

"Dad—"

"Don't even try it, dear," Mrs. Allen softly smiled at the blonde, urging Anais to save her breath. "It's the safest option for you."

Sure. Anais put forwards her best understanding smile possible. Her mind had already come up with an assignment of her own for the next day. The best part was it had exploration in the main part.

~0~

CatCo. was busy as usual early in the morning. There were new issues being made for the following deadline and Cat Grant was not a woman who accepted tardiness. This was the spectacle Anais walked into after the elevator dinged open. She didn't even mind that two employees had nearly run into her with stacks of papers. Her smile widened when she potted the Art Department on the far left of the bullpen. She'd never been anywhere near this sort of place.

In her awe, she now bumped into someone. She stumbled back a step - as did the other person - and blinked with terrible guilt. "I'm so sorry! I'm lost!"

The other person turned out to be a dark-haired man with green eyes. He didn't seem upset when Anais did a quick and discreet look-over. "Don't worry. I'm Winn Schott, the I.T., can I help you?"

"Uh…" Anais quickly looked to the side in thought. She didn't really think about what she would do after coming into the place. It took her very little effort to figure out who Agent Alex Danvers' sister was - a Kara Danvers - and where said sister worked. It helped that she worked for the Queen of all Media. But now that she was here, Anais didn't even know how she would find Kara nor what she would say to the Kryptonian.

In all this thinking time, Winn had stared at the blonde woman, waiting for her answer. "U-uh...hello?" He waved a hand in front of Anais' face to bring her back to the present.

The woman blinked back to the present and widely smiled. "I'm, uh, looking for...uh...Kara...Danvers…"

Not a moment after she'd spoken the name did they hear an elevator ding. What confused Anais was that this elevator was set up opposite of the one she'd come in through. When the doors slid open, a dark blonde woman in a tight black dress, holding a latte in hand, emerged.

"Why are there two ele…" Anais trailed off as Winn dashed towards the second blonde.

"That's Cat's elevator!" he reminded Kara in a rush.

This did not seem to do much for the woman. She walked over to her desk, which happened to be a couple feet from the grand office. "It is absolutely ridiculous for her to have her own personal elevator, plus horrible for the environment," the woman casually rolled her eyes.

"KE-RAH!"

Winn winced at the loud scream of Cat. Anais still remained where Winn left her and only mouthed 'Ke-rah?' in confusion. It took her only a couple seconds to put two and two together.

Kara Danvers!

And to prove her thoughts, Winn was ever so helpful. "You are literally impervious to bullets and I'm worried for your safety right now!" he managed to get out before Cat arrived with eyes blazing in anger.

Definitely Kara Danvers, Anais began to smile.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" demanded Cat. Another woman, a dark brunette arrived just a couple seconds later, holding a couple papers on hand which Anais knew at once were photographs.

"Your latte, Ms. Grant," Kara held out the cup, still looking unbothered about the situation. "Walking from the main elevator takes an extra 90 seconds, which means your latte's 90 seconds colder."

Cat's eyes flickered from the cup to Kara. It was as if she was waiting for Kara to snap back to the one shy assistant Cat had known for a while. But when Kara didn't, Cat accepted it with conditional terms. "Brazen. That's a new color on you. I don't mind it. Yet. What do you want?"

The brunette woman was startled. Cat hadn't even turned to give her proper attention but she would take whatever she got. "I've got a scoop for you. Can we talk? In private? Allez." Cat was never one to refuse a scoop and so agreed to see the woman in her office.

As soon as they were gone, Anais moved up to Kara's desk. "U-um, hi. You don't know me but I-I—"

"I don't," Kara settled a rather cold disdain look on Anais. This was nowhere near the Kara Danvers that Winn knew and loved. He looked between the two with rather concern.

"Right, but believe me...I know you…" Anais almost shivered when she began to feel some of the coldness inside Kara. "I think you're sick…"

Kara laughed and languidly pointed at Anais. "And who's she?" she asked from Winn.

"I-I don't know...we were getting to that…" the man stuttered and motioned Anais to get on with it.

"Anais Allen, nice to meet you," Anais shook hands with Winn then attempted to do the same with Kara but the latter only offered a condescending stare. "Okay, let me try again. I'm from the DEO—" and this certainly got attention from Winn, "—and my parents are studying some...possible leads to your...odd behavior."

Kara frowned. "I am feeling just fine," her spat startled Anais. She moved around the desk, causing Winn to back up for space. "So you can tell Hank and Alex and all those little people that they can stop worrying. And you—" she got in Anais' face, "—can go back to wherever it is you came from. I don't need you. I doubt anyone here does. Bye."

She left Anais wide eyed but not offended. That darkness inside Kara was what scared her, actually.

"I…" poor Winn did not have a word to explain her friend's erratic behavior. His finger pointed after Kara and despite having his mouth open, he couldn't get past his stutter. "I don't—"

Anais raised a hand to stop him. "It's fine," she spoke serious for the first time. She turned to him with a matching earnest face. "Give me a rundown on Kara Danvers' usual personality."

"What—"

"It's fine, I know who she is," Anais then leaned forwards to whisper, "I'm an alien too."

This just made Winn's eyes nearly pop out of his head. "Y-you're a…" his finger made a swirling motion above his head.

Anais smiled, mildly amused by him. "I'm a low level empathic and what I just felt from Kara was utter coldness."

"Empathic? So then you can feel…" Winn trailed off as Anais nodded to confirm his thoughts.

"Very little but right now it's enough."

""Uh, well...Kara is…" Winn paused to think about his description and soon settled on a short one, "Do you know the Powerpuff girls?" Anais gave a slow, silent nod. "Picture Bubbles."

Anais couldn't help laugh. "Okay…then...this Bubbles...has got some weird super villain-esque development going on. Can I use a phone?"

"Yeah, of course," Winn led her back to his desk which turned out not to be that far from Kara's.

"I don't have a phone, sorry," Anais offered a sheepish smile for her lack of technology.

"That's a new one," Winn gestured to the phone for her to use.

Anais was about to dial when his words registered in her mind. "Hold on, I just told you that I'm an alien with low level empathic abilities and that I'm here from an organization that deals with aliens but me not owning a cellphone is the shocker?"

Winn saw how that looked and offered his own sheepish smile. Anais' smile turned into another laugh. "So...what exactly are you going to do?" Winn asked after Anais finally dialed a number. "You're gonna call the DEO?"

"Worse, my parents," Anais didn't need to be empathic to know how angry her parents were going to be with her after discovering she left the hotel without their permission. "It was nice knowing you." She took in a deep breath and began to talk on the phone.

~0~

That same night, Anais was brought back to the DEO and had a round of lectures going from her parents to Hank...and even to Alex.

"You could have outed Supergirl to people!" the older Danvers sister was the last one to have her turn.

"But I didn't," Anais tried to point out her good things as much as she could. "That Winn guy already knew Supergirl. Plus, it's not like I went announcing who she moonlights as. I do know things."

"Well you showed poor judgement today, Anais," Mr. Allen still retained that punishment voice of his Anais knew all too well.

"No, I didn't,' Anais sighed deeply. "I am so tired of being treated like that five year old Hank found. I'm not her anymore. I'm a grown woman and it's high time you started treating me like one."

This outburst, despite calm and collected, might as well have been her screaming because her parents were offended.

"Anais," Mrs. Allen began, her voice calm but full of warning for Anais to keep it down, "You know we want you to be safe. And we just want you to be a responsible adult—"

"Then cut the leash!" Anais exclaimed, startling everyone in the room, when she stormed out of the room.

Only Alex seemed to be truly taking in what Anais was saying. It was familiar to Alex since she and Kara had a similar conversation when Kara decided to become Supergirl.

"We should get to work on that antidote," Hank pushed the two scientists towards the tables behind them. "Maxwell Lord already confessed to the red kryptonite situation. He'll be more than glad to work from his cell." He then motioned to the tablet that would produce the video chat between Maxwell and the scientists. There was no way in hell he would he getting out until they reversed what he'd done to Supergirl.

~0~

After a failed night of clubbing, Kara got to meet Cat on their usual balcony spot, as Supergirl.

Wasting my time, Kara kept thinking just as Cat emerged from her office. "What do you want?"

Cat sensed the frosty attitude already but she preferred to think it was nothing for the moment. "Well, I would like to know if Ashton Kutcher and his camera crew are hiding underneath your cape. Supergirl would never release an evil alien caught in the act of armed robbery. So, I assume I'm being Punk'd." Despite replaying Siobhan's images of Supergirl doing just that, she couldn't believe it. There had to be a proper reason for it.

"I wouldn't assume anything from now on, Cat," Supergirl casually waved the media Queen off.

"Did you just call me Cat?"

Supergirl got up from her chair and went to lean on the balcony. "You branded me in the media as a Girl Scout. 'Supergirl is brave, kind and strong.'" Mmm-hmm? Isn't that kind of a stock characterization? Very two-dimensional. Everyone knows real people have a dark side."

Even Supergirl's steps were off, Cat noticed. Usually the Kryptonian would tread lightly, determined to figure out what was wrong. The Supergirl right now, though, walked with a condescending air. A superior one. "Yes, but you don't get to be a real person. You're a superhero. You get to represent all the goodness in the world."

"Yeah, well, I'm sick of it. And you know what else I'm sick of? Enabling all of you in your victimhood. 'Oh, well, my building's burning down," Supergirl mocked the humans she now thought worthless and idiotic, "La-di-dah. Supergirl will just swoop in and save the day.' Well, get used to the flames, people, 'cause I quit."

And yet, none of this made sense to Cat. "Supergirl... I fear that you're having some sort of mental breakdown. Don't worry, it happens to the best of us, and I'm happy to take you to Dr. Shuman for emergency Lexapro, that is, if your alien brain will respond to the SSRls. But in the meantime, I would lay low. This haughty attitude is highly unsuitable."

Supergirl scoffed. "Well, I learned it from the best. Cat Grant. You're the most arrogant, self-serving, mean-spirited person I know."

Cat nearly lost it but she kept herself cool when she made her own response. "Now, you listen to me. I made you. And you are not going to let me down."

Supergirl almost laughed. "Or what? Wait, I forgot. You're the most powerful person in National City. At least that's what they say on TV. You want to see what powerful really looks like?" she struck a strong hand forwards, grabbing Cat's arm. "Watch." She threw Cat over the balcony and peered below to watch the woman scream in terror during her fall. Then, just a mere inch from the pavement did Supergirl catch Cat. By this point, there were several people on the spot watching. With hair all over her face, Cat watched as Supergirl towered over her. "True power, Cat, is deciding who will live and who will die. And don't ever call me again." She sprang into the air and left her spectacle.

~0~

The next day, Alex walked into the favorite coffee shop that Kara usually visited in the mornings. She spotted the blonde alien she was searching for, ironically not her sister yet, sitting at the counter. It appeared Anais had only ordered a small espresso.

"How'd you even find me?" Anais spoke quietly in her seat. Her finger traced the espresso cup despite its heat. Knowing Alex was looking at this action, she added, "I'm impervious to heat. Part of being a Solista."

"Right," Alex made a mental note to do some research on what a 'Solista' was. There had to be a record of it in the DEO.

"So how'd you find me?"

"Your monitoring gave us a specific vitals to search for, specifically heat levels."

"Ah," Anais picked up her espresso and took a big drink from it, proving once again her impervious to heat ability.

"Listen, you and I, we don't know each other that well to have a heart to heart conversation but I know you have professionalism and initiative."

"Well that's great, any way you can pass the message to the others?"

Alex let the sarcasm slide on account of the situation. "I get you want freedom—"

"Do you really?" Anais challenged, lowering her cup. She knew that Alex meant no harm. She was probably trying to find some help for her sister. Nothing to be ashamed of. It was simply tiring to be stuck in the same spot. Anais was done with it. "They found me when I was 5 years old. My mother was an alien and my father a human who became afraid of her when he learned what she was. He left us. Humans murdered my mother out of fear and when the DEO found me, they thought that I could turn out to be a threat. But my adoptive parents, they didn't see me that way and fought and negotiated to take me in. They adopted me under special circumstances and conditions. Those conditions came from the government and it said that I could not be left unsupervised. I'm a rare species as it is, and I'm half human, so...you can imagine the interest in me. Eighteen years I've lived in isolation with only my parents and godparents. These people are older, scientists, and human. I love them but I want to go out and do something. Have a life."

Alex lowered her gaze after listening. It was easy to forget that not every alien would've had the same nice backstory like Kara and her cousin. Some of them could have very well ended up as lab rats. Anais, while being lucky to have found sympathizing human parents, didn't necessarily boast a social life. She was kept under wraps that not even Hank was able to undo. "I'm sorry," Alex truly felt for her. "I'm sorry that you have not had this opportunity. My sister sort of had a similar problem when growing up. We asked her not to use her powers, but…"

"She's now Supergirl. She got over it," Anais then added in a quiet voice, "Wish I could've met her and not the evil bitch living inside of her at the moment."

"Kara isn't right—"

"I know that," Anais showed no resentment towards Kara for the same reason. The woman wasn't in her five senses. "And that's why I wanted to help. I wanted to go see Kara for myself and assess. I felt her coldness, her... condescension. The real Kara is suffocating in there."

Alex felt tears come to her eyes as she thought about her sweet sister trapped in a woman of hell. "Can you help?"

"I'm not a scientist but I can help with the delivery of an antidote," Anais let her eyes glow a fiery orange, startling Alex for a second. "Supergirl's my hero. It would be an honor to help her."

Alex smiled with gratitude. Just as she opened her mouth, a television screen near them produced Cat Grant's face. "Citizens of National City, this is Cat Grant, live from Catco Plaza. As you all know, I have been Supergirl's most outspoken champion. So, you can imagine how difficult it is for me to tell you that I and Catco can no longer stand behind Supergirl."

Anais' mouth slowly fell open. "What is she…?"

"I made you trust her. I gave you my word that she was safe, a friend. I was wrong. Supergirl has changed. She is unstable and extremely dangerous. She threw me off of a building last night and threatened my life and…"

"She did what—"

Alex couldn't believe what she was hearing. "No one told us..."

"Who knows what else she is capable of? It's not easy being let down by our idols. Having someone who embodies our heroic ideals helps us believe that we can be heroes, too. Sometimes heroes fall. So, please, for your own safety, stay away from Supergirl."

"She just turned the city against Supergirl," Anais came to the realization not long after the transmission had ended.

"We have to head back to the DEO," Alex began to get up from the stool. "Something tells me Kara's not gonna take this lightly."

"You should go see her. I'll get back to the DEO. I promise," Anais dropped off the money for her drink and started out. She could not let the mantle of Supergirl drop like that, not when she had the means to stop it.

When she got to the DEO, she quickly passed all the warm welcome from her parents and got to business. "Look, Mom, Dad, she needs help stat. I could feel the coldness inside her and it is awful. She needs our help."

"We've got the antidote almost ready," her father promised. "Maxwell Lord might be a suspicious man but he does regret this red kryptonite situation."

"He should," Hank came into the room and shut the door. "He may have turned Supergirl into a monster now."

"One that the city might learn to fear quick," Anais knew that Cat's transmission was on a constant loop for those who hadn't caught up with the latest news.

"No need, it's coming along just fine," Mrs. Allen was in the middle of dropping in a red liquid into a beaker. "Might I suggest prison time for this Lord man?"

"We wish," Hank was bitter just thinking about their powerless situation. "Unfortunately, making red kryptonite isn't exactly a crime."

"But it was a murder weapon," Mr. Allen frowned.

"Didn't exactly kill anyone."

"Your law system isn't very good," Anais meant that in general for the humans.

"Well we do try, Miss Allen," a dark-skinned woman walked into the room with several guards. Anais instinctively took a step back towards her parents. She could practically smell the official government scent off the woman. "I'm Senator Crane," the woman introduced herself. "And as of now, you Miss Allen, are the being who will take Supergirl down."

Anais' eyes widened with alarm. She quickly glanced at her parents for some help, even Hank. Mr. Allen put his hands over her shoulders and looked directly at Senator Crane. "Our daughter is part of an exclusive contract that does not permit her to use her powers in front of civilians."

"And as of right now, that contract has been voided," Senator Crane responded with that authorization that only a person in true power could use. She motioned one of the guards to hand over a pile of papers to Mr. Allen, which turned out to be a contract. "As of now, your custody of Subject 1740, Anais Mjorkland, has been terminated. She is now DEO property—" Anais' mouth fell open in overwhelming offence, "—to which—" the Senator threw a glance at Hank, "-I order to use this new asset to take Supergirl down."

"Excuse you—" Anais was about to go on a full rage rampage but she felt her father squeeze her shoulders, urging her to keep calm.

"Senator," Mrs. Allen began, her motherly concern etched across her face, "My daughter is not an 'asset' and she most definitely is not property you can just hand around—"

"I am sorry," the Senator repeated her apology, not that any of the family believed her. "I understand the terminology is difficult—"

"Offensive," Anais snapped. "It's offensive."

"—but the condition to keep the child was to give conditional custody to the U.S government. The custody is now the DEO's and Mr. Henkshaw knows how to utilize his materials. We thank you for all the years you put into her but you are now relieved of any responsibility of her."

"Are you kidding me!?" Anais exclaimed, her head repeatedly looking from her parents to the Senator. "I'm 23! You can't—you can't do this! I want to help Supergirl, not kill her. I could never hurt her."

"As of now, you follow the orders the DEO gives you," the Senator flexed a finger for Anais to come to her and Hank.

Anais shook her head, unable to take a step away from her parents.

"Senator…" Mr. Allen pleaded with the woman, but the deal was done.

Anais belonged to the DEO.

"You need to get ready, Miss Allen. We are sending you out."

"Dad…" Anais' eyes filled with tears. Suddenly her fight with her parents seemed petty and now all she wanted to do was take refuge with them. "Mom?"

Mr. Allen brought a hand to his forehead after reading the contract. "This is...it's legal...I don't…"

"I order you to assemble the troops for backup," the Senator warned Hank before taking her leave with her guards.

"I don't want to hurt anyone," Anais repeated, not that it mattered anymore. There wasn't much anyone could do at the moment and she knew it.

"Sweetheart, no one is going to let you become property, alright?" Mrs. Allen cupped her face. "We're going to fix it, I swear. You're not a subject to us, you're our daughter."

Hank cleared his throat to get their attention. "Anais, for now, it's best to just follow the contract. Afterwards we can personally go over it and change it again. But we really do need to bring Supergirl the antidote."

"We trust you, Hank," Mr. Allen warned him. "You saved her the first time...don't let anything happen to her."

"Of course," Hank's gesture for Anais to follow him was hard enough seeing, let alone following it.

With a gulp, Anais took one last look at her parents then walked out of the room with Hank. For the girl who'd always wanted to go out, she was terrified now that she had the opportunity.

~ 0 ~

Hearing what the DEO was planning on doing was probably the second most horrible thing Alex had heard that night. Her visit to Kara's apartment had been unsuccessful on her part — evil Kara got to say everything off her chest.

"Take this," Alex gently handed over a simple mask to Anais as the troops readily got into the vans that would soon go on the hunt for Supergirl.

Anais stared blankly at the mask in Alex's hands. Alex thought this entire thing was difficult enough, she really didn't want to deal with a refusing alien. "Look, please just take the mask. Hank said you need to protect your—"

"I know what it means," Anais quietly said and crossed her arms. "I don't need it."

With a sigh, Alex held the mask closer to Anais. "I don't like this any more than you do, believe me, but they're orders."

"No, I meant, I really don't need it," Anais raised her head and let Alex in on her secret. Anais' face glowed golden as something formed over her eyes - a mask.

Alex watched in awe as the golden light formed a mask that went around Anais' eyes with small flame-figures streaking midway down her cheeks. "How'd you do that?" asked Alex who now lowered the mask in her hand.

"It's just creating shapes with my powers, honestly. My mother said it was basic enough so that all Solista toddlers knew how to do it, even a half-Solista."

"Oh…" Alex knew this was just as troublesome for Anais. Honestly, she felt ready to die.

"Ladies," Hank called to them from the other end of the room, "Are we ready?"

"Don't really have a choice, do we?" Anais glanced at Alex, neither of them ready for the plan. The antidote was ready, but the way they would deliver it and the circumstances of it were not very pleasing.

~ 0 ~

Supergirl had made herself known for the wrong reasons all on her own. Cat's informative transmission remained on a constant loop and so that was the first thing she took down. Strong, white lasers shattered the street screen hanging from a freeway bridge. She laughed maniacally as the humans screamed in terror.

"Idiots," she flew to the next closest transmission and proceeded to punch it with a sole fist. She watched with satisfaction as it too shattered and crumbled to the ground.

And then she began to think why just go for the transmissions? All those pathetic humans waiting for her to rescue them like she had no other things to do. Well, now they would have to save themselves. She started causing havoc around the streets, making cars crash into each other and cracking cemented roads.

It was all just too much fun.

In all that fun, she missed the speedster coming in from behind who rammed into her. Supergirl's scream as she tumbled across the street almost matched that of the humans'.

Anais skidded to a stop, wide, blinking eyes taking in the destruction Supergirl was causing. "Oh my God…"

Supergirl raised her head, her blonde hair flipping over her shoulders. "Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Hopefully, the girl who saves Supergirl," Anais answered with nothing but honesty.

"I'm not the one who needs saving," Supergirl got back on her feet and dusted off her new black one-suit.

Her eyes flickered to the side. Anais followed it and saw a couple of humans still inside their car, trying to get away from them. "Supergirl…" she barely got the words out when Supergirl picked up a sewer lid and threw it like a boomerang at the car. "No!" Anais sped towards the car while Supergirl laughed once again.

Anais reached the sewer lid first and grabbed it like nothing, redirecting it somewhere else. She glared at Supergirl for that awful trick. "We have the antidote, see?" She pulled out a small metalic gun with the red liquid showing off in the back. "Just let us cure you."

"I don't need cures. I need people to understand that their Girl Scout superhero is gone," Supergirl gestured to the mess around them. "Though if you want to take the mantle...then it's me vs you."

"No, that's really okay—"

Supergirl fired her heat vision at Anais, something the alien speedster hadn't really processed in time. This time it was Anais whose screams echoed down the street. She scrunched her face and decided to fire back with the same power, only a bigger one. Her heat vision met Supergirl's, and the two's powers reverberated in a deadly manner.

And then suddenly, Supergirl swerved to the side and forced Anais to fall forwards from the lack of an opponent's response. Supergirl flew towards Anais and delivered a punch right on her stomach. Anais felt that to the core, literally, as she landed against an already crashed car.

At the same time, a D.E.O. car arrived and Alex jumped out from the back with another weapon similar to Anais', only much bigger. Supergirl glanced over her shoulder. "Outnumbering will not help you." She turned around just as Alex took aim. "Classic Alex. Always in time to ruin the fun."

"Supergirl!" Hank arrived on the spot as well. "Stand down!"

Supergirl's smirk said the opposite. "Supergirl, yes." She threw her heat vision at Alex which then made Alex drop the weapon to the side. She charged directly for Alex, and twisted Alex's arm before slamming the human against the D.E.O. van. Hank couldn't let anything happen to either woman. The man changed into a green creature - an alien - and crashed with Supergirl onto the ground.

Anais had shaken off the stars from her attack and sped back to the scene. Her mouth fell open at the sight but she could see that this was not enough to stop Supergirl either. Just as Supergirl fought against the green alien - later to be known as a Martian - Anais summoned up as much power she could.

"Back for round two—"

Anais punched Supergirl across the face and then rose in the air for a final trick. A golden light encircled her body and released blasts of golden energy directly at Supergirl, proving to be quite a menace as Supergirl was knocked onto the roadside. Her skin shined with the same energy of Anais' as the former screamed, hands nearly carving into her face to get the energy off her. Still in the air, Anais fired the antidote from her small gun and hoped to God it would be over. Supergirl's skin then showed streaks of red but ultimately wore off as a black cloud steamed from her body. After such an attack, the Kryptonian collapsed on the ground.

Anais lowered herself to the ground with a growing smile. Supergirl would be alright now.

"Go, please" she heard Alex. She turned her head and remembered Hank's reveal. Bringing her hand to her mouth, Anais watched as multiple DEO troops surrounded Hank and despite having the ability to escape...he changed back into his human form and put his hands behind his head, lowering himself to the ground.

He was arrested on the spot.

~ 0 ~

When Kara woke up, she felt her forehead connected to some machine. Her eyes flickered to the side and immediately saw Alex standing beside her. "Did I kill anyone?" Kara's voice was quiet and weak.

"No, you didn't kill anyone," Alex could see the emotion just about to pour from her sister's eyes.

Kara then noticed the cast around Alex's arm and remembered what she'd done. "Your arm..." she choked on her own tears.

"Broken bones heal and this will too," Alex promised her.

Kara sniffled until she couldn't hold it any longer. She burst into sobs. "It was so horrible, Alex. It was so bad. It was so horrible. Every bad thought I've ever had, it just came to the surface. I couldn't stop it. I didn't mean it...I didn't mean what I said to you! I'm sorry, I'm sorry for what I said!"

Alex set a comforting (healed) hand on Kara's arm. "Kara, you're my sister and I love you. No matter what. There's some truth to what you said. We're going to have to work on that."

Kara could only nod. More memories began to surface into her mind. "What about J'onn?"

There, Alex could not answer very well.

~ 0 ~

Anais watched her parents go back and forth with different calls attempting to open up negotiations with anyone in power to redo the contract of her custody. Now that Hank Henshaw was revealed to be another alien - one presumed to have killed the real Hank Henshaw - the contract was even harder to change. The only thing Anais could do to pass the time was to visit the quaint coffee shop she had the previous day. Her parents refused to leave the city until the custody battle was done and won so they would be staying in the hotel to see it through. She herself had no legal say, ironically, in her own battle.

"Thank you," Anais accepted an espresso from the counter girl and gazed up at the screen above her to see her own figure in the screen. A small smile came to her face as CatCo. passed the few shots of her they'd gotten from people last night, fighting Supergirl. No one knew where the mysterious new fighter came from, but unlike Hank, she was being rejoiced as a new hero.

Poor Supergirl, Anais inwardly sighed. This was never how she pictured her first meeting with her favorite superhero. Fate was a tricky thing. But perhaps it was only getting started.

Someone cleared their throat behind Anais' stool and when Anais glanced back she saw a much different Kara Danvers standing there. Even her clothes had reverted to a preppy assistant type. It fit her, thought Anais.

"Hi, um…" Kara didn't know what to say and so awkwardly pushed her glasses up. "Uh...I wanted to thank you, um...for helping my sister and...me...last night. Um...I bought a gift." Anais watched her quickly lay a manila folder on the counter. "It's for you and your family."

Anais reached for the folder and opened it up. She found a couple papers inside and skimmed it (speed reading was a big no in public). With widened eyes she glanced back at Kara who awaited with a sheepish smile. "This is a new contract," Anais lowered the contract to the folder. "The one my parents are fighting for right now."

"I know," Kara managed a small smile through her utter sorry and embarrassment. "I talked to Alex about you and she told me what happened with you and your parents. It was my fault—"

"No, none of it was—" Anais tried to intervene but Kara kept going, determined to finish.

"I said and did awful things and it hurt a lot of people. I want to make amends and fix what I can. You are not property. You are not an experiment. That contract gives you your freedom to decide on whatever you want. The only clause is that you must work with the DEO. as I am, and follow up with them and the government with your training sessions."

"Tr-training session?" Anais repeated. It was the only thing her mouth could form because everything else was still being processed with all its implications.

"Um...given your abilities, I thought I could use a hand...a partner...out in the field," Kara admitted then added, "Especially since the city hates me right now." It was how she got the contract pushed through. Supergirl was in dire need of some help to regain her reputation and since Anais had already done such a good job before, she would be the perfect partner.

"I would...I would love to," Anais began to smile at the prospect of working with Supergirl. "This is like a dream…"

The two women shared a small laughter in their seats.

"You know, yesterday...and the day before...you didn't meet the real me," Kara began again, this time quiet and guilt-riddened. "I would really like to start new again, if you would give me the opportunity."

"Of course," Anais didn't have any doubts who the real Kara Danvers was. Bubbles. She inwardly laughed at Winn's comparison.

Then, out of nowhere, Kara held a hand out. "I'm Kara Danvers, nice to meet you."

With another smile, Anais shook Kara's hand. "Anais Allen."

[bouwrites]

Even Heroes Have the Right to Dream: Chapter 7

I try to reach out to the light through the glass as it shatters.

First, Previous, Next. Ao3.

Story under read-more.

Marinette is nervous to see Jon again. She probably shouldn’t be. They don’t part on a bad note, and as they promise, they text each other throughout the break, so she knows they’re good, she just… is nervous.

The summer is a good time to distract herself and process everything that happened. Process knowing that Jon is Superboy. Or, was. He’s not anymore. Marinette still has to remind herself of that, despite it all. And the reason she has to remind herself is because it just makes too much sense.

Jon is a man who takes what he’s doing seriously. Even when he laughs and jokes around, he practices a kind of restraint that Marinette doesn’t see in many people. A sort of temperance that implies he’s always aware of exactly what he’s doing. The way he makes moves around her so that he never crowds her even in the tightest of quarters, how careful he is with the most simple of actions, like holding a pencil, the way he always seems to be there when she has a problem, but never forces the issue. Moments like the day she returned from break and he cheered her up after her breakup with Adrien. He’s almost hyperaware of boundaries and stays as far as he can from breaking anything while still doing everything possible to help.

Marinette thought he was just like that, but now that she knows he was Superboy, she thinks that’s probably something that is trained into him. That doesn’t make him any less sweet and thoughtful, of course, but if she’s totally honest his powers unnerve her. Even in her time as Ladybug, Marinette never had the pleasure of meeting any of the Kryptonian heroes, but she knows of them. Alya adores them. Marinette doesn’t know what to think of them.

Some people – most people – uphold Superman as an ideal. He’s a model of the idea that power doesn’t have to corrupt. He is someone with the power to do almost anything he wants, a veritable god on Earth, yet he doesn’t. He restrains himself, constantly and consistently puts the needs of others above his own, and is relentlessly mindful of the repercussions of his actions. He’s a reminder to do good, but also that one must remain vigilant in doing so.

To a certain degree, Marinette also tries to uphold this ideal. When she accepted her role as a hero back then, she did everything she could to make Ladybug stand for the same thing.

In a word, Superman as a hero can be described as careful. All of the Super family can. Jon is no exception, even in his daily life. So, in that sense, it doesn’t surprise her.

That said, truth be told, that kind of power makes Marinette uncomfortable. She doesn’t have great experience with adults in positions of authority restraining themselves and consistently doing the right thing, to say the least. She doesn’t trust that kind of power, because she believes that power does corrupt.

Power turns little girls into bullies. Power is what desperate people lie and cheat and kill for. Power is what turns a heartbroken widower into a deranged psychopath, or a devoted love into heartless manipulation. It’s a hero’s job to wield power for good, but how many terrible things have been done by heroes? Perhaps it’s cynical of her, but while she believes in people’s inherent goodness, she does not believe in the goodness of power. The hero’s job is so difficult precisely because they’re using their power against its own nature.

And thus, she’s ideologically at odds with Superman. Maybe he can do it. Maybe he can refuse temptation. Maybe he’s really just that good that his restraint and integrity can survive the absolutely absurd amount of power he possesses. Maybe Supergirl is the same way, too. But someday, if they keep having kids, if Jon’s kids inherit the powers, and their kids inherit it, and on, and on, Marinette doesn’t think it’ll be long before one of them does mess up.

And yet… now that she knows Jon, now that she knows what kind of person he is, she’s not so worried. Because Jon isn’t a person who practices restraint. He’s not a person who is always keeping an eye on himself, checking himself because no one around him is strong enough to do it for him. Jon is just a guy who has so much of that inherent goodness Marinette believes in that he doesn’t need that kind of restraint. Marinette is surprised that she trusts him. And that makes her doubt his family a little less, too. They raised him, after all, so they can’t be that bad.

“What’s that?” Marinette asks. Jon is finally at the apartment and is unpacking when she spies a colorful bolt of cloth in an open one.

Jon looks over and chuckles awkwardly. “That’s, uh… that’s the… flag. Of Krypton.”

“Huh. I didn’t know you had a flag.”

Jon takes it out of the box to spread out on the coffee table so she can see it. It’s a little dull and faded. Marinette imagines it’s old. When she pictures the flag in its proper form, she thinks it’s bright and vibrant. The planet in the middle with seemingly random-colored rays bursting out from it. “Yeah, it’s the, like, Planetary Federation of Krypton’s flag. There were other people on Krypton, but this is, you know, my folks’ flag.”

“…Neat.”

Marinette spies Jon frowning at her. “You’re not… upset?”

She blinks. “Upset for what?”

“Because it’s… weird alien stuff?”

“Pfft, oh, no, Jon.” She sighs. “I don’t want anything to do with heroes, but your heritage is not a hero thing. I don’t mind you bringing Kryptonian things in here. I mean, I make you take off your shoes. That’s not an American thing.”

Jon lets out a tense breath. “Oh, good. Hah. I was kind of nervous about that.”

Marinette laughs. She can see why he is, honestly, especially after last semester. “So, why do you have this? Did you just not take it last year because I didn’t know yet or what? And, uh…” She takes another long, cautious look at the flag, “what do you plan on doing with it?”

Jon eyes the flag with her. “Nah, I got it this summer. My Aunt Kara gave it to me. She was actually on Krypton before it blew up, so she’s the only one who actually remembers what it was like there.” He looks over at her and smirks. “And don’t worry, I’m not hanging it up. That would be hard to explain to visitors. Besides, it’s kind of ugly, isn’t it?”

“Oh, thank god!” Marinette sighs dramatically. “I didn’t want to be rude, so I didn’t want to say anything, but you said it first! It’s pretty ugly.”

Jon laughs. “I know. But it’s symbolic.”

“They couldn’t have picked a prettier symbol? This is like a Teletubby vomited on fabric.”

“Pfft hahaha! Marinette! Wow!”

Marinette blushes. “I’m sorry, was that too far? I just-”

Jon continues cackling as he valiantly tries to force comprehensible words out. “Don’t worry about it! It is ugly.”

Marinette shifts uncomfortably. True as her statement is, and even though she is only emboldened enough to say it because Jon clearly takes no offense, she still feels guilty throwing shade at the flag of a near-extinct culture. That seems disrespectful. “So… what does it mean?”

Jon calms down his giggling to explain. “Right, so I’m not really an expert on Krypton, so I’m probably not the best person to ask, but each part of the flag represents one of the eleven virtues. They’re usually referred to altogether as the Girod.”

“Girod.” Marinette tests the alien word on her tongue. It’s a little strange to her, not because of pronunciation or the word itself, but because of the knowledge that the word she’s saying quite literally comes from an alien race.

“The Girod is basically the foundation of Kryptonian society. When Aunt Kara gave me this, she told me this,” he gestures to the flag, “is what it means to be Kryptonian. She and dad try their best to live up to the Girod, and I…” He sighs, melancholier than Marinette expects. “I’m not sure yet. I mean, in theory, I’ve been raised with the same principles. We just didn’t call it the Girod or acknowledge it as, you know, the foundation of Kryptonian society. But… I’m not really sure I believe it’s even possible.”

Marinette purses her lips, examining Jon carefully. He’s pensive, all furrowed brow and distant eyes lost in the oceans of the planet on the flag. “What are the virtues? You said there’s eleven of them?”

Jon shakes himself out of his thoughts to answer. “Right, uh… The center, that’s Krypton, represents Unity. Then there’s… Truth, Industriousness, and Justice. Those are the core virtues, and are the three green lines here. Then there’s… Peace, Purity, Restraint… how many was that? Hold on.” He frowns, grumbling as he counts on his fingers. “Unity, three core ones – that’s four. Peace, Purity, Restraint… seven. What else? Imagination, that’s one. Can’t forget Hope – you know, my family’s crest also stands for Hope? Apparently the ‘S’ for Superman is just convenient.”

Marinette giggles. “I think Alya might have mentioned that.”

Jon nods. “Anyway, that’s… where were we? Augh, sorry, just a second.” He picks his phone up off the table and navigates through it.

“It’s fine if you don’t remember, Jon.”

“No, no, I need to remember this. I’m trying to learn it. Okay, here it is. I got the first few right. Unity, Truth, Industriousness, Justice. Then, oh! That’s what I was forgetting. Synergy.”

“Synergy?” Marinette makes a face. “Isn’t that the same as Unity?”

“Eh… sort of. Unity is more like… belonging. It’s… family, sort of. Like, we’re all part of the same group. Synergy is working together; more of a ‘greater than the sum of its parts’ kind of thing.”

“Oh, okay, that makes sense.”

“And the rest of the virtues are Imagination, Purity, Restraint, Hope, and Altruism… wait, was that eleven? Oh! Peace. I said that the first time but skipped when I was reading the notes.”

“Calm down, Jon. You won’t remember it right away.” She pats his back gently. “I think it’s really cool that you’re trying, though.

Jon ducks his head. “Thanks. I- I’m not really… I don’t really know what I’m doing.” He gets that far-off look as he examines the flag once more. “Krypton is just as alien to me as it is to you, but… somehow it’s my heritage. Honestly, it’s kind of weird. And the Girod… Do you see what I mean? When I say I’m not sure I really believe it’s possible to live up to that?”

Marinette sighs. The way Jon hold himself, how unsure he is, how frightened he is, it’s unsettling to her. For a lot of reasons. “You know, to me, it sounds like you do a pretty good job already.”

“You think?” Jon doesn’t smile. That draws Marinette’s lips downwards, too.

“Yeah.” She says. “Can I see the list?” He hands over his phone so she can read off it. On the note is just a simple list of the virtues with a color next to them – the color on the flag that symbolizes that virtue. “Restraint. I think your whole family has that in spades just to live normally.”

Jon chuckles uncomfortably. “Something tells me that’s not what that originally meant.”

Marinette shrugs. “Altruism. You’re one of the most selfless people I know. Remember when I was really frazzled last year just before our first tests?”

That does manage to pull a smile out of him. “I had to take you out fabric shopping just so you’d obsess over something else. Then I ended up being your pack horse.”

“And that whole time, you had tests to study for, too.” Marinette points out. “That’s just one of a hundred different things you’ve done for me in just a semester, not even counting everyone else you help all the time. Then there’s peace. I think you do that better than your dad.”

Jon jumps a little. “You do?”

“Duh. Even in the name of peace, violence is still violence. I don’t think any of those types of heroes can truly say they stand for peace.”

“Even if it’s to protect people who can’t protect themselves?”

“That doesn’t mean they aren’t fighting. Even if it’s a good fight, even if it’s the only choice, it’s still not peace. Don’t you think?”

Jon is quiet for a long time. “…Yeah, I think I agree.”

Marinette smiles and hands him his phone back. “But, hey, I’m human. Maybe my interpretation of these virtues isn’t even close to how Kryptonians saw them.”

Jon frowns for a little longer, and then asks, “Does it matter? Maybe humans have some pretty good insight. I think you do, at least.”

“Aw, that’s sweet. I try my best.”

Jon giggles. “You know, I’ve talked to Aunt Kara about what each of the virtues mean, but… now I’m thinking I want your perspective, too. I’m not, like, devoting my life to the Girod or anything, but… I think it’s a beautiful ideal. Don’t you? It might be worth thinking about, as I figure out what kind of person I want to be now that I’m not a hero.”

“Sure.” Marinette says. “I’m always happy to help. And, now that I’m thinking about it, if you want sage advice on virtues, you might find talking to Tikki interesting.”

Jon raises his brow at her. “Tikki?”

“She’s a kwami. I never told you how I became Ladybug, did I?” Jon shakes his head. Marinette chuckles. “Well, I’ll start at the beginning.”

Marinette doesn’t introduce Jon to Tikki right away. They both still have unpacking to do and a semester to prepare for, after all, but they do eventually find time for Marinette to dig out the earrings and summon her.

Tikki’s big, sad eyes cut deep into Marinette. She knows Tikki doesn’t like that Marinette doesn’t wear the earrings regularly, or that Marinette is leaving the Miracle Box in Paris. She begrudgingly gives her blessing, but she’s definitely not happy about it.

Marinette often misses Tikki, but the earrings feel so heavy in her ears. It’s hard to bring herself to wear them. It’s been over a year now since she stopped doing so regularly. Despite everything else, Marinette likes being just a normal girl. The leaden studs in her ears and Tikki’s constant presence is only a reminder that she isn’t and never will be. A painful one.

“Tikki, meet Jon.”

“Hi, Jon!” Tikki chirps, appearing happy. “It’s nice to finally meet you!”

Jon hesitates a little when he sees her, and Marinette can tell his smile is a tad strained. “You too, Tikki.”

“Marinette told me about you.” Tikki says. “Thank you for being here for her. I know times are hard for the both of you, but I know you can get through it together if you stick by each other.”

Again, Jon hesitates. There’s an odd look in his eyes as he says, “Yeah. I’m lucky to have her.” The look is almost… wary.

The conversation continues for a while, and Jon eventually explains the Girod and asks for Tikki’s opinion on it and as Tikki talks, Jon starts shifting around and staring at his own lap and worrying his lip. “I’m curious about the Kryptonian stance on when those virtues come into conflict.” Tikki says. “If, for instance, you must sacrifice Peace for the sake of Justice, what should you do?”

“Don’t.” Jon says. “If you sacrifice peace for justice, it’s not justice to start with. It’s revenge, or pettiness, or… something like that.” He’s quiet for a moment. “I’d like to think so, anyway. Honestly… I don’t know enough about Krypton to say what they thought.”

Tikki hums thoughtfully. “But if there is a villain that is hurting people, there may be no way to bring him to justice except to fight.”

Jon slouches further, shrinking in his chair. “Is it worth it? To sacrifice peace?”

“If it saves the lives of innocents.”

“If it makes you guilty?”

“It’s for a good cause. You’re not guilty.”

“I think you are.” Jon says. “I don’t think there’s any good reason to sacrifice peace.” He sighs. “That’s… one of the virtues I’ve been considering the most. In human history, who are the most renowned champions for change? Who do we consider to have made the most difference for the better?”

Tikki’s eyes flash with something akin to recognition. “I think of Jeanne d’Arc. Joan of Arc, I think you call her.”

“I think of Martin Luther King Jr. Ghandi.” Jon says. “Those people changed the world with a principle of nonviolence. That proves it can be done.”

“In some situations. Most situations, I agree. But there are times when there’s no choice but to fight.”

Marinette shifts under Tikki’s gaze, as does Jon, but Jon, for now, at least, doesn’t back down. No matter how doubtful the expression on his face appears. “And we can drop our principles just like that? What value do principles have if we can ignore them whenever they don’t help us?”

“They still guide you. They give you something to fight for. They’re what you win for.”

Jon takes a deep breath. “I can’t accept that. Fighting in the name of peace is stupid. And it makes you a hypocrite. Fighting is fighting. Simple as that.”

“So in the name of peace, you would stand by and let a tyrant harm innocents?” Tikki frowns, and looks between Jon and Marinette for a moment. “I know you both have decided to give up on being heroes. But heroes are still important. Everyone has a responsibility to do what they can for the people around them. That includes fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves. And if the villain doesn’t give you any other choice, it may even include going to battle for them. I don’t think peace means nonviolence. I think it means balance. And the ever-shifting balance is a constant battle to maintain.”

“You expect us to sacrifice ourselves and our ideals for people who don’t even see us as people?” Jon mutters. “Just because we can?”

“The virtue of altruism.” Tikki says.

Jon takes another deep breath. “You expect too much of us.”

“I don’t think so. I think you’re more than capable. You’re both wonderful heroes. And it’s true that it’s hard. Sometimes, you need to take a break, and that’s okay. You have to take care of yourselves, too, or you won’t be able to save anyone. But people do rely on you. Just think about it.”

Jon huffs quietly. “Like I ever stop.” Marinette flinches at his words because she can relate. Even a year out, it’s hard to ignore how many people she might be helping. The more time passes, the more people go unaided because she made the choice to abandon her duties. And she feels guilty.

She doesn’t regret leaving, though. Yet that only makes her feel guiltier.

Marinette takes the earrings off eventually, tucking them back into a hidden corner, and she and Jon are in silence for a while. “I don’t think I really like Tikki that much.” Jon says.

Marinette grimaces. “No?”

“She kind of reminds me of Dad when he gets on my case about superhero responsibilities. He doesn’t do that anymore, since he’s accepted that I’m retired, but… I don’t really appreciate the lecture. No offense.”

“I understand.” Marinette says honestly. “Frankly, that’s part of the reason why I don’t have her out much. Part of it is just that wearing the earrings, having her around all the time, it reminds me of… everything. But another part is that she…” Marinette sighs. “I’m the guardian of the Miracle Box. It’s my duty to take care of all the kwami, not just her. And I’ve left the box with Chat Noir. I… don’t really want it back.”

Jon makes a face. “Yeah. Understandable.”

“To you.” Marinette laughs bitterly. “I think you’re the only one who actually understands. Everyone else is either waiting for me to come back or is supporting me despite not understanding.”

Jon chuckles as well, mirroring her. “I know that feeling. At least they are being supportive, right?”

“Yeah. They’re good friends.”

“The best.” Jon bites his lip and smiles. “Do you think you can just make Chat Noir the guardian?”

“I’ve thought about it.” Marinette sighs. “I told you what happened to the old guardian.”

Jon recoils. “Right. I remember now. You’d forget.”

“I’m tempted to do it.” Marinette says. “I can. Anytime I want. I just have to do it. Sometimes I think forgetting will be a good thing. If I do, I can finally just live a normal life and none of these responsibilities will be mine to worry about. I won’t even know they exist.”

Jon’s face is still contorted into a hurt, concerned grimace. “If you did… would you forget me? This?”

Marinette sighs. “I’m not sure. If we were just two university students rooming together, I’d say maybe not, but… I know you were Superboy, and you know about Ladybug, so… maybe it’s too intertwined with the Miraculous. It’s hard to tell. I’d for sure forget a lot of my friends back home. Honestly, it kind of scares me how tempting the offer of forgetting is despite all that. That’s part of what made me realize I needed to quit being Ladybug in the first place.” She chuckles. “It’s a bit of a red flag, isn’t it?”

“Hah, wow, yeah. I’d say so.”

Marinette breathes slowly. “Anyway. I know Tikki lectured us both a bit, but did you at least get anything out of it? For the… Girod?”

Jon smiles. “Yeah. I think I did. It was… interesting. Thanks for letting me talk to her.”

“No problem.” Marinette says. “I really should let her out more often, anyway.”

The first semester of their second year isn’t anything special, really. Marinette likes most of her classes, though there is, of course, the one that’s just a chore to get through. Jon is stressing over what his major is going to be, so she brainstorms with him sometimes, or just distracts him if he gets too deep into his own head.

By and large, they’re back to how they were before. Things are still a little tense sometimes, and in rare moments Superboy is all Marinette can see when she looks at him and her chest hurts a little, but she makes an effort, as does he, to spend time together. When they eat together at least once almost every day, study together (even if it’s just silently in the same room because of their different subjects), go out together in their free time, and just exist in such close proximity every day, it’s hard not to get used to each other.

And they’re friends. They’re close friends. Marinette is still small, cold, and trembling. The memory of hurt still frays her. But she’s slowly rising up. Things feel okay again, and Marinette thinks that if they can just keep this up, they’ll figure the rest out and they’ll be just fine.

And of course, she has to jinx it.

The phone call comes in at a surprisingly reasonable hour. Marinette is just sitting at her desk, scribbling away at an assignment when her phone starts buzzing. Marinette picks it up and feels her heart jump to her throat when she sees the name on the screen. Adrien.

It’s not that they don’t talk. They do. They’re still friends, and Adrien is still essentially acting as guardian in her stead, so they have to communicate to some degree. Even so, every time he calls and Marinette sees his name she gets dunked into an icy wave of guilt and regrets.

It’s not long until they’ve been single for a year now. And they’re both still trying to be strong. The worst of the pain has passed, but confronting him directly, even about unrelated topics, brings it back.

“Hello? What’s up?”

“Mari! Mari, I’m so sorry! I’m so, so, so, so, sorry! I don’t know how they got in! I swear, I keep it under lock and key; there’s no way they should have know-”

“Adrien, slow down.” Marinette says sharply. In person, and when they were together, this tone would always cut through his panic. Ground him, so that he can focus better. “What happened?”

“I went on patrol like I do every night.” He says. “But when I got back, the Miracle Box was gone. I don’t… I don’t even know who might have taken it! No one knows my identity; it wasn’t just a burglar – they left everything else. My lady, I don’t- I don’t know what to do here.”

Someone’s stolen the Miracle Box? Marinette feels a familiar cold weight inside of her. “What do you have to work with?”

“Myself, Queenie, and Viperion.” Adrien murmurs. “That’s it. And… and you.”

Marinette lets out a soft breath. This is… horrible news, but there is a bright side. “At least you have Viperion. That’s the most dangerous.” Marinette’s stomach turns. She wants to vomit, but instead she just curls forward over her desk and closes her eyes.

Part of her wants to ask why Chloé and Luka have Miraculous, but Adrien is the acting guardian, and she trusts his judgement. Whatever reason he has to give them the Miraculous again is none of her business. “Yeah, but…” Adrien says. “I’m scared. I let you down, and now who knows where the Miraculous are? What if we get another Hawk Moth?”

“Then you’ll stop them.” Marinette says. She tries her best to sound confident. “And you won’t have to wonder who broke in.”

“Who could it be?” Adrien’s voice is tight and desperate. “They had to know who I am and that I’d be out!”

“You have a regular schedule, Adrien, it’s not hard to predict when you’re patrolling.” Marinette says. “But you’re right, they probably know your identity. That narrows down the options.”

“But no one who knows would do this. I won’t believe one of our friends took the box.”

“You’re forgetting someone.” Marinette says. “She found out your identity the same time your father did.”

“…Nathalie.” Adrien’s voice flattens out and turns dark. “Why now?”

“Because you weren’t expecting it. She never would have pulled it off right after Gabriel was arrested.”

Adrien takes a long breath. “At least we have an idea of what we’re dealing with. Thank you, my lady. I’m sorry I let you down.”

Marinette still feels sick, but she has the advantage of being an ocean away. Adrien might still be able to tell how she truly feels, but she thinks she controls her voice pretty well. “You haven’t. No one could have predicted she’d strike now.”

He hums softly. “I’m going to find her. I’ll find her and get the Miraculous back. I promise.”

“Adrien…” Marinette sighs. “I’m not the one you need to make that promise to. That’s not my life anymore.”

“Right.” He sounds a little choked, but he recovers quickly. “I need to call the team. I’ll keep you updated. See you soon, Marinette.”

He hangs up, and Marinette bitterly hopes he doesn’t keep her updated. Calming down Adrien and thinking about who might have stolen the Miracle Box all makes Marinette feel like Ladybug again. It’s… nauseating. She feels guilty in equal parts for acting like she’s still a part of Adrien’s team and for feeling so awful about it.

I wonder if I should tell Jon about this. That idea, too, makes her feel guilty. Because she feels like a hero again when she’s on the phone with Adrien, and no matter how much she hates that feeling, the real guilt is in her hypocrisy. Will Jon agree that she didn’t really do anything? Or is it still too much. He wants to put the hero life behind him, too, and Marinette won’t allow her problems to drag him even tangentially back into it. That’s unfair to everyone.

Marinette won’t bother him with this. She can’t.

The days crawl by. Adrien texts her updates on the situation every now and then, but there’s not much to speak of. A week passes, then another, and then the thing Marinette fears most happens.

Mayura attacks. Marinette is an ocean away, living a different life, but suddenly she’s a fourteen-year-old girl again fighting battles much too big for her. She watches on her phone as Chat Noir and his team defeat the sentimonster, but their victory only hurts. The weight of it all crushes Marinette beneath it like she’s nothing more than an insect. It’s too familiar, too much the same as it was back then. Like she’s accomplished nothing. She did nothing as Ladybug, and she’s doing nothing now. Everything she’s ever done has resulted in failure.

So how can she hope for any different on her search for a normal life? Every time she thinks it’s within reach it’s violently pulled away from her like a rug under her feet. First, she finds out that the person she associates with her normal was a hero, then just as she’s recovering from that, all her accomplishments as a hero are essentially erased.

All because she abandoned her duty. The only reason Nathalie is able to steal the Miracle Box is because it is left in Paris with Adrien. If Marinette hadn’t abandoned her duties, hadn’t turned her back on her role as guardian, then they wouldn’t be in this mess. It’s her fault, and now she’s an ocean away while the people she loves fight to fix it.

Marinette doesn’t want to be a hero again. She hates Ladybug. She hates being the only thing between the world and destruction. The only thing between a villain and tragedy. She’s not Superman, or even Chat Noir. She doesn’t have that kind of strength.

She’s too selfish, and too weak.

But Adrien asks her to.

It’s during the break, not long after she gets back to Paris. Adrien begs her to fight with him again. “I can’t do this without you, my lady.” He pleads. “I need you.”

“I’m not a hero anymore, Adrien.” Marinette says. “I brought the earrings. You can find another Ladybug. That’ll minimize the damage. You can do it.”

“I can’t. We’re fighting Nathalie. You were always my rock, Marinette. You’re the only reason I could fight my father. I need you. Not any Ladybug, you.”

Marinette grits her teeth. “I’ve been trying for over a year now to live a normal life.” Marinette says quietly. “You’re asking me to give that up.”

“I know.” He covers his face. He doesn’t want her to see that he’s crying, but he can’t hide it from her. He can’t hide anything from her. “I’m sorry. But I don’t have any other choice.”

“You’re the hero, Adrien. Not me. This? Right here? This is exactly why I quit. I’m sorry, I can’t help you.”

And she means it. She means it with every fiber of her being. But when Mayura gets the upper hand, when Viperion is taken out in almost the first strike, when Queen Bee is battered and unmoving a mile away, Tikki is pleading, and Chat Noir has that look in his eyes that Marinette is too familiar with, there’s no other choice.

She throws a blanket over her mirror, ducks beneath her shame, and shakily says, “Tikki, transform me.”

——-=——-

Tag List: @moonystars14 @pawsitivelymiraculous @magic-miraculous @vixen-uchiha @buticaaba @bigpicklebananatree @lozzybowe  @moonlightstar64 @amayakans @theatreandcomicfreak​  @toodaloo-kangaroo​  @too0bsessedformyowngood​ <3

[garnet-xx-rose]

Secret Santa

HO-HO-HO! @supericebeam I’m your secret Santa! So sorry for the delay, but I’m very happy with how it turned out. I was even able to hit all you’re prompts. Enjoy! Also thank you to @niuniente for hosting

"This is stupid." Catra proclaimed

It was the holidays, the few days each year when the Princess Alliance would not be active. Too many different holidays celebrated by the kingdoms individually. A perfect time to make an attack.

But instead, the Horde’s second in command found herself in the corner of Hordak’s throne room with a cup of gin in her hand and wearing what she considered the fugliest sweater she’s ever seen. Instead of conquering Etheria at its most vulnerable, the Horde was partaking in its first annual holiday party. This year’s theme: ugly sweaters.

“Oh come on Wildcat, don’t be so down,” Scorpia exclaimed as she walked over, a plate of finger foods being held by a pincer. Her sweater had holes suited for her spikes but unable to fit her muscular upper frame, making the piece look instead like a crop top. 

“Isn’t this great! We’re all here together, celebrating. Not just the holidays, but a great year. All the progress the Horde’s made.” Scorpia said excitedly while munching on her food. She gulped and looked down at Catra, blushing.

“Everything we’ve accomplished. Together.”

Catra scoffed. “Yeah, well we would be able to accomplish more if we weren’t just sitting around doing nothing. The princesses are busy with their dumb traditions, it’s an easy target!”

“Well hold on now Catra you know the rules, the Horde never invades during this time, some type of deal made during the first rebellion.” The scorpion princess stuffed a few more pigs in a blanket into her mouth, “Besides, now’s a great time to relax, take a load off. We’ve earned it!”

Catra was not made aware of that (damn, she really should’ve gone to orientation) but she didn’t really care. And now, she was getting annoyed by Scorpia’s chewing and patronizing.

“Whatever,” Catra called out before walking away to another empty space. Scorpia frowned as her friend wandered off, unsure if she should follow her, but decided against in fear of making her more agitated, “Let’s see what else is on the menu”

Catra found a spot against the wall facing the center of the party, a perfect place to people watch. 

Out on the floor were soldiers, force captains, and generals dressed in different colored sweaters, with the Horde symbol crudely stitched in the middle. They were conversing like regular townsfolk, making jokes, having heated debates, some even dancing. She could see Kyle refereeing an eating contest between Lonnie and Rogelio by the food table and on the other side Grizzlor and Octavia grooving on the dance floor, with the octo-woman taking control every now and then. But what was most bizarre of all was Lord Hordak himself, sitting high on his throne, dressed in a green sweater, sharing a plate of tiny sandwiches between himself and his little alien baby. And on his right sat the princess prisoner now turned chief scientist, Entrapta, chugging a fizzy drink with the help of a tendril while she wrote in her journal and spoke into her recorder as she oversaw the party below. 

Just like the rest of the guests, she was dressed in a sweater, but her’s was yellow with an image of Emily placed in the center. What was more noticeable to Catra was her hair put up into a mid-high ponytail, instead of pigtails, with a large ribbon bow wrapped into her hair on top. Catra had to admit the get-up did a number on her, but it was clear that Hordak was the most entranced victim to Entrapta. Every few moments Hordak would look over at his lab partner as if to reassure himself that she was there. And whenever Entrapta spoke to him or wanted to share her notes, he looked at her like she was the only thing in the world. He was leaning into her, mesmerized, and when Catra squinted she was sure she saw his hand on her thigh. Man, she wanted to be sick.

Catra groaned. This stupid party had to be Entrapta’s idea-though odd given her lack of interaction during social events like Princess Prom-just like all the other changes made to the Horde in recent memory.  It was ludicrous. In a matter of months, the strange Princess of Dryll had gone from her chained prisoner to Hordak’s most trusted member, something that not even long-time force captains could achieve. 

Entrapta had Hordak wrapped around her finger or hair for that matter. It made Catra confused, betrayed, angry. But, the more she thought about it, a vulnerable Hordak could be used to her advantage.

In the meantime, there was free food and booze just out in the open and it’s not like Catra wasn’t going to indulge herself. She made her way over to the food table, where now Scorpia had joined the eating contest.

“Hey!” Catra shouted, grabbing the attention of the young soldiers. Kyle looked nervous as usual while Lonnie was intrigued, waiting for the cat girl to explain her sudden interruption.

Catra sighed, maybe just for one day she didn’t have to play the Big bad.

“Room for one more?” 

Kyle, Lonnie, and Rogelio looked at each other in disbelief that Catra could be so respectful, but that disbelief was forgotten in moments as Scorpia rushed in and scooped Catra in a bone-crushing hug. 

“Oh, that’s my Wildcat, wanting to celebrate with her best friends!”

The woman put her down and starting making bowls for a new round. “Now let’s really get this party started!”

“Whatever,” Catra mumbled, stuffing a handful of pigs in a blanket in her mouth. 

————————-

The day of festivities was now at its final moments. The party had ended an hour ago and now the clean-up crew was making its final touches. On top of the staircase, party host Entrapta was dancing around the throne, gigging and squealing as her hair frizzled out in excitement.

“This is without question one of my most successful experiments to date!” 

Hordak, still seated, watched his partner jump around the room, a small smile exposed on his face. Entrapta hopped over and plopped herself on top of Hordak, her chest squished against his and her legs over tucked over his thighs. Hordak wheezed from the sudden impact. 

“According to my data, my hypothesis was correct: By hosting a social gathering with more palatable food than ration bars and activities for the Horde to partake in, morale and teamwork have increased, 32 percent might I add. And because the guests were already familiar with one another, social awkwardness was down 70 percent!” 

“Yes.” Hordak hissed, “Impressive indeed.”

He looked out to the center of the room, where only hours ago hundreds of Horde soldiers were partying and laughing. It was as if they forgot they were in the midst of decades-old war. A small part of Hordak felt envious. Seeing his captains and generals converse and laugh like old friends made him realize how little he knew about his people. It was as if the Horde had created a culture of its own, unbeknownst to Hordak, behind his back that only now was being unveiled because of such a light-hearted event. Even Catra, as anti-social as the girl was, seemed to have a good time with Force Captain Scorpia and the trio of horde soldiers Hordak always saw together. 

A gloved hand placed on his own snapped him out of his thoughts. He faced Entrapta who looked into him with the doest eyes and softest smile he’s ever seen on her face.

“I-uhh wanted to thank you for letting me conduct my experiment. I know it was a lot, convincing everyone to join and getting everything organized. It was also very nice of you to host in the throne room”

Now that she thought about, was that the first Horde party?

“I know that I can be a lot sometimes but know that I appreciate your consistent support in my endeavors, no matter how seemingly ridiculous.” Entrapta chuckled at the end of her statement, trying not to sound too sappy. Hordak’s biology betrayed him as his cheeks blushed a hard crimson. He began to stammer.

‘Well,” Hordak cleared his throat, “It has become clear that your work has exponentially improved not only the Horde’s infrastructure but my personal projections as well. I...thank you for your continuing assistance...and letting me work with a brilliant mind such as yourself.”

Now it was Entrapta’s turn to blush. With no mask to cover her face, she looked down but gave a small sigh, reassuring Hordak that she heard his flattering remark. Hordak looked back out, not wanting to make Entrapta feel any more discomfort. But only seconds later, he was staring at her again as she softly pressed herself against his chest and placed her head in the crook of his neck. Instead of freaking out and pushing her away-something that he would have done only weeks ago- Hordak rolled with it, intertwining his hand into Entrapta’s and placing his other on her backside, slowly petting her ponytail. 

These acts of intimacy were still new to them, only starting at the beginning of the month, but both have quickly come accustomed to the familiar sense of tenderness. The couple stayed embraced on the throne, quiet except for the occasional hum from Entrapta or grunt from Hordak. Time stood still as each took in the other’s presence fully. When Entrapta nuzzled herself into his neck, Hordak lost his control and gave himself to her, flaws and all. It was moments like this that Hordak could describe as nearly perfect, when everything- his defect, the war, Prime- washes away from his mind, letting his body be at peace. The calmness of it all was so intense. Hordak soon felt himself dozing off, happily wrapped in the arms of his partner.

“Wait!” Entrapta shouted, bouncing off of Hordak’s chest. Hordak’s eyes shot open at the sudden commotion. 

“I forgot about the gift exchange.” A tendril slithered behind the throne and came back around, dropping a mid-size box into Entrapta’s hands, amateurishly wrapped in blue paper. The princess than gave it to Hordak, “I would’ve given it earlier, but I didn’t want to make a scene during the party. I know how you still are with privacy.”

During the party, a secret gift exchange was held amongst the guests, but the hosts decided it would be best that they got gifts for each other. 

Hordak ran a talon across the paper, cutting it open with the edge of his nail. Neatly unwrapping the package, Hordak was left with a pink box that read in pretty cursive, “Salineas Serums”. Intrigued, the man lifted up the top of the box and moved it to the side. When he looked back into the box contents, Lord Hordak released a small gasp. Inside were two bottles of hair dye with color that matched Hordak’s hair, black eye shadow pallets, and a few other cosmetic accessories.

“You once briefly mentioned that you were running low on dye  while we working on the portal” Entrapta spoke, twiddling her finger around her ponytail, “I thought that along with some other supplies would be a sufficient present.” 

Hordak picked up the bottle and turned it in his hand, amazed at how well it matched his own. He never told Entrapta his shade, nor brand for that matter. “Oh!” Entrapta squeaked “It’s also the newest edition, so it lasts much longer and doesn’t run off as often. It’s not even set for release until next summer! And before you ask, I have a few connections with the company. They owe me a few favors after I solved their Jellyfish problem. I hope you like it!” 

Hordak stared at the bottle in disbelief. One off-handed remark about his personal care led her to this? So much time and attention put into her present. He hoped his gift to her could create at least half of the joy hers brought him. Hordak put the bottle back in the box and took a nearby pink tendril into his hand, the other grasping his partner’s. “Entrapta, this is perfect. I could not have asked for anything better.” He finished his confession by kissing the held strand of hair.

Entrapta giggled, happy at another success. Hordak was so entranced he almost forgot to present his own. He called out to Imp who was plopped on top of Emily, falling out after eating too many cookies. The infant-sized creature rubbed his eyes and sluggishly flew around the throne and came around to Entrapta, dropping another mid-size box into her lap before yawning and flying back over to Emily. 

Entrapta didn’t even take the time to appreciate the delicate wrapping, going straight in and ripping apart the paper. She was left with a brown box with a note on top that read, “A sneak peek of what’s to come,” signed “-H”. The princess took off the note, placed it to her side, and then opened the box. Inside was a stack of brown journals, she took out one and began to flip the pages. Entrapta gasped, louder than Hordak’s, almost loud enough to be a scream.

The pages were decorated in detailed drawings of planets, stars, and galaxies. Each page had not only had drawings but writings on the topic’s features and history. It would take Entrpata months, maybe even years to thoroughly get in-depth with these journals.

Life outside of Despondos, a mystery to Etherians for centuries. The answers were right here. 

Entrapta had the universe in her hands. 

“With all the progress we’ve made with the portal, I felt a little nostalgic and did some snooping around my old ship.” Entrapta looked up at Hordak, who spoke with a grin. “I found these and…I couldn’t think of a more brilliant, beautiful person to give them to.”

Entrapta could feel the rims of her eye getting wet. Before she could stop her self, her cheeks became wet too. The princess threw her arms around her partner’s, stuffing her face into his neck once more and mumbling incoherent words. Hordak continued to smile, pleased with Entrapta’s reaction, but wished to hear her words. 

“Care to repeat that?” the clone joked, rubbing his partner’s back.

Entrapta lifted herself and faced Hordak, her face still damp with small tears still streaming down her cheeks. 

“Oh, Hordak!” She cried, sniffling and then wiping her face with the sleeve of her sweater, “This is the best gift I’ve ever gotten! I really don’t know what to say. It’s...it’s..”

“Out of this world?”

Entrapta’s hair frizzled in excitement. “Exactly!” She grabbed Hordak’s cheeks and snuggled his face into her own. 

“You’re amazing.” She stated, nuzzling their noses. Hordak could only respond with a small moan of reassurance.

This day was perfect, nothing could make them feel any better than they did right now.

Well…

Chirping was heard above them. Entrapta and Hordak separated from their headlock and looked up to find Imp, holding up a mistletoe, with the most devilish smirk on his face. Hordak immediately blushed. He was aware of the Etherian tradition, but it was not like he ever had a willing partner. And it was not like Entrapta was going to-

His thoughts were suppressed as soft, plump lips smashed into his own. On cue, Hordak wrapped his arms around her curvy waist as she cupped his cheeks. The kiss grew deeper and once again Hordak and Entrapta became lost into each other, Hordak caressing her back and Entrapta running a hand through his hair. Hordak melted into her arms.

Before things got too heated, Entrapta lifted her lips off of Hordak. He looked at her so dazed and out it. She giggled, happy to see the influence she had on him.

“We should do this every year.” Hordak declared, though a little slurred.

Entrapta smiled, suggestively leaning back down to meet Hordak’s face.

“The party..or the kissing?”

Hordak raised his lips only an inch away from her and smirked.

“Both.”

[ravenforce]

Best Decision Ever

Prompt: “Hi do u think u can do an Alex x Reader where fem!Reader was investigating an alien crime scene and brought her daughter/son to the scene. Both bump into each other, daughter/son instantly liked Alex and continuously see each other. Start dating and eventually married. Thanks if u can.”

Requested by: whitecanary444

Pairing: Alex Danvers x Reader

Word Count: 2253

Warning/s: None. Except for Fluff.

A/N: I enjoyed writing this one. At this point, I’m not even going to apologize for the word count. LMAO. I hope you guys enjoy. x

***

Moving from Gotham to National City is literally the change of scene you needed. You love Gotham but with your son growing, you felt like it wasn’t really the best city to raise a child. When you were offered to transfer to National City, you didn’t think twice. Today is your first day on the job.

“(Y/L/N)!” you heard your captain shouting.

“Yes?” you heard your son’s soft amused voice. Your captain chuckled.

“Not you, Milo. The other (Y/L/N),” your captain said ruffling your son’s hair. Moving to a new city, and starting a job so soon after meant having trouble finding someone you trust with your son. You walked up to your boss then.

“I’m here,” you said. Winking at your son.

“Your first case to get you acquainted with what we deal with in this city,” he said while handing you a folder with the case details. You looked at the file, and then Milo.

“Take him, but only today (Y/L/N),” he warned.

“Yes, sir!” you said. Milo neatly put his things on his backpack and held your outstretched hand. He’s a very charming boy; charming enough to be allowed in your workplace for now. Charming enough to get away with anything if he wants to but he’s not one to take advantage. He’s only 6 but he’s smart and sensitive.

***

The drive to the crime scene wasn’t long. When you arrived you asked Milo to stay in the car, which he easily agreed to. You walked to a woman with red hair and a lean figure. She looks like she’s in charge.

“Hi, I’m Detective (Y/L/N), I’m the NCPD assigned to this case,” you greeted.

“Alex Danvers, FBI,” she said a little automatically. You smiled at her and asked her details about the crime scene. That seems to put Alex Danvers out of her trance and started filling you in. You were in the middle of discussing the case with Alex when someone landed in front of you.

“Supergirl,” Alex said in lieu of a greeting.

“What do we have here?” Supergirl asked but before anyone can answer, another cop arrived with Milo walking beside him.

“This kid said his mom is a detective. I found him outside the yellow tape,” he informed everyone.

You gave Milo a look he knows as the we-will-have-a-talk-later. Before you can even claim him, he’s already apologizing.

“Sorry, mom. I got bored in the car, and I heard the other cops talking about aliens. Are there really aliens here mom?” he said. You sighed, nothing piques your sons’ interest more than extraterrestrial life forms.

Before you can answer, Alex Danvers squats in front of your son. “Hi, I’m Alex Danvers. I work with your mom now. To answer your question, yes there are really aliens in this city. This one you wouldn’t want to see through. It’s all messed up and ugly,” she said animatedly while leading him away from the crime scene.

“Are all alien blood green, or do they vary depending on species?” you can faintly hear him ask Alex.

Supergirl and you looked at each other and chuckled. In an instant, badass Alex Danvers is wrapped around your son's tiny fingers. It amazes you because Milo is as skeptical as you when it comes to people. You take it that Alex Danvers is a good person, after all, Milo is an excellent judge of character.  

***

To your disappointment, working that case with Alex was a breeze; which means there’s no reason for you to see her every day, and hang out with her after hours. When you officially filed your report on your joint assignment, Alex bid you goodbye with a simple, “see you around, (Y/L/N).”

A few weeks after your assignment with Alex, you’re on your first weekend off. You decided to take Milo out to explore your new home base. National City on a Saturday morning is buzzing. You decided to wear skinny jeans, an old band shirt, a light jacket, and trainers. Milo, on the other hand, is dressed in his favorite pants, an FBI shirt he found on a flee market downtown a couple of days ago, a black cap, and high tops.

You decide to treat him to brunch before anything else. Thankfully he’s not a picky eater. You found a quaint restaurant not far from your apartment. He settled to have a club sandwich, and share a portion of your chicken salad. After brunch, both of you decided to see the science museum.

On the way, Milo bumped into someone else back causing him to fall flat on his bum and the other person to lose a grip on their coffee. You helped your son up before looking at the stranger.

“Alex?” you said, unsure if it’s really her because she’s looking down at her spilled coffee. You followed her line of sight, Milo picked up the cup before looking up at Alex. He has unshed tears in his eyes.

“Hey, buddy! Are you hurt? I’m so sorry I was in the way,” Alex said, genuinely concerned.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I made you spill your coffee,” he said crying. Alex hugged her and at that moment, you’re slightly in love with Alex Danvers. Milo looked up at you and asked if he could borrow money to buy Alex coffee. Alex declined profusely but Milo wasn’t having it.

“Oh! OH! You can just join us. Mommy and I are going to the science museum,” he said enthusiastically while wiping his face off his tears. Alex looked at you.

“It’s that or he buys you coffee,” you shrugged. Alex agreed to join you instead.

***

The next time you saw Alex was three days after she joined you in the science museum. You were in the grocery with Milo. When you rounded the produce section, he immediately spotted Alex with her sister Kara. You chatted a bit before you went your own way.

The next time was at the alien bar. After investigating some more alien cases (without Alex), you’ve been invited by one of your alien source to the bar. At first, you were reluctant but you’re open for new experiences anyway. Milo was away for a school trip then, which gives you the time. When you arrived at the bar, you were amazed by the number of different alien races inside. To your surprise, Kara rushed to your side the moment you walk in. She’s with Alex and a few of their friends.

The next time was at Kara’s apartment. After your encounter at the alien bar, Kara and her friends invited you to game night. You initially refused because you still haven’t found Milo a sitter but Kara was adamant that you bring him. So you did. When you arrived at Kara’s place, all of her friends were there. You felt awkward.

“Hey, sorry we’re late. Someone decided to change t-shirt three times. I think he might be trying to impress somebody,” you told everyone. You handed Kara a bottle of Moscato.

"Don’t worry mommy, Alex only has eyes for you,” he said very seriously causing Alex to choke on his draft beer and everyone to laugh. You tried not to die on the spot.

“I like this kid,” James said.

***

Ever since you joined game night, you have been an honorary member of the super friends. One day, you got caught up with too much paperwork you had to ask your friends if they can pick up Milo from school. Lena easily agreed on picking him up with Kara. A few minutes after, you received a text that Milo wanted to go to the carnival near the pier and to meet them there. You didn’t really think too much about it because this isn’t the first time your friends are picking up your son and having said son charm his way to getting what he wants. Lena and Alex being the worst, they’ll give everything and anything he asks.

You decided it’s best to go home and freshen up before meeting everyone at the carnival.

“Meet at the entrance,” Lena texted.

When you arrived at the entrance, you were confused because there’s no Lena, no Kara, and no Milo; just Alex. When she turned around and saw you, she beamed.

“Hey, are we the first to arrive?” you asked. Before Alex can answer, both of your phones notified you of a new message. You look at it at the same time.

“Sorry, Milo changed his mind. Have fun, (Y/N),” Lena texted you.

“Milo just wants to watch a movie. Have fun, Alex,” Kara texted her sister.

Both of you sighed before pocketing your phones. “I guess it’s just us,” you said.

“We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to,” she said. You looked around. It’s been a while since you’ve been out and about at night that doesn’t involve stakeouts and patrol duties. The carnival lights cast a colorful shadow on Alex’s face, making her look soft.

“And miss out on not sharing you to my son? No way!” you teased. She laughed at you before grabbing your hand and leading you around the carnival. You played games and got Milo a few new toys as a prize.

A little before midnight, you and Alex are relaxing on the quieter side of the carnival. You spotted a vintage photo booth and dragged Alex inside. You fed the machine some bills and started posing for pictures. The first outtakes were hilarious and blurry, Alex kept on moving around. The second outtake was better, you figured the best way to fit in the photos is to sit in Alex’s lap. On the last outtake, you felt the burning desire to kiss her and you did. The photo strip was the proof.

***

You rolled to your side of the bed and still marvel at Alex’s sleeping face. Without the weight of the world on her shoulder she looks so much younger. You lightly traced the lines on her face. She caught your hand and smiled without opening her eyes.

“Good morning,” she murmured. You smiled at her.

“Marry me,” you blurted out. Alex opened her eyes. She rolled over to be able to look at you better. You held her eyes, you’re not backing out now or ever. It's only been a year since you started dating Alex but you're sure you want her. You love her and want to keep her for the rest of your life.

“Yes,” she said before pulling you into the kind of kiss that says she’s in love with you. The kind of kisses Alex Danvers gives to let you know she wants you. She pulls you on top of her, you giggled.

“Alex,” you moaned as quietly as you could because Milo is in the other room. You opened your mouth to let her tongue in, her hand roaming your legs, palming your ass, and scratching down your back. She groaned when you involuntarily ground your hips on her.

She sat up and was just going to rip your sleep shirt off when your son pushed the door open and charges in your room. Alex held you closer and puts her head on your chest. You laughed before turning to your son who just plopped down in your bed.

“Knock much?” you admonished softly. Milo for his part look apologetic.

“Morning moms,” he said yawning. Alex stilled in your arms. She turned her head in Milo’s direction before looking at you. You just shrugged and kiss her again.

“When you’re done being gross, can we make pancakes please,” Milo said. So much sass for seven years old. You and Alex looked at him grinning.

“Wow, your son is sassy,” you teased Alex.

“When he’s like this, he’s my son. When he’s docile, he’s yours?” Alex shot back. Both of you laughed. You climbed off Alex lap and gave Milo a look.

“Oh no,” he whispered before trying to get away from you. He runs towards the living room, with you and Alex hot on his heels. When Alex caught him in her arms, she started tickling him. You just watched them from the kitchen while you gather the ingredients for pancakes.

Moving to National City was the best decision you ever made. 

[kellanved-ammanas]

Christmas Party

Scout was pleased to learn that Christmas was much more of a universal holiday; everyone on the team was familiar with it. Meaning operation Christmas party and gift exchange was ago.

Just like with Halloween, Scout volunteered to be in charge of the party. Back home, he never would’ve dreamed of taking on such a role, but here he was really the only one suited for it as well as the only one who wanted a party bad enough to put up with being the one to organize it. Everything his mother had taught him about throwing a good party was finally being put to good use.

He ran into his first problem when upon going to town to get decorations, he learned that the lizard-aliens did not celebrate any winter holiday – could it still be called that when it wasn’t really winter here? They didn’t even seem to have a season that could be classified as winter – and thus did not sell decorations for such. There were also no pine trees anywhere to serve as Christmas trees. None of which was actually surprising when given any real thought.

“All right,” he said as he turned to Pyro and Engie, the two people who’d volunteered to help him with decorations – Demo and Spy had come to town with them too but Demo had gone off to drink and Spy had vanished shortly after they’d arrived to do who knows what. “We’ll have to improvise on the decorations and find something else to be the Christmas tree. I know a little origami so I could probably make some swan ornaments and if we can get some stuff, like cardboard or something similar shaped the right way, we could paint them to look ornaments and other Christmassy things. But you guys got any ideas?”

“I could probably make a few strings of lights,” Engie offered. “All I’d really need is some coloured glass for the bulbs, everything else I probably got at my workshop on the ship.”

“We could make a fake tree out of metal,” Pyro offered next. “Or we could just use one of the plants around here and then burn it when we’re done.”

“Hmm, let’s go with the first thing,” Scout replied. The only plants of substantial size he’d seen on this planet so far were the purple ones and not only were they ugly he didn’t trust them after Medic and Pyro’s experiment with burning them even if that was a long while a go now. “So, I guess let’s just get some basic art supplies and then maybe some red and green cloth that we can cut up and hang like tinsel kind of like we did for Halloween.”

“Sounds good,” Engie said as Pyro gave a thumbs up in agreement.

 -

With the three of them working together, it wasn’t long before they had everything. Pyro helped making ornaments out of paper and cardboard, Scout had taught him how to make origami swans – the only thing he remembered how to make. So they had a quite a few paper swans painted in Christmas colours and themes to hang up on the tree alongside the pieces of cardboard cut and painted to resemble bulb ornaments. The tree itself was made of pieces of straight narrow scrap metal wielded together and spray painted green with a metal star on top, spray painted gold. As a whole it looked pretty odd but still very much like a Christmas tree especially with how well Engie’s special made string of multi-coloured lights turned out.

The rest of the decorations were slightly less good. The ‘tinsel’ barely resembled such. And the papier-mâché wreath Scout had made looked more like a bumpy green doughnut with red and yellow poke dots than a wreath. But whatever, they were limited in what they could do and they’d done their best. The decorations weren’t the most important thing anyway, the gifts and party itself was.

Which was where Scout’s second problem came from; what gifts was he going to get for everyone. He considered them all his friends – even Medic despite their rocky start and Scout’s continued distrust of him in anything involving medical stuff and Spy despite Spy’s standoffishness towards him, less than it had ever been but still there, – so he had to get them all something. And… he wanted to get Sniper something special because… yeah.

He nabbed the team car for a solo trip to town to visit the shopping center in town. Half of it was outside in the desert sand with stalls and lizard-aliens loudly hawking their wares to passersby, not too dissimilar to outdoor shopping centers he was familiar with from back home. The other half was underground though in what seemed to be a cave carved out of the same stone that the buildings were all made out of. It sort of reminded Scout of a mall – though much more cramped and smelling very much of alien reptiles – with how it looped back around on itself. There was even a food court that Scout didn’t dare eat anything at.

Scout hadn’t spent much time here before despite how long they’d been on this planet so he got lost more than once as he wondered around looking for gift ideas. There were some gifts that were obvious, a bottle of nice rum – the alien equivalent of such as far as Scout could tell – for Demo, a fancy lighter for Pyro, a little robot toy for Engie. Upon finding a shop that sold glitter – it was apparently a universe wide phenomenon, infecting everyone everywhere – he got the stuff to make two glitter bombs, one for Spy and one for Medic because honestly, they deserved it. He’d get them something real too though, he wasn’t that much of a jerk. He might’ve gotten the supplies to make one for Pyro too but a) he might’ve enjoyed being showered in glitter, destroying the purpose of the prank and b) on the off chance he didn’t, he wasn’t the kind of person Scout wanted to make angry.

Haggling was expected but difficult because Scout’s grasp of their sign language wasn’t the best and some of them didn’t even know it. Sometimes he had to resort to communicating via pointing, gesturing, and using fingers to count out an offered price. It was a lot of work and exhausting but he somehow managed despite everything. And in the process his grasp of the language got a bit better so win, win.

He saved getting Sniper’s gift for last. It was the most important and therefore the hardest. Should he get a gift that made his crush on Sniper clear and thus use it to finally make a proper move on him? But… should he ever even make a proper move? They were coworkers, weren’t there rules about dating coworkers? And… Sniper probably didn’t even like him back, did he? Making a move might ruin everything Scout had slowly built with him and make everything awkward. So maybe Scout wasn’t ready to give that kind of gift and risk that. But it still had to be a good gift. What though?

The thing Sniper liked the best was his job: sniping. But Scout had gotten him to discuss other interests a few times. Animals was one but not an option as a gift because pets as gifts wasn’t a great idea even if they were alien pets. Camping was another but Scout didn’t know the first thing about camping so what would he even get Sniper for that? That didn’t leave him with many options.

Maybe a stuffed animal would do? But would that be too flirty? … And so far, if any store or stall sold stuffed animals, Scout hadn’t seen it and he’d been around the whole shopping center, underground and above ground, at least twice now. And he didn’t really have time to look specifically for that, he had to get back to base soon, he’d already been gone for almost three hours now. Meaning he had to settle for something soon.

With a grimace, he picked up his walking pace. He had to find something good soon, he just had to.

 -

A bit more than an hour later, he finally returned to base. Spy appeared before him as he stepped out of the car.

“Where’d you go?” he asked as if it were any of his business.

“Christmas shopping,” Scout answered as he slammed the car door shut. He pulled all his shopping bags close to make sure Spy couldn’t peek into them without making his intent to do so obvious. “I got you something too, don’t worry.”

“Oh.” Spy’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “What is it?”

Scout couldn’t help a mischievous smile coming to his face. “You’ll have to wait and see. And don’t you dare sneak into my room to try peek before Christmas.” If anyone would do that, it’d be Spy. “I’m going wrap them right away and I’m going to boobytrap the hiding spot so don’t even try it.”

“I wasn’t going to,” Spy said, speaking just a bit too fast; he’d for sure been thinking about it. “I don’t care anyway.” He made a dismissive hand gesture towards Scout before vanishing.

 -

The big day was finally here and Scout couldn’t be more excited. Especially since, Christmas was so much of a recognized holiday that the Administrator gave them a whole two weeks off for it. Miss Pauling even showed up for the party, meaning Scout’s party was basically already as success.

There was food and drink on one table. Most of the ‘food’ was sweets: cupcakes, a whole cheesecake, and lots of gingerbread in the form of gingerbread men as well as a lopsided house, all of which was made by Heavy and Pyro. Unfortunately, they’d run out of normal alcohol, leaving them with only the alien stuff meaning Scout had to stick to plain old water from the ship’s purification system like some kind of boring nerd. He could’ve let Demo bring a jug of his homebrewed moonshine too but… he’d tried it once and it was nasty. So by the end of the night he was probably going to be the only one sober other than Pyro and probably Spy – Spy seemed to avoid the alien alcohol too for some reason. Which meant he should probably hand out the gifts he’d got for everyone before the party dragged on too long.

He went to Demo and Soldier, drinking playing cards together first.

“Oh,” Demo said as Scout handed him his gift and then Solider his. “Laddie, you didn’t have to. Most people in our line of work will throw a party but… not always do the gift thing.”

“I know,” Scout replied. “I ain’t that kind guy though. I love Christmas and you guys put me in charge of this whole party so… I had to. I don’t except anything in return though, don’t worry.” He’d just wanted to get his new friends stuff.

“Don’t complain maggot,” Soldier said. “Just say ‘thank you’ and open your gift.” He was already following that advice, pulling the small pet sweater that would hopefully fit Lt. Bites out of the box. He gasped at the sight of it. “Is this what I think it is?” he asked, looking back up at Scout.

“Uh… depends on what you think it is. But I thought you might like to put it on your raccoon.” Everyone had long since given up trying to convince Soldier that Lt. Bites wasn’t a raccoon.

“I will go put it on her immediately.” Soldier stood up and rushed out of the room. He’d probably return with her on his shoulder soon which wasn’t great, she still liked to hiss at people who weren’t Soldier. But whatever, she rarely bit anyone anymore despite her name so it would probably be fine.”

“Oh wow,” Demo said, drawing Scout’s gaze back to him. He’d too opened his gift and pulled out the bottle, undisguised joy on his face. “This is the good stuff, for this planet anyway, thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” So far everything was turning out fantastic.

Next, he went to Pauling and Heavy, chatting in a corner while enjoying some gingerbread and alcohol. Just like Demo, they were both a bit surprised to be receiving a gift from him. But…

“Is very nice, thank you,” Heavy said upon pulling out the set of kitchen knives Scout had gotten for him because he was the person on the team who cooked the most.

For Pauling he’d gotten a toy space ship because he really did not know what else to get her. He didn’t know her as well as he knew everyone else on the team due to how busy she was always was. She seemed pleased with it though, smiling as she pulled it out of its little box. “Thank you.”

After chatting with them for a bit longer, he moved onto to Spy – he couldn’t hold back his anticipation for the glitter bomb much longer – and Engie. Everyone seemed to be hanging out in pairs right now which was just fine with him, it made the whole gift giving thing a tad easier.

“Hey guys,” he said as he sidled up to them, making sure to be closer to Engie than Spy. “Merry Christmas!” He pulled out the gifts labelled for them and handed them over.

“Uh… wasn’t expecting it but thanks,” Engie said.

“Yes, I suppose a thanks is in order,” Spy said before going straight to unwrapping his. Wrapping paper gone, it was time to lift the lid and… boom, the glitter bomb went off, spraying glitter everywhere, especially on Spy.

It was hilarious. The glare he turned on Scout once it was over made it impossible not to laugh. Even Engie chuckled.

“I shouldn’t be surprised,” Spy said, voice dripping with venom.

Scout rained in his laughter enough to answer. “There’s a real gift in there too, under all the glitter.”

Still glaring daggers at Scout, Spy upended the box into his hand. “A knife,” he said once enough of the remaining glitter fell away to reveal it. “Great. … You have any idea how hard this stuff is to clean up?”

“Well uh…”

“I need a shower,” Spy interrupted before vanishing. But, the glitter was still visible, clinging to him and making him not very invisible at all. It was just too good; another burst of laughter bubbled up in Scout.

“He kept the knife with him though,” Engie said once Spy was gone. “So at least he likes that part of the gift… I think. That maybe wasn’t a great idea though, he’s going to mad now.”

“Whatever.” Scout wasn’t worried about that “It’s his own fault for being a jerk. But like, open your gift now, it doesn’t have any glitter in it because I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Engie grunted in response as he finished unwrapping his present. “Ah cute,” he said in response to the little robot. “Thanks.”

“You’re very welcome,” Scout replied before turning to face everyone else as they gathered to investigate the commotion. Pyro went straight to playing in the glitter on the floor, crouching down to run his gloved hand through it. Yep, not getting him a glitter bomb had been a good idea.

“Did you really have to set off a glitter bomb in here?” Pauling asked, giving him a slight frown.

“I’ll clean it up, I promise.” Scout would never dream of doing otherwise. Glitter bombs being a favourite prank of his and his bros, he had a good amount of experience in cleaning up the after math of them on a variety of different surfaces.

But while everyone else was gathered here, he reached into his bag to pull out Pyro and Medic’s gifts. He quickly handed them to their recipients before retreating. While he trusted Spy not to hurt him for the prank – as harsh as his words could be sometimes, he’d never once actually done anything to Scout – he wasn’t so sure about Medic and he didn’t want to risk anything. Under the glitter bomb in Medic’s gift was a bag of treats for his dragons but that probably wouldn’t earn him much forgiveness so it was best to get out and hide for it a bit.

On his way, he hooked an arm through Sniper’s – he’d been on the fringe of the group – pulling him with him. Sniper just sort of let him, not saying anything even when they exited the room and Scout brought him outside and around back instead.

“Let me guess,” Sniper said when Scout finally pulled them to a stop when they were behind the building. “You put a glitter bomb in Medic’s gift too and you’re afraid of him so you ran away before he could open it?”

“Bingo,” Scout replied. “But it’s not that I’m afraid,” it kind of was though but that made him sound weak, “it’s more, I don’t want to give him a possible reason to try to dissect me again.”

Sniper raised an eyebrow. “’Again’?”

“Eh, it’s a long story, don’t worry about it.” Scout didn’t want to talk about it and that was a while ago now so who would even believe him? Especially since the scars were mostly faded. “Anyway, I brought you out here with me because I still need give you your gift.” And because he wanted some alone time with him but he couldn’t admit to that.

He reached into his bag one last time to pull out the final gift and handed it to Sniper. Who accepted after a second or two of staring it uncomfortably with a slight grimace.

“I uh… didn’t get you anything,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Scout assured him. “I didn’t expect anyone would. I just did it because I wanted to. Open it though, I need to know if you like it. And uh I promise it’s not glitter.”

“That uh… kinda makes me worry that it might be glitter. But…” He trailed off with a shrug before removing the wrapping paper. He as bit more cautious with lifting giftbox’s lid, holding a bit far away from his body. When it became obvious that nothing bad was going to happen though, he pulled it close again to look inside and pull out the gift.

“Oh,” he said, holding it up to the light. “It’s nice.”

“You really think so?” Scout had looked and looked for something good before coming upon that badass tooth necklace. He had no idea what animal the teeth came from, only that they were large, pointed, and looked cool. Conjuring up an image of Sniper wearing it wasn’t hard either, it fit his general aesthetic.

“Yeah,” Sniper said. “I always wanted a shark tooth necklace. Though I suppose these ain’t from a shark, not the right shape and on an alien planet.” He briefly removed his hat to slip it on over his head. “Thanks though, I like it.”

“Awesome.” Scout almost had to hold back a sigh of relief. He’d been more nervous about this than he’d thought. But it had gone well, heck everything had gone well. And as a cherry on top, to avoid Medic’s wrath for a bit, he could get away with spending an hour or two alone with Sniper out here before going back inside to enjoy the rest of the party.

[wolfie-posts]

Kiss and Run Ch.3

Bakugou Katsuki x Female!Reader

Read Chapter 1 here

Author: @wolfie-posts

Co-Writer: @queenmusicforthoughts

Warning: language

Chapter length: 7k words

Story Summary:

You did it! You were given the opportunity to study at U.A. alongside class 1A to become a pro-hero. Within the next three years, you were gonna learn more about yourself and your special quirk, about friendship, about fighting, winning and losing. The road to your goal is bumpy and steep with a lot of obstacles like villains and an explosive blond boy, who decided to make your life a little harder. Will you finally be able to control your quirk? Will you overcome the problems together with your classmates along the way?

A/N: Hello my dudes! Finally, the wait is over, may I present to you chapter 3! I have put my heart and soul into this and I am really happy about how it turned out. I'm really proud of my baby (my story) and I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do while writing it. A HUGE THANKS to all my beta readers, without them this story would probably not be where it is now. They not only keep my writing in check, but they also motivate me and help me plot! Okay, enough of my rant! Enjoy my dudes :)

AO3

Quotev

Wattpad

________________________________________

After the quirk assessment test, you were kind of happy that you didn't have any other classes for the rest of the day because, honestly, you were exhausted. You could feel every inch of your body, even muscles you didn't know you had from pushing yourself to the brink. Your limbs were shaking from overstraining but you liked that feeling. It simply showed that you had worked hard and given your best. No pain, no gain, right?

The changing room was filled with loud chatter. Most of the girls were crowding around the black-haired girl, who had known all along, that Aizawa had lied to bring out the best in all of you. They were discussing the different things that had happened, talking about the "explosive blonde guy" Bakugou, who nearly started a fight with the "broccoli boy" Midoriya and other things like their personal accomplishments, scores, and quirks during the testing. You didn't really follow the conversation, you just observed the other girls and picked up some of the things they said while getting undressed. All you could think about was getting out of your sweaty sports uniform and jumping straight into a steaming hot shower.

You quickly took your towel, body wash, shampoo, and conditioner out of your locker and headed to the shower stalls. You were the first one in the shower stalls due to your "antisocial" behavior. It wasn't like you didn't want to talk to the other girls. they all seemed absolutely sweet, but you didn't really know what to say. You didn't even know the names of most of them, so you just decided to keep to yourself and head into the shower while the others were busy talking.

The hot water running down your body helped to loosen up your tight muscles. You felt relaxation replace the tension you had built up throughout the day. A deep sigh left your mouth in relief as the hot water poured over your face, washing away all the stress and thoughts you had, which also muted the voices of your classmates. A feeling of ease spread through your body while you were washing out the shampoo. You turned off the water after you were finished and dried yourself off, tucking the towel around you like a dress before you walked back to your locker.

You took out your school uniform and stuffed the dirty sports clothes into your bag. You had always pictured yourself in those uniforms back in middle school, wondering how they would look on you.

In your imagination, you had seen yourself many times walking through the hallways of U.A. wearing their uniform with your chin tilted up in pride. Wearing that uniform gave you a feeling of accomplishment; it meant being one step closer to your goal of becoming a pro-hero, one step closer to controlling your quirk. It wasn't like those uniforms were ugly or anything- you actually really liked the school uniform from U.A. It consisted of a cute but formal green skirt, fitting green high-knee socks, a white shirt with a red necktie, and a long-sleeved grey jacket.

You noticed that most of the girls wore knee-high socks, except for you and Uraraka, Pink-cheeks being the only girl wearing green tights instead of socks. You just simply stretched the socks out until they were above your knees and instead of wearing those typical brown girly school shoes, you stuck to your comfortable combat boots. As you were tying up your shoelaces, you failed to notice the alien girl walking up towards you.

"Damn, I really needed that shower!" your newfound friend said, opening up the locker next to yours, causing you to jump a bit at the sudden sound of the girl's cheerful voice. You didn't even realize that you had been drifting off into your thoughts up until now. Normally, you were pretty aware of your surroundings, but even though the shower had cleared your head, your mind started to wander back to the happenings from earlier.

"Huh?" you asked even though you knew what the pink girl had said to you. She had just caught you totally off-guard. "Oh.. umm yeah!" you stammered out after catching on to the conversation; you looked up to see Ashido smiling at you while putting back on her uniform.

"Your brain sure seems fried like Kaminari's, after today's training," she laughed at you, making you clutch your chest from the invisible shot she had fired at you before you fulfilled the act with a painful gasp, which made the two of you erupt into laughter.

"Wanna walk home together?" you asked Ashido, swinging your backpack over your shoulder while leaning against your locker. The pink girl was like a fresh breeze of ocean air, her carefree and forward behavior making you immediately feel close to her like you had already known each other for ages. A small smile spread across your lips at the thought of spending the next three years with that sweet weirdo by your side.

"Hell yeah!" she said, quickly gathering her stuff so you wouldn't have to wait on her. After the two of you had picked up the syllabus, you walked home together, chatting about your expectations for the following days at U.A.

It was a cheerful walk home, Ashido was jumping around showing not even the slightest bit of tiredness. She was way too excited for tomorrow to be exhausted, she couldn't wait for class to actually start, for her first real hero lesson.

You sure would get a sore face from all that smiling and laughing, you thought to yourself while eyeing the bright blue sky. Before you parted ways with Ashido, you exchanged phone numbers and arranged to meet up before school from now on, at the same streetcorner, to walk there together. With a quick goodbye hug and a "see ya tomorrow," you separated, strolling the remaining way home alone.

At home, your parents eagerly awaited your arrival; before you could even shut the door they had already surprised you with a loving and excited hug, shooting questions at you about how your first day went.

You loved how involved your parents were in your life, you have always felt at home with them and you never came short on warmth, affection, and love. Getting into U.A. had been your biggest dream, which your parents fully supported even though they never wanted to be heroes themselves.

After changing into some more comfy clothes, you walked back down to meet your parents in the kitchen, seeing your mother hovered over some pans at the stove. The moment you stepped into the kitchen, your nose caught the pleasing smell of spices, an all to familiar smell belonging to your favorite dish.

"It smells amazing mom!" you said, feeling your mouth begin to water.

"I thought you would like to eat your favorite food after such an exciting day," your mom said, smiling at you from over her shoulder. Your dad was already sitting at the laid table and signaled you to have a seat next to him. For the third time today you reviewed the events of the quirk assessment test and told your parents about your different classmates, especially about Ashido, Kirishima, Bakugou, Kaminari, and Midoriya.

“Remember that ungrateful kid I told you about? The one from the entrance exam, who yelled at me for saving his life?” you asked your parents, rolling your eyes at the memory of the incident, getting a nod in response from both of them, which signaled you to go on with your story.

“Turns out he’s one of my classmates now, but that isn’t even the worst part! He is so arrogant I can’t even deal with him, and this morning he almost blew my head off when I walked into class!”

“You want me to beat him up for you sweetie?” your dad asked you in a serious manner. It was such an unnatural statement coming from him, that it made you raise your eyebrows in return.

“We both know that you would break your wrist in the process. If I ever needed one of you to beat someone up, I would definitely call mom for help.” you chuckled, gaining the laughs of both your parents.

“I mean I could easily get into a fight with him, you know? He already gave me plenty of good reasons to do so. For example, he just randomly pushed me to the ground today while I was waiting for my turn at the exercises. He even threatened to kill me! He’s such a jerk!”

“I’m sorry honey, boys at that age can be annoying sometimes, but they'll grow out of it and mature eventually, but if he doesn’t stop just promise me that you’ll beat his ass up in your next training, okay hon? ”

“Oh heck yeah, I will! He also doesn’t even let me call him by his name.. what else am I supposed to call him? Ugh.. that Bakugou kid just makes my blood boil, such an ungrateful assho--” you cut yourself off by covering up your mouth, realizing who you were talking with.

“Woah, hold up there young lady!” your dad interrupted your rant, shaking his finger at you. “No cursing in this house!”  

“Sorry. Not all of the guys are idiots like Bakugou, though! I met this guy Kirishima and he is sooo nice like imagine a ‘Cinderella’ kind of nice, totally the opposite of Bakugou, probably can’t even hurt a fly and he has this amazing quirk which doesn’t really fit his sweet personality.”

“Oohh tell me more about this boy! I want to know all the juicy details!” your mom spoke up with a knowing look, wiggling her eyebrows, making you blush furiously.

“Moooom! It’s not like that! He’s just nice, okay? And he has a pretty strong quirk, like literally! He can turn himself rock solid... I had to find out the hard way...” you said getting a little quieter at the end, remembering your embarrassing encounter with the red-haired boy.

“Okay, okay!” your mom said defensively, throwing her hands up in mock surrender. “It’s totally not what I think it is,” she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, but you decided to just ignore that.

“Anyways… there’s also this girl Ashido, she just decided that I was gonna be her best friend, not that I’m complaining because she’s awesome. She is gonna be a really cool hero someday, she looks like a pink alien with horns and everything. Her quirk is acid, which makes it so much better! We had to compete against each other in the first exercise and she thoroughly kicked my ass.”

Without giving your parents a second to respond, you launched into a tangent about yet another classmate.

“There was also this other boy, he has green hair that totally looks like broccoli, and he’s honestly such a stalker! I think he has a notebook or something where he keeps tabs on everyone's quirks and their stats! It was so creepy, I NEED to stay away from that kid because I don’t want him to find out how my quirk works.” you said with a nervous look in your eyes, kneading your hands in your lap.

“Oh sweetie, don’t be silly! They’ll find out sooner or later, I mean you’re going to be in the sports tournament after all.”

‘Oh fuck’ you thought to yourself. You hadn’t even considered the fact that you’d be participating in the largest televised event in Japan. Your eyes widened as the requirements of being a U.A. student began to sink in.

‘I don’t want to start kissing random people just to get stronger… Why did my quirk have to involve something so private?! I don’t want my first kiss to be so meaningless! What if they make me kiss someone in training? Oh god..-’

Your thoughts were interrupted by your mom setting a plate of food in front of you. “Stop overthinking and eat with us, you’ll be fine sweetie.”

After dinner a new wave of tiredness hit you, normally you would have stayed up a little longer to watch some tv with your parents, however, you still had to read the syllabus, so you ended up saying an early ‘goodnight’ to your parents and headed up to your room.

'What a day' you thought as you dropped onto your bed, reading through the syllabus.

U.A.'s hero course curriculum consists of normal core classes like English, history, science and so, which always take place in the mornings, followed by a long lunch break. Although U.A. is a school that trains the next generation of pro-heroes, they weren't slacking on the normal education each and every student should receive.

Your eyes lit up when you saw the afternoon schedule.

"Basic hero training" you mumbled with a proud grin spreading across your face.

_____

You walked down the sidewalks of your neighborhood, wisps of early morning sunlight making their way through the trees. Your neighborhood tended to be on the peaceful side, but in the mornings, right before people woke up to start their day, there was absolute silence.

Birds would sing, a slow breeze would flow through, and you’d revel in the calming silence. You’d usually walk to school alone, but this routine had been broken after you met Ashido. You were getting excited as you saw her already waiting for you at the street corner, waving to get your attention, which made you pick up your speed. She greeted you with an enthusiastic hug once you made it to her.

“Oh my god, I am sooooo excited for today! Are you excited? I am excited!” Ashido said eagerly, jumping around like a bouncy ball.

‘How could this girl have this much energy so early in the morning?’ you thought to yourself while admiring the over-eager pink girl.

“Don’t get too excited yet, we still have to go through the boring subjects before basic hero training starts.” the moment you said that Ashido froze into place and gave you a disappointed look.

“Did you really have to remind me about that?” Ashido groaned, going from 100 percent to zero real quick.

“Sorry,” you chuckled and shrugged your shoulders, “but there is no going around it.”

“Just keep up the pace you sloth, we’re meeting up with one more person before going to school and they are already waiting for us.” Ashido casually said, raising her hand as if saying ‘talk to the hand’ and strode off.

“Who are we meeting up with Ashido? Why are you only telling me this now?” you whined, jogging lightly to catch up to your pink-haired companion.

“Oh just shut up, I am doing you a favor!” the alien girl said in a serious tone but you could see the corners of her lips quirked up into a small smile.

“ASHIDO, who are we meeting up with?” you said, letting out a frustrated sigh. It was way too early for people to be testing your patience.

“Nope! My lips are sealed. You will know who it is when we get there.” she simply shut you up and kept on walking in unusual and torturing silence.

Time flew by as the two of you continued your trek through the city.

“The meetup point is straight ahead, ohh I think I already see him..” Ashido began to talk again next to you but your attention had been somewhere else.

‘Aww KITTY!’ a soft squeal escaped your lips as you crouched down to pet the stray, completely ignoring Ashido who kept on walking, still talking as if you were next to her.

You were too occupied with the small creature in front of you to notice the growing distance between you and your friend. Animals really were your weakness, who could simply walk past them without giving them some love?

You were so distracted that you didn’t even notice Ashido waving to somebody in the distance with a huge grin on her face.

The first one to notice the lack of the other person’s presence was Ashido because when she wanted to see your embarrassed and shocked face, it suddenly wasn’t there. She turned back around and scanned the street for you, only to find your figure crouched down near someone’s driveway petting a cat.

“You have to be kidding me...” Ashido mumbled to herself, shaking her head in disbelief.

“EH (Y/N), GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE!” the pink girl yelled across the street, promptly gaining your attention.

“Wasn’t a cat the reason she came to school late yesterday? This girl… pff if it weren’t for me she’d probably be late again.” Ashido muttered to herself, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow once you caught up to her.

In your hurry, you failed to notice the red-haired boy only a few meters away, quickly making his way towards the two of you. The sudden flash of red in the corner of your eyes made you look into the direction of the approaching person, only to be greeted by a brightly smiling Kirishima.

Your face dropped at the sight of the boy and you could feel your ears begin to heat up at the embarrassing memories from yesterday, which were flooding your brain once again.

You gave Kirishima a small smile and quickly turned towards your pink friend with the same smile plastered on your face. The smile didn’t quite reach your eyes, which held a murderous glare.

“For your sake, tell me this is a coincidence,” you said in a dangerously low voice, but Ashido ignored your indirect intimidation and turned towards the red-haired boy unaffectedly with an innocent smile.

“Hey Kiri, I’m so happy we can keep on walking to school together,” Ashido said, almost bursting with laughter at the sight of your furious expression and the hint of pink which was now forming not only on your cheeks but also Kirishima's.

“I’m going to kill you!” you whispered the threat so that only Ashido could hear.

“Yeah I am happy too that we both made it into U.A.,” he said while scratching the back of his neck.

And before you even knew it this would become your favorite part of the day, with friends who soon would become more like family.  

As the school building came into view, two figures stood out from the swarm of people who were walking inside of the premises. Everybody was heading inside, while those two were the only ones frozen into place. The two boys resembled an island in a stream of students.

“Oh hey look it’s Kaminari and Sero,” Kirishima said excitedly, pointing towards the boys.

‘Oh no...’ you thought to yourself, gulping down the lump in your throat while heading straight into dangerous territory.

“Oh hey it’s you the girl who wanted to tou-”

“YES! HI IT’S ME (Y/N)!”  you quickly interrupted Kaminari before he could finish his sentence, “also hi, we haven’t been introduced yet,” you turned towards the other boy, which you didn’t know the name of yet and bowed.

“My name is Hanta Sero, nice to meet you.” the black-haired boy said to you and smiled.

“Now that the squad is complete should we head to class?” Ashido said, throwing her fists up towards the sky in excitement.

“C'mon, let’s go!” she yelled enthusiastically, pulling you and Kirishima along the way as she headed inside of the building.

Your first class of the day was English, as you took your seat behind Ashido you couldn’t shake off the feeling that someone’s eyes were on you but you didn’t dare to look for the person and kept on talking with your new friends.

It didn’t take long before Present Mic stormed into class and right away began the lesson by writing down four English sentences at the blackboard.

The man whom I respect most is my father.

That is the house in which he lived.

I well remember the day on which we both met.

Please tell that all you know.

“Now, which of these four sentences contains a mistake?” he asked into the room with a questioning look, holding up his English book.

You had to control yourself not to laugh at the priceless expressions your friends had. The looks of boredom and disappointment weren’t just plastered on your friends’ faces, everybody in class had a cloud of apathy hanging above their heads, everyone but Midoriya and the black-haired smarty-pants girl.

“Hey everybody look alive, grammar rules!” Present Mic yelled out as a result of literally getting no reaction at all to his previous question. He looked like a jumping jack, wagging his arms around hectically in a sad attempt to motivate his students.

“Yes, Yaoyorozu.” Present Mic called out to the black-haired girl with a hint of relief in his voice. She was the only one with her hand raised, but before Yaoyorozu could proudly answer your teacher's question the door swung open revealing a tired and sluggish Aizawa.

“Excuse me, Mic, but I need to borrow (y/n) here for a while,” he said in a monotonous way gaining a startled look from your English teacher.

“Ah.. yes, no problem!” Present Mic replied in a rather confused manner, class had only started like 15 minutes ago, how come one of his students was already getting called out? They didn’t even have the time to do anything stupid yet.

“Follow me!” was all Aizawa said, walking out into the hallway, waving his hand to underline his order.

“Ohhhhhhhh someone is in trouble!” Kaminari spoke up in a sing-song voice while wiggling his eyebrows, but Ashido had your back and shut him up with a smack to the back of his head before you could even say anything in your defense.

“How could she be in trouble? It’s only the second day of school?!” she growled at Kaminari, although her words weren’t showing any concern her eyes did look worried.

After making sure Kaminari wasn’t saying another word, Ashido looked back at you and nodded into your direction as if to make sure you were okay, which you returned to assure her that you would be fine. It was a small but meaningful gesture, one that you appreciated very much.

As you were putting away your stuff, you could feel the looks of your classmates glued to your every move, but one person, in particular, didn’t even bother to look your way, why would he care about some damn extra? Even the birds outside were more interesting than that shitty girl, who was in for some trouble.

Stepping into the hallway, you expected Aizawa to lash out on you or give you a scary pep talk as he did to Uraraka and the rest of the class during testing. You didn’t expect him to yawn and wave you off with the words “All Might is waiting for you in his office”.

“He is what now?” you said out loud, doubting your own ears. You couldn’t hide the genuine surprise on your face.

‘What could All Might, the symbol of peace, possibly want to talk with me about?’ you asked yourself in fear, seeing every bad thing you have ever done in your life flash before your eyes.

“He didn’t say. Just hurry up and stop wasting my time,” he said while zipping up his yellow sleeping bag, not batting an eye at you.

On your way to his office, you drifted off into your thoughts, thinking about all the possible reasons All Might could want to talk to you, leaving you even more clueless than before.

You were so deep into your thoughts, that you didn’t even realize you had been standing in front of his office for a solid 3 minutes. Gathering all your courage, you forced yourself to knock at the door, bringing your anxiety level to its peak. A loud “come in” from the other side of the door, brought you back into the here and now. You took this as your cue to enter, hands shaking slightly as you opened the door, feeling your heartbeat racing in your throat.

“Hello young (l/n), please, take a seat.” All Might said while gesturing towards the chair in front of him, giving you his iconic white-toothed smile.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of meeting you?” was all you could manage to say after taking a seat, kneading your hands in your lab trying to calm yourself down.

“So, the others don’t know yet but I am going to be your teacher for the basic hero training course,” All Might began his speech.

Anyone else would have had their jaw on the ground at this point, anyone except for you. You were too busy overthinking the situation to even register the awesome fact that the symbol of peace himself would be your teacher. There wasn't really time for you to feel happy about it, because the only thing on your mind was, why exactly was he telling you this? Why just you and not the others?

“I've been preparing today’s training and as I was going over the different arrangements, I noticed that you seem to have a small disadvantage in comparison to your classmates. You see, before you even attended the school, U.A. had you fill out a hero costume form. Everybody had to do that, draw their dream costume just how they envisioned it with gadgets that enhance your quirks." All Might said, a faint smile dancing on his lips. For a moment, it seemed like he was drifting off into his memories as he stared into the distance.

"You probably ask yourself why I am telling you this right now, young (l/n). Well, the thing is that the hero costumes will play an important part in today’s exercise. I was going over all of them and yours stood out quite a bit. First I thought the development department had made a mistake, so I checked your hero costume form, to compare your design with your finished suit. I didn't really expect it to be almost entirely blank except for the assessments.” All Might said interrupting his own speech as he started to rummage through a stack of papers.

There was an awkward silence, the sound of papers being sorted echoed in your ears together with your heartbeat. You felt the need to break the silence, but you knew it wasn't the moment to talk right now, so you just watched intensely as All Might went through the different documents. As he was trying to find what he was looking for, you were trying to remember what you had written back then on your form.

“Ah, found it! Here...” he said scanning the paper.

“Your only request was that it needed to be a ‘flexible short jumpsuit with some high knee socks’, nothing else, not even a drawing.” All Might stated, raising an eyebrow at you, which made you squirm nervously in your seat.

You could see that he was trying to read your mind by interpreting your facial expression, wanting to understand the reasons behind not designing your own hero costume.

His blue eyes were staring at you, but he wasn’t really looking at you, you could see that his mind was wandering off to somewhere else. ‘How could you not have any wishes for your hero suit’ he thought to himself, reminiscing the time he himself had to think about his own hero costume.

He had wanted to be a hero as long as he could remember, thinking about his hero name, already designing possible costumes before he even knew if he had a quirk or not. He had spent so many hours of his life thinking about becoming a hero, even when he found out that he was quirkless, he never stopped dreaming about it. Being enlightened with the power of ‘One for All’ was the best day of his life, so why didn't you seem that interested in becoming a popular heroine? You had a pretty good chance at that too, from what All Might had read in your file. Your quirk is pretty strong as well, so why weren't you embracing it?

"I think I also mentioned that I wanted to keep my combat boots..." you mumbled to yourself, thinking back to you filling out your form. It wasn't that you didn't care about your costume, you just didn't think about becoming a hero from the start. You didn't even know about your quirk’s expanse until the age of seven. Before that, you had never really given the job much thought.

“Don’t get me wrong, I want to be a heroine, I really do! The thing is, I don’t have any clue about my quirk, I have no control whatsoever, and I really can’t think of any gadgets that would benefit it. That’s the reason why my form was pretty much blank ‘cause you’d probably have a better idea of what would suit my quirk. As long as I can keep my boots and the costume has the colors black, red and turquoise I’ll be happy, so you do you!” you grinned, having gained more confidence over the course of your speech.

You were okay with reaching your limit of knowledge, that is why you came to U.A., right? So that the best heroes and teachers can help you figure things out. Till now, you had just watched from the sidelines, being in U.A. meant looking behind the curtains, seeing the work and effort everyone has to put in on a daily basis, learning about your own strengths and weaknesses and how to deal with them.

“I thought you’d say something like that. Which is why I’ve arranged for you to go to the development department and talk to Power Loader. He’s the best person to talk to about this and I’m sure he’ll help you create your perfect hero costume. I already told him that you’d be there, so you better get going young L/N.” All Might said, standing up and gesturing for you to get up as well. You complied, confusion in your eyes as he gently nudged you towards the door and into the hallway.

“Good luck young l/n! Can’t wait to see what you come up with!” and just like that he shut the door in your face, leaving you stunned and slightly speechless.

“He could have at least told me where I can find the damn Development Department before closing the door in my face...” you mumbled, slightly annoyed, throwing your backpack over your shoulder as you began your search for the elusive Development’s Studio.

_____

“Finally” you sighed as you saw the bright and playful yellow sign of the ‘Development Studio’ down the hall. Some boxes with fabrics, metal scrap and other things like cleaning stuff stood to the left and right of the huge metal entrance doors.

It had taken you quite a while to find the studio, which was located on the first floor of U.A. High’s main building. You had wandered around for a long time, getting more and more frustrated by the second after All Might had sent you off to find the office on your own. It was your first “real” day at U.A. and you were already missing class to go deal with your hero costume. ‘Pfff priorities’ you thought to yourself looking at the metal doors.

‘Let’s just get this over with’ you thought to yourself, looking down at the grey suitcase with green numbers on it, your number.

All Might had explained that everyone in class 1-A would receive a suitcase like yours, they were all numbered from 1 to 21, suitcase number “1” belonging to the first person of the class in alphabetical order.

As you were eyeing your suitcase, your thoughts started to drift off. You were the only one who hadn’t put in the effort to fill out the hero costume form. What if the costume they had made for you was absolutely dreadful?

The longer you thought about it, the more you wanted to facepalm yourself, what if they had put you in some kind of princess dress? You would have been forced to seriously defeat villains wearing something silly like that. Those pictures in your mind were terrifying and you fiercely shook your head to get rid of them before they scar your memory forever.

You took in a deep breath and focused yourself before you knocked on the door, hoping the man who managed the place wouldn’t be too mad about your tardiness due to your lack of orientation.

Loud rumbling was heard in the workshop followed by a muffled cry and a dull thud, which made you flinch and raise one eyebrow.

“Hello? Is everything okay in there? I’m coming in.” you said hesitantly after a small pause, entering the studio carefully, your body on high alert just like your eyes. You were on the lookout for any unusual signs that fit the noises from before.

As you walked into the studio you scanned the room for the person whos cry you had heard, but what you saw had your mouth agape.

The studio was filled with different tools laying on tables or hanging neatly at their designated place on the walls. Wooden planks, metal scrap, fabrics, everything was spread out over the different tables or put away in boxes. There were mannequins, some naked, others wearing some prototypes of suits or gadgets standing to the left. Different shelves were holding boxes of material, finished products or rolled up drafts.

You were standing in the middle of some crazy genius engineer’s workshop, there was just so much to see, chains hanging from the ceiling, a glass window which displayed some mannequin with a suit getting fried by a laser and cut by a chainsaw and there was a whole wall of monitors on your right. But the most interesting view of this place was the shirtless guy with a yellow helmet in the shape of a rectangular excavator claw, which was covering his head and most of his face.

‘What a weird and overdramatic jaw-guard’ you thought to yourself as you took in every detail of the short and skinny man, who was laying in a pile of boxes and gadgets.

You came to a halt right in front of the man, eyeing him warily as you held out your hand towards him.

“Looks like you could use a hand,” you said with a small smirk but still cautious of the unknown person with the strange helmet.

“Ah, thanks! You arrived just at the right moment.” he chuckled as he gladly took your hand.

You knew you had small hands but when the stranger took ahold of your it felt like your hand was miniature sized. You also noticed weird orange “L” shaped pieces at the end of his fingers. His hands had you staring, slightly tilting your head as if that would give you any answers to those claw-like fingers.

“You must be (y/n) (l/n) then, I am Higari Maijima also known as Power Loader. All Might told me that you would pay me a visit at some point today. So, what can I do for you?” he said in a kind voice, signaling you to come sit down at the second chair in front of the monitors.

“Nice to meet ya, I don’t know if All Might told you why I am here but apparently my heroine costume is in desperate need of some updates,” you said with a hint of sarcasm as you looked down at your suitcase.

“Oh, I got you! You aren’t happy with your design and how it turned out. Well, let’s see.” he said while turning towards his keyboard, his fingers were flying over the keys which seemed to be bigger than the average size.

He opened up some files and dragged them into some kind of program, not even a minute later a virtual you popped up on the screen wearing a short black jumpsuit.

“Wow” was all you could manage to say as you ogled the virtual you.

“Hm, that is a pretty plain costume, what is it that you don’t like about it?” Power Loader asked you as he opened up some more files about your requests and body measurements.

“Well, this is actually the first time I see the suit myself. Honestly, I expected worse from what All Might told me,” you said pulling down the corners of your mouth as you shrugged your shoulders. You were genuinely impressed by the outcome of your costume, they had taken pretty much everything you had written on your form into account, which wasn’t a lot. You had requested the colors black, red and turquoise and that you wanted to keep your combat boots. The finished product was a black short jumpsuit without sleeves with a high neck. It showed some skin on the sides, leaving your ribs bare.

Most of your costume was in black but an ordinary jumpsuit like that wasn’t fit for a heroine, which is why they worked with some pretty detailing in red and turquoise. Your shoulders had some red elements just like your thighs. You were also given some high knee socks and some long gloves in black with the difference that they had turquoise detailing on the ends. All in all your hero costume looked sharp.

“Wait, if you haven’t seen it before, why do you want to change it?” Power Loader interrupted your analyzation of the outfit.

“As a matter of fact, I never designed my costume. See?” you said pointing at one of the monitors which displayed your submission form.

“I honestly never really thought about it because I don’t even know how I can use my quirk to the fullest, I don’t know what would benefit my powers in the slightest. So, I just wrote down my measurements and the colors I wanted and et voilà!” you said pointing at the virtual you in hero costume.

“You see, All Might told me that I should talk to you about my quirk and possible gadgets. He said you would be the only person who would be able to create a getup, that would suit me and my powers perfectly,” you said expectantly while glancing at the pro hero next to you out of the corner of your eye.

“Think you’re up for the challenge?” you added with a devilish smirk, knowing exactly which buttons to press to motivate the engineer next to you.

“Let’s get to work!” was all he said excitingly rubbing his hands together as he rapidly typed on his keypad.

“Okay, tell me about your quirk, fighting style and preferences and let me do the magic,” he said and even though you couldn’t really see his face, you were damn sure that he had the same stupid smile on his face as you.

“So, I have a copy quirk ergo I need an all-rounder suit, it needs to be flexible and withstand all kinds of situations.”

“Copy that, what about protectors?”

“Ohhh, give me some knees and elbows to kill!”

“Some... what?”

“Those protection thingies!”

“Those?” he asked you pointing at some pentagon-shaped knee protectors in silver.

“YES, but make them sharper!”

“Okay... what about your fighting style?”

“Hm, I am a kickboxer so maybe something for my knuckles, wrists, and feet?”

“I can strengthen the fabric of your gloves around your wrist and give you some knuckle protectors. I would sew it into the glove, so you could break bones and still look stylish?”

“Yes, let’s do that! What about my shoes though? I really want to keep my lucky boots!”

“Don’t worry, I can work with your boots, no need to change them. You would have to leave them here for a while but I can pimp them up with some iron soles and shines that can act as armor. How does that sound?”

“Sounds like a damn awesome hero outfit to me!” you said approvingly of the upgrades with a big smile. That was a hero costume you could get behind and kick some ass with!

“Okay great! I think I actually have some prototypes of those knee protectors you want, well some similar looking ones. Give me a second.” Power Loader said looking through the pile of boxes and gadgets he had been laying in minutes ago.

“Found them! Here,” he said, giving you a pair of plain silver looking knee protectors.

“From what All Might told me, you will be needing them this afternoon, just bring me your combat boots after you finished your first basic hero training. Who knows, maybe you come up with some more changes to your costume after practice.” Power Loader said giving you a gentle smile, which didn’t really suit his intimidating aura.

“Alrighty then! See you after I kicked some ass in my prototype suit! Bye!” you flashed him a quick grin and raised your hand goodbye as you skipped out of the development studio.

As you looked at the clock hanging in the hallway on your way to class your eyes widened in shock! It was already lunch break! You had literally missed all your core classes dealing with this problem. ‘How is that even possible?’ you asked yourself as you hurried to the cafeteria. It didn’t feel like you had been talking for so long and upgrading your hero costume didn’t take too long either, or did it? You apparently had lost your sense of time completely, there was no other explanation for this.

“Better hurry before I run out of time to eat lunch!” you mumbled to yourself as you searched for the cafeteria, where your pink-alien friend was already waiting for you. You couldn’t wait to get some food into your stomach before basic hero training started, ‘oh boy, will they flip if they find out who our teacher will be!’ you grinned to yourself stupidly.

<– previous Chapter | next Chapter –>

[cyclone-rachel]

pay the asking price

a Supergirl fanfic

chapter 8: read on AO3 here

previous chapters: 1 // 2 // 3 // 4 // 5 // 6 // 7

~

It took too long for Kara to notice.

She just assumed (and nobody told her otherwise) that he was caught up in work- either the assignments James was giving him or the stuff Winn had involved him in at the DEO, Brainy was doing both, and he’d assured her they would be done to the best of his abilities.

Which was to say, impeccably. Especially as he assured Kara and the others that none of his work would affect the timeline significantly, which was a burden off of his shoulders once he’d finished calculating those odds. She was sure, now, that he was much happier, set at ease knowing he wouldn’t cause a major paradox continuing to do what he was good at… but when Alex had asked if anyone wanted to go with her to the alien bar, Kara and Winn had agreed. Brainy, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen, and the simple fact that it’d taken this long for Kara to feel uneasy about it worried her.

Suddenly, she couldn’t stomach any more of what she’d been drinking, and when Winn asked her if she wanted to finish up his chicken wings (that may or may not have actually been chicken, she’d enjoyed the look on his face when she’d questioned it too much for her to confirm), she refused.

“Turning away food? That’s not like you.” He commented. “Oh well.”

He continued eating them anyway, and Kara barely focused on how James and Winn’s hands brushed when James went to get one of Winn’s wings (or for that matter, the looks they’d given each other when Kara had dismissed Guardian). Nor did she really notice Alex and Maggie, and how unsteady and tense Alex looked while talking to her, in contrast to how enamored of her Alex had seemed after she had come out to Kara.

“You okay?” she managed to ask, once Alex came back to sit down next to her.

“Yeah, I’m good.” Alex answered.

(which meant Kara was almost certainly going to have to stop by Alex’s apartment with her version of comfort food later)

“So…” she continued. “Where’s Brainy? I mean, we work in the same building half the time and even I haven’t been able to track him down yet.”

“I don’t know.” Kara answered. “I was just wondering the same thing, actually. He could always be working.”

“I didn’t give him anything new today, don’t blame me.” James cut in. “In fact, I haven’t seen him since yesterday.”

“Me neither.” Winn answered. “We were supposed to train, but- well, guess we have to reschedule that.”

“Well, maybe we don’t need to worry at all.” Kara said. “He could just be having fun on Earth, now that he has an image inducer. He might’ve met someone; we don’t know…”

~ Querl was still shaking when he came to, and found himself (unsurprisingly) in a small prison cell.

“If you could just tell me why I’m here, I- I promise it will be a good conversation starter.” He said. He was leaned against the corner of the cell, arms against the metal bars, and when he looked down at himself, he realized he was still wearing the clothes he’d had when he was captured.

And that his image inducer was off. Which was definitely a problem- but when he touched it, or attempted to mentally activate it, it wouldn’t turn on again.

“Very well, I give up.” He continued. He didn’t know why he was talking- perhaps it made his tremors seem less worrying, or temporarily quieted the anxiety he was feeling trapped in here. Of course, he knew what it felt like to wake up in prison (he’d done too much of it) but this was a kidnapping, in an unfamiliar time, when there were very few people who even cared about his wellbeing enough to know that his being captured was a possibility.

So, he reasoned, nobody could blame him for being nervous.

“What is- what’s your favorite baseball team?” he asked. “A friend of mine was trying to teach me about sports in this century. I tried to tell him that one of my other friends was an Olympic athlete, but he seemed very confused when it came to the actual sporting events he competed in. Baseball is the one with the… the hoop, and the tall people bouncing the ball, correct? Perhaps he gave me misinformation on that front.”

The guard walked past his cell, either unable to hear him or unwilling to engage in conversation.

“Oh, a ring!” he said. “I suppose one of you would be married. It seems unlikely, given the behavior you engaged in when you brought me here, however, you have been successful in dating endeavors, which I will have to say is admirable. Even for someone who belongs to an organization such as yours. I do, however, express sympathy for whoever married you...”

That caused the guard to turn around, drawing a gun and pointing it at Querl.

“Don’t think you’re so important I won’t shoot you.” He said.

“Well, that would be a relief, from staring at your ugly face.” Querl answered, shooting up suddenly to try and grab the gun. His own ring was gone, and that was a loss that ached inside of him- that ring was so important to him, so costly, it was one of his only creations that was a complete success, it had enabled so many Legionnaires to save countless lives- but he could figure out how to get it back.

Of course he would.

Right now, however, he was occupied with getting the gun away from the guard and reaching through the bars to take his keys, using them to unlock his cell. Then, after checking to make sure his ring wasn’t in that room (which it was not) he ran.

But of course, his captors wouldn’t let him go so easily, and while he tried to unlock the second barred door he’d seen, thanking whoever was listening that his shaking had slowed, people suddenly came out of a side door to block his way back to the other room.

“Leaving so soon?” asked the woman whose voice he’d heard when he was captured. She didn’t look like- she truly hardly resembled the person she had reminded him of, but her voice still sent a chill down his spine.

Her compatriots, however, were carrying someone familiar to him.

“J’onn?” he asked.

“Brainy, get out of here.” J’onn said, while two other guards held him back.

“If you want your friend to live, I suggest you don’t listen to him and stand down.” The woman answered, unfazed.

“Don’t listen to her, run!”

One of the guards punched J’onn in the face, and he went down, as Querl shouted in protest- and although Querl knew he was strong enough to take everyone else there out and carry J’onn to safety, he suspected he would learn more about what was going on if he complied, for the moment.

And, for that matter, he would get his ring, if he stayed and was rescued, which was a likely possibility and reward enough.

“Okay. Okay!” he said, putting his hands up and dropping the key he had been holding. J’onn lay on the ground, still, in pain.

“Now that’s a good choice.” The woman said, and Querl’s world slipped into darkness once more.

~ “NCPD has Guardian pinned down near the wharf. They just called for backup.” Kara heard Alex say while she was patrolling the city. As much as Kara drew her power from the sun, she did like flying at night, too- it was nice to see all the lights, be reminded that each belonged to someone who she might’ve saved. Someone she would try to save, anyway. Each one gave her hope, motivated her to continue on even when things seemed dark.

“I’m on it.”

And that would’ve been all well and good- except for the sharp sound that assaulted Kara’s ears, knocking her off-balance.

But she regained her focus, hovering in the air with her hands over her ears, enough to hear the message she was getting.

“Hello, Kryptonian.” The woman said. To Kara, her voice was all too familiar, and all thoughts of Guardian were suddenly much less urgent.

“Cadmus.”

“Got it in one.” She answered. “And do you know why we call ourselves that? Cadmus was the very first Greek hero.”

“If you think you’re a hero, you’re crazier than I thought.”

“I’m inviting you over.” She didn’t bother to counter Kara’s accusation, which only supported her point. “We already have a guest waiting for you. Your Coluan friend. But, if you tell anyone where you’re headed, he dies. If you refuse to come, he dies. Come to me, Supergirl. But I should warn you. In the myths, Cadmus was really only famous for one thing: He killed monsters.”

Kara knew she was calling her a monster, and Cadmus- the organization- would treat her accordingly, but… what choice did she have? She had to save Brainy.

She sped off, in the sound of her voice, crashing through the window of what had to be the Cadmus building. She did (what she, at least, considered) a pretty impressive landing, and proceeded through the building, apparently without any obstacles in her way.

It didn’t seem like Cadmus- not until she met who she now knew to be the real Hank Henshaw (or Cyborg-Superman, as he referred to himself- an absurd name, but said with conviction). Who now worked for Cadmus, dedicated to ending alien life on Earth.

Martian or not, he was strong enough to fight her to a standstill. And she hoped, as she succumbed to unconsciousness, that Brainy would be alive when (if) she woke up. ~ When Kara woke up, breathing heavily, she saw metal bars above her.

They were in front of her, too, and on both sides- and to her right…

“Oh. Brainy.” She said, relief in her voice.

“Kara. Are you okay?”

Kara barely nodded.

“Now I know how bad guys feel when I pummel them.” She said. “I mean, I’ve been pummeled before, but… not like this.”

She stared at the ceiling- it didn’t quite feel like it was going to cave in on her, but it still wasn’t the most comfortable place she’d ever been in, and all she wished was that she’d been just a little bit stronger, that she was able to defeat Hank and get Brainy out with no obstacles in her way.

But even she had her limits, and she knew one way or another- or at least she hoped- that she’d make sure Brainy would be safe again, back in the DEO until he could find a way to his real home.

“So yeah, I’m okay.” Kara continued, before standing up to examine her cell. There was green light around her, which automatically made her feel uneasy, even if it wasn’t actually Kryptonite.

“They captured J’onn, too.” Brainy said.

“That wasn’t J’onn. Remember I once told you, J’onn assumed the identity of a human?”

“Yes. So… this was Hank Henshaw, that I met- and J’onn is still safe.”

“Yeah. That’s the human. Only they enhanced him, somehow.”

“Yes, I could tell.” Brainy answered. “Although I did not realize it until after I was imprisoned here, but before you arrived.”

“Sorry.” Kara said, before trying to bend the bars of her cell. She tried her hardest, but… nothing.

“The bars are made of Nth-metal, from Thanagar.” Brainy pointed out, as she was groaning from the effort, face scrunching up as she attempted to move them. “They’re unbreakable.”

And I should know.

“You know, Nth-metal is also one of the substances with which I built my Legion ring.” Brainy continued. “And the rings belonging to the rest of the Legion.”

“Congratulations.” Kara answered. “Seriously, that’s… that’s great. But you don’t have your ring, do you? Can you… summon it, or whatever, and use it to break the bars?”

“No.” he said. “I designed them with the intent that the wearer wouldn’t be separated from them. But… I will consider that.”

“Thanks. But we still need to find another way to get your ring back, so if you have any ideas…”

“Funny story- no, not funny at all, but Winn told me that such a phrase is what you use when telling any story, regardless of the humor in it- the last time I was near Thanagar, I-“

I wasn’t myself.

“Brainy?”

“Never mind. A-another time, perhaps.”

“Right.” Kara said.

“So. This is the infamous Cadmus.”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Kara answered, putting a hand to her ear. “They sent me a message. It still kinda hurts, actually.”

“Oh. I apologize.” Brainy said.

“Not your fault.” Kara told him. “Besides, I think they kidnapped you to get to me.”

“In that case, I definitely apologize.”

“It’s okay. Now that we’re here… if we get through this in one piece, we can learn about what they really want, and who’s behind it all.”

“What they want, besides wiping aliens off the face of the Earth?”

Kara almost wanted to laugh, at how casual he made it sound.

“I have encountered groups like this before. I understand.” He said.

“In that case, yeah. Exactly that.”

Who else have you faced? she wondered. What kinds of things have you gone through?

Are you okay?

Those questions would have to wait. Especially until they were in a safer, and lighter, place.

~ “Supergirl!”

Kara and Brainy looked up immediately, watching the woman who’d given Kara her message, the woman who kidnapped Brainy. She strode in, attention on Kara.

“I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”

“I’ve seen you before.” Kara said, holding the bars of her cell to make sure she was still steady. “In Lena Luthor’s office. What were you doing there?”

“I might ask you the same.” She answered. “I don’t like the idea of you around my daughter.”

Lillian Luthor, Querl thought. Of course. Wife of Lionel Luthor, mother of Lex, stepmother of Lena- though at this point, she is unaware of such…

No wonder he felt uneasy around her. And, for that matter, why she was familiar to him- although there was still someone else she resembled, who wasn’t part of that family line at all.

“You’re Lillian Luthor.” Kara breathed, coming to the same conclusion. “Lex and Lena’s mother.”

“I’m a lot of things.” Lillian answered. “A doctor, a patriot, a mother.”

“A liar, a kidnapper, a killer… does Lena know about Cadmus? Does she know who her mother really is?”

“And what are you to my daughter?” Lillian said, in a dangerous tone of voice.

Querl could only watch, as Kara and Lillian battled verbally, but he knew as he did that there was no moment where he admired Kara more, than when she was standing up to her.

(Perhaps there were others- but right then, when Lillian had all the power in the situation and Kara was in a cage, she hadn’t sounded stronger or spoken with more conviction.

At least, not in situations where Querl could hear her)

“I’m a friend.” Kara said.

“Heard that before.” Lillian answered. “Years ago, Superman came to my son Lex, and promised him the world. A new dawn for mankind… Lex believed him, poor thing.”

Lies.

“Then he watched.” Lillian continued, walking around the cell, leaning forward with her hands on the bars, glaring at Kara. “As your kinsman infected this country with his propaganda, as his power became unchecked. And when Lex tried to take that power back, Superman convinced the world Lex was evil.”

He is.

“My darling boy.” Lillian lamented, shaking her head just a little. “My genius son, an actual Superman, behind bars for life. Because you and your kind will stop at nothing to poison the Earth.”

Querl and Kara were both standing now, watching her, and Kara stood further away from Lillian as she answered her.

“You’re out of your mind.”

“We’ll agree to disagree.” Lillian said, taking one hand off of the bar, then moving away from it entirely, walking back around to the front of the cell.

“So what am I doing here?”

“I need something from you. I need you to be human, for a little while. I know from your fight with Red Tornado when you expel enough heat vision, you deplete the solar radiation in your cells, leaving you as helpless as any mere mortal.”

Any Kryptonian, Kara itched to correct her, as her hand tightened around one of the cell bars. And that is nothing to be ashamed of.

But she wouldn’t let Lillian get that satisfaction, she decided as she watched one of Lillian’s guards bring something to her.

“I’ve designed this helmet to absorb the radiation.”

“You want me to solar-flare.” Kara said. “That’s never gonna happen.”

“I can’t hurt you.” Lillian answered, taking a taser out of one of her guards’ pockets. “But I can hurt him.”

She aimed the taser at Querl, and instantly he fell back- there was the pain again, what he felt when her agents knocked him out and brought him there in the first place.

It wasn’t enough to make him unconscious, but perhaps that was a curse rather than a blessing in that case.

“We’ve been studying your friend.” Lillian said. “And I’ve been studying Lex’s notes, regarding another alien he worked with- another traitor, named Brainiac. Both are powerful, but their internal systems are particularly susceptible to these weapons. Say you’ll do it, and I’ll let him live. Or I can just hit him again, in his heart-“

“No, no, okay, okay, I’ll do it, stop!” Kara protested. Querl stared up at her, grateful but mostly worried.

“Please. Don’t.”

“I’m not gonna let you die.” Kara insisted, before walking over to the door of the cell. “Give me the helmet.”

The guards escorted Kara out of the cell, then, and Lillian placed the helmet on Kara’s head with all the grace of someone bestowing a crown upon their queen.

Or a Kryptonite crown, given to a king of weaklings…

But this was different. Kara was giving up her power, willingly, for him. And this time, he would see to it that she survived for the foreseeable future, as long as she had to.

I’m revising my previous thought, he considered as he watched her solar-flare. This is the most admirable thing I’ve ever witnessed from Kara.

She didn’t scream, at first. She started to breathe heavily, and the lights flickered on and off as Lillian smirked, lightbulbs beginning to pop as Kara expended more and more of her heat vision. But eventually she did, letting out a final yell, head raised as she let out the last of her energy before she collapsed.

One of the guards took the helmet off, and she fell, but she was still conscious. Lillian lifted her up, holding her as she was on her knees, struggling to get away from her.

“Thank you.” Lillian said. Then she slapped Kara, pulling her up again and holding her chin in one of her hands as she saw that she’d made Kara’s lip bleed.

“Well!” she announced, touching the blood and rubbing it between her fingers. “It worked.”

She nodded at the guards.

“Take her.” She said, and Kara was dragged out of the room.

“Supergirl!” Querl said, trying to pull himself up- but he was too shaky, still. “SUPERGIRL!”

~ “What are you gonna do with me?” Kara asked, mind still foggy. She couldn’t tell where she was going, or how she was moving at all. But when she was conscious again, she was being strapped to a table like in all the nightmares she’d had when she was first on Earth (brought on by Jeremiah, really, telling her what people could do to her once they found out she was an alien), a huge lamp that was nothing like the sun shining down on her. “What are you doing? She was supposed to save Brainy. That was our deal! Where is she?”

“I suggest you relax.” Lillian said, a black mask over the lower part of her face. She held a large needle, which Kara had never been afraid of before- but with this atmosphere, reminiscent of the horror movies Alex liked to watch, she was starting to be. “It’ll all be over soon.”

Kara began breathing rapidly, again, as Lillian’s needle approached, going into her arm.

“W-why do you need my blood?”

~

Before she knew it, it was over, and Kara was being dragged back into her cell beside Brainy.

Someone shoved her, and she was slammed against the cell wall, falling back and hitting the ground roughly as the door was shut.

“Kara. What did they do to you?”

“They took my blood.” She said, crawling over to where he sat, and pulling herself up so she could sit beside him. Almost like they were in the same cell- separated by only a few inches, and some Nth metal.

“And?”

“And… that was it.” Kara answered as she leaned back.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m scared.” She admitted. “Brainy… Querl, if something happens, if I don’t get out of here, I need you to tell Alex something for me.”

“Anything.”

“I need you to tell her to just… keep living her life, on her own terms. Tell her I wasn’t scared, okay?”

Querl nodded.

“If I don’t make it out and you do, you’re welcome to tell her I was not scared either.” He said. “Although in this case, it is logical to be afraid.”

“Thanks, that’s very comforting.” Kara said.

“Right.” Querl answered. “But I just keep thinking… if I die in this cell, maybe I deserve to.”

Because of my family. Because of my own history with cells just like these, on planets dedicated to holding criminals, because of what I once did, because I can’t tell you the real reason I���m here-

Because I can’t tell you any of this, either.

“You don’t deserve to die.” Kara answered immediately, fiercely. “You deserve to survive. You’re a Legionnaire. Clark said that, you’re a hero. And you don’t believe that yourself?”

“Kara, about that, there’s something I have to tell you-“

But right then, Kara’s cell opened.

“Come with me.” Beckoned a figure in a black jacket, hood over his head.

“Who are you?”

He took the hood off, and Kara stared.

“Kara.” He said. “It’s me.”

“Jeremiah.” She whispered. “I can’t believe it…”

She launched herself forward, hugging him, and he held her just as tight.

“We have to move.” He said, and moved to unlock Querl’s cell.

But by then, Querl had fallen unconscious again, and when the door was open, he slumped onto the floor.

“Oh my god, Brainy.”

~

“He’s going to be fine, he’s already recovering from the taser.” Jeremiah said.

“We should’ve found you sooner.” Kara answered. “But Brainy needs to get his ring, it should be somewhere around here.”

Jeremiah smiled, and pulled it out of his pocket.

“Thought this looked special.” He said. “Like something your cousin showed me once.”

Kara nodded.

“Yeah, he and Brainy worked together.” she said, sliding it onto one of Brainy’s fingers, holding his hand to keep the ring from being shaken off.

“Got it. But you finding me sooner doesn’t matter now- you were off saving the world. And I am so proud of who you’ve become.”

Kara smiled, blinking away tears.

“But… but Alex, when she sees you, she’s- she’s had to be so strong, she took over everything.”

“She’s always been too strong for her own good.” Jeremiah said. “Brainy, are you able to get up?”

“I- I should.” Querl answered, making sure his systems were functioning properly. “Leaving is an urgent matter. Thank you.”

Alarms started to sound, and Jeremiah pulled his hood back on as Kara helped Querl to his feet.

“We’re out of time.”

~

“Go down this hallway.” Jeremiah directed Kara and Querl, as the three of them proceeded together. Kara was helping Querl walk, but he was all too grateful. “There’s an escape at the end.”

“No, I’m not leaving you. I’m not losing you again.” Kara insisted.

“Kara, I’ll be fine.” Jeremiah said, unlocking the door Querl tried to escape out of. It opened, and Jeremiah gently pushed Kara and Querl ahead of him.

“Please, just go. I’ll slow them down.”

Kara must’ve looked doubtful, because Jeremiah continued.

“I’ve been here fifteen years. I’ll survive a little longer.”

“If I leave you here, Alex will never forgive me.” She said.

“Kara, if you die here, there’ll be no one to forgive.”

Querl could hardly imagine what Kara was feeling right now. To have a father who was willing to risk his life, to save his daughter and someone he didn’t know… he couldn’t put himself in such a situation. But such a decision clearly pained her, and she rushed into Jeremiah’s arms again, for one last hug.

“I love you.” She said, holding him tighter than the last time, not willing to let go so soon.

“I love you too.” Jeremiah answered. “Now go. Go!”

Querl could still see the tears in Kara’s eyes as he led her away, and when both of them looked back (there was a story about that, right? Someone who lost their love, in an attempt to lead them home from the darkest of places? He would have to find it, once he and Kara got out, it could be a comfort in some way), Jeremiah was gone.

Kara and Querl ran, then, escaping from Cadmus headquarters to the sound of gunfire behind them, and not daring to look back again.

~

“Oh my god, I just heard.” Alex said, rushing into the med bay. Querl was being checked over and Kara’s yellow sun lamps were still on, healing her and making sure her cells were replenished, but Kara had enough energy to sit up and greet her sister. “I had no idea Cadmus took you-“

“Alex.”

“I should’ve been there-“

“Alex. Alex, Jeremiah helped us escape.”

Alex could only stare.

“You saw Dad?”

“Yeah. And I know where he is.”

~

Querl sat on Kara’s couch, after he was approved to leave the DEO, with Kara by his side, making sure he could rest and properly heal all of his systems. And, with that comfort (by Kara’s insistence) came comfort food, as Winn and James and Alex arrived at Kara’s apartment bearing boxes of pizza and bags of something that hopefully tasted as good as it smelled.

“You guys survived Cadmus, the least we can do is bring you pizza and potstickers.” James said, as the food was laid on Kara’s table.

Alex took one container out of a bag, and presented it to Kara.

“I’m sorry, they’re… cold.” She said.

“That’s okay!” Kara answered, using heat vision on them. “Not anymore.”

“Aw yeah, she got her powers back!” Winn cheered.

Kara remained standing, and the others gathered around the TV, as the news reported Guardian being cleared of all charges in the wake of a recent arrest.

National City’s New Hero, he was being proclaimed as, and Kara realized she’d missed all of that- well. She didn’t know how much real news there was, when it came to Guardian. She had no idea what was going on with him, what his deal was- if he was anything like Clark’s vigilante friend/enemy, a lot.

But she would figure out what to do about Guardian later. And who knew? Maybe the city was big enough for two heroes. Maybe, even, they could be stronger together.

It would certainly take some of the load off her. The question was, though- would Guardian agree?

“Alright, I admit it, I’m glad Guardian was there to help you out.” Kara said.

“Hate to say I told you so…”

“No, you love saying that.” Kara insisted. James didn’t look fazed, as Alex and Winn exchanged glances.

“Still want to know who’s under that mask, though…”

“Oh, I’m sure he’ll reveal himself soon enough.” Alex said, before turning away. Winn and James followed her, and Kara sat down on the couch beside Querl.

She offered him a potsticker, and he eagerly took it.

“Oh, yes. Thank you.” He said, before eating.

“It’s good to be home.”

“You didn’t find our adjoining cells cozy?” Querl asked.

Kara didn’t answer.

“You were really brave, Querl.” She said. “I mean, I knew that. But…”

“To tell you the truth, I was still scared.”

“You can still be scared, while being brave.” Kara continued, after eating another potsticker. “That’s what makes you a hero.”

“Well…” Querl started. “Any courage I do have, I learned from you.”

Kara gave him a soft smile, before Winn drew her attention away.

“Kara! Hey, Alex said the oven’s taking too long, she needs your help heating up the pizza-“

Winn pointed to his eyes, as though he had heat vision himself, mimicking the effect.

“Yup.” Kara said, getting up from the couch and handing Querl the container. “A superhero’s work is never done.”

Querl looked up at the scene around him- Kara by the sink, laughing with Alex, Winn and James sitting down with drinks in their hands, ready to go for another round.

After so much darkness, being trapped with no hope, this apartment felt like heaven. Or, generally, somewhere he didn’t deserve to be… but they’d let him in, anyway.

This was his life, his new home away from the Legion, with these people who were starting to consider him a friend.

And, for the moment, he didn’t need anything else.

“Winn, pass me one of those?” he gestured at the bottle, and Winn gave him one, which he opened with ease.

He drank to having friends in two millennia. To who he now knew was Kara’s Earth father, who may have given his life for Querl’s safety. To this food, which he knew he was enjoying. And to Kara, his hero.

Yes, this was more than enough for him.

[cuthie]

Omru: Talk Talk Talk

Dripping.

  Vul’dun was a hot desert often frequented by raging sandstorms. The heat could be downright oppressive and water a scarce resource. So when Omru came to, the sound of dripping water was almost alien to his large vulpine ears. Slowly he brought his hands to his eyes, wiping the crud sleep had gathered along his lashes.

Drip, drip-drip, drip.

  Om groaned as he sat up, his eyes adjusting to the dim light. Beneath him was a thin blanket atop a smooth stone. The air was relatively warm and along the walls were torches being held by small earthen sconces. He was inside a cave, that much was certain, though not one he was familiar with. In the corner was a very small shallow pool, and what was interesting was that water seemed to drip down only above the puddle and nowhere else. Near the water was an odd red metal object, drilled into the stone itself. The drill had a flickering blue light that seemed to match the rhythm of the dripping droplets.

Blink blink blink, drip drip drip.

  Light flickered at the opposite end of the cave as a hooded figure passed before a torch, revealing an exit Om hadn’t initially seen. A trick of the stone, it only looked to be a solid room, the far cavern wall blending into what looked like a stone hallway. This hooded figure began to sing in the most off key croaking sounds Omru had ever heard.

“Oh wella wella wella woop, tell me mo’, tell me mo’, how much dough did he spend?”

  Omru snarled his muzzle, “If you’re gonna kill me, then kill me quickly. I can’t bare this kinda torture a moment longer.” The hooded figure stepped into the torchlight, revealing himself to be an odd furless bipedal creature.. Like a troll but not quite, Vulperine in size,and ugly as sin.

“Ey, I been nurturin’ yous back ta life with these songs. Fuggin kids today don’t appreciate nothin, I tell ya. Anyways, welcome back to tha land of tha livin’. We diden getta meet proper last time, on account of yous was seducin’ rocks with them pipes. I’m jelly, ta tell ya true. At’s a gift, kid, but damn if I ain’t all befuddled tryin ta figure out what that’s gotta do wit’ shamanism. And I’m sure you gots questions too, so let’s have a nice chat. Whaddaya say? Tha name’s Pazaz. Pazaz Nunya Bidniz, proud member of the Earthen Ring and.. Kindy sorta semi ashamed member of the notorious Horde. Heh.”

  Omru’s big bright orange eyes blinked in mild disbelief. He wasn’t really up and up on his history, but Horde sounded like a familiar word. What really struck his interest was this green ball of hot air’s funky way of talking. Of course, trading tales and exchanging information was a way of life out in the desert, often a profitable one. Still, this guy had saved his life, so Om wasn’t withholding. “Omru. I kind of remember you. I’ll be honest, waking up, I kind of thought I had just dreamt you into creation. Sooo, what happened and where are we?”

“Omru what? No last name?”

“Nah. Having more than one name just sounds complicated. I’ve heard of a few, though.”

  Paz shrugged, “Cool. Okay, so, I came here ta Sargeras’s butthole on a super secret mission. Recruitin good guys to fix the world’s problems. Ain’t secret no mo’s, is it? Aha! Along the way, I saw that a buncha you fox folks was all chained up and/or enslaved. Slavery is uh.. We had it back in Kezan, former island paradise of my peoples the Goblins. I had a few myself, but I done learnt the errors of my ways, yeah? So I went about settin yous all free. Ain’t that sweet’a me? You remember that bit, for sure. I smashed them shackles right offa yous, then ya summoned an elemental to smash them slavers into snake dust. You passed out, ya babysitter picked ya up, and I lead you and about a dozen more Vulpera out ta safety. The Horde’s got the rest of your friends.. Or family or whatever. I kept you, though. Even built up these lil digs. I ain’t the best healer, but it got the job done. Your turn, tell me about the rock monster you employed.”

  Omru’s eyes darted from corner to corner in the room as he absorbed the story. Sargeras? Probably a religious figure. Goblins. That sounded familiar, right? He had heard of them before. Probably. He scratched at the back of his neck, his shoulders feeling stiff as he did. In response, he hopped up off the ‘table’ and stretched out. For a moment he just patted himself down, checking that all of his parts were there, then curled his tail to his arm for inspection. Everything seemed fine. Better than when he was chained up for sure. Hm. “So. You saved me, thanks, I owe you. Rock monster, huh? Yeah, she came in handy. I’ll be honest, not too sure how it all works. Just something I found a few months ago. Not Rocky, but the totem on the rawhide. That was my second time using it, glad it worked. Now, you said you kept me here instead of leaving me with the rest at the Horde camp. Why?”

  Pazaz picked at his nose with his pinky finger, then flicked the booger towards a wall to let it stick. “Found it. That don’t sound right.”

  Omru cringed. Ugh, what a dirty little bastard. He took a second to shake the image from his head, “Well, that’s the truth. I find lots of things. Not all of them summon stone guardians though. That’s why it’s my most prized possession.”

Paz exhaled, “So you don’t know nothin ‘bout shamanism?”

“I know it’s a thing that a couple troll tribes do to talk to ghosts, trees and bugs.”

Paz rolled his eyes, “That ain’t right, ya numb skull. Ghosts? Sure. Trees? Nah-uh. Bugs? No way. The elements kid. We commune with the whole flippin’ world.”  Shaking his head, he pointed towards the red metal machine dug into the stone near the pool, “That’s my water totem. I’m a shammy extree-fuggin-ordinaire. And that’s why you’re with me instead of the goof troop back in the sand bunker. Horde is uh.. Horde is good people sometimes, but bad people to they’s enemies. I diden want’cha involved with them until I talked to yous first. The Earthen Ring, remember I told ya I work for’em? They’re all shaman. They all got different ways of talkin to the elements, maybe even some of them sing, heh. Me, personally? I write contracts, with a small exception for my favorite breath of fresh air. Anyways, yeah, I’m kinda hopin to recruit yous. You got talent, kid. Not just singin, which was great. Like, dream big, you could make it as an entertainer. But communin’ with the earth the way ya did? It was casual, natural even, right? Folks don’t just pick up a totem and use it. Magic don’t work that way, the elements don’t work that way. So the way I sees it? You got shamanism in ya blood. Or mayhap ya just an elemental bard or some shit and you’s singin is all magickal and whatnot. I dunno, but I think with a couple of years learnin from the Earthen Ring, yous could help repair the planet. Maybe. Shamanism is hard as fel. Anyways, Azeroth needs all the repairs she can get. Whether you know this or not, this bitch is about to flip on it’s back and flat out die. Dead. D.E.D. Dead. You unnastand the words what’re comin outta my mouth?”

  Omru folded his arms over his chest as he stared at the metal totem. It was nothing like his own mystical treasure. His was a small wooden vulpine carving attached to rawhide. This thing was ten to twenty times bigger, metal and blinking. Weird. Shamanism wasn’t a foreign concept, he had seen a shaman or two. Some of the Vulpera even. Honestly though? He had no idea where he would even start with such an offer, but, he did owe this guy. “Uh. I’m getting like every other word. Cultural differences and all that. You want me to be a shaman and meet your friends? That’s- Not in the stars, my friend. Sorry, I just don’t see myself putting on religious garb and becoming best friends with the clouds. I can help in other ways, though. I mean, I owe you my life. Oh and where are we? You didn’t say. Not many sources of water out here.”

  Paz grinned, his sharpened goblin teeth akin to a baby shark’s, do doo do doo do doo, “Shame. It ain’t for everyone, and for all I know, yous got lucky with the necklace. Anyways, far as where we is? We’re only a hop skip anna jump from where I snuck into the Slitherfucks nest to save yous. The pool comes from ocean water, my friend. I got it flowin through the ground, donatin it’s salts to the earth. This shit is clean as a night elf’s moonwell. It’s purity yous can taste. I oughtta bottle it up and write that on tha label, yeah?”

Omru’s eyes widened further, “You can do that?”

“Kid, stick with me and you’ll see that ain’t much ole Paz can’t do.”

“Okay, how? I’m listening, I’m curious to learn.”

  Paz interlocked his fingers together, pushing his hands out until the bones made a light popping noise, “Alright, first one’s free, aha.” Grinning, he walked over to a small leather backpack, taking just a minute to open it and rummage about to eventually pull out a glowing golden scroll, “This here is a contract. They ain’t always so pretty, but I like ta get all fancy. You can’t read it, don’t ask, but I’ll give yous tha jist of it. I made peace witta Water Elemental over in Stranglethorn once upon a when. The Elements, you see, can grant folks boons. Make us all magickal an shit. The mo betta ya elemental friend is, the stronger you get an all that. But they always ask for somethin’ in turn. Some folks take it by force. We call them fat heads and punch’em in tha junk. Anyways, sometimes the elementals want somethin specific, sometimes it’s just a code to follow or a pledged oath. This contract was written up, enchanted and I got that there totem to really help me harness her watery goodness. Like, I could mend some minor flesh wounds wit just a little stream nearby or somethin’. But out here in the desert, I needed to pull out the totem to get a good source flowin. It won’t last forever, but trust me, that’s powerful magic to make that lil puddle. Speakin�� of powerful totems, iffens you ain’t intressed’ in shammin it up in the maelstrom, how bouts you offer me that thing around ya neck and we’ll call us square”

  At the mention of his own totem, Omru pinched the wooden figurine between two furry fingers, “Oh. You, uh, don’t have enough of your own?”

  Paz changed to a more sombering expression, “I can’t just eyeball a totem an know it’s history. I dunno where ya found this thing, but if that elemental is bound to it, that ain’t right. What is you doin for her? Nothin cause ya don’t speak tha lingo. She’s a prisoner, bud. Just like you was.”

  Om slipped the little strap of rawhide over his head, momentarily getting it caught on a large fuzzy ear. “I didn’t know that, sorry. Just.. found a magic item and put it on. Can’t blame a guy for his love of loot, right?” Sighing, he handed the necklace over. He hadn’t had the thing for too long, but twice now that elemental had saved his bacon.

  With no flash or incantation, Paz simply twirled the totem between his fingertips, summoning the earth elemental to his side. The rocky creature was large enough to almost fill the entire little nook, ducking it’s head and forcing the fox boy to take a few steps back. “Heya girl. You’re a good egg, okay? Ya diden hafta save this boy, but ya did. Want me to see yins free?”

  Omru watched as the elemental moved about slowly, as if fidgeting. He couldn’t hear a damn thing, but apparently Paz did.

“Is that so? Yo, Omen, did you find this necklace on somebody’s dead corpse?”

Om’s eyes widened, “What, no! And it’s Omru.”

“Chill, I’m just makin sure tha owner ain’t died. This lady right here belongs to someone named Keyi. Ring any bells?”

Om nodded once, “Yeah, I know a Keyi. She’s a bit of an odd bird.”

  “Good, take me to her when you’re back on ya feet, kay? We’ll get these two reunited.” Paz extended four little greeny wigglying fingers towards the Elemental, who in turn extended a few floating pebbles from what might be a limb? Hands were touched, for the briefest moment, before the elemental was taken back to her home plane.

  Omru just watched the whole scenario, fascinated. “Uh.. Yeah, I can think of a few spots she might be. We don’t exactly have permanent addresses, ya know?”

  Paz shoved his hands in his pockets, “Yeah, I heard that about yous all. Kindy like the Tauren that ways. Oh and you’ll get a kick outta this. Ole gal thought you -was- Keyi. Says all you Vulpera look the same to her. Plus she thought ya singin’ was perty. Cute, huh?”

  Omru smiled at that. It wasn’t the first time he had accidentally wooed someone through song, likely wouldn’t be the last. Heh. “Cute.”

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