#geez i know hes team leader and understand

[kstarlitchaotics]

That's real low Scott and you wonder(if any) why he hates you

[chiriwritesstuff]

The Girl in IT - 7. The All Hands Meeting

A Boss! Joel Miller x IT Specialist F! Reader AU

The LIST │ Series Masterlist

Chapter Rating: E (18+, MDNI)

Chapter Summary: A look into a typical day at Miller Construction Group. Chaos ensues (naturally).

Chapter Warnings and Tags: No outbreak AU, Boss x Employee Relationship, Sugar Daddy Lite, Smut, SO MUCH SMUT, Age Gap, Older Man/Younger woman, So much dirty talk, Office sex, Desk sex, Inappropriate usage of PowerPoint, Tommy fucks around and finds out, No Beta we die like men!

Word Count: 4.4K

A/N: And the hijinks are back! I wanted to try something new this week, and it was the perfect opportunity to showcase all of our fun supporting characters in 'The Girl in IT'! I thought what better way to introduce everyone was to include their commentary, like an episode of 'The Office'! This one is a doozy, and I hope you all enjoy!

#MCG ADMIN 50 members Sarah (HR) Good morning, Team! I hope you're all doing well. I'd like to announce a mandatory All-Hands HR Meeting today at 11 am in Conference Room A, co-facilitated by Tess and me. We'll have a brief presentation, and for those working remotely, please log into Zoom to join the meeting. Following the session, thanks to Bill, we'll have lunch and refreshments provided. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. Looking forward to seeing all of you soon! Tommy  Sarah, are you gonna bust your Papi's balls in front of everyone for posting that naughty photo? 💀☠️🪦 Frank (Interior Design) Will there be an opportunity for discussion following the presentation? I'm eager to delve into the minds of SlackGate and understand the motivations behind their actions the other day. Connie (Reception) It's clearly because they're fucking, Frank. 🍆🍑🦪 Frank (Interior Design) Who is? Our fearless leader and our shy girl in IT? Until one of them makes it official, it's just hearsay! Is this meeting a hard launch for a new power couple? 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨 Sarah (HR) Yes, there will be an open-forum discussion after my presentation but NO, we will not be talking about the events of the other day in detail. Connie, this is a professional space and we will conduct ourselves as such. Connie (Reception) Why am I always being singled out?? Frank started it! Frank (Interior Design) Did I not professionally conduct myself? Geez Connie, I'm not the one sending nudes to our Boss when clearly, he has a girlfriend. Wait. Oops? (Sorry Connie 🤡) Bill (Civil) Frank! What do I have to do to get you to behave for once? Frank (Interior Design) Oh, I could think of a few ways... Why don't you come and find out once you're done handling your bratwurst out there? Sarah (HR) I don't get paid enough for this shit.

"Thank you, everyone, for coming together at such short notice. While I'm aware this all-hands meeting was abrupt, recent events in the past few days have made it essential. Tess and I genuinely appreciate your presence as we address these important matters," Sarah says with a bright smile, handing out materials. "Here's an updated Employee Handbook with a few edits. I thought it would be beneficial for us to go through it together. Are there any questions before we begin?"

"Yeah!" Tommy exclaims from the back of the room, his feet casually resting against the edge of the table. "How long until we get to the part of this meeting where we discuss just how much of a bad boy your Daddy was the other day?"

Tommy Look, I love my brother, I do. He's always so serious, so noble, providing for everyone and all that, making sure we have a roof over our heads. Shit, he's gotten me out of a lot of binds in my life- [He looks a bit uncomfortable and clears his throat, nodding.] ... anyway, it's a rare thing to see my brother slip up like that, you know? Didn't think he had it in him, honestly. It's been a few decades since I've seen his twig and berries, but shit, I know he's packing! He's a Miller, for fucks sake!  [he puffs his chest out a little at that, chuckling to himself] But Sugar? She's been a fucking godsend! Never in my life have I seen my big ol brother act a fool, especially over a woman! What can I say? It's great to not be the fuck-up brother for once! I'm gonna milk out SlackGate til the end of time!

"Tommy," Joel warns through his teeth, glaring at his brother. "Cut it out."

Sarah rolls her eyes in response as she fiddles with her laptop, the projector behind her illuminating with her PowerPoint presentation. "Like I was saying, this presentation is just going to go over the changes we have implemented in the last few days, including proper Slack etiquette and conduct. You would think that as grown adults, we would know better than sending inappropriate images and messages through company property and time," she clears her throat, glancing over at Joel, then to Tommy, who winks in her direction knowingly. "...including those who decide to engage and participate in unsanctioned secret channels-"

Frank's hand suddenly shoots up, his face awash in mock outrage. "I'll have you know, the watercooler channel serves a purpose, folks! When I caught wind of this 'secret channel' gossip circulating among the Nosy Nancies in the breakroom, I was appalled! Who would dare to stoop so low—"

"Frank, you invited me to the chat just this morning," Jesse remarks, casually holding up his phone as evidence. "It's titled 'Frank's-secret-slack-chat.' I thought it was some kind of exclusive club or something."

Frank Hi, [waves to you] is this on? Yeah? Hi. I'm Frank.   Listen, Sarah was getting a little too vigilant about monitoring Slack ever since Tommy sent us a little treat last year [he laughs] so I had to do something about it, you know? [It pans out to Frank leaning against his desk chair, typing away on his secret Slack Chat.] The chat started as an open forum for discussion on the everyday going-ons of Miller Construction Group. Do we just so happen to discuss the private lives of our peers? Maybe. Do we mean any harm by it?  [He gives you a wicked smile] Maybe.

"You guys, you know, the longer I keep getting interrupted, the longer we're all going to stay here in this conference room, and the longer we have to wait to eat Bill's food. You know how he is," She looks outside of the window, the smoke from Bill's grill swirls like a plume as he flips over a juicy steak. "He hates it when he has to serve his food cold. As I was saying, it should be obvious that we shouldn't be sending inappropriate images or photos to one another through Slack or e-mail."

"Hey! It was just one time, and it was an accident!" Tommy retorts, "Besides, it was hardly inappropriate, I was just only trying to show Maria this weird rash I got-"

"What does that mean, anyway?" Connie cuts in, casting a glance your way. "Inappropriate photos? And is there a difference between accidentally sending them or doing it on purpose?"

"Yeah," you shoot her a pointed look. "Sending nude photos to someone who doesn't want them is actually considered sexual harassment," you say, raising your voice a bit and turning in your seat. "I mean, you could get arrested for that, Connie," you add with a sing-song tone, a smirk playing on your lips as you glance at her. "You have nothing to worry about though, right?" you challenge, rolling your chair towards Joel, and taking his hand in his. "Not unless you did send naked photos to my boyfriend?"

Connie Look, I didn't know that Mr. Miller and Sugar were boning. I know how this looks- like I don't believe in girl code or something. I am a girls girl! If Sugar was just forthcoming about who gave her those damn hickeys before SlackGate happened, I wouldn't have sent her boyfriend nude photos of myself! A girl's gotta try, you know? I was only trying to shoot my shot! [She looks a bit uncomfortable, picking at a hangnail.] ... but you have to admit, Mr. Miller is H-O-T hot. God. I love me a graying man in flannel. I always thought to myself, there must be a story here. How does a millionaire who looks like that be single all this time? does he have anyone? is it a sugar baby? does he have a secret love child? I mean-  [she looks over her shoulder where Joel is, arms around his chest as he winks at Sugar. There's a hint of jealousy in Connie's eyes.] Is it true, though? Is it really sexual harassment if I send unsolicited photos of myself? Do you think he's gonna press charges? 

"It's true. Sending unsolicited photos of yourself to unsuspecting parties is sexual harassment, Connie. Not to mention creepy," Sarah winces, shooting you an apologetic smile. "So please don't be sending any photos of that nature to anyone that you work with, especially not in the admin group Slack."

"Yeah, Joel!" Tommy chides. "Keep that shlong in your pants, brother!"

Sarah You would think that working for my family is a cakewalk? Please. I've been diagnosed with IBS and GAD since I started working here five years ago. I sometimes take half an edible just to make it to lunchtime.   [Her head rests on her desk, and as the events of SlackGate unfold, an endless barrage of messages from the admin Slack channel floods her monitor. She can't help but groan in response.] Listen. I love my Dad. I've never really had to worry about his behavior at work before, not like how I have to with Uncle Tommy... but what the hell was he thinking? I can't unsee that! What if Ellie was on that chat? Could you imagine the trauma? My trauma?

"Okay, let's turn to page 12, where we'll go over all the recent updates," Sarah announces, clicking through her PowerPoint. A collective gasp echoes in the room as the slide projects onto the screen, revealing an image – the image of Joel. However, where his exposed package would be, an eggplant emoji tastefully takes its place. It resembles one of those generic memes easily made with a phone app, complete with the semi-imposed words 'Keep Calm and Shlong On!' in big bold letters.

"Shit!" she exclaims, hurriedly pressing the ESC button as she tries to close out her PowerPoint. She slams her laptop shut, the tell-tell sound of a crack echoing throughout the conference room. You hear Tess silently scoff in the distance, and Sarah closes her eyes in embarrassment as the room falls silent.

... and then, all hell breaks loose.  

Tommy is beside himself, his face red, and his eyes filled with tears as he doubles over in laughter, clutching at his middle. "Shit, Henry! When I asked you to do this, I honestly didn't think you had the balls to go through with it, but I so owe you, my man!" he exclaims, enthusiastically high-fiving his nephew-in-law. "This is the best fucking day of my life!"

"Henry?!" Sarah exclaims, her face flushed with rage. "This is what you needed to do in the office at 6 am this morning?!"

Henry's expression crumbles as he witnesses his wife's ire, suddenly realizing that he's just dug himself into a deep hole. "Sarah," he stammers, attempting to regain composure. "This isn't what it looks like—"

Henry Yeah, Tommy asked me to put that meme into Sarah's PowerPoint last night. I would have done it at home, but Sarah doesn't like to bring her laptop home, you know, work-life balance? So I had to make an excuse to come to the office this morning. Was it a dumb ass idea? Yeah, probably. Did I kind of want to get back at Sarah's dad for making my life a living hell? [He looks at you awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.] Honestly, when you're like five beers in, drinking with Tommy- everything seems like a good idea. He dared me, you know? Said that I'm such a simp, trying to always please Joel. Called me a fucking pussy and everything! What else was I supposed to do? Sarah's going to kill me, huh? Do you think that she's gonna ask for a divorce?

"It's a meme. A meme of my Dad's dick pic with AN EGGPLANT EMOJI?!?! ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??! WHAT DID YOU MEAN FOR IT TO LOOK LIKE?!" she screams, pulling at her hair. "AND YOU, TOMMY MILLER!" she points at her uncle furiously, "WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK??!"

"Baby," Henry replies, his hands raised in an attempt to calm her down. "It's just a harmless prank, look—"

"No, you look, Henry! Does it seem like it's just a harmless prank?" she gestures to the room, her eyes wide. "Don't even think about coming to bed tonight. I can't even look at you! How dare you collaborate with Tommy, do you really want to go this way? Because I see you fucking around, and you're about to find out-"

"Oh come on, Sarah! you know these all-hands meetings are dull as fuck, I don't even know why you even bother, no one ever listens anyway!" Tommy exclaims, looking around the room. "Isn't this fun you guys? Come on, lighten up! It's not like y'all haven't seen my dick before! Your Papi's gonna live another day, I think we should all feel as comfortable as we want, fuck the rules!"

"...but Joel's is much bigger than yours!" someone yells amid the chaos, laughter, and banter echoing through the room. Sarah looks around helplessly in a panic, trying to grasp the situation unfolding.

"Hey! I'll have you know that I ain't small!" Tommy yells in retaliation.

"Do you think that this is helping, Uncle Tommy? I'm beginning to believe that the only reason why people don't take me seriously is because of all of the shit that you pull!" Sarah groans, looking like she's at the end of her rope. "I could mention that Tess is helping me facilitate this meeting to scare everyone but she's just off to the side, pretending to not be drinking under the table!"  

Tess [She is sitting off to the side, smiling to herself as the chaos ensues, shaking her head.] I am drinking, because who else thinks it's appropriate to call an all-hands meeting first thing in the morning? I don't even want to be here. It's so fucking pointless, trying to get these shitheads to conform to a set of rules.   [She witnesses Joel storming up to Tommy, his face full of rage and irritation, finger pointed right at him.] This is the consequence of hiring friends and family, isn't it? I tried to tell them it was a bad idea, but who's listening to me? I get it, everyone thinks I'm a bit of a bitch, and well... yeah, I am. Alright, time to rein this in— [She suddenly stands from her seat and walks over to Sarah, who appears to be disassociating into madness.]

"HEY!" Tess bellows, clapping her hands together. The room abruptly falls silent, Joel's hands frozen mid-grab on Tommy's flannel. Forty-eight pairs of eyes pivot towards Tess, a blend of shock and embarrassment spreading across their faces, reminiscent of children caught sneaking cookies from the jar by their mother. "Okay, that's enough!"

Her eyes are narrowed, hands on her hips. "This is what's going to happen. You're going to stop sending each other dick and tit pics through Slack, because as much as it is amusing," she smirks, winking at you, "I would really rather not have to deal with the fallout that comes with it," she shoots a pointed look at Connie, whose eyebrows shoot up to her hairline.  

"The next time someone tries to fuck around and find out? I'm going to take that dirty photo, print a thousand fucking copies of it and stick that shit all over the office. Every fucking inch, every fucking nook and cranny is just gonna be dick and tit central," she paces around the room, placing a warning hand on Frank's shoulder. "As for this secret Slack chat, I'm going to give you all one chance to come clean. If you don't, and Sugar's report doesn't match who outs themselves right now," She scans the room, a smirk on the corner of her mouth appearing in satisfaction. "Yeah, you didn't think that we were monitoring that shit, huh? Well, I'll throw you all a bone: raise your hands if you are in this secret group chat, and I'll consider not docking your pay for insubordination. Your choice."

Frank [Looking at Tess as she slightly stumbles from where she's standing.] Yeah, she's toast.

The majority of the room begins to raise their hands, except you, Tess, Joel, and surprisingly, Frank.

Tess scoffs. "Really Frank? Really?"

"I have no clue what you're trying to imply, and seriously Tess? Are you really going to play that card? Are you going to dock your pay too?" Frank retorts. "I mean, just last night, you were drunkenly telling me that you heard Joel and Sugar-"

"If you utter another word, I'll fire you on the spot, Frank!" Joel shouts from across the room. "I mean it this time!"

Joel and Sugar [Joel wraps his arm around your waist, leaning in to kiss your forehead while gently pushing a strand of hair behind your ears.] There, that's better. Don't hide your face, Mami; you're too beautiful to be hiding all of that, okay? Right, [he clears his throat.] You would think that people would be a little more professional around here, show me a bit of respect— [His gaze shifts to Tommy, who's engaged in laughter and banter with the team, his chest puffed out in triumph. Joel glares at him, shaking his head.] I'd like to think I try really hard to be a good boss. I pay fairly, I allow remote work, and damn it, I take pride in offering the best employee benefits in all of Austin. We even take a company trip to Hawaii every year, for fucks sake! [You squeeze his hand, pressing a kiss to his temple as he takes a frustrated breath.] Papi, if it means anything, I think you're the best boss any of these folks could ever ask for. They don't deserve you. [Joel nods.] Look, I don't know what to tell you. I got the ride of my life that morning, my sweet Mami riding my cock just right, you know? I would have been okay, going into my meeting with blue balls, just as long as Sugar got hers. Your pleasure is my pleasure... but I was just so fucking horny! I started to work out, yeah? Wanted to keep shit tight for my baby, and fuck, I was... what do they young kids say?   Feeling yourself? [Joel nods again, smiling at you.] Yeah, 'feeling myself' or whatever. Anyway, I was in the meeting, and you messaged me, right? saying that you weren't going to be in for lunch? and I don't know if was the disappointment, or if I was just too horny, but fuck. I quickly excused myself and took a quick dick pic in my bathroom. I thought I was in the right Slack channel... so I sent it, and then the guys at The H Group asked me a whole bunch of questions, and then an hour later- Chaos. The messages kept flooding in! Frank was asking about how long I was, and Connie was sending me nude photos of herself- in my fucking office! Wait, what? [Your gaze meets Connie's, nervously seated as Frank goes on and on beside her. Her hands twitch like a possum that just got run over by an 18-wheeler. Yeah. Squirm for me, you think to yourself.] Yeah! And I just sat there, in shock, you know? Like this is the kind of shit that Tommy pulls, and I couldn't believe that I was so fucking stupid! Can you imagine the kind of therapy Sarah's gonna need? What if Ellie saw this?

"Who's up for some snacks?" Tommy calls out to the team, holding a basket filled with rather sizable cucumbers, bananas, and eggplants. "Help yourselves, compliments of Joel!"

Ellie  [at the job site across town, hard hat fixed crookedly on top of her head.] Yeah, I saw it. There is not enough bleach in this world that could ever erase that image from my existence.   [she glares at Sam, who just shrugs.] Thanks a lot, asshole!

"Alright, you degenerates!" Bill booms, bursting through the conference doors wearing a 'Kiss the Cook' apron, tongs in one hand, and a tray piled high with thickly cut steaks in the other. "This steak isn't going to eat itself!" 

The team swarms Bill like seagulls spotting a tasty piece of bread on the boardwalk. Tommy grabs a t-bone with his bare hands, biting into it with the enthusiasm of a caveman.

"Hey," Joel whispers to you, his shoulder gently bumping yours. "Want to help me with something?" You nod eagerly as Joel swiftly guides you out of the conference room, heading towards the executive offices. You giggle as Joel ushers you into the room, pulling you into a kiss, his foot playfully kicking the door shut.

He moves the both of you over to where Tommy's desk is, pushing aside its contents off the tabletop in one fell swoop, the items clattering onto the floor. "Papi, what are you doing?" you ask cheekily as he bends you over the desk, lifting your skirt.  

Joel growls and shoves you down onto the desk, his hands harshly grabbing onto your hips. Your arms scramble to find purchase as you knock over a framed photo of Tommy and Maria, watching helplessly as the image of their smiling faces falls onto the floor. His palm travels across your back, pinning you in place as he fiddles with his zipper with his other hand. "Line item 6," Joel murmurs as his hands begin to travel across the globes of your ass, squeezing and spreading and slapping them until you're so wet you can feel it dripping down your thighs.  

Joel hums in appreciation. "Thats right Mami, get nice and wet for me, okay?" You can feel him pump his cock against you, notching his head at your entrance. "You gonna make a nice mess for me, baby?" he asks through gritted teeth as he strokes through your folds with his dick.

"Yesss," you moan, pushing your ass back toward him.  

Joel pushes into you to the hilt in one brutal thrust as you cry out, grabbing onto the edge of the desk as he begins to pound into you in earnest, his thrusts so hard and punishing that the desk begins to rattle. You squeeze your eyes shut as Joel gathers your hair in his hand, pulling you back towards him. "Fuck baby, I'm gonna come so fucking hard, fill this pussy up and watch as it drips out of you, maybe fuck you again if we still have time-"

You gasp, taking a deep breath as his thrusts become so erratic it pushes you up the desk, lifting one leg onto the surface as Joel angles himself higher, hitting a spot so deep within you that you bite your lip from crying out, not wanting to attract any unwanted attention. You squeeze around his cock as you chase your high, hoping that Joel can maintain his composure long enough so you both can finish together. "No Mami, stay with me, come with me-"

He leans over you, pressing you onto the desk as he grabs onto your shoulders, pounding into you, his breath hot against your neck as he buries his face into it, huffing from exertion. "I'm so close Mami, I'm gonna... Fuck!" He bites your shoulder as he cums in one last brutal stroke, his hands harshly grasping your thighs as you feel his hot spend flow deep into your belly. You rock your hips onto him as his hand goes to your clit, rubbing until you are weak in the knees, your body trembling beneath his. "Fuck Joel," you say a little breathless as you slump onto the table as Joel pulls out of you, his finger probing into you as he pushes his leaking cum back where it belongs. "Come on, lets clean this up and head back before they notice-"

Joel just snorts as he zips up his jeans. "No," he replies nonchalantly as he catches his breath. 

"No?" you ask as you straighten yourself up, frowning at him.  

"Line item six says I bend you over his desk and leave a little souvenir," he motions to the mess on the floor, pens and papers scattered about.  

"He's going to fucking murder you, Joel," you chuckle, pulling him into a kiss.  

"Yeah? Well, he shouldn't have fucked around, because he's about to find out." He simply replies, taking your hand in his. "Come on, little Mami, quickly now, before he realizes we're gone..."

You share a laugh as he guides you back into the conference room. Bill raises an eyebrow at both of you, handing over a plate with steaming steak, as if he just finished cooking it. "I thought I'd save your lunches for last, figured you guys needed some extra time," he says, clearing his throat and nodding towards Tommy, who seems entirely oblivious to your brief disappearance. "You know Tommy, can't resist a good piece of steak," Bill continues, gesturing at Joel. "It's like everything around him disappears for a moment; you could rob him blind, and he wouldn't even notice," he adds with a small smile, placing a hand on Joel's shoulder and giving him a knowing look. "Enjoy your lunch, you two."

Bill Look, I wouldn't call myself a nosy person, but I am perceptive.   [He glances at Frank whispering and giggling to Connie off to the side, rolling his eyes.] Look at them. They think that they're the eyes and ears of this operation, but what they don't know, is that I. Know. Everything. I am a survivalist. I gather intel on all of my surroundings, even if I am surrounded by absolute morons.   [Bill takes another sip of coffee, subtly glancing around him before making eye contact with you, the reader, once more] So if you want to know the real scoop, the real ins-and-outs of this company, and not have to deal with the lunatics in Frank's not-so-secret shit talk club, come to me, I'll set you on the right path. At least I have snacks.   [He looks off to you and Joel, giving a curt nod as he starts to cut into his own steak.] As much as I respect Tommy, he's not the one signing my checks at the end of the day. If there's anything that I value more than anything, it's loyalty. I don't like to play around, hate it when people bite the hands that feed them. People like that need to be taught a lesson. Joel's a good man, and sometimes, we fuck up... but it's how we handle ourselves after the fact that matters. If that means I help out an old friend, well- [he smiles as Tommy walks towards the conference room doors, heading back to his office. Bill smiles out into the distance.]

Taglist: @sarcasm-theotherwhitemeat @gwendibleywrites @brittmb115 @joeldjarin @drewharrisonwriter

@littlebunnybigheartfics @missladym1981 @auteurdelabre @quicax3 @casa-boiardi

@amyispxnk @untamedheart81 @paleidiot @laurrrra @la-vie-est-une-fleur29

@bbiophiliaa @thewiigers (I apologize if I missed anyone, but if you are looking for any of my fic updates, please feel free to follow my updates blog @chiriwritesstuffnotifs!)

[riddles-fiddles]

Can we get the dorm leaders reaction to s/o telling them that Twisted wonderland is a game in her world? She gave them plenty of proof and even showed them the game on her phone.

Riddle's confused and extremely intrigued from this piece of information

Though he's more on the confused side of things. He's not so acquainted with technology so it's a hard time for him to discern what's true or fake

And honestly, your claims are so absurd it easily slips on his side as a prank. He'll be polite and look interested the whole time, but his brain is racing against time to make reason of it all

"Cater always tells me about this 'effects' things you can add to photos and there are plenty apps for image manipulation"

Dismisses all the proof you show him as a very dedicated prank of yours, because how could he be merely an AI when he very much feels very alive? Bullshit.

He lays down on his bed for a few nights with a deep sense of dread, being unable to sleep from all the doubt that creeps on his mind. He wants to believe that it's all just a lie, but what if it isn't?

Sleeps through half your essay about how everything he knows is a lie, growing in boredom as you stubbornly shove evidence, talking like some scientist presenting a thesis

Honestly half your argument has already gone through his head at some point so he's not truly impressed

Plays it cool saying you're gone nuts and that all this magic stuff fried your brain

"Geez easy now herbivore, nothing you're blabbering about makes sense", and he looks absolutely unnafected, shrugging it off

He can't help but dwell on it for some time though, but he'll never show it on your face or hesitate for even a moment in front of anyone

No, you are the crazy one, he's very much real. His pain is real, or else all the things he feels deeply rooted on his heart wouldn't hurt this much... right?

At first he's skeptical and scoffs off at your attempts at making his mind around your little antics

He's got the mind of a businessman, he's not falling for such childish pranks, no matter how well made that photoshopped image looks. Oh, wait, it's an app? Well, you're probably just teaming up with Idia to piss him off

His interest is piqued the moment he sees the cards with his face, and as you tell him it's a gacha game, his features light up for a fraction of a second - but then he remembers that you're trying to shove some absurd nonsense down his throat. No, it's not the time for profit thinking

Though you sure did gave him an idea, and he'll be sure to talk it out to Idia some other time

Azul keeps on a composed and rational feeling to him, one he pridefully shows to everyone around him, but he's got his insecurities and doubts, and now you just sparkled something inside his heart

He can't quite grasp it, but it always leaves him choking and uncomfortable, something alike to fear and anxiety, something he used to feel when he was the pathetic little octopus with too much time alone

For the first time after many years, he finds himself pondering about life, questioning everything he knows, a sense of dread tugging at the confines of his mind. He didn't like to think that maybe you were right, that everything he might have experienced was nothing but a cruel lie

Kalim can't quite grasp the concept of his existence being literally a video game, but he's the first one to not treat it like a joke

He's very interested on everything you says naturally, but he's very impressed to know that there's a game where he is a character!

"But... y/n, how could I be a literal game character when I'm right in front of you? Doesn't that mean that you are ficitional as well?"

He laughs light-hearted, taking things surprisingly well - because he can't understand he's not truly real. No matter how many screenshots you show, his wiki page, his cards, not even playing through the whole Scarabia arch will suffice to convince him

He just thinks you're a very talented person who made the game as some kind of diary or something, being inspired by everything that happened in Night Raven College

Eventually Kalim just convinces you to brush your point off, seeing how happy and entertained he looked. Maybe it's for the best to just allow him to eat up that lie

You wouldn't want to make Kalim sad now, would you?

Vil looks at you like you have just insulted his whole bloodline and then threw all his makeup on his face

Stands there in awkward silence, processing all the information and carefully picked proof, snatching your phone to look through it

By the end of this tense moment, he shakes his head, laughing out as if finally understanding that everything was merely a joke.

But you don't laugh back, instead looking him dead in the face

Vil's unsettled by everything, from the way you look at him and the new, hard to swallow information

He asks you to go to therapy and says that he'll be more than happy to accompany you, sincerely worried about you

He doesn't want to believe the things you showed him, so just like the others, he'll just settle on the idea of you playing a prank on him for the sake of his own mental health.

Idia.exe has stopped working

"I KNEW IT!!!!!!!!!!!!" shouts out once he snaps out of his paralyzed processation so loudly you're sure everyone at NRC could hear him

He looks mortified and equally thrilled as he goes on blabbering about some underground government bullshit

Red and blue pill kinda shit, you know? Talks about simulations and how he dreamed saw the walls around his room glitch for a moment while gaming (he's sleep deprived)

Shut him up or else he'll be wailing in his fake existence and talking to you about some conspirational theories he formulated with the source of his own brain

Malleus is eerily silent as you present him with all the information you have, a perfect display of your confidence and everything that just fell right like puzzle pieces

When you're done and looks up at him, expecting an answer, he stares back, his emerald eyes deep and piercing, silently rummaging through your features though his gaze made you feel like he was reaching directly for your soul

"I know," he responds simply, an amused smile creeping between his lips

With a nod of farewell, he turns on his heels and simply leaves, unbothered to give any kind of explanation

Malleus leaves you with an existential crisis, hanging where you stood without understanding a thing

He knows? How can he know? Is he programmed to say that? Is he truly an IA?

You're not sure and will never be, because Malleus never gives you an answer eveytime you poke at the matter, simply smiling warmly before resuming to his tasks

[peanutpinet]

Protection - Mafia! Jungwoo x fem reader

A/N: yes, this is another mafia NCT, this time, for a member that I rarely ever did but because my lovely friend @mymoodwriting is a fan of Jungwoo and she has always give in to writing for me, I want to do something for her and her bias. Hope you like it, Lin :)

Also, to the one that requested Jaemin, that is my next to-do and I already have a bit of a plot in mind. Minor spoiler in this one. Oh and you don't have to read Jeno, Haechan, or Taeyong's one to understand this but if you want to, I'll link it right below

Synopsis: NCT was developing a new technology to help them expand more and help them to always be one step ahead of their enemy

Warnings: mafia activities, a bit of cursing, slight angst, torture\

Taeyong's story: here

Jeno's story: here

Haechan's story: here

A smile could hide so many things that a person is feeling or doing. Whether it is their feelings or true identity. But Jungwoo learned to use his smile to not only protect his personal feelings but to also hide his true identity.

To his neighbours, Jungwoo was just a smart young man who was working in one of the best tech companies in the country, Neo-Tech. When in reality, Jungwoo co-owns the tech company along with Lee Taeyong, the leader of NCT, an infamous mafia in South Korea that has members from different parts of the world and has worldwide connections.

The only thing that people didn’t know was the core NCT members. While everyone knew the core leaders, Lee Taeyong, Mark Lee, and Qian Kun. There were many other core members under the leaders who were not made known to the world and oftentimes were just blending among the regular people. One of which was Jungwoo.

Walking into the tall building, Jungwoo greeted every single worker, from the security, the administration, to even the cleaning services of the building; all with a smile. Despite his tall, slightly unreachable figure, Jungwoo tries to be kind to everyone. Jungwoo would help the old lady from finance bring her paperwork, hold the door to the content team who were bringing big and heavy filming equipment to help his coworker’s work even if it wasn’t what he did.

Arriving at his desk, Jungwoo took his regular working laptop and got to work which was helping the HR filter out some candidates for an internship to be working under Jungwoo. Hours went by and Jungwoo started to get a bit hungry so he ordered some food while going to the breakroom to get coffee when he saw Taeyong and his personal assistant, Doyoung walking pass the breakroom. Stopping when he noticed Jungwoo gossipping with one of his coworkers.

“Ehem” Taeyong coughed, grabbing both Jungwoo and his coworker’s attention. “My office, now, Jungwoo” Taeyong stated, leaving his office but Jungwoo caught Doyoung eyeing and signalling him to come asap

“Sorry, I have to go. Boss is calling. But I hope that your operation will go well, Ms Choi” Jungwoo replied, throwing the paper cup into the trash as he went back to his desk to grab the necessary paperwork and laptop to Taeyong’s office, not forgetting to lock the door and closing the blinds

“You wanted to see me, boss” Jungwoo joked, acting as if he was a new worker in the company

“Drop the act, Jungwoo” Taeyong stated, unamused

“Geez, would it kill you to just live a little?” Jungwoo shrugged, sitting across Taeyong while Doyoung stood next to him. “Also, since when do you follow TY around?” Jungwoo asked, looking at Doyoung

“I’m part of the HR team here and his personal assistant regarding other business” Doyoung replied, rolling his eyes at the younger one

“Still. You follow him around like a pet” Jungwoo commented, annoying Doyoung that he almost strangled Jungwoo

“Enough. I can’t believe the younger ones are more easier to tame than you both” Taeyong reminded, making the two younger members stop

“So, what is it that you need from me? Broken weapons? Need an upgrade for your vehicle?” Jungwoo asked, crossing his leg over the other one

“Doyoung” Taeyong commanded and Doyoung took his tab out that showed a resume of a young college girl, placing it right in front of Jungwoo

“A college student?” Jungwoo questioned, swiping the tab to read more of the girl. “Holy. She’s from Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST)?! Top of her class?! Researched about the potential worldwide satellite tracker?!” Jungwoo gasped

“She’s applying for internship here and will be directly under you. I want you to get close and work together to figure out that worldwide satellite tracker” Taeyong stated, making Jungwoo stopped scrolling

“You mean, you actually want me and this girl to upgrade our current satellite tracker to be able to be used worldwide?! Hyung, I’ve been researching and doing trials here and there for the past few months. I—” Jungwoo complained but Taeyong stopped him

“Don’t underestimate the girl, Jungwoo. I didn’t underestimate you when you first join us. When your college “friends” betrayed you and used your findings against you” Taeyong stated, standing up from his chair and swiped the tab once again

“She’s won multiple science fair since junior high. Always at the top of her class when it comes to anything science or maths related subject. Always receive scholarships since high school up till university. Her research on the worldwide satellite tracker won multiple attention from many other scientists. Even the US government wanted her knowledge. But of course, our government made a deal with us and it would benefit us greatly if you both actually managed to complete that tracker” Taeyong explained. “I don’t need you both to finish it that quickly but I need you to get as many information from her to upgrade our current tracker. She’s only going to be interning with us for only 6 months. Make them count” Taeyong added, placing a handful of the intern’s research in front of Jungwoo right as there was a knock to the door

“Come in” Taeyong mentioned. “Sorry to disturb you sir, the intern is here” the building’s security mentioned. “Right, bring her in, thank you” Taeyong mentioned and the security opened the door wider to reveal the new intern

“H-hi” the intern stuttered, clearly nervous when entering the boss’ room

“Hi. Don’t be nervous. Come, take a seat. That’s Jungwoo, by the way. He’s going to be your supervisor throughout your internship” Taeyong greeted the new intern

“H-hi. I’m (y/n). Please to meet you” the intern bowed at the older men before taking her seat right beside Jungwoo

“Hi. I’m Jungwoo. Welcome aboard! I promise you that you’ll learn lots of things and there won’t ever be a dull day with me around” Jungwoo exclaimed, taking in on (y/n)’s feature

“Oh, is that my research on the worldwide satellite tracker?” (y/n) questioned, looking at the paper on Taeyong’s table

“Right. I was just telling Jungwoo that you were also researching about that tracker. Jungwoo himself has been trying different things and I believe that with you onboard, it would help him a lot. You don’t have to finish it by the end of your internship. But if Jungwoo does manage to finish it with your help, there’ll be a big bonus for both of you” Taeyong explained

“I’ve never actually tried it myself since you know, I don’t have the equipment” (y/n) mentioned

“Then this is the perfect time for us to try it together. We have the equipment and you have the brains!” Jungwoo exclaimed, making (y/n) chuckle. “Yes, we can”

“Well, looks like the two of you are getting along. I trust Jungwoo will teach you around. Also, we don’t to overtime unless there’s a launching event but you don’t have to worry about that because we’ll compensate you for it. If Jungwoo gets a bit too much, feel free to tell Doyoung here. He’s the main HR of the company and my personal assistant” Taeyong explained

“Got it, boss!” (y/n) exclaimed back. “Here’s your laptop and welcome goodie bag. Jungwoo will show you around before actually giving you your tasks” Taeyong mentioned, taking out a laptop and goodie bag, handing it to (y/n)

“Oh?! Thank you!” (y/n) thanked Taeyong. “Here, let me help you. Let’s go, shall we?” Jungwoo offered, taking (y/n)’s laptop and standing up from his seat

Right before both Jungwoo and (y/n) leave, Taeyong called out to Jungwoo. “Jungwoo. Think about it” Taeyong reminded the younger one as Jungwoo and (y/n) left

Jungwoo’s POV After the little meeting with Taeyong, I helped (y/n) take some of her things to her new table which was right beside mine. Introducing her to the rest of the team before bringing her around the office for a mini office tour.

We started off with the regular floor which is where everyone does their work, a mini breakroom to make coffee or heat up some food or drinks. I then directed her towards our pantry where people can come to cook, have breakfast because as cold as Taeyong looks, he’s pretty considerate and provide different kinds of food, beverages, and snacks for everyone.

“Can we really take any of these food and drinks?” (y/n) asked

“Of course. I know Taeyong might look intimidating but he’s a very considerate boss. He pays us all well. He doesn’t push us. He would oftentime be hands on in some of the work, especially when it’s a busy week like launching a new product. You have nothing to worry about when Taeyong is the boss. Well, as long as you don’t get on his bad side” I joked

We then went to the floor where we do product testing where everyone run tests on the products, tries it, making revisions on the spot and even taking product pictures and video shots.

“So, this is where we do all our testing. We have 2 floors for testing. Well, we mainly use this floor for testing and the other floor is more so for product shots and videos. Sometimes with models as well” I explained

“Jungwoo, I need your help because Hae— is this the new intern?” I heard Jaehyun calling out to me

“Yeah, meet (y/n), the new intern. She’s directly under me. (y/n) meet…” I introduced (y/n) but apparently it seems that she knows Jaehyun first

“Jung Jaehyun, right? I’ve seen you model for Prada. Your last drama series was also amazing! I can’t believe that I get to see you. In real life!” (y/n) exclaimed, making Jaehyun’s ears turn bright red. “Thank you for the compliment, it’s always a pleasure to meet a fan. I hope Jungwoo hasn’t been too much for you” Jaehyun replied

“I’m right here?! What were you saying again, hyung?” I asked

“We can talk later, Jungwoo” Jaehyun brushed me off. “So, (y/n), I heard that you did research regarding the worldwide satellite tracker?” Jaehyun asked (y/n)

“Yeap. It was just a theory. But Taeyong boss said that me and Jungwoo oppa might be able to test the theory out!” (y/n) explained, her energy was very cheerful despite being at the office this early in the morning

“I’m sure you’ll figure it out. I read your research paper and let me tell you, you’re definitely smarter than Jungwoo” Jaehyun half-whispered. “I heard you, hyung!” I scoffed whereas (y/n) just giggled

“A-are you a fan of all these science things? Sorry, I didn’t mean to just, you seem quite different from your on-screen persona” (y/n) asked

“No worries. I guess it’s because I’ve been a close friend of Taeyong for a long time. We go back since like senior year of high school and we’ve helped each other since. When Taeyong said that he needed my help to model his products, I was more than happy to help since Taeyong had helped me before. Plus, I used to suck with technology until this one taught me some tricks I could do with some of the products” Jaehyun explained, pointing at me

“Okay!! That’s enough backstory of you and Taeyong-hyung. Come (y/n), let’s go to the other floors and then we can start upgrading the satellite system” I mentioned, placing my hands on both of (y/n)’s shoulders, guiding her away from Jaehyun

“Don’t forget that I need to talk to you later, Jungwoo!” Jaehyun exclaimed and I waved him off

After bringing (y/n) around, it was lunchtime and I took (y/n) to our cafeteria and got her some food as we sat near the entrance since we came in a bit later than everyone else. Right as we were talking and getting to know each other, Haechan decided to come and disturb us.

“Hi. The name is Haechan. You must be the new intern” Haechan mentioned, sliding right beside (y/n) who was shocked at the sudden presence beside her

“Ya! You can’t just suddenly waltz in like that. Can’t you see we’re having lunch and how scared she is? Ignore him. He’s just a weirdo” I mentioned, reassuring (y/n) that Haechan is harmless

“I’m alright, Jungwoo-oppa, thank you. Hi! I’m (y/n), nice to meet you” (y/n) replied, taking her hand out which Haechan took to shake

“See, Jungwoo. You’re overreacting. Anyways, I’m Haechan, as I’ve mentioned. I work part-time here as the IT guy and part-time streamer. If there’s anything wrong with your laptop or anything wrong in terms of your technology, I’m the guy for it” Haechan boasted himself, making me scoff

“Thank you, Haechan. I’ll keep that in mind” (y/n) giggled

“Another thing to keep in mind is to not get on Taeyong’s bad side, you can bully Doyoung whenever you like because it’s fun. Oh and, I’m not sure if Jungwoo mentioned this to you already but do not. I repeat. Do. Not. Go to the absolutely forbidden place in this entire building. The backup backup storage room. Whether someone you know is in there and needs your help, do not go in there. Even if you have the access, you ask? Yes. Do not go in there” Haechan pointed out a piece of information that I accidentally forgot to mention

“Why? You keep dead bodies in there?” (y/n) joked, making me and Haechan look at each other

“Just don’t go in there, (y/n). You might not have access to that room but just in case if anyone who has it accidentally drops it, don’t use it to go in there. Even if there is an earthquake or whatever disaster” I mentioned, my tone was serious that it might’ve scared her a bit

“Okay. I won’t. I promise. Oh, lunchtime is over, shall we go, Jungwoo-oppa?” (y/n) asked

“Yeap. Let’s go grab some snacks from the snack bar and then start our work of the day” I exclaimed, helping (y/n) grab her tray. “See you later, Haechan” I mentioned

“Bye, hyung. Bye (y/n)!!” Haechan exclaimed

After grabbing some snacks, (y/n) and I went to one of the testing rooms to get started on our worldwide satellite tracker. I started by telling her about our current satellite tracking system which uses the current South Korean database hence we could find anyone in South Korea.

“It’s more complex when we’re talking worldwide database and we have already tried to access lots of the database from here and there but sometimes the connection would cut off” I explained, showing (y/n) the database that we had connected to the satellite

“Ahh right, I mentioned this in my thesis. I wrote that we need connectors in each continent like one in Asia, one in Europe. It acts like a phone, like our SNS in a way. You connect with one another to give and take information with each other” (y/n) explained

“Great. All we have to do is just build the connection devices, right?” I exclaimed

“Not quite. Each connection/transmitter device needs to be built with a chip that connects each of them together and activates them as a transmitter that links the data with one another” (y/n) explained. “Meaning, we need to create a chip that can be linked to our own devices so whenever our database is updated, so do the transmitters and the satellite” (y/n) added on

“Well then, what are we waiting for? Let’s get to work!” I exclaimed, smiling at (y/n) as she turned a slight pink hue

Time Skip to 5 Months Later

Throughout the past 5 months of (y/n)’s internship, we’ve gotten closer and even went to hang out with each other outside of working hours. I’ve come to know that (y/n) didn’t have the brightest childhood with her parents being harsh on her as she was their oldest daughter.

Not only that, she was always compared to her other family members who either are running a business, a doctor/lawyer, married to a rich guy and have kids already, and the list just goes on. It was heartbreaking to hear a young talented and smart girl being put down like this just because she was different from what most girls enjoy.

Plus, I also found out that her parents didn’t like her taking mechanical engineering, saying how it’s “too manly” and they even went as far as not wanting to fund her degree. But luckily enough, (y/n) was a smart and bright girl that she managed to get a fully funded scholarship from the university.

Throughout those 5 months, both (y/n) and I have slowly built all the chips that were linked to our main computer where our team would always update the database and while we haven't gotten to the exact part of building the transmitters, we have made much more progress as compared to before (y/n) joined us.

Because of this, I talked to Taeyong about potentially bringing (y/n) into our company full-time which he agreed since we were making a lot of progress because we’ve tested the chips on other devices between our internal NCT members to connect the database and it worked perfectly fine. Now the only thing left was building the transmitters; which is the easier job and then assembling everything and testing it in a larger distance. Which is the hard part.

3rd POV

But of course, building the machines wasn’t just the hard part because Haechan mentioned that there was a mole in the company who was working for one of NCT’s enemies who was also in the tech industry. While NCT wasn’t looking to sell our worldwide satellite tracking system, our enemies were and they have been eyeing (y/n) ever since her thesis on the tracking system went viral.

During lunchtime, Jungwoo was talking with (y/n) and Haechan like any other day when Kyungtae, one of their IT employees went up to their table, telling Jungwoo and Haechan that there was a bug, a virus in the company’s main computer, saying that one of the new IT guys accidentally bugged their computer which spread out through the company’s central computer.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me. I told you that the new guy was weird. C’mon, Taeyong is gonna kill us” Haechan exclaimed

“(y/n), you’ll most probably leave early today so don’t wait on me. I’ll call a cab for you, alright?” Jungwoo mentioned, getting up along with Haechan. “Thanks for letting us know, Kyungtae” Jungwoo added, patting Kyungtae on his shoulder

“No problem, hyung” Kyungtae replied, patting Jungwoo back

“Alright. Be careful then, two of you! Hope everything will get resolved quickly” (y/n) reassured them, offering a smile as she watched the two males leave her

“You’re the new intern, (y/n), right?” Kyungtae asked, looking at (y/n)

“Yeap, that’s me. I think I’ve seen you before. You’re from IT, right? Sorry, I don’t know your name. I’m always in the lab with Jungwoo-oppa” (y/n) replied

“No worries. It’s Kyungtae. I heard that Jungwoo was going to call a cab for you, do you happen to go home alone?” Kyungtae asked

“Yeap. Typically I take public transportation but Jungwoo-oppa has been dropping me off since he found out I took public transport late at night” (y/n) replied

“Well, I can take you home, if you’d like. Jungwoo is right to take you home since it’s not really safe to be going home alone late at night” Kyungtae offered

“I’ll think about it. If I do, I’ll need to text Jungwoo-oppa first. Anyways, I think I should get back to my work. I’m finishing up my transmitters and my internship report. See you later, Kyungtae-oppa” (y/n) replied, slightly bowing before leaving the office canteen and going back to her work

Jungwoo’s POV

Haechan and I rushed to Taeyong’s office after walking past the IT section who were all in chaos trying to figure out the virus that was spreading through the computer. Knocking on Taeyong’s office door, we heard a rough sound from Taeyong, telling us to come in.

“Hyung? We heard what happened” I mentioned, coming in with Haechan

“It’s not just a regular virus. Someone breached all of our security and nearly reached the one that NCT made” Taeyong replied, showing us each security wall that was breached

“Shit. Let me check it real quick, hyung” Haechan exclaimed, going over towards Taeyong’s desk and opening the computer to review all the security walls that were broken by the virus

“Also, there’s a mole working in this company” Taeyong pointed out, making both me and Haechan look at him in shock. “Do you have any leads on who it could be?” I asked

“Someone from IT. Because the only people who would and could access anything on our database would be the IT system and engineer. But I’m 100% sure that it’s the IT because only someone that smart and knows the computer and system back and forth would be able to come here and even hack into the system” Taeyong replied

“Hyung!! We need access to the NCT system” Haechan mentioned

“Alright, let’s go there then” Taeyong replied as the 3 of us headed to the forbidden storage room where we have one of NCT’s main computers that helps power up all the tech and database for the company.

However, upon reaching and opening the door to the storage room, all three of us were shocked to see (y/n) in the room. Without even thinking, I yanked (y/n)’s wrist. Questioning her on why she was here. “What are you doing here?! Who brought you in here?! You’re going to get in trouble” I exclaimed

“What’s the difference with you?” (y/n) whispered back, making me confused

“What are you?” I asked. “You used me. All of you! You just wanted me to finish your satellite and then ditch me, weren’t you?” (y/n) confronted and that’s when I noticed all the computers behind her showing all her background information

“(y/n), let’s talk about this, alright?” I reasoned but she yanked her arm away from my grip and walked away, standing in front of Taeyong

“Are you going to do some MIB shit and wipe my memory of all of this? Or are you going to put me somewhere until you know what you want to do to me?” (y/n) asked and Taeyong let out a long harsh sigh. “You didn’t see much since the important information is completely protected by the top cyber security in the country. So, go to my office and wait until I get back” Taeyong stated and (y/n) just slightly bowed before leaving the room, leaving the three of us together

“Which one of you lost the card?” Taeyong asked right when (y/n) left and the door was locked again

“I have it with me since I was the one that opened it” Haechan replied and both him and Taeyong looked over at me

“It’s in my…” I mumbled but as I rummaged in every single one of my pockets, it was nowhere and I instantly panicked. “Shit. I, I lost it. I swear I always have it with me, hyung” I exclaimed

“Haechan, fix the virus that’s spreading in the company. I’ll find Jungwoo’s key access card” Taeyong-hyung stated, going towards one of the computers to find my card since every single one of our cards have a tracking chip on it

“My card. It’s…” I mumbled. “Moving. Someone stole your card. Recall anyone touching you near your pockets or anything? Because it’s moving fast from this building to another…” Taeyong asked as he tries to use our current satellite tracker to track my card

I tried to recall who would steal the card or who touched me, specifically my pockets throughout the day since I know for a fact that I still had my card the other day. Right as I was trying to remember, Jaehyun suddenly called us through our in-ear.

“Guys. Is (y/n) alright? I saw her going into Taeyong’s office but right when I walked past again, she was gone. I asked someone if they saw anything and one of the staff mentioned that Kyungtae was carrying her and that she was unconscious. Kyungtae said that she fainted right as he was putting some paperwork into Taeyong’s office” Jaehyun mentioned

“She was fine literally a few minutes ago” Haechan replied, finally fixing the cyber security of our company. “Hyung, you might want to check this” Haechan exclaimed and we went to his side right as Haechan opened the front security camera and saw Kyungtae putting (y/n) in a black minivan

“Jaehyun! Go with Jeno and find this van” Taeyong exclaimed, sending Jaehyun and Jeno the security footage that we just saw

“Jungwoo. Finish that global tracker. We need it. Kyungtae must know that there’s a tracker chip in that card. He’s going to eventually take that chip out. So I suggest you finish that tracker while you can” Taeyong instructed

“But hyung, the transmitters should be placed in each continent to collect the data” I debated. “We don’t need to go that far just yet. But we do need every information about (y/n) and Kyungtae. I’m sure that that won’t be so hard since it’s just an upgrade from our Korea tracker” Taeyong replied

“Alright. I’m going to grab the chips and put it in the computer” I mentioned, going out of the room to grab the chips that both me and (y/n) finished making and even testing

Back in the storage room, both Haechan and I put in the chips with the new database and started to look for (y/n) and Kyungtae through every single security camera in South Korea. Hacking into every tech device that has a built-in camera to search for their faces, what vehicles are they in, and even tracking their live location.

“Taeyong. The signal is gone. They took out the chip” Jaehyun stated. “Jungwoo” Taeyong called out to me

“We’re just about done, hyung. Our computer is using the satellite to connect with every tech devices in South Korea. There we go, they…They’re at the harbour in Busan. They’re going to make an escape to another country!” I exclaimed, immediately rushing out

“Hold on!” Taeyong exclaimed. “Haechan, I’ll have Doyoung come here and accompany you. Standby and keep us updated. Jaehyun, Jeno, go after them. Make sure they don’t escape. Go on the ship if you have to. Jungwoo, you can bring one of the chips and they’ll still be connected with the one Haechan is handling, right?” Taeyong added and I nodded

“Alright. Grab one of the chips, we’re going to sea. I’ll let Yuta, Hendery, and Johnny know that we might need their help since it’ll be on sea” Taeyong mentioned and I quickly followed him

Arriving at the Busan harbour, Jaehyun and Jeno told us that Kyungtae hasn’t left yet because according to Yuta and his Japan team, they were waiting for backup from Japan but Yuta and his team found out about it first and hijacked their ship so when Kyungtae is waiting for backup, it’ll actually be our backup.

After Taeyong instructed us on the plan, both Jaehyun and Jeno immediately confronted Kyungtae who was immediately flustered. “Better stop what you’re thinking. Even if you escape, we’ll always find you again” Jaehyun mentioned but Kyungtae just laughed

“Because you build that tracker that can track almost anyone? So what? I have the girl that can build a device to counter yours” Kyungtae exclaimed but Taeyong and I immediately came towards the other side, cornering Kyungtae

“No way we’re letting you take her with you” I exclaimed, grabbing everyone’s attention

“Right, because you need her to finish your little transmitters?” Kyungtae questioned, taking the blueprints that both (y/n) and I worked day and night to finish then ripped it in front of us right as a ship from Japan arrived

“Even if the leader of NCT himself is here, you all can’t possibly match up against a lot of people, now can you?” Kyungtae chuckled as he took an unconscious (y/n) out of his car, making sure to hold a knife right by her neck, just to make sure that we wouldn’t do anything

But right as Kyungtae thought that it was his backup that came, Yuta held a gun right behind Kyungtae’s head, making him shudder. “I think you want to rethink that” Yuta growled right as Jeno and Jaehyun handled Kyungtae while I took (y/n) out of Kyungtae’s grip

Jungwoo’s apartment - 9:12 pm

It’s been hours since I came back and Xiaojun and Kun took a look at (y/n), telling me that she was just asleep since Kyungtae most probably drugged her and the only injury she had were just a few bruises which Kun concluded that she got them from trying to fight off Kyungtae.

Not knowing when she’d wake up, I decided to clean up the apartment, cook some soup just in case (y/n) woke up hungry and showered. Right when I finished my shower, I heard some shuffling from (y/n)’s room and quietly opened the door to see her slowly wake up.

“Hey. Are you hungry? I made some soup” I uttered, grabbing (y/n)’s attention but she didn’t respond to me. Instead, she just scanned the room she was in. “You’re in my apartment. I brought you back here. To make sure that you’re alright. And to apologise” I added but (y/n) still didn’t respond so I just kept on going.

“I’m sorry that it might seem that I, Taeyong, and the company were using you by offering you a large amount of income. But I’m not sorry that we were the ones that took you in first. Sure, maybe during the first few weeks was just me trying to get more information out of you but after a few months, all that thought of using you was gone. I even convinced Taeyong that you should join us, permanently. We were about to break the news to you but then you went into the storage room and found some of our information” I admitted. “I know that it might feel that we, I, am betraying you because I know how much you yearned for that recognition from someone close to you and it seemed that we were using you but we’re not. And I promise you that you’ll be save under us” I added, sitting right by her feet

“It’s not like I got much of a choice, is it? Even if you guys let me off and I want to just bury everything underground, you will always be watching me and I don’t want that” (y/n) finally uttered and I instinctively grabbed her hand. “You’ll always have a choice. I promise you that. Watching over you is not because you saw something that’s supposed to be a secret but because I made it so that you’re under our protection” I replied

“I know that things might’ve gotten a bit…rough but I hope that you’ll forgive us because it’d be a bummer if we don’t get to finish that thesis of yours” I joked, making (y/n) chuckle a bit

“I get that you guys have your secrets but don’t ever do something like this to another person. Ever.” (y/n) argued and I chuckled. “Promise” I smiled at her

NCT Base - 2:17 am

“This is like the third guy that won’t admit unless Taeyong gracefully walks in and enlightens us with his presence” Haechan groaned

“What do you expect, he’s the leader after all” Jeno replied, making Haechan roll his eyes

“I expect for us to be done quicker so I can go home and cuddle” Haechan ranted. “Why don’t we just, you know, somewhat drown him but not drown him? Just make it so that he’s on the verge of not being able to breathe, you know?” Haechan added on, standing right behind Kyungtae. “I mean, you wanted to go to Japan, right? How about we help you, you know, just in case your ship drowns and you have to swim all the way to Japan?” Haechan provoked

“Lee Haechan” Taeyong scolded, making the younger one backed away. “No fun at all” Haechan scoffed

“You had your fun, remember Haechan?” Taeyong stated, making Haechan huff in annoyance

“Going to talk? Or I’ll let Jungwoo and Haechan have their way with you. Who do you work for and why do you want (y/n)?” Taeyong questioned

“You don’t know. Do you?” Kyungtae scoffed but it intrigued Taeyong

“See, I have many enemies. And many wanted (y/n) to work for them so they could have the most advanced technology. Unfortunately for you and your client, we have her first” Taeyong replied

“My client doesn’t want (y/n) to just advance their technology. There’s a specific person he’s searching for” Kyungtae stated but when Taeyong questioned him again, Kyungtae stayed silent

Taeyong looked over to Jungwoo and signalled him. Jungwoo then moved to stick some patches on the side of Kyungtae’s temple. “Wh-what are you doing?!” Kyungtae protested

“Nothing much. Be grateful that you’re going to be our first test subject” Jungwoo smiled as he turned on the machine, shocking Kyungtae’s brain, making him have an intense headache but also gathering some data

“Who is this specific person that they’re looking for? My members? Me?” Taeyong questioned again but Kyungtae refused to answer again which made Jungwoo send more shockwaves to his brain

“See, we have all night to do this and when we get tired and bored with your brain, we can have other kinds of fun. Maybe even let Haechan help you swim” Taeyong taunted

“You. You don’t understand. He’ll kill me if I admit everything to you” Kyungtae pleaded

“Could be worse. I’d have you torture first until you admit something or you wish we would’ve killed you. Now talk while I’m being patient. Who is it” Taeyong taunted

When Kyungtae didn’t let out any sound, Jungwoo was ready to fire the shockwave again until Taeyong stopped him. Telling him that Kyungtae let out a whisper. A name. A name that he hasn’t heard since the day he helped Na Jaemin. Nam Goongmin.

A/N: Yeap, that's a tiny spoiler for the next mafia story, Na Jaemin :)) Also to anyone who wants to request a fanfic while also supporting my writing, you can request it on my Fiverr. Hope you all enjoyed reading this story and I'll see y'all in the next one. Stay safe and healthy xoxo vinet

Support me on Fiverr

[green-ville]

Down Came The Rain

TW: guy gets thrown out a window 

                                               Recluse Chapter 4

           Synopsis: They opened up a world of possibilities for her. Some would even say a multiverse. Miguel O’Hara thought she was an anomaly, and perhaps she was. She didn’t really care.

           They showed to her that there was a world where she had died, and her Peter Parker had lived. She was going to do whatever it took to get to that world, even if it meant teaming up with a villain that went by the name Scarlet Witch. 

 _______

           The next time she woke up, there was a man there that she didn’t know. He was large, his suit was red and blue, but the colors were darker. Another variation. Another fake.

           “You’re trouble,” he stated, arms crossed over his chest.

           Recluse flipped him off. “Didn’t ask, don’t care.”

           She unscrewed the IV, shut off the beeping IV pole, and prepared to stand.

           The man blocked her, and when she looked up, she fixed him with a glare. “Not a smart idea.”

           “Neither is it for you to stand. You lost a lot of blood. You passed out the last time you stood. Maybe stay sitting this time.”

           “I want to go home. I’ve had enough of this, whatever this even is. I don’t want to know, I just want to go home.” She stressed the last word unintentionally. She was getting emotional and she was struggling to suppress it.

           What she needed was a full out sob, hyperventilation session, and she refused to do that in front of others.

           “You can’t go home.” He stated. “Your home is gone, because you’re an anomaly. You were never supposed to become Spider Man, Peter Parker was never supposed to die, and you killing off all the villains just threw your worlds canon to the dumpster. We tried to contain it but it was unsalvageable, you messed up too much, and now it’s gone. You should be gone too, but then you made that speech about who Spider Man truly was, and Gwen got sappy and saved you.”

           Her jaw tightened, and her fists clenched around the sheets. “What did you just say?”

           For those that didn’t know; when a woman asks you to repeat yourself, run. She’s made up her mind. Your sentence has been set. There was no hope for you.

           The tall, large Spider Man didn’t seem to know this. “Your world is dead. Erased from existence. You are all that’s left. Welcome to your new home.”

~

           “I don’t know if I like Miguel talking to Recluse,” Gwen Stacy said. “He’s not the softest person to break the news.”

           Jessica Drews ate another fry. “Honey, ask yourself this; is there really a soft way to tell someone their entire world is gone and that they’re not supposed to exist?”

           Gwen guffawed. “Well there’s a lot of room to go up from there! Geez, it’s not like she wanted to be an anomaly! I watched her, remember? I was on the police force? She wasn’t a terrible leader, you know. I actually liked her.”

           “Spider Man isn’t supposed to be a Captain of the police force.”

           “But, she never posed as Spider Man. I heard her say it, she always told the bad guy that she wasn’t Spider Man. And. . .I don’t know. I guess I just have trouble with the whole killing the bad guy thing. Why does it make her an anomaly when mine died too?”

           Jessica shook her head, brown eyes sad. “Gwen, you never set out to kill anyone. And it doesn’t automatically make it non-canon to set out to kill the bad guy. A lot of Spidermen have done that, Spiderwomen too. The difference is, we always stop ourselves. We hold back. We do not kill. Sometimes they do die because we couldn’t save them, but we never actively set out to kill, and accomplished it. She did. She set out to kill, and she accomplished it. Every time.”

           “But. . .” Gwen shook her head, hating that she was going to say this. “Did you see her world? Her city? It was nice. Clean.”

           “It was,” Jessica agreed. “But her actions also brought other variants into her world. And they would’ve kept coming. More enemies until she would’ve been overwhelmed and she would’ve gone too. . .” Jessica sighed, “I’m not gonna say you did good or bad Gwen. I don’t really know myself. I don’t understand how she came to be, how Peter Parker died, how any of it happened. What was the catalyst that pushed all of this? I don’t know. What I do know is – “

           Jessica stopped talking. Gwen straightened up, and Jess followed. They both looked up together, at the side of their HQ, and saw it.

           From high above, a man had just been thrown out a window. It was unmistakably their leader, Miguel O’Hara, who had just been talking with Recluse.

           Jessica finished her sentence: “What I do know is we need to go to Recluse right now.”

           Gwen was already taking off. Jessica left her fries and threw her leg around her bike, revving her engine and speeding after her.

 ~

           It was too much, only this time, she didn’t pass out.

           He kept going. He explained the multiverse, how it was real, how there were an infinite amount of realities. There was a reality where she died and Peter Parker lived, continuing to be the hero he was supposed to be. But, there was an idiot on earth 19-9999 that messed everything up. There was a Doctor Strange that rewrote reality in order to erase the exposed identity of Spider Man, and while he amended things in the end, it still had cataclysmic repercussions.

           She asked why her Peter Parker died, and he only got madder at her. He blamed her, saying she messed with the canon. She condemned her world.

           Recluse argued that she fixed it after Peter died. It went to shit, and she cleaned it up. She took crime off the streets.

           The masked idiot only said “Spider Man doesn’t kill.”

           That was when she threw him out the window. It wasn’t as easy as picking him up without resistance and chucking him, he fought back. She webbed up his hands, his ankles, she webbed his hands to his ankles.

           It was his own fault for being so slow.

           She had grabbed him and sharp blades jutted out from his forearms. Recluse hissed, the blades slicing easy. He almost freed himself. He would’ve freed himself. She got him to the window first and chucked him through it.

           The wind blew into her as she watched him fall. “I’m not Spider Man!” She shouted, and whirled back around. Her plan was to leave, she didn’t know how, but she was going to leave.

           Her answer awaited her in the most perfect way possible. On the ground sat a watch that was not really a watch. At first, she didn’t expect it to be such an amazing escape plan for her. When she picked it up, the idea dawned on her.

           The watch showed which earth she was on. On the side, there was a dial, and as she turned it, the number turned with it.

           She kept dialing until she landed on the earth she wanted.

           When the number settled, a portal opened before her. It was comprised of several orange yellow octagonal outlines overlapping each other, getting narrower and narrower until it all meshed together. Wind blew at her again, the lights just bright enough for her to want to squint.

           Recluse had learned early on that hesitation was not the way to go. She walked forward, holding that watch, and disappeared into the portal. It shrunk behind her just as a scream reached her ears.

           It was unlike anything she had ever experienced. She had flown thanks to her powers. She had flown with Peter, before she ever got them. She preferred the latter, just holding onto him as they swung through the city. She had no power there, but she had never felt stronger.

           This was solitude again, but different. She felt strong, like she was regaining control of her life. Finally doing something for herself, going to find the man she loved. Finally fighting to no longer be alone. And she’d give it all up if that’s what it took. If there could only be one Spider, she’d give it up. He had always done it better.

           She just wanted him.

           She soared through a clear tube like thing that wasn’t really a tube, but she didn’t know how to describe it. She reached out, and her hand wasn’t stopped by anything, and yet there were octagonal points every ten feet that led her forward. It was clearly connected somehow.

           It started to widen, and she saw the end. A cabin in the woods with snow on the ground.

           She shot out of the portal and rolled across the ground hard, hitting the first wooden step that rose up to the patio. Everything ached and she could feel warmth in her stomach where the stitches had pulled. The snow froze her quick, touching her bare arms and legs, seeping through her thin hospital gown.

           Recluse stood, arms shaking as she propped herself up. Blood stained the snow from her cut hands. When she saw it, her heart clenched.

           The watch had cracked with her rough landing.

           She grabbed it, muttering “no no no no no,” and turned the dial to see if another portal would open. It sparked with electricity, numbers fighting to change but unable to. She cursed and threw it at the nearest tree, only helping it to break the rest of the way.

           Recluse didn’t know if it was karma for her actions, or just terrible timing, but then her entire body glitched. It was like she was in a video game and the game was scratched. She sputtered, going in and out of existence, curling in on herself and struggling to breathe. It was no longer than five seconds but it felt like an eternity.

           When it stopped, she sucked in a shaky, deep breath, now grateful for the snow to calm her sweating self. As she calmed down, she noticed the woman lowering down from the grey skies. She wore a grey sweater to match, front tucked into leggings. Her boots were knee high. Her reddish brown hair rested in soft waves. There was a crimson glow from her fingers that matched the pupils of her eyes.

           She set down ten feet away, staring at Recluse.

           Recluse forced herself into a stand. Her knees shook, and she pressed her hand into her stomach.

           The other woman talked first. “Who are you?” Slow, tainted with an accent. Her fingers kept moving, those crimson whisps curling off her fingers.

           “I’m not here to hurt you,” Recluse disclaimed, too tired to fight anymore. “I’m just here for Peter.”

           “Peter?” The woman repeated, eyes narrowed.

           “Peter Parker. My. . . .In another world he’s my husband. He died. And. . .And I know that probably sounds insane, in another world, but it’s true, I just saw it. I was just in this weird spider society thing, they said I killed my world, that I shouldn’t exist, but it’s not like I was given a play book on what I was supposed to do!” The tears were coming, she was going to cry. She couldn’t do that in front of a total stranger! “He died and I just wanted to avenge him because all he ever wanted to do was good, and that’s what he did. He was a hero, he didn’t deserve to die, and I tried to make the world better like he would’ve wanted, but apparently I ruined it! And now I’m told there are an infinite number of him, and I met one of them but he doesn’t know who I am. He didn’t know me, so there has to be one that does. In an infinite number, there has to be at least one that knows me and that wants me.” The tears slid down her red cheeks, her bare feet cold in the snow.

           The woman tilted her head, as if she could see into Recluse’s mind. Trying to see if she was lying or not.

           It unnerved her.

           Until she started to speak, still slow, her accent soothing. “I lost the man I loved too,” the red glow from her fingertips died. “And I lost my children next. You. . .you had a child.”

           Recluse wiped her tears, shaking softly. “He didn’t make it to second trimester. He was never really mine.”

           “I’m sorry,” the woman apologized. “I understand, I want to help.”

            Hope built. “You know where Peter is?”

           “I do, but the Peter of this world is not the one you’re looking for. I will help you find your Peter, if you help me find my children. If we work together, we can have what we once had again.”

           “How -ah!” Recluse cried out, glitching again, falling to her knees as she went in and out of existence. As some of her organs stayed, some left. As some of her limbs stayed, others left. She broke apart randomly until a red glow washed over her, and she could breathe again.

           She was on her side, limbs going weak after it.

           The woman kneeled beside her, resting her hand on her shoulder. “You need me to survive here, Sarah Parker. I will make it so you never glitch again. I will give you everything you need, I will help you find your husband. All you need to do is agree to help me get my family too.”

           Sarah blinked through the tears, body riddled with pain. “How do you know my name?” She whispered.

           The red eyed woman blinked. “As you have your powers, I have my own. Now, do you agree?”

           Sarah nodded, tears wetting her hair. She croaked out her answer for 100% certainty. “Yes. I’ll help you.”

           The woman smiled, and that red glow traveled up. It encompassed her. The woman stood, stepping back, and Sarah was picked off the ground. Her hair fell back, her spine curved, and her heart went erratic as she had no power over her body. She went from horizontal to vertical, still off the ground, the woman looking up at her.

           “Together,” she promised, “we will get out families back.”

           That red blinded her suddenly and a powerful wind slammed into her. Her arms and legs spread out, blown back, and her hospital gown tightened to her body. The fabric crawled down her limbs until it was full length. Her hair braided tightly, a mask fitting over her face, a hood appearing over that. She couldn’t see half of what was happening until that red glow died and she was set back down, safely on the ground.

           No longer in a hospital gown.

           She could feel the suit beneath, stretching from her fingertips to her toes. Skintight but breathable. Rippled with that spiderweb pattern Peter had geeked out about, only hers wasn’t the correct colors. The spiderweb pattern was red, the base of the suit black. Her mask was the same way, the large black eyes allowing her a good field of view.

           Her hooded cloak was black, the bottom brushing the snow covered ground.                        

           The woman continued, grinning, a spark in her brown eyes. “We will be victorious. Recluse,” her own title sent a chill down her spine from the way the woman said it. “And the Scarlet Witch.”

[oita-division]

“Damn, those numbers could clear a lot of our debt… this really sucks for us.”

“Uncle Teijo, what “S” 100 means? Is it “Sen” 100 like high score? ✨”

“It’s not an ‘S’, Sen. It’s called a dollar sign. You know…like the currency in America that I taught you 3 years ago? Let’s see… if you convert that into yen, that puts a 15,000 yen price on your head.”

“So… money fall on Sen’s head? Sen is… rich now?”

“No, what I meant was…God, how should I say this to a 15 year old kid with the brain of a preschooler?”

“Oi, Ishihara! Come and help me explain Sen about how the Deadpool list thing works!!”

“Iwao….Masuda….THIS IS BULLSHIT!!! RIGGED I TELL YA!!! WHY IS THAT STUPID CLOWN GETS WAY WORTH A MILLION THAN ME?!?!”

“Uncle Ishihara. Angry….”

“Don’t scare Sen like that and really? That’s the only thing that upset you? Get over it, shitty medium”

“That clown is a complete fool. I can’t fathom why those Chuokhu bitches gave him such a high price. He’s not even that famous! What if I head to Sapporo, break into his house, and take him out myself for the grand reward? How does that sound?”

“Geez, what did that magician ever do to you? Even if you tried to take his life, it wouldn’t do you any good. Though, starting a new life in jail doesn’t sound like such a bad idea for you.”

“Everything! Well, mainly his occupation. I can’t stand magicians in general but Iwao is the one I despise the most. His fake cheerful personality and so-called ‘magic’ aren’t convincing at all. Claiming his magic is real and promising to make anyone’s dreams come true—like some fairy godmother nonsense. I’m the one who decides what’s real and what’s not.”

“Stop, killing not good….”

“Whatever, I’ll find another way to get noticed. Honestly, of all people, I can’t believe I lost to that purple nobody.”

“Uncle Ishihara, not a loser. He has big—bigger money than Sen. Sen is happy for Uncle Ishihara. So… don’t cry.”

“I wasn’t crying, and don’t try to sugarcoat things, kid. And yeah, I’m frustrated that your uncle has eight thousand dollars more than I do”

“I can’t blame you for feeling this way. I get it, Ishihara but you need to look at the bigger picture. There are people out there worth a ton of cash compared to us with the lowest value being nine thousand one hundred dollars.”

“Besides, we’ve only just started participating in rap battles. I doubt the governments have much information about us yet, so it’s going to take time for us to get noticed. That makes sense given our situation.”

“Uncle Teijo, you’re no angry, are you?”

“Honestly, I feel just as frustrated as Ishihara. I’m more than a little jealous of those other teams but I’m doing my best to be a rational leader. For now, we’re just a bunch of nobodies in this hellish world. On the bright side, we managed to beat those Wild Shīnu guys to the punch.”

“Sen thinks it’s understanding but Sen believe we will get biggest money in the world than everyone, after we fight and someday, it will make Uncle Teijo and Uncle Ishihara happy”

“Heh, that’s the spirit! But money isn’t my main concern. What I truly care about is how much you’ve been a good kid.However, we also need to prepare for what’s coming because of that ridiculous list. I’d like to see anyone who wants my head even try to come after me. They’ll regret ever stepping foot in my workshop”

I have nothing to lose. Sure, I’ll let them dare to come for me but they won’t see another day of light again when I’m done with those idiots”

“Yes…Sen, too! If someone hurt uncle, Sen will bite the enemies head off and protect uncle and uncle Ishihara…Sen promise”

“Thanks, Sen”

“Ugh, your sappy family bonding is so cringeworthy to watch…fuck it, I’m off to the bathhouse.

Hey, don’t just leave us out. We’re coming with you”

“Bath house!”

Division Rap Battle Dead Pool

Do not ask me what this is and why I am posting it, this is yet another product of the insanity that goes on in our 18+ discord server

Credit to @toyama-division / @suginami-division for the idea! 😈

It’s no surprise that with the formation of the Division Rap Battles by the Japanese Government (also known as Chuohku), many teams have been formed either through coercion or by their own volition, with those teams come many high profile people or very prolific celebrities both old and young. As such, a betting ring was formed, by who? Well, no one knows, it could be from criminals to politicians to random civilians to even other contestants in the very same tournament, all that matters is that every person in the Division Rap Battles has a bounty on their head, this is a list of how much they’re apparently worth.

As for the reason why? Figure it out yourself.

Ace Douglas: $0.08

Asato Rikiya: $100

Kyō Sakuma: $100

“Sen”: $100

Criss Hiromi: $500

Ishihara Daisuke: $1,000

Asahi Tomoharu: $1,000

Takumi Wakaba: $2,000

Ryuunosuke Sekiguchi: $2,000

Azusa Furukawa: $5,000

Naoki Hamasaki: $5,000

Teijo Masakazu: $8,000

Yoichi Shujo: $10,000

Fleuret Oshiro: $15,000

Kai Quinlan: $20,000

Mireya Quinlan: $30,000

“Ruichi”: $50,000

Eldrid Iwasaki: $50,000

Zakari Hiroya: $100,000

Ming Kawanoe: $100,000

Ryuko Umemoto: $350,000

Wataru Sasaki: $400,000

Oki Teagan: $500,000

Tasuku Kawanoe: $500,000

Kisouna Yuzairu: $500,000

Ayumu Hayami: $500,000

Kokomi Morozov: $500,000

Keiko Yumi: $600,000

Miku Shirazuki: $700,000

Maki Umemoto: $750,000

Joey Kurusu: $900,000

Aranai Norikoru: $1,000,000

Jack Verrill: $1,000,000

Daiki Kamiyama: $1,000,000

Queen Card: $1,000,000

Lyall Shiba: $1,000,000

Shuu Edogawa: $1,000,000

Nikki Yoshie: $1,000,000

Yano Ietsuna: $1,000,000

Shisuta Heisha: $1,000,000

Luis Kōkyū: $2,000,000

Seiji Tsukimoto: $2,000,000

Evelyn Rose: $2,000,000

Aika Yumi: $2,000,000

Shian Meizono: $2,000,000

Kureha Koizumi: $2,000,000

Ren Nakashima: $2,000,000

Miho Kobayashi: $3,000,000

Rashaad Young: $3,000,000

Meari Miracle: $3,000,000

Ted Bridges: $3,000,000

Chinami Chinen: $3,000,000

Diêu Hoàng: $4,000,000

Juu Judice: $4,000,000

“Ageha Shinozaki”: $4,000,000

Kensaku Morimoto: $4,000,000

Eiji Noguchi: $4,000,000

Sakura Kito: $5,000,000

Hisoka Tetsumatsu: $5,000,000

Kanra Akemi: $5,000,000

Mina Nakayama: $5,000,000

Elliot Shimizu: $5,000,000

Sanyu Inouye: $5,000,000

Kira Chinen: $5,000,000

Sayaka Miyuki: $5,000,000

Yuuya Kanata: $5,000,000

Kotan Anchikar: $5,000,000

Karada Kessaku: $6,000,000

Yorii Sakuma: $6,000,000

Saigo Fuyugami: $6,000,000

Yuki Kuraokami: $6,000,000

Kaiji Sano: $6,000,000

Makina Setsukura: $6,000,000

Masa Judice: $7,000,000

Ivelisse Martinez: $7,000,000

Taria Chinen: $7,000,000

Iwao Masuda: $7,000,000

Lola Takahashi: $7,000,000

Ritsuko Okada: $8,000,000

Nadya Kuromiya: $8,000,000

Kanon Hojo: $8,000,000

Kotono Ohara: $8,000,000

“Aruto Shinozaki”: $9,000,000

“Masuzō Shinomiya”: $9,000,000

Touya Kisaragi: $9,000,000

“Cinder”: $9,000,000

Max Soukoku: $9,000,000

Sumire Shinomiya: $10,000,000

Kaoru Shinozaki: $10,000,000

Mai Yousei: $10,000,000

Reiaki Suzubayashi: $13,000,000

Rintaro Himura: $15,000,000

Kyler Aaron: $15,000,000

Anika Kiyozaki: $17,000,000

Eko Seishin: $20,000,000

Reika Aichi: $20,000,000

Alexis Ward: $20,000,000

Yuno Kamora: $30,000,000

Ryūzō Mizutori: $40,000,000

Yuriko Kuromiya: $50,000,000

Akihisa Mashiro: $50,000,000

Tomi Chōten: $500,000,000

Wild Shīnu: $7,100

Jigoku Riderz: 9,100

Blade Maiden: $70,000

Private Party: $150,000

Otaku Corps: $1,600,500

Sazanka Zombeez: $2,100,000

Sakurai Clan: $2,500,000

Valor Guard: $3,500,000

Liberty Guild: $5,000,000.08

ECO BooN: $5,000,100

MIHANASA: $5,600,000

Veiled Vanguard: $7,000,000

Kuma no ie: $8,500,000

Miraitabi: $11,001,000

Oculus: $13,000,000

Polar Knights: $13,060,000

Femme Fatale: $14,000,000

R.I.P. Märchen: $14,700,000

Birds of Prey: $15,000,000

Last Judgement: $15,500,000

ENIGMA: $16,000,000

Justice Shield: $16,300,000

Lovesick: $17,000,000

Pixel Syndicate: $25,000,000

CodeX: $30,000,000

Sounds of Silence: $31,000,000

Silent Tragedy: $33,000,000

Kiya Kara: $48,002,000

OverDrive: $60,000,000

Wicked Requiem: $78,000,000

Death Row Block: $83,000,000

Jet Set Trio: $508,000,000

@shinagawa-division @kobedivision @kanazawa-division @uenodivision @aoyama-division @arakawa-division @roppongi-division @edogawa-division @shizuokadivision @katsushika-division @niigata-division @minato-division03 @akihabara-division03 @minato-division01 @akihabaradivision @setagaya-division @taito-division @okinawa-division @hakodate-division @naradivision @naha-division @sapporo-division @oita-division @fukuokadivision1 @sendaidivision @fukuokanodivision @obihiro-division @ota-division @ginza-division

[dorianepin]

still in my feelings about robo getting the puck after game 5 like the team is going to be there to uphold one another no matter what... geez why do i obsessively delete all my tags 48 hours after i make a gifset just because i get embarrassed over having feelings about things when there was a point i made in a wyatt post that i wanted to circle back on except now i forget what it is. i think it’s just that the stars make me feel insane because they maintain a valuable equilibrium (even with the pecking order as it is) between individualism and collective effort, and the fact that their reg season top producer is such an unassuming media character AND the fact that while he does allow his failures to weigh on him heavily he makes it a point to emotionally contain his frustrations in a very light-hearted and jovial manner really lend themselves to just... the team’s quiet belief and understanding and immaterial venues of support.

pav is so fascinating to me sometimes because in many ways he’s the perfect teammate and has built up a profile of respect as a veteran player where there’s frankly nothing you can knock him on hockey-wise, so you get these rookies and young guys coming in and he’s the de facto 2nd leader from his previous captaincy days and they immediately just feel... i guess what i mean is that he’s so adept at identifying and integrating young players' respective strengths and roles and interests, even though he comes off as such a grump sometimes to media but then you can tell just how GOOD he is with the younger players which is like a punch to the gut, be it strictly hockey-wise from rotating to the wing and acting as a genuinely identifiable reference point for robo on the top line and a fellow high-iq slow skater—i think robo and pavs being together is just as important as robo and roop being together but obviously in a lot of different ways, so much of how robo gets to play with roop is predicated on his speed and identifying open ice for him, whereas robo and pavs work well creating plays in tight space and as much as there’s still linemate symbiosis present between them it’s also frankly just SEEING and understanding how pavs plays around robo that is valuable i feel, whereas nothing roop does around robo is like... functionally replicable. ...anyway where was i. or taking wyatt into his place and breaking down the game with him, or practicing deflections with ty, etc., it’s weird to think about how he’s still checking all these boxes of top producing forward driving the team bus AND veteran player pseudo billet dad AND number 2 captain taking on substantial leadership responsibility but i think that’s why it’s like............ i don’t know just so so interesting that he specifically called out the ~media~ for accusing robo of being a pp merchant because it was a relatively measured response but also imo extremely open and honest in that unique pavs way.

also what i mean when i say that robo is more reluctant to speak in absolutes than otter is is that otter will often be like he was our best player in this game yada yada but robo is always like, he’s one of the best guys on our team... he’s one of our best forwards... it’s interesting. otter obviously is more adept at externalizing his confidence as necessitated by his position (i’d be concerned if he were any less self-assured), but robo still finds a lot of ways of walking that semantic line, not just for himself but for all the guys on the team. he’s very careful with the credit he gives, even if he’s always adulatory with teammates, which is interesting.

i also always think it’s so fascinating when top line allude to having “closed talks” after they struggle with their output, or robo is like we know what we should be capable of so it’s something we’ve discussed as just the three of us, because there’s something to be said in knowing you’re the most talented player on the team but trying to vocalize it in a way that acknowledges not so much your own relative value but rather the responsibility of that value. and i also just think robo pavs and roope having Serious Talks at the round table reviewing video on the facility ipad and robo furiously scrutinizing plays while they draw up Plans and Strategies without pdb involved whatsoever is SO fascinating to imagine asldkfahsdflahd. this post was supposed to be like 2 paragraphs long i wish i weren’t insane  

[myfellowmelo]

Brother’s Best Friend

Context: Your brother’s best friend happens to be the popular basketball player, Lamelo Ball. And no matter how much you say you don’t feel anything for the boy, your body says otherwise after every encounter/game.

Includes: Smut, Oral sex, masturbation, teasing, swear words, hint of degrading.

Word count: 4040?

My POV.

“We can’t keep doing this Melo.” I whimper as his cock starts plunging deep inside me. Stuck in the locker rooms where he dragged me in there. His celebration for winning the game started early.

“You say that a lot for someone who’s obsessed with my dick.” He tells me. Before I answer him, he picks me and slams me onto his locker. Arms wrapped around his neck as he picks up the pace. “Melo! Oh god!” Gripping his hair as he relentlessly pounds my g-spot. Making it his absolute goal to have me cumming all over his cock. He needs to have me walk out the Spectrum Center with your hole stuffed with his liquids. “Take it baby. Fucking take it!” He groans. Sucking on my neck as he desperately tries to leave me as many marks as he wants. He loves how well I tighten around him. I love how no matter how hard I try not to fall, I still end up in his arms. Begging him to fuck me senselessly over and over again. Rolling his eyes back as I grip his hair yet again. Usually he would say some stupid sarcastic comment about leaving him bald like his head, but my pussy felt so good he couldn’t even muster up the words to say anything.

Omniscient.

Your moans were absolutely beautiful. Something he needs to hear on a regular basis just to even function. Having you fucked out until you could barely stand is what he was striving for. But it was all cut off short when he heard the locker room door open. Pulling out of you, you two quickly dress up.

“Melo ? Are you there?” Your brother Miles calls out.

“Hide!” He tells you. Signaling the shower room, you run inside quickly.

“Yeah I’m here!” Melo stated composing his breath.

Walking from around the lockers, Miles’ eyes brighten up, “Oh there you are! I was wondering when you were planning to get out of the locker room. Hey, have you seen y/n by any chance?”

Melo scoffs, “Do you see her around here?” A nervous chuckle leaves him but covers it up by a huff.

“Asshole. I was just asking.” Miles says as he rolled his eyes. Miles grumbled  “I can’t reach her-“

“Well she must’ve been tired. Probably went home.” Melo interjected him mid way.

“Yeah you’re right. Oh I know!” Miles claps his hands that startles Melo.

“What?” He furrows his brow.

“She’s hooking up.” Miles says with stars forming around his eyes.

“What?!” Melo says, taken aback. How did he know? And just when Melo said that, you too did as well in the shower room. Heart racing as you waited for yours and his name to fall out of your brother's mouth.

“Yeah, she once mentioned about this crush she has on Nate” Miles says looking back at his memories.

“Nate? My friend Nate?” Melo says surprised

“Yeah-“

“Nate, my teammate? Number 30 Nate?” Melo says again trying to confirm if what he heard was real.

“Yes! Nate Darling. She’s had a crush on him since I came here. Well I don’t know if she still likes him but she has been running off lately so I won’t be surprised if she comes out of a room with a large hickey on her chest. He’s very goofy.” Miles states while searching around the locker room.

“Yeah well I’m goofy too.” Melo mumbles. Shoving his stuff in his bag.

“What was that?” Miles asks him.

“Nothing! Now shall we get going?” Melo says as he gathered the remaining items and stuffed it in his duffel bag.

“Oh yeah, let’s go, You hungry?” Miles said as he gave up and went to the door with his stuff on hand.

Making his way out, you peek your head. Looking at Melo who merely glanced at you and walked out after your brother.

“Shit,” you cursed under your breath.

—————

“Melo, please call me back.” You say to the voicemail. It’s been three days and ever since he found out about your old crush on his friend he can’t even talk to you. Not even look at you for that matter.

You didn’t understand. You two weren’t anything. You guys weren’t dating and on the occasion he’s made it very clear that you two are nothing more but fuck buddies.

“Hey you okay?” Your friend asks you. Taking a seat next to you after grabbing her lunch.

“Oh yeah I’m, I’m okay,” trying to mask your emotions.

“You sure? You know I’m good at telling when one is lying.” She says giving you the look that was so tempting to have you spill out all of your thoughts.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I stated while I tried to divert my gaze to the floor.

“Okay but you know I’m here when you’re ready yeah?” Nodding, she smiles and hands you her green apple. The only kind of apple you like. Appreciating it, you take it and take a bite out of it. As she told a story about something, you couldn’t focus on anything but his table. He wasn’t there, but everyone else was. Including Nate.

“Oh my god.” Your best friend gasps.

Averting your eyes from the table you look over at her. “What?”

“Can’t believe it.” She said with her mouth hanging open.

“What? What’s going on?” You said as you look around.

“He said he was done hooking up. I swear if he brings another girl home I’m going to lose it.” She said, glaring her eyes. You see, she is Gelo’s girlfriend and they are both staying over for the week before going back to Cali.

Turning around to meet her gaze, your eyes widen when you see Melo enter the cafeteria with a girl around his arm. No no not just any girl. The captain of the Hornets cheerleading team. You couldn’t tell what shocked you more, that Melo already replaced you with some girl days after he continuously dodged you, your texts, and your calls. Or the fact that he was able to pull the head leader of the cheerleading team. The CHEERLEADING TEAM. You expected one of the nurses which could’ve made more sense. Usually everyone in the cheerleading team tends to take their work very seriously and never have time to not even hook up. Now this, this was truly a shocker.

Walking past you. He ignores you yet again and plants a kiss on her temple. Arm around her as she giggles and holds his hand. What a brat. Following their movements until they reached their table, where the boys greeted him. Cheers burst when he introduces them to her. Who looks to be his new girlfriend.

“Shocking right? Psh wrong.” Your best friend scoffs.

“Yeah. Sorry you have to deal with that,” you say genuinely.

“Yeah I feel sorry too but boys will be boys that’s just the sad truth.” She shakes her head and continues on eating her lunch.

“Yeah…” you mutter watching as he converses with his friends. His arm is still around her neck. “You’re right.” You finish off, looking down to the barely eaten apple.

For the next few days you ignored Melo completely. You didn’t know whether you should confront him or not. I mean it is his loss if he wants to push you away. But also another part of you wanted an explanation and maybe to seek salvation of the last bit of what you two have. If you guys even had anything in the first place. But Melo seemed serious. He had her with him at all times. And any time he saw you, he would get all cuddly and affectionate with her and it would get too repulsive to even stand being in the same area as him. What sucked is that both him and his little girlfriend shared the same afternoon as you. Workouts. The two of them sit in front of you which is worse because he’s constantly baby talking to her. Asking her if she needs any help and never lets her lift heavy weight. What an ass kisser really.

And you couldn’t really understand why you were so bothered by it. You never saw Melo anything other than a fuck buddy. There were times where you would ask yourself if you could see yourself dating him and it always ended with you gagging and having to eat a snack to clear your head. Yet here you are, wishing that this girl would walk off the face of the earth. While you were too busy sulking, you didn’t notice someone taking a seat next to you to use the weights.

“Hi y/n!” Nate says cheerfully. His boxy smile facing you as he set his stuff onto the table.

“Hey Nate-“ and then it hit you. Oh why did you not think about this sooner? Think y/n, think! Turning your head to face the bubbly boy, you tilt your head and smile at him. “Heyyy Yangyang,” you said again trying to be flirtatious.

Furrowing his brow, he looks at you oddly. “You okay?…”

“Totally!” You say nervous laughing it off.

Melo before you who was once cuddly to his new girlfriend was now tense. “Say Nate, how come we don’t hang out as much?” You ask him.

“Oh well I’d like you to hang out but you don’t like getting body slammed onto the court huh?” He said elbowing you.

Giggling, you shake your head. “We should hang out someday.”

Melo scoffs as he rolls his eyes. His girlfriend giving him a confused look.

He sends her a fake smile and signals to the coach who has now entered the training facility. As if his reason for scoffing was the coach entering. Picking up his large water bottle, he spins the cap off and goes to take a sip.

“So like a date?” Nate asks you genuinely.

“You want it to be a date?” With this, the boy in front of you who was once taking a sip from his water bottle, is now choking on it. The training facility silences as they stare at him curiously.

“You okay Ball?” The coach asks him. Not answering with words but rather with a thumbs up, he nods and proceeds to start the lecture.

“A date is then babe.” Nate says, using his index finger to bump your chin lightly.

—————

“I knew it! It was about time you two finally got together.” Your best friend claps her hands.

“We’re not getting together. It's simply a date, nothing else.” I say to remind her.

“Please you two will be dating in no time. Now let’s see what we can have you get dressed in.” While she went through the pile of clothes I brought for her to piece together an outfit. The front door opened and slammed close.

“Geez I bet it’s Melo, another sucky practice.” She shakes her head.

Chuckling, I nod along. “Right. Hey can I go grab a bottle of water real quick?”

“Yeah go ahead, it’s gonna take me a while to make an outfit with these clothes. Your wardrobe isn’t the most stylish no offense.” She said while still looking at the clothes.

“None taken” you shake your shoulders. Leaving her room, you go down the stairs and into the kitchen. In there was the boy you wanted to see. Ignoring him, you walk past him who was seated on the stool chair.

His eyes following you as you opened the fridge and pulled out a water bottle. Jumping back when he was standing right next to you once the door was closed. “My goodness Melo what the hell?-”

“Why didn’t you tell me about Nate?” He said while his breath fanned against your neck:

“What about him? It’s none of your concern-” You turn around looking up to face him.

“It is!” He says, flying his arms around in frustration.

“Shhh keep it down Melo!” You said as you patted his upper stomach because that’s all you could reach.

“Or what? Afraid your brother will find out huh?” He says while he took a step forward, you took one back. Doing so until you were up against the counter. “Afraid your brother will find out how desperate you are for me. How I’m I able to get you begging for my cock over and over again mm?” He tells me slowly. His head lowering closer and closer to my lips. Pulling his head and smashing my lips onto his. He immediately responds, pulling me closer to him. Picking me up and resting me on top of the counter. A nice grip on his hair as I kiss his lips until I am sure they’ll be swollen. His hands roamed up my shirt. Already missing my soft skin against his hands. Leaning in more and more, wanting - no needing more of me. It’s been almost two weeks and he really missed me. Yet he would never admit to it. His growing erection began to tighten his shorts. And I knew this.

He groans and curses when I lay a hand on his crotch. “Missed me that much?” I ask him tauntingly. Chest heaving as he looks down at my hand softly stroking the outline of his dick. Softly thrusting forward, needing more of my touches. But he was surely mistaken if he thought I would give in easily. Pushing him back, I get off the counter. Shock written all over him. “Don’t think I forgot the shit you pulled on me. I was over Nate a long time ago. It was barely even a damn crush. But because of your stupid stubbornness, you no longer have a shot at having me anymore Melo. Enjoy your time with your precious girlfriend.” Taking a step forward, on tippy toes, I got closer to his ear and whispered, “Bet she doesn’t make you cum like I do.” Biting my lip, I grab my water and walk away.

Watching as I walk away, he shuts his eyes close and shakes his head. “Fuck.”

————

“It was nice hanging out with you Nate. And sorry for any wrong intentions I might’ve given you in the training facility.” I said getting up after the date with Nate was over.

“Don’t sweat it. I’m not dumb I know that you and Melo have been having sex for a while now. Just didn’t know it was this serious.” Nate said following my lead.

“It isn’t serious.” I restated.

“Really?” He asks, raising a brow at me. His smoothie in hand as we walked around the downtown mall. “Doesn’t seem like it.” Nate sighed looking up at the sky.

“What do you mean?” I asked curiously

“Doesn’t take Einstein to know we have feelings for one another.” He said laughing seeing the dumbfounded expression on my face.

“Woah! Hold on, feelings?! Psh I don’t have feelings for him.”  I said defending my self.

Nate scoffs and shakes his head. “It’s so obvious.”

“It’s not-”

“It’s so!” He said again standing his ground.

“You have completely lost it, Nate Darling.” He laughs, taking a sip from his drink.

“Please, I knew something must’ve gone down. I had my guess when he started arriving at our training all gloomy and silent and not even having the same energy. But then when he brought Natalie to our table I knew something was definitely up. Then you ‘asked’ me out. You two aren’t doing this simply to get back at each other or get on one another’s nerves. You guys are doing this in hopes one of you two will snap out of it and confess!” Nate said spilling it all out.

I stayed silent. I mean he wasn’t necessarily wrong. I asked Nate out in front of Melo knowing he would be listening in hopes that he would talk to me. Confront me, tell me how stupid I am and that I am  his. I also wanted him back. Even if he wasn’t entirely mine to begin with. Now if I were to ask that very same question that had me gagging at the mere thought of it, it didn’t sound so bad of a question. Can I see yourself dating Melo?

______

Omniscient.

“I bet by the end of the date, it’s going to be official.” Your friend beams. For a good fifteen minutes now she hasn’t stopped talking about you and Nate getting together after so many years. It’s annoying the hell out of him. And what makes it worst is that Natalie is sitting next to him smiling at her squealing at your potential relationship with his teammate.

“You okay baby?” Natalie asks him. “Mhm? Oh, uh yeah I’m alright.” He fakes a tight smile and goes back to being on his phone. Looking at the date, he sees that he has yet another game tomorrow. A part of him was wishing you would come to his game. What was he thinking of course you will just not for him but rather for Nate. The mere thought of it already has him rolling his eyes.

“Someone doesn’t seem in a good mood.” Your best friends voice brings him back from his thoughts.

“Just tired it’s all. Gotta game tomorrow.” Melo said Turing off his phone.

“Oh yeah that’s right. Aw man I wish I could go but I have my thing going on with the modeling agency.” Your friend stated cleaning up the kitchen.

Natalie pouts. “It’s alright.”

“Well I guess I better start heading up to my room. Imma text y/n how her date went with her soon to be boyfriend.” She wiggles her brows.

Fighting the urge to scoff. “Yeah I should get going too.” She smiles at him and says her goodnights.

Natalie left a few minutes later, getting on her tippy toes, he got the sudden Deja vu from when you did that to him not long ago. Moving his face so that her lips connected with her cheeks. She waves him goodbye and leaves. Closing the door, he sighs and his head gets rushed with images of you. Very naughty things of you. Once again feeling that tightness in his shorts begin to grow.

“Fuck y/n!” He hissed. Fisting his cock as he teases his tip. Getting off to the thought of you sucking him off. Your pretty lips on his tip, those gorgeous eyes looking up at him as you try to pleasure him. Remembering how even when he’s finished cumming you still don’t pull away. Turning him more at how you have an oral fixation that you found out because of him. Biting his lip as he concentrates on jerking himself off. Memories on how overstimulated he once felt when you just couldn’t pull his dick out of your mouth. Whining when he tried pulling you off him. “God baby. You take my cock so well shit.” He mutters. Tilting his head back as he rubs himself faster. His hand jerking himself quicker as he felt the familiar need to release begin to bubble up.

Thinking about having you bounce on his cock as you beg him to continue fucking you until you’re sobbing. Telling you how much of a slut you are for his cock. Your hands gripping his hair as you suck hickies all over him. And just like that, his warm fluids were shooting all over his bed sheets. Catching his breath as he was consumed with the darkness of his room.

______

Omniscient.

It was the day of the game. People started filling up the bleachers but no matter how much people were entering through the metal doors you still haven’t shown up.

“Hey Nate, where’s y/n?” Melo asked curiously.

“How will I know?” Nate said with the ball in his hands getting ready to shoot.

“She’s practically your girlfriend, you should know by now if she’s planning on cheering for her boyfriend” Melo says. Tone harsh when saying boyfriend.

Nate stares at him and later laughs. “What?” Nate shakes him and pats his shoulder. “You’re funny dude.”

Walking away, with a puzzled look. He sighs and takes one last look at the bleachers. His eyes met yours. Trying to hold in his smile. But you caught it. After thinking back on what Nate said, he was right. You wanted his attention and if he wasn’t going to do something first, you would. Smiling softly at him as you give him two thumbs up. He chuckles and nods. Eyes looking down and freezes when he sees Natalie. He forgot the cheerleaders are taking a break for 2 weeks. Holding a poster with his jersey number in it. Looking away quickly, as he hurries back to the rest of his team.

By the end of the game, the crowd was loud and rowdy. Anxious as it was a tie once again. Melo , who was now with the ball, rushed until he got near the net and dunked the winning point. The crowd roared as they clapped and cheered for him and the team's victory. Standing as you cheered for him too. Going down the steps to congratulate him. Looking for #1. You smiled warmly at him as you walked up to him. Freezing when a familiar figure walks the aisle before you calls out for his name. Rushing down the steps and enveloped him in a tight hug. Smile dropping as his eyes never left yours. He was still with her, and a part of you felt stupid. Were you really going to confess? Especially since Natalie is such a sweet girl and really likes Melo. She couldn’t ruin that. Couldn’t ruin what they have. But maybe there’s hope. Maybe he doesn’t have the same feelings for her and has some for you.

“Surprise!” She tells him excitedly. But you were certain that wasn’t true when Natalie pulled Melo down for a kiss.

Scoffing, you felt stupid. Embarrassed really. Turning around, you make your way out of the Spectrum Center. Melo pulls away quickly, keeping Natalie at arms length. “Melo? Baby what’s wrong?” Natalie said, looking up at him with her arm around him.

“Natalie, I'm sorry. But I can’t do this, I know it’s sudden and you deserve an explanation but I can’t keep going on in a relationship I don’t want to be in. I’m really sorry but I have to go.” He said as he broke the contact, heading to the door.

“Melo? Wait- Melo!” But he was already out the doors. Rushing after you.

“Where are you?” He says under his breath in search of you. Looking through every hallway and room and still no sign of you. “Dammit y/n where are you?!” He slammed his hand on the door and went inside of the locker-room.

“I’m here.” You said silently.

Turning around, there you were before him.

Staying silent as you two suddenly didn’t know what to say anymore. After much contemplation on what he should say to you, he starts taking small steps towards you.

“It’s you. It’s always been you.” He tells you softly. Meeting him in the middle, you grab his face and pull him in. Gripping your waist as he kisses you desperately. The kiss was no longer the same old one that was filled with lust and need. It was now filled with passion, love and want. Pulling away, leaning your forehead on top of his.

“Can’t go another day without you.” He said underneath his breath.

“Then don’t. Don’t let me go.” You said, with tears threatening to fall.

“Never baby.” Melo said, looking down at you.

————

“You two were what?!”

Your brother exclaims in pure shock. Both you and Melo are standing before him, hand in hand. Standing behind you and he plants soft kisses on your temple. Rubbing your arm for comfort, comfort for the burst of your brother who is now finding out the truth of you two. But no matter the outcome, he was just glad he now has you. In his arms once again. Only this time, he’s got you locked in. And you aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• I hope you liked my first imagines, I know there are some errors with the POV, but I’ll fix it later!

Thank you for reading 😊😊

[dreamkidddream]

So far of reading your writing, I really love it! :)) May I request Kunikida, Dazai and Ranpo having an younger member of the agency being a sort of subordinate of them but acts a lot like a younger sibling to them? She's just really pure hearted and soft and really looks up to them so she likes helping them out a lot. Just some fluff because my boys deserve all love and affection

Awww thank you so much for the compliment!! This request is so cute, and yes, all the boys deserve all the love and affection that is possible cause they go through too much 😭 Anon requested this as platonic, and reader is gender neutral. Also, I wasn’t too sure what the age should be, so I went with Kyoka’s age, which is 14. Hope you enjoy!

TW: Mentions of suicide in Dazai’s part, but nothing too heavy or specific is mentioned. It does get kinda sad though, but it has a happy ending. Also, slight spoiler for season 2/Dark Era Arc, but nothing too major

Young ADA Member Acting like a Younger Sibling to: Kunikida, Dazai, and Ranpo

Kunikida

Okay, so when you first started at the office, people (specifically Naomi and Junichiro) were nervous when you got paired up with Kunikida. And Kunikida isn’t a bad man by any means, but he can be very, very, very strict

And how well do rules stick with kids/younger people? Exactly. It just sounded like a bomb waiting to explode

And you look so soft and so sweet! What if he made you cry?!

Which Naomi threatened to draw blood if he did

Even Kunikida himself was nervous. This was not written in his notebook to be a glorified babysitter!

But the President insisted, putting faith into you that you’ll be a great addition to the team and that he can lead you on the right path and not into trouble like some people he won’t mention (Dazai)

That was all that he needed to hear, and he took those words very serious. He won’t let the President down, and he wasn’t going to let you down either. You guys were gonna give it your all, whether you were ready to or not

But, to everyone’s surprise (really his) you both adapted well. You treated him with respect, said yes sir, no sir, tidied up both of your desks (which were right next to each other), you even tried to abide by his stern schedule without any complaints

You were a great help on missions too, you didn’t recklessly throw yourself into danger, and you made sure to look out for citizens to keep them safe and out of danger

And that wasn’t it, oh no

You made sure to bring him snacks (atleast the ones that he said were ideal), made sure that he was keeping hydrated and not tensed up all the time (working in this office will do that to you), and to make his workload as light as possible

After seeing him go off on Dazai for the 1000th time and getting wound up over a case that wasn’t getting any leads, you saw how stressed and frustrated he was getting. Mumbling to himself about how could he “replace the President if he couldn’t do this right”So you tapped on your shoulder, with one goal in mind: To comfort him

When you tapped his shoulder, he turned and yelled, “WHAT NOW?!”, right into your face

Time stood still as everyone froze, shocked. Even Kunikida himself after he saw it was you.

He felt immediately guilty, about to apologize for losing his cool when you began speaking

“Mr. Kunikida, please don’t stress too much. It’s not good for your heart! And don’t let this one thing stop you! You’re a great leader, and someone that I look up to. I wouldn’t be where I was at now without you! So please don’t doubt yourself, because we don’t, especially me! You’re my role model, Mr. Kunikida. Please, don’t ever forget that.”

After that, it was like a flip switched in him

“(Y/N), come here and walk very slowly.”

You did so with no hesitation, but you were curious

“Your shoe is untied. Here, let me tie it for you. It wouldn’t be ideal if you get injured because of a lousy shoelace. It wouldn’t be ideal if you got injured at all.”

“(Y/N), we have lunch scheduled at exactly 12:15. They’re also serving your favorite today, so we can’t be late, understand?”

“Yes sir!”, you said with a smile

“(Y/N), let’s go. It’s getting dark and if you still want to see that dreaded light show, we have to leave in 20 seconds to make it! I don’t want to see you sad or hear you complain if we miss it.”

“Coming sir! Just finishing up some work for tomorrow-“

“I already have it written in my notebook on when it will be done, so we can go.”

“Here you go Mr. Kunikida, I already typed up and printed out the reports for later on!”

“Thanks kid. And you don’t have to keep calling me Mister okay? Kunikida is fine.”

Dead silent in the office

KUNIKIDA is letting someone way younger than him just call him KUNIKIDA? Not MR.KUNIKIDA???

Everyone is, realistically, shook

But as time went on, they understood why

He came to look after you as his own

The entire ADA would have never thought the day would come (it wasn’t even in the notebook!) where he would care for a kid like his little sibling but here it was, right in front of their faces

But they weren’t complaining at all. You seemed to make his day a little brighter, and he wasn’t as uptight as much (but don’t be mistaken he was still Kunikida, just at an 8 instead of a whole 10)

After that mini pep talk that fateful day, he made it his duty to be a good role model for you. To always set a good example, both in and out the office.

He wouldn’t fail you, and he would be damned if he let anything happen to you

You’re a good kid, and you only deserve the best. And he was gonna be the best role model (and brother) for you

Dazai

Aw man, he was..conflicted to say the least

Listen, it’s not like he hates kids or teens, but it’s just extra responsibilities to watch over them. And he already slacks off enough to begin with, so is this really a good idea sticking a 14 year-old with him?

And lowkey, the way that he treated Akutagawa is still heavy on his mind, and he doesn’t want a repeat

But the President made it so, and Kunikida was ready to attack if he even thought about denying the order. Plus, it could be like another Atsushi around (another person to pass work off too) so that was a win!

And another person to annoy Kunikida too

You looked so pure and innocent. Are you sure that you’re in the right place? 

He genuinely thought you were a lost kid when you came up to him the first time lmao

Geez, you even sound sweet too! How has this world not damage or corrupt you yet?

“Hi Mr. Dazai! It’s nice to meet you. I hope that we can make a great team, and that I’m here to help if you need anything!”

“Nice to meet you too. And now that you mention it, these reports have been giving me a hard time...”

Not gonna lie, he did take advantage of your help. You offered, so why not? He thought you were gonna get sick of it soon and start complaining, but nope

You took his reports and did it with no hesitation every time. And you always handed it to him with a bright smile. On top of that, you always cleaned up his area and behind him, you did any leftover work that he ignored forgot to do so that he wouldn’t get yelled at, and tried to bring him small snacks and even packed a whole lunch for him when you noticed that he didn’t eat a lot

He even started to feel pretty bad and he was getting disapproving looks from his fellow detectives (even Kenji, and he never frowns)

So he started to take back and *GASP* actually do his work?!

But you stopped him, and told him that he should, “Take it easy! You work hard enough as it is saving the city. It’s no problem doing these reports, and I want to help you in any way I can, Mr. Dazai.”

“(Y/N), don’t worry, I can do them. And remember it’s just Dazai, calling me Mister makes me feel old like Kunikida-”

“I HEARD THAT!” 

And it seemed like you really cared for his wellbeing, especially when you had to accompany him on missions

Well, it just so happen that while you were going with Atsushi to find Dazai to start a mission, you both found him

Hanging upside down, sinking to the bottom of the lake

You rushed into the water immediately, pulling him out and onto the ground while Atsushi was just standing there in disbelief

Atsushi is so done with his shit

“Dazai, can you hear me?! Dazai?! Atsushi, I gotta give him CPR I don’t think he’s-”

“(Y/N) don’t worry he’s okay! This isn’t his first time he’s done this, and probably not the last.”

“W-what do you mean?”

Oh

Oh

You didn’t know about Dazai’s suicide methods? Did he not tell you or talk about it in front of you? Atsushi would have been somewhat proud of him if this whole situation didn’t happen, but here we are

“Geez, guess this method isn’t for me. It seems like someone is bound to always inter- hm, (Y/N)? What are doing out of the office? What’s wrong? Why are you crying?”

You hugged his chest tightly, not caring that he was practically soaked down to the bone

“Please stop, Dazai! Why are you doing this? Why are you trying to leave everyone?! Why are you trying to leave ME?!”

That got his attention

“Your life is important, Dazai, too important to try and end it on your own terms! You’re special to me, I look up to you. You’re smart, funny, and you help everyone out in your own special way. If you weren’t here anymore, everyone would be so lost...I would be so lost..,I-I-I wouldn’t know what to do-”

“(Y/N)-”

You looked up, eyes red and puffy with tears rolling down your cheeks, but filled with determination

“I promise you that I will make sure you know how much you matter to everyone. I swear on my life that I will.”

Okay, so you know how you were helpful/adorable before? On a scale of 1-10, you were definitely at an 11. But Dazai felt like you were at a 20

At first, he thought that you weren’t being genuine. You were just a young kid who didn’t know any better and was just trying to do your job, in sickeningly, oversweet way. I mean, who would really care about him with his horrid past? He was convinced that you were just naïve, and that the world would swallow you whole when it gets the chance. And it made him feel pity for you

But you proved him wrong

You weren’t just some ignorant child. You were in this agency working alongside him for a reason. And you reminded him of that everyday when he saw you working, handling the cases, taking actions on missions, all the while being kindhearted through and through 

You especially went out of way for him, and it was both a warm and scary feeling. People that he ended up caring for shared an undeserving fate, and he blamed himself for it constantly. So he tried to keep his distance, for your safety. You still had a life to live, and he didn’t want to ruin that for you.

But it was kinda hard to when you work together, and with you constantly being under his wing trying to show him the good in life and the difference that he made, he couldn’t help but admit it

You proved him wrong, and not a lot of people can say that. 

You went out of your way to make sure that everyone was okay, mentally and physically. He didn’t want to admit it, but you made the office (and his life) a little bit more bearable when you were around. You’re a good kid. And it was so fun to rope you and sometimes Atsushi into his schemes lmao y’all can be so gullible sometimes

Unfortunately, he still planned to leave this world, but he tried not to talk about it in front of or around you, and his number of attempts did dwindle, so that was a good thing

“Hey (Y/N), let’s grab something to eat, I would be a terrible person if I let my dear little baby assistant go hungry.”

“Dazai, if you’re hungry, you can just say that. I don’t mind finishing this later. It’s good to eat when you need to, and your health is #1 priority!”

He couldn’t take back his past and the way he abused Akutagawa, but he could certainly make sure that he doesn’t make the same mistakes

And that would start with being a decent role model for you. He won’t exactly be a “model citizen”, but he will always do the right thing. He’s turned over a new leaf by turning to the light, and while his methods aren’t always legal, he won’t stray from it again

And he won’t let you stray either

Ranpo

He was not a happy camper at all, let me tell you

Hello, do you know who he is?? He’s the greatest detective in the world! Why would the President think he need a sidekick?! He saw you working under him as an insult. Were they trying to say that he wasn’t good enough on his own?!

You weren’t exactly welcome with open arms, but that was okay! You were a complete stranger to him, but you were hoping that would change overtime

And Fukuzawa offered to praise him if he took you in so he stopped pouting momentarily

“Hi Mr. Ranpo! I’ve heard great things about you, and I hope that we can get along!”

“Well, of course you’ve heard great things about me, I’m the greatest detective in the world! It would be a crime if you didn’t hear about me.”

It was a rocky start between you guys to say the least. Not only was he lazy with the work he already had (I mean, it was too easy for him), but you were always willing to complete it (which you did, when you realized that maybe he was too tired or had other important things to worry about)

Who are you trying to fool, this man was just being lazy 

But you either didn’t realize it or you just purposely ignored it to get it done for the sake of the agency. Bless your pure heart for putting up with that poutyface 

Despite that, you handled everything with positivity and pride. When discussing cases (even though he would solve it in under a minute), you already had the reports ready to go, took notes for him, and you even tidied up his desk (which really consisted of his snack pile)

And you were starting to grow on him. You were like his mini cheerleader/#1 fan. His ego was going through the roof

On missions, it was a piece of cake for him, duh! With his ability, Super Deduction, it was always easy. And you were in the background, in awe with everything going on. He wanted to say he was surprised, but he would be lying. It would be a downright lie if you said you weren’t impressed with his ability and with him in general.

You repeatedly praised him, and he always gave you the same response: 

“World’s greatest detective, remember?”

The one thing that would cause him to see you in a new light, was when he got lost. You remembered Kunikida mentioning that he wasn’t the best at navigating the train system

He really said that Ranpo didn’t even know how to read the schedule, and that someone had to always walk with him to make sure he was going to the right places. 

He just wanted to go back to the office to his beloved snacks, when this happened. He wasn’t stupid by any means, but it was a waste to use his ability on something trivial as this-

“Mr. Ranpo! Wait for me!”

Just as he knew, you were running late meeting him

“Hey (Y/N) what took you so long?! My beloved snacks are calling for me back at the agency, and I need to answer-”

“Don’t worry, I packed you some!”

“Yeah, I already knew that since that’s the reason you’re late. And before you ask, you look out of breath, the receipt is still crumpled in your hand, and I see some crumbs from something you already ate on your clothes.”

Huh. Was it that obvious? You guess so...

Or maybe Ranpo really is the world’s greatest detective!

“I know, I know. I’m the best, no need to tell-”‘

“Mr. Ranpo, you deserve all the praise that you get. You’re someone I want to be like when I get older.”

“Hm?”, there you go praising him again, but you were crying

“I feel like people don’t take you seriously like they should, Just because you don't fight like the others doesn’t mean that you’re not a valuable asset to the group! And I wish people saw you like how I do! You’re my inspiration to do my best everyday. And I know that I can’t be the best detective, but I want to be as strong and intelligent and brave just like you so I can save people and be a motivating hero like you!”

He’s silent, and your words are sinking in. You’re wiping away your tears, the start of an apology on the tip of your tongue, when he suddenly put his hand on top of your head

He’s staring right at you, glasses on and green eyes open for you to see

“You’re already on your way there (Y/N). That I know. And I’m never wrong with my deductions, let alone when using my ability.”

The flood gates have OPENED 

You know that he doesn’t technically have an ability, but that doesn’t stop you from accepting his words and finding them as the truth. If Ranpo said it, he meant it. He was the world’s greatest detective, and you didn’t have any doubt in him

“Now let’s go, it’s going to start raining and I don’t want us to be hungry and drenched. Plus, Kunikida is totally freaking out and thinking that we’re both lost and in some criminal’s hideout right now.”

After that fateful day, the dynamic shifted between you two. Instead of you just doing the work, he pushed it off on someone else so he could explain to you about the different cases he had to solve, and other detective matters

Really he was just bragging and having you both slack off, but it didn’t matter you guys were still having fun

It even got to a point where he shared some snacks with you from his sacred snack pile

BOY WAS THAT THE TALK OF THE OFFICE 

All in all, while he knew that you couldn’t be the greatest detective (that was his title after all), he would help you get to your goal regardless. Not that you would need a lot of extra help, he was watching over you after all, and you already have a good head on your shoulders along with the heart of a hero

Every Sherlock needs a Watson, and he deducted that it wasn’t too bad having you by his side

[zepskies]

LOL I tried to warn you guys, we were picking up RIGHT where we left off in Part 8. 😂😂

Geez, the first paragraph. M-my insides... And then the third paragraph came along and sent them through the spin cycle all over again...!

Funnily enough, re-reading your story Treats and Tricks gave me ideas when I was editing this chapter yesterday. 😂

Something about Dean's jacket with his last name displayed on it. Mmm-mmm.

IKR? I had that same thought/moment. Like yes, we love a man of authority who leads a team responsibly. 👌🏽

Hearing his explanation of how he trained himself to get used to the mask was so endearing. <3

I actually nabbed that from Chicago Fire loll. Great show if you haven't seen it. But basically Lt. Matt Casey (the character I'm loosely basing Lieutentant!Dean on) gives his girlfriend Gabby Dawson advice on how to get used to the mask.

When she asked if he'd ever gotten hurt, my heart sunk just from the thought.

Ughh ikr? The fact that he doesn't answer her question too. 🙄

Let's talk about Chief Bobby Singer! Her feeling like she was meeting Dean's father when she met him was an excellent inclusion. I love that he thanked her for the cakes and that she made him smile. Also appreciated that he knew, because of course he did. And getting both a "work to do" and an "idjit" made me a very happy gal. =']<3

Yesss! Okay, I may have been a little heavy handed with the "pseudo-dad" references looking back on it now, but I'm glad you liked that aspect with him seizing up the reader, but ultimately he "approves" loll. But yes, of course he knew. He knows Dean, and he knows his firehouse. 😂 I pretty much had to include an "idgit" there. 😂😂

I’ll take care of you when you get off shift, Lieutenant. ❤️‍🔥 I actually whooped. xD

Hell yeah, hell yeah! 😜

The Gordon confrontation was satisfying. Lotta tension there, and, as we learned, even more than we thought. Which leads me to what I found to be my favorite line of this chapter:

Gordon then left the bathroom, and left Dean contemplating as a result.

Ooh I'm so glad you liked that line, and Gordon's confrontation with Dean! Yes, it's fun for us to see him getting it on with the reader in the firehouse, but we still have to remember that he's supposed to be a leader. And it could be seen by the others as disrespectful in the house, because everyone knows Dean's a "favorite." Gordon's a bit unlikable in this chapter, and there's some jealousy at play. But he also has a point imo. 😅 Dean can be a cocky SOB.

Speaking of confrontation--Dean confronting John and telling him, "That's not fair"?! I literally clapped. So good.

Yep, giving Dean some clapbacks in this AU! I'm glad you liked their mini-confrontation as well. In the end, Dean understands his dad better but also has more questions/suspicions. (Some will be answered in the next chapter.)

And John doing all he can to keep Dean away from this "monster" is truly brilliant writing. You are a sorceress. <3

Ughhh you make me blush, hun!! 🥹🥰🥰 I try my best. I think you guys are going to love (and also hate) what's coming next...

Smoke Eater - Part 9

Pairing: Firefighter!Dean Winchester x F. Reader 

Summary: Dean Winchester is the cocky, but well-respected Lieutenant at Firehouse 25. He leads by example, but he’s also known to break a few hearts. He’s starting to crave something he’s never had, though. Something stable. Something real. 

That’s when he meets you, on a truly terrible day, trapped in a rickety old elevator.   

🔥Series Masterlist

AN: As promised, comin' at ya a day early! ❤️‍🔥 I hope you enjoy...

Word Count: 5,100 Tags/Warnings: 18+ only! Smut, fluff, and angst.

Part 9: “Do Not Disturb”

“No one’s gotta know,” he replied. His voice was deeper, laced with grit. “Just try to stay quiet.”

Biting your lip, you slowly began to rock your hips. You had to let out a shaky breath as your clothed core found delicious friction against his muscled thigh, through his pants.

Dean broke through your nerves by claiming your lips. He sucked your bottom lip between both of his, grazing with his teeth. Your fingers sunk into his hair and gripped tight.

He groaned a little, and he slipped past the seam of your lips to slide his tongue against yours, curling and mimicking motions you’ve felt his tongue make inside you.

You moaned a bit too loud at that.

“Shhhh,” he said, low and quiet.

The back of his curled fingers grazed your neck, then down to squeeze and tease one of your breasts through the soft wool of your dress, over the satin bra underneath.

You had to utter a more restrained sound of pleasure at his touch; it was gentle, but firm and purposeful in every way. You couldn’t help but roll your hips harder, finding more friction against your clit and seeking more of the heat now throbbing inside you.

But just as you were about to encourage him to take the dress off, there was a knock on the cubicle door. 

You froze, gripping his shoulders tight as your eyes went wide.

Dean broke his lips from yours fast. You were already starting to blush down to your neck. He glanced at you with a cocky smile before he subtly cleared his throat.

“Yeah?” he answered.

Everyone knew his policy: if his door was open, then it was fair game for anyone to pop in on him. But if his office door was closed, he was either busy with paperwork, or taking a nap. AKA: Do Not Disturb.

“Hey, Lieutenant. Just letting you know that lunch is almost ready,” Jack said through the door.

Dean nodded at that in relief. Nothing serious.

“Okay, sounds good. Thanks,” he said. He started to brush his fingers up and down your spine, eliciting a small shudder from you.

You still gave him an incredulous look. How could he keep touching you when one of his teammates was on the other side of the door?

“Oh, and I went to the store yesterday and got the right coffee this time. Gevalia, right?” Jack asked.

“Yep, good job. I’ll be out in a few minutes,” Dean replied. He chanced slipping a hand up the inside of your thigh. His thumb leisurely stroked your clit through your underwear, enhancing the flood of wetness he could already feel through the fabric.

It took everything within you to keep your lips pressed together with no sounds escaping, though a slightly ragged breath released through your nose. Your nails bit warningly into his shoulders. His lips twitched at a smirk.

“Sure thing,” Jack said. “And we’re running drills later, right?”

Dean held himself against an impatient sigh.

“You got it, Candidate. Be ready, I’m kicking your ass today.”

Jack chuckled gamely. “I look forward to it, sir.”

Dean didn’t really like being called “sir.” It made him feel like his dad or something. He wouldn’t say anything about it now though. He preferred to hear Jack’s steps retreating.

When he sensed the coast was clear, he turned his attention back to you. You met him with a reluctant smile. But he stilled your hips when you moved to get off him.

“Where’re you goin’?” he teased.

You let out a quiet laugh. “I think we’ve pressed our luck enough for today.”

Dean leaned in to kiss your cheek. His lips then veered off toward your ear.

“But see, I’m pretty damn sure that pussy’s still on fire,” he said.

The depths in his voice made you shiver. Your spine undoubtedly prickled with arousal again.

He smiled. “You understand, I can’t let you go just yet.”

Was it getting hard to breathe, or was that just you? You swallowed and let your fingers thread through his hair.

“What…um…where then?” you whispered. “Anyone could walk in here…”

He smirked against your neck and teased you with a nipping kiss there, making you inhale sharply. He doubted anyone was dumb enough to walk into his office without knocking, but these walls weren’t by any means soundproof. And he could see that you had your reservations. 

“Okay, come on,” he said.

He released your neck and finally let go of your hips. He helped you stand on shaky legs, and you smoothed your pretty dress back down. You gave him a helpless look that said, Dear God, what now?

He smiled and took your hand.

“There’s one last stop on the tour,” he said. 

You couldn’t help but smile, shaking your head as he led you outside the firehouse and through a side door—into what felt like a large coat closet.

Essentially, that’s what it was. It held all the firefighters’ gear, from helmets, gloves, and overalls to matching navy jackets, lined with neon strips on the sleeves and mid-sections, as well as emblazoned with their last names on the back.

“I see why this was last on the tour,” you remarked dryly. Dean’s hand dropped to your hip as he flipped on the light and shut the door behind him. You felt the heat of his body against your back and tried to resist leaning into him.

“You’re getting the VIP treatment,” he said. You could hear the smile in his voice.

But instead of turning you in his arms and pressing you against the wall, like you half-expected, Dean showed you where his gear was hanging up, further into the closet. You first tugged out the sleeve of his jacket. You ran your hand over the capital letters stitched on the back: WINCHESTER. It looked clean, but well worn.

You pulled out a large, but kind of scary looking mask next. It was black and yellow and had a large filter in the front. You knew this was what allowed him to breathe while walking through smoke-filled buildings, but you couldn’t imagine having to wear it for very long.

“This just looks uncomfortable,” you said.

Dean’s lips quirked. “Eh, you get used to it.”

You were curious though. You tried slipping the mask on and struggled, even when Dean tried to help you. Eventually he got the SCBA mask fitted correctly over your face. You were sure you looked ridiculous, and even though you weren’t claustrophobic, this certainly made you feel uncomfortable and closed in.

“It’s like living in a fishbowl,” you complained, already struggling to get it off. “How the hell do you see anything, let alone storm burning buildings in this thing?”

Again, Dean helped you with a chuckle. He was careful not to catch your hair as he slid it off your face and over your head.

“With a lotta training,” he said. “I practiced here at the house, at home, wherever I could. First just 10, 15 minutes at a time. Then half an hour, an hour or more. However long I could take it. I’d watch TV, cook, listen to music. Anything to make it feel more natural, like a pair of pool goggles.”

Your brows raised. “Color me impressed. I think I’d pass out.”

You adjusted where he put the mask, making sure it fit properly on the shelf next to his black helmet. Your hand passed over his jacket once more before you turned to him and let your hand run down his chest.

“Thanks for showing me around,” you said with a smile. “This place has got to be like a second home to you.”

Dean smiled back as he tugged you closer by your hips. “I’m here more than I’m at home.”

Your expression faded a bit as you considered that, and his hanging jacket.

“Have you ever gotten hurt?” you asked. You didn’t think you’d ever asked that yet.

His eyes dimmed, just a little, but his good humor remained. He was about to deflect. You just knew it.

“A couple scrapes here and there. Nothing major,” he said.

You didn’t know how much of that you could believe. You had a feeling he was like your grandfather, and not just when it came to his taste in music. Dean was a certified “downplayer.”

“Right,” you said. You also wracked your brain, trying to remember if you’d seen any noticeable scars, or even burns on his body.

Dean shook his head and dipped down to kiss you. It took you a bit by surprise, but you inhaled sharply as your eyes closed at the feeling of him.

“You’re thinkin' too much,” he said against your lips. And he claimed you again, deeper and deeper, until you were gripping his arms for dear life and he was walking you back to press you against the nearest wall. His hand clenched in your hair, then dragged down the column of your neck, raising goosebumps wherever he touched.

His lips soon replaced his hand. They burned a trail of wet, teeth-grazing kisses down your neck, along the scoop neckline of your dress, dipping his tongue between your breasts. You held him to you with panting breaths. But you also let your free hand wander.

You untucked his shirt from his pants and began roaming the planes of his back underneath the fabric, then the firm wall of his chest and sternum, all the way down to his belt.

He grabbed your wrists and pinned them up against the wall by your head. His molten green eyes stared down into yours, as his knee pressed between your legs. You shuddered and arched into him. Your fingers curled around his hands unconsciously.

“Dean…”

“Gotta thank my girl for giving me such a nice surprise at work,” he said. You felt his lips grinning against yours, even as he grinded his hips into you with blinding friction. You tried to restrain your gasp at the feel of his hard length pressing against your core. Even though you wanted nothing more than more of this, you still had to voice your concerns.

“Dean,” you whispered with more urgency. “I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry about that.”

You stared up at him incredulously. How could you not?

But he distracted you by sliding his hands sensuously down your arms. Down your sides and hips, just to drag the knitted hem of your dress up from your thighs. Then he slid down, all the way to his knees.

Your eyes widened as his smirk grew deeper. He looked up at you slyly from the ground, and it reminded you of giving him a very similar look when you’d gone down to your knees for him for the first time.

His fingers brushed your skin as he slipped your panties down to your ankles, over your knee-high boots. You fought a shudder at the feeling.

“You’ve got a thing for sexy shoes, huh?” he remarked.

A smile crossed your lips. Shaking your head, you helped him by kicking off your underwear.

“I think you’re the one with the fixation,” you teased back. “I just like what I like.”

Dean chuckled. “Couldn’t agree more.”

He hooked a hand behind your knee and brought one leg over his shoulder. His hand traveled up your leg, and his head turned to press a line of wet kisses up the inside of your thigh.

You sighed, letting your fingers run through his hair as your eyes closed. But your eyes popped open on a gasp as you felt him suck hard near your center, biting and then soothing the spot with his tongue.

You shot him a furrowed look, despite the incredulous smile tugging at your lips.

He just grinned. “Had to be sure you were paying attention.”

You huffed a laugh and gave a sharp tug on his hair. It made him grunt and try to swallow a groan, deep in his throat.

“How’s that?” you quipped back.

“Touché, baby,” he said. But the problem with that was, you felt his lips against your skin, just before his tongue licked a hot stripe across the seam of your pussy. You inhaled sharply and reached for something else to hold onto, otherwise you might rip his hair out.

Your hands found purchase on the adjoining wall and the supporting rail holding all the coats. And a practiced tongue swiped between your folds, carrying wetness to your clit. His face delved in deeper to swirl and graze that bundle of nerves with his teeth, while two fingers slipped inside your wet heat and into your core.

You shuddered and bucked against him, but Dean held your hip firmly. His body weighed against you, pressing you into the wall to keep you in place. Then his hand and tongue became unrelenting. His fingers stretched you open, exploring your inner walls and finding what made you writhe and choke on your moans.

“Oh my God, Dean…”

He was tempted to smile and tease you some more, but he knew he had to be quick about this; they’d spent a long time in here already.

Still, he was nothing if not thorough.

He sucked and bit down gently on your clit, right before his fingers found and curled into that spongey part deep inside you that damn near made you weep when you came.

And your eyes really did burn as they fluttered closed. Your whole body trembled with the force of your release as you gasped and panted for breath. His name fell from your lips, almost reverently. Soon enough, you were able to wrench your hand from the metal rail to sink back into his hair.

His tongue continued to lap and swipe, more languidly as he felt your tremors subsiding. When he eventually pulled away, he was heaving for breath himself. He barely had a chance to wipe at his mouth and nose before your leg slid forcibly off his shoulder.  

He looked up in time to find you sinking down to his level, using his shoulders as leverage. You took his face into your hands and kissed him as thoroughly as he’d worked you over, making you a warm, shaking puddle in his wake. Dean held you to him and kissed you back between panting breaths.

Your hands pressed and made room between you, only to fiddle with his belt and palm at the almost painful hardness of his cock through his pants. He groaned into your mouth.

Fuck it, he thought. He had half a mind to take you right here in the coat closet.

But of course, that was when a knock sounded at the door. It was quiet, but there was no mistaking that warning. Which meant that someone was probably looking for Dean (and was also doing him the solid of tipping him off).

Dean broke from you, and you looked up at him with wide, questioning eyes.

Is that what I think it means?

Yep. Time to go.

With a nod, he helped you up to your feet and found your underwear. You slipped them back on, despite the grimace you made. You were now a bit uncomfortably wet, but you supposed you could deal with that until you got home.

You slipped down your dress and attempted to fix your hair, as well as Dean’s. You bit your lip and tried not to laugh at how you’d wrecked his light brown strands in all directions.

Dean smirked, but he had no time to tease you now either. He held a finger to his lips and closed his eyes for a moment, willing his hard-on to subside. It took him a few moments (deep breaths and unsavory thoughts), but eventually he was able to calm down enough to turn around and crack the door open.

Once he saw that the coast was clear, he slipped out of the closet first. He beckoned you next with his hand. It fell to the small of your back when you stepped out.

He spotted Benny coming out from around the Squad truck. He was wiping grease off his hands, like he’d just been working on the truck. He shot you and Dean a nod.

“Chief’s looking for you,” Benny said.

Dean nodded. “Thanks for the heads up.”

Benny gave him a salute, with deep amusement in his eyes. You blushed and tried not to think about what that look probably meant. You just hoped he hadn’t heard anything.

Dean smiled and walked with you back inside the firehouse. You wished you could just make your escape to your car, but you’d forgotten your purse in the kitchen.

Most of the team seemed to be almost done with lunch. You said hi to Meg again, who gave you a suspicious smile. Your blush started to burn down to your ears.

Gordon was also sitting on the couch. You hadn’t seen him since that somewhat unsavory moment at the Roadhouse, when he’d “shot his shot” with you. He greeted you with an incline of his head.

“Gettin’ the grand tour, huh?” he asked. His smile was pleasant, but there was a gleam of dry knowingin his eyes.

You froze slightly, as your mouth parted and embarrassment threatened to swallow you. You subtly glanced around, trying to see if anyone else was listening, and knowing for that matter.

Dean noticed your discomfort. Again, he rested a hand on the small of your back and shot Gordon a firm look with raised brows. It said, Shut the fuck up, man.

“The Chief’s looking for you,” Gordon said, nodding up at Dean.

“Yeah,” Dean replied flatly.

“Winchester.” A commanding voice carried down the hall.

Your head raised toward it, as did Dean’s. He was more relaxed than you to see the firehouse Chief coming down the hall. You fell into step with Dean as his hand on your back gently urged you forward.

“Chief,” he nodded. He introduced you as his girlfriend, and though you noted the other man’s subtle brow raise, Bobby Singer’s gruff expression lightened (just slightly). He shook your hand, firm and steady. You smiled and greeted him with a respectful nod.

“Hello, sir. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” you said. You almost felt like you were meeting Dean’s father, the way the Chief seized you up a bit.

“Good to meet’cha,” he said. He gestured with a hand over to the now half-devoured cakes in the kitchen. “I was told you brought those in for us.”

Your face briefly ducked with a smile. “Uh, yes. That was me.”

“Well, thank you. I’m sure the whole house appreciates it,” Bobby said, pointedly raising his voice at everyone else in the common room. Meg, Chuck, and others voiced their appreciation and thanks.

“It’s my pleasure,” you said with a short laugh.

Dean smiled as he watched you. But a look from Bobby shifted his attention.

“We need to go over some things,” said the Chief.

“Yes, sir,” Dean said.

Bobby turned back to you. “Thanks for feedin’ the guys.”

“Thank you for letting me visit,” you said. Your sincerity showed in your eyes. “You have a great house here. Otherwise I think I’d still be stuck in that elevator.”

“Thank you, darlin’.” Bobby’s lips lifted in a rare smile. It fell when he glanced over at Dean.

“Meet me in my office.”

“You got it,” Dean replied. He took a moment, however, to touch your arm and press a kiss to your cheek. “I’ll call you tonight.”

That he said lowly in your ear. You bit your lip against a deeper smile, but you nodded, squeezing his hand one more time before you went to get your purse. Dean watched you leave (and he enjoyed the natural sway in your hips, as well as the tousled, slightly frizzy bounce of your hair).

With a long breath, he steeled himself to follow the well-worn path to the Chief’s office.

Bobby was sitting behind his desk, signing some paperwork. Dean’s phone quietly buzzed in his pocket. He discreetly fished it out halfway and found a text from you.

I’ll take care of you when you get off shift, Lieutenant. ❤️‍🔥

Dean smirked, but quickly schooled his expression (and pocketed his phone) when Bobby looked up at him.

“Seems like a nice girl you found there,” Bobby said. 

Not that nice, Dean thought salaciously. He looked forward to whatever plans you had for him after his shift tomorrow. He wasn’t the only one with a talented tongue…

“Yeah. You try the cake yet?” Dean asked. He leaned a hand on the spare chair in front of the Chief’s desk. “Orange poppy seed. Who knew, huh?”

“Though next time, when we have a visitor, the tour should refrain from including the coat closet,” Bobby said, his tone both dry and censuring.

Dean’s brows knitted with “confusion.”

“What do you mean, sir?”

Bobby’s frown sharpened. “Do you think I was born yesterday, Dean?”

“Now how could I think that, Chief?” Dean said, deceptively earnest. There was enough gray in the older man’s beard to speak for itself. 

Bobby’s face fell into the most long-suffering deadpan.

“Don’t get cute with me, son. I’m not in the mood.”

He’s never in the mood, Dean thought. But his lips twitched with a small grin. 

“Sorry, sir.”

“Damn right. And wipe that goddamn smirk off your face! I should write you up for this,” Bobby snapped. 

“For what, Chief?”

“You know damn well, for what. You’re just lucky there ain’t no cameras by the coat closet, or I’d be suspendin’ you. Right here and now.”

Bobby peered at Dean closely, but the younger man gave nothing away. Dean now stood with his hands folded behind his back, like the damn professional he should’ve been. 

After a moment, the Chief heaved a sigh of ever-mounting exasperation. Like a parent who knew you were guilty, but had no defining evidence.

“This is a firehouse, not the Motel 6,” he barked. “You understand me? You’re my Lieutenant, for God’s sake. You’re supposed to set a fucking example.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Good. Now get. For damn sure you’ve got work to do.”

Dean’s face was nothing if not respectful, but Bobby spotted the edge of Dean’s smile when he turned to leave. 

This was what Bobby got for going soft on John Winchester’s boy. He shook his head and went back to his mountain of paperwork.  

“Idjit,” he muttered, turning the page. 

Dean headed back into the common room after he left Bobby’s office. His good mood soured when he saw Gordon pass through the hall. Dean followed him all the way to the locker rooms. He hadn’t shown you this part of the firehouse, only because the guys tended to change clothes right there, instead of heading to the bathroom. 

“Hey,” he called out.

Gordon stopped short and looked over his shoulder.

“You got a minute?” Dean asked.

The other man wordlessly agreed, waiting for Dean to catch up with him. They went into the men’s bathroom for privacy. Dean shut the door, then made sure no one else was in the stalls before he met Gordon’s expectant gaze and crossed arms. He was casually leaning against the wall.

Dean’s hands went to his belt.

“We got a problem, Gordon?” he asked.

Gordon’s brows rose. “You got one with me, Lieutenant?”

Dean’s lips thinned. He crossed his arms as well, and met Gordon’s gaze directly.

“Keep making my girlfriend uncomfortable, and we will,” Dean said. His tone was firm in warning. 

Gordon took that in with a mild nod and a humorless scoff.

“You know, if anyone but you pulled that shit today, they’d be suspended on the spot,” he pointed out. “But because you’re the Chief’s pseudo-son, you get a pass. And a promotion at that.”

Dean’s frown deepened. He should’ve known it would all come back to that.

Gordon had completed his training and passed his test to be promoted to lieutenant as well, the exact same month as Dean. Gordon was older, with a few more years of experience. But Dean had it on good authority (from Bobby himself), that his own scores had edged out the competition.

“That had nothing to do it,” Dean said.

Gordon shook his head with a rueful smile. “Keep tellin’ yourself that, Winchester.”

Dean sighed in frustration and let his hands fall to his sides.

“Look, if that’s really how you feel, then why not issue a formal complaint with the Chief?”

“And what difference would that make? You’re their boy scout,” Gordon said wryly. “Me? …Maybe I just don’t fit the mold.”

Dean could see that side of it too. Gordon was a damn good firefighter. Dean trusted the man with his life…but there was an edge to him, one that sometimes put people off from getting to know the guy. Dean had known him long enough to see through it, to the good man underneath.

But being a leader was more than just the job. If he’d been in Bobby’s shoes, and it had been down between Gordon and Benny…Dean knew who he would’ve promoted.

“Gordon, you know your worth here. Ain’t nobody thinks you’re not one of our best,” said Dean. “But I am your Lieutenant. If you can’t handle that, then we’ve still got a problem.”

“Look, Dean. I like you. I do,” Gordon said, shrugging his shoulders. “Most days, I do respect you. But you’re also a cocky son of a bitch.”

Gordon then left the bathroom, and left Dean contemplating as a result.

Even after his long 24-hour shift, Dean replayed moment after moment from yesterday. From seeing you, inviting you into his office, reminiscing on memories, both happy and painful to relive, and everything that came afterwards.

He’d had to put his conversation with Gordon aside to focus on the job, but now, what kept coming back to him was seeing you trace the framed picture of his mother. That was one of the few pictures John had been able to save from the fire.

So when Dean left the firehouse in the morning, instead of joining some of the guys for breakfast, he drove over to the 84th Precinct, where his dad was already hard at work at his desk. By the look of his scruffy beard and loosened tie, maybe he hadn’t gone home last night.  

Dean knocked on the desk, earning his father’s surprised glance.

“Burning the midnight and the daylight oil I see,” Dean remarked.

John’s mouth tugged at a smile. “Hey, son. To what do I owe the visit?”

“Haven’t seen you in a while,” Dean remarked. They used to do dinner at his and Sam’s apartment every couple of weeks, or at least grab a beer at the Roadhouse more often. For the past few months though, John had been even more buried in his work than usual. Dean could guess why.

“Any progress on the case?” he asked.

John huffed. “Which one?”

He gestured at a stack of folders on his desk. All of them signified an ongoing case. But both Winchesters knew what Dean was getting at.

He raised his brows and dipped his chin, trying to catch his father’s gaze. “Dad.”

With a sigh, John looked over at his son fully.

“Nothing I can tell you right now, Dean,” he said. It was a dismissal.     

The younger man’s face fell into a frown, his brows knitting together. He dragged a spare rolling chair over and sat, making it clear that he wasn’t going anywhere just yet.

“So you drop a bomb on me about Mom’s killer, and then it’s radio silence for weeks?” Dean said. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”

John finally stopped typing on his computer. His eyes were red-rimmed and tired. Just then, Dean could see the lines of age in his dad’s face more than he had before. It worried him.

“I want to help,” Dean said earnestly.

At that, John firmed up, with a shake of his head.

“This guy’s an arsonist,” Dean tried.

“We’re working with Arson,” John said. “The rest is my jurisdiction, and you’re on a need-to-know basis.” 

Dean blew out an aggravated breath and sorted a hand through his hair.

“Dad—”

“Don’t you get it?” John snapped. But when a few heads turned in the office, he forced himself to lower his tone. He met Dean’s eyes. “This man is…well, he ain’t a man, Dean. He’s a monster. I’ve told you enough for you to keep your eyes open, but you’re not stickin’ your nose in this. You understand me?”

Dean’s brows furrowed further, but he finally read the underlying worry in his father’s eyes. Just not for himself.

“For all intents and purposes, Azazel was a mafia leader in the middle of Kansas,” John continued. “He’s got over four decades in the business, and even with Narcotics’ help, finding him and pinning him down’s been a goddamn needle in a haystack, let alone connecting him to these murders. Even with the brand marks on the victims, we don’t even have evidence that someone ain’t just copying his signature, so to speak.”

Dean rested an elbow on the desk and brushed a hand over his mouth as he processed what his father was telling him.

“And those brandings. That’s the only thing tying the victims together?” Dean asked. He watched John closely, how the man’s frown deepened a bit. His eyes never shifted, just met Dean’s head-on.

“We’re still looking into it,” said John.

After a beat, Dean took that with a nod. He was still unsettled, but he got up and clapped his father on the shoulder.

“Call once in a while, huh? Maybe drop in for something to eat,” he said. “My girl’s a good cook.”

John rubbed a hand over his face, but he perked up with a bit of interest.

“Girl? You’re actually seeing someone…in the regular sense?”

Dean rose a brow. “All right, you don’t gotta sound that surprised.”

A smile tugged at John’s lips as he sat back in his office chair.

“Right, right. Cas mentioned something about that,” he said. “…How long you been dating?” 

“A couple months now,” Dean said. Honestly, no one was more surprised than him at that fact.

John hesitated, but he nodded.

“Good,” he said. “Good for you, son. Hope I get to meet her soon.”

“You will, if you ever leave this damn desk,” Dean replied, nodding back with a smile. “See ya.”

But his smile dipped as soon as he turned to leave the precinct.

His gut was telling him one thing: his father was still holding something back. Something important.

AN: And there we have it! A little firehouse shenanigans, a bit of Bobby, a fair bit of tension, and a pinch of angst. What did you think?

Next time, we're going to start getting into the meat of the mystery. Along with a bit of drama...

Next Time:

“Dean,” you managed, though your throat became clogged with emotion. Your tears blurred your vision and finally slid down your cheeks.

You tried to push at your seatbelt; it felt like it was cutting your circulation across your chest. But that proved to be a mistake, as the tight fabric just pressed into the bruising you already felt forming against your skin. You couldn’t contain a small whimper.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. His tone was more alert now, changed with the distress he likely heard in your voice.

You took in a shuddering breath as more tears rolled down your face.

“I need help.”

Dean Winchester Masterlist

Main Masterlist

Series Tag List (Part 1):

@hobby27 @kazsrm67 @letheatheodore @agothwithheavysetmakeup @jacklesbrainworms @foxyjwls007 @wincastifer @iamsapphine @simpforbuckyb

@vanillawhiskeyflavoredkisses @roseblue373 @this-is-me19 @emily-winchester @spnexploration @deans-spinster-witch @deans-baby-momma @iprobablyshipit91

@melancholictearz @nic-kolas @katherineann814 @sleepyqueerenergy @wayward-lost-and-never-found @thewritersaddictions @just-levyy @samanddeaninatrenchcoat @deanwanddamons @antisocialcorrupt @lacilou @adoringanakin @theonlymaninthesky @teehxk @midnightmadwoman @brianochka @branj19

@agalliasi @venicesem @chriszgirl92 @lyarr24 @ladysparkles78 @solariklees @xsophianicolex @deansbbyx @candy-coated-misery0731 @curlycarley @sarahgracej @bagpussjocken @ultrahviolentart @chernayawidow @beskarfilms @mimaria420

[stargaze-issei]

— "𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐦𝐞" (𝐛. 𝐤𝐚𝐭𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐢 𝐱 𝐟𝐞𝐦!𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫)

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭; bakugou and you had been dating for so long, but always had to hide it. he hates hiding you, he hates seeing you sad, and you don’t know how much more you can take.

𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞; a little bit of angst at first, but then fluff.

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬; bc… him.

𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭; 2.0k

it had been a long day at your agency, longer than usual at least. a lot of little incidents in your patrol areas, meetings, reports waiting for you to give them a final look. you checked the watch on your desk, almost midnight. by then, only the guards must have been in the building. a long, heavy sigh left your lips. you still had work to do, but the urge to go home was bigger, so after taking your things, you drove home, eager to see your boyfriend. bakugou mananged to get himself the title of number one hero four years after graduation, surpassing even all might himself. seeing him achieve his dreams filled your heart with love and pride, though it still hurt not being able to share those feelings with the world.

on your second year at u.a., katsuki asked you on a date after months of notorious flirting, no one was really surprised, in fact, among your class, everyone was happy because of your influence in the boy. your honey moon period was interrupted a few months later, on what was class a’s last sports festival. as third years already, all the attention was laid on you and your classmates. hundreds of pro heroes expecting to catch the most promising graduates, and your last chance to show you worthy. on every phase, you and bakugou would share knowing glances, secret winks at each other, little reassuring smiles from you and calming head nods from him. with all those cameras making you the center of attention, it wasn’t too hard for people to figure out what was going on between both of you. you ended sixth, only surpassed by uraraka, kirishima, todoroki, midoriya and bakugou, and were really happy with your performance. that same night, after a celebration with all your friends at the dorm, you went into your boyfriend’s room.

he was laying in bed, reading a book, but still reached out to pull you into bed. “mind if i use your computer?” you asked, him humming in agreement, too focused to pay you more attention. first you checked your personal account, when nothing entertainment surge there, you opened your official hero account. as you expected, the festival just endign a few hours ago, the tags were exploding. your face completely change when you started to read.

“so, are we just ignoring the fact that Y/N of all people was making eyes at bakugou the ENTIRE TIME?? keep it in your pants geez”.

“i’m sorry but if you think that bakuy/n thing wasn’t a stunt, you’re wrong”.

“guys. it’s as simple as looking at y/n, and then looking at ✨bakugou✨”.

“yeah it’s a no for me, like ok they’re friends but don’t make it fucking disgusting”.

and you could keep going. most of them were about how someone as great as katsuki could never lay his eyes on you, fewer were about how he was too aggressive and violent for you, and some were just people hating on both of you. tears gather in your eyes, was this what everyone thought? you knew from the beginning the difference between bakugou katsuki and you, who was lucky to even had made it that far, but you didn’t realise just how big the difference was. katsuki immediately felt something was off, so he left his book aside and grabbed your hand.

“i…” was all you managed to say before bursting in tears. bakugou hugged you as fast as he could, whispering softly calming words and leaving small kisses in your head. slowly, he took away the computer to see what made you so upset. blood starting to boil in his veins, his whole self shaking in pure rage. he got up, leaving you in the bed, still a little teary.

“i’m going to kick those losers to the moon, who the fuck are they to say those things? fucking bastards, i’ll shove their words so up thei–” he was walking back and forward in the small space of his room, stopped only when he saw you crying even harder.

“am i really th–that unworthy of you?” the voice crack made his heart break “i know i’m not perfect but i really thought that… that…” bakugou kneeled before you, looking at you dead in the eye. his hands gently reached your wet cheeks.

“don’t say dumb shit, dumbass. you are the most perfect person on this fucking planet, no one, not even youself, can say shit about that, ya’ hear me?” he did his best to calm himself down, knowing that you needed his comfort more than ever.

he took away the laptop before going into bed with you, holding you tightly in his arms. you were still crying, completely unable to get those words out of your mind. you loved katsuki, that you were sure, and he made clear several times that he loved you too, why didn’t people understand that? why it wasn’t enough?.

the next day, aizawa told both of you that in order to keep your mental health, at least until you graduate, to not make it official. he explained how sometimes, pro heroes had to keep their private life in check just to make things a little easier, as unfair as it sounds. so you waited, you graduate and held the impulse of kissing your boyfriend, hugging him, even look at him. it’s okay, only a few more days. katsuki sign a contract for two years with best jeanist, the number three hero at the time. you, on the other hand, had been offered to work with the lurkers, a team conformed by edgeshot, their leader, kamui woods and mt. lady, signing a similar contract to your boyfriend’s. you were overflowed with happiness, your dream had come true, finally you could call yourself a pro hero. you weren’t an intern, you were their equal.

“look, you are a great hero, but you are just starting” edgeshot had call you into his office, the manager of public interactions was next to him, talking to you “i did my research, and i’m going to have to ask you to keep this relationship of yours with ground zero a secret. you have so much potential, you need to leave a good impression or your hardwork would be for nothing.” you looked at your boss, seeing the uncomfortable look on his face. no one liked to ask those things, but sometimes there were sacrifices to be made.

“i have to talk with him first” was all you could say.

it killed you. not being able to love katsuki, to live a secret. most of the time all you wanted to do was scream in the middle of the street, where everyone could hear you. you loved bakugou katsuki, and he loved you, you wanted to spend you whole life with him, without hiding, without lies, without wondering if you were good enough for him. but it couldn’t be. now, four years later, both of you with your own agencies and a steady career, it still couldn’t be. again and again, no matter how many advisors you hired, everyone reached the same conclusion.

katsuki was waiting for you in the couch, watching a movie. instantly, you crawled to his arms, searching for reassurance. at least he was still the same.

“oi, are you okay?” even if his voice came out harshly, you knew he worried.

“i’m tired” you hid your face in his neck, intertwining your legs with his. you didn’t want to cry, but it was impossible to keep all the tears from falling.

“look at me” he said, lifting your face from your chin “what is it?” his eyes creeped inside yours, you hated making him worry, he lived the exact same things you did, but there you were the only one crying.

“i’m tired of this, bakugou” to hear his last name coming from you froze him in his place, what? tired of what? of him? you wanted to break up? “i can’t do it anymore” the way you grabbed his hand gave him confusing signs. “i want to go out with you, to hold your hand in public, i wanna kiss you and hug you whenever i want to, fuck, i want a normal relationship”

oh. it was that. bakugou sighed, a bit relieved. he understood, it was hard on him too, but at the same time, was all both of you knew. your relationship never had a normal phase, he couldn’t even remember the last date you had. how could he miss something he never had? of course, you were different. for some reason, the media had always been harsher on you. if it wasn’t your love life, it was your hero costume, or the way you did your job, how you didn’t have children, that forever tired face you got, they’d always find a new thing to complain. but you had your own fanbase, a lot of people who supported you, not for nothing you were the number four hero. being honest, katsuki didn’t know what to say. he hated seeing you like that, after all those years.

“let’s go out” he talked while getting up from the couch, lifting you with him “put on something comfy, hurry” when he saw you staring blankly at him, he took you from your legs as a bag of potatos “dammit, woman”.

once you got out of your surprise, you did as you were told after your boyfriend left you on the bed. his eyes glowed with a different shine, one that had disappeared a long time ago.

you got in his car, him driving. katsuki seemed happy, and that eased your anxiety. after a while, he parked in the middle of town. despite of the hour, there was a lot of people there, just as he expected.

“we can’t do this” you said, still a bit doubtful.

“of course we can, i’m going out with my girlfriend, i’m going to hold her hand, and i’m going to kiss her whenever the fuck i want, because she’s the baddest bitch out there and doesn’t deserves to be hidden from anyone”.

he said that. your heart raced, your cheeks heated up, what was going on? your belly had a thousand butterflies trying to escape. he said that. for the first time in five years, you kissed him without double thinking. a kiss filled with loved, confidence, feelings you couldn’t even describe.

he got out of the car first and opened your door, reaching out a hand. you were together in this, whatever happened wouldn’t be as bad, because you had him. there wasn’t anything else you needed but bakugou katsuki.

he explained what he planned while driving, you were going to go to every store you wanted, holding hands, sharing kisses. you were going to take pictures and share them with the world. you wanted an ice cream? then both of you would walk the entire tokyo to get you one, not minding the looks, the whispering. this was you and him.

and you did, you spent the most awesome night together, phones exploding with calls of both of you agencies. it didn’t matter.

you ended in a viewpoint, sitting in the back of your car watching the sun rise. a blanket provided the warm lacking from you bodies, even though you were cuddling. every time bakugou was at peace with you, unconsciously started to sing under his breath, in a really low voice. feeling his chest under your skin, his fingers tangled in your head, hearing his deep melodic voice. that’s how you wanted to spend your life.

“marry me” he said, his heart didn’t even race its pace. he was so calm, because he knew that your love was mutual. “c'mon, dumbass, marry me”.

“i love you” was all that left your mouth. he took it as a yes, and he was right. a soft smile curved in his lips, you were his, and he was entirely yours.

[megurodivision]

Yeong's Thoughts on Division Leaders

Ichiro Yamada

"Ichiro Yamada, the big brother, himself! I tell you, we live here in Meguro, and you can still hear people talk about this guy all the way here. That should tell you just what kind of guy he is. He must all be an awesome big brother if his younger brothers are any hint. Shame he doesn't come to bars much. I know he's got to take care of his siblings, but even he needs a night off once in a while, right?

"My superiors have told me to make contact with Ichiro, but besides that, nothing else. I guess they don't figure him very important enough, which I think is just wrong."

Samatoki Aohitsugi

"If it weren't for the fact that they all are here just to visit Vito's tattoo shop, I'd be worried with the amount of Yakuza I've seen roaming around here in Meguro, as of late. Thankfully, they're just here to get tattoos or something. If they're anything like Kito Sakura's ilk, we may have to teach them a hard lesson. But like I said, that's not the case, thankfully. And I'm glad about that, I hate doing extra work.

"Much like Ichiro-kun, my superiors want me to make contact with Samatoki. From what I've heard, his sister seems to be held in Chuohku's clutches. Perhaps offering my help to free her would get me in his good graces?"

Ramuda Amemura

"Ramuda!" Yeong laughs at the photo of the Shibuya Division's leader. "Lola introduced me to him! The guy works in close proximity with her cause he's the one who designs, not only her's, but also all the models here in Japan's attire. He hasn't made anything for me yet, but he said he'd definitely have something for me before my next big shoot. I can hardly wait!

"When my superiors told me to make contact with this Ramuda of all people, I was surprised. However, upon doing my research, I realized that there's more to this pink-haired, lollypop loving, fashion designer than meets the eye. For some reason, he's been seen in close proximity with Okada-san of Shinagawa. I wonder why..."

Jakurai Jinguji

"Ah, Jakurai-sensei. The man who led the team to win the first-ever D.R.B. in history! You'd never think a guy like him would win a rap tournament, especially considering it was Ramuda, of all people, who taught him how to rap. I guess by beating him, that was a classic case of 'the student surpassing the master.' But in any case, he seems to be quite well-liked, not only cause of his appearance, but also because of his morals. I wonder why Saji doesn't like him...

"Like Ramuda and the others, my superiors also want me to make contact with Jakurai-sensei. However, they also informed me to tell him to contact them directly. Apparently, they'd like to speak with him themselves. I wonder what makes him so special. Is it cause he won the D.R.B.? Curious and curiouser..."

Sasara Nurude

"I love Saji and Vito, really I do. They're my close friends, and despite their faults, I care about them. ...But I tell you, God or whoever must have created them both without a funny bone cause neither of them know the first thing about humor! Seriously, I offered them both to come with me to Osaka to see the master comedian himself, Sasara-san! But both of them refused! Saji states he hates humors and jokes, and Vito stated that they would just go over his head! Geez, I don't know what went on in their pasts, but it sure wiped away any sense of humor in their bodies! They don't even laugh at any of my jokes!

"...Well, Vito listens, at least. Saji, though, I think he just tunes me out. I certainly wouldn't put it past him.

"None of my superiors have given me orders concerning Sasara-san, surprisingly. They say that I could make contact if I chose, but it wasn't a top priority. Ugh, does nobody in this world understand good humor anymore?!"

Kuko Harai

"And last but not least, Kuko-kun. Not to say anything bad about him, but this guy has to be least impressive out of all of the division leaders. I mean, I know he's a monk and all, but that's not exactly anything to shout on the rooftops about. ...Still though, I will admit that I felt slightly robbed that he and his team lost to Jakurai-sensei's team in the second D.R.B.

"Much like Sasara-san, my superiors have instructed me to do as I please about Kuko-kun. He's not a top priority. ...And I'm not at all surprised by that."

[imaginesandinserts]

Irreverent Drabbles: Perils of Realization

Title: Irreverent Drabbles: Perils of Realization Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Reader Rating: G Words: 6078

A/N: This takes place chronologically between chapters 28 and 29. 

Irreverent Series Masterlist

You went on a date.

You realized that you were in love with Hotch, and your first instinct was to go on a date with someone else.

In all respects, it was a relatively good decision. Hotch was your boss and despite the close relationship you enjoyed with him, any romantic relationship between the two of you was impossible.

Miles Burton was a Senior White House Advisor whom you'd run into during your social obligations as a member of the Women in Service organization who had persistently flirted with you at the Griffiths fundraiser and had made it a point to say hello at the following two events you'd both been in attendance for.

Once you'd come to the fairly life-ruining conclusion that you were head-over-heels in love with Aaron Hotchner, you made sure to actually flirt back the next time you saw Miles Burton. That was how you found yourself on the date that had you questioning ever having harbored an attraction to men - dinner and drinks accompanied by a rendition of the 101 Life Accomplishments of Miles T. Burton.

This was hell.

After dinner, Miles had insisted on driving you home, and you cursed yourself for having taken a cab to dinner in order to avoid the lack of parking options in downtown. For some reason, he'd gotten it into his head that paying for dinner entitled him to having your mouth wrapped around his cock while he was parked in the street overlooking your house. You'd extracted yourself from the situation with as much contained outrage and dignity as you could muster, and having closed the front door, you find yourself leaning against it with only one thought in your head – Aaron Hotchner would never.

*------------*

"Rough night?"

You look over at Derek as he peers at you over his coffee mug, his eyes filling with amusement, no doubt having already taken in your slightly puffy face and the extra large cup of coffee you're carrying. After Miles had driven away - you'd watched from your window just in case - you'd needed a drink, which had turned into two drinks and ultimately falling asleep on the couch. You'd woken up late and having rushed out of the house - sans makeup - had arrived at work just in time. Hotch may no longer be upset at you being five minutes late, but he's still entirely stringent about punctuality and you hate to disappoint him.

"Bad date," you respond, dropping into your chair and whipping out the little compact and concealer from your bag so that no one else sees you looking like this.

Emily perks up at that, walking over to perch herself on your desk, the beginnings of a grin already forming on her face. "You finally went out with Burton?"

You look up at her, slightly shaking your head in disapproval at her glee. She'd warned you against him. Something about bad vibes, but since it hadn't been anything concrete, you'd impulsively gone against it. You should've known better. Emily's gut, when it came to men, was impeccably accurate.

Pursing your lips, you make sure your face no longer bears the telltale marks of having fallen asleep, drunk on your couch, before you look up at her and Derek once more. "He tried to Lewinsky me," you tell them ruefully, a scowl making its way onto your face as Emily unsuccessfully stifles a snort.

Derek's eyebrows rise in question. "It's fine, I'm okay," you assure him, before looking back at Emily. "You were right. He's an arrogant creep."

"I'm sorry," she tells you, scooching up further onto your desk and swiping up your coffee before you could stop her. "Everyday I continue to be attracted to men feels like a waste."

"Tell me about it," you mutter, careful to not allow your eyes to slip up to the landing where his office was.

"Oh come on, we're not all bad."

Both you and Emily turn to Derek with looks that say exactly what you think about that particular statement.

"Geez, tough crowd." He raises his hands in surrender, turning away from you both and back to his screen, no doubt to message Pen and fill her in on everything.

"I'd make a good lesbian."

You look up at Emily, who has a contemplative look on her face as she continues to take sips of your coffee. Your coffee. Your hot, perfectly sweetened and foamy latte.

"You would," you agree with her, reaching out for the cup, which she thankfully hands to you, before her eyes flit up to the landing. You turn and follow her gaze, eyes coming to rest on Hotch.

He's wearing the navy blue suit with the nice red patterned Gucci tie that you'd helped Jack pick out for him on Father's day. He has a folder on his hand and his brow is already furrowed, straining under the weight of the world far too early in the morning. His eyes move from the papers in his hand to all of you looking up at him, muscles tensed and breath held tight.

"Briefing. Now."

It takes only two words from him to get you all scrambling from your desks and rushing upstairs, his tone telling you everything you needed to know.

It was going to be a bad one.

*------------*

Five girls missing, three bodies found. Based on the pattern, it's already a foregone conclusion that the fourth girl was also dead. Not that you'd tell her parents that. Not until there was a body. All of your efforts were concentrated on girl number five.

You've felt the eyes of the entire team on you ever since the third body was found and Caroline Geller, lucky contestant number five, had been taken from the parking lot of a grocery store after work. All five girls were around the same age, pretty, low-risk, and had no connection to the unsub that you'd been able to work out.

You look up from the notes you'd taken while talking to Caroline's friends from work to see Hotch looking at you. When your eyes meet his, he's quick to look away, turning back towards the screen in front of him. You know why they're all concerned. While all of the girls are roughly the same age as you, Caroline Geller looked like you. Same hair color, similar features, comparable build – at first glance one might mistake her for you.

She taught ballet at the local dance school, volunteered at the soup kitchen every week, and had recently gotten engaged to her fiancé, a beautiful and heartbroken man who had planted himself on a bench outside the precinct and refused to leave his post.

You'd been at their home, combed through their life, seen the wedding invitation pinned to the refrigerator, held her pointe shoes in your hands as you looked around at everything left behind.

Your eyes stay fixed on Hotch's back as he continues to assess the screen of suspects and look at the evidence board, as though willing something to fall into place. He seems more affected by this case, this girl's disappearance, more than any other in recent memory. There's this childish, naïve part of you that's hoping against hope that it has something to do with you. Because she reminds him of you. More likely, it's the fact that he's had to walk past her fiancé, every time he's left the precinct. Hotch had been the one to speak with him, and the poor man had broken down into tears right  in front of his eyes. It was enough to affect even the coldest of hearts and Hotch hardly fit the bill of a cold-hearted man, despite any misconceptions made based on his reticent exterior. Aaron Hotchner was one of the kindest and most sincere people you've ever met – devout father, responsible team leader. His very aura commanded the sort of respect reserved for those men, the kind of men everyone looked up to and knew they'd never be.

Somehow, he's permeated your entire life without you realizing it. Ever since the two of you had made up, it felt like things were back to normal, even more than before he'd left. You had dinner with them as often as possible. Both him and Jack slept over at least once a week when there wasn't a case going on. The sight of Hotch in pajamas, disappearing into your guest bedroom was becoming a familiar one. It's beyond normal coworkers, beyond a normal friendship – you can finally admit that to yourself.

How it had happened though - how the two of you had allowed it to happen - still remained a mystery. It had been innocuous enough in the beginning. Accompanying Jack and Hotch to the Zoo or the Smithsonian. Relieving Jess when Hotch couldn't get away and she had to go home to her own family. Keeping him company late nights at the office because you hated seeing him be the last one there.

You can feel a lump rise in your throat as your eyes stay on his frame, watching as he points out an additional factor for Reid to consider in his geographic profile. You didn't deserve him. You didn't deserve someone like him, even if he were to give you the time of day.

You've already thought through how it would go if you were to tell him. Blocked out what you'd say and how'd respond. The initial shock of your revelation would catch him off-guard. He'd falter ever so slightly. It would be quickly followed by a professional and kindhearted rejection. You were his subordinate. You were too young. He's sorry if he did or said anything that might have led you on. Of course, he understands if you need some time and space to gather yourself and make your peace with the matter. Of course you'd still see Jack, he'd never deny you his son again. And he wouldn't. He'd stay true to his word.

But you'd never be the same again. You'd never be able to look at him again and feel anything but the sting of that rejection. The confirmation – you weren't good enough. It didn't matter that you'd changed everything. It didn't matter that you'd tried and tried to atone. You weren't good enough. You never would be. Not for that. Not for him. Slowly, you'd start to withdraw. You wouldn't be able to help yourself. It would hurt too much, just being near him. Without meaning to, you'd lose him.

*------------*

Samuel Nolen, age 45, a landscaper who'd worked jobs around each of the women's workplaces in the weeks leading up to their disappearance. He'd been the only common link Garcia had been able to pinpoint and he fit the profile exactly. Older white male, non-threatening demeanor, rotating job that gave him the freedom to watch his victims uninterrupted. Grew up with a single father, mother left the family when he was nine years old and was never heard from again. Garcia had found out that she'd moved out to Vegas and had a relatively successful career as a cabaret dancer.

He was sat in the interrogation room with both Rossi and Reid talking to him while the rest of you watched from the other side. There was something almost gentle about how he held himself, how he shied away from Rossi and leaned more towards Reid, whom he perceived as non-threatening. The guess was that he'd lured in his victims under the guise of needing help, and based on the man in front of you, you could see how some women might fall for it. He seemed nice. If there's one thing this job has taught you, it's that men don't ask for help from women. If a man is asking you for help, run.

Neither Rossi nor Reid were having much success with him. You could all see the twitch in his fingers as they curled around something imaginary. All of the victims had died via strangulation. The hope was that you'd captured him before he'd managed to get back to Caroline and subject her to the same fate.

Derek and JJ had been the ones to pick him up, and as Derek had marched him past you, through the precinct, Samuel's eyes had caught yours and they'd lingered, sending a chill racing down your spine. He might be able to fake it long enough to lure those women to their deaths, but there was no hiding that look in his eyes. The look of a predator.

"I want to talk to the female agent. I'll only talk to her."

It was the first thing he'd said since the interrogation had started half an hour ago. You feel yourself tense, the eyes of the rest of the team on you immediately. None of you needed to ask which agent. From the corner of your eye you look at Hotch beside you. He isn't looking at you, still glaring at the unsub through the mirror, but you can see that his jaw is set tightly.

When Rossi and Reid exit, Rossi immediately looks to you before his eyes go over you and to Hotch. You don't have to turn to see that they're engaged in a wordless debate about the right next move.

You can't help but think of that lovely empty house. The despondent man still seated outside. Those satin shoes that had just been broken in. They deserved to be worn.

"Hotch," you turn to face him, making up your mind as you do. You're going in. You're going to get answers.

He's already looking at you and you can tell that he doesn't like it at all. His forehead is already wrinkled and you can literally see the dissent on his mouth. He's incredibly protective of the team and everyone knows that you're being asked for because you look most like the victim. His ritual has been interrupted and he's going to be eager to resume it. With you as proxy.

"I have to go in," you tell him, before he can say anything to dissuade you from the notion. There was no point in waiting. Every second you waited, your chances of finding Caroline worsened.

His eyes bore into you, silently speaking his every concern into existence. You didn't have to do this, there was always another way. You look so much like her. You look too much like her. If you go in there, he won't see you. He'll see her.

It is a tense minute as you and Hotch look at one another. He's giving you the chance to back out despite knowing that's the last thing you'd do. Finally, a nod comes from him.

"We still have the personal effects that were found in her car?" You're already walking out to the main office as you direct your question to Emily, who is quick to follow you. She guides you to a box of items, among which there's some pieces of clothing. Grabbing the box, you go back to the office overlooking the interrogation room. If he was going to think you were Caroline, then you'd play into it.

Quickly, you shuffle through the clothing in front of you, selecting a well-worn seeming crewneck with her alma mater on it. Slipping your blazer off, you pull the sweater over your head, adjusting so it hung off of you in a manner reminiscent of how Caroline wore it in the photos you'd seen. You shuck off your heels as well, finding a pair of low flats in the box, which you don instead.

Behind you, you can feel the eyes of the team on you as you slowly transform yourself. For the final touch, you take your hair out of your usually prim updo and let it down. Your hair was a little bit longer than Caroline's, but, as you part it down the left side just as she did, you figure it was close enough.

Turning finally to face the unsub, you take your first breath as Caroline Geller.

*------------*

Aaron watches, fists bunched tightly together, thumb itching to move, to do something that would accomplish something larger simply watching and waiting.

They all knew what you were doing - playing up the similarities between yourself and the victim to draw out whatever it was about these women that played to the unsub's compulsions. Prey on his weaknesses just as he'd preyed on them. It was a good tactic – one he could feel forming in your head as you'd searched through the evidence box in search of props for your scene.

You're good in the field, there's no doubt about it. But here, in the interrogation room, that's where you really shine. It was one of the hardest taught skills and it was the one that you had outperformed in beyond imagination from the very start. Your methods unpredictable and out of the box, but highly effective. Out of them all, you were always the best at getting inside the heads of the unsubs and finding that one little thing that made them break.

He's seen it before countless times now, been witness to each spoken word, well placed emphasis, timely pause. The interrogation room was a stage and you were always the star.

It had been the topic of some conversation between himself and Rossi – how you'd managed to convince some of the toughest unsubs to crack under the pressure of your presence. Aaron, personally, chalked it up to your childhood and upbringing. When your entire life was a performance, you know how to play your role.

Now, as he watches you, he sees how you've managed to mimic the mannerisms of Caroline Geller from the home videos you'd seen of her – the slight tilt of the head, the fiddling with the ends of your hair. Your voice has shifted as well, a slightly higher and happier pitch, more like what one might expect of a dance teacher with students in primary school. You've done your homework on this one, that one is easily clear. However, it's the slight pause you have as the Unsub addresses you as Caroline, the nearly imperceptible tension in your shoulders as the Unsub mocks Caroline's desolate fiancé whom Aaron hadn't the heart to look at. This one had gotten to you, and you wouldn't be able to deny it. Not to him.

At long last, you get what you're searching for. The docks by the east river.

The answer came at a price – twenty five long minutes with just you and the Unsub as he poked and prodded at your psyche just as you did to him.

The confirmation from Garcia, of a heat signature at the given location, comes within the minute and Aaron is quick to rap his knuckles against the glass, signaling your curtain call.

*------------*

You can't save them all. That's the one lesson every new agent learns at their own pace.

You can't save them all.

She'd suffocated before you could get to her. You'd been too late.

JJ hadn't let you see Caroline's body, dragging you back and away from the dock containers when Derek had emerged with a somber face, slowly shaking his head.

Your gun feels heavy in your hand, and it is only out of sheer rote habit that you manage to disarm and reholster the weapon. JJ stands with you as the flurry of people begin to process the scene, lit only by the red and blue flashing lights of the police cars.

You'd failed. You'd been too slow to extract the location, too slow to get there. You'd been too damn slow.

You've lost victims before. Everyone has. But you lived in this girl. You'd worn her clothes, her shoes, taken her name. You'd walked like her, changed your voice to mimic hers. It was as though, by pretending to be her, you'd taken in a part of her that now yearned to reunite with the rest of its whole, but it wasn't able to. So now a piece of Caroline Geller rattled inside of you, sobbing and crying out for the rest of itself.

Hotch and Emily finally emerge and you follow JJ to join them as Hotch assigns everyone their roles. One of the policemen interjects and informs him that Caroline's fiancé had insisted on coming along and was now waiting with a deputy by the barricades. You see Hotch nod, his eyes briefly moving towards the direction of the barricade, before refocusing on the team and instructing Reid to assist with the evidence logging.

As everyone starts to disperse, you can feel a lead ball drop into the pit of your stomach, knowing that Hotch now had the task of informing the fiancé that Caroline Geller was dead.

"Hotch," you begin, his name coming out full and heavy, sitting in your mouth like warm air.

He halts at your voice, turning back towards you. He'd already given you your assignment, so he has to be wondering what you could possibly have to say to him.

You look up at him. It's just you, him, and Emily left now, as she waits for you to help her with processing paperwork on the unsub that Hotch had tasked you both with. "I – ," you falter as you meet his eyes, and you can barely see a hint of him behind them. He'd already donned his mask to go face the fiancé.

"I'm sorry," you manage quickly, jaw tight and heart clenching at the awfulness of the job that he now has to do. The job he always has to do.

The only acknowledgement you receive that he had even heard what you said over the din of the police and ambulance sirens, was the barest of wrinkling to his forehead. The ever so slight slippage of the mask during which you thought you might get to catch a glimpse of him, but he catches it far too quickly and keeps it in place. As if it never happened. Not even nodding, he turns away and walks towards the barricade.

It's a miserable few hours for Emily afterwards, you're sure, as you monotonously follow her back to the police station and begin the task of coordinating with the local office to handle the case and subsequent prosecution.

Emily likes to talk while the two of you work together. Rarely ever do the two of you work without talking, however she seems to pick up on your mood fairly well and the two of you quietly go through all of the required processes.

"You know what your problem is?"

You look up at Emily, who had finally broken the silence, her sharp voice cutting through the small storage room that the two of you inhabited, gathering all of the files that would need to be sent off to the local office.

You swallow, bracing yourself for the worst. At your slight nod, she proceeds, her voice a calm fury like you'd never seen before. "Even after everything you've done, after everything you had to go through, you seem to harbor this delusion that you're not supposed to be here."

"What're you talking about?"

"I'm talking about you. Apologizing to Hotch. You think you don't belong here. That you aren't good enough. You think that girl dying today was your fault."

You scoff, shaking your head. "It was my fault," you retort, grabbing the box you'd just finished packing and making your way to the door before you're blocked by Emily, preventing your escape.

"No, it wasn't. The only person responsible for that girl's death is the guy who's going to rot in prison for the rest of his miserable, fucked up life."

You sigh, shuffling your weight from one foot to the other. "If I'd gotten – "

"You can't save everyone," she interrupts, barreling onwards. "We're going to try. We're going to try our best every single time. But we can't save everyone. None of us can. Not you, not me, not even Hotch. But that doesn't make it your fault."

Emily stares down at you, reaching out and grabbing the heavy box out of your hands and setting it down on the floor by your feet. You look away, up at the ceiling, tears pricking at your eyes, causing them to burn. Your chest feels tight and you take a shuddered breath. The lure of wanting to believe her was so very strong, struck against the waves of dissonance it posed in your head.

Emily softens her voice, reaching out towards you and wrapping an arm around your shoulders as she easily pulls you into her chest. "Hotch isn't blaming you. He doesn't think you have anything to be sorry for."

*------------*

The plane ride back was a somber affair, everyone on the team off on their own. Spencer was reading a new book whose title had caught your interest, Rossi was tucked away in a corner with his eyes closed but you're not sure if he's actually asleep. Both Emily and JJ were sitting close together, quietly sharing a bag of Cheetos while JJ worked on her presentation to Henry's class for Career Day and Emily bided the time alternating between reading the trashy romance she'd found left behind in her hotel room and staring out the window. Derek sat across from you with his headphones on, leaned back in his chair with his eyes closed. Across the way, you can see Hotch diligently working on his report for the case, the only sound emanating from his faint taps against the keyboard.

Emily's words still play in your head, now competing with that churning voice that you'd had in your head for the past few weeks – you would never be good enough for the likes of Aaron Hotchner. Her words were starting to put some minute cracks in the foundation of that particular statement, and you had no idea what to make of that.

You hear the tapping of the keyboard stop momentarily and watch as Hotch turns up to look at you, your eyes meeting for a long second, before he breaks his gaze, returning back to the screen in front of him. From your seat, you can barely make out a slight crinkling of his forehead as his hands hover above the keyboard, as though faltering in typing out his next words. You have to guess that he's arrived at the part of his statement around the interrogation. You turn away, following Emily's lead and staring out your own window, while unbeknownst to you, his eyes can't help but return to you countless times more.

It felt as though you'd thought of very little besides Hotch, since that day that your mother had visited. She'd left in the wake of one of the few times you'd seen him lose his cool with someone, and having it be done on your behalf, in your defense, had somehow unveiled this entirely ridiculous truth that you'd tried in vain to deny.

You were in love with Aaron Hotchner.

You had no idea what to do with that.

Dating other people hadn't worked out so well.

Trying to simply get over it had been an exercise in vain.

You've run miles in your own head, trying to make sense of it. The question begged itself – why Aaron Hotchner? If you merely wanted a husband and kids, you've no doubt you could have that with anyone you got along with well enough.

Your mind had briefly flitted back to that final date you'd had with Cedric Kensington. It had been highly promising, you'd finally felt it heading in a definite direction and you could see it. You could see yourself being with Cedric, marrying him, having children with him if you were so inclined. Had you not gotten the call from Garcia, informing you that Foyet was back on the grid, who knows what could have happened. Maybe you could've had that with Cedric. Having that perfect life with someone else was not entirely out of the realm of possibility.

You'd thought of John. How it had never been the right time when it came to the two of you. Then finally, when you could conceive being something real with him, you'd faltered. You couldn't go through with it. It hadn't been the right time to choose him. It hadn’t been the right time to choose anyone but yourself.

It had taken you some time but you think you've finally come to the right conclusion of why it was Hotch and no one else – the possibility of losing him was terrifying. Even when the two of you had been on the outs, you hadn't been able to leave, staying anchored to him despite being furious with him. Seeing him had been torture. Not seeing him had been so much worse, and you couldn't bring yourself to endure that again.

Given the absolute fact of the matter – you being in love with Hotch - there were really only two paths forward that you could see. Ignore it and hope it goes away, or tell him and pray you didn't lose him in the process.

The Pro/Con list to that second option had begun, unbidden, the week prior. Your mind going rogue and dreaming up ridiculous and absurd scenarios of you confessing your truth to him.

Pro: You're absolutely, unshakably, madly in love with him.

Con: There's a fairly good chance that he does not and will never reciprocate those feelings.

Pro: Aaron Hotchner was loyal to you. You had always felt he was, but your conversation a few weeks back had cemented that. He would do anything to help you, no matter what.

Con: He's twelve years older than you and has a kid.

Pro: You love his kid.

Con: Between the two of you, your past trauma could be its own wing in the Library of Congress.

Pro: You're both good at getting the other person to talk.

Con: You work together and workplace romances are frowned upon. He was your supervisor, and dating him would no doubt lead to rumors and malicious gossip, which would follow you the rest of your career at the Bureau. It could tarnish you entirely and it could also hurt him.

Con: You would not be alright if the two of you didn't work out. You know that you weren't even together, but the idea of ending things with Hotch, after knowing what it was to have him – that would break you entirely.

Con: He was going to say no, so it was all a moot point.

Towards the end, you'd run out of items for the Pros to balance out each Con, and as of now, the Cons were definitely in the lead.

*------------*

The two of you are once again the last two people in the office. Emily had been the last to leave, leaving her book from the plane on your desk, having already put sticky note bookmarks in all the right spots. She'd winked as she left, encouraging you to skip the rest of the book and skip straight to the good stuff. You had to smile at her attempts to cheer you up. Some friends bought you a drink. Emily Prentiss curated sex scenes that she thought you'd enjoy reading.

You glance up and see that Hotch's door is shut, the orange blush emanating through the glass windows, alluding to the fact that he'd given up on using the overhead lights. They were too bright for him and gave him headaches, so despite the strain on his eyes, he preferred to read by the glow of his desk lamp. With Jack away at sleepaway camp for Cub Scouts for the week, he's unlikely to leave early.

You grab your finished report and head up the stairs to his door, stopping and knocking before hearing his permission to enter. As you open the door, your eyes go immediately to his desk, however he's not seated behind it. Instead, you're greeted by a most unfamiliar sight.

Aaron Hotchner is seated on the brown leather couch in his office, a glass of amber liquid in his hands. You don't think you've ever seen Hotch not working in his office. Sure, he'll take a break here and there when you interrupt, but the image of him outright sitting on the couch, not a report in sight, was entirely foreign to you.

It feels as though you're intruding. Like you’ve stumbled upon something entirely private, because Hotch doesn’t strike you as the kind of guy that makes a habit out of drinking in his office by himself.

You could imagine this was something he did with Rossi on occasion, the two of them sharing a drink after a rough case or catching up and reminiscing about the so-called good old days, before the team had a plane on call.

"You can set that on the desk," he tells you, his voice deeper, made warm by the liquor. He doesn't look up from his glass, eyes fixed on something in the far off distance.

Unsure how to react to the sight in front of you, you quickly make your way across his office, setting your file on top of the already tall stack at the edge of his desk.

Turning around, you quickly walk back towards the door, eager to not bother him any longer than absolutely necessary. When you get to the door, you hesitate, turning back to face him. Before you can stop yourself, you can feel the words tumbling out of you. "Hotch, are you alright?"

He looks up in your direction, his expression entirely unreadable. He nods slowly, and you can see a deep sigh work its way through him, before he finally meets your eyes.

"It was a rough case. Telling the families isn't something I'll ever get used to, I think."

You nod sympathetically. It wasn't fair that it always fell on him.

"I'll be fine, though. Just need to be alone after some of them."

You nod again, not trusting yourself to say much. As you turn to leave, taking his words as your cue, he speaks again.

"You can stay."

You turn back, your head tilting in some confusion as you meet his eyes once more. He looks at you for a second longer, before reaching over to the side table and grabbing a second glass. He pours from the bottle of good scotch that Rossi had given him last Christmas while you watch him.

Proffering the glass in your direction, he beckons you forward. "You're easy to be alone with."

Somehow, in a slight daze, you manage to walk back towards the couch, reaching out and grasping the heavy crystal glass in your hand. He motions for you to join him and you sink into your usual spot, tucking your legs underneath yourself.

His eyes stay on you as you settle in and take a sip of the scotch, feeling it burn your lips, the tip of your tongue, before blooming into a subtle smoky sweetness in your mouth, settling into your stomach like dying embers.

"Are you alright?" he asks, watching you carefully.

You try not to squirm under his inspecting gaze, unable to offer much beyond a shrug. "I will be."

It's quiet for a moment as he continues to look at you and you distract yourself with a stray thread in the cushion stitching.

You hear him clear his throat, shifting slightly on the couch so that his leg bends at the knee as he turns his body to face you, arm stretched out on the back of the couch, fingers grazing the top of your shoulder. "You did everything you could."

You feel that heavy tug in your stomach, unable to look at him, knowing that your face would betray you entirely.

He says your name, soft on his lips, gentle with every part of you. He waits until you look up at him, meeting his brown eyes that held the warmth of an everlasting hearth.

"You did."

You nod slowly, because who were you to disagree with him. Because if Aaron Hotchner said you did everything you could, then maybe it was true.

Not much more is said that night, as the two of you sit side by side.

Pro: You could be alone with Aaron Hotchner.

[gospelofme]

57 Thoughts I Had While Watching Part 2 of The Bad Batch Season Finale (Spoilers ahead!!)

I do like how Part 2 picks right up where Part 1 left off. I prefer that method since it makes it feel like one connected piece. Like how Rogue One ended where A New Hope kicks off.

Ya know, I wouldn’t mind the thunderstorms.

Okay the explosions are beautifully animated. The blues, the sparks, the orange flames. And I like how they’re realistically placed. So many shows with explosions don’t have them right close to the characters, even if they’re supposed to be all around them.

This episode is kinda darkly lit. Not like Battle of Winterfell in Game of Thrones.

Okay yeah, that clone reporting the destruction…thats some sadness there.

That inner alarm has me thinking “oh shit my flight has changed gates again hasn’t it!!”

Damn, imagine being unconscious and wake up in a flooding compartment with a droid and that one kid who took your place.

Okay how strong is that knife. I kinda expect it to break in half. Wrecker would

probably try to trade with Hunter after that.

The shot of the burning buildings on the water is so beautiful too. The reflections were well done.

About AZ being like “oh hey homie, you survived being blown up but now you’re drowning. And I’m watching while this literal child tries to move metal debris off of you.”

Okay Omega using her bow like that is genius. But please wee baby don’t hit Crosshair by accident. And the way the bolts underwater were animated. 🤌🏻🤌🏻

And Crosshair being all “wtf?!”

Dang Omega is so take charge here.

Okay the sprays of water from the door is so well done. And omg they just pop outta there lmao!!!! About how Omega is caught and they just let Crosshair slide on the floor.

Haha Crosshair being like “Hunter, you fucker did you break something?!”

I really wish it wasn’t so darkly lit, but it does bring a sense of realism. The power is out, so what we’re able to see is what the characters are able to see with flashlights. Plus I’m sure this would look different on my TV than iPad.

The music is so pretty, so emotional. Oh damn poor AZ.

Oh never mind. He’s good.

Crosshair quit being a poop and follow them please.

Echo and that smell lmao.

“Blind allegiance makes you a pawn. A real leader protects his squad.”

Huh. Interesting. But isn’t blind allegiance what the clones had in the Republic? Isn’t that what Clone Force 99 had in the Republic? At least mostly. Some clones didn’t have that obviously, like Cut.

Ooohh Crosshair’s expression when Hunter knocked his shoulder. That seemed like surprise. There is something to that.

Hmmmmmm I’m with Crosshair on that. Going through a glass tunnel with cracks in it hundreds of feet below the surface would be a no from me. Also, what about water pressure? Is that not a thing there? Like wouldn’t you get a massive headache traveling through that? Or maybe not….idk.

Oh fuck Wrecker letting Crosshair know what’s what. I do like that he’s finally expressing how he feels. I’ve always thought there was more of a brotherly relationship between Wrecker and Crosshair than Crosshair had with the others. And Wrecker has a point, Crosshair didn’t even try to come back to them. Of course that really isn’t a fair statement either I guess. Wrecker should remember how he couldn’t control what he did when his chip kicked on.

And Tech jumping in and saying that Crosshair has always been “severe and unyielding” is a good way to let us know a bit more of what’s normal behavior for Crosshair. I like how he’s reminded Wrecker that some things Crosshair can’t help due to just how he is (likely a byproduct of the enhancement experiments).

“Understanding you does not mean I agree with you.” Ugh if only more people had this mindset. Also, the whole “why are you defending me?” sounds like Tech doesn’t usually leap to Crosshair’s defense (even though that’s not what he’s doing here). Which further makes me think that the brotherly relationship that usually exists between team members (like Domino squad eventually, Rex/Echo/Fives/Kix/Jesse/Hardcase/Tup) doesn’t exist here between all the guys. It’s more sporadic. Crosshair seems to get along better with Wrecker (in their own way, teasing and their droid death counts) than he does with Tech.

Also perhaps they should not stop so often…ya know, just in case the tunnel implodes.

Oh nope nope nope. No underwater tubes and sea monsters for Bethany.

AZ is so peppy. Like he sounds so positive when relaying bad news. He sounds like the kinda droid that would be like “good news is you have great cholesterol, bad news is you have cancer. But yay no diabetes!”

Oh yeah I kinda forgot Hunter wasn’t with them they first got to the private lab. And oh damn, Omega is technically older than them. The whole accelerated aging thing is just so unfair.

Well we really couldn’t expect a glass tunnel to fully survive aerial bombardment. Better start swimming fuckers!!

Damn, someone find AZ a charger! I bet Tech has one for his datapad that boy is attached too. He seems like the type to never be without a phone charger. He also seems like the type to not want to share it because no one else in the squad treats their charge cords with respect.

Dad gum Crosshair, I didn’t hear you spouting off any bright ideas. Geez, who peed in your wheaties?!

Hunter takes things too personally?! Weren’t you being all Salty McSourpus over Hunter leaving your ass on Kamino for shooting at him and the others? Were you not taking that too personally? But kudos to Hunter for reminding him the Empire peaced the fuck out and left him to die on Kamino. Although…Crosshair does sound like he’s trying not to care about that. Like it does bother him but he’s acting like he don’t give a fuck.

“The Empire will control the entire Galaxy. And I’m going to be a part of it.” Uhm, sir…you’re currently in a secret lab at the bottom of the ocean with no means of escape right now. How do you plan to be a part of the Empire from down here? Like, are you going to establish the underwater branch of the Empire and assert the Emperor’s control over the sea critters?

Ugh Omega trying so hard to bond with Crosshair. Like the parallel between this scene and the holding cell scene. And her thinking she was wrong about the chip making him behave like a dick. Oh sweet baby, you’re not wrong. He still has that thing. But he has always been a dick per Tech’s words earlier. But she’s trying so hard to show him the similarities between them.

I’ve noticed Crosshair does a lot of pushing people away. Like he’s been doing that with Hunter and Omega this whole season. Speaking harshly to them both (although I think some of the things he says to Hunter, he’s always wanted to say). But I think it’s more that he wants to avoid disappointing them, so he shoves them away to prevent that feeling. Like perhaps he thinks he isn’t worthy to be around them, that they’ll be better off without him around.

Oh fuck, look at you contributing now Mr. I Am Going To Complain About Other People’s Ideas.

Did they have to draw straws to see who got their own pod and who had to team up with who? Like,

Hunter: “Someone has to go with Tech.”

Crosshair, Wrecker: “Not it!”

Echo: “not it, fuck I wasn’t fast enough.”

Oh the wee child is getting her own pod. Okay then.

Of course Hunter and Crosshair get doubled up. I bet they argue the whole time.

Crosshair: “stop breathing all the air!!”

Hunter: “stop standing on my foot!!”

Crosshair: “well it’s not my fault you have Sasquatch feet!”

Oh damn. Well bye Omega. It was nice knowing you. Crosshair probably has your eulogy already written.

Hm, so Tech never shared his datapad charge cord with AZ. Bummer.

Awww poor AZ. He was a good droid. We’ll remember how he OMG OMEGA WHAT THE FUCK?!!???

Again is water pressure not a thing in Star Wars?

Sweetie. He’s metal. You won’t be strong enough to pull him along with you.

Oh fuck Crosshair! Oh damn the look on his face is like “Hunter, get you ugly ass face out of my shot.” Oh damn, boy has got some good eyesight, I want a piece of that.

Bruh, that’s gotta hurt. You just saved the kid they all love and they got you at blaster point. Buuuuuut at the same time you haven’t expressed the most positive attitude towards said kid either. So maybe they have a good reason to think you’d shoot her? Still. Damn. That’s gotta hurt, since if it had been the good ol’ days they’d be like “nice shot buddy!”

Hunter looks more wary than upset honestly. Like he isn’t sure why Crosshair did that, but he’s not sure if Crosshair would want him expressing gratitude either. Hunter doesn’t seem to know how to treat him any more. Crosshair belittles him and speaks harshly to him, but then saves Omega. It’s almost like old Crosshair is still in there, knowing how attached the team is to Omega. Even if he does think she’s not in the safest environment with them.

Oh…omg what is this?! I just noticed, no rain on Kamino….AND SUNSHINE?! Like is that a fucking sunrise??!!?? Oh shit you guys there is symbolism here!!! Like a new start or something impossible has happened. Like there has never been sunshine on Kamino, it’s always stormed. Always. Always and forever it has done that. But after the destruction of Tipoca City, the rains cease and the sunshine comes out. Like….omg guys. It’s pretty!!

Interesting. Omega seems sad that a place she didn’t want to ever return to is gone. But I guess that’s probably the notion that she’s essentially homeless setting in. That the only home she’s had (before Clone Force 99) is gone.

Also, I have this theory that Ghost Fives probably travels with Echo, and he’d likely be like “good! Fuck that place. Killing Tup there and all. Bitches.”

Echo: “stfu Fives, she’s sad okay.”

Honestly I’m not surprised Crosshair refused their offer to come with them. He has his pride and I feel like he doesn’t want to admit aligning with the Empire was a mistake. That he was wrong and Hunter was right. Especially after being all Pro-Empire and talking about how they’re going to be what the Galaxy needs.

“Consider us even.” GIRL he admits it! He was saving YOU!! YOU! Not the dumb droid, YOU!!!!

His face says it all when they pull away. Like he regrets not going with them, but he can’t bring himself to stay with them. He’s really conflicted right now. He has programming in his head telling him one thing and another portion of his mind reminding him that Tech, Wrecker, Hunter, and even Echo care about him. That they’re a team. He even wanted them to join the Empire so they could all get back together. He does want to be with them, but it’s going to take time to get passed the war in his head.

Oh damn, Nala Se and some Commando buddies. Yeah there’s something up with her. She seems to have gained a lot out of this. Making herself more important than Lama Su and likely more important than the other scientists from Kamino. I wonder if this was her plan all along. It’s so hard to tell what Kaminoans are thinking because they don’t express emotions facially or even vocally.

I read a post somewhere about Nala Se doing childish science experiments. Like the baking soda/vinegar volcano. And now I can’t get the image out of my head of her teaching like a high school chemistry class where you get to do those classic science fair experiments. Things exploding, clones accidentally gassing each other at a table. Someone betting someone else 5 credits to drink a solution.

@leias-left-hair-bun @halzore @escapedthesarlacc @eyecandyeoz

[heliosthegriffin]

Alone time with Jaune Arc

Pyrrha: And you’re sure that’ll you be fine alone while we go into Vale with team RWBY, Jaune?

Jaune: Don’t sweat it Pyrrha, I just need some me time to decompress.

Nora: Oh? And what does this alone time entail Fearless Leader? *Wags her eyebrows* Going to have a date with a pair of rosey-

Pyrrha & Jaune *Red-Faced*: NORA!

Ren *Covers Nora’s mouth and pulls her outside*: And, that is our cue to leave. Enjoy your alone time Jaune. (Under his Breath) Wish I could have some.

Pyrrha and Jaune still Red-Faced.

Jaune: Uh, maybe you should follow them?

Pyrrha is unresponsive.

Jaune tries to get Pyrrha’s attention: Pyrrha? Pyrrha?

Pyrrha is staring at Jaune’s crotch.

Jaune using his leader voice: PYRRHA!

Pyrrha jumps out of her trance: YES MASTER!?

Jaune raises an eyebrow: How about you go with them Pyrrha, and don’t worry about me, I’m just going to relax today, and maybe watch some movies, I dunno.

Pyrrha still a little flush: SIR, YES SIR! *walks out the door.*

Jaune: I will never understand that girl.

Several moments pass.

Jaune rushes to the door, puts his ear to the door, listens closely for any interlopers. Very carefully opens door, peers out to make sure no-one is hiding or coming to his room. After verifying his safety, he closes the door and locks it.

Jaune then goes to the bath room and grabs some towels and shoves them in front of the door, and then makes sure the windows are closed and curtains closed too.

Jaune lets out a low, ominous laugh: My time has come at laugh.

*Tosses off all his clothes off except his boxers*

*Pulls out his secret Lapscroll, browsing with excited laughter*

Jaune: Yes, yes! I found just what I’m looking for!

*Jaune runs over to his dresser, he stumbles, but catches himself, and then picks out a pair of socks... And then a white button up... A black tie, and finally a pair of sunglasses*

*Jaune then slides up to his bed, fly as all hell dressed up in his baby blue, tight as hell boxers,white socks, white button up, black tie, and sunglasses. He pulls out Crocea Mors from behind his pillows, he likes to keep it on hand in-case of nighttime intruders, and having nothing to do with him needing something to cuddle when sleeping.*

Jaune lets out another excited laugh: The time is nigh.

Jaune walks over to the LapScroll, and hits the video.

- Insert and Play (Billy Idol’s Dancing With myself) -

Jaune starts grooving to the beat, and shifting them hips, and swing his booty to the song. Then with a quick dash his slides across the floor with his socks grabbing Crocea Mors with both hands and singing in to the hilt.

~ On the floors of Mistral, or down in Mantle town to go-go With the record selection and the mirror's reflection I'm a-dancing with myself ~

-Scene Break-

Several Sweaty hours later.

With RWBY and NPR

Ruby: That was fun!

Nora: Yeah! We should do that again!

Ren: Hopefully with two whole teams instead of one and three quarters. (Under his breath) I’m sick of having to be one of the girls, I need my bro with me.

Yang: Sure, just doesn’t feel right without good’ol vomit boy.

Weiss, asking curiously: Speaking of which, why didn’t he accompany us today. *Annoyed Look* Usually, he’d take any chance to go out with me.

Pyrrha, eye-twitching with rage: He just needed some me time. Away from *Looks discreetly at Weiss* Everybody.

Yang starts laughing: A boy, needing alone time, hehehe, we all know what that means, hehehe.

Pyrrha flushes again.

Ruby: hehehe,  yeah we know what that means... *Looks to Weiss and loudly whispers* What does it mean?

Weiss shrugs.

Blake has no strong opinion one way or the other.

Nora laughs and Looks at Ren: Called it. Hey! We’re here!

Ren briefly thinks about being the voice of reason, but Jaune did leave him alone with seven women for six hours, seven overbearing and powerful women. He gets what’s coming to him.

*Slight music can be heard*

Yang: Geez, how obvious can you be?

Yang *Tries the door*

Yang: Well, Played Jauney-Boy, Well Played. But, the old door locking trick won’t stop me for long.

Yang *Cocks her fist*

Pyrrha: Wait! Let me open the door.

Yang *Uncocks her fist, a shell is inexplicably shot out of her forearm* : Bastard out smarts me once again.

*Clicks card* Door opens, Revealing Jaune in all his glory and singing into Crocea Mor’s ~Pour some Sugar on me!~

All of them pause, except for Jaune still singing.

They soak in what they’re seeing.

Boy what a sight.

Jaune leaning over Crocea Mors slightly, his blonde bangs slick with sweat and sticking to his face.His skin flush red from effort. His shirt had come undone during his afternoon, leaving sculpted pecs to be seen, sweat dripping down between them into his shredded and powerful abs, the drops of moisture then following a trail into his tight adonis belts, before disappearing into his tight boxers, which leave nothing to the the imagination.

The girls (And Ren) keep staring, seeing broad shoulders underneath the soaked through shirt, and rippling back muscles. His legs were also of note, cause damn, they went on for days!

Jaune stops singing after the song ends.

*Notices he not alone*

Jaune briefly contemplates suicide, before shrugging and saying unusually nonchalantly: Well, you caught me. But, to be honest it was bound to happen eventually, either that or one of you would catch me masturbating.

Jaune walks over to the Scrolltop and hits play on another video: You can either stay and watch, leave... Or join in, your choice.

Pyrrha internally:I’m going to ride him till one of us breaks, but first I must reboot.

Pyrrha - faints from over stimulation.

Ruby squeaks out: Hot boy, weapons, best friend, best friends a hot boy with a weapon! TWO OF THEM!?

Ruby - faints the combination was super effective.

Weiss: OH NO HE”S HOT!

Weiss - Faints, she’s rejecting reality right now.

Blake with a river of blood coming down her face: Nya~ (Breed me, you Adonis stud, I want a litter demi-gods children!)

Blake - Oh, no! Blake whited out!

Nora, already standing next to Jaune dressed in the same outfit.: Oh, you better believe I’m joining in!

Nora - Horny and ready to dance! Wondering about an orgy!

Yang going through Jaunes dressers for clothes to join: Me too! Also, hot damn Vomit- I mean Lover Boy!~

Yang - Fired up and Ready to go! Likes what she sees.

Ren, carefully setting up the other in comfortably positions. Shrugs: Sure why not.

Ren: Impressed by his leaders body. Ready to dance.

Jaune: Cool.

Jaune: Oblivious to everything that’s just happen.

The door to the dorm closes with the image of Jaune, Ren, Nora, and Yang dressed in White shirts and sunglasses.

[littlelovelyspiderling]

Unmasked

Spider-Man is forced to fight the Sinister Six while he’s sick, which leads to his enemies making unexpected discoveries about their arch nemesis.

Chapter 2

Doc Oc’s notoriously dull and empty lab was filled with bodies and excitement that evening. The Sinister Six piled eagerly into the large room as Octavius dumped a bloody, unconscious Spider-Man onto one of the examination tables. An uproar of cheers and laughter followed.

“The spider is finally squashed!”

“Is he still alive? No way he’s still alive.”

“Heart’s still beating, according to the computer.”

“Who cares? The little bitch finally got what was coming to him.”

“I wanna break his other leg. Can I break his other leg?”

“Now, now, listen, my comrades.” Octavius rose above the group on his metal limbs, tapping a glass against a bottle of champagne until the room fell quiet. “Before we continue, I think a win this spectacular deserves to be celebrated accordingly.”

Using the prehensile pincers at the ends of each tentacle, Otto poured and distributed the alcohol with ease, and everyone raised their glasses.

 “A toast to us, the greatest super villains to ever grace history!”

“Here, here!”

“And a toast to Spider-Man! The biggest, most obnoxious pain in all our asses—vanquished at last!”

Laughs and shouts preceded the communion. After downing his drink, Otto wiped his lips with a grin. 

“And as the leader of this great and glorious team, I am nothing if not giving to my loyal followers. Since you all deserve personal retribution for the many, many grievances this wretch has inflicted upon us, I promise each of you at least two minutes of reparation time to do to Spider-Man whatever you feel he deserves. Once we wring his throat dry of whatever information he possesses, he’s all yours. So long as I get to deal the final blow.” He chuckled. “Well, if he survives that long, anyway.”

“I’ll snap off all his fingers!”

“I’ll gag him with his own webbing!”

“I’ll pop his head like a grape!”

“I’ll zap him ’til his heart stops, then zap it back to life, then zap him dead again!”

“Revenge is sweet,” Octavius concurred, walking around the table to stand behind Spider-Man’s head. The rest of the Sinister Six went silent and gathered on either side of the fallen hero, with Rhino at his feet. “But first,” Doc continued, reaching forward with one of his mechanical tentacles. The tips of the metal prongs pinched the fabric at the top of Spider-Man’s mask.

“Let’s have a look at our arch enemy’s face.”

In one quick yank, the mask peeled off the hero’s head. Six pairs of eyes absorbed the bruised, pale face lying lifelessly before them—the face of their sworn nemesis. A face none of them were anticipating. Gradually, the grins and snickers faded away, replaced by furrowed brows and puzzled glances.

“Wait…” Electro said, breaking the long stretch of silence.

“I’m…confused,” Scorpion added.

“Is he—does he look—?”

“Like…a kid?”

Everyone’s gazes rose to Octavius. The brilliant scientist looked between them and Spider-Man bewilderedly, his mouth hanging agape.

“I…” he began, rolling the hero’s head to the side. An ugly gash marred his left cheek; dried blood was smeared all the way to his hairline. “I don’t…understand.”

Spider-Man had the soft, innocent face of a child. It was the kind of face grandmas couldn’t resist pinching and puppies just had to lick. His hair was a wild mess of brown curls that was sticking up all funny because of how long he’d been wearing his mask. He severely lacked the sharp, signature features that defined man from boy. Hell, he even had acne: tiny constellations of it dotted across his chin and forehead. No way was he considered a legal adult by the state of New York yet.

Spider-Man was no man at all. Spider-Man was, in fact, a Spider-Kid.

Otto lifted his eyes to the others. He didn’t know what to say.

“It’s not him,” Scorpion suggested.

Sandman scoffed. “What do you mean, ‘it’s not him’?”

“Maybe this isn’t Spider-Man,” he said. “Maybe the real Spider-Man sent a double. Someone to stand in his place while he’s busy or whatever to keep us at bay.”

“Spider-Man’s despicable if he’s sending some kid to fight his battles for him. Doesn’t sound like his style.”

“I don’t know! I’m just brainstorming here! I mean, you saw how pathetic he was today. Spider-Man normally puts up a better fight than that.”

“Yeah,” Electro said nervously. “Maybe it’s not him.”

“He was sticking to things and shooting webs and mouthing off just like the real Spider-Man always does,” Shocker retorted. “I’m pretty sure this is him.”

“Silence!” Octavius shouted, holding up his fist. He turned to the large screen on his right. “Computer, run biological and forensic diagnostics on Spider-Man.”

A series of beams and lasers scanned across the hero, gathering and analyzing information. About a minute later, a robotic voice spoke up.

“Facial and DNA match confirmed,” the A.I. replied. “Subject is Peter Benjamin Parker. Born to parents Richard and Mary Parker on August 10th, 2001. Age: fifteen. Address: 42-42 80th St, Queens, NY 11373. Current occupation: Intern at Stark Industries and sophomore high school student at Midtown School of Science and Technology.”

Stinging disbelief pricked all of them. Rhino’s jaw fell.

“Fifteen?”

“Sophomore?”

“High school?”

It was strange to finally be able to put a name and face to someone they had all known only as a masked caricature for so long. Peter Parker. Peter. And yet, the face still had everyone reeling to the point that the name hardly registered. Otto slammed a metal arm against the table.

“Shut up, all of you!” he spat. “Computer, relay back all the biological data you’ve gathered on Spider-Man.”

“Confirmed,” the A.I. said. “Subject’s current heart rate is 52 bpm. Subject’s current blood pressure is the 79mmHg. Subject’s current temperature is 105.8 degrees Fahrenheit.”

“None of those sound normal,” Sandman said with a snort.

“Relay DNA findings,” Doc Oc barked impatiently.

“Confirmed. Subject’s DNA is mutated and abnormal. Subject’s blood emits low levels of gamma radiation. Subject’s genome is human combined with an unidentifiable species of arachnid.”

Everyone’s eyes snapped up at once. The realization drizzled over them like baleful mist.

“Oh my god,” Sandman breathed. “It’s him.”

“You mean he’s actually part spider? Gag!”

With a scoff, Electro stepped away from the table, cupping his hands against the back of his neck. “You’re kidding me. You’re shitting me. You’re telling me this is the person I’ve been trying to kill this whole time? This is the guy I’ve been frying like a mozzarella stick?” He kicked a trash bin across the room. “Dammit! I do a lot of bad things, but I’d never knowingly hurt a child!”

“Spider-Man is just some fifteen-year-old high school brat?” Rhino said, pouting his lip. “Geez. I can’t believe we just beat the shit out of some kid.”

“Spider-Man is not just some kid!” Otto roared. “Who cares about his age! Have you all suddenly forgotten how much this bastard has antagonized every last one of us? How he’s foiled our plans and ruined our lives again and again for the past two years?”

Sandman pressed the heels of his hands to his temples. “Oh my god. Does that mean I’ve been beating him up since he was fourteen? My niece is three years older than him, and I can’t imagine putting her through what I’ve done to him!” He squeezed his eyes shut and bowed his head. “What kind of monster am I...?”

“I broke his damn leg,” Shocker said distraughtly. “And I enjoyed it.”

“Hell, guys…this is so messed up…”

Five members of the Sinister Six stewed in a sauna of shame and guilt. Octavius refused to join them.

“You spineless morons! All of you! Our enemy lays defeated in front of us, yet you choose to wallow in remorse! We should be celebrating! Nothing has changed! He’s young—so what? That doesn’t undermine all the frustration he’s caused us, or our glorious victory over him! Come on, now! Raise your glasses with me! To the Sinister Six! Guys...?”

Nothing he said could wipe the queasy looks off all their faces, or the guilty stickiness he felt in his own gut. Everything—all of this—it just felt wrong.

Sandman stood over Spider-Man and gingerly placed his hand against his forehead. It was startlingly hot and damp with sweat. “Computer, why is Spider-Man’s temperature so damn high? What’s the cause?”

A couple seconds later, the A.I. pinged. “Confirmed,” it said. “Subject has a norovirus infection. It appears subject has been infected for at least twenty-four hours. Norovirus is commonly diagnosed as gastroenteritis or the stomach flu. Symptoms include fever, cramps, dizziness, lightheadedness, and nausea.”

A groan swept through the room. Scorpion crossed his arms against the table and buried his head between them.

“He’s sick. That’s why he seemed so sluggish and off during the fight. Because we were beating up a sick kid.”

“Shit. Last time I had the stomach flu, I didn’t leave my bed for two days. He really thought he could take us on in his condition?”

“Not like we really gave him a choice,” Shocker murmured.

“The little punk probably didn’t even think twice about it,” Sandman said miserably. “After all, his dumbass adolescent brain is still developing.”

Rhino sulked. “Yeah, as long as we didn’t permanently damage it...”

The Sinister Six fell into a dreadful silence.  

At that moment, Spider-Man coughed. The group jumped and gasped, automatically assuming defensive positions with their fists raised, weapons drawn, and muscles coiled.

Spider-Man coughed again, his head lolling to the left, but he didn’t wake up. A collective sigh passed everyone’s lips. Electro went lax, his hands falling to his sides.

“So…um…what the hell do we do now?”

Scorpion frowned at him. “What do you mean?”

“Like, what do we do? We have him here, beat to a pulp. What are we going to do with him?”

For the first time, Spider-Man was at the complete mercy of his most powerful enemies. And for the first time, none of them wanted to chop off his head and impale it on a spike. 

Sandman gazed across the bruises on his face, the road burn striped across his limbs, the bloody puncture wound in his chest. His swollen leg, his black eye, the charred fabric and flesh. He hadn’t allowed himself to take all the damage in for what it was until now. A truly abominable and grisly sight.

“He won’t survive long if we just leave him like this,” he said quietly.

Again, all eyes rose to Dr. Octopus. Otto grimaced between their pitiful looks, their reluctantly pleading stares. Pathetic! he wanted to shout, but he couldn’t find the will to conjure the word—any words.

Soon enough, he felt his own callous facade melting away. He sighed.

“I…I suppose keeping him alive is in our best interest. For now.” He cleared his throat and pulled the goggles off his face. “I’ll clean and treat his injuries as best I can. At least to the point that they’re not life-threatening.” He waved his hand dismissively. “Go—get some rest, all of you. We’ll, uh—we’ll regroup in the morning.”

The Sinister Six exchanged nervous looks with each other, then turned back to the face of the half-dead fifteen-year-old in front of them. Hesitantly, they filed out of the room and up the stairs, shooting a couple anxious glances over their shoulders before climbing out of sight.

The room was eerily quiet now that it was just the two of them. An evil scientist and an unconscious super-child in spandex. The only noises were the beeps from the monitor on his right and the kid’s shaky, labored breathing.

“You’re really something, you know that?” Octavius scoffed. “Of course, now that we’ve finally bested you, this is what we end up with. This is what you are.”

With a thought, the claws at the end of one of his tentacles reconfigured into large shears. The material that made up Spider-Man’s suit was tough, but with a few strategic cuts and snips, Doc was able to tear through and peel the clingy fabric off his body. Now that he was stripped down to nothing but his boxers (which had tiny cartoon Iron Men on them, a sight that made him snort, despite his efforts not to) the devastating harm they’d inflicted upon him was painfully evident. The ratio of undamaged flesh to damaged flesh was sickeningly skewed toward the latter. There was so much to tend to, he wasn’t sure where to start. And it wasn’t like his doctorate had been in medical care.

“We really did a number on you, didn’t we Spider-Man?” Otto murmured. He looked back at the screen. “I mean…Peter. Peter Parker.”

The name felt salty on his tongue. He didn’t like how it humanized him, transforming the famous vigilante from vexing public figure to baby-faced teenager. He’d always dreamt of unmasking the scourge that was the elusive Spider-Man. Now he wished the day had never come.

He left Peter’s side to grab the medical kit from under the sink. Then he got to work, undoing the damage they had reaped.

___________________________________

“Computer, summarize what you’ve gathered on Peter Parker’s personal life.”

Roughly four hours later, Octavius flopped into a chair by the kid’s side, exhausted. He had treated all the wounds he had the capacity to treat, hooked him to an I.V. full of fluids and electrolytes, and was now monitoring his steadily improving vitals. The kid was a suture-filled, burn cream-lathered, bandaged-up mess, but at least he was on the mend instead of his death bed. Seemed like a good time to take a break and do some research on the person behind their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

“Confirmed,” the A.I. responded. “Compiling personal file.”

A slide with pictures and lists regarding Peter’s life materialized on the screen.

“Peter Parker was born in Queens, New York and still lives there today. He lived in a house in Forest Hills until 2005, then moved into the apartment complex he currently lives in now.”

“A house in New York City?” Otto scoffed. “How lavish. Why the downsize?”

The A.I. enlarged a photograph—a man and a woman holding a bright-eyed, squishy-faced toddler sporting a familiar headful of brown curls.

“Peter’s biological parents, Mary and Richard Parker, died in a plane crash in March of that year.”

A knot formed in Otto’s gut as he stared at the happy family portrait. “Oh,” he said.

“Orphaned at age four, Peter was then adopted by his aunt and uncle, May and Ben Parker. They couldn’t afford to live in the house in Forest Hills, so they moved Peter into their apartment nearby.”

Another picture floated up, this one of a different couple hugging a slightly older version of the curly-haired toddler. After that, a series of images flashed across the screen—young Peter at Central Park, at a science fair, at the zoo, at home, on the subway, on the Brooklyn Bridge, passed out on a couch. With each new picture, he got bigger, older, but not by much. Sometimes his aunt and uncle were with him. Sometimes he was with others his age. Sometimes he had on glasses as thick as windshields. His smile was wide as the sun and just as bright.

In the last picture, he was standing next to Tony Stark, holding an upside-down certificate congratulating him on his acceptance as a Stark Industry’s intern.

“Barf,” Otto muttered, but he couldn’t displace the warm, uneasy feeling he got when he looked at Peter’s smiling face. He really was just a kid. A young, dorky, stupid kid. A kid they’d beat into the dirt ten times over.

“Last year, May Parker became Peter’s sole guardian.”

Octavius blinked, his shoulders tensing. “What happened to the uncle? Ben Parker?”

“Ben Parker was murdered last April by an unknown shooter. The culprit was never caught.”

Octavius swallowed, staring at the photograph of Spider-Man’s uncle. Then he turned back to the mummified teenager on the table beside him. For an instant, something he never thought he could feel for the spider-themed superhero brushed his heart. 

Sympathy.

With a huff, Otto stood from his chair. “Come along then, arachnid,” he said, lifting the kid and the I.V. stand in his metal arms. “Let’s find you a more comfortable spot to rest.”

It was well past 4am by the time Octavius slumped into his own bed.