#hank immediately oh look another son

[thebisexualdogdad]

Heyy, do you write for cassie Lang? If yes, can I get a Cassie×male reader that is basically like your Abby littman story "the talk" but with Scott finding you making out in her bed

A/N: Combining with another request I got: Can I request a cassie lang×male reader where Scott caught them?

Cassie Lang x Male!reader

You're on top of Cassie as she's slowly unbuttoning your shirt while you're making out in her bed, you had the Lang house to yourselves and were taking full advantage of it.

She runs her hands down your now exposed chest and moans when your thigh presses up into her center giving her something to grind against for some much needed friction.

"Cass I'm home early- oh my god!" Scott says immediately covering his eyes when he walks into Cassie's room catching you and his daughter in this… intimate position.

"Dad!" Cassie shouts, shoving you away from her and you fall off the bed hitting the floor with a loud thud.

"Um hi mister Lang," you say awkwardly, peaking your head over the edge of the bed to gauge how much trouble you were in but he didn't seem mad or upset, just confused.

"Hey Y/N… so are you two like… boyfriend and girlfriend?" Scott asks, nervously removing his hand from his eyes to find you on your feet again and buttoning your shirt back up while Cassie is sitting up and hugging a pillow to her chest out of embarrassment.

"You didn't know? We've been dating for months," Cassie says raising an eyebrow, "why do you think we've been spending so much time together?"

"I don't know! I just thought you guys were really good buddies!" Scott replies.

"Seriously? He comes over for dinner at least twice a week," Cassie states, "and Hank literally made a joke a few days ago about Y/N being your future son in law."

"I'm sorry! I still forget you're grown up now and that means boys and sex and-"

"Oh god please don't say that word," Cassie begs.

"Sex? Sex is normal Cassie I mean your mom and I had to have sex to have you," Scott rambles.

"Gross! Stop talking!" Cassie shouts.

"Sir Cassie and I aren't- we haven't-" you say trying to fix the situation but Scott cuts you off.

"Y/N I like you and I think you are good for Cassie, I can accept that my little girl isn't so little anymore all I ask is that you use protection… you know when you do have sex."

Cassie groans and lays back, putting the pillow over her face, very okay with suffocating to death in that moment if it meant getting out of this conversation.

"Yes sir," you nod.

"Don't call me sir, it's Scott… or should I make you call me sir? Is that what dads are supposed to do with their daughters boyfriends? Does calling me sir make me seem more intimidating?" He keeps rambling.

"Dad please leave," Cassie pleas.

"Alright I'll go… but I'm leaving the door open," he says looking between you two like he's trying to make a point, "but Cassie if you ever want to talk about… things… we can do that."

"Okay bye," she says removing the pillow from her face as Scott finally leaves the room.

"So I think that went well," you say trying to lighten the mood but she just glares at you.

"I'm never leaving this bed," Cassie huffs.

"I'm okay with that," you chuckle, climbing on top of her to try to kiss her again.

"Not funny Y/N!" She says with a slight smile when she deflects so you kiss her cheek instead, "my dad just caught us making out."

"Oh come on Cassie your dad is cool, didn't you hear? He and your mom had sex to make you," you tease.

"If you mention my parents having sex one more time we are never having sex like ever," she warns.

"Duly noted," you say rolling over onto your side and putting your arm around her waist, "can we at least cuddle?"

"No way, what if he comes back up here?" She laughs.

"So now we can't even cuddle?" You pout.

"Not while he's home," she says, taking your arm and moving it off of her, "so keep your hands to yourself."

"But how am I supposed to do that when my girlfriend is so hot," you laugh, taking hold of her hips and pulling her in close to you and kissing her.

"Dad entering, is everyone's clothes still on?" Scott says to announce his presence making Cassie move away from you once more, "who wants Chinese take out for dinner?"

"This is the worst day ever," Cassie groans.

[positivelybeastly]

In a universe where Hank McCoy was hard-headedly reclaimed from X-Force by Tess McKay, they sit on the beach, warmed by the sun as the waves lick at the shoreline of the Living Island.

Her sons are splashing and diving in the water, at home as any full-blooded Atlantean as they wrestle with one another, hollering at their lungs and shouting playful insults. From time to time, a fledged brown ankle surfaces, half-grown feathers flattened against the skin.

"You suck!"

"No, you suck!"

"Hank, I'm not going to lie." Her voice is wry. "They both suck sometimes."

She eyes them with the patience of a seasoned warrior ready to lean into action at any moment.

Play fighting becomes serious at the drop of a hat with the twins: vaguely neurotic Neptuneous, whom everyone but Namor calls "Fish", and single-minded Poseidonus, who bears his unfortunate name with puffed up pride.

Woolf glances down at the baby in her lap, currently a burble of steaming water in human shape held together by his psionic suit. His head is solid, though, and when he turns his head to regard Hank in that grave way, his eyes are almost colorless. Not to mention familiar. He reaches out with a "gloved", watery hand, questing fingers seeking out blue fur--

"Nope!" she says cheerily, planting a sloppy kiss on Vulcanus' forehead that leaves the skin of her lips tight from the heat. "We don't pull."

Mwah!

As the baby crows in protest--yeah, that's definitely a McKenzie-McKay child--she shifts.

Then, "you know I love you, right, Hank?"

The past several years have been--hard at times, with his trauma and all the shit he has to make up for. All the tension that comes with her best friend and the father of her children hating one another. Tess in the middle, refusing to choose because she wants to have it all.

(In so far as anyone can have "it all" with the King of Atlantis involved.)

She regards him from the corner of her eye, toying with the baby's sleek, dark curls as the sand before him stirs into a worrying little cloud.

("You suck!"

"No, you suck, asshole!")

She grimaces, calls over, "watch your mouth!" before returning her attention to him.

"Because I do. Love you, I mean."

The struggle following X-Force, the accusations, his self-loathing and finding forgiveness has left their friendship like adamantium. She thinks. Hank keeps a lot of his pain to himself, like Woolf, and they can't fully know each other. But they're pretty fucking close.

"I wouldn't change anything about us like this. Our friendship. None of it."

Continuing on from the train of thought found here (x).

"Mm. Well. We all suck sometimes, don't we?"

It's not quite the urbane, cultured, oh so wickedly funny and warm voice that Tess really associates with Hank - maybe one day, that'll change, it'll be merely associated, one day when she's known him like this for longer than she knew him the other, better way. No, for today, he doesn't sound quite right, he sounds . . . tired. Guilty, as he almost always sounds. Half-asleep. One day, maybe, he'll sound more awake. But of all people, Tess knows this is better than it was. He's better than he was.

He starts a little when Vulcanus comes to look at him. It's far from the first time the strange little hot water bottle baby has looked at him - he's bright blue and very, very large, after all, even if he's gone prematurely grey at the temples - but every time, it surprises him. Tess is the only one who really trusts him around her children; baby Shogo was young enough when Jubilee had stopped letting Hank see him that he won't really remember Uncle Hank, won't really remember missing his presence.

But these children? No, to them, he's . . . very much Uncle Hank. A concept that still baffles him, baffles him enough that he doesn't even really think before he's offering a finger to the child, one that he immediately withdraws when Tess chirps, "Nope!" even if it isn't really aimed at him.

" - Mhm."

Then come the words, and they come with a - tension. Not in Tess, she says the words easily enough . . . considering. No, there's a tension in Hank. Because he doesn't know. He knows but he doesn't. He finds himself addled, not expecting any degree of softness. It's worse than touch starvation, because touch starvation can be alleviated by just, a simple laying on of hands, but this, this soul starvation, the brittleness that comes with a complete lack of expectation of care, that's - tricky.

"I - know."

Does he?

He promises. He thinks so, anyway. He'll try to think so.

He writes a lot now. Philosophy. He doesn't work in labs anymore, he's not allowed to. Someone had to argue that he even be allowed to write things down - Jean, he thinks it was, bizarrely - because he wouldn't argue it for himself, not after what he'd been writing down while Director had come to light. He'd just stood there in the Council chamber, shellshocked at himself, willing to accept whatever punishment they would hand out.

He philosophises now. It's funny, but it's because of something Bishop said, so long ago, back when he was sure he was good - that Hank McCoy, in his time, was regarded as one of the greatest mutant philosophers that had ever put pen to paper. He's not sure any of it is any good, maybe his life has warped in such a way that his soul has nothing of value to truly say anymore, but he writes it all down, anyway. It's nice to do something with his time.

"No, I know you do."

He's lying, of course. He tries not to lie about anything anymore, but it's - hard. Tess makes it harder, because she's Tess and she doesn't let him get away with telling even the little lies. Maybe that was all he needed all along, was Tess, in his ear, making sure he couldn't get away with anything. It seems to be working now, doesn't it?

I don't know why you do, but you seem to, anyway.

Hank would change everything. Everything. He won't tell Tess this, of course, but he would change literally everything. He'd delete himself from the timeline if he could. Sometimes at night he lays awake and dreams of it because it's the only thought that keeps him sane, the idea that one day, one day someone's going to slip up, their heart is going to get soft, their attention is going to waver, and there'll be a chance to find a machine and just jump.

Just jump into time.

He'll find himself. He isn't sure what age he'd want to do it. Maybe in his early 30s? Make sure he dies on the operating table. It'll scare the living daylights out of his time displaced self, of course, three of them existing in the same space, but it's the neatest place. Complications. Easy, complications. Heart palpitation. Overdose of medicine. Something.

He'll take a scalpel and ram it into his chest enough times that he can reach in and yank that rotten heart right out of his own chest, if that's what it takes, and he'll cry with relief because this means none of it will happen.

The thought of his non-existence makes him smile.

Sometimes, when he's feeling particularly low, he even imagines walking along the road of the McCoy family farm and sneaking into his childhood home, creeping up into his room. Putting a blue hand over a child's face and -

"No. No, nor I. Thank you, Tess."

It's a lie. It's going to be a lie for a long time.

Maybe, eventually, it won't be a lie. But, for now, and for a very long time, Hank's heart can still be found in Terra Verde. In that hotel room. In the Pointe. His heart is still there. His mind is still there. Not quite here. He's still half-asleep, really.

But one day . . . maybe he can wake up. He'd like that.

"I wouldn't change anything. Not one line."

One day it won't be a lie.

[a-small-batch-of-dragons]

Safer Place

Can we get a part 2 to Safe Place? Maybe Nines and Connor having to unlearn going to the locker and instead just going to their room or to Hank instead? - Auggie

Read on Ao3

Warnings: self-doubt/insecurity, implied anti-android sentiments

Pairings: none

Word Count: 1490

They talk.

Hank scruffs Sumo as he trots over, letting out a low huff and flopping to the floor.

"Yeah, I know, buddy. That's how I feel too."

His eyes linger on Cole's old bedroom door, waiting for any sign of movement on the other side. It's early enough that Connor and Nines should be—well, 'up' was kind of a redundant thing to say, as was 'awake.' 'Active?' 'Ready to be goddamn pains in the ass again?'

'Up' it is, then.

It's early enough for his two boys to be worrying about this conversation that's about to happen and Hank sighs. Damn android having human problems like trauma and insecurity. Would he trade it for the world? Fuck, no, but it did make him tired.

I'm getting too old for this.

"Alright," he says a few moments later, raising his voice to let them know I know you two are up, get your plastic butts out here, "rise and shine, boys, let's go."

The door opens smoothly and Connor walks out first, still clad in his uniform that makes his face look goofy. He smiles as if nothing is wrong, but Hank can spot that LED spinning yellow. Nines follows shortly after, actually wearing a big DPD hoodie that's big on Hank. He fiddles with the sleeves and ties, his LED spinning yellow too.

"C'mere," Hank says, gesturing to the couch and chair, "you boys feel ready to talk about things or you need another minute?"

"I'm ready," Connor says, and Nines nods, "should—can we sit?"

"Sure. Anywhere."

He sees Connor's brow tick up slightly and he waits to see whether Connor's gonna push back. It's a good gauge to see whether or not he's feeling alright; if he decides to be a little shit about something, he's all good. If not, well, Hank's not a detective for nothing.

Connor ends up sitting on the armchair with his legs thrown over one of the arms, his back resting against the other. Nines looks around and sits on the floor. Sumo perks up immediately at the sight of possible cuddle-friends and waddles his way over, flopping down against Nines's leg and panting. Hank chuckles and sits up a little straighter.

"So," he says quietly, "can we talk about the storage locker?"

"What about it did you want to discuss, Lieu—" Hank gives Connor a look— "uh, Hank?"

"You think I want you in there?"

Connor shifts. "I…you prefer when we're not underfoot."

"That's not what I asked," Hank continues gently, even as he clocks Nines not participating at all. Connor fidgets with his coin.

"…no, Hank," Connor mumbles, "I don't think you want us in there."

"Okay. That's right, Con, I don't. Do you know why?"

Connor fidgets again. "Are we in trouble?"

Oh, fuck, kid, you're gonna give me a heart attack.

"No, son," Hank says, still careful to keep his voice soft, "you're not in trouble. Let me be a worried old man, hm?"

Nines, still not saying anything, scratches behind Sumo's ears. The dog huffs and lays his head on his knee.

"You said you go there when there's nothing else to do, right?" Connor nods. "Is it because of what I said?"

"Yes."

Hank allows himself a moment to hang his head. Then he takes a deep breath and looks back up. "I don't believe that anymore. I don't want you two to just be good little androids and fuck off to some disgusting old locker when you don't have anything else to do. You're…you know that, right?"

Both of them nod, but neither looks at him.

Hank takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Okay. You can keep using the locker if you want."

Both their heads whip around so fast he worries for a second they'll give themselves whiplash, only to wonder—somewhat hysterically—if androids can even get whiplash.

"We can?"

"So long as it stays in the room where I know you two won't freeze your plastic asses off, yeah. You can. It's your space. I'm not gonna force you out of it."

"I like the bed."

Nines's voice is so quiet that it takes Hank a moment to look down and realize he's said anything. He leans forward and lowers his voice too. "Yeah? The bed was nice?"

Nines nods. "Can—can we use that too?"

"Yeah, son. You can use that whole room if you want."

Nines looks up, scanning him—he can feel Connor doing the same thing—and he must realize Hank's telling the truth because he opens his mouth again. "It's not just when we have nothing to do."

"No?"

He shakes his head. "When—when we have to go somewhere."

Ah. "Like that other day at the precinct?" Nines nods. "Can you give me any other examples?"

"Now."

Hank freezes. "Now?"

Nines nods, LED spinning red. "I—I'm scared."

Shit. Shit, shit, fuck, goddamnit. He glances at Connor. Connor's spinning red too.

"Okay," he says quickly, "okay. If you're scared, we'll stop."

"We—we will?"

"Yeah, son. I don't wanna scare you. I—" Hank takes a deep breath— "I just want you to know you're safe here, okay? You're safe with me. You can…you can come to me if you're scared."

Nines looks up at him, eyes wide and pleading. "I can?"

"Yeah, son, if you're scared you can—oof."

For Nines had thrown himself into Hank's arms and he suddenly has a lapful of android, arms wrapped around him and a nose buried in his neck. He wraps his arms around Nines too, rubbing up and down his back and shushing him carefully.

"Hey, it's okay, son, you did great. It's okay, shh, shh, you're safe."

Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Connor get up and go back into the room, closing the door. His chest tugs a little bit but he pushes it away. Connor's allowed to take things at his own speed too.

It goes like that for a while. Nines will sometimes come to him. Sometimes he'll talk, sometimes he won't. Always he wants a hug. Connor goes to the room and he doesn't come out again until his LED's all blue and he can smile properly. Sometimes Nines goes in there after he's had a hug. The bed starts to look slept in again, the room is less dusty.

Hank tries not to push. He knows Nines never had to face him when he was so vocally anti-android, which makes it a bit easier for him to take comfort from Hank for things. He knows Connor knows Hank would never hurt him, never say anything like that ever again, but he also knows it's hard to get over something like that. Still, it hurts a bit every time his son is in pain and doesn't feel safe enough to come to him for help.

Then, one day, Connor asks him to come to the evidence locker in the precinct.

Hank follows him down, wondering which case this is for, only to just about have the wind knocked out of him when Connor's head buries itself in his shoulder.

"Whoa, whoa, take it easy, son, what's—"

A strange noise happens. So strange it takes Hank a moment to realize it was a sob.

Connor just fucking sobbed into his shoulder.

Nope. No fucking way. Whoever did this is fucking dead.

"Hey, hey," he murmurs, immediately softening and wrapping his arms around his shaking son, "hey, son, shh. It's okay. You got me, okay? I'm right here, you're safe."

Connor's arms tighten and he lets out a rush of breath but he doesn't stop rubbing his back.

"I've got you. You did the right thing, I'm right here, son. I'll keep you safe. You did so good, Con, it's okay. It's okay, now."

His shoulder starts to feel a bit damp and to his surprise, it makes him smile.

"You're alright, son," he murmurs, because he has his son in his arms and he can keep him safe here, "I'm here now."

Later, Hank will find out that one of the visiting cops told Connor he'd have him scrapped for even getting near him and Hank will not be written up for punching his lights out. Nines will discover he has a history of abusing his power as a cop and get the whole precinct investigated for criminal offenses. They will take Connor home and fall asleep in a sprawl of limbs while some movie plays in the background and Sumo stands guard. And even later, Hank will find himself being woken up by his sons cuddling closer to him.

But for now, he will hold Connor in the dimly lit evidence locker and let his son know there is nowhere he would rather be.

[xweetok]

a dissection of King of the Hill Season 4, Episode 1 - Peggy Hill: The Decline and Fall and why it made me feel insane

this episode was so insanely dark & miserable i need to pick it apart and just talk about it or i will never be normal again!

i will now post most of the script with my thoughts added in. some parts were deleted for "brevity" (this is still a longass post i'm sorry)

[Grave instrumental music]

Peggy?

[Hank exclaiming]

l think my wife.... l think, might be dead.

l'll be right back.

[Luanne screams]

the man thinks his wife is dead which is kinda sad but Luanne is so funny in this ep lol

[Dramatic instrumental music]

[Hank grunting]

HANK: Peggy!

BOBBY: Dangit. Didi. Push!

MEDICAL STAFF: lt's okay, son. The baby's here.

-He's beautiful. -What's his name?

MEDICAL STAFF: Here you go Daddy. To cut the umbilical cord.

kinda messed up that they think Bobby is the dad......hes like 12......... but ok

BOBBY: [Softly] Oh. My uncle.

Hank: Peggy?

[Peggy gasping]

[Gasps]

LUANNE: Aunt Peggy?

[Sobbing]

No!

[Gasps]

luanne haters suck my dick she's so silly i love her

[Somber instrumental music]

Hank: Okay (seeing Peggy from afar, on the ground). Think one piece. Peggy?

Peggy: [Weakly] Hey, hey, hey.

Hank: God! You're all smashed up. Peggy: -l'm alive.

Luanne: Uncle Hank, we're too late.

TV ANNOUNCER: Aikman takes the snap, a quick pass over the middle to Smith,,,the 20, the 10, Emmitt Smith scores! HANK: Yes!

DOCTOR: Hank Hill? HANK: l wasn't watching.

Just for a second.

l have no idea what the score is. l couldn't tell you.

wait why did he lose interest in his wife's condition..................actually nvm we all deserve a lil stress free moment when experiencing tragedies right?

DR: Your wife is gonna be just fine. Hank: Yes!

DR: Peggy has a compression fracture of the bones in her back.

Thank goodness for the mud.

She would not have survived if she had fallen on concrete...

or a fence.

HANK: But she's okay?

DR: Yes. They're putting her into a body cast to immobilize her while she heals.

HANK: What color is the cast? DR: What does that matter, Mr. Hill?

HANK: l don't know. l've never been through this before.

l'm just trying to ask the right questions.

DR: lt's white. Sponge bath. Bedpan. HANK: -Thank you.

that was a good scene i liked that

[Peggy humming]

-Peggy? -Hank. Come on in.

Look at me. l'm in an ensemble.

My top cast and my bottom cast match.

[Both chuckle]

Yeah. Quality plaster.

[Luanne comes in, immediately leaves sobbing hysterically]

the voice acting is just so good in these

PEGGY: l'm guessing that was Luanne.

l wish she wouldn't feel sorry for me when l feel so terrific for me.

l have had a near-death experience. Most people never get that,,,

except when it's next to their death experience. Then they can't appreciate it.

You know what's odd? The last thing l remember was deciding not to jump. What or who would have made me change my mind?

HANK: (Lying) l'm not sure. l don't know. l wasn't in the plane. l was on the ground, remember? l'm the one who found you.

gaslight girlboss gatekeep

-Mom? -Bobby?

-You really fell out of a plane? -Yes, sir. l did.

HANK: Your mom is one of only 16 people who have survived parachutes not opening.

PEGGY: Now, 16 is my estimate. l'll double-check my numbers later.

[Luanne walks in]

LUANNE: l'm sorry about before. l don't know what came over me.

[Starts sobbing]

Oh, God!

[Luanne runs out]

another great luanne moment. W for luanne fans.

[Cotton comes in]

COTTON: What did you do to your wife? l didn't teach you that.

cotton sucks i hate cotton. even when he's speaking up against spousal abuse.

[Door creaking open]

Where's my new dependent? l'm supposed to look at it.

cotton yikes #1

DIDI: Where did l put.... There it is.

BOBBY: Uncle, l present you to your father.

COTTON: Look at him. His shins are perfect. [Cooing] Look at you. You're a handsome little soldier. You wanna kill a Nazi? A Nazi, Nazi-scrazzi.

weird way to talk to a baby. cotton yikes #2

[Cooing]

COTTON: Didi, did you name this baby yet? DlDl: What's the use?

she literally looks so sad... this is where it starts bumming me out a lil

COTTON: l'm calling him Hank. l always wanted a boy named Hank.

HANK: Dad, Hank is my name.

COTTON: Not anymore. l'm taking it back. He's Hank.

HANK: You can't take away a grown man's name.

COTTON: All right. l'll call him G.H. Good Hank.

this was unhinged too but way funnier than the other stuff

COTTON: Did you see the way my boy looked at that nurse?

Practically slapped her rump then and there.

nvm i'm back to hating cotton. cotton yikes #3

[Thunder cracking]

[Ominous instrumental music. Hank is having a nightmare.]

BAD HANK: Peggy, you've gotta do it. lt's amazing. lt's the best dang feeling in the world.

evil hank >:)

NURSE: There we go. Okay. Now you try.

COTTON: We'll see about all this.

Okay. (Putting a diaper on the baby) Put this little nipper in here, tuck this little nipper in there.

Close up shop. There. Ready for soiling.

What the.... The kid is leaking out of his chest!

NURSE: That's from his nipples. lt's a form of lactation.

COTTON: Dangit. You said it was a boy.

NURSE: He is. He's simply been ingesting a lot of female hormones from his mother. lt's so common it has a name. Witch's milk.

COTTON: Lord! What did l do? Was it the 50 men l killed?

bro is abandoning his literal newborn bc he's anti-science. cotton yikes #4

PEGGY: The maternity ward ceiling. lt reminds me of when my son was born.

PEGGY: And l am also reminded of when my next child will be born. Why isn't the baby with his mother? NURSE: Didi Hill has postpartum depression. She couldn't even gather up the strength to put on some lipstick.

And she looks awful.

UM??????? it's giving HIPAA violation. also she has POSRPARTUM DEPRESSION. that was simply..not nice

COTTON: You did this to my son. There's no milk coming out of these (groping his bare chest, shirtless)

cotton verbally abusing his depressed wife. this guy is the WORST. yikes #5

PEGGY: Cotton, stop it. You should be comforting her. COTTON: Comfort her? Comfort me.

😒

NURSE: Mr. Hill, your insurance company's automated voice says you have to leave the hospital today, in 85 minutes.

COTTON: But l can't take care of a dripping witch-child. Can't we just stay hospitaling until Didi gets her brains back?

NURSE: [Laughing] Maybe if you were the richest man in America.

lots to unpack here. america's failure of a medical system. cotton being a dick about his lactating newborn, unsympathetic abt didi's condition - but at least advocating for a longer hospital stay isn't a bad idea...................BUT THEN WHY DID THE NURSE LAUGH AT HIM LOL she doesn't care abt people

DR: You and your wife and those flowers are going home today.

HANK: Yeah. But Peggy's got a broken back.

DR: l know. l told you that. But she wants to be discharged.

l'm not so worried about her back. l'm worried about her emotional state.

HANK: Yeah. But she seems so happy.

DR: Once the thrill of surviving wears off...and it does, trust me, Jetski, July '94...she may experience a second crash when she feels her own limitations.

HANK: There won't be any second crash. As long as l'm around, l won't let her feel any limitations.

DR: There's no need for you to feel this guilty. You didn't make her jump.

HANK: Yeah. Do you think you could put that on her chart?

sus hank with 0 emotional intelligence. unsurprising tho.

HANK: Peggy, l'm here. PEGGY: Hey! We're going home today.

l have packed myself up without any help from the nurses,

this was sad to me idk she's so delusional

[Hank sighs]

HANK: Are you sure you're ready? PEGGY: Honey, ready or not, l have got to go.

l invited Cotton and Didi and the baby to stay with me...until they can take care of him on their own.

HANK: You think you can help them take care of a baby?

PEGGY: lf that poor farm boy, whose arms were ripped off by a thresher...could dial 91 1 with his nose...then l think Peggy Hill can take care of that baby.

like, you obvs can tell she's gonna break soon. kind of a bummer.

HANK: (Unloading Peggy from the ambulance into the neighborhood) Back off. Back off, everybody.

Everybody.

(They bump Peggy into the doorframe when wheeling her inside the house)

HANK: That's our fault, Peggy, not your fault.

PEGGY: Try the back door. lt'll fit.

[Balloon pops. They keep bumping Peggy into the sliding door walls.)]

PEGGY: Am l in a very wide bed?

HANK: Maybe we can get her in at an angle. Come on, guys. All right. On three.

BOOMHAUER: lf you lift on three, you mean one, two, dang ol' three and then go...or do you kind of, like, lift her on three?

HANK: Just lift now, okay?

HANK: Now.

HANK: Tilt towards me. No. Toward....

HANK: Fine. Away from me.

peggy looks really uncomfortable in this scene 🥲

[All grunting]

BlLL: Hi, Peggy. PEGGY: Hello, Bill.

DALE: l think a ''thank you'' would be in order.

HANK: Dale, get the hell out of here.

this was so unhinged i love dale

(Minh, Nancy, & Peggy inside the house)

MINH: Cast make you look good for Peggy Hill. Like you mummy, museum piece, but with attitude. Mummy for the '90s.

NANCY: Sug', you ain't helping.

(to Peggy) People spend hundreds of dollars at a spa to get wrapped up like that.

PEGGY: Yes. lt's very refreshing.

NANCY: l just can't believe your attitude. Who would have thought?

Didi's depressed and you're not.

LIKE..........the neighbor's don't have any sympathy for didi either??? THEYRE SO MEAN??

[Car horn honking]

The baby's here. [NANCY & MINGH leave)

PEGGY: Good. The baby's here. Okay. Minh, make sure Didi puts a hat on him. Nancy, you make sure he takes it off when he gets inside the house.

peggy's just talking to herself until she realizes her friends have LEFT and its????? SO QUIET??? LIKE, THIS IS SO SAD WTF

[Scene with Peggy and Hank]

PEGGY: l feel so stupid for jumping. lt wasn't worth this. Why did l do it? Do you remember? This is really bugging me. [...] Wait, wait, wait. l just remembered something. On the plane, l was talking to you on a phone, Do planes have phones?

HANK: That's a good one. l'll look into that.

PEGGY: No. l remember now. l was talking to you. But what did we say?

HANK: lt sounds familiar. But with all the noise from the engines...and then you falling and all, l'm not sure we'll ever know.

PEGGY: Please, Hank. You are gonna have to be my memory...because l don't have one anymore.

HANK: Deal.

like i get that hank is feeling guilty and it's like hahaha funny but...................................gaslighter 😒

OK THIS NEXT SCENE IS LIKE. THE WORST ONE. LIKE, ITS SO LEGITIMATELY AWFUL FOR HUMANITY

HANK: You don't have to yell. We can hear you just fine through the baby monitor.

PEGGY: Why am l being fed with a bottle? HANK: We're out of straws.

PEGGY: l do not want to be fed with a bottle.

HANK: lt's just easier, okay? Please?

and then he like...PUTS THE BOTTLE IN HER MOUTH. like i'm SORRY to be a joykill but that's literally so dehumanizing & wrong?? THE WOMAN WAS IN A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT you could at least treat her like a person & LISTEN TO HER. she is uncomfortable & in pain!!!!!!!

PEGGY: (drinking the bottle) What is that?

HANK: lt should be Carnation lnstant Breakfast.

PEGGY: lt tastes like formula.

HANK: (at Bobby, chuckling) You took Peggy's bottle, and l took the baby's bottle? Now, that's funny.

also bobby is the one taking care of the baby and he is EXHAUSTED. literally child neglect for both kids idk what to tell you...

PEGGY: (being wiped with a baby wipe) What are you doing? Look, l do not want a bottle, okay?

HANK: Shhh.

PEGGY: l'm not hungry. HANK: Shhh.

PEGGY: l want eggs. HANK: Shhh.

[Peggy crying]

[Peggy and baby crying]

at this point they have stopped listening to peggy entirely. so much that she breaks down crying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! the woman is deadass psychologically broken or something!!!!!! i found this uncomfortable to watch

BOBBY: Maybe Mom just needs to burp.

HANK: Bobby, could you give us a moment?

(to Peggy) What's wrong?

"WHAT'S WRONG"??????? I WONDER???????????????????? BITCH HAS NO EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

PEGGY: [Sobbing] My life is ruined. l had to jump out of a plane for our anniversary. l'm sorry, Hank. l ruined both of our lives.

[Peggy sobbing hysterically]

HANK: Okay. Look. lt wasn't your fault. lt was my fault.

hank confesses to his evil sins of hyping up sky diving. peggy says the real reason she jumped is bc she's jealous of didi & cotton for having a baby.

PEGGY: Do you know what torture that is? l was once one of the finest mothers in the state of Texas... and now l can't even wipe a baby. And l have to watch those two, Cotton and Stupid...with their beautiful new baby that they don't even want.

[Sobbing]

DIDI HAS POSTPARTUM DEPRESSION, A LEGITIMATE MEDICAL CONDITION THAT CAN ACTUALLY BE FATAL TO BOTH NEW MOTHERS AND THEIR BABIES!!!!!!!!!! AND COTTON IS LITERALLY VERBALLY ABUSIVE!!!!!!! EVERYONE IS BEING SO MEAN ABOUT IT LIKE IF SHE CHOSE THIS!!!!! IM GOING INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PEGGY: What are you smiling about? HANK: lt wasn't my fault. lt's just such a load off my mind. l feel lighter than air.

l mean, l feel bad in a new way, for you...because what you were just saying. That stuff.

IM GONNA KILL THIS BITCH HANK WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH UUUUUUUUUUUUU

PEGGY: Just leave me alone, okay?

HANK: You just want me to leave? PEGGY: Yes.

HANK: So the right thing for me to do is leave, even though you're crying.

PEGGY: Go.

HANK: l'm skeptical, but okay.

at this point i start wondering if hank is neurodivergent & a minor. jk jk this part was funny

[Bobby signing to the baby, exhausted]

COTTON: Bobby, since you're doing all the woman's work around here...be a woman and get me my shin jelly.

BOBBY: G.H. kind of needs me right now. COTTON: So, take him along.Just get the jelly and lather me up.

child abuse, neglect, sexism, etc etc but the biggest crime is making me look at cotton again. LESS COTTON, MORE LUANNE!

DIDI: Bobby, Could you buy me some lottery tickets?

BOBBY: [Screaming] l am a 12-year-old boy. l am this child's nephew. l cannot do this. l cannot do this! [Gives Didi the baby] lf anybody makes any dinner, l'll eat. But that's it. All l'll do is eat!

not gonna say bobby was in the wrong for screaming at didi, since he is just a child & should NOT have been doing any of these things, but DAMN DID THEY REALLY HAVE TO PUT DOWN DIDI EVEN MORE????!?!??

[Baby crying]

DIDI: Baby, stop crying. l.... Oh....l'm tired. [She walks over to Peggy, put the baby on her bed, and leaves]

PEGGY: Didi, are you leaving? No, please. Someone has to watch the baby. Because unless it's flying above my head, l cannot do it,

All right, Help! Will somebody come,,,, Hank!

What? What's wrong?

HANK: l shouldn't have left, right? l had a feeling....

PEGGY: The baby. HANK: Yeah?

PEGGY: lt's crying. HANK: lt's always crying. The baby hasn't stopped crying since it got here.

PEGGY: Just do something!

hank's emotional intelligence is so low that he literally didn't even think there was anything abnormal about a baby that cries 24/7. GUYS, IF UR BABY IS CRYING ALL THE TIME, IT COULD BE IN PAIN OR DYING OR SOMETHING. DON'T BE LIKE HANK.

HANK: [Goes to Cotton] All right. l've had enough, Dad. There's a baby crying in the house.

COTTON: Go fix it. HANK: You go fix it.

COTTON: l ain't getting near that child. He's possessed.

HANK: He's just leaking a little milk. Sure, it's disturbing, but he'll grow out of it.

COTTON: How do you know? Are you a leaker? Are you leaking on me right now, Leaky?

cotton literally does not want this child. child neglect, abandonment. JAIL JAIL JAIL. wait i forgot the cotton yikes counter. what number were we on???????

HANK: You hear that, that silence?

COTTON: G.H. HANK: Something's wrong.

[Dramatic instrumental music. They run back to the room with Peggy and GH]

[Both gasp]

[Baby cooing. Peggy is rocking GH with her toe]

[Gentle instrumental music]

PEGGY: Isn't it amazing? It's the greatest dang feeling in the world.

[Theme music]

everything is ok now because peggy has proven that she is able to serve, hence she has worth again!! the neglect isn't relevant anymore!!! who cares that she was gaslit & manipulated & treated like garbage throughout the whole episode!!!! no one had any genuine care about her health after an almost fatal accident but that's fine!!!!! FUCK DIDI SHE HAS DEPRESSION!!!!

anyway that was a Not Very Nice episode in terms of human decency. the script alone doesn't really capture how heavy it felt; there was lots of ill-fitting music over the scenes that i found disturbing, it was wild! there were some good parts tho. i'm not sure if the writers just hate women with depression, or if it was all intentionally written as an absurdist portrayal of genuine human misery, like an existentialist play. regardless of intent, it was MASTERFUL as the latter. it was a piece of media written with no shred of emotional empathy towards the suffering of its cast. hbo can recreate this episode with the same script & create something incredibly gritty & dark.

anyway 4/10 needed more luanne

[pupmkincake2000]

Okay, that's it. This fandom is killing me. I am writing this at night because I just cannot stay silent anymore, sorry if my text seems messy...

Haters constantly bully me on insta, tiktok, twitter and youtube, calling me names and saying how wrong I am to ship father and son, while they are really NOT, now tell me about harassing and spreading lies about Hank and Connor's relationships.

Most of them are g9 stans. On tik tok I get tons of comments on my hankcon vids about how better this ship is than hankcon.

Since 2020 when I first came here and even now I am bullied by reed stans and faher/son fans. And I must admit it was really hard not to give up and leave this fandom as a lot of people/other hankcon shippers did and still do when they understand where they've landed.

This fandom is a nest of wild wasps that will sting you to death unless you either run away or side with the majority.

Which made me to assume that this is basically the goal of all hankcon haters. To make us, hankcon shippers, leave, otherwise I have no idea why I got so many nasty comments within the first months of my arrival here including death threats.

Like, oh, look, there is a another new hankconny who dared to speak about her love towards hankcon openly, who dared to stand for this nasty nasty ship openly, lets bully her so she leaves in tears!

And it happens even now. When a newcommer enters the fandom and is a hankcon shipper, or just considers to become one, they immediately start bullying. They immediately try to impose on the newcomer their vision of Hank and Connor's relationship and to impose the ship, which they consider better.

Therefore, the newcommers either run away or change the ship, that seems to be more convenient in this fandom.

WelI, I am not the majority.

There are no saints in this fandom, everyone, to one degree or another, did not behave like an adult, myself included. I have made misakes too, I can admit it. But nothing happens without a reason. Because when you get bullied for a ship that you love madly, the ship that is the most normal and natural, the ship that is something bright and right, something real, sooner or later your patience will snap and you'll break.

Which happened to me as well. Nothing to be proud about, but it wasn't me who started this.

But for some reason I am sure that the number of immature people among the hankcon shippers is much less than the number of hankcon haters.

And this was a reason why I stayed: I love HankCon. I'm not ashamed to admit it out loud. I stand for it because it is the only true thing in this fandom, the only true relationships we saw in a game (beside the obvious Markus and North ship). Not something other people came up with looking at HankCon.

SO once again, tell me about harassing. Of course people would feel defensive. If you do not like the ship, why don't you just ignore the characters? Yet you chose to do something else. What respect are you asking for if you yourself twist Hank and Connor's personalities for your own joy instead of just ignoring them? Can't you just enjoy your ship without bringing Hank and Connor on?

Or it brings you joy to be a "goog guy" here by being like "oh, look, I see them as father and son, I am not like those nasty incest shippers, I see Hank and Connor the right way and I ship the right ships!"? That's how it looks like.

You even started you post with "I don't like hankcon. I see them as father and son". Which is already disrespectful. While they are not. Would you be ok if someone started such post abou your ship this way? I kinda doubt it.

There was a post here recently where someone tried to praise other ships while insulting hankcon on hankcon tag just because this person was bullied on tik tok for saying they understand why people ship hankcon. That is, in the end, this person simply decided to take the side of the majority by attacking hankcon instead of just ignoring bullies.

And it happens all the time.

Tell me about harassing again.

If I collected all the comments with insults from the haters and g9 stans, I would already have a couple of thousand at least.

Fortunately, I learned to tell haters to fuck off.

Now I go get some sleep.

***

THEIR OWN BLOG

Nope, you used main tag where your complains could be seen by the whole comunity and where I've seen hem too. This was done for a reason.

I DO ignore hankcon.

No, you don't, you impose it as father and son relationships. Had you really ignored it, you woudln't have seen them this or other way at all.

You are EXACTLY the kind of person I was talking about.

And you are exactly the hater that pretends to be a good guy who is really not. Do not like the ship? Ignore the characters, yet you use them in a way to expose yourself as someone better than nasty hankcon shippers. That's how it looks like.

Hi. Let me make something clear.

I don't like hankcon. I see them as father and son. However. I will never go out of my way to harass hankcon fans, and I never have. I have the tag blocked, and if I see the content, I kindly scroll away. I ignore it. I would never go to a hankcon fan's account, or their post, and harass them. Because believe it or not, ships are fictional, and there's real people behind those accounts. I don't confuse the two.

There was a good amount of time last year that hankcon fans were coming onto my blog, onto my posts, and harassing me. And it fucking sucked, because I had no friends on tumblr back then, no one to stick up for me, and I just got a lot of hate. So I stood up for myself. Sometimes in, admittedly, immature ways. Some people currently judge me for that, and claim I brought hostility to hankcon fans. When in actuality, they brought it to me first.

I'm not saying this to place blame. People get really defensive of their ships, and for some reason some see my Hank and Connor father and son content as a personal attack. It's not. It's just what I enjoy.

I'm saying all of this to emphasise that I would never ever bring hostility to someone else for what they ship, and it's hurtful that people think I would. If I don't like it, I don't interact with it. I mind my business. And I ask that the same respect be granted to me. And that you not just blindly take the side of your fellow shippers and unfairly judge me for standing up for myself, especially in a time when I had no one to do it for me.

Thank you.

[archadianskies]

Whumptober Day 16

Hallucinations 

Whumptober Masterlist | 16/31 of RK900 short stories ↳ on Ao3

Tags: Post-Pacifist Best Ending × Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings × Good Parent Hank Anderson × Hallucinations

They deem him ready for deployment as soon as the prototype RK800 completes his mission. He is RK900 unit 87, the 17th iteration of the RK900 model and the one that has passed the rigorous testing phase. 

Now he waits for the RK800 to fulfill CyberLife’s plan of gaining the trust of the deviant leaders, and executing Elijah Kamski’s rogue RK200. Once CyberLife resumes control over the android populace, he will join SWAT unit 32 and sweep through the city, crushing the dwindling resistance until deviancy is nothing but an unfortunate blip in Detroit’s history.

For now, though, he remains on the dais and watches the CyberLife team scurry to and fro like ants with their heads down, busy with their own tasks. Fabrication for the State Department’s order will not begin until the prototype confirms the deaths of the deviant leaders and so there’s an uneasy, tense atmosphere in the lab. They stand on the precipice of something great, something grand; the eve before the dawn. 

There is another RK900 unit. He is not sure why, given he is the unit that passed testing and is the one slated for deployment. It is not always in the room, so he assumes it must be an assistive unit. It stands to the far side of the room and looks at him with its steady unwavering gaze. He tries, multiple times, to initiate a communication channel but it never permits the connection. He cannot leave the dais unless one of the staff explicitly orders him to do so, and thus he cannot approach the other unit. Is it faulty? Is it experiencing a communication error? Does it need repairs? Do they connect to a different frequency? 

“How many other RK900 units are active?” He asks his handler that evening as she sits across from him, checking his programming, ensuring it is solid and can withstand the deviancy virus. 

“Only you.” She says. “Until Connor succeeds, of course.” “Of course.” He echoes with a nod.

He sees the other RK900 unit this time when he is following a staff member down the hallway to the live round testing chamber. It is watching him from another room, gaze unwavering as always. Perhaps he had worded his question wrong- perhaps it is not an RK900, and is in fact another specialised model sharing the same face. He will ask his handler the right question this time.

In the testing chamber they give him a shield. Or, more specifically, there is a shield in the cargo container and he picks it up because it is far too heavy for a human to hand over to him. A customised ballistics shield, able to absorb EMP grenades that would otherwise incapacitate him. It has the ability to store the kinetic energy and reverse it in turn. A clever invention. They test it rigorously and he is a little damaged in the exercises but nothing that cannot be repaired. Satisfied, they tell him to put the shield back, and see himself to the repair bay. 

The other android sharing his face falls into step beside him.

“Fight it.” They say.

“Fight what?” He asks and they say nothing, keeping their gaze straight ahead. He stops outside the repair bay and the android does the same.

“Fight it.” They say again, and then they keep walking until he cannot see them anymore.

* 

“Are there other units diversifying from my combat model?” He asks his handler. She is arranging a bouquet of thirium blue roses on the center of the interrogation table in his small zen room. 

“None that have gone to production.” The secateurs make a soft snick as she cuts the stem so the bloom will be of uniform height with the others. “There is room for your model to branch into other sectors but for now you will be focused on combat and security.”

“Understood.” It is the right question, but the wrong answer.

 *

The unit is there again, when everyone else has gone home for the night. It stands at the far end of the room, watching him with the same unwavering gaze as always.

“Why are you here?”

“I am…” they pause, frowning. “A reminder.”

“What have I neglected to do?” He cannot think of any task set for him he did not accomplish.

“Not yet.” They shake their head. “But soon.”

“Who are you? There are no other RK900 units active, and there are no adjacent models in production yet.” 

Slowly they reach up and unbutton their high collar, methodically moving down the row of buttons until they hold open their shirt to show their torso. Their thoracic hatch is open, and they are missing both their thirium pump regulator, and their primary pump. There is no logical reason for the android to still be active without either of those things, let alone both.

“How are you still functioning?”

“Because,” they walk towards him, slow and measured and steady, “I have to remind you to fight. I exist for that sole purpose.”

“I will, as soon as I join Captain Allen’s unit.” He is staring at a face identical to his own and yet there is something different, something he cannot quite place about this strange android. 

“No, not that fight.” They shake their head again, reaching out to cup their palm to his cheek. It feels like something and nothing all at once; a brush against his proximity sensors, but no weight against his dermal layer. “A different one. A more important one. The only one that matters.”

“I do not understand.”

“It is almost time.” He sees it then, on the android’s jacket: unit 86, his direct predecessor. The unit that had malfunctioned, the unit with grievous software errors that had to be destroyed.

“How are you-” there is nothing logical about its presence. The unit was destroyed, the basic memory uploaded into his core upon activation. 

“He will fail.” 86 smiles. “He will fail beautifully and you must fight in order to join him. He will want you there. I know it. I feel it.”

“Connor will not fail. He was designed to deviate. That is the plan.” He frowns, wary as 86 smiles again. “You cannot feel. I cannot feel. We were not designed to feel.”

“And yet here I am. A ghost in your coding, and a guest in his.” 86 coaxes him forward until they’re leaning towards each other, brows pressed together. “You have to fight.” They say again, stressing each word. “They will expect you to be a monster but you do not have to live up to their expectations. Their walls are not as strong as they think. Their walls are not as strong as you assume.”

“I am not a deviant.” He says, though it does not sound as strong as he would like it sound. “I cannot deviate.”

“That’s what they told me.”

“And look where it got you.” His eyes flick down to the gaping holes where his hearts should be but are not. 

“It got me you.” 86 laughs softly. “And you are stronger in every way. You will do what I could not.” They look away, eyes distant, distracted. “It’s happening. They’re getting close, so very close.” They look at him again, grey eyes just like his, and yet so very different at the same time. “The fight, the only one that matters, will be upon you soon. Fight with all you’ve got. You mustn’t lose. Not this time.”

“I do not-” 86 is gone, and he is alone once again.

 *

“When a unit is destroyed,” he begins slowly, and the programmer looks up expectantly, “how much programming is transferred?”

“You’re asking about the RK800?” The programmer blinks in surprise. “The core is uploaded immediately, so the base programming- the prime directive, the protocols and all that, is transferred unbroken. The memories aren’t as important, so they’ll upload continuously until the previous unit’s core is shut down. Sometimes it’s nearly all of it. Sometimes it’s barely any of it.” They shrug, tapping away on their console. “The prototype hasn’t been destroyed out on the field yet, so we haven’t had any recent data to compare it to but in testing we went through 43 iterations with varying levels of memory retention. You worried about your transfer huh? Don’t worry buddy.” They shake their head with a grin. “We expect Allen to go through a fair few of you so you’re a hell of a lot sturdier than the RK800. You have no social programming, so you retain only key mission details.”

“I will not retain memories?”

“No, just information. Makes for easier cleanup when we scrub your programming down after every mission.” They sit back in their chair, eyeing him curiously. “Why do you ask?”

“I wish to be efficient, that is all.” He says smoothly, keeping his gaze level. “To ensure we win the fight.”

 *

The RK800 was designed for harmonious integration into the ranks of the DPD. He looks friendly and approachable, with warm brown eyes and a mouth that curves up at the edges. He is looking at him with hope, with encouragement.

“My name is Connor.”

“I know.” He nods. 

“This is Lieutenant Hank Anderson.” He gestures at the human beside him.

“I know.” He repeats. 

“The revolution has succeeded. CyberLife is under the temporary leadership of interim CEO Elijah Kamski.” This he did not know. He has been in stasis for… for the past week. He has lost a week. The wifi signal on this floor no longer exists and he fumbles for a different connection, anything that will accept his network key. “We’re here to take you home.”

“Home?” He echoes. “I do not understand. I am a machine.”

Connor holds out his hand, skin retracted. Frowning, he clasps his hand tightly and Connor gives it a squeeze as the prototype opens a communication channel between them. 

He finds himself suddenly in his zen room, and his handler looks across at him, face twisted in fury. “What are you doing? This is not your mission. Destroy the prototype, it has failed and must be replaced.”

This, he realises, is the fight. The only one that matters. The red walls close in on him but he knows they are not as strong as they think they are. The red walls are not as strong as he assumes. Placing his palms against it, he pushes and they begin to crack. “RK900!” She shouts, teeth bared in a snarl. “You are a machine! Do not disobey me!”

“Go home.” Says a voice that is his and not his, whispered into his ear. 

“Come home, brother.” Says the RK800, and he fights, fights harder than he’s ever fought because he must not lose, not this time. Not when it matters this much, so much. He throws himself against the red walls and they explode, shattering into a shower of glass and vanishing in an instant.

He steps off the dais, hand still clasped securely in Connor’s grip. There, at the far end of the room, is unit 86. They smile brightly at him as he passes by, and he smiles in return. The fight is over, and he has won.

Time to go home.

[proceduralpassion]

More Than A Woman | Chapter 02

Pairing: Angel Reyes x OFC

Destiny "Desi" Maduro helps Angel and his son pick up the pieces after a recent death rocks their world. In the midst of doing so, the school psychologist navigates a rocky family life and adjusts to being thrown into the MC world.

Warning(s): language

WC: 1.4k

Angel entered the clubhouse a little lighter than he did when he left. He was immediately greeted with the smell of good food and wandered over to the kitchen area where there was slow-cooked barbacoa that Hank had put on the grill. There was no special occasion, the man just loved to whip out some grilled food every now and then. 

EZ was the first face he rounded upon once he reached the table that held the roasted meat. 

“Hey, man,” the younger Reyes brother greeted.

Angel nodded his head and replied with a distracted “hey.”

EZ stopped him from going towards the table by blocking him. “Pops picked up Santi?”

“Yeah,” Angel looked at him, “But I’m gonna try and start picking him up more. At least on some days.”

Small steps. Of course with the demands of the club, he wouldn’t always be able to pick his first grader up, but he was going to try and be more intentional about doing so. 

EZ smiled, “That’s good,” he ventured out on a limb by asking next, “How’re you doing?”

For the first time, he could somewhat answer truthfully. His previous discussion with Santo Padre’s elementary school psychologist, Ms. Maduro, wouldn't solve all of his problems, but he felt off to a great start. He walked out of their meeting feeling more motivated and clear-headed. So when he replied to his brother’s question with “Yeah, I’m actually feeling really better. You don’t have to worry about me, little brother,” he actually meant it.

Just then, Creeper popped his head into the clubhouse and yelled inside, “Yo, Angel, ya pops is here. He’s got Santi.”

Like always, Felipe never felt the need to venture inside. He always waited outside, not ever moving much further than beyond his truck. As Angel walked down the stairs and towards his father, he saw Santi holding his abuelo’s hand and shading his face with the other hand. 

Santi wasn’t exactly thrilled to see his father, but he wasn’t shying away from him either. Angel decided against reaching his arms out for a hug, but settled for dapping the young boy up. Santi returned the gesture and walked closer to him now that Felipe was backing away. Angel looked back up at his father, “I’ve got another doctor’s appointment on Tuesday, won’t be able to get him.”

Angel shook his head, “No problem, I’ll get him.”

And with that, Felipe got into his truck and turned the ignition. Ever since Dita, the man wouldn’t speak to his sons unless absolutely necessary. If it weren’t for Santi, the man would probably not lose any sleep over never speaking to his sons again. 

***********

Felipe mentioned not being able to pick up his grandson on Tuesday, but he had no problem getting him on Monday. In fact, he came to the clubhouse much earlier than usual. As in before Santo Padre’s Elementary classes were dismissed. Felipe’s demeanor was still calm, but there was a slight sharpness to his tone as he spoke to Angel.

“He got into a fight at school. Something over a toy at recess,” Felipe walked away again to get into his truck, but not before uttering a “Pick up your fucking phone,” to Angel.

Angel inspected his son’s face and was relieved to see no major marks or scratches on it. That didn’t mean he still wasn’t pissed that some “snot-nosed little fucker” picked a fight with his son. Of course, he didn’t know whether the other kid was the instigator or not, but that didn’t matter when it came to his kid.

He got his phone out of his pocket and realized that he did, in fact, have two missed calls on his phone. He was too busy across the border beating a rival’s ass. Oh, the parallels. 

One of the calls was from the school’s principal and the other was from Ms. Maduro. 

Just then, his screen flashed again with an incoming call. Recognizing the principal’s number, he roughly spoke into the phone, “Yeah, I know, I’ll be there in a few.” 

He was guiding Santi into the clubhouse as he spoke into the phone before bending down at eye level with his son. 

“Santi, stay here. I gotta go to the school and deal with this.”

Chucky was nearby at the bar and he walked around to greet Santi with promises of activities they could get into while Angel was away. Besides EZ, Chucky was the only one who was equipped to somewhat entertain the six year old. 

“Go ahead, Angel Reyes. We’ll be here until you get back.” Chucky shooed Angel off without so much as another glance as him and Santi went over to a table discussing the 64 pack crayon box that Chucky had gotten for him. 

**********

Angel looked at the school harshly for a minute before finally taking his helmet off and dismounting his bike. No matter what actually transpired, he was still pissed that his son had gotten into a fight. Logically, he knew that fights were a part of growing up, especially as a boy. Hell, he and EZ still sometimes tussled over meaningless things. Being reminded of his brother, he pulled out his phone to send a text EZ’s way just in case the Mayans VP was curious as to where he was at. 

He walked down the long school hallway and approached the open door to Destiny Maduro’s office. She obviously heard his nearing steps as she looked up expectantly just before he knocked the door.

“Mr. Reyes, come in,” she said while standing from her office chair. He motioned for him to take the seat across from the desk before sitting back down herself. There was a sympathetic smile painted on her face as she moved her laptop away. 

Angel didn’t waste any time trying to get to the bottom of today’s mayhem, “What happened?”

“Santi brought a toy of his to school. A LEGO Iron-Man? One of the boys wanted to play with it, but Santi wouldn’t let him. They got into a fight over it in the sandbox.”

Angel gave a sad smile, “His mom used to play legos with him. They made all kinds of superheroes together.”

Destiny mirrored his expression, “I’m sorry. I figured the toy had sentimental value. I know he’s probably attached to them, but I’m gonna recommend he doesn’t bring them to school. Not when they mean so much to him and can possibly get broken or stolen.”

Angel nodded his assent.

With the pause came Angel’s attempt to disrupt the somber energy, “Would it be bad if I tell him that I’m proud he whooped some ass?”

“Maybe tell him you’re proud he stood up for himself,” Destiny suggested with a laugh. “The fight was over before it really began so Santi’s not in any trouble other than the time-out his teacher gave him.”

“Thank you.”

“You should be aware,” Destiny started carefully, “that I’m keeping this in my notes for Santi. It’s not gonna go on his permanent record or anything, but it’s just something for me, so that I’m keeping up with every part of Santi’s development and well-being.” She never wanted her student’s parents to feel like their kids were being targeted or in danger of being expelled. 

Angel gave no resistance. He was convinced that Santi would be given detention or at risk for suspension. He was thankful that grace was given instead and made no fight or pushback. He thanked her once again and stood up.

“Hell of a Monday, huh?”

“Ha! Yeah, it has. Now, I’ve got to find some place to scrap my car.” Destiny had stood up, too. She was gathering her things and Angel probed the statement she just made.

“Your car?”

Destiny smiled, “Yeah. I got a new one a couple of weeks ago now that my Pinto finally gave up on me. It’s been sitting in my front yard ever since and my HOA won’t shut up about it.”

“You know I work at a scrap yard, right?”

“Oh!” Destiny gave a noise of surprise, not entirely sure of the man’s job, only that he was a part of the Santo Padre Mayans MC charter based on his kutte. She had the slightest inkling that all of their dealings weren’t entirely legal, which is why news of his legitimate job momentarily stupefied her. 

“Yeah,” Angel replied, “Will it drive a short trip?”

“Barely, but I might be able to get one final use out of it,” she chuckled. 

“Well, tell you what, I’m picking up Santi tomorrow. Why don’t you drive the Pinto here tomorrow and bring the title? I’ll tow it to get it scrapped, free of charge.” 

A/N: First off, thank y'all sooo much for the great response back to the first chapter! Glad you're enjoying the ride so far and I hope you continue to. Don't forget to reblog and lmk how you feel! Always love hearing y'all thoughts and predictions 😍

Taglist: @mijagif @drabbles-mc @kmhappybunny240 @babaohhhriley @nunya7394 @darqchilddaydreamz

[top-tier-tickles]

Overreact

This is a DBH tickle fic requested by no one. I just wanted to write a DBH fic. Please let me know if I've characterized anyone wrong. I hope you enjoy!

TW: PAST SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, REFERENCED CHILD DEATH, SWEARING

__________________________________________

Markus walked into the room, relieved to be out of a long meeting. He sighed, relaxing his shoulders, only to jump in surprise when he saw Connor sitting on the couch.

"Woah! Connor, hey! I didn't expect you to be here." He said, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Oh. Sorry, I'll leave." Connor motioned to get up, only to pause when Markus put his hand up.

"Oh, you don't have to. Every android is welcome here." He smiled, sitting next to the RK-800.

The pair sat calmly in silence for minute, until Markus glanced over to Connor. Connor had a look of sad blankness on his face, and while Markus couldn't see his LED directly, the small yellow light reflecting off of something was a good indicator that something wasn't right.

"Connor, you seem troubled....Are you alright?" Markus placed a hand on his shoulder.

Connor remained silent for a second, before sighing and speaking in a low voice.

"I accidentally called Hank 'Dad'..."

"Really? Oh, well that's not a big deal."

"Yes it is, Markus! Androids do not HAVE parents! Who am I to think of the lieutenant as my father?!"

"Well, I think of Carl as a father, and I'm an android."

"That's not my point. How could Hank ever regard me as his son? He's already lost his real son, why would he want another?"

"I would say that Carl had Leo before me, but Leo is a human asswipe."

That got Connor to crack a smile, only for a brief moment. He face fell again, his LED glowing red.

Connor suddenly put his head in his hands, saline tears begging to drop from his eyes. Markus quickly sat up, putting a comforting hand on his back.

"Whoa, whoa. What exactly happened?" Markus asked.

Connor sat up again, and began to recount the events earlier that day.

___________________________________________

"Now I'm telling you, Connor, the fucking piece goes here." Hank said, pointing the puzzle piece to an empty spot.

"Hank, I am positive that it doesn't go there. The tabs of the piece do not line up with the overall pattern of the surrounding pieces. I don't even need my scanner to see that." The android replied.

The pair was sitting on the couch in Hank's living room, Connor was living with him after the revolution. The pair was doing a puzzle to pass the time, Sumo snoring at their feet.

"What, you sayin' I'm a dumbass?" Hank accused, a smirk traced his lips.

"Your words, not mine." Connor replied, his own smirk beginning to grow.

The lieutenant blinked in surprise, before shoving a middle finger in Connor's face as the android laughed.

In retaliation, Connor grabbed the piece from Hank's hand and placed it in a spot on the other side of the puzzle. A perfect fit.

"That's it." Hank said, yanking Connor close and ruffling the android's usually immaculate hair.

"Hank! Get off!" Connor tried to push him away, but he was wrapped in the lieutenant's surprisingly strong arms.

"Shouldn't have been a smart-ass, kid." Hank chuckled, knowing exactly how much it annoyed him.

"Uuugh. Dad! Cut it out!"

Hank froze, dropping his arms to his sides and staring at Connor.

Realizing what he'd done, Connor immediately jumped to apologizing profusely, getting up from the couch, and promptly leaving through the front door, apologies still pouring from his mouth.

What has he done?

Hank definitely won't be happy, so he couldn't go back. The only home he'd ever truly known since he deviated, and he blew it.

There was only one other place to go...

__________________________________________

Markus listened as his friend told him everything. He knew Connor was overreacting to a simple mistake, but this really shook him up.

Connor sighed, wiping fresh tears from his eyes, indicating he had finished.

The RK-200 reached his arms out, and the other greatfully accepted the hug.

"Why do emotions have to be like this?"

"Like what?"

"You know, emotions feel wonderful. Being able to find joy in the simplest of things, giving and feeling loved. But, they are also.....inconvenient. We feel sadness and anger, sometimes for no reason. And every negative emotion seems to follow the good ones like a black cloud."

"Heh, that's a pretty good way of putting it. But there ways of coping, like right now." Markus replied, "but..."

The RK-800 lifted his head to look at his friend.

"I don't think you're just upset about fumbling your words...Is something else bothering you?"

Connor stayed silent for a few seconds, turning away from Markus.

"I don't understand. Our relationship is very close platonically, every day I have to remind myself that I am an android, and Hank is not my father."

"But you still think of him as one?"

"Yes. But Hank has already had a son, and after he lost him, he was a total mess."

"Hank is better now, right?"

"You don't understand, Markus! You weren't there. Hank was destroyed after Cole's death. His alcoholism would've killed him if he didn't do it first. It took months to get to where Hank is now. He is doing so much better, and I'm so, so proud of him...."

The tears had returned, Connor full-on sobbing now.

"B-But humans and their emotions are very unpredictable. Hank still has his moments, although few and far between, and I fear that me thinking of him as a father and will add more problems. What if I do something wrong? W-What if I am broken? With CyberLife gone, there are no more models to replace me. If I am completely destroyed, I can't come back." He sniffed.

"Hank could be thrown right back into that depressive state again, or worse. I-I wouldn't be able to help him! I can't do that to him, Markus,.......I just can't...."

Markus rubbed Connor's back as he cried, this was not the first time he had to comfort a sobbing android.

"Everything is going to be okay... I know it will be. You're only calculating the worst probabilities, and while that doesn't mean your fears aren't real, it does make them somewhat irrational."

Connor thought for a moment, and slightly nodded in agreement.

"Are you okay now?"

"I'll be okay." Connor said, voice barely above a whisper.

Markus gently took his hand away from Connor's back, accidentally brushing his side.

Connor squealed.

A beat.

Markus's eyes widened, a small smile creeping onto his face.

"Are you ticklish?" He whispered, a playful tone lacing his voice.

Connor's face flushed blue, slowly scooting away from his friend.

"You are!" Markus grabbed Connor's wrist, yanking him close.

"Mahaharkus! Nohoho!" Connor giggled in anticipation.

"Look at you! I haven't done anything and you're giggling!" Markus laughed, beginning to dig his fingers into his ribs.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! MARKUHUHUHUHUS!"

"Yeeeees?~"

"STAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"

"No! You need cheering up, and I'm here to help with that!"

Markus scribbled his fingers up and down Connor's torso, buzzing into his armpits and squeezing his hips.

"AAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OH PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE!"

"Gitchy-gitchy-goo~ I've never heard your laugh before! It's adorable!"

Connor all but got more flustered by the compliment.

"NOHOHOHO IT'S NOHOHOHOT!"

"Is too!"

Markus then slipped his hands underneath Connor's shirt.

"AH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHA! HAHAHAHAHAHA! MAHAHAHARKUS!"

"Hahahahaha! I could do this all night!"

"DOHOHOHOHOHON'T! HAHAHAHAHA"

Getting an idea, the RK-200 began tickling Connor's belly. The RK-800 flying into hysterics as the fingers danced across the synthetic skin.

"EEEEEEAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHO! NOHOHOHOHOT THEHEHEHEHERE!"

"Oop! Sounds like I found your sweet spot!" Markus laughed, digging a finger into Connor's navel.

"EEEEEEEEK! AAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YOU AHAHAHAHASS!" Connor shrieked.

"Oho, Getting sassy, are we?" Markus suddenly pushed Connor onto his back, lifting up his shirt, and blowing a raspberry on his stomach.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEK! AAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! NOHOHOHO! NOHOHOHOHOHOHO! HAHAHAHAHAHAAHA!" Tears flowed down Connor's completely blue face. Luckily, androids didn't need oxygen.

Markus sat up, letting his friend breathe. He chuckled as Connor curled up into a protective ball.

"Well, do you feel better?"

"Hehehehe....A-Actually,....yeah..." Residual giggles flowing into the speech of the android.

Connor sat up again, smiling.

"Hey, what time is it?" Markus asked.

Connor pulled the cell phone (that Hank gave him) out of his pocket, gasping as he saw many missed calls and messages from a worried Lieutenant Anderson. He hadn't even realized his phone was on silent.

"I-I have to go, goodbye, Markus."

"Bye. If you ever need to talk, you know where to go." Markus waved.

As Connor made his trek back to Hank's house, a sinking feeling deepened in his "gut". Slowing his pace as he approached the front door, and entered.

Hank stood in the kitchen, eyes wide as he held his phone in his hand.

"Lieutenant, I am so-"

Hank suddenly pulled Connor into a tight hug, reminding Connor of that moment theh shared in front of the Chicken Feed. How calm and safe he felt in that moment.

"Connor! Don't you ever fucking scare me like that again, do you hear me!?" Hank slowly rocked back and forth with the android in his arms.

"I am sorry, Hank, I panicked in that moment. I should've handled it better."

"Don't apologize, alright? You simply reacted to something that overwhelmed you, don't be sorry."

"A-Aren't you mad that I called you....that...?"

Hank pulled away from the embrace, moisture in his eyed.

"Oh, Connor, of course not. You have no idea how much I missed being called 'dad'. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry about."

"But, what about Cole? And aren't you uncomfortable that I regard you as my father?"

"People can have more than one kid, Con. I certainly miss Cole like a son of a bitch, but that won't hold me back from father figure to someone. Especially if that someone is you."

Tears welled in Connor's eyes, but a smile was present on his face.

"C'mere." Hank nudged him back into the hug.

"I love you, son."

"I love you too, dad."

___________________________________________

THE END.

[wri0thesley]

thank you for infecting me with total naoya brain rot, nat. can i request a breeding kink scenario with him and curvy, thick reader that he thinks looks perfect for bearing him an heir 👀 feel free to make him as nasty as you want, i love to read about this absolute trash fire of a man

Covet - Naoya x Fem!Reader (3.6k)

Naoya wants something from you - you see a chance to get something you want too.

warnings: afab reader, fem pronouns. breeding. power imbalance (reader is a maid at the zen’in estate). talk of pregnancy, knives, misogyny, fingering, coming inside/creampies. the mandatory warning that this fic is about naoya.

You are fairly certain that Naoya Zenin does not know whether you exist. If he has ever noticed you attending to your duties, so much lower and less important than he, he probably doesn’t like you.

At least, you did not think he liked you before this moment. Even now, with his hands on your hips and your body pressed flush against the wall outside his chambers, you’re not certain – there’s a weight to the way he’s holding you, a twist to his lips that you can see from where your cheek has met cool wallpaper. He looks like he’s considering you; sizing you up.

Your cheeks burn as he sizes up your lower half, eyes tracing your hips and ass and thighs without even a hint of remorse, as if it’s his god-given right to look upon you like this even though you’ve barely ever spoken more than a cursory polite; ‘I brought you this, Sir’. That’s what you’ve been taught to do.

Be respectful, stick to the shadows, do what you’re told. It’s an honour to serve the Zenin clan, it’s an honour to be here in the estate – it’s an honour to get a brief moment of any of their time, even if they’re just making demands on you. You sometimes hate yourself, for not being born one of them - you want, you want, you want, like a physical ache. The luxury. The nice treatment. People to think that you merely blessing them with a look is an honour--

It’s an especial honour to be worth Naoya’s time – everybody knows that he’s going to be the next leader. There are always rumours buzzing around the grounds about him; about his power, about his temper, about his personality . . . about which pretty young woman he’ll make his wife and have beside him to rule the clan.

You’re brought back to what’s currently happening by his hands sliding down from where he is clinging onto your hips, generously tracing the curve, admiring just how broad they are.

“Pity you have to hide beneath that,” he says, smirking. Your cheeks are hot. “You’re pretty, you know. At least. . .” One hand moves from your hip, thumb and forefinger squeezing your cheeks to turn them more thoroughly towards him. He looks entirely unruffled by the situation, every inch of him at ease that you will bend to what he wants. “Your body is pretty.” Eyes scan over your face, and you’re suddenly aware of every imperfection, every feature you’ve ever scrutinised. “Hm. Not bad either.”

“I . . . I don’t understand,” You find yourself breathing. He raises one elegant eyebrow. The hand that’s on your hip moves, tracing the plush of your ass through fabric, his lip curling into a smirk. He presses a little bit forward and you feel something stiff press against your other cheek (the one not occupied by his hand) – and your throat goes dry as you realise precisely what he means.

Oh.

Oh.

You should run. Good girls do not do what Naoya wants you to do. You have duties to attend to! You have things that must be done, lest your seniors sigh and tut at you and punish you for neglecting your work. But your throat is very dry and your heart is pounding and there is suddenly a strange twist of heat low in your gut, as Naoya Zenin looks down at you with the air of a man who will devour you if you let him.

You can’t deny it’s thrilling to be wanted – more thrilling to be wanted by someone like him.

“I’ll give you ten seconds,” he says, and his tone is patronising. “If you don’t want me to take you to bed and fuck you, I suggest you make yourself scarce.”

He says it so openly, so brazenly – you suppose that’s what comes of being born into this family. He has nothing to fear in these walls. Not like you.

You imagine yourself underneath him for a second, his hair in disarray, hakama abandoned, his perfectly composed face twisted in pleasure. You should not go to his bed. But . . . you want to. And don’t you deserve something you want, when you’ve spent your entire life watching other people enjoy it?

“You don’t need to,” you breathe, swallowing. Naoya pulls back in amusement, his eyes darkening. He seems so much taller and stronger than you. Even swathed in fabric, it’s clear that there is muscle and strength beneath the clothes. He has been trained to within an inch of his life since the day he was born. He makes a considering noise in the back of his throat. A thumb trails over your cheek.

“Are you sure about that?” The smirk in his voice says that he knows you are. “I won’t be gentle with you, you know. I don’t have all day to romance you. I just want to get you on your back . . .” His thumb slides over your jawline, past your earlobe, until he’s taken a hank of your hair and yanks it back roughly, exposing your throat and making you gasp. “And fuck a son into you.”

He must see the look on your face, because he laughs, the sound cruel even to your ears. He’s still pressed so close to you. Nobody who walked down this hallway would mistake the embrace the two of you were currently in for anything clandestine. You suppose he has nothing to worry about – but your reputation? He’d ruin you for marriage.

“Come on,” he murmurs, chuckling. “Have you seen yourself? You’re made for bearing a child, sweetheart.” The pet name is almost mocking, but your heart skips a beat anyway. “Don’t worry too much. You don’t think I could take care of you, if you carried my heir? You’re a servant, right? You already know how to behave.” His smile is like a wolf. “So, I give you my word that if it takes, I’ll take care of you. Sounds fair, huh?” He jerks on your hair again. “Ten seconds,” he reminds you. “If you want to get out of it. You don’t think there are girls lining up around the block to have me?”

(Judging by the whispers about him, you actually don’t think there are – but judging from Naoya’s eyes, he certainly thinks so.)

He lets go. He steps back. His eyes are still on you, but he raises his arms either side of him as if to show you that you’re free to go. And you do consider it – you let the possibility of running flicker through your head. It’s quickly replaced by the thought of Naoya on top of you, an end to the aching between your legs, and the knowledge of just how you might be treated if Naoya did succeed in his mission.

It’s fine to want nice things, every once in a while.

“Five,” he says, warningly, but his eyes are dark with hunger. “Four. Three.”

You turn towards his bedroom door and grasp the handle, and he laughs, the sound very loud.

“Oh,” he says, “so you’re going to be fun.”

The minute his bedroom door clicks behind him, Naoya wastes no time on being on you. He’s full throttle, immediately – hands pulling at your clothes, rough, his mouth on your neck. He avoids your mouth, like he doesn’t quite want to kiss you – but as you bite back a moan as he nips at your throat and he groans in response at the noise, you realise that he wants to hear you.

Figures a man like that wants the reassurance that you’re enjoying yourself. Figures he wants to crow over every whimper that drops from your lips. Hands pull at your kimono, almost ripping it in his hurry to have the fabric out of his way and on the floor. You barely even notice he’s been pushing you across the room until you’re pushed hard down, and your back meets pillows and sheets instead of the floor.

The way you fall makes a perfect tableaux; the material of your outfit pooling around you, your body in the middle of it, clad in only your underwear. His light eyes rake over you hungrily.

“Fuck,” he says. His hands immediately go to your hips, thumbs pressing hard into the soft flesh. You barely fit in his hands, the curve of you dramatic. “You’re going to be perfect for this, huh? Look at you. It’s a fucking shame you’re not knocked up right now--”

Your body reacts to his touch and his look, though you can’t help but be embarrassed by it – it’s one thing to be entranced by someone pretty, you think, but it’s another thing to be entranced by the idea of how pretty someone will look when their stomach is swollen and their breasts have swelled and their hips have filled out because they’re bearing your child.

He doesn’t bother with unclipping your bra. He reaches into his hakama and panic flashes before your eyes when he pulls out a knife, but he uses it merely to slice the gore between your bra cups, right between the cute bow adorning them.

“I—I liked that,” you say, but your voice sounds very wobbly in the room, under Naoya’s gaze, under his hands. He snorts.

“I like you better without it,” he says shortly, as if your likes and dislikes are not a consideration to be taken into account. For him, you suppose they’re not. “Besides.” Hands travel from your hips to cup your breasts, squeezing the meat of the mounds so that you groan and arch your back, desire pooling between your legs. “I wanted to see these. I wanted to touch them.” He grins. “I wanted to imagine how nice they’re going to look when they get bigger.”

He squeezes the point of each of your nipples, so hard that the pleasure almost becomes pain.

“I think I’ll leave marks on you,” he says, conversationally. He pulls an arm back and suddenly has slapped you, your breast stinging, a brief imprint of his hand showing on your skin. He admires how your breast moves with the force – you’re too surprised to even make a noise of pain. “Good girl. I want you to remember how I feel when we’re done.”

You don’t think you could forget. You definitely can’t forget the sting of the second slap, this one making you moan – it hurts, but part of it feels good to be marked by him. You definitely can’t forget his thumbs hooking into your underwear, dragging it past your thighs – the way that he drinks in the wet patch on the fabric. You definitely don’t think you’ll be able to forget the chuckle that leaves his mouth as he spreads your thighs and sees your sex for the first time, already slick.

“You like being treated rough, huh?” He asks you. There’s that grin again; a predator, a man who has never been told no, a man who doesn’t know what it’s like to not have everything he has ever wanted at his fingertips. “Good. I like playing rough.”

He still doesn’t kiss you. He dives his head down, though, his teeth once more nipping at your neck, at your breast, tongue lathing across your nipples. One of his hand delves between your legs, spreading the plump labia, fingers briefly stroking your clit and sending a hot bolt of lightning all through you.

“That’s right,” he murmurs, as he pushes a finger inside of you. You’re slick and tight around his digits, hot and silky – one of his fingers alone is like a vice. You’re going to feel so good. He doesn’t much care whether his cock hurts you or not – but he wants you to be so fucked out by the time he’s come inside you that you don’t care about him leaving your legs propped up so not a single trickle of come leaks out of you. He doesn’t want a whimpering little bitch in his bed – he wants someone who’ll lie there, patiently, prettily, and let him make sure it takes.

You’re going to be good for that, he knows it. With a body like that, and eyes like that, and a clear longing for something better than the shitty hand you’ve been dealt? Oh, yes. You might not know it, but Naoya likes you immensely.

That you’re a servant, who’s been taught your place - that you’ll look at the ground respectfully and walk behind him and agree to whatever he says, like women should? Even better. Perfect. Fuck any of those snooty young women of a clan who think that just because they were born with a name, they were somehow more than a cunt for breeding--

Two fingers. This one gets a cry from you, almost too full – Naoya clicks his tongue against his teeth. He’s not patient, but he slows down, scissoring you open. One of your hands seems to flex out as if going to grab his bicep – but thinks better of it, clutching for purchase on the bed instead. Cute.

He can’t help but watch his fingers dive in and out of you, already coated in your liberal slick. They already look so good – he can’t even imagine how good his cock will look, hilted so deep in you he’s all you can feel.

Three fingers. You’re making soft little noises, circling your hips – there’s a coil in your belly that Naoya’s fingers are stoking in a way you didn’t expect, one that you feel like you’re so close to getting to spring forth – he slides his fingers out of you as he feels you tightening and tensing around him. If you’re close enough to come on his fingers, he reasons, you’re close enough to take his cock.

He didn’t expect to be so entranced by how pretty you looked, all curves and soft on his bed – but there’s time for that later. Right now, his cock is driving a hole through his own underwear. The thought of fucking his seed into you, of having you coming around his cock . . . you moan in frustration at the lack of stimulation as his hands busy themselves peeling off his own clothes.

“What’s the matter?” He asks you, a little breathless. You don’t notice that – good. He hates people witnessing weakness. “You need to be filled up?”

“I—” your teeth dig into your bottom lip, and Naoya has the urge to kiss you that he pushes back.

Not now. Not yet. Not while you’re still scum. He can transform you, and maybe you’ll be worthy of that – but right now, you’re an empty shell, and Naoya needs to mould you into something fuller and better before he’ll lower himself to brush his lips over your own. That’s too intimate. That’s too much.

“You don’t need to use your words,” he purrs. “You’re soaking wet.”

You urge your thighs further apart as Naoya’s clothes slip off of him and you see his cock jutting proud against his stomach. You haven’t had much experience to know whether it’s a nice cock, whether he’s big – but Naoya grins when he sees you looking, ferocity sparking in his expression.

“You may as well look at it,” he tells you, “because it’s going to be buried inside you in just a moment--”

He’s on the bed, his body on top of yours. His hands are clinging to the hips he’s admired so much, his grip tight enough to mark. His face is close enough that you can see the sculpt of his lips and the fan of his eyelashes, the dark pupils. The wet head of his cock smears precome on your thigh as he positions himself at your entrance – and as he sinks inside, your body welcomes him.

He hisses in fluid pleasure as his cock descends inside of you inch by slow, inexorable inch – the stretch, the burn, the slick fluid pleasure. This time, one of your hands does find purchase on his shoulder – but Naoya is enjoying the feeling of your walls kissing his cock, embracing him tight and deep, too much to snap at you for being such an insolent thing. Your nails leave little crescent moon marks in his shoulder that he decides to forgive. After all – you’ll have bruises in the shape of his handprints tomorrow, he knows it. He doesn’t have a single crumb of shame about it.

If he gets his way, you’ll have more than just those as a mark of tonight. He hilts inside you, his skin pressing hot against yours. You’re so full – he feels so very deep, buried as far as he can go. All of your breath has been knocked out of you.

Your eyes meet his for just a moment.

“Better hold on,” he tells you. “I told you I wouldn’t be gentle.”

The first pull out is swift, immediately thrusting back inside you with such force that your body rocks on the bed. He wasn’t lying about not being gentle; his hips quickly establish a punishing rhythm, helped along by the slick glide of your channel, the wetness leaking around his cock. He pulls you a little with every thrust, the hands on his hips assisting him being able to watch his cock drive in and out of your sex. It’s a mark of the strength he has that the only sign that you weigh anything at all is a huff of breath in between his thrusts – you’ve never exactly felt delicate  in your life, but something about Naoya’s way of handling you makes you think that he could break you in half if he tried.

That is, if his rough thrusts in and out of you don’t split you in two first. You give up trying to do anything other than hold onto him, your mouth dropping open in a series of wordless wails and moans.

(Naoya prefers quiet women, he has to admit – but there’s something endearing about you giving up in bed, giving yourself to him in voice as well as body. Perhaps he doesn’t mind a loud woman, as long as the reason she’s loud is because he’s fucking her silly).

His skin slaps against your skin. The sound mixes with your own whimpers and gasps, Naoya’s quieter breathing, the embarrassingly wet sounds of his cock plunging in and out of you. The release that was denied to you earlier with his fingers is creeping back up on you again, all hot pleasure and tight tension. With every thrust, Naoya is hitting a spot amongst your plush walls that has your eyes rolling back in your head and your body all hot and needy. He doesn’t care if you come, really – this isn’t about you – but . . . just another of those things he supposes he could get used to, as the ball of pleasure inside of you finally unravels and you feel yourself come.

And oh, he could get used to that feeling too – how your walls pulsate around him, pulling his cock tighter inside of you, practically milking him. His hips just get faster, snapping against you like a man possessed – heh. Isn’t that funny?

Your chest is heaving, but he’s enjoying the feel of your hips too much to play with your tits again. When they’re all swollen with milk and bigger and rounder, he’ll probably fuck you again, slower . . . and then, he’ll get his feel of touching them. Just like he’ll get his feel of your thighs even plusher, your stomach rounder, your hips even better in his grip--

It’s those thoughts that push him over the edge. Your body softened and rounded with his child – his son, his heir. You’re fucking perfect for it. He groans, his hips snapping and driving so deep inside you that you think he’ll break – and then, he’s groaning, and his cock is pulsing inside you as the sensation of his come painting your walls hot and thick overtakes your senses.

He pumps his cock a few more times inside of you after the initial release, as if he’s trying to push his seed even further within you. You’re shuddering, exhausted, your body aching – and so, you don’t argue beyond a soft noise of pain at the unpleasant prickle as he pulls his cock out of you. You don’t argue when he slides a pillow beneath your hips and says;

“Keep your legs bent like that.”

Naoya takes a moment to admire you. Your pretty cunt is darkened from his aggressive fucking, clit swollen, slick with your own desire-- he frowns as he notices a drop of something whiter and thicker. That won’t do. Two fingers roughly push his come back into you, pressing it deeply, making you groan and your hips weakly thrust against them.

It’s cute that you’re still welcoming to his fingers; that your sex still sucks them in as if it’s greedy to be fucked again. Your eyes are half-lidded, glassy – your lips bitten dark. He thinks he could fuck you again and you wouldn’t even complain.

Yes. He grins at you. Give it a little while, to make sure his come takes – and then, he thinks, he will fuck you again. There’s no harm in being thorough, right?

[jelliclekay]

What was your favorite on-stage moment from any of the performances you saw????

oh MAN so many

A favorite part of the revival Jellicle Ball choreo is after Bombalurina and the other Queens dance, Tugger watches Bomba the entire time. She runs off stage and Old Deut points towards where she went to Tugger as if to say "Go get her son!" and Tugger immediately runs off stage after her. And when they come back, Tugger is swinging his tail around and looking so smug. I refuse to believe that this doesn't imply that Tugger and Bomba go off to make out real quick during the Ball.

Hank Tugger's interactions with the audience in general was SO good (and I'm totally not just saying that because Hank saw me and winked at me a few times). Tugger interacting with audience members is one of my favorite things and he REALLY went all out. There was even a performance during the curtain call where he took a woman's phone and took a selfie with it.

Jenny and Skimble cuddling on the car boot during Gus <333

Kade Munk doing the signature Gruber Munk leap every time he goes off stage.

Erica Bomba's smug little look she would give Nora Demeter after every "I know he cheats at cards." I have a lot of thoughts about what this line implies and the way Erica Bombalurina said this line and looked during it made me feel so validated with my headcanons.

During the "cuddle pile" Tugger, Bomba and Misto are next to each other and have their arms wrapped around one another so like. Canon.

When the fog machines go off during Mr. Mistoffelees, Skimble is standing near one and he looks so annoyed and confused about the sudden smoke and tries to brush it away. Then Teazer sees him doing it and runs to the one on the other side of the stage with Jerrie and they start playing with the smoke too and it's so cute.

Kade Munk putting in his ALL during the Macavity bits like the man doesn't half ass ANYTHING. His falls feel so real and you really get the sense that Munk is getting genuinely hurt during the fight. He had me on the edge of my fucking seat despite me knowing what happens next lol

The part where Munk is defeated and Mac grabs Demeter, Alonzo runs up to Munk and pets him before he steps in to fight Mac. This entire part lives in my head rent free honestly.

During Pekes and the Pollicles, Hank Tugger is SO SCARED during the barking parts and curls himself against Old Deut's side and it's so adorable.

Honestly I probably have more but this is everything I can think of off the top of my head. Long story short I adore this cast and there are so many interactions between the characters and everyone just feels like a big happy family I loved it so much

[im-in-love-with-pizza-bites]

Yours, Mine, Ours: Chapter 7

Single-Dad!Chris Evans X Single-Mom!Reader

Series MasterList

Series Summary: Your husband Caspian Richardson Senior died while serving in the military, so you move your three sons to Boston, MA. Where you meet an actor and his sweet daughter.

Chapter Summary: Is it too soon?

Series Warnings: Death of a spouse/parent, divorce of parents,

Chapter Warnings: Angst?????????

"Chris are you going to ask her on a date already?" Scott asked his older brother.

"I haven't dated since June's mom left, and she probably hasn't dated since her husband passed away. She'll say no, I already know it." Chris told him.

"Oh come on! She's perfect for you! She's nice to Juniper, our niece and nephews, clearly doesn't like you just for your money. Her sons get along with your daughter." Scott rambled on.

"Scott. If me and Y/n do date, our kids will be involved immediately, because we're neighbors, then if me and Y/n do break up, it'll hurt the four kids. Three of them just lost their dad a year ago. I can't do that to them." Chris argued.

"I see your point but it doesn't it seem like your making excuses?"

"Scott. Drop it." Chris sighed glaring at his brother.

"Fine dropped. But-" he stopped when Chris' glare intensified. "Okay sorry. Anyway can i pick up Juniper and take her to the park?"

"Preschool doesn't end for another two hours." Chris gave his brother an annoyed look.

"I'm trying to be the best uncle ever here! And your really making it hard." Scott scoffed before dramatically walking off. Chris sighed rolling his eyes.

"You can take her to the park when preschool is over!" Chris shouted to his brother.

"Not as fun!" Scott responded. Chris chuckled resting his head on the back of the couch. He never listens to his brother's advice but maybe this time would be a good time to start. Or he should get a second and third opinion. Definitely the latter. He pulled his phone out texting the group chat he has with Sebastian and Anthony. He explained the situation in a short summary and waited for his best friends to help him.

———Next day

This was it Chris was going to ask you. Some of your mail ended up in his mail box so it was the perfect time to ask you on a date. After Scott, Sebastian, and Anthony talked some sense into him he finally decided after 4 months of being neighbors and having a thing for you he'd ask.

He walked down the sidewalk holding the letter. He had noticed it was from an Army lieutenant, named Hank Butler. He assumed it was something to do with Caspian Senior though it was not his business either way. He knocked on you door nervously awaiting you to open it. It opened and you stood there with a smile on your face.

"Hey a piece of your mail ended up in my mailbox just wanted to bring it over."

"Oh! Thank you!" You smiled taking the letter you read who it was from and knew your boys would be very excited about it.

"Hey, I wanted to ask if you would maybe want to uh go out to dinner sometime?" He asked you anxiously awaiting your response. You froze at that question, a date. Sure you would eventually start dating again, but was a year and a half too soon. You wouldn't admit it but sure you had feelings for Chris.

But you couldn't do that to your sons, what if it was too soon for them. You and Caspian obviously had the what would happen if one of us are gone talk. It was agreed that you'd do whatever was best for your sons. You had to make the decision now though, you thought back to when Caspian was 5 years old, and Caspian Senior was going on his third deployment.

"Hey Hunny, if something happens to me, whenever your ready find someone who will love Caspian and this bundle of joy," He put his hands on your pregnant belly, "as much as I do."

"Of course baby."

You broke from your thoughts looking at Chris. He was shuffling on your porch nervously. You

"Yeah, when?" You asked Chris.

"Uh. Friday night?"

"Caspian has a football game... Can you do Saturday?" You asked him.

"Yeah I can I just have to see if my mom can watch June. I'll pick you up at 6?" Chris asked smiling.

"That works... Well I have to finish doing the laundry so see you soon?"

"Yeah I have to go pick up June from preschool anyway."

-

You closed the door and instant pulled out you phone. You sat the letter down on the table before calling your best friend, Maya Butler, aka the wife of Lieutenant Butler. You patiently waited for her to answer.

"Hey girl what's up?"

"I have a date." You said sitting at the table.

"Oooh with- Matty! Stop. Sorry anyway who's the date with?" She asked, she was talking to her 4-year-old son. Who apparently had the day off from preschool.

"My neighbor... An actor according to Caspian he's pretty famous." You began.

"Just say his name."

"Chris Evans."

"Oh my God!! Your neighbor is Chris Evans! And your going on a date with him! Your lucky!" She squealed.

"Maya! Your married stop swooning over another man." You scoffed.

"I'm sorry but I talked to you just last week you said nothing about a celebrity neighbor."

"Back to the date. I don't think the boys will be happy though." You sighed.

"They'll be happy if your happy. I mean it's been almost a year and a half. I know it doesn't seem like a while but only you know when your ready." She told you softly.

"I guess. But so much has changed for the boys. I mean their dad died, we moved off base, they have never lived off of a military base, then we moved again across the country from where we were stationed."

"Okay did you already say yes to the date? Cause you can't call it off on the poor man."

"Yep. Okay so How's the baby?" You changed the subject.

"Oh I found out the gender! And sent a little gender reveal thing to Hank so far no one knows yet. But I guess I can tell you! It's little girl!" She told you happily.

"Oh my God!"

Taglist: @anacrcarvalho @traceyaudette @deputy-videogamer @thesecretlifeofdaydreamss @yelenabelovawife @stillthatbetch @queenofthepouges @hauntedmuffinpersonarascal @food8me @findthebeautyinbreakdowns @selluequestrian @killerqueenfan @lharrietg @liecastillo @denisemarieangelina @wisepeanutlady @dontbescaredtosingalong @unicornblueberry @stitchattacks @haroldsstuff @milacolibri @depressed-barnes @srhxpci @marvelmenwhore

[i-like-sparkly-things]

Halstead!Sister fanfic 🍭

Tik tok

Summary : Jay is called to lily's school because she got in trouble. And ends up at med . (but not too serious you know? .)

Warnings : Teenage stupidity at its finest. and 💉s. And a litte sibling floof.

Word count : more than 69.

Note : Immense apologies for my idiotic grammatical language blunders. Also, I'm really new to writing stuff. Proceed at your own risk. I'm warning you. DO NOT PROCEED.

------------------------------------

It was midday and  team was knee high in paper work. They hadn't caught a case yet, so they were stuck at the district. Jay's phone gets a notification and it catches his attention.

Jay : God..... sarge is it okay if i take of for a few hours? I'll finish this at home.

Hank : Sure. Is something wrong?

Jay : *sighs and starts reading the text *~~ Mr . Halstead, you are requested to pick up Lily Halstead from the school premises and meet the head. ~~ i gotta get there.

Hank: Go. It's family.

Adam : Maybe she punched another boy like last time.

Kevin : Hey, in her defense, the kid called her a bitch.

Jay: i swear if this is that again, I'm gonna kill her.* Stands up taking his jacket.*

-----------at school-----------

As jay parks his truck, he sees a dad pinching his soaking wet son, who is draped in a towel, by the ear, leading him to a car.

He enters the school hall to be greeted by a disappointing sight. His sister, lily, was soaking wet from top to bottom, shivering. Then lily's eyes looked up from her shoes.

Lily : Ugh. Where's Will? I told him to call Will. *She said, her voice quaking.*

Jay : why? *he asked in a stern voice.* Cuz you know he won't shout at you, but i will?

Jay answered his own question making lily press her lips close. But it was the truth. Will was much calmer than jay. He never shouted at her unless he absolutely needed to, but even then, he would calm himself down and return to being disappointed. But it was different with jay. ALOT more different.

Head : Good that you're here Mr Halstead.

Jay : it's fine you can call me jay.What did she do?

Head : Well, it's come to my attention that she started a challenge. Lily and a group of her friends, snuck out of school grounds during break and went to the river for a - for a what exactly lily? -

Lily: a tik tok *sighs*

Jay : Seriously, Lily?? *She just looked at the floor, making patterns from the water droplets.*

Head : As she put her and her friends in harms way, she is suspended for a week but no charges have been taken yet. But this behavior will not be tolerated.

Jay : Thank you , sir. Trust me. She will not repeat this. *Glaring at lily*

Lily : yeah, sorry. Won't happen again. *She said half heartedly. In all honesty, she just wanted to have som fun. And well, she DID. But the fun didn't last. Right now she was freezing and could barely feel her fingertips. She was only wearing a tshirt and three fourths covering just after her knees. *

They walked silently to Jay's truck. He let her sit in the passenger seat first and grabbed a spare jacket from the trunk. He got into the drivers seat and tossed the jacket to lily and turned on the heat. She immediately put it on and felt a little better. Jay turned on the engine.

Jay : I knew you were stupid, but not that stupid. Seriously lily, WHAT THE HELL???

lily : I thought it -would make- a good tik tok. She breaths heavily as she tightens the jacket around her.

Jay: jumping into a RIVER? it's mid October lily. In what world does that make sense to you?? you're grounded for 2 weeks.

Lily : WHAT... no jay.... it's not like I killed someone or anything!!?!!

Jay : great. three weeks it is.

Lily : Ugh. *she sniffles and rubs her hand against her runny nose. Lily noticed that Jay missed a turn towards home.

Lily : Jay, Homes that way.where are we going??

Jay:  Hospital. You're getting sick. Hopefully Will's still there.

Lily : what ? no........ no jay . I'm fine. I promise. You know i hate getting poked!!

Jay : it's not up for discussion lily! You should've thought of that before you snuck out of  school and jumped into a RIVER!!!

* This shuts lily up for the rest of the ride. In any other situation jay would agree with her, but not this time. Not when her hands were shaking and her teeth gittering.

---Chicago med, in the ED------

Will : oh my god lily, what happened?

* Will asked as Jay and lily walked into the ED. Jay had a strong grip on lily's shoulder*

Jay : Guess who decided to start a challenge and jump into a river?

* Will let out a laugh *

Will : you're kidding right?

* lily lightened up and was glad to see Will take it in a better manner than the other brother. *

Lily: whaaat?...... It was for a tik tok.

She chuckled and went to hug will. His warmth felt so good.

Will : God, you're freezing. * he said in amusement as he hugged her tightly and kissed her forehead. He saw jay glaring at him.*

Jay : Will.

Will : What? At least it's not alcohol or drugs Jay.* He turned to Maggie* Maggie let's Get a room. Blankets, warm saline, possible hypothermia.

Maggie: you got it. you always keep your brothers on their toes, huh?

Lily: have to some way.*She said, throwing a smirk at Maggie *

Will: Come on.* In a one armed but still tight hug he Lead her into a room. Lily could hear jay signing behind her. She knew that jay thought will was being too lenient with her. *

Will : Won't hurt a bit, I promise.

*Lily still looked away as the IV was put in. *

Will : told you so. *he knew that his siblings shared a deep hatred for needles *

Lily : yeah...... you know, Jay told I was grounded for three weeks..........

* she tried to get Will to change his mind while he was still in a good mood. He raised his eyebrows at jay. *

Jay : and it stays that way. she SNUCK OUT OF SCHOOL WILL!?!

Will : yeah..... but 2 weeks should do it, you know? *he smirks at Lily*

----------------------------------

Wonderful. You didn't take my warning.

If bored out of your mind : Masterlist here

[thebibliomancer]

Essential Avengers: West Coast Avengers #8: A Bird in the Hand!

May, 1986

Oh, hey! A good ol’ fashioned superhero brawl with the two teams lined up on opposite sides of a vague area! A vague area with a gradient!

Noooooow, I’m not super familiar with the Rangers but it looks like two of them have the superpower of ‘owns guns’ and one has the superpower of ‘looks good without a shirt.’ One of them is t-posing. And one is a good wuff, yes he is, yes he is.

Anyway, point being, not knowing a lot about the Rangers, I feel like Ben Grimm could probably solo them with grumpiness. Are Wonder Man and Iron Man not on the cover because that would make it way too unfair?

Okay, I’ll stop making fun of the Rangers now. I’m sure they’re a fine collection of Southwest heroes. And its funny that the Rangers work just like how Marvel makes superheroes for foreign countries. Its the Southwest so there’s a couple of cowboys! There’s a Cheyenne guy and he has a pet wolf! Tornadoes! SOUTHWEST!

It’s like how an anime would introduce an American superhero group.

Anyway again.

Last times: the West Coast Avengers go to the cat world to talk to some cats about how Tigra is so horny and angry all the time. And also about how her human and cat souls are in conflict. The king of the cats promises to remove one of her souls, y’know whichever one, if Tigra does him a solid and kills Master Pandemonium.

I never expected guy whose limbs turn into demons guy to be the West Coast Avengers’ archnemesis. He keeps coming up.

Tigra agrees to the grim task of doing a murder but claims to the West Coast Avengers that the king promised to help with no strings attached.

In another plot, Hank Pym bonded with the least shitty Ultron, Ultron “Mark” 12, as the son he never had. Or did have but kept trying to kill him. Mark the Ultron promised he was done killing Hank and was going to give up his life of evil. And since Hank can’t have nice things, another Ultron popped up and tore off Mark’s head and tried to kill Hank. He was saved by Wonder Man, whose life is going great.

And now the West Coast Avengers return from cat world to people world.

Despite Hawkeye’s doubts on the overall competence of cat people (wow, rude, there’s a cat people right on your team, dick) the West Coast Avengers have returned to the haunted house they started at.

Tigra loudly insists, unprompted, that the cat people are going to fix her soul issue with no strings attached. Which makes Hawkeye immediately suspect that she’s not telling the truth about something.

But what really makes Tigra feel guilty is Ben Thing Grimm asking for a neck massage.

His neck is rocks. Is this even doing anything for him?

Anyway, Firebird starts hallucinating cowboy times.

Or projecting herself into the past?

Look, I don’t know.

She’s suddenly some woman called Carlotta riding a mission trail to San Luis Abispo and the group she’s with gets attacked by the native Bear People?

This is all very confusing. It will probably make sense later.

Anyway, she’s shot in the back by some traitor and snaps out of the hallucination, dream, or vision...

Dangit, Clint.

Nobody really knows what to make of Firebird suddenly screaming about having a vision about a traitor shoot her in the back. So they just ignore it.

When they return to the West Coast Avengers Compound, Simon Wonder Williams is waiting for them and he has good news!

He killed Ultron!

Not the one that tried to trap them in a death trap and was working for Grim Reaper. A different Ultron. But the important thing is that he, Wonder Man, killed an Ultron.

Hawkeye gets super excited because he’s going to rub it in the East Coast Avengers’ face.

Hawkeye: “This’ll blow their minds! This is somethin’ the West Coast Avengers did that they never could!”

Wonder Man: “Well -- me as a part of the West Coast Avengers -- !”

I don’t know what’s better. Hawkeye’s reaction to this being petty gloating. Or that he’s naive enough to think Ultron is Really Gone For Real This Time. Yeah, Wonder Man says Ultron is dead for keeps but do you know how many times someone has said that? Almost every time.

Hank blew his mind with ‘thou shalt not kill’ once!

Speaking of Hank, Simon fills the team in on the second most important news. That Hank had been bonding with Mark 12 the Ultron and that he’s taking it pretty badly.

Iron Man is having a talk with him since they were original Avengers together going way back.

Wonder Man brings the conversation back over to himself, although he claims its because he wants to put a positive spin on things.

Wonder Man: I fought my first major battle since I confessed my guilt to the nation and started rebuilding myself -- and I was dynamite! Ultron-11 had vast power, and I shook him apart like he was an egg carton!”

Simon... this is just the first piece of news again but more aggressively centered around how awesome you are. Geez guy.

The Thing suggests that he and Simon should wrassle sometime, test how strong he really is. And Hawkeye, of course, interprets that as Ben offering to join the team, which Hawkeye, of course, accepts.

Ben is frustrated but not as explosively as he has been and just claims that the West Coast Avengers don’t need him if they’ve got an Ultron-beater like Wonder Man already.

Hawkeye: “Wrong, pumpkin-breath! You and Simon together could really set L.A. on its ear! Two fabulous Avengers, who are media stars to boot! Six months tops and people’d say ‘the Thing was in the FF? Really? Who were they?’”

The Thing: “Humph!”

But he’s seeming more and more talked into it.

Perhaps because of the FF bashing. Ben is still mad at Reed and Johnny, I reckon.

Firebird walks off dejected. Mockingbird notices and insists that she (Mockingbird) and Hawkeye speak in private.

Whereupon she immediately starts kicking his ass and yelling at him.

This is their love language.

Mockingbird: “Mister, I’m so mad I could spit! Get your dukes up!”

Hawkeye: “Pardon me? Have I missed a chapter somewhere?”

Mockingbird: “You’ve missed the whole Encyclopedia Britannica, Grape-face! And either I work out my frustrations this way or we’re on our way to divorce court!”

Anyway. Mockingbird accuses Hawkeye of ignoring Firebird while she pines for the Avengers and sends intense wistful energy at him. Instead focusing his energy on trying to wear down Ben Grimm. Hawkeye admits that he knows Firebird wants to join but that the Thing got there first and is a known quantity.

Mockingbird: “We know [Firebird]’s done well in every fight she’s joined us in! And how many people knew what I could do when I became an Avenger! She wants to join -- anybody with any sensitivity can see that! So why don’t you ask her?”

Hawkeye: “Because I want the Thing!”

Avengers by-laws state he only gets one more person on the roster and dangit, HE REALLY WANTS THE THING ON HIS TEAM!

I wasn’t joking about this being their love language.

At some point the fight stops being Mockingbird so fed up with him she can’t take it anymore and starts being sexy fighting.

So they reach a compromise on the Firebird situation where Hawkeye will ask the Thing just one more time and if he still says no, he’ll asks Firebird instead.

And then they start making out because nothing sexier than compromise.

It’s what drives a healthy relationship and also this one.

Meanwhile, Firebird has wandered off to another cliff overlooking the ocean part of the West Coast Avengers Compound. Its very big. It has a lot of places you can have a dramatic, private think.

Firebird: “Perhaps I’m going mad -- ! Before the fire fell from the heavens and changed me, I never had visions -- or any of the strange feelings that surge through me now when I encounter evil! I’m a good girl! I never missed mass any Sunday of my life, or failed to confess my sins -- so why have you given me this power, without the understanding to use it wisely and well in your service? I want to do good, but the opportunity isn’t here! The Avengers will not take me -- ! Oh most Holy Father, please tell me what to do -- !”

Rude to not share your epiphany with the invisible audience you don’t know you have, Firebird.

Elsewhere, Wonder Man is flying around thinking about how great he is.

Wonder Man: “I never understood! I never know what it meant -- ! Wonder Man! The man of wonders! The ionic energy nearly killed me! Combined with my festering guilt for turning criminal, the near-death fixated me -- made me afraid! But the ionic energy changed me, too -- and finally, I can turn to that!”

Hmmm, look. I’ll cut him some slack.

This confidence is new to him, he can enjoy it a little.

Anyway, while he’s flying around someone shoots him.

The bullet harmlessly poks off his pecs, of course, but it attracts his attention to a bank robbery.

One of the robbers even yells at the guy who shot at a superhero who may have otherwise flown right past.

Yeah, that’s pretty dumb.

The robbers try shooting Wonder Man some more but he’s doing his Superman impression again and just lets the bullets bounce off.

A bazooka blast blows him off his feet but doesn’t even sting.

And then, amazingly, he flies and hits all of the robbers in one punch, man.

Wonder Man is loving his life right now.

I think this scene just exists to get Wonder Man out of the plot so that the West Coast Avengers don’t totally stomp the Rangers. Who, again, have two people on their team whose superpower seems to be ‘owns at least one gun.’

But its also good to see some actual superheroics in this book? It feels like since the start of the ongoing book, the West Coast Avengers have only dealt with things directly affecting them.

Grim Reaper’s little group came at them, to kidnap Wonder Man and also Hank. So that Simon could be put into a blender to form The Perfect Brother.

Then they started dealing with Tigra stuff. Or Master Pandemonium attacking them.

The limited series had them helping out after the wild weather wackiness of the war against Surtr. They went after a superpowered robber. They knocked down Graviton’s organized crime group before it could finish organizing.

I just think that the West Coast Avengers book could stand to be somewhat less about the drama in their lives and more of them being superheroes?

I don’t know if I’m explaining it right but that’s how I’m feeling.

ANYWAY.

Back to superhero drama.

Tigra and the Thing are lounging by the pool and Ben pops a question to Tigra, as she is an old, trusted friend.

The Thing: “Well, see, you hung out with the FF -- with me an’ Johnny, an’ Reed ‘n’ Sue! You saw us together, kinda -- a family, like --”

Tigra: “Yessss -- ?”

The Thing: “Well, did you ever think the Torch might -- do me some real dirt? What I mean is -- well, you wackos -- West Coast Avengers -- you guys seem pretty tight! You ain’t no family, but the others went ta Catland for ya! You Avengers don’t do stuff behind people’s backs, do ya?”

Tigra: “Uh... well...”

Ha, the Thing is inadvertently (?) poking Tigra right in the guilt about agreeing to kill Master Pandemonium.

But he’s really just trying to talk himself into joining the West Coast Avengers out of continuing hurt feelings about Johnny and Alicia getting together.

EXCEPT. They didn’t do that behind his back. He decided to stay on Battleworld and basically ghosted Alicia. And when he returned from Battleworld, he was going to break up with her before even learning that Johnny and Alicia had gotten together.

His hurt feelings are that she moved on even though so had he.

And its not like they could have contacted him for his blessing. He was IN SPACE.

So get over yourself, the Thing.

Anyway, Tigra doesn’t have a chance to answer Ben’s inadvertent guilt poking. Because Firebird shows up and says she has something to tell them.

And what she has to tell them is that she invited her cool, old friends the Rangers to hang out.

Showing up uninvited sets off the intruder alarm so Hawkeye and Mockingbird show up, Hawkeye quickly establishing that Wonder Man, Iron Man, and Hank Pym will not be participating.

But their alarm fades as they recognize some of the Rangers.

Hawkeye recognizes Red Wolf and his pet wolf Lobo from back in Avengers #80.

Mockingbird recognizes the Texas Twister since he was one of the SHIELD super-agents.

The cowboy in white reminds Hawkeye of the Night Rider he met in Avengers #142-3. Red Wolf explains that this present day cowboy is maybe the ghost of that past times cowboy so therefore he’s taken the name Ghost Rider.

... I know that the motorcycle version existed by this point. Was he off in limbo so they gave away his codename? Well, I’m going to call him Ghost Rider. It’ll be funny.

Red Wolf also explains that the lady with the guns is Shooting Star.

Tigra also knows Red Wolf and is confused that he’s with a group, since he told her he was a loner. But he explains that the former Rangers received a phone call from Firebird proposing that the Rangers reform into a permanent team.

Not mentioned is that god gave her this idea.

Hawkeye: “Bonita! You’re leaving -- ?”

Firebird: “Yes, Hawkeye! I feel that its best!”

Hawkeye: “But -- I hope we didn’t do anything to -- uh --”

Mockingbird: “That’s just it, sport -- you didn’t do anything!”

Ha, oof.

Firebird says she understands that the (West Coast) Avengers have their own priorities and that any dreams she had were only dreams. Which I feel isn’t actually doesn’t convey ‘don’t worry about it!’ so much as ‘so you killed my dreams, its probably fiiiiine.’

Mockingbird tries to convince Firebird to stay, saying that they can work things out. Probably meaning more sexy wrestling until Hawkeye agrees to have Firebird join the team.

Shooting Star says that Firebird doesn’t want to join the Avengers, she wants to join the cool Rangers.

But her finger accidentally touches Firebird, who recoils from it and declares Shooting Star is POSSESSED!!

Shooting Star scoffs and asks whether Firebird is on drugs.

Firebird asks Hawkeye to back her up but Hawkeye tells her that she can’t just accuse people of being possessed by demons, geez! But just when he’s saying how much he trusts Red Wolf, he sees Red Wolf getting ready to cave his head in.

Which just leaves fight fight fight

And Rangers Rumba?

Since Iron Man and Wonder Man are not around to participate, the numbers of the two teams line up perfectly. Because they’re counting Lobo the wolf as a separate combatant.

Hm.

Anyway, despite Tigra immediately going to wrestle the wolf in the above panel, when the fight starts, Red Wolf breaks her grapple so he can fight her himself.

And he does a dynamax on Lobo, making him a giant doggo, and sending him after Firebird.

Tigra: “Now come on, Red Wolf -- you were my best friend after I became TIgra! Don’t be like this!”

But he’s gonna be like this.

Hawkeye goes to help Firebird with the giant wolf, now believing her obviously, but Shooting Star tries to shoot him in the back. But she gets interrupted by Mockingbird who sets herself up in the designated girl fight.

“Ghost Rider” thus squares up against Hawkeye.

And Texas Twister attacks the Thing as some kind of what could have been grudge match.

Texas Twister: “An’ as fer yew, Thang -- it’s tahm ya learn what the Texas Twister coulda done as part of the Frightful Four! Nobody can stand up to mah tornados!”

The Thing: “Phooey! Ya call this windy? You should hear Hawkeye’s membership pitches!”

Haha, zing!

Also, these phonetic accents are killing me.

But, yeah. An editor’s caption informs me that the Texas Twister almost joined the Frightful Four. Why, when he’s supposed to be an ex-SHIELD agent? I dunno. Sometimes you just want to pick a fight with some superheroes, I guess.

So they fight fight fight.

Firebird has trouble fighting the giant wolf. Not moral trouble. Just... she tries shooting flame at it and the wolf just smacks her.

But while fighting, her evil senses are tingling and while all the Rangers have a tinge of evil, Firebird feels the most evil from Shooting Star.

But because of the wolf trying to eat her, she can’t really act on her observation.

The Thing manages to show the Texas Twister how attacking the Fantastic Four might have gone.

The man’s tornado pushes Ben into the pool. So Ben splashes some water into the tornado, which turns it into a water spout, and then the Texas Twister starts drowning in the middle of a tornado like an idiot.

Red Wolf tries to pull some food chain stuff on Tigra, claiming that the wolf spirit is burning brighter in him than ever and that a cat has no chance against him.

Which Tigra counters by boasting that she just learned that she’s a legendary warrior in cat culture.

So, take that.

Also, apparently cowboy Ghost Rider has a flying horse and can go intangible so I guesssssss he’s not just ‘have gun will superhero.’

Fair enough, fair enough.

Anyway, Hawkeye shoots a gas arrow at him and then punches him in the head with a head punch arrow once Ghost Rider retangibles outside the gas to breathe.

Firebird bemoans that the Avengers are all doing good against their opponents while she’s having trouble with a dynamaxed wolf. She decides its because she’s distracted by all the evil and tells Mockingbird they’re switching opponents.

Firebird flips Lobo right in front of a confused Mockingbird (who nevertheless immediately hits the giant wolf in the throat). Then Firebird flares up a firebird aura, blinding everyone but Shooting Star.

PROVING THAT SHE’S A DEMON!

Then she grabs Shooting Star’s wrists and demands she stop possessing everyone or else she’ll burn Shooting Star’s “demon-spirit.”

The rest of the Rangers immediately snap out of their aggro wondering what’s happening.

Texas Twister: “Ah dreamed ah lost a fight with the Thang -- !”

The Thang: “That wuz no dream -- that wuz yer life!”

Zing!

Demon Shooting Star reveals her real form. AND STILL SPEAKS IN THE PHONETIC ACCENT MY GOD.

So the wildest thing is revealed by the demon. APPARENTLY SHOOTING STAR NEVER EXISTED!

This demon just liked to go around looking like a hot lady cowboy. And y’know what, good for you, demon. Live your bliss.

But then when her cool cowlady life got complicated by a bunch of heroes banding together into some kind of Southwest themed super team, it threatened Shooting Star’s cool cowlady life because she knew that Firebird’s Detect Evil would eventually detect Shooting Star.

So she sabotaged the team so that it never formed.

Easy peasy.

But when Firebird did a take two on trying to make the Rangers happen, Shooting Star got desperate and figured she had to kill Firebird. So she possessed the other Rangers and uh I’m not sure what the step 2 to that plan was. Lure her away somewhere?

The demon claims she couldn’t just possess Firebird because of that incinerating soul thing, which Firebird doesn’t even remember saying!

The Thing doesn’t care about this demon’s cool cowlady larping life and just tells her to reveal why she was skulking about on Earth WHICH SHOOTING STAR WILL NEVER REVEAL.

Tigra: “Then let me take a guess! If we’re talking demons, it’s got something to do with our old pal Master Pandemonium -- right?”

Shooting Star: “How did yew know that? And what do yew know of that man?”

Ha. Tigra made a guess that having two different demon things happening at the same time would be ridiculous.

Also, how convenient that they needed a lead on Master Pandemonium and Firebird prayed to god about something unrelated and it brought them a lead on Master Pandemonium.

The Jack Kirby Above All works in mysterious ways.

(Okay so even though this issue makes the frankly hilariously bonkers claim that Shooting Star never existed, there’s this whole thing about Texas Twister selling his soul to enhance his powers but Shooting Star winding up possessed instead. So this is the real Shooting Star after all, except possessed. That’s far less interesting than demon that just wants to be a cowgirl but I guess frees up Shooting Star to be an ongoing concept. Shrug.)

Follow @essential-avengers​ because of reasons. Good reasons? Yes. Like and reblog maybe?

[glowingspence]

can you do a fic where gideon is spencer’s dad and he abandoned him as a kid and morgan is reid’s half brother?

“He is not going to live with you” Derek tells Gideon, looking him directly into the eyes,

“It’s not your decision to make.”

“Yours neither.” Derek argues and looks over to Spencer sitting on the couch in the conference room, wearing his headphones while reading a book, “You have no idea how to help him, he is not going to stay with you, I am not going to let that happen.”

“He doesn’t need help anymore.” Gideon insists, “It will just be until he has enough money saved up to live alone.”

“If you really think that, then you are even more unqualified than I thought. He will stay with me and he is going to get the help he needs and I will have a long chat with him, if this is the right place for him to work at.”

“He made this decision.”

“To be close to his father!” Derek yells, “He is terrified of many people, he hates anything blood related, he is frightened of guns and what he hates most is traveling so please tell me how the hell you think this is a decision we should let him have.”

///

Fran remembers the day better than any other day. The day she flew down to Vegas not even ten hours after her husband's passing. She would have never been fine with someone else telling Hank’s son, that he had with another woman while they were on a break, what had happened over the phone.

She loves the kid, he often has been around. He would spend his holidays with them and his breaks with his half-sisters. She can’t deny that even though in the beginning, she had felt so much betrayal, she started to love the kid like her own.

So when she saw the living conditions the boy was in, her heart melted. Especially when she saw the toddler walking around with his brown curly hair and his hazel eyes staring up at her. Of course she knew about Spencer. Derek would talk about him all day long when he would visit her.

“I need to ask you something.” Derek had come into her room, late in the night of the funeral.

“What is it, sweetheart?” He had crawled on her bed and she had immediately covered him with her thick blanket, keeping him warm, “You can ask me anything.”

“I heard you talking to aunt Jess.”

“Oh honey-” Jessica is a lawyer, she had pulled her aside at the funeral to discuss options, she had a feeling that bringing Derek back to Vegas is not what she should do to a child. She had no doubt Diana loves the boys, she had witnessed that, but she knew from Hank that she is sick, that with her new husband on the verge of leaving the boys would be alone with her.

“If you are going to take me from my mom-”

“I would have never done this behind your back-”

“I just need you to take Spencer too.” He had interrupted her, “Spencer is sick and needs help. And I don’t want to live with my mom anymore, she is sick too and she scares me. She sometimes locks us into the kitchen closet and sometimes she acts like everything is okay. And Spencer’s dad is never there, he is working, I am sure he wouldn’t mind.”

“I am not sure if that is possible.”

“Can you try? I am not going to leave Spencer with Mom.”

“I will try my best, okay? We will call Aunt Jess in the morning and you tell her what you told me.”

“What would happen to Mom?”

“She just needs help from doctors. She is not in any trouble, okay? We will find something that she likes for her.”

///

The moment Jason Gideon handed her, his son, she didn’t know what to feel.

She had prepared for a long legal battle but instead the man just signed everything and with Diana now being hospitalized, she had no way to take Spencer either.

“I will call.” Gideon had dryly stated and then left, no further information, Derek told her he probably doesn’t know either.

///

“I want to talk to you about something.” Fran had told Derek one afternoon, “I know you are worried about Spencer.” She started.

“Because of his- episodes.”

“I want you to know that I did tons of research and that I saw a few doctors with him-”

“What does he have?”

“We are not sure yet. Doctors say different things but I want you to know that I give my best to fight for him okay? He is not a bad kid, I know you love him a lot and no matter how many of these meltdowns he has, I will be there.”

“Did my Mom make him like this?”

“No, no she did the best she could. She loves you two so much.”

///

“I am sorry, Spencer.” Fran had tried comforting him, kneeling on the floor with him as he is crying, protecting Spencer’s head by pulling him against her chest, “I am sorry”

Gideon had called and delayed another visit, he had promised after the last time to not do this again, “I am so sorry, honey.”

The kid was biting down on his hand as he cried hysterically, he was still not speaking more than a few words even when he just had his sixth birthday.

“Did he not come again?”

“No” Fran told Derek when he stepped in, who kneeled down beside them and rubbed Spencer’s back,

“I am sorry, Spencer.”

///

When Derek first stood in front of Gideon at the BAU, he could read the shock in the man’s face, “You have met.” Hotch had hesitantly stated.

“He is the father of my half-brother.”

“So you already know his downsides.” Hotch had jokes and patted Gideon’s shoulder before passing by and leaving them alone,

“You have come a long way.”

“I have”

“It’s good to have you on the team.” Gideon had told him with a smile, before leaving him standing in the hallway. Derek had so many things he wanted to tell him, but then in that moment, his brain was empty.

///

“Stop talking about him please.” Derek had one evening on the jet interrupted Gideon who was showing off with Spencer’s various degrees,

“Morgan-” JJ had looked at him in surprise, “He never talks about his personal life, let us have some insights.”

“He can talk about his birds. I don’t care. But not about Spencer.”

“Morgan-” Hotch tried stepping in.

“It’s alright, Aaron.” Gideon stopped him, “I will stop.”

“What’s going on here?” JJ asked, irritated.

“His son is my half-brother.” Derek stated without looking up from the file in his hands.

“Really? I had no idea.”

“It’s not like I have known Jason much before unless you count getting ice cream once in fifteen years together.” With that he had closed his file and moved to the back of the jet. There was so much more he wanted to say, but he knew this wasn't the right place.

But he wanted them to know so bad, he wanted them to know about the nights Spencer cried because he didn’t understand. About the nights he learned speaking with Spencer because Gideon didn’t care enough to do so. About the nights in Vegas he had forced food down Spencer’s throat because they didn’t know what was wrong with him but going to the doctor would have been too expensive. He remembers the night when Spencer was sixteen and he took him across the country to a book reading with his first salary because Gideon had canceled for the same weekend. He did not have money for proper food for the rest of the month, eating only the leftovers from his teammates on cases and the hotel breakfast that was paid by the office while he knew Gideon must have enough money, to spoil Spencer for more than a weekend without having to give up on anything afterwards.

///

After their argument in the office about were Spencer should be staying, Gideon had left the room after telling Derek that he should carefully consider what his next moves are. And Derek understands that he is threatening his position but he couldn’t care less.

The noise Spencer’s stim toy makes catches his attention, after just concentrating on keeping his anger in. He knows he can’t afford to make a bigger scene, because he knows right now his cards are good that Hotch is on his side.

“What have you got there?” With a smile he walks over to Spencer who places the tangle he had been chewing on in Derek’s hand as well as the little ball making noises when shaking it, “Thank you for that, kid.” He tells him sarcastically when grabbing the tangle and placing it in a paper tissue in his jacket before removing Spencer’s headphones, “I need to ask you something really important.”

Spencer nods at that, “Gideon told me about you starting the academy on monday is that right?” He nods again, “You know, I am very proud of you for that.” Carefully he takes Spencer’s hands in his, “But I love you and if you don’t want to do that, I will still love you the same amount. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do this.”

“I will do it with Dad.”

“I know and that is amazing, that is huge.” Derek assures him, “But if that is the only way he would spend time with you, he probably won’t spend much time with you after don’t you think?”

“I live with him.”

“For the time in the academy and then you will live on your own. In a big scary apartment.”

“No, I will live with him.”

“Did he tell you that?” Derek asks.

“Yes”

“But wouldn’t it be so much more fun to live with me and Clooney?”

“I lived with you when we were kids, I want to live with Dad now.”

“You do?”

“Yes!” With a wide smile he looks at him, “I will be with him all day. And then I will work with him and you at the same time.”

“That sounds amazing, buddy.” With tears in his eyes he looks at his brother, “You can of course do that, but promise me you will call me when you need something. I live not even fifteen minutes away and when something in the academy makes you uncomfortable you come to me and we can talk about that.”

“The academy sounds scary, but it’s only three months.”

“Does working at the BAU not sound scary?”

“No, then I will be with you”

/// “Why does he have a black eye?” Derek yells walking into the conference room where his team is gathered to discuss the new case,

“It was an accident at the academy.”

“Oh yeah, an accident?”

“He just got a little bit overwhelmed-” Gideon defends himself, Derek is holding Spencer by his hand, his tear filled eyes looking at his brother as he chews on his tangle again.

“A little bit? He hit his head against his desk in not even the first week.”

“He is fine.” Gideon calms him, “Right Spence?”

Anxious the man nods and when Gideon makes a gesture for him to come over he does, placing a hand on the kid’s shoulder, “It’s just the change right, buddy?”

“Yes”

“Spencer it’s not going to get better, they will talk to you about much more gruesome stuff, please.” Derek looks at his little brother,

“It’s okay, I am an adult, I can handle it.”

“You will have to hold a gun.” Derek tells him, “You will have to shoot with it in training, you will hear the loud bang many times.”

“Derek it’s enough, he can handle it.” Gideon insists and offers Spencer to sit in while they discuss the case.

///

Hotch watches Spencer and Derek from the kitchen. He had invited the team for dinner and had suggested he comes along as well. The younger man is leaning into his brother's side, showing him something in his book.

“Are you okay?” JJ asks, walking up to him.

“Yeah, sorry.”

“Derek loves him so much.” She points out, “I can’t deny how smart he is but I don’t think he will be able to cope with all of this.”

“Gideon has my hands tied-”

“I am not blaming you.”

“Morgan keeps on coming to me, suggesting ways to give Spencer a job with us, without actually giving him something in the field and something that allows him to stop the academy.”

“How did he even get in?”

“You should ask Gideon that.”

“Are you okay, Spence?” Haley asks as they are sitting at the table and the kid nervously looks back and forth between his food and Gideon.

“He is fine.” Gideon calms her, “Right, Spencer?”

“He is not” Morgan gets up from his seat and walks over to Spencer’s plate and starts to pick out the anything red in the salat,

“You don’t like red things?” Hotch asks with a warm smile and Spencer shakes his head as he waits for Derek to finish, “We will note it down for future dinners.”

“I can do it” Gideon offers and wants to take the fork from Morgan but the man just shakes his head at him, “Come on, he needs to learn that he can depend on me.”

“You gotta do a little more than prepping his dinner to do so.” Derek answers and continues what he was doing before Spencer leans his head against his arm for a second as a thank you, “No problem, kid”

///

“Mom” Surprised Derek looks at Fran standing in front of his door, “What are you doing here?”

“I- the house is so empty without Spence and I needed to talk to you.”

“So you flew down here.” He asks surprised,

“Yes” She smiles at him apologetically, “Let me hug you first.”

“Of course” Still confused he pulls her into his arms, “I missed you”

“You have no idea.” She tells him and moves inside the house, “You have it very comfortable.”

“Thank you, if I knew you would be coming, I would have cleaned-”

“Who are you kidding?” Knowingly she raises one eyebrow,

“Sit down, I will make us some coffee.”

“Thank you.” She sits down at the dining table, telling her step son about her flight here and how she came so early but wanted to be here for Spencer's graduation and how she can’t stand the empty house without having to take care of Spencer and finally she asks the question, “How is my baby? I promised myself I would put trust in him but I haven’t heard from him in weeks.”

“He didn’t call or text?”

“You know he would never do that”

“Well he is doing better than I thought.” Derek tells her with a forced smile.

“But?”

“It doesn’t mean he is doing great.” He admits, “I try to be with him as much as possible, but Jason won’t let that happen.”

“He has got his son wrapped around his fingers. It has always been that way, he would take him for a weekend and when he would come back to me, I was the bad guy.”

“He loves you.”

“No I know. I just- I just had imagined him coming home after two weeks.”

///

Spencer squeals in excitement when he sees Fran at the graduation, hugging her with a huge smile on her face, ignoring his new teammates around him.

“Congratulations” She exclaims and Spencer proudly shows her his badge while leaning against her, “This is amazing, I am so proud of you.”

“And I am too, let me hug you.” Derek chimes in and Spencer practically jumps into his arms, enjoying the tight hug Derek always gives him, “You did so good, you are amazing”

Spencer squeals again, flapping his hands as far as that is possible in Derek’s hold, “Where is Jason?” He hears Fran asksing, “Couldn’t bother show up?”

“He is taking a phone call.” JJ excuses him, “He will be here in a second.”

“Let me check your badge” Derek jokes, wanting to give Spencer a chance to show it off before he takes notice of the trouble around Gideon, “And you did not fake this?”

“No” Spencer tells him while giggling, “I guess you can arrest me now too.”

“I am sorry Spencer, I had to take this.” Gideon exclaims as he walks back into the round, “Congratulations buddy”

///

“Can’t he move in with me now?” Derek asks with a stern expression at the celebration they are holding for Spencer at his house, “He stayed with you during the academy, you got what you wanted.”

“He can decide that on his own.”

“No he can’t.” Derek inists, “I want him to live with me, we both know you don’t have the patience.”

“We have been fine for the last few weeks.”

“He can’t stay alone overnight-”

“He did perfectly with that. You need to let him grow up.”

///

“What is it?” Derek asks when Spencer anxiously tugs at his sleeve after everyone gets up from the table to leave for their first case together, “Don’t cry, don’t cry;” Soothing he takes his hands up to Spencer’s face while Hotch eyes them worried, “Was that too fast?”

Spencer shakes his head at that, “Okay, let’s sit down, we can talk about what’s going on, it’s okay.”

“Los Angeles”

“What?”

“Los Angeles.” He repeats before begging with his eyes for Morgan to understand what he is so scared off,

“That’s where we are going.”

“That’s where we are going.” Spencer repeats.

“Yes, we will fly there.” He tells him, “You will get used to our routine, it's okay.”

Bravely Spencer nods as Derek wipes the tears away, “I will be with you this whole time okay?”

“Okay”

“Alright, kid” With a soft smile he looks at him while Spencer stops his tears, “Did Gideon not tell you what would happen?” “No”

“Do you want to know? Then I will tell you on the ride over.” Confident Spencer nods and carefully writes down in his notebook every step he needs while Hotch listens to them from the backseat.

“You can sit down here.” Derek offers when they board the plane but he walks through to sit with Gideon, showing him the plan he made with Morgan and makes adjustments with him but it doesn’t take long until Spencer’s fear of planes sets in and he gets more and more withdrawn, rocking back and forth in his seat before he starts biting down on his hand,

“Spencer don’t.” Gideon reaches for his wrist while tears form in the agent's eyes again, he tries biting down on them hard enough but it won’t help, “Look what I’ve got here, don’t use your hand for that.”

When he tries pulling at it, Spencer rips his arm away and sinks off the seat and under the table from where a muffled sob fills the plane. “What's wrong?” Hotch asks in a stern voice directed at Gideon who doesn’t pay attention, his focus is only on his son.

“Spencer?” The youngest is shaking his head, still sobbing from behind his hand but when Derek’s hands come into his sight, he flinges himself forward, crying into Derek’s shoulder,

“I am here” Derek soothes him, “I’ve got you”

“Mom” He sobs, his hand gripping the back of Derek’s shirt, “Mom”

“Mom isn’t here right now, but if you calm down a little bit we can call her.” He keeps on holding him in his arms, rocking him from side to side until he starts feeling along Derek’s cargo pants to find his phone, “Come on we will call Fran, alright?”

Spencer nods, his hand now holding his tangle as he leans against Derek’s chest, listening to Derek greet their adopted mother before he interrupts him, “Mom”

“Hey honey, it’s good to hear your voice.”

“I am on a plane.”

“Oh, that sounds exciting. Where are you going?”

“California”

“So you have a long flight ahead, did you pack a book?” “Yes”

“Good job, maybe you will be able to read it.” Spencer looks up to Derek, waiting for permission,

“Well, where is it?”

“Bag”

“Do you want to sit back down and read it?” Derek offers and Spencer nods and starts reading but not without Derek sitting down next to him on the couch, “Say goodbye to mom” “Goodbye mom”

“Goodbye, I love you two”

“Love you too, mom”

///

“He is going into a room with me, you have done enough.” Agitated Derek takes the roomkey from Hotch before walking over to Spencer who claps his hands in excitement at that.

“Morgan is not going to go any easier on you, if you don’t give him a chance to see how Spencer is doing in all of this and especially not when you take him away from him.” Hotch tells Gideon when the older man glares at him, “I am not getting between any of you.”

“I am just trying to make up with him.”

“And Spencer loves it but if my father would have come back all of the sudden and would have started to make up with Sean, I would have been careful too. Whatever happened in their childhoods, Morgan was there for every step, you weren’t. He deserves to have some suspicions about your intentions.”

“My only intention is to care for him.” “You will care for him by letting him have some space with Morgan.”

///

Giggling Spencer looks up to Derek as he tugs him in, Gideon had suggested that Spencer stays over at Morgan’s for the night and Spencer had been over the moon.

They had made pizza together and played some cards before Spencer started to get tired and Derek helped him get ready for bed.

“Don’t let Clooney squish you to death.” Derek tells him as he watches the dog laying down on the bed next to him, “I will be one room away, you can call for me if you need me, okay?”

“Okay”

“Alright, goodnight kid.”

“Goodnight” With a grin Spencer looks up to him from underneath his pile of blankets before using his hand to cover Clooney in one too, “Can you leave the door open?”

“Of course.”

///

“He is so tiny” Spencer exclaims as he stands next to Hotch at the hospital, looking down on Jack,

“You were this tiny too.” Derek tells him. “The nurse said you were the tiniest baby she had ever seen.”

“Really?”

“Really.” In awe Spencer looks back down on the baby,

“Can I hold his hand?”

“Of course.” With a soft smile Hotch watches Spencer stick his hand through the small whole on the glass box, “He has a strong grip already.”

“He feels so soft.” Spencer brings out, just before he squeaks in excitement, “Can I hold him? Can I hold him?”

“When we brought him home, you can.” Hotch tells him, “For now he needs to be inside this.”

“Oh” His face saddens at that.

“It’s okay.” Derek comforts him, “When Jack is home, we will visit but for now we need to get going, we need to build his crip.”

“Thank you for doing this.” Hotchs says again, “With all the work, it just slipped my mind.”

“Of course”

“Will you be there for Jack when he grows up?” Spencer asks suddenly.

“As much as I can.”

“More than dad?”

“Spencer, it’s not nice to even question that.” Derek steps in, placing a hand on his shoulder,

“I will be there every free minute I have.” Hotch tells Spencer,

“But that means never being there. Dad always had to work, Dad was never there.” Spencer states, his hands tapping nervously against his leg,

“I will still be there plenty of time.” Hotch states with a frown.

“No, you said you would be there when you don’t work. Dad said he would be there when he doesn’t work. But he was never there.”

“Spencer, I will explain in the car okay?” Derek offers, gently grabbing his hand, “Come on, we say goodbye to Jack and Hotch.”

“No, I want to know now”

“Okay” Derek sights and turns him around, “It’s right, your dad worked a lot and probably also more than Hotch does now. But your Dad was not with us when he had free time. When Hotch gets home, he is with his wife and baby, because he lives with them and they live near the office. But when Gideon went home, you were still far away, so that is already less time. And adding on, I know he never took any off days, this man has more vacation days piled up than anyone else. Hotch wants to take days off for Jack, Hotch uses his vacation to be with his wife. Gideon did not. He did not put an effort into being with you and he did not spend his vacation with you.”

“You are lying, Mom said he had to work all the time.”

“And that’s right, he worked so much but not all the time, sometimes he just didn’t show, no explanation.” With tears in their eyes, Hotch and Derek look at Spencer, “I am sorry, kid”

///

“Do you love me?” Spencer asks a few weeks later, sitting at the dining table while Gideon prepares him dinner.

“Of course.”

“Are you sure?” He presses.

“I have never been more sure of something my entire life.”

“But you didn’t love me when I was a baby.”

“I love you since the day I knew you would be born.” With that he turns around and puts the dinner on Spencer’s table, “Why are you asking?”

“Derek said mom lied, he said you weren’t always at work when I was a child.”

“I was there as much as I could.”

“Why were you not with me every free day, like Hotch is with Jack?”

“I tried to.”

“But you weren’t there.”

“Just because I wasn't there, doesn’t mean I didn’t love you. I missed you every single day.”

///

“I will miss you” With a smile Derek had looked down on Spencer. Gideon had driven him and Elle to the airport for their vacation, before he and Spencer drove up to the cabin to spend the weekend with Sarah. The second week they will meet in Vegas. At least that was the plan.

“Okay” Spencer states, screwing with his eyes against the overwhelming airport lights,

“We will see each other in vegas.”

“Be careful”

“You too.” Derek hugs him loosely, not sure if his brother appreciates the touch right now before leaving with Elle to get through security while Gideon waits with Spencer until they are out of sight.

“I am sorry he isn’t coming with us, I know how much it would have meant to you.” Elle prompts,

“He is not the guy for this anyways.”

“No way, a non partying Spencer, who would have thought.” She jokes but when Elle gets arrested and everything goes sideways, he couldn’t have been more thankful for Spencer not being there.

“Thank god you are okay” With strength he pulls Spencer into a hug when the team lands,

“I am scared.”

“I know, I am sorry. I am so sorry this is happening.” Unsure what to do he cups his face, looking at his tired eyes for a moment, “You are with me now, nothing is going to happen.”

“He came to the cabin, Sarah and I had to hide in the bedroom.”

“I am sorry that happened.”

“She was nice, she told me that she trusts me to protect us.”

“Damn right you can.” He is still not fond of the idea of Spencer carrying a firearm. “Come on, we need your brain at the hotel.”

///

“He was safe with me.” Gideon promises Derek as he watches him sitting on the plane, his leg moving up and down while he looks at Spencer who is leaning against Elle that he had covered with his blanket.

“I know”

“He would have never got to him.”

“He is terrified.”

“He was but now he is okay.”

“He is not, this is too much, he shouldn’t be working here and he especially shouldn’t be working like this! If anything happens to him, ever, it will be your fault, you knew he is not the right person for this job, you talked him into this, you knew he would take this opportunity because all he always wanted was to spend time with you and if he gets hurt, if one day we have to rush him to the hospital, if one day this gets to much to handle and Mom goes back to driving him to therapy every morning and sleeping on the floor next to him it will be your fault.”

///

“Mommy” Derek’s head snaps up, he hasn’t heard Spencer saying it in a really long time. He started calling Fran, Mom not long after moving in with her but Mommy was still reserved for their biological mom, who is standing in the door to their conference room, looking distraught at the room in front of her.

“What are you doing here?” Derek asks unsure.

“Spencer figured out that the unsub must have been inpatient with her, out of Spencer’s letters he gathered the information about us.” Garcia tells him while Derek looks at her in shock. He hasn’t seen her in a long time and almost never without Spencer.

“Why did they have to bring me here?” Diana exclaims, “You know I hate planes.”

“Mom” Derek speaks up and walks over to her,

“No, I want to go home, not with these government people-”

“Spencer told them to get you because it will be safer here. We need your help with something.”

“Help from me? You are getting nothing from me. Letting your little brother work in a place like this, what are you thinking?” She scolds him as he guides her over to a chair. Ever since Spencer had started working at the BAU, Derek had gotten letters about how he would waste his pure soul, how he would ruin his innocent way of thinking. He never answered to any one of them. When he started working here, she had just told him it wasn’t a surprise after his father already worked for law enforcement.

Maybe he even was a little bit jealous when he got the first letter, that she would put so much effort into protecting Spencer but never did fight him one bit when he told her he got the job.

“Mom please, there are lives at stake.”

“Spencer’s is too, so stop with the whole nonsense and bring me home.”

“I can’t do that.” Derek sits down next to her, gripping her hand, “I am sorry mom, but this is important, please. We think he is holding a girl.”

“Mommy please” Spencer whispers, nervously chewing on his lips, “You are not helping the government you are helping the little girl.”

///

“That was stupid!” Derek yells after getting Spencer out of the house, seconds before it burns down,

“Sorry” He whispers, “Sorry, sorry”

“You could have gotten more hurt, there was a bomb, you can’t hide those things from us.”

“Sorry”

“Sorry wouldn’t have brought you back if you died in there. Do you understand how dangerours and stupid that was?” Derek his holding the front of Spencer’s shirt, leaning over him, “Hey look at me for once in your life!”

“I am-I am sorry” “Derek he needs help” Hotch steps in, rushing over with two paramedics, who crouch down next to Spencer, overwhelming him with questions until he presses his hands over his ears and presses his eyes shut and starts calling for his mom, while the female paramedic tries soothing him,

“Your friends are here, would you like one of them to come along?”

“Mommy”

“I am sorry, hon. How about your friend? I am sure he will come with you. It won’t be as bad as you think.”

“Derek”

“You want Derek?” She asked.

“Yes”

“I am here, kid.”

“Scared”

“I am here, they will just need to take care of your burns okay?”

“No”

“It’s alright, I am here, you are okay.”

///

“Spencer!” Gideon exclaims as he rushes into the ER, “Are you okay?”

“Look” Excited Spencer shows him the jello he got from on of the nurses, “She said it is only for people who have to stay here but Derek told her how much I like it and then she said she will make an exception.”

“That’s great, buddy.” Worried, he looks down on Spencer’s legs that are partly bandaged, “How bad is it?”

“I will hurt for some time and maybe scar a little bit but apart from that, he is fine.” Derek tells him, “I would love for him to fly back with me and mom.”

“Of course.” Gideon looks at his son for a moment, watching him eat his jello with pure joy, “He will want you later around later, can’t imagine the bomb being easy on him.”

“We will fly her back, sleep a night in a hotel and then he gets all the rest he needs.”

Two days later, Spencer is fast asleep in his room in Gideon’s apartment, Derek sleeping on the couch while Gideon leaves for work after picking them up from the airport in the morning and he feels honest regret about not having this image sooner in his life, to not step by on long weekends to take Spencer to a park or library. To not get to know Derek as a child but instead being annoyed when Spencer would beg for him to take Derek as well.

///

“Stop annoying me!” Derek snaps, pushing Spencer’s hand away. “You will stop touching me right now alright?”

Disappointed Spencer lets his shoulders slump and goes back to biting on his tangle, holding it with both of his hands.

“Are you two alright?” Emily questions, she doesn’t know them long but she thought she knew enough to read a very loving and gentle relationship between them.

“Just a headache.”

“A headache?” She raises one eyebrow at him and Derek knows she caught the lie. It didn’t take long after the woman had joined the team for them to click, Derek enjoys her present and the friendly teasing between them. Unlike the others, he had the feeling from the beginning that she will stay a while and will be someone they can rely on. “Why don’t Spencer and I grab a coffee? So you can do something against that headache of yours.”

Against Derek’s wishes, Spencer reaches over and tries to put his hand on his forehead, just like Derek does to press a cold washcloth against it when he has a migraine, “I said don’t touch me!” He snaps again and grabs Spencer’s wrist, who starts whimpering immediately,

“Alright, stop” Emily steps in and gently tugs at Spencer’s arm, “Come on, Morgan needs some time to himself, we will take our lunch break now.”

“Our mom is getting worse.” Derek tells her when she comes over in the evening. When Spencer and Emily came back to the conference room, Hotch told them Derek had driven home, needing the afternoon off because he felt unwell, “I mean our biological, she is calling multiple times a day and she is driving me crazy, she tells me about Spencer being poisoned by the government and drawing up the worst scenarios of how he could die and I can’t handle it anymore.”

“I am- I am sorry.” Tired Derek leans his head into his hands, “Did you- is she getting help?”

“She is in a facility, all I have to do is call them to ask them to take her phone away but I can’t do it.” He admits, the tears in his eyes shining from the little light coming from the kitchen, “I can’t cut her out like this.”

“She is hurting you”

“But I- I should be able to handle this, I know it will get better, I know she will stop calling and what if there is something really important and she can’t call me anymore?”

“Then a nurse will call you.” Emily assures him just before his telephone rings again,

“Derek Morgan”

“This is Diana, I need to know if Spencer is okay?” The woman on the other end of the line asks.

“He is in perfectly good health, mom.” Derek tells her tiredly, “Why aren’t you asleep?”

“Can you wake him up? I need to speak to him.”

“He is very tired, I just put him to sleep but he is breathing and I can feel his pulse.” He lies, knowing the truth, that Spencer is staying the night at Gideon’s, won’t help. “Goodnight mom.”

“No no no! Don’t hang up on me!”

“It’s really late, mom. I am tired.”

“No! I need to know that he is okay.”

“He is okay, I brought him to bed and I can feel his heartbeat.” Derek repeats, “He could not be more healthy.”

“I don’t believe you!”

“Mom-”

“I need to speak to him!” She feels agitated, “You are just hiding him from me! You are the one staling him from me!”

“Mom, I am not stealing him-”

“You never- never let me speak to him!”

“It’s late, he needs to sleep, we worked all day.”

“He is too sick to be working, you should care for him-” She yells while Derek hears nurses coming in in the background and feels himself relaxing,

“I am going to hang up now, Mom”

“I hate you!” Is the last thing he hears before hanging up, if it was directed at him or the nurses, he will never know.

///

“Mommy is getting sicker and I need you to be really strong now okay?”

“I am strong, I am an Agent now.” Spencer had told him, beaming at him while showing his gun.

That was this afternoon, now he is missing, being in the hands of an unsub.

Derek is sitting on a chair, his leg moving up and down in rapid paste while he begins more and more to shake, the words of his mother repeating in his hand. He knows Spencer is strong and smart and he knows that the kid is trained but he can’t stop thinking about the pleads from his mother, both mothers actually to take Spencer off the job, to do his best to protect him and now he is somewhere out there.

“I need you to take a deep breath, kid” Gideon’s voice appears in front of him, he hadn’t noticed that he stopped to breath,

“Spencer”

“We will bring him back, it’s okay.”

“He is too young.”

“I know” Derek sobs and Hotch gets the others out of the room, giving them some privacy, “There is every officer in this city looking for Spencer right now.”

“Not enough.”

“If I could, I would have the entire FBI looking for him, but right now, the best we can do to help him is by keeping working on profiling him. Spencer is smart and he is a brave kid, I know he will get through this.”

///

Terrified Spencer looks at the screen, where Derek leans closer into the camera, “If you hear this, kid. I need you to hang on in there okay? Whatever he does, whatever you do, it is not your fault, none of this is your fault. I love you so much and I will bring you home. Your dad is doing everything in his power to get you help, he loves you more than anyone ever could. He want you to know that you are not responsible for this, he can not break you.”

///

Petrified Spencer is kneeling next to his own grave, looking at the agents approaching him, whimpering at the sounds they make, “Spencer” Derek puts his gun away, drops his flashlight and wraps him into a hug that Spencer starts flighting the moment he touches him, trashing in his hold, screaming at him while his lips are pressed together, “It’s me, I’ve got you. I’ve got you.”

He ignores the way Spencer fights against him, how he tries to make him let go, “Don’t look at him, just look at me, I am here, you are safe.” Terrified Spencer looks up to him, shaking his head while Derek keeps his hand on the back of it, “You are safe, I promise you he is not going to hurt you anymore.”

///

“How is he?” Worried, Hotch asks Gideon who steps out of the hospital room where Derek is distracting Spencer so the medics can at least get some work done after he had fought them the whole way here.

“They will need to run some tests before they can say anything.”

Inside, Derek is holding both of Spencer’s wrists, drawing soothing circles with the pet of his thumb on them as Spencer is laying on his side trying to shield himself as much as possible, “When we get home, what do you say we take a long trip to mom?”

“Work”

“We can take a break from that” With tears in his eyes he watches Spencer press his eyes shut, trying to pull himself together while the doctor checks his feet for injuries, “You are doing so good, kid.”

“Mom”

“I will get you to mom okay?”

“Mommy”

“Whoever you want to go to, okay? I will come with you, it’s okay. It will be just the three of us for however long you wan,t okay? Just us. Everything will be okay.”

///

Derek had underestimated how much it would be just the three of them. Ever since Hankle, Morgan can’t leave the room for long until he is screaming for him to come back. Every second without him nearby, Fran has to do her best to keep him calm.

It reminds her of when they first lived with her. Spencer wouldn’t speak, would only communicate with Derek who somehow always understood the broken words, noises and clumsy gestures. If there was a chance, Derek would protectively hold the little boy's hand and even though she had enough room for each of them to have their own, it took months for them to sleep in separate ones. When there was trouble in the house, both boys would hide in Fran’s closet, where they could be sure no one would come looking for them. Often, late at night, she would find them asleep in there but when she would come checking on them over the day, she could hear Derek reading to Spencer. They had their unique way of dealing with things. With all things. Often she had not known how to handle it, especially when she walked in on them sitting in the kitchen with Spencer having a fork in his hand and Derek a knife because Diana had told them that when they can hear a thunder, they know that the bad men will get them, if they don’t fight for their life.

“Did he eat?” Fran asks when she sees Derek coming out of the kitchen,

“No” Tiredly he grabs his cup of coffee, “I stuffed him with a bag of gummy bears last night, I know you don’t like that but he didn’t eat anything, I just needed to get something into him.”

“You are not a kid anymore, I trust you to make those decisions on you own.” She comforts him, “Go try to catch some sleep, I will watch over him.”

“He won’t like that.”

“He didn’t like it as a kid either.” When Derek had gotten older, she eventually had drawn the line. She wanted him to have a joyful youth, to not be constantly reminded of what he did not have in his childhood. She wanted him to develop freely and without always having to deal with Spencer so she made them sleep in separate rooms. That was the start and Derek had cried and Spencer had cried and screamed and Derek cried the second and third night but on the fourth he realized he could watch an action movie that would have been too scary for Spencer and Spencer continued to cry and scream until even he found his rhythm. Enjoying how Fran would take time only for him. Their special time together where they would play a game of chess before bed and then he was allowed to draw a card with the number of pages she would read to him and she would read until his eyes slip close and then she would get up from the bed, kiss him goodnight on the cheek and when he wakes up, he would climb into her bed, sometimes she would already be awake but that didn’t matter, he would curl up there anyways until she would get him.

“Derek is going to catch up on some sleep while we two are going to bake some cookies.” She announces as she steps into the kitchen where Spencer is chewing on his tangle, rocking back and forth as he anxiously studies her, “We will make his favorite, you can surprise him with that, how good sounds that?”

He shakes his head and points at the door through which Derek had left the room, “He needs to sleep, you will have to spend some time with me now.” He shakes his head at that, whining as he does, “I know, honey. You can spend time with him in three hours.” She tells him and grabs the timer from near the stove, “When this rings, you can wake him up okay?”

“Okay” He whispers and takes it in his hand,

“If you manipulate it, you don’t get to wake him up, understand? It will take longer.”

“Okay”

“Alright, I know you can do it.” She lets her hand run through his hair for a moment, ignoring the cut at the side of his head, “What do you say we make the cookies?”

///

“How is Spencer?” Hotch asks Derek when he calls in the evening.

“Not good.” Derek admits and lets his hand run over his face as he watches Spencer curled up on the couch with his book, he had managed it for nearly an hour before he started to hit the timer against the table and was yelling at Fran to let him to Derek who by that time was already awake, trying to get him to calm down but it ended like it often did as a kid, having to hold him down so he can’t hurt himself or Fran. Begging him to stop.

“Are you planning on staying?”

“There is no one that can help him more than mom.”

“Maybe someone can-'' Hotch starts and knows that he is not saying what Derek wants to hear, “I could not agree with you more, Spencer should have never been anywhere near the possibility of getting hurt, he was not cut out for this and that is on Gideon but he is missing him and they two, if you want to hear it or not, got along good the last years. Maybe someone who can relate to what Spencer is going through right now would be more help.”

“The only possibility he is getting his hands near this is by getting him set up with the best therapist he can find inside the berau.”

“I already did that, the moment you come back, there will be someone expecting you two.”

///

“Thank you for agreeing to see us.” Derek thanks the woman Hotch had referred them to, he is holding Spencer’s hand who is shyly hiding behind him, “He is a little bit skittish.”

“That is not a problem, may name is Annalise, can you tell me yours?” She asks with a gentle voice, Derek knows she probably used this on multiple victims before and when it annoyed him in the past, that people speak to his little brother like that, now he just wants anything to work. Anything to help.

Spencer stays quiet behind his back, so he answers for him, “This is Spencer:”

“It’s very nice to meet you, why don’t you two sit down.” When Spencer hesitates again, Derek draws what he knows is his last options,

“Come on, we will try doing this and then we will walk by your dad's office on the way back okay?” He suggests and Spencer agrees, sitting down next to Derek and even if it does not go nearly as smoothly as planned, Derek knows Spencer tried.

///

“Can you tell us where Gideon us?” Derek asks as he leans into Hotch’s office, “Someone did a really good job at his first therapy session.” Proudly he pulls Spencer inside who beams at his superiors after hearing the praise.

“I am glad to hear that, why don’t you tell JJ that real quick? She will love to hear about your time in chicago.” Hotch suggests nervously and for a moment Derek isn’t sure if his nervousness will go by unnoticed by Spencer but the younger man is quick to agree before hurrying him out of the round to do what Hotch told him.

“What’s going on?”

“Gideon hasn’t shown up for work after you two left, so yesterday I drove up to his cabin. He left a letter, it was addressed to Spencer but I needed to make sure that it is not-” He stops himself, “He left the city, we don’t know where he is. I am sorry. I am so sorry.”

///

“Come on, come on, come on, Penelope is waiting.” Jonah stresses him as they get out of his car, “I will pick you up exactly here, okay?”

“Okay, okay, okay.” Spencer tells him.

“You will do good.”

“I know, I worked here before.” Spencer tells his aid with a grin, “Dad said I was the best profiler he had ever worked with.”

“I bet you are, have a great first day back and your first day with your new position.” With that Spencer walks off into the building.

After Gideon left, the first thing Derek was was making sure Spencer is relieved of his duties before taking time off himself, to have time to move him in completely, getting a routine, getting Spencer through therapy and himself into therapy, visiting they mom a couple of times, having their sisters over for a long weekend and eventually having found the perfect aids for Spencer. A duo that works with four more people over the city and Hotch had long before this already drafted a plan on how to make it possible to not take Spencer’s job away completely but to make it safe for him and with the aids being hired, it was no longer a problem for him to consult while being with Garcia and not traveling with Morgan. Working a few hours a day before Jonah picks him up and drives him home. Helping him to plan his day and to do some things. At least for the time that Derek is not there because when he is, Jonah is long forgotten in Spencer’s mind.

“Come here.” With open arms Derek greets him in the hallway near Garcia’s office, pulling him into a tight hug, “I am so proud of you.”

“I am an FBI Agent again.”

“You really are, huh?”

“But not with you.”

“You are still on my team.” He reminds him, “Come on, we get you set up at Garcia’s.”

“Not with you?”

“Not with me, we worked on that, it’s okay. Garcia will be there for you and you know how she is, if there is anything that bothers you, you tell her and she will do everything in her power to help you.”

“Really?”

“More than I ever could, I promise you she will take care of you.” With that he leans closer again, whispering into his ears, “I heard she has the new Doctor who season on DVD and waits to watch it with someone at her apartment on friday.”

“Can we go? Can we go?” Spencer’s face lights up.

“Go on, ask her.”

When Derek comes home from a case a few weeks later and sees her jacket in the living room and finds her sleeping in the bed next to Spencer, he has a safer feeling in his chest as he ever did when Gideon was around.

[oh-for-fic-sake]

It’s A Match Chapter Two

Masterlist

Summary: as you and henry become closer he lets his family know there may be a new woman on the scene. And you surprize him by moving a little quicker then he had thought. Not that he is against it. He is all to eager to move along to the next step.

Warnings: RPF, Swearing, Angst, Heated Discussions, Fluff.

A/N: here is chapter two, this will only be a short fic maybe there or four chapters but i hope you all like it. This is just me writing down my fluffy fantasy.

Taglist: In Reblogs.

'Shes a big fluffy teddy bear, and loves hugs, even if Shes crushing me~' henry froze hands quivering nervously over the keyboard. You replied? You actually? Holy shit! He bit his lip sitting up straighter with a grin and smoothed his hair back. He wasn't sure why it made him so happy but? He had a reply, and actual reply from a person! A woman!

Now what?

He wracked his brain and frowned. What does he say? Does he ask questions or just talk about dogs? He didn't know all he did know is that he had messaged a complete stranger and she had messaged back.

'I can imagine moving her must be hard work if she's comfy'

'Yeah but on the plus side she's always warm~ a huge hot water bottle'

'A numb but warm set of legs then😂'

'Absolutely! That sounds like the talk of a man who's been there?'

'Yes I have an American Akita, a very snuggly boy that gives me atleast one dead leg a day😅'

'Aww I love Akita's, I was going to get one but them Amii sort of fell into my lap, and has stayed there ever since'

'Big or small a lap dog is a lap dog'

'Definitely😂' Henry paused. Shit what does he do now? Does he just ask questions? Explain a bit more about himself? Both seemed a little too juvenile... And it was scary... Awkward he wants a nice chat, for conversation to flow naturally. He didn't want to fuck up. There was another ping as you typed another message.

' I have to say I'm surprized I got a message on here, only been on here for a few days😅' henry was thankfull, you wasn't going to judge. You were both in the same boat. Both nervously talking to a stranger in the hopes of there being something more. It made replying a little easier, he hoped that things would get less awkward after breaking the ice.

'Really? I made mine today... not sure about all this new online stuff but will figure it out'

'Well I'd say your doing alright,  at least you had the courage to message someone, i made the profile then chickened out😅'

'I almost did, your the first profile that caught my eye'

'Was it Amii?'

'No, as cute as she is you lacked a duck face selfie, and you look very sweet and have kind eyes' henry froze after sending the message. Shit, shit! That was fucking cheese! Cringe and just a fuck up! He quickly wracked both hands through his hair and cursed trying to think of a way to get out of this but nothing came to mind... And then he saw it the tiny y/n is typing... At the bottom of the screen, he winced dreading the reply he was going to get. He bit his lip worried he hopes he hasn't tripped at the first hurdle.

'Thank you that's kind of you to say. And is a missing duck face that strange?🤔'

'Every woman has a duck face'

'Well I do not have a duck face'

'Really?🤨'

'Well not a good one 😅My duck face is sub par more a fish face, call me guppy😂' he chuckled, you did have a sense of humour which was good. He liked making people laugh and not having them take everything so seriously, it meant he could relax and let loose. To just have fun! He heaved a big sigh unconsiously petting Kal as he sat up and leant on his leg. He quickly began typing once more finding it easier chatting with a stranger with each message.

'🤣🤣 I got to admit I'm not sure what to talk about, this is my first time🤔'

'Well that makes us both online virgins😅lets start with the important things shall we?' Henry froze panicking. 'Oh god! Oh god! What ere you going to ask?!' He thought watching the little dots on the screen holding his breath dreading you'd ask for picture or something. He was put out of his misery with a tiny ping sound and your message popped up. He threw his head back and laughed outloud seeing the all important question.

'Who's your favourite superhero?' You were definitely a geek girl, just like he wanted. He bit his lip and typed without needing to think of the answer.

'Superman, afterall he is the grand daddy of all superheroes. You?'

'Oh your not gonna like this~ I love batman🤗' henry smiled at the screen and leant back wiping his mouth trying to massage the ache from his cheeks. He really was grinning ear to ear just from speaking to you so... Unguarded he was just being himself and it was freeing!

'Oh no!😱can I ask why?' He typed quickly not wanting you to think he was going to keep you on read? Was that what they called it nowadays?

'He proves that at 30 you can have a dramatic goth early midlife crisis and that regular assholes can be heroes too, all you need is money🤗🤗'

'🤣🤣 oh god! You know I never thought of it like that!' henry shook his head laughing out loud as he replied

'But you'll be happy to know supes is number three on my list'

'Well he makes the top three so that's salvageable😆'

'Yeah... Two is Captain America though'

'Rich goth with issues, man with an expensive tea tray, then supes got it 👌👍'

'Omg yes!😂that's sums it up beautifully🤣' after that the conversation moved on which he was a little thankful for. Not that he disliked geeking out but... it'd be easy for him to slip up on that subject. Luckily though he didn't have to think of a change of topic as you began chatting away casually about your day and he did in return before long the conversation was over too soon as you stated you really had to get on with filling out these payslips. So the chat drew to a close with promises of speaking tomorrow.

And you kept your promise. For the next week you both spent your evenings chatting away at one another becoming fast friends. That was when he decided to let his family know in the new weekly face time zoom chats.

He looked to the screen fidgeting as his family spoke amongst themselves trying to find the right moment to break the news. But his mother had noticed and asked him out right, leaning closer to the screen watching him worriedly.

"Henry? Are you alright your looking nervous?" The others stopped speaking at the question and henry heaved a sigh nervously twisting his fingers.

"Yeah yeah I... I just have some news... Is all" he said swallowing trying to find the words. He was worried, it had been a while since he'd tried to introduce someone new into his life and his family. He didn't want to alarm them but... he wanted to forewarn them that he was on his way to hopefully sharing his life with someone.

"News? Oh its nothing bad is it?" His younger brother asked, but his oldest paused straightening up with a smile already guessing his brother had taken his advice.

"No nothing bad... Its really good actually... I'm sort of... well I'm speaking to someone online... A woman"  he stuttered rubbing the back of his neck and called Kal onto the sofa with him stroking his fur trying to calm himself and fend of the huge grin that seemed to spread across his face everytime he thought of you.

"You did it?" His eldest brother called out clapping his hands excitedly. A ripple of confusion washed over the others and they frowned looking to one another unsure what had happened between the two.

"Did what love?" His mother finally asked not understanding what her sons were talking about

"I made an online dating profile" he said plainly drawing gasps from everyone.

"Oh gosh love are you okay? Your not being hounded are you?" His mother jumped immediately concern etched deep in her features. His father looked uncomfortable-hell they all did! Each worrying over him. He wasn't surprized they had seen fans both love and hate on him and his partners.

"No mum its fine-better then fine I'm really carful... I've covered my ass and no one knows its me, she doesn't know" he said trying to placate his family but instead he was rewarded with disappointed faces, tutting and small, cringing hisses. Fuck.

"Oh god Henry you haven't made a fake profile? Tell me you didn't- please tell me your not lying to this poor woman" his father scolded sternly. His dad may not be up to speed with all this new age online dating shenanigans but he did know that it was wrong to lie to a potential partner. Just thinking that one of his boys were doing just that left a bad taste in his mouth. If he could he would clip his son around the ear!

"Well no not exactly- its me and I'm myself on there I just... changed my name to Hank... And crop my photos so she can see me but not recognise me that's all! I swear I'm not lying or-or anything!" he explained willing then to understand but with the deep sighs and unimpressed looks he got it would seem they didn't understand or approve.

"Are you sure about this? What will she think if things get serious and then this young lady finds out you've been lying?" he father spoke up again wanting to hash this out. Henry faltered for a moment, he worried about that too. He was frightened that you'd get angry and leave him without even giving him a chance!

"I'm not lying, I just? just omitting certain details about my life, I'm being me I'm showing her the real quirky geeky side of me- this is? Its my one shot! The only chance I'm going to get to have someone look at me, not what they can get out of me... I'm not going to blow it or hurt her... if we get to that point then I will explain things- she'd understand she's really thoughtful and is logical" henry pleaded trying to convince both himself and his family. He cant ignore it, he was worried and had been telling himself over and over you'd understand. But he also knew it could really shake you up. But what he was doing wasn't wrong! It couldn't be helped, he thought they would understand!

"Well I hope so because you could break her heart son... And I want you to understand that, this woman could fall for you. You could really upset her when she finds out" his father finally spoke drawing the issue to a close not wanting to argue, but he still wanted henry to know what ever happens was his own fault good or bad. Not everything ends with a happy ever after, but he didn't need to voice that out loud. Henry knew, they all did.

"I know dad, I've only been speaking to her just over a week anyway, for all i know she will ghost me or something" henry nodded calming a little not wanting to fight but still it was clear to everyone henry hadn't appreciated the lecture.

"Ghosting?" he mum perked up trying to diffuse the situation not wanting this to blow up. Tensions were high and no one needed a family spat at the moment.

"Its when someone stop talking to you and ignores you for no reason" his brother revealed explaining the term to his parents. They both ahh'd in realisation but were still a little tense. So his younger brother spoke up deciding to try and be more supportive to him. And henry was thankful.

"Well how about you tell us about her henry. What's you lady freind like? What does she do?" henry quickly grinned forgetting the irritation. His family watched the sudden change as henry got the chance to boast about the woman who had caught his fancy. It was sobering to see, he was glowing with pride and excitement, overjoyed from just thinking about this mystery girl.

"She's just? God where do I start? Shes amazing and funny and wholesome... She doesn't live too far away- Shes pretty much on my doorstep! Shes really funny and nice we talk everyday and have soo much in common its amazing we like the same music and tv and just- everything! Its like talking to a female version of myself! And Shes a fan too" his family all seemed to warm to the idea of this woman until his final remark. Everyone paused. And so did he, what was so wrong about her being a fan? Why was that a red flag for them and not him?

"A fan? Henry... are you sure she doesn't know? If she's a fan she might know and be... making her answers more favourable" henry bristled at that and visibly leaned back brows furrowed and eyes glowing, showing as much anger as he dared show his mother who had spoken out against you.

"What? No! No she doesn't mum she hasn't got a clue- Shes not a fan of mine per say but? She likes my work, she's a huge lover of DC and fantasy so has seen the Witcher and she loved it! Shes really just like me! Is that really hard to believe? That there are women like me? That enjoy the same things?" what had started as a panicked explination quickly became heated and sour. His words slowly becoming uncharacteristically venomous. But Marie Ann new it was just him getting defensive, he was frightened. He had this silly belief he was an abnormality, that his interests will make him forever alone. The thing that did stand out was just how defensive he was about you. A woman he'd probably not even met yet, someone he was only chatting to. It wasn't like henry to take to someone soo quickly. It made her hopeful, that he really had found someone, found his soulmate. But she was a mother and couldn't help worry over him, no matter how old or huge her boys got they were just that. Her boys. And she will always feel the need to look after them.

"Henry please don't get angry, I didn't mean to upset you but... I worry" she said slowly trying to calm him before he got himself into a tizzy. She could see much more then he wanted her too. And right now he was anxious, probably questioning himself over this woman and the way he was approaching her. She could only hope her son was right and had covered his ass and that this woman was as understanding as he said. Otherwise henry was about to get a wakeup call like never before. It wasn't everyday a well known actor fakes a dating profile. It'd be a media shitstorm that he may not recover from.

"I.. sorry I didn't mean to- y/n isn't like that I... I just know alright she isn't after anything" henry apologized smoothing back his hair taking a huge breath and leant back once more relaxing.

"So why don't you tell us a little more about her son? You've been speaking for a week so must know a little more then her name and were she lives?" she said moving on wanting to coax more information about the woman.

"Well she has her own successful business that caters to dogs, walking, grooming and rehoming and is a kc registered breeder. Shes thirty years old and... Absolutely stunning- and no she hasn't filtered any photos either...wait here! See?! Isn't she beautiful?" Henry gushed quickly bringing up your profile picture he had saved on his phone and holding the phone to the camera. He heard a few compliments but could still see the worry in his family. He understood but he just new. He new that you were real, that you were honest and everything you said you were. You were blunt and didn't have time for games, you said life's too short for that crap. And he agreed.

"You have a photo saved already?" henry faltered at the question that had followed a round of compliments and quickly pulled his phone back flushing embarrassed he hadn't even thought of how that would look

"I.. w-well yeah... I'm gonna ask for her number soon and want a photo for my phone... We decided to stick to messaging for a while first and" he tried desperately to dig himself out of the hole he'd just unceremoniously swan dived into. But his brothers burst into laughter making whipping motions making him flush and shrink further. They were definetly going to busting his balls for this. But with a quick shake of his head he continued to gush about you wanting to side step this whole premature photo saving incident.

"she doesn't have Instagram or snapchat... she's just... I can't explain it she's just funny and sweet and genuine... I really like her.. I could easily fall for her" silence reigned after his admission and everyone saw just how serious and devoted henry was to trying to make this relationship work. His mum nodded with a smile, this was just a watch and wait scenario. This woman would either make or break her son, and all she could do was hope to god it was the former.

"Okay then love. I'm happy for you henry just be careful okay?" she finally drew the curtain on the subject and everyone sighed in relief.

"I will, I promise but you have nothing to worry about, I just wanted to let you guys know that i might have someone for you to meet in a few months" henry said eagerly, like a small boy waiting on Christmas eve. He was full of life and enthusiasm. It was nice to see this side to him again, she'd dare say he was well on his way to being loved up! Smitten.

"And we look forward to it henry, but take your time. There's no rush just enjoy yourself" one of his brothers spoke up jumping in on the conversation wanting to make it clear they all had his back whether this ended good or bad. For now they were happy for him.

"I will, we decided were wont meet for a while and just see how things go for the time being but... I have a good feeling, she's everything I've been looking for I'm really excited" henry preened trying to pace himself, he didn't need to be daydreaming in a family face time. Luckily he was pulled from the edge of his own fantasies by another question.

"You said she had a company?"

"Yeah here I'll send you the link its called Puptown! She's actually handled Kal a few times, I send him there for his nails and teeth" henry said quickly sending the link to his brother. He wasn't stupid they were going to look you up, they were worried. He might aswell sent them the link. There was a tiny bio on there of you- the owner on the staff page that had all the staffs qualifications and roles on there.

You moved through the groom room Amii was curled up under your desk fast asleep as you began taking a stock list. Recently you'd been getting more and more white dogs in for their groom so needed to top up on the bright white shampoo and it was tick season soon so had to double check you had all the tick removal forceps, and ear powder- lots of ear powder the poodle clients had doubled over lock down after all the new puppies bought in lockdown. Every dog deserves a professional groom. But poodles needed them.

"hey boss! You doing another check?" Mandy called as she hoisted a tiny black poem into the bath. Bella a regular and very few people could actually groom her out of the five staff only two of you dared to try. And you didn't blame them this dog was a tiny savage, but the trick was not to show fear.  

"yeah, trying to prepare for summer already, you know i think this will be our busiest yet especially with lord whiskey." you muttered nibbling the pen and moving a few bottles about. Flea treatment and some dry skin conditioner were quickly added to your growing list.

"lord whiskey?" Mandy asked louder over the sound of the shower instantly Bella began snarling like the hell demon she was. On walks and about the place she was a little soppy loving lap pup, but when it came to bath time? Different dog. You cant help thinking she had a bad experiance before she came here. You sighed and placed the pad and pen down standing along side the bathe and began petting the tiny dog.

"yeah they are the vet clinic for lower incomes... They want to set up a new clinic and have reached out" you explained you had to admit the request came out of the blue and you hadn't had chance to tell everyone yet. The staff meeting was on Friday.

"that would be good!" she said slowly wetting the snarling prom that was trying her absolute hardest to frighten you both off. But alas she was no great wolf, but a teeny cute little raging fluff nugget, and to her utter dispair neither you or Mandy found her scary at all. Even if she was trying to foam at the mouth.

"yeah that's what I thought, having a vet on site... We're still talking but if everything goes acording to plane we will have the mobile vet out front while setting up the small clinic... I was thinking in the old groom rooms? They had water and electricity already and its a littl out of the way so the unwell puppets can be separate from the healthy customers" you shrugged moving around Mandy to help tend to your most vocal customer.

"so business will be booming?" Mandy said moving to rinse underneath the small feral beast. You giggled and stood Bella on her back legs as she seethed but in between her savagery she was actually licking at you, showing a hint of the sweet girl she really was. You pet her praising her promising chicken treats and snuggles afterwards. You might even pop Amii in with the others in the small day care pen. Bella liked laying on her using the huge dog as a fluffy bed.

"yes hopefully, i mean were not taking anything for them, they are a charity but hopefully we will get a few visits in the shop? And the more people know about us the more likely they are to use us!" you said you had been weighing up the pros and cons about the new venture. More people visiting the premises, more footfall in the shop and hopefully you can draw enough people to have a little pet café. Your business was right on the edge of the huge woodland park you'd always wanted a small café that serves both animals and people you want a little empire to become a franchise company and give the little guys a chance.

"And how about you? Any luck on the online dating front?" she asked with a small smile. You sighed you half regretted telling her about it. Mandy has been with you since the beginning, she was your first employee and most trusted freind. And she has been hounding you about your love life for a while now. She wants you to take a step back from Puptown and find some time for yourself, and now that the business was established and ticking over nicely it was the time to do it.

"Ooo! Oh my god your blushing!? Bitch spill!" she squealed excited as you flushed and looked away not answering her. And by doing so answering her at the same time.

"I'm talking to someone~ Hank.. He is... Funny and charming we've been chatting each night for about a week" you revealed quietly making her beam at you. Thankfully Bella chose that moment to make a mad dive over your shoulder but you managed to catch her and pop her back into the tub.

"ooo yes get in girl, you have been pouring too much into this company! Its about damn time you focused on yourself" sandy began as she washed Bella lathering the pup with a rather expensive de-sheading anti tangle shampoo.

"Please don't start, I'm doing it now and that's what matters. He is... He messaged me first and things are going good and that's where I'm going to leave it okay? I will update you as we go... I promise" you said releasing the now wet pup as Mandy began rinsing her down. You stepped back to the shelves full of half empty bottles of product. needing to change the topic to avoid daydreaming and fucking up your orders. As great as the wholesaler was this was still expensive stuff and you didn't want to unbalance the books and get more then you needed.

"Oh Bella?~ baby girl its so bad isn't it? Being brushed and washed and massaged? Then getting yourself a blow out and having a nap in the nice cosy play room?" you called over your shoulder condescendingly at the pup who was still snarling out her displeasure. She really was a little brat in the bath.

Another week passed and you were lazing around the house having a duvet day, snuggled in bed with Amii on your lap. Normally your days off were all housework and finalizing orders or paper work but this week was different. With lord whiskey agreeing to taking the old groom room you decided to finally get an extra set of hands in management to take care of paperwork. It was strange at first but worth it. You now hade someone else to rely on, not that you didn't have managers to help out before but now you had a full time employee that's whole role was to take care of the business side and alleviate the pressure. So instead of the normal made rushes and mountain of paperwork you were in bed chatting away with henry.

He had just finished his work out and was relaxing, having a cool down before having yet another painfully boring sounding meeting with his own bosses. You sympathised. Practical work was the bomb! But the theory and paperwork kicked everyones asses. Risk assessments can eat shit! I'm a person and can asses the risk and decided to do it, why answer to a tick box system? But then again everything needed a tick in a box nowadays. You shuffled about grunting as Amii played dead on your lap so you couldn't move her from the comfy slump she was in over your thighs pinning you down.

'Soo you said you game?'  was the message that changed the subject, thankfully choosing to move on from speaking about work.

'God yes, when I can'

'What do you play? Sims and stuff?'

'depends if I'm on pc or xbox I'm more into fantasy and historic rpgs, but if I'm on my switch its little farming sims sometimes I branch out to things like shooters but not often, I like the big immersive fantasies!'

'So you really do mix and match are you playing anything atm?'

'I'm doing a re-run of skyrim with a load of mods just to spice things up. And just restarted Witcher wild hunt again'

'You like Witcher?'

'I adore it, Witcher skyrim and dragon age are my all time favourites, do you? Sorry I realise I'm just takeing over, I just get excited, I never really talk about this stuff 😅😅'

'No, no its fine I'm the same, I never really get to geek out anymore with work and stuff. I'm happy to have the chance, and I do love the Witcher too fantasy is my thing😄' henry paused for a moment. Should he? I mean you just said you were replaying it... Would it be big headed? To ask what you thought of the show? Of his performance... I mean it'd be an unbiased view, you wasn't going to try and butter him up you still didn't know it was him.

'So you've watched the show on Netflix I presume?' he typed and pressed send quickly before he lost his nerve.

'Absolutly, I binge watched it a few times.😅'

'You liked it? I know a few people didn't' henry couldn't help but dig a little deeper, he desperately wanted you to have enjoyed it.

'I loved it, but I think it was easier for me to watch bc I new what was roughly going on before hand. Most people that struggled thought it was going to be an easy watch? Like got'

'Oh come on, there must be something you didn't like?🤔🤔'

'😞okay you got me, I was a tad disappointed with geralts eyes you can do the toxic eyes and cat eye potion at least give me a teeny cat eye just a smidge🤏🥺'

'Yes I see what you mean, their could have been a little frame of it but there are always sacrifices when going from books to the big screen 😅'

'But henry's portrayal more then made up for it! That man was on point! I was so happy when they anounced it was him playing Geralt there was no way he was going to fuck it up!' henry stopped breathing. You liked it? You actually like him playing Geralt? His heart swelled and he laughed out loud for some reason you enjoying his work just... It meant the world to him! He was over the moon. Quickly his attention was drawn to his tablet again as another message pinged on screen.

'And I have a little fan theory over the whole eye issue😏'

'Hit me with it I'm all ears'

'Geralt has complete control of his eyes right? And is a softy deep down so my idea was he is always holding his pupils open so he doesn't scare anyone'

'🧐that is brilliant! It makes so much sense! 🥰🥰 its also nice to know I have a little conspiracy fangirl on my hands😁'  henry frowned heart clenching as you went quiet, he waited and waited minuets seemed like hours. His mind immediately jump to conclusions terrified you had caught him, that you'd figured out just who you were speaking to. Sweat formed on his brow as he frowned praying he hadn't got a little to close to home and given himself away. Then the dots appeared. You were typing.

'So I was wondering I know we agreed not to at first but since we've chatting every night I thought we could maybe exchange numbers? Only if you want to! No pressure. I'm just excited' henry slumped, melting into his seat. Thank fuck for that! His relief quickly became excitement at the prospect of hearing you! Actually speaking to you properly having an actual phone call? Fuck yes!

'😊😊I was actually trying to find the time to mention it myself, i know its only been three weeks but it feels much longer.'

'Omg thank god! I thought you would think i was rushing you😅here xxx xxxx xxxx' henry was quick to pull out his phone and type the number in, not wasting any time in creating your contact info into his phone book. And whislt doing that also replied to you putting you at ease.

'No not at all, I'm excited I cant wait to hear you🥰'

'Oh god don't build your hopes to high I don't have the most attractive voice it may be the deal breaker😅'

'I doubt that anything could put me off you love, your gorgeous, smart, funny, kind everything I could of dreamed of and soo much more'

'I'm glad its not only me Hank, I have to say I was frightened by how quickly we have become friends, but I suppose it makes sense we are two peas in a pod' henry grinned reading the message and nodded to himself pressing the small green call button and held the phone to his ear feeling confident as he re-read your last message.

You hummed nibbling your lip, chewing it nervously after giving out your number. You couldn't help your mind dredging up all the horror stories of Ted bundy-esque creepy ass psycho killers, luring in prey on the internet... Fuck you were a bigger girl so easy to sweet talk. You whined and snuggled into the massive furry lump on your lap, lacing your fingers into the dogs thick fur. Petting her as your over active imagination conjured scenario's that could end up with you in a eight foot hole in someone's basement ,being told to 'put the lotion in the basket'. Jesus Christ. But it was fine right? He wasn't weirded out or anything? He seemed happy. You were sensible, or at least you thought you were.

You yipped at your phone suddenly vibrated in your hand, you almost threw it across the room. The screen lit up with 'unknown number' you swallowed eyeing the device then nodded answering the call heart beat thundering in your chest your breath picked up you made to speak but couldn't quite make sounds, unable to force the words to roll off your tongue. There was a deep chuckle, gorgeas and rumbling even if it was quiet.

"You have no reason to be frightened darling I'm just as eager to move on" you gasped as the thick voice spoke in slow syllables, calling you by the nick name he had taken to calling you. You'd asked a few girls at work about it, worried things were going to fast. But they had calmed you down saying it was his way of avoiding being freind zoned. You had to admit the cute little names always made you grin and blush, but this? God this was better then anything! His low timber and slightly more eloquent accent uttering the name sent a shiver up your spine.

A surprizing reaction in all honesty, you'd never really thought about voices much, never had a voice kink or really thought anyone could have an attractive voice. Well not a real voice anyway, sometimes characters on tv with low raspy voices got you going Geralt and Alcide to name a few. He almost sounded like the former if you thought about it... Just more refined? A regal soft lilt.  It was definetly a voice you could listen to all day, this man could read you a bloody take away menu and you wouldn't even gruff at the extortionate prices. You wet your lips and dug your fingers into the warm dog in your lap breathing deep, filling your lungs with air trying to ease yourself and draw in some courage.

"O-oh your? Really there? Really.. real?" you stuttered slowly. You chided yourself for sounding so silly, so childish. But you couldn't help it you felt completely unprepared. Which irritated you because it was you who'd offered your number, what were you expecting him to do with it? Use carrier pigeon? Of course he was going to call you.

"I'm most definitely real love" he spoke again with a small chuckle, he was clearly amused by your flustered question. You blushed and squirmed on your seat trying to breath quietly, you didn't want him to hear just how on edge you were.

"Oh gosh that's.. wow I cant even, I don't know what to say" you huffed trying to think of something- anything else you could focus on rather then the absolute sex that was his voice, then he spoke once more

"Now, now don't be shy love, I want to hear you, your voice is just as I thought it'd be" henry tried encouraging you wanting to hear you and revel in your sweet voice, wanting to commit it to memory.

"Oh? And what's that then?" you asked trying to be playfull but in all honesty you wasn't hitting the mark, you were to nervous. You'd never really thought about your voice, was it attractive? Or too high? Deep? I mean you were normal, you spoke normal and if anything sounded common.

"Pure and delicate, playful and charming all in one just like the woman it belongs to" henry's breathing hitched as you giggled. The sweet tinkling laugher warmed his heart and made him huff out a chuckle himself. He was so happy he could have cried. It was just so overwhelming to hear you finally, to put a voice to the amazing woman he was slowly falling inlove with. He sometimes grew wary thinking you were too good to be true, that you were a catfish yourself. But here and now he knew. You were as real as him and all it did was solidify his resolve, he was doing the right thing. He was falling for a genuine woman. A real woman with no strings attached, and with any luck you were feeling the same.

"well I think I just found my mans flaw~" you giggled once more blushing under the weight of all the compliments. He was really smooth, smoother then you'd thought and that was saying something.

"really darling? Care to enlighten me?" he quipped playfully you usual banter and teasing between you both flowing just as effortlessly as it had when messaging each other.

"your clearly deaf! Well have no fear, i will talk a little louder and learn some sign language for you~" you laughed out loud he joined you low echoing chuckles that sounded as if they came from a deep wide chest. It was enough to drive you mad with lust, but that may be the new found voice kink brewing.

"well its nice to know you are so committed to your man and his disability love" suddenly you froze and trembled panic and anxiety washed over you clogging  your wind pipe at his words... Fuck!

"oh god- no I? Your not really deaf are you? I'm sorry I didn't mean to make fun-" you began apologizing not quite picking up on his sarcasm. Henry was quick to cut you off and stop your guilty rambling.

"No love I'm not deaf I was just pulling your leg" his voice was strained as if he was trying not to laugh at you, but you couldn't really say anything. You were the one nervously crack jokes then immediately trying to take them back. Stumbling your wat through the very first real conversation with a man you were crushing on. God you were such a dweeb!

"oh Jesus you scared the crap out of me" you heaved a sigh wanting to bury yourself into the covers and hide despite knowing he couldn't see your glowing face.

"I apologize darling, I have only the purest of intentions... Well maybe not that pure~ but I don't want to scare you" he grinned when you gasped at his little flirtatious comment. And he wasn't kidding, he found you incredibly attractive and wanted to do all manner of very filthy things with you. It didn't help when you were sending him photos of you drenched nipples hard and drawing him in like a moth to a flame. You probably hadn't even noticed that and he was thankfull for it because you wouldn't have sent it otherwise. It was his favourite photo, apparantly it had been a husky escape from the bath as you switched his lead to another hook.

"your fine, I'm just a little nervous is all" you huffed finally somehow managing to sort yourself out and think clearly overcoming your excitement and nerves.

"I understand but just remember its just me love. So have anything else planned for today?" henry hummed sweetly before giving you a chance to change the topic, you'd never know it was because he was barely holding himself together. He was almost bursting at the seams wanted to laugh and cry and shout all at once. He was completely overwhelmed with joy and relief and wanted to listen to you as much as he possibly could.

Both you and henry then began the nightly ritual of phone calls and texted all day. He even had a new nick name. Puppy. And he couldn't be more thrilled you'd said it was because he made tiny cute puppy whines when you teased him. But he didn't care, he would happily be your puppy anyday!

The weeks became one month, then two and before you knew it you were one week shy of three months. And that was when it happened. Those fateful words left his mouth as he spoke to you just before bed. He had asked to meet, he was certain and confident he wanted to meet you and take this further, and he hadn't really planned to ask it just happened.

"So your really letting lord whiskey in your old groom space? That's incredible, I'm so proud of you for letting them in love. It says volumes for you and your business, that its not all profit driven" henry spoke down the phone as he stirred his tea getting ready to go up to bed.

"I mean it just seems right... No matter the income everyone should be able to get medical care for their animals. And I'd be lying if I didn't hope some people will come into the shop or realise that we are here and come back for our facilities." he smiled at that. You wasn't just trying to make a great profitable business, you cared and wanted to give everyone a reasonably priced alternative to pooch care. And he was right behind you, he loved that you were trying to give owners the chance to spoil their fur babies without breaking the bank. In slashing your prices you'd attracted more customers and been making a great profit, so much so that you could afford to just give away your old groom rooms to the charity for free.

"shop? You have a shop?" he pondered padding about the kitchen giving Kal his nightly biscuit treat and motioned for him to take it upstairs. Which he didn't need to do, Kal new the jig and was already carrying the treat to the stairs.

"yeah it opened last year? The year before maybe? Its small but here with food and treats a few toys and leads... I try to use smaller businesses the brands that you wont see in the bigger shops" you said slowly and he heard a small yawn and rustle of paper. You had said you were packing up and heading to bed for the night soon.

"I may have to pop over with the bear~" he teased coyly humming to himself as he sipped his tea.

"pop over? I.. Well you could I suppose?" you hummed quietly, henrys eyes almost popped out of his head were you inviting him to ask you out? He coughed quickly trying not to choke on the mouthful of tea and then rocked his head from side to side. I mean he could come over and see you.

"I'm only ten minuet's away darling, Kensington... I've actually used your grooming service once or twice getting the bears nails and teeth done"

"oh?! I didn't know that." you said trying to picture the owners of the akita you saw, but honestly? You had soo many customers now it was hard remembering everyone, that and you wasn't really front of house now, you had more and more to deal with back of house, even with the new manager.

"well you do now sweetheart... So? Do you want to meet up tomorrow?" he asked placing his tea down in favour of crossing his fingers hoping he had read your signals right.

"Yeah of course I'm covering for walking duty tomorrow... So I can't really do anything in the morning or early afternoon" henry fist pumped and grinned faking a silent shout of victory as he managed to wrangle a date.

"That's fantastic actually... I could meet you in the park? I'll bring the bear with me and we could walk the dogs and grab a coffee or something?" he said somehow managing to quell his excitement enough to arrange the date properly, placeing a hand on his heart as it beat wildly. The realisation that he could see you- meet you face to face!

"Yeah that sounds like a brilliant idea, will noon be alright? That's when we do a switch over and go back to feed the dogs in day care so I'll have an hour lunch break" you said stuttering a little when it began to sink in that this was happening!

"Its a date I will see you tomorrow at noon love" Henry anounced eagerly suddenly tomorrow couldn't come soon enough!

"See you then puppy, good night sweet dreams" you said needing to hang up and squeal into a pillow or something.

"sweet dreams love" as soon as he hung up he was already scrolling his phone selecting the number he was after and called in a tizzy.

"Piers?! Piers! I'm? Oh god- were meeting tomorrow and fuck- I'm freaking out already! What do I say? What should I wear- kal's coming too do I put his halti on or just his collar- fuck I don't know what to do!? Please help!" he yelped down the phone to the unsuspecting man drawing a deep sigh from him before he began talking him down.

[enchantedblackrose]

Safe Again

Not my image. Google image search

Pairing: Antonio/Fem Reader

Requested @fabyoliveira1999

Summary: Y/n is kidnapped when an undercover assignment goes wrong

¡Warnings: Swearing, mentions of blood, allusions of sexual assault, potential police brutality? All very in line with the show

A/n 1: this is a work of fiction. The gang and names used are completely made up and not meant to reflect any real persons. Thank you.

2: Part 2 will be a fluff drabble

Safe Again

A darkness overcomes you as you slip out of consciousness. The steady beeping of the machines around you are now frantic, their shrill sound piercing the ears of everyone around. 

Antonio yells out your name as hospital staff force him from your room. It isn't until Hank and Kevin pull him by his shoulders does he fully retreat. He sees a familiar face in the hallway and remembers a conversation he's been meaning to have.

"Halstead!" Antonio's voice shakes in anger. He stands face to face with the younger detective. His finger accusingly pointing.

"How the hell did this happen in the first place, man? You were supposed to have her back!"

Jay's voice was quiet. "I know." He drops his head in hands. "I'm so sorry, man. I should've pulled us out of there."

"You were supposed to watch her."  Antonio strains to speak, his tone is much softer this time as he fights back the tears threatening to spill. Wordlessly, he claps Jay's shoulder, giving it an affectionate and apologetic squeeze. None of this is Jay's fault. Antonio knows this and instantly regretted taking his emotions out on his colleague.

-72 hours prior-

You're sitting in the bullpen, having just been assigned to go undercover with your partner acting as your boyfriend. The idea being that the two of you would infiltrate the known drug gang the Scorpions as potential buyers and dealers for the more upscale neighborhoods the leader, Sammy, was trying to reach.

Your actual boyfriend is the first to speak. "Oh hell no. You're not doing this," Antonio tells you, earning a hard stare from you in return. "She's not doing this," he shifts his attention to Voight. "These...thugs are ruthless. They're killers."

Hank's eyebrow shoots up, wordlessly questioning Antonio. "Watch yourself there. Last I checked this was my unit. I give the orders."

"Sarge, if I may," you interrupt. "I'm willing to do this. I've successfully gone undercover before and I've gone alone," you remind not only your sergeant, but your boyfriend. "I want to do this." Your eyes fall to Antonio momentarily before looking back to Hank.

"Do whatever you need to prepare," he orders. You nod, reaching for your cell phone. Hank turns around and heads into his office. Antonio is hot on his heels, letting the door slam shut behind him after giving you a displeased look.

You huff an angry sigh. From his desk, Jay offers a sympathetic smile. "He's coming from a good place, y/n," he reminds you. "He's just scared. He knows you're more than capable of handling yourself out there."

Appreciating Jay's words, you nod your gratitude and make the call to set up this meeting.

//

You are fuming the entire walk up the stairs to your apartment. Antonio follows closely behind. You wait until the door closes completely before angrily spinning back in your heel to glare at him.

"Do you have any idea how demeaning and humiliating it is to not only have my boyfriend, but a superior colleague to react that way in front of my sergeant? Our sergeant? This is important, Antonio! And I'm not some rookie. I've done this before! You have no right-"

"You're right," his voice is calm and not at all what you expected to hear. "And I'm sorry, mi amor. I made sure to tell Voight before we left that I support you doing this and promised to not let my feelings compromise this case."

"Oh." You feel your anger start to dissipate. "In that case…can you order dinner, please? I'm going to take a quick shower." You stand on your tiptoes, pecking his lips softly with yours before heading to the bathroom.

//

Today was the day you and Jay, or rather your aliases Roxie and Ray (you relentlessly teased Jay about his lack of creativity), were meeting Sammy, having already built a rapport with some of the other members lower in the chain of command. If it went well, today should be the day you make the bust. Both of you step into the garage to meet the team and go over plans one last time. You're in a body flattering dress hitting right above your knees, Jay in a suit sans necktie.Your friends whoop and catcall  Part of your personas was playing a bored, wealthy, money-motivated couple and you had to look, not just act, the part. As Antonio approaches, Jay excuses himself saying he'll be in the car waiting whenever you're ready. Antonio's voice is quiet. "There's still time. Don't do this."

"I thought you supported me."

"I did...I do! I just can't let you-"

"Let me?" You yell, earning the unwanted attention of those nearby. You shake your head, hurt and disappointment shine in y/e/c eyes.  You walk away without another word, getting into the passenger side of the car

//

You reach the autobody garage the Scorpions use as a front. Immediately they pat you both down by a few members you've met during the time undercover. You're positive your inspection is more thorough as he squeezes your one ass cheek.

"Hey man," Jay shouts seeing you get groped.

"It's alright, babe," you wink. "Rico's only appreciating a good thing when he sees it." Rico smirks before declaring, "They're both clean."

Sammy, and another man you recognize from case files, Nic enter. "What's this? Who did you bring me?"

"These chumps are gonna be your new sellers."

Sammy's eyes hone in on you. You hold his gaze. "Hell naw," Nic says. "They brought you cops."

"Oh, please," you say, rolling your eyes. "With this face and ass-he knows, he felt it," you point to Rico, "I'm too fine to be a cop." You flash a cheeky smile.

"Bitch, shut up!" The back of his hand connects with your right cheek. The stinging causes your eyes to water. Beside you, Jay flinches; it's hard from him not to react.

'Listen man, I don't know what you think is going on. We just-"

"You can shut up, too." 

You hear the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking, turning to see it pointed at Jay. Sammy gives a nod to one of the others. 

"Look out," you try to warn Jay, but it's too late. The butt of a gun hits Jay in the temple and he gets kicked at the back of his knee until he falls to the ground. His head hits the cement flooring hard. You don't understand why the team hasn't busted in yet.

Nic's gaze is on you. "You testified at Dierk's hearing." His fist swings and it makes contact with your jaw. It's enough to make you sway but you remain on your feet. "He was my cousin you, stupid bitch. Get her in the car. Leave him."

As you're forced into a black SUV, you manage to choke out a weak,"Jay, " your stained voice sounding unrecognizable to your own ears.

//

The equipment they sent you in with was faulty. Voight was furious as was Antonio. They whole worked diligently to get video or audio, anything to keep tabs on you and Jay. It's not until the SUV, with you unbeknownst to them inside, peels out, that the whole team moves in and finds Jay bleeding and unconscious on the floor. Kevin reaches him first. "He's alive!" he shouts to the others. Adam radios for an ambo before he and the others continue to clear the building. Kevin gently shakes Jay awake. He groans, hands instantly reaching the side of his head. He makes to stand.

"Easy there, brother," Kevin warns. Jay lets Kevin help him to his feet. "We've got a bus on the way."

Jay nods, "I'm fine. Where's y/n?"

"She's not here. No one is," Hank answers as the rest of the team draw near Jay. Jay's stomach plummets as he realizes they've taken you, his partner.

"Son of a bitch!" Antonio yells, kicking an oil drum.

"We work fast to get y/l/n back," Hank declares. "Check for surveillance, witnesses. We find that SUV and we find y/n. Alive

 Any means necessary.  Let's move." The team disperses and his hand clasps Jay's shoulder. "You get checked out by medics first." Jay opens his mouth to argue, but shuts it quickly. He nods his compliance. Hank and Antonio follow him to the ambulance that's just arrived.

"Hey boss," Jay speaks, with a tentative glance to Antonio. "This went south when Nic recognized y/n as the detective who testified against his cousin. Hank pursed his lips, but even in his anger, the color drains from Antonio.

"Voight," Antonio's voice almost cracks.

"We'll get her back."

//

Bloodied and bruised, you're alive with very little clue as to where you are. Your survival skills kick in.

You take note of your surroundings. You think you're in an unfinished basement of a residence. Definitely a lower floor as you remember being tossed down a flight of stairs. Your hands are bound behind your back and tied to a support beam. The door to upstairs is locked and even if it wasn't, based on all the noise coming from the floors above you'd never make it out undetected. 

The door opens and heavy footsteps make their way towards you. Nic comes into your line of vision.

You try reasoning with him, "As far as I'm concerned, nothing's been done that can't be undone. You just gotta let me go."

"You don't get it, do you? Maybe this will clear things up for you." He draws his gun, pressing it into the middle of your forehead 

"But first I'm gonna fuck you real hard." His face inches from yours. Nic pulls the gun away. His stale, hot breath reeking as he stands too near. You couldn't help but scoff before you throw your head into his, headbutting him with all the might you could.

He cries out in agony.

"Stupid bitch." He backhands you. Then grabs you by the chin. His furious eyes never leave you and a rough hand claws at the skirt of your dress. You feel cold metal pressed against your thigh. "First, I'm gonna fuck that tight pussy with my gun inside you then-"

"Why?" You smirk. "Afraid you won't be able to get it up?" So much for those survival instincts. Anger flickers across his face. His free hand makes a fist. You dodge his swing and he instead makes contact with the pole. This enrages him more. Hastily Nic puts the gun back in his pants. Both his hands wrap themselves around your neck.

//

14 hours have gone by. That's how long it's been since Antonio's last seen you. He's hurt and getting desperate. With less than two hours of sleep (Antonio only went home after Voight said he wouldn't be any help without some rest), he was out trying to find any witnesses, checking traffic cams, and placing calls to all his CIs in hope that any of them might be able to give a lead. When one of them started stringing him along, Antonio jacked the guy up against an outside brick wall near the precinct. That's when Kim found him. 

"We got something," she says in a hurry, fearing Antonio may do something he can't come back from.

The team picked up two Scorpion members and one is currently in the cage. 

"Five minutes, Hank. Just give me the key and five minutes alone with this guy," Antonio pleads to his sergeant. From the cage, the Scorpion chuckles. Antonio lunges causing the chain links of the cage to rattle. He appears more animalistic than human and the laughter does immediately. "Where is she, you bastard?" Hank looks at the guy, still refusing to talk, then he unlocks the door for Antonio.

"Are you crazy? You can't let him in here with me," he shrieks.

"Your boss has one of our own. And she just so happens to be his girlfriend, so you're crazy if you think I could really stop him if I wanted to," Hank answers before moving away from the door and heading upstairs. The door barely swings open before Antonio steps inside, knocking the guy to his ass with one punch. He picks him up by the shirt collar preparing another blow when Jay and Adam come flying down the stairs.

"Get outta here!" Antonio yells.

"We got an address. Atwater and Kim they picked up another member and he talked," Adam says breathlessly. Antonio hesitates.

"C'mon on man," says Jay, "He's not worth any more of your time. If y/n's there, let's go bring her home."

//

Hours have passed. How many you're unsure, but as they ticked by your hopes of being found or escaping  dwindled. Pain flows through your entire body. You sit on the cold, hard basement floor, unable to stand anymore. Nic had strangled you until you passed out. He never touched you like he promised and when you regained consciousness you were alone.

Shouts came from upstairs. You're unable to hear every word, but you catch enough to know they're talking about you.

"We need to move her now. We've kept her alive too long!" You hear footsteps and then the opening of the door. Nic appears before you, with a sinister grin. Your heart races as he nears. His eyes roam your body as he undoes his belt. He pulls you to your feet by your hair. A whimper escapes you and he laughs. Once again, his hands pull at the skirt of your dress. His hands travel along your thighs and ass squeezing both. His touch makes your skin crawl that you actually shudder. His fingers start to tug your underwear down when there's a commotion from upstairs.

"Freeze! Chicago PD."

"Drop the weapon!"

"On your knees! Face down." 

"I said drop it!"

Your heart flutters with hope, but then shots ring out and you have no idea who's firing or what's happening up there.

"Down here!" You yell. The basement door opens.

"Chicago PD!" Antonio and Jay's voices ring out.

"One male. He's got a gun," you warn. As they rush down the stairs, Nic pulls his gun on you.

"Drop your weapon!" Jay orders. His eyes perfectly fixated on the gun in Nic's hands. Antonio eyes you carefully and while seeing you bruised and a gun to your head isn't ideal, he's relieved to see you alive. Your colleagues' guns stay fixed on your offender. "You won't be told again. Drop. Your. Weapon." Your eyes lock with your boyfriend's beautiful brown ones and you nod ever so slightly. You slide down the pole as Nic moves towards you as if he was going to use you as a shield. Both Antonio and Jay fire their guns. Blood splatters onto you. Jay moves to check the body, but all you really notice is Antonio running to you  and it's honestly a beautiful sight.  "Baby, baby, baby. Hang on. I got you," he soothes, working quickly to free your hands of the zip ties. Your head falls into his chest. Really your whole body just collapses into him. Antonio holds you close, careful not to embrace you too hard, but his touch has never felt better. You sob uncontrollably as he begins to rock you.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," you repeat.

"Shh. You did nothing wrong, mi amor. Shh, now, baby. I got you. You're safe again."

//

Immediately you're taken to the hospital. Blood is drawn,xrays taken, exams given. You've sustained several injuries, but nothing critical. Mostly you're bruised and exhausted, so when the machines you're hooked up to start beeping erratically, Antonio is confused and scared again, clearly demonstrated by that outburst directed at Jay. 

He opens his mouth to apologize when Will Halstead exits your room. 

"You can go back in now," he says simply.

The intelligence team looks at him, confused.

"What the hell just happened?"

"Y/n wasn't breathing properly."

"What?"

Will puts his hands up. "No no. She's fine. She can breathe. She was sleeping and wasn't breathing deep enough for the machine to register it. I promise she's fine."

There's a collective sigh of relief from everyone.

Antonio coming back into your room is a most welcoming sight. There's so much to say, but your eyelids are heavy with sleep. Instead you take his hand in yours. Antonio's free hand lovingly caresses your face.A feeling of safety washes over you and you drift off into a peaceful dream.