#fangs fic

[fic-heaven]

Fangs (Gus x reader)

Chapter 1. Calvary is here.

[Master list]

Slight gore/ s#xual tension

-Your team is assigned to rescue a valuable contact, things take an ugly turn. The annoying tension between you and Ghost had accompanied you for a very long time, long enough to realize there's someone else paying close attention to you.

You dreamt of mangled skin and blood dripping from your mouth.

Even in the darkness of the room you could taste it. You knew it wasn't real but you could still feel it's texture, the smell and the pained screams of Hassan Zyani. You can feel the weight of Soap's stare as he allows you to go wild ripping the terrorist quite literally to shreds with your own hands and tee, your lieutenant and mentor, Ghost, overlooking at the scene with the visor of his MCPR-300 until he decides to break the silence with a dry "target neutralized."

He was meant to take the killing shot.

Ghost was meant to kill Hassan when the terrorist intended to throw a fatally wounded Johnny out the window, but it was you who after making it to the right floor grabbed Hassan throwing him to the side with force dislocating his shoulder in the process, and instead of using your handgun or your knife to give him the quick death you were trained to give, you took a much more personal approach with a crazed look in your eyes. You ended him by ripping his throat open with your teeth.

"Wake up, Hound. Come on."

His blood was everywhere, you were coated in it. Bathed in a pool of red with your turbulent mind darkened by a thin layer of feelings, confusion about what you did, utter rage because of what he had done and what he tried to do to Johnny, a war's baptism.

(Y/n) died on that building and something else took place. A wilder more primal part of that dead woman you used to be awakened within you.

"Hound."

That's how they started calling you since then. The hound, Price's loyal dog. All because you killed that bastard Hassan as if you were an animal sinking your fangs on your prey's neck.

Larger hands shake you awake by your shoulders, your eyes flutter open and you are quick to spot a giant skull mask glaring down at you.

"Mgh... My god, Simon... Can't you wake me with a kiss? Is this how you wake every lady you sleep with?"You joke referring to your quick nap in separate beds.

Your lieutenant gives you a nasty side-eye hiding his amusement while collecting your gear from the floor and throwing it your way. You catch it with a huff then you put it on as you look around the hotel room Laswell had rented for your unit to crash in while you waited for the backup to arrive so you could begin the mission. Ghost then growled "Not happening. Also don't spill your wishes out loud, Sargeant. I don't have t'remind ya that fraternizing with your lieutenant is strictly prohibited." Ghost hoarsely says looking at himself in the mirror from the vanity near the door. He's probably checking on the black paint around his eyes.

"But are we not allowed to get a boner out of thinking 'bout it, sir?"

"Touché." He clicks his tongue.

Ghost will never say it, but he fucking loves when you get this foxy out of nowhere, out of the lot of you, (aside from Johnny) you are the one who appreciates more his dark humour and he adores the way it perfectly fits yours.

You wheeze out a laugh and rush to meet him at the door of your shared room "Come on, LT. To deny our biological needs SHOULDN'T be a prohibition, don't ya think?"

Ghost snorts, you march down the hall, his bulky body eating up most of your field of view.

"Masturbation between teammates could be an amazing bonding exercise! Picture it!"

He gives you a glance "I can picture that alright..."

You smack his back grinning "No, no, but take this seriously. Imagine the captain-"

Ghost abruptly stops when you reach the stairs to the lower floor making you bump against his back, he turns around, slightly lowers himself to your level and carefully takes your hands with his to then lean in weirdly close.

"You just killed the magic with one word." That earned a laugh from you, he continued.

"Listen. Price, Gaz n' Soap are in the other room with the three other operators from SpecGru. Remember what I told ya?"

You sigh and put on your metallic facemask that resembled a dog's growling snout before listing: "Stay professional, keep a low profile and don't talk unless it's needed."

Ghost nods and you fix him a sassy smile under your mask "Since when did you decide to baby me?"

-"Since you ran yer fucking mouth and confirmed the rumours were true-"

-"That only happend once and I was drunk, come on..''

-"Once is all you need for people to keep bringin' up the bloody topic. Now they know for certain it was you and not me who killed Hassan and how you did it." Ghost spat poking your chest with an accusatory finger.

You looked up at him in challenge, he didn't waver but you notice his breaths turning a bit heavy once you got a step closer.

"I can play nice if you want me to." Ghost's response is silence and you speak lowly and careful this time.

"Simon, you know I can take the cold Sargeant role like I was made for it, right? Come on, don't fret, everything will be alright." You are whispering now because you are not dumb, you know the effect you have on Ghost. Your lieutenant has known you for long enough to know you are just toying with him and yet...

"...I know you can." His biological needs haven't been satiated in nearly a year and never by you. His star pupil and closest friend, someone he could trust yet never had intimated with, not in that level at least. As he said, it's strictly prohibited to fraternize.

You slowly nod taking pride on his dilated pupils and slowly move to take the hand he was using to point at your chest lifting it to your face so that he is now covering your mask over your mouth "You have me muzzled, LT. There's nothing I can do but obey. I'll behave like your favorite Sargeant, as always." He shivered but played it off by shoving your face away annoyed, you crackled maliciously.

"You are Insufferable."

_____

-"They had demonized her..."

-"Demonized her!? She ripped a guy's throat with her fucking mouth, Gustavo-"

-"It wasn't just any guy. Also that's rad as fuck, not gonna lie."

-"Reyes you are not helping!"

-"Good! Because I don't intend to help. Befriend the rabid bitch! The crazier the better right? Considering our line of work answer this: What's better? To have a crazy-dangerous ally or a crazy-dangerous foe?"

Nova pursed her lips as Reyes shot her a look that said "period."

Gus forces a tight-lipped smile "That about answers itself, hermano."

Ghost and you had walked to Price's room door where you were supposed to wait for him and the others but apparently the calvary had gotten in beforehand and decided to wait inside. You shared a look of surprise with the lieutenant, he lowly ordered you to wait outside to go in once the rest of the 141 arrived from the hotel's lobby where they were talking with Kate, but you played dumb and opened the door as casually as you could leaving an irritated Ghost following after you.

You two stand there in the now open door, the three operators sitting on the only bed looked up at you like three kids who just got caught doing something they shouldn't.

"Carry on. I love to eavesdrop." You humored.

The three of them looked your age, maybe a bit younger. A black woman with vitiligo, Nova, looked up at you filled with intimidation and weariness, to her left sat a man of pale skin and dark brown hair smiling widely with dark admiration and next to him there was a South American man with black, curly hair under a beret with a big moustache.

Once he saw your eyes lay upon him, the latin straightened his back. His golden eyes lit with recognition until his face contorted to a mix of his fellow partners' expressions. He looked awestruck, his golden orbes held a very noticeable admiration yet you didn't miss the nervous tremble on his hands before he hid them behind him in order to get up from his sitting position. You couldn't tell if he was excited or frightened.

Probably the latter judging by conversation you heard they were having plus your reputation...

"Sargeant Hound-...! My name's Gustavo Rodriguez, Costa Rican operator from SpecGru's private military company at your- at Captain Price's service." He explained, his body going rigid trying to show his respect.

"Gus, right? I saw your file on our way to Manhattan. What's a cop doing in the military?"

He could have very well turned into a tomato the moment he heard you had seen his file, Gus was quick to respond a little louder than before in order to muffle his partner's laughter at this whole interaction.

"I aimed to protect my country from cartel, mi sargento. But with no army where I live, once I turned of age i had to join la Fuerza Pública for five years until I was invited to join Costa Rica's Special Intervention Unit, which is uh... An Elite team tasked with matters of national security and reporting directly to the Minister of the Presidency."

You smiled amused and a little taken aback by his passionate spirit. "Until?"

You knew there was more to the story, after all he wasn't in Costa Rica. He was shoulder deep in the Terrorist shit your own task force was ordered to clean.

Fuck, SpecGru wasn't even supposed to be involved until Laswell magically appeared with the news that these three fools were contracted to help and support your team on this seemingly tedious mission.

-"Until two years ago when SpecGru was founded."

-"An opportunist, are you?"

-"Bueno, I like to say I'm ambitious. For the good of the people, of course... Not to impress your captain with a good CV."

You laughed at this, Gus smiled in delight instantly enamoured with the sound of your laughter.

Five years as a cop plus three in Costa Rica's SIU and two more years in SpecGru considering he entered the academy fast as hell equals twenty six years... How old was this sexy chunk of meat?

-"And how old are you?"

-"Just turned thirty, señorita."

-"Admirable. Happy birthday." You couldn't help but praise.

Your teasing nature quieted down at the presence of a promising lad working along your unit.

Gus smiled softly then, a sigh of relief scaping his plump lips. It felt good to be acknowledged by your idols.

You heard Ghost scoff behind you, Gus' two companions watch him incredulous because of his short (probably prepared) speech.

You ate up his delighted reaction trying to contain the toothy smile from under your facemask and slowly walked closer to him with a curious glint in your eyes and a small swing in your step. Gus didn't move a muscle, looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"What do you specialize in, soldado?"

Hearing his mother's tongue from the one and only Sargeant Hound from the 141 he has heard so much about since he joined SpecGru made a shiver run up his spine.

"In hostage rescue and asset protection..."

Ghost looks down his watch inpatient to get this over with. Reyes, the other operator sees his opportunity to jump into the conversation seemingly as eager to interact with Hassan's butcher.

"Apologies for my brother in arms' fanboy moment. He was excited to meet you, after all... You could say we've got money on our pockets thanks to your bite." The Canadian jest with a teasing tone matching yours, he sounds so sure of himself you knew already this guy was one hot headed mother fucker with an ego that paired up well with Gus' humble nature and Nova's head-on-the-ground attitude.

-"Mind explaining that, um..."

-"Enzo Reyes, ma'am. Reyes for shorts."

You nod expectant. Reyes clears his throat.

"SpecGru and KorTac were founded after Hassan's death, your execution, as diabolical as everyone puts it, benefitted us greatly. So thank you, you crazy, cannibalistic bitch for giving us a job."

Your eyes widen at the crude wording, Gus looks away with a defeated sigh, Nova elbows Reyes' arm with so much force he smacks her arm back with a growl. Ghost did not like that one bit deciding to step up making his presence known in the room, anger emanate from his body mixing with the tense atmosphere.

"I like this guy." You laugh quickly dissipating the tension. You missed Nova's sigh of relief.

All of you quickly got alerted by the dry coughs of Price who stepped inside the crowded room with Gaz and Soap following behind. Ghost left space for his captain but you didn't, resulting in Price gently guiding your careless self to follow him with a hand in your lower back, like a father with a toddler. The captain sighed looking around the room making sure all of you were there.

-"I see we missed first introductions. Whatever, we can get started now that we're all 'ere."

-"About bloody time..." Ghost whispered and you snorted.

As the captain explained the situation, the three SpecGru operators stared analyzing your group.

All of you were attentive to your captain quickly leaving aside your shenanigans to pay attention to every word he said. After the hell all of you had gone through it was clear your loyalty to Price was unbreakable. Lord knows life has given you chances to leave the task force but none of you took them because you believed in what you were doing, because you believed in Johnathan Price, because you were proud to be part of something bigger than yourselves to help people around the world neutralizing threats so the future generations could live a more peaceful life.

Gus couldn't feel more admiration than he already did, his heart swell with pride and eagerness to work along you and he could already picture himself in the future begging Laswell and his Team Leaders to allow Nova, Reyes and himself the chance to work with you again.

The focused look in your beautiful, hypnotic eyes dragged the Rican back to the present.

To summer things up, one of Kate's valuable contacts from New York had gotten captured by an unknown enemy ready to be flown from Manhattan to another location she was still trying to figure.

The reason you needed these three other operators was because their german TL (Team Leader) was related to this particular objective. Stressed about the safety of his family member he sent three operators he personally chose to aid the 141 on the rescue as the hostage was equally important to both teams. Not to mention the amount of crucial information the hostage had.

Laswell had informed Price that the captured victim managed to send her a message saying he had heard something about being transported somewhere near LaGuardia airport until they could escort him to a secured plane.

"The message was sent from this location." Price said.

Gaz shows you the tablet he was tapping on. The pad reveals pictures of an abandoned psychiatric hospital in the middle of a gigantic clearing a few kilometers away from the airport they planned to take the hostage.

-"Easy to spot us in such clearing..." Soap observes.

-"We could infiltrate in the night. Use the darkness to our benefit." Offered Gaz.

-"Nah, that's still too risky, they'd probably had transported the lad by the time we get there." Debated Reyes.

-"Besides, we would be risking the hostage's life if we wait any longer for night to fall..." Nova finally spoke.

The captain cracked his knuckles, his eyes fuxed on the tablet until he shot Gus a look of expectancy. He too had read his file judging by the way he expected him to suggest something, the Rican had enough experience at hostage rescue to know a better strategy. Don't underestimate the captain, he already had a plan to offer but he wanted to give the three new additions some time to prove themselves.

Gus brushes his moustache in thought. "The sewers." He mutters, one gloved finger pointed to one miniature in the sea of images from the tablet, the miniature showed a complete map of the underground tunnels that crossed the area. Soap agreed with a click of his tongue and a nod.

Price smiled widely, his eyes crinkling.

-"We'll use the sewers."

-"I bet they know we'll use 'em to get there." You said, Gus nods and Price replies:

-"They sure as hell know we'll do. But they don't know how many we are."

-"Or who we are." Ghost said with determination.

______

Diving through Manhattan's sewers was like walking around an scenario from one of those old horror games you play with Johnny on his ps2.

Not to mention it was confusing as hell... There were tunnels everywhere, Laswell had warned you about this and to pay careful attention to the map as well as the river of shit that ran through the tunnels, apparently this stinky nightmare of a place was plagued with crocodiles. No joke.

To make the trip even more fun, Soap had spotted a trap at the beginning of one particular tunnel that stink worse than the others and you instantly knew this was the one you had to take to get to the clearing.

-"That tunnel will get you to the parking lot behind the main building. Find a hole to crawl out of and get in there as quick as possible." Laswell's voice resonated from your radios.

-"Understood."

You could feel someone's eyes on you the whole time. And although you always pretended to bask on any attention given, feeling someone's eyes on you constantly made you tick. So multiple times you had turned around only to find Gus looking elsewhere and Ghost keeping watch on the waters in case any croc decided to welcome all of you.

A distant booming sound made you all stop on your tracks pointing your guns ahead. Something had triggered a trap.

-"Probably a crocodile." Said Soap.

-"Or an enemy..." Smirked Reyes.

-"What's the difference?" You asked.

Your earpiece buzzed "For starters, the crocodiles don't have the brains nor the need to kidnap one of my most valuable contacts." Joked Kate.

The captain stopped all of you minutes after.

You all pointed your torches ahead, a litter of corpses spread across the tunnel.

-"We've got corpses 'round here." Gaz informed Laswell.

-"The hostage?" She asked, nervousness lazed on her voice.

The group begun inspecting the dead bodies, clear victims of various traps and mines around the place that the waters had dragged to your direction and got stuck in the junk and shit in the ground.

Most of them were dressing in matching dark clothes, others in casual wear, probably civilians who decided to dive a little too far where they shouldn't.

The ones with dark clothes held fire weapons, other than that they had nothing else.

"No trace of the objective so far..." You informed before the radio caught Laswell's sigh of relief.

Nova spotted one particular body at the further corner of the pit that caught her eye. She sat next to it, inspecting it's pockets with concentration until she stopped to wiggle on her spot.

-"Wot' am I sitting on?" Nova rose her bum only to stumble forwards with a yelp at the realization that she had fully planted her ass on an enemy's corpse. -"Shame it wasn't his face." She blurted out making Reyes snort.

-"The smell would have killed the lad instantly. But nothing compares to the smell of Manhattan's sewers...Worst mission of my fucking life."

-"It's Man-ah-Hatan, idiota" Gus wrongly corrected a few steps behind you. He was so close his sweet cologne almost covered the smell of shit.

"MANHATTAN, DICKHEAD! TWO DAYS HERE AND YOU STILL PRONOUNCE IT LIKE YOU ARE CONSTIPATED."

Reyes' bark echoed through the tunnel making the rest of you turn to them wide-eyed.

The glare Ghost shot them three made you giggle, the captain didn't keep quiet either instantly snapping at them to focus, Soap being Soap resisted the urge to laugh along and Gaz gritted his teeth at the seemingly lack of professionalism. You just smiled widely under your facemask and continued inspecting the place sneaking a wink to Gus' way, he blinked surprised.

-"Forgive their idiotic behavior, cap." Nova sighed "I've found some keys."

-"Keep 'em. We'll probably need them in the future." Price ordered ignoring the apology.

Following the tunnel your group of eight encountered an intersection. Two tunnels that went in different directions made all of you look at the map until another sound of a distant explosion caused your heads to snap to the right, guns loaded and ready.

"I wonder where we should go now..." you sarcastically said.

This time you caught Gus' amber eyes quickly adverting his gaze somewhere else with a contained smile. Curious.

Walking a little further to the right tunnel, you found a monster of a crocodile the size of the old leather couch Gaz had donated to the base a few months ago laying on the ground with an exploded tummy, it's intestines spread all across the ground, brick walls and the black waters. To your horror the animal hissed somehow still alive after triggering a mine.

-"Oh my god."

-"And they said crocodiles in Manhattan's sewers were a myth..."

-"Look at the size of that thing. What the hell do they feed on down here?"

-"Dead bodies of dumb divers probably..."

Reyes laughed "Thank you Mini-Godzilla for eating enough shit to trigger half the traps 'round here."

Ghost surprised you lowly laughing to himself. Surely he had remembered the dog pun he told you and Johnny while being chased in Las Almas.

______

The walk didn't last much longer for when your knees started protesting you found a metal door rotten by the passing of time, as Watcher-1 had said, behind the door you found the parking lot near the main building where they guarded the hostage.

The captain had split the group of eight into four teams since the building was big as hell, and although Laswell had located the signal from the phone the hostage used to send the message, the captain wanted to make sure all the building was clear to proceed with the rescue instead of throwing yourselves directly where they had secluded him.

The building was rotten all over, there weren't any traps like on the sewers and you found little enemies to neutralize in the quietest way possible.

Exploring the abandoned creepy halls in the light of day with the captain wasn't exactly what you had in mind, you felt a tingle of disappointment that he hadn't paired you up with any of the new meat SpecGru had sent.

"You are my right hand. Can't do this without ya." That's the excuse Price gave you. But you suspect he just wants to keep you on a short leash. Because who knows, maybe one day the story will repeat itself, right? Maybe you'll go crazy or run your mouth like you always do... You grit your teeth in anger. The captain and the others will not stop treating you like a radioactive isotope until you get evaluated by a professional on the base and as it turned out he was took a well-deserved vacation before you had the chance to pay him a visit.

Reyes and Ghost encounter a two-way hallway where they parted to the right while Gus and Soap went to the left, the captain and you followed upstairs and Gaz and Nova went to the other set of stairs on the opposite wall. At first you only used knives because packing gun silencers didn't mean you'd kill in total silence, and with the crazy echo this big building had thanks to the lack of forniture and thin paper walls you could easily hear the enemies talking and patrolling around. But things changed when all of you heard a gunshot downstairs followed by pained grunts and an unfamiliar voice.

"Idiot! Watch your fucking aim!"

All of you sigh in relief, shortly after Soap had slit that enemy's throat and Gus had done the same with the other before they joined you on the upper level, though in different halls.

You all cleared the building fast, or so you had thought.

You only took your eyes away for a second inspecting various cushioned rooms infested with rats, Price was a few steps ahead of you on the same hall doing the same thing with the rooms of the opposite wall until he felt hot pain hit his shoulder, he grunts in surprise alerting you instantly.

Looking further from Price was a young man with a pistol, he had this face filled with warn daring price to take another step, he hasn't spot you yet, you took advantage of this crouching a little inside the cushioned room you were previously inspecting.

-"Fatima, Bilal, Mustafa, Omar, Abdul, Salem..." The enemy listed. "I could tell you all the names of the soldiers you and your team had killed and yet you would not care. I stand here with a gun on my hand pointing at your heart and you still look uninterested... You have no souls. Disgusting animals sent to kill us all, but Duke will make you pay for what you've done. For general Ghorbrani, for major Hassan-"

-"HOUND-! KILL HIM!"

You launched forwards at your Captain's command, moving in zigzags dodging the numerous debrils, wires and junk around the floor, the moment the shocked enemy gathered his shit to point his gun at you his jaw cracked at the harsh impact you delivered with the butt of your chosen weapon instantly sending him to the ground. He screamed in pain chocking on his flowing blood but that didn't stop his trembling hands to try repositioning his pistol clearly wanting to go with a fight, though it was too late for the bastard because just as he got up you shot him on the chest at the same time rain of blood splattered to your face. Ghost had shot his head from behind when he heard the commotion. His eyes widened seeing your bloodied form appear behind the falling corpse, he froze thinking he had shot you in the head until-

"Oh come on, LT... I had it under control!" You cleansed your squinting face but you only managed to spread the blood and brain matter further. "UGH-... I need a fucking shower after this..."

Price rushed to you inspecting you pulling an equally worried Ghost aside, you did the same looking at his shoulder alarmed.

"It's just a grace, don't worry honey."

"Whatever old man... Just... Be more aware of your surroundings..."

Price shared a look with Ghost who quickly recomposed focusing on contacting Gaz, Nova and the others to keep their guard up.

"X ray down! And that's why you don't spend an eternity monologuing." Reyes humored walking in. The Canadian pushed the fallen enemy's head with the tip of his boot, his smile widening when he spotted your bloodied face.

"Gus would kill for this view~"

Nova's voice reached your earpiece "Cap. We found some makeshift cells. No enemies down 'ere."

"Copy. On our way..."

______

Walking to Gaz and Nova's position you found Gus and Soap along the way, and as Reyes had previously said, the eyes of the Rican were wide with worry until he realized you were healthy as a rose, yet his amber pearls would not leave your face for a second, not even when Price spoke or when all of you started walking. Was this guy smitten by you? It seems Reyes wasn't joking.

"Over there-" Nova pointed at the last cell to the further corner of the hall.

The Captain ordered Gus and you to investigate and Gaz and Soap to guard the entrance of the hall in case you missed an enemy while him and Ghost opened the door with some shears, Nova and Reyes were the first to go inside the pitch-black cell. Reyes lit the place with his torch and so did the captain and the lieutenant.

The body of the deceased hostage hanged from the ceiling by a metal hook that pierced his ankle. He was facing the wall before Reyes approached to angle the body to the light.

On his chest was a message that said "The hunt have just begun." Carved with a knife, the blood around the letters was dried to a very dark red almost black which meant it was scribbled long before your team arrived the building.

Nova approached the body with a perturbed face.

-"Holy shit, that's Karl... Team leader's son..."

Laswell's voice quickly reached your radios at this.

-"Is he alive?"

Ghost entered the cell. By that time all of you had turned to look inside as well.

-"Negative. He's dead, and by the looks of it, it occurred long before we arrived. The lad probably got caught sending you the text so they killed him."

The captain stomped in frustrated, then proceeded to inspect the body.

-"Sliced throat. They left a message on the body."

Price signaled Gaz to point his laptop's camera to the body letting Laswell see what all of you were seeing. She was quiet until she hummed in understatement.

"Captain!" Gus called from the other cell. Price looked to the right, sighed and left the cell to join the rican. You and Gus were inspecting a stock of documents near a laptop. Gaz entered the cell carrying his own to show Laswell the new cell.

"Sargeant Hound. Plug Garrick's laptop into the other one."

Gaz handed you a cable and you did as told, transferring every archive you could find inside it while the others swallowed the defeat in tense silence.

Soap was the first to speak up.

-"They called a name on their coms... Duke. I dunno, maybe he's the boss."

Now that you recall, the guy who tried to kill Price did mention that name.

"With a name like that he's gonna go mwaha-ha at some point, I just know it." Gus smiled at your humor.

Ghost smacked the cell's bars with frustration. "The bastard wasn't even 'ere. He must have ordered his men to pull this bullshit to call our attention."

Gaz massaged his temple placing down the laptop near you and the enemy's.

-"So he just placed this laptop filled with his malevolent plans near our target for us to find?" The brit said sarcastically.

-"Looks like it. There has to be more this than it might seem." Price hummed.

-"Maybe the target wasn't even Karl..." Nova said and all of you looked at her, her words making sense instantly.

-"Maybe WE were the target." She clarified.

-"If we are the target... Where's the ambush?" Gus voices out his anxious thoughts.

Reyes laughed bitterly.

-"That wit made us fall for it, Fuck! He even left a trail of crumbs for us to find and follow him into the devil's nest."

-"But where is this devil's nest...?" Price asked.

You lifted the laptop once you were done transferring the information and Laswell spoke up.

"Reyes is right. This... Duke, has kept a list of different locations on each archive. We must find which location he really is in and-"

You all waited a beat before the captain worriedly called out Kate whose voice went quiet as she read through the files.

-"This is serious, John. Duke isn't a nobody. He's the head of a mafia called Shiv Ka Haath, (Shiva's hand) from New India. He rules over a chain of different illegal businesses, each of them handled by people he trusts. A madam who owns the 70% of the nightclubs and brothels on the country, the head of a temple who traffics with weapons and drugs and lastly, his son, who has started his own busines organizing spectacles and fights of all kinds going from dogs, immigrants desperate for money to... even children fights. None of their names are mentioned but there's so much illegal activity listed in here...And that isn't all..."

You all listened carefully, realization hitting hard that this mission might hold more depth than you had initially thought.

"There's so much information here to investigate it's clear he wants us to find him. For now, take everything you can and go back to the base ASAP."

Price orders all of you to collect the Intel as he contacts Nikolai to take you and Karl's body back to the base.

_______

The three additions to the group sat in silence staring at the distance. They were aware the moment TL read each of their reports hell will break lose, and although this meant SpecGru will get involved on this matter, Gus allowed himself to feel a greedy relief that he'll possibly work alongside your team again in the future. If TL and Laswell approve, of course.

[dragonsholygrail]

Vampires are a very composed and prideful sort of monster and your Vampire bf is no different.

He is the picture of perfection and sophistication in all public regards. His posture is so straight you’d swear he was statue. His language is smooth and charming to the point where he could convince an orc he was actually a troll. At society events he is the one to talk to with a row of awaiting guests lined up down the halls. Always with you standing right by his side. While he keeps you close, aching to have you near, he’s always respectful in his acts around you.

As leader of his coven he has to be.

But he’s not like that when he’s alone with you. No, never. When you’re the only one around he finally feels free to be completely himself. Not having to put on a show for everyone while also maintaining all his responsibilities. In the quiet of your chambers he can simply be your mate. As you are his mate. His eternal love. And this affects him deeper than he realizes. He has more of a soft spot for you than even he can admit to himself at times.

Particularly when your Vampire bf drinks your blood. He swears he’s not addicted to it. To the flavors that dance and mingle amongst the copper tang, to the thick warmth that mimics your tender embrace as it coats his throat, to the spark of adrenaline akin to lightning that shoots through his body as your blood pumps through his veins. No, definitely not addicted…

Yet just one drop of your life force has him falling to his knees, whining and whimpering as he nuzzles into your stomach. But it’s important to know that he doesn’t beg— he never begs for it. That is one thing your Vampire bf always says for certain (denies). He definitely doesn’t beg.

Not even as he’s pounding into you from behind, the glide of his cock along your walls making your head spin. His face in your neck, inhaling deeply as he soaks up your scent. So you must mishear him every time he takes you whispering, “P-please, my heart. You know I need all of you. Jus’ wanna consume you, darling, please.”

Of course your neck is bared for him before either of you can utter another word. Yet you cry out as your Vampire bf’s hips jolt, slamming against that spot along your gummy walls at just the mere sight of the slope of your neck.

His fangs sink into your flesh with a quiet squelch that mirrors the wet noise echoing throughout the room as your hips meet with each thrust. Mirroring moans leaving you as you both melt into each other. Your powerful Vampire bf turning into a puddle of arousal at a single drop of your blood.

Loud whines fall past your bf’s lips and vibrate into your neck. You moan, head rolling back. The ecstasy of your bf sucking your blood meeting the intensity of his cock rutting into your pussy just right. Vampire bf rubs against you, desperate to touch every inch of your skin. His hands scouring and groping every soft bit of flesh he can get his hands on. Nuzzling impossibly deeper into your neck as he turns into a whimpering mess of senseless limbs.

All these sensations crash into each other, overwhelming you in the best possible way. They send you flying higher and higher until your orgasm washes over you and you’re mewling as you arch back into your Vampire bf. Your touch and the clenching of your cunt sends your bf into his own orgasm, both of you weakly riding out the waves of euphoria in each other’s arms.

His tongue laps at any remaining blood trickling out as his fangs release you. He brings you into his arms, his form surrounding and curling around you as you lay on the bed. His body hypertensive to touch but he nuzzles into you anyway, seeking more of your warmth.

You hold onto him tightly, swearing that nothing is better than when your sophisticated and proper bf morphs into a total mess. And only ever for you.

[redroses07]

if miguel introduced johnny to snap

[devilfic]

thinking about lyla hiring you as miguel's in-person assistant because as good as she is, she can't stop miguel from throwing chairs across the room. she introduces you to miguel on your first day and he immediately tries to fire you, insistent he doesn't need someone to "babysit" him, let alone someone with half the muscle mass and twice the mortality. except lyla's the one paying you, and even if it's miguel's money, lyla has made sure he can't stop the checks from clearing. so you're here to stay.

he does his best to ignore you at first and for the most part, you rarely get in his way. he goes about his duties and you shadow him, only ever speaking when spoken to if ever at all. but then one day, he's had a particularly difficult time with an anomaly and suddenly his fangs are splitting his lip, his claws are punching holes into his desk, he's snarling and the rage is taking over him again.

he grabs the thing and flings it across the room-

and you catch it. you set it down, calmly, safely, and it's so shocking to miguel because he's never seen you exert more force than needed to open a door, and you caught it.

miguel's anger melts away just like that. he watches you exhale, watches you drag the heavy thing back over to him where he stands dumbfounded and feeling. silly. he didn't think- "instead of throwing things, you can take your anger out on me."

miguel goes blank. he sounds so pathetic when he fumbles for a "w-what?"

you smile, the first time he's ever seen you do so, "I'm a good partner."

this had to be a. prank, right? lyla had put you up to this? he knows it's been a while, and she'd made the joke plenty of times before, but. were you. really? miguel clears his throat, ready to rebuff you, but he thinks about it and...

I mean, it has been a while. "you work for me." he reasons. it's not a refusal, you notice.

"it's okay," you assure him, stepping closer, "this kind of thing's in the job description."

and god. miguel doesn't know, is it actually? had lyla really. done that? he'd muster up the embarrassment if you weren't standing right in front of him and smelling so good and this whole time he'd been convinced that if he even dared to touch you he might break you but you'd caught it without breaking a sweat. what else could you handle? what were you offering to take?

you step even closer and then-

your fists are up. you're crouching and your fists are up. miguel stares.

"come on, then," you taunt, smiling wider, "I've fought bigger."

sparring partner.

now miguel's really embarrassed. he doesn't even have it in him to actually take you up on your completely innocuous, innocent offer. you wanted to spar. you wanted him to take his anger out on you in a fight. you'd sapped the anger right out of him just from this conversation. maybe it'd be better if he took a nap instead. he hadn't had one of those in a while either.

when he continues to just stand there, staring, red hot in the face, you raise an eyebrow and your smile becomes a little... mischievous. "what? did you have something else in mind?"

part two

[hopesangelsprite]

The Summoning

Pairing: Vampire!Illumi x Reader

Summary: Being immortal can grow very old, very quickly and Illumi's found that out the hard way. The only reasonable solution would be to find a suitable playmate, right?

Warnings: mentions of blood/death/murder, biting, size/strength difference, fingering, oral (m receiving), unprotected p in v, dacryphilia, breeding kink, degradation, female ejaculation, manipulation (vampire compulsion)

MINORS/AGELESS ACCS DNI

Viewer discretion is advised.

Oh, and my love

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?

Or are you really here to cast me off?

Or maybe just to turn me on

Illumi watched with half-lidded eyes as his servants removed a corpse from his feet, nothing left of the younger male but an empty, soulless husk. How many had he gone through now? 30? 300? Whatever the death toll was, it didn't matter. Illumi no longer cared for numbers, the sheer quantity of his years on earth drawing him to the conclusion that they were overrated.

"Bring me the next one.", he ordered while leaning further into the large throne chair he'd taken residence in, "If this one doesn't satisfy me, I'll be draining one of you in their place.". Illumi let threat roll off his blood-stained lips easily, keen on fulfilling it should he be presented another weakling.

There was a brief silence before the doors to his quarters opened, your figure edging closer uncertainly. The closer you got, the better he was able to analyze you. Unlike his previous victims, there were no tears in your eyes or trembling in your limbs. Though you eyed him warily, he sensed you were more curious than afraid. You were quite attractive, as well; with smooth curves just barely concealed by what was left of a skirt and halter top. As you finally got within arm's reach of him, you sank to your knees with fluttering lashes.

Illumi's cock twitched at the sight, the position giving him a perfect view of your tits and exposed thighs. "Do you know why you're here, pretty thing?", he inquired whilst making a mental note of just how fragile you were in comparison to him. To any mortal man, you'd be considered healthy, maybe even too much so for those on the weaker end of the male spectrum. To Illumi, however, you were nothing but a doll, a plaything he could bend and contort to his undead heart's content.

"I was running from my old life... I was promised shelter.", you answered after a moment and Illumi chuckled. He leaned forward, crimson tongue flicking over glinting fangs, and grasped your face with a large, ring-laden hand. "There's no safety for you here, little doll, only death or imprisonment.", he drawled out, keen eyes catching the way your thighs pressed together at his touch. With one hand, you removed his hand from your face, head turning to place a kiss on his palm. The other you placed on his dark denim-clad thigh, fingers tracing patterns into the coarse material. "Then I should aim to please, no?", you inquired as your hand crept closer to his belt.

'Cause these days

I would be lying if I told you that

I didn't wish that I could be your man

Or maybe make a good girl bad

A smirk graced Illumi's lips at your insinuation, lust deepening within him as you carefully undid his belt's clasp. So, he leaned back, dark eyes watching you like a predator behind inky tresses. He pushed his hips forward to allow you better access to him, reveling in the tiny gasp you let out upon freeing his cock. His skin was milky, fading into a pretty pink closer to his weeping tip; a few veins adorned his shaft, a little longer than he was thick. Your mouth watered at the sight, core moistening as you took him into your hands.

Illumi groaned at the softness of your skin against his, catching his bottom lip between a fang as you gave him a few experimental strokes. You shuffled closer, knees no doubt bruising from the floor's harsh surface. You placed your chin on his knees, inquiring eyes boring into his as you swiped a thumb over his leaky slit; you were seeking permission, how wonderfully submissive of you. "Go on then, have a taste.", he permitted with a lazy nod.

His breath caught in his throat as your warm, plush lips enveloped his cockhead, your tongue following shortly afterward. You kissed him wetly, the taste of precum unfamiliar yet welcomed. You took him into your mouth once more, this time sucking him as far back into your throat as you could. A deep, satisfied hum rumbled through Illumi's chest as he watched you begin to come up for air, a blood-stained hand tangling itself into your hair to stop your rising and push you down further. "Now, now. Don't underestimate yourself, darling, you can take a little bit more.", he mewled over the sound of your gagging, "Can't you?".

Illumi finally let you up after a few moments, cooing at the sight of tear-streaked mascara kissing your cheeks. Still, your eyes only held a strange look of awe and adoration; one that Illumi found himself mirroring as you continued to suck him off ever so sweetly. Illumi hissed as he pulled you off his cock, leaning down to catch your lips with his. He deepened the kiss as he guided you from the floor onto his lap, the taste of his arousal on your tongue only making him harder.

As Illumi broke the kiss, lips dipping to nip at your neck while his hands slipped underneath your skirt, a low curse escaped him as his fingers met your bare, soaked core. He found his sanity waning. "Nothing underneath?", he hummed as he brought your face close to his, "What a pretty little slut you are.". He locked eyes with you, eye contact unwavering as he pushed two long fingers past your entrance and began searching for that soft, spongy spot he knew would have you singing praises.

You whimpered upon the intrusion, thighs quaking as he began scissoring you open. Illumi took your bottom lip between his teeth and tugged, enjoying your breathy moans and the noises coming from your sopping cunt. "Feels good, doesn't it.", he chuckled as your hips began rutting against his palm, "I think we both know what'll feel much better, though.".

I've got a river running right into you

I've got a blood trail, red in the blue

Something you say or something you do

The taste of the divine

Before you could reach your high, Illumi pulled his fingers from your cunt. Without a second of hesitation, he shoved those same fingers into your throat as he pulled you down onto his cock, allowing very little protest as your pelvises met abruptly. More tears welled behind your lash line as you adjusted to the stretch of him overfilling your pussy, tip nuzzled snuggly against your cervix and g-spot. "Filthy fucking whore.", he spat as he pulled his fingers from your mouth and began manhandling you up the expanse of his shaft, "My filthy fucking whore.".

You cried out in pleasure as he pulled you back down, setting a quick and unforgiving rhythm. Illumi watched your tits bounce beneath the fabric of your top ruefully as he continued to use you like a doll. He growled as he tugged at its neckline, hips bucking up into you as it freed your breasts with a loud rip. You shivered as Illumi leaned forward to take one of your nipples between his teeth, gently tugging at it before swirling his tongue around the sensitive flesh. He continued his ministrations, switching between left and right, with a single hand keeping a bruising grip on your hip while the other busied itself by rolling your clit between its thumb and index finger.

Illumi felt your soft walls flutter around him and he groaned into your skin, pulling your body impossibly closer to his. He released your tit with a loud pop, hips pistoning his cock into you faster as he licked a stripe up your chest and neck. It didn't take him long to find your pulse, suckling over the skin while imagining just how sweet you'd taste. Soon, his cock was throbbing in perfect time with your moans, his high growing closer and closer the more you called out his name and begged him to slow down. Instead, he removed himself from your neck, pulling your forehead against his to lock eyes with you.

The air between and around you quickly grew tense, a steady thrum of energy bringing you closer to your high as Illumi's dark eyes melted into a bloody, crimson shade. "Cum for me.", he moaned into your mouth, head dipping to pierce your skin with his fangs. Without warning, your orgasm washed over you like a tidal wave, curses and pleas tumbling from your lips as the stinging pain of being bitten melded into overwhelming pleasure. Your mind grew numb as you came, your arousal spraying over Illumi's lap as he drank you in. And you let him, body trembling and unable to come down from the violent high he'd brought upon you.

You've got my body, flesh, and bone

The sky above, the earth below

Nothing to say and nowhere to go

A taste of the divine

Illumi released your neck after a long moment, tongue lapping up a few stray beads of blood as he pulled your hips flush against his and filled you with his seed. Another tremor crept down your spine at the sudden hot, sticky substance filling your womb, Illumi whispering sweet nothings and pretty vows into your ear to coax you out of the trance he'd locked you in. You blinked once, then twice, to clear the white spots and tears from your vision.

"There you are, little one.~", he purred before placing a kiss on the now bruising bite mark he'd given you, "Was afraid I lost you for a second.". All you could do was whimper, slumping forward to rest your head in the crook of his shoulder. Your scent faintly mingled with sex and iron filled his nostrils, tempting him to finish draining and breeding you. He let you rest, though, leaning back into the chair with his cock still plugging you full as he, too, drifted into sleep for the first time in centuries.

Besides, the venom and cum in your system would need time to take effectively.

[shirozora-draws]

... anyway, I got given ideas. Guess this is what happens when I go several months without drawing anything.

First art of 2023, first art post of 2023, and full of the energy I hope to carry into the year. This is the way, and all that.

[amhrosina]

SPIDER-VERSE WAS INSANE FOR THIS!!!!!!!!!

[theminecraftbee]

So, here's how it's going to be:

He's not going out first this time.

Jimmy decided this, blood roaring in his ears, as he stared down at a blood-red piece of paper. His heart is pounding. His teeth are sharp. His claws are bared. He's a big dog, and big dogs, they aren't weak little birds. They've got bigger lungs, and teeth to protect themselves with, and they fight off wolves and coyotes and bears with spiked collars and a roar of a bark, and--

He's not going out first this time.

He's not going out first this time.

It's really simple like that, isn't it? Yeah, he might feel bad, but--but did anyone ever feel bad for him? Do more than go, alas, poor Jimmy, we barely knew him? Did anyone ever do anything more than lay flowers on his grave? He's tired of it! He's tired! He's so tired!

He's not going out first this time!

He's not!

And he'll do what he has to in order to get there. If that means learning to bite, well.

He cleans Lizzie's blood off his sword. He almost didn't mean to, is the thing. He'd feel more sorry, but he's tired of it. He's so tired of it.

He's not going out first this time, and if he goes out, it will be kicking and swinging and howling.

That's just how it's going to be.

[bbcphile]

Is anyone else sad because Fang Duobing has a "Waiting For Li Lianhua On the Beach" outfit?

(On the left is the outfit in episode 40 after reading Li Lianhua's letter. On the right is the outfit in the special episode when he and Di Feisheng show up on the donghai beach to look for him 3 months later.)

While we're on the subject of costumes, @the-surreptitious-albatross and I just realized how different this outfit of Fang Duobing's is from his earlier outfits.

Here are some examples of a normal FDB outfit:

He prefers pastels, and his belts and wrist guards are often the same color as the pastel or a slightly darker version (and here, they have gold decorations).

Zooming in shows that he prefers his embroidery designs to be swirly and his hair accessories to be braided and color-matched or elaborate and silver (but still on the delicate side).

But check out this outfit: the embroidery is more angular and less swirly, as is the hair piece, and it and the belt and wrist guards are black with silver instead of matching the pastel of his outfit or being a slightly darker shade of it.

You know whose style he's echoing with all these changes? Who else tends to favor black wrist guards and belts with more angular designs?

Di Feisheng.

The images below make it a bit clearer: DFS's belt has gold decorations compared FDB's silver, and the shape is different, but you can see the similarities in the wrist guard design in particular.

It's not obvious how much their costumes are tying them together in this scene because we don't ever see them in the same frame; the camera constantly keeps them apart, as does the blocking of the scene, since DFS is on the rocks and FDB is on the beach.

That changes in the special episode when they both arrive on the beach at the same time, and DFS is wear his sect leader robes.

Here they are, in the same frame at last, and side by side, and you can see even more clearly with this DFS outfit how much the style of FDB's belt, wrist guards, and hair accessory is echoing his. The wrist guard pattern looks almost the same in these pictures! And the cut of the outer sleeveless robe is also very similar, which visually pairs them even more.

All this to say, FDB's clothing style shifts, the gentle swirls sharpened into points by his worry and grief for Li Lianhua, and it breaks my heart.

But the fact that he's visually echoing Di Feisheng now, that they're slowly becoming a matched set, is starting to put the pieces back together again.

[fic-heaven]

Fangs (Gus x reader)

Chapter 2. I bite.

[Masterlist]

Code name: Hound.

Tags: ⚠️mentions of child abuse/ angst/ Poor Gus getting beaten/ corpse appearance/ confrontation/ reader is tired of everyone's bullshit.

- Hound complies on a psych evaluation but it only brings her more headache and heartache as ghosts from the past return to her. Thankfully that motivates her enough to finally spit her anger to the whole team, some are understanding, others are not but there's one particular person that seeks do something to soothe the ache she feels.

The flight home was filled with quiet comments about how the mission went and only when you reached London did you actually begun talking about Duke.

Nik had taken all of you for a second fly on his Heli. You all had taken quite some time reaching England, Nik's old helicopter had to take a stop for him to check on it before going to the base, you all worried about Karl's body condition.

-"So what are we supposed to do now? I mean, the hostage is fucking dead and that stupid guy with an even stupider name is gone. He really is playing hard to get..."

Price sat next to you on the helo after going over to confirm that the SpecGru operators were speaking with Laswell and their team leader. He huffs and goes to lit a cigar before you snatch it and place it between your lips. Price takes another, lits his and with the freshly burning head he leans close to you burning tips without breaking eye contact, you don't waver, just smirk and stretch your muscles letting the nicotine burn down the annoying feeling of defeat, your head shooting back letting the captain eat the view of the expanse of your neck.

-"Didn't you quit smoking?" He grunts.

-"You didn't answer my question. I did but... Fucked missions call for fucked ways to deal with failure." You sighed, your eyes firmly trained on Karl's body covered by a white sheet already turning red with his blood.

-"We didn't fail, Hound. This whole rescue wasn't as pointless as you think. We gathered enough Intel to keep Laswell and the CIA busy for weeks." Price pats your arm comfortingly.

He felt slightly concerned when he saw the way you stared blankly at the body. Eyes dead, full of apathy and lips slightly parted like you were watching a chunk of frozen meat sitting on the freezer. You weren't like this before. You weren't this... Dry and nonchalant.

-"And yet..."

-"And yet people die. We are not invincible and we don't have super powers. Can't be faster than a bullet, stronger than a tank or teleport to places where people need us the most. We can only do so much, and we surely did our best today, Hound."

You take the Captain's hand and he squeezes it immediately. It helps, but at the same time it doesn't. It never is that simple with you...

Why do you have to be so difficult? Why is it so easy for them to move on but you hold onto casualties along other failures the way you do? Maybe that's why you did what you did with Hassan.

Maybe this job is too much for you, slowly eating the little humanity you have left, shaping you into the monster they all want you to be and yet they fear you'll become it... Fucking hypocrites.

"Mother was right." You think to yourself. "I'm too weak."

A dog's love and loyalty is pure, is unconditional, with no trick or pretention behind it. But raise the dog wrongly, teach it to bite, to do bad, and you'll make a beast out of it. But why teach a hound the way of violence if you are so afraid of the repercussions? Of it to bite, of it to draw blood.

Price is right. Even if you go back to the base with a corpse instead of the living hostage you were supposed to rescue, at least you have brought Laswell shit ton of juicy work she was eager to investigate the soon you'll hand her the laptop and the other folders. You imagine her in her office drinking coffee like it's water as she reads the previous information sent from Duke's laptop while waiting for all of you to arrive.

Ghost surprises you sitting on your other side and nodding a small greet. He mirrors your side-eye, tired eyes meeting even more tired ones. He's got something to say, you know the old man too well.

-"They assigned you a new psychologist in the base." He said casually, you scoffed under your mask.

Soap flopped to your feet crossing his legs with a supportive smile, Gaz walked slowly to the group standing next to Johnny but he didn't smile, he looked bored with the topic.

What?

-"What is this? A family intervention?"

They didn't laugh. Your smile falters, your fingers throw away the cigar you were enjoying previously.

-"How many times do I have to tell you, I'm fucking fine?"

This caught Gus' attention from his seat.

Soap interfered trying to calm you from your defensive state.

-"Come on, (y/n)... It's just a psych evaluation, you know we all take 'em from time to time-"

-"If you don't get evaluated I'll send you home."

The Captain's sudden response shocked you. Ghost grew stiff but remained silent, Johnny looked at you with pity but he hoped you'd understand, Gaz on the other hand... He looked angry, but it's hard to decipher why or with who.

Lucky for you, the helicopter landed and you practically jumped from your seat to scape this tense situation but Ghost grabbed you by the hand almost knocking you on your ass.

Price looks at you sternly when you turn to them once more.

Your hand shot to your mask about to throw it and spit out some colorful words but suddenly all of the boys stood up and threw themselves at you quickly, all of them but Ghost who took a step back just as startled as you by their reaction. Out of the three men who quietly scolded you for trying to take the snout-shaped mask off, it was Garrick who made your eyes snap his way.

-"Don't you fucking dare take that off."

You could feel your breath constrict at his hostile tone. You remember Gaz being the closest thing to a brother you ever had since your father took your sibling and left you to rot with your alcoholic mother. But this wasn't the Gaz you knew.

-"Y' heard the captain. You either evaluate or you can start packing your shit and go back to your mother."

It was mentioning her what made you jump to Gaz with a snarl but a pair of arms stopped you caging you against a warm body you did not recognize.

-"LET GO OF ME! LET GO!"

-"Tranquila..." Gus' voice was calm, not harsh, not fearful, not like your team's.

-"See!? This is what I was fucking talking about!-" Gaz snapped.

-"ENOUGH!" Yelled Ghost startling all of you.

-"Kyle, she got what I said." Price scolds, this time more calm and looking at you with guilt. The glare you shot him made John shag on the spot awaiting whatever you wanted to say, but you stayed quiet trying to contain your anger as your body shakes because of the adrenaline. Gus' arms are your anchor right now. The SpecGru operator allowed you some space to readjust your damned mask that acted like a muzzle.

Nikolai warned you all to get out of the helicopter so he could take Karl's body. An obvious excuse to stop the drama before Gus let you go. You turned to him, hostility written all over your eyes, his body heaved just as yours but he didn't reflect your hatred. He didn't react the same way the others did when you turned into a wild thing. The rican calmly got down of the vehicle and offered you his hand, you took it and jumped down with a quick thanks, he hummed in return.

His other two comrades waved him off before trotting inside the base, your team got out of the Helicopter, only Soap stayed behind to aid Nik while Gaz followed the other operators inside fuming in quiet anger, Ghost and Price waited for your answer after sneaking a look to Gus who did not leave your side ignoring their glare. He had no candle on this burial and yet he stayed.

"I'll fucking go. But when I leave the office, it'll be my turn to talk to all of you. There are some things you boys clearly don't see, and I'll take great pleasure on refreshing your dusty brains a bit."

_______

Once you finished your report of the mission you carelessly folded it and walked out of your private quarters, walked to the right leaving the barrack's hall but before you could take the stairs to Price's office you heard something on the other set of stairs that went to the lower floor.

- "-Y'like it huh?"

- "Of course he does! Look at him!"

- "You wanna end up dead? That it? We could make it faster, more merciful... Think 'bout it, Rodriguez."

Rodriguez, Gus?

You leaned back a bit with the folder firmly tucked under your arm. A group of rookies were crowding someone on the wall under the stairs you were supposed to take. Leaning a little further you saw Gus who was smiling and chuckling nervously with his arms tense and hands lifted, an obvious sign of distress trying to calm his fellow battle mates. They all joked and mocked him and he just took it with a smile and a shrug, he didn't seem like the confrontational type. Which surprised you because he was the one who stopped you from beating some sense into Gaz an hour back.

"Venga, maes... I'm doing my job..."

"Your job huh? Come with us to the training field, we wanna see how good you do your job."

"Haha sure, okay, but let me finish my-"

One of those jerks, much smaller than the Rican, shoved him to the wall so hard his head banged painfully against the bricks while the others laughed as he winced.

"You are so funny with your big super Mario moustache and cute accent..." He mocked Gus' frowning face until another lankier guy spoke up.

"You are coming with us now or you'll end up lookin' like a Van Gogh's painting. Just like your Team Leader's son."

You fisted the folder you were holding at the mention of today's casualty. Something in you pushed you to take a step their way until a gigantic shadow towered over them, someone was trying to take their stairs and did not shy away from making presence. You stepped back about to resume your trip to John's office until you heard the new person growl to the other rookies with an all too familiar voice.

"You look like a chunk of fuckable meat. Are you?"

There was an awkward silence until you heard some rushed steps and a grunt followed by more rushed stomping and a dragging sound, the rookies were moving out of the way and taking Gus with them outside. When you looked downwards to their late spot you saw Ghost staring right at you. His eyes were soft but held a seriousness in them that made you scoff and turn back.

"(Y/n)."

Your lieutenant rushed his steps to get to you when you were almost reaching the top of the stairs. You turned to your side mauling at your lower lip.

"You wanna watch Metalocalypse later...?"

Out of all the things you imaged Ghost would say... He said this.

You sighed and smiled huffing a little, you were relieved that he didn't mention a word about what happened on Nik's chopper.

Then you nodded.

"After I hand the report and get evaluated... I'll go to your quarters if I can, if not I'll probably be beating the crap out of the doc and the others."

Ghost hummed pleased with your response and instead of leaving to his quarters like you expected him to do, he followed you upstairs.

You both headed to Price's office where the captain welcomed you warmly with a soft spoken "Well done. Now let's get to the doc's."

Both Ghost and Price accompanied you downstairs. You found Soap already waiting there, leaning on the wall with a troubled look. He gave you a worried glance before he walked to your side, Ghost steps back allowing the Scot some space to comfort you.

You were nervous, they all knew it.

-"Gaz...?" You asked.

-"He's... He'll come for sure. Then we can all talk like ye wanted. I'm sure everything will go alrigh' lass." Soap's comforting voice followed by a soft nuzzle on your masked chin made your anger increase, you moved your head away.

"I promise not to bite the doctor's throat off. Don't you worry." You spoke coldly as soon as your name was announced by the new therapist who was eyeing down some papers he was holding.

"Wait..." His voice wavered. And you stopped mid step when he lowered the files from his face.

A pair of eyes exactly like yours looked up at you in shock. The captain, Ghost and Soap were astonished at the sight.

"Oh you've got t' be fucking kidding me! Who the fuck planned this!? Is this a REAL family intervention now!? CAPTAIN!" You snapped looking at Price but his visible confusion confirmed this was actually a coincidence.

Fuck whoever was up there assigned to write the book of tragedies that composed your life. Fuck whoever planned to put your fucking twin brother who you hadn't seen since you were nine years old as your therapist.

This had to be a sick joke because if it wasn't, you wouldn't be laughing like a mad woman right now as the others stared with no clue on what to do or say.

You laughed because of everyone's faces, you laughed at Price for putting you on this position for thinking you needed professional help without even consulting you first, you laughed because your twin brother looked just like you but with a terrible-looking beard and a psychology degree. You laughed because monsters don't cry.

-"(Y/n)..." Garret sighed when your laughter started dying down and you covered your eyes because your lower mask already hid half your face.

- "I'm sorry gentlemen. This is  unfortunate..."

-"If you ask my unit to leave this hall I'll kill you in your sleep, Garret." Your elder brother by a few minutes, folded his arms looking at you with pity but masking it with a carefully put neutral expression.

How professional Garret Archer was. Oh wait! That's your mother's last name, obviously he kept your father's after they ran off leaving you under the care of an alcoholic, abusive excuse for a mother.

- "Captain Price. As a therapist I cannot treat family members because it would-"

- "You are no family of mine. Now treat me before my captain kicks me out of the force for killing the right man in the wrong way." You spat. Your brother felt the raw pain and resentment bathe your words. His calm voice reached your ears before your Captain's.

- "I understand. I-It'll only be a simple evaluation. And due our history and absence in each other's lives... I believe it could work. Please step inside to get started."

Price took your hand before you stiffly walked in, his eyes were much more regretful than before. He better be sorry.

- "We could wait for a replacement..."

- "No, thank you. Keep in mind that if I don't get evaluated soon I'll lose my job, your words."

Soap stepped up looking even more guilty than Price.

- "Listen, (Y/n). We wanted t' help ya or at least find someone who could. But this guy is your brother..."

Your unit knew your life story very well. After almost ten years knowing you it was natural that you'd eventually open up about your childhood and your reason for going to the military.

Ghost could read your mind like it was his own. He stands in between you and the other two worried and guilt tripped men nodding at the door signaling you to get this over with. You complied but not before spiting out.

- "As i said, I'm not a fan of being jobless. I have a huge passion for earning money by killing bad folk so I'll suck it up. But you better be here to listen to what I have to say when I'm done getting fucking evaluated by my own brother I haven't seen in almost two decades."

It was only fair. It wouldn't take too much time.

They promised to be here and so you went inside puffing up your chest and adverting your eyes from your ever watchful twin brother.

______

Imagine the horrors a Sargeant like you had witnessed for your brain to react the way it did when you had Hassan at your mercy. For you to act like a caged animal instead of a composed, disciplined soldier.

"Unbalanced, feral, inhumane." Those are the adjectives your unit and other people you associated yourself with used to describe your behavior in battle and sometimes in the comfort of your own base.

Garret tended to study the background of people he'd treat before the first session. He was attentive to every detail. For him, even the fact that some patient's pet goldfish died during their childhood was very important to the moral growth and could perhaps affect other aspects of said patient's life. He didn't get to fully enjoy his entire childhood and adulthood with you, his beloved little sister who at  time he would have given anything just to make you smile.

His father... Your father, abandoned you to your luck with the abusive woman who birthed you.

Garret would constantly ask your father why. He'll simply say "Because you were product of your mother's infidelity." The twins she birthed, you and him, were from another man none of you even knew.

"Then why, father?" Garret would ask "Why did you take me? Why not (y/n)? Why not both or why none at all?"

He never got an answer from him. With time he learned to keep quiet about the matter and eventually he moved on, studying psychology to understand people like your father and your mother. To treat anyone as to prevent them from becoming emotionally unstable husks like your parents who passed their personal demons to their children, without ever trying to change their ways and soon enough creating new issued people with more hate and pain to torment the future generations with.

He sees you now, and Garret is split in two again. He sees his sister's body littered in scars you vaguely explained were product of your mother's so called love and your dangerous work. He sees you say it with so much nonchalance he realizes it's not forced. You are used to it, to pain, to people in your life marking you emotionally and physically and he believes the diagnostic he'll end up giving you will be long and colorful, he even readies a few markets of different colors to help you understand what each diagnosis means. Until the evaluation is done and he is slightly taken aback.

You self-analyze almost daily.

You exercise regularly as a way to maintain focused and not lose shape also to keep your mind busy.

You are already aware of the points he gives you on your conduct and can distinct what's morally correct than what is not.

You are SANE.

But why would a person like you who had gone through so much behave the way you did when all of you had cornered Hassan?

Perhaps the situation proved to be too much and your mind collapsed, but you knew what you were doing, you knew it was terrible, macabre even.

"I bite." That's the excuse you gave him, and for a moment Garret saw your father in you. You only showed him a small fraction of the huge iceberg within the depths of your mind. And even if he wants to know more, to be unprofessional and involve himself in your life again to keep his little sister in check and protect you from yourself, he has to restrain himself. And so Garret hands you the piece of paper you had been eagerly waiting for, you snatched it from his hand with vigour, got up, politely thanked him and closed the door behind you before your twin had the chance to offer you his contact.

When you spotted your whole team sitting on the lined chairs on the wall of the long hall, they snapped their heads your way, including Gaz his eyes wide and expectant, thankfully they lacked the hostility he had during your last interaction. The paper you were holding was shoved to Price's face.

They all read it quietly while you crossed your arms.

"How'd it go?" Ghost asked copying your stance.

"Fucking peachy." You chirped.

Your eyes went to Price who got up still reading your twin's observations.

"Now it's your turn to listen to what I have to say."

Gaz nods once with a "Go on." It rubbed you the wrong way, fueling the fire within you. Soap called Price's attention patting his shoulder blade. Now all of them were giving you their full attention. Showtime.

"In all the years I spent working alongside you I've seen so many things that paled in comparison from what I did to Hassan. I'm aware of how I've been handling my work, how bloody and messy missions had turned."

Price tried to comment but you shut him up pretty quick pointing a finger his way.

"I've seen YOU, Johnathan Price, open a man's cranium with a crowbar like it was a coconut. I've seen sweet Johnny strangle a man with so much force his neck snapped to later claim unnecessary violence wasn't his jam. I've seen Ghost throw acid to a woman's mouth we were meant to interrogate in Brazil because she wouldn't speak. And yet YOU, GARRICK, SIT THERE LOOKING AT ME LIKE I'M THE WORSE HUMAN BEING YOU HAVE EVER ENCOUNTERED." Your booming yell reached the men like a thunder, even Ghost had to look away.

Gaz's mouth opens and closes like a fish, his surprise making you remember that he was never present in those many horrific times you had mentioned. He started activity working with all of you when 141 was formed, young Garrick had barely worked a mission or two with the other men, he didn't know them like you did only getting to see a little but of their true violent nature. Poor young man.

"The day you have to commit an atrocious act in the name of self-defense and defy what you consider right I will be there watching, Gaz. Perhaps then you'll understand how fucking insulting it is to be wearing a facemask because your team wants to keep everyone safe from you and hide your identity." Your voice wavers a bit, Ghost tries to comfort you but you move away. The desperation, betrayal and frustration clear on your next words:

"You are all just like my bio family, but Price, YOU are the worst. You made me think that I was understood, that I was safe, never alone-"

"You are not alone (y/n)." Price quickly said standing up, his normally stoic face was filled with grief.

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING HOLE! YOU ARE ALL LIARS! Stop pretending you are not embarrassed of me when you are even worse than I am. I don't need none of you, I don't need no one but myself."

You did not leave room for them to speak when you turned around and left ignoring their weak calls until Price decided it was best to give you space.

"I'll prove it to you."

______

You went out to the training field overlooking at the rookies from a ramp near an emergency exit from the main building, your boot quickly tapping down the floor, you needed a cig.

"Jesus Christ." You said under your breath but it was loud enough for the man before you to huff out a laugh.

-"Miss Hound."

-"Rodriguez. The fuck happened to you?"

Gustavo's face was littered in small cuts, his lower lip was busted, his huge moustache did a poor job hiding the damage, his arms looked bruised as well with multiple patches of red as if someone had punched and kicked him, in no time they'll catch a purplish color for sure, his white tank top had big, brown stains from being shoved to the dirt and held some specks of blood here and there. Poor man was a total mess.

The rican looked hesitant, surprisingly he found himself doubting whether to snitch on his bullies or not. So he opted to shrug it off joining your perched form up the ramp limping until he got close enough you could smell the sweat and blood from him.

-"Just uh... Well, the greetings I got for joining this new base were a little... Rough, I suppose."

-"Is that how you call getting beaten up? A greeting?" Perhaps it came a little rougher than you intended but the other operator chuckled.

-"That's the army right? Where I come from It was way worse, trust me."

-"Did you even fight back?" You said tilting back a bit to better face him.

-"Nah..."

You couldn't help but gasp out a small surprised chuckle. What a weird man. But he didn't seem like a bad person either, he took the beating like a champ and didn't even say who gave the punches.

You two spent some time alone then, quietly commenting on how terrible the new groups of rookies have been behaving and how shameful it was that you had to trust your lives on assholes like these. Gus didn't complain much, he did agree on mostly everything you said and shared a story or two about how cruel the men at his first base were.

"What a shit day we both had, huh?" You sigh, Gus grunts a "Si..." As he leaned on the wall to your left, your bodies almost touched, yet you did not complain or move away.

-"Miss Hound." He calls out.

-"Rodriguez." You reply again like the time you saw him limping to your resting place.

-"Might I offer you a plan to make this day less shitty?" That perked your interest.

-"Wanna kill the rookies and my team? Cuz' that'd make my Friday less shitty."

Gus laughed wholeheartedly and you smiled charmed by the bubbly sound of his laughter.

-"No! Actually I was thinking... I have a tradition with Reyes and Nova. Every time we come from a hard mission we try and find someplace to break things and blow off some steam." Gus explains and you crock your brow tempting him to explain further. "There's a place conventionally close to your base in which you rent one of the rooms and-"

-"You trainna' fuck with me?"

Gus straightened his back startled by this accusation as he shook his head and hands denying your inquiry.

-"ABSOLUTELY NOT! I mean- no, no. I wouldn't mind at all, though. But it's not that. Listen to me!"

He was so adorable getting frustrated and embarrassed you couldn't help but laugh at his stance.

-"We rent a room and they give us some tools to break things! Like old TV's or windows even! It's very satisfying..."

You have never heard of such a place and right now you could use some destruction.

-"How much does that even cost?"

-"Free. I'll invite ya! Well, you could help me patch my wounds as payment, I'll take a quick shower and we'll head there as soon as I'm done. What do you say?"

You look back to his golden eyes and find nothing but adoration and eagerness. You two needed this. It's clear you are not the only one having a rough day, the bags under his eyes spoke volumes of how tired he must felt for having to deal with his Team Leader's distress and the sudden beating for a greeting.

"I'll patch you up real quick but only after you shower, pretty boy."

[difeisheng]

A Jianghu Mystery of the Middle Xi: The Tomb of Li Xiangyi

By Qiling, University of □□ (2024)

Left: A photograph of the inscribed text at Li Xiangyi's tomb, reading, "The grave of the Sigu Sect's departed Sect Leader, Li Xiangyi". Right: Artist's sketch renditions from eye-level frontal and aerial side views, recreating how the tomb may have appeared during the Xi dynasty.

Among the numerous important archaeological finds from the Xi Dynasty, the tomb of Li Xiangyi is not the most well-known, nor has it yielded any artifacts of particular intrigue, yet it has raised questions about certain points in history since its discovery. The tomb constitutes a small site, near a mountainous overlook which should have received little common traffic at the time of construction. Its structure is in line with some other aristocratic burials of the Middle Xi period: aboveground, with a chamber at the center of a raised rectangular dais several meters wide, large enough to bear only a single individual. A stone marker, which has survived in legible condition until today, declares it the tomb of Li Xiangyi, leader of the Sigu jianghu sect.

Records about Li Xiangyi are found at other archaeological sites contemporary with this tomb, and so his name is not an obscure one. The Sigu Sect complex has already undergone excavation for nearly two decades, with evidence that Li Xiangyi spent several years there as its first sect leader and founder. His tomb is within two hours' walking distance of the Sigu site, though isolated in its location, compared to the Sigu Sect's grand mountain entrance. (The complex itself was inhabited well after his death; bamboo slips cite Qiao Wanmian as the Sigu Sect's next major leader some years after, who oversaw it for several more decades into the later Xi). In addition, the Baichuan-Pudu site, closer to the eastern coast and historically the headquarters for the Baichuan Court, is affiliated with Li Xiangyi. Its origins apparently lay in an offshoot of the Sigu Sect, which grew into its own independent legal organization after his death.

Legends surrounding Li Xiangyi's life have been well-documented, both at Sigu and Baichuan-Pudu, but also in books and transcriptions of oral stories at sites around the country. These are dated to both the Middle and Late Xi periods, as well as a few scattered mentions in writings from the following dynasty. As a jianghu sect leader and swordsman, Li Xiangyi's reputation truly preceded him. Some tales speak of his early accomplishments, ridding towns of villainous tyrants and defeating criminals. Others talk about the founding of the Sigu Sect when Li Xiangyi was seventeen, and his subsequent missions leading his fellow swordsmen to protect the borders of the country. Not all of these narratives can be verified with surviving historical proof, and given Li Xiangyi's status in the shifting canon of folklore, the percentage that are hyperbole or fiction is likely significant. However, one that should be true, and is the most frequently told story throughout these sources, is that of Li Xiangyi's death.

All texts place Li Xiangyi as having died relatively young, with some providing a specified age, generally around twenty. He perished in a duel with Di Feisheng, leader of the Jinyuan Alliance, a rival jianghu organization and presumed threat to the Sigu Sect. As the sources say, the Jinyuan Alliance killed Li Xiangyi's sect brother, Shan Gudao, and in retaliation he used the Sigu Sect to launch a war against the Jinyuan Alliance. His final battle was the last in this war, dying in the East Sea on Di Feisheng's ship. The Jinyuan Alliance in return was badly defeated by the Sigu Sect; excavations at its first compound in the last five years have shown evidence of siege, with fire having destroyed large parts of the buildings. Afterward, the Sigu Sect disbanded without Li Xiangyi, with only the Baichuan Court continuing to function, before being resurrected one decade later.

Given this knowledge we have about Li Xiangyi, the matter of his burial should be straightforward. He had a tremendous impact on the jianghu in the few short years that he stood at its peak. He died heroically, if tragically, to obtain justice for a brother. He was honoured with a tomb, standing guard over the sect he dedicated his youth to. Why, then, is said tomb regarded as somewhat of a mystery?

This tomb was first stumbled upon during extended surveys of the Sigu site territory, with excavation taking place within the last two years. Parts of the stone chamber and foundation of the dais have withstood time, as have most things left inside. The tomb bears no signs of looting. However, there are some details which, alongside discoveries from other archaeological sites, contribute to a shadow of uncertainty on the existing narrative of Li Xiangyi's life.

Firstly, is that the austerity of the tomb does not line up with what we know of Li Xiangyi. Although overall sufficient enough for someone of his great reputation, the tomb is rather plainly embellished. There are an unexpectedly small number of burial objects inside, with those present being neither rare nor expensive. For all his contributions to the jianghu, less money and resources were poured into remembrance of Li Xiangyi than seems proper for his time.

Secondly, and far more significantly, is that the tomb holds no human remains. Whether the fact of Li Xiangyi having no recovered body to bury was made public is unknown; if it was, we do not have record of it. Certainly those who arranged for the tomb to be built and sealed would have carried this with them the rest of their lives, but no one else may be accounted for. Granted, it is not impossible for a disappeared body to have been common knowledge or presumption, as Li Xiangyi was killed at sea with no guarantee of being found. Yet this, combined with the ordinary appearance of the tomb, causes the entire site to appear... a nominal thing. Constructed to maintain acknowledgement of Li Xiangyi's absence, though his death was only marked by words, rather than a physical state.

He was given a tomb, but was Li Xiangyi truly dead before it was built?

In terms of the aforementioned other archaeological site findings, there is one that potentially implicates Li Xiangyi's death at an interesting political junction, within the context of the dynasty. The Xi Dynasty was unstable and relatively short-lived, established after taking back the Central Plains and adjacent territories from the southern conquering state of Nanyin. It endured for just under two centuries, the first of which was fraught with pockets of conflict, with many jianghu skirmishes such as that between the Sigu Sect and the Jinyuan Alliance. The greatest threat to the Xi Dynasty (until its fall) came one hundred years after its founding. Recovered archival records from the Xi capital excavation report that remaining Nanyin loyalists attempted a coup, supported by jianghu organizations, including a restored Jinyuan Alliance (although whether Di Feisheng was still its leader at this time is unclear). This attack was ultimately unsuccessful, but important to note is that the leader of this renewed Nanyin force is described as being Shan Gudao, Li Xiangyi's former sect brother.

Although Li Xiangyi brought the Sigu Sect into a war upon news of Shan Gudao's death, that demise seems to have been faked, with Shan Gudao disappearing underground only to reappear as part of a later rebellion. Could Li Xiangyi have been aware of this? Was his reaction to Shan Gudao's apparent death genuine? Or part of a coordinated plan, using him as a reason to destroy the Jinyuan Alliance, to eradicate any future resistance? Did Li Xiangyi, too, fake his death alongside Shan Gudao, in service of a shared cause? Were remnants of the Sigu Sect instructed to build an empty tomb, cementing Li Xiangyi as a dead hero so he could work in the shadows of the jianghu instead?

This is merely speculation, contradicted by the fact that if Li Xiangyi had indeed done as such, unlike Shan Gudao, after his duel with Di Feisheng he has no reappearance in any surviving records or at any archaeological site. As well, Li Xiangyi should have had no motivation for committing to such a scheme, with even loyalty to Shan Gudao a stretch for putting all the lives of the Sigu Sect on the line. That being said, history has a way of surprising the present, and this theory may not be entirely ruled out. At any rate, Shan Gudao's survival is a baffling accompaniment to Li Xiangyi's (lack of a) burial, one which will hopefully receive clarifying answers in future archaeological developments.

Perhaps the strangest piece of the puzzle concerning the end of Li Xiangyi's life, however, is Di Feisheng. After the Jinyuan Alliance was scattered by the Sigu Sect, stories regarding Li Xiangyi declared him dead and disappeared. Yet not unlike Shan Gudao, he became known in the jianghu once more about ten years later, witnessing the Nanyin's attempted coup and living long after. His tomb remained untouched, and was excavated eight years ago as part of the greater Tianji Mountain site project. The location of Di Feisheng's tomb is surprising, not only because it directly links him to the powerful and wealthy He clan of Tianji Manor, but also because he was buried next to their sole young master during the Xi Dynasty, Fang Duobing.

The son of financial minister Fang Zeshi and engineering master He Xiaohui, Fang Duobing became a notable youxia travelling the jianghu in the emperor's name, assigned in the wake of the attempted Nanyin coup. According to palace records, he was also betrothed to Princess Zhaoling, although the marriage agreement was eventually formally dissolved. What is otherwise known of Fang Duobing was his admiration of Li Xiangyi, having styled himself as a follower and disciple of him during his youth. As well, one eye-catching artifact among Fang Duobing's burial goods was a preserved wooden replica of a blade, with Li Xiangyi's name carved near the hilt. Likely a children's toy, prized and kept safe throughout Fang Duobing's life.

The exact nature of the relationship between Di Feisheng and Fang Duobing is not entirely certain, but it must have been a very close one, for Di Feisheng to have the privilege of burial on the Tianji estate. This topic justifies future study for our understanding of the Tianji He clan, already known in prior generations for its socially subversive relationships, but pertinent to Li Xiangyi is that the man whose most infamous act was to kill him, was laid to rest beside one who revered him. Why was there such a bond between these two figures, if the stories of Li Xiangyi's death have any truth to them? Did Li Xiangyi really die by Di Feisheng's blade? Did Li Xiangyi's empty tomb, plausibly signifying Di Feisheng's innocence, alter his relationship with Fang Duobing? Or indeed, did Li Xiangyi, the man himself, have a part to play in this?

No traces of him from this time remain in the archaeological record, true. But this should not be taken to mean without doubt that he was not alive then at all.

The discovery of Li Xiangyi's tomb has been an exciting development for studying this era of the Xi Dynasty, but it has also outlined doubt in areas of one man's life that were previously taken as likely facts. Li Xiangyi's tomb is scarcely fitting for his name as a founding sect leader, built more for the sake of its existence than anything else, and there was no body sealed inside to begin with. In addition, Shan Gudao— someone dear to Li Xiangyi— established a precedent of faking his death. Di Feisheng, known across the jianghu for killing the man, held a close bond with someone later in life who had personally looked up to Li Xiangyi, and so he may not have been fully responsible for Li Xiangyi's death to begin with.

What truly happened to Li Xiangyi, resulting in a tomb such as this? The past holds the answer, knowing things that we do not. Hopefully the future of archaeology will continue leading to new discoveries, and allow us to more completely understand the legend that was Li Xiangyi.

[queenhawke]

"What do I care about?"

[everwalldigan]

Damian Wayne and Rubeus Hagrid would be best friends. Allow me to elaborate

It would maybe go like this: Damian is having a bit of trouble taking care of Goliath and nowhere in his unusual and extensive curriculum was he taught how to take care of baby dragon bat. Naturally he does some research and comes across Rubeus Hagrid, who by now has made a good reputation for himself as expert on all things magical creatures.

He convinces Bruce to take them to England for a few weeks and sneaks away to corner Hagrid outside of a bar, demanding to be taught about the proper care of dragon bats.

Hagrid is immediately charmed by the open care and love Damian has for all animals, not just the ones that fit a certain standard (it also doesn’t help that Damian reminds him painfully of a younger Harry with his sharp green eyes and thirst for knowledge. Hagrid did not stand a chance)

He takes Damian back to his cottage, watching as the hard shell Damian has built around himself immediately fades away when he meets Fang. They immediately take to each other, the old dog looking more lively than he’s been in years as Damian starts ranting about his own dog Titus and his array of other pets while Hagrid makes them some tea.

They sit down and Damian takes a sip of his tea, immediately spits it back out and becomes the first person ever to have the heart to inform Hagrid that his food sucks. Instead of being offended, Hagrid laughs so hard he starts crying because all the faces people were making while eating his food suddenly make sense and he can’t believe in all these years nobody has bothered to tell him! They strike an agreement that Hagrid shows and teaches Damian about all the magical creatures he knows and in exchange, Damian teaches him how to improve his cooking so that it becomes halfway edible.

Damian makes then a new batch of tea, listening intently while Hagrid takes over the talking and tells him all about the development stages of dragon bats, even offering to house Goliath if things get out of hand, and offers to buy some supplies from Diagon alley for him that Goliath would like. (For the sake of simplicity: the statue of secrecy has been long lifted and British wizards live freely amongst the population). Damian has never been so impressed in his life when Hagrid mentions the giant three headed dog he calls Fluffy and suggests to set up a play date with Goliath and Fluffy when Goliath is old enough to fly.

When Damian sneaks back to their hotel room to a pissed off Bruce, he explains where he’s been manages to only get two weeks no patrol as punishment (Bruce is barely holding himself together from aweing out loud) and insists that Bruce come with him to Hagrid’s the next day.

Bonus:

Hagrid immediately recognises Bruce (despite not recognising Damian) and Bruce is panicking thinking their identities are busted (cause how can he explain to the media how Bruce Wayne’s son come in possession of a dragon bat??). Father and son then proceed to be utterly gobsmacked when Hagrid goes “yer pennyworths kid aren’t ya!” And explains how he’s recognised Bruce from a photograph Professor McGonagall showed him of her old military friend who writes to her every now and then.

Bonus 2:

Bruce comes to bitterly regret ever letting Damian hang out with Hagrid cause instead of sneaking in normal animals like cows, Damian has started finding and collecting magical creatures around Gotham and now that he’s aware and looking for them, they are everywhere. The headaches Bruce gets rival no other.

[petite-phthora]

Please don't shake the cat

[DP x DC fic]

[Love at first... murder? - part 13]

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Part 1

Ao3

---

Private chat nicknames:

RedHood = Jason

Danny = Danny

---

Private chat

RedHood: *picture*

RedHood: this yours???

---

Seeing the picture of Ellie clamped onto Red Hood’s arm Danny lets out a sigh while rubbing his forehead. He takes a few seconds to look at the picture while deciding on how to reply.

---

Private chat

Danny: you don’t happen to be in Mexico right now by any chance, do you?

RedHood: No.

RedHood: I was out patrolling when I was suddenly bitten by her.

RedHood: Thought it might have been a criminal or stray cat or something like that at first.

RedHood: I was not expecting a feral teenager, but I can’t say this is the first time it’s happened.

Danny: damn, she was supposed to be in Mexico 😕😥

Danny: I guess this is what she was trying to tell me with that cryptic message she sent me huh

Danny: and the stray cat analogy isn’t too far off to be perfectly honest 🤔

RedHood: So you know her?

RedHood: Can you help me get her off? I’ve tried prying but she’s got some sick ass jaw strength.

RedHood: Which would have been pretty cool any other time, but it’s currently not really working in my favor.

Danny: I’m so sorry about her 😓 😓

Danny: we’ve been trying to teach her to ask for consent first

Danny: but it’s still a work in progress 😅

Danny: of course I'll help you get her off!! 😊🙃

RedHood: Great! You’re at your apartment, right?

RedHood: I’ll be there in two shakes.

Danny: please don’t shake the cat 😰

Danny: she’ll get grumpy and might latch on even tighter

Danny: I’ll come to you instead 🙃

Danny: you said you were patrolling, so crime alley, right? 🤔🤔

RedHood: Well, yes, but I doubt you’ll be able to get up where I am right now.

RedHood: Let me at least come down to the ground first and I’ll tell you how to get here.

RedHood: Danny?

---

Jason looks down at his unread messages with a slight frown. He puts his phone away and looks back at the teenager on his arm.

He gives his arm a small shake, causing her to growl at him which immediately makes him stop.

Right… No shaking the cat.

Jason lets out a weary sigh before looking down over the edge of the building to the ground below. He’s trying to think of the best way to get down with only one functional arm when a voice breaks him out of his reverie.

“Hey, Hood. I’m here!”

He turns around, slightly alarmed that there’s a second person who managed to sneak up on him tonight.

Damn, he’s getting rusty

Though from anyone whom he had been expecting to see, he had not been expecting to see the guy he messaged a minute ago standing behind him on the roof.

“How did you get here so quickly? And for that matter, how did you even get up here?” Jason asks confused.

“Oh, I flew” is Danny’s casual response, which gives Jason more questions than have been answered. But before he can decide whether he should bother asking for clarification Danny already moves on to the next topic.

“Anyway, let’s see what we can do about this,” he says, approaching Jason’s arm and the girl that’s hanging off of it.

“Good luck,” Jason says, holding out his arm a little better and watching bemused as Danny and the teen have a stare-down.

“Ellie, what did we say about biting others?”

The teen, Ellie, narrows her eyes and growls at him. Danny just crosses his arms and gives her an unimpressed stare.

“Nah-ah, you have to let him go. We ask before we bite someone. It’s called consent. Don’t make me get Jazz to give you another lecture”

It’s clear to Jason that Danny’s attempt at talking to her isn’t working when the teen proceeds to glance at Jason calculatingly before giving Danny a challenging look and biting down harder.

Apparently, it’s clear to Danny as well, as the next thing he does is let out a put-upon sigh before declaring “Well, I gave you a chance. Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way”

Danny then grabs a hold of her and tries pulling her off of him.

What is his life? Jason thinks as he’s standing there while Danny tries to physically pull the teenage girl, who decided his arm looked like a nice snack, off of him.

Though luckily for him, it seems to work as not a few seconds later Danny has pulled her off of his arm and is now holding the teenage girl with a bloody mouth up by her armpits.

Danny sets her down with a sigh but before he can speak up, the teen crosses her arms and levels Jason with a sharp look that makes him straighten up.

“Thou winneth this round, Red-Helmed Knight of the Night. Though thou should be prepareth, as the upcoming trials will be even more toilsome” Ellie declares while pointing at him, uncaring of the blood on her face.

“And I,” She points a finger back at herself for emphasis, ”Sir Ellie of the Infinite Realms, will—” she gets cut off when a fly enters her mouth.

Danny moves to help her but she holds up a hand to stop him, using her other hand to thump on her chest a few times.

She spits the dislodged fly out onto the floor and glares at it.

“Curse you! Foiling my monologuing once again!” she yells after the fly as it flies off.

Right…

Jason turns to Danny.

“So is she your sister?” he asks curiously. And totally not trying to fish for more information about Danny and his family.

Instead of Danny answering the question though, Ellie cuts him off.

“I’m his love child with the mayor of our town.”

Danny gives her a disgusted look.

“Ellie—”

She looks back at Danny with a shit-eating grin on her face.

Yeah, definitely siblings.

“I love my dads!” she says proudly, her eyes still on Danny.

Danny gives her a deadpan look in response before it changes to a more mischievous one.

“Oh, I’m sure Vlad would love to hear all about how you reclaimed him as a father figure—”

“Oh Ancients, no. Don’t even joke about that” She fake gags at him before turning back to Jason.

“Can I change my answer? I’m his bodyguard” She says, pointing her thumb at Danny.

That makes both Danny and Jason raise an eyebrow at her, though Jason’s can’t be seen through the helmet. They speak up at the same time.

“A bodyguard, huh?”

“No, you’re not, that’s Frighty”

Danny’s statement makes Jason pause and turn to look at him.

He’s got a bodyguard?

Ellie shakes her head happily.

“Nope! I took over the position. My knightly title isn’t just for show, y’know? I earned it fair and square!”

“When did this even happen? And why was I not told?” Danny asks, bewilderment covering his face.

Jason stays silent as he tries to make sense of the conversation.

“About…” Ellie takes a moment to think about it “3 months ago? I think it was when you were dealing with some time chores. And I thought it’d be a nice surprise, so… Surprise!” she exclaims, doing some jazz hands at the end of the sentence.

“What did you even do?”

“I snuck up on him and threw a Fenton Wii remote at his head which knocked him out cold. It counted as a win so I earned the position by right of conquest and gained my knighthood” She says with a shrug.

“Huh… think that would’ve worked for Pariah Dark as well? Would’ve made things so much easier…”

Ellie gives another careless shrug as Danny lets out a small reminiscent sigh. Meanwhile, Jason stands awkwardly to the side.

“Well, either way, I’m proud of you. Do you have a video?”

“Tucker filmed it for me, yeah”

“Nice”

They high-five with grins on their faces. At this point, Jason lets out a small cough which has the Fenton siblings turn around startled and proceed to then give him identical sheepish smiles.

They really look like they could be twins…

“Ah, sorry Red Hood. And again, I’m sorry for Ellie.” Danny says, rubbing the back of his neck with a small blush on his face.

“I’ll take her back home. And uhh… see you next time?”

Jason gives him a smile from under his helmet.

“Sure, if you’re still up for that next date?” Jason trails off with some hope.

His words make Danny’s blush darken.

“Ah uh, yeah! Yeah, of course! The next date! Uhmm, I’ll text you! Or you can text me. That’s fine too!”

Next to him, Ellie rolls her eyes and makes some fake gagging motions. She then grabs Danny by his arm and starts dragging him away.

“Come on, Loverboy. You can and your paramour can flirt later. When I’m not there… and after he’s passed my trials” she says, muttering the latter part low enough that Jason can’t hear. But, judging by the way Danny’s head snaps back to her and how his brows furrow, he did hear.

Just as Jason goes to reply, giving them a thank you and a goodbye of his own, perhaps even an offering to help them get down from the roof, he picks up on movement behind him.

Quickly turning around has him regretting not leaving the rooftop earlier, as he watches the Bats (and birds) land.

Fuck.

---

Taglist:

@i-always-say-yea   @uraniumwizard    @why-must-i-be-like-this   @griffinthing @i23432i @imsotiredfanficlovertm

[harmonysanreads]

*kneels down*

HAAH WHA??? HELLO? SOMEONE PLEASE PINCH ME AM I DREAMING????????

for context

Okay okay... I'm done screaming irl, this is?? I'm lost for words how beautiful it is???? I just woke up so I'm having a hard time processing reality (I legitimately screamed and now my mom is looking at me with a lot of concern) I wish I could be more eloquent but I'm just floored from how moved I am. Wdym "kneels down" I'd have you sit on a throne if I could :< RIP that friend who doesn't even have a name, you died a tragic death but at least it gave us exquisite content ✨

[uselessimpulses]

i can guarantee its awful country music in the background but theyre having a blast

a post trimax livio n vash twt art request for a friend 💕