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thr-333 · 4 years ago

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Mismatch- Part 21

Bio Dad Bruce Wayne Month

Patrolling with Gotham’s vigilantes is somehow the least chaotic part of their day, emphasises on Least!

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“So you want to explain how you let the Joker go?” Sparrow asks Red Hood, as they pour over plans.

“It happens,” Red Hood shrugs, but she is willing to bet he has a similar expression to Songbird right about now.

“Right, i just want to know how ,” She pushes more, getting Songbird to blush more

“Hey!" Songbird interrupts, getting the attention of the rest of the Bats with them, "I’m good at tracking people,”

“Thats nice,” Nightwing says, gearing up to search for the Joker with Red Hood.

“What I mean is I should come with you while Sparrow goes in the opposite direction,” Songbird turns to glare at her, “Far away,”

“Why would you want that,” Sparrow leans into his space, getting her face pushed away, “I’m just asking a professional question,”

“I have known you for little over a week nothing you do is professional,” Robin tsks, still sour about getting put on Patrol with her instead of going after the Joker.

“Well that’s simply not true,” Sparrows's voice comes out mumbled as marion smooshes her face.

“Right so you will follow the lead Nightwing has,” Batman pushes Songbird towards Red Hood, the greatest detective not notices the growing blush, “You three are patrolling together,”

“What could go wrong,” Red Robin sighs, resigning to patrol with both her and Robin.

“Try not to fall through any windows,” Sparrow calls, as they move to swing in opposite directions,

“Ha ha...I make no promises,” He mutters, heard through super hearing, before shouting, "See you later Captain!

Marinette leaves with Robin and Red Robin. The two bicker until oracle alerts them of three people attacking a girl in an alley a block over. In a matter of seconds of their arrival the three were disarmed and unconscious. Marinette goes to comfort the victim Alya?!

“Al- are you alright?” Sparrow reaches out to help her up.

“Yes, I’m fine thanks,” Alya dusts herself off, finally looking up, “Um, who are you?”

“Sparrow, working in Gotham temporarily,” She says professionally, hoping beyond hope that Alya does not recognise her.

“Right,” She surprisingly misses the chance for an interview, “Listen I need to talk to Batman, is he here?”

“Sorry miss he’s in another part of Gotham what seems to be your issue?” Red Robin answers for her.

“I need to talk to him about something really important,”

“Sorry, but if you’re looking for an interview Batman is very busy,” Sparrow brushes her off, of course she would be salivating to interview Batman.

“What? no-I’m,”

“We have to go, the police will be here soon,” Robin cuts her off, leaving with a Tt.

“Wait!”

“How annoying,” Robin spits, as they leave Alya behind in the alley.

“How did you know she wanted an interview?” Red Robin asks instead.

“Just know the type,”

“HEY!” Alya calls, chasing after them in the street below, “Just wait a minute!”

“Do you think we should stop?” Sparrow asks, feeling guilt claw at her.

“No,” Robin speeds up.

“Please! I really need to talk with you!” Alya begs, “It’s about Paris!”

“Paris?” Robin exchanges a knowing glance with Red Robin.

“We should stop,” Red Robin decides, they come to a halt.

They wait on the edge of the building, so Alya can see their shadows at the top. Alya starts sprinting up the fire escape.

“Tha-Thank you,” She pants, leaning over.

“What's this about Paris?” Robin demands, somehow glaring down at her despite being significantly shorter.

“The Akuma attacks!” Alya explodes, as if it's the most obvious thing, probably is, “Have you heard of Ladybug and Chat Noir? Hawk Moth?!”

“The situation in Paris has recently come to our attention,” Red Robin answers cordially.

“Well it’s been like this since I was thirteen!” Taking them both aback slightly, “And it's only getting worse every day,”

“The heroes of Paris have proved to be capable,” How did Red Robin even know about them?

“That's not what I mean, it’s the emotional toll,” Alya is still out of breath, Sparrow stands off to the side, joining in would only risk her identities, “Do you know what it’s like to be afraid to feel negative emotions? To have to constantly be happy otherwise you could kill your whole family!”

“I’m sure your heroes can handle it,” Robin concedes, bitterness hanging from the tone.

“They can but they shouldn't have to!”

Alya takes her aback with another out burst, stepping towards the Bats.

“I was… I used to be called in by them from time to time, and let me tell you,” Alya pauses, she was probably still mad about getting benched, loving her position as Rena Rouge, “It’s terrifying,”

Now that... that is a surprise.

“Not even the hero part… most the time,” Alya rubs her arm, “But you can’t get Akumatized again otherwise Hawk Moth will know, he can target your friends and family,”

At least she finally understood the need to keep secret identities.

“Ladybug hasent called me in in years,” Alya admits, actually looking shameful, "I don’t know how I messed up,”

Thats the problem

“But I know that I’m glad Ladybug never gave me the miraculous again,”

Wait... WHAT!

“It was so stressful having all of paris, sometimes the world, depending on you,” Alya looks on the verge of tears, “At first I though it was fun because I had Ladybug who seemed so strong and unstoppable, someone I could look up to, for always being there, always put together, she didn't seem to have a weakness,”

That- That could not be further from the truth

“Not that I don’t still respect her, it’s just different now,” Alya backtracks, “I saw it, sometimes, the uncertainty there, it made me think she’s just like me, scared, but she doesn't have anyone stronger to protect her, she’s all alone,"

I have Chat Noir!

“I look up to her so much more now, it’s not a fun job and I know she’s afraid she cant protect everyone, so Hawkmoth needs to be defeated,”

Alya looks every inch the confident reporter Marinette had first met. The one before Lila came and sapped all her strength and independence.

“Ladybug deserves to live in peace,” Alya decides, almost glaring down the other two, “Will you please help her?”

“We already have plans of going to Paris soon to assist,” Red Robin informs.

“You do?!”

“Thank you,” Alya burst into tears, while Marinette is still reeling from the new information, “Thank you so much,”

“How about we escort you back to your hotel?”

They carry Alya to the hotel, swinging through the night. They see her in and set up a watch across the building. They report into Batman, granting permission to stake out for a while. They watch as Alya is talking with the group, including Lila in her room. Marinette could feel the irritation radiating off the other two at Lila’s nonsense.

“Is this necessary?” Robin glares down at the window they are watching through, “She didn’t have any valuable insight,”

“She was a hero in Paris,” Red Robin sighs, evidently glaring just as much, “That's something,”

“And she clearly got the boot for being incompetent,”

“You don’t know that,” Alya had actually been a great fox, but when Marinette could no longer trust her as a civilian, she knew Alya could never wield another miraculous, “Which is why we are watching, follow every possible lead, especially when they’re scarce,”

“Hey listen,” Red Robin nods towards the speaker, connected to the bug he planted on her.

“Marinette really needs to think things through,” Lila whines, all three go to turn it down at the same time, “It’s like she wants the class to get in trouble,”

“But Marinette protected us from Scarecrow,” Rose squeaks out.

“And Marion!” Nino adds, as if they didn't just commit treason in Lila land.

“Of course, it’s just they know all this trouble is following them around and they’re still-” Lila pauses long enough for everyone to be on the edge of their seats, “No never mind,”

“What is it Lila,”

“Well…” Lila plays like she isn't going to tell them everything that never happened, “I was talking to Marinette in the elevator and I told her I felt really unsafe and scared that another villain was going to attack,”

“Mari-Marinette started yelling at me about how I was trying to ruin her trip!” Lila's lip quivers, so painfully obvious she can see it from here, “She said if I felt unsafe I should just stay behind or go back to Paris!”

“Do you feel that unsafe Lila?” Mylene asks, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Wha-”

“Yeah if you’re that scared you should tell your parents,” Kim encourages, enthusiastic, but concerned, “I’m sure you’ll feel better back home with Ladybug,”

“You guys don’t understand,” Lila almost shouts, losing grip on her perfect persona, “Marinette wasn't worried about me; she just wanted me out of the way! Because- well I don’t know why! I think she can just be really cruel sometimes,”

“That little disgusting worm!” Robin makes a grab for his katana.

“Yeah so I hacked the security footage and they have never been in a room alone together,” Red Robin reports, scrolling through a video feed, “Let alone an elevator,”

“Let’s just go,” Sparrow grabs them both by the arms, “I think we’ve exhausted our information,”

She practically drags them off the roof, a few blocks away. Robin’s pacing looking for something to stab. At this rate it’s probably going to be Red Robin, who’s been tapping away at his screen the whole time. Sparrow finds her saving grace, spotting a park down below.

“Let’s go,”

She drags them despite their protests down to the playground. Robin is grumbling the whole time, so she sits him down on the swing, and pushes him. Red Robin starts laughing and may or may not be filming.

“I am perfectly capable of pushing myself!”

“Really have you ever been on a swing before?” She leans over, getting in his face.

“Tt, of course not,” He looks away, “So childish,”

“Well that just means a child can do something you cannot,”

It's really Red Robins laughter that truly breaks him.

“... do not push me,”

“Alright, how about I show you?” She hops on the swing next to him, “Like this,”

Robin copies her form as Red Robin keeps filming, shouting out scores in the negative numbers.

“So help me I will stab you if you don't!-” Robin tips off balance and falls off the swing backwards, “ RED ,”

“That was very good for a first time,” Marinette helps him stand back up, “Keep it up and you might be able to go toe to toe with the three year olds one day,”

They spend the rest of patrol getting chased around the park by Robin, both hurling out insults and condescending reassurance.

Marion had not run into any buildings yet thank you very much. He had ran into a cell phone tower.

“Are you alright?” Red hood lands in front of him.

Marion glares at him upside down, hanging off the bars, as if this wasn't all his fault,

“Fine,” And because he can’t possibly be anymore embarrassed, “Just like you,”

“Of course I’m fine,” He crosses his arms, Marion definitely doesn't give him the once over, “I didn’t just run into a cell tower,”

He’s an idiot!..... He’s perfect

It does not help that Nightwing bursts out laughing.

“Little wing… no,” Nightwing gasps through his laughter.

“What are you-” Red Hood stiffens up, “oh,”

Mayday! Mayday! Abort! Abort! BACK TO PARIS!!! Wheres the Rabbit Miraculous!!!

“Oh,” Red Hood leans in, inches away, “Hell yeah I am,”

Sorry to inform you Marion has now died, Red Hood is indeed a murderer

Unfortunately before Marion has another opportunity to embarrass himself Oracle calls in and they both swing off. Leaving Marion to catch up. They eventually stop for a break without crashing into another building… it was a light graze ok?!

“I swear you and Sparrow are my new favourites,” Nightwing scarfs down another macaron.

“Careful golden boy,” Red Hood warns, stealing a macaron from Nightwing, “You’ll get a lecture form the Bat,”

“Batman can fuck off,” Marion shoves one in his mouth, “He probably lives off protein shakes and brooding,”

“Oh my-,” Red Hood cracks up, “I don’t think I've ever heard you swear,”

“What can I say,” Marion leans back, looking over Red Hood, “You bring out the best in me,”

“I think I’d rather bring out the worst in you,”

… No Marion is not blushing, he is not stuttering, he has everything under control thank you very much.

“Are- are you actually going to eat that?” Marion chokes out, Red Hood still holding his stolen macaron.

That turns out to be the worst possible thing he could have said, because Red hood actually takes off his helmet. There is a domino mask underneath but this is the first time Marion is seeing his face.

“Songbird are you ok?” Nightwing asks.

“I will never be ok again,” Marion falls back across the roof, “Ok is a state before perfection and I can never feel anything but joy after seeing that,”

“Ummm,” Nightwing looks awkwardly between the two.

“You’re pretty,” Marion turns, curling around to look at Red Hood.

“Not handsome?” And fuck he’s smiling, fuck.

“No,” Marion says harshly,“Gorgeous,”

Red Hood looks completely shocked. And god he can actually see his face! And expressions! This is wonderful!

“Yes… well,” Nightwing clears his throat, “We should probably move on,”

“Jealous?” Red Hood teases.

“No, let’s just go,” Nightwing stands, Marion sighs and sits back up.

“It’s alright Golden boy,” Red Hood punches him in the shoulder as he stands, “Plenty of people still think you’re pretty,”

Marion has to stop himself from ripping the helmet out of Red Hood’s hands when he goes to put it back on.

“That’s not what this is about Hood,”

“Sure it’s not,” Red Hood winks at Songbird just before he puts the helmet back on, as if that didn’t cause him cardiac arrest.

They continue along their search equal parts flirting with each other and teasing Nightwing.

“Oi! Shelly!”

Marion looks behind him, mid-swing to spot a familiar taxi driver,”

“Norris!” Marion spins around, landing in front of the man.

“You’re patrolling with them?” Norris nods towards the other two hiding in the shadows, “Where’s your sister?”

“Yeah! Decided on a codename, it’s Songbird actually,”

“Nah,” Norris leans against the hood of his car, “Shelly suits you better,”

“Hell yeah it does!”

Bruce waits for the others to finish up patrol in the Batcave. He has to talk to them about the twins at some point, the sooner the better, before they go back to Paris. It’s just so hard. Would they even accept someone new into the family?

“Father!” Damian shouts the moment he enters the cave, “I demand you adopt Sparrow immediately,”

“What, why?”

“She is a good warrior,” From Damian that is very high praise .

“And helps you skip patrol,” Tim adds, going directly for his after patrol coffee.

“You were complicit in that Drake!”

“You skipped patrol,” Bruce sighs, partly disappointed, partly curious Damian was usually excited for patrol.

“Not really we were watching that student from Paris we told you about,” Tim states, Bruce nods along, “They were talking to another student in the class who is-”

“A filthy liar,” Damian spits, “I have meet them once and know Marinette is far more honourable than that,”

“Lila?” Bruce guesses, thinking back to the fair, on the other hand at least Damian doesn't seem to hate them.

“How did you know?” Tim asks, taking the reports from the desk as he downs the coffee.

“I was with them the other day-”

“Father if you are planning to adopt them I insists you adopt Sparrow first,”

“We’re adopting Sparrow?!” Dick calls, as he walks in with Jason, “Cause we should also adopt Songbird,”

“Are you so offended you would go this far to thwart me?” Jason recites theatrically, “You should really learn to control that jealousy,”

“What happened?” Bruce grows suspicious watching Dick glare.

“Songbird flirted with me,” Jason grins, perhaps a little too widely, “And ignored Dick,”

“I’m not jealous, just worried,”

“Thanks,” Jason looks away bitterly, tone getting harsher.

“That's not what I meant Jason,” Dick cringes, having ruined his good mood.

“What did you mean then?” Jason bites out, making Dick recoil.

“Enough, I’m not adopting them!” Bruce shouts, making everyone pause.

“... That’s probably the first time you ever said that,”

"Alfred!" Jason jumps, Bruce tenses at him reflexively reaching for his gun, "Where the fuck did you come from!?"

"I think you will end up adopting them one way or another Master Bruce,"

"What do you mean," Bruce asks as Alfred takes Tim's coffee.

"Well I think it's time everyone retires for the night,"

"ALFRED! what do you mean!"

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Taglist:

@technicallyburninggarden @fusser90 @misslenamooney @superbwhispersconnoisseur @biodad-bruce-month @nalu-ismyjam @the-one-woman-army @rosesandsailboats @blackmagicforever @zeneralla @ivymala07 @tired-butterfly @tired-butterfly @Ranger-gothamite @A-star-with-a-human-name @enchanted-nerd

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lupin72 · 4 years ago

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What could have been

Anon asked for a fic where ‘Lucy figured out that she was about to be drugged and arrests Caleb and comes to work traumatised that she would have been kidnapped or something and Tim noticed that’. I changed the details a bit but I hope you like it!

Lucy sat in her favorite bar, with an attractive man in front of her, conversation flowing well as they waited to be served. And yet she couldn’t relax. It had been a while since she had found herself on a date. Lucy told herself that was why she had a feeling of unease when she regarded the man before her. Caleb was nice, friendly and he seemed to like her. A lot, if him showing up at the precinct was anything to go by. She had no reason for fear or tension, no reason to doubt his intentions at all. And yet she couldn’t get the voice in the back of her mind to shut up.

Even before she was an officer, Lucy had always been careful on nights out. Her parents had experience with enough patients to feel that it was important to drill into Lucy that she should never leave a drink unattended, never drink anything unless she had seen the bar staff pour it and to always let someone know where she was going. They were rules she had followed throughout her life. She didn’t know how many times such choices could have saved her life.

But this was different, Lucy reminded herself. She was on a date. They were supposed to be alone. But she hadn’t told Jackson where she was going.

The thought struck a pang of panic inside her and Lucy reached for her phone. As she did so, she heard Caleb order his drink and ask her what she wanted. Lucy looked up and tried to mask her uncertainty with a smile and ordered a glass of the house red. She wasn’t fussy after a day like she had had.

That was what it was, she told herself. Leftover unease from being around a serial killer all day. There was nothing wrong with Caleb. Lucy noticed the man in question was frowning at her and realized how silly she must have looked urgently trying to dig her phone out of her pocket.

“I’m not doing that bad am I?” Caleb asked, raising an eyebrow in a way that shouldn’t have been as endearing as it was. “Trying to call for help already?”

Lucy laughed, hoping it didn’t sound as forced as it felt, “Not at all. I just realised I never told my flat mate where I was going.”

“Oh,” Caleb paused, “it’s alright, I’m a gentleman, I’ll have you home by ten, promise.”

Lucy frowned. Her hands froze. Was that a red flag?

She shook herself, cursing her overactive mind and placed her hands back on the bar. She was a full grown woman, she didn’t need anyone’s permission and, despite the fact Caleb was obviously joking, she didn’t like the insinuation that she was acting like a child who was out after curfew.

Thankfully, their drinks arrived and prevented any award silence.

But then the world seemed to slow down. Caleb reached out to pay for their drinks and then smoothly grabbed both their glasses, pushing Lucy’s towards her and dragging his towards himself. It had looked causal, and it was all over in a second, but the movement of his hand had caught Lucy’s eye. There had been no need for him to touch her glass, no need for him to slide it toward her when it was already in comfortable reaching distance. And, had she imagined it, or had he spent a bit too long searching for his wallet? Long enough perhaps to lift something else along with it?

The voice, the feeling of unease, was suddenly too much and Lucy felt herself standing.

Caleb looked shocked.

“I’m sorry,” Lucy apologized, grabbing her jacket and moving away. “I’m not feeling too great tonight. I’ve had a bit of a terrible shift and I should have cancelled sooner. This wasn’t fair on you. You seem like a really nice guy, but I don’t think I can do this. I’m sorry-”

She turned to leave when she felt Caleb grab her arm. Tight.

“Wait.” His smile no longer reached his eyes and Lucy detected a hint of anger in his gaze. “Can’t we just have this one drink? I know I’m not the most attractive guy and I think I might have come across a bit strong when I showed up at your work, but I do really like you Lucy.”

Lucy paused, regarding his demeanor. There was something about the desperation in his tone that she didn’t like. Her gaze flicked back to their glasses on the bar behind them.

The date was over anyway. There was nothing more to lose. Lucy squared her shoulders and said, “If I asked you to down my drink would you do it?”

Caleb looked taken aback. “What?”

“If I asked you to drink it, would you do it?”

The anger on his face grew to the point he looked enraged.

“I thought so.” Lucy broke free of his grip and turned for the door.

Thankfully, a group of girls stumbled into the bar just as Lucy reached the entrance. One stopped and pulled the door back open for her, smiling as Lucy passed through. With a sigh of relief Lucy noticed that their uber driver was still waiting by the door and, upon the driver’s request, jumped in their car.

Lucy never got much sleep. She had tossed and turned for hours thinking about what could have happened. She knew in her heart that Caleb had been attempting to spike her. Should she have told the barman? Hell, should she have arrested him? No, she once again reminded herself. Her evidence was based on a hunch, on suspicion and nothing more. Still, pushing herself from the bed, she decided she would call her mother later to thank her for her annoying persistence in reminding her to be safe growing up. For now, she had to get to work.

Lucy bumped into Tim just as she was entering the bullpen. “Told you to unwind last night Chen, not stay up the whole night, you look like you haven’t slept at all.”

It was disguised as a reprimand, but Lucy could tell that it came from a place of concern. “Had a rough night,” she replied. “I’ll tell you about it in the shop if you promise not to boast.”

Lucy knew that promise wouldn’t be kept. Tim had sensed something was wrong with Caleb. He had made all those jibes about the photos and tried to steal Caleb’s number from Lucy’s hand. But even if she did have to listen to him boast, part of her also wanted some reassurance that she had done the right thing. Caleb, after all, might have been innocent. It could all have been in her head.

They were in the shop for two minutes before Tim spoke, “So, Boot what did you want to tell me? I’m ready to gloat.”

Lucy explained what had happened on the date, her words tumbling into each other at such a speed that she wasn’t sure Tim would know what she was saying at all. Thankfully, he seemed to follow well enough and he didn’t interrupt.

“I knew there was something wrong with that guy,” Tim said when she was finished. Lucy rolled her eyes at that predictably being his first take away.

“Are you alright?”

The look of concern on his face took Lucy by surprise.

“Yes sir,” she answered.

“You did the right thing. Even if he was innocent it’s better to be safe than sorry. And with this new serial killer on the lose too, you can never be too sure.”

Lucy hadn’t thought about it that way. What were the odds that the new killer would target her? She knew that the number of men that turned to date rape drugs was scarcely high enough in the city of LA that it was extremely unlikely to be related at all.

Still, the thought was enough to send her head spinning.

“Don’t go there Chen,” Tim interrupted her spiral, bringing her back to the present. “You were switched on enough to notice what he was playing at. Not many would have. It shows you have good instincts.”

Just as Lucy was about to point out that Tim had just given her a compliment, he froze.

“Fire!”

Lucy jumped, her hand automatically going to her weapon, whilst she scanned the horizon.

“That house is on fire, what do we do Officer Chen?”

Lucy quickly looked to the house Tim had gestured to and found no sign of smoke or flames. She realized immediately what he was doing, and her heart swelled in response, even if it had just stopped beating seconds before.

Lucy rattled off the protocol as Tim drove on, her nightmare of a night long forgotten.

An hour later a call came in from Grey directly. A rare occurrence so that they both knew immediately that something was seriously wrong. Tim drove them to the address in a tense silence.

They joined a swarm of vehicles pulling up outside an abandoned farmhouse out in the middle of nowhere. In sync, they climbed out of the car and turned to where Grey stood at the porch, towering over the crowd of officers.

“Rosalind’s partner has struck again,” Grey announced. “A video was sent to the precinct half an hour ago of a woman in a barrel, we presume she is underground. Detectives were able to track the signal here. From the footage we believe this to be a recovery. I want you all to spread out, we’ve got dogs and metal detectors on hand. Let’s bring this girl home to her family and with any luck we will find something to put the bastard who did this behind bars.”

With sharp orders from the detectives, they broke out into their routine search formation: a line forming a grid that seemed far too small to cover the vast desert plane surrounding them. Lucy’s stomach churned as she walked in line next to Tim, a sniffer dog team to her other side. What sort of end the woman must have met? Alone, underground, in a barrel in this heat? It didn’t bare thinking about.

After almost an hour of nothing, the dog to Lucy’s right gave a loud bark and began clawing at the ground. The handler gave a shout and within minutes a flurry of officers began to dig. Dirt flew carelessly around them as they shoveled it clear. The only sound panting and the scraping of the sand. And then they hit metal.

The barrel exposed; they removed the lid. The sight that met them made more than one officer gasp, including Lucy.

They had found her.

Tim pulled the young woman up and laid her body out.

Grey was right. She was already gone.

She looked young, a few years younger than Lucy. Her long dark hair covered half of her face and Tim carefully pulled it back to lay her more peacefully on the sand.

Lucy jumped. The sight of the young woman’s face sent her stumbling backwards. Her hand flew to her mouth to try to stop the feeling of nausea that had overtaken her.

Tim, seemingly the only officer to notice, spun to face Lucy and immediately rose to his feet when he saw the look on her face.

“Chen?” He said, in the same soft tone he had used with her in the shop earlier, a tone she had heard him use so rarely. Lucy felt him reach out and clasp her elbow when she still didn’t respond.

“She was there,” Lucy stammered, forcing the words out between her loud gasping breaths, “She was there, at the bar…last night.” Lucy recognized the victim as the young woman who had held the door open for her.

It was clear the second Tim realized what she was saying. His other hand rose to catch her by the shoulder. “Chen are you telling me that-?”

“It’s Caleb. It has to be.”

They were gathering an audience from their fellow officers, both those who had helped to dig and those that were only now just reaching the scene. Lucy barely noticed them. All she could see was Tim. The fear in his eyes, his strong hands the only reason she hadn’t fallen to the floor.

Lucy choked, unable to hold back her tears any longer, they began to slip down her cheek. The terrible realization hitting them both.

“It should have been me.”

Hope you enjoyed reading this! A reminder that I am still open for prompts!

#chenford #the rookie #tim bradford #lucy chen

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melindacoulson4 · 4 years ago

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The lovers

"It appears that Agent Johnson and Agent Sousa are in the midst of a lover's quarrel," Enoch chimed in with his familiar monotone voice.// Coulson has come back, but he's missed a certain development pertaining to Daisy & Sousa. Enoch steps in to inform him. May does damage control afterwards. Mainly philinda with sprinkles of daisy/sousa

"We'll drop him where he belongs...the first chance we get," Mack said of the man from 1989 in holding. "That's our top priority." "Next to getting Agent Sousa back home to the 50's," Phil chimed in.

Melinda's stomach clenched. Phil was going to push the issue. Everyone except for him knew the real reason why Sousa wanted to stay.

"For all they know Sousa died back in 1955...and it'll stay that way," Mack said, attempting to shut down the line of questioning. "But we can still jump back. We can help him set up an alias...give him back some semblance of a life. Shouldn't be that hard with this technology," Phil argued.

With the addition of Fitz, the rest of the science team had been able to modify the jump drive so they could control how and when the zephyr traveled through time. Phil turned to Sousa. "You deserve to go home just like the rest of us." It was good natured, agent to agent camaraderie. "Leave no man behind, right?" All eyes went to Sousa. He looked disconcerted by the prospect of going anywhere at the moment. But Phil had paused, waiting for him to agree. "Uh...right," Sousa agreed, nodding awkwardly. Daisy scoffed. "1955 should be our next stop then. I wouldn't want you to feel so out of place, Agent Sousa," she finished, setting him with a chilling glare. "I should really go check on our prisoner." Daisy turned on her heal and set off in a brisk pace.

There was a loaded silence that settled over the rest of the team. Sousa took no precaution in hiding the way he followed Daisy's every move. For an agent, he was terribly poor at deception. Every emotion was plainly written on his face. "If you'll all excuse me," he said, then walked the same path that Daisy had. Eyebrows furrowed, Phil tracked Sousa’s trail. "What just happened? Kinda feels like I'm missing something,” he stated, not grasping what had unfolded right before his eyes. "Yea...I'm lost," Fitz said, face screwed up like he was staring at a complex math formula. Simmons elbowed him not so subtly. "What the bloody hell was that for?" He whispered dramatically and full of outrage. "It appears that Agent Johnson and Agent Sousa are in the midst of a lover's quarrel," Enoch chimed in with his familiar monotone voice. Melinda's nostrils flared. If looks could kill she would've flattened him. A chuckle filled the room. One she was familiar with. Her eyes snapped to Phil. His attention was focused on Enoch. Clearly amused by the comment, a good-natured smile had formed on Phil's face. "I think you've got some wires crossed," Phil said, dismissing the insinuation almost immediately. That would've been the end of it, if not for the sentient chronicom lacking any social cues. Inquisitive, Enoch tilted his head. "I have not taken any significant blows to my mainframe. It is intact. And I am quite certain about Agents Johnson and Sousa. It was a disagreement spurred on by the status quo of their relationship which is sexual by nature." Deke just about choked on his own tongue. "Alright that's enough," Mack briskly cut in. "Simmons don't you have something that needs Enoch's attention?" He asked pointedly. "Right." Simmons swallowed, trying to come up with something on the fly. "Yes. I-" Enoch turned to Phil. "I have seen one of these trysts with my own eyes, Agent Coulson. By accident might I add. And unlike humans my ocular spheres do not deceive me," he stated proudly. Melinda growled and took a threatening step forward. "Stop talking before I turn you into a pile of spare parts." Hurriedly, Simmons interfered. "Okay. Into the other room. Now." Simmons and Deke started corralling Enoch towards the door. At a loss for what to do, Fitz trailed behind. It was too late to backtrack. The robot had ruined their cover-up. Wanting no part of the reveal, Yo-Yo and Mack made themselves scarce. "We've got that..." Yo-Yo nodded her head towards the exit, itching to bolt. "Yea," Mack agreed. He shot Melinda a sympathetic glance as he passed. By the end of it, she and Phil were the only ones left in the room. When she turned to him, he was still smiling. "I go away for a little while and the chronicom learns to tell a joke." He shook his head fondly. "Needs work on the content," he paused, thinking for a moment, "and delivery but still, that's pretty impressive." With the knowledge that she was about to crush him, she couldn't even muster up a small smile. "It wasn't a joke," she confessed. His hands fell to her hips and he went on ignoring the reality of the situation. "So this is my payback? A new running gag you came up with and had them all agree to...seems awfully academy of you." He was under the impression that this was one of her elaborate academy era pranks. She pulled his hands away from her body, but held onto them. Things could not turn into anything more. Having just recently reunited, he had a way of making her forget about everything except him, but they had to talk. "Phil," she stated solemnly. "You should sit down." He followed willingly as she tugged him towards the loading bay. They took two of the seats that were built into the wall. Still firmly believing her actions to be part of the gag, he smirked. She grabbed his hand, lacing their fingers together to help soften the blow. Then settled him with a look. "This thing with Daisy and Sousa is real." As he studied her, the smile slipped off his face. He sat back abruptly. "No way. Come on. No," he denied. She sighed. "We could sit here all day...the truth won't change." "This isn't funny anymore, May," he said, reverting back to their old way of addressing each other. The grip he had on her hand loosened. She stared at him and came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to accept the truth until it was slapping him in the face. "Just remember you're forcing my hand." She dropped her hold on his hand. There was a workstation next to their seats. She went to it and booted up the screen. Melinda knew the day she needed to show Phil. Daisy and Sousa had been separated out in the field. They feared he wasn't going to make it back to the zephyr before the next jump. But he had.

She scanned through the footage and found what she needed. The video began playing. It was the last thing she wanted to do. But Phil would never come to terms with it otherwise. On the screen, a shadow appeared through the small gap between the ramp and the top of the zephyr. A body rolled down the ramp. Daisy could be seen running to it. The two figures rose to their knees, joined in a tight embrace. The man pulled back and it became clear that it was Sousa. Their heads moved together again and they began to kiss – passionately.

Melinda turned and found that Phil’s face was a picture of complete horror. They were nearby the very same spot that was in the video. He seemed to realize it too. "No. No. No. No. This isn't happening." His eyes snapped shut. "Wake up. Wake up," he demanded of himself. Sighing, she clicked out of the surveillance footage and went back to her seat. In an attempt to soothe him, her hand rubbed over his thigh. "You need to take a breath," she told him calmly. "You...you..." He shook his head, so disoriented that he couldn't even form words. After several deep breaths, he continued. "You let me spend all day with him." The roll of her eyes was instinctual at this point. "What difference would it have made if I'd told you?" "I don't know. I wouldn't have been so nice to him for starters! Acting like some giddy idiot instead of.... interrogating him for one…asking his intentions…figuring out who the hell he thinks he is." His hands flew out in front of him with nervous energy. The two of them always had similar thoughts when it came to protecting Daisy. After getting over the initial shock, Melinda had paid Sousa a visit and put the fear of God in him. For days afterward he wouldn't even meet her eye. "I already did that," she told Phil. "Yea, well thanks for telling me. I appreciate it." He scowled. A pang of regret hit her then, but it was fleeting. Her motivations outweighed his wounded feelings. "I didn't know if your heart would be able to take the shock," she confessed. "I guess we know the answer now. News like this is not even on the scale of regular shock. It's on the ‘hey my head is exploding’ level of shock," he stated dramatically. Her eyes narrowed. "I'm being serious," she said. "So am I. Ugh...this is a nightmare." Both his hands came up to scrub over his face. Melinda had become all too familiar with nightmares. This wasn't one of them. The news was hard to swallow, for sure, but not anywhere near nightmare level status. Sousa treated Daisy with respect and made her laugh. It made Melinda happy to catch them in moments like that. It was everything she and Phil could hope for: Daisy's happiness. Phil just couldn't see it yet, but she knew he would come around to the idea of it soon enough. Suddenly Phil sat up a sheepish look on his face. "I think what happened back there is my fault," he said slowly. "What do you mean?" "In the car earlier Sousa and I talked...." "And?" She prompted. "We talked about relationships. What they mean to us. What's important.” Phil seemed to zone out, staring at a point on the zephyr’s ramp. She watched him, still not understanding what he was getting at. He shook his head. "The whole time I thought he was talking about Peggy Carter…not. Not..." Tongue tied, he was unable to make himself say her name. "Daisy," she supplied. His eyes jumped up. "Really?" He asked unamused. She thought better of saying anything. Talking was his forte. He would work out whatever he was trying to communicate to her by verbalizing it. He'd always been that way.

"He talked about where he felt at home. I told him home wasn't a place, it was a feeling,” Phil recalled. Sceneries changed but their team stayed the same. They could be in the future or the past. In an airplane or on a base. As long as Phil was with her it didn't matter where or when they were. "She kept it from me. Did she not want me to know?" The hurt was written plainly on his crumbling features. Melinda jumped in to squash that idea before it took hold of him. "It was me. Not Daisy. I was serious about your heart. I just got you back." She didn't need to lie about her fears for his health. It was the truth and she wouldn't shy away from it. His features softened. "I'm fine, Melinda. Simmons said as much," he said, attempting to quell her fears. "I know." It was difficult to accept that when everything she'd seen was the exact opposite. The amount of times she'd lost him had reached a number too great to keep track of. She wasn't interested in doing it ever again. But this conversation wasn't about them. Right now, they had to focus on Daisy and her relationship with Sousa. "Why are you okay with this instead of tracking Sousa down to punch him or something?" He asked. That earned him a smile. He knew her all too well. She had tested Sousa over and over again with the threat of harm, but he came out on top every time. It made her sad for all that Phil had missed, but he was here now and that's all that mattered. "Who says I haven't already done that?" She tossed back cryptically. Half the fun was keeping him guessing. A genuine smile formed then. He leaned forward and kissed her. It was a gentle press of their lips. A simple reassurance that they were okay. When they parted, her right hand went to work straightening the collar of his shirt. "He's a good man," she told Phil, needing to reassure him that Daisy had chosen well. Still not acclimated to the idea, his face screwed up. But it was minor discomfort compared to the shock he'd exhibited before. "Kind of emasculating the way you talk about another man after I kiss you," he quipped. "Funny," she replied, sarcastically, fighting a smile. He took hold of the hand she had at his collar, pulling it down and rubbing it nervously between two of his own. Clearly preoccupied, she granted him a quiet moment to process everything. "I implied that Sousa didn't want to be here, but now that I think of it…that's not what he meant at all," Phil said regretfully. The last thing he would ever want was to hurt Daisy. "So go fix it," she told him. And he did.

#philinda #daisysous #sousy #philindaisy #fic

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dreamwritesimagines · 6 years ago

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Don’t You Love Me? 13- Romantics For Life [Steve Rogers x Reader]

A.N.: Your feedback makes me so happy and helps me write faster, please keep it coming! <3

Characters: Steve Rogers x Reader, Tony Stark x Pepper Potts, Bucky Barnes, Natasha Romanoff.

Warnings: Drinking, mentions of addiction, self destructive behavior, cussing, explicit language, mentions of sex. Read with care please.

Summary: Promises are important.

Word Count: 3210

Chapters:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

The beautiful moodboard is made by fictionwillneverdie

Gif’s not mine!

You leaned your back to the wall, sitting cross-legged on the floor with a mug of coffee in your hand. It was almost morning when you woke up, and you had opened the door to find Steve sleeping across the door, with his head resting on the wall. You had managed to wake him up and convince him to come inside, and he was way too sleepy to say no to you when you told him to sleep in your bed.

Steve shifted in bed, making you look up but he didn’t wake up, so you heaved a sigh and sipped your coffee, scrolling down the news on your phone. So far, each and every one of them was about the body on the stairs and there was nothing on Trent.

Of course.

The bastard was too good at hiding.

Your phone buzzed in your hand and you saw the text from Pepper.

You okay?

You frowned and quickly typed in;

Yeah but can’t call yet, Steve is sleeping.

Details. Now. Pepper’s text was almost too fast and you grinned, then typed again;

His virtue is still safe, no worries.

You looked up from the phone when Steve shifted in the bed again, and his eyes opened slowly, his hand shooting up to rub at them. You took a sip of your coffee, keeping your eyes on him.

“You sleep like a Disney princess, Capcake.”

He lifted his hand to shoot you a confused look, and a frown took over his expression.

“How long have you been sitting there?” his voice was hoarse because of sleep and you smiled slightly.

“Mmm, about two hours now.”

“Why?”

Even if you wanted to say you didn’t want to be alone, and that his mere presence gave you a sense of calmness through this panic still pulsing in your system, you couldn’t. You tilted your head to the right, grinning at him.

“So that I could gaze upon your pretty sleeping self like we’re in a romance movie, Cap. Why else?”

Steve scoffed and sat up in bed, making you frown.

“Just so you know, it’s rude to look this good right after waking up.”

“Oh is it?”

“Very. I at least expected a drool, but…” You shook your head, making him chuckle and he held out his hand.

“Tell me you haven’t been sitting there for two hours,” he mumbled, motioning you to come closer, “That’s gotta be uncomfortable.”

“It wasn’t, not really,” You said, taking his hand and letting him pull you closer until you sat by the edge of the bed, still holding your mug in your hand tight.

“You sobered up?”

You held up the coffee mug, “Yeah. It’s my third cup.”

Steve raised his brows, then took the mug from you to take a sip, and made a face.

“How much sugar do you put into this thing?”

“A lot. What, sugar wasn’t invented back in your day?”

“Yeah but it was pretty scarce.”

Your grin faded, “Shit, I- I really need to improve my history knowledge.”

Steve took another sip and scrunched up his nose, handing the mug back to you and you put it on the nightstand.

“Man, you gotta tell me these things.”

“What things?”

“Things that might make me sound like an ignorant asshole-“

“How much did you sleep last night?”

Your head shot up and you pulled your brows together, then averted your eyes and waved a hand dismissively,

“Sleep is overrated.”

“How much, Y/N?”

“I know what I’ll see when I sleep, so no thank you.”

“What you’ll see?” Steve repeated and you shrugged,

“You. With a knife through your chest.”

A silence fell upon you, the only thing you could hear was the noises of the construction sites coming from outside. Steve heaved a sigh and his hands went to your waist to pull you closer. You smiled slightly, holding his arms as he pulled you to his lap and you tightened your legs around his waist, straddling him.

“What did the council tell you?” You asked and his eyes snapped up to yours, then he took a deep breath.

“That’s not important-“

“You said we’d talk about it when I’m sober. I’m sober now.”

He pulled his brows together, deep in thought and you shrugged,

“Trust me Steve, it won’t be something I haven’t heard before.”

“Council consists of a bunch of ignorant cowards who have no understanding of life,”

“That’s a complicated way to say they’re a bunch of assholes. So what did they say?”

Steve cleared his throat and averted his eyes, “Just that… it uh- it could be dangerous.”

You snorted a laugh, “Don’t sugarcoat it, Spangles. Or else I’ll get my hands on that footage, SHIELD always records everything and there were cameras in that room.”

Steve shook his head slightly, as if bowing to inevitable, “They said you couldn’t be trusted.”

“Understandable.”

“No it’s not.”

You rolled your eyes, “I was married to the future leader of HYDRA, Steve. I hacked super confidential files when I was eighteen, I had a rap sheet-“

“None of that matters, and you didn’t know.”

“I’m a firm believer of ignorance not being an excuse.”

“And I’m a firm believer of second chances.”

You scoffed, raising your brows and looking elsewhere, “I’m guessing Council didn’t take that statement kindly?”

“We’ve had a…small argument.”

You tried to keep a straight face, “Hm, small argument?”

“I told you, I’m not looking for anyone’s permission but yours on that.”

A smile warmed your face and you made yourself more comfortable, shifting in his lap and leaned in.

“Oh permission granted.” You muttered before you pressed your lips to his and he placed a hand on the back of your head, cradling it while his other hand slipped down to your waist, pulling you closer. You pressed a hand on his rock hard chest, biting at his bottom lip and shifting your weight in his lap, making his grip in your hair tighter but before either of you could do anything else, your phone started ringing, making you pull back, both of you breathing hard.

“Sorry-“ you muttered as you took a look at your screen “Fucking Jake, worst timing ever…” You hit decline and put your phone on the nightstand, but he pulled back slightly when you leaned in.

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about something,” he muttered, his fingers slipping down from your hair to your neck, and you felt your heart skip a beat, but tried to focus.

“That’s not a good sign.”

“No it’s nothing bad,” Steve shook his head and licked his lips, “There’s just… forties and 21st century time difference.”

You waved a hand dismissively “Oh I could totally dress up as a pin up if you want.”

“What? Y/N-“

“Hey, we could do roleplaying, you’d be the naughty soldier and I’d be-“

“Why do I have a feeling you actually put some thought into that?”

“I may or may not have googled 40s fetishes.”

Steve’s expression could only be described as stunned, “A-and?”

“I printed out a list so that we can cross them out, it should be somewhere in the living room. Greatest Generation was kinky as fuck man…”

“You’re joking.”

“Am I though?” You wondered out loud, trying to suppress your smile at the way pinkness spread over his cheeks, “Anyways, you were saying?”

“Yeah, so I-“ Steve stammered, trying to focus which made it harder for you to control your smile, “I was-um-“

“Easy, soldier.”

“Yeah-“ Steve cleared his throat “I was- thinking that… You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

You scoffed, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh.” Steve shot you a disbelieving look while you batted your eyes innocently, “Right.”

“You were saying?”

Steve cleared his throat, “So this is gonna sound weird.”

You heaved a dramatic sigh, “To be honest I saw this coming. Spill. What kinks are you into, Rogers? Because I’m pretty sure we can find some parallels in here-“

“I don’t want you to test drive with anyone else,” Steve blurted out and you stopped talking, “I also- I also don’t want to test drive with anyone else. So I don’t want- I don’t want us to test drive other people.”

Shit.

Yeah, Greatest Generation had some fucked up kinks alright.

“Your kink is being exclusive?” You couldn’t help to say, “It couldn’t have been bondage, man? I mean…”

“Y/N.”

“I’m processing what I just heard so give me a minute.” You got off his lap and ran a hand through your hair, “Okay, um…”

“You don’t want that?”

“No-yes, but I-“ You swallowed loudly, “You don’t- you don’t even know how I am in bed.”

Steve shrugged slightly, as if he didn’t see your point.

“How do you know you won’t want other people if we’re not-“ You motioned between you two, making his frown deepen “We’re not even having sex.”

“So?”

“So how do you- how do you know you won’t want others?”

“Do you want others?”

You stopped your pacing to shoot him a glare, “Just last night I told you I was addicted to you Steve, it doesn’t exactly work like that.”

“And what makes you think I’m not addicted to you?” Steve asked flat out, “With or without sleeping together?”

“Because why the fuck would you?” You asked, your voice free of any emotion and Steve gawked at you for a couple of seconds, his mouth opening and closing again as if he didn’t know how to answer that, then he cleared his throat.

“Come here.”

“What?”

“Come here,” he held out his hand and you rolled your eyes,

“We’re in the middle of a discussion here- Steve!” You exclaimed when he grabbed your hand to pull you to him, and you stumbled on the way so as soon as he pulled you to the bed he rolled over so that he could be on top, grinning down at you.

“Did anyone tell you you kinda suck at discussions?”

Steve nodded, burying his face to your neck and you couldn’t help to giggle as his hands went under your shirt and his fingertips went up your sides.

“Tickles…” You mumbled, shifting under him as he pulled back to shoot you an amused look.

“Oh wow. Badass genius hacker is ticklish?”

“They won’t find your body if you tell anyone, Rogers.” You told him and he raised his brows.

“Yeah?”

“In fact, I’ll delete your whole existen- Steve- Steve, I’m warning you!” You squealed as his fingers on your waist tightened but before he could do anything else you pulled him down for a kiss, running your fingernails over the nape of his neck and tightening your legs around his hips, and smiled as soon as you heard a repressed groan climbing to his throat.

“So it’s this easy to take you down, huh Rogers?” You asked when you pulled back, and he looked almost hypnotized for a couple of seconds, staring at you in a way that you could swear made your heart melt.

“Hm?” he asked, as if trying to focus and you bit down a smile.

“Nothing,” You muttered, running your fingers through his hair and a small smile pulled at his lips.

“So is this- it’s official right?”

“What?”

“You’re my girl?”

Jesus, you were in so much trouble.

“You know I’m messed up, right?” You couldn’t help to ask and his eyes searched your face.

“So am I.”

You rolled your eyes, “You’re the epitome of good, Rogers.”

“Yeah, that’s what a lot of people seem to think,” he said silently and you felt your heart skip a beat. Not that you knew how it felt to be put on a pedestal, seeing that you kept messing everything up too much to let people ever think you were the best at anything, but something in Steve’s eyes was just too heavy.

“Fuck, okay- okay I’ll just- um-“ You stumbled over your words, “I’ll uh… I’m warning you, I’ll take a powder if you’re going jiggery pokery on my ass.”

Steve made a face, “That just sounds wrong when you say that.”

“No kidding,” You let out a laugh, “So um… you’re sure you want that?”

“Yes.”

“All the fuck ups, and emotional baggage and everything?”

Steve nodded, his expression solemn as he kept his eyes on you, “Yeah. Everything.”

And of course just like that, waterworks were back. You blinked back the tears and tried to swallow the lump in your throat, a warmth spreading inside your stomach.

“Yeah, okay then,” you whispered, “Everything that is.”

“Everything that is,” he repeated, brushing a strand of hair off your face gently and thankfully, his phone started ringing so he lowered his head, heaving a deep sigh.

“It’s Fury, isn’t it?” he asked without even looking at his phone and you nodded,

“Oh yeah.”

Steve was called into a meeting as soon as both of you stepped in the Avengers Tower. You on the other hand weren’t invited, so it gave you more time to make yourself busy with your computer, going over the latest files while Pepper made herself comfortable by your side.

“I told you,” she pointed at you, “I told you, and I told Tony.”

You stole a look at her before turning back to computer screen. “About?”

“You and Steve,” she said, “What happened last night?”

“Nothing,”

“As if I’d ever believe that.”

You pursed your lips, “No seriously, nothing. He- um… he slept on the hallway basically.”

“Wait-what?”

“Yeah I told him I didn’t… Last night was really rough for me and I kept crying and I didn’t want him to see me cry, but he didn’t want to leave so…”

Pepper pressed a hand over her chest, “That’s so sweet!”

“Yeah, and um… You and Nat are my best friends and I have a feeling she already knows, so you should know too, we’re-um.. Steve and I, it’s actually happening.”

“I could tell.”

“No, like it’s happening,” You turned your head and tried to ignore the burning on your cheeks, “We’re officially together now.”

“Not surprising.”

“Pepper, even I was surprised-“

“I’m not,” Pepper shrugged, “It’s Steve we’re talking about.”

“And you think it’ll work?”

She raised her brows, “Um, yeah? Why wouldn’t it work?”

“I can give you a list and prepare a powerpoint if you-“ You started, but was distracted when your phone beeped and you grabbed it from the desk, frowning at the unknown number. You opened the message, then almost dropped the phone upon seeing the picture.

It was a picture of you and Trent, on your honeymoon. Both of you were smiling wide at the camera, with the ocean behind you and under the picture, there was a text.

I missed you.

You shut your eyes, even seeing his face made the bitter panic spread through your system. It was like the bastard just sensed whenever you were feeling happy, and he did everything in his power to put an end to it.

“Y/N?”

“Hm?” Your head shot up and you turned the phone in your hand, “I’ll-uh… I’ll just go and smoke, I’ll be right back.”

“You okay?”

“Oh yeah, totally.” You tried to smile and grabbed the cigarette pack to walk to the balcony. You stepped outside, inhaling the cool weather before lighting your cigarette and you closed your eyes, gritting your teeth.

You had to pull yourself together.

Even if you knew just why he had missed you that much.

You shook your head and exhaled the smoke, leaning your elbows on the steel railing to look at the horizon.

It wasn’t just missing you. Just like he had said all those years ago, he needed you. Not for love, not for compassion, but for-

You exhaled the smoke again, pushing the thoughts away before you heard the balcony door open and you looked over your shoulder.

“Hi Buck.”

“Hey,” he stepped closer to stand beside you, leaning towards the steel railings “Steve is in the meeting?”

“Mm hm. You weren’t there?”

“No I think they’re dividing the group for this mission,” he shrugged and you offered him the pack, but he shook his head.

“No thanks.”

You exhaled the smoke and he stole a look at you,

“You okay? After…everything?”

“Oh yeah,” You swallowed thickly “Mm hm.”

“Steve said he was at your place.”

“Last night, yeah.” You said, keeping your eyes on the horizon, “Your boy is quite the romantic, Barnes.”

“That he is.” Bucky smiled fondly, nodding “And judging by the stupid grin on his face…”

“We’re going all forties.”

“Meaning…”

“Dating.” You looked at the smoke trailing in the air, then turned to him, “Go ahead then. Give me the overprotective best friend speech.”

“Just keep him out of dangerous shit and we’ll be fine,”

You pulled your brows together, “Can you keep him out of dangerous shit?”

Bucky thought for a second, then shrugged, “No, but some help would be nice.”

You snorted a laugh and pursed your lips, “I’ll do my best, cross my heart.” You muttered, “But- but if-“

“Nope.”

“You don’t even know what I was gonna say, Buck.”

“You were gonna say something about your asshole ex.”

“Yeah because my asshole ex is the future leader of HYDRA.”

“And HYDRA was letting us have such peaceful lives before you came along?” he pointed out, holding up his metal arm and you felt your stomach drop.

“I forgot.” You muttered, averting your eyes, “Sorry.”

Bucky just shrugged, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “HYDRA was already out for our blood, Y/N.”

“But now it’s personal for Trent.”

“Yeah, for Steve too, and I know who I’d bet on.”

You twirled the cigarette between your fingers silently for a couple of seconds before you looked up,

“You and I might have more in common than you think, Barnes.” You muttered and Bucky frowned.

“Hm?”

“HYDRA. Using you and…using me. Almost.”

“But you got out before it was too late.”

You closed your eyes for a moment, memories flashing behind your closed eyelids and you clenched your jaw, the urge to have a drink hitting you with its all force. You opened your eyes, stubbed your cigarette only to light another one, feeling Bucky’s eyes on you.

“Listen, I-“ You gulped “I don’t need to tell you how- how cruel HYDRA is. Or how cruel Trent is, I think you got that from that small conversation back in the conference room. And I can’t ask Steve to do this, so I need you to promise me something.”

Bucky frowned, “What?”

“Knowing Trent, if he does get to me, he will try to… use me.” You tried to swallow the lump in your throat, “That means if that ever happens, Avengers will be involved too because I’m talking about serious HYDRA shit. So you’ll be there too.”

“He won’t get to you, Y/N.”

“So I need to-“ You ignored him, “If that happens, I need to make sure he can’t use me, for HYDRA’s purposes, or his own purposes.”

“Okay…?”

You took a deep breath and looked up at him,

“So if Trent ever gets to me, I need you to shoot me in the heart.”

Chapter 14 is here!

A.N: Now repeat after me: I’ll leave feedback because Dream loves feedback! ❤️ 😂

Special thanks go to: @theskytraveler @asongofmarvelanddc @thorohdamnson @girlwhoisfearless @fictionwillneverdie @lilywoood @marss-anonymous @icameforthefanfiction @pandalandalopalis @barnesrogersvstheworld @lostkizzy @reallyconfusednow @miss-jen-winter @dollbitxhes @fandomcrazie @latibulemark @aikeji @dans-les-details @evanstar @thatprofessionalfangirl @minuialeth75 @leviathan-luncher @optimisticheartyouth @laffers18 @kiwngsoo @myrabbitholetoneverland @itsyaboyo @avengemebuckyy@stargeek727 @superwolfchild-fan @fangirlbookworm @samwinchxtr@letsgetfuckingsuperwholocked @marauderskeeper @whogaveuspermission @thewhinersoldier @mischievous-fairy @agent-smoak @allison-rosewood-maximoff @kimmiestrawberrykiwi @local-space-ace @iwritetoavoidmyproblems@marvels-mistress @screamimalive @probablystarlord @love-for-fanfics @nightm1me @fandomsfitblrsandfanfics @cleargoopangelvoid and lovely anons! Without you, I wouldn’t be able to write this, you’re amazing! <3

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rekarra · 6 years ago

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Breaking Through Shadows | Chapter 2

Genre: Fluff, angst, eventual smut.

Word Count: 4.6k+

Pairing: Leaving this blank for now, for plot reasons, or something.

Point of View: First person oc

Warnings: Language, very slight mention of domestic violence, mention of death, same sex cuddling.

Rating: Teen but eventually 18+

Author’s Note: Okay, so chapter 2. Some more of Mal and Chyler’s backstory comes out. Mal meets another vampire and there’s a concert! Thanks again to @xxfxckitxx for being my beta reader and a thank you to my fiance for being another pair of eyes to let me know if the story still stands on it’s own, even if the fan-fiction part was taken out of it.

| Chapter 1 |

My eyebrows shot up in surprise, then furrowed in confusion. What did he mean he found me again?

Seeing the bewilderment in my eyes, Taehyung broke eye contact with me for a moment, looking over at his manager with a slight nod.

Just as I took a breath to ask Taehyung what he meant, he looked back at me, conviction settling between his brows.

“Listen,” he started. “I don’t have time to explain everything right now, but would you please come to our show tomorrow night? I promise that tell you everything I can then.”

I arched a brow at him, my expression clearly showing that I thought he was crazy as I pulled my hand from his grip. Disappointment graced the features I could see with his mask in place. Taking a few steps back, I looked between the man lying on the bed and his manager.

“Ann.” Taehyung breathed. “Please?”

It was at the use of that name that I faltered, my eyes looking at my name tag. I knew that nowhere on my badge did it have my middle name. So how would he have known it? I was even more puzzled now, not knowing if I just had an insane vampire in my hospital or if it was something more, but there was only one way to find out.

I squared my shoulders before looking back up at the man on the bed. “Fine, I’ll come. But I’m not coming alone.”

Taehyung’s face slackened in relief, which only caused more questions to spring up in my mind. I looked over at Mr. Sejin with a controlled expression. “You need to get him out of here.” I stated while pointing at my fake patient. “You know what he is, right? So why did you even bring him here if you knew he wasn’t actually hurt?”

Sejin’s voice was calm and clear as he spoke. “There were witnesses. In the interest of protecting this... secret, we had to make it look like Tae needed medical attention. If he had been a normal human and had taken that fall, it would be expected that he would need to go to the hospital. So…” He spread his arms wide as if that explained everything.

And, in a way, it did. More than anyone else in this place, I knew how hard it was to keep a secret like this, having hidden my own nature from all but those closest to me.

I nodded for what seemed like the hundredth time in the last 15 minutes. “I understand, but he still needs to get out of here.” I paused for a heartbeat or two, “I’ll try to cause a distraction so you two can leave. Give me 20 minutes and I will be back.”

With that, I left Taehyung and Sejin. Exiting the room, I nodded at the guards who had taken up a post on either side of the door. I walked calmly off the emergency room floor, breaking into a full out run when the doors closed behind me. A thought and a mutter of “vedea” the word for see in my grandmother’s native language, I tapped into the CCTV feed to make sure I wouldn’t run into anyone on my way to the locker room.

Throwing open my locker, I grabbed the keys to my car, taking a moment to realize how crazy this was, before shaking my head and sprinting back to the ER. Once back, I touched each of the portable x-ray machines causing them to short out. I feigned annoyance as I loudly announced that I’d have to take my patient up to the radiology department to get his x-rays taken care of, grabbing hold of a wheelchair and wheeling into the room with the vampire.

As I passed the guards, I told them that I would be taking the patient up to get x-rays and that he would need to stay up there until the results came back in. Due to the levels of radiation that seeped out, only authorized medical personnel are allowed past the doors of the department, meaning the guards would have to stay here.

After pushing the wheelchair into the room, I closed the door behind me. I looked over to the seemingly calm manager while pulling the keys to my car out of my pocket.

“Here,” I said. “I’m going to get Taehyung here out of the emergency room and into the back hallways. My car is in the parking structure on the third floor. Meet us at the doors behind the building at says admissions on it. You,” I pointed at the vampire. “Need to get in this chair and act like you’re wounded.”

Taehyung’s eyes seemed to glitter mischievously as he bobbed his head at me, getting out of the bed and settling himself down into the waiting wheelchair. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Sejin. “Wait a couple of minutes before you leave. Tell the guards you’re going to get a snack or something.”

Maneuvering the occupied wheelchair around, I stepped out from behind it to open the door to the room before going back to push Taehyung out. I smiled at the guards as we passed them, moving at a sedate enough pace to not draw attention to us. I waved my badge in front of the sensor that would open to doors and allow access to the hallways beyond. Tapping back into the CCTV feed, I push the vampire in an uncomfortable silence, neither one of us willing to break the tension. After a few moments of careful navigation, we reached the doors which would lead outside.

“Wait here.” I ordered Taehyung as I went to the door that was marked fire exit, giving a push of my consciousness to keep the alarm from sounding when I opened the door. I saw my car pull up just as I fully pushed the door open. Looking back at the man I still thought might be crazy, I jerked my head in the direction of the outside world.

The vampire lifted himself from the chair gracefully, pausing before me. “You will come tomorrow, right?” His eyes searched mine, pleading in their depths.

“I’m still not sure you’re not psychotic.” I puffed out with an exasperated breath. “But yes, I’ll come. Where am I supposed to be going?” I asked.

He told me where they would be playing, letting me know they were no small act. That venue can seat over ten thousand people. “When you get there, go to the door around back that’s meant for performers, okay? I’ll leave word with someone to expect you.” He took my right hand in both of his, squeezing it lightly before placing the lightest of kisses on the back on my knuckles. His breath was warmer than I expected it to be as he whispered his thanks. Wither it was for helping him get out of the hospital or for agreeing to meet him tomorrow, I wasn’t sure.

With that, he swiftly walked to get into the passenger seat of my car. I shook my head as I watched them drive off and it wasn’t until I no longer saw the car that I realized when it had just been the two of us speaking, we spoke in English.

On the way back to my floor, I set about casting the spell that would put the CCTV footage on a loop, and effectively erase all traces of smuggling my patient out of the hospital. I would be lying if I said it didn’t give me a little bit of a rush to be doing something like this at work. Most of my more, shall we say, nefarious acts had taken place in my apartment behind the glow of my computer screen. The adrenaline rush was much the same though.

The rest of my shift was boringly quiet. The minutes seeming to tick by at a snail’s pace. The most excitement after the departure of Taehyung had been when a bat flew in the emergency room entrance. It took a good hour to get the poor creature safely captured before it was set free into the night. As my shift ended, I returned to my locker suddenly remembering that I had no way of getting home, having stupidly lent my car to that stupid vampire and his stupid manager. Stupid Mal, just stupid.

I sighed heavily as I grabbed my stuff, walking out of the hospital with my mind flipping through the data I was receiving about buses, how much it would be to Uber home, and wondering if I should just call Chyler to come pick me up. So lost in my spell, I didn’t notice the man approaching me until he put his hand on my shoulder.

“Mallory, I presume?” I touched his hand to remove it from my shoulder, the same chill I had felt from Taehyung’s skin ran across my fingertips, the same quick flash of green across his eyes. Another vampire.

“Friend of Taehyung’s, I presume?” My tone mockingly copied his.

This new vampire chuckled from behind his mask, and even though it was muffled, I was able to tell that it would be the kind of laugh that infect you. His voice wasn’t as deep as Taehyungs, but he wore the same style of mask and I there was something about him that was achingly familiar. He was roughly the same height as my vampire from earlier, but something about the way his body moved reminded me of the way water flows through a stream. His oversized hoodie and sweatpants scarcely hiding the graceful movements of his frame.

He bowed grandly at me, flourishing his arms out away from his sides. “Jung Hoseok, at your service.” He replied to my sarcasm. “But you can call me Hoseok for now, beautiful.”

Rolling my eyes at the spectacle in front of me, I pushed him lightly to get him to stand back up. “Why do you guys have to be so damn flashy. Act normal.” I clucked my tongue at him in a show of irritation. “Why are you here, Hoseok?”

His eyes creased in what I assumed was a smile given that there was still a hint of laughter in his words. “I came to bring this back to you.” He said as he pulled my keys from his pocket. “Tae said you’re the reason he was able to get out of here without any incident. The least we could do was bring your car back to you.”

Eyeing him with a healthy amount of suspicion, I took my keys from his outstretched hand, hitting the lock button on the remote to hear the chirp of my car from just a few feet away. “And how are you planning to get back to where ever it is you guys are staying?” Brow raising definitely at the new vampire.

As if that was a signal, a large black van pulled up next to us. I stepped back cautiously, but Hoseok just chuckled again before getting into the back. “Guess we’ll be seeing you tomorrow night, right darling?”

Again, I rolled my eyes at this insufferable vampire but moved my head in agreeance. “Yeah, I’ll be there, princess.” I said spitefully, turning on heel to walk to my car. The last thing I heard was a full out laugh as the door to the van was shut.

Once I got into my car, I let out a huge sigh, trying to ease the knots that were forming between my shoulder blades. Why did it have to be vampires? I shook my head, starting up my car and pulled out of the parking lot.

My drive home is much like my drive to work. Traffic jams on the other side of the freeway, letting me get home in a reasonable time. Chyler was already outside my apartment when I walked up to my door.

“You could have waited inside, Bun. That’s why you have a key” I told the woman as I slid my key into the door, unlocking it and opening it wide for the two of us.

“What happened tonight, Mal?” No pretenses, no words of welcome. Just straight to the point. That was my soulmate.

I sighed, moving about my apartment, stripping off my scrubs and throwing them in the hamper, Chyler following my every move. “There were vampires at work tonight.” I looked at my best friend. “And the one that was my ‘patient’ knew me, I think? I don’t know. He called me by my middle name and said something about finding me again.” I spoke to her as I pulled in an oversized tee-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts.

Chyler took my hands, her eyes turning that otherworldly blue as she looked at the events of the past 12 hours. Breathing deeply as her eyes returned, her brows furrowed in confusion. “They wore masks the whole time? How am I supposed to seeing anything more if you keep missing the faces of people, Mal?”

I shrugged my shoulder at her, not knowing what to say to her obviously frustrated question. “I don’t know. But if you’re not busy tonight, you can come with me and find out for yourself who they are.”

She nodded quickly. “No shit I’m going. You think I’m going to let you walk in there by yourself?”

I laughed at her before yawning loudly. “You want to just say here while I get some sleep? It’ll make it easier if I don’t have to try to fight traffic to pick you up later. You still have clothes over here from the last time we went out. They should work for tonight.” I yawned again, moving into my bedroom.

“Yeah, that works. I was up most of the night anyway.” She stated simply.

“Well then get that cute little bunny butt over here and snuggle with me. I could use them after the night I had.” I said to her as I crawled into my bed, lifting the covers as a further invitation for her to join me.

She quickly stripped her pants off and climbed in after me. “Was there really a bat in the hospital?” she asked as my arms moved around her, I hummed positivity while drawing her into me, sleep already starting to drag me under.

We both woke up to the screeching of my alarm several hours later, a sleepy thought silencing the vile thing. Rolling over and pulling Chyler closer to me, I nuzzle into the hair on the top of hair head, sighing contently before I softly spoke. “Do you want the shower first or do you want to sleep longer?”

She mumbled that she’d get up and take her shower first, saying something about how I like to use all the hot water. I smirked and pushed her softly as she withdrew from the warmth of the blankets, while I burrowed further into them myself for a few minutes longer.

With a groan, I pushed myself from the confines of my nest of comfort, sending a thought out to the coffee pot to turn on. Wiping the remnants of sleep from my eyes, I entered my closet, looking for my normal concert attire. It took me a moment to find my black skinny jeans which had more holes in them on the front than actual fabric. Finding the black fishnet shirt I wanted to pair with the jeans took even longer. It was then that I wondered about the last time Chyler and I had been out to a show since these two pieces of clothing were general staples of my “going out” wear. It had been before Chyler’s incident I realized with a start.

“Bunny!” I shouted as I burst into the bathroom. Chyler was standing in front of the sink, her shoulders slumped as she held herself up by her arms. She trembled slightly, looking over at me with unshed tears in her eyes. I pulled her to me. “Bun. I’m so sorry. If you can’t do this, it’s okay. I can go on my own. We haven’t been out like this since…” My voice wavered off.

Chyler wrapped her arms around me and I felt her tears fall as she put her head on my shoulder. “I can do this Mal. I have to be able to do this. I can’t live in fear of it happening again. Otherwise, I might as well go back to never leaving my house.” She was speaking quickly, trying to convince herself and me.

When we were in nursing school, Chyler’s abilities had surged, suddenly becoming stronger than they had been. We had been in the morgue of the hospital with the rest of our class. The professor showing us in a hands-on way where the renal arteries connected from the kidneys to the descending aorta. Chyler, who was normally so careful, had been in contact with the cadaver for too long and had triggered her powers. Unfortunately for my sweet and innocent friend, this corpse had been the victim of domestic violence that had lead to his death. A murder victim. And Chyler had re-lived everything this man had been through in his life in vivid detail, as though she had lived it herself. When she came out of her trance, she nearly collapsed to the floor. I had been there to catch her and pulled her arm over my shoulder, looking at our professor. She had excused us and, with my help, Chyler walked out of the morgue.

Once we were past the doors, I picked her up and carried her on my back outside, her whimpers and tears absorbed against my spine. When we were in the parking lot next to my car, I sat her down, checking her condition. I held her face between my hands as she recounted everything awful thing that she had just experienced, leading up to feeling the moment when the victim had died.

After that, she wasn’t the same. She had locked herself away in her apartment and wouldn’t let anyone but me come in. She was terrified that if she was around anyone for too long, she’d read them without wanting to. She stopped going to class, eventually having to withdraw for the semester. The once vibrant girl was a shell of herself until the summer break. I had spent every moment I could with her, making sure she ate, that she took care of herself. Halfway through the break, she seemed to gain a little of her self back, but she’d never leave the house for more than an hour or so at a time and always wore gloves that completely covered her hands so she could avoid incidental contact with anyone.

Until tonight, she still didn’t like to go anywhere that had a chance of a large crowd, knowing that she’d end up touching someone too long. She had more control over it now, but she was still scared.

I put her face in my hands, pulling her slightly away from me so she could see my eyes as I spoke soothingly to her. “I’ll be okay, Bun. I have a spare set of your gloves here and we’re going to be backstage. There will be fewer people. I swear your hands will not leave mine all night, deal?” I looked at her hopefully saying the last.

I watched as she built herself back up, nodding once at me before pulling back. “I know you’ll keep me safe, Mal. You always do.” She smiled weakly. “Now, I need to get in the shower. We’ve already wasted enough time.”

Eyeing her intensely, I looked for any sign that she was going to break down again while she was in the shower. Satisfied that I could leave her alone to wash, I left the bathroom but left the door open so I could keep an ear out for her.

I needed my coffee more than ever after that. I couldn’t believe I had forgotten that we haven’t been out like this since that happened. I drank my coffee black, feeling like I needed to punish myself for being a shit friend. I sipped it slowly as I listened to the girl in my bathroom. Hearing the water shut off, I gave her a few more minutes to get finished up before I walked back in there.

She looked much better, the color that had drained from her face returning with the heat from the shower and, hopefully, the knowledge that I would be right there beside her the whole night.

“You doing okay, Bunny?” I asked softly.

She nodded and gave me a smile that didn’t quite reach all the way up to her eyes, but I could tell she was trying. That was a vast improvement compared to the months that I had seen her eye lifeless.

I moved out of the doorway and back into my closet, getting the clothes she had over here out for her to pick from. Before I got into the shower myself, I pulled her elbow-length crimson gloves from the bottom drawer of my dresser, laying them on the bed with the rest of her things.

I showered the fastest I ever had, getting out in record speed. I had opted to go with an undershirt that matched Chyler’s gloves before pulling the fishnet shirt over my head. I tugged on the jeans and tucked the shirts into the waistband.

The finishing touch to the outfit was my blood red combat boots. I chuckled internally at them being blood red and here I was getting ready to go spend my evening with two vampires. My eye never left Chyler for more than a few minutes while I got dressed. She had chosen black boot cut jeans, a three-quarter sleeved V-neck tee and her black and grey checkered Vans. The splash of color from her gloves was striking.

I had to laugh at the two of us. We looked like we were getting ready to go to the goth club we frequented when we had first met. We looked like we were trying to pick up vampires. The thought made me shake my head as Chyler blinked at me before picking up my thoughts, her own laughter starting to spill slowly from her lips.

“Look at us!” I wheezed. “Some things never fucking change, huh?” My laughter forced my body to the ground. I rolled onto my side, curling slightly as the laughter racked through me. Chyler was full out belly laughing too and I knew then that we’d be able to get through the night, no matter what happened.

After wiping the happy tears from my eyes, I got up off my bedroom floor and made my way into the bathroom to finish getting ready. I left my long, wavy hair wild and untamed for the night, knowing that I’d probably end up sweaty from the show and trying to fix my hair was pointless. I did give more time to my make up than I normally would, though. A sharp black line winged my top lid, smoking out the bottom with a red so dark, it looked black. Layering a coat of mascara on my lashes, some red lipstick later and I was ready.

I walked out of the bathroom and did a quick spin before posing like an idiot for Chyler’s approval.

“You look awesome, Firefly.” She smiled genuinely at me, before finishing her own look.

Thirty minutes later and we were on our way to the venue.

Traffic was terrible. An accident had caused the freeway to back up. My usually well-hidden road rage slipped out as I yelled at people who couldn’t hear me, but my extensive range of swear words had Chyler rolling in laughter.

An hour and a half later, we finally reached the pavilion that Taehyung had told me they were playing. It was fucking insane. Thousands of people were wandering around the large building. I slowly drove around to the back, hoping I wouldn’t get any grief from the parking lot attendants as I whipped my car through an opening in one of the barricades. I finally found a parking stop that wasn’t too far away from the door I had been told to go to.

Stepping out of my car, I walked around and grabbed Chyler’s hand. “Are you sure about this, Bunny? We can always drive around until the show is over then go backstage.”

She shook her head at me. “I need to do this Mallory. Like I said, I can’t live in fear for the rest of my life and I have better control over my powers than I used to.”

Taking a deep breath, I pulled her along with me as I made my way towards the door. I wrapped my knuckles against the door twice and was about to go in for a third when it swung open, none other than Mr. Sejin greeting us with hardly an emotion in his eyes.

“Well, are you coming in or not?” He asked dryly.

“You such a charmer, aren’t you?” I answered back smugly.

Chyler squeezed my hand, looking between us, confusion all over her face. After a second of my own confusion, I understood why she was looking at me like that. Mr. Sejin’s and my exchange had been in Korean and Chyler didn’t know what we were talking about.

“Chyler, this is Mr. Sejin, Taehyung’s manager,” nodding at the man as he stepped to the side to allow us in.

“You’re running late. They are about to head out on stage, so you’ll have to wait to talk to Tae, Ms. Adams. You can both wait over here until the show is over.” The manager motioned over to a small area that had two couches set up in the middle, several tables with a variety of food and beverages were against walls lined with TVs. “The bathroom is down the hall to the left. Unless you are going there, please do not leave this area. You can watch the performance from those TVs and as soon as the guys are finished and back in their dressing rooms, I’ll get you.” And with that, Mr. Sejin left us.

“Well,” I looked over at Chyler. “I told you there would be fewer people since we were backstage?” Shrugging my shoulders, I smiled at her as I made my way over to one of tables, seeing what refreshments might be on them.

No one seemed to be paying any attention to us as I was filling my plate with some fresh fruit. “Chyler, does this feel weird to you?” I asked her as I sat down on one of the couches, grabbing her hand to pull her in the seat to my right before tossing a grape in my mouth.

“Yeah,” she hedged. “It’s….”

Her words were cut off as the explosion from the crowd was thunderous, even back in the little waiting area we were sitting in. Raising an eyebrow at her, my head jerked over to one of the TVs as it blinked to life.

Chewing slowly, I watch as a prerecorded intro played across the screen, the same one that I assumed was also being shown to the audience. They yelled and cheered as each of the seven faces were shown on the TV I was watching. My brows pinching together in frustration before there was a shot of all seven of them, lined up, on the stage. Just like….

“Chyler! It’s the fucking dream!”

#bangtanarmynet #bangtannet #bts #bts vampire!au #vampire!bts #bts smut #bts fluff #bts angst #bts x oc #ot7 x oc #kim teahyung #jung hoseok #breaking through shadows

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christaronthekindaauthor · 3 years ago

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Rowan Dov was a well known name, well to be precise it was the name Do's that were well known, but the only the eldest daughter of the Dov household carried her own weight. The woman who saved her family's business from going under, the saviour, the miracle worker. Her father's industries were suffering huge losses, more expenditure was being felt and litttle to no revenues were being earned, The Dov industries, the giants in the economic market were on their last life, grasping for straws as the many factors in the business world seemed to overwhelm it.

That was until she came into play, with her mother's looks and brains and her father's cunning nature plus her own characteristics, Rowan who just finished her studies, for now that is, took over the industries and the tables turned drastically, the industries were rejuvenated, money begun to flow in and they were back like they never left.

But of course in the real world there is no sch things as miracles, the business world knew this and the inhabitants wanted to know how she did it. However Rowan never exposed how she did it, in fact her presence in the business world was so scarce that most people thought she was just a myth but were quickly corrected when they steeped on the wrong toes especially if they were Rowan's.

In one rare occasion Rowan seemed to be in a giving mood so she entertained the press and answered questions, but most of them were as shallow as a drying up puddle. Though one answer stood out.

"How were you able to bring the Do industries back to life." A reporter shouted from the back making the entire press conference grow hush as everyone wanted to know the answer every camera zoomed in on Rowan's cold brown eyes that seemed more of black than brown. Everything was quiet, all one could hear was the ticking of the clock which was the right side of the wall, the soft thumps of Rowan's pen that she was softly tapping on her table with and the heay breathes of some dude who sounded like he was dying.

If you had blinked you had missed it, and many cameras and people did, a smile domineering smile that apppeared as fast as it had disappeared on Rowan's face.

Ï just had to take care of some few rats." Was all she said before wrapping up the congress. Seconds after her reply, the crowd went wild with ''one last questions." and "what did you mean by that?" but it all fell on deaf ears as she stood up tall and gracefully left the room.

"Did you see that?" A reporter with the name tag Daffle asked her cameraperson who was trying to get one last short at the young elite.

"Huh?" Was her response to Daffle's question.

"That creeepy ass smile she had on her face." Daffle's replied trying to get the atttention of Miq.

"What smile?Rowan smiled? we gottta go through the footage! " Miq exclaimed.

"Calm down, it maybe a trick of the light." Daffle said to her excited friend who was starting to pack up.

"Yeah right! As if you are not Daffle who was blessed with the literal sight of the gods, I mean you can see even the microscopic details in any environment that are usually brushed off as nothing. No wonder you were a criminal eh reporter ? Is that what they are callled? Before you came over to the darkside." Miq replied.

"Geez you guys still call it that? Its so cringy." Daffle whined while following her cackling friend.

Later on they did discoer that they cptued Rowan's "smile" but when they published it, the picture was dismissed as photoshop. It seems that the public had an image of Rowan that they did not want to taint.

That was almost three years ago, threee years since Rowan broke into the busines world of course by her parents help, and secured her place in it, she was seated among the Big Five of the business world, things were now settled and if her calculations were correct she would have smooth sailing for the next five years, if everything and EVERYONE follows the business plan.

Things never go the way we want do they? No they do not and as much as Rowan, as a business woman, prides herself of being prepared for the unexpected she was not prepared for her fathers accouncement which he made uring the annual family dinner.

"Rowan honey! The elders have decided! You and Gabriel are getting married." Rowan can still remeber her drunk father's words and the "WHAT!" that all her siblings and mother repled with.

The elders were just the parents of the Big Five, stupid name if you asked her.

"You want US! To be asociated with their kind?!" Rowan's mother barked out while grabbing her hisband by his collar, her mother was a tall woman and although her father was also considred tall by societal standards, she still stood a head oer him her brown eyes nearly turning to brimstones at the words she just heard.

"Honeeeey! It good for her and us, look she's almost thirty her younger brother and sister are already married and can you imagine just how much more power the Do industries will obtain."

"But an arranged..." Her mother protests were cutt off by Rowan herself.

"Mum, he is right." She started while wiping the sides of her mouth with a napkin, after setting it dwon she continued.

"The Baim's have a great relationship with the West African countries which we do not but we need, by marrying Gabriel it is a great oppoutunity to expand our market over there, you know that they are had people to please especially when you have a woman leading your company."

The silence that took over the room was heavy and the atmosphere turned ice cold.

Rowan sighed, this always happens and she doesn not know why. Maybe it was her tone but whenever she spoke she could turn even the warmest savannah into a freaking tundra.

"See darling, she agrees." Her father said drunkenly in his wives arms.

"Of course she will agree you stupid man, she will do anything for this damn company even sell her freaking soul to the devil!" Her mother shouted.

In a weird way Rowan understood that her mother was telling her she does not have to do anything she does not want to, that warmed her heart.

"Honey you know that she is my daughter to right? As her father do you think that I would have agreed to thise with out taking her feelings into considerations?" Her father asked her mother tenderly, all booze out of his oice.

After a weird moment of her parents staring into eacch other eyes nearly making rainbows and flowers sprout out of thin air with the amount of warm emotions that evelopd the two of them, her mother released a sigh and gae in.

"Fine." She said shoving her husband away from her almost making him fall, and made her way back to her seat.

"But seriously dear the Baim's? Could'nt you at least picked the Faru's?" She asked.

" Do not worry my dear!" Her father replied, booze returning back into his oice.

"It is all accounted for in your husbands grand plan, you just sit back and relax." He sain seating back down while blowing a kiss to his wife.

Her siblings "dodged" the fling kiss with a disgusted look on their faces.

"EW!" They both said in unison, followed by laughs and giggles from their partners and children.

The rest of the dinner went on smoothly and arrangements were made leading to the pesent where Rowan is seated i her office with her parents and siblings waiting for the arrial of the Baim's. This was just an official meeting to recognize the marriage plans and if these damn people are late by one more second Rowan had the right mind to cancel the whle thing.

"If i am not mistaking Liam, but this meeting was supposed to start at eleven am right?" Rowan calmy asked her secretary.

"Yes Madam." Liam replied.

"What is the time right now Liam?" She asked

"Ita half past twelve." Liam replied, watching the calm facade of his boss. Her exterior was calm but the contionus tapping of her pen told him otherwie

This fuckers better hurry up or everyone will be having a bad week, Liam thought to himself gently clenching his ipad.

"Madam, the Baim's are here." the security from the ground flow buzzed.

The tapping stopped abruptly, Liam stepped back he sensed something was about to go down.

"Todd." Rowan started.

"Yes madam?" Todd replied eagerly awaiting his orders.

"It is a pity that the elevators do not work righ?" Rowan remarked

A second of silence was broken by Todd's rply.

"Yes Madam, they have not been working since morning but the problem is being fixed right now."

"Good Todd. Send them up please and tell thm to take their time." Rowan directed and switched off the buzzer after Todd's confirmation.

"That is a really bad habit." Her father pointed out, he was seated on her office couch his head on her mother's laps. With the sunglasses and the gentle massage by her mother to his temples assued her that he was nursing a hangover.

"Learned from the best" Rowan replied as she sunk back into her chair, closing her eyes her anger was sated. Just a little bit.

Thinking of turning it into a book.

#thoughts.#amwriting #amateur author

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thimblus · 5 years ago

Text

Living Relics

Dearest Annelia,

I apologize for my severe tardiness in writing to you. It’s simply that I’ve had to spend far too long in thought on exactly how I am to phrase all that I wish to say. Every night that I am not in the grace of your radiant beauty is one that I can scarcely bear, and yet much like our own cursed lifetimes, I must continue nonetheless.

As I’ve longed to tell you for so long, I desire nothing more than to spend my eternity with you. Joy has long abandoned me, as had love, or so I had thought until we met.

The fondness I now feel is one I realized with no small measure of surprise as I was taking my evening meal. As soon as I realized, however, the thought could not leave my mind, and I nearly overstayed my time there in the window - the morning light was beginning to shine and burn against my hand when I finally realized just how long it had been.

I intend to visit you not long after sending this letter, but it may be some time before I arrive. The post often travels much faster than we can travel, as you well know. It isn’t long before I will be with you once again, my dear.

Eternally yours,

Steiner.

Steiner groaned in annoyance as he rose from his rest. The curtains were drawn tight over the windows, leaving the room in deep shadow - though he would have preferred to not have a window at all. Still, a choice of lair wasn’t always easy, and this one at least kept him from being harassed in the day.

Sometimes, he wished someone would have just staked him already. The night was cold, and lonely as ever. The hunt, his beasts called. The hunt will bring you warmth, oh so warm.

They were right, of course. Steiner knew that. Nothing warmed him like a fresh kill would, but it wouldn’t save him from being alone. If anything, it would make that part worse. Every time he forced himself to drink, Steiner considered leaving himself out in the sun. Maybe then he would finally have his peace.

But the beast wouldn’t allow that. Just like it wouldn’t allow him to starve himself.

The night sky was clouded over, not a hint of the moon and stars, and on Steiner’s street, where the street lights were flickering at best and missing entirely at worst, the consequence for most would be total, blinding darkness. But not for the hunters like himself.

Still, he couldn’t hunt so near to his lair. Lazy habits would inevitably mean daytime intruders, whether it be law enforcement or vigilantes suspecting what he was. Either could be deadly, if they got lucky.

So the first hour of his night was spent simply walking. Perhaps the museum; the night security was typically bored and inattentive, and if he got there in time for the shift change they wouldn’t know exactly when the poor guard had disappeared.

The building was dark as he approached. A flashlight or two was the only sign of guards at all. Steiner could see them perfectly, of course, two bored-looking men chatting quietly as they made their rounds. A pair was a bad option. He needed someone alone.

As they passed by the front door, Steiner moved past in a rush of air, snatching the keys from one’s belt with a feather-light touch. The halls were dark as well, the occasional blinking light of a security camera breaking the gloom along the walls. Being caught on footage didn’t worry him. Nobody would recognize his face, if they could even make it out.

The thought brought no comfort to him.

Turning to face down a hallway, he paused a brief moment to spare a glance at a newer exhibit. Admittedly, Steiner had lived through many of the events depicted in places like this, but it was amusing sometimes to see what the mortals thought had happened.

What he wasn’t expecting to see was his own letter staring him in the face - the one he had agonized over for a week, stared at completed on his desk for three nights, then finally thrown out in a blood-starved fit of anger and loneliness.

Dearest Annelia-

God, how long had it been? How many centuries ago had Steiner met her, and then lost contact with her?

Emotion overcame him in a sudden rush, anger, then grief, then lonely, then anger all over again. He placed a hand against the glass guarding the display. Love Through the Ages, the sign proclaimed. What right did they have? Those were his words! They had no right!

Steiner didn’t register the glass starting to crack as his hand pushed against it. How dare they take his most private thoughts, those he had written down and never shown even to the one he had meant them for, and just put them out for the whole world to see!?

All at once, Steiner found that the world around him was lit in a distinct tinge of red. The glass shattered in front of him, cut into his arm as he grabbed the old letter off of its stand. An alarm shrieked, distant in his ears despite its proximity.

As the guards rounded the corner to stop him, Steiner was quick to bathe the night in blood.

It was still dripping from his hands and fangs when he returned home. It stained his clothes and the ancient, yellowed paper held so tightly, yet so gingerly against his chest. The screams of the men and women who had come to investigate the alarm echoed in his ears, mixing in the shame of losing control.

A vampire as old as Steiner was supposed to have lost their conscience a long time ago. Perhaps that was why he despised his kind so much. They drank freely, and then they forgot.

Why couldn’t he just forget, like they did? Why did every face, every voice, have to haunt him still, just like hers did?

The door shut with a heavy thud behind him. The beast was quiet now - bloated and happy on the feast of blood Steiner had given it. He almost wished its constant cajoling and hunger would pipe up again, if only to distract him from the tide of memories that only grew stronger with each soft crinkle of the letter.

God, Steiner just wanted to sleep. The letter was left on the table beside his door as he crawled into his tent - an unorthodox sleeping place, admittedly, but coffins were just so difficult to transport, and as it turned out, it was much easier to find a thick tent that wouldn’t let the sun in.

Sleep wouldn’t come. At first, it was simply because of how his mind wouldn’t calm - more and more faces flashing by, more voices joining the chorus in his ears, condemning him for his failures and his sins.

Slowly, however, a different fear began to settle over him. Someone was in the house. The floorboards creaked; a quiet thump reached his hunter’s ears despite the walls. Immediately, Steiner surged out of his sleeping place. It was nearly morning, but the sun would still be at least an hour or two in coming.

Plenty of time to deal with this intruder.

The door slammed open as Steiner burst into the hallway. Rather than a thug or stake-wielding hunter as he had expected, however, a pale figure stood there before him, her hand resting on the stairway railing. She smiled. A hint of fangs poked past her lips.

“Hello, Steiner. It’s been a while.”

Steiner just stared for a moment. His eyes flicked down the stairs to the front door where he had left the letter, and saw nothing. She had it, didn’t she?

Oh, lord, she had seen it. Had she already known about it in the museum?

“What, no greeting? Or have you forgotten how to speak entirely?” She paused, then frowned, concern passing over her features. “You haven’t gone feral, have you? I know how you starve yourself sometimes...“

Steiner quickly shook his heads, raising his hands in a quick refusal to match his voice. “No, no, I haven’t. I’m just... surprised to see you, that’s all.”

Annelia smiled again. He’d missed that smile.

Then she held up the letter, and familiarity was quickly replaced with total shame.

“What an interesting letter. Believe me, I was very intrigued when one of my thralls mentioned seeing my name on a letter at the museum.” Her smile slowly turned bitter as she let go of the letter. It drifted down the stairs, coming to rest on the ground below. “It’s a shame you never saw fit to send it, now isn’t it?”

“I’m sorry, Annelia.” Steiner found himself unable to meet the red eyes in front of him. “I was afraid. The last time I had felt anything was-”

“You’ve told me, I know. But I wasn’t mortal, Steiner. You knew that.” Annelia walked closer, reaching up to place a hand against his cheek. Her fingertips were soft against his dead skin.

“Of course... it would be unfair of me to be so harsh, even after all these years, now wouldn’t it? A grudge is unbecoming. The stones don’t remember the blood that stains them.” She leaned closer, barely an inch away, and finally Steiner forced himself to look at her in kind. “Why don’t you come to my sanctum?”

Steiner found himself unable to speak again, unaccustomed to conversation as he was. “...Ah. I don’t know if that would be-”

And then she kissed him. There was no warmth - neither of them was alive, and though he had recently had his fill of blood, the energy and warmth deep in his core had long faded in favor of the shame that always came after feeding.

But even without the warmth of the living, there was comfort.

When she pulled away again, Steiner found himself longing to follow. Simply to feel her close by again. Reaching forward, Annelia took his hand, bloody though it was. “Well? Do finish your sentence.”

He was quiet for a moment before simply nodding. Annelia smiled again, fangs bared in the dark. The clouds shifted outside to let in a brief flash of moonlight, illuminating the two vampires. Then, hand in cold hand, they walked into the endless night together.

#vampire #story #fiction #writing

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mollymauk-teafleak · 7 years ago

Text

Learning About You

Hey, so my friend @oversaturated-ocean had an amazing idea for a Hamliza boarding school AU and it just begged for me to write it. So here it is, in all its fluffy smutty glory.

Aaron had quickly learned to vacate their dorm whenever Alexander Hamilton showed up, either into sleep or into Dosia’s room or, hell, even the roof would do. Anything was better than sharing a confined space with that guy.

In fairness, Alex’s visits to the place he was supposed to sleep, unwind and relax were few and far between, given that the young man didn’t seem to have much interest in any of that. He’d fall asleep at his usual desk in the library with a blanket around his shoulders, deliverance from the kind hearted and sympathetic librarian, or pass out on one of his friend’s dorm room floors, a safe option as they all worked hard to keep him from the absolute brink of self-destruction, or, worst, just forgo sleep all together, preferring to blink and miss the night hours with the help of as many types of chemical stimulant as he could sneak past room inspections.

Still, the few occasions Aaron did see his roommate were enough for him to know definitively that the square footage of their room wasn’t nearly enough to make his bristling, acerbic personality bearable. Not nearly enough.

Fortunately, after a semester and a half’s worth of arguments, lines drawn in chalk across the room, thrown books and two am knocks on the RA’s door, fate intervened before student services or the easy solution of throwing Alex out of a window could.

But some things would never change.

Aaron groaned and closed with book with a firm, exasperated snap when he heard Alex’s laughter echoing down the length of the corridor. The kid was in a better place but he wasn’t any easier to live with, even if the reason had changed.

The reason that became immediately apparent as the door burst open and Alex’s back became visible. Just his back, the rest of him was preoccupied with kissing Eliza Schuyler so furiously and audibly Aaron wondered if he’d even vaguely considered the possibility that there might be another human being within visible distance. He rolled his eyes and politely averted his eyes from Eliza’s hands pulling at Alex’s shirt, Alex’s long hair ruffled from her grasping hands, her legs wound around his hips. He knees high socks were somehow neat as ever.

Eliza instantly established herself as one of the nicest girls any of them had ever met, kind and sunny and positive, genuine and sweet even though her surname was on half of the buildings and halls and trophies in Columbia Boarding School. The fact that of all the young people here, of everyone in senior year, everyone on the whole planet even, Eliza chose to date Alexander Hamilton, was of great surprise to everyone. And yet here they were, an undeniably cute couple, even though Aaron failed to see it here as they frantically kissed and fumbled at each other.

It had been like this ever since they’d started dating. Alex ate and drank more often, he didn’t stay up all night, he smiled and showered and didn’t get into (as many) fights and arguments. Aaron and the rest of Alex’s friends were monumentally relieved for his safety and mental health.

Though he did have this to deal with now.

“Nice to see you two,” Aaron sighed as he swung his legs off the bed and stood up, “Good study session?”

Aaron had a flair for irony.

Eliza’s dark, glitter bright eyes looked at him from over Alex’s shoulder. If her heart shaped face hadn’t already been reddened and coloured like a rose in springtime, she’d have blushed.

“Oh! Sorry, Aaron,” she panted, offering him an embarrassed smile, “It was…unproductive?”

“Uh huh,” he raised one eyebrow at the way Alex was currently nuzzling at Eliza’s collarbone. He wasn’t surprised that not an awful lot of studying had taken place, “Well, I’ll get out of your hair…”

Eliza opened her mouth but could only give a small, delighted yelp as Alex swung around and dropped her down onto his bed. Aaron edged his way past them, awkward in the small space, though he didn’t forget to nudge the box of condoms on his roommates’ bedside table just a little bit closer so it could be easily grabbed from the bed. Don’t say he didn’t care about his ass of a roommate.

As he did, Alex looked up at him, somewhere in the middle of yanking his school shirt up over his head and clambering over Eliza, to pull her close, and grunted, “Oh. Didn’t see you there, Burr. Scram, I need the room.”

Aaron rolled his eyes and waved away Eliza’s apologies.

“This is the last time, I promise! And I know I said that last time but…um…m’sorry…”

Eliza became distracted by Alex’s lips on her own, his hands moving up her body, disappearing under her rumpled blouse and her voice was lost.

Aaron took that as his cue to make himself scarce and he pulled the door of room 1-7-8-0 closed behind him, making his calm, quiet way down to the girl’s dorms. Maybe Dosia would be up for another midnight walk through the school grounds…

Eliza had gotten so close to Alex in the short time they’d been together, she’d given herself to him as generously as he’d given himself to her and she’d learned his many, subtle languages by heart. Alex never just used words, sometimes there were cries for help in the days he didn’t brush his hair, reassurances in the way he’d sometimes sing in the shower on the days his mood was soaring, unspoken thinks bothering him and poisoning his mind in how tense his shoulders were some mornings as he sat in front of her in French class.

And now, there was hesitation in the way they kissed. Though it wasn’t obvious physically, in the hurried way they stripped off the hot, stifling school day and left only their burning skin and hasty, searching hands and lips. But Alex was a little…distant. Distracted. It was a power of ten lower in intensity than usual. The bedsprings were barely screaming.

Eliza searched for more information, opening her mouth under his, sliding her tongue across his, seeing how Alex’s muscles responded. And she had her answer as his long, hungry fingers slid under the soft cup of her bra.

Her Alex was sad. He was tired and scared and uncertain.

Eliza knew exactly why.

Just three days and then they’d break for Easter. Alex would have to pace and prowl and scuff his way through two weeks here alone with nowhere else to go while Eliza was with her family. No work to distract his restless mind, no friends to make him feel like he had a place in the world, no Eliza telling him she loved him with every breath and squeezing his shoulder as she passed and leaving little notes tucked in the lid of the desk when she knew he had the same seat in the class after hers.

No wonder he was scared. No wonder there was that second’s hesitation in every single kiss, that heartbeat of asynchrony in the way their bodies moved over each other.

But Eliza knew how to fix it.

“Alex?” she breathed softly, in the panting, heavy moments between kisses.

“Hmm?” he murmured, lost somewhere in the valley of her throat and what of her chest he’d exposed in his frantic undoing of her blouse buttons.

“Can I…can I try something?” Eliza looked up at him, reaching up and gently pushing a little hair behind his ear, “If you’re uncomfortable with it, we can stop straightaway but I think…I think you might be into it?”

The smile that grew across Alex’s narrow face was like the dawn breaking, hopeful and bright and achingly beautiful.

It became very clear over the two minutes it took for Eliza to extract one of Alex’s blue and green ties from the mess around his side of the room, rippling out from the epicentre of his bed, take it and loop it carefully around his wrists so they had to remain pinned behind his back while she slowly slid off the rest of his clothes, that Alex was very, very into this idea.

“Yes?” Eliza smiled hopefully, her thumbs under the waistband of his underwear, feeling the heat and pressure building just under the light fabric.

“Oh. Oh g-god, yes,” Alex ground out, looking at his girlfriend like she was his own personal goddess.

And that was it, she had her Alex back.

Eliza had grown so confident in what didn’t feel like all that long of a time, quickly and excitedly learning what she wanted to get and adored giving, even able to daydream and imagine, having actual fantasies to play out across the stage of Alex’s body. She’d fallen in love, simply and now she wanted to show it with all the enthusiasm and reckless abandon of a teenager, every way she could.

“Just lie back for me, beautiful,” she murmured as she finished rolling the condom onto him, pressing his back to the pillows, adoring how his eyes never left her face like it was all he could see in the world.

“What are you gonna do?” he breathed, his excitement unable to hide in the bones of his face.

“Love you,” Eliza answered without a pause, finishing what he’d started by dropping her blouse, her skirt, her underwear, scattering them about his floor, strangely thrilled by the idea that someone might come in later and see her underwear brazenly tangled along with his, “Love you as fast and hard as you can take.”

The only answer Alex could give was a strangled moan of want.

Eliza made good on her promise, holding him down by the shoulders, balancing against his muscles as she swung a leg over him. She teased him just a little, rocking her hips against his erection so he could feel how wet she was for him, how the space between her thighs was burning for him, but not have it until she said so.

When Eliza finally did, it was like the simple action, just a shift of her hips had slowed time to a gasping, roiling crawl, robbed both of them of their air, filled them both full of fireworks with their fuses slowly being eaten away.

Eliza was barely even aware of it as her hips began rolling and she began sighing deeply with desire and joy, drawing shrieks of rapture from Alex’s lips as he bucked and arched beneath her.

Of course it wasn’t going to last long, not with them both so worked up and desperate for it but than made it no less sweeter when it did, when Alex roared her name and shuddered deeply right down to his bones and a few seconds later when Eliza was so gripped she couldn’t even speak, throwing her head back so her hair fell in a deep black waterfall, feeling as if a beautiful flower was opening up inside her.

Neither of the two young people so in love they were drunk on it needed to say anything until after Eliza had untied Alex and rubbed sensation back into his wrist and cuddled him thoroughly, covering his cheeks in fluttering kisses. Only then, in the darkness cut by the orange safety lights outside, curled up as close as the laws of geometry would allow, naked skin on naked skin and heartbeat against heartbeat, did Eliza speak up.

“You know I’ll be coming back, Alex,” she whispered, cuddling up to his chest, “And I’ll think about you every minute we’re apart.”

Alex buried his face in her hair, “I know. I’ll be waiting for you.”

“You better be,” Eliza chuckled, feeling sleep rise up in her chest to claim her.

Alex chuckled too, the vibrations running through his chest, “I will. I love you, Betsey.”

“I love you too, Alex.”

#hamliza #smut #fluff #ficlet #boarding school au #high school au #alexander x eliza #please reblog if you like it!

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zimniysoldat-fiction · 8 years ago

Text

Uncle Buckaroo

Summary: Director Hill needs the Winter Soldier to take on a rather special assignment.

Warnings: Uh...grumpy Bucky? Language (probably, it’s me we’re talking about)

Word Count: 1,712

A/N: Based on this request. Tangentially related to the request. I was finding it impossible to write the MCU, a 616 AU proved to be so much easier. Even then, I was having a hard time of it. Toddler!Tony is a hard nut to crack. So I didn’t. I hope it’s still enjoyable. Honestly, there are no traces of the MCU in this one. I’m sorry. Enjoy a picture of Bucky chilling with the Sacred Reznor on his spaceship.

Bucky was barely back on Earth a month when Maria Hill showed up at his door with a scrappy, smart-ass toddler. His dark walnut hair and near-ebony eyes looked hauntingly familiar to Bucky, but the assassin could hardly believe the resemblance was anything but coincidence. Still, he had to ask.

“Is that…Stark’s son?” He asked hesitantly, eyebrow kinked with skepticism. “Did Tony finally manage to keep a secret?” Bucky chuckled under his breath, always happy to have fun at Stark’s expense.

“It is Stark, Barnes.” Maria’s voice was flat, dampened with exhaustion and frustration.

Bucky stumbled over his words, hardly forming a syllable as he stepped aside, allowing Maria to bring the child into his apartment. While Maria explained that Tony had somehow reverted to his six year-old self during an exceptionally peculiar experiment-gone-wrong, Tony delighted in playing with the Sacred Reznor, feeding the naked aardvark-like alien little pieces of plum. The kid was so happy, so innocent, so…unlike Tony, that it captivated Bucky.

“This is all…” Bucky was struggling to be polite, “very interesting. But why is he here? Why are you telling me?”

“We need to keep him safe, under the radar.” Maria sighed heavily, “if it gets out that Tony Stark is a helpless kid, all hell will break loose.”

“Sure, but again, why are you telling me?”

“You were off-planet for six months and no one noticed that you were gone.”

“Thanks for reminding me,” Bucky groaned sarcastically.

Maria was far from finished her pitch, stubbornly continuing to plead her case. She was appealing to the fifteen year-old orphan living on a military base, the same one who took up with Captain America, the same orphan who died trying to defuse that bomb on Zemo’s drone. Bucky had spent countless hours wondering what would have happened to that orphan if he had a guardian; someone who would raise the kid, not turn him into an army mascot who would eagerly sign up to become a superhero’s sidekick. Maria was appealing to his ‘what if’ fantasy and it was working. Bucky already adopted a space alien, why not a young Tony Stark? How hard could it be?

Bucky never imagined how exhausting a genius toddler could be. Toppling regimes took less work than Tony. Bucky couldn’t believe it, but he lived for those mornings he got to drop the demon child off at kindergarten, giving him six hours of sweet relief. It’s times like these that Bucky really missed Steve. At least if he were still around, Bucky could drop the kid off on his doorstep. How did he let Hill rope him into this detail? How much longer was he going to have to play single dad in Manhattan?

This was the worst part of taking care of Tony, picking him up after school. Waiting by the gates, he felt like helpless prey being stalked by a pack of lionesses. And a few cougars. He worked hard to maintain a low profile, to ignore their aggressive advances, but the experience was grating. If only he knew how much worse it would get.

“Mum! Mum! Cap’n ‘Merica’s here! He’s really here!” One of the kids came running out of the building, shouting at the top of his lungs as he struggled to keep his backpack on his shoulders.

Bucky’s head snapped up, abandoning his study of cracks in the pavement to investigate the kid’s claims. He really hoped that it was some character actor the school hired, because if it was the real Captain America, Tony’s anonymity would be gone faster than Quicksilver after an ice cream truck. His crystal blue eyes darted across the school yard, he tried to get a decent look inside without drawing attention to himself. He was starting to feel relieved—relaxed and reassured that he couldn’t see any sign of Cap—when a single, friendly syllable sounded like an air raid siren, shattering any hope he held on to. Barnes!

“Hey—” Bucky still faltered with the title— “Cap. Fancy seeing you here.” He tried to smile at the star-spangled man with a falcon perched patiently on his shoulder.

“Me? It comes with the uniform,” Sam scoffed. “It’s more shocking seeing you here. Do you have a love child you’re not telling us about? Is that why you’ve been scarce this last year?”

“Nn—something like that.” Bucky caught himself just in time. “It’s complicated.”

“Uncle Bucky! Uncle Bucky!” Tony enthusiastically cut through the two, attaching himself to Bucky’s leg. It still weirded him out. Sam gave him a poignant look—he saw the resemblance quicker than Bucky had. “No one believes me that daddy knew Cap,” he pouted and Bucky already began to cringe. “They all think this idiot is Cap,” he scoffed, rolling his eyes in a fashion that was oh-so-Tony Stark.

“Hey now, kid,” Sam interjected, “there’s no need for name calling.”

“But you’re not Cap! You’re a fraud! Cap doesn’t have a falcon, he has a shield! Daddy made it for him!” Bucky pinched the bridge of his nose. This was a disaster.

“Wh—whose your daddy, buddy?” Sam’s voice was full of suspicion as he knelt down to meet Tony at his level.

“Howard Stark!” Tony puffed out his chest and turned his nose up. At this age, he was still proud of his dad—Howard was still his hero.

“How—Bucky,” Sam stood up, his face stern, “how about you and Tony come to Avengers Tower with me?” It was a question, Bucky was certain it was a question, but Sam made it sound like an order. In his head, Bucky was already coming up with ways to remind Sam of his place, but Tony had lit up like a Christmas tree in December—he was giddy at the thought of going to the Tower.

“I don’t know if you realize this, Cap, but not all of us can fly.”

As soon as he said it, Bucky had flashbacks to missions where Sam had to carry him as he flew into the mission site. He knew immediately that Sam planned on flying them to the Tower himself. Bucky sighed heavily while Sam grinned. Could this get any worse?

Tony was like a kid in a candy store—his eyes as wide as saucers, his jaw slack, and his mouth slightly agape—as Coulson gave him a tour of the Tower. Bucky and Sam were in the briefing room, joined by the other Avengers in the tower, and Maria Hill and Daisy Johnson—S.H.I.E.L.D.’s top brass with Fury out of the picture. Bucky was happy to let Maria explain everything, allowing Bucky to take the temperature of the room, to read each Avenger’s reaction.

Sam was annoyed, of course. And naturally, Rhodes was irate, insulted, and upset—why wouldn’t he be the obvious choice to take care of Tony? He was his brother in every way that mattered. Carol’s brow was furrowed as she listened, trying to figure out how this happened, and why Hill would cover it up. T’Challa may as well have been a statue, his face stoic, his body language calm and unchanging. At first, Daisy was mostly just bored, already aware of the situation, but as the briefing dragged on, she grew increasingly preoccupied with the CCTV footage from the lab.

“But why Barnes?” Rhodes’ voice was raised, indignant. “He can’t even take care of a plant, never mind a child!”

“Hey!” Bucky interjected, offended, but hardly surprised. “Rog is doing just fine, I’ll have you know. He’s happy and healthy, and Tony loves him.”

The table exchanged confused looks.

“Rog?” Carol inquired.

“I couldn’t keep calling him the Sacred Reznor, so I named him Roger.” Bucky explained matter-of-factly. He forgot that none of them knew about the space aardvark, save for Daisy, who was smirking at the memory of Bucky feeding the thing under his coat in the cantina.

The smirk quickly fell off her face, the footage replaying for the umpteenth time in front of her—it finally clicked, she finally knew why it seemed so familiar, and it sent a shiver down her spine. She wished so fervently that it wouldn’t be him—anyone but him. In a single movement, Daisy grabbed the tablet, spun her chair away from the table, and strode down to where Bucky was sitting. She whispered in his ear while he watched the footage, am ornery scowl weighing down the corners of his lips.

“But Ventolin—” Bucky trailed off, lost in memories of Mer-Z-Bow.

“That Loki is still there, I’ve kept tabs on him.” Daisy murmured, their conversation more private than the rest of the room would like.

“Would you two like to share with the rest of the class?” Sam droned sarcastically, rolling his eyes and leaning back in his chair.

Daisy glared at Sam, but still acquiesced, transferring the images to the large screen on the wall. Everyone watched as Daisy slowed down the footage, going through it frame by frame. What looked like a strange explosion in the video looked more akin to the Dark Bifrost touching down, followed by red, blue, and green smoke enveloping Tony and the silhouette of two others. No one had to be told who it was or what they were witnessing. His tricks and his magic were outright exhausting, his mischief menacing. They all hoped there would be a way of reversing this spell without having to deal with the God of Mischief.

“I guess we need Thor’s help,” Carol’s suggestion came without enthusiasm, or much hope. The Odinson had become unworthy, and the identity of the woman who now wields Mjölnir remains a mystery. To most.

Bucky finally found his smile, his eyes glancing over at Sam. The way everyone else was behaving suggested they had no idea about the crush Sam harboured, or the fondness Lady Thor held for him. Perhaps they were keeping their dalliance private. Maybe Sam was embarrassed. It didn’t really matter to Bucky, he owed Sam after that flight.

“Hey, Sam, aren’t you rather…close to Thor? Maybe you should call her for more than just a booty call.”

TAGS: @oneshot-shit; @marvel-ash; @bovaria; @hymnofthevalkyries; @archangel-trauma; @bionic-buckyb; @lostinspace33; @bucky-plums-barnes; @lauisspntrash; @marvel-fanfiction

#marvel 616 #fic req #bucky barnes #tony stark #avengers

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ecotone99 · 5 years ago

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[MF] Normal Part 2, a continuation of one of my previous post

Part 1

It has been two years since I unleashed my serum on the world, ridding it of superpowers forever. Now, it seems my time as a free man may be running out. Before that happens though, I’d like to give my account, from my eyes. Before the rest of the world demonizes myself and my actions. Although, they would be right to. I have completely changed the world. Devastated it even. I have some regrets, though I do not regret doing what I did. It seems a good a place to start would be after the serum started taking effect.

It took a few weeks before people started to really understand what was happening and by that time, it was too late to stop it. My serum had already traveled through the North American continent, the entirety of the west actually and the effects had just started manifesting in Europe and Asia.

Needless to say, no one took it very well. There were accidents, deaths, suicides, riots. What you would expect when an entire culture is shook to the core. I really did sympathize with a lot of them at first. Worksite accidents were very common at the beginning. Yesterday Jeff the construction worker could have lifted that 2000-pound I-beam. Today, though, he was crushed by it. People with super intelligence feeling their mind slowed down to what seemed like a standstill. They all would feel so… Normal. It was a beautiful thing.

Soon after, I decided it was time to seclude myself. With all the chaos happening it would be easy enough for me to slip away unnoticed. I packed up all the important things. My research, my samples, my serum and most importantly the “anti-serum”. I’m not entirely sure why I created it. The anti-serum worked essentially the same way as my serum, only, instead of programming my “normal” DNA into others I could write others DNA into someone. Essentially, I could give someone superpowers if I had samples from before my serum went live. Which I did.

I watched the world spiral into chaos as world leaders and researchers scrambled to figure out what had caused this. I was impressed when they found out it was the water. There were handfuls of people who were not yet affected by my serum due to them being lucky enough to be in situations where they were drinking solely bottled water. Researchers out in the field where fresh water was scarce, astronauts in the various space stations. To them, bottled water became more valuable than gold. I wasn’t worried about that though. There was only so much bottled water from before and soon enough, those remaining would be forced to drink my serum.

There was one person, who caught me off guard, that was left with there powers. Benjamin Wrigley, one of my few childhood friends. Loyal and righteous to a fault. He found me one day, in a diner in Wyoming of all places. I was amazed that he still had his powers. I had to know why.

My curiosity was my first mistake.

I asked him too many questions. I was too specific. Ben was never the smartest kid, but he wasn’t stupid, and his years of hero work must have taught him a few things. I found out that part of his power made it so he didn’t have to eat or drink. He was kind of like a plant. He could essentially photosynthesize sunlight into whatever he needed, he could stockpile the energy he consumed from the sun and use it to increases his strength, his speed, his bodies natural healing process. I never considered the small minority of people who didn’t need to drink.

I left the diner soon after and continued my journey. I eventually set myself up in a small house in rural Nevada. It wasn’t too long until Ben found me again. It was about 7 months after I unleashed the serum. I was watching the news, interested in how the world had been adapting and they were doing surprisingly well. People were finally starting to come to grips with their situation and began picking up the pieces. Stronger, more centralized law enforcement was formed. People began finding ways to do things without superpowers. The few superheroes that remained were doing their best to help around the world.

There was a knock at my door, around 2 in the morning. I got up and looked out the peephole. It was Ben. With hesitation I opened the door. I’d never seen him look so betrayed.

“It was you.” he finally said.

“Ben, what are you-“ I couldn’t finish the sentence before he grabbed me and pinned me up against the wall.

“You did this to us! You destroyed everything.” He screamed. “You… you killed so many people…” he whispered, releasing his grip as I fell to the ground.

I had said too much when we last met. Somehow, he put together the situation. But how?

“Ben… I have no idea what you’re talking about.” I lied

“Don’t lie to me, Alex! We found you DNA in the water. It took so long but we finally found your poison. Polluting everything. Permeating every water source in the world. You’re a monster.”

“Ben… someone must have… used my DNA. Some villain must have created it using my normal biological code!” I kept up the lie, hoping he’d believe me.

“You were never a good liar Alex. The only villain left is you.” He looked down at me, rage filled eyes staring daggers. Piercing through me. “I wanted to confront you myself. Before we released our findings. I wanted to know. Why? Why did you do this.”

He was right. I was always a terrible liar.

“You want to know why, Ben? So that you could all know what it was like to be me. Helpless. Weak. Equal. All these people running around with superhuman abilities. They were a menace! You go on saying how many people I killed, but did you ever stop and think about how many people you have killed?”

I was also never good at keeping my temper in check.

“I’ve never killed anyone, not even a villain!” He yelled back at me in disgust.

“We both know that that’s bullshit, Ben. Thursday, April 16th, 4:16 am.” I spat, looking directly in those burning eyes, watching the fire slowly fade as my old friend made the connection.

“I… I didn’t… it was an accident… We were at war!” I could see the anger flicker in his eyes, but also shame, regret.

“It took me a while to put it all together. But after I saw the footage. After I saw my hospital get disintegrated! I knew I had seen something like that once before. Tell me, Ben. Just how long did you have to bake in the sun to make a blast that big? A week? A month? Honestly… I was amazed. Amazed and horrified. The news wrote it off as a hero deflected some attack from a villain. But it was the other way around wasn’t it?”

“Stop.” Ben whimpered. Pathetic.

“That blast that Blackbeam swatted away from you killed hundreds of people. Men, women, children, doctors, mothers, fathers. Do you know how many lives were crushed because of your negligence? Did you even think about the damage that a blast like that would have caused, even if it did hit its mark? You didn’t, did you? All that mattered was stopping the “bad guys”. Well guess what, Ben? You were all the bad guys that night. That’s why I did what I did. I was tired of innocent people getting hurt. Caught in the crossfire of your petty squabbles.” I felt the passion again. The passion that I felt when I first started working on a cure for Kenny. The passion I felt when I first started working on the serum.

I stood back up, knowing deep down that what I did was right. The amount of lives lost that my serum indirectly caused paled in comparison to the amount of lives cut short by superhumans over the years.

Ben looked almost like a ghost. He always did take things too personally, another flaw of his. But he never let anything stand in the way of what he believed was right.

“What’s done is done, Alex.” He finally spoke, regaining some of his composure after minutes of silence. “We’re going to let the United Nations know that it’s you who caused all this. I’ll be taking you to the authorities myself. You’ll be lucky if you just get life in solitary.” I felt his hands grab me by the shoulder, ready to pull me away and throw me in a jail cell.

“That isn’t going to happen, Ben. Not when I’m the only person in the world who can change this.” It was time to play my hand.

“I don’t want to hear any more from you.” He began, I could feel the spite in his words, almost like a knife against my skin.

“I have an antidote. I can give people powers again but if you take me now. It will never see the light of day. There’s no one alive who knows what I know, and by the time someone does unravel the secrets that I did, superhumans will just be stories.”

Ben stopped in his tracks “Why should I believe you.” He asked, not looking at me.

“You said it yourself. I’m a terrible liar.” I felt his grip loosen.

I took Ben to the small warehouse I’d set up my lab in. Another one of Ben’s flaws was that he would take any opportunity, no matter how unlikely, if it meant a chance to set something right. I opened the doors and ushered him inside.

“Here it is. My life’s work.” I exclaimed, motioning him over to the equipment. “If you bring me to the police, I will make sure that every piece of information I have is erased. You will have the answer, but none of the work leading up to it and without that, you can’t even use the antidote.”

He looked around, Ben was never very good at science, so he had no idea what any of this equipment did and hadn’t the slightest idea how my serums worked. The confusion on his face was endearing.

“I might as well explain. The way my serum works I mean.” I said, moving over to my computer. “Have a seat.”

Ben hesitantly sat next to me as I pulled up diagrams and simulations.

“The serum essentially rewrites the patient’s DNA. I found a very specific, unique piece that every superhuman has- well, had. We’ll call that the “S-block”. Once ingested, it starts to work. I found that I also have a very specific, even more unique piece of my genetic code. We’ll call mine the “N-block”. The serum breaks down the patient’s DNA, destroys the S-block which gave them their powers, and replaces it with my normal N-block, so that they don’t fall apart. This in turn, rids them of their powers entirely. Making them normal. Like me.”

As he watched and listened, I could see the horror on his face. Was I playing God? Changing the very building blocks of human life. Did it really matter?

“The antidote works exactly the same way. Only this time it targets the N-block and replaces it with an S-block of my choosing. You will need a DNA sample from before I let my first serum loose and only, I know how to extract the S-block from it to make the antidote work. And, as I said, if you apprehend me now. All of this will be destroyed, gone forever. The choice is yours, Ben.”

Ben was silent for a while. Just staring into space. Thinking.

“I can’t just let you go, Alex.” He finally said, his eyes distant. “You don’t get it. I never came here to find a cure. I was sent here to bring you in. We don’t need you to cooperate to get the information out of your head.”

I knew I had no way to talk myself out of this. Ben never let anything get between him and completing a mission. I began to sweat. I felt trapped. Just like when I was a kid. When they strapped me down and performed test after test after test. I wouldn’t let that happen to me again. I would never be a guinea pig, strapped to a table while someone poked and prodded.

“It’s time to go, Alex. We’re done here.” He stood up and walked over to grab his coat.

It all happened so fast. BANG. There I stood, a smoking gun in my hand. Ben slowly turned, putting his hand to his chest as he grabbed at the hole. I could tell he was using his powers, trying to close the wound.

“I’m sorry, Ben. You never should have gotten involved. I wish you could have just let everything be…”

I felt sick.

“A-Alex… why?” He started, struggling to talk as he used up all the energy he had been storing to heal the wound.

A second bang as his wound was still closing, but this time I shot him right between the eyes. There was no way he could recover from that. I watched as Ben, once my best friend, fell to the ground. I still remember the look in his eyes. The sadness. The confusion. The shock. That was his last flaw. He never thought that I could be a threat.

I’d never killed someone before. That night, I killed my best friend.

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