#haunts someone she used to work with. and only tried a little bit to kill them. and got killed by them :P

[trollbreak]

< thinking abt my evil ghost lady

[xxchumanixx]

Healing together

Tim Bradford x reader

Warnings/Tags: smut, 18+ mdni!, p in v (wrap it before you tap it!), oral (fem receiving), fingering, fluff, angst, hurt, comfort

Word count: 4.731

Authors note: Hello guys! I know I said I'd be uploading another story (actually two), but I had this idea all of a sudden and I just couldn't let it slide. So I had to do it first. Get ready for some naked time with Tim Bradford!

Enjoy!

That, was not how your day had been supposed to go.

Not at all.

Being in the middle of a crimescene, staring at your ex-boyfriend - Yeah, it definitely wasn't supposed to go like that.

It should have been a normal day - you should have went to work, did your job, before going home, cook, shower, sleep.

Simple as that.

But when a colleague from work had been killed in the middle of the day, causing the whole place to be crowded with police and forensics, the day had begun to shift.

Slowly, the simple things became complicated - being crowned when you spotted a familiar face amidst the officers: Tim Bradford.

Sucking in a breath you tried your best to hide, which wasn't that easy given the open parking lot you currently were at.

But he didn't seem to have seen you yet, calming your racing heart down a little.

Your break-up with Tim was nasty.

You weren't compatible anymore, your interests and goals for the future having shifted completely, going into different directions.

That didn't mean that you didn't love him anymore, but when you gave him the choice - either his career or you - he took the career.

You didn't exactly blame him for it, but he broke your heart. Now, years later, you couldn't help but notice that he looked even better than before.

Scolding yourself for thinking this way, you shook your head. He shouldn't be of interest for you, not after all this time.

But he was.

So, when someone cleared their throat behind you, you froze.

"Ma'am, we would like to get a statement from you." You knew his voice, it still haunted you in your dreams - you would have recognized it from anywhere.

Turning around you did your best not to look too suspicious. Sending him a crooked smile his eyes widened, mouth agape as the pen in his hand almost slipped from his grasp.

"Y/N." he carefully said your name, like he was testing it on his tongue after all these years. "Tim." you gave back, swallowing.

The woman beside him - according to her name tag she was officer Chen - looked between you in confusion.

"You know her?" she wanted to know, pen pointed at you. "Yeah..." he returned, eyes fixed on you. "Briefly." you cut in, noticing how his mouth twitched at the statement.

"We were in the same class in academy and she used to work for the LAPD." Tim explained.

"You're a cop?" she asked, sounding almost excited. "I was." you corrected her, biting your lip.

"I was, until a case went wrong, sending me to the intensive care unit for almost three months." "You nearly died." Tim added, shaking his head the slightest bit. "If the bullet had hit a millimeter more to the right he would have hit your heart. Not that it would have been the only bullet, though."

Swallowing at the memory you nodded slightly. "Yeah, the scars remind me everyday of my almost day of death."

Chen bit her lip. "I know that feeling." she mumbled. "Been buried alive. That psycho tattooed my DOD on my ribs."

Your brows rose high at the horrible time she had to have went through, eyes widening. "Officer Bradford saved me." she explained, motioning at Tim.

Nodding you felt a familiar tug at your heart. "He uses to do such things from time to time." you told her, trying to hide how your voice trembled.

"Y/N!" he shouted your name. It sounded strange through the blur and the fog in your head. "Stay with me! Keep your eyes open, you hear me? Y/N!"

Blinking rapidly, you had to get away from him. His presence opened wounds that never managed to heal.

"What are you doing here? I thought you went to New Orleans?" Tim wanted to know, tilting his head slightly as his brows furrowed. Your lip twitched - you had barely been in New Orleans for a year.

It was beautiful, but it wasn't LA.

"I'm back, have been a few years now, actually." you explained, fingers tugging at lose strings on your pants. You just had to grab the one with holes in it, hadn't you?

Why even buy overpriced pants with holes, anyways?

Shaking that thought off, you continued. "I'm working here, the one who's murdered was my colleague. Although I contemplated going back."

"Back to New Orleans?" He almost sounded alarmed, but you shook your head. "Back to the police."

That must have alarmed him even more, as his eyes widened significantly.

"I've got an offer from Grey." you explained, tugging a lose strand of hair behind your ear. Tim swallowed, nodding.

"So you two were rookies together?" Chen inquired, smiling. "How was he back then?"

Clearing your throat you looked at her. "He was ambitious, eager." you explained. "A little reckless."

Tim's brows rose at your words. "I was reckless?" he wanted to know, huffing. "We were both reckless when we decided to be-" he cut himself off, already having said too much.

But Chen was clever, as she caught on to what he wanted to say.

"Wait, you two were together?"

Rolling your eyes you looked away for a second.

Damn him and his mouth - even when the memory of what his mouth was able to do made you blush.

Not what you wanted to think of in that moment, though.

"We were." you confirmed, nodding as you looked back at her. "Didn't work. It's history, nothing more."

Tim swallowed, it was so loud that you could hear it.

His gaze wandered over the crimescene, before it fixed on his rookie. "Boot, could you get a statement from this man over there?" he asked, pointing somewhere, though it wasn't really a question.

Chen knew that as well, nodding.

"Was nice to meet you." she spoke, before she turned around and headed for the man Tim pointed at.

Cocking a brow you looked up at him, as his gaze fell back on you. "What?" he asked, brows furrowing. "You did that on purpose." you replied, giving him a pointed look.

Sighing he stuffed away his pen and notepad, nodding. "Yes, I did."

Biting your lip you contemplated to run.

You didn't know what he wanted to talk about, but if he sent his rookie away, he wanted to do exactly that.

You knew him.

Sighing, you decided to stay. It would have only looked suspicious if you ran - they didn't need to falsely arrest you, because they thought you were the murderer.

Biting down on your cheek you waited for him to begin.

"You look good." he spoke hesitantly, a small smile gracing his lips. Nodding, your brows twitched. "Did you tell her to go just so you could tell me that I look good?" you gave back, tilting your head.

"No, I... I'm just surprised to see you, that's all." he admitted, looking down for a split second. "After we... separated, I didn't see you again."

Huffing, you crossed your arms above your chest. "What did you expect, after you broke my heart?" you returned, holding his gaze, even as his eyes averted at your words.

"That I could continue like nothing happened? I couldn't stay, because that meant I'd have to see you everyday, so I quit and went to New Orleans. But it wasn't LA, so I came back after only a year. I kept in contact with Wade and Angela, but that's it."

His brows knitted together. "I don't know if I should be more surprised about you being on first name basis with Grey or you staying in contact with Lopez."

Shaking your head you looked down.

"What are you trying to do here, Tim?" you asked quietly, looking back up. The sun was already setting, shining straight onto your faces, highlighting all of his contours.

Sighing deeply, his gaze fell back on the crowd of people around you. He seemed unsure, hesitant.

"I never got the chance to apologize." he finally spoke, looking down, before his gaze fell on you, as your brows furrowed. "I chose my career, but I later realized that I was wrong. I could have had both and I made the mistake of choosing only one thing."

Shaking your head at his words you felt the anger bubble up. You had suppressed it for so long, that it was hard for you to hold it back now.

"Are you serious?" you wanted to know, taking a step closer, as your eyes narrowed at him. "Angela mentioned that you married - only two years later. Surely your career didn't stand in the way when you did."

He looked like you just slapped him in the face.

"I know." he gave back. "I didn't want to do the same mistake again. But then I did another one. She got addicted, and I didn't intervene at first. Only when she left one night I realized that I fucked up again. I didn't see her for two years, but now she's clean."

Biting your lip you nodded slightly.

"Bet you must be happy now." you said, feeling sorry for her. "We're divorced now." he returned. "It's only a few months ago. But it's better that way."

"Oh." you made, looking away, now feeling guilty, as the anger slowly faded. "Angela didn't tell me. I mean, not that it's my cup of tea, but I'm sorry for you."

He nodded. "Thank you, but I'm okay."

Nodding as well, you didn't know what to say. Luckily, he did.

"You should get home, get some rest." he told you, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I don't know." you gave back, biting your lip. "My car is at the workshop, I got here with the bus, but that won't get here, now that this is a crimescene. I don't know how I'll get home - I guess I'll just walk then."

His brows furrowed. "No, you're not going home on your own." he disagreed, shaking his head. "We still don't know who did this and the suspect could still be close by. I'll drive you."

"What? No, you don't have to do that. I can protect myself." you argued. "I bet you have a lot of work left to do here anyway, not to mention your rookie."

But he shook his head, not having it. "She'll drive with someone else." he told you sternly, before walking towards her.

Mouth agape you stared after him, not sure if you were ready to be alone in a car with him just yet.

When he came back, you couldn't believe that he really was able to just go, drive you home.

"Come." he spoke, walking towards his police car. Still shocked you followed him, knowing that you didn't have another choice. He wouldn't have let you go alone, no matter what you did.

You sighed, when you sat down in the passenger seat. You missed sitting in the shop, the familiar smell and feeling causing you to feel homesick.

Tim started the engine, as you buckled up. Leaning back in the seat your fingers brushed over the door. You had sat so many times in the shop, and after all this time of being no cop anymore, you finally felt at home again.

The drive was silent for the first few minutes, after you told him were you lived.

The silence was heavy, neither one knowing what to say now that you were alone.

"Are you planning on taking Grey up on his offer?" Tim broke the silence, looking at you, before his gaze went back out on the street.

"Before getting in the shop I wasn't sure - but now... It feels like I'm home again. All this time I missed something and I know now, that it was this job."

He nodded, swallowing.

"I took that from you." he almost whispered, and you swore you saw his eyes glisten. "Because of me you gave up your dream. I don't know how I'll ever be able to make up for it."

Biting your cheek, you considered if you should tell him that he couldn't make up for it. But you decided against it.

If you really wanted to get back, you shouldn't stay angry at him. You should at least try to forgive him, no matter how long it would take.

"I'm sure you'll find a way." you quietly told him, looking out your window.

Parking in front of your house, it was already dark. He cut the engine, getting out, before you could have stopped him.

Following him to your front door you hesitated. "Won't you get into trouble for driving me home?"

He shook his head, as he stopped at the door, as you did the same. "No, I can explain my absence." he told you, looking down at you. "I just wanted to make sure that you're getting home safely."

Feeling your heart hammer in your chest, you nodded. "Okay, then thank you for driving me home." you spoke, looking up into his eyes. "Yeah, no problem." he mumbled, staring back.

You felt how you became hot, hearing your heartbeat in your ears at his intense stare.

Slowly, he inched closer, his head leaning in your direction. Your breathing faltered, as you did the same.

His breath fanned over your face and you swallowed, before his lips finally met yours.

Something inside you exploded, as you tasted his lips for the first time since your break-up.

They fit together like they were made to be, his hands finding your hips, guiding you closer. Your arms wrapped around his neck, as you pressed yourself impossibly closer to him.

Your lips devoured each other, his tongue brushing your bottom lip and you let him in. Your tongues fought for dominance, your combined breathing ringing in your ears.

Your heart burst at the feeling, as the kiss grew more heated.

Fumbling for the key, all your worries were suddenly gone. Trying to open the door blindly it took you a few tries, before you heard the familiar click. Pushing the door open, Tim didn't waste any time as he pushed you inside.

He closed the door behind him, before his hands grabbed your face, guiding your lips back onto his.

He pushed you against the nearest wall, your back hitting it almost painfully, as his hands roamed your body. Grabbing your thighs he gave you a sign to jump - and so you did.

Your legs wrapped around his middle, pulling him closer. His lips traveled down your chin to your neck, sucking at it until he found the spot that had you moaning.

Using the advantage he brushed off your jacket, letting it fall to the floor, before his hands found your hips again. They wandered under your shirt, eagerly touching your skin.

"Where is your bedroom?" he wanted to know breathlessly. "Upstairs, first door on the right." you explained, out of breath as well.

He didn't hesitate to grab you, before he walked to the stairs with you in his arms, showing no signs of trouble as he took them, all the while kissing you as he blindly made his way up.

When he reached the door he pushed it open, only breaking the kiss to locate your bed, before he let you fall down on it. Catching your breath, you pulled your shirt over your head, watching him as he took off his jacket, followed by his shirt and the one he wore under his uniform.

He was breathtaking.

His muscles were more defined than they were back then, making him even more geogous. Unbottoning his pants, you did the same, stripping out of them, before throwing them off the bed.

When you were left in only your underwear, he was back on top of you, his lips taking yours. Lying down on your back his body pressed against yours, his clothed cock pressing against the inside of your thigh.

Sucking down your neck, he again found your sweet spot, earning a moan from you as he sucked on it. Your hands brushed through his hair, as your back arched.

He took the opportunity to open your bra, discarding of it on the floor.

Kissing down to your breasts, his lips found your left nipple, sucking it into his mouth. You yelped in pleasure and surprise, tugging at his short strands. His tongue circled around it, before it flicked over it.

You moaned when he lightly bit down on your nipple, before letting go of it with a wet pop, giving your other one the same attention.

The wetness between your legs was almost getting too wet, the knot in your belly already forming just because his lips were around your nipple.

Letting go of the other one he went further down, trailing kisses down your stomach, until he reached the hem of your panties. He looked up at you, before he kissed your clothed pussy, causing you to suck in a breath.

He was so unnaturally hot.

Chuckling at your reaction, his fingers hooked under the waistband of your panties, before tugging them down, letting them drop on the floor as well.

Then he pushed your legs back, opening them until he could see his precious price. Kissing your thighs he took his time, causing you to squirm.

You could feel him grin, his hot breath fanning over your heat. Without a warning his tongue licked up your pussy in one stripe, causing your hips to buck, as you moaned loudly.

His tongue went down on you, licking through your folds, flicking over your clit, before his lips sucked it into his mouth.

Your hands found their way back into his hair, fisting it as much as you could with its length, earning a groan from him. It vibrated through your pussy, making you moan in return.

His thumb brushed over your clit, as his mouth let go of you, his eyes finding yours. He drew figure eights on your bundle of nerves, causing your eyes to roll to the back of your head, gasping for air.

His thumb was soon replaced by his mouth again, as he slowly pushed a finger inside you, after gathering some of your arousel to wet it.

You moaned, as he started fingering you, all the while pleasuring you with his tongue. When he added a second finger, stretching you, your back arched off the matress, as you pulled his head even closer.

The knot in your stomach tightened almost painfully, as his fingers fell into a steady rhythm. He brought you right to the edge, and when you looked down at him, your eyes finding his, you fell.

Screaming his name, you came. He didn't stop though, taking everything you gave him, as he rode you through your high.

When you came down it, he removed his mouth and fingers, wiping over his mouth, that glistened from your arousel, before he leaned up, kissing you.

Tasting yourself on his tongue you groaned, palming him through his briefs. He twitched, as he gasped for air, before his lips were on yours again.

Tugging the briefs down his legs, he let them fall to the floor, his cock painfully hard. It poked at your entrance, making you all the more eager to finally have him inside you.

His lips left yours, as he pointed at your night table. You nodded, before he opened it and took out a condom, before sitting up a little. He rolled it down his shaft, before he lay back on top of you.

Kissing you again he guided his cock to your entrance, slowly pushing the head inside.

Moaning you clenched, making him hiss. "Fuck." he breathed. "You're so tight." Smirking you pushed in his direction. He slowly eased forward, until he was buried to the hilt.

Breathing heavily you leaned back into the cushions, needing a moment to get used to him.

His lips brushed your cheek, as he waited for your go. Nodding, you signaled that you were ready.

Slowly, he pulled back until only his head was inside you, before thrusting back into you hard. You yelped, toes curling at the sensation, as he did it again and again, slowly becoming faster.

You fell into a steady rhytm, your hands gripping his bicep with his arms at either side of your head.

His eyes found yours and you sucked in a breath, moaning his name. "Fuck." he swore, biting his lip. "Do that again." Your cheeks flushed. "Tim!" you moaned his name again and he groaned, his thrusts getting harder, deeper.

You wouldn't last long if he kept this up.

Your breasts bounced, and he kissed down them, circling your nipples with his tongue.

Your hands found his hair, tugging at it almost painfully at the sensations. The knot in your belly tightened again, as you brought his mouth back to yours.

He thrust into you vigorously, his pelvis brushing your clit, sending sparks up your body and making your toes curl.

"I'm gonna cum soon." you told him inbetween moans, biting your lip. One of his hands gripped one of your legs, giving you a sign to wrap them both around his middle.

Doing as you were told you felt how he reached even deeper, earning a moan from you both.

His thrusts gained speed, as one of his hands found your middle, his fingers brushing your clit. You twitched under him, as he started to rub it, driving you towards the edge in highspeed.

You were so close to bursting.

"Tim!" you breathed, trying to focus on his face. "I know." he gave back. "Come for me."

With a scream of his name you stumbled over the edge, him following closely as your pussy clenched around him.

He rode out your highs, before he stilled. Breathing heavily your eyes were closed, needing a moment to come down from the best orgasmn you've had in the last few years.

When your eyes opened again they met his, as he brushed a sweaty strand of hair out of your face. You smiled, still feeling a little high.

He returned the smile, his thumb brushing over your cheek.

Time stood still, as you enjoyed this moment in silence.

Still a little out of breath he rolled down from you, his back hitting the sheets as he lay down beside you.

"Fuck..." he mumbled. "That was..." "Amazing." you finished for him. "Yeah..."

You lay in silence as you slowly caught your breath, him discarding of the condom, before lying back down. But as the high faded, something different bubbled up.

Feelings, that were so deep buried inside you, suddenly pushed back up. Gasping, you tried to suppress the tears -failing horribly as a sob broke through.

"Y/N!" Tim called out your name in worry, sitting up. "What happened?" Tears streamed down your face, as you sat up as well.

"Why couldn't it just have been fine?" you wanted to know, causing him to furrow his brows in confusion. "What do you mean?" he asked. "Why couldn't we just have been happy back then?" you returned, wiping your face.

He fell silent, as he knew what you meant.

Crying silently you suddenly felt ashamed. You shouldn’t have been crying over the past, but you couldn't help it. After all that happened, you still loved him.

"After you've been shot, almost dying in my arms..." he began, breaking the silence, as his gaze fell on the sheets. "I built this shield around me, that was supposed to prevent a situation like this from happening again. I almost lost you, an event that traumatized me so badly... For a very long time I tried to convince myself that what I did was right."

He sighed, and you swallowed, biting your lip as more tears fell.

"When I married Isabel, I tried to prevent something like this, but I failed - again." he continued. "She was undercover, getting addicted. I didn't know how to help her and to be honest, I don't believe that there was actually a way I could have helped. If anything, I made it worse. It reminded me of us. I relived the events from when you were shot, nearly dying. You lost so much blood that they had to revive you - two times. Knowing that it was my fault, knowing that you could have died because of me - something inside me broke. So when I built this shield, and you asked me to go with you - I was scared that it would follow us. I was scared that you'd be in harms way, because of me. So I chose the job."

Sobbing, you tried to understand what he just told you.

"It wasn't your fault." you told him, wiping your face, even though it was useless. "Yes it was! If I-" he wanted to argue, but you cut him off. "No, Tim! It was not your fault! It was mine!" you shouted, pointing at yourself.

"I was sloppy that day, I didn't sleep enough, wasn't feeling well. And if I hadn't hesitated when trying to shoot the attacker, he wouldn't even have had a chance to get me. It wasn't your fault, do you hear me? Nothing of this was on you, Tim."

His mouth was open, eyes red from the tears he tried to hold at bay.

"You never said that you didn't feel well." he realized, swallowing. "If you would have told Grey, you wouldn't have even been there in the first place."

Nodding, you bit your lip, absentmindely brushing over the scar on your chest with your fingers.

"Yes, but i was so eager to get that job done." you explained. "Nothing would have stopped me from going out there, so stop blaming yourself. Please, Tim."

It fell silent again, as your tears slowly subsided.

All this time you had suffered, because he thought he was at fault for your accident. He blamed himself, even though it wasn't his fault at all.

When he suddenly scooted closer, his arms wrapping around you with his chin on your head, you heard him sniff. Leaning against him you breathed his familiar scent, your heart bleeding as he cried.

You could have had it all. Could have lived a happy life. He could have married you instead of Isabel, who ended up getting addicted, breaking his heart.

You had both suffered so badly.

And as you sat there, both crying over the past mistakes, you made a decision.

You would forgive him.

After all, he did what he did to keep you safe - even if he broke his own heart in the process as well.

After a while he shifted, looking down at you. His eyes were red and a little puffy, but yours didn't look any better.

"I shouldn't have let you go." he told you, wiping away the remnants of your tears. "When you asked me to go with you, I should have said yes. I shouldn't have pushed you away, out of fear that I might lose you if I didn't."

Shaking your head, you sniffed. "I shouldn't have made you choose." you gave back. "I ran away from my fear, but it didn't work. I should have stayed and tried to heal, instead of running."

He breathed deeply, his hand on your cheek.

"I want you to know that I never stopped loving you." he admitted, holding your gaze. "Not even when i was with Isabel."

Smiling through another wave of tears coming up, your hand lay on his. "I never stopped loving you, either." you returned, a happy feeling spreading through you.

It tickled your veins, warming you from the inside.

He smiled as well, blinking as a tear fell on his cheek.

"Can we fix this?" he asked, hope shining in his eyes. "I think we did already." you gave back, causing him to sigh in relief.

"Will we be together, after this?" he questioned further. Swallowing, you wiped at your eyes, before responding. "I would love nothing more."

He kissed you. It felt different, free.

Like it should be.

"I love you." he spoke, kissing your cheeks. "I love you too." you returned, a giddy feeling spreading through your entire being, smiling broadly.

"And I promise that I'll never leave you again." he added, swallowing, as he looked into your eyes. "You'll never get rid of me again."

"I wouldn't want to."

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

what would they look like as villains? I know that some have canonical versions, but I would like to see your intropritation (let's be honest, for most - the evil alterego is an exact copy, but only with a slightly modified color palette and frowning eyebrows)

(I'm sorry for my English)

oh, this was a wonderful ask to get on the eve of spooky month ;D im not god at villain (re)design but it was a fun thinking exercise! (also im assuming you were asking about HoMies xD so)

I mean, there is only so much one can do to remake protagonists into villains and yet still have them remain recognizable, so no wonder evil!versions often are just recolor/frowny sort, but I tried my best to be creative ;D

(and your english is alright! no worries)

also while you can imagine them being as villanous as you want in these designs, there are some little blurbs/backstories i made up for myself as I tried to design them, if you are interested (they are various shades of dark, since you know, tragic backstory and all that lol):

Kim Possible - Hero for Hire turned Mercenary for Money - Kim is widely known for her profeciency in hand-to-hand and quick thinking when on the jobs, but one time something went terribly wrong. Maybe client info was unreliable, or a freak accident, but as the result both Kim and Ron got hurt, leaving Ron in a hospital permanently, and Kim with scars and trauma. After that the girl who worked on favors and rides lost her trust/belief in goodness of people, becoming jaded by reality of a job she accidently found herself in. Kim changed into someone very cold and calculated, someone who started taking jobs that required using serious weapons instead of gadgets, and more importantly getting paid, so she could support her best friend (who is in coma and thus unable to influence this downwards spiral Kim find herself in).

(in contrast to canon!Kim's free flowing hair, she ties it back in order to never be distracted in crucial moment. has a lot of new scars due to more dangerous jobs. i still cant decide if she kills with her weapons or not, but she certainly learned to hurt people. also a very complicated relationship with Shego, since Kim is also a mercenary now, but Shego still remembers that girl she was and is conflicted about this new Kim)

Danny Fenton/Phantom - Ghostly Hero turned Ice Prince - s3e6 Urban Jungle turned out differently, when in the end, defeating Undergrowth, meant also hurting everyone he had been connected to at that moment (level of hurt depends on your preference for angst i guess lol), but anyway, Danny horrified by what he have done (and with memory of Dan still haunting him), still technically unstable with his Ice Powers, flees back into the Ghost Zone to the one place he knows he won't be able to hurt anyone. Sequestering himself in the Far Frozen, he goes full Elsa, and become a remote Ice Prince, that even Far Frozen Yetis are still nervous around, with his only contact being Frostbite. Slowly he wastes away, freezing from his powers not only physically but also like emotionally.

(fun (?) tidbit: fur on his new snow cape/coat is from yetis, unfortunate to wander too close to ice prince. so there are a bunch of partially bald yetis in far frozen lol. Danny is constantly covered in bits of ice and frost, since his ice powers are unstable due to emotional damage. Danny's crown is not a conscious choice, but rather a manifestation of Far Frozen starting to bond with Danny's ice core to become his lair and also sort of recognizing Danny as future Ghost King.)

Jake Long - American Dragon Guardian turned Corrupted by Dark Magic Dragon - Series Finale The Hong Kong Longs, ended differently, when Dark Dragon left a parting shot before he was inprisoned for another Millennium. Since meeting Jake, Dark Dragon has been interested in aquiring him as minion/apprentice(?), and had been steadily trying to sway him to his side. But as he lost he made a last ditch attempt, infecting Jake with Dark Magic. As the result, Jake now cannot control his Dragon Form, being steadily consummed by the Darkness and turning more Draconic as time passes, until he will become full Dragon all the time and under the thrall of Darkness. The change is harsh and as the result Jake falls into violent moments during which he hurt his loved ones that fight to keep him from changing. In one of his more lucid moments, Jake flees to hide away in order not to hurt anyone.

(it seems an interesting thought to expand on the possiblity that the Dragon form can overwhelm the human part and that it would associate with dark magic to succumb to its baser instincts, and also would be a great opening to all those wonderful draconic fan headcanons fandom made about Jake lol)

Ben Tennyson - Hero Wielder of Omnitrix turned Corrupted/Hacked Ultimatrix Unstable User - During Alien Force Ben tried multiple times to hack/meddle with Omnitrix settings, and when he continuously tried the same with Ultimatrix in Ultimate Alien, something has gone wrong. Ultimatrix has bonded deep into Ben's DNA and body, and now every change is felt acutely, not to mention the alien perceptions are now unfiltered and Ben recieves the raw experience of being a different speices/state. It comes to a point when it start to mess with his mind, only made worse by Dagon's reemergence and all the enemies. In the final showdown of Ultimate Enemy goes differently, how? no idea (again depends on your preference level of angst lol). But as the result, Ben, unstable and a little crazy, is on the run with his corrupted Ultimatrix, his reputation in tatters and is considered dangerous by Plumbers.

(i had a little extra idea of Omniverse continuation, where new Plumber Rook Blonko, now has to hunt his hero turned crazy tragic villain Ben Tennyson. Very emotional and angsty (and a bit gay lol), where Rook continuously trying to unsuccessfully catch crazy Ben and convince him to let Azimuth and plumbers to help him.)

Juniper Lee - Youngest Te Xuan Zhe turned Corrupted/Fallen Te Xuan Zhe - in this case in Out of the Past, what Ah-Mah Jasmine feared about Fallen Te Xuan Zhe Kay Yee managing to corrupt Jun has sort of came to pass. After defeating Kai Yee, being touched by the overwhelming power of Magical Elders has left its mark on Jun, as well as Kai Yee's words and Jasmine's initial fear about/distrust in Jun (she is like 11-12 people, it would FUCK HER UP MENTALLY???). As Jun goes through her rebellious teen phase, the unfairness of her trapped position as protector and the demands of it, grates on her more and more, and she finds refuge in studying magic. As the result, her magical ability grows and as her desire for freedom, and the smallest seed of corruption from the events of Out of the Past grow too. So in the end, Jun learns magic to wield it , like Kai Yee, but unlike Kai Yee, not just for battle, but for personal goal of freeing herself and any future Te Xuan Zhe of her family line.

(fun tidbit, Jun doesn't continue to dye her hair pink, instead she uses blood from battle ;D morbid i know but i couldnt help it i like the imagery of her passing her bloody hands through the white part to paint it. she has lightning scars all over her body, that appear only when she uses magic - a manifestation of her brush with orb of magic elders.)

Rex Salazar - Last Hope Against EVO turned Contained and Controlled Weapon of Providence - Rex's return 6 months after Breach transported him and his introduction to Black Knight goes very differently. Instead of prolonged mind games, Black Knight just imprisons Rex pretty much right away while he is vulnerable, content to attempt to trigger Rex's amnesia ad use the mind-control collar, to turn him into her mindless weapon. She was sorta successful? But with Ceaser on the inside, he managed, with the help of Six and Holiday, to free Rex, even if it was too late to save his mind. As the result, whatever reeducation Rex suffered from Black Knights left him instinctively reacting with force and in defense. The whole last part of the season goes very differently in this state, and the finale also ends differently, with Rex, overwhelmed with power of Omega Nanite (God) but in no mind to actually control it. So in the end he is forced to be contained as his friends and family try to figure out how to save him.

(the angst of mind-controlled Rex is something I enjoy, but since he canonically is immune to it, the idea of an induced amnesiac episode seemed like a best bet for this one, but with like double the angst since Six&Holiday would have to struggle not only with Rex being turned into amind-controlled weapon but also him not knowing them)

Randy Cunningham - Chosen Norrisvile Ninja turned Disgraced/Fallen Ex-Ninja - relatively early in his career, after accidently releasing Tengu and Howard getting possesed by it, Randy makes an ultimate sacrifice by burning the Ninja Mask in order to defeat Tengu. However, he didn't expect that Tengu-possesed Howard to be sealed away together and the Ninja title being taken away from him for his reckless (even if noble) decision. Frantic, because he lost two important parts of his life, his best friend and heroic purpose, Randy tries to get the reborn mask back, but it, along with the Ninjanomicon were spirited away by the Messenger to pass on to another candidate. And thus starts Randy's panicked downward spiral and frantic attempts to get back the mask in order to free Howard. Since he still has his memories, Randy trains to become a better fighter. He knows he has to fight the new ninja for the mask, since he believes the Ninjanomicon would advice strongly against New Ninja helping Randy free Howard. In school He becomes known as resident outcast with bad reputation who lost his best friend under suspicious circumstances, and magical underbelly of Norrisville another antagonist for the Ninja to battle. However he still retains an odd sense of honor about Ninja (because he was one) so when opportunities to team up with Sorcerer, McFist, Sorcereress come up, he either ignores them or uses them for his own goal. The closest thing to hit home for him was when Mac Antfee also tried to get mask back, but for his own selfish purposes unlike Randy, well, lets just say Randy was pissed.

(i feel bad since i practically nipped Randy's career right on the bud, unlike others, but this one felt like a good turning villain opportunity unlike season finale. also! the idea of Randy beng an antagonist to the next ninja, while struggling with his own goodness and desire to save Howard is incredibly interesting to me lol. also he got scars from Tengu)

Zak Saturday - Heroic Fighter for Cryptids turned Cryptid Kur re-Reborn - the last episode, where Argost took powers of Kur and subsequently Zak died for about 3 minutes, Zak didn't reawaken unscathed. Kur is not only powers to control Cryptids, it was a person once, and after Zak died and was ressurected, a part of Kur has come forth, because some part of Zak has been lost in his death. A changed Zak Saturday worries his family, with him being quiet and introspective, not to mention pale/golden eyed and slightly zombie-like from his brush with death. Inside, parts of Zak the Kid and Kur the Olden Cryptid mesh and mix, leaving this new Zak struggling with who he is. As time passes however, Zak the Kid is slowly loosing the battle with a much more powerful older part of the soul of Kur (it wouldnt normally happen but Zak the Kid lost a significant part of his spirit when he died, which was filled with Kur) slowly regain his abilities (like in TGAS). At some point a change happens, and Zak retreats from his family, starting to wander the world as two parts of him struggle for dominance.

(fun tidbit! Zak's outfit is the same from his future vision of him overtaking the world as Kur, it seemed approrpiate lol. Also for some reason I kept thinking of Van Kleiss (from Generator Rex) when designing evil!Zak. they kinda have the same vibe)

Jenny XJ-9 Wakeman - Robotic Hero of Earth turned Robotic Overlord - this is a bit of mixed influences from different points: in season finale Dr. Locust turns Dr. Wakeman's creation against her; Jenny's Older Brother Armagedroid; Vexus attempt to sway Jenny to her fellow robots side; the whole year where Jenny was mind-controlled by a bratty kid and everyone feared her and even her mother planned to create a new XJ-10 in order to defeat her; and also a bit random but that one time Jenny pretended to be a villain Ruby Rocket (hence the red color scheme with bits of Armagedroid/Cluster designs). I have a bit less clear timeline for this, but lets just say its gradual and that at some point a lot of manipulations Jenny suffered turned her against humanity and their use of her robotic brethern. While she does not desire to destroy humanity like her brother, she certainly lost her trust in it, and after a manipulation one time too many, she snaps, turns into a leveled up version of Ruby Rocket/Anti-hero persona, she takes her sisters and leaves to Cluster, where Vega welcomes her. Jenny still protects Earth, but admittingly from afar and in a more evil way I guess?? She loves her mother, but she struggles with Dr Wakeman's previous disregard of her siblings and just callous regard to her creations (Wakeman can be cold/serious/to-the point, without Jenny constantly reminding her that she wants to be like a normal girl).

(Jenny was the hardest, because I couldnt find a clear point of turning in the series for her, so I decided to go with gradual change of mind about humanity sort of deal.)

oof this turned a bit long lol, thank you anyone who read through this clusterfuck! As you can see i sort of went with 'Were a Hero - tragically turned Anti-Hero due to circumstances' kind of vibe, since Im just unable to imagine these guys be like trully horrible evil villains (and this way is more angsty, since, like Fallen Heroes and all that). Im not that creative lol. Anyway, i hope you were as entertained as i was when creating this haha ;D

[greatlydelirious]

𝐃𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬, 𝐊𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬

Simon “Ghost” Riley x F!Reader

wordcount: 6.1k words

summary: The night that death granted you mercy you swore to never let yourself become vulnerable again. That was until you started to be haunted by a man who knew your feelings all too well.

warnings: smut, mask stays on, slight breeding kink, angst, injury, mentions of past trauma, super fluffy, established relationships, (Ghost is highkey obsessed with you)

“Who’s your crew?” Laswell asks while sighing, exasperated by Price’s persistence. He swipes up the stack of files she got for him before going through them.

“Sergeant Garrick.”

“Kyle?” she recalls.

“They call him ‘Gaz’. He never said anything.” Laswell looks over the front of the file before he pulls out another. “John MacTavish, SAS. Sniper- demolitions. Goes by ‘Soap’.” Once again Price hands it to Laswell.

“Why?”

“That’s classified.” Price’s tone is even before he moves on chuckling. “There he is… Simon Riley.” When he places this one down, Laswell’s eyebrows knit, “There’s no picture.”

“Never.”

He softly whistles before saying your name, “… but she only answers to ‘Rose’.”

“Rose? That’s a delicate name.” Laswell arches a brow when Price lets out a dry laugh.

“Anything but.” Price taps the photo attached to the folder. The woman was mean mugging the camera with a hardened expression that made even him shudder and was the envy of any of the men who joined her ranks.

“Now the rest…” Price swipes the files back while staring down the CIA station chief across from him. “That’s need to know. Unless we got a deal.”

Laswell stares back at him equally stoic, “What are you calling this task force?”

A light smirk plays on Price’s lips, “1-4-1.”

Sweat percolates from every inch of your skin as you make your way to your designated post. The heavy fatigues and protective gear that use to bother you now act as a comforting weight. A reminder of where you are and the mission you are about to accomplish with your team. Not some sissy team, but Task Force 141; a special operations task force military unit that housed the best and… wildest.

Wildest was far more apt than the word brightest to describe the band of seasoned soldiers Captain Price brought together. He recruited you from the United States military special force known as 75th Ranger Regiment. Anyone who has met someone you fought alongside knew the female killing machine that holds the moniker “Rose”.

At first, you wanted to decline Price’s proposition to join. You’d worked under the command of General Shepherd before during your time with the U.S. Army Rangers, but you were still hesitant. After surviving unspeakable horrors in Afghanistan, you became far too deep in your itch to maim and kill.

Not only did you need the structure being a part of a force gave you, but the thrill. When your old captain tried to give you a base job after recovering from severe injuries you went berserk. Hell, you were even moments away from joining the French Foreign Legion. Of course, Price caught wind of this and promised to put you to work. Luckily for him, he kept up his promise.

You are a specially trained fucking soldier; not a rookie, not a gun polisher, but a sharpshooter that rivaled the likes of Simon “Ghost” Riley. The statement might sound crass, but you didn’t have the luxury to lapse in confidence. Every corner you turn, every order you follow, and every shot you take must be concise and without a shred of hesitation. This wasn’t fun and games, it was life and death.

Well… maybe it’s a little bit of fun sometimes.

Scuffling noises and grunts fill the coms until they abruptly cease.

“Rose, do you copy?”

Silence.

“Answer me, Rose. Do. You. Copy.” Now the question turned into gritted demands. Each word leaves a sharper bite than the last.

Silence is the only answer yet again. Before Ghost can crush the radio in his steely grip, static meets his ears.

Grunting you push the now limp body on your chest to the ground. “Copy Lt.” Blood audibly squelches as you reclaim your knife. “Can’t get rid of me that easily.” Wiping the trusty blade on your pant leg you chuckle at a joke in your head, “What has two arms, two legs, and ten holes?

Soap can be heard groaning. You are just as bad as Ghost when it comes to so-called “army humor”. “You gotta be fuckin’ kiddin-“ Someone clicks their mic to cut off Soap’s grumbling.

“What?” A gravelly voice that gives you goosebumps plays along.

“The guy I just stabbed.”

“Ten holes huh?”

“Men have nine, thought he could use an extra one in the neck.”

“You’re bloody sick.”

“No, I’m quite blood free right now and I don’t have a stuffy nose. Thanks for your concern.”

A deep huff cuts through the coms and you recognize it as Ghost’s version of a laugh. Triumph fills you with being the one to elicit that rare sound. Thankfully, no one else was around to catch the subtle blush rising on your cheeks.

Focus, Rose.

“What do you call a Russian sniper from the Soviet Army who never misses his target?” Ghost asks you right after you finish clearing the hallway that held the stairway leading to the roof of the building.

“Go on.” You encourage as you start to make your ascent.

“The most skilled marxman in the military.” Now that had to be the most military dad joke you’ve ever heard.

“Please tell me you’re at your spot Rose.” Soap once again groans and for a second he regrets every decision that got him stuck with the two of you.

With an amused lilt in your voice, you push open a metal door, cold night air giving a second of reprieve against your hot skin. “Fortunately for you and unfortunately for me, affirmative.”

Taking a deep breath, you crouch before setting your M21 EBR sniper rifle on the edge of the roof and maneuvering the ACOG Scope attached. The semi-automatic rifle has extremely low recoil and you liked its dual use for medium and longer ranges. Other soldiers had a hard time with the scope’s slight sway, but you tamed the gun how one would a horse; using a subtle, soft touch to steer it in the right direction.

Electricity thrums through you as you anticipate what is about to take place. You adjust your scope until you’re finally focused on the building across the street. Standing behind one of the windows was your target, Nabeel Bashar, drinking and laughing with other men in the room.

Nabeel Bashar is a close associate of Hassan Zyani and one of the lower-ranked leaders in the terrorist organization Al-Qatala. Although he’s not important enough to give you information you don’t already have, his death is important enough to make an impact.

That’s it Nabeel. Move one more inch to the left and I got you.

Your leather gloves slightly squeak as you adjust the grip on your sniper rifle. The gun is an extension of yourself, and it’s about to send a message to Hassan. After a few minutes that feel like hours, the man steps perfectly into your line of sight.

“Rose to Bravo 0-6. I’m in position and have a clear shot.”

“Hold your position until Ghost gives the order.”

“Copy.”

Captain Price’s command sits at the forefront of your mind as your anticipation grows. You might have an itchy trigger finger, but you’re too seasoned to pull it prematurely. Years of training and discipline that started when you were a child kept you steadfast in waiting.

To say your father was proud of you was an understatement. As a U.S. Army Vietnam Veteran, he was a stickler for raising tough kids. Sprain something? Walk it off. Lose at a sport? Try harder. His motto is, “When all else fails, your mind is the only thing that can save you.” Advice that not only helped save your life but was engrained in your bones.

Over the years and during your time in Afghanistan, you accrued accomplishments and honorary medals that you thought of as just “chest candy,” but your father gladly took them to display in his living room to show off to his fishing buddies. Based on the way he constantly brags about you; you are most definitely his favorite.

So much so that he has more than once grilled you endlessly about the man you told your mother about. Simply calling him a man didn’t do enough justice though. Simon “Ghost” Riley isn’t just an apparition, but a carnal animal outside and inside the bedroom. Unforgivingly rough as he gets to what he wants while thrumming with a deathly power that practically begs for someone to challenge him.

Unsurprising to everyone, that’s what you did when you joined Task Force 141. The tales of the heartless Lieutenant with the seemingly permanent skull-patterned balaclava never scared you. If anything, it made you want to test your sparring skills with him. When you finally convinced him to practice with you and he managed to pin you down after an hour, he was far more than impressed. Intrigued, surprised, and aroused captured the essence of how he felt.

Ghost admires your brutality. You never hesitate, never give anyone the inkling that you’ll be an easy target. Some would say the element of surprise could work in your favor, but you like a rough fight. If you’re not feeling the aching reminder of it the next day, you don’t feel like you won. That philosophy may be dangerous, but that’s what Ghost loves about you.

Yet what he covets the most is the vulnerability you gave him the pleasure of witnessing. Everyone got to see the bloodthirsty soldier, but he got to see the resilient woman who soaked in her complex emotions behind closed doors. A woman who liked his stern voice and uncharacteristically soft touches.

You always melted in his hands like a kitten snuggling close for warmth. At times the rumbled moans that came straight from your chest even sounded like purrs. Ghost craved that soothing sound. A rare sign of mindless comfort from his “pretty rose.”

“Red Rose” was the full cover name you were given. You were as fresh as a rose when you joined the 75th Ranger Regiment, the only experience under your belt being from your short time in the army. During those beginning years of your career it was just “Rose”, but it became far too tame to describe the person you are now.

Anytime you clean sweep a room that had more than enough men to overpower you, Gaz said you “painted the roses red”. Are you a part of Task Force 141 if you didn’t have a sense of dark humor?

Like any rose, thorns covered the outside of you, not a protective shield, but a visible threat that you will bite back when handled. It wasn’t a secret what was done to you; as unspeakable as it may be. Not only did your mind plague you with vivid memories in the middle of the night, but it manifested physically as well.

Deep scars that left phantom pains in their wake littered your body. No matter how hard you itched or rubbed the pangs hit you with a vengeance. They were etched reminders of not only the pains of living but the miracle of survival. You were deeply respected for surviving what you went through, but it morphed into fear when you continued to be a part of the force.

Some people let the venom of the past take them down, but others will use the searing pain as motivation to push forward. You’re the latter.

Despite your hardened exterior and savage nature amidst combat, you get along with your team swimmingly. Yes, you snap, bark, and bite, but like any good Doberman when someone shows you they are trustworthy, you are fiercely loyal. And by this point, 141 felt more like home than anywhere else. They treated you like any other man on the team and would take a bullet for you without hesitation.

The only thing that was akin to what you feel like, is a Doberman shaking with the excitement for its next command. All you needed was that one word. Once you get that command the metaphorical leash can be dropped so the beast can attack.

“Shoot.”

In a millisecond your finger pulls the trigger. Glass shattering mixed with the whistling shot is like music to your ears, a symphony of justice executing its judgment. You watch as Nabeel Bashar falls limply to the ground, the hole in his head forming a crimson puddle underneath him. Pulling away from your rifle you grab your radio, “Nabeel’s down. Enemy K.I.A.”

One down.

“Clean shot, Rose.” Price praises through the coms. “Now let’s get you-“

Yelling erupting below makes your focus turn to the street. Stationed soldiers yell in a language you don’t understand while rushing into the building you’re in.

Shit.

You manage to duck when bullets ricochet off the concrete next to you, making dust spread in the air. “I’m under fire and they’re making their way inside.” You have to practically scream to be heard over the sudden gunfire. The cadence of your voice held not even a semblance of a quiver as you barked the information. You’ve stared at the face of death before; you can do it again.

“You will do it again.” Ghost’s voice pops in your head almost in a warning. The last time you were trapped in a situation like this you had the infamous man alongside you. Except then you had a nasty stab wound to your side and Ghost had even nastier gunshot wounds to the thigh and shoulder.

Enemies are everywhere. Stray bullets whizz past your head as you make it into the empty house with half of Ghost’s weight against your hip. The plan didn’t go awry, but totally nuclear. Now you both are left surrounded and injured. Concerningly so based on the dark stain your partner was leaving on the floor. He tried to help you barricade the room, but the moment he started to tip to the ground you helped him sit down. No matter how bullheaded he is, he can only withstand so much blood loss.

Ghost’s head slowly starts to fall forward as he sits against the wall. The chopper is on its way and the only body you planned to haul with you was a breathing one. Thick fabric meets your palm as you slap Ghost awake. Even though he is sluggish, he captures your wrist before you can step back. When you try to tug out of his grip, he only squeezes harder.

You opt to instead crouch in front of him, eyes blazing, “If you leave me now, I’ll come after you.”

When he simply blinks at you, you move your face until it’s inches away from his masked one. “Do you hear me, you bloody bastard? I mean it.”

A wet chuckle leaves the man below you, “Bloody, eh? I’ve rubbed off on yah already?”

“Make it through this and you can rub off on me all you want.” Now Ghost truly laughs despite himself. Despite the pain. Jokes made the hurt go away, mental or physical, but what really made the bleeding man tick was the way your eyes twinkled with promise. You truly do mean it.

Slippery fingers intertwine as Ghost holds your other hand as well. Despite the danger and the blood, there was something so intimate about his touch.

“Deal.”

That was the night you officially fell in love with Simon “Ghost” Riley.

“Backup is on its way now. Stand your ground, Rose.” Price’s words are meant to be comforting, but they only make you curse.

You know the team is set up in houses nearby, but these men are coming in fast. The sound of heavy footsteps pounding against metal steps further confirms your thought. Rolling your shoulders, you let a cold smile spread across your face.

Game on.

-

“Fuckin’ hell…” Ghost couldn’t help but breathe out the words when he finally makes it to you. He’s never mowed down enemies so fast. Any person who got in his way was given a swift death, and apparently, so did any in yours.

You’re a vision in red. Blood and entrails cling to your body as you stand in the middle of the wreckage. Fingers still twitched around the blades in both your hands, sniper rifle long forgotten somewhere. When your bullets ran out you opted to use it as a baton, cracking enemies until it got lost during a scuffle. Bodies are strewn across the rooftop like it was nothing. Like it was normal for someone to have the capabilities to fight all these men by themself; let alone a woman half their size.

Ghost has never seen anything more breathtaking. The gore only illuminates the primal energy that surged through you, through him. Every instinct urges him to run to you, feel you, and claim you just as you are now.

Wouldn’t be the first time.

With a shaky laugh, you sheath your weapons, not looking away from the man in front of you. The air is fraught with tension not stemming from the surprise attack. “Sorry, you missed the party, sir. I hope you can forgive me.” Your voice practically keens with a desire only Ghost can quell.

“Sir”, a formality laced with sin that unfurls from your tongue to snake into his ears. The sound of it coming from you so desperately, so needy, for him, calls to every fiber of Ghost’s being. You take without recourse every day; lives, commands, jests, anything you could while leaving nothing in return. Until it came to him. That three-letter title was you giving your power over to Ghost. An exchange of trust that never ceased to rock him to his core.

A grunt is given to you in response. A silent warning that said, “If you keep it up with that, I can’t be held accountable for what happens next.”

You knew that verbatim since the last time he grunted like that and you continued to push his limits, you were left with such a bad limp the next day that Captain Price made you go to medical for a check-up since he was convinced you were injured. Technically with how bad you were aching, it did qualify as an injury, but the dull throb between your legs indicated it was the good kind.

Before Ghost can make a step forward, Soap and Gaz run up in quick succession. They stop short just as Ghost did as they also take in the sight. Dark eyes continue to stay transfixed on you. Almost like you were the only person in the whole city.

Although, after a couple of minutes of three pairs of eyes ogling you, you decide you had enough for one day. Exasperated, you reach for your radio, “All clear Captain.”

-

By the time the team makes it to the safe house, you are utterly drained. Everything aches. The thick layer of sticky human splatter covering your form begins to gnaw at your senses. The lights feel too bright, the air too hot, and the atmosphere too quiet.

You tug off the pounds of clunky armor and gear, tossing it on an open countertop like the others. For a moment you just stare at the items. The dismantling got the surface mucked with dirty substances. Not only that but your hands, arms, and the sweat rolling down your forehead makes it spread even more.

Dirty. Dirty. Dirty. The mantra leaves you frozen, not knowing what to do, not knowing what else to say.

Someone pats you firmly on the shoulder, “I’ll take care of it, eh? Go clean up. Lord knows you deserve it.”

You can’t distinguish the voice of who’s talking when your feet begin to move at the command before your mind can register it. Normally you didn’t become this frazzled so soon, but you haven’t had time to be alone for weeks now. No time to scream into a pillow or cry in your room or feel his touch.

Every high has a crash, and you are free-falling. Fast.

Soap lets out a sigh of concern before grabbing a rag to start getting to work. He doesn’t say anything when he sees a dark shadow larger than your own follow you down the hallway.

When the bathroom door closes seemingly by itself you don’t hesitate. Nails scratch your skin as you practically tear off the clothes clinging to you. When you hear the fabric of your shirt rip you don’t care. You don’t have the wherewithal to even try. Yanking back the curtain, you blindly search for the handle. When water starts pouring down you practically jump into the shower.

You arch your head back into the stream of water. Clear, turns red, then turns black with the mixture of blood and soot as it sinks into the drain, taking your adrenaline with it. Limbs quake and memories flood uninvited into your brain. To escape the onslaught of emotions you close your eyes and try to focus on the sounds around you. Water is dripping, slipping, and sliding in your mouth. Water that was meant to soothe, but once smothered you and used as a tool to make you talk, to make you break.

Large hands encompass the sides of your head and pull you from the stream internally ripping you apart. Only then do you hear the sobs spilling from your mouth. Your eyes fly open and are confronted with misty blue ones surrounded by pitch blackness, equally searching and equally pained. Pained not only for you but for the fact that he knows exactly what you’re feeling. He knows how the past is twisting your guts until the only thing your body wants to do is destroy or be destroyed.

“Focus, angel.”

The words come out in a deep yet soft command. A shiver travels across your skin and an ache settles in your heart. Ghost is here with you. You aren’t in that place anymore. Your hands cling so desperately around his wrists as if he would drift away at any moment. Like he’s the answer to your salvation.

In actuality, you’re his.

With a harsh tug, hungry lips slam into yours. You hadn’t noticed that his balaclava was pushed up, but you couldn’t be more relieved to truly feel him. The kiss is as possessive as it is sloppy. Tongues don’t dance but spar as Ghost uses his grip on your head to keep you locked in place. Not that you would ever dream about pulling away.

He tastes of metal, grit, and something addictively sweet. He’s like one of those candies in sketchy wrapping, but when you pop it in your mouth it’s the best thing to ever grace your tastebuds. Moaning you back up against the cold shower wall to make room for the large man. His lips only move to start descending on your neck. Lips and teeth and tongue tease with a fiery passion that make you gasp at each little assault of his mouth on your skin.

Something hard presses against your slick stomach as Ghost blankets your body with his own. He towers over you not only in stature but width. Your body is perfectly hidden in front of his own like a human shield. The pure notion of what he can do to you makes heat pool in your core.

Your sudden reaction doesn’t go unnoticed. They seldom do.

A thick finger instantly meets your folds, sliding through the wet sensitive flesh in agonizingly slow pets. Ghost lets out a satisfied grunt at how willing and wet you already are for him. He pushes the digit inside your pussy with ease. You desperately grab his biceps to keep yourself from melting into a puddle at his touch.

“Please.” The wobbled plead comes out like a mewling kitten. When you say it so sweetly how could he ever deny you? When a second finger joins the first the delightful stretch that follows makes your nails dig into his taut skin. Ghost doesn’t pause as he begins to fuck you with deep, slow thrusts. Fingers curve to hit the spongy sweet spot inside your pussy that has you clenching around him like a vice.

The hardness against your stomach twitches at the sound, feel, and look of you. So devastatingly perfect, devastatingly his.

In your haze, you look down at where his body meets yours. Each stroke of his fingers makes you dizzy, but all you can focus on is his cock. The tip is ruby red as it throbs and leaks with precum with the anticipation to take you.

“Simon.” His head snaps up to search your face. The name comes out in a whisper as your eyes say a thousand more words you can’t possibly string together in a coherent sentence.

His lips ghost the shell of your ear, “My strong girl did so well today. She deserves my cock don’t yah think?” You feebly nod, unable to make any sounds except for pathetic moans. Strong hands lift your legs so they’re dangling atop his muscular thighs. He’s like a makeshift seat as he keeps your back pressed against the wall to keep you propped up for him. Now the head of his cock is resting between the lips of your sex.

Breath eludes you as you watch Ghost look at where your bodies are joined. He gently rocks against your pussy, rubbing your clit with each slow stroke. The new position leaves you no room to buck against him. You’re completely left at his mercy.

“…so fuckin’ pretty.” The admiring words rumble from his chest as he finally pushes inside. It’s almost too much. His cock never fails to split you open to the point that you think you might rip in half. He’s too hard, too long, too thick, too big. Yet you can’t help but whine when he stops moving after only half of his cock is nestled in your pussy.

Ghost shoves his face in your neck and you can feel his body trembling, not from physical exertion, but from the force he was using to control himself. Teeth nip and scrape at the tender flesh above your collarbone as he begins to slowly push more of himself into your quivering pussy. In silent submission, you crane your neck further to give him better access to your pulse point.  

You don’t want Ghost to hold back. You want the delicious pain that comes from him tearing you apart because you know he’ll always sew you back together again.

“Fuck me, bite me, take me, please.”

“Copy.” Ghost’s tone is deceptively playful and you swear you feel him smirk against your neck.

Cheeky bastard.

Any semblance of lightheartedness quickly disappears when he slams the rest of his cock inside you. Instead of biting, he sucks the spot his teeth were previously teasing. Ghost’s hands settle on your ass to pull you on and off his cock in tandem with his thrusts. He’s everywhere all at once and all you can do is desperately moan at the contact you’ve starved for.

The pace starts deep and languid before rapidly turning rough and downright feral. Gravelly groans tumble from the usually composed man as your tight walls cling to him at every pull of his cock. You’re almost too tight and he’s almost too big. Almost.

“That’s it... take my cock, angel.” Your bottom lip trembles when Ghost moves to rest his forehead against yours while continuing to fuck into you hard enough to bruise. The soft skin at his pelvis abuses your clit to the point of overstimulation with the onslaught of movement. It’s so intense that you’re sure you’ll fall apart by the next jut of his hips, but he never gives you more than you can handle. Ghost is the only person you’ve trusted with your body in many years; and for that, he’ll be forever grateful.

His eyes never leave yours as he takes in every little emotion swirling in their depths. Before you were on the brink of darkness, now all he sees is lust and a four-letter word that would be his undoing.

Once you almost died and went to hell. Now you feel like you’ve died and gone to heaven. Euphoria made you docile and pliable, a mewling, dizzy, sweet mess that only made Ghost fuck you harder. The sounds he’s making are like brimstone and ash as he fucks his fallen angel.

“Angel” was an especially fond nickname Ghost gave you at the beginning of your relationship. One he saved for your most intimate moments together. To him, you’re a celestial being; too good to be with the likes of him. He sees your drive to do good, to protect people from the torment you’d endured. Outsiders may see a bloodthirsty soldier, but he saw you for who you really are. A woman who strived to do good, to protect people from horrors unimaginable. Even if it meant sacrificing herself. Although Ghost may not be as noble, he is as driven. He’ll be your patron saint, your protector till the end of days; but even then, he’ll be too selfish to let you go. Ghost would cut down Gods and travel through hell and back for you. Anything for his angel.

A particularly sharp thrust makes you cry out. You’re so close you can feel the electricity crackling between the two of you. But neither of you cared for things that came easy. In an instant Ghost pulls out of you and flips you around with the grace of a seasoned fighter. The spray of water hits the sides of your bodies as you’re bent with your front against the shower wall.

Your forearms support your weight as you slam your palms into the wall in a poor attempt for leverage. Each aching muscle in your legs shakes from the pressure of standing on your tiptoes to reach closer to Ghost’s hips. Emptiness gives way to fullness when your pussy is once again invaded by his cock. His front molds into your back like you are made for him. You fit so perfectly tight against him, around him, pushing and squeezing as your velvet walls flutter to accommodate him.

Fingers slip between your own in an act so tender it betrays the rough slap of his hips against you. Truly an enigma even you had yet to completely figure out. But with your fast-approaching climax, you didn’t have the room to dwell on the concept. You can tell Ghost is close too; his thrusts are growing sloppy and his fingers that are intertwined with yours squeeze in a white-knuckled grip to attempt to ground himself.

His hands slip from yours to find purchase on your hip with one hand while the other snakes around to descend on your clit. Even lost in desire his movements are precise and expert in how they derive pleasure from you.

“Do you want me to fill you up, angel? Make you mine?” Ghost’s voice is distorted by growls and full-blown lust. Your emphatic moans and confirmations blend only to heighten as he slams into you and rolls your sensitive bud just right. Ghost’s ministrations, cock, voice, words, and noises all blend together in perfect symphony as you reach your rapture.

His grip on you is like steel as you meet each of Ghost’s thrusts. Your heart thumps like a hummingbird and sparks feel as though they’re lighting under your skin. A loud groan reverberates next to your ear as heat blooms in your core. You’re so tight in the throes of your own orgasm, milking Ghost for everything he’s got.

Ghost continues to push his cum inside you, thrusting in deep, hard strokes to secure it in and make it stick. The insatiable need to make you his in a permanent way motivates the overstimulating pounding. His fingers knead the flesh at your hips, coaxing you to stay open for him.

Only when your whimpers waver and turn whiny does he reluctantly slow his movements before coming to a complete stop. Ghost pulls you from the wall so he can lean you against his chest, cock still buried deep inside you. The rhythmic rise and fall of his chest would lull you to sleep if you weren’t acutely aware of your surroundings again. You don’t know how much time has passed, but when Ghost pulls out of you, you shiver from the newfound emptiness.

When you start to adjust your limbs, you feel that the skin on your fingertips is pruned, indicating that you’ve overstayed your welcome. You turn around in Ghost’s grip so you can properly gaze up at him (even if you still have to crane your neck). Your hands absentmindedly rub the muscles in his chest that rumbles like a dragon. Truly an unwavering force in every sense of the word. Unfortunately for both of you, you couldn’t stay like this forever.

“We have to get out sometime, big guy.” Grunting, Ghost grabs your hand before pulling it to his lips, kissing your knuckles like he was memorizing the feel of them. Satiated blue eyes look at you with an emotion that makes you swallow thickly. He was going to be the death of you.

Wordlessly, Ghost reaches around to finally stop the stream of water before scooping you into his arms. A part of you wanted to protest that you could move on your own, but you wouldn’t ever deprive his need to feel you. You wince as Ghost helps you out of the shower. At first, you think it’s from the ache between your thighs, but the pain stems from somewhere lower.

In an instant, you’re plopped on the bathroom counter. “Didn’t care to tell me about this?” Ghost elevates your right leg with an edge of anger in his voice. Not at you per se, but the fact that you’re injured. A streak of red is trailing down your outer thigh with the other droplets of water to the floor. The gash isn’t concerningly deep, but after your exertions, the area was irritated from being neglected.

“I’ve been so caught up I didn’t even feel the damn thing.” The knife wound must have occurred when you were fighting off those men on the rooftop. Everything happened so fast since you came to the safe house that you didn’t take the time to look over yourself.

When a white-hot bolt of pain hits your gut, you’re reminded of your oversight again. You sure as hell can feel it now though. Sighing, Ghost makes quick work of cleaning and wrapping your wound with items from his bag. Of course, he brought it into the bathroom with him. The man is never unprepared.

“Wish you gave me the chance to kill those bastards, love.” The comment only makes you laugh. Leave it to Ghost to think of vengeance right after fucking your brains out.

You admire his concentration in silence. Before you met him you always “licked your own wounds” after every mission you went on, never having someone care so intimately about you to tend to your injuries themself. Now you had Ghost’s expert hands piecing you back together. Despite your pride, you cherish that those hands, invisibly coated in so many people’s blood, takes extra precaution while cleaning up yours. At this moment you feel nothing but lingering bliss and something you thought you’d never feel again… love.

Lightly twisting your leg, Ghost looks over his handiwork with a satisfied grunt. Thick fingers start to card through your wet strands of hair before moving down to cup your cheeks. His thumbs draw small circles on your skin in a manner so soothing it made butterflies awaken in your stomach.

“Do you think they heard us?” They had to of heard, but you knew that they would make themselves think they didn’t. If one of them even uttered a single syllable about it Ghost would pop their head off like a cherry stem.

“That’s the goal.” A wicked blush flames your cheeks as you playfully swat his chest.

Possessive bastard.

Sighing, you hop off the counter and grab your undergarments. Can’t delay facing the team any longer. The comfortable silence continues to stretch as you both get re-dressed. Thankfully Ghost hands you a spare shirt since you tore yours before getting in the shower. It all feels strangely domestic, especially when putting where you are into consideration. But home is where the heart is, and Ghost has yours in the palm of his hand.

Strong arms pull you to a hard chest once you’re fully dressed. A ghost of a smile plays on your lover’s lips and the sight makes you smile in return. Ghost leaves you with one last searing kiss before pulling his balaclava back down and exiting the bathroom.

Amidst war, death, and a lingering past you were able to fight your demons and find love. And as fate would have it, you love the angel of death himself.

Any and all interactions are greatly appreciated.

[dollsome-does-tumblr]

saw speak no evil last night, which i really enjoyed! it proved to be my very favorite kind of stressful movie, i.e. a slowburn thriller where people go to a beautiful and remote location and then Things Go So Wrong! it reminded me a lot of other faves ex machina, men, 10 cloverfield lane, the menu, ready or not, the recent blink twice, etc.

just some thoughts about this movie (spoilers!)--

+ i really enjoyed all the gender role stuff going on in this one a whole bunch. this is, of course, a classic gothic romp in my eyes. therefore, watching the dad -- down on his luck, feeling emasculated by his female family and by life not favoring him as much as it was supposed to! -- get seduced by the alpha male andrew tate-y bs embodied by james mcavoy's character, like the dad was but a shrinking naive gothic heroine missing or even lusting after all the red flags, was SUCH a fun subversion to me. yes! yes!!!

+ every time that mackenzie davis's character tried to establish boundaries and they got run over and then she let it slide to be palatable, i viscerally FELT THAT. there was, of course, a big element of 'privileged people wanting to appear woke so they keep being boundlessly pityingly nice to the poor people', but even deeper than that, i think this was a great portrayal of how women in particular are expected to constantly accommodate and ignore their intuition. the bit with making her eat the goose. D: and it got worse!

+ i also really liked how in the big showdown, the mom and the kids were the ones who actually took out the enemies, and the dad was the only one without a 'kill' to his name. (though he did sacrifice himself by jumping off the roof, mirroring Accomplice Wife's self-sacrificial death!)

+ gosh, the dark implications re: Accomplice Wife's character were so harrowing - the victim becoming the abuser - and the fact that the little girl was being primed to follow in her footsteps ..... D:

+ i enjoyed that the kids were the ones who had the sort of Big Finding Bluebeard's Closet Of Dead Wives Reveal. (my bf pointed out that this is a bluebeard story, and it so is! my favorite!) that sort of ASOUE-y feeling of kids having to make it on their own because adults aren't a guaranteed source of safety. MAN, poor ant. :'( that kid had a HORRIBLE time. i really admire his persistence in keeping on fighting and trying to communicate.

+ i saw someone in the reddit discussion thread say that couple vs. couple is an underrated trope, and i agree! would love to see more of that in cinema.

+ love how the title operates both on the level of "this kid can speak no evil about what we do because we cut his tongue out" AND "don't ever say anything mean to people or you might hurt their feelings and what could possibly be worse than that (oh, this, i guess) 😬"

+ can't believe they did nick miller's favorite song cotton eyed joe so dirty like that. :( that scene honestly brought tears to my eyes from pure misery. the fact that some parents really do treat their kids like that ...................... (even if that wound up not being totally the situation in this particular movie). disgusting and heartbreaking.

+ the most a+ "eternal flame" use since gilmore girls.

+ after i watched the movie i read up on what the original film was like, and may i just say: that would have broken me psychologically in the movie theatre. thank god i didn't have to see that. THANK GOD! sometimes american optimism really works for me, honestly. if it's a gothic, then in the gothic, they've always got to make it out at the end!!! bruised and bloodied and haunted but still standing! so i'm really glad they did!

+ it honestly never occurred to me that people would thirst over james mcavoy in this movie, because he's so gross and horrible, but it takes all sorts to make a world, it turns out. the internet teaches me that every day!

+ anyway, i had a great time watching this! would definitely watch again! but gosh, was it a special kind of fun and stressful to watch it unfold the first time.

[sheepheadfred]

Ectoberhaunt Day 18: Mirror Image

Summary: An artifact exists out there, somewhere in the realms, with two sides. One will reflect what you think of yourself and the other will reveal what others see you as. The truth of what you think, not any facade of what you want. What would happen should you see into the reflective surface.

Ao3 link

An artifact that will show you, or transform you, into what others think of you sounds like an interesting gambit.

...If it exists.

Valerie was told by Mayor Masters that Phantom and the other ghosts would do anything to take it and that he would be the best person to deal with it.

Now, if she was still blind to the fact that he is also a ghost and nearly got her to aid in killing a little girl, she'd blindly believe that out of stubbornness. Out of a feeling of repayment to a man who gave her weapons when she was lost and alone.

Yeah, she found it. Is she gonna give it to that lying, no-good, child-killing ghost?! Hell no!

She saw him transform! She knows what he is!

... But, so was Danielle. She is a ghost and a human.

Just like Mayor Masters.

She wants to hunt him. She wants to make him pay for tricking her and using her. But, could she destroy him like he's nothing but a ghost? What could he do to her even as a human. He is the mayor, through suspect means but still mayor. He's also rich, owns the company her Dad works for, and in possession of who knows what technology and powers! If she thought Phantom and his dog ruined her life, Mayor Masters could make it so she didn't have a life at all and get away with it.

At least the public is aware how bad Phantom can be.

...Can be...

... Even if he was right about Mayor Masters. And kept his word. And constantly trying to explain himself.

Stop it, Valerie! You have a mission to complete. Gotta make sure Masters still believes you are blind to his secret. Maybe she could 'lose' it or find a fake? Nah, he'd never buy it!

She is concerned if someone will come for this dumb mirror. Like the ghosts that did when he gave her the 'ghost hunter ring' she has since learned was the key to the ghost king's power and why their home was targeted so severely during the invasion Phantom exposed her to her dad!

Trying not to get lost in thought and failing, she failed to notice her suit picking up a more powerful ectosignature coming up behind her.

Moving faster than she can react in her distracted state, the ghost brushed by her before continuing to speed off. Grazing her and nearly knocking her off her board.

Snapped back into awareness, kicking herself, she gives chase. Belatedly realizing the mirror is gone.

The ghost better have taken it because she doesn't need the bad luck a broken mirror could bring, especially a ghostly mirror with strange properties. She never was superstitious before but now that ghosts have been proven real and there is an actual bad luck ghost out there. Well, Valerie knows she can never be too careful. Not in a town like this.

A quick chase and a simple fight later and it was back in her hands.

Almost too easy.

Strange that the ghost didn't put up more of a fight. Even stranger still, Phantom never showed up. Sure, she doesn't like the ghost but he always shows up. It's a bit concerning to her.

Valerie tries not to care.

Yet he figuratively haunts her thoughts.

Only this time, they leave her confused more than spitting with anger.

Before she could continue to fight herself about Masters, Phantom, and that dumb mirror, she realized the time. Almost late to work for her shift as the Nasty Burger, her ghost hunting related troubles took a back seat for now.

By the time she gets home, having completely forgotten the bigger things troubling her in her exhaustion, she collapsed on her bed. The sudden force of her flop onto the bed shook the mirror she put there in her haste.

She was able to catch it before it fell, but not before she ended up looking into it.

Which side was this one?

The mirror came to life.

Before, it was blank even if it was pointed at something. But now, her own face stares back at her, her reflection looked normal. At least Valerie thought so.

Until it spoke.

"Wow, aren't you a mess?"

The sudden words startled her, watching her mouth move and face give an expression of annoyed disappointment when she knows her own is a look of shock.

"Did... Did I just hear that? Are you speaking? Are you speaking to me?"

"Look whose brain is finally working!" Her reflection said with a sneer, "You work so hard keeping up appearances, you would know I'm your truth! I know every secret and hurt and regret you feel, what we feel."

Valerie could only stare, dumbstruck at how much she's hearing from her own voice. The her slowly turning more monstrous.

"Did you seriously forget what this mirror does? Or are you just so unsure about everything that you forgot the major thing about my main function?"

Venom from her own voice stung in a way she never expected. Hating how accurate she is with her words.

"Stop it! You're not me! You can't possibly know what it's like to be me!" Valerie shouted at the reflection, grateful her dad already left for work, before the fight left her, "I can't even believe I'm trying to argue with a reflection."

"You said it , not me."

"Will you shut up!"

"You activated the enchantment on this thing, I'm just voicing what you really think of yourself!" She said it with such a cruel smile. "Besides, never said I was you. I'm clearly your reflection just saying it like it is."

"Well, you can stop now. You're not welcome here. I've had a long day and I don't need this!"

"Like you don't need to think about the fact that ghost human hybrids exist? Like Danielle? And Mayor Masters? That they're both human and ghost yet only one is evil? Like the fact that now you're unsure if being a ghost makes you innately evil like the Fentons have been saying?," All the, admittedly true, accusations flew out of her reflections mouth with little effort and space between that it is no surprise that she- it?- doesn't have to breathe, "...Or is it about the fact under all of that, that Phantom looks like a masculine mirror image of Danielle and vice versa? That Danielle's human form, and you know it's a form and not a disguise- don't give me that look!- looks just like a certain classmate. One you used to date!"

Valerie was starting to get really freaked out now. Home alone and having her private, internal conflict echo back at her like this. She feels like a kid again, in trouble with authority and wanting her dad. Only this 'authority' is herself and she can't run from her own thoughts.

"This is a bad dream. It has to be. Or- or a hallucination!" she tried to repeat to herself, refusing to accept what she's hearing. It's becoming too much.

It could have worked, for a time, if her 'companion' didn't feel the need to comment.

"This is just sad," Valerie hasn't heard her own voice be so condescending before, not since... a while, "Deny reality all you want, I guess. Doesn't change anything. People still look at you like dirt and you've had to be mean to protect yourself. But not every target deserves it and you know it. The only one still willing to give you the time of day anymore is the loser at school you used to sick the jocks on! Phantom has never hit first and constantly tried to offer a truce and even turned himself in to be tortured by you to save his cousin! Having power to hit back feels good even if you don't discriminate against your targets. What about it makes you feel monstrous like I look now?! Are you seeing the ghosts you go after with such a ferocity act more humane than you?!" The reflection's voice rose as she went on, hitting a fever pitch with her last question. Forcing her to hear all she's tried to shut out.

Valerie can feel tears in her eyes, begging the reflection to stop.

"But I guess no ghost can be good, right? Because then your anger against them is fully justified with an acceptable target you can fight! To beat them down like you feel beat down. Feels good, right?"

"No, please. Stop. I couldn't let him kill that little girl." Her protests becoming weak as emotion overwhelms her.

"But you could when she was just a ghost, right? So what makes it different, now? She did nothing wrong, only had caught the eye of Mayor Masters for whatever cruel plan he was doing to her. What makes what he did more vile now that you know he's also a ghost?"

"I- I don't know! I don't know, OK!"

Now she is full on crying. Valerie has always prided herself on never crying, never being perceived as 'weak', and this magic reflection hit all her vulnerable spots and cracked her walls that it call came tumbling out.

"I don't know," Valerie glared at the reflection as fire reignited in her, "Everything I thought I knew has changed again and I don't know how to make sense of any of it! Is that what you want to hear?!"

The silence in the room rang out. Noticeable after all the high emotion shouting. Soft sobs are the only sound in the room, muffled but loud in the silence.

After a moment, when calm has started to refill the air, Valerie finally got a reply.

"Yes, it is. I'm an ever shifting monster due to your confusion and self hate. Of course I want you to finally admit to yourself the things you've been burying. Are you going to accept it? Or are you going to keep fighting these truths that contradict without any further thought?"

Valerie had a lot to think about, and now she can't hide or deny it anymore. The ghost human hybrid thing, Danielle, Vlad, Phantom... Danny.

She doesn't want to be like this anymore. It's not who she is to let things stay the same when it's wrong. When she can see it as wrong and care about the outcome. Maybe she should look into it. It can at least help her find a way to move forward without this paralyzing grief.

... And maybe, she should talk to Danny and Phantom about things. To not shut Danny out even if she must still be careful with her identity. To finally listen and hear Phantom out even if he is still on thin ice.

She said there on her bed and thought until she fell asleep. Restful for the first time in a long while.

Vlad never got the mirror. Was told some ghost broke it during a fight and proceeded to search for power elsewhere. Eventually he forgot about it, the mirror could show him what he saw and how to get it is what he believed. He believed that it would show him as king as he presents himself, but the mirror will rip you apart and show you the parts you don't want to see. Probably for the best, for he would be shown as he truly is. A pathetic wet cat of a man who picks fights with children and tries to control everyone while claiming it to be love.

Maybe one day his reflection will call him out as well.

Though it does not mean he will listen.

[becauseicantthinkwritings]

Teeth

Part 6!

Werepanther!Billy Russo x Female Reader

Masterlist

Warnings: Nightmares, angst, fear, paranoia, a little bit of an injury, a whole lot of hand touching, voyeurism, male and female masturbation.

His entire office smelled like strawberries now.

He takes a breath, raises his right hand to his mouth and bites down on the crook of his index finger harshly.

The pain centers him, allows him to focus on something so that he could drown out the predator. The beast in his head that had been suggesting... awful things to him.

It wasn't in the form of words, the beast didn't use words.

No, he used an arsenal much more powerful, spitting imagery into Billy's head, pouring debauched ideas into his mind until he'd had to find an excuse to cut your meeting short, dropping the work contract into your hands a little too aggressively and telling you to leave it with his secretary by the end of the day, to text him if there were any further concerns.

Billy tilts his head back angrily.

She probably thinks I'm an asshole now, all because you felt like tormenting me, he thinks in the beast's direction.

The beast's only response, is to fill his head with further images of you, face down, ass up, while he buried his tongue in your dripping cunt.

Billy groans.

What would you taste like? The memory of seeing your wet fingers, pulled from your cunt after orgasm is still seared into his head.

Maybe he should give you a little show too?

The beast reminds him angrily about the words he'd said to you.

'I'm not interested..."

What a fucking joke.

He'd only wanted you safe, to have you in a position where he knew you were getting what you deserved. He didn't want you to be overlooked ever again.

The price? Had been his sanity.

Because now he'd have to have you right under his nose for the foreseeable future.

And not... under him... like he'd wanted from the minute he'd seen you.

He'd caught subtle scents of you in the forest before, but every time, he'd always just missed you. He'd spent near two years searching, and hoping to find you, haunted by the scent of you.

And then he'd found you, thankfully, blissfully, and you'd been so afraid.

Killing the hunter hadn't felt like enough, but it was all he could do, barely able to control himself when you'd been threatened.

He knew what he was capable of if someone tried to hurt you. He knew that he would go to the ends of the earth to keep you safe.

.

You tried to read the contract, but you could only think about him.

He'd gone through all that trouble to get you to come in today, to accept his job offer, and then he'd dismissed you so quickly? Palmed you off on his secretary like he couldn't be bothered to look at you?

It was just another mark in your book, a mental tally of the many displays of why he was not interested in you at all.

You shake your head, trying to get over it. You should not be thinking about your boss in that way.

His praise had meant so much to you, you'd gone home, almost happy that for the first time in your life, someone had really seen what you were capable of.

Regardless, you were glad to be here, because when you flipped to the very back, to the salary and benefits part of the contract- your heart pounded in your chest.

God, this was the price they paid experts in your field, and here you were with a salary offer that would make you a very comfortable person.

It made signing easy, even his cold attitude towards you made signing simple, because you had a boss that at the very least respected you, in a price range that you'd never thought you'd reach.

Anvil would be good for you.

.

Your face is buried in the panther's neck. He purrs when you brush a slow hand over him.

"You're so pretty." You whisper into his neck, you giggle when you feel him lick affectionately at your shoulder.

You finally raise your head, you look around, and you realise where you are.

Your anxiety spikes, you feel your heart racing in your chest as you try to gasp for air.

"This is... this is the forest where-" You can't finish the sentence.

It's daylight in your dream, but as the full realisation of where you are seeps in, night falls all around you.

You gasp, falling back, looking around. He was here, he was here somewhere looking at you.

He was going to kill you.

"No no no no no no no no" You cry, frantic, looking around in every direction, trying to peer into the darkness, trying to see the hunter.

Suddenly there's a roar from near you, and you spin in surprise.

The panther is there, looking at you, approaching you.

You reach out for him as he gets closer.

"I'm so scared." You whisper into his midnight fur, your body shaking from the fright.

"He's here somewhere, he's going to kill me. He promised." You sob helplessly into his fur.

The panther makes a low growling sound again. Instead of scaring you, it soothes you. You know that whatever is out there, can't get past the predator in your arms.

"I need to wake up." You whisper, and it gives you the strength to actually do so.

Your heart is slamming into your ribcage when you jerk awake. You're frozen in the blackness of the night, almost too petrified to move.

You reach a hand up, fingers gripping the pendant of your necklace, exploring the curves of it, allowing it to ease your fright.

You sit up, dried tears crust uncomfortably at the corners of your eyes, and you reach for your phone, to increase the brightness of your lights.

Hunched over, you try to catch your breath.

You check the time, two in the morning.

You would not be able to sleep for the rest of the night.

.

He wants to go to you.

He wants to hold you tight, run his fingers through your hair, kiss the top of your head and tell you that everything is okay.

He can see the lights are on, he catches your silhouette, sitting on one of your couches, sipping something, maybe tea.

He can almost feel it- the remants of your anxiety, refusing to be washed away, like a stain that does not leave.

You must have had a bad dream too, just like he did, watching you be so frightened, lovely face contorted in fear.

He wanted to go to you.

He couldn't.

.

"So when are you going to jump Mr. Big Dick?" Amy asks.

You almost spit your drink.

"You mean my boss?" You challenge, phone pressed to your ear as you pull the curtains back to let your house plant get some much needed sunlight.

"Mr. Big Dick Boss, him." She confirms.

"Never? He's- my boss?" You say matter-of-factly.

"Tragic. The next thing you'll tell me is that he doesn't like you." 

"Because he doesn't?! Haven't we been talking about this same thing for weeks? He's not into me like that."

"Denial." She sings.

You grunt in anger.

"Anyway, do you know the answer to the other thing or not?" You ask, referring to the original inquiry you'd called her for.

"I don't know how much water your plant needs, Google it."

"Okay, but the leaves are turning a little yellow."

"Then give it more sunlight. It's a plant."

You sigh, touching the leaves of the palm affectionately.

"I guess I'll try to move it onto the balcony." You think out loud.

"See? You can solve your own problems."

"Amy, I don't know why I call you, you're literally zero help."

"And yet, you fix your problems while talking to me. Ungrateful."

You laugh.

"Thank you, love you, bye."

She repeats the words back to you before hanging up.

Which is how you find yourself struggling to shimmy a very heavy potted plant onto your balcony.

Honestly, how the hell was Dani able to lift this thing so easily? You slip a couple of times on the tiled floors as you try to gain leverage to move it.

You collapse into a little heap beside the plant, giving up, and after a moment, your phone rings.

You groan, sitting up, crawling across to the couch to grab it, dress swishing all around you, barely glancing at the contact before you swipe to answer.

"Hello?" You answer.

"It's kind of cute watching you struggle."

You stiffen, looking out of your window, finding B- William, standing in his kitchen looking at you. You relax when you realise it's only him.

When he sees you looking, he waves.

"That's a little sadistic, don't you think?" You respond, leaning against the couch, blowing at your hands which have become red and irritated from trying to move the heavy plant.

"I never said I wasn't a sadist, but, I think if you try any more you're going to hurt yourself- so I'm coming over."

"N- wait-" but you watch him end the call, turning away to head to his front door.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

You stand, running some cool water over the palms of your hands to soothe them.

You sigh when there's a gentle knock on your door.

"Who is it?" You call lightly.

"It's me." He answers through the door.

You unlatch the deadbolt and open the door with a smile, widening the door to let him in.

"Hey Mister Russo, what an unexpected surprise." Your voice is full of sarcasm.

He chuckles, sliding past the door.

"How are your hands?" He asks when you bump the door closed, and you raise your hands to show him the state of them.

They hurt a little, and they feel raw, but it's like the pain just vanishes when he takes your hands in his, bringing them up to his face to look at.

You feel your body throb in appreciation, the touch of his hands on yours is so electric that your core sparks to life with just the hint of a delicate touch from him.

You watch him take a deep breath.

"You should run them over some cool water." He says, nodding his head in the direction if your kitchen, and you nod, turning, and walking to the sink.

He follows, turning the tap on for you on a slow trickle, and when you look up at him, you find his eyes already on you.

"Better?" He asks.

A strand of your hair falls into your eyes when you nod your head.

He takes his time, carefully pushing it back, you body pulsing with heavy need.

Fuck. You wanted him.

What would be the harm in a single kiss? How badly could it fuck with your life?

"A little." You answer, looking down at your hands again.

"Maybe a balm? Something soothing?" He offers gently, his voice is so soft, you can't help leaning into him.

"I have aloe vera, in my bedroom. It's for sunburn, but-"

He nods.

"It should work."

You pull your hands from the water, and he turns the tap off, you watch him reach for a napkin, placing it gently into your hands to collect the droplets of water.

"Show me where?" He asks.

"M-my room's a little bit messy." You protest, and you watch him smile easily.

"Think I've never seen a messy room?" He tilts his head, studying you with his dark eyes.

You gulp, aching wet at this point, nodding along for him to follow you.

To your bedroom.

Aloe vera. Aloe vera. Aloe. Vera.

God your clit was pulsing.

Fuck, the sound of his slow breaths behind you sends tingles down your back.

At your door, you turn to look back at him. Understanding what you need, he leans in to open the door for you.

It's the first time you're so close to him, and you catch hints of his cologne, oak maybe, hints of black pepper, something sweet like jasmine.

It's such a unique scent, that you ache for more of it, you want to explore every note of the way he smells, desperate to find out through thorough exploration whether he tastes as good.

The aloe vera sun balm is in your top drawer, and when you realise what else is inside, you gulp, cheeks burning.

Your toy is wrapped in a cloth for protection, but when you reach for the drawer, his voice stops you.

"Let me." He says, and you look up at him in alarm.

Before you can tell him not to look, he brings his other hand up to his eyes, covers them, turns away, and you watch a little playful smile pull on his mouth.

He's magnificent, you think, in his sheer understanding of you, in his clear respect for your boundaries, in the boyish, almost shy way he smiles.

You wonder if anyone has ever seen him smile like that.

You grab the little bottle of aloe vera, telling him to close the drawer.

Only when the drawer is closed, does he open his eyes.

He raises a hand for the little bottle, and you look at those amazingly large hands.

God, who had allowed them to be so big? Long slender fingers, ending in well kept nails.

You once again think about taking his hand, but even worse thoughts fill your head now, his hand pressed to your breast, or cupping you-

You swallow, dropping the balm into his hand.

You sit yourself on the edge of your bed, and look up at him, expecting him to do the same.

He takes a sharp breath, and sits in the space beside you.

You watch him, uncap the bottle and pour a coin sized amount into the palm of his hand.

There's no reason why you couldn't do this yourself, but you take advantage of his desire to always want to help you.

You extend one hand to him, and your stomach tightens when his both hands cover one of yours.

You're so wet, you can feel it creating a little spot on the fabric of your underwear. It's embarrasing, that all he's really done is touch your hands, and your body is ready to take him.

"Does that feel better?" He asks, voice like silk over your skin.

You want to climb into his lap, you want to grip his shirt so tightly it hurts, you want to meld your mouth to his so that he never forgets it.

"Yes, much. Thank you." Is what you say instead.

.

His desire rages like a storm in his head. Turbulent winds and the crack of lightning, made worse by the predator, hammering away at his resolve.

He can blame the panther all he wants, but this time, he knows it's him just as much as it is the beast inside of him.

He can smell your arousal, your cunt calling out to him, a plea to be touched, to be sated, to be full, and Billy wants to give more than anything else.

He thinks about how easy it would be, to press you back, lay you out on your bed, spread your thighs.

He wants to press his nose to your clothed cunt, take deep breaths of that saccharine strawberry scent right from the source. He wants to tug your panties off, listen to the way you'd mewl as he buried his tongue between your thighs.

He thinks about it vividly as he rubs the aloe vera into the palms of your hands, he thinks about what your pussy would look like, the way you would taste. He'd never be able to satisfy the craving he had for you. One time could not possibly be enough.

The ways he would take you, bounce you on his cock, rut into you from behind, kiss the soft curves of your cheek as he slowly aquaints you with every inch of his aching cock-

"I think that should be good enough." You say, breaking into his terrible thoughts.

He nods, pulling his hands away, clenching them into fists in his lap, hoping to hide his erection.

"Show me where you want that plant moved?" He offers, with a tilt of his head.

You look up at him with such open eyes, nodding as you stand, guiding him out of your room.

The predator, eager to follow.

.

"Stay. Still." He whispers in your ear.

You moan into the cool air of the night.

You hear him chuckle, the fabric of your nightdress being pulled up to expose your thighs.

He hums when he realises you've forgone underwear, the backs of his fingers tracing over your thigh, cupping your bare cunt.

"Wonder how hard you'll scream when you come on my tongue?" He taunts.

"Please." You whisper, when one of his fingers press down on your aching bud.

"Shhh," He soothes, "Don't beg. You'll make it harder for me to resist you."

Your toes curl, you arch your hips to grind your aching center against his hand.

"Please, please please, I need you." You beg.

He swears, draws out the word, doesn't say anything else before lowering his body.

He pushes your legs apart, shoulders his way between, doesn't stop until his tongue is pressed securely to your clit.

He moans.

You roll your hips, desperate for the feeling of his tongue on you, little gasps and pitiful sounds leaving your throat.

You writhe, body tangled in the sheets, gasping.

His tongue makes slow, purposeful movements, his hands trace your skin, lighting up each nerve with sizzling bliss.

"No more teasing," You cry, "Please, I can't."

A sound of pity leaves his throat, hastens his tongue in apology. He doesn't want to torment you, he wants to please you.

"Yes. Yes. Billy-" You sigh, tossing your head from left to right.

Your body calls out to his, a shuddering breath, a broken sigh.

You're still shaking when you're pulled to consciousness, eyes are barely focused as a sliver of moonlight shines through the little gap in your curtains.

The orgasm is hollow, an echo of the real thing, you can barely wrap your head around the possibility that you just came in your sleep, thighs pressed together to garner some type of friction.

After a minute, movement catches your eye, you raise your head sleepily to investigate.

It's coming from his window, a dark silhouette framed by golden light.

You sit up, moving closer to the window, kneeling so that he doesn't see you peeking through the gap.

Your lips part in surprise.

He's leaning against his windowsill, and from the cut of his figure, he looks naked.

The back of his head is leaned against the window, his right arm moving up and down, revealing to you exactly what he's doing.

You can't see his cock, you can't see the expression on his face, but you can almost imagine it, and it's enough for you to snake your hand under your nightdress.

You whine, pressing your hot cheek to the cool window, pumping two of your fingers into your slippery cunt at the same pace as his hand.

The nails of your other hand grip your thigh, pretending its his, pretending you're with him, grinding yourself onto his cock.

"So good," You gasp, looking up at his silhouette, "cum for me." You beg him softly.

It's like he hears you, his body stiffening, shoulders shaking with the effort to breathe as his hand slows suddenly, indicating his state of release to you.

You sigh, forehead pressed to the chilled glass as you bring yourself to orgasm, thinking about him, breath misting on the surface of the window pane.

.

.

.

[lakesbian]

out of curiosity do you have any thoughts about Maggie?

i think it's really funny that the protagonist of pact is like. some Comically Normal, increasingly-pale, interminably haunted guy the universe hates who spends 45% of his life minimum shaking and/or throwing up. and then the plucky charming girl who says things like 'drat' and 'fiddlesticks' and has a tragic ya-protag origin story and is dealing with a classic ya-protag ominous prophecy is the side character. using goblins is ostensibly possible to frame as a likable underdog trait, in contrast to Cool Shit like faeries or demons. by all accounts blake scans as someone who should show up once in the ya fantasy novel about maggie's life to serve as a bit of character development for her & then never receive a feature again except for a singular piece of irrelevant background dialogue in which it's offhandedly mentioned that they found his sopping wet flayed corpse on the street. not even a notable street, either, just some random street. And Yet. he's the protagonist instead of her.

and, like, wildbow knows this. the funniest part of this whole thing is that when wildbow went "who is the most Iconic YA Protag Material in pact, i want to put a pact reference into worm," the answer wasn't blake, it was, obviously, maggie. it's maggie's world blake's just living in it. he straight cannot catch a break. cannot even be the protagonist of the book he's a fucking protagonist of.

i digress. one last sidenote before i get into talking abt maggie's interlude: it's really fun that before it we get a firsthand look at how the Batshit and Harrowing experience of being a disadvantaged practitioner (unable to lie, experiencing the horrors at all times) will straight up turn you into a guy in a horror movie who goes around looking disheveled and shaking and discussing ominous portents, and then the interlude itself depicts how comically absurd that looks from an outside perspective. love the practitioner in maggie's interlude. out there delivering a classic vague & ominous horror novel Foreshadowing Statement to our archetypal protag maggie, and she's the only one who actually experiences the genre awareness to go "ohh, okay, i'm in a horror novel," and prevent her entire family from dying badly about it.

and the thing about this is that it works flawlessly as part of her "YA protag who is for some reason a side character here and not the protag" schtick, but it also makes for a genuinely horrifying & compelling narrative. like, What If you were a teenager suddenly realizing the things that go bump in the night are not only real but tearing your life down around you while everyone else remains oblivious--would that be fucked up or what? love the moment where she sees the goblin w/ the blood-soaked hair (who is hot and cool btw) holding not a bleached skull but a very visibly dark & bloody one with Bits Still Attached and it finally clicks for her that this is Real. that one little image of abject gore and suffering during an extended traumatic experience that viscerally hammers the entire thing right into your skull. & the characterization of her looking directly at sculptures of rotting meat and imagery of knives doing terrible things and blood on the streets and then deciding that there's actually an Art to the wriggling wet underbelly of the world, one she wants to hold and own instead of vice versa, is good. i like it. there's a moment where she briefly sounds entirely capable of holding a conversation with bonesaw regarding Art, and that is excellent.

i also think she's probably still in over her head without realizing. she's manipulated into ordering someone's murder and then is like "you know i think i can make up for this one AND go on a fun little adventure to add to my scrapbook of knowledge at the same time." that's not how reality works! you killed someone! and then tried to semi-earnestly befriend slash mooch from their cousin! she's only been a practitioner for six months--i think there's a very fundamental disconnect btwn the maggie that's lucky enough to still have parents she can be a normal silly teenager with and the maggie that's making forays into The World Of Backstabbing, Horror, Murder, and Fates Worse Than Death. and i think that disconnect will result in strain for her as the fact that she's sort of doomed to do some really awful things, have some really awful things happen to her, and/or both sinks in. okay that largely summarizes my maggie thoughts so far. i hope to see more of her and her silly little goblins i do enjoy the grotesque.

[illarian-rambling]

Can they take care of a plant? What about a pet? What about a child?

For any characters you like (another short story O.O?)

This question gave me the strangest sense of deja vu for some reason, so no clue what's up with that, but yeah, short story characters! I'll answer for the cast of Rel's Haunting :)

Rel, angel of the hour, ain't taking care of shit. They've been alive for a solid month and have just started to figure out taking care of themself. I think with very detailed instructions, they could keep a plant alive. However, if left to their own devices, they might do some basic experiments to see what happens if they don't water it or use a different liquid entirely. I think a pet would be a bit much. I could see them trying similar experiments with a fish and accidentally killing it, which would be a very sobering experience for such a young being. As for a child, Rel basically is a child, even if they look like the most unsettling, six-foot-tall burn victim you've ever seen. I think they'd try their best, in the way that slightly older children will try to help younger ones with small tasks.

Esie can do all of these and then some. Responsibility queen, right here. I don't think she'd have much of a desire to keep a plant, but if someone asked her to, she could manage. A pet she would be a little more receptive to. She feels like a cat person to me. She'd always make sure to steal some scraps from her laundry job to make into toys. When it comes to children, she has plenty of experience. Esie raised her little brother after their parents died. They spent some time on the street, but she worked her ass off to get them a little room at the back of an inn. Despite their abject poverty, she never let Jean give up on his musical dreams, which paid off when his band finally made it big. Now Jean is his own man, but now Esie also has Rel to take care of. She does her best with the information she has, and though that information is far from correct, Rel has no complaints.

[REDACTED] is a god, even if he's a dead god, so feasibly, he should be able to do all three. Realistically, though, bro would be incapable of remembering to water a plant for longer than a week. Succulents would be his best bet. A pet he would do fine with, especially a bird of some sort. A child... Eh. He tries, don't get me wrong. He loves Rel, and even though he can't interact with his angel, he watches and worries from afar - a father who will forever know his child through a one-way window. However, he's also the god of wonder, so he sees letting Rel touch a hot stove as a valuable learning experience. This works out since Rel is pretty indestructible, but with an actual human child, I could see things going poorly.

Thanks so much for the ask! They might only exist for thirty-some pages, but I really do love these guys <3

[star-crossed-mid]

Little ramble on water boy 2 and red string cutter and their powers

The Goddess of Fate's power was the ability to change the future/fate of anyone. In some of the other gods stories it kind of seems like her power was just giving people a choice. I like to believe that MC has that power still but its more toned down as in she just talks to people about what choices they can make like idk telling leon to not kill everyone and wipe the universe teehee.

We see her power work in every story intentional or not. Maybe it was the king using the help of her powers to decimate the underworld or the simple acts of kindness performed through MC. Anyway, it can go into theories of dominos falling or butterflies flapping their wings that Clotho's power was very strong and had lasting impacts on a persons future.

Hue's power is clairvoyance, granted he can't use it without touching the person but he could still see into the future. He keeps to himself when he does this, only preparing for the inevitable.

I love that Huedhaut was the one to help Clotho figure out how to use her powers and incidentally was one of the first people who had his fate 'changed'. Whether his fate was actually changed by her or it was just him trying to create a logical answer to him catching feelings is wild.

One of my fav excerpts of them is I think in one of Hue's stories he gets surprised accidentally reading Clotho's future. He saw that they were dating before he even knew they were. Ended with both of them getting awkward about it and just acknowledging 'hey we're dating', and along the lines of him saying 'i've never had my own future spoiled'.

TLDR their relationship

One of the reasons Hue fell in love with MC/Clotho was because Clotho always forced Hue out of his comfort zone (at a reasonable level) and was his total opposite. Something refreshing, sun and moon.

Clotho definitely woke up Hue in the middle of the night to ask if he would still love her if she was a worm (and him in a begrudging state of total confusion would say yes, he loves them in any form, he loves their soul etc etc).

It's also to note that her power literally interrupts his. He can't see/predict the future if it's always changing. It was unpredictable for him. Which ties into the philosophy he learnt when we see him in S1 that he doesn't know how to process the illogical and irrational. He also gets a bit mad at MC when she brings up the concept 'fate' once again being a theoretical concept not set in stone. Huedhaut tries to grab onto any reason when it came to an emotional experience and it left him with centuries full of grief as to why Clotho did the things she did.

In a sense, Huedhauts season 1 reads like a ghost story. Clotho is the ghost that haunts MC, Hue, and some of the other gods. There's a famous quote by David Foster Wallace that says:

"Every love story is a ghost story"

Clotho haunts the narrative, and surely haunts Hue. Those versions of the goddess of fate with the god of Aquarius doesn't exist anymore, yet they still have a very persistent figure in the story. Clotho gave up (not sacrificed) herself/powers because she wanted humanity to feel the love that Huedhaut gave her, her last thoughts were literally of her and Huedhaut hugging the morning prior as she found comfort in the absolute. Huedhaut was near her/watched as she faded from existence. Everything she did, Huedhaut took it personal as Clotho's decisions were purely emotional.

Whether it was inconsistent writing or intentional, Hue's reasonings/graspings at Clotho changes throughout the story from (TLDR SUMMED UP)

"Oh gods I desecrated myself for love" "Did she love me or was she unhappy and decided to do that" blaming himself for not stopping her/finding a solution/not being smart enough at the time

it changes in his route a few times but I think its a realistic depiction for someone who didn't get closure and is heavily focused on reason. tldr im rambling love overcomes as a theme and love is good. Voltage I am begging please give Hue a good update also redo his promise of infinity.

hue and clotho/mc have that doomed yuri type beat also something about them just spreads tragedy i love them i have like 3 scm aus and one of them is dedicated to them entirely.

[lilithmymind]

I had a very interesting Marmaid/Middle ages AU idea for Batman but thought I wasn't so into it I want to share because I think this is very good.

Let's start with underwater and up world. I decided what it's all takes place in England somewhere at times when witches and demons were actively haunted. It was some small territory where was the main ruler who kinda rules everything(Put any Mayor of Gotham on his place) and here's not much to talk about.

Though underwater world I thought more about. There is a very strict rules to Mermaids, Sirens and I don't have a translate to word Полудницы[Poludnitsy], it was kind of mermaids who just wanted people to have fun so they tickled them to death. Mermaids can't kill even bad people, Sirens can't sing when someone is near so they won't make havock and stay under the watch, Полудницы can't have fun with others and stays under strict watch too (Only when no one is near because that's literally part of a nature of this creatures and without that it would be hard for them to exist since there are already majority of problems with all that stuff in the underwater world). Though all those rules work different for each in the each side of the ocean, but that's the main rules. Under water there was somewhere some main king/queen(Random Mayor of Gotham№2) but each territory has their own little ruler as well. At the territory where I putten this Waynes, as the wealthiest and with the deep connection with king/queen family, are the rulers. Now about the Waynes themselves.

Alfred Pennyworth is a kind and helpful merman but, like many mermaids and mermen, can kill a bad person, thought mostly mermaids kill only ones who treat women badly.

Batman at night is a mysterious knight who, when light from the outside world is down, fightes with everyone who's too cruel and murderous and underwater forces of evil. Due to his armor nobody can tell what specie is it but decided what it's a merman. Though on reality it was Bruce Wayne and he is a Siren.

Waynes always has been Sirens, and a cruel ones, but Thomas and Martha proved what Sirens can be good too and raised Bruce to be a good and lawful too. Once little Bruce and his parents went to watch jellyfishes and when they were already returning they went through short way when pirates was fishing. Thomas and Martha tried to went quite but some Полудниц[Poludnits] Joe Chill decided to play a little perfectly well knowing what this will make pirates react to the sounds of the laughter under water and catch Thomas and Martha while Bruce was standing on the side instead of playing. Joe quickly left once he noticed knights passing by in the further away, leaving kid alone with hatred towards pirates and ones who don't follow underwater law and trauma.

How topic with Bats appeared? Bruce once playing with mermens find some cave where was still water but just a little, while his friends refused to go there with him he did it himself and accidentally got catched in a trap by moving some bricks. His friends quickly went to call adults while Bruce was left with a little amount of water, some dirt and awakened bats flying around and one if them bit him. Later in adulthood he returned there to think how he can name his vigilante persona and a bat sat on his shoulder.

Now I'd want to move to other characters, please:

Mad Hatter is something like Ursula in My little Mermaid, has magic, turns a main character into a human. During one fight with Batman he took his ability to speak and left him only singing, knowing what Batman would never use it, and gave him legs wich made Bat got up and try to survive somehow. Without Batman does havock in an underwater world.

Selina Kyle is an orphan and a thief know as Catwoman for her cat-like outfit and behaviour. She is counted as 'Wanted dead or alive'. She breaks social norms by wearing pants and treating women like equal to men. A good fighter and a good woman though she often uses flirt to make people stop paying attention while she steals their money and jewelries. Also can kill without even blinking. She was the first one who saw some pretty muted man sitting on a rock near water in some random dirty sheet and decided to help him thinking what it is some rich boy with amnesia and no tongue. Kinda interested in him but she don't think this will be big of a deal.

Edward Nashton was Selina's good friend but when he become a priest under the name Edward Nygma they became rivals, If not enemies. Ed became a priest because he wanted to 'Understand God's Riddles' because he always foung bible confusing, people who goes by that religion otherwise of what Bible teaches, and God a man with many questions. That's how appeared his Alter Ego, The Riddler, and he leads a cult of 'The ones who can understand God truly!!!' and hides himself behind clothes what he thinks represent God, always asking not understanding God people riddles about him.

Pamela Isley was a very smart woman who even got an education under the fake man's name and was an alchemist who tried to raise new types of plants, but once she got catched for 'Not following god' and her science was called a Witchcraft, truth about her gender were find which ended bad for Pamela. When Pamela ran out of the gate she tried to escape so she went to the sea, stealing a boat and trying to escape to the ocean, but guards find her and threw a torch in it so Pamela had to jump off. When she hoped to swim away a algae catched her leg, making her drown. Cause technically she was drowned by humans she turned into a Siren and later, after she used her alchemist knowings to raise murderous plans who will listen and follow her orders and few brutal murderers of ships full of people, other underwater creatures called her Poison Ivy.

The Joker was some French guy Jack Napier who met a love of his life and moved to England with her. To get money he wanted to become a jester but failed wich led him to having a deal with pirates. During their heist of very rich and welthy ship he got distracted by a small part of Siren song which made him fall in the waters. Once Batman noticed what, his supposingly lonely practice, has been noticed and what it've done he quickly tried to save the guy, but he lost him, while Jack saw the mysterious Siren(Aka Batsy) and got obsessed with him and, in hopes to catch him later, swam out, losing his mind and totally forgetting about his previous life, including pregnant wife who, without Jack's knowing, already died. He makes himself look totally different and gives himself a name Joker, becoming a captain for pirates and making his group of them. His main goal right now is to find that armored Siren and either take revenge, either marry on him.

Harleen Quinzel was a self-educated but smart woman thought neither her family, neither society appreciated what, which led to a tonns of curses what others said to her and attempts to make her marry rich and shut the fuck up. Once she got caught in the middle of heist of the street by The Joker's pirates and got interested in him. Trying to reach out for him and understand how his mind works she slowly fell into his manipulations and got obsessed with him, but noticing his obsession with a Sirens she left a house at night and made a ritual to become a Mermaid for him. Joker wasn't really happy what she is a mermaid and not a Siren, but he decided to keep her close and called her Harley Quinn.

Jim Gordon was one of the knights which was exhausting for him. He never liked the whole inquisition thing and how othher knights acted, also didn't like church very much and always tried to change the system, getting shutten up immediately and staying alive only because he's the only knight who can lead other morons.

Barbara Gordon has always gotten all smart books from her father, which made her very well educated too, but being a low-class woman made her mostly stay silent about this. Don't like the attention priest Edward gives her and wishes she could born a man to be as cool as her dad, helping people. In secret she actually runs away from home at night to help others but she can't do much. Later when Joker shoots her she loses ability to walk, but after a ritual what Bruce helped her to do she becomes a mermaid, which makes her and Jim's interactions difficult, but they still try to stay one family.

Harvey Dent was a rich kid and the one who always came to court many times, telling about other people's crimes and witchcraft, but often didn't support church and openly called an absurd the whole situation with Pamela or others like that, which led him to a very unpleasant situation. Some church-loving lunatics attacked him, trying to fire him down so 'hell fire will erase his sins' but missed a little bit which made only one half of his body burned. After that Harvey got multiple personality disorder, one of which was Executioner and other were The Judge, but due the fact what people mostly saw only Executioner they called Harvey two-face. Executioner chooses his victims' fate by the flip of the coin which's one side got burned altogether with him.

Dick Grayson was a guy playing with his family in moving circus but during one of the tricks his parents tragically died. Bruce quickly took a kid in and later Dick became a hero of up world, helping Bruce watch it when he returnes under water and becomes a Siren again.

At the start it was supposed to be one-sided Batjokes au where Joker was haunting Batman and once he hears Bruce sing a little bit somewhere he recognizes him and tries to catch him now there and Bruce kinda charms him trying to make him stop being pirate and yada yada yada, but I think it can work with literally any ship and it doesn't matter that much since this setting can have more to itself If someone with imagination will take it and make something out of it.

If someone is interested you can do literally anything with all of this, I'd be glad to watch or read something about it and the way other people view this. You can change it or play with it whatever you want.

[darkdevasofdestruction]

Chapter 4 - Comfort Me

Due to the unexpectedly thick fog, the Stardust Crusaders were forced to stop by the little town below their road and hope that, by the next day, it will dissipate and clear their vision. They still had such a long road ahead of them. Holly's life was on the line and they couldn't stall... Though, Kisara thought, the town looked even more succumbed to the mystifying fog. How peculiar. As the girl kept her head rested on Jotaro's shoulder, her eyes hooded and almost half asleep, she saw something that made her gasp and straighten up - Was that a dog, impaled on a spike? It couldn't be, could it? No way that could happen!  She turned her head to look back, feeling her heart beating faster with fear - Then she felt her hand being held gently. Jotaro looked at her, and despite not sharing any word of concern, the sentiment was shared. He, too, must have seen the same worrying thing that she did. A grim omen for what was to happen.

When finally they reached down into the town, it looked like some kind of horror-movie set. Was it a ghost town? A haunted town? Whatever it was, Kisara hated it to the core. Joseph, however, seemed to like that there were so many buildings, estimating at least a thousand civilians living in that place - But where were they hiding?  They got out of the car, going to the restaurant, as there was a guard standing there and looking blankly at them. As Joseph correctly greeted the man, he only flipped the board, showing the restaurant was closed for them; And when he turned around to disappear inside the building, Kisara could clearly see two large cockroaches roaming around the back of his neck. Based on Mr. Joestar's reaction also, he must have been thinking he was seeing peculiar things also.

The girl hugged herself and stuck next to her brother to seek some comfort; This whole town must be cursed or something, it felt evil, and that feeling was simply reinforced by the guy which Polnareff found, sitting in a corner - He had a look of horror on his face, and when he fell off to the ground, long-dead, salamanders crawled out of his mouth. He was holding a gun which was still smoking; It must have been fired five minutes prior at most, just right before they arrived in town - Yet, the question stand - Why didn't they hear anything?  

Unable to discern the cause of death as anything other than a stroke or a heart attack, and incapable of coming up with an answer as to what he was shooting at, Kakyoin tried to reach out to a woman with her two children, but she couldn't be communicated with, and those festering boils on her face kept bubbling over with pus the more she scratched them. It was disgusting, seeing her peel her flesh off, and the poor boy felt like vomiting. What the hell was with the people of this town? A person is lying on the ground, dead, yet nobody seems to be the slightest bit concerned. 

Even more peculiar than that, was the dog staring at them. Kisara lightly tugged on Jotaro's sleeve, and he seemed to be rather concerned for their well-being also. They just saw that dog, dead and on a spike - How is it here, alive and well, then? It made no sense. In fact, nothing from this damn town made sense. The whole damn fog was demonic.

"You don't think it's the work of another Stand user, do you?" Jotaro asked, crouching by the cadaver's side, next to his grandpa.  "Probably not. There's no motive." Joseph grumbled. "I think it is, actually." Kisara noted. "Everything about this place is unsettling. The fog, the town, the people. There's something wrong here." "Would someone who's after us kill someone before we even get here?" the old man asked. "There's no reason for a Stand user to kill him." "Let's at least see if we can figure out a cause of death or something." Kakyoin sighed, looking down at the corpse uncomfortably. 

Using a pen, Joseph fumbled about the body, and found out he might have been a traveling Indian, based on the money he was carrying. Once he dragged his shirt down, he noticed a hole the size of a ten-yet coin right under his throat - But as Jotaro asked, why was there no blood? Frowning, Kisara ripped the body's shirt, revealing a lot more holes in his body. Though Joseph scolded her for tempering with evidence, she simply scoffed. "Do you really think there is any police that would come?"  "He looks like the cartoon cheese on Tom & Jerry!" Polnareff cried out in shock.  "All holes look to have the exact same circumference." Kisara noted, leaning closer. "Not even a drop of blood. They look like they were exsanguinated." "How is it even possible to kill someone like that?!" Joseph's question had an unspoken answer - An Enemy Stand User was on their tail. "Be careful. If there wasn't a Stand user here before, you can bet there's one here now." as if on cue, Joseph tried to jump a spiked gate and almost got himself deathly impaled in it, under the pretext that he saw it as their car. Could the fog create hallucinations? "Guys, I say we get the hell out of here. This is very dangerous." Kisara tried to warn, but an old woman, and interestingly enough, the sole inhabitant of this town with which they could actually hold a conversation, slowly made her way in front of the party, inviting them to her hotel. No matter how terrified she was, she couldn't part from the group, so reluctantly, she, too, agreed to go with them. 

"Here, master Joestar, the hotel is this way. I'll lead the way. Please follow me." the old woman smiled kindly at them, but Kisara could only raise her eyebrow at her, clutching Jotaro's sleeve; a habit she shamefully developed over the journey. "Master Joestar... Interesting." she muttered to the boy. "Just 20 years ago, one of those 007 films was shot at this small hotel. John Lennon from The Beatles also stayed here once." she tried to advertise light heartedly. "Whoa?! Really?!" Polnareff gasped in shock. "No, not at all." she giggled playfully. "But I like to think I run a nice hotel. We currently have no other guests staying with us. Will meat for dinner be fine with you? Or would you prefer fish?" she kept rambling politely, but Jotaro was having none of it. "Hold it, old lady. Just now, I heard you say 'Mr. Joestar'. Where did you hear that name?" he asked, voicing Kisara's shared suspicions. "Come now, sir! That person there said Mr. Joestar just moments ago!" she laughed simply. "Me? I did? Well, I could have..." Frenchie trailed off, trying to think about it. "You certainly did! When you've been in customer service for many years, you pick up on people's names quickly. You certainly do!" she grinned widely, innocently, which made Kisara even more nervous to be around her, while Jotaro knew he had to find a way to get the truth out of her. "Ma'am, may I ask what happened to your left hand?" the silver haired man asked. "Oh, this? I just burnt it a little... It's probably because of my old age, but I accidentally spilled boiled water on it." she laughed carefree. "Old age? What are you talking about? You don't look a day over 40! I might even ask you on a date!" Polnareff tried to be funny with her, to which she laughed bashfully. "Please don't tease me like that, sir!" 

The inside of the hotel actually looked rather incredibly and beautiful, all things considered. With everyone rooming by themselves, they all had to write their names in the book, before the old woman was to show them their chambers. Being the last one to sign, Kisara couldn't help but smile a little, seeing their fake names. Kakyoin Tenmei. Kujo Qtaro. How adorable. What should she write her name as? Ah, yeah, she's got such an original idea, it almost made her laugh.  Kakyoin Yuria - Yuria, the fiancee of Kenshiro from Hokuto no Ken. Omae wa mou shindeiru. How funny!

Whilst Polnareff went to the bathroom, the others gathered in Joseph's room to try using Hermit Purple on the TV - Unfortunately, no matter was Nori did, the TV wasn't working at all. It was time to rest fir the night, at least a little bit. Kisara especially doubted she'd be able to actually sleep any time soon; Not with how eerie the place was. 

Laying on the bed, she was lost in thought, looking up at the ceiling. "Don't worry." Marilyn let herself out, sitting on the edge of the bed. "JoJo." "JoJo? You want me to go to JoJo?" Kisara gasped at the audacity of her Stand's proposal, earning a nod and the same tender smile on her face. "You are going to kill me with embarrassment!" "Happy." Marilyn placed her hand over her heart "You... Are happy? When you're around Jotaro and Star?" Marilyn nodded. "I..." Kisara found herself smiling also. "I am happy with them also."

As if he was summoned, through the wall separating her room from Jotaro's, a specter protruded half-way through, and he smiled, waving at them. Though Kisara was surprised to see Star being as cheeky as Marilyn, no doubt coming over all on his own, she couldn't help but smile and wave him over. It truly was wholesome, seeing how adorable Marilyn and Star were, sitting on the edge of the bed and just smiling at each other.

A knock on the door captured her attention; She called out for the person to enter, and Jotaro's silhouette was revealed. The brim of his hat was tipped, covering the embarrassed expression betraying his emotions, seeing his naughty stand pull off such an embarrassing thing. "Here to join our tea party?" the boy scoffed at Kisara's comment, and the two Stands disappeared.  "I wanted to investigate the place. Star just went ahead of me." he grumbled, looking away from the girl. "Then, would you mind some company?" she cheekily asked, shooting up to her feet, stepping up in front of him. From her height, looking up, she noticed the faint blush covering his cheeks. "Do whatever you want." he huffed, abruptly turning on his heel to exit the room. "All right... CUTEaro." the boy's body froze on the spot. "You really are cute." her teasing humming only further embarrassed the boy. "Yare Yare..."

The whole hotel was filled with nothing but silence, from all the way up on the third floor where they had their rooms, and down to the entrance lobby. It looked even more eerie as it was. Jotaro opened the room, stepping forward first; He kept his hands buried in his pants pockets, his eyes as sharp as always, analysing every inch of this mysterious and bizarre building. He had to keep constantly on the edge, expect the unexpected, and always be prepared for a surprise attack. No one was safe, no one was in the clear; Anyone and anything could be an enemy ready to sever the thin string of their life.

From the other room, the old woman entered the lobby also, panting a little - Had she been startled by their sudden appearance? Or was she hiding something that they weren't supposed to see? "Oh, you startled me! You must learn how to knock, young dearies." her smile seemed overly forced, even for one working in customer service and was required to be polite; Not only that, she seemed shaken up and exhausted.  "Is that so? I thought this was the lobby." Kisara hummed, feigning innocent confusion. "Well, never mind that, Miss Kisara - What can I do for you?" the old woman's voice was shaky, the vibrato of her tone seemingly dubious.  "We are here looking for Polnareff." Jotaro gruffed sternly. "And I did known. Maybe you didn't hear because you were too busy doing something else, grandma." "Why, yes, I do know exactly where Mr. Polnareff is, Mr. Jotaro." the old woman stepped towards them, turning to point towards a door. "He is in the bathroom, Mr. Jotaro." "Of course he is." Jotaro sighed; His suspicions were correct, the old hag was suspicious - After all, how could she know their names, if she wasn't one of Dio's lackeys? "This door, is it?" Kisara carefully hung behind, her arm protectively wrapped in a rather casual manner around the boy's waist - She suspected the old woman, and with this proximity, the passive shield constantly protecting her could care for him also.  "Yes, yes - It's the last door at the end of the hall." the grandma's voice slurred a little, thinking she had won.  Just before Jotaro touched the doorknob; Just before Enyaba could rip him to shreds with her hidden sharp scissors; Jotaro spoke again, hindering her advances on his life. "What's the matter, grandma?" "S-So close..." Enya was on the ground, panting hard and staring with horror at the scissors which almost caused her demise. "Close, huh? You shouldn't run around with scissors like that, at your age. Good thing you weren't hurt." Jotaro dramatically stroked his chin, bending a little at the waist. "You're pretty lucky." "Speaking of luck - I had a curiosity, if you'd be so kind to answer." Kisara's sweet smile felt poisoned to the old woman. "Why did you call me 'Kisara'?"  "And you called me 'Jotaro' also." the boy stared down harshly at their host. "I never told you my name, and no one has called me by my name. I find that strange." Jotaro's comment struck hard. "Well? Come on, tell me. Maybe it's because I watched Columbo as a kid, but it's little details like that that keep me up at night." he truly was adorable, Kisara thought to herself, barely able to stifle a chuckle.  "Y-You're beginning to hurt this old lady's feelings!" she coughed, exaggerated, as if to show off her old age and frailty. "It's the guestbook! You wrote your name in the guestbook!" she hacked some more. "You wrote 'Kujo Jotaro' and 'Kakyoin Kisara'." she seemed so proud of her witty answer. "Is that so?" Kisara giggled, as the boy took the guestbook out of his pocket, showing off the names written. "My name is Yuria - At least for today. And he is CUTEaro." Jotaro glared at her harshly for a second, before turning his gaze back at the frantic old woman.  "Not 'Jotaro' nor 'Kisara' are written anywhere." her soft tremble made it even more obvious that she was guilty. "I was onto you when you said 'Joestar' the first time we met. I told the others not to use our real names, and yet, you knew it - Which could only mean you're the Stand user after us, you old hag." Watching the old woman hiss like that on the ground, fog surrounding her, put Kisara on high alert. "Well? Ready for a fight or what?" 

From behind them, a bunch of people with the same coin-like holes in their bodies jumped to assault them ; Thankfully, JoJo was as highly prepared as always and reacted with instant reflexes. Star punched all of them to a pulp while Marilyn kept them safe. With incredible strength, Jotaro's Stand managed to throw all of assailants out of the building, through the large windows of the lobby, glass shards shooting everywhere.

With another tense silence hanging over them, save for Enya's chattering teeth, Kisara carefully stepped away from her friend, and towards Polnareff, who was toppled over on the ground with... Hol Horse? Well, what a coincidence. They looked absolutely petrified with fear and panic, and worse - Frenchie's tongue was painfully punctured by the old hag's Stand and could barely speak - But the enemy turned friend spoke in his stead, giving away information of Enya's Stand power - It seems she was pretty angry on him for leaving her son to be killed. What an interesting turn of event. He claims the Stand made of fog can split the circular wound right open and control your body like a marionette, as it happened to all the dead people, and even him. Out of anger, the old woman forced the cowboy to punch himself in the face so he would shut the hell up.

"JoJo!" Kisara turned around abruptly, but it was too late; In the few seconds she was away from the boy, away from the shield, Jotaro's leg got pierced by the sharp tongue of a baby. "You can't fight her fog! We need a plan!" she rushed to his side. "And I've got just the plan." he smirked, leaning on her shoulder smugly. "Before the old hag takes another breath, I'll defeat that Stand." he declared boldly.  "Eh? What was that? Before I do what? You rotten little shit head!" Enya grimaced angrily, though she cackled, sure that there was no way she could ever be defeated. Jotaro's Star Platinum was inhaling Justice's fog and keeping it in his lungs, causing the old hag to reach asphyxiation and faint on the spot. What an insane strategy - Only someone as insane as Jotaro could think of something like that. "Looks like her head is in a bit of a fog." "That was such a dad joke." Kisara covered her giggle with her hand. "Yare Yare..." he smirked, looking away. "You still laughed." "Yeah." she breathed out softly. "You are very funny."

The two had a few more seconds to bask in the afterglow of their victory and the comfort of each other's company, before the great commotion from the fight called her brother and Mr. Joestar down to the lobby, where they were briefed in on the whole mess that transpired, with everyone present adding their own little bits to the now completed puzzle. 

"So... Polnareff... Did you have fun at the bathroom with Hol Horse?" Kisara smirked, teasing him. "What did you even lick?" Joseph asked, just as amused. "Why the hell do you even care what I've been licking? Quit asking stupid questions! ... The Toilet ..." he declared at the end, between subtle, loud coughs. "Ehhh? You were licking WHAT now~? I didn't quite hear that!" Joseph put his hand to his ear, wanting to hear that again. "Who even cares now?! I want to disinfect my tongue! Just get me some medicine!" Polnareff kept bitching around. "I'm pretty sure I heard someone say 'Toilet'." Kakyoin spoke with a bewildered frown, making Joseph turn around to the siblings, chuckling and whispering in their ears like a giggling prankster school boy. "Actually, I already know, but I can't resist messing with him!" he couldn't contain his laughter at all. "Hey! Did Jotaro already tell you?! You fucking old geezer! He's messing with me! Forget about the medicine!" Polnareff blushed, cursing and walking away. "All right, all right, my bad!" Joseph laughed, putting his hands up in defeat. "Okay, but you should have seen him! So hilarious! Polnareff and toilets really don't go together!" Kisara laughed with him, feeling tears prickle at their eyes from all the laughter. "I'll fix you right up, Polnareff! It'll get infected if we don't take care of it!.... Toilet licker ... You licked it real good..." Joseph said between coughs, which made the both of them laugh even harder, only for Kakyoin to sigh at their childishness. "Goddamnit! Let's get back to our journey! Jotaro! Double Kakyoin!" Polnareff yelled, even redder with shame. "Everyone, come outside. Look." Jotaro spoke from outside, and the party noticed the fog lifting, revealing tons of tombstones.

It was then that they realised the fog was, as suspected, the cause of their previous hallucinations, and the whole town was a huge graveyard spot, and illusion, and they truly have been speaking to cadavers all along. Well, they shouldn't linger too long on such things, they have their own journey to continue; Though Hol Horse stole their car, they managed to find a rather fancy, horse-pulled carriage and arrived in a Pakistani city, where they agreed to stop and get something to eat - They deserved a break and a warm meal, a'ight? That, and to use Hermit Purple and project on a TV all of Enya's thoughts, in hopes of figuring out the rest of the enemy Stand users, their powers, and hopefully, perhaps even get an edge on Dio's true power.

They found a pretty decent Kebap place where Joseph attempted his negotiation skills with the owner, thinking himself witty and victorious for getting a discount; If only he knew that he paid ten times the proper amount, just for being a naive tourist. At the same time, Enya was displaying signs of waking up after quite a long time, and upon seeing the Kebap seller, she seemed to be absolutely terrified, to a degree that not even Jotaro could, when he was easily defeating her. 

As the seller removed his hood and took off his shades, revealing a young man in his mid-twenties, with the perfect appearance of a typical casanova; At the very same time, something peculiar happened, and Enya shrieked - Not only that she was far above telling on Master Dio's Stand power secret, but also out of complete agony, as long, worm-like tendrils went out of her eyes, ears and mouth, causing her a most gruesome death that not even Kisara could save her from. The villain, using a sultry voice, introduced himself as Steely Dan, using the Stand named the Lovers, and he was there to kill all the Crusaders in the very same way he killed poor old Enya. 

It was almost pitiful, how whole-heartedly she trusted Master Dio, how confident she was that he wouldn't plot her death in such a way; Panicked, Polnareff used Silver Chariot to cut off the tentacles from the planted Flesh Bud, causing the cut-off pieces to disintegrate as the rays of the Sun touched them - They were made from Dio's cells. How did Joseph come to such a conclusion, Kisara couldn't understand, but it must be a key information which she doesn't have, and must inquire about. 

In spite of clearly being killed indirectly by the Master Dio she loved and admired so much, she refused to tell his secret, up until the second she perished. The quest of saving Holly Joestar was going to be much more problematic than Kisara predicted, and this sleazy guy was going to be a drag to deal with.

"Such blind loyalty... Fanatics like her are the scariest kind of enemy. They cannot be reasoned with." the girl sighed, feeling an uncomfortable shiver going down her spine.  "What a truly pitiful old woman she was, but the fact that her trust ran so deeply further proves the power of Lord Dio's sinister charm." Steely Dan had sat down at a cafe table, where two porcelain cups were steaming, and the strong, soothing smell off coffee attracted their attention. "It seems this lovely lady over here can understand the beautiful malice of Our Lord." with a rather ominous, Dan winked at the girl, motioning for her to step closer and sit in front of him. "Sit down, my dear, I ordered this coffee just for you." he spoke in a sort of alluring way, making Kisara gulp at how uncomfortable she was feeling; Never has she been so blatantly hit on like that before, and it was genuinely creeping her out as nothing else she's experienced. "I-I... Uhm..." the girl lowered her hat to cover the excruciating grimace on her face as she stepped backwards, hiding herself by using Jotaro's large body as a shield; Again. "Hey, jerk. Quit acting like you're hot shit, get up. We'll kick your ass if that's what it takes." Jotaro threatened, glaring at the brunet man upon seeing those perverted eyes lingering on the girl's body and the way she tried to hide her distress. "Go ahead, but none of you will be able to lay even a single finger on me, the great Steely Dan." he mused cockily. "Any man who must say, "I am the king" is no true king." Kisara hissed at the enemy. "I'll make sure you understand that when I slice you into tiny pieces." "Awww, little kitten wants to play~? I'll have you know, I quite enjoy those cute little claws going down my back. Do you also purr when touched~?" the party was entirely grossed out by the lechery displayed so shamelessly, so much so that they all took out their stands; It was Star Platinum who punched him in the gut with such power that he flew backwards, shattering the cafe's window.

However, at the exact same moment Star's fist collided with Dan's body, a feminine squeal of mixed pain and shock garnered their focus, finding herself flying backwards into the nearest lamp post, bending it with her spine, and sliding down slowly; She was clutching her stomach and coughing blood of the same degree that Dan was. "Th-That... Really... Hurt..." she's never experienced pain, especially not of this degree; Were it not for Temperance corroding at her arm, she wouldn't even know what pain would feel like, considering Marilyn always protected her, even from a scrape knee. To get the brunt of Jotaro's punch to her diaphragm, getting the air knocked out of her lungs... That was something she never wanted to ever experience. "Kisara, what happened?!" Kakyoin ran to his sister, helping her distraught, trembling body stand up. She seemed to still be in deep shock from the impact and pain. "They both flew at the same time!" Polnareff cried out, his gaze shifting rapidly between the two. "Nori... Get Mr. Joestar away from here..." Kisara grunted weakly into her brother's ear. "You idiot! I was still talking! You could have just killed your girlfriend! Listen carefully!" Dan stumbled back on his feet, wiping away the trailing blood staining his chin. "Did you really think I appeared before you just to kill Enyaba?" he spit some blood. "You bastard - You told us your Stand is The Lovers - What does it do?!" Joseph shouted at the man.  "The Lovers... It mirrors your pain and damage on an enemy of your choosing... Isn't it?" Kisara found herself speaking, only to shiver a little, under the sultry gaze of the sleazy man. "The only thing you have to know is that the battle has already begun, babe. You'll never find my Stand, no matter how hard you look." the enemy declared with a smirk.

To taunt the Crusaders further, Dan pain a child to hit his leg with the broom he was cleaning the streets with; And with that strike, Kisara fell to the ground, cradling her shin - It was agony that she was feeling, as if all her nerves were alit at once, just like fairy lights on Christmas. "Don't you get it, cutie? My Stand enters the enemy's body! The moment Enyaba died, it entered your brain through your ear!" he shouted with confidence; not only that, but he declared he also brought a piece of Dio's cells to create a Flesh bud and bring forth her demise the very same he did with the old hag, and it will inflict pain several times greater than the once he feels, to the same part of her body. "You don't need to be strong to kill someone." 

The child hit Dan's legs again, making Kisara cover her mouth to stifle her scream of suffering; Perhaps if she hadn't been so sheltered all her life, she wouldn't be so frail and pain intolerant; Alas, tears were threatening to escape her eyes for the first time in so long, just like a little girl who scraped her knee skipping rope for the first time.  Jotaro was so pissed off that he declared he'll be killing Dan so swiftly, he won't even feel a thing; He grabbed him by his shirt, raising him up and clenching his fist, ready to punch - But thankfully, Kakyoin quickly stopped him from doing that. "JoJo, stop - You're choking her!" Jotaro's eyes widened, stealing a quick look backwards and watching the poor red head groveling on the ground and panting for air. "Oh? Kill me before I feel it, huh? Interesting - Do it! What were you planning to destroy, ey, Jotaro? My face? Throat?" Dan taunted to young man. "What, you angry? Come on, try it! Let's just see what happens!" he revealed his chest through the already half-unbuttoned shirt. "How about busting a hole in my chest? Or, how about you give up on using your Stand and crack my head open with a rock?" he bent down, picking a rock in his hand. "You do not want to underestimate me." Jotaro threatened, grabbing Dan by the shirt one again, glaring down at him. "When I say I'm going to do something, I do it."  "S-STOP!" as Kisara managed to croak out a plea, Hierophant Green came out to grab Star's arm and pull his fist away, while Noriaki pried Jotaro away from the enemy. "Jotaro, enough - You already know what he can do! Are you trying to kill my sister?!" Polnareff also had to put his arms around the abnormally strong highschool student. "He might just do it." Frenchie growled in his attempt at dragging the brunet away.  "Jotaro, she can't breathe, let him go!" Joseph was kneeling on the ground, cradling Kisara's body gently and keeping her hands away from her throat, as she tried to claw away at her skin, just to get some air to breathe. "Please... Run... He's targeting... You..." with this proximity, Kisara was able to warn the old man, watching as her friend begrudgingly let go off the enemy. "You dumb punk." Dan pushed Jotaro away, smirking triumphantly, knowing he can't retaliate or counterattack unless he wants to kill his crush. 

From the corner of her eyes, Kisara saw how big the rock Dan was holding, and smelled the malevolent intent behind it; Before he could grab and punch JoJo in the gut, she sent Marilyn out to protectively stand in front of him and shield him. "Don't touch JoJo." Marilyn's serenely soft voice echoed gently through their ears, mesmerising them. "Ahh, of course - A beautiful Stand for a beautiful Lady. How fitting!" Dan cackled. "Master Dio did tell me to figure out your power - So how about you be a good girl and just tell me? I might even spare your life if you do."  "Die." everyone, but Noriaki especially, was shocked to hear such a simple yet malicious comment could come out from a pure and gracious Stand like the one before their eyes. "You, fucking bitch--" Dan growled at Marilyn. "I'll make you regret looking down on the great Steely Dan!" side-stepping the Stand, he tried to slam down the rock into Jotaro's head, but it was for naught; The rock hadn't collided with anything, except for the shield, causing it to fall to the ground.

Kisara used Joseph's shoulder to support her into standing up. "You said The Lovers is the weakest Stand, didn't you?" she hummed, stepping weakly next to Marilyn - It was now more obvious than ever before how similar they looked, almost like twins. "The Devil, also, has no damaging strength whatsoever - Which means, I can stop you from afflicting yourself or anyone else, without as much as feeling any pain." she tilted her head, smiling - Yet unlike Marilyn's passively demure smile, hers was wicked, denigrating - The Devil and its two faces. "What a fucking annoying bitch you are - You sucked all the fun away from me!" Dan groaned loudly, slapping his forehead with his hand - But instead of Kisara feeling the pain, it was the old man. The Lovers changed targets. "How do you feel now, Jotaro?! Your grandpa's life is on the line! What are you gonna do, eh?!"

As the poor boy growled, his fists clenched so tight they became white and trembling. With a shared look with his sister, Noriaki grabbed the old man and Polnareff, running away to put as much distance between Dan and Mr. Joestar as possible; Which left Jotaro and Kisara alone with the sadistic Dan who was ready to destroy the two. "Oi, Jotaro, it's impolite to ignore someone when they're talking to you, don't you know?!" Dan grabbed at his jacket. The young man looked down at the enemy from the corner of his eyes, having a denigrating spark. "You sound like you're starting to lose your cool."  "Well, what are you planning? To follow me around until Grandpa Joseph keels over?" he grinned tauntingly.  "Dan, was it? I'll make sure you pay for this." JoJo threatened, but didn't budge. "If that's why you're following me, maybe I should take out a loan first." he said, as he started pick pocketing Jotaro, taking out his wallet, and speaking about how little money he has, but has a brand watch, before coming over to the girl once again. "And you, darling? What do you have in your pockets?" his hands wandered around in places that shouldn't be touched, but Kisara could only grit her teeth and glare at him. "A pervert will always be a pervert." she scoffed, seeing him not only take away all the money from her wallet, but also remove the golden jewellery gracing her features so elegantly. She was going to destroy him, once Nori finds a way to get rid of that annoying Stand. "Huh. I guess, without all that gold, even a pretty girl looks dull."  "If this is how you flirt with women... Well, no wonder you have no game. You're shit." Kisara hissed, stepping away from him with disgust. "Hush now! A woman shouldn't talk, but take care of her man's needs." he pulled her roughly into his side, smirking smugly, knowing very well how uncomfortable he was making her feel. "The only problem is - You are not my man." she pointed out, only for him to flick her hat off; Poor girl was so photosensitive that she could barely keep her eyes open. "Jerk." "Let's have a romantic walk around the city, shall we~?" he dragged the girl around senselessly down the paved streets of the unfortunate Pakistani city which got its beauty tainted by this sucker. They strolled that-a-way up and down the place, with Jotaro trailing right behind and glaring at the enemy with such dark eyes that showed how much he wanted to rip Dan apart with his bare hands. 

As the foe kept talking unimportant gibberish, mostly to himself, the trio reached a long water ditch which prevented them from passing forwards - The bridge was too far away for Dan to bother walking all the way over there, twenty whole meters. "Hey, missy, get on your knees." the two teenagers looked weirdly at Dan. "I need someone to carry me all the way to, and across the bridge. Wouldn't want to get tired." "I... Literally barely weight fifty kilos, and you expect me to be able to even lift you? Let alone, actually carry you?" Kisara blinked in bewilderment, only for her to be surprised by the enemy raising his foot up, hooking his shoe to the back of her neck and slamming her down on the ground harshly. Steely Dan took a break by sitting on her back.  "Hey, what'd you know, you make for quite the comfy chair." the man laughed tauntingly. "But you're pretty bony. Come on, get up, carry me across." "You're... Really heavy..." Kisara couldn't even as much as lift herself up from the ground, it was really quite pathetic actually. A silent growl was rumbling in Jotaro's chest, but he kept an active effort in keeping it inaudible, so Dan wouldn't extort him further; He couldn't stand the humiliation and disrespect addressed to the girl he cared so much for; He absolutely abhorred the way her arms and whole body were trembling under the heavy weight of the idiot who tried so hard to destroy their pride and provoke them into attack him, and indirectly, his grandpa also, but to a worse degree. 

"You're useless, you know?" Dan huffed, hopping to the edge of the ditch. "Now then, how to cross the ditch? I could try to jump, but I could trip and twist my ankle by accident - And clearly, lil' miss bitch here ain't got the strength needed to spare her boy-toy from humiliation." he huffed, a denigrating smirk on his face, clearly up to no good, as he looked between the two younguns. "What kind of woman are you, if you can't even protect your man's pride?" Kisara had no reply, because it was true; Were it not for the nature of his Stand, she would have done everything in her power to stop anyone from causing any of her friends any kind of discomfort. She was powerless, and dreading every second of this abuse. "Hmm... Hey, Jotaro, lie down across the ditch and pretend to be a bridge. I'll use you to walk over." Dan eyed Jotaro with a mischievous look, but he said nothing.  "Wh-What?" Kisara's jaw dropped to the floor in sheer shock. "How can you possibly ask something as ridiculous as that?" how could the human mind even create such outlandish ideas? Was this how people of ancient old came up with all the most heinous torture devices? "Shut up." Dan kicked Kisara in the face, watching her go down. "Come one, what's that? Won't you be my bridge? I'll just keep beating her until you do what I say." he threatened, that sleazy grin never once leaving his face. "The hell do you keep yapping about?" Jotaro gruffed at him.  "I SAID - MAKE YOURSELF INTO A BRIDGE, YOU WORTHLESS ARROGANT PRICK!" Dan yelled at the highschooler, attempting to slam his leg into the small pole nearby - But of course, Kisara could do one thing also, and that was to make sure no harm would come out of him attempting to damage himself. Marilyn was good for once thing in this instance, at least. "You shame the whole mankind with your behaviour." the girl spat at him with disgust. "You're nothing more than a brat throwing a temper tantrum. Grow up." she created a bright-white bridge for the idiot. "Go ahead. I made a bridge for you to pass safely." "You... You stupid bitch!" he glared at the girl. "Don't you know men hate smart-asses like you?" he marched up to the girl, grabbing her by the shoulders. "I want to step all over Jotaro's pride! I want to dance on the Jotaro bridge! Get rid of this bright shit already!" Kisara tried to look at Jotaro, whose expression was grim. She didn't want to dispel the bridge, but she also feared the capricious nature of Steely Dan. She wished she could keep him in a protective shield, but he would try to kill himself with the strong walls. Her and her brother once received a gift from their grandpa; He had found two baby bunnies on the field, and put them in a bird cage, hoping they will be well in a protective home with people to care for them. But that wasn't the case, and overnight, the two bunnies hit their heads on the walls of the cage until they died, all in hopes of escaping. A wild animal, even if so very young, cannot stay in captivity for it craves for its rightful freedom.

And Kisara knew, Steely Dan would do the same.

"Yare Yare Daze..." Jotaro sighed, crouching by the edge of the ditch and sprawling himself over to the other side. "JoJo..." was the only thing Kisara could mutter before feeling herself being pushed off, and down on the bridge. The landing hurt, but not more than seeing the humiliation and rage on the boy's face; It made tears sting at her eyes, threatening to fall down her cheeks. The sentiment only got worse by the time the idiot started dancing and jumping all over the boy's spine to his heart's content, until he was satisfied with his deed and hopped off on the other side.  "What a nice bridge you make, Jotaro!" Steely Dan looked down with condescence, before turning away to wander off aimlessly.

Sniffling a little, the girl bit at her trembling bottom lip and rushed by Jotaro's side. She wanted to comfort him, to reassure him that her brother will destroy the Stand soon and he won't be subjected to even more denigration than he already has been, and so many other things - But she couldn't. Her breath was hitched in her throat, and no words escaped. Instead, she opted for another way of conveying her feeling. Kisara's arms wrapped the boy into an embrace from behind, her fingers intertwining in the front over his abdomen, and she tightened the hug. "I'm sorry." were the only words she could muster to breathe out. "I'm so sorry." It only took a few moments, but the highschooler placed his own hand over her own, gently holding them for a few seconds, before stepping away from her. His hold felt so tender and caring, she thought their mutual feelings had been conveyed with that simple touch, and the torment of one's soul would calm, at least a little bit.

"Get your head out of your ass, bastard!" the jerk forced Jotaro to scratch at his back, and even kneel down to polish his shoes with his handkerchief, only to get kicked in the face really hard. "I'm in such a great mood right now! I want you to shine my shoes until they're as bright as I am happy! I want to see the sunlight reflect off them! You can use your uniform to shine them if you want. Actually, maybe you should just lick them clean?" Dan kept rambling here and there. "Why'd you want spit all over your shoes? Gross." Kisara shuddered, cringing at the thought, while Jotaro got up and started writing in his little agenda. "Hey, bastard! The hell are you writing?!" he hollered, snatching away the agenda. "Just what you owe me. I'll make sure you pay it. I tend to forget things, so I'm making a memo." Jotaro smirked smugly, knowing full well that he'd win soon. "Jotaro, you bastard...!" he sneered, before smirking and back-slapping Kisara, making her stumble backwards a few steps, cradling her cheek in shock. "What was that for?!" she wiped the blood from her lip with the back of her hand, genuinely confused at what just happened. "What for, you ask? You've got that dumb puppy-face whenever I humiliate Jotaro - And goodness me, you should see that murderous look HE has when I touch you! I should film it - He is HILARIOUS!" Dan guffawed like the ugly bastard he is, only to abruptly grab at the girl's shoulders and slap his lips onto her aggressively. From the shock, the roughness, the hostility behind the act, Kisara's mind blanked, and she was unable to react in any way, almost as if she was frozen in time. "Say something! Get angry! Cry! Try to hit me! DO SOMETHING!" he continued shaking her by the shoulders, but her brain was completely shut down. "What the hell is wrong with you?! Jotaro, why aren't you saying anything?! Did I just steal her first kiss? Did you want that to be you?!" he kept trying to taunt either of the two desperately, but neither reacted as explosively as expected. "At least chew some mint before going out of your way to kiss someone. And maybe try some deodorant and perfume." Kisara sighed theatrically, spitting on the ground. "You reek. Like a sewer." The jerk only got angrier, throwing a temper tantrum and slapping away at the boy's face, attempting to taunt them two, but the more he did, the more ridiculous his threats sounded. That is, until he spotted a jewellery shop, dragging the young man inside with him. He said he wanted the golden rings and necklaces from the display to make Kisara fall in love with him, like Marilyn Monroe swooned over her Daddies bringing her diamonds and what not.  While staying outside, staring at the shop in deep confusion, she saw a beaten-up Jotaro being forcefully thrown out of the parlor and hit with wooden bats while the jerk came out, mocking him and playing with some gemmed-up necklaces.

Though the girl worriedly fell to his side, holding onto him, Jotaro smirked widely, even chuckling tauntingly at the fuckass. "I was just laughin' 'cause your punishment got doubled." he said, excitedly. "And I've been waiting for this moment! It's almost payback time and It's really got me tingling." before Dan could slam his foot down on JoJo again, Marilyn wrapped herself around his leg, pulling him backwards.  "You are so fucking annoying..." Dan growled with an ugly sneer. "It would seem we have something of a misunderstanding. Sorry, but your old man isn't long for this world. That's the reality you're facing." "How sad. You don't know us very well, do you?" Jotaro chuckled. "Most of all, you clearly don't know my friend, Kakyoin." blood started spurting out of his forehead, which made them both grin in victory. "He did it! Cherry Boy saves the day!" Kisara giggled happily. "Looks like Kakyoin finally did some damage. Here's hoping I have time for some personal payback once he's through with you." he smirked in victory. "You see - There's nothing he wouldn't do for his sister." "Don't forget my turn!" Kisara cracked her knuckles, ready to punch him real good. "What's wrong? Why are you stepping back? Why don't you tell me what happened to my grandfather?" Joots taunted him, and as he tried to run away, he caught him by the hair. "Hey, hey, hey, what's got you worked up? You need to be somewhere? You wouldn't be trying to run away, would you? And at a time like this?" he asked rhetorically, as Dan tried make himself disappear for the danger; So badly that strands of hair were pulled out, that he started bowing on the ground in front of them. "Please forgive me, Master Jotaro! I admit defeat! I can change! I'll lie on the ground and lick your boots! What I did was awful!" he pleaded, hugging his leg. "You can hit me as much as you want! Punch me! Kick me! But please spare my life!" he literally started licking his boots, making the girl gag and roll her eyes at him. "You're worse than leprosy..." she muttered, as Star Platinum easily managed to catch his Stand, squishing it between his fingers, making Dan cry out in agony. "I figured you were planning something like this. Didn't you know that my Stand, Star Platinum, has perfect eyesight and precise reflexes? Are you sure you did your research on us?" Jotaro asked, which made her chuckle in amusement. "You don't even know Kisara's Stand power. How pathetic." "I-I-I wasn't planning anything! Your Stand's power..." he was writhing on the ground, but Jotaro put his hand to his ear, mocking him. "YOUR Stand? Just YOUR?" he asked, obviously waiting for a honorific. "N-No! I-I meant your EXCELLENCY's Stand is more powerful and just than any other! I didn't stand a chance, so it came back!" he kept begging and crying on the ground. "You've forgotten someone here, how rude of you." the brunet boy continued, having fun. "N-No, of course I haven't forgotten! How could I forget the beautiful Princess in front of me! Her Majesty's Stand power is magical and too graceful for my commoner's eyes to watch!" he kept crying, which made the girl laugh. "You're nothing more than a disgusting cockroach in the trash bin." she kicked him to the ground, just like he did to her.

"That attack broke my arm and leg! I can't fight anymore! I can't move!" he kept pleading, but Joots kept squishing the Stand. "Well, I guess for your payment, I'll take your arm and leg. Do you swear you'll never show your ugly face to us again?" Jotaro asked, yet it was obvious he was still toying with him. "I do! I do! I'll go to some deserted island! I'll go to the ends of the earth and never come back!" he tried to promise, but Kisara was getting impatient for her turn at killing him. "You better not be lying to me. Next time I see you, I'll be punching you in the face a thousand times." Jotaro threatened, as he released his Stand and turned around, saying Fuck off. Just then, Dan got up, ranting cluelessly about how he will kill Jotaro and how his Stand is in a little girl's ear and whatever he thought had happened; But he didn't realise that the Stand had Hierophant's tentacles wrapped around it. "PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEE!!!" he begged on the ground, but it was so disgusting. "You should have asked Enyaba if you wanted forgiveness. Forgiving you never even crossed my mind." Jotaro towered over the jerk. "D-Dio paid me in advance... Y-You can have it all..." he tried to negotiate. "Yare Yare... What you owe us can never be paid with money!" Star Platinum went ahead to completely destroy the ridiculous enemy with his punches as Jotaro finished writing the paper, ripping it and throwing it in the air. "Your receipt. Keep the freakin' in change." "Is it my turn yet?" Kisara high-fived Jotaro as Star threw the foe back on the ground for the girl to have her fun and kill him for good. Though he wasn't one to go out of his way to kill, he could understand her desire to get extreme revenge after everything that happened.  "Have fun." he hadn't expected to see her punching him like that, nor did he thought he'd see her drenched in blood with every well-aimed strike; And similarly to what he's seen her do with Temperance, one knee hit the ground as she unsheathed her katana, and with lightning-speed, Steely Dan lay in fish-bite pieces onto the ground. How elegant her moves were, with the grace of a dance of petals in the spring breeze.

Taking a deep breath, Kisara placed her hat back on her head, returning her jewellery back on each part of her body, and her money placed back in the wallet. "Can we, uh... Pretend the whole day didn't happen?" "Agreed." the boy nodded in agreement, putting his arm around her shoulder and walking together to meet the rest of the group. After such a long and painful day, they found a nice hotel towards the outskirts of the city.

With a long, fresh shower and a warm meal, everyone went ahead to rest properly. But Kisara didn't remain idle in her room, instead she went to see how Jotaro was doing. She sat on the edge of the bed, her eyes trailing over his body laying lazily on the bed. "Does it still hurt?" she asked in a soft voice.  "No." he grunted with non-chalance. "I'm a man. I always get in fights. That was nothing." "Just because you're used to it, doesn't make it alright." she hummed, watching as Marilyn held his hand, her gentle white light traversing all over his body in a quick attempt at healing him. "Better?" "It was just some shallow wound and bruises. No big deal." he muttered, closing his eyes. "But thanks."

It was rather curious actually, how one some occasions they felt so at ease in each other's company, all alone, just the two of them - And sometimes, they find no words to utter to the other, as if they are two school kids with awkward crushes. It was almost as though they had nothing to speak about, which was inherently untrue - Yet why did no words come out? Why did they find no conversation topic to start?  To think that the same thoughts would be crossing both their minds, without the other knowing, it was rather bizarre... But also cute, maybe? The innocence of a first crush on full display, and the lack of knowledge, experience or even guts on furthering any idea that may come across by mistake.

"I... Am sorry." Kisara found herself speaking first, dispelling the awkwardness hanging in the air. "I... Had hoped to spare you from most of what happened today." "I thought we agreed to forget today." Jotaro's voice sounded dry and stoic. "Right..." she cursed herself for even speaking. "Well, uh... I'll go out for a stroll, I guess. The sky is pretty tonight." she got up, not daring to look at the unbothered boy. "Sweet dreams, JoJo." "Wait." a small rustle alerted her that the boy had gotten off the bed. "It's not safe to go out alone." Kisara smiled softly, taking out the walkman and earbuds. "Just enough for both of us." she said, dangling the earbuds in her hand, walking ahead and out of the hotel with the boy trailing right behind her, his hands buried in his pants pocket.

They walked aimlessly through the vast nothingness of the plain until they found a large rock and climbed on it. Kisara idly dangled her legs, placing the casette in the walkman and offering an earbud to the boy, who simply hummed a thanks and leaned his head back, looking up at the Stars and listening to the soft Metallica ballads. Unbeknownst to them, Marilyn and Star Platinum were mimicking them right behind, though she was leaning her head on his shoulder, and their hands were holding, fingers intertwined. And they were smiling. They were smiling so happily.

Jotaro was completely lost in the infinity of the milky way and the twinkling stars embroidered in the dark sky. Star - His own Stand, the very essence of his soul, was named after the Tarot card depicting the Star, but without Avdol around, he hadn't the time to figure out what exactly did it mean. At first, he just felt like it was a pretty cool name - Star Platinum sounded badass as all hell - But did it have any underlying meaning?  He remembers that day in Singapore when they played around with the cards, and how petrified Avdol got when Kisara revealed The Devil card. How could all those negative traits describe either Kisara or Marilyn? It hardly made any sense whatsoever. Maybe she just picked a random card from a deck that wasn't 'blessed' by a proper fortune-teller? Although, at the same time, Hierophant Green seemed to make sense for her brother. "What does The Star mean?" he found himself asking out of nowhere. "Hope." from the corner of his eyes, he saw a beautiful smile on Kisara's face. "Inspiration. Courage. Enlightenment. Creativity." she went on. "People under The Star card are usually very supportive and amazing friends, who aren't afraid of being vulnerable or showing who they are." he couldn't help but scoff. "You don't think it describes you well, do you?" "Perceptive." he tipped his hat, looking away from her.  "I think it does." her serene voice surprised him. "I am never afraid when I am around you." she said. "Mr. Joestar seems very confident and hopeful about saving your mum." she continued. "You come up with incredibly creative ways of defeating enemies." Jotaro almost jumped in his skin in shock as soon as he felt her delicate, small hand placed over his own. "And you became my brother's first friend." "When you described your card - The Devil - You only sad negative things. It doesn't seem that way. You try too hard to find good things in even people like me." he scoffed stubbornly. "I have some traits of that, I suppose." she shrugged her shoulders. "I am obsessed with keeping the people I love safe, and I feel dependent over people's love for me. I often feel powerless when I find myself in situations that easily overwhelm me and see no solution going forward, and, well - I am sometimes pretty selfish too, you know?" the boy couldn't help but scoff. "Now you're just reaching." he scolded her. "If you think I am reaching, then... How about you prove me wrong?" she challenged him playfully. "Tell me something about you. Anything." "I like reading books on planes and ships. Sometimes trains too. Cars not so much, but it's fine. I like the engineering aspect of it." he pondered over. "I've been thinking what to pursue in the future, as a career. Mum just told me to pick whatever makes me happy." "And what did you have in mind?" he felt a tender squeeze of his hand.  "I'm kinda interested in the sea and stuff, I guess. I like animals and all that, but medicine and animal-care doesn't interest me all that much. I guess it's more like a curiosity of the unknown." he hadn't told anyone all this, not even his mum - Why was he saying all this now? "So, like a researcher, maybe?" he shrugged his shoulders unsure. "You could study sea-life of all kind. Go on cruises and study the life of various fish and aquatic mammals. Like dolphins and seals and whales. Did you see how adorable baby seals are? So small, white and fluffy, with those big sparkly eyes and wet nose. They're like cute puppies." "A marine biologist." Jotaro concluded. "Doesn't sound half-bad." "Maybe we can work together some day." he rose a quizzical eyebrow. "I want to become a vet." "I see." he muttered to himself - The thought of working together with Kisara, of doing their passions together, and even spending time together... It actually made him... Hopeful for the future. How bizarre. "That would be nice." "I'm glad you agree." 

Jotaro turned to have a proper gaze at Kisara, and he remained stunned; She was so beautiful, with that warm smile of hers, and the way the silver stars made her eyes twinkle - Yet most of all, it was that look she was giving him - It was such a tender look, so... So loving, dare he say, that his heart's rhythm picked up. "You do the same thing mum does." he grumbled, shifting his hand so their fingers would intertwine. "You fight hard for arrogant jerks like me. I don't get it." he almost seemed to be angry at himself. "Mum should have gotten angry at me the first time I called her a loud bitch. She should have punished me, beat me, something - Anything. Should have called dad from the tour to get home and discipline me better. But she didn't. She never did." it was as though all his frustrations were coming loose. "You never give up. It's weird. I don't get it." "That's just how girls are, JoJo." she smiled at him. "We know a man's heart. If his intentions are good, we hold onto him. If he's bad, we leave." "So you're saying I'm a good man." he concluded. "Did you ever doubt that? How silly of you." Kisara shook her head in disbelief. "Men hardly show their love through words - Though they should! It would make you feel more at ease if you were to voice your feelings - But you let it show through your actions, and you know... That actually means more to us than all the words in the world!" "What do you mean?" Jotaro's brows were furrowed with confusion. "A man can tell a woman a hundred thousand times that he loves her - But he beats her, and cheats on her. Words can often be lies." she explained. "But a man who shows a woman that he loves her is different. He respects and protects her. Just like how you are going on this quest to save your mum." "Yare Yare..." he grumbled, looking away from the girl; All this talk about emotions was making him feel all sort of things. "Men are stupid." "Why do you think so?" Kisara asked, surprised at his comment.  "Men only know how to show what they feel in limited ways. That's pretty pathetic, isn't it? They boast about how great they are, but they can hardly do anything properly." his comment genuinely confused the girl. "But all the women in my life are different. Their emotions shine through their words also, but through all the hard work they put into making us happy." his voice turned a little lower. "I haven't thanked mum in ages. And I haven't smiled at her either. Even so, she always kissed and hugged me before I went to school and when I returned; And she's support all my stupid short-time interest, and never got mad when I did something dumb, or got into fights and got detention." he said, looking up at the sky. "I bet grandma Suzie is pretty damn worried about gramps. He's a mess without her - Wouldn't even think he's a real man, and so old. I don't get what she sees in a deadbeat like him..." he trailed off a little. "Or what you see in me." "Do you always go out of your way to overthink and overexaggerate situations like this?" Kisara's giggle made him snap his attention to her. "Not that I mind this indirect string of compliments - But you are really reading too far into it." while Jotaro got lost in her gorgeous green eyes, she took off his hat and positioned him so that he would rest his head on her lap, playing with his already messy black hair. "Things don't always have to be so deep, you know? Something you just have to accept things in easier terms - That we both like each other for whatever reason - Isn't that right?" his bewilderness stopped him from speaking a single word, feeling himself relaxing under her gentle touch. 

When finally he got a hold of himself, the boy scoffed, smiling content and allowing himself to calm a little and let his guard down. "I was really pissed off the whole day." he grumbled, holding her other hand and playing idly with her fingers. "I couldn't stand the thought that a perverted fuck like that guy dared do all those things to you. I wanted to rip him to shreds myself, but I was terrified of hurting you or gramps." to think he actually admitted to his own feelings, it surprised even him. "And I got even more annoyed when you apologised for letting me get hurt - I should have done that. I'm the one supposed to protect you, not the other way around - And instead, I hurt you. I almost went crazy when I realised you felt a punch from me. It felt like I hurt you directly, and that just wasn't right." "We both feel protective over the other, so it's only natural to feel upset when something like that happens." she reassured him. "I was terrified too, you know? I've never been kissed before, and no one hit on me either. It was really weird and creepy, and I had no idea how to react. You being there gave me strength though, and I could get over it pretty well." she leaned over to kiss his forehead. "So don't worry about that. It's in the past. We'll just be more careful next time."

Jotaro's heart trembled with great emotion of various types, and a million thoughts rung through his head aimlessly; He was overwhelmed by all these new things Kisara was making him feel, but he had no clue how to react to most of them. Instead, he chose the most unexpected choice that randomly appeared in his mind; A choice not even he expected to pull off so shamelessly - But if Kisara could put him in her lap, why shouldn't he also do something like that?

In one swift move, Jotaro's arms were protectively engulfing the girl's much smaller form. "I will protect you." he said, resting his chin on the top of her head. She was so small, yet fel so good in his arms; With her chest pressed flush against his own, he could even feel the rapid, bunny-like heartbeat of hers, which greatly matched his own... Before they both slowed down, do a soothing rhythm. Two hearts, embracing one another into a secure serenity. He even panicked a little, seeing the little beams of tears in her eyes - He thought tears were shed out of sadness, but she was smiling, and even got so comfortable in his arms.  "I am happy." was all she needed to say for him to be reassured that, for once, he was doing something good, at least when it came to his development as an adult, and not the delinquent, angsty teenager that he turned himself into for the past few years.

< Precious Chapter

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[cherryfairytwist]

RickFic Ch11. Reunion

(Tags: violence, death, manipulation, vomit, substances, stalking, angst, arguments, torture, embarrassment, electrocution)

—- HELLO —-

—- INITIATING DOWNLOAD SEQUENCE MEMORY CLUSTER #11 —-

—-PULLING UP EARLIEST ASSISTED MEMORY RECORDS —-

—- NARRATION SIMULATING NOW —-

Astrid turned the corner down the hall keeping up pace. Knowing she was running a bit behind schedule, she quickened her step only a little. Still in the stolen uniform of a random Cognito Inc. employee, she shifted back to her normal form once walking into Reagan’s lab. She looked around in silence realizing the room looked as messy as Reagan had always kept it. She sighed feeling uneasy that Reagan was nowhere to be found. She slowly paced around the room looking at different projects Reagan was currently working on. Trying to keep her mind from wandering to the the possibility someone might have caught wind they were meeting, hoping this wasn’t some type of set up. 

“Reagan?” Astrid whispered loudly wondering where she might have gone. 

Reagan grabbed a paper towel from the bathroom to dry her hands and breathed out another heavy sigh before exiting back towards the lab. Slowing her pace still fighting with the uneasy feeling in her gut.. was it guilt? Was it fear? She couldn’t help but feel as though what happened to Astrid had been her fault. The memories of what happened in Jersey still haunted her even after having ghosted Astrid for so long after. 

The team had been sent to Jersey to round up an overpopulation of Jersey Devils that were overrunning the outskirts and forests in the area. They all thought the mission would be a breeze with Astrid on their side but things had taken a turn for the worse. After using her trigger more than several times in the months prior, her programming started to “short circuit” leading to the horrible devastation that had befallen the mission. Similarly to the mole incident, the team had rounded up a flock of the Jersey cryptids for Astrid to exterminate. But while in the forest a part of their plan flunked when a few of the devils had gotten Andre and Myc cornered. They had snuck off to have a smoke break when they should have been assisting. Once cornered, out of panic and fear they both let out Astrid’s trigger word at the same time in hopes of being rescued by her last minute. Once Astrid had cleared them out, both Brett and Gigi tried to say Astrid’s trigger word to stop her kill programming. Due to the team already overusing her trigger for a year and not being her handler it started to mess with her behavior. But that day due to the multiple different commands being given by different people at such frequency it seemed to have become the final straw. Once both teams had gotten a heard of about forty Jersey Devils into a secluded lake area, Astrid’s Handler gave her the kill trigger. At first everything seemed to have been going according to the regular procedure of Astrid mowing down the cryptids. But once the flock had been terminated and she was given her trigger word to stop by her handler, her form and eyes did not change back to normal. Her terrifying destructive behavior proceeded leading to her massacring her own fellow Agency soldiers. The Agency team of ten went to a team of five in a matter of seconds. And things did not stop there, a decent handful of Cognito employees quickly met their demise as well, almost including Glenn and Brett who had been on the ground with the others. In that moment Reagan knew it was the end for them. They all messed around too much with something they had known nothing about. They had finally broken Astrid. The pure horror that happened was still partially blocked out in her mind due to how traumatizing the events were. All she could remember is somehow Astrid’s Handler had to personally fight her leading to him restraining her with some type of collared head piece. It proceeded to send multiple electrical shocks to her brain leaving her fried on the ground and flailing about as if she were having an aneurysm. Reagan remembers she had started crying and shouting at him to stop, not being able to comprehend what was happening due to the shell shock. He looked at her still in a daze with a suspicious glance, 

“You knew this could have happened didn’t you..? I know enough about you Ms. Ridley to know you never keep your nose out of affairs that do not concern you. I would have thought you’d been smarter than this. I had my suspicions but to have it end up at this degree...” He said bittersweet while lifting the unconscious Astrid off the ground, black liquid leaking from her nose and eyes. 

After that Reagan and the team had received news the following days after returning to Cognito that Astrid had been put on “vacation” and would no longer be assisting Cognito Inc. for the time being. Reagan in disbelief rushed to the guest room wing to try and get answers by seeing Astrid one last time. Once reaching Astrid’s guest room she could see it had been cleared out and completely cleaned, no sign of Astrid having ever been there. Leaving in a hopeless daze she bumped into Astrid’s handler who had been waiting for her in the hall. Startled but determined to get answers she stepped towards him, 

“Sir… please. W-what happened to Astrid…? Is she going to be okay?” Her voice cracked trying to hold back her tears. 

“I think you know the answer to that Ms. Ridley.” He said starkly. 

“Where is she?! What’s going to happen to her!?” Reagan demanded fearing the worst. 

“She will be sent back to the Agency headquarters to have her new programming. Hopefully it works. What your little group played with was not a silly game Ms. Ridley. You might have all significantly damaged my agent. Who knows if it will ever be reversible. You are all lucky to still be alive.” He stated with a calm anger. 

“I-we- we never meant for it to be like this… please can I see her just so I can apologize-?“ Reagan’s rambling was swiftly cut off by the Handler.

“It did end up like this. And to think most of Cognito actually thought you’d be up to the task of running the organization in the near future is beyond me. You still have so much to learn.” He said annoyed causing Reagan to go completely silent feeling utterly worthless. 

“And no. You will not be permitted to see or interact with my agent again. I highly doubt even if we are able to re program her that coming back here would ever be suitable. You compromised my agent. It would be best if you just let this go. You are lucky Cognito values you so highly, if you had pulled something like this at the Agency you would have been terminated.” He hissed at her while gritting his teeth. 

Tears rolled down her face as she looked to the floor between the two of them and she swallowed hard, “Sir… I admit fault.. I’m unbelievably burdened by the guilt of this.. please could you tell Astrid I’m so sorry.. I-I- ,” she paused to let out a sob and rub her eyes on her lab coat, “Astrid meant a lot to me.. I’m sorry I was so careless in my handling of the situation I never wanted to do something like this.” 

He sighed frustratedly knowing Reagan was being honest, “Ms. Ridley the best thing you can do now for her is to leave her alone. I’m sure she will understand the sentiments you all might have held for her. But don’t hold her back now. Imagine is someone had ripped away your life’s work from you, if someone had jeopardized you from continuing here at Cognito when this has been your dream and father’s legacy for years. Respect her enough to see that. Don’t make this harder on her. I advise you cease any communication or hopes of communication with her in the future.” He said in a softer but still stern tone before turning to leave. 

Reagan had relentlessly been heart broken and ashamed of herself after that. She had done as advised and stopped trying to look into or find out anything on Astrid after. This lead to her falling into a deep depression and burying herself in work to attempt and distract herself from the situation entirely. Slowly over time her and her team had dulled themselves to the incident, learning to not bring up the topic anymore. And since then Reagan had tried to go on with the rest of her life having one thing on-top of the next to distract her. When she had come to terms that she’d never hear from Astrid again, she started receiving messages from a new unmarked and unidentified communicator somewhere near Seattle. Since then she had been a nervous wreck hardly believing it was actually Astrid. 

She rubbed her face in the hallway in an attempt to clear her head before entering back into her lab. After opening the door she froze in silence at the sight of Astrid standing over her desk casually reading various papers that laid spread out. 

“Astrid..!” She quietly breathed in disbelief. 

“Reagan..!” Astrid also breathed out after snapping her vision upward towards the door. 

They both stood apart in silence searching each other’s gaze for some time wondering what the other was thinking. 

“So.. what have I missed since I’ve been gone?” Astrid attempted to joke in a lighter tone. 

Immediately Reagan felt a loud laugh leave her anxious body and replied, “oh gosh.. a lot. Uh.. where do I even start..” she murmured while looking down and ruffling her hair. 

She peaked back up at Astrid through a couple of stray hairs and tried to relax her shoulders, “So I uh- I was about to start running Cognito a while back because the Robes found out J.R. was embezzling company funds.. but then I found out my dad had actually erased childhood memories of mine in an attempt to keep a foothold in the company by using me as like his super genius Trojan horse.. and so then I tried to kick him out but then the Robes decided I still wasn’t ready to run the place so they- as you can probably guess it- gave that position to my dad..” she trailed off trying to find the words for what she would say next. 

“Oh- wow that’s really is a lot…. so that means he’s running Cognito now…?!” Astrid asked in surprise, the only thing she had ever heard about Rand was about him being a bitter drunk that had lived with Reagan after being kicked out of the company. 

“A-actually no.. so he also recently got busted and thrown in shadow prison with J.R. after attempting to alter timelines with this machine they had made after their college days… I thought it was so he could gain more power but it turns out he had just been trying to find a timeline in which our family- my mom and I- were still together with him and happy…” she paused a moment to breath. 

“Oh…. Uh.. wow that’s heavy...” Astrid attempted to word her sympathies but they both knew their lives were the opposite of anything normal. 

“Yeah so.. that happened pretty recently.. I’m still reeling from that and uh.. a recent breakup.. as you can guess it obviously didn’t work out.. he uh… he worked for the Illuminati as a mind eraser.. and he wanted to erase his own mind after all the things he’s been though.. he wanted me to come with him and start a new life but then the Robes offered me the position of running Cognito… I tried to calculate all the possible outcomes of our lives together.. and there was only one option where both of us would have been happy… and that meant neither of us being in each other’s lives.. so that was that..” Reagan winced at her own honesty being spoken aloud. 

Astrid stood in silence for a moment taking in all the information and figuring out how she wanted to respond, she wanted to console Reagan but she felt an overwhelmingly bitter tug inside,

“So that’s why you never tried to reach out to me..? You were busy with family, work and a new love life.” She said more starkly than she had anticipated. 

“No- Astrid… I had given up on the idea of trying to contact you before any of that happened..” Reagan tried to console the anger she felt coming from her. 

“Oh so after I broke I just became a lost cause to you…?” Astrid choked out surprised by her own emotions slipping. 

“NO…! Astrid… no.. I- after what we did to you…. What I DID to you… I just realized i didn’t think I could face you after that… I ruined your career… I ruined your life’s work..! I thought I was the professional one but I was actually the one who kept violating your trust and not thinking about healthier boundaries we could have had… I was so immature.. I had you- a literal weapon in my hands and I never thought about keeping the safety on! And then you went off because I didn’t even know how to handle you… I shouldn’t have been handling you… not like that..” She too choked out painfully. 

“I mean.. yes I’m a weapon.. but I’m also a person..I thought you saw me as that too. The responsibility was also mine..! Once I had realized you found out my trigger I should have immediately reported to my Handler but I didn’t… I just wanted to keep up what we had going!” Astrid argued back furiously. 

“You wouldn’t have even needed to worry about that if I hadn’t gone out of my way to spy on you and found out your trigger when I know I shouldn’t have!” Reagan blurted out letting the frustration and shame out.

A single tear rolled down Reagan’s face as she looked down at the floor. Her fists tightened as she bit down on her lip hard, 

“I fucked it all up..! I had treated you like trash when we first met and then i ruined your life! I was too much of a coward to face you after that.. I thought you seeing me again would just be a bad reminder… I really started to think after a while that you might have even grown to hate me so much that you might kill me if we had ever crossed paths again. I was ashamed… but once you reached out.. I just- I felt like I had to risk it.. since you left I haven’t known a day of peace…”She raged in a low tone. 

“Reagan… I-“ Astrid attempted to calm her down but was cut short. 

“Yes I tried to continue on with my life and distract myself but I couldn’t. I got my dream position, got my father’s shadow off of me, the team finally listens to me and respects me… but I still had no one to share it with.. my ex would have been miserable if I had tried to make him.. but you reached back out and it made me remember how you had always wanted me to run the company.. so I took a risk. I figured you’d either be able to get revenge on me if you had grown to hate me, or maybe I could bring you the offer I had originally promised a long time ago.. that you could run Cognito Inc. with me.” After confessing she looked back up, her tears had stopped but her eyes remained red and now direct.

“Jesus Reagan.. I never hated you..” Astrid stammered from the realization that Reagan too had been just as torn up about the situation as she had felt and still reeling from the sudden offer. 

“I thought you were the one that hated me.. after losing control like that.. I mean I know the effects my abilities have on people both physically and… psychologically.. I thought you were terrified of me.. I thought I had traumatized you so bad that you’d never wanted to see me again..” Astrid too now looking at the floor in shame awkwardly shifted in place. 

“I mean.. Astrid the whole situation was traumatizing beyond anything I think I’ve ever experienced- but it wasn’t your fault..! You couldn’t help what happened.” Reagan stepped forward to meet her at the desk wanting to console her. 

“I had felt so lost after the Agency had attempted to reprogram me.. I have new triggers now but I don’t think they are working that well.. I don’t black out fully like I used to when I get a command.. I sort of remember some of it now.. and I think that’s why the Agency hasn’t put me back in the field yet.. I think they are just waiting for me to break again.. or maybe just keep me out of the way and not cause more issues.. I couldn’t stop thinking about you this whole time either.. I kept wishing I could be back at doing missions- back to doing missions with you..” Astrid confessed now knowing they were on the same page. 

“You’re still on “vacation” …? You mean they left you on the shelf..? Are they just letting you do whatever you want or are you still under your handler..?” Reagan asked confused as to how Astrid had even gotten back to Earth. 

“Well I’m still to report directly to my handler for check ins while he’s continuing that classified mission for the Robes he had gotten while here. Apparently even though our situation got blown the Agency and the Robes felt like they could still mutually benefit working together.” Astrid explained. 

“So he’s still commissioned here on earth for the time being… does he know you’re here..?” Reagan questioned doubting Astrid’s handler would have just been fine with them meeting again. 

“He doesn’t know.. He told me to stay away from Cognito and for the most part I did. I’ve been on Earth for a while keeping my cover. I think he started trusting I was going to keep being a good agent and stick to my cover life.” She said in a melancholic tone. 

“So you’re defying orders and sneaking around now that he’s not paying you much mind..?” Reagan asked curiously having always known Astrid to be quite loyal to her Agency and handler. 

“Yeah I guess so.. back when I was younger in the Agency I remember a few of the other agents trying to warn me about being too blindly loyal to the Agency.. at the time I thought it was ludicrous but now… I don’t know.. I’m stating to wonder if my days are numbered if I just keep sitting around for them and being useless..” Astrid whispered as if agency members were in the room with them. 

“You really think they would…? You think they would actually.. terminate you..? But you’ve been doing everything right since then correct? Besides coming to see me that is… that’s not that bad right…?” Reagan asked shakily realizing what Astrid was implying would happen to her. 

“That’s the thing… I haven’t really been following orders… for a while now. It turns out my new cover identity is as a teachers assistant….” Astrid trailed off suddenly feeling anxious now that she was admitting everything to Reagan. 

“A teacher’s assistant..? So… what’s so bad about that..?” Reagan anxiously laughed not understanding. 

“Well.. I’m now a Teacher’s assistant at the high school that Rick Sanchez’s grandkids go to… and … I might have been aiding him in… a few- a couple- okay… a decent amount of times in his criminal activity throughout the multiverses..” Astrid smiled with a guilty look in her eyes. 

“ASTRID- THE RICK SANCHEZ…?! Oh my god… oh god…. Not only do I hate the man- my father, J.R. And the Robes can’t stand him…. But your Agency…. Jesus I don’t think they like the man either. He’s literally the most hated- and WANTED- man in the universe..!” Reagan rambled in disbelief. 

“Yeah… I know it looks.. pretty bad doesn’t it..?” Astrid started to anxiously laugh in disbelief realizing how much jeopardy she had put herself in. 

“Hold on.. if he forced you or blackmailed you- your Agency might understand…! You could even say you were gathering secret intel on him for them!” Reagan quickly suggested. 

“It wouldn’t work.. I was given direct orders from my Handler to avoid him as much as possible and to never directly engage with him.. and I helped him of my own volition.” Astrid said now with a calm ton accepting the decision she had made. 

“Why…? Astrid if you were worried they might terminate you then why would you risk something like that…?!” Reagan questioned hardly believing. 

“I think I just got lost.. I’ve been all over the universe.. I’ve lived countless fake lives.. my work was everything…. But then I didn’t have it.. you were gone.. if I had nothing to lose then why not have fun if nothing matters anymore..? I started to grow fond of his grandkids.. and he- he’s oddly interesting I don’t know… I grew up with assassins it seemed normal to me..But.. now we are here… talking… I don’t know I didn’t plan this far ahead.” Astrid said defensively now feeling ashamed of her new and confusing choices. 

“Oh fuck Astrid…. It is my fault..! I took your hope of coming back to your work…!” 

“No Reagan… I lost hope for a while but I still did my cover.. it was his kids…. I don’t know I thought they were really sweet.. they reminded me of when I was younger..they have been through so much already and… I just felt like I needed to look out for them in maybe a friendly way… maybe give them pointers.. I wish I had had more help from older friendly assassins in my work..” Astrid mumbled finding her reasoning to be embarrassing. 

“Friendly assassins…. Right… god Astrid.. neither of us are normal at all… I keep forgetting that somehow….” Reagan shook her head while covering her face letting the realities they lived wash over her, “So…. You got close to the kids and he accidentally found out about you..? So you stuck around because he could blackmail you if he wanted…?” 

“No.. he hasn’t actually found out… and not by accident.. the kids wanted me to join them on a mission.. so I did.. and I kept my cover at first but I started to… intentionally mess with Sanchez by giving him hints that I wasn’t really human..for fun.” Astrid said more aloof pretending it wasn’t that big of a deal.

“FOR FUN?! Are you nuts!? He’s-Hes Rick-Fucking-Sanchez-Wait…you actually like the man?! He’s- he’s literally a terrorist…! ACROSS MULTIPLE DIMENSIONS! His personality is unsavory in the nicest way you would describe it…!”

“He’s not that bad… I mean he’s definitely infamously for a reason but… Reagan I’ve seen worse.. out of all the outlaws, terrorists, dictators, corrupt officials, vigilantes, other ASSASSINS..! He’s.. not all that bad.. he’s kind of just a grumpy older guy.. yeah he’s a dick but like who isn’t…?” She defended in a matter of fact tone. 

“What the hell……..? Okay… I mean… I met the guy once and… I personally can’t stand him. But I … guess if you were to be able to get past his horrible attitude.. I don’t know I never saw him around his grandkids.. but hes a dick Astrid!” Reagan tried to argue internally still. 

“What do you have against him? What happened the time you two met..?” Astrid asked curiously sensing there was a more personal reason as to why Reagan seemed to dislike Rick.

“It’s- it’s nothing really… I mean I’m kind of embarrassed about it.. it was during a time in my life when I was at a horrible low…” Reagan tried to explain herself now regretting her honesty. 

“Horrible low…? Was this while I was away…? Did you two have something personal between you two-?” Astrid asked suspiciously before Reagan cut her off. 

“NO!! A-and yes.. kind of.. I mean it was- just let me explain….” She tried to straighten her words, “One time I got boarder line blackout drunk when I went out with the team one night… really like I said.. i was at a low point- before you had even come to Cognito..! I bumped into him at a bar in DC when it was still the old president in office. He seemed fun and smart at first.. like he was actually able to keep up a lot of science conversations with me.. he even told me some thing I didn’t know..we did shots.. he told me kind of who he was.. he proved it by showing me the portal gun and all.. And then in my drunken mind I thought it would be funny to take him home with me that night. Surely it would piss off my dad… Him meeting a smarter and more pretentious guy than him! I mean we were living together still so there was no way they wouldn’t meet!” Reagan tried to explain embarrassingly. 

“So you fucked him…? Or you just brought him home as a prank…?” Astrid raised her eyebrow in confusion. 

“At the point of the night I guess I blacked out… I woke up the next morning next to him in bed and I guess we had hooked up.. but by the morning his attitude was so different.. and he waltzed right into the kitchen to get something from the fridge and my dad then met him… since you haven’t met my dad I’ll save you the details but it just went south.. they got into a huge pissing match and he was a lot more of a dick than what I had remembered from the night I met him and he just started to give me the ick because he reminded me way too much of my dad.. so after they had a fight and he left. I just never contacted him again and he never reached back out either… even after times Cognito Inc. or the Robes have had run ins with him..seems like everyone hated him.” Reagan attempted to state like it was a fact in an attempt to hide her shame.

“Right…..um well I don’t really know what to say… it kind of just sounds like you two don’t get along… did he actually do anything to you or…?” Astrid attempted to extract. 

“No… I mean I guess not… I just hate his personality…” Reagan admitted begrudgingly. 

“Well.. that situation is definitely messy I guess.. but that isn’t at all what things have been like for me… no offense Reagan but you did kind of set up that situation when you were drunk and wanting to start something with your dad-“ Astrid attempted to gently point out before being interrupted. 

“I know- I know….. I guess I get that situation was my fault but I still don’t like him.. and he’s still bad news…” Reagan insisted. 

“So… your team and Cognito… you would consider them as people to be… good news…?” Astrid laughed attempting to make a point. 

“Okay… you got me there.. I know technically I guess all of us are bad news too.. I don’t know… at least we all try to work together…? Rick doesn’t really seem like he’s a team player..” Reagan admitted but still tried to sow some doubt. 

“Reagan… I’m an assassin.. if I hadn’t felt differently about you then I probably would still be working at cognito with you right now and exploiting your weaknesses to the advantage of my Agency…” Astrid stated plainly. 

Reagan looked at her dumbfounded, not having expected that Astrid would have admitted to all the Agency had wanted her to do. She then looked to the floor trying to sort out what that meant to her. 

“So… you’re trying to say you think he’s different because for some reason he might like you too..? That he’s not just using you?” She asked directly back to Astrid. 

“I mean I know he’s used me to his own gain. I let him. But I’m saying it’s mutual because I’m using him to do what I want to.. like dimension travel.. after my reprogramming my teleportation ability went right down the drain.. I mean it was never that strong but now it’s like… really bad.” Astrid admitted to Reagan. 

“Wait so you had teleportation abilities before…?! And even after reprogramming you can still access that power without a trigger..?” She suddenly switched gears and contemplated. 

“Yeah.. I just happened to never use it around you when we worked together..” Asteid chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood, “And I was always able to access that power even without a trigger.. but now after programming it feels almost as if that had tried to stunt my ability to do so..” she then mumbled mostly to herself. 

“So the agency really is trying to keep you on the shelf… they tried to keep you from running..” Reagan whispered while contemplating for a moment. 

Astrid looked at her wondering what thought she might have been mulling over. Reagan walked over to her computer and started to click away at her keys. Astrid hoped up onto the desk next to her and peaked to she what she was up to. 

“Okay so if my hunch is correct…” Reagan started while continuing to type away, “it seems like the new programming wasn’t completely successful… in two ways.. it didn’t fix your “break” entirely…but it also didn’t seem to completely prevent you from using your original abilities either… so this might just mean whoever did the programming didn’t do a good enough job….” 

“Good enough job…?” So they half assed it? What does that mean for me…?” Astrid asked confused. 

“Well I’m not sure if they half assed it.. but compared to the complexity of your original powers and programming it suggests that maybe you had two different programmers… like the original programmer was extremely good… and then the more recent one was just… not very good…” Reagan explained her hunch. 

“So that just means it didn’t really work…? And that I’m kind of just forever broken…?” Astrid asked disheartened. 

“No actually it gives me reason to believe there is a possibility we could maybe reprogram you… but in a way that fixes you and also doesn’t suppress your natural abilities.” Reagan perked up excitedly. 

“Wait… you really think so…?” Astrid suddenly felt like a bus full excitement hit her. 

“If I could somehow get access to the files both of your programmers kept on you… I could try and compare the data and see where I could tweak it…! Or maybe any type of information your handler might have on your old or new programming… even if I can’t have the blueprints I could run simulations in my lab with any little bit of information I could get and piece together things on my own… I mean it’s risky… maybe it isn’t a good idea..” Reagan’s mood quickly changed as she started to think about what happened last time she messed with Astrid’s programming. 

“Wait! It’s… it’s Risky yes… but we could always just try to figure out… just in case right…? Like.. theoretically….” Astrid feeling like the ray of hope she had finally glimpsed was fading away. 

Reagan looked at Astrid in silence for a moment, desperately searching to see if any hesitation lingered on her face. Not being able to find any she sighed and closed her eyes to think. She then looked back up at her, 

“Sure… yeah. I could gather up any type of information and see what comes of it…. Theoretically..” she sighed realizing she was giving into Astrid’s risk taking. 

“Great..! I can definitely find you something…!” Astrid said cheerfully hoping to win over Reagan more with the idea. 

“Okay but… you shouldn’t be using your abilities much until we learn more okay… it could mean you’re doing further damage to yourself without knowing… and that means not helping Sanchez with his wacky plans…” Reagan tried to insist. 

“Reagan… I have my cover life I have to keep up with.. I mean I’m still not using them that much even when I have been around Sanchez.. I’ll be fine. Besides I can still help him with things without needing my abilities…” Astrid also insisted back annoyed that Reagan was still trying to police what she was doing. 

“Fine… I just don’t think it’s a good idea to stay around him. That’s all.” Reagan gave up but still slid in attitude. 

“Reagan… are you jealous..? Ha! Honestly that’s rich coming from you. You had a whole boyfriend while I was gone, why does it matter if I hang out with someone?” Astrid asked amused hoping to get Reagan to drop it. 

“I’m- I’m not jealous… “ she blushed and frowned irritatedly. 

“Yeah… sure. And uh… you still trying to have orgies with your co workers or…?” Astrid continued to twist the knife hoping to make Reagan admit she was acting out of line. 

“Jesus Astrid… okay yeah I’m jealous and I have no room to talk… Are you happy…?!” She then quickly turned to start working on one of her projects in an attempt to leave the conversation. 

“Oh don’t be that way Reagan! Come on. We both know things got complicated for both of us. So what? We are complicated people. You have your relationships and I have mine. But does that really stop us from being us? We could still be what we want with each other…” Astrid followed her and hugged her from behind in an attempt to convey how she felt. 

Reagan froze up at the touch, it had been a long time since the two of them had been close.. and even then Reagan had always struggled with her feelings of affection. Her shoulders softened and she stood there leaning into Astrid’s embrace. 

“So like… you don’t care that I dated someone after you..? Or if I’m seeing my co workers sometimes…. It’s a long story and I don’t even want to consider any of them a relationship we just all never get out much cause of work and-“ Reagan’s rambling was cut short.

“Reagan it’s okay. We can both have our own lives. But we can also choose when to share our lives together. I think we should just do what works for us right now. I still care about you and want to see you but I also understand when you have and want to do things that don’t involve me… as long as you can also respect when I’m doing my own thing as well. We can always regroup if things get confusing or more complicated than they already are.” Astrid said calmly while enjoying being close again after such a long time. 

“Okay… I mean that’s kind of a newer concept to me but I guess I don’t hate it… doesn’t mean I’ll ever like Sanchez though.. ha!” Reagan agreed but attempted to joke at the end. 

“That’s fine. You don’t have to. And if I end up disliking someone you’re seeing I don’t have to like them either.” Astrid teased. 

“Wait but you like the team right…? I mean I know they miss you too.. gosh we all were all worried after you left!” Reagan asked 

“Don’t be silly Reagan of course I like your team.  I just like you on a different level is all. I miss them too. If you think it’s safe to let them know we met back up… you could always tell them I said hi.” Astrid cooed in Reagan’s ear still keeping a warm hug wrapped around her. 

“Yeah I’ll end up telling them sometime… I mean I run Cognito now… I’ll be wanting your help on missions too if you’ll come back.” She turned and returned the embrace. 

“Oh so I can help you guys on missions but not Sanchez Hu..?” Astrid teased. 

“Oh give me a break..!” Reagan annoyed but still tightly squeezed to Astrid. 

Astrid laughed looking her in the eyes. Reagan met her gaze and then attempted to move the conversation on. 

“So what do you say…? If you’re already breaking rules do you want to help assist me with Cognito sometimes..? And maybe when you are off doing your own thing you could obtain any information you can find on your programming and bring it to me? That way I could also keep an eye out on your abilities and functions while also working to find a way to fix your programming..?” Reagan officially offered. 

“Yeah. You think you’ll be able to keep me secret? I mean I know you might be running Cognito now but I’m sure some of the company still doesn’t trust me after what happened…” Astrid wondered. 

“Don’t worry about that. You can help us on classified missions unofficially and we’ll keep it secret when you are working with us.” She said now more confidently now that she ran the place. 

“Alright deal.” Astrid replied. 

~ 

It had been a whole day since Rick noticed Astrid’s tracker location showing up at Cognito. Inc. It was well into the late of that night when he drunkenly swiveled is rolling chair under himself at his workbench in the garage. Throughout the day he had worked on various inventions all while randomly going to check the tracker location on the map every other hour. On breaks he had attempted to do more digging on Astrid’s origins, still coming up with nothing. Frustratedly he drank himself into a stopper after his attempted spy robot flies were exterminated by some new security that Cognito seemed to have installed. Failure to find any documentation of Astrid in Cognito’s classified files also added to the wound of his pride. This pissed him off royally since he already had such a distaste for the company and the Ridley Family. His drinking had gotten worse once he had decided he would stop trying to spy in on the situation not wanting to have any of them figure out he was even slightly interested in anything they were doing. After all they were no where near his level of genius, why would he want to even give them the satisfaction? 

Still, not knowing for once, even if it was because of his own ego, he couldn’t stomach it. In an attempt to prove to himself it wasn’t worth his time, he proceeded to get borderline black out drunk all while shutting himself in the garage to work. Getting annoyed any time one of the Smith family came to the door attempting to converse with him and angrily turning them away every time. His attention quickly became glued to his monitor once the notification came of Astrid’s location changing again. 

He teleported down to his super computer instantly just to confirm it wasn’t a trick. He blinked and rubbed his eyes double checking that her tracker now said she was back in her apartment around the block. 

He mumbled to himself, “D-didn’t take y-you for the sentimental type.” Suddenly he remembered the other night when he had overheard Summer on the phone with her friend talking about how Astrid had told her recent fling was with an ex co-worker. 

He pinched his forehead frustratedly also recalling how Astrid had mentioned she previously was on earth for work when they had taken a ride to the Astroid belt. He downed his flask and went to his room in a huff. He slumped down onto his bed to go try his luck at sleep. He rubbed his face and looked up at the ceiling drunkenly muttering, 

“s-so she’s here cause of some s-stupid situationship? H-Her tracker sh-showed her in Reagan- Fucking-R-Ridley’s l-lab all day..”

He briefly grimaced thinking back on the time he had gotten black out drunk and went home with her years ago. 

He scrunched up his face in discomfort knowing he barely even remembered spending the night with her. He only could remember the big fight her father had started that next morning with him in the kitchen. 

“G-god she was a-a pain… and that father of hers…n-no doubt she’s just like that l-lunatic of a guy..” he grumbled while thinking about the loathing he felt towards that family before eventually calming down a bit and slowly starting to doze off.

A loud bang from the upstairs came from the floor above, most likely one of the Smiths slamming their bedroom door. He stirred and looked back at his watch to double check the tracker still showed Astrid at her apartment. 

“I guess I was expecting…. something more interesting…..” he said disappointedly before slipping back out of consciousness.

Suddenly he was in a dark room restricted by something, he jolted and thrashed in an attempt to get free but with no difference being made. 

He then heard two laughs directly in front of him that sounded familiar. The pressure of a hand reaching out and pulling a sack off of his face against his forehead. As soon as the sack was gone he was able to see he was in an interrogation room with both Astrid and Reagan. 

“FUCK! I knew it!! I knew this would end up like this!” Rick shouted in anger still not being able to break free. 

“Took you quite a while though… Is the great Rick Sanchez loosing his touch in his old age?” Reagan mocked with a smile. 

“W-what gives!? You got so bitter it didn’t work out for us that you sent in some weird alien bitch to try and honey pot me?!” He hissed back at her. 

“Honey pot you? How pathetic… you think I’d be even remotely interested in even pretending to like you?” Astrid laughed in his face. 

“F-….fuck off….! What do you even want?!” Rick attempted to act unfazed but found himself choking on his words. 

“God how embarrassing…. He’s even naked..!” Reagan laughed making Rick look down to see he was only in his boxers. 

“Naked old loser says what?!” Astrid said so fast Rick barely processed it. 

“W-what…?” He asked confused before Astrid quickly electrocuted him with live wires. 

“AHHHHGH-FUCK!!” Rick screamed jolting up from his bed eyes wide realizing it was a dream.

He crawled and clamored over to his small metal trash can in the corner of the room and proceeded to vomit up all the alcohol he had drank earlier. 

“J-Jesus Christ… what is wrong with me..? A s-stupid “h-he’s not wearing any pants dream…?”How old am I- seventeen…?” He panted annoyed at himself on the floor after getting it all out. 

He then got back up and layed back down on the bed face up to the ceiling. 

“I need to figure this shit out…” 

—- PART ELEVEN COMPLETED —- 

—- SHUTTING DOWN —-

—- GOODBYE —-

[snzysimper]

FINALLY!! I haven’t posted a fic in AGES. Apologies for that. This is probably the longest thing I’ve ever written. I’m really proud of how this turned out. It took me a while, but I hope it was well worth the wait for everyone. This is the re-write of this fic. I tried to keep it loyal to the original, but also make it better.

Note: I had everything italicized and shit, but tumblr is stupid and doesn’t keep it when it gets copy pasted from a google doc so I’ll go back and fix it later. For now, you can just use your imagination because I am to lazy to do it rn.

Another note: not that this really matters, but Security Breach doesn’t exist in my AU, so first of all, no ‘Burntrap’ and also no SB Vanessa. I much prefer the fan made version from Help Wanted, so that is who I use in my fics and such, but feel free to portray it however you like. She just looks better. Feel free to look at some fan art else where.

A Warm Surprise

A Will/iam x Van/ny Snz Fic

Written by SnzySimper

Word Count: 1950

TW: Spray, Snz (ofc), mentions of deceased children (only briefly)

| I am allowed to write what I want and I would appreciate if you keep whatever rude comments you may have to yourself |

It is about 11 o’clock at night. The pizzeria was far past closing, which was 8 o’clock. One would generally expect for the place to be empty. Isn’t that how this works anyway? Starting in only one hour, the haunted robots spring to life and, well, you know the rest. But, no, not right now. We are far beyond that point. Long story short, after the closing and re-opening, new animatronics were made, and the Fazbear brand was re-started after someone bought the name. As of the current moment, a new man owns the name brand. Well, not quite. After escaping his presumably eternal hell, William Afton put his consciousness inside of a game, making himself nothing but a piece of computer code. With the help of an innocent bystander, he was set free into the world again and, under a new name, bought his company back. Who’s his partner in crime, you may ask? A young woman named Vanessa, or Vanny, as William usually calls her. His little reluctant follower, although she has become less reluctant as time has gone by. In fact, she had become much less of a follower and more of a friend. The two did most everything together. Were they themselves together? Well, no. Not right now, anyway.

Sitting down on a table, Vanny looked over towards the animatronics. They were powered off, as they should be. She and ‘Dave’ planned to keep it that way. No more vengeful ten year olds wanting to damn your soul. And hopefully not ever again. He didn’t have any reason to make it happen again. He had obtained his immortality, so why would he need to kill more children. It’s not like he needs the remnant. She glances around the pizzeria, not used to it being so empty and quiet. No sounds of children giggling and screaming. No music. Only the hum from the air conditioner. A bit creepy and unsettling to most, but she had come quite accustomed to it. She found it almost peaceful. It was silent, and peaceful, and not a single sound to-

“-gGGes’SSHHhss!!”

Slightly startled at the broken silence, Vanny looks up. She was alone in the pizzeria, minus her ‘boss’. It had to have been him. Come to think of it, had she ever heard him sneeze before? Being a computer code, she didn’t really think he could sneeze. Oh well. Who cares? A sneeze is a sneeze. No skin off her teeth. She pulls out her phone, not paying it anymore mind. “Hh’gGG’shhh!!..’Ggsshh!” Well, this was certainly interesting. It was strange enough for this to happen once, granted that it had never happened before. But three times? Curious to what could possibly be happening, Vanny hops off of the table to go and find him. It was getting to be time to head home, so she should go and get him anyway.

~~~~

“Hhhh…”

Sitting at his desk, William breathes heavily. He was happy that the day was finally over. He could just go home and fall asleep on the sofa. He crosses his arms and lowers his head, about to fall asleep in the chair. In front of him are blueprints for trying to fix SpringBonnie. Trying. Although he may as well just start from scratch. The suit itself is beyond repair, but the internal parts, or at least the springlocks, could possibly be salvaged. It would take a good bit of effort though. As the AC turns on, he shivers, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest. Was it usually this cold in the pizzeria? Or maybe someone had just messed with the thermostat. Who knows. Giving William the benefit of the doubt, he is a TWIG. The average weight for someone who is 7’2 is around 230. William is 190. One could say that this is due to him not eating much. He doesn’t see a reason why he should. As we have previously established, he’s already immortal. It isn’t like he can starve. Although, the occasional meal is nice. He slowly raises and tilts his head back, his breath hitching slightly. “hhHh’GGschh!!” Damn. Why is he so cold? Wiping his nose on the back of his hand, he sighs. Was it possible he could- no. No, no. He’s a piece of computer code for crying out loud; barely even able to be classified as a human being at this point. Being sick is completely out of the question.

Right?

It had been a long day of listening to the same 6 songs on repeat, children's laughter, and, worst of all, the smell of shitty cheap pizza. He was more than ready to go home by now. Vanny walks in the room, softly knocking on the door. “Mr. Afton?” She walks up behind him, and gently places her hand on his shoulder. Having completely zoned out, he jumps at the touch of her hand. She jerks her hand back. “M-Mr. Afton-! I’m so sorry, did I wake you?” While they were ‘friends’, Vanny’s voice still trembled whenever addressing him. She knew all that he had done in the past, and was terrified of what he would be capable of doing now that he was immortal and essentially invincible. William, however, didn’t respond in his usual manner. “Vanessa,” he gives her a small weak smile. He doesn’t face her directly. He simply looks back at her using only his eyes. His piercing, icy blue eyes. “It’s nearly midnight.” She wrung her hands. “Shouldn’t we be leaving soon?”

“Yes. Worry not, we will be heading out soo-”

He abruptly stops speaking. He looks a bit dazed for a moment before quickly bringing his hand to his face, pinching his nose. “Ht’nnt-!” It is almost silent. “Ht’nxxt!! ‘nxxT -nnt!” And again. “hhHt’nkkt!!”

“Bless you,” Vanny says softly. He lets go of his nose, which is now a warm pink, and sniffles as he wipes his nose on the back of his hand. “Hhh, thank…thank you.” At last, he turns in his chair to face her. Vanny is worried by the sight of him. His cheeks are a touch of pink, and so does his nose, although his nose is a brighter shade. The parts of his face that aren’t flushed somehow look even more pale than they usually do. The dark circles under his eyes are more noticeable than normal. Tiny droplets of sweat are present on his forehead. Almost by instinct, she reaches up and gently presses the back of her hand against his forehead. “Mr Afton, you look awful. Are you feeling alright?” Realizing that she literally just reached up and touched his face without any sort of warning, she panics and quickly tries to jerk her hand away. Before she can fully pull her hand away, William reaches up and presses the palm of her hand against his cheek, sighing happily. Vanny blushes, shocked by the intimate gesture. He closes his eyes and lowers his head. He looks very happy to say the least. “Your hand,” he says quietly. “It feels really warm. It feels nice.”

“Your face is very warm, too. And not in a good way.” She lets him hold her hand and uses her other hand to feel his forehead again, now assuming that he doesn’t mind her touching his face. “You have a fever. I’m sure of it.” She removes her hand from his forehead and moves his hair so it isn’t covering his eyes. “Mmhm,” he hums in agreement, although she is quite sure that he isn’t paying all that much attention to what she is saying. She laughs softly. “Come on, let's go home.”

Vanny helps walk him into the house. Leaving her side, William walks away and flops face first onto the couch. He looks pretty comfortable. Vanny giggles. She isn’t used to seeing him so relaxed. Usually when he interacts with others, he lacks much emotion and is very curt. Any time someone tries to care for him or assist him with something non-work related, he snaps at them to leave him alone. With her he is usually a bit more friendly, but not much. Tonight, he had been everything but that. He even smiled at her. Vanny walks over to the couch and sits down next to him. William helps himself and rests his head on her lap. She lets out a small squeak, shocked at the fact that he is being so affectionate. She sighs and begins gently scratching his head. He smiles. “We should probably get some medicine for you.” William hums softly. “I’m fiiine.” He closes his eyes, sighing softly. Vanny sighs. “Alright. If you say so.” She didn’t want to challenge him on anything, so as not to take his gentle and chill attitude for granted.

They are silent for a good ten minutes before William starts sniffling. Vanny looks down at him. He is rubbing his face with the back of his hand, his nose clearly irritated. William eventually gives up, deciding that his efforts to relieve the itchy tickling sensation in his nose are fruitless. He looks adorable, Vanny thinks. She gently presses the tip of his nose with her index finger. “h’EHshhSS!” Vanny jumps slightly. “Oh. Bless you.”

“Mmm..what was thah for?” He grumbles sleepily. “Sorry. You just looked so cute. Your nose was twitching like a little bunny.” Vanny giggles. William rolls over to face up at her, his eyes still closed. “Could you..do it again?” She is a bit surprised, and pretty confused. “What, why would you want-”

“My nose..it’s still itchy. I need to sneeze. Please…” He opens his eyes looking up at her, his eyes practically begging for her to do something. Vanny can’t help but feel bad for him. “Alright.” She takes her thumb and index finger and begins gently rubbing the sides of his nose.He sniffles a few times as she continues to gently touch his nose. “I-is this helping? Is it working?” He sniffles once again. “Y-yeah, snff, sorta.” Vanny moves from the sides of his nose to the base, just below his nostrils. “Oh- hihh right sndff there..” She continues rubbing his nose, a bit harder this time. William’s breath is hitching. He tilts his head back, before inhaling sharply. “Hh’Gggshhs!! HGg’essh!! EH-shhiis! Ht’chh ‘chtt!!” He tries his best to avoid spraying Vanny, although he still gets her a little. Vanny lifts his head off of her lap. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna go find some tissues.” She quickly rushes out of the living room to go and search for tissues.

William sits up, holding his nose shut as he continues to sneeze wetly. “hMP’tchh! Ht’CHH!! T’chh k‘chh -gSHH!!” Vanny comes back with a box of tissues and sits back down on the couch. She hugs William, leaning him back in her arms. She holds the box of tissues out in front of him. He quickly grabs one and holds it up to his face. “H’ppshh!! Hh’IISHH!!” He sighs, having been able to finally catch his breath. He rubs his nose with the tissue. His nose is revealed to be much more pink than it was before. He sniffles, draping his arms on Vanny’s shoulders, holding on to her like a sloth. He rests his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes. “ I’mb sorry sndDF for..snff sneezigg on you.” Vanny chuckles softly. “It’s alright. I don’t mind.” She rubs his head and begins playing with his hair. Laying down, she holds onto William and hugs him close. “Try and get some sleep, alright?” William hums in response. It isn’t long before she hears him softly snoring. She smiles, kissing the top of his head. “Sleep well, Mr. Afton.”

[shadowqueenjude]

The Prince and his Witch part 3

Part 1: https://www.tumblr.com/lorcanisdabest/738902506959208448/the-prince-and-his-witch-part-1?source=share

Part 2: https://www.tumblr.com/lorcanisdabest/738902568942583808/the-prince-and-his-witch-part-2?source=share The next few weeks, Apollo avoided Aurora like the plague. Thankfully, nobody seemed to notice or care about her absence. He didn’t want to fall in love again only for the object of his affection to choose someone else. He’d experienced that once, and it was enough for him. Taking down all of her portraits had been a cathartic experience for him, but there was still a hole in his heart.

Thankfully, as a new king, there was so much work to be done that he hardly had time to think about it.

The loneliness sometimes haunted him in his nightmares. Suddenly, he missed his brother with a fervor that couldn’t be repressed. He no longer cared that he’d tried to kill his ex-wife. He desperately needed a family.

He found Kristoff Knightlinger and requested that he put a piece in the newspaper announcing an official pardon for Tiberius and that it had been requested that he return.

Apollo felt a little bit better after having done it. Now that he thought about it, Tiberius killing his wife would’ve probably been doing him a favor. He anxiously waited over the next few days, hoping that Tiberius would come back.

Apollo got up sweating and shaking.

He had just shot Evangeline again in his dreams. Jacks had then shot his shoulder. The pain in his arm and leg was godawful. He screamed in pain as his mind kept screaming, Kill the girl kill the girl kill the girl-

He turned to the window. A shadowy figure stood by the window. It was definitely stupid, but Apollo desperately hoped it was his brother. He opened the window, and the shadow gracefully dove in. It screamed of royalty.

Indeed, the man lifted his hood, and Apollo met eyes with his brother.

“Did you mean it? That article in the paper?” he whispered.

Apollo embraced him in answer and tears fell, hot and unbidden, from his cheeks. “I’ve missed you,” he whispered.

“Even though I nearly killed you and your wife?”

A bitter laugh. “Trust me, that’s the least that’s been done to me.” He pulled away, and Tiberius looked so happy to be there that Apollo’s heart hurt. “You’re the only one I have left now.” Apollo’s voice wobbled, and he looked away.

“You’re all I have left, too,” Tiberius said quietly. “To the world, I’m the traitor who tried to kill their royal family.”

“I don’t care,” Apollo said. “To me, you’re just my brother.”

Unsurprisingly, the warm welcome Tiberius received from Apollo was meant with judgement from the Council. Apollo didn’t give a shit. Tiberius was the only person who truly cared about him. He knew that now.

That night, Aurora came to his room once again.

Apollo was already sleeping when she came in. He opened his eyes and looked at her blearily. She was wearing a cream pink dress nearly identical to the one she’d worn on their wedding night. They hadn’t even slept in the same bed since then.

“Well? Aren’t you going to invite me in?”

Apollo scowled. “Why would I invite a femme fatale into my room?”

“Because I’m your wife.”

Unfortunately, her reasoning made complete sense.

Begrudgingly, Apollo let her in. “What do you want?” he asked sharply as Aurora settled on the edge of his bed. “Permission to sleep with every one of my guards? It seems like you’ve done that already.”

Aurora trailed her fingers down his arm. Goosebumps were left in their wake. “Don’t be so jealous, husband,” she hummed. “I’m sure none of them can match up to you.” Apollo controlled his reaction. “But you turned me down on our wedding night, remember?”

“Because it was triggering,” he said.

“And now?” she demanded. “Is it still triggering?” Suddenly, Apollo had the impression that his rejection, though it had been trauma-induced, affected her more than he’d realized. She, too, was used to getting what she wanted, but Jacks had rejected her and now, so had Apollo. They were a lot more similar than he’d realized.

Apollo tugged her arm, and in one swift movement, he had her pinned beneath him. Apollo put one arm on either side of her face. “This is what you want, wife?”

“Well, of course, husband. Why do you think I tried to make you so jealous?”

“Is that what those guards were for?”

“What else are they good for?”

Apollo laughed low in his throat. “Their main job is protecting the residents of the castle, you know.”

“It’s a good thing I have a handsome, strong, broody prince to do that for me then.” A flirtatious smile. “And my own magic, of course.”

“How could you forget your own magic, you wicked, wicked witch?”

“I added it to the end for extra effect.”

“Of course,” he murmured, closing his lips on her pulse. “Cruel, gorgeous, brilliant witch.”

“Rugged, protective, cursed prince.”

“I’m fresh out of curses, I’m afraid,” he said, letting his hands drift lower. “My only curse left is you.”

“I’m honored to be your curse,” she whispered. She slid his shirt off of his back. “Mine,” she said, gripping his shoulder hard. Apollo paused for a moment. Stared into her glittering green eyes. That fire Apollo loved so much was there again. She was nothing like Evangeline, and Apollo was glad for it. He couldn’t think of anyone he wanted more than her.

 “Yours.”

THE END

[lycantripuwu]

Big session omg, we had to fight Izek and barely won! Mirre accepted another gift and can now summon two spicy puppys, hell hounds. He named them Grimm and Garm.

-After fighting the Nabassu, we headed to the church to drop of the body of Felix. After explaining what happened at the orphanage to Father Lucian, he sent us on the task to find St.Andrals bones which are needed to keep the church consecrated. we agreed and started on the hunt with things left at the scene. torn bits of a sweatshirt, a fishing hook, parts of a bag, a strand of hair, shovel marks inside the crypt. We needed to find these before the feast of st.andral on sunday because we assumed something bad was going to happen then.

-We went to long rest and Rhil and Jace got a bit frisky. While we slept, Jace was visited by Morgantha, the night hag and got to experience a night hag haunting. it sucked.

-the next morning after Rhil worked with Urwin in the kitchen to learn how to cook better and made breakfast. Mirre got a letter from someone named Ernast from Lady Fiona Wachter. I guess she was impressed that Mirre was able to talk down Vargas and wanted to have dinner with him and the group after sundown.

-After some shopping in town square and all of us being disgusted with the stocks. We went to the lake to ask Bluto, the fisherman about the hook and found him being attacked by drowned undead. we booked it onto the lake by boat and started the fight. Rhil, who has a bad fear of deep, open water, was the one to get pulled in and drug underwater.

-after we saved Rhil and finished the fight, a ghost navy ship pulled up and helped us. They asked for assistance with a monster thats been terrorizing the lake, saying that they couldnt rest until it was killed and we accepted. We fought a monster called the Gitrog plus its baby in its cave and came out victorious! We saved Bluto and brought him back to his shack on the lake. He thanked us as Rhil healed up his leg and we offered to come fishing with the man on a less busy day. cant wait for the fishing session with Bluto!

Mirre also found a flintlock pistol and a musket on the ship with a gunsmith kit and bullets. He actually did the finishing shot on the Gitrog momma with his pistol.

-After running to town center to sell our loot, we ran into Izek who immediately tried to pick a fight with Mirre and tied to interrogate him on why they went to the lake. Mirre explained the Gitrog fight and what happened, only to get thrown into the dirt and was searched by the guards.

This was terrifying to have happen since Mirre had his pistol on him and we arent supposed to have weapons inside vallaki, Rhil caused a small distraction and got grabbed by her throat and lifted off her feet by Izek, Jace nearly threw hands with him right then and there. Mirre nat 20'd his sleight of hand and hid his pistol. Izek spotting that Ireena was upset and terrified for us, dropped Rhil and quickly left.

Izek claimed to have stopped by Blutos and beat him near death to try and get information out of him before he left.

-We come back after some recovery and get changed into our fancier clothes and head to wachters where we have a very nice dinner and talk about the state of Vallaki. We offered to help dethrone Vargas and kill Izek who has been terrorizing and killing people in town.

We also caught Izek stalking Ireena, discovered his doll thing with Blinsky after some detect thoughts and he was harrassing the alchemist to make him a Philter of love. All bad signs for Ireena.

-We come back to the blue water inn after dinner to find the inn trashed after Izek ransacked the place while looking for Ireena and stole our armor. (Jace and Rhil's platemail and Mirre's breastplate) After helping clean up the inn we started working on our plans to kill Izek with a little bit of help from the Markitovs.

The plan was to lure him out to Bluto's shack to avoid damage and injuries in town. slip some poisoned wine into Izek's lunch and spread rumors that we were hiding away at bluto's and planned on leaving with Ireena that night.

-Mirre unsure if he would survive this fight with Izek, Left a lock box full of his monster hunter notes with Rictavio, Mirre had suspicions that Rictavio was Rudolph Van Richten after he made some subtle comments on his cane that Mirre was in possesion of and Rictavio recognized Dirrak's name. Rictavio was also rightfully pissed because Izek ransacked his room too.

-Hiding Ireena away at the Blue water in and after sneaking around and getting some fire resistant potions and spare armor and weapons from town center. Mirre went to sneak in the poisoned wines, accidentally scaring the shit out of Varga's chef and causing him to quit, Mirre met back up with Rhil and Jace at Blutos shack.

Urwin got the wolf hunters to escort Bluto to safety.

-When we arrived we found all of our confiscated armor and weapons with Blue and a bunch of other ravens sitting on the roof, Ready to help us out in the fight.

We also found a greater restoration scroll with the blood hunter symbol torn from one of the notes in Mirre's lock box that he gave to Rictavio. The restoration fixed Jace's reduced max health from the night hags nightmare hauntings.

-Izek and 6 guards showed up soon after we got our fire resistances and we started a fight with Mirre getting crit surprise longbow shot on him. Rhil, Jace, Blue and the ravens picked off the guards while Izek charged Mirre. Mirre got distance between them after luckily avoiding hits with his Curse of the eyeless and conjured a water elemental between them with a gem we found in the gitrog cave.

-we surprisingly downed Izek pretty quick, only for him to get back up super charged with a gift from Seriach, the hellhound whisperer and summoned two hell hounds to attack us. He flat out evaporated Mirre's water elemental infront of us.

-Blue and the ravens scattered in a panic and fled.

-Izek downed Jace with a crit pretty quick and was struggling to hit Rhil(Thank the platinum song for 23 ac) While Mirre flew up to the cliff to get some shots with his long bow.

A sabertooth tiger lept off the cliff where Mirre was and tore through one of the hell hounds while there were crossbow shots coming from the woods(I was fangirling so hard knowing it was Van Richen)

-Rhil eventually got taken out and it was just Mirre and Izek throwing shots at each other while the tiger was fighting the hell hounds. After two nat20's on death saves and repeatedly getting back up, Mirre tapped further into his gift and went into his form of dread, slowly whittling down Izek's health.

-Rhil tapped into her gift as well being brought back up and using her claws of darkness to finish Izek for good and ripped out his heart.

-after we rested a bit and the tiger took off into the woods. We found a amber shard similar to the once Rhil has and Mirre snatched it. Nat 1ing his wisdom save he got sucked into a commune with Seriach and accepted his gift of the hellhounds, Now having two gifts from two separate vestiges.

-we dropped off Izek's head at Wachterhaus and went back to blue water to check on Ireena and get some well deserved rest.

Mirres blood glows a bright radioactive green from his first unnamed vestige and his entire left arm is a dark blood red like Izek's from Seriach.

It was such an intense crazy fight and i'm surprised none of us died, I am getting a bit worried for Rhil and Mirre with how often they've been tapping into these gifts and getting slight mutations from them.

Now we can focus on getting the bones back to the church and put Fiona Wachter in charge.