#he winds up giving them to Gia more often than not

[patriamrealm]

Irida's foot wraps gave me a curious thought, would the clan's ever think to give their pokemon clothes or accessories?

Yes and no. If the pokemon likes dressing up in some way then the clans will dress them up! If the pokemon does not like it they don't.

For example, Gia Ingo's Gliscor loves putting things on, stealing Ingo's hat and coat just to put them on. While Kiki, Melli's Skuntank, will freeze and be all dramatic with anything put on him.

[caramelcal]

Songwriting and Fake Dating {3}

Word Count: 2.2k

a/n: hey guys! hope you all enjoy this one as you enjoyed the last one...

this is dedicated to charlie’s mustache. rip :(

also thanks to the person who originally requested this, legend behavior hahah :) hope you guys are having a wonderful night lovelies x 

disclaimer: I do not condone the use of my work/writing without my permission. The only place this has been posted is on my (rosemoonmist) tumblr account. This has not been posted on any other platform either. If you see any plagiarism of my work please let me know! <3 People work hard on their fics, so don’t steal them ty.

taglist:@gia-kerks​ @phantompogues​ @thesweetestsinner​ @honeyheartzz​ @ifilwtmfc​ @hoechx​ @merceret​ @katrin-okay​ @diosa75​

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Another line is drawn right through the words he tried to write. Luke wants to throw his notebook at the wall. He can’t think, or write, the words just aren’t coming to him anymore. He claws at his hair as if pulling on the strands will allow his brain to breathe and come up with the lyrics he had been trying to write for the past two hours. It used to be so easy but he knows why it isn’t working. It wasn’t rocket science.

The words came easy when he was with you, maybe it was the excitement of having someone to write with, or maybe it was the emotions that you both pulled from. It just wasn’t the same anymore. It’s almost like you were the inspiration, the lyrics, and now that you were no longer there, the lyrics weren’t either. Even if you guys didn’t know each other that long and you weren’t the closest, you guys seemed to click and you wrote so much better with each other.

Maybe he just needs a breather. That’s what Luke banks on, that once he goes outside and caught wind of the fresh air, the words will come back. He places down his guitar and his pen and sets out for outside.

Before long, he finds himself sitting on the back porch, one knee up next to his chest and the other splayed in front of him. His eyes are trained upon the dark sky, watching the stars. He barely hears the quiet footsteps that approach him but he sees them sit down beside him, knees up to their chest, hugging them.

“Carrie,” Luke acknowledges, not even looking towards his step-sister when he breaks the silence between the two.

“Luke.”

They fall back into another silence for a few moments, simply watching the stars together. However, Luke’s attention isn’t really on the stars anymore as he thinks about the girl beside him. He remembered when his mom first told him that she was getting remarried and that he was going to get a step-sister. He remembers when they met, and Carrie was just a little too entitled for his taste, and Luke was a little too “street” for hers. They didn’t exactly get off on the best foot, and there were times that there was still some friction in their relationship which certainly wasn’t helped when Luke joined Julie and the Phantoms, but there were times that they were okay; when they shared a sibling bond.

It was hard for both of them to get used to each other, and their parents getting married. For Luke, it had been just him and his mom for a while, so he couldn’t help but feel apprehensive for this new life, not only for him to have a new step-dad and step-sister, but in case this man hurt his mom too. Yet, for Carrie it was different, it had always just been her and Trevor after her mom died during labor. She didn’t know what it was like having a mom, and she didn’t know if she wanted it. Arguably, she was scared; scared that her dad would no longer have time for her and would be spending it all with Emily but that definitely wasn’t the case.

Actually, everything worked out quite well, and soon enough Luke and Emily were moving into the Wilson’s household. It was a strange experience for Luke like he was invited into a whole other world. They came from very different backgrounds, Luke and Emily had never been well off, but Carrie never had to worry about not being able to pay the bills or anything to do with that, so their personalities were quite different. Yet, over the past few weeks, they had become significantly closer and spent more time talking to each other. Luke would show Carrie the songs you guys wrote, and Carrie would show Luke the choreography that you guys had been working on.

They knew exactly why they had become closer, they weren’t stupid. It was all because of you, you were their common ground. You brought the two siblings together.

“You miss her,” Luke comments, breaking the everlasting silence as he glances over at his sister. She isn’t facing the sky anymore and is instead looking down at her legs. It’s been two weeks since you and Carrie fought, where Carrie kicked you out of Dirty Candy, and she hadn’t spoken to you since.

Carrie is quiet for a few moments, almost as if she is battling herself on whether or not she should answer Luke, but she does, quietly, “Of course I do, she’s my best friend.”

A silence fills the air yet again, and Luke doesn’t know whether or not to answer Carrie. The girl has never actually opened up to him before, so for her to tell him that she was missing you was something that was new territory for the both of them. He knew that she missed you, you would have to be insane not to and he was pretty sure this was the longest that Carrie had ever gone without talking to you, so it was like life had been shifted entirely.

“You miss her too,” It’s a simple statement that Carrie makes, but it makes Luke sigh. He does, of course he does. He can’t even write without you.

“She won’t pick up my calls,” Luke says, ducking his head down as he traces the patterns on the ground of the porch. At this rate, he’s probably called you like twenty times in the last week but he always gets sent to voicemail. He knows it’s intentional, but every time he picks up his phone and presses the dial button, there’s a part that hopes you’ll pick up; that you’ll come over and wrote songs with him.

“I won’t pick up hers either,” Carrie admits, biting her lip as she continues to watch the sky, “The dirty candy girls have been bashing her, for putting the band in second place. I just want to scream at them to stop.”

“You should, it isn’t y/n’s fault. She was on her way to the studio that day but I dragged her up to my room. She lost her best friend for just helping me out with a dumb song.”

Carrie knows that Luke feels guilt for all of this. All three of them are miserable without each other and they all know it. Yet, they’re all filled with too much pride to apologize, or even to pick up one another’s calls. They know that they can’t go on like this, because as it goes on they all just feel worse and worse, but no one seems willing to make the first move.

“She always goes out her way to help others, huh?” Carrie says, reminiscing on the number of people that you have helped in the time that you guys have been friends. She remembers the way you give the Dirty Candy girls your water and snacks when they forgot theirs, meaning that you would often to without, helping old people cross the street and just being generally helpful.

You were always so eager to help anyone and everyone, no matter who it was, and that was something that Carrie always admired about you, “Most helpful person I know.”

After Luke’s statement, they are enveloped in another silence, both watching the sky peacefully before a shooting star flies overhead. They don’t speak of it, simply enjoying one another’s company which isn’t something they often find themselves doing. Deep down, they both like each other’s company, and each other, but they never say anything, both too stubborn to do so.

After a few more minutes, Luke gets up, lightly patting his sister on the shoulder, “You should answer her calls, Car.”

. . .

Being a waitress was actually surprisingly fun for you. Normally, you enjoyed serving customers, interacting with people and it was a way to get some extra money. However, right now you wanted nothing less than to be out of here, despite having hours left of your shift; in fact, you had just started.

Normally, customers were respectful and nice, but this one...this one was testing your limits. What made it worse, was that it was none other than Kayla, Carrie’s replace best friend for you and she was shouting, trying to embarrass you in front of not only the customers but in front of your colleagues as well. She’s with a few other friends, but Carrie isn’t there.

Passing you a smirk, she wipes her hand across the table, purposefully making the cutlery drop, “Pick it up, waitress.”

The rest of her group snicker as you try to hold the embarrassed blush that rises to your face. Closing your eyes momentarily, you sigh, “Kayla, I know I haven’t been the best band member but-”

“I don’t think you get it, y/n,” Kayla cuts you off, standing up and walking right in front of you, “Carrie has already told you that you’re done. I hope you would at least have a bit of dignity and to accept that instead of coming begging to me after Carrie didn’t pick up your calls.”

After she says that, Carrie obnoxiously chews on her gum, the other girls snickering. Looking around at them, their eyes on you as they laughed let you clearly know that you were no longer friends with any of the Dirty Candy girls. They were only friends with you to get in with Carrie and it makes you feel dumb that you didn’t realize that beforehand.

“Pathetic,” Kayla spits, looking up and down at the sight of your ducked head.

“Hey, watch it would you Kayla? I think you forget that even though Carrie is annoyed at y/n right now, as soon as she gets over that y/n will be right where she belongs in Dirty Candy again and as Carrie’s best friend,” Julie speaks up from the booth beside them, eyes squinting at the girl, “I think you’re letting this all go to your head too much.”

“You have no idea what Carrie is like, Julie. Plus, even if you told her that I was being a bitch to y/n she won’t listen to you,” Kayla snorts, rolling her eyes at the other girl.

“She’ll listen to her brother though, and we all know that he’ll believe me over you,” Julie responds sassily, Alex and Reggie who were beside her sharing glances. Often, they didn’t like to get involved in drama, and Julie didn’t either but just hearing how these girls were treating you made them feel horrible.

“Whatever,” Kayla says, rolling her eyes again before standing up, “Let's go girls, there seems to be a loser convention going on in here right now.”

Kayla doesn’t seem to be embarrassed, but you know well enough that she is getting out of there before she shows it. The girls are quick to follow behind her, all brushing you off and acting better than you as they pass.

Yet, you don’t pay attention to them for long as you turn towards the girl, giving her a small smile, “Thanks, Julie.”

“No problem, y/n,” Julie smiles, turning her head towards you sweetly. Noticing Alex and Reggie looking at you, you give them a shy wave and a smile before your attention is turned back towards Julie, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Of course, what’s up?” You’re prepared to take Julie’s order, considering that is what you expected her to want you to do but what she says next surprises you.

“Don’t be too hard on Luke, he really didn’t mean to get in between you and Carrie. And we just wanted to say that even if you don’t get back in with Dirty Candy, our band will always be open for you.”

. . .

It’s much later in the night, the café empty apart from you, humming softly a tune from a song you can’t remember the name of. You’re dancing a little as you give the tables one last wipe down before making your way behind the counter again. It was your turn to lock up for the night, the other waitresses already away home but you actually liked it when it was like this.

You didn’t even have the lights on as you took of your small apron-like thing and hung it up. Reaching for the keys, you stop when you hear the bell ringing, signaling that someone had entered the shop. Could they not read the closed sign?

“Sorry, we’re closed right now-” You say, whirling around and meeting hazel eyes, voice cutting off when you saw who was standing there. Clearing your throat, you shift awkwardly between two feet, “Luke.”

“Hey y/n,” Luke says softly, his hair is messy under his navy colored beanie, but you know you can’t talk, yours probably looks a lot worse. He takes a step towards you before speaking again, his voice still soft, “We need to talk.”

[liahswriting]

Lovesick Six and a Murderous Robot Boyfriend

Relationship(s): Revenant/original female character, Wraith/original female character, Mirage/original female character, Bloodhound/original female character, Octane/original female character, Crypto/original female character, Loba/original female character

Words: 8,411

Warnings: None

Summary: The new girl is very pretty and she's got most of the men (and some of the women) pining for her. Problem is, she's got her eyes set on a certain simulacrum.

Pretty girls can fight. Pretty girls can be tough. Pretty girls can be scary and threatening. Just because Gia was pretty didn't mean she didn't belong in the Games. I mean, Loba was almost perfect in every physical way and yet she knew her way around a pistol. Che had a cute face and yet her teams almost always were Champion. And of course Elliott was downright the most handsome man in the Games and yet he could wipe a team if need be. Being attractive didn't mean you were weak. In fact, Gia being attractive gave her an advantage to the game. After all, how could a pretty girl like her be any trouble? You think you're safe because look how cute she is, what is she gonna do to you? And then all of a sudden you're eating dirt because she shoved a wingman up your ass and annihilated you.

Gia's origins are unknown to the rest of the Legends. She showed up one day unexpectedly and won Champion that same afternoon. Her kit and abilities brought a whole new playstyle to the Games: a playstyle that both terrified and intrigued the others. Her enhanced vision gave her every input she needed to weaken your team's defenses. She knew exactly whose health was hanging on by a thread, giving her the ultimate advantage to breaking your team apart and dwindling your numbers until you were way beyond outmatched. The Legends assumed she had some sort of black market enhancement done to her eyes given the fact that they were far from being normal. How she managed to slip through the Apex recruitment with her fiercely white irises was beyond everyone. I mean, come on! The girl's eyes were as white as snow all around! The only color to them was a very faint, needle-thin black line separating her sclera from her iris. Everything else was pure white. Even her pupil. Crypto was already walking on thin ice with his illegal body enhancements. The only reason no one actually paid much attention to it was simply because his modifications didn't directly impact his abilities in the arena. But Gia was a whole other story.

Typically, the Legends expect Silva to dive head first into a fire fight with his stim. Or perhaps they'll see Crypto's drone following them around. And on occasion a team will back out of a fight to heal up and end up running into another team holding a choke point with Wattson's electric fences. All of this was expected. And then Gia came along and now every Legend that wasn't on her team was afraid of her tactical EMP that disabled all enemy primary weapons. You could pin her team down and you think you're gonna win, and then all of a sudden your Devotion stops all functionality and now you have to rely on your Alternator with 20 shots left in the chamber.

As if that wasn't enough of a fright, instead of Makoa's air strike landing on your head or Bloodhound storming up behind you faster than humanly possible, Gia's big trick messed with your mind and your vision. In the blink of an eye, you are no longer able to discern who is teammate and who is enemy. And it's not as simple to just say "Wraith is not on my team. I need to shoot her" because the enemy Wraith you're staring down through a 4x-8x will suddenly appear as your friendly Pathfinder and your friendly Pathfinder will suddenly appear as the enemy Wraith. It was more likely to die via friendly fire than enemy fire when Gia's ultimate activated.

The only reprieve the other Legends got was finding out that she was insanely friendly. Thank god too because no one needed another Dr. Nox or another Revenant on their team. Gia was friendly with everyone she interacted with. Despite her scary demeanor, she got along rather excellently with the other Legends. And that's when most of the trouble started.

It all started off as friendly taunts. Elliott took the first step and made a move on her immediately. After all, she's beautiful, he's beautiful, it only made sense for the two of them to date. They could be the ultimate power couple. Their two beautiful faces displayed up high on the Champion banners. It was a dream. But she politely shut him down. Still, he tried again. And she laughed and played along. "My my, Mr. Witt. Aren't you the massive charmer!" This caught the attention of the daredevil himself and he attempted to get under Elliott's skin by literally sliding by them in the arena and dropping the biggest pickup line she's ever heard. "Aye, amiga. Thanks for brightening up the place with your beautiful face." and then he put a couple bullets in Witt's stomach. Silva's team went down immediately for that stunt and Elliott was able to be picked back up, but his idea worked. Elliott was obviously mad at the green-haired adrenaline junkie after the game for trying to steal "his girl" but it was all in good fun when she turned him down too. Bloodhound soon was seen at her side more often than not. He found her skills fascinating and her air of mystery perfectly matched his own. They had sort of an unspoken bond between them, connected solely on the fact that both of their lives were an enigma. Everyone asked her about herself but she never opened up. When it was just her and Bloodhound, neither one even dared to ask the other about their past. It was comforting being able to sit with someone and not have to worry about prying curiosities. Bloodhound attempted to flirt; there was lots of hand touches and close sitting. Yet she turned him down too.

After that it became an unofficial competition between the three of them to see who could win her over, which lead to a lot of showing off and friendly banter. Elliott would throw pickup line after pickup line at her. Silva did crazy stunts to impress her. Bloodhound brought her tea every morning. And yet nothing ever came of it. Gia would play along every now and again but at the end of the day she made it clear she was just playing. Still didn't stop the men from trying.

And then Loba joined the crowd. And boy oh boy was that a surprise. The chick was into chicks! "Did you clowns ever stop and think that maybe you don't have the right parts she's looking for?" Loba taunted them. But she was right, of course. None of the men asked Gia if she was even straight. But it was still all laughs and good times regardless if she ever found an interest in them. Loba had other ideas in mind. She was thoroughly convinced that Gia was full on gay, looking to get it on with another girl. And Loba believed she was just the girl to get her rocks off. Loba was much more blunt than the men ever were in their affection. That night while all the Legends were winding down with some drinks and enjoying the royalties they made from the recent Game, Loba approached Gia and asked her if she would like to join the seductive thief in a private area away from the loud crowd. When she agreed, the three men that had been pining for her started to believe Loba was right all along. Loba and Gia were gonna do it! Loba was gonna fuck the new girl before they were! As much as Elliott enjoyed the thoughts that put into his mind (and trust me, he enjoyed them a lot), he was upset that all of his attempts had been for naught.

Loba and Gia had disappeared for hours and the three men all huddle together in somber at their ultimate defeat. Elliott poured several rounds of drinks for them in solidarity and they cheered a farewell to their playful challenge. It was Gia 's friendly "What's wrong, boys?" that gathered their attention mid-mope. Silva was just about to tell her of their shallow depression when he spotted Loba stiffly walking up to the bar for another drink with a pout on her face. The thief looked just as pristine as when she and Gia disappeared. Not a single wrinkle in her clothes nor a thread of hair out of place in its braids. So she was wrong!

"Nada, bonita. We're all good here!" he happily told her and shot back what was left of his current drink. "Right, guys?" he nudged them with a big 'ole grin on his face. Neither of them picked up on his hints but they agreed with him anyway. She didn't buy it for one second and got another round for them to put a smile on their faces. A single, friendly peck to each of their cheeks is what really solidified their grins and she walked off, happy to have made them smile. When Loba approached them after Gia walked away, Silva was quick to ask the slumping woman what went on behind closed doors.

"I was wrong." she admitted pitifully. "She turned me down too."

"So the competition is back on?" Elliott questioned and all four of them agreed. And thus their antics continued: Elliott flirted, Silva showed off, Bloodhound gifted things, and Loba seduced. None of it worked in the slightest. But Gia would laugh it off and let her touches linger just that fraction of a second longer that made them all question their sanity. If they were teamed up with her, they'd give her the items she requested. If she was hungry, they got her food. If she was feeling unwell, they took care of her until she was better.

"Like lost puppies." Anita commented to the four of them as she watched them all practically drool at the sight of Gia on the complete opposite end of the room. She seemed unaware of their presence but they knew she knew they were there. She sat with Makoa and Pathfinder, all three of them happily chatting with each other without a care in the world. Makoa's big belly laughs rang in everyone's ears.

"She's totally into me, I can tell." Elliott stated matter-of-factly.

"As if." Loba retorted.

"Did'cha ever think that maybe she got someone already?" Che asked with a smirk. "Some of us got loved ones back home."

"I doubt it, amiga. She would've told us if she did." said Silva.

"Maybe she didn't want to tell you. Seems like she doesn't tell anyone anything about herself. For all you know, she could have a husband, or wife, and several kids back on her home planet." Anita commented. The latter part of her sentence fell on deaf ears as the four love-sick Legends stared in Gia's direction when she laughed at something either Pathfinder or Makoa said. Her laugh was like music to their ears. Anita rolled her eyes towards Che and the other simply shook her head.

"Look at her! She's absolutely gor-gor-gorg... pretty! We're totally comp-compat... made for each other!"

"If we're going off looks alone, surely there are better suitors than you." Loba told Elliott with a smirk.

"Hey now, that's quite rude!"

"Gia is a strong fighter. Our skills are equally matched. Perhaps she's not looking for a superficial partner at all."

"All of you are a hack." Crypto's voice surprised everyone. He stood just off to the side, watching them with a bored expression on his face. Hands in his pockets, as is his usual stance, he eyed all four of them down.

"Come on! Don't try and tell us you don't think she's muy caliente."

"She is very beautiful," Crypto agreed. "and you are very desperate."

"So you are not in any way attracted to her." Loba stated rather than asked. She leaned forward, chin on her knuckles, and pressed him.

"I never said that."

"So you think about her."

"I never said that either."

"Say what you want, but until she tells me to back off I'm not going anywhere."

"And neither am I!" Elliott responded rather quickly -and defensively.

"That makes three of us." said Silva.

"Four."

"Fine. Make it five."

"I can't believe this." Che grumbled.

Gia found Crypto unexpectedly by her side more and more. He was rather reserved and his attempts at flirting were down right embarrassing. She tried not to show pity for him. The poor guy probably hadn't ever touched a boob before. She assumed him like Elliot, Silva, Bloodhound, and Loba and went along with whatever he said. She never asked much from Crypto and he was thankful for that. He had no idea how to woo her. He knew absolutely nothing about her, but who was he to ask her about her past if he wasn't willing to exchange an equal value? She was pretty and she was talented, so he tried to play to those strengths. He complimented her when she dolled up and he praised her when her team won Champion. Very rarely was he ever paired up with her so he often admired her through his scopes. He assumed to himself that he could impress her if he won Champion, so he tried his best to wipe the floor with any enemy teams he came across. More often than not, her team would demolish his so he would side step her if he spotted her. However, whenever Caustic or Revenant were on his team, there was no room for niceties and they went in with guns blazing whether he liked it or not. Caustic would throw his gas traps at them, or Revenant would silence them, and then suddenly both teams were at war with each other.

Just last week, Revenant went charging in at Gia, Bloodhound, and Wattson. He silenced their abilities, giving Revenant an easy target on the blonde girl before she could even defend their position with her electric fences. Wattson went down like a sack of bricks. And then Wraith went charging in on Bloodhound. She managed to break the hunter's shields before Gia came to her teammate's rescue and knocked the voidwalker to the ground with a few well-placed 301 shots. Crypto attempted to help his team by going in with his drone and EMP-ing the two enemies still standing. With their abilities still silenced, Gia was unable to fight back at the same caliber and Revenant took his EVA and pulled the trigger three times in Gia's chest. She collapsed to the ground with her knockdown shield aimed directly at the robot.

"Nothing personal, girlie." he chuckled as he tried to show off and finish her. He got interrupted when Bloodhound came around the corner and shot his hopped-up Wingman into the simulacrum's skull. Revenant went down as well. That left Crypto versus Bloodhound. Crypto was still fully shielded as opposed to Bloodhound. However, Crypto was armed with a 45 while his opponent had a Wingman with a skull-piercer on it. Even if Crypto landed all of his shots, it would only take three from the hunter to fully knock him. And he did indeed get knocked. His gold knockdown shield was the only thing that kept his team from being spawned out of the arena and back onto the dropship. Bloodhound knows Crypto's entire team was down so he was not at all worried about being shot in the back as he picked up both Gia and Wattson. Gia didn't waste any time healing and instead finished off Revenant with a big fucking smile on her beautiful lips.

"It's not personal, Rev." she echoed back at him and followed it up with a knee thrusted into the simulacrum's throat and then a low roundhouse kick to the side of his skull. Revenant disappeared, his banner taking his place. Meanwhile, Bloodhound turned to Crypto and attempted to finish him off as well. The last thing Crypto saw was the hunter's battle axe being thrown at his head. And then he and Wraith were standing next to Revenant on the dropship while the on-ship medics came to tend to their wounds. Crypto ignored them, instead turning all of his focus towards the displays following the remaining teams in the arena. One monitor focused on the general rotation of the arena. Another showcased the team that killed his. Crypto's eyes followed Gia's face on the display. She was quick to heal up and then lead her team towards the ring.

The rest of the game was long-lived. Many teams put up a good fight with each other. Ultimately, the best team had to win and that team was of Lifeline, Octane, and Gibralter. Gia's team came second. As skilled as she was, going against Lifeline was a difficult feat. Especially when Gibralter's shield dome gave the team ample cover for a quick pick-up. Not to mention the fact that Silva was nearly resistant to pain and was able to recover without the use of meds once he was picked up. A good heal will almost always out fight heavy damage. Once all the teams made it back onto the ship, Crypto approached Gia. "Good fight." he simply said. She smiled at him and returned the sentiment with a peck to his cheek. Crypto felt his face grow hot and he heard a snicker beside him. He found Loba, Bloodhound, Silva, and Elliott watching him with dopey smiles. Loba crossed her arms and eyed him in a way that meant she told him so. He ignored them in favor of getting patched up the rest of the way by the ship medics.

"You may have won this time, little girl, but I'd watch my back if I were you." Revenant threatened Gia at the other end of the ship. He bent down to her level and stared right into her eyes. But she didn't shy away from the simulacrum's threatening advances.

"The only thing I'll be watching is a replay of me finishing you." she shot at him. He simply returned her remark with a deep, throaty sound and then he stalked off.

That night, Elliott threw a small after-party at his place. There were drinks aplenty, more food to go around than anyone could think of, and of course the Champion squad. All complete with Silva begging to do some party tricks and doing them anyway regardless of how Elliott responded. Not as if Elliott would say no to his friend anyway. Everyone came out to the party. Even Dr. Nox and Revenant who hardly ever show their faces when not in the arena. Still, they kept to themselves and only participated when coaxed. Well, at least Dr. Nox did. Revenant just stalked everyone as per usual.

Gia tried to make rounds with everyone but it was becoming difficult with five of the Legends begging for her attention. Silva wanted her to watch him light himself on fire. Which he did and she watched on like she promised. "One of these days you're gonna get yourself killed, love." she said to him as she patted down the last of the flames burning away at his shorts.

"As if Death could catch me, chica bonita."

"Promise me you'll live to see tomorrow so we can get lunch."

"Absolutamente!" he grinned from ear to ear and then she walked off to sit and talk with Anita and Che. "She wants me." he said to Elliot. The latter simply rolled his eyes.

"She only said that because she doesn't want to watch you kill yourself tonight."

"She so wants me."

Gia chatted with the two women. Gia congratulated Che on her win today and the medic praised her back with a statement of her skill. "A couple close calls." the woman had said and Gia nodded in agreement.

"A toast to our Champion!" Anita held her glass in the air and the other two women clinked theirs together and took a large gulp of their drinks.

"Let's hang out this week. Go do something fun. My treat, of course as a present for our lovely Champion here." Gia offered the two women.

"I'm in the mood for a nice massage!" chirped said Champion. "It hurts having to carry 'round these children all the time." This made the other two laugh heartedly.

"I swear, some of these kids want to get hurt." commented Anita.

"Sounds an awful lot like those five over there." Gia pointed to the group huddled together and watching her.

"They just tryna impress ya. Problem is they don't know when to quit it."

"I think it's cute."

"Do ya like any of them?" Che asked and Gia sat back and thought about it for a second.

"They're certainly cute. And it's funny watching them flirt. But it's all just fun and games."

"You seeing anybody? They won't stop unless you tell them you're taken." said Anita matter-of-factly. She took another gulp of her drink.

"They don't need to stop. It's nothing serious. No one's getting hurt and I've already told them no so it's not like I'm leading them on. Let them dream a little."

"As long as ya okay with it."

"I am." she responded. "I'm also hungry. Be right back." she told the women and got up to grab some food that was piled up on a table. There was so much food here but she wouldn't be surprised if it all got eaten anyway. There were some hungry Legends here and -she's not going to name names- some of them can absolutely pack it away. Silva didn't count, however, because his metabolism was way faster than normal so it's never a surprise to see the green-haired junkie go up for fourths or even fifths. Gia grabbed a plate and filled it with foods that appealed to her. Nothing fancy but just interesting enough to get doubles of. As she was making her way back to Che and Anita, she spotted Wraith sitting alone and moping. Gia detoured over there and took a seat opposite of the woman.

"You doing okay?" she asked, making Wraith look up at her and force a smile.

"Yeah, I'm good."

"You sure? I didn't hit you too hard out there today, did I?" Gia attempted to lighten to mood. It worked to a degree; Wraith cracked a more genuine smile and gave a short chuckle.

"You got some good shots on me but that was pure luck." she said. "Good game today, by the way."

"You too. Do you wanna talk about what's bothering you? I'm all ears."

"Thanks but I'll be fine. It's nothing serious."

"Come find me if you ever need a shoulder." Gia offered the woman and was gifted a nod with a bigger smile in response. Gia placed a gentle hand against Wraith's cheek. "Smile for me some more. You've got a beautiful smile." she said and then got up and walked away.

"You don't think Wraith's into Gia too, do you?" Elliott asked the group as they all watched the exchange happen between said women. His eyes followed Gia for a moment as she walked away and then focused on the other. Even though Wraith looked away from the room, he could see her blushing furiously. And she tentatively placed a hand against the same cheek Gia did. Oh, she definitely had it bad for her.

"I wouldn't be surprised. I've caught her staring at my ass on more than one occasion." Loba snorted.

"Gia and Wraith aren't seeing each other already, are they?" Crypto asked everyone as if they had any more answers on her love life than he did. As predicted, everyone else shrugged or didn't answer at all. Elliott went back to watching Wraith's behavior. Everything that just happened in the last 10 seconds told him that Wraith hadn't expected Gia to show her that type of affection. If she's blushing that bad from a single touch, then that means Wraith is crushing real hard. She didn't act like that was a normal occurrence between the two of them. As if she could read Elliot's mind, Wraith turned her attention to the group of five that had been watching her. Elliott waved his hand over to her, silently telling her to join them. Wraith did a double take, making sure he was in fact motioning to her and when she realized he was, she made her way over to them.

"Aye, you into Gia?" Silva got right to the point and put Wraith on the spot. She sputtered.

"What? No. What makes you think that?"

"You do not have to lie." Bloodhound calmed her. "She is the reason we're all here." he motioned to the group.

"She's just a friend!" Wraith was quick to defend. "I mean she's pretty and all but nothing would ever be between us."

"So you admit you're into her." Loba accused and Wraith went silent. She blushed again.

"I mean, she's nice. And pretty. And she smells good. But so what."

"Listen, no one's poking fun at you. We all like her." Elliott came to her rescue.

"Yeah and we've got a competition going to see who she likes more!" said Silva.

"Why?"

"Because it's fun! And because we can hit on her without pressuring her to return the favor."

"So she knows you've all placed bets on her?" Wraith assumed questionably making the others stiffen and look to each other.

"Well." Crypto started. "She doesn't know about the competition but she knows we all are attracted to her."

"Isn't that kind of, I don't know, scummy?"

"We're not placing actual bets on her." Loba defended.

"Yeah it's just all bragging rights at the end of the day if one of us wins her over." said Elliott casually.

"Aye, you can get in on this if you want, chica, but we're all just having fun."

Wraith hesitated for a moment to think it over. This was scummy, right? Holding Gia as a prize? Surely she wouldn't appreciate it. But then Wraith looked over to Gia sitting with Che and Anita and noticed how beautiful she looked when she had her hair down. Wraith quickly touched her cheek again.

"What are the rules to this... competition?"

"None really. Try to woo her and, if you do, congrats. You won." said Elliot.

"So, are you in or are you out?" Crypto questioned.

"I'm in."

To say Gia was leading the pack was a bit of an understatement. Everywhere she went, her little lovesick posse was not too far behind. And it seemed to be growing by the day. Given that there were now six of them, it was more likely she was paired up with at least one of them during the Games. And when they were paired up together, it was very obvious they were trying to impress her. If she was ever downed, Wraith would stop whatever she's doing to portal her to safety even if she herself wasn't in a safe position. If she was out of ammo, Elliott dropped several stacks of whatever she needed even if he needed it himself. If she gave an order, Silva would absolutely follow it even if he had already jump padded a mile away. If she wanted the Peacekeeper, Loba would steal it for her. If Crypto found a high-level shield, he'd let her have it. If the team got split, Bloodhound would always follow her in case she ran into another team. And if their third got pinned, well Bloodhound wasn't leaving Gia's side.

Everyone else was starting to notice it more and more and they'd approach her about it. "It doesn't bother me." she'd say. And maybe it truly doesn't. Maybe she likes the constant attention she gets from the lovesick six. It certainly didn't hinder her performance in the arena. However it was becoming a bit annoying not being able to spend much time with anyone else without the group being a hare's breath away. But still she played along, laughed at their jokes, swooned over their flirtatious remarks, cheered them on as they showed off.

The Games continued nonetheless and even more Legends showed up; first there was weapons-expert Ramya Parekh, and then there was scientist Mary Somers, and with Dr. Somers came a new arena. Both of whom were very quick to pick up on the weird dynamic between Gia and six of the other Legends. "They're quite infatuated with you, darling." Dr. Somers had commented on day one of her being there. "Eh, they're all a bit weird." Ramya said nonchalantly.

Also Revenant and Elliott got to take over the games for awhile -again. Everyone hated when Revenant got control of the Games and this time around he's decided to switch it up a little bit. Elliott, on the other hand, took the opportunity to impress Gia. "Look at me! I'm so good they wanted to bring me back! The fans love me!" he said. His pride was short lived because the Apex hosts gave the fans quite the show when new events dropped and Elliott, Silva, Wraith, Bloodhound, and Loba all got makeovers -among other Legends, Gia included. All of them took their new looks on stage in an attempt to make Gia swoon. And as good as they all looked, Gia barely had the time of day to compliment them because Apex was whisking her away left and right to show off her new look. The fans loved her and demanded her attention. There was even a huge party for all of the Legends and multiple press corporations to advertise the new events. It was all just so overwhelming. Gia hated being center stage and the constant swarms of people drained her energy rather quickly. Her only reprieve was when one of her six admirers took all of the attention away from her as they did some sort of stunt to make her smile. It was mostly Silva donning his Octane ego that got the press's attention because who doesn't love to watch a daredevil jump out of the window? Nevertheless, she appreciated the breath of fresh air when the cameras weren't on her. She took the opportunity to hide away near the buffet table.

"Ya doing alright?" Che had asked from beside her, grabbing food for herself.

"I'm fine. Just need a break from all of this."

"Still not used to being a fan favorite, are ya?"

"I'm surprised I'm a favorite at all, to be honest. I know a lot of people like to go for the shiny, new toy but I'm no longer shiny or new. Ramya and Dr. Somers should be getting all of the attention."

"Are ya kidding me? Ya one of the best there is! Ya win more games than ya lose. Of course ya a favorite!" Che attempted to cheer her up.

"You win a lot of games too, but it seems like everyone wants to surround me."

"Well, I have been here longer than ya have. Give it time and they'll move on. They like ya because ya don't tell them anything. It keeps them interested."

"I'm sure you're right. But for now I just need a breather. I'll catch you later, Che." Gia bid farewell and walked off into the shadows, away from prying eyes and camera flashes. The combat medic made her way back to the center of the press where Elliott and Silva were waiting to talk to her with concerned looks in their eyes.

"Is Gia alright?" Elliott questioned her, making a move to go follow the object of his desires. Che put a hand against his chest to stop him.

"She don't wanna be bothered right now. She wants to be alone. So leave her alone."

"Is she hurt or something?" Silva asked worriedly.

"Nah, she just needs some fresh air. But she made it very clear she didn't want anyone to accompany her. So make sure ya tell the others to leave her be tonight."

"Can you at least tell us where's she's going in case she need someone."

"If she wants ya, she'll let ya know." was Che's response and then she walked away, hoping those idiots wouldn't bother Gia. She had to give the dopey idiots some credit though because all six of them never left the party. Despite their infatuation with the white-eyed Legend, they respected her privacy and gave her space when she asked for it. The press took notice of Gia's absence and tried to dig into everyone else for her whereabouts but no one relented and the press was forced to focus on the remaining Legends at the party.

Once the whole shebang was over and the press had made their leave, the six were becoming slightly worried at Gia's continued AWOL. She hadn't talked to anyone since she told Che she was leaving. No messages or calls. Nothing. Surely she was fine, though. Gia could absolutely hold her own if god forbid something were to happen, so the Legends weren't worried about finding her all beaten up on the Docks. But they were worried that something was still wrong and didn't feel comfortable letting her be alone for this long. It's been hours since anyone has seen her.

"I'm gonna go look for her." Elliott finally said. He was obviously agitated in his boots. The others weren't looking so hot either and they all agreed to split up and look for her. Problem was, there were far too many places she could possibly be and she hadn't answered anyone's messages so there wasn't even a general location they could pinpoint her at. They all checked her place in the compound housing the Legends, they checked all over Olympus, they checked Malta. They checked everywhere they could think of, but there was no sign of her and now they were well into the wee hours of the morning. Everyone was seriously starting to worry.

There was one final place Elliott could think of where she might possibly be, so he ran there as fast as he could to check. If she wasn't there, then he was starting to think he'd need to put a missing person's report on her. Surely Apex would find her quickly; they can't let one of their best fighters disappear. Especially not after a night of reporters fawning over her. Elliott charged towards the dropship housed at the very edge of Olympus. Getting through the security was rather easy, simply because the security had been disabled which was a relatively good sign in Elliott's eyes. She had to be here. None of the Apex crew were working at this time, as far as he was concerned. He let himself aboard the aircraft and he nearly collapsed onto the floor when he did.

Holy fucking shit, Gia was here. And she was with Revenant. And she was very clearly naked! Both of them were asleep -or, well, she was asleep and he was shut down, Elliott guessed. Did the robot sleep at all? They were laying all cuddled up to each other on one of the many plush seating areas with a blanket wrapped loosely around them. Gia's entire upper half was exposed to the warm air of the ship, but her dignity was covered just enough by the fact that she had her chest pressed up against Revenant's. The simulacrum kept a metal arm laying over her as they both slept, almost as if he was protecting her. She stirred lightly in her sleep and he responded by pulling her closer. Yet neither one of them woke up.

Elliott wasn't sure if he could scream, cry, runaway, or do all three. He wasn't gonna lie, his heart broke knowing that she would choose a robot over him. Even if his flirts were nothing more than a game, the fact that he was beat by a fucking robot of all things stung. Why didn't she say anything? Probably because no one would have believed her. I mean, Revenant of all people? That thing hated everyone and everything. And he's been known to threaten her on occasion. Was it all part of a rouse to keep people from guessing? Did the simulacrum have some sort of reputation to uphold? Or was this some sort of spontaneous thing? Either way, Elliott had a hard time picking his jaw up off the floor.

He managed to sneak out of the ship without waking either one of them and he exited the hangar. What was he supposed to tell the others? He didn't even know how to comprehend it himself! But he had to say something. Everyone else was still out looking for her. He managed to message everyone else but his words were short. "I found her. She's alright. Everyone stop worrying." he told them. Any responses he got back from them were ignored as he tried to calm his racing mind while he made his way back to his place.

This has been one hell of a night.

Elliott called an emergency meeting with the others the next afternoon once everyone was able to catch some well-needed sleep. Both Gia and Revenant had reappeared some time in the early morning, though no one was able to catch them together. Her usual chipper mood didn't do anything to quell Elliot's confused thoughts and he had half a mind to just probe her for answers to the questions he wasn't sure he wanted to even ask. What was he supposed to ask her? "How long have you been fucking Revenant? Were you ever gonna tell us or were you trying to toy with us? Does he even have a dick?" He wasn't hurt by the fact that she was seeing someone. Elliott knew she wasn't interested in any of the six of them. She made it very clear her no actually meant no. But Revenant?!

"What's so important you needed to gather all of us?" Crypto had asked. Elliott was tongue-tied. He just had to rip it off like a band-aid, right? That's what they all say, right?

"We need to call the competition off. Leave Gia alone." he managed to say.

"What? Why?" Wraith questioned with genuine confusion.

"She's seeing someone."

"How do you know?" Silva asked.

"I found them together last night."

"Are you sure?" Bloodhound asked and Elliott nodded.

"Very sure."

"Who is it? Another Legend?" Loba wondered. All eyes were on Elliott, waiting for him to spill the beans. Who could've possibly stolen Gia's heart? No one ever saw anyone else fawning over her and no one ever saw her eyes lingering for too long on a certain someone. She treated everyone the same. Perhaps it wasn't another Legend. Did she have a lover that came to surprise her at the party? Did a husband or wife come to cheer her on in the new events?

"It's... It's Revenant, okay!" he spat out and quite literally everyone else had gasped in surprise.

"Are you trying to make some sort of sick joke? Because if you are, I will throttle you!" Loba threatened.

"I'm serious! I found them together last night and she was very clearly naked in his arms."

"I don't believe it!" cried Wraith. There is no way someone as sweet as Gia would ever find companionship in someone like Revenant. It just couldn't be possible.

"Believe what you want but I'm backing out of this dumb competition! I don't want Revenant to snap my neck!" shouted Elliott and he threw his hands up in defeat. With a heavy sigh, he dropped his head to the table in a loud thump. A look of understanding passed from Legend to Legend. Everyone knew Revenant's behavior. He was cold and he was unforgiving. If what Elliott claimed was true, then there's no telling what the simulacrum would do to them if he found out they were all trying to get into her pants.

"What do we say to Gia? She'll know something's up." Silva asked aloud to the group.

"You don't have to say anything." that god damn voice said, making everyone jump in their seat and whip their heads around to peer at Gia timidly idling in the doorway. Her white eyes were glossed over in pity, and that hurt all the more.

"Were you standing there the whole time?" Elliott asked her.

"I heard shouting. I came at the part where you said you found us together last night."

"Oh." was all he said back.

"Listen, guys," she started, moving into the room and closer to them. "I know how much fun you guys were having with this competition thing going on between all of you. And I'm sorry this was how you found out about me and Revenant."

"Have you been seeing him this whole time?" Loba almost seethed.

"Yes." she flat out said. No beating around the bush. "I promise I'm not dating him to spite you, Loba. I started dating him long before I even knew of your history with him. I didn't do this to hurt you. And I'm sorry if it does hurt you." she apologized.

"No one's hurt that you're seeing him." claimed Silva.

"Speak for yourself!" Loba interrupted.

"We're just confused is all, chica."

"Loba, truly I'm very sorry for hurting you. I'm sorry to all of you. I'm sorry if I ever lead any of you on, but I honestly thought I had made it very clear that this was just a game."

"You did. We heard you loud and clear, hermosa. We were just trying to have a little fun with you."

"I know. And I'm sorry if this put a stop to your competition. Believe me when I say I enjoyed the attention. I truly did not intend for any of you to get hurt or upset. If it's Revenant you're hesitant of, I can give you my absolute word he will not harm any of you."

"I guess I just want to know how it happened." said Wraith. Gia attempted a jovial smile in her direction.

"There's so much to me you guys don't even know. So much that even Revenant doesn't know. I know it may seem strange but I promise you that he and I are not very different."

"Does he even.... um.. have a... you know?" Elliott then hesitantly questioned much to everyone else's embarrassment. They all shouted at him in distaste. "Oh come on! I know I'm not the only one who's curious!" he defended himself. Gia took in a deep, shuttering breath.

"Well... um... yes, he does."

"That's just weird. That is so weird." shuttered Silva. "Dios mío, eso es asqueroso. Can we please talk about something else?" he mumbled into his palms.

"Look, to make a long story short, all I can say is I'm sorry. From the absolute bottom of my heart, I am sorry. Regardless of where we all go from here, I just want you to know that you've all made me feel pretty, you've made me feel important, and you've made me feel loved. And I can't ever thank you enough for that. I just hope you all understand that I truly do love you too. Even if it's not the same way that you love me. I truly do love you."

"As long as you're happy." Crypto replied to her. As sad as he was to say it, he meant it for her.

"I am. I really am."

"I guess that's the end of that. It's been a good game, guys." Elliott directed towards the other five. "We're just not what you're looking for, I guess."

"But you're what someone is looking for." she consoled. "Elliot, you are the most handsome man I have ever met in my entire life." Gia confessed to him. To solidify her statement, she pressed a warm kiss to his cheek. Then she turned to the green-haired man beside him. "Silva, my life would be so incredibly boring without you in it." and she pressed a kiss to his cheek as well. "Loba, next time you see me in the arena, I want you to just step on me with those boots." she giggled and kissed her cheek as well. Despite Loba's best efforts, she cracked a real smile. "Bloodhound, you're an incredibly skilled hunter and I wish I could match up to you." Gia tentatively lifted her hands towards his face, waiting to see if he'd stop her from removing his face mask. He didn't. So she lifted the material from his face and pressed a kiss to his cheek as well before putting it back in place. "Crypto, don't ever let anyone underestimate you." a kiss to his cheek. "And of course, Wraith. I meant what I said before; you have a beautiful smile. Show it off some more." a kiss to her cheek. "I love you guys. And I hope you don't think any less of me."

"Of course not." said Bloodhound which made Gia's heart flutter with glee. She bid a final farewell to all of them before making her departure, still unsure if they have forgiven her for her secrets. The room fell quiet for several moments as they all processed what just happened. In the blink of an eye, everything just crumbled. No one was angry. They all still loved Gia. But now things were a little different. The competition was officially off the table now and the six Legends were unsure of where to go from here.

"She totally loves me more." Silva cracked the silence.

"Are you kidding? She kissed me first!"

"She kissed me longer." claimed Bloodhound. And then a full blown argument started between all of them over who Gia had more affection for.

Everything sort of calmed down after Gia had finally come clean. The six Legends that had been following her for months had backed off and everyone took notice of it. Che asked Gia what had happened between all of them and Gia had confessed that she had been seeing someone behind everyone's back. Though she didn't name names. Che wanted details of course but didn't press when Gia refused to give them. Even Pathfinder could sense that there was some tension in the room but, bless his heart, he had no idea how to make everyone feel better. He tried though. "Everything will be okay, friend." he told her and then gave her one of his famous high fives.

It's not like Gia didn't try to mend things with them. She still tried to talk to them but conversations became awkward because no one knew what to say anymore. All the flirting stopped and everyone was too scared to sit too close to her in fear of Revenant's wrath. But she did try. It's just that her efforts went nowhere.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, Gia and Revenant were seen together out in public for the very first time. They officially outed themselves as a couple. Everyone was just minding their own business when Gia had appeared, dragging Revenant behind her with her hand interlaced in his. She pulled him into everyone's view and everyone turned to stare at them with wide eyes. She paid them no mind, but Revenant glared at anyone he connected eyes with. She pulled him down to sit with her and he did without complaint. She cuddled into his side and he tossed an arm across her shoulders, allowing her to get as close as possible. Everyone was watching, but it was Elliott, Silva, Loba, Crypto, Bloodhound, and Wraith that seemed to be the most in shock. What had finally changed her mind about keeping their relationship quiet, they didn't know. Everyone was just as confused as they were and those who were aware of the six's admiration for Gia all turned towards them in either pity or curiosity. Yet no one said a word. It felt like all eyes were burning into them. But thank god they all turned away at some point.

Gia proceeded to show Revenant something on her device and they both watched intently. He even scooted her into his lap so he could place his chin on her shoulder and watch. His arms wrapped around her midsection protectively and she cracked a smile. She looked so tiny in his lap.

"I can't watch this." Loba said and stormed off. She still hadn't come to terms with the fact that the woman she desired was in love with the demon she wanted to murder.

"Does anyone else feel nauseous or is it just me?" Wraith asked, turning away from the loving couple.

"No, I feel it too." Elliott confessed.

"Aye."

"It may hurt now, but she is a grown woman who has made her decision and we must respect that. We'll get over it eventually." Bloodhound told the group.

"Just because we respect it doesn't mean it doesn't still hurt, compadre." retorted Silva.

"You think they'll stay together?" Crypto then asked and everyone looked back to Gia still cuddled in Revenant's metallic lap. Elliott watched carefully as every twitch of Revenant's fingers only seemed to hold her closer to his chest. His touched appeared to be gentle and Gia had made herself comfortable in his embrace. She smiled at her device and carefully ran her fingertips along the build of his arms. He must've made some sort of noise because she nudged her cheek against his metal face plating. When he turned to look at her, she looked back and pressed her forehead to his. They both closed their eyes and Elliott assumed that was their version of a kiss considering he didn't have any lips -or even a moveable jaw for that matter. And Elliott could tell that she was genuinely happy.

"Yeah. I think so."

[letsgetscrewed123]

Sick Fic - Just cause

Rue has a cold, why she came to school today is anyone's fucking guess, but if they were to guess it was for Jules then they'd probably be right.

Rue likes to be around Jules it makes her feel better, she also feels that If she's around she can protect her from Nate. Everytime she sees him around she searches Jules face for any sign of discomfort and more often than not she finds it. Her smile dims and her eyes try to find any place to look that isnt his fucking face. Sometimes he catches her eye and gets that infuriating smirk on his face. It makes her blood boil, how uncomfortable he makes her, how he smiles at her like they're sharing some kind of moment, some kind of beautiful memory. She tries not to let Jules catch sight of him often. She likes to distract her by craking stupid jokes and asking her weird questions, or asking her what's on her mind in that very moment or giving her sarcastic commentary on the people at their school.

Rue is the most expressive she thinks she's ever been when she's trying to distract Jules. The most expressive she's ever been period. Thinks she's gotten pretty good at it. Keeping Jules preoccupied. Pep rallys though, pep rallys are hard, seeing as Nate is pretty much showcased along with the rest of the football team. Today that's not much of a problem, today she's too worried about Rue's face. How washed out she looks, how tired she looks. Rue's been kind of off all day, lethargic and inattentive, and throughout the day it's only gotten worse.

For one guilty moment she wonders if Rue is on some type of drug, but she immediately banishes the thought from her mind especially when she sees how miserable Rue looks. Rue looks kinda like she's about to pass out even though she's sitting down and she feels like it too. She has her head down on the lunch table, cradled by her arm and her eyes are droopy. She tries on a smile for Jules but it's kind of pathetic and she knows it.

"You ok" Jules asks. Rue hums in affirmation but Jules knows its bullshit, she puts a hand on her forehead, an inaccurate measuring tool sure but, Rue is hot, hotter than normal and she tells her as such. In response she gets that dopey smile and a dorky "thanks" that makes her smile. "No Rue"she giggles "I mean yeah, but I meant you're temperature". To this Rue doesnt reply, just closes her eyes as Jules strokes her hair.

Jules knows there's gonna be a pep rally today, so does Rue, that's part of the reason she came in today, and she doesn't want Rue to be swept up in the overwhelming dizzying mess that will inevitably result from the festivities. As soon as she thinks that it starts. She could hear them coming from a mile away. Whooping and hollering like a pack of banshees. Rue hears them too and fails at suppressing a groan as they surge through the cafeteria.

The way they stampede through the halls and the walkways make Rue's head throb and she turns away from the stairs and the crowd, buries her face into her arms. The closer they get the louder they become until the room is filled with a deafening roar of yelling football players and stomping cheerleaders. Rue visibly cringes, tucks further into herself and Jules resolves to get her out of there as soon as possible.

Rue is like jelly when she gets up, has to use the table to steady herself. Jules gently lifts one of Rue's arms and slips it around her shoulders, thinks about asking Lexi to help, goes with Kat instead. Lexi kind of stares at her and Rue alot and Jules can't figure out what her problem is. Later it'll come out that Lexi has had a huge capital C crush on Rue for almost as long as she can remember. For now Rue leans on her, places her head on her shoulder and moves when Jules moves.

Kat comes over grabs Rue's other arm Jules shifts to wrap an arm around her waist instead. She doesn't want people to think Rue is drugged out, knows she hates the speculation, knows a teacher might intercept them and make assumptions that they won't allow Jules or Rue to refute. They might call Rue's mom, and Rue's mom might get mad, accuse Rue of doing what for once in her life she's not.

Kat takes control as they move through the crowded cafeteria. Kat's become something of a bad bitch, a commanding force where she used to try to shrink into herself. She stands tall now, walks with purpose, and people get out of her way. Nate tracks their movements as they make their way out of the cafeteria. Jules can feel his eyes on her, on them. Jules hates the way he looks at her, hates the way he gets that little smile on his face like they share a secret. To be fair they do, they both hold the power to destroy each others life, but he makes it seem like he's having fun. Like they're having fun, and no one ever seems to catch the looks he gives her. No one except maybe Rue.

Rue feels Jules stiffen, turns her head into Jules's neck, whispers in her ear "so you think I'm hot huh" Jules smiles its one of those moments Rue provides, a moment where she forgets all about Nate and anything that isnt Rue. Eventually they make it out of the cafeteria, past screaming jocks and their cheerleading counterparts. Jules thanks Kat says she's got it from here and sends her on her way. Kat gives her a grin and tells her to text her when they make it to where ever they end up. It's only after shes alone in the hall with a sick Rue that she realizes she has no idea where they're gonna go. Luckily Rue takes the initiative and tells her that her mom isn't home.

Also lucky, Rue didnt bike to school today. She's something of an expert on when not to ride her bike so she took the bus with Gia that morning. In the back of her mind she thinks she should text her, just so she's not worried that Rue's fucked off to God knows where to do God knows what. However right now her head feels light and airy and she doesnt have the energy to search for her phone. Its Jules that takes the initiative on this one, texts Gia, tells her Rue's alright but she's taking her home cause she doesn't feel so hot.

Jules takes her home on her bike, has Rue wrap her arms around her waist like that first night. The night that they met. Rue snuggles up takes advantage of being so close to Jules. Siphons her warmth, she'd started to shiver against the wind chill. Or maybe that's just her cold, making her feel a chill that's not there. Jules certainly doesnt seem to be cold. Not from where she's pressed up against her.

She's visibly upset when they pull up to the house and her and Jules separate. I mean they're still in contact, Jules has slipped Rue's arm back around her shoulders, but she' not as close as she'd like to be. She wants Jules all over her, wants to be surrounded by her, feel that warmth again.

Jules takes her house keys and unlocks the door. Then she leads her to her bedroom, gets Rue out of her street clothes and into something comfy, shorts and a big t-shirt. She almost leaves to get her cold medicine, decides against it. For one she doesn't know if that's the kind of thing Rue can have. For two Rue has grabbed her wrist, lightly of course, Rue always gives her the option to pull away. "Stay"? She questions. Jules pauses looks at her with something Rue will later come to recognize as adoration, for now it makes her nervous. "I-I mean, only if you want to" "you obviously dont have to". She's giving her puppy dog eyes and an out, and she's rambling and Jules realizes she was never gonna say no. She hadn't even thought of leaving. She cuts Rue off "of course Rue", "just let me get out of this". Jules gives Rue that smile that makes her insides feel mushy. It's all gentle and lovely, it's the kind of smile that turns her into a lovesick loser.

Jules dons much the same thing as Rue. One of Rue's t-shirts but without the shorts. She grabs her laptop and pulls up madoka magica, Rue can't run away from her this time so she's forced to watch it. Not that she minds, because she's with Jules and she would happily do anything that Jules asked. Besides she was planning on taking a nap anyway, the ultimate escape.

Rue snuggles up to her immediately, puts her head on her chest, watches the anime with hooded eyes. Despite her wanting to take a nap she fights sleep. Wants to enjoy being wrapped up in Jules for as long as she can.

As Jules cuddles Rue a question comes into mind that she can't shake. She wonders why Rue came to school today. Her mother wouldn't have made her come in, would have taken the nesscarry precautions to make sure her daughter was actually sick, would have known whether or not to give her cough medicine. So she asks, because Rue's a pretty honest person when she wants to be. When she doesn't have to craft lies to get out of trouble. And Rue, Rue tells her. Well sleepily mumbles it to her is a more accurate description, but Jules catches every word. Maybe it's the fever but she's awfully candid."You make me better"she says "and I can't just leave you all alone with stupid fucking Nate jacobs" this she says with a furrowed brow."I just really like you Jules, I wanna spend as much time with you as I can" " I want as many people to see us together as possible, so they know that we're together" "so they know I can have something as good as you" "so I know it". Her heart catches too.

Later Ms.Bennet goes into Rue's room to see if she's actually there. She finds her daughter curled up with Jules. Her head on her chest, her arm around her waist. Jules's arms are draped over her holding her in a lose hug. A laptop is left abandoned at the edge of the bed, open but unlit. She guesses Jules is staying for dinner.

[xme-reboot]

XME-Reboot

Chapter 46: Testing Mettle

A new group is formed among the Genoshans, and their skills are put to the test. 

~~

It wasn't often that the island was so still, so quiet. Normally, with all the mutants around, it was a hub of building, farming, training. But there were moments, as fleeting as they were, where the hustle and bustle died down, and one was left with only the faint sounds of the distant ocean and the waving leaves.

It made Piotr nostalgic, though it was so different than the coastal trips he and his family used to take, particularly climate-wise. Perhaps that's why he found himself sketching.

It wasn't to last.

"Piotr!" Wanda would find him, and quickly approach him. "I've been looking for you!"

Piotr jumped at the sudden disturbance of the silence, making a dark line accidentally on the paper. He frowned at it, then, erasing, asked, "You have?"

"I have! Are you busy?" She asked, looking over his shoulder to examine his work.

"Oh, uh," He put the pencil and pad down, "No. What is it you need?"

"Great~!" She said, waving him along. "I have something I want to do, and I need you there. I'll explain when everyone is there."

"Uh- okay," Shrugging, Piotr followed her.

It wasn't long before Wanda led him to an open area, nearer the beach. She'd gathered a fair number of other mutants, Unus perking as he looked over Piotr. He seemed to appraise him, then gave a quick set of nods, obviously satisfied.

Mellencamp was lounging, and huffed sharply. "Are you ready now?"

"Shush. But yes, I am."

Piotr gave everyone a sheepish wave. Gianna whistled at him.

"So like. What are we DOING out here?"

Wanda ahemed, standing before them. "Father is exceedingly busy these days keeping us safe. His Acolytes are too high profile to do all the work he needs done out in the world, and Piotr and I can only do so much and cover so much ground. So I decided to form my own team. Checking your files, I felt you all were my best bet~"

"...So what?" Randy asked, "Are we getting assigned missions officially or are we just doing this completely independently?"

"More the latter. I'm not just throwing us into it, however."

"Oh yeah?" Mellencamp asked.

"Of course not. That would be foolish. I'll give us a trial run, have us train. If it works out as planned, we can move on to something a little more ambitious and helpful."

"Okay okay," Gia fidgeted frantically, "C'mooon, what are we gonna DO?"

"You all are going to show me what you can do." She said, point a bit further down the beach to Driftwood and washed up flotsam. "I've gathered things to use. I want to see how you all stack up to your files."

"Wha... Lady, c'mon!" Unus scoffed. "What do WE get out of this?"

"Well, there's helping our island. And, if you care about material things, the glory and wealth that comes with being it's protectors."

"..Yeah alright! I'll break whatever you want in that case!"

"THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!!" Gianna hopped off of Seamus's shoulders.

"Er..." Piotr looked around. "So you just want us to, uh, smash things?"

"I would prefer you be CLEVER about smashing the things, but yes." She reached to pat his arms, Seamus running down to the beach. "You don't need to worry about it, I know you work best as a support~"

"I'M GONNA BREAK IT ALL!"

"Unus will be a front liner."

"Oh, uh...Okay." Piotr gave a little half-shrug.

He could do that, right?

Seamus would overtake them in his charge to the beach, jerking as something suddenly popped up in front of him.

His immediate instinct was to attack the sudden offense, spitting a spray of poison. He would skitter back, frill raised before realizing it was just a pop up model.

Wanda was, for her part, quite impressed. "Well done~! That was very fast."

Piotr flinched at the display.

Oh.

"AAAHAHA~!" Gianna was hitting things left and right by this point, having a grand old time.

Unus was all for this, shield up as Wanda chuckled, snapping.

A latch would spark red, suddenly 'failing' and sending a barrage of rocks at him. They would all bounce away, Unus cracking his shield into and through a dummy. "OOOOH-HOHOHO YEAH! THIS I CAN GET BEHIND!"

Again, Piotr flinched.

Randy made his way around the debris at an almost leisurely pace. When a dummy popped up, he fried it with a swift movement of his arm, and he built that electricity along a path of dummies as he walked. Eventually, they started to crumble and melt under the power.

Piotr wasn't sure there would be any dummies LEFT at this point...and for that he was very thankful.

"Well! This is a promising start~" Wanda said, strolling through and quite content.

Seamus slammed down on another, snapping the base and crushing it into the sand.

Wanda’s smile grew. "Promising indeed..."

"Gotta say, this was a pretty sweet setup, lady!" Unus said, kicking some debris away.

"You're going to need to stop calling me that."

Piotr took a deep breath. He decided to chance a walk through- surely there weren't any left at this point. He stepped carefully over some scattered debris, looked around, and-- "Ah!"

Apparently some had indeed survived the onslaught, one popping out at him and nearly getting him in the side. Piotr quickly dodged it, then another, then another still as they popped up where he stepped.

"Thank you. Can use those later." Wanda chuckled, examining the carnage. "Going to be a time saver at this rate."

"So that was FUN,"

Piotr could not agree with Gianna less,

"But what NOW?"

"Now that I know you can all do as much as I had hoped, well. Now it's time to get down to brass tacks and start training."

Seamus thought on this and.. well, fair enough, he supposed.

"Especially team building. Unus hasn't worked with anyone, and Gia your group has never been with mine. So that’s our first hurdle to jump."

"So what's the next test?"

"I felt capture the flag would work~"

Unus smirked. "Easy."

He... would end up regretting that, just a little.

Banshee was standing before them, grinning wide and hands on his hips. "Hey kids!!" Unus had never dealt with a screamer, and wasn't sure how his shield would hold up.

Sean wasn't worried, meanwhile, and was all smiles, a thick, red ribbon tied around his arm. "Just do your best~!"

Piotr nodded, looking around. "Is, uh, is everyone read--"

Before he could finish, Gianna was firing at Banshee, "HAHA, YES~!"

Sean would duck under it, closing the gap and grabbing her arm. "Sorry, honey." He told her, flipping her suddenly.

Banshee had military training, and wasn't going to make this easy.

The wind was very well knocked out of Gianna, so she was down for the counter for a few moments. Randy shook his head at her.

"... Randy when Piotr is not present you will become my second in command." Wanda told him, Seamus giving Gia a sympathy flinch.

"Wise decision." Randy pointed, "Seamus."

He perked, looking back to Randy. "Yeah?"

"Keep him busy."

"Got it." He replied, snarling and charging Sean.

"Oop!" Sean would duck aside, Seamus keeping on him. He knew Banshee wouldn't hold back and NOT scream forever but, until then he had this.

Wanda was intrigued. "You have a plan, then?"

Red electricity sparked along Randy's arms, "Overwhelm him. Sound good?" He asked, looking around. Piotr nodded quickly.

Wanda smirked, raising her hand and snapping, red sparking from her own fingers. "Of course. I hope you don't mind things running wild?"

"That's my FAVORITE." Unus assured.

Randy had just about enough of small talk, firing upon Banshee without another word. Gianna was coming to her senses at this point, "Aww, started without me!"

Wanda ignored her, waving her hand to Randy, the electricity coming off of his suddenly running far more wild.

Seamus ducked away from the much wider, more ecstatic barrage that suddenly overtook Banshee.

Randy had to hold onto his arm, for fear the sheer amount of power would blow it off, but he didn't seem displeased in the least. Piotr couldn't help it- he flinched. He knew they wouldn't hurt him...TOO badly.

Right?

"COLOSSUS," He was jerked to his senses by Randy's sharp call, "Go!"

Grunting, Piotr ran at Banshee, hoping to snag the flag soon.

Banshee struggled against the electricity circling him, barking a short, loud shout Piotr's way.

Unus couldn't help but flinch himself, having followed to back up Piotr... and suddenly worried about the new kink in his defense.

Soundwaves. Shit. It was fine, nobody had to notice.

Piotr's armor encircled him quickly. (For a second he was very impressed with himself!) He vibrated loudly from the noise, but he stood strong. He started to inch his way forward.

Gianna, meanwhile, fired a couple shots directly at Banshee, hoping to paralyze him and end it quickly.

He could only barely avoid the first, the second causing him to slump in a heap, face smooshed against the ground in a way that was all together awkward and uncomfortable.

Wanda brought her hand back, a satisfied smirk on her face. This was shaping up well.

With an apologetic look, Piotr retrieved the flag from Banshee's arm. Then, he picked him up and tried to position him in a slightly less, uh, awkward position.

Given his body was stiff as a board, it was difficult.

Banshee would probably appreciate it, Mellencamp moving to examine him. "Hey uh.. It shouldn't take too long to wear off, yeah?" He asked Gia, Unus snickering loudly.

"Mmmmm," Gianna gave a half-shrug, grinning.

"Either way." Wanda started. "I'd say that was an excellent first run. Well planned, Randall."

Randy was a little preoccupied checking his arm, but he gave a nod in response.

Piotr handed Wanda the flag, "So...We are good now?"

"For now. One training exercise does not a unit make but. It's a start." She replied, tucked the flag away. "We'll have to meet sometime, get to know each other and exchange ideas." Wanda gave him a little smirk. "See someone try and get the drop on us again, hm?"

Gianna gave a wicked grin, her fingers sparking. "Yeah!" She got Randy and Seamus both in a headlock, which Piotr found very impressive considering, "Estamos FEROZ!"

Wanda chuckled, shaking her head. "Now then. If you'd all like, we can retire to my home for a while. Food, talk... and a place for Banshee to recover."

"Appreciate it." Seamus replied, not bothered by the headlock he'd found himself in. He would nudge Randy. "Your arm okay?"

"Mm," Came the eloquent response. He didn't seem too concerned, but was obviously thinking.

True to her word, Wanda had supplied lunch.

And a couch for Sean. He had mostly recovered, at least enough to tell the trio he was proud of them but to please never do that again. Gianna, of course, made no promises, but had given him a hug despite this. Now they were all stuffing their faces and making conversation. For a moment, Piotr thought the scene was almost normal.

"So am I a cyborg or what, what do you think?"

Almost.

"No," Randy answered.

"But that sounds so COOL," Gianna sighed.

"You'd have to have more than that amplifier."

"Fuck it, I'm still calling me a cyborg."

Seamus was helping himself to an absolutely ginormous parfait, one hundred percent content with his life right now. "That's false advertising~" The lizard teased. Unus snickered loudly, chowing down... and sporting absolutely zero table manners.

"Still, what were they trying to accomplish?" Wanda asked, attempting to keep her nose scrunching to a minimal. "If... you don't mind my asking?"

Gianna shrugged, "They were doing all sorts of crazy shit with mutants. Trying to, like, make them stronger and control them. Jokes on THEM," She tapped the metal cybernetic, "Cuz all they did was make sure I could come back and kick their asses HARDER!"

"Ah... I see." She replied, shaking her head. "I'm sorry that happened to you.. but I'm glad you're making the most of it."

"Well..." Gianna's expression softened a bit, "What else are you gonna do, ya know?"

She nodded. "... We'll make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else. That's why my father is here, that's why we're here."

Gianna smiled, and for once this expression had a mild sweetness to it. "Yeah."

Wanda nodded, glancing to Randy. "Oh. If your limbs ever wear down, be sure to tell me. Father can fix them easily."

"Heh..." Randy flexed the fingers in his left hand. "I know."

"Good."

Unus glanced between them, swallowing noisily. "A'ight so.. wait. You guys are FROM here?"

"Far as we know." Seamus replied. "We... Either born here, stolen to be here or..." He snorted loudly, grumbling. "Sold off."

A bolt of electricity sparked off Randy's arm, smashing one of the overhead lights. He didn't acknowledge it, casting his eyes instead to the table.

"Geezus." Unus muttered, looking to Piotr and Wanda. "And where are you two from? Here or?"

"No." She replied. "I came with father to liberate this place."

Piotr nodded, "I, uh...am similar." He supposed, anyways.

"Oh yeah? Fuckin' sweet. What'd you and daddy-o do before this then?"

She perked, clearing her throat. "Well.. Until recently, I was in training with my mentor, Agatha. My powers can be... dangerous, and hard to control. It was there I remained, in our castle, until I was ready."

Unus perked. "Wait... What, seriously?" He asked, smirking slightly. "So, what? You and some old bag were up in some tower?" He asked, Wanda's eyes narrowing and flashing red. "That's some weak shi-" He would pause, plate suddenly moving away from him. Piotr jumped in alarm.

Wanda's expression was a scowl. "Do not. EVER. Speak to me like that again." She said, chill and edge in her voice. "And do not ever talk about my mentor in such a disrespectful tone again." She continued, hand raised.

Unus' silverware would jump away from him, and she scoffed. "Or I will make things very hard on you."

"Ah... Right. Got it."

"Good." She said, giving her hand away, red glint fading. "So long as you give the due amount of respect, we shouldn't have an issue." .

Seeing that it was over now, Piotr was able to relax, but not by much. He couldn't bring himself to finish his lunch, and he glanced at Wanda from the corner of his eye.

He'd never seen her like that before. She was just like the rest of them, wasn't she?

He started to feel very much adrift, out of place.

"Now." She would say later, Seamus having finished his entire dish. "There's still the matter of discussing our improvement. Any ideas?"

"Planning," Randy said.

"Of course. We need to schedule training, and meetings. We can't expect to get better over night."

"Aaah, guess not."

"Of course not. As such, we'll have to enlist Banshee for more sessions.. and I'll eventually need help devising training methods for us."

"Uuuugh," Gianna groaned, "This is like school, isn't it."

"Yes. But it's school where you get to hit things." Wanda assured.

"That's a little better."

"It's all necessary evils, Gianna." She replied. "For now, I've things in mind, and for now, we can focus on smoothing out our teamwork."

"Okay now we're back to sounding exactly like school."

"A cat in gloves catches no mice."

There was a pause.

Wanda heaved a sigh. "It means suck it up, we have work."

~~

Days later, Magneto was pouring through files. The information in these papers was very dense, and certainly nothing positive, if his dour expression was anything to go by. Idly, a few small iron balls floated beside him, circling clockwise in the air.

A distinctive knock would sound, echoing lightly through the room.

The metal door opened. "Come in."

Wanda gave him a little bow, stepping in. "Father. I've some news for you."

"Good news, I hope."

"I've assembled a secondary team of mutants for you. Your acolytes have gained infamy lately, and I felt... well, I felt it my duty to step up."

Magneto closed the folder. "You don't say. Who is on this team?'

"Myself, Piotr, of course. Randall Darby, Gianna Esperanza, Seamus Mellencamp, and our newest charge, Unus 'the Untouchable'." Her nose scrunched slightly at that, annoyed that she hadn't been able to find a proper name for him.

"Hmm..." Magneto nodded slightly, "Quite a powerhouse of a team."

She stood a little taller. "Thank you, father."

"I would like to see what they can do."

"Of course!" She replied. "I've a few tests in mind lined up, actually~!"

"Actually," He said, "I have something in mind already."

She paused. "O-Oh. Really?"

"Yes." Magneto stood, "We have discovered another outpost. I want it destroyed."

"Another one?" She asked, thinking for just a moment. "Of course. We'll get it done."

"I expect you will." Magneto took her shoulder, "Good luck."

"Thank you, father." She replied, heart swelling. "I won't let you down."

It didn't take long for the team to set off. They were all eager to please, after all.

"So we just go there and smash up some stuff, right?" Gianna asked, "Should be easy!"

"Quite. Though before we smash, we should make sure there isn't anything of value there."

"Yeah, yeah. But THEN we smash!" Unus replied, swinging his bat for emphasis.

"YEAH~!" Gia grinned.

"... What if there’s mutants there? Like, that got missed?" Seamus asked.

Wanda pat his arm. "Then we take them home. If by some chance we missed anyone, then we'll be helping them. Who knows, maybe they'd appreciate taking out a wall themselves~"

Piotr smiled a little. Helping people he could definitely get behind. Still, he hoped this would be a quick mission.

"Ah." Wanda would suddenly pause, the base ahead.

It's edges cut through the jungle, trees slightly warped as they grew around it, moss and lichen coating the outside in sparse patches.

The sight made Piotr pause for a moment. It was like he'd stepped into a movie poster. It was...odd, seeing imagery like this in real life. How long had this place been sitting here, unattended?

"Alright. We'll infiltrate, gather any information that may be present, make sure no one is inside and then destroy the base."

"Easy!" Unus snickered, approaching it.

"Wait," Randy said sharply, "It might be trapped."

"Pffff, c'mon, Randy-pandy."

"Can't hurt to be safe."

Unus gave them a sharp grin. "Untouchable, remember? I'll stroll through, traps will bounce right off!"

"That works. Unless it's rigged to explode. And we lose everything."

"... Touche..."

Piotr looked to Wanda. "Can you, uh...fix that somehow?" He asked. He wasn't quite sure the scope of her powers, but he had a feeling deactivating any traps wouldn't be out of her range.

"Of course. I just need to figure out where they are, and then disabling them will be a snap." She looked to Randy. "I don't suppose you might know HOW to find that out?"

"It depends," He answered, "I could send a wave out, make any devices spark so we can see, but you'd have to act fast in case that activated them."

"Very well then. We'll start with that. Tell me before you send a wave, short range of course, and it shouldn't take me more than a second to react."

Randy took a step forward, and the rest of them took several steps back. He took a deep breath. Electricity started to spark off his shoulders and down his arms. His veins grew brighter against his skin, and his muscles strained from the effort.

"NOW," He grunted, holding his arms out and firing a quick blast.

Wanda would follow the pulse with a quick visual check, fingers snapping.

Small rivets along the building would sputter and fail, sparking a brighter red a moment. "Well done."

Randy wobbled and stumbled a little, out of breath. He gave her a thumbs-up.

"Can you continue on?" Wanda asked, taking a half step forward.

"M'fine," He answered. The group tentatively followed behind her, stepping lightly as if the ground would swallow them up.

"Good."

Seamus couldn't help but sniff loudly, eyes narrowing. "... I don't like this."

Gianna was visibly shaking. Her hands flickered blue, and her eyes flashed briefly as she looked around.

"...Are you okay? You wanna ride?" He asked, voice low.

"N-No," She answered, "Just...keep an eye out."

"Yeah..." He replied, pausing suddenly, eyes narrowing to slits. A rumbled gurgle sounded in the back of his throat, frill raising.

"What is it?"

"I smell blood." He replied, voice a garbled, deep hiss.

Randy sparked. Piotr felt his heart drop.

They would slink ahead, in the brush. A soldier was moving back into the compound, a large, bloodied bird over one shoulder.

"Did you know there were dudes here?" Unus asked, voice a hush.

"I.. no. Father didn't say anything about this..."

"A...Are they..?" Piotr whispered.

"I don't know... Let's get closer..."

A flash of blue light zipped by them. It hit the soldier square in the back.

Wanda had to pause a moment, as the soldier hit the dirt. "... That was fair." She said. "Someone grab him, we need to interrogate him."

"Interrogate?" Gianna hissed as Piotr quickly moved out to retrieve the fallen soldier, "I'm not here to play NICE!"

"I know. And trust me, Gianna. He will face all of Genosha for what he's done before he dies. But if we're facing an unknown, I need information." She took her shoulder, face stern. "You will have your justice. I promise."

Dies?

Oh. Oh god.

Piotr suddenly felt sick to his stomach.

"We'll take him further back. Remove his equipment, tie him down." Wanda was saying, meanwhile. "And then we find out what we're up against..."

Piotr could only nod as he moved quickly back through the brush.

And so the soldier would soon collect himself, finding himself cuffed and tethered to a thick tree.

"Ah. Finally." The mutant in red said, standing before him. A hulking reptile stood a bit behind her, hiss rumbling in the back of his throat.

He hadn't ever expected anyone to find them out here, but to see mutants were the ones that had... his stomach sank.

A cold metal hand clamped over his shoulder. Its grip was painful, and the eyes that bore into him had no kindness behind them.

"SST!" He hissed, trying to squirm away from it. This would prove to be impossible, heart pounding in his chest.

"Now. We have questions. How many people are in that base? I want numbers for humans and mutants, separately and in that order."

"Fuck off, mutie!" He growled, half in reflex.

She wasn't swayed. "Very well. Randall, convince him?"

She didn't even have to ask. With a sharp crackle, a powerful burst of electricity was sent through the soldier.

A shout cut through the air, soldier spasming as the current ripped through him.

Randy didn't stop. His power seemed to be increasing with each passing second.

Piotr couldn't watch anymore. "Stop!" He grabbed Randy's arm and wrenched it away. Allmost immediately his metal body was feeling the effects. There was a sound of denting metal.

Wanda froze at the noise. "Piotr?!" She asked, soldier slumping, breath ragged.

Randy's electricity stopped, leaving the two of them panting and stumbling back from each other. Randy checked his arm- huge dents where Piotr's grip had tightened now warped the metal of his prosthetic, and the wrist was having trouble moving correctly.

"I-I'm..." Piotr gulped, 'I-I'm sorry."

She breathed a sigh, Seamus beside Randy now. He shot a glance at Piotr, before turning his attention to Randy.

"Alright..." Wanda muttered, rubbing her temple. "Can you fix it?" She asked Randy.

"Mm..." Randy gave a little shrug in response.

"M-Maybe...we should--" Piotr started.

Gianna cut him off, "Quit wasting TIME! They're holed up in there, we should be making a move now!"

"Right... It's not like we can go back empty handed." Wanda replied. "We'll start in, take a room. We need to get this done before they start missing him..."

"Can you sense if their security system is working?" Randy asked, grunting as he fiddled with his wrist.

"Something has to be in my line of sight for my powers to affect it, so..." She said, looking to a camera at the front of the building, eyes closing as she focused. "... Part of it's still online. A couple of cameras and a little extra, but I can't tell you much beyond that."

"Well.. if there's still guys in there, it probably isn't rigged to explode, at least, yeah?" Unus offered.

"Not yet." Randy growled.

Piotr couldn't breathe.

"We'll destroy it once we've cleared it out. Shall we?"

"Finally." Mellencamp growled, quickly following after her.

Piotr hesitated. He watched them move forward, utterly paralyzed.

He couldn't...he couldn't do this.

He couldn't kill people.

"C'mon man, get the lead out!" Unus told him, snickering at his own joke.

Piotr bowed his head. He shuffled after them.

Randy cast him a quick glance, eyes narrowing.

They would enter the building, Wanda ducking lower. "Stay together. Unus, I want you in the front, bullets can't hurt you."

"Hah, they ain't touchin' nobody." He assured, scooting up.

"Gianna, stay in the back," Randy told her.

"Don't have to tell me," Her eyes flashed.

"Take your chance and paralyze when you can." She continued. "Mellencamp, watch us from above."

"Got it."

"Good. We've got this..."

It wasn't much longer until they spotted soldiers. There weren't that many around, at least not in this area, but they were armed and armored, and clearly on edge.

"Alright.... Gianna, stun one, then get back. Unus, draw their fire. I'll disable guns while you do, and then we'll take them. Understood?"

"Ooohohoho yeah."

Gianna didn't even have to move forward to aim properly- the Genoshans had ensured she had sharp eyes, after all. The nearest soldier fell, then another one.

Unus would take his chance, running out and cracking a soldier while they were still in shock.

As planned, he drew their fire, cackling and waving a hand. "Is that all you GOT?!"

Piotr stayed behind them, frozen as he watched. One soldier started firing towards the group, but he was quickly overtaken with electricity."

Mellencamp dropped on another, slamming a soldier into the wall with his tail.

Guns would suddenly jam, red sparking over all of them.

Piotr flinched. He couldn't look away, but he desperately wanted to. He watched as red lightning danced from one soldier to another, leaving them convulsing messes that twisted at odd angles. He watched as armor was splintered, bones were crushed, cries were cut short.

He couldn't.

He couldn't.

Before he knew what he was doing Piotr was running forward.

Wanda barely registered he was going until entered her line of sight, freezing.

Something was wrong. He didn't enter combat, ever.

First he took care of Seamus. Piotr tackled into him shoulder-first, knocking the lizard off of some poor soldiers. Then he picked Mellencamp up by the tail and swung him across the floor. Randy's feet were knocked out clean from under him and he hit the floor hard, stuttering then stalling his powers.

Soldiers started to come at Piotr with some sort of energy batons, but he wrenched a part of the wall free and pinned them under it.

"Wanda," He called, "I-I cannot-- This is wrong--"

He felt a sting in his back, then fell, utterly rigid, onto the floor with a loud CRACK.

Wanda was stunned as he was, even as Mellencamp pulled himself up shakily, snarl in the back of his throat.

"Holy SHIT!" Unus was the first to speak. "The fuck was THAT!?"

Gianna was marching towards the fallen Piotr, eyes wide with fury. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She demanded, screams echoing off the walls of the outpost, "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!!"

Randy, with Seamus's help, was able to get back on his feet. He started to slowly walk towards Piotr, holding his hand out. Electricity crackled off him, and his eyes glowed.

Mellencamp's snarls filled the room, and he approached.

"No!" Wanda would get between them, standing over him. Her eyes would wide, but with a breath she composed herself. "He isn't worth it. We have other things to attend to."

"He ATTACKED us!"

"And he'll pay for it! But whoever else may be here could have heard this and could escape!"

There was a tense silence.

However, they seemed to realize Wanda was right. Gianna spit at Piotr, then started running for the next room. Randy trailed behind her, casting Wanda a stern, unreadable look.

She would give him a nod, hands behind her back. Mellencamp huffed, keeping after.

"You comin'?" Unus asked her.

"Of course. I shall restrain these soldiers and Piotr, then catch up."

"Mm.. Alright."

When they left, there was a period of silence.

Then, the sounds of gunfire, and shouting, muffled in the distance.

She breathed deep, shoulder shuddering. "... That was the best I could do. I don't know what's going to happen to you now." She said, starting to restrain soldiers. "I... I won't let you be hurt."

Piotr couldn't have answered her, even if he could speak. His mind was swimming.

What had he done?

She took a deep breath when she finished, looking to him.

Wanda opened her mouth to speak, paused, then turned sharply, starting down the hall.

Their mission was a success. Equipment and files and orders were gathered, and then the outpost was razed to the ground. There was nothing left.

Piotr felt cold. Numb.

Wanda was stoned faced through it all, turning things over to her father and making reports. "And... that's all of it."

Telling him what Piotr had done cut deep. But it had to be done.

For things to work out, she had to be clean.

Magneto was quiet for a while.

"...I fear, my child," He said finally, quietly, "That we have a fire to put out."

Her gut clenched. "Father?" She hoped it wasn't what she feared.

"A cancer must be destroyed, before it spreads."

Her blood ran cold. "I...." Wanda couldn't believe she was hearing this. "He made a mistake. I made a mistake by bringing him on the mission! He couldn't handle it, I should have known better!"

"I will not tolerate excuses," Magneto's voice was quiet, but sharp, "I will not allow such weakness to eat our cause alive."

Wanda stood quiet, for a moment. A knot had formed in her throat. "I... I understand father."

Magneto didn't look at her.

When he spoke again, his voice was gentler. Mournful. "He chose them over the children they tortured, Wanda."

"... I know. I... I know..." She replied, wondering if it was more complicated than that. She didn't know for sure. It was terrifying, in a way.

Some of the original architecture of the camp had been kept. Mostly the skeletons of buildings, but there were others- laboratories, training yards...containment rooms.

Piotr knew he could probably break the door down, but he couldn't find the will to do it.

There was silence, a while.

And then.

"Piotr."

He didn't look up. He couldn't answer.

"I need... I needed to ask. For myself. Why you did that."

Piotr wrung his hands. Metal flickered over flesh. His shoulders shook lightly. "...I can't...I can't do it anymore."

"You said that earlier. Can't do WHAT?"

"I can't hurt people. I-I can't...kill..." Piotr choked on his words.

There was a pause. "... My... My father won't let this go. He's..." She couldn't get the words out.

Piotr nodded his head slightly. "...Please...Please keep my family safe." He begged her quietly. "They don't deserve any of this."

"I... I'll do my best." She said, taking a deep breath. "... You don't deserve this, either. I'm getting you out of here."

He jerked his head up, eyes wide in surprise. "You..!"

"I-I am not letting my friend be... be destroyed!" She replied, yanking the door, thing holding fast.

Piotr lurched forward. He ran. He didn't stop running, until the camp was buried far into the jungle.

Wanda jerked, running after him. "Piotr, PIOTR WAIT!" She called, half hissing.

He stumbled, losing what little breath he had left in him. He almost doubled over.

She breathed hard, catching up. "I-I have a boat lined up for you."

"Okay...W-Where should I..?"

"This way." She said, leading him through the brush. "... I'm sorry."

He swallowed hard. Tears trailed down his face. "Me too."

"I wish things could have been different." She said, pausing at the edge. The shoreline was ahead, an old dock and rocks on the shore. "The boat's tied there. It... it'll get you out."

Piotr stared out at it. "...Wh-Where can I go?" He asked her, barely above a whisper.

"I... I don't know. Anywhere but here." There was a pause. Then, suddenly, she asked "... Do you know where the Xavier institute is?"  

He jolted. "I-I...America, yes?"

"Bayville New York. My brother lives there." She explained quickly. "If you need help, or a place to stay, go there. Tell Pietro I'll owe him a favor."

"Bayville, New York..." He repeated. He repeated it again and again and again in his mind, trying to commit it to memory.

"Good..." She took his hand in hers. "... Take care of yourself, Piotr."

He couldn't look at her. Choking back a sob, he could only nod in response.

They stood there, for a moment.

Then, Piotr pulled away, dashing towards the boat.

Wanda would stand there, watching. She would watch until he vanished over the horizon, throat tight. Her vision, and she rubbed her eyes.

She would need to save the tears, until she revealed he had 'escaped'. Until she could finish playing damage control and cover just when and how he had gotten away. She steeled herself, taking a breath and turning back to the jungle.

Tears would wait.

[artificialqueens]

Withstanding The Test Of Time - Shalaska - pureCAMP

A/N - am i starting another au? yes. do i know when it’s gonna be updated? no. will it be soon? who knows. do i have any regrets? many. why am i doing this? why not.

aka: someone once asked me for a soulmate au and i really cant resist

Changing clothes in the tiny bathroom cubicle of the office block wasn’t exactly the most ideal situation Sharon could have found herself in, but she found herself in it nonetheless. Work had finished, and she knew she didn’t have time to hop on a train home, change, and get back in time to join the protest. So she’d ended up in the bathroom, struggling out of the stupid pencil skirt she had to wear and cursing under her breath.

“Fucking shit. I do not have money for the dry cleaners again. Shit, shit.” She muttered to herself, examining the coffee stain on the white fabric of her shirt and absentmindedly rubbing her burnt chest. “Fuck this.”

When Sharon had signed on to her job, she’d been under the impression that she’d be in for a learning experience. Taking notes in meetings, observing the long-time employees, that kind of stuff. Granted, office work wasn’t going to be particularly exciting, but Sharon had been fresh out of university, ready to stake her claim in the world of journalism and make her way up.

It hadn’t happened like that. As it had turned out, her intern position was nothing more than a coffee slave, running back and forth to deliver the hot beverages and pass messages between employees. She was allowed to cover the smallest of stories, about topics that required no real research, but spent most of her time being bossed around by everyone else. At twenty-four, she hadn’t made any headway.

Sharon couldn’t remember which one of the bitchy ladies had caused her to scald her chest and almost break her glasses – it could’ve been Kimora, Gia, Aja, Violet, Pearl – they were all the same. All she knew was that one of them yelled her name with twice the volume that was strictly necessary, startling her so much that the piping hot mug of espresso flew from her fingers and spilled everywhere. Not only had she been forced to clear up the mess, too, she still had to run whatever pointless errand she was given by one of the bitches. It hadn’t been a good day.

Finally out of her work clothes, Sharon tugged on the faded black jeans and t-shirt she’d stuffed into her bag that morning, ready to join the protest. The t-shirt wasn’t pretty by any means – she and her friends had scrawled their message onto the fabric with pungent Sharpies – but it did the job. Now she just had to tug her coat around her shoulders, and hope that if anyone saw her they would assume she was dressing for the rapidly approaching autumn.

Thankfully, the office was empty when Sharon emerged. As quickly as she could, she made her way into the elevator and pressed the lowest number, waiting for the doors to slide shut. Before it could, she heard the sound of heels clacking against the floor, and a deep voice called “Hold the lift!”

For anyone else, Sharon would’ve shrugged and pretended she couldn’t, but Sasha was sweet. She made her way in at the nick of time and smiled at Sharon gratefully, removing her hat and fanning herself with it.

“You off to the protest?” She asked, her eyes wandering to Sharon’s t-shirt.

Sharon nodded. “Yeah. Are you? It’d be nice not to get there alone.”

Sasha’s face twisted into an expression of sincere guilt. “Sorry, I can’t. I’m going to a family thing with Shea tonight, her cousin’s timer is about to get to zero and he wants us to be there with him when it happens.”

Of course. Sharon didn’t resent Sasha; the Russian was probably the only person in the office who actually understood and supported Sharon’s view on timers. But it stung a little knowing that, whilst Sasha was as against the laws as she was, her timer had gone off and she was happy with her soulmate. Sasha and Shea were one of those unbeatable couples – so sweet you could get a cavity.

At Sharon’s silence, Sasha placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, I really am. Is yours still…?”

It was a touchy subject. The two had known each other for almost two years due to work, but it was still awkward to broach the topic with Sharon.

“Covered? Yeah. I don’t wanna see it at all.”

Timers disgusted Sharon. Ever since the technology had been evolved, the tiny glass timers were implanted into every baby at birth, without a choice. They started at the top of the wrist on the inner forearm and went about a third of the way down – pretty inconspicuous – and slowly ticked down, every second of every day. When the black numbers finally reached zero, the name of your soulmate would appear. Within a month, you had to marry them – for reasons the government were strategic not to disclose, although Sharon suspected it was to save the dying tradition of cookie-cutter married families – and there were even laws in place. If you were under eighteen, you could wait until eighteen and then marry within a month. Over eighteen, you had to marry within a month. Most people just abided by the rules because it was the safe option.

Many strongly opposed the timers, but their voices were often silenced. The loudest anti-timer activists were always mysteriously turned up missing, or found dead, or had a sudden revelation and saw the error of their ways. It was dangerous to be against them, and from society’s point of view, those that did were outcasts. Sharon’s first rebellious act, at the age of thirteen, had been to take a pair of craft scissors and try to remove the device from her skin. When all she’d managed were scratches on the smooth surface, she took a thick piece of tape and covered it completely. She’d been doing it ever since.

The numbers made Sharon feel sick anytime she looked at them. Last she’d seen them – a couple of weeks ago, when she’d had an allergic reaction to some jewellery and had to rub cream into her arms – it read 02-11-34-03-09-45-29. Two years, eleven months, thirty-four weeks, three days, nine hours, forty-five minutes, twenty-nine seconds. She still had time before she was forced to give in. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do when her time was up.

“I’ll see you on Monday, Sharon.” Sasha pulled Sharon out of her thoughts, stepping out of the elevator with an almost melancholy smile. “Be careful out there.”

Sasha disappeared in the opposite direction to Sharon, heading towards the car park with her keys swinging jauntily from her index finger. Eyeing the darkening grey clouds overhead, Sharon wished she had the money for a car. The wind almost blew her backwards as she stepped outside, the air heavy with the scent of oncoming rain. Just what Sharon needed. Head bowed, she tugged her coat tighter around her and started to make her way down the street towards the city centre. It was only a short walk, but she knew that if the heavens didn’t open on her journey there, they definitely would during the protest.

Soon enough, Sharon spotted the small cluster of people with signs and tables around them, set up in the centre between the frequented shops and office buildings. Bianca’s dulcet tones rang clear and loud above everybody else’s, and Sharon made a beeline straight for the older woman.

“There you are! Jesus fucking Christ, I was beginning to think you’d bailed.” She said the moment Sharon approached. “Did you bring that blank sign?”

Sharon frowned. “Huh? What blank sign? You told Betty to bring that.”

Bianca cursed. “I knew it, the lying little bitch. I’ll cuss her out later. Is Sasha coming?”

“No. She’s too busy obeying the fucked up laws we’re protesting, like a good little girl.” Sharon supposed she shouldn’t talk about her friend like that, especially with how often she jumped in to help Sharon with her everyday life, but she couldn’t help feeling a little bitter.

“Of course.” Bianca muttered grimly. “Got your gear on? All your shit ready?”

Sharon rolled her eyes. “Fuck, Bianca, when am I ever not prepared? T-shirt is on. When are we starting?”

“In a minute.” Bianca barked. “First of all, tape off. You know the drill, Sharon. Don’t fight me on this.”

Before Sharon could protest, Bianca had marched away, presumably to chew out Betty for not bringing along whatever she’d been told to. The older woman took these protests very seriously – as did Sharon – and organised each one with painstaking precision. She wasn’t afraid to get down and dirty, with at least one arrest happening per protest usually. Many a time it had been Sharon waiting overnight in a cell. Whilst she held a lot of respect for the woman, Sharon hated one rule that she had - timers must be exposed.

She and Bianca had fought about it many times. Bianca always said that, in order for any change to happen, they couldn’t appear as though they were afraid of the timers. They had to bear them out in the open with blatant disgust, and not a hint of fear, in case it was capitalized upon and their efforts invalidated. There weren’t many who covered their timers anyway, so it didn’t seem like such a huge issue, but Sharon despised it. Time and time again she begged Bianca to just let her keep the duct tape on, but she never succeeded.

Bianca just didn’t understand. Her timer was a blank white, having gotten to zero years ago with no name to follow. She didn’t understand the peculiar mix of dread, fear and anger that bubbled in Sharon’s stomach every time she accidentally caught a glimpse of her exposed timer. Even Sharon didn’t understand it, but Bianca refused to even try.

Deciding to just get it over with, Sharon slipped off her coat, folding it and placing it onto one of the empty tables, and tore the tape away. The motion stung at first, the skin underneath turning red and raw, but the cool air soon soothed the pain. She managed one furtive glance at the hateful device before squeezing her eyes shut and covering the glass with her hand. Two years. She still had two years left.

As efficient as ever, Bianca soon had the protest underway, with a few passersby stopping to watch, a few joining in, but most of them glaring in distaste. Sharon was taken back to her first ever protest – one that had been organised by Bianca – when she was fifteen. She’d skipped out on writing her history essay to hold a measly piece of cardboard out on the streets, receiving only leery glances and getting yelled at by churchgoers for what they claimed was being ‘anti-love’. Shivering, cold, and slightly afraid, Bianca had noticed the skinny teenager and taken her under her wing. Sharon had been working alongside Bianca for years now.

“KEEP YOUR LAWS OFF MY LOVE! KEEP YOUR LAWS OFF MY LOVE!”

Sharon had come up with the most recent slogan; in fact she came up with most of them. She had to put her language degree to use somehow, and if her shitty intern position wasn’t going to allow her to, she was going to do it here. The group chanted the words in unison, relishing in the stares they received. Negative reactions weren’t ideal, and were extremely common, but the more people looked, the more people would start to listen. At least, that was the hope.

Surrounded by so many people, Sharon didn’t even feel the chill of the oncoming season. She was near the front of the group, next to Bianca, her arms high above her head with her sign aloft and her shirt bearing the words “NO MORE TIMER LAWS!” Bianca was just as loud, spurring on everyone else to be the same. By far, Sharon and Bianca were the most passionate of the bunch.

After about an hour, a fair amount of people had joined, the protest in full swing. A mother dragged her curious preteen away from them, shooting angry stares their way. An old man clutched his heart, and a young married couple shook their heads in hasty disagreement. This was a pretty standard reaction, and no police had arrived yet. The protest would only cease when they turned up.

Fully in the swing of things, Sharon didn’t even notice her phone ringing until it started to vibrate against her back pocket, startling her. Reshuffling slightly, she shifted the sign into her other hand and swiped across to answer the call, knowing Willam would just ring endlessly if she didn’t pick up.

“Good evening, miss bitch. Can I ask a favour?” Willam said in lieu of a greeting.

Sharon huffed, out of breath from yelling. “Can’t really talk right now, kinda in the middle of something.”

“Ew, are you having sex? That’s nasty, Needles. Who the fuck answers the phone whilst they’re having sex?”

“Willam!” Sharon cursed. “For fuck’s sake. No, I’m not having sex. I’m protesting. This better be important.”

Willam hummed. “Girl, you clearly don’t have sex enough then. So touchy! Whatever, whatever. I just wanted to ask for a favour.”

“Make it quick! I’m busy!”

“Girl! Calm your ass, find a dick to hop on and soothe that stress. Courtney just wanted to ask if you can babysit next month. We have a wedding to go to and we’re not gonna be able to take Nugget.”

Sharon bit back a rude retort. First of all, she didn’t really care for ‘Nugget’ – a nickname which had stemmed from when Courtney was first having their baby up to now – she was red and whined a lot and was entirely unpleasant. Secondly, whilst Willam was and would always be one of Sharon’s best friends, she was forever irritated at the way he’d changed in high school. He was as fiercely, openly anti-timers as Sharon was, up until his had run out at sixteen, and lo and behold, the name behind the glass was none other than his crush Courtney. Courtney was a nice girl, sure, but within the month of their marriage Willam had decided he loved timers, refused to accompany Sharon to any protests, and sometimes mocked her for her beliefs. He was one of many who thought it was childish and a passing phase to be so against the laws. Years later, although in many aspects he was the same, in one that Sharon considered very important, Willam had completely changed. He was a happy father and husband now, and saw Sharon as immature.

“I don’t fucking know!” Sharon yelled, trying to compete over the shouts of the other protesters. “I don’t – I don’t know if I’ll have plans! Look, I can’t even think right now, it’s too lou- SHIT.”

At the same time as Sharon swore, her eyes widening, Bianca grabbed Sharon’s arm and looked alarmed.

“NEEDLES!” She yelled. “LOOK AT YOUR ARM! YOUR TIMER!”

Sharon didn’t want to look. In her phone speaker, Willam was urgently demanding to know why she’d cut herself off and swore so loudly, but Sharon couldn’t even finds the words to speak. The protest continued around her, but Sharon herself felt frozen.

It was as if time had stopped, and yet in the very same instance, time was moving swiftly forward.

00-00-00-00-00-01-57

One minute, fifty-seven seconds.

Her timer had changed.

“Bianca, B-B-Bianca, what the fuck do I do?! What the fuck is happening?!” Sharon screeched, her heart pounding.

The older woman seemed at a loss. “SHIT, BITCH, I DON’T KNOW! GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE! YOU’VE GOT TWO MINUTES, RUN FOR ALL YOU’VE FUCKING GOT! GET MOVING, CUNT!”

Sharon completely panicked. How the fuck had it gone from two years to two minutes?! Was it faulty? Either way, she knew one thing. No matter whose name appeared on her arm, she would not be ready to marry them in a month’s time. What was more, she would never love them. Perhaps out of spite.

As quickly as she could, Sharon pulled the roll of duct tape out of her bag – she’d learnt not to go anywhere without it – and tore some off, slapping it haphazardly over the timer and shoving her way through the crowd and out. One hand clapped over her timer, she broke into a sprint, dashing through the city and dodging people in an attempt to just run as far as she possibly could. Even though she could no longer see the accusing black numbers, she knew time was slipping out from underneath her.

Streets all melted into one another as she ran, still clutching her arm, her heart beating at a mile a minute. A wave of nausea washed over her as she continued, bile threatening to rise up her throat at the very thought of her timer almost reaching zero. Everything she protested against was going to come true if she didn’t do something. All this time she’d hated the little device in her arm, and fiercely argued against it, and yet she didn’t have a plan for how she was going to cope with its eventual countdown to zero.

Throwing all caution to the wind, Sharon hurtled round a corner and started to cross the road, her legs carrying her faster than her brain or eyes could really comprehend. Hot tears blurred her vision, her only visible goal the one in her mind – get away.

Her mind was so frenetic that she didn’t notice the vehicle racing towards her until it was too late. She caught one glimpse of the shiny black metal before it slammed into her, the impact causing her body to go flying. At first, she felt nothing but shock. All of the air was forcibly knocked out of her lungs, and then came the pain.

White hot, all-consuming. It began at her arm, which had taken the brunt of her weight, sharp lightning bolts of pain that had her gritting her teeth with the sheer agony. Then it was her head, her face flattened against the tarmac, and the twisted positioning of her legs. All Sharon could do was lie there and groan.

The car screeched to a halt after Sharon was hit, the door slamming as the owner got out and gasped in horror. Blood had started to trickle from her forehead into her eyes, so she couldn’t see, but through the pounding in her head she managed to make out the sound of heels approaching her.

“Oh, fuck! Miss, are you alright? Can you hear me?”

Sharon tried to open her mouth, tried to move, but she couldn’t. Her body was essentially paralysed; useless and limp in the middle of the road.

“Fuck – my phone is dead. Someone call an ambulance! Quick! Thank you, thank you!” The speaker was female, but that was all Sharon could glean from the voice. She was in too much pain to take anything else in. “Y-You’re gonna be alright, I promise. I’m so sorry.”

Again, Sharon tried to respond, tried to at least grunt or move her fingers. At the attempt, a fresh wave of pain shot through her. It clearly wasn’t going to work.

The speaker knelt down next to her body, smoothing Sharon’s hair away from her bloody forehead and gasping shakily again. It sounded as though she were crying.

“Fuck. T-The ambulance are on their way, h-hang in there. You’re gonna be just fine…”

Her voice, trembling yet soothing, was the last thing Sharon heard before her body gave up and blacked out.

-

“…vitals normal. She should wake up any minute.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

Willam? What was Willam doing? Why was he talking to a doctor? What the fuck was going on? Sharon didn’t have the energy to open her eyes, let alone try and speak. As best as she could through the pain and her muffled hearing, she tried to listen to what was being said.

“Don’t cry again, she’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” Willam was saying.

“Fine?! Look at her! She looks halfway to death, and it’s my fault! What a horrible first impression for a s-”

“Shh!” Willam hissed, cutting the girl off. “Whatever you do, don’t say the s word around Sharon. Look, she’s alive. Don’t stress, Alaska.”

If there was one thing Sharon was positive about, it was that she’d never met somebody called Alaska in her entire life. What kind of name was that? Did she have family called Nebraska? Nevada? Hawaii? It was ridiculous. What was even more perplexing was that Willam seemed to know this Alaska. Willam introduced Sharon to all of his friends, knowing Sharon rarely had time to be sociable and make her own, so it was strange that they’d been kept apart. As soon as her mind was gathered enough to find the words, she was going to grill Willam for all he’d got.

“Sorry, sorry. I just can’t help it! I feel so bad, and she’s gonna wake up and hate me and it’s gonna be horrible. How are we supposed to-”

Willam interrupted Alaska a second time. “Bitch, what did I tell you about shutting up about that! First off, Sharon’s chill, she’s not gonna hate you. Secondly – and I’m being serious which is how you know this shit isn’t a joke – don’t say anything about that to her-”

“What?” Sharon managed to choke out, her voice sounding strangulated. The effect on her raw throat was worse than she’d anticipated, and she fluttered her eyelids to try and force them to stay open. When she finally managed to keep them open, albeit squinted and sore, both Willam and a woman that she had to assume was Alaska were staring at her.

Willam faltered, pretending he hadn’t heard her question. “A-Are you feeling okay? Does anything hurt?”

Involuntarily, Sharon let out a groan. “Everything hurts.”

“That tends to happen when you jump into the road and get mowed down by a car.” Willam said offhandedly.

Alaska gasped, her voice turning high-pitched as she slapped Willam on the arm. “Don’t! I can’t apologise enough, Sharon, I’m so sorry. You were just so fast, and I couldn’t stop in time and I… shit. Sorry. T-Tissues, I’m gonna get some. Shit.”

The three fell silent as Alaska fumbled around for some tissues and started to delicately dab at her eyes, in an attempt not to smudge her makeup. Sharon let her eyes wander around the room, glossing over the medical posters and sterile equipment that lay around in favour of eying her two visitors. Willam was picking at his nails, his sandy hair falling over his face and his suit indicating he’d come from work. He hadn’t really changed from high school – or indeed, the last time Sharon had seen him, a week or two ago – other than a little bit of scruff on his face that he hadn’t shaved. It was Alaska that really caught Sharon’s attention, supposedly Willam’s friend who had hit her with her car.

She was blonde, like Sharon – only her shade seemed a little more natural than Sharon’s peroxide box-dye – with masses of hair that looked like it had earlier been neatly styled, but had fallen out of place as the hours had worn by. Both her lipstick and her eyeliner had smudged, her efforts to save the paint with tissues proving futile. One black mascara tear trickled down her cheek, marring her smooth skin. Her button-up shirt was undone at the top, torn open as though she’d needed to breathe, and her heels were discarded on the floor next to where she stood.

“So what exactly…” Sharon began, wincing as she looked down. “Um, what happened to me?”

Willam snorted. “Everything – okay, sorry Alaska. You sustained a head injury but thankfully you’re no more fucked-up than you were before, your left arm is broken, and your legs aren’t broken but they’re all bruised and scraped up and gross. Trust me, you don’t wanna see those pasty purple things. When was the last time you shaved? And your face looks horrible. So the only real change is the broken arm.”

Alaska breathed in sharply, obscuring half of her face with the tissue as she dabbed at her tears once again. At her reaction, Willam pulled an apologetic face.

“Sorry, sorry,” Alaska murmured profusely. “I’m trying to stop getting upset. That’s such a bad first impression and they always say first impressions matter and I always wanted my s-”

“Sharon, we’ll be right back. Alaska, will you step out here with me for a second? And by that I mean, step out here with me for a second.” Willam intoned. Clearly he wasn’t playing around. Left with no choice, Alaska followed Willam outside, leaving Sharon in her hospital bed to strain her ears and listen to them.

“Come on, stop crying, and for the love of sweet fucking Jesus, Alaska, you need to be careful. If you want any chance of Sharon liking you, you need to watch what you say and not mention that. Got it?”

The emphasis that Willam put on the word ‘that’ was confusing. What the hell was he talking about? Sharon tried to shift into a sitting position, trying to move so she could hear everything better. A twinge of guilt struck her for eavesdropping, but she reasoned that after all, she’d been through a lot. They couldn’t fault her for wanting to know what was happening.

“But-”

“No, no, listen to me. I’m saying this because I care about you, Alaska, but I also care about Sharon. I hate having to burst your bubble because I know how you feel about all this, but Sharon does not feel the same way. Look, I agree with you, I personally think it’s dumb, but she’s extremely set in her ways. If you even wanna be her friend, you gotta tone it down.”

“This isn’t what I expected from this.”

“You’re an adult, Alaska. Surely you didn’t think it’d be like a fairytale.”                                

“…You knew that was what I wanted, though. My whole life, Willam!”

“It’s not realistic! No one has that! Especially not with someone like Sharon.”

“You have it!”

“That’s different, Alaska. You know it is.”

“Do you… do you think she’ll ever change? Do you think she’ll come around?”

There was a heavy pause. Sharon frowned, utterly lost. What were they even talking about?

“I don’t know. I changed, but…”

“We should go. She’s been alone long enough.”

Sharon quickly settled back against her pillow, doing her best to look as though she hadn’t been listening in to their conversation. Granted, she had no idea what it was about so it was a little useless, but even so she didn’t want them to know. Feigning her best neutral expression, she moved a piece of hair away from her face and smiled awkwardly as the two re-entered.

“Everything okay?” She tried, her eyes flitting between the two blondes.

Willam coughed. “Yeah, yeah. We should get going, actually, I’m giving Alaska a lift and I want to avoid all the traffic. I’ll be back tomorrow with Courtney, probably. You’re gonna be alright?”

Sharon snorted derisively. “Can’t really get myself into any more trouble, can I? I’ll see you then.”

-

It was Willam’s wife Courtney who made the suggestion that Sharon should stay at their home for a little while as she recovered. When one of the nicer nurses – Caroline, a lady in her mid-fifties who had taken a liking to Sharon and even allowed her to smoke out of the window a couple of times – had mentioned that she should stay with someone after being discharged, Courtney had eagerly volunteered herself. Sharon supposed it was those newfound motherly instincts kicking in, but she did her best to quell the eyeroll and sigh that threatened to ruin Courtney’s bubbly attitude.

“It’ll be fun having you around!” Courtney trilled, her neck craned so she could see Sharon in the backseat of the car. Willam made eye-contact with Sharon in the mirror as he drove, shrugging apologetically at his wife’s excitement.

“You always make me laugh, and we can help you out until you’re okay again!”

If Sharon managed to escape the Belli residence without throttling poor Courtney, it was going to be a miracle of the highest order. She really wasn’t sure if she would or not.

“I’m sure I’ll be a bundle of laughs after being hit by a car.” Sharon replied dryly, evilly relishing in the way Courtney’s smile faded.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like Courtney. The Australian was sweet enough, and Sharon had known her a long, long time – longer than she’d known Willam. Mostly it was how different the two were. Though they attended the same elementary school, middle school and high school, they were so starkly opposite that they’d never been friends, or even interacted. Courtney sat tight with her immaculate pigtails and checked pink ribbons, tenderly playing with dolls, whilst Sharon got scolded for skidding across the floor. Courtney wrote in a personalised glittery diary, her handwriting tiny and neat and printed, and Sharon drew skulls and crosses on her arms and got warned about the dangers of ink poisoning. Courtney joined the school council, became head girl and was a member of the cheer squad, and Sharon received frequent detentions for spontaneously campaigning against timers with Willam.

Throughout high school she’d sort of been in and out of Sharon’s life, mainly through Willam. He’d made it no secret to Sharon that he liked her, and made it no secret to Courtney that Sharon was and would always be nothing but a friend. Sharon suspected that part of the reason Willam had even protested timers with her was because he thought Courtney’s name wouldn’t appear on his, and he’d pined after her for years.

They grew closer through her marriage to Willam, the three of them spending more and more time together, but Sharon couldn’t help harbouring a little bit of bitterness against her. Courtney was an absolute gem, and genuine to boot, but Sharon just couldn’t help seeing her as the reason Willam had turned his back on her beliefs. It wasn’t in Courtney’s nature to mock Sharon’s beliefs, even though she was a traditional romantic, but in a way, it was her fault that Willam was so harsh about Sharon’s beliefs being ‘childish’.

To her credit, Sharon always tried to be amicable with Courtney. When she had Nugget – or Farrah, as Sharon supposed she should call her – Sharon visited every day during the first month, despite her hatred of small crying humans. Willam seemed to appreciate her efforts, so at least that was one stable, intact friendship she could rely on.

“I promise I’ll take good care of you, and Willam too. You’ll be okay with us.” Courtney’s tone had changed, a little sadder but full of sincerity.

Sharon felt a little bit guilty, flashing a smile in Courtney’s direction. “Thanks, Court. You sound like a real mom now.”

Courtney blushed and turned to face the front of the car again. “I’m sure Farrah’s excited to see you. You know how much she adores you.”

Sharon bit back her initial thought of your six month old definitely doesn’t know me well enough to love me in favour of another strained smile. “Ha, yeah. Little Nugget. I’ve missed her face.”

Soon after, Willam drew up on the driveway of his house, reversing neatly into his garage and quickly hopping out to help Sharon walk inside. Her eyes glazed over the white picket fencing and carefully cultivated flowerbeds, ignoring the pang in her chest as she wrapped one arm around Willam’s shoulders and tried to hold as much of her weight as she could. Courtney ran to her other side, supporting her waist and being mindful of the sling on her arm. Sharon’s legs felt weak underneath her, pain shooting from her ankles up to her thighs every time she took a step.

“Best just get to the living room, it’s quicker.” Willam decided, leading the three of them through the corridor and pushing the living room door open with his foot.

The first thing Sharon noticed was Farrah, sat atop a pile of cushions kicking her feet happily. Even if Sharon didn’t like kids, she had to admit that Willam and Courtney had made a cute one. The second thing she noticed was Alaska from before, making faces at Farrah on the couch.

“Alaska, can you-” Willam began, Alaska immediately springing to her feet at Willam’s voice. She cleared a space on the end of the couch, leaving the long L shape for Sharon to sit across, and rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly. For a prolonged moment, it was incredibly quiet, before Alaska tried to break the silence.

“Farrah was an angel as usual.” She sounded uncomfortable.

Willam shook his head, smiling. “I know she whined and cried all evening, that’s what she does.”

“But it’s endearing!” Alaska protested. “Anyway, you better drop me off home. I’m not walking or paying for a cab.”

“I just got in!” Willam whined.

Alaska rolled her eyes. “Now I see where Farrah gets it from. Let’s get moving, dipshit.”

Willam sighed, pulling his keys from his pocket and shaking his head. Alaska smiled sweetly in response, picking up her handbag from the coffee table and pressing a kiss to Farrah’s head. The little girl squealed happily and wiggled her toes.

“Bye Courtney, bye Farrah! Um… bye Sharon… let’s go.”

She made a swift exit, practically bolting out of the room with Willam in tow. Sharon shuffled from her position on the couch to get more comfortable, Alaska’s awkwardness over the whole situation funnier to her than she liked to admit. It wasn’t like Sharon could bear any ill-will towards the frantic blonde. After all, it had been Sharon’s fault that she’d ended up in the hospital. At least Alaska hadn’t gotten hurt.

Courtney sat down gently next to Sharon, making sure not to knock her in case she hurt her. She fixed Sharon with her warm gaze, her makeup from the day still somehow pristine and perfect, and took Sharon’s free hand in her own.

“You look like you’re thinking, are you okay?” She questioned.

Sharon nodded slowly. “Oh, I’m fine. It’s probably just the fact that I’m wearing no makeup.”

Her words elicited a light slap and a gasp. “Don’t! You’re gorgeous, don’t say that. Your soulmate, whoever they are, would be lucky to have you.”

Courtney fell silent, and pulled a face. “Shit, sorry. I forgot you don’t… you don’t like that. I probably made you feel even worse, we won’t talk about that. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

Sharon had been hoping Courtney wouldn’t ask. It was virtually impossible to not spill your life secrets to Courtney when she asked, and she was always such a good listener that it felt completely natural to sit and talk with her for hours on end.

“It’s kinda related to… soulmates and all that shit. It was entirely my fault.”

As usual, Courtney listened with an open mind and heart as Sharon told her the full truth – everything from the protest to the freakish change in her timer, to running away as fast as she could and ending up darting into the road just as Alaska drove by. Now that she thought about it, it had been pretty harrowing. No wonder Alaska had been so distressed over it all.

Courtney didn’t interrupt once, only speaking when Sharon was finished. “So your timer has run out? Have you looked at it?”

Try as she might to hide it, Sharon still detected the hint of excitement underpinning Courtney’s words. Of course she was excited at the prospect of someone she cared about finding their soulmate. She had it all; a husband, a beautiful home, a daughter, the archetypal young family that the government had aimed for with their timer laws. But Sharon knew she’d never have anything like what they had, even if Courtney couldn’t see it.

“No.” She deadpanned. “Well, I mean, I can’t because of this sling, but… it’s still covered.”

Courtney frowned. “Are you going to look at all, Shags? Surely there’s a little bit of curiosity?”

A long, pregnant pause followed her words. Neither of them really knew what to say – Courtney knowing she couldn’t really push thing any further, and Sharon not knowing how to, or even wanting to, provide an answer.

“It’s getting a little late,” Courtney mumbled. “I’ll fetch a blanket and leave you to sleep. Goodnight, Sharon.”

“Goodnight, Courtney.”

Long after Willam had gotten home, and fallen asleep in bed alongside his wife, Sharon lay awake on the couch, her mind plagued by that stupid timer underneath her sling. Part of her ached with curiosity, begging to just peek and see if she really did have a name, or whether it had just been a nightmare. The rest of her fervently hated the device, wishing more than anything that she could tear it out of her skin and forget all about it.

Similarly, a few miles away, Alaska lay awake in her bed, her eyes fixed on her timer, for the very first time wishing more than anything that she could tear it out of her skin and forget all about it. Her whole life she’d dreamed of the perfect soulmate, someone who loved her for who she was and who she could love in return. Then, when the little black numbers had finally reached zero, Willam had taken her by the hands and told her she had no chance.

Alaska’s timer read Sharon Needles, and she already knew that Sharon would never love her.

Sharon’s timer read Alaska Thunderfuck, and despite not knowing that was what her timer said, she already knew that she would never love Alaska.

[groovybouquetbananame-blog]

The Surge From Wearable Modern technology '" Men's Style Blog post.

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