#he will just casually take 40 bullets to the chest like it’s nothing | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

smellsfaintlyofvanilla · 4 years ago

Note

Hi, I have this super specific idea so feel free to ignore this one lol. So basically, Annie and the reader have been dating for a while, like at least a year. And the reader is in the survey corps right, so during one of the missions she ends up getting injured in an explosion and she's like all burned up and covered in injury's that'll scar really bad. And so the reader gets taken to a hospital or med bay or whatever, and she's been out for days, and like Reiner, Eren, Mikasa, etc. are all there, ya know her little gaggle of friends. And like she's been unconscious for days but sometimes she'll wake up for a few minutes and pass out again. So when Annie gets the news and comes to see her she like starts to wake up, and when she's coherent Annie is holding her hand and says "I'm glad you're alive" or something, then the reader just kinda stares at her for a minute and says "are you one of my friends from the cadet corps" and everyone's shocked and Annie kinda runs off. And ass the reader gets better she's allowed to walk around town and shit as long as someone's with her because she he's trouble walking, and she like can't hold things in one of her hands without shaking like she's about to fall apart. She basically hos no memories of absolutely anything so if someone says that their friends she just believes them and wants to be with them, which is a contrast to how she was in the cadets because she was always super short tempered and would pick fights with everyone, but she always had a soft spot for Annie and would follow her around and shit while being an ass to everyone else. So now she has no memories, blind as shit, can barely walk, and is super kind and polite to just about everyone. And like she insists on Annie seeing her and wants to go with her wherever she goes and is all smiles and happiness while Annie is kinda having a crisis. Because they were both very closed off people and they opened up to each other and built unwavering trust and loyalty but now one of them doesn't remember, Annie wants to help her but at the same time she feels that it's for the best if they stay apart, uh spoiler they don't stay apart it's just gonna take time. I'm really sorry this was so long dude. Also please tell me this made sense I haven't stopped think about this for days

I- It’s a little confusing but I think I get it.

Let me know if I get anything wrong!

I also included a lot of platonic AruAni because it’s cute.

Unbearable

(Annie Leonhart x Reader)

AU: Canon

Warnings: Implied season 3 spoilers

Category: Both angst and fluff (somehow)

Summary: After getting seriously injured in a mission, Annie’s s/o doesn’t recognize anyone, and is left very weak. Still, Annie and her S/O stick together through the recovery.

Words: 5.5K

It’d gone wrong. It’d all gone horribly wrong.

A freak accident—only preventable by, perhaps, closer gear inspection, but it was far too late for that. The damage had been done.

The most recent Survey Corps mission was just concluding, and you managed to call yourself one of the lucky ones who survived this far. Erwin led the charge back to the walls at full speed, having completed the objective by the skin of his teeth, but an abnormal titan was tagging dangerously close behind.

The towering beast approached closer and closer, until it kicked the horse you were on, sending you and it abruptly flying through the air and away from the Scouts.

It took you a minute to regain your senses and realize the gravity of your situation. Your horse lay dying 40 feet away from you. Clearly, it would be of no help. The abnormal lurched towards you unnaturally, and your eyes widened in fear.

A quick movement of your upper body caused a jolt of pain to shoot up your chest, and you were positive you must’ve broke a few ribs when you collided with the dirt.

Still, you had limited time before the monster reached you, and you weren’t about to die that easily. You bore the pain in your chest as you stood up straight, beads of cold sweat rolling down your face as you surveyed your situation to find the easiest way out.

You were too far from your horse, and the rest of the Scout formation, and you were in no shape to run. Your head turned towards the walls, and an idea popped into your mind—you were going to scale the wall.

You broke into a quick sprint before you shot your ODM gear into the wall, flying towards it at lightning speed. Your back took the brunt of the impact, and you groaned in pain.

Still, it seems as if the abnormal wasn’t going to let you get a moment’s rest, as it caught up to you and tried to jump and grab you, but narrowly missed your boot. The rush of adrenaline kicked your body into gear as you shot the grapple of your ODM gear onto the ledge of the wall and hauled yourself up, a garrison soldier helping you before turning to man one of the cannons.

You stood up triumphantly on the wall, the titan below you still trying in vain to reach you. You could hear the distant shouting of a commander—and what you could out assume was the foreboding shout, “FIRE!!!”

And that’s where everything went wrong.

The cannon, no more than three feet to your right, exploded into a supernova of sparks and flames, and the last thing you saw was fire as blinding pain shot through your body.

And then it all went black.

---

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but only family members are allowed to see her at the moment, you’re going to have to wait until she’s discharged.” The poor receptionist sighed, staring up at the distressed woman in front of her.

“I don’t care if ‘only family is allowed’! I’m her girlfriend, I should be allowed to see her!” Annie shouted, dressed in a simple white hoodie and grey pants. An outfit too casual for her to wear outside in most occasions, but when she heard the news of your admission to the hospital, she didn’t care to change.

“I’m sorry, there’s really nothing I can do-”

Annie leaned in closer, grabbing the receptionist by the collar of her shirt and pulling her in, a dangerous look gracing her face. Her voice came out in a threatening growl.

“Look, I’m a part of the military police, so if anyone asks, I’m just her older sister,” She glared daggers the woman, who shook like a leaf at the intimidation, “Got it?”

The woman nodded urgently, sweating bullets at this point, and Annie was thankful the intimidation had worked. “R-Room 302...”

She didn’t bother letting out a response as she ran to the wing of the hospital you were in. She didn’t know quite where the room was, but she would find out soon enough.

After a painful few minutes of searching, her eyes found the plate outside of a closed wooden door, the number reading “302″.

She walked up to it, and took a deep breath in before twisting the doorknob and pushing her way into the room, but her eyes widened in surprise and she gasped at the sight.

She knew it was bad—after all, nothing good ever came out of being so close to an explosion like that��but she couldn’t have been prepared for what she saw.

You were laid down on the bed, clearly unconscious, and sweltering burns covered at least 60% of your body, especially your right side. Many limbs were elevated and covered in taunting white casting, and you let out shallowed, labored breaths.

She mentally cursed the primitive healthcare the Eldians seemed to have, and the lack of a doctor in the room. She was no professional, but you definitely didn’t look to be in a state to be alone.

She though you were alone, that is, until her rationality returned to her and she noticed many figures in the room, though none bore the staff uniform.

They seemed to notice her before long, and a few stared at her quietly with pity in their eyes. She scanned the faces that surrounded her; Eren, Mikasa, Armin, Sasha, Connie, and Reiner were all present in the room.

“What in...” Her voice came out short in her throat; the words were just as powerless as she was, “What in God’s name happened to her...” It was hushed, almost husky, and it sounded like she was about to cry. Maybe she was, but she didn’t notice.

Mikasa seemed to be the first one to speak up through the heavy silence, stepping forward to grab Annie’s attention.

“It was on the recent scouting mission yesterday. She narrowly escape a titan by climbing over the wall, but one of the Garrison’s cannons blew up.” Mikasa looked to the side, clearly troubled by the situation as well. “Of the four people caught up in the explosion, she’s the only one still alive.”

Annie didn’t process quite what Mikasa had said at first, her mind was more focused on a pressing question that suddenly arose in her mind.

“The only one still alive?” She echoed. “Why did you phrase it like that?”

Mikasa sighed, covering her mouth with her scarf—something she often did when she was troubled. “Well, the doctor is doing all he can at the moment, but she’s been drifting in and out of consciousness nonstop for the past hour. Even when she is awake, we can’t seem to get a coherent response out of her.”

She froze.

Her eyes moved back to your battered form. She hadn’t taken in exactly how bad it was until now. Shattered bones, burnt skin, compromised organs—you were nearly unrecognizable. Not in the way that you were scarred beyond recognition, but in the way that she never imagined to see you in such a state. You looked like you had, quite literally, went through hell and back.

She let out a pained sigh, slinking down in a chair next to the bed and staring at the floor in defeat. She reached out and grabbed your limp hand at your side, running her thumb delicately over your burnt hand, as if the slightest mistouch would cause you to shatter like delicate porcelain.

“Please...” She knew you couldn’t hear her, but she didn’t care. She just wanted to pretend, for a brief moment, that you could, and that you’d bounce right back up. But, you stayed limp on the bed, unmoving. “Please wake up...”

The others were able to read the room and came to a silent consensus, filing out of the room wordlessly.

She continued to hold your hand, sitting silently on your bedside for hours.

You never regained consciousness once.

---

Dreams flashed through her mind, the inner turmoil she faced was too fierce to not have such vibrant, nonsensical dreams. Dreams of you, spending late nights with her, or eating with her in silence. Dreams of your broken and bloodied body being sent flying from a hellish firework of flames. Dreams of visiting a newly dug grave. Dreams of—

A loud banging startled her out of her sleep, and she opened her eyes with a start, the dreams stopping abruptly as her brain pieced together the fragments of reality. Right, they were just dreams.

The banging—what was it? She looked around for a source. Nothing had fallen, nothing had moved, the room was still.

*BANG BANG BANG*

She jumped at the loud so, before facepalming internally. Of course someone was knocking on the door, what was she thinking?

A quick glance at the clock showed the time; 3AM. What is going on?

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she threw on some sweatpants, just presentable enough to answer the door.

She twisted the knob open and was greeted by...

“Armin?” She slurred, confusion and tiredness laced her voice.

“Annie...!” He had a strange look on his face, like he was in a hurry. Yet, it didn’t look like desperation, nor was it excitement. “Y/n woke up!”

---

She had never run faster. She didn’t care about leaving Armin in the dust at her front doorstep—hell, it didn’t even process until minutes later that she didn’t even close the front door. She just ran, ran, ran all the way to the hospital.

She made it to your room again, panting and desperate to see you again.

She went inside, and an immense wave of relief and joy washed over her face. It was true, you were conscious. Sitting up in the bed, talking to someone at your bedside, likely a nurse or a doctor.

Her loud footsteps and heavy breathing brought the attention of both you and the staff member to her, and you locked eyes with her.

She froze. There they were. The beautiful E/C eyes she had fallen in love with, and the same ones that filled her vision when she first awoke next to you in the morning. Except, something was off. She couldn’t quite place it, but there was disarray in your eyes. A storm.

She paid no mind to the rotten gut feeling, though, and rushed by your side to grip your hand tightly. A spark of sympathy arose in her chest when you whimpered in pain at the motion, but that was the last thing on her mind. Tears of happiness sparked in her eyes and threatened to roll down her cheeks.

She bowed her head—a sign of vulnerability that only you were ever able to see.

“Y/n, I...!” She choked out through the tears in her eyes, the back of her throat tightening with emotion, “I’m so glad you’re okay...”

You didn’t embrace her, you didn’t squeeze her hand back. No, you were still. Still as you were when your battered body was first admitted to the hospital. She looked up at you, and the same misguided look was in your eyes.

“Sorry... do I know you?”

---

She slammed the door behind her, locking it as she slid down the wall of her house, sobs wracking her body.

Her mind had neglected to process it until just now, but the truth was inescapable; you didn’t know who she was anymore. You didn’t know anyone or anything anymore.

Amnesia.

She couldn’t bear to see you like that. Seeing you so physically broken was bad enough, but seeing you confused and lost, years of memories and connections and friends just out the window? If there was a god, he sure as hell must’ve hated you.

She had no idea what to do. You weren’t going to just magically remember her. No, the Y/N she knew and loved all those years was gone. You were just a blank slate. She no longer meant anything to you, she was a stranger in your eyes.

She laid down to go to sleep, but she couldn’t even bring herself to close her eyes. She didn’t sleep that night.

---

She chose not to get up the next morning. She stayed in bed, staring at the empty space next to her where you usually slept. She wanted you to be right there next to her. God, she wanted you back.

She would’ve stayed in her depressed, hibernated state for hours, or even days, had someone not stopped by to check on her.

She figured it would be Armin. The sympathetic blonde man would always stop by to check on her. Not just now, but throughout their days as cadets. He was always the second person—after you, of course—to check up on her and ask how she was doing.

But when she opened the door and saw Mikasa, she was a little confused.

“Mikasa, what are y-”

“Y/n wants to speak with you.” She stated flatly, and Annie physically recoiled at the mention of your name.

“She... what?” Annie muttered, confusion enveloping her tone.

She understood the statement, on a surface level at least. But she didn’t understand why. Why did you want to talk to her? She meant nothing to you. What was there to talk about anymore? You probably didn’t even know her name.

She complied silently, though, and before long, she had trudged herself all the way to the hospital.

302. Such a depressing number to her now. But it was unavoidable. You were on the other side of the door, awaiting her for some odd reason.

She pushed the door open, and her eyes met yours silently. You were sitting up with your hands folded neatly in your lap. Your eyes followed Annie as she wordlessly shut the door and took a seat next at your bedside.

“Annie.” The blonde women flinched at the sound of her name, eyes staying fixated on anything but your face. “Annie.”

She finally shifted her head, meeting your gaze. There was a pitiful look tracing her features. It would look like indifference at first glance, but being so close to her allowed you to notice small features on her face, like her sunken in eyes, and her lips, tucked into a frown slightly tighter than normal.

She looked like she was about to cry.

You moved your arm slowly, wincing internally as your wounds burned and ached, and took her hand in your own, rubbing your thumb over the back of her hand in a soothing manner. Annie didn’t want to enjoy it—she knew this wasn’t the you she had fallen in love with—but she couldn’t stop herself from remembering the simpler times, where small affectionate gestures like this were normal to her.

“Mikasa told me just about everything I’ve forgotten.” You finally spoke up. “About the Scouts, about the accident, about us.” A painful silence filled the room for a moment following the word ‘us’. Surely, it meant more to her than it did to you.

“Annie.” You squeezed her hand despite the pain shooting up your arm, and your hand trembled involuntarily. “I know I don’t really know you,” You chuckled lightly, “or anyone for that matter, but I want to spend more time with you. We can just restart, fall in love all over a-”

“No!” She snapped, the sudden outburst causing you to jump. Her distressed eyes softened when she saw you, almost as if she thought you were made of glass, and that you would break at any moment. “No... please...”

She stood up abruptly, dropping your hand to lay dormant by the side of the hospital bed. “You don’t even know me! What’s the point?!”

Despite her angry appearance, her bottom lip trembled, and her voice shook as she spoke. Pricks of tears appeared at the corner of her eyes, but she wiped them away desperately.

“You forgot me, so I’ll forget you in return.” She turned towards the door, grabbing the knob firmly. Despite her desperate need to get out of the room, her hand trembled and shook, refusing to turn the knob.

“I’ll...” A small sob wracked her body. “Find someone else...”

---

Contrary to what her heart truly desired, she refused to see you. She forced herself to cut off all emotional ties to you—after all, you didn’t even know her. It was painful to even speak to you. Somehow, the loss had felt like you truly had died in the explosion. Sure, you were physically here, but all that was you was gone.

It was Armin who finally brought her out of her depressed slump. He saw the state of her after weeks of staying huddled up in her room. It was so unlike Annie. Her room was a mess, and so was she. Her hair was unkempt and unbrushed, and she hadn’t even showered at all. Clothes lay scattered across the room, and the trash can in the corner of the room had started overflowing.

It wasn’t a pleasing sight, but he couldn’t blame her.

He had offered to meet him at a local café to talk—albeit, after she showered. She hesitantly agreed, and went into the bathroom to get ready. While she showered, Armin absentmindedly picked up some of the scattered clothing, putting it in it’s proper place, and even emptied the trash can for her.

He saw the slight shock in her eyes when she came out, surprised, but internally grateful for his help. She didn’t show it verbally, but she gave a thankful nod, and he understood.

---

Armin brought the cup to his lips, the steam flowing from the cup blocking his face as he sipped his tea silently, and Annie took another bite of her glazed donut.

“So, Annie.” He turned to face her, setting his cup down. “I wanted to talk to you about something.”

She sighed internally. Nothing yet had been spoken, but she knew it was about you. Her silence beckoned him to continue.

“I... No, we all noticed how you’ve been recently, and we understand it. Who knows what you’re feeling right now...” His sympathy went mostly unappreciated. She really didn’t want to be reminded of the depressive state she had fallen into.

“It’s completely up to you, but... we think it would be better for you if you decided to talk to her again.” Armin didn’t need to say who this ‘her’ was. Annie already knew.

She raised an eyebrow and considered his statement for a fleeting moment, but regained her stance. She wasn’t going to talk to you. No convincing from her friends would change that.

“See, the thing is, Y/N has been discharged.” He spoke, bringing the cup back to his face to preemptively fill the silence he anticipated.

No amount of emotional cover-up could hide the shocked look on her face. Part of her was ecstatic, deep down. She was glad you were well enough to leave. But, the other part reminded her that associating with you would only bring her more hurt.

“But, there isn’t really going to be any recovering from what she experienced, unfortunately.” He brought the cup back down onto the table, now empty of all it’s liquid. “So, the doctor advised that she be under careful supervision from someone at all times.”

Annie wasn’t stupid. She knew where this was going.

“So,” he huffed a breath of heavy air, “We decided that if anyone was going to take her in, it should be you, Annie. We want to take her back to live with you.” She could feel her jaw slack at the proposal, and a full-fledged war had just started in her mind. She registered he was still speaking, but was too conflicted to listen.

Once again, part of her mind was desperately trying to reach you. To take you in and care for you, and to ensure you have a safe and comfortable recovery with her. She could restart with you, and make new memories with you, and everyone else.

But she understand it would be painful. Unbearable, even. She might as well be taking care of a stranger. You didn’t act like Y/n, you didn’t look like Y/n, hell, you hardly even knew who Y/n was at this point. It would just hurt her even more, all she needed to do was get away from you—!

“Annie...!” Armin spoke firmly, slightly leaned over the table as if he had been prying for her attention for a while now. He reached across the table to grab her hand, causing her to gasp. His hand was warm. It reminded her of you.

“I know what you’re thinking.” His voice was soothing and inviting, and she was reminded once again of what great friends she had made in the 104th.

“You think it’s gonna hurt, and it will, I’m sure. I understand too. She doesn’t quite act like she did before, we all noticed. It’s...” He paused, leaning back in his chair and looking to the side. It had hurt him, too. “Strange. To see a friend like this.”

He leaned forward, pulling his hand away to place it back on the table. “But you have to do something! Separating yourself from someone you care about so deeply isn’t good for you.” He brought his head up slightly, staring daggers into her eyes. “And don’t lie to me. I know you still care about her. You wouldn’t be so conflicted if you didn’t.”

Tears pricked at her eyes once again. She didn’t want to get emotional, and certainly not here of all places. But she knew he was telling the truth. She still cared, and it wasn’t good for her to ignore you.

“Besides,” He stood up, turning to leave. “She misses you too, Annie.”

---

She made up her mind that day. She was gonna bring you back home.

It wasn’t easy. Both the emotional aspect, but also cleaning up her filthy room in such a short span of time. Still, she prepped it perfectly for your arrival. She cleaned up the room, organized her things, made the bed, and even bought a second pillow—surely, you two couldn’t share just the one.

Picking you up from the hospital was bittersweet. You managed to stay standing, although only with the help of a wooden cane. Your hand gripped the handle tightly, and you leaned a large portion of your body weight on it, just to not fall over.

You had changed out of the raggedy hospital clothes, finally getting to wear something comfortable after so long, but even with the cloth, the purplish-redish burn scars coated much of your body. It reached from the very fingertips of your right hand, all the way up your neck and part of your face.

Still, you smiled weakly and brought your hand up to wave at her.

She approached you hesitantly, but as soon as you tried to stumble over to her, she rushed up to support you with an arm around your shoulder.

“Easy, now.” She muttered. “You should be careful.”

“Right,” You chuckled nervously. “Sorry.” You breathed out a sigh of relief, having seen the outside for the first time in weeks. It didn’t stop the stone walls from towering forebodingly over you, though, but you felt at least some freedom.

“Where are we headed?” You sighed, and started walking. Annie guided you for the most part, but you managed to get your injured legs to cooperate, somewhat. You hand trembled as it gripped the cane, and even step on uneven ground caused you to stumble, but Annie’s grip kept you upright.

“We’re going...” She hesitated. “Home.”

---

Early morning birds chirped their greetings through the open windows, and the sun shone rays of dawn down from the sky. A typical wake-up call to her.

That, and your snoring.

She opened her eyes and stretched, easing up the tension in her muscles, which had laid painfully dormant for the past eight hours. Yawning and rubbing the sleep from her eyes, her attention shifted to the mass attached to her side.

Your arms were wrapped tightly around her torso, and your head was buried in her chest. Despite having lived with you for a few weeks now, she hadn’t gotten used to the change. In the past, neither of you really cuddled in your sleep. You gave sweet goodnights and passed out on opposite sides of the bed just like that.

It was a welcome change, though, and seeing you tucked so comfortably into her side brought a smile and blush to her face. She ran a hand through your messy h/c hair, smiling softly as you stirred in response to the affection.

��...Mm?” You let out a groggy noise, having been woken up a little earlier than you were used to. Annie was always the morning person in the relationship.

“Good morning.” She cooed, removing her hand to sit up and get out of bed. Once she tried to stand, though, she felt a frail hand tug at her wrist. You grip was weak as a result of your injuries, and she could very easily wiggle out if she wanted to, but she faltered.

“C’mon...” You muttered, face down in the blankets, still halfway asleep. “Can’t you stay a little longer?”

Annie huffed in defeat, climbing back into the bed and shuffling back under the cotton sheets. You were back at her side in an instant, and she smiled once again. Even after everything, you were still just as cute as always when you were sleepy.

“We can’t stay like this for very long, you know.” She sighed, placing a warm, calloused hand on your back.

You groaned in annoyance at that. “Why’s that?”

“Armin and the others invited us out to get lunch. It’s been a while since the Survey Corps has had a day off.” She looked to the side before muttering quietly. “I also have to go to work with the military police... I’ve used up all my paid leave.”

“Oh... yeah, we should probably get ready.” Contrary to your tone, you were actually quite happy. Annie had been quite a bit overprotective of you since your injury, so you hadn’t gotten the chance to get out much. You couldn’t blame her much, though. You could hardly walk, eat, or do just about anything without assistance. You were glad she took good care of you, but it got a little overbearing sometimes.

“Let’s get up, then.” She said, slinking out of bed. You watched wordlessly as she slipped out of her night clothes into something more presentable, sliding her shirt over her head effortlessly. You couldn’t help but blush as your eyes trailed down her toned stomach.

She looked back at you with an unamused expression as she slid on a plain white shirt. “You shouldn’t stare, Y/n.”

“R-Right.” You looked away flustered. You had only technically known her a few weeks now, but man were you lucky.

Annie’s warm hand enveloping your own brought you back into reality, and you accepted her help wordlessly as you got out of bed.

She helped you out of your clothes and handed you something nice to put on for the day. It was a comfortable ritual the two of you got into, helping you get dressed in the morning.

She sat you down in one of the chair’s in her room, ordering you to stay put while she went to the military police mess hall to pick up breakfast for the two of you.

She came back into the room only a few minutes later, carrying two trays of food, and sat them down in front of both of you. It was a boring meal, typical of any military ration, but you didn’t complain.

“So, Annie,” She looked up from her food, still digging her fork into the baked potato on her plate. “Tell me a story.”

She smiled longingly, staying silent for a moment as she recollected her memories for a good story to tell. Ever since you lost your memory and started staying with Annie, you often spent mealtimes getting her to tell stories about you, her, and your other friends. About what happened in the 104th, and the Survey Corps, and sometimes, you’d ask Annie about her childhood and time before the military. She seemed very hesitant about the last one, but she still told you bits and pieces. You could easily infer that she didn’t have a very pleasant childhood, so you didn’t push the subject.

“Well,” Annie finally spoke, swallowing a gulp of water from her glass, having seemingly found a story she felt like telling. “One time, in the 104th, Sasha had managed to convince you to steal food from the pantry with her.”

You listened intently as she continued recounting the events, a sad smile on her face. “So you and her snuck in late at night, but Shadis heard both of you because of how loud Sasha was. So then, you two had no where to go but a tiny cramped pantry in the kitchen, and then—”

*CRASH*

You sat there like a deer in headlights as the glass shattered into hundreds of transparent shards on the floor, startling Annie out of her nostalgic trance.

“Y/n!” She exclaimed, standing up from her seat swiftly. She spotted the broken glass, mixed with the water it had held, and looked back at you. Once she pieced it together, she facepalmed.

“Y/n...” She sighed. “How many times do I have to tell you to not to try and pick up things right now...”

“Sorry,” You muttered. “I just wanted to see...”

Despite the severity of your injuries, you were quite stubborn. No matter how much Annie insisted that you not hold things in your state, you did so anyway. It seldom worked, since, like now, you always dropped it within seconds.

“It’s... It’s fine,” She sighed, leaning down to carefully pick up the larger fragments of glass. Once she got the larger pieces, she dumped them in the trash and knelt down in front of your chair on one knee, grabbing your hand in her own. “But you need to remember, your injuries haven’t healed yet. Nowhere close. I know you hate it, but you need to let your body rest.”

You nodded sorrowfully. Yet, despite how much you promised, you knew you’d never really stop trying to push your body. Even if your skin was scarred, and hands were shaky, and the muscles of your legs atrophied and partially-paralyzed, you would never stop trying to live a normal life.

Annie had finished sweeping up the smaller shards of glass in the dustpan, and dumped it into the trash can, before returning to the table.

Silently, she grabbed her glass, still half filled with water, and brought it up to your lips. When you had first started living with Annie, you were a little embarrassed about having to be fed like this, but you had long since gotten used to it.

Once the glass was empty, she sat it down on the tabletop once again, and checked the time.

“Shit, we should get going, it’s nearly time.” She sighs, grabbing your cane from it’s spot leaning against the wall and handing it to you. You thank her and, with her help, stand up from your spot. Her arm slinks around your waist, allowing you to lean half of your body weight on the cane and the other half on Annie.

As you made your way out of the building and down the street towards the restaurant, you finally broke the silence.

“Annie?” You asked, quietly. There was an uncharacteristic sadness to your voice.

“Yes, darling?” She inquired, keeping her eyes glued on the trail in front of you.

“How come you still take care of me? Even after the accident, you still stick with me. Why is that?”

Annie chuckles dryly. She doesn’t want to tell you that it’s still a sore subject for her, so she answers honestly.

“It wasn’t so black and white, really. It was pretty upsetting to see someone I loved so much not even recognize me at all.” Her eyes bore into the pavement below her feet. “No offense, of course.”

“None taken.”

“But a friend of mine talked to me about it. And I realized there would be no point in running from it. I decided that if you didn’t know me, I would make you fall in love with me all over again. Plus,” She looked to the side, a faint red blush on her cheeks. “I didn’t want you to feel lonely...”

You giggled at her embarrassment, opening your mouth to say something, but she cut you off quickly.

“We’re here.” She stopped in front of the doors, and you easily spotted Mikasa, Armin, and Jean already sitting inside at one of the tables, exchanging lighthearted banter.

“Hey Annie.”

“Hm?” She turned the knob of the door, stepping foot into the bustling room.

“Thanks for taking care of me.” You sighed, a small smile gracing your lips.

“Of course.” She smiled in return. “I’ll always be here for you.”

“Oi!” Jean shouted from across the room, and Armin immediately tried to shush his yelling, but he wasn’t phased. “Annie, Y/n, hurry up!”

You and Annie giggle at his boisterous attitude, walking over to find your seats.

“It’s been a while since we’ve seen you, Y/N.” Mikasa smiled warmly, tucking her scarf around her neck.

You smile at the three of them, looking so happy and peaceful. You’ve missed it.

“Yeah,” You laugh. “So, what did I miss?”

This feels badly written but I can’t place it, I dunno.

Probably ‘cause I wrote the first half like a month ago and only finished it today lol.

And no I totally didn’t reference someone else’s fic in this haha nope

#attack on titan #attack on titan x reader #shingeki no kyojin #shingeki no kyojin x reader #aot #snk #aot x reader #snk x reader #annie leonhart #annie leonhart x reader #annie x reader #fluff #angst

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verai-marcel · 4 years ago

Text

We’ve Only Just Begun (RDO OC x OC Fic)

Summary: Everett, a few weeks out of Sisika, has paid his debt to Mrs LeClerk. Though he’s now free, he can’t return to his old life as a ranger, so he opts for the next closest career: bounty hunting. When he’s handed a lead to some slavers related to the ones that had kidnapped his sister before, he jumps at the chance to wipe them out once and for all. But there’s a catch: he has to take a partner with him.

Author’s Notes: I’m being self-indulgent. This is how Verai and Everett first met.

Tags: oc x oc, rdo oc, origin story, historical racism, slow burn, strangers to friends, gun violence, minor wounds

Word Count: 8764 (I know it’s long, but mostly dialogue.)

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

Everett stood in the middle of the police station in St. Denis, listening to the sheriff ramble on about the man on the bounty poster he was looking at. The sheriff had heard that the bounty had been seen skulking around the ruins of the old train station a couple hours outside of the city. It wasn’t going to be a hard bounty; the man was just a sneaky bastard that had given his deputies the slip one too many times.

“Alright, I got it. I’ll bring’im back in one piece.”

“Preferably alive, Mr. Osborn.”

“Of course, who do you take me for?”

After taking the poster with the sheriff’s condescending ‘good luck’, Everett left the city on his black chestnut thoroughbred, the only thing tying him to his past. He had left Sisika swearing that he would drop his old life and everything around it, but he wouldn’t give up Ares for the world. Once Mrs LeClerk had told him he had some free time between jobs, he had snuck back to his old stable and taken him away. He was pretty sure they just let him take Ares back with no trouble, since he swore he saw a guard nod his way and turn around when he thought he had been caught.

The sun had moved overhead by the time he reached the ruined station. He let his horse rest a few hundred feet away and snuck over to the building, his navy revolver out and at the ready. Hearing some rustling amongst the rubble, he slowly turned a corner.

A man, sneaking past a broken wall, looked over his shoulder at the exact moment that Everett appeared.

"Shit!" the man exclaimed, bolting over the crumbling piles of bricks.

Everett immediately gave chase. Leaping over the wall, he landed with a loud squish into the bayou mud.

"Goddammit," he muttered as he pulled his boots out of the mud and made his way to solid ground. Putting on some extra speed, he whistled for his horse to follow.

"Leave me alone!" the man yelled over his shoulder.

Everett ignored him and saved his breath for running.

Then the man pulled out a gun and shot blindly over his shoulder.

Ducking and weaving, Everett dodged most of the bullets. The last one grazed his upper arm, tearing his shirt and burning his skin. His temper running a little short already because of the mud, he whistled again for his horse and kept chasing after the man, now more pissed off. He hated being shot at, and given that the man was running and shooting blindly over his shoulder, he really shouldn’t have been able to hit him.

The sound of a horse made him smile. He was going to run the bastard down before tying him up. Maybe drag him through the mud a little.

Then his smile faltered. That didn’t sound like Ares—

A blur of brown and white rushed passed him as a criollo leapt into his path, cutting him off.

As if in slow motion, he met the eyes of the rider: a woman, hair as dark as the midnight sky, eyes as sharp as a hunter’s knife, lips painted red like the lanterns near the gunshop of St. Denis.

He kept running, but watched as she expertly threw some bolas at the bounty. Hitting him in the legs, the man went down face first into the ground and slid a few feet. She skidded her horse to a stop and leapt off, landing in front of the man.

“Stupid bitch!”

The woman casually knocked the man out with a swift drop kick to the head before she pulled his arms out of the mud and tied his wrists together.

Everett caught up to her and was quickly met by a Schofield revolver pointed at his chest.

He put his hands up. “Whoa, hold on, I was hunting him first.”

The woman raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh? Since when?”

“Since this morning.”

The woman pulled a bounty poster out of her satchel with her free hand. “I’ve been after him since last night.”

Everett stared at the poster for a moment before clicking his tongue. “Damn sheriff,” he muttered.

She stowed the poster away, but didn’t stop aiming her gun at him. “You can go, I got it from here.”

For just a moment, he wondered if he could fast draw on her, shoot the gun out of hand, knock her out, and take the bounty, but quickly thought better of it.

“I’ll shoot you before you take a step,” she said, reading his thoughts.

He sighed. “I wouldn’t actually try anything,” he relented. “I know when I’m beat.”

“But you did think about it.” Nodding her head towards the man, she continued. “Help me put him on my horse, and we can split the bounty 20-80.”

“40-60.”

The woman hummed. "30-70,” she finally said, looking at him

Everett narrowed his eyes, glaring.

The woman shrugged. "You don't have to help me. I can do this myself."

And take the bounty for yourself, he thought. "Fine, fine. 30-70."

She stepped back, her gun still trained on him. Everett got the hint and slowly walked over to the unconscious man, picked him up, and dumped him on the back of her horse. Standing back, he turned to her, noticing her eyes were focused on something behind him, but he didn't dare take his eyes off someone with a gun aimed at him.

A soft nickering and the wet thud of hooves got closer until he could feel his horse nudging him in the back of his head.

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Not now, Ares," Everett muttered.

His horse kept nudging him.

"Ares, stop."

He felt his horse's lips playing with his hair. Everett sighed. So much for trying to be a tough guy.

The woman snickered. "I guess you aren’t so bad, if your horse is this silly." She holstered her gun and walked towards him.

"Wait, Ares doesn't like strangers—" he started to say, just as she held her hand out. To his immense surprise, Ares dipped his head and pushed his muzzle into her hand.

"Hey there, big boy. Are you bothering your owner for a treat?" she said gently, her voice changing into something more sing-song while she spoke to the horse.

The woman was now close enough for her scent to wash over him. Most women he knew smelled like perfume, flowers, something exceedingly feminine. Her scent was different. She smelled of rain and thunderstorms, of leaves and meadows. And when she turned to look at him, he found himself drowning in her dark eyes. He noticed an emotion flicker in her eyes before she glanced away, looking back at his horse. What was that?

Everett swallowed. He suddenly had a strong urge to get to know her better. "Name's Everett. Everett Osborn."

Without looking away from Ares, who she was now petting with soft strokes, she replied, "My friends call me Verai." She turned to him with a wry grin on her face. "So you'll have to call me Ms. Marcel."

Everett grinned back. "Alright Ms. Marcel." He gave Ares a pat on the neck before mounting up. "Lead the way."

She nodded before heading back to her horse and trotting towards the city.

Everett took his cutter hat off the saddle and put it back on his head as he followed her. They rode in silence for a while, nothing but the sounds of birds and the occasional passersby accompanied them. Soon enough, he got curious about her.

"So what's his name?" Everett asked, gesturing at her horse.

"Sleipnir."

"Where'd you learn that name?"

"A friend."

When she didn't give any further details, he tried another question. "So, you do a lot of bounty hunting?"

"Yup."

Another few moments passed. Everett sighed. She wasn't a talkative one. "How long have you been a bounty hunter?"

Verai looked up at the sky for a few moments. "Nine years. Probably."

"Probably? How old were you when you started?"

"Nineteen."

Everett did the math in his head. She didn't look even close to his age, so he was surprised to find that she was only two years younger than him. He thought she was in her early twenties.

"And you?" she asked.

"Just started a few weeks ago," he said, a bit abashedly. He looked over at her to find her watching him with a patient expression, like a parent waiting for a child to confess.

But he was no child. He didn't particularly want to share the whole tale of why he suddenly decided to become a bounty hunter.

She eventually shrugged and looked away. Everett let out a small sigh. He wasn't going to get her to open up to him if he didn't do it first.

He wondered why he even cared.

The rest of the ride was made in silence until they reached the police station, nodding at the officers outside as they brought their horses into the courtyard. Dismounting easily, Verai moved to take the man off the back of her horse.

Everett quickly went to help her. "Let me…"

He trailed off as he watched her easily lift the man up into a fireman's carry and walk into the police office without breaking her stride. Following her inside, he could see the sheriff looking as if this was normal.

"Took a little longer than I thought," Verai said, dumping the body in a cell. "He's alive."

"I know, you're good about that." The sheriff opened a drawer and pulled out a wad of bills. "This is for you."

Verai took the money and counted it, then counted out a third of the bills and handed them to Everett.

The sheriff finally noticed Everett. "Oh, I see you ran into our lady hunter."

"Why didn't you tell me there was already someone after him?" Everett asked, trying not to growl.

The sheriff shrugged. "She didn't come back in the morning. Thought she might've died."

Verai let out a short laugh. "Please, you sent this greenhorn to me on purpose."

The sheriff grinned, like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "You never stick around, Ms Marcel. It was the only way I could get you to meet Mr Osborn."

"And why would you do that to me?" Verai asked with only a small quirk to her lips indicating her faint amusement.

Everett felt a little affronted at being talked about as if he wasn't here. He opened his mouth to speak just as the sheriff suddenly stood up.

"There's a group of men that need to be arrested."

Verai raised an eyebrow. "I'll just get–"

"No. It has to be with Mr. Osborn." The sheriff turned to Everett. "It concerns those slavers."

Everett's eyes narrowed. "How do you know–"

"Your pa and I go way back. He told me to keep an eye out for you if I ever saw you. So here I am, throwin' you a bone."

Everett glanced at Verai, who was standing quietly, listening to every word. "Why does she have to come?"

"Because she's familiar with this area, much more than you."

Everett couldn't argue with that.

Verai finally spoke. "Why do I have to bring him?" She nodded her head at Everett. "This tenderfoot will only get killed if this group is as dangerous as I think they are."

"I–"

The sheriff interrupted Everett. "He's experienced."

Verai and the sheriff quietly stared at each other. Everett sensed a silent battle of wills and wisely stayed out of it.

"Fine," Verai said after a while. Then she turned to Everett. "But this is my job. I'm taking point."

Everett furrowed his brow. "Listen, I know this group, I know how they operate."

Verai ignored him as she turned back to the sheriff and held out her hand expectantly. He wordlessly handed her an envelope.

Taking the letter without reading it, she used it to salute the sheriff and left the building, Everett nodding at the sheriff as he followed her out.

***

"So where are we going?" Everett asked, falling into step beside Verai as they led their horses out of the courtyard and onto the road.

"The hotel."

"I know we just met sweetheart, but I like your style," Everett teased, reaching out to touch her elbow.

Gracefully dodging his hand, Verai rolled her eyes. "I am getting some sleep because I've been up all night tracking that halfwit. You are going to get supplies for our trip."

"Now hold on, I'm not your servant–"

"I thought you would want to be efficient. Otherwise you can wait until I've had some rest, then we can buy supplies together." She gave him a droll look. "Up to you."

He couldn't say anything at all. She was right. "I'll get supplies," he finally mumbled.

***

Verai split off from Everett at the intersection; she was going to get a bath and sleep, while he procured supplies for the trip. She didn't need to read the letter from the sheriff to know where they were headed. Having heard whispers about men hiding in Roanoke Ridge, taking people into caves who were never seen again, she had a feeling they would be traveling north and would be up there for a while.

Paying for her bath and a few hours sleep, she made her way to the room in the back and waited for the bath lady to fill up the tub.

"Rough day, sugar?"

"Yeah. And the sheriff just partnered me with some novice on the next job."

The lady gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, good luck out there."

Verai nodded to her as she left. "Thanks."

Removing her clothes and sinking into the warm tub, Verai let out a deep sigh. She didn't want to work with the man. Nothing against him personally, but when she had finally gotten a good look at him while she was petting his horse, she saw a resemblance to her former partner, and her heart had squeezed tight.

She could stare down ten bandits without so much as batting an eye, but when face to face with a man who reminded her of far too much, she had shut down.

“Don’t be weak,” she muttered to herself as she scrubbed herself clean, finally hauling her ass out of the tub, getting dressed, and heading to her room for a few hours of shut eye.

***

A light rapping on her door pulled Verai from her dream. Blinking away the sleep, she was surprised to find tears streaking down her cheek. She couldn’t recall her dream, just felt a deep sadness. Deciding to bury her feelings, as she always did, she sat up to face the day, or what was left of it. She looked outside to see the sun low in the sky; she had slept longer than she had planned.

“Ms. Marcel?” A deep voice came from outside her door.

“I’m gettin’ up, hold your horses.” Grumbling, she rolled out of bed, pulled on the rest of her clothes and her gun belt, grabbed her satchel, and opened the door.

Everett was leaning against the door frame, a smile on his face. “I was about to come in and wake you up, sleeping beauty.”

“And I would’ve punched you,” she said without missing a beat. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.” She walked past him to the front of the hotel. Passing the key back to the clerk, she exited the building and went straight to her horse.

“You’re not even going to ask about the supplies?” Everett asked, falling into step next to her.

“I trust you to accomplish at least that. Or are you saying that I shouldn’t?”

Everett shook his head. “You’re a tough one, ain’tcha?”

Verai checked the saddle one last time before mounting up. Turning to him as he did the same, she responded, “I’m not particularly tough. Just straight shootin’.”

She could hear Everett’s amused chuckle as they turned their horses towards the main road and started north.

***

“We goin’ to stop for the night?”

“The night is young. Best to get as far north as possible while we can.”

“We could’ve started earlier.”

Verai glared at Everett, who was focused on the road ahead, though his eyes did glance over at her before looking forward again. “I overslept. You could’ve left without me.”

“And leave a lady behind? Never,” he said, a little more seriously than she had expected.

Unable to think of a response, Verai just left it alone and changed the subject. “Let’s go a little faster then, if you can keep up. We’ll hit the border of Lemoyne and camp near there.”

Without waiting for a response, she urged her horse into a gallop and took off. Hearing the pounding hoofbeats of his horse behind her, she smiled.

***

They reached the border and headed off the main road towards a small clearing. By lantern light, they set up their bedrolls.

“Should we start a fire?”

“No.”

Everett looked at her, wondering at her terse response.

“Smoke will attract bandits,” she finally said.

“Oh.”

Verai considered Everett for a moment. “You haven’t been bounty hunting for very long. Have you spent a lot of time on the road?”

He nodded. “Yeah, I did. I guess I never really thought about bandits attacking me. Usually traveled with a posse.”

“I see. When you’re alone, you have to prevent anyone from finding you.”

“Is that why we’re in this circle of trees?”

She nodded.

Everett considered her for a moment. A woman, alone, bounty hunting. He watched as she switched off her lantern and plopped down on her bedroll. Following suit, he lay on his back, staring up at the stars through the trees.

“Ms. Marcel?”

“Yeah?”

“Sweet dreams.”

When she didn’t respond, he turned to look at her, only to find her staring at him blankly.

“What?”

“Been a long time since someone’s said that to me,” she said wistfully. “Good night.”

As she turned away from him and fell asleep, Everett watched her steady breathing and lost track of the time as he wondered how long she had been alone.

***

They got up in the morning and headed north once more. And once more, Everett tried to get to know his reticent companion.

“Why’d the sheriff stop you when you said you were goin’ to get some help?”

Verai shrugged at Everett’s question.

“C’mon, you can tell me, I can keep a secret.”

“More like you’re nosy.”

Everett shook his head. “Forgive me for giving a damn.”

Rolling her eyes, Verai decided to humor him. “I occasionally ride with another posse, but they’re… a bit wild.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. They’re good people, but wherever we go, there tends to be a lot of dead people in our wake.”

“Did those people deserve it?”

“Let’s just say that if I utter their name, other gangs steer clear.”

Everett wanted to ask more, but she was clearly protecting them. “They sound fun. Maybe you can introduce me to them some time.”

Verai laughed out loud. “Oh, no, they’d eat you for breakfast.”

“I am mighty tasty, you know,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

She delicately snorted. “Right.”

***

“You sure you want to stop here?” Everett asked as they entered Van Horn, the derelict buildings creaking with the wind.

“Just for a quick meal before we head on. We should hit Annesburg sometime after nightfall. Then it’s all wilderness from there.”

Everett eyed the people in town warily. If he were still a ranger, he would’ve kept going. A lawman seemed like the last person that anyone in this town wanted to see. Following Verai into the saloon, he took in the patrons as he always did, quickly judging who would be a threat and who was safe.

Three men at the back of the room had turned their heads when Verai had walked in and hadn’t looked away. His hackles raised, Everett stepped closer to her.

“Been a while, Verai,” the owner said with a smile.

“Sure has, Ms Dawson.”

“I told you, call me Josie.”

“Alright, fine, Josie. Two stews, please.”

“That’ll be six dollars.”

Everett leaned past Verai and slapped the money on the bar.

Verai glared at him.

“Just treatin’ a lady right,” Everett said with a wink.

The owner looked at Verai. “You finally got yerself a nice one,” she said, chuckling.

“No, he’s not–”

“I’m just teasin’ ya,” she laughed. “I’ll get you your stew. Go sit down.”

“Thank you,” Verai said as she turned to find a table. Everett followed her, and she couldn’t help but feel like he was following her a little too closely, like an overprotective dog.

Sitting down, she noticed that he kept glancing over her shoulder. “Ignore them,” she muttered. “There are always people like that.”

“I don’t like how they’re lookin’ at you.”

“Well, get used to it. I did.”

Everett looked at her, and the pity in his eyes both infuriated her and saddened her.

“Listen,” she said quietly. “I don’t want your pity, or your misguided sense of justice. There’s no point in raising a ruckus if it’ll just cause more misunderstandings.”

“But–”

“No buts. Just. Let. It. Go.”

Everett let out a breath and huffed. “Fine. But if they try anything, I’ll tear them apart.”

Verai sat back. “And why do you care?”

“Because you’re my partner. That’s all the reason I need.”

“Oh,” she said, taken aback. Surprised by his response, she could only look down at the table until the food arrived.

***

They finished their food quietly, with the occasional comment on the quality, and left the saloon satisfied.

"We're being followed," Everett whispered.

"I know," Verai whispered back. "Don't do–"

"What do you want," he growled as he turned around, addressing the three men from the back table.

Verai closed her eyes and sighed silently before she, too, turned around. Facing the three men, she assessed each one. The one on the left was shorter than the other two and had a bowler hat on. The one on the right was a little lanky, with an ill-fitting jacket. And the one in the center had unruly mutton chops and a wicked look in his eyes.

"This isn't ideal," she grumbled.

"Don't see many of your kind around here," the man in the center said as he looked her up and down, as if he was appraising a piece of meat.

Verai narrowed her eyes as a cold calm started to settle into her stomach.

The man chuckled. "Maybe we can take you for a ride."

Without warning, the other two men leapt onto Everett, taking him down. As they wrestled on the ground, the man with the mutton chops stalked towards Verai. He leered at her, licking his lips. "Never had one of you before. Bet you're a crier."

Then he lunged.

Verai swiftly dodged, spinning out of the way and using the momentum to roundhouse kick the man in the back of the head, knocking him to the ground.

"And you'll never find out," she muttered as she quickly drop kicked him in the head, knocking him out.

Turning to Everett, she watched him throw one man off his shoulder just as the other man threw a punch into his stomach. Coughing harshly, Everett grabbed the man's arm and tugged hard, lifting up a knee and delivering a hit to his stomach in return. Seeing the other man get up, Verai ran and tackled him just as he was coming back for another hit.

Knocking out his current attacker with an elbow to the back of his neck, Everett turned around to see Verai pummeling the other man until he was out cold. When she stood up, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat from her brow, she looked over at him and half-smiled, a quirk of her lips that made his heart stutter.

What a woman.

***

They left Van Horn quickly after that, not wanting to stir up more trouble. Riding hard until sunset, they finally reached Annesburg, a small mining town filled with run down buildings and run down people. Everett followed Verai as she hitched her horse next to a nondescript building, the green paint faded and peeling from the wall boards. To his bemusement, she walked towards the gunsmith next door.

"I already bought ammo," he said.

"We're not here for that," she said as she entered, the door creaking loudly on its hinges.

The man behind the counter nodded in greeting, glancing at Everett for a moment.

"Two baths and two rooms, please."

"Only have one room available."

Verai balked. Turning to Everett, she opened her mouth to suggest camping, but he stepped forward.

"We'll take the room," he said, handing over a dollar and two quarters.

Verai stared at him in shock.

"You'll catch flies like that," he teased as he accepted the key and two bath tickets from the gunsmith.

Quickly shutting her mouth, Verai shook her head as she snatched one of the tickets out of Everett's hand and left the shop, walking back to the first building.

“Thank you, mister,” he said over his shoulder to the gunsmith as he followed after her.

The inside of the puke green building wasn't nearly as shabby as the outside, Everett observed as he looked around in the little hallway between the bathroom and the two sleeping rooms on the other side. It was rather sparse, but it was tidy.

Verai handed her ticket to the bath lady leaning against the wall. As she went to fill the tub, Everett opened the door to their shared room and tossed his satchel in the corner. Verai stayed at the door, leaning against the jamb and shaking her head. The bed wasn't very large and the rug on the ground looked muddy. She decided on bringing her bedroll in here to sleep on the floor.

"Not even going to ask if I wanted to bathe first?" Everett asked with an eyebrow raised as he sat on the bed, groaning softly as the pain in his ribs made itself known.

Verai turned to him with a droll stare. "I already know you'd turn it down. I'm not going to waste my breath."

"How do you know that?"

She grinned knowingly at him. "Because you're not an asshole."

"Why, thank you." Everett then gave her his most charming smile. "C'mere," he coaxed, patting the spot next to him. "Sit with me."

Laughing, she shook her head. "Nope."

"Why not–"

"Bath's ready!" the lady called out from the hallway.

Verai waved goodbye as she walked away, shutting the door behind her.

"Dammit," Everett uttered under his breath.

***

“Your turn.”

Everett was sitting in the creaky chair at the small table in the room, cleaning his guns. Getting up, he let out a pained breath. The punch to his ribs was hurting more than he thought it would.

“You alright?”

“I’m fine,” he lied as he got up and walked past Verai. The fresh scent that was distinctively hers hit him as he walked past, and it took everything he had to keep walking, to not turn around, pull her into his arms, and bury his face into her neck. There was something about her that made him both calm and restless, as if something was just not quite right, but it lay just underneath her composed yet snarky exterior.

Heading into the bath, the lady smiled at him. “Need some extra help? Fifty cents.”

Everett looked at her, with her corset pushing up her ample bosom, her blond hair in ringlets around her shoulders, her red lips, her powdered cheeks, and her eyes lined with makeup. She smelled like roses and had a very cute smile.

And for the first time, Everett declined. “Sorry. Not this time, sweetheart.”

She pouted. “Too bad. Not often I get to see a fine man like yourself around here.”

Shutting the door behind her, he was left alone, wondering what the hell he was doing. He had always welcomed the warm touch of a woman, whether in bed or in a bath, though he was a little picky about his choices. But he had never gone long without satisfying his baser desires.

Was it because of her?

Taking off his clothes, he looked in the mirror and examined the bruise that was growing on his abdomen. The coloration on his skin made him raise an eyebrow. How hard had the guy hit him? Figuring that there wasn’t much he could do about it other than wait for it to heal, he sank into the tub and bathed himself, lost in thought.

***

“No,” he said matter-of-factly.

“What?”

Everett had come back into the room to find Verai sitting on her bedroll that she had laid out on the floor next to the bed, mixing some herbs with a mortar and pestle. The fact that she had assumed she would be taking the floor hurt his honor.

“You’re takin’ the bed,” he said in a tone that brooked no argument.

“You’re more injured than I am.”

Everett blinked. She noticed?

She sighed. “Lie down on the bed and take your shirt off.”

He smiled, his eyes softening. Taking a few steps closer until he was standing over her, he went down on one knee so he could look her in the eyes. “Sweetheart, been waiting all this time for you to say that to me.”

Verai reached over and pressed two fingers into his abdomen, exactly where he had been punched. He gasped and winced.

“Just do as I say,” she groused.

“Yes ma’am,” he said wryly as he took off his shirt and lay back on the bed.

He watched her stuff the herbal paste into a small muslin pouch and tie it off. Then she sat at the side of the bed and assessed his condition, observing him with a clinical blankness.

“What?” he said, his voice softer than he had intended.

She shrugged. “Just looking for other wounds.” Placing the poultice on his bruise, she flattened it out to cover more of his bruise and pressed down slightly.

“Hold this down,” she said, taking his hand and pressing it against the bag. “I’ll be back.”

“Where you goin’?” he asked as she got up and headed for the door.

“Need to stretch my legs, been sittin’ for too long, grinding those herbs for you.”

“Oh.”

She left before he could say anymore.

***

Verai quickly walked outside into the cold night air and took a deep breath. When Everett had walked in, his hair damp, his shirt half-buttoned and untucked from his pants, she had felt a heat in her body that she had not felt in a very long time. Very few men had this affect on her. The fact that he did wasn't lost on her. Old feelings were slowly being rewritten with new ones.

She did like him. She didn’t want to. But she did.

Taking another deep breath, she stared up at the night sky, the stars hidden by the gas lamps that dotted the road. Only the morning star and the waxing moon could really shine past the man-made illumination.

“What would you say, ài rén?” she whispered to the sky. When the morning star winked, she sighed.

I can’t let go of you. I won’t.

***

When Verai walked back inside, Everett was already asleep with the occasional light snore. She smiled softly at him, not understanding why she felt a fondness for him, only knowing that she did. His hand had slipped from his torso, so she quietly took the poultice away, setting it on the table to clean up later, and slipped the blanket over him.

“Sweet dreams,” she whispered before she crawled into her bedroll and closed her eyes, but her last thoughts were of the past, and as she drifted to sleep, she had a feeling that it would not be restful.

***

Everett woke up to the sounds of shifting fabric and soft gasping. Springing up, he hopped off the bed and knelt beside Verai.

“Sweetheart?”

As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he could see her curled up in her bedroll, shivering slightly. He touched her shoulder but quickly removed his hand when she gasped again.

“Ms. Marcel!”

Verai’s eyes shot open and she turned to him, her eyes wide. She was breathing heavily, her heartbeat audible in the silent night.

“It’s alright,” he murmured.

She swallowed and nodded. Slowly sitting up, she waved her hand in a 'don't worry' gesture. “I’m good.”

He held her hand. “You're freezing.” He leaned in closer. “You want to sleep on the bed?”

She shook her head.

“Even by yourself?”

She kept shaking her head.

He sighed. “Then I’m joining you.”

“What?”

Everett lay down next to her. Not touching her, he turned to his side and offered his back. “Use me for warmth,” he said softly.

He waited.

Then he felt her lay back down and curl up against him.

He smiled.

***

The next morning, Everett woke up alone. He bolted upright, looking for Verai. When he saw her sitting at the table, cleaning her guns, he breathed a sigh of relief. Wordlessly, he got up and got ready to go, tapping her shoulder when he was done.

She looked up at him and nodded.

Neither of them spoke as they headed out, mounted their horses, and traveled north.

He wanted to ask what she dreamed, wanted to ask if she was really alright. But seeing her, seemingly fine, he felt his heart squeeze tight. She was shut off tighter than a mason jar and no amount of cajoling was going to get her to speak.

So he'd respect her silence. If she needed time, he'd give it to her.

They reached a crossroads north of Annesburg, and that's when Verai finally pulled out the letter the sheriff had given her. Opening it, she read the contents and flipped the paper over.

Everett maneuvered his horse closer and looked over her shoulder. "What's that map?"

"It marks where people have been reported missing."

She pulled a pencil out of her satchel and lightly drew a line through all of the dots, connecting them into an oddly shaped oval. "The slavers are probably around here," she said, tapping the middle of the shape.

Everett looked at the map, then looked at her. "Alright. Lead the way."

"Not trying to take lead?" she remarked with a wry grin.

"I can admit when I'm out of my element."

"Good. I like people who are self aware."

"So you like me?"

Instead of snorting or laughing at him, she only turned away and urged her horse faster.

"I'll take that as a yes," he mumbled, suddenly feeling happier.

***

They searched caves and abandoned cabins all day, but couldn't find anything, until they reached a small road that had recent hoof prints leading up towards the cliffs. Dismounting, they grabbed their weapons and quietly made their way up the hill.

Spotting a couple of guards, they both nodded at each other and split up, sneaking up on them and knocking them out before moving onwards, all the way to the cave mouth.

As Verai began to step into the cave, Everett grabbed her arm. She looked at the offending hand, then up at him.

"I'll take lead from here," he whispered.

"Why?"

"Because the first thing they'll do is dispose of the merchandise."

Verai's eyes widened as she realized what that meant. Nodding, she gestured towards the cave. "Lead on."

The cave was damp and smelled awful, but it was relatively well lit with torches dotting the path. Everett had his trusty navy revolver at the ready, while Verai had her Schofield, aiming upwards in case they ran into a victim.

Down the tunnels they went until they came into an opening with several cages, all locked. Inside three of the cages was a person, some curled up in a ball, others sitting with their backs to the outside, slumped over as if they had given up all hope.

Verai tapped Everett's shoulder.

No guards? she mouthed to him.

He leaned closer to her and whispered quietly in her ear. "They went on another hunt. Let's free them before they get back."

Together they shot off all the locks and herded the kidnapped victims out of the cave. There was one girl, one woman, and one boy. Scared and shaking, they barely registered the fact that they had been set free. Verai could only watch as Everett quietly calmed them down and got them to move as quickly as possible.

Outside of the cave, both Everett and Verai whistled for their horses. Walking down the path, they kept an ear out for the return of the slavers, but there was no sign of them for the time being.

Putting the children on Everett's horse and the woman with Verai, they rode back to town and returned them to the sheriff's office, where they could find their families from there.

Everett looked at Verai. "We have to go back."

"I know."

"They’re not going to be happy with what we did."

"They won't be happy with what we're about to do to them."

Everett smiled. "I like you."

Verai smiled back. "I tolerate you."

Laughing, Everett charged forward on Ares with Verai following close behind, back to the cave to capture the criminals.

***

The slavers were further up the road to the cave just as they were riding around the corner.

"Should we just carry on and circle back behind them?" Verai suggested.

Everett nodded. "Good idea."

"Of course, I came up with it."

He chuckled as they rode on as if they were just two travelers, keeping one eye on the slavers just in case. They rode a little further before turning up the hillside and through the forest to come up behind the gang. Grabbing their rifles, they left the horses and snuck through the bushes to a high point where they could see the gang riding down the trail towards the main road. Verai counted about ten men on horseback.

Keeping her ears open, she could overhear just a little bit of chatter as they rode past.

"They killed Kenny and knocked out Jimmy, freed our merchandise. Follow the tracks, get'em."

Verai glanced at Everett. "You killed him?"

"Only good slaver is a dead one," Everett growled, a darkness in his eyes that Verai noted for later.

"So. Five for me and five for you. You got this?" she asked, getting her Lancaster repeater in position.

"Of course." He raised his bolt action rifle.

Together they whispered. “Three. Two. One.”

Together they shot their marks. Two men went down, and the other eight men immediately scattered, some hopping off their horses and ducking behind cover, others brazenly charging forward to flush out their attackers.

Verai went right while Everett went left. She took a pop shot at one of the horsemen, striking their arm. Dodging past some bullets, she found a good spot behind some rocks and waited for the hoof beats to get closer. As they slowed, she pulled out her Schofield and peeked around the corner.

The man was slowly coming closer, his rifle aimed in her general direction, but he still seemed unable to see her. She quickly got two shots off, one hitting the man’s forehead. With no time to waste, she moved onwards, using the horse’s panic as a distraction as she headed in the opposite direction. Diving behind a fallen log, Verai holstered her revolver and pulled her rifle out once more. Peeking up, she saw three men coming towards her, and ducked back down again. Taking a deep breath, she gripped her gun, counted to three, and stood up.

“There’s the bitch—”

Bullets whizzed by, but she was focused.

Three shots.

Three men down.

Letting out a breath, she felt the burn of a light graze on her arm. Counting her lucky stars that she had only gotten grazed, she hopped the log and kept moving towards the sound of gunfire. She came upon the road once more and quickly ducked behind a rock. She counted three men shooting towards Everett, who was standing behind a tree. He shifted out and quickly fired off three shots with his revolver, finally hitting one of the men with his last bullet in the head, his skull opening up like a glass jar breaking apart.

At the same time though, another bullet flew past Everett, blood appearing on his shoulder as he quickly hid behind the tree again, gasping.

“Everett!”

The remaining men immediately turned to her location.

"Shit," she snarled as she shot her rifle from the hip, her shots going wild. She moved backwards until she heard a noise to her left.

Another man, bloodied and angry, burst out of the bushes and tackled her, knocking the rifle out of her grip. Throwing her elbow back into his face, she crawled out from under him, scrambling away.

She leapt up just as he slashed at her back with his hunting knife. The blade cut through her shirt and into her skin, the sting making her wince as she stumbled away.

"Was goin' to grab ya and sell ya," the man rasped. "But maybe I'll try ya out first."

Verai turned and pulled out her revolver only to have the man charge forward and knock it from her grasp. He then wrapped a huge hand around her neck and squeezed.

So she kicked him in the groin, hard and with precision. The man gasped and went down to his knees, panting in pain. She quickly landed a hard kick on the back of his neck, the cracking sound reverberating through the trees as he went down like a fallen log.

She took a moment to listen for anything else around her. Upon hearing nothing, she picked up her guns and headed to the last position she had seen Everett.

She heard the sound of a very hard punch and saw several dead men up the road. Following the trail of blood and death, she saw Everett holding a man up by his neck against a tree, his fist held up, ready for another punch.

"Where is your leader?" Everett snarled.

"I told you, I don't know."

Everert dropped the man and promptly pulled out his revolver. Pressing it to the man's forehead, he glared with dark promise. "One last time. Where is he."

The man started to blubber incoherently.

Verai stepped forward and put her hand on Everett's arm. He twitched in surprise, apparently so intent on his interrogation that he had not noticed her approach.

"He doesn't know," she said quietly. "Let's take him back to the sheriff."

Everett looked at her, but not seeing her. She lowered his arm, the gun moving away from the man's head.

Then Verai quickly stepped behind the man and elbowed him at the base of his skull, knocking him out.

Everett was standing still, his eyes still blank, watching her as she pulled out a lasso and tied him up.

"Everett," she called to him quietly.

He blinked. "I, uh, I lost sight of the job."

Verai glanced back at the dead men they had left behind. "To be fair, they probably deserved it," she said with a wry grin. "At least, that's what I tell myself so I can sleep at night."

Everett smiled in return; he understood it was her roundabout way of cheering him up. Holstering his gun, he picked up the unconscious man and together, he and Verai walked back to their horses.

"You're hurt," Everett said when he saw the angry red line slashed along her back.

She waved her hand. "It happens."

He stopped himself from asking if she was alright. With the way she was carrying herself, she was clearly in pain, but holding it in, just like she did most things. He would wait until they got back to Annesburg.

Then he'd treat her right.

***

Dumping the unconscious man at the sheriff's, Everett explained the situation. Verai shared the letter and got his signature so she could take it back to the sheriff in St. Denis. By then it was the end of the day, the sun sinking into the water and coloring the sky with reds and oranges. They left the sheriff’s office and started to head back towards the gunsmith.

"We need to take care of your back."

“We?”

“Yes, we. You can’t reach back there.”

Verai suddenly looked away. “I… I suppose.”

***

Everett took charge, getting a room and a bath, guiding Verai by the elbow into the bathroom, with nary a peep from her, which was both gratifying and upsetting. He liked that she trusted him enough not to protest. He didn’t like that she was in so much pain that she couldn’t even snark back at him.

“I’ll turn around, so get in the bath. I’ll clean your back.”

“Alright,” she said, barely a whisper.

He heard her clothes drop to the floor, heard the water splash as she got in, and then a soft cough.

“Ready?”

“Yup.”

He turned. Seeing her curled up in the tub, her head on her knees, dried blood giving the water a reddish hue, Everett’s heart clenched. He swallowed hard and rolled up his sleeves, took a washcloth and sat on the edge of the tub. Gently cleaning the wound, he started humming softly, a melody from his childhood. Once she was clean, he handed the wash cloth to her, letting her wash the rest of her body on her own, while he turned away, giving her some privacy, but unwilling to leave her alone.

He suddenly felt her leaning against him. Turning his head, he saw her eyes fluttering shut, as if even sitting up was too much effort. She looked up at him as he reached out to touch her hair. He saw the bruises on her neck when her braid shifted over her shoulder and felt a rage that he quickly tamped down. Now wasn’t the time for that. Besides, the man who did that to her was probably already dead.

“...’Rett?” Her voice cracked.

“Hm?”

“I’m sleepy.”

Everett nodded and got up to grab a towel. He held it out and turned his head away as she pulled herself up and stepped out of the tub, letting him wrap the towel around her, drying her off.

“You lose a lot of blood?”

“Feels like it.”

He could only nod. “Let’s hop back to the room, I’ll bandage you up.”

“Lemme put my pants on, at least,” she said with more vigor than she had since they returned to town.

Everett chuckled. She must be feeling a little better if, even in pain, she was worried about little things like modesty.

***

Everett poked his head out into the small hallway. No one was around at this time of night, so he quickly ushered Verai out of the bathroom and into the bedroom, locking the door behind him. Without being told, she sat on the bed facing away from him.

He could see her back, covered in white scars, and wondered about her past. Gathering up the bandages, he started to wrap them around her.

“Don’t ask,” she said all of a sudden.

“I wouldn’t,” he said softly. “I’ll wait ‘til you’re ready to tell me.”

“You’ll be waiting forever.”

“If you ain’t ready, you ain’t ready.”

He saw her shoulders sag a little, realizing that she had felt relief with his words. Finishing up the bandage, he handed her one of his shirts. “Somethin’ to sleep in, since your other shirt is cut up and bloody.”

She took his shirt and eyed it suspiciously.

“It’s clean,” he said, affronted.

She smiled and looked up at him. “Didn’t think you’d be offended if I thought otherwise.”

“I wouldn’t offer a lady a dirty shirt.”

“Who said I was a lady?”

“I did. End of story.”

Verai laughed softly and shook her head as she pulled his shirt on. It was one of his favorite ones, a light blue shirt that was starting to become a bit threadbare with age. She buttoned it up and slowly laid down on the bed, positioning herself on her side.

“Thanks ‘Rett,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes.

“Can I sleep next to you?” he asked before he could think better of it.

“If you like.”

Everett crawled into the bed with her, facing her back, and wondered why, for the first time in his life, he had wanted a woman in his bed, but only to sleep beside and nothing more.

***

The next morning as dawn broke through the curtains covering the one small window in the room, Verai awoke, her muscles sore and her throat dry. Her neck hurt from where the man had dug in his fingers, but otherwise she was alive and mostly healthy. She pushed herself up slowly and turned her head.

Everett was still sleeping, laying on his back with one hand on his stomach, one arm hanging off the side of the small bed. She smiled at the scene; he had kept his distance, giving her most of the bed while he hovered at the edge, making sure she was comfortable.

He wasn’t a bad guy at all.

She carefully got up and saw his cutter hat on the table next to their gun belts. Taking the hat, she smirked and put it on before looking in the small mirror hanging on the wall. Looking left and right, she grinned.

“Not bad,” she mumbled.

“I agree,” Everett said, startling her.

“Dammit,” she grumbled as she turned around. “Now I have to steal it.”

He laughed. “I’ll tie you up if you do.”

It was her turn to laugh. “You’d have to catch me first.”

They looked at each other, their eyes meeting, and her laughter died as she caught something a little more serious in his gaze.

“We need to get back to St. Denis, tell the sheriff what happened. And deliver the letter,” she said, rapidly changing the subject as she removed his hat and placed it back on the table.

Everett nodded. “Well, let’s get goin’ then.”

***

They packed up and rode hard back to St Denis. Riding as fast as their horses could carry them, they made it back to the sheriff by sundown, handing over the letter and receiving the bounty, though it was greatly decreased since most of the men were dead.

“Personally, I think you did the world a favor,” the sheriff remarked as Verai counted the bills. “But rules are rules.”

Everett nodded. “Appreciate the sentiment anyway.”

Satisfied with the payout, Verai took half and gave the other to Everett. “See you around, sheriff.”

“Have a good evenin’, you two.”

***

“Where to next?”

Verai looked at Everett, a little surprised by his question. “I need to get back to my posse. It’s been a week, I said I’d come back by then.”

Everett nodded as he stepped a little closer to her. “I’d like to work with you again.”

Verai looked up at him, his natural smile more brilliant than the flirty ones that he had tried when they first met. Was it only a few days ago? She took a step back, but then held her ground. “That’d be good. Maybe in a week we can meet back here and catch another bounty.”

“Sounds great.” He took his hat off and placed it on her head.

“What’s this for?”

“Keep it. Looks better on you anyway.”

Verai smiled shyly at his words. “How about I just borrow it. I’ll give it back to you next time I see you.”

Everett laughed. “Alright, it’s a promise.”

“A promise,” she said softly, making his heart skip.

They mounted their horses and looked at each other as they started to head in separate directions.

“Can I call you by your first name?” he asked.

She smirked. “I suppose you can.” Patting her horse, she gave him a wicked grin. “Maybe one day, you’ll get to call me by my real name too.”

“Wait, what?”

“See ya!” Verai turned her horse and bolted out of town, laughing as she went.

Everett huffed and shook his head before chuckling. She left him with more questions than answers.

He wouldn’t have her any other way.

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

End Notes: Completely self-indulgent, I know. Hope you enjoyed it!

#everett osborn #verai marcel #rdo oc #oc x oc #rdo oc x oc #writing #fanfic #very long post #everett x verai

19 notes · View notes

mausi-shan · 4 years ago

Text

I turned my Spotify 2020 playlist into lyric prompts

1. “Show me a grey sky, a rainy cab ride Babes, don’t threaten me with a good time.” – London Boy, Taylor Swift

2. “I’ve never been in love before, I don’t know what I’m doing I’ve never been too worldly in the ways of woman wooing I know how crazy lucky I am to love you.” – Get This Right, Jonathan Groff

3. “Lights out, I found out my fallen star Goodbye, the sun rises and there’s no more you and I! Tell me how can you sleep? How can you breathe? Baby, tell me how, how you love me now?” - How You Love Me Now, Hey Monday

4. “North is south, right is left when you’re gone I’m the one who sees you home but now I’m lost in the woods And I don’t know what path you are on” – Lost In The Woods, Jonathan Groff

5. “Promise I’ve already learned my lesson, but right now I wanna be not okay” – You Don’t Know What It’s Like, Katelyn Tarver

6. “This is falling in love in the cruellest way This is falling for you and you are worlds away” – Come Back… Be Here, Taylor Swift

7. “From coast to coast I’ll make the most of every second that I’ve been given with this crowd Without a doubt, you’re all I dream about At night we lie awake with stories taking us back to the nights we felt alive” – Vegas, All Time Low

8. “He doesn’t want to bang you Somebody hang you!” – Don’t Lose Ur Head, Six

9. “I thought this time was different Why did I think he’d be different? But it’s never, ever different!” – All You Wanna Do, Six

10. “If I said I want your body, would you hold it against me? Seven in the morning, wanna listen to Britney? Anything you want, baby, that’s okay with me now” – Sleeping In, All Time Low

11. “My heart, my hips, my body, my love Trying to find a part of me that you didn’t touch Now I’m looking for signs in a haunted club.” – Death By A Thousand Cuts, Taylor Swift

12. “And I don’t give a damn about my bad reputation Never said I wanted to improve my station” – Bad Reputation, Joan Jett

13. “This distance tears me apart God, I need to see you So when the homesickness starts and you’re missing me too I’m gone too long, but when you’re here it’s worth it So just hold on” – Fall To Pieces, Junior

14. “Lyrical smile, indigo eyes Hand on my thigh We can follow the sparks I’ll drive” – I Think He Knows, Taylor Swift

15. “I’m a user and abuser so I don’t need no accuser To slap me down ‘cause I know you’re right” – When I Come Around, Green Day

16. “He’ll never fall in love he swears, as he runs his fingers through his hair I’m laughing ‘cause I hope he’s wrong” – I’d Lie, Taylor Swift

17. “I’ve been in love and lost my senses Spinning through the town” – I Wanna Dance With Somebody, Fall Out Boy (Whitney Houston cover)

18. “I’ve been first class, spent cash Been broke, no joke, nothing good ever lasts Been sued, been screwed, been chewed up Been loved, been lost but never used up This world’s not big enough for us You hate but you’re singing that chorus We’re kings you can’t ignore us” – Anti-Anthem, Sumo Cyco

19. “She didn’t stutter, my chest flutters Cardiac attack in the cradle of the summer Superstitious, the kid’s vicious Bubblegum smile, taste the cherry on her lips” – Birthday, All Time Low

20. “Got my heart out on the table And you didn’t walk away Love me if you’re able” – I Guess We’re Cool, Cassadee Pope

21. “I can make the ground shake, Winds blow, Earth quake, Rain, snow Mountains, I can move mountains” – Move Mountains, Sumo Cyco

22. “I wore the crown, I sold the lie I lived the life and paid for every crime.” – Some Kind Of Disaster, All Time Low

23. “You can’t get under my skin But I get stuck in your head In case you didn’t notice, I’ve been living in it since I left” – With Or Without Me, Sainte

24. “We’re bound to break And my hands are tied” – Rewrite The Stars, Zac Efron & Zendaya

25. “Lovers dance when they feel in love Spotlight shining, it’s all about us” – All About Us, He Is We

26. “A drowning will grasp at straws, a willing man drowns for a cause The blood will spill as cigars blaze and great white jaws will be your cage” – Sleep Tight, Sumo Cyco

27. “Tell me that we’ll be just fine Tell me that you’re still mine Even when I lose my mind” – Afterglow, Taylor Swift

28. “All this time, I never learned to read your mind (Never learned to read my mind) Never turned things around (You never turned things around) You never gave a warning sign (I gave so many signs. So many signs)” – exile, Taylor Swift & Bon Iver

29. “What a shame, what a shame Beautiful scars on critical veins” – Kids In The Dark, All Time Low

30. “Here we are, nearly strangers From two worlds that have rarely met But somehow you have made me someone new” – In A Place of Miracles, Hunchback of Notre Dame (but pheeble)

31. “I give my hand to you with all my heart I can’t wait to live my life with you I can’t wait to start” – From This Moment, Shania Twain

32. “I forgot that you Got out some popcorn as soon as my rep started going down Laughed on the schoolground as soon as I tripped and hit the ground And I would have stuck up for you Would’ve fought the whole town for you” – I Forgot That You Existed, Taylor Swift

33. “The debt I owe, got to sell my soul ‘Cause I can’t say no No, I can’t say no Then my limbs all froze and my eyes won’t close ‘Cause I can’t say no No, I can’t say no” – Bury A Friend, Billie Eilish

34. “Take a breath and let the rest come easy Never settle down ‘cause the cash flow leaves me always wanting more” – Dear Maria, Count Me In, All Time Low

35. “I’m dizzy from jealousy And you’ve got something to lose But darling, don’t let that stop you” – Girlfriend, Best Ex

36. “I’m your number one with a bullet A loaded God complex, cock it and pull it” – Sugar, We’re Goin’ Down, Fall Out Boy

37. “When everyone believes you What’s that like?” – The Man, Taylor Swift

38. “This is the last time I’m telling you this: Put my name at the top of your list” – The Last Time, Taylor Swift & Gary Lightbody

39. “Do you have the time to listen to me whine?” – Basket Case, Green Day

40. “Here comes the rain again, falling from the stars Drenched in my pain again, becoming who we are As my memory rests, but never forgets what I lost” – Wake Me Up When September Ends, Green Day

41. “It takes a lot of courage to hold your own against the tide The wind is blowing, bar the doors, it wants to get inside It may seem hopeless, may seem like it’s the end In order to be broken, first it has to bend” – Run With The Giants, Sumo Cyco

42. “No wonder your heart feels it’s flying, your head feels it’s spinning Each happy ending is a brand new beginning” – Ever Ever After, Carrie Underwood

43. “There goes the maddest woman this town has ever seen She had a marvellous time ruining everything” – the last great american dynasty, Taylor Swift

44. “Hey ho, let’s go Shoot ‘em in the back now What they want, I don’t know They’re all revved up and ready to go” – Blitzkreig Bop, The Ramones

45. “You think I’m funny when I tell the punchline wrong Now every February, you’ll be my Valentine” – Teenage Dream, Katy Perry

46. “If you want someone to save you, save yourself If you want someone to heal you, heal yourself If you want someone to save you, save yourself” – Free Yourself, Sumo Cyco

47. “I wrote the gospel on giving up But the real bombshells have already sung” – This Ain’t A Scene, Fall Out Boy

48. “I’m here on the kitchen floor You call, but I won’t hear it You said no one else How could you do this, babe?” – Babe, Sugarland & Taylor Swift

49. “Sometimes I get the feeling she’s watching over me And other times, I feel like I should go When through it all, the rise and fall The bodies in the streets” – Welcome To The Black Parade, MCR

50. “I knew you tried to change the ending Peter losing Wendy” – Cardigan, Taylor Swift

51. “But she’s so rock and roll And out of my league Is she out of my league? I hope not” – Trouble, NeverShoutNever

52. “Do you see my face in the neighbour’s lawn? Does she smile, or does she mouth fuck you forever?” – mad woman, Taylor Swift

53. “Diamonds, pearls and rubies all swoon Can I offer you a little salt for that wound?” – Don’t Make Me, Malinda

54. “The night we snuck into a yacht club party pretending to be a duchess and a prince” – Starlight, Taylor Swift

55. “I know I said some bullshit on the phone I never leave well enough alone” – ME! , Taylor Swift & Brendon Urie

56. “Give me therapy I’m a walking travesty, but I’m smiling at everything Therapy, you were never a friend to me And you can choke on your misery” – Therapy, All Time Low

57. “And I scream: For whatever it’s worth, I love you Ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard? He looks up grinning like a devil” – Cruel Summer, Taylor Swift

58. “Nobody tells me I need a rich man Doing my thing in my palace in Richmond” – Get Down, Six

59. “We were something don’t you think so? Rose flowing with your chosen family” – the 1, Taylor Swift

60. “And you call me up again just to break me like a promise So casually cruel in the name of being honest I’m a crumpled up piece of paper lying here ‘Cause I remember it all too well” - All Too Well, Taylor Swift

61. “Run baby, run Don’t ever look back They’ll tear us apart if they’re given the chance” - Check Yes Juliet, We The Kings

62. “Does he watch your favourite movies? Does he hold you when you cry? Does he let you tell him all your favourite parts, when you’ve seen it a hundred times? Does he sing to all your music while you dance to Purple Rain? Does he do all these things like we used to?” – Like We Used To, A Rocket To The Moon

63. “There I go, so dishonestly Leave a note for you, my only one” - Only One, Yellowcard

64. “Caution, police line, you better not cross! Is it the cop or am I the one who’s really dangerous?” – Warning, Green Day

65. “You’re not quite Satan but I really think I hate you” – Both Sides of the Story, We Are The In Crowd

66. “Will you kiss me on the porch in front of all your stupid friends? If you kiss me, will it be just like I dreamed it? Will it patch your broken wings?” – betty, Taylor Swift

67. “Nicotine and faded dreams Baby there’s no one else like me” – Say You Like Me, We The Kings

68. “That smile that made me believe But you were lying through your teeth” – Is She Better, Caitlin Hart

69. “So every day now, you brace for the sounds you only heard on TV You go to class scared, wondering where the best hiding spot would be” – Only The Young, Taylor Swift

70. “Soon I’ll have to go I’ll never see him grow But I hope my son will know My love is set in stone” – Heart Of Stone, Six

71. “Been trying to cover this hear out on my sleeve Been set on playing this down but I think you’re catching onto me” – Lie A Little Better, Lucy Hale

72. “I used to believe, in the days I was naïve That I’d live to see a day of justice dawn And though, I will die long before that moment comes I’ll die while believing still, it will come when I am gone” – Someday, Hunchback of Notre Dame

73. “I close my eyes and all I see is you I close my eyes, I try to sleep I can’t forget you” – I’d Do Anything, Simple Plan

74. “Welcome to a new kind of tension All across the idiot nation Everything isn’t meant to be okay” – American Idiot, Green Day

75. “Somehow something gave you the nerve to touch my hand It’s nice to have a friend” – It’s Nice To Have a Friend, Taylor Swift

76. “Stop fucking around with my emotions” – The Irony of Choking On a Lifesaver, All Time Low

77. “If you can just explain a single thing I’ve done to cause you pain I’ll go” – No Way, Six

78. “Don’t listen to the voices in your head Listen to your heart” – Listen To Your Heart, The Maine

79. “If you wanna piss of your parents Date me to scare them Show them you’re all grown up” – 18, Annarbor

80. “Remember when you broke your foot from jumping out the second floor?” – I’m Not Okay, MCR

81. “Please leave me stranded It’s so romantic” – New Romantics, Taylor Swift

82. “Not for us, we made a pact Death meet fear” – Love You Wrong, Sumo Cyco

83. “Shade never made anybody less gay” – You Need To Calm Down, Taylor Swift

84. “You push my love away like it’s some kind of loaded gun But you never thought I’d run” – Better Man, Little Big Town

85. “You’re walking suicide You make me lose my heart and lose my mind” – Loose Cannon, Sumo Cyco

86. “Every year when October comes around and it gets colder out I grab my favourite hoodie There’s still a hole from when you borrowed it You used to sleep in it ‘cause it reminded you of me” – Nostalgic, Simple Plan

87. “I will be brave I will not let anything take away what’s standing in front of me” – A Thousand Years, Christina Perri

88. “But I feel so alive with these phantoms of night And I know that this life isn’t safe but it’s wild and free” – Beautiful Ghosts, Taylor Swift

89. “Went home and tried to stalk you on the internet Now I’ve read all of the books beside your bed” – Paper Rings, Taylor Swift

90. “It’s nice to know we had it all Thanks for watching as I fall And letting me know we were done” – My Happy Ending, Avril Lavigne

91. “And do you still think of me when I’m not there? Oh how could I still feel this way after all these years?” – Sleepy Kisses, Candy Hearts

92. “Jaw breaker, you got the kiss that I wanna savour” – Candy Store, Faber Drive & Ish

93. “As I walked out on the ledge Are you scared to death to live?” – Still Breathing, Green Day

94. “Write me off, give up on me Darling, what did you expect? I’m just off, a lost cause, long shot Don’t even take this bet” – A Little Less Sixteen Candles, Fall Out Boy

95. “Barefoot in the kitchen Sacred new beginnings that became my religion” – Cornelia Street, Taylor Swift

96. “And I still talk to you When I’m screaming at the sky” – my tears ricochet, Taylor Swift

97. “Now that I’m losing hope And there’s nothing else to show” – Pressure, Paramore

98. “And if I open my heart to you Will you show me what to do?” – A Way Back Into Love, Hayley Bennet & Hugh Grant

99. “Stopped running, started walking instead It was all in my head, nothing’s against me This war was more civil, I realised I had to secede from both sides” – Arrows, Fireworks

100. “I like when you get mad I guess I’m pretty glad that you’re alone You say she’s scared of me? Well, I don’t see what she sees but maybe it’s ‘cause I’m wearing your cologne.” – Bad Guy, Billie Eilish

#writing prompt #lyric prompts

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lucislilangel-blog · 7 years ago

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Family reunions suck

(Gif not mine)

A/N: Yay thanksgiving is here! Its time to eat til you are about to burst and be grateful for everything😊 But anyway im just going to leave this Fanfic here hope you enjoy it and your thanksgiving! 😀😊

Pairings: None maybe some Dean x reader

Warnings: Nothing really it just gets awkward and maybe some Fluff

Characters: Dean, Reader, Sam, Castiel

Summary: Being a hunter doesn’t really give you much liberty on doing anything especially having Special bonds or ties to non-hunter people especially knowing the Winchesters. When it came to family you didn’t want them in danger so you didn’t get with them a lot. But what will happen when you are forced to go.

Y/H/C = your home town or city (Didn’t want to just put a random state makes it more fun \__( ’-’)__/)

It was a casual day at the bunker and you were just looking for a case as usual when you received a call from your mom. You just stared at your phone as it rang and tried to remember what day it was, oh no no no nopety nope. You knew why she was calling you and the thought of it scared the hell out of you.

It was going to be thanksgiving soon and your parents always want you to come but you end up making up excuses to not go, they have always tried convincing you to go or for you to host it. But it wasn’t an ideal place for you to go everyone always asking about your job which of coarse you can’t tell them about or about you having a boyfriend it was just a lot of stresses.

Hosting Thanksgiving had its own set of stresses of course its the people asking about your job or if you have a boyfriend but you lived in a men of letters bunker not very ideal and besides how could you tell your parents and family that you live with three men and you aren’t dating anyone. As you were staring at the phone and decided to ignore it and got back to looking at cases Dean came into the library and said “you gonna answer it or” you looked up at him and said “like hell I would”.

He only rolled his eyes as he grabbed your phone to check who it was and finally sighed and looked up to you “ Its your mom shouldn’t you answer it” with your eyes still glued on the laptop screen you replied “Not today I’m not” Dean just put your phone down and sat right across from you to look for some more cases too.

After ten minutes of your phone ringing Dean had enough of it and said “you know you have to answer it sometime” you only shrugged with your eyes on the laptop. Dean stretched his arm across the table to grab you phone so you only said “what are you doing” “ well if your not going to answer the phone then I will” without hesitation he clicked answer and you only screamed a short “No!” Before she answered.

You shook your head at Dean as he said “Hello” as Dean looked at you you had a face of pure horror “No, yes you have the right number” now it was Deans turn to have a face of horror and utter panic. You only mouthed the words “You idiot” as he continued to talk “my name is Dean” he looked at you and mouthed “what the hell am I supposed to do” both of you still panicking he said “Oh okay” and hung up.

“Dean, what the hell!?” Were the only words that came put of your mouth, he had blown your cover all he said in a very panicking tone “She says she wants us at dinner for thanksgiving” “What no! Damn it” “W-w-what are we supposed to do she thinks we are dating” he stuttered “What have you done” was all you replied. Just then Sam came in and said “Hey I found a case in Y/H/C” Sam was surprised when you screamed out “No! Chuck what have I done to you to deserve this!” As you fell back to your chair with defeat.

Soon after that you were in the back seat of Baby next to Cas and looking at the rain pouring outside of you window. Your thoughts started racing you were going to stay at you parents house with Sam, Dean, and Cas. You started coming up with ideas of what to say over the phone you said “Can i stay at the house with three of my friends” didn’t say any specific details.

A voice forced you out of your thoughts “You need to stop overthinking this” cas said “You need to stop reading my mind” was all you said not even looking at the angel. “I would but your thoughts are so loud to me right now i can’t even ignore them anymore”. After that you didn’t say a word until you got to your parents house around midnight.

Dean parked Baby in the driveway and looked back at you “You ready” “Nope” you stared at the house and took a deep breath as you said “Okay fine” you got to the door step and hesitantly rung the doorbell with Sam, Dean and Cas behind you.

The door opened and without any warnings your siblings where all over you. “Huh I’ve missed you guys too” you said hugging them back as the guys stood behind you.

You took a step inside and motioned them to come inside as you dragged your siblings with you and your parents were making their way towards you “Im home!” you said as you hugged both of your parents “we started to think you weren’t going to come”

You laughed nervously “Yeah well i just really missed you” “Well enough about us who are these handsome three men?” your mom asked you “Oh this is Sam, Dean and Castiel” you said pointing at them. “Dean its nice to meet you” your mom said enthusiastically “Oh no mom we are not dating” you explained as Dean just whispered in your ear “You know we didn’t have to tell her that” with a wink.

They each took turns saying hello and your parents led you towards the rooms you were staying at. There were two large beds probably queens and there was a small sofa and a few paintings not much but it looked nicer than any hotel you guys spent at.

“I hope you all four of you wont mind sleeping in here the other room is for your grandma and grandpa” “No its okay we are a used to it”. It was going to be at least a week to get done with the case and finish with thanksgiving dinner so you prepared to leave as soon as you could.

After unpacking you spent the time with research in the room and talking with your family, your little sister that was a few years younger than you said “Are you sure you aren’t dating anyone because the guy in the leather jacket Dean was it? Is just staring at you and i would like to show him to my room if you know what i mean” you didn’t know what was up with people telling you thins but at this point you didn’t care and said “Yeah sure go for it” you had to admit it hurt you a little but it was your sister you didn’t want to get in the way of anything.

After a few hours of talking you decided to go to sleep Sam got his own bed, you asked Cas would sleep on the couch and Dean would probably sleep with you. You didn’t think much of it you would always switch positions with the three of them so it was pretty normal “Alright guys im gonna go to sleep”.

As soon as your head hit the pillow you were pretty much dead asleep. You woke up to a heavy sensation on your chest, you slowly opened your eyes and adjusted them to the darkness and saw Dean holing on to your waist with half of his body on you. Looking over to Cas you found him unexpectedly passed out with his tie loose and Sam was dead asleep. You couldn’t do much so you decided to go back to sleep.

The next day you went to check out the body with Cas and concluded it was a werewolf while Sam and Dean talked to the locals. You were driving back and met the guys back at the house. “Where were you this morning?” your mom asked as she walked in the room your eyes still glued to the laptop you just said “I went to show the guys around the city” right now they were making a beer run and trying to track down the werewolf. It was a long day but night finally came and all of you went to sleep.

For the next few days you woke up in the middle of the night with the older Winchester clinged on to you and one day whispering something you couldn’t make out. You always tried to get out of his grasp but always failed.

On the night before Thanksgiving Cas woke you up “Y/N we found the werewolf today is the last night they are going to turn” you just sighed as you got up. The boys were already ready so you just changed and got your gun with silver bullets.

It was a cold night as you walked through the woods with your gun held closely to your chest. Crunch! You spun around to face the once human wolf staring at you with drool dripping down his neck, he pounced on you digging his claws into your arms and holding you down as he tried taking a bite out of your chest with you struggling.

Fortunately Dean saw you and shot the werewolf before someone died. “Y/N are you okay?” he said rushing towards you “Yeah im fine just a few scratches” you looked at your arms and there was blood running down both of them. With the gunshot Sam and Cas came running and all of you went home.

You slowly opened the door and started making your way towards the room. As soon as you got in the room you got dressed and tried to clean up the claw marks.

After 5-6 hours of sleep you were woken up by the sound of giggling and once again the large weight on your chest and stomach. Goddammit my cousins are here you thought to yourself as you opened your eyes to see Cas and Sam still sleeping. Your cousins were always very girly and would be the type to giggle at you and one of your male friends sleeping in one bed. Your eyes shifted towards the clock as it read 9:00 am ‘everyone is probably here’ you also thought to yourself trying to get out of Deans grasp.

You only managed to get a groan as he Hugged you tighter. It took you a while but you finally got out of bed and Dean just rolled around. You got dressed and prepared yourself for all of the judging while checking your bandages. “Hey cas wake up” you said to the angel and almost immediately he woke up “Hey wake up we gotta get you ready” by 'get ready’ you just meant fix your hair and your tie then proceeded to wake up Sam and then Dean.

It had to be at least 40 minutes before you came out of the room. As you walked into your kitchen you could see your grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews etc. “Looks like you have a big family” sam said jokingly. You greeted everyone and they all asked about your job and if your dating etc but soon it was time for dinner. As all of you sat around the dinner table it was time to give thanks.

All of your family took a turn then it was your turn at first their was a long pause then you finally spoke up “Well, im thankful for my friends and family and the fact im still alive” after you your family insisted that your friends went. Sam said he was thankful for his friends and family as well and that he has a home and food, Cas so went and he was thankful for a place to call home and family and finally it was Deans turn at first he didn’t want to say but he ended up saying Family and that he was fortunate enough to meet you and Cas.

After that you got through the dinner without any problems, you were staying over night and would leave early tomorrow. Everyone got settled and the four of you went to your room the boys fell asleep before you and you just stayed up and decided to go to your roof. It had been a really long time since you had been up there but it didn’t discourage you.

The stars always seemed so beautiful to you they were the light to guide people in the dark. You were up there for about thirty minutes before you felt someone come up there with you. Surprisingly it was Dean “looks like you have quite a place up here” he said sitting down next to you still staring at the sky you said “Yeah” with a chuckle.

You spent some time up there with Dean until you fell asleep. You woke up to the sun rising and both you and Dean close together you couldn’t imagine a better way to wake up.

Ps: sorry this one was incredibly long but have a great day anyways :)

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sunalsolove · 7 years ago

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[Fic] Out of This World [1/1]

Title: Out of This World

Author: @sunalsolove

Summary: Faith and Tara are on the road in New Mexico, where there’s plenty of sun, sand, green chile, and maybe even something unexpected.

Pairing: Faith/Tara

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Adult language and mild sexual content.

A/N: Beta’d by @robotgort . Written for @captain-forehead for the @buffyfemslash secret santa exchange 2017 from the prompt: Roadtrip. Happy New Year!

Under read more for length (~2.1 K)

****

Faith was not impressed. New Mexico was brown and dusty and there was next to nothing to do. Unless you were a jackrabbit or someone looking to hide, this was not the place to be.

The desert scrub stretched into the distance on either side of I-40, even the dawn creeping over the horizon couldn’t do much to soften the landscape. It was empty and hard…Faith cursed. Maybe she didn’t like it so much because it was too much like the landscape inside her. At least the ocean, palm trees, and crowded sidewalks of Los Angeles were a distraction.

She glanced over at the reason she’d agreed to take this trip in the first place. Tara, blonde hair loose around her shoulders, sat in the passenger seat of the Faith’s vintage 1980s red Firebird. She yawned, and Faith found herself doing the same. It was stupidly early in the morning. They’d stayed at some flea-bitten hotel the night before, which disappointingly had only had a room with two beds and even more disappointingly had a roach in the bathtub. Faith had spent a half hour catching the damn thing and carrying it outside because Tara wouldn’t let her squish it.

The adoring look in Tara’s eyes had made the whole shebang worth it.

Faith and Tara had been…well, fuck if Faith knew what they were doing. They were sort of friends, but maybe more, or maybe not. Tara had been slow to rejoin the land of the living after Willow had died. Tara had nearly lost her own life to a bullet and losing someone she loved on top of that, it’d made her withdraw. Faith had barely noticed her during that whirlwind year fighting the First in Sunnydale, but afterward, when the dust had slowly settled and everyone had ended up in Los Angeles, Tara had become harder and harder to ignore.

She was the opposite of Faith: soft, shy, warm. Tara really listened and could be quietly supportive with no judgment. At some point, Faith had found herself hanging out more with Tara then with any of the new Slayers, Buffy, or what remained of Angel and his team. Tara was something Faith had never had before, a safe place to land.

One day, wanting to be around had changed to wanting to know what Tara’s lips tasted like or if her skin was as soft as it looked. Faith was almost sure Tara was attracted to her, but she didn’t know how to ask. Tara wasn’t some random person Faith was going to pick up for a one-night stand, and she didn’t have any experience going the long haul with someone, but Tara made her want to try. Faith just didn’t know how to tell her that. Now she wasn’t sure where she stood with Tara, so when Giles had asked them to head to New Mexico to check out a rash of reports talking about mysterious lights in the desert, Faith had jumped at the chance. So far exactly zero had happened, but there was still time.

Faith wasn’t used to her courage failing her, but she’d never wanted something real like this before.

It was terrifying and exhilarating. She tightened her hands on the Firebird’s wheel. This wasn’t something she could screw up.

A billboard caught her eye.

“Hey, you want some breakfast?” Faith asked.

“Does it require me to open my eyes?”

“In, like, thirty minutes. There was an ad for someplace in Albuquerque known for their cinnamon buns.”

That got Tara’s attention. “Really?

Faith smiled. It felt good to get something right.

****

The restaurant was totally western kitsch. ‘The Frontier’ the sign on the front read and the inside was filled with paintings and decorations of the old West. It was pretty awesome, actually, but Faith was playing it cool. Tara, on the other hand, was staring round-eyed at everything and eagerly pointing out her favorites. It was making the whole thing more fun. Tara had that kind of magic, the kind that made the world seem a less tired place to be in, even for a Slayer.

Carrying the tray, Faith followed behind Tara, who chose a table next to an oversized picture of John Wayne.

“This thing’s the size of my head,” Tara said, picking up a fork and poking at the cinnamon bun.

“If that’s your head, this is my arm.” Faith was appalled at the sheer size of the breakfast burrito she’d ordered. It was going to require a knife and fork to eat, and maybe some other people to finish it up. And more green chiles. Those things were yummy. She cut herself a bite.

“Do you think we’re actually going to find anything out there?” Tara asked, her mouth full. There were drops of sticky sugar on her lips, making them glisten. Faith wanted to lean over and lick them off. Instead, she casually leaned back against her chair.

“Hell if I know. Giles must think something’s up, otherwise, he would have sent a couple of the baby Slayers, but he must not have expected the worst since he didn’t send Buffy and Spike.”

Tara giggled. “Like they would have been useful, they’d probably just be out in the desert sucking face all night.”

Faith rolled her eyes and hunched forward a little, pretending she hadn’t just been thinking about doing something similar with Tara. “Yeah. They make me ill.” She stabbed another piece of her burrito.

“Love can be nice,” Tara said.

Faith didn’t look up, just stuffed the bite into her mouth and nodded. She dumped some of her extra chile on the next piece she cut.

Tara, ever perceptive, changed the topic. “Do you really like that stuff?”

“I’m eating it, aren’t I?”

“That’s not an answer.”

Faith tapped the handle of her knife on the table. “It tastes good. You should try it.”

“You still didn’t tell me if you like it.”

Faith finally looked up at Tara, who was smiling slightly. “Fine. Have it your way. I like it. There, happy?”

The smile got a little wider. “Did it hurt to say it?”

Faith made a face. “I think I broke my arm.”

Tara reached over and patted Faith’s shoulder. “There, there. Maybe I should kiss it and make it better?”

Faith’s heart jumped sideways in her chest. The teasing tone, the happy expression, the warmth in Tara’s eyes. Faith’s knee jiggled up and down.

“I’ll ask again later,” Tara said gently. She cut another bite of cinnamon roll and slowly wrapped her lips around it.

Faith’s knee bounced faster.

****

The desert didn’t look quite as ugly as it had that morning as twilight unfurled across the vast sky. They were somewhere south and east of Albuquerque, pretty much in the exact middle of nowhere. The paved road had turned into a gravel road, which had become a dirt road, that’d led to an eventual dead end. There was sagebrush, scrub, and lots of rocks leading off to distant hills and mesas.

Faith had parked the Firebird and pulled a bunch of blankets and pillows out from the backseat and Tara had set up a kind of nest on the hood of the car. There were quilts under them for padding and a few on top, since it was spring and the nights were still chilly. They were seated on the hood and reclined against the car’s windshield.

“This is sort of silly,” Faith said. “A couple people say they see some fast moving, low flying lights and a witch and a slayer end up staring up at the sky in an open field?”

Beside her, Faith could feel Tara shrug. “It’s been a pretty persistent rumor.”

“It’s probably just a helicopter or drug smugglers or something.”

“Or something.”

In the distance, coyotes howled in an eerie chorus.

Faith shivered.

Tara rolled on her side towards Faith. “Don’t tell me you’re scared?”

“I don’t know about being out in…in…”

“Nature?”

“Yeah.” Faith fidgeted with a loose thread on one of the blankets. A star appeared in the sky as dusk started to become night. “I know how to survive in the city. There I’m all five by five. Here…I don’t know anything about how to stay alive unless it’s something I kill because it tries to kill me first. I guess that wouldn’t be anything new.”

Tara let out a small sigh. “You don’t have to worry. I know a thing or two about being outdoors, and I think we have enough Twinkies and soda to survive for the next three months.”

Faith snorted and kept her eyes on the sky, now a deep purple with more stars making themselves visible.

“What else are you scared of, Faith?” Tara curled a strand of Faith’s dark hair around her finger and gently tugged.

Faith thought about lying. Saying something dumb like spiders or heights, but they were out here, alone, with no one else around for miles. There was no reason to run or hide. “You,” she said, her voice barely more than a whisper.

“Me?” Tara sounded completely confused. “You’re scared of me?”

Faith laughed softly. “Not that you’re going to make me into a newt.” She yanked harder on the thread, but it stayed stubbornly attached to the quilt. “I think I’m saying it wrong. I’m not frightened of you. Just…how I feel about you.”

“Oh.”

Faith bit her lip and closed her eyes when Tara didn’t say anything further. Fuck. Faith had thought that maybe Tara had been feeling the same, but it was probably a whole bunch of wishful thinking bullshit and…

Soft.

Tara’s lips were soft and her body warm and luscious. She’d rolled so she was halfway on Faith, smushing her slightly against the Firebird’s windshield. It was a nice smush. Faith wrapped her arms around Tara, holding her close.

When Tara broke the kiss and they were both panting for air, Faith looked up into Tara’s eyes, which were hard to read in the darkness.

“I like you,” Faith said, her voice husky.

“I like you too, it’s why I kissed you.”

“Oh. That makes sense.” Faith laughed. “I…I’m bi…bisexual.”

Tara blew out a breath. “And I’m a lesbian and the sky is blue. Any other really obvious things we should state?”

“I just thought I should say it, because some people—”

“I’m so not some people.”

Faith cupped Tara’s cheek. “You got that fucking right.”

Their mouths met again, hungry for each other. Faith’s hand slid down Tara’s back, found the gap between her blouse and skirt, and brushed over the bare skin there.

Tara gasped and shuddered in Faith’s arms, which made Faith bolder. She inched her fingers under Tara’s top until she found the strap of Tara’s bra. Faith slipped a finger under it and traced back and forth, delighted by how Tara wiggled and moaned.

Faith closed her hand over the bra’s fastenings when a blindingly bright white light flared to life from above.

Tara squeaked and rolled off Faith onto her back.

Hovering above the Firebird was…something. It was more than three times the size of the car, roughly triangular in shape, and had three lights which were spotlighting the car, throwing the surrounding desert into stark relief.

“Hey! Close Encounters!” Faith shouted. “No free shows!”

The…something spun lazily overhead, then darted straight up, soundlessly and incredibly fast, until it had disappeared among the stars.

“Was that…what I think it was?” Tara asked in a tiny voice.

Faith snorted. “It was probably a weather balloon.”

“I’m sure,” Tara said with a giggle. “I suppose we should go tell Giles about our weather balloon sighting? I can tell him I didn’t get any scary, negative feeling from said weather balloon.”

Faith sat forward and put her head in her hands. “Yeah, sure.” She didn’t know if Tara was going to try and pretend what had been happening before the…something had shown up, hadn’t been happening. It might have been more of a fluke than the lights.

Tara rubbed Faith’s back. “No pouting. We can stop and get one of the green chile cheeseburgers you like so much, and I bet we can find a motel that only has one room with a single bed left to rent.”

“Okay,” Faith said. “That doesn’t sound so bad.” She leaped off the hood of the car and paused. “Are you going to bitch the whole time that I taste like green chiles?” Inside her heart was beating a million times a minute. That didn’t sound like Tara was going to pretend to forget at all.

Tara blushed. “Maybe I don’t mind them so much after all.” She gathered up the blankets and pillows. “And maybe we’re going to need a nice, long trip here to explore all kinds of interesting…phenomenon.”

“I like the sound of that.”

Tara caught Faith’s eye. “Me too.”

Overhead, a shooting star streaked across the heavens.

#buffy femslash secret santa #Tara x Faith #btvs fanfiction

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durex-on-a-bible · 7 years ago

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Self-Defence (5/5)

Contains brutal mannequin murder, implied suicidal depression, blood, and laundry folding

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5)

Much later, and much further away, a large pair of plimsoll-clad feet trod their way through the desert. Caliban turned back round to look at the distant water tower, moon-shadow trailing in front of him, then carried on away from it. He’d made sure beforehand to check inside, peering at the sleeping, prone man: Charles was lost in some old, incomprehensible dream, and Logan had stayed out overnight in the limo.

A spare few hours… they had to count.

Scratching at an itch on his scalp, the chalk-white mutant instinctively felt for a phantom hat, then relaxed. While it was still certainly warm on his skin, the sunlight lost its potency when reflected as moonlight – he absent-mindedly felt where his t-shirt had ridden up, tugging it back down. The few essentials he had needed were bundled in one arm, pressed up against his chest: a small paperback book that he’d bought online, with Logan’s help; a bottle of water; his poncho, in case he had to make the return trip in daylight.

A heavy cardboard box.

Gradually he saw the outline of a nearby ghost town, of about 50 buildings, take shape. Finding it for the first time had been pure accident: he’d merely been taking a night’s stroll to get some fresh air, when he saw it. Drawn to the ruined houses, he had walked among them as another mass of bleached angles. Since then, it had become somewhere to go when he had the time, when he needed to acknowledge his distance from humans and mutants alike.

At least, that had been his initial reason. As it happened, the place had other, more pragmatic benefits.

Caliban ducked his head under a low-hanging doorway, entering the floorspace of an old tailor’s shop. Whoever the people were who had once lived here, they had left in a hurry – There had been no time to take the exquisite clothes, nor the fabric-polystyrene mannequins which they rested on. With care, he unbuttoned a moth-eaten suit jacket from its stand, then, after some rummaging, pulled out a rusted wire coat hanger from the rubble; reaching up with one long arm, he managed to hang it up onto a narrow beam, where it joined a long, smart line of decaying garments. Pointless, perhaps, but something of a ritual now – misplaced guilt for inanimate objects turned habit.

The dummy now stood with three others in a lopsided triangle. He stood to the edge of them and stretched as much as his stooped posture would allow, until loose. Rummaging through his items and prizing open the noisy plastic, he once again found himself with the knife, clutched in a firm hammer-grip. The hunched mutant took his place in the centre of the mannequins and closed his eyes.

And breathed.

He yelled, throwing his weight into the knife-hilt as he descended upon them. A small kettle of nighthawks startled and took flight, calling in alarm while Caliban tore into the starchy, padded bodies, a harsh nails-on-blackboard screech with each thrust.

Then, he stopped and massaged his temples. Each of his “victims” lay discarded on the desert dirt now, frayed and ruptured where they had been attacked – with no resistance.

“For fuck’s sake.” said the mutant quietly, to no-one.

He rose now, tenderly picking up a mannequin in each hand by its splintered wooden base, and carried them round the back of the store; a neat stack of curved busts, riddled with slashes and stab wounds, awaited the new arrivals. The two recently-destroyed stands landed on top of the pile, followed by the third a moment later. Arms crossed, the thin man glared at his previous efforts. How many months had it been? Four? And he was still coming out here, still trying to ‘train up’ by himself. All his efforts, against prop opponents. It wasn’t enough, not to keep the other two safe, and the risk of Charles waking up in the night while he was gone was-

No.

No, not yet. Caliban wasn’t going home until he’d finished. Discipline, that was the key.

At that, he sauntered through the rubbish back to his essentials, taking a quick swig of water when he arrived, and uncovered a second-hand copy of ‘Knife Fighting: A Practical Course’. The convenience of being responsible for online orders to their PO Box meant it was easy to slip the book in with other items, squirreling it away before Logan could see it; no point starting that headache all over again. But then, the few hours the older mutant would return, he would instantly wrap himself in the rust-holed cladding of the water tower, following his ailing mentor around in vain; or he would stagger through their shared living space, hackles raised at any attempts to communicate.

He pinched the bridge of his nose, and turned a few chapters in: ‘Zones of Attack and Defence’ – that would do for tonight. He studied the pages, his eyes adapting to the moonlight as he read. A series of diagrams caught his eye, as they tended to: a balding man in his 40’s, wearing casual polos and denims, posing defensively and confidently with a thick blade. Each still of him was divided into four, showing areas where an attack could strike, and how to defend each area. Something about the man unsettled Caliban, but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

Propping the book open with a small chip of masonry, he tried to picture the quadrants reflected ahead of him, and readied his defensive stance, knife in hand: by now, he had lost his form due to lack of practice, but it serviced regardless. A quick glance at the book again, and he threw his posture into a crooked parody of a ‘zone 2’ parry, protecting his left flank. Another peek, and he shifted his arms, putting them slightly further away from his body.

Zone 5, centre. Zone 1, top-right. Zone 4, bottom-right. Zone 3, bottom-left. Zone 2, top-left. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat.

Then he saw the sky.

The moon had begun to set, pushing long shadows into the old shop. All around, the hues began a shift from all-encompassing navy to a warmer shade of green.

Time was up.

He finished the bottle, crushing it in his hand, then pulled his poncho and hood over himself – sunrise wasn’t due for another hour, but he’d made that mistake before. The knife was cleaned and returned to its box; the bottle balanced on top, nestled in the great drapes of cotton as he scurried back out of the ruin, leaving the dead settlement to sleep, and striding back across the stretch of dry earth towards the ancient plant he called home.

For the time being, at least.

It had just been a casual observation, maths-wise. The limo driving brought in roughly half a thousand dollars a week, which was cut down by about three hundred dollars once food, medicine, utilities, and other things had been factored in. That left just over a thousand left over… which then vanished every week, for the past year. Which, by Caliban’s estimate, left a total of sixty thousand dollars unaccounted for.

From there, he hadn’t needed to wait long before he found out: a newspaper clipping left out on the table, pinned down by a cup of stale coffee, listed an advertisement for a “1996 Sunseeker Manhattan”. The grey pointillist photograph showed a moderate-sized motor-yacht, parked somewhere on a distant port – priced at seventy thousand dollars.

When he first saw it, the blood had drained from his face. He tried to imagine himself going with them, confined to the lower decks like a vampire, then realised: of course he couldn’t. He was never meant to come. He’d left it where he found it, but brought the coffee with him to flush down the sink. A few days later, he had managed to calm down, to rationalise; it made sense for Logan and Charles to do so, to get out to sea, and as far away as possible from anyone the seizures could hurt.

Including him.

Still, he’d figured, it would be a pleasant way to end the elder mutant’s days. And after all was said and done, he could arrange afterwards to collect Logan… and help him through the loss, just as he’d done for the past year.

Back in the present, he found himself once again spying on the sleeping Charles. A small mercy: their patient was long overdue his diazepam. He sniffed the air, hoping to catch wind of Logan’s arrival. Nothing. His – he paused – ‘employer’ was still a distant light in the peripheral of his head, weaving through an empty, black space.

Might as well do some laundry, he thought to himself.

The knuckles in his hands peeked through his skin as he picked through the three men’s clothes: Soft, comfortable woollen items for Charles, cloying with must and age; ragged, beige t-shirts and button-downs, his own cobbled-together wardrobe; and lastly the formal wear of Logan’s chauffeur uniform and his many vests – some with holes, some with tears, most with blood. He grimaced, sorting the clothes into different wash categories, into repair jobs, into lost causes. As he went, he felt along each piece, searching for anything left over in the pockets; he’d told Logan to check before putting it in the pile, but by this point he was better off just doing it himself. God knows how many time’s he’d fished out coins or pen lids, even some sticky humbugs from Charles’ pockets-

His fingers ghosted over something solid in Logan’s trousers.

He hadn’t noticed until just now, since most of the shorter man’s clothes had a strong scent of blood, and the metal that leaked like poison from his bones. But, whatever was in there? It reeked, the tang settling on his tongue. Reaching in, he unfurled his hand to see a small, silver cylinder rolling on his ash-white palm. It was rounded at one end, flat at the other, and was wrapped in a thin casing. Rightly, he guessed it to be about nine millimetres in width.

A bullet. He sniffed it, and recoiled.

Adamantium.

He clenched the thing in his fist.

“It’s too late,” Logan had told him. At the time, Caliban hadn’t understood why.

Now, he did.

His free hand found his face, and they crushed into each other as he tried to steady his breath, shaking like a wire in the wind.

After a long moment, he released his pink features and rubbed his finger and thumb under his eyes, wiping the wet drops off onto his shirt. The cage of his other hand released, the bullet settling back into the creases, and he stared at it. Then, he opened up his chest pocket and slipped it in, a cold weight against him.

“No,” he muttered, resuming his chores: “It’s not.”

Logan would likely be back in a few hours.

He’d talk to him then.

#caliban #logan #logan (2017)#logan 2017 #calogan #charles xavier #hurt comfort #whump #suicide tw #blood tw #gore tw #gun tw #knives tw

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xcherryox · 6 years ago

Text

Bucky x Reader

Fighting the winter soldier

Gif is not mine, credit to owner

You and Steve were hiding behind a car, desperately trying to catch your breath after nonstop fighting for 20 minutes

“Is my mind hazy from 70+ years of avoiding death or is that a completely different Bucky?”

“Yeah Y/N that’s not our Bucky” Steve replied grabbing you and running as the car you hid behind exploded

“Buck would never fight us” Steve groaned as he placed you on the floor “Buck would never fight you, that man was whipped Y/N”

“If he could resurface for just a minute that would be great”

You gripped your pistol and started running towards a group of hydra soldiers, swiftly taking them down.

You glanced over and watched as Steve was thrown over a car by the winter soldier

“Oh no, no one touches my Steve” you mumbled as you ran full force towards the large men

using a car as a stepping stool, as graceful as you could you jumped onto Bucky, rotated your body so your legs were wrapped around his waist and you were face to face with him,

Taking his moment of confusion as a gift you pushed yourself up and wrapped your legs around his neck and used all the strength you had left to fall back and flip him over

“Steve!” You ran towards the blonde man as fast as you can,

But legs can’t outrun bullets on an open road, as you approached Steve 2 bullets were fired, going straight through your shoulder and one in your leg

“Y/N! Oh come one!” Steve leant over you and was about to speak again until you interrupted him

“Go knock that piece of shit out, I’ve had worse than this” he nodded and ran off

———————————————-

“I’m sorry but it is almost impossible that man is James Buchanan Barnes” Nick spoke, dropping the files onto the table

“Sir I-“

“Nick I am very sure I know what my husband looks like, there is no way in hel that I am mistaken, Hydra has control over his head and if you refuse to help then I guess I’ll just have to go save him myself” everyone turned to you shocked at your outburst

“Agent Y/N, it is far too dangerous to go after someone if there is no evide-“

“I leave tonight, Steve feel free to join me but it’s not mandatory”

With that you walked out

———————————————-

*6 months later*

“Y/N he’s completely untraceable, it’s no use continuing this man hunt” Nat spoke from her computer,

You just glanced towards a screen showing coordinates of his latest kills, lacing your fingers in the belt loops on your cargo pants

“He’s out there somewhere, no one is untraceable you’re just not doing it right” she looked at you and huffed “you’re not taking into account the coordinates, now if you trace his routes throughout, Russia, New York and Washington” you typed away on the computer she was previously using “you’d discover that the base hydra has sergeant Barnes held in issssss”

You glanced towards the screen

“The outskirts of Russia” the whole team just looked at you in shock

“And how long have you known how to trace someone?” Tony asked, looking at the screen unbelievably

“Since being a hydra puppet in 1956, suit up, we leave in 3 minutes”

——————————————-

You were sitting beside Steve in the jet, watching the dark clouds pass by

“He’ll never be the same will he?” You mumbled towards him, in return he just lightly grabbed your hand and entwined your fingers,

Steve was basically an older brother and ever since your marriage to Bucky that was later met with his ‘death’, Steve was always there to show you platonic affection like holding your hand and hugging you when needed, you both lost people due to the war, it gives some sort of comfort knowing that you’d be getting back your best friend

“We’re approaching the base, it has the winter soldier so all agents will be armed, expect 200+” Steve kissed your hand and helped you up “let’s get Barnes back”

—————————————-

You Steve and Natasha made it inside the base and were currently in the control room trying to place where the winter soldier was until a figure came out of the darkness

“Soldier, great to see you again” he spoke towards you “didn’t think you come back to us”

“I’m here for Barnes”

“Oh I know that” he came closer to you so you quickly rotated your arms which caused them to both turn metal

“No need to get hostile, using gifts that hydra gave you against the only one that kept you alive is really insulting”

“Piss off” you grabbed a pistol and quickly shot him in the head, earning a glare from Steve and a smirk from Nat

“Right lets go get loverboy”

——————————————

You all decided that it would be best for the whole team to be there when Bucky was taken out of cryo freeze just incase he was unstable.

You and Steve walked towards the control panel and unlocked the pod he was kept in

“It’ll be okay” Steve whispered and grabbed your hand again, knowing in this moment you needed it.

The ice defrosted and you were left face to face with the man that you once called your husband and to your pleasure he didn’t try and fight you

“Soldier, my name is Y/N Y/L/N I’m here to help you” his eyes seemed to go from cold to worried in a matter of seconds you realised that he probably thought he was being wiped again

“You are no longer hydras asset, You will never see that electric chair again, please come with me” you let go of Steve’s hand and and held it towards Bucky,

After a few moments of just looking at it he held out his human arm and placed his hand in your own.

“You’re safe now Bucky, no one will ever harm you again”

—————————————

*2 years later*

“You’re whipped just admit it Barnes” Sam was teasing Bucky again, nothing out of the regular

“I guess I am, not every man is lucky enough to have a woman like Y/N” Bucky replied, casually pouring himself a glass of water, the whole team froze in their place

Usually Bucky would argue back when he was getting teased by Sam but today he just seemed happier and more relaxed

“Aren’t you a soft beefcake” you spoke and kissed his cheek as you walked past him to get to the fridge

“For you?” He grabbed your hand and spun you around and into his chest “always” he kissed your lips as a round of “Ew” and gagging sounds were made in the kitchen

“Nice to know they didn’t leave PDA in the 40’s” Steve muttered, sipping his coffee.

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statierogers · 7 years ago

Text

Finally - Steve Rogers

Title: Finally

Pairings: Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Steve and (Y/N) flirt with each other, but who is going to take the first step and actually ask the other on a date. (Bucky is playing Cupid)

Words: 2’835

Warnings: none

Genere: fluff

A/N: I haven’t read this over more than once. I feel like there is a lot of Stucky friendship in this. And I needed to write some of it. I miss those two together. As always not from an English speaking country, so excuse my mistakes.

- Katie xx

My Masterlist

Your name: submit What is this?

(Y/N) - your first name

(Y/L/N) - your last name

Steve didn't like being called for missions on Sundays. It felt wrong; even with his unique occupation, Sundays were for working out, chilling and eating. He was just sparing with Bucky when Hill called both of them. Some Ex-Hydra soldiers had broken into an old S.H.I.E.L.D. Storage facility. They could have just sent some of their Agents over there, but they took some hostages. They needed a team that could handle this quickly, quietly and efficiently. Thor, Vision or Tony were out of the question for the job. So Natasha, Bucky, Steve and (Y/N) took the jet out for a spin. If they hurried, they would be back for dinner.

"You should ask Lucy out. She would say yes, you know?" Natasha said to Steve, her back pressed against the side of the building.

Two guards were positioned in front of the facility. Bucky had crouched down behind a few trees a few yards away from the entrance and raised his machine gun at them. He could take them out if he wanted to, but they were still in the stealth part of the mission.

"Oh, that is the girl from the science division, right? Yea, she is pretty; I think she even has a crush on you," Bucky added.

Steve shook his head at his friends. They had been looking for a date for him for weeks. But Steve didn't need that kind of distraction. At least that was what he told himself. But to be honest, he was crushing on another girl.

"I am not going to ask her out," he barked over the coms and threw his shield at a guard.

It only took him a few minutes to take out the guards. Easy enough. (Y/N) next to him laughed. It had taken her a second to catch up with the super-soldier. Steve turned around to the woman and gave her a look. He was doing the whole work over here. Although it wasn't like it exhausted him, still unfair.

"What were you doing? Hanging back?" Steve asked her.

(Y/N) huffed at the blond and strut past him to the door. He did notice her eye roll.

"Not everyone can run as fast as you. And it's not like you even broke a sweat. Not one drop on that pretty face of yours, Captian," she retorted and kicked in the door with her right foot.

Steve couldn't help but admire her. She did something so simple, so elegantly. God, she was beautiful. He lowered his head because of the blush reaching over his cheeks. He knew she meant it as a joke. She was teasing him. It was their thing. Natasha and Bucky called it heavy flirting. But Steve wasn't going to admit to himself that she may want him just as much as he wanted her. He wasn't going to get his hopes up.

"Well, I told you before, you should join Bucky and me more on our morning run. Maybe you would be able to keep up, Darling," Steve answered.

It was usual for him to use pet names on her. They just slipped out, and he didn't want to stop. He had asked before if she would go on a run with him, but that woman hated mornings. He had only asked (Y/N) because he wanted to spend more time with her, even if it was just their morning run. Bucky would've been there as well. None of that mattered to him.

As soon as they entered the facility, they were under gunfire. Steve did react before her. He pulled (Y/N) back against his chest, covered her with his shield and then pulled her behind the corner. She made a surprised noise and looked up at him with big eyes. Steve's throat suddenly felt dry. She was so close to him that he could feel her breath on his face.

"Careful there," he mumbled.

He really felt like kissing her. Being this close to the woman made him forget himself. His duties on this mission were entirely gone. It was just her face, her scent and her body against his that occupied his mind. He felt like he noticed every detail of her face. The shape of her nose, the flecks in her eyes and the curve of her lips. God, those lips.

"Uhm, thanks."

Her voice was just above a whisper and Steve, was sure he felt her heart beating faster against his chest. Steve wouldn't know what he would have done if a particular Wintersolider hadn't come through the door behind them that exact moment. He took the handful of agents out with just a few gunshots. Steve had forgotten about the gunfire. To him, it felt like his whole world had just stopped.

"God, are you done starring hungrily into each other's eyes? I am doing all the work here," Barnes complained and lifted his gun.

(Y/N) seemed to have caught herself, stepped away from him and grabbed her own gun. She didn't seem fazed at all.

"Oh, Buckeroo," she taunted the brunette, "No worries, I would never take your Stevie away from you."

Steve rolled his eyes again. This wasn't the first time his teammates made that joke. He shook his head at the two, who continued bickering.

"Romanov, are you in position?" Steve asked through the comms.

Natasha was going to drop down from the roof, and Bucky was covering them. (Y/N) and Steve were just the distractions. Cap had chosen those positions on purpose. He liked having her near in missions. So he could keep an eye on her. He knew she could take care of herself. She was a capable woman and an Avenger, but Steve just felt better when she was next to him. So he could always jump in if she was in danger. It was just better for the old man's heart.

"Yea," she said and then added," By the way, why not? Why don't you ask her out? You haven't even kissed anyone since you came out of the ice. Well, except me. That one time."

Steve heard Bucky and (Y/N) laugh at him over the Coms. They were way ahead and dodged the agent's bullets, while Steve took a second to catch up. Cap did want to kiss someone. He nearly did just then, if he wasn't interrupted.

°°°

"Okay, but how about Miranda. She is cute," Natasha tried further as she flew the jet home.

Bucky froze at Tasha's comment. Steve vaguely remembered the girl at the front desk. Dark hair and pretty eyes. But nothing in comparison to (Y/N). Next to her, Miranda was just another face. But that wasn't why he had to stifle a laugh. He also remembered Bucky telling him about a girl from the front desk he had recently slept with.

"Well, good choice. If it weren't for the fact that Bucky slept with her about a week ago," Steve told Romanov.

Not without throwing a look in his friend's direction. Bucky just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a cheeky smile. Bucky hadn't really changed over time. Well, he had his demons and a lot of blood on his hands, but when it came to women, Bucky was still stuck in the '40s. He flirted with everyone, even with Romanov and (Y/N). It was his natural charm.

"How about (Y/N)?" Bucky asked a split second later.

It was Steves turn to stop Moving. Was it this obvious? Steve twisted around in his seat and looked back at the girl, who was currently tending to a hostage in the back of the plane. She didn't seem to have followed their conversation, or if (Y/N) heard them, she didn't show it. She gave the terrified woman a comforting smile as she wrapped her arm in a bandage. The smile Steve loved. It was so soft. And again, he couldn't help himself but smile as well. Steve must have zoned out while staring at her because Bucky cleared his throat to catch his attention.

"What about her?" Steve tried to act cool and slowly turned forward again.

Natasha laughed, and James shook his head. Rogers did never tell anyone about his crush. He didn't need his teams teasing. They would make fun of him, and then one of them would let it slip to her by accident. They weren't really good at being quiet.

"C'mon Cap. We're not blind," Natasha started, "you look at her as if you have never seen a woman before."

She was right. Steve never had the guts to tell her or ask her if she wanted to go out with him. He was Captain America; he could take out a whole army of robots, but he was terrified of asking her on a date.

"Oh, and there is that heavy flirting you guys do. I can cut that tension with a knife," Bucky added casually.

Steve shook his head violently. He didn't even smile at Buckys weird gesture that imitated that knife cutting the air.

"I don't know what to tell you guys. I just don't know how to ask her. She is so out of my league," Steve sighed.

He ruffled his hand through his hair. His friends noticed his distress even more.

"Just ask her. You are Captain America. No girl is out of your league. That is basically impossible," Bucky added.

Sometimes Steve thought that their situation hadn't changed a bit. Steve was still a hopeless cause, and Bucky still gave him advice. There he was, leaning against the back of Steves and Natasha's chair, looking calm as ever. He had never had problems with girls. It was against his nature. Bucky could charm everyone's pants off if he wanted. And Steve? He was Captain America, but inside he was still just Steve Rogers, the kid from Brooklyn. Steve nodded at his friend's statement. For him, this conversation was over, but Bucky kept staring at him expectantly.

"What? Like now?" Steve asked, slightly shocked.

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. This seemed to be logical. Well, Bucky would ask any girl out in any situation. Like that one time in Germany. That was awkward for anyone around.

"Yea, of course now. You are totally gonna chicken out if you aren't asking her now," Bucky explained.

He was very right about that. Steve always chickened out. He was already looking for an excuse to make up in his head.

"Don't you dare. This moment is as good as any," Bucky added as he saw Steve's face.

His friend knew him better than he'd liked. It wasn't helpful in situations like this. Steve still didn't move, but his eyes were glancing between (Y/N) and Bucky.

"Go Now. Or I'll make you, Punk," Bucky said and raised his hand to point in her direction.

Wow, he would be a good Dad. Steve felt like he would get into big trouble if he didn't move now. So reluctantly, he got out of his chair. He stepped past Bucky, who patted him on the shoulder. As soon as Steve took five steps away, Bucky dropped in Steves chair with a grunt. Steve didn't have to move much closer to the girl he was looking for. She was currently crouched down next to a woman giving her tea. And Steve did watch her for a second, with a smile on his lips. She excused herself when she spotted him and met Steve.

"Cap, how can I help you?" she asked with hands propped on her hips.

A smile covered her lips, and Steve felt like melting. His heartbeat had picked up by just being near her.

"Can I speak to you for a second?" he wanted to know.

She nodded, and Steve led her around a corner, where they were out of ear and eyeshot. He didn't feel like letting Bucky and Nat listen in on his conversation. He knew it would be awkward and not smooth at all, and no one needed to see that. A worried look crossed his face, and he lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Steve, are you okay? You look uncomfortable," she said and tried looking into his eyes.

Steve nodded and took one deep breath. He lifted his eyes and was met with hers. They took him in, and he felt like he was swimming in a pool of (Y/E/C).

"Listen (Y/N)… I wanted to know if you already had plans tomorrow night," he asked.

To his surprise, he sounded pretty casual. But his inside felt like going up in flames. At first, she seemed confused, but a look of realisation slowly covered her face and then a smile.

"Are you asking me on a date, Cap?" she whispered.

Steves' heart did a little jump at the way she said his nickname. It did always sound different out of her mouth. It felt special when she said it.

"Yes, I have been trying for a while. It just seems like I am not that brave when…," he began.

"Finally. Took you long enough" (Y/N) sighed, "I thought my flirting was obvious enough. I was slowly running out of ideas."

She interrupted him without shame. And Steve didn't even realise what she had just said.

"Yes...," he said, "No, wait? What?"

It was his turn to be utterly confused. Did (Y/N) just say what he thought she said? She waited for him to ask? Did she know? She chuckled at his expression, dropped her head and shook it slightly. She seemed to laugh at his oblivion to things like this. She lifted her head again and stepped closer.

"God, Captain America can fight five agents at once, plan battle strategies and calculate the weirdest angles to throw his shield and actually hit something. But when it comes to women, you really suck," she told him and took another step closer.

Steve frowned. He wasn't sure if that was meant to offend him. He still put his hands to his hips.

"Language," he let the warning slip.

She giggled at him, and even Steve cracked a smile. It was hard for him to form clear thoughts with her just a few inched away from him. She had her head tilted up to look at him.

"Steve, I've basically had a crush on you since the day we met," she mumbled now.

It was her turn to be embarrassed now, with her cheeks covered in a soft blush. Steve gave her a nervous smile. She had shyly placed her palms on his chest. Steve was sure she must have felt his heartbeat. Because it felt like it was about to break through his ribcage.

"Really?" he asked, then unsure.

He couldn't help but ask. He knew she wasn't messing with him, but this felt really surreal. She chuckled again.

"Yea, really," she confirmed.

Another nervous laugh came out of his mouth. He wasn't sure what to do. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to kiss (Y/N). Taste that beautiful smile of hers.

"This is great… I mean…," he stuttered now.

"Steve?" she interrupted him.

He felt like she stepped even closer to him. Her smell was intoxicating. It was like it had him in a trance. So he just stared into her eyes.

"Hmm?" he hummed.

He felt incompetent to say another word. His throat to dry, and his thoughts too jumbled.

"Just kiss me."

She did sound like she took pity on him. Like she tried helping him with the next step. And Steve did as he was told. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. And then, finally, he placed his lips on her. His frame was wrapped entirely around her, and she seemed so small in his arms.

"Guys, we're about to land. (Y/N), Nat needs you to…," Bucky talked before he rounded the corner.

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw the two in an embrace. Bucky really had to stop interrupting them in their moments. As soon as they heard him, they jumped away from each other. A smug grin covered his face. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and raised his eyebrows at them. Steve was slightly uncomfortable, but (Y/N) pointed at Bucky with furrowed eyebrows.

"Not a word Buckeroo," she said and strutted past him.

Steve scratched his neck. Bucky laughed at his state. The Supersoldiers cheeks tinted pink and his hair a mess, and he gave him an awkward smile.

"Well, Punk. I still got it. Told you, you should just ask. Didn't expect to find you making out over here by the parachutes," Bucky said and threw an arm around his broad-shouldered friend.

Steve rolled his eyes at the brunette but let him lead him back to the pilot seat. Still, a smile covered his face at the thought of kissing (Y/N).

"Jerk," Steve couldn't help but throw in Barnes' direction.

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