#he fought it at the cost of getting an eye damaged and also getting a punishment from the bird

[sleep-nurse]

loop

[hellodarling1357]

Hello! I saw that your requests are open (hopefully it wasn't a post from long ago) and I'd like yo ask if you could write something about what happens to Cassian and reader's relationship when his bond with Nesta snaps. Like reader and him were together for centuries and he has to make a very difficult decision, whether to reject the bond or accelt it. I read Drunk Words, Sober Thoughts and I loved it so I believe you could make a very good multi parts fic to this too. Much love ❤️

The Wrong Ones: Part 1 - Cassian x Reader

Do I have a million WIPs? Yes

Do I have another multi-chapter fic on the go? Also Yes

But I was going through my inbox and remembered this request from weeks ago and got super excited about an idea I had for it, so here we are...

Thank you so so so much @justdreamstars!! Sorry it's taken me this long to get it started

Enjoy 🥰

Word Count: 2.2k

You had first met Cassian on a battlefield during the early months of the war against the fae and the humans. Well, to be more precise, you had first met him in a sweltering healing tent, filled with the scent of blood and rot, on the sidelines of said battlefield.

Being no more than a few months past 26, you had been young, far too young to be forced to witness the horrors of war. But that could be said for the majority of the males you tended to throughout those seven years of hell.

You had felt underprepared when you first received the letter that your skills were required on the front line along with the others in your year. Having just passed the halfway mark of your training, your fear that you weren’t full equipped sent you into a panic induced spiral. You were quick to learn, however, that war didn’t require the precision of healing you were yet to be taught. Instead, it required someone with a strong stomach who new how to stop a body bleeding by whatever means possible.

The first soldier you tended to on your first day had died under your care. The shock of seeing his eyes turn blank and vacant had you momentarily retching up the little food left in your stomach. Your supervisor was quick to send you back to your tent, ordering you to pull yourself together then report back immediately. Although, in hindsight, you knew the soldier wouldn’t have made it through the night, your slow movements as you tried to perfectly stitch the wound together had cost you precious time. It was a mistake you never made again.

*****

“Oh fuck, incoming.” Teresa, one of your closest friends at the camp, yelled out as a mass of soldiers piled in through the entrance, supporting others who were either unconscious or unable to stand.

You slipped into a cool and calculating composure, keeping your mind clear of everything other than the injured males who were being led towards unoccupied beds.

“Right, how many do we have?” You asked, pulling your hair away from your face as you assessed the groans of pain and gruelling wounds. You had quickly moved up in the healing ranks, now being entrusted to oversee the ongoings of the tent whenever the main healers were absent.

“Fifteen. There were more but they have no chance, so we prioritised getting these ones here first.”

You fought down the anger at the commander’s words. They had no right in choosing who lived and died, who they could leave behind. But it wasn’t your place to question him and, as much as you hated to admit it, he was probably right in doing so.

You nodded your thanks before rushing over to the bed with the fewest healers around it.

“Damages?”

One of the healers listed off their observations and what they had done so far in terms of treatment as you looked over the unconscious male in front of you. He was Illyrian. Their unit had only recently been posted so you hadn’t had much experience when it came to healing wings. Luckily, or unlucky depending on how you looked at it, his wings seemed to be in okay shape.

“The swelling on his head seems to be the main source of trauma, it’s already starting to bruise—“

“That would also explain the unconsciousness with no evidence of significant blood loss.” Your fingers gently pressed against his skull. “Alright, if that’s it, Lessa can you look after him? Find me if there’s any changes or if… what the fuck?”

You had just taken a step back when you noticed the small pool of blood that was dripping from the bed. Leaping into action, you ripped away his shirt only to find a worryingly deep, albeit short, wound pressed along his ribs, quick to apply pressure as you barked for someone to bring you supplies.

“Why,” You asked, a sharpness to your tone, “was this not noticed earlier? Why did no one think that there could be injuries underneath his uniform?”

“Sorry,” One of the younger healers stammered, she had only been here for a week. “We… I… I didn’t know how to go about removing his shirt around his wings…”

You let out a sigh before taking in a deep breath as she trailed off as if just realising that now wasn’t the time or place to be concerned with properly undressing a patient.

“It’s fine, okay? You won’t do it again,” You let some softness edge into your voice, thinking back to your first day and the fatal mistakes you had made. “Go and take a break, alright? Grab some food and have a rest, I’ve got it from here.” You dismissed the other two healers, asking them to see if anyone else needed their help.

Easing your hand away from the wound, you quickly cleaned it before stitching and dressing it, reminding yourself to find the young healer when you were done for the day to check in on how she was going. After what was almost a colossal error, you checked over the soldier yourself for any other missed injuries or concerns and, thankfully, found none other than a few small scratches here and there.

The soldier remained unconscious, that being your biggest concern, but there was nothing else you could do for the moment so you moved along to the next patient, assisting where you could for the remainder of the day, but you kept finding yourself back to where the Illyrian soldier lay, checking over him again and again for any signs of change.

Night had finally fallen, and, with it, the fighting had stopped, at least for another day. Yet, as healers filtered out in search for a meal or their bed you remained behind, clearing up the tent, one eye fixed on the Illyrian soldier who was yet to stir.

“Y/N?” Teresa called out from the entrance of the tent. “You coming?”

“No, I want to wait a bit longer, see if he wakes up,” You motioned towards the soldier you sat beside as you prepped medical supplies in the momentary stillness. “We don’t know how he will be when he comes to, so I don’t want to leave him here by himself.”

Teresa knew there would be no arguing with you, instead, she gave you a small smile and promised to bring you some dinner which you gratefully ate half an hour later.

“Y/N?” A small voice called as you finished checking the injuries of one of the soldiers who had been brought in the day before.

“Hi, it’s Grace, right?” You asked the young healer from earlier. She gave you a meek nod, avoiding your gaze as she zeroed in on the soldier who still lay unconscious.

“Is he…?” She trailed off, her face pale as she anxiously twisted her hands together.

“Still no changes,” You knew better than to say he was going to be fine, there was no guarantee of anything anymore. “How are you feeling, Grace?” Your voice was gentle as you led her to one of the chairs pushed against the canvas of the tent, letting her collect herself as you went about making her a cup of tea.

She remained silent until the steaming mug was pressed into her hands, “I’m… I’m hopeless at this. I thought I could do it, my whole life all I’ve wanted to do is help people, but now I just… I can’t even do a basic thing like check over a patient.”

Tears filled her eyes, as she stared down at the floor.

“Grace?” You grasped one of her shaking hands, making her look up at you with a comforting squeeze before saying, “You’re not hopeless. You were thrown into this without the proper training, we all were. But what we all need to do now is the best we can and to learn from our mistakes, because we’re going to make them, regardless of if there’s a war going on or not, okay?”

She offered you a small, watery smile, “You don’t though. Make mistakes that is. You’re only three years older than me and you’re already one of the most respected healers here.”

Taking a sip from your own mug, you gave Grace a small smile of your own. “I make mistakes every day, we all do. But the longer you’re here, the faster you get at correcting them. All it is is practice. Besides, my first day here? My very first patient? He died on my watch, and it was because of a stupid mistake, alright? So it happens to everyone, don’t beat yourself up over today.”

“Really? But… What did you do?” Your stomach coiled at the memory, the guilt never truly leaving. But her wide eyes had you pushing that down.

“I was trying to impress my supervisor by showing off the perfect stitch. He died from blood loss that could have easily been avoided if I had acted faster and not let my ego get in the way.”

“Oh.”

“We all make mistakes; we just need to learn from them. Now it’s late, so go get some rest.” She bid you goodnight, leaving you in the silence of the tent.

You walked back over to the Illyrian soldier, pulling aside the bandages to check over the wound to his ribs.

“I’m not too sure if I want you looking over them. Doesn’t sound like you have much luck with stitches.” You jumped at the deep rasp of the male’s voice, assuming that he had still been unconscious by how still his body was.

You tore your eyes up to his face and found the most stunning shade of hazel staring back at you.

“You… you’re awake.” All your training and bed manner seemed to fly out the window as his lips pulled into a teasing smile. He adjusted slightly, the pain that took over his features had you jumping into action.

“You’re okay. Where does it hurt?” Your fingers gently prodded at the bruising around his temple, noting the swelling had already started to go down. You brushed back his hair to get a better look at the injury as you waited for him to answer.

“No where when you do that,” You quizzically looked at him, wondering if there had been some sort of brain damage from the evident blow he had received, but he continued talking, “Honestly, the feel of your fingers running through my hair might just be worth the throbbing against my ribs.”

You ignored his quip, focusing on the, very limited, information he gave you.

His ribs. Fine. At least you knew what was causing him the most pain.

Moving so you were by his ribs again, you gently pressed around the area of the wound, watching his face for any sort of reaction.

“Does it feel like something could be lodged in there? Or is it just the wound itself?”

“It’s fine, just hurt a little bit when I moved,” His nonchalant act didn’t fool you as you prodded again, causing a flicker of discomfort to flash across his face. “Okay, yep, right there. Fuck that’s painful.”

You gave him an apologetic smile as you assessed the wound further.

“Sorry. You may have some bruised ribs; I don’t think they’re broken though. I’m going to dress the wound then wrap everything up to keep it in place, alright? I’ll let you get some sleep and then I’ll check in on you again in the morning.”

The Illyrian soldier grimaced but made not fuss like you had experienced with some of the other soldiers. Just as you were finishing wrapping the bandages he asked, “What’s your name?”

“I’m Y/N,” You offered another tight, apologetic smile as you pulled on the bandages to ensure they were tightly secured before tying them off, his slight hiss of pain was the only sign he gave that it had hurt.

“Sorry.” You repeated.

“Don’t worry about it,” You cautiously watched as he adjusted himself into a more comfortable position. Shutting his eyes for a moment as the pain settled before opening them to stare right at.

“It’s nice to meet you, Y/N,” A charming smile spread across his features as his hazel eyes remained fixed on you, causing your heart to falter in your chest.

“I’m Cassian.”

*****

Let me know what you think!

And, as always, my inbox is open for requests so please send them my way 🥰

[devastator1775]

Our happy ending, turned upside down

(Also found on Archive Of Our Own)

Lights flickered chaotically in the deepest depths of Cabin Fever Labs, which shook around violently. A mass of tentacles and camera eyes filled most of the center of the room, thrashing around and screeching, as if was in pain. A lone Worker Drone sat slumped against the wall, fighting to stay online. Uzi, bleeding and holding the bleeding stump of her arm, frantically looked around for N, but he was nowhere to be found. She only could see Tessa, unconscious and injured. Last time she had seen him, he had taken a last desperate shot of the abomination in front of them, before tentacles enveloped him.

“N!” Uzi cried out, trying to get up, but the pain that coursed through her entire body kept her from doing just that. She cried out the Disassembly Drone’s name again, even more fear and desperation in her voice. She yelped when a giant tentacle struck the wall above her, raining debris over her.

Uzi looked over to the giant mass that was the ultimate form of AbsoluteSolver, freed from its bounds.

They had succeeded.

It was dying.

And so were they.

The creature thrashed around, tentacles and eye stalks flying around. “Pained cry! Thrashing! Angry scream!” It suddenly stopped, all of its eye stalks suddenly scowling at Uzi’s direction. “Locking eyes! I am the Solver of the Absolute Fabric! I was Cyn! I was your mother! I was you! I will always be part of you! You can’t get rid of me!”

Uzi grinned, raising her remaining arm to flip the creature off. “Heh …bite …me!”

“Ominous giggle. I have a better idea.”

A tentacle lunged at her direction.

Uzi jolted up from her nightmare with a gasp, digital beads of sweat and tears running down her visor. She immediately grasped her arm, squeezing it to confirm it was still there. She panted frantically, her visor showing her a warning message. She looked around, panicked. She wasn’t in Cabin Fever Labs anymore. She was in the Landing Pod.

Uzi’s body still trembled from the nightmare; or rather, the terrible memory. It had been a week after her final encounter with the AbsoluteSolver in the depths of Cabin Fever Labs, where they had encountered the Eldritch virus and fought to halt its gruesome plans. It had been a long and harrowing endeavor, but …they had won, but at a great cost. Both Uzi and N would have died down there, if Tessa hadn’t pulled them both out.

Doll had vanished out of sight during the entire thing and the search for her hadn’t brought any fruition. At first, they believed that she had returned to the upper labs to finish off V, in case the Sentinels hadn’t, but  the search party went to look for her, they found the place empty with all the sentinels offline, torn apart. They had found V locked away in a closet, heavily damaged and power down, but alive. She was currently in the Bunker being treated for her injuries, but hadn’t awoken since they’ve found her. Uzi believed that Doll vanishing and V’s survival might’ve be connected to the other. But why Doll, after everything, decided to spare V, let alone safe her, was a mystery.

Closing her eyes and burying her face in her hands, she tried desperately to calm down her overcharged circuits. Raspy intakes of breath replaced with groans of pain as an aching feeling jolted through her entire body, like spikes jabbing her everywhere all at once.

 Even after a week, she was still healing and in need of repairs. With the AbsoluteSolver destroyed, all of her modifications that it had made to her body, like her tail and wings, had vanished in a rather painful and overextended fashion. But that also meant that any form of regeneration, which meant her body had to be repaired and healed in the old fashioned way. If it meant that Uzi could have control of her own body again and not deal with the fears that the AbsoluteSolver had brought into her life, it was all worth it for her.

She’d miss her wings, though. She’d had grown to like flying around. Flying with N.

The thought of her boyfriend calmed her down and a warm feeling flowed  through her circuits, dulling the pain she was experiencing. The thought of the word ‘boyfriend’ also made her metallic surface tingle. It was still weird to refer to N as such, even if she never missed an opportunity to make the latter giddy every time she called him such.

She looked around from her makeshift bed and quickly located him. As usual, N slept upside down, dangling about 5 feet above the ground, his tail curled around a hanging beam and wings furled around him. She’d never say this aloud to anyone – except to N, to whom she had voiced this statement many times – but she was a little jealous that N able to keep his modifications.

But, just like her, it had come at a cost. When the AbsoluteSolver perished, his organic core also shriveled up and died. For as long as she’d be alive, she’d never forget the horrifying sight of N screaming, thrashing and writhing in the most agonizing pain as his entire body changed from the inside. The feeling of helplessness as she could only hold his hand while Tessa tried to hold him still.

And when the eternity of those few minutes had passed …N had fallen silent, laying so motionless that Uzi thought he had died. She had cried, begging him to get up, not to leave her, calling him all sorts of names. It wasn’t until she told him that she loved him that a soft smile formed on his face, opening his now cyan-colored eyes and telling her he felt the same. Not really how Uzi had imagined how her first kiss would go, but hey, she wouldn’t deny the extra points for most dramatic setting.

In the end, the kiss wasn’t the only reward the agonizing pain N had gotten. Despite still looking like a Disassembly Drone, his body had gone a sort of reset and reverted it to a state before Cyn – or rather, the AbsoluteSolver – had taken control of him. He longer craved the oil of Worker Drones nor did he needed it to drink it to prevent overheating. Sunlight no longer hurt him, as was the same for Uzi.

There was something of downside to it, though. The nanites in his body were also deactivated, so while that meant no more nanite acid that could burn and melt drones, it also meant that his regenerative abilities and healing saliva were gone. Something her lovable, but accident-prone goof of a boyfriend found out very quickly.

V had undergone the same thing as N, as did J. Uzi had to admit that the image of J lounging in Tessa’s ship and suddenly experiencing extreme, agonizing pain as her body reformatted …was kinda funny. Who cared it’s a little messed up, it’s not like she liked the former disassembly drone that much anyway, with the way she treated N. She did hope that V was already unconscious as it happened to her, though.

Uzi sighed, still shaken up by the nightmare. “N?”

No reaction from the winged drone.

She scrambled out of bed, groaning as a dull pain shot through her. She inhaled deeply and slowly walked over to where N was ‘hanging out’ – she allowed herself a little grin at the silly pun – hugging herself. She stopped right below him and looked up, biting her lower lip.

“N? You awake?” Her voice was hoarse, barely audible.

Still no reaction.

Uzi started to reach out, standing on her tippytoes to increase her height and tried to touch N. She eventually let her arm fall down to her sides again and dropped her gaze to the ground, balling up her hands and softly scolding at herself for even doing this. She really shouldn’t bother him, considering N had ended up just as hurt and damaged after the fight as her. N needed his rest, he needed the energy to heal. He shouldn’t be dealing with her just because she had a dumb nightmare.

A tap on her head made her look up. A smile instantly appeared on her lips as she saw N looking down at her, smiling softly as well.

“Hi…”

“Hey…”

“Nightmare again?”

“mm-hmmm…”

He nodded and held out his hand. “C’mere.”

Uzi started to reach out her hand, but pulled it back with a frown. “You aren’t gonna drop me?”

N rolled his eyes. “Please, what are the odds of that happening again?”

“With you?” Uzi replied with a smirk. “Higher than you think?”

“You wanna come up here to cuddle or what?”

“Yes please.” Uzi let out a amused squeak as N grabbed her hand and pulled her up. Uzi swung her legs forward as N swung her, wrapping them around his waist. She yelped when she started to lose her grip, her beanie slipping from her head and falling down on the floor.

N quickly pulled her against him.  “Okay, I got you.”

Uzi could practically feel N’s arms lock down, essentially forming a harness that kept her in place. Uzi thought back on the first time they tried ‘upside down cuddling’ – or ‘vampire makeout’ as Uzi called it – and N dropped her after a couple of minutes.

She pressed her face against N’s chest, hugging him tightly. She giggled when N ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her cheek. She looked up, smiling happily at her boyfriend, whom smiled back. Uzi amusedly rolled her eyes and planted a kiss on N’s lips, immediately pressing herself tighter against him. When they eventually parted, the blush on their visors was so bright that I nearly illuminated the room. After breathlessly gazing at each other for a few moments, they both chuckled.

Uzi wrapped her arms around N’s neck, nuzzling against his cheek. “N?”

“Yes?”

“I’m happy.”

“About what?”

“I don’t know.” Uzi shrugged. “You. Me. Us. My life. The fact that we survived this entire shitshow and we got a happy ending out of it.”

“Most of us…”

Uzi didn’t need to ask what N meant. She knew him better than that.

“V is one of the toughest Drones out there.” Uzi admitted, albeit with hint of reluctance in her voice. “She’ll pull through.”

“Yeah…”

Uzi grinned. “I can’t wait to tease her with the amount of times that Lizzy visited her.”

“Be nice, Uzi.”

“I am nice.”

“Yeah, you are.”

Uzi giggled and halfheartedly punched her boyfriend on his chest. “Stop flirting.”

“I’m trying, but the very sight of you doesn’t make that an easy thing to do.”

“Jeez, did you turn into a Cassanova Drone instead of a Disassembly Drone, N?” Uzi asked jokingly.

“Only for you, Uzi Doorman.”

“Oh, shut up.” Uzi giggled and rested her head on N’s chest, letting out a yawn. She smiled as N’s wings furled around the both of them, covering them up. She snuggled against his chest, giggling as her boyfriend chuckled. “I love you, N.”

“I love you too, Uzi.” N rested his chin on her head, pulling her tightly against his chest before planting a kiss on her the top of her head. “Sleep well.”

Soon, the two Drones found themselves in a deep sleep mode, but unbeknownst to them, a figure was looking at the pod, hiding from view in one of the ruined buildings that surrounded the area. A female worker drone Doll with an eyepatch and dark purple hair. She had a backpack with supplies strapped to her back, ready for a long, long trip. She hoisted her backpack a bit more securely on her back, sighing as she mentally prepared for the journey she was going to take. A small smile formed on the Russian-speaking Drone’s face.

“<Well done, Uzi>” Doll said. “<I hope you and your boyfriend enjoy your lives together, free from the sickness our parents gave us. I hope you’re not too mad I have taken your idea of ‘self-banishment’, but after all I’ve done …it was the only choice I could make.>”

She fished something out of the pocket of her jacket. A picture of her parents. She looked at it for a few moments, before she let go of it and watched it as Copper-9’s wind took it away. She turned her gaze towards the direction of the Bunker and gave a quick salute. “<I forgive you, V. Get better, live your life and try to rein Lizzy a bit. She’s a good girl, but she needs a bit of a reality check every now and then.>”

“<As for you.>” Doll grabbed a second item from her jacket. It was an old human communication device – an old cellphone she had found in the ruins of a ‘museum of human invention’. An obsolete device with limited to no capabilities of remote access or anything. A hardlocked prison. With a scowl, she activated it. A yellow symbol appeared on the screen. She began as she started to walk in the opposite direction of Uzi, N, V, the Bunker and everyone she had ever known. “<You will never use anyone for your own gains again. I will make sure no-one will find you.>”

A text started to form on the screen, but Doll bluntly shoved her little prisoner in her backpack.

“<Just shut up….>” Doll paused and turned around, giving her old home one, final look. She smiled, turned around and took the first steps of her long journey.

To places unknown.

[jumpywhumpywriter]

Alternate Ending: Mallory Begs Alex to Turn Him

Warnings: blood, dying human, begging, painful Turning into a vampire

This takes place right when Mallory is dying, but is a situation-reverse of the original story's ending, where this time Mallory begs Alex to Turn him.

So this is what dying feels like, he thought numbly. The notion scared him, but he also found it oddly comforting, because it meant he wouldn't be in agony for much longer. Because right now, everything hurt, and his skin was growing colder with every heartbeat as the warmth bled out of him. It was excruciating, and he'd do anything for the pain to end.

That's when Mallory felt a cold hand on his jaw, turning his head to look up into Alex's terrified face. Terrified for him. Such a strange expression on the ever-composed vampire's face.

Alex's eyes darted down to the gaping hole in his gut, and his expression darkened with knowing realization. "No... oh Mallory," his voice cracked helplessly as he stared at the damage.

They both knew it was lethal. No human could survive an injury this grievous. This utterly fatal.

...No human can, Mallory's foggy thoughts echoed, and a cold realization dawned on him, one that sent a terrified shiver up his spine... but it wasn't entirely fear alone that gave him the reaction. After all, that was the problem, wasn't it? He was human. A fatal flaw. A weakness. So fragile and easily killed. It's why he was in so much pain right now... it's why he was dying.

Mallory fought through the haze muddling his mind, fighting to stay awake. His eyes narrowed with grim determination and resolve.

A human couldn't survive an injury like this...

...but a vampire could.

Nervous excitement twisted with desperate hope clogged in his throat, and he almost couldn't get the words out, knowing that what he was about to say had the potential to end his current life...

...and give him a new one entirely.

"Alex... Alex?" He coughed out, retching more blood.

"Don't worry, I'm here," Alex said reassuringly, holding him tight in his strong arms. "I won't leave until... I won't leave you to die alone." His voice ended in a shaky whisper full of grief. "I promise."

Mallory struggled to focus his eyes on his face. "I don't have to die," he rasped hoarsely. "Not if... not if you Turn me."

Alex recoiled, almost dropping him before stopping himself, staring down at the hunter with eyes full of disbelief. "That's the blood loss talking," he muttered softly, "you don't want that. Believe me, you really don't."

"I do." Mallory placed a trembling, bloody hand on Alex's chest, silently begging. "I don't... don't want to die... please... help me."

Alex turned his face away, gaze dark and troubled. "You don't know what you're asking of me," he whispered quietly. "What I went through when I was Turned -- the things I did, the pain I experienced -- I can't do that to you. It's why I swore never to Turn anyone, because I've been on the other side of that arrangement myself." His breath hitched. He couldn't, he just couldn't Turn Mallory. The human was young and naive, innocently hungry for the immortal life of a vampire without realizing the price he’d pay for it. That you pay every last cursed day of eternity. It was a common desire, to want to live forever, to crave the power that came with being a vampire... but the cost was unfathomably great.

Mallory's face twisted as another shock of pain stabbed through him, his breaths coming harsh and ragged. "Please," he panted breathlessly. "I know what I'm getting myself into. Please... just Turn me, and we can figure the rest out later. I don't... think I have much longer to live..." his voice trailed off into a slurred mumble as unconsciousness threatened to suck him under.

Alex's face tightened with anguish, torn. Because he knew the consequences of a Turning firsthand. He'd lived through it himself. And if there was one thing he knew as solid fact, it was that Mallory most certainly did not know what he was getting himself into by making such a request.

"Mallory, no," he breathed, trying to change his mind. A part of him felt guilty for thinking it would probably be best if the human passed away today than be forced to live through hell for the rest of eternity, never to experience basic human pleasures anymore.

Because that's what a Turning entailed. Sacrificing everything you knew, everything you loved, to become immortal. Endless. Giving up basking in warm sunlight on beaches, dining out at fancy restaurants, getting to retire and live peacefully in an old log cabin out in the woods. It meant watching everything around you wither and fade and die with the seasons, human friends included. It meant outliving them all. Grieving them all.

"Mallory, you don't understand," Alex croaked hoarsely. "I can't willingly put you through the hell I've lived in."

Mallory’s eyes were rolling in his skull now, his skin deathly pale as he bled out in the vampire's arms. He was barely conscious anymore, clinging to life by a thread with every ounce of stubborn willpower he possessed.

"Alex... you don't have to blame yourself for this," he wheezed softly. "I'm choosing this. I'm asking you... to Turn me. The consequences are mine to bear."

"But I'm the one who's going to have to watch you suffer through all the changes!" Alex cried. "I'm the one who's going to have to watch as the joy and excitement leave you over the years, as the light fades into immortal numbness! As you change from a bright individual to dull shades of gray! As you lose yourself to madness warped by the endless passage of time!"

Mallory mustered every ounce of his dwindling strength to raise a shaky hand -- and place his bare wrist against Alex's lips like an offering, laying himself open and vulnerable before him. "No, Alex... if you Turn me, I won't be alone. I'll have you and Anisa to coach me through it, to teach me every step of the way. I can... I can do this. Give me a second chance?"

Mallory's strength finally gave out entirely, and his arm went limp -- but stayed raised in the air when Alex snatched his hand, lightning-quick, holding it in place inches from his mouth.

Alex's silver eyes flicked to Mallory's, and he saw the terror in the human's gaze -- but also the anticipation, the curious yet nervous excitement buzzing beneath the surface. The confidence. The resolve.

"...You sure you really want to become a monster like me?" Alex whispered, breath ghosting over the sensitive skin of Mallory's wrist.

Mallory held his gaze, unwavering. "Yes. I'm ready."

Alex shivered, his mind screaming at him not to go through with it -- to find some excuse not to Turn him. But a selfish part of him didn't want Mallory to die either, even if saving him meant he wouldn't be his perfect little human anymore.

"...You win, hunter," he eventually murmurmered. "If you're certain about it. I... promise to take good care of you once it's over." He brushed a shaky finger over Mallory's fluttering, struggling pulse, taking a final moment to savor the feeling of his humanness, the vibrant life flowing through his veins, before his heart would stop and never beat again. "The pain of a Turning is intense, so... I'm sorry in advance." With a final guilty glance at Mallory's paling face, he sank his fangs into the human's wrist, injecting his venom.

Nothing happened at first, Mallory's breath staying shallow and uneven -- before there was an audible hitch in the rhythm, and his face scrunched up, eyes squeezing shut. His breathing quickened, wheezing in and out of his lungs in raspy pants as the venom rapidly started to invade his body and take control, shutting his bodily functions down entirely and changing every cell in his body. Into something not quite dead... but not quite alive, either.

Alex winced sympathetically as he watched Mallory twitch weakly, groaning in pain as it got worse. And it was even more awful when the hunter finally started screaming in agony, wailing wretchedly as the Turning reached its peak.

Guilt churned in Alex's gut as he held him close, doing his best to be reassuring while Mallory jerked and spasmed in his arms, gurgling and crying out in pain.

But the human's conscience gave out halfway through the change, and he abruptly went limp in the vampire's arms, his body overwhelmed both from the venom along with the grave injury he'd sustained. A blessed reprieve from the suffering.

Alex strained his ears, listening to the whisper of a heartbeat in Mallory's chest... until he finally couldn't track it any longer, his human heart stopping altogether.

Alex let out a trembling sigh. He'd have a lot of work ahead of him preparing Mallory to exist in the world as a newblood, but there's no one he'd rather help and dedicate his time to.

...And now, they'd have all the time in the world to figure things out. Together.

(Chapter 1 of main story)

Masterlist

@scoundrelwithboba @lumpofsand @isikedmyself878 @iamheretohurt @fleur-a-whump

@ay5ksal @otterfrost @sausages-things @togzy @floral-comet-whump

@whump-till-ya-jump @cravesunconditionallove @whumpwritinglover222 @nevermore-ramblings @mj-or-say10

[superfanficnatural]

The Son: Chapter 20

Pairing: Poe Dameron x Male!Reader (The Son)

Summary: You’ve finally broken free of the forces controlling you at a great cost, though the cost of doing so was even greater than you thought. Now, you fight for the antithesis of what you had been representing, and have to grapple with finding your own place in the galaxy while grappling with the person trying to find their way into your heart. Will The Son choose the light? Or the dark? Whatever the answer may be, may the force be with us.

A/N: I'm so sorry for the long wait on this you guys, I just haven't been able to get to writing really but chapter 20 is finally here! Some funny moments for you guys in here, also some troubling information!! As always, I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Some fluff

Word Count: 4,650

Italics are your thoughts

Masterpost

You were trying to put out a fire right next to the cockpit as Poe called out over the comms, “Resistance base, it’s the Falcon, we’re back but we’re in bad shape. We need repairs as soon as we land, we’re leaking just about everything and-” he was interrupted by a small explosion on the outside of the ship. “We’re on fire inside and out.”

You sighed and finished putting out the fire, tossing the extinguisher to the side, “Let’s just get to solid ground.”

Poe piloted the ship down and landed, your group walking out of the ramp and onto the planet's surface.

“Whole thing’s on fire, all of it,” Poe waved back at workers storming the Falcon.

You didn’t even bother turning your head to look at the damage you knew was there and walked forward, seeing Rey just ahead of your path.

“Hey, there’s a spy?” she asked as you approached.

You nodded as you approached, “Apparently so, haven’t had a chance to look at the data just yet.”

“Really could have used your help out there,” Poe spoke as he approached, directed at Rey.

“How’d it go?” she questioned.

He placed his hands on his hips, “Really bad actually, really bad.”

“Han’s ship...” she trailed off, taking in the damage in front of her.

Poe looked down at BB-8 who you had leaned down to check on, “What’d you do to the droid?”

One of his parts was missing from his small circular body and he looked slightly banged up.

Rey looked down at the droid, the Falcon, then back to Poe, “What’d you do to the Falcon?”

“The Falcon’s in a lot better shape than he is!” he accused.

“BB-8’s not on fire,” Rey retorted.

“What’s left of him isn’t on fire,” Poe was quick to keep up.

“Tell me what happened,” Rey demanded.

“You tell me first,” Poe fought back.

“You know what you are?” Rey sarcastically smiled.

“What?” 

“Stubborn? Difficult?” you muttered out loud, looking off to the side.

“Exactly, you’re difficult,” Rey finished. “Really difficult, you’re a difficult man.”

“Shouldn’t you be defending me?” Poe turned to you before turning back to Rey. “You...”

“Rey,” Finn approached.

Rey broke off from Poe, who knelt down to check on BB-8 while she and Finn caught up.

“Oh buddy, what did she do to you,” he fawned over the poor droid.

Chewie growled loudly from the side, announcing that the lightspeed skipping was a terrible idea.

“Wait, you lightspeed skipped?” Rey asked, shocked, turning back from Finn to walk towards the two of you.

Poe responded without turning back from BB-8, “Yeah, well it got us back here didn’t it?”

“Just barely,” you admitted shyly.

“Poe, the compressors down,” she stated matter of factly, her tone implying she knew he knew that.

“Oh, I know, I was there,” he back talked.

“Every time,” Finn threw his hands up as he joined your group.

“You can’t lightspeed skip the Falcon!”

He shot up now, “Actually, it turns out you can.”

“Alright, guys we just landed,” Finn tried to defuse them.

Poe began walking away and the rest of you followed, Rey pressing further, “What happened?”

“Bad news happened,” he said over his shoulder.

“So no spy?”

“No, spy.”

You could feel both of their annoyance and closed your eyes with a sigh, following silently.

“Did we make contact with a spy or not?” she threw her hands in the air in annoyance.

“There’s a mole in the First Order and they sent us a message,” Finn explained.

BB-8 chirped and you raised an eyebrow, “The tree fell on you?”

Poe turned to you with an ‘excuse me’ face and turned to Rey, “You dropped a tree on him?”

“You blew both sub-alternators?” she replied with equal fervor. 

“Well you know what, if you’re so worried about the systems blowing then maybe you should be out there with us!”

All of you wanted Rey out there with you but it seemed you were the only person who understood why she wasn’t. It was still much too early for her in her journey and she more than needed the last few months for training, not running around on missions. Though her absence weighed heavy on everyone, she was an integral member of the team and her not being around, especially after losing Han, was a strike to the Falcon’s power. Finn and Chewie were also filled in mostly on your situation and were aware of the incoming nexus event, Poe simply expressing the panic you all felt at the looming times to come and the key players involved.

“You know I wanna be out there with you,” Rey pleaded back.

“Yeah but you’re not! You’re here training, when Y/N could be doing that with you on the ship. We need you, out there, not here,” Poe offered before walking away.

You gave Rey an apologetic smile before you followed along with Poe, coming up to his side, “Hey, you know that it would be impossible for me to train her while we’re actively out on missions right?”

He looked to you and back in front of him before sighing as he walked, “I know, that was unfair of me. I just... things have been getting more and more dangerous and I’m just worried that something bad is gonna happen. We need everyone we can get, especially another Jedi.”

You nodded solemnly, knowing he wasn’t reducing her to her contribution, but still realizing in times of war, much like your current time, you needed everything you could possibly get, “I know. With Snoke dead and Kylo and the First Order still at large, I’ve been feeling uneasy as well. I’m usually much better at wayfinding and seeing through the force but... ever since I’ve awakened I’ve been blocked. At first I thought it was Snoke, but with him dead it must be something else.”

“I don’t like the sound of that,” Poe admitted. 

You sighed, “Neither do I. Go ahead and get the message from Leia, I’ll meet you at what I’m assuming will be a debrief soon?”

Poe nodded, placing a hand on your shoulder momentarily before the two of you split, going in separate directions. Instead of going to find the message, you doubled back to try and find Rey and get a progress update from her. After going back to where you last saw her, she was no longer there but thankfully you had just caught her outline walking a bit off to the side.

“Rey,” you called out as you tried to catch up to her.

She stopped walking and turned back to face you, “Hey.”

You had finally caught up and began to walk beside her, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine, what do you think the message is?” she asked, her impatience glaring.

“I think, we’ll find that out once they read it,” you responded simply. “I wanted to see how your training was going. What is Leia having you do now?”

She didn’t respond for a second as she didn’t get the response she had hoped but ultimately kept the conversation, “It’s... fine. She’s having me try to connect with the masters who came before me.”

“Fine? What’s been going on, Rey?” you asked, once again pausing the walk to look at her, feeling there was a lot going on underneath the surface.

She begrudgingly stopped as well to face you with a sigh, looking off to the side before returning to your gaze, “We haven’t heard anything in months. Poe was right, I need to be out there. Not here trying to have previous Jedi ‘be with me.’”

“Rey, I understand your frustration but you cannot allow it to fill you with impatience,” you pleaded. “Allowing those feelings to overcome you is the first step to defeat, to imbalance.”

“I know,” she said, though she seemed to be responding more to her thoughts than she was to you.

You placed a hand on her shoulder, “I was overcome with nothing but the dark for so long, and now I still struggle to co-exist with that part of me. Believe me when I say I know how it feels to not be in complete control over yourself or your emotions.” You removed your hand softly, “But as long as we don’t give up, and train ourselves, we can save the galaxy.”

The two of you continued talking for a short while longer, though for all you might have talked, you felt Rey was still holding something back from you. Knowing that pressing her about it wouldn’t yield any results, you chose to drop your concerns for the moment. 

Eventually, there was a call for an important meeting, the very same you anticipated earlier to discuss the information that was received. As you arrived, the small portion of what was left of the Resistance was huddled around an open area outside near the x-wings. You noticed Poe and went to stand near him as he beckoned you over with his eyes, noticing you approaching as well. You didn’t have to wait long before everyone had arrived and Poe spoke up.

“We’ve decoded the intel from the First Order spy, and it confirms the worst.” He sighed as he crossed his arms, “Somehow, Palpatine returned.”

The whole crowd gasped as the shocking news came to light, including you. 

You had never met Palpatine... but you knew who he was. When you were in the pyramid, you were able to see glimpses into the galaxy, especially focused around the dark side. From them, you were vaguely familiar with Sheev Palpatine, the man who destroyed the Republic. 

“Wait, do we believe this?” Rose was the first to respond from the shellshocked group.

“It cannot be, the Emperor is dead!” one of the Man Calamari said.

“Dark science, cloning. Secrets only the Sith knew,” another inferred.

You spoke up, “It’s more than possible, it’s probable. It looks like Kylo has found a new master. There are dark rituals that speak of immortality, something Palpatine would have been capable of.”

With the First Order completely aware of you, along with the Resistance becoming a dwindling few, Leia and you had broken the news to everyone. At first, you wanted no one to know of you in order to avoid distrust, and while everyone was a bit shocked, it wasn’t in the way you anticipated. No one expressed a single concern, each and every one of them seeing the way you fought for the Resistance. After spending so much time with them, it seemed you had built a bond of trust you had never considered. Because of that, you felt comfortable enough to share the information. Though, you felt your trepidation rise in your gut, not expecting such a force to be thrown at you... matters just got severely worse.

“He’s been planning his revenge,” Poe built off of you. “His followers have been building something for years. The largest fleet the galaxy has ever known. He calls it the Final Order. In 16 hours, attacks on all free worlds begin.”

The entire camp listened on, their faces being wracked with the frightful news.

“The Emperor and his fleet have been hiding in the unknown regions. On a world called Exegol.”

R2 rocked side to side with alarming chirps, 3PO placing a hand on him and speaking on his behalf, “Exegol does not appear on any star chart. But legend describes it as the hidden world of the Sith.”

Rey had turned and ran off, concerning you slightly as the group continued.

“There were always whispers of his hunger to cheat death,” Beaumont mentioned, the same officer who spoke before you about the cloning.

“So, Palpatine’s been out there all this time. Pulling the strings,” Poe surmised.

Another rush in your gut, the thought that he had had decades to make his plans. He had taken down an established galactic power from the inside, what else did he have in his head?

“Always, in the shadows. From the very beginning,” Leia finally spoke, directing her words in response to Poe.

“If we want to stop him, we must find him,” Maz pointed out, the small yet very old and wise woman spoke. “Must find Exegol.”

“General,” Rey announced, everyone turning to her as she reappeared. “Can I speak with you?”

Leia waved the group off and everyone scattered, Rey beckoning you over with a nod of her head. She held one of the books she took from the island Luke was on as she walked, you and Leia following.

“I know how to get to Exegol,” she stated as she sat down in a corner of the cavity carved into the mountainside.

“Tell me,” Leia responded.

“Luke searched for it for a long time. He nearly found it,” she explained. “But he said to get there, you need one of these,” she flipped through the pages on the book to come to a picture of a triangular prism. “A Sith wayfinder. They’re compasses that lead the way to Exegol.”

“You’ve been studying these books along with your training it seems,” you said as you studied the page.

“To stop what we all know is coming,” she locked eyes with both of you. “I need to finish what Luke started. Find Exegol. Find the Emperor.”

“No,” Leia promptly responded.

“I don’t want to go without your blessing but I will, I will,” Rey pressed.

You placed a hand on Rey’s shoulder and faced Leia with her, “I’ll go with her.”

“It’s what you would do,” Rey appealed to her.

She shared a ‘I don’t think this is a good idea’ look with the two of you for a while before she finally caved, giving you a nod to approve your mission.

You and Rey shared a look before you nodded and turned to go to the Falcon. For a while, the two of you assisted in the repairs in order to get the ship operational for your trip. You didn’t bother going to get Poe as you knew he would learn about the mission one way or another, and proceed to prepare to leave with you. 

As you predicted, after finishing up with the repairs, Rey was removing the fuel nozzle as Poe walked up, “So, you guys got her up and running huh?”

Rey responded to him as you checked over a monitor, assessing the systems of the ship, “You were right before. I’m gonna pick up Luke’s search for Exegol. I’m gonna start where his trail went cold. The Forbidden Desert of Pasaana.”

“Yeah I know, we’re going with you,” he placed a hand on her elbow before walking past, coming up behind you. “Hey sweetheart, you didn’t come get me.”

You smiled as you felt his arms come up to hug you from behind, pressing the tablet a few more times to finish up, “I knew you’d come, I had to fix things up here.”

“Mmhm,” he muttered, placing a slightly arousing kiss on your neck that sent flutters down your spine. “You know I’d follow you anywhere.”

You sighed, eyes drooping closed momentarily before you caught yourself, “Poe... if you don’t stop right now.”

He chuckled as he swayed your hips to the side slightly and slowly, “Am I being a bad boy?”

You rolled your eyes as the rest of the group had already been walking in towards the Falcon and he was making you want to pull him back to your room, “Very.” You turned in his arms as you finished up and looked at him, leaning back against the console, “Though I think you want to be one.”

His cheeky grin confirmed your thoughts and he responded as you wrapped your arms around his neck, “No better time than the present. We’re going off, to probably die again.”

You chuckled and leaned in for a slow and soft kiss, pulling away before long, “Then I guess we’ll just have to live then.”

You slipped out from his hold and walked to the ramp of the ship, leaving a wanting Poe to follow you behind shortly. Finn had gone off to ask Rose to come with your group so he arrived shortly after, Rose seemingly not with him. He had thought of inviting her for her knowledge of ships and systems, though you knew that was only part of the reason. There was something forming between the two of them you felt.

“General’s asked her to study the specs of destroyers,” Finn explained as he came into the Falcon.

You were finishing up preparations in the Falcon while everyone went off to gather last minute provisions and to say their possible goodbyes. Rey had gone off somewhere and Poe had left to go grab her, both of them returning to the Falcon before long as you were to set out as soon as possible. C-3PO was accompanying you along with BB-8 as a translator droid for any planets you might come across. You wanted A-3 to come, especially since he hadn’t seen much action, but accepted 3PO all the same. 

Rey spoke as she came in with Poe, “Leia is outside.”

You got up as you had finished everything you needed and walked out to see her once more before you departed, Rey coming along as well.

“I don’t like sending my best fighters off right now,” Leia began as you walked up to her. “But this might be our only shot.”

Rey pressed her lips together with disappointed eyes towards the general, “There’s so much I want to tell you.”

“Tell me when you get back,” Leia returned softly with a smile.

Leia held out Luke’s saber to her and Rey looked down to notice, only watching for a few moments before she reached her hands out and grabbed it. Pulling Leia in for a hug immediately after, the two of them embraced shortly. You had been out on missions with Poe, Finn, and Chewie so often that you hadn’t gotten to see their relationship truly form. It was like watching the embrace of a mother and her daughter.

“Rey, never be afraid of who you are,” Leia whispered in her ear as they hugged. 

At that, Rey had opened her eyes, tears falling from her lashes and stared into the distance. Your brows furrowed in response and you were suddenly reminded of the feeling you got from Rey earlier, that she was battling with something from within that she hadn’t revealed to you. After they broke apart, they gave each other another look with a smile and Rey walked back towards the Falcon. You were left alone with Leia and as you turned to look at her, you found her already intently looking into your eyes.

“She’s not the only one who needs to hear that.”

You blinked, coming to understand her meaning and sighed, “I think I’m still trying to figure out who I am in the first place.”

“You forget, I saw into your memories just as you did mine,” she said nonchalantly.

You staggered, “What?”

“I know a thing or two about the force as well, Y/N. I saw you... your sister and your father. I saw the love they had for you, even in your darkest times,” Leia explained. “Because they saw who you truly were underneath all of the dark, just as I see you.”

You felt a pang in your heart, and asked with vulnerability, “And what do you see?”

She sighed with a knowing smile, “Goodness. Not just darkness, not just the light, but a true heart.”

Tears began to form in your eyes, “I don’t know if I can control my darkness.”

“I have faith that you will,” she left you with that as her final remark to think about as she guided you to the ship.

You entered and turned back as you pressed the button to close the ramp, Leia’s determined face influencing your own right up until the last of the sunlight crept through the cracks of the seal. As you walked towards the cockpit, you came to see 3PO in the main area standing and approached.

“Hello, 3PO.”

His metallic body reared to face you as the color in his eyes flickered, “Ah, Commander Y/N!”

You had almost forgotten that was the rank Leia assigned to you since you never wanted anyone to call you that in the first place. Of course 3PO would be the one to introduce the formality.

“I’m glad to have you on this mission, it’s unfortunate that we haven’t been able to spend much time together,” you expressed genuinely, even though most of your interactions with him led to... someone getting ticked off.

“I wholeheartedly agree! I am honored to be joining you on this quest through space and what will most certainly end in our horrific deaths!” his words shifted morbidly which made your brow crease slightly.

“Right...” you took that as your cue to cut past him and into the cockpit where the others were.

Before long, your ship had traveled through hyperspace and you came to face a large desert planet. After landing the ship in a clear area not far from where there was bustling activity, the group set out across the desert to come up to a small hill to overlook the activity you saw earlier.

“You sure this is it?” Poe asked.

“These are the exact coordinates that Master Luke left behind,” 3PO was quick to respond.

You were slightly confused as well since you had expected some kind of Sith structure of some sort but instead came to found what looked like a party.

“What is this?” Poe asked.

Your group looked out to hundreds of people out with music playing, colored smoke going into the air along with long fabrics and decorated papers.

“The Aki-Aki Festival of the Ancestors. This celebration occurs only once every 42 years,” the golden robot informed.

You took a step forward to come to the edge of the hill, looking out in wonder at the sight before you. You couldn’t see but Poe was holding a hand up to his eyes, sighing. 

“This is beautiful,” you whispered, a smile gracing your face as you saw all the little life forms smiling and laughing.

You weren’t sure what species they were as you had never seen them but from what you could tell, they were short humanoid creatures with squid-like facial features and a deep grayish coloration on their skin. There were beaded jewelry stands among other arts and crafts that were decorated in a way you also hadn’t seen, most likely indigenous to their culture.

“Well that’s lucky,” Finn responded to 3PO.

“Lucky indeed,” he returned. “This Festival is known for both its colorful kites, and its delectable sweets.”

His over explanation began to sour your moment and you turned to see everyone else had turned too to look at 3PO with tired faces. You turned too late to notice Poe’s once annoyed face becoming soft and hearty seeing your initial reaction to the sight in front of you.

Seeing all of you turn to face his direction, 3PO snapped his vision to each and every one of you, then obliviously turned around to check if there was something behind him.

“Alright, let’s split up and cover some ground, see what we can find and meet back up,” Poe spoke to the group.

He began walking towards the festival and placed a hand on the small of your back to guide you with him, making it known that the two of you would be going off together. Warmth passed through you not just from his hand but from his actions as you tried to quell the smile threatening to form on your lips. As you entered the crowd, you were surrounded by orange, yellow, and green robes around dancing locals. They were all mostly in sync so you assumed the dance must have been a dancing tribal celebration. Your group had maintained a small distance from each other in case anything went wrong as you walked through the crowd. 

Though, you entered together and just before you split, Rey commented with similar wonder to yours, “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Finn cut past her as he moved through the crowd, “I’ve never seen so few wayfinders.”

“There’s always random First Order patrols in crowds like these. So, keep your heads down,” Poe also mentioned.

Chewie, following your group from the back end, ducked his head slightly in response as he towered over most everything else. Once you had fully submerged into the crowd, your group finally split, 3PO going with Rey, Finn going with Chewie, and you with Poe and BB-8.

“Let’s see what the locals know,” Poe suggested over the music as you walked through.

You tried to stay on mission but found it hard, instead fighting to keep your excitement contained. You had never been to nor seen an event like this and the joyous smiles of those around you uplifted you. You almost walked up to a local to ask for some information but then saw a smaller person come up to them and be lifted in their arms. The smiles and laughter that graced your ears both brought a smile on your own face, yet a sad feeling to course through you. 

“Sweetheart, you doing ok?” Poe asked, keeping half his attention on the crowd for First Order patrols while the other half wanted to know what you were feeling.

You continued to walk with him, “I just... I feel like everytime I see something happy I have a reason to be sad. This festival is amazing, though it only reminds me of what I’ve lost.”

You regretted your words as you didn’t want to make the mission about you or make Poe worry but fortunately for you, he took it in stride, “I know, I wish I had the magic words to help.” He paused for a moment before he reached to the side and grabbed something one of the villagers were offering, “But I can offer this.”

He had a beaded, beautifully decorated necklace that he held over your head and placed around your neck. A half smile formed on your face involuntarily as you looked down to appreciate the art now around your neck as you brought your hand up softly to touch it. Your heart swelled in your chest as you looked back at Poe, the smile now fully formed, a tear escaping the corner of your eye. He gave you a loving and sympathetic smile as he reached out to wipe the tear softly, grabbing your hand afterwards to pull you along the crowd. Now, you definitely were having trouble focusing on the mission, the weight around your neck now being the source of your beating heart. I truly love this man. 

You had spent about another fifteen minutes in the crowd, Poe wasn’t able to understand their language at all so he didn’t get much and while you could to a degree, most of them simply expressed their joys for the festival, unknowing as to what you were looking for. You, Poe, and BB-8 had exited the crowd slightly off to the side where there were a few speeders, looking around to try and beckon over everyone else. Before long, Chewie’s tall stature led him and Finn over.

“You guys find anything?” Finn asked as he approached.

You shook your head, “Nothing.”

Chewie growled and Finn replied, “Same here.” He looked around for a second, “Rey?”

Poe responded, “Haven’t seen her yet.”

“We have to go back to the Falcon, now,” Rey made herself known to your group as she rushed over.

Everyone’s guards were immediately raised and Poe was the first to speak, “Why?”

“It’s Ren.”

Next Chapter

Forevers Tag List: @magssteenkamp @shadowsinger11 @donnaintx @flamencodiva @impalawrites-blog @talesmaniac89 @malfoysqueen54 @writercole @hintsofhoney @lassie-bird @never--doubt

Male Reader Tag List: @myybebe @denim-devil @spnfanboy777 @brymalibu

[yagirlpurplefox12]

Imagine: Sparing Victor Rookwood’s Life Part One (Male Reader MC x Victor Rookwood)

When you were fifteen, you discovered you weren’t a “normal” human like the rest of your family and friends. It started by seeing blue light in unlikely places to being able to set your homework on fire without…well doing anything. After that, Hogwarts somehow learned about you and sent over Professor Fig to help you catch up with your future year and classmates. Your mum and dad were surprised and scared but still loved you nonetheless. You had a tight family bond.

But who knew when going to Hogwarts, your life was going to become incredibly hard, terrifying, and full of death and carnage.

You are mature, sweet yet assertive and sassy when need be, and sometimes you didn’t feel like yourself. The first fight you had in an ancient cave with the huge statues should’ve scared you. And you were…but you didn’t feel like you when you started fighting them to get to Professor Fig.

And when you and Sebastian fought the ugly troll at Hogsmead, it was almost like you were not there. You were shook to your core after the battle because of that reason and also the fact that you annihilated it with very limited help from your friend. Sebastian snapped himself out of his amazement after watching you beautifully and gracefully pulverize the troll when other people came out to see the damage. Feeling bad about not feeling yourself and for destroying the town, you quickly used reparo to fix the damage and ran off to Sebastian for some butter beer.

Never at that moment did you want anything else but to go home to your parents protecting embrace. As Sebastian talked about how amazing you were, you both heard voices around the corner and got curious. That was when you saw him.

A man you wished to never had crossed paths.

A man who came into the leaking Cauldron and demanded to speak with you.

A man who made you feel like your face is on fire and you got butterflies flapping around your queasy stomach. His piercing blue eyes met yours when you turned to face him with your wand ready. Your stomach takes a deeper twist as he slowly smirked at you.

Somehow and someway, the more you met to battle or just bump in to one another while you walked in the forest between Hogwarts and Hogsmead, the more you started to feel familiar and comfortable around him. Almost the end of your fifth year when you were 16 years old. You had a choice. Let the power take over you and kill Victor as he was about to do to you?

Or.

Let the compassionate side of you take over and spare him?

You chose the latter.

And even though it almost cost your life, you don’t regret it. There was a moment when the both of you were only a few feet apart, panting heavily with blood soaked faces and deep hatred for one another. Your hatred was from all the beautiful beasts he hurt. Hatred from all the innocent lives he stole and threw away for his own gain. Your hatred was towards yourself on not understanding why you are attracted to such man.

But his for you?

It wasn’t just because you were “special” and had the power of ancient magic he and Ranrock would kill to get. It was because he KNEW.

Knew the reason why every time you encounter each other you get flustered and can’t help but stare at his lips and eyes.

And what infuriated him the most was the fact that you may see him more than the enemy and challenge he was to you.

He hated that he felt pity.

And when you raised your wand with a little struggle, he realized he couldn’t move his. Casting stupify, you finally beat him.

Passing out after the spell, you went into a peaceful slumber believing he would be taken to Azkaban and be charged for his crimes. Turned out he awoke before the Aurors could arrest him.

That was 2 years ago.

Now here you are sipping on butter beer as you cheer with your friends for passing the NEWTS…at least with those you are still close with you.

You love Sebastian and he truly is a sweetheart to you, but ever since learning that the man who cursed his sister still roams haunts him making him more determined to find a way to save her. Even if that means pushing you away or better yet use you.

That’s a hard one to forgive.

Poppy and you also have grown to have romantic feelings for each other. Her cute almost round, chubby face, that’s kind smile, her passion towards mythical creature, and her kindness as a human being. It’s beautiful to you and throughout these two years you have grown urges for her so you took her out on some low key dates.

Sirona gladly let the lot of you to enjoy a free round of butter beer. While everyone were getting together and gossiping and just enjoying life, Sirona pulled you to the side with a forced, nervous smile.

“(Name), there is someone in the back corner who wants to speak with you. If anything happens, shout and I’ll make sure to end his life this time. Ok young man?”

Nodding your head, you go to the corner she pointed out and the closer you got, you almost let out a gasp.

“My, haven’t you grown. Here, take a seat as I just want to have a chat with you. I won’t bite.”

“Victor,” you say through grit teeth as you slowly take a seat opposite of him in the booth, “what pleasure do I owe to speak with you…someone who should be in Azkaban?”

“Heh, aren’t you a charmer. Now my little wizard I’m not here to fight with you. I’m here to…make amends.”

“Yeah, what would that be and why should I listen to you,” you sass back at him. Victor hates to admit, but he does enjoy that raging spark you have. He remembers meeting you outside of Olivander to try and make you team up with him.

He saw that dangerous spark in your eyes and how your body tensed as he approached. The one thing he’ll never forget and what gave him hope was your hesitance. Why would you lower your wand? What reason would you give him that infuriating desperate emotion? Why in the bloody hell would you stutter as if you were fighting with yourself? He caught you at a moment when you were alone…as if you weren’t majority of the time.

By yourself.

He wondered if you had any friends but being here in the tavern, you obviously do.

“I don’t want to hurt you. Not anymore. You just…interest me. Yes, you are no doubt a powerful young man. More powerful than me, possibly, and truthfully I am more curious as to why you didn’t Avada me as I tried to with you. Instead you let the bastard that’s been tearing cities down to live?”

What should you tell him?

Sighing, you rub your face in irritation and look towards your small friend group.

“I was finally able to start understanding my powers. When I use ancient magic, I didn’t feel like me. So…murdering was easy and I didn’t feel remorse at the moment but after awhile when I become ME again, that’s when I feel horrible. So me killing you, even though I probably should have fucking done from all the pain and suffering you caused me, I would’ve been taking a step back not forward.”

Victor stays silent for a bit, drinking his fire whiskey as he thinks.

“That’s respectable, lad, maybe still not bright but it’s respectable. Let’s meet again sometime and I’ll tell you a little of myself.”

—————————————————————————————————————

[blackjackkent]

VERY challenging fight among the mind flayer pods. I think this might be the first time Hector and Co. have actually fought mind flayers directly, and these fuckers are SCARY. They have an attack called Mind Blast which can (and did, on one occasion) stun the entire group out of their turns, and another called "Extract Brain" which didn't seem to do exactly what it said on the tin (thankfully) but did do an absolute shitton of damage. I had to restart the fight twice because Hector was unconscious for the subsequent conversation with Zevlor, which I wanted him to be awake for. XD

(I've realized recently that I completely fucked up redoing his build as an Open Hand monk and I need to redo it again, but I haven't been able to go back to camp since we went down the Flesh Slide. But for Act 3 hopefully he will be a little beefier. For right now I'm just pretending that he's doing more work than he's actually doing in combat. :P )

The thing I'm most worried about here is that we don't have the option of taking a long rest, and everyone is REALLY hurting and low on spell slots and there's got to be some enormous boss battle coming up. :/ But we'll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess.

Also, Zevlor and the two Flaming Fist who were also in the pods fucking KICKED ASS during this fight. I don't know if I buy the tieflings' story that he showed cowardice out in the shadow-cursed lands, because he was definitely not messing around against these mind flayers. My personal suspicion is that he tried to surrender because innocents were in danger of being hurt, and didn't realize that surrendering to the Absolute cult isn't like surrendering to sane people.

But I guess we'll find out because we can talk to him now!

"Hells. I didn't think I was going to make it... Thank you..."

Wyll chimes in before Hector can speak. "Zevlor."

Zevlor glances towards him - then does a double-take, registering the horns and mottled skin now gracing the man's face and head. "Watching gods... The Blade of Frontiers? Wyll? What happened?" he asks, startled.

Wyll smiles bitterly. "I paid the price of angering the wrong devil." His voice is surprisingly cool, cautious, despite having known Zevlor before. The tales they have heard of Zevlor's supposed cowardice have clearly bothered him more than he's let on; after all, he considers himself the protector of the common people.

Zevlor looks at him steadily for a moment. His own smile is sad, weary. "And shouldered the cost to spare someone else a worse fate, I'd wager," he murmurs. A pause; then he turns to look at Hector. "I... owe you an explanation," he says. "Much more than that. But first... please..." His glowing gold eyes narrow anxiously, betraying the placidity of the rest of his expression. "The others. The ambush... tell me they survived."

Hector nods slowly. He isn't really sure what to think of Zevlor at this point; the reports of his cowardice and surrender do not mesh with the image he has seen of the man himself. "They found refuge," he says cautiously. Well, most of them at least. "But what the hells happened out there, Zevlor?"

"You've heard some of it, I'm sure," Zevlor says flatly. "That I froze, or broke, or some other lie that is kinder than the truth." His gaze grows distant, lost in memory. "We were ambushed by cultists, yes. And then I heard... Her. Their false god, whispering promises in my mind. I would be a paladin again - with a god's purpose, a god's power. Everything I needed to protect my people." He swallows, squeezes his eyes shut, regret and shame written in every line of his face. "And all the while, the cult tortured them. They fought, and ran, and died around me, while I imagined myself their savior."

He scowls, opens his eyes again, though he can't seem to quite meet Hector's. "By the time I regained my senses, it was too late. I did not just surrender to the Absolute," he mutters. "For a moment, I welcomed it."

Oh, gods. Hector stares at him, unsure whether to feel sympathy or revulsion.

The great horror of the Absolute, he reflects, is not in all the death, or even in the eldritch transformation and absorption of the mind flayer hive mind. It's in the way that this enemy preys upon the deepest weaknesses and fears of those it consumes, stripping them bare, with no corner of safety or identity left to them.

He saw only a few minutes ago how Zevlor suffered during the aftermath of the Descent - a paladin of Elturel, attacked and exiled by his own people without cause, his faith shattered apart. Yet another flavor of that same lost emptiness that Hector has seen in Lae'zel, in Shadowheart, as they have seen a pillar of their life taken from under them. Is it any wonder that, given a vision of that certainty being returned to him, he should be tempted by it?

Hector could, no doubt, chastise Zevlor for the weakness - but what good would it do? It's obvious that Zevlor already feels more shame than he can bear for what he did, for the loss of control and the sacrifices that went with it.

Like Madeline, in the grip of He Who Was, grieving for those she turned over to the Justiciars. I cannot grant you forgiveness you deny to yourself - but I can tell you that I understand.

"It sounds like you were being enthralled," he says quietly. "It's not your fault.

"It would be nice to think so," Zevlor says; his shoulders relax just slightly at the expression of understanding but none of the tension leaves his eyes. "But whatever these monsters twist us into... I believe it begins in us." He lets out a heavy breath, steadies himself - the military mind taking over, although Hector sees in the moment something of his own rituals of calming and self-discipline.

"I won't make excuses," Zevlor continues, more briskly. "I can't make amends. But I know something of what you came to do - I want to help, if you'll let me." He glances past Hector down the slime-ridden corridor behind him. "Ketheric is below. He thinks you're no longer a menace. Descend and show him how wrong he is. If there are any more survivors to be found, I'll find them and lead them out of this place."

Hector nods slowly, impressed by the force of personality it is clearly taking for Zevlor to stand against his own shame and exhaustion. "I could use another blade in the fight to come," he points out.

Zevlor smiles without humor. "Only if you can trust it won't be buried in your back. The Absolute swayed me once before. I won't risk it happening again." He puts a hand against Hector's shoulder briefly. "Go, my friend. Please. Let me do this much."

He lets his hand fall, turns and walks away down the corridor.

----------

Hector watches him go, his eyebrows knitted together in a troubled frown. "Damn," he mutters. "What a mess." He sighs, rubs a hand down his face. "I'm glad we found him. He's a good man, in spite of... all of this."

Wyll raises one shoulder in a slight shrug. "I want to think you're right," he says. "But people died because of his moment of weakness. Innocent people. People who trusted him to protect them."

Hector glances sideways at him. "And who is to say what vulnerable spot of ours would not be dredged up to destroy us at this moment, if the Prism was not protecting us?" he points out. A rueful smile tugs his lips for a moment. "We all have our regrets. Things we would like the power to change. None of us are exempt from that."

Wyll tips his head to the side and returns the wry smile after a moment's pause. "I suppose I can't argue with you there."

[crimsonredfeathers]

Leaving

~*~ Chapter 5 ~*~

Hawks x slightly older!fem!Reader

Warnings: putting this under mature for slight angst & bird boy getting hurt

Word count: 1.4k

Notes: Yes, it is still ongoing, and we finally get some action over here.

Prologue * Chapter 1 * Chapter 2 * Chapter 3 * Chapter 4 * Chapter 5 * Chapter 6 * Chapter 7 * Chapter 8 * Chapter 9 * Chapter 10

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Back at the agency, you put the food into the fridge and continued your work. Well, with the heroes out and about, you at least had a quiet environment to work in. Anyway, that's what you'd thought. The phone rang, and before you could as much as greet the person on the other end, you could hear Hawks' voice, panting. "Y/n, listen," he breathed heavily into the phone, "we need a little help over here. We -" He stopped mid-sentence. "H-Hawks?!" Your voice quivered, expecting the worst when you heard some shuffling and the unmistakable sound his wings made when they flapped. You laid your hand over your mouth, eyes wide in fear. "Call for backup, y/n, quickly!" And then there was silence, he'd hung up. You took one deep breath to steady your nerves and recall the steps of the emergency protocol you had engraved in your brain, even if you had hoped that you would never have to follow through with it.

Step 1: Analyze the situation and collect information

Your shaking hand left your mouth and grabbed the mouse that was connected to your computer to pull up a live broadcast on the internet. The reporter stated the obvious: Hawks and his colleagues had tried to free the hostages from a supermarket where they were held captive. The motive of the villains was unclear at this point. The numbers of hostages and villains alike were uncertain, but the building had sustained quite some damage, and the safety of the people inside was at risk. You went ahead and quickly scanned the screen for any new information.

Quite a few people were pressed against a wall on the inside of the building, where once a window had been. The glass was broken, but the hostages stayed trapped due to the debris of the crumbling concrete wall, which made an escape impossible. You counted about eight people at this spot alone. Not too far off to the right, there was a crushed up metal door, unhinged at the top. Five hands were waving and shaking between the small gap, which meant there were at least three to five people behind the heavy door, also trapped. A mother and a child were outside of the building but were unable to flee the scene or be rescued safely because of the ongoing fight around them. That made two more civilians at the scene.

Hawks fought against a heavy set guy, at least 7 feet tall, trying to keep him away from the mother and child at all cost as long as there was no opening to safely evacuate them. He was the worst possible opponent for the winged hero. Hawks couldn't do a whole lot against a person with a quirk that made them physically strong. You knew that he was much better at completing tasks that required his sharp mind and speed instead of brute strength. One villain, you counted in your head, searching for the sidekicks. You couldn't find them on the outside of the store, so they had to be inside of the damaged building. None of the hostages were led outside by them so far, so the guys were probably preoccupied with fighting against at least one or two more villains on the inside, you presumed. One guy hid behind a corner of the store, you saw his head peek around it for a second, but you were sure that Hawks knew about him since he had dispatched several feathers at this point to monitor his surroundings. There was no way for you to tell what type of quirk any other of the villains possessed, except for the one Hawks was directly involved with. You deemed you had collected enough information to continue with step 2.

Step 2: Call for backup

You opened a file you had readily available on your desktop that included every single agency with an overview of their heroes and quirks on the whole island of Kyushu. You scanned the document quickly, a few agencies already at the back of your mind. There were a couple of heroes with suitable quirks around that could rather easily and effectively stop physically strong opponents and that were close in proximity. But you'd have to consider contacting heroes with different quirk-types as a precaution to make sure they were prepared for any other kind of quirk the other villains might possess. You started to dial their numbers one by one to carry on with step 3.

Step 3: Pass on all the information you have and repeat steps 2 and 3 as often as needed

You told the first agency about the ongoing incident. How Hawks and his sidekicks were fighting against a minimum of three to four villains, one of them seemingly having a quirk that enhanced his physical strength, and how the lives of at least 13 to 15 civilians were on the line, partly because of the fights going on, partly because they were trapped inside a damaged building. You emphasized that the heroes' backup was needed urgently at the location.

You hung up and repeated the procedure a few more times until you were sure enough heroes were on their way to help your little gang out. Time for step 4.

Step 4: Inform the Hero Public Safety Commission about the current situation

You picked up the phone one last time and called the HPSC. "This is l/n y/n from Hawks' agency," you identified yourself and explained the situation. You let them know what was going on and gave them a list of heroes that had been dispatched on your request. The employee of the HPSC gave you a few words of encouragement and thanked you for calling before he ended the call on his end of the line.

You pulled the browser back up on your screen to check on the live broadcast and grabbed a few papers from one of your drawers to continue with step 5 - file reports - but found yourself focusing much more on the broadcast, soon neglecting the papers. Two heroes that belonged to the agencies you had called, arrived on the scene, one finally stopping Hawks' opponent and giving the winged hero the opportunity to safe mother and child by sweeping them up and flying them out of there, while the other hero rushed to find a point of entrance into the building. "More heroes are coming in," the reporter stated, sounding impressed as you watched another three people arrive at the scene. Hawks and the others were doing their best to free these poor people as safely and fast as possible while fighting off the villains. You could see the first of the sidekicks running out of the opening in the wall of the collapsing building, accompanying two civilians, as the villain that had stayed hidden for most of the time sprung into action, unleashing a hazardous attack in their direction. Your eyes widened in terror as you watched the one thing you feared most happen. The villain's attack nearly hit the targeted people, but Hawks came shooting through the sky, flying into the line of the attack to protect his sidekick and the civilians from any harm. You could feel bile rising up in your throat as you watched Hawks laying on the ground, barely moving.

Another handful of heroes made their appearance at the scene. One tried to help Hawks up, as another one rushed to the sidekick to help evacuate the people. The next two ran into the building, and after a few more minutes of anxious waiting, the terror was over, just like that. The reporter stated that all of the four villains had been stopped by the heroes and arrested by the police. They would be brought in for further questioning regarding their motive before being locked away in jail until trial. The civilians, 14, to be precise, were rescued and escaped the ordeal with only a few minor scratches and bruises. Most of the heroes would need to seek medical attention - but all of them were alive and in no life-threatening condition.

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Taglist: @claratakami @chrisrue15 @mysideeffectsofyou

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A huge thanks to everyone who's reading and supporting this story! See you next chapter ❤️👋

[burncdheart]

⏳️ - Ama ✨

@diverse-hearts-ocs Younger version of my muse - still accepting

t's been one full day, since Taru's disappearance and also one full day, ever since somebody made some people quiver in quite fear. A child, who had no vision - but something, people would consider as far scarier. A power that did not belong into this world, a power, that eventually would cost one's life. For now  only those adults had been hurt, who were to come too close to the little girl, who's blue eyes would eventually turn into a weird color that could only be explained as a weird color of pink and purple. If they tried to take her hand in growing concern of the lack of adult by her side and tried to drag her to the knights or really anyone, who might could help in finding her parents.

‘Violent’, 'unnormal', 'dangerous', those were the words that this city's people described her as, for they lacked of understanding in how much fear this particular girl currently felt. To her, they after all were strangers - and her master had told her to never trust anyone. In her eyes they didn't try to help her, but tried to swip her away in order to hurt her, to take her back where some might would consider her to belong - back into the depths of the abyss, from where her powers came.

“Did you come to take me away?”, the little girl with familiar ginger hair was resting in a corner, where she had suspected to be finally at peace within the walls. However, she did not expect that another adult would find her so quickly. As an adult, Taru avoided to ever use her abyss energy - out of fear of betrayal and of overusing it, permitting it to eventually cause damage to her body. However, what else did she have as a child? She had never been away from her master, at least not to the point that she did not know where he was - Taru herself feared the people just as much as those, who had witnessed how she hurt others! She didn't want to get punished, for simply defending herself! But nobody seemed to understand her, just as her master had described once described it to her. Just where was he anyway?! No matter where she looked for Kyran, she didn't find him.

Had he now abandoned her as well? Not wanting to deal with somebody like her after all, after saving her from the abyss?

“I'm not coming with you!”, though scared, her voice sounded strangely confident. She wouldn't attack just yet neither, though the hands that she usually used whenever using her abyss energy were there - two of them. Left and right to her, as if they were to protect her from something. Due to her young age, she was not yet able to use them that well. While they might could hurt those who never had fought, it would be an easy task for those experienced in battles to dodge whatever she did.

The girl curled herself into a small ball as she sat on the ground, pushing herself into the corner as if hoping for a secret door she could vanish into, “Go away!”.

[thedemoninme141]

Ghosts: Chapter 7: Become

"I always wanted to know what having a family feels like, thank you for making me feel that." . .

The cabin in the lake, her safe place, her and Jade's escape from the world. Tori enters the cabin alone with a duffel bag. It is been 5 months since the incident.

Six men were at the bar with Jade, trying to hit on her. Jade being Jade, taught them a lesson that cost her life, They followed her home, broke into her house, beaten her when she tried to defend herself. And killed her. Only because she insulted them for violating her. Tori closes her eyes.

Jimmy, Ron, Ralegh, Jack, Ethan, and Fred. These 6 boys were arrested, and they were spotted near Jade's neighbourhood. But not a single piece of evidence was discovered against them. There even weren't any fingerprints. But Tori knows, she has looked in her father's files,

There was a hair found there, sandy blonde hair, Ralegh had the same coloured long hair, but DNA tests didn't match. A second person's blood was discovered, but it didn't match any of them either.

Why would they match? The father of Ralegh was a multimillionaire businessman. He bought off enough people to put a stop to the inquiry. making it appear as though she was killed by a thief who broke in. Jade's father was a Major. He tried to do his best to find the killers but even he stopped, Tori tried to talk to him but he ignored her. "These are dangerous people Tori, Don't get involved," He said. "How could he give up? They killed his own daughter, of course, Jade said how distant he was with him but I didn't think he would be that low." Tori thinks. She had stopped talking to her father because he stopped looking into Jade's case.

"I am doing it to keep you safe Tori!" he said. Tori fought but what can she do as a scared alone girl from Hollywood arts?

Tori opens her eyes.

She looks at the wall, 7 men were her target, 7 pictures are pined on the wall.

She draws a cross on Ron's face, marking the victim of her most recent mission. She felt bad for mentally scaring an innocent girl. 5 of them remain. After she killed Jimmy, Ralegh, her third target, fled to Anaheim. They are all terrified because they believe Jimmy was killed by the Ghost. Father's one and only son Ralegh is now constantly surrounded by bodyguards so killing him in broad daylight won't be an option. Although as a daddy's boy, he has a habit of frequently visiting a nightclub once a week.

It's funny how easy it is to get a gun when you have the money.

So she wears Jade's black leathered hooded Jacket, Her black jeans.

And finally her Mask, The mask of Ghost.

.

"We have a masked vigilante terrorizing the streets. There are CCTV cameras everywhere, yet you haven't found this guy yet?"

The media reporter asked David,

"We are working on this case, possible suspects have been arrested and are now in interrogation."

"There are a lot of people who seem to support this Ghost figure, They think he is doing what you are supposed to do."

"They don't understand the damage he is causing by breaking the laws, surely he saved that girl from being abused but there were other legal ways to save her too. They need to understand that." David answered. .

.

"I think this Ghost guy is trying to help, He isn't doing anything wrong, he is just protecting the innocents against the hungry wolves of mankind."

Jade says lying next to her girlfriend on the lakeside cabin while holding her hand.

"Yeah, he is doing the right thing but he is doing it in a wrong way, I mean, what stopped him from joining the police force or something,"

"Come on You must be aware, Vega, that the majority of police are the avaricious pawns of the wealthy and powerful. "

"Ouch, my father's a cop too, you know? Good cops exists."

"That's why I said "majority" But considering your daily expenses, he might also be one of those pawns " Jade joked.

"JADE!" Tori hit Jade with her pillow and laughed.

Tori put her head on Jade's chest, Jade's calm heartbeat gave her the greatest sense of tranquility she had ever known.

"I wish we could cuddle like this all the time," Tori whispered.

"Who said we can't?" Jade said playing with Tori's hair.

"Nothing, I just don't know what I would do if I ever lost you."

"I am not going anywhere without you, because I feel just the same about you, Tori."

.

Tori approached the open casket while holding Jade's favorite scissors. She set them down beneath Jade's cuffed-up hands. . Each person had shown respect. The last one was Tori. To give Tori one last moment of privacy with Jade, they had left the church. Tori was still crying. She wipes off her tears to get one last good look at her Jade. She still looked heavenly beautiful, Tori places one last kiss on Jade's lips.

"I will make them pay Jade, whoever did this to you, they will suffer. And in the end, I will return to you, I promise." Tori wept as she said.

Tori watched as the coffin was lowered. Beck, who wasn't crying, caught her attention. His eyes appeared puffy; he must have cried all night. However, he appears to be feeling guilty. angry? Tori was unable to know.

After the funeral was done. Beck came to Tori.

"Tori.." Beck said calmly,

"Beck," Tori whimpered.

"It's not your fault Tori. It's mine" Beck said.

"How can.." Tori attempted to speak, but Beck cut her off.

"No, you don't get it, I've heard what you said to her before the day she died. Andre told me. You were supposed to always be there for her, you promised me. But you weren't there. You didn't deserve her. It's my fault for leaving her, if I haven't broken up with her I would have been there for her unlike you." Beck said coldly as he turned around."Don't expect any sympathy from me, Tori." He said without looking at her and walked away.

Tori fell to her knees, buried her face in the palm of her hands, and started sobbing. "I am sorry Jade... Baby, I am so sorry, please come back to me. I promise I will take care of you!" She whispered. She didn't feel Trina wrapping her arms around her, guiding her to a bench nearby. She sobbed nonstop for hours, refusing to leave the cemetery or Jade.

Tori looked at the J locket she was wearing, Jade gave it to her on their 6 month anniversary. She looked at Jade's grave and noticed a hooded man near it, looking down. He knelt down, placed a blood rose on it and started walking away. Tori couldn't see his face. She looked at Trina who was busy talking to her mother on her phone.

Tori started following the hooded man. She followed him out of the cemetery to downtown. She had never been to this part of the city before and had heard that it was full of thieves, thugs, and other criminals. But she didn't care; she followed the man into an alley because she had a gut instinct that he knew something. The man stopped walking. She immediately hid behind a dumpster nearby. When she peeked back, the man was gone. She had lost him. She went into the alley further hoping to find him but he was gone, But another man was approaching her. When Tori turned around she saw an old man walking towards her.

As soon as he got close to her he pushed her to the wall.

He positioned a knife close to her neck. "Purse, jewellery. Give me everything!"

Tori didn't know what came on her. Her father taught her how to defend herself when she was a kid. She kneed the thug in the groin area and pushes him off with all of her strength, the man falls to the ground. She looks around to find any weapon, she sees a metal pipe, she picks it up, and starts hitting. She hits again, and again, and again, and again. She didn't stop, she couldn't stop.

All the anger buried inside her, she targeted it at him, It started to rain. That's when she stopped, her vision was blurry, but she could see what she had done, the man's face was unrecognizable, blood all around his head. She started running away, she ran and ran, until she found another alley and hid there. She fell onto her knees. She had committed a murder.

But she wasn't feeling bad, she wasn't feeling guilty, she had just killed a man, but she was feeling okay. No, not okay, she was feeling peace?

She now understands what she needs. She needs justice for Jade.

She looked at the brick wall in front of her, it had graffiti, a graffiti of a skull.

She yelled,

"What kind of hero are you if you don't save the people who need you the most? She believed in you, she thought you were doing the right thing. She thought you were a protector of the innocent, She was wrong. I will BECOME what she needed you to be."

[thischachamaru]

it’s five o’clock somewhere

Summary: Rengoku cooks eggs the same way he likes demons: burnt to ashes.

Despite the summary, this is mostly domestic morning fluff.

Established relationship, modern AU, 365 words.

For my friend @lupinchopang27, happy birthday!! I hope you enjoy this teeny tiny fic 🥺

READ ON AO3

🌻

Tanjiro woke up to smoke.

That’s weird… he wrinkled his nose, shoving his face into Rengoku’s pillow. Sighing, he inhaled the sweet and spicy scent, snuggling into the cushion, and letting it lull him into better dreams.

Which was when the fire alarm went off.

Sighing once more, Tanjiro pulled himself out of bed, blinking away the sleep from his eyes. He scratched his neck, yawning, and padded down the hall, following the smell of smoke to the kitchen.

There was a clatter, then a crash. The fire alarm went silent.

Tanjiro leaned into the doorway, and Rengoku froze on the spot, fire extinguisher in hand, white foam all over the kitchen, and himself.

“I am cooking breakfast!” he announced.

Tanjiro fought for something nice to say. “I can see that. That’s,” he glanced over at the stove, where, somehow, Rengoku had managed to melt a pan onto the heating coils. Tanjiro coughed. “Thoughtful…? Of you.” Probably. “But now, I don’t think we can cook anything,” he admitted.

Rengoku had the decency, at least, to look glum. “That is correct.” The metal on the stove bubbled, and snapped. He fiddled with the fire extinguisher. “Needless to say, it did not go as planned. I ruined your morning.”

In any other situation, Tanjiro would be panicking, worrying over Rengoku, the kitchen, the neighbors—what would they think?!—the cost of the damage, and his security deposit—oh, he would not be getting that back— his chest felt tight. Why did it feel tight?

Unfortunately, he was used to this.

“It’s okay!” Tanjiro smiled, stepping over a pile of foam. “Actually, I could go for takeout. Would you mind calling it in?” He gently took Rengoku’s hand, peeling the fire extinguisher away from his death grip and tugging him out of the kitchen.

“I also broke some glass,” Rengoku admitted.

“I know.”

“And the microwave!”

“I can see that.”

“And you’re out of milk.”

“There will always be more milk,” Tanjiro told him. He sat Rengoku on the couch, gave him his phone, and went to open up the apartment windows. A moment later, he flopped onto Rengoku’s lap, yawning.

It was way too early for this.

[youryanderedaddy]

Hello, do you accept order? If yes, you could make a single one shot of Yandere! Brat Spoiled, please...

What would it be like if Yandere were the son of wealthy parents who always have everything they want, when they don't always get what they like, always act like a spoiled brat (and also his parents are afraid of their son, as they have already seen what he is capable of when he gets angry)... that's where the reader comes in. She is a new student at school, a nice and kind person, so the yandere knows her and falls in love so strongly that she never felt that way in life, but the reader is always rejecting her advances for being a spoiled brat and the way he treats the people around you.

What happens next?

Title: Eat the poor

Tw: non - consensual touching, obsessive/possessive behavior, violence, low-key bullying, blackmail / coercion, reader is in university

Part 2

It had started during your very first year of college, back when you still felt motivated to go to school and meet new people. You had heard the rumors about him before ever meeting his gaze and oh, did they disappoint.

You met Gabrielle for the first time when the snowdrops bloomed and the birds returned home – in the early autumn, at night, in a small crowded room reeking of alcohol, sweat and cheap cologne which you quickly realized wasn’t his. The man smelt like the cigarettes he never got bored of and sweet caramel. He was wearing a big leather jacket and a pair of dark jeans, yet the simplicity of the outfit seemed to suit the expensive brands displayed on the clothing. In a way the student represented the typical youthful boyish beauty with his golden locks, eyes the color of the sky and frame tall and well – built. Yet his face remained motionless the whole night and his body stayed still despite the mass of bodies dancing around in rhythm. But then some poor unfortunate fool managed to bump into the male, spilling his drink all over him, and his pretty face quickly twisted into a mask of disgust and anger.

“You stupid piece of shit!” The male yelled shortly after as his fist connected with the stuttering boy’s stomach. His clear eyes were now two wild thunderstorms pouring rain and lightning over the tipsy guy who was nervously apologizing and promising to pay for the damages done. “Do you know how much this costs?” Gabrielle spat with venom and pushed the other onto the floor, bringing his black sneakers to that white shirt until there was a mark of dirt formed on the otherwise clean fabric. Everyone else in the room had stopped drinking now and all the eyes were pinned onto the two men yet no one had the courage to do anything. Your own heart was beating hard in your chest at the sudden display of unnecessary violence but you had always been a calm kid, a kind soul too scared of its own shadow to learn how to fight properly. So you had no idea what to do.

“My father can have you expelled, you know.” The blond man suddenly spoke out in a quiet eerie voice as he pressed his foot harder into the shorter boy’s stomach causing him to whimper and squirm. “Unless you are willing to beg for my forgiveness, that is.” The bully proposed with a sly smirk on his pink lips as he glared at the victim underneath. The student on the ground was clenching his eyes tight so no one could see the tears in them when he shook his head no. You finally decided you couldn’t let this inhumane scene go any further.

“Stop this madness right now!” You shouted manically, drawing all the attention to yourself as you made your way between the two men. Gabrielle immediately pinned his burning gaze on you in unhidden intrigue. “This is too cruel. He didn’t mean to bump into you. Please, leave him alone.” As much as you had wanted to curse at the spoiled rich boy there was this suffocating feeling in your lungs telling you to be careful and play the mediator. The others quickly started gasping and some were already gossiping at your reaction proving your point that the guy was indeed dangerous.

Then he looked you straight in the eyes with his deep blue ones. He chuckled softly before smacking his lips in an unpleasant way, his “tsk” sending shivers down your spine. You had fucked up. “Well, well, well… Looks like the new girl wants to play hero. How cliché.” The bully grinned as he let his gaze roam up and down your body, your cheeks turning red in return when having realized he was handsome even while doing something so vulgar. “But if you do want to help him so badly…” The golden – haired man paused for a moment pretending to be deep in thought. “Maybe we could have a little deal, bunny.” He moved his leg away from the sobbing boy and stepped in front of you. From this close you could feel the warmth of his skin and the sweet aroma of burnt sugar it radiated. Gabrielle tilted your chin up almost gently and whispered in your ear “Kiss me.”

You tried to break free from the uncomfortable pose but the student simply squeezed your jaw line harder, his eyes cold and calculating, following your every move. You mind went blank and foggy at the forced intimacy and you couldn’t think straight with his breath on your neck. It felt like the time had slowed down just so the sadistic snob could mess with you a little longer. You opened your mouth to voice your protests but fortunately you didn’t have to say anything because at the very same time the host of the party appeared, ready to stop the fight.

“Gabrielle, I’d have to ask you to leave.” The dark – haired junior growled enraged as he pushed the taller male away from you. You couldn’t help but smile at him in appreciation. He was the only one brave enough to help you after all. “You are ruining the party for everyone. ” The stranger continued. The blonde seemed irritated at the sudden interruptance yet it was obvious he was powerless against the owner of the house. Still he grit his teeth and signed in annoyance as he turned to face the host. “Fuck you, Jackson!” The man cursed but eventually moved towards the door, red with anger. “My father will hear about this.” He looked at you as he reached for the golden doorknob, his features softened. “See you around, bunny.”

This was the first time you met Gabrielle. You already wished it was the last.

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

After the incident the snob seemed interested in you, blatantly so. He would eye you up in the halls like you were a shiny new toy in a claw machine and try to strike a conversation no matter how much you ignored him. The man never once apologized for what happened at the party but at least he didn’t bring it up so you counted it as a small victory. You gradually understood just how much power and money the heir had. His father owned casinos, hotels, banks and apparently even the university you two were studying in received major monthly donations by the big businessman. This explained why everyone was so scared of the blonde, especially when he did nothing but flaunt his status at the slightest inconvenience. And now he wanted you.

In your eyes the boy was just an annoying brat who lived off daddy’s hard work, there really wasn’t much to him that intrigued you. The male was handsome, pretty even, but his grades were terrible and his interests were bland and shallow, mostly involving expensive brands and grand parties. But the worst thing about him was his personality. The snob treated his friends like servants and his enemies like dirt, but you he rather saw as a challenge. Gabrielle would ask you out every time you were unlucky enough to run into him. The first time the man gave you so many roses you couldn’t even count them, the second he demanded your affection with a silver necklace in hand ready to cover your neck in his mark of ownerships. You couldn’t recall all the other gifts the blonde used to try and court you with but you remembered refusing each and every one.

“Why can’t you just give me a chance?” He exclaimed one day after you had just returned the expensive bracelet you had found in your locker. It was a dark winter night and the heir seemed irritated with you for the first time, his eyes a deep electric blue just like the sky. The man had you cornered against the wall but you were used to his pathetic attempts at intimidation. Yet today there was something different in the air around him, some small voice at the back of your head wondered whether this time he wasn’t just joking around. “Are you still angry about that little wimp I expelled, bunny?” Gabrielle asked contemptuously yet his pupils remained cold and distant. Once again he was too close for your liking, too close for you to function properly, but that was probably exactly what he wanted. You to be compliant and obedient like all the others who crawled and kneeled at the very sight of him. “Or are you sulking because I beat up Jones after he asked you out, hmm?” What? The blonde man was the one who gave Tony the black eye? But he had told you it was just a street fight… Why had your friend covered for the bully you both hated?

“Why would you do that to him?” You whispered, staring at the twisted boy in front of you. Your heart was beating fast and your blood was boiling hot in your veins but you couldn’t let him win by showing him how much his actions affected you. Gabrielle reached out and cupped your cheek gently before smirking mischievously. “He was trying to take something that belonged to me.” The heir said casually as if he was talking about the weather. His fingers were cold against your warm skin and you fought the urge to vomit right then and there. “I am not yours.” You spat out with poison and pushed his hand away from your face. Next thing you know his knee was separating your thighs, lifting your short black skirt up, his breath lingering on your neck. “S-stop.” You stuttered and tried to squirm out of his hold but the man easily caught your wrists and brought them above your head, pinning you further into the wall. He was stronger than he looked and you felt so small and helpless in that moment you could have cried if your stubbornness hadn’t prevailed.

“What don’t you like about me?” The blonde suddenly spoke out, his voice unnaturally broken and needy, bordering on a whine, crying out in desperation. You weren’t sure whether he was trying to manipulate you now or if he actually wanted you to answer so you decided to be honest anyways. “I hate the way you treat other people. I could never love someone as cruel as you.” You inhaled deeply, ready to voice all the painful thoughts you had kept inside since the beginning of the semester. “You are spoilt rotten. Metaphorically and literally.” The man was breathing sharply like a wounded animal after hearing your words and as much as you wanted to sympathize with him, you couldn’t bring yourself to after everything he had done to you and your friends. He was irredeemable. “Let me go.” You finally demanded, hoping to use him weakened emotional state to your advantage.

Instead Gabrielle clenched his teeth and squeezed down harder on your already bruised wrists causing you to whimper in dull pain. His eyes were wet but the tears had finally stopped just like his willingness to show you his vulnerable side. The man had tried being nice and sweet to you, patient, then mean and patronizing, and neither worked. So obviously it was time to become the terrifying bratty monster everyone was so keen on believed he was.

“Have you noticed how many people seem to go missing after talking to you just once?” The heir whispered in your ear as his free hand traveled down to your waist, drawing you into his hard chest. You groaned at the sudden realization that the snob was actually right, less and less guys seemed to show up to your shared lectures in the last few months, but you had always assumed they just needed a break from school. University was stressful after all. “Did you…” You started off but couldn’t find the right words. Did you force your father to expel them? Did you harm them? Maybe a part of you didn’t want to know the answer. “I did.” Gabrielle responded before you could even finish the sentence. The sly smirk you knew way too well adorned his lips and it wasn’t hard to see he had already won. “And I will keep doing it until you agree to be mine and mine alone.” The man stated confidently as he sucked the sensitive skin of your neck until you arched your back in shock, your eyes rolling up to the ceiling. “N-nhgg.” You whimpered as you felt his teeth dig into your warm flesh leaving a scarlet mark for all to see. “Come on, baby, we both know you are too good to let them suffer because of your own selfishness.” He taunted you as he left a line of small wet kisses along your exposed collarbone. You wanted to argue, to yell at him how you weren’t the crazy, selfish one, but deep down you knew it was pointless. Gabrielle had power and you had nothing to bargain with. He could have anyone yet he wanted to torment you. “Give into me. I promise I can make you happy if you let me.” The blonde uttered softly as his lips brushed against yours, almost touching them, following your reaction with his clear eyes. Your own were puffy and red from the tears but he didn’t seem to care much about your misery and discomfort. The man wished to own, not to please, but you couldn’t do anything. And of course you wouldn’t let him ruin the lives of the innocent. Of course your stupid heart was too good and human for your own good. So you closed your eyes and slowly connected your lips with him even though they tasted almost metallic, like blood and defeat.

“I knew you would come around, bunny.”

[swtorramblings]

Masks: Revelation

Vaylin as Darth Nihilus by @fleeting-sanity​, commissioned by @lord-sutherland​. Reposted with permission.

Part 1: Monsters

Well, I’d meant this to be the more upbeat ending to the downer that was part one, Monsters, but it didn’t quite end up going that way. It was also supposed to be the end, and I don’t think it went that way, either. But here is part 2.

She laid motionless, unable to move. She had felt herself break, and then nothing. She reached out her senses, assessed the damage, and it was as severe as she expected. Still, a small price to pay to bring down Nihilus once again. For a moment, she was content, but then she heard the scream, heard Senya’s anguish. The sound of one that thought she lost everything, then finding out that she could lose more. Satele Shan, former Grand Master of the Jedi Order, knew the sound. She had just gone through the same when she felt her only son die, getting them here. She wouldn’t let him die in vain. She opened her eyes, and saw out of the corner of her eye Senya Tirall pinned to a wall by the Force above her, tears streaming down her face. Before her stood Nihilus, but not Nihilus:  the Empress Vaylin, Senya’s daughter. The remains of her, anyway, her body burned through by another lightsaber blow without any effect. The thought flitted through her mind that she could live through this if she remained where she was. Any action on her part could finish what Nihilus had done to her. Obviously, there was only one response to that. There is no death, there is the Force. She reached out once again, lifting herself from the ground, dangling in the air like a marionette, her strings the Force. She made her hand rise in a familiar gesture that she could not feel, and her lightsaber flew to it and activated. Only then did the creature in front of her notice. “Leave her alone,” she managed to say. It was difficult, having to focus on each syllable of what she wanted to say, taking control of her mouth and longs and vocal cords consciously, but it had needed to be said. The creature turned and sneered at her with the Empress’ lips. She lowered her hand, and Senya dropped to the ground, perhaps broken just as much as Satele was, but in her mind, not her body. She would have to wait, if anyone even survived this. “I thought I’d damaged you enough,” Nihilus told her. “I didn’t think you’d actually use this dark trick to continue the fight.” It drew its lightsaber again. Looking now, she was surprised that neither of them had recognized the weapon, Vaylin’s lightsaber, a “gift” from her father, though the blade was dark, pulling in light that got to close and devouring it. Satele swung at the creature, trying again to damage this body, drive it back into oblivion where it belonged, but the blow was easily deflected. It locked its saber with her, and she could feel the pull, that life draining power that made Nihilus so dangerous when he had been “alive”, and also as this remnant of him tried to gain strength. It was not a fight she thought she could win, but she had to try.

Senya, like Satele, had felt her only remaining child die in the attack, the beautiful boy she had fought so hard for joining his twin. And now, this new horror, her poor, broken daughter returned to be something far worse than she had been. A thing that might fulfill her father’s goal of devouring the galaxy. It was finally too much, and had come too quickly. She had no fight left. She heard the clashing of lightsaber blades, her “daughter’s” strange weapon clashing with another. She looked, saw Satele’s body fighting beyond all reason. No hope, but still unwilling to stand aside and let Nihilus destroy everything they had all fought for, whatever it cost her. She still could not act. “She’s broken. I see that now.” She heard her words, a voice from not so long ago. She had given up. Again. Was this something she could have prevented if she had chosen otherwise? Was this her fault, like so much else? How much death and despair had she contributed to? Her sons, her daughter, Satele fighting on to defend them all. No. Whatever her mistakes, this was the doing of monsters like her husband, this creature that had taken Vaylin from her yet again. And whatever responsibility she did have for any of this, it was now her responsibility to fix it. She wiped the tears away, her face now set like stone. The last time, it had been her daughter, broken as she was, that she’d had to fight. This time, it just looked like her. She stood, and her pike flew back to her hand. Satele would not fight alone. It still hurt, though, when “Vaylin” smiled at her over her shoulder.

“Well, that hurt. A lot,” he said to no one. He opened his eyes, tried to sit up to see who was left, and almost passed out again. He saw Koth, still holding his own. He was about to shout a warning when the explosions took out the things creeping toward him. He also saw the Commander, the Hero of Tython, cutting down more of the things that Nihilus had brought with it from where it had been hiding. He saw Carson rallying some of their few remaining forces, but then there was a massive explosion, and when he looked back from covering his eyes, nothing. No bodies that he could see, though, so he chose to hope. Of Lana, there was no sign. After everything, he still hoped she had made it, at least so far. He looked for his blasters, or any weapon that he might use to rejoin the fight. That’s when he noticed the former Emperor Arcann nearby. He walked over to check him, but upon turning him over realized there was no way even he had survived whatever had done that to him. He had been hated, rightly, but he had still come here and given his life to protect the galaxy. Did it balance the scales? Probably not, but Theron hoped that he was, at least, at peace. “Not quite yet.” Theron jumped. The voice was Arcann’s, but that was impossible, wasn’t it? Oh. Right. The Force. He really should know better. “I’m sorry, Shan, but we still have work to do. Loved ones to save. I could not simply find any kind of an end while that was still true.” “What did you do?” “I did what my father has done, so many times. It seems that he is not the only one whose powers allow this.” “You are riding my body?” “Yes, but unlike him, I do not crave eternal life, not at the cost of losing myself or destroying you.” “Great, I’ll hold you to that.” He’d found his blasters, cracked and useless. Now, he picked up Arcann’s lightsaber. “I hope you don’t mind.” There was a chuckle, and the ghost said, “No, it’s only fair.” “Well, time to get back into the fight, then. One last time.” “No, you must go. Our mothers are both in danger. They will have to hold here, as they have so far.” Suddenly, Theron’s mind was filled with images and feelings, of Senya’s despair, of Satele’s body broken and pushed beyond its limits. Of a sister’s face twisted further by a monster from the past. “What the hell was that?” “The stakes.” “And what do you expect me to do against that?” “Fight bravely. Like you always do. Like our families are doing.” “Fine. But I hope you have a plan other than ‘get that Shan boy to let himself be eaten.’” He couldn’t see the ghosts face, he hadn’t appeared like Valkorion had, but he could feel the grim smile, somehow. “Yes. I do.”

Satele felt herself weakening as Nihilus attempted to cut her off from the Force, along with her life. She fought, but it wouldn’t be long now. Her toes touched the ground, now, her limbs not responding even as well as they had been. They would need a miracle. That’s when she saw one, a flash of red, a golden lightsaber in the hands of someone unsuited to it, in spite of long efforts. Her son. Alive. She parried another blow from the grinning thing, the joy at seeing Theron buoying her up again. She had fought because of her training, her resolve, even her compassion. It had empowered her this far. It was nothing like what she felt now. She thought she may have actually smiled. She couldn’t be sure.

The fight would be lost, she knew, but Senya Tirall was not going to give an inch to Nihilus until it had crushed the life from her body. She stepped aside from a blow, parried another, then this mockery of her entire life screamed, and she was thrown across the room again, landing at the feet of a new arrival. She looked up to find Theron Shan smiling down at her, and she found a moment of odd comfort in it as he took her hand and pulled her to her feet. Just for a moment, his eyes were her own looking back at her, one arm circled her shoulders. “He says to hold her here as long as you can.” She stared at him, then said, “Who?” Like with the eyes, his voice changed so briefly that she was almost sure she’d imagined it. “You know who.” Then, Theron Shan, son of Satele Shan, latest of a long line going back to the legendary Bastilla Shan, with no Force powers of his own, drew out Arcann’s lightsaber and leaped into the fray. Senya, in spite of all of the tragedy in her life, also felt the need to smile as she followed him.

He had to let Arcann take over for this fight, or he was going to lose a hand. As Satele and Senya both harried the creature, he said through gritted teeth, “I don’t think your lightsaber skills are going to be enough, and it’s not like you can throw lightning through me.” Then he thought about it, thought of what Arcann’s father had been able to do, while watching his hands parry a blow, then being kicked in the stomach. “Can you?” “No, I am not Valkorion.” Thank goodness. Or the Force. “But I have brought with us a secret weapon.” As she, or it, slashed again, he could feel his strength draining already to Nihilus’ power. Then the thing said, “Oh, this is just too precious, the two sons are both here! And I have been hungry for so long!” It had sounded mostly like the Empress at first, but then the voice became guttural, alien. “Such a feast!” Arcann was finally ready with whatever he had planned, and Theron shouted, “You want a feast? Then eat this!” There was a tinkling of laughter in his mind. Not his, not Arcann’s. The brief flash of a smile as the “weapon” was unleashed. Oh, no. Had he just made things worse?

They all felt what happened next. The hunger coming from Vaylin’s body suddenly retreated, replaced by a feeling of, what? Disgust? Rage? The feeling slowly crystallized. It was almost as if they could hear th ethoughts. She was being used. Again. It didn’t even end with her death, and she was not going to stand for it. Not this time. She started to become more visible. It started with the eyes, then the face. Power flowed from the body Nihilus had stolen into the air, coalescing into its ephemeral mirror image. Finally, Vaylin’s spirit stood before her possessed body, still in the robes of the Empress of Zakuul, still showing the wound that had killed her. She scowled at herself and said, “I had enough of this with ‘Father’. I am not going to take it from a thing like you.” Her body laughed in her face. “And how do you think you will stop me? You have some power, but I have the body it all comes from!” At that the spirit grinned. “Yes. My power. Let’s  see if you can keep it!” Nihilus also grinned, seeming quite confident in the outcome of this challenge, and then everything exploded in shadow and flame.

Theron ran to Satele’s side, She was about to drag her injured body to continue the fight. Probably to be burned to bone before she had a chance to strike. He couldn’t let her. “It’s out of your hands! Don’t keep pushing yourself!” She just looked at him sadly, then turned her body to continue towards the combatants. “Mother, please!” She stopped. After everything she had forced herself to do, after Nihilus’ critically draining her of her energy, she may still not survive what came next. She should use what time she had to help. Still, she turned away, lowered herself, allowed her son to carry her to relative safety. He needed to try, and she would let him.

Senya ran towards the conflagration, shielding her eyes with one hand, pushing back at the lightning released by the fight with her power. The spirit took a moment to glance at her and, with the old hatred, said, “Hello, Mother.” Maybe she didn’t have to shout, but she did, “Vaylin! Let me help you!” Both of them laughed. She understood that. An ancient power returned to life that rivaled even Valkorion. Her daughter, that even such monsters feared, with reason. They thought she was helpless. Though locked in conflict with the spirit, Nihilus answered first, . “You? What can you do? Oh, you’re powerful compared to some, but you are nothing to us!” Then the other one answered. “Oh, let her make her little stand, her little promise. She won’t keep it. She’ll still leave me.” That stung. She felt the truth in it, at least Vaylin’s truth. She knew there was more to their story, but it still stung, more so because part of her agreed. She pushed the feeling down. Right or not, it wouldn’t serve anyone here. What should worry her was that she could hear the strain in Vaylin’s voice, see it in her face. Strain that her opponent, still smiling that arrogant smile, did not show Her own power was ebbing, and she started to feel both the pull of oblivion and the heat of the lightning. She would not have much time, and they were right, there was little she should do. She straightened up, saying to her real daughter, “No, Vaylin. I came for you once, and was too late. Not this time.” Little would have to do. She lunged, and struck into the heart of the storm. She could not tell for a moment if she had even connected. And then Nihilus, weakened from the fight, drained of the life it had absorbed from Darth Jadus, screamed. For the third time, Senya was blasted back, out of the fight, as her own powers failed her. As she always tried to do, she had done all she could. Perhaps she could finally be content with that.

Theron was still tending to Satele, giving her what little kolto he had to try to stabilize her, finding cover from the strengthening storm. Then, Arcann’s voice broke in to his thoughts again. Strangely, time slowed, much in the way the Commander had described talking to Arcann’s father. “Theron, you’ve done what you can for her. We have to join the fight.” “I know, I know! Just… give me a second.” “We no longer have a second.” Time began to move. Satele opened her eyes and looked into his. Of course she was telling him to leave her. “Fine. I’m going to have a talk with both of you if I live.” “As you wish. I shall hold on to this life so you can yell at me.” Was he developing a sense of humor? Never mind. Theron picked up his mother’s lightsaber as well as Arcann’s, ran toward certain death. Again. Must be Zhellday.

As Nihilus screamed, in her voice. It was vulnerable. The wound was small, but the thing had not felt pain in centuries. As she rushed to take advantage of it, she said, “Oh, Mother, your last act was hurting my body. How typical!” Still, as she called lightning again and again, she considered. She had mocked her mother, and now she might finally be dead, killed by accident in the fight between them. She should feel something, some satisfaction, that she had finally killed her, but didn’t. It was just that it hadn’t been her intent, and that it had been too quick. It had to be. But, Senya had known the risk, the odds of success, and had struck, anyway. And it had been to help her. The daughter that had hunted her, vowed to kill her after being spared. It was all so like before. She had turned her back on Senya, and stood with “Father” at the Sanitarium while the Knights had dragged her away. She shook her head. Sentiment was weakness. Whatever her reason, Senya had distracted Nihilus, had injured it. She continued to press the attack. She understood it. She would have burned the galaxy, too. Gleefully. But she would never let it use her to do the same.

Like Senya before him, Theron braved the blasts of energy, only Arcann’s strength protecting him. He could feel Arcann’s emotions. He wanted to go to his mother, as he had allowed Theron to do first. Even if it was only to say goodbye. First, though, he was going to fight for all of them. The lightning and entropy were stable, in balance, but that could not last forever. Nihilus could refuel itself, reach out and to the combatants outside, devour their lives. Vaylin had no such resource. The spirit looked over. There was a moment of shock, but she didn’t let it distract her. “Arcann?” “No, but he said to tell you he’s here.” Nihilus answered that with a laugh, saying, “More lives to feed me!” “He has a point,” Theron said. “You have another idea, I hope?” “I do. Get closer.” “Closer?!” “Trust me.” He didn’t. He couldn’t. But, really, why stop now? The spirit spoke from behind him. “What are you doing, Brother?” Theron shouted back, “He says it’s a trick he learned in the Enclave!” Now Nihilus. “What?” Theron imagined he could see a new energy, flowing from just in front of him, surroundomg Vaylin’s body, slowly sealing it, blocking it, cutting it off. Not from the Force, but from the remaining lives nearby. Her face looked shocked, just for an instant, before the flow of darkness around them quit, and all that was left was the lightning. He could feel Arcann’s spirit suddenly weaken. “What did you do?” He felt amusement. “I shielded it.” Theron didn’t really have time to digest that. He didn’t quite know what it meant. Then, Vaylin’s force ghost said, “Run, you idiot.” And then she laughed. Theron understood that just fine, and he ran.

The storm erupted from the throne room they had made such great sacrifices to reach, spilling out over the larger battle, the power obliterating the building and scattering the rubble. The twisted Force spirits that had killed so many of the Alliance forces turned to dust, then were not even that, just a dark mist in the gale. Finally, the sensitive could feel it as Nihilus was purged once more from the universe. For how long, they did not know. Hopefully forever. Kira had managed to protect herself, and some of those she had rallied, and was first into the remains of a monster’s dreams. First, she found the Grand Master, still alive, though barely. She left her in the care of one of the healers that had lived through the battle and continued the search. Theron, strangely, had apparently flung himself over Senya, who was exposed to whatever had happened. She leaned down and rolled him over to check both. Remarkably, Theron had weathered the blast with only slight injuries, somehow. She could feel a second energy in him, a presence that should not be there. Senya was badly burned, and had broken a leg and most likely some ribs, but had lived, also. In the center of the room, all that was left was a crater. Theron groaned but got to his feet, followed by Senya taking deep breaths. She started to sit up, reached for her belt and the weapon that wasn’t there, but Kira gently pushed her back. “It’s all right, don’t move, you’re badly injured.” Theron, oddly, reached down and touched Senya’s cheek. “Yes, you need your rest, don’t injure yourself further.” Senya lay back again, but then looked at Theron, and tears came to her eyes. “Oh, Arcann, my son, I’m so sorry. We shouldn’t have come.” That explained what she had felt. “Arcann? What have you done to Theron?” “Nothing, nothing, I’m right here. I’m just subletting for a little while.” He turned back to Senya. “No, we had to come. Too much was at stake. At least it wasn’t for nothing.” “What will happen to you?” “I will pass into the Force, like everyone does, eventually. I made a promise, and I won’t break it.” “It’s too much. I thought I could take it, accept it. But now, I’ve truly lost everything.” That’s when everyone who could felt it. Kira drew her saberstaff, and said, “Well, maybe not everything, though you might wish you had.” Theron looked over and just said, “Oh, no.” He’d been saying that too much for one day. She’d crawled out of the pit, her clothes, or rather the clothes Nihilus had put her in, torn, her hair disheveled. There was a clean cut down the side of her robes, from Senya’s lightsaber, but the glimpse they got of the flesh beneath looked whole, if scarred. She was looking down at the pieces of the mask he had worn in life, or what passed for it. It had been snapped in two. She looked up at them, and smiled again, though if there was any more warmth in it than Nihilus had shown, none of them could see it. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Mother, you’ll still have me.”

[jasontoddswhitestreak]

what died didn’t stay dead

(originally posted by vormirjumper)

dedicated to @starsvck and @artipotter hope u enjoy this <333

summary: the last thing you remember was fainting in wakanda thinking you saw your own fingertips turn to dust only to wake up in a world where natasha romanoff no longer existed. inspired by marjorie by taylor swift

content warning: natasha romanoff x fem!reader, set after endgame, angst, mentions of death, trauma, their relationship ending on a bad note, trust issues & previous steve x nat, (WANDAVISION SPOILERS AT THE END)

‘моя любовь’ = ‘my love’ in russian <3

REQUESTS ARE OPEN! (please lmk if anyone written something similar to this! & if you want more nat content lmk!)

masterlist

PART TWO

You forced your eyes open.

Pulling yourself up from the ground you glanced at your arms in confusion. You swore you saw your own hands turn to dust before fainting. You glanced around to take in your surroundings eyes widening in shock as you saw the hundreds of Wakandan's you fought beside minutes ago appearing out of dust. You stared speechless as you watched people materialise out of thin air, the dust forming into fingers, then a whole hand and eventually becoming a person who's mirroring your exact reaction.

You felt guilty about the first thought that came across your mind.

'Is Nat okay?' You panicked while rushing to look around, ignoring how you spent the last few years loathing her to hide your heartbreak.

You were an avenger since the beginning. The two of you were on the same team during the airport fight which wasn't surprising due to your history together. Despite the slight age difference between the two of you, your personalities worked well together which is why you got along well, so well in fact that those platonic feelings you thought you had for her developed into something more and somehow you found yourself in her bed many times in her arms with your bodies pressed against one another's, struggling to catch your breath, bliss written all over your face. Your legs were intertwined with hers as you embraced the warmth radiating off her. You refused to acknowledge the unspoken tension in the atmosphere due to the fear of speaking out about your feelings and end up ruining what you had. You couldn't help but let the insecurities build up as you gently caressed her cheek, her eyes met yours back in adoration, full of what could've been love.

But you knew she once looked at him in the same way.

"I love holding you in my arms моя любовь." She muttered, as she stroked your hair gently, you hummed in response, not trusting your own voice. What you both had felt right, you didn't want to ruin it, you didn't want to label what you had together due to the job you both have. Being an avenger doesn't exactly mean stability, anything could happen.

You remember the panic you felt when Ultron took her, the chance of losing her filled you with dread, but you also had faith. You knew how strong Natasha was. Your faith gave you strength and it kept you alive, Nat admired that about you.

The two of you fit together well, whether it was on the field or outside of the field. You could predict each other's moves and although telepathy isn't either of your powers, you know what the other was thinking. You made her better. You helped her wipe out the red in her ledger and when everyone's files was exposed to the globe you were right there by her side comforting her as she feared the reaction from everyone. You were there for her when nobody was and you stood by her side no matter what. Those feelings were reciprocated, you knew Natasha would've done anything for you.

She would even sacrifice herself for the possibility of you coming back.

Then the Accords happened and Nat betrayed the Accords, ending up on the run with Steve, Sam, Wanda and Vision. You were left alone at the compound with an injured Rhodey.

"How could you do this?" You spat out, voice full of hatred as you watched Natasha let Steve and Bucky get away. Your pistol shook in the palm of your hands, pointed directly at Natasha who lowered her own onto the ground, allowing herself to be defenceless.

"It's not that easy моя любовь, you out of all people should understand that." She explained, and you scoffed in response. The pet-name which once caused a flutter in your stomach now fuelling the fire that's building up. All the insecurities you felt during your relationship suddenly turned to hatred. You should've expected this, you should've expected that after all this time she would've chosen Steve over you.

"I guess you'll never change." You responded flatly, admitting defeat. You silently walked passed her and climbed out of the rubble that was created, allowing a wall to be in between the two of you not knowing you tore a piece of her heart as you did so.

That was two years ago.

You thought you'd never have to see her for a long time. You hoped you wouldn't have to see her. Clearly things never go the way you wanted it to go as you found yourself staring back at the person who once owned your heart.

"Well, you guys look like crap." Rhodey teased, wrapping the fellow avengers in his arms as you stood to the side, awkwardly watching the scene in front of you while fidgeting with your fingers. The atmosphere in the compound was comforting, it's been a long time since you've heard so much laughter in one room despite the war that's brewing.

Natasha, who was now blonde but as gorgeous as ever, hesitantly approached you. The two of you stared at each other, waiting for the other to make the next move.

"Romanoff." You nodded, greeting her before moving away to greet the other Avengers, missing the way she muttered the now bittersweet name she specifically picked you.

"моя любовь..."

Did she really love you? Or was it just for revenge? You believed that love blinded you, you managed to convince yourself that your love wasn't enough for her and that's why she left you. Your relationship with her died. It was over. You thought you buried it all, all your feelings. But you were wrong, when your eyes met her green eyes all those feelings came back to life, flowing through your veins.

After all this time you still loved her.

But your feelings for her weren't the only thing you couldn't bury.

Within an hour of reuniting with the Avengers, the team found themselves on the quinjet travelling to Wakanda. You wouldn't have said this out loud but you had faith that everything would be okay, Nat was finally by your side after all these years.

You felt as though nothing could go wrong.

That was a couple hours ago you estimated, you glance at Wanda who appeared a couple feet away from you the tears were evident on her face.

"Where is he?" Wanda cries out, clenching her fists, you saw the scarlet red energy glowing around her. You knew she must've been talking about Vsision who should've been on the ground next to her. "Wha- why does everything look different?" You realised, noticing the damages caused by the battle has disappeared. The grass was greener as ever. The corpses of the creatures you fought were no longer on the ground.

It looked as though the battle never took place.

You ran over to Wanda, helping her up from the ground when you hear someone call your name out. "That sounds like Sam." Wanda points out as the two of you held each other up.

"Wanda!" Sam called out.

"Come on, we gotta go! They need us! The fights not over yet!" He shouts from a distance, the two of you made your way to the direction you heard his voice come from, you saw all the superheroes surrounding him and a man in a red cloak. "What about Nat? Or Rhodey?" You questioned, looking for them in the crowd. You missed the sympathetic glance the man shot you before waving his hands up in the air, creating a yellow ring in the air that transformed into a portal.

"We're going to fight beside them right now." Sam confirms before flying through the portal.

The compound was completely destroyed. Your home was crumbling apart. Thor looked completely different, Tony had grey hair and Natasha was nowhere to be seen.

You wanted to finally tell her, tell her that you loved her with all of your heart.

You fought beside hundreds of Avengers that day, but you couldn't help searching for one specific Avenger. You ran over to Clint who was on the ground struggling to fight off a bunch of creatures, saving him within moments.

"Thanks kid." He pant, out of breath from all of the fighting. You smiled at him in response, reaching your hand out for him to take which he gratefully took, lifting himself up. "Have you bumped into Nat on the battlefield yet?" You asked, hopeful. There were hundreds of people fighting so you didn't expect to find her easily. The smile on Clint's face fell.

In that moment he relieved everything that happened moments ago. Flying to Vormir with Natasha, climbing the cliff with her, reminiscing about Budapest. And the way he witnessed her body hit the ground, the crack echoing so loudly he managed to hear it more than just once. He glanced down the cliff and saw her lifeless body faced towards his.

His closest friend. The person he trusted with his entire life. The person he named his son after. The Godmother of his kids.

Gone.

Just like that.

"I need to do this for her Clint, she's моя любовь." Nat whispered to him before smiling back at the oldest friend she had, pushing away from the cliff and inevitably falling to her death.

You found out what happened to Natasha, hours after.

The Avengers won, but at the cost of the lives of the people you cared the most about, the person you'd do anything for and the person who owned your heart the minute you met them. Clint broke the news to you, he felt as though you deserved to hear it from him.

"She loved you till the very end." He finished after explaining what happened on Vormir. You felt as though you couldn't breathe, like your soul was crushed and pulled away from you.

Natasha Romanoff was dead and there was nothing you could do about it.

She never got to hear that you felt the same towards her.

"I didn't think the ending to be so soon." You struggled to hold back a sob, holding the letter Clint gave you tightly in your arms. Scott somehow found a letter on the ground while trying to save Clint, it was slightly damp and covered in mud. But it was written for you in Natasha's handwriting.

You couldn't bring yourself to read the letter even nine days after the blip. You had to live in a world without her, a world where people drag her name through the mud even though she is the reason they're still standing. You adjust to a world without Natasha Romanoff and reading a letter she wrote for you months ago wouldn't help.

You regretted everything. You regret spending those last few years in anger, you should've stayed with her, you could've told her how much she meant to you. You could've told her you loved her, you could've held her in your arms once more. You would do anything to have her in your arms once again.

Sometimes it felt as though she was still there, laughing at something she saw on the TV. You always felt her presence around you after she passed away, it felt as though she never died. It felt as though a part of her lives through you.

You sat in the passenger seat of Wanda's car, staring at the Sword logo plastered on the side of the building, you could feel the letter in your back pocket, dying to be read. Wanda made her way back to the car, face flared in anger, tears threatening to spill.

"Wanda?" You called out as she got into the car, turning on the ignition but not pulling out of the car park. She sniffled quietly, wiping her eyes before glancing back to you. "I saw him." She responded, her eyes glancing to the folded paper on the backseat of the car, she could see the faint colour of red that was in the shape of a heart. "But they're not letting him have a funeral." You realised, looking back at your friend, heartbroken. "I figured at least one of them deserved a funeral, it's not fair. It's not fair that the world can just go on like nothing happened and we don't get to mourn the people we lost." Wanda rants, pulling out of the parking lot and beginning to drive.

"They both deserve a funeral." You agreed solemnly, remembering the fact that Natasha's body is at the bottom of a cliff in space in 2014.

"Where are we going now?" You asked, wanting to distract yourself from that thought. You felt as though you and Wanda were left to mourn your loved ones alone as the rest of the avengers scattered across the country.

"To the only thing I have left of him."

The two of you sat in silence as Wanda drove, you stared at the shrubbery outside the window before closing your eyes and resting your head on the window, allowing yourself to drift off.

It felt like it was only seconds later when you felt the car turn harshly, you opened your eyes and glanced around in confusion when you saw that you pulled into a quaint town, you had only just missed the town sign plastered with the words "West View." You watched the pedestrians walking by, noticing how some of them sat on their own with no one to comfort them similarly to you and Wanda.

The two of you pulled up to a plot of land with the foundation of a house on the ground, it looked at though the house never had the chance to get completed.

"Stay in the car, I won't take long." Wanda reassured you before reaching towards the back of the car to grab the folded up sheet of paper and getting out of the car. You nodded, staring at the built house next to the plot of land.

Your mind wanders as you stare at the home. You think about Natasha. You think about the future you could've had with her, living together in a quaint home like the one in front of you. No stress about being an avenger, just the two of you and your family. You softly smile as you imagine Natasha's reaction to wanting to adopt 5 cats, knowing she was more of cat person. You imagine holding her hand while walking down the street and watching movies with her in your shared bed. You wanting to stay in for the day and watch movies to ignore the real world outside and her letting you.

You think about what could've been.

A heart wrenching scream snaps you out of your thoughts, you rush out of the car and look for Wanda but is blinded by a scarlet red light that knocks you unconscious.

Your eyes open on command.

The room you stood in was black and white. It was a nicely decorated living room with a dining room connected to it, you couldn't pinpoint which decade the interior was from, too preoccupied by the woman standing in front of you.

Although the lack of colour in them, you could recognise those eyes from anywhere, that smile that you've wished to see was right in front of you. The dress she wore matched the decade and decor of the room, her hair curled up neatly. Natasha stood in front of you, reaching her hand out towards you waiting for you to take it.

You hesitantly reach out towards her, happiness flooding your emotions. She pulls you closer to her, welcoming you into a hug. The palm of her hands are warm as they rested on your back, you could feel her heartbeat as you laid your head on her chest, melting in her arms.

"Welcome home моя любовь."

[butwhyduh]

Security Breach

Dick Grayson x reader

Summary: he’s supposed to protect the reader in Titans tower after she was attacked and there is a big failure. Injuries mentioned briefly.

It was 3 days earlier that your life had been in danger. Dick felt awful, barely left your side. Deathstroke, Slade fucking Wilson had attacked you in your apartment when Dick was on patrol. He had tailed Dick and found out about you. Dick had found you before Deathstroke had done much damage. Your hip had been dislocated and a gash over that thigh that required a few stitches.

Dick brought you to Titans tower and didn’t leave the building for 3 days and rarely let you go out of eyesight. He held you tightly at night and watched you sleep while getting very little of his own. He could have lost you. You could have been killed for being with him.

It was helpful because you had a bandage on your thigh and your hip hurt every time you walked. It was also smothering. So when the other Titans were going on patrol, you insisted that he go and act normal. They were going to question what happened to Nightwing soon if he didn’t.

“Fine. Here is a panic button. Push this and it will lock down all the doors and windows and send me a signal. Don’t hesitate to use it. Okay?” Dick said. He had an intensity and worry in his eyes that you couldn’t quite quiet before he left. He pulled you close for a kiss that wasn’t exactly proper in front of the team.

You pulled back flushed. “Dick,” you breathed before clearing your throat. “I’ll be fine. Just go. You need to get out. You’ll go nuts,” you joked as you pulled away from him. Raven and Beast Boy smiled a little before Dick joined them.

“I’ll be back soon,” Dick said before the elevator closed.

You laid on the huge couch sinking into the pillows before turning on literally any show you could imagine. Bruce Wayne didn’t skimp on tv services. The couch was so comfortable and you finally found a position that your hip didn’t hurt and you fell asleep. The panic button was lost in the cushions.

You woke up to a sound in the kitchen. It had to be a few hours later. You assumed the Titans were back and hobbled into the kitchen, carting an empty glass with you. You turned the corner and gasped while dropping the glass. It shattered loudly on the tile floor.

Deathstroke in black and orange armor stood in the kitchen. He turned and looked at you with a tilted head.

“I assumed I was alone. I guess I got lucky,” he said and you looked back towards the doorway but you were barely walking. There was no way that you were running. He was huge and strong and probably fast.

“L-lucky?” You said, stepping back as he walked nearer. You felt the cold counter hit your lower back. You’d unknowingly walked yourself into a trap.

“Yeah. I can finish what I started,” he said quietly. The softness of his voice was chilling. He wasn’t mad and knew he was in control. Even in perfect health you had a severe disadvantage. And you were injured.

“You don’t have to,” you barely say above a whisper.

“See, Nightwing took something from me and I’ll take something from him,” Deathstroke said. He was now in your space. You shifted legs and winced in pain despite yourself. “Has to hurt, hu? Right about here,” he said before pressing on your cut. You gasped in pain and tried to scoot away fruitlessly. He caged you against the counter.

Your heart pounded. “Please, don’t,” you pleaded.

“Did Nightwing stop,” he asked coldly and you didn’t have an answer. As far as you knew, his son got between him and Dick and got killed in the crossfire. You tried to move again and grimaced in pain.

“That’s more than a cut. I thought I heard a pop,” Deathstroke said before pressing on your injured hip. Your vision flashed white and you shrieked before grabbing the counter. He chuckled. “I thought so.”

“Please,” you breathed, leaning as far away as he let you. “Don’t hurt me.” You leaped for the knife block behind you but he quickly pressed your hip to the counter and you whimpered and almost fell to the floor, far from reaching the knife.

“It’s not about you, sweetheart. I have an issue with your boyfriend. His parents are dead, has no siblings, and no kids. You’re it, darling. The only person that can be hurt to hurt him.... That’s enough. I didn’t come here to play with you,” he said lazily unclipping the strap on a gun. “I came here to kill y-“

A shiny piece of metal was thrown between you both and he barely leaped out of the way as his gun went flying. You screamed and cowled down. A blur of black and blue jumped in front of you and finally you realized that a Deathstroke and Dick were fighting. You hobbled towards the doorway only for Wilson to shoot the doorframe above your head. You collapsed to the ground in horror.

“Attacking my house?” Dick said and you could hear and see rage unlike what you’ve seen before. “My girlfriend,” he said with vicious hits landing on Deathstroke who gave as good as he got. The other gun was lost as well. Escrima sticks were pulled out and a sword was pulled.

They fought hand to hand for a while, neither relenting control. Dick finally tossed the sword from Wilson’s hand and pointed his shocking escrima at the other man. Both were bleeding and exhausted and there was sounds downstairs where the other Titans must have gotten back. Knowing he had lost the round, Deathstroke jumped through the glass window and into the night. Dick watched him go before turning to see you cowling on the floor.

He bent down and cradled your face. “Baby, are you okay?” Dick looked over your body for any injuries.

“Uh yeah. Yeah I’m fine,” you said but Dick could see you trembling. He carefully scooped you up pulled you to his chest and you broke down into a sob. You grasped his suit tightly and cried in relief and fear.

The other Titans came up within 20 minutes. Dick had rushed home after the mission, leaving them behind. They took in the scene quickly. Broken glass everywhere and you sitting in Dick’s lap while crying.

“We’ll need to update security and install patrols until we get this fixed. Come on,” Kori said and you couldn’t be more grateful as the others left the room. If you thought Dick was smothering before, he didn’t leave your side beside patrol. This time you didn’t mind.

Dick gently woke you from a nightmare. You clung to him in a sticky sweat of cold fear. Your eyes were wild until you realized that it was Dick and not Deathstroke there to finish the job.

“I’m right here. It’s okay,” he said, too knowledgeable about the nightmares from trauma. He gently spoke to you and rubbed your back until you fell asleep. He was always against Bruce fighting his battles for him but he made the exception today. If Tim had done it before, Dick could too.

A few hours later you were sitting in his lap, watching a movie, when Dick got the message from Bruce.

Bruce: All clear. $50,000 but clear.

Dick: thanks. I owe you.

All Dick had to do was make sure that you knew you were safe but not know that it cost him $50,000. It couldn’t be that hard, right?

[emialawliet]

The mysteries of Wonder Egg Priority and some interesting things I found in it

Oh hi Acca. Wait is that a crack on your right lens?

One of the great things about WEP is that it is an original anime wherein we do not have any source material to check on its story thus we do not have a clue on what’s gonna happen next besides the things that happen in each episode. These are one of those animes which are fun to observe.

Plot Summary: Ai scores a “Wonder Egg” from a gachapon machine at a deserted arcade. But now when Ai falls asleep a girl emerges from her Wonder Egg, the worlds of dreams and reality begin to collide. And it’s all connected.

From the first episode, we have been given a huge amount of symbolism. Aside from the main subject of bullying and Ai’s guilt by pretending not to see it that cost her bestfriend’s life, there are a lot of other things that I noticed that seem to have a deeper meaning behind them or could be a hint to something. I’ll list these things one by one from the first 2 episodes..

This post is going to be quite a long one, so I’ll keep it minimal enough to just tickle your thoughts. And believe me, things got clearer to me as I am making this post.

The anime starts in a sort of a dream world.. or is it?

1) The firefly

In some cultures firefly may not have a positive reputation. But in Japan, where they are called "hotaru," they are beloved – a metaphor for passionate love in poetry since Man'you-shu (the 8th century anthology). -Namiko Abe @ thoughtco.com

Ai can be seen looking at a dead firefly. She seems caring for it and she even gave it a proper burial. Could this symbolize someone dear to her? Now let’s proceed..

2) person in the car

Is this a clue? I’ll remember that hair for some reason..

3) Ai’s conversation with the firefly and the Special Gacha Machine

firefly: What are you doing in a place like this?

Ai: Walking.

F: This late at night?

After burying the firefly, it suddenly came out the soil and spoke to Ai with a male voice. Their conversation seems to me like a suspicious man talking to an innocent girl in a place where a young one like her isn’t supposed to be..

F: The first time’s free. Next time bring your wallet.

This is one of the things commonly used to convince someone to try something they are usually not willing to for the first time. Like a free trial..

..and was then led somewhere underground where the “Special Gacha Machine” is located.

That’s a lotta eggs. What could this underground facility be? And here’s the Gacha Machine:

So that’s the thing in the poster.

Weird huh? But the next morning, Ai wakes up with the egg beside her..

4) The dream

..Or is it not entirely a dream? I mean the egg appearing beside her is one thing although it could be that the egg is just in her mind. But the thing that complicates things is the injuries she gets in real life, to the point where she and even Neiru needs to get hospitalized.

Ai asked why this (the whole dream she’s in) is happening to her and this is what Kurumi said:

“Nothing costs more than a free gift huh?” Indeed, life is priceless. But in this story, it is only free the first time. The second night, Ai paid a huge price. Could those injuries mean this?

“This is a dream to you, but to me it is reality.” -Kurumi Saijo

Ai will not die in this dream, as long as her eyes and heart are okay.

Did she really sneak at night twice? Since getting the Wonder Egg to saving Kurumi? In this scene we also see the teacher in full for the first time and I dunno about you guys but I think that hair is familiar..

The firefly even asked her this. We’ve seen Ai sneaking out at night but the things that follow are strange enough to happen in real life. Is it possible that what we're seeing is a mixture of Ai’s imagination and reality?

Something caused these injuries. Or is it Ai herself? Let us find out..

After saving Kurumi, a mysterious male voice said “Too bad, you only get saved. But you have to cheer up if you want your bestfriend back.”

She then asked this:

..but got no clear response. Of course we know the answer, Koito is not going back to life. but why does the voice demand her to do that? Not even the firefly could answer her clearly. But she continued to believe that this will get her bestfriend back. 

“If you can’t protect them, you won’t make it either.” -Firefly

“There’s no point going to save someone if she gets herself killed.” -Ura-Acca

Does they mean the guilt might kill her too? Does this imply suicide? Could this be a hint where Ai gets her injuries?

And Neiru asked her who she is fighting for.. Ai firmly said it was for Koito.

“You don’t like yourself now, so you go. You want to change the self you hate.” Well this could also be true for herself despite saying it’s for her sister whom she let die. How? We’ll soon know more about this I guess.. At the moment, we know that Neiru loves her current self. 

Ai hates herself for betraying her bestfriend. The first friend she ever had.

Koito probably asked her to film the bullying as evidence, but Ai was too scared of being left out. She wasn’t able to get a good shot, but Koito only smiled at her and knew she did her best.

5) The egg

From the title itself, the egg is a very prominent object in this anime. We still do not have a clear answer as to what it really represents, but according to the speaking firefly and Kurumi, it contains what a person wants the most, and in Ai’s case, it is a friend. She denies this to both of them but they both know it is the truth.

The eggs appear in different colors, with letters, numbers and symbols printed on them. Once cracked, it reveals a person. This is where we can relate the egg’s symbolism of life and creation. 

A mysterious male voice angrily told Ai to break the egg, and this is what he said afterwards:

Ai is “good” at it, huh. What could he probably mean I wonder..

It was later revealed that Kurumi is another sculpture, a “captured maiden” in a different world like Ai’s bestfriend Koito. This confirms that Kurumi is also dead, which leads me to think that the eggs are the souls of those who died from suicide or abuse. 

They couldn’t pass on unless the guilt of their friends stop holding them back. And this I think is also what’s happening to our MC Ai and Koito’s soul.

6) Kurumi Saijo

She wears a different uniform than Ai’s. A victim of bullying by 3 girls.

Like Ai, she also said she did not have any friends, just superficial ones.

And this could be hinting at the reason why she was bullied by those girls. She does have the looks. But these looks might be the reason why she had no real friends. And a boyfriend of this fake friend probably liked her and broke up with her fake friend which started the bullying. I smell jealousy.

In this dream, she found her resolve while saving Kurumi.

I gotta say though, the animation is impressive from start to finish. That button popping off has me goin “whoa they even thought of adding that bit.” And the explosion that followed.. oof.

After being saved by Ai, she asked Ai to not forget her and disappeared into dust. Was Kurumi able to finally pass on?

) Minami Suzuhara

Seriously, in this anime, adorable girls have no friends.

Damn her “trauma” is a ridiculous boob monster. 

She could have died due to over fatigue and stress from her coach’s verbal abuse.

Ai had another injury the following day.

) Ai’s enemies

The Seenoevils, a disorderly mob. In real life, they are the ones that pretend not to see the bullying, letting it happen and thus contribute to the damage being dealt to thee victim. And the form of the egg’s “traumas”, the Wonder Killer, which are the main cause who led the victims to their deaths. In the dream world, they do not attack Ai. But they can damage her, only for the effects to appear outside the dream.

Ai uses Kurumi’s pen as her first weapon, and Minami’s ribbon wand as the second.

Like Kurumi, after she was saved she also asked Ai to remember her before disappearing into dust.

) The teacher

Ai’s teacher seems really nice, going as far as to visit her and deliver the week’s print outs to their home. Ai must not be attending school for weeks..

We now know that Ai’s location is nearby their teacher’s home. Could he be the guy in the car then? We don’t have enough evidence of that as of yet.

In the second episode, Ai’s teacher visited again.

Now we see his face. He’s got a mole huh.

But why this question teach? 

So that’s his name. And why the special treatment?

Here we see him walk behind Koito and she follows..

) Acca & Ura-Akka

The most intriguing thing I found in the first ep..

After discovering the truth about Kurumi, Ai was led to the end of the underground tunnel and found these two strange dolls playing Go, a japanese traditional board game. One looks like a professional, and the other just casual. They introduced themselves as Acca and Ura-Acca.

Judging by that definition, these two dolls could be the same person. Let’s watch out for that.. Who could this person be? And what is his connection to Ai?

“Haste makes waste.” These two are worried about Neiru. They strongly advise on taking the process slow or else she might die. Is this person a therapist?

) Neiru Aonuma

Did I read that right.. VICE PRESIDENT?? I get the feeling her sister died caused by neglect from their parents because they were more focused on this Neiru who “loves herself”. She also seems to me like a foreigner. She speaks english quite well and we see the mom with a nice cute afro.

She was too greedy to get multiple eggs at once. She could have fought through an intense battle. Probably why she was put in the intensive care unit. 

She also does not know the fun of being in a friendship. But then she agrees on being friends with AI :) I am glad how Ai is starting to change too.

I am looking forward for these two’s friendship <3

And that’s about all the curious things I’ve gathered in the first 2 episodes.

I am definitely going to continue watching this series and witness the truth unfold. Until the next egg time!