#gabriel about gave me a heart attack

[starwarsmum]

A Fresh Start chapter 2: A Birthday and a Question

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61344961/chapters/165678457

“Titus, come here,” Damian said imperiously, smirking when Louis gave a delighted squeal as the great Dane obeyed. The park they had gone to was fairly empty, the mid afternoon sun shining weakly through a layer of smog. “Would you like to pet him, Louis?”

The moment the words were out of his mouth, the child launched himself at the dog, tiny arms trying to reach around to hug him. Damian stifled a snort and turned to catch Marinette's eye, only to frown because she was staring into the distance.

“Is everything alright?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, it's fine! Sorry, I have to call Adrien tomorrow for Louis’ birthday and I'm not looking forward to it,” she admitted, picking at her fingernails. Damian hesitated for only a moment before taking hold of one of her hands. 

“You have nothing to apologise for,” he murmured, running his thumb over the back of her hand. “You owe me no explanation, we have only been seeing each other for a little over a week. I'm sure it has been hard on both you and Louis to move so far from his father. I cannot imagine how much it must be impacting your life.”

“Not as much as you'd think, given we only talked to him every couple of weeks or so by video call. And only when he's not busy with his new life,” she muttered under her breath, but Damian was sitting closely enough to catch it. He didn't hesitate at all before pulling her into a hug.

“He really was a fool to let you go,” he said softly, feeling her hug him back tightly. “But I'm glad you weren't still with him when we met.”

“Me too,” she said and leaned back, smiling brightly. Damian thought his heart might stop at just how lovely she looked like that. Louis continued to babble at Titus and Damian almost held his breath as he tipped his head towards hers.

They both jumped back when his phone blared to life. Louis startled as well, looking up at the pair with wide blue eyes. Damian swallowed a curse as he saw an alert for an ongoing rogue attack at a local jewellery store.

“I'm sorry, Marinette, I need to go.”

_ _ _

“Well happy birthday, kiddo,” Adrien said cheerfully through the laptop. Louis had been interested for all of three minutes when his father had come onto the screen but was bored now. Then he ran away to play with the new toys that had arrived for him that morning, shrieking as he tackled a giant stuffed bear.

“Thanks for doing a call today, Adrien,” Marinette said lightly, tensing when he frowned at her.

“Of course I called, it's his birthday, Mari,” Adrien admonished. Reminding herself that she only had to stay on the phone for a few minutes longer, she forced her smile to stay on her face. “I would have been there but I have a meeting with the Justice League early tomorrow morning. Can you believe it's finally happening?”

“I'm glad you're getting what you wanted, Adrien. But we still need to talk about the guy I'm seeing, you haven't really responded to any of my messages about it.”

“I've been busy! Besides, if you say he's a good guy you're probably right. You've always had a good radar for that sort of thing,” Adrien said distractedly, albeit with a winsome smile. “But anyway, Elaine said it was time to introduce me to the League, which is an understatement! I'm going to get to meet the big three, even, and then I'll finally be doing as much good as possible. And maybe I'll be able to swing a meeting for Louis as well.”

“Great,” Marinette said flatly, hardly listening as he droned on about the work he'd been doing with Elaine and other metahumans operating in London. She was given a reprieve when his phone lit up with an alert and he ended the call abruptly.

“Maman, play!” Louis demanded, and Marinette felt her scowl melt away. She adored her son, wouldn't trade him for anything in the world and hated that Adrien had given him up without a second thought. How did he not see that he was abandoning his son as much as Gabriel had abandoned him?

Putting the thoughts away, she sent Damian a message to let him know that she was heading back to the same park they had been at the day before if he wanted to join them. She was pleasantly surprised when he showed up only half an hour after she did, although without Titus this time. 

“Good morning,” he said with a smile, kissing her cheek as he approached them in the children's park. “You look radiant, as usual.”

“Damian, you can't just say things like that!” Marinette squeaked at him, hands slapping to her cheeks. He rumbled a laugh before waving at Louis who was shooting down a slide and shrieking. “Thanks for meeting with us, I don't know many people in Gotham yet. Not that I wouldn't want to see you if I did!”

“I'm honoured to be invited to celebrate Louis’ birthday,” he replied, graciously ignoring her fumble. He took her hand in his own and she almost swooned at the callouses that scraped against her own. “Did your video call go well?”

“It lasted for a grand total of ten minutes, at least five of which was spent talking about what he's been doing in London,” Marinette said softly, smiling at Louis when he waved as he went down the slide again. “Apparently you pass his extremely rigorous vetting process: my gut instinct.”

“It is commendable that he trusts you to such an extent,” Damian said at last. Marinette snorted humourlessly and rubbed her free hand over her face.

“I shouldn't be surprised, he’s shockingly naive sometimes. I guess I just thought he would be more protective of his only child,” she whispered guiltily. “I think you're a wonderful guy, and I have no concerns about your character, but I've known you for less than a week. Adrien should be worried and wanting to meet you at least. If he had a new girlfriend around Louis I would be demanding a background check and sitting in on her first few visitations with him.”

“Is this your way of asking to do a background check on me?” Damian asked, humour lacing his tone. She giggled in spite of herself, squeezing his hand gently. “I would not be offended if you did, I'm only concerned that you would find articles about my less than friendly public behaviour. I try to keep such things private at least until I take a woman out for dinner.”

“Is this your way of asking me to dinner?” Marinette asked cheekily, face reddening when he pursed his lips instead of laughing.

“Would that be inappropriate of me? I understand if you would not like to, I imagine finding a sitter in a city you have been living in for only a month would be difficult.”

“My aunt and uncle would absolutely babysit if I asked,” Marinette said with a squeak, trying to control her blush. She was a twenty-five year old woman with a child for goodness sake, she shouldn't be getting flustered by a guy - who had already been flirting with her and going on coffee dates! - asking her out for dinner.

“Then I suppose the only thing remaining is to set a day that works for us all,” Damian said with a pleased smile on his face. “Clearly tonight would not be suitable, and even if it weren’t Louis' birthday I am unfortunately busy. But I’m available tomorrow night?”

“I'll message Uncle J and let you know!”

[kingdicemrwheezyflowertor]

HELLO BEAUTIFUL AND HANDSOME FLOWERS!!!

Soooo; It has been a while since I showed off any Criminal Case art that I made. I have drawn some more last year and I think the beginning of this year but I can’t remember. But I do need to show some to you guys to make up for it honestly lol.

There we go! I had to search for a few minutes lol. But to list what each one is about.

1. In my Wife and I’s AU; Tony Marconi doesn’t become the Victim in Case 36 “Up in Flames” but he does get hurt from the Molotov Cocktail. So I drew what his scars look like while his son Emilio becomes the Victim.

2. This one would take place after Case 52 “Head Case” after the Additional Investigation when Jones leaves the Hospital, My Character, Gabriel and Ramirez would be waiting for Jones to leave the hospital just to hug him tight.

3. I got Criminal Case Pacific Bay and Fell HARD for Yann so when I saw that there was a case that involved him being a suspect; I felt SO BAD!! So for my character during the Additional investigation, He’s sitting with Yann and orders food.

4. My Character with the two men who got injured in Criminal Case the Conspiracy. I love Joe despite him becoming a villain but he was able to try and make up for his actions so he gets a pass. Jones nearly getting killed though gave me a heart attack

5. Back during Nathan’s case when We see Ramirez again; The Interaction that happened with Jones; Ramirez and the Player was just so adorable! Especially when Jones brings up that Ramirez hadn’t changed much and he wasn’t lying neither

6. Case #32 “Things fall Apart”. It broke my heart. Rupert’s death had broken me. His death broke many people so I drew who was hurt by his death the most in my AU; From left to right: Gabriel, Ramirez, Myself, Jones, Amir and Martine.

7. Charles DuPont died and the man who caused his death had to pay; I hated him so much and so did my Ancestor. It was because of this ancestor that my character is an immortal being today and why I don’t like People who are Dictators.

8. The whole case with Christian Bateman’s Death (Get Rekted fucker) had shown so much that happened to him when he got his powers and one of those incidents was when he snaps at Joe Warren telling him that he was fine and to stay out of his way. Joe knew he wasn’t okay and just wanted to help him.

9. Joe having Telekinesis for a Power was very interesting and I thought it fit for him very well so I decided to draw what he would look like when he uses his powers. I like Joe Warren; Way more than the Mayor from the first Game.

And there you have it. I did use Bases on all of these but some of these bases I used belong to Mellonsoup so credit goes out to them and their amazing bases.

[vintageneptune92]

Burn the Shadow- 15

Here’s the next chapter!! Thank you so much for your likes, shares and comments.

NSFW content in pink so you can skip. I never put anything plot driven in it.

Gia and Rafael sat uncomfortably together on Grayson's couch with Gia's parents sitting in the chairs, one on each side of the couch. Gia sat on the side closest to her father. The awkwardness in the room was palpable. Viviano and Guilia Monroe could not be more different from each other. She was cold and seemingly calculating. Viviano, however, he came across joyous, even during such turmoil. Rafael saw Grayson and Gabriel in their mother's features. The ice blonde hair, the same blue eyes, thinner lips, sharp cheekbones. Where as Gianna had her father's warm, dark blue eyes, darker blonde hair. They shared the same smile, the one that radiated a room. The same smile that took his breath away the first time he saw it. Their dimples even matched.

Rafael watched as Gia was biting down on the middle of her bottom lip, sliding it back and forth; anxiety radiating from her body at a rate that was making him anxious. Grayson was getting Anna settled down for an nap. She had woken up screaming at preschool from a nightmare during the school nap time. Now, she was especially exhausted from reliving the moment Olivia was pulling her from her mother's arms.

Gia hadn't been able to resist herself from jumping up into her father's arms. Rafael knew they had a complicated relationship but Gia almost always couldn't help but forgive him his transgressions. Her mother, on the other hand had given her a cold half hug and a kiss on the cheek. Her father was finally the one that broke the uncomfortable silence.

"Mija, it's been so long. We haven't seen you, you haven't called, we've been worried. I was hoping you'd come home to recover after you were attacked." Gia resisted the urge to roll her eyes, not at her father, but the idea of her mother being worried about her. She doubted her mother gave a shit.

"I'm sorry Daddy. I didn't want to worry you. I just needed some time, it was hard bouncing back after the attack and then Alison dying. I...I couldn't leave New York. Not with the man that had killed her being free. We didn't know who his true target was. I didn't go to Alison's funeral because I was afraid that if it was me, he would follow. I never would have forgiven myself if he had followed me to you." Gia had not wanted to have this conversation when she wasn't prepared for it. She heard her mother scoff. Rafael gave her a venomous look.

"Not too distraught to shack up with your boyfriend." Rafael could feel Gia tense up, but she didn't take the bait, so her mother continued. "And he is your acting ADA. I thought I taught you to be smarter than that." Gia swallowed.

"You know what mother? I'm not talking about this right now. We are all here to support Grayson and Anna. Let's maybe focus on that." Gia's voice was clipped in a way that Rafael had never heard before. It was telling to him that her father was "daddy" but her mother was "mother".

Gia's mother pursed her lips and glared in her direction. Rafael had a protective arm around her. He would do whatever he could to shield Gia from any verbal abuse she tried to throw at her.

"So, counselor, Grayson says you're a Harvard graduate. Self-made through a full scholarship too. I must say, I was impressed, though not surprised that you won the heart of my daughter. " Rafael turned his head to her father, he was beaming at Rafael.

"Uh thank you sir, yes." Rafael saw Gia's nose flare as she tried to hold back a smile.

"Respectful too. Please, call me Vano, it's a nickname my sister created as a child and it just stuck. Thank you, for taking such good care of my Gigi, I know she went through something terrible and she trusted you with it. That says a lot about you. She doesn't trust the wrong people. She can also be a handful." Rafael felt the tension in his body leave.

"Well I'm glad to know that it isn't just me she's a handful for." Gia's eyebrows knitted together and she pursed her lips.

"Alright you two..." her voice had a tone of annoyance, but there was a glint of a smile on her face.

"I want you to know that I will always take care of your daughter. She is..." Rafael turned his head to look at Gia before he finished, "the single best thing that has ever happened to me." She felt overwhelmed by the love she felt for him in that moment. She could tell her father was enamored with Rafael by the way he loved her and had taken care of her.

"I don't supposed you thought about how this could affect my daughter's career at all? The negative impact, sleeping with a superior." Her mother added in, a hint of disdain in her voice. Gia felt her blood pressure increasing.

"With all due respect, I am not Gia's superior. She doesn't work for me, she works with me. Even if she worked under the office of the District Attorney, I am not THE District Attorney. We also disclosed our relationship, so there is nothing we need to worry about." Rafael was taken aback. "Also, I would never demean her to just someone that I'm, as you put it, 'sleeping with', I love your daughter very much." Rafael put his arm around her to pull her a little closer to him and took one of her hands in his free one. The gratitude she felt for him in that moment was immeasurably strong.

"Exactly how much older than my daughter are you, Mr. Barba?" Rafael felt Gia squeeze his hand. He knew she was fighting every instinct she had to not verbally evicerate her mother. He rubbed his thumb in soothing circles on her hip where it rested after he put his arm around her to reassure her. He wasn't scared of her mother at all.

"Please, call me Rafael. While, yes, I am older than your daughter, that doesn't matter. I never thought I would meet a woman that has captivated me quite like Gianna. I have never met another person, let alone another woman quite like her. Her intelligence, wit and compassion and empathy are beyond measure. She is brilliant in every sense of the word. Not once has our age difference ever caused even a slightest issue between us. It seems to only be a problem for other people." Gia could have grabbed him by the face and kissed him right infront of her parents.

"I'm quite familiar with my daughter's attributes, thank you." Giulia's response was clipped. Rafael rolled his jaw. This woman made all of Gia's amazing qualities sound like an accusation. He would be damned if he let her treat Gia poorly in his presence. Luckily, her father intervened before Rafael had the chance to open his mouth.

"Oh hermosa, what does it matter? She's an adult and she is happy. That is all that matters. Besides, you're the one that pushed her to be with peers older than her, of course it was going to follow her later in life. Look how much he adores our Gianna. He makes her happy. Grayson told us how happy she was because of him. As a parent, what more can we ask than for him to love her and take care of her?" Gia felt like she was in an episode of the twilight zone. Her father never spoke up in her defense. Maybe it was because she had effectively gone low contact. Luckily Grayson came out and ended the conversation. Gia could see that her mother was seething and that caused her to feel an immature satisfaction.

"Sorry, she's finally asleep now. Gia, what was the news?" He sounded exhausted. She couldn't even really be mad at him for not giving her a heads up. Gia decided to cut right to it.

"She's yours, Gray." Gia watched as he let out a shaky breath, one he had seemingly been holding since the day before. He used the chair her father was sitting in for support. Gia jumped up and rushed over and hugged him. She felt his body shake with sobs.

"You're sure?" He felt Gia nod her head.

"Yes, they ran it twice just to be sure." As they stood in an embrace for a moment, Rafael studied her mother. She seemed almost jealous. Gia had always said her mother favored Grayson, so it would make sense that she would be resentful of any closeness between the two siblings. Rafael just couldn't seem to understand why her mother had such a disdain for her own daughter.

"Oh darling, this is such good news!" Gia pulled away when she heard her mothers voice. It was such an intrusion on such an important moment between her and Grayson. Her mother couldn't ever let her have anything with Grayson without intruding.

"Gray, you need to listen to me." Gia let go of Grayson so she could look him in the eyes. Neither Gia or Grayson responded to their mother. Rafael could see the irritation etched into her features.

"You need to get an emergency custody order. She was planning to run away with Anna. She had a fake passport for her." Grayson's eyes widened for a moment and then it morphed into confusion.

"Why would I need that if she's in jail?" Gia gave Rafael a desperate look. She did not want to be the one to tell Grayson that Sienna was living it up at a hotel. He cleared his throat before he spoke.

"I currently do not have enough evidence to indict either your wife or Isaac Moreno in the death of Sara Moreno. We have only a limited amount of time to bring the evidence to a grand jury. Right now, it's all circumstantial." Gia felt Grayson tense up and slowly turn so he could address Rafael.

"You're telling me you've never made a case with solely circumstantial evidence before?" Gia heard the anger simmering in his voice. She didn't want to speak for Rafael, so she stayed quiet, but wrapped her hand around the inside of Grayson's elbow to give him silent support.

"Of course I have. I don't have even a piece of circumstantial evidence that would lead a jury to believe a story of your wife and or Isaac Moreno to the attack and subsequent death of Sara. I have to be able to sell it. The good news is we have all of his financials, cell records, we executed search warrants of his business and household for anything we may have overlooked at the crime scene. We have his hard drives. If it is okay with you, we'd like to sweep your penthouse. We are getting warrants for your wife's cell records and any other financial disclosures we don't already have. We will find something. It just takes time." Grayson pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Search the apartment and any place else you need. I would suggest getting a warrant for her place of employment. So, what am I supposed to do in the meantime?" Gia was grateful in that moment that Grayson was so incredibly rational.

"You take care of you and your daughter. We get a restraining order against Sienna. The passports are enough to one. I already submitted it, I'm just waiting for the judge to sign off on it. You do what Gia said, you get a lawyer and file for emergency custody. The good news is that your wife has a smart and excellent attorney thanks to your sister. She is getting Sienna to cooperate. She is also going to break the news of the restraining order and custody situation to Sienna. Rita Calhoun is level headed and she knows that no contact with you or your daughter unless you permit it's is non-negotiable." Gia watched as her mother stood.

"Grayson, I tried to warn you about this woman if you had just listened-" Gia felt anger building.

"Jesus Mother, now is not the time for your 'I told you so' speech. How is that helpful to him?" Gia shook her head. Rafael admired her moxie, that was for certain.

"Okay and what does your ADA mean that she has a good lawyer because of you?" Gia's hand dropped from Grayson's arm so she could face her mother. Rafael could see Gia's father bracing himself.

"I would think such an accomplished woman of the law would understand on her own. Sienna is not the mastermind here. Isaac Moreno is violent and manipulative. He's also incredibly charming. He wanted his wife out of the way. Sienna is likely the conduit he used to avoid culpability in case he caught, in his mind it would at least create reasonable doubt. Sienna may be many things, but homocidal is not one of them. I made sure she had a good lawyer because Isaac has a very good lawyer who is a piece of garbage and has no qualms about sending an innocent woman to prison for life to save his equally disgusting client." Gia's mother interrupted before she could even form her next word.

"Don't you dare speak to me like that. I am your mother. You will respect me!" Gia let out a sardonic laugh.

"First of all, I wasn't finished. Second of all, respect is earned not just granted because you're my mother. Anyway, with all of that being said? I didn't do it for Sienna, I did it for that little girl down the hall who is already traumatized. I wanted her to have a shot at seeing her mother outside of a prison at some point in her life if she is truly involved in this. If she goes to prison, at a minimally secure one that would scare her the least. She loves her mother, that will never change. A child needs both of their parents in their life. Eventually when the dust settles, even if it is supervised visitation, Annie needs her mother. None of us can fill that role. A stepmother can't fill that role. That child will resent anyone that tries to keep her mother away permanently." Giulia Monroe's face grew increasingly more red with every word that her daughter said. Rafael felt a sense of pride at her boldness.

"Can you two stop?!" Grayson snapped. Gia crossed her arms, ever obstinate. Their mother remained silent.

"Rafael, who would you suggest he call?" Vano asked, trying to fill any silence before either woman had the chance to pick up their argument.

"I will actually defer to Gia on that. She has dealt with our family law department much more often than I have." Grayson looked to Gia.

"Trevor Langdon. He's not family law, but he's a great attorney. You want someone that has a defense background so they can anticipate Rita. He actually owes me a favor, so I reached out in case you didn't have someone in mind. He's more than willing to help if that's the route you want to go." Gia handed Grayson a business card. Rafael studied her for a moment. Langdon owed her a favor? That was the first he'd heard of it. He shook it off.

"It's actually a really great idea to use him. Rita Calhoun doesn't play. A regular family court attorney may not have the experience to go up against her. Trevor Langdon will also know what will play in your favor." Grayson nodded his head. Gia wished she could make this all easier for him. There wasn't much else she could do.

"Gray, we are going to go. Raf has to get back to his office and I'm going to go back to the precinct. I can't do much on this case, but I want to be around to hear any news so I can keep you updated." Grayson gave her a look. He knew she was bullshitting him, she just didn't want to be around their mother. Though, with what had just transpired, he thought that might actually be best.

"Why don't you both come back for dinner tonight? It'll take Anna's mind off of everything and we will get to spend a little more time with you before Thanksgiving." Vano suggested as he stood up. Gia hesitated for a moment, so Rafael spoke up.

"That would be great. Is 7pm too late for your daughter Grayson?" Rafael asked him, he avoided looking in Gia's mutinous expression.

"No, that will be fine. With her sleeping now she will be wired. She's going to be home for the foreseeable future. Her teacher gave me the names of a great Nanny that used to be Pre-K teacher. This way I can have someone come every day that can help me but also sub in for the educational component. She even has a child Anna's age, so that would give her someone to socialize with for the time being."

"Gray, that would be amazing for her. I know you wanted to keep her routine the same, but I think this might even be better for her. Having someone that only has one other child will give Annie the additional attention and care she is going to need." Grayson walked over and hugged Gia tightly.

"Thank you for everything. I don't know what I would do without you." His voice hitched slightly. She pulled back, her arms outstretched and hands placed on his upper arms.

"You don't ever have to thank me. I'm here for you, no matter what, always. Let me know if you need me to pick up anything for dinner." He nodded his head.

"Get over here young lady." Her father demanded. Gia felt her tense body relax in the arms of her father. She hadn't realized how much she had missed him.

"I love you, Daddy." She said with her chin on his shoulder.

"I love you too, Mija. You be safe, okay?" Gia nodded her head. While Gia's mother didn't stand up, nor did she or Gia utter a word to each other, Gia walked over and kissed her mother on the cheek while Rafael was shaking her father's hand.

They walked silently down the hallway. Rafael knew she was seething on the inside. He was assuming partly because of his accepting of the dinner invitation on their behalf. He was expecting her to whip around at him when they reached the elevator, but she did no such thing. They stood there, her arms crossed, his hand resting on her back. She hadn't jerked away when he touched her so he figured that was a good sign.

Once they exited the building, Gia immediately started walking without a word. He followed her silently for a little while, as they were coming up to a crosswalk, he finally grabbed her arm.

"Talk to me." He studied her expression. She didn't look angry, she looked defeated.

"There isn't much to say, Rafael." Her arms were still crossed. She licked her lips and looked to the side. He put his hand on the side of her cheek and slowly turned her face back so she was looking at him.

"There is always something to say between the two of us." He watched as her eyebrows scrunched together and dropped her arms.

"She's infuriating. The way she was questioning you and then her comments about how she knew Sienna was awful. The only reason she didn't like Sienna is because she saw her as emotionally weak and she viewed her as not good enough for my brother. That was the first time my father has defended me....like ever. Normally he just sits there. I cannot stand being around her. I know she's my mother Rafael, but I hate her. As horrible as that sounds, I do." He waited for a moment before he responded. He didn't want to make this about him at all, but he wasn't going to let her think she was terrible for hating her own mother.

"Gigi, you are not terrible. Someone being a parent doesn't give them the right to mistreat and abuse you. My father and I...lets just say I felt a similar way about him. I still get angry just thinking about him." Her expression softened.

"You've never talked about him before." She saw his lip twitch, his fists were down at his side clenched. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him, he hesitated for a moment and then hugged her back.

"I just can't. It's not you though, it's me." He slowly pulled away from him.

"You don't have to explain anything. I understand. C'mon, let's go." The anger had deflated from her body. She looped her arm with his as they made their way back to the precinct. He was relieved she wasn't angry with him. He saw how much she loved her father. He hoped he could help her bridge the gap in their relationship. All he wanted was for her to be happy. With the question of Anna being answered, she had a real shot at it. He meant what he had told her father, he would do anything to make her happy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"That was...exhausting. I do not know how you managed to handle that." Rafael had his eyes closed and his head resting on the back of the couch. Gia laughed as she took a sip of his scotch and then set it down on the coffee table infront of him.

As promised, Rafael and Gia were back at her old apartment for dinner. Rafael watched as Gia paused slightly at the door, he saw her hand tremble when she went to place it on the door knob. He could tell by the look on her face that she was flashing back to the night she had been attacked. He had put his hand on her back and reminded her that she was safe. The haze im her eyes had cleared after that and she had looked at him with gratefully and kissed him lightly. He would never get tired of the feeling of her lips.

Gianna's mother had started working with the DA's office in Boston as a consultant of some sort. Gia wasn't completely sure. It didn't surprise her that her mother had started working again. Sometimes, Gia didn't understand how her parents were still married. Her mother didn't seem to like spending time with her own husband, which made Gia sad. She wanted her father to be happy and deep down, regardless of the space between them, she wanted her mother to be happy too.

Anna had clung to Gia like Saranwrap. Rafael had been hoping to give Gia more time with her father. Things had been tense earlier, but Anna was having none of it. Anna had been unsure about Rafael at first, but when he had been willing to sit down and color with her, she decided that she liked him. That had Gia falling just a little more in love with him. The way he was giving Anna is apt attention when she told him the whole story of Anna and Elsa. She made insisted he come over and watch the movie with her. He had promised that on Saturday evening, he, Anna and Gia would have a movie night at their apartment so Anna could see where Gia now lived. Gia hadn't been sure how Rafael would be with her, but she wasn't a baby, so he didn't come off so rigid. She also had a feeling that he would have stood on his head to make Anna happy for Gia's sake.

Anna had asked a million questions about how Rafael and Gia knew each other. What Rafael did for work. Gia had masterfully dodged the questions about Sienna. Rafael could read the weary look on her face. There was no possible way to make a four year old understand why her world was turned upside down.

Dinner had been difficult. Grayson was the target of Anna's anger. In her mind, Grayson had been the one that took them out of their home and had taken her out of school. She had been displeased with her choices for dinner and had thrown her plate across the kitchen. Gianna's mother had started to intervene, but Gia had wordlessly stood up and taken Anna down the hall to her room giving them instructions to not clean up Anna's mess.

A half hour later, out came Anna, contrite. She had apologized to her father and her grandparents. Gia helped Anna clean up her own mess. The child then crawled into her father's lap and had eaten dinner. Gia had calmed Anna down and explained to her that it wasn't Grayson's fault and how sad her father was too. Gia explained how Anna and Grayson had to stick together and try to make each other not feel so sad. They talked about being angry and how throwing her food across the room wasn't the right way to express her feelings. Gia didn't know how long it would stick in her brain, but they had successfully worked through it for the time being.

After that, Anna had said goodnight to everyone and Gia took her to brush her teeth and get ready for bed, giving Grayson a break for the evening. Rafael had gone down to peak at what the two were doing. Gia was sitting on the bed with her niece, holding her in her lap rocking her back and forth while rubbing her back singing to her. She was singing 'Hey Jude' instead of a lullaby. Not long after that, Gia had come out from the bedroom.

Grayson could not express his gratitude enough. Anna's emotions had been all over the place all day. With his own inner turmoil he was having a hard time successfully helping his daughter with hers. Gia reassured him that he was doing a great job. Gia had her PhD in Psychology, she was trained to handle it. She had promised to be there more and help with Anna. She was dealing with a lot of big changes. At four years old, she was handling it better than Gia had anticipated.

Rafael could tell Gia was ready to get the hell out of there at that point. He wanted to get her home before any other arrangements with her mother started. He had made the excuse that he had an early meeting. She had been quiet on the way home, but it had been a comfortable quiet. Thet was how they found themselves sitting on their couch.

"You were the one that said we would go." She reminded him. She was sitting on her knees next to him. He opened one eye and saw her grinning like the Cheshire Cat. His lips twitched into a faint smile.

"That I did. I didn't know a four year old could scream that loud. I honestly thought the only screaming matches would be between you and your mother." Gia laughed again.

"She's not normally like that. She's usually such a good kid, demanding, but well behaved. She just doesn't understand. She feel safe with Grayson, so she feels safe unleashing her emotions on him. It's just a lot for him right now too." She traced her finger down his jaw, enjoying the feeling of slight stubble against her fingers.

"Demanding? I wonder where she gets that from? I had to commit to a movie with appropriate snacks and drinks on Saturday." He felt the sting of disappointment when she stopped caressing his face.

"Oh, ha ha, you're so funny." He snuck a peek at her face and she was still smiling.

"Well you handled her incredibly well." He hummed in approval as she ran her fingers through his hair and started rubbing his head. She loved the feeling of his hair in her fingers. She moved closer to him. This was all that she had wanted for that evening, time alone with him.

"I was just disappointed I didn't get to see you put my mother in her place again l." Rafael slipped his arm around her waist and sat up to look at her.

"I will always defend you. There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you." She absentmindedly started running his tie in between her fingers."

"My hero..." she teases and kissed him on the cheek.

"Listen to me." He took the hand that had been playing with his tie and held it in his. "I mean it. There is nothing you could ask of me that I wouldn't do for you." The intensity in his gaze gave her goosebumps.

"Rafael, I know." She said softly. She didn't quite understand where his fierceness was coming from, he could read the confusion on her face.

"The interaction with your mother...I...I was furious. She doesn't see you, and I don't know how it is possible to be blind to how amazing you are. I have neve wanted to hit a woman before." Gia let out a tiny laugh.

"I, honestly, would be okay with that ." She grinned at him again and it dissolved some of the tension. As her expression softened, she took his hand. "I love you, more than anything." He moved closer to her and leaned in and kissed her gently.

"I love you, too, more than anything. C'mon, let's go to bed. It's been a long day." She nodded and he pulled her to her feet and led her into their bedroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gia was slowly stirred awake, the pale light of dawn shining across their bedroom. It was beautiful and serene. She enjoyed early morning moments like that. It was then that it registered in her brain what had woken her up. Rafael's hand was lightly caressing her body. His finger tips slowly gracing over her He was pressing open mouthed kisses across the back of her shoulder.

"Well, good morning Counselor. What are you, uh, what are you doing over there?" He could hear the smile in her voice. He didn't know if she knew how much it turned him on when she called him Counselor. It always had, it was just how she said it that he loved.

"Good morning Amor. Just waking you up..." his voice trailed off. She gasped lightly when she felt his teeth graze her earlobe. She leaned into him as he started massaging her rib cage and down to her hip. Her cropped t-shirt making her skin more accessible to him.

His hand massaged over to her back side and then focused on the area just underneath. When she let out a breathy moan and that was when he knew that he had her.

His hand massaged down her thigh and she pressed further into him, grinding herself into his erection. His hand slid slowly over her pelvis and down the front of her thin cotton shorts. She cried out when his middle finger dragged up and down her slit languidly. He slid his other arm underneath her body and then placed his palm flat against her bare stomach. It made him pull her that much more flush against his body.

"Mmmm...Rafael." Sne couldn't form a sentence. His one hand was slowly kneading at her breasts, slowly rolling her nipples betweepn his fingers. His other hand, had creeped in. His middle finger was now firmly rubbing circles around her clitoris. She moaned loudly as he picked up the relentless pace.

His lips traveled over her shoulder and to her neck before he pressed the side of his face against hers he could better hear the sweet sounds coming from her mouth. He had adjusted his hand he had two fingers swirling inside her while he continue his circling of the area that made her toes curl.

He always worked to get her off at least once before he found himself Inside of her. He knew penetration alone wouldn't get here there. Making sure she was satisfied first was a priority he enjoyed immensely. Whether it was with his fingers or his mouth, the sounds she made when he was pleasuring her was a noise he sought out at least once a day. He finally drove his fingers deep inside of her, curing them up as he used his thumb to continue tracing circles.

"C'mon Amor, I know you're close. Let it go." He felt her leg shaking and he pinned it down by placing his leg over hers. It took just a little more pressure from him thumb when he felt her walls tighten around his fingers.

She started to squirm and that was when he knew she had finished and the pressure was too much. He slowly pulled his fingers out of her and then slid them into her mouth so she could taste herself on him. He groaned and grinned against her when she slowly sucked his fingers clean.

"Rafael...please" Gia begged.

"Tell me what you want Cariña." He urged.

"Rafael, I need you inside me." He let out a slight growl in her ear. He quickly removed her shorts and his own bottoms. Before she knew what was happening, he slid inside of her. Normally he waited a moment to let her adjust, but not this time. He started pushing into her hard. There were times where he was slow and methodical, but he knew she liked it a little bit harder, it was what she always begged for and this position allowed him to get deeper than he ever had before. Gia couldn't even form a sentence. Instead a barrage of profanities in mostly English, but some Spanish poured from her mouth. The hand that had been massaging her breasts had slid down to massage the sensitive bud of nerves that drove her completely wild. His other hand had grasped hers and he laced their fingers together.

He trailed his lips across her shoulder. He felt her slowly starting to tighten around him. He took pride in knowing what she needed and what she liked. He knew exactly what to do to bring her over the edge. He felt like he was playing an instrument and her cries of pleasure were a symphony. It wasn't long before she cried out as an orgasm shook through her body. His goal was always to get her to come at least twice.

"Raf, I want to see you." She said in a breathy voice after she came down from her high. Be slowly retracted from her and she rolled over onto her side to be face to face with him. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her closer. She wrapped her leg around his waist to give him more access and he re-entered her body.

She slowly slid her hands up his shoulders and rested her hands on each side of his face and kissed him. Her tongue was dancing against his until they both needed to break apart to breath. He leaned forward and rested his forehead against hers as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He could spend the rest of his life happily buried in her.

He could tell she was getting close again by the way she was breathing. He dropped his mouth to her neck and started leaving opened mouth kisses along it.

"Rafael..." her voice came out light as she got closer again. She had never been with another man that could unravel her so many times. He was intoxicating.

"I know amor, you're so close again. I can feel you." He slid his hand up the back of her thigh massaging it on the way up, pulling her closer to him, driving himself deeper into her. It was the deep thrusting that brought her over the edge. His own release soon followed. She knew he was close by the once rhythmic movement of him inside of her becoming erratic. She pulled his face towards her so she could kissing him, absorbing his moans into her body. Never in Gia's life had she felt connection like this, passion as deep as this. She knew he was there when his arms wrapped around her tightly and the way his body stilled for a moment, his eyebrow knitting together. Once he relaxed, he slowly retracted from her.

"Good morning." He whispered before kissing her again.

"That was quite the wake up." Gia was slowly running her fingers through his hair.

"Mmm, I couldn't help myself. You looked so beautiful." He rolled her back onto her back and kissed her again.

"You're going to make me want to call into work." He was holding her hand and tracing his thumb over her ocean tattoo. He did it so frequently, it was like a habit.

"I would love nothing more than to stay in this bed with you all day. I'll have to take a rain check for this weekend." She was studying his face as she ran her free hand over the side of his face.

"I will definitely hold you to that. After the way this week is going, I want at least one day of hiding from the world with you." He smiled while kissing the inside of her wrist.

"I will be all yours after Anna goes home on Saturday. C'mon, we have to get up or we'll both be late." Gia let out a playful groan, but let Rafael pull her from the bed to get ready for the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Why do you look so nice today?" Nick asked as Gia set her bag down at her desk. She shot Nick a dirty look.

"Are you saying I normally look like trash?" She arched her eyebrow. Nick looked her over. She was wearing royal blue wide leg dress pants and a tucked black lace button down shirt with a white lace trimmed tank top underneath. She was wearing these pointed toe block heel boots that added another 4 inches to her height. She knew she looked good by the way Rafael could barely take his hands off of her as they left the apartment that morning. The kiss that lasted just a few moments longer in the car they had taken that morning.

"Uh no. You just look a little extra nice today. I just didn't know if there was something going on." He paused for a moment while he stared at her.

"My mother is in town." She hated to even admit it. "I guess I want to make sure I look extra put together if she shows up." Gia deflated in her chair. Nick frowned.

"Gia, what she thinks doesn't matter. You know that right? She's only here for a little while. Don't let her get to you, don't let her shake your confidence." He had put his hand on her shoulder.

"I know. I guess I just want to prove that I'm okay. And having a perfect appearance is the way to go with my mother." Nick squeezed her shoulder before he went back to his desk.

"Well, you look great, mission accomplished. And I mean that in a platonic best friend way." Gia laughed, a genuine laugh.

"I never would have suspected otherwise." She paused for a moment. "Nick, you really are my best friend and I love you. You've been so solid for me, even when I pushed you away. I hope you know I will have your back the same way." He studied her face for a moment before smiling.

"I know. Ride or die right?" Gia let out a small laugh and had a soft smile on her face.

"Ride or die.".

"What are you working on?" Nick asked as Gia was reading a file a little while later.

"There's this case, someone kidnapping blondes, late teens. Some in New England, some around the city, none in Manhattan...yet. They've just vanished into thin air The Cheif wanted me to read the files. It's one of those cases that is a puzzle. He's hoping I can help. They're concerned whoever is doing this is going to hit here. I've got a ton of files to go over. I'm hoping to find a connection other than hair color and age." Gia's brows were furrowed. There was something there, she just couldn't put it together yet.

"That's kind of a big deal, them asking you to take a case that covers multiple jurisdictions." Nick commented. He knew Rollins had been right when she said they had big plans for Detective Gianna Monroe. Nick couldn't be more proud of her.

"Or they're just trying to keep me busy while you guys are working on the Sara Moreno case. Speaking of, why are you here and not out with Liv?" Gia crossed her arms infront of her.

"I volunteered to do the research on his financials." Nick was nonchalant when he said it, but Gia narrowed her eyes.

"Since when do YOU offer to stay behind?" Gia was staring him down while Nick gave her a shrug.

"Because I knew you'd be stuck here too. I offered to stay behind in case Sienna or Moreno show up. I didn't want you to get blind sided." Gia frowned at him again.

"You didn't have to do that." Nick stood up and walked over to her desk and leaned against it.

"You have done the same thing for me. I know this case is driving you crazy, especially because you have to stay away from it." Gia looked up at him. She felt her body flooded with gratitude.

"I just want to know what Sienna knew. How involved she was. I have no idea how to help and explain things to Anna until we have answers. Grayson isn't equipped to do it." Nick was quiet for a moment.

"Gia, that isn't your responsibility. You can be there for your brother and your niece, but it isn't your job to heal them." Gia slowly nodded her head.

"You sound like Rafael. He made me promise to not let this consume me." She closed the file she was looking at, unable to truly concentrate.

"Well, I hate to say this, but he's right." Gia scoffed.

"Don't tell him that. I'll never hear the end of it." Nick hummed in agreement. Before he could respond, one of the uniformed officers was approaching them.

"Sorry to interrupt. Detective Monroe, there is someone here to see you." Gia's face clouded with confusion. She pushed away from her desk and stood up. When she turned around, she saw her father.

"Daddy, what are you doing here?" He voice was laced with concern.

"I was hoping my daughter would let me take her for a late lunch." He looked uneasy.

"I don't know, I'm right in the middle of something." Her father's face fell.

"Please, Mija. Just you and me." Gia hesitated for a moment.

"Detective." Gia turned as Cragen called her. "It's fine, your work can wait." Gia's nodded and turned to her father.

"How about we get some coffee and find a place to talk." She saw a look of hope cross Vano's face.

"Anything you want Mija, I just want some time with you." Gia pulled on her coat and put her computer and files into her bag.

"Captain, I'm going to keep working on this case at home. I need space to spread things out anyway." Cragen gave her a knowing smile. He knew that whatever was going to be discussed would be hard on Gia.

"That's fine Detective, I think we both know you do some of your best work in the middle of the night when you can't sleep." Gia turned to Nick. He could see the anxiety creeping in.

"Gee, you call me if you need me okay?" She nodded at him. She had never been so grateful to have a friend that could read her as well as Nick could before.

"Shoot me a text if you figure anything out." Nick knew Gia was talking about the Moreno case. He nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, Captain." Gia called out as she let her father lead her out of the precinct.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gia had never felt uncomfortable around her father before. They had engaged in small talk. She had told him about her co-workers. How close she was with Nick and what a great mentor Olivia was. How supportive everyone had been and how much she had learned from Captain Cragen. She had taken him to her favorite Coffee Cart, the one that had her favorite pistachio coffee that made her think of Rafael.

Now, they sat on a secluded bench in the park in silence. It was easier to be around her father when other people were there to fill the void between them. Therapy lately had been focused on how hurt and abandoned she felt by her father. She couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Why am I here?" She finally said, feeling a strain on her heart, the pain on her father's face shot straight through her. Regardless of how angry she was, she still loved him very much and respected the hell out of him. He started as a beat cop and worked his way up to Captain in Boston. So many cops in New England looked up to him. He had mentored so many, except his own daughter. While he was her inspiration, it had been Cragen and Olivia that had helped to mold her. Gia knew her father was hurt that she didn't stay with him, she didn't want to live in his shadow .

"Because I miss my little girl. You almost died and you wouldn't even let your brother call us. I would have taken care of you if you came home. Then you vanished on Grayson too. I just want to be there for you. I want you to let me in." Gia felt like she got punched in the stomach. She hated that she made her father feel like that, but it was his own doing. His actions made her push him away along with her mother.

"It's not you. It's her. I can't do it anymore. The constant criticism. The pressure. Her constant need to 'put me in my place.' I was a mess. Alison was dead, because of me. Three other innocent women dead because my brothers dying wish was to torture me. Do you really think she wouldn't have reminded me every day that it was MY fault? That if I didn't make Gabriel hate me so much they would all be alive? I was broken. I needed love and compassion, not ridicule. It was Rafael who saved me." Gia thought back to the nights where she would wake up screaming from a nightmare and how he would say nothing but open his arms to her and make her feel safe. His hand in her hair gently massaging her scalp until she fell back to sleep.

"Gianna, you didn't even give us a chance to help you. You just assumed how it would be. Your mother was terrified after what happened." Gia scoffed.

"None of this would have happened if it weren't for her. Gabriel targeted me because he was so bitter about my testimony. He spent YEARS plotting this revenge. It was bad enough I had figured out where he was holding Amy. Then she made me get on that stand and bury him."

"Testifying was the right thing to do." Gia could tell he didn't really believe that, but it was her mother insisting on it.

"That is bullshit and you know it. The prosecution didn't need me to send him to prison for life. She convinced them that they needed to make an example out of him. She made me do that to him. I can't just put things out of my mind. The imagine of his face when they handed down a death sentence is burned in my brain forever. You want to be there for me? Where were you then? Why didn't you protect me then from her? That ruined me. She ruined me and you let her. Gia unloaded years of anguish.

"Mija, she's my wife, she was doing what she thought was best so I stood by her." It was a half hearted attempt at an excuse. Gia didn't think even he believed it.

"I'm your daughter. You let her control everything. After Lizzie, I had no friends because all of my peers were at least two years older than me because she insisted I move ahead. Instead of having friends over, riding bikes, or having slumber parties, I was responsible for helping her with her work. My photographic memory made me a tool for her to use, not a child that she loved and cherished. She gave all of that to Grayson. I was like a trophy that she got to show off to her lawyer friends. She only wanted me when I was useful to her or made her look good. Hell, even my prom date was curated by her so she could brag to her friends that I was going with some Ivy League bound asshole. You never intervened, not once! I had to accept that then, but now I no longer have to." Gia felt like screaming. She had years of pent up anger and hurt surging through her.

"Mija, I know she pushed you. You're so smart, brilliant, I thought she was doing what was best for you. We just wanted you to have the best of everything. I never wanted you to be hurt." Gia watched as a tear slipped from her father's eyes. Like Gia, the outer line of his blue eyes darkened when he was upset. Gia blinked back her own tears.

"She suffocated me. I didn't feel free until I got to New York. I found myself here. I was able to figure out what I love and have hobbies. I was able to breath. It's why I don't come back to that house. Boston is full of painful memories. New York is my home. I can forgive a lot of things Daddy. I am a strong person, I will give her that. What I can't forgive, what I won't forgive is what she made me do to Gabriel. If she had been different, he may have been different. If she hasn't forced me to testify and he just got life in prison, maybe he wouldn't have continued to target me. Maybe Alison and those other women would still be alive. I can forgive Grayson for not coming to his execution because of Amy. Giulia Monroe never would've stepped foot in there to show compassion, I doubt the knows what compassion is, but you? You let me go alone. If it weren't for Rafael, I would have been completely alone. Even if you didn't go for him, you could have been there for me. Just once, I needed you to show up for me." Gia was crying now. Her voice had been full of disdain when she spoke her mother's name. She hadn't realized how angry she was at him for not being there for her, for not protecting her. He had abandoned her emotionally too many times. He wiped the tears from her face. Vano's face was full of anguish and regret.

"Mija, I am so sorry. You're right. I should have protected you from that. At the time, I thought she was right. By the time I realized my mistake it was too late. I begged your brother so many times to give up the name of his accomplice. I searched and searched to find him, to save my sons life. I failed him and I couldn't face my failure. I could not watch him die. My cowardice made me fail you too. I wish I could go back and change it. Change so many things. Failing you is my greatest shame, I will take it to my grave and I will burn in hell because of it." Vano had never been able to admit that before. His wife would hear none of it. His resolve had finally crumbled.

The two of them sat in silence again. Gia was trying to collect herself so she could continue the conversation. She had let out some of what she kept hidden deep in Pandora's box. She took a deep breath.

"Daddy, I want you in my life, more than anything. There has to be boundaries though. She threatened to disown me, that you would both cut me off..." Vano interrupted her.

"I never agreed to that and I told her that I would never cut you out of my life. I promise you, Mija, I won't fail you again. Maybe I'm too late, but I hope someday you'll forgive me for not being strong enough. I love you so much." Gia wiped some of the tears off his face.

"I love you too, so much." Her father turned his body so he could hug her. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulder. No matter how upset or angry she was, she always felt comfort in her father's embrace. Gia never understood the hold her mother had over him. Her father too, deserved better. They broke their embrace when Gia's phone went off. She pulled it out of her bag and immediately answerd when she saw it was Rafael.

"Hey Raf." Her father watched her face intently trying to discern what the call was about. "Yeah, I'll head over now."

"Is everything okay?" Her father questioned.

"Yeah, they just need my help with looking at some evidence. They're stuck." Gia stood up.

"Can I walk you there?" Her father's voice was tentative.

"Of course." They walked in silence to Rafael's office, but it wasn't filled with anguish, it was filled with understanding.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When Rafael got a look at Gia's face when she walked in, he was immediately on his feet and met her at the doorway. His hand on her cheek so he could examine her face. She had been crying. She had tried to hide it, but he knew her to well. He had placed his other hand on her hip as he studied her. He didn't care that Liv and the rest of the squad was there. Nick had told them she had gone off with her father.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Gia melted a little bit by the concern on his face and the fact that he didn't care that the others were there. He always showed up for her. Even when she thought he hated her and she definitely thought she hated him.

It was early on in Rafael's Manhattan SVU career during a particularly hard case. Gia had been ultra prepared. She and Rafael had sat in that court room for hours prepping, they had checked their egos, this prep was too important. Even when he was ready to wrap it up, he stayed and worked longer with her. The defense was still able to get to her. She had been too emotionally invested in the case. The judge had called for a recess when she had been done. When she was trying to rush out of the court room he had grabbed her arm, she was certain he was going to rip her a new one, instead, he had stared at her for a moment and then softly said "No te preocupes, esta bien." With his hand gripped around her arm, he had rubbed a few soothing circles, the ones she now craves to feel. He had set her at ease immediately.

"I'm okay. We can talk later." He studied her face for a moment, nodded and then let her go.

"As long as you're okay." He said softly as they walked over to where the group was.

"So why am I here? I thought I couldn't work on this case?" She looked at the papers spread all over the table.

"You're technically not, but we can't make sense of these financials. We're missing something and we need fresh eyes." Nick stood up so Gia could sit down.

Gia picked up the first stack of papers and started reading the columns of numbers from Isaac Moreno's multiples bank accounts, business transactions, property he owned. It was easy to get lost in all of the numbers.

It wasn't until almost two hours later that Gia found it. She had gone back to the files that listed all of his assets that it clicked and her eyebrows drew together. She grabbed a highlighter to mark things. Everyone else had put the papers they were looking through down to watch her, realizing she was finally onto something that none of them saw.

"What is it Gee?@ Nick finally asked.

"If you look at the totals of his assets, the number never changes."

"Wouldn't that be normal though? If he hasn't done any business deals?" Rollins added.

"Right, but the numbers in the columns change. He left the totals the same so it looks like nothing has changed. If you're taking just a quick look through it, you wouldn't notice it, but I do. He spent the last six months skimming a million dollars out of his profits. The changes each week are so minimal, it's hard to catch. So the question is-"

"Where did the money go?" Amaro finished he sentence.

"Or who did he give the money to? The money he gave Sienna was a false red flag. You can see where he pulls the money out. He even has it labeled "child support", but a week later, the same out is deposited back in his account. I'm betting that the money she gave to his associate that he claimed was setting up their move out of the country was put right back into his account. He made it look like she was making payments for weeks before Sara's attacks, and one final larger sum the day before Sara was brutalized. This way, if caught, he could throw her under the bus and get away with it. He could feign ignorance. He is going to make her out to be the jealous mistress who paid to kill his wife. However, I'm betting that missing million dollars went to the man that he hired to kill Sara." Rollins shook her head.

"Now we just have to prove it." Fin added.

"Where do we when start" Amanda finally asked. Gia took a deep breath.

"You start with Sienna. To be more precise, I start with Sienna." Rafael jumped to his feet.

"No, absolutely not. You cannot be involved in this case number one and number two, you've been through enough Gia." Gia sighed.

"I won't be going in as a cop. I will be going in with her daughter for a supervised visit where I can strongly suggest that she cooperates and cuts a deal so she doesn't end up in prison for life. Maybe with Calhoun's help we can make her realize that he's trying frame her." Rafael's jaw was clenched. He wanted to keep her far away from this. She shouldn't have to do this.

"It's not a bad idea. She's a sister-in-law giving advice." Liv added, ever the voice of reason.

"I don't like it." Rafael sighed.

"Well neither do I, but she won't listen to any of you." Gia knew it was a long shot, even for her.

"Fine. How do we make this happen" Rafael finally gave in. Gia felt a sense of dread fill her.

"First, I convince Grayson to let me bring Anna to see the woman that planned on taking her away from him." That task, she knew, would be the most difficult of all.

[imherongraystairstrash]

The beginning

Found this little Gabrily fic in my drafts and I thought it would be nice to share it, I hope you enjoy! -Annie

Gabriel rolled his neck and sighed as he walked back home after a long night of patrolling. Being a young shadowhunter, the clave usually assigned Gabriel ungodly patrol hours almost every night, because his body could supposedly handle it better than older shadowhunters. These hours were taking their toll on his body however, and he often woke with headaches and muscle strain. 

Tonight, Gabriel was patrolling London streets without the usual company of his brother-in-law Will nor Tessa as they were away on Institute business at Idris. Cecily and Gabriel are temporary heads in their absence, as they have been in the past. 

The institute was silent as he stepped in, though the entrance usually was. He walked up the long staircase, his steps heavy as he held on to the veranda. He had taken a nasty fall which was now making his bad ankle act up. As he reached the landing he could hear soft humming coming from his room. As he approached, he saw Cecily, sitting by the fire, knitting was seemed to be a  small jumper. She was singing a Welsh song and had a soft smile on her lips. 

Cecily had recently reached what Charlotte and Sophie call the “nesting” phase in her pregnancy, were she is preparing everything for the upcoming baby, from knitting clothes to setting up the nursery. Gabriel almost had a heart attack when he found her on the top step of a latter unsupervised trying to hang a painting on the wall.

“It’s for the baby, Gabriel.” 

“I know, darling, but my concern is if you fall just so, there won’t be a baby to be had.”

Cecily had waved him off as if this were an impossibility. 

Tonight, Gabriel was relieved to find that she hadn’t gotten herself into any predicaments. 

Cecily must have sense his presence because she suddenly stopped singing and looked up, smiling wider when she saw his face. 

“What are you doing up so late?” Gabriel asked, returning her smile and walking over, bending down to kiss the top of her head. 

“I couldn’t sleep. The baby was kicking my organs, which made me want to vomit. So I decided I should get along with knitting some clothes for her.” She held up the jumper. “Do you like it?” 

“It’s lovely, Cecy. Now, how about you lay down in bed and try to get some sleep? I’ll change out of my gear and join you.” Gabriel said, helping her out of the arm chair.

“Oh,” Cecily’s eyes softened as she looked up at him and put a hand to his face. “You look so tired, cariad. Surely the Clave can give you some time off of patrols?”

Gabriel kissed her palm. “There have been overworked shadowhunters before me, and there will be overworked shadowhunters after me. Some things will never change, darling. Besides, you looking exhausted yourself.” 

Cecily hummed. “How is it that we are already tired and the child isn’t even born yet?”

…

By the time Gabriel finally got to bed, Cecily was tucked in, the sheets pulled up to her nose. He smiled, having looked forward to this moment all day. He laid down beside his wife with a relieved sigh, his fatigued muscles finally relaxing. 

“Is your ankle giving you trouble again?” She asked quietly. 

He nodded, “I slipped and landed on it funny.” Gabriel had broken his right ankle as a child and had never fully healed. It tended to hurt from time to time, but there was really no way of fixing it entirely.

“I could fetch you some ice—”

“No, I’ll survive.” He gave her hand a squeeze. “I’d much rather have you beside me.”

She smiled at him before wincing and putting a hand to her stomach.

“Is she still kicking?” Gabriel asked in wonder. He knew there was a developing baby inside his wife at the moment, and yet at times he’d forget. There was a living creature. Inside of his wife. He was equal parts awed as he was slightly disturbed. 

Cecily nodded. “She’s a strong one, that’s for sure.” She said, her accent slipping and becoming incredibly Welsh, as she began nearing sleep, something Gabriel always found incredibly adorable. 

He put a hand beside her’s and sure enough, he felt one of the baby’s limbs pushing against Cecily’s belly. Gabriel chuckled, “What is she doing in there? Practicing her waltz?”

“Seems like it,” Cecily giggled. “She’s been restless all day.”

Gabriel pressed a gentle kiss on her lips before putting his arms around her. Cecily turned on her side, fitting her back to his chest. Gabriel moved her raven black hair and kissed the spot just below her earlobe. 

“Just think, in a couple weeks we will be parents.” Cecily said, happily.

“Angel help this child.” Gabriel said, laughing. 

Tagging: @tsccreatorsnet  @atla-lok143  @rinadragomir  @youngreckless  @autumnangel20  @julemmaes @cupcakesandkittens  @no-scones-allowed  @ninacarstairss  @stxr-thxif    @will-effing-herondale  @axoloteca @heronstairs2014 @ilovemanicures @ti-bae-rius @alastair-esfandiyar-carstairs1 @readersconfessions812 @nightshade3465 @livvyheronstairs @zemiraa @proudtobealuthor @neurogliadudette @theenchanteddreamer  @shadowhunting-hoolingans @writeordie-4 @amchara @myangelbach @livingformyself @dancing-under-the-moon @julescarstairs @wouldyouknowmeblind @grace-lightwoodd  @ilikebooksandtvshows @ezras-starry-bridges

[over-the-moon-for-you]

Don't Leave

✩ Gabriel O'Hara x Reader

✩ summary: Gabriel has a nightmare that hits him hard, but you are there to comfort him

✩ notes: this is kinda based off the idea that Lyla had sent a message to Gabriel telling him that his brother was going off to another universe because Miguel refused to do so

"He's not coming back. I'm sorry, Gabriel," Lyla's message read.

Gabriel froze as he read the message, muttering, "No. No..." He frantically dialed Miguel's number but was sent to voicemail each time. His heart sank. This couldn't be happening. Would Miguel really do this to him?

He let the phone slip out of his hand as his vision became blurry and his knees gave out, causing him to drop to the floor.

"P-Please... please... come back..." he choked out as he began to sob. Tears streamed down his face as he struggled to breathe. It was all too much for him to comprehend. Why wasn't he enough?

Your eyes fluttered open as you heard soft whimpers next to you. Quickly, you sat up in worry as you saw Gabriel shifting around in his sleep, a few tears slipping down his cheeks, and his breathing heavy.

You could tell that whatever nightmare he was having, it was a rough one, but you had no clue how to wake him up from it.

Slowly, you placed a hand on top of his upper arm. "Amor?" you spoke softly, hoping to get him out of this state.

A moment later, Gabriel's eyes quickly shot open, and he let out a gasp for air as he sat up. He looked around frantically, shaking a bit as the nightmare still lingered in his mind.

"Hey, hey, I'm right here. It's okay, baby. I'm here," you cooed, trying to get Gabriel to recognize he was safe. His eyes finally met yours. Even in the dark room, you could see the fear and pain that painted his face, your heart breaking at the sight. His lip quivered before throwing his arms around your waist and burying his head into your chest, letting out a sob. You wrapped your arms around him comfortingly, resting your chin on top of his head as he let out his emotions.

"Please don't leave me... please... please..." His voice was muffled, but you could still make out what he said.

"Shhh... I'm not going anywhere. I'm here with you, honey," you whispered, running a hand through his hair comfortingly.

The two of you stayed like this for a few minutes until he simply couldn't cry anymore. He now sniffled and hiccupped as he gradually calmed himself down. You could tell his breathing was returning to normal, which made you relax a bit.

After a brief moment of silence, you finally spoke up.

“…Do you want to talk about it?" you asked softly, hoping you wouldn't upset him again. You could hear him let out a soft sigh. His hand was tracing random shapes on your thigh as he gathered his thoughts together.

"It was dumb. I'm sorry for waking you," he muttered, his voice hoarse from all of his crying. You frowned, not liking the answer he gave you.

"Gabriel, getting upset over a nightmare is not dumb. Don't say that. If you don't want to talk about it, that's perfectly fine, amor. But don't you dare feel sorry. I'm always here for you."

You could feel him relax into your comforting words, making him feel a little better about the whole situation.

"I just... it was about when Miguel left... he... he never even said goodbye to me," his voice breaking a bit at the end. "I know he's back now, but... but it still scares me that he was just able to leave like that and forget that I even existed."

"Oh Gabri..." You pulled him tighter into your arms, placing a soft kiss on top of his head. "What he did was wrong, you're right. But I want you to know that I'm here with you now, okay? No matter what happens, I'll always be here when you need me." You comforted him, which made him begin to tear up a bit again.

You knew he was terrified of being alone; he often had panic attacks because of it. You just wished you could take all that pain away from him, but for now, just being here for him would have to suffice.

Gabriel sniffled, relaxing into your arms as he slowly calmed down. His negative thoughts were pushed away by your love that you endlessly gave him.

"Te amo," he whispered into you.

"Te amo, mi cielo." You whispered back, closing your eyes as you held him against you. There was a brief silence until you heard Gabriel’s soft snores start up again, making you smile. You swore that no matter what happens, you would always be there to protect him.

[deancasbigbang]

Title: Someone Who Doesn’t Want To Be Saved

Author: RedCraneFalling

Artist: Callion

Rating: Explicit

Pairings: Castiel/ Dean Winchester, minor Andrea Howl/ Sam Winchester

Length: 49000

Warnings: Temporary Major Character Death, Child Abuse, Implied/ Referenced Underage Prostitution, Canon Typical Violence, Homophobia/ Parental Homophobia, One use of the F slur

Tags: Childhood Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, John Winchester’s A+ Parenting, Wing Fic, Grace-Soul Bonds, Loss of Virginity, AU - Canon Divergence, Parental Guardian Gabriel, !Kid Sam

Posting Date: October 2, 2023

Summary: A child shall be born of twice-tainted blood, the eldest of two and the two soldiers’ son. A saint’s soul emerges, yet a hunter is made. Born martyr from love, built killer by pain. On his hundredth season, the lock he will break, as Mother kills Child for her Father’s sake.  All God’s angels shall perish by creatures of ol’ ‘less a Seraph gone wayward does hopelessly fall Fledgling angel, Castiel gets in an accident shortly before his seventh birthday, and quite literally falls out of the sky and into Dean’s lap. The two quickly become close, but both of their families are hiding dark secrets. Dean’s in the form of an absent father who seems to drain all happiness from his two children whenever he’s around, and Castiel’s in the form of a prophecy which unites the two boys, but may ultimately tear them apart.

Excerpt: Dean starts climbing and Castiel waits for him to be about halfway up before he flaps his wings twice and jumps to the branch. “Hey no fair!” Dean calls after him, “I forgot you could fly. Flying is cheating.” “You didn’t specify no flying when you made the rules,” Castiel calls back laughing from his perch on the branch.  Castiel watches Dean climb the rest of the way up, his muscles stretching and coiling under the skin of his arms. He’s strong and lithe, graceful and sure of his movements in a way that Castiel can only imitate in flight. On the ground, the calculated angular movements of an Angel make him look robotic in comparison. He is unnatural where Dean is at home, as a true son of the Earth. And God took clay from Earth’s four corners and gave it the breath of life. Man is better than angel. Created for more than just the divine. Their perfect imperfections leave room for beauty. When Dean gets up to the branch he’s huffing with exertion. There’s sweat on his brow where his hair sticks to his forehead, and his cheeks are bright red around his freckles. The flush brings out the green in his eyes.  “Cheater,” Dean accuses when he sees Castiel’s cocky grin. He reaches out and gives Castiel a light shove.  Castiel moves exaggeratedly with the shove, and falls sideways off the tree branch.  “Cas!” Dean yells in alarm before he realizes that Castiel is simply floating in the air slightly under the branch with one leg still hooked over it. “Gonna give me a heart attack,.” Dean grumbles.  Castiel laughs and uses his wings to right himself so he’s sitting on the branch again. He straddles it, facing Dean.  “Would you like to race back down?” he says with a cheeky grin.  “No,” Dean pouts, crossing his arms “You’d probably just jump, Mister I-Can-Survive-a-Tornado.” Castiel laughs boisterously, and it seems his laugh is contagious because Dean starts laughing as well. They both smile, looking at each other. The sun dapples Dean’s skin with patches of light through the leaves.  Castiel walks with the brothers back to the nearby motel they’re staying at. Dean is in an uncharacteristically carefree mood, skipping and chattering on like the first time Castiel met him. When they reach the motel, Dean’s face falls as he looks at a big black car parked outside their room. He picks up Sam and turns towards Cas frowning.  “You gotta go home now, Cas, but we can watch Scooby Doo another day, okay?” he says. Castiel is confused but agrees and flies away.  The next time he sees the Winchester brothers, Dean has a black eye. He won’t tell Castiel where it’s from.

DCBB 2023 Posting Schedule

[jortschronicles]

Eclipse Coronation Ottoman

At the start of the reign of Gabriel III and Sonja III, I made them a promise. During their reign, in honor and imitation of all the fancy and beautiful clothing they produce, I would cut into a fabric that scared me and attempt to make something wearable.

Prior to Pennsic, my lovely wife picked up some garb for us at a SCA yard sale. this included the following rust/gold ghawazee that a local of mine (recently laurel) informed me is about 200-300 years post period, but would be an OK time saver for garbing myself up for Pennsic. With that knowledge safe in hand, I planned and started to sew a gomlek, with the intention of creating a single-layer supportive undergarment to reduce the number of layers worn on hot afternoons at pennsic. This would be my first ever supportive garment! As you can see in the following photos, the supportive garment was a success.

I began my research with Ottoman Turkish Garb, An Overview of Women's Clothing by Baroness Katja Davidova Orlova Khazarina. This document was recommended to me by Baroness Dominique Michelle le Vasseur. With a bit more of an idea of what I was doing (but only a bit, I was roaring full speed ahead) I used the gomlek pattern found on Turkish Costume by Vanessa Giddings. I made the gomlek from a light-medium weight white linen from stash. I serged each edge of the pieces before pinning together to prevent fraying and to buy me some time to properly finish the seams when I got home from pennsic.

Notably, this is where I made my first mistake. After making the gomlek, I decided to attempt to make it supportive just in case I didn't finish a zibin before pennsic (reader-- she didn't finish the zibin). After making the gomlek according to the Giddings pattern, I then pinched and pinned along the seam between the front body and the front gore to force a little more lift and create a "shelf" on which the breasts could rest. Because I made t his supportive, I'm glad I used a just shy of medium weight linen rather than a more appropriate looser weave, because it gave the garment the body to support the breasts.

As I was in the last leg of time crunch before Pennsic, I wanted this linen to relax as much as it was going to as fast as possible. So i threw on the gomlek, some leggings, and a lazy turban, then did some intense yard work for ~2 hours. My breasts never moved from their assigned seats, the garment relaxed comfortably, and I could move just fine in it. I then finished the gomlek off with a quick button loop and faux-pearl headed button at the neckline, though it has no structural purpose due to how I altered the garment.

With a heart full of ambition and a head empty of reason, I attacked a plan to finish a brand new entari, zibin, and an extra gomlek prior to pennsic. I accomplished none of that.

The following picture shows how I wore this for Pennsic: Gomlek, the post-period ghawazee, lazy turban, some shalwar off amazon recommended by Viscountess Caterina Giovanni, my apprentice belt, and some Rus boots as I was advised to wear ankle support in the Bog.

Upon my return home, I started planning the Entari, with the goal of having a gomlek and entari to wear to Namron Protectorate for Domi's laurel elevation (reader-- she didn't finish any of it in time). I selected from stash a black cotton for the lining and a red and rust upholstery fabric for the outer layer. This was chosen for the similarity, to my eye, between the repeating pattern in the stripes on the upholstery fabric and the patterns present on some extant entaris and in court portraiture. ORIGINALLY I had selected a bright blue silk i was certain I had in stash but my box o' saris was nowhere to be found.

The above portraits, miniatures, and extants were accessed through the Ottoman Turkish Garment Database. The prevalence of red / blue color combos in the portraits and extants, as well as vibrant colors across the board, inspired my choices. As you can see in each of the extants as well as the art, the inside edge of the garment is faced in a color different from the lining and the outer layer. In many of the portraits, the bottom edge of the garment is turned out as if caught in motion, displaying this vibrant facing. The entaris come in different lengths but tend to be in the knee to floor range, while a hip to knee length undergarment appears to be worn as a middle layer.

The center bottom quilted kaftan in red and gold (belonging to Selim I, garment c. 1512-1520) inspired my choice of fabric, as seen below.

Fabric selected, then began the cutting. I used the pattern, cutting diagram, and notes from Kelebek's Persian and Turkish Clothes and drafted out onto my lining layer. Because the gomlek worked up so easily, I just used the black cotton liner as my muslin for this garment. As seen below, it fit pretty well from the outset and the notes and diagrams proved helpful in making sure everything lined up right. Gores are my nightmare. Seen below, the garment as it stood had REALLY prominent hip bumps.

We know that prominent hip bumps were part of the fashion just judging from the art and extant garments (including one amusing extant of Hanzade Sultan's zibins with an attached note deriding the poor quality of the hip bumps) but after repeating the pattern onto my outer fabric, they started bothering me. I was pretty sure I had them sitting too low, or some part of the slope wasn't quite right.

Protectorate was fast approaching, and I had little time to make major adjustments and fiddle with a lot of trial and error. I made some quick adjustments, smoothing the slope of the hip bums into more of a 15 degree angle than the 45ish degree angle they were sitting at prior. Around the same time i started fretting about the hip bumps, I realized my box o' saris was AWOL and began to panic. After fruitless hours scouring the house and workshop, no luck. For my own mental health, I put the project aside to handle AFTER Protectorate, but before Coronation. I had a promise to keep, after all.

I returned home from Namron Protectorate and got to work. With my silks still missing, I selected a soft but bright blue polycotton with a nice sheen from stash and made my bias facing.

It wasn't perfect, but time was short and the fabric was bright. You can also see from this photo the adjustments I made to the hip bump. I left the original shape intact, just folded and gently tacked down inside the body so I have the chance to fix it in the future, when I feel more able and comfortable. And so, the handsewing of the Entari began with Coronation just days away. I finished tacking in the lining, which is only attached to the outer shell by the facing, fun fact, and did a quick try on to make sure it all sat the way I wanted. I was very satisfied with the result. In the future, though, I would probably face the sleeves BEFORE I seam down the underside, because that was the only part of the facing truly miserable to line up and attach.

Then came the last minute fastenings. I'd wanted to weave some trim to make proper button / loop pairs down the front, but didn't have the time. Suggestions from my locals mostly relied on me having not yet put the body, facing, and lining together. I made do, dug through my ribbon supply, and grabbed some shiny polysatin 3/8" ribbon I usually use for making ribbon roses. I cut them into 9" lengths, folded in half, lined up with the yellow vertical stripe down the front, tucked the ends under, and tacked them down securely. For the buttons, I used some Vindheim buttons from Bad Baroness. For a last minute closure I literally finished 2 hours before driving down to coronation, not bad if I do say so myself.

On the day of, I added a long, sleeveless undercoat that for sanity's sake, we'll call a zibin. I need to make one of those rather soon, don't I? I received the coat second hand at Mooneschadowe Trade Days in exchange for a monmouth cap, with the encouragement of Viscountess Mama Cat. I wore a small embroidered hot pink hat over a pink-and-rust silk and pashmina scarf that my lovely wife got for me at Pennsic as a gift, with a veil pinned over the top. The veil is actually one of my spare white scarves, my big "floofy" one that gives my siblings in the order scarf envy. I ordered it from the same place I got my green apprentice belt sash, my wife gets cadet scarves, and both of us get a variety of veils. Mama cat helped me make sure everything sat right on the outfit and helped me get the veil just right. The peacock feather pin is from Sonja III's Queen's Champion tournament, the favor she gave to all the competing fighters. I am wearing the handwoven silk scarf I was made in, a twin to my Doña's and her Queen's white scarves, and it has a subtle Ansteorran Star woven into one end. The pin (hidden because the wind was fighting me while we watched the eclipse) is purple and gold (my heraldic colors), a twin to the silver and deep blue pin the Ansteorran Cadets got for HRH's Nicolette's gift, which she used to pin her Queen's White Scarf in place upon her ascension to the throne.

What feels most important to me, though, is this picture. The Order of the White Scarf is charged with protecting the Queen's White Scarf in the interregnum, with the newest white scarf present protecting it personally and the oldest white scarf present taking it from the arm of the Queen stepping down and putting it upon the arm of our new Queen. We pass it through the circle, some of us pressing it to our forehead or hearts, some of us giving it a good squeeze, some of us kissing it. To myself and much of the rapier community of Ansteorra, this is more than a scrap of fabric on a brass hat's arm. This is the memory of what Don Tivar and Countess Tessa of the Gardens did for us so long ago, legitimizing our community and uplifting us. This is the memory of brothers, sisters, and friends come and gone, of Queens who, for a moment or a lifetime, became one of us, became the head of our order. This is the hope of every cadet who dreams of bleaching their scarf, of every fencer who imagines themselves in the shoes of Errol Flynn or Cyrano. A good Queen inspires us to do better, do more, and reach further, and a great Queen makes our Order stronger with just her presence.

None can compare with bright honor rare We go as the swift arrow flies To stand in the strife, to hazard our lives For a glance from Your Majesty’s eyes

There are certainly adjustments I would make if I were to do this again, notbly find my box o' saris and use a silk facing, among others. I would like to make some non-supportive gomleks in a much lighter fabric and some supportive zibins as well. I would prefer in the future to attach the facing BEFORE i sew down the underside of the sleeve so i feel SLIGHTLY less murderous while sewing. And because of how I roll, in the future I would definitely add a pocket or twelve. I intend to replace the ribbon button loops with some woven trim loops, or at the very least add some matching ribbon bars to the button side for a little more visual balance.

This project would not have been possible without the support of Baroness Dominique Michelle le Vasseur and Viscountess Caterina Giovanni, and the inspiration of the lovely and kind Countess Jacquette d'Anjou, whose conversations and costuming at Gulf XXXI finally kicked me into high gear on this.

[hazzybat]

BoMartin girlies do I have a gift for you!

Set in my Joker Out Monster AU

Technically this is set after next chapter/chapter after that but I don't think it has spoilers of anything we don't already know.

Enjoy Bojan taking about feeding Martin

"Why didn’t you ever feed on me?" Bojan asked hesitantly over the phone. He was sitting on the couch of their living room, a hand running through Kris’s hair as he slept on Bojan's lap, drooling on his thigh.

"Because it was you." Martin responded simply from the other end of the line.

"What does that mean?"

Martin huffed humorously, "It means I love you you idiot. Also I didn't know if I even could drink from you. I'd heard some weird stories about demon blood. "

"What does loving me have to do with not drinking from me?" Bojan asked choosing to ignore the second part of the sentence,  "Don't a lot of vampires have mates they feed off? Was I not mate enough material?" The tone was joking and light, covering up the deep little part of his heart that was hurt. He'd loved Martin deeply and always would. Maybe not as lovers and mates but certainly as some kind of impossible connection. But time and circumstances had decided they weren't to last. Once Kris had arrived Bojan couldn't deny the strong feelings between them, his affection shifting to him. He loved Martin, but they simply grew apart, their relationship changing from romance to friendship.

It hadn't been his fault and it hadn't been Martin's. Their connection was strong enough to survive the break up, coming out the other side just as strong as before. They were friends, thick as theaves and once or twice Martin would still help him feed, still remembering just how to touch him or whisper in his ear to best please him.

"Feeding is... complicated my love." Martin cut through Bojan's meandering thoughts, "You of all people know that. I only wanted to drink from people I didn't much care about. Easy, simple things that could just be food. And I liked the variety it brought. You mattered too much to me to drink from you."

Bojan hummed as if he understood. Martin continued knowing him too well by now.

"You remember Gabriel? Before you met him he loved drinking from his mate. Got almost addicted to it and when she got older and couldn't give as much he took it pretty hard. Almost died when she did. That's why he was...  well why he was like *that* when you knew him.

I guess I almost didn't even want to start that. Didn't want to think about what would happen if I loved your blood as much as I loved you and then one day I couldn't have it anymore,"

Bojan didn't know what to say.

"Did you know my blood is apparently also an aphrodisiac?" Bojan said, wanting to change the topic to something easier and lighter before he could dwell on Martin's words.

He heard a chuckle over the phone

"It doesn't surprise me considering the rest of you is a damn aphrodisiac. You did say you were horny like all the time so I imagine that transferred over somehow. You probably taste like pure syrup with how sweet it would be."

Bojan blushed a bit at Martin's playful flirting. It was so easy to slip into that old rapport. He carded his fingers through Kris’s hair, who snuggled closer in his sleep.

"You always tasted amazing," he said softly.

Neither spoke. The evening sun shone through the living room window, warming Bojan's tired body.

"What makes you ask in the first place?" Martin asked eventually.

"There was a thing with Kris. Fucker didn't get his supliments for like 3 weeks and I had to give him my blood just to make sure he'd be okay. It had some.... interesting results," Bojan explained, ruffling Kris’s hair playfully. He did it a bit too hard as Kris began to stir, Bojan shushing him softly and lulling him back to sleep.

"Shit is he okay?" Martin's voice was laced with concern once Bojan made a contented noise at hearing Kris’s soft snores again.

"Yeah he's fine now. Gave me a damn heart attack though," Bojan said.

"I can imagine. You always worry about him. Send him my love will you?" Martin said warmly.

"I will. Oh and Martin?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I love him. Really love him," he looked down at his lap and smiled happily as Kris began to stir once more, eyes blinking open slowly and looking happily up at the demon.

"I know you do darling," Martin said "I love you"

"Love you too"

[moonlight-blue-rose]

I'm finally finishing the 1863rd arc yayyyy

Ch 299

1863rd hsy will stay to lead them ( ˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈♡)

Also the Fourth Wall is working so hard, trying to keep kdj’s panic attack at bay. He still can’t believe what happened… ;-;

Unavoidable… I wonder was Gabriel trying to protect something or someone. A person who cares about the other angels… choosing the lesser of two evils seems like something they would do

I can’t help but adore the way he cares for Uriel… He wants to help her. She helped him so much and showed great care and love. Kim Dokja just wants to do the same for her awwwww

Jophiel staying is something I never expected. But Gabriel saying that kdj & yjh remind them of their own companionship with Uriel… Both of them need each other, I see…

Ohhhh I’ve seen this quote before! Can’t believe it’s from this arc. No matter the choice, the end is inevitable… Whether you want it or not, the world keeps going ahhhhhhhhhhh Such a good quoteeeeee

*cries* he wrote down the information they could useeeeeeee

And hsy unsure whether she could accept this… It’s no longer the world kdj knew. They aren’t his companions. Yoo Joonghyuk is no longer there. Yet, he still cares so much ;-;

SHE GAVE HIM HER COATTTTTTTTTTT

Giving your coat to someone else is a love language

Doksoo nation, we are winningggggggggg

This is so cute ahhhhhhh, what the fuck, Kim Dokja has no right to say something like that, this stupid rat *shakes my fist at him* So cuteeee ahhhhh

Just the fact that you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it’s not there. It doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist…. Awww man, these paragraphs make me feel things ;-;

Hold on a minute, this is ominous as all heck! You can’t drop something like this and disappear! Every story has a beginning and will one day have some kind of end. Even if it’s left unfinished, this too, will be an ending. What kind of story can exist without these things?

Ch 300

Because it was a choice only someone who loves the story with his whole heart could make. Because, even if no one could understand, there were things he wanted to protect. Things he couldn’t sacrifice for the end or for his own gain. Because there is love, and it may not be enough to change the way that story was supposed to end, but it was there. It was enough ;-;

*crying noises*

Oh you little bitch-

I have a feeling that Kim Dokja’s own belief for his story will play a role in this as well ahhhhh

Where-or when- was Kim Dokja thrown????

Ahh immediately meeting someone newTM and kdj just giving us crumbs to their identity. Such a kdj move

Lmaooo poor Kim Dokja, being embarrassed to say his modifier. Don’t worry, sweetie, your modifier is lovely

Ah, yes. Finally – the infamous Squidja lmaooo

The 1863rd arc was lovely, despite all the p a i n. I will be sure to reread it in one go in the future. But for now, let’s see what orv has in store!

[tsuki-chibi]

Ladynoir July 2023 Day 31: In Every Universe

Read all the entries on AO3

--

It had been over a week since he’d last seen Ladybug. Chat Noir took to the rooftops with an excited grin. He’d been gone all week, travelling with his father and Nathalie and some other Gabriel employees to Italy for a fashion show. Ladybug had given him the Horse miraculous just in case, but Chat hadn’t need to use it. Miraculously, there hadn’t been a single akuma the whole time Chat was gone.

Unfortunately that also meant there had been no excuse for Chat to travel back to see his lady.

His pulse quickened with anticipation when he caught a glimpse of the familiar red, black-spotted suit. Ladybug was sitting up on the beams of the Eiffel Tower. It was where she went when she didn’t want to be disturbed by civilians. She didn’t seem to have noticed his approach.

Chat landed on the edge of the beam and walked over to her quickly. “I’m home!” he yelled, flinging his arms around her from the back.

“What the – Chat! You almost gave me a heart attack!” Ladybug yelped.

Chat cackled and hugged her tighter, undeterred even when she managed to twist around and flick his forehead in retaliation. That only made Ladybug squirm and try to get free even more, and eventually the hug turned into an impromptu wrestling message.

“You dumb cat!” Ladybug said when they were both laying on the beam, panting. “Did you get into the catnip or what?”

“I don’t need catnip to be happy when I’m with you, My Lady,” Chat said, rolling over and grinning at her.

She rolled her eyes. “You sure saved up all your energy for the week,” she said in exasperation.

“Actually, that’s not far from the truth,” Chat admitted, thinking about his week. It had involved a lot of slow, careful walking when he was on the catwalk, and then a lot of standing still in awkward poses during photography sessions.

And he couldn’t exactly release energy at night as Chat Noir the way he usually did, either. He thought it would just look way too suspicious if Chat Noir was suddenly seen in Italy at the same time that Adrien Agreste was travelling to Italy for work. As it was, he’d made sure not to give Ladybug any specific details about where he was going just in case.

Ladybug’s exasperation gave way to sympathy. “Was it a long week?”

“It sucked,” Chat said flatly. “In pretty much every way that a week away from home can suck.”

“Aw, I’m sorry. Come here.” She patted her lap in invitation, and Chat didn’t hesitate to scoot closer to her and lay his head in her lap. Ladybug began gently stroking his hair.

“I’m so glad I’m home,” Chat said after a couple minutes. What he didn’t say was that he was so glad to be home with Ladybug. So far as Chat was concerned, she was his home. In any universe, in every universe, that was Chat Noir’s one constant.

“I’m glad that you’re home too. I hate to admit it, but I actually missed you while you were gone,” Ladybug said. “It turns out patrols are more boring when there isn’t someone driving me crazy.”

“You love it,” Chat teased, and Ladybug scoffed.

“I do not,” she said, but when Chat peeked up at her, she was smiling. His heart melted. He’d missed moments like this with Ladybug so much.

“Tell me about your week,” he said. “How was it?”

Ladybug thought for a moment before saying, “It was alright, I guess. Nothing of particular interest happened.”

“Tell me about it anyway,” Chat said. He just wanted to lay there and listen to her voice for a while.

“Well… I guess Monday wasn’t that great. I overslept and was late for school. But then one of my friends and I went shopping in the afternoon…”

Chat snuggled into her lap, closing his eyes and allowing Ladybug’s voice to wash over him. He couldn’t think of anywhere else that he’d rather be than right here.

[arcadiasfiction]

Can the Son of a Villainess Ever Be Happy? Ch 1 Pt 2

~This is an alternate universe fanfic where Adrien's deceased mom was the notorious villain, Mayura.

---

"Claws off! I'm exhausted!"

Adrien landed in his room and threw himself on his bed.

Plagg busied himself with a piece of Camembert that he had stashed under the bed. Adrien scrunched his nose at the smell of the cheese and rubbed his hands over his face.

"Today's akuma wasn't the most powerful one we've faced, but it was crazy hard trying to out-think him. My brain is burned out."

"That's why you should think more about cheese.”

There was a knock on the door, and Plagg hid himself. Adrien sat up.

"Come in."

Adrien's father cracked open the door and peeked in.

"I'm not interrupting your studying, am I?"

"Uh--No, Dad." Adrien glanced around, hoping there were no signs of his outing. "I'm just taking a break.”

"Good. You need to do that more often." Gabriel sat on the bed next to him.

"And so do you."

Adrien had no clue if his dad ever took a vacation from creating designs for his self-named luxury fashion brand, Gabriel.

Even after marrying Nathalie, he insisted on postponing their honeymoon until next year, after he finished his latest collection. Nathalie, being Nathalie, insisted that a honeymoon was unnecessary and that she would be happy with assisting him as always.

Sometimes, Adrien wasn't sure what to think of those two.

Gabriel ruffled a hand through Adrien's summer blond hair. "I need to get better. I've been teaching you bad habits."

"I think you might be too late."

Gabriel wanted to enjoy Adrien's banter, but he could only think of the gravity of their situation. "Nathalie and I saw the news about the akuma attack today, and we wanted to check on you."

Adrien's heart grew warm at the words. The loss of Adrien's mom was very tough on his dad, and he struggled to let her go. But now, he was gracefully moving on. Having Nathalie as part of the family seemed like the most natural thing. 

Adrien gripped his knees, rubbing circles into the fabric of his jeans.

"Night Moth has already stolen the Butterfly and Peacock Miraculous that belonged to Mom. I'm not letting him have her ring too.” 

Gabriel placed a hand on his shoulder. "The ring. Do you have it secured?"

Adrien paused for a moment, not sure of how much he should say. He spoke slowly.

"It's under Cat Walker's care." 

Saying the name of his alter ego in front of his dad felt strange. Adrien looked up into his father's blue eyes. 

"Is it ok that I put the ring under the watch of someone else for a little while?"

Gabriel gazed into the distance and nodded. "That's a smart move on your part. Next time anyone asks, we can simply say that we don't have it. And Cat Walker is a steely young man. Anyone who wishes to take the ring from him will be in for a tough time.

Nathalie and I have been discussing your schedule, and we feel that right now, you need some space. I've cut back on your modeling gigs. As far as Chinese class, fencing, rock climbing and parkour training, that is up to you. But we would prefer it if you took a break."

Adrien sighed. He really didn't want to cut back on anything. Not being out there taking action in some form made him feel like he was falling behind. Behind on what? He wasn't quite sure.

"Okay. I'll take a break from everything else but fencing."

Gabriel gave Adrien a firm pat on the back.

"Will do. With an itinerary like that, are you sure you aren't planning on becoming an action film actor?“

“No way, Dad,” said Adrien with a laugh.

"Just making sure. You know I'll support you with whatever you want to do. Remember, you do not have to handle things alone."

Gabriel had spent so much time obsessing over fixing the broken Peacock Miraculous, alone. But then Nathalie came along and helped him to not only repair the priceless magical broach, but to see that the most precious things were already in front of him.

"Trying to handle everything alone nearly destroyed me. I do not want that for you."

Adrien understood. His voice came out softly.

"Yes, sir."

Gabriel crossed his arms and exhaled.

”And Adrien, I'm sorry I wasn't able to help your mother.”

He felt it was impossible to apologize enough. He couldn't imagine what it must be like for Adrien to face every day knowing that his mom, despite having a career as a gifted actress, became Mayura, one of the worst villains Paris had ever seen. Gabriel wanted to give Adrien something so much better than this.

“Dad, don't blame yourself. You did the best you could.”

Gabriel sighed.

"Regardless of what happens Adrien, keep in mind that your mother's mistakes are not yours.”

He looked into his son's soft emerald eyes. He was so much like her, and that worried him a little.

"I'll try to remember that.”

---

Next is Chapter 2: The Start of a Crush

Marinette rolled over in bed, hugging her pink cat pillow. All night, her brain kept playing on repeat the glint in Cat Walker's eyes as he glanced back at her over his shoulder. As she mentally rewound the image again, she let out an exasperated sigh and pulled another pillow over her face…

Click here for the next chapter and archive of this story.

Click here to read my much shorter fanfic, Chat Text

[nice-and-accurate-ramblings]

⚠️WARNING: Good Omens Season 2 Episode 5 Spoilers below the cut!

Don’t click on the read more if you don’t want spoilers!!

Lmao Shax is NOT getting a legion of hell

“I have a permit” “this just says ‘I can do what I want’” kinda energy

“Can I watch?” Crowley is sooo along for the shenanigans

HE GAVE AWAY A BOOK

TWICE?!?!?!

AZIRAPHALE. WHAT.

Okay no but this circles around to that lovely headcanon that he doesn’t actually mind selling or giving away books as long as it’s to the right people

NOT THE FRENCH AGAIN. AZIRAPHALE PLEASE. SHE IS SO DONE WITH YOU

At least his French is better now

CROWLEY IS SO DONE LMAOOO

Shax scary o_o

“You’ve been together long? You and your partner?”

“IT CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE THAT FROM HERE”

“HES NOT MY BIT ON THE SIDE, FAR TOO PURE OF HEART TO BE ANYONE’S BIT ON THE SIDE, HE’S JUST AN ANGEL… I know”

MR GAIMAN I AM IN YOUR WALLS FOR THAT ONE

Oh he looks DEEP in thought

Shax is going to commit murders. And then take the stairs

WELL THAT WAS A LOT TO PROCESS BEFORE THE THEME SONG EVEN HIT

Theory while the theme song plays: is it a play by Gabriel and Beelzebub to restart Armageddon? Gabs goes missing, everyone is watching the situation, hell sends an army to attack an archangel, war ensues??

“Smited? Smote?” “Smitten” yeah someone here is smitten alright 👀 two someones actually

*leaves* *grabs the bottle of wine on the way out*

Ohhh Nina honey please please please leave her. This is some Grade A Toxic Shit

I want to give Nina a huggg

CROWLEY. STOP. TALKING. YOU ARENT SUPPOSED TO SPILL THAT SECRET. THAT IS A VERY IMPORTANT SECRET.

Crowley holy shit

Gabriel holy shit

“My head isn’t built for that” kind of like how Job’s wasn’t built for that? Is he human now????

IN A MATCHBOX?!?!

HE TOOK IT OUT FIRST AND PUT IT IN. THE BOX HE BROUGHT HERE.

If it happens again it’ll seem like an institutional problem? GABRIEL WHAT. THE FUCK.

“Do you want a hot chocolate” 🥺🥺🥺

Oh my god the angels know absolutely nothing about humans

MURIEL!!!!

Uriel and Michael have a wonderful silver and gold vibe happening here

Crowley shut the fuck up you are nice

WAIT AND SEE

I HAVE WAITED. LET ME SEE. L E T M E S E E.

OH THAT’S MRS. SANDWICH

oh Aziraphale you are either so oblivious or so incredibly ace or both

Aziraphale really said WE ARE HOSTING A BALL

Ohhh Nina I am giving you the biggest hug. You’re better off, queen 🥺

“For once in your life, trust somebody” “You’re weird!!” Correct response. He is weird. But yeah listen to him.

JIM WHAT ARE YOU WEARING

AZIRAPHALE THIS IS INSANE AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH

“YOU YOUNG PEOPLE” SHSHDJFJFKG

Oh no Maggie you need to run. Like. Now.

Thank you Crowley 😭

Okay Aziraphale this is uh. Weird. This is getting creepy fast.

Is she… you know… a seamstress 👀

I now understand why choreography was needed for this episode

Aziraphale’s face when watching them dance,, it’s the toesy-woesies face,,,

Gabriel is being flirted with en masse and is entirely oblivious

PERHAPS YOU COULD TELL ME WHILE WE DANCE

I-

I AM

HAJSKDKDKDKFNGKKSKFJGKHLLDKF

Shax I swear if you interrupt this I will find a way to reach through the screen and strangle you myself

“I know I’m hard work” “I’m not afraid of hard work” Maggie and Nina have my whole entire heart agghhh

THEY ARE DANCINGGGGGG

Aziraphale you are really not underestimating how much trouble you’re actually in

Oh fuck oh shit oh no

“You came to me. I said I would protect you. And I will.” Someone explain why I am about to cry.

THE COAT, GABRIEL WHAT

oh no the two tiny half miracles were too effective

T-O-S-T-E. TOAST.

CROWLEY GOING LAWYER MODE AHSHDJDJF

Oh my god he made it up I love him. I love him so much this is 🤌🤌🤌

Oh hi Mr. Brown you’re about to get murdered.

HM. YEAH HE UH. HE DID GET MURDERED.

“Have you got your hand in” “oh I’ve got more than that” “I bet you do”

CROWLEY YOU ARE IN FACT A GOOD LAD. LISTEN TO MRS. SANDWICH

I-

“Make your own plans” “Oh I am! But rescuing me makes him so happy!” I AM GOING INSANE. I HAVE NO WORDS. I JUST. GIVE ME A FUCKING MINUTE.

oh hi Muriel!

“Good job! You arrested me!” “You’re arresting me, why would I be trying to trick you?” If this upsets Muriel I am legally obligated to throw hands

WHAT IS HAPPENING

On to episode 6, I am slowly losing my mind 😀👍

[xxmyhomexx]

GABRIEL AND THE GUARDIANS: My Little Ballerina, Part 8

Knocked unconscious by a mysterious first, Gabriel comes face-to-face with Daealla, Paulina's mother.

I don't own Gabriel and The Guardians. I'm just a huge fan! Enjoy!

~~~

"Why tell when I can show you?"

"What do you mean? Hey, answer me! WAIT!" Gabriel gasped as his blue eyes snapped open, the feeling of suffocation overwhelming him. His chest heaved as he inhaled through his nose, oxygen clearing his lungs.

What was that? Whose voice did he hear? There was no one else around him but Nok, Namay'ah, Dionyel, and Zion. He must have passed out from the pain when speaking to them about Paulina.

Stretching out, Gabriel's fingers curled unded the soft covers, sinking into the warm bed that enveloped him in a comfortable embrace. Wait a minute. A BED?

"What?" he looked around.

Not only was he laying in a king-sized bed, but he was in an unfamiliar room with white walls and a ceiling held up by gold and white pillars. The bay windows reflected white light like sunshine, but there was no other furniture around him besides the bed.

Gabriel's eyes fell upon his naked torso, the bandages still wrapped tightly around his stomach...but he was no longer covered in wounds or blood. What in Ara was going on? He flexed his fingers and his neck, the pain he felt from Malachros's attacks gone.

"H-how am I healed?"

Suddenly, a soft chucke echoed through the room. "Ah, you're finally awake. I was beginning to wonder when we were going to get a moment alone."

Gabriel flinched, hopping onto his feet ready to fight. He knew he didn't just hallucinate, there was someone else with him! His answer was confirmed when a gorgeous woman stepped out from behind one of the pillars close to his bed. She was about his height, a long flowing white dress with loose, off-the-shoulder bell sleeves floating behind her like ocean waves.

Her hair was long, blonde waves falling down her back framing an oval-shaped face with almond-shaped brown eyes. Her skin was fair, a cross dangling from her neck as she walked, no practically floated, over to Gabriel's bed side with a soft smile spread across her full beige lips.

"Easy, sweetheart," the woman reassured him. "There is no need to be afraid. Trust me, you are in safe hands."

"No," Gabriel growled. "The last time I thought I was safe, we were ambushed by the enemy and they kidnapped a good friend of mine."

Paulina was more than just a friend, but this woman could be another enemy and he didn't want her finding out anymore than what he told her. Her brown eyes widened, her smile fading as she sat on the edge of the bed.

"I know," her tone lowered. "To know Malachros has my Paulina is unbearable, but Ehyeh has told me that she is stronger than she realizes. I trust in my Savior, and He is watching over her."

Gabriel's eyes quartered as he stared at the woman. He never told her her name, and yet somehow she knew that Malachros abducted the girl who stole his heart. And how did she know Ehyeh? Squinting, he noticed something about her.

Despite his hostility, he couldn't help but note the similarities between her and Paulina. The same hair color, eyes, skin, she almost looked like a copy of her if she was older! Gabriel relaxed his posture and crawled toward the edge of the bed beside her.

"I never said her name was Paulina."

The woman smiled once again. "You didn't have to, Gabriel. I've been waiting for you the entire time, ever since Khanoka gave her my tome."

Her tome? What did she mean by that? Gabriel tilted his head, frowning as the woman watched his confusion. They stayed silent for a minute before a crashing realization flooded over him. Her tome, her Paulina, Malachros in her hands? How could this woman possibly know what happened to her? Wait a minute!

"W-wait," he shook his head. "The-the only way you could know what's going on...is if...is if you..."

"Have been in contact with Khanoka? My dear boy, she has kept me to herself ever since Malachros abducted her. She's set me free since Paulina's capture."

"How do you know Nok's mentor?" demanded Gabriel. "And how do you know about Paulina's tome?"

"Simple," the woman's grin broadened. "My spirit has been locked away in it ever since Paulina's arrival in Ara. I've been transported into the book."

"Your spirit? What did Khanoka do?"

"She only helped a mother bring her child back to her, sealing her spirit inside her tome until it was the right moment to wake up."

"M-m-mother?" Gabriel stuttered. "No way! That means you're-"

"Yes, Gabriel. I am Daealla, and Paulina is my daughter."

[tinnedmarlin]

I was just about 2 say that I really really really enjoy seeing your ultrakill art , specially my boy gabriel. and so I checked your strawpage and seeing both malevolent and the magnus archives on there gave me a straight heart attack holy fuck. you are now climbing the ranks of my cool people that are very cool and epic and awesome list

DUDDEEEEE I LOVE TMA AND MALEVOLENT SO MUCH ITS INSANE... i need to catch up on malevolent and listen to protocol but ive listened to tma like twice already... so peak

[thoughtsofbaal]

Nighttime stories.

It was New Year's Eve in the city of New Orleans the streets were crowded as people stumbled about drunkenly enjoying the holiday, people laughed, danced, and played music. It seemed as if everyone was joyous, all except one. Elizabeth walked the streets in a haze.For a year, she had been plagued with a dream. a premonition. A prophecy. Yet when it came true, it offered her very little solace. She knew it was ridiculous, but the facts were undeniable Two months and it consumed her. Vampires were real. Elizabeth was attacked by one the media dubbed as a rabbit animal. the sensation of his fangs digging into her shoulder still lingered. she brushed the scars and shivered, but that wasn't what frightened her. It was HIM. The bar owner. the most dangerous being she could have ever imagined. the site of him ripping the other vampire apart were so brutal, not even the hardest of criminals would be able to stomach such a sight. the way he plunged his hand into the other's chest, crushing his heart with ease. to the way he severed his head tendon by tendon. Elizabeth fell to the ground for a moment, gasping for air. Her hands clutched her rosary for dear life, yet all the prayers in the world would not find her comfort.  therapy was not an option either. she'd probably be declared insane or schizophrenic. after a few moments Elizabeth got up and noticed the chapel nearby was lit. getting the courage, she walked in. 

“As much as I do charity, this is no place for drunkards to sleep.” The voice was gentle yet stern, like a parents. Elizabeth came to, shaking violently as she looked at the priest. He wore the typical clergy outfit, long brown hair tied in a neat tail, and face shaved. He looked young, maybe only 30, his face just barely starting to wrinkle. His eyes were a soft brown, warm and inviting. “No Father, I’m not drunk nor here to sleep.” Perhaps it was something in her eyes or the shaking in her voice, but the priest frowned. He motioned towards her with a small smile. “Come, let us talk a while.” The two walked up the pews of the chapel, Elizabeth taking in the building. This was not the Catholic Church she normally attended, hers was much closer to her side of New Orleans. 

“My name is Gabriel. What is your name dear?” He sat down in the very front pew, away from the few others that were there sending prayers for the New Year. “Elizabeth.” She answered curtly, startling herself a bit. “It is a pleasure to meet you Elizabeth… What ails you so vexingly?” His eyes showed great concern, anyone looking at the woman could see she had been through the ringer. She’d go to work on autopilot only to lock herself in her apartment. Even her friends couldn’t reach her. Elizabeth took a breath, tears swelling her eyes. “I moved here in June from Canada, and even before moving I kept having a dream… A nightmare.” Father Gabriel looked at her, giving a slight nod as if to say Continue. “This vision of the future plagued me.” 

“And what happened in this nightmare?” Father Gabriel leaned his head and stared at Elizabeth, her gaze avoiding his. “It always played out exactly the same. Halloween night. I remember walking into the most beautiful gothic bar. It was adorned in candles that lit up the space. Deep red and black velvet covered the walls in intricate patterns and bat motifs. It was busy and many people were dressed in costumes, including the bar staff. I drink too much for my tolerance but I had an extremely rough week and wanted to forget it.” 

She stopped talking when another priest walked by offering her a glass of water. “Thank you..” The woman gave a nod and the priest went on his way. She took a few sips before continuing. “I stayed there for a few hours and maybe 10 minutes before midnight, I walk out. I live roughly three blocks from this bar so I decided to just walk home. There are plenty of people outside so I think nothing of it and head home. That’s when I’m struck by something on the back of my head and fall. Something drags me into a darkened alley before someone notices. That’s when I feel the fangs plunge into my neck shoulder area.” 

Her story stopped for a moment so she could catch her breath. Her gaze met Father Gabriel’s and to her comfort, he was still intently listening to her rather outlandish sounding dream. “I start loosing consciousness and am not to fight back as the vampire kills me. But that’s when the vampire is thrown off of me. I’m slumped on the ground unable to move but I can still see what’s happening. Another man had appeared. The most beautiful man I have ever seen. He was too beautiful to be real, yet he was right in front of me. He rips and mangles the vampire until it dies and becomes a pile of clothes and dust. Then my… Hero… Turns around and I see the most horrifying thing of the night. His fangs… So many fangs compared to the other vampire and glowing red eyes that scream monster. He notices my fear and relaxes, crouching down to check on me. I’m then lifted up by him then taken somewhere. I don’t ever get to see because the nightmare is over.” 

She stopped talking now, gaze fixated on the crucifix. “Father…” Her voice trembles even more now as Father Gabriel rubs her arm gently. “That is quite the dream. I can understand why you look as you do. You must not have had a peaceful night’s sleep in a long time.” She shook her head, agreeing with his statement, though anyone could see she was not functioning properly at all. “Has the dream stopped?” His gentle voice carried a wave of worry, knowing things of the mind could take someone down harder than a physical ailment. “Yes…. Because the events have happened.” Her eyes could almost burn the wooden cross with how intensely she stared at it, not wanting to see the face of the priest’s probable disbelief. “Father… Are vampires real? Tell me. Do they actually exist?” 

She turned to him with a lifetime of pain in both voice and body, not wanting yet another person to find her crazed. “I know what you are going to say. They are not real. I’m delusional and crazy.”  Slowly Elizabeth pulled down her shirt a bit, revealing a few nasty looking bite scars. Many would assume it was a dog, but someone with more expertise would be able to tell it was more human in structure. Even these weren’t enough proof for even her now ex best friend. Father Gabriel looked at Elizabeth with sadness in his eyes and stood up. “I believe you, dear. Come. I have something to show you.” 

He motioned for her to follow, and her gaze broke from the crucifix to the priest. This was the first time someone had said they believed her, yet she doubted him. She stared at him bewildered for a moment before snapping out of it and following. Thoughts raced her mind. This is a holy place. No harm shall come to me here. She repeated this as a mantra as he led her to the chapel’s office. 

Upon opening the door she noticed it was a small, cozy office. It had pictures of a few of the Saints, some past and the present Pope, a few clergy men and a rather large picture of Mary holding baby Jesus. A book shelf full of books took up an entire wall, and there was another filled with more books and religious music and videos. There was a desk with a bunch of paperwork thrown about and a small, extremely comfy looking couch. Elizabeth thought of laying on it, wondering if she’d get some peace in the chapel. 

“What is it you want to show me Father?” The woman was more relaxed now, the faintest smile creeping up on her face. “Nothing in here.” Father Gabriel moved a picture to reveal a button, an empty wall moved to reveal a passageway. “In times of strife God shows us things we may not understand. I too was unsure of my dreams. I had never murdered a man before but the visions of doing such shook me to my core. It was when the events of the nightmare came to fruition that I realized something. I knew very little about the world and that frightened me.”

[shysublimecoffee]

Before I begin, I want to make it clear that this discussion isn’t meant to be an attack. My words might come across as strong, but I don’t intend to criticize you personally or make you feel bad, especially to the Original Poster.

There's something to be said about how some fans, particularly those who criticize Adrien, go to great lengths to scrutinize every interaction he has, nitpicking and criticizing him for not perfectly aligning with their expectations. Adrien is genuinely one of the kindest male leads, yet people still find reasons to have issues with him. Anyone who claims that Adrien lacks empathy either hasn't watched the show closely or is twisting his character to fit a negative narrative. Take the "high road" speech regarding Lila, for instance—a stance I actually agree with. He saw right through Lila's motives, understood the situation, and yet the "Chameleon salt" was ridiculous. And don’t get me started on the fanfiction—people will write an entire saga based on one episode vilifying him that wasn’t even that bad or serious, turning other male characters into her "prince charming" like some overblown male fantasy.

It's wild because if you're pointing fingers at someone lacking empathy, it should be the main lead and heroine. If you think Adrien is the one lacking empathy, I strongly disagree. This is the same character who gave Marinette the confidence to become Ladybug, constantly supported her, and was always there for her. In contrast, Marinette, who has been a poor partner and kept secrets from Chat Noir, seems to struggle with empathy. I think Marinette relates to people in a "self-absorbed" way, meaning she can only understand a situation if she somehow makes herself part of it. This causes her to approach issues from a skewed perspective and she's very controlling, where the actual problem doesn’t get properly addressed. It’s a compelling character flaw that, in my opinion, hasn’t been fully fleshed out in the show and never will because of "protagonist-centered morality."

If Marinette were as empathetic as some claim, what about her decisions in "Ephemeral" and teaming up with Luka behind Chat Noir’s back? Or how she tries to reconcile Chloe and her toxic mother? If Marinette had true empathy, she'd understand these situations better, but it seems like she’s avoiding confronting the possibilities when it comes to do for anything with Chat Noir even simple communication or that the world is more shades of gray than in black and white that not everyone has good parents. She’s almost become a second but kinder Gabriel. Whenever CN dares to show emotions , she can’t handle it. But when he’s a doctile people-pleaser, suppressing his own submission for hers, he becomes the ideal partner she wants to keep.

Adrien, a manipulator or gas-lighter? Why on earth are you attaching such heavy, damaging labels to someone who is clearly a victim? It’s disgraceful, honestly, that anyone would even have the audacity to do so. If you’ve watched the show or even Season 5, you’d know those terms apply to Gabriel Agreste, not Adrien. And let’s not pretend Marinette, Felix, Kagami, or Nathalie are completely innocent either. Adrien’s autonomy has been ripped from him, his life controlled and manipulated, and yet people have the nerve to paint/cast him as the villain?

It’s strange, too, because Chat Noir is the heart of this operation while Ladybug is more of the brain. And if you’ve been paying attention, you’ll notice that Adrien has increasingly taken on the role of the heroine in later seasons. Remember It's Adrien wearing the dress in this relationship and being saved by Knight Marinette. The dynamic has shifted , and this whole "lack of empathy" argument falls flat when you realize it's a role reversal of what we usually get from other shows happening here. Yes, Adrien has flaws, but what’s truly infuriating is how those flaws are constantly suppressed, twisted, or outright ignored to cater to Marinette. It’s as if the entire fandom—and even Astruc and the writers—have collectively agreed that Adrien exists solely to serve her narrative, with his own struggles and complexities swept under the rug.

I’m going out on a limb here, but maybe some of you are projecting way too much onto Marinette—like she’s your self-insert. It’s insane how, just like in the show, Adrien’s tiny faults are blown out of proportion, scrutinized to hell and back by the audience, while Ladybug’s flaws are conveniently overlooked. Why? It’s almost as if you’re Gabriel, demanding Adrien be the perfect male lead, without a single flaw. He may be the designated love interest, but he’s a character in his own right, with his own struggles—struggles that are arguably far worse. I hate playing the suffering Olympics, but it’s true—he’s literally become her therapist in Season 5. What more do you want from him? He has no one to lean on besides Plagg, while Ladybug is surrounded by an entourage of yes-men and women. He’s isolated, forced to bear the weight of his world alone, while she’s propped up at every turn.

If anything, Marinette/Ladybug doesn’t deserve him.

People are absurdly sensitive to any mistake Chat Noir or Adrien makes in the show, to the point of claiming, “He has no empathy,” or labeling him a manipulator—labels that completely contradict his character. It’s insane how they demonize him for things that simply aren’t there, driven by an unreasonable need to find fault where none exists. The sheer lack of media literacy in this fandom is staggering, especially when it comes to distorting the narrative to fit their own fantasies. If this were AO3 or Fanfiction, sure, you’d have free rein to craft your version of Adrien. But newsflash: your fanon Adrien and canon Adrien aren’t even remotely alike or similar.

The entire Love Square started because, from the very beginning, it was Adrien's kindness that touched Marinette's heart. In "Origins," it wasn’t his looks that drew her in, although they were mentioned often throughout the show she's thirsty lol —it was the moment when he offered her the umbrella as a sincere gesture of apology. That simple act of kindness was what truly made her see him for the first time. Adrien recognized Marinette’s discomfort and took action to ease it, offering her the umbrella not just as an apology, but as a way to connect with her on a human level. It's his ability to understand and respond to others' emotions that defines his character, showing that empathy is at the very core of who he is despite what anyone in the audience says otherwise. He's had a rough and terrible home life but that never stopped him from being a good boy and trying to reach out to others we have to commend him for that!! And I'm tired of being the only one to see it. He's a strong kid.

What’s next? Adrien was cruel for laughing at her? How dare he! 😂 (sarcasm, obviously). This fandom honestly.. is something.

I’ve been thinking about how Adrien is generally not an empathetic person. He’s well mannered and generally nice but I’ve yet to see him share a moment of vulnerability with someone that wasn’t about himself. There were the times he’s given Ladybug pep talks but he never seems legitimately concerned for her emotional well-being, simply smiling after she hugs him instead of showing any interest in why she was feeling the way she was and how he could help her. He literally felt the pressure she’s under every day and didn’t feel any need to change himself to help alleviate it. Of course, a large portion of empathy is learned and he hasn’t had great examples and sometimes people just don’t have the energy to genuinely care and all that but the point remains: Adrien rarely thinks about other people’s feelings. Despite how it sounds, this isn’t a criticism of him, just an observation.