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qyllenhaal · 4 years ago

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God’s Face in the Fire || Part 1

Dark!Lee Bodecker x Dark!Reader

Summary: A wife who would do anything to give her husband the world, even if it means getting herself involved with his trouble.

Word Count: 10.3k

Chapter warnings: dark themes!!! contains mention of assault, murder, non-graphic death scenes, sexual themes, oral (m receiving), smut, brief mentions of possible infidelity, misogyny, uncomfortable situations. Please heed the warnings!!! 18+ only

A/N: Sorry for the bad summary, I’ve never been good at those! This first chapter doesn’t include an awful lot of Lee but the next part will be very Lee heavy! There will only be two other parts for this mini-series, maybe another or so if I extend my ideas.

Enjoy!

The baby she held on her hip just would not stop crying. Tears stained her own eyes as she felt at her ropes end looking at her baby's red face. Nothing she had done to make her baby feel better was working. When Y/n stared at her small face, the one that looked so much like her father's, she searched for a clue on what could be the problem. All she got back was a look of anguish. She wondered if her daughter's eyes mirrored her own emotion.

"What's wrong baby? What's wrong?" She asked as if she was genuinely going to get an answer from her. Her soft voice didn't assuage the baby's cries. What baby doesn't love the sound of their own mother's voice?

Y/n tried stroking her little girls back to calm her, tried feeding her, burping her, changing her, and putting her down to sleep but all of those things failed miserably. Her daughter continued to scream her little lungs out. The tears were beginning to dry up, but she still wailed. Y/n worried if something was wrong and if they needed to go to the hospital. Her husband wasn't home and she didn't want to cause anymore trouble for him, or herself.

"Are you hot? Wanna step outside?"

She did her best to open the backdoor without dropping her daughter. The rush of cool air as she stepped onto the back porch did more to help her than it did her daughter. The porch light was nearly as loud as the cries; it was one of the first noises she had heard in hours that was something other than her daughter. She got lost in the noise as she peered into the darkness of their backyard that stared back at her. She had been afraid of the dark when she was younger, always needing a night light until she reached her teen years. It was safe here in Brewer Heights, but something about the vast darkness gave her a creeping feeling. It felt endless.

The night air was doing nothing to help her anymore, and she worried that her neighbors would hear the baby cries and think something was terribly wrong.

"Let's go inside."

The songs she often sang to her daughter that her own mother sung to her when she was younger normally made her giggle and smile. Tonight, however, it was just another thing to add to the list of things that failed to calm her down.

Around midnight she finally heard the front door opening and the heavy footsteps of her husband trudging into their home. A groan followed when he heard the sounds of his daughter crying pierce the air.

"Lee," Y/n exasperated. She came out of nowhere, blindsiding him and begging, "please take her."

Lee didn't even get a second to take his jacket off, nor was he going to be able to relax like he had planned to after his long day. This situation paled in comparison to what he had to deal with at the station today. A domestic dispute, a robbery, a bar fight that ended in a stabbing, and hefty loads of paperwork that came along with it.

"She just won't stop crying Lee."

He said nothing to Y/n as he eyed her. Y/n understood what the look he gave her meant, but she was too concerned with making the crying stop. Lee held his arms open to take the girl into his arms.

"What's wrong darlin'?" He cooed at her. He held her close, snuggling her into him and his warmth

Lee had to temper his annoyance. He didn't want to come home to a screaming baby and a helpless wife, but he was weakened by the desperation radiating off of Y/n.

"What's wrong little girl? You like givin' your mama hell?"

Y/n sighed as the screams began to die down. The sinking feeling that she was an awful mother for not being able to get her baby to calm down was present. The worst thought to cross her mind was that Lee also thought the same. She didn't want to be the wife who couldn't raise her own child and was too dependent on her husband. Lee was admittedly more present in child rearing than her own father. However, she had only started becoming so fussy in the last few months when her father decided to run for Mayor and spent more time at work than at home with his family.

When their girl was born, Lee spent an eternity staring at her face; her features were so similar to his at a young age, but with her mother's lips. Hours after her existence in this word, Lee promised his wife would be home more, maybe he'd even hire a few new officers to handle the countless petty crimes that end up on his desk. Y/n believed his promise, but it changed when he out of nowhere declared that he was going to run for mayor.

"You enjoy being the sheriff's wife. I'm certain you'd love being the mayor's wife even more. And now that we got a baby, my chances are even better."

All of her years of being Lee's wife and she never heard him express any interest in being mayor. Sure he got off on power of any type, but he never uttered the words "mayor" unless he was talking about some trouble the mayor's son ran into. But Lee did always make it clear that his career and maintaining his position was a top priority for him. Y/n often missed the man who did his best to court her and was successful after a few failed attempts. He changed a bit when they started trying for a child, but Y/n could always see it in his face that his old habits will die with him.

"She misses her father."

Lee didn't turn around to acknowledge her. He just rocked his daughter back and forth, ignoring Y/n until she began to move out of the living room.

"Be ready when I get up there," Lee called to her.

Y/n wondered how harsh he would be, or if he would be at all? When he was this on edge he liked to keep Y/n in line; he couldn't go to a stressful work environment and come home to the same. He was always gentle with their daughter and that's all that mattered. Y/n could endure his brutality, but her daughter did not deserve it when she just didn't understand much. She would be too young to remember anything but Y/n would never forget.

She washed up in the bathroom, wiping away the sweat and tears that had clung to her face throughout the day. Her appearance in the mirror looked foreign to her. Her body had changed since giving birth, something that was expected, but she looked more rugged due to stress. Lee didn't realize that whatever he felt, Y/n felt it even harder. When he ices her out, she tries to understand but the feelings of inadequacy had piled up inside of her.

Lee put their daughter to bed without much trouble. She looked so peaceful, a stark difference from the screaming she was doing when he stepped into their home. He wondered how such a sweet little thing could cause so much hell. She was completely innocent yet she made her mama cry and nearly tear her hair out. Lee felt bad for his wife having to spend days alone without help, but there was nothing he could do about it, so he didn't feel that bad.

He was still in his jacket and hat when he finally came into their bedroom. He was well-intentioned on taking a longer shower tonight but he felt all worked up. His body felt tense, but seeing his wife sitting obediently on the bed made him loosen up.

"Pretty, little nightgown," Lee whispered to himself. Y/n's face burned at his compliment. She'd never get used to him being sweet on her.

Y/n held her breath, unsure of which side of Lee she was going to get tonight. She picked out the cream nightie that reached mid-thigh. She knows just how much Lee loves her legs, he has fawned over them since they were dating, and she hoped that the sight of them would make him go easy on her. Her nipples poked through her nightgown; she was going to be leaking in the morning but her only concern was giving Lee something that would make him soften up.

She melted into the palm that was placed on her cheek. He looked down at her, his ego still stronger than ever. He was a powerful man with a strong possibility to grasp even more power, and a pretty fucking wife. He's lucky that she gave him the time of day when she had the option to run off to Cincinnati with a pretty boy. Lee was older than her other suitors, but that's what made him enticing to her then 20 year-old self.

"I overheard Phil talking about the Sheriff's wife today," Lee began to stroke her cheek as she purred up at him, "was wonderin' why a stunner like her was with a fat bastard."

"Don't call yourself that," she cut him off. He had gained a significant amount of weight since he began finding solace in sweets. She feels bad because it began when she was three months pregnant and had him bring her back something sweet everyday. Her cravings turned into his, but the difference was that hers went away after giving birth but Lee's never did. Besides, Y/n found it endearing. Maybe it's just because she's wildly in love with her husband, but she couldn't deny how much she loved to feel the weight of his belly on her back when he took her from behind and pressed her face against the bed.

"You're so sensitive, Y/n. You think I give a damn about what a man who can't keep a girlfriend for more than two months has to say about me? He was right about one thing though," Lee began to unzip his work pants, "I do have a pretty wife with a pretty mouth too."

Y/n's face burned and her eyes moved away from his. Years of marriage, a baby later, and she was still bashful when he made such sexually charged comments.

Lee pulled himself out of his pants. He was hard, the tip dripping with pre-cum. From the look of it, he had probably been hard since the late hours of his work shift. Y/n hoped that he thought of her, she always did, but she knew that station was littered with smut magazines; Lee didn't see too fond of them though.

Y/n wrapped her hand around him and gave him a light squeeze just to feel how hard he was. He grunted and more pre-cum seeped from his tip. He was going to make a mess of her gown and exposed thighs if she didn't get him in her mouth.

"Good girl...always so good for me," he sighed in content.

He placed his hand on the back of her head and she welcomed him deeper into her mouth. Moments like this and all of his stress goes away. There is no county to oversee, no mayoral election, and no whispers; just his wife's wet mouth and something else that's wet between her legs. He felt at home inside of her. She sucked on him harder and his hips stuttered. Y/n did her very best to please him, to make him proud. His sweet little wife looked so wicked with his cock in her mouth.

"You keep that up and I'm going to fall over," he said through his pants.

Y/n looked up at him with innocent eyes. She was far from that when they were alone in their marriage bed. Y/n was anything Lee needed her to be, even without asking.

Lee grabbed ahold of her head and started to thrust into Y/n's mouth. She kept herself still, letting him take control of her. Her tongue applied pressure to the bottom of his shaft. His hips bucked as he lightly fucked her face until he was cumming into her mouth. She gagged when the liquid first splashed against the back of her throat, but she quelled herself and swallowed him completely, just how he likes.

"Let me see," she stuck her tongue out to show him that his seed was no longer in her mouth and he smirked, "good girl." He patted the top of her head and zipped himself back up.

"I'll be in bed soon, but don't wait up for me."

He could see how her body was begging for rest just in the way she lazily moved and the tiredness in her eyes. She wakes up before him every morning to make him breakfast, thus making her days longer than his. She didn't get up to much like he did, but long hours of nothing had probably dulled her. It was even worse when you add a screaming baby to the situation.

Y/n wanted to wait for Lee to come back to bed despite him advising against it. However, as soon as her head hit the pillow, she was out. There were no sad cries from her daughter and no worrying about where Lee.

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

The sound of sizzling bacon in the cast iron skillet and percolator going in off was louder than Lee’s footsteps coming down the stairs in his heavy boots and jacket. He paused in the doorway, his daughter the only one to notice his presence in the room. A smile formed on his face as she squealed in delight and reached her arms out for him. Y/n looked over her shoulder to see her looking at Lee. She’s surprised that he came down for breakfast later than usual, but she was happy to see that he seemed to be in good spirits.

"You're going to be uncomfortable eating breakfast in that."

"I might not be able to stay for breakfast,” he tutted while smoothing the downy hairs on his daughter’s head.

Y/n furrowed her brow, but didn't protest. She continued with breakfast anyway. She felt Lee’s presence next to her as he pulled a teething ring out of the freezer. There were two little teeth coming in that contributed to last night's meltdown. She was much happier this morning after a good sleep; she was so oblivious to the world and everything happening around her.

The phone rang disrupting their regular morning routine. It was 7 am, too early for anyone to be calling. Lee picked it up anyway; his face first confused then sullen. Y/n couldn't help but try to eavesdrop when Lee turned away from the kitchen and walked away as far as the cord would allow him. Surely whatever he was talking about on the phone, he would tell Y/n. He always complained about whoever he had talked to on the phone. But, he had become more secretive since he entered the mayor’s race. He didn’t want her to worry, or worse, go around blabbing to one of her girlfriend’s or her parents about something Lee told her in confidence. Besides most of it was information that he didn’t think would interest her.

"Alright...I'll talk to you soon...take care."

Y/n busied herself with cooking again to cover up her nosiness. Lee stepped back in the room spilling the moment he put the phone back on the hook.

"People in town are talking."

"About what?"

"About me."

There was something about the way he talked to her that made Y/n believe he wasn’t telling the complete truth, or that the talking town was something much worse.

Y/n was not fully aware of Lee’s reputation when she had met him. She knew of him, and also wondered why a man like him was talking to her when she was fit for being a housewife at the time. Over time she learned that Lee didn't have the cleanest reputation. Little bits and pieces would be revealed to her, but by the time she heard the most damning things about him the two were already married; and the information came from Lee himself. While Y/n didn’t want to concern herself with what others thought about Lee, she absolutely did. His position depended on what people thought about him. Y/n believed that their marriage and the birth of their daughter made people see Lee in a different light. Y/n was a very nice, bright girl from a good family. She turned Lee into a family man and a man who doted on his baby girl and treated his wife sweeter than people expected from him. Whispers about him had gotten quieter when her belly became visible under her dresses. No one looked at Lee with contempt or worry anymore, they gazes softened when they saw him walking with his waddling wife.

Shortly after Lee became her boyfriend, Y/n began to hear about some of the rumors that followed Lee throughout the years. She had been told he was corrupt, frequented a local brothel, and turned a blind eye as long as he got something out of it. She was so naive to believe that people were just jealous of her. There were some women who wanted the sheriff from themselves. A year or two into her marriage, Lee began to confide in her about some things. It would only happen when he was drunk. He'd say a thing and Y/n would ask him to elaborate and he would. Covering up murders, drug deals, and allowing the brothel to stay open as long as he "got a sample" was all true. No one else in the town knew the extent of his troubling choices while on the job. Y/n didn't know what to say. He had done bad things, but he was her husband, she took an oath.

Y/n often imagined what would happen if she had told someone about his confessions. He was already the sheriff when they got married, and who would cross the sheriff? She believed that if she ever said anything he'd divorce her, spread lies about her, and she'd end up an outcast. Her options were very few especially now that she has a young child. Her fear and her devotion to him as a wife kept her silent. She has loved Lee since their third date; she wasn't going to throw her life away with him over her husband’s business that didn’t concern her. They made a promise to each other in front of family, friends, and God. Lee's burdens would become hers, and the same goes for Lee's darkness.

"Someone's been sayin that one of the girls' at that whore house been sayin' I beat her."

Lee seemed to explain it to her with ease, like he knew it wasn't true, but Lee was a good liar.

"Well, did you?"

"Why would you ask something like that?"

Lee started towards her and Y/n partially expected him to chastise her. He wouldn't do anything with their daughter a few feet away from them, she assured herself.

"You really think I'm stepping into a whore house when I come home to you every night?" His arms wrapping around her waist made Y/n smile. This is what Lee did often to deter her from asking many more questions, and it always worked, she melted right into his arms. "The last time I was in that place was to arrest someone for causing a fight, and it damn sure wasn't a whore I roughed up."

Y/n wasn't satisfied with the answer, but she nodded as if she was. She knew not to question him after he had given her an answer he deemed fit. No woman wants to believe that their husband would be at a brothel getting “serviced”. She never found signs of another woman on Lee's clothes or his car. All she'd come across was dirt on the bottom of his pants and candy wrappers in his car. "You've got to believe me Y/n." His eyes spoke the truth, she believed. Y/n pecked his lips and Lee’s arms dropped from her waist.

"Sorry I can't stay for breakfast, but if I want to get back home earlier then I have to go in early. You two girls have fun together," Lee kissed Y/n's lips again before walking over to his daughter and kissing her forehead. She giggled when she felt his lips on her head. He was happy to see her in a better mood, but he didn't want a repeat of last night, "don't give your mama such a hard time today, okay? If I hear you been bad, I'm gonna have to put you in baby jail." She had no idea what he was saying, she just enjoyed hearing her daddy's voice.

"Be safe Lee. Please."

He nodded at her sympathetically before leaving. She heard his patrol car rev up and he was pulling out of the driveway. Y/n worries so much, but every night Lee has come home to her without a scratch on him.

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

Paul Sullivan has been the mayor for as long as Y/n could remember. He’s getting up and age but he’s a very beloved man. His popularity made Y/n worry about Lee’s own chances. The only thing that could knock the man down was his son’s reckless behavior. Darrel Sullivan was a few years younger than Lee and had a penchant for hard liquor and trouble. When his name started being involved in almost weekly bar fights, people started to wonder how a man as good as Paul could raise a son like that?

Lee had used the mayor’s trouble kid to his advantage. It just so happened that once Lee decided to run, Darrel ran into even more trouble. The last offense ended him up with a three month jail sentence (of course his father was responsible for such a lower number of months he spent in jail). A baggy of cocaine was found in his car. When did the mayor’s son escalate to cocaine when his vice had only been alcohol for years?

“It was bound to happen at some point. That boy’s brain is so used to booze that he had to turn to something much harder.”

The talk of the town had satisfied Lee for weeks after the arrest.

Y/n didn’t have to be told by him to know that the cocaine wasn’t Darrel’s and that it was planted. She felt bad for Darrel, but he wasn’t so nice to women so maybe some time in jail would do him and everyone around him some good. Still, Y/n was sort of shocked to see what lengths her husband would go to win. He often played dirty to get what he wanted, but messing with the mayor’s son who has evaded so much trouble was a very close call. Lee was lucky that he got away with it and many people didn’t have questions about it.

That phone Lee received this morning spooked her a bit. No one has ever called just to say there were rumors about him. It was a much bigger problem than her husband wanted to let on.

Y/n did her best to campaign upon Lee’s behalf. She’d tell all the girls at the salon about the newest dress Lee bought her and let the strangers know who stopped to tell her kid was cute just who her father was. Her efforts didn’t go unnoticed either. Her closest girlfriends were always eager to tell her that they overheard someone talking about how wonderful Lee’s wife and daughter are. Y/n believed that she wasn’t going to have to do much more than that, but some people didn’t care much about pretty wives or cute babies when the sheriff was allegedly causing trouble.

Lee’s approach lately has been much more careful. He can’t get caught planting evidence on the wrong person or having someone rat him out. He was growing increasingly paranoid that the townsfolk were watching him closely. Even his deputies got the brunt of some of his delusions. Y/n saw the wild look in his eye every time he would confide his problems to her. Sometimes his words would blend together in a drunken ramble. Bodies...the river...laundering. He scared her sometimes, but she didn’t say anything. Y/n knows her husband has at least killed someone in cold blood; he confessed it in so many words. She wouldn’t be surprised if it has happened two or three times. She didn’t concern herself with the circumstances. If Lee had killed someone then it was probably justified in the eyes of morality and it wasn’t her business.

All of his revelations hardened her. She stopped being shocked after the fourth time Lee let something slip. Lee had never been violent with her the entirety of their relationship. He gets mad, he yells, and he has been guilty of calling her a name or two, but never ever has he laid a finger on her. Y/n was mostly an obedient wife so Lee never found a reason to be forceful with her. The only time Lee took out any aggression was on her was in the bedroom, but he figured she liked it because she’d moan louder than when he’s most gentle with her. Y/n wasn’t too fond of it at first, but she learned to love it and all the rough edges that began to appear as the years together had gone on.

“Here’s the plan for today, little one. You’re going to spend some time with the nice neighbor girl and you’re going to be a very good girl for her, okay? Okay honey?”

Her daughter just looked up at her from her little pallet on the floor. The toys that surrounded her were mostly bought by Lee. There were a few from her parents, but Lee was responsible for buying her too many toys.

While Y/n had never considered hiring a nanny before, it was often suggested to her. Lee even told her to hire some help before the days get too rough and he's gone for longer throughout the day. However, Y/n was always hard-headed. She didn’t need the help, this was just a tough time with their daughter’s teeth coming in. Besides Y/n’s mother was just a phone call away. She always had an answer for Y/n that came from her years of being a midwife and from raising her own children.

The only reason why she was calling over the Peterson's teenage daughter to come babysit was because she couldn’t help Lee in the ways that were needed and bring her baby along with her. Normally she’d put her daughter in her stroller and they were out and about, but this wasn't a regular daily task. It was summertime and her neighbor's daughter probably needed something to do while making some money on top of it.

"Does she need to go down for a nap, Mrs. Bodecker?"

"Not for another hour or two. She shouldn't be hungry or wet. Her teeth are starting to come in so she may get fussy, her teething ring is in the freezer and if that doesn't work then sing Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star to her."

Y/n knew it was a lot for the 16-year-old girl to take in, but she still nodded at every word Y/n said as if she got it all. Of all the little time her daughter had been here on Earth, Y/n had not left her alone with a stranger. It was hard for her to say goodbye to her little girl and leave her with a teenager, but it was bound to happen someday. And the afternoon was almost over, her day was calling for her to begin it.

Lee would be so pissed if he learned that Y/n was driving his car. She wasn't that great with the manual transmission, but she was only taking a short trip to her parent's house. Her brother was home to visit from Cincinnati. He was the child who went to the city unlike his sister. His original plan was to stay while Y/n wanted to go, but she had met Lee and decided to stay. Her brother never explained to her why he left for the city. She didn’t want to ask him too much in fear of prying into his business.

Y/n's parents were incredibly happy about Y/n’s relationship with Lee because that meant their only daughter was bound to stay near them. Her father respected Lee and often disregarded the town’s gossip because he saw it just as that: gossip.

Her brother David was a different story. He didn't really like his brother-in-law. The age gap between them was his biggest concern. “Don’t meddle in your sister’s life. Lee is a good man,” there mother had once tried to persuade him. It was tough when he heard rumors that Y/n didn't even know about at the time because she was younger. He moved to the city before he could hear just how worse things have gotten with the gossip about Lee Bodecker. David wasn't too thrilled to return for Y/n and Lee’s wedding.

Y/n found his disdain with Lee rather comical. Lee was a protective older brother just like David was, but they just couldn't see eye to eye. She recalls the Christmas fight that happened three years ago. David nearly kicked Lee's ass but his little sister protected her husband by shielding him. Y/n didn't want to involve herself, but if she had to pick where her loyalty lied, it would be with her husband.

"Why you stop by without bringing my gorgeous, little niece?" David wrapped his arms around his sister, surprised to see her pulling up by herself, but happy nonetheless.

"You can come over any time to see her David," Y/n ignores the frown that falls on her brother's face, "are mom and pop home?"

"Ma's at the salon and pop is outback cutting up some wood. I tried to stop him. His arthritis is getting worse, but he gives Ma and I hell every time we tell him to slow down. Is everything alright?"

"Yes. I just need a favor."

If she was asking her visiting big brother for help instead of her husband or their father, then it must be something she's trying to keep quiet. David was weary about his sister being secretive when she has an eight month old baby at home. In his eyes, if she's sneaking around then it's some sort of trouble.

"What kind?"

"Can I borrow your truck?" Y/n didn't elaborate, she just hoped that he'd say yes.

She can't go around town driving in a familiar car. Lee's personal car was too expensive not to notice and her father's truck had a damn logo on it. David's car though was perfect; no one would recognize the plates because he bought it two years ago from a dealership in Cincinnati, but it would blend in with any car that would be driven in Brewer Heights.

"Is something wrong with the cadillac?"

"No. I just don't want to be noticed. You know Lee doesn’t like me driving around in his fancy car."

If it wasn't for the immense trust David had in his sister, he'd say no. Something about her was off; her sweet demeanor replaced by something more discomposed. It was the same look on her face the night he had caught her trying to sneak out of the house when she was 14. Whatever she wanted to do, it would probably be better handled by someone else, but he didn't ask anymore questions, just handed her the keys.

“Get back before it gets dark, and be safe.”

“You sound just like pop,” she tried to joke to mitigate his worry but he kept a stern look on his face.

“I’m serious Y/n.”

"I'll be back soon," she promised. Of course she would, she has a child at home.

David watched her peel out of the dirt driveway and his car disappeared from sight. He only worried because he didn’t know what the problem was and she looked like she was dying to say something. Maybe in due time she’ll be able to tell her brother everything. Maybe they’ll laugh about it when the years have passed and they’re up in age.

The streets started to become unrecognizable as she drove away from her parent’s home and a much different part of the county. Y/n struggled to materialize the exact location of her destination but from what she had gathered it was at the edge of town, almost entering a different county. All she's ever heard about it was that it was in a "shady part of Knockemstiff." “Shady” meant so many different things because she found the bar that Lee liked to stop at sometimes after a shift to be “shady.”

She hoped to God that Lee was stuck at the office with paperwork and not out patrolling. The sun was going to be setting soon and if he caught her over here all alone past dark, he may just never let her leave the house ever again.

Y/n was not ready to admit what she had planned, especially not to Lee. She herself hadn’t reckoned with it herself. The station her brother had on annoyed her. She turned it off and sat in silence. The only noise that accompanied her was the whirling sound of the wind that slipped through the cracked window. Her eyes peered at every building until they became less frequent. She could hear her blood moving through her veins as she gripped the steering wheel. Did Lee get this way when he did something he wasn’t supposed to? Surely he would be more composed than her, but he has the experience.

She tried to lighten herself up by putting herself in Lee’s shoes. He probably wouldn’t hesitate or second guess his actions. If he did it, he most likely believed that the end justifies the means. No one who was innocent was ever hurt. They may have not committed a crime at the time, but they had before and would do it again. Y/n would have her own confessions to tell Y/n some day. She doesn’t need alcohol to spill her sins. Lee’s presence alone was compelling enough to get her to divulge her crimes, even the harmless ones.

The fact that she’s been driving around for a good half-an-hour lessened her anxiety but increased her impatience. She didn’t realize just how big the county was. It’s been a while since she drove herself anywhere. It was freeing, but she did miss her husband acting as her chauffeur. The thought of Lee driving her to the very brothel he has been accused of frequenting before he was a married man was comical. The consequences of her getting caught was only scary when she thought about how Lee would react.

There was a large clearing of land before Y/n reached another set of buildings. A memory about one of them made her pump the break before passing the entry to turn in. She made a sharp turn into it's parking lot. Jimmy, her high school boyfriend, tried to sneak her into some bar but she was caught about her brother who also happened to be there. She remembered the distinct color of the door; neon green. It was an eyesore but it had never been changed, even when they switched owners. The place had closed down years later due to an excess of minors being able to sneak in.

The crappy bar was not her concern, but the place next to it. She remembers Jimmy’s distinct voice whispering in her ear, the smell of alcohol ripe on his breath.

"That's where the girls who got nothing but good pussy between their legs go."

She had flinched at the words he used. She wondered what he meant by that, only 14 at the time and not really able to comprehend the concept of a brothel. It was the first time she's heard anyone refer to a woman's private parts as a "pussy..

Y/n didn’t expect the parking lot to be so empty. It was pretty early in the evening, maybe people did not want to be at a whore house when there was still daylight. Only one car sat in the parking lot of the bar. There was a makeshift parking lot on the side of the building and next to the old bar. It looked like it was not taken care of properly and a fire hazard waiting to happen.

She circled around the building, eyeing it to see if there were windows to see inside somehow. Only a few small windows were on the building, but they were either foggy or covered in moss that it was a futile attempt.. Tire markings covered the dirt right in the back of the building. Y/n figured that most people parked back here so they wouldn’t get caught by any passing cars or authority. There was not much that could kill a man’s reputation like being caught in this place.

Y/n settled for parking her car on the side of the bar. The likelihood of someone driving by and being able to see the plates of her brother’s car was very slim, but she found herself being extra careful.

Upon her arrival at the door, Y/n told herself she had no idea what she's doing, nor what she should expect. It probably wasn't common for a woman to walk into a whore house unless she was a whore herself. She hoped that she was unrecognizable with her usually pinned-up hair cascaded over her shoulders and a different shade of lipstick on her lips. The sunglasses were a last minute, ridiculous purchase, but it gave her a layer of protection. At least she could wear a disguise, Lee didn’t have anything to protect his identity when he did his own sinful acts. The least she could do for her husband is to not get herself caught.

Y/n wonders if Lee hadn’t been so secretive, would she have to do this? Lee did his best to hide things from his wife, but she isn't stupid, she goes out in town and hears things about her husband. Those rumors weren't small like he tried to lead on. "Someone" always meant more than ten people. In her eyes, this had been a long time coming; it was only a matter of time before she got sucked into his world without the intention of doing so. She could only feel so compelled to protect a man no matter the consequences if she loved him more than life itself.

If he wanted to be secretive under the guise of “protecting” her then fine, but she hated that she had to piece everything together on her own. She heard his late night conversations when he failed to make sure she was sleeping. Whoever he talked to, they talked about a lot of things that didn’t sound wholly legal. From what she picked up from his phone call concerning this dilemma was that the owner of this place was referred to as “Reed”. He didn't seem too fond of Lee, and from the sound of her husband’s voice, the feeling was mutual. She had trouble keeping up with all the technical jargon of Lee’s phone conversations, but from her understanding Lee was threatening to get the place shut down. It would be a good look for him in his bid for being mayor. He would look like a hero if all the crime and sleaziness of this county was suddenly dealt with. Maybe they’d put his picture in the newspaper and dedicated a lengthy article to him and Y/n could clip it to the refrigerator.

No one would think twice about connecting the dots that Lee was connected to several illegal operations going on around the county. Of all the rumors she has heard about Lee, the whore house bothered her most. It made her feel vain that she was only concerned with her husband cheating on her and not potential murders he has committed. Insecurity crept into her as she visualized her husband stepping through these exact same doors and finding his pleasure in a woman that had more experience than her. She did believe her husband when he said he hadn't stepped out on her while they were married, but that didn’t include their entire relationship. It shouldn’t matter because she was the one he decided to marry, but it still lingered in the back of her mind.

Her body shook to the core as she opened the door. She swallowed thickly as she wondered what sight she would be greeted by. It was an anti-climatic moment when she fully stepped inside to an empty place. It looked like a makeshift motel lobby and bar at the same time. Y/n thought it would be something more shabby and slimy, but it was not. Some pin-up model posters were plastered on the wall along with photos of random musicians. There were oddly a lot of photos of Frank Sinatra that had their own little corner of the wall. It was hard to determine what the vibe of this “establishment” was. One thing for sure is that she felt like an intruder. The posers on the wall made her feel stupidly bashful; this was a man’s domains and not a place for someone’s wife.

"Can I help you darlin?"

The smooth voice belonged to an older man. Y/n figured he was “Reed” because he looked like a Reed. And he appeared to be the only person here. She doubts a random patron would take to cleaning the place up by sweeping the floors.

"Uh -- are you Mr. Reed?"

Surprisingly, he just laughed at her stumbling over her words. It hadn’t dawn on her prior to a few moments ago that he knew his way around talking to a nervous girl. She ironically hoped that he thought she was just a lost whore, and that she wasn’t recognized as the sheriff’s wife.

"I am darlin’. Is there something I can help you with?" He asked again. Y/n was surprised that he wasn't intimidating, or greasy. He seemed so simple and kind, but he just happened to run a brothel. And he was the man who was saying awful things about her husband.

"I'm looking for a job," she made sure her words were as natural as possible. The little script she created in her head seemed like it would be easy to see-through, "I-I’m just wondering if you were looking for a waitress or someone to clean the place?"

A sly smile spread across his face. A shiver ran down her spine as she felt just how insidious this man was. A glance at him and he was unsuspecting, but a few moments with him, especially when he’s alone with a pretty girl and his true nature was hard to hide.

"You've come to a good place, darlin’. Let me put this away and I'll show you to my office."

He put the broom he held back into a closet and beckoned for her to follow him. Her heart thumped loudly as she followed him to potential danger. He could assault her or do something worse if he really wanted to. She was vulnerable now and just had to trust the process.

They had passed multiple doors to get to his office, probably the doors where the girls would stay and please customers. Y/n tried not to imagine Lee being behind one of those doors with a woman touching his body. This place smelled like tawdry perfume, luckily something she has never smelled on Lee’s clothes.

"Do you have any experience waitressing?" He said the word as if he wanted her to believe that this place was anything but a brothel. For him it was possible that she really thought this place was something innocent, but he could always persuade a pretty girl who looked lost to work for him.

"A few years...I was a waitress with my friend in Columbus for a year."

"Columbus? Why did you leave darlin’?" Y/n wanted to cringe at his constant pet name. No man talked to her like that besides her husband. It felt dirty to hear him call her something reserved for Lee and Lee only.

"Got into some trouble. My ex roughed me up a bit and I had to leave," Y/n recalled the story her brother told about one of his college friends: a homely sorority girl who got caught up with the wrong guy. She felt bad using the poor girl's story and reclaiming it as her own, but a sob story would make this man more likely to take her in if she guessed correctly.

"Well, I don't know if I'm taking anymore girls in-"

"Please!? Please? I don't have anywhere else to go. I really need the money and a place to stay. It was hell getting up here," she implored.

Hearing her beg like that made his cock harden in his pants. There was something about a sweet little thing begging for his help that turned him on. He had no intention of turning her away from the beginning, but it was also nice to know how desperate a girl was; that made it easier for him to get a taste for himself.

However, Reed was either too horny or just an idiot to realize that a girl who had been traveling alone and from Columbus wouldn't be wearing such a nice dress that looked untouched. He was a sadistic bastard who liked employing girls that he can push around and Y/n was beginning to see that due to his negligence.

His appearance absolutely covered up for how mean he was. Most bruises that ended up on his girls weren't from customers, but from him. He had to control himself when customers started to complain about the marks on the girls. (It was not like they cared for their well-being, they just wanted to fuck girls who were looked clean and pretty. Those men just wanted their fantasies fulfilled). His rage was taken out in psychological ways now instead of physical. He made sure those girls were in hell with no escape. He was sweeter on them if they opened their legs for him, but he was well aware that he could get away with doing whatever he wanted to them because they had nowhere else to go. If Y/n knew half the stuff he did then she wouldn't feel as guilty for what she was planning to do to him.

"I don't just hire anyone -- say, what’s your name darlin’?"

"Mary. My name is Mary."

"You gotta prove you deserve to work for me, Mary. Why don't you stand up and turn around for me."

Y/n dreaded following his orders, obeying him and spinning around slowly in her dress for him. The only man she had done that for was Lee. She felt like she was cheating on him, but she remembered that it was for him. His face was etched in her mind the entire time. The thought of him comforted her as she pretended like he was there with her as if he was God’s spirit, wrapping her in a feeling of vengeance instead of love.

"You sure are a pretty little thing. You been fucked before?"

"Once. Just by my ex-boyfriend."

"Good. I'm sure that pussy is still tight, I can just say you're a virgin and make one of those fuckers pay a heavy price for a piece of you."

Y/n nearly looked at him in horror, but gave him a half-hearted smile instead. She would act like she was grateful for him giving her a chance to make money. Her stomach churned at the thought of possibly not making it out of here. Reed’s eyes had darkened once he knew that she was in his grasp with no easy escape. He was a big man who could easily overpower her if she tried to do something stupid. But she seemed so obedient, like a perfect little girl.

"I can get you a bed, but you're going to have to reuse the clothes that are in there already. The girl who stayed there last up and ran away,” Y/n was very doubtful about that. Reed began rummaging through his drawer, pulling out a bottle of liquor before continuing, “If they don't fit you can trade with one of the other girls. You and the rest of the girls stay in your room until it's time to open. Can't have any of you roaming around in case one of those bastard cops decide to give me some trouble."

Her eyes glanced at the clock on the wall, it was nearly 8 o’clock. She did not think it would go this smoothly so far. Her anxiety didn’t cause her to make any major flubs that would get her caught; she just came off as an unsuspecting girl. Y/n just didn’t realize how simple a man could be in the presence of an attractive woman.

"Place opens at 9 every night, ‘cept for Sundays. I’m going to let you go get ready soon but I need you to learn my rules before you go out there and do something to piss me off," he shuffled in his seat for a few seconds, his face painted with discomfort, "first I need to go piss. Can you stay here and wait for me darlin’? Of course you can,” he left without waiting for a response from her.

Y/n waited until he opened his office door and closed it behind him. She had limited time to do what she had to do. She quickly moved behind his desk and began to fly through his drawers looking for arsenic.

There was a conversation she remembers Lee having with one of the men in town when they stopped in the middle of an aisle at the grocery store to talk. Most men believed that their wives weren’t interested in listening to whatever they’ve got to talk about with other men. Or that they just don’t understand what the hell they’re talking about. That may be true for Y/n most of the time but her ears perked up when she had heard certain words. Y/n had a penchant for being nosey ever since she was a kid, but it usually got her in trouble. She tried not to eavesdrop on Lee’s conversations but he made it so hard when he started to whisper and look around to make sure no one else was near.

A word like "syphilis" had Y/n scratching her head. She hadn't heard of it before but apparently a man in town died from it after contracting it "at the whore house." It sounded serious. and from the context, something you get from fucking someone without a condom.

A few books at the library confirmed her suspicions. She had to re-read some sentences to fully grasp what she was reading. From what she gathered, syphilis was treated with “magic” arsenic before they switched to penicillin. However, with Mr. Reed being referred to as a "cheap” and “old school” man multiple times in Lee’s conversation with the man at the grocery store, she believed (or at least hoped) that he still used that old method. But instead of Salvarsan, she found something that looked much cheaper and like it wasn’t obtained legally. She grabbed as many vials as she could and just began to dump them into his glass that held his dark liquor. She did it rather sloppily, her hands shaking when she realized that this was it. It was possible that she was more scared of getting caught by him than killing the old man. He’d probably beat her until she was unrecognizable.

Y/n desperately hoped it would work. If it didn't kill him, then it would certainly impair him since he was up in age and probably didn't take good care of his health anyway. She tossed the empty vials into one of the drawers of his desk and wiped whatever residue was on her hands onto the tacky shag rug on the floor. She had to get it off of her hand before getting in her brother’s car. She didn’t consider the risk of poisoning herself, but it arose inside of her the moment she felt a few splashes onto her fingers.

"Ok sweetheart," he had caught her on her knees, "what are you doing?"

"I-I dropped my earring."

He couldn't see her ears due to her hair covering them. He grumbled something about "women" but moved to his seat without question.

Y/n got off the floor and sat in the chair in front of him. He looked a little annoyed with her now instead of eyeing her like a piece of meat like he had done for the entirety of their time alone. She watched his hand intently, waiting for him to wrap his hand around his glass and bring it up to his lips.

"I run a tight house here. None of my whores act up and I expect the same for you. If you're good for daddy, he'll be good to you."

A loud buzzing in her ears made his words unintelligible. She panicked and wondered if it was the little amount of arsenic that got on her hand that was making her feel sick to her stomach. She needed to clean herself up, and Reed needed to wrap this up. But he just talked and talked and talked while she nodded along like she really cared or was paying attention. She held her breath as he picked his glass up and took the first sip of his poisoned alcohol. Y/n isn't sure why she expected an immediate reaction from him, maybe for him to spit it out or clutch his chest, but he just carried on. It was going to take time, and she just had to wait it out. She had probably about 45 minute left before it was opening time. What if there were people already starting to come? What if one of the girls was roaming around now?

"You got that darlin'?"

"Yes," Y/n choked out, not realizing Reed had finished his spiel.

"Alright. Your room is upstairs, take a left and it’s the third room on the right hand side. Just because you’re new doesn’t mean I won’t have your ass if you’re late," he kicked up his heels and reclined in his chair as he placed a cigarette between his lips. He lit it up and blew smoke right in Y/n’s direction, disregarding her grimace, “I’ll probably just let a few men use your throat tonight. Don’t worry, I won’t let them touch that pretty little pussy yet.”

Reed smiled coyly as if he was doing her a favor. He nodded towards the door and Y/n hot tailed it out of there. She didn't realize that she wasn't breathing right until she let out an exhale and then inhaled deeply. If he wasn't going to experience symptoms right away then it was going to take some time. There she ran the risk of him being able to get some help. It wasn’t likely that many people would call the cops to help a dying brothel owner, but she panicked that maybe somebody would.

Barricading him inside of his office was the only thing to give her reassurance. She grabbed one of the bar stools, heavier than she expected, and trudged towards his door. She gently placed the first one against the door so as to not to make a noise that would cause him to see what’s going on. Y/n did her best to run back and forth in her flats and placed each stool against his door until there were no more left. She added a few chairs to the growing pile to make sure it stuck.

Y/n paused when she heard someone starting to rouse. Whoever it was, or what, stopped making noise after a few seconds. Y/n looked up and started praying to God that she would not get caught, but the irony of wishing for someone to die did not escape her.

God just may have been on her side though. She got out of there with clean hands and not a single mark on her skin. Y/n knew that Lee couldn’t know about this just quite yet, but she begins to fantasize about Lee being proud of her and taking her to bed afterwards.

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

"Where have you been?” Imagine Lee’s surprise when he saw his neighbor’s teen daughter holding his little girl. Nothing seemed to be wrong, in fact his daughter was giggling at something the teen was doing. However, Y/n had not told him hiring a babysitter, nor did he know she was going to go out. She always told him if she was going out. If it was a spontaneous decision then a new question rose of where the hell she was during the darker hours of the day.

"I went to visit my parents and must have lost track of time,” Y/n kissed his cheek like she always does. She knows how to get Lee’s attention on something else, “David is in town and I wanted to see him-”

She was cut off by the sound of her husband groaning. It wasn’t often that his brother-in-law came into town, so it was only a matter of time before Y/n was dragging him over to her parents house for dinner.

“Whatever. Just put the girl to bed.”

Probably the first time, Y/n was happy to see that Lee was too tired to talk to her. She doubts he’ll have questions later about her whereabouts, especially if the death of the brothel owner hits his desk by tomorrow morning.

Y/n won’t worry about it tonight. She’s fine. Everything will be fine.

Their daughter went down easy tonight. She was tuckered out from her day with the babysitter. “Good night baby,” Y/n kissed her forehead and prayed that she would sleep through the night instead of waking up crying for a feed.

Y/n walked into the bedroom to Lee undressing himself. “Join me,” he nodded his head in the direction of their bathroom. There was a smile on his face, a sly one but not as lascivious as Reed’s. After being in the presence of such an awful man she was surprised that her body warmed at the idea of Lee’s hands roaming her body. He’s the only man she wants to be obedient for. The hot water on her skin cleaned her and the cum that sputtered out from Lee’s hard-on anointed her.

“You feel so fucking good. Oh God...I was thinking about this pussy when I was at work...almost had to touch myself.”

Lee’s words were similar to the ones Reed had used earlier but they purified her. Her cheek pressed against the tiled wall as he fully pushed himself inside of her, hands gripping her hip. There was a low sound of their wet skin slapping together coupled with Lee’s own grunts. Y/n wasn’t particularly in the mood to have sex, but she just needed Lee close to her.

“I’m gonna cum Y/n -- I’m gonna cum honey-” his voice was cut off by his orgasm as he emptied himself inside of her.

He slumped against her, his face pressed against her back as his arms wrapped her waist to bring her body closer against his.

“Do you think I’m gonna win?”

Y/n wiggled out of his grasp and turned off the water that was beating down on their skin. Water continued to fall down his face; his eyes were more than tired, they were sullen.

“What do you mean?”

“Do you think people are really going to vote for me? They love that old bastard so damn much even though he’s old as shit.”

“Lee? Where is this coming from? Why are you so worried? People respect you-”

“But it doesn’t mean they like me. You and I both know that most of the people didn’t even start being friendly with me until the little one came along.” It was sort of his own fault, but Y/n would never tell him that.

“Don’t worry Lee,” she cupped his face, something he normally does, but it was nice to switch roles, “everything will be alright. I promise. You’re going to be mayor and I’m going to be the mayor’s wife.”

He nodded at her reassurance, but his doubt was hard to push away. He felt foolish being so vulnerable and borderline emotional about this, but his wife made him feel better. Her eyes were honest and words earnest when she said, “everything will be alright.”

Lee believed her.

#lee bodecker #lee bodecker x reader #lee bodecker x you #lee bodecker x y/n #lee bodecker smut #the devil all the time #dark fic #lee bodecker fic #sebastian stan fic

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abbysfrenchbraid · 3 years ago

Note

hi! i love all of your writing, especially your abby fanfics. i know you’re in the middle of your eivor series right now, so pls disregard if you don’t feel like writing this request or don’t want to write for abby, but i was wondering if you could maybe write a hurt/comfort type imagine where abby either comforts the reader when they’re sad or after they have a nightmare. i get really frequent nightmares and love to read fanfics like this but totally understand if you’re not into the idea. all the love and i hope you’re doing well; merry christmas if you celebrate!

so this is half a year late, but I finally have a little more time to go through my requests so here it is! this is also the first time I've actively avoided gendering the reader as I've gotten a few requests for a nonbinary or genderfluid reader. This is not a cop-out on that, I definitely want to write an explicitly nb reader but I figured this would make the reading experience better for quite a few people!

Summary: The reader has recently lost a family member and stranded with the WLF. They struggle with frequent panic attacks and nightmares. Abby notices and tries to take care of them.

CW for loss of a family member (sibling), death and grief, heavy trauma, panic attacks, anxiety, nightmares, and struggling to breathe. The nightmares are also fairly violent and creepy so please watch out for yourselves and only read this if you're in a good state of mind <3

I've Got You

The truck rattled as Leah drove it up the road to the WLF stadium. It had been a particularly rough day on patrol. You and the other wolf had run into a group of freshly infected that seemed to have been three families once. The children had been the worst. The youngest had probably been about ten years old before she had turned, her eyes bright blue and her blonde curls matted with dried blood. You had taken care of them all, of course you had. But it had been horrible. You folded your hands in your lap to keep them from shaking.

You had joined the WLF a few months ago after losing your team and your little sister in a clicker-infested cellar you had set up camp in. It had been so fucking stupid, so careless. But everyone had been tired, you hadn’t seen any infected in days, and so only one of you had kept watch. He barely had time to scream before the clicker had ripped out his throat. It had been chaos, madness, everyone scrambling to escape into the network of damp corridors and storage rooms, more and more clickers being drawn to you by the noise.

Leah raised her hand at the armed guards at the gate and they opened for your truck. The sun was setting behind you and most people were inside the stadium now, eating or spending time with friends. Both of you were quiet. Leah’s legs were covered in slowly darkening blood and the smell was nauseating. The tall wolf pulled the truck into its designated spot and took a deep breath.

“Y/N?” You looked up at her. The circles under her eyes could compete with yours, but her face was still as kind as ever.

“Yeah?”

“You take care of yourself today. Take a long shower, get something to eat. I’ll let Martha know to give you a double portion for dinner.”

You smiled faintly at her. This was how it was here. All the wolves had seen terrible things and probably done even worse. They all chose to let it out in training and then leave it behind them. No sense in holding on. You nodded.

“Thanks, Lee. See you in the gym tomorrow.”

The brunette grinned and patted your thigh.

“6 am sharp!” She jumped out of the car and gave back the keys at the checkpoint, then she vanished inside the stadium.

You stayed in your seat. Your fingers had cramped up and you were scared to unfold them, scared you would never be able to stop them from shaking again.

Sierra had held your hand all the way, not letting go as you dragged her through the darkness, fought off four infected, stumbled up stairs you had not come down on, and found yourself in a ravaged theater. You had run all night and only stopped when you were unable to go a single step further. When you had found a small pawnshop that you could lock up safely, you had made a bed of your jacket and a moth-eaten blanket from the theater. Sierra had started to cry. You would never forget the way dread had started to creep into your limbs, seeping into your skin and stretching dark tendrils toward your throat. You had rolled up Sierra’s sleeve and there it was. A relatively small mark, just the puncture wounds from two teeth turned into mean scratches as Sierra had pulled her arm from the jaws of a clicker and kept on running. But it had already begun to fester, the edges of the wound an angry red contrasting the white blisters forming around the site. It felt like the ground had been pulled from below your feet. You fell and fell, unable to speak, to do anything, just staring at the thing that meant the end of the world. The end of your baby sister.

A shout caught your attention - another car had returned to the stadium and was pulling into a spot a few paces away. It was Manny and Abby, everyone’s favorite duo. The attractive joker and the stoic warrior. They were among Leah’s best friends and she had introduced them to you a while ago, all of them welcoming you warmly. It had been strange, being part of a group again, a team. Your heart was still too sore.

So you had quietly pulled yourself out of most of the group evenings, the film nights and game nights and arm wrestling tournaments and what else there was to do. Manny had tried his luck flirting with you a few times and one time you had even joined him for a dance, but after realizing he wouldn’t land with you he had respectfully backed off and now treated you more like a little sister. Mel and Owen had been nice, too, both very secluded when they turned up together, but Owen was funny and enthusiastic and always yelled your name across the cafeteria or the training course when he saw you. He was one of the few people who could make you laugh no matter how hard you tried not to.

Nora was a whirlwind, the smartest person you had ever known and unfaltering no matter what the universe threw at her feet. She liked poetry and hard rock music, big men and even bigger women. You had often wondered whether she and Abby had ever hooked up. But you weren’t sure of anything concerning Abby. Always the stony face, the impenetrable wall, the arms-length smile and polite nod in the hallway. It could be infuriating at times. Especially because despite it all, against all your better judgment, you could feel yourself growing more and more interested in her, constantly looking for her in a crowd and sneaking side glances to see if she was listening to you or laughing at the same things.

The car doors banged and the sound echoed through the small space. Manny was laughing about something Abby had said and walked with a bounce in his step as he approached the counter to hand back his keys. Abby looked like she always did, khaki cargo pants and a black cutoff, her green backpack slung over one muscular shoulder. Some strands of hair had escaped her braid and curled up at the back of her neck, slightly damp from her sweat in the hot summer air. Trying to calm down and distract yourself, you let your gaze wander up her strong build, freckled biceps flexing as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. And then she looked straight at you. You didn’t move, stayed frozen as you had for the last few minutes, wishing you were invisible.

Your face felt hot and suddenly there were tears blurring your vision - what was happening?! Your knees started shaking as well, bouncing uncontrollably as your nails dug into the backs of your hands. Your throat was closing up and your bottom lip was quivering. All you saw were specks of grey and green, all you felt was your body resisting every command and rebelling against you, trying to hold you in place and suffocate you silently.

Suddenly the door opened beside you and a soft, deep voice said your name. You tried to blink the tears away but your vision wouldn’t clear up, panic blinding you further. You began shaking your head as your chest convulsed in a desperate attempt to draw breath.

“Fuck, Y/N, okay.” Abby’s voice was determined and suddenly her hands were on your wrists. Her skin was warm and dry, her grip firm. She softly shook your clasped hands and somehow moved so her face was in front of yours, a mess of green and brown and there, soft pink where her lips moved, speaking quietly and telling you to breathe with her. One hand stayed on your wrist and her thumb massaged the cramped up muscle there, digging painfully into your flesh but pulling you back to her slowly. One hand came up closer and a calloused thumb brushed the tears from your cheek before her hand landed on your shoulder, fingers pressing into your upper back.

“Hey, look at me, look at me, Y/N, you’re okay, I’m here. Can you try to breathe in with me on three? Just stop fighting for a moment, count with me and then we’ll breathe in together. Okay? One.”

You tried to sit up straighter and stop the erratic twitching of your chest, still choking on your breath as you waited for her commando.

“Two. Three.”

Her hand pressed between your shoulders from behind and suddenly you could breathe again, a loud gasp that turned into quiet sobs as you fought to release the air from your lungs before breathing in again.

“There we go, you’re doing so good,” Abby’s hand was on your cheek again, “so good, Y/N, breathe with me, that’s right.”

Your vision slowly returned to you now, though it was still distorted by tears. Abby had half-climbed into the truck, one foot between yours and one dangling out of the open door, her weight held up only by her right leg as she pressed her back against the dashboard. A wet laugh escaped you. Abby shot you a confused look, paired with the hint of a relieved smile.

“What?”

“You’re gonna get a cramp as well,” you rasped, “if you keep that up.”

You slid further to the inside of the broad seat, making room for Abby next to you. She grinned and sat down, one hand still on your wrist. Her eyes went down to your trembling hands, your knuckles still white from your iron grip.

“Okay, let’s take care of your hands, hm?”

Her fingers wandered softly over yours, then she rested one hand over your tangled fingers and pushed her other thumb between your palms, gently loosening your hold. She pulled back each finger slowly, starting with your thumbs and stroking each one as they relaxed. Finally, your shaking hands lay freely on your thighs.

“You’re doing so well, Y/N, don’t worry.” She took one of your hands in her lap and started massaging the inside of your palm. “Wanna tell me what got you there?”

You sighed, breath still shaky with tears.

“Um.. We ran into infected today. Runners. Families, it seemed.”

Abby sucked in a breath and gave you back your hand before taking the other and starting the same gentle procedure.

“Those are the hardest. Kids?”

You nodded and Abby made a soft noise. You took another rattling breath.

“I… I lost my little sister. Back when… before I came to you.”

Her head shot up and she stared at you, shock and sympathy playing over her features.

“Fuck, Y/N, you never said…”

“I know.” You lowered your head.

When you had stumbled out of the woods around the WLF stadium and begged them to let you in, they had stripped you and searched you before bringing you to their leader. After hours of questioning to make sure you weren’t a spy for any other group, he knew about your team and everything you had done in the last three years, but you hadn’t mentioned Sierra once. It wouldn’t change anything anyway. They had brought you to Nora who had patched you up, examined you, and fed you before showing you to your new room. It was a small closet on the base level of the stadium, with only a tiny window letting in some light. You were thankful for a roof over your head and the armed posts surrounding the stadium.

“I didn’t want to talk about her. I didn’t lie to Isaac or betray you. It wasn't anyone's business.” You gave Abby a fierce look. Nothing would change your mind about this. She just nodded, her eyes wide. You sighed, brushing your hands against each other.

“She was bitten. I see her every time I close my eyes. It wasn’t fair.” You dropped your hands into your lap. “I just don’t… I can’t -”

Abby’s hand was on yours again, her fingers sliding between yours.

“Hey. I won’t tell anyone. But I’m here, okay? If you want to talk.”

You scoffed.

“No one ever talks here. You’re all made of stone.”

Abby contemplated this for a few seconds, then she squeezed your hand.

“My dad was murdered a few years ago. Almost all of our families are dead.” Now it was your turn to be shocked. Fuck. You had been so insensitive. “By us, I mean Owen, Nora, Jordan, and me. Owen lost his parents to infected and his brothers to the scars just last year.”

Abby leaned back and stared out of the windshield, the garage now dark except for a few small lamps at the exits.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry. Of course, I’m in no place to tell you how to deal with it.”

“No, it’s fine. You’re right, you know. We don’t talk about those things.” She looked at you, her gaze so intense you almost pulled back. “Would you like to?”

You forced yourself to hold her gaze.

“I think I would. Now that it’s all… further away.”

Abby nodded, squeezing your hand again.

“Then we’ll talk. You can tell me all about your sister. And… I haven’t talked about my dad in a long time. I think I’d like to tell you about him, too. He was great.”

A small smile played around her lips and you felt a rush of gratitude for this wonderful woman. You could practically see the memories playing through her head behind those green eyes. She blinked, looking back at you.

“Wanna get something to eat? You must be starving. I know I am.”

“Sure.” You shared another smile and exited the car together, fingers still intertwined as you crossed the lot and Abby held the door open for you.

Dinner was already over, but Leah had kept her word and the elder woman at the counter gave you both gigantic bowls of beef stew with thick, coarse bread. You told Abby about your patrol that day and she hummed sympathetically. She knew what it felt like to deal with infected children. After a while, the door to the cafeteria flew open and Manny came in, sleek black hair still wet from a shower. He grinned brightly as he made his way over to you and sat next to you on the metal bench.

“You coming along tonight?” he asked you, drumming his fingers on the table. You raised your eyebrows.

“What’s happening tonight?”

He tutted at Abby and gave her a theatrical frown.

“You didn’t invite Y/N? It’s Mel’s birthday! Owen got his hands on some prime hooch. You celebrating with us?”

You smiled at your plate. The last thing you needed was to get wasted and completely lose any shred of sanity you had left.

“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll join you. I still haven’t showered and I had a terrible day. I’m just gonna read a bit and pass out, I think.” You gave him an apologetic shrug.

“Oh, come on, Y/N. Read and pass out? It’s a special occasion! You sure?”

“Yeah, but really, thank you for inviting me. Maybe next time.”

He sighed heavily, then he clapped his hand on the table and stood up.

“Abby, you need to get moving, girl. We’re meeting in 20 and you stink.”

Abby just raised her eyebrows and shook her head, finishing her stew. Manny's laughter echoed through the empty room as he left.

“Do I really smell that bad?” There was a twinkle in her eye, a conspiratorial smile on her lips. You smiled back.

“Not at all. He probably smelled me.” You grabbed her empty bowl and placed it in yours. “Go have fun, I’ll clean this up. See you at training.”

Abby cocked her head to the side, seemingly not sure what to do. You gave her another encouraging smile.

“Really, I’m fine. Thank you for taking care of me, I owe you. Go celebrate!”

The tall blonde stood up slowly. She still seemed hesitant.

“I’ll come check on you later if that’s okay. And you can always come over and talk to me if something’s wrong, alright?”

Your chest felt tight all of a sudden, but not in the way it had earlier. It was the feeling of reaching for something knowing you’d never have it, of wanting something so bad and only being able to admire it from a distance. It felt like being homesick. You thought of Sierra again and how she had been your home, the only anchor in your life. Fuck, not now.

You shook your head as if to get rid of your thoughts and gave Abby a brave smile.

“Okay. But I’ll be fine. Promise.”

“Okay. See you later, then.”

“See you.”

Abby gave you a last look over her shoulder before exiting the cafeteria and you made your way over to the kitchen. The cooks had already left and a lanky red-haired boy was the only one still there, washing dishes and listening to music on an mp3 player. The metallic sound in his headphones echoed through the peacefully quiet kitchen. He almost jumped two feet into the air when you approached from the side, bowls in your hand.

“Fuck, you scared the shit out of me! Jesus Christ.” He pressed a wet hand to his chest, the suds leaving a dark print on his shirt.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know how not to scare you, music and all. Sorry.” Both of you had to laugh and he held his dripping hands out for your dirty bowls.

“Don’t worry, I just wasn’t expecting anyone this late. You just come back from a mission?”

“Just a patrol run.”

You leaned against the counter and watched him clean the dishes.

“Anything exciting happen?” His eyes were bright and excited. He was even younger than he had looked at first, he couldn’t be older than 15. “My brother is on patrols too. Maybe you know him, his name is Danny.”

You crossed your arms and tried to remember the face that matched that name. Danny had been on patrol with Owen for a while when you had first arrived, but now he was stationed on some outpost and you hadn’t seen him for a long time.

“Yeah, I think I do. He’s not here at the moment, right?”

“He’s at the Serevena Hotel. I may be able to visit him there soon, depending on how my training goes.”

You raised your eyebrows.

“Training to be a soldier?”

“Of course.” He stood up straight. “I want to do my part, protect our people. Fight the scars.”

You didn’t really know how to respond to that. Even though you were thankful the WLF had taken you in and even though you had also participated in rigorous training from the first day on, soon being cleared for missions, you didn’t really have the same loyalty and faith for the organization. The seraphites were your enemies now, of course, but they were just people. You all were. Sometimes you wondered how it could have come to this - so few people left on this earth and here you were, slaughtering each other.

“I hope you can visit your brother soon.” You let your arms fall to the side and turned to leave. “Thanks for the dishes.”

“No problem,” he mumbled, putting his headphones back in.

You were in no rush to get to your room and so you took a few detours, passing the gym which was filled with quite a lot of people getting their training in after work. You looked into empty classrooms, trying to decipher what was written on the board. Would Sierra have studied here? Sat in the front, eager to learn the things you hadn’t been able to teach her? What if you had come here earlier, before it all happened? Could they have protected her better than you had? She would probably be walking next to you now, telling you about her day.

When you finally arrived at your room, you just quickly grabbed a towel, a clean shirt, and some shorts and headed for the showers. The hot water seemed to help somewhat. You wondered what Abby was up to right now. Probably getting drunk and having fun. Was she the type of person who danced? You had never seen her dance before. Maybe Nora would persuade her. There it was again, that heavy, pulling feeling. You turned the water off, got dressed, and went straight to bed. Enough heartache for one day.

You woke up confused, not knowing where you were at first. It was pitch black and there was some kind of noise outside. You reached around you and finally found the flashlight next to your pillow, turning it on and trying to wipe the sleep from your eyes. What was going on?

It had to be after midnight. The lights in the stadium were only on from 5.30 am to 10 pm in order to save power. You untangled yourself from your sheets and got on your feet, swaying a little. There it was again, that strange scratching noise accompanied by a quiet mumbling sound. It wasn’t directly at your door but seemed to come from further down the corridor. There were a few other people living down here in storerooms and sectioned hallways.

Yawning, you walked to the door and opened it ever so slightly, pressing the flashlight to your thigh in order to keep the light down at first. You couldn’t see anything, so you waved the flashlight around the corridor. Your stomach dropped.

At the far end of the hallway, a small figure stood in front of one of the doors, trying to open it to no avail. Small hands scratched at the wood, quiet brabbling reached your ears. This was wrong. Very wrong. The figure hadn’t noticed the light yet. It went on to the next door, trying the door handle and whining in frustration when it didn’t open.

Why didn’t the people inside wake up from the noise? You stood frozen as the figure tried the next door. It was a child, dressed in dotted pyjamas. Its blonde hair was shoulder length and tangled in knots. You slowly pushed your door open wider in order to step out into the corridor. Suddenly, the hinges squeaked and the sound echoed through the hallway.

The child slowly turned toward you. Blood was dripping from its mouth, its eyes were cold. It took a step toward you. You looked down and realized you were holding a gun. Oh. Right. Infected. You were supposed to shoot them.

As the kid made another strange brabbling sound, more blood ran down the front of the cotton pyjama shirt. You raised the flashlight with shaky fingers and aimed it right at the child's face.

Your blood froze in your veins. No. This couldn’t be. You had taken care of her, you had made sure she wouldn’t… wouldn’t turn into one of these… No, you had given her a peaceful ending.

“Sierra.” Your voice was raspy, quiet with terror. “Sierra, what are you doing here, baby?”

She growled. A horribly wrong sound, coming from someone so small and so lovely. Only she wasn’t lovely anymore. She was sick. Infected.

“Sierra!” You spoke louder now, your voice pleading. “Baby, please don’t do that. It’s me, see?” You raised the flashlight to light your own face for a moment. When you put it back on her, she had stopped walking. Her face was a mask of ice-cold fury. When she spoke, her voice rattled like nails in a metal box, rough like chalk on board.

“Y/N… Why?

You sank to your knees.

“Oh baby, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry Siri, I was so helpless. I didn’t know, I didn’t…”

“You… killed… me.”

She was getting dangerously close now and all of a sudden you could smell her, too. Foul, dead, vile. The smell of sickness and decay. You raised the gun, a war raging between your head and your heart.

“Sierra, stop. Stop.” Tears were streaming down your face. “Please stop, Siri. Don’t come any closer. Stop, stop! Please stop!”

Your little baby sister was so close that you could have reached out a hand and brushed through her hair. You stood up and took a step back.

“I’m gonna have to shoot you if you don’t step back. You’re infected, Siri. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, but you can’t, please Sierra. Don’t, please don’t…”

She hissed at you and lurched forward. A shot rang through the air and the girl fell to the floor right before you, her tiny body at your feet, blood slowly pooling around her head. You dropped the gun and it clattered on the concrete floor. You clapped your hands to your mouth and screamed into your palms, crying out again and again, trying to gasp for air. It felt like your heart was being torn in two.

Suddenly there was a hand on your shoulder. You whirled around, but there was only darkness. You let yourself fall to the floor and kept weeping into your hands. Someone gripped your wrists and shook them slightly. You opened your eyes.

Abby was sitting on the side of your bed, her face right above yours and full of worry. You shook your head, frantically looking around your room for any kind of danger. The room was almost dark, light just seeping through the crack under the door. It was still early in the night.

“Y/N? Hey, hey. You’re okay.” Abby slowly let go of your wrists. “You had a nightmare. You’re okay now, I’m here.”

You were still too terrified to speak, so you just scooted further to the side and grabbed Abby’s hand, giving her a pleading look. She understood immediately, kicking off her shoes and climbing into bed next to you, holding out her arm for you to crawl into. You pressed yourself to her side and rested your head on her chest, feeling yourself tremble in her arms. She just held you for a while, letting you listen to her heartbeat until your own body began to calm down.

“Hi,” you whispered into the dim room. Abby stroked your hair while she held you tightly.

“Hey there,” she mumbled back. “Feeling better?”

“Not really.” You looked up at her. She smelled faintly of alcohol and something sweet. “How was your party?”

The corner of her mouth twitched.

“It was absolute chaos. I had to escape from there before it could consume me. And I also had someone to check on.” She squeezed your shoulder. You cringed at the thought of her finding you like this, writhing and talking in your sleep, crying out or even fighting her without knowing who was in front of you. You had always had horrible nightmares and Sierra had taken the brunt of them, waking you countless nights and trying to stay brave when you yelled at her or shoved her away in the first moments of consciousness, not yet fully back in the real world. Now that she was gone, they were a hundred times worse. You pressed your forehead to Abby’s shoulder.

“Did I scream?”

“Not really. I just knocked a few times and then I heard you talking, and you sounded so panicked that I thought I should make sure… I’m sorry I just came in like that.”

You shook your head.

“No, don’t. Thank you for waking me. It was… God, I hate this.”

Abby’s fingers combed through your hair, massaging your scalp. It was heavenly.

“Does this happen a lot?”

You snorted involuntarily.

“Every night. Several times. I never sleep through and I never sleep enough.” You wiped a hand over your face. “Sorry, I know I’m not the only one and it could be worse. It’s just… hard.”

“Excuse me?” Abby’s tone made you look up at her. “You’re telling me you have several panic attacks in your sleep every night but it’s fine because others have nightmares, too?”

You frowned. Panic attacks? You’d never thought of it that way.

“Y/N, you’re allowed to complain. To me especially. Remember, we wanted to talk about our problems? Be open about all this?”

She was right. You pressed yourself closer to her.

“I guess, yeah. Thank you for… for being here.”

“Wanna tell me about your nightmare?”

You held onto Abby’s shirt, clenching the fabric in your fist as if she might be ripped from you at any moment.

“I don’t know… I mean, why not. Well…” How were you even supposed to explain all this? How would you ever talk about your sister without freaking out again?

Abby pressed a kiss to the top of your head and you felt the tension in your stomach dissolve. You took a deep breath.

“I can never tell I’m dreaming. This time I thought I heard something in the corridor and I went to see what it was. A little girl was scratching on doors, trying to get in. She looked like the… like one of the infected we ran into today. But I made a noise and when she turned around she was... She was -” You gasped for air, trying to keep your calm. Abby hummed softly, stroking your back and giving you time to think.

“She had the face of my sister. Sierra.” You hadn’t said her name out loud in so long, only in the nightmares. Maybe it was time to rid her name of that terror, that fear, and grant it the love and warmth it deserved. “Sierra was my little sister. We ran with a group the last few years, stayed with them after our mom died. But she was bitten and I had to… I had to let her go.” You swallowed hard. Abby’s thumb drew circles on your back.

“So in the dream… the girl turned around and she was her . And I didn’t know what to do. I begged her to stop, to not come any closer because she was infected, she was bleeding, and -” You drew in another breath and buried your face in Abby’s chest. “She asked me why I’d done it, why I had… and she kept coming and then she attacked me and I - I had to, I had to shoot her.”

Hot tears were burning in your eyes and your throat was impossibly tight again. Abby gently placed a hand on your cheek and turned your face up toward her.

“I’m not gonna tell you it was just a dream because I know it's more complicated than that. I get them, too, sometimes. But what I can tell you is that I’m here, that you’re safe now, that your sister is in a better place and that one day you will be able to speak about her without feeling like you’re falling apart.”

“You think so?”

“I’m sure of it. And now you're with me. We can heal together. I’m here, I’ll always be here for you, okay?”

You raised your head from her chest and turned a little in order to get face to face with her.

“Abby?”

“Yeah?”

“Why are you doing this? Why now? I didn’t even think you liked me. You don’t have to take care of me.”

Abby’s features softened and she huffed out a silent laugh.

“I don’t know. I really… You were right when you said we keep everything to ourselves. But some of us do it more than others. And I guess I’m the worst when it comes to showing what I want.”

The sentence hung in the air for a moment. Abby took a deep breath.

“I like you, I really do. I just thought you needed more time. I know what it’s like to suffer and to feel like you can’t breathe. I wanted to give you space. But then I saw you in the car and I immediately knew what was happening. And I finally realized that I wouldn’t make things better by staying away.”

She held your gaze and you felt something shift between you. Her hand on your back came to a halt. You smiled softly.

“I always thought you didn’t find me interesting enough to talk to me. I was so jealous of the others for being this close to you and for making you laugh. I wanted that, too.”

“You’re the most interesting person that’s ever walked into this stadium,” Abby said softly. “God, I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to feel left out.”

You rested your head back on her shoulder.

“You made it up to me already. Really, you saved me today. Twice.”

Abby chuckled.

“Just wait until I have my next breakdown and then you can return the favor. Shouldn’t be long, they get to me every few days.”

You wrapped your arms around her torso.

“Well, then you’ll just have to stay close by.”

She hesitated, holding her breath for a second. You waited.

“Do you want me to stay? Tonight?”

You smiled to yourself.

“Would you?”

“Of course.”

You kept talking for a while. Abby told you about the party and about the cook Nora was currently hooking up with, and you told her about the boy in the kitchen. She recalled training with Danny when she first joined the WLF, laughing about how he had boasted that he wouldn’t lose to a girl and how she had him on the ground in a headlock in about two seconds.

At some point you must have fallen asleep, because the next thing you knew you were in the truck again, sitting in the passenger seat as the car flew through Seattle at top speed. You looked over and in the driver's seat there was the red-haired boy from the kitchen. His face was determined, a hard mask of concentration. He was panting hard, driving as fast as he could. Arrows were flying around you, soaring through the broken windows of the car and missing you by mere inches. A horse was whinnying. Scars. You immediately pulled out your gun and started shooting at everything that moved outside, hitting at least three people and a horse.

“Sorry,” you whispered as you reloaded. Animals weren’t fair.

You looked up and suddenly there was someone standing in the middle of the street. A small girl, brown-haired and in a red dress. Her back was to you. You screamed at the driver, but it was too late. The truck hit the child and it was thrown against the windshield, making a horrible noise as it cracked the glass and rolled over the roof to the back of the car where it fell to the ground. The truck came to a shrieking halt and you jumped out, gun drawn. The scars had vanished. You and the redhead ran back to where the girl was laying in a heap on the street, so small and fragile. Blood was running through the cracks in the pavement.

You turned the girl on her back and froze when you saw her face.

“Sierra! No, no, no, oh god no, what have we done - Sierra, Sierra, baby, look at me!”

“Y/N!” You heard your name but Sierra’s lips weren’t moving. “Y/N!” You whipped your head around and woke up.

It was dark and Abby had an arm wrapped around you, the other was holding your cheek. You swallowed and struggled for air.

“I’ve got you, hey, just breathe for me, I’ve got you.” Abby’s voice was sleepy and rough, something you'd have never thought you’d have the privilege of hearing. It calmed you down instantly. You dug your fingers into her arm, strong muscle flexing beneath your touch.

“Shhh, that’s right, just hold on. You’re okay.” You melted into her arms, hands and legs still shaking. She made a quiet humming noise in the back of her throat and pressed another kiss to your scalp. “I’m here. I’ll take care of you. I’m here.”

“You’re here,” you whispered and she hummed again in response. You rested your head against her chest and listened to her breaths as they slowly became more regular, chest steadily moving against you. Her heartbeat thumped softly in your ear. Cocooned in the wolf’s arms and serenaded by the quiet symphony of her sleeping body, you finally drifted off to sleep again.

#abby anderson #abby tlou #abby tlou2 #abby anderson fic #fanfiction #angst #fluff #hurt/comfort #angst/comfort #angst/fluff #manny tlou #wlf #washington liberation front #abby anderson / reader #abby/reader

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escape-from-reality-fics · 4 years ago

Text

The Accidental Revelation ❋ E-Chan

↳ Pairing: Lee Changmin (E-Chan)/Reader

↳ Word Count: 3,739

⁙ Summary: You and Changmin go to a party to celebrate your friends recent successes. It doesn’t exactly go as planned when a secret gets revealed during a fight

⚠️ Warnings: Contains cursing, fighting, mentions of body image and a brief mention of some adult themes. Please do not read if you are triggered by any of these!

“I’m so excited!~” You can’t help but squeal, wiggling happily in the passenger seat of your boyfriend’s car. Changmin glanced over at you from his spot behind the steering wheel and chuckled, enjoying your sparkly eyed expression.

“You haven’t seen Kenzie in a while huh? Even though her and Junseo are a thing now,” Changmin mused to himself, smoothly turning the car onto another street, getting closer and closer to your destination.

“It’s because she’s always busy! She told me the last time we spoke that she had like 20 bookings for this month alone and another 15 people wait-listed. Her business is taking off,” you praise her, feeling proud of your best friend for pursuing her dream of being a photographer.

Changmin reaches for your hand, bringing it to his face to leave a sweet peck against your palm. You giggle to yourself, lacing your fingers with his. You turn back to stare out the window, always keen to watch the surroundings fly by in a rush of colors. Your mind was also turning, having found out some very important news just a week ago. You’d found out you’re pregnant and you had no clue how to bring it up to Changmin. This trip would be the perfect distraction from the conflict you were feeling.

Ten minutes later Changmin is pulling to a stop outside of a rustic house, something not very common in South Korea but very much beautiful. The both of you exit the car, stretching your legs from the not-so long, but traffic filled drive. Changmin comes around to your side of the car, putting an arm around your shoulders as you tilt your head back to admire his handsome face.

“How did I manage to get the most handsome man in the world to be my boyfriend huh? I must have done some good deeds in my previous life,” you joke, watching as his mouth splits into a wide grin, leaning down to peck his lips to yours briefly. You sigh wistfully, your eyes slipping closed and feeling like your life was really complete in that moment.

“C’mon my love, we have a party to crash,” Changmin reminds you, as your eyes peeled open, his hand pulling you along. Reaching the front door you leaned forward and knocked, also ringing the doorbell for good measure. A minute or so passed before the door swung open, revealing the figure of your best friend Kenzie.

“AHHHHH! I’m so happy you guys could make it!” She screeched, rushing forward to tackle you into a tight hug. You loudly cackled and hugged her back, tilting her from side to side. Changmin watched the outburst with the air of someone who has seen it countless times, slipping by and heading into the house where you hear shouts of his name.

“Come on in. Everyone else is in the living room playing Uno, but I’m pretty sure Harry-June and Sungmin are in the kitchen raiding the snacks by now. I told them they could only have some once you two arrived,” Kenzie explained, leading the way into her big house. You were well acquainted with the layout having been there times and times before but the size still always took you by surprise.

“Well hello boys!~ Who’s winning? It better be Seongsik because I have a bet with Changmin I am NOT losing,” you laugh, watching as they all whip their heads to where you’re standing.

“Well sad to say (Y/N) but you might be losing that bet. I’ve got the most cards,” Seongsik laughs as you crumple beside Dongil on the couch, pretend groaning in despair. Yuku laughs from where he sits a few feet away and you smile back at the ray of sunshine himself. Turning back, you watch as they continue their game, Heechan being crowned the winner. Changmin returns from the kitchen with Harry-June and Sungmin, the three of them carrying armfuls of chips and chocolates.

“I think some people have already started eating without us. How rude,” you tease, pointing out the chocolate smears on the lips of Sungmin who blushes profusely at being caught. Him and Harry-June settle down on the floor around the coffee table, the huge L shaped couch being filled by everyone else. Changmin shoves Gwanghyun over, taking the spot on your left as the younger boy complains, squeezing closer to Seongsik.

“So now that everyone is here, we have snacks and drinks and the games are set up, are we ready to get this party started?!” Kenzie announces, as everyone cheers, excited for what’s sure to be a fun night.

Kenzie grabs her PS4 controllers, handing them out to whoever wins rock-paper-scissors. The winners end up being Sungmin, Junseo, Changmin and Heechan. They decide to boot up some type of shooting game, becoming immersed fairly quickly.

“Hey (Y/N) did you want to come play Cards Against Humanity with us? Or do you wanna watch the boys play their game?” Seongsik asks, pulling out the big black box and getting it set up on the coffee table.

“Sure but just to warn y’all I’m gonna win,” you say cockily, sliding down from your spot beside Changmin, moving to sit at the coffee table. You swipe up your cards, taking a peek at your options before smirking.

You pass the time by playing the game, occasionally having other boys switch out to play some games on the PS4. Changmin let’s one of the younger boys take his controller, needing a break from shooting computer generated aliens. You’re in the middle of placing a card down when you feel his hands run through your hair, leaning back to further his ministrations.

“Minnie?” You pout, staring up at him with the best puppy dog eyes you could muster, obviously wanting something. He stares back down at you, replicating your pout horribly before whining back.

“Yes (N/N)? What can I do for you?”

“Can you get me cake or chocolate or something? I really want something sweet all of a sudden,” you ask, barely finishing your sentence before he’s standing up and strolling to the kitchen.

“Wow you have him whipped huh?” Gwanghyun teases from beside you, placing his card down and waiting for Harry-June to read them out. Yuku leans over to ask Sungmin what whipped means, nodding his head seriously as the older boy answers.

“He’s not whipped! He’s just being a caring boyfriend is all,” you shove him playfully before letting out a loud whoop at winning the game. Kenzie, Gwanghyun and Heechan all sigh at their respective losses.

“Hey I’m gonna run and grab some drinks from the garage really quick, don’t start the next game without me!” Kenzie warns, grabbing a hold of Junseo as she passes him, basically being voluntold into helping her. The boy himself looks quite smitten however, a blush painted across his cheeks as his girlfriend tugs him away. You stand up from your spot and shake out the numbness in your legs from sitting cross-legged.

“I’m gonna go pee really fast. Be right back,” you inform Harry-June who scrunches his nose up while at your too much information moment. Yuku nods from beside him, giving you a small thumbs up as he shuffles the cards.

Ruffling his hair you stroll to the bathroom and do what you need to do, taking a bit of time in there to freshen up and fix any stray hairs. You barely take 5 minutes in the bathroom, returning quickly to the living room but stopping in your tracks.

On the coffee table is an empty plate, chocolate icing smears present. Kenzie is sitting barely a foot away, licking the exact same icing off a fork. For some unknown reason this fills you with annoyance.

“What’re you eating?” You huff, coming closer to the coffee table but not sitting down quite yet. She looks up at you, eyeing the way your hands are held on your hips and your mouth set in a small frown.

“Oh there was a piece of cake sitting here so I just took the liberty of eating it. I think it was the last piece too but I’m not too sure,” she says, reaching forward on the table to deal herself some cards, before looking back up at you.

“Aren’t you gonna sit down and play another game?”

“I was until someone had to go and eat the cake that was mine,” you respond snootily, arms now crossed over your chest as you shifted your weight to your left hip, something that was a clear tell for you being mad.

“Yours? (Y/N) it was literally just sitting here on the table. No one’s name was on it,” Kenzie rolled her eyes, believing it was silly to be arguing about a slice of cake. That was the final straw for you.

“Are you kidding me, Kenzie? Usually if there is food sitting somewhere and no one is near it you’d at least ask who it belongs to!” You growl angrily, jabbing a finger in her direction. The boys are starting to notice the fight building up, wearily looking between the two of you. It’s Junseo who bites the bullet and tries to calm the both of you down.

“Let’s just take a breath here. Can’t we just get (Y/N) another piece of cake? Problem solved!” Junseo says soothingly, putting himself between you both as Kenzie stands up to meet your fiery gaze. Yuku and Harry-June are nervously glancing between the two of you, not expecting their older sister figures to fight.

“Uh that would be a problem solved if that wasn’t the last piece of chocolate cake,” Changmin whispers into the air, the tension becoming so thick it could be cut with a knife. Kenzie gently pushes Junseo to the side, stepping in front of you and giving you a fake sympathetic smile.

“Maybe if (Y/N) didn’t feel the need to be a fatass all the time we wouldn’t be having this problem. You don’t need to eat shit all the time you know?” Kenzie hisses, pointing at the small amount of chub around your belly, something you were always insecure about.

“Are you being fucking for real right now? I don’t eat like shit all the time. You just have to be a fucking bitch and mess with me!” You seethe, waving an arm at her.

By this point Changmin had also stepped forward, trying and failing to pull you away from the situation. Junseo is doing the same to Kenzie but the both of you refuse to budge. You can see from the corner of your eye the worried expressions and stances of the other boys, preparing for a fight to go down.

“I will actually fucking drag you right now if you don’t shut the fuck up!” Kenzie yells, shoving your shoulder as you stumble back a bit. You steel yourself and give her a good push back, seething in anger.

“Fucking try me, I dare you! You’re too fucking pussy!”

“Oh really?! I’ll fucking drag you across the floor and outta this house! I don’t care that you’re pregnant!” She screams in your face, raising her hand and slapping you harshly as you reel back in shock never expecting her to use that against you as she was the only one you confided in. Everyone around you had gone quiet, expressions varying from shock to surprise. Changmin’s hand loosely wraps around your wrist and you vaguely hear a shocked whisper of the word ‘pregnant’ but you’re too far gone to care.

“Oh it’s fucking on you hoe! I’ll drag you any day whether I’m pregnant or not!” You yell, giving her a harsh punch to the side of her jaw, grabbing her hair for good measure. She retaliates and starts clawing at you as the two of you break into a full on fist fight.

It lasts barely more than 15 seconds before everyone is breaking the two of you up. Junseo and Seongsik drag Kenzie away, taking her in the direction of the kitchen as you notice with triumph that she is sporting a few good scratches and bruises.

Changmin takes this chance to gently lead you away, finding the guest bedroom and sitting you on the fluffy duvet, crossing his arms as he stares down at you with a mix of disappointment and concern.

“She had it coming to her so don’t you go giving me a huge speech about me being in the wrong,” you grumble, crossing your arms but wincing, noticing the scratch marks going down your arm. Changmin notices and sighs, going into the on suite bathroom and wetting a face cloth to clean you up.

“I’m not gonna lecture you sweetheart. I just wanna know what went through your head to start a full on fist fight with your best friend of 17 years… Over a piece of cake?” Changmin asks, pushing away hair from your face that Kenzie had pulled.

“I-I don’t even know honestly. I was just looking forward to that cake and she took it from me. All that I felt was immense anger and she didn’t make it any better by not apologizing,” you murmur, putting your face in your hands as what you’d done settles in. Silence settles heavily into the air, Changmin shifting his weight as he stands crouches in front of you, dabbing at the scratches on your arm.

“What she said…. Is it true? About you, uhm, being pregnant?” Changmin’s hesitant and fragile voice filters through your ears, making your head shoot up to look at him with surprise. You feel your heart thrumming in your chest out of pure nervousness, not knowing whether he would be happy or upset that you were expecting.

“Changmin I-I was going to tell you I swear! I just didn’t know how and I didn’t know if you’d be angry or upset with me. We’re still so young and we aren’t married. Heck, you’re only in the beginning of your career and I haven’t even started mine. I’m just so scared,” you finish in tears, sobs escaping as you hastily try and wipe your eyes.

Changmin doesn’t say anything, instead just gathering you into his arms. You bury your tear soaked face into his chest as he murmurs soothing words, running his hands up and down your back to comfort you.

“I’m definitely not angry. Shocked for sure, but never angry. I sorta wish I was told in a different way as well, but I’m happy! I’m gonna be a dad!” Changmin says, a smile prominent on his lips and happy tears welling in his eyes. You smile back, wrapping your arms around his neck and giving him a long peck on the lips.

“I’m so thankful to have you be my soulmate,” you murmur against his lips, feeling him pull you closer onto his lap intending to further what you were starting. You were almost on board but stopped and pulled away, feeling the stinging pain on your cheek as a reminder of what just went down.

“As much as I’d love to continue what we were starting, I should probably go see if Kenzie is okay and apologize,” you hum, standing up from Changmin’s lap as he groans, trying to fix his pants to hide the tent that had started forming.

“Fine, but you owe me later,” he grumbles, following you out into the hall as you lace your fingers with his. You giggle at his obvious irritation.

“Don’t worry baby when we get home I’ll make it up to you,” you whisper seductively, cackling at the expression of pure want that flutters across his face. Shaking your head you continue on your way, stepping into the living room moments later.

Most of the boys were all sitting around the TV, playing their video game again and looking up in surprise when you entered the room. You glance around and notice that Kenzie, Junseo and Seongsik aren’t anywhere to be seen.

“Hey (Y/N), are you feeling a bit better now?” Dongil asks gently, wearily eyeing the scratch marks on your arm and reddened hand print on your cheek. Yuku also is staring at you worriedly and you feel bad for setting such a horrible example for the younger boy. Nodding, you give Dongil and Yuku a small, sheepish smile.

“Yeah I’m all good. I sorta need to talk to Kenzie though?” You trail off, feeling everyone's sympathetic stares on you. Heechan nods in the direction of the kitchen, focusing on winning the game. You huff at him but shuffle towards the kitchen anyways, Changmin letting go of your hand to go join the others.

You end up peeking your head around the doorframe of the kitchen, watching Kenzie’s back as she flies around while ordering Seongsik and Junseo to do things for her. Your brows furrowed in confusion as you come out from around the corner, catching Junseo’s eyes as he gives you a small smile.

“Ah I think Seongsik-hyung and I should go see if the others need anything!” Junseo squawks, yanking Seongsik out of the room as the older boy complains. Kenzie goes to protest their retreat before taking notice of you, the words dying on her lips.

“Uh hi,” you say awkwardly, giving a small wave as she eyes you up. Kenzie purses her lips and turns back around to whatever she is doing, making you deflate a little.

“I’m sorry,” you hear come from where she is standing by the counter, furiously mixing something in a large stainless steel bowl. You almost didn’t catch what she said, having to strain your ears to hear her whispered apology.

“No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I started a fight all because of a stupid slice of cake. And with my friend of 17 years at that,” you chuckle, moving to stand beside her as she looks up at you with tears shining in her eyes.

“I didn’t mean any of what I said. Words just spilled out and I said horrible things. I’m so sorry!” She says remorsefully, wiping a tear that slides down her cheek. Pulling her into a hug you shush her.

“We both said some pretty bad things and even got physical but sometimes shit happens. All we can do is acknowledge it, apologize and move on,” you pull away and hand her a paper towel from the roll on the counter. Kenzie chuckles and dabs at her eyes.

“You’re right of course. Which is why I’m making a whole cake for you and Changmin to take home. I also shouldn’t have outed your pregnancy like that. I knew you were scared to tell him and I still used it against you,” she looks down at her sock covered feet shamefully as you hum.

“Well I would have never found a better way to tell him so at least I have a story we can tell our kid and laugh about,” you tease, pulling a loud laugh from Kenzie who shakes her head in amusement.

“Friends?” You say, reaching a finger into the cake batter on the counter, smearing it across her cheek as she squeals. Kenzie ends up returning the favour, the two of you now matching.

“Friends.”

“Well I guess we should go reassure the boys that we aren’t ripping each other's hair out anymore!” You say cheerfully, watching as Kenzie pops the cake batter into a baking pan and puts it in the oven, setting a timer.

The two of you exit the kitchen, giggling at each other and wiping the cake batter of your faces. The living room had gone strangely silent and you looked up to see everyone wearily watching. Changmin and Junseo are on the edges of their seats, wary about another fight breaking out.

“Don’t worry gentlemen. Kenzie and I have duked it out and we’re all good now!” You say, pulling her into a side hug and giving her a noogie to which she whines at.

“Good cause if I had to break up another fight I would start charging fees,” Gwanghyun mumbles, watching the two of you fondly with a slightly disgruntled expression. Plopping yourself on the couch, you snuggle into Changmin’s side.

“So you’re both good now? No more fights over cake?” He asks, raising an eyebrow mockingly. You hum, putting a finger to your chin as you pretend to think.

“Well there’s no guarantee I won’t punch her if she steals my cake again. We’ll see!” Laughing at their expressions, shaking your head.

“So uh, pretty sure you all heard what Kenzie said earlier and I’m pretty sure you are all eagerly waiting for me to confirm or deny. Yes I am pregnant and yes you will all be uncles. And an aunt,” you announce, watching as all the boys plus Kenzie stand up and start cheering and exclaiming loudly.

“So our kid is gonna have 8 crazy uncles and 1 crazy aunt. I hope they’re prepared,” Changmin cackles, watching his band mates and friends still celebrating.

“And to think, this all happened because of a piece of chocolate cake!”

~17 Years Later~

“So Dad only found out you were pregnant with me because you and Auntie Kenzie had a fist fight over cake?” Your son asks you, watching his Aunts and Uncles chatter and laugh with each other around your spacious backyard.

“Yep! And on the way home I tried suggesting to your Dad to let me name you chocolate cake but he said no, sadly. He said no for your younger brothers as well,” you sigh wistfully, remembering each time you had asked Changmin to let you name at least one of your three children after what you both liked to call “The Accidental Revelation”.

“Mom, I mean this with all respect, but sometimes I don’t know what Dad sees in you,” your youngest son laughs at your offended expression.

“Hey I love your Mom a lot! Even if her choice of baby names is a bit…. Unconventional,” Changmin comments, wrapping his arms around your waist from behind and pressing a kiss against your cheek.

“EW NO PDA!” Your middle son yells as he tries to cover his younger brother’s eyes, getting shoved away.

“Maybe we should try for a fourth and finally name them chocolate cake!” You say cheerfully, clasping your hands together as Changmin and your sons stare at you in disbelief.

“NO!”

“Aw man!”

#E-chan #fanfic #reader insert #kpop scenarios #kpop imagines #kpop fluff #kpop angst #lee changmin x reader #e-chan x reader #dkb scenarios #pregnancy fic #dkb e chan #dkb

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sugawara--san · 4 years ago

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alright i started watching naruto earlier this week and just some things i'd like to say:

90% of the time i am yelling at the screen for people to stop disrespecting my boy naruto and like, pumping my fist cheering for him???

love when they play the music™ and i know some awesome asskicking is about to take place

i also really love it when they do the hand signs can't tell ya why it just makes me happy lmao

kakashi. that's it that's the thought

okay usually when i watch a show i will have like one favorite and i'll like some of the others but here there are just SO many that i fuckin love?

naruto just might have to be my fav but after him it is VERY close between a whole bunch of them

he is BABY and deserves so much love and respect and is also such a badass. his determination and the way he inspires?? *chef's kiss*

in the beginning i thought my fav was gonna be sasuke cuz yknow we love a hothead emo

but somewhere naruto pulled ahead and then sasuke was gone for a bajillion episodes and suddenly a whole shit ton of others were occupying all of my brainspace

like shikamaru? love him. what an absolute badass genius. unmatched strategy

hinata? BABY. love her. a total baddie. cry whenever she's onscreen. admire her determination just like naruto

kiba? i know almost nothing about him but god i love him. he is so pretty and also i love the pup. would love more kiba content

rock lee? cracks me tf up. is awesome and a sweetheart. died when he took off the leg weights lmao i feel so bad for him tho :(

shino? BEST BUGGY BOY. love the mysterious vibe. is a lowkey baddie. i laughed for five minutes at that one post of him crying watching a bug's life. applauded when naruto dubbed him as one of the powerhouses.

SIDE NOTE TEAM 8 DYNAMIC IS TOP TIER WHAT I SEE IS HINATA AND HER BROTHERS FOR LIFE OKAY

okay but is it just me or would the leaf village kiddos as a whole just have like excellent style

the byakugan is cool and the fight between hinata and neji was double cool

the fight between naruto and neji had me so hyped i couldn't fall asleep omg

i am a sucker for naruhina. them during the chunin exams was super touching and adorable. but i'm worried it's gonna take naruto forever to notice and realize. i know it will djnsnwjfhjs fuck

i want more team 7 bonding

also bonding in like all the relationships between the leaf village kiddos

sasuke calling bitches he fights clowns we love to see it

there are so many characters usually one will have been introduced and i go "wow i don't think i'm gonna like them what a dick/creep/freak/bitch" LMAO and then they get an episode w them and/or their backstory in it and i'm like AW:( and have to take back what i said

like i disliked pretty much everyone in the other groups at the start of chunin exams cuz i thought they were just gonna be villains and then? no??

the fight between gaara and naruto was cool but mostly it was sad to see those two sad bois

also i have to say i haven't seen them all yet ofc but so far the first opening just goes harder than the rest

idk if this makes sense but the whole first opening is the team 7 dynamic i want :((

FUCK i wanna say plz don't touch sasuke but they're gonna fuckin do it aren't they :( noo

they fuckin did it sasuke don'T

SHIKAMARU'S ASSEMBLED TEAM >>>>>

I AM LOVIN IT SM MY BOYS

okay i felt bad for neji when they gave his backstory but i was still salty for hinata lmao and i kinda thought he was still a bitch but on this team i'm actually starting to like him?

why do naruto and sasuke fight so much ugh and yall are just gonna pretend you're not besties who care for and admire each other?? okay then

how fucking SAD and CONFUSED naruto is @ sasuke AW NO

ROCK LEE IS BACK BABYYYYY

I AM LOSING MY MIND FIRST LEE J STOPS SOMEONE ABOUT TO ATTACK HIM SAYING HE MUST TAKE HIS MEDICINE AT A SPECIFIC TIME AND THE GUY JUST LETS HIM?? AND SECOND LEE BEING SO PURE AND SUCH A LIGHTWEIGHT I'M CRYING

rock lee drunk fighting is def never something i've thought of before but now i will, regularly

the sand siblings are back in businesssss like i said i hated like all the other groups but now i'm excited cuz i feel like the gaara redemption is gonna be good and wholesome

aw gaara

sasuke what the FUCK are you DOING I AM MAD ABOUT IT WHAT THE HELL

THE WAY NARUTO STILL GIVES A SHIT ABOUT YOU AND IS ACTUALLY BEING A MATURE AND CARING FRIEND FOR FUCK'S SAKE SASUKE PLEASE GET A GRIP

HIS LITTLE EVIL GIGGLE IS NOT. IT.

please stop this :(

aw poor baby sasuke

"you have to kill your best friend" okay ay least sasuke is acknowledging that they're best friends jesus fuCK

catch me crying

NARUTO IS SUCH A BADASS AHHHH and they way he is kicking ass but like out of love i love to see it

i am so fuckin emotional right now their bond

sasuke put on the headband tho :(((

holy fuckin shiT

i honestly feel like i'm being attacked

shikamaru crying nooo

no one will read this but i think that concludes my week one thoughts, folks

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madsthewordclown · 4 years ago

Text

Fire Lily Pt. 7

warnings: character death, slight angst. I'm bad at warnings

a/n: this takes place during the Lake Laogai episode. I loved writing Iroh in this episode, even though I have exactly no Iroh-esque wisdom. I really do think Iroh always knows more than he lets on, which is probably the only way this chapter makes sense. There were a lot of directions I thought about taking this, but this is what I went with. Hopefully it sorts itself out

PSA: this chapter is longer than the other ones so far, but I’m thinking they’ll start to get longer as things pick up a bit more. Also I’m bad at feelings among other things so I apologize for any inaccuracies. I am too impulsive to do much research here.

Fire Lily Masterlist

The masked figure didn’t move; just stood there, looking at her. Y/N noticed the outline of a crumpled guard outside the cell door out of the corner of her eye. That wasn’t right—he wasn’t with them? Y/N glanced at the dual swords in the figure’s gloved hands, and an image flashed in her mind.

“Lee?”

“We need to go,” the figure said. The mask on their face didn’t move, but Y/N knew that voice. That voice that was awful at customer service, a bit raspy, but nevertheless had managed to make her laugh so many times, enough to forget the fire in her hands and the emptiness in her heart.

Y/N wanted to ask him to take the mask off, so she could see his face. Yeah, that would be good, she thought to herself. Seeing his face might make the light feeling in her head go away. Maybe it would keep the pounding from coming back.

But the reasonable side of her knew not to ask that of him. It was some deep feeling that she felt she knew; the anonymity, the need to keep hiding even when someone already knows the truth.

“Okay.”

Lee nodded under the mask and moved behind her, bringing down the hilt of one of the swords to break the stone around her hands. Y/N is surprised that she hardly feels the impact due to his preciseness. Y/N stood, brushing stray bits of rock from her raw wrists with a wince. The edge of her vision was a bit blurry, she noticed, but Lee was already taking her arm and leading her out of the cell. She tried not to lean on him too much. If he noticed the extra pressure, he didn’t give any indication.

“Go down this hall and to the left,” Lee explained gruffly, pointing down the mentioned hallway. Y/N was shocked at the vastness of it. She had assumed they were somewhere in the city, but was there room for a place like this?

“Where are we?”

“Lake Laogai,” Lee responded. “Now run.” He tried to push her away, but Y/N kept her grip on his arm, managing to keep herself from falling.

“Where are you going?” His body was angled in the opposite direction of where he was telling her to go. Why wasn’t he coming with?

“I… have to take care of something.”

An unfamiliar voice echoed through the hall. Y/N thought she heard yelling.

“Go!” Lee demanded, finally managing to shove her away. “Get out of here!”

This time, Y/N listened, taking off as quickly as she could in the direction Lee had told her. Left, left, left. Down this hall and to the left.

“Left” turned out to be a much more difficult concept than Y/N had anticipated. There were too many passageways, and she felt more directionally challenged the further she ran. The pounding in her skull was drowning out any comprehension of the word, “left.”

The yelling from before was getting louder, and now there was a pounding sound that Y/N wasn’t entirely sure was in her head. She tried to block it out, looking for any exit, but there were no windows, no exterior doors… Where the hell was she?

Y/N briefly wondered where Lee had disappeared to. And what was the mask? The image of its fanged smile flashed in her mind…

“Do your duty, Jet!” A man’s voice ordered. Y/N nearly fell, catching herself on the wall.

That was Jet’s name. Jet, who was arrested right in front of her, and had taught her how to wield a knife. He was here.

Y/N ran as fast as she could to another doorway where the voice had come from, and didn’t stop to think before bursting in.

The room is full of pipes, Y/N noticed. Huge pipes, some dripping water into the room. Long Feng stood defensively towards the back of the room. There were other people there, too, that Y/N didn’t recognize. A boy and a girl dressed in blue, a small Earth Kingdom girl, and a bald boy in orange and yellow, with blue arrows tattoos on his arms and head. Y/N had a feeling that he was important somehow but was too out of it to think of exactly what. Longshot and Smellerby were there too, Y/N realized. She could see Longshot’s knuckles turn white as he gripped his bow.

“He can’t make you do this!” The bald boy yelled.

And there was Jet, in the middle of it all, the same shaggy hair and dark eyes. Panting, drenched in sweat, face downturned.

“You’re a Freedom Fighter!” The bald boy cried, almost desperately. And Y/N knew that something was very, very wrong.

Jet stood up straight and stiff as a board. Y/N was too far away to read his face, but she could tell that he wasn’t in the room with them anymore. His mind was somewhere far away.

“Do it!” Ordered Long Feng, his shout almost animalistic. “Do it now!”

Y/N watched in horror as Jet lifted a hook sword. She knew Jet’s fighting style; she had sparred with him too many times. This wasn’t him. He wasn’t gripping the sword right, something was wrong—

The tip of the sword pointed towards the bald boy for only a moment, before Jet pivoted and sent it flying toward Long Feng. The sword hit the ground with a clatter, but Y/N barely registered the sound as Long Feng send a chunk of the floor beneath them flying at Jet, creating a cloud of dust. Long Feng was gone, but as the dust cleared, Y/N could see him; Jet, motionless on the ground. He wasn’t getting back up.

“Jet!” Y/N cried. She barely registered the others, who were all rushing to his side, as she sprinted, skidding on the ground to kneel next to him. They all seemed to have just noticed her presence.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” Jet asked. Jet looked to the bald boy, who was standing next to him. “I’m sorry… Aang.” Y/N felt herself choke as Jet struggled to speak.

“Don’t be,” the boy, Aang, replied sadly. Y/N chokes back a sob. This can’t be happening, she just found him again, and now he was leaving, he was leaving, and Y/N knew it.

The girl in blue, knelt down next to Jet, across from Y/N. Y/N watched in amazement as the girl drew water from a pouch that was slung over her shoulder. The water wrapped itself around her hands and began to glow as the girl placed them on Jet’s chest. Waterbender.

“What are you doing?” Y/N asked, fighting back the tears.

“Healing,” the girl replied, glancing up at her for only a moment. Y/N felt her heart swell. Maybe he would be okay after all. Maybe he could teach her some more about how to handle a knife. Y/N let out a single laugh, not noticing the others’ odd stares.

“This isn’t good,” the girl said somberly, removing her hands from Jet’s chest. That can’t be right, Y/N thought. She said she was healing. Why couldn’t he be healed, she’d just found him again…

“You guys go and find Appa. We’ll take care of Jet,” Smellerby said to the others.

“We’re not going to leave you,” the girl protested.

“There’s no time.” Y/N turned to the unfamiliar voice and was shocked to see that Longshot was speaking. “We’ll take care of him. He’s our leader.”

“Take Y/N with you, she’s hurt,” Jet said weakly. “She can take my swords. She knows how to use them.”

“No, they’re yours, you can teach me with the knife—”

“Give her the swords,” Jet repeated. “You’ve got to protect yourself.”

The girl looked at Jet’s face, and he smiled ever so lightly. “Don’t worry, Katara. I’ll be fine.”

Y/N took Jet’s hand as Katara stood, tears streaking down her face. “I tried to find you,” Jet told her, “but I couldn’t remember. I’m sorry I scared you.”

“You’ll be okay,” Y/N whispered.

“Go,” Jet said, wincing. Y/N barely registered as his hook swords were pressed into her hands. Somehow, she was on her feet, Smellerby taking her place by Jet’s side, and then that horrible, awful place was gone, and someone was trying to talk to her. The boy in blue had her arm over his shoulder.

“He was lying,” the young girl’s voice said. Y/N knew it was true. It was true because she was gripping his hook swords in her hands so hard that it hurt. It was true because he had told her to leave instead of getting up and fighting his way out with them. She hadn’t known him for very long, but Y/N knew of his tenacity and his strength. And he had sent her away, alone.

Suddenly, the ringing in Y/N’s ears was much louder, and she felt her legs begin to grow weaker. She had really done something when she hit her head. The others—the black-haired girl, Katara, Aang, and the boy who was slowly having to take on all of her weight—led the way through the dark passageways. Y/N felt her vision fading in and out. What was an Appa? She wondered.

Y/N drifted as they wound through the passages. Aang seemed upset, and the blue boy was grunting as he practically dragged her. Y/N almost wanted to cry as they went up and up and up, and she felt the sunlight hit her face. She would’ve been happier if it didn’t make her head hurt so damn much.

“You think we can outrun them?” The boy helping her asked. Y/N realized that yes, there was probably someone following them. Why did someone have to be following them? And why was the sun so bright?

“Guys, I think this one might need some help,” the boy said. The sun suddenly didn’t seem quite so bright as Y/N felt herself fall.

---

Y/N woke up to the familiar smell of tea. Water dripped down her nose from a cold, wet cloth that was resting on her forehead. Jet—Y/N removed the cloth and tried to sit up quickly, but a hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“You have had quite the blow to the head.” Y/N turns to see Mushi, who is pouring her a cup of tea from a steaming kettle. “You are in remarkably good shape,” he noted, “but you still need to rest.”

“Where am I?”

“A group of children on a bison dropped you off at the tea shop. Apparently, you couldn’t stop mumbling about it,” Mushi explained, a glint in his eye. “Pao was beside himself with worry, and I offered to watch over you, so he could continue running his tea shop.” Mushi offered her a hand with a smile, helping Y/N to slowly sit up. He put the warm cup of tea in her hands.

“And,” Mushi added, “we have a new apartment, and I am getting to open my own tea shop!” The man was nearly giddy with excitement. Y/N looked around the room. It was definitely a bit too nice for the lower ring. Her pack from her room at the tea shop sat on the floor a few feet away, Jet’s hook swords lying next to it.

“Where is Lee?” Y/N asked, taking a sip of her tea. He had to have made it out. If he could break in and save her…

Mushi must have sensed your panic, laying a calming hand on your shoulder. “He is resting in the next room. He is going through… something. I’m sure you understand.”

Y/N wasn’t sure she did, but she nodded anyway. What mattered was that he was okay. She didn’t know if Mushi knew that she knew about the mask.

“How about a game of Pai Sho?” Mushi offered. “We still haven’t played.”

---

“You have a unique strategy,” Mushi scratched at his beard. “I have not seen it before.”

“My father taught me how to play.” Y/N picked up a tile and moved it across the board. She didn’t think Mushi would ask much more—he seemed like a man who understood secrets.

“I’m sure you miss him.” Mushi countered Y/N’s move. She frowned. He was almost as good as her father. Almost.

“I do.” Y/N slid another tile forward. She swallowed, not sure whether to ask her next question. “Do you have family left from before?”

“Yes,” Mushi said thoughtfully. “But those people aren’t really family. Family is not determined by blood. It is about mutual caring and looking out for each other. Family is the most important thing in my life, but my family is who I choose.”

“You care about him.” It was an obvious statement. She wondered what was wrong with Lee and couldn’t help but think it was her fault. He had to have come to Lake Laogai for a reason.

“I do.” Mushi picked up his white lotus tile and slid it down the center of the board. “But I can only hope to accompany him on his own journey.”

“You are a very good uncle, Mushi.” Mushi gave Y/N a sad smile as she spoke his name.

“I have no doubt that your father cares for you just as much,” Mushi said, leaning back slightly as he finished his turn. “How else could he have raised such a great pai sho player?”

Y/N looked down at the board and saw Mushi’s tiles. He didn’t have any moves left, and she could win. She moved the winning tile.

“Good game,” Mushi smiled, offering his hand for her to shake. Y/N took it.

“Thank you.”

Fire Lily Masterlist

taglist:

@kaylove12

#atla fanfic #atla jet #eventual zuko x reader #zuko x reader #lee from the tea shop #the blue spirit #yay the gaang has been introduced #iroh #gotta love chats with iroh #Pai Sho

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imuser304 · 4 years ago

Text

Best Birthday Ever

Rock Lee x Genderneutral!Reader

the love of my life's birthday today!! Happy birthday, king!! *smooch*

Prompt: SURPRISE PARTY!!!

TW: None! just sappy & cute

(Not following the Naruto plotline)

Let's just say he's turning 16, for the sake of convenience.

WC: 4148

"(Y/n)!" Lee called from their apartment door. They came out quickly and opened the door, knowing today was a special day. Lee was turning 16, and boy, were they excited. Lee was their best friend at the time, and not only that, but like the way these stories go, (y/n) had developed quite the set of feelings for the sweetest boy in all of the five great nations.

They were still only wearing their pajamas when they opened the door. "Happy birthday, Lee!" they exclaimed, wrapping their arms around him, Lee immediately reciprocating their touch.

"Thank you, (y/n)! I appreciate it! I came by to see if you would come train with me!"

"Of course," they let him out of the hug and grinned. "Let me go change, I'll be ready in just a minute. But you can come in and wait if you'd like," they offered, opening the door a little more. Lee came in, and closed the door behind him. "Okay, I'll be right out."

Asking (y/n) to train was how Lee was trying to show his affection. Spending as much time as he could with them, and as often as he could, alone with (y/n). That was one of the reasons, anyway.

Lee surveyed their apartment, the books on her shelves, the mug on the coffee table. There was also the weights he had gotten them for their birthday a year before, and from the looks of it, they had been getting used plenty, and that made him happy. Someone who shared his interest in getting stronger. That's what made him happy.

The rest of the group of the teens in Konaha at the time, (including (y/n), excluding Naruto and Sasuke) had been planning Lee's party for weeks, because everyone knew that Lee wasn't going to do it himself. He had no clue he was going to even have a party, in fact, so far, other than the quick reminder from (y/n), Lee had almost forgotten it was his own birthday.

The whole group knew (y/n) and Lee had feelings for each other, even if they themselves didn't know. So, Shikamaru, being most of the planner and the one who would set the party plans up without fail, made sure that (y/n) would keep him distracted until the party.

(y/n) came out of their room a few minutes later, dressed in their nicer set of ninja gear, knowing it looked better on them than their usual Chunin attire.

"You ready, Lee?"

Lee didn't, or couldn't reply. He thought (y/n), even if their attire wasn't that different, looked stunning on them. Maybe it was because it was different than usual.

"Lee? you're staring?"

"Oh! I am very sorry! You just look radiant today!"

(Y/n)'s face went red at the compliment, but doing their best to hide it, she crossed to the door. "We should go now," they chuckled, and left.

After 30 minutes of sparring, specifically with weapons to get to know their tools, (y/n) had an idea, sparked by Lee using his nunchaku in their battle.

They were both taking a break, sitting in front of each other while drinking some water, and Lee re-wrapping his forearms and hands.

"What is it, (y/n)? you look like you are thinking."

"Oh I- I wanted to... ask if I could try your nunchaku? You make it look so easy. It's mesmerizing."

"I assure you, it is not as easy as it looks. But of course! There is nothing more youthful than learning a new skill!" Lee handed them the sticks and they both stood up to see (y/n) make an attempt to use the tool they had never even held before.

They held them out, away from their face as an instinct, afraid of hitting them self. After a few minutes of Lee watching (y/n)'s failed attempts, they turned to Lee and blushed, a little embarrassed of how terribly they were doing.

"Maybe you could show me the ropes?"

Lee had been waiting for them to ask, not wanting to invade on teaching them self.

"Of course! first I guess, maybe you are holding them wrong." He fixed their hand, and adjusted their wrist a little, "Maybe do not hold them so tight?"

They loosened her grip, feeling the weight of them strain their hands. Lee backed up, and they tried again to swing, still holding it out too far.

"I'm... still doing it all wrong. What else can I fix?"

Lee approached them, standing slightly behind, holding their arms. "May I?" (Y/n) had no clue what he was asking, but being so close to him was so warm and comfortable, they figured it would be fine.

Lee slid his hands down to their wrists, holding their hands over the nunchaku, but also pressing their bodies together. Weather or not it was on purpose wasn't totally clear, but it's not like (y/n) didn't like it.

"I think when you swing them, you use your hands, and that is making your movements sloppy. So try-" Lee began moving their hands, but used his wrists more than the muscles in his hands. "try swinging with your wrists, it gives you a wider range of movements, and is easier to control," he explained, leaning in a little closer. "And I think you should close your eyes."

"Wh-what?"

"You trust me, right?"

"Well, yeah, but if I close my eyes, I'll hit myself or you-"

"No you will not. Just relax, you will be okay, I will stay like this to show you why. Ready?" they could feel him breathing, and just how fast his heart was beating with their back pressed to his chest.

"...Okay, Lee. I trust you." (Y/n) closed their eyes, letting Lee guide their hands and arms. He slowly pulled their arms back closer to them while swinging the sticks around.

"I think what you are missing is trust. Not that you do not trust me, but you do not trust your weapon or yourself. With nunchaku, at first, they are a little frightening. But after using them for a while, they become an extension of yourself." While he was explaining, he was moving her arms, and even starting to walk around so (y/n) could get comfortable. (Y/n) had been taking slow, deep breaths while listening. They had never been this close to Lee, it was a whole different experience, feeling his body around theirs as he guided them in training with a tool they were completely unfamiliar with.

There were a few minutes where neither of them said anything while Lee was moving them around. The only thing heard was the nunchaku swishing through the air. There was nothing to say, it was just... comfortable. They moved in unison, and eventually, without noticing, their breath had also fallen in sync.

(Y/n) whished Lee would just stop training for a moment and just hold them, but it seemed that would be... out of the picture. It took everything they had not to burst into flames and melt to the ground.

It only lasted a minute longer, though. Lee let them go after reminding them to keep their eyes closed and just move the way they were comfortable with. (Y/n) knew it was Lee's birthday today, but he made them feel special.

Not that Lee didn't. Lee felt about the same way as (y/n), if not even more warm inside. They were everything he wanted in a partner, and if he was even just a little smarter, he would realize that he was in love with (y/n). Finding ways to be alone with them, and be physically close was always something he strived for, finding he always had the best time when they were around.

"I think I get it now..." they mumbled, opening their eyes, continuing to swing their wrists.

"You definitely got the hang of it, (y/n)! How youthful! Now it is a matter of training for battle!"

They stopped swinging, letting their arms drop to their side.

"Actually, can we just spar normally one more time? I'm getting sorta hungry, I didn't eat breakfast this morning-"

"You didn't eat breakfast!? (Y/n)! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! Why would you skip it?"

"Well... I kinda went to bed sorta... really late, then I only woke up a few minutes before you came around, and I figured you ate already, so I didn't want to keep you waiting for me? Is that a good enough reason?"

"No! I would have gladly waited for you to get enough nutrients for morning training. Also, what were you doing up so late?"

"...I can't tell you. You'll see later, I promise!"

"Okay then, it is time for you to eat. Let me pay-"

"If we're getting lunch, let me pay for you, it's your birthday! I would feel bad!"

"Well, (y/n), I want to pay. It is always my pleasure!"

"Okay, how about this. We spar one more time, and whoever wins, gets to pay. How does that sound?"

"Okay, but I assure you, I will win!"

"Alright then, I guess we'll have to see about that," they teased, moving to the middle of the training grounds. Lee was entranced by their youtfulness, and was distracted enough by their fighting spirit to forget what he was doing. "You coming?" they called out, beckoning him to get ready.

"Yeah, yes! I am coming!" He snapped out of his daze, and ran to match up with (y/n). "Are you ready?"

"Whenever you are!" They both nodded after this, and began.

Almost immediately, Lee disappeared from view, though, (y/n) knew his movements perfectly. Lee was behind (y/n) about to sweep their legs out from under them. They sent some chakra to her feet to push off the ground as they jumped to avoid his attack.

"Easy to predict, Lee!" they shouted in the air, pulling their leg out to hit his shoulder, assuming he would move before they touched the ground. But he didn't, and (y/n) landed a direct hit, without really meaning to.

Within the same second, Lee moved quickly away to try and attack while they were both on their feet. The match continue on, Lee almost completely unable to land a hit on (y/n). It wasn't usually like this. Lee, on average, would beat her four out of five times.

After a few minutes of boring do over moves, (y/n) lost their footing, and started to trip to the ground, but not before grabbing the collar of Lee's jumpsuit, and pulling him down too.

Faces now impossibly close, they could feel his hot breath on their cheek. Lee had her pinned down to the ground, the strangest of tensions resonating between them.

[Lee's POV]

They are- beautiful. (Y/n) is usually beautiful. But now more than ever. What about them is so different from this view? What is happening?

[(y/n)'s POV]

He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me. He's pinned me.

Holy shit.

Kiss me. You dummy. I won't make the first move. I won't do it. Kiss me. Do it.

[3rd person POV]

"I am sorry! I did not mean to- well, uhh-" Lee immediately got off of (y/n) freeing them from under him. Both of their faces were bright red and embarrassed, (y/n) slightly resentful.

"You win, Lee. Where are you taking me?"

"...hmm... how about that tea shop in mid town, with the really good dango?"

"Sounds nice. Let's go there."

Was (y/n) a little mad? yeah. Did Lee pick up on it? No. He could never.

They spent most of the day together, (y/n) often asking what Lee wanted to do. He always replied with the same "whatever makes you happy," because truthfully, whenever (y/n) was happy, Lee was happy. And yet, he still didn't realize exactly how they were feeling about each other. If (y/n) admitted they liked him, he would realize it in that moment, that that's what was happening, to him too.

They ended up spending quiet a lot time at the library. (Y/n) wanted to brush up on their medicine knowledge, and optimize the food pills they had been making. They had worked with the Nara clan, and the Akamachi clan, but there was still something missing.

Lee sat next to them with his book, learning about different types of taijutsu, seeing how he could improve his own. But every time he read or saw something interesting, he would show it to (y/n), and talk about how he could improve himself from what he read. This led to short shoulder touches, close faces, lots of smiles and furrowed bushy brows, and accidentally brushing hands. Every little thing made both of them red and embarrassed, but they didn't stop.

"Here, Lee, look at this," they whispered, pointing to a passage about chakra forms. "Did you know, that when a chakra user is embarrassed, or nervous, or... in love, the form changes, and it's either spiky, or fuzzy. Fuzzy is associated with happiness and good, and spikey with anger and mostly anxiety. I just... thought it was interesting."

"It is! I mean- you could not really tell with me unless I opened the first gate, but, it is still neat!"

Just then, the clock struck five, and it was time to get Lee to his party. "Lee, I want to show you something," they said softly, putting the books away. Lee followed right behind, and they left.

"What is it?"

"You'll see when we get there," they giggled and grabbed his hand to pull him along. Lee wasn't expecting (y/n) to hold his hand the way they did, but he held on tighter, liking the way it felt to have their hand in his.

They soon arrived to a park. At the moment, it looked normal, nothing weird going on here. Sort of. "What are we doing here?" he asked, squeezing their hand tighter.

"SURPRISE!!" Everyone popped out of the bushes and under the playset. Lee flinched back for a second before realizing what exactly what was happening.

His face grew into a grin, and without (y/n) noticing, laced their fingers together, making them scoot a little closer.

"Do you like it?" they asked quietly to Lee before everyone started crowding him.

"Did you do this, (y/n)?"

"Well, I helped, but a lot of the actual planning was left to Shikamaru." Lee's smile wouldn't fade. It was glued to his face, seeing everyone gathered together. Gai-Sensei stepped to Lee, and grabbed Lee into a hug, pulled his and (y/n)'s hand apart.

(Y/n)'s eyes cut to their now cold hand, only just realizing how warm Lee's hand was, and how cold they were without his.

"Lee, my boy! You're growing into a fine young man!"

"Thank you, Gai-Sensei! You have done well to teach me!" Lee had noticed it too. His hand was empty, and it just... didn't feel right. In that moment, he had finally realized his feelings for (y/n).

'Oh. I like like (y/n). Do I love them? Is it too soon to know?' He thought to himself, letting Gai go. 'Maybe I do love them-' His thought was interrupted by another. 'Do they like me? Would they ever like me?'

"Lee," (y/n) snapped him out of his own mind, trying to get him to look at something. "Look what we got for dinner!"

Karashi was standing over a pot of curry, a few besides him, with various amounts of spicy curry to match everyone's pallet. It had been a long time since Lee had his last plate of the curry of life and rice. So as much as the party was a good surprise, having the curry of life for dinner? Lee felt like he was on top of the world. (Only, with his new found feelings, he was missing something.)

"Karashi! it has been a long time! You came all the way here for my birthday?"

"Of course! Anything for a friend. And, you get the first plate!"

Lee looked at (y/n) and grinned.

"Yeah, maybe that was my idea..." they laughed, only for Lee to scoop (y/n) into a hug, and thank them over and over. "Lee, you're- I can't breathe!" they choked out.

"I am sorry!" he let them go, staring deep into their eyes. "I am just... very happy!"

"I know that. Go get some curry already!"

"If I get the first plate, then you have to get the second!"

"...Why?"

"I- Because I... I want you too!" He exclaimed, urging (y/n) to follow him.

They got their curry, (y/n) chosing to get the mildly spicy, and Lee with the spiciest. Everyone else also got their food, but of course, Lee was back for seconds in no time.

About 45 minutes after everyone got their food, everyone had completed their meals, and felt full and satisfied. (Y/n) turned to Lee, who was up, talking to Neji and Tenten while everyone else chatted. "Sorry to interrupt, but Lee, uhh-"

"What is the matter, (y/n)?"

"...Presents or cake first?"

"Oh. Are we doing them now?"

"Yeah, we were hoping to."

"Hmm... then cake it is!"

Lee grinned wide again, and finally decided he wanted to grab their hand. Before they walked away to the table where the cake was, Lee brushed his hand along (y/n)'s fingers, which made their heart skip a beat, and their face turn red. Lee waited until they brushed their fingers to the back of his hand to sneak his fingers into the cracks between theirs. Neither of them said a word about it, but everyone saw. Lee picked up their hands, and without thinking, stuck them into the pocket of his jumpsuit.Sakura was lighting the candles, and it was time for Lee to be sung to. After a quick chorus of the song, he blew out the candles atop a vanilla cake with white icing and the words "happy 16th birthday, lee!" in dark green icing, the same color as his suit.

Then, of course it was time for presents, where he made (y/n) sit next to him the whole time. In all honesty, they weren't even sure what they were. There hadn't been a confession, or a kiss. So far, it was just hand holding and blushing a lot. Lee didn't even know if (y/n) even liked him back, and felt the chance that they were holding his hand out of pity was high, though, he still liked the way it felt.

He opened every gift, getting a wide array of tools to work out with, and obviously he absolutely loved every one of them. Now the only thing he hadn't opened was (y/n)'s gift. It was finally time for him to, and it almost made (y/n) nervous.

"Here, I painted it myself, I hope you like them." they handed Lee the neatly wrapped box, which he opened carefully, not to rip the paper.

Then he opened the box to find a new set of nunchaku with hand painted lotuses on the side, and covered with a few layers of clear coat the wouldn't come of while using them.

"I love them!" He exclaimed before even pulling them out of the box. He set it on the ground and pulled (y/n) into a hug, thanking them for everything.

"I don't know what I did to make you so excited, Lee." (y/n) hugged back, leaning on his shoulder as they sat.

"You have done a lot of things! I am just happy you are such a good...?" A good what? He didn't want to say friend. He wanted to be more than friends, and if he said friend, it would block out the idea otherwise.

"I'm... a good friend?" they asked, letting Lee go, pretending they wasn't saddened by what he didn't say.

"Umm... yeah. I suppose so." Everyone who was watching them mentally or physically face palmed, because it was obvious that they were more than that.

After awhile of playing party games and talking, the party started to wind down, and everyone helped clean up. After the area that was used was clean, people started to leave, until it was just (Y/n) and Lee alone, again.

They moved to the swing set to hang out. Lee was trying out his new nunchaku, though, he was more just admiring the pretty design.

"You're probably tired of me by now, right?" (y/n) asked as they watched Lee. It was dark out now, and they probably needed to start heading home anyway.

Lee shook his head and sat on the other swing next to (y/n). "There is no way I could get tired of you, (y/n)."

"But you've been around me all day, and I know sometimes I can be pretty annoying-"

"You being around me all day is what made my birthday this year the best. I like being around you," he said, and looked to the ground under him, deciding now would be a good time to say it. "I... I like you, and not... not as a friend..." he stuttered out, still unable to look up at (y/n).

(y/n)'s heart jumped out of their chest now that he had actually said it. "Lee I- I have another present for you."

"Y-you do not have to-!"

"Relax, just close your eyes and I'll give it to you, okay?"

"...O-okay..."

(y/n) stood up and walked to Lee, then bent down, and push some of the hair from his face to kiss his forehead. He immediately opened his eyes in surprise, and his cheeks turned red.

"Keep your eyes closed!" they giggled. He closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. (y/n) held his face, then brought their lips to his, gently waiting for a response. (Y/n) pulled away, and he opened his eyes again, and before they could step back, he pulled them back into another kiss, cupping their cheek, and slowly standing up.

"I like you too, Rock Lee."

"Thank you for the best birthday ever, (y/n)," he chuckled, and held them close, keeping their foreheads together. "I do not know what else I could have wished for."

"So then... are we... dating now?"

"I would hope so!" he laughed. "I will take you on a date tomorrow after training. Or for dinner. But I should walk you home now and make sure you get home safe." Lee gave one last quick squeeze before letting go.

"You would do that even if we weren't dating," (y/n) giggled, then did the same awkward finger brushing thing before Lee grabbed their hand and didn't let go.

"That may be true, but even so, it is different now."

So Lee walked (y/n) back to their apartment, and talked the whole way there. (Y/n) had been hit with a rush of exhaustion, and just wanted to sleep now. "Hey so uhh- Lee... I was wondering something?" (y/n) started as they approached her apartment door.

"Yes?"

"Since... well... I guess I was wondering if you wanted to spend the night... wait, I didn't mean- I mean... we- we could cuddle?" Lee's eyes went wide at the idea, he was so ready to cuddle, other than he desperately needed to shower and change his clothes.

"I would love to! I can run back to my apartment, and get a shower and change, then be back here in a half hour! Is that alright?"

"Yeah. I'll do the same. See you in a little bit," (y/n) gave him another quick hug, then he disappeared.

(y/n) was able to shower and get ready for bed before Lee got back. But once he was back, he wouldn't let go.

A few minutes later, Lee was comfortably laying, (y/n) right on top of his chest, listening to his heartbeat in the dark room. His arms were wrapped warmly around them, and both of their eyes were closed. (Y/n) was already half asleep while Lee stroked their hair, skimming consciousness himself.

'best birthday... ever.'

#rock lee #naruto #narutoshippuden #happy birthday rock lee #rock lee x reader #rock lee my king #curry of life

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tabloidtoc · 4 years ago

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National Enquirer, November 9

You can buy a copy of this issue for your very own at my eBay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/bradentonbooks

Cover: Duchess Kate sets the record straight on Prince Harry and Meghan Markle

Page 2: Ben Affleck is wasting away and friends fear he’s taking his new health regimen too far as the six-foot-four star usually weighs 208 pounds but has shriveled to a spindly 165 -- a nutritionist put him on a sensible meal plan but he’s altered it with his own fantastical ideas such as he won’t go near bread and he’s ditched pasta and he’ll eat cantaloupe and blueberries one day and nuts and seeds the next and he’ll only drink boiled water and green tea for 24 hours then break his fast with a small bowl of quinoa -- instead of pumping iron he does exercises using his own body weight like ten-minute planks -- Ben thinks he looks great but his pals fear he’s traded one addiction for another

Page 3: Love-hungry Katie Holmes is thrilled to have a new man in her life but she’s breaking the bank to keep him happy because Katie is picking up the tab wherever she goes with Emilio Vitolo Jr. because it helps her feel she’s in full control of the relationship but Emilio may be taking advantage of Katie’s generosity because Katie has been showering him with designer clothes and jewelry and even paying for a personal trainer to whip him into shape -- Katie enjoys giving her guy things he can appreciate because he’s made her so happy but she may go broke doing it and it’s not like he doesn’t have any money; he’s worth a cool $1.5 million himself

Page 4: CNN rocked by sex scandal -- Jeffrey Toobin’s sleazy sex scandal has rocked CNN but it’s just the latest in a string of scandals at the network

Page 5: Axed Fox News anchor Ed Henry fought back against his co-worker’s rape charges in a blockbuster lawsuit by handing the court explicit selfies and texts in an attempt to prove their tryst was consensual

Page 6: Ryan Seacrest is downplaying his latest shocking absence from Live with Kelly and Ryan but the TV dynamo is battling a mystery illness that may force him to sign off for good -- the co-host who is a well known as a workaholic skipped out on the daytime show for the third time this year and used the coronavirus pandemic as his excuse -- Ryan was suffering badly from flu-like symptoms on the weekend before his absences but came back negative for coronavirus however doctors remain baffled by Ryan’s ongoing battles with exhaustion and weight loss and stroke-like symptoms, disgraced perv Bill Cosby’s latest mug shot shows he’s a shriveled shadow of his former self and the fallen funnyman flashed a maniacal grin while refusing to look into the camera in the picture snapped behind bars in September and he’s unshaven and his hair is ratty

Page 7: Lizzo has embarked on a radical vegan diet and extreme exercise program to save her life -- doctor warned the 350-pound singer that her daily intake of 5000 calories a day was a dangerous path to self-destruction and she needed to change her life or lose it and Lizzo finally got the message and is committed to this program but it’s been a living hell for her

Page 8: After surviving a fiery crash at the Daytona 500 NASCAR hero Ryan Newman is locked in an ugly $50 million divorce showdown with his estranged wife -- Ryan and Kristina Newman split in 2019 after she was caught having an affair with another man and paying her love $450,000 and now Ryan’s lawyers are trying to freeze Kristina who was once referred to as the First Lady of NASCAR out of his fortune -- court papers reveal the two split in July 2019 when Kristina went to live with her boyfriend U.S. Army Captain Joe Schwankhaus who is the Chief Operations Officer of Kristina’s company VRX USA

Page 9: Ellen DeGeneres debuted a high-flying pompadour hairstyle on her new talk show but the makeover still doesn’t get to the root of her recent problems and although her hair may be rising her show’s ratings are falling

Page 10: Hot Shots -- pregnant Kelly Rowland, Andy Cohen took his son Benjamin for a stroll in NYC, Will Smith held court in L.A. while shooting King Richard a biopic about the dad of tennis greats Venus Williams and Serena Williams, Angela Bassett caught a drive-in screening of One Night in Miami in L.A.

Page 11: Grieving Lisa Marie Presley has broken her silence over the suicide of her beloved only son Benjamin Keough saying her heart and soul went with him sharing her heartbreak on what would have been Ben’s 28th birthday and she added she’s dedicating herself to raising Ben’s twin half-sisters and actress sister Riley Keough, Chaka Khan refuses to duo with Ariana Grande again saying she’s not gonna do a song with no heifer -- Chaka and Ariana worked together in 2019 for the Charlie’s Angels soundtrack

Page 12: Straight Shuter -- DWTS pro Emma Slater kept a handle on her coffee while steering her e-bike (picture), it pays to be Brad Pitt’s girlfriend as his new squeeze Nicole Poturalski has doubled her modeling fees, dancing siblings Derek Hough and Julianne Hough are out of step over her sloppy personal life and his hot new judging career because these two were supposed to be the next Donny and Marie Osmond but his solo career is exploding while hers is falling apart, Madonna has always been a big believer in astrology but now she won’t even meet with people if it’s not written in the stars and she’s spending a fortune to have an army of people read her charts

Page 13: Losing his beloved son to cancer has sparked new fears for fragile Robert Redford because Robert has struggled with his own health over the years and losing his son to bile-duct cancer is extremely worrying; he’s already frail and this has friends fearing the worst, Jeff Bridges is confident he’ll win his battle with lymphoma by coupling medical care with a strict vegan diet and chanting and spiritual healing techniques

Page 14: Convicted wife killer Scott Peterson may soon walk out of prison and grisly photos lawyers say could set him free -- following years of appeals California’s Supreme Court overturned Scott’s death penalty and now another appeal is forcing a lower court to reexamine his conviction for murdering seven months pregnant wife Laci Peterson and their unborn son Conner -- if Scott gets a retrial his legal team will be allowed to introduce new evidence including crime scene pictures that Scott’s former defense attorney said suggests Laci’s disappearance was an abduction by a satanic cult

Page 15: Former child star Zachery Ty Bryan of Home Improvement was jailed overnight and released on $8500 bail following his bust for a fight with a galpal at an apartment complex in Eugene in Oregon -- the drama comes on the heels of Zachery’s split from wife Carly Matros the mom of his four kids

Page 16: Ryan Reynolds can’t wait to film a new rom-com with close pal Sandra Bullock but it’s causing tension with wife Blake Lively even though Blake trusts Ryan and would never forbid him from taking this part but the idea of him getting cozy with Sandra again still makes her uneasy -- now Ryan and Sandra are signed up to do The Lost City of D and despite Sandra’s denials they ever had a romance Ryan is gushing about them getting back together

Page 17: Isolated and overlooked Today show host Hoda Kotb is being bullied off the morning show because of tepid ratings and the absence of former sidekick Kathie Lee Gifford and Mean Girls treatment by co-hosts Savannah Guthrie and Jenna Bush Hager have pushed the disillusioned anchor closer to the door -- Hoda recently filled out paperwork to adopt a third child and she’s clearly putting more emphasis on family than her career and it sends the signal she isn’t happy with her role and is not thinking of Today as her top priority, trainwreck Matthew Perry is holed up in his new Pacific Palisades beach pad pounding out an explosive tell-all and his former Friends are quaking about what secrets he may reveal -- Matthew wants to rush the book out while interest in the Friends reunion special which was postponed by the COVID-19 pandemic remains high -- he knows an uncensored account of his time on Friends and his drug issues would be a bestseller and he intends to blow the lid off his on-set romances and address rumors he and Jennifer Aniston were more than friends

Page 18: American Life -- her tall tale: I have the longest legs in the world

Page 19: Jessica Simpson has been flaunting her body after dumping a shocking 100 pounds but buddies worry the drastic drop in size isn’t natural and suspect she’s been taking diet pills again and they’re worried this could escalate into a big issue

Page 20: Devastated Reese Witherspoon was hit with a depressing double whammy -- the death of her dog Pepper from cancer and the delay of her long-awaited sequel Legally Blonde 3, Hollywood Hookups -- John Cena and Shay Shariatzadeh wed, Ashley Hebert and J.P. Rosenbaum split, Cardi B and Offset on again

Page 21: Bruce Willis is back in another Die Hard but this time it’s a commercial for Advance Auto Parts and Die Hard batteries and it’s a clear statement on the state of his career that Bruce has to revisit his amazing past to make a fast buck in the present, Giada De Laurentiis has been given the green light to get married by her 12-year-old daughter Jade -- Giada has dated TV producer Shane Farley for five years and he’s been living with mother and daughter for five months during the pandemic lockdown which gave Jade a firsthand look at what it would be like to have a new daddy and Shane’s passed the test with flying colors

Page 22: Cover Story -- Prince William’s heartsick wife Kate Middleton is breaking her silence about the royal family’s tumultuous bitter break with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle to set the record straight and save Britain’s monarchy and she’s tired of all the rumors and lies and backbiting and after all the drama and negativity she wants to get the truth out there and end this unprecedented crisis that’s endangering the monarchy’s survival -- friends are trying to convince Kate to do an official sit-down TV interview about what really happened between once-inseparable William and Harry and how Harry and Meghan tore the family apart even before they moved to America but Kate is resisting because she fears that could backfire like Princess Diana’s TV tell-all about her marriage to Prince Charles 25 years ago -- Kate had to turn the other cheek often after Meghan joined the family and she offered to help Meghan adjust to royal life from the start but Meghan rebuffed her and Kate in tired of Meghan painting her as the bad guy especially when it was Meghan’s antics that tore the family apart -- Kate also is upset that Harry and Meghan are portraying themselves as victims of a world that’s against them while she and William take on a phenomenal workload to cover the responsibilities the Sussexes left and losing precious time with their own three children and it’s hard not to be bitter but Kate is trying to take the high road and forgive Meghan and move forward

Page 26: With their marriage hanging by a thread Tori Spelling fears Dean McDermott will cheat on her again while filming a new TV show in Canada for six months; Tori wanted to bring their 5 children to Canada with him but Dean put her off saying it would be too distracting -- she’s been a jittery mess and he can’t stand to look at her and he only took this job because they need the money, Melanie Griffith is frustrated with Chris Martin and wants him to put a ring on her daughter Dakota Johnson’s finger -- the couple have been dating since 2017 and Melanie’s fed up with waiting for Chris to pop the question -- Melanie began to lose her patience after the couple reunited following a split last June when Chris won Dakota back with promises to settle down

Page 28: COVID Vaccines: What you need to know

Page 32: Miley Cyrus claimed she once spotted a spaceship over Hollywood and even locked eyes with an alien but she also admits she’d bought weed wax from a guy in a van in front of a taco shop, whiny Kris Jenner is blaming social media for killing off Keeping Up with the Kardashians after it helped the reality TV clan make a mint

Page 34: Ozzy Osbourne is terrified a doll has cursed him -- Ozzy told son Jack Osbourne on their Osbournes Want to Believe show that Robert the doll was responsible for his recent bad luck and failing health, Tom Cruise and his Mission: Impossible 7 team caused chaos at an Italian hospital by filming there during the COVID-19 pandemic -- Tom and his crew including 100 security staffers plus trucks and other equipment descended on the Policlinico Umberto I in Rome for a week and legions of fans also flocked to the filming creating even more commotion in the streets outside the hospital and adding to the bedlam the production commandeered an elevator drawing criticism as hospital staff were treating 140 coronavirus patients with 12 in intensive care -- filming was done in an administrative section of the hospital but still sparked an official protest as well as complaints from trade union members

Page 36: Health Watch

Page 38: Superhero screen pals of Chris Pratt rushed to rescue the actor’s reputation after he was mercilessly dragged into a silly social media meme when a Twitter user posted pictures of Chris Pratt and Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans captioned with the instruction one has to go but a flood of responses slammed Pratt as the worst Chris causing his Marvel co-stars to prop him up such as Zoe Saldana and Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and Chris Pratt’s wife Katherine Schwarzenegger also bashed the social media bullies, Matthew McConaughey kept saying alright alright alright to making romantic comedies until the day he was so fed up he turned down $14.5 million to do another one -- Matthew revealed in his memoir that he didn’t mind making a string of mindless rom-coms because their paychecks rented the houses on the beach he ran shirtless on but he eventually wanted to try something else so he turned down a big payday so he could get more serious

Page 42: Red Carpet -- Drew Barrymore

Page 47: Odd List

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babieyangyang10 · 4 years ago

Text

violent ends (chapter 9)

(chapter 9)

series masterlist

genre: hunger games!au

pairings: huang renjun x oc, na jaemin x oc

warnings: language, murder, mentions of blood, vomiting

previous | next

After Jaemin and I went hunting together, we cooked our game over a fire. I know the fighting had finally stopped at the Cornocopia, once I heard cannons go off. One shot for each dead tribute. They are late, since the bodies can only be confirmed and collected once the killers, or in this case, the Careers, have stopped fighting enough to let the Gatekeepers keep track of fatalities. I counted each shot as they went, counting eleven in total. That's means there's thirteen of us left.

Noticing it was getting dark, we quickly kicked dirt over the fire to avoid people seeing the glow of orange flames. "Do you want to keep watch now or later?" Jaemin asked me.

"I'll do it first." I say, leaning back against a tree. I hand him the backpack, resulting in him looking at me in confusion.

"A pillow?" I suggest, however, he just smiles and shakes his head, before laying his head on my lap. Looking up at my reaction, I just chuckle and playfully roll my eyes at him.

Before he can say anything else, I hear speakers playing the Capitol anthem. In the sky, the dead tributes began being displayed.I recognize the District 3 girl, who Jeno brutally split open with an axe, the District 5 boy, who tried to choke me to death, a District 7 boy, who I'm pretty sure was the other one I killed, and then the District 8 boy, who got his throat cut open by Renjun.

After the Capitol symbol returns and the music comes to a finishing climax, it fades into the sky. Now, all you can hear are wild animals and crickets. I look down to see Na Jaemin had his eyes closed.

Having nothing to entertain me, I simply observe the sleeping figure on top of me. I gently push his blond hair out of the way. At my touch, a content smile forms across his face.

Ripping my hand away, I come up with an excuse, "I thought you were asleep and I was-"

"No, don't stop." He groans, voice laced with the effects of his tiredness. Sighing, I softly play with his hair, while he drifts off into a deep sleep.

I wonder what the people in the Capitol are thinking, watching us right now. I know we are going to have to really spice up the whole lovers idea, especially as time goes by. However, I haven't really felt like we haven't been acting that lately. Or at least I know I'm not. Jaemin, on the other hand, is harder for me to tell. Sometimes I find it difficult to decipher if a random, flirty comment is actually him or just his persona.

I do know he's a wonderful companion, though. Over time, he really has proved to me that he knows how to hold his own, really well. I'm glad I have him with me now, instead of having to uncomfortably sleep in a tree by myself.

For the next couple hours, I spend the majority of my time sharpening all my knifes with a rock I took from the river. River rocks are good for sharpening, since the water has already smoothed and flattened them down. I stop once all the knifes have gotten extremely sharp, however not sharp enough to chip off.

By this point, my eyes have been trying to close on their own. Knowing it's time to switch, I shake Jaemin from his slumber, "It's time."

He lifts his head off my lap, before switching places with me. However, instead of laying my head on his lap, I place my body between his legs. My back is comfortably resting on his chest. Once I lay the back of my head against his shoulder, his face is just inches away from mine.

"For warmth." I clarify, trying to hide my smile.

He wraps his arms around my stomach, before agreeing, "For warmth."

A scream forces me awake from my sleep. I jump and grab my knife, laying next to me.

"Jae-!" I start, but a hand is covering my mouth from behind me. My body begins thrashing around, trying to rip the hand off.

"It's me!" A familiar voice whispers from behind me. Jaemin releases me, once I stop fighting.

"I saw some smoke through the trees on your right," I turn my head to see the smoke from a fire clearly visible in the barely dawn sky, "I think the Careers found the person. Let's not stick around."

He lifts me off him, and hands me my backpack. Grabbing his trident, we silently slip away from the nearby tributes.

Now back at the lake, we wash up and refill our water bottle. I suddenly hear the hushed sounds of talking over the running water.

Yanking Jaemin behind a large rock, we spot a group of young boys across the lake. There's three of them. I recognize one as Mark Lee from District 12. The only reason I remember him was because he received a score of seven, which is pretty high for a lower district. Compared to the young boys accompanying him, he looks older and more muscular. Most likely a coal-miner, then. Everyone else from twelve are usually very skinny and weak. Much like the other two, who have bony bodies. Definitely, no where near as much of a threat as Mark.

Since they don't see us and there's Careers close enough to hear a fight, we just wait until they return to the woods behind them.

"I know Mark Lee is from 12, but who were the kids with him?" I ask Jaemin, once we are alone again.

He paused, "I'm almost positive that was Park Jisung from eleven and Zhong Chenle from ten.”

The next two days are actually pretty calm. Other the person who started the fire, a girl from District 8, no one else died. We spend the two days without running into any trouble.

That is, until the fourth day, when I am suddenly shaken awake by Jaemin.

“I hear screaming again.” He whispers. At first, I thought it was the Careers again. Until, I was hit with a strong smell of ash.

“Something’s burning.” I jump up, throwing on my backpack. I look around, checking the skies, to see where the source was. However, out of the corner of my eye, I see two flashes of light running past.

“Athena, run!” Jaemin runs ahead of me. I follow, feeling the earth burn beneath my feet. Above me, branches were now blazing, falling from trees. My boots kept catching on roots and burning limbs.

“Help!”

For some unknown reason, I pause. Turning around, I spot a boy trying to free his leg from underneath a fallen, burning log. Hesitating, I contemplate if I should keep running or not.

“Please, help me! I’m stuck.” The young boy is still struggling, flames approaching him. He’s pleading with me.

Before I can stop myself, I run over and lift up the log. I can hear the sound of my skin melting, as he uses his hands to pull his leg out from underneath.

Flames kissing our skin, I pull him into his feet, “Come on!”

However, once he takes once step, his leg tumbles from underneath him. With no time to lose, I wrap his arm around my shoulder and began dragging him out of the heat.

Even as hot as it is, nothing can compare to the amount of smoke there is. My throat and nose literally feel like their being cooked. With every breath I take, my chest is heaving in pain.

“Duck!”

I move my head down, just in time to avoid getting hit by a ball of fire. It’s then, that I realize that this wasn’t caused by a campfire gone-wrong. No, this was the Gamemaker’s doing.

It’s only when I collapse under the combined weights of our bodies, that I notice our clothes are burning. We roll on the ground, trying to extinguish the fire. Suddenly, I look up just in time to watch as an apple-sized fireball grazes the side of my thigh.

I don’t even have time to react, before I’m carrying the boy once again. I see his head, beginning to droop down, “Come on kid, we can’t die.”

There are no more fireballs or flames at our feet, however, there is too much smoke to even breathe. If we inhale too much, we’ll die. I don’t even know or see where I’m going, it’s just all smoke. Suddenly, I began to feel water on my shoes. Both the kid and I fall into a small pool, stomach first.

“Kid, wake up!” I choke out, slapping his face to keep him conscious. I dip his head under the water, watching as the ash and blood washes away. With a startle, his eyes open in surprise.

I peer down at the melted skin on my hands and leg, which I had ripped my pants to further get a look at. Although it hurts, at least that means that none of my nerves have been damaged. The skin is raw, but not blackened. Using my elbows, I drag myself out of the water. The boy follows me, now able to drag himself.

Suddenly, I feel an acidic substances making its way up my throat and onto the ground. Before I know it, the two of us are violently vomiting up the smoke in our lungs.

Finally done convulsing, we both lay on our backs in exhaustion. Jaemin’s gone, I have all of our supplies, and to top it all off, I’m now alone with an injured kid.

“Hey kid, what’s your name?” I tiredly tilt my head over to him. He looks pale, but at least he’s awake now.

“I’m Park Jisung from eleven.” He barely chokes out.

“Well Jisung,” I crookedly smile, “I’m Lee Athena from two. Look’s like we’re going to be sticking together for a while.”

#nct dream smut #nct smut #nct au #nct dream #nct dream imagines #nct #renjun #jaemin #jeno #haechan #mark lee #chenle #jisung

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preciousy00ngi · 5 years ago

Text

Specialty (m)

Pair: NCT Mark Lee x Reader

Genre: smut

Kink(s): virgin!mark and older, experienced reader

In which Mark’s friends find him a girl to lose his virginity to. This girl being the college girl from next door.

“Wait, why-“ Mark stutters as Johnny and Jaehyun shove some flowers into his hands and usher him up the neighbor’s driveway.

As a senior in high school, he feels somewhat like a child walking towards Y/N’s front door. She’s the hot college student that lives next door to his best friends Johnny and Jaehyun, also college students. She apparently has quite the reputation in the small university campus as being the typical loner that is rumored to be a freak in the sheets.

As a snarky joke, Johnny and Jaehyun teamed up to buy a bouquet and a sappy card to make their young friend deliver to Y/N as she lounges by the pool in her backyard. Mark, none the wiser, knocks on door thinking he’s just the message boy for his older friend’s crush. He waits for you to come to the door with no answer and looks over his shoulder at Johnny and Jaehyun who gesture for him to walk around back to the gate to your yard. Obediently, Mark does as told and knocks on the gate.

“Back here!” you shout from your spot on a lounge chair next to the water.

Mark unlatches the wooden gate and timidly approaches you. His eyes widen at your tanned figure dripping from a recent swim and red bikini standing out against your skin.

Looking over your cat-eye sunglasses, you give Mark once over, recognizing him as a frequenter of next door’s parties. His youthful looks and doe eyes spark a new feeling in your gut, he’s cute, you think.

“I... uh... have this for you.” Mark thrusts forward the card and flowers, looking down at his sneakers as you take the gifts with a confused look.

Reading the card, you take off your sunglasses and give the boy a smouldering look that makes sweat form on the back of his neck, “Really?”

Mark takes in your quirked eyebrow and nonchalant smirk, smiling and shrugging shyly. You grin wider, a mischievous glint in your eye and you stand, almost as tall as him when at full stature. He gulps when you step closer and reach behind your back to untie your top.

“Wh-“ he begins, but his jaw drops open at the sight of your perfect breasts on full display. If this were a dream, he would have one hell of a time after waking up.

With imaginary blood gushing from his nose and his dick growing harder in his pants, his eyes rake over your body. A soft, but menacing, giggle bubbles out of you and you grab his wrists, placing his hands on your chest. Like a fish to water, Mark takes their full weight in his hands as you play with his hair.

You brush his hair back and tilt his chin up to make eye contact with you, “Let’s take this inside?” Silently, Mark nods and follows you into your house like a babbling fool.

Once inside, you take him by the hand and climb the stairs to your bedroom. He continues to gawk at you when you sit him on your bed and kneel in between his legs, hands going to his belt. As you’re palming his crotch briefly, Mark stays in his stunned silence and gasps softly when your grip becomes stronger. You savor the innocent, unabashed lust gathering in his gaze that follows your hands.

“Is this okay?” You ask while looking up at him through your lashes, beginning to remove his jeans and boxers.

Mark vehemently nods, “Yeah. Yes, yes it’s better than okay.”

You smirk again and free his erection from his bottoms, stroking it until it reaches full potential. You hum and lick a bold stripe up the underside of his cock, flicking your tongue over the slit. Mark groans and lets his head lull back while he lavishes the pleasure of your skilled mouth.

The warmth of your mouth envelops the red tip that has beads of precum budding. You moan at his salty taste and make eye contact with him as you fondle his balls and swirl your tongue around his soft head. Mark’s breath keeps hitching in his throat, this new sensation of someone’s mouth on his dick has him gripping the sheets at his sides. He’d only ever received short, meaningless handjobs from his few girlfriends, never anything close to this.

“Oh god,” Mark groans, lightly placing a hand in your hair as you begin bobbing up and down the length of his cock “just like that. Fuck, that feels so good.”

Inwardly, you smile and nearly coo at his vocalness while you’re sucking him off. Each time he mewls little noises of pleasure, you shift your legs, trying to gain some friction on your pussy. His tentative hand grips your hair tighter as you suck harder and you moan again, reaching up to position his fist around your ponytail.

Mark picks up on your meaning and tugs your hair, earning a powerful groan from you. He bites his lip as he wraps your long hair around his wrist and really pulls it, again getting a visceral reaction from you.

Removing him from your mouth with a pop and rising to your feet, you peel off your now wet bikini bottoms. He looks up at you with admiration and expectedness, hands finding purchase on your hips as you straddle his lap.

You reach between your bodies and grab his saliva coated cock, positioning it before your entrance. Mark holds his breath as you sink down on him, each inch making him lose more of his sanity.

“Oh, holy shit.” he mumbles lowly, voice gruff with passion.

“You feel so good inside of me, baby.” you say breathlessly in his ear, slowly beginning to rock back and forth on his lap.

His eyes meet yours and you look down at him with a lust filled fire behind your irises. Mark’s whimpers raising in pitch as you bounce with more force, impaling yourself on his hardness.

You move one of his hands to your breast and he rolls your nipple between his forefinger and thumb, using his mouth to pay attention to the other.

By this point, with each of your moans, Mark thanks porn for giving him some techniques to get you off. The sound of your skin clapping against his makes Mark close his eyes to focus on the feeling, your silky, wet walls gripping his cock and your lips kissing the exposed skin on his neck.

When you feel your orgasm approaching, you slow your pace and get up, climbing onto the bed on all fours. Mark stands behind you as you press your upper body to the mattress and look back at him.

“Take off your clothes.” you direct, and Mark obliges, ready to please you in any way possible.

After he gets naked, you admire his lithe body and shake your hips at him, whining for his dick, “Fuck me like this, pull my hair.”

Doing as told, Mark wraps your hair around his wrist again and re-enters your warm pussy. His other hand gripping your hip.

“You’re so hot.” Mark states as he bottoms out in you, making you laugh.

Swirling your hips and making your ass bounce on him, you speak in a husky, sexy voice, “Thanks, baby, but I really need you to move now.”

Mark nods and dutifully begins thrusting his hips, hair falling into his eyes and bottom lip being torn to shreds by his teeth. You watch sweat drip from his brow as he grips your ponytail and fuck you with reckless abandon.

After finding his rhythm, Mark speeds up, making you bury your face in the sheets, letting out some loud moans and cries for more. You can feel Mark fighting his orgasm, trying to prolong this feeling, so you start rising to your knees, but in a moment of animalistic lust, Mark yanks on your hair and arching your back.

“Stay right there, sweetheart.” he growls, speed picking back up and forcing a scream out of you.

With the new position, the tip of his dick brushes against your walls and reaches new depths, “Fuck, right there, Mark!”

“Mm, I’m going to make you cum, Y/N, aren’t I? Not too bad for a virgin, huh?” he laughs bitterly with a spit of pleasureable anger. Humming, you reach down to your clit to catch up to his fast approaching orgasm.

Then you feel Mark move his other hand from your hip to your throat, pressing your back flush to his front. The full body contact with bare skin drives him crazy and you enjoy the small grunts that leave Mark’s throat against his will.

Your pussy clenches as he hits a new spot, “Mark, I’m gonna cum.”

He smiles at the sound of your voice while his hand grips your throat, “Oh yeah? Do it, Y/N, show me how good I make you feel.”

A heat builds in your core, your eyes rolling back into your head as Mark slams relentlessly into your pulsating pussy. You call out his name and he groans a few compliments to you as he reaches his peak as well.

His hips slow as he spurts his load into your womb and takes his hand off your throat, pressing kisses to where his long fingers left marks.

The two of you stay still for a few moments before he pulls out his softening member and you lower your tired body to the bed. He grabs the tissues from your bedside table and wipes your thighs sweetly and kissing your hip bones softly while he’s down there.

You hum contently as he lays beside you, “You we’re pretty good for a virgin, champ.”

He rolls his eyes and brushes hair out of your eyes before asking a question that burned in his mind, “What did that card say that made you strip in front of me?”

You laugh and look at him, “It said “I’m a virgin please fuck me” and I was like ‘okay’.”

“What? Really? That’s all it took?” Mark asks in disbelief.

Shrugging, you nod, “Well, I had seen you at Taeyong’s frat parties and thought you were adorable, but never thought you’d be into choking.”

Mark flushes a dark red and you giggle at his embarrassment, but he pouts “Do you still think that?”

“After what you just did to me? Maybe... but you can change my mind with round two.”

Hey! Thanks for reading, why don’t you follow for more and request?

- audrey

#kpop smut #kpop #smut #nct #nct smut #mark lee #mark smut #mark lee smut #nct 127 #nct u #nct 127 smut #nct u smut #original

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chimswae · 4 years ago

Text

Untold Bonus Part 2

Foreword:

Some stories are better left unsaid.I couldn’t change anything for the world, although the fame part of this industry is tough to handle.Do i have a life? Yes I have my fans.Do i have friends? Yes the members that I cherish. Do i have love? No I have to let go.Life always offers you a second chance. It’s called tomorrow. But do i have any tomorrow?

Pairing: Jimin x OC (Other characters: BTS, OCs, Lee Taehwan)

Genre: Idolau, Fluff, Romance, Father!Au

Word Count: 2,324

Author Note: This is an old story of mine i think i wrote it in 2017, so please ignore my clicheness and the excessive usage of clicheness~ that makes u cringe haha

You can check full masterlist below :)

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20

Part 2

“Oh god, how come you guys are here” Yeoul smiled and slowly took sleeping Minyeol from Taehwan.

“Not my idea, ask Bangtan Sonyeodan” Taehwan eyed the six guilty guys who seemed all ready to dodge bullets from Jimin.

Jimin knew something was fishy the moment when Taehyung kept on pestering him with kakaotalk message yesterday. They were up for no good. So this was it, cockblocking his honeymoon. Touche.

“Now let’s start with Jungkook” Jimin crossed his arms, snickering under his breath still bewildered.

“WHY ME?” he retorted.

“Because you are the youngest. You are going to give this hyung answers. HONEST ANSWER, alright Koo?’” Jungkook gulped in fear. This was seriously getting out of hand.

He was not supposed to get involved but because of other hyungs, he was guilty as charged.

After good 20 minutes probing answers from this innocent maknae on their real intention traveling all way from East Asia to Middle East when they have something better to do like a romantic trip in Jeju Island. Jungkook would either nod along in agreement or shook his head in dismay probably feeling offended of his other hyungs whom showed no sign to lessen the burden on his shoulder.

Others were enjoying the fact that they were out of equations unlike Jungkook. Out of all the members, Jimin was fond of Jungkook and if there’s one person that would give in to his question, then it was the maknae.

Jeering sarcastically, Jimin rubbed the bridge of his nose trying to brain whatever Jungkook told him “So let me rephrase it. You are saying, this is Minyeol’s idea? My Minyeol?” he probed again causing the younger guy to nod frantically.

“Jeon Jungkook don’t pin the blame on my child!” Yeoul looked baffle.

Jungkook cracked a nervous smile, licking his lower lips few times “ Yes, kind of. But, Minyeol is asking us when will you return, the person who suggested us to tail you here..was..Tae hyung” Jimin let out a dry laugh accompanied by a glare at Taehyung and Taehwan direction.

“Which Tae? Taetae or Tae 2.0” he snorted.

“Excuse me? So now I am Tae 2.0?” that offend Taehwan, “Don’t drag me in, this Kim Taehyung’s idea” he continued with a deep grunt.

“Tae HOW COULD YOU?” Jimin shrieked in disbelief. Taehyung lifted his hand instantly, showing a V sign with awfully childish grin.

“Jiminie.. I really want to visit Morocco… I thought it would be fun if we give both of you a little surprise. That is why we decided to come two days later than you to give you space” he grinned ear to ear.

“So much for showing your empathy Kim Taehyung” Namjoon scowled.

Yeoul giggle at his cuteness, as she sneaked her free hand to stroke Jimin’s back “It is okay Jims, the more the merrier. Thanks to them we get to meet our son” if it weren't for Yeoul sweet voice and her sunshine smile, Taehyung would be dead by now.

“Fine... Since it ends up this way” eyeing Yeoul lovingly, Jimin leaned to her level giving Yeoul a soft peck on lips. He then slung his arm around her shoulder, taking a glance at peaceful Minyeol in his wife arms.

Just like that, Jimin decided to embrace the reality that his members were there since he’s left with no choice. A soft cheer could be heard as the guys excitedly took their luggage and readied to crash in. Tomorrow would be another new day, indeed.

Jin, Namjoon, Hope and Yoongi shared room together so they were long gone leaving the maknae line with the couple at the lobby. Once Taehyung obtained the key from the front desk, he waved eagerly “Tae 2.0, Jungkook lets go! I got the key” he exclaimed.

“Yeoul, let Minyeol stay with us. Jimin and you need your little fun time anyways. This is your honeymoon” Taehwan offered.

“It is okay Tae, he will be staying with us tonight. You guys go have a good rest. It was a long journey. Trust me you need that” Yeoul replied with a grateful smile. Taehwan could be a little too caring and nice, she felt bad for making him babysit Minyeol whilst she’s on honeymoon. Even though, it was actually Taehwan who volunteered to look after Minyeol.

“Are you sure Yeoul?” the maknae seemed unsure because he still thought they were at fault for coming without notice.

“It is Yeoul Nuna for you” Jimin corrected shooting daggers at Jungkook direction. The younger boy rolled his eyes in protest and ignored his hyung’s demand.

Afraid Yeoul might hurt her arms for standing still for good half an hour now, Jimin took Minyeol carefully from her arms. Minyeol stirred a little and continued to sleep so peacefully in his father’s embrace.

Yeoul mouthed a ‘thank you’ to Jimin and turned to face Jungkook and Taehwan. She hushed the two guys away and assuring them, they were okay with Minyeol with them.

“Good night Yeoul, Jimin” he was about to give Yeoul a friendly hug but come at halt as he heard a dry cough behind him. Oh yes, Park Jimin. Taehwan caressed the top of her head lovingly instead and snickered at Jimin’s way.

That guy really had the audacity to give me a dirty look, what a jealous freak. Cuss Taehwan in his head.

Jungkook beamed “Oh see you tomorrow. Good night hyung and Yeou- Fine… Nuna” he grumbled. Jimin had a satisfied smile plastered on his face knowing how easy to get Jungkook listen to his words. They watched both of the disappeared with Taehyung and heaved a relief sigh.

“It is going to be a long long day tomorrow” he cringed at the thought.

“Hey, it would not be that bad” Yeoul giggled.

Interesting. The arrival of Bangtan Sonyeondan with their plus two would be one hell of honeymoon trip.

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

“I told you we should not drag them along” Jimin hissed.

“Why not? It feels like a real family trip! With you, minyeol, me, and others. Smile mister husband, it is not that bad. Look at them, they are cute” she awed at the sight in front of him. Jin and Yoongi were struggling to climb up the back of the camel despite having a platform to support their weight, for some reason those two were just having a bad luck today.

“MIN YOONGI CAN YOU STOP TUMBLING OVER LIKE DOMINOS” they could heard Jin whined like a baby.

Yoongi pressed his lips into a thin line getting ready to curse the elder boy out loud “Kim Seokjin-ssi, need i to remind you camel aint my everyday public transportation. Shit,you whiny grandmama” he gritted his teeth in annoyance.

Grumpy granny Jin pushed Yoongi away earning a death glare from the latter as he decided to climb up the camel first since Min Suga was taking his whole life to stabilize himself up there. As soon as he settled down or when he thought he was, the camel rose from its feet. To their surprise, Jin was just as bad as Yoongi, he landed on ground with face buried deep in the sand.

The whole situation was ridiculous, everyone shrieked with laughter loving to see the eldest one among them struggling. Leader Namjoon came to rescue, still laughing straight on his face. He pulled Jin up, patting his face a little too lovely to get rid of the soft sand from Jin’s handsome face.

“We need to take care of this worldwide handsome, his face is precious” said Namjoon mocking on Jin. He slapped his hand with a deep growl unhappy with his own bad luck today.

“JIN-SSI DO IT PROPERLY!” Yeoul glanced at Jimin sudden outburst and laughed at his silliness.

A visible frown on Jin’s forehead could be seen as he snapped his head to meet Jimin’s eyes “SAY THAT AGAIN PARK JIMIN! I WILL SERIOUSLY MAKE THIS CAMEL STOMP YOU OVER” that was the beginning of their love squabble.

These two could not be stopped, as for Yeoul she had no intention to get involved. She’s better off alone with Minyeol unless Jimin decided to join them per his so called romantic camel ride.

Taehwan helped to lift Minyeol up so the little kid could ride the back of the camel without fear “OMMA….IM SCARED” he squealed with a small giggle. Adorable Minyeol won every soul in the Sahara Desert just like he always did.

“You will be fine Park Minyeol.. Remember, you are a boy” Yeoul winked, patting his leg as an encouragement. It took him few minutes before Taehwan let go him fully, he finally could stable himself.

“Appa.. Omma.. I DID IT. MINYEOLLIE ON THE MELMEL BACK” he couldn’t suppress a triumphant smile on his face. Park Minyeol why you got to be so Park Jimin, Yeoul smiled inwardly.

Jimin gave his son a big thumbs up and big wave enjoying the happiness flashed across Minyeol’s face. They really needed another fun trip like this in the future, minus Bangtan Sonyeondan and Lee Taehwan. Oh well, just the three of them would suffice.

She took a few step towards Minyeol but Taehwan was quick to stand in her way “Nah, you are not going to ride this. I will be riding this with my Minyeol. As for you” he pressed his forefinger on top of her head, twirling her to Jimin’s direction.

“You have a husband to take care of, you don’t want lady camel fall for his kitty smile right?” blinking confusedly, he pushed her back with a light pat slightly signaling her to move.

Yeoul turned to Taehwan with a deep frown “You are so possessive over my son!” she gave him a final pout before strutting to Jimin whom ready to give a warm embrace. Like hell, he was on standby most of the time. Embracing unhappy Yeoul, he rocked her side to side.

“It is okay you will have all the time with Minyeol. Why are you fighting over Minyeol? You know Taehwan is never going to lose to you” he tapped the top of her nose as she scrunched up cutely in response.

“Now now, I cant wait to ride this!” the corner of his lips twitched into a charming smile.

Wounding both of his hands around Yeoul’s torso, with a light push she was up at the back of the camel. Not long after Jimin hopped with the help of the helpers there and the platform of course, settling behind Yeoul.

Now that their body was wounded together, Yeoul’s cheeks heated up at the body contact. Cuddling was their forte, but then for some reason Yeoul would still feel a little shy being super close with Jimin. She couldn’t help but to feel slightly anxious and nervous. Love really does wonder, it drives people insane no matter how frequent they experience it. It keeps on repeating. That never ending butterfly effects.

Jimin rubbed his hand along Yeoul’s, interlacing their fingers together, he smiled at the warmth. The journey began, they were right behind Taehwan and Minyeol. Sahara Desert Camel Tour should be up to three days or more but for the sake of this trip, they chose the shortest route just to see around. They had kid with them so it was impossible to make them ride and camp for three days or more.

The sky is clear and vast, it was a peaceful journey only the friction of camel footsteps against the sand could be heard. Once in awhile they heard others chirpy voice awing at the picturesque view around them, there was no doubt it offered them an astounding sight. It was dreamy.

Taehyung would request to stop along the journey whenever he found a place that worth Vante photography time. He would act like a real professional photographer and insisted one of the members to become his unpaid model. Those members would be either Kim Namjoon or Jeon Jungkook. If he was in luck, Min Suga would offer hand to help but Vante preferred a photogenic human like Kim Namjoon.

Even though when at times Namjoon refused to comply to his request, Jin would step in but Taehyung would politely rejected him. He defended himself by saying Jin is too popular for his shot and too handsome which later offend Namjoon. Oh well, he didn’t mean it that way sometimes Kim Taehyung had a weird way in expressing his thoughts.

Mind you, Park Jimin survived all those years with him. He is Kim Taehyung after all.

Two hours of ride, it finally came to an end. Indeed, it was unforgettable experiences for everyone. They had chance to explore magnificent desert landscape and most importantly it was once in a lifetime kind of thing.

They ended up at the other end of the pit stop, and as everyone was ready to leave the place to be transferred back to the entrance, a loud shriek froze everyone. They were looking for the direction of the voice only to be welcomed by Hoseok second attempt of girly shriek.

“Ew, what’s that” Yoongi tilted his head curiously.

“IT IS CAMEL POOP” the maknae widened his eyes and his gasp soon turned into a smug. In this situation, it was hard not to laugh because Hoseok’s right leg was dipped inside the filthy sticky thing. Yeoul clasped hand over her mouth tried not to barf.

Jin cringed giving him a disgusting look “Jung Hoseok.. the camel has claimed you as his soulmate” he teased. The tour guide quickly went to Hoseok side, offering help to get rid of the large camel poop engulfing his leg.

Namjoon shuddered “That is gross, oh god. I cant unsee that now” with that he turned his head to other side with a playful whistle.

“Disloyal brats” Hoseok mutter under his breath as he continued to get the large stain off his leg and pants.

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#bts fic #bta fanfic #jimin fanfic #jimin fic #jimin x oc #park jimin x oc #jimin idolau #jimin father au #park jimin father au #bts series #jimin parenthood au #untoldseries

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diskwrite-ffxiv · 5 years ago

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FFXIV Write 2019- #1 Voracious

Place: East Shroud Year: 1545 6AE

There, was the voiceless whisper that Yvoutlet mouthed. One spindly elbow kneaded his sister’s ribs. Anoinne would have jabbed back, just so with two fingers just below the crook of his armpit, but through the brown thrush of brambles that coated the rim of the crag a flash of movement caught her eye.

It was hard to see much this deep in the Shroud. Even touched by the hand of winter, darkness settled over their environs as sure as if it was a night of the full moon, yet it couldn’t be more than a couple bells after midday. They’d begun their trek shortly after dawn after all, skittering out from under the heels of the adults who would have dissuaded them from coming here- if they had only known.

For the sibling’s quarry was not the rabbits they’d sworn they were after- the scrawny beasts who, with their dusky coats turning grey as the days grew short, would stand out against dark tree bark as they struggled haplessly in the air, a leg or two snagged in the death grasp of a snare. No- instead they’d come to find the tall figure that at last stumbled into view.

The stranger wasn’t prepared for the snow- that much was certain. It rarely got so deep here after all, trapped on the thick tangle of branches overhead that even in winter stretched like a great net to capture anything that came from above. But two nights ago the flakes had spilled from the sky in such a torrent that the crowns of the trees bent beneath the weight until at last they gave way, pouring the bulk of it across the earth. Through a hefty drift, the stranger struggled. Not even the fact that her legs that were longer than the rest of her saved her from the fight, each step taken with exhausting deliberation as her boots traced the twin lines of foot-shaped holes that poked through the white mantle, the otherwise pristine face that reflected back just enough light to throw her silhouette into sharp relief.

For against the snow, silhouette was all the stranger seemed. Her clothes were dark, yes, with a great hood thickly lined with fur thrust over her face- but they weren’t the only thing about her that swallowed the light.

Anoinne leaned forward, poking her nose into the brambles as she tried to get a better look. Twigs poked back the hood of her cloak, a bony edge that scraped through her hair to cling at her scalp.

“What’s a grey doing out here all alone?” she asked, her voice swallowed into the back of her throat. She didn’t dare speak louder, for though the stranger walked quite a bit further than a stone’s throw away, she’d heard tales about the way those people could pick out even an impossibly distant sound.

“Don’t know,” Yvoutlet whispered back. “I don’t think she’s with the bandits.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Anoinne scoffed- but after a beat her green eyes swiveled her brother’s way. “Really?”

“Really. I found her camp one night.”

“You did not!”

“I did. I wasn’t really looking for it,” he said, but his voice caught in that way as it often did when he wasn’t telling the full truth, “but I found her tracks one night while following the antelope.”

“I never took you for a cave diver,” Anoinne quipped.

“It wasn’t in a cave!”

“A Duskwight that doesn’t live in a cave?”

“Oh, blast,” Yvoultet breathed. “I think she heard us.”

It didn’t dawn on Anoinne that she’d taken her eyes off the object of their fascination until that very moment, and so she whipped her gaze back through the brambles and down to the drift below. The stranger had stopped, halfway through the trek tracing the visible old tracks, and her head had swivelled their direction, staring up at the very ridge the siblings hid behind.

Then she turned, and her boot thrust into a once perfect crest of snow.

“Seven hells,” Anoinne whispered. “She’s coming our way.”

“Oh gods,” Yvoultet said. “What do we do?”

“I don’t know- it was your idea to come here!”

“Well, I’m not the one who started yelling about caves!” he uttered, his voice a heated whisper that spewed with rising panic.

But the stranger didn’t try to scale the ridge. She didn’t draw the unstrung hunting bow strapped to her back, nor did she yell any choice comments back. No, instead as she drew to the lee of the crags, she stamped her way into an alcove that curved out of sight. Anoinne yanked her head from the brambles, her hood falling across her long pointed ears. She ignored Yvoultet’s wide-eyed protest as he outstretched a hand in silent supplication, and she scooted her way around the brambles. She moved with a silence she had practiced through careful years spent edging up on bigger and bigger wildlife to see how close she could get, until she found a big enough opening between shrub and rock to poke her head through.

Over the edge of the crag Anoinne peeked, one gloved hand pressing into the snow to brace herself for a hasty retreat.

The stranger didn’t look up. At the base of the crag she sat, her body clenched as close to the stone as it could be, just out of the crescent of snow. Her arms were wrapped around herself, and her hood was pulled as far over her face as it could be. She was shivering, it dawned on Anoinne. And smaller than she’d seemed from afar. Why, the stranger couldn’t be much older than she or Yvoultet, assuming she grew like a normal Elezen. And out here all alone, with no one to go home to, and no place to go.

That was enough to draw a pang of sympathy into Anoinne’s chest, even if over a grey- a bright halo of ache that twinged as if the cold had managed to pierce through her thick cloak to stab at her heart.

“Hello!” she yelled, with an enthusiasm that startled all three of them.

@sea-wolf-coast-to-coast

#FFxivWrite2019 #my writing #ojene suinuet #in which young solo ojene is spotted in the woods by a couple overcurious wildwoods #IC

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muesliforbreakfast · 5 years ago

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Fanfiction

Ahhh I remember being sixteen. Vaguely. My favourite book series at the time was the Old Kingdom trilogy. I haven’t read it in a while, but I think it probably holds up. Good lord the pacing.

I wrote a fanfiction of it, and I’m going to share it with you here and now. Relax, it doesn’t feature scenes of a self insert banging all the characters in debaucherous and self aggrandizing ways. All the self-insertion is as like, an action hero or something.

A few disclaimers - This is not the original version. I edited it a fair bit. For grammar and continuity, mostly. However, I do have another sixteen years of experience now... Most importantly, a lot more experience in the arts of mars. When I came across it, I was like “Not only does this not work, it’s also too fkn clean.”

Don’t worry, if you do bother to read through it you won’t be coming across some Cormac McCarthy level violence.

I wrote this in like, 2004. At that point only the original trilogy had been released. I haven’t even read Clariel, or Goldenhand. I really should get on it, I’m sure it’s fucken dope.

Also I’m well aware that even in a fantasy setting some of this shit would never happen. Where I’ve made the biggest changes I’ve tried to keep to the spirit, if not the letter of the original.

Not all fanfiction is garbage. Don’t get me wrong, this totally is, but you should read The Last Ringbearer.

This will be a long post.

Enjoy

- - - - - - - - - - -

Deserter - 1 - Night Moves

The driving snow made visibility next to zero on the Ancelstierre side of the wall, and for once, the same could be said for the Old Kingdom side. This close to the wall and Barhedrin hill, a traveller was unlikely to die of exposure, if they were to seek shelter immediately, but the poor visibility and blanketing snow would erase any tracks made, making chances of survival poor. Law wanted to find shelter now, but that was not the mission.

<One. Meter. Spacing. Head North. Hurry Up.>

The visibility made his signals difficult to see; he hoped the squad got the message; if not, they'd get it when he sped up.

Lawrence reached the boulder at the position that the group had described for him as suitable shelter months ago; more of a windbreak really. He was well ahead of the group, but had to wait for the last of the dozen to enter the comparative calm of the lee side of the boulder before he could start erecting a shelter. Those that arrived first were skewering him with hateful glances as they set their tents up. The first one to finish, also the tallest approached him.

"Hey dick head," Law turned his head to look at him, "What the fuck is your problem?"

He obviously didn't like Law, and the rest seemed to share his sentiments. They'd probably crucify him if he knocked big stuff out.

"This is all fucked... But you do your job and I’ll do mine, chief." He replied.

“You’re on thin ice, fuckface.” Big stuff growled.

"Back off Smith." Their leader said, Law didn't even know his rank. All the men quietened down and the leader sat down next to a boulder. Having already erected a tent by himself, Law figured it was OK to sit with him.

"That was a tough slog, but they’ll be glad we’re a bit ahead of schedule." he said.

"Weather’s getting worse,” he said, taking out a cigar and a match, “They’re not stupid."

His match went out, and Law tossed him a lighter. Smoking in the field was... Not his problem.

"Use mine." The leader tried to light it.

"Gee whiz. It's not working." he tossed it back.

The storm had passed two hours before dawn, which meant that they had trudged through it for an hour or so. Law had discarded his NVG's which were faulty, and he had also discarded all his faith in the organisation of this operation. By the time they saw the sun, they were well past Barhedrin Hill, having passed under the cover of cloud and night. The weather seemed to be clearing, and soon he would be able to leave; the next ridge was where he got off this train. Unlike the night before, they all arrived together. They all gathered, got their bearings and left. They were dicks, and amateurish, but good luck to them. He held up a peace sign as they moved past him, slow and quiet.

Orders were to stay put for half an hour then leave, but along with the orders to carry no watches, he figured it was time to leave. He was in a pristine, snowy landscape, and immediately regretted not having brought skis along, this hill was the tallest one for miles. He could see a village on the other side of a valley from here, and a small wood well south of the village. Skiing from here would have been a blast. He began his quiet march back, alone. As he moved along, he spotted a funny looking rock at the foot of the hill. He bent down to inspect it and found that he had led the group in a circle. They were the night vision goggles that he had discarded well before dawn. He frowned; they had all ended up in the right place, so... what? The only conclusion he could come to was that the mission they were on was hopelessly organised.

He continued along, and almost missed the ski tracks following their trail. When he noticed them, he drew his silenced .45 pistol. He inspected them, and saw that they were going in the same direction that they had been walking. He had a general idea where the tracks would lead; over the tall hill. He scaled it from a different angle, it took almost no time at all. He lay prone in the snow and crawled to a small snow drift; when he arrived he saw there was a log underneath. Propped up by the edge of the log, he watched the place where he and the group had separated, he doubted that the skier would have passed there already. He was rewarded when he saw a figure in white, with skis strapped to his back pick his way past the rocks before the insertion point. He watched the figure kneel in the snow; inspecting all the footprints, but was surprised to see the figure follow his tracks instead of the groups.

"Drop you're weapons." Law ordered, with his .45 pointed squarely at the man's back as he skulked by on the rocky ground. The man dropped his skis and ski poles. He turned, the wide, predatory smile across his face twisted Law’s guts into knots.

“Law.” He said, and drew his sword.

"Who are you?" Law asked, looking down the sight of his weapon.

"An assassin. Sent to kill you." he replied, and advanced slowly.

Law pulled the trigger. Dead man’s click.

Somehow the assassin smiled wider and quickened his pace.

Lawrence cleaned his bayonet on the snow and examined the sword. It was nice, high quality steel. Razor sharp, but not wielded by an expert.

As the assassin had charged him, Law had thrown his gun at his face, but the assassin had expected that, and had battered the flying gun aside. Law drew his bayonet, and stepped aside across a tree as the assassin had tried to run him through. The assassin faced him, sword at the guard position. His bayonet was of the type that the perimeter garrison used; extra long, 60cm. He was a good knife fighter, maybe he stood a chance. The assassin advanced, with more restraint. He swung his sword one handed, and Law parried it as best he could. The assassin punched him in the jaw, and Law slipped on the ice, landing hard on his shoulders. The assassin laughed maniacally as he brought the sword into a high guard and swung it down towards him. Law rolled to the side, and the sword sent a spray of snow across him. The sword was stuck in a root, and the assassin was grunting with exertion, trying to pull it out. Law rolled up on his back and sent both his legs at the attacker. One of his boots crashed into his face, and the other into the hilt of the sword, breaking his hands and knocking him to the ground.

He stood up and closed in on the assassin, as the assassin tried to stand.

“Why?” He growled, bringing his shin into the assassin’s ribs, breaking at least three.

“Fuck you!” The assassin yelled. Law pounced on his back, grabbed his head with both hands and started smashing it into the hard icy ground. Then he put his forearm across the assassin’s face and pulled his hands in a gable grip with his considerable strength. He felt the assassin’s nose and front teeth break under the pressure. The assassin gargled in pain and struggled for a weapon, some snow, anything. Law bore down on him and their combined weight landed on the assassin’s face. He put his forearm on the attackers face again, and pulled, with pressure on his eye socket this time.

"They're gonna kill the Abhorsen!" he cried out. Law released the pressure, only to punch him in the liver.

"Who?"

"The twelve guys you guided in here!" The assassin was a sorry sight, battered face, bleeding mouth.

"Why?"

"Corolini! The Corvere insurrection!”

Because of a revenge plot.

Law pulled the assassin’s head back and cut his throat, blood sprayed across the scene of their fight.

He had met the Abhorsen once. He was one of the few in Corvere that weren't loyal to or paid by Corolini during the Corvere insurrection. He had been ordered to join Corolini’s guard, drawn from the ranks of Ancelstierre's special forces. He despised Corolinis rhetoric, policy and person, and had put a bullet in his head at the first opportunity. When the fighting was over, it turned out that he had chosen the side of righteousness; some bad motherfucker Warlord, Orannis, in the North had been siding with Corolini, and had been routed. The Prime Minister of Ancelstierre had pinned a medal on his chest, and so had the Abhorsen. The assassin had said that the plan was to kill her’ someone was out to get even.

"They should have given you a crossbow, friend." He said, as he left the assassin in the snow. The objective was the Abhorsen, and he couldn't really see how it would be achieved. The plan until now however, had made perfect sense. They had equipped him well south of the wall, and taken him to the wall by horse and cart, to 'blend in with the locals.' They had shown him maps of the 'planned route', but never pictures, or first hand reconnaissance to ensure he didn't find out some of the stories he'd been told of this place were true. They had gone on the snowiest day possible so any tracks they made would be wiped clean, so they had needed him to get as far as they had. From there, Law figured that the plan was to lure the Abhorsen and her apprentice into some kind of trap, but they could well be after the entire royal family. He had to assume the worst. He picked up the trail again. He was in a very interesting position; he could stop this plot in it's tracks. Ancelstierre would think he was dead, and so would the twelve. As long as he remained hidden, he would have the power to intervene.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Deserter - 2 - Catching up

Night Vision Goggles. Zippo Lighter. .45 caliber silenced HK. Compass. 7.62mm SLR. Headlamp. With all that gone, Law would travel lighter. That was the bright side. The assassin had only carried a set of 6 throwing knives and the sword for Law, and he only had his clothes, his bayonet, a garrote and a little folding knife in addition to that. He hadn’t packed heavy; two days worth of water, food and a tent. He was meant to be home by now. He didn't know the terrain, but he was an expert in fieldcraft and field survival. With all this snow around, he wouldn't die of thirst, but finding food would still be work.

He soon found that he wouldn't have time to die of starvation; the group had left all the useless gear close to where they had split up. No food, but they were close. From there, they had set a casual pace. He caught up within a day, and observed them. They were in their army khakis now, but carried swords and shields instead of guns and grenades. They all wore assorted armour, which explained their glacial pace to him. They had to carry all that crap, their field gear and rifle, and several magazines. Armed as they were, Law thought he could rush in there and take five or six before they even knew he was there, and two or three more before they could do anything about it. Leaving up to five for later, if he survived. He would have done it, if they weren't in direct line of sight to a village or something; only nine... cottages... Apart from the lack of modern weaponry, they looked like they were on patrol in the normal world. Law figured out this next part of the plan; they were going to pretend to be deserters (which they really were), but blood all over their clothes would make their reasons for deserting seem kind of weak. He'd have to continue watching. They entered the village, and Law went around it; they didn't emerge, he'd have to camp here for the night.

They finally left three days later, but moved with the same non-military pace. They were here to spread a story, moving on to whatever else was next on their plan. Law decided to go into the town and find out exactly what that story was. He pulled off his balaclava, revealing his face. He had jet black hair, and hadn't shaved for days. He drew his bayonet to shave off his stubble. He had skin a few shades darker than olive, and having just taken off a balaclava he'd been wearing on and off for five days or so, his shaven head was a prickly stubble. It still looked neat, at least. In this snowy hell hole, he doubted that there was anyone else as dark as him, so he'd have to stick to their story of desertion. He went around the village again. He'd come in from the Ancelstierre side.

"Excuse me ma'am," A tall, dark and handsome Ancelsterrian Tamith had been watching for a minute or so approached her, " I'm looking for some friends of mine, they said they'd be coming through this way. Have you seen them?"

"I don't know. Why don't you describe them?" she replied.

"There were a dozen or so of them, Ancelsterrian clothes, and... uh...local weapons." the stranger replied, he didn't seem fazed.

"They're deserters, are you?" That reply seemed to get past his guard.

"Yes. I am." He replied after a moment. Tamith had promised them not to help anyone trying to bring them home; they had some pretty solid reasons for deserting, and this fellow started alarm bells ringing with his manner.

"Sorry they didn’t tell me anything. Why did you desert?" She couldn't be sure about this man, but she decided to give him a chance.

"Military life... Orders. It’s hard to explain unless you’ve been there, but I’ve had to do things I’m not proud of." In her opinion, that was the wrong answer, but that was exactly what one of the soldiers said.

"What were their names?" She finally asked.

Lawrence had picked twelve random famous people from Ancelstierre as their names. She had said "No they weren't", to which he'd replied “They might have lied to you; knowing them and knowing me is a risk to us. Please, forget this entire conversation.” Then she had told him everything they had told her. They had been looking for jobs, and she had suggested joining the guard at Roble's town. They were hiring pretty easily, there was some trouble in the North, and anyone with some experience in the armed forces would be recruited in a heartbeat. He thanked her and moved on. The way he figured, they would practice their act at every major and minor settlement between here and Roble's town. He could move ahead, she had told him the way. If he was lucky, he would arrive days, possibly even a week or two ahead of them.

Law sighted them the next day; they were moving with good security. Slow and quiet. They weren’t the amateurs they acted like on the first night. No opportunity to eliminate any of them presented itself that day, so he passed them. It took him six days to get to Roble's town at his pace, at least twice as fast as the others. There were two small towns and a village that was even smaller than the first one on the way. He ended up reaching Roble's town over two and a half weeks ahead of the others. Like the young woman had said, they had accepted him readily, and put him in the infantry under his new name Tony; his hand to hand combat skills were better than anything they had ever seen, he was told. With his equipment and skills however, they could only assume he was a deserter. He made no friends among his new colleagues, he seemed beneath their contempt, and he really couldn't blame them could he? His plan was to stay out of their sight and kill the other Ancelsterrians as they slept. Then he could slip out and go home; no one need know that he had foiled an assassination plot. Unfortunately, the recruiting centre in Roble's town was flooded with people wanting to do their part for their country, and he was transported to Qyrre. From there, he would be taken to Sindle via boat and horses.

Qyrre was next to the Ratterlin; the main river in the 'Old Kingdom'. He had never liked fishing back home, but with no friends and no reason to leave on his time off, Law decided it was a good opportunity to get out and do some recon. He hadn't caught anything all morning, and was preparing to leave the riverbank. Sword practice was in an hour, and he was bored out of his mind anyway. He turned and found the others lined up behind him.

"Lawrence," one said, "Or is it Tony now?"

They were carrying the equipment he had been issued, but he was wearing his Ancelsterrian weapons. They threw his stuff on the grass in front of him.

"Put it all on." the one he figured was the leader said.

He put on all his armour and buckled on his sword.

"You don’t have to be traitors. We can all go home now." He said.

"It's over Lawrence." one said. Then he blacked out as someone clubbed him over the head.

Law was absolutely freezing when he fully came to his senses. He was tied up and lying on a gravelly riverbank, on the other side of the river, judging by the flow of water. The last five or so minutes had passed like a feverish nightmare as he had struggled to stay afloat with his hands were tied behind his back, and his feet tied together. It was nothing short of a miracle that he hadn't drowned. He wriggled out of the water as best he could; his feet were going numb. The ropes weren't tied that well; he struggled against them until his wrists were bleeding. They were tied well enough. Next he looked around for a sharp rock or something; all his weapons were out of reach. He found a long cigar shaped rock, with a rough edge, like an old nail file. He used it to sandpaper at the ropes while looking around for something that he could use to escape faster. He finally spotted a rock that was partly buried; it had a long, sharp looking ridge running along the top. He managed to cut through his bonds in four minutes or so while sitting on it, and he made short work of the ropes around his legs with his folding knife once his hands were free. He then washed his wrists, but had nothing to bandage them with. He had no idea where he was, he could only be upstream.

Four hours later, he still hadn't sighted Qyrre, but he recognized the road on the other side of the river. He didn't doubt that his ferry to Sindle had already left, he was due to leave today, and had spent a good hour looking for a rock. The others must have taken the same ferry, and he was no longer ahead of them. His advantage had been lost; but they still thought he was dead.

- - - - - - - - - - -

Deserter - 3 - Horses

The ferry would have reached Sindle by now, and Law knew that on foot it would take him a very long time to catch up to his enemies. He decided that it was in the best interests of this heinous place that he steal a horse. He figured that as long as he walked along the river, he would find a farm or homestead that would have horses. He struck gold when he came across a low rock wall. He scouted around it and found it surrounded a homestead on a bit of a hill. He knew next to nothing about farming, but immediately recognized a stable between the barn and the homestead. There were two hours to go until dusk; Law decided to use that time to make this next development as bloodless and quiet as possible.

There were nine people living on this farm; an old couple, a willowy, redheaded woman and her younger sister, and a tall, muscly fellow. There were also four children, ranging in age from six to thirteen. He hoped none of them knew magic, like some of the soldiers he had met at Qyrre and Roble's town. The sky was dark, and the family appeared to be on the second floor of their two story home. He stalked up to the house, peeking into the dark windows until he found the kitchen. The windows weren't locked, or even latched. He managed to break in without breaking anything. He could hear the family was singing upstairs, then he realized that he was unlikely to find a tin of baked beans, or protein bars. With this in mind, he settled for a piece of cheese, a loaf of bread and a cured sausage. He also spotted a sharpening stone and a small satchel, which he filled with the food and sharpening stone. He left the way he came in, and left quietly. He could still hear the sounds of singing wafting down the stairs and into the kitchen. He moved quietly to the stables, and went around a large-ish vegetable patch. He unlatched the gate and closed it behind him, but he didn't latch it. He entered the stables and inspected all the horses. There were twelve in all, and lots of saddles; a lot more than twelve. He wasn't a horse guy, but part of his training for the previous three weeks involved learning to ride. He could mount, dismount and ride... sort of. He picked a horse he judged was robust enough and saddled it, then he strapped the satchel to it. He left to open the gate before going back in to take the horse.

"Don't move, or I will unleash a spell of great destruction." by the time the strong female voice who said that finished her sentence, Law had ducked behind a large sack of grain. Another door opened opposite him, and the muscly fellow was there, a bow in his hands and an arrow nocked. Law put his hands up and the woman (the younger of the two sisters) approached him; a belt in her hands. He put his hands behind his head. She stood behind him and gripped his wrist. As she brought it down he dragged her arm and put his arm around her neck. He drew his bayonet and pressed it's blade into the small of her back, while turning to face the muscly fellow.

"Drop it." He ordered. The man slowly lessened the tension in the string and put the arrow into a quiver on his back. He was about to drop his bow when a scream from the direction of the homestead saw him disappear almost before Law even noticed.

"Let me help!" The mage woman said. He released her and moved towards the horses. Then turned. Maybe they'd consider the horse a just reward if he helped them; he really needed to keep the locals onside.

The vegetable garden had a wooden fence around it; there was a tall figure trying to scale it, and two more behind him throttling each other. They were dead; he knew this because he could smell them, and because the one trying to climb the fence had five arrows through his head. It seemed under control; the arrows didn't seem to damage it much alone, but with each one, it slowed down, and became even more discoordinated. Law decided to handle the winner out of the two that were throttling each other. He drew his sword and watched. One's neck snapped; the winner snarled triumphantly as it's adversary's body went lifeless and head hung limp. Law vaulted the wooden fence.

Both dead things came right for him; lurching and stiff, but quick nevertheless. The one with arrows in it's head seemed stronger, so Law went for it first. He hacked at it, cutting it's left arm off at the elbow. He followed his hack through with a kick that snapped the thing's right shin. The thing didn't seem to care about either arm or leg; it still advanced and battered at him with the better arm. Law charged into it with his shoulder and punched it in the face with the guard of his sword, but a vice like grip on his shoulder prevented a second attack. He took the arm, dropped to his knees and smashed the second thing into one of the wooden posts supporting the fence. Hard. He heard several bones, possibly even it's spine snap. He rolled to his left and got to his feet, facing the first with his sword held underhand. He crouched, ready to spring, and a gout of flame tore through it's body. It burned with intense, orange flames that left him momentarily flashblind, then fell to the ground, finally lifeless. The second was weak, but still alive. It stood and lurched towards him. He scuttled back, giving the mage time and space to burn this one too.

"Help him!" one of the children squeaked from behind the fence. Some of the children echoed this brilliant idea.

"Fuck him," the mage woman he had taken hostage said, "We caught him stealing Carris. Fight, thief."

They wanted a show. He kicked it in the knee, which snapped. He grabbed the blade of his sword with the left, and smashed it in the face with his sword guard. It fell, it didn't die. It got up again, then he saw the one it had throttled get up too.

This seemed to silence the children. Law drew his sword again; the one he had thrown into the wooden post seemed weaker, so he threw his sword at the one it had throttled. It went right through it's chest, right to the hilt, and the sword emerged out the other side with a shower of sparks. He hadn't expected that, but he recovered well. He ran at it and charged it with his shoulder, then tore his sword out of it's body, ripping it in half. It didn't move anymore; it was dead, and so was he once he took care of the last one. There was no hellfire; the show must go on. He sheathed his sword and drew his bayonet and garrote. The last one lurched towards him, and he didn't move. It was finally in grabbing distance, and it growled as it reached for his throat with it's rotting hands. He took its wrist and dragged it down, looping the tough cable of his garrote around it's neck. He then got behind it and drove his bayonet into the small of it's back before pulling it back to its feet. A gout of cool blood splashed across his hand. They were strong, but slow, uncoordinated and dumb. Therefore, this one was now harmless. He wheeled with it, turning it towards the family, and started moving away from them. There was a low stone wall to his right, about seven metres behind him and twelve metres from the family. The mage woman started building up her hellfire thing again; it looked pretty ominous to him. This living corpse would burn with him.

He pulled his bayonet out of the zombie at the wall, and wiped it relatively clean on it's filthy rags. He sheathed it and let go of one of the garrote handles, then he vaulted over the wall, rolling on the other side. He then followed along it in the direction of the stables. The mage woman finally released her hellfire when he was well away from the zombie, he saw it illuminate a small part of the countryside, it cast sharp shadows all over the property. Not of him though, he was already in the stable, wishing for his SLR.

"Where the hell is he?" someone yelled. A little later, he heard a clatter; an arrow shaft bouncing through a tree.

"Not there fuckers." he said bitterly. He needed that horse, he could have left them to deal with the things. He wasn’t winning any hearts and minds in this country, and this country would never win his now. He found Carris and mounted.

Being a stranger to these parts, Law decided to stick to the main roads, and turned his cloak inside out to help alter his appearance. The goal now was to get to Navis; the others would be posted South West of there, and the fastest way now was by boat. He just hoped the local authorities weren't onto him yet, but he would probably need their help later on. Mounted, it only took him four days steady riding to reach Callibe, a small settlement by southern standards, but apparently a large port city in this country. Right. Law skirted around the city searched for a dock, but despite it's proximity to water (only a hundred metres or so), and it's reputation as a seaport, there was nothing, save for a small jetty and a half built sea wall shielding part of the beach from the waves rolling in from the open sea. Law turned and walked a well worn path to the city centre, he tied Carris to a post outside a tavern. Then he asked the first person he met for directions. He got nothing but strange looks from everyone he asked for directions to Callibe's shipyards.

Law was exceptionally confused as he walked down a dusty lane winding through the limestone houses that made up this part of the seaside town. He was now looking for a law enforcement officer of some description. He found a pair of men wearing knee high leather boots, blue clothes, black cloaks and red sashes that he decided fit the description pretty well.

"Excuse me officers," Law approached them with a large, friendly smile on his face, "could you direct me to the closest boat market, or dock?" They exchanged glances.

"Of course, friend," the older one replied, "That would be Callibe, this is Telephone, a Korrovian settlement."

"You're not from around here, are you?" The younger one enquired.

"Uh. No, I'm not. I need to get to Navis." Law rubbed his chin, in genuine worry.

"Why, friend?" the older one asked, his hand moving to his hilt. The law was already after him.

"I signed up with the royal guard, but my division left me behind at Qyrre. I need to catch up." Law's father had always told him, the less bullshit the better.

"Why didn't you wait for the next boat then, friend?" the younger one asked. Law noticed a mark on his forehead, also on the older one's forehead. Then, kind of slowly, he realized that all the people he had seen do the funky magic shit had that mark, except for the mage woman from the night before. But he probably hadn't noticed it in the dark.

"I kind of... don't remember the past few days... You know how it is after a few ales..." A lame excuse, he knew.

"Well, I'm sure we can help you remember." The older one said. Law put his hands behind his head and gave up without a fight.

The constables had thrown him in gaol, and for some reason, his 'accidental deserter' story hadn't held true; someone had found a body in Royal Guard uniform down river from Qyrre, so that case was closed. He was in here for theft. The constables had taken everything but his garrote in his left sleeve, and his folding knife, in his boot. They hadn't found either. They wouldn't do him much good in a fight though; he was shackled to a wall with his hands behind his back. The cell was made of soft limestone, which wouldn't hold anyone with a spoon or chair for very long, if it had been above ground. More of a dungeon with smokeless, burning lights. The cell held three other prisoners, shackled like he was. They had been in here for an hour or two more than he had. Civil negligence (an untidy, state run stable) and public drunkenness were their crimes. Those stables must have been pretty fucking untidy. Law had the distinct impression that he was the most hardened criminal in here. The other two prisoners weren't talking to him anymore; they were fiercely patriotic, and repentant for their crimes. The fact that he wasn't had procured intense glares from the both of them for the past hour. A guard entered the cell, followed by the woman from the night of the horse. Law skewered her with an intense, hateful, defiant look, but remained relaxed, shackled low to the wall as he was.

"The dark one, with the bright eyes." She said, the constable laughed heartily at that.

"You're free to go friend, she's not pressing charges." He unlocked the shackles.

"Thank you constable. Can I have my things back?" His wrists were bleeding again; he was hungry, uncomfortable and relatively pissed off.

"What things?" the constable laughed again, "They all belong to her now. She's not pressing charges, because you do too, for the next three months, for stealing her best horse."

"They're going to kill the Abhorsen." Law had been handcuffed and placed astride the horse he had stolen. The cuffs were surprisingly modern; essentially the same design used in Ancelstierre. Which was making unlocking them very easy.

"So you're not ignoring me anymore?" the woman, whose name was Tarryn, was on the horse he had judged was second best, and she was leading his.

"I'm not kidding." He replied.

"Sure, sure, I know," the dismissive sarcasm in her voice was so thick he could taste it, "So why did you really need a horse so badly?"

Law had known that he had little chance of escape from right outside the police station or whatever they were called in this country, so when no one had been looking he had loosened his garrote a little. He was now using the tough cable to pick the locks on the almost modern cuffs, so he didn't reply.

"You know, the only reason I'm not pressing charges is because the law says I can keep you on my farm for up to three months, so you can work you're debt off," she giggled, "And a big strong man like you, can work a lot I’m sure. You look like you have a lot of... Stamina." One more little twist...

“I’m flattered. Really, I’ve been in country for a long time,” he said, ”I can show you my stamina, anytime you want. But first I have a job to do."

"Oh, no no no, you're coming with me." She replied; she really was very pretty, but the rape slave undertones of their conversation had raised his hackles. She was a very scary woman, and he had a job to do. The lock turned easily; he kicked the horse's flanks. He closed the one meter gap in a second, then tackled her off the horse. They rolled along the ground, and when they finally came to a stop, Law had his knee on her chest and his garrote around her neck. Somehow, she had managed to keep a wrist between the cable and her throat.

"As far as I'm concerned," he stopped to catch his breath, "You can help me, or you can die."

She nodded, and he brought his fist crashing down onto her face.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 4 - the Capital

Law hadn't been in the special forces for nothing; he had come to Ancelstierre at the age of twenty two, having already undergone training for compulsory national service in his home land, Diego. He hadn't found any kind of employment, so like any other young man with no direction in life he joined the army. He was fit, aggressive and intelligent, so he was soon a corporal. After a couple of combat deployments he had been accepted into the Ancelstierre Air Brigade, where he had been for the last six years. He had been behind enemy lines before, and he treated this the same, avoiding detection by anyone. It was considerably easier here. There was no war, and there were miles between civilization (as in households and villages) in some parts of the country. By the time he arrived in the capital, it was spring and some kind of festival was in full swing. He had spent two months or so making his way here, the long way. He had gone around, through, or over mountains, rivers or valleys, taking spectacular measures in order to totally avoid people. It hadn't been easy, but he had succeeded, in avoiding people and in arriving at the capital without being killed or enslaved. His stealth skills were as sharp as ever, having been honed through hunting and hiding. Despite having lived rough for the past couple of months, he was presentable, having shaven and trimmed his hair at a small stream which would eventually lead to the Ratterlin.

His plan was to find his way into the palace and talk to the Abhorsen. With a bit of luck, she would remember his face, or recognize something else about him. He had come into the city without even being searched, and had spent all day slowly making his way to the palace, through the celebrating citizens. For the people, this was a day of celebration, but naturally, this didn't quite extend to the city/royal guard. He had resolved to watch the shifts and their changes closely, but seized the opportunity to enter the palace when an altruistic guard rushed to help a young woman who dropped a basket of painted fruit. He took full advantage of the gap, but the novelty of painted fruit certainly wasn’t lost on him.

Law hadn't expected entering the palace grounds to be this easy; but he hadn't expected security around the palace proper to be so damned difficult either. He had skulked around the grounds for the past forty six hours. Everything was well guarded, or so open as to be public and useless, and he was getting desperate. He wouldn’t be able to stay awake much longer at this rate. At the moment, he was stalking a pair of guards at a distance of five meters. It was now twilight, and the guards were possibly the most boring human beings on the planet. A half hour and not a word. Law heard a clatter, a small group of people running in armour coming from around the corner the pair were about to turn. Law quickly went off to the side of the path and ducked behind a small birdbath that would help break up his outline, if nothing else.

"Guard the park reservoir entrance!" one of the guards called to the pair he was stalking, they set off at a run. He waited until the dozen or so guards passed him, making good time, and then sprinted after his pair. The guards reached three caves in the side of a hill long before he did; he only arrived in time to see them sink into the shadow of the central one. There would be no sneaking past them, and he refused to kill a pair of honest men.

He circled around the hill, the problem outside seemed to have been resolved; Law could hear the sound of celebration again. He spotted a monument on the hill, being watched over by a pair of young oak trees. He made his way to the monument, quickly but quietly. No sense in moving slowly; a lone figure in Ancelsterrian camouflage and a worn ranger's cloak would stick out like a sore thumb in the middle of the palace park; it wasn't that dark yet.

"A monument to those who served and died in the Corvere insurrection." This one would read, he recognised the general shape of the bronze statue; a crossing point scout and a royal guardswoman supporting a wounded Korrovian refugee. A couple of his friend's names were on this one, and his name would be on a plaque on the side, along with about twenty others. He couldn't imagine himself saying 'I'm here to help, see? That's me!' He sighed and crawled as close as he could to the lip of the cave. He hoped the guards would show the same restraint he planned to in the following confrontation.

Law cancelled his plan. He couldn't see himself dropping in on the guards and subduing them without killing them or getting killed. It was ridiculous. It would be easier to garrote the poor guys, or bayonet them in the dark, which were both out of the question. Hearts and minds; he couldn’t imagine being listened to after killing loyal soldiers. He decided to wait for an opportunity to present itself. Or for the guards to fall asleep. In the cave, a door unlocked loudly.

"Still in here Maddock?" the guy who had entered the cave/exited something.

"Sir!" Maddock replied.

"Trouble's over. Just some damn fool who dropped some burning oil. You can leave now. You too Brie." He guessed that was Maddock laughing. It could have been the other guy. They all went through the door, talking about some travelling artists or something. The door closed behind them. No one was even breathing in that cave. Law hoped the door would be unlocked.

It wasn't. Law tried the knob, then lit a match because he couldn't even see the damn lock. He saw that like the cuffs, the lock was relatively modern. He picked it with a set of picks he had fashioned after selling Tarryn's horses, educating her on the evils of slavery and telling her to fuck off. He was surprised to see that this country had standardised the pin and tumbler locks used worldwide, which suited him just fine. On the other side of the door was a staircase, illuminated by torches every twenty steps or so. There were two torches, and a dark patch in the middle. He managed to avoid breaking his neck passing it. At the bottom of the steps there was a small dock, and a pair of iron rings, for tying up boats of some description. He couldn't see very far into the room, but he could see that the floor was actually water, and that the room stretched an indeterminate distance ahead of him, and to his left and right. Not the nation's drinking supply, so... What? He decided not to ponder the mystery and just grabbed a torch. The water was about waist deep; Law slid into it with barely a ripple, and walked so as to always be able to see the reservoir wall to his left. A minute or so later, he was in a corner. From here, he could see a fiery glow, off to his right. He doused his torch and crouched in the water, moving so as to press up against the wall. With his torch doused, Law saw another, further, fainter glow, across the reservoir.

The top of the passage he had chosen led to a grey stone wall. Obviously a secret passage. He pressed against the stone. Then he tapped around it, then he stared at it and blinked at it. Nothing. Possibly only open to people who could do the funky magic shit. He decided to try the other passage. He made his way down the one hundred and fifty odd steps and slipped into the water. He started making his way towards it when he heard steps echoing across the reservoir, down the passage he had chosen. He headed to the middle and found some columns, which he hid behind. Seven guards or so were riding a raft without even pushing or rowing, or something. Lucky bastards. They were headed towards the staircase he had just left, and had come from the passage he had been going to. As they passed, he moved into the wake of the raft. They reached the small dock and tied the raft to one of the iron rings. "Look, it's wet here," one of the guards said, "He's been here."

He had been detected somehow, which wasn't surprising. He climbed onto the dock after they all filed into the passage. He followed them up the stairs twenty steps or so behind, thinking of home all the way. Up ahead, he heard a door slide open. Stone on stone, the passage. He quickened his pace, but not enough for his combat boots to squelch. Then he realised that they didn't used to do that; these boots were relatively new and his previous pair had lasted him for years in the field... They were falling apart for some reason. He immediately put it down to the inexplicable shittiness of this fucking country. The guards were filing out of the staircase, he quickened his pace a bit more, wishing the squelch away. He was almost trapped again, and he was also almost detected as he squelched onto a fluffy red carpet. He had emerged in a very large room; a hall overlooking the entire city. The city was awash in firelight; presumably from the festival, hopefully not from that damned fool and his oil spill. The guards were still crossing the large hall, which didn't seem to be a banquet hall or anything. They weren't even halfway across. He decided to follow, feeling more than a little lost. He knew his new favourite trick wouldn't work for much longer; he was surprised it had worked a second time. He would at least follow them with more distance between them, now that he could see. A pair of guards broke off from the rest of the group and stationed themselves on either side of the entrance. Law gave up and crouched behind a sculpture of a man, a man with a funky bandolier and a big sword. The guards were out of the hall now, but more came in, protecting someone. Law shrank back behind the statue. He repositioned himself, and found that he could see and not be seen, past the statue under it's outstretched arm which was holding a scroll. The people that the guards were protecting were still too far to hear. It was a regal looking man of around fifty and a guardswoman, considerably younger than Law, and a lot younger than the old, regal guy. They looked agitated, at the moment, the old regal guy was rubbing his eyes with his palms, hard. He turned to the window.

"Which entrance." he asked, before clasping his hands behind his back and standing perfectly still.

"This one." replied the guardswoman. The old guy jumped as if stung.

"What?" he spluttered, "I want this person found... And killed if need be!"

"A full search was ordered when we first saw signs of an entrance, your majesty," the guardswoman said to the king, "This person is obviously a major threat, having some charter magic at least. I've called the best mages in the city and the whole barracks are searching." The king exhaled deeply.

"You've done well Tonin. Please, see to Sameth and Ellimere personally. And put your best at the Ambassador's door... And be careful." he added.

Law stood up and stepped out from behind the statue, hands held high.

"I'm alone," he said, "And I need to speak to the king."

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 7 - Help

"Why should we believe your story?" King Touchstone sat on a comfortable looking couch, while a guard or three stood behind him with pointy sticks and whatnot, ready to poke him really hard should he chew on his grapes too loudly. As such, he had decided to ignore the grapes.

"Apart from a body that would have been found or eaten by now," "Or raised as a hand," the king interjected and Law cleared his throat, "Your majesty, I have no evidence."

"We'll soon see if you're telling the truth." the king replied and clicked his fingers. A messenger boy entered the room and they whispered quietly for a moment. Law sat in an uncomfortable silence, feeling three separate glares boring three separate pairs of holes into his skull from three different directions. Five minutes or so passed, and the messenger boy returned with a wooden case. He handed it to the king and scuttled off. The king pulled a pair of rods from the wooden case, one black and one white. He motioned and chanted a bit, then looked right at Law.

"I'm going to ask you some questions you've already answered. Ok?" the king said, as if he had a choice.

"Yeah. Yeah, just fine." Law replied.

"Ok. What is your full name and your rank?" first question.

"My name is Lawrence James Thallim, Trooper, Ancelsterrian Air Brigade."

"Is the story you told true?" the King asked.

"Uh. More or less? I've been out there for months, but it’s correct to my recollection." Law replied, feeling slightly moronic. The guards weren't giggling or anything.

"Now I want you to lie to me." the king said.

"Uh... I fucking love this country. Everyone’s been so hospitable. Considering moving here even." His voice trailed off. The king seemed both pleased and pissed off.

"Sir, I don't feel any different..." Actually, he did. He felt dumb. And sleepy. He was crashing.

"Your face just turned green," The king pointed out, before waving the guards away, sending the case out with one of them. “This is a simple lie detection spell we often use in court. Simple but effective, and unfortunately, you are telling the truth.”

The king mused and leaned back on the couch. Law crossed his arms and looked him in the eye.

“This brings me to the question... What are we going to do with you?” Lawrence felt a surge of energy, of righteous indignation.

"These motherfuckers tried to kill me, sir. Twice. It's my fault they made it this far, and I want them dead. All of them. You can use me or you can let me go. But you'll know where to find me."

The King had approved of his sense of duty. More like revenge. He had sent runners out to find where the twelve were, he had also written a letter, which Law was to show to anyone who had anything he needed. Then he had sent him to the barracks with the guardswoman, Tonin. She seemed to loathe him well enough. They didn't talk all the way to the barracks; she had ignored him when he asked her name, and Law had picked the vibe up immediately. They finally reached the barracks, no celebrating folks here. All the guards glared at him, and a big guy walked up to him.

"How did you get in?" he asked, but he wasn't curious.

"I followed you all around 'till I got lucky. I haven't eaten in three days. Anyone have food?" he replied, and sat down on a bench near a large hearth. He was brought a bowl of hot beef stew, then directed to a wooden table off to his left. Tonin sat across him.

"Security has been slack, you know? With the festival and all." she finally spoke, and she didn't strike him as the confident, competent woman who had spoken to the king earlier. The guards were displeased with him, but they were probably angrier with themselves. Not his problem.

"You watch what you can and you put land-mines and traps everywhere else." he replied.

"We have no mines." The same big guy said, watching him closely with his hands clasped beneath his chin. Law shrugged. This guy wanted to eat him alive, he just wanted his damn meal.

The king had assigned four of his best guards to accompany Law, and he had also found the twelve deserters. Apparently, they had all recently been involved in a battle close to a settlement near the Nailway. Then their division had moved east. The guard who wouldn't leave him alone the night before turned out to be in the group; his name was Mathe. There was Tonin, and Dail, a younger, slimmer version of Tonin with dark brown hair. And there was Jardin, who claimed to be the best archer in the kingdom. Which was as far as the conversation went with them; they introduced themselves, and Jardin had been the only one who had offered anything further. None of them seemed to like him, none of them talked to him, about him or around him. Which suited him fine anyway; the only four people who had treated him like a human being with rights were the two constables in Phone and the king. And Tarryn, after he had broken her orbital bone and threatened to kill her. Like he expected Mathe to threaten him within the next twelve seconds or so.

"Where did you learn to move so quietly?" Dail or Tonin asked from behind him. Dail, she had a sweeter voice.

"I don't follow.” He responded.

"You got into the palace, within killing distance of the king, and no one heard or saw you." There was no admiration in her voice.

"Standard fieldcraft, I guess." He responded.

"That’s pretty fucking condescending." whoops, looks like he'd finally pissed Mathe off. Law shrugged.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!" Law got the feeling that Mathe wanted to snap him in two, so he turned and unslung his rucksack.

"Step up or shut up, you fucking lid." Law challenged Mathe; he didn't think that lid would be a common insult around here.

"All the guards on patrol are getting reduced pay for a month after what you did, Lawrence," Tonin said, "That's everyone, except for those on leave, or away, because you were in the grounds for three days."

"That sounds like your problem." he replied, and Mathe drew his sword. Law unbuckled his.

"Hand to hand combat. No weapons." Apart from his garrote and folding knife, Law was now totally unarmed. Mathe seemed to approve, he dropped his sword and got in a boxing stance. When Law didn't move at all, Mathe advanced slowly until they were toe to toe. Law didn't move, so Mathe swung. Law parried the fist down with his left and followed up with a short sharp hook with the same hand, and a driving elbow with his right arm. Then he gave a short sharp shove to Mathe’s face. He was bleeding from his broken nose; Law brought a round kick thudding down into Mathe’s thigh, before he closed the distance low, picking Mathe up by the hips and bringing him crashing down onto the ground, onto his neck and shoulders. While he was dazed, he dropped onto Mathe’s stomach with his knee, hard. Then grabbed Mathe’s lapels with his arms crossed. Mathe started to mumble, his skin and breath heating up with faint light.

“No!!” Tonin screamed; Law pulled his arms apart, pulling Mathe’s collar tight, then he drove his forehead into Mathe’s mouth and drove his knee harder into Mathe’s stomach. With a sigh, Mathe passed out.

Limping, face swollen, Mathe was now properly chastened, but now the others kept a larger distance from him. Before it got dark, Jardin shot some rabbits dinner. They camped under a rocky outcrop on a hill that was strangely out of place; it was in the middle of nowhere, a hill in the middle of a totally flat plain. Law ate with the group then moved away from the fire. He found himself on the exact opposite side of the hill. He heard Tonin and Dail coming.

"Don't you want to sleep near the fire?" Dail asked.

"It can be seen for miles, he replied, “That’s... Well it’s fucking dumb.”

She left right after that, but Tonin sat down.

"Why?" Tonin asked. Law opened his mouth to speak then paused.

"... I hadn’t stopped to think how you all might be different here. Where I’m from, back home, in the field if you can be seen..." he put his fingers in the shape of a pistol. He got the feeling that she didn't dislike him as much as she let on.

"Are you lonely back home?" she asked after an uncomfortable silence.

"No. I'm not." he replied. She leaned against him and put her hand between his legs.

"But you are lonely here." she whispered in his ear.

"Fuuuuuck.” he whispered. He turned to her and grabbed her head and lower back, firmly but gently, and kissed her passionately. He hadn’t been with a woman in months, it hadn’t taken much to seduce him.

He pulled her on top of him as they kissed passionately; he ran his hands along her, feeling her firm athletic body through her clothes and around her armour. She put her hands on his solid biceps and shoulders. He loosened her breeches, and began to pull them down, dying for a taste of her wetness.

She had a lot of bush, they hadn’t bathed in a couple of days but fuck, that was fine... He moved down to kiss her on the lips but she grabbed his wrist firmly, pushing against his face and yelled “What the fuck are you doing?!”

“I’m going down... Don’t you guys...”

“Get the fuck off me!!” She yelled.

He got off her to sulk, and she was gone.

Tonin and Mathe were shunning the company of the rest of the group, probably because the rest of the group wasn't ignoring him for once. Dail and Jardin didn't seem to dislike him, which wasn't saying much.

"If I were to get lost, what would I do." he asked aloud, for the benefit of Jardin or Dail, who were talking about what passed for pop culture in these parts.

"Don't," they both replied almost simultaneously, "You got through the woods south of the capital, but the north is more dangerous. You'd need to know magic." Jardin continued. That was the answer Law had been hoping for. That, or directions to somewhere of significance.

"Can you teach me?" he asked.

"No, it would take years for you to know enough to survive." Dail replied, which signalled the end of the conversation. At nightfall, they came across a small village, Wais. As they walked by, the villagers peered out of their cottage windows, some occasionally saluting or waving. At his companions, not him. The looks he was getting made him feel like garroting someone. Dail rapped her knuckles against his arm.

"To them, you are unusual Ok? They've probably never seen someone from across the wall this far north."

"Thanks." he replied; he hadn't realised he had made his displeasure so evident. Tonin left the group for a minute; Law saw that she had spotted the village leader. She conversed with her, a grey old woman being supported by a lean young man of twenty or so. She returned with information, which she shared with the group, taking care to exclude Law.

"Apparently, a division of soldiers have passed through Wais, and among them were a dozen or so foreigners. They were dressed identically to the others, but were easily distinguished by their uncivilized, vulgar ways..." She told the group. Law thought about asking for some clarification on that, but decided it would be a pointless exercise. On the subject of pointless exercises, his mind drifted, speculating on their whole plan; he had already tracked them down and he still couldn't figure out their plan.

"... and finally, they should be camped in one of the two fields along the North of this road, at most, two miles North of this town here."

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 6 - the Battle

The rhythmic thumping of hooves ahead warned them of an approaching rider. Jardin nocked an arrow and took position behind a tree, Law unsheathed his bayonet. A rider emerged from around bend in the path, wearing kingdom colours. He saw Tonin, Dail and Mathe and started yelling.

"Not that way! The dead are attacking! I'm getting the Abhorsen!" he called to them as he passed. The dead; those three things on the dark farm. There would be hundreds of them, and the twelve would be pretty busy. Surely, he could take three or four of them in the confusion, but only if they got a move on. Jardin decided to lead, and they managed to reach the encampment five minutes later. By the time they did, the battle was well and truly over, a victory to the dead, apparently. The few guards who were still alive were fighting ferociously, in the centre of a clearing with hundreds of charred corpses strewn around.

"... Fuck." Jardin whispered, and signalled for the group to stop on the tree line. Law sheathed his bayonet, and drew his sword, which had been provided by his majesty. Jardin put a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"What are we waiting for, we have to help dammit!" he whispered to Jardin.

"Look closer, Law." he replied. Law looked. The twelve were in the centre of the clearing, hacking at the dead, fighting alongside other guards... who were in pretty bad shape. He didn't get it. He said so.

"That one there has a broken neck. That one has his throat torn out." Jardin pointed at two guards, and as Law looked, he saw that the twelve deserters were the only guards who were actually alive, and fighting.

"The dead are fighting each other?" Law said.

"It doesn’t make a lot of sense, my explanation is that with the Royal Palace garrison only accepting the very best soldiers..." Jardin began, slowly backing up, "If twelve soldiers survive an... onslaught this huge, they would be, well, they could walk right in."

"I thought of that," Law continued, "Twelve guards in the right place at the right time can kill the entire royal family and escape. But that’s a lot of work and not great odds." Jardin nodded. They both retreated.

"I can't let you go by yourself." Tonin stated, while checking the edge on her sword for something like the twelfth time.

"What do you mean ‘let’ me." Law replied.

"How many necromancers do you think can control enough dead to defeat two hundred charter mage guards this easily?" she said.

"I don't know." He knew she had a point.

"After Sabriel and Lirael stared cleaning the kingdom up, none. There's more than one controlling that lot, and together,they are very dangerous." That answer didn't help Law very much.

"The Abhorsen is coming, with Thirty six guards!" Jardin interrupted them then. stalked off. He signaled for Law to follow. He stopped at a small hillock well back from the clearing. Thirty six guards were standing at attention, in the dark, and a caped figure that he almost recognized was standing amongst them.

"Tonin!" she recognised Tonin immediately. They embraced warmly, she then shook hands with Jardin.

"Which one of you is our Ancelsterrian?" she asked.

"I am," Law stepped forward, "Lawrence Thallim, Ancelsterrian Air Brigade ma'am."

"Right. I've heard quite a bit about you, and this plot you've uncovered. I need your help.”

The going was slow over the corpses of fallen soldiers, and other, dismembered corpses that could have been months old. He had crawled over fifty metres, and still had over three hundred to go before he was within striking distance of the deserters, who had built a fire in the centre of the clearing. They were sprawled around it, and one thing they weren't faking at the moment was exhaustion. He stopped moving when he heard paces over the trodden grass, ahead of him. One of them was moving away from the fire to take a leak or something. He hoped that he had the decency not to do it over a dead body; especially not his, very much alive, body. If he went out past the trees, the Abhorsen's guards would handle it, or Jardin would. He passed Law, and started speaking to a dead body.

"I always liked your ring, Fallon, thanks a lot." He recognised that voice; back in Ancelstierre, he would always carry a pack of cigarettes under his left sleeve, and blow smoke in Law's face, because Law didn't smoke. He was looting! Law stood up slowly, garrote loose and ready. Cigarette guy spat something out and searched another body. Law moved slowly so he wouldn't alert him, and finally reached him when he was still deep in a dead man's pockets. Law planted his boot against smoker’s bent knee, and wrapped his arms around his neck and head in a strangle. He squeezed, bringing his elbows together and did his best to tear smoker’s head off. The traitor wheezed and mewled desperately, but was unconscious before he could really begin to resist. Law lowered the body quietly, then bound his wrists and angles together tightly. If this wasn’t over in the next ten minutes or so, smoker would have permanent nerve damage. Law started crawling again. It took him almost half an hour to cover the three hundred metres to the ring of firelight; the deserters had been busy clearing a circle free of bodies, but they hadn't really done a very good job. He was safe here, and he could hear their conversation. None. Maybe they were too tired for talk. He could see his next target; he was sitting on a log on the other side of the ring of firelight. He began his crawl.

"Where's Trent?" one of them asked.

"Probably still looting." another replied. They all looked in the same general direction, and Law took the opportunity to put his bayonet into his target’s neck and pull him off the log. He pushed him against the log and moved back out of the ring of firelight. They turned.

"Phil's gone!" one cried, "Phil! Where the fuck are you?" They were in a panic, but decided to get ready to move. They lined up and filed out of the field, leaving the fire burning. Law got up and followed, on foot now. He stooped while walking to pick up a dead man's sword, and slowly caught up to them. When the last one was in arm's reach, he hacked wildly, at the neck region, then hurled the sword at the second last one's back. The first man died quickly, but the second was only battered by the hilt of a flying sword.

"Someone's here!" he shouted.

Seven globes of light appeared around the tree line of the clearing, and they slowly rose in the air, illuminating the area. Everyone dropped to the ground, save Law and three of the deserters, who started running. Each fell when they were feathered with arrows. Law decided to drop too, just in case. Thirty soldiers emerged from the tree line and they were not pleased. A lot of their friends had been killed on this night. One of the deserters decided to run, after all. Law grasped a sword and gave chase, he drove the sword into the thigh of one of the other deserters as he ran. The one who had decided to run was running in a random pattern, to avoid arrows. He was close to the tree line, but Law was the faster runner, and hadn't spent hours hacking and moving dead bodies that day. Law reached the trees soon after him, but lost him. He couldn't see any tracks or anything in the dark, but was saved when a massive ball of light hovered past the tree line. He could see the tracks now, but the light was low to the ground. It was so bright it was disorienting. It was white light, but was so intense everything seemed to be in black and white. Law sped up a little, soon he was running. He couldn't see any shadow, and missed the pike staff poking out of a tree to trip him. It almost had the desired effect. He dived instead, and slid for a moment, drawing his bayonet as he regained his feet. He turned to face his assailant. He could remember the face, but nothing about the man.

"Lawrence," the man acknowledged him, “You fucking cockroach, you are unkillable.”

Law didn’t respond, he evaluated the situation instead. Time was on his side, after all. But the range wasn’t. The traitor advanced slowly, Law retreated slowly. The traitor thrust with a lunge, and law retreated back and to the left, swatting the end of the pike away with his bayonet. He had lunged but not overcommited. Fuck. The traitor took a half step, then lunged. The head of his pike held low, he brought it up, trying to punch it through Law’s chest. Law scooped it aside with his empty hand, and desperately closed distance. He was too close for the pike to be useful now, so the traitor let it go and began to grapple instead. But Law had charged right into him with a lot of momentum, and they fell to the hard ground, Law landing across the traitor’s chest with his body. He bore his weight down on the traitor’s chest and neck, and the traitor desperately struggled to grip his arm, to shake him off, clawing at his face, pulling at his clothes. Law scrunched up his face and closed his eyes, he dropped the bayonet and reached for his clearing knife at his chest, he pulled it out and brought the blade to the traitor’s chest. He dropped his weight on the knife, and it sliced through his gambeson, stopping on a ring of chainmail. He dropped his weight on the knife again and again and again, until the ring split and his knife plunged into the traitor’s chest. The traitor gurgled, and sprayed blood on Law’s face.

Law stood up, wiped his knife on the traitor and spit on him, before retrieving his bayonet and leaving the woods.

Tonin and some guards had arrived, and had seen the end of the fight. And had seen the look of naked rage on his blood spattered face.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 8 - Homesick

Law was sitting on a rock, facing south and longing for home. One of the female guards from the Abhorsen's force was sitting next to him. She was a tall, blonde, slim woman, around seven years his junior. Her name was Elina and she wouldn't leave him alone. Lucky for him though, she was the quiet type, like him.

"You are an excellent killer." she finally said, after a half hour of emulating Law's south facing silence.

"I beg your pardon?" He replied.

"Mind if I sit down?" she asked. She already was, so Law turned. It was the Abhorsen. He gestured towards the rock.

"You captured one of the assassins without being heard or seen or even hurting him. Then you killed another while he had a pike and you had a bayonet. That is impressive.” She said.

The silence stretched out between them.

“I’m a good soldier ma’am. A career soldier.” He finally said.

"We knew about you before you talked to the king you know; the Clayr saw you." she said.

“Tell you what, it sure was helpful of the Clayr to lend a hand whenever I needed one over the last couple of months.” Bitter sarcasm for royalty. He wasn’t in great form.

"I take it Elina hasn't explained the Clayr's primary occupation yet." Sabriel said.

"We see into the future." Elina finally said; a musical voice belonging to a person who wasn't where she wanted to be.

"Really? Neat. Have you talked to the guy I caught yet?" Law said. His temper was short; no longer had a reason to be here, and he hated it here.

"He's very difficult, milady." Elina said.

Law glared at her, then stood. Fists clenching and unclenching.

"We need your help," Sabriel said to Law, "You do things differently, you can get things done that a charter mage can't, and we need to finish with the conspirators once and for all." Law thought for a minute.

"I’ve done enough already. Take me home." He replied after a minute or so of mental deliberation.

"They were all right about you," Elina said, "You are boorish, and vulgar." Law didn't reply; didn't move. The Abhorsen was watching both of them like a hawk. Finally, Elina got up and strode away angrily. Law still didn't move. A moment later, he was in the dust, he had a mouthful of leaves and Elina was on his back, yelling in his ear.

"I saw you in the palace, I saw us together in the future and I begged to be allowed to meet you! I can't believe I wasted my time!" she yelled, hurting his right ear. Law was pissed off now. He brought his hands and legs underneath himself and rolled underneath her. She seemed a little surprised and leaned back. He scissored his legs around her arm and her neck, and began to apply pressure.

Then she immobilised him with the magical equivalent of a stun gun. Multiplied ten times. He came to his senses an undetermined amount of time later, being restrained by four guards. Elina was sitting on the rock, looking worried, and the Abhorsen was next to her, looking amused. He was covered in cold sweat, and felt dreadfully tired.

He threw up and passed out again.

He came to in a crappy little bed, made of straw. He was in a messy little room, which looked like it had been a shed a few hours ago. He assumed that he was in Wais, the town that he had passed through a few nights ago. Light was streaming in from a window above his head, and Elina was watching him from a chair in the corner. All his things were in front of her, including his clothes. He was naked under the sheets.

"Can I have my clothes?" he croaked; his stomach was cramped, and his side was numb, where Elina had applied her magical stun gun.

"So, you're awake." he had startled her. She stood up and unfolded a bathrobe that had been in her lap, and tossed it to him.

"We need to talk." She said, and sat back down. Law eyed his garrote on the table, next to his bayonet, folding knife and clearing knife. He looked back at her.

"You threw up all over yourself. You carry a lot of weapons.” She said.

“I want them back. Am I free to go?” He said.

"Go on then." Elina said, but didn't move from the chair. He stood up and started putting on his clothes.

"Before you go, we do need your help. We can give you a lot. We can be... Very persuasive." She said, in a rather bored monotone.

“Money is persuasive.” He responded.

"That has already been arranged. Your payment will be a very fine sword, fine boots, a fine cloak, clothes from the best tailors and one hundred and fifty silver deniers." She said. One hundred and fifty silver deniers. There was no Old Kingdom currency exchange, and the price of the silver melted down would barely pay for a street tough with a gun in an impoverished country.

He stopped and stood, clenching and unclenching his fists, seething with anger.

Finally he began to speak. Slow and controlled, but far from calm.

“That is not nearly enough money to pay for someone of my training and experience, let alone for a mission of this complexity,” his anger began to subside but he continued with this tone, “I have not been home in months, my chain of command does not know my whereabouts, and when I return I will be charged with desertion. You need to do better.”

He finished with his boots and walked to the table.

“Do you know what they do to Deserters?” He put his bayonet in it's sheath and put his garrote in his sleeve, as usual. Elina shook her head no.

"My sword." he said.

"It belongs to the kingdom." She replied. He scoffed and looked for the doorknob. He opened the door, and she made no move to stop him.

"What do they do?" She asked, disinterested.

He put his hand up in the shape of a pistol, and he left. He had been in a shed, on the outskirts of town. A guard moved from behind a tree, he looked like he had been taking a leak.

"Hey, you, wait!" he called. Law stopped, and the guard approached him.

"Have you come to an agreement?" he asked.

"Yeah, I go home now." he replied. The guard eyeballed him suspiciously.

"Give me your sword." Law said. The guard grasped the hilt of his sword, but didn't hand it over. Law started to turn, and gave him a vicious right hook to the jaw. The guard dropped, and Law took his sword.

“Sorry chief. Take it up the chain.” He said, as he buckled it on.

"Wait!" Elina called from somewhere behind him.

He walked off without a word; he heard running behind him, and prepared to get tackled again; last time he'd been surprised, but he'd always had a trick or two up his sleeve...

"Please, just hear me out!" Elina said, as she caught up with him. He stopped.

"We need you to assassinate someone for us," she said, "Please, no one else will be able to get into the place you need to go!" He looked at her skeptically.

"You have no idea how lucky I was that night. I've never been that lucky, ever." he replied.

"If you help us they won’t shoot you; we can secure diplomatic immunity for you."

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 9 - Keenan

The last news he heard on the matter before leaving on his mission was that Ancelstierre was already aware of his being alive, they had been for a long time, and they weren't very pleased. As for his mission, it involved finding a certain Keenan, a barbarian necromancer, and killing him. No one had listened when he had said that he wasn't the man for the job, that he had entered the palace out of sheer luck. Wherever Keenan was, he was well protected. He imagined how much easier this job would be with a scoped rifle. Hell, he would settle for his SLR and its iron sights. They had given him a sword, boots and a cloak instead. Serviceable, but not the best quality. They had given him a mail shirt, and he also had a little purse full of silver pieces. Then they had driven him to a hill and told him to make his own way to a fortress a mile to the east. There was a tall hill around halfway there; Law had been the section scout; from that hill, he would have been able to put a few rounds in Keenan’s direction quite precisely. He would have had a hard time getting away clear if what he had was a rifle, but up close with a sword, this mission was a suicide mission. He couldn't really think of a good reason to carry it out, but he started walking anyway. Law realized that for the first time in a long time, he was actually afraid; he wasn't sure if he should be happy or not. The truth was that this little trip into the Old Kingdom had changed his life; whether or not he lived, whether or not he returned home, he would have to kiss certain parts of his life goodbye. His career in the military, his pension... He sighed wistfully, and concentrated on his job. One problem at a time.

There were tracks in the dirt; deep imprints of hobnailed boots. An armed patrol. He stopped imagining what his first meal when he arrived home would be, and forced himself to focus again. He was around a kilometer from the fortress, assuming that Old Kingdom miles were the same as miles everywhere else, and assuming that his conversions were accurate. He followed the tracks quickly and quietly, being careful to stick to the frozen areas so as not to leave footprints. They led directly to a track, which curved gently from his left to his right when he arrived. Law crossed the track and crouched behind a shrub on the other side. He waited a few minutes to make a decision about which way to go; no guards came for him to follow, so he just went to his left. He kept his eyes opened, and moved parallel to the track; he didn't dare go through the woods, there were probably bear traps or something in there. He spotted a guard tower around the bend and went deeper into the woods. There were lots of twigs and pine cones and stuff on the ground, but the wind rustling through the trees masked his sound. He could actually move quite quickly under these conditions, but he was looking for information. At the guard tower, the track went off in two other directions; it continued, and also went into the centre of what Law imagined would be a big circle; the centre was his destination.

The towers and the traps had made him expect a high efficiency military structure, but the so called fortress was more of a casually guarded castle, which suited him fine. The castle struck him as the type that they had in the educational books he used to read as a kid; with cross sections that showed a secret entry/exit or five. That would be ideal as an entrance, but the assassination had to happen tonight; he would never find it in time. He had approached the castle from one of the sides, as he went around it, he saw that the moat was filled with hundreds of sharpened stakes instead of water. He searched for the front way in, and found it on the other side of the castle; it was protected by an old school drawbridge, and apart from the secret entrances that would have to exist, this was the only way in or out. He hadn't been spotted yet, so he found himself a nice bush with a direct line of sight to the drawbridge, a mere thirty metres from the drawbridge. The drawbridge was being lowered. Law peered around the thick foliage of the bush; a dozen guards or so were being allowed to enter. The drawbridge hit the dirt with a loud thud, and the guards passed over the hardwood with their hobnailed boots. The drawbridge was slowly raised again; Law made a run for it when it was at around one meter's height; it was being raised so slowly that by the time he reached it about four seconds after getting up, it was still below shoulder height. He grabbed the drawbridge as it passed, and shuffled over to the right chain, then he moved hand over hand on the chain. The opening that was slowly reeling the chain in was a square with meter sides; easily large enough for him to crawl through. The bridge was starting to move faster; Law stopped moving hand over hand and waited. He swung his legs into the opening and held onto the chain. He was dragged into the opening; once in safely, he let go of the chain and started crawling.

The opening stank of decaying flesh; Law could already guess that the drawbridge wasn't powered by mules. He shuffled through the tunnel like opening, and found he was right, it was powered by the dead. He could see them chained to a wheel, still walking, still reeling the drawbridge in. The drawbridge hit the stone wall with a dull thud; the dead went limp. Law would have described them as lifeless, but... A big guy with an axe walked by the opening that Law would obviously have to exit from. Red cloak, red leather boots. He walked by again and Law edged closer to escape. The plan was to leave the room noiselessly. He would be able to garrote or knife this guard silently, but it was probably in his best interests to let him live, he might be missed. Law watched closely; the guard spent fourteen seconds to the left of the opening and three to the right. He exited the opening, and the room when the guard had his back turned, without being seen. He emerged in a long hall; blue carpet, gold trimming. There were tapestries and paintings on the wall; fields, forests, mountains... He passed several doors, all of which were locked and silent. As he moved down the hall, the sound of celebrating got louder and louder. He tried door after door; they were all locked. He finally reached a door that seemed to have the celebrating behind it. It seemed to have quietened a bit though. The door was unlocked; he walked into a banquet hall and closed the door behind him, and no one saw him enter. A minstrel, or a bard or something was singing a ballad about someone-iel's triumph over the dead hordes. Not Sabriel or Lirael, he knew those names. Everyone in the room was entranced by her story and her sweet singing voice. Law scoped the room out; the guy at the head of the table seemed especially interested. He was a tall guy, a bandolier across his chest was making his meal kind of difficult. Keenan. They had described Keenan to him in general terms: tall, pale, red hair, bells across the chest. He spotted a dark corner that would provide a better view of Keenan. He made his way there and watched Keenan and those around him. Six others in the room wore bells, and all of them sat at the same table as Keenan.

The banquet ended a long time after Law entered the room, possibly two hours. Law managed to take some chicken and a mug of ale to wash it down with; he hoped it had a low alcohol content. He saw Keenan and the minstrel leave the hall and followed. A guard had followed ahead of them, but when he had heard Law, Law had hit him hard enough to put him in a coma and had dragged him into a dark corner, there was no shortage of those. The guard had been carrying four throwing knives. Law had commandeered them, and had hurried after Keenan and the minstrel. The hall was pretty long, and they were well ahead of him. Law decided to take a risk and started jogging. Someone screamed ahead, and he heard light footsteps around the corner. There was a suit of classical knight's armour in an alcove to his left, and to his right. He ducked behind the one to his left. The minstrel passed him, and he could hear that Keenan followed. Keenan passed before he realized it. He drew his bayonet.

"Everything all right sir?" someone asked, "We found this one running and caught her for you."

"Yes. Release her and carry on." His husky reply. Law peeked out of his alcove. No one in sight. He emerged from his hiding place and ran down the hall Keenan and the minstrel had just come from. He scanned left and right as he ran, until he found a door that was ajar. He entered, and when his eyes adjusted to the poor light, he saw why the minstrel had screamed.

Dead people, chained to the walls by their throats. They were in an advanced state of decomposition, and Law didn't doubt that they were of the walking variety. He heard a snarl behind him; one was attacking. It reached out for him with rotten, gnarled hands. He punched it in the jaw, and the metal collar around it's neck restrained it as it swung viciously into the wall and collapsed. He heard Keenan and the minstrel approaching; Keenan was sweet talking the bard. Law saw another door and tried the doorknob. It was unlocked. He entered the room and closed it behind him. This room was nothing like he had expected; there was a rack of wicked looking weapons above the hearth, but other than that, he guessed this room was as normal as they came... in this kingdom. There were bookshelves, a desk and a bed. He would fit under the bed. He crawled beneath it, and he could still hear Keenan outside the first door.

"Close your eyes if you like, my pretty," he said, "I promise, no harm will come to you." Right. What a creep. Law still clutched his bayonet. He was under the bed of the man he was meant to assassinate, and no one had any idea. Maybe the Abhorsen had picked the right man after all.

"So, you see, my pretty, They are there for our protection!" Keenan said as he entered the room.

"Oh, my, your room is beautiful! Look at the view!" the minstrel had a musical voice, very nice. Then he could hear sounds of kissing and foreplay in the room. It didn't take long for them to get started, or to finish. He put his own situation out of his mind and focused on ending Keenan’s situation. He could hear light snoring on the bed above him, and gently felt the mattress. The minstrel was a pretty little thing, barely twenty one by his guesstimate. Keenan struck him as slightly older than that, and he was a tall, solid guy. He didn't want to kill the minstrel, so he started quietly shuffling out of his hiding place. Evil laughter filled the room and Law froze. The snore turned into a gurgle, and an arterial spray covered part of the wall, and half of Law's face. He ducked back, just in time to miss being squashed by the minstrel's corpse. Keenan laughed again and Law felt his weight shift on the bed. Law felt a cold rage start within him, and he gently felt the bottom of the mattress, to locate Keenan. Shoulders here.

"Ha ha, motherfucker." he whispered, more to himself, and plunged his bayonet into the mattress. The sixty centimetre razor sharp blade cleared the mattress and bone in Keenan's back easily. Law thrust another three times and emerged, face covered in blood. He looked stunned but not dead. Law leapt onto Keenan and began stabbing into him like a sewing machine. When he was done a few seconds later, Keenan had scores of holes in him and was definitely dead. Law cleaned his face and bayonet on the sheets and left the room. As the blood pounding in his head subsided, he could the sound of chaos tearing through the castle.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - 9 - Escape

He left the way he came, hiding often, as guards passed to and fro in the halls. If he could find his way to the banquet hall, he would be able to leave the castle. He found the door to the banquet hall and entered. There were guards everywhere, in a protective circle around six frozen figures. Law skulked around the room, and found himself an out of the way pillar to hide behind. Four of the figures started moving again, ice cracking as they reanimated. Literally frozen, apparently.

"It's no use!" one wailed, "I saw both Abhorsen and her apprentice waiting for us in death! We can't bring them back!" They were scared shitless, and Law finally had a general idea what necromancer meant. They had sent him on a suicide mission, something worse than a suicide mission. He waited in his dark corner, waiting for something to change, letting him leave. The four remaining necromancers conferred for a little, gesticulating wildly and shuffling nervously.

"Search the grounds!" one called to the guards, "And escort me to my quarters." He picked up a pile of things he had on a table, then led the way out the door closest to Law's hiding spot.

"What do we do?" the remaining three were just as lost as him. Law waited for the pair of guards following the necromancer to leave before following. He crossed the threshold and went left, hoping to go around the hall and find some place he recognized. The guards were around the corner, the Necromancer had dropped his stuff and they were wrapping whatever the things were in one of the cloaks. Law ducked back around the corner.

"Over there!" one called. Too late. He drew his bayonet, and crouched.

"Come back, cowards!" the Necromancer yelled; he had a chance. Law rounded the corner, and there he was. He was taller than Law, and had a bigger sword, of black metal. He was wearing chain-mail, and a bandolier of bells. He raised his sword with his left hand.

"I will subjugate your spirit." he said, before his sword burst into dark, oily flames. He crouched and reached for his bandolier, Law threw his bayonet into his centre mass. It struck his wrist with a shower of sparks, and severed his hand from his arm.

The necromancer looked at the stump, then focused on Law again and started swinging his flaming sword left handed.

The Necromancer was clumsy, but he was fast. He advanced, flaming sword swinging, and Law drew his own sword, wielding it like a very big knife. He parried the sword into the stone wall, and followed through with a shoulder charge that knocked the necromancer back. The necromancer slapped Law's shoulder with the flat of his blade, and Law's cloak set on fire. Law kicked the off balance necromancer, who landed hard on the floor, dropping his sword and reaching for a bell. Law was still on fire, but he swung at the necromancer instead, cutting his left arm off at the elbow. The necromancer cried out in pain, and Law took off his cloak, before kicking the necromancer in the jaw. The necromancer spat teeth, and Law stood over him, and began hacking down at him with the sword, cleaving his skull in two.

They must have felt Keenan die, they would have felt this guy die. Law figured he had six seconds or so to do something brilliant. He decided on going back to the door to the hall and finding some place to hide. There was nowhere to hide near the door, so he extinguished a torch instead, and crouched in the darkness. The door opened, and guards poured out, about six of them. A necromancer followed, and left the door open. No one followed the necromancer. Law decided to risk it and skulked behind him, bayonet in hand.

"Erdel! Behind you!" someone shouted, the Necromancer turned just in time for Law to drive his bayonet into him. He put his hand on the necromancer's shoulder and stabbed him under the ribcage, through his stomach, left lung and heart. He pulled the knife out obliquely, creating an enormous wound. Even still, the necromancer stood unsteadily on his feet. He stabbed the necromancer again, in the side of the neck. The necromancer finally fell lifelessly to the floor. No guards came from around the corner, Law leaned against the wall, hoping no one would come near. No one did. After thirty seconds or so, he ducked into the hall, and dashed behind a pillar. No hellfire or anything. The hall was deathly silent, and empty. Law could hear the sounds of battle outside the castle; leaving the way he came in wouldn't be an option, he would have to follow the others.

He wandered the halls with his sword at the ready; they were at least thirty seconds ahead of him, and he had to assume they were running. Up ahead, a man ran out of a door, in one hell of a hurry; Law followed him, hoping he wasn't running into a fight. He wasn't. He was heading back to the banquet hall, deeper into the castle, where it was relatively quiet. He went into the banquet hall, and pulled on a tapestry. Law ducked behind a table, and heard a loud click, somewhere nearby. The man crawled under a table and pushed on the flagstones. A trapdoor opened up, and Law followed him down it. There were torches on the wall, and Law had smashed the man on the back of the head with the pommel of his sword. He walked quickly down the tunnel, hoping he was the only one in it. He sheathed his sword and pulled a torch off the left wall. Then, the torches ran out. He moved faster, then slowed down after a minute or so when he saw firelight up ahead. The ground was rough, the footing uncertain; he still needed his torch, and he probably needed to hurry up as well.

When he caught up to the firelight, it turned out to be a passage with torches in it. He decided it wasn't the way to go and took the darker passage.

There was more firelight ahead.this light was moving forward; definitely at least one person. He advanced slowly. There were two necromancers trying to escape. The one without the torch paused, and Law stopped, slowly drawing a throwing knife. He turned and spotted Law, and opened his mouth to voice warning, Law threw the knife into his mouth, and the other Necromancer turned. Law threw his torch at the last one, but it missed, and skittered off the stones, remaining alight. He drew his sword with his left hand and drew another throwing knife. The necromancer dropped his torch and drew a sword, which started glowing white hot, without melting. He reached for his bandolier to draw a bell. Law threw his knife, but the necromancer dodged. It missed his hand and stuck to his vest of thick leather. Law charged the necromancer and kicked the bell out of his hand. The bell flew into the wall and cracked; the clapper making no noise as it swung inside the bell.

Whatever was meant to happen didn't, and the Necromancer swung his white hot sword at Law. Law hopped back a step and parried clumsily. He lost his balance and dropped his sword to balance. The necromancer stepped forward and thrust with his sword; he stepped to the side and stomped on the necromancer’s foot, scraping his boot along the necromancer’s shin. He drove his shoulder into the necromancer’s body, who dropped his sword as he bounced into the wall.

Law followed the body check through with an elbow that drove the necromancer's forehead into the wall forcefully. The other one had survived a knife in the mouth somehow; he was coughing and slowly getting up. Law would have to make sure. He drew his bayonet and sliced the throat of the necromancer that was against the wall. Then he stepped in, pushed the Necromancer who was recovering to the floor and knifed him twice, like he'd been taught; femoral artery, control the arm, subclavian artery with the entire length of the extra long sword bayonet. The necromancer hung slack. The last necromancer drew another sword as Law drew his bayonet out of the dead one. They faced each other squarely.

"I'm going to enjoy beating you on your terms, Hero, before subjugating your spirit." The necromancer said, in a husky voice.

Law stood silently, assessing the situation. The necromancer smiled at him, and unbuckled his bandolier, letting it fall to the ground. Then he lunged at Law, swinging his sword. Law stepped in while cutting an angle and blocking the blow. He followed through with a slash to the face of the necromancer, who dropped his sword and turned away.

"Mercy! Please!" The necromancer gurgled, as blood streamed from his face. Law kicked the necromancer's sword away.

"I can make you more powerful than you can imagine!" he pleaded, hands behind his head. Then he mule kicked Law in the stomach; a powerful kick that briefly brought him to his knees. He dropped his knife and bayonet as he pushed off the ground. A moment later, he had his garrote in his hands. The Necromancer was up, a four inch metal talon in his left hand, and a very long dagger in his right. He was armed to the fucking teeth, and all Law had left was a couple of throwing knives he couldn’t reach, a small folding knife on his belt and a garrote. Law twitched nervously, and the Necromancer launched a frenzied attack. His hands were almost a blur, but somehow, Law managed to catch the dagger with the garrote and direct it into the wall. The Necromancer's weight was in that blow, he broke a knuckle and winced in pain, also dropping the dagger. Law looped his garrote around the Necromancer's neck and planted his left knee in his back. He pulled, and the necromancer thrashed like a freshly caught fish. The kevlar composite of the garrote handles broke in two then crumbled into powder, and the Necromancer fell to the ground. For a moment, Law stared incredulously at the powder in his hands, then reached for his folding knife. It wasn’t there.

"Looks like you're done for, friend." the Necromancer said, pulling another claw and fitting it into his right hand. Law retreated down the hall, back to the castle, with the necromancer’s continuous slashing attacks mere inches from him, the entire trip back.

He had gone down the other passage, and tried to take a torch. They were all mortared into the walls, however, and eventually, he had burst out a door with a battle raging around it. He was behind enemy lines; he was in the kitchen, and the Necromancer's guards had overturned a table and were firing arrows at kingdom archers. Stalemate. Law quickly dragged an unsuspecting guard to the ground by his face, and savagely stomped on his face, but realised too late that he was an archer. He took an arrow anyway. The necromancer emerged a second later, as disoriented as he had been. He was still in the door, and now that he had a weapon, Law decided to attack. He tackled him back into the passage.

He felt pain in two places as he hit the ground; in his chest and in his back. He coughed and tasted blood. He was feeling cold, and tired, but he still had one job to do. It was done. His tackle had pushed the knife that had stuck in the Necromancer's armour earlier into his heart. He rolled off the necromancer and almost fainted as pain spread out through his entire body. He reached behind his back. He was bleeding badly. His immediate assessment was that he didn’t have a fist sized exit wound in his chest so it must be a .223. Then he remembered where he was. It was an arrow. The blood was dark; the arrow seemed to be in his liver; he didn’t have long. He gathered his strength and grabbed onto the necromancer’s lapels with crossed arms. He pulled his arms apart with all his strength, and the necromancer’s collar tightened around his neck. The necromancer struggled weakly, slick bloody hands struggling to find purchase anywhere on Law’s head or body. It felt like an age before his weak struggling faded to nothing, as Law’s vision faded to black.

- - - - - - -

Deserter - Epilogue - Exile

Law opened his eyes, Elina was sitting next to him. She smiled as he awoke, and he groaned.

"It's a healing spell, you'll be fine in a week or so." she said.

"Thanks." he croaked, and closed his eyes.

"Where am I?" he asked a moment later.

"You're in the infirmary in the Palace barracks," she replied, "I'm here because offered to take care of you."

"Why?"

"Because I was wrong about you." She replied.

"When can I go home?" he needed to know.

"I'm afraid you can't," Someone else said. An older voice, the Abhorsen's, "The Ancelsterrian Army doesn't want to even hear about you, and one General Cardon tells me your assets have been seized by the state." Law opened his eyes to look at her.

"I suppose I could stay here," he conceded, "But I don't want to. You didn’t tell me what a necromancer was. Way I see it, you owe me.”

"We know, but they won't hear of it," she replied, "We can make your life here comfortable, there's a position open for you in the royal guard." Law sighed. There was so much he didn't understand, and he had accepted that he would never live to see his home again anyway, although he'd thought he wouldn't live, period.

"I don't belong here." he finally said.

"You killed five necromancers with no knowledge of magic," Elina said, "If you don’t belong we’ll make a place for you." Law sighed again. He was going to die on this side of the wall, he would have to accept that sooner or later.

"Why didn't you warn me about what could have happened to me?" Law asked, "Why didn't you tell me my spirit could have ended up subjugated, and why don't you tell me what that means?"

"The greater good, Law," Sabriel replied, "We needed a killer, and I don't know anyone quite like you." Law didn't feel complimented.

"I’m a soldier, not a killer. Do you know what a population support mission is?"

"They would have enslaved you for all eternity. All eternity.” Elina said. Law didn’t have a response to that.

"There's nothing for me here." he breathed, then closed his eyes. His eyelids were heavy, his chest was tight and painful. A minute or so passed.

"My apprentice and I were waiting in death for you to kill Keenan. He crossed over into death and we bound him before he could recover. A little while later, the other necromancers crossed over into death, and we sent a signal to the royal guard, who were waiting to attack around the castle. We managed to bind two, but the others escaped us. We never expected you to hunt them all down, but you did, and we were victorious. You were like.. Like a catalyst. Without you, many more lives could have been lost, including my own. We appreciate what you've done, and are ever grateful." Sabriel said, quietly, "We had known about them for a while, but we never expected them to take an initiative before we did. Because of you, we managed to turn their initiative against them."

"That much I more or less gathered, but what did I have to do with all this? Why did they bring me here in the first place?" he croaked; he was feeling weak and sore from being awake for so long.

"The Corvere insurrection; some people thought Corolini was the greatest leader Ancelstierre ever had. You killed him and I opposed him. The group of Necromancers and one of those factions joined up for what was basically a revenge plot and a coup rolled together." She replied. Great. He opened his eyes.

"So that’s I can't go home," Law said, “They might even be doing me a favour by exiling me, I can’t ever be safe at home.” Sabriel nodded. His return home really was out of her hands; he'd have to stay.

#Sabriel #Lirael #Abhorsen #Old Kingdom #Fanfiction

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gaycrouton · 6 years ago

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Nocturnal Emission

[Scully watches Mulder have a wet dream]

They are adults. Full grown, tax paying, insurance holding adults. They’d gone around the world fighting depraved criminals and paranormal mysteries, staring pure evil in the eyes so many times they’d probably never get out of the periphery. Sometimes it felt like they were taking on the world by themselves.

All perfectly good reasons as to why it was ridiculous for them to be standing on either side of this queen bed like awkward teenagers, staring at the mattress in front of them with crimson cheeks.

“I can take the floor, really. It’s my fault after all.”

She chuckled humorlessly, pulling back the covers as if the prospect of sharing a bed didn’t both excite and terrify her.“Don’t be ridiculous, Mulder. We’re adults.”

Adults with so much sexual tension they were a hair's breadth away from jumping each other on a normal day. A normal day consisting of them being fully clothed in different motel rooms, not stuck together in the world’s most cramped and inconvenient motel room with one bed.

“Oh, trust me. I know,” he murmured, eyeing her revealed skin appreciatively once more before sliding under the covers on his side. She may have entertained the idea that he forgot to book the arrangements on purpose if it wasn’t for his clear embarrassment about his lack of sleepwear. She’d always known he slept in his boxers, but not while he slept right next to her. She didn’t fare much better; just a thin cotton t-shirt with a pair of booty shorts.

They both settled down, turning off the lights and tucking themselves in as they laid still, basked in the glow of the moonlight. When it became clear he was done, she realized he was giving her so much room that she was sure he had to be hanging half off the bed. “Mulder, are you comfortable?”

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Do you have enough room?”

“Y-yeah,” he stammered, embarrassed at being called out. “I’m fine.”

She looked over at him and saw he was staring straight up at the ceiling, looking uncomfortably stiff. “I promise I won’t bite.”

She regretted saying anything when an eyebrow cocked suggestively. “Are you making a pass at me, Scully?”

She rolled her eyes and, from his laughter, he must’ve sensed it. “Goodnight, Mulder,” she chastised, rolling on her side to face the clock.

“Night, g-woman,” he teased.

She felt him shift in place a few times before inevitably succumbing and scooting closer to her, not quite touching but close enough that she could feel his body heat under the thin blanket.

Instinctively, she wanted to back up into him. Feel his skin touch her back as he wrapped his arms around her. But she shook the thoughts from her mind as quickly as they came. Instead, she focused on the clock on the nightstand.

11:12

A sigh from Mulder.

12:15

Mulder tossing and turning a few times while punching the pillow.

1:08

Would the night just consist of her laying straight as a board, hoping for just a chance that Mulder might brush against her. God, this sexual dry spell had turned her into a character from a Victorian novel.

How could she sleep when her half-naked partner was so close to her?

“Mmm,” he hummed deep in his throat.

She started in the bed, somehow convincing herself she must’ve spoken that last sentiment outloud and he was replying. When she looked over at him, prepared to apologize, she was instead met with a completely unconscious Mulder. His chest was rising and falling to the steady beats of his breath.

A look of pain crossed his face and she raised herself up on her elbow to look at him. A light sheen of sweat had broken out on his hairline as his brow furrowed. She lifted her own hand as delicately as she could and placed it on his forehead, checking for a temperature, but not wanting to wake him and re-start the awkward process of trying to fall asleep. Especially if she had to then explain why she was touching him while he was unconscious.

A small gasp left his lips and she retracted her hand like the warmth of his skin had burned her. The quickness of her action was lewdly juxtaposed by the languid motion he made with his hips, thrusting them upwards to some unknown goal before falling back into the mattress.

It was amazing how many symptoms a fever dream and a sex dream shared. The latter of which she quickly realized Mulder was experience as the thin sheet above him raised under his turgidity.

She had to hold back her own gasp as she took in the sight. Mulder was hard as a rock and clearly doing something to indulge in that fact. He made another little sound in the back of his throat, almost like a muffled grunt, as his face turned on the pillow, facing her with eyes still clamped shut. His fists were clutching onto the sheets like a lifeline as he made little scooping motions with his hips, angling them upwards as he squeezed his thighs together.

The sight alone made her squeeze her own thighs together in faint mimicry, intimately aware of the wetness that couldn’t be contained behind her lips and seeped out onto her outer folds. Had she been wet before seeing this or was she that quickly affected by Mulder? She didn’t know, but she couldn’t bring her eyes away from the sight in front of her.

Her breath caught in her throat as he rolled on his side a bit more, inadvertently scooting himself closer to her. She could feel his body heat and she was afraid even just the sheer weight of her attention would wake him up. “Ngh, fuck.” It was murmured, but it was distinguishable. His face turned into the pillow even more and this time she caught him almost burying his face in it.

Only when he smelled it did she realize it was actually her pillow he was on and then suddenly the newfound force of his grinding into the mattress made sense. It also made every hair on her body stand up as goosebumps littered her body. “Sc-.” She felt her lungs screaming for air, but she needed to hear that again. She needed him to finish that word.

She needed him to say her name.

She sank slowly down onto her back so that she was parallel to him, her face a few mere inches away from his. They were so close the minty undertones of his toothpaste hit her face and moved her hair as his breaths turned into rhythmic pants. It felt like his pants were synching up with the throbbing in her groin and it wasn’t until she felt her own wetness hit the pads of her middle finger that she realized she snuck her hand down her pants and was starting to touch herself.

Always her partner, even unconsciously, Mulder lazily reached his hand down to press into the front of his crotch. There was no dexterity to it, but there was plenty of intent clear as he began rubbing himself against his hand. His jaw was slack and it gave her a perfect view of his pretty pink tongue. The tongue she’d spent countless hours imagining going back and forth across the very place she was now touching.

God, she shouldn’t be doing that. A few years ago that thought probably would have caused her to turn away. Give him the privacy he deserved. Instead it just made her body pulse unbearably as she watched this display of pure human lust unfold in front of her. Mulder’s subconscious lust. She took in an eyeful of what the falling sheet was offering. He was big. She’d always hoped. She’d always suspected. But now there was undeniable proof outlined by eight hard inches of stretched blue cotton. Occasionally he would hit the fly of his boxers so that she got a glimpse of his skin. It was red from the blood flow and glistening with precum. The moonlight gave her a perfect view and she silently counted her lucky stars he hadn’t woken up.

“Yeah,” he gasped as his brow furrowed again. Everytime he thrust downward her side dipped into the bed slightly. They were that close. He turned his head into the pillow again, but this time she noticed his lips pucker slightly.

She’d seen how he looked at her nowadays. Innuendos were slowly becoming offers in disguise. He wanted her, and every fiber in her being told her that dream-Scully was getting a lot more action than just a good show with some masturbation. She plunged two fingers into herself and she stilled almost instantly because of how loud the sound of her wetness felt in the room. Like a sharp disturbance in the cloud of lust deafening them. She pulled them out slowly and felt how her walls clenched around her, trying desperately to keep the digits submerged. As she drug them out, she made sure to rub her clit with the entire length of her soaked fingers. Now it was her turn to thrust her sex in the air.

Her mouth dropped open in a silent moan as she willed the sound to stay buried by the clench of her throat. For a second she worried the movement had woken Mulder up, but he simply fell back onto his back, still facing her as he pumped his hips in the air. The leg holes of his boxers were visibly being pulled away from his legs with the sheer rigor of his erection.

“-lee.” Her fingers picked up the pace as the trail end of her name escaped from his throat in a strangled whisper. That’s it, Mulder. Keep going. She was internally cheering him on as she saw the way his mouth was moving against the night, the way his hips were pleasing the dream-Scully whom she would give anything to trade places with.

She could see the precum leaking out of the tip of his boxers, creating a damp spot on the fabric that made the ridges of his head that much more prominent. She bit down on her lip hard in punishment as an actual sound left her lips and broke the silence of the room. Not quite a whine, not quite a moan, but definitely something that made her whole body still in anticipation of bright hazel eyes snapping open.

Except they didn’t come. Instead the sound seemed to beckon him as he turned over and shifted a leg towards her, spreading his legs and now actually making contact with her. She started moving her fingers again, and this time she didn’t care that there was a wet sloppy sound filling the air. All she could focus on was that Mulder, so beautiful and erect, was touching her as they both were enthralled in pleasure. God she needed this. She was caught in rapture as she pretended like Mulder’s fingers, still clutching the bedsheets, were clutching her instead. That it was him slowly driving her to the brink of insanity.

“Scully,” he moaned so viscerally that she could practically see the way his eyes rolled to the back of his head.

Her name was all she needed as her body wracked with one of the most powerful orgasms of her life. She hoped the shaking of the bed wouldn’t wake him because there was no way in hell she could stop it. She watched his hips undulate, and she imagined it was him she was clenching around instead of just a fantasy. She didn’t let up the tempo of her fingers and she was glad as his own orgasm seeped through the material, coming out thick, hot, and white against the darkness of his boxers. It was undoubtedly the hottest thing she’d ever seen and this was probably the longest orgasm she’d ever had.

His face fell into the pillow as he thrust the orgasm out, blissfully unaware of the way his semen amassed and dripped down in globs onto the rest of his front. A lazy smile tugged on his lips and she hoped dream-Scully was placing sweet kisses on his face and telling him she loved him, because real-Scully’s lips burned from being bitten so many times to repress doing just that.

Everything seemed so much quieter after that and she slowly pulled her hand out of her underwear, mindful to keep the elastic of her panties from snapping against her as she realized what just happened.

She masturbated less than a foot away from Mulder while she watched him have a wet dream about her.

In the moonlight she could see the way her fingers glistened from her arousal and she wiped them against the warm linens, figuring it wasn’t the only mark going to be left on them as a reminder of tonight. She gasped again as she felt Mulder’s hand slide over her belly, but when she looked at him she realized he was still asleep. Real-Scully just got to be dream-Scully for a while. He shifted his body closer to her so that his front was flush with her side as he laid his head a top her breast.

She felt the damp stickiness of his come hit her bare leg, but she wasn’t even grossed out. This very well might be the most intimate, sexual experience she would ever have with Mulder, and she had no problem indulging in it within the privacy of the night.

For tonight, she would simply nuzzle herself closer to him, breathe in his scent, and be lulled to sleep by the comforting nature of the moment.

For the morning, she would wake up to a fully-dressed Mulder “accidentally” pouring a carton of orange juice on the bed. Even in her groggy morning haze, she knew it was directly on the stain in the middle of the bed and directly on the side he’d been nuzzled against. It was amazing how creative Mulder was when he was desperate to hide something.

“Oh shit, Scully. I’m so sorry,” he lamented with sincerity, though she knew what the true apology was for.

She felt her own stickiness coating her thighs and she was honestly more endeared by his actions than annoyed. Turning over onto the orange juice without care, she stretched, not caring that her shirt had risen to show her midriff, and gave him a sleepy, seductive smile and in her sleep-laced voice asked, “Sleep good?”

#msr smut #msr fanfic #gaycrouton #mulder and scully #onlytheinevitable #my fanfiction

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shikastemari · 6 years ago

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spy - n. u.

pairing naruto uzumaki x yamanaka!reader

request

word count 4,895

when it happens after Pain destroyed the Village

warnings THE ANGSTIEST SHIT I’VE WRITTEN IN MY LIFE

a/n this is actually one of the first stories i’ve ever thought about. i wrote it months ago but just now i decided to give it a chance and post it and yeah, i gor a little carried away while writing it.

btw i’m witnessing the biggest writer’s block i’ve been through and that’s why i haven’t posted anything lately. hopefully it’ll be gone soon enough and i’ll be back to write as easily as i used to.

masterlist on my profile bio

Naruto Uzumaki.

The first time you heard his name was in one of your missions. You were spying some old guy who was owing bad people money, and you had heard Naruto's story by accident. The guy who defeated the leader of the Akatsuki all by himself, even someone as the legendary Sannin Jiraiya couldn't. During the time, you have heard a lot of girls sigh in desire for the boy, as also heard a lot of man being inspired by him - to become even stronger than people said he was.

So, when you finished your mission, it was no surprise for you someone decided to hire you to dig some dirty on Naruto. You have never accepted a mission on Konoha before, keeping your boundaries up since you know your uncle and his family still lived there, and you would never do anything to hurt your blood. But the offer was too good to decline.

Last time you have seen your uncle and cousin, you were six. Your mother was a foreign and her pregnancy had so many complications. The day you were born, she made a promise, she would take you back to her country, to become a ninja there. Your father, the brother of the Yamanaka clan leader, was madly in love with her and never said a single no at her direction. When the time came, not only he didn't fight against your mother taking you away, as he decided to leave the village himself. Uncle Inoichi helped him, knowing it was the only thing he could do to help his brother achieve happiness, but in the process, your father ended up being labeled as a rogue ninja.

The Bamboo Village was a nice place to live, and your parents were always happy there, even though you missed your old life and family deeply. You had a cousin, who also had the same age as you, so you two had grown up together and she was basically a sister to you. Leaving her behind was the hardest thing you wish you had encountered in your life, but it wasn't.

Your mother died a year after you moved country. Her disease was unknown, the doctors said they couldn't do anything but to ease her pain until the time comes. That was what you and your father did. Took care of her, stood by her side, until she was gone. To these days, you still missed her deeply. As honoring your mother wishes, you and your father didn't go back to Konoha after her death. Instead, your father taught you everything he could about the family jutsus, and it made your heart melt every time he told you how good you could become. Maybe better than him. Or even Uncle Inoichi.

He passed away five years after that, on a battle against the Land of Lightning. Even though you wanted to stay in Bamboo Village, you knew you wouldn't survive there. So that when you started to use your jutsus in espionage. You went city from city, village from village, country from country, learning from the best. The requests came right after. In your line of work, you kept your name hidden. You didn't want to drag the Yamanaka name to the mud, or even give something to your enemy to use as an advantage against you, wishing you could always keep your reminiscent family safe.

So, when your feet took you back to Konoha's, you couldn't help but feel sick. Regret and worry filled your whole body, since you counted with your family accepting you with open arms, but you knew it was a shot in the dark. Since Pain's attack which destroyed the entire village, you didn't exactly know where the Yamanaka clan was staying, so you followed your plan and walked around the village, asking if someone knew where Ino Yamanaka was.

It didn't take long, actually. Apparently, she was a recognized and respected kunoichi and you couldn't stop feeling a little jealous. What would they think about me if I have stayed? The thought flooding your head as you walked towards the place a girl told you Ino would be.

She was sitting on a pile of wood, with seven ninjas surrounding her. They were laughing and talking about how stupid what someone named Rock Lee have done to an old lady. When your eyes laid on her, you felt your heart skipping a beat. She looked exactly like before, the only thing which was different was her hair, it was so long.

A guy with the Byakugan was the first to notice you, which didn't actually surprise you at all. You have heard about what those eyes could do. Looking around them, you could see there was also a girl who could use it. This group look like they would be a pain in your ass if you didn't pay close attention at them.

"Can we help you?" A pink haired girl asked, and your eyes widened for a second. That was Sakura? No way.

As your eyes passed through their faces, you started to recognize some of them. Shikamaru was standing next to Ino, with Choji by his side. You also recognized Kiba, who you remember having an innocent crush on, because of Akamaru, which was huge now. Your heart was literally shrinking inside you by that view, already pondering the pros and cons about ignoring the mission you had been given. But you could not give up now, there was too much involved.

"Staring is creepy, have your family never taught you that?" Ino questioned, her eyes narrowed at you.

You shook your head, smiling. "You would know, Ino-nee-chan, still a bitch, I see?"

Ino's eyes popped up as she gasped, taking her hands to cover her mouth. Everyone else were just shocked by the way you talked to her, but you were sure she recognized you. Once she got up from the wood she was sitting and ran in your direction, giving you one hell of a tight hug, you felt your body relax for the first time in a long time.

"Nee-chan!" she said between the tears, it took every strength in your body not to do the same. It was still a mission, the hardest one you have been to, but still a mission. "I thought I would never see you again!"

"Wait, is that y/n-chan?" Kiba asked out loud. "Holy shit, you got hot!"

Ino and you laughed as Sakura punched the poor guy, sending him meters away from where he originally was standing. So, Sakura had a monstrous strength, just like you heard Tsunade-sama having.

"Daddy will be so happy when he sees you! Where is y/f/n-ojisan? I've missed him so bad too!" she exclaimed.

You swallowed hard, knowing too well there was no way to dodge this moment. "Mhm," you shifted your weight from one leg to the other. "My dad died when I was 12, during a battle."

"Oh," she said, the air getting heavier around you. "And why you haven't contacted us after that, y/n-nee-chan?" she asked, her tone clearly hurt. "We could have helped you."

Another question you predicted. "I tried to honor my mother's wish for as long as I could but..." you trailed off, breathing deeply to keep going. "I just wanted to be with my family again."

She hugged you again, crying her eyes out. Shikamaru came closer and pushed the girl from you.

"Ino, what a drag, let her breathe for a second," Shikamaru eyed you, from head to toe. You remember him being very - very - smart when you were kids. His eyes stopped on your lips, and you noticed his cheek blushing. Pressing your lips together to repress a smile, you couldn't push away the memory of you accidentally kissing him while playing one of Ino's idiot games. It was your first kiss, and probably his too. "Eh, welcome back, y/n-chan," he scratched the back of his head.

"Thank you, Shikamaru-kun," you grinned back at him as you were wrapped in someone's arms.

"Y/N-CHAN, YOU WERE DEEPLY MISSED!" Choji screamed as he hugged you, a little stronger than you wish, the air escaping from your lungs.

"Choji, I can't breat-" you said, but it seemed more like a whisper. Happily, he understood and let you go, being embarrassed.

"Sorry, I jus-" you caught him off guard wrapping your arms around his neck, bringing him closer. He smiled, hugging you back, but this time, not as strong as before.

"Ino-Shika-Cho," you said, looking at the three of them once Choji put you on the ground. "I certainly missed this formation."

"So, who is this girl?" A blond guy said from behind them. His blue eyes were locked on yours and you could see a little bit of distrust there.

"This is y/n, Naruto, Ino's cousin," Sakura answered, walking towards you to embrace you. "Getting on Ino's nerves were never the same after you left."

"Well, we did know how to do it, right?" you smiled at her, but your eyes were still locked on Naruto's. There was your target, right in front of you. You kept talking and catching up with your old friends, as well getting to know the others you didn't. The boy with the Byakugan was called Neji, and the girl Hinata. Apparently, they were cousins. There was also Rock Lee, Tenten and Shino - who you slightly remember running away from when you were little because of his insects.

Ino grabbed your hand, saying you two had to go. The first part of your plan was going good so far, but you couldn't stop feeling like shit the whole time. You knew you had to shake those feelings away, or you wouldn't be able to see your uncle Inoichi. He surely wouldn't trust you at first, and would search for something suspicious as talking. Your father always said he was by far the best Yamanaka shinobi that ever existed.

Well, you were about to prove him wrong.

As expected, Inoichi didn't recognized you. Once Ino said who you were, his eyes almost popped out from his face in shook, it was a good thing for you, strong emotions were used to prejudice the jutsu. He asked you a million questions, and you were honest in all of them, because you were sure he would enter in your head soon or later. Even that he seemed happy to see you, you could see he was holding himself back to ask you to see inside your head, and not because of you, but because of Ino.

So, once she was asleep on her bedroom, you went to find him on the kitchen. You knew he would be expecting the right moment to tell you, and what moment was better than late at night?

"Go ahead," you told him.

He pressed his palm gently against your head as he began to scour your mind. You made sure the first images he was going to see was you playing with Ino as children, you leaving the village with your parents. He also saw your mom dying, how miserable your dad was but his strength and love for you keeping him on track, your trainings - but not all of them -, the days he mentioned and talked about Inoichi and Ino, the times he wanted to give up everything to come back to them but he couldn't because he wanted to honor your mother memories.

Inoichi's jutsu on your head were getting more and more weak, you could literally feel it. Even though he was a master to find others people secret, he could still be manipulated to see what you wanted him to see. You knew all it would take was one more scene and he would be done with it.

So, you showed the day your dad put on his fighting clothes, saying he would be back soon enough and went to the war. You showed him the endless hours expecting for him to come home, as you stood there alone in the dark. The times you heard a noise outside and thought it was him but it was wind or some rotten bamboo which fell on the roof, and then, the time you decided to look for him, going straight to the war field. You showed him as you found your father's body in the middle of the others endless bodies there. How you cried over him, tried what you knew about medic ninjutsu - which it was so little. You literally showed Inoichi how your heart broke that day and he couldn't take it, breaking the jutsu so he could wipe away his own tears.

You remembered something you father told you long time ago.

"Inoichi is the best in searching for information in someone's head," he said during one practice. "But growing up with a brother like that, I had to find out some tricks so I could keep some things as secret from him. I didn't want my brother to know everything about my life."

And just like that you knew, Inoichi could be the best at searching for information, but your father was the best at hiding it. Your life goal was to become even better than your father, and you completely manage to do it.

After that day, Inoichi never tried to get inside your head again, you knew it was too painful for him. So, he took you under his wing, taking care of you just like he used to when you were little. Every day was getting harder to separate your feelings from the mission, as you trained with them, eat with them and everything else. Inoichi even wanted you to become a Konoha's ninja, and he was going to ask the Hokage - who apparently was in a coma - if it was possible.

"So, I heard you are making a huge success in the Village," Ino said one day, after practice. "Naruto and Kiba are fighting to see who is going to ask you out. Today I even caught Shikamaru staring at you a little too long, which by the way, it's kind of shocking. I have seen him showing interest in one girl in my life, and if I am correct, which I am, she really likes him. So, you should stay away from him a bit."

You laughed at her. "Naruto, huh?" you asked, happy because your mission would be easier than you thought. Going out with him would help you to extract information from him without being suspicious.

"So, he is a favorite. I will make sure to tell him that," Ino said, confusing your happiness like you actually wanted to go out with Naruto because you liked him. "He is so popular with girls now, it's kind of weird. Actually, the fact he wants to go out with you is weird too, because he used to like Sakura a lot."

You were grateful you had someone as chatty as Ino as your cousin. She herself had given you tons of infos, in Naruto and the rest of their friends. She was also making everything easier for you, but every time you thought about leaving after finishing your mission, your heart broke into two. She would never forgive you after finding out what you were about to do.

The hang out with Ino's friends were a good part of your day, because it was the only part of the day you let yourself to be the teenager you were supposed to be.

This time, you all went to eat barbecue. During the whole night, you guys laughed and told stories about life, trainings and missions. Stories were by far your favorite things to hear, and those guys have tons of them. But your favorite one by far was when Naruto defeated Nagato - the real Pain. Even you, after a short time, could see how big Naruto's heart was.

At the end of the evening, everyone said goodbye. When Ino said she had to do something with Choji, things got a little suspicious.

"But Naruto will walk you until my house, right, Naruto?" Ino asked him, directly.

"But your house is really far..." He trailed off as Sakura elbowed him, realization hitting him right away.

"I suppose I could go wit-" Kiba got interrupted by a screaming Naruto.

"No way, dattebayo! I will do it, I need to lose all the calories I got from this barbecue anyway. Y/n-chan, do you mind?" His smile was genuine, and you couldn't help but to smile back.

"Not at all, Naruto. I would really appreciate it," you answered in return, making his smile even bigger - if it was possible.

It didn’t take much until you realized Naruto was someone easy to be around. He always tried to mask his insecurities with cocky jokes and wide smiles, and you found to be strangely found of him. Walking side by side, it was almost shocking that the person next to you managed to defeat someone so strong as Pain. You crossed paths with Akatsuki once in a while on your missions, and you knew better than anyone how lucky you were for being alive.

“Y/n-chan, would you like to hang out sometime?” Naruto blurted out, his cheeks tinted with a light pink.

“Isn’t that what we are doing?” You smiled at him, poking his side with your elbow.

“Yes, but I mean, like a date.” He scratched the back of his neck, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

“I would love to.” You shrugged, but inside, your heart was flipping around. The worst part was when you realized it wasn’t because your mission was finally working, but because you wanted to go out with him.

“How about tomorrow?” He questioned, as soon as you arrived at the Yamanaka’s house.

“That would be perfect. Until then.”

Things followed. The first date, the connection between you two was undeniable, but you still tried to keep your mind on the prize. You analyzed every single word that came out of his mouth, but your heart couldn’t stop but beat faster every time he would smile or say something sweet about you.

You accepted his invitation for a second date, a third, a fourth, until Naruto became a constant on your routine. There were days where you would see him more than you would see your own cousin Ino, and you lived with the girl.

For many times, you wanted badly to let it go of this mission and just live. A normal relationship with someone you were crazy about, a nice family who loved you and supported you, loyal friends, out of the chart teachers… It was everything so tempting, but something buried inside your head didn’t make you give up completely for it, so every night, you wrote down on a parchment the new discovers from Naruto and everyone around him.

The last drop of resistance on your body melted the day he asked you to be his girlfriend.

You choked on the ramen you were about to swallow, staring in disbelief at the blond guy sitting across the table, his cheeks tinted by a nice shade of red.

“I know I surprised you, but it would be nice if you said something.” Naruto pointed out, scratching the back of his head, nervously.

A movie played on your head, those ones that you would figure that they passed when you were about to die. Everything you could remember since you left Konoha marked you in a way you would never recover, that for sure, but did that mean you could never find happiness? For the first time, you felt what it was like. For the first time, sorrow and hurt wasn’t the feelings that you went to the whole day through, fighting them to the back of your mind.

Naruto was there, offering everything you have ever wanted, and you had the guts to say yes.

So, you did.

His face lightened as someone had just told him he had won a whole year of free ramen. His happiness was by far the favorite thing you had witnessed in your life, along with the kiss that followed after it. For once, you forgot about your former jobs, your former past and mostly, your former pain.

During months, everything was just fine. Both of you had to deal with some difficulties on your way, but nothing that would damage your relationship. You ended up finding out about Sasuke and how badly Naruto wanted to recover him back, how deep Naruto and Sakura relationship was, strong as a brotherhood. Ino also loved to have you around, and even though you didn’t have a team, InoShikaCho didn’t hesitate to take you under their wings.

One day before the big war, you and Naruto were packing the stuff you would need to take to reunite the Alliance force. He was going through your draws, as you were going through your closet, as you heard his breathing getting faster.

“y/n, what is this?”

You turned to face your boyfriend with your old parchments on his hands. By the looks of it, he had read a couple of them, and the confusion on his face broke your heart as you didn’t know what to say.

Every single day you told yourself you should get rid of those things, but you never remembered. The guy who hired you never went after you because he didn’t even pay you, at first, so he didn’t lose anything by you not doing it.

“Naruto, I can explain.”

“So do it, because from where I’m standing, it seems like a parchment with a lot of private information of mine.” Naruto threw the paper and it ended up in front of your feet.

“You have to understand, Naruto. There were a few things I have done to survive that I am not proud of.” You took a step forward, but Naruto raised his hand as signing for you to stop.

“What you were going to do with those, y/n?” He demanded, his eyes turning red for a second before coming back to the usual blue.

“I was hired to spy on you, that was the motive that made me come back to Konoha.” The tears started to pool on the corner of your eyes. “But that was before. I didn’t give them anything about you. I couldn’t, I love you too much to do it.”

“You came to Konoha decided to betray your own family?” His tone mirrored the despise on his eyes.

“I would never do anything to hurt them.”

“But me, it was okay?”

��You don’t understand, Naruto. Spying was everything I knew before I came to Konoha. I was hurt and alone, needing money to survive. I wanted to honor my mother wishes but I couldn’t.”

“Do you really think I don’t understand the concept of being alone?” He hissed, turning his gaze away from your face. “I’ve been alone for the most part of my life, y/n. I grew up with people running away from me out of fear and you came here to tell me that I simply don’t understand? What is there to understand now?”

“That I’m crazy about you. You changed me, made me see things in a point of view I didn’t even know it was possible. You were gentle, kind and I believe you can change the whole world just by being in it, Naruto. I am sorry that I didn’t come here with the best intentions, but I am a totally different person from before.”

“I think we should take a break.”

“A break? We are going to a war tomorrow!”

“It’ll be better for both of us if we are focused on the battle ahead. We’ll talk when we are back.”

“Except that you can’t be sure that both of us are coming back alive.”

That hit him, hard. You noticed how shallow his breath became, how he had to swallow hard before opening his mouth again. “Come back alive.” He said, for last, before leaving you on the empty room.

The next few days, you had barely seen Naruto. He didn’t tell anyone about your former plans, which just made harder to explain people why you two weren’t together anymore. You ended up being designed to the same battalion as your cousin and her team. Even though you knew it was a war to protect Naruto and the bijuu inside him, every second of your day was filled with worried by him, and the constant lack of news was even worse than the nonstop fighting.

After finishing the coast, your whole group were designed to assist Naruto on his battle. Of course, you were the one running as faster as you can, so you could reach him faster. No words were needed in this case, all you want were to lay your eyes on him to make sure he was alive.

The moment your heart skipped a beat was exactly when he entered on your sight. The blond guy that you loved with all your body cells was standing there, he seemed hurt and tired, but not even as near to give up. That being the trait which you loved the most on him.

The whole battle was a long one and the adrenaline never stopped running through people’s vein, yours mostly. When Naruto decided to divide his nine tail chakra with everyone, was the first time he realized you were there. He hesitated before touching your hand, and you pressed your lips into a thin line when he jerked back to keep a whine that threatened to escape from your lips inside.

Before moving to the next person, he shot you a sad grin. “I’m glad you alive.”

As fast as he came, he disappeared on the crowd. You didn’t even have the chance to check if it was a shadow clone, just his dust from the run near you now. Despite it, it seemed you couldn’t look away. Following Naruto and paying attention to his surroundings was basically your task. So, the moment you saw one of the ten tailed monsters going straight at his direction, you didn’t think twice before jumping in between them, avoiding Naruto to get a hit on his back.

But you got the hit right below your chest, taking away all the air from your lungs.

Naruto just was fast enough to end the creature as you fell against the cold ground. You fell the warm blood spreading through all your clothes, your conscience slightly fading away.

As soon as Naruto reached you, the tears were already pooling in the corner of his eyes. “No, no, no. Stay with me, y/n. I told you not to die, damn it.” He looked around, looking for someone. “SAKURA, HELP ME.” He screamed, his voice cracking at the end.

“Naruto, it’s okay. You’re okay. That’s what matters.” You managed to say and honestly, you wanted to speak even more, but the pain running through your body was unbearable, every breath feeling like someone was stabbing you.

“SAKURA! WHERE IS SHE?” Naruto yelled at someone near, you couldn’t see who it was. “Do you know anything about medic ninjutsu? Can you help me?”

Someone bent near to your body, sobbing. “You stupid! What did you do?”

A weak smile crossed your lips, in relief. “You should be used by now, cousin. I’ll always protect those I love.”

A green chakra was leaking from her hands, pressed on your wound. But it wouldn’t work. You could feel your organs shutting down, one at time.

“Ino, talk to me.” Naruto hissed.

“I can’t, the damage, I can’t.” The blond said, crying.

“It’s okay. Both pay attention at me. Ino, thank you for everything.” You managed to say, but she cut you off.

“I just lost my father, please. Please. I can’t lose you too!” She leaned in over your body, and you had to cough a little. A warm feeling appeared running down your cheek and you weren’t sure if it was blood or tears.

“Ino.” You said a little bit stronger. “Take care of yourself, and the boys too. They need you. I love you, sister.”

“I love you!” She yelled, before Shikamaru pulled her back from your body.

A small part of you still wanted to laugh, they were still on a battlefield on a fucking war and here they were, acting like they had all the time in the world.

“Naruto.” You used the last strength on your body to look at him. “Hi baby.”

He was crying silently; his hand was holding yours so strongly and you didn’t even feel it. “Please.”

“I am sorry for not staying alive. Don’t you ever forget how much I loved you. Thank you for teaching me what love really meant.” You swallowed hard. “Take care of Ino for me, and please, stay alive.”

“I will. I love you too. I love you so much.” He hugged your body and you noticed the pain was smaller, as almost not existent. You smiled to the sky and closed your eyes, just waiting. Far from there, the sound of a someone crying harder reached your ears, and then, everything went black.

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